Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
RUSSIA CONTINUES TO PRESS GEORGIAN WINE INDUSTRY
After banning imports of Georgian wine and some other food products last month (see EDM, March 28), Russian authorities now say the ban might extend to Georgia's famous "Borjomi" mineral water. Following an order from Gennady Onishchenko, Russian chief sanitary inspector, about 1 billion liters... MORE
TYMOSHENKO SET TO OUST NEW MAYOR OF KYIV
Banker Leonid Chernovetsky has managed to secure the legitimacy of his election as Kyiv mayor. On April 10, the Shevchenkivsky district court in Kyiv ruled that there was no proof of vote buying by Chernovetsky. Outgoing mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko had accused Chernovetsky of buying votes... MORE
GOVERNMENT INFIGHTING HERALDS START OF ELECTION CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA
Armenia's governing coalition is beset with fresh infighting between the two largest political parties loyal to President Robert Kocharian, which could have repercussions for next year's parliamentary election. The Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) Party of parliamentary speaker Artur Baghdasarian has publicly denounced Prime Minister... MORE
ARMENIA’S GIVEAWAYS TO RUSSIA: FROM PROPERTY-FOR-DEBT TO PROPERTY-FOR-GAS
Armenian critics describe the government's new agreement with Russia, giving up infrastructure property for moderately priced gas, as the equivalent of giving up the family's milch cow -- or at least selling the cow for the price of milk. The preliminary Armenian-Russian sale-and-purchase agreement, first... MORE
KAZMUNAYGAZ CAN BE THE OPTIMAL CHOICE FOR MAZEIKIAI
The Moscow court-appointed administrator of Yukos oil company's residual assets, Eduard Rebgun, filed suit in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan on April 13, seeking to block the sale of Yukos' majority stake in Lithuania's oil industry to that country's government. The suit ostensibly protects... MORE
CHINA ADVANCES ITS INTERESTS IN CENTRAL ASIA THROUGH SCO
On April 13 Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretary-General Zhang Deguang announced that the SCO's upcoming June summit would consider renaming and reforming the organization's secretariat, as well as granting permanent membership to observer countries that have applied for membership. India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan currently hold... MORE
AMID PUBLIC ANXIETIES, BEIJING AND ASTANA BOOST TIES
Kazakh Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev traveled to Beijing April 11-13 for a wide range of talks with top Chinese officials on energy, transportation, communications, trade, and trans-border rivers issues, a long-running sticking point in bilateral relations. Considering the complexity of problems in relations with Beijing,... MORE
MOSCOW PUTS PR SPIN ON ITS SHRINKING NUCLEAR ARSENAL
Russia will complete the modernization of its land-based and sea-based strategic missiles in 2015-2020 and plans to deploy up to 2,000 nuclear warheads as prescribed by the current arms control treaties with the United States. That was the main message from a rare public statement... MORE
RUSSIA WALKS THE TIGHTROPE BETWEEN IRAN AND WASHINGTON
The virtually simultaneous revelation of U.S. contingency -- and even operational -- planning for Iran by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker magazine and of Iran's capacity for enhancing uranium may not have generated a massive outpouring of overtly emotional replies in Russia. Indeed, Sergei... MORE
MOSCOW STEPS UP ECONOMIC, POLITICAL TIES WITH UZBEKISTAN
As Tashkent drifts closer towards Moscow-led post-Soviet groupings, Russia has lost little time in boosting bilateral economic and political ties with Uzbekistan, Central Asia's major market. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Uzbek counterpart, Islam Karimov, conferred by telephone on Friday, April 14. Both leaders... MORE