Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
PUTIN FIRES RUSSIA’S TOP ADMIRAL ONE DAY BEFORE HIS ANTICIPATED RETIREMENT
On September 4 Russian President Vladimir Putin fired Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy. While the stated reason was the admiral's age, other factors clearly influenced the decision. Indeed, Putin fired Kuroyedov one day before his 61st birthday, when he would have retired... MORE
DIVISION OPENS IN UKRAINIAN LEADERSHIP: WILL YUSHCHENKO FALL IN?
It was no secret that the alliance that brought Viktor Yushchenko to power in Ukraine had its disagreements. The alliance, forged in the second round of the 2004 presidential elections, consisted of an eclectic group that ranged from socialists through liberal businessmen, moderate conservatives, and... MORE
IMPLICATIONS OF CHINA’S TAKEOVER OF PETROKAZAKHSZTAN
The state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation's (CNPC) more-than-friendly takeover of the PetroKazakhstan company would, if consummated, signify yet another setback to U.S. and European energy interests in Central Asia. The deal, first announced on August 22, would mark a setback of a novel type. Until... MORE
ASTANA MAY SACRIFICE NATIONAL INTERESTS TO SATISFY CHINA OIL DEAL
When the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) agreed to pay $4.18 billion to buy the Canadian-listed PetroKazakhstan oil company, the deal triggered a flood of controversial comments in Kazakhstan. What seemed to be the biggest Chinese takeover deal ever made in Kazakhstan instead left a... MORE
TURKMENISTAN PULLS BACK FROM CIS
Turkmenistan's President Saparmurat Niyazov announced on September 1 that his country would downgrade its links with the Commonwealth of Independent States. Arguing on the basis of his avowed and UN-approved neutral status, Niyazov advanced the idea of a looser associate CIS membership, eschewing the participation... MORE
OSCE AS SECURITY ACTOR: AT WHAT PRICE ?
Two special conferences in Vienna this week and next are meant to ponder the "OSCE's future" and ways to make it "more effective" -- euphemisms for managing the organization's crisis. A just-completed Final Report with recommendations by a seven-man "Panel of Eminent Persons" -- also... MORE
YUSHCHENKO WANTS TO ERECT NEW BARRIER FOR RIVALS
Preparations for next spring's parliamentary election have de facto started in Ukraine, as President Viktor Yushchenko came up with a proposal for raising the barrier that parties and blocs of parties will have to overcome to get into the legislature. This plan should further weaken... MORE
POURING OIL MONEY OVER STAGNATION AND DISCONTENT
Hurricane Katrina forced the United States and the European Union to open their strategic oil reserves, but Moscow is confident that the dip in prices is only a minor deviation from the unstoppable upward trend. This conclusion was incorporated in a draft state budget for... MORE
AS WINTER APPROACHES, KYRGYZSTAN FACES TOUGH CHOICES IN ITS ENERGY SECTOR
Following this summer's Andijan refugee crisis, when the Kyrgyz government transferred 440 Uzbek citizens to a third country to satisfy its obligations as a UN member, official Tashkent canceled a bilateral agreement on supplying 350 million cubic meters of natural gas to Kyrgyzstan. Having a... MORE
BELARUS: THE LAST SUMMER OF THE OPPOSITION
The apocalyptic phrase "last summer of the opposition" was the title of an article by Dmitry Drigailo, which prognosticated that after the 2006 presidential elections in Belarus, the political opposition would cease to exist. Either it will come to power or "it will be taken... MORE