Features

Navalny's wife Yulia prepares to step into her dead husband's shoes

Ben Aris in Berlin February 20, 2024

In a video posted on Alexey Navalny’s YouTube channel on February 20, the Russian opposition leader’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, announced that she plans to continue his work in his absence.

Opponents look to Constitutional Court and Brussels to block Slovakia's criminal justice reform

Albin Sybera February 20, 2024

Some observers believe the EU is not yet really focussed on Slovakia or may try to avoid getting into another battle over the rule of law, which has already blighted its relations with Hungary and Poland.

Azerbaijani automotive industry motoring ahead

Seymur Mammadov in Baku Ben Aris in Berlin February 20, 2024

Russian automaker AvtoVaz is moving into Azerbaijan and in talks to set up the large-scale assembly of its famous Lada family of vehicles in the country.

Middle Eastern investors pour into Africa

Jason Mitchell February 19, 2024

Middle Eastern investment into Africa is becoming one of the most important sources of new capital, with projects valued at more than $53bn announced in 2023.

Who produces oil and gas in Uzbekistan?

Newsbase February 19, 2024

Uzbekistan is not a major exporter of energy resources, unlike neighbouring Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, though it is home to quite substantial hydrocarbon resources.

Evidence mounts Navalny didn’t die from natural causes

bne IntelliNews February 19, 2024

Evidence that opposition blogger and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny didn’t die from natural causes is mounting as more information emerges from the circumstances surrounding his death on February 16.

European legal experts add to the growing debate on the legitimacy of the sanctions on Russia’s richest men

Ben Aris in Berlin February 19, 2024

The EU General Court in Luxembourg recently dismissed the sanctions appeal of the Uzbek-born Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov's appeal against sanctions imposed on him, but legal experts polled by European Interest have criticised the ruling.

Children's home crisis threatens very foundation of Orban regime, say analysts

Tamas Csonka in Budapest February 14, 2024

Hungarian strongman accused of "hiding behind the skirts" of his female minions.

The Russian billionaire who became a double enemy of the state

Ben Aris in Berlin February 13, 2024

“The fate of Russian businessman Arkady Volozh is more than just astonishing. It's actually illogical.”

PANNIER: Russia the loser as wider world of migrant work opens up to Uzbek citizens

Bruce Pannier February 9, 2024

Germany, South Korea and Israel look to Uzbekistan to fill 160,000 or more job vacancies. Tashkent likely keen to diversify sources of remittances.

LONG READ: Voters prepare to punish North Macedonia's ruling SDSM for broken promises

Valentina Dimitrievska in Skopje February 9, 2024

Shift back to nationalist VMRO-DPMNE over SDSM's controversial concessions to North Macedonia's neighbours and domestic policy failures.

Tucker Carlson gives Putin a platform to justify his war in Ukraine

Ben Aris in Berlin February 9, 2024

US journalist Tucker Carlson gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a platform to lay out his justification for attacking Ukraine and clashing with the West that was posted on the ex-Fox News commentator’s X channel on February 8.

How the Mongolians punch above their weight in military diplomacy

Antonio Graceffo in Ulaanbaatar February 8, 2024

Mongolia leverages unique heritage of armed forces to build bridges with nations as far away as US and India.

Russia's oil revenues in January higher than from before the war

bne IntelliNews February 8, 2024

Russia’s budget earned more money from oil taxes in January 2024 than it did in January 2023, Ministry of Finance (MinFin) reported on February 7.

Russia reports a painful RUB308bn deficit in January, but nowhere near as bad as the RUB1.7 trillion deficit in January 2023

Ben Aris in Berlin February 8, 2024

When the January 2023 Russian federal budget deficit numbers came out this week a year ago a collective cheer went up from Western analysts: they were disastrous.

Azerbaijan’s Aliyev re-elected president

Seymur Mammadov in Baku February 8, 2024

Snap presidential elections were held in Azerbaijan on February 7, at which the incumbent president, Ilham Aliyev, claimed victory. According to preliminary results, he received over 92% of the votes.

One United sees strong growth potential in 'hidden gem' Romania’s property market

Clare Nuttall in Glasgow February 7, 2024

CEO Victor Capitanu tells bne IntelliNews pent-up demand in residential and office sectors will fuel growth in coming decades.

OFAC “smart sanctions” target turbine lubricants and additives in an effort to stop Russian military production

Ben Aris in Berlin February 7, 2024

Two days before Christmas the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) quietly released new sanctions on an esoteric product group: turbine lubricants. But these "smart sanctions" could bring Russian industry to a standstill.

The EU joins the global transport competition, proposes a Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor

Ben Aris in Berlin February 6, 2024

The global pandemic, the war in Ukraine, rising tensions between China and the West and the increasingly fractured world has forced the global economy to remake its major transport routes. Now the EU is getting in on the game.

Is Tajikistan’s succession saga any closer to the end?

Eurasianet February 5, 2024

Rustam Emomali is increasingly the face of his country on the international stage.

Dismiss