Dependent on Moscow for natural gas supplies and partially dependent for electricity the Georgian government has embarked on a multi-step process to free the country from its reliance on Russia. While the plan has some supporters, the authorities are facing opposition from energy analysts and consumers alike.
As transformations go, the changes to Turkey's economy following the 2001 crash were radical. A banking system that had been little more than a piggy-bank for politicians was transformed into one of the fastest-growing in the world.
Twelve years in the making, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is poised to deliver its first batch of oil to Western markets. Turkish officials say a super tanker could load roughly 700,000 barrels of Azerbaijani crude at the Ceyhan terminal as soon as June 2.
Rising costs recently forced managers at a textile plant in Tajikistan's northern Soghd Region to send all 1,200 workers on "unpaid" vacations. The move underscored that the cotton industry, one of the pillars of Tajikistan's economy, is teetering.
In late April, representatives of Russia's Kremlin-controlled gas conglomerate, Gazprom, threatened to reduce exports to Europe after the EU blocked the company's attempts to obtain several European energy entities. EU officials dismissed the threat, believing that the Russian energy industry could not survive without generating a hefty European cash flow. They were right.
Media baron Ruppert Murdoch's News Corp. appears set to enter Georgia's media market after agreeing in principle to take a stake in a Tbilisi television channel. Georgian media observers have voiced hope that the move will help improve journalism standards and the overall media climate in the Caucasus nation.
First it was wine. Then it was mineral water. Russia's punitive moves to cut off imports of Georgian products have policymakers in Tbilisi thinking about withdrawing the country from the Commonwealth of Independent States.
A newly announced US plan to foster stronger energy links between Central and South Asia aims to marginalize Uzbekistan while making it easier for Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and Pakistan to meet their growing needs for electricity. A broader goal is the reduction of Russia's growing energy influence in the region.
The European Union is on the verge of concluding a trade agreement with Turkmenistan that critics are calling a sellout to energy interests. They say a pact with Central Asia's most repressive government compromises Western efforts to promote democracy and respect for human rights.
