Representatives of the Russian energy giant Gazprom confirm that the company is poised to participate in a joint venture to supply fuel to the US-run Manas Transit Center, a key logistics hub for US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
As politicians in Kyrgyzstan vie to form the next government in Bishkek, it seems the path to power goes through Moscow. Russian leaders, however, appear to be nervous kingmakers. The chief concern in the Kremlin is that Kyrgyzstan’s new constitution, which transforms the Central Asian state into a parliamentary democracy, will produce governmental gridlock.
Russian frustration is rising with NATO’s “incomprehensible passivity” in efforts to contain Afghanistan’s growing drugs output. It has reached a point where some politicians in Moscow are starting to call for an active Russian military presence in Central Asia.
Contrary to expectations in Bishkek, Russian and Kyrgyz defense officials failed to sign an agreement to expand Russia’s military presence in Kyrgyzstan. Experts attribute the delay mainly to ongoing political uncertainty in Bishkek.
One question hovers over political developments in Kyrgyzstan these days: Where does Russia stand? So it comes as no surprise that experts and pundits in Bishkek are busy sifting clues as to who the Kremlin is backing in the Central Asian nation’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
There is little about Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek that evokes images of Istanbul. But recent maneuverings concerning the potential establishment of a foreign military facility in southern Kyrgyzstan can only be described as Byzantine.
Russian media outlets appear intent on trying to turn the US-operated Manas transit center in Kyrgyzstan into a campaign issue in the Central Asian nation’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s September 2-3 visit to Azerbaijan yielded a big energy deal, as the Russian state-controlled conglomerate Gazprom secured an agreement to dramatically increase its purchases of Azerbaijani natural gas.
Armenian leaders are ecstatic that Russia is getting involved in the construction of a new nuclear power plant at Metsamor. Environmentalists and technical experts are far less enthused, saying that a new Metsamor unit poses considerable risks.
The German city of Essen, representing the wider Ruhrgebiet region, is one of Europe’s capitals of culture in 2010. The EU-sanctioned designation is enabling Germany to showcase the social and economic transformation of an area that just a few decades ago threatened to become a Rust Belt.
