Washington ProFile - International News & Information Agency - Issue ESD_19

ARMENIA : Communists Announce Entry in 2007 Elections

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:53:15 -0500

Yuri Manukyan announced at a press conference on 26 May that his Unified Communist Party of Armenia (HMKK) will run in the nation’s upcoming parliamentarian elections.

ARMENIA: Government Approves Plans for Construction of ADB Office in Yerevan

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:53:50 -0500

The Armenian government approved an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the construction of the international financial institution’s representative office in Yerevan.

Study Finds Antidemocratic Processes Widespread in Armenian Electoral System

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:49:53 -0500

According to a study conducted by the Center for the Promotion of Applied Research and Initiatives (CPARI), antidemocratic processes are endemic in the Armenian electoral system.

AZERBAIJAN: Aliev Says Energy Issues Will Dominate GUAM

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:27:37 -0500

At the GUAM group conference in Kyiv on 23 May, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev said that energy issues would dominate the relations of the four member states (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova.

AZERBAIJAN: Newspaper Editor Beaten to Death

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:54:51 -0500

Bahaddin Gaziyev, editor in chief and founder of the Azerbaijani “Bizim Yol” newspaper, died in a Baku hospital on 19 May after being severely beaten by unknown assailants the night before.

Russian Ban on Wine Hurting Georgian GDP

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:14:19 -0500

Losses to the Georgian economy prompted by Russia’s ban on Georgian wine imports has been estimated at between 0.5 percent and one percent of the nation’s total gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006.

GEORGIA: Saakashvili: Relations with Russia “Web of Misunderstandings”

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:20:17 -0500

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili told journalists on 22 May during a Georgian wine exhibition in Kyiv that relations with his neighbor to the north reflected a “massive web of misunderstandings.

Kazakhstan Lowers Export Insurance Premiums on Goods Bound for Tajikistan

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:17:19 -0500

The Kazakh state insurance corporation (KSIC), tasked with backing export credit and investment abroad, lowered its country risk assessment for Tajikistan from 6 to 5 and, as a result, dropped insurance premiums for export to that country by 30 percent.

Iranian Ambassador: Kazakhstan and Iran Increase Oil Swaps

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:15:15 -0500

The Iranian ambassador to Kazakhstan, Ramin Mehmanparast, in an interview with IRNA said that his country and Kazakhstan will increase threefold the volume of its oil swaps.

Senior Official: Terrorist Threat Ongoing Concern in Kyrgyzstan

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:13:22 -0500

Deputy head of the Kyrgyz Security Council, Alik Orozov, told journalists on 17 May that terrorism is still a serious problem in his country.

Kyrgyzstan Asks Ukraine to Repay Soviet-Era Debt

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:11:47 -0500

In an interview with Russian weekly Profil magazine, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Feliks Kulov brought up the subject of Ukraine’s $27 million debt owed to Kyrgyzstan from the Soviet period.

MOLDOVA: Chisinau and Moscow to Draft Plan for Resumption of Wine Supplies to Russia

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 11:59:13 -0500

Moldova’s agricultural agency Moldova-Vin and the Russian government agency tasked with consumer rights protection, Rospotrebnadzor, have decided to draft a plan for the resumption of Moldovan wine shipments to Russia.

Moldova Eliminates Visa Requirement for Select Countries

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 11:54:45 -0500

Moldova’s parliament passed a bill in its first reading removing tourist visa requirements for citizens of the European Union, U.S., Canada, Sweden and Poland visiting Moldova.

Russian Energy Companies Eyeing Development Opportunities in Columbia

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 11:52:52 -0500

Russia’s energy giants Lukoil and Gazprom have expressed interest in a tender to develop oil fields in Columbia with an estimated 3 billion barrels of recoverable reserves.

Tajik Immigrants Boost Population of Yekaterinburg in 2005

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 11:51:28 -0500

Immigrant inflows to Yekaterinburg in 2005 closed the demographic gap in the Ural capital last year, according to the city’s mayor, Arkady Chernetsky.