A controversial vote was passed in Kiev’s Parliament over the weekend, granting more autonomy to separatist regions in the east of the country, as per the agreement outlined in the Minsk II accords this past February. This did not stop pro-Ukrainian protesters from rioting after the vote was announced, killing one police officer and injuring…
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that his government will “soften” its stance vis-à-vis civil society organizations and nonprofits. The government’s stance towards NGOs had over the past 12 years hardened due to how increasingly politicized the organizations had become during the former Iranian Khatami administration. The government is expected to pass a new bill in…
Ukraine reached an agreement with a group of its creditors to restructure its debt and avoid a looming default. The investors will accept a 20% write-off on the estimated $18 billion in debt on the country’s bonds and accept a freeze on repayment for the next four years. The Ukrainian finance ministry has lauded the…
The yuan’s devaluation and the subsequent fall of the tenge have been rippling through the global economy. Central Asian governments are now considering devaluing their own currencies to keep pace with the Kazakh tenge and Chinese RMB, primarily due to how exchange rates affect balance of trade. Export dependent countries like Kazakhstan with its oil…
Iran will resume diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom following a two year hiatus. The two countries have agreed to reopen embassies in London and Tehran and to begin to work toward a stronger commercial relationship. Seemingly in accordance with this policy, Iran announced that it would open two new banks in London: the Melli…
In a long-expected but still stunning move, Kazakhstan’s Central Bank has relinquished control of its exchange rate, allowing a free float. The currency immediately plunged against a basket of other world reserve currencies by some 23%, by far the largest drop in the history of the tenge currency, even surpassing last year’s unilateral 19% devaluation…
Kazakhstan continues to feel the consequences of both a prolonged slump in global oil prices and China’s devaluation of the yuang. The drop in oil prices to below $50/ a barrel has led Sino-Kazakh drilling company Velikaya Stena to lay off more than 200 employees in an effort to cut costs. The layoffs are partially…
Russia’s “Pivot to the East” may have been ill-timed, with the Shanghai Composite Index suffering its worst decline in many years and a small but significant devaluation in the yuan means that Russian exports to China have lost part of their value. Russia’s economy has contracted 4.6% YoY, and China’s status as Russia’s largest trade…
The Kyrgyz economy grew by more than 7% between January and July 2015, according to the Kyrgyz National Statistical Committee. The report alleges that the growth was driven principally by a spike in industrial production and increased investment in its manufacturing industry, which already makes up more than 40% of the Kyrgyz economy. The report…
The next battleground for the Iran deal is now predictably, being played out throughout Washington DC’s lobbying firms as major corporate and business interests line up on both sides to lobby Congressional leaders on their support for the deal. The Obama Administration has been considering making the deal an executive agreement, which would circumvent the…
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