Regional hydroelectricity project CASA-1000 has secured another leg of financing. Tajikistan, one of the proposed deal’s signatories, had struggled for several months to pay for power transmission lines that would traverse its territory, stifling the deal and casting doubt on the project’s ultimate success. Several international bodies, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development,…
The Iranian oil ministry has declared itself ready and able to cope with oil prices should they reach $25/barrel. Tehran had previously allied itself with countries such as Venezuela whose economies depend heavily on hydrocarbons profit to function, though the most recent diplomatic offensive appears to have failed to have the desired effect. Bijan Namdur…
Iranian and Russian officials inked a new cooperation deal this past Tuesday. The agreement has a two-tier focus, the first of which is military, whilst the other is technological. The military aspect was signed off on by the two countries’ respective defense ministers, and was seemingly engineered to counter a perceived threat posed by the…
The Ukrainian military announced that its forces have successfully regained control of the Donetsk airport. The Ukrainian military has long laid siege to the airport, which for months has been the sight of intensive fighting between separatist militias and Ukrainian military. The latest spat of intense fighting has seemingly shaken the last bastions of separatist…
Russian energy major Gazprom announced that the company will begin to shift the flow of natural gas supplies destined for the European Union. Gazprom chief Alexei Miller stated that the company will begin to channel resources through Turkey, and from that point into European markets. The move appears to be geopolitically motivated, as it will…
With oil production continuing at mostly normal rates despite the dramatic fall in prices to $49, Iran has launched a diplomatic front aimed at persuading other OPEC states to reduce their own production of hydrocarbons. The effort, which includes support from Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has thus far fallen upon deaf ears. The…
We recently had the opportunity to speak with Professor S. Neil MacFarlane, the Lester B. Pearson Professor of International Relations and Fellow at St. Anne’s College, Oxford University. Dr. MacFarlane is also an Associate Fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, and has previously taught at Harvard, the University of Virginia, and…
Major Chinese debt rating agency Dagong announced that Russian debt is still more creditworthy than US debt. Russia, which is currently traversing a currency crisis and recession, and struggling with a severely weakened ruble, will maintain an A rating with Dagong, whereas the United States was recently given an A- by the agency. Dagong officials…
Ukrainian bonds have dropped to record lows over concerns that Kiev may default on debts this year. The Financial Times, in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund, recently released a tool that demonstrates the concerning state of Ukraine’s economy, leaving few hopeful that the conflicted nation will be able to make ongoing debt payments despite…
The technically autonomous Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was again the source of controversy past weekend as forces sympathetic to Azerbaijan and Armenia seemingly reengaged. The two countries have been at odds since the end of the Nagorono-Karabkh War in 1994, and despite attempts to negotiate long-standing cease fire agreements, numerous conflicts have occurred over the past few…
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