As inflation rises out of control in Russia thanks to the astonishing 17% decline in the value of the ruble against the dollar, coupled with the drop in the price of oil and infusions of capital by the Russian Central Bank, the Russian economy has certainly seen better days. Russia originally aimed at the beginning…
On Monday, the Kazakh government announced its intention to sell 10-year and 30-year bonds in US dollars to international investors after more than 14 years of absence from allowing public investment in government debt. Intended to avoid an expensive and potentially politically divisive battle over debt restructuring (such as the one in Argentina in 2001…
Yesterday, Ukrainian state gas company Naftogaz repaid its Eurobond of $1.595 billion in principal, with a total accumulated coupon (or interest) of $75.76 million. It had been a source of concern to bondholders that Naftogaz would be forced to default with Ukraine facing its current political situation – an ongoing civil war and fraught relations…
After almost a year of debate and delay by former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) and Status of Force Agreement (SOFA) have been signed as of yesterday, which will allow American and NATO forces to remain in Afghanistan beyond the end of this year, and potentially until 2024, essentially ensuring a…
Russia announced that nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 powers were moving along steadily, and that some 95% of a final deal had been agreed to, despite the presence of “two or three very difficult issues that remained.” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergi Ryabkov said that the deal is feasible if there is enough…
US Administration officials have announced that they expect the long-debated Bilateral Security Agreement, which will allow US forces to remain in Afghanistan after the end of 2014, to be signed by incoming president-elect Ashraf Ghani next week. Officials said the document would be official signed within “days” of his Monday inauguration. The deal allows some…
Opposition activists in Russia have organized peace marches in Moscow and other Russian cities this week, specifically to protest involvement in the Ukrainian civil war. Numbers of protesters were inexact, but BBC reports them to be at “tens of thousands,” and human rights organizations list approximately 50,000. Moscow police, however, report that only 5,000 protesters…
US Secretary of State John Kerry is urging Former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah to abide by the released audit results, which have not been made public yet. It is speculated by many that these results still show Abdullah losing by a wide margin of votes to his rival, the former Minister of Finance Ashraf Ghani.…
Yesterday, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov announced that a new multi-billion dollar emergency fund would be created to counteract the effects of Western sanctions with a state funded stimulus. The bailout fund will last at least through next year, despite allegations by Russian authorities that sanctions would have little to no effect on the Russian…
Russia is currently engaged in negotiations with Iran on “energy development.” Encapsulated in a recently announced agreement to build two nuclear power plants in Iranian territory last week after Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif visited Moscow. This past Monday, Iran’s negotiator for nuclear talks, Abbas Aragchi, expressed his extreme disappointment with the Obama administration adding…
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