Iran announced yesterday that bilateral negotiations with the United States proceeded “in good atmosphere” despite lingering gaps on Tehran’s uranium enrichment and uncertainty over economic sanctions being lifted with a new US Congress in play for the coming year. The P5+1 powers and Iran failed to strike a deal by the self-imposed deadline last month…
Following an unsuccessful attempt to prop up the economy by means of an interest increase less than one week ago, the Russian Central Bank again moved to prop up the plummeting Russian ruble by raising the interest rate to 17%. The hike in interest rates coincided with value drops in the Russian ruble not seen…
On Saturday, the US Congress unanimously approved another round of economic sanctions against Russia in what is now the fourth round of sanctions in six months. The law was passed as the Ukraine Freedom Support Act – and is now heading to President Obama for signature. A meeting yesterday between US Secretary of State John…
Russia’s central bank stepped up its efforts to ward off rising inflation by raising the national interest rate to 10.5%. Inflation in the country has risen slowly but steadily as the economy worsens as a result of falling oil prices and economic sanctions that impact its defense and energy sectors. The move constitutes the second…
Yesterday, Russia wrote off almost $865 million worth of debt owed by Uzbekistan after President Vladimir Putin visited the country for bilateral talks with Islam Karimov. Uzbekistan’s new debt will be just $25 million, an odd move for a country strapped for revenues. Tashkent appears to be more amenable to considerations to create a free-trade…
Recently elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently made headlines for a speech given and statements made during this week’s visit to India’s restive northern region of Jammu and Kashmir. The region, which still maintains a strong Indian military presence due to separatist activity in the region, has recently been afflicted by a series of…
After a pre-payment of $378 million to Gazprom, gas will flow into Ukraine once again after Russia cut all gas deliveries to Ukraine in June over a pricing and debt dispute. Relations on this issue were overshadowed by the civil war that broke out, and Kiev, short on money as it is, had to borrow…
The Asian Development Bank, a regional financial organization whose investment goals include regional infrastructure, transport and energy projects, has given the green light to its first private sector loan in Tajikistan. The regional body will allocate more than $11mn USD to acquire a ten percent share in Access Bank Tajikistan, a local financial institution that…
Primary NATO contributors to the ISAF task force that has occupied Afghanistan for almost 13 years have begun to withdraw their troops as of this month. Secretary of State John Kerry praised new President Ashraf Ghani for making moves to combat money laundering and corruption, with UK Prime Minister David Cameron also joining in. The…
The presidents of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Iran attended the inauguration of a railway that will connect the three countries and serve as an additional conduit to the Persian Gulf. The ceremony took place in the Turkmen frontier village of Ak-Yayla, and marked the beginning of operations of the nearly 930 kilometer (578 mile) route. The…
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