bne
Fri, 24th May -- Plans by Turkmenistan to launch gas exports to Europe via Azerbaijan are under "serious" discussion and remain realistic, a senior Turkmen official claimed on May 23, despite the lack of resolution over the major barrier to such exports, which is the status of the Caspian Sea shared by five littoral states.

bne
Fri, 24th May -- Herbert Stepic, the chief executive of Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), offered his resignation on May 24, according to a statement issued by the bank. The move follows reports earlier this week that Stepic used letterbox firms in offshore centres for property deals that he did not report to his employer.

Graham Stack in Kyiv
Fri, 24th May -- An address in London's Tooley Street hosts the business empire of mysterious Ukrainian MP Yury Ivanyuschenko - and a multitude of even murkier companies with CIS connections. bne follows the trail all the way to Latvia.

Molly Corso in Tbilisi
Thu, 23rd May -- With just six months before the Georgian presidential election, solid popularity ratings for the Georgian Dream coalition government means its candidate appears poised for victory in October. Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili's choice for the coalition's presidential candidate, however, has added to questions about his own political goals.

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Wed, 22nd May -- The Kyrgyz government has approved draft legislation denouncing the agreement on the US transit centre at Bishkek's Manas International Airport, President Almazbek Atambayev said on May 21, as Kyrgyzstan continues to seal closer cooperation with Russia.

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Wed, 22nd May -- Georgia's former Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili was arrested on May 21 and faces up to 12 years in prison if found guilty on several charges of corruption. The move appears part of the ongoing power struggle between current PM Bidzina Ivanishvili and President Mikheil Saakashvili.

bne
Wed, 22nd May -- As a final decision looms on which pipeline will win the right to carry Azeri gas into Europe, the countries whose territories the Nabucco West gas pipeline will cross adopted a joint declaration on May 21 that suggests the route could be expanded to supply a bigger chunk of CEE.

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Tue, 21st May -- The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Socar), signed an investment agreement with an international consortium to build a $4.8bn refinery in Turkey's Izmir region on May 20.

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Tue, 21st May -- Tajikistan signed a wide-reaching strategic partnership agreement with China on May 20, including deals covering cooperation in security, the wider economy, and joint development of energy and mineral resources.

bne
Mon, 20th May -- The committee of independent directors at Kazakhstan's Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) announced on May 17 that it has rejected a take-over proposal from the company's founders € alongside the state € despite a deepening corporate governance crisis and fresh accusations of corruption.

Clare Nuttall in Astana
Mon, 20th May -- Central Asian republics are stepping up efforts to engage with post-war Afghanistan economically, for example with new rail lines, as fears grow about the security implications that the US military withdrawal could have on the region as a whole.

Molly Corso in Tbilisi
Fri, 17th May -- A peaceful protest against intolerance turned violent in Tbilisi on May 17, when a mob - led by Georgian Orthodox priests and their followers - swept past police barricades and tried to attack a group of human rights activists attempting to celebrate the annual International Day Against Homophobia.