Opinion
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TURKEY INSIGHT: Mystery on the bourse as traders ask "Who bought the banks?"
Finding some sure footing on the Turkish stock exchange is far easier said than done with officials up to no good with neverending perception management.
COMMENT: Don’t disregard potential for Armenia and Azerbaijan’s war to spiral into something much bigger
Should Turkey militarily enter the conflict on Baku’s side and Russia come to the armed defence of Yerevan, things could get very scary indeed.
TURKEY INSIGHT: Moody’s warns of autumn peril
Ratings agency wary of possible moratorium on FX payments, capital controls and disorderly exchange rate adjustment. But isn’t this all too little, too late from its analysts? The warning signs have been there for years.
MITTELEUROPEAN INSIGHTS: Better $1.5bn from Russia or €1bn from the EU in the hand than $15-20bn in the bush?
The meeting between the heads of state of Belarus and Russia some 10 days ago in Sochi was a non-event. Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko $1.5bn, but it is not enough. Belarus needs at least $20bn.
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COMMENT: Ukraine’s the Old Rotten System is alive and well
In the nearly 18 months since Volodymyr Zelenskiy was inaugurated President of Ukraine, it has become increasingly clear that he, like all his predecessors, is willing to accept, and even support, the Old Rotten System.
STOLYPIN: Whatever is happening to Putin?
Something has changed, Russian president Vladimir Putin seem to have lost some of his finesse as his regime becomes more brutal and aggressive. Has he just been on the job too long?
FPRI BMB Ukraine: Lawmakers’ promises, one year later
During last summer’s parliamentary elections VoxUkraine’s analysts collected the promises made by party leaders. One year later, they’re back to see which political parties have actually delivered.
FPRI BMB Russia: Russian to hold elections in 83 regions
Russia will hold local elections on September 11-13. In contrast to previous years, voting will take place over three days, culminating on Sunday, Russia’s “single voting day”. Elections will occur in 83 regions.
Turkmenistan: They call me Mr. Boombastic
For all the bombastic propaganda, there is no papering over the fact that Turkmenistan is still clearly struggling with a COVID-19 problem.
The Balkans: External debts in uncertain times
Are countries in the Balkan region taking on more debt than they can afford?
MITTELEUROPEAN INSIGHTS: Belarus – out of the frying pan and into the “Rublezone”
Belarus’ faked presidential election shows how quickly a domestic problem can become international and geopolitical. Moscow looks set to force Minsk into a “Rublezone” deal that will tie their economies much closer together.
FPRI BMB Ukraine: The battle for control over NABU
The Constitutional Court declared illegal a 2015 presidential decree appointing Artem Sytnyk as the first (and so far, only) director of the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine
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The Tajik election—Stick not twist for Moscow
Nevertheless, one analyst holds that the Kremlin “sees growing discontent” with dictator of three decades Emomali Rahmon and “probably understands that very soon he will be unable to prevent a social explosion”.
COMMENT: How Covid-19 is changing international business and politics
Ever since the plague in Athens in 430 BC described by Thucydides, epidemics have followed movements of people and changed the course of history. Today Covid-19 risks challenging the foundations of business in our modern interconnected world