Hailed as a success story for liberal market reforms, Kyrgyzstan in fact provides an example of how the rentier class have become an integral part of the economy, and how democracy has given way to plutocracy.
As Russian dreams of becoming a ‘great ecological power’ fade, Gazprom, it seems, has been driving climate policy all along.
The market for iPhones in Russia is not looking as healthy as it was before the economy and the rouble took a nosedive.
In Belarus, smuggling is a fine art, and, unlike stealing, morally acceptable. на русском языке
Armenia is now a member of the Eurasian Economic Union. But with the economy in trouble, does membership have any benefits?
Like it or not, global warming will affect Russia, and ignoring it only stores up problems for later.
Buckwheat prices in Russian shops are soaring without any apparent reason. Russians are stocking up on this nutritious and usually cheap foodstuff, anticipating the worst is yet to come.
The Kremlin has adopted a deliberate strategy – to let the rouble continue falling as the 'lesser of two evils'; and protect President Putin’s core support base.
Even as the Russian rouble responds to Central Bank intervention, people are taking to the streets in search of imported goods. Meanwhile, President Putin makes a few phone calls.
As the rouble collapses, residents of Tomsk have long memories — from Black Tuesday 1994 to Black Tuesday 2014.
The latest IMF report has confirmed what some have long argued – ‘rising powers’ like Russia and China are changing the world, but not in the way you might think.
In Kirov, an incautious remark by Aleksei Navalny might result in five people going to prison for 10 years.
