Central & Eastern Europe

COUNTRY REPORT / TURKEY Turkey’s Islamist government has narrowly avoided a constitutional crisis, but it is still treading a fine line in its quest for economic progress.   When Turkey’s constitutional court dismissed a move in July to outlaw the ...

ANALYSIS / RUSSIA’S GEORGIA GAMBIT Russia’s recent assault on Georgia raises some scary prospects for European nations dependent on energy supplies from West Asia.     Double act: Vladimir Putin passed the presidency to Dmitry Medvedev but still retains much ...

RUSSIA     Russia's actions in South Ossetia exacerbated a stock market slide. Russian markets have been in turmoil for a month after the country signaled its intent to move back up the geopolitical pecking order by marching its troops ...

  RUSSIA       Medvedev: Seemingly helpless in the face of a stock market rout.     Can Russia’s president Dmitry Medvedev save the country’s financial markets? In the second week of September he declared that it was “within ...

GEORGIA         Few in the oil industry doubt that the Russia-Georgia conflict is as much about tightening the squeeze on oil and gas supply to the West as it is about protecting minorities in South Ossetia and ...

REGIONAL REPORT / CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE They dodged the early fallout from the credit crunch, but Central and Eastern Europe’s economies are facing growing challenges.   All change: Central and Eastern Europes economies are in transition. Next year Europe’s ...

RUSSIA     Headline risk in Russia returned with a vengeance over the summer as global oil major BP struggled with its Russian partners over control of its TNK-BP oil company joint venture. After an extended battle, the head of ...

TURKEY       Coskun Ulusoy: Army pension fund looks beyond Turkey, but not Asia.   While pension funds in Europe and other parts of the world are being told to raise their game in order to make up investment ...

RUSSIA               Russia's new president Dmitry Medvedev, on his first international outing, with German leader Angela Merkel.   Newly anointed Russian president Dmitry Medvedev used his first foreign visit—to Germany—to signal the Kremlin’s continued ...

RUSSIA     New president, old habits: Russia's overt display of military strength. Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in as president of Russia on May 7—and, according to plan, the next day former president Vladimir Putin became prime minister. The new ...

ANNUAL REPORT / STARS OF THE NEW RUSSIA   Making the most of their newfound spending power, Russia’s consumers are boosting the fortunes of the country’s banks and corporations.   With Russia’s economy fueled by petrodollars, Russian consumers are on ...

CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE Despite continuing political upheaval, many countries in Central and Eastern Europe are more concerned about reining in their buoyant economies than surviving the global economic downturn.     Although the politics in Warsaw may be "noisy," ...

RUSSIA     Putin: He may find it hard to play second fiddle. With relations between Russia and the West at post-Cold War lows, US president George Bush met with Russian president Vladimir Putin in early April in Sochi, Russia, ...

ANALYSIS Deft maneuvering is helping Russia’s banks dodge the fallout from the credit crunch, but significant risks remain—particularly for smaller banks and their customers.     While the crises at UK mortgage lender Northern Rock and US investment bank Bear ...

SPONSORED ROUNDTABLE   At a roundtable in Istanbul, Global Finance brought together Turkey’s central banker and other leading figures to discuss the prospects for the country’s economy.   GLOBAL FINANCE: The Turkish government seems to be redoubling its efforts to ...

Russia     Russia's president-elect Dmitry Medvedev with his mentor, Vladimir Putin. As expected, Dmitry Medvedev won the Russian presidential elections on March 2, with 70% of the vote. Medvedev was a shoo-in by dint of enjoying the explicit support ...

RUSSIA     Khodorkovsky: The jailed former head of Yukos is back in the news. The Russian presidential campaign kicked off in mid-January, with Dmitry Medvedev—who is virtually guaranteed victory in the early March poll thanks to the support of ...

RUSSIA/IRAQ     Talabani: Russia's decision is a historic turning point. Russia agreed in February to write off $12 billion of Iraqi debt in an apparent effort to help Russian companies including Lukoil to win contracts in Iraq. The debt ...

COUNTRY REPORT / RUSSIA Having hand picked his successor as Russian president, Vladimir Putin has assured the country there will be a smooth transition of power. How much power he will retain remains in question.   Oil has filled Russia's ...

Russia       Putin: Maintains a tight grip on Russian politics.       After months of uncertainty, the Russian political landscape began to take shape in December. After being anointed by president Vladimir Putin as his successor early ...