Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin has criticised Japan for its "slow" reaction to its nuclear disaster and for building nuclear reactors in earthquake-prone zones.

• April 30, 2011

Ukraine will be able to get liquefied gas from Azerbaijan in three years.

• April 30, 2011

Strong post-crisis recovery in the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) region is expected to continue in 2011, although at a somewhat slower pace than in 2010, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its Regional Economic Outlook for Caucasus and Central Asia released in Tbilisi today.

• April 29, 2011

Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Viktor Yanukovich of Ukraine have given a joint press conference, the official website of the Azerbaijani President reported.

• April 29, 2011

The two-day Global Forum on Sustainable Energy opened Thursday in Austrian Federal Economic Chamber in Vienna to discuss the potential of renewable energies and opportunities for greater energy policy between the Danube region and the Caucasus region.

• April 29, 2011

Issue 4: March 2011

A Snapshot Of Key Developments In The External Relations Of The Russian Gas Sector

The dispute between the Lithuanian Government and Gazprom continues. As we wrote in the preceding issue of the Gazprom Monitor, the dispute flared up after the Russian monopoly refused to give Vilnius the same gas price discount that it grants to the other Baltic States. Consequently, the Lithuanian side is forced to pay high gas prices. In response, Vilnius is trying to use the implementation of the Third Energy Package, in relation to the gas transport system of the country, as a lever of pressure against Gazprom. In the end this may bring about both a rupture in the agreement on the privatisation of Lietuvos dujos (37 percent of which belongs to Gazprom) and the separation of control over gas transmission pipelines from companies which own them. READ MORE

• April 29, 2011

The interior ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an intergovernmental security body, will meet on Thursday in the Kazakh capital Astana to discuss efforts to fight crime.

• April 28, 2011

Some 200 members of Syria's ruling Baath party are reported to have resigned over the violent crackdown against pro-democracy demonstrations.
The resignations were centred on the southern city of Deraa, a focal point of violence that has allegedly killed 450 people in six weeks.

• April 28, 2011