The government and NAK Naftogaz Ukraine have accomplished the task set by President Viktor Yanukovych to minimize purchases of expensive fuel from Russian OAO Gazprom. READ MORE

A French court yesterday rejected a former Georgian defence minister's plea to be freed from custody but did not rule on his extradition to his homeland, where he is wanted on corruption charges. READ MORE

Thousands of troops are taking part in some of the regions biggest war games on the Baltics’ eastern shores from Nov. 2-7. The NATO-backed Steadfast Jazz exercises involve over 6,000 soldiers from 20 countries, as well as 40 aircraft and 15 vessels.Troops will be training at the Adazi base in Latvia, just north of Riga, and in Poland. READ MORE

It is said that Estonia’s position at the beginning of the race was better than that of Lithuania and Latvia – the support of the Scandinavian countries had a significant impact on the advancement of Estonia’s welfare. Currently Estonia is independent energy producer thanks to existing oil shale deposits. Yet, the constant tension raised by the Russian-speaking citizens (they account for about 25 percent of Estonia‘s population) partially aggravates the situation in the country.  READ MORE

According to the most conservative estimates, trade turnover of Asia and Europe will grow annually by an average of 2-3 percent. Thus, 7 years later, in 2020, it is estimated at 240 million tonnes in the physical terms and 1.8 trillion U.S. dollars in monetary terms. Even today there is a struggle for such a tidbit between countries that are expanding their transit potential, and between different modes of transport

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Poland's ruling Civic Platform has ruled out another internal election for the leadership of Lower Silesia in spite of vote-fixing allegations in connection with illicitly recorded material. READ MORE

Inaugurated on October 29, 2013, the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey, Istanbul’s undersea Marmaray railway tunnel is the world’s first connecting two continents and is designed to withstand earthquakes up to 9.0 on the Richter scale.  READ MORE

The Person Involved into the BTA-Bank Case Has Remained Under Arrest READ MORE

On June 19, 2013—just hours before President Barack Obama called for further nuclear reductions in Berlin—President Vladimir Putin issued a preemptive rebuttal, stating that we see that work is active around the world on developing high‐precision conventional weapons systems that in their strike capabilities come close to strategic nuclear weapons. Countries that have such weapons substantially increase their offensive capability. READ MORE

Several years after the Polish presidential plane crash and the initial Russian-Polish rapprochement, the process of reconciliation has visibly stagnated. The Polish opposition accused the government, and the Russians, of having engineered the crash at Smolensk. Prime Minister Tusk got scared and preferred to stay passive in front of the absurd accusations. Moscow rejected even minimal responsibility of the Russian ground controllers in the affair. Apparently trying to keep the investigation suspended so as not to give more ammunition to the Polish opposition, Russia has still not returned the wreckage of the Polish presidential plane to Warsaw. True, there still have been notable achievements such as the agreement allowing for visa-free travel in the border areas, which include Kaliningrad and Gdansk, as well as regular trilateral meetings among the foreign ministers of Russia, Poland, and Germany. Yet, with the Civic Platform doing now badly in the polls, a return of PiS to government after the election two years from now is a distinct possibility.  READ MORE