Author: Vasil Iarajuli

Tajikistan’s existential project to build the colossal 335-meter-high Roghun hydropower dam is proceeding apace, but costs are spiraling, and to a level that is making it hard to see where the government is going to find the funds needed to finish the work. To complicate matters for Dushanbe, this is happening against the backdrop of calls from environmental watchdogs for international development lenders to pause the allocation of any future funds to Tajikistan pending a fresh assessment of the project. The extent of the budget overshoot is striking. In a press conference on February 16, Finance Minister Faiziddin Kahhorzoda revealed…

Berlin (29/2 – 30) Ukrainian officials are concerned that Russian advances could gain significant momentum by the summer unless their allies can increase the supply of ammunition, according to a person familiar with their analysis. Internal assessments of the situation on the battlefield from Kyiv are growing increasingly bleak as Ukrainian forces struggle to hold off Russian attacks while rationing the number of shells they can fire. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Thursday that mistakes by frontline commanders had compounded the problems facing Ukraine’s defense around Avdiivka, which was captured by Russian forces this month. Syrskyi said he’d sent in more…

On the first anniversary of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan’s deadliest border war, marked in September, irascible Kyrgyz national-security chief Kamchybek Tashiev aired his frustrations at the slow progress in talks aimed at demarcating the disputed frontier. Tajikistan, said Tashiev, was making “territorial claims” against Kyrgyzstan in the talks. “But our answer is that there should be no such claims,” Tashiev fumed, noting ominously that Kyrgyzstan had found “new documents” related to the border. “Based on those, we know that many parts of Kyrgyzstan had been given to Tajikistan,” he claimed. “If [Tajikistan] does not renounce its territorial claims against Kyrgyzstan then…

Infighting over the succession and growing frustration in the regions could shatter the stability that the Tajik president has been building for so many years. Next year will mark thirty years of Emomali Rahmon’s presidency in Tajikistan, now the only country in Central Asia that has not seen a change of leadership since the early 1990s. Unsurprisingly, there have been rumors of an imminent transition of power for a decade. The name of the successor is no secret: it’s Rahmon’s son, thirty-six-year-old Rustam Emomali. But there is no consensus within the president’s large family over the succession. Some of the…

The Kremlin’s spy chief Sergei Naryshkin warned the U.S. that Ukraine will turn into its “second Vietnam,” amid disagreement in Congress over funding for Kyiv. “Ukraine will turn into a ‘black hole’ absorbing more and more resources and people,” Russian foreign intelligence chief Naryshkin said Thursday in a written statement published by his agency’s house journal, the Intelligence Operative. “Ultimately, the U.S. risks creating a ‘second Vietnam’ for itself, and every new American administration will have to deal with it,” he added. The warning comes after U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged Congress to further support Ukraine with funding. “We can’t let…

Russia has been suspected of meddling in UK politics before, including the divisive 2016 Brexit referendum, but the Conservative government has been criticised for failing to investigate. In the latest claims, the foreign ministry said Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) was behind “unsuccessful attempts to interfere in UK political processes” and said it had summoned Russia’s ambassador to London about the issue. US prosecutors meanwhile unsealed charges against two Russian nationals over the hacking of computer networks in Britain, the United States and other NATO countries. Those two men now face sanctions in both countries.”Russia’s attempts to interfere in UK politics are completely unacceptable and seek to threaten our democratic processes,” UK foreign minister David Cameron said in a statement. “In sanctioning those responsible and summoning the…

Belgium welcomes the joint statement by Armenia and Azerbaijan announcing the release of prisoners and other confidence-building measures, Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said in a post on X. “This significant step is commendable. We urge continued progress and embrace all initiatives for lasting peace and stability in the region,” she said. In a joint statement the two countries reconfirmed their intention to normalize relations and to reach the peace treaty on the basis of respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. Driven by the values of humanism and as a gesture of goodwill, the Republic of Azerbaijan releases 32 Armenian military…

UK-headquartered energy giant BP has started drilling the first well from its operated Azeri Central East (ACE) platform in the Caspian Sea off the coast of Azerbaijan, inching closer to the first oil from the ACE project. As part of the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) field development project, BP began drilling the first production well from the new Azeri Central East platform on December 4, following the safe completion of offshore hookup, installation, and commissioning of the ACE topsides unit, which sailed away from the Bayil fabrication yard in August 2023. According to the oil major, the well is planned to reach a total depth of up to 3,188…

In Azerbaijan’s Shamakhi region, there really is something for everyone. From stunning nature walks to the biggest space observatory in the country, and an airborne adventure that’s sure to blow you away. The Pirgulu State Reserve is a nature park located close to Shamakhi, about 130km west of Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital. This natural reserve at the eastern edge of the Greater Caucasus was established in 1968. Our presenter Cinzia Rizzi takes a hike through its thick forests and mesmerising landscapes. Hiking isn’t the only attraction in the region. Local authorities are promoting tourism by offering an activity that doesn’t require…

Azerbaijan and Armenia have announced a prisoner exchange and several other measures intended to ‘build confidence’ in a move hailed as a stepping stone to a potential peace deal. In a joint statement on Thursday, Azerbaijan’s Presidential Administration and Armenia’s Prime Minister’s Office suggested that there was ‘a historical chance to achieve a long-awaited peace in the region’. According to the Azerbaijani side, the agreement was reached without the involvement of any third country. Since the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, negotiations between the two countries have been mediated by either the EU and the US or by Russia. Prior to that,…