Features
Saudi Arabia’s big AI educational leap
The juxtaposition of artificial intelligence and Saudi Arabia might strike most as an unlikely pair, and even this writer, who has been reporting on the Middle East for over a decade, would have agreed not too long ago.
Hungary's OTP Bank unlocks potential in Uzbekistan's fast-growing market
OTP Bank's Ipoteka Bank is serving as a model for the future privatisation of state-owned banks in Uzbekistan and represents a pivotal moment in the country's economic transformation.
Turkey simply relabels Russian oil products and exports them to Europe, research indicates
Country appears to have quite brazenly emerged as a strategic pitstop for fuel products from Russia rerouted to the EU.
“Guns and butter” are both important, Putin tells military commanders
Defence spending has overtaken social spending and now accounts for 8.7% of GDP, Putin says, but spending on National Projects is just as important for Russia's long-term development, Putin told his military commanders.
Assassination attempt on Fico shows radicalisation of Slovak society
The shooting of Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico is already the third shooting to shake the country’s politics in six years.
Putin, Xi hold in-depth wide-ranging talks in Beijing in symbolic meeting
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have jointly called for a political resolution to the ongoing war in Ukraine, during the latter's visit to Beijing on May 16.
EBRD 2024: Banks still scrambling to keep up with Russia sanctions
Multiple packages of sanctions have been imposed on Russia since the invasion Ukraine, their scale and scope dwarfing those placed on other nations.
EBRD 2024: Geopolitics forces dramatic shifts in Emerging Europe trade patterns
EBRd report finds sanctions and trade disruptions have led to transformations in trade patterns across the Emerging Europe and Central Asia region.
EBRD2024: EBRD expects Emerging Europe growth boost in 2024, but slightly lowers forecast
Development bank makes downward revision in latest forecasts after worse than expected Q1 figures for Central Europe.
European election results could spell further backtracking on climate policy
Results from the European Parliament elections next month could have major implications for the EU Green Deal and other climate policy, with far-right politicians expected to win more seats.
Russia's nuclear diplomacy binding emerging markets to the Kremlin
Currently, Rosatom controls approximately 70% of the world export market for the construction of nuclear power plants where emerging powers in the global south are trying to boost their energy production and turning to Moscow for nuclear power.
Joining the EU has been the best reform strategy for any former Warsaw pact country
After 20 years in the EU, a comparison of Poland and Romania with Ukraine, which is waiting to join, highlights the prosperity it brings its newest members.
IIF analysis shows Kazakhstan’s economy faces bumps in the road – but no major obstacles as things stand
Central Asia’s largest economy hindered by major oil field development delays. Officials must also stay wary of threat posed by secondary sanctions.
Demographics and equality main national goals in Putin's latest May's Decree
Russian President Vladimir Putin has updated the 12 National Projects that were launched in 2019 to transform Russia and improve the quality of life. The programme was upgraded last year to National Projects 2.0 and now have been expanded again.
Chinese cars are flooding the Gulf Arabian auto markets
However, in a striking turn of events, the past decade has witnessed the advent of a new contender in the GCC auto market – Chinese car manufacturers.
Ukraine’s strategy of hitting Russian oil refineries is working
Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries are doing what oil sanctions failed to do: reducing the Kremlin’s income from oil production, limiting its supply of fuel for the army and pushing up domestic prices, without driving up oil prices.
PROFILE: Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda
Polls show that incumbent could win re-election on May 12 without requiring a run-off.
EU turning a blind eye to Russian LNG flowing through its terminals
Europe has been turning a blind eye to a fifth of Russia’s LNG output that is flowing through EU ports, either to be consumed by member states or sent on to customers around the world, in what is a lucrative trade for the Kremlin.
Dollar remains dominant in global trade, but global tensions are fragmenting the world, says IMF
The global economic landscape is undergoing a transformation not seen since the end of the Cold War. Soaring geopolitical tensions have seen the world fragment into large trading blocs based on economic and national security concerns.
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan join forces to power Europe
The energy component of the Trans-Caspian and Middle Corridors are expanding, not only through oil and gas but also through green energy. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have joined forces to supply Europe with power.