Features
SPECIAL REPORT: Uzbekistan Rising
Uzbekistan’s economy has taken off in the last two years as the reforms implemented by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev start to bear fruit. We collect our recent articles on the transformation in a special report.
OUTLOOK: 2022 Slovenia
Prime Minister Janez Jansa's rightwing government faces an opposition determined to unseat him in the spring general election.
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Russia’s Otkritie bank rescued and ready to IPO
Otkritie bank nearly went bust in 2017 and was taken over by the CBR. But today it is one of the fastest growing banks in Russia and the regulator is looking to offload it some time next year via an IPO.
Armenia’s new road projects: no simple endeavour
Armenia is now scrambling to improve alternative roads or construct them from scratch after the vital southern highway to Iran was seized by Azerbaijan in last year's war.
DEATH OF THE SOVIET UNION: The borders drawn in the 1920s are serving Russia well in the 2020s
Frozen conflicts along contested borders in the former Soviet space have created levers for Russian influence.
FPRI BMB Ukraine: Dispatch From Kharkiv
Although far from the front line, Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, has suffered from the economic and political consequences of the conflict in the Donbas. The war has been shaping the population’s opinion for nearly eight years now.
Azerbaijan's new law on media unites journalists in opposition
The law envisages the creation of a registry of journalists, and demands that owners of media outlets be Azerbaijani residents.
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Healthy eating and “humanocracy” – the making of Russia’s biggest food brand
Vkusvill Director Yury Alaashev speaks to bne IntelliNews about how Russia's biggest food brand grew out of a single dairy stall in a Moscow market.
PROFILE: Petr Fiala, new Czech prime minister
ODS leader has defied sceptics not just by winning the October general election but also by besting the country’s domineering president.
The rejuvenation of Uzbekistan’s NavoiAzot chemical works
NavoiAzot's renovation was kicked off in 2016 with some state-guaranteed credits, but since then it seems the investment drive has reached a critical mass, and NavoiAzot has attracted several partners. Business is booming.
Russian policymakers face economic perfect storm
Russia's economic growth appears to be slowing as problems like capital flight, sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic pile up. Policymakers will have a difficult time trying to balance these competing demands.
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Mongolian traders in disarray as China’s zero-Covid policy chokes business
Prolonged border closures disrupt supply chains, drive up inflation and hammer exports. Mongolia, dependent on China for 60% of its economy, remains at the mercy of Beijing’s coronavirus directives.
INTERVIEW: Bootstrapping Uzbekistan’s finances
Uzbekistan was one of the only two major economies in the world to avoid recession last year but now the economy is bouncing back. The new government hopes to lift the economy up by its bootstraps by smart spending and targeted privatisations.
Kyrgyzstan: TV presenter’s racy photos ignite morality furore
Debates about women’s bodies recur periodically in Kyrgyzstani social media skirmishes; now there are signs that policymakers are eager to get involved.
DEATH OF THE USSR: Remembering Moldova's children of the Gulag
An exhibition at the National Museum of History of Moldova tells the story of the tens of thousands of children deported from the Moldovan SSR.
Back to rail at the start of the Western Balkans’ green transition
The Western Balkans states are looking anew at long-neglected rail networks as they embark on the green transition. The EIB’s Matteo Rivellini outlines efforts to develop rail in the region.
LIIK: The last of the offended – Russia’s first post-Putin diplomats
Russia’s new generation of foreign policy professionals bring with them a shift in attitudes. Young professionals are often bitterly affected by “disillusionment” with the West, those in their 20s are mostly realist and pragmatic.
Uzbek banking privatisation gathering steam
Uzbekistan's most profitable bank, UzPromStroyBank is going to be the first big bank to be sold off as the country’s banking sector privatisation gets under way.
Gap between Tether/TRY and USD/TRY pairs widening as Turkey intervenes in interbank market
Critics say the discourse the Erdogan regime is coming up with to explain anomalies in the market is becoming more and more hilarious.
North Macedonia a critical part of Instadose’s plans to become world’s largest medical cannabis supplier
Instadose imports cannabis from Africa to North Macedonia for processing, citing its favourable business climate and geographic location to supply the EU.
