Features
DATACRUNCH: demographic disaster in Russia, but a catastrophe in Ukraine
Russia is facing two decades of stagnation thanks to its shrinking population caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union. But in Ukraine the problem is far worse, as the population has shrunk to levels last seen in the '50s.
bneGREEN: Drought causes mass livestock die-offs and irrigation water shortages in Central Asia
Studies detect shifts in precipitation patterns in the Tian Shan mountains that supply region with much of its freshwater.
LONG READ: Putin’s babies
Russia’s economy is expected to stagnate for the next two decades because the population is now shrinking. President Putin made fixing the demographic problem a core goal and big successes have been scored, but the problem is too big to fix.
INTERVIEW: Europlan, the pioneer of Russia’s car leasing business
Why buy a car when you can lease one? The option of leasing vehicles is perfect for Russia’s fast growing economy. Europlan has been on the market for two decades and pioneered leasing in Russia.
Villagers in shadow of Kyrgyzstan dam incensed by Uzbekistan deal
The land transfer has fuelled anger and rumours about Kyrgyzstan’s new populist leadership.
Kremlin holds Afghan peace talks with Taliban in Moscow
The delegation of top fighters turned up saying the Taliban already controls most of Afghanistan.
What does the Taliban’s ascendancy mean for Tajikistan?
Afghanistan’s border with Tajikistan has fallen almost completely – if not fully – under Taliban control. How and when did this happen?
Russia faces a stagnant decade of 1.5% GDP growth after the coronacrisis
Iikka Korhonen, chief economist at Bank of Finland Institute for Economies in Transition, has released a paper looking at Russia’s long-term growth potential and the outlook is bad.
wiiw raises its GDP forecast for 20 out of 23 countries in CEE
The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies has raised its GDP growth forecasts for 20 out of 23 countries in Central and Eastern Europe as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic starts to recede.
bneGREEN: What is green?
Defining green energy and indeed green investments is not an exact science, Determining just how green each of the various energy sources are gets complicated once you start digging into the details.
Coronavirus cancellation of Mongolia's Naadam deals harsh blow
Mongolia's most important annual festival, Naadam, has been held every year for the past 800 years, but it has been laid low by the coronavirus pandemic for the second year in a row. Naadam was cancelled on July 2.
A bumpy road towards relevance for Kazakhstan's AIFC stock market
Three years ago, Central Asia’s largest economy launched a new financial centre, complete with a bourse that runs on a Nasdaq trading platform. So how’s it faring? The jury is still very much out.
Russia’s Softline global software reseller and services company goes global
Set up in Russia in 1993 to resell software to the growing market, in 2000 the company decided to diversify and today is present in 55 countries and did $1.8bn worth of business last year.
Coronavirus vaccine tourism from Iran to Armenia explodes
Armenia has seen a marked increase in Iranians crossing the border of the country to get vaccinated against coronavirus (COVID-19) in recent weeks, Tik reported on July 4.
Ukraine’s banks on the mend, tracking 2019 results
Ukraine’s banks managed to avoid the worst of the coronacrisis and found their business largely unaffected by the events of the last year.
Changing world gives agrifood tech a boost in Romania
Agrifood tech is poised to grow in Romania, which combines one of Europe’s largest agricultural areas with a strong IT sector, say the authors of a new report on the sector.
Almaty nonchalant over earthquake fears
As Kazakhstan awaits the Big One, its seismologists are underfunded while ever-taller buildings rise in the earthquake-prone commercial capital.
Romania’s energy blockchain revolution failed before it started
The ICOs of two tokens launched in Romania three years ago raised a total of $55mn, but today their values have plunged close to zero and their websites are down. bne IntelliNews investigates where their founders are now.
YUGOSLAVIA 30 YEARS ON: Scaling back the state
The coronacrisis saw the role of the state increase, but post-crisis efforts towards privatisation and a stepping back of the state from the economy are expected.
YUGOSLAVIA 30 YEARS ON: Small transition states particularly vulnerable to ‘corrosive capital’
Countries from the former Yugoslavia have seen a series of un-transparent investments with a geo-political agenda, says think tank CIPE.
