News
Western Union Introduces Digital Vendor Program for Mobile Banking
June 22, 2009Fundamo, mChek, Sybase 365, Utiba Pte to be Certified to Offer Western Union Money Transfer Service Capability as Value-Added Component in Software and Services Offerings The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a global leader in money-transfer services...
EU Leaders to Create Financial Regulatory Body
June 19, 2009By Lisa Bryant European leaders ended a two-day summit Friday with agreements to create a financial regulatory body and to back European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso's bid for another term in office. The agreement to toughen financial...
Russia Has Few Experts Prepared to Discover New Oil, Gas Fields
June 18, 2009By Paul Goble Despite the importance of oil and gas for the Russian economy, Moscow has done little to prevent the collapse of geological exploration and now finds itself forced to launch yet another campaign to create a petroleum prospecting service...
Consumer Spending Decline to Intensify Russian Economic Problems
June 11, 2009By Paul Goble Russia’s already troubled economy is likely to take another hit later this fall when consumers exhaust most of their reserves and significantly cut back their spending, according to Vladimir Milov, the president of the Moscow...
Surgut Neftegaz Tries Crashing MOL'S Doors
June 10, 2009By Vladimir Socor The Kremlin-connected oil company Surgut Neftegaz has launched judicial proceedings in Budapest's metropolitan court against Hungarian MOL, the most successful private oil and gas company in Central Europe. The Russian company alleges...
Gazprom and Western Companies Compete in Iran
June 03, 2009By Vladimir Socor On May 24 in Tehran, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his counterpart in Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari signed an intergovernmental framework declaration on gas pipeline construction and gas deliveries from Iran to Pakistan. The...
Romania: What is Happening with the Property Fund?
June 02, 2009What In Heaven’s Name is Happening with Fondul Proprietatea? ... Introduction Four years after the creation of the Property Fund (“Fondul Proprietatea” in Romanian) as a means of awarding restitution to former owners of properties...
Central Asian Gas: An Opportunity Europe Seems Determined To Miss
May 29, 2009By Ahto Lobjakas If ever there was a time for the European Union to cut the Gordian knot of energy dependence on Russia -- or, more precisely, cut out the Russian middleman currently controlling supply routes from the Caspian Sea region -- it is now...
Moscow Playing with Multiple Options on Black Sea Pipelines
May 29, 2009By Vladimir Socor On May 17 in Sochi the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyp Erdogan concluded a deal on natural gas. Putin and Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller promised to proceed with the Blue Stream Two gas pipeline...
Ukraine hardens rules for employment of non-citizens
May 28, 2009Pursuant to Ukrainian law, a Ukraine-based company may employ non-citizens only after obtaining a work permit (with some exceptions). On April 8, 2009 the Ukrainian government adopted a new procedure for obtaining work permits for non-citizens, replacing...