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1Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev indicated Thursday he plans to inspect economic development on some of the Kuril Islands, about 1,300 km northeast of Hokkaido, including four claimed by Japan.The inspection may be designed to demonstrate Russia’s effective control of the four islands, which were occupied by Soviet forces following Japan’s surrender in World War II on Aug. 15, 1945. Earlier in the day, the Russian government approved a 10-year plan to develop the Kuril Islands. Medvedev said the government will spend 70 billion rubles the plan. Japan has urged Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev not to visit Japan-claimed islands off Hokkaido, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said today (July 24), calling the planned trip to the isles at the center of a long-standing bilateral dispute “unacceptable”. Mr Kishida said that the visit, if it pushes through, would “go against Japan’s position on the territories and hurt the feelings of the Japanese people”.
2The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan are ready to meet later this year in another attempt to revive the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, international mediators said on Thursday as they ended their latest tour of the conflict zone. The U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group issued a joint statement in Baku after holding talks there with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. They met with President Serzh Sarkisian in Yerevan earlier this week.
3Turkmenistan is implementing several major projects aimed at increasing the production and export of natural gas, as well as the projects for deep processing of gas, the country’s Ministry of Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources said July 23.The total cost of these projects is $20 billion.Moreover, these projects include the second stage of Galkynysh field’s development, construction of Turkmen sector of the fourth branch of Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline with the total capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas, a plant for polyethylene and polypropylene production in Balkan province, as well as a plant for producing synthetic gasoline from natural gas in Ahal province.
4Not déjà vu all over again. The nuclear agreement with Iran is very different from the one with North Korea. “Just as important as the technical differences between the two agreements are the differences between the two societies. North Korea is the most hermetically sealed country on earth. Ending its isolation by exposing its terrified, impoverished people to outside influences was the last thing the Kims wanted. Iran has a large population of well-educated young people who use the internet and social media. The election of President Hassan Rohani was brought about by businesses and citizens painfully aware of the economic damage done by sanctions. Opportunities to trade with the rest of the world could revitalise Iran’s economy.” [The Economist]
5During a two visit of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kazakhstan, the two countries have signed a number of new agreements in energy and defence.Kazakhstan and India expected signed agreements on supply of uranium and moved forward with their cooperation in rare-earth elements.The CamKazInd fund aims to combine Kazakhstan’s rare-earth elements and mineral wealth with India’s human capital and the experience of Cambridge scientists to develop various technologies.Quantum technologies using Kazakhstan’s minerals have a great potential in computers, keeping food fresh and decreasing mobile phone bills.
6Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received Richard Hoagland, the US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs on July 23. Cooperation in transportation and energy industry were discussed during the meeting.Hoagland, noting that he supports his country’s initiative for the development of the ‘Silk Road’, said Azerbaijan is playing an important role in this regard.He said the realization of these initiatives will serve to the stability, prosperity and development of cooperation in the Eurasia.Mammadyarov, for his part, said that Azerbaijan is carrying out a consistent work to enhance the capacity of the transport infrastructure as an important element of the strategy of development of the non-oil sector.In this context, Mammadyarov noted the importance of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and the new Baku International Sea Trade Port.
7Southern Russia Mobilizes Against Islamic State. Moscow appears to be seriously concerned about the changes taking place within the ranks of the North Caucasian armed Islamists and the unexpected emergence of a branch of the Islamic State (IS) in the region. IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the establishment of the Velayat Kavkaz of the Islamic State on the basis of the former Caucasus Emirate. [Jamestown]
8Russia guarantees energy security for Europe through the development of new gas transit capacities, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. In December 2014, Moscow announced the cancellation of its South Stream pipeline project that was to transport Russian gas across the Black Sea to Europe. Russia cited the “non-constructive” stance of the European Union as the reason for scrapping the project. The European Commission claimed that the project would violate the EU Third Energy Package that prohibits simultaneous ownership of both the gas and the pipeline through which it flows.”Turkish Stream is taking South Stream’s place. It’s not proceeding as fast as we’d like, but it’s not stalled either. And then we thought of building a second Nord Stream line, which delivers Russian gas to Germany across the Baltic Sea. You probably heard that we have signed a memorandum between our companies to increase the gas volume via Nord Stream. So Europe’s energy security will be guaranteed,” Medvedev said in an interview with Slovenian radio and television company RTV Slovenija on the eve of his visit to Slovenia.
9Azerbaijan and Turkey will jointly invest in the renewable energy sector, Turkey’s Public Disclosure Platform said on July 22.The relevant Memorandum of Understanding was recently signed between the Turkish Turcas Enerji Holding and Azalternativenerji under Azerbaijan’s State Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources.According to the document, the sides will jointly invest in the construction of solar, wind, and geothermal power plants in Turkey and Azerbaijan, along with implementing other projects.The contract is valid for a period of three years from the date of signing.According to preliminary studies, Azerbaijan plans to construct up to 100 facilities for producing alternative energy in five years.
10President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has received Martin Bouygues, chairman and CEO of French Bouygues company.During the meeting Bouygues informed the president about the company’s facilities, and made new proposals regarding the further partnership. These proposals were worked out taking into account the priorities of socio-economic development and ambitious reforms in Turkmenistan, also his interest in further strengthening its positions on the promising Turkmen market, where the company has been operating for more than 25 years. “The concept of further development of Ashgabat and other cities in the country offers great opportunities for fruitful cooperation with foreign partners, including the French companies,” the president said. The most important things are the timeliness and qualitative construction of facilities. Bouygues has been represented on the Turkmen market for a long time. The French concern has carried out several projects.
