By empty (1/25/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Russia and Kazakhstan are preparing to approve a final protocol on borders in the North Caspian, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said before a meeting of the interstate council of the Eurasian Economic Community. \"Our bilateral relations are developing well. Today we should approve a final protocol on borders in the North Caspian, which will give the green light to work at Kurmangazy, Central and Khvalynsky - three large fields, where Russia and Kazakh companies will work on a 50:50 basis,\" Nazarbayev said.

By empty (1/24/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Mamazundun Shamiev, director of the Kyrgyz Customs Inspection\'s department for combating contraband, told the Russian daily \"Kommersant\" on 23 January that on 20 January Kyrgyz customs inspectors shut down all the Bishkek stores belonging to Russia\'s Evroset, a chain of stores selling cell phones and accessories. Evroset, which operates over 3,000 stores and did more than $2.5 billion worth of business in 2005, recently opened five stores in the Kyrgyz capital.

By empty (1/24/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)

President Putin issued orders on 23 January to Gazprom and Unified Energy Systems (EES) to expedite repairs to the two pipelines that supply natural gas from Russia to Georgia and Armenia and to the high-voltage power line in Karachaevo-Cherkessia. All three facilities were damaged on 22 January by explosions that the FSB has characterized as deliberate sabotage. At the request of the Georgian government, Georgian specialists traveled on 23 January to North Ossetia to monitor repairs to the gas pipeline, but the repair work has been suspended indefinitely due to a leakage of gas condensate.