Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Azerbaijan

Caspian Environmental Treaty Comes Into Force

Oil slicks have regularly resulted in the deaths of seals in recent years (ITAR-TASS)

August 12, 2006 -- The first legally-binding agreement on the protection of the Caspian Sea environment comes into force today.

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August 12, 2006

The convention seeks to reverse the Caspian's environmental crisis by reducing industrial pollution, protecting indigenous wildlife such as sturgeon, and committing its signatories to cooperating in emergencies.

All five countries bordering the Caspian -- Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan -- have signed up to the convention, the first time they have all signed a treaty relating to the Caspian Sea.

(Reuters)

Caspian Energy Special

For a complete archive of RFE/RL's coverage of energy issues in the Caspian Sea region and Russia, click here.

HOW MUCH OIL? The U.S. Energy Information Administration has estimated that the Caspian could hold between 17 billion and 33 billion barrels of proven oil. ("Proven reserves" are defined by energy experts to be 90 percent probable.) Other experts estimate the Caspian could hold "possible reserves" of up to 233 billion barrels of oil. ("Possible reserves" are considered to be 50 percent probable.) By comparison, Saudi Arabia has 261 billion barrels of oil and the United States 23 billion...(more)

How Vast Are The Riches In The Caspian?

Experts Envision A Future Beyond Oil

President Serzh Sarkisian has promised fair elections

Prospect Of Vote-Rigging Overshadows Upcoming Armenian Parliamentary Election

The Armenian parliamentary elections due in May will not simply be a struggle between rival political parties with diverging priorities and platforms. More

Alla Dzhioyeva attends a protest by her supporters in Tskhinvali on January 28.

South Ossetian Opposition Leader Hospitalized After Raid

Alla Dzhioyeva, the opposition candidate whose victory in a runoff ballot in November for de facto president of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia was swiftly annulled by the republic's Supreme Court, was taken to a hospital after a raid by some 200 masked security personnel on her headquarters in Tskhinvali. More

Former KGB head Leonid Tibilov is a presidential hopeful.

Repeat South Ossetian Election Campaign Gathers Momentum

The run-up to the repeat election on March 24 for a new de facto president of Georgia's breakaway Republic of South Ossetia bears an uncanny resemblance to last November's election campaign. More