Inherent weaknesses of the newly independent countries include not only high social costs and poor product quality, but also a shortage of managerial capital with the experience and abilities required to successfully compete on the global market.
The intricate overlapping of economic ties, corporate relations and political problems has made the issue of Gazprom’s relations with gas consumers in the CIS countries very difficult, and here we have an interesting case where the Russian side is objectively interested in depoliticizing economic relations.
Inherent weaknesses of the newly independent countries include not only high social costs and poor product quality, but also a shortage of managerial capital with the experience and abilities required to successfully compete on the global market.
The intricate overlapping of economic ties, corporate relations and political problems has made the issue of Gazprom’s relations with gas consumers in the CIS countries very difficult, and here we have an interesting case where the Russian side is objectively interested in depoliticizing economic relations.
When the Baltic countries entered NATO and the European Union a couple of years ago, many thought it was the end of the centuries-old "red line." Euro-Atlantic organizations had crossed into the former Russian and Soviet empires.
In September 2004, the Russian city of Novgorod hosted an international conference entitled Russia at the Turn of the Century: Hopes and Reality. Its organizers were the RIA Novosti news agency, the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Russia in Global Affairs, and The Moscow Times.