Eurasianet

As the president celebrates, the economic crisis deepened by a coronavirus outbreak he has refused to acknowledge has left his people in a state of Dickensian misery.

Electricity exports; crowd control outside food shops; and despite denials, COVID strikes. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Let them eat cake.

Food prices have jumped this year and there are few jobs, but out-of-work migrants can’t get to where they are desperately needed.

An unacknowledged second wave, secret police at funerals, and congratulations from the Taliban. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

5,000 people are taking part in the trials.

Unemployment, post-COVID hopes, and moving gas: This and more in our monthly briefing on the Eurasian Economic Union.

In the early days of the pandemic, Georgia enjoyed one of the most enviable rates in the world. Things began to fall apart in late summer.

Only the best medicine for the leader. For everyone else, bread shortages.

Officials were irked by coverage about haphazard preparations for the heating season.

Any breakthrough in improving the lot of labor migrants will be touted as sign of his political heft.

Travel bans, dams and Russian fans. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Ecological conservation is a matter of pride in Turkmenistan. But a disconnect between rhetoric and reality is a hallmark of the Berdymukhamedov era.

The population has not been counted in over 30 years.

The terminal state of the economy remains paramount in the minds of those wishing to leave.