Uzbekistan plans to reform the country’s service sector by investing $300 million and allowing private businesses to lend offices to public organisations and provide 24-hour services.

A canal dug and brought into service in Soviet times to provide water for irrigation in Crimea – but now blocked and disused – could this be the next flashpoint in the conflict pitting Russia and Ukraine?

Over the last decade, Georgia has become the post-Soviet region’s premier international tourist destination, and a huge part of the country’s economy has come to rely on this fact. Over nine million international travelers visited the country in 2019—up from two million in 2010—bringing in – officially – $3 billion in revenue.

The Central Asian country is making efforts to improve its investment climate after more than two decades of economic isolation. The closed, autarkic system viewed most foreign investments as a threat. That ended when Islam Karimov, who had led Uzbekistan since before the Soviet breakup, died in 2016.

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has walked a tightrope now for nearly 27 years. He’s frequently shrugged off the “last dictator in Europe”, an “autocrat” and other damning epithets.