Total income stood at 2.307 billion lari compared to 1.915 billion lari in January-May last year.

Realising that fossil fuels would not last forever, Kazakhstan took steps to diversify its economy. This included a new focus on its tourism industry. Though under-developed, officials knew it was an area that had much to offer.

The remaining issues are border demarcation between the two former Soviet countries. As well as the issue of re-establishing a trade and transit corridor via Armenia between the rest of Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan exclave.

Barbare Eristavi-Jorjadze, a 19th century aristocrat, was one of Georgia’s earliest women's rights advocates. Her cookbook was revolutionary in catering to both rich and poor.

Georgia has effectively abandoned its efforts to advance on the membership issue. True, the work on cooperation and various partnership packages, in itself important, continues. But the membership issue itself has been put on the back burner.

There are enormous ramifications. There is a real chance no effective or, at best, a weak government could emerge. Though Azerbaijan got back most of its occupied territories, the formal delimitation of the border with Armenia would take a solid government in Yerevan with a mandate to do so. It might be impossible to put a finality to the 30-year war or open trade routes in the absence of one

Ex-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia – both dealing with the occupation of large tracts of territory by Russia or its proxies – likely came away disappointed if they had expected the summit to bring clarity to their strategic issues.