Both leaders welcomed heightened ties with the EU. Baku said it invited the bloc to help with the post-war reconstruction of Azerbaijani lands looted and systematically destroyed during the Armenian occupation.

Uzbekistan ranked 146 out of 180 countries and territories in the 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International.

Mauro Longobardo, the plant’s CEO, said resource “rent” on iron ore mining would place an insurmountable burden.

Lukashenko, defiant, vowed the "bastards on the other side of the border” would not succeed.

Kazakhstan issues 5, 7, and 10-year sovereign bond issues worth $554 million (10 billion Russian roubles) on Moscow, Astana (Kazakhstan) exchanges.

Corruption in Ukraine is largely linked to oligarchs’ outsized influence – meaning, individuals who exert influence as essentially monopolists, extend control over the media, or deploy legions of lobbyists.