CIS LEADERS DISCUSSED HORSES, ECONOMY AND NAGORNY KARABAKH CONFLICT
Natalia Korchmarek

RusData Dialine – Russian Press Digest
July 21, 2009 Tuesday

The leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan,
and Moldova met with the presidents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia
in Moscow on Saturday. The meeting was planned as a replacement for
the traditional summer summit of the CIS leaders. The leaders of
the Commonwealth of Independent States and the heads of two newly
independent Caucasus republics met for a horse race at the Moscow
racetrack, which they had attended several times before.

The 10-heat race of Arabian purebreds and Orlov trotters was
impressive, with Russian stud Monomakh taking the Russian President’s
Prize. In the meantime, the VIP guests were talking politics. Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev
focused on the planned Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and
Belarus. Medvedev told his Tajik colleague, Emomali Rahmon, that he
would attend the ceremony of commissioning the Sangtudin hydropower
plant in Tajikistan.

The leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia also discussed political
problems. Togrul Sofiyev, an independent political analyst from
Azerbaijan, told the newspaper: "Was it good for Azerbaijan that
its horse ended the race in last place? Of course, not. The same
can be said about the results of the meeting between the leaders of
Azerbaijan and Armenia. In general, bilateral talks have been marking
time for years."

Economic talks between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Kazakh
leader Nazarbayev were much more important, especially in view of
the agreement on the Nabucco gas pipeline signed between Austria,
Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey in Ankara on July 13.