Tatarstan’s Ak Bars Bank is well on its way to fulfilling its aim of making Russia’s Top 10. John McCarthy reports.

Despite political uncertainty, in the first half of 2006 corporate bond issuance in Ukraine was beginning to look very healthy. Ben Aris reports on the fledgling market.

Independents stay ahead of the pack, acquisitions continue apace and rationalisation is under way.

Deutsche Bank is a clear winner for Investment Bank of the Year: EMEA. The scale of its business in Europe is pretty unique, with a particularly powerful franchise across equity and debt capital markets, and FX and derivatives.

Forget the black gold of its oil industry – Azerbaijan’s real treasure is its cultural status as the birthplace of Indo-European civilisation, and the country is considering how to promote this to tourists. Courtney Fingar reports from Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan’s oil windfall is calculated to total $1000 dollars per capita per year for the next 20 years. Nick Kochan explains how production is being apportioned.

So far the fortunes of the Baku Stock Exchange have been muted, but legal and systems changes are afoot.

Samir Sharifov, Minister of Finance, tells Nick Kochan why Azerbaijan is tapping the Euromarkets as well as making great efforts to build up its non-oil sector.

The banking sector is growing hand-in-hand with the economy, accompanied by consolidation and privatisation, and opportunities for new products.

Azerbaijan is having to balance the demands of the poor with those of cautious economists when it comes to managing its soaring oil wealth. Nick Kochan explains.