Snippets

• Ukraine and Turkmenistan are going to propose the establishment of a consortium with Russia and Kazakhstan for transporting gas to Europe. This was announced by Ukraine's deputy prime minister Anatoly Kinakh after Turkmenistan's president Saparmurat Niyazov and Ukraine's president Viktor Yushchenko held talks during the latter's two-day official visit to Turkmenistan.

• On March 31, 2005 Belarus' president Alyaksandr Lukashenka announced an end to industrial subsidies, with effect from 2006. He also said the eligibility criteria for preferential treatment will be tightened. "Any financial assistance to enterprises should be out of the question. They must work and earn for themselves,' Lukashenka reportedly said, adding that assistance might be given only to new and upcoming projects.

• A large oil spill occurred off the Goa coast on March 23, 2005 after two ships