Levada CenterThe Levada Center is a Russian independent, nongovernmental polling and sociological research organization. It is named after its founder, the first Russian professor of sociology Yuri Levada (1930–2006). The center traces back its history to 1987 when the All-Union Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) was founded under the leadership of academician Tatyana Zaslavskaya. Being one of the largest Russian research companies, the Levada Center regularly conducts its own and commissioned polling and marketing research.
GyumriGyumri (Գյումրի, ɡjumˈɾi) is an urban municipal community and the second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th century, when the city was known as Alexandropol, it became the largest city of Russian-ruled Eastern Armenia with a population above that of Yerevan. The city became renowned as a cultural hub, while also carrying significance as a major center of Russian troops during Russo-Turkish wars of the 19th century.
ShymkentShymkent (ʃɯmˈkjent; Шымкент, Şymkent, شىمكەنت), known until 1993 as Chimkent, is a city in Kazakhstan, near the border with Uzbekistan. It is one of three Kazakh cities that have the status of a city of republican significance that of a region. It is the third-most populous city in Kazakhstan, behind Almaty and Astana, with an estimated population of 1,002,291 . According to regional and city officials, the millionth resident of Shymkent was born on 17 May 2018. It is a regional cultural centre.
Transition economyA transition economy or transitional economy is an economy which is changing from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. Transition economies undergo a set of structural transformations intended to develop market-based institutions. These include economic liberalization, where prices are set by market forces rather than by a central planning organization.
UkrinformThe National News Agency of Ukraine (Українське національне інформаційне агентство), or Ukrinform (Укрінформ), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of Ukraine. It was founded in 1918 during the Ukrainian War of Independence as the Bureau of Ukrainian Press (BUP). The first director of the agency was Dmytro Dontsov, when the agency name was The Ukrainian Telegraph Agency. Ukrinform is Ukraine's representative of the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) and the Black Sea Association of National News Agencies (BSANNA).
LukoilThe PJSC Lukoil Oil Company (Лукойл stylized as LUKOIL or ЛУКОЙЛ in Cyrillic script) is a Russian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Moscow, specializing in the business of extraction, production, transport, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, petroleum products, and electricity. It was formed in 1991 when three state-run, western Siberian companies named after the respective town in Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug that each was based in, Langepasneftegaz, Urayneftegaz, and Kogalymneftegaz, merged.
