If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I’ve been knee-deep in researching the energy ties in Central Asia. This area has become a hot bed for investment and news is swirling around just how much natural gas is in this region.

Let me spell it out for you: Russia ships nearly two-thirds of all its natural gas production to Europe, and one Central Asian country, Turkmenistan, helps fulfill its contracts.

But if Central Asia countries start making deals with Europe over Russia, Russia will be left out in the cold.

I don’t think that’ll happen though. You see, Russia’s got a contingency plan. It just met with Iran and Qatar to firm up an energy deal.

First let me explain the tug of war…

The Caspian Sea energy nations met last Friday in Azerbaijan. At the top of the list for discussion was the signing of a declaration to limit Russia’s monopoly over export routes to Western Europe. Now, results showed that there are some countries unwilling to sign the declaration, but the fact that a declaration was even up for discussion is promising for some.

This is big news particularly for the European Union.

For years now, the EU has imported 40% of its natural gas from Russia. These imports make up 25% of the EU’s total natural gas consumption. Those are extremely high numbers and the European Commission wants to do something about it.

“This is a problem we must address. We must shield European citizens from the risk that external suppliers cannot honor their commitments,” EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso told reporters from RussiaToday.

We all know that Russia is more than willing to turn of the tap. With Russia as the single largest supplier of imported gas, the EU is seeking diversity in its energy imports. RussiaToday notes that this will be accomplished a number of ways, from opening up a new North Sea offshore grid to new projects in the Mediterranean.

So where does that leave Russia?

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I’ve taken some time to get away from the fabulous city of Prague, the cultural and financial center of the Czech Republic, to dig into the wilder side of the country.

I took a three hour train ride to Teplice mab Metuji, right on the border with Poland. This little town is known for its sandstone monoliths, which are very similar to the formations in Bryce Canyon, Utah. The park was really beautiful, especially with the mist and drizzle hanging deep in the pine trees.

Anyone taking a trip to Prague should set aside the time to get up here and unwind…

After a nice hike, I hit the restaurant, or resterace, of my hotel. There I hooked up with some fellow travelers for a game of cards. They taught me how to play “Screw Your Neighbor”.

It’s not a hard game to learn, and I did well, but as I sat and thought about it, I found it very ironic that I was playing a game called “Screw Your Neighbor” and in the morning I would be heading on to Krakow, Poland.

You see, Poland’s being given the evil eye right now. Russia is a bit peeved that the former Soviet state agreed to the U.S. plan for a defensive missile shield. The Czech Republic will also build a radar system the will link in the the missile shield technology.

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I’ve made my way from Cesky Krumlov to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. Prague is like a beehive. There are so many people here, and lots of them are native, but even more are tourists.

I spent this afternoon on a four-hour tour of the city with a local woman named Helena. We saw the city castle, which is the biggest in the Republic, and - of course - bigger by one square meter than the castle at Cesky Krumlov.

Besides the great pictures I’ve taken, and the short video of the crowd standing before the Astrological Clock waiting for the next hour to strike, this city has taken me by surprise.

It’s hip and young, and yet attracts tourists from every walk of life. From young backpackers to Japanese businessmen in suits parading Prague Square… they are coming from everywhere. This is exciting to me, and no doubt to the folks watching the Czech economy.

I passed some American tourists who casually noticed the Czech-made car, the Skoda. I mentioned to them that the Republic, and the whole region is home to every major auto manufacturer - GM, Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, etc, etc.

That’s the side of Eastern Europe that lots of folks don’t know about.

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They say when the U.S. sneezes, the whole world catches cold…

Well, it’s time for a trip to the drug store. More and more often, that means Central and Eastern Europe, or Emerging Europe.

For our Taipan VIP subscribers who attended our August Global Summit conference in San Francisco earlier this month, you may remember me mentioning a couple companies. Big names… Internationally recognized pharmaceutical companies like Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA:Nasdaq) and Sanofi-Aventis (SNY:NYSE). They’ve set up shop in places like Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Hungary is one of the most developed pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors in Central and Eastern Europe. Hungary boasts the strongest biotech sector among the twelve new EU member states. That has enticed seventy core biotech companies to set up shop in Hungary up to now and 170 companies have some kinds of biotech related activities. The reason? Cost savings. Companies can save 30-50% compared to Western European enterprises.

But there’s another side to the drug industry and it’s increasingly finding a home in this very region.

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