European Central Bank

These five institutions described above are flanked by five other important EU bodies, that is, the European Economic and Social Committee (expresses the opinions of organized civil society on economic and social issues), the Committee of the Regions (expresses the opinions of regional and local authorities), the European Central Bank (responsible for monetary policy and managing the euro), the European Ombudsman (deals with citizens complaints about misadministration by any EU institution or body), and the European Investment Bank (helps achieve EU objectives by financing investment projects). 

The European Union (EU) contains 28 member states that are mainly located in Europe. It is a political-economic union that operates through a system where negotiated decisions are made by the member states. This system is comprised of various state governments and institutions like the European Commission, the European Council, the European Central Bank, the European Parliament, etc. The European Parliament is elected every 5 years by the EU citizens. The European Union was formally established in 1993 by the Maastricht Treaty [1]. Its start is traced back to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC). 

Other important institutions are the Court of Justice, the Economics and Social Committee, the Court of Auditors, the European Investment Bank, the European Central Bank, the Committee of the Regions and the European Ombudsman. 

The official sector has been a net supplier of gold to the market for nearly two decades, providing as much as 18% of total annual supply. The bulk of recent sales has come from European banks. These disposals have been conducted under the Central Bank Gold Agreement, which became effective in September 1999 and was renewed in 2004. A key reason behind these five-year agreements was to add an element of certainty to the market. Purchases by central banks have occurred in recent years, such as those by Russia and China but to date their scale remains limited. 

The Swedish Environmental Specimen Bank is a centralized storage bank that has been operational for 20 years. It conducts annual sampling of a variety of environmental and human specimens for use in a number of studies, including retrospective analyses. Regional banks store human blood for use in these studies (European Commission 2004). 

The construction of the railroad from Chardjou to Nukus running along the left bank of the Amudarya River and further on to Kungrad improved considerably transport communication between the delta cities and administrative and industrial centers of the Republics of Central Asia. The proposed extension of this railroad in the northwesterly directiOTi through Ustyurt and as far as railroad station Makat would connect cities in the Amudarya delta directly with the main railroads of the European USSR. 

Construction of first phase European transfers of 19.1 km /year (not discussed in detail here) was to begin before 1990 and be completed in the early 21st century. These diversions could possibly be increased to more than 60 km /year during the current century, but would require much deeper research prior to construction. Two phases were planned for Siberian diversions (Micklin, 1986). The first would draw 27.2 km annually from the Ob river and its right-bank tributary the Irtysh and send it southward. The route from the Ob to the Amu river in Central Asia would... 

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