MOSCOW SEEKS TO REDUCE POWER OF REGIONS.

Deputy PrimeMinister Sergei Shakhrai has introduced a bill that wouldsharply reduce the power of the country’s 89 regionsrelative to Moscow, Russian radio reported June 24.According to the provisions of the draft legislation, Russiais to be a federation by virtue of its constitution ratherthan as the result of treaty agreements between Moscow andthe regions. Thus, all agreements between the center and theperiphery–and Shakhrai would limit such treaties to onlyTatarstan and Chechnya–would only be auxiliary to theconstitution rather than being at its core. Notsurprisingly, representatives of the regions are certain tooppose the government’s proposal, which at the very leastwill remind the regions of just how precarious their statusis within the Russian Federation.

Regional Press Organizes.