Chechnya's new president, Aslan Maskhadov, was inaugurated today on the outskirts of the capital, Djohar-gala. The ceremony could not take place in the center of the city because all the buildings there were destroyed during 21 months of warfare. Maskhadov swore on the Koran to... MORE

A senior-level International Monetary Fund delegation has recommended to the IMF Board of Directors that it disburse to Ukraine the ninth tranche, worth $90 million, from a stand-by credit which was approved last year and which totals almost $1 billion. The delegation further assured Kiev... MORE

The Tajik armed group commanded by Bakhrom Sodirov confounded its government protectors over the weekend by taking State Security minister Saidamir Zuhurov hostage. Bakhrom demands that a detachment commanded by his brother, Rizvon Sodirov, be allowed to return to Tajikistan from Afghanistan. Rizvon, it now... MORE

Former Yeltsin bodyguard and ex-KGB general Aleksandr Korzhakov is leading with 26 percent of the votes counted so far in the parliamentary by-election in Tula, south of Moscow. Russian media are describing the election as "a circus." In second place for the seat, left vacant... MORE

Chechen president-elect Aslan Maskhadov met on February 9 with outgoing president Zelimkhan Yandarbiev to discuss the guest list for Maskhadov's February 12 inauguration. Yandarbiev does not want Russian representatives to attend; Maskhadov does. Yandarbiev is also against inviting the OSCE's Tim Guldimann, whom he declared... MORE

Tax collection is another matter, however. On February 4, Finance Minister Aleksandr Livshits said Russia's finances were in a state of "extreme tension." (Finansovye izvestia, February 6) He blamed long delays in introducing tax and other reforms. Parts of Russia's proposed new tax code are... MORE

The IMF has released the delayed January tranche of its $10.1 billion three-year loan to Russia and says it will make the February disbursement on schedule. The IMF says Russia has met its fiscal and monetary targets and made progress with structural reform. (Financial Times,... MORE

START-2 and the possibility of a START-3 agreement were also among the topics discussed by Gore and Chernomyrdin in Washington. At their February 7 press conference Gore said that their focus was to bring START II into force and "get on quickly" with further reductions... MORE

The Russian-U.S. economic accords were, however, overshadowed by several political developments. On February 8 Gore and Chernomyrdin announced in Washington that a Russian-U.S. summit would indeed take place this spring -- on March 20-21 in Helsinki, Finland. That venue was chosen because it will be... MORE

Moscow police announced yesterday that they are "searching for" Georgia's former State Security chief, Igor Georgadze. He is alleged to be the organizer of the 1995 assassination attempt against President Eduard Shevardnadze and is wanted in Tbilisi. (Interfax, February 9) Georgadze has been living in... MORE