A total of 2.6 million Russian enterprises are registered as taxable. According to the State Tax Inspectorate, however, one-third of these (880,000) paid no federal taxes at all last year. An additional 1.7 million paid irregularly and not in full. Only 436,000 (16.5 percent) enterprises... MORE

The new limits for the ruble-dollar band began to operate on January 1, as agreed to by the Russian government and the central bank in late November. The ruble will be allowed to depreciate in relation to the dollar over the course of this year,... MORE

Russia's Foreign Ministry demanded an apology from the U.S. on December 31 following an altercation two days earlier in which a Russian diplomat was allegedly forced out of his car by New York police and beaten. Russian authorities in Moscow claimed that Boris Obnosov, first... MORE

Sixteen candidates have been officially registered in Chechnya for the presidential election set for January 27. Incumbent president Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, himself a candidate, will continue to act as head of state until the election is over. All other candidates have had to resign their official... MORE

During a visit to Moscow rich in both practical and symbolic significance, Chinese prime minister Li Peng held talks with Russian president Boris Yeltsin on December 27. The meeting, Yeltsin's first with a foreign leader since his heart surgery in November, marked a further advancement... MORE

On January 1 the agreement on free agricultural trade among Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania went into effect. Signed last June, it eliminates all import and export tariffs and quotas on agricultural (and fishery) goods produced and traded within the three Baltic states. A safeguard clause... MORE

In a New Year's message, Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosian urged the nation to brace for serious challenges, including: international pressure upon Armenia in connection with the Karabakh conflict, the blockade of transport and communications by Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as the tasks of strengthening... MORE

A South Korean consortium has abandoned its plans to purchase Fokker, the bankrupt Dutch aircraft company. This leaves a Russian consortium headed by the Yakovlev company as the strongest remaining contender. Yakovlev has been seeking a Russian government guarantee for its offer. Both Fokker and... MORE

Earl Pitts, the FBI agent arrested December 18 on allegations of spying for Moscow, pleaded not guilty to those charges on December 30. The trial for the forty-three-year old lawyer is scheduled to begin on April 21. That is one week before commencement of the... MORE

A high-ranking Russian diplomat said on December 24 that Moscow favors not only extending an "oil-for-food" deal by which Iraq has been permitted to sell oil on world markets, but also raising the quota on the amount of oil that Iraq is allowed to peddle.... MORE