The Supreme Court yesterday sentenced Davit Otiashvili to death and 17 members of his group to prison terms ranging from 8 to 15 years for banditry and other crimes. The defendants belonged to a unit of the paramilitary organization Mhedrioni [Knights], which played a major... MORE

Some 70 Russian military advisers, headed by a colonel-general yet to be named, will shortly be attached to the Tajik Defense Ministry, according to Tajikistan's first deputy defense minister, Maj. Gen. Aleksandr Chubarov. He said that the chief advisor will have direct access to the... MORE

Further controversy has flared over Russia's plans to privatize its telecommunications sector. The World Bank had already objected to the government's plans to merge Rostelekom, the state-owned company that controls long-distance communications in Russia, with Svyazinvest, which controls Russia's regional communications network. (See Monitor, November... MORE

An IMF mission departed Moscow yesterday without having made a decision on the resumption of credits to Russia within the framework of its $10.2 billion Extended Fund Facility. The IMF had withheld the monthly payment of this credit in October, primarily because of its dissatisfaction... MORE

The chairman of Russia's Central Bank, Sergei Dubinin, announced yesterday that the ruble's sliding peg exchange rate will be extended until the end of 1997. The ruble will be allowed to fall in line with inflation by a steady 0.3 to 1.1 percent a month... MORE

The Volga Auto Plant (VAZ), which produces Lada cars, is facing bankruptcy. The company, located in Samara oblast, is Russia's biggest car producer. First deputy prime minister Vladimir Potanin told yesterday's meeting of the special government committee set up to collect taxes that VAZ owes... MORE

Russia and France have signed a bilateral memorandum under which Russia will pay debts incurred by the Russian government prior to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. The agreement was signed yesterday during the visit to Paris by Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. Holders of pre-revolutionary bonds... MORE

In a move likely to please Russia's military leadership, President Boris Yeltsin has decreed that the army and all other military agencies must reduce their personnel strength by 15 percent over the next year. Russia's military leadership had already resigned itself to the personnel cuts,... MORE

Belarus president Aleksandr Lukashenko yesterday hosted a large group of parliamentary deputies who split from the legitimate parliament and endorsed Lukashenko's draft constitution, which would give the president absolute powers. According to the presidential camp, 106 deputies (of a total of 199) signed a document... MORE

President Mircea Snegur -- in office since 1990 -- and parliament chairman Petru Lucinschi are competing in Moldova's December 1 presidential runoff. Snegur received 39 percent of the vote in the November 17 first round. Already backed by one of the two pro-Romanian parties, Snegur... MORE