The President of Ingushetia, Ruslan Aushev, has told the Monitor in an interview that, despite the creation of a Free Economic Zone (FEZ) in his republic, federal subsidies still constitute about 90 percent of Ingushetia's budget. The standard of living in Ingushetia is one of... MORE

The Russian government plans to offer one-quarter of Russian telecommunications shares (about $1 billion) to foreign investors next year. This will be done by merging two companies -- Rostelekom and Svyazinvest -- to form a national telecommunications monopoly worth $4 billion. This will be the... MORE

Belarus president Aleksandr Lukashenko today signed with his main antagonists, parliament chairman Syamyon Sharetsky and Constitutional Court chairman Valery Tsikhinya, a political agreement designed to end the constitutional confrontation in Belarus. Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and the chairmen of Russia's Federation Council and Duma,... MORE

Ukraine and the IMF have reached agreement on an economic reform program. The plan includes a number of deregulation measures and tax cuts aimed at stimulating economic activity. According to Ukraine's Central Bank governor, Victor Yushchenko, the deregulatory package will affect some 97 laws and... MORE

A senior official of Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed in general terms yesterday that Russia is making preparations to reduce its troops in Georgia and Armenia. A ministerial commission has been tasked to plan the cuts and define "optimal force levels" to be retained in the... MORE

Payment of Kyrgyzstan's debt to Russia, totaling $132.8 million, has been deferred to 2000-2009. The debt is be repaid in rubles, hard currency, exports of goods, or by the transfer of ownership rights over Kyrgyz assets to Russia. This debt is the result of loans... MORE

U.S. and Kazakh delegations, headed by Special Envoy James Collins and Foreign Minister Kasymjomart Tokayev, respectively, have completed in Almaty the third session of the U.S.-Kazakh intergovernmental committee. On this occasion the session was elevated to the status of a joint commission with an enhanced... MORE

Russia has announced further details of its forthcoming eurobond issue, promising a yield of approximately 9.5 percent. The Russian government is understood to have been anxious to keep interest below 10 percent, so this is being seen in western financial circles as a significant achievement... MORE

Russia hopes to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1997, Minister for Foreign Economic Relations Oleg Davydov said following an informal meeting with WTO officials in Geneva yesterday. He said the WTO has agreed to accelerate Russia's application, first made two years ago. The... MORE

The lower house of the Russian parliament has called on the upper house to introduce a moratorium on capital punishment and to suspend executions until the issue is resolved legally (the death penalty is specifically sanctioned by the Russian Constitution). Russia stated its intention of... MORE