The speaker of the lower house of Russian parliament, Gennady Seleznev, has strongly protested yesterday's appointment of a prominent Russian banker, Boris Berezovsky, as deputy secretary of Russia's powerful Security Council. (Itar-Tass, October 29) Berezovsky is president of the LogoVAZ banking group and heads the... MORE

A revised 1997 federal budget draft, prepared by the Russian government following the Duma's refusal to approve a previous version, will be discussed today by a conciliatory commission that includes representatives of the legislative and executive branches. In the new budget version, expenditures and revenues... MORE

Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin intends to visit Chechnya and meet with leaders of the Chechen opposition before the republic holds its January 27 elections. (Interfax, October 29) Vladimir Zorin, chairman of the Duma's Committee on Nationalities, told the Monitor that Chernomyrdin intends to focus... MORE

NATO secretary-general Javier Solana has suggested to a Russian news agency that the Western alliance will seek to conclude an agreement on future relations with Russia by the end of this year. Interfax quoted the NATO leader as saying that he would endeavor to "achieve... MORE

A regular meeting of the CIS Council of Defense Ministers, held yesterday in Dushanbe, deliberated amid some empty seats and rejected several major Russian proposals. The meeting marked an inauspicious debut for Russian defense minister Gen. Igor Rodionov as chair of the CIS defense agency.... MORE

Belarus president Aleksandr Lukashenko warned in a speech yesterday that he would "use his right to dissolve the parliament" if it rescinds the constitutional referendum he wants held on November 24 or if the Constitutional Court rules against holding it. Lukashenko also warned that "a... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin has canceled all business meetings, and preparations for his heart surgery have entered the final phase. This does not mean that Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin has already taken over the duties of head of state, presidential spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky stressed yesterday.... MORE

The Russian government has submitted a new draft of the 1997 federal budget for consideration on October 30 by a joint government/parliament conciliation commission. Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznev immediately dismissed the draft, calling the changes "cosmetic" and predicting that passage through parliament will be difficult.... MORE

The gubernatorial elections held on October 27 in six Russian regions were only modestly successful for the Yeltsin government, which is keen to see Yeltsin-appointed incumbents reelected. Incumbents were reelected in only two of the six regions -- Chita oblast and the Khanty-Mnsi Autonomous okrug.... MORE

Russia's foreign trade minister indicated yesterday that Moscow and New Delhi are close to an agreement on construction of a 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in southern India. Oleg Davydov said that Russia would offer India credit both to finance this project and to purchase 40... MORE