Yesterday in Baku, representatives of seven oil companies and governments signed a contract for developing the Shah-Deniz oil and gas field on Azerbaijan's Caspian shelf. The investment amounts to at least $ 4 billion for the 120 square kilometer field, whose estimated reserves are at... MORE

Sources in Russia's Justice Ministry indicated yesterday that unresolved problems continue to hinder renewal of the Jewish Agency's registration for operations in Russia. (See Monitor, May 2 & 6) It was revoked in early April. According to a Justice Ministry representative, the Jewish Agency had... MORE

Latvia and Lithuania yesterday expressed concern over changes to the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, which were reportedly conceded to Russia by the Clinton administration in bilateral talks. Latvia's Foreign Ministry in a statement voiced "deep concern over the possible growth of military forces... MORE

Campaigning in Novosibirsk yesterday, Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov offered to give the members of the failed "third force" coalition (Grigory Yavlinsky, Aleksandr Lebed and Svyatoslav Fedorov) posts in a multiparty coalition government of "national trust." "We are engaged in intense negotiations," he claimed. (Interfax,... MORE

Vladimir Zhirinovsky claimed yesterday that he was trying to persuade President Boris Yeltsin to form a coalition government which would include all the other presidential candidates. He said he discussed the idea with Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin when the two men met on June 3... MORE

The Chairman of Russia's Central Election Commission, Nikolai Ryabov, moved yesterday to quiet a tempest provoked a day earlier by Russia's defense minister. Pavel Grachev had declared June 3 that a group of Pacific Fleet sailors, permitted to cast their ballots early because they will... MORE

Supporters of Communist party leader and presidential candidate Gennady Zyuganov have lodged an official protest with the Central Election Commission concerning alleged violations of election regulations. The complaint says that "60 percent of television airtime has been devoted to the activities of incumbent president Boris... MORE

Returning from a meeting in Paris with representatives of international banks and donor countries, Georgian presidential economic adviser Timur Basilia emphasized the "extremely important involvement" of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Georgia. The EBRD is providing financial and technical support for the... MORE

The third and largest yet Caspian Oil and Gas exhibition opened yesterday in Baku with 190 firms participating, including all of the major international oil companies and government officials from 20 countries. Inaugurating the exhibition, president Heydar Aliyev said that Azerbaijan's oil industry, the world's... MORE

NATO leaders emerged from a meeting with Russian foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov yesterday impressed by the cordiality of the talks but divided over whether Russia had really softened its position on NATO enlargement. According to German foreign minister Klaus Kinkel, Primakov had said that Russia... MORE