"Dniester republic" authorities have yet to announce the purported final returns of elections and two referenda they organized December 24 in that region of Moldova. The referenda asked the voters to approve a constitution defining the "Dniester republic" as an independent state and a proposition... MORE

Estonian president Lennart Meri has appointed Colonel Vello Loemaa as acting commander of the country's armed forces, following the forced resignation of Lt. General Alexander Einseln as commander. Loemaa had been promoted only one month ago to the post of acting chief of the general... MORE

Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma and foreign minister Hennady Udovenko received in Kiev a special envoy of Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze to discuss cooperation among the two countries within the CIS. The Ukrainians assured the envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Malkhaz Kakabadze, that Kiev supports Georgia's policy... MORE

Data just released by Russia's Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations in the context of inter-CIS negotiations show that Russia continues reducing energy supplies to CIS member countries. For the period January-November 1995, Russian deliveries of gas, crude oil, and petroleum products were down in volume... MORE

The Russian military command in Chechnya yesterday denied what it called "mass media reports" of an interim body count of 267 civilians killed in Gudermes. However, that statement was made to the official Itar-Tass news agency the preceding day by none other than the Russian... MORE

With the Duma elections over, speculation is rife about the presidential election scheduled for June 1996. As widely reported, Yeltsin will not declare until February whether or not he will run for reelection. Gennady Zyuganov, despite leading the Communist party to electoral success on December... MORE

. The Communist party faction will lay claim to the chairmanship of approximately half of the State Duma's 23 committees, according to one of the party's leaders and outgoing Duma's vice-chairman, Gennady Seleznev. The Communists are discussing the issue this week with ROH and Yabloko,... MORE

Addressing workers at a Minsk trolley bus plant yesterday, president Aleksandr Lukashenko threatened tough measures against independent trade unionists allegedly bent on "provoking rebellion." Lukashenko was reacting to the threat of a strike in several industrial sectors to demand union rights, the dismissal of the... MORE

Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin's "Russia is Our Home" has picked State Property Committee chairman Sergei Belyaev to head its group of 54 deputies in the new Duma. Belyaev, a supporter of reforms, has been in charge of privatization since last February and managed ROH's election... MORE

Kazakhstan's president Nursultan Nazarbayev yesterday signed a decree allowing private ownership of land under certain circumstances, including purchase by foreign investors. The decree authorizes sale or transfer of state land to private domestic or foreign owners for temporary or permanent use. It also allows individuals... MORE