Russian first deputy prime minister Anatoly Chubais said that the government is prepared to compensate Russian energy giant Gazprom for financial losses resulting from the loss of its tax privileges, Itar-Tass reported September 5. Because of new government regulations which went in force September 3,... MORE

In Moscow, the Union of Russia's Moslems, which was formed in May, held its first Congress. As its leader, the Union elected the 35-year old Imam Khatyb Mukaddas Bibarsov, head of the Volga Moslem Spiritual Department. Federation Council vice-chairman Ramazan Abdulatipov was chosen as honorary... MORE

Lt. General Aleksandr Lebed, a leader of the Congress of Russian Communities, gave an unusually long interview to Aleksandr Prokhanov, the editor-in-chief of the neo-imperialist magazine Zavtra (no. 34). Lebed said that: Lebed also offered a devastating critique of the Russian army's present condition, and... MORE

The pro-Moscow Committee for National Accord in Chechnya, headed by Umar Avturkhanov, has postponed into the indefinite future the parliamentary elections in Chechnya which were scheduled to be held on November 5. The Committee's communiqué, as reported by Russia's Radio on September 6, bars elections... MORE

The Office of Russia's Prosecutor General has closed its investigation of the October 1993 uprising in which forces loyal to President Yeltsin quashed the paramilitary units supporting the parliament's hard-liners. In the aftermath of that episode, the case was opened under the article of the... MORE

On August 27 and September 1 and 4, an unidentified armed group raided the town of Kurgan-Tyube, a pro-government stronghold in southern Tajikistan. The attackers fired on the base of the Tajik army's 11th special brigade. Some Tajik law enforcement sources trace the attack to... MORE

Russia's Transneft company and Azerbaijani negotiators signed September 4 in Moscow a protocol recording transit fees for Azeri oil if it were pumped through pipelines to Russia's Black Sea port Novorossiisk, the Petroleum Information Agency reported September 4. The Russian side admitted that the tariffs... MORE

Azerbaijan's Ministry of Justice on September 2 granted legal registration to the largest opposition parties, the Popular Front and the Social-Democrats. The two parties had recently introduced changes to their programs and bylaws to harmonize them with Azerbaijan's constitution as the ministry had requested. These... MORE

After three days of on-and-off discussions, the latest round of Georgian-Abkhaz negotiations, mediated by Russia and the UN, broke down in Moscow September 1. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Boris Pastukhov severely condemned the Abkhaz for the breakdown. Pastukhov and Georgia's Moscow ambassador and chief negotiator... MORE

In a series of public statements culminating in an address to a mass rally in Tbilisi on September 3, Georgian head of state Eduard Shevardnadze said that the August 29 attempt against his life was not directed primarily at himself, but rather was an attempt... MORE