Refugeesnow pay smugglers up to $2000 to get them across the Russian borderinto Eastern Europe or Scandinavia, Russian radio reported August3. Kaliningrad has become a major transshipment point. Estonian Cabinet Fails to Agree on Changes in Citizenship Law.

The Estonian council of ministers has failed to agree on anew law that would increase the number of individuals who canbe given Estonian citizenship without meeting the language requirement,BNS reported August 3. Such waivers have long been seen as a majorway of reducing tension in... MORE

Asthe banking crisis continued in Riga, the Latvian parliament voteddown a proposal to oust the two top officials at the state bank,BNS reported August 3. Meanwhile, the German Investment and DevelopmentCompany extended a 5 million mark credit to the Latvian InvestmentBank to allow it to... MORE

As the Chechen fighting windsdown, Russians in Saint Petersburg have erected the first monumentto Soviet troops who died fighting in Afghanistan, Interfax reportedAugust 2. The temporary monument is made of gypsum; organizershope to raise $40,000 to erect a bronze obelisk. Moscow's Chechens Demand End to... MORE

In a meetingwith Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, representatives of Chechens livingin the Russian capital demanded an end to discrimination againsttheir community, Russian radio reported August 4. Among theircomplaints: police harassment and special and excessive chargesfor North Caucasians seeking residence permits in the city. Luzhkov,who himself... MORE

Russianconsumers--both individuals and enterprises--currently owe theRussian energy industry more than $5 billion, Interfax reportedAugust 3. As a result, the industry cannot pay its suppliers andeven more cannot make repairs need before demand rises in thewinter. Consequently, the system is likely to break down laterthis year... MORE

Having concluded that Moscow's recent decree on licensingthe production and distribution of alcoholic beverages was pushingthe local wine industry toward bankruptcy, officials in Krasnodarkray said they would unilaterally suspend the decree for theirregion, Segodnya reported August 3. Such a step is notunique, but it does... MORE

Efforts by the defense ministryto draft reservists into active service and to draft recent graduatesinto the army have failed almost completely, Moskovsky komsomoletsreported August 2. In the first case, the ministry was ableto attract only one of the 216 people it had planned for; in... MORE

Soldiersserving in Chechnya told journalists that they wanted to talkto them in order to detail the hardships they are facing, Ostankinotelevision reported August 3. Among their complaints was low pay.Soldiers receive about $8 a month for service there; officersaverage $60 a month. A Monument to... MORE

Boris Yeltsin vetoed ameasure that would have set standards for the trading of stocksand bonds because it failed to define certain key terms, his officetold Interfax August 2. As a result, Russia remains without aclear legal framework for securities trading. Yeltsin Rejects Welfare Measure.