Drug smugglingthrough Russia has increased 4.5 times over the past decade,the chief of the interior ministry's internationaldepartment told Russian radio June 22. Valeri Gorchakov saidthat up to 90 percent of the drugs flow through channelsknown to the authorities. Mafia Increases its Control of Businesses, Banks.

Accordingto Russia's interior ministry, there were 1300 organizedcriminal groups in Russia in 1994, Kommersant (no. 20)reported. These gangs controlled 48,000 commercialenterprises, 1500 government-owned concerns, and 800 banks,an increase in their stake of 50 percent over the yearbefore. Similar increases are being seen this year, theinterior... MORE

There has been a"battle of titans" in Daghestan, Vechernyaya Kazan saidMay 30. The Tatarstan paper noted that the mafia and thenomenklatura had fought it out in recent elections in thesouthern Russian republic; not surprisingly, the paper said,the nomenklatura had won the elections, but the mafia... MORE

Vyacheslav Ivankov--known as the "Japanese"--who wasarrested last month in New York, had laundered money throughMoscow's Chara Bank, Russian NTV reported June 22. The bank,which includes among its depositors many of Russia's mostprominent officials, was involved in a major scandal earlierthis year: it declared bankruptcy and... MORE

The rise of theruble against the dollar has yet another consequence: areduction in Moscow's revenues from the export of oil,Kommersant-Daily reported June 23. Because Moscow has earnedsome $3 billion in oil revenues this year, and because oilprices are denominated in dollars, this is an increasingworry... MORE

Organizes. Former, and perhapspresent, members of the security services have set up asecret union, Moscow radio reported June 23. Earlier,veterans of internal security forces had established a500,000-man organization very publicly, Trud reported May16. Balancing these two groups is a Union of Organizationsof Political Repressions, which... MORE

The Union of Soviet Stalinists, theBolshevik Platform of the CPSU, and other extremenationalist groups staged an alternative victory daydemonstration in Moscow's Theater Square, Russian televisionreported June 24. The speakers to the small gathering calledfor a struggle against foreigners and especially Americans.In a related development, Vladimir... MORE

Moskovsky komsomolets said June 23 that only the Balticcountries had benefited from the collapse of the USSR. Allother former republics have suffered from economic decline,political instability, and often violence, the paper said. Estonian Parliament to Consider Amendments to Aliens Law.

Estonia's parliament will meet in extraordinary session June27-28 to consider amendments to the country's law on aliens,BNS reported June 23. The government-proposed amendments,which sought to regularize the status of aliens who have notregistered by the July 12 deadline, were blocked by theopposition parties. Russian Planes... MORE

TwoRussian planes violated Lithuanian airspace June 22, BNSreported. The latest violations came as Vilnius prepared newrules for the use of its airspace--they will be universal,except that Russian pilots will not be expected to speakEnglish--and as US undersecretary of defense Walter Slocombevisited the Lithuanian capital. Several... MORE