An intense fight is going on behind the scenes over which firms will be exempted from further privatization plans and which ones will be put on the block, Segodnya reported June 17. Various government agencies composed a list of some 2,000 firms that would not... MORE

General Motors is close to an agreement with the Russian car firm ELAZ to produce 600,000 Chevy Blazers and 300,000 engines in Russia annually, Wards Automotive International reported June 19. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz reached a similar production accord with another spin-off of the Kamaz truck manufacturer,... MORE

The World Health Organization said June 19 that a diphtheria epidemic in Russia and the other former Soviet republics now threatens Europe, Moscow radio reported. The WHO said that the number of diphtheria cases in that region had risen from 2000 in 1991 to an... MORE

Alfons Noviks, 87, is now being tried for his role in deporting more than 60,000 Latvians during Stalin's rule, BNS reported June 19. Noviks, who headed the republic's NKVD (the predecessor to the KGB) from 1940 to 1953, denied that he had been responsible for... MORE

Leaders of the Lithuanian conservatives, who won the local elections earlier this year, charged June 19 that the central Lithuanian government was doing all it could to weaken the powers of the local and regional governments, BNS reported. Specifically, they said that the new law... MORE

Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko may only be looking east, but the country's bankers are seeking to link the country to the West as well. On June 19, the country's largest bank, Prior Bank, opened a branch in the Polish capital to promote trade and investment... MORE

Ukrainian gold mines around Kirovohrad should produce 15 tons annually by 2005, President Leonid Kuchma said on Ukrainian television June 18. He said that this unexpected windfall will help Ukraine through its "difficult times." Rich veins of gold have been found at 238 sites throughout... MORE

Ukrainian officials were angry at the G-7 for failing to come up with the additional money that Ukraine had requested to close down the damaged Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Kiev radio reported June 18. One official said that the Halifax decision showed that the world... MORE

Maj. Gen. Yuri Popov, commander of the 59th guards division within the 14th Russian army, began a hunger strike June 19 to protest Moscow's "unlawful dismissal" of Lt. Gen. Aleksandr Lebed, Flux and Basarpress reported. His demands include the reinstatement of the controversial commander, guarantees... MORE

Russian radio on June 18 reported that Yeltsin had said that Russia is "not in a position to keep the 14th army in the Transdniestr for an extended period [because] it is a burden to our taxpayers and, in addition, our current military doctrine calls... MORE