Intelligence service chiefs of all 12 member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States signed a joint cooperation agreement on combatting organized crime, terrorism, arms and drug trafficking and other cross-border crimes, Izvestiya reported June 3. In addition to being one of the few CIS... MORE

Under the terms of a series of agreements signed between Kazan and Ankara, Turkey will expand its investment in Tatarstan, and will open a consulate there, Delovoy mir reported June 3. While many Tatar nationalists want independence and an embassy, this new Turkish presence in... MORE

Only three days after the flap about whether Moscow would impose a gag order on official crop estimates, another reason has emerged for such a rule: a worldwide shortage of grain this year. In a widely-reported study, the International Wheat Council said June 5 that... MORE

The ruble rose to 4943 to the dollar June 5, its best showing in two months. Kommersant-Daily on June 3 suggested that the Russian authorities had talked the ruble up and that it would fall after the G-7 meetings in Halifax later this month because... MORE

New draft economics legislation may restrict Western investment still further. One law being considered would force joint ventures to pay taxes quarterly, rather than annually as they do now, Ekonomika i zhizn reported May 27. In an inflationary environment, that represents a significant increase in... MORE

Russian foreign trade minister Oleg Davydov told Moscow television June 5 that the Paris Club of creditor countries had rescheduled $7 billion of the $8 billion in debt service Moscow owes to foreign states this year, and had agreed to hold meetings this fall to... MORE

In order to improve tax collections, the city government of Moscow has ordered that all liquor be sold through state-owned stores, Moskovsky komsomolets reported June 3. The program is likely to backfire: most retailers will ignore it, and many foreign investors will see in this... MORE

Segodnya reported June 1 that Moscow is unlikely to privatize the Russian Savings Bank until the year 2000, and a report in Moskovskie novosti (no. 38) suggests why that delay may be necessary. The Moscow weekly carried an interview that the president of the Stolichny... MORE

Representatives from all three Baltic countries will participate in NATO's Baltic Sea maneuver BALTOPS-95 June 6-7, BNS reported June 5. The operation is designed to promote both transparency among the various national forces and cooperation among the countries. Estonia Seeks to Join EFTA.

Estonian officials will meet officials of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) in Bergen June 13-14 to begin discussions on Estonian accession to that group. According to BNS June 5, 30 percent of Estonia's exports and 40 percent of its imports result from trade with... MORE