Moscow prosecutors have opened acriminal case against the Russian arms export agency Rosvooruzheniye for taxevasion, Russian radio reported May 16. The agency--which has come underattack for failing to maintain Russian arms sales abroad--denied that therehad been any intent to violate the law; it acknowledged, however,... MORE

Bad government decisions rather than badweather will lead to another decline in agricultural production in 1995. TheRussian Federation produced 81 million tons of grain in 1994, down 18% from1993, and the amount will fall still further this year, BWW reported May 17.As a result, Moscow... MORE

The Moscow city Duma has urged MayorLuzhkov to drop plans to close half of the capital's 12,000 kiosks, Biznessegodnya reported May 16. Not only do these small stores provide essentialservices to urban neighborhoods, the city council said, they also provide alarge number of well-paying jobs.... MORE

In 1994, therewere 12,000 crimes against foreigners in the Russian Federation, a rise of 5%over the number in 1993, BWW reported May 17. But crimes byforeigners--mostly citizens of former Soviet republics--numbered 27,000, anincrease of more than 60% from the year before. Nonetheless, the businessweekly said,... MORE

At aministerial-level meeting in Novosibirsk this week, Germany and Russia agreedto build more housing in 1995 for ethnic Germans still living in the RussianFederation, Moscow radio reported May 15. Moscow will contribute $10 millionand Germany will spend $100 million. The German government said it wantedRussian... MORE

Russian border guards chiefGeneral Andrei Nikolayev told Pravda May 16 that Moscow will "create" Cossacksettlements around the periphery of the country and give them "appropriaterights" to help guard the country's borders. (Moscow radio reported the sameday that the Duma security committee was preparing legislation on... MORE

A survey of Russiangenerals suggests they believe NATO forces would mobilize five divisions ifMoscow threatened to use force in the Baltic countries to defend ethnicRussians there, Nezavisimaya gazeta reported May 17. As in 1990 when theSoviet general staff had decided, long before the Soviet political... MORE

Kaliningrad officials have urged Moscow to invest in itsports in order to "enable Russia in the very near future to partially dowithout the services of the costly ports" in the Baltic countries, Segodnyareported May 17. The proposal came at a meeting in Kaliningrad between localleaders... MORE

When Estonia's new ambassadorMart Helme presented his credentials in Moscow May 16, Russian PresidentBoris Yeltsin said that relations with Estonia could improve if Tallinn wouldbe more cooperative, BNS reported. Relations between Tallinn and Moscow havebeen frosty in recent months with each responding harshly to comments... MORE

Lithuanianofficials reported that they had found in a church a large archive on theactivities of the Armija Krajowa during World War II, BNS reported May 17.The news service said that the archive contains materials showing that thisPolish group cooperated with the Nazi occupation authorities and... MORE