Russian petroleum researcher Ivan Nesterov said that only 10 percent of the oil and 5 percent of the gas reserves in western Siberia has been extracted over the past 25 years, Trud reported April 29. As a result, the prospects for energy development there are... MORE

Valeriy Serov, Russian Minister for Cooperation with CIS Member States, told Kommersant-Daily May 3 that all discussions between Moscow and the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States concerning debt rescheduling and payment arrangements had been on a bilateral basis. Efforts to adopt a common,... MORE

Concerned about reports that Russian banks are shorting the ruble in anticipation of a further post-VE Day commemoration decline, the Russian finance ministry and central bank issued a statement pointing out that there were no objective reasons for a further decline, Kommersant-Daily reported May 3.... MORE

A Russian parliamentary delegation led by Duma speaker Ivan Rybkin visited Tokyo to push along the signing of a Russian-Japanese peace treaty, Kommersant-Daily reported May 3. But while Rybkin said that the accord was "95 percent" complete, there was no progress on the most important... MORE

In a detailed analysis of economic change in Russia, Leonid Kosals suggested in Znaniye-Sila (no. 3) that there is as yet little competition in the Russian market. Instead, he suggested, powerful, vertically integrated but informal "clans" dominate the situation, dividing up property and dealing with... MORE

Chechen President Dzhorkhar Dudayev appealed to the presidents, parliaments and governments of the three Baltic states to recognize his republic. The April 20 appeal, faxed to the three governments and made available by the Chechen Press Agency in Vilnius, suggested that the Baltic countries because... MORE

At the end of May or the beginning of June, leaders of the democratic movements in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine will meet to discuss future strategies. Among those who will attend the meeting are Z. Podznyak of Belarus, Yegor Gaidar of Russia, and V. Chornovil... MORE

Like neighboring Russia, Belarus has seen a decline in its population over the past year, according to a May 4 press release from the Belarusian embassy in Washington. The decline was relatively small, however, only 22,000. Belarus's population now stands at 10,297,000.

Two Ukrainian parliamentarians told Express-Khronika (no. 14) that Chechen President Dudayev's wife and children were now living in Ukraine. Dudayev's family earlier stayed behind in Estonia after Dudayev left the Soviet air force in 1991 and have lived outside Chechnya on many occasions since that... MORE

Georgian and Azerbaijani officials met in Baku to discuss the possibilities of building an oil pipeline from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey, the TURAN news agency said on May 2. Meanwhile, Russia, Greece, and Bulgaria agreed to construct a pipeline through the latter two countries... MORE