Presidential advisor Andrei Illarionov made headlines on May 30 by claiming that Russia had attracted US$10 billion in foreign investment during the first quarter of the year (AP, May 30). The CBR's balance of payments data, however, show Illarionov's claim to have been wide of... MORE

Moving in tandem, Presidents Alyaksandr Lukashenka of Belarus and Vladimir Putin of Russia are setting the stage for sealing the Russia-Belarus Union with a show of parliamentary approval. On July 13, Lukashenka decreed that parliamentary elections be held in Belarus on October 15, one month... MORE

On July 13, Ukraine's parliament (the Verkhovna Rada) made a first, if tentative and ironic, step toward reducing its own powers. The proposed constitutional amendments--which President Leonid Kuchma introduced to, and were endorsed by, a nationwide referendum on April 16--are not yet ratified, however. The... MORE

Ukraine has essentially doubled the figures in its forecasts for economic growth and inflation for 2000, according to an interview the Deputy Prime Minister Yury Yekhanurov gave Reuters on July 12. The government now expects GDP to grow 2.5-3.0 percent this year, in contrast to... MORE

Last month, Ukraine's Black Sea coast was the scene of Cooperative Partner-2000, a naval and amphibious exercise, the largest yet conducted by NATO forces in a post-Soviet country (see the Monitor, June 26; Fortnight in Review, July 7). Peace-Shield-2000 has been underway at the Yavoriv... MORE

The unprecedented struggle within Russia's military high command which erupted in public view last week continued to intensify into the weekend and, if Russian reports are to be believed, compelled President Vladimir Putin to meet with his feuding defense minister and general staff chief on... MORE

All of these developments had to be an unwelcome and even embarrassing distraction for Vladimir Putin. The Russian president was preparing over the weekend for a crucial visit to Asia which will take him this week to China (for summit talks with President Jiang Zemin),... MORE

Akhmad Kadyrov, head of Chechnya's administration, signed a decree last week naming Bislan Gantemirov his first deputy (Russian agencies, July 13). The Monitor has already frequently written about Gantemirov's contradictory career (November 11, 24, 29; December 9, 21, 23, 1999; February 3, 8, 11, 17;... MORE

Boris Berezovsky was reportedly questioned for two hours on July 14 by Nikolai Volkov, the man in charge of the Prosecutor General's Office's probe into the alleged embezzlement of funds from Aeroflot, Russia's state airline (Russian agencies, July 16). Reports of the interrogation followed the... MORE

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin's efforts to convince Russians and the international community that he is serious about fighting corruption and driving the "oligarchs" out of the corridors of power are likely to be complicated by a store which broke over the weekend in Europe.... MORE