In an address to Russia's Federation Council on December 22, nine days before his appointment as acting president of Russia, Vladimir Putin surveyed Russia's relations with what he termed "our former republics"--the countries of the Council of Independent States. Putin mentioned three levels of "integration"... MORE

The U.S. State Department ended months of speculation in late December by intervening in a high-profile dispute between Russia's Tyumen Oil Company (TNK) and a group of foreign investors led by BP-Amoco. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright formally blocked a US$500 million loan package for... MORE

Russia's balance of payments data also show large capital outflows continuing in 1999. An unbroken string of net capital inflows, averaging US$6.7 billion per quarter, were reported from the second quarter of 1997 through the third quarter of 1998. Since then, net outflows on Russia's... MORE

The Russian Central Bank (RCB) on December 31 released data on Russia's balance of payments during the first three quarters of 1999 (Bank of Russia, December 31, 1999). It also released revised BOP data for the 1994-1998 period. Contrary to the up-beat rhetoric of some... MORE

Despite continuing recriminations over both Russia's war in Chechnya and a host of other divisive international and bilateral issues, Moscow and Washington managed at least one act of fruitful cooperation over the New Year holiday: the joint manning of a temporary "early warning" center designed... MORE

The Federation Council voted yesterday overwhelmingly--145 to 1--to approve the recommendation of its constitutional law committee to hold the presidential election on Sunday, March 26. Afterwards, Aleksandr Veshnyakov, chairman of the Central Election Committee (CEC), announced that today (January 6) would mark the start of... MORE

On December 29, during the year-end meeting of the People's Council and with its approval, Niazov signed a decree which replaces the Russian-Cyrillic script with the Latin as the official script of the Turkmen language. A specially formed interdepartmental commission will oversee the transition, which... MORE

On December 27, Niazov decreed the abolition of capital punishment, making Turkmenistan the first post-Soviet Central Asian country to take that step. In his addresses to the parliament and the People's Council, Niazov announced a number of economic measures ranging from populist pledges to utopian... MORE

On December 28, 1999, President Saparmurat Niazov of Turkmenistan had himself appointed "leader and president for life" by the country's parliament. The legislature, whose fifty members are for all intents and purposes the president's nominees, passed unanimously a constitutional law which extends Niazov's presidential term... MORE

Sergeev also lashed the West during his visit to Yugoslavia for its failure to back Moscow's bloody war against Chechen rebels. Replying in particular to criticism of the Chechnya campaign voiced by U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen on December 22, Sergeev said that what Moscow... MORE