Russian space officials--and some Western ones as well-- undoubtedly heaved some sighs of relief last week after the successful launch of a Zenit space booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Aboard were six satellites from Russia, Australia, Chile, Germany, Israel and Thailand. Touted as... MORE

The second of two missile early-warning satellites failed recently, seriously degrading Russia's ability to detect a missile attack. (Kommersant-daily, July 15) The Kosmos-2350 satellite was launched into geostationary orbit on April 29, carrying one of Russia's second generation early warning spacecraft--the 3,000-kilogram "Prognoz" satellite, which... MORE

Specialists are predicting that more than one-third of this year's harvest in Russia will be lost due to bad weather conditions. A late spring was followed by a severe drought that began in April and deepened by June, affecting thirty-five regions and devastating 20 percent... MORE

After meeting in Moscow yesterday with the governor of Tomsk Oblast, Viktor Kress, President Yeltsin promised to send Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Sysuev to Kemerovo Oblast "today or tomorrow" to try to persuade striking coal miners to remove their pickets from the Trans-Siberian railway. Kress... MORE

Russia's Gazprom monopoly has given Moldova until August 1 to pay its arrears, and to do so in cash, not in commodities. The arrears are variously estimated at US$300-500 million (depending on what is factored in). Moldova's Deputy Prime Minister Ion Sturza, departing yesterday for... MORE

Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council and the Kyiv-based International Center for Policy Studies held a conference yesterday: "The Ukrainian Route for Caspian Oil to Europe." Oil and Gas Committee Deputy Chairman Valery Shuliko, head of the government's task force for the project, argued that... MORE

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze yesterday underwent surgery to remove, according to two versions, either a medium-sized kidney stone or a prostate adenoma. German and Georgian doctors performed the surgery at the Tbilisi Military Hospital. The President's chief spokesman, Vahtang Abashidze, described the surgery as minor... MORE

The Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan has ratified the production sharing contract to develop the Kurdashi offshore oilfield. The consortium is comprised of Azerbaijan's State Oil Company, Italy's Agip, Japan's Mitsui, Spain's Repsol and Turkish Petroleum. Their respective stakes are 50 percent, 25 percent, 15 percent,... MORE

President Saparmurat Niazov told the Turkmen People's Council yesterday that he has sent a message to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, asking him to speed up the repayment of Russia's debts to Turkmenistan. Niazov termed "unacceptable" Yeltsin's proposal to repay the US$107 million debt mostly through... MORE

At a meeting just held in Almaty, Kazakh Prime Minister Nurlan Balgimbaev and representatives of leading Western oil companies discussed ways to cope with massive cost overruns on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's (CPC) export pipeline project. The pipeline would run from Kazakhstan's giant Tengiz oilfield... MORE