On July 7, the formal ceremony will take place in Vilnius at which the Lithuanian government will sell a 60 percent stake in Lietuvos Telecom (LT) to Amber Teleholdings, a partnership of Finland's Sonera and the Swedish Telia. The buyers will pay US$510 million, less... MORE

The government of Belarus has given Western governments until today to commit themselves to removing all furnishings from the diplomatic residences in Minsk's Drazdy compound. In case of noncompliance, Belarusan authorities will enter the diplomatic residences, remove the furnishings, and take control of the buildings.... MORE

Oleksandr Tkachenko was elected yesterday to the powerful post of chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) with 232 votes, barely above the 226 he needed in the 450-seat body. Most deputies of national-democratic and pro-presidential groups boycotted the voting. Observers seem to have lost count... MORE

In addition to substantial out-migration (See the Monitor, May 26) and repatriation (See the Monitor, January 30), Kazakhstan is grappling with two other population movements: refugees and guest-workers. The plight of both is currently being assessed by Kazakhstan's Agency for Migration and Demography, according to... MORE

Russian economic policy continues to take bizarre twists and turns. Last week, Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko triggered considerable confusion by launching--and then apparently withdrawing--a challenge to Gazprom. Just a week before, the annual meeting of the Gazprom shareholders had passed off without incident, with Rem... MORE

That the state tries to "beat out money" (a Nemtsov phrase) from Gazprom is nothing new. The same thing happened last year. Government revenues are slow in the first half of the year, but expenditures continue, and by June, a crisis is reached. In June... MORE

An intense weekend of diplomatic arm-twisting by Russia and the United States failed to resolve the Kosovo conflict on two counts. Yugoslav and Kosovo Albanian leaders did not sit together at the negotiating table. Neither were Moscow and Washington able to fully resolve their policies... MORE

As expected, the South Korean Foreign Ministry today demanded an explanation from Moscow over events connected with the detainment and expulsion from Russia of Cho Sung-woo, a South Korean diplomat who was declared persona non grata by Moscow on July 6 for activities incompatible with... MORE

In its latest report, published today, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe gives an upbeat assessment of progress in the Central and Eastern European transition economies in the first half of this year. It warns, however, that the region as a whole is threatened... MORE

The Russian government's hopes of earning badly needed cash by selling Rosneft, the largest oil company still in state hands, received a serious setback yesterday when Russia's largest private bank, Oneksim, announced that it will not be bidding in the sale. (ORT, July 6) Oneksim's... MORE