Siberian coal miners are continuing to blockade the Trans-Siberian railway at Anzhero-Sudzhensk in Kemerovo Oblast in support of their demand for full payment of wage arrears, the resignation of President Boris Yeltsin and his government, and changes to the government's economic policies. The protesters refused... MORE

The management of Ukraine's Mikolayiv Alumina Plant has come out publicly against a proposed takeover by Russian business interests linked to CIS Executive Secretary Boris Berezovsky. According to MAP General Manager Vitaly Meshin, Berezovsky is behind the Siberian Aluminum (SIBALCO) consortium's offer of US$60 million... MORE

Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma yesterday decreed a tax reform in favor of small business. The decree introduces a single, fixed tax on individuals engaged in private business and another on firms with a maximum payroll of ten employees and an annual profit of up to... MORE

Russia's Defense Ministry announced yesterday that President Boris Yeltsin has appointed Vice-Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov as commander of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, based in Ukraine. Born in 1950 in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, and officially classified as an ethnic Ukrainian, Komoyedov served in the Soviet--later Russian--Baltic Fleet... MORE

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze announced yesterday on radio that he would ask law enforcement bodies to henceforth investigate "libelous accusations" against the state leadership and call their authors to account. "The cup of my patience is drying up," Shevardnadze warned. He accused unnamed "slanderers" of... MORE

The Armenian Defense Ministry's Budget Department chief, Colonel Mavrik Avetisian, has committed suicide on the eve of an overdue financial audit. He is said to have successfully stalled the audit for a long time. Following Avetisian's suicide last week, investigators have determined that large sums... MORE

The Supreme Court of Uzbekistan yesterday sentenced one defendant to death and seven others to prison terms ranging from three to ten years on charges of terrorism, possession of arms, drug dealing, attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, and complicity with Islamic militants in Afghanistan... MORE

A spy scandal between Moscow and Seoul erupted over the weekend as a South Korean diplomat was accused of illegal espionage activities and ordered to leave Russia within three days. Cho Sung Woo, identified as a councilor at the South Korean Embassy in Moscow, was... MORE

Russia's controversial US$200 million deal to sell S-300 air defense missiles to Cyprus was back in the news over the weekend as Russian reports suggested that delivery of the missiles to Cyprus might be postponed. The deal, which was finalized early last year, has been... MORE

On July 4, Interior Ministry troops moved in to prevent attempts by striking coal miners to block the Trans-Siberian railroad at two points in the Kuzbass, Russia's main coal-producing region. Miners had blocked stations in the towns of Anzhero-Sudzhensk and Yurga and were allowing only... MORE