Russia's Gazprom natural gas monopoly has apparently agreed to accept Belarusan government bonds as compensation for a major part of the $270 million in arrears that Minsk has accumulated for gas imports. (Russian agencies, April 21) As such, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's governments seems to have... MORE

The Moldovan parliament is completing the formation of the new bodies of power following the recent parliamentary elections. Following last week's election of Dumitru Diacov as chairman of parliament (see The Monitor, April 23, 24), the legislature this week elected Iurie Rosca and Valeriu Matei... MORE

The go-getting governor of Saratov Oblast, Dmitry Ayatskov, is leaving the "Russia Is Our Home" (NDR) movement to set up a party of his own which, he says, will defend the interests of Russia's regions. (Komsomolskaya pravda, April 29) Ayatskov made the announcement following last... MORE

Russian President Boris Yeltsin yesterday ordered the elimination of the Ministry for Cooperation with CIS Countries from the structure of Russian government. The measure is included in a presidential decree on the organization of executive power. Announcing the decree, Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko stated that... MORE

The coalition government under Guntars Krasts, caught between Russian pressure and an internal political challenge, won a key test yesterday. The parliament rejected a no-confidence motion against the government and then approved the government's nominal composition, following changes negotiated in the last few days by... MORE

Last week, the latest version in the highly successful MiG-29 jet fighter series had its maiden flight at the Zhukovsky air base near Moscow. Funding for the development of this MiG-29SMT was said to be provided by the state-owned arms export company Rosvooruzhenie--indicating that the... MORE

Russian Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko announced several more ministerial appointments yesterday. Most important was that of Oleg Sysuev as the third deputy prime minister, to take charge of social issues. Sysuev joins Deputy Premiers Boris Nemtsov (who is, Kirienko said, taking responsibility for "reforms and... MORE

Customs data reported by the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations (excluding individual traders) during the first two months of 1998 indicate that Russia's trade with other CIS countries increased by some 3.7 percent, relative to the same period in 1997. Along with a 1.3 percent... MORE

Diplomatic sources at the United Nations reportedly indicated yesterday that Moscow has retreated from its call last week for a UN resolution to scale back inspections of nuclear facilities by UN inspectors in Iraq. Instead, the diplomatic sources say, Moscow is calling for a joint... MORE

Former First Deputy Premier Anatoly Chubais has been appointed chief executive of United Energy Systems (UES), the giant monopoly that produces 77 percent of Russia's electricity. Chubais had been angling for the job even before President Boris Yeltsin dismissed him from the government in March.... MORE