Ukraine's Interbank Currency Exchange Chairman, Vadim Hetman, was assassinated last night at the entrance to his home in downtown Kyiv. The authorities have no immediate explanation for the murder. (Itar-Tass, April 23) A wealthy financier, Hetman was also a powerful political figure and headed the... MORE

The fallout has continued in recent days over a reported Japanese proposal that would transfer the disputed South Kuril Islands from Russia to Japan by redrawing the Japanese-Russian border. The proposal was said to have been made by Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto during his... MORE

Dushanbe law enforcement authorities have decided to treat last January's rail collision in Leninabad region as a premeditated act of sabotage. The authorities announced on April 20 that they had recently detained three local suspects, who will stand trial in the Leninabad regional court. Seventeen... MORE

President Saparmurat Niazov arrived on April 19 in the United States, where his official visit begins today. Niazov has already held talks in New York and Washington with top executives of Amoco, UNOCAL, Shell, Bechtel, and other companies. The U.S. government has agreed to finance... MORE

Turkmen authorities yesterday released Abdy Kuliev, whom they had arrested on April 17 when Kuliev landed at Ashgabat airport arriving from Moscow. Kuliev, who was Foreign Minister of the Turkmen SSR and of Turkmenistan from 1990 to 1992, resigned and moved to Russia, acquired Russian... MORE

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev yesterday appointed Muhtar Ablazov as minister for energy, industry and trade; and Nurlan Kapparov as president of the main state oil company, Kazakhoil. These appointees replace, respectively, Asygat Zhabagin and Baltabek Kuandykov, who were released without a direct explanation. Nazarbaev announced... MORE

Interviewed by Radio Liberty yesterday, Armenia's new Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian stated that "Hai Dat"--the Armenian Cause--will become one of the main directions in the foreign policy of the new government. "It will not be the only axis in the country's foreign policy; work will... MORE

"Dniester republic" leader Igor Smirnov left yesterday for Moscow on "medical leave" due to what is officially diagnosed as "cardiac insufficiency." Smirnov's deputy Aleksandr Karaman will act as interim "president" of Transdniester during Smirnov's absence. The move occurs in the midst of a dispute between... MORE

Ukraine's political situation in the wake of the March 29 elections is stable, but the country's political system may not be able to generate the decisive leadership needed to introduce the economic reforms the country urgently needs. This was the general conclusion of the specialists... MORE

The 1994 parliamentary election was under a majoritarian electoral system, with two rounds of voting for each seat. Under the new electoral law, which is the same as that used in Russia, half the parliament's 450 seats are allotted to party lists and half to... MORE