The International Monetary Fund and the European Commission have attacked recent decision by the Russian and Ukrainian governments to attract direct foreign investment into their automobile industries. Although countries with large domestic markets can sometimes turn the rules of international trade to their advantage, developments... MORE

One gesture towards more open corporate governance came on February 17, when the Federal Securities Commission announced it was annulling the December 17 issue of convertible bonds by the Sidanko oil company (which is 85 percent owned by Oneksimbank). Foreign investors who owned four percent... MORE

Russian President Boris Yeltsin set off a fresh flurry of speculation yesterday when he warned that ministers may be sacked when he holds his long-awaited meeting February 26 with the government. At the meeting, which had to be postponed several times last year because of... MORE

Not unexpectedly, Russian leaders across the political spectrum voiced strong praise for the preliminary agreement reached yesterday between Iraqi authorities and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Russian officials also made clear their belief that Moscow had played a key role in the efforts leading to... MORE

The United Tajik Opposition favors postponing a national decision on whether Tajikistan is to become a secular or an Islamic state, UTO first deputy chairman Akbar Turajonzoda stated yesterday. While calling for removal of the term "secular state" from the constitution, "so as to adjust... MORE

In Kyiv on February 18 through 20, Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin conferred with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister Valery Pustovoytenko and attended a session of the intergovernmental commission on bilateral economic cooperation. The prime ministers initialed a comprehensive cooperation program for the... MORE

Latvian Foreign Ministry chief spokesman Andrejs Pildegovics on February 20 ruled out any extension of the Russian lease to the Skrunda anti-missile early warning radar station. The spokesman indicated that Latvia intends, in accordance with the lease contract, to begin decommissioning the station after the... MORE

Ukrainian Prime Minister Valery Pustovoitenko on Saturday announced that a guided-missile cruiser once destined for the Soviet Navy would be finished and taken over by the Ukrainian Navy. He was speaking to the workers at the 61 Communards Shipyard in Mikolayiv where the ship was... MORE

Visiting the Crimean port-city of Sevastopol on February 21, Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov reiterated his controversial claim that Sevastopol should be returned to Russia, to which it belonged until 1954. "Moscow has not abandoned Sevastopol," Luzhkov told local residents. Luzhkov was in Sevastopol, the main... MORE

Tokyo and Moscow ended three years of what were at times acrimonious negotiations when Japanese Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi and Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov signed, on February 21, an agreement regulating fishing for Japanese boats in the waters off the disputed Kuril... MORE