A lieutenant serving in a unit deployed near the town of Ussuriisk in the Russian Far East committed suicide on July 20. A Defense Ministry source cited the officer's "desperate financial situation." The same source said that 39 servicemen in the Ground Forces had died... MORE

Ukraine's foreign trade turnover fell 7 percent in the first half of 1997, standing at $18 billion, with a deficit of $849 million. However, although trade with the former Soviet Union was down 20 percent, trade with other countries rose 7.4 percent. (InfoBank, July 21)... MORE

On July 18 the Ukrainian parliament failed to ratify a $17 million low-interest loan from the World Bank which was intended to fund housing construction in Lviv, Odessa, and Kharkiv. Deputies fell to bickering over why those cities were chosen. (InfoBank, July 18) Shevardnadze Discusses... MORE

Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze yesterday conferred in New York with UN secretary general Kofi Annan and ambassadors of UN Security Council member countries. The talks focused on internationalizing efforts toward conflict settlement in Abkhazia, where Russia is currently the sole diplomatic mediator and source of... MORE

At an enlarged session of Azerbaijan's cabinet of ministers yesterday, President Haidar Aliev decried the "pressing" experienced by foreign and Azerbaijani businessmen from state officials who extort bribes and otherwise abuse their powers for personal gain. Citing businessmen's complaints, Aliev charged that the "epidemic [of... MORE

Unocal, Exxon, Mobil, Chevron, Dresser, Case, and Coca-Cola are among the U.S. firms that have founded a council to promote U.S. investment in, and trade with, Turkmenistan. Unocal chairs the joint body. The same company heads a consortium that plans to lay oil and gas... MORE

Despite last-minute efforts by local officials to block the deal, on July 18 the sale of a 40 percent stake in the Tyumen Oil Corporation (TNK), Russia's fifth largest oil company, went ahead as planned. (See Monitor, July 14) As anticipated, Alfa Bank won the... MORE

On July 21 First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov and Atomic Energy Minister Viktor Mikhailov met with US energy secretary Federico Pena and signed an agreement on handling nuclear materials. (RTR, July 22) Details of the talks were not available, but must have involved the... MORE

Russia's Security Council met yesterday to consider the conflict between North Ossetia and its north Caucasus neighbor, Ingushetia. (RTR, July 21) Regional leaders and the Russian media have warned recently that tensions between Ossetians and Ingush in North Ossetia's Prigorodny district are close to a... MORE

President Boris Yeltsin yesterday called on the Defense Ministry leadership to be more active in selling the country's military reform program to the Russian public. In remarks to the press that preceded his meeting with Defense Minister Igor Sergeev, Yeltsin asked why authoritative figures from... MORE