. Russian president Boris Yeltsin on April 25 decreed substantial tax breaks for the international consortium that plans to build the Russian stretch of the Russia-Kazakstan oil pipeline. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium-Russia (Russian acronym: KTK-R) will be exempt from mandatory sales of hard-currency proceeds until... MORE

Russian president Boris Yeltsin has appointed First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov to be minister of fuel and energy. (Itar-Tass, April 24) Nemtsov has pledged to reform Russia's energy monopolies. His new appointment will facilitate that task by depriving the energy giants of their previous... MORE

Yevgeny Yasin, one of Russia's most prominent economists and presently minister without portfolio, has sharply criticized the proposal to unite Russia and Belarus. Yasin says the proposed union can be of no use or interest to anyone but politicians, and he argues in an interview... MORE

The Chechen authorities have announced that, as of April 24, they will shot down "any alien aircraft" that enters Chechen airspace without authorization" -- and not just military aircraft -- as was reported in the Monitor yesterday. The order was signed by Chechnya's acting president,... MORE

The impasse between Russian and U.S. negotiators over an exhibition showcasing a priceless collection of Romanov jewels and art objects continues in Washington. Money seems to be at the center of the dispute, and Russian deputy culture minister Pavel Khoroshilov warned in Moscow yesterday that... MORE

President Leonid Kuchma decreed yesterday the creation of a National Bureau of Investigations to combat official corruption and organized crime. The NBI will be staffed by the "best officers of the State Security Service and the Internal Affairs Ministry" and will rank above these agencies.... MORE

According to Armenia's official news agency, reporting from Istanbul, Turkey is worried that the agreement on Russian military basing rights in Armenia, just ratified by the Duma, exceeds the force limitations laid down in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. Turkey is particularly concerned... MORE

Kazakstan yesterday handed its electrical power transmission network over to the Swedish-Swiss company Asea Brown-Boveri under a 25-year concession agreement. ABB will operate the system, pay off its wage arrears, invest $1.4 billion in it, and collect 15 percent of net profits. ABB will sell... MORE

In an article headlined "Women of Easy Virtue to Show Patriotism," a Sevastopol paper on April 22 reported that prostitutes in the predominantly Russian Crimea had vowed they would "not offer their services to NATO sailors" during the upcoming Sea Breeze exercises. (Interfax, April 23)... MORE

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Defense Secretary William Cohen made an unusual joint appearance before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on April 23 as part of the Clinton Administration's efforts to win Congressional approval for NATO enlargement. Albright made clear in her remarks... MORE