–CHECHEN ADMINISTRATION SHAKE-UP

According to reports received as this issue of Chechnya Weekly went to press, Akhmad Kadyrov, the head of the Moscow-appointed administration in Chechnya, has fired his entire cabinet along with heads of local administrations in Chechnya. Interfax reported that Kadyrov reappointed Anatoly Popov as prime minister, and instructed him to suggest candidates for the various cabinet ministries. The website Grani.ru wrote that Kadyrov had cleared his decision with Viktor Kazantsev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal representative in the southern federal okrug. Among the casualties of the shakeup was Grozny Mayor Oleg Zhidkov. According to the Associated Press, he has often come into conflict with Kadyrov.

–SETBACK FOR BUDANOV