GUDERMES-DJOHAR MOVE DELAYED.

The much-touted transfer of the pro-Moscow government of Chechnya from the city of Gudermes to Djohar has been delayed once again. It was to have occurred by April 15 at the latest. The reason cited on this occasion for the delay was that windows and doors needed for reconstruction of the new House of Government had been “held up for several days in one of the regions of the North Caucasus” (Lenta.ru, April 12). In a caustic report, the daily Kommersant had earlier noted that the residents of Djohar have “long gotten used” to such delays. The local inhabitants say, “Not one bureaucrat will move here from Gudermes while there is still shooting going on.” Other residents, however, say that the move will occur “as soon as the first funds arrive [from Moscow].” It will be as simple, they predict, for officials to embezzle funds earmarked for the destroyed capital as it was during the period of the 1994-1996 war (Kommersant, April 2).