UKRAINE SUSPENDS PRIVATIZATION OF OIL AND GAS COMPANIES.

Ukraine’s State Property Fund has temporarily suspended its plans for privatizing Ukrgazprom gas company and the Ukrneft oil corporation. Sources cited Ukrgazprom’s failure to prepare the necessary documents for the sale of shares. The Ukrainian government owns 100 percent of the gas concern and 60 percent of Ukrneft’s shares. (9)

Fighting Subsides in Gudermes, Spreads Elsewhere in Chechnya.