On May 13 the Russian government approved a packet of 27 laws that are intended to double new house-building by 2010. The proposed laws include a new housing construction code, changes to the civil code and new legal protection for mortgage lending. The government plans... MORE

Saratov's chief prosecutor, Anatoly Bondar, announced on May 14 that criminal proceedings have been instituted against the region's governor, Dmitry Ayatskov, for abuse of power connected to the alleged misuse of 70 million rubles (US $2.4 million) in budgetary funds. Accusations against Ayatskov, who was... MORE

Having scheduled an early presidential election in Chechnya for September 5, the Kremlin appears to have opted for the continuation of its existing Chechenization policy in the wake of the assassination on May 9 of the pro-Moscow Chechen leader Akhmad Kadyrov. As many Russian policy... MORE

This week world oil prices hit their highest level since 1990 - more than US$40 a barrel for Brent crude, and US$35.70 a barrel for Russia's Urals blend. This is a result of continuing strong demand due to China's ongoing boom and the US economic... MORE

Yevgeny Loginov, director of international projects for Interenergoservis, said yesterday (May 13) that the company would evacuate all 340 of its employees working in Iraq if the fate of two of its employees recently kidnapped there is not determined in the immediate future (RIA Novosti,... MORE

On May 12, acting Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov took part in negotiations with Uzbek Minister of Defense Kadyr Gulomov regarding the military-technical cooperation taking place between their two countries. The defense ministers also discussed regional security issues on which Uzbekistan and Russia cooperate on... MORE

As the international community finds itself in a state of flux with the unprecedented global war on terror and the deepening crisis in Iraq, leading Moscow strategists are trying to define Russia's relations with the West, and in particular with the United States. At two... MORE

American and Japanese reports state that Russia is expected to join the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) against proliferation at sea and in the air. Russia's Foreign and Defense Ministries have also expressed a positive attitude toward this initiative. This move would, among other things, strike... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin secretly flew to Chechnya on the morning of May 11, announcing the visit only during a Cabinet meeting he chaired after returning to Moscow later in the day. While in Grozny, Putin presented the gold star-shaped Hero of Russia medal to... MORE

The murder of Akhmad Kadyrov, a former mufti turned politician handpicked by the Kremlin to lead the pro-Moscow administration in Chechnya (see yesterday's EDM), dealt a severe blow to the assertions of the Putin government that it had reestablished full control over the rebellious region.... MORE