By empty (12/13/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The former prime minister and finance minister of Ajaria, respectively Revaz Shamilishvili and Yasha Chavleishvili, were detained on Sunday evening in an autonomous region of Georgia. The local prosecutor\'s office told Interfax they are charged with abuse of power and large-scale damage to the state. They are accused of spending over $500,000 from the budget of Ajaria on actions supporting former Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze in Tbilisi in Autumn 2003.

By empty (12/13/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

An investigation conducted by the Russian Audit Chamber and the Interior Ministry Department for Economic Crime has established that since the election of former FSB General Murat Zyazikov as Ingushetian president in 2002, the government of Ingushetia has used millions of rubles of budget funds for unsanctioned purposes, extended new loans to heavily indebted enterprises, and condoned the embezzlement of funds intended for housing displaced persons, ingushetia.ru reported on 10 December quoting a letter from a senior Interior Ministry official to Ingushetian opposition parliamentarian Musa Ozdoev. Ozdoev has repeatedly written to President Putin to complain of high-level corruption in Ingushetia, which receives massive subsidies from the federal budget.

By empty (12/13/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Sergei Mironov, chairman of Russia\'s Federation Council, met with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev in Astana on 13 December. Mironov praised bilateral cooperation, noting that trade between the two countries will reach $7 billion in 2004. He also urged the creation of a parliament for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan).