conomic disputes), judges are appointed by the Federation
Council on recommendation of the president

Political parties and leaders:
pro-market democrats: Our Home Is Russia, Viktor CHERNOMYRDIN;
Yabloko Bloc, Grigoriy YAVLINSKIY; Russia's Democratic Choice Party,
Yegor GAYDAR; Forward, Russia!, Boris FEDOROV
centrists/special interest parties: Congress of Russian Communities,
Yuriy SKOKOV; Women of Russia, Alevtina FEDULOVA and Yekaterina
LAKHOVA
anti-market and/or ultranationalist parties: Communist Party of the
Russian Federation, Gennadiy ZYUGANOV; Liberal Democratic Party of
Russia, Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKIY; Agrarian Party, Mikhail LAPSHIN;
Power To the People, Nikolay RYZHKOV and Sergey BABURIN; Russian
Communist Workers' Party, Viktor ANPILOV and Viktor TYULKIN
note: some 269 political parties, blocs, and associations tried to
gather enough signatures to run slates of candidates in the 17
December 1995 Duma elections; 43 succeeded

Other political or pressure groups: NA

International organization participation: BSEC, CBSS, CCC, CE,
CERN (observer), CIS, EBRD, ECE, ESCAP, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA,
IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarset, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM
(observer), ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MTCR, NACC, NSG, OAS (observer),
OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMIR, UNAVEM III, UNCRO,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIH, UNOMIG,
UNPREDEP, UNPROFOR, UNTSO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
(applicant), ZC

Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Yuliy Mikhaylovich VORONTSOV
chancery: 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007
telephone: [1] (202) 298-5700 through 5704
FAX: [1] (202) 298-5735
consulate(s) general: New York, San Francisco, and Seattle

US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas R. PICKERING
embassy: Novinskiy Bul'var 19/23, Moscow
mailing address: APO AE 09721
telephone: [7] (095) 252-24-51 through 59
FAX: [7] (095) 956-42-61
consulate(s) general: St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg

Flag: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red

Economy
-------

Economic overview: Russia, a vast country with a wealth of natural
resources, a well-educated population, and a diverse industrial
base, continues to experience formidable difficulties in moving from
its old centrally planned economy to a modern-market economy. The
br