News

In 2010, Armenia saw reduction of the level of dollarization by 3-4 percent, as Arthur Dzhavadyan, Chairman of the Central Bank, has summed up. According to his story, the reduction of the dollarization of the economy was reached by still slow but certain reduction of the current account deficit, as well as by neutralization of the dram devaluation.

In the course of a quarrel that burst out in a bar in the city of Volzhskiy, Volgograd Region, two men opened fire on the visitors. One person was killed and two more wounded. The gunmen were detained.

The TV Company "Maestro" will partially resume its broadcasting on January 10. However, no money for full-scale operation has been found yet.

The Lefortovo District Court of Moscow has extended the detention term of blogger Alaudin Dudko, also known under the nickname ingushetiya_ru, by three months more. The investigation into his case is still on.

Employees of the Nariman District Police Department of the city of Baku have detained Mokhsun Samedov, leader of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan (IPA), his driver Mirgusein Kazymov, Vagif Abdullaev, head of the organizational division of the IPA, and a member of the Party Elchin Gasanov.

On January 7, activists of opposition movements "Solidarity", "United Civil Front" and "Left-Wing Front" held solo pickets in support of political prisoners. The organizers report about militiamen's attempts to detain them.

The Christmas procession "Alilo", which has 15 centuries of history, was held on January 7 in Georgia. During the "Alilo" donations were gathered to be later distributed among orphanages, old-age homes, hospitals and needy families.

Twelve non-governmental organizations of Georgia have signed a joint statement with a demand that the Ministry of Interior Affairs and Prosecutor General's of Georgia should carry out an impartial investigation of dispersal of the veterans’ action in Tbilisi.

According to the spokesman of the Chechen Ministry of Labour, in 2011 the emphasis in the fight on unemployment will be placed on development of small businesses.

The People's Party, its supporters, as well as many of the viewers of the TV Channel "ALM", will continue their struggle for justice. This was stated by Tigran Karapetyan, leader of the People's Party and the owner of the "ALM", at a rally in Yerevan, where about one thousand persons gathered.

Valery Suchkov, a member of the Sochi City Planning Council and an active public figure, was hospitalized with traumas. He was told that he was hit by a car. Suchkov himself believes that he was a victim of an intentional attack.

The Russian officer Sergey Grachov, an employee at the Gabala Radar Station in Azerbaijan, was killed by his co-workers at night on January 1, after celebration of the New Year. His apartment was robbed, said a source from law enforcement bodies of Azerbaijan.

Excessively high accommodation rates of hotels, rest and guest houses of Armenia make the country unattractive for winter holidays. The "Caucasian Knot" learnt about it from the interpreter-guide Ovanes Karapetyan.

In 2010, Kabardino-Balkaria saw a marked splash of activities of the armed underground.

Preparation for the holiday was darkened by firing upon an Orthodox church in the stanitsa of Orjonikidzevskaya from a grenade launcher. None of the congregation or churchmen was injured.

In 2010, 1,8 billion rubles out of gratuitous financial aid from Russia for social and economic development were drawn in Abkhazia. Vested remainder for 2011 is equal to 1,2 billion rubles.

Military police of the town of Tavush, Armenia, is investigating an incident in one of the military units of Ijevan during which, according to two residents of Tavush district, the commander of the unit beat them up.

On the New Year days the state of "interethnic unrest" persisted in Russia; residents of Rostov-on-Don met 2011 with a communal disaster; Kuban residents congratulated President with a collective video appeal; human rights activists are unhappy with the New-Year amnesty announced in Azerbaijan, – look these and other events in the review of the week of December 27, 2010, to January 2, 2011, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

An unemployed resident of the Naur District of Chechnya and a militia officer, who served as an on duty officer of the temporary detention facility (known as "IVS") of the local ROVD (District Interior Division) are suspected of a large-scale fraud with the so-called "combat" payments, which amounted to 900,000 roubles. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed at the republic's law enforcement agencies that a criminal case was initiated against them.

The past 2010 was marked by many resonant trials, where natives of Southern Russia and the Caucasus were figurants; a full stop was put in many of them. Some of these trials were held abroad and acquired great public resonance because notable political figures were involved. Most often it concerned one of the regions of Russia - the Chechen Republic, which is still under close scrutiny of human rights defenders. Also, last year was marked by passing final decision on cases of Moscow-based groupings, which had been killing people of non-Slavic nationalities, by trials started in Northern Caucasus on murders of prominent people, as well as by further consideration in Kabardino-Balkaria case of the case dealing with attack on Nalchik in 2005.