Legal system: based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Boris Nikolayevich YEL'TSIN (since 12 June
1991); election last held 12 June 1991 (next to be held NA 1996);
results - percent of vote by party NA; note - no vice president; if
the president dies in office, cannot exercise his powers because of
ill health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier succeeds him; the
premier serves as acting president until a new presidential election
is held, which must be within three months
head of government: Premier and Chairman of the Council of Ministers
Viktor Stepanovich CHERNOMYRDIN (since 14 December 1992); First Deputy
Chairmen of the Council of Ministers Oleg SOSKOVETS (since 30 April
1993) and Anatoliy CHUBAYS (since 5 November 1994)
Security Council: originally established as a presidential advisory
body in June 1991, but restructured in March 1992 with responsibility
for managing individual and state security
Presidential Administration: drafts presidential edicts and provides
staff and policy support to the entire executive branch
cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the president
Group of Assistants: schedules president's appointments, processes
presidential edicts and other official documents, and houses the
president's press service and primary speechwriters
Council of Heads of Republics: includes the leaders of the 21
ethnic-based Republics
Council of Heads of Administrations: includes the leaders of the 66
autonomous territories and regions, and the mayors of Moscow and St.
Petersburg
Presidential Council: prepares policy papers for the president
Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly Federation Council: elections last held 12 December 1993 (next to be held NA); results - two members elected from each of Russia's 89 territorial units for a total of 176 deputies; 2 seats unfilled as of 15 May 1994 (Chechnya did not participate in the election); Speaker Vladimir SHUMEYKO (Russia's Democratic Choice) State Duma: elections last held 12 December 1993 (next to be held NA December 1995); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (450 total) Russia's Democratic Choice 78, New Regional Policy 66, Liberal Democrats 63, Agrarian Party 55, Communist Party of the Russian Federation 45, Unity and Accord 30, Yavlinskiy-Boldyrev-Lukin Bloc (Yabloko) 27, Women of Russia 23, Democratic Party of Russia 15, Russia's Path 12, other parties 23, affiliation unknown 12, unfilled (as of 13 March 1994; Chechnya did not participate in the election) 1; Speaker Ivan RYBKIN (Agrarian Party); note - as of 11 April 1995, seats were as follows: Russia's Democratic Choice 54, New Regional Policy 32, Liberal Democrats 54, Agrarian Party 51, Communist Party of the Russian Federation 45, Unity and Accord 25, Yavlinskiy-Boldyrev-Lukin Bloc (Yabloko) 28, Liberal Democratic Union of 12 December 9, Women of Russia 22, Democratic Party of Russia 10, Russia's Path 12, Duma 96 23, Russia 35, Stability 36, affiliation unknown 14
Judicial branch: Constitutional Court, Supreme Court (highest court
for criminal, civil, and administrative cases), Superior Court of
Arbitration (highest court that resolves economic disputes)
Political parties and leaders:
pro-market democrats: Party of Russian Unity and Accord, Sergey
SHAKHRAY; Russia's Democratic Choice Party, Yegor GAYDAR; Russian
Movement for Democratic Reforms, Anatoliy SOBCHAK;
Yavlinskiy-Boldyrev-Lukin Bloc (Yabloko), Grigoriy YAVLINSKIY; Liberal
Democratic Union of 12 December, Boris FEDOROV
centrists/special interest parties: Civic Union for Stability,
Justice, and Progress, Arkadiy VOL'SKIY; Democratic Party of Russia,
Sergey GLAZ'YEV; Women of Russia, Alevtina FEDULOVA; Social Democratic
Peoples' Party, Vasiliy LIPITSKIY; New Regional Policy (NRP), Vladimir
MEDVEDEV
anti-market and/or ultranationalist parties: Agrarian Party, Mikhail
LAPSHIN; Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennadiy ZYUGANOV;
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKIY; Derzhava,
Aleksandr RUTSKOY
note: more than 20 political parties and associations tried to gather
enough signatures to run slates of candidates in the 12 December 1993
legislative elections, but only 13 succeeded
Other political or pressure groups: NA
Member of: BSEC, CBSS, CCC, CE (guest), CERN (observer), CIS, EBRD,
ECE, ESCAP, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MINURSO,
NACC, NSG, OAS (observer), OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UN Security Council,
UNAMIR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIH, UNOMOZ,
UNPROFOR, UNTSO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US: chief of mission: Ambassador Sergey LAVROV 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