Duma speaker Seleznev and his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksandr Moroz, said after their meeting in Moscow on 1 December that they hope their parliaments will ratify a bilateral friendship treaty by the end of this year, ITAR-TASS reported. That treaty was signed by Yeltsin and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma in May 1997. Georgii Tikhonov, the chairman of the Duma Committee for the CIS and Relations with Russians Abroad, noted on 1 December that the status of the Russian language in Ukraine may become a bone of contention during ratification discussions. Nikolai Ivanets, the head of the Health Ministry's Narcotics Center, has said the number of drug addicts in Russia grew by 34 percent so far this year, ITAR-TASS reported on 28 November. Ivanets said most of the new drug addicts are between 15 and 20 years old.
Officials say alcohol-related deaths also are increasing.
Boris Tereshenko, head of the Interior Ministry's economic crimes department, said the previous day some 43,000 Russians have died this year from drinking low-quality vodka. Preliminary returns from the 30 November elections to the Kamchatka Regional Council of People's Deputies show that 46 out of the 49 council seats have been filled, ITAR-TASS reported on 1 December. No single political party won clear majority in the vote. Electoral authorities said the results of the vote in the Koryak autonomous district, which has three seats in the regional council, are still unclear due to the lack of communications with communities in remote areas. The director of Moscow's prestigious Tretyakov Gallery has asked Finance Minister Mikhail Zadornov for an emergency meeting to discuss the museum's financial problems, ITAR-TASS reported on 1 December.