CIS Daily Bulletin, March 18

Below is a summary of events in the Commonwealth of Independent States on March 18:

Azerbaijan:

* Polls opened in Azerbaijan for a referendum on scrapping the limit on consecutive presidential terms, potentially allowing current leader Ilham Aliyev to remain in power for life

Georgia:

* Georgia's new permanent representative to the United Nations, Alexander Lomaya, has presented his credentials to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

Moldova:

* Russia is to deliver 50,000 tons of fuel oil to Moldova in the near future as part of humanitarian aid, presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said after a meeting between the Russian and Moldovan presidents

* The leaders of Russia, Moldova and Transdnestr have agreed to continue talks on the issue of the disputed Transdnestr region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

* The leader of Transdnestr, Igor Smirnov, said he had suggested to Moldova that they hold bilateral talks in the disputed region in March.

Tajikistan:

* Russian Emergency Situations Ministry will deliver almost 100 tons of humanitarian aid to Tajikistan by the end of the month, a ministry spokesman said

Ukraine:

* Russia is highly likely to agree to reduce gas supplies to Ukraine from the contracted 40 billion cubic meters to 33 billion cubic meters in 2009, the Ukrainian fuel and energy minister, Yuriy Prodan, said

* The mayor of Kiev Leonyd Chernovetskiy exercised in front of journalists to demonstrate his fitness as he faces a psychiatric examination ordered by Ukraine's parliament in response to some of his policies