And as a result, immigrants from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are moving in.

FORBES: Russian Demographics Improving As Foreigners Move In

In 2011, InterContinental Hotels revealed a plan to quintuple its offering with a total of 100 hotels in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) by 2020.

BBC: The roar of rising Russia

At the end of the meeting the Director-General paid a visit to the Director of the State Hermitage Museum, Mr. Mikhail Piotrovsky on further strengthening the ongoing cooperation between the Museum and UNESCO for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Museum in 2013, as well as for regional capacity-building of museum professionals in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

UNESCO: Building the Wealth of Nations

At a time of economic austerity and, in some cases, recession in the West, prospects for mobilizing large-scale, taxpayer-underwritten "new money" flows for Russia (and other Commonwealth of Independent States, or CIS, nations) from the United States and other Western nations will be exceedingly difficult.

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