Ramzan Kadyrov said such a move would be "economically inexpedient."
Chechen President Alu Alkhanov said on September 4 the current name had a negative connotation and proposed renaming Chechnya the Republic of Nokhchiin.
Russian officials also dismissed the proposal.
(AP, Interfax)
The Chechnya Conflict
The Chechnya Conflict
The aftermath of a December 2002 Chechen resistance attack on the main government building in Grozny (epa)
CHRONOLOGY
The fighting in Chechnya has raged, with short breaks, since 1994. It has brought misery, death, and destruction to the North Caucasus republic and to Russia as a whole. View an annotated timeline of the conflict.
