SAVE MONEY ON TRAVEL DEALS

Gaidar, 50, began vomiting and fainted while attending a conference last week in Dublin, Ireland, RAI Novosti said. Doctors have not identified the cause of the illness.

Spokesman Valery Natarov said Gaidar's condition was "stable and noticeably improving." Gaidar, who has been transferred from Dublin to a Moscow hospital, was able to talk to his family over the phone.

Doctors are considering a number of possible causes for the illness, including poisoning, the spokesman said.

"Nobody has ruled out the poisoning version. It is being considered, and doctors are studying all the symptoms and consequences to cure Yegor, and diagnose the causes", Natarov said.

Gaidar was considered a pioneer of Russia's privatization campaign following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Both he and Anatoly Chubias were criticized for the rapid pace of reforms.

In the early 1990s, Gaidar was deputy prime minister, and economics and finance minister. In the mid-1990s, he was a member of parliament and now leads the Institute for the Economy in Transition.