MOSCOW — Former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, accused of illegally privatizing two state-owned country houses, will return to Moscow before the end of August, despite media reports that he could remain abroad in political exile.

"I cannot say when exactly he will return, but everything will proceed according to schedule," said Tatyana Razbash, Kasyanov's press secretary.

Razbash said Konstantin Merzlikin, Kasyanov's assistant and the former chief of staff, would finish his vacation and return to Moscow on August 31.

Kasyanov went on a two-week vacation in July and returned on July 25. On August 1, he and his family left Russia again for a vacation in the Mediterranean.

Although abroad, Kasyanov was the focus of the Russian press Monday after writing the preface to the Action Plan for Russia, research done by the British Foreign Policy Resource Center, a leading European think tank.

Kasyanov said in the preface, posted on the center's Web site, that reform had stalled in Russia and that the country's economic growth had slowed.

Kasyanov said almost all the hallmarks of a modern democratic state had faded away in Russia in a short period of time. He said gubernatorial elections should be reinstated in Russia, authorities should pay more attention to judicial reform and at least one state-controlled TV channel should be put into private hands.