No. 130, 11 July 1991

BALTIC STATES



LANDSBERGIS IN STRASBOURG. Lithuanian Supreme Council Chairman
Vytautas Landsbergis expressed satisfaction with his two-day
visit to the European parliament in Strasbourg in an interview
with a RFE/RL correspondent on July 10. Landsbergis said that
the "cold war is not over" for Lithuania, since the USSR is continuing
"psycho-logical warfare" against the Baltic States. On July10
he met for more than five hours with members of the parliament's
Socialist Group, and had shorter meetings with the Greens, the
Rainbow Group, and the European Democratic Group. He invited
them to come to Vilnius on August 23, the anniversary of the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. (Saulius Girnius)

BUNDESTAG DELEGATION IN LITHUANIA. A delegation of seven Bundestag
deputies, headed by Christian Democrat Wolfgang von Stetten,
Chairman of the German-Baltic Parliamentary Friendship Circle,
traveled to Lithuania via Moscow July 10, Radio Independent Lithuania
reported July 11. In Moscow they met with the Lithuanian permanent
representative, Egidijus Bickauskas, and with Prime Minister
Gediminas Vagnorius (who had come for Boris Yeltsin's inauguration
as RSFSR President). This morning they visited the Supreme Council
and talked to leaders of Lithuanian parties, with von Stetten
making a speech at the session. They will also meet Landsbergis
in the evening after his return from France. This second Bundestag
delegation visit this summer indicates the growingcooperation
between the two parliaments. (Saulius Girnius)

MOSCOW ACCUSED OF DELAYING NEGOTIATIONS. Minister Without Portfolio
Aleksandras Abisala has said in an interview with Lietuvos aidas,
reported by Radio Vilnius on July 9, that his two meetings
with Soviet officials have convinced him that Moscow
is unwilling to begin negotiations on Lithuanian independence.
Lithuania expected the meetings (in Vilnius in late June with
the Soviet Ministry of Defense and in Moscow on July 4 with KGB
officials) to be between groups of experts on defense and state
security matters, but the Soviet officials whom Abisala met said
they had no authorization to conduct genuine negotiations and
only discussed some local matters. Abisala said that the Soviet
side had previously promised to end the occupation of Lithuanian
buildings, to disarm the Black Berets, and to provide guarantees
that the Soviet army would not interfere in Lithuanian affairs,
but had failed to fulfill these promises. (Saulius Girnius)

BALTIC LEADERS GREET YELTSIN. Radio Riga and Radio Vilnius reported
on July 10 that earlier that day Baltic leaders--Estonian Supreme
Council Chairman Arnold Ruutel, Latvian Supreme Council Chairman
Anatolijs Gorbunovs, and Lithuanian Prime Minister Vagnorius--attended
Yeltsin's swearing-in ceremonies. Afterwards they discussed plans
for Soviet economic reform with Grigorii Yavlinsky. As a consequence
of this discussion, the earlier scheduled Baltic Council meeting
in Jurmala to deal with Soviet economic reforms was cancelled.
Yavlinsky said he opposed the idea of those republics not signing
the new Union treaty having to deal with the USSR in hard currency.
(Dzintra Bungs)

UNEMPLOYMENT IN LATVIA. Unemployment is rising in Latvia. According
to Baltfax of July 1, 3,267 persons have been registered as unemployed,
with some 15,000 graduates entering the labor force this year
for whom jobs would have to be found. Diena reported on July
10 that 1,331 persons were unemployed because their jobs had
been eliminated as a consequence of efficiency measures. The
daily noted that most of the unemployed were women formerly employed
as office workers. Diena also noted that, according to Riga employment
office figures, there existed 288 vacancies for technicians
and engineers, and 6,637 for workers in the service sector; salaries
for most of these jobs were low and working conditions poor.
(Dzintra Bungs)



USSR--ALL-UNION TOPICS



SILAEV QUITS CPSU. Citing unofficial reports, RSFSR TV's newscast
Vesti said July 9 that RSFSR Prime Minister Ivan Silaev has submitted
a request for resignation from the CPSU. A member of the CPSU
Central Committee, Silaev is one of the nine co-founders of the
Movement for Democratic Reforms, along with Eduard Shevardnadze,
former USSR Foreign Minister, who resigned from the CPSU a few
days ago. Another co-founder, RSFSR Vice President-elect Aleksandr
Rutskoi, instead of following Shevardnadze's and Silaev's path,
has opted to set up a party of Democratic Communists. (Julia
Wishnevsky)

PARTY OF COMMUNISTS FOR DEMOCRACY TO MEET SOON. RSFSR TV July
10 quoted Rutskoi as saying he is going to create a party called
"Communists for Democracy" and plans to hold its inaugural congress
at the end of July or early August. (Rutskoi is also a head of
a faction in the RSFSR Supreme Soviet called "Communists for
Democracy.") Talking to the press recently, Rutskoi rejected
the possibility of his leaving the CPSU. He said he remains a
Communist, and his plan is to drive conservatives and reactionaries
out of the CPSU and the Russian CP. Rutskoi told RSFSR TV July
10 that the inaugural congress will discuss the new party's rules
and program, as well as the possibility of dividing up CPSU property.
(Vera Tolz)

TRAVKIN OPPOSES MEMBERS OF NEW MOVEMENT STAYING IN CPSU. Chairman
of the Executive Committee of the Democratic Party of Russia,
Valerii Khomyakov, told "Novosti" July 10 that there had been
a preliminary agreement between the chairman of his party, Nikolai
Travkin, and the nine officials who announced the creation of
the Movement for Democratic Reforms, that all participants in
the movement would immediately leave the CPSU. Three members
of the movement (Rutskoi, Yakovlev and Vol'sky) have violated
this agreement, Khomyakov said. (Shevardnadze and Silaev were
CPSU members when themovement was founded, but have now left
the Party). Khomyakov said that because the agreement was violated,
the Democratic Party of Russia refused to be a founding member
of the new movement. (VeraTolz)

IVASHKO NOT SIDING WITH HARDLINERS. CPSU Deputy General Secretary
Vladimir Ivashko said in an interview with TASS on July 8 that
the CPSU will not seek a confrontation with the newly created
Movement for Democratic Reforms. He indicated that even if the
movement develops into an alternative political party, the CPSU
will cooperate with it. To demonstrate that he will not ally
himself with hardliners against Soviet President Gorbachev, Ivashko
emphasized his firm commitment to reform and denied that he was
a conservative. He also defended himself from attacks from the
right that he was a "bourgeois liberal." He said he firmly adheres
to the program and decisions adopted at the 28th Party Congress.
(Alexander Rahr)

USSR SUPREME SOVIET TO BE DISBANDED IN SIX MONTHS? RSFSR TV,
citing "competent sources," stated July 10 that Gorbachev had
told a sitting of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet the
same day that the all-Union parliament would exist only for another
six months. He said that neither the USSR Supreme Soviet nor
Congress of People's Deputies would adopt the new constitution.
Instead they would adopt a new electoral law and new elections
would be held. There have been strong objections from the republics
to the idea ofthe present predominantly conservative all-Union
parliament adopting the new constitution. Gorbachev's timetable
is presumably dependent, though, on when the new Union treaty
is signed. (Ann Sheehy)

GORBACHEV HAS OWN PLAN FOR G-7 MEETING. At a press conference
July 10, Gorbachev's spokesman Vitalii Ignatenko said the Soviet
leader has devised his own plan for economic reform which he
intends to present to the Group of 7 meeting in London, TASS
reported the same day. This effectively relegates both the Yavlinski
and the Pavlov plans to the "USSR Economic Reform Archives,"
where they will be filed along side the plans of Abalkin, Aganbegyan,
Ryzhkov, Shatalin, and earlier efforts by Gorbachev himself.
Gorbachev is to send his plan to G-7 leaders July 12. (John Tedstrom)


GORBACHEV'S G-7 SCHEDULE. Gorbachev arrives in London the evening
of July 16, meets with French President Francois Mitterrand for
breakfast July 17, and continues with Japanese Prime Toshiki
Minister Kaifu. After a noon meeting with US President George
Bush, Gorbachev meets with all of the G-7 leaders together. He
has another series of meetings on July 18, and returns to Moscow
July19. (John Tedstrom)

USSR LAW ON PROFITS TAX. On July 10 the USSR Supreme Soviet amended
the June 14, 1990 law on enterprise profits taxes, reducing the
standard rate from 45% to 35% (TASS, July 10). This implements
the Presidential edict of March 22, which lowered the profits
tax rate to 35% with effect from second-quarter profits. The
reduction of profits tax rates is due to (1) the proliferation
of republic-level profits tax laws at rates below 45%, coupled
with republic moves to "take over" previously Union-subordinate
enterprises, and (2) the difficulty enterprises have had in paying
wage supplements to their workers after the price rises. Joint
ventures are taxed under separate legislation. (Philip Hanson)


FIRST READING OF LAW ON SECURITIES MARKETS. On July 10 the USSR
Supreme Soviet approved in the first reading a law on securities
and stock exchanges, presented by Finance Minister Vladimir Orlov
(TASS, July 10). As with the profits-tax amendment and the anti-monopoly
law, this was already foreshadowed in lower-level legislation,
in the form of USSR decrees of summer 1990. The main aim is to
provide a regulatory framework with certain legal guarantees
for investors, but (Orlov stressed) no underwriting by the state
of non-state bonds and other securities. (Philip Hanson)

SUPSOV PASSES KEY ANTI-MONOPOLY LAW. The USSR Supreme Soviet
passed key legislation July10 that could go a good ways toward
controlling and breaking up monopolies, according to TASS the
same day. Although details of the law are not yet available,
it appears to follow the USSR Council of Ministers decree on
anti-monopoly measures issued last year (Ekonomika i zhin', No.
38, 1990). The law sailed through parliament with a vote of 330
to 3, with 7 abstentions. The Anti-Monopoly Committee of the
Cabinet of Ministers is responsible for enforcing the law, and
has the right to issue fines and other penalties. It remains
to be seen, however, whether the Anti-Monopoloy Committee will
in practice have the strength effectively to combat Soviet industrial
giants. (John Tedstrom)

SOVIET-AMERICAN "LIFE PRESERVER" FOR YUGOSLAVIA? Vladimir Simonov,
commentator for the official news service of the Soviet presidency,
Novosti, said in a commentary published on July 10 that Foreign
Minister Aleksandr Bessmertnykh will indeed discuss ideas on
how to help solve the Yugoslav crisis on his current visit to
Washington. But, Simonov noted, under no circumstances will the
Soviet Union agree to use its own military forces in Yugoslavia,
even as part of an international peacekeeping force. Simomov
concluded by saying the "superpowers" could work together to
bring calm back to the Balkans: "a Soviet-American life preserver
for Yugoslavia? It can't be excluded." (Suzanne Crow)

SOVIET CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN FORMER EAST GERMANY? Reports of US
satellite detection of Soviet chemical weapons being removed
from Eastern Germany (Stern, July 11; Washington Post, July 8)
have been denied by the Soviet Western Group of Forces press
center (TASS from Berlin, July 10). Following the official Soviet
admission on June 13 that not all nuclear arms had been removed
from the former GDR, the original reports have produced angry
reactions from some German commentators. The Soviet Army source
points out that Bundeswehr specialists visited eight Soviet military
sites of their own choosing in the former GDR last summer, and
found no trace of chemical weapons there. (Philip Hanson)

CHINESE OFFICIAL CONCERNED OVER SOVIET INSTABILITY. Qiao Shi,
a member of the Chinese CP Politburo's 6-man standing committee,
reportedly is "concerned about the situation" in the USSR, according
to Xinhua July 9. As reported by the International Herald Tribune,
Qiao, who is responsible for China's internal security, expressed
hope that the USSR would "overcome its difficulties, restore
social and political stability and continue to march on the socialist
road in accordance with its domestic traditions." His remarks
coincided with the conclusion of the latest round of Sino-Soviet
border and security talks (see Daily Report, July 10). (Sallie
Wise)

OFFICIALS DISCUSS POSSIBLE BLACK SEA COOPERATION ZONE. A meeting
of deputy foreign ministers from the USSR, Turkey, Bulgaria,
and Romania is slated to begin today (July 11) in Moscow to discuss
a proposed Black Sea cooperation agreement. According to Western
agency reports today, the two-day meeting will address potential
coordination of trade, shipping, and fishery policies on the
Black Sea. Officials from Turkey, which initiated the pact proposal
and has been pursuing it most actively, reportedly have said
the present talks could provide the basis of an accord to be
signed at the end of this year. Turkey recently has been increasing
its trade with Bulgaria, Romania, and the USSR, including Soviet
republics bordering the Black Sea. (Sallie Wise)

NEVZOROV'S STAFF MEMBERS LEAVING "600 SECONDS." Several producers
and correspondents have resigned from the controversial Leningrad
TV program "600 Seconds," moderated by Aleksandr Nevzorov. (Nevzorov's
reputation has been seriously undermined by his support for the
military crackdown in the Baltic States.) RSFSR TV said July
7 that Nevzorov's staff members left the program because of political
disagreements with the moderator. On July 9, RSFSR TV and Radio
Rossii reported that those "600 Seconds" staffers who left the
program are going to set up their own TV information program.
They are supported in this undertaking by the Leningrad branch
of the All-Union TV and Radio Broadcasting Company. Radio Rossii
said that the head of the branch, Boris Khitrov, asked Nevzorov
to resign voluntarily. Nevzorov refused, however. (Vera Tolz)




USSR--IN THE REPUBLICS



RUSSIA ENTERS NEW ERA. RSFSR President Boris Yeltsin, in his
inaugural address yesterday (July 10), stressed that for the
first time in Russian history, a genuine social contract has
been concluded between the people and their rulers. Gorbachev
congratulated Yeltsin and admitted that he made a mistake by
not recognizing the new political reality, i.e. republican sovereignty,
sooner. While Yeltsin's speech dealt mainly with the revival
of Russia, Gorbachev emphasized the multinational character of
the republic, noting that to consolidate the RSFSR will not be
an easy task. Symbolic for the beginning of a new era was the
address of Moscow Patriarch Aleksii II, which was reminiscent
of Russia's pre-revolutionary times. (Central TV, July10). (Alexander
Rahr)

PATRIARCH WELCOMES YELTSIN. Patriarch Aleksii II addressed Yeltsin
yesterday at the Fifth Extraordinary Congress of People's Deputies.
In his welcome to the new President, the Patriarch stressed the
heavy burden which the politician now bears because the spiritual
structure of the country and its inner unity have been destroyed
for seventy years. The Patriarch also read a greeting in the
name of all religious denominations, including Islam, Buddhism,
and Judaism, and blessed Yeltsin. (Oxana Antic)

YELTSIN GETS GORBACHEV'S KREMLIN OFFICES. Yeltsin will move into
Gorbachev's former residence in the Kremlin, while Gorbachev
and his presidential staff will take over the former building
of the USSR Cabinet of Ministers, Leningrad mayor Anatolii Sobchak
told Western agencies July 10. The Soviet government and parliament
will leave the Kremlin. Since Yeltsin has promised to return
confiscated property to the Russian Orthodox Church, it is not
inconceivable that Patriarch Aleksii may also consider moving
back into the patriarch's historical residence in the Kremlin.
(Alexander Rahr)

BURBULIS TO PLAY KEY ROLE ON YELTSIN'S STAFF. After his inauguration,
Yeltsin is expected to appoint new cadres and create a new presidential
apparatus which appears to be modeled on the US National Security
Council staff. Novosti on July 2 reported that the key man in
Yeltsin's team will be his long-time associate, Gennadii Burbulis.
Burbulis, a former lecturer in Marxism-Leninism in Sverdlovsk,
will reportedly become "State Secretary," and will supervise
Russia's foreign ministry, interior ministry, and republican
KGB. Novosti also forecast the appointment of Sergei Stankevich,
formerly first deputy chairman of the Moscow city soviet, as
head of a new committee for ties with social and political organizations.
(Alexander Rahr)

RSFSR CPD TO ELECT YELTSIN'S REPLACEMENT. Russian democrats risk
losing the crucial post of Chairman of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet
which Yeltsin vacated after his election as republican President.
As reported by RSFSR TV July 10, democratic factions of RSFSR
People's Deputies cannot agree on a single candidate and have
nominated as many as four members of "Democratic Russia"--Yeltsin's
first deputy Ruslan Khasbulatov; Chairman of the SupSov legal
committee Sergei Shakhrai; Chairman of the foreign relations
committee Vladimir Lukin; and Leningrad police officer Nikolai
Arzhannikov. The conservative "Communists of Russia" and "Otchizna"
have nominated Viktor Stepanov, a Karelian member of the RSFSR
CP Politburo. The more moderate right-wing faction, "Rossiya,"
has opted for Siberian lawyer Sergei Baburin as its choice as
Chairman of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet. (Julia Wishnevsky)

KHASBULATOV SUPPORTED BY DEMOCRATIC RUSSIA. The RSFSR parliamentary
faction "Democratic Russia" has conducted an internal poll on
which candidate it will support for the post of chairman of the
RSFSR Supreme Soviet. According to Novosti on July 9, the majority
of Russian democratic deputies favored Khasbulatov. Lukin and
Shakhrai came in second and third, respectively. (Alexander Rahr)


NO FUNDS FOR RETRAINING JOBLESS. The chairman of the RSFSR State
Committee for Employment, Anatolii Arzamastsev, told a news conference
in Moscow that the RSFSR government cannot fund the retraining
of the unemployed, agencies reported July 9. He reported that
3,000persons had qualified for unemployment benefits since the
new law took effect on July 1. If registration continues at that
rate, the authorities could finance compensation at 160 rubles
a month through the end of 1991, but could not pay for retraining.
In a report on RSFSR unemployment before the new legislation,
Sovetskaya Rossiya of July 2 noted that there were 3.3 million
unfilled positions in the RSFSR at the end of 1990. (Keith Bush)


RIFT DEVELOPS IN RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH. Gospodin narod, No.
6 (a newspaper of the RSFSR Republican Party) published an appeal
by Archbishop Lasar' of Moscow and Kashira of the True Orthodox
Church to Patriarch Aleksii, addressing him in his capacity as
a deputy of the USSR Supreme Soviet. The archbishop complained
about the persecution of True Orthodox parishes which left the
jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate by hierarchs of the latter
Church. (Oxana Antic)

TATAR PRESIDENT ON UNION TREATY, FEDERAL TAXES. In an interview
on Radio Mayak on July 10, Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev
said that it was not only the leadership of the republic but
also public opinion that was insisting that Tatarstan sign the
Union treaty independently of the RSFSR. This had been shown
by the RSFSR presidential elections when only 36% of the electorate
chose to vote, to say nothing of how they voted. Shaimiev added
that there must be federal taxes. At present many Union enterprises
in Tatarstan are without funds because all taxes are going into
the Russian bank and Russia is not handing over funds to the
center. Shaimiev said Tatarstan would have to set up its own
bank to collect the federal taxes. (Ann Sheehy)

BONN OFFICIAL OPTIMISTIC ABOUT SITUATION OF SOVIET GERMANS. Gorst
Waffenschmidt, Parliamentary State Secretary at Germany's Interior
Ministry, said on his return from a visit to the Soviet Union
that he was optimistic about the future of the Soviet Germans,
TASS reported from Bonn July 9. He welcomed the creation of the
first national raion of the Germans in the Altai and said others
were likely to be created elsewhere. Waffenschmidt said the question
of recreating the Volga German autonomous republic was now in
the hands of a special commission of the RSFSR, which had promised
to report to Bonn on progress in September. (Ann Sheehy)

MORE REACTION TO REMOVAL OF MUFTI. In an interview issued by
Interfax on July 10, the head of the all-Union Islamic Renaissance
Party, Akhmadkadi Aktaev, welcomed the removal of the chairman
of the Muslim Religious Board for Central Asia. Aktaev commented
that the mufti had not only misused funds of the religious board,
but had angered Muslims with his subservience to Uzbek government
authorities. Republican officialdom is apparently very concerned
about the affair: Radio Moscow reported the same day that Uzbekistan's
Council on Religious Affairs had met, in the presence of the
republic's vice-president, to consider the situation and had
complained that the dismissal had not followed the rules. (Bess
Brown)

DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF TAJIKISTAN REGISTERED. TASS, quoting Izvestia,
reported on July 10 that the Democratic Party of Tajikistan has
been formally registered as a public organization. The group
has some 15,000 members, according to the report, which acknowledges
that although the party is the second-largest political organization
in the republic, after the CP, its influence is limited. Republican
authorities seem to have decided to tolerate the Democratic Party,
which they initially harassed, as much less a threat to their
power than the Islamic Renaissance Party, which has been banned.
(Bess Brown)

ITALIAN CONSULATE AND FOREIGN TRADE INSTITUTE FOR KIEV. Italy
plans to open a Consulate-General and Foreign Trade Institute
in Kiev next year, Radio Kiev reported July 8. Attending a meeting
of representatives from the packaging industry in Kiev, the director
of Moscow's Italian Foreign Trade Institute emphasized the interest
of Italian businesses in developing the Ukrainian market over
the next 5-10 years. (Natalie Melnyczuk)

[As of 1300 CET]