No. 134, 17 July 1991

BALTIC STATES




VAGNORIUS SENDS TELEGRAMS TO LONDON. On July 16 Lithuanian Prime
Minister Gediminas Vagnorius sent telegrams to the G-7 meeting
in London and to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Radio Independent
Lithuania reported that day. In the telegrams Vagnorius asked
for the return of the buildings in Vilnius seized by the Soviet
military in January. Vagnorius expressed the hope that the G-7
leaders would raise the Baltic question in their talks with Gorbachev,
stressing that Lithuania was willing to solve all existing problems
in its relations with the USSR through interstate discussions
in a spirit of good neighborliness and cooperation. (Saulius
Girnius)

G-7 DECLARATION MENTIONS BALTICS. A political declaration issued
yesterday in London by leaders of the G-7 countries made reference
to the Baltic States. In it, the G-7 leaders expressed their
hope that "the negotiations between the USSR and the elected
governments of the Baltic countries will resolve their future
democratically and in accordance with the legitimate aspirations
of the people." (Sallie Wise)

NEW LITHUANIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER. The Lithuanian Supreme
Soviet on July 16 voted to approve Lithuanian Minister of Social
Security Algis Dobravolskas as the third Deputy Prime Minister
by a vote on 59 to 1 with 29 abstentions, Radio Independent Lithuania
reported that day. The other deputy prime ministers are Zigmas
Vaisvila and Vytautas Pakalniskis, who also is the Minister of
Justice. (Saulius Girnius)

PRUNSKIENE WINS LIBEL SUIT. Former Lithuanian Prime Minister
Kazimiera Prunskiene won a libel suit against two newspapers,
Izvestia reported July 11. Last November, while Prunskiene was
still Prime Minister, Tarybu Lietuva and Litva sovetskaya, both
communist newspapers, published articles portraying Prunskiene's
father as a "terrorist" leader of the Lithuanian resistance from
1945 to 1947. Prunskiene sued on the grounds that her father
in fact died in 1944, and a court ordered the two newspapers
each to pay Prunskiene 25,000 rubles in damages, and to publish
a retraction. Since the papers' financial reserves were limited,
the Lithuanian Communist Party assisted in paying the damages.
Prunskiene has currently received half of the total sum, and
plans to give the money to charity. (Gytis Liulevicius)

COST OF LIVING PAY INCREASES FROM FACTORY FUNDS? The Latvian
government has decided that pay raises to compensate for the
increased cost of living should come out of enterprise funds,
rather than from the state or municipal budgets, reported Diena
on July 12. This decision, modifying a government decision of
April 5, applies to enterprises under republican and all-Union
jurisdiction. A major reason for the rising cost of living has
been the decision to raise prices on various consumer goods and
foodstuffs earlier this year; plans are being made for additional
price hikes for agricultural products. (Dzintra Bungs)

PRINTING PRESS FROM INDIANAPOLIS TO LATVIA. A printing press,
formerly used to publish the Indianapolis Star and the Indianapolis
News, has been donated by the newspapers' publishers to help
normalize newspaper publication in Latvia. Since the Black Berets
took over the Press Building in Riga in January, newspaper publishing
is still difficult in Latvia. Once the press from Indianapolis
is installed in Riga, it should be able to produce six daily
newspapers. It will cost about $1 million to move it from the
US to Latvia. About $400,000 of the money needed already has
been raised by the Latvian Freedom Foundation, a Latvian exile
organization based in Rockville, Maryland, reported Western agencies
on July 13. (Dzintra Bungs)


USSR--ALL-UNION TOPICS



G-DAY AT G-7. Gorbachev today (July 17) will present his case
for Western aid to the USSR to the G-7 leaders in London. In
addition to addressing them as a group this afternoon, he will
hold individual talks with each of the seven today and tomorrow.
The leaders, in their political declaration issued yesterday,
reiterated that their "support for the process of fundamental
reform in the Soviet Union remains as strong as ever." However,
Gorbachev is likely to face some polite but pointed questioning
on the specifics of his plans for reform. Western agencies today
report that a draft of the summit's final communiqué stresses
Soviet monetary and fiscal discipline, as well as clarification
of responsibilities between the Center and republics, as crucial
prerequisites for reform. (Sallie Wise)

G-7 CALLS FOR "OPEN AND DEMOCRATIC SOVIET UNION." Although Gorbachev
doubtless will want to concentrate on Western economic aid, the
G-7 leaders appear to have Soviet political reform on their minds
as well. The section of their declaration yesterday that dealt
with the USSR emphasized politics before economics. It welcomed
"efforts to create a new union, based on consent not coercion,
which genuinely responds to the wishes of the peoples of the
Soviet Union." The leaders declared themselves committed to support
for Soviet efforts "to create an open society, a pluralistic
democracy and a market economy." In a nod to Japan's security
concerns, they expressed hope that "new thinking" in Soviet foreign
policy "will be as fully reflected in Asia as in Europe." (Sallie
Wise)

MORE ON THE G-7 MEETING. Today's Chicago Tribune reveals more
than other sources on the content of Gorbachev's G-7 pitch. The
requests in Gorbachev's letter to the G-7 leaders apparently
included: some easing of the foreign debt-service burden, additional
consumer goods supplies (on credit?), and support for a ruble
stabilization fund for selected investment projects. The US and
UK response to the stabilization fund idea is reported as negative
(Boston Globe, July 17, Western agencies, July 16), and Professor
Graham Allison, no less, is reported to be disappointed about
the lack of specifics in the Soviet proposals for reform. It
appears that, as Pavlov predicted, the Soviet program is still
being modified. (Philip Hanson)

EBRD LOAN LIMIT RETAINED. The founding treaty of the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development stipulates a ceiling
for its first three years of the bank's lending and investment
exposure to the Soviet Union of 6% of its capital, i.e., the
Soviet stake in the bank. This amounts to $210 million. At the
G-7 summit on July 16, according to agency reports, France proposed
raising the USSR's borrowing rate to 15% ($525 million) and Italy
to 20% ($700 million). The US and Japan reportedly blocked these
proposals. An EBRD bid for a role in coordinating Western technical
assistance to the Soviet Union was also reportedly turned down.
(Keith Bush)

REPUBLICS RECEIVE MORE LATITUDE IN FOREIGN TRADE. The recently
published "Joint Action Program"--an agreement between the Center
and 10 republics--increases republics' rights and responsibilities
for foreign economic activity (Izvestia, July 10). The program
gives republics the right to negotiate for foreign credits independently
of the Center. Republic enterprises are given more latitude in dealing with
import and export questions, and can freely trade in valuable
raw materials including gold, oil, coal and gas (but not arms).
This last measure supposedly took effect July 1. A "targeted
Union-republic" program to attract foreign capital should be
in place by September. (John Tedstrom)

GOSBANK PUBLISHES BALANCE SHEET. With the purported aim of "showing
that the Soviet Union seriously wishes to move towards a market
economy," the USSR Gosbank published its first balance sheet
since 1936 in Izvestia of July 16, TASS reported that day. Henceforth,
balance sheets will be published four times a year. The figures
show a balance of 638 billion rubles. The bank's gold reserves
are given as 374 tons--an amount previously disclosed at a Vienna
conference (see The Financial Times, June 25)--in addition to
holdings of other precious metals and foreign currency valued
at nearly 1.2 billion rubles. (Reserves of gold and other precious
metals are also held by other Soviet institutions). (Keith Bush)


MORE OFFICIALS SUPPORT NEW MOVEMENT. Several politicians and
cultural figures have expressed support for the Movement for
Democratic Reforms. Radio Moscow said July 16 that among them
are: Chairman of the USSR Journalists' Union Eduard Sagalaev;
reformist economist Pavel Bunich; and playwright Mikhail Shatrov.
The same day, TASS carried a report on a Moscow press conference,
at which a founding member of the movement, Academician Stanislav
Shatalin, said the movement's main aim is "to change the country's
social and political system through new elections and other parliamentary
means, as well as to create a real opposition to the CPSU." Shatalin
was quoted as saying the movement probably will be transformed
into a party, which will be a centrist one. (Vera Tolz)

BESSMERTNYKH TO MIDEAST. Soviet Foreign Ministry Spokesman Vitalii
Churkin said on July16 that Foreign Minister Aleksandr Bessmertnykh
"still has another trip to the Near East" among his plans, TASS
reported. Churkin did not note when Bessmertnykh will travel
there. US Secretary ofState James Baker sets off on a five-country
mission to the Middle East on July 18. Meanwhile, accordingto
an unidentified Soviet foreign ministry official quoted in a
July 16 Interfax report, the issue of a Middle East settlement
is a matter of "continuous dialogue" between the Soviet Union
and the US. (Suzanne Crow)

MASLYUKOV TO ASEAN MEETING. Deputy Prime Minister Yurii Maslyukov
will hold meetings with the foreign ministers of the ASEAN countries
starting July 18, and will attend the opening ceremony of the
annual ASEAN meeting on July 19 in Kuala Lumpur, TASS reported
July 16. After talks with Malaysian leaders, Maslyukov will travel
to Indonesia. Moscow has long sought a friendly dialogue with
the ASEAN countries in order to boost its image as a political
and trading partner in the Far East. (Suzanne Crow)

VORONTSOV OPPOSES IRAQI NUCLEAR PROGRAM. In contrast to statements
earlier this week from Soviet officials stressing Moscow's opposition
to the use of military force to rid Iraq of its potential to
develop nuclear weapons, Soviet ambassador to the UN Yulii Vorontsov
stressed on July 16 that the program should not exist. "This
a serious matter," Vorontsov said. "[Iraq] should not have such
a program." Vorontsov also called for a special resolution of
the UN Security Council to assist the work of UN inspection groups,
TASS reported July 16. (Suzanne Crow)

AIR DEFENSE FORCES LOSE, FIND A PLANE. A MiG-23 interceptor disappeared
without a trace in the region of Nizhnyi Tagil on July 15, Komsomolskaya
pravda reported two days later. The local air defense command
denied an earlier report that the plane was carrying "a normal
ammunition load," saying it was merely on a training flight.
Meanwhile, TASS reported from Leningrad on July 16 that a private
plane from Germany had illegally crossed into Soviet airspace
a day earlier and--once found in heavy cloud cover--was escorted
by two air defense fighters and a helicopter to Leningrad. An
Air Defense spokesman blamed the problem on an error by a Helsinki
air traffic controller. (Stephen Foye)

NO MORE STUDENT DEFERMENTS? According to an Izvestia commentator,
a draft bill on universal military service currently being circulated
in the USSR Supreme Soviet makes no provisions for student deferments.
Moscow Radio reported that the July 15 Izvestia article criticized
the Defense Ministry for secretly attempting to roll back deferments
for college students despite the fact that the USSR Supreme Soviet
approved them two years ago, and the Defense Ministry's own draft
reform--published late last year--also included deferment provisions.
The commentator also questioned how a decision on draft policy
can be made when no broad conception of national security has
yet been approved. (Stephen Foye)

KORYAGINA ON CORRUPTION OF DEMOCRATS. Economist Tat'yana Koryagina
told Argumenty i Fakty, No. 26 that corruption has hit the ranks
of democrats. She charged that the corrupt Party nomenklatura
of old has been joined by a "second power," which unites old
criminal structures and the radical-democratic "mafia", advancing
under the motto of "private business." Now, however, there is
a "third" force of both leftists and rightists under the slogan
of "honest power." While Koryagina supports fair entrepreneurship,
which is crucial for reviving of the country, she opposes "criminal
elements" which occupy the "commanding heights," she explained.
On July 14, Radio Rossii branded Koryagina a "renegade" preoccupied
with the "idea of a mafia." While the issue of corruption is
important, it is not the main problem, the radio commented. (Victor
Yasmann)

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS AGAIN CALL STRIKE. Soviet air traffic
controllers, who at the last minute called off a strike planned
for May 21, now may walk off the job August 10. Leaders of the
controllers' union have delared a strike for August 10, Radio
Rossii reported July15, quoting Vladimir Vorodulev, a member
of the union's governing council. Vorodulev charged that the
Soviet government has not delivered on its promises to increase
wages and other benefits, which led to the cancellation of the
strike in May. Moreover, he said, union activists at some airports
have been subject to reprisals. Vorodulev said that the strike
slated for August could be averted if the government begins to
implement its promises. (Sallie Wise)

PLANNED MEETING OF INDEPENDENT TRADE UNIONS AND WORKERS' COMMITTEES.
Representatives of the Independent Miners' Union, the Union of
Civil Aviation Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers, the Confederation
of Labor, and the newer Confederation of Russian Trade Unions
plan to meet at the end of October. According to Rabochaya tribuna
of July 5, the meeting will discuss the creation of new unions,
independent of the Party and administration, to replace the temporary,
but predominant, form of worker self-organization: the strike
committees. Other items on the agenda include discussion of CPSU
draft legislation designed to ensure the existence of only one
trade union per enterprise. (Sarah Ashwin)


USSR--IN THE REPUBLICS



DEADLOCK IN RSFSR CONGRESS CONTINUES. The RSFSR Congress of People's
Deputies has set up a conciliatory commission to try to resolve
the deadlock over the election of a new Supreme Soviet chairman,
TASS reported on July 16. The conciliatory commission proposed
appointing Ruslan Khasbulatov as acting Chairman of the RSFSR
Supreme Soviet and Sergei Baburin as his acting first deputy.
Khasbulatov is being supported by the democrats, Baburin by the
Communists in the Congress. Neither one could obtain a majority
of votes in five rounds. RSFSR President Boris Yeltsin attended
yesterday's session of the Congress but could not secure support
for Khasbulatov. (Alexander Rahr)

SOBCHAK UNDER FIRE. A serious confrontation between Leningrad
mayor Anatolii Sobchak and the city's parliament is emerging.
The Presidium of the Leningrad city soviet yesterday (July 16)
voted down the decree on joint military-police patrols which
Sobchak issued the day before, Interfax reported that day (see
Daily Report, July 16). Sobchak protested the decision of the
council's presidium and stressed that his decree was in accordance
with that of Gorbachev from last year. Sobchak also stated that
the RSFSR government supported his decree. He declared that the
city soviet presidium's decision is not valid and that he will
not adhere to it. (Alexander Rahr)

RYZHKOV ON HIS DEFEAT. In his first comments after his defeat
in the RSFSR presidential elections, former premier Nikolai
Ryzhkov blamed the Russian people for having misunderstood his
cause. He told Interfax on July16 that people regarded him as
a reactionary although he had pledged support for reform. He
said the difference between Yeltsin and himself was that he wanted
cautious reform. Ryzhkov also admitted that his membership in
the CPSU turned people against him. He complained that 20 days
had not been enough to conduct an efficient campaign. Finally,
Ryzhkov said he was shocked by the amount of criticism leveled
against him by the population for the failures of previous governments.
(Alexander Rahr)

IRREGULAR ARMED GUARDS AT NEVZOROV'S OFFICE. Armed Afghan veterans
have taken up positions at the office of controversial Leningrad
TV reporter, Aleksandr Nevzorov, Radio Rossii reported July 15.
The irregular guards reportedly also accompany "600 Seconds"'
film crews and guard the apartments of the program's staff. The
guards were imposed without the approval of either the Leningrad
TV and Radio Committee or the Lensovet. The head of the All-Union
TV and Radio Broadcasting Company, Leonid Kravchneko, reportedly
questioned Nevzorov over the imposition of the guards. Nevozorv
was quoted as saying that he was not going to lift the guards
since he and his program are under threat from "envious people
and other riff-raff." The majority of Nevzorov's staffers recently
left "600 Seconds," and the leadership of Leningrad TV has asked
Nevozrov voluntarily to close down his program. (Vera Tolz)

DEATHS EXCEEDING BIRTHS IN EUROPEAN RUSSIA. According to V. Pavlov,
chairman of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet's subcommittee for family
and demographic policy, the population is dying out in 27 territories
of the RSFSR, Radio Rossii reported July 11. In the first quarter
of 1991 deaths exceeded births in all the central, southern,
and eastern oblasts of the European part of the RSFSR. Pavlov
was writing in the first issue of Federatsiya, a new publication
of the Council of Nationalities of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet and
the RSFSR State Committee for Nationalities Affairs. (Ann Sheehy)


WORLD LEAGUE OF TATARS SET UP. A conference of representatives
of Tatar communities in Australia, Germany, the US, Turkey, Finland,
and the Soviet Union in Kazan' at the end of June decided to
set up a World League of Tatars, according to RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir
service and TASS of July 16. Seventy-four-year-old Ali-efendi
Akish, head of the European representation of the Tatar-Bashkir
National Movement and a former employee of RFE/RL, was elected
president. The aim of the league is the spiritual unification
of the scattered Tatar people. (Ann Sheehy)

LVOV PROTESTS CENTRAL TV PROGRAMMING. The Lvov Oblast Soviet
has sent a "stern" protest to the head of central radio and television,
Radio Kiev reported July 15. The authorities in Lvov are disturbed
by what they feel is tendentious programming by central television
on political developments in western Ukraine. Their open letter
accuses central television of "reanimating Ukrainophobia and
inflaming internationality passions." (Roman Solchanyk)

JEWISH SUMMER SCHOOL IN DONETSK. UKRINFORM reported from Donetsk on
July 14 about the opening there of a Jewish summer school. The
classes are organized by the new society of Jewish culture, "Revival,"
and the local synagogue. The two classes are for free. Rabbis
from New York will be teaching children modern Hebrew, history,
and culture. (Oxana Antic)

AGREEMENT BETWEEN TURKMENISTAN AND KYRGYZSTAN. Radio Moscow reported
on July 16 that the presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan
have signed an agreement on economic and cultural cooperation
between the two republics for the years 1991-1995. The agreement
is the latest in a series of such documents dealing with bilateral
relations between various republics of Central Asia. (BessBrown)


TAJIK RESEARCH REACTOR TO BE CLOSED. The Dushanbe city council
has decided to dismantle a nuclear reactor in one of the city's
research institutes after an investigation, demanded by city
residents, found that the facility had been built without the
approval of seismologists, although the area is subject to severe
earthquakes. In addition, groundwater had often flooded the storage
area for the reactor's fuel. The report was published by TASS
on July 15. (Bess Brown)

NAZARBAEV ON CHINA AS MODEL. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev
told a TASS correspondent during his recent trip to China that
the Chinese experience with special economic zones is particularly
valuable because Kazakhstan has decided to establish such zones
itself. Nazarbaev also repeated that developing relations between
Kazakhstan and Xinjiang must been seen in the context of relations
between the USSR and the PRC. The interview was published by
TASS on July 15. Economists in Kazakhstan have occasionally suggested
that some aspects of China's experience in dismantling a command
economy could benefit the republic, but development models have
been sought elsewhere in East Asia. (Bess Brown)

SPRING DRAFT IN MOLDAVIA. A little more than 7,000 young men
from Moldavia, roughly70% of the republic's draft cohort, have
been inducted into the Soviet armed forces this spring, TASS
reported on July 16. Summarizing a Moldovapres report, TASS said
it had been proposed that the remaining 30% of eligible draftees
be allowed to perform alternative military service in accordance
with a republican law on military service passed on July10 (see
Daily Report, July 15). (Stephen Foye)

LENIN'S CONTINUING SAGA IN KISHINEV. On June 28, Moldavia became
the first republic in the European USSR to remove the monument
to Lenin from the center of its capital. The giant bronze monument
now faces another stage in its ordeal: it will become a centerpiece
of the "Museum of the Age of Barracks Socialism," which is planned
to open on the grounds of Moldavia's former Exhibition of Industrial
Achievements. The Kishinev municipality's decision on the matter
was reported by Novosti July 4, citing Moldavian TV. (Vladimir
Socor)

CORRECTION. In Daily Report, July 16 (No. 133), the second sentence
of the item on LITHUANIAN PROSECUTOR CRITICIZES TRUBIN REPORT
should read as follows: "Paulauskas criticized Trubin's preliminary
report of June 3 on the Soviet military's attack on the Vilnius
TV tower on January13 as 'a gross falsification intended to destabilize
the situation in Lithuania . . .'," changing the word "stabilize"
to read "destabilize."

[As of 1300 CET]