No. 185, 27 September 1991

USSR--ALL-UNION TOPICS AND RSFSR



STANKEVICH ATTACKS YELTSIN, SOBCHAK ALSO UNDER FIRE. RSFSR State
Counselor Sergei Stankevich has accused his boss, RSFSR President
Boris Yeltsin, of lacking statesmanship. Stankevich was quoted
in Der Wiener on September 26 as saying that Yeltsin has no idea
how to build a state and relies completely on old Communist Party
apparatchiks. Stankevich complained that the old Party bureaucracy
has "bought" Yeltsin. Sankt Petersburg's mayor Anatolii Sobchak
has also been a target of criticism for having appointed three
former KGB officials as leaders of city districts, The Guardian
reported on September 26. Democrats have also criticized Sobchak
for moving his residence to the former Leningrad Communist Party
offices--the Smolny. (Alexander Rahr)

LOBOV BRIEFS FOREIGN MILITARY ATTACHES. General Vladimir Lobov,
chief of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, has summoned
about 100 military attaches from the foreign embassies in Moscow
to brief them on Soviet plans to restructure the Soviet Army,
Western news agencies reported on September26. Lobov indicated
that the Soviet Union may have a professional army by next year.
He also said that the defense ministry will become a civilian
institution and a "joint chiefs of staff" will be created to
deal with strategy and logistics. Both bodies will be subordinated
to the USSR President, who will have a "two-channel" command
over the country's armed forces, according to Lobov. (Alexander
Rahr)

BANKING AGREEMENT REACHED? Grigorii Yavlinsky has stated in an
article in Trud of September 26 that all 15 republics have agreed
to coordinate monetary policies through an association of central
banks, The Journal of Commerce reported September 27. It was
not made clear whether the republics have agreed to retain a
single currency. The target date for signing an Economic Union
Treaty is still fixed for October 5, but no agreement appears
to have been reached on other vital issues such as price decontrol
and privatization. If a treaty is signed next week, it could
well consist largely of loosely phrased declarations of principle
or intent. (Keith Bush)

IMF ASSOCIATE STATUS FOR USSR APPROVED. Unnamed sources told
Western agencies September 26 that the IMF's executive board
agreed on September 25 to grant the USSR special associate status
in the organization. The Soviet Union is expected to apply for
this status before the IMF's annual meeting in Bangkok in mid-October.
The special status would involve three main elements: IMF review
of the economy; Soviet compliance with IMF plans for economic
reform; and technical assistance from the IMF. No reference appears
to have been made to President Gorbachev's request for full membership
of the Fund. (Keith Bush)

ENTERPRISE COUNCIL ESTABLISHED. On September 26, President Gorbachev
issued a decree creating a 28-member Enterprise Council, TASS
reported that day. Its declared functions are, inter alia, to
further free enterprise activity, to form a market structure of economic links
within the framework of a unified economic space, to protect the rights of
businessmen, to counter monopolies, and to help promote fair competition.
The vice-president of the USSR Scientific-Industrial Union, Aleksandr
Vladislavlev, was named to head the Council, and among its members
are Pavel Bunich and Konstantin Borovoi. (Keith Bush)

DELAY ON US-SOVIET TRADE AGREEMENT. Western sources reported
on September 27 that the Ways and Means Committee of the US House
of Representatives would postpone voting on the trade pact granting
most-favored-nation tariff treatment to the Soviet Union until
the Bush Administration explains how its costs will affect the
US budget. Under an expedited legislative process, both houses
of Congress must approve the bill granting MFN within 90 days.
The current delay is unlikely to affect ultimate approval of
the agreement. (Jim Nichol)

MORE CREDIT GUARANTEES? According to the Journal of Commerce
of September 26, the US Congress is moving closer to repealing
a $300million limit on US Export-Import Bank credit guarantees
extended to the Soviet Union. House-Senate conferees who are
reconciling versions of the Foreign Aid bill agreed to permit
President Bush to waive the limit. In a separate action, a House
Banking Subcommittee bill also contains a repeal of the limit
on credits, a move taken in case the Foreign Aid bill is vetoed
by President Bush because of objectionable provisions unrelated
to the issue of Soviet credits. (Jim Nichol)

GOLD SHIPPED ABROAD. Reversing earlier denials of Western reports,
TASS on September26 quoted a report in Kuranty that gold worth
$4 billion had been shipped abroad secretly by the coup plotters
in August. The purpose was to create a special reserve fund to
purchase imports for Soviet industry in the expectation that
Western credits would be cut off after the coup. Rumors of the
gold shipment had caused London and Tokyo gold exchange prices
to decline in early September. (Jim Nichol)

MUJAHEDDIN SEEK REPARATIONS FROM USSR. According to TASS on September
26, the Afghan Mujaheddin Lawyers' Association, based in Peshawar,
Pakistan, has written an appeal demanding that the USSR pay for
the damage done to Afghanistan since the 1979 Soviet invasion.
The group has sent the appeal to the Afghan opposition delegation
now being formed to go to Moscow for talks on settling the Afghan
conflict. It also wants the USSR to make a full list of the damage
done since 1979 and to send it to the UN and other international
organizations. The appeal reportedly argues that since Kuwait
demanded military reparations from Iraq, why cannot Afghanistan
demand the same from the USSR? TASS said the Afghan opposition
claims that incomplete estimates of the damage run to over $644.8
billion. (Sallie Wise Chaballier)

MUBARAK TO MEET GORBACHEV, YELTSIN TODAY. Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak arrived in Moscow yesterday for "a short working
visit," TASS reported September 26. He is to hold talks today
with USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev and RSFSR President Boris
Yeltsin. Gorbachev's special Mideast envoy Evgenii Primakov,
who met Mubarak at the airport, told TASS that the talks will
focus on the proposed Middle East peace conference and on bilateral
relations. (Sallie Wise Chaballier)

ANTI-SEMITISM CONFERENCE CONCLUDES. The International Conference
on Anti-Semitism ended in Moscow on September 26, issuing a resolution
calling for a ban on political parties and organizations that
"ignite racial hatreds" in the Soviet Union. The conference also
called for Soviet and republican emigration laws to consistently
adhere to international human rights standards and commitments
undertaken by the Soviet Union, and urged that Jewish organizations
be consulted in revising the laws. On September 25, the conference
released a poll by Moscow-based Jewish Scientific Center that
found that more than 50% of Soviet citizens want all Jews to
leave the country. The poll, a sponsor said, reflects increasing
anti-Semitism in the wake of growing economic uncertainty. (Jim
Nichol)


USSR--OTHER REPUBLICS


SIXTY DEAD IN TBILISI CLASHES. A Georgian military spokesman
denied claims by rebel National Guard commander Tengiz Kitovani
that four Georgian OMON troops were killed in an attack on the
National Guard camp at Shavnabada outside Tbilisi in the early
morning of September 26 and reported that shots were fired later
that day at the home of Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia,
Western news agencies reported on September 26. Gamsakhurdia
extended by two hours a 6 p.m. deadline for surrendering weapons.
TASS September 27 quoted Kitovani as saying that 60unarmed young
National Guard volunteers were killed when OMON troops who had
surrounded the Shavnabada camp September26 attacked early September
27. (Liz Fuller)

SITUATION IN TAJIKISTAN. Western and Soviet news agencies reported
on September 26 that demonstrators trying to force the resignation
of acting republican president Rakhman Nabiev have begun a hunger
strike in front of the Tajik Supreme Soviet building. According
to the late night installment of "Vesti," 239 people are participating
in the hunger strike. A Tajik journalist said on "Vesti" that
Nabiev has confirmed the ban on the Communist Party for which
his predecessor was removed on Monday. Other sources reported
that Nabiev refuses to resign, arguing that if he were to resign
under pressure from demonstrators, "the process would be endless."
(Bess Brown)

OUTSIDE SUPPORT FOR TAJIK DEMOCRATS. TASS reported on September
26 that demonstrators and sympathizers of the republic's democratic
parties, such as Tajikistan's highest-ranking clergyman, Kazi
Akbar Turadzhonzoda, are taking great pains to assure the Russian-speaking
population of the republic that the anti-Communist demonstrations
in Dushnabe are not aimed against Russians. Opposition leaders
have sought support from Russian democratic groups. A delegation
from the Democratic Kyrgyzstan movement arrived in Dushanbe on
September 26 to support the Tajik demonstrators, and representatives
of the Uzbek Popular Front Birlik have come to Dushnabe as well.
(Bess Brown)

TURKESTANI CONFERENCE IN UZBEKISTAN. An Uzbek journalist informed
RFE/RL on September 25 that the first International Conference
of Turkestanis was opened that day by Uzbek president Islam Karimov.
The conference, which is attended by 100 representatives of Central
Asians living abroad, is to promote closer ties between Uzbekistan
and Turkestani emigrants. (Yakub Turan)

MOONSHINE TO BE LEGALIZED IN KYRGYZSTAN? The September 17 issue
of Izvestia contains what it describes as the sensational news
that Kyrgyzstan's MVD has proposed a resolution legalizing the
production and sale of home-brewed alcoholic beverages. The republic's
liberal minister of internal affairs, Felks Kulov, told an Izvestia
correspondent that law enforcement cannot cope with illegal home-brewing,
so the best policy is to legalize it. (Bess Brown)

UKRAINE, KAZAKHSTAN SAID TO HESITATE OVER MISSILES. As reported
by Reuter on September 26, RSFSR Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei
Fedorov said in an address to the Royal Institute of International
Affairs in London that Ukraine and Kazakhstan are backing away
from previous offers to hand over to the RSFSR nuclear missiles
located on the territory of their republics. Although the RSFSR
would accept the missiles, Fedorov pointed out that transportation
would be dangerous and that it would be cheaper to destroy the
silos. He said missiles in Ukraine and Kazakhstan could be made
the object of negotiations with the United States. (Kathy Mihalisko)


"DEMOCRATIC CRIMEA" WARNS OF UKRAINIAN-RUSSIAN CONFLICTS. TASS,
quoting sources in the "Democratic Crimea" opposition group,
said on September 26 that the Communist authorities who are still
firmly in charge of the Crimean peninsula are attempting to pit
Ukraine against Russia. According to Yurii Komov, a member of
both "Democratic Crimea" and the Presidium of the Crimean ASSR
Supreme Soviet, officials are gathering signatures on a petition
to hold a referendum on whether to nullify the 1954 act on the
transfer of Crimea from the RSFSR to Ukraine. (Kathy Mihalisko)


KRAVCHUK CONCLUDES WHITE HOUSE VISIT. Chairman of the Ukrainian
Supreme Soviet Leonid Kravchuk concluded his visit to Washington
yesterday where he held talks with President Bush and addressed
the Heritage Foundation and the National Press Club, Radio Kiev
and TASS reported September 26. Kravchuk told reporters that
the US is ready to support Ukraine's movement towards democracy
and independence. At the same time, the White House has made
it clear that the US is not prepared to extend diplomatic recognition.
The Ukrainian leader also said that Ukraine is against the transfer
of nuclear weapons from one republic to another. With regard
to relations with the center, Kravchuk stated that now there
can only be economic relations between republics; the question
of a political union, he asserted, is quite another matter. (Roman
Solchanyk)

UKRAINE POSTPONES DECISION ON FOREIGN ECONOMIC TALKS. Ukraine
has postponed initialing the protocols of the inter-republican
meeting on questions of coordinating foreign economic activity
for one week, Radio Kiev reported September 26. No reasons were
given for the delay. (Roman Solchanyk)

KRAVCHANKA DEFINES BELORUSSIAN SOVEREIGNTY. In an address on
September 26 to the UN General Assembly, Belorussian Foreign
Minister Pyotr Kravchanka said his republic's goal is to achieve
"real independence and sovereignty" through favorable political
conditions that would lead to "a wave of diplomatic recognition."
Kravchanka expressed the hope that the CSCE will look favorably
on the republic's desire to join the Helsinki process when CSCE
foreign ministers meet in Prague in January. (Kathy Mihalisko)


DNIESTER MOLDAVIAN TOWN BESIEGED. Additional Russian "workers'
detachments" have arrived in the Moldavian town of Dubasari on
the left bank of the Dniester to reinforce the siege of the Moldavian
police headquarters and other administrative buildings there,
Moldavian Internal Affairs Minister Ion Costas told Radio Kishinev
September 26. The siege, in its third day, is part of the recent
efforts by the Russian-led "Dniester SSR" to force Moldavian
police units to submit to the self-proclaimed authorities there
and expel Moldavian authorities from the area's main towns. (Vladimir
Socor)

MOLDAVIAN PRESIDENT STRESSES POLITICAL SOLUTION. Addressing the
Moldavian parliament September 26, Moldavian President Mircea
Snegur reaffirmed that Kishinev would rely solely on political
methods to resolve the situation on the left bank of the Dniester,
Moldovapres reported the same day. Noting the pressures applied
by local Russian leaders to the Moldavian authorities, and particularly
the threats against Moldavian policemen in six towns of the area,
Snegur said that he would rather resign than approve the use
of force. In a message to the police stations in the six towns,
made public by Moldavian radio September 25, Snegur said that
force may be used only to defend the physical safety of policemen.
(Vladimir Socor)

MOLDAVIAN PREMIER RECEIVES AMERICAN DIPLOMAT. Moldavian Prime
Minister Valeriu Muravschi received J. Whitters, Third Secretary
of the US Embassy in the USSR, on September 26 in Kishinev, Moldovapres
reported the same day. Muravschi told the American diplomat that
international recognition of Moldavia's independence "would help
in stabilizing the situation in the republic, maintaining its
territorial integrity, and giving an impetus to Moldavia's economic
interaction with the West." (Vladimir Socor)


BALTIC STATES


BALTS JOIN INTERNATIONAL WEIGHTLIFTING FEDERATION. On September 26
the governing board of the International Weightlifting Federation,
meeting in Donaueschingen, Germany, decided to admit Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania, and South Africa as members, Western agencies
reported that day. This is the fourth international sports federation
to admit the Baltic states. They will need to join only one more
international sports federation to comply with the Olympic Charter
requirement of membership in five such federations for acceptance
as a full member of the International Olympic Committee. (Saulius
Girnius)

NORDIC COUNCIL MEETING ON BALTIC STATES. On September 26 in Copenhagen
Nordic Council parliamentarians held a meeting with their Baltic
counterparts, including Lithuanian Supreme Council Chairman Vytautas
Landsbergis who gave an interview to the RFE Lithuanian Service
that day. Discussion at a meeting of the Nordic Council Secretariat
focused on cooperation between the Nordic and Baltic Councils
and the establishment of a Baltic Investment Bank with a proposed
capital of 300million ECUs. The secretariat also agreed to recommend
to their governments support for the immediate withdrawal of
the Soviet army from the Baltic states. (Saulius Girnius)

VAGNORIUS SPEECH ON LITHUANIAN ECONOMY. On September 26 Prime
Minister Gediminas Vagnorius said, in a speech to the Lithuanian
parliament rebroadcast by Radio Lithuania, that the first economic
priority is to convert to a market economy. The differences between
market and state prices that are still in force for about 40%
of goods have prompted many people to buy goods at state prices
and resell them at market prices, resulting in shortages of goods
at state prices. Vagnorius said that he hoped to free all prices
by the end of the year. He noted that in October wages and other
compensatory payments would be raised by about 30%. (Saulius
Girnius)

PROPOSALS FOR REORGANIZATION OF MINISTRIES. Vagnorius said that
the current ministries should be reorganized, but without increasing
the number of employees. The Ministry of Trade should be incorporated
into the Ministry of Material Resources. The Department of National
Defense should be made the Ministry of National Defense. A new
Ministry of International Economic Relations should be created
whose primary purpose would be to increase Lithuania's international
trade by formulating agreements with individual countries, international
financial organizations, and various regional economic communities,
such as the EC. The Communications Ministry should add a section
dealing with information sciences. (Saulius Girnius)

REORGANIZATION OF THE BANK OF LITHUANIA. Vagnorius also proposed
that the Bank of Lithuania should divest itself of all normal
commercial accounts with enterprises and individuals by November
1 transfering them to other commercial banks. The Bank of Lithuania
should become a Central Bank (similar to the US Federal Reserve)
that would regulate credit policies and the circulation of money
(after Lithuania introduces its own currency). He hoped that
some international bank would decide to establish a branch in
Lithuania that would be a competitor and example for local banks.
(Saulius Girnius)

JOINT COMMISSION ON POLES IN LITHUANIA. On September 26 parliament
press spokesman Audrius Azubalis said that Lithuania was willing
to discuss an offer by Polish parliament deputies to form a joint
commission to investigate the treatment of ethnic Poles in Lithuania,
Western agencies reported that day. He also categorically refuted
a TASS report of September 25 that the so-called Vilnija Salvation
Army had sent an ultimatum to the parliament stating that armed
actions would be taken against Lithuanian armed forces in Polish
inhabited regions if Lithuania did not agree by November1 to
the right of a free referendum there. Azubalis noted that no
such ultimatum had been received and regretted that the TASS
disinformation could affect relations between Lithuania and Poland,
Russia, and Belorussia. (Saulius Girnius)

ESTONIA RECOGNIZED INDEPENDENCE OF SLOVENIA. The BALTFAX news
agency reported on September 26 that the Estonian government
had informed the government of Slovenia that it recognized Slovenia's
independence from Yugoslavia and invited Slovenia to establish
mutual diplomatic relations. (Saulius Girnius)