No. 213, 08 November 1991

USSR--ALL-UNION TOPICS AND RSFSR



COMMUNISTS AND ANTI-COMMUNISTS DEMONSTRATE. Communists and anti-communists
held demonstrations in Moscow on November 7 to mark the anniversary
of the October revolution, Soviet and Western media reported.
Some 400 anti-communist protesters gathered outside the Lubyanka
headquarters to mourn victims of the Soviet regime, while several
thousand Communists gathered near the Kremlin to celebrate the
revolution's anniversary. Communists condemned Yeltsin's decree
banning CPSU activities in Russia and denounced the "traitorous
Gorbachev-Yeltsin clique." Tens of thousands rallied in St. Petersburg
to celebrate the victory of democratic forces and the restoration
of the city's original name. (Vera Tolz)

VARIOUS ATTITUDES TO NOVEMBER 7. On November 7, "TV Inform" interviewed
cultural and political figures regarding the October Revolution.
Academician Dmitrii Likhachev said it should not be a prerogative
of a state to exercise ideological control. Historian General
Dmitrii Volkogonov noted roots of the country's current problems
in the October Revolution. But Nina Andreeva, leader of the Bolshevik
Platform in the CPSU, said that the revolution was "the main
point in Russia's history." She said that Gorbachev, Yeltsin,
and other leaders who defeated Communism would be punished sooner
or later. (Vera Tolz)

COMMUNISTS OPPOSE YELTSIN'S DECREE. The unofficial committee
"For the Union of Communists," set up on October 1, sent a formal
statement to TASS protesting Yeltsin's decree of November 6 that
banned the CPSU and RCP activities in the RSFSR. On November
7, TASS quoted the statement as saying that the decree was aimed
at suppressing political opposition and establishing a new dictatorship
in the Russian republic. In fact, the RSFSR leadership has taken
no action against Communist groups that were created in the RSFSR
after the dissolution of the CPSU ruling bodies. (Vera Tolz)


GORBACHEV APPROVES NEW STATE SECURITY CHIEFS. Mikhail Gorbachev
formally appointed Vadim Bakatin as the Chief of the Inter-Republic
Security Service (MSB); Evgenii Primakov as the Director of the
USSR Central Intelligence Service (TsSR) and Ilya Kalinichenko
as the Chairman of the Committee for Protection of the USSR State
Border and the Commander-in-Chief of the Border Troops, TASS
reported on November 6. In the coming weeks, the new state security
chiefs must submit to the USSR President a proposal on statutes
for their services. (Victor Yasmann)

STOCK EXCHANGE CONGRESS ABOUT PROPERTY OF CPSU AND KGB. The Congress
of the Stock Exchange (an organization of about two hundred Soviet
brokerage firms) published a statement in Moskovskaya pravda
on November 6 claiming that property, capital, and real estate
controlled by the CPSU and the KGB is actively involved in commercial
operations in domestic and foreign markets. The volume of the
CPSU and KGB capital engaged in such operations well exceeds
official figures. The Congress expressed concern that various
political parties are making claims on this property, arguing
that distribution along partisan lines can lead to a "new ideologization"
of the capital. (Victor Yasmann)

SKULLDUGGERY AT MINFIN? According to Izvestia of November 6,
government auditors discovered 45.4 billion rubles in two accounts
at the USSR Gosbank that the USSR Ministry of Finance had not
declared to the USSR President or to the legislature, Western
agencies reported on November 7. One of the accounts, with 40
billion rubles, belonged to the USSR Ministry of Finance and
had been opened in 1939. Izvestia did not say who started the
other account. Acting USSR Finance Minister Vladimir Raevsky
told Izvestia that he was unaware of the accounts until recently.
The chairman of the government auditing commission suggested
transferring the money to the agricultural sector. (Keith Bush)


G-7 READIES AID PACKAGE. Western agencies reported on November
7 that the Group of Seven industrialized nations are preparing
a package of measures to help the Soviet Union over its current
liquidity problems. The package is expected to be unveiled shortly.
Among its possible provisions are: a deferral of repayments of
principal, but not interest; a bridging loan from the BIS; and
the provision of a safety net under Vneshekonombank. (Keith Bush)


DEFENSE BUDGET FOR 1992. Ivan Silaev, chairman of the Committee
for the Operational Management of the Economy, called a meeting
on November 6 to discuss the urgent problem of the 1992 defense
budget in the absence of a single all-Union budget, TASS reported
that same day. USSR Defense Minister Evgenii Shaposhnikov and
the head of the committee's defense department Soslan Guchmazov
presented a draft agreement on defense expenditures for 1992.
One proposal was that each republic should contribute the same
percentage of its budget or national income. Aleksandr Shelkanov,
chairman of the Council of the Union's Commission for the Armed
Forces, told TASS on November 6 that the problem might be solved
after Shaposhnikov had visited the republics. (Ann Sheehy)

EAST GERMAN EXPORT GUARANTEES TO CEASE. The German Economics
Ministry said November 7 that the 100% government guarantee for
East German exports to the USSR will no longer be provided after
this year, Western agencies reported that day. Future exports
will be subject to the normal terms that apply to German exports
to other countries. As a result, Soviet customer enterprises
will have to make a 15% down payment on products acquired from
the former East German states, and Soviet firms will no longer
receive other special credit terms. (Keith Bush)

MAXWELL'S CORPORATION LISTED AMONG ID'S "FRIENDLY FIRMS." Pergamon
Press, which belonged to media tycoon Robert Maxwell, was listed
among firms considered "friendly" by the CPSU CC's International
Department. According to a list published by Argumenty i Fakty
(No. 42), which appeared two weeks before Maxwell's death, the
ID had a debit of 500,000 hard currency rubles in transactions
with Pergamon Press. (Victor Yasmann)

PARTY OF BUSINESSMEN REGISTERED. The so-called Bourgeois Democratic
Party became the first party of Russian businessmen to be officially
registered in Moscow, "Vesti" reported on November6. The television
quoted the party's leader E. Butov as saying the aim of the party
is to defend the rights of small- and middle-sized businesses.
There is another party of businessmen in Moscow--the Party of
Free Labor. Set up in Moscow last year, this party is not, however,
officially registered yet. (Vera Tolz)

CONFERENCE OF LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF THE USSR. The Liberal
Democratic party of the USSR, headed by Vladimir Zhirinovsky,
held a conference over the weekend of November 2-3, TASS reported
on November 2. The party is criticized by the RSFSR's democratic
forces as being neither liberal nor democratic. Addressing the
congress, Zhirinovsky sharply attacked proclamations of independence
by former Union- and autonomous republics. He also criticized
Gorbachev and Yeltsin. Zhirinovsky ran unsuccessfully against
Yeltsin in the RSFSR presidential elections last June. (Vera
Tolz)

CONGRESS OF INDEPENDENT TRADE UNION OF JOURNALISTS. A congress
of a recently created independent trade union of journalists
was held in Moscow over the weekend of November 2-3, "TSN" reported
on November 2. The trade union is headed by former political
prisoner, independent journalist, and publisher Sergei Grigoryants.
Grigoryants was quoted by "TSN" as saying the drastic decrease
in print runs of periodicals will soon result in widespread unemployment
of journalists. The union will seek to defend the rights of journalists
as the situation deteriorates. (Vera Tolz)

ATTEMPTS TO REVIVE KOMSOMOL. About forty people met in St. Petersburg
on November 7 to discuss the establishment of a new Communist
youth organization. The organization is to replace the All-Union
Komsomol which disbanded itself at the end of September. TASS
reported that day that representatives of all parts of the USSR
came. (Vera Tolz)

GAIDAR APPOINTED RSFSR DEPUTY PREMIER. RSFSR President Boris
Yeltsin appointed Egor Gaidar as Deputy Chairman of the RSFSR
Government in charge of the economic section, TASS reported on
November 7. Gaidar will coordinate the work of 13 ministries,
responsible for implementing Yeltsin's radical reform. Gaidar
previously worked as director of the Institute for Economic Policy
and headed a group of young economists who prepared Yeltsin's
reform program. He is close to RSFSR First Deputy Premier Gennadii
Burbulis who shares the view that Russia should seek a separate
path and break with the USSR. Gaidar is reportedly at odds with
another Russian radical reformist, Grigorii Yavlinski, who is
fighting to preserve the Union. (Alexander Rahr)

SHOKHIN APPOINTED RSFSR DEPUTY PREMIER. Yeltsin also appointed
Aleksandr Shokhin as Deputy Chairman of the RSFSR Government
in charge of the social policy section, TASS reported on November
7. Shokhin will coordinate the work of the RSFSR ministries of
health, labor, education, culture, and social security. Prior
to this appointment, Shokhin served as RSFSR Minister of Labor.
Shokhin is one of the leaders of the Russian Social-Democratic
Party. His nomination indicates that Yeltsin seeks consensus
with other political parties through forming a government of
national trust. (Alexander Rahr)

RUSSIA TO ERECT BORDER POSTS. Galina Starovoitova, an adviser
to RSFSR President Yeltsin, told Western agencies on November
7 that Russia will soon start erecting customs posts along some
of its borders. The posts will be set up in two or three months'
time on borders where other republics have already established
such facilities; she mentioned the Baltic states. Starovoitova
explained that the posts will be part of a process to strengthen
Russian autonomy and that Russia is concerned about an influx
of rubles from other republics. (Keith Bush)

NORTH OSSETIAN PARLIAMENT REPLIES TO GAMSAKHURDIA. Replying to
a protest by Georgian president Zviad Gamsakhurdia at the North
Ossetian parliament's having discussed South Ossetia's request
for incorporation in North Ossetia, the chairman of the North
Ossetian Supreme Soviet Akhsarbek Galazov said that, in the face
of the Georgian parliament's policy of solving "the Ossetian
problem" by force of arms, the North Ossetian parliament had
to take measures to prevent the physical destruction of the Ossetians
in Georgia, TASS reported on November 7. (Ann Sheehy)

REBEL CHECHEN PARLIAMENT NATIONALIZES UNION, RSFSR PROPERTY.
The parliament of the self-styled Chechen parliament has nationalized
all the enterprises, departments, and associations of Union and
RSFSR subordination on its territory, Moscow Radio reported on
November 7. The president, ex-General Dzhakhar Dudaev, has also
been appointed head of the cabinet of ministers and a national
security service has been set up instead of the KGB. The radio
reported that the conflict between various groupings, parties,
and movements in Checheno-Ingushetia was intensifying. (Ann Sheehy)


POPE BLESSES RUSSIAN PERFORMERS. Izvestia published on November
2 a report from Rome about the first performance in the Vatican
of the International charity program called "New Names," founded
by the Soviet Fund of Culture and the Soviet Peace Fund. Pope
John Paul II was among those present at the concert given by
the Russian National Symphonic orchestra as part of this program.
The pope thanked the musicians in Russian. (Oxana Antic)


USSR-OTHER REPUBLICS

NOVEMBER 7 IN KIEV. The traditional November 7 holiday in Kiev
ended with scuffles between supporters and opponents of the "Socialist
choice," Radio Kiev reported on November 7. Several hundred veterans
of the Communist Party and its functionaries marched down Kiev's
main thoroughfare and laid flowers at Lenin's statute. This was
followed by a meeting at the Republican Stadium, where the fight
broke out. (Roman Solchanyk)

NOVEMBER 7 IN MINSK. A newly-formed front organization for the
suspended Belorussian Communist Party, called "Workers of Belorussia
for Democracy, Social Progress, and Justice," marked the November
7 holiday with a rally on Lenin Square in defiance of a ban imposed
by the Minsk city council, according to an RFE/RL correspondent
in the Belorussian capital. (Kathy Mihalisko)

GAMSAKHURDIA ORDERS SEIZURE OF SOVIET MVD PROPERTY. Georgian
president Zviad Gamsakhurdia on November 7 ordered his Interior
Ministry to commandeer all weapons, equipment, and bases belonging
to USSR Interior Ministry troops on Georgian territory. Gamsakhurdia's
decree, broadcast on that date by Radio Tbilisi, said that "they
are now the property of the Republic of Georgia." Thousands of
Soviet MVD troops are concentrated in South Ossetia, the scene
of violent confrontations between Georgian forces and the local
population. In addition, TASS on November 7 carried a statement
from the Presidium of the Georgian parliament saying that Georgia
deserves to be compensated for the involvement of Soviet troops
on its territory. (Kathy Mihalisko)

CLASH IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH. TASS said on November 7 that Armenian
guerrillas clashed with Azerbaijani police in an unidentified
part of Nagorno-Karabakh, reportedly resulting in several deaths
and the burning of a village. In other news, Interfax reported
on that date that Azerbaijani Interior Ministry troops had entered
the local militia headquarters in Stepanakert in an effort to
make the militia turn over its weapons. Residents surrounded
the headquarters and prevented the attempt. Negotiations are
said to be under way to end the impasse. The Azerbaijani parliament
recently passed a law declaring all military munitions and equipment
on its territory to be state property. (Kathy Mihalisko)

BAKERY IN YEREVAN ATTACKED. Shoppers attacked a bakery in Yerevan
and had to be dispersed by MVD troops, TASS reported on November
7. They seized freshly baked bread, trampled loaves underfoot,
and damaged some of the bakery's equipment. TASS attributed the
shortage of bread in Yerevan to the closure of a pipeline by
Azerbaijan two days ago which supplied gas throughout Armenia.
(Keith Bush)

MOLDAVIAN DEPUTIES PROTEST REFUSAL TO HOLD EXTRAORDINARY SESSION.
Over 100Moldavian deputies have accused the parliament's presidium
of a gross violation of the constitution on the grounds that
it had refused to hold an extraordinary session of the parliament
although one was requested by over one third of the deputies,
TASS reported on November 7. The extraordinary session was to
discuss the referendum on the independence of Moldavia in connection
with the demand by the right wing of the Popular Front for the
unification of Moldavia and Romania. (Ann Sheehy)

MOLDAVIA'S PARLIAMENTARY PRESIDIUM OUTLAWS DNIESTER ELECTION.
The Presidium of the Moldavian parliament said November 7 that
plans by officials in the breakaway Dniester region to hold a
presidential election and independence referendum in December
are illegal, TASS reported on November 7. The presidium accused
the Russian-speaking region of continuing to provoke tension
by its illegal activity and of hampering Moldavian efforts to
resolve the Dniester issue. (Ann Sheehy)


BALTIC STATES


BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION REMEMBERED IN RIGA AND MOSCOW. A few thousand
people gathered in Riga's Victory Square to mark the October
Revolution. Although the gathering was not sanctioned and November
7 is not a holiday in Latvia, the authorities took no action
against the demonstrators. In a related development, a crowd
of October Revolution demonstrators in Moscow went to the Latvian
Representation and shouted slogans urging freedom for the detained
OMON officer Sergei Parfyonov and respect for the rights of the
Russian-speaking population in Latvia, Radio Riga reported on
November 7. (Dzintra Bungs)

US PEACE CORPS TO THE BALTICS. US Peace Corps Director Elaine
Chao said that an advance team from the Peace Corps should leave
for the Baltic States by the end of the month, Western agencies
reported on November 7. The team would visit towns in Estonia,
Latvia, and Lithuania to determine where Peace Corps volunteers
are needed. She said that an English-teaching program, a project
to develop small businesses, and an environmental program are
being considered. (Dzintra Bungs)

GORBUNOVS INVITES YELTSIN TO HELP START OF TALKS. On November
7 Latvian Supreme Council Chairman Anatolijs Gorbunovs sent a
letter to RSFSR President Boris Yeltsin urging him to encourage
the start of Latvian-Russian talks. Gorbunovs also informed Yeltsin
of the composition of the Latvian delegation for the talks. The
delegation, consisting of 9 Supreme Council deputies, 11 deputy
ministers, and Latvian permanent representative in Moscow Janis
Peters, is headed by Deputy Janis Dinevics, Radio Riga reported
on November 7. (Dzintra Bungs)

GORBUNOVS: PRIORITIES FOR LATVIA. In an interview published by
Neue Zuercher Zeitung on November 7, Latvian Supreme Council
Chairman Anatolijs Gorbunovs discussed the situation of the various
nationalities living in Latvia and pointed out that all of them
enjoy cultural autonomy in the best European tradition. He also
delineated three major tasks for Latvia: securing the authority
and proper functioning of the bodies of state authority before
the next elections; revamping the economy so that it is less
tied to the East and better integrated with the West; and stimulating
production and productivity, especially through privatization,
thus increasing earnings and a sense of personal responsibility.
(Dzintra Bungs)

CUBA WANTS DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH LATVIA. A Cuban
delegation, headed by Minister for Foreign Economic Relations
Ricardo Cabrisosa, presented a personal letter from Fidel Castro
to Latvian Supreme Council Chairman Anatolijs Gorbunovs. The
Cubans expressed interest in developing direct economic and diplomatic
contacts with Latvia, according to Radio Riga of November7. (Dzintra
Bungs)

ATTACK ON LITHUANIAN CUSTOMS POST. Lithuanian Defense Minister
Audrius Butkevicius told the Lithuanian Supreme Council on November
7 that the attack the night before on the customs post at the
Belorussian-Lithuanian border was a political act, but did not
elaborate. Three men drove up to the Sumska customs post and
threw explosives which injured one Lithuanian officer. Two of
the three attackers are in custody in Vilnius, according to RFE/RL
Lithuanian Service. Earlier this year there was a spate of attacks
on customs posts in Lithuania and Latvia. (Dzintra Bungs)

USSR-ESTONIA DISENGAGEMENT TALKS TO RESUME. Estonia's Prime Minister
Edgar Savisaar and St. Petersburg mayor Anatolii Sobchak will
hold talks on November 10 in Estonia, according to an RFE/RL
interview. The two, who first met three weeks ago, are still
discussing procedural matters related to planned USSR-Soviet
negotiations. Last month, Soviet President Gorbachev named Sobchak
chief negotiator for talks with Estonia. (Riina Kionka)

SOME PARATROOPERS LEAVING ESTONIA. Some paratroopers based in
Voru in southern Estonia have left the country, Rahva Haal reported
on November 7. Those in Viljandi still remain. On October 3,
Soviet Defense Minister Shaposhnikov pledged to remove all paratroopers
from Estonia in a month's time. (Riina Kionka)

NARVA CELEBRATES. BNS reported the following on November 7 without
commentary: "Today at noon, veterans of the Great Patriotic War
laid flowers at the Lenin statue on Peter's Square at the center
of Narva. The REFAK news agency reports that festive meetings
to celebrate the 74th anniversary of the Great Socialist October
Revolution were held in many housing complexes in Narva." (Riina
Kionka)