No. 163, 26 August 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

ABKHAZ PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN FACED WITH NEW ULTIMATUM. At least
40 Georgian troops and five Abkhaz were killed in overnight fighting
near Sukhumi and Gagra on 24-25 August; two further Georgians
were killed when Abkhaz irregulars opened fire during an exchange
of prisoners on 24 August, Western agencies reported. The Commander
of the Georgian National Guard troops in Abkhazia, Colonel Giorgi
Karkarashvili, issued an ultimatum to Abkhaz Parliament Chairman
Vladislav Ardzinba to resign by 1100 CEST on 26 August or face
an attack on his headquarters in Gudauta. The ultimatum also
calls for the withdrawal from Abkhazia of all irregular units
from the North Caucasus. ITAR-TASS quotes Ardzinba as stating
that he is ready to participate in the upcoming talks in Moscow
between Yeltsin and Shevardnadze on condition that representatives
from Abkhazia and from the North Caucasus are also invited to
attend. (Liz Fuller)

NEW DIPLOMATIC INITIATIVES ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH. Mario Raffaelli,
the Italian chairman of the CSCE sponsored preparatory Karabakh
peace talks, submitted a written proposal for a 60-day ceasefire
in Karabakh to Azerbaijani President Abulfaz Elchibey during
a meeting in Baku on 25 August. Raffaelli told ITAR-TASS that
such a ceasefire would allow a delegation of military observers
to visit the disputed enclave. Raffaelli then travelled to Erevan
to submit the same proposal to Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrossyan.
On 24 August, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev telephoned
his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts and offered to broker
a settlement in the conflict; the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign
ministers will meet in Alma-Ata on 27 August to discuss a ceasefire,
ITAR-TASS and AzerINFORM reported. (Liz Fuller)

ACTIONS OF MOUNTAIN PEOPLES' CONFEDERATION PLACE IT "OUTSIDE
THE LAW." A statement issued by the Russian Ministry of Justice
on 25 August states that the actions of the Confederation of
Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus are a gross violation of the
Russian constitution, and that there are grounds for the Russian
public prosecutor to investigate its activities and those of
its leaders, ITAR-TASS reported. The statement says that the
confederation, which has despatched armed volunteers to Abkhazia,
is claiming to be a substitute for the legal bodies of state
power and calling for the confederation was signed on 15 November
1991 by representatives of 13 peoples of the North Caucasus and
the Abkhaz. (Ann Sheehy)

RUSSIAN AND CHINESE DEFENSE MINISTERS MEET. Russian Defense Minister
Pavel Grachev met in Moscow on 25 August with his Chinese counterpart,
Qin Jiwei, Interfax reported. The two discussed further force
reductions in Eastern Asia and the Pacific. Grachev later characterized
the meeting as "successful and fruitful," but admitted that the
two had failed to reach a compromise on a key issue; namely,
the distance that the two country's respective armed forces should
be moved back from the border. The Chinese reportedly insist
on a distance of 300 km, while the Russians refuse to withdraw
their forces farther than the Transsiberian Railroad main line.
The two also discussed arms sales, and Grachev said that Moscow
had sold China twelve SU-27 "Flanker" aircraft earlier this month,
and plans to sell China another twelve in November. (Stephen
Foye)

RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT RECOMMENDATIONS TO YELTSIN ON KURILE DISPUTE.
The Russian parliament has recommended that Russian President
Boris Yeltsin limit himself to the recognition of unresolved
problems in Russian-Japanese relations during his forthcoming
visit to Japan and not to recognize Japanese claims to sovereignty
over the disputed Kurile islands, Interfax reported on 25 August.
Deputy Sergei Mikhailov said that in accordance with the declaration
of Russia's sovereignty, territorial changes may be only accomplished
as a result of a referendum. He noted that according to opinion
polls, 25 percent of the residents of the Kurile islands said
they would hide in the mountains and start a guerilla war if
the islands were returned to Japan. (Alexander Rahr)

PETROV ON KURILE ISLANDS. President Yeltsin's chief of staff,
Yurii Petrov, told Japanese officials that he does not believe
a breakthrough in the Kurile islands dispute will be possible
when Yeltsin visits Tokyo next month, according to Reuters on
24 August. Petrov claimed that the political situation in Russia
will not allow Yeltsin to hand the islands over to Japan. Petrov
is the third high-ranking politician after State Secretary Gennadii
Burbulis and Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Poltoranin, who is
closely studying the issue in preparation for Yeltsin's visit.
(Alexander Rahr)

KOZYREV'S FOREIGN POLICY ATTACKED. The Russian conservatives'
foreign policy expert and historian, Natalia Narochnitskaya,
has attacked Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev's pro-Western
foreign policy in a lengthy interview with Literaturnaya Rossiya
(no.34). She claimed that while all other industrial states are
protecting their national self-interests, Russian foreign policy
makers have abandoned theirs. She deplored the fact that Russia
has lost territories which it possessed for more than 300 years
and is now abandoning one of its closest historical allies: Serbia.
She asserted that a new Russian government must reverse the treaty
on the CIS as unconstitutional and seek to reunify the former
republics of the USSR. (Alexander Rahr)

RUSSIAN MONEY MATTERS. Acting Russian Prime Minister Egor Gaidar
told Russian TV on 25 August that inflation fell to 7% in July.
If true, this would be the lowest monthly rate in 1992. However,
the economist Nikolai Petrakov and other critics have warned
that Russia is moving into a period of hyperinflation. ITAR-TASS
told of merchants at newspaper kiosks in Severomorsk giving out
condoms to sailors in lieu of change because of a shortage of
small-denomination notes and coins. And the same agency reported
that a poultry factory in Ulan Ude is short of cash and has paid
out each employee with three or four boxes of eggs. (Keith Bush)


PETRAKOV SEES HIDDEN HYPERINFLATION. Well-known Russian economist
Nikolai Petrakov told an audience at the World Congress of International
Economic Association that the recent stability of the ruble and
moderation of inflation was an illusion. He claimed that overdue
wage and pension payments, "the most barbaric and cynical form
of wage freeze," were an artificial constraint on inflation intentionally
created by the government, Biznes-TASS reported on 25 August.
He implied that as this constraint is broken, the ruble might
lose half its value vis-a-vis the dollar over the second half
of this year. (Erik Whitlock)

CHANGES IN THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT FORECAST. Yosif Diskin, a leading
"ideologist" of the Civic Union, told ITAR-TASS on 22 August
that the Industrial Lobby will present its own economic program
to the parliament. He indicated that if the parliament supports
that program, the Civic Union will take over the government and
replace acting Prime Minister Egor Gaidar with its leader, Arkadii
Volsky. Diskin emphasized that Volsky will conduct an independent
policy and halt the present confrontation between the executive
and legislative branches. Meanwhile, representatives of the liberal
parliamentary faction "Reforma," such as Viktor Sheinis, called
for cooperation between the Democratic Russia Movement and the
Civic Union, Rossiiskaya gazeta reported on 20 August. (Alexander
Rahr)

BURBULIS ON REFORM. Russian State Secretary Gennadii Burbulis
has admitted in an interview with Izvestia on 20 August that
the power balance in Russian politics has shifted towards the
"industrial lobby" and indicated that he has lost most of his
previous powers. He asserted, however, that democrats remain
influential in politics, that democratization has almost reached
the point of no return, and that a majority of Russians, although
tired of politics, support reform. He said that he cannot forgive
himself for believing for so long that society could be liberalized
under the former Communist system. (Alexander Rahr)

CORRUPTION IN OIL DISTRIBUTION GROWS. The Russian Interior Ministry
has expressed alarm at increasing corruption and other illegalities
in oil export transactions, Krim-Press reported on 25 August.
Ministry officials gave no figures on the overall loss to the
state from such criminality, but provided many suggestive examples,
one of which is that corrupt state bureaucrats are charging foreign
importers an additional $2 per ton of oil over the official selling
price. This represents a mark-up of 15-20% over prices that producers
receive for their oil on the Russian market. The Ministry predicted
that corruption would worsen and more oil would be diverted from
price-controlled domestic markets in the near future when privatization
of the industry begins. (Erik Whitlock)

NEW RUSSIAN AGENCY FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENT CREATED. The Russian
government is establishing a new office for handling international
financial affairs, including relations with international lending
organizations, according to the Financial Times on 21 August.
The "Agency for International Cooperation and Development," which
Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Shokhin will oversee, apparently
will replace the existing Foreign Investment Committee. No details
were given as to why the government thought the switch was necessary.
(Erik Whitlock)

RUSSIAN ECONOMIC PRIORITIES FOR 1993. Russian First Deputy Economics
Minister Andrei Shapovalyants told Interfax on 25 August that
he is preparing a "program of priorities" for 1993. The program
will be submitted to the government for consideration and it
contains four areas of concentration. They are, in order of precedence:
support for the fuel and energy complex and protection of the
nation's export potential; providing sufficient food to the population;
housing construction for servicemen returning from abroad; and
the conversion of the military complex. (Keith Bush)

RUSSIAN EMPLOYMENT FUND. According to Interfax of 25 August,
Russian President Boris Yeltsin has signed a decree setting up
a state employment fund. Enterprises are to contribute 1% of
their wage and salary bills to this fund "to finance efforts
to guarantee employment during the third quarter of this year."
Public organizations composed of invalids and pensioners, and
organizations where these make up more than half of the workforce
are exempt from contributions. (Keith Bush)

STRUGGLE OVER IZVESTIA CONTINUES. The struggle over control of
the newspaper Izvestia is far from over. The Fund for Russian
Federal Property, which is subordinate to the parliament, has
claimed ownership of the former Soviet government newspaper,
ITAR-TASS reported on 25 August. Russian President Boris Yeltsin
decreed on 22 August that the newspaper would remain independent
from the parliament as part of its own publishing company, Izvestia,
which was created after the failed putsch. But the Russian State
Procuracy decided that the creation of an independent publishing
company was illegal, thus taking the side of the parliament against
Yeltsin. (Alexander Rahr)

SIGNING OF CIS CHARTER UNLIKELY TO BE ON SUMMIT AGENDA. In spite
of earlier optimistic forecasts, it is unlikely that the signing
of the CIS charter will on the agenda of the CIS summit in Bishkek
on 25 September, ITAR-TASS reported on 21 August. A three-day
meeting of experts in Minsk ran into problems, particularly as
regards the economic court, which will require further consultations.
A counsellor of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the concept
of a human rights commission did not meet universal understanding
either. Ukraine had reservations about the economic court when
its creation was proposed and agreed in principle at the 6 July
summit. From the beginning, Ukraine has been the chief obstacle
to the adoption of the charter. (Ann Sheehy)

BASHKIRS SET UP OWN MUFTIATE. A congress of the Muslim clergy
of Bashkortostan in Ufa on 21 August established a board of the
Muslims of Bashkortostan with its center in Ufa, and elected
the imam-hatib of the Ufa cathedral mosque Nurmukhamet Nigmatullin
its chairman or mufti, Izvestiya reported. Delegates expressed
their distrust of the chairman of the Muslim religious board
for European Russia and Siberia, Talgat Tajiddin, whom they accused
of squandering the board's property and abusing his position.
The Muslim Religious Board for European Russia and Siberia is
the third of the four official Muslim religious boards that existed
under the Soviet regime to split into national units. Although
the board has its residence in Ufa, it has been dominated by
Tatars, by far the largest Muslim nationality in Russia. (Ann
Sheehy)

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER EDITOR MURDERED IN BAKU. Journalist Rahbar
Bashiroglu and his newly-wedded wife were murdered by two unidentified
gunmen in their Baku apartment during the evening of 24 August,
Interfax reported. The motive for the killing is not clear. Bashiroglu
edited the newspaper "20th of January," which aimed to publicize
human rights violations by the Soviet Army in Baku in January
1990. An Azerbaijani procuracy investigation recently established
that former Soviet Defense Minister Yazov gave the order for
troops to open fire on civilians; the procuracy is also considering
bringing criminal charges against Gorbachev in connection with
the killings. (Liz Fuller)

TAJIK OPPOSITION DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN PROSECUTOR'S MURDER. The
parties and movements making up Tajikistan's opposition coalition
have issued a statement distancing themselves from the murder
of the country's state prosecutor on 24 August, and demanding
a thorough and objective investigation of the crime, ITAR-TASS
reported on 25 August. The self-described democratic forces--the
Democratic and Islamic Renaissance Parties and the nationalist
Rastokhez and Lali Badakhshan movements--said that they feared
the crime would be used by "certain forces" (certainly including
the Communists who still dominate the government and legislature)
as an excuse to attack the democrats. (Bess Brown)

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON YUGOSLAV CONFLICT OPENS TODAY. International
media report the opening on 26 August in London of a three-day
session dealing with the crisis in the former Yugoslavia. Some
400 delegates representing the international community and the
local key players will attend, led by Co-Chairmen UN Secretary
General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and British Prime Minister John
Major, representing the UN and EC as sponsors. American, Russian,
and other leaders have stressed that no big developments are
expected, just an increase in momentum by adopting a four-point
"code of civilized behavior" and probably some other measures.
A permanent international body to monitor the conflict may be
set up. The Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian parties show little
sign of modifying their respective positions. (Patrick Moore)


KOSOVO ALBANIANS TO ATTEND CONFERENCE. Radio Croatia reported
on 25 August that a delegation representing Kosovo's Albanian
majority will attend the London conference. Ibrahim Rugova, president
of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, told reporters that
he was invited by former mediator Lord Carrington. Serbia is
opposed to Kosovo's independence moves and to Rugova's attendance.
Rugova is supported by the Party for Democratic Action representing
Albanians in the southern region of Serbia. The Assembly for
Political-Territorial Autonomy of the Albanians in Macedonia
sent a letter to Lord Carrington asking to be invited and stressing
that efforts for full equality of Albanians with the Macedonians
have been unsuccessful. The assembly accused the Macedonian parties
of treating Albanians as second-class citizens. (Milan Andrejevich)


UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY PASSES RESOLUTION ON BOSNIA. On 25 August
the General Assembly urged the Security Council to take "further
appropriate measures... to put an end to the fighting and to
restore the unity and territorial integrity of the Republic of
Bosnia and Herzegovina." The delegates also condemned "ethnic
cleansing" and demanded a stop to it. The vote was 136 to 1,
with only Serbia-Montenegro voting against; Russia and four African
countries abstained. Western news agencies said that the vote
illustrates Belgrade's international isolation, but added that
Turkey and some Islamic countries had wanted a tougher call for
military action. (Patrick Moore)

CARRINGTON RESIGNS AS MEDIATOR FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA. The
26 August Washington Post said that Lord Carrington announced
he was stepping down the previous day, and added that he probably
did so out of frustration. The decision took the diplomatic community
by surprise. His replacement may be David Owen, who also is a
former British foreign secretary. Meanwhile in Sarajevo, the
BBC reported on 26 August that the city had experienced the heaviest
artillery bombardment in weeks, with shells landing from Serbian
positions every few seconds. On the eve of the London conference,
the Bosnian forces have been trying to break the siege of the
capital, and the Serbs have been responding in kind. (Patrick
Moore)

THE RUMP YUGOSLAV ECONOMY REPORTEDLY NEAR COLLAPSE. The 24 August
edition of the Belgrade daily Vecernje novosti reported that
the UN sanctions are not the only factors which is leading to
an economic collapse in the rump Yugoslavia. Economists say that
in addition to the sanctions, the reasons for the country's economic
crisis are the absence of a macro-economic policy, the war in
Bosnia-Herzegovina and a galloping inflation. The situation is
further affected by an abundance of export products that are
not in demand on the domestic market. The drop in the demand
for domestic goods is nearly equal to the drop in real earnings,
which fell by 50 percent during the first quarter of 1992. Most
of the population survives by spending foreign currency savings
which were not deposited at state-owned banks. The economic situation
has also been aggravated by the uncertain situation in agriculture.
This year's wheat yield is far below expected. More maize and
industrial crops have been sown than last year, but the drought
in late July and early August has affected production. (Milan
Andrejevich)

BULGARIA WANTS COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO DISCUSS EX-YUGOSLAVIA. Bulgaria
has requested the Council of Europe, whose committee of ministers
is scheduled to meet on September 10-11, to discuss the conflict
in parts of former Yugoslavia, Western and Bulgarian media reported
on 25 August. In a letter to the twenty-member strong international
body, the Bulgarian government is warning against the regional
implications of developments in ex-Yugoslavia. According to Bulgaria,
"massive" human rights violations are occurring in Bosnia-Herzegovina
and ethnic tensions threaten to spread over the Balkans. (Kjell
Engelbrekt)

TALKS RESUME TODAY BETWEEN MECIAR AND KLAUS. On 25 August, a
day after Slovak prime minister Vladimir Meciar cancelled the
scheduled parleys with Czech premier Vaclav Klaus on the breakup
of Czechoslovakia, talks are set to resume. The sixth in a series
of negotiations were scheduled for 27 August in Prague but were
cancelled by Meciar, who claimed that Klaus' Civic Democratic
Party (ODS) had failed to fulfill many of the political agreements
reached thus far. The two leaders will instead meet today in
Brno. CSTK reports that the meeting's agenda is unchanged. No
reason for Meciar's change of mind has been offered, except that
it followed telephone discussions with the ODS. (Paulina Bren)


POLL: ROMANIAN OPPOSITION LEADING IN FORTHCOMING BALLOT.The Romanian
Institute for Public Opinion Survey (IRSOP) released on 25 August
the results of an opinion poll concerning the forthcoming presidential
and general elections. The survey, which had been commissioned
by Reuters, shows that Romania's opposition may lead a coalition
government after elections scheduled for 27 September. According
to the poll, the Democratic Convention, an alliance of 18 parties
and organizations from the opposition, would win 28% in the vote
for the parliament, ahead of the left-wing Democratic National
Salvation Front (22%). The survey also indicates that President
Ion Iliescu, faces a tight battle for re-election. Only 39% of
the electorate appear to support him for a second mandate. In
the 1990 elections, 85% voted for Iliescu. (Dan Ionescu)

ROMANIA INVITES FOREIGN OBSERVERS TO MONITOR ELECTIONS. Romania's
foreign ministry has sent invitations to foreign governments,
political parties, and international human rights and labor organizations
willing to send observers to monitor the 27 September ballot.
In an interview with the Bucharest daily Adevarul, Gheorghe Tinca,
an undersecretary of state at the foreign ministry, said that
the observers would be free to travel where they wished and talk
to anyone they liked. He added that his ministry would help them
make travel arrangements and set up interviews but that Romania
would not bear the costs of the visits. Tinca also said that
the first invitation had been sent to the CSCE Bureau for Democratic
Institutions in Warsaw. (Dan Ionescu)

ROMANIA ASKS HUNGARY TO EXTRADITE FORMER INTERIOR MINISTER. Romania
asked Hungary on 25 August to extradite retired general Alexandru
Draghici, a former boss of the Securitate political police and
an interior minister in the 1950s and 1960s. Radio Bucharest
quoted a statement of the Ministry of Justice saying that Draghici
and his wife were believed to hide in Budapest. The military
prosecutor's office has started judicial procedures against Draghici
on homicide charges on 5 August and issued a warrant for his
arrest. (Dan Ionescu)

LITHUANIA TO BUY ONE RUSSIAN NAVY SHIP. National defense minister
Audrius Butkevicius confirmed on 25 August that Lithuania planned
to buy one "coast guard" ship from the Russian Baltic fleet.
According to ITAR-TASS the minister denied an earlier statement
by a Baltic fleet official that more ships would be involved
in the deal. Butkevicius said the ship would be paid for in rubles.
Lithuania already has a small coastal defense service, with a
rescue ship and three cutters. The Russian Baltic fleet has a
naval base at Klaipeda, Lithuania, where a small squadron of
five warships is based. (Doug Clarke)

POLISH MASS PRIVATIZATION TO COMPENSATE STATE EMPLOYEES AND PENSIONERS.
The Polish government decided on 25 August to use its proposed
mass privatization program to compensate the 3.5 million pensioners
and state employees whose lost benefits were ordered reinstated
by the Constitutional Tribunal early in 1992. In upholding the
tribunal's verdicts, the Sejm in May ordered the government to
find a way to reinstate the benefits without burdening the budget.
The government plans to set aside 18% of the shares in firms
subject to mass privatization for affected pensioners and state
employees. This reduces the portion of shares held by the state
treasury to 12% of the total. To cover added costs, mass privatization
will encompass 600 rather than 400 firms. Privatization officials
estimate that shareholders will have to wait until 1994 for any
gain. (Louisa Vinton)

JAPAN HELPS FUND POLISH REGIONAL RESTRUCTURING. The Japanese
government has made available 30 billion zloty (over 2 million
US dollars) for use in creating new jobs in the troubled Mielec
region, PAP reported on 25 August. Over 20,000 of the 60,000
area residents worked in the Mielec aircraft factory, the sole
local employer, which went bust after the loss of the Soviet
military market. A protest strike has been underway there for
months. Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, minister for EC contacts, predicted
that the EC will offer several hundred million dollars for similar
projects in Poland, provided the trade unions understand that
the money is for creating new jobs rather than saving old ones.
The government is planning similar development programs for the
depressed Walbrzych and Lodz regions. (Louisa Vinton)

MEAT AND BAKERY PRODUCT PRICES RISE IN HUNGARY. Regional meat
producers announced price increases of 6%, reported MTI. Procurement
and transportation price increases were blamed. Meat prices belong
to the so-called "free price" category, not set by central authorities,
but the industry is controlled by state-owned monopoly producers.
The price of bread was raised by 10-12% on 24 August, following
flour price increases in July. The increases were partly caused
by inflation, which is planned to reach 25% in 1992, or about
10% less than in 1991. (Karoly Okolicsanyi)

NEW WORLD BANK LOAN FOR HUNGARY. The Hungarian ministry of industry
and trade announced on 24 August that the World Bank has granted
a loan of 100 million US dollars for the purpose of trade development,
Radio Budapest reports. The loan, the first of its kind in Eastern
Europe, will be distributed by two commercial banks and has a
three year grace period with ten years maturity. It will be provided
to private and state enterprise applicants to improve trade services,
such as better storage facilities or better packaging. (Karoly
Okolicsanyi)

MEETING OF LITHUANIAN GOVERNMENT ON ENERGY. On 24 August the
weekly meeting of the Lithuanian government focused on the energy
situation, Radio Lithuania and BNS report. Russia has stopped
sending crude oil to the refinery at Mazeikiai for more than
two weeks demanding world prices. Estonia has promised to purchase
crude oil from Russia that would be refined at Mazeikiai with
Lithuania retaining 20%. Lithuanian deputy prime minister Bronislavas
Lubys noted that energy prices could increase five fold and the
government would have to provide a subsidy of 8.5 billion rubles
even after more than doubling the prices consumers would have
to pay. Without the subsidy the cost of heating homes would be
almost as high as the current average wages in Lithuania. Prime
minister Aleksandras Abisala charged minister of energy Leonas
Asmantas to submit proposals on all major energy supply issues
for the next meeting because the problem was not "getting ready
for the winter," but the country's very survival through the
winter. (Saulius Girnius)

"THE WANDERING ESTONIAN" IS NOT RADIOACTIVE? Controversy continues
over the "Heltermaa," an Estonian-registered ship said to be
carrying radioactive waste. According to Toivo Ninnas, chairman
of the board of the Estonian merchant marine, the "Heltermaa"
is carrying only industrial scrap and zinc oxide. Ninnas is quoted
in Paevaleht of 25 August as calling the disinformation by ITAR-TASS
about the ship's cargo "a political game being played in order
to harm the reputation of Estonian shipping and through that
the economy of the young state." The "Heltermaa" has been seeking
landing privileges in various Black Sea ports since early summer,
an odyssey that has earned it the nickname "The Wandering Estonian"
among local journalists. (Riina Kionka)

POLAND'S CRIME RATE STABILIZES. Polish police officials announced
on 25 August that the number of reported crimes in the first
seven months of 1992 had dropped marginally in comparison with
the same period in 1991. Economic crime rose dramatically, however,
increasing 38%. Police also worry that many crimes go unreported,
PAP said. Violent crime remained stable in the first half of
1992, but the number of robberies involving the use of firearms
rose 80%. The number of attacks on policemen was also much higher.
Polish police were able to solve 48% of committed crimes, an
increase of 5% over 1991. (Louisa Vinton)