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![]() No. 182, 22 September 1992SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR ISKANDAROV WARNS TAJIK GROUPS TO STOP FIGHTING. On 21 September, the chairman of Tajikistan's Supreme Soviet, Akbarsho Iskandarov, issued a warning to the leaders of armed groups that are still fighting each other in the countryside, ITAR-TASS reported. Iskandarov, who is the acting president of the country, threatened that if the fighting does not stop by 24 September, force will be used to disarm the opposing sides. He did not say what force would be used--Tajik militiamen have been ordered to stay out of the fighting and the country has no armed forces of its own--but in the last week various government and opposition figures have suggested that a CIS peacekeeping force might not be a bad idea after all. (Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.) KARABAKH UPDATE. The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh remains unclear, with Azerbaijani and Karabakh defense officials making contradictory claims over casualty figures in recent days and control of the Lachin corridor linking Karabakh with Armenia. Interfax quoted Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrossyan as stating that a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh would be "a good prerequisite" for a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Abulfaz Elchibey. Addressing the UN General Assembly, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati criticized the Security Council for not sending observers to monitor Iranian-brokered ceasefire agreements in Karabakh earlier this year. Velayati said the Karabakh conflict can only be solved through negotiations, preserving the territorial integrity of both states involved, according to an RFE-RL correspondent's report. (Liz Fuller, RFE/RL, Inc.) RUSSIA CONCERNED AT ABKHAZ CEASEFIRE VIOLATIONS. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Rozanov told a press conference in Moscow on 21 September that Moscow is "most profoundly concerned" that Abkhazia and Georgia are not complying with the terms of the 3 September Abkhaz ceasefire agreement, ITAR-TASS reported. Georgian deputies to the Abkhaz parliament accused the Abkhaz of "totally ignoring" the ceasefire. Meanwhile Georgian Defense Minister Tengiz Kitovani extended the curfew in Sukhumi for a further month and appointed Colonel Gubaz Urashvili as city commandant to replace Giorgi Gulua. (Liz Fuller, RFE/RL, Inc.) CONFLICT IN PARLIAMENT. Right-wing factions in the Russian parliament, organized in the "Russian Unity" bloc, plan to remove President Boris Yeltsin and his reformist government from power, Western news agencies reported on 20 September. "Russian Unity" intends to form a government of national confidence and hold parliamentary elections next year. The democrats in the parliament prefer to defend Yeltsin and impeach the conservative parliamentary speaker, Ruslan Khasbulatov. The Civic Union seeks a centrist role and opposes the removal of Yeltsin or Khasbulatov. Meanwhile, acting Prime Minister Egor Gaidar predicted that he would survive an expected onslaught at the forthcoming session of the parliament. (Alexander Rahr, RFE/RL, Inc.) KHASBULATOV ATTACKS GOVERNMENT. The speaker of the Russian parliament, Ruslan Khasbulatov, attacked the government on the eve of the opening of parliament. In an interview with Ostankino TV on 21 September, he strongly criticized Deputy Prime Minister for Privatization, Anatolii Chubais, for "ignoring laws adopted by the parliament." The liberal deputy Viktor Sheinis has warned of a "personal dictatorship" by Khasbulatov. He told ITAR-TASS on the same day that Khasbulatov wants to transform the parliament into a "ministry for adopting laws." The first deputy speaker, Sergei Filatov, accused Khasbulatov of creating a new administrative-command system through the parliament, Radio Rossii reported on 20 September. (Alexander Rahr, RFE/RL, Inc.) AVEN, MOZHIN ON YEAR-END ECONOMIC FIGURES. Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, Petr Aven, and senior negotiator on debt issues, Alexei Mozhin, told reporters in Washington that Russian industrial production can be expected to fall 30% by the end of 1992, according to Western news agencies on 21 September. The figure represents an accelerated decline from the 13-15% drop from the period between last June and this June, 21.5% from July to July, and 27.5% from August 1991 to August 1992. Aven and Mozhin also said that September's inflation rate in Russia was 20%, much higher than the 7-8% officially reported for July and August. Despite the increase, Aven claimed, by year-end a 9% inflation rate was a "realistic figure." (Erik Whitlock, RFE/RL, Inc.) GAIDAR CALLS FOR STRICTER FINANCIAL POLICIES. Russian Prime Minister Egor Gaidar has added some detail to his call last week for tougher fiscal and monetary policies. According to Interfax on 21 September, Gaidar said at a conference in Moscow that since April, national financial policy has been too lax. He devoted particular criticism to the Central Bank for overly expansionary credit policies, and to Chairman Viktor Gerashchenko personally for interfering in strictly governmental affairs. "I would like the Central Bank president to understand that he is responsible not for investment policies, nor for socialist economy..., but for monetary and credit policies," he said. Gaidar reportedly also expressed his support for requiring Russian exporters to sell all their hard currency revenues to the state at some fixed exchange rate. (Erik Whitlock, RFE/RL, Inc.) GORBACHEV, OTHER LEADERS, TO TESTIFY IN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT. The Constitutional Court has agreed at last to call former CPSU leaders to testify at the current hearings that will decide the legality of President Yeltsin's decree banning banning the activities of the Communist Party and confiscating its property, Russian TV newscasts announced on 21 September. The leaders invited to testify include former CPSU General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Russian Communist party, Ivan Polozkov, former Politburo members Egor Ligachev, Nikolai Ryzhkov and Aleksandr Yakovlev, and the Director of the KGB and former Minister of Internal Affairs, Vadim Bakatin. The "Novosti" anchor reminded the audience of an earlier interview with Mihail Gorbachev, during which the former General Secretary had declared that he would never testify at the hearing, even if he were delivered to the court in handcuffs. (Julia Wishnevsky, RFE/RL, Inc.) YELTSIN COULD SUSPEND BUT NOT BAN THE COMMUNIST PARTY, EXPERTS SAY. Three of the four legal experts who have testified since the Constitutional Court resumed its hearings on 15 September (Boris Lazarev, Yurii Eremenko and Aleksei Mitskevich) have agreed that only the first of the three decrees issued by President Yeltsin on the Communist Party was justified. The decree, issued by Yeltsin the day after the attempted coup against Gorbachev on 23 August 1991, stated that the activities of the Soviet and Russian Federation's Communist Parties would be suspended until the court investigated their involvement in the coup. Two other decrees, dated 25 August and 6 November, 1991 respectively, announced the confiscation of the party's property and a ban of its organizational activities. According to the experts, only the Russian Supreme Court, not the president, who is merely the chief executive in Russia, is entitled by law to ban public organizations and confiscate property. (Julia Wishnevsky, RFE/RL, Inc.) YELTSIN TO SIGN DECREE ON DEVELOPING DISPUTED ISLANDS. Sakhalin regional government chief Valentin Fedorov has told a Japanese newspaper that Russian President Boris Yeltsin intends shortly to sign a decree promoting the development of the four southern Kuril islands claimed by Japan. Fyordorov's interview was carried by the Asahi Shimbun on 21 September, and was reported by UPI. He told the newspaper that Yeltsin's decree would allow firms on the islands to dispose independently of their products and would simplify the procedures for setting up corporations, including joint ventures, on the islands. On 18 September Nagao Hyodo, an official of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, warned Russia that a plan for a Hong Kong firm to develop tourist facilities on one of the islands was "unacceptable." He also expressed concern about a reported deal in which an Austrian company would build a golf course on another of the disputed islands. (Doug Clarke, RFE/RL, Inc.) "GORBACHEV" CAR STOLEN. One of the three "Volga" cars of the Gorbachev Foundation has been stolen, according to "Novosti" of 20 September. The "Novosti" anchor cited a Moscow police official as suggesting that the crime must have been an inside job, perpetrated by a person familiar with the workshift of the Foundation's guards. (Julia Wishnevsky, RFE/RL, Inc.) JOUSTING OVER BLACK SEA FLEET CONTINUES. The press center of the Ukrainian Navy in Sevastopol said on 21 September that 50 officers from the Higher Naval Academy in that city had taken the oath of loyalty to Ukraine, bringing the number of officers that have sworn loyalty to Ukraine to about 50% of the total. At the Sevastopol naval engineering school, the rate was reported to be over 60%. The figures were reported by Interfax. It also reported that Russian and Ukrainian working groups were scheduled to resume negotiations concerning the fleet on 23 September. On 18 September, Interfax had said that the talks were scheduled to reopen on 21 September. (Stephen Foye, RFE/RL, Inc.) MEETING OF UKRAINIAN AND RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS. The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia, Anatolii Zlenko and Andrei Kozyrev, met in New York on 20 September, ITAR-TASS reported. The two diplomats exchanged views on world affairs and problems confronting the current session of the UN General Assembly. Special emphasis was placed on preparation of the Ukrainian-Russian treaty and economic relations between the two countries. (Roman Solchanyk, RFE/RL, Inc.) EDUARD SHEVARDNADZE (AGAIN) THREATENS TO RESIGN. Having threatened in late July to resign if Georgian troops used force to quell armed resistance in Mingrelia by supporters of ousted President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Eduard Shevardnadze again stated on 21 September that he would step down if ongoing violence threatens to jeopardize the parliamentary elections scheduled for 11 October, according to Radio Tbilisi. Shots were fired during the night of 21-22 September at the State Council headquarters in Tbilisi but noone was injured, ITAR-TASS reported. (Liz Fuller, RFE/RL, Inc.) PONTIC GREEKS FLEEING ABKHAZIA. Ethnic Greeks, of whom there were 14,664 in Abkhazia at the time of the 1989 census, are fleeing Abkhazia and other southern regions of the former USSR in whole families to escape persecution, according to a statement released in Athens by the Pan-Hellenic Union of Pontic Fugitives and summarized on 21 September by ITAR-TASS. The homes of many Greeks in Sukhumi have been attacked by Georgian troops. The Greek government has so far ignored repeated requests from the refugees for assistance. Greek emigration from the USSR last year stood at approximately 2,000 per month. (Liz Fuller, RFE/RL, Inc.) ACTING PREMIER APPOINTED IN TAJIKISTAN. Tajikistan's acting President Akbarsho Iskandarov has appointed Abdumalik Abdullodzhanov acting Prime Minister to replace Akbar Mirzoev, who resigned in August, ITAR-TASS reported on 21 September. Mirzoev was a native of Kulyab Oblast and a close associate of deposed President Rakhmon Nabiev. The 43 year old Abdullodzhanov is apparently one of the new Tajik entrepreneurs--he has been general director of a holding company called "Non" (Bread). (Bess Brown , RFE/RL, Inc.) NAZARBAEV IN GERMANY. On 21 September, the first day of his official visit to Germany, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbaev told KazTAG and TASS correspondents that he had met not only with German President Richard von Weisacker, but had discussed financial help to German-populated regions of Kazakhstan with Economics Minister Juergen Moelleman, and technical assistance in reorganizing Kazakhstan's banking system with the head of the Deutsche Bank. The bank is interested in investing in extractive industries in Kazakhstan. An agreement was signed with Siemens to build medical equipment and telecommunications equipment factories in Kazakhstan. (Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.) RUSSIAN-MOLDOVAN TROOP TALKS. The second round of bilateral talks on the status and terms of withdrawal of Russia's 14th Army from Moldova, held on 16 and 17 September in Chisinau, "ended without any results," Interfax reported. Moldovan delegation head and ambassador to Russia, Petru Lucinschi, told the Moldovan media that future negotiations will be "lengthy and difficult" and that the chief gain thus far is Russia's consent to negotiate at all and recognition that its troops are based in a sovereign state. Lucinschi indicated that Moldova would agree to a withdrawal of Russian troops by 1994 but that Russia would not discuss any dates as yet. President Mircea Snegur assured the Russian delegates that the Moldovan army would welcome in its ranks officers and NCOs of the 14th Army after the latter's withdrawal. Snegur also urged the inclusion of "Dniester" Russian leaders in the talks since they will eventually have to persuade their people to accept the Army's withdrawal. (Vladimir Socor, RFE/RL, Inc.) RUSSIA LINKS WITHDRAWAL T0 ADDITIONAL ISSUES. Russia's ambassador to Moldova and chief delegate to the troop talks, Vladimir Plechko, told the Moldovan media on 17 September that the talks are based on the Yeltsin-Snegur convention of 21 July on settling the conflict in eastern Moldova and on "other issues pertaining to interstate relations." The statement confirms earlier indications that Russia seeks to link an eventual withdrawal of the troops to the Dniester conflict and other issues and obtain concessions from Moldova on those issues. Russia also confirmed the decision, taken at the first round of talks in August, to withdraw a pontoon unit (nominally a regiment but currently down to battalion strength) from Bendery on the right bank of the Dniester. (Vladimir Socor, RFE/RL, Inc.) MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT REACHES OUT TO GAGAUZ. In a conciliatory gesture of a kind that has previously been spurned, Moldovan President Mircea Snegur travelled to Comrat raion to meet with "Gagauz republic Supreme Soviet Chairman" Mikhail Kendigelyan and with the chairmen of the Soviets of the three raions in which the Gagauz form majorities or pluralities of the population, Moldovapres reported on 18 September. While the agenda of the talks was kept confidential, Moldova's Presidential Office told a RFR/RL Research Institute correspondent that Snegur offered the Gagauz administrative-territorial autonomy in the form of a "national county" within Moldova. The concept has been under discussion for some time by a special joint commission of the Moldovan parliament and government. Snegur invited Gagauz representatives to Chisinau for negotiations on this basis in the coming days. (Vladimir Socor, RFE/RL, Inc.) GAGAUZ MILITANTS ERECT "BORDER" AGAINST MOLDOVA. The militant Gagauz "self-defense detachments" commanded by Ivan Burguji, which have been armed by ex-Soviet troops stationed nearby, and which conducted several successful guerrilla attacks on Moldovan authorities this year, have begun erecting a "border" to separate the territory of the "Gagauz republic" from Moldova. The armed detachments guard the "border," illegally subjecting travellers to checks and searches. Moldova's Presidential Office feels that the move is an effort to torpedo Snegur's negotiations with the Gagauz. Although politically marginal among their people, the "self-defense detachments" have previously frustrated attempts by Gagauz moderates to reach a compromise with Chisinau. (Vladimir Socor , RFE/RL, Inc.) CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE PANIC AT THE UNITED NATIONS. Western agencies report that Milan Panic, Prime Minister of the rump Yugoslavia, arrived in New York on 21 September and met overnight with the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. The meeting, arranged by Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev at the Russian Mission, heard Panic discuss a new peace proposal. Panic will be allowed to appeal his country's status to the UN General Assembly on the 22nd. In accordance with the UNSC recommendation of the 20th, however, the assembly is expected to vote in favor of excluding "Yugoslavia." US President Bush addressed the UNGA on 21 September at the start of its three-week debate on the crisis in the former Yugoslavia. Bush called for strengthening UN peacekeeping operations and offered the use of US military facilities for the training of UN troops. (Charles Trumbull, RFE/RL, Inc.) NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BOSNIA PROPOSED. On 21 September Bosnian Foreign Minister Haris Silajdzic proposed a new constitutional framework for the republic to the Geneva conference on Yugoslavia. The plan would preserve Bosnia as a single state but decentralize some functions to different regions. This is an apparent attempt to appease Bosnian Serbs, who have called for partition of the republic along ethnic lines, Western agencies report. Relief flights have still not been resumed into Sarajevo, where severe fighting continues. (Charles Trumbull, RFE/RL, Inc.) NEW CHIEF MUFTI IN BULGARIA. On 19 September Fikri Sali Hasan, the 29-year-old regional mufti for Kardzhali, was chosen as grand mufti of Bulgaria, Radio Sofia reports. His appointment was announced at the conclusion of the National Conference of the Muslim Faithful in Bulgaria, where 665 representatives of congregations from throughout the country selected him. Hasan's appointment brings to an end the conflict between reformers and those who had supported Nedim Gendzhev, the former grand mufti, who had been appointed during the communist years. Gendzhev was accused of working for the state security apparatus and was criticized for his passivity throughout the late 1980s when the government attempted to force the Bulgarization of ethnic Turks. (Duncan Perry, RFE/RL, Inc.) CZECHOSLOVAK FEDERAL ASSEMBLY TO DEBATE BREAKUP. The Czechoslovak parliament is scheduled to debate a draft law on possible modes of division of the Czechoslovak federation. The law provides for four different ways of dissolving the federation, and the debate will proceed along lines worked out by the two republics' leaders, Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and his Slovak counterpart, Vladimir Meciar. It remains highly questionable, however, that Parliament will approve legislation, which would require the support of a three-fifths majority. Not only are large groups among the opposition expected to vote against dissolution, but individual representatives of the ruling parties are said to favor a nationwide referendum on the future of Czechoslovakia rather than having Parliament decide. (Jan Obrman, RFE/RL, Inc.) REGISTRATION OF SEIMAS CANDIDATES COMPLETED. The deadline for registering candidates for Lithuania's 25 October Seimas elections was midnight 20 September. The chairman of the Main Election Commission Vaclovas Litvinas announced that 8 political parties and 18 sociopolitical movements have formally registered, Radio Lithuania reports. There will be more than 800 candidates competing for the 70 seats distributed proportionally, and more than 400 candidates for the 71 single-mandate seats. Various right-wing coalitions that signed the "Accord for a Democratic Lithuania" on 19 September will at times compete against each other in the single-mandate districts since their component parts have registered 126 candidates. The lists of candidates will be published in the newspapers on Friday. (Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.) ANTALL DEFENDS CSURKA. Hungarian Prime Minister Jozsef Antall said in a interview with Newsweek that the uproar surrounding recent allegedly racist and anti-Semitic statements by Istvan Csurka, one of six vice presidents of the ruling Hungarian Democratic Forum, has been overblown and it is only a domestic political issue. Antall also said that he does not believe Csurka is a Nazi and that the statement Csurka published in late August represents his own personal opinion. Csurka is a writer, a Hungarian enfant terrible, "a devilish child in political life who has a fancy for taking risks," continued Antall. In the same interview, Antall said that Hungary will do everything possible not to become involved in the Yugoslav crisis but strongly supports autonomy for Hungarians living in the Serbian province of Vojvodina. (Karoly Okolicsanyi, RFE/RL, Inc.) NEW DIRECTIONS FOR HUNGARIAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES. Tibor Fuzessy, minister in charge of intelligence, counterintelligence, and antiterrorism, said that Hungary is redirecting its attention to neighboring countries instead of the West, MTI reports. This is necessary because these countries are vigorously building up their spy networks in Hungary. Hungarian agents, earlier employed in the West, are being relocated to the neighboring countries, Fuzessy said. Also, despite the cleanup in the security agencies, most staff is left over from the communist past due to the special nature of the work. New personnel in the agencies will come only after years or even decades, Fuzessy said. (Karoly Okolicsanyi, RFE/RL, Inc.) HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT IN ISRAEL. Arpad Goncz met on 21 September with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin during the Hungarian president's four-day official visit in Israel, MTI reports. At a joint press conference Goncz stressed that Hungarian Jews now living in Israel are a most important bond between the two countries and said that, despite the appearance of some "old and dusty ideas," no responsible political force in Hungary tolerates anti-Semitic or racist ideas. Rabin said that Israel is worried about recent extremist and sometimes anti-Semitic incidents in Europe, from which Hungary is not exempt, but expressed hope that they are only the actions of a small minority. Goncz also met with Jerusalem's mayor, and visited the Holocaust Memorial Park, the Knesset, and Bethlehem. In the evening Goncz was received at a reception hosted by Israeli President Chaim Herzog. (Karoly Okolicsanyi, RFE/RL, Inc.) ILIESCU QUIZZED ON RADIO BUCHAREST. As part of his campaign for reelection in the 27 September election, Romanian President Ion Iliescu was interviewed on Radio Bucharest on 21 September by four journalists from some of the country's main dailies. Speaking about his time in office, he described his decision to outlaw the Romanian Communist Party, taken at an anticommunist meeting on 12 January 1990, as "a moment of weakness" (the decision was reversed on the following day). But Iliescu was unrepentant about his role in the wave of violence from mid-June 1990, claiming that he had shown "patience, calm, self-control, and emotional balance." (Dan Ionescu, RFE/RL, Inc.) STOLOJAN MEDIATES LABOR CONFLICT. On 21 September Romanian Premier Theodor Stolojan received members of a commission investigating the labor conflict between the railway trade unions and the board of directors of Romanian Railways. Four union leaders are currently on a hunger strike to protest the signing of a collective labor contract as well as their dismissal after having organized two strikes in May. The four have refused food for more than one month and recently announced their decision to refuse liquids as well; doctors say this may lead to rapid death. The commission informed Stolojan that the decision of Romanian Railways to dismiss the union leaders is illegal, but the railway administration insists it acted in accordance with the law. (Dan Ionescu , RFE/RL, Inc.) 10,000 SOVIET TROOPS STILL IN POLAND. Polish officials announced on 10 September that the withdrawal of former Soviet troops is proceeding according to plan. Some 10,000 soldiers remain, along with 63 armored carriers, 5,000 other vehicles, 4 transport planes, and two helicopters. All combat planes and tanks are already withdrawn. Gen. Zdzislaw Ostrowski, the Polish government's plenipotentiary for the former Soviet troops, said that most conflicts with the Russian forces had ended with the departure of Gen. Viktor Dubynin, now serving as Russian chief of the general staff. Still, the Russian side is failing to keep Poland informed about the exact strength of its forces. The biggest problem, Ostrowski noted, is dealing with the more than 7,000 buildings and bases vacated by the Russian forces. (Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc.) HUNGARIANS REQUESTED TO FILL OUT WEALTH INVENTORIES. The Hungarian government is instructing taxpayers to fill out a wealth inventory by 30 November 1992, Nepszabadsag reports. The move was made to clamp down on widespread tax evasion, a main reason for the present growing budget deficit. The wealth inventory will not have direct tax benefits, but rather will serve as a base to establish increases in incomes in the future and make the work of the tax authorities easier. (Karoly Okolicsanyi, RFE/RL, Inc.) LATVIA'S FOREIGN TRADE MINISTER RESIGNS. Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis announced on 18 September the resignation of Minister of Foreign Trade Edgars Zausajevs. The official explanation is that Zausajevs had taken a new job, although Godmanis did not say what his new job is, Diena reports. It is not known who will replace Zausajevs. (Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL, Inc.) LATVIA'S ECONOMIC RELATIONS WITH TAIWAN. Upon his return to Riga on 17 September, Godmanis reported to the press on his visit to Taiwan. His delegation focused on economic relations and signed an accord guaranteeing the protection of foreign investments in Latvia. Taiwan expressed interest in using Latvian ports to expand trade in Europe. While Latvia does not expect to upgrade diplomatic relations with Taiwan, consular relations will be inaugurated in the near future, BNS reported on 18 September. (Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL, Inc.) FOOD PROCESSORS' DEBT TO LATVIAN FARMERS GROWS. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, food processing plants under state jurisdiction are badly in debt to the farmers who supply them with milk and meat. On 11 September the debt was estimated at 1 billion rubles and by 18 September the amount had grown to 1.3 billion rubles, Diena reports. Minister of Agriculture Dainis Gegers noted that a credit of 600 million rubles was allocated to food processing plants early in June so that they could repay the existing debts and begin prompt payments to the farmers. Noting that the credit must be repaid by 1 October, Gegers said he is deeply concerned about the situation and does not rule out the possibility of calling for the resignation of some plant directors. (Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL, Inc.) LATVIAN ELECTRICITY PRICES UP IN OCTOBER. On 11 September the government decided to raise prices on electricity in mid-October, largely due to demands by countries exporting energy to Latvia for payment in hard currency. Prime Minister Godmanis said that Latvia will have to pay 120 million German marks a year to Estonia for imported electricity. He noted that the economic crisis is likely to worsen, since many enterprises are already unable to pay for their energy needs, BNS reported on 14 September. (Dzintra Bungs , RFE/RL, Inc.) LITHUANIAN ECONOMIC STATISTICS. On 21 September Radio Lithuania reported a Statistical Department announcement that for January-August 1992 sales of industrial production decreased by about 45% from the previous year, resulting in losses of about 127 billion rubles. The average monthly wage in August 1992 as compared with the same period in 1991, however, increased more than ninefold to 7,668 rubles with the greatest increase (512 rubles) occurring in the last month. (Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.)
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