No. 227, 25 November 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

YELTSIN AND VOLSKY REACH ACCORD. First Deputy Prime Minister
Vladimir Shumeiko said that President Boris Yeltsin has reached
a compromise with the Civic Union on a joint economic program,
Interfax reported on 24 November. The program reportedly includes
subsidies to state owned enterprises-a major demand of the Civic
Union. Deputy Prime Minister Anatolii Chubais said that the new
program and the support it will draw from the Civic Union deputies
will enable the government to survive at the upcoming Congress.
ITAR-TASS on 23 November quoted Yeltsin as saying that he may
convene another meeting with Civic Union leaders before the beginning
of the Congress. (Alexander Rahr)

RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRIALISTS MERGE PROGRAMS. A group
of economists representing the Russian government and the Union
of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (the Civic Union) have produced
a compromise anti-crisis program effective for the next six months,
according to various Western news agencies on 24-November. Details
on specific policies were not available, but the program reportedly
envisages more emphasis on stabilizing production and living
standards than original government reform plans. Concessions
made by the Industrialists include abandoning their insistence
on wage and price freezes and retreating from their demand for
a return to centralized distribution of some commodities. The
compromise program also advocates higher interest rates on bank
deposits, limited government spending on defense and agriculture,
and support for small business. (Erik Whitlock)

CIVIC UNION SPLITS. The Civic Union seems to be heading toward
a serious split on the eve of the Congress. Whereas the main
leader of the Civic Union, Arkadii Volsky, has worked out a compromise
with the government on future economic reform, other Civic Union
leaders, including Aleksandr Vladislavlev and Nikolai Travkin,
have conducted separate talks with hardliners from the faction
"Russian Unity" and with members of the National Salvation Front,
prohibited by a previous Yeltsin decree, Nezavisimaya gazeta
reported on 24 November. Although Vladislavlev and Travkin disagreed
with hardliners on the need to impeach Yeltsin, they made clear
that they would support the hardliners' proposal for a no-confidence
vote in the government if Yeltsin does not fire some of his senior
ministers. (Alexander Rahr)

UKRAINIAN CENTRAL BANK CHIEF SACKED. Vadim Hetman, the director
of the Ukrainian central bank, was fired on 23 November by the
new Ukrainian prime minister, Leonid Kuchma, Western agencies
have reported. According to Reuters of 24-November, the decision
to replace Hetman was made because he "didn't follow the orders
of the new prime minister, especially in economic relations with
Russia." The two had apparently disagreed over how to settle
payments between Ukraine and Russia after Kiev abandoned the
ruble earlier this month. Hetman's successor is reported to be
his former deputy, Boris Markov. (Bohdan Nahaylo)

YELTSIN SEEKS COMPROMISE. In planning his strategy for testimony
before the upcoming Congress of People's Deputies, President
Yeltsin said that in order to reduce attacks on Acting Prime
Minister Egor Gaidar-who was originally scheduled to make the
initial presentation-he [Yeltsin] and the speaker of parliament,
Ruslan Khasbulatov, may also provide opening testimony. ITAR-TASS
on 23 November quoted the Russian president as saying that he
will probably have to sacrifice some ministers but that he will
preserve the overall momentum of the reform program. Yeltsin
again called for a "ceasefire" between the executive and legislative
branches for a period of 12 to 18 months, during which stabilization
should be achieved. Khasbulatov warned Yeltsin in Nezavisimaya
gazeta on 24 November that the introduction of presidential rule
without consulting the parliament would constitute a coup d'etat.
(Alexander Rahr)

KHASBULATOV FOR EXTENSION OF YELTSIN'S POWERS. Parliamentary
speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov said that he will support the extension
of President Yeltsin's special powers for another year on the
condition that the president signs the law on the government,
which gives parliament the right to approve or reject ministerial
appointments, Interfax reported on 24-November. Nikolai Travkin,
one of the leaders of the Civic Union, continues to criticize
the current government. He told The Independent on 25 November
that Russia needed a "more capable person as prime minister than
Gaidar." The "ideologist" of the Civic Union, Vasilii Lipitsky,
said that despite the agreement on the economic program, the
Civic Union insists on personnel changes in the cabinet. (Alexander
Rahr)

KOZYREV SAYS CIS SUMMIT POSTPONED UNTIL 8 DECEMBER. Russian Foreign
Minister Andrei Kozyrev told an Interfax correspondent that he
knew nothing of a postponement of the summit of CIS heads of
state from 4 December to 18 December. According to Kozyrev, Russia
agreed to the summit being postponed until 8 December, that is,
until immediately after the Russian Congress of People's Deputies.
(Ann Sheehy)

YAKOVLEV DISMISSED FROM OSTANKINO OVER CAUCASUS REPORTING. Liberal
journalist Egor Yakovlev has been dismissed as chairman of the
Ostankino Russian TV and Radio Broadcasting Company, ITAR-TASS
reported on 24 November. President Yeltsin's decree explaining
the dismissal accused Ostankino of violating the Russian president's
order on "restraining the dissemination of information on the
situation in North Ossetian and Ingush Republics." Commenting
on his dismissal, Yakovlev said that it was apparently prompted
by Ostankino's broadcast of a documentary film about the Ingush-
Ossetian conflict. Western and Russian agencies quoted him as
saying that "the film tells of the tragedy of Ingushetia, of
the terrible mistake of making all mass media adopt a pro- Ossetian
position." Ostankino's main news program said that the chairman
of the North Ossetian parliament, Akhsarbek Galazov, had demanded
Yakovlev's ouster. (Vera Tolz)

EMERGENCY IN NORTH OSSETIA AND INGUSHETIA TO BE EXTENDED? At
their first session on 24 November, members of the newly created
consultative Council of Heads of the Republics almost unanimously
called for an extension of the state of emergency in the North
Ossetia and Ingushetia, ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported. Sergei
Shakhrai, head of the provisional administration in the conflict
area, said that the situation remain difficult, and there could
be no guarantee that there would not be more bloodshed. He named
the large number of hostages, refugees and uncontrolled weapons
as particular problems. So far, 33,000 Ingush refugees have been
registered, which is equivalent to 89-percent of the Ingush population
of North Ossetia prior to the recent armed conflict. Yeltsin
announced that he is sending an additional regiment of MVD internal
troops to the area. (Ann Sheehy)

FIRST SESSION OF COUNCIL OF HEADS OF RUSSIAN REPUBLICS. During
the session on 24-November, the Council of Heads of the Republics
of the Russian Federation included on its agenda working out
a mechanism for implementing the Federal Treaty, reaching agreement
on the 1993 Russian budget, and dealing with the situation in
the North Caucasus, ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported. It was decided
to set up a working group to draft ways of implementing the Federal
Treaty, and all the members of the council except the president
of Tatarstan agreed that the treaty should be incorporated in
the new Russian constitution. The council also approved unanimously
the 1993 Russian budget which Yeltsin said aimed at accelerated
development of the regions. (Ann Sheehy)

YELTSIN DEFENDS CREATION OF COUNCIL. At the meeting President
Yeltsin noted that the creation of the council had met with a
mixed reaction, but he considered it was a fully legitimate institution,
since the collective opinion of the heads of the republics on
complex issues was needed. By way of defusing some of the criticism
of the creation of the council, Yeltsin suggested that Anatolii
Tyazhlov, chairman of the recently formed Council of the Heads
of Administration of the Krais and Oblasts of Russia, be made
a member of the council, and this was accepted. (Ann Sheehy)


COCOM TO RELAX RESTRICTIONS. The Coordinating Committee (COCOM)
for establishing export controls on Western technology to the
former East bloc has revised its regulations, Reuters reported
on 24 November. Countries currently subject to restrictions may
apply for exemptions for next year if they apply by year-end
1992 and pledge specifically not to re-export or use sensitive
technology for military purposes. It is not clear, however, how
far COCOM is now willing to relax restrictions; it is still insisting
that it will make judgments on a country-by-country basis. Although
there has been some relaxation over the last few years, COCOM
technology embargoes still handicap significant projects in the
region, including the Trans-Siberian fiber optic communications
line. (Erik Whitlock)

WORLD BANK LOAN TO HELP RUSSIA CREATE SOCIAL SAFETY NET. The
World Bank has approved a $70 million loan to help Russia create
a social safety net to deal in particular with the problem of
mass unemployment, which is expected to come to the fore in the
next two years, according to Reuters on 24 November. The Bank
is forecasting four million unemployed in 1993, and 10 million
in 1994. The loan is to be used to develop the administrative
capacity for processing benefit claims, to improve labor market
monitoring, to develop the state employment service network,
to draw up special programs to deal with mass lay-offs, to create
retraining programs, and to improve the administration of the
pension system. It follows a previous loan of $600-million granted
by the World Bank to help with other aspects of the reform process,
and a third loan is expected to be forthcoming to help with the
privatization program. (Sheila Marnie & Robert Lyle)

RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS VIEW OIL PROSPECTS. Deputy Energy
Minister Andrei Konoplyanik told a news conference in Moscow
on 24-November that existing taxes for companies operating in
the Russian oil industry may be discouraging foreign investment
in the sector, Western agencies reported. The admission confirms
what Western firms have been complaining of for some time. Another
Ministry official, Viktor Ott, at the same conference said that
present oil export levels to non-CIS states would be maintained
next year. Ott's comments implied that CIS trading partners would
bear the brunt of supply cuts in the face of declining Russian
exportable oil output. (Erik Whitlock)

REPORTS DETAIL RUSSIAN NAVY'S RADIOACTIVE WASTE. The American
ABC television network reported on 24 November that the former
Soviet Navy had dumped more than 11,000 containers of solid radioactive
waste and barrels filled with 43 million gallons of liquid radioactive
waste at a total of 12-ocean sites over the years. The international
environmental organization Greenpeace charged that the Russian
Navy was continuing to dump radioactive waste in the Pacific
Ocean and Arctic waters. As reported by Reuters, Greenpeace said
that Russia's Northern Fleet was dumping up to 10,000 cubic meters
of liquid and 2,000 cubic meters of solid radioactive waste at
sea each year. (Doug Clarke)

MORE INFORMATION ON SUNKEN SOVIET SUBMARINES RELEASED. On 23-November,
ABC-TV reported that a recent examination of the sunken Soviet
submarine Komsomolets discovered that some radioactive cesium-137
was apparently leaking from the reactor core. The report also
quoted a Soviet submarine designer who warned that plutonium
from the sub's nuclear-armed torpedoes might also leak over time.
French TV reported on 24 November that one of the Soviet submarines
lost at sea had sunk some 500 miles (800 km) off the Brittany
port of Brest. The sub, which reportedly sank in 1970, was apparently
carrying nuclear arms but was not nuclear powered. (John Lepingwell
and Doug Clarke)

DO SUNKEN SOVIET SUBS POSE A RADIATION HAZARD? The New York Times
on 24-November reported that Russian authorities in negotiations
with scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute had
revealed the location of four sunken nuclear submarines as well
as the resting places of decommissioned naval nuclear reactors
and nuclear materials that were dumped at sea. The article noted,
however, that the reactors and their fuel were well protected
against leakage, and that the risk of plutonium leakage from
nuclear weapons was also very small. On 25 November, the New
York Times reported that earlier in 1992 the Russian government
had asked the US to help raise the Komsomolets, but that the
US declined because of fears that the submarine could break apart
during the operation and release even greater quantities of radioactive
material. According to Reuters on 24 November, the Norwegian
government has also characterized the danger of radioactive leakage
from the Komsomolets as small at present. (John Lepingwell)

EFFECTS OF DUSHANBE BLOCKADE. Tajikistan's Prime Minister Abdumalik
Abdulladzhanov told the Tajik Supreme Soviet on 24 November that
the blockade of the railway from Uzbekistan to Dushanbe by warring
factions has resulted in the exhaustion of food supplies in the
capital and the cutting off of gas and hot water, Interfax reported.
Schools are closed and industrial enterprises and city transport
are barely functioning. Abdullodzhanov proposed that the Russian
division stationed in Tajikistan be asked to assume control of
the railway. ITAR-TASS reported that fighting was continuing
in various places; Acting President Imomali Rakhmonov told Interfax
that he is prepared for any compromise that will end the civil
war, and plans to meet with the leaders of opposing armed groups
to seek a settlement. (Bess Brown)

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

BALKAN CONFERENCE IN TURKEY. International media report on 24
November that a Balkan conference on the crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina
will convene 25-November in Istanbul. The conference will be
at the foreign-minister level and will include discussion on
ways to prevent the spread of the conflict to the Sandzak, Kosovo,
and Macedonia. Turkish Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel said 10-countries
are expected: Austria, Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary,
Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, and Turkey. Greece refuses to attend
and Serbia was not invited. Demirel did not comment on what action
might be decided on at the conference, but warned that neighbors
of the former Yugoslavia must act "to extinguish the fires" in
Bosnia. An RFE/RL correspondent in Brussels reports that the
Bulgarian Foreign Ministry has called for an urgent meeting of
the international conference on the former Yugoslavia. (Milan
Andrejevich)

SERBS CRITICIZE ISTANBUL CONFERENCE. Radio Serbia reports on
24-November that Ilija Djukic, foreign minister of the rump Yugoslavia,
said Serbia-Montenegro, if invited, would not attend the conference
because it was hastily convened and held outside the framework
of the Geneva Conference. Radovan Karadzic, leader of the Bosnian
Serbs described the conference as a "a farcical repeat" of late
19th and early 20th century history because the Serbia and Montenegro's
position is not taken seriously by the international community,
Sandzak and Kosovo are again being treated as lying within Turkey's
sphere of interest, and Turkish and Austro-Hungarian Empire interests
have always overlapped in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Karadzic added
that Turkey and Austria are meddling in the affairs of the region
and warned that Serbs "will not surrender" to any internal or
external influences. On 23 November the commander of the Bosnian
Serb army, Gen. Ratko Mladic, told Radio and TV Serbia that he
is not afraid of foreign military intervention in Bosnia: Anyone
who wished to do so "could come to former Bosnia-Herzegovina-but
how they would leave is a different question." (Milan Andrejevich)


ZHELEV SAYS HANDS OFF MACEDONIA. In an interview published in
Bulgarian and Macedonian dailies on 24 November, Bulgarian President
Zhelyu Zhelev urged all Balkan states to stay out of the ex-Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia in case of conflict there. Repeating Bulgaria's
official position, Zhelev said the best methods of ensuring stability
in the region were to recognize Macedonian sovereignty and to
strengthen the UN presence. He rejected the idea of sending Bulgarian
forces or weapons into any part of former Yugoslavia and refuted
allegations of a tacit agreement among Bulgaria, Greece, and
Serbia to partition Macedonia. (Kjell Engelbrekt)

OIC PUSHES FOR MILITARY INTERVENTION IN BOSNIA. The Organization
of the Islamic Conference will push for military intervention
in Bosnia-Herzegovina at its foreign ministers' conference in
Jidda on 1-2 December, according to OIC Secretary-General Hamid
Algabid. He told a press conference that the OIC will likely
urge the UN to lift its embargo on "defensive arms" for Bosnia.
Several IOC members, he said, are prepared for "military intervention
.-.-. within the framework of international law in the event
such measures prove ineffective." Islamic countries seek "a balance
between the warring parties and the possibility for the Muslim
population to defend itself" against the Serbs, Algabid said.
Radio Croatia carried the report on 24-November. (Milan Andrejevich)


FIRST SESSION OF SEIMAS. At noon, 25 November, the oldest deputy
of the Seimas, 82-year-old Juozas Bulavas, will open the first
session of the new Lithuanian parliament. He did the same in
March 1990, when he was the head of the Main Election Commission.
Majority Lithuanian Democratic Labor Party chairman Algirdas
Brazauskas will be elected as Seimas chairman. The election of
his deputy or deputies is unclear since the new constitution
does not say how many there should be. It is likely that LDLP
member Ceslovas Jursenas will be his first deputy; another deputy
is rumored to be Egidijus Bickauskas, charge d'affaires in Moscow
and a member of the Center Movement. Previous parliament chairman
Vytautas Landsbergis, who was thought to have been offered the
post, said in an interview in Lietuvos aidas, that it would be
difficult to accept since the LDLP had based its campaign on
contempt for his work, the RFE/RL Lithuanian Service reports.
(Saulius Girnius)

PARLIAMENTS APPROVE CZECH-SLOVAK AGREEMENTS. On 24 November the
Czech parliament approved 15 and the Slovak parliament 16-treaties
that will govern relations between the Czech Republic and Slovakia
after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia on 1-January 1993 and
the treaties go into effect. More than 30-treaties have been
drafted by Czech and Slovak government leaders in the past month.
One that was approved on 24-November by both parliaments was
a treaty on monetary arrangements, which stipulates that both
republics maintain the common currency after the split. A deputy
of the Slovak parliament told CTK after the vote, however, that
it may be in the interest of Slovakia to cancel the treaty soon,
as "there is not enough money in the Slovak banks" to meet the
provisions of the treaty. The deputy warned that should Slovakia
not be able to increase its exports or obtain hard currency loans
it will have to devaluate its currency. (Jiri Pehe)

POLAND, IMF AGREE LETTER OF INTENT. Poland and the IMF agreed
the terms of a letter of intent valid until March, 1994, PAP
reported on 24 November. Poland is to receive $700-million, provided
it keeps its budgetary deficit to 5% of GNP, brings inflation
down to 32%, and succeeds in activating state-owned industrial
enterprises. Progress will be verified quarterly. A standby arrangement
replaces the three-year extended fund facility that was originally
negotiated in 1991. That agreement was broken off because Poland
was unable to stay within the negotiated budget deficit and inflation
figures. Finance Minister Jerzy Osiatynski claims that the draft
1993 budget is more realistic in its estimates of state income
than were previous budgets. The IMF agreement, if approved, will
enable Poland to try to use a $1 billion stabilization fund to
restructure the banking system. (Anna Sabbat- Swidlicka)

POLISH GENERALS FACE COMMISSION. Four generals, members of the
Military Council of National Salvation, which imposed martial
law on Poland on 13-December 1981 and interned 9,786 Solidarity
and democratic opposition activists, appeared before the Sejm's
Constitutional Responsibility Commission on 24-November. RFE/RL's
Polish Service said they refused to answer questions but delivered
statements reiterating old arguments and taking offense at the
charges made against them. The commission will determine whether
they are to be brought before the State Tribunal. Another special
commission is examining the human and economic costs of martial
law. (Anna Sabbat- Swidlicka)

HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES UNION ACCORD. On 23 November Finance
Minister Mihaly Kupa presented in parliament the agreement reached
by members of the Interests Reconciliation Council during the
weekend. The council consists of representatives of the major
trade unions, employers, and the government. The trade unions
threatened to strike if no agreement were reached. Intense negotiations
produced a comprehensive package deal that, among other things,
raises contributions to the unemployment fund but shortens the
period over which benefits can be drawn. The new agreement defines
the minimum wage at 9,000 forint per month and raises the age
limit for female pensioners gradually after 1995. Major changes
were approved in a bill on dual-tier taxation, and the government
agreed to withdraw its proposal concerning trade-union elections
and the division of the assets of the former communist trade
union. A new union law based on an agreement between the major
trade unions will be submitted to parliament by 10-December instead.
Radio Budapest reported the agreement. (Judith Pataki)

VACAROIU ON UNEMPLOYMENT IN ROMANIA. Sources in the Ministry
of Labor and Social Welfare estimated on 23 November that the
number of the officially recorded unemployed has reached 970,000,
Rompres says. The figure is expected to jump to over one million
in the next few weeks. Requested to comment, Prime Minister Nicolae
Vacaroiu said that the number of unemployed should not exceed
6-7% of the active labor force, that is to say about 700,000
persons. Vacaroiu said he is optimistic about reducing the number
of job-seekers by absorbing them into underdeveloped sectors
of the economy such as services, cooperative associations, trade,
and tourism. (Michael Shafir)

ILIESCU IN FRANCE. Romanian President Ion Iliescu paid a one-day
visit to Paris on 24-November, local and international media
report. Accompanied by the new foreign minister, Teodor Melescanu,
he was received by President Fran�ois Mitterrand and Senate President
Rene Monory, and conducted talks with French businessmen. Romanian
radio and TV presented the trip as if it were a state visit,
but Reuters said French officials said the meeting with Mitterrand
was simply a "courtesy call" on Iliescu's initiative and that
as far as they knew, the main reason for the visit was to attend
a symposium in Paris on the development of the Black Sea. Iliescu
did not attend the symposium. (Michael Shafir).

G-24 CONCLUDES RIGA MEETING. Representatives of the G-24 countries
and the Baltic States concluded a two-week meeting in Riga on
24 November, BNS reported. Both Latvian and Estonian leaders
commended the participants on how well informed they were about
the economic situation of the Baltic States. Among the issues
discussed were ways to aid Baltic economic development. (Dzintra
Bungs)

LATVIAN LEGISLATORS ON PARFENOV. The Latvian Supreme Council
adopted a text in response to a request of the Russian Supreme
Soviet asking that the deputy commander of the OMON branch in
Riga, Sergei Parfenov, be returned to Russia. The answer points
out that Parfenov, who is being tried for abuse of power in Riga,
cannot be allowed to leave Latvia until the court reaches a verdict.
A similar response was also given by Latvia's head of state and
Supreme Council Chairman Anatolijs Gorbunovs to the Russian authorities
who had made similar requests, Radio Riga and BNS reported on
24 November. (Dzintra Bungs)

LATVIA TO CUT POWER TO RUSSIAN EARLY WARNING RADAR. According
to a 24-November BALTFAX report, the Kuldiga regional council
in Latvia has decided to stop supplying electricity to the Skrunda
ballistic missile early warning station. The report claims that
electricity has already been cut off to the station for three
days, and that the cutoff will be permanent unless the commanders
of the radar station negotiate with regional authorities over
the transfer of the station. The Russian chief engineer of the
station reportedly knew nothing of the decision, however. This
station has been an item of contention in troop-withdrawal negotiations.
Russia seeks to maintain the integrity of its early warning system,
while Latvia wants the station closed. (John Lepingwell)

UNESCO PROGRAMS IN LITHUANIA. Alfredas Josmantas, the secretary-general
of the Lithuanian commission of UNESCO, said that body has agreed
to finance eight of the ten programs he proposed, BNS reported
on 24 November. Included are creation of a TV information center
($30,000), a program for preservation of traditional culture
and folklore ($10,000), reorganization of the national library
in Vilnius ($24,700), and an information program for education
($30,000). Josmantas noted that as a member of UNESCO Lithuania
will have to pay the membership fee, but since it still does
not have its own currency, the issue is still under discussion
in UNESCO. (Saulius Girnius)

HUNGARIAN TANKS DESTROYED. MTI reports on 24 November that the
dismantling of 510-T-34 and other tanks has started in a machine
factory in Godollo, near Budapest. The action is taken in accordance
with the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty signed in Vienna
in 1990 by 16 NATO countries and five members of the Warsaw Pact,
including Hungary. An international delegation was present at
the factory to make sure the tanks cannot be reassembled. (Judith
Pataki)

NICU CEAUSESCU SET FREE. The son of Romania's executed dictator
and the former first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party
in Sibiu County was paroled for health reasons and left the Jilava
jail near Bucharest accompanied by members of his family, Radio
Bucharest reported on 24 November. Ceausescu had been serving
a five-year sentence for illegal port of firearms. Earlier, the
younger Ceausescu had received a 20-year sentence for being an
accomplice to genocide in connection with his having ordered
opening fire on demonstrators against his father's regime in
December 1989. This sentence was first reduced to 16 years and
later lifted completely. (Michael Shafir).

LATVIAN LUTHERAN ARCHBISHOP DEAD. Head of the Latvian Evangelical
Lutheran Church, Archbishop Karlis Gailitis, died in a car crash
on 22-November. Gailitis, 56, had been driving to a church service
in Sabile to mark All Souls' Day, Radio Riga reports. (Dzintra
Bungs)

NOTICE: The RFE/RL Daily Report will not appear 26 November,
which is a public holiday.

[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Hal Kosiba & Charles Trumbull