No. 239, 14 December 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

REFERENDUM ROUNDUP. On 10 December President Boris Yeltsin appealed
to the Russian people. He proposed holding a referendum on 24
January to decide whom the people trust more-the Congress or
the President. A few hours later, the Congress responded with
its own appeal to the nation, announcing its intention to held
the referendum with different questions. On 11 December, however,
the Congress amended the Russian Law on Referenda to add a ban
on holding referenda on either the abolition or curtailment of
the powers of the President, the Congress, or the Constitutional
Court. The appeals and sessions of the Congress were carried
live by Russian TV and radio. (Julia Wishnevsky)

COMPROMISE REACHED. On 12 December, a compromise was brokered
by the chairman of the Constitutional Court, Valerii Zorkin.
Under its terms, a referendum will be held on 11-April 1993 to
approve the draft principles of a new Russian Constitution. These
will be formulated by the parliament, the president, and the
Constitutional Court, and may include alternative provisions
in case of disagreement. The amendments passed on 11 December
will not come into effect until the next session of the CPD scheduled
for late April 1993, i.e., after the referendum. Another feature
of the compromise provides for the selection of a prime minister:
this is expected to take place on 14-December. (Julia Wishnevsky)


REGIONAL LEADERS PLAYED KEY ROLE IN COMPROMISE. The delegation
of President Boris Yeltsin at the negotiations consisted of the
President of Yakutia, Mikhail Nikolaev, the head of the Moscow
regional administration Anatolii Tyazhelov, as well as the Secretary
of the Security Council Yurii Skokov and the government leaders
Egor Gaidar, Aleksandr Shokhin and Sergei Shakhrai, ITAR-TASS
reported on 12 December. The delegation of parliamentary speaker
Ruslan Khasbulatov included the local parliamentary heads of
Karelia and Arkhangelsk Viktor Stepanov and Yurii Guskov, as
well as deputy parliamentary speaker Yurii Yarov, the head of
the Soviet of Republics, Nikolai Yarov, and the head of the parliamentary
Committee for Science, Vladimir Shorin. (Alexander Rahr)

BURBULIS DISMISSED. In an interview with the "Ostankino" TV program
"Itogi" on 13-December, Zorkin confirmed that Yeltsin had signed
a decree dismissing his chief adviser, Gennadii Burbulis. According
to Zorkin, Burbulis' ouster was agreed during a meeting between
Yeltsin and a group of deputies on 11 December. Since 1990, Burbulis
has held several loosely defined positions: plenipotentiary representative
of the Supreme Soviet chairman; chairman of the State Council;
First Deputy Prime Minister; State Secretary of the Russian Federation;
State Secretary to the Russian President. Burbulis was demoted
to his last position as the head of Yeltsin's advisers on the
eve of the current session of the Congress. (Julia Wishnevsky)


YELTSIN'S SPOKESMAN ATTACKS RUTSKOI. President Yeltsin's spokesman
Vyacheslav Kostikov read a statement to journalists on 11 December
saying that, in his addresses to the Congress, Vice President
Aleksandr Rutskoi "had substantially gone beyond his constitutional
prerogatives," ITAR-TASS reported. The statement said that Rutskoi's
opposition to Yeltsin's call for a referendum was a demonstration
of "political disloyalty" on the part of the vice president.
Kostikov said that Rutskoi's behavior was at "variance with the
Constitution," recalling that Rutskoi and Yeltsin were elected
in the 1991 election on a common platform. (Vera Tolz)

DEMONSTRATIONS IN SUPPORT OF YELTSIN. Several thousand people
demonstrated in Moscow on 11 December in support of Yeltsin and
his reforms. The demonstrators also supported Yeltsin's call
for a referendum. ITAR-TASS said the demonstration was organized
by the Democratic Russia movement despite appeals by the president
and the Congress to refrain from mass rallies. On 12-December,
a similar demonstration was held in St.-Petersburg. The demonstrators
demanded that Egor Gaidar be confirmed as prime minister. Interfax
reported on 11 December that the Russian General Procurator's
office had demanded that the several hundred Kuznetsk coal miners,
who had come to Moscow to "support" the President, "stop their
unlawful actions immediately." (Vera Tolz)

SHAPOSHNIKOV REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS. Marshal Evgeni Shaposhnikov,
the commander of the CIS Joint Armed Forces, called for more
integration of the CIS republics in an 11 December report to
the Congress, according to Radio Rossii. He called for "strong,
coordinating bodies" and suggested that Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, and Armenia-and perhaps Turkmenistan and
Belarus-were ready for closer integration, with other republics
becoming associate members or observers, while some states might
leave the Commonwealth altogether. Shaposhnikov criticized some
republics for striving to join NATO instead of the CIS collective
security system. (Doug Clarke)

SHAKHRAI DENIES INTRODUCING MEDIA CENSORSHIP. On 13 December,
Radio Rossii and ITAR-TASS reported that the head of Russia's
temporary administration in North Ossetia and Ingushetia, Sergei
Shakhrai, issued regulations on the introduction of media censorship
in the zone of the Ossetian-Ingush conflict. The radio and the
agency said that representatives of mass media could face administrative
or even criminal charges if they disobeyed Shakhrai's rules.
In an interview with RFE/RL the same day, Shakhrai denied introducing
censorship of reportages filed from the conflict zone. He said
he only ordered that all journalists working in the state of
emergency zone register within three days with the press center
at the temporary administration. (Vera Tolz)

TAJIK GOVERNMENT NEGOTIATES WITH OPPOSITION. Negotiations between
Tajikistan's new government and opposition military commanders
continued on 13-December, ITAR-TASS reported. The goal of the
negotiations is to persuade the "Popular Democratic Army" of
Tajikistan's Islamic and democratic groups to stop fighting with
pro-Communist formations and surrender its weapons. Fighting
continued in Dushanbe suburbs during the weekend, and a Western
correspondent reported that fuel storage tanks had been set on
fire and the capital's main heating plant was not functioning.
A story from 11 December that Dushanbe mayor Maksud Ikramov,
an opposition supporter, had been kidnapped, was denied the same
day by Tajik Radio. (Bess Brown)

SITUATION OF TAJIK REFUGEES WORSENS. The situation of the estimated
75,000 refugees waiting on the Tajik-Afghan border to cross into
Afghanistan in order to escape the fighting in Tajikistan has
worsened, according to ITAR-TASS on 13 December. Russian border
guards said that the refugees, who are without food, shelter,
or fuel, were robbing border installations and occupying some
of them. A British aid official for Afghanistan warned that the
refugees from Tajikistan were not likely to find conditions much
better in Afghanistan, The Independent reported on 12 December.
On 13-December, Interfax quoted a Kurgan-Tyube Oblast kolkhoz
director as saying that 50,000 refugees have gathered on his
farm and more than 100-children are dying daily in the raion.
(Bess Brown)

GEORGIA TO PROSECUTE GAMSAKHURDIA SUPPORTERS. The head of a Georgian
public prosecutor's inquiry, Anzor Balaushvili, told a news conference
in Tbilisi on 11 December that Georgian justice officials have
prepared a court case against 41 out of a group of 53-supporters
of ousted Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia accused of attempting
to seize power by force. They will not, however, be brought to
trial until Gamsakhurdia himself is arrested, Interfax reported.
Balaushvili claimed that an inquiry has established that Gamsakhurdia
masterminded and took part in attempts to kill Georgian parliament
chairman Eduard Shevardnadze and deputy prime minister Aleksandr
Kavsadze. (Liz Fuller)

US, RUSSIA DISCUSS START II ACCORD. Acting US Secretary of State
Lawrence Eagleburger met with Russian Foreign Minister Andrei
Kozyrev in Stockholm on 13 December to discuss obstacles that
have been delaying the conclusion of the START II agreement.
Western press reports indicate that while some progress was made,
not all of the outstanding issues were resolved. The Bush administration
has been trying to conclude the agreement before leaving office,
but Eagleburger noted that it was "by no means assured" that
an agreement could be reached by then. (John Lepingwell)

UKRAINE EXPECTS SANCTIONS IF NUCLEAR TREATY NOT RATIFIED. Ukrainian
Foreign Minister Anatoliy Zlenko on 11 December reaffirmed that
the republic intended to ratify the Strategic Arms Reduction
Treaty (START) and join the nuclear NonProliferation Treaty.
Radio Ukraine World Service summarized his comments to the heads
of foreign missions in Kiev. The minister said that Ukraine would
be grateful for some help in the elimination of strategic missiles
on its territory, noting that it had yet to receive any money
for this purpose. In an earlier interview in the newspaper Respublika
Zlenko was quoted as saying that Ukraine knew exactly what measures
would be taken against it if it did not ratify the strategic
arms treaty: "First of all, this is about economic and political
sanctions." (Doug Clarke)

KOZYREV SUGGESTS RUSSIA JOINS SWEDEN IN SUB HUNT. At a 13 December
joint press conference with his Swedish counterpart, Russian
Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev suggested that Russia and Sweden
join forces to hunt for the mysterious submarines that have been
violating Swedish territorial waters for the last decade. Most
Swedes believe these intruders belonged to first the Soviet and
now the Russian Navy. Western agencies quoted Kozyrev as saying
that since there was a concern "that foreign submarines are violating
territorial waters [of Sweden], and we also have a concern to
defend our territorial waters, why don't we join the efforts."
(Doug Clarke)

CHURKIN IN BELGRADE. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vitalii
Churkin said Russia is taking an active part in efforts to find
ways to settle the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and is maintaining
contacts with the United States and the European Community. Speaking
at a news conference in Belgrade on 11 December, said the aim
of his visit was to study the situation and familiarize Moscow
with Belgrade's position. During the visit, Churkin met with
rump Yugoslavia's president, Dobrica Cosic, foreign minister
Ilija Djukic, prime minister Milan Panic, and Serbian president
Slobodan Milosevic. In keeping with past Russian statements,
Churkin said Russia is calling for the alleviation of UN sponsored
sanctions, including permission to bring oil into Yugoslavia
for humanitarian purposes, ITAR-TASS reported on 11 December.
(Suzanne Crow)

PRICE OF VOUCHERS RISES. On the Russian Commodity and Raw Materials
Exchange (RTSB), privatisation vouchers were trading for an average
of 7,000 rubles on 7 December, Radio Rossii reported on 8 December.
The going rate for vouchers (which have a face value of 10,000
rubles, but were trading for nearer 5-6,000 in November) rose
markedly last week. The current street price is reported to be
between 6-7,000 rubles. Oleg Akhinin, deputy chairman of the
Moscow Property Fund, gave two reasons for the rise. Firstly,
enterprises are buying up vouchers, because , according to one
privatization option, they need to buy 51% of the shares, and
to make 70% of the payment in vouchers in order to secure a controlling
interest. Secondly, the sale of state enterprises at special
voucher auctions has begun. (Sheila Marnie)

INTERENTERPRISE DEBT PROBLEM UNSOLVED. The Deputy Chairman of
the Central Bank of Russia, Tatyana Paramonova, has stated that
the settling of the interenterprise debt accumulated before July
1992 (which amounted to 3.2-trillion rubles) through the emission
of Central Bank credits is now complete, according to Interfax
on 11 December. She claims that this has required of credits
of what will amount to approximately 181-billion rubles, to be
paid out by 31 March 1993, and noted that this was much less
than the 1 trillion ruble figure originally predicted. The Bank's
chairman, Viktor Gerashchenko has however spoken of the need
for further credits to cover new interenterprise debts, arising
since July, which now amount to 3 trillion rubles, according
to ITAR-TASS on 12 December. (Sheila Marnie)

DRAFT CHARTER FOR CIS INTERSTATE BANK APPROVED. A draft charter
of the CIS Interstate Bank was approved at a meeting of experts
from CIS members held 7-9 December, according to Interfax on
11 December. The main function of the bank is to secure conditions
for "the many-sided clearing between banks in interstate and
other payments." It was decided that the means of payment for
the Interstate bank will be the Russian ruble. Each state is
to have one vote in the management board of the bank, regardless
of its economic potential. The starting fund is expected to be
"no less than 5 million rubles", and Moscow is considered the
most appropriate location for the bank. (Sheila Marnie)

SECOND CHERNOBYL REACTOR REOPENED. The Number One reactor at
the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was reopened on 13 December,
Western agencies reported. The Ukranian parliament had voted
in October 1991 to close down Chernobyl completely by the end
of 1993. The plant was indeed completely closed down earlier
this year, but No. 3 reactor was reopened in October. Ukrainian
officials are reported as saying that the partial reopening of
the plant is necessary due to the shortage of energy supplies,
which has become more acute following the reduction in supplies
of cheap oil and gas from Russia. (Sheila Marnie)

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

EC PRIME MINISTERS DO NOT RECOGNIZE MACEDONIA. The European Community
prime ministers, meeting in Edinburgh during the weekend of 12-13
December, chose not to recognize officially the Republic of Macedonia
in the interest of preserving EC unity, Reuters reports. Begging
the issue because of Greece's vehement continuing opposition
to recognition, the prime ministers enjoined their foreign ministers
to "remain seized of this question." They did agree to provide
the fledgling republic with $62-million in humanitarian aid,
however, and endorsed a UN resolution to send 700 troops to Macedonia.
Leaders in Skopje regard the assistance as a step toward recognition;
the Greeks feel that the EC held the line against recognition
of Macedonia. According to Western sources, Macedonia will soon
seek UN recognition as well as assistance from the IMF and World
Bank-steps outside the EC framework, where Greek opposition would
likely be less effective. Finally, contrary to earlier reports,
the Macedonian parliament did not vote to change the name of
the state to the Republic of Macedonia-Skopje. (Duncan Perry)


SERBIAN ELECTION CAMPAIGN. On 11 December Milan Panic, prime
minister of the rump Yugoslavia, told a rally of several thousand
supporters in Nis that Serbia's economy has been ruined by the
fighting in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He did not mention Serbia's President
Slobodan Milosevic by name, but underscored that Serbia was a
"rich land and someone made it poor." He said there has been
enough destruction, death, and impoverishment in the region adding
"no longer, at the end of the 20th century, can cannon be used
to solve problems." In an interview with the Novi Sad daily Dnevnik
on 12 December Serbian Prime Minister Radoman Bozovic described
the aim of the Panic's government is to establish "a protectorate
over Serbia and Yugoslavia by some foreign governments." He described
Milosevic as a man of "extraordinary education and experience"
who is "truly loyal" to Serbia. Radios Serbia and B92 carried
the reports. (Milan Andrejevich)

MILOSEVIC ON KOSOVO, MACEDONIA. The highlight of Milosevic's
activities this past weekend was an interview on Greek TV. He
said that the prospects of Serbia's predominantly Albanian populated
province of Kosovo of becoming a war zone depends on "Serbia's
enemies and people who would love to see it happen." He warned,
however, their are great risks involved "because we are giving
our country to no one." Milosevic referred to Macedonia as the
"Republic of Skopje" for the first time publicly and cautioned
that "without the consent of Greece, recognition would be very
dangerous." Belgrade TV broadcast excerpts of the interview on
the main evening news. (Milan Andrejevich)

BOSNIAN UPDATE. International media on 13 December reported that
the United States is considering enforcing the UN-imposed no-fly
zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina, and that France is prepared to
help. The Washington Post quoted Secretary of State Lawrence
Eagleburger as saying that Washington also now supports at least
a partial lifting of the arms embargo against Bosnia. The paper
also cited a statement by President-elect Bill Clinton calling
for moves that would "turn up the heat a little" on the Serbs.
Elsewhere, Newsday reported on a massacre of Serb villagers by
Bosnian troops, and cited a Muslim war crimes center official
as saying that "it is a war crime and it will be treated as such."
The man added, however, that there is "a big difference between
organized evil and an occasional case of revenge." Finally, the
14 December Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung says that Croatian
and Bosnian forces have pressed an offensive over the weekend
designed to break the Serbian strategic corridor across northern
Bosnia. (Patrick Moore)

YUGOSLAV SHIP LEAVES ROMANIAN PORT. A Yugoslav ship detained
by Romania last week on suspicion of violating the UN economic
sanctions against rump Yugoslavia has left the port of Galati
with its cargo, Romanian authorities told Reuters on 13 December.
The officials refused to give any explanation for the release
of the ship. There was no word about two other Yugoslav vessels
detained in Romania last week. (Michael Shafir)

MANY SLOVAKS SEEKING CZECH CITIZENSHIP. Czech Interior Minister
Jan Ruml told the press on 11-December that hundreds of Slovaks
are applying for Czech citizenship every day. He said that many
of the applicants are Slovak intellectuals and that Czech authorities
will not be able to process that many applications this year.
According to a Czech draft law on citizenship, Slovak citizens
desiring Czech citizenship will have to apply no later than 31-December
1993 and must have lived on Czech territory continuously for
at least two years. More than 300,000 Slovaks are already living
in the Czech Republic, making them by far the largest ethnic
minority in Bohemia and Moravia. (Jan Obrman)

MECIAR: "US NOT COOPERATING." Slovak Prime Minister Meciar has
accused the US of failing to cooperate with a Slovak commission
investigating the bugging of the US consulate in Bratislava,
Czechoslovak Radio reported on 11 December. In an address to
labor leaders in Kosice, Meciar challenged Washington's assertion
that the listening devices found in the embassy were active until
their discovery in an electronic sweep last month. Meciar said
that US officials have refused to show the bugs to Slovak authorities
and was quoted as saying "I wonder who is playing this dirty
game at our expense." (Jan Obrman)

POLISH BUDGET DEBATE: MIXED OUTCOME. The Sejm voted overwhelmingly
on 12-December to send the government's proposed budget for 1993
to committee. A motion to reject the budget outright failed by
a margin of 257 to 136. At the same time, however, the Sejm voted
199 to 196 to reject a related government proposal that would
have limited pension increases in 1993. Finance Minister Jerzy
Osiatynski said the Sejm's decision would require additional
spending of 13 trillion zloty ($850-million) in 1993 and that
such funds are simply unavailable. Denying that the vote would
undermine Poland's agreement with the IMF, Osiatynski indicated
the government would try to achieve the same end with a different
pension formula. On 13 December a group of legislators submitted
a motion to retake the vote after Polish TV showed footage of
deputies casting ballots for absent colleagues. (Louisa Vinton)


SOLIDARITY STAGES WARNING STRIKE. Scattered work stoppages are
reported early on 14-December in response to a call from Solidarity's
National Commission for a two-hour warning strike. Solidarity
has two demands: that the government take measures to compensate
for increases in the cost of living, including eased wage controls;
and speedier action to restructure the Walbrzych region, where
the closing of four mines has led to 21% unemployment. Prime
Minister Hanna Suchocka chaired a special government meeting
on 12-December to explore the delays in Walbrzych restructuring.
She proposed centralizing control in the hands of a single official.
The government pledged to present Solidarity with new restructuring
proposals by 21-December; the union signaled its approval. (Louisa
Vinton)

780,000 SIGN PETITION FOR ABORTION REFERENDUM. With the Sejm
vote on a nearly total ban on abortion approaching in mid-December,
at least 780,000 Poles have signed a petition demanding a national
referendum on the issue, according to PAP. The referendum would
ask whether abortion should be punished. The proposed law would
impose a two-year prison term for those performing abortions.
The petition campaign aims to put pressure on the Sejm, which
has rejected two previous referendum proposals. (Louisa Vinton)


UDF CONFERENCE ACCEPTS COALITION FORMULA. On 13 December, although
it imposed a number of specific conditions, the Union of Democratic
Forces accepted the idea of a coalition government with the mainly
Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Bulgarian and Western
agencies report. At a national conference, a two-thirds majority
of the 270 UDF delegates supported renewed negotiations with
the MRF, which is next in line to try to form a new cabinet.
According to the resolution, the UDF demanded the transfer of
the Bulgarian counterintelligence service from the Presidency
to the government and guarantees that the MRF will not try to
bring about a substantial revision of recent legislation or suddenly
defeat the coalition. A UDF government was brought down jointly
by the MRF and Socialist Party on 28 October. (Kjell Engelbrekt)


HUNGARIAN TV MANAGERS INVESTIGATED. The investigation into the
financial affairs of Hungarian TV will continue on 14 December.
According to an MTI report on 11 December, the National Police
Headquarters has started investigations against TV director Gabor
Banyai and financial manager Laszlo Nagy on charges of financial
misconduct filed against them by Justice Minister Istvan Balsai.
The two have been called to appear at police headquarters on
14-December and their TV identity cards have been withdrawn.
Suspended TV President Elemer Hankiss told reporters that he
will respect the orders of the chief prosecutor banning him from
entering the building as long as his deputy Gabor Nahlik does
not try to implement major changes during the investigation of
Hankiss. On 12-December, in an interview on Hungarian TV Prime
Minister Antall denied that the flurry of investigations means
that he is succumbing to pressures from contrversial author and
former vice chairman of the Hungarian Democratic Forum Istvan
Csurka. (Judith Pataki)

CSCE TO INVESTIGATE HUNGARIAN MINORITY PROBLEM? On 12 December
the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe approved
the appointment of former Dutch foreign minister Hans Van der
Stoel as the first High Commissioner for Minority Issues, an
RFE/RL correspondent reports. Hungarian diplomats at the Stockholm
CSCE conference said Van der Stoel may be asked to investigate
the problem of the ethnic Hungarian minority in Cluj, where Romanian
nationalist mayor Gheorghe Funar and ethnic Hungarian groups
have recently been at odds. (Michael Shafir)

ROMANIAN EX-KING PLANS CHRISTMAS VISIT. King Michael, Romania's
former monarch, plans to spend Christmas in the country with
his family, Radio Bucharest announced on 11 December quoting
a press release from the king's office in Versoix, Switzerland.
Michael has informed the Romanian authorities about his plans,
but there has been no official reaction. The former monarch was
given a warm welcome by the population when he visited the country
last Easter. He tried to visit Romania for Christmas in 1990
but was expelled soon after arrival. (Michael Shafir).

LATVIAN JEWISH LEADERS DISAGREE WITH ARTICLE IN LIFE. At a press
conference on 11-December in Riga, Latvian Jewish leaders expressed
disagreement over a recent article in Life magazine about anti-Semitism
in Latvia. Parliament deputy Ruta Sacs- Marjass and Jewish leader
Grigorii Krupnikov noted factual inaccuracies in the article,
which they said could be detrimental to for the Jewish community
in Latvia whose activities are only now reemerging after many
years of difficulty. Foreign Ministry official Mavriks Vulfsons,
himself a journalist, said that although the state cannot be
accused of anti-Semitism, records of individual Latvian leaders
should be reassessed, BNS and Radio Riga report. (Dzintra Bungs)


LATVIAN RESIDENCY REGISTRATION EXTENDED. According to Maris Plavnieks,
director of the Department for Citizenship and Immigration, the
registration of Latvia's inhabitants should be completed by 1
March 1993. So far only about 66.9% of the inhabitants have been
registered; in Riga, the figure is only 48.8%, Baltfax reported
on 11 December. (Dzintra Bungs)

BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES ENERGY CREDITS. Energy problems
continue to plague Bulgaria. On 11 December BTA reported that
the legislature, at the request of acting prime minister Filip
Dimitrov, approved an economic credit package of 1.6 billion
leva ($65-million) for thermal power plants and the coal-mining
industry. The move will allow the energy industry to pay off
outstanding debts, and it appears that a rate hike for consumers
has been averted as winter sets in. (Duncan Perry)

LATVIAN ENTERPRISES OWE BILLIONS FOR ENERGY. Baltfax reports
that, according to Juris Stals of Latvenergo, republican enterprises
in Latvia owe about 4 billion Latvian rubles for heating and
electricity. Supplies to the most indebted enterprises have already
been cut off and the cases taken to court. (Dzintra Bungs)

NEW CZECH BANK NOTES. Czech newspapers reported on 12 December
that a set of new Czech bank notes is expected to be ready in
July. It remains unclear when the new currency will replace the
current Czechoslovak money, however. The Czech and Slovak prime
ministers, Vaclav Klaus and Vladimir Meciar have agreed to introduce
a temporary monetary union but experts expect that this arrangement
cannot be maintained for more than a few months because of the
incompatibility of the two republics' economic and monetary policies.
The cost of the currency transition in the Czech Republic is
estimated at $31 million. (Jan Obrman)

[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Keith Bush & Charles Trumbull