No. 3, 07 January 1993

RUSSIA



KOZYREV: RUSSIA USING "COVERT VETO" OF FORCE IN BOSNIA. In an
interview with Russian TV's "Utro" program on 6-January, Russian
Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said that Russia had used a "covert
veto" on the question of using an internationally sponsored military
force to settle the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. He said
that Russia had accomplished this by persistently questioning
Western proposals for military intervention in Bosnia and by
supporting a continuing process of negotiation among the conflicting
sides. As to the lack of clarity surrounding Russia's position
on former Yugoslavia, Kozyrev argued that the positions of most
politicians around the world are plagued with uncertainty when
it comes to the crisis in the former Yugoslavia. Suzanne Crow


CHERNOMYRDIN ADDRESSES MOSCOW INDUSTRIALISTS. In what may have
been his first major policy statement since taking office, Viktor
Chernomyrdin spoke on 5-January to a gathering of Moscow industrialists.
To judge from the ITAR-TASS and Interfax accounts, many of his
pronouncements were unclear and ambivalent. Among his declared
priorities were: halting the fall in output, curbing inflation,
promoting privatization (including the use of vouchers to purchase
land and housing), eschewing a wage and price freeze, and pressing
on with conversion. He committed the government to the preservation
of "socially acceptable prices." Yurii Gekht, the head of the
"Industrial Union" faction in parliament, declared his "special
satisfaction" with the speech which was "everything the industrialists
were waiting for." Keith Bush

RUSSIAN PROFIT LIMITS EXTENDED. On 5 January, ITAR-TASS carried
a summary of a decree signed by Russian Prime Minister Viktor
Chernomyrdin that "expanded the mechanism of the state regulation
of prices on certain types of goods and products of enterprises
that do not belong to the category of monopolists." The decree
was said to have taken effect on 1 January. Among the items whose
prices would reportedly be regulated were bread, bread and flour
products, tea, salt, milk, butter, meat, certain kinds of sausage,
baby foods, and ethyl alcohol [sic]. Subsequent reports on 5
January added vodka to the list. The first deputy president of
the Russian State Committee on Price Policy was quoted as saying
that the decree would stabilize prices. Keith Bush

ELABORATION AND CONFUSION ON PROFIT LIMITS NO FULL TEXT OF THE
DECREE APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED. Russian and Western agencies
reported problems in clarifying the extent and impact of the
edict as most officials were on holiday. Interfax on 6 January
provided details of the profit ceilings for the relevant consumer
goods which ranged from 10% to 50% of prime costs. It also revealed
that a 25% profit ceiling had been imposed on a large range of
producer goods, including steel, iron, plastics, fabrics, and
building materials, and a 50% profit ceiling had been introduced
for iron ore, bauxite, and timber. Western agencies on 7 January
quoted officials as denying that the decree sought to regulate
prices: it was supposedly meant merely to cap profits. Keith
Bush

RUSSIAN SUBSIDY BILL SOARS. Aleksandr Pochinok, the head of the
parliamentary commission for budget, taxes, and prices, told
a news conference on 6 January that the total subsidies planned
for 1993 in Russia would probably exceed one trillion rubles,
ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported. Bread subsidies alone would
cost between 2 and 3 billion rubles a day. It was not clear whether
Pochinok had included the additional subsidies arising from the
5 January profit limitation decree. Pochinok expressed the hope
that the 1993 budget deficit would not exceed 6-7% of the GNP,
but he would not give precise figures because his commission
was currently determining the system for calculating the GNP.
Keith Bush

PRIVATE FARMERS FACE PROBLEMS. Russia's new private farmers are
troubled by lack of cash and soaring prices, according to a Reuters
report on 5 January. The president of the Association of Russian
Farmers is quoted as saying that the that the development of
new farms is also being slowed down by the failure of the government
to finalize laws on land ownership and mortgage payments. The
big collective farms are supposed to be transformed into small
private units or into joint stock companies, but collective farm
managers are proving reluctant to cede control of the farms.
There are now 173,000 private farmers cultivating a total of
7.3 million hectares of land. Most of the new private farms are
in the traditional agricultural areas of the Volga and Don regions.
Sheila Marnie

STRIKE IN RUSSIA'S NORTHERN PITS. The work force of the northern
Vorgashorskaya coal mine has been on strike since 4-December,
according to Interfax on 6 January. The strike has caused the
mine to incur a total of 1.5 billion rubles of damages, including
960 million rubles in lost production. Miners in another northern
town, Vorkuta, have now called on all pits in the region to hold
a 24-hour strike on 18-January in support of the Vorgahorskaya
miners. The strikers are calling for regular payment of wages,
and guarantees that wages will be increased regularly to keep
pace with inflation. Sheila Marnie

RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY: START-2 SERVES RUSSIAN INTERESTS. Russian
First Deputy Defense Minister Andrei Kokoshin told Interfax on
6 January that the ministry had tried to visualize the composition
of Russia's nuclear forces in the years 2005-2010 when forming
its position on the START-2 negotiations. He said that their
"optimal" results fell within the ultimate START-2 limits. Kokoshin,
the senior civilian in the ministry, had no regrets about giving
up the SS-18, calling it a "dangerous magnet inviting a pre-emptive
nuclear strike." He noted that the airborne component of strategic
forces had been cut sharply in the new treaty, but said that
it was most unlikely that Russia could raise the money to meet
the ceilings set for it in this area. Doug Clarke

RUSSIAN MILITARY LAUDS START-2. Virtually all top Russian defense
officials have welcomed the recently signed START-2 strategic
arms reduction treaty. The newly appointed Chief of Staff, General
Mikhail Kolesnikov, joined the chorus at a 6-January press conference
reported by ITAR-TASS. Kolesnikov noted that the Russians had
succeeded in getting the Americans to agree to allow the conversion
of 90 SS-18 silos, a feature of the new treaty that he estimated
would save Russia some two billion rubles. He said that while
Russian nuclear forces would not become a "mirror image" of the
Americans', he did note that Russia would increase the sea-based
component of its strategic forces. Doug Clarke

BUT RUSSIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS WARN OF RATIFICATION PROBLEMS. Vyacheslav
Bragin, a member of the presidium of the Russian parliament,
told ITAR- TASS on 5 January that the ratification of the START-2
treaty "will not be easy." He claimed there were quite a few
"conservative-minded" deputies who would do everything in their
power to thwart the treaty. Aleksandr Piskunov, the deputy chairman
of the parliament's defense and security committee, said that
ratification would be "a complex and hard" process. As quoted
by Interfax on 5 January, Piskunov hoped that American diplomatic
and military witnesses could address the parliamentarians during
the hearings. Doug Clarke

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA



ALMA-ATA INDUSTRIAL WORKERS WANT RESTORATION OF USSR ECONOMIC
RELATIONS. Workers at an Alma-Ata machinery plant, backed by
the city's Organization of Communists and other Communist-oriented
political groups, have appealed to Kazakhstan's President Nursultan
Nazarbaev for the restoration of the economic relationships that
existed in the USSR, Interfax reported on 5 January. What the
signatories of the appeal apparently want in fact is the restoration
of the USSR; they blame the economic decline in the last year
on the collapse of the Union. Most of Alma-Ata's industrial workers
and most of the members of the pro-Communist groups cited are
Russians and other non-Kazakhs. The appeal is indicative of the
pressures Nazarbaev faces in trying to maintain ethnic peace
in Kazakhstan. Bess Brown

UN INTERVENTION IN ABKHAZIA PREMATURE. A UN spokesman told an
RFE-RL correspondent on 6-January that the Security Council has
not yet taken any action on Georgian State Council chairman Eduard
Shevardnadze's request for the deployment of UN peacekeepers
in Abkhazia. A spokesman for the Russian mission to the UN quoted
Security Council chairman Yoshio Hatano as stating that "the
time is not yet ripe" to address the Abkhaz situation. On 6 January
the Abkhaz Defense Ministry conceded that an Abkhaz attack on
the Georgian-held town of Sukhumi on 5 January had failed, ITAR-TASS
reported. Both sides claimed the other had suffered heavy losses
in the attack. Liz Fuller

AZERBAIJANI GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF TORTURING OPPOSITION MEMBERS.
Opposition figures detained following the anti- government demonstrations
in Baku in late December have been subjected to torture and beatings
while in custody, Azerbaijani lawyer and human rights activist
Avaz Gumbatov told Interfax on 5 January. Liz Fuller

TAJIK GOVERNMENT CLAIMS IT CONTROLS MOST OF COUNTRY. The government
of Tajikistan is in control of most of the country, a spokesman
for Tajikistan's National Security Committee told Interfax on
6 January. Anti-government resistance remains strong only in
the Garm, Dzhirgatal and Komsomolabad Raions east of Dushanbe
and the government has not determined how to rout the opposition
from these areas without causing considerable losses among the
population, the spokesman said. ITAR-TASS reported the same day
that the city of Rogun and its power plant were in the hands
of the Tajik opposition; Russian refugees from there complained
of the anti-Russian sentiments of those in control. Bess Brown


NEGOTIATIONS ON TAJIK WEAPONS SURRENDER CONTINUE. Interfax reported
on 6 January that talks were continuing between government, parliamentary
and law enforcement representatives and representatives of the
Tajik opposition in the town of Yavan in southern Tajikistan
on the surrender of weapons. The Chairman of Tajikistan's National
Security Committee told the agency that pro-government groups
are also starting to hand in their weapons. He was also reported
to have said that the 100,000 refugees gathered on the Afghan
border have left the Pyandzh area, but it was unclear where they
had gone. Some 20,000 refugees are reported to have assembled
in a nature preserve several kilometers from the Afghan border.
Bess Brown

KYRGYZSTAN SEEKS ENERGY INDEPENDENCE. Kyrgyzstan's President
Askar Akaev told energy workers in Bishkek on 6 January that
the country is facing a severe energy crisis, Interfax reported,
and he would like to see foreign investments concentrated on
developing hydroelectric power. At present Kyrgyzstan is selling
about a third of its electric power for only 22-25% of world
prices, while Turkmenistan is getting 60% of the world price
for its natural gas, Akaev complained. Further development of
Kyrgyzstan's considerable hydroelectric potential would enable
the country to produce 20-billion kilowatt hours by 2000, he
said. Bess Brown

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



SLOVAK GOVERNMENT PURGES NEWSPAPER. The editor and director of
the state-owned newspaper Smena were fired, deepening fears that
press cenorship in Slovakia may be imposed, Reuters reported
on 5-January. Editor in Chief Karol Jezik and Director Jozef
Weiss were dismissed on 4 January. At a press conference on the
5th Jezik and Weiss rejected government assertions that the changes
at Smena, which won a wide readership with its independent reporting,
had been prompted by falling profits. They said that Smena made
a profit of more than 8 million koruny last year. According to
various reports a majority of Smena's editorial staff intends
to leave the paper and join Jezik and Weiss in an effort to set
up a new independent daily. The Slovak Journalists' Union expressed
support for Jezik and Weiss and said in a published statement
that "steps such as this are against the principles of democracy
and freedom of the press." Slovak Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar
recently warned that he will not tolerate what he termed "slander
of his government" and "distortion of Slovakia's image." In late
1992 the Slovak government initiated a purge of state-run TV,
and replaced several leading officials by Meciar loyalists. -Jan
Obrman

CZECH, SLOVAK NEWS AGENCIES HALT COOPERATION. The Czech news
agency CTK and its Slovak counterpart TA SR announced on 5 January
that they will immediately halt all cooperation. The Director
General of CTK, Tomas Kopriva, said that the two organizations
failed to agree on a contract for financial reasons. He said
the offer of TA SR for services provided by CTK was far too low.
Kopriva also announced that CTK will station eight correspondents
in Slovakia to cover Slovak domestic events. -Jan Obrman

MECIAR TO EMPHASIZE ARMS PRODUCTION. At a meeting with Slovak
military commanders on 5-January, the Slovak prime minister said
that he will renew arms production wherever possible to push
down the country's unemployment rate, Western agencies reported.
Meciar said Slovakia will only produce weapons that have export
potential and added that they will not be exported to regions
of tension or areas under embargo by the UN. He criticized the
defunct Czechoslovak government for cutting arms production.
-Jan Obrman



INTERNATIONAL MEDIATORS IN BELGRADE. Radio Serbia and international
media report that the cochairmen of the Geneva Conference, Cyrus
Vance and Lord Owen, concluded talks in Belgrade with Serbian
leaders on 6 January. Owen told reporters after a meeting with
Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic that the negotiations have
reached a critical stage and are at "an absolutely historic moment,"
without elaborating. Milosevic said they discussed "not only
a simple cease-fire" but "a much more serious approach" to ending
the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In New York Bosnia's President
Alija Izetbegovic told Reuters that he is not optimistic that
the Geneva talks will find a solution to the war and accused
the Serbs of being very uncooperative. Milan Andrejevich

COSIC ADDRESSES THE NATION. Dobrica Cosic, president of the rump
Yugoslavia, warned in a nationally televised address on 6 January
that if Serbian leaders do not accept the latest UN-EC Bosnian
peace plan, both Bosnian Serbs and Serbia-Montenegro "will be
the target of a war and missile attack" by the US and NATO. He
added that the UN and the EC want to force the Serbs to accept
the plan, but doing so unilaterally "would risk turning Bosnia
into a battleground and a place of genocide and jihad." He said
the international community has thus taken Serbia- Montenegro
"hostage" to put pressure on Bosnian and Croatian Serbs "who
are fighting for bare survival," adding that the Serbs are left
with a stark choice between "political and military surrender
and an attack from the most powerful countries in the world."
The Geneva talks are "not very promising," Cosic said, and urged
the US, Europe, and Russia to alter their negative policy toward
Serbia-Montenegro. -Milan Andrejevich

ROMANIAN SHIPS DETAINED BY RUMP YUGOSLAVIA. Bucharest protested
the detention of four Romanian ships on the Yugoslav sector of
the Danube. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Bucharest
has requested the "immediate and unconditional release" of the
vessels, detained 31 December-3 January. Radio Bucharest quoted
the spokesman as saying that Belgrade is apparently acting in
retaliation for Romania's enforcement of the UN sanctions against
rump Yugoslavia. He added that Romania would ask the UN Security
Council to intervene in case the vessels are not freed. The ships
were carrying sugar, timber, fuel oil and iron ore. A similar
incident took place on 28-November 1992, when the Yugoslav authorities
had detained a Romanian tugboat and six barges. They were released
on 8-December, following repeated Romanian protests. -Dan Ionescu


POLISH GOVERNMENT TO REQUEST "SPECIAL POWERS." Prime Minister
Hanna Suchocka told PAP during a break in a cabinet meeting on
5 January that the government plans within a week to ask the
Sejm for the right to issue decrees with the force of law. The
"little constitution" that took force in December allows the
Sejm, in a simple majority vote, to empower the government to
issue decrees in all but a few restricted areas. Suchocka said
the government will use decrees to enact its five priority programs,
including privatization and adaptation to EC requirements. Officials
announced that the government's request will be given "urgent"
status, forcing the Sejm to take action by March at the latest.
The government also intends to give "mass privatization" legislation
urgent status. Some of the coalition parties complained that
they had no advance notice of the government's plans. -Louisa
Vinton

POLAND'S DEFICIT SMALLER THAN EXPECTED. The budget deficit for
1992 was 10 trillion zloty ($650-million) less than anticipated,
Gazeta Wyborcza reported on 5 January. Finance Minister Jerzy
Osiatynski confirmed the same day that Poland closed the year
with a deficit of 72 trillion zloty, rather than the 81.5 trillion
planned in the amended 1992 budget. Osiatynski said commercial
banks are responsible for the lower deficit; the government lacked
the cash to make planned expenditures. Revenues were also 3 trillion
zloty higher than expected. -Louisa Vinton

REFERENDUM FOR EARLY HUNGARIAN NATIONAL ELECTIONS. The Society
of People Living below the Minimum Standard has collected more
than the 100,000 signatures needed to call a referendum on national
elections, MTI reports. In order to emphasize the need for early
elections, the society is still collecting signatures. According
to the constitution elections are held every four years and are
next scheduled for spring 1994. Political parties are divided
over the constitutionality of holding a referendum for dismissing
Parliament, and the Constitutional Court is expected to rule
on the issue soon. -Judith Pataki

HUNGARIAN TV AND RADIO PRESIDENTS RESIGN. On 6 January the presidents
of Hungary's state-owned radio and TV, Csaba Gombar and Elemer
Hankiss, handed in their resignations to President Arpad Goncz,
MTI reports. In their letters, Gombar and Hankiss stressed that
they want to guarantee the independence of the Hungarian state-owned
media, but the ruling parties, yielding to right-wing pressure,
made this impossible. Hankiss called for the authorities follow
through on a formal reprimand of him for alleged financial irregularities
in order to prove that the charges brought against him were unfounded.
Goncz said that he understands the reasons motivating the two
men's actions, but did not indicate whether he would accept the
resignations. Tamas Katona, the political state secretary in
the office of the prime minister, denied charges that the government
wants to control the two institutions. He said that some agreement
should be reached by the political parties over the media law
that was recently rejected by parliament and noted that the frequency
moratorium should possibly be lifted. -Judith Pataki

BULGARIANS STOP CLEARANCE OF COLLABORATION CHARGES. As one of
the first actions in his new position, Minister of Internal Affairs
Viktor Mihaylov on 4 January halted the review and certification
intended to clear politicians and top officials of unfounded
charges of collaboration with the former State Security apparatus,
BTA reports. The decree, under which prominent Bulgarians could
demand a review and, if exonerated, a certificate confirming
that they never collaborated, was introduced on 14 December by
former Prime Minister Filip Dimitrov. In justifying the move
Mihaylov told an RFE/RL correspondent that the decree is unfair
since it makes no distinction among various kinds of collaboration,
some of which might have been for the good of the nation. New
prime minister Lyuben Berov is expected to revoke the decree
in its entirety. -Kjell Engelbrekt

MORE WESTERN CREDITS FOR LATVIA. IMF has decided to continue
extending credit to Latvia based on its economic performance,
BNS and Diena reported on 6 January. The most recent loan of
$14-million may be used to stabilize the interim currency, the
Latvian ruble. Deputy Minister of Finance Uldis Osis said that
he expects soon to receive credits worth $100-million from the
European Community. An accord to that effect is expected to be
signed by the two sides this week. -Dzintra Bungs

RUSSIAN STEPS TO TIGHTEN HOLD ON EASTERN MOLDOVA. Addressing
the Russian work force of the Kirov military plant in Tiraspol,
Lt. Gen. Aleksandr Lebed, commander of Russia's 14th Army, said
that Russia will soon open a consular office there which will
grant Russian citizenship to local residents desiring it, Basapress
reported from Tiraspol on 5 and 6 January. Noting that Moldovans
form 40% of the "Dniester republic's" population (and without
mentioning the 28% Ukrainians), Lebed claimed that these Moldovans,
too, desire access to the Russian Federation. This is feasible,
he said, despite the lack of territorial contiguity. He also
said that the army and the local authorities will shortly open
a military chair to train officers for the Russian army at the
University of Tiraspol (recently de-Moldovanized and converted
to a Russian institution). -Vladimir Socor

LEBED ASSAILS USA. In the same address, Lebed accused the USA
of conducting "an imperial policy vis-ˆ-vis Russia and the "Dniester
republic," suggested that the dismantled monument to Feliks Dzerzhinsky
in Moscow ought to be replaced by one to US President George
Bush, and called US Ambassador to Moldova, Mary Pendleton, "a
mediocre woman" for having rejected invitations to visit the
"Dniester republic." -Vladimir Socor

SEVEN CANDIDATES FOR LITHUANIA'S PRESIDENT. At midnight, 5 January,
the deadline for the registration of candidates for the presidential
elections to be held on 14 February expired. Seven candidates
were registered, Radio Lithuania reports. The last registration
was that of Remigijus Vilkaitis, a popular comedian. Four candidates,
Algirdas Brazauskas, Kazimieras Antanavicius, Kazys Bobelis,
and Kazimieras Uoka, hold seats in the Seimas. The other two
are Republican Party Chairman Kazimieras Petraitis and Lithuania's
ambassador to Washington Stasys Lozoraitis. The seven have to
present 20,000 signatures of eligible voters supporting their
candidacies by 20 January in order to complete their official
registration. -Saulius Girnius

LITHUANIA REPAYS FUEL DEBTS TO RUSSIA. On 5 January the Lithuanian
government gave 1 billion coupons (Lithuania's provisional currency)
to the Energy Ministry to cover part of the 1.6-billion-ruble
debt to Russian oil companies, BNS reports. The remainder of
the debt will be paid by the Mazeikiai refinery, which has received
loans from Lithuanian commercial banks. The Energy Ministry will
also pay a significant part of the republic's 8.5 billion ruble
debt to the Russian Lentransgaz company either this week or next
week. The settling of these debts will allow Lithuania to hold
more successful negotiations for oil supplies, but Lithuanian
enterprises still owe 15-billion coupons to the state for gas,
heating, and electricity. -Saulius Girnius

NO RESULTS IN RUSSIAN-ESTONIAN TALKS. The latest round of negotiations
on border issues between Estonia and Russia ended in Pskov on
6-January with no results, ITAR-TASS reports. The Estonian side
maintains that all border disputes should be settled using the
1920 Tartu Peace Treaty as a legal point of departure, whereas
the Russians insist that the January 1991 Russian-Estonian agreement
must govern further relations. -Riina Kionka

LATVIA, BELARUS REACH BORDER GUARD AGREEMENT. On 4 January in
Riga the two sides signed a protocol outlining cooperation between
their border guards, BNS reported on 6 January. The protocol
includes a provision for both sides to inform the other side
within three hours of cases of frontier intruders. Latvia set
up border posts soon after it regained its independence and these
posts are to be kept, and Belarus intends to establish such posts
in March. BNS also reports the detention of the first refugees
from Yugoslavia at the Latvian-Russian border. The refugees,
traveling on the Moscow-Riga train, were heading for Germany.
-Dzintra Bungs

BELARUS TV STATION CLOSED. The only commercial television station
in Belarus has been closed as of 1 January, an RFE/RL correspondent
in Minsk reports. On 28 December the government announced that
TV licensing will be reviewed by the end of January, but on 30
December Channel 8 broadcast a Communications Ministry statement
that the station would stop operating. On 31 December the three
commercial broadcast organizations that subcontract the channel's
time aired a joint round-table discussion complaining about the
decision. On 6 January RFE/RL correspondents reported that the
station went off the air at the request of station employees
who objected that some of the material broadcast was of low cultural
value and even pornographic and that pirated films were being
shown. Channel 8 producers have been asked to submit for governmental
review their own plan for programming by the end of January.
-Barbara Kroulik & Vera Tolz

STRONG OPPOSITION IN UKRAINE TO PROPOSED CIS CHARTER. More prominent
Ukrainian politicians and scholars have been voicing their opposition
to Ukraine's adhering to the proposed CIS charter, which is due
for discussion at the CIS summit on 22 January in Minsk. On 5
January Vyacheslav Chornovil, the leader of Rukh, told Ukrainian
Radio that the proposed charter is a "camouflaged variant of
a union treaty" that would in effect create a confederation intended
to develop into a federation. This view was echoed the next day
on Radio Ukraine by scientist Maksym Strikha and economist Veniamin
Sikora. Sitrikha stressed that adherence to the provisions of
the 23-page document would mean the end of Ukraine's independence
and its becoming part of a Russian-dominated confederation. -Bohdan
Nahaylo







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