No. 10, 18 January 1993

RUSSIA



MOSCOW SILENT ON LATEST RAIDS AGAINST IRAQ. No official response
from the Russian government on the latest allied raids on Iraq
has been observed as of about noon, Central European Time, on
18 January. At the start of hostilities on 13 January, Russia
pulled back two ships stationed in the Persian Gulf to keep them
out of fire. In comments to the Russian parliament on 15 January,
Admiral Valentin Selivanov said: "When it became clear that the
American action in Iraq was imminent, the staff withdrew the
ships from the northern part of the Persian Gulf. One of them
went to Bahrain and the other to the United Arab Emirates," Reuters
reported. Suzanne Crow

CIVIC UNION QUESTIONS RUSSIA'S ROLE IN STRIKES AGAINST IRAQ.
Vasilii Lipitsky, chairman of the Civic Union's Executive Committee,
was quoted by Interfax on 15 January as saying his party would
like to know whether the Russian government had agreed to the
plan for air strikes against Iraq. If so, Lipitsky said, this
meant that a "very narrow circle of individuals had taken on
the colossal responsibility for events which may have long term
consequences." If Russia was not consulted, Lipitsky said that
"this means that Russia is no longer considered a great power
and member of the UN Security Council." Meanwhile, ITAR-TASS
reported that several dozen Muscovites demonstrated in support
of Iraq on 15 January in front of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Among those present were Liberal Democratic Party Chairman Vladimir
Zhirinovsky, an ultra right-wing leader, and members of the Party
of Rebirth. Suzanne Crow

RUSSIAN OFFER OF NUCLEAR UMBRELLA FOR UKRAINE? AT HIS 15 JANUARY
SUMMIT IN MOSCOW WITH LEONID KRAVCHUK, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS
YELTSIN STATED THAT RUSSIA WAS READY TO GUARANTEE UKRAINE'S SECURITY.
The text of the joint communique, as given by ITAR-TASS and Ukrainian
Radio, referred simply to Russia's "readiness" to "give Ukraine
a guarantee of its security," adding that the "text of the guarantee
will be prepared in the shortest time" and that the guarantee
would come into force as soon as Ukraine ratified the START-1
treaty and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Reuters, however,
quoted Yeltsin at the joint press conference following the summit
as saying that "Russia gives a guarantee to preserve and safeguard
the integrity of Ukraine and its borders and defend it from nuclear
attack." Whether the Russian and Ukrainian parliaments will agree
to this is another matter. Russia and Ukraine have already pledged
to respect one another's sovereignty and territorial integrity
(e.g., the agreement signed by Yeltsin and Kravchuk in November
1990) but the Russian parliament and various Russian political
leaders have called for the return of Crimea from Ukraine to
Russia. Moreover, Ukraine has been seeking guarantees from Western
states precisely because of its fear of Russia. Bohdan Nahaylo
and Doug Clarke

RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN ACCORD ON MISSILES IN UKRAINE. Yeltsin and
Kravchuk agreed to "define a system of material and technical
provision" of the ex-Soviet missiles on Ukrainian territory that
would permit the missiles' manufacturers to maintain the weapons.
The SS-19s in Ukraine were built in Russia, whereas the SS-24s
are from a factory in Pavlograd, Ukraine. The two leaders also
instructed their governments to begin talks on settling all questions
connected with the implementation of the START-1 treaty, including
such things as the dismantling of the missiles and the destruction
of their nuclear warheads. Ukrainian use of some of the reprocessed
nuclear material as fuel for nuclear power plants is one of the
questions that will be addressed. Doug Clarke

RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN NEGOTIATIONS ON OIL AND DEBT. At a news conference
after the meeting on 15 January of Presidents Yeltsin and Kravchuk,
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin disclosed that Russian
oil deliveries to Ukraine in 1993 would be subject to a ceiling
of 20 million tons, Reuters reported. This amount is above the
previous highest Russian offer of 15 million tons, although well
below Ukraine's annual requirement, which is set at around 45
million tons. No agreement appeared to have been reached on the
repayment of the external debt of the former Soviet Union, and
talks continued over the weekend with the participation of representatives
from Western creditor-nations. Keith Bush

COMMANDER FOR BLACK SEA FLEET NAMED. The two presidents also
agreed to appoint Russian Vice Admiral Eduard D. Baltin as commander
of the Black Sea Fleet. Baltin, a submariner, currently heads
the department for naval strategic studies at the Russian General
Staff Academy and is a former first deputy commander of the Soviet
Pacific Fleet. In their communique, the two presidents noted
the slow pace of the Russian/Ukrainian negotiations on the future
of the fleet, and complained that the package of documents called
for by their August 1992 Yalta agreement had not been prepared.
They instructed their delegations to complete this work as soon
as possible. The only achievement they could point to was an
agreement on naval emblems. Doug Clarke

PRIVATIZATION OF LARGE-SCALE ENTERPRISES LAUNCHED. The privatization
of Russia's medium and large state enterprises will be launched
on 8 February, when shares in 20 enterprises employing over 50,000
workers will be sold at auctions in Volgograd, according to Reuters
on 14 January. The shares can be purchased using the privatization
vouchers which have now been distributed to about 90% of the
population. In the next three months, it is planned to hold such
auctions in 14 regions, with Nizhnyi Novgorod, Tomsk, Novosibirsk
and Chelyabinsk reported to be among the venues. According to
an article in the Washington Post on 15 January, about 500 large
enterprises will be sold. So far more than 30,000 small enterprises
have been privatized; however, practically no large factories
have been involved. Sheila Marnie

RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT RAISES PENSIONS. On 15 January, the Russian
parliament approved an increase in minimum retirement pensions
to 4,275 rubles a month effective 1-February, Interfax reported.
Other alterations were made to pension levels in line with the
recent law on the indexation of pensions. Minister of Finance
Vasilii Barchuk warned that the increase in minimum pensions
would automatically raise the minimum wage, and that additional
payments of 15-16 trillion rubles would be needed from the state
budget. He asked deputies to limit increases in minimum pension
levels and not to index them, or to limit indexation of pensions
in excess of 10,000 rubles a month. He appears to have been overruled.
Keith Bush

YELTSIN MEETS DEMOCRATS. President Yeltsin stressed in a meeting
with leaders of the liberal bloc "Democratic Choice" in the Kremlin
that the 11 April 1993 referendum "should not be lost," ITAR-TASS
reported on 14 January. The leader of the bloc, Sergei Yushenkov,
said later that Yeltsin was concerned that not enough people
may show up for voting. Yeltsin's team is worried about opposition
to the referendum from the leadership of the parliament. Yeltsin's
spokesman, Vyacheslav Kostikov, stated that parliamentary speaker
Ruslan Khasbulatov "fears the referendum." The head of the presidential
staff, Sergei Filatov, warned of the possible emergence of a
dictatorship led by emerging from Khasbulatov. Alexander Rahr


RUSSIA TO PUSH ARMS SALES. Victor Glukhikh, the head of the Russian
defense industries committee, told reporters on 15 January that
Russia planned to exhibit previously top-secret military equipment
at an arms exhibit in Abu Dhabi in February in an effort to recapture
a greater share in the world's arms trade, according to Interfax
and Western agencies. Glukhikh said that the USSR was the top
arms seller in late 1980s, with nearly 39% of the world market
compared with the United States' 30% share. In 1992, he said,
the Russian slice dropped to 17% while US sales rose to 56%.
Glukikh attributed the decline to a curtailment of arms sales
to "troubled areas" like the former Yugoslavia, and he reckoned
that Russia had thereby lost some $7.5 billion. He named China
and India as the chief customers for Russian arms exports in
1993, and mentioned that other former Soviet republics were providing
competition on the world arms market. Keith Bush and Doug Clarke


DIPLOMAT APPOINTED TO RUSSIAN SECURITY COUNCIL. On 14 January
Interfax reported that Yuri Nazarkin had been appointed Deputy
Secretary of the Russian Security Council. ITAR-TASS also reported
that he had been appointed head of the Strategic Security Department,
presumably a new Security Council department intended to oversee
arms control and disarmament issues. Nazarkin started his diplomatic
career specializing in Africa, but from 1986-87 headed the Soviet
Foreign Ministry's Section for the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy
and Space and participated in the START negotiations from 1989-
92. Before joining the Security Council Nazarkin headed the Russian
Foreign Ministry department for arms control and disarmament.
John Lepingwell

TRANSCAUCASIA & CENTRAL ASIA



TAJIK REFUGEES APPARENTLY RELUCTANT TO RETURN. On 17 January
Interfax quoted officials of the Russian border guard units stationed
on the Tajik-Afghan border as saying that of the approximately
60,000 Tajik refugees who fled into Afghanistan in December to
escape fighting in their homeland, only about 1% have returned.
The same source reported the previous day that several thousand
Tajiks who had gathered on the Afghan border had not crossed
into the neighboring country but had returned to their homes.
The border guard officials also reported that border units continue
to encounter armed groups trying to leave or enter Tajikistan;
the officials believe that Tajikistan's head of state, Supreme
Soviet Chairman Imomali Rakhmonov, will raise the issue of border
defense at the CIS summit on 22 January. Bess Brown

AKAEV CALLS FOR EMERGENCY MEASURES. Kyrgyzstan's President Askar
Akaev told an emergency meeting of the country's government on
15 January that Kyrgyzstan's economic performance in 1992 was
worse than that of Armenia and, according to certain criteria,
that of Tajikistan, Interfax reported. Akaev wanted the government
to devise a package of emergency measures to "avert disaster";
the highest priorities are to be given to agriculture and law
enforcement. Akaev accused law enforcement agencies of tolerating
the existence of armed bands and hinted that their activities
were not only criminal but could lead to interethnic clashes
that could bring about a Tajik-style conflict. Bess Brown

UN MISSION TO GEORGIA. The UN plans to send a team of experts
on a ten-day mission to Georgia beginning on 20 January to assess
the need for emergency humanitarian aid, in particular to victims
of inter-ethnic violence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Reuters
and ITAR-TASS reported on 15 January. Liz Fuller

ABKHAZ LEADER DENIES REPORTS OF ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE. Abkhaz parliament
chairman Vladislav Ardzinba told ITAR-TASS on 15 January that
a report by Ostankino TV that he had been wounded by gunfire
in an attempt to kill him during a conference of Abkhaz troop
commanders in Gudauta was untrue. Ardzinba alleged that the original
report was a fabrication by the Georgian intelligence service.
Liz Fuller

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



ESCALATING WAR THREATENS BOSNIAN PEACE PROCESS. Radios Serbia
and Croatia report on 17 January that heavy fighting continues
across Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosnian Croat military commanders
of the Croatian Defense Council (HVO) have given Bosnian Muslims--their
nominal allies--an ultimatum to withdraw by midnight from the
town of Gornji Vakuf in central Bosnia and place themselves under
Croatian command. The HVO also ordered a curfew in the area after
several days of fighting between Bosnian Croat and Muslim forces.
Bosnian Defense Minister Bozo Rajic, a Croat, told Croatian TV
he ordered three Muslim units to come under Croatian control
and two units of the HVO to come under the command of the Bosnian
Muslim army. Rajic explained the move complies with the Geneva
peace plan by placing army units under the control of the respective
forces in provinces clearly designated as Croat or Muslim-run.
Meanwhile, the Yugoslav army says it "responded fiercely" to
Bosnian artillery attacks near the town of Perucac in Serbia
on 16 and 17 January. Officials in Belgrade say no ground troops
were involved and only Muslim targets in Bosnia were shelled.
This is the first time the federal army acknowledged involvement
in the war since formally withdrawing from Bosnia on 19 May 1992.
Milan Andrejevich

ZHELEV WARNS OF BALKAN RELIGIOUS WAR. In an interview on Bulgarian
radio on 15-January, Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev warned
that armed ethnic conflicts in former Yugoslavia could exacerbate
religious tensions in the Balkans. Referring to the long and
bloody history of Christian-Muslim confrontation on the Balkan
peninsula, Zhelev said the arrival in Bosnia of Islamic religious
warriors to assist Muslims in the struggle against the well-equipped
Serbs could have serious, long-term effects for the region. He
said the West is losing credibility, making his argument by pointing
out that Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic recently left the
peace talks in Geneva in order to participate in a meeting with
the Islamic Conference. Kjell Engelbrekt

SERBIAN NATIONALISM ASTIR IN MACEDONIA. On 16 January a reported
500 Serb nationalists gathered in Kucheviste, north of Skopje,
to protest the breaking up by police of a Serbian rally on New
Year's Eve in the same village. Tanjug reports that organizers
issued a declaration that states in part that "if Serbs continue
to be mistreated by the Macedonian authorities they will be forced
to take measures for self-protection, making use of all legal
means available." At a press conference in Skopje that same day,
Dobrivoje Tomic, vice president of the Democratic Party of Macedonian
Serbs, adopted the same stance. While the Serbian minority in
Macedonia represents only about 2% of the population, many observers
fear that they could serve as a pretext for a Serbian invasion
of the Republic of Macedonia in a manner reminiscent of the events
that sparked the war in Bosnia. In a related story carried by
Reuters, meeting reporters in Zagreb on 17 January after visiting
Macedonia, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, UN special envoy for human rights,
noted that the failure of Western countries to recognize Macedonia
has made that land an ethnic powder keg. Duncan Perry

SERBIA'S BRAIN DRAIN. Belgrade's independent media continue to
report that highly skilled technicians, scientists, and students
are leaving Serbia at an alarming rate. Federal officials estimate
that the departure of some 20% of the country's 5,000 researchers
in 1992 will cost the country more than $2 billion in lost contributions
to education and research. The main reasons cited for emigration
are economic and political factors. The number of professionals
and university students seeking emigration visas increased dramatically
after Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic was reelected on 20
December. Since 1991 an estimated 80,000 "Yugoslavs" have left
the country, either to avoid conscription or to rebuild lives
shattered by the war. Serbia's government has called concerns
about a brain drain "alarmist." Radio B92 carried the report
on 16 January. Milan Andrejevich

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES IN SLOVAKIA, CZECH REPUBLIC. At a meeting
in Jahodna on 16 January, the leadership of the Movement for
a Democratic Slovakia, Slovakia's ruling party, selected Deputy
Prime Minister Roman Kovac as its candidate for the post of president.
According to international and Slovak media, the party leadership
rejected another candidate, Michal Kovac, who is a former chairman
of the Federal Assembly. The presidential elections are to be
held on 26 January. In the Czech Republic, after initial reluctance,
all government parties have now said that they will support the
candidacy of former Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel for the
post of Czech president. The leadership of the Civic Democratic
Party, the largest party in the Czech Republic, met on 16 January
and agreed to support Havel's candidacy. CTK reports that the
opposition Social Democrats have also decided to support Havel.
After the 16 January meeting, Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus told
reporters that the current political situation in the Czech Republic
makes it necessary to elect the president as quickly as possible.
Jiri Pehe

CZECH, SLOVAK REPUBLICS BECOME EBRD MEMBERS. On 15 January the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development admitted the
Czech Republic and Slovakia as new members. CTK reports that
both states are considered successors to Czechoslovakia. Since
its founding in 1991, the EBRD has invested more than $423 million
in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is now scheduled to extend
$216 million in loans for developing Czech and Slovak telecommunications
and highway systems. Jiri Pehe

WALESA VETOES POLICE PENSION BILL. President Lech Walesa vetoed
a controversial bill governing "uniformed" pensions (the preferential
pensions awarded to professional soldiers and police and security
service employees) on 15 January. As approved by the Sejm, the
bill would have reduced pensions for secret police employees
from 1944 to 1989 if they participated in the repression of opposition
figures. It would likewise have eliminated all pension privileges
for military prosecutors and other officers if they had persecuted
Poles engaged in activities dedicated to restoring Poland's independence.
Walesa said that the bill violated the principle of equal protection
before the law, imposed collective responsibility, and vested
nonjudicial bodies with judicial powers. The internal affairs
minister had earlier criticized the bill, warning that it would
undermine stability in the police force. The Sejm needs a two-thirds
majority to override a presidential veto. Louisa Vinton

POLISH PRODUCTION UP 3.5% IN 1992. Poland's Main Statistical
Office reported on 15-January that industrial production was
3.5% higher in 1992 than in 1991. Production in December 1992
was 5.3% higher than in November. Prices rose 43% in 1992. The
central planning bureau announced on 15 January that real wages
in 1992 were 4% lower than in the preceding year; pensions declined
5.7%; and wages paid from the budget dropped 9%. Deputy Labor
Minister Michal Boni told a press conference on 15 January that
2.5 million people, or 13.6% of the work force, were registered
as unemployed at the end of 1992. Unemployment grew much more
slowly in 1992 than in the previous year, Boni noted. Employment
offices found work for some 650,000 people. Louisa Vinton

POLISH DEFENSE MINISTER ON SECURITY CONCERNS. During a one-day
visit to Washington on 15 January, Defense Minister Janusz Onyszkiewicz
told reporters that Poland is concerned by Ukraine's reluctance
to give up the long-range nuclear weapons deployed on its territory.
An RFE/RL correspondent says Onyszkiewicz stressed that Poland
does not feel threatened by Ukraine, but is concerned that Ukraine's
stance on nuclear arms could undermine the nonproliferation process.
Poland and Ukraine are to sign a military cooperation agreement
in February, Onyszkiewicz noted. On his return to Warsaw on 16-January,
he told reporters that the "USA accepts the inevitability of
Poland's entry into NATO." Louisa Vinton

UKRAINIAN MODERATES AGAINST RATIFICATION OF START-1. The Chairman
of the Ukrainian Republican Party and the Congress of National
Democratic Forces, a center-right grouping, told a Ukrainian
radio audience on 15 January that, having given up all its short-range
nuclear arms, Ukraine should not eliminate the rest of its nuclear
arsenal unless other nuclear powers do so. According to Interfax,
Mykhailo Horyn, also a parliamentary deputy, added that Western
countries have "failed to appreciate Ukraine's noble gesture
of eliminating its tactical nuclear capability. . . ." Deputy
CNDF leader Mykola Porovsky, also a parliamentary deputy, commented
that transferring nuclear arms to Russia would be "like Kuwait
surrendering its weapons to Iraq and becoming an Iraqi protectorate."
The Ukrainian parliament is expected shortly to debate the ratification
of START-1. Doug Clarke and Bohdan Nahaylo

KRAVCHUK CONFIRMS UKRAINIAN REJECTION OF CIS CHARTER. Speaking
at a press conference in Moscow on 15 January after his summit
meeting with Boris Yeltsin, Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk
confirmed that Ukraine will not sign the proposed CIS charter
at the forthcoming CIS summit in Minsk on 22 January, CIS and
Western agencies report. He said that Ukraine will, however,
be prepared to sign an economic agreement for CIS members. Meanwhile,
the Ukrainian media are reporting the continuing campaigns by
both supporters and opponents of Ukraine's closer integration
in the CIS. Bohdan Nahaylo

NEW DEVELOPMENT IN HUNGARIAN MEDIA WAR. According to a statement
published by the prime minister's press office on 15 January,
the formal endorsement of the president of the republic is not
needed for the recent resignations of the heads of Hungarian
Radio and TV, MTI reports. The statement says that the prime
minister and the chief prosecutor agree that under the law on
public employees the employment of the media heads will automatically
cease two months after the date of their resignations. The statement
urges the media chiefs not to wait to quit their posts until
the two months expire, however, because they would only contribute
to maintaining at the radio and TV "adverse conditions that continue
to inhibit objective reporting." Prime Minister Jozsef Antall
was reacting to a recent statement by the national steering committee
of the Alliance of Young Democrats that urged President Arpad
Goncz not endorse the resignations. Edith Oltay

HUNGARIAN SMALLHOLDERS TO SET UP "RIGHT-WING BLOC." Jozsef Torgyan,
the Chairman of the Independent Smallholders Party, announced
at a party meeting in Jaszbereny on 16 January that he will set
up a right-wing bloc named Christian solidarity, to ward off
the threats posed by the "liberal left-wing bloc," MTI reports.
Torgyan did not disclose which parties and organizations will
make up the bloc, saying only that his party has signed cooperation
agreements with various organizations. He urged solidarity to
"save the Hungarian people," pledging that if elected in the
1994 elections, his party will "create order in two and a half
hours and achieve what the government failed to do in two and
a half years." The Smallholders faction led by Torgyan left the
governing coalition in February 1992. Edith Oltay

ROMANIAN HUNGARIAN PARTY ADOPTS MODERATE LINE. The third congress
of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania ended on 17
January with calls for more rights for Romania's ethnic Hungarians.
A final statement, read by HDFR honorary chairman and Reformed
bishop Laszlo Tokes, urged Bucharest to help the country's Magyar
minority preserve its identity, culture, language, religion and
education. But it dropped the idea of "communitarian autonomy"
on ethnic grounds, which had figured high on the agenda of the
three-day congress. Western agencies quoted HDFR senator Gyorgy
Frunda as advocating a policy of small steps towards more self-administration
which should not fuel concern among the Romanian majority. The
congress elected writer Bela Marko as the party's new leader,
but only after Tokes withdrew from the race. Outgoing party chairman
Geza Domokos praised Marko, as a moderate. Tokes is generally
seen as a radical. Dan Ionescu

ROMANIAN CABINET'S BIG ECONOMIC PROGRAM. The Romanian government
is preparing a package of some 50 new laws, most designed to
promote economic reforms. In an interview broadcast by Radio
Bucharest on 15 January, Valer Dorneanu, minister for parliamentary
relations , said the cabinet will give top priority to laws dealing
with the stock exchange, taxes on profits, value-added taxes,
public debt, bankruptcy, and credits to encourage private farming.
Dorneanu's statement appears to be an indirect response to recent
accusations by Romania's opposition that the cabinet dominated
by the Democratic National Salvation Front is trying to slow
down economic reforms. Dan Ionescu

ROMANIAN INTELLIGENCE CHIEF KEEPS UP PRESSURE ON CHISINAU. Interviewed
in the Moldovan weekly Glasul natiunii, as cited by Basapress
of 15 January, Romanian Intelligence Service chief Virgil Magureanu
said that he "would wish to integrate Romania's and Moldova's
intelligence services in order to neutralize external organs
that can foil reunification," and that he is awaiting proposals
for cooperation from Chisinau. Magureanu, a former Securitate
officer, recently told a festive gathering in Bucharest that
his service actively works for Romanian-Moldovan unification,
prompting an official protest from the Moldovan government. Vladimir
Socor

KOZLODUY CONSIDERED TOP PRIORITY. Experts of the G-24 developed
countries have declared that Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power
plant will be given priority in an assistance program aimed at
rebuilding Soviet-designed nuclear stations in Eastern Europe,
Reuters reported on 17 January. Following a meeting of G-24 nuclear
experts at Kozloduy over the weekend, Yanko Yanev, chairman of
the Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee, said Kozloduy will be
the first plant in the former Soviet bloc to receive substantial
foreign aid to update equipment and improve safety. Although
the authorities have neglected the plant for years, Bulgaria
badly needs the energy supply. While Kozloduy theoretically can
cover 40% of the country's power needs, it is currently running
at half capacity. Kjell Engelbrekt

LATVIA, RUSSIA AGREE ON EXTRADITION. On 16 January representatives
of the two state procuracies signed a joint protocol in Riga
providing for extradition of criminals, sentenced on the territory
of the other country, to serve their sentences in their homeland.
In light of this agreement, Sergei Parfenov, former deputy commander
of the Riga OMON, who is serving a sentence for abuse of power
in Latvia, is expected to be transferred to a penal institution
in Russia. Russia's Deputy Procurator General Evgenii Lisov told
BNS on 16 January that he could not guarantee Parfenov's full-term
confinement in Russia, since Parfenov might be released earlier
or amnestied in compliance with Russian laws. Dzintra Bungs

IMF EXPERTS WARN OF FURTHER ECONOMIC DECLINE IN LATVIA. After
meetings with Latvian economic officials, IMF experts expressed
concern about the country's continuing economic decline. They
said that the high exchange rate that the Latvian Central Bank
has set for the Latvian ruble against the CIS currencies, is
a major problem because Latvian products are too highly priced
and less competitive. They noted that the situation may improve
in a few months when price differences with the CIS level out,
BNS and Baltfax reported on 16-January. Dzintra Bungs

IMF DELEGATION IN LITHUANIA. On 15 January a delegation led by
Adalbert Knobl, the IMF Baltic Section head, met with Lithuanian
Prime Minister Bronislavas Lubys, BNS reports. The delegation's
visit is to prepare a quarterly report on Lithuania's implementation
of the Economic Policy Memorandum that is necessary to receive
IMF aid. The meeting discussed ways to strengthen the coupon
(Lithuania's provisional money), possibly by requiring enterprises
to sell 30% of their hard currency income to commercial banks.
The delegation will hold talks with Acting President Algirdas
Brazauskas this week. Saulius Girnius

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