No. 27, 10 February 1993

RUSSIA



YELTSIN MAY DROP REFERENDUM PLAN, HOLD EARLY ELECTIONS. Russian
President Boris Yeltsin suggested on 9 February that he may be
willing to abandon the referendum of the principles on a new
Russian Constitution, scheduled for 11 April. In a speech to
the parliamentary Constitutional Commission, carried in full
by ITAR-TASS on 9 February, Yeltsin said "the referendum is not
an aim in itself. If an effective means can be found by any branch
of power or the Constitutional Commission to resolve the problems
facing Russia, then...it will be possible to abandon the referendum."
Yeltsin also suggested holding early presidential and parliamentary
elections in 1995 and 1994, respectively, thus reducing their
mandates equally by one year. Parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov
has called for presidential and parliamentary elections in 1994.
Yeltsin also reiterated the offer that he made earlier that same
day to hold negotiations with Khasbulatov and Constitutional
Court chairman Valerii Zorkin over the constitutional division
of powers in Russia. Yeltsin's speech came after expressions
of opposition to the referendum by some heads of the Russian
Federation's constituent republics, and Valierii Zorkin. -Wendy
Slater

REPUBLIC LEADERS FAIL TO AGREE ON REFERENDUM. The leaders of
the republics of the Russian Federation failed to agree on a
joint policy towards the proposed referendum on the Russian constitution,
when the Council of the Heads of Republics met in Moscow on 9
February, ITAR-TASS and Izvestiya reported. Yeltsin's press spokesman
Vyacheslav Kostikov said the majority of republics were very
cautious about the referendum, and were concerned that holding
the referendum would inevitably lead to the politicization of
society and distract people from economic problems. The meeting
of the Council, which was a routine one, also heard reports on
the main principles of state structure by the president of Sakha,
M. Nikolaev, on the implementation of the federal treaty by the
chairman of the Komi parliament Yu. Spiridonov, and on the principles
of the formation of Russia's foreign policy, by the secretary
of the Council, Yu. Skokov. -Ann Sheehy

TATARSTAN PRESIDENT CRITICAL OF RUSSIAN LEADERSHIP. Tatarstan
president Mintimer Shaimiev said he saw no need for the referendum
since there was a legally elected parliament and a government
proposed by the president and approved by the Congress and People's
Deputies, and they should work together to carry out reforms,
ITAR-TASS and Izvestiya reported. As regards the criticism of
the presidential structures by the chairman of the Russian parliament,
Ruslan Khasbulatov, Shaimiev said that such remarks should not
be made, and people should rise above their personal ambitions
and serve Russia. -Ann Sheehy

MINERS' DISPUTE SETTLED. Miners in Vorkuta were threatening to
go on a 24 hour strike on 10 February, if the government failed
to meet their demands by that date. According to ITAR-TASS on
9 February, a last minute agreement was reached, which met the
miners' demands, and the strike was averted. The agreement was
signed by government representatives, including Deputy Prime
Minister Vladimir Shumeiko and the Minister of Labor, Gennadii
Melikyan, and the chairman of the Russian Independent Miners'
Union, Vitalii Budko. Wage rates will almost double in 1993,
and the increases will be calculated from 1 January. Agreement
was also reached on higher compensation payments for those injured
in mining accidents and their dependents. In the meantime, miners
in the Kuzbass regions have put forward 20 demands to the government,
and miners are due to be polled on the issue of strike action
on 19-20 February. -Sheila Marnie

REORGANIZATION OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT, DENIAL OF PRESIDENTIAL
INTERFERENCE. ITARTASS reported on 9 February that Russian Prime
Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin had signed an order reorganizing
government departments with the aim of achieving greater flexibility
and efficiency. Several new departments will be created, including
one to liaise with the Russian parliament. According to the head
of the Russian government administration,Vladimir Kvasov, this
department will monitor parliamentary decisions affecting the
government and prepare draft laws for submission to parliament.
Chernomyrdin himself said in an interview reported by RFE/RL
that claims made on 8 February by parliamentary speaker Ruslan
Khasbulatov to the effect that the cabinet faced interference
from President Yeltsin were groundless. -Wendy Slater

GERASHECHENKO ATTACKS GOVERNMENT. Russian Central Bank chairman
Viktor Gerashchenko speaking a a joint session of the parliamentary
committee on industry and the political group "Industrial Union"
made a wide ranging attack on government policy past and present.
He said the price liberalization of last year had failed its
intended purpose of ending price distortion in the economy. More
significantly, he said that the government's proposed budget
deficit of 3.5 trillion rubles was off-base, and that the likely
outcome was more on the order of six trillion rubles. He hinted
that the lower figure was fabricated to please the International
Monetary Fund which has made deficit reduction a precondition
for more loans. -Erik Whitlock

GLAZIEV EVALUATES FOREIGN TRADE POLICIES. Despite Russian President
Yeltsin's recent criticism of the work of the Ministry of Foreign
Economic Relations, its head, Sergei Glaziev, was optimistic
at a press-conference on 9 February, ITAR-TASS reported. He said
he was satisfied with the current limited use of export tariffs
and controls, given the unstable ruble. He also expressed satisfaction
with the fact that trade with countries of the Commonwealth of
Indepedent States (CIS) was now carried out largely on the same
basis as with other countries in the world. Western news agencies
report that Glaziev also had some sharp words for Western trade
policies. He complained that the US government was blocking deals
between Russian and American businesses, and that Russia was
not being allowed to enter the General Agreements on Trade and
Tariffs (GATT). Membership in the latter would lower the tariffs
on Russian exports to other GATT members. -Erik Whitlock

UKRAINE AND RUSSIA APPROACH DEBT DEAL. Russian Deputy Prime Minister
Aleksandr Shokhin said on 8 February that Ukraine and Russia
are again close to an agreement on dividing up foreign debt obligations
and assets of the former Soviet Union, Reuters reported. The
two have been trying for months to work out a scheme by which
Russia might assume responsibility for all of the $80 billion
debt to work out, in turn, a rescheduling deal with Western creditors.
Shokhin has also hinted that if a rescheduling agreement cannot
be reached soon, Russia will be forced to increase fuel exports
to the West, which would imply reduced fuel exports to Ukraine.
Thus Ukraine's dependence on Russian fuel imports and negotiations
between Ukraine and Russia on the terms of trade for energy products
are now being linked to negotiations on Russia's right to assume
all responsibility for the former Soviet debt. -Erik Whitlock


UKRAINE PROTESTS RUSSIAN CLAIM TO ASSETS ABROAD. The Ukrainian
Foreign Ministry issued a strong protest on 9 February against
a Russian presidential decree of the previous day that Russia
is assuming "all the rights to the real estate and movable property
of the former USSR" abroad, Ukrainian TV reports. The protest
states that such unilateral claims violate international legal
norms, the rights of the other Soviet successor states, and agreements
on this matter reached by the members of the CIS; they also "complicate
the development of political dialogue" between Ukraine and Russia.
The issue of dividing up former Soviet property and other assets
abroad (especially embassies), has been a major source of disagreement
between the two states and has blocked agreement on payment of
the former USSR's debt. -Bohdan Nahaylo

KOZYREV, CHRISTOPHER DISCUSS BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA. US Secretary
of State Warren Christopher telephoned Russian Foreign Minister
Andrei Kozyrev on 9 February, ITAR-TASS reported. The conversation
concerned the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina; no details were
given. Western media are reporting that the US government will
soon announce a new policy on the former Yugoslavia that could
involve rejection or renegotiation of the Vance-Owen peace plan
that Russia has strongly supported. John Lepingwell

MOSCOW DEFENDS DIPLOMAT'S VISIT TO IRAQ. In an article published
in the 10 February issue of Izvestiya, a Russian Foreign Ministry
representative defended the decision to send diplomat Igor Melekhov
on a visit to Baghdad. Viktor Posuvalyuk, head of the Foreign
Ministry's North Africa and Middle East Department, claimed that
Melekhov's statement calling for stronger Russian-Iraqi relations
had been taken out of context, and that Russia's position on
Iraq had not changed. Posuvalyk went on to note that Russian
diplomacy during and after the Gulf war had exercised a positive
influence on Iraq and suggested that there were areas of cooperation
between the two countries that could be developed. He confirmed
that Iraqi debts to Russia would be discussed, and hinted that
Russia would prefer that Melekhov not meet with Saddam Hussein.
-John Lepingwell

ARMY OFFICERS MOVING TO MVD. The Russian Internal Affairs Ministry
press service told ITAR-TASS on 9 February that some 5,000 Russian
officers have transferred to the MVD over the past few months.
The press service said that the transfers were being overseen
jointly by the MVD and the Defense Ministry. The policy was said
to be a reflection of Russia's growing crime problem. It also
comes as significant manpower cuts are being implemented in the
armed forces and thousands of officers are preparing to resign
their commissions. -Stephen Foye

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA



ATTACK ANTICIPATED ON RUSSIAN BASES IN ADZHARIA. In a statement
carried by ITAR-TASS on 9-February, the Chief of Staff of the
Russian Armed Forces characterized the situation at Russian military
facilities in Adzharia as "calm on the whole," but added that
measures were being taken to increase security, including the
mining of approaches to stores of weapons and ammunition. The
statement was issued in response to media claims that armed formations
were planning an attack on Russian military facilities in Adzharia;
there have been numerous such attacks on Russian bases elsewhere
in Georgia in recent months. Latest reports indicated that there
was still a Russian division stationed in the strategically important
port city of Batum, the largest city in Adzharia. -Liz Fuller


RESISTANCE CONTINUES IN TAJIKISTAN. Government troops and opposition
fighters are continuing to exchange fire in the Ramit Gorge some
fifty kilometers east of Dushanbe, ITAR-TASS reported on 9 February.
National Security Committee Chairman Saidamir Zukhurov told correspondents
that there are about 300-opposition fighters, including around
70 Afghan citizens, resisting government troops and refusing
to surrender their weapons. Negotiations between the two sides
had been broken off the previous day. According to Zukhurov,
local authorities in Gorno-Badakhshan and other regions that
had been strongholds of anti-Communist and pro-Islamic forces
now say that they support the government in Dushanbe. -Bess Brown


CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



MAZOWIECKI URGES ACTION AGAINST ETHNIC CLEANSING. International
media on 10 February quoted UN human rights envoy and former
Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki as calling for action
"in the shortest possible time" to achieve "a minimum of respect
for life and dignity" in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The normally soft-spoken
politician added: "just offering sympathy to people whose rights
have been so brutally trodden underfoot while condemning the
perpetrators-.-.-. only in words, would be an avowal of impotence."
Mazowiecki stressed that the bulk of the crimes are committed
by Serbs against Muslims, and placed blame on the Serbian government
as well. "We are increasingly faced with the evidence that (Bosnian)
Serb leaders are most responsible for the policy of ethnic cleansing
of which the Muslims are the main victims. It is hard to imagine
that this policy was possible without the active support of the
government of Serbia." He added that "nationalist trends" in
Croatia pose a threat to Serbs living there. -Patrick Moore

UPDATE ON YUGOSLAV AREA. Reuters on 9 February reported that
the UN will resume relief flights from Zagreb to Sarajevo on
the 10th, but using a route that avoids the Karlovac area, where
Serbian forces fired on a German relief plane on 6 February.
Other missions take off from Split and from US bases in Germany,
and an Italian airport may replace Zagreb in the relief effort.
Meanwhile in Washington, an RFE/RL correspondent said that the
State Department has repeated a warning to the Serbian authorities
to refrain from using force against Albanians in Kosovo. The
Albanians make up over 90% of the population in the Serbian-run
province, but enjoy virtually no civil rights according to a
wide range of international monitors. On a recent visit to the
US, Turkish President Turgut …zal said that Albanian president
Sali Berisha is concerned about signs of increased repression
in Kosovo. Finally, international media report on renewed fighting
on a variety of fronts, including in Sarajevo. Serbian forces
intensified shelling of the besieged town of Gradacac in northern
Bosnia astride Serbia's strategic corridor to Croatia and western
Bosnia, and other Serbs were repulsed in an attempt to force
back some recent Croatian gains in the Krajina area. -Patrick
Moore

SERBIAN PLANES IN BULGARIAN AIR SPACE. On 9-February two fighter
planes of the rump Yugoslav Federal Army violated Bulgarian air
space, BTA reports. According to a statement released by the
government press center, the planes penetrated two kilometers
into Bulgarian air space before turning back. Although the Bulgarian
government assumes the violation was not intentional but resulted
from a miscalculation of "the irregular border" in the area,
it will nevertheless request an explanation from the Belgrade
authorities. -Kjell Engelbrekt

BULGARIA, ROMANIA DISCUSS UN SANCTIONS. On 9 February top officials
of the Bulgarian and Romanian foreign ministries held consultations
on recent infringements of UN sanctions against rump Yugoslavia,
BTA reports from Sofia. According to a joint communique issued
after the discussions, the two countries agree that Resolution
787 does not explicitly provide for the use of military force
and, consequently, both countries have applied "all possible
means" to enforce UN sanctions. The heads of the two delegations,
Bulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister Valentin Dobrev and Romanian
Secretary of State at the Foreign Ministry Constantin Ene, told
a press conference they are committed to strict adherence to
the embargo but that more international observers on the spot
are needed. In the meantime, Dobrev and Ene said the two countries
intend to coordinate more of their actions both on the Danube
and in their relations with the UN Committee on Sanctions. -Kjell
Engelbrekt

BOSNIANS THREATEN TO USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS. Radios Bosnia and
Serbia reported on 7 and 8 that in separate statements the local
government of the town of Tuzla and the Bosnian military command
in the region have warned that if ethnic cleansing against Muslims
and Croats continues, they will be "forced to place containers
of chlorine and other chemical agents in strategic places." Tuzla
officials promised that civilians would be evacuated before the
chemicals were unleashed. UN officials stated that so far there
is no proof that chemical weapons have been deployed or toxic
substances dumped in rivers in the region. On 9-February Radio
Bosnia said that Serbian shelling of civilian areas around the
northern Bosnian town of Brcko is threatening "tanks containing
liquid chlorine" and poses a risk of "ecological disaster." -Milan
Andrejevich

KONTIC NOMINATED AS YUGOSLAV FEDERAL PREMIER. Radio Serbia reported
on 9 February that Dobrica Cosic, president of the rump federal
Yugoslavia, has nominated deputy prime minister Radoje Kontic
as prime minister. Kontic was a former prime minister of Montenegro
and member of Montenegro's ruling Democratic Socialist Party.
He will replace Milan Panic, who was given a vote of no-confidence
in the federal assembly in late December. Kontic has been acting
prime minister since then. The nomination requires approval of
the Federal Assembly. Kontic told reporters that he is preparing
an economic recovery program and will appoint "a universally
acceptable cabinet" of experts, scholars and politicians. Kontic
has the support of five of the six federal parliamentary groups;
the DEPOS coalition opposes the nomination. A spokesman for Cosic
said the president has proposed the formation of a democratic
unity government, but that in view of conflicting opinions Kontic
will have the final say. -Milan Andrejevich

ONLY ONE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IN SLOVAKIA. Slovak Radio reported
on 9 February that Michal Kovac, the former chairman of the Czechoslovak
parliament, will run unopposed for the post of Slovak president
in the Slovak presidential elections on 15-February. On 8 February
Slovak media reported that Ivan Gasparovic, who had been officially
nominated by some deputies, would be another presidential candidate.
However, media reports from Slovakia say that Gasparovic turned
down his nomination. Both Gasparovic and Kovac are members of
the ruling Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. Some opposition
parties have demanded that the president be without a party affiliation.
The Movement for a Democratic Slovakia and the Slovak National
Party, which have expressed tentative support for Kovac, do not
have enough seats in the parliament to elect him. Slovak media
report that the Party of the Democratic Left, the second strongest
party in Slovakia, has said that it will support Kovac if he
gives up his party membership. -Jiri Pehe

WALESA: NO BUDGET, NO PARLIAMENT. President Lech Walesa put his
support fully behind the governing coalition on 9 February with
the announcement that he would dissolve parliament if it fails
to adopt the 1993 budget. The president has the right to dissolve
parliament if it fails to approve a budget within three months
of its submission; this time runs out on 20 February. The budget
vote, scheduled for 12 February, will be a major showdown, as
the government is asking the Sejm to suspend laws it has already
adopted in order to keep the deficit down. Full attendance by
the coalition will be required to assure the budget's passage.
"I very much want this parliament to continue to exist because
we have so much to do," Walesa told reporters, "but we cannot
continue to waste time. Society wants concrete and quick results.
I have no choice but to proceed as the law dictates." The coalition
meets on 10 February to decide whether to link the budget vote
with a confidence vote in the government. -Louisa Vinton

POLISH CULTURE MINISTER APPOINTED. Walesa also acted to paper
over the conflict he provoked with the governing coalition by
refusing to name the prime minister's original candidate as culture
minister. During the meeting with Hanna Suchocka on 9 February,
Walesa appointed Jerzy Goral, the Christian National Union's
second candidate, as culture minister. Goral is a legal expert
specializing in publishing and authorship issues. He told reporters
that his membership in the Christian National Union would influence
his running of the culture ministry, but predicted that "Christian
values" would cease to divide Poland's artistic and cultural
elite. -Louisa Vinton

POLISH-GERMAN ASYLUM TALKS. Negotiators for the two sides differed
in their assessments of the second round of talks on Germany's
plan to expel would-be political refugees arriving from "safe"
countries. The talks were held in Bonn on 8-9 February. Polish
officials said the talks were inconclusive, and objected strenuously
to Germany's apparent plan to expel to Poland the huge number
of asylum-seekers already rejected but still residing in Germany.
Deputy Internal Affairs Minister Jerzy Zimowski told PAP on 9
February that Poland considers these people to be exclusively
a "domestic German problem." German officials, in contrast, said
the talks were a "substantial step forward." They stressed that
the Polish side had acknowledged that the existing open-border
treaty required Poland to take back people who illegally entered
Germany from Poland. Talks are to continue in the near future
in Warsaw. -Louisa Vinton

NATO COMMANDER TO VISIT HUNGARY. NATO Supreme Allied Commander,
Europe, Gen. John-M. Shalikashvili will pay a three-day official
visit to Hungary on 14-16 February at the invitation of Defense
Minister Lajos Fur, MTI reported on 9 February. His talks with
Defense Ministry officials and army command leaders will focus
on the overall situation in East Central Europe and military
cooperation between NATO and Hungary. Shalikashvili will also
meet Premier Jozsef Antall and Foreign Minister Geza Jeszenszky.
-Alfred Reisch

ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT ON FUNAR. According to an 8 February report
from Radio Budapest, the Romanian government has confirmed that
Cluj Mayor Gheorghe Funar acted outside the law in replacing
the plaque on the statue of King Mathias on the main square of
the city with a nationalistic Romanian inscription. The statue
has a strong symbolic value for Hungarians living in Romanian
Transylvania. According to a 1945 agreement the statue was to
bear only a plaque reading "Mathias Rex." The head of the department
in charge of local governments said that Funar put up the sign
over the opposition of the Committee for the Protection of Monuments.
The official said further that his department has instructed
Cluj County authorities to take steps to assure that Funar obeys
the law on the protection of monuments. These public statements,
apparently unreported in the Romanian media, suggest that tensions
between Cluj's nationalistic mayor and the central government
might be growing. -Judith Pataki

ROMANIAN PREMIER MEETS UNION LEADERS. In a statement broadcast
by Radio Bucharest on 9 February, leaders of 15 union confederations
announced that Prime Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu has agreed to
meet union and employers' representatives to seek a country-wide
collective work contract for 1993. The meeting, scheduled for
10 February, will be attended by the ministers for labor and
social protection, finance, health, and education, as well as
by the head of the National Statistical Board. The main bone
of contention appears to be the minimum monthly wage level. The
unions demand a nearly three-fold increase to compensate for
soaring inflation, while employers and the government see such
claims as unrealistic under current economic conditions. -Dan
Ionescu

KRAVCHUK VISITS BRITAIN. On 9 February, Ukrainian President Leonid
Kravchuk began a four-day visits to Britain, Ukrainian and British
media report. He is due to meet with, among others, Prime Minister
John Major and the EBRD President Jacques Attali. The questions
of Western aid and security guarantees for Ukraine are expected
to dominate the talks. -Bohdan Nahaylo

EC APPROVES BALTIC LOAN. On 9 February the European Community
parliament approved a loan of $236 million to help the three
Baltic States convert to market economies, Western agencies report.
The loan will be made available through the European Investment
Bank and paid over three years. EC Commissioner Jo‹o Deus de
Pinheiro noted that the EC Executive Commission would urge maintenance
of human rights, especially of minorities, in its contacts with
the Baltic governments. -Saulius Girnius

ESTONIA PASSES 1993 BUDGET. The Estonian parliament on 9 February
finally passed the state budget for the 1993 fiscal year, the
RFE/RL Estonian Service reports. The bulk of the 2.9-billion-kroon
budget, passed in a 65 to 17 vote, with 7 abstentions, will go
to state-level institutions, but local budgets will receive nearly
400 million kroon in support. The months-long debate produced
a few special programs, including a 10-million-kroon student
loan plan, a 69-million reserve fund for economic stabilization
and 125 million for farm credits. The 17 deputies who voted against
the budget represented the bulk of the leftist opposition parties,
including the Coalition Party, the Rural Union, and the Centrist
faction. The vote represents the most clear-cut and significant
parliamentary victory for the ruling coalition since it took
power last October. For months, the coalition has battled opposition
efforts to stall passage of a budget until March, when the constitution
would have mandated new elections. -Riina Kionka

CONTROVERSY OVER POSSIBLE NEW RECRUITS IN ESTONIA. The controversy
continues to escalate over whether some 200 new Russian recruits
recently entered Estonia and whether the Estonian government
approved the move. Last week the opposition charged the government
with having violated earlier agreements with Russia by having
approved the entry of three groups of recruits, totaling about
200. So far the Defense Ministry has responded with mixed signals.
On 9 February, however, Minister Juri Luik, Estonia's chief negotiator
for talks with Russia, denied the entry of any additional troops.
According to BNS of that day, Luik said the government has concluded
no such agreements, even though the Russian side has repeatedly
argued for the entry of additional soldiers to help dismantle
bases. "Thousands of proposals are made at the negotiations,
but this doesn't mean that we agree to them," Luik told reporters.
-Riina Kionka

LITHUANIA BUYS FIRST MILITARY JETS. On 6-February four almost
new Albatross L-39 jet planes, made in Czechoslovakia and bought
for $21,000 each in Kyrgyzstan, arrived in Lithuania, BNS reports.
The L-39 is a training plane first produced in 1968 that has
a maximum speed of 900-km/h, can reach an altitude of 11,500-m,
and has a normal maximum flying range of 850-km. -Saulius Girnius


DECLINE IN LATVIAN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION. On 9 February Gunars
Baltins, chairman of the state statistics office, told Diena
that industrial production in January 1993 was 8% lower than
in December and 45.6% lower than in January 1992, BNS reports.
Of the 616 industrial enterprises employing more than 50-workers,
51 had not starting operating this year, 441 were producing less,
and only 124 were operating on the same level or better than
in December. Of the companies 416 were state or municipal enterprises,
37 were joint stock companies, 158 had mixed ownership, and 5
were run by public organizations. -Saulius Girnius

[As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Hal Kosiba and Charles Trumbull