No. 233, 07 December 1993

RUSSIA



YELTSIN TO ISSUE DECREE ON NORTH OSSETIA/INGUSHETIA. Russian
President Boris Yeltsin told a gathering of North Caucasian leaders
in Nalchik on 7-December that in his talks on 6 December with
North Ossetian and Ingush leaders agreement had been reached
on stabilizing relations between Ingushetia and North Ossetia,
ITAR-TASS reported. Yeltsin said that a decree that he would
be signing on 13 December would help resolve the Ingush-Ossetian
conflict. Following talks in Chermen in Prigorodnyi Raion on
6-December, Yeltsin's press secretary Vyacheslav Kostikov had
said that Yeltsin would probably order the resettlement of Ingush
in four settlements in Prigorodnyi Raion with the assistance
of interior troops and the army. In other words, he apparently
intends to override the objections of the North Ossetian leadership
who have consistently argued that Ossetians and Ingush cannot
live together. The North Ossetian prime minister Sergei Khetagurov
warned against rushing a decision and returning the refugees
by force, Interfax reported on 6 December. -Ann Sheehy

MOST COAL MINERS RETURN TO WORK. Most of the striking coal miners
agreed to return to work on 7-December, although 12 mines in
the Vorkuta region were expected to remain idle, Russian and
Western agencies reported late on 6 December. The decision to
halt the strike was made after miners' representatives and the
chief government negotiator, Deputy Labor Minister Yurii Shatyrenko,
had reached agreement on most of the 25 demands made by the unions.
One of the demands that was not accepted was that miners should
have a say in the composition of the cabinet. The Vorkuta miners
were said to be holding out for firmer guarantees on the payment
of back wages. -Keith Bush

YAVLINSKY INVITES GAIDAR FOR TV DEBATE. Economist Grigorii Yavlinsky
has proposed to Russia's Choice leader Egor Gaidar that the two
hold a debate on national television on the future of economic
reform, Ekho Moskvy reported on 6 December. Yavlinsky said that
many voters have requested such a debate because they do not
understand the differences between the economic programs of Yavlinsky's
bloc and Russia's Choice. Yavlinsky and Gaidar both invited the
Communist Party leader Gennadii Zyuganov and Liberal-Democratic
Party chief Vladimir Zhirinovsky to join them in a broad debate
on national television on 9-December. -Alexander Rahr

NO AGREEMENT REACHED BETWEEN DEMOCRATIC BLOCS. The leader of
the Republican Party, Vladimir Lysenko, told Ostankino television
news on 6-December that, contrary to other reports, the pro-democratic
electoral blocs have failed to agree on supporting one joint
candidate in single-member constituencies. So far only sociologist
Viktor Sheinis has agreed to withdraw his candidacy in an electoral
constituency in Moscow in favor of a candidate of Russia's Choice.
Sheinis remains, however, on the list of the Yavlinsky-Boldyrev-Lukin
bloc for elections to the State Duma under federal "party" lists.
-Alexander Rahr

BANKERS PROTEST MURDERS. The Association of Russian Commercial
Bankers has sent an appeal to President Yeltsin and has declared
7 December to be a day of mourning to protest the recent spate
of killings of bankers in what are believed to have been Mafia
attacks, Russian agencies reported. The day of mourning coincides
with the funeral of the former chairman of the Rosselkhozbank,
Nikolai Likhachev, who was murdered on 2 December. According
to Izvestiya, more than 30 Russian bankers, some of them quite
prominent, have been killed during the past year. -Keith Bush


SUPPORT FOR REGIONAL AUTONOMY. Marshal Evgenii Shaposhnikov,
running for parliament on the list of the Russian Movement for
Democratic Reform, was quoted by ITAR-TASS on 2 December as saying
that the constituent republics of the Russian Federation should
be responsible for all issues affecting themselves except defense,
security, energy and transport, which should be under the jurisdiction
of the center. -Alexander Rahr

MINIMUM WAGE RAISED. On 6 December, President Boris Yeltsin signed
a decree raising the minimum wage in the state sector to 14,620
rubles a month effective 1-December, Russian and Western agencies
reported. Stipends for students and other transfer payments are
to be amended accordingly. The last raise in the minimum wage
for state sector workers and employees appears to have been that
approved by parliament on 14 July, effective 1 July, when the
sum was increased from 4,275 rubles to 7,740 rubles a month (ITAR-TASS,
14 July). The government had at that time opposed the hike, saying
that it would cost an additional 3 trillion rubles during the
second half of the year. As to the timing of the latest decree,
just ahead of the election, a government spokesman claimed that
it was purely fortuitous. -Keith Bush

WESTERN AID SAID TO BE MISDIRECTED. The general secretary of
the Council of Europe, Catherine Lalumiere, has called for a
reexamination of the way in which Western aid is given to Central
and Eastern Europe, Reuters reported on 6 December. She asserted
that almost all of the $42 billion donated by the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development had gone "to businessmen
and financiers with private consultants as mediators." -Keith
Bush

US, RUSSIA CONSIDER DE-TARGETING MISSILES. The New York Times
and Reuters reported on 6 December that the US was considering
targeting at ocean areas those ICBMs kept on alert. . This is
intended to further reduce tensions and prevent damage in the
event of an accidental launch. The missiles could, however, be
retargeted in a very short time. Commander of the Russian Strategic
Forces Colonel General Igor Sergeev discussed the proposal with
US officials during a visit to the US last week. While President
Yeltsin stated in January 1992 that Russian missiles were no
longer targeted on US cities, his comments were later dismissed
by Russian military officials. More recently, Ukrainian politicians
have suggested that they might remove US targets from the ICBMs
on their territory, raising questions as to who actually controls
the targeting process. -John Lepingwell

RUSSIA, KUWAIT PLAN JOINT NAVAL EXERCISES. The Russian ship Admiral
Vinogradov is sailing to the Persian Gulf to participate in naval
exercises with Kuwaiti naval vessels in late December, Interfax
reported on 6 December. The joint exercises are the first result
of the Russia-Kuwait defense cooperation agreement signed in
Moscow last week. While in Russia, the Kuwaiti defense minister
met with President Yeltsin, First Deputy Prime Minister Oleg
Soskovets, and other high-ranking Russian officials, who apparently
tried convince the minister of high-level support for Russian
arms sales to the Gulf region. -John Lepingwell

CIS

CHURKIN ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN UKRAINE AND KAZAKHSTAN. Russian
Deputy Defense Minister Valerii Churkin on 6 December rebutted
Ukrainian claims that the North Atlantic Cooperation Council
(NACC) had not criticized Ukraine's ratification of START-1,
and noted that NACC delegates had called for full implementation
of the treaty and the Lisbon protocol. According to Interfax,
Churkin also rejected reports based on comments by Deputy Defense
Minister Boris Gromov (see RFE/RL Daily Report no. 232) to the
effect that Russia is concerned over Kazakhstan's position on
nuclear weapons. Churkin noted that Kazakhstan has ratified the
START-1 treaty and Lisbon protocol, and has expressed its intention
to ratify the nuclear non-proliferation treaty by the end of
the year. According to Churkin, Kazakhstan has no "nuclear ambitions"
and the delays were due to Russian-Kazakhstan consultations.
He said that he expected the issue of compensation for the nuclear
warheads in Kazakhstan to be resolved without difficulty. -John
Lepingwell

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA



AZERBAIJAN INTRODUCES MILITARY CENSORSHIP. On 6 December the
Azerbaijan National Assembly passed a law on censorship providing
for the closure for one month of publications that print material
deemed to contain military secrets or to insult state figures,
and for the prosecution of the journalists responsible, according
to a correspondent for RFE/RL. On 3 December the sole newspaper
to appear in Azerbaijan was the pro-Aliev daily Azerbaijan; editors
of other newspapers rejected as untrue the official explanation
cited, i.e. a shortage of printing plates. On 4 December a US
State Department spokeswoman expressed concern that the move
was aimed at curtailing media freedom. -Liz Fuller

TAJIK GOVERNMENT AGAIN REJECTS TALKS WITH OPPOSITION. A top Tajik
government official, First Deputy Supreme Soviet Chairman Abdulmajid
Dostiev, told journalists in Dushanbe on 6 December that Tajikistan's
leadership has not and does not intend to negotiate with the
armed Tajik opposition because the opposition has no support
within the country, Reuters reported. In mid-summer Tajikistan's
CIS allies-Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan-which
are providing military assistance to protect the Tajik-Afghan
border, pressured Tajikistan's leaders to enter a dialogue with
the armed opposition which has been conducting attacks on the
border from Afghan territory for most of the year. Tajik officials
at first demurred, saying that the opposition are wanted criminals,
but later claimed to be conducting talks with leaders of the
Tajik refugees in Afghanistan. Dostiev said that an offer of
mediation by Afghanistan was not pursued because Afghanistan
is too unstable. -Bess Brown

TURKMEN PROPOSAL TO CANCEL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. The Democratic
(formerly Communist) Party of Turkmenistan has published a proposal
in the official daily Turkmenistan calling for the 1997 presidential
election to be cancelled, RFE/RL learned on 3-December. The party,
which is a mouthpiece of President Saparmurad Niyazov, claimed
that cancelling the election would enable Niyazov to implement
his 10year program for the country's economic and political
development. The proposal is to be put to a session of the Halk
maslahaty, a sort of ceremonial super-congress of prominent people.
-Bess Brown

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



BOSNIAN UPDATE. Reuters on 6 December reported that Bosnian Prime
Minister Haris Silajdzic criticized Serbian forces for deliberately
targeting areas where large numbers of people gather. He said
that the Serbs were trying to save ammunition by shelling concentrations
of people rather than shelling at random as before. Western news
agencies also reported an offensive over the weekend by forces
loyal to maverick Bihac pocket leader Fikret Abdic against Bosnian
government troops. Abdic's men apparently attacked via Serb-held
territory. The 26 November Globus charged that Abdic, who has
a long-standing reputation as a wheeler-dealer, is diverting
food shipments from Croatia destined for his own people to surrounding
Serb-held towns. Finally, Vjesnik reports on 7 December on President
Franjo Tudjman's regular press conference the previous day. He
stressed that Croatia was willing to discuss possible exchanges
of territory or other steps to accommodate Muslim wishes for
an access to the sea, but that Bosnia's coastal town of Neum,
with its predominantly ethnic Croatian population, would "remain
Croatian." Tudjman has been widely criticized in the past for
offering territorial exchanges, not least of all by people in
the areas directly affected. -Patrick Moore

BRITAIN TO BE ACCUSED OF COMPLICITY IN GENOCIDE? AN RFE/RL CORRESPONDENT
REPORTED FROM LONDON ON 6 DECEMBER THAT A GROUP OF INTERNATIONAL
PRO-BOSNIAN ACTIVISTS PLANS TO HOLD A CONFERENCE STARTING 9 DECEMBER
IN THE BRITISH CAPITAL. Among the issues on the agenda will the
possibility of suing Britain for allegedly aiding genocide by
blocking Western proposals to arm the Bosnian Muslims. British
government sources expressed "astonishment" at the idea, but
Croatian and Muslim media have long regarded London's Balkan
policy as cynical and opportunistic, aimed at backing a strong
Serbian state as a counterbalance to German influence in the
Balkans. International negotiator Lord Owen is frequently seen
in Croatia and Bosnia as a representative of such a policy, and
businessman George Soros recently criticized British activities
in Bosnia on a trip to Sarajevo. -Patrick Moore

PDP LEADERSHIP OUSTED. Leaders of Macedonia's largest Albanian
party, the Party for Democratic Prosperity, have been ousted
in an organization-wide purge. Nine members of the governing
national committee representing all regions, voted to remove
the president, vice president and all regional leaders of the
party. The committee insists that a party congress be called
in December to select a new leadership according to Nova Makedonija.
Outgoing leaders will remain in office until a new slate is chosen.
The change reflects serious dissatisfaction among rank and file
members with the lack of progress toward greater rights for Albanians.
-Ismije Beshiri

POPULAR RESIGNATION IN CROATIA. Vecernji list on 4 December ran
a poll of attitudes toward the government's economic program
and of perceptions of one's own economic position. Nearly half
of the respondents gave Prime Minister Nikica Valentic average
marks for his stabilization program, which is now 60 days old,
while almost another third said his performance was above average.
Over half of the respondents said that their opinions of the
program were the same as when it was launched, while 20% have
since raised their assessment of Valentic's project and another
17% have lowered theirs. Some 44% said their personal economic
situation was bad and another 15% felt it was very bad. Over
half of the respondents expected no change in their status in
the next six months. Elsewhere, Globus on 26 November ran a poll
on the popularity of numerous figures from various walks of public
life. The hands-down winner was tennis star Goran Ivanisevic,
with Cardinal Franjo Kuharic coming in a distant second. President
Franjo Tudjman followed a few places behind, but was still the
most popular politician. At the bottom of the scale were electronic
media chief Antun Vrdoljak and one of the leaders of the right
wing of the ruling party, Vladimir Seks. -Patrick Moore

MACEDONIA HAS A NEW CHIEF PRELATE. The new head of the Mascedonian
Orthodox Church is 81 year old Metropolitian Mihail (christened
Metodi Gogov). He was installed on 5-December in Ohrid after
being elected by the Church's Holy Synod, MIC reported. He is
the fourth head of this Church, which was established in 1967.
-Duncan Perry

POLISH GOVERNMENT TO PROMOTE EXPORTS. At its inaugural meeting
on 6 December, the new government's economic committee (KERM)
approved plans to increase exports and control imports. These
include raising the capital of the Export Credits Insurance Corporation
to 400 billion zloty ($20 million); government-backed and budget-subsidized
low-interest export credits; tax relief for export-oriented investment
and production; and improvement in customs controls. According
to PAP, foreign trade minister Leslaw Podkanski said that implementation
of the plan, which could raise exports by up to 10%, would require
4-4.5-trillion zloty ($200-225 million) in 1994. Exports have
been dropping systematically over the past few years from 23.6%
of Poland's GDP in 1990 to an estimated 16.2% in 1993. The trade
deficit is expected to be about $2 billion. Podkanski said an
increase in the rate of devaluation of the zloty would stimulate
exports. -Anna Sabbat-Swidlicka

GOVERNMENT-EPISCOPATE COMMISSION MEETS. The Joint Government-Episcopate
Commission (founded in 1980) met in Warsaw for the first time
since the 19-September elections. The meeting was cochaired by
Deputy Premier Aleksander Luczak and Metropolitan Archbishop
of Poznan Jerzy Stroba. Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak attended
the first part of the meeting, which was devoted to issues arising
from the Concordat that was negotiated and signed with the previous
government. A joint communique issued after the meeting promised
"broader examination of the legal consequences of its implementation"
and emphasized the importance of ratification "for the good of
the country and its international credibility." The government
side expressed the hope that the Church "would continue to perform
an educational role in public life," while the Church side approved
government moves "continuing economic reform and protecting underprivileged
social groups." Asked to comment on relations with the new government,
Secretary General of the Episcopate, Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek,
noted that the tone of the joint communique was "upbeat," PAP
reported. -Anna Sabbat-Swidlicka

AUSTRIAN PRESIDENT, SWEDISH DEFENSE MINISTER IN PRAGUE. Austrian
President Thomas Klestil arrived in Prague on a two-day official
visit on 6-December. He met with President Vaclav Havel and other
officials. CTK reports that Havel told Klestil that the Czech
Republic will go ahead with plans to complete the Temelin nuclear
power plant near the Austrian border, despite Austrian protests.
Havel said that many international experts have been consulted
in connection with the plant's completion and that it will be
as safe as any other modern nuclear power plant in Europe. In
another development, Swedish Defense Minister Anders Bjoerck,
who arrived in Prague on 6-December on a two-day visit, told
the Czech media that Europe needs an integrated security structure
that does not exclude certain countries. CTK quotes him as saying
that he and Czech Defense Minister Antonin Baudys agreed that
Europe cannot have two teams of countries: the A-team and the
B-team. -Jiri Pehe

KOVAC DISCUSSES MINORITY LAWS WITH SLOVAK PARTIES. On 6 December
President Michal Kovac met with representatives of six parliamentary
parties to discuss minority legislation that was recommended
by the Council of Europe upon granting full membership to Slovakia
in June. Concerning the issue of bilingual names of towns, which
involves amending the law on the official language, there are
two proposals. The cabinet's proposal suggests translating names
of towns from Slovak to Hungarian language when more than 20%
of the population is of a national minority, while the ethnic
Hungarian parties propose the use of historical town names, setting
the limit at 10%. According to Presidential spokesman Anton Bodis,
the Office of the President has submitted a list of localities
to the ethnic Hungarian parties. Bodis was quoted as saying that
a translation will be used if the Slovak name can be translated;
if not the historical name will be proposed. The parties also
discussed the law on names and surnames, TASR reports. -Sharon
Fisher

MECIAR'S PARTY FALLS BEHIND. In a survey carried out by the group
FOCUS from 22 to 29 November and released on 6 December, the
Party of the Democratic Left came out ahead of Premier Vladimir
Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. Responding to the
question of which party they would prefer if elections were held
that weekend, 17.2% said they would not vote, 8.4% were undecided
and 3.8% refused to answer. As for political parties, the PDL
was on top with 13%, followed by the MDS with 12.9%, the Christian
Democratic Movement with 10.2%, the Slovak National Party with
6.7%, the Green Party with 5.7%, the ethnic Hungarian Coexistence
Movement with 4.2%, the Party of Businessmen with 3.9%, and the
Democratic Party and Hungarian Christian Democratic Party, each
with 2.8%. -Sharon Fisher

HUNGARIAN SOCIALISTS WIN BY-ELECTION. Hungarian Socialist Party
(HSP) candidate Karoly Hardonyi won the second round of a local
council by-election in the large northeastern city of Miskolc,
MTI reports. Last month's first round was declared invalid due
to low voter turnout. Hardonyi got 33% of the vote followed by
the candidates of the liberal party Alliance of Free Democrats
(AFD), and the Christian Democratic People's Party, a member
of the coalition government. The HSP has already scored successes
in a series of local and parliamentary by-elections and has in
the past few months been the second most popular party in Hungary
after the Alliance of Young Democrats. HSP deputy chairman Gyorgy
Janosi was confident that the HSP will do so well in the 1994
national elections that other parties will not be able to exclude
it from the government. -Edith Oltay

PROTESTS IN ROMANIA. Construction workers protested in Bucharest
on 6 December (Saint Nicholas Day) by leaving old shoes on the
front steps of the government's building. Under a Christian tradition,
children leave their shoes on that day for Saint Nicholas to
fill with presents. Radio Bucharest quoted a leader of the construction
workers union as saying that he was convinced the "shoes will
remain empty." In another development, students at the university
in the eastern Romanian city of Iasi went on strike to protest
new test requirements for graduation and poor living conditions;
and six student organizations in Bucharest released a statement
asking Nicolae Vacaroiu's minority left-wing cabinet to resign.
Bucharest university students, the statement added, will join
a protest rally to be staged on 8-December by the Alfa Trade
Union Cartel, one of Romania's main labor organizations. Western
agencies also reported that hundreds of people visited what is
thought to be the grave of executed Romanian President Nicolae
Ceausescu on his name day. -Dan Ionescu

BULGARIAN MINERS' STRIKE EXPANDS. Early on 7-December Bulgarian
National Radio quoted Krastyu Petkov, chairman of the Confederation
of Trade Unions in Bulgaria, as saying that 19,000 miners have
joined a strike against the government's handling of the mining
industry and its employees. The miners demand that all outstanding
wages be paid out and that the cabinet works out a plan on reconstructing
the mining industry. In negotiations with union officials in
the previous week, industry minister Rumen Bikov agreed that
miners could receive their back pay-in some cases five months
overdue-by 25 December. But the compromise proposal was rejected
both by the CITUB and Podkrepa, the second major trade union,
the latter warning that it intended to join the strike on 13-December.
The government says it lacks 540 million leva ($17.5 million)
to be able to pay out overdue wages and has asked parliament
to approve the issuing of treasury bonds or take credits worth
5 billion leva ($160-million) to cover the growing budget deficit.
-Kjell Engelbrekt

SHADOW CABINET SET UP IN UKRAINE. The leader of the influential
union "New Ukraine," Volodymyr Hrynov, announced that he had
joined forces with former prime minister Leonid Kuchma to form
a shadow cabinet, Interfax reported on 6 December. In an interview
he said that the government's recent measures on currency regulation
would lead to the collapse of the financial system. In a decree
issued in November, President Leonid Kravchuk suspended trading
at the Kiev currency exchange and announced the setting up of
a mechanism for establishing the official exchange rate of the
karbovanets. A number of politicians believe these measures could
lead to the restoration of a command economy. -Ustina Markus


BELARUS ADOPTS ECONOMIC PROGRAM FOR 1994. According to the Journal
of Commerce on 6-December, Belarus has adopted an economic program
for 1994 in line with IMF demands. The main goal is to reduce
the country's inflation from 30% to 10%. Its features include:
limiting the increase in credit to 160%, compared with 372.3%
this year; tying the national bank's basic interest rate, (which
stands currently at 210% a year), to inflation; reducing state
subsidies from 15% to 5% of GNP; removing subsidies on milk,
dairy products and bread; reducing the value-added tax levied
on basic manufactured products from 25% to 20%. The government
also intends to privatize at least 50% of all state-owned enterprises,
compared with the 5% privatized so far, and reduce barter transactions
in foreign trade from the current 40%. The $275 million Belarus
needs to buy Russian fuel this winter will be obtained by borrowing
hard currency from domestic enterprises on a compulsory basis.
-Ustina Markus

MEETING OF BALTIC FOREIGN MINISTERS. On 6-December Trivimi Velliste,
Georgs Andrejevs and Povilas Gylys, the foreign ministers of
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, respectively, met in Tallinn and
discussed ways of broadening cooperation and security questions,
Baltfax reports. They adopted a joint declaration disapproving
the proposal to grant Russia a peacemaking mandate in former
Soviet territory. Velliste said that Latvia and Estonia were
ready to accept under certain conditions the Russian offer to
withdraw its troops by 31 August 1994. The ministers called upon
the European Union to exercise control over dismantling the radar
facility at Skrunda (Latvia); to assist in determining the economic
damage to Estonia from the nuclear reactor at Paldiski; and to
control Russian military cargo to and from the Kaliningrad region
through Lithuania. -Saulius Girnius

LATVIAN-RUSSIAN NEGOTIATIONS. On 6 December Russian and Latvian
delegations began a three day round of talks that will focus
on the Russian offer made in November to withdraw its troops
from Latvia by 31 August 1994 if allowed to retain its radar
facilities at Skrunda for six more years, BNS reports. Russia
had earlier asked to retain the Skrunda facilities for ten years,
the space surveillance station at Ventspils for six years, and
the military port at Liepaja for five years. Latvian delegation
head Martins Virsis said that he had brought "new constructive
proposals," but did not disclose them. Latvian President Guntis
Ulmanis, who visited the Skrunda radar station on 4 December,
told a press conference on 6 December that the terms for dismantling
it should be determined at the summit level and that an international
commission of experts should be formed to examine the health
effects of the station. -Saulius Girnius

INTRODUCTION OF MOLDOVAN CURRENCY LEADS TO PRICE RISES IN TRANSDNIESTRIA.
The introduction of the new Moldovan national currency, the leu,
and a mass demand for cash rubles in Transdniestria has led to
sharp rises in prices for foodstuffs in Transdniestria, ITAR-TASS
reported on 2-December. As a result, the Transdniestrian authorities
have reduced subsidies and raised bread and milk prices five-fold
and electricity prices three-fold. Transdniestria has categorically
refused to recognize the leu and said it will stick with the
ruble, and old rubles are flowing in, stoking inflation. -Ann
Sheehy

ALBANIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONCLUDES CONFERENCE. Albania's ruling
Democratic Party concluded its national conference on 5 December
after two days of intense discussions. The opening session on
4 December included such guests as Ibrahim Rugova and Bujar Bukoshi,
president and prime minister respectively of the self-proclaimed
Republic of Kosovo. Party Chairman Eduard Selami, a moderate,
retained his post and the battle with the right appears over.
A predicted split did not happen, although there are suggestions
that one-time agricultural minister and hard-liner Petrit Kalakula
will establish his own party. -Robert Austin

[As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Bess Brown and Dan Ionescu











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