No. 36, 22 February 1994

RUSSIA

MORE GRACHEV REMARKS ON BOSNIA. In what was described by Reuters as a 
"remarkable telephone call watched by millions" of Russian television 
viewers, Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev suggested to US Defense 
Secretary William Perry on 21 February that the US should send ground 
forces to Muslim-populated areas of Sarajevo. Grachev, who had also 
conferred with Perry by telephone on 20 February, said that a US military 
presence would reduce the danger of provocations being committed against 
Russian peacekeepers by Muslim forces. Perry apparently rejected the 
proposal, leading Grachev instead to suggest that England, France, or 
Germany deploy peacekeeping contingents in Sarajevo. The publicity 
accorded the conversation appeared to reflect the Russian Defense 
Minister's sense of triumph over developments to date in Bosnia; it 
apparently had its comic side when the phone line went dead during the 
conversation and Grachev had to redial. Stephen Foye, RFE/RL, Inc.

RUSSIA TO SEND MORE TROOPS? Following his conversation with Perry, Grachev 
told journalists that peacekeepers from the army's 27th and 46th motor 
rifle divisions could be deployed to the Sarajevo region if necessary, 
Interfax reported. According to Russian television on 21 February, the 
Russian government intends in the near future to ask the Russian 
parliament to approve the deployment of an additional contingent of troops 
to Bosnia. In addition, as reported by ITAR-TASS on the same day, Russia 
has asked UN Secretary-General Boutros-Boutros Ghali for permission to 
send another 400 troops to Sarajevo to augment the 400 troops already 
deployed there by Russia. Stephen Foye, RFE/RL, Inc. 

DIFFERENT LESSONS OF SARAJEVO. Viewing the NATO ultimatum as the key to 
breaking the siege of Sarajevo, Western officials are now discussing the 
extension of the strategy to other parts of Bosnia. Lt. Gen. Sir Michael 
Rose, commander of the UN peacekeeping troops in Bosnia, was quoted by The 
New York Times as saying that the logic applied to Sarajevo would 
"certainly be applicable elsewhere." US Secretary of State Warren 
Christopher indicated that Washington was considering this option, and 
French Foreign Minister Allain Juppe has said that the West should "extend 
our action to all safe areas or all besieged towns in Bosnia." Russian 
Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev, on the other hand, stated on 21 February 
in Budapest that there should be "no more ultimatums or similar devices," 
Western and Russian media reported. Suzanne Crow, RFE/RL, Inc.

RUSSIA TO JOIN PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE? Interfax quoted a senior Russian 
Foreign Ministry official on 21 February as saying that Russia was 
preparing for negotiations to join NATO's Partnership for Peace program. 
The official indicated that Russia wished to "clarify some issues" before 
joining the program. Russia's position on membership remains unclear. On 
19 February during a visit to Prague, Foreign Minister Kozyrev was quoted 
by Czech radio as saying "Russia will join this program." Suzanne Crow, 
RFE/RL, Inc.

YELTSIN'S ADDRESS TO NATION READY. President Boris Yeltsin's state of the 
nation address to be delivered to the Federal Assembly on 24 February has 
been completed and the text will be handed out in the parliament 
beforehand, ITAR-TASS reported on 22 February. The speech, which will 
outline domestic and foreign policy priorities, was prepared by 
presidential aides Yurii Baturin, Aleksandr Lifshits, Georgii Satarov, 
Emil Pain, Leonid Smirnyagin, and the Minister for Nationalities' and 
Regional Policy, Sergei Shakhrai. Observers expect Yeltsin to make a 
decisive assessment on future economic reform. Prime Minister Viktor 
Chernomyrdin is reportedly planning to introduce price controls in 
economic sectors dominated by state enterprises, according to a document 
obtained by Tokyo Kyodo (reported on 22 February.) Alexander Rahr, RFE/RL, 
Inc. 

1994 BUDGET TAKES SHAPE. An expanded collegium of the Finance Ministry 
worked on the draft budget for 1994 on 21 February, ITAR-TASS reported. 
Income is estimated at 118 trillion rubles (about $75 billion), although a 
shortfall in tax revenues of 4.5 trillion rubles is expected in February 
alone. Planned expenditures were cut from 243 trillion to 174 trillion 
rubles. Of the projected deficit of 56 trillion rubles, 37 trillion will 
be covered by Central Bank credits and 19 trillion by foreign credits. It 
is still hoped to bring the monthly inflation rate down to 10% by the end 
of 1994. One of the participants, First Deputy Prime Minister Oleg 
Soskovets, asserted that there is no lobbying for the interests of various 
sectors in the government. Keith Bush, RFE/RL, Inc.

PAYMENTS ARREARS MOUNT. Acting Finance Minister Sergei Dubinin says the 
amount of payments arrears in the fuel and energy complex has risen to 16 
trillion rubles, Interfax reported on 21 February. This is in addition to 
the more than 22 trillion rubles (about $14 billion) owed by the state to 
industrial enterprises. The crisis of nonpayments has led to closures and 
short-time working at enterprises throughout the economy, and was largely 
responsible for the sharp drop in output recorded in January. No viable 
solution has yet been aired, although the topic will presumably be 
addressed by Yeltsin and/or Chernomyrdin in their forthcoming 
presentations. Keith Bush, RFE/RL, Inc.

ALUMINUM OUTPUT CUTS SUSPENDED. In January Deputy Foreign Trade Minister 
Georgii Gabuniya announced that Russia would cut its annual aluminum 
output by 500,000 tons or 15% as part of an unprecedented trade deal by 
the world's leading aluminum producers (see The Financial Times of 31 
January). On 21 February, an official of the Aluminii producers' group 
told Reuters that Russia has suspended further cuts because it is not 
satisfied that Western producers are honoring their side of the agreement. 
Keith Bush, RFE/RL, Inc.

TOWARDS GATT MEMBERSHIP. On 21 February Minister of Foreign Economic 
Relations Oleg Davydov formally presented a memorandum outlining Russia's 
trade policies to the Director General of the General Agreement on Tariffs 
and Trade, Reuters reported. GATT officials will review the policies to 
see if they conform to the rules of the organization. Russia applied for 
GATT membership in June 1993. Keith Bush, RFE/RL, Inc.

RUSSIA-JAPAN UPDATE. On 21 February Russian and Japanese officials opened 
two days of talks in Moscow aimed at resolving the Kuril Island 
territorial dispute. This is the first bilateral meeting on the issue 
since last October and, given the political climate in Russia, little 
progress is expected. RFE/RL's Moscow correspondent reports that the 
Russian delegation is headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Panov 
and the Japanese delegation by Deputy Foreign Minister Hiroshi Fukuda; the 
talks are aimed at paving the way for a subsequent visit to Moscow by 
Japanese Foreign Minister Tsutomu Hata. Meanwhile, on 19 February AFP, 
quoting a Japanese news source, reported that Russian territories in the 
Far East have been the targets of attacks in computer-simulated military 
drills by Japanese self-defense forces. The drills are expected to raise 
controversy because the actions of Japan's armed forces are legally 
limited only to defensive operations. Stephen Foye, RFE/RL, Inc. 

MINERS PLAN MASS ACTION ON 1 MARCH. Coal miners in Vorkuta met on 21 
February and announced a mass strike for 1 March to demand payment of back 
wages. Seven miners stayed underground overnight on a hunger strike. Local 
construction and drilling workers have also joined the strike. At their 
meeting the miners decided to put forward political demands, but could not 
agree whether to demand the sacking only of "certain" (unidentified) 
cabinet ministers or the resignation of the entire government, and/or the 
holding of pre-term presidential elections. A final decision will be made 
on 24 February, Russian TV reported. This is the second coal strike in 
Vorkuta this month. Earlier, miners ended a 6-day walkout when the 
government agreed to pay back wages, but workers' leaders say the 4.7 
billion rubles put up by the government was insufficient to pay all the 
wages owed. Elizabeth Teague, RFE/RL, Inc. 

CIS

NEW CHARGES AGAINST UKRAINE ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Col. Gen. Igor Sergeev, 
the commander-in-chief of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces, has sent to 
Grachev an official letter charging that actions recently taken by 
Ukrainian authorities have undermined the safety regime of nuclear weapons 
in Ukraine, Izvestiya reported on 22 February. Sergeev's charges focus 
especially on what he claims are a series of personnel changes in the 
command staff of the 43rd missile army (the strategic rocket forces 
located in Ukraine), and in Ukraine's alleged failure to maintain the 
minimum manpower levels in the same army necessary for safe maintenance of 
its weapons' systems. According to the same report, Grachev has sent a 
coded message to Ukraine's Defense Minister warning him that unilateral 
actions by Kiev "hinder the fulfillment of agreements reached in Moscow by 
the presidents of Russia, the US, and Ukraine and the Massandra accord." 
Similar charges have been leveled against Ukraine by Russian military 
authorities in the past. Stephen Foye, RFE/RL, Inc. 

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

GEORGIA'S EX-DEFENSE MINISTER UNDER A CLOUD. Two separate Interfax reports 
of 21 February implicate Georgia's ex-defense minister, Giorgi 
Karkarashvili, in embezzlement and supplying information to Abkhaz 
intelligence. Georgian parliament chairman Eduard Shevardnadze has ordered 
an investigation into the embezzlement of state funds by unnamed defense 
ministry officials. Interfax cites Abkhaz defense minister Sultan 
Sosnaliev as stating that Karkarashvili was one of the most credible 
sources of information to Abkhaz intelligence, and an article by Abkhaz 
intelligence chief Musa Daurov in Severny Kavkaz claiming that an Abkhaz 
intelligence officer posing as a businessman won Karkarashvili's trust and 
gave him gifts to the value of $75 million in return for information that 
proved to be "85 per cent accurate." Liz Fuller, RFE/RL, Inc.

TAJIKISTAN THREATENS AFGHANISTAN. Tajikistan's Foreign Ministry has warned 
Afghanistan's government to expect retaliation if Tajik opposition forces 
continue attacks on Tajik territory from bases in Afghanistan, Western 
agencies reported on 21 February. During the night of 19-20 February, a 
Tajik border post was shelled and a Russian serviceman was wounded. The 
head of the CIS peacekeeping forces in Tajikistan Col.General Boris 
Pyankov, told Interfax on 21 February that Tajik opposition leaders in 
Moscow had asked that the CIS peacekeepers remain in Tajikistan to prevent 
another outbreak of civil war and said that they are ready to negotiate 
with the Dushanbe government, but fear to travel to Tajikistan to do so. 
Pyankov said he had offered to guarantee their safety. He was doubtful 
about the possibility of UN-sponsored peace talks beginning anytime soon. 
Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc. 

TURKMENISTAN TURNS OFF GAS TO UKRAINE. Turkmenistan's Minister of Oil and 
Gas Nazar Suyunov was quoted by Interfax on 21 February as saying that 
deliveries of natural gas to Ukraine would stop on 22 February. An earlier 
warning that Ukraine's gas supply would be cut off if that country did not 
at least start paying its bills to Turkmenistan was ignored, according to 
Suyunov. Ukraine, the CIS state reported to have the largest debt for gas 
from Turkmenistan, has paid only $3.4 million of a debt of $154.1 million 
for gas supplied in 1994 alone. Bills from 1993 also remain unpaid, and 
Suyunov commented that it would be better for Turkmenistan to close wells 
than work for nothing. Another Turkmen oil and gas official told Reuters 
that Ukraine had appealed for a delay in the gas cutoff and had promised 
to pay the debt. Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

OFFICIALS SEEK TO EXPAND SARAJEVO SOLUTION . . . On 21 and 22 February 
international media report that officials from the US, the EU, and Russia 
may seek to expand their apparent success in halting fighting around 
Sarajevo by pressing for a general solution to the conflict throughout 
Bosnia. Reuters says British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd has called the 
ceasefire around Sarajevo "the beginning of the end" for the Bosnian war, 
while US President Bill Clinton urged the international community to 
"build on this week's progress and create a lasting and workable peace." 
Western and Russian officials are to meet in Bonn on 22 February to work 
towards a Bosnian settlement. On 22 February The New York Times reports 
that some Bosnian Serbian heavy artillery remains around Sarajevo; 
however, Serb officials maintain that a full withdrawal is hampered by bad 
weather and it appears that air strikes will not be used against these 
positions. Stan Markotich, RFE/RL, Inc.

. . . WHILE FIGHTING CONTINUES IN BOSNIA. While the situation has calmed 
around Sarajevo, reports suggest that fighting in other parts of Bosnia 
has in fact stepped up. On 21 February, Reuters and AFP said that 
artillery was exchanged between Serb and Muslim forces around Tuzla. HINA, 
meanwhile, states in an unconfirmed report that two people were killed by 
Bosnian government forces in Vitez. Stan Markotich, RFE/RL, Inc.

POSSIBLE CROAT-MUSLIM AGREEMENT. On 22 February The New York Times reports 
that in recent weeks Croat and Bosnian Muslim officials have been meeting, 
often with US mediators, to come to a possible agreement on the 
configuration of a post-war Bosnian state. Evidently US special envoy 
Charles Redman is currently taking the leading role as mediator in the 
former Yugoslavia in talks between the Croatian and Bosnian Muslim sides. 
Redman met with Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic and Croatia's 
Foreign Minister Mate Granic on 19 February. On 22 February Vjesnik 
reported that Redman was in Zagreb the day before for talks with 
officials, including Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. International 
media say that Silajdzic met with US Secretary of State Warren Christopher 
on 21 February to discuss future Croat-Muslim relations. To date, no 
formal agreement on any concrete issue has been reached between the two 
sides. Stan Markotich, RFE/RL, Inc. 

BAUDYS'S PEACE PLAN FOR BOSNIA FACES HEAVY CRITICISM. CTK reports that on 
21 February Turkish Defense Minister Mehmet Golhan rejected the peace plan 
for Bosnia unveiled on 20 February by Czech Defense Minister Antonin 
Baudys. The plan calls for creation of "an executive committee of good 
will" that would include representatives of the parties involved in the 
conflict as well as countries that are religiously and culturally related 
to the warring parties; for example, Russia, Turkey, and Pakistan. Golhan 
said that the idea of handing over power to a goodwill committee was 
inadequate because it would involve the division of Bosnia, and Turkey 
opposes it. At home, Baudys, who unveiled his initiative without prior 
consultations with the government and the leadership of his Christian 
Democratic Union, has come under heavy criticism. The Czech Foreign 
Ministry said on 21 February it disagreed with Baudys's course of action 
and warned that "Baudys's tactics go beyond the powers of a cabinet 
member." Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL, Inc.

WALESA SLAMS "PARTIFIED" PARLIAMENT. Polish President Lech Walesa 
responded angrily on 18 February to the Sejm's rejection of his two 
proposals on the drafting of a new constitution. A spokesman charged the 
Sejm with a "shocking lack of courage and responsibility" and said that 
the vote reflects a "conflict between a partified' parliament and a 
president who wants to enable all political forces and citizens to take 
real part in the discussion of the constitution." Walesa also threatened 
to withdraw his representative from the parliamentary commission charged 
with drafting the new constitution. Walesa had proposed that groups of 
100,000 citizens be able to submit their own constitutional drafts and 
that the parliament be dissolved if its constitution failed to win public 
support in a referendum. Most deputies from the two ruling parties voted 
against Walesa's proposals. Coalition leaders expressed alarm at the 
possibility of retaliation from Walesa and stressed that the Sejm wants 
good relations with the president. Walesa had hinted before the vote that 
he may refuse to appoint the government's choice for new finance minister. 
Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc. 

IMF APPROVES POLAND'S PERFORMANCE. Poland has met all the conditions 
stipulated in its stand-by agreement with the IMF for 1993, clearing the 
way for $500 million in new loans and a second major reduction (of 20%, or 
$8 billion) in its debt to the Paris Club of government creditors, PAP 
reports. Michael Deppler, the deputy director of the IMF's European 
department, made this announcement after meeting with Premier Waldemar 
Pawlak on 21 February. The stand-by agreement, negotiated in November 
1992, was Poland's third but the first successfully fulfilled. It runs 
until the end of March 1994. Negotiations are now underway on a new 
agreement for the rest of 1994, and Deppler praised the budget and 
monetary policy proposed for the coming year as a "reasonable balance 
between fiscal stabilization and the government's social goals." He noted, 
however, that the new government's medium- and long-term policies, 
especially on agriculture, privatization, and social insurance, remain too 
undefined for the IMF to begin talks now on a new stand-by arrangement. 
Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc. 

CZECH PARLIAMENT FAILS TO PASS JEWISH PROPERTY BILL. The Czech parliament 
voted down a draft bill on the restitution of Jewish property, Czech TV 
reported on 18 February. The legislation received three votes less than 
necessary after deputies of the two Christian Democratic parties and the 
Civic Democratic Alliance walked out in protest against the fact that the 
draft was not far-reaching enough. The deputies pointed out that Jewish 
communities should be given all their former property that was confiscated 
by the Nazis and the Communists. In a statement issued on 21 February, the 
Czech Federation of Jewish Communities criticized parliament's rejection 
of the law. The Federation's chairman, Jiri Danicek, said that the 
parliament missed "an opportunity to close a sad chapter of Czech 
history." Danicek blamed for the failure to pass the law mainly the 
deputies of Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus's Civic Democratic Party, who 
introduced last-minute amendments unacceptable to other ruling coalition 
parties. Jan Obrman and Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL, Inc. 

MECIAR'S PARTY LAUNCHES PETITION FOR EARLY ELECTIONS. Following its 
failure on 16 February to persuade the Slovak parliament to back its call 
for early elections in June, Slovakia's embattled ruling party--the 
Movement for a Democratic Slovakia--launched a petition on 21 February for 
a referendum in support of early elections, international and Slovak media 
report. The party needs to collect 350,000 signatures to be able to call 
the referendum. The MDS has suffered a series of defections since the 
parliamentary elections in June 1992, which have cut its strength from 74 
to 56 deputies in the 150-member parliament. Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL, Inc.

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN BUDAPEST. On the second stop of his tour of 
the Visegrad countries Andrei Kozyrev met with Hungarian Prime Minister 
Peter Boross, President Arpad Goncz, and Foreign Minister Geza Jeszenszky, 
MTI reports. Jeszenszky and Kozyrev told reporters that their discussions 
focused on laying new foundations for bilateral economic relations. 
Seeking to diffuse East European anxieties over a possible threat from 
Russia, Kozyrev stressed that "we have no hegemonic or aggressive 
intentions and want friendship [with our neighbors]." He also declared 
that Moscow is ready for cooperation within the framework of NATO's 
"partnership for peace" program. Kozyrev said that Russia would support 
air strikes to defend UN peacekeeping forces in Bosnia if they are 
attacked, Western news agencies report. Edith Oltay, RFE/RL, Inc.

HUNGARY SENDS LETTER TO NATO SECRETARY GENERAL. In a letter to NATO 
Secretary General Manfred Woerner on 18 February, Premier Peter Boross has 
asked the alliance's AWACS reconnaissance planes now monitoring the UN's 
no-flight ban over Bosnia to leave Hungary's air space during eventual air 
strikes in Bosnia, MTI reported. Budapest's decision, in line which the 
original Hungarian parliamentary mandate that authorizes observation 
flights only, was aimed at reassuring rump Yugoslavia. The parliamentary 
consensus was that any indirect Hungarian involvement in any military 
action in former Yugoslavia had to be avoided in order to ensure the 
safety of the some 400,000-strong Magyar minority in Vojvodina and 
Slavonia. Hungary is confident it can stay out of the conflict without 
impairing its relations with NATO, whose Partnership for Peace offer it 
has just formally accepted. State Secretary Gyula Kodolanyi told 
Nepszabadsag on 19 February that NATO's "higher political circles" had 
expressed no disapproval of Hungary's stand on the AWACS flights. Alfred 
Reisch, RFE/RL, Inc.

ROMANIAN MINERS STOP STRIKE. Following the arrival to Targu Jiu of a 
governmental commission of investigation empowered to look into the 
miners' accusations of corruption in management, the leader of the miners' 
union, Miron Cosma, announced the strike was being "indefinitely 
suspended" and called on the strikers to go back to work on the next day, 
Radio Bucharest reported on 21 February. At the same time, however, Cosma 
said the union was rejecting the ruling of a local court that the strike 
was illegal, an RFE/RL correspondent reported on the same day. Cosma said 
the decision was the result of political pressure exerted on the judges. 
Another union leader told reporters that the union would appeal the 
decision. Michael Shafir, RFE/RL, Inc. 

ROMANIAN EXTREMIST PARTIES "SUSPEND" COALITION TALKS. At a press 
conference reported by Radio Bucharest on 18 February, Greater Romania 
Party leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor announced that his formation had 
"suspended" talks for joining the coalition. Tudor read out the contents 
of an open letter addressed by the GRP to President Ion Iliescu, accusing 
him of not doing enough to obliterate the "negative phenomena" affecting 
Romanian society, such as poverty, corruption and "traffic of influence." 
At a press conference on 21 February, Gheorghe Cazan, the secretary 
general of the Socialist Labor Party, said his formation was also 
suspending parleys on the coalition until the elucidation of the 
accusations brought by Tudor against leading cadres of the Romanian army 
(including Defense Minister Nicolae Spiroiu). On 21 February, the 
government released a communique expressing confidence in all its members. 
The communique said accusations against ministers are "carelessly" being 
published in the press and that only the judiciary is entitled to 
determine whether or not legal proceedings are warranted. Michael Shafir, 
RFE/RL, Inc. 

RYBKIN IN BULGARIA. On 21 February the Speaker of the Russian State Duma, 
Ivan Rybkin, met with Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev, Prime Minister 
Lyuben Berov and parliamentary factions to discuss the Bosnian war and 
bilateral ties. Whereas Rybkin told Berov the Russian Duma highly 
appreciates the Bulgarian position to avoid becoming involved in conflicts 
in neighboring ex-Yugoslavia, deputies of the Union of Democratic Forces 
welcomed Moscow's renewed diplomatic efforts to help solve the crisis. 
Regarding trade relations and the problem of clearing old debts, it was 
agreed that a joint commission should try and find a solution in the next 
couple of months. Asked whether Bulgaria intends to support Russia's 
candidacy for the Council of Europe, UDF deputy and member of the CE 
Parliamentary Assembly Asparuh Panov said that European integration is 
"unthinkable" without Russia but that the process will evidently take 
time. Kjell Engelbrekt, RFE/RL, Inc.

MORE ON RUSSIAN MILITARY DEMANDS ON MOLDOVA. Moldovan Defense Ministry 
officials have informed the RFE/RL Research Institute on the visit to 
Tiraspol on 17 and 18 February of Col. Gen. Georgii Kondratev, Russian 
Deputy Defense Minister responsible for "peacekeeping" forces (see RFE/RL 
Daily Report, 20 February). Addressing an assembly of the Russian 14th 
Army's officers, Kondratev reaffirmed that "the Russian army has been, is, 
and will be here" and that Russia is asking Moldova for basing rights. His 
remarks suggested that Moscow seeks bases in Transdniester as a minimal 
objective and on both banks of the Dniester as a maximal objective. 
Addressing a meeting of the tripartite (Russia-Moldova-Transdniester) 
armistice control commission, which supervises the tripartite peacekeeping 
troops, Kondratev proposed that the three sides reduce their peacekeeping 
contingents and begin transferring peacekeeping functions to the 14th 
Army. The proposal reflects the ongoing attempts to confer a peacekeeping 
mandate on the 14th Army for justifying its continuing stationing in 
Moldova. Vladimir Socor, RFE/RL, Inc. 

RUSSIAN MILITARY CHECKPOINT IN ESTONIA ATTACKED. On 21 February five armed 
men forced their way into the guardhouse of the Russian air base at Amari 
(Suurkula), searched for weapons, and burned down the post, BNS reports. 
The base has the last airfield still under Russian military control from 
which combat aircraft have been removed, but is still frequently used by 
military transport planes. The Russian Foreign Ministry delivered an 
official protest to Estonian Ambassador Juri Kahn, demanding exhaustive 
explanations from Estonia and punishment for the organizers and 
participants in the attack that was described as an "extremely dangerous 
deliberate action which may lead to unpredictable consequences." Officials 
at the Central Staff of Estonia's armed forces said that they had no 
information on possible participation of Estonian military or paramilitary 
in the attack. Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.

YELTSIN PROPOSES TALKS WITH ULMANIS IN MOSCOW. On 21 February Russia's 
Ambassador to Latvia Aleksandr Rannikh presented a letter from President 
Boris Yeltsin to Latvia's President Guntis Ulmanis. In the letter, Yeltsin 
expressed his readiness to meet with Ulmanis in Moscow to discuss various 
bilateral issues, including the withdrawal of Russian troops from Latvia, 
the situation of Russians residing in Latvia, as well as ways of 
strengthening economic and political cooperation between the two 
countries. Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL, Inc.

ESTONIA, LATVIA SIGN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACCORD. On 18 February 
Latvia's Environmental Protection and Regional Development Minister Girts 
Lukins and Estonia's Environmental Minister Andres Tarand signed in Riga a 
cooperation agreement on environmental protection, BNS reported that day. 
Under the accord, the two countries will exchange experts, scientific and 
technical information, and work together on joint projects, such as waste 
processing. Lithuania did not join the accord because it does not have an 
environmental ministry yet. A planned all-Baltic pact is likely to be 
signed this spring. On 19 March the Baltic representatives intend to 
coordinate their plans for the environmental conference on 21-26 March in 
Geneva, where they want to propose a ban on toxic waste transit from 
developed to developing countries. Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL, Inc. 

UKRAINIAN LAWMAKERS DISCUSS CATASTROPHIC ECONOMIC SITUATION. The Ukrainian 
parliament reconvened on 22 February against the background of a fast 
deteriorating economic situation and strikes by miners and university 
students and teachers. Reporting on conditions in their constituencies, 
lawmakers presented a bleak picture of industry grinding to a halt and 
some workers and farmers not having received their wages for two or three 
months. The Ukrainian government is proposing to issue credits worth about 
$1.3 million to head off a payments crisis and the collapse of industry. 
The proceedings are being broadcast live by Ukrainian Radio. Bohdan 
Nahaylo, RFE/RL, Inc.

PRODUCTION DECLINE OF LITHUANIAN INDUSTRY. The Lithuanian Statistics 
Department announced that the republic's industry manufactured and sold 
12% less production in January than in December, BNS reported on 19 
February. Production of sugar decreased by 86%, of tape recorders and 
mineral fertilizers by 65%, of vacuum cleaners by 60%, of bicycles by 55%, 
of canned fish by 38%, and of linen fabrics by 26%. There were only minor 
changes in the distribution of the products. Exports to former Soviet 
republics dropped from 41.6% in December to 40.6% in January, but internal 
sales in Lithuania rose from 48.3% to 48.5% as did sales to other 
countries from 10.1% to 10.9%. Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.

[As of 1200 CET]
Compiled by Saulius Girnius and Dan Ionescu The RFE/RL Daily Report is 
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