No. 132, Part I, 10 July 1995

We welcome you to Part I of the Open Media Research Institute's Daily
Digest. This part focuses on Russia, Transcaucasia and Central Asia, and
the CIS. Part II, distributed simultaneously as a second document,
covers East-Central and Southeastern Europe.  Back issues of the Daily
Digest, and other information about OMRI, are available through our WWW
pages: http://www.omri.cz/OMRI.html

RUSSIA

SHUMEIKO: YELTSIN WANTED GRACHEV TO RESIGN. Federation Council Chairman
Vladimir Shumeiko, a member of the Security Council, revealed in a 9
July interview on NTV that President Boris Yeltsin wanted Defense
Minister Pavel Grachev to resign following the Budennovsk hostage
crisis. Shumeiko said he, Yeltsin, and Prime Minister Viktor
Chernomyrdin all voted in favor of Grachev's resignation at a 29 June
Security Council meeting. Grachev survived the 30 June cabinet reshuffle
in which Interior Minister Viktor Yerin and FSB Director Sergei
Stepashin lost their jobs, but Shumeiko's remarks increased speculation
that Yeltsin is planning to sacrifice Grachev at a later date. -- Laura
Belin, OMRI, Inc.

KULIKOV, MIKHAILOV APPOINTED TO SECURITY COUNCIL. President Yeltsin
appointed Interior Minister Anatolii Kulikov and Nuclear Energy Minster
Viktor Mikhailov to the Security Council on 7 July, AFP reported.
Kulikov became interior minister on 6 July, after Yerin was sacked. --
Robert Orttung, OMRI, Inc.

FEDERATION COUNCIL ACCUSED OF PRESERVING GOVERNMENT CONTROL OVER PRESS.
In the 7 July edition of Kuranty, Duma official Yelena Radnevskaya
accused the Federation Council of trying to preserve the government's
financial leverage over the independent press. Radnevskaya noted that
the Council voted down a law to replace most media subsidies with tax
breaks a second time, even though Duma deputies removed the passages
that the Council cited in its first rejection of the draft law.
Radnevskaya said the law would guarantee the press access to publishing
facilities and true financial independence. The law has been sent to a
parliamentary conciliatory commission, but Radnevskaya warned that it
could languish there for a year or more, while newspapers could face
increasing pressure to change their editorial lines or lose state
subsidies that keep them alive. -- Laura Belin, OMRI, Inc.

FORMER KGB OFFICERS SAID TO PLAN POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS. A July 7
report in Komsomolskaya pravda claims that a secret organization of
former intelligence officers called the Feliks group is planning a
campaign of assassinations of leading government officials. The group
was reportedly formed by officers from the KGB and Main Intelligence
Department of the General Staff in 1991 and unites at least 60 officers.
"Major Vladimir," a member of the group interviewed by Komsomolskaya
pravda, objected to the weakening of the Russian state by "corrupt
bankers and officials who are lackeys of their Western partners." --
Penny Morvant, OMRI, Inc.

DESPITE KILLINGS, GROZNY TALKS CONTINUE. Talks between Russian and
Chechen negotiators continued over the weekend, despite being
interrupted by an attack on a farm outside Grozny, international and
Russian agencies reported. Six Chechen civilians were killed in the
attack on 7 July, reportedly carried out by gunmen wearing Russian
military uniforms, that led Chechen delegates to walk out of the talks.
However, they returned later and the two delegations issued a statement
announcing a joint investigation into the killings and declaring that
"the negotiations will continue and peace will come to Chechnya."
Russian military sources denied responsibility for the attack. Resuming
discussions on 8 July, negotiators reached agreement on a preliminary
political accord outlining the conditions for holding and monitoring
elections in the republic this December. -- Scott Parrish, OMRI, Inc.

SHAKHRAI: FORCE WAS ONLY ALTERNATIVE IN CHECHNYA. Beginning on 10 July,
the Constitutional Court will consider the Federation Council's appeal
concerning secret decrees issued in November and December 1994 on
deploying Russian troops in Chechnya. Deputy Prime Minister Sergei
Shakhrai expressed confidence that the court will uphold the legality of
the decrees as the government's only constitutional alternative against
Chechen separatists, Russian media reported on 9 June. -- Laura Belin,
OMRI, Inc.

PYATIGORSK COSSACKS DISCUSS FORMATION OF NORTH CAUCASUS REPUBLIC. At a
meeting in Pyatigorsk, Terek Cossack atamans discussed the formation of
a North Caucasus republic that would incorporate Stavropol Krai and the
Don, Kuban, and Terek territories, Segodnya reported on 7 July. The idea
of forming such a republic was advanced in the aftermath of the
Budennovsk hostage crisis and the dismissal of Stavropol Krai Governor
Yevgenii Kuznetsov, who was proposed as the head the new republic at the
meeting. -- Penny Morvant, OMRI, Inc.

WAGES FORM SMALLER SHARE OF FAMILY INCOME. According to the Labor
Ministry, the share of wages from officially reported employment in the
average family's income has declined by almost 15% over the past year
and now constitutes only 40%, Segodnya reported on 7 July. Before
radical economic reforms were introduced in 1992, wages accounted for
more than 70% of the family income. Most of the income which is
unaccounted for probably comes from the second jobs in the informal
economy, although some of it may consist of unreported payments from the
primary employer. -- Penny Morvant, OMRI, Inc.

SIBERIAN PRISONERS EAT CELL-MATE. Two prisoners in Siberia murdered
their cell-mate and ate his internal organs "to add spice to their
life," Russian and Western agencies reported on 7 July. The two inmates,
aged 23 and 25, strangled their victim, cut out his innards, and cooked
them over a burning blanket. The two men, whose trial begins on 10 July,
could be executed if found guilty. -- Penny Morvant, OMRI, Inc.

SUICIDE A PROBLEM IN MILITARY. The Russian army has an "acute" suicide
problem, Colonel Pavel Demidenko told Interfax on 9 July. Demidenko, who
heads the military procurator's criminal investigation department,
reported that 423 Russian military personnel had committed suicide in
1994--many driven to it because of hazing, or "dedovshichina" by older
soldiers. He said another 2,500 military personnel had died last year as
the result of "criminal incidents." -- Doug Clarke, OMRI, Inc.

RUSSIA OBJECTS TO EXTENSION OF RUMP YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS. A spokesman for
the Russian Foreign Ministry told Interfax on 7 July that Russia is
"extremely concerned" with the recent UN resolution that extends the
suspension of a number of sanctions against rump Yugoslavia for 75days.
Russia would prefer that these sanctions be lifted entirely. The
resolution, which was passed by the UN Security Council on 5 July, does
"not correspond to current Yugoslav reality," said the spokesman. The
spokesman said Russia abstained on the Security Council vote because the
resolution links the permanent lifting of all the sanctions with issues
unrelated to those which motivated the sanctions originally. He added
that the continuation of even the reduced sanctions could lead the
parties to the Bosnian conflict--especially the Bosnian Serbs--to
conclude that the UN is "biased," which might lead to "undesirable
consequences." -- Scott Parrish, OMRI, Inc.

RUSSIAN HELICOPTER MAKER SEEKS CANADIAN CONTRACT. The Kamov Helicopter
Scientific & Technology Co. of Moscow has signed an interim agreement
with a Canadian company to jointly offer the Kamov Ka-32 helicopter in
an expected Canadian procurement program, Helicopter News reported on 6
July. Canada is in the market for about 50 helicopters for its naval
forces. The Ka-32 is the export version of the Ka-27 widely used in the
Russian navy. The two companies also plan to offer the Ka-32 to the
Canadian logging industry. -- Doug Clarke, OMRI, Inc.

FAPSI TAKING OVER CONTROL OF FINANCIAL MARKETS. All securities
transactions on the Russian market will be carried out under the control
of the Federal Government Communications and Information Agency (FAPSI),
Moskovskii Komsomolets reported on 8 July. A presidential edict has
given FAPSI the task of establishing a country-wide telecommunications
system to register operations, including securities transactions, on the
financial market. -- Thomas Sigel, OMRI, Inc.

BELYAEV URGES FASTER PRIVATIZATION OF INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES. Sergei
Belyaev, chairman of the State Committee on the Administration of State
Property, urged Russia to speed up the pace of sales of government-
reserved blocks of industrial enterprise shares, Segodnya reported on 8
July. Speaking at a St. Petersburg conference on privatization and
development of the real estate market, Belyaev said that out of 10,000
blocks owned by regional property funds, only a little more than 3,500
have been sold. The government intends to sell blocks of enterprise
shares worth nearly 19 trillion rubles ($422 million) by the end of the
year. -- Thomas Sigel, OMRI, Inc.

DUMA ADOPTS LAW ON REGULATION OF FOREIGN TRADE. The Duma adopted a law
on state regulation of foreign trade, Segodnya reported on 8 July. The
initial draft was vetoed by President Boris Yeltsin on 12 May. The major
amendment requires presidential approval, not Federal Assembly approval,
for export items including arms, military equipment, certain raw
materials, and technologies which could be used for manufacturing mass
destruction weapons. The second change refers to the procedure for
registering import-export deals between Russia and foreign persons. The
president insisted that such deals be subject to registration, while the
vetoed draft called for repealing this procedure. Foreign Economic
Relations Minister Oleg Davydov said that if the registration
requirement were lifted it would have made it easier for Russian capital
to escape abroad. -- Thomas Sigel, OMRI, Inc.

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

CILLER IN TASHKENT. Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller met with Uzbek
President Islam Karimov on 9 July and signed a memorandum of
understanding to expand bilateral relations in various areas including
trade, Western media reported the next day. Ankara also agreed to
provide a $100 million loan to Uzbekistan, according to AFP. Karimov
used a joint press conference to appeal for more Turkish investment in
Uzbekistan. At present, Turkey is Uzbekistan's fourth largest trading
partner outside the CIS. Ciller noted that bilateral trade had increased
to $143 million last year compared to $75.5 million in 1992. Relations
between Tashkent and Ankara have been strained in the past over Turkey's
regional pretensions and its decision to provide refuge to Karimov's
opposition; Ciller's visit signals an improvement in relations that has
been apparent since late 1994. -- Lowell Bezanis, OMRI, Inc.

TURKMENISTAN, IRAN, AND THE U.S. Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani charged the U.S. with blocking plans for the construction of
a pipeline to carry Turkmenistan's natural gas through Iran and Turkey
to Europe, AFP reported on 7 July. Speaking during the weekly prayers at
Tehran University, Rafsanjani said the U.S. is also hampering oil and
gas deals with Pakistan and Armenia. Two days earlier, Tehran and
Ashgabat signed another accord to build part of the pipeline in
question. Iran is to undertake the design and 80% of the financing for a
pipeline running from Korpedzhe field in southwest Turkmenistan to the
Iranian village of Kurtkui. -- Lowell Bezanis, OMRI, Inc.

AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA SIGN ACCORD. On 7 July Azerbaijan and Georgia signed
an accord to export crude oil from Azerbaijan to world markets through
Georgian territory, AFP reported citing Interfax. Under the agreement
signed by Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Abbas Abbassov and his
Georgian counterpart, Zurab Kervalishvili, feasibility studies will be
carried out by the end of August on the delivery of the oil to the ports
of Poti and Batumi. Though the route has not been finalized the accord
provides for the delivery of 4 million metric tons of oil over the first
30 months of operations. -- Lowell Bezanis, OMRI, Inc.

CANADIANS SIGN GOLD DEAL IN KYRGYZSTAN. On 7 July, Canada's Cameco Corp.
signed an agreement to develop the Kumtor gold field in eastern
Kyrgyzstan near the Chinese border, according to Reuters. Cameco is
working with a syndicate of seven banks investing $360 million to mine
for gold in what is estimated as the eighth largest gold field in the
world. Cameco will own one-third of the joint venture and the Kyrgyz
company, Kyrgyzaltyn, two-thirds. The joint venture, the Kumtor Gold
Company, is scheduled to make its first gold extraction in 1997; before
that, a million tons of glacier ice must be removed from the area. The
target figures for extraction are 12.4 tons in 1997 and 15.5 tons in
later years. -- Bruce Pannier, OMRI, Inc.

CIS

KOZYREV: "THE CIS IS NO WORSE THAN NATO." In a series of public speeches
last week, Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev emphasized the
importance of the CIS in Russian foreign policy, Segodnya reported on 7
July. Speaking before a meeting of Russian ambassadors to the CIS states
on 6 July, Kozyrev criticized both Western countries and Russian
opposition politicians for underestimating the potential of the CIS. He
called for an end to "discrimination" against the CIS by international
organizations, asking why the UN finances peacekeeping operations in
Haiti but not similar operations in the CIS. He said the CIS has
accomplished more in its three years of existence than such long-
standing regional organizations as the Organization of American States
and the Organization of African Unity. He also commented that the CIS is
"no worse than NATO," implying that it deserves equal treatment in the
international arena. -- Scott Parrish, OMRI, Inc.

[As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Victor Gomez

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