July 25, 1997   

This Date's Issues:   1082  •1083  1084  1085

Johnson's Russia List
#1083
25 July 1997
djohnson@cdi.org

[Note from David Johnson:
1. Reuters/Interfax: Yeltsin Offers Army Sympathy, Says Reform 
Only Hope.
2. RIA Novosti: President Yeltsin's radio speech. (On military
reform, religion legislation, etc.)
3. Elizabeth Pond: Leo Gruliow.
4. Dale Herspring: NATO and the Russian Military.
5. Jamestown Foundation Monitor: YELTSIN GIVES UP ON PARLIAMENT
and MOSCOW MAYOR SLAMS MILITARY REFORM EFFORT.
6. AP: Yeltsin Defends Stand on Religion. 
7. Asia Times: Spies targeting organized crime.
8. Washington Times: James Morrison, Russian blacklist?
9. Montreal Gazette: A reliable Lada: Mir doesn't deserve its 
patronizing Western media coverage.
10. Reuter: Yeltsin sets up working group on plutonium.
11. RIA Novosti: WAGE ARREARS BACKLOG AND DELAYED SALARIES 
RESULT IN 15,000 STRIKES IN RUSSIA SINCE START OF 1997.
12. RIA Novosti: RUSSIAN RECONNAISSANCE PLANE TO FLY OVER 
US TERRITORY.
13. UPI: Russian satanist sect members arrested.
14. Komsomolskaya Pravda: MMM: Return of the Living Dead.
15. Komsomolskaya Pravda: Moscow Mayor Remembers His Childhood.
16. Pravda-5: The Russian Aquarium: Minnows and Sharks Concluded 
an Agreement.
17. Sankt-Petersburgskye Vedomosti: The Brain-Drainers Are Busy 
at Work.
18. Segodnya: PRESIDENT'S SLOGAN: LAND MUST BELONG TO PEASANTS!
19. Business Week: Patricia Kranz, MOSCOW POWER STRUGGLES.]

********

#1
Reuters/Interfax
25 July 1997
Yeltsin Offers Army Sympathy, Says Reform Only Hope 

MOSCOW -- President Boris Yeltsin said on Friday he deeply sympathized with
Russia's hungry soldiers and unpaid officers but said drastic reforms were
the only way of relieving their sorry plight. 
"My heart aches for our hungry soldiers, for our officers who do not
receive their remuneration on time, for their families roaming about for
years with nowhere to live," Yeltsin said in a regular radio address to the
nation. 
"My heart aches over the constant fall in the prestige of the military
profession. This is why I have taken the situation in the armed forces
under my personal control," he said. 
Yeltsin said plans to merge some units, privatize some Defense Ministry
property and to pare back troop numbers by half a million to 1.2 million by
the end of 1998 would help restore the effectiveness of Russia's once proud
military machine. 
However, Interfax quoted him as saying he understood recent reform
decrees aroused opposition among some politicians and generals. Yeltsin
said when he signed the decrees he realized that "such a fundamental,
gigantic undertaking as reform of the country's entire military
organization will most surely arouse controversy." 
Yeltsin has come under fire recently for the miserable state of the armed
forces, drawing criticism from Duma Defense Committee head Lev Rokhlin and
former Defense Minister Igor Rodionov. 
The 66-year-old president, who is vacationing at the Volga river resort
of Volzhsky Utyos in central Russia, repeated his pledge to pay off all
wage arrears to the military by September. 
"One thing is clear, reform has really begun...There will be no
stoppages. The main thing now is not to lose tempo," he said.

********

#2
BORIS YELTSIN ADDRESSES NATION OVER THE RADIO
MOSCOW, /FROM RIA-NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT/ -- President Boris
Yeltsin of the Russian Federation addressed his fellow citizens
over a radio hook-up today.
Acting on our subscribers' request, we publish the full
text of Yeltsin's radio message below: 

My Fellow Russians,

The following two problems cause heated debates in our
society, worrying the people of Russia and calling for an
explanation.
I'm talking about the bill "On Freedom Of Conscience And
Religious Associations" that has been approved by the State
Duma.
Acting in line with my constitutional prerogatives, I've
declined to sign this bill.
True, this was a hard decision to make because that bill is
supported by the majority of State Duma deputies, the Russian
Orthodox Church and others.
I understand that Russia needs such a law badly. This law
is called on to defend our people's moral and spiritual health,
to erect reliable barriers in the way of radical sects that have
already dealt enough harm, crippling the spiritual and physical
health of many our citizens, young people, first and foremost.
However, I can't sign the bill's version that was okayed by
the State Duma.
Some of the document's provisions serve to infringe upon
constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens and private
individuals. The bill discriminates against various religions,
running counter to Russia's international commitments. This has
been discussed by members of parliament, public activists and
foreigners alike.
As Russia's President, I am duty-bound to ensure that all
federal bills don't contradict the Constitution and the Russian
Federation's international treaties. Besides, I must see to it
that the legitimate rights of citizens and private individuals
be defended completely.
A democratic state cannot infringe on minorities interests
(no matter what seemingly noble interests might dictate such a
move).
This bill has to be amended considerably.
I have submitted my proposals to the State Duma. I'm
calling on the deputies to display their understanding of the
current situation and to support my position.

And now I'd like to dwell on the military reform and the
destiny of the Russian Armed Forces.
Some serious decisions have been made over the last few.
Four decrees have been signed. One can now safely say that the
military reform has taken off the ground.
However, some politicians and generals vehemently oppose
these decrees.
As I signed them, I was well aware of the fact that the
reorganization of the entire Russian military establishment,
which is seen as an extremely serious and formidable task, will
inevitably cause a public debate. Political passions can't but
flare around the military reform.
Some people say that such a reform should be postponed for
a while. In their opinion, the decision to launch such reforms
today would ultimately destroy the Russian Armed Forces.
Such people say that Russia should first obtain a
prosperous economy and more money. As a result, it will become
possible to begin the military reform. Still they think that
nothing should be done at this stage.
I understand only too well that the majority of such
critics are seriously concerned over the destiny of the Russian
Armed Forces. They do care about their problems, affairs and
concerns.
On the other hand, all those advocating a fast-paced
military reform also worry about the future of our Armed
Forces.
Surely enough, the military reform does require a more
favorable financial environment. Still we can't wait any
longer.
It pains to see all those hungry soldiers and officers, who
don't receive their pay grades on time. And it pains me to see
their families, who don't get apartments for many years in a
row.
Besides, it pains me to see that the military service's
prestige continues to decline steadily.
That's why I've decided to personally control the situation
inside our Armed Forces.
We are going to rectify the financial situation, first and
foremost. The Government has been ordered to eliminate all
pay-grade and wage arrears by September 1. Besides, the Cabinet
must repay all social debts before the year is out.
And I'll do everything possible in order to meet that
deadline.
I'd like to repeat once again that we want this country to
acquire compact and effective Armed Forces as a result of the
current military reform. Such Armed Forces would be expected to
reliably guarantee state security, conforming to Russia's
economic potential all the same.

And now I'd like to explain the gist of my decrees to all
servicemen -- soldiers, sailors, generals and admirals alike.
The Decree "On First-Hand Measures To Overhaul the Russian
Federation's Armed Forces And On Streamlining Their
Organization" seems to be the most important document here.
Plans are in place to merge the ICBM Force, the
Military-Space Force and the Air-Defense Force's ABM-And-Space
Defense Force into an entirely new armed service, e.g. the
Strategic Missile Force.
Some Air-Force branches shall also merge.
Such an approach will make it possible to ensure more
effective performance and to rule out all parallelism. This
decision will also produce an impressive economic effect, with
the nation saving hundreds of billions of roubles.
The high command of the nation's Land Forces shall be
converted into the Main Land-Force Department by January 1,
1999. Consequently, troop-level control will be improved, with
the Armed Forces receiving more crack divisions than before.
All district-level troop control shall now abide by the
one-man-rule concept. Only one top commander alone shall assume
all responsibility at this stage.
The decree also curbs the number of officers serving with
the Defense Ministry's central administration. From now on, that
administration can't employ more than one percent of all Russian
servicemen.
The decree also touches upon yet another painful issue,
e.g. the reduction of the nation's Armed Forces, which are to be
pruned by 500,000 soldiers over the 1997-1998 period. In other
words, the Armed Forces shall retain 1,200,000 servicemen. The
social guarantees of demobbed servicemen are not going to be
violated in any way.
As you know, the Government will be sending the best young
specialists to other countries of the world where they shall
undergo advanced-training courses, studying business and
management. Part of all vacancies shall be reserved for demobbed
officers, who constitute our priceless asset and who are
renowned for their professionalism, experience and knowledge of
everyday life.
The decree suggests a set of measures for resolving the
housing issue, which also ranks among the most pressing
problems. Right now, 97,000 families don't have any homes or
apartments whatsoever.
A special bank account is now being created; it will be
used to accumulate monies being derived in the course of
specific privatization programs involving our Armed Forces' real
estate. The account's monies shall subsequently be used to
finance the construction and purchase of various apartments for
demobbed servicemen alone.
On Wednesday, I've signed yet another decree, which allows
the Armed Forces to keep 87 percent of all monies being derived
through army-surplus sales and to use them for meeting their
urgent requirements. In other words, the Armed Forces are going
to receive additional "army-surplus" earnings, rather than
federal-budget appropriations.
I'm sure that the Defense Ministry will team up with
regional governors and republican leaders, settling this issue
in line with shareholding schemes. And I'm going to monitor all
damage-control operations.

Another decree has also been signed. According to its
provisions, the Federal Road-Building Administration, which acts
as a state-run agency under the Defense Ministry's auspices, has
been converted into the Federal Road-Building Administration
under the Russian Federal Road Service. The military shall no
longer have to build any roads. Consequently, the Defense
Ministry has now been freed from some functions that are alien
to it. 
Apart from that, the decree has abolished the military
retail-trade network. All military-trade agencies shall now be
privatized; and the men in uniform shall no longer deal with
trade issues.
Such are the first steps of our military reform that are
aimed at strengthening the Armed Forces' combat readiness and
combat efficiency, at reviving regular troop-level training
programs and raising the social status of servicemen.
The National Defense Council's commissions are now
conducting a detailed study of all issues pertaining to the
reorganization of the Russian Armed Forces and various military
units affiliated with other "military" departments. These
commissions are chaired by Victor Chernomyrdin and Anatoli
Chubais, who regularly report on their work to me.
I've met with Defense Minister Igor Sergeev on Monday,
learning about the fulfilment of my decrees.
One thing should not be doubted. The military reform has,
indeed, got underway. Each of its steps is being calculated,
substantiated, prepared and supported. There will be no
stop-overs. Most importantly, we must not slacken our pace
today. 

********

#3
From: Elizpond@aol.com (Elizabeth Pond)
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 05:17:38 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Leo Gruliow

For those who remember Leo as a generous and gentle friend but may not have
heard this particular anecdote, I'll share it: When Leo was in Moscow heading
the American wartime relief in the 1940s and was about to return to the US to
marry Agnes, he wanted to take some gift with him. In Moscow then there was
of course nothing that might serve except caviar. He gave some money for the
purchase to his particular friend among the employees at the National Hotel,
where he was living. The man, having been unable to find caviar in tins, came
back with mounds of looseweight caviar wrapped in Pravda--and Leo gave an
impromptu party with it but had to go home emptyhanded.
When Leo returned a decade later and again stayed in the National Hotel,
the same employee was there, greeted him warmly--and the next day presented
him with the gift of an equivalent mound of caviar for his wife, this time in
tins.

********

#4
Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 08:33:05 -0500 (CDT)
From: Dale R Herspring <falka@ksu.edu>
Subject: NATO and the Russian Military

One can make a number of arguments in opposition to NATO 
enlargement, but to suggest that there is a direct casual relationship 
between it and the current state of Russian civil-military relations, as 
Gordon Hahn does, is pushing things a bit far. First, I grant that senior 
Russian military officers are not happy about NATO expansion (how would 
you feel if the other side was increasing its potential military 
wherewithal while your military was disintegrating daily?). Having said 
that, I would argue that Mr. Hahn is missing the essence of what is 
happening at present between Yeltsin and the military. In a nutshell, 
the military is being civilianized to a greater degree than at any time 
in the last 70 years. The role played by Chernomyrdin, Chubyas, 
and Baturin is unprecedented in Russian/Soviet military affairs (I am a 
political scientist and leave comments on the pre-Soviet period to my 
historian colleagues). Civilians are behind the decisions made on almost 
every issue. One need only look at the new, radical reform plan being 
put forth by Sergeyev and Kvashnin to see the similarities with the 
proposals that have been made by Baturin and Arbatov. Russian 
civil-military relations are what they are because (1) the Russian 
military is in such bad shape that something has to be done, (2) Yeltsin 
and company are not prepared to accept "old thinking" as put forth by 
Rodionov, (3) To try a save things, the politicians have pushed through a 
plan that will revolutionize almost every aspect of Russian military 
structure, doctrine, tactics, exercises, etc. (4) The success of this 
new radical reform plan is dependent both on Yeltsin's staying in office 
and his ability to find the money to finance it. Rokhlin, Rodionov and 
Lebed are upset with Yeltsin because of what he is doing to the military; 
actions which they believe will destabilize it further and change it 
radically. While the first two may be upset at NATO, given the threat by 
Yeltsin to change things radically, and the disastrous state the military 
finds itself in, I suspect that when their top ten concerns are rank 
ordered, NATO expansion comes in about 18th or 19th. Arguing that it is 
primary variable impacting on civil-military relations simply does not 
hold water. 

********

#5
Jamestown Foundation Monitor
25 July 1997

YELTSIN GIVES UP ON PARLIAMENT. Visiting two privately-run farms in Samara
oblast, where he is on holiday, President Boris Yeltsin yesterday reiterated
his determination to reject the Land Code that has been approved by both
houses of the Russian parliament. Yeltsin objects to the Code because it
bans the free sale of agricultural land. He said he would pass the bill to a
conciliation commission before returning it to the Duma for a repeat reading. 

But Yeltsin also indicated that he had virtually given up hope of doing
business with the Duma. He said he was in agreement with the cabinet that
the government should tackle 80 percent of issues on its own, without
referring to parliament, and that in the future only 20 percent of measures
should be referred to parliament for approval. (Russian agencies, July 24)

MOSCOW MAYOR SLAMS MILITARY REFORM EFFORT... Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov
yesterday declared to reporters that it is dangerous to launch military
reforms at the present time because of instability in the army. Luzhkov
called instead for reform to be postponed until wage arrears are paid and
conditions normalize for military personnel. (Russian agencies, July 24)
Luzhkov's remarks come as the Kremlin appears poised to launch a major
military restructuring effort despite considerable opposition within and
outside of the armed forces. 

********

#6
Yeltsin Defends Stand on Religion
By Sergei Shargorodsky 
Associated Press Writer 
July 25, 1997
MOSCOW (AP) -- A day after he was chastised by Russia's Orthodox Church,
President Boris Yeltsin defended his rejection of legislation that would
restrict ``nontraditional religions,'' including evangelical Christianity
and Roman Catholicism. 
``A democratic state cannot encroach upon the interests of minorities
for whatever seemingly noble motives,'' Yeltsin said today in a nationwide
radio address. 
Calling the measure an unconstitutional threat to religious freedom,
Yeltsin refused earlier this week to approve the legislation, which would
have given special status to the Russian Orthodox Church. He sent it back
to Parliament for redrafting. 
A church spokesman, Metropolitan Kirill, in turn warned Yeltsin that his
rejection of the measure threatened the fabric of Russian society. 
In his radio address today, the Russian president reiterated his
objections to the bill, saying it violates human rights standards and
Russia's international obligations. 
``It was a difficult decision. The law was supported by the majority of
State Duma deputies, the Russian Orthodox Church and others,'' Yeltsin said. 
Trying to assuage his critics, Yeltsin praised the overall thrust of the
bill, saying he could understand the church's concerns and the need to
protect ``the moral and spiritual health of the Russians'' from ``radical
sects.'' 
Controversy over the Russian Orthodox-sponsored bill threatens to open a
rift between the president and Patriarch Alexy II, whose church is dominant
in Russia and strongly backed Yeltsin's re-election bid last summer. 
Alexy, meeting today with Lithuanian Orthodox and Catholic church
leaders in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, voiced regret about Yeltsin's
decision and said the bill ``does not trample upon anybody's rights,'' the
Interfax news agency reported. 
``The bill would have brought to order all the fake missionaries and
destructive orders which, unfortunately, have flooded Russia and its
closest neighbors,'' said the patriarch, apparently referring to the
Protestant evangelical groups that have proliferated in Russia in recent
years. 
While the Orthodox church and most Russian legislators back the bill, it
has drawn strong opposition from Pope John Paul II and the United States,
which has threatened to cut aid to Russia if it becomes law. 
Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and other ``traditional'' religions would be
pledged ``respect'' under the proposed law. All other religious groups
would be required to register with the government to own property or
conduct public worship, and could not do so until they had been in the
country for 15 years. 
Orthodox leaders argued that the Roman Catholic Church would face no
restrictions, because it could prove it has been present in Russia for 15
years. But that did not mollify Catholic leaders, who had expressed alarm
at the bill and relief at Yeltsin's decision to reject it. 
Alexy is head of the world's largest Orthodox church, with an estimated
80 million followers. There are 15 patriarchs in the Orthodox faith. 
The Christian church split into Orthodox and Roman Catholic branches in
1054. 

*********

#7
Asia Times
25 July 1997
[for personal use only]
Spies targeting organized crime

According to reports from intelligence community sources in Moscow, the
Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) recently obtained a United
States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) document describing new CIA
guidance on the recruitment of Russian citizens. 
Among other guidance to its field stations abroad, the CIA's Directorate
of Operations is now emphasizing the importance of recruiting agents from
within Russian organized crime groups. 
The agency is asking stations worldwide to "locate and approach" such
people for two reasons. First, with the shrinkage of intelligence
objectives left over from the Cold War, the CIA is retooling to target
other potential threats to US sovereignty and policy objectives. In
conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's information on the
infiltration of international criminal organizations into illegal and legal
US business interests, the CIA has mounted an effort to infiltrate criminal
groups, including Russian organizations, to limit their infiltration of US
systems and to help bring them to justice. 
Second, according to information in the CIA document, prominent Russian
criminals may have close connections with corrupt senior officials in
various Russian government agencies, and have potential access to many of
the country's ranking political elite, including members of the Cabinet and
high-ranking officials in the administration of the Russian president. 
The agency's leaders believe that sifting through individuals from a
population routinely ignored by traditional intelligence agencies could
facilitate their access to priority information on Russia. 

*********

#8
Washington Times
25 July 1997
[for personal use only]
Embassy Row
By James Morrison

Russian blacklist?
Foreign-policy advisers to Russian President Boris Yeltsin are urging
him to adopt a blacklist of Western publications, including The Washington
Times, that have offended Russian sensitivities in their news columns.
The London Sunday Times reports that Russia's Council on Foreign and
Defense Policy wants Mr. Yeltsin to order government officials not to talk
to publications on the list, which also includes Forbes magazine, France's
Le Monde and Italy's La Repubblica.
Russian Ambassador Yuli Vorontsov, asked to comment on the report,
dismissed the council's recommendation. "It's not going to happen," he
told Embassy Row. "We will continue to talk to you."
However, others are taking the report seriously, warning of a return to
press censorship.
Le Monde called the council's recommendation a "classic case of
Soviet-style intimidation."
The World Press Freedom Committee wrote Mr. Yeltsin, urging him to
reject the blacklist.
The committee, in its letter, noted that "some of the most prestigious
Western publications would be included on this 'blacklist,' allegedly for
publishing unflattering material about the condition of the Russian economy
and society."
"It is hard for us to imagine any more counterproductive measure than
the institution of such a 'blacklist.' ... It would do more to reinforce a
negative image of today's Russia than any conceivable number of articles in
the Western press," the committee warned.
"Measures such as blacklisting independent foreign news media can only
create alarm about the future of press freedom in Russia and of the
continued free flow of news, ideas and opinions between Russia and the rest
of the world."
In the London Sunday Times article of July 13, Andrei Fyodorov, a former
deputy foreign minister and a main advocate of the blacklist, was quoted as
saying, "We are putting an end to an aggressive foreign media attack on the
image of Russia."
"Russia will defend itself. ... We have enough forces to strike back."
Forbes was singled out for a report on a Russian billionaire, titled
"The Godfather of the Kremlin." Le Monde was blamed for a story about the
personal wealth of Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. La
Repubblica upset the Russians with a report on Mr. Yeltsin's drinking habits.
The London paper did not say how The Washington Times offended the
Kremlin advisers. But Embassy Row suspects it was something Bill Gertz wrote.

********

#9
Montreal Gazette
July 24, 1997
[for personal use only]
A reliable Lada: Mir doesn't deserve its patronizing Western media coverage 
[author?]

The last time I saw the prototype of the Russian space shuttle Buran, it 
was sitting in Gorky Park in Moscow, covered in snow, awaiting 
conversion into an up-market restaurant. 
That says a lot about the financial plight of the Russian space program: 
Buran, like many other projects, was scrapped because the money ran out. 
But it doesn't tell you anything about the competence, dedication, and 
ingenuity of the Russians who still work in the space program - and the 
world's media haven't been telling us much about that either. 
The Russian space station Mir has been in orbit for 11years, but it's 
only since its run of bad luck started with a fire in February that the 
rest of the world has finally noticed it's there. And almost all the 
media coverage has been negative, not just about Mir's advanced age 
(like the U.S. space shuttles, it was built in the 1980s using late 
1970s technology), but about Russian technology, Russian skills, and 
Russia in general. 
Mir's designers didn't expect it to remain in use more than five years, 
so there has been a lot of modification and repair as its original 
components wore out or became obsolete. It isn't perfectly safe, either; 
space isn't. But for the past 11 years, while American shuttle crews 
paid brief tourist visits to orbit, Russians have been living there. 
Ninety per cent of the total time that people have spent in space has 
been spent aboard Mir. 
It is not falling apart before our very eyes, either. The February fire 
may have been due to faulty equipment, but both last month's collision 
with a cargo drone that holed the Spektr module and halved the station's 
power, and last week's computer failure that plunged Mir into darkness 
and left it spinning out of control, were plain old human error. 
As a result of these problems, the morale aboard Mir is pretty low, 
which has turned into a problem in its own right. ``This is a 
kindergarten,'' muttered Mission Control Director Vladimir Solovyov at 
one point in June, as he ordered the three-man crew of Mir to stop their 
preparations to abandon ship. He deserves our sympathy - but more 
importantly, he deserves our respect. 
Solovyov is a former cosmonaut himself, and typical of the generation 
that made the old Soviet Union first into space, first to put a human 
being into orbit, and first to build a permanent space station, all 
using technology and construction methods as different from the American 
approach as a Lada is from a Cadillac. And frankly, if you are venturing 
off the beaten track, you might be better off driving a Lada. 
Ladas break down from time to time, but they are easily repaired and 
they never fail catastrophically. The same is true of Russian 
spacecraft: in 40 years of Soviet and Russian space exploration, only 
two cosmonauts have died in space or on the pad. 
The equivalent American figure is 10 - and the U.S. space program was 
very fortunate not to lose three more on Apollo 13. This is not just bad 
luck. The United States started the space race far behind, so it cut a 
lot of safety corners to catch up. In addition, the American fascination 
with high-tech solutions produced systems that were brilliantly elegant 
while they worked (which was almost always), and catastrophic when they 
failed. 
The Russians plodded steadfastly on, and in 1986 they put up the world's 
first orbital station, Mir. It was no mean achievement. The Freedom 
space station that begins construction late this year will weigh 400 
tonnes and have a permanent crew of six. Mir, put up 11 years ago, 
weighs 120 tonnes and has a permanent crew of three. 
Congressman James Sensenbrenner, head of the Science Committee of the 
U.S. House of Representatives, gives sound bites about how ``I, for one, 
can no longer stand idly by as mishap after mishap occurs while we 
continue to plan the next shuttle mission to Mir.'' But in fact the 
Russian space station has all the virtues and defects of the T-34 tank: 
it's ugly, it's not state-of-the-art, but it can survive almost 
anything. 
It's also vital to the survival of the Russian space program, home to 
about half the space expertise on this planet, because after the 
collapse of the old Soviet Union the Russian space budget fell by 80 per 
cent. People like Solovyov are being paid less than $400 a month (and 
often are not paid at all). 
The only thing keeping the whole show on the road is the $400 million a 
year that the United States pays to give its astronauts access to Mir. 
You could argue that the U.S. is not getting value for money, and in the 
narrowest sense you might be right. But it is a very small price to pay 
for preserving all this expertise until Freedom starts operating in two 
years' time and a whole new era of space exploration begins. 
It is an even smaller price to pay for preserving Russian self-respect 
and a sense of partnership with the U.S. at a time when the NATO 
alliance is expanding almost up to Russia's own borders. Russians are 
having a very hard time at the moment, and the openly patronizing tone 
of Western media coverage of Mir's problems is not just wrong, but 
harmful. 

***********

#10
Yeltsin sets up working group on plutonium
July 24, 1997
MOSCOW (Reuter) - President Boris Yeltsin Thursday ordered the creation of a
working group to consider what to do with Russia's surplus weapons-grade
plutonium. 
Yeltsin told Yevgeny Velikhov, a member of Russia's advisory Defense
Council,
to head the group and prepare a report by Oct. 15, the presidential press
service said. 
The decree, issued by Yeltsin at the resort in central Russia where he
is on
vacation, coincides with international efforts to negotiate an end to the
production of plutonium which is used to make nuclear weapons. 
The United States announced plans last December for scrapping 50 tons of
plutonium left over from its nuclear weapons program, but a senior official
said the plans hinged on talks with Russia on reducing stockpiles of the
substance. 
Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov said in Geneva last month that Moscow
supported calls to start talks on banning production of fissionable materials
for nuclear weapons. 
Under Yeltsin's decree, the working group must work out a plan for what
to do
with surplus weapons-grade plutonium and prepare a framework agreement on the
matter. 
It must also draw up a declaration setting out quantities of surplus
weapons-grade plutonium in Russia and consider ways for Russia to take part
in international projects on the use of plutonium. 
Western governments have been worried since the breakup of the Soviet Union
in 1991 that nuclear materials could be stolen in the former Soviet bloc and
put nuclear arms within reach of non-nuclear states. 
A nuclear expert told Reuters in April the only known theft of enough
weapons-grade nuclear material to make a bomb was in August 1994, when German
police seized 12.8 ounces of plutonium-239 from couriers on a flight to
Munich from Moscow. 

*******

#11
WAGE ARREARS BACKLOG AND DELAYED SALARIES RESULT 
IN 15,000 STRIKES IN RUSSIA SINCE START OF 1997
MOSCOW, JULY 25. /RIA Novosti/ -- Over 15,000 strikes have
been staged all over Russia provoked by huge wage arrears and
delayed pay since the start of this year, Vladimir Varov, deputy
labour minister and chief state inspector, said in his interview
for Novosti. According to the labour ministry official, delays
in release of remuneration to wage and salary earners occurred
through the fault of managers of enterprises and organisations,
as well as a result of misuse of the special purpose funds
allocated from the federal budget. Since the beginning of 1997,
the staff of the Russian Labour Inspectorate have carried out
over 22,000 inspections in a bid to monitor compliance with the
labour remuneration laws. As a result of the large-scale
inspection campaign, some 14,500 cases of violation of the
existing laws have been revealed. A total of 2,000 billion
roubles' worth of delayed pay has been paid to wage and salary
earners owing to the labour inspectors' findings.
Varov told the press that the majority of offences have
taken place in the sectors of the national economy financed by
the budget, including public education. In addition, as little
as 40 percent of the needs of the Russian establishments of
higher learning has been subsidised from the federal budget. A
number of cases of improper utilisation of allocated funds by
the heads of universities and institutes have been exposed. The
staff of some educational establishments have not been paid for
months, while the rectors and school principals were granted
between 4 and 7 million roubles upon their demand.
Varov also blamed commercial banks for the financial
turmoil and failure to make timely transfers of funds. According
to the information from the Labour Inspectorate sources, the
financial discipline in the majority of Russia's regions is
picking up as a result of sanctions imposed on commercial banks.
For instance, in Ivanovo oblast alone the local banks were fined
for a total of 1,100 billion roubles.
From the start of this year, the Russian Labour
Inspectorate has imposed fines and penalties on more than 3,000
production managers, and some 1,000 persons have been called to
administrative and criminal responsibility as a result of their
failure to make timely and correct payment of wages and
salaries. 

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#12
RUSSIAN RECONNAISSANCE PLANE TO FLY OVER US TERRITORY
WASHINGTON, JULY 25 /FROM RIA-NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT ARKADI
ORLOFF/ -- One of the Russian Air Force's reconnaissance planes
is to arrive in Washington July 29, subsequently flying over US
territory for the first time ever. That Antonov An-30
reconnaissance aircraft, which is fitted with special photo
cameras and radars, will be flying over US military bases for
six consecutive days within the framework of the open-sky regime
being envisaged by the appropriate international agreement. The
open-sky concept aims to ensure the "transparency" of national
air spaces for international inspection checks.
This was disclosed to RIA-NOVOSTI here the other day by the
US inspection agency's spokesman Richard Cole. That agency,
which constitutes a specialized office of the US Administration,
is ordered by the US Defense Department to monitor the
fulfilment of the relevant international accords.
The agreement dealing with the open-sky regime was signed
by 27 countries in 1992. Russia has also sighed that agreement,
failing to ratify it so far. Therefore the Russian plane's
planned mission is seen as a "rehearsal" of future inspection
checks.
According to Richard Cole, a US OC-131 reconnaissance plane
is to fly over Russian territory in mid-August. That aircraft
has already been shown to the Russian Government and State Duma
deputies, Cole added.
Talking about technical aspects, Cole noted that all
reconnaissance planes flying on open-sky missions have less
sophisticated equipment than spy satellites do. As a result, it
has become possible to provide all signatory nations with equal
opportunities just because many of them don't have such spy
satellites. The materials of each inspection check shall be sent
to all signatories on a mandatory basis. All countries have the
right to know about their neighbors' military preparations. This
is seen as an important factor of regional conflicts.
Consequently, a number of Mideastern and Latin American nations
have already asked the United States to acquaint them with the
open-sky regime's conditions, Cole said in conclusion. 

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#13
Russian satanist sect members arrested
MOSCOW, July 25 (UPI) _ Russian police say they have arrested eight
members of a Russian satanist sect in the Tula (``TOO-lah'') region south
of Moscow. 
Itar-Tass says the cult members are facing charges of manslaughter after
performing three human sacrifices during the last three months. 
The cult leaders, a 72-year-old woman and her 40-year-old son, are
accused of murdering two men and a 16-year-old. 
Police say the murders were carried out during a satanic ritual, with
new cult members taking turns stabbing the victims while chanting ``Satan
is stronger than Christ''. 
Itar-Tass says one of the killed men was the husband of the ``grand
teacher,'' who rejected her cult. 
Police say they found church icons, which had been stabbed with a knife,
and a cup from which cult members drank blood. 
Neighbors in the town of Severo-Zadonsk say they never suspected
anything, and described the woman leader as a ``nice, friendly person.'' 
Police are continuing their investigations and say the cult may have
been linked to a similar group in Moscow. 

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#14
Russia Today press summary
http://www.russiatoday.com
Komsomolskaya Pravda
July 24, 1997
Lead story 
MMM: Return of the Living Dead 
Summary
In Moscow a crowd of people has appeared again near the office of the
infamous MMM pyramid investment company. The firm used to belong to Sergey
Mavrodi, who has a criminal case now pending against him. At the moment of
its collapse in 1994, the MMM's turnover was around $3.7 million. Mavrodi
himself then enjoyed parliamentary immunity, and when his term of political
office expired, he fled the country. 
MMM is again collecting money from people again, only this time under
Sergey Mavrodi's brother Vyacheslav. The company is operating under the
motto: "The principal of mutual trust is superior to the principal of
mutual liabilities." 
The prospectus on the door of the company says they are arranging a
"system of mutual volunteer donations." 
Komsomolka is indignant at Russian people for bringing their money to
MMM. They cannot learn anything even from their own long-suffering
experience, it said. People do not understand that the unusually high
interest rate promised always means, in practice, a financial loss. 
RUSSIA TODAY Notes: 
Millions of Russians lost their savings in pyramid investment schemes such
as MMM that cropped up after the fall of communism. The companies promised
massive returns on investment. However, most went bankrupt instead. Few of
the defrauded investors have any hope of ever seeing their money again. 

**********

#15
Russia Today press summary
http://www.russiatoday.com
Komsomolskaya Pravda
July 24, 1997
Moscow Mayor Remembers His Childhood 
Summary 
On the eve of the celebration of Moscow's 850th anniversary, a film has
been released about Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov. 
The script is based on Luzhkov's book "We are your children, Moscow!".
The pilot version of the film will be shown on Sunday. The film's director,
Hotinenko, said he does not know Luzhkov in person and that he wanted to
create a portrait of the mayor based on his book. 
Two actors play the character of Luzhkov -- Misha Filipchuk, as a boy,
and as an adult by Aleksander Sbruyev. 
The Soviet cinema had a strong tradition of depicting Communist leaders,
the daily said, recalling that dozens of movies were created about Lenin,
Stalin and Brezhnev. 

********

#16
Russia Today press summary
http://www.russiatoday.com
Pravda 5 
July 24, 1997
The Russian Aquarium: Minnows and Sharks Concluded an Agreement 
Summary
Pravda-5 wrote about the recently announced merger of MFK bank and the
investment company Renaissance Capital. 
Vladimir Potanin, head of the banking group Unexim-MFK, and Renaissance
Capital chief Boris Yordan (an American of Russian origin) founded a new
company which now owns $400 million and has active capital of $2 billion.
The declared wealth makes the company a real contender for leadership on
the corporate bond market. 
The daily wrote that for the first time in Russia, domestic and foreign
capital has merged and has long-term goals. The author said that with the
new company, Western capital will have a secure cover under which to buy
strategic Russian enterprises at a lower cost. 
At a press conference on July 9, Potanin did not deny that Unexim-MFK
will participate in the privatization of the largest telecommunications
company, Svyazinvest. Bidding opens on Friday for a 25 percent share in the
company, with a starting price $1.187 billion. Foreign investors will be
allowed to bid at this stage but will be excluded from the next bid in the
fall. 
Since Renaissance Capital became a Russian company, it will compete for
shares of Svyazinvest at both bids. Pravda-5 wrote that eventually
MFK-Renaissance Capital will swallow all 49 percent of Svyazinvest. 

**********

#17
Russia Today press summary
http://www.russiatoday.com
Sankt-Petersburgskye Vedomosti
July 25, 1997
The Brain-Drainers Are Busy at Work 
Summary
One of the prime functions of American University in Yerevan (Armenia)
is to prepare some of the country's best minds for emigration to the United
States, the daily said, citing a report in the Yerevan-based,
Russian-language newspaper "Novoe vremya." 
The Yerevan paper based its conclusions on interviews with the American
University students. Half of the university's 372 graduates have already
emigrated, most of them to the U.S. Many students say they want to study at
the university in order to obtain an international diploma and then get a
job in an English-speaking country. 
It is clear that American University was set up to educate Armenia's
best minds for a "brain drain," the daily quoted the story as saying.
University director Donald Fuller was reported to have "cynically" remarked
that the graduates will return home as soon as there are jobs for them. 
That is easy for a citizen of a superpower to say in regards to an
impoverished country, the daily commented. 
RUSSIA TODAY Notes: 
In the past few years, tens of thousands of people from throughout the
former USSR have gone through some type of educational institution or
program in the West. Also, many educational institutions and courses based
on Western models can be found in cities throughout the ex-USSR. Courses
often focus on business, management and language instruction. Russian
President Boris Yeltsin this week signed a decree that will send 40,000
managers to the West to improve their skills. While it might be the case
that young people in Armenia want to leave their country, such is not often
the case in Russia because there is more opportunity for young qualified
people. 

********

#18
>From RIA Novosti
Segodnya
July 25, 1997 
PRESIDENT'S SLOGAN: LAND MUST BELONG TO PEASANTS!

President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation 
believes that land should be returned to peasants by all 
means. 
"I shall not sign the Land Code which was drafted by the
State Duma and which again does not contain the possibility of
selling land. I'm flatly against this." said the President. 
The head of the state intends to send the Land Code to the
Conciliatory Commission to work it over and then to return it
to the State Duma for reconsideration. The President expressed
regret that the Federation Council had approved this document.
Yeltsin said that impossibility for the peasants to own their
personal plots of land is a violation of human rights and the
Constitution of the Russian Federation."

*********

#19
Business Week
August 4, 1997
[for personal use only]
MOSCOW POWER STRUGGLES

A vicious power struggle is raging in Moscow among bankers, businessmen,
and
reform politicians who backed Boris Yeltsin's reelection bid last year. With
the threat of a communist resurgence--the glue that bound them
together--gone, they are at each others' throats fighting for political and
financial power.
The conflict is turning violent. On July 21, a shot was fired into the
home of Central Bank Chairman Sergei Dubinin. No one was injured. Earlier
this month, Dubinin accused former Deputy Finance Minister Andrei Vavilov and
major banks of mishandling over $500 million in government funds. Vavilov, an
ally of Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin, was bounced from his post by
reformer Anatoly B. Chubais. He quickly found a job with MFK Bank, a unit of
Oneximbank.
Moscow insiders read the probe into Vavilov as an attack on Oneximbank and
former First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Potanin, who now runs it. Other
financial bigwigs, notably Security Council Deputy Secretary Boris
Berezovsky, want to clip Potanin's wings and stymie his acquisition binge.
Oneximbank is locked in battle with rival groups for control of both Rosneft,
the last big oil company to be privatized, and Svyazinvest, a telecom outfit
whose holdings include a 38% stake in long-distance carrier Rostelecom.
Meanwhile, Potanin seems to have lost the protection of Chubais, who is
mainly preoccupied with consolidating his political power. In the new Russia,
where connections count far more than entrepreneurship, that's dangerous.
By Patricia Kranz in Moscow 

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