February  23, 1998  
This Date's Issues:    2074   • 2075 • 

Johnson's Russia List
#2075
23 February 1998
davidjohnson@erols.com

[Note from David Johnson:
1. Rossiiskaya Gazeta: YELTSIN'S RADIO ADDRESS 
on Russian Armed Forces Day.
2. Richard Hoagland (US Embassy-Moscow):Re JRL 2072, "eXile" reprint of 
"Moskovskiy Komsomolets."
3. St. Petersburg Times: The baths. Ritual, tradition, nudity and sweat: 
Barnaby Thompson finds it at the banya. 
4. Reuters: Russian communist says US ``drunk sheriff'' in Iraq.
5. Boston Globe editorial: New views from Davos.
6. Reuters: Russia says G8 helps tackle its job problems.
7. Gary Kern: Lend-Lease Merry-go-round.
8. Moscow Times: Jean MacKenzie, History Puts Soviet Era in Context.
9. Reuters: President Wants Common Sense, Realistic Budget.
10. Moscow Times: Georgy Bovt, Address Brezhnev-Style. 
11. RFE/RL NEWSLINE: ANOTHER GOVERNOR CALLS FOR LEGALIZING PROSTITUTION,
GOVERNOR WANTS FULL-TIME DEPUTIES IN UPPER HOUSE, and HEALTH EXPERTS SOUND 
ALARM ON TUBERCULOSIS.] 

********

#1
>From RIA Novosti
Rossiiskaya Gazeta
February 21, 1998
YELTSIN'S RADIO ADDRESS 

Good morning, in a little while we shall celebrate
February 23 as the Russian Armed Forces Day. However,
celebrations dedicated to this day will begin today. Awards
will be presented and toasts will be raised to the defenders of
the Fatherland.
I'd rather not talk about the army's difficult problems
today. I would like to speak about good things only. The
forthcoming holiday has been traditionally a men's holiday. To
defend the Motherland and one's home and family is the
immediate duty and responsibility of a real man. For many years
we linked this date to the birth of the Red Army, but our
military history began much earlier when the Russian state
appeared.
Russians have always been good warriors, but not because
they are fond of fighting. On the contrary, throughout its
history this country always had to defend its independence. It
is probably the reason why Russia was always famous for its
talented army commanders. That is why unparalleled staunchness
and courage run in the blood of the Russian soldiers. 
On February 23 both conscripts and venerable generals will
receive their presents and congratulations, but special honours
will be accorded to the Great Patriotic War veterans. We all
have deep respect for these people's feelings. For them this
holiday is not just the holiday of the defenders of the
Fatherland. It is the glorious 80th anniversary of our army and
navy.
Dear veterans, on the eve of this memorable holiday I
extend my heartfelt greetings to all of you. I wish you to
enjoy this day in company with your old wartime friends and I
want you to feel the warmth and care of your next of kin not
only on holidays but also on ordinary days.
Now we are building a new, professional, mobile and
advanced army. Its might will depend on the high level of
training of its troops and their provision with advanced
hardware. People who will serve in such an army will have
decent conditions. They won't have to do without housing and
wait for their salaries for months. Those who will serve in
such an army will know that the country and its people need and
value the work they do and that it is one of the most respected
professions in society. This should always be so.
I would like to emphasise once again that the problems of
the army are of paramount importance for Russia.
Dear Russians, since 1992 more than 400 Russians have been
awarded the Hero of Russia star. This honour was awarded not
only to those who conquered outer space or tested aircraft and
submarines or fought in local conflicts, but also those who
performed a feat of valour half a century ago, during the Great
Patriotic War.
Now too Russian servicemen know well what the soldier's
honour, pride in the Fatherland and commitment to the military
oath and duty are. 
On the eve of February 23 I cordially congratulate all who
wear or ever wore military uniform. I congratulate all for whom
the army, patriotism and the Motherland are the most important
words in the world.
I congratulate you on the forthcoming holiday, Defenders
of the Fatherland Day and I wish you to have a good time this
weekend.

********

#2
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 10:08:49 -0500
From: "Hoagland, Richard E" <rehmosc@usia.gov>
Organization: USIA
To: davidjohnson@erols.com (David Johnson)
Subject: Re JRL 2072, "eXile" reprint of "Moskovskiy Komsomolets"

David:

In response to JRL 2072, "eXile" reprint of "Moskovskiy Komsomolets" 
article by Aleksandr Khinstein about the introduction of the new $100 
bill in Russia:

As the press spokesman for the American Embassy in Moscow, I think it is 
useful for me to respond to this article. While preparing his article, 
Mr. Khinstein sent a number of detailed questions to my office. Knowing 
that the theory had long been circulating that this special importation 
of $100 bills was used to influence the 1996 presidential election in 
Russia, I thought it was especially important to respond openly and in 
detail to Mr. Khinstein's questions. The text which follows are the 
answers to these questions, which I provided to Mr. Khinstein:

REPLIES TO QUESTIONS FROM MOSKOVSKIY KOMSOMOLETS

SUMMARY: A stockpile of new $100 bills was stored in the American Embassy 
for a short period during the introduction of the new currency. This was 
done at the request of and under the control of the United States Federal 
Reserve Bank and in full cooperation with the Central Bank of Russia. 
This was done to avoid any unforeseen problems during the introduction of 
the new $100 bill and has not been repeated. Within a short period after 
the date of introduction, the bills were sold, following legal commercial 
procedures, to banks authorized to deal in foreign currency. 

1. You may remember that before the introduction of the new $100 bill, 
the Central Bank of Russia, in cooperation with the United States, 
conducted an extensive public education campaign to explain the 
introduction of the first redesign of American currency in about 70 
years. This public education campaign was conducted, in part, because 
Russian citizens, in their recent history, had experienced difficulties 
during the introduction of new Russian currencies. Although the public 
education campaign proved to be very successful, at the time of the 
introduction of the new $100 bill, it was still unclear whether Russians 
would rush in large numbers to banks and currency exchange points to 
change their old for new $100 bills, despite the assurances in the public 
education campaign that the old $100 bill would always be legal. Also, 
because of other unknowns, like airline strikes or bad late-winter 
weather which could have prevented the normal delivery of American 
currency to Russia, it was decided to pre-position an adequate supply of 
new $100 bills to ensure that the citizens of Russia would encounter no 
problems during the initial introduction period.

2. Based on an agreement by the Central Bank of Russia and the United 
States Federal Reserve (which is the central bank of the U. S), 
approximately $500 million in new $100 bills was stored temporarily in a 
secure area of the American Embassy. This was a one-time only event. It 
was not repeated during the recent introduction of the new $50 bill. 

3. Over a period of several weeks after the first day of the 
introduction of the new $100 bill, the money stored in the Embassy was 
sold to banks authorized to purchase U.S. currency. This process was 
strictly controlled by Federal Reserve officials. The American Embassy 
did not trade the new bills for the old bills. Commercial banks sold the 
new currency and, if they had an excess of currency, could sell it back 
to banks with accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank. These banks could 
then sell old bills back to the Federal Reserve Bank in the United 
States. This is standard commercial practice.

4. The American Embassy in Moscow was the only American Embassy to 
receive an advance supply of the new $100 bills. However, certain 
central banks in other countries also served as depositors for the 
Federal Reserve in countries where there is a large demand for U.S. 
currency. 

5. The governments of the United States and the Russian Federation 
ensured that all national regulations were observed during this 
operation.

6. The importation of foreign currency is a commercial operation by 
authorized banks and is very closely regulated by national laws. For the 
amount of American currency which is legally imported into Russia, we 
would suggest that you pose this question to the Central Bank of Russia. 

SOURCE: Richard Hoagland
American Embassy Spokesman
30 January 1998

I now want to switch modes and write as a private citizen, not an 
official U.S. Government spokesman. Anyone who reads Mr. Khinstein's 
article closely will note that he has no evidence to back up his 
conspiracy theory. In fact, he even makes it clear that he is spinning 
fiction when he writes: "I don't claim to know the full truth here. All 
of the possible explanations offered below are the exclusive result of my 
own ruminations and guesses...." Both "Moskovskiy Komsomolets" and 
"eXile" occasionally publish important serious journalism. It's too bad 
that they undercut their credibility when they front-page fantasy as 
fact.

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>
Richard E. Hoagland
Press Spokesman
American Embassy Moscow
Tel. 7-095-956-4238 Fax 7-095-255-9766
rehmosc@usia.gov
http://www.usia.gov/posts/moscow.html
<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

********

#3
St. Petersburg Times
FEBRAURY 23-MARCH 1, 1998 
The baths 
Ritual, tradition, nudity and sweat: Barnaby Thompson finds it at the 
banya. 

ACCORDING to Russia's earliest written historical record, the Apostle 
Andrew, after prophesying the future splendor of Kiev, journeyed as far 
north as Novgorod, where he became the first foreigner to encounter the 
banya.

"Wondrous to relate," he says, according to St. Andrew's account in the 
"Primary Chronicle" of Russia. "I saw the land of the Slavs, and while I 
was among them, I noticed their wooden bathhouses. They warm them to 
extreme heat, then undress, and after anointing themselves with tallow, 
they take young reeds and lash their bodies. They actually lash 
themselves so violently that they barely escape alive. Then they drench 
themselves with cold water, and are thus revived. They think nothing of 
doing this every day, and actually inflict such voluntary torture upon 
themselves. They make of the act not a mere washing but a veritable 
torment."

St. Andrew's bafflement at this masochistic approach to cleanliness has 
been shared by many a visitor to Russia, for the concept of the banya as 
an instrument of torture is well established. Legend holds that in 945 
Olga, wife of the Kievan prince Igor who was murdered by a rival tribe, 
took her revenge on his killers by inviting a delegation of their finest 
warriors to take a banya and promptly setting fire to the whole 
structure. She later became Russia's first saint.

Sanctified or not, today's banya-goers are likely to be less 
bloodthirsty. That's not to say they aren't sadistic, however: The more 
experienced banya-goer takes a special pleasure in calmly watching 
novices, after a brief struggle, flee gasping for the showers.

Indeed, the banya itself has sat smugly - refusing to change, refusing 
to modernize, looking on with detached disdain at the fast food chains, 
casinos and five-star hotels that have spread like a rash over the urban 
landscape. Irrevocably and inscrutably Russian, the banya is more than 
just a place to rid the body of dirt and toxins. It is Russia's great 
leveling institution - a place where you hang your rank or status on the 
peg beside your underwear and march into humid egalitarianism. It is 
steeped in ritual that requires concentration and understanding. It is 
also, if you can stand the heat, exceptionally good fun.

At some point, a private banya is considered a must-have addition to any 
dacha, and in winter one can see naked figures escaping from wooden huts 
and hurling themselves into the snow to cool down. In the city, those 
who can afford it can hire out a private banya for themselves and their 
friends. But for the real action - a no-frills, tough-guy washing 
experience - nothing beats the public banya.

I HAVE lost count of the number of times a Russian has said to me, "now 
I'll show you a real Russian banya!" For the definitive version, 
however, I went along to Nevskiye Bani, a huge, grey temple to hygiene 
on Ulitsa Marata. I sought the wisdom of masseur and banya guru Yury, 
who took me, as someone should have taken St. Andrew, through the whole 
process.

Yury maintains that the secret of the banya lies in the correct use and 
understanding of the venik, a fan-shaped bundle of dried, leafy twigs. 
These vital banya tools require a good soaking before any lashing 
begins. On my first banya outing, I omitted this crucial soaking and 
simply went to work thrashing a co-bather. Five minutes later, once the 
shower of leaves had settled to the floor, I was left with a collection 
of twigs and a friend with a series of red welts across his back. There 
are as many types of veniki as trees in the Russian forest: beryozka, or 
birch, is the experts' preferred weapon, but oak, pine, and maple are 
also used, and each is said to have its special property - opening or 
closing pores, for example, or rejuvenating internal organs.

"But if I see somebody with the beryozka, I expect him to know what he 
is doing," says Yury. Shaking the water from two of these, the disciple 
followed the master into the parilka, or steam room, to await 
instruction.

CONTRARY to popular belief, little force is required when using the 
venik; rather, one strokes or pats the skin, circulating steam over the 
body and wiping away sweat. Your victim should be lying down so that the 
soles of the feet receive attention. Afterwards the venik is placed on 
the neck as a sort of botanical collar; the victim lies, inhaling the 
leafy aroma and listening to the thud of foliage on flesh, the general 
swearing and the grunts of pleasure.

A parilka is a closed, wood-paneled room with a platform close to the 
ceiling and benches even higher up for those who particularly enjoy 
suffering. Donning thick gloves, a new arrival, pronouncing the 
temperature too mild, will open the small door to the hot stones and 
ladle on water until wave upon wave of heat washes over those higher up, 
who will grunt "Enough, enough!" if the ladler is overzealous.

Occasionally asking if I was still alive, Yury eventually ordered me out 
of the steam room and into the icy plunge pool. This is the point where 
specific but better-not-mentioned parts of one's anatomy really feel the 
crunch. I was allowed no respite, however, and was sent immediately back 
into the steam, unable to tell whether I was freezing cold or feverishly 
hot. We repeated this procedure twice before taking a mid-session 
breather in the changing-room, where Yury sorted out the knots in my 
back as I watched others swigging beer and chewing vobla, dried fish 
which replenishes lost salt. 

Aside from the fundamental process of getting clean, there are numerous 
other practices that surround the ritual of the banya. Tossing 
eucalyptus- or mint-infused water on the hot stones is fairly common, 
but beer instead of water produces a wonderful smell of fresh bread. 
Russians will often weigh themselves on the scales before and after 
washing to see how those extra pounds have evaporated. The last act of 
all is a vigorous head-to-toe scrubbing, and one of the more bizarre 
sights of the banya is that of ghostly-white, soap-caked figures wafting 
in and out of the showers. 

ON THE women's side - public banyas are strictly segregated, although 
private banyas allow coed groups - the ritual is no less regimented and 
tradition-bound, but the rough and grunting men's regime is rumored to 
give way to overbearing mistresses of steam smothering their bodies in 
honey.

To the uninitiated, the banya conjures up visions of another of Dante's 
circles of Hell, reserved for those who in life have been particularly 
careless about personal hygiene. But far from being an exceptionally 
damp version of Hades, is in fact a place of pleasure. Glance around the 
changing room and you will see looks of anticipation on the faces of 
those who have just arrived, or of deep contentment on reddened faces of 
those who have finished and who are now perhaps absorbed in a game of 
chess. It is a place where the pulse slows down, where no one is in a 
hurry to leave and lose the glowing feeling of well-being that has been 
painstakingly acquired over the past couple of hours. 

There are around 70 public bathhouses in St. Petersburg, with varying 
prices and standards. Most of those listed in the Yellow Pages are good, 
and many have a separate, "luxury" floor which is cleaner and quieter 
but which can cost up to 200 rubles.

But there will always be a market for the standard version, where a 
session of approximately two hours runs 10 to 30 rubles. 

"You come here to talk, forget about life, get things off your chest or 
simply to listen to other people," says Yury. "But many people come for 
the kaif, the 'high' that the banya can bring. When you hear the music 
begin deep inside, you know that the banya has worked its magic." 

*******

#4
Russian communist says US ``drunk sheriff'' in Iraq

MOSCOW, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The leader of Russia's Communist party told
protesters in Moscow on Sunday that the United States was behaving like ``a
drunken sheriff acting as judge, jury and executioner'' in threatening to bomb
Iraq. 
Gennady Zyuganov, leading a march against Kremlin military cutbacks on
the eve
of the 80th anniversary of the creation of the Red Army, warned that Russia
itself could fall victim to the sort of pressure being put on Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein. 
``A scenario is being played out which will be applied to Russia next,''
Zyuganov told a crowd, estimated by police at 30,000, outside the headquarters
of the Soviet-era KGB secret police on Lubyanka Square. 
He did not elaborate but his words reflected a sentiment among his mostly
elderly supporters, nostalgic for Soviet might, that President Boris Yeltsin's
market reforms have left Russia exposed to a potentially hostile and all-
powerful United States. 
``Tomorrow is the day of the Soviet army which won just about everything,''
one old woman at the rally said. ``But now Yeltsin's doing nothing. The West
rules the roost around here.'' 
On Monday, Russia marks Defenders of the Fatherland Day, celebrating the
army
and Russian manhood in general. 
``People are fighting for the Soviet Union, for the power of the
Soviets, that
is why there so many people here,'' said one old man, who said he was a marine
veteran. 
Lev Rokhlin, a former general and parliamentarian who broke with the pro-
government party last year over army reform, told the crowd: `` We should do
our utmost at the end of April, in May to go out on the streets of Russia and
make the regime resign.'' 
Zyuganov's party is the biggest in parliament but he himself failed to beat
Yeltsin at a presidential election in 1996. 
On Friday, parliament threw out the government's latest attempt to pass a
much-delayed 1998 budget. But Zyuganov has preferred to push for a voice for
the communists in government rather than try to force Yeltsin, who wields vast
constitutional powers, into stepping down or sacking the cabinet wholesale. 
Addressing Sunday's rally, Zyuganov ventured a criticism of the ethnic
make-up
of the government, reflecting the populist, Russian nationalist tone of
today's Communist party compared to the international marxism of its Soviet
predecessor. 
``A Russian face is a rarity these days in the leadership, in the
government
and the presidential team,'' Zyuganov said. 
There are senior officials from various of Russia's ethnic minorities.
But in
a country with a history of anti-Semitism the remark seemed clearly aimed at
those, including First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, who are of Jewish
descent. 
Yeltsin, 67, has said he sees the 38-year-old liberal as a potential
successor
when his term ends in the year 2000.

******

#5
Boston Globe
22 February 1998
EDITORIAL 
New views from Davos 

One of the themes of this year's World Economic Summit in Davos, 
Switzerland, was how to manage the rise and fall of great powers - the 
emergence of China and the decline of Russia. For the United States this 
is a particularly delicate problem: Both countries view the last 
remaining superpower with suspicion. 
There are Chinese leaders convinced that the United States is conspiring 
to deprive China of its rightful place in the coming century, to thwart 
its economic potential, to contain its military, even to hinder its 
unity and territorial integrity. 
The only answer is to keep the Chinese engaged, stress areas of 
agreement and cooperation, alleviate Chinese paranoia as to US 
intentions, and bring China into the global system to draw the sting 
from legitimate concerns over human rights, Taiwan, and the survival of 
Tibetan culture. 
If emerging world powers can be nationalistic, touchy, suspicious, and 
prideful of their place in the firmament, declining powers can be even 
more so. Feelings of resentment and the conviction that the United 
States is rubbing Russian noses in their diminished status run high in 
Moscow. 
The power of Russian resentment to act against the interests of the 
United States can be seen in the Iraq crisis. Russia has commercial 
interests in seeing the embargo against Iraq lifted and nationalistic 
interests in becoming a player again in the Middle East. But its 
resistance to the United States exerting power in the region - in 
contrast to Mikhail Gorbachev's Soviet Union in 1991 - seems more 
anti-American than pro-Iraqi. 
Although the differences between Russia and the West over the eastward 
expansion of NATO were papered over, a burning resentment still exists 
over this shortsighted American goal. Who can say how much Russia's 
current anti-Americanism in the Iraq crisis is due to bitterness at 
having an expanded NATO shoved down its throat? 
In the coming century the United States is going to need friendly 
relations with both China and Russia as the one rises and the other 
declines. The United States will have differences and disagreements with 
both, but it is important that these differences are not allowed to gain 
ascendancy over the areas of agreement that are so important to the 
peace and tranquility of the 21st century. 

*******

#6
FOCUS-Russia says G8 helps tackle its job problems
By Brian Killen 

LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Russia came to this weekend's ``Group of Eight''
meeting on employment issues fearing it might not be worth the trip, but left
on Sunday claiming the experience worthwhile. 
As the G8 adopted a seven-point plan for tackling job creation, its
relevance
was not immediately clear for a country with its own peculiar problems and
such scarce resources that it struggles to pay salaries, never mind welfare. 
But Russian Finance Minister Mikhail Zadornov and Labour Minister Oleg
Sysuyev
hailed the meeting as constructive, though they had no great expectations. 
``It has been a very important meeting for us,'' Zadornov told a news
conference at the end of two days of talks between the Group of Seven leading
industrial nations and Russia. 
``At bilateral meetings with finance ministers and labour ministers we
reached
concrete agreement on questions that are important for Russia,'' he said. 
The negotiations covered ``concrete questions of support in the financial
sphere and in development of the labour market in Russia,'' he said, without
elaborating. 
Sysuyev told Reuters that he had been surprised at the response Russia
got to
its position. ``Frankly, I came here fearing that it might turn out to be a
political show, but that didn't happen,'' he said. 
He said the meeting provided valuable experience and showed that Russia was
integrated into the world economy. ``Some people think we are from another
planet. We are not.'' 
While Western ministers grappled with job implications of new technology
and
economic integration, Sysuyev was more concerned about Russia's labour market
running out of control. 
``There is huge hidden employment in Russia which is not controlled by any
laws and needs to become part of the system,'' he said before the meeting
started. ``That is our main problem.'' 
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the problem was exactly
the
opposite -- hidden unemployment. 
The Kremlin's old communist rulers dubbed unemployment a capitalist
economic
phenomenon, while covering up its existence at home by creating positions that
had no market justification and by maintaining huge armed forces. 
Sysuyev said unemployment was falling in Russia's fast-changing economy, in
which 60 percent of workers are now in the largely unregulated private sector.
But he said the trend would not continue this year and the quality of the
workforce had to be improved. 
He said 2.5 million were jobless out of a workforce of 65 million. This is
about half a million less than in 1996. 
``The number of unemployed has fallen for a variety of reasons,'' he said.
These included the lack of resources available to pay unemployment benefit and
tougher legislation governing those eligible for welfare. 
``The Employment Fund which must provide some material support to the
unemployed is in a difficult situation,'' Sysuyev said. 

*******

#7
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 02:55:33 -0800
From: Gary Kern <gkern@ucr.campus.mci.net>
Subject: Lend-Lease Merry-go-round

It appears, after all of our debate about Lend-Lease, that nothing was
decided, no proofs were given and no debate took place. Such, at any
rate, is the starting point for Jeffrey Surovell in #2074. Quite
confidently he asserts that "lend-lease simply did not make all that
much of an impact on the overall course of the war." The facts be
damned! If you cited statistics, estimates and sources in previous
numbers of the JRL, they don't count. Cite them again.
Like one or two others before him, alarmed that some degree of credit
ought to be given for $11 billion in USA aid to the Soviet Union,
generously extended, never repaid and never properly acknowledged,
Surovell reminds us of "the tragic sacrifices of the Soviet people, the
staggering 27 million who died and the extraordinary reestablishment of
industry in the East." All of which amounts to a great big
non-sequitur. The argument is not whether the Soviet people fought,
suffered and died, but whether the aid they received from the USA made a
crucial difference. If you toss a knife to a man fighting a crocodile,
and he loses an arm, bleeds and screams, but nevertheless kills the
beast, you saved his goddamned life. And what a wretch he would be, and
his friends would be, if they denied it.
But Surovell goes further than this. He accuses those affirming the
importance of Lend-Lease of attempting to minimize the Soviet role,
complains that some Lend-Lease goods were not top-notch and finally
declares that "the West's true aim of appeasement of the fascists [was]
to deflect the Germans to the East in the hopes that the Soviets and the
Nazis, locked in bloody combat, would ultimately exhaust each other." 
So actually Lend-Lease, which carried higher priority in Washington than
the War Department, was just window-dressing, a cover for hatred and
evil intentions. Nothing the USA did in the war deserves credit: it
did not withstand a direct Nazi attack, it sent shoddy goods, it opened
the second front too late.
But wait a minute! I think I know the argument that will end this
debate and keep us from running in circles. Lend-Lease products--ham
and eggs, for example--were consumed by the Soviet top brass. They
smoked American tobacco too. So maybe the USA gave Marshal Stalin a
good breakfast now and then, and maybe even a smoke--though I believe he
preferred makhorka. And then with a jolly round tummy and a twinkle in
his eye Uncle Joe went out and won the war.
PS/ That number of 27 million Soviet casualties in WWII. Might it
contain just a few--just a few, not too many!--victims of Gulag?

*******

#8
For more articles from The Moscow Times, check out their website at
www.moscowtimes.ru

Moscow Times
February 21, 1998 
History Puts Soviet Era in Context 
By Jean MacKenzie 

Kievan Rus, the Tatar Yoke, the Window to the West: For decades Western
students of Russian history looked to earlier periods for signs of some
national character flaw or geographical characteristic that would explain
the monstrous, monolithic Soviet State. Now, for the first time, the Soviet
experiment is placed alongside Ivan the Terrible's reign as just another
time of troubles for this rich and complex nation. 

Russia, A History is the first collectively written history, and the first
book to try to place the tumultuous events of the past decade in a broader
historical context. It is an ambitious project, and one that succeeds
brilliantly on some levels, while falling short on others. 

The dust jacket states that "for anyone wishing to understand Russia, this
is the place to begin." But this misrepresents the book's virtues: For
anyone wishing to understand Russia, this is a good place to end up. While
the dry and somewhat perfunctory recounting of facts will give little to
the novice, the intelligent and sophisticated analysis will gratify the
reader who wishes to go beyond the standard texts. 

The first two chapters, which take Russia from its inception as Kievan Rus
to the end of the 16th century, are a bit heavy going. Only the true
enthusiast will appreciate the endless list of princes and battles, as the
Riurikid clan gives way to the Daniilovichi, and invaders from the Swedes
to the Mongols are repulsed. 

But the authors -- Janet Martin on the earlier years, Nancy Shields
Kollmann on Muscovite Russia -- do an admirable job of tracing the
development of Russian national consciousness, as the spread of Orthodoxy
brought Byzantine culture to a formerly pagan land, stimulating art and
trade, and providing a unifying sense of national identity. The section on
15th-century Muscovy is particularly thought-provoking, as Kollmann argues
that what is commonly portrayed as "absolutist" Moscow was extremely
limited in its ability to exercise authority, and, in fact, developed a
flexible and pragmatic approach to dealing with its expanding empire. 

Peter the Great, who took power in 1689 and ruled until his death in 1725,
is credited with making a radical break with Russia's medieval and Asiatic
traditions, dragging her into the modern era. He traveled to the West,
absorbing ideas and techniques, and forced his new found knowledge on a
reluctant populace back home. 

But, as Hans-Joachim Torke demonstrates in his chapter on 17th-century
Russia, the underpinnings for reform were already in place long before
Peter ascended the throne. Western influence was on the rise: War with
Poland from 1632 to 1634 had created a demand for armaments, which Western
merchants and entrepreneurs were flocking in to Russia to satisfy. Peter's
half brother Fyodor, while weak and sickly, had a team of advisers, headed
by Vasily Golitsyn, who were planning an overhaul of the legal and tax
systems. Torke argues that these reforms, which were cut short by Fedor's
death, could easily have reached the scale of Peter's more celebrated
changes. 

Peter's reign has been amply documented elsewhere, as has the rest of 18th-
and early 19th-century history. But the virtues of this book are that it
provides a good overview of the period, along with some novel insights into
the psychology of Russia's tsars. Thus Nicholas I, long considered the most
reactionary of Russia's 19th-century rulers, is seen as a closet reformer,
who spent the bulk of his reign transforming the legal system and laying
the groundwork for the emancipation of the serfs. His son, Alexander II,
while hailed as the "Tsar-Liberator," was, according to Gregory Freeze, a
"highly conservative and a deeply ambivalent reformer," forced into change
by economic and political necessity. 

Fully half of the book is devoted to the 20th century and the scholars have
been able to profit from access to the Kremlin archives, which were
previously closed. Much of this material is skillfully presented, although
certain authors are a bit soft on Stalin. Lewis Siegelbaum for example, in
his chapter "Building Stalinism," takes pains to excuse the dictator of
deliberately precipitating the 1933 famine in Ukraine, an accusation that
has been leveled by many historians. 

Siegelbaum also downplays the scale of the terror, and at least hints that
Nikolai Yezhov, the notorious NKVD commissar, may deserve the lion's share
of the blame. Rather than Stalin's ruthless elimination of opponents, he
argues, the early terror may have followed some chaotic logic of its own.
After 1937, "... it is as least as plausible that Yezhov was pursuing his
own agenda, which may -- or may not -- have coincided with Stalin's,"
writes Siegelbaum. 

William Fuller provides a refreshing burst of bile in his chapter on
Stalin's later years, reviling the autocrat for being both a "despotic
butcher" and a poor judge of architecture, responsible for "Stalinist
teeth" -- the ghastly skyscrapers that blighted the Moscow skyline after
the war." Fuller's readable, natural prose is one of the highlights of the
book, as well as his fair and dispassionate assessment of Russia's wartime
heroism. 

The final chapter on Mikhail Gorbachev and the post-Soviet period, is a bit
of a letdown. This is, in many ways, inevitable, since the events of these
years will be known to many readers on a much deeper and more personal
level than a book like this allows. People who stood at the White House in
the August rain of 1991, or who held vigil over the fires of October 1993,
will be uncomfortable with Martin McCauley's fairly cursory treatment of
the events. For students in the next century, it may be a valuable tool,
but after I finished McCauley I went running for "Lenin's Tomb," David
Remnick's brilliant, if less scholarly, account. 

"Russia, A History," is a lovely book, beautifully formatted and with
dozens of well-chosen, eloquent photos. It also has a valuable chronology
and an extensive bibliography, as well as maps of Russia at various points
in her history. There are, however, some irritating oversights and
typographical errors. Some photographs are undated, or inserted into the
wrong chapters, such as the shots from the August coup placed inexplicably
in the World War II section. 

"Russia, A History," is unlikely to replace standard texts such as Nicholas
Riasanovsky's "A History of Russia," but it is certain to become a valuable
resource for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of this nation's
troubled history. 

"Russia, A History" edited by Gregory L. Freeze. Oxford University Press,
478 pages, pounds 25 or $40. 

********

#9
President Wants Common Sense, Realistic Budget 
Reuters
23 February 1998

MOSCOW -- Russian President Boris Yeltsin said on Monday he hoped the
opposition-led parliament would be sensible and pass a realistic budget for
this year. 
"I believe that common sense will prevail," Yeltsin told reporters. "I
would like to have a realistic budget. Why should we deceive the people?" 
Yeltsin was speaking at wreath-laying ceremony at the Kremlin war
memorial, marking Defenders of the Fatherland Day, a holiday celebrating
the Russian armed forces. 
On Friday, the State Duma left the 1998 draft budget's future unclear.
Deputies first rejected the changes to the 1998 draft sought by the
reformist government and then failed to pass their own version of the bill. 
Yeltsin interfered personally last year to help the draft pass one of
its readings in the Duma, where the communists and their allies have a
majority. The Duma was considering the budget on Friday on a fourth
reading, usually nothing more than a formality. 
But in his state of the nation address on Tuesday, Yeltsin suddenly said
the Duma must approve a series of amendments because turmoil on world
financial markets had changed the financial situation. 
The Duma threw out the amendments proposed by the government one by one
on Friday, including a key proposal to cut budgeted expenditures by 27.9
billion rubles ($4.7 billion). 
The Cabinet had said it could not accept the planned expenditure unless
a corresponding 27.5 billion ruble increase in revenues to cover it
actually materialized. 
But when it came to voting on the final version of the draft,
effectively the one the Duma had approved on the third reading, deputies
failed to muster enough votes to pass it. 
Only 187 deputies voted for the draft, well short of the required 226
majority in the 450-member chamber. Eighty deputies rejected it and one
abstained. 
Many, including members of the pro-government Our Home Is Russia (NDR)
movement and those from the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party led
by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, did not take part in the ballot, though for
different reasons. 
The NDR did not want to back what they called an unrealistic bill while
Zhirinovsky said he wanted top national leaders to be present in the chamber. 
Duma speaker Gennady Seleznyov, who represents the Communists, the
biggest group in the Duma, used the opportunity to slam the government. He
told reporters Yeltsin should dismiss the government after Feb. 26, when it
is due to give an account to the president of its 1997 record. 
The Duma debate followed a day after International Monetary Fund
managing director Michel Camdessus said budget and tax policies were vital
to the economic program for 1998 he agreed with Prime Minister Victor
Chernomyrdin as a condition for IMF loans. 
Finance Minister Mikhail Zadornov has said Yeltsin is likely to veto any
budget that does not include the Cabinet amendments. 
Zadornov said on Saturday he hoped for a compromise. 
"The next step will be on the fourth of March, when there will be new
discussions on the government amendments," he said in London. "We hope our
suggestions will be partly adopted and there will be a compromise." 
"We think the situation on the Russian and world securities markets
makes it necessary for the government to toughen its budget policy," he
said. "We need an absolutely reliable and fulfillable budget." 
Chernomyrdin, speaking in Moscow and quoted by Russian news agencies,
expressed his "disappointment and concern" on Saturday but added that he
also hoped to strike a deal and get the budget through. 
"I maintain hope in continuing dialogue with the deputies and in the
possibility of finding a sensible compromise on the essence of the
government amendments," he said. 
"There's no point in knowingly taking on financial obligations you
cannot fulfill and misleading not so much the deputies as the real
recipients of budgetary funds, who would not be able to receive the
expected funds." 
Yeltsin struck a similar line on Monday. 
"Without the budget we will not have the money to pay the wages, he
said. "We need to have a realistic budget and fulfill it from the first
quarter."

********

#10
Moscow Times
February 21, 1998 
Address Brezhnev-Style 
By Georgy Bovt 
Georgy Bovt is a staff writer for Segodnya. He contributed this comment to
The Moscow Times. 

Coincidences, like anniversaries, are always symbolic. President Boris
Yeltsin gave his annual state-of-the-nation address to the Federal
Assembly, which includes both houses of parliament, on the 10-year
anniversary of the day he was expelled from the Central Committee Politburo
at the regular forum of the Soviet Communist Party. At that time, the
Politburo was annoyed at the populism of the energetic party apparatchik.
In 1988, it seemed that Yeltsin would not make a comeback. But he not only
recovered; he turned into the indisputable leader of the new, post-Soviet
nomenklatura. 

The president's yearly addresses are reminiscent at times of the Central
Committee reports at party congresses during the so-called period of
stagnation. 

This year's address contained several correct and smoothly formulated
ideas. If the long discussions between Russian officials and the
International Monetary Fund have not taught them how to collect taxes
effectively, then at least they have taught them how to write texts that
make flawless use of economic terminology. 

Who would argue against trying to balance the budget? The call to forbid
the practice of mutual non-cash payments between companies is also
indisputable. Moreover, this demand has already been made during the past
six years. The appeal to pay wages on time is also irreproachable. This
appeal has become an almost eternal theme of Russian politics. This was not
the only thematic repetition in the president's address. Yeltsin has spoken
about the need "to create the potential for economic growth" since 1995. He
has spoken out on how "corruption has penetrated all levels of power" since
1997. He has spoken about curbing crime in general since 1994. His
announced intention to carry out "administrative reform" is not new. "The
year of reform in the army" was declared in 1995. 

People say intense work and even fights for literally every word went into
drafting the presidential address. They say the fund that former
presidential aide Georgy Satarov heads was promised $300,000 "for
development" for the work he did on the address. They say the text of the
address was almost entirely rewritten at the last moment. This reminded me
of the reminiscences I once read of a famous journalist who was once on
General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev's team of speech writers. That team
locked itself up in a government dacha, also argued and often resorted to
senseless apparat intrigues so that some idea that seemed revolutionary
could be put in the general secretary's speech. 

It does not matter that Yeltsin made many banal statements. What matters is
that he is no longer used to speaking so that voters will listen to him.
Voters have no interest in hearing yet again about how the "government
should stop the growth of nonpayments no later than the third quarter of
this year." Russian citizens do not take to heart statements such as "we
should ... use all of our experience, all resources, all energy for growth
in Russia so that ... Russia will always occupy a proper place in the
world." People are already tired of hearing about Russia's proper place. 

Yeltsin didn't bother to talk in detail about the daily lives of people,
and as a result did not say what millions of Russian citizens would have
wanted to hear. Some very simple words andconcrete plans would have carried
far more weight than elusive phrases about "strategic growth." 

U.S. President Bill Clinton, for example, who gave his State of the Union
address about two weeks before Yeltsin, found time to detail plans to put
all the country's schools on the Internet and to create 100,000 new
teaching positions. He said 5,000 new public schools would be built. He
spoke about new programs to retrain the jobless, about the fight against
teenage smoking, about the fight against breast cancer and reform of the
medical insurance system and about how families of four with incomes less
than $35,000 should not have to pay federal taxes. He spoke about the
veteran astronaut John Glenn's flight into space and hiring an additional
100,000 policemen to fight crime. He spoke about the discovery of genes
that cause cystic fibrosis and Parkinson's disease. 

Yeltsin spoke only of the clothing company Vympel's successful entry on the
U.S. market. Many would have preferred to hear about other matters. How
exactly can citizens defend themselves against the arbitrariness of
bureaucratic officials? What concrete thoughts does the president have
about the fight against juvenile drug addiction and alcoholism? How many
schools will be built. What specific tax exemptions will an average family
receive in what cases? Why do the police take bribes and beat up citizens?
How can parents guard their sons against being killed or committing suicide
in the army? Why does Russia tolerate the "state banditry" of Chechnya?
What does Yeltsin know about the bankruptcy of nominally free medical care?
Or about the cost of a liter of donor's blood on the black market (which
officially does not exist)? How much do higher education teachers receive
for giving "favorable" entrance exams. Did the president speak about the
idiocy of the GAI system and bribe-taking by these traffic police? How,
precisely, are the public-utility and housing reforms going to be carried
out? What does he think about charging for local telephone calls by the
minute? 

People say he used to know much more about the everyday lives of people,
and spoke with voters in a language they understood. For this reason, he
was excluded from the highest ranks of the nomenklatura 10 years ago.
Today, the ex-populist appears to head a Brezhnev-like regime. Either he is
already too tired and ill, or he is simply afraid that he will again be
excluded. 

********

#11
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 2, No. 36, Part I, 23 February 1998

ANOTHER GOVERNOR CALLS FOR LEGALIZING PROSTITUTION. Saratov Oblast Governor
Dmitrii Ayatskov has become the second regional leader to advocate
legalizing prostitution in order to combat the spread of AIDS. Ayatskov
told Interfax on 21 February that the Saratov legislature is drafting a
bill that would allow registered brothels. Prostitutes would have to
undergo regular medical examinations, and customers would have to practice
"safe sex," he said. According to Ayatskov, such a law would also increase
the oblast's revenues, since prostitutes would pay taxes "to the regional
budget rather than to pimps." Kaliningrad Oblast Governor Leonid Gorbenko
has advanced a similar proposal, but some analysts say federal crime
legislation would have to be changed before regions could legalize
prostitution (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 September 1997). LB

GOVERNOR WANTS FULL-TIME DEPUTIES IN UPPER HOUSE. Leningrad Oblast Governor
Vadim Gustov argued in an interview with "Rossiiskaya gazeta" on 20
February that the law on forming the Federation Council should be changed.
Under current legislation, the top executive and top legislative officials
from each region become deputies in the Council "ex officio." They work in
the upper house of the federal parliament only two or three days each
month. Gustov argued that the system impedes the Council's legislative
work. He advocated making half the Council members full-time deputies
chosen specially for that job in regional legislative elections. But Gustov
supported retaining the right of leaders of republics and governors of
oblasts, krais, and okrugs to become Council deputies automatically. LB

HEALTH EXPERTS SOUND ALARM ON TUBERCULOSIS. Representatives of
international medical organizations warned on 18 February that shortages of
medicine and improper use of antibiotics are facilitating the spread of
tuberculosis in Russia, especially the drug-resistant form of the disease,
RFE/RL's Moscow bureau reported. New York-based doctor Alexander Goldfarb
told journalists that medical workers and patients often do not understand
that antibiotics must be taken daily for several months, even after
symptoms have disappeared. Goldfarb added that 20 percent of Russian prison
inmates are believed to have drug-resistant tuberculosis. Some 22,000
Russian citizens died of tuberculosis last year, and another 2.2 million
are estimated to have the disease, "Rossiiskaya gazeta" reported on 13
February. The government recently approved an anti-tuberculosis program
calling for 17.5 billion rubles ($2.9 billion) in spending from 1998
through 2004. LB



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