December 2, 1998   
This Date's Issues: 2499• 2500• 

Johnson's Russia List
#2500
2 December 1998
davidjohnson@erols.com

[Note from David Johnson:
1. Christian Science Monitor: Judith Matloff, Out of Siberia, two brothers 
set to challenge Moscow.
2. Interfax: Lebed Predicts Cabinet Changes.
3. Reuters: Russia's Bolshoi begs for cash.
4. Financial Times: RUSSIA: IMF focus on budget deficit 'too narrow.'
5. Reuters: Investors not spooked by crisis -Chernomyrdin.
6. Komsomolskaya Pravda: Aleksandr Gamov, "Who Needs This Yeltsin. Many
People Do -- Primarily Because the President Can Help the Right Wing To Create 
the Bloc of Democratic Forces That Gaydar, Chubays, Kiriyenko, Nemtsov,
Ayatskov, 
Sysuyev, and a Number of Other Politicians Have Spoken About Today."
7. Moscow Times: Starovoitova Allies Snub Anti-Criminal Election List.
8. the eXile: "Save America" Benefit Party and Song.
9. NTV: Yavlinskiy on Gaydar, Chubays Coalition, Anticrime Bloc.
10. Itar-Tass: Nemtsov Wants Chubays To Lead New Political Bloc.
11. AFP: Russia will honour foreign debt ... if IMF helps out: Maslyukov.
12. Reuters: Russia plans to track bureaucrats' assets.]

******

#1
Christian Science Monitor
December 2, 1998 
[for personal use only]
Out of Siberia, two brothers set to challenge Moscow 
By Judith Matloff

MOSCOW -- Last month, two governors from Siberia decided to build a structure
across the Yenisey River, to be called the Bridge of Friendship.
In itself, there was nothing remarkable about the fact - except that the duo
planning this symbol of unity are brothers, and prominent ones at that.
Krasnoyarsk Gov. Alexander Lebed and his younger brother, Alexei, who rules
Khakassia, are political oddities in Russia where party affiliation rather
than family ties traditionally furthered a career.
Unlike in the United States where the Bush and Kennedy families have the air
of dynasties on the political landscape, the notion of a political clan in
Russia is still fairly novel. But the Lebeds, vigorous men in their 40s, are
taken seriously in their regional challenge to Moscow's foundering rule.
"It is the first case in our history where we have two brothers who are
governors," says Vladimir Pribylovsky, president of Panorama Research Center
in Moscow. "We have other brothers in politics but nothing on this level."
Alexander is the more famous of the two, a retired general who ran for
president in 1996 and plans to do so again in 2000. 
Rough-hewn and straight talking, his demeanor is of the military in which he
served. The ex-paratrooper led troops in Afghanistan and quelled ethnic
conflicts, including negotiating the end of Russia's disastrous 1994-96 war
with Chechnya.
Alexander Lebed briefly served as President Boris Yeltsin's national security
chief, until he was sacked for his own political ambitions. 
But that did nothing to dampen his hunger for power. Earlier this year he won
the gubernatorial elections in Krasnoyarsk - an important industrial area
2,100 miles east of Moscow - as a platform from which to launch his current
presidential campaign.

Populist chord

Lebed's doomsday message that the country will descend into anarchy without
strong, even dictatorial, rule strikes a populist chord for nationalists
yearning for lost glory.
"Russia has done it the wrong way, with free-market reforms and democracy at
the same time," he told the Monitor in a recent interview. 
"That's absurd. Democracy came before the country was ready."
Krasnoyarsk, endowed with the world's biggest nickel producer, Norilsk Nickel,
makes up a huge chunk of Russia stretching from the Arctic to the border with
Mongolia. It is situated conveniently next to Khakassia, which Alexei Lebed
has ruled for two years with a touchiness toward Moscow that seems to run in
the family. 
Both men believe there is strength in numbers when taking on the central
government, especially when your political ally is your brother.
"Certainly brotherly relations help administrative matters," says Alexander.
Of the two, the younger Alexei stands to benefit more by the association,
although he helped his brother's campaign with moral and financial support.
Known popularly as Lebed Mladshy - "Younger Lebed" - Alexei is also a more
jovial person, renowned for his jokes, including one that went wrong when he
kidded reporters that he intended to run for president, too.
"I keep telling the journalists, 'It was just a joke, leave me alone.' But
they keep bugging me about it," he complains, bemused that they took him so
seriously. "Of course I support my brother's candidacy."
The brothers also differ in their allegiances to their parents. Alexei on his
identity papers describes himself as Ukrainian like their mother, while
Alexander opted for their father's Russian nationality.

Big ambitions, humble roots

Both brothers attribute their ambitions to a drive to overcome their humble
roots. They were born in Rostov district, in the south, from a lineage of
Cossack soldiers. Their father was a carpenter who fought as a sergeant in
World War II. Their mother worked for the postal service.
"They bred us to do everything ourselves," says Alexander.
Adds Alexei: "Our father taught us to work hard, as he did. Our mother
stressed that we must be self-reliant."
Being in his brother's shadow has become a habit for Lebed Mladshy since they
were in the military. 
Alexei also served in Afghanistan and as a paratrooper commander elsewhere,
but never went beyond the rank of colonel.
"He's very serious. I was a more of a hooligan type of guy," Alexei says.
"I don't find it offensive to be called Lebed Mladshy. People say he is
taller. I say, 'But I'm fatter.' Besides, being his brother has attracted me
media interest."
Alexei Lebed's lesser ambition was evident a couple of years ago when some
Ukrainian politicians approached him about running for president in that
country. He declined, and shrugs off the idea of vying for the job in Russia
too.
"Maybe I'll think the idea over in four or 10 years. But I'm in no hurry now."
These days the brothers mainly meet over work to plot joint projects, such as
the bridge and financial deals. The last notable time they relaxed together
was in August in Krasnoyarsk, when they led rival teams in soccer, volleyball,
and pistol shooting. 
It was not without a competitive fraternal edge.
"We lost the soccer. But we won the shooting and volleyball," says Alexei,
somewhat smugly.

******

#2
Lebed Predicts Cabinet Changes 

MOSCOW, Nov 29 (Interfax) -- Krasnoyarsk governor Aleksandr Lebed said
that several Cabinets will replace one another in Russia before the crisis
becomes a thing of the past.
"The situation is very serious today, so several prime ministers will
have to take extremely unpopular measures after which they will have to
resign," Lebed told Interfax on Sunday.
He said Prime Minister Yevgeniy Primakov is guided by the desire not
to do any harm and is doomed to deal with a mixed government.
In regard to the murder of State Duma Deputy Galina Starovoytova he
said that he did not doubt it was a political murder aimed at upsetting
stability in the country and that it pointed to the weaknesses of the
authorities."Authority must rule in strict accordance with the law, and no one
must be above authority. In this country many people are above authority. 
As long as this problem persists, we shall be doomed to shooting," Lebedsaid.
He said unbridled political terror was also rooted in corruption.
"Obviously, someone needed to set the storehouse on fire to destroy traces
of embezzlement," he said.
He said Starovoytova's murder will not be the last political murder inRussia.
In regard to the newly-established center-right political bloc, he
said that "neither this organization, nor the politicians who are trying to
create it, have a future."
"Gaydar, Chubays and Kiriyenko have absolutely discredited themselves.
Even if they utter the most appropriate words, no one will believe them,"
Lebed said.

*******

#3
Russia's Bolshoi begs for cash
By Peter Graff

MOSCOW, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Russia's legendary Bolshoi Theatre is begging abroad
for cash to finish a $400 million renovation. 
But theatre critics in Moscow say friends of opera and ballet should pay less
attention to the theatre building, and more to the lacklustre repertoire
performed inside. 
``The Bolshoi is not only part of our heritage, but part of the heritage of
the entire world,'' Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matviyenko told a briefing
on Tuesday, announcing a new fundraising programme under the auspices of the
U.N. cultural agency UNESCO. 
Matviyenko's statement is truer than ever today, but in a somewhat alarming
sense. Dozens of the Bolshoi's top performers have left the company, bringing
its world class, century-old tradition of music, drama and dance to cities
around the globe. 
Theatre critics say the company they have left behind is a mess, lacking a
clear voice or a vision of its artistic future. 
Since the mid-1990s, when its Soviet-era artistic director was ousted in a
bitter leadership quarrel, the Bolshoi has done little to vary a repertoire of
stodgy classics. 
Instead, it has unveiled a new Swan Lake ballet and revamped stagings of old
Italian operatic warhorses. 
``They are irrationally exchanging old productions for new versions that are
not any better,'' said Yaroslav Sedov, ballet and opera critic for the weekly
magazine Itogi. 
But builders are now hard at work on a $200 million Bolshoi Theatre complex,
including a filial theatre with a second stage. When that is ready, the main
theatre will be closed so that it can be rebuilt at a cost of another $200
million, Bolshoi director Vladimir Kokonin told Tuesday's briefing. 
The UNESCO project is designed to generate $5-10 million, officials from the
agency said. Mere kopeks compared to the total cost of the project, which is
being funded by the Russian federal budget and the city of Moscow. 
Construction so far has been handled by companies linked to Moscow's powerful
mayor and likely presidential hopeful Yuri Luzhkov, Kokonin said. 
Luzhkov has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars on public works in
the capital. The new Bolshoi joins a towering rebuilt cathedral near the
Moscow river, an underground luxury shopping mall next to Red Square and a
remodelled Tretyakov Gallery of Russian art as monuments to the mayor's
energy. 
Opera and ballet fans probably need not fear that the project will be derailed
by economic woes. In a country that routinely fails to pay wages and pensions
on time and defaulted on some state debts in August, Luzhkov has never yet
failed to secure ample public funding for one of his major pet projects. 
But some have questioned whether the declining Bolshoi deserves such largesse,
or whether $400 million worth of bricks and mortar are what the company needs
to end its malaise. 
``No matter how much money you give, if they do not have cultured heads, it
will all disappear with no improvement,'' said Sedov. ``The leadership has no
creative plan.'' 
The Bolshoi's traditional rival, St Petersburg's Kirov or Mariinsky Theatre,
despite some troubles of its own, has shown what can be done with a world
renowned artistic troupe, winning international acclaim for recent tours and
mounting fresh productions with consistent, top-notch performances. 
``(Kirov director Valery) Gergiyev and his aides are more contemporary people,
a new generation. That could be an example for the Bolshoi,'' said Sedov. 
Moscow also has a number of critically acclaimed smaller operas and ballets,
one of which, the Novaya Opera, also has a new home built by Luzhkov. 
But none could easily take the place of the Bolshoi, with its deeply-rooted
traditions of training and technique. 
For now, theatregoers will have to hope the splendid building will again host
the performances it deserves. The talent, said Sedov, remains. 
``We have excellent performers, but they lack productions in which to
perform.'' 

*******

#4
Financial Times
2 December 1998
[for personal use only]
RUSSIA: IMF focus on budget deficit 'too narrow'
By Andrew Jack and Carlotta Gall in Moscow and Stephen Fidler in Washington

Michel Camdessus, International Monetary Fund managing director, arrived in
Moscow yesterday for talks with the Russian government - its largest borrower.
But his arrival failed to raise hopes that a way would be found to revive a
$22.6bn IMF programme that collapsed in August.
Mr Camdessus's arrival came in the wake of an IMF-sponsored private seminar in
Washington, which discussed steps that should be taken to deal with the
country's steep economic decline.
"I came to get better acquainted with the prime minister and, I presume, to
have an interesting conversation with him," Mr Camdessus said in brief
comments to reporters at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.
Stanley Fischer, the IMF first deputy managing director, described Monday's
discussions as "frank and extremely wide-ranging". In a statement, he said IMF
management and staff found the exchange of views "extremely useful in its
ongoing effort to develop its policy advice to the Russian authorities".
Other participants at the discussions, some of whom preferred not to be named,
said it was not clear whether the Fund could take away from the seminar
discussion any useful operational guidance on how to advance its discussions
with Moscow.
Peter Reddaway, a professor of politics at George Washington University, said
representatives from the international financial institutions "gave the
impression that they did understand better now than before the important role
that politics plays".
Some speakers said they believed the IMF's focus on the budget deficit was too
narrow, and ways needed to be found to encourage the economy to grow. But
others felt that the budget was indeed the key, and that the government needed
to improve tax collection or cut spending or both.
It was acknowledged by some at the meeting that the IMF faced a severe dilemma
because of the sheer volume of debt Russia now owed to it. Russia owes some
$19.1bn as at the end of October and without further IMF help its already
severe debt problems are likely to increase further.
Mr Camdessus is scheduled to meet Yevgeny Primakov, the prime minister, and
other officials in a series of talks ending today, as Russia continues to call
for extra assistance to help close a budget deficit which one government
official estimated could reach Rbs100bn ($5.6bn).
Oleg Sysuyev, President Boris Yeltsin's deputy chief of staff, said yesterday
that it was unlikely the 1998 budget would be approved before the end of this
year. 

******

#5
Investors not spooked by crisis -Chernomyrdin

THE HAGUE, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Foreign investors in Russia have wisely not
allowed themselves to be scared off by the current economic turmoil, Russia's
former prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin said on Tuesday. 
"Your companies, Dutch companies, big companies ... are working in our country
and they are not planning to leave. That is a good sign," Chernomyrdin told a
news conference. 
Chernomyrdin, in the Netherlands to speak at an international "Global Panel"
seminar, said he had met with representatives from Shell <SHEL.L><RD.AS> and
50 percent Dutch state-owned gas distributor Gasunie<RD.AS><XON.N>. 
These companies' Russian projects were on schedule, he said, adding that
future developments also seemed positive. 
While Russia had lurched from crisis to crisis since August (when state
finances collapsed), it had the potential to recover, Chernomyrdin said. 
"I can't make the situation seem better. But I think that in Russia we have
every possibility to overcome the crisis," he said. 
International credits extended to Russia should be working loans, he said. For
its part, Russia should provide favourable conditions for foreign investment. 
He said the country's problems would be easier to solve once the Duma
parliamentary lower house had passed next year's budget. 
Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov was to meet with International
Monetary Fund (IMF) Director Michel Camdessus on Tuesday to discuss his budget
plans, which are set to be presented to the Duma later this week. 
Angrily brushing aside suggestions the Russian economy was in chaos,
Chernomyrdin said "Those who would like to work on the Russian market today
will definitely win in the future because our country is an attractive
market." 

*******

#6
Ailing Yeltsin's Political Role Eyed 

Komsomolskaya Pravda 
November 28, 1998
[translation for personal use only]
Report by Aleksandr Gamov: "Who Needs This Yeltsin. Many
People Do -- Primarily Because the President Can Help the Right
Wing To Create the Bloc of Democratic Forces That Gaydar, Chubays,
Kiriyenko, Nemtsov, Ayatskov, Sysuyev, and a Number of Other
Politicians Have Spoken About Today"

Tomorrow it is exactly a week since Boris Yeltsin went back to the
Central Clinical Hospital again. This time the president's illness,
seemingly tranquil and routine, coincided with a terrible event in Russia's
life -- the assassination of Galina Starovoytova.
This has been compared to the burning down of the Reichstag, or
Kirov's death.... But in its tragic intensity, it is in itself an EVENT
whose crucial nature we may not have fully become aware of yet.
After all that has happened, it is not only the democrats who are
sobering up and suddenly vying with each other to shout about the new
chance for unification. This unexpected death is forcing people to look
anew at the sick head of state, at what he has started, but never
completed, and at those shouting the slogan "Yeltsin should retire!" from
the rooftops. And at a great deal else besides.

What Is the Kremlin Hiding?

When Yeltsin was hospitalized, his press service, like an avid
physician, started giving the people "antibiotics," saying that the
president has simple pneumonia, and his temperature is only 38.9 and even
that has been brought down straight away. All in all, Boris Nikolayevich
is getting better, yet again.
None of Yeltsin's aides has bothered yet to explain to people that the
president is not a "television mummy," as newspapers like Zavtra are
writing, but a living person, and that he is really distressed again.
No, not for himself -- otherwise he would not be in a hurry to go to
the Kremlin in the mornings, and he would not look with a harassed glance
at the people around him in gauze masks who are prepared to do their utmost
for him. He really feels keenly everything that is going on around the
Kremlin today and on its near and more distant approaches.
We have never been told what Yeltsin, clothed in hospital pajamas,
does with his time. Evidently the Kremlin is sure that we will not believe
it anyway.... But we have perfectly accurate information about how the
daily presidential schedule is formed nowadays.
Yes, because of his poor state of health, Boris Nikolayevich has now
been forced to give up his usual early starts: He gets up at 0800 instead
of 0600. Medical procedures go on from 0900 until 1100. And then it is
"presidential time" until 1500: documents, telephone conversations,
meetings with Presidential Staff head Yumashev, documents again...
A few days ago I asked a high-ranking Kremlin official: Have a lot of
documents that have not been read by Yeltsin built up in the time of the
president's sick leave, and how often is his famous facsimile used
nowadays? The official, whom it is hard to suspect of lying, virtually
held me up to ridicule. "Everything that Yeltsin is supposed to read and
endorse, he reads and endorses himself. And, as before, the rubber stamp
is used only in 'signing' greetings messages."
Every morning he is brought a press digest, which includes the most
important articles. The latest issues of all the dailies are laid out
neatly on the table. True, until the day before yesterday, there was no
television in the ward (did the doctors ban it?), but now the entire
information nightmare, which even perfectly healthy readers and viewers are
unable to digest, is being heaped on the sickly leader by the "small
screen" along with the print media.
So if someone is wondering whether Yeltsin is acquainted with the
latest party theses of Comrade Zyuganov "on the drunken
president-alcoholic," I can confirm: He has heard this with his own ears. 
And even shrugged it off, so they say. Because following his heart
operation, which he came through two years ago, the hobby of his hectic
youth, and of his equally hectic adulthood, no longer captivates him. This
information, actually "not for the press," was given to me by a man whom I
have no reason not to trust.

How Can the President Be Wounded? 

To be honest, the notorious "not for..." prelude, which often sneaks
into conversations with residents of the Kremlin, is most infuriating. Is
it not the original cause of the fact that the head of state, who is on
sick leave, disappears from the information field for two or three days? 
He is talked about and berated by absolutely everyone from Communist
Ilyukhin to... the author of this very article. But the Kremlin keeps mum.
When Boris Nikolayevich fell ill that Sunday, the foreign mass media
started discussing from all angles the "vital subject" of what will happen
to Russia if.... By and large, it is clear what they are talking about. 
Why should Mironov, general director of the president's medical center, not
appear on the television and not admit sincerely what he is saying to
"small groups of people in the Kremlin"?
Reports from there are as follows. Yes, Yeltsin can better be
described as alive than healthy. No, he is not what he was in 1995. But
he is not as bad as he was at the beginning of 1997, when, two months after
his operation, he picked up the same pneumonia as now. Many doctors in the
medical center agree that the president's state of health today is at the
same level as in summer 1997, when he had completed his rehabilitation
period and was living a full life for his age. Of course, the pneumonia
spoilt things. But by and large...
While Yeltsin's temperature is being brought down in the Central
Clinical Hospital, the Russian political thermometer is going off the
scale. Power is being divided up. The legs of the presidential chair are
already being sawed off, the armrests are being removed, and the back is
being dismantled. No doubt only a stool will remain in the Kremlin soon,
which will be too uncomfortable to sit on for long.
I often think: Why has the Kremlin suddenly become unsteady? And I
find a whole load of evidence that the president's entourage is adding fuel
to the fire. Not without the help of our comrade journalists.
Of course we have really gone for it. We have even "found" castles
abroad belonging to the presidential family. The Kremlin has swallowed
even this -- no one has been able to bring bring themselves to say clearly
whether all this is true. Or whether it is disinformation of the first
water.
If you believe the mass media, this is the third year that the
presidential family has been dependent on the all-powerful Berezovskiy for
support. And all in all the country is being ruled by none other than
Boris Abramovich. But even the Kremlin cleaners know that this is a myth
made up and kept up by Berezovskiy himself. But not a single clerk of
Yeltsin's has ever said this openly.
According to our information, Berezovskiy really is "doing a bit of
work on the side" in the group of analysts in the President's Staff. But
his influence on decisionmaking is not as strong as he himself thinks. 
Since 1996 he has had only one meeting with the president. He sees Chief
of Staff Yumashev no more than once a month. And he sees image consultant
Dyachenko even more rarely.
There are persistent rumors in the newspapers that Yeltsin has untold
wealth in foreign bank accounts. It is this money that pays for the
president's grandson's education in London. Not long ago Naina Iosifovna
admitted to a small group of people why Boris junior was really sent
abroad: "The boy was being harassed, he could not live normally because of
the journalists."
As for Yeltsin's well-being, his material well-being, obviously.... 
Not long ago, it is said, the Family made some calculations and put their
heads in their hands: The royalties which Boris Nikolayevich earned from
his book "View From the Kremlin" are only sufficient for his grandson's
education in London until 2000. And then Yeltsin and his household will
find themselves high and dry. And once he retires, he will most likely go
down in the Guinness Book of Records as the poorest ex-president in the
world.
Why is it only in the president's inner circle that people talk about
all of this? Do they really not understand that it is precisely this false
modesty that is provoking the newspaper rumors?
The following joke went around during Gorbachev's perestroyka: What
do a fly and a minister have in common? Answer: They can both be swatted
by the same newspaper.
Today the president can be wounded by one line in a newspaper. Only
who would benefit from that?

What Is the "Yumashev Regime"? 

...The doctors are also saying, and the Kremlin administrators know
about this, that when he recovers, if Yeltsin's work schedule stays about
the same as it was before his hospitalization in the Central Clinical
Hospital, that is, three or four trips to the Kremlin a week, three or four
long meetings maximum, plus work on documents in Gorki-9, Boris
Nikolayevich has quite enough physical resources to safely see in 2000 and
work up to the new presidential election.
It is precisely on this forecast that the concept of the
redistribution of powers is being based, or more precisely, the
redistribution of the duties of the head of state between the Kremlin and
the White House. It is already visible to the naked eye that many purely
economic matters are being shifted from Yeltsin's shoulders to Primakov's. 
That is, Boris Nikolayevich will not now go and visit Voronezh or somewhere
to dismiss the director of a meat combine just because sausage is on the
market at market prices.
People say that for Boris Nikolayevich himself, a great fan of
reprimanding government officials, this system of the "transfer of power"
is a severe ordeal. Sometimes, looking through the schedule of meetings,
he gets indignant: What about the vice premier for social questions? 
People drive it home to him patiently: It is enough for you to meet the
premier once a week.
What else will the president do in his "spare time"? It turns out
that he will be involved in something he should have been dealing with
anyway but did not have the time or the energy for -- politics! And
specifically, hatching constitutional reform.
What is it all about? According to information that has leaked out of
Kremlin corridors, the main task that Boris Nikolayevich and his team are
setting themselves today is preventing the opposition from rocking the
executive hierarchy and taking it piece by piece into the parliamentary
corridors. That is, Yeltsin believes that the country should remain a
presidential republic. If the Duma assumes power in Russia -- the events of
October 1993 will seem like childish games....
Will it prove possible to carry out these plans? It is hard to say. 
Russia is turning "redder" with each passing day. But the guarantor of the
Constitution has a trump card, which, strange as it may seem, has been
given to him by his current physical state. He is not preparing the new
Constitutional draft to suit himself, and that strengthens his position
considerably.
Nor can the presidential team be ignored; it is still a
well-coordinated collective of robust professionals. Think of the value of
courtier Yumashev alone. And take lawyer Orekhov. And Sysuyev and
Savostyanov know a thing or two, too.
As far as I am aware, Yeltsin's co-authors of the new Basic Law do not
intend to withdraw into the Kremlin shell and are already conducting active
talks with certain opponents. And, as we know, the opposition includes
quite a lot of democrats -- which is in fact the main paradox of Russian
political life. Literally yesterday an encouraging piece of news came out
of the Kremlin: The President's Staff will actively promote the creation of
an association of right-wing parties.
Stranger things have happened: Maybe communal plowing of the
constitutional field will become the unifying factor that the uncoordinated
democrats are busy trying to find with such difficulty at the moment.
It appears that the ailing Yeltsin has finally gotten down in earnest
to one more extremely important matter, which, because of his ambitious and
power-hungry character, he never had time for: seeking a successor for the
presidency. People are saying that Boris Nikolayevich has already found
him in Primakov. And in the [President's] Staff people are already saying
seriously that they intend to prepare him for the presidential election. 
But declarations alone are clearly insufficient. How can it be ensured
that the premier does not burn himself out with economic work, as has
already happened to many potential contenders for the Number One post?
...Those who have observed the president in the past few days in the
Central Clinical Hospital say that Boris Nikolayevich has become
particularly pensive, taciturn, and is frequently lost in thought. Well,
you can empathize with that. The cause to which he has devoted the past
years of his and our lives remains incomplete. That is the reason why he
is suffering from terrible stress at the moment. Maybe that is why he is
depressed so often.
Someone close to the president let the following remark drop a few
days ago: "Yeltsin is the same as he was in 1989. It is we who have
changed." I have not seen the president in the flesh for about a year. 
But each time I catch his grave look on television, I try to work out
whether he still has his previous will. Does he have the strength of
character to overcome his physical and psychological ailments? Will he
have enough strength to keep a tight rein on Russia, which is rearing up?
If the answer is yes, then maybe everything will yet turn out all
right for us....

*******

#7
Moscow Times
December 2, 1998 
Starovoitova Allies Snub Anti-Criminal Election List 

ST. PETERSBURG -- With days to go before this city's key local elections,
democratic politicians unveiled a united front to squeeze out candidates with
underworld links, but allies of slain State Duma Deputy Galina Starovoitova
snubbed the initiative. 
The elections to St. Petersburg's legislative assembly are seen as a bell-
wether for forthcoming national elections. But the poll has been characterized
by division among liberal parties, violence and dirty tricks. 
Local Yabloko leader Mikhail Amosov and Vitaly Sichov, who heads the electoral
bloc Soglasiye, announced Monday the formation of a "Civic Anti-Criminal List"
comprising 70 candidates across the 50 electoral districts. 
Almost as soon as the list was announced, Starovoitova's local allies
denounced it. "We are not associated with that list," said Sergei Alexeyev, a
leading member of the local branch of Starovoitova's Democratic Russia party. 
"The leadership of Soglasiye, particularly Sichov, who had bad relations with
Galina Vasilyevna in recent times, is now trying to exploit the tragedy of her
death," said Viktor Krivulin, co-chairman of the local party. 
Meanwhile, as Sunday's polling day approaches, the dirty tricks that have been
the hallmark of the campaign are only intensifying. 
Incumbent Leonid Romankov has sent a complaint to the city's election
committee alleging that supporters of competing candidates are offering
residents money to vote for Romankov in an effort to compromise his name. 
In other districts, incidents of flat-out vote buying and intimidation have
been reported in which canvassers go door to door asking people to sign a
"contract" to vote for specific candidates in exchange for 70 rubles ($4). 

*******

#8
From: "Mark Ames" <exile.editor@matrix.ru>
Subject: "Save America" Benefit Party and Song
Date: Wed, 2 Dec 1998

I wanted to send you this press release for something we've helped put
together. All Johnson List readers who are in Moscow this Friday are
invited to the "Save America" party (details below). As zany as it may
sound, it's really happening. To prove it, we'll upload the realaudio file
of the Bandit-Aid song we've done onto our web site when the song is done,
and I'll be bringing a copy of the song and video with me to America next
week to shamelessly push it. 
Mark Ames
Editor
the eXile

PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE
SAVE AMERICA!
Russian Celebrities, Moscow Expats Sing Charity Song For Washington DC
Press Release

Recently, The United States announced that it was offering Russia a $600
million "food aid" package. This "food aid" package really touched the
heartstrings of scores of Muscovites, who have banded together to follow
this great example. What example is that? The example of sending a country
exactly what it doesn't need, and making them pay for it, then calling it
all "aid."
In the past week, several Russian celebrities and leading expatriate
figures gathered together to form "Bandit-Aid". Bandit Aid recorded a
charity song last weekend for the poor, suffering masses of Washington
DC-one of the West's poorest, most crime-infested cities and, incidentally,
the capital of America. The tune is based on the Band-Aid song "Let Them
Know It's Christmastime (Feed The World)." The new improved Bandit-Aid
version, meanwhile, is called "Let Them Know It's Christmas Time (Send Them
Crack)." As everyone knows, more crack is just about the last thing
Washington needs-sort of like a $600 million loan, more corruption, and
wasted food is the last thing Russia needs. And that's exactly why we want
to send crack to Washington.
Bandit-Aid will be holding a "Save America" Charity Party on Friday,
December 4th, 9pm, at Mesto Vstrechi ("Meeting Point"), Maly Gnezdnikovsky
pereulok, dom 9. All invitees must bring something quintessentially
Russian-Belomorkanal papirosy, novelty Matryoshka dolls depicting Clinton
and Lewinsky, pickles, vodka, etc.-to be donated to Washington DC. The
goods will then be hand-delivered by eXile editor Mark Ames when he visits
Washington DC next week.
The Bandit-Aid song "Send Them Crack" will be premiered on Serebranny
Dozhd' radio station on Friday morning, December 4th, during DJ Alexander
Gordon's morning show (around 9am). A video to accompany "Send Them Crack"
will be shot this coming weekend. All proceeds will in theory go to the
"Save America" fund, although in actual fact any money collected will
mysteriously disappear in some brazenly corrupt manner.
Among those singing the English-language song are Tutta Larsen, MTV's
hippest VJ and lead singer of Thaivox; Russian alternative/hip-hop star
Delfin, whose videos are regularly featured on MTV; Edward Limonov, writer
and leader of the National-Bolshevik Party; Alina Vitukhnovskaya, an
internationally famous poet who was jailed for two years on false drug
charges and was acquitted and released in May after a vigorous campaign led
by PEN, Helsinki Watch, and Amnesty International; Dasha Davydova of the
rock group Pled; Mark Schleifer of Detsky Panadol; and an assortment of
motley eXholes, including eXile editors Matt Taibbi, Mark Ames, and Krazy
Kevin McKulik; controversial entrepreneur/man-about-town Michael Bass,
African students Nkem and Adik, American Video CEO Bobby Brown, Fanza
restaurant director Mr. S. B. Karki; and two anonymous skinheads,
"Toothless" Andrei and comrade. The backing track is a cheesy karaoke
version of "Feed The World" downloaded from the internet as a MIDI file.
The song was recorded entirely at EOE Studios, produced by musician Nick
Hodgkins (a British expatriate who produces electronic music), along with
engineers DJ Notkin and DJ Mile, a pair of Zhukovksaya natives.
To contact Bandit-Aid or for more information, call
Mark Ames, the eXile: 267-4159; 261-7146
Vlad Kousarev, the eXile: see above, or pager 974-6000, #213564
Alexei Sokolov, Director, Mesto Vstrechi restaurant: 229-2373
Alexei Vinogradov, Manager, Delfin: 122-8616; 790-4666 (mobile)
Michael Bass, Publisher, Metropolitan: 737-9393

"Let Them Know It's Christmas Time (Send Them Crack)"
By Bandit-Aid

It's Christmas time, there's reason to be afraid
At Christmas time, our banks are closed and we won't get paid
But in our world of crisis we rejoice in misery
Cuz we'd rather be in Russia than DC 

But say a prayer, pray for Americans
At Christmas time, they're fat and they're buying guns
Where a cop's outside your window and he's planting evidence
And the only blood that's flowing can't be used in your defense
And the AK shots that ring out mean your posse's just been iced
Well tonight thank God there's crack inside your pipe!

But there won't be crack in Washington this Christmas time
The greatest gift is 20 years to life
(Oooh) where there's nothing left to steal
And they've got no rock to deal
Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

(Here's to you) Write to your gay congressman
(Hear him squeal) As he clutches his bleeding bum
Does he know it's Christmas time at all?

Send them crack
Send them crack
Send them crack
Let them know it's Christmas time again.

Send them crack
Let them know it's Christmas time again.

******

#9
Yavlinskiy on Gaydar, Chubays Coalition, Anticrime Bloc

NTV
November 29, 1998
[translation for personal use only]
In its "Itogi Night Conversation" program, Moscow NTV carries a live
28-minute interview with Yabloko movement leader Grigoriy Yavlinskiy by
announcer Yevgeniy Kiselev.

Yavlinskiy restates that his movement will not join the electoral
coalition being set up by right-wing reformers Yegor Gaydar and Anatoliy
Chubays, and explains his reasons.
"For six years, they had a chance to carry out reforms, a chance our
country may never have again, and they stupidly let it slip. Reform has
become a dirty word," he says. "Since they chose to become servants to the
elite [nomenklatura], they should have realized that serving the elite is a
difficult job. Since they wanted to carry out reforms as perpetrators of
the will of the elite, in order to make life comfortable for it, deviations
were inevitable. After all, they had, until recently, not taken any
political stand with regard to the elite. Generally speaking, however, the
reason why the reforms failed was different," he continues. "They thought
it did not matter where the capital had come from. They thought it did not
matter how the privatization was carried out. They thought corruption
could serve democracy. They thought anything could be done for the sake of
democracy, such as adopting this constitution of ours, and everything would
still be all right. For some reason they thought, and still think, that
those democrats who believe people must not steal could unite with those
democrats who believe people may steal."
Yavlinskiy criticizes former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, whom
he describes as his "old friend and comrade," for acting as a spokesman for
the "political circus" led by Gaydar and Chubays.
Yavlinskiy says he wishes success to another leading liberal, Sergey
Kiriyenko, in his attempts to set up another party "to defend the values of
liberty, human rights, and the market economy--the same values that Yabloko
defends." He warns, however, that if Kiriyenko's party garners less than
five percent of the vote in the next parliamentary election, those who
voted for him will not be represented in the State Duma.
Speaking about elections to the St. Petersburg legislative assembly,
Yavlinskiy explains that the aim of the anticrime agreement signed by
Yabloko and the Accord bloc, incorporating Russia's Democratic Choice and
Democratic Russia is to prevent suspected criminals being elected. He said
the joint list of the anticrime bloc will be published on 30 November,
adding, "There are 69 people on the list, including 30 from Yabloko, 27
from Accord, and 12 others." In 26 of the 50 constituencies, the bloc is
to name one joint candidate, in another 20 it will support two nominees.
"On the basis of the St. Petersburg election, possibly immediately after
this election, we want to put forward an open charter, appealing to all
honest people to really unite against the things that can bring about a
complete collapse of our society and our country--I mean corruption,
banditry, nationalism, and the authorities' indifference," Yavlinskiy adds.
Yavlinskiy also speaks about the government's recent pronouncements on
taxes, saying he does not see them as representing "a coherent tax policy,"
and outlines his own views on taxation.

******

#10
Nemtsov Wants Chubays To Lead New Political Bloc 

Moscow, Nov 28 (Itar-Tass) -- Former vice-premier Boris Nemtsov said
that the centre-right coalition should be led by Anatoliy Chubays, head of
the United Energy System of Russia.
In an interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station broadcast live on
Saturday [28 November], Nemtsov said that Chubays is "the best and most
organised administrator and as an orator he is not worse than any of us."
Nemtsov stressed that he intends to persuade Chubays to accept his
proposal, "although he was not delighted."
At the same time, Nemtsov said he himself is ready to become the
leader of the centre-right bloc if voters support his candidacy.
H e believes that legislative elections to be held in St. Petersburg on
December 6 "can set an example for the rest of Russia" in terms of
consolidation of centre-right forces.
N emtsov did not rule out that the centre-right bloc, which is now
being created, may consolidate with the movements Our Home Is Russia,
Otechestvo (Fatherland) and Yabloko.
He stressed that the new bloc will advocate a "market economy,
democracy and order. These are its fundamental principles."

*******

#11
Russia will honour foreign debt ... if IMF helps out: Maslyukov

MOSCOW, Dec 2 (AFP) - Russia will honour all its foreign debt as a matter of
national pride but support from the International Monetary Fund would go a
long way to helping it meet its commitments, First Deputy Premier Yury
Maslyukov said on Wednesday.
Speaking in the Federation Council upper house of parliament before talks
with visiting IMF chief Michel Camdessus, Maslyukov said that Moscow would
not unilaterally write off any of its foreign debt, which amounts to up to
170 billion dollars according to some estimates.
The debt subdivides into obligations of the former Soviet Union which
Russia has already restructured, and new borrowing instruments which it has
issued since 1991 as an independent state.
"We will not throw out any of the obligations of the former Soviet Union
and Russia," Maslyukov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying. "All
of them will be met since that is amatter of prestige to our state."
Russia has warned that without IMF help it will not be able to pay back
all of some 17.5 billion dollars in foreign debt which matures next year.
But although Camdessus is in town for talks with government ministers,
officials are not expecting any fresh IMF funding soon.
Maslyukov called on the Fund to release about eight billion dollars
pledged to Russia's previous government for 1998 but frozen after the
economy collapsed in August with a ruble devaluation and debt default.
"With such money we could do a lot, particularly now that the ruble has
collapsed," Maslyukov said. "For this we need professionalism. We must
conduct talks with Michel Camdessus and work out terms for securing soft
credits."
The economics chief also urged parliament to speed through a crucial 1999
budget which Maslyukov said would be "very tough". He said the bill, which
provides for a narrow budget deficit, would be ready for deputies to
consider on December 10.
"We're going through a highly dramatic moment in our history," Maslyukov
told lawmakers.
"The fate of many generations of Russian citizens will be decided in the
next few months," he added. "It will be decided whether Russian citizens
will deal with modern computers and receive an average European wage, or
operate obsolete machine tools for a subsistence minimum." 

*******

#12
Russia plans to track bureaucrats' assets

MOSCOW, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Russia's lower house of parliament on Wednesday
approved a measure requiring citizens to declare their assets before
starting government service in a move aimed at fighting corruption. 
Corruption is widespread throughout the Russian government and despite
occasional pledges by the president or police, law enforcement has made
little progress in recent years in punishing corrupt officials. 
Under the new regulations approved by the Russian State Duma on its third
and final reading, people entering government service will be obliged to
declare assets and liabilities. The media can publish top officials'
details, but lower bureaucrats' files will remain private. 
Bureaucrats found lying about their declarations can lose their jobs. 
President Boris Yeltsin in 1997 introduced a system requiring public
income declarations from top officials, but observers say many still hide
the true level of their wealth. 
``The problem of corruption in the government apparatus remains acute,''
Yeltsin said in a written document that accompanied his February 1998 state
of the nation address. 
The Duma legislation now goes to the Federation Council upper house of
parliament for approval. 
Because of Russia's immature financial system, it remains difficult for
tax authorities to trace transactions or to calculate an individual's assets. 
To buy an apartment, for example, the purchaser usually arrives with a
suitcase of cash, leaving no paper trail. 
Russian government employees remain poorly paid, with the president
officially earning about $550 a month. Prosecutor General Yuri Skuratov said
in a newspaper interview last month that low salaries make officials easy to
tempt with bribes. 

*******