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Subject:      RFE/RL Daily Report 12 JAN, 1993

The RFE/RL Daily Report is a digest of the latest developments
in Russia, Transcaucasia and Central Asia, and Central and
Eastern Europe. It is published Monday through Friday (except
German holidays) by the RFE/RL Research Institute (a division of
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc.). Copyright 1993 RFE/RL,
Inc.


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                        RFE/RL Daily Report

                                           No. 6 12 January 1993

RUSSIA

RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT TO REJECT LAND REFERENDUM? A draft resolution
to be discussed shortly by the Russian parliament dismisses the
idea of a referendum on the private ownership of land, Interfax
reported on 11 January. Initiative groups in Moscow, St.
Petersburg, and Tomsk had gathered 1.8 million signatures in
October and November supporting a referendum on land ownership.
But the deputy speaker of the parliament, Nikolai Ryabov, has said
that the subject of the referendum is closed in the wake of the
adoption of an amendment to Article 12 (on the ownership of land)
of the Constitution by the Seventh Congress of People's Deputies.
The amendment has, however, been criticized for allowing only
limited forms of land ownership, namely the buying and selling of
private plots, which can be used only for garden produce or
private housing construction.  Keith Bush & Sheila Marnie, RFE/RL,
Inc.

RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT WAVERS OVER PRICE/PROFITS DECREE. In an
interview with Interfax on 11 January, a deputy chairman of the
Russian Price Policy Committee expressed his "bewilderment" over
the negative public reaction to the price/profits decree of 31
December. Vitalii Kaurov suggested that the decree did not
contradict the principles of a market economy, nor did it fix any
prices. (The title of the decree was "On the State Regulation of
Prices on Individual Products and Goods.") He did not rule out the
possibility that the decree would be altered, since there was some
difference of opinion over its effectiveness and it has still not
been officially published.  Keith Bush, RFE/RL, Inc.

CIS, RUSSIAN COMMANDERS ON STATUS OF STRATEGIC FORCES, UKRAINE.
CIS Commander in Chief Evgenii Shaposhnikov told Izvestiya on 12
January that the enduring failure to define the status of the CIS
has meant that strategic rocket troops in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and
Ukraine also continue to operate without official status.
Shaposhnikov cautioned that such ambiguities have caused confusion
in the West as well, particularly with respect to nuclear forces
in Ukraine, and he pointed to what he claimed were preliminary
plans by NATO to set up peacekeeping forces for deployment in the
CIS in the event of instability. On 11 January the Chief of the
Russian General Staff, Col. General Mikhail Kolesnikov, confirmed
that Moscow had sent a draft agreement on the status of nuclear
forces in Ukraine to Kiev. According to Interfax, he claimed that
Ukraine was incapable of safely maintaining the nuclear weaponry
deployed there.  Stephen Foye, RFE/RL, Inc.

RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN SUMMIT ANNOUNCED. The Russian president's press
office has announced that Boris Yeltsin will meet with Ukrainian
president Leonid Kravchuk (who is currently visiting Israel) in
Moscow on 1415 January, Ukrainian TV reported on 11 January. While
voicing Ukraine's opposition to attempts to increase integration
within the CIS, Kravchuk is continuing to stress the importance of
consolidating and maintaining good bilateral relations with
Russia. The Ukrainian prime minister Leonid Kuchma, who will also
take part in the summit, declared on 11 January that "regulating
relations with Russia" is "today's number one question,"
Ukrinform-TASS reported. Kuchma also warned that Russia was only
prepared to guarantee the supply of about one sixth of the 45
million tons of oil which Ukraine is seeking for 1993 and that
Russian plans to raise oil prices threaten to exacerbate Ukraine's
economic crisis  Bohdan Nahaylo, RFE/RL, Inc.

RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT'S START-2 OFFENSIVE CONTINUES. Russian Deputy
Foreign minister Grigorii Berdennikov met with parliamentary
representatives on 11 January as part of a continuing government
effort to win support for the recently signed strategic arms
reduction treaty known as START-2. ITAR-TASS quoted the official
as saying the treaty would mean an annual saving of about 5
billion rubles in upkeep costs while the added expenses in
destroying weapons would total 6 to 8 billion rubles spread over
seven to ten years. He noted that the United States had pledged to
help meet some of this latter expense. Berdennikov warned that
Ukraine's parliamentary opposition, which opposed the republic's
ratification of START-1, "might alter the situation."  Doug
Clarke, RFE/RL, Inc.

KHASBULATOV CAUTIOUS ON START-2 RATIFICATION. Russian
parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov, just back from a series
of official visits in the Middle East, said on 11 January that the
signing of the START-2 Treaty did not obligate the Russian
parliament to ratify it. According to a Novosti report, he called
for a careful examination of the treaty and its ratification if
the treaty was found to serve Russia's interests.  Stephen Foye,
RFE/RL, Inc.

BRAGIN BECOMES HEAD OF OSTANKINO TV. Vyacheslav Bragin has been
appointed chairman of Ostankino TV, ITAR-TASS reported on 11
January. Bragin worked most recently as chairman of the Russian
parliamentary Committee for mass media, and had, because of his
liberal views, become a target of attack by parliamentary speaker
Ruslan Khasbulatov. Before that, he served as presidential envoy
to Tver. Bragin is the second liberal politician recently to leave
the Presidium of the Russian parliament. Last week, first deputy
parliamentary speaker Sergei Filatov was appointed head of the
Russian presidential staff. Observers fear that the departures may
weaken the power of liberals in the parliamentary leadership.
Alexander Rahr, RFE/RL, Inc.

RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS INDEXATION. A Russian government
directive on implementing the "Course of Economic Reform" voted by
the Seventh Congress of People's Deputies has been drafted,
Interfax reported on 11 January. The draft, which was drawn up
under the supervision of First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir
Shumeiko, envisages, among other things, the indexation of savings
deposits, minimum wages, and some of the fixed capital of
enterprises. The government is reportedly also considering
supporting vital production capacity and exercising price control
over certain commodities. It is also said to be planning the
regulation of production and sales of alcoholic beverages and
tobacco.  Keith Bush, RFE/RL, Inc.

RUSSIAN ENTERPRISES TO PAY MORE TO SUPPORT THE UNEMPLOYED. As the
threat of mass unemployment has increased in Russia, fears have
been expressed that funds to finance unemployment benefits were
inadequate. Unemployment benefits are financed out of mandatory
contributions levied on state-run and private enterprises,
cooperatives and joint ventures. Izvestiya reported on 28 December
1992 that enterprises' contributions are being raised from the
present rate of 1% of the enterprise wage-bill to 2%. The
newspaper did not say when the new levy would come into effect,
reporting only that the decision was adopted by the Russian
parliament on 25 December 1992.  Elizabeth Teague, RFE/RL, Inc.

RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES LAW ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS. The
Presidium of the Russian parliament discussed on 11 January a new
draft law on communications, ITAR-TASS reported. The presidium
decided that the draft needed further elaboration. Deputies
complained that Russia's telecommunications system is on the level
of a third world country. It was stated during the discussion that
Russia's telephone network is actually less developed than that of
other CIS states. (Only 28 out of 100 families have their own
telephones.) The new draft law is aimed "at creating a legal basis
for the functioning of communication systems in general and at
working out further legislation on the functioning of telephones,
post, government and presidential communications." The law is also
intended to demonopolize the telecommunications industry. At
present, the Ministry of Communications is the sole owner of all
civilian communications systems.  Vera Tolz, RFE/RL, Inc.

HIGH-LEVEL RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS VISIT US FOR TALKS. A
delegation that includes senior officers of the Russian Foreign
Intelligence Service (SVR) and KGB veterans has flown to the
United States to discuss the new role of intelligence in the
post-Cold War period, Krim-TASS reported on 10 January. The
delegation, headed by General Vadim Kirpichenko, will discuss with
American Congressmen and representatives of the US intelligence
community the cooperation of their respective intelligence
services in areas of mutual concern, including the prevention
and/or countering of illegal proliferation of nuclear weapons and
other advanced weapons systems and technologies, narcotics
trafficking, terrorism, and organized crime. According to an SVR
spokeswoman, other issues on the agenda include rules for the
conduct of intelligence activities in areas where the interests of
the two countries do not coincide.  Victor Yasmann, RFE/RL, Inc.

MVD TROOPS SET UP THEIR OWN NORTH CAUCASUS MILITARY DISTRICT.
President Yeltsin has decreed the establishment of the first
territorial district for the MVD Internal Troops (VV), the North
Caucasus VV District, ITAR-TASS reported on 10 January. The report
says that the other districts will be established according to the
Law on Internal Troops, adopted at the end of last year. Until
recently, only the Ministry of Defense and Border Troops of the
Ministry of Security have had their own territorial districts,
whereas the Internal Troops were directly subordinated to their
Commander-in-Chief in Moscow. The change means decentralization of
the command of the Internal Troops deployed in CIS "hot spots"; it
also could mean permanent territorial deployment of the Internal
Troops modeled on the Border Troops of Ministry of Security.
Victor Yasmann, RFE/RL, Inc.

INCREASED RUSSIAN ARMS SALES URGED. The Chief of the Department of
Military-Technical Cooperation of the Russian Ministry for Foreign
Economic Relations told Interfax on 11 January that arms sales are
a promising business for Russia and that their scope should be
broadened. Valerii Mironov said that Russia should observe UN
sanctions in selling arms, and pointed to the Middle East, along
with former Soviet republics, as potentially promising markets for
Moscow. He dismissed reports alleging that Turkey intended to buy
Russian arms that would be transferred to Azerbaijan.  Stephen
Foye
TRANSCAUCASIA & CENTRAL ASIA, RFE/RL, Inc.

RUSSIA AND ARMENIA ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH. Speaking at a press
conference in Moscow on 11 January, Russia's Ambassador to
Armenia, Vladimir Stupishin, expressed sympathy for the population
of Nagorno-Karabakh and condemned Azerbaijani military action as
"a criminal war against civilians," ITAR-TASS and Western agencies
reported. Also in 11 January, the Armenian Snark news agency
released what it termed a top-secret six point report on a new
peace initiative for Nagorno-Karabakh, which stipulates that
Armenia is ready to begin negotiations without any preliminary
terms but will not sign any document determining that Karabakh
belongs to Azerbaijan; instead Armenia proposes "recognizing
Karabakh as a territory without a status and launching
negotiations to determine Karabakh's status."  Liz Fuller, RFE/RL,
Inc.

CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS STARTED AGAINST TAJIK OPPOSITION.
Tajikistan's State Prosecutor has begun criminal proceedings
against the country's highest-ranking Muslim clergyman, Kazi Akbar
Turadzhonzoda, and two leaders of Tajik opposition parties,
ITAR-TASS reported on 9 January. The two party officials who,
along with Turadzhonzoda, are being accused of attempting to seize
power in May 1992, are Democratic Party chairman Shodmon Yusupov
and a leader of the Islamic Renaissance Party, Davlat Usmon, who
held the post of deputy prime minister in the coalition government
which included some opposition sympathizers, and which was created
in May of last year. The whereabouts of the three men are
uncertain. Officials of the present government have blamed the
Tajik civil war on the Islamic and democratic opposition.  Bess
Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.


CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

SOME PROGRESS REPORTED FROM BOSNIAN PEACE TALKS. Peace talks on
Bosnia-Herzegovina resumed on 11 January in Geneva. Spokesman Fred
Eckhard called the talks useful but cautioned that "differences
remain" between Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and chief
mediators Cyrus Vance and Lord Owen. Territorial divisions of
Bosnia-Herzegovina will not be discussed until an agreement is
reached on the constitutional principles of the future system of
the republic, he said. Karadzic told reporters that, under
pressure, he is dropping his demand that Serbs be able to create
their own state within Bosnia in the "proper sense of the word."
However, he stressed that Serbs will not give up their national
identity in Bosnia and will insist on autonomy. Serbia's President
Slobodan Milosevic told reporters that the mediators have embraced
the principle of equal respect for Bosnia's three ethnic groups
and urged the warring factions to work for peace on the basis of
the Vance-Owen plan. Most observers believe Milosevic will push
Karadzic to sign the constitutional and cease-fire agreements.
Radios Croatia and Serbia carried the reports.  Milan Andrejevich,
RFE/RL, Inc.

BULATOVIC WINS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. Momir Bulatovic was
reelected President of the Republic of Montenegro in a run-off
election on 10 January, winning 63.3% of the vote against Branko
Kostic's 36.7%. The campaign focused on Montenegro's alliance with
Serbia in a federal Yugoslav state, Radio Serbia reports.  Milan
Andrejevich, RFE/RL, Inc.

MACEDONIA SPARS WITH GREECE. On 11 January the Republic of
Macedonia accused Greece of repeatedly violating Macedonian
airspace with military aircraft. Reuters, citing a Foreign
Ministry spokesman, noted that the intrusions began last year and
that international organizations have been informed about the
issue. On 31 December Macedonia accused the Athens government of
jamming air traffic radio bands, thereby endangering civilian air
transport over Macedonia.  Duncan Perry, RFE/RL, Inc.

KLAUS CALLS VISEGRAD GROUPING "ARTIFICIAL." In a statement given
to RFE/RL and in an interview with CTK on 11 January, Czech Prime
Minister Vaclav Klaus confirmed his view, expressed last week in
an interview with Le Figaro, that cooperation between Hungary,
Poland, and Czechoslovakia within the so-called Visegrad Triangle
was an artificial process created by the West. Klaus told CTK that
the Visegrad grouping was not created from below, as an expression
of the will of Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, and Poles, but from
above as a political decision reflecting "a certain desire of the
West to create another grouping in Central Europe." Klaus also
said that he has never been opposed to maximum cooperation among
the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary, "however,
putting emphasis on the Visegrad grouping is something quite
different," he added.  Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL, Inc.

RUN ON SLOVAK BANKS. Local and international media reported on 11
January that large numbers of Slovaks, uncertain about the fate of
their currency, staged a rush on banks to get rid of Czechoslovak
bank notes. Slovak National Bank spokesman Jozef Baca called it "a
panic," saying that it may take a week to settle down. According
to various reports, people waited in long lines at banks to
deposit their money. Slovak officials were quoted as saying that,
following a recent announcement by the Czech National Bank that it
had begun stamping bank notes in anticipation of a monetary split,
Slovak people fear that Czechoslovak notes may be worthless or
difficult to convert once the current Czech-Slovak currency union
collapses. Some Slovak bank officials were quoted as saying that
many Slovaks are also changing their money into hard currency
because of fears that a new Slovak currency will be devalued.
Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL, Inc.

CZECH DEFENSE MINISTER SEES DANGER IN THE EAST. Speaking to
reporters in Brno on 11 January, Antonin Baudys said that if East
European countries do not succeed in etsablishing "democratic and
economically prosperous systems in three to seven years" the Czech
Republic could face a military threat. Baudys argued that the
danger would not probably come from the Balkan countries but "from
the East." Asked whether he thinks Slovakia could eventually
represent a military threat, Baudys siad that "even that is
possible." The minister also said that there will soon be
structural and personal changes in the Czech Army, but did not
specify. Frantisek Greiner, head of the personnel department of
the army, said that the Czech Army is to have 48,000 professional
soldiers, but that currently there are only some 38,000
professionals. Approximately 21% of officers in the army are
Slovaks; they have until March to opt for Czech citizenship or to
leave the army.  Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL, Inc.

DIFFICULT CONDITIONS FOR HUNGARIAN MILITARY. Col. Gen. Kalman
Lorincz, commander of the Hungarian army, briefed the government
on 7 January about the personnel situation, MTI and Radio Budapest
report. Lorincz said there are not enough officers and NCOs, as
many are leaving because of low pay. Over 20% of officers'
families and 45% of those of NCOs subsist below the minimum living
standard, Lorincz said. He proposed the hiring of 4,000
professional soldiers to offset the decreasing number of
conscripts; during the latest draftees' call-up, 40% of the
draftees were not accepted for health, social, educational, or
penal reasons. Lorincz called for the prompt parliamentary debate
of the laws on national defense and on the legal status of
military personnel.  Alfred Reisch, RFE/RL, Inc.

ETHNIC INCIDENTS IN CLUJ. Several incidents have created ethnic
tensions in the Transylvanian capital as the Hungarian Democratic
Federation of Romania (HDFR) prepares for its upcoming congress,
Radio Budapest reported on 11 January. Nationalist Mayor Gheorghe
Funar seized 30,000 lei from the bank account of a
Hungarian-language high school as punishment for the display of
bilingual signs on the school building. Funar also asked the
editors of the Hungarian-language journal Korunk to vacate their
offices by 15 January; he wants to relocate them in a single room.
On 9 January unknown persons overpainted Romanian-language place
names with Hungarian and wrote obscene words in Hungarian on the
statue of a famous Romanian writer. The HDFR's national presidium
condemned the incident as "a destabilizing provocation" and
demanded that the perpetrators be called to account, Radio
Budapest and Radio Bucharest report.  Edith Oltay, RFE/RL, Inc.

FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER IN BUCHAREST. On 11 January Roland Dumas
held talks in Bucharest with Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor
Melescanu. He was also received by President Ion Iliescu and
Premier Nicolae Vacaroiu. Dumas told journalists afterwards that
Romania has taken great steps forward over the last three years.
He also praised Romania's efforts to help find a solution to the
Yugoslav crisis. At the same press conference, Iliescu said that
he does not believe military intervention can be a solution to the
Yugoslav problem. Radio Bucharest announced that Dumas and
Melescanu signed an accord aimed at promoting trade and other
contacts.  Dan Ionescu, RFE/RL, Inc.

ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT REPLIES TO OPPOSITION CRITICISM. In an
interview with Radio Bucharest broadcast on 11 January, cabinet
spokeswoman Doina Jalea replied to harsh criticism leveled by the
Democratic Convention of Romania, the country's main opposition
alliance, in a statement released to the press the previous day.
The strongly worded statement accused Vacaroiu's minority
left-wing government of incompetence and of trying to stall
economic reform. Jalea pledged that the cabinet will submit a
package of laws to assure continuing reform to Parliament before
the end of January. She also mentioned that the government is
preparing a four-year strategic program.  Dan Ionescu, RFE/RL,
Inc.

BULGARIA ON COLLISION COURSE WITH THE IMF. In a TV interview over
the weekend, Bulgaria's new finance minister warned that his
country might suspend cooperation with the International Monetary
Fund unless some of its strict requirements are dropped, Reuters
reported on 11 January. Stoyan Aleksandrov, appointed finance
minister two weeks ago, said Bulgaria needs "less restrictive
parameters" or it will have to consider withdrawal from the IMF.
Aleksandrov declared that he plans to let the budget deficit
increase to 810% of GNP, instead of the 5% urged by IMF officials,
in order to be able to spend more on social programs. An IMF
delegation to examine the 1992 economic performance and negotiate
new targets is due in Sofia on 13 January.  Kjell Engelbrekt,
RFE/RL, Inc.

SEJM GIVES VAT FINAL APPROVAL. The Sejm completed work on Poland's
new value-added and excise taxes on 8 January. If the bills are
signed by the president, the taxes will take effect on 5 July
1993. In voting on revisions submitted by the Senate, the Sejm
rejected two measures supported by the government: it lowered from
22% to 7% the tax on coal, gas, and electricity; and expanded a
preferential 7% tax on children's clothing. The finance minister
said these preferences will cost the state budget an additional
six trillion zloty ($380 million). The Liberal Democratic
Congress, a member of the government coalition, voted against the
government on these issues. Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka called
in liberal leaders for an explanation on 9 January; Gazeta
Wyborcza reports that she also chided the liberals for poor
attendance during recent crucial votes. Liberal leader Donald Tusk
told reporters afterward that his party opposes higher taxes.
Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc.

WALESA'S OFFICE REBUTS ACCUSATIONS. Media hullabaloo forced the
president's office to respond on 11 January to recently published
charges by former officials, including former presidential chief
of staff Jaroslaw Kaczynski and former defense minister Jan Parys,
who are now the most vehement opponents of both Walesa and the
government. In a collection of interviews entitled Lewy czerwcowy
[Left Hook in June], Kaczynski charged that Walesa's closest aide,
Mieczyslaw Wachowski, completed a course for secret police
officers in 1975 and that he still remains an agent. Kaczynski
provided no evidence. Wachowski made a rare public statement on 11
January to announce that he was employed in a paint factory at the
time the course was held, to deny any collaboration with the
secret police, and to request a full investigation by the internal
affairs ministry. Presidential spokesman Andrzej Drzycimski called
the book a collection of fictional "pseudorevelations" by
"frustrated politicians" determined to "anarchize" public life.
Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc.

POLISH PRIME MINISTER VISITS UKRAINE. On 12 January Hanna Suchocka
begins a two-day visit to Kiev, Radio Ukraine announced. The
groundwork was prepared during a visit to the Ukrainian capital at
the end of December by Polish Foreign Minister Krzysztof
Skubiszewski.  Bohdan Nahaylo, RFE/RL, Inc.

UKRAINIAN COMMUNIST DIEHARDS GROWING MORE ASSERTIVE. Former
Communist forces in Ukraine are continuing to regroup and becoming
more assertive. On 10 January Radio Ukraine reported that the
former Leninist Communist Youth League of Ukraine, or Komsomol,
was revived at a "congress" held in Donetsk. Vasyl Savin, the head
of the Donetsk regional Komsomol organization, was elected leader.
Reportedly 52% of the members of the new Komsomol are Ukrainians,
and 45% Russians. Furthermore, the recently formed Union of
Communists of Ukraine has just publicized its "programmatic
principles" in the republic's largest-circulation newspaper, the
farmer's daily Silski visti. On 11 January Radio Ukraine also
announced that Stanislav Hurenko, the former leader of the
Communist Party of Ukraine (which was banned after the abortive
coup attempt in August 1991), has announced that he is giving up
his seat in Parliament. An interview with him appeared in Pravda
on 6 January.  Bohdan Nahaylo, RFE/RL, Inc.

UKRAINE WANTS TO USE WARHEADS FOR FUEL. Deputy Foreign Minister
Boris Tarasyuk, just back from talks in Washington on the START-1
treaty, told Interfax on 11 January that a Russian-Ukrainian
agreement on the dismantling of warheads presently in Ukraine
would have a positive effect on the upcoming ratification process
in Parliament. Tarasyuk said that the weapons-grade uranium in the
warheads could be processed so that it could be used as fuel for
nuclear power plants. He said Ukraine, which claims that the
nuclear arms on its territory are its property, has invited the
Russians to such talks and has been waiting for a reply for more
than a month. The Interfax article also quoted Aleksandr Savelev,
vice president of the Russian Institute for Strategic Research, as
saying that it is possible to convert nuclear warheads into fuel,
but Ukraine lacks the necessary technology. Russia had such
technology, he said, but it would be an expensive and problematic
process.  Doug Clarke, RFE/RL, Inc.

BLACK SEA FLEET DEVELOPMENTS. In an article published by Interfax
on 11 January, Ukrainian Navy chief R-Adm. Boris Kozhin said that
the republic has the right to lay claim to a quarter of the entire
former Soviet Navy, which he said is Ukraine's share of the former
Soviet Union's GNP. He claimed that 12,000 of the 60,000 men
serving in the Black Sea Fleet wish to serve in the Ukrainian
Navy, as do 15,000 Ukrainians serving in other fleets. Mayak Radio
the same day reported that the Russian Navy's command protested to
the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense regarding Ukraine's recent
unilateral actions in reassigning units of the fleet to Ukrainian
command. Pravda on 9 January reported that it had been informed
that Russia and Ukraine have reached "a preliminary accord" to
name V-Adm Eduard Baltin--currently on the Russian General
Staff--as the next commander of the joint Black Sea Fleet.  Doug
Clarke, RFE/RL, Inc.

14TH ARMY RIFT WITH "DNIESTER" LEADERSHIP. The command of Russia's
14th Army in Moldova is stepping up a war of words against the
leadership of "the Dniester republic," accusing it of incompetence,
corruption, and complicity with the "mafia," Basapress has reported
in recent days from Tiraspol. Army commander Lt. Gen. Aleksandr
Lebed publicly supports a minority opposition faction (also made up
of Russian communists) among the Tiraspol authorities that demands
the resignation of "Dniester republic" president Igor Smirnov and
his principal ministers, Basapress reports. Lebed's stance is in
tune with his recent calls for military intervention in civil
affairs in the former USSR to stamp out official corruption and
mismanagement. It may well also reflect an intention by Moscow
government circles to replace the leadership in Tiraspol with one
less identified with hard-line communism and the ultranationalist
Russian opposition. Vladimir Socor, RFE/RL, Inc.

NO EARLY WITHDRAWAL OF 14TH ARMY. Interfax reported on 11 January
that Lebed told a news conference in Tiraspol the day before that
it would take at least 1015 years to pull the Russian 14th Army
out of Moldova. He claimed that approximately 60% of the army's
officers have apartments with modern conveniences in the region
and said that they would be reluctant to leave them. He also said
that the army's military equipment is outdated and meant primarily
for logistics.  Stephen Foye, RFE/RL, Inc.

RUSSIAN BORDER TROOPS FULLY WITHDRAWN FROM LITHUANIA. The Russian
border troops press center announced that the withdrawal of its
units from Lithuania has been completed, BNS reported on 11
January. The personnel of forward-based units have also been
withdrawn from Estonia and Latvia, but fewer than a thousand men,
mostly in the rear forces, still remain and are engaged in
removing their property and equipment. The date of the final
withdrawal of these troops will depend on the readiness of the
garrisons in Pskov and Kaliningrad to accept them and their
families.  Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.

ISRAEL TO SUPPLY ESTONIA WITH UZIS. Estonia is reportedly
negotiating with Israel to buy a large weapons shipment, including
Uzi submachine guns for use by the new Estonian Army. According to
BNS of 11 January, quoting Tallinn radio station Kuku, a local
bank official and Estonia's trade representative in Israel are
mediating the deal. Last week, a delegation of Israeli business
leaders seeking to invest in former USSR military factories
situated in Estonia visited Tallinn and met with Prime Minister
Mart Laar.  Riina Kionka, RFE/RL, Inc.

[AS of 1200 CET]
Compiled by Hal Kosibah and Charles Trumbull, RFE/RL, Inc.
The RFE/RL Daily Report is produced by the RFE/RL Research
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