From: msirbu@next5.cs.umr.edu (Mihai Sirbu)
Subject: RFE/RL Daily Report 07 SEP, 1992 (long)
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 14:59:18 GMT
Organization: University of Missouri-Rolla, Missouri's Technological University

The RFE/RL Daily Report is a digest of lastest developments
in the former Soviet Union 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 1992 RFE/RL, Inc.


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                       RFE/RL DAILY REPORT

                                       No. 171, September 7, 1992


               SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

FIGHTING CONTINUES DESPITE ABKHAZ CEASE-FIRE AGREEMENT. Fifteen
people were killed during the night of 5-6 September in ongoing
fighting between Georgian and Abkhaz troops near Gudauta and Gagra
despite the cease-fire agreement that had been scheduled to take
effect at midday local time on 5 September, Western agencies
reported. Georgian Prime Minister Tengiz Sigua met with Abkhaz
troop commander Colonel Viktor Kakalia and other Abkhaz officials
in Sukhumi on 6 September, and signed a protocol on implementing
the ceasefire agreement, ITAR-TASS reported.  On 5 September, UN
Secretary-General Boutros Ghali announced in Moscow that the UN
will send observers to monitor the ceasefire agreement in
Abkhazia, Interfax reported. (Liz Fuller, RFE/RL Inc.)

TAJIK OPPOSITION UNABLE TO DISLODGE NABIEV. Tajikistan's Supreme
Soviet was unable to muster a quorum on 4 or 5 September for a
special session to decide the future of President Rakhmon Nabiev,
who was declared deposed by the Supreme Soviet Presidium and
Cabinet of Ministers on 2 September.  Another attempt to open the
session was scheduled for 7 September. Nabiev remained in hiding
over the weekend, but correspondents and government officials who
spoke to him said that he still considered himself president.
According to one Western press report, Nabiev blamed Tajikistan's
highest-ranking Muslim clergyman, Kazi Akbar Turadzhonzoda, for
the recent unrest, and accused him of planning a coup to replace
the present government with an Islamic one. The kazi has denied
such charges in the past. (Bess Brown, RFE/RL Inc.)

"HUNDREDS" REPORTED KILLED IN FIGHTING IN SOUTHERN TAJIKISTAN. The
deputy commander of CIS border troops in Tajikistan, Colonel
Valerii Kochinov, was quoted by ITAR-TASS and Western agencies on
5 September as reporting that several hundred people had been
killed in fighting in the town of Kurgan-Tyube between opponents
of President Nabiev and Nabiev supporters who apparently came from
neighboring Kulyab Oblast.  Nabiev himself, still in hiding,
declared a state of emergency in Kurgan-Tyube. Tajik Radio reports
gave a figure of 30 dead, but Kochinov said this included only the
dead who had been identified. ITAR-TASS reported on 6 September
that Kurgan-Tyube was quiet. (Bess Brown, RFE/RL Inc.)

HOSTAGE FOUND DEAD.  The deputy chairman of the Kulyab oblast
soviet, Sasiddin Sangov, was found dead near Dushanbe on 4
September, but anti-Nabiev forces say they had nothing to do with
the killing, ITAR-TASS and Western agencies reported on 6
September. Sangov was reported to have been one of the officials
taken hostage by opposition demonstrators last week.  The hostages
were freed on 3 September, and opposition parliamentary deputy
Mohammed Dost said that Sangov had been freed with the others, but
had fallen into the hands of refugees from Kulyab Oblast, which
has been the scene of intermittent fighting between pro- and
anti-Nabiev forces since June. On 5 September, ITAR-TASS reported
that news of the murder was aggravating the situation in the town
of Kulyab, where several thousand people had been demonstrating
for two days. (Bess Brown, RFE/RL Inc.)

RUSSIAN OFFICIALS ON PRICE INCREASES. Russian Economics Minister
Andrei Nechaev told Interfax on 4 September that the government
hopes to limit price increases for consumer goods and especially
foodstuffs to around 1%-1.5% a week. Nechaev cited the expected
steep rise in energy costs and higher grain purchase prices as
factors stimulating overall price increases.  Acting Prime
Minister Egor Gaidar, in an interview with Komsomolskaya pravda on
5 September, ruled out raising fuel prices to world levels in one
leap as in Poland and Czechoslovakia, because "the economy will
not be able to cope." The deputy chairman of the Russian
parliament told Interfax on 4 September that local authorities
have enough authority gradually to increase fuel prices and are
doing so. (Keith Bush, RFE/RL Inc.)

RUSSIA TO SUPPORT RUBLE WITH WORLD BANK FUNDS? Konstantin
Kagalovsky, a senior government official negotiating with
international financial agencies, reportedly told Interfax on 4
September that Russia would support the ruble with $250 million of
World Bank credit. Kagalovsky said that the central bank would use
the money in currency operations on the Moscow Interbank Currency
Exchange. It was not clear whether Kagalovsky was referring to
funds already approved by the World Bank.  Nor was the World
Bank's position on the action mentioned. The ruble has fallen in
value over 20% against the dollar over the last two weeks and many
expect further devaluation without significant central bank
intervention.  (Erik Whitlock, RFE/RL Inc.)

PHILIP MORRIS TO BUILD CIGARETTE FACTORY NEAR VYBORG. Philip
Morris International announced on 4 September that it will build a
factory near Vyborg capable of producing 10 billion cigarettes a
year, Western agencies reported. The factory should be completed
in 1993. The governor of the Leningrad oblast was quoted as
conceding that smoking was unhealthy, but he suggested that Philip
Morris cigarettes were much safer than Russian brands.  The
announcement follows widespread reports of shortfalls in domestic
cigarette production. Radio Moscow on 18 July put the annual
demand at over 240 billion cigarettes and the annual domestic
capacity at only 100 billion. Seventeen out of twenty-our
cigarette factories were then being repaired, and there was little
hard currency available for imports. (Keith Bush, RFE/RL Inc.)

NUCLEAR SAFETY IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION AND RUSSIA. In a series
of articles in The Los Angeles Times of 5 September, John-Thor
Dahlburg provides a comprehensive and devastating picture of past
negligence by Soviet authorities of minimum safety standards with
respect to nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. Citing Western and
CIS specialists, Dahlburg portrays the lethal legacy of official
high-handedness and unconcern and, disturbingly, a continued
penchant for secrecy over nuclear wastes that present a major
hazard to the well-being of millions of CIS citizens and those of
neighboring countries. (Keith Bush, RFE/RL Inc.)

RUSSIAN COMPUTER COUNTER-ESPIONAGE CHIEF RENOUNCES "MOSCOW NEWS"
REPORT.  The chairman of the State Commission for Countermeasures
against Technical Intelligence, Nikolai Brusnitsyn, said he was
surprised by the Moscow News report about American electronic
"bugs" in VAX computers bought by a Russian defense sector
ministry, according to Komsomolskaya Pravda on 28 August (See
RFE/RL Daily Report, 2 September). Significantly, the Russian
language article appeared neither in the English nor in the German
editions of Moscow News.  (This suggests that security officials
in Moscow still consider Russian audiences worthy targets for old
fashioned manipulation, whereas they are now reluctant to produce
the same stories for Western consumption.) Lt.  Gen. Brusnitsyn
added that the alleged incident occurred three years ago, and that
the screening of all imported computers is now so thorough that
the danger of such built-in "bugs" reaching their destinations in
Russia undetected is negligible. (Victor Yasmann, RFE/RL Inc.)

PRIMAKOV ARGUES FOR RUSSIAN CONTROL OF CENTRAL ASIAN BORDERS.  The
Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Evgenii
Primakov, has declared that "Russia has no interest in leaving its
borders open so that they can be crossed by gangs carrying weapons
and drugs," Interfax reported on 5 September.  Primakov was
commenting on the recent decision to transfer the control of
Tajikistan's borders to Russian authorities. Primakov added that
this temporary measure is necessary, because the Central Asian
states "are not able to guard their own borders." Primakov also
said that a speaker of parliament in an unnamed Baltic state has
spoken about the possibility of cooperating with and providing a
base "to secret services which will work against Russia in his
state." Primakov stressed that "if this occurs, we shall be forced
to take countermeasures." (Victor Yasmann, RFE/RL Inc.)

UKRAINIAN-RUSSIAN TREATY IN OCTOBER. Ukrainian President Leonid
Kravchuk told a group of Japanese journalists in Kiev that Ukraine
is ready to sign a treaty of friendship and cooperation with
Russia at the end of October, ITAR-TASS reported on 5 September.
Kravchuk also expressed the view that after solving its political
and economic problems, the CIS would become a purely economic
association similar to the EC. The CIS, he remarked, was
originally conceived as a temporary structure for the peaceful
transformation of the USSR.  (Roman Solchanyk, RFE/RL Inc.)

UKRAINE WANTS IMF MONEY FOR CURRENCY SUPPORT. Ukrainian government
officials have announced that a currency stabilization fund will
be an important component of future IMF assistance.  The
government, however, seems as yet unsure about how much money will
be necessary for such an effort. Finance Minister Hryhoriy
Pyatachenko said that the nation will need $1.5 billion to support
its currency, Western news agencies reported on 4 September.  A
day later, Ukrainian Prime Minister Vitold Fokin claimed that
Ukraine was seeking a stabilization fund of $6 to $6.5 billion,
according to the Financial Times on 5 September. (Erik Whitlock,
RFE/RL Inc.)

AZERBAIJAN'S GOLD RESERVES.  In an interview in the 6 September
issue of the newspaper Azadlyg, as summarized by ITAR-TASS, the
chairman of Azerbaijan's State Committee for Geology and Mineral
Resources, Ekrem Shekinsky, claimed that Azerbaijan's gold
reserves exceeded those of Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Algeria,
Germany and Great Britain combined.  Although in the past many of
Azerbaijan's numerous gold deposits were declared unviable, the
exploitation of only four of them would yield approximately 4 tons
of gold per year. (Liz Fuller, RFE/RL Inc.)

                CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

BOSNIA UPDATE.  Radio Bosnia-Herzegovina reports on 5 September
that the current cold spell has dramatically changed the situation
in Sarajevo.  The city is without water and electricity and,
because of the suspension of UN relief flights, food supplies are
depleted.  Aid will continue to arrive by land, however. A UN
relief supply warehouse in Sarajevo was destroyed by mortar fire.
Widespread fighting in the republic was reported, particularly in
Jajce. On 6 September Radio Croatia quoted Pope John Paul as
saying the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina brings to mind images
of World War II. Also on the 6th, international mediators Cyrus
Vance and Lord Owen in Geneva gave Bosnian Serb leader Radovan
Karadzic a deadline by which he is to place his army's heavy
weapons around four key cities under UN control by 12 September;
they did not specify what the consequences would be for failure to
comply. Meanwhile UN investigators say it may be weeks or months
before the cause of the crash on 3 September near Sarajevo of an
Italian plane carrying relief supplies is determined. Initial
reports suggest the plane was downed by two portable heat-guided
surface-to-air missiles. (Milan Andrejevich, RFE/RL Inc.)

CROATIAN FORCES THREATEN BOSNIAN MUSLIMS.  The Sarajevo commander
of the Croatian Defense Forces (HVO) told reporters on 6 September
that he has received orders from Mate Boban, president of the
self-proclaimed Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna, to stop helping
Bosnia's Muslim-dominated armed forces try to break the Serb ring
around Sarajevo.  HVO commander Velimir Maric detailed allegedly
systematic attacks by the Muslim forces on HVO headquarters and
positions in the suburb of Stup. Six HVO members have been killed
and 60 Croatian houses razed in fighting since mid-August and
members of Bosnia's military police have reportedly looted
property. Maric said that he was instructed by HVO's main
headquarters in Mostar to deliver an ultimatum to the Bosnian
armed forces to withdraw from six previously held Croat districts
by 6:00 a.m.  on 6 September or "it could result in war." Maric
also called for the partition of the republic into separate Croat,
Muslim and Serb zones, adding there is no such nationality as
"Bosnian." At a separate news conference, Bosnia's army commander
Mustafa Hajrulahovic rejected Maric's statement on partition but
did not respond to the ultimatum. Radio Bosnia-Herzegovina carried
the report. (Milan Andrejevich, RFE/RL Inc.)

EC OBSERVERS ARRIVE IN HUNGARY. A five-member EC observer
delegation arrived on 3 September in Szeged near the Yugoslav
border, MTI reports. The delegation discussed the technical
aspects of the establishment of a center in Szeged for twenty to
thirty EC observers who will regularly monitor the
Hungarian-Yugoslav border and whose arrival is expected within one
month.  (Alfred Reisch, RFE/RL Inc.)

PANIC RIDES OUT NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE. On 4 September, Milan Panic,
prime minister of the rump Yugoslavia, easily survived a vote of
no-confidence in the Chamber of Citizens, the lower house of the
Federal Assembly. The vote was 66 to 30 with 7 abstaining. Both
houses of the assembly also endorsed Panic's work at the London
conference by a vote of 111 to 33. Radio Serbia carried the
report. (Milan Andrejevich, RFE/RL Inc.)

MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT CONFIRMED.  On 4 September the Parliament of
the Republic of Macedonia elected Branko Crvenkovski, chairman of
the Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia (former communists),
as prime minister. Crvenkovski's government has the same number of
ministers as the previous government, except there is now no
Ministry of Information. Two deputy prime ministers, Becir Zuta,
an ethnic Albanian, and Jovan Andonov, as well as the ministers of
foreign relations, internal affairs, labor and social affairs, and
education, and one of the ministers without portfolio, served in
the previous government.  Crvenkovski identified his government's
priorities as preserving peace and stability in Macedonia, gaining
international recognition of the republic, and the introduction of
market-oriented reforms. Radio Macedonia carried the report.
(Milan Andrejevich, RFE/RL Inc.)

ZHIVKOV GUILTY OF EMBEZZLEMENT.  Todor Zhivkov, former chief of
the Bulgarian Communist Party and chairman of the Politburo, who
ran Bulgaria for much of the 45 years it was under communist rule,
was found guilty of embezzlement in a Sofia court on 4 September,
BTA and Western agencies report.  The trial lasted 18 months.
Zhivkov was tried for using 21.5 million leva (about $24 million
at the then current rate) of government funds to buy automobiles
and apartments for associates and family. He will begin his jail
sentence immediately but is appealing the verdict. Charges of
promoting terrorism, sanctioning the forced assimilation of ethnic
Turks, responsibility for labor camps, and generally ruining the
state economy are pending.  Zhivkov turned 81 on 7 September.
(Duncan M. Perry, RFE/RL Inc.)

ILIESCU BARRED FROM RUNNING FOR THE SENATE. Following a suit filed
by the Democratic Convention against President Ion Iliescu's
candidacy, the Bucharest Municipal Tribunal has barred him from
running for a Senate seat on the slate of the Democratic National
Salvation Front (DNSF), Western agencies report from Bucharest.
The court said the law does not allow independents to be on the
lists of parties running in the elections, and Iliescu could not
be a member of the DNSF because the law prohibits the president
from being a member of a political party. The decision was made by
a majority vote of two judges to one. The ruling does not affect
Iliescu's presidential candidacy. The DNSF said it will appeal.
(Michael Shafir, RFE/RL Inc.).

BISHOP TOKES'S PROTEST FAST. In an open letter addressed to
Iliescu on 6 September, Bishop Laszlo Tokes said that he would
agree to meet him, Radio Bucharest reports. Tokes thus reversed an
earlier refusal to meet Iliescu.  A spokesman for the bishop said
on 5 September that six more people had joined his protest
fast--four ethnic Romanians plus the former mayor of Cluj,
Octavian Buracu. On 6 September, the Democratic Convention urged
Tokes to give up his protest fast, Radio Bucharest reported.
While expressing support for Tokes's aims, the convention
cautioned that it is vital not to create "any pretext that could
be used by the enemies of democracy to create diversion." Tokes
celebrated Sunday services at a church in Timisoara attended by a
crowd of some 1,000 people, Reuters reports. (Michael Shafir,
RFE/RL Inc.)

SEJM DEBATES DECOMMUNIZATION.  In a close vote the Sejm opted on 5
September to continue work on six different draft bills that would
govern lustration in Poland. The drafts, submitted by the Senate
and five different parties, range in stringency.  The harshest
would ban former communist party activists from holding public
office, while the most lenient would bar only former secret police
collaborators.  All of the drafts include provisions for appeal by
those affected. The postcommunist Democratic Left protested that
the bills were aimed at eliminating the left wing from politics
rather than achieving justice, but the Sejm rejected a Democratic
Left motion to throw out all the drafts. (Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL
Inc.)

POLISH LABOR SCENE STILL UNSETTLED. The sit-down strike in the
Rozbark coal mine ended early on 6 September, with the signing of
an agreement with the industry ministry. The terms of the
agreement were not disclosed. The strike by some 3,000 workers
continued at the FSM auto plant in Tychy, where management has
ruled out further talks with strikers as pointless. Announcements
appeared in the local press informing strikers that their
dismissal was imminent.  The FSM strikers appealed to President
Lech Walesa for help, but the president made any intervention
conditional upon the ending of the strike. Meanwhile, the Network
(comprising Solidarity locals at Poland's largest industrial
plants) appealed to all Solidarity members to take part in a
two-hour warning strike on 10 September. Solidarity leader Marian
Krzaklewski distanced himself from Network's "autonomous" protest.
(Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL Inc.)

ADVANCE VOTING BEGINS IN ESTONIA, RUSSIAN CITIZENS PROTEST.  As
advance voting for Estonia's parliamentary election got underway
on 5 September, a group of noncitizens in Narva launched a
campaign to protest the fact that they have been left without the
vote, BNS reports.  The group, calling itself the Union of Russian
Citizens in Narva, has taken to wearing blue-on-blue badges until
the 20 September election to protest the fact that Russian
citizens will not be allowed to vote in Estonia's national
elections.  By the terms of the new Estonian constitution,
noncitizens are allowed to vote in local elections, but only
citizens may participate in national polling. (Riina Kionka,
RFE/RL Inc.)

LATVIAN PARLIAMENT FACTIONS TO REREGISTER.  The Supreme Council
Presidium has approved a resolution calling on all deputies who
are members of a parliamentary faction to announce their
affiliation by 20 September. The decision was prompted by changes
in the membership of the Supreme Council and political
realignments of the deputies. It is possible that the Ravnopravie
faction, which supported the integrity of the USSR and opposed
Latvia's independence, may lose its status as an official faction
if its membership has dropped below 20, the minimum for a
parliamentary faction, BNS reports.  Other factions may come into
existence, joining the People's Front and Satversme groupings.
(Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL Inc.)

LITHUANIAN PARTY CONGRESSES FOR PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS. On 5-6
September the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party and Liberal Union
held congresses that approved programs and their lists of
candidates for the parliamentary elections, the RFE/RL Lithuanian
Service reports.  The Social Democratic Party list includes eight
current deputies headed by party chairman Aloyzas Sakalas and
former chairman Kazimieras Antanavicius. The Liberal Union formed
an election coalition with the Peasants' Union and approved a list
of 46 candidates (31 from the Liberal Union and 15 from the
Peasants' Union). The list includes four current deputies as well
as the unions' chairmen Vytautas Radzvilas and Petras Becius.
(Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL Inc.)

SLOVAK PREMIER ON RELATIONS WITH HUNGARY.  Speaking on Slovak
Radio on 4 September, Vladimir Meciar said that some of the recent
actions by ethnic Hungarian deputies could adversely influence his
talks with Hungarian leaders on 9 September.  (Hungarian deputies
have severely criticized the new Slovak constitution for what they
see as its insufficient protection of minority rights. On 1
September they walked out before the vote on the constitution in
the Slovak parliament.) Meciar argued that the Magyar deputies do
not represent members of all ethnic minorities in Slovakia. He
said that Hungary is currently trying to conclude bilateral
agreements with various countries on the treatment of ethnic
minorities, but that it usually is more concerned about the
treatment of ethnic minorities in other countries than on its own
territory. (Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL Inc.)

CZECHOSLOVAK DEFENSE MINISTER VISITS HUNGARY.  Lt. Gen. Imrich
Andrejcak made a one-day visit to Hungary at the invitation of his
Hungarian counterpart Lajos Fur, MTI announced on 4 September. The
two ministers discussed the status of the military after the
breakup of Czechoslovakia and future military cooperation among
the members of the Visegrad Three--soon to be four--with Andrejcak
stressing the need for good bilateral military cooperation with
both Hungary and Poland.  Fur announced that the Visegrad Three's
defense ministers will meet in September on Czech territory.
(Alfred Reisch, RFE/RL Inc.)

ROMANIAN MILITARY DELEGATIONS IN HUNGARY, BULGARIA.  A Romanian
military delegation led by 4th Army commander Col.  Gen.  Paul
Cheler arrived on 3 September at the Hungarian Army's ground
forces headquarters in Szekesfehervar, MTI announced.  During the
visit, held within the framework of the two countries' bilateral
military cooperation agreement, the Romanian delegation will look
at a number of military installations and units in eastern Hungary
and hold talks on 7 September with the commander of the Hungarian
Army. On 6 September Romanian State Secretary and Chief of General
Staff Lt.  Gen. Dumitru Cioflina ended a three-day visit to
Bulgaria, BTA reports.  Cioflina had discussions on military
reform with Deputy Premier Nikola Vasilev, Deputy Defense Minister
Nikola Daskalov, and the Bulgarian Chief of General Staff Col.
Gen.  Lyuben Petrov.  Before leaving on Sunday, Cioflina told
reporters a planned agreement between the defense ministries would
lay a solid basis for the further development of bilateral
military relations.  (Alfred Reisch & Kjell Engelbrekt, RFE/RL
Inc.)

TURKISH MINISTER IN SOFIA. In connection with a session of the
Bulgarian-Turkish Committee on Economic, Scientific, and
Technological Cooperation, Turkish Minister of State Orhan
Kilercioglu spent 3-4 September in the Bulgarian capital, BTA
reported.  Kilercioglu met with Bulgarian Premier Filip Dimitrov
to discuss the problems of returning Bulgarian Turks (forced to
emigrate in 1989) and the crisis in ex-Yugoslavia.  Together with
Bulgarian Transport Minister Aleksandar Aleksandrov Kilercioglu
signed a protocol on bilateral trade, transport and
telecommunications. Other accords--on promoting investments and
avoiding double taxation--are to be signed before 1993. (Kjell
Engelbrekt, RFE/RL Inc.)

BELGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN HUNGARY.  According to a 4 September
MTI report, Willy Claes will start official talks on 7 September
with Hungarian President Arpad Goncz, Prime Minister Jozsef
Antall, Foreign Minister Geza Jeszenszky, International Economic
Relations Minister Bela Kadar, and chairman of the Hungarian
National Bank Akos Peter Bod. Bilateral relations and Hungary's
international integration efforts are expected to dominate the
discussions.  Claes is considered to be among those Western
politicians who believe that the Visegrad Three--Hungary, Poland,
and Czechoslovakia--should join the European Community as soon as
possible.  (Judith Pataki, RFE/RL Inc.)

LANDSBERGIS IN SPAIN.  On 5 September parliament chairman Vytautas
Landsbergis flew to Seville to host the Lithuanian Day ceremonies
at Expo 92 on the 6th, Radio Lithuania reports.  He will return to
Lithuania on the 7th and travel to Moscow for a meeting with
Russian President Boris Yeltsin on 8 September.  (Saulius Girnius,
RFE/RL Inc.)

GORBUNOVS: TROOP WITHDRAWAL SHOULD BE DISCUSSED SEPARATELY.  In an
interview aired by Ekho Moskvy on 4 September, Latvian Supreme
Council Chairman Anatolijs Gorbunovs said that the withdrawal of
Russian troops from the Baltic States should be discussed
separately from other issues of bilateral relations to avoid
giving the impression that Russia is using the presence of its
troops in the Baltic for resolving bilateral issues. Gorbunovs
also expressed readiness to discuss the possibility of allowing
Russia to maintain certain strategically important military
facilities in Latvia for some time after the withdrawal of the
main contingent of Russian troops, BNS reports.  (Dzintra Bungs,
RFE/RL Inc.)

GUIDELINES FOR RETURNING MILITARY SITES TO LATVIA DISCUSSED.  On 4
September Latvian officials met with the leaders of the
Northwestern Group of Forces to discuss guidelines for turning
over military facilities to Latvia. The NWGF agreed to transfer 9
military "villages" (gorodok in Russian) this year but said that
military schools would be handed over next year, Radio Riga and
BNS report. The NWGF also expressed readiness vacate its political
administration building in the center of Riga so that the building
could be offered for use as Russian embassy in Riga.  The two
sides also agreed that private businesses functioning in army
territory will be banned unless their activities had been
coordinated with the Latvian authorities.  On 3 September Radio
Riga reported that Russian recruits continue to be sent for
military service in Latvia, contrary to Moscow's promises to stop
replenishing its forces in Latvia. (Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL Inc.)

WILL RUSSIANS GET EX-SOVIET EMBASSY IN RIGA? According to Radio
Riga of 3 and 4 September, the Latvian Foreign Ministry informed
its Russian counterpart of the recommendation by the Supreme
Council Presidium not to hand over the former USSR embassy in Riga
to Russia. The building, which served as the Soviet embassy in the
interwar period, was recently renovated and houses the Ministry of
Culture. The embassy had planned to start its work in Riga on 1
October. Both Latvian Minister of State Janis Dinevics and
Minister of Foreign Affairs Janis Jurkans said that the unresolved
question of the Russian embassy could complicate Riga's relations
with Moscow. (Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL Inc.)

IGNALINA ATOMIC POWER PLANT HALTED.  On 5 September the second
reactor at the atomic power plant at Ignalina was stopped when an
impulse pipe in the feeding unit of the steam separator broke
down, Radio Lithuania reports. There was no escape or leakage of
radioactive substances and no danger to plant personnel. The
accident stopped the plant, since the first reactor is also shut
down for maintenance. The repair of the second reactor should be
completed by 8 September. (Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL Inc.)

HUNGARIAN FOREIGN TRADE FIGURES.  According to data released by
the Ministry of International Economic Relations, Hungary's
foreign trade for the first seven months of 1992 showed a deficit
to $60 million, which is $1.3 billion less than the deficit for
the same period last year, MTI reported on 6 September. Exports
rose by 14.1% to a value of $5.9 billion and imports fell by 8.8%
to a value of $5.9 billion. Some 70% of the exports went to
advanced industrial countries (with the EC accounting for 50% and
Germany alone for 27%), 25% to the former socialist countries, and
5% to developing countries. During the same period, imports from
developing countries dropped by 60%.  After deduction of
nonpayment items such as leasing and wages, Hungary's foreign
trade achieved a surplus of $152.5 million.  (Alfred Reisch,
RFE/RL Inc.)


                                                [As of 1200 CET]
Compiled by  Hal Kosiba & Charles Trumbull

                              (END)
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