From: J.Theodore.Schuerzinger@dartmouth.edu (J. Theodore Schuerzinger)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.soviet
Subject: Re: Some private news from Moscow
Date: 13 Nov 92 18:34:38 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
X-Posted-From: InterNews1.0a5@newshost.dartmouth.edu

In article <01GQZQFNN9EO8ZDW9U@MPS.OHIO-STATE.EDU>
VIZNYUK@MPS.OHIO-STATE.EDU (SERGEI VIZNYUK) writes:

> Today I got an e-mail letter from one my friend. He came
> back to Moscow (Space Research Institute) from Harvard
> recently. I think the audience would be interested to
> read an exempts. Could someone translate the Russian
> part ?  The original, as you can see below is a mix of
> English and Russian.
> 
I'll attempt a translation, but Russian isn't my first language, so
don't flame me for my mistakes!
NOTE: My comments are in brackets.

"Here, in fact, all is not so bad, as you may have imagined reading
Novoe russkoe slovo [a Russian-language daily printed in New York; lit
'New Russian Word']. $ is just passed 400 rub today (403 rub/$). Prices
are still on the level of approx 100 times of those before perestroika,
so you
can calculate that the real rate is about 30-50 rub/$ . I dont think
there's any serious chances to remove Yeltsin; I even think that this
congress [the meeting of the Russian assembly, which Yeltsin tried to
block], he and Gaidar will win.  In general, though it may be my
private feeling, it seems to me that relations between Yeltsin and all
his aides are getting better, and everything doesn't seem so somber. 
They've started to give money, etc. to the institute (But it may be
that everything looks rosy to me because I've still got a little good
coffee:-) I think why not to get a voucher. However, their market price
right now is 5,000 rub. But its as much stupid as its nominal 10,000
(and as 403 rub/$), because the only thing you can do with them right
now is sell them for half the price you paid to get them at the bank. 
In the evaluation of Commersant [a Russian bussiness magazine], one
vouche is worth about 200,000 rub of production of the funds (in August
1992 prices), but very low-profit, therefore the market price of the
vouchers will be low. But 5,000 is too suspiciously close to its stupid
nominal price 10,000 rub, which we know is set up arbitrarily, so 5,000
seems to be arbitrary as well. What they (government) may do is to
begin to sell something only for vouchers (say, land, or flats, or
whatever). Your parents must get the voucher before the new year.

"Incombank begin to exchange traveller cheques (dont know for what
charge though); and i even read (from an extremely unclear article in
Commersant) that, in some hotel, a normal ATM machine is installed
(didnt check yet).
 
"A new 50-ruble currency was issued; two-colored, with an eagle.  For
the metro they've made transparent green tokens, which don't work and
constantly get stuck [in the turnstiles, I assume].  They're trying to
introduce tokens for the pay phones.  In general, change is leaving the
scene -- prices are simply rounded to the nearest ruble.  Therefore you
don't call from the pay-phones for anything [at any rate, the phones
still don't work].
 
The 7th through 9th of November [Anniversary of the October Revolution
in the ex-USSR] was a normal weekend.  Some demonstrated, but nothing
much happened.
 
"Well, I've got other things to do."
 -----

I hope I haven't left anything in Russian; again, sorry for any
mistakes!

--Ted Schuerzinger
email: .zed@Dartmouth.EDU
"I should have realized it would be bad vodka when all the label said
was 'Russian Vodka'."
Newsgroups: soc.culture.soviet