From: msirbu@next5.cs.umr.edu (Mihai Sirbu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.romanian
Subject: RFE/RL Daily Report 01 SEP, 1992 (long)
Date: 2 Sep 92 15:21:55 GMT
Article-I.D.: umr.1992Sep2.152155.14998
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.


----------------------------------------------------------------
F.................................................................M............M
                   RFE/RL Daily Report

                                       No. 167, September 1, 1992

                   SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

FIGHTING CONTINUES IN ABKHAZIA. Despite the ceasefire agreement
reached on 29 August,fighting continued on 31 August near Gagra
between Georgian National Guard troops and Abkhaz and North
Caucasians.  Georgian forces also launched a massive attack on
Gudauta, the headquarters of Abkhaz Parliament Chairman Vladislav
Ardzinba, Interfax reported.  At an emergency session of the
Georgian State Council on 31 August, State Council Chairman Eduard
Shevardnadze stated that Georgia must take all measures to bring
about a ceasefire before his scheduled meeting in Moscow with
Russian President Yeltsin and Abkhaz and North Caucasian
representatives on 3 September, but that a ceasefire must be
linked to the withdrawal of all North Caucasian irregulars from
Georgian territory. (Liz Fuller, RFE/RL, Inc)

SHEVARDNADZE TO RUN FOR GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN. Arguing that
"Georgians cannot help being original," Georgian State Council
chairman Eduard Shevardnadze told Georgian Radio on 31 August that
he will stand for the post of parliament chairman in the 11
October parliamentary elections, ITAR-TASS reported.  The existing
election law was amended on 29 August, after Shevardnadze had
announced his intention to stand as a candidate for the bloc that
includes the successor party to the Georgian CP, to make provision
for the simultaneous election of a parliament chairman, who may
not be a member of any registered political party. (Liz Fuller,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

IMF WARNS OF HIGHER INFLATION IN RUSSIA. The International
Monetary Fund believes that there is a serious risk of a further
intensification of inflationary pressures in Russia because of a
lack of monetary and fiscal control. The warning comes in an IMF
report due to be released later in September and which was quoted
by AP on 31 August.  The IMF estimates that retail prices in
Russia rose by 875% during the first eight months of 1992. The
Russian GDP declined, in real terms, by 9% in 1991 and by 14% in
the first half of 1992.  Net financial flows to the former Soviet
republics amounted to $9.25 billion in 1991 and are expected to
reach $21 billion in 1992. (Keith Bush, RFE/RL, Inc.)

CIVIC UNION WANTS TO CHANGE CIS INTO CLOSER UNION.  The Political
Council of the Civic Union has spoken out in favor of initiating
in the parliaments and governments of CIS states the recreation of
a closer union of states, Nezavisimaya gazeta reported on 1
September.  The council recommended the establishment of a
collective organ that would conduct a unitary economic, scientific
and cultural policy on the territory of the CIS. The council
emphasized the need to defend Russian minorities in former Soviet
republics.  The major force behind the attempt to recreate the
union is the industrial lobby, which is most interested in
preserving links between various industrial entreprises on the
territory of the former Soviet Union. (Alexander Rahr, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

VOLSKY: INDUSTRIALISTS RESPONSIBLE FOR STABILITY IN RUSSIA.  The
leader of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneures,
Arkadii Volsky, denied that he intends to become Prime Minister.
In an interview with Delovoi mir (no 166), he said he wants to
make his union as powerful as the industrial lobbies in Western
countries.  He added that the industrialists understand the
economic situation better than the present government. He
maintained that the enterprise directors have put a lot of effort
into protecting the social welfare of their factory workers and in
doing so have saved the reform process. He said that the newly
created Civic Union, which is dominated by the industrial lobby,
could win as a bloc in the next parliamentary elections.
(Alexander Rahr, RFE/RL, Inc.)

KHASBULATOV DEMOTES HIS FIRST DEPUTY. The chairman of the Russian
parliament, Ruslan Khasbulatov, issued an order on 21 August
concerning the division of responsibilities between the chairman
and the deputy chairmen of the parliament. This change deprived
his first deputy, Sergei Filatov, of most of his powers and
limited his functions to such areas as control over agriculture,
an RFE/RL stringer reported on 27 August.  While Khasbulatov's
policy has been and remains directed toward fighting the executive
branch, Filatov always tried to find a compromise between the
executive and legislative branches.  The order is being regarded
as further evidence that Khasbulatov is fighting to increase his
own personal power.  (Alexander Rahr, RFE/RL, Inc.)

REPUBLICAN PARTY WARNING ABOUT KHASBULATOV.  The Political Council
of the Republican Party of the Russian Federation has issued a
warning about attempts by the Russian parliament and its leader,
Ruslan Khasbulatov, to take power in the country.  The statement,
published in Nezavisimaya gazeta on 1 September, asserted that the
leadership of the conservative parliament wants to deprive
President Boris Yeltsin of his additional powers, replace
reformers in the government with hardliners, and hold elections on
the local level to bring the old nomenklatura back into power,
thereby halting the economic reform process. The Republican Party
also called upon democrats to quit the Civic Union and to form a
new bloc of parties around "Democratic Russia." (Alexander Rahr,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

MORE ON EXIM BANK DEALS WITH RUSSIA. The Export-Import bank will
be starting negotiations with Russia next month for guarantees on
a 2 billion-dollar purchase of oil and gas equipment, an RFE/RL
Washington correspondent reported on 28 August.  Vice-chairman of
the EXIM Bank Eugene Lawson expects that the deal will be
completed by October. The report also clarifies ITAR-TASS coverage
of the recent $102 million dollar guarantee agreement signed on
August 27 (Daily Report, #165, p.  2) which involves $121 million
dollars worth of purchases for nuclear power facilities, car and
battery factories, as well as pre-fabricated construction.
ITAR-TASS reported that EXIM bank activity with the region, then
the USSR, was stopped due to US objections to Soviet emigration
policies. ITAR-TASS apparently was confusing the Jackson-Vanik
amendment with the Stephenson and other amendments which blocked
credits and guarantees but which were not tied to emigration.
(Erik Whitlock/Robert Lyle, RFE/RL, Inc.)

 .  .RUSSIAN TRADE BANK DENIES BLOCKING DEALS.  In a related
story, Rosvneshtorg bank defended itself against accusations that
it is obstructing over 100 projects by not cosigning deals that
have already received EXIM bank approval (Daily Report #159, p.
2). According to the Journal of Commerce on 31 August, Deputy
Chairman of Rosvneshtorg bank Sergei Osinyagov said that his bank
considers many of the Russian partners in the proposed deals
utterly incapable of paying back loans and thus it may not approve
their purchases at all. (Erik Whitlock, RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIA REFUTES WESTERN BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS CHARGES.  Izvestia on 31
August carried a rebuttal to recent Western hints that Russia
might not have ended its illegal program to produce offensive
biological weapons.  The paper quoted a foreign ministry staff
member as saying it was "impossible to imagine that the President
of Russia should not be in control of an area so important to
Russia's strategic defense." President Yeltsin has banned the
production of biological weapons. Western press reports on 31
August indicated that the United States and Britain had doubts
that Yeltsin's orders were being carried out. The two countries
were said to have asked Russia to take "concrete steps" to prove
that the program--outlawed by international agreement--had been
ended. (Doug Clarke, RFE/RL, Inc.)

UKRAINE TO TAKE GRADUAL APPROACH TO TRANSITION.  First Deputy
Prime Minister Valentyn Symonenko told a press conference on 31
August that, although pressing forward with reform of the
Ukrainian economy, the nation would not opt for a "shock therapy"
approach, Western news agencies reported on 31 August.  "We are
not talking about speedy changes but about evolutionary work," he
was quoted as saying. Symonenko used the opportunity to touch on a
number of other topics as well.  He discussed Ukraine's
voucher-privatization scheme which is to begin this fall with the
opening of special bank accounts to citizens valued at 30,000
coupons (about $100) for use in purchasing shares in state
companies. Symonenko, saying there "was no way back," also
reaffirmed the government's intention to introduce its own
currency, the hrivnya, by the end of the year. (Erik Whitlock,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

RUSSIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER KHIZHA MEETS NORTH CAUCASIAN
LEADERS. In advance of the 3 September meeting in Moscow between
Yeltsin and Shevarnadze to discuss Abkhazia, Russian Deputy Prime
Minister Georgii Khizha met the heads of the North Caucasian
republics (except Chechnya and Ingushetia), Krasnodar and
Stavropol krais, and Rostov oblast, as well as representatives of
the peoples of the North Caucasus and Cossacks in Armavir on 31
August, ITAR-TASS reported. Khizha said that the withdrawal of
Georgian troops from Abkhazia and the disbandment and disarming of
armed formations were essential to the establishment of a lasting
peace. Participants denounced the Confederation of Mountain
Peoples' call for the despatch of volunteers to Abkhazia to fight
on the side of the Abkhazians. There were also calls to turn the
administrative frontier between Russia and Georgia into a formal
state one. (Ann Sheehy, RFE/RL, Inc.)

MOUNTAIN PEOPLES' CONFEDERATION TEMPORARILY SUSPENDS DESPATCH OF
VOLUNTEERS.  The Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the North
Caucasus issued a statement on 31 August saying that from 1
September they were suspending the despatch of volunteers to
Abkhazia, ITAR-TASS reported citing CIS TV.  The suspension would
be in operation until 4 September, when the outcome of the 3
September talks in Moscow between the leaders of Russia, Georgia,
Abkhazia, and the North Caucasus should be known. (Ann Sheehy,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT.  Azerbaijani
presidential spokesman Niazi Ibragimov is quoted by ITAR-TASS as
asserting that an incident on 29 August in which a KAMAZ truck
rammed a police car escorting Azerbaijani President Abulfaz
Elchibei's car near the raion center of Geranboy was an
assassination attempt.  The truck driver, whose identity is not
known, was detained; Elchibei was not injured. (Liz Fuller,
RFE/RL, Inc.)

DEMONSTRATORS TAKE HOSTAGES IN DUSHANBE. Threatening that if Tajik
President Rakhmon Nabiev would not meet with them voluntarily,
they would haul him out by force, a group of opposition picketers
invaded the Presidential Palace in Dushanbe on 31 August, and held
government employees and members of the president's staff hostage,
ITAR-TASS reported.  The opposition had set 31 August as the
deadline for Tajik President Rakhmon Nabiev either to stop the
fighting that has turned much of southern Tajikistan into a civil
war zone for the last two months, or resign. There was no sign
that Nabiev intended to resign.  The demonstrators also demanded
the release of General Rakhim Nurullobekov, who has been detained
by National Security in connection with the assassination last
week of the state prosecutor. (Bess Brown RFE/RL,Inc.)

CIS MIILTARY OBSERVERS IN TAJIKISTAN. A group of military
observers from Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and CIS armed forces
headquarters are visiting the parts of southern Tajikistan where
fighting is occurring, Khovar-TASS reported on 31 August. The
observers are assessing the potential danger for the rest of the
Commonwealth and the possibilities for reconciling the warring
groups.  They were invited by the Tajik government, which has been
criticized by the opposition for an agreement reached last week
between President Nabiev and CIS armed forces commander Evgenii
Shaposhnikov on the deployment of CIS peacekeeping forces in
Tajikistan. (Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)

TAJIK PRIME MINISTER RESIGNS. ITAR-TASS reported on 31 August that
Tajik President Nabiev had accepted the resignation of Prime
Minister Akbar Mirzoev on 30 August. No reason was given for
Mirzoev's departure. He was appointed to the post in January and
was considered a close associate of Nabiev. Mirzoev is one of the
government officials who came from Kulyab Oblast, which has
rejected the Dushanbe coalition government because it contains
members of the opposition. His departure from the government may
further exacerbate relations between Kulyab and Dushanbe. (Bess
Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.)

KAZAKH-US AGREEMENT ON ENERGY. A memorandum between Kazakhstan and
the United States concerning cooperation on energy was signed in
Alma-Ata on 31 August, ITAR-TASS reported. The memorandum provides
for the privatization of Kazakhstan's existing energy complex and
US assistance in the preparation of laws on energy. (Bess Brown,
RFE/RL Inc.)

LEBEDAGAIN CAUTIONED AGAINST POLITICAL STATEMENTS.  Russia's
Defense Minister, General Pavel Grachev, told Izvestiia of 1
September that he has "issued additional written instructions to
General Lebed," the commander of Russia's 14th Army in Moldova, on
"the impermissibility of [making] political statements." Grachev's
announcement followed complaints by Moldova's ambassador to
Russia, Petru Lucinschi, to Grachev about Lebed's recent public
statements terming the Moldovan government "fascist" and
"criminal" and pledging continued Russian assistance, including
military aid, to the "Dniester republic." Lucinschi told Grachev
that such statements undermine Yeltsin's policy, contravene CIS
commitments, fuel Moldovan suspicions of Russia, and cause "an
explosive situation" in Moldova, Izvestia reported. Lebed had been
instructed to refrain from political statements in early July
following his first series of statements, but he continued to make
them afterward. (Vladimir Socor, RFE/RL, Inc.)

                    CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

ALEXANDER DUBCEK IN CRITICAL CONDITION AFTER CAR ACCIDENT.  CSTK
reports that Alexander Dubcek, former chairman of the Czechoslovak
Federal Assembly and leader of the 1968 Prague Spring, was
involved in a car accident on the highway connecting Prague and
Bratislava in the morning of 1 September. Dubcek was transported
to a hospital in Humpolec, where he was diagnosed as having
suffered a broken spine, ribs, and hips.  (Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

MAZOWIECKI WARNS OF SPREADING ETHNIC CLEANSING.  Western news
agencies on 31 August quoted UN human rights monitor and former
Polish prime minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki as blaming all sides for
human rights violations in the Yugoslav conflict. He added,
however, that Croatian persecution of Serbs "cannot be compared to
the systematic use of violence against ethnic Croatians and
Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina." Mazowiecki cited systematic
execution of prisoners by Serbian irregulars, as well as
"particularly grave incidents of physical abuse of Catholic
priests and nuns." There were signs that the Serbs were beginning
to extend ethnic cleansing to the Sandzak, Kosovo, and Vojvodina,
and international monitors should be sent to those areas soon, he
concluded. He also requested more UN peace keepers for the
conflict and asked that they be given powers to intervene to stop
human rights violations. (Patrick Moore, RFE/RL, Inc.)

VANCE: ALL SIDES HAVE BROKEN LONDON AGREEMENTS.  The chief UN
envoy in the Yugoslav conflict, Cyrus Vance, said on 31 August
that all parties had already violated the terms they had approved
on 26 and 27 August, including the cease-fire.  Western news
agencies added that Vance would consider taking up some of the
recommendations in Mazowiecki's 18-page report.  The envoy will
resume negotiations on the crisis on 4 September in Geneva.
(Patrick Moore, RFE/RL, Inc.)

UN SANCTIONS BROKEN AT HUNGARIAN BORDER. According to Reuters on
31 August, UN trade sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro are
repeatedly being broken by shipment of goods across the Hungarian
border. The report was based on an interview with a representative
of the Dutch transport union Vervoersbond FNV, who was sent to the
border to investigate claims that drivers passing through Serbia
are often forced to load cargoes in violation of the sanctions.
(Judith Pataki, RFE/RL, Inc.)

PANIC TO FACE NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE. Radio Serbia reported on 31
August that the federal assembly of the rump Yugoslavia will take
a vote of no-confidence on Prime Minister Milan Panic.  The motion
was proposed by 68 deputies of the ruling Socialist Party and the
ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party.  The vote could take place
as early as 3 September and would require only a simple majority
of the 178 deputies to pass. Expressing the view of those deputies
who oppose Panic, Brana Crncevic, a popular columnist and
socialist deputy, said Panic's talks with Croatian President
Franjo Tudjman and Kosovo's leader Ibrahim Rugova in London
"exceeded the boundaries of his mandate" since the talks "were
conducted in secret." Crncevic also complained that Panic acted
without giving prior notice to members of the Serbian and
Montenegrin delegations in London and disregarded the assembly's
instructions in connection with the London meeting.  Crncevic also
said that Panic's pledges on recognizing the independence of
Croatia and the restoring Kosovo's autonomy were out of line.
(Milan Andrejevich, RFE/RL, Inc.)

REACTIONS TO THE NO-CONFIDENCE PROPOSAL. President of the rump
Yugoslavia Dobrica Cosic told Tanjug that he is surprised by the
move, as are Deputies of Montenegro's Democratic Party of
Socialists (formerly League of Communists). Svetozar Marovic, a
Montenegrin deputy, expressed his doubts that such a "radical and
one-sided move" can contribute to the stabilization of the
situation in the country." Panic's spokesman, David Calef, told
reporters that Panic is "not worried." It is widely believed that
the latest action may be the result of Panic's attempts to
restrain Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, widely regarded as
the chief instigator of continuing warfare in the former
Yugoslavia.  Earlier Panic put Milosevic on notice that he must
comply with the London agreements "or else . . . I will demand his
resignation." On 29 August, however, Panic said his statement had
been misinterpreted: "I said if anyone fails to comply, he would
have to resign." Radio Serbia carried the reports. (Milan
Andrejevich, RFE/RL, Inc.)

SLOVAK PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES CONSTITUTION. On 31 August the Slovak
National Council opened a session dedicated to debating a draft
Slovak constitution. Presenting the draft, which had been prepared
by the Slovak government, Slovak prime minister Vladimir Meciar
called it Slovakia's first truly democratic constitution. He also
said that the constitution is based on "civic rather than national
principle." Meciar praised the fact that deputies have submitted
more than 400 amendments to the draft constitution. He argued,
however, that the efforts by ethnic Hungarian deputies to have
minority rights enhanced through amendments were "justly
rejected," because "they would cast doubt on the integrity of the
Slovak Republic." During the parliamentary debate, Hungarian
deputies criticized the draft as "repressive" and said they would
vote against it.  Responding to criticism that the constitution
gives too much power to the government and weakens the parliament,
Meciar said that "the government is not parliament's front
office." (Jiri Pehe, RFE/RL, Inc.)

POLISH SENATE EXPERTS CRITICAL OF DRAFT CONSTITUTION.  Several
constitutional experts have proposed that the Senate reject the
draft of a new Polish constitution that was approved by the Sejm
on 1 August. Testifying at a hearing held by the Senate's
Constitutional Commission on 31 August and reported by PAP, the
experts said that the draft rules for the formation of the
government are confusing and could complicate the operation of the
government, that the proposed constitution excessively limits the
president's prerogatives, and that it restricted the Senate's
authority by enhancing the Sejm's powers.  The draft must be
approved by the Senate and signed by the president. Poland's
current constitution was adopted in 1952 at the height of
communist rule and, as a result of frequent amendments, it
confuses rather than clarifies the rules and procedures of
government. (Jan de Weydenthal, RFE/RL, Inc.)

ILIESCU LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN.  On 31 August Romanian president Ion
Iliescu opened his campaign for reelection. He made a general
statement on Radio Bucharest and answered questions from
listeners, telling Romanians that his policies helped "demolish
the communist totalitarian system" in the country as well as avert
"chaos and anarchy" during the transition to democracy and a
market economy.  A high-ranking communist party functionary under
Ceausescu until 1971, Iliescu is backed by the Democratic National
Salvation Front, which broke away from the National Salvation
Front in April. (Dan Ionescu, RFE/RL, Inc.)

ANTALL DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM CSURKA PAMPHLET.  On 31 August, the
first day of parliamentary session after the summer break, Prime
Minister Jozsef Antall distanced himself from the "political
pamphlet" written recently by Istvan Csurka, vice-president of the
governing Democratic Forum, MTI reports.  Antall called Csurka's
critical study of the performance of the Democratic Forum and the
government "politically harmful" because it gave wrong answers to
important questions. Antall stressed that neither he, his cabinet,
nor the party have identified with those answers. Antall was also
critical of a leading liberal member of his party, Jozsef
Debreczeni, who took the debate outside the party by publishing an
answer to Csurka's essay in the opposition daily Nepszabadsag.
(Judith Pataki, RFE/RL, Inc.)

HUNGARIAN PARTY DOCUMENTS TO BE MADE PUBLIC.  Radio Budapest
reported on 28 August that several documents of the former
Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party will become accessible to the
public on 1 September when the law passed by Hungarian parliament
last December on the fate of the documents comes into effect. Some
party documents, such as membership lists, were returned to the
Institute of Party History.  Although some material is readily
available at the archives, materials less than 30 years old can be
researched only if the Ministry of Education and Culture, which
supervises the archives, grants permission to do so. (Judith
Pataki, RFE/RL, Inc.)

TROOPS TO BE WITHDRAWN FROM BALTICS IN 1993?  On 31 August Oleg
Muradyan, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Baltic Affairs
department, told BNS that Russia is ready to withdraw its troops
from the Baltic States by the end of 1993. He said that this is an
"unofficial position" but that Russian President Boris Yeltsin
will make this proposal at his 8 September meeting with Lithuanian
parliament chairman Vytautas Landsbergis.  In an interview with
the RFE/RL Lithuanian Service, Landsbergis said that the "good
will and flexibility" shown by the Russians in negotiations on
troop withdrawals made him "moderately optimistic" that an
agreement on a "package of documents" on the withdrawal could be
reached.  (Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.)

UDF REACTION TO ZHELEV'S CRITICISM. On 31 August Bulgarian prime
minister and UDF leader Filip Dimitrov rejected the sharp
criticism directed at his ruling coalition by President Zhelyu
Zhelev the previous day.  Dimitrov said Zhelev's claims that the
political situation in Bulgaria is tense and that the parliament
and the government are not functioning efficiently "do not
correspond to the truth," BTA reports. Following a meeting of the
UDF Coordinating Council, spokesman Mihail Nedelchev said Zhelev
ought to have made his remarks directly to the coalition before
going public. Zhelev is a founder and former leader of the UDF.
(Kjell Engelbrekt, RFE/RL, Inc.)

BULGARIAN GYPSIES MEET.  On 30 August, leaders of the Bulgarian
Gypsy community, which has been rent by many divisions, ended a
two-day session which they called the "National Round Table for
the Union of Gypsies," BTA reported.  The meeting yielded a
declaration which calls for equal treatment of Gypsies. It
indicates that Gypsies wish to cooperate with state agencies in
diminishing tensions between Gypsies and other citizens.
Bulgaria's Gypsy leaders wish to form a national organization and
are planning a conference in Sofia on 17 October to pursue this
goal.  Gypsies comprise the third largest ethnic group in Bulgaria
after Bulgarians and Turks.  (Duncan Perry, RFE/RL, Inc.)

BULGARIA TO SERVICE FOREIGN DEBT. Given the approval of the
National Assembly, from mid-September Bulgaria will resume
payments on its $12 billion foreign debt the government decided on
31 August. According to BTA, Finance Minister Ivan Kostov told a
press conference that the decision is a result of concessions made
by both Bulgaria and its commercial creditors.  Although he
declined to reveal details, Kostov said the creditor banks have
agreed to Bulgaria's request for a comprehensive settlement and is
offering substantial debt reduction. (Kjell Engelbrekt, RFE/RL,
Inc.)

POLISH STRIKE UPDATE. PAP reports that on 1 September the
management of the car parts factory in Tychy began sending
dismissal notices to about 400 strikers occupying the plant.  PAP
also reported that the management of the Silesian Rozbark coal
mine made public the names of 17 striking miners to be dismissed
for disciplinary reasons.  Both strikes are regarded as illegal.
In a related development, workers in the Ursus tractor plant near
Warsaw decided to continue a partial strike.  Prime Minister Hanna
Suchocka declined the workers' invitation for an urgent meeting to
discuss their problem. (Jan de Weydenthal, RFE/RL, Inc.)

STOLOJAN DEFENDS SUBSIDY CUTS; UNIONS CALL PROTESTS.  In an
interview broadcast by Radio Bucharest on 31 August Romanian prime
minister Theodor Stolojan again defended his cabinet's decision to
go ahead with subsidy cuts planned for 1 September.  Stolojan, who
admitted that the move was likely to have a negative impact on the
forthcoming elections, insisted that Romania cannot "afford the
luxury of linking its economic reforms to the electoral cycle."
The new round of subsidy cuts--the second this year--is expected
to lead to a substantial increase in prices for staples, services,
and energy.  Romania's main trade union organizations called for
rallies on 11 September to protest sinking living standards. (Dan
Ionescu, RFE/RL Inc.)

START OF SCHOOL YEAR IN LITHUANIA. On 31 August Darius Kuolys,
Lithuanian minister of culture and education, told a press
conference that with the start of the school year on 1 September
Lithuanian education was entering its second stage of reform.
More than 40 new textbooks will be used to replace Soviet
materials throughout the school system.  Fourteen new primary
schools and eight high schools have been opened. "Moral training"
classes, either in religion or ethics, will be required for pupils
in primary and high schools. (Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.)

CORRECTION: In RFE/RL Daily Report 165 of 28 August, The post of
Bulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister Valentin Dobrev was incorrectly
given.  In the item on debt settlement (Daily Report 166) on 31
August, while Bulgaria's foreign debt amounts to $12 billion, its
commercial debt stands at about $10 billion.

[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Hal Kosiba & Charles Trumbull
The RFE/RL Daily Report is produced by the RFE/RL Research
Institute (a division of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc.)
with the assistance of the RFE/RL News and Current Affairs
Division (NCA). The report is available by electronic mail
via LISTSERV (RFERL-L@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU), on the
Sovset' computer bulletin board, by fax, and by postal mail.

For inquiries about specific news items, subscriptions, or
additional copies, please contact:

In USA:
Mr. Jon Lodeesen or Mr. Brian Reed
RFE/RL, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20036.
Telephone: (202) 457-6912 or -6900
fax: (202) 457-6992 or -202-828-8783;
Internet: RI-DC@RFERL.ORG
or in Europe:

Ms. Helga Hofer
Publications Department
RFE/RL Research Institute
Oettingenstrasse 67
8000 Munich 22
Telephone: (+49 89) 2102-2631 or -2642
fax: (+49 89) 2102-2648
Internet: Pubs@RFERL.ORG

Copyright 1992, RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.romanian