Newsgroups: biz.americast.samples
From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com
Organization: American Cybercasting
Subject: Sample Moscow News art.219 Sat, Aug 22 1992
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 22:04:19 EDT

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    DATE(YYYY/MM/DD): 1992/08/19
    TITLE: A Vienna caprice
    BY: Rustam Narzikulov
    SUBJECTS: 19
    SECTION: 8
    
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    SUMMARY: While the state treasury is almost empty, Russia needs to pay
             its membership fees to international organizations some of
             which, according to an MN correspondent, are not listed in
             order of priority.
    ###
         
         A Vienna caprice
         Vice-Premier  Alexander   Shokhin  issued  a  decree  (No.1450-p)
    instructing Russia's  Finance Ministry  to buy  hard currency from the
    Central Bank  to be transferred as membership fees to 14 international
    organizations. The  total sum  of  payments  amounts  to  around  26.8
    million dollars, which is equivalent to 4,335 billion roubles.
         The list includes those organizations for whom a delay in payment
    might cost  Russia the  right to  vote and even membership. Among them
    are  GATT,   whose  task   it  is   to  eliminate   discrimination  in
    international trade,  the International  Cocoa  Organization  and  the
    International Wheat Council.
         However, the  presence of  the International Institute of Applied
    Systems Analysis (IIASA) on the list raised some doubts. The Institute
    is to  receive 21  million Austrian schillings (2.04 million dollars),
    or 7.8  per cent  of all  payments. The sum is so significant it can't
    but attract attention. Vienna-based IIASA was founded in 1972, most of
    its expenses  being covered  by the  USA  and the Soviet Union. If for
    the Americans  that  was  a  contribution  to  the  so-called  systems
    research which came into prominence in the 1970s, then for Soviets the
    Institute was  one of the few legal "windows" into Europe. Among those
    who happened  to  work  in  the  Vienna  Institute  are  a  number  of
    government  officials,  including  the  current  Ministry  of  Foreign
    Economic Relations  Pyotr Aven,  who is  said to  have been reserved a
    place in  IIASA where he stayed up until his governmental appointment.
    Pyotr Aven  is not  just a  high-ranking official,  he is in charge of
    Russia's foreign  economic ties.  Since the government decision on the
    payment of  membership dues  was drafted  in the  Ministry of  Foreign
    Economic Relations  under Pyotr  Aven's close  attention,  the  reason
    behind IIASA appearance on  the privileged list is only too obvious.
         For IIASA's  sake, far  more serious projects were abandoned (for
    instance, UN programme of development).
                                    Rustam Narzikulov
         
         
         
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This article is copyright 1992 The Moscow News. Redistribution to
other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American 
Cybercasting Corporation.  For more information, send-email to 
usa@AmeriCast.COM

This article is copyright 1992 The Moscow News. Redistribution to
other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American 
Cybercasting Corporation.  For more information, send-email to 
usa@AmeriCast.COM