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Subject:      RFE/RL Daily Report 26 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. 16, 26 January 1993

                              RUSSIA

YELTSIN: US TENDS TO DICTATE POLICY. Asked during a press
conference on 25 January in Moscow about Russia's attitude toward
the use of force in diplomacy, Russian President Boris Yeltsin
said that "the United States has a certain tendency to dictate its
own terms," ITAR-TASS reported. Yeltsin stressed that Russia had
its own opinion about such issues as [the former] Yugoslavia. "We
believe, in any case, that it is better to conduct a political
dialogue with Iraq, and as I see it, President Clinton is now more
inclined to follow that kind of policy." Meanwhile, CIS
Commander-in-Chief Marshall Evgenii Shaposhnikov expressed
disapproval on 25 January of US-led raids against Iraq, saying "in
my view, not all means have been exhaused to restore peace in the
Gulf region including actions that could have been initiated by
the United Nations and its Security Council." Suzanne Crow,
RFE/RL, Inc.

RUSSIA CALLS FOR SANCTIONS AGAINST CROATIA. Deputy Foreign
Minister Vitalii Churkin said on 25 January that Moscow will bring
up the issue of introducing sanctions against Croatia at the
United Nations for consideration if Croatia "does not stop
military activities against the Serbs." A Russian Foreign Ministry
statement of the same day said that "The Croatian side already for
a long time has ignored bans on flights and air space in Bosnia
and Herzegovina and is supplying weapons to this republic." The
statement also referred to Croatian attacks on areas protected by
UN forces, and it expressed concern about the zones where Russian
peacekeeping forces are stationed, Interfax reported on 25
January. Russia's ambassador to the UN, Yulii Vorontsov, said on
25 January following UN discussions of Croatian attacks in Serbian
Krajina that "Zagreb not only is refusing to restore the status
quo and to withdraw from the territories seized during its
invasion but also is striving to expand the areas of combat
actions," ITAR-TASS reported.  Suzanne Crow, RFE/RL, Inc.

SHAPOSHNIKOV AGAIN SAYS EX-SOVIET NUKES SHOULD BE RUSSIA'S.  At a
25 January press conference reported by Interfax, CIS
commander-in-Chief Marshal Evgenii Shaposhnikov reiterated his
claim that Russia should be the sole owner of former Soviet
strategic nuclear weapons-a position disputed by Ukraine.
Shaposhnikov stated that Belarus has already transferred its
nuclear forces to Russian jurisdiction and Kazakhstan has agreed
in principle to do the same. Ukraine has agreed to allow the
Russian Defense Ministry and the CIS Joint High Command to check
on the technical condition of the weapons in Ukraine. Negotiations
on the dismantling of nuclear warheads from Ukraine, possible
compensation for their fissile materials, and the composition of
strategic forces are to begin on 26 January. Shaposhnikov
suggested that as compensation Russia might give Ukraine nuclear
fuel equal to the value of the fissile materials in the warheads
minus the costs of removing and dismantling them.  Doug Clarke and
John Lepingwell, RFE/RL, Inc.

NEW RUSSIAN BANKNOTES ISSUED. On 25 January, the presidium of the
Russian parliament approved the introduction of new banknotes,
ITAR-TASS reported. The issue commenced on 26 January. The new
bills are in denominations of 200, 500, 1,000, and 5,000 rubles,
and do not bear the portrait of Lenin. They will be circulated
along with the existing ruble notes. The aim of the new issue is
purportedly to reduce counterfeiting.  Keith Bush, RFE/RL, Inc.

HARD-CURRENCY SALES TO BE LIMITED.  Effective 1 March,
Russian-made goods may be sold only for rubles, Interfax reported
on 25 January.  The regulation by the Russian Central Bank
stipulates that stores with an appropriate license will be allowed
to sell imported goods for foreign currency but will be obliged to
accept rubles on demand for these goods at an exchange rate to be
determined by the seller. Hotels, bars, restaurants, and
transportation undertakings will be allowed to charge hard
currency from foreigners.  Keith Bush, RFE/RL, Inc.

HOW REFORMIST IS RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT? Deputy Prime Minister Boris
Fedorov told Ostankino TV on 24 January that he intends to
preserve the course of former Acting Prime Minister Egor Gaidar.
Fedorov said that Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, First Deputy
Prime Minister Vladimir Shumeiko, and Deputy Prime Minister
Georgii Khizha are all committed to implementing market reforms. A
less radical reformer is Deputy Prime Minister Yurii Yarov.  He
accompanied parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov to Kemerovo,
where the latter again called for the removal of the government.
Radio Rossii on 24 January quoted Yarov as saying that the
government will soon present a new anti-crisis program to the
parliament; in some respects, this program will be far less
radical than the one pursued previously by Gaidar.  Alexander
Rahr, RFE/RL, Inc.

FILATOV SUPPORTS DEMOCRATS.  The newly appointed head of the
Administration of the President, Sergei Filatov, told Ostankino TV
on 24 January that he wants to make the work of the consultative
bodies of the President, such as the Political-Consultative
Council, which includes leading academics as well as reformist
politicians and the Council of Heads of Republics, more effective.
He stated that his presidential administration will now better
serve the needs of these bodies. He spoke also in favor of setting
up a council of heads of administrations.  Alexander Rahr, RFE/RL,
Inc.

LATEST RUSSIAN UNEMPLOYMENT FORECASTS. Officials from the Russian
Federal Employment Service have again predicted that unemployment
will rise steeply in 1993.  On 22 January Fyodor Prokopov, head of
the Employment Service, predicted that there will be between four
to six million unemployed by the end of the year, according to a
Reuters report on the same day. Other specialists from the
employment service have forecast that unemployment will rise three
fold in Moscow, four fold in Volgograd, and five fold in Karelia,
according to ITAR-TASS on 25 January. There were 577,00 registered
unemployed in December 1992, giving an unemployment rate of 0.8%.
Russia is currently benefitting from international assistance in
developing employment services. One example of this is the new
German-funded employment bureau which opened in Moscow last week.
Sheila Marnie, RFE/RL, Inc.

MOSCOW'S MAYOR REPORTS ON PRIVATIZATION, BUDGET, CRIME.  Moscow's
Mayor, Yurii Liukov, has stated that 310,000 of the city's flats
were privatized in 1992, and by February the number is expected to
total 500,000, according to AFP on 25 January. By the end of 1992,
9600 shops and enterprises had been privatized.  Liukov, however,
called for the centre of Moscow to be given back to the
Muscovites, since real estate deals over the past months have
meant that the centre is being depopulated.  In 1992 3.3 million
people or about one third of Moscow's inhabitants were given
social assistance, which cost the city 30 billion rubles.  Last
year Moscow spent 181 billion rubles, although its planned budget
was 68 billion rubles. The planned budget for 1993 is 920 billion
rubles. Sheila Marnie, RFE/RL, Inc.

RUSSIA'S BIRTH RATE DROPS; INFANT MORTALITY RATE RISES.  In 1992
the number of deaths exceeded births in Russia for the first time
since the second World War, according to Reuters on 21 January.
The Russia Deputy Health Minister Nikolai Vaganov reported that in
1992, 11 babies were born per 1000 people, while the death rate
increased to 12 per 1000.  Vaganov attributed the lower birth rate
to the drop in living standards of most Russian families.
Starting in 1993, Russia is adopting World Health Organization
(WHO) standards for the estimation of its infant mortality rate,
and this could raise the number of registered infant deaths by at
least 20%. In 1992, 17 out of every 1000 newborns died.  Sheila
Marnie, RFE/RL, Inc.

HARD LIFE FOR CHILDREN IN RUSSIA. Excerpts from a report of the UN
Committee on Children's Rights, published in Komsomolskaya pravda
on 21 January, paint a sorry picture of children's health in
Russia.  According to the report up to 20% of young children
suffer from chronic illnesses, and only 10-14% of children start
school in full health. 60% of young children show signs of rickets
or hypertrophy, and 10% of anemia. Out of every 1000 children, 20
die within one year of birth. In 1992 there were 30% less births
than in 1987, and there are more than three million children being
brought up in single parent families. 30% of schools in the
country are in need of repair; and 6% are in a state of collapse.
The number of child drug addicts now totals 7,000.  Sheila
Marnie., RFE/RL, Inc.

                  TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

NIYAZOV AND SHAPOSHNIKOV ON AID TO TAJIKISTAN. At the 22 January
CIS summit, Turkmenistan's President Saparmurad Niyazov refused to
sign a common statement on sending CIS peacekeepers to Tajikistan.
On 25 January, Niyazov explained that he had refused to sign
because he believes the Tajiks should solve their own problems and
put their own house in order, ITAR-TASS reported. Somewhat similar
sentiments were expressed the same day by CIS Commander-in-Chief
Evgenii Shaposhnikov, who was quoted by Interfax as saying that
Tajikistan needs humanitarian rather than military aid; a group of
CIS officers is being sent to Tajikistan to help create a Tajik
army. Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.

CONSTITUTIONAL DEBATE IN KAZAKHSTAN. After weeks of public
discussion of a draft constitution for Kazakhstan, the country's
legislature has begun an article-by-article debate of the draft,
Interfax reported on 25 January.  Fourteen opposition parties are
circulating an appeal for the adoption of the constitution to be
deferred until after the election of a new parliament because, in
their view, the present Supreme Soviet, elected in 1990, does not
reflect Kazakhstan's present political spectrum and the draft
contains no reliable guarantees against usurpation of power
because it provides for neither impeachment of the president nor
dissolution of parliament.  Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.

KYRGYZSTAN'S DEMOCRATIC PARTIES FORM BLOC. Eleven parties and
movements in Kyrgyzstan have united with the objective of ensuring
that there is no return to dictatorship, Topchubek Turgunaaly,
head of Erkin Kyrgyzstan, one of the most influential
self-designated democratic parties told Kyrgyzkabar-TASS on 25
January.  Turgunaaly expressed concern about the effect of the
institution of akim (local governor appointed by the president) on
the process of democratization in Kyrgyzstan.  When this post was
created, local soviets were abolished giving the akims
quasi-dictatorial powers.  Bess Brown, RFE/RL, Inc.

                          INTERREGIONAL

DETAILS ON CIS BANK RELEASED. ITAR-TASS reported more details on
the interstate bank of the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS) on 25 January.  Representatives of all the CIS states signed
documents on 22 January creating the body which is to carry out
multilateral clearing of international financial accounts for the
region. The bank will be founded in Moscow with an initial
founding capital totaling five billion rubles contributed by its
members. It will have the right to restrict or close the accounts
of those members who violate payment obligations.  Any state can
withdraw from participation in the bank with six months advanced
notice of its intention to do so. The accounts will be denominated
in rubles with some clearing between countries settled in hard
currency.  Erik Whitlock, RFE/RL, Inc.

                    CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

CROATIA OFFERS SERBS TRUCE. Radio Croatia reports on 25 January
that the Croatian government has offered a cease-fire to leaders
of the self-proclaimed Serbian Republic of Krajina. Croatian
forces regained control of several key sites held by ethnic Serbs
since 1991. However, fighting continues, and Serb paramilitary
leader "Captain Dragan" said his forces will launch a
counter-offensive soon.  Krajina Serb leaders vow to recapture the
lost territory, and the federal Yugoslav army announced it has
raised its combat readiness.  The Croats, who began their
offensive on 22 January, overran a year-old UN cease-fire line and
swept into the Serb-held enclave of Krajina.  Croatia has long
chafed at UNPROFOR's inability to disarm Serb militias in the
protected zones, restore the areas to Zagreb's control, and
repatriate refugees from fighting in 1991 when Croats fought to
secede from Yugoslavia.  Milan Andrejevich, RFE/RL, Inc.

UN CONDEMNS CROATIAN ACTION. International media report that the
UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution on 25 January
demanding the withdrawal of the Croatian troops. The resolution,
drafted by France, strongly condemned the attacks against UNPROFOR
and demanded their immediate cessation.  Two French UN soldiers
were killed and three wounded as a result of fighting on 25
January.  The resolution demands that heavy weapons seized by Serb
forces from storage areas controlled by UNPROFOR be returned
immediately and insists that all parties comply with UN-mediated
cease-fire arrangements. Croatian UN representative Mario Nobilo
said the "limited action of the Croatian police forces and
Croatian army units" on Croatian territory, aimed at securing the
area around the Maslenica bridge, has ended upon completion of its
goals.  Milan Andrejevich, RFE/RL, Inc.

NO PROGRESS AT BOSNIAN PEACE TALKS. Radios Croatia and Serbia
report on 25 January that the Geneva peace talks at resolving the
conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina have failed to make any headway.
Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic told reporters that he will
withdraw from the negotiations if no progress is achieved in the
next few days.  He reiterated his view that any discussion over
territorial divisions and maps would legitimize Bosnian Serb
territorial gains through ethnic cleansing.  Bosnian Serb leader
Radovan Karadzic acknowledged that the maps are "a very sensitive
affair" and said the Serbs should be given control over a corridor
linking two Serb-held areas.  Karadzic also warned that he is
under pressure from other Bosnian Serb leaders to withdraw from
the talks because of Croatia's offensive in the Krajina.  Milan
Andrejevich, RFE/RL, Inc.

SANCTION-BREAKERS PROGRESS UP DANUBE.  Bulgarian Prime Minister
Lyuben Berov has ruled out force as a means to halt a convoy of
Serbian oil barges towed by the tugboat Bihac traveling westwards
up the Danube, Kontinent reports on 26 January. On the previous
day Bulgarian border officials assured a Western correspondent
that the barges, transporting some 6,000 tons of oil in violation
of UN sanctions, were to be stopped at the port of Lom or at
Vidin, just before entering Serbian territory.  Whereas border
officials in Lom said they would do everything in their power not
to let the convoy escape, the head of Vidin customs control told
BTA he lacks the equipment to stop the convoy.  Meanwhile, on 25
January Romanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mircea Geoana deplored
the fact that three more Serbian tugboats and oil barges refused
to stop at the order of Romanian authorities and continued
upstream toward Serbian ports.  As in the case of the Bihac, the
captains of three ships threatened to blow up their cargoes if
stopped.  Radio Bucharest quoted Geoana as saying that Romania is
awaiting instructions from the UN Security Council Committee on
Sanctions. Nine other Yugoslav vessels are reportedly being
detained in Galati and Braila.  Belgrade has released six Romanian
tugboats detained in Serbian ports, but still retains four barges.
Kjell Engelbrekt and Dan Ionescu , RFE/RL, Inc.

NEW SLOVENIAN GOVERNMENT.  On 25 January the 90-seat parliament
endorsed a new five-party coalition government led by Prime
Minister Janez Drnovsek.  His Liberal Democrat Party (LDS)
receives six key ministries.  The Christian Democrats (SKD)
receive four and their leader, Lojze Peterle, is deputy prime
minister and foreign minister.  The remaining ministries were
filled by the Unity List (UL), led by the former communists, with
three cabinet posts; and the Greens and the Social Democrats each
with one post.  The key appointments are: Finance Minister Mitja
Gaspari (UL), Interior Minister Ivan Bizjak (SKD), Justice
Minister Miha Kozinc (LDS), and Defense Minister Janez Jansa
(Social Democrat). Radio Slovenia carried the report.  Milan
Andrejevich, RFE/RL, Inc.

KNAZKO CRITICIZES PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE. Slovak Foreign Minister
and Deputy Prime Minister Milan Knazko, a deputy chairman of the
ruling Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, criticized his party's
choice of a candidate for the presidential election.  In an
interview with Slovak Radio on 25 January, Knazko said that when
he learned that Roman Kovac, a former communist, was the
presidential candidate of the MDS, he wondered if this was not
"too much." Knazko said that he is not categorically opposed to
former communists but indicated his frustration over the fact that
"our movement could not come up with at least one high-ranking
official" who does not have a communist past.  Knazko pointed out
that he considers it a "grave mistake that Slovak political
parties could not agree on the criteria for the selection of a
Slovak president." He said that the president should be above all
parties and be accepted on the basis of a broad social accord.
Knazko's statements indicate a major disagreement between two
factions within the MDS. Presidential elections will be held in
both the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 26 January. Vaclav Havel
and Roman Kovac are the expected winners.  Jan Obrman, RFE/RL,
Inc.

CZECHS, SLOVAKS AGREE ON CURRENCY SPLIT. Czech and Slovak finance
officials agreed on 25 January to split the Czechoslovak koruna
into separate Czech and Slovak currencies at some undetermined
time after the end of January, Czech TV reports. The agreement was
reached at a meeting of the so-called Joint Monetary Committee, a
six-member body consisting of government and bank officials from
both republics.  Slovak Finance Minister Julius Toth, told
journalists after the meeting that the decision is necessary
because of the lack of trust in the Czechoslovak currency both at
home and abroad.  It is widely expected that the currency split
will be carried out in the first week of February.  Jan Obrman,
RFE/RL, Inc.

TEMELIN SHOULD BE COMPLETED, KLAUS SAYS. Czech Prime Minister
Vaclav Klaus said on 25 January that the controversial Temelin
nuclear power plant should be completed, agencies report. Klaus
made it clear that the plant is crucial to the republic's future
energy supply. He said that the inefficient brown coal-burning
plants are a major source of environmental pollution and nuclear
energy is the only alternative at the moment. Temelin is a
Soviet-designed plant launched by the former communist government
in 1986. There are, however, plans for major technical upgrades
with the help of Western companies.  Austria has repeatedly
protested against the construction of the plant, which is located
some 60 km north of the Austrian border.  Jan Obrman, RFE/RL, Inc.

HUNGARIAN SOCIALIST LEADER YIELDS COMMITTEE CHAIRMANSHIP.  On 25
January Gyula Horn, chairman of the Hungarian Socialist Party,
resigned from his chairmanship of Parliament's foreign affairs
committee, MTI reports.  Horn was asked to resign in December 1992
by 13 coalition party committee members who argued that Horn's
role as opposition party leader is a conflict of interest with the
ruling coalition party's foreign policy. Horn said that he
resigned because he does not want to subject himself to "petty and
prolonged" attacks. According to a six-party agreement, the
chairmanship of the foreign affairs committee will still belong to
the Socialist Party.  Karoly Okolicsanyi, RFE/RL, Inc.

SUCHOCKA REPRIMANDS JUSTICE MINISTER.  Justice Minister Zbigniew
Dyka was called on the carpet by Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka on
25 January. In a move suggesting that dismissal may be imminent,
Suchocka reprimanded Dyka for his "reprehensible" decision to
assign a prosecutor involved in the political trials of the 1980s
to a criminal investigation of accusations made recently by former
presidential chief of staff Jaroslaw Kaczynski.  Kaczynski has
charged that President Lech Walesa's closest aide, Mieczyslaw
Wachowski, is a secret police agent. In a statement carried by
PAP, Suchocka stated that she has "lost confidence in the
leadership of the prosecutor's office." She gave Dyka 48 hours "to
draw conclusions from the existing situation." In the meantime,
three high-ranking presidential staff members-legal adviser Lech
Falandysz, security adviser Jerzy Milewski, and economic adviser
Andrzej Olechowski-dismissed allegations that they too were secret
police informants.  In a radio interview, Falandysz called his
chief accuser, former defense minister Jan Parys, "a
second-generation Tyminski" and threatened to take the case to
court.  Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc.

POLISH-GERMAN MILITARY AGREEMENT SIGNED.  Polish Defense Minister
Janusz Onyszkiewicz and his German counterpart, Volker Ruehe,
signed a bilateral military agreement in Bonn on 25 January.  The
agreement calls for close cooperation in military and security
policy, arms control, and training.  Ruehe told reporters it is
Germany's first such agreement with a former member of the Warsaw
Pact.  He proposed that German and Polish soldiers participate
jointly in a UN peace-keeping force.  Onyszkiewicz stressed that
Poland is cultivating relations with NATO countries in the hope of
becoming a full-fledged member of the alliance.  Polish TV
reported on 25 January that Poland has signed military cooperation
agreements with the former Czechoslovakia, Hungary, France, and
Greece, and is preparing similar arrangements with Lithuania,
Ukraine, Belarus, and Belgium. Louisa Vinton, RFE/RL, Inc.

ROMANIA, POLAND SIGN COOPERATION TREATY.  On 25 January in
Bucharest, Romania and Poland signed a friendship and cooperation
treaty, replacing a 1960 accord between the two countries. Signed
by Polish Foreign Minister Krzysztof Skubiszewski and his Romanian
counterpart, Teodor Melescanu, the treaty calls for a system of
permanent ties between the two foreign ministries. Skubiszewski
told reporters that the agreement will boost stability in the
region.  Romanian President Ion Iliescu, who attended the
ceremonies, praised the traditionally good relations between the
two countries.  Dan Ionescu , RFE/RL, Inc.

MOLDOVAN CEASE-FIRE MONITORS ALERT YELTSIN. In a statement
forwarded to Russian President Boris Yeltsin on 23 January, the
Moldovan side of the joint commission to monitor the cease-fire
listed growing violations of the Snegur-Yeltsin armistice
convention by the "Dniester" insurgents, charging that they are
being condoned by Russia's 14th Army and "peacemaking" forces.
The insurgents have banned the remaining Moldovan authorities from
entering Bendery, prevented the return of Moldovan refugees,
introduced "border guards" and Russian Cossack units into the
security zone, and are maintaining fortifications there. Noting
that "the situation is becoming unstable precisely where Russian
forces are deployed," the Moldovan side expressed concern that
"the Tiraspol leaders and the pro-imperial conservative forces
outside Moldova" may be preparing to resume the hostilities.
Vladimir Socor , RFE/RL, Inc.

"DNIESTER," GAGAUZ SIGN PACT WITH ABKHAZIA. On 22 and 25 January
in Tiraspol an Abkhazia Supreme Soviet delegation signed
agreements of friendship and cooperation with the "Dniester
republic," Basapress reports. "Dniester" representatives told
Interfax that the parties agreed to consult in the event of an
attack against them and, if possible, to grant each other military
assistance "against aggressors," evidently meaning Moldova and
Georgia.  Delegates from the "Gagauz republic" attended the talks
and cosigned the agreements. (They are likely to represent the
intransigent, armed faction within the divided Gagauz leadership).
These are the first agreements of their kind known to be concluded
among insurgent movements supported by the Russian military in two
different independent states of the former USSR. Vladimir Socor,
RFE/RL, Inc.

FERMENT IN SEVASTOPOL.  About two thousand people participated in
a meeting in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, Radio Rossii reported
on 24 January. Participants demanded that the city's status be
changed and that the local officials be replaced. The meeting also
supported the restoration and strengthening of economic and other
ties with Russia. On 25 January representatives of Sevastopol's
political parties and movements discussed the situation with the
chairman of the city council, ITAR-TASS reports. The question of
Sevastopol's status emerged at the last Congress of Russian
People's Deputies and is being examined by a special committee of
the Russian parliament. Roman Solchanyk , RFE/RL, Inc.

BELARUS ADOPTS CONSERVATIVE ECONOMIC PROGRAM. Parliament approved
an economic reform program that preserves significant
administrative controls on markets, Reuters reported on 25
January. Fifty-three percent of all retail prices will remain
under state control, and more than half of all production will be
purchased through state orders.  It was not clear on what basis
these shares of prices and production were calculated. Belarus has
maintained a markedly more timid attitude towards economic reform
than Russia or Ukraine.  Government officials have often justified
this attitude by pointing to lower inflation, smaller budget
deficits, and more limited economic decline than in Russia or
Ukraine.  Erik Whitlock, RFE/RL, Inc.

LITHUANIA AND IMF.  On 25 January Adalbert Knobl, the head of the
IMF office for the Baltic States, met in Vilnius with Acting
President Algirdas Brazauskas, Radio Lithuania reports.  At a
press conference, Knobl said that Lithuania has complied with all
the criteria of its economic policy memorandum.  Among the
problems that persist, he noted the fall in the value of
Lithuania's temporary currency, higher energy prices, and a drop
in the volume of internal loans. He promised that the IMF will
give another loan to help Lithuania pay its foreign debts and
raised the possibility of agricultural subsidies.  Saulius
Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.

LITHUANIAN ECONOMICS MINISTER CRITICIZES PRIVATIZATION.  In an
article in Tiesa Julius Veselka sharply criticized laws on the
privatization of state property, BNS reported on 25 January.  He
called the investment vouchers a "new form of redistributing
socialist property" that had allowed a "certain part of the
population" (e.g., mafia racketeers, former nomenklatura) to
become rich. He blamed rightist political forces of passing
legislation whereby state lacks regulatory authority, meaning
Lithuania's economy is less well regulated than those of highly
developed Western countries. He called for amending the Initial
Privatization Law and favors drafting a new law omitting the
vouchers.  Saulius Girnius, RFE/RL, Inc.

LATVIAN-LITHUANIAN ECONOMIC ACCORD. Diena and BNS reported on 25
January that during a visit to Riga, Lithuanian Premier
Bronislavas Lubys initialed a bilateral cooperation pact that
calls for the creation of a free trade zone and cooperation in
distribution of energy resources. On the free trade zone, Latvian
Premier Ivars Godmanis noted that Estonia should also be included.
The two prime ministers also drafted a communiqui outlining the
principles of further cooperation.  Dzintra Bungs, RFE/RL, Inc.

MERI IN PARIS. Estonian President Lennart Meri is meeting with
French government officials in Paris on 25-26 January, BNS
reports. Meri is scheduled to sign a friendship and cooperation
agreement with French President Frangois Mitterrand on 26 January
and later meet with Health and Humanitarian Aid Minister Bernard
Kouchner. Meri also plans a visit to the school he attended as a
child when his father, diplomat Georg Meri, was posted to Paris.
Riina Kionka, RFE/RL, Inc.


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