Many firms are not in a position to pay current taxes, and probably will not be eligible for the plan. Kazmin was formerly a Deputy Finance Minister. According to Kommersant-daily, Central Bank Chairman Sergei Dubinin wants to assert stronger control over Sberbank. Sberbank has been criticized for advancing credits to state enterprises at interest rates below the rate of inflation. Twenty-one members of the Nakhichevan branch of the opposition Azerbaijani Popular Front who were arrested in August 1994 have been sentenced to a total of 208 years of imprisonment on charges of creating illegal armed formations, illegal possession of arms, and violence against members of the police, Turan reported on 24 January.
Defense lawyers plan to appeal the verdict in a higher court.
On a one-day visit to Georgia on 25 January, German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel said his country will provide an additional DM 20 million in aid to Georgia, mainly to support the energy sector, Western agencies reported. Kinkel said the aid is an acknowledgment of Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze's role in bringing about German unification during his stint as Soviet foreign minister. He further pledged support for Georgia's territorial integrity but declined to mediate in the ongoing conflicts between the central government in Tbilisi and the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetiya. Rakhmonov's comments came in response to the murder of Mufti Fatkhullo Sharifzoda on 21 January. The OMRI Daily Digest offers the latest news from the former Soviet Union and Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe.