While Russia has been granted a role at the political talks during the summit, which Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin will attend, it remains sidelined in the economic discussions. Some G-7 members, like France, have hinted that they would support making Russia a full member of the group, but others, notably Japan, have demurred. Eleven members of the Independent Miners' Union in Vorkuta ended a 10-day hunger strike on 27 June after funds were transferred to the region to pay wages, NTV reported. The report concentrates on an analysis of the economic transition in 26 countries of the former socialist bloc, plus China and Vietnam. The report concludes that countries which adopted consistent liberalization policies have fared better than those that did not, having a lower fall in GDP and quicker recovery.
China is a special case since it has enjoyed rapid growth with only partial liberalization.
Some more geographically isolated countries, such as Moldova, have also liberalized but have not experienced an economic recovery. Interior Minister Kairbek Suleimenov reported that some 1,270 prisoners died last year of tuberculosis, caused by malnutrition, shortage of medication and overcrowding, and about 540 have died so far this year. Kazakhstan's penal system and treatment of prisoners have come under attack by international organizations. An office of the Open Society Institute, established by George Soros in 1993, opened in Tashkent on 26 June, ITAR-TASS reported the following day. The office will distribute information about the Open Society Institute, offer scholarships to young people for studies in Western educational institutions, and promote international contacts in the educational sphere.