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FBIS3-24210_2 | International Conference on Bosnia Under UN Aegis Urged | never before it is important to prevent escalation of the conflict in Bosnia into a European tragedy and to deny NATO the right to determine when bombing and missile strikes will be carried out in Bosnia. It is important that we urgently begin to seek new approaches and ideas for achieving a political settlement in Bosnia and, on the broader scale, in the Balkans. As a minimum such a decision must be made by the UN Security Council. It seems that a conference must be convened to this end under the aegis of the United Nations to attain a settlement in the former Yugoslavia. The initiator of such a conference could be Russia and other Slavic states that support even contacts with all sides in the Bosnian conflict. Such a conference could give all republics of the former Yugoslavia the opportunity to participate in it on an equal basis and preclude the possibility of a situation arising where decisions would be made behind their backs and be imposed on them by outsiders. It is also important that all permanent members of the UN Security Council participate in the conference. In the event accord is reached with respect to convening this conference, the preparations group need not be limited to international representatives David Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg, whose positions reflect the pro-West, pro-NATO orientation, but should include representatives from Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, and Bosnia, as well as the ethnic minorities of these republics. The group could include Russia, Greece--as the neighbor of the Yugoslav republics, and Bulgaria--as a Balkan Slavic country. The preparatory work of a broad-based group could help convene the international conference in a more favorable environment than that in which negotiations have thus far been conducted. Conflict in the former Yugoslavia has been ongoing for about two years and no end is in sight under the current development of events. Conference preparation with participation of the Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians themselves should help reduce the tension. Negotiations can and must replace military operations. The time has come to establish in Russia the Committee of the Russian Community To Facilitate a Political Settlement in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the participation of representatives of political parties, social movements, and Slavic organizations. This committee could also facilitate the search for a settlement through the establishment of unofficial contacts between representatives of the sides in conflict. This too could yield great dividends. |
FBIS3-24211_1 | RF Diplomacy on Bosnia, Politicking on Foreign Policy Assessed | of the "good investigator," to reap the fruit. Russia and the Western powers objectively mutually complemented each other in their actions, but differed sharply in their substantiation. The price of such rhetoric, it would seem, is not high. But it always addressees itself to those social forces that have a predominant influence on foreign policy and, therefore, it is not indifferent to the real driving motives of the parties. Russia explained its resistance to NATO's ultimatum in a different way: The impermissibility of attempts to bypass it, the unacceptability of imposing the model of settlement, and the danger of any decision other than a continuation of negotiations. But objectively this denoted an attempt to lessen international pressure on the Serbian side, which was the most powerful and most successful in seizures, and which would also reinforce its position behind the negotiating. And while at the beginning of the Bosnian conflict Russian foreign policy tried, albeit inconsistently, to be impartial, as it developed it began to regard "Orthodox co-religionists" and "Slavic brothers" with greater and greater favor. This corresponded fully to the biased leniency of the European states toward Croatia, and of the United States toward the Bosnian Muslims. However, the important interests of the Western states are not affected here, and only the Bosnian gap in European law and order stains their reputation. It is hardly possible to ascribe to genuine Russian foreign policy interests an inclination to assist the Belgrade regime in a partition of the former SFRY in accordance with the ideals of a Greater Serbia. Bosnian rural areas are hardly the most effective scene for demonstrating greatness. The space, where the collapsed Yugoslav dinar, contrary to an anti-German mood, is being squeezed out by the German mark, which Russia will be unable to counter with anything for a long time, is outside the radius of influence of the Russian economy. In precisely the same way a military advanced post, separated from it by the territories of Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania, is not very suitable for the defense of Russia, if the counterproductive task of having a permanent irritant on NATO's southern flank is not set. There is also no promise of foreign policy dividends in an alliance with an international social outcast that contrived to squander the enormous foreign policy capital of the former SFRY. Of course, it can be assumed that Russia's readiness to support "a |
FBIS3-24212_8 | Brutents Ponders Russia's Position Between East, West | as contradictory as any other legacy of history. Along with elements of medieval stagnation and even slavery, it includes what is a natural part of the historic strength and potential of Russia and its civilisation. Russia belongs to neither the West nor the East alone. It is at once a Western and Eastern country. This does not mean that Russia is a mix or mechanical combination of cultural continents. Our country is the product of a synthesis that has given rise to a new, distinctive civilisation, a whole civilisational mainland, an original organism whose thinking and sentiments set it apart from others. And so all attempts to "rid" us of things Eastern and fully Westernise us are futile. What is more, they are absurd. Today the multicivilisational, Western and Eastern sources and nature of Russian distinctiveness are acquiring special value. "Integration" is a word you now hear almost everywhere. It is a trend paving the way to the future for humanity. A universal civilisation is dawning all over the world, and its components are taking shape and spreading, especially to the economic sphere but also to politics and culture. Much less is said, however, about the circumstances that the result will by no means be a unified world, the effacement of distinctions, the abolition of cultural diversity. If this were to happen, humanity would become faceless, for it would lose one of the most powerful driving forces of its progress. I am sure the 21st century will give existing civilisations a second wind as they develop and adapt to new conditions without losing their identity. It will usher in an increasingly polycentric world. We will arrive at it after abolishing a bipolar system, as we have already done, and completing the present transitional stage of unbalanced concentration of political influence, military power, and information potential at one pole. Unlike the past, however, the evolution of diverse civilisations will probably take place in unprecedentedly close mutual contact. The era of isolated civilisations shutting out all others is over. They are being drawn together by the transnationalisation of economic life and information, the feverish development of communications, mass migrations. This creates tensions at "junctions" and other difficulties. Experience shows that even the achievement of a high, roughly equal level of economic growth does not eliminate problems arising from civilisational and cultural heterogeneity. We live at a time when not only close contacts |
FBIS3-24212_10 | Brutents Ponders Russia's Position Between East, West | and a rapprochement between countries and nations but a convergence of civilisations and cultures are gaining in importance and urgency. This is all the more essential now that the greatest ideological conflict of the 20th century is over. Against this background Russia with its mixed civilisation, a country which has gone through a social experiment, is a particularly noteworthy phenomenon. Its intercivilisational essence, the experience of the coexistence of and contacts between diverse nations, may prove very valuable for humanity at this stage if preserved and fostered. The East always held a prominent place in the foreign policy and overall potential of the Russian state and the Soviet Union. Basically, this also applies to the present period even though a number of important circumstances and vectors have changed, which means that many earlier approaches will have to be revised. What is different now is primarily Russia's real status. Russia used to identify itself with a superpower, the Soviet Union, and actually embodied it. The Soviet Union was chiefly a Russian state. Most foreigners called it "Russia" and its citizens "Russians," doing so not only by mistake or force of habit. Today Russia is striving to act as a full-fledged legal successor of the Soviet Union, and Russian diplomacy is doing as much in the main sectors. Yet the changes that set in with the disappearance of the Soviet Union as a superpower strongly affected Russia even though it may still not quite realise its new situation because the aura of the recent past and reflexes of a state that has gone out of existence linger on. Russia has joined the ranks of great powers (with a population half the size of the Soviet Union's and an area that is smaller by a third) and will yet have to back up this new status by providing itself with an appropriate economic and political basis. The priorities and main tasks of Russian policy and diplomacy are not quite clear as yet. They are certain to depend for some time to come on personal predilections, reflexes of attraction and rejection, automatic reactions evolved over the past few years. But however pro-American and pro-European a section of the intelligentsia and some leaders of the country may be (they understandably want Russia to be regarded as inseparable from Europe and the West and to have a say in European affairs), there is no disregarding realities. |
FBIS3-24213_1 | Russia's Past Contribution to Civilization Invoked | national interests of the Russian Federation may be imagined. First scenario (optimistic or positive). The reintegration of the economies of a sizable number of countries of the CIS and their political and military interface occur. Conflicts on Russia's borders subside. Relations with countries of East Europe improve. The West, primarily in the shape of the Seven, renders the restoration and modernization of our industry appreciable assistance by way of large investments and the lifting of trade restrictions. Second scenario (pessimistic or negative). Economic and political disintegration of the space around Russia occurs. It suffocates without friends or markets. Problems of its security as a consequence of the proliferation of nuclear weapons close by and/or the growth of conflicts along the perimeter intensify sharply. The West, denying Russia stabilization on its borders, engages in a tug-of-war in respect to the former allies and republics of the USSR, and its economic interaction with us amounts to shoring up Russia's raw material sectors. Third scenario (interim or stagnant). The formation of a common market of the CIS comes to a standstill. With the East European countries--cool relations. Conflicts along Russia's perimeter smolder, although they do not develop into a conflagration. The danger of the proliferation of nuclear weapons nearby hangs in the air. The West dribbles out economic assistance and politically and strategically contemplates the development of events. Fourth scenario (sudden or spontaneous). An abrupt deterioration in Russian-Ukrainian relations arises. In the wake of the Transcaucasus, borders are revised in Central Asia between former Union republics. Tension is created throughout the system of relations with an increasingly assertive West. The distant surroundings could bring rolling to Russia seismic waves of their own tectonic shifts--the bankruptcies of a number of important developing countries, trade wars, and the unleashing of "hot wars" in the Third World or against it. It is not known which of these scenarios is possible today. There are even more uncertainties with regard to their probable combinations. The sole solution for Russia in this situation is to be ready to defend its national interests all along the line and to assert its statehood. Precise reference points are required for this first and foremost. It would seem that the cornerstone of the policy course of the Russian Federation should, as in critical times in the past also, be its clear understanding of its own significance in world geopolitics. A big ship has |
FBIS3-24217_0 | January Foreign Trade Statistics | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Unattributed article: "Decline in Import of Basic Food Products in January Exceeded 50 Percent"] [Text] The foreign trade turnover of Russia in January of 1994 declined by 7.6 percent as compared with January of 1993, and comprised $3.6 billion, according to the operational data of Goskomstat [State Committee on Statistics]. The positive balance reached $1.4 billion, as compared with $1 billion in January of last year. The volume of export comprised $2.5 billion, increasing by 1.3 percent as compared with January of 1993 (we must note that the average export prices on a number of goods in January of 1994 were significantly lower than the January 1993 level). The relative share of power sources within the structure of export declined by 7 percent, and comprised 50 percent. Export deliveries of crude oil declined by 16 percent, to 5 million tonnes. On the other hand, deliveries of petroleum products increased by 38 percent, to 1.676 million tonnes, and of natural by 14 percent, to 10.121 billion cubic meters. Import comprised $1.1 billion, declining by 23 percent as compared with January of last year. Import deliveries of basic staple food products continued to decline. The import of grain declined by 57 percent, of meat--by 64 percent, of butter--by 91 percent, and of tea--by 63 percent. The main reasons for the continued decline in import, explained the deputy chief of the MVES [Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations] Main Economic Administration, Vladimir Kiselev, were the introduction of increased excise tax rates on certain types of goods at the end of 1993, the repeal of subsidy coefficients on centralized import for state needs which became effective on 1 January 1994, as well as the lack of resolution in the question of exempting goods of centralized import from the payment of NDS [value-added tax] and import duties. A significant role here was played also by the sharp decline in the exchange rate of the ruble at the beginning of the year, as well as the increase in import tariffs which was planned for March of 1994. Table 1. Export of the Russian Federation for January 1993, in for January 1994, in percent percent Developing countries 13.7 13.7 Former CEMA [Council for 20.3 21.8 Mutual Economic Assistance] countries China, DPRK [Democratic 7.9 6.5 People's Republic of Korea], Laos, Yugoslavia Baltic countries 0.8 0.8 Industrially developed 57.3 57.2 capitalist countries Table 2. Foreign trade |
FBIS3-24219_0 | South Korea's Relations With DPRK, Russia Assessed | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by V. Tkachenko: "Preliminary Results: One Year After Kim Yong-Sam Took Office as South Korean President"] [Excerpts] [Passage omitted] Big hopes were placed on a new policy in Seoul regarding North Korea and reducing tensions on the peninsula. The president conceived the idea of a gradual convergence between North and South resulting from joint efforts to overcome animosity and mistrust, broaden cooperation, and ensure mutual coexistence and prosperity. The key feature of the new ideas was that the convergence was to be voluntary and democratic, i.e., the majority of the population in the North and South would agree to live together at the same standard of living in two parts of a unified country. Nonetheless, in spite of the proclaimed declarations relations between North and South have noticeably worsened in the last year. The euphoria caused by the sensationalized agreements reached in 1991-1992 on reconciliation and reducing tensions, was replaced by a deep pessimism. Contacts in humanitarian and cultural spheres that had been maintained even during sharp confrontation were broken off. The cause for stagnation in inter-Korean relations involved a nuclear arms problem on the peninsula, MAGATE [IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency] inspections of both DPRK nuclear sights and military bases in the North and South, and a bilateral agreement on a nuclear-free zone. No agreement was successfully reached on these issues during inter-Korean negotiations, and now a dialog is underway between the U.S. and the DPRK. There were no major events that transpired last year in the development of Russian-South Korean relations. A feeling of dissatisfaction arose in connection with Russia's failure to act as a bridge between North and South Korea when a sharp political crisis followed the DPRK's decision in March to withdraw from a nuclear arms nonproliferation agreement. However, what bearing could Russia have had on the situation after relations became paralyzed between Russia and the DPRK for ideological reasons? The role traditionally belonging to Russia as a peacekeeper and guarantor of security in Korea has now gone to China, which is now skillfully performing these duties to its obvious benefit. No boom in economic relations has taken place between Russia and the Republic of Korea. The exchange of goods between them has not even exceeded the 2 billion dollar mark, that is, it has remained at the same level as our trade in 1988 with North Korea. Not one of |
FBIS3-24227_6 | Director on Tengizchevroil Activities | ventures could be supplied with various Western equipment, and the same services as we usually obtain from Western companies could ultimately be expected of them. We ourselves are extremely interested in this, inasmuch as our contract with Kazakhstan is for 40 years. Seeking partners in the West is to our disadvantage. For this reason we are closely studying the potential of local enterprises. [Sutyagin] Nonetheless, Turks, Hungarians, Slovaks, and representatives of a number of other states are today working on contract with Tengizchevroil on the rigging out and development of the field. Does it not seem to you that all the work that they are doing could be done by local personnel also? [Dupree] The process of involving local organizations in the range of tasks being tackled by the joint venture is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Although even today we give the inhabitants of Zhylyoyskiy Rayon and Atyrau Oblast priority when we are looking for a contractor. It is among them that we begin the search for the specialists we need. And only if we do not find them here do we widen the sphere of the search--to the level of the region, all of Kazakhstan, and then the CIS. Only having convinced ourselves that the search has been unsuccessful do we turn to our old partners in other countries. The basis, however, for the conclusion of a contract are the good quality of the work performed for us, observance of the deadlines specified by the contract, and a reasonable price. It is my personal opinion, incidentally, that Kazakhstan has an appreciable advantage over other countries in which we have worked. There is here a wealth of experience in oil production: The first well produced a gusher of oil in Atyrau Oblast in 1911. You have many high-class specialists, and practically all residents of the area where we are located are familiar with the process of oil and gas production. Training them is not an issue. It is simply necessary to familiarize them with our standards of the organization of labor, and with Chevron they are at the level of the world's highest. [Sutyagin] Our readers would be interested in learning, I believe, how the everyday life of employees of the joint venture who have come from America and Europe to the difficult semi-arid climatic conditions has been established. What difficulties have you encountered, and how are |
FBIS3-24237_7 | Barkashov on Amnesty, October Events | of Soviets. All that time our subunit was performing the duties entrusted to it, and was prepared to stand to the end. But when the leadership made the decision about going out, it made no sense to remain in the House of Soviets. On the evening of 4 October we surrendered our weapons in an organized way, and I ordered the boys to go out. I myself remained with Achalov when he was arrested, and demanded that I be taken together with him. However, an officer of the Ministry of Security answered that he had no instructions concerning me, and he advised that I leave with the "Alpha." I want to express my great gratitude to the officers of this subunit. Had it not been for them, there would have been far more victims. In any case, when "Alpha" turned the group with which I came out over to the OMON people, they took us in the direction of the stadium where, as we already knew, massive executions were being conducted. However, when officers of "Alpha" noticed this they raised their assault rifles and said firmly: Release these people. We were released... Unfortunately, not all of our boys remained alive. On 4 October, Dmitriy Marchenko, the editor of the letters department of our newspaper RUSSKIY PORYADOK, was wounded in the leg. He was taken to Sklifosovskiy. But relatives were soon informed that he was dead. When they came for him, they saw traces of brutal torture on his body. His nose and ears were torn off, the tendons in his legs were cut, and the back of his head was shot through. The body of Guards Major Anatoliy Surskiy was also found with traces of ritual torture. [Turchenko] What did you do after you left the House of Soviets? [Barkashov] We received information from our own people in the MVD that there was a directive to arrest a group of activists from Russian National Unity and, in addition, the chiefs would have no objection if anyone was shot while resisting arrest. It became necessary to shift to an illegal situation. [Turchenko] How did the October events affect Russian National Unity, did they not disorganize the movement? [Barkashov] On the contrary, the fighting men became stronger in spirit. We saw a large influx of new people into the organization. Many youths. Workers of many of the Moscow plants sympathize with our |
FBIS3-24239_2 | Role of Soskovets Viewed | for the local industrial enterprises. In accordance with regulations approved last year for the Ministry of Economics, the electricity tariffs shall be revised "with a change in external conditions." The external conditions, that is, the prices of each and every thing, are growing by the month, and the electricity tariffs are raised administratively not more often than once a quarter. For the Unified Power System of Russia regional stock company, they have not been revised since September 1993. Rising up on each occasion as a wall has been Oleg Soskovets, who stated in February in the Council of Ministers Commission for Operational Matters that the power engineers had "established communism for one sector." Waves of indignation at the price policy of the fuel and energy complex, which is allegedly to blame for the endless inflation, have been rolling through the press in parallel with this. Clearly referring to the regional stock company's Mr. Dyakov, a representative of the industrial directors said that "one stock company is, in fact, directing the whole country." The reasons for Oleg Soskovets' decisions, which are synchronous with the "public indignation," are, generally, there on the surface. On the one hand, the state's share of the exports of rolled aluminum constitutes 91 percent, and it does not, understandably, want such a channel of foreign currency to dry up. On the other, the prices of the extensive product list of the iron and steel complex have already scaled world heights, and the price of a kilowatt-hour is five times lower--and a further rise would confront a large sector of the economy with a dilemma: either bankruptcy or a difficult rearrangement of the groups of enterprises. "Power engineering is literally oppressing the entire economy. Prices in the regions are being established chaotically, essentially, and managers are not being held responsible or to account," Oleg Soskovets declared. This position precisely reflects the group interests of market outsiders and has nothing in common with public interests. The first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers knows full well that it was the wild move "into the light" of Russia's metallurgists that knocked down world prices and that the energy consumption of aluminum industry considerably exceeds Western standards and is a consequence of the technological backwardness of the groups of enterprises. The abundance on the domestic market of imported commodities in aluminum wrapping against the drastic reduction in rolled products of |
FBIS3-24246_5 | Kabardino-Balkaria Procurator Reviews Year's Work | weapons generally come from outside Kabardino-Balkaria, which still has "transparent" borders, despite the presence of checkpoints on access roads from adjacent territories. [Goplachev] How vigilant is the procurator's eye in discovering wrongful dismissals of criminal cases? [Abazov] Last year procurators discovered 135 crimes which were removed from police records by the issuance of unlawful decisions to drop criminal charges. Procurators filed 173 reports on the violations, leading to disciplinary actions against 109 officials. The oversight of criminal cases by the procuracy, however, was also inadequate. This is attested to by the increasing number of dismissed cases. Procuracy personnel dismissed 30.4 percent of all cases. This is an impermissible luxury. [Goplachev] Children are also involved in crime.... [Abazov] The overall rate of juvenile crime has decreased by 5 percent. There was an increase in Nalchik and in Prokhladnenskiy, Zolskiy, Sovetskiy, and Chegemskiy rayons. There are still too many cases in which juveniles are framed for crimes. A case in Nalchik is a good example: When the 9-year-old Karatsukov was "railroaded" for 10 thefts of personal property, including such items as a television set, a rug measuring 3 x 4 meters, and a crate of champagne, no one even wondered how this "miscreant" could have carried these items. [Goplachev] The procuracy presses charges, and the criminal is convicted. Then what happens? [Abazov] The punishment is usually left up to the courts, but the penalty is not always administered in a timely or satisfactory manner, and laws are sometimes broken during this phase. The group overseeing corrective labor institutions and the procurators conducted 87 inspections and filed 33 reports on the results. There are still numerous violations of prisoners' rights in camps No 1 and No 3, leading to the commission of crimes, and the absence of work precludes corrective labor. There was an excessively formal approach to the oversight of the activities of the corrective labor institutions department of the republic Ministry of Internal Affairs, where standards were relaxed and other violations were committed. These led to the mass disturbances in March. Then the case of the suspect who had been held illegally for eight months came to light in December. The procuracy lodged a protest and the guilty parties were punished. [Goplachev] Did the economic reform affect your work? [Abazov] The intensification of economic reform and the democratic changes in the society transferred the protection of the interests of economic entities |
FBIS3-24253_2 | Chernomyrdin, Gaydar Reform Plans Compared | interference in economic operations. Grant full economic freedom to enterprises. 3. Complete privatization free of charge and expand privatization at a fee. Develop a competitive environment. Support small agricultural producers. 4. Liberalize foreign trade: cancel export quotas, set low import duties that are equal for all. 5. Reject immediate monetary union with the CIS states. Institute floating exchange rates of the ruble against the currencies of nearby foreign countries. 6. Create identical conditions for all foreign investors. Carry out large projects solely on a competitive basis. Projected Results by the End of 1994 1. Reduction in the budget deficit to 6 percent of GDP. Inflation not to exceed 3-5 percent per month. Market exchange rate--about R3,000 to the dollar. 2. Further saturation of the market with consumer goods. Increase in the average wage to $200 per month. Consequences From the Point of View of Opposing Experts: A. Illarionov 1. Budget deficit growing to 25-30 percent of the GDP. Inflation at 70 to 100 percent per month. Market exchange rate--R25,000-30,000 to the dollar. 2. Enterprises being geared toward extracting preferences. Production effectiveness falling. Scale of the flight of capital out of the country increasing. Private investment absent. 3. Process of privatization being virtually discontinued, monopoly practices and corruption growing sharply. 4. Volume of exports dropping. Imports from CIS countries dropping. 5. Incomes and savings of the population depreciating rapidly. Average wage falling to $30-40 per month. Shortages emerging on the consumer market. 6. Technological dependence on multinational corporations being enhanced. 7. Social explosions on account of hyperinflation. A. Shapovalyants 1. Budget deficit in the range of 45-50 percent of GDP. Inflation--45-50 percent per month. Market exchange rate--R13,500-14,000 to the dollar. 2. Destruction of domestic industrial and agricultural production. Growth of the scale of capital flight out of the country. Reduction in the activity of domestic investors. 3. Further decline in the manageability of the economy. Centrifugal aspirations of regions. Growth of crime and corruption. 4. Increased exports of goods and raw materials that are of strategic significance to the country. 5. Consumer prices growth by a factor of 6 to 8, and the monetary income of the population in real terms--by a factor 1.5 to 3. Between 58 and 69 million people below the poverty line. 6. Loss of national economic interests, weakening of the role of Russia in the CIS. 7. Social explosions on account of social stratification and hyperinflation. |
FBIS3-24254_7 | Academician on `Aftershock Therapy' Inflation, Future Prognosis | transfers of state income to private structures. The amounts of this foreign trade balance are such that it undoubtedly could have covered any real deficit in the state budget and, accordingly, cut off the road to inflation. Ye.T. Gaydar is correct when he writes that the inflationary rivers of the Central Bank dump into foreign commercial banks. He merely forgets to mention that it is the flight of capital to foreign commercial banks that is causing the inflationary flows out of the Central Bank, and the government has not only failed to fulfill its obligation to construct a dam on the course of these flows but has actually taken down what barriers there were. What have the government and the Central Bank done in 1993? To the credit of the Central Bank, with the introduction of a Russian national currency, the ruble zone was eliminated, but the government continued to supply virtually free resources to the former republics of the Soviet Union, although it did reduce their volume by about 40 percent. Simultaneously, the government compensated with the help of loans for some of enterprises' inflationary losses, thus attempting to avert a collapse. The decline has continued, however, and the corresponding narrowing of the tax base has eaten into the economies made on donor assistance to the former republics. The government has utilized one other reserve: it has simply failed to pay salaries. Now the 1994 administration has to pay the debts of the 1993 administration. Today three basic economic scenarios that are still possible without freezing prices and incomes are being examined. The first, harsh scenario proposes carrying out stabilization by liquidating the state budget deficit and compensation credits to enterprises at the expense of a final destruction of social systems and the processing industry. It is this scenario that 7 percent of the voters voted for in the elections of 12 December, and the Russia's Choice faction represents it honorably in the State Duma. The second scenario proposes a continuation of the policy of the latter half of 1993, that is, moderate selective compensation credits to enterprises and a continuation of the financial suffocation of the social systems, accompanied by a curtailment of donor assistance to the former Soviet republics. According to this scenario, the economic decline must continue and, accordingly, the tax base will narrow. The drop of national income into the state budget will have to |
FBIS3-24256_7 | Government Decree on Economy Summarized | the Russian Ministry of Finance, and the Russian Ministry of the Economy with the participation of the Central Bank of Russia must ensure the rigorously targeted and effective use of the credit resources allocated to the agro-industrial complex in accordance with RF Government Decree No. 126 of 23 February 1994 "On the Economic Conditions for the Functioning of the RF Agro-Industrial Complex in 1994." The Russian Ministry of the Economy, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, and the Russian Ministry of Finance have been tasked with submitting to the government by 15 April 1994 proposals regarding the procedure for state procurements of grain from the 1994 harvest for federal and regional stocks. The Russian Ministry of the Economy, the Russian Ministry of Fuel and Energy, the Russian Ministry of Railways, and the Russian Ministry of Finance have been instructed to submit to the government within two weeks proposals regarding the improvement of the system of regulated prices and tariffs for electricity and railroad transport services. The RF Government deemed it necessary to create conditions for the formation in 1994 of financial-industrial groups with a view to stabilizing and boosting industrial production, enhancing investment activity, and making more effective use of the achievements of scientific and technical progress for which the Russian State Committee for Industrial Policy, the Russian State Committee for the Management of State Property, the Russian Ministry of the Economy, the Russian Ministry of Finance, the Russian Ministry for Cooperation With CIS Member States, and the Russian State Committee for Anti-Monopoly Policy and Support of the New Economic Structures must submit to the government proposals regarding priority areas for the creation of financial-industrial groups. In order to revise the concept for the implementation of privatization in the RF in connection with the end of the period of validity of privatization checks 1 July 1994 the following instructions have been given: --the Russian State Committee for the Management of State Property, jointly with interested federal executive bodies, has been instructed to prepare a draft government decree which makes provision for a series of measures to complete check privatization and provide RF citizens with guarantees of the use of privatization checks; --create a commission chaired by A.B. Chubays, deputy chairman of the RF Government, with the participation of representatives of federal executive bodies, executive bodies of RF components, scientists, and specialists to formulate a mechanism for the implementation of |
FBIS3-24266_1 | Draft Law Regulating Monopoly Enterprises Viewed | Monopolies" from the Antimonopoly Committee and the Russian Privatization Center of the State Committee on the Administration of State Property are convinced of this. Within several days the federal government of the Russian Federation will review the draft of this law. Last week it already gained approval at a conference of the Ministry of the Economy. In a word, the government has made the first attempt to restrict state regulation of enterprises to a legal framework. The objective of legal provisions in the draft law is to strike a balance between the interests of consumers and monopoly producers, as well as to standardize relations between sectoral committees and enterprises. The latter may make it possible to reduce the influence of subjective factors on economic policy as a whole. At the request of a DELOVOY MIR commentator, Natalya Tsukanova, economic expert of the Russian Privatization Center, State Committee on the Administration of State Property, and one of the authors of the draft law, comments on it. In any economy there are spheres in which the setting of prices by the market is not optimal. Natural monopolies, i.e., sectors in which the development of competition is impossible or ineffective, are the foremost of such areas. The task of the state with regard to a small number of these sectors is not to put an end to monopoly operations but rather to provide conditions for the regulation of their operation on a permanent basis. What are natural monopolies? These are sectors or spheres of operation of which two main features are characteristic. First, the manufacturing of products in such sectors is more effective in an environment of absence of competition. This is associated with the fact that, due to certain technological peculiarities, production in these sectors exhibits a substantial reduction in specific cost as the volume of production grows. This is, as a rule, a result of considerable economies on the scale of production and high fixed costs which makes monopoly production more effective. Pipeline transportation, water supply systems, and railroads are among such sectors. Indeed, it does not occur to anyone to build two sets of water mains or two sewer systems. Fixed costs entailed by building such structures are so high that a parallel system which performs the same functions would hardly pay for itself. The more people who use one and the same water supply system, the lower the outlays |
FBIS3-24266_2 | Draft Law Regulating Monopoly Enterprises Viewed | of such areas. The task of the state with regard to a small number of these sectors is not to put an end to monopoly operations but rather to provide conditions for the regulation of their operation on a permanent basis. What are natural monopolies? These are sectors or spheres of operation of which two main features are characteristic. First, the manufacturing of products in such sectors is more effective in an environment of absence of competition. This is associated with the fact that, due to certain technological peculiarities, production in these sectors exhibits a substantial reduction in specific cost as the volume of production grows. This is, as a rule, a result of considerable economies on the scale of production and high fixed costs which makes monopoly production more effective. Pipeline transportation, water supply systems, and railroads are among such sectors. Indeed, it does not occur to anyone to build two sets of water mains or two sewer systems. Fixed costs entailed by building such structures are so high that a parallel system which performs the same functions would hardly pay for itself. The more people who use one and the same water supply system, the lower the outlays are for serving each one of them. In the same way, the more people travel by railway, the lower the outlays on carrying one passenger by rail. Second, the demand for products or services generated by natural monopoly entities is less dependent on changes in prices than the demand for other types of products (services), because products (services) generated by natural monopoly entities cannot be replaced with other goods to be consumed. The products in question meet the most significant needs of the population or are irreplaceable for other industries. Such products include, for example, electricity, telephone communication services, and railway transportation. Let us assume that an increase in car prices forces many consumers to give up the purchase of their own cars and to use public transit or, at least, postpone the purchase, whereas even a significant increase in the price of electricity will hardly bring about discontinuation of its use--we are not used to living without light; besides, refrigerators, TV sets, and washing machines are operated in many apartments. It is quite difficult to substitute for the consumption of electricity. Under the circumstances, an enterprise generating such products (services), that is, a "natural monopoly," gets an opportunity to |
FBIS3-24271_1 | Former Intelligence Officer on High-Tech Intelligence | technologies were given priority, of course. That is, those areas that represented a direct threat to our national security. In the greater scheme of things, I made my own small contribution to the acceleration of scientific-technical progress. [Sedykh] This sounds sort of academic. Why do you not give some concrete examples of useful returns from S&T intelligence, or to put it plainly, industrial espionage. [K.] Whichever name you call this line of foreign intelligence work, compared to other lines of work--political intelligence, foreign counterintelligence, illegal intelligence--S&T is the most profitable. Let me start with the fact that information obtained by our staff on the problems of nuclear energy enabled Soviet science, with considerable savings in material resources and time, to create atomic weapons and deprive our main enemy of the time--the United States--of the ability to use nuclear blackmail. We seriously helped our scientists in industrial applications of powder metallurgy. Not too many people know that S&T provided anticipatory information on the spread abroad of a dangerous illness--AIDS, and its medical and biological parameters. S&T also provided important information for the work on eliminating the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. As you can see, S&T is aimed not only at perfecting technical ideas, but also protecting the interests of humanity. And there is probably no need to prove the cost-effectiveness of S&T intelligence. It has never had government handouts and never cost our taxpayers a penny. [Sedykh] If you do not mind, let us move from the general to particular. For instance, what was your work day like in intelligence? [K.] First I would like to point out that intelligence work assumes maximum levels of strength, will power, and nerves. Naturally, I, just like my colleagues, tried not to set myself apart in any way from the bulk of our diplomats, specialists, and other "clean" personnel abroad. I will not reveal a great secret, however, in telling you that within half a year the special services of the country of assignment learned who is who in our colony. While the "clean" staff of foreign representations consider themselves off duty after 1700, we continue working. Therefore it is very important to mask your activism--explain it, for instance, by a character trait: I am such a restless person that I even work in the evenings. [Sedykh] Did you succeed? [K.] In principle, you can fool the special services. With me, for instance, |
FBIS3-24290_0 | Procuracy Faults Agriculture Ministry's Juridical Practices | Language: Georgian Article Type:CSO [Unattributed article by Georgian Republic Procuracy Press Service: "Defective Work Style and Its Deplorable Results. In the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry They Don't Care About the Legality of Juridical Acts, Which Seriously Hurts the Common Cause"] [Text] It is a fact that there are many problems and shortcomings in Georgia's agriculture now, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry has contributed its "share" to this, but right now we will only discuss one defective aspect of its activity--the legality of juridical acts issued this year and last by the Ministry's officials. The Procuracy's General Oversight Administration recently examined the question, and it appears that the legality of such acts is of no concern to the Ministry's officials. The chronological sequence of orders is grossly violated, and revisions, additions, erasures, and wrong numberings are made to them regularly, on the basis of somebody's wishes or highhandedness, and so on. Most surprising is the fact that orders signed by Ministry officials have had changes made to them by lower-ranking officials. No one knows why this is. Often, orders signed by Ministry officials have comments written by other persons. Sometimes, in addition, separate documents are written which cancel juridical acts, although the reason is not given, nor are they signed. The rule is that a given act can only be cancelled by issuing a new order. Examples of such highhanded action include the cancellation of the former Agriculture Ministry's order of 27 August 1992 and the former Food and Processing Industry Ministry's orders of 5 and 7 October 1992, and so on. People in the Ministry also resort to what is known as stopping orders. And it's done in funny ways. In particular, a hand-written note is inserted in the orders book in place of the juridical act that has been removed. Unfortunately, these notes are written by technical personnel or even secretaries and typists. Officials of both the Ministry and its subsidiary enterprises and organizations often cancel previous orders with the terse note "cancelled" instead of issuing a new order. It is left vague just what the grounds were and why it all happened; just try to guess. Especially deplorable is the fact that the Ministry does issue orders, but the stipulations are not fulfilled, as a result of poor follow-through discipline. For example, a Ministry executive order cancelled the Gori Outfitting Depot Director's order |
FBIS3-24291_1 | Evaluation, Statistics on Russia-CIS Trade Given Nonpayments Have Gone Beyond the Borders of Countries and Encompass Enterprises Working Under Direct Ties | deliveries, and methods of tariff and nontariff regulation were defined. The creation of Russian trade representations in a number of states of the Commonwealth was envisioned. Agreement was reached with virtually all the CIS states on employing a free trade regime. At the same time, however, an export tariff on certain goods, as an exception to the free trade regime, acted as a regulator of Russian export. Export duties are imposed on the export from Russia of food, mineral raw materials and fuel, ferrous and nonferrous metals, chemicals, timber and pulp and paper goods, leather and textile raw materials, aviation equipment, and weapons. Motor vehicles, equipment, and other output are exported duty free. On the whole, for most goods of Russian export on which export tariffs were imposed, duties were from 10 to 30 percent of the level of world prices for these goods. The need to satisfy Russia's economic interests accounts for the existence of duties on goods exported from Russia to the CIS countries, since prices for many hard currency types of output on Russia's domestic market are lower than world prices. However, the decision was made to supply energy media from Russia at prices oriented to world prices. Tariff and nontariff regulation of Russia's trade relations with the Commonwealth countries enabled trade exchange to be normalized and balanced. But the crisis situation in the economy, the drop in production, and the reorientation of enterprises' economic ties to the distant abroad caused Russia's trade turnover with the CIS states to continue to drop. The trade volume in 1993 totaled only 50 percent of the 1991 level. The mechanism used to supply state needs for the major types of output and ensure mutual benefit in trade is a mechanism of equivalent deliveries on a balanced basis, which is figured on the basis of the price levels of the world market. In 1993, using this mechanism the overall trade turnover with the CIS countries totaled about 7 billion dollars. In 1993 Russia had to regulate payment relations with the CIS states by instituting correspondent accounts of central (national) banks in the Central Bank of Russia. This prevented the uncontrolled release of circulating rubles into the Russian market, which was a powerful source of inflation in Russia. Payment-credit relations were also put in order and sums of technical credits granted by Russia were converted to state credits with liquidation conditions close |
FBIS3-24292_3 | Kravchuk, Shevardnadze U.S. Visits Linked | number of them are beginning to affect the international situation as a whole. These conflicts are taking place along with the bloody war in Yugoslavia and show that with the end of the Cold War a greater part of the former socialist countries may become seats of tension, undermining the stability of the entire system of international relations. At the same time, Washington is very suspicious of Russia's attempts to take upon itself the functions of a guarantor of peace and stability in the CIS countries, including the use of military means. The participation of the Russian Armed Forces in peacekeeping operations in the Dniester Republic, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Tajikistan raises fears in Washington that our country may be trying to restore the empire. Many American politicians demand of the Clinton administration to make it clear to Russia that restoration of the empire by force is impermissible. Shevardnadze's visit to Washington is a testimony to the United States' willingness to take a more active position with respect to conflicts on the CIS territory, and in particular in the Transcaucasus. Such an approach may eventually produce considerable problems in Russian-American relations. After all, Russia today claims at an official level a "special role" in the CIS, proclaiming practically all the former Soviet republics a zone of its vitally important interests. Naturally, the entry of a third country into Russia's bilateral relations with Georgia or any other republic will be perceived in Moscow with great dismay, even if that third country is the United States, with which Russia is, as was announced at the latest summit, in a "mature strategic partnership." Judging by all signs, there has emerged a considerable gap between the declarations of strategic partnership between Russia and the United States and the real mechanism of interaction between the two states, a mechanism for reaching agreement on their interests. It appears that this gap not only is not diminishing, but keeps growing, making relations between two former Cold War adversaries extremely fragile. As the scandal in connection with the arrest of the Ames family on the charges of espionage in Washington showed, despite assurances of strategic partnership, Russian-American relations may be turned back and enter a period of cooling and alienation. And the recent visits to Washington of the presidents of Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Georgia may present a cause for further complications in the relations between Moscow and Washington. |
FBIS3-24294_4 | Effects of Domestic Politicking on 'Near Abroad' Policy Eyed | severed among different states. The latter will be possible only with the restoration of the chains of the series of payments for orders, which have been severed today even more hopelessly than the production engineering chains, which, of course, is not so much an economic as a political matter--the main grounds for reconstitution of the ruble zone. On the other hand, certain steps of the regime which seemed purely political (and even ideologically conditioned) have upon closer inspection an entirely material motivation. Participation in the civil war in Tajikistan is not simply a war for control over territory of the former USSR but also an aspiration to plug a hole on the border, the existence of which would require far greater outlays on the reconstitution of a nontransparent Russian border proper, and Tajikistan's admittance to the ruble space is the actual charge for this. And so forth. Let us not forget either the interests of Russian big business, the "sharks" of which have learned to defend their interests with the cudgel of the Russian Government. The Azerbaijani Government had only to attempt to organize a consortium for the development of oil deposits without the participation of Russian corporations for the Karabakh army to tear toward the Iranian border, occupying a further two areas of the country. The Lukoyl concern had to be urgently included in the consortium, after which the Azerbaijani Army was able to restore the lost territories in the course of a counteroffensive.... On the other hand, the motives of the regime's active policy in the near abroad are partially, truly, of the nature of a reaction to intra-Russian circumstances. The ideological vacuum in which the regime has found itself following the exhaustion of the potential of the liberal-market utopia is forcing it to seek ideological support in the deep-lying seams of the mass consciousness, which is in Russia imperial by nature. Essentially, under the conditions of the continuing unfolding of the economic crisis, only opposition to some external enemy can secure for Yeltsin powerful mass support within the country on the eve of presidential elections. In turn, it is just as necessary for the opposition to portray Yeltsin's foreign policy as insufficiently imperial, capitulationist, ideally. In the political struggle the arguments are directed not toward the opposite side but toward the public--and are not, therefore, required to be just. A deplorable illustration of this trivial observation were |
FBIS3-24295_6 | Relation of Women To Politics Studied | of a `women's movement' seems somehow demeaning. Why is there no need for a `men's movement'? The concept of quotas for women in elective offices is also denigrating. I agree 100% with Levko Lukyanenko who categorically rejected parliamentary quotas for women in favor of fair competition. Men have to learn to accept women who are politicians, directors, experts and not treat them as rare exceptions for whom special allowances must be made. During Soviet rule quotas were set for women and women simply copied and reflected male norms in politics. This paternalistic attitude must change and room made for the more caring and nurturing `maternal' milieu. As one speaker at the conference noted, women must not simply fill positions allocated to them, but actively seek the highest reaches of leadership. Women and men need to combine their forces, energies and talents for the common good. One can understand why our present parliament--with only 13 women--often finds itself in a dead end. In Russia the creation of the `Women of Russia bloc has been called--by women, of course--the most important and positive development in recent times. Countries in which women hold a high political profile, such as the United States, Canada and the Scandinavian countries, enjoy stability and have better economies, health care, and social services. In Finland even the minister of defense is a woman, a thing hard to imagine happening here. She--Elisabeth Rehn--ran for the presidency of Finland and almost won against Martti Ahtisaari. Nevertheless, her defeat is still interpreted as a great moral victory for the Finnish people since it demonstrated that politicians are judged on their abilities and not sex or nationality (Ren is a member of Swedish National Part of Finland). A day after the presidential elections the Finnish parliament elected a 51 year old woman as its speaker, Riitta Uosukainen, a representative of the Conservative Coalition Party and minister of education, while Saara-Marja Paakkinen, a social democrat, was elected the first deputy speaker. There is a large number of women in the 200 member Finnish parliament and about a third of the government posts are occupied by women. That is the way things are in Finland. Unfortunately, not too much can be expected from our elections on March 27. Our women lack the organization that the Russian women have created and our people lack the open-mindedness of Finns. Still, we can look toward the future. |
FBIS3-24296_1 | Parliamentary Candidate Skorik Interviewed | rather than out of love, because apparently there is nothing for which to love the people in their entire postcommunist variety. I feel that I must engage in politics and can do something genuine in the corridors of power, which few people are determined enough to walk to the end. During these four years I have completely lost all fear; my political rating is of absolutely no interest to me, and I allow myself to say things that may affect my political image quite adversely. However, there is also such a thing as love for the lofty spiritual concept which is the driving force of all of my actions, which is called the statehood of the Ukrainian nation. [Osipov] To your mind, what must be done for this abstract notion to acquire visible, specific features? [Skorik] What is happening now in politics almost does not reflect what is happening "within." Look at Russia: A bitter power struggle is underway there, but there are no political forces that would have an unfavorable attitude toward the very notion of Russia as an independent state, whereas in Ukraine a majority in the parliament is almost hostile to the fact of the existence of Ukrainian statehood. For many years the thirst for Ukrainian statehood was thoroughly suppressed in our society. This thirst is merely beginning to come back to one segment of the population, whereas the other is at best indifferent to the national idea. I am referring to the almost 10 million population in Ukraine whom Moscow has branded "the Russian-speaking population," and whose rights Russia, in keeping with its military doctrine, intends to defend at any point on the globe. It is not surprising that they gravitate somewhat toward Russia. I often recall General Yermolov's words to the effect that fortresses are not taken by assault but rather by intrigue and bribery within. I see Ukraine as a fortress that they wish to re-annex to the empire in precisely such ways--certainly, peaceful ways! I think that this will not benefit either the "elder brother" or the "younger brother." [Osipov] In Kiev I have already repeatedly heard from all kinds of people who sincerely feel for an independent Ukraine that the current "party of power" has managed to compromise the very idea of Ukrainian statehood for many years to come.... [Skorik] These people are naive, although sincere. Many of those whom they mention |
FBIS3-24297_0 | Current Political Scene Surveyed | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by Maksim Rozumny, UNIAN, special for OBSHCHAYA GAZETA: "Ukraine: `A Savior of the Fatherland' Is Needed"] [Text] Leonid Kravchuk's announcement of his unwillingness to put forth his candidacy in the July presidential elections has evoked numerous interpretations and absolutely contradictory accusations on the part of political opponents. The current situation is really not too clear and definite. The Supreme Council is awaiting its own reelection. Perhaps those 194 deputies who proposed their own candidacies for a new term are exactly the ones who constitute its capable nucleus. Because those who want to be reelected have the best chances of this today: It is not so much that people are yearning for changes for the better as that they are afraid that things might get worse. In the event the elections are not held, the old staff will hardly be able to work for several reasons: as morally antiquated, the continuous lack of a quorum, and in connection with inadequate representative political forces. There should be no place for illusions regarding its participation and the current composition of the government that is headed by a temporarily acting premier. Finally, after Leonid Kravchuk's announcement, serious doubts have surfaced about the reliability of and prospects for the president's vertical chain of command. State authority in its full structure attested to its temporariness, which is analogous to an acknowledgment of its ineffectiveness already today. The impression is being created that all the participants of the long and exhaustive struggle for the real levers of control that was waged from the day of acquisition of independence have simultaneously become deathly sick of each other and of themselves and, therefore, have said in typical Ukrainian philosophical manner: "Go to hell!" As a matter of fact, moral fatigue is truly a dominating factor at all stages of Ukrainian post-Soviet society. But according to physical and metaphysical laws, the obvious cessation of the struggle and movement denotes only their transition to new forms. Thus, the present political entropy which, it seems, even the political campaign is not in a condition to stop, may, in our opinion, have two explanations. It is possible we are observing the last stage in the building of a national state in the style of the well-known anecdote about how it was recommended that a Ukrainian be a tsar: He ate one goody after another, loaded up on goodies, |
FBIS3-24303_0 | Party Support Gauged on Election Eve | Language: Ukrainian Article Type:CSO [Article by Valeriy Khmelko, doctor of philosophical sciences, chairman of the department of sociology at the University of the Kiev Mohyla Academy [Universytet "Kyyevo-Mohylyanska Akademiya"], under the rubric "Politics": "Who Supports Which Parties?"] [Text] This question was answered to some degree by the representative survey of the adult urban population of Ukraine conducted in December by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KMIS) and the department of sociology of the University of the Kiev Mohyla Academy. A total of 1,677 persons aged 18 and older were polled y means of interviews in Kiev and 102 other cities and towns [selyshcha miskoho typu] in all 24 oblasts and the Republic of Crimea. The first thing that the survey showed is that the percentage of urban voters who prefer to cast their votes for candidates who do not belong to any party is not all that large -- they make up 18% of those polled. Twice as many voters are inclined to vote for candidates put forward by one party or another. Of these respondents, 21% have already decided on their choice and named the party for whose candidates they would vote. Of the voters who expressed no preference regarding whether a candidate represented a party or not (they number 46%), only one-quarter is planning to vote in the elections. The attitude to voting in the elections is quite different among those supporting parties: nearly nine-tenths of them (89%) plan to vote. Among supporters of candidates that do not belong to any party, the number that plans to cast a vote is significantly lower -- 71%. There is more support for party candidates among men (39%) than women (34%); among members of older generations (over 60 -- 42%, between 46 and 60 -- 38%) than among younger voters (under 30 --32%, between 31 and 45 -- 33%); among those with a higher education (41%) than those with a secondary education (35%) or lower (34%). The proportion of supporters of party candidates is especially high among managers at various levels (48%) and significantly lower among white-collar workers (38%), and particularly among specialists (21%). Support for party candidates decreases geographically as one moves from west to east and from north to south. Supporters of party candidates make up 41% of the electorate in the Western region, 37% in the Central region, 35% in the Eastern region, and 34% in the |
FBIS3-24305_7 | Law on Ukraine's 1994 State Budget Text of Law | the State Prog-| | |ram to Combat Crime | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |--Administration of State Protection |50,430 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |--customs bodies |442,122 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |--local bodies of the tax inspectorate|1,600,000 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Upkeep of legislative, executive and |4,204,793 | |judicial bodies--total | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |including: | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |--legislative branch |374,444 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |--executive branch |3,130,349 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |--judicial branch |700,000 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Procuracy |380,467 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Financing of measures designated by t-|32,000 | |he National Program to Improve the Sa-| | |fety and Hygiene of Labor and the Pro-| | |duction Environment | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Acquisition of equipment for producti-|50,000 | |on of securities and accounting docum-| | |ents | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Reimbursement of funds for completion |700,000 | |of construction of social and cultura-| | |l facilities for rural areas | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Preparation of capacity for manufactu-|236,298 | |re of currency of Ukraine | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Foreign-economic and foreign-politica-|24,945,472 | |l activity--total | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |including: | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |--expenditures for foreign-economic a-|19,331,712 | |ctivity | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |--expenditures connected with mainten-|5,613,760 | |ance of institutions abroad, and paym-| | |ents to international organizations | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Financing operations for construction |574,560 | |of buildings for embassies and office-| | |s abroad | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Other expenditures |1,909,718.7 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |of which: | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |--conducting elections |1,150,000 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |--mobilization preparation of sectors |44,370 | |of the national economy | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Reserve fund of the Cabinet of Minist-|1,000,000 | |ers of Ukraine | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Measures connected with eliminating t-|16,362,861 | |he consequences of the Chornobyl cata-| | |strophe and social protections for th-| | |e population | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Expenditures for servicing of foreign |5,060,920 | |debt | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Expenditures of Pension Fund |65,960,000 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Funds subject to transfer to the budg-|16,533,751.6 | |ets of the Republic of Crimea, the ob-| | |lasts and the city of Sevastopol | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article 4. To confirm standards for deductions from the general state taxes and fees to the budget of the Republic of Crimea and the budgets of the oblasts and cities of Kiev and Sevastopol in the amounts (percentages of the total amount) of: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Tax on added value |20 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Receipts from excise charges |20 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Tax on income of enterprises and orga-|50 | |nizations of general state ownership, | | |including leased, founded on the basi-| | |s of |
FBIS3-24332_6 | Union of Poles Leader Views Organization's Tasks, Problems | more acute to those who elected and support us. Let us take our Polish university whose creation V. Landsbergis "blessed." However, about 100 students are in their third year of study there, but the school still has no formal status and no premises. On the contrary: a week ago a directive was received from the administration of the city soviet that the Polish university was to vacate the premises it occupies at 5 Sibaciaus Street and no other premises were offered. And what is being done with Polish television? Some authorities have begun to broadcast it, but others are shutting it down, arbitrarily superimpose other programs on its programs, and so on. The publication of textbooks in the Polish language is also declining. And this is already state policy--the decision was made by the Ministry of Culture and Education. And who is training cadres for Polish schools? The pedagogical university trains only specialists in Polish studies, but what about biology, chemistry, and geography? Not to mention the teaching of foreign languages or even the Lithuanian language in Polish schools. For example, there are 74 teachers of the Lithuanian language working in the schools of Salcininkai Rayon. But only 17 of them are Lithuanian specialists. The rest are chance people, teachers of other subjects. Given this situation can we really expect the teaching of the state language to improve? For if we are speaking of the state language, the question must be fundamentally resolved. Incidentally, the draft law on the state language which is already being reviewed in Seimas committees also has a number of provisions with which we find it difficult to agree. Thus, according to Article 5 on areas where national minorities live in close quarters, residents may be served in the language of this minority along with the state language in communications and health care institutions and on transport. That is to say, they may be served, and so they may not be! But this is a step backward as compared with the Law on National Minorities which says that the language of the minorities must be used in institutions of power with which people deal. Unfortunately, this is not the only defect of this draft. The draft does not guarantee that representatives of national minorities will receive higher education either. Of course we will express our opinion in the committee and in the Seimas, but I am |
FBIS3-24337_2 | Russian-Belgian Treaty on Accord, Cooperation | Charter. The contracting parties shall actively aid in the realization of effective actions in the sphere of preventive diplomacy. Article 3 The contracting parties affirm the decisive role which the CSCE may play in the cause of strengthening stability and security in Europe, and emphasize the principle importance of the statutes of the Helsinki Concluding Act, the Paris Charter for a New Europe, the Helsinki document of 1992, "Challenge of the Time of Change," as well as other CSCE documents. The contracting parties shall facilitate the strengthening of the CSCE for purposes of ensuring the guarantees of human rights, democracy and the legal state, and preventing and regulating disputes by peaceful means. The contracting parties ascribe particular importance to strengthening the capacity of the CSCE for actions in the spheres of preventive diplomacy and regulation of conflicts. Article 4 The contracting parties concur in the fact that security and stability must be based on dialogue, partnership and cooperation, as well as on the practical realization of the principle of defense adequacy. They believe that a peaceful order in Europe presupposes, on the basis of adherence to the concluded treaties, a full implementation of the Treaty on OVSE [Conventional Armed Forces in Europe], a continuation of efforts toward reduction and control of arms and armed forces, a development of measures of trust aimed at guaranteeing security and stability on the continent, as well as the nonproliferation of mass destruction weapons. The contracting parties affirm their adherence to the 1968 Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the directives coordinated by the group of countries who are suppliers of nuclear materials, and the 1993 Convention on Banning the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Application of Chemical Weapons and Their Destruction, and will take necessary measures toward excluding the transfer of materials, technologies or equipment of nuclear weapons or other types of mass destruction weapons in these countries to other countries. Article 5 The contracting parties acknowledge the important role of the European Union, as well as the significant contribution of international economic and financial organizations in the balanced development of the world economy and in the political and economic development of Europe. The contracting parties believe that the success of reforms, the transition to a market economy and the integration of Russia into the world economy are facilitated by its rapprochement with the European Union, specifically by means of conclusion of the appropriate treaties |
FBIS3-24337_5 | Russian-Belgian Treaty on Accord, Cooperation | activity of charitable organizations. If necessary, they will reach administrative agreements with local authorities in order to facilitate actions in extraordinary circumstances. The contracting parties shall cooperate in clarifying the fates of their citizens who, in connection with various circumstances, find themselves on the territory of the other contracting party, or who are missing there. Within this framework, they conclude agreements for the purpose of allowing the investigators of the other party access to archives which might contain information on the above-mentioned citizens. The contracting parties shall cooperate in the sphere of return of archives. Article 9 The contracting parties believe that such fields as culture, education, professional training, public health and scientific research are one of the important spheres of their cooperation. With these spheres, which are within the competency of the Communities and Regions of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Russian Federation is ready to conclude the appropriate treaties and agreements with the above-mentioned communities and regions, according to the constitutional and legislative directives which are in effect in both countries. Article 10 The contracting parties stress the importance of better mutual familiarization with each other's legal systems. The contracting parties shall promote cooperation between the institutions of justice and the law enforcement agencies of both states, including mutual legal assistance in civil and criminal cases and cooperation in the struggle against crime, unlawful circulation of narcotics and psychotropic substances, terrorist acts of an international character and contraband, including the unlawful transport of cultural valuables over the border. The Belgian side will have a favorable attitude toward the Russian Federation and will render it assistance in joining in treaties on cooperation in the sphere of the struggle against crime concluded by the Council of Europe member states. Article 11 Without infringing upon the competencies of the subjects of the Russian Federation and the Communities and Regions of the Kingdom of Belgium in the sphere of international cooperation, the contracting parties shall facilitate the enhancement of mutual cooperation in the sphere of economics, energetics, transport, communications, finance and agriculture, ascribing particular importance to development of programs for advanced training of workers at enterprises and financial organizations. As necessary, the competent authorities of the contracting parties shall develop new programs of cooperation, primarily in such spheres as the agroindustrial complex, privatization, financial services and banking, the trade network, communications, informatics, transport, energetics, application of atomic energy for peaceful purposes, and |
FBIS3-24338_18 | Kozyrev Surveys Development of RF Foreign Policy Objectives | Charter. Russian peacekeeping forces are present in all areas at the request of legitimate governments and with the consent of all parties to the conflict. Yes, we do have to resort to peacekeeping methods that are not traditional for the U.N. That includes participation in peacekeeping operations by forces from neighboring states (mainly Russia itself) and even by the parties to the conflict. But this practice has proven its effectiveness in the Dniester region and in South Ossetia, where no blood has been shed in over a year. It would be simply unreasonable to reject this as "incorrect." Therefore at the 48th session of the U.N. General Assembly Russian diplomats urged the international community to provide active support for our peacekeeping efforts. Specifically, we expressed support for the creation of a voluntary fund to aid peacekeeping efforts in the former USSR. The Russian leadership has subordinated its approach to democratic states in West and East to the goal of establishing partnership relations with them, and over the long term alliance relationships. That guideline has from the very first days after the USSR ceased to exist helped prompt the democratic world to undertake active efforts in support of the reform process in Russia and the other CIS countries. In late January 1992 Washington was the scene of a coordinating conference on assistance to the newly independent states that had emerged out of the former Soviet Union. There were 47 states and seven leading international economic organizations participating. In his message to those attending the conference, B. N. Yeltsin expressed Russia's desire to achieve genuine economic and social revitalization through stimulation of broad business cooperation with all interested partners. The course toward the building of new relations with the outside world was also reflected in Russian diplomats' first steps at the highest level. In this context the most major events were participation by Russia's president in a U.N. Security Council session in January 1992 and his visits to England, the United States and Canada. From the U.N. podium Russia's leader declared that Russia was joining the world community as a firm and consistent supporter of freedom, democracy and humanism. B. N. Yeltsin expressed support for a decisive reduction in strategic offensive weapons and tactical nuclear weapons, a complete ban on nuclear testing, substantial reductions in conventional weapons, a ban on chemical and bacteriological weapons and creations of a Europe-wide collective security system. |
FBIS3-24338_23 | Kozyrev Surveys Development of RF Foreign Policy Objectives | actions, undertaken in close coordination with other parties to a resolution of the Yugoslavian situation, are aimed at establishing peace as quickly as possible in Bosnia-Herzegovina and normalizing relations between the republics of the former SFRY [Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]. The dynamic creation of new relations with the states of the West has by no means caused a "pro-Western slant" in Russian diplomacy, a charge often levelled by national-patriotic politicians. Entry into partnership relations with the United States and the countries of Western Europe is occurring in parallel with greater Russian attention to the East. One landmark on that path was a visit by Russia's president to China. In a joint declaration adopted by the two countries, Russia and China recognized each other as friendly states. A mutual interest was expressed in the equal and ongoing nature of bilateral relations, without any geopolitical alliance but also without relapses into confrontation. The visit laid down a solid foundation for development of relations in trade, science, technology, personnel training and military affairs. Talks have been stepped up regarding reduction of armed forces along the border and clearer definition of the border's location. This has helped further strengthen the spirit of mutual trust and businesslike partnership in Russian-Chinese relations. Russia's relations with another great Asian country, India, have gotten off to a new start. The treaty of friendship and cooperation signed during highest-level Russian-Indian talks in New Delhi in January 1993, while retaining all the positive things that existed in relations between the USSR and India, also puts those relations on a basis of mutual benefit and frees them of the logic of geopolitical alliances pitting some countries against others, as had previously been imposed by Moscow. Russian diplomats have also succeeded in "opening up" the ASEAN countries, the Persian Gulf and the Republic of South Africa for business cooperation and new partnerships. The emergence of the foreign policy of Russia as an independent state has required major organizational and personnel reinforcement of the Russian diplomatic service. An important step in this regard was the creation of an updated Russian diplomatic service in October 1990, as well as the introduction of the institution of Russian representation in the USSR's foreign institutions and delegations in the spring of 1991. The staff of the former USSR MFA, like all of Soviet society, was excessively ideologically oriented. For many decades Soviet diplomacy was in effect |
FBIS3-24356_2 | Nizhniy Novgorod Mayor on Election Program | economy, and on the other hand we have combined reforms (and they, as is the case everywhere, are accompanied both by liberalization of prices and by demonopolization) with measures on social protection. For example, on 7 January 1992, seven days after liberalization of prices, we lifted price controls on milk. But at the same time we allocated budget funds to support certain categories of people. Every month these people got 70 rubles (R) each. Today this is a laughable sum of money. But in January 1992 it would buy one liter of milk a day for an entire month. And on the whole this measure allowed us to save considerable budget funds. On 24 March 1992, we lifted price controls on bread and gave a subsidy of R260 a month to some categories of people (only some!)--invalids, families with many children and pensioners. In May of 1992 we increased the subsidy, and then changed over to individual subsidies using the so-called application order. As of 1 October of last year, we introduced a poverty subsidy, which is paid to those whose level of income is below the minimum subsistence level. As of 1 January 1993, we have not had coupons for food products. The last ones I repealed were coupons for sugar. One may promise from the "soapbox": "I will never repeal coupons. I will retain prices at their former level. I guarantee each person 200 grams of carmel candy, and everything else." Yet all the while prices will still be increasing, and products will be disappearing from the shelves. Yet we have said firmly: "Yes, prices in different stores will be different, and perhaps will change in the course of the day." At first people could not get used to this. Yet now even pensioners, even war veterans who have become accustomed to buying their goods in specialized stores at fixed prices, ask only that the goods be closer to home. Here are some economic indicators. The number of state enterprises for 1993 is 4.5 percent of their overall number. The relative share of non-state enterprises in budget revenues for 1992 was 12 percent, while in 1993 it was already 73 percent. There are no social conflicts. In 1992 the decline in production in Russia comprised 19.9 percent. In Nizhegorod Oblast, which suffered all the ills of the Russian regions, it was 7.6 percent, while in Nizhniy Novgorod it |
FBIS3-24357_3 | Romanov Seen as `Rising Star' | have to work." The plants are buckling under the arrears, and wages have not been paid for months--and people are working, they want to work. This cannot be said of Moscow politicians. A Russian engineer, I was forced to become a politician. [Prokhanov] You speak about unification, the composition of the efforts of the parties, the composition of the tendencies of politicians, each of whom has his own vector, his own political pace, his own experience of catastrophe or victory. I, and not only myself, am tormented by one question. For three or four years we patriots have been attempting to compose a party of national interests, a patriotic party based on the national idea. It cannot be said that these attempts appear absolutely barren. Small political formations: the Russian Revival Party, the Russian Party of Mikhail Korchagin, have been formed. The Slav Assembly has been created. Among the most dynamic is Russian National Unity. There was the attempt to create the Russian National Assembly, in which you actively participated. The National Salvation Front was squashed. All other attempts are coming to naught. Everything is confined to a conference, a congress, at which declarations are made, then organizational apathy sets in, all movements come to a halt.... Why are we unsuccessful here? Is it not because unduly blurred, unduly archaic political formulas such as "Orthodoxy-autocracy-national character" or "Russian solidarity" are made the basis of them, these parties and their ideology? Today's Russia is a multidimensional pulsating structure, in which each region has its own version of the Russian idea. In addition, the present Russia does not have a traditional look. It is oriented toward the future. Perhaps none of these pariahs has a future image, all their values are too tied to the past, and they are unable to adapt tradition to history and actual policy? [Romanov] But in just the same way it has not been possible to create a "presidential" party either. Comminution is a feature of Russian politics. The communists are fragmented, like the democrats also. What significance have all these Moscow parties for the ordinary man? Go to the periphery, as they say in Moscow, call in at a shop or a cowshed, and ask if only: "What is the Constitutional Court, who is on it?" It is not known. Even less is anything known about patriotic politicians. I see as the solution for the patriots |
FBIS3-24359_11 | Spokesmen on Counterintelligence Changes | the presidential level on not conducting intelligence activities against one another, interaction in matters of state security or information exchange, transfer of cases, joint investigation of major entities, combating drug trafficking, etc. One head of an Estonian district counterintelligence was detained when he was trying to break through in an "Ural" vehicle with five tonnes of copper from Pskov Oblast to his district. He stole the vehicle in the Pskov Paratroop Division, the copper--somewhere else, and made a fighting attempt to get across the border. By the way, many of our current friends who used to be enemies conduct intelligence operations from the territories of former USSR republics. Apprehending a spy or a foreign intelligence officer is not the highest-class work. Foreign intelligence officers are arrested in the event of political expediency. In any case, in the past this was the only reason. For instance, two of ours are expelled from Sweden--intelligence immediately runs to counterintelligence: Guys, who do you have in your sights? Our pleasure! As many as you need! In the Swedish Embassy alone a total of six diplomats. Shall we expel them all together or one at a time? A corresponding memorandum goes to the Politburo, signed by the KGB chairman. We get the appropriate memorandum from Gromyko. Relations with him were very difficult: Gentlemen, you are spoiling my peace-loving policy. When Shevardnadze was appointed minister of foreign affairs, things became easier. You may recall: They expel ours from England--we expel some, too; they expel more, we expel more. And on top of that we outwitted them, because some wives of British diplomats had diplomatic status. Therefore we selected husbands whose wives also were diplomats, but expelled only the husbands. As a result they had to recall more diplomats. The Americans expelled our people--we took away their service personnel: Wash your own dishes. At this point the fight was more or less on even ground. So, this is the political case. The other case is when the damage is already unavoidable. We knew, for instance, in the case of Tolkachev, that he was passing over material that would do irreparable damage. This means we have to take him. But if we take him, we take the American, too. Or, for instance, they take one of ours--we have to respond so they will not get away with it. So we take one, too. In short, the basic point |
FBIS3-24360_5 | Director on Future of Radio Broadcasting | with a nuance of art. And at 2220 the purely hip youth program "Four Fourths" starts. It continues until 0200. It, of course, has its own problems, but the main thing is that there was nothing like this on radio. Although many of us grew up on the radio station Youth. Frankly, when this program started up, there was resistance--and tremendous resistance--from a number of listeners and a listlessly intelligent resistance on the part of the management of the company. But the young people, nonetheless, showed that there should be such a youth program. We still do not use it as an element of political propaganda, but I fear that it will be necessary to use it in this capacity as well: The mood among youth is an important factor in politics. [Moroz] What is the balance here between serious and entertainment programs, between culture and popular culture, for which you are striving in your broadcasting? [Davydov] Popular culture and entertainment is now concentrated here mainly, perhaps, in the "Four Fourths" program that I mentioned. There are also elements of entertainment in the morning program "The Beginning," although I would not call it entertaining. This year we changed the approach to thematic programs somewhat. They still were somewhat heavy. We cut their time to 15-20 minutes. And we expanded the musical flow of sound. Mainly at the expense of classical music and retrospective reviews. Moreover, it became clear that we hit the nail on the head here. There is a strong nostalgia in our society with respect to the 1960's and 1970's. It is also happy with retrospective music. But the classics are classics. The need for the eternal and imperishable is always alive among people. It is a number one problem for us--nothing to laugh at. So-called humorous programs have appeared here this year, but there is no particular response to them yet. And there is a problem with game programs. We have, perhaps, only one game program--"VZV" (Evening Amusement for Adults), which is done by Leonid Azarkh. It is necessary to play on radio. Radio games exist in the whole world. As I have already said, we concentrate politics in four hours on the "Authors' Channel." And this is probably the optimal variant. [Moroz] Do you know what kind of audience you have? [Davydov] Of course, we know, although, perhaps, not in great detail. Any kind of sociological |
FBIS3-24361_12 | RF 1993 Ethnopolitical Situation Surveyed | North Ossetia after the armed conflict. Thirdly, it seems expedient to more effectively utilize the additional financing of Ingushetiya and North Ossetia, to establish strict control over the expenditure of financial means allocated for target programs. Fourthly, it has long been time to give a public legal and political evaluation of the events of October-November 1992 and to name the names of the organizers and participants in the criminal actions. Fifth, it is necessary to change over from a military-administrative form of administration to a direct federal form of administration and to repeal the state of martial law. Another point which personifies the acute crisis situation is Chechnya and the indeterminacy of its status, as well as the separatist policy of its current leadership. The approaches to the problem of Chechnya as defined at the conference in Nalchik on 7 December 1993 do not have favorable prospects. Moreover, the closure of the border with the Chechen Republic along its entire perimeter, including the undefined line of administrative division with Ingushetiya, may lead to an exacerbation of the situation in the region and to provocation of anti-Russian sentiments. A mild course toward keeping Chechnya within the make-up of Russia, juridically and economically, seems more preferable. The interests of stabilization of the situation in the region and reduction in the criminal situation in Chechnya would be served by efforts of the leadership of Dagestan and Stavropol to conclude bilateral agreements with the regime of D. Dudayev regarding cooperation in resolution of socio-economic questions and provision of human rights. At the same time, it would be expedient to continue contacts with the opposition to D. Dudayev's regime, and to support the social base of the opposition. This course is desirable also because the Chechen diaspora in the nearby and distant foreign countries is beginning to speak out against the regime of D. Dudayev. It would be expedient to involve such influential movements as the Conference of Peoples of the Caucasus and the Tersk Cossack Brotherhood in the regulation of problems of a crisis character in the North Caucasus. Potential Acute Crisis Situations Among these we must cite primarily the tense ethnopolitical situation taking shape in the Republic of Tyva (Tuva). Beginning in 1990, the separatist course of the People's Front of Tuva provoked the mass departure of the Russian-speaking population. Tensions are being increased by the actions of organizations of former prisoners, particularly |
FBIS3-24367_2 | Pskov Oblast January Election Fiasco Reviewed | in Russia. It was Saturday. I'm sitting there, drinking my tea... The voting district where I am registered is around the corner, in a nearby school. I wonder whether or not I should go there. I recall how many times during the past two years the authority had called me, requested me, and entreated me to go to the ballot box so that I could give it my mandate to do what it later would attempt to do in order to make my life happy and cloudfree. But it is becoming not better, but increasingly difficult to live from day to day. So I'm sitting there, drinking my tea, and looking out of the window. I recall how, a month and a half earlier, when our last and decisive fight in front of the ballot boxes was announced again, people in the dark morning hours (it was, after all, December) walked single-file across my courtyard on their way to the school. But today it is already the middle of the day, and there don't seem to be many citizens who are inspired by the election. Just one or two, and that's it. My contemplative tea-drinking was suddenly disturbed. The local television company broke off its broadcast on the Russia-wide channel, and a member of the okrug electoral commission appeared on the screen: my dear voters, he says with a somewhat reproachful tone of voice, it might be a good time to remind you about performing your civic duty, rather than beating all your carpets and vacuuming your rooms. The voting, he said, is being discontinued so that it looks as though it might be necessary to hold a re-election, once again at the expense of you taxpayers. I must confess that this pressure upon my freedom of choice, this unceremonious conduct, coupled with the threat to empty once again my already empty pocket, irked me. And if this had happened in the much vaunted Western democracies, it certainly wouldn't have done much good for the frisky guy from the electoral commission. Because he broke the citizens' right: to vote for, or against, or not at all. And that "hand-breaker" who had smashed the voter's hands would have been fired and given a big fine,, and the election results would have been disputed in court. But that is how "they" do it... In our country, on the other hand, people, even |
FBIS3-24369_0 | Siberian Economist on Tax Differentiation | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Interview with Candidate of Economic Sciences Boris Melentyev, by VECHERNIY NOVOSIBIRSK correspondent Yuriy Voronchikhin; place and date not given: "Those Hated Taxes"] [Text] The state tax policy is being subjected to serious criticism by entrepreneurs, producers, and the population. The issue of creating a federal tax system that is differentiated by the country's regions is being raised with increasing urgency. Our correspondent met with Candidate of Economic Sciences Boris Viktorovich Melentyev, a specialist on regional and interregional problems and a research associate at the Institute of Economics and Organization of Industrial Production of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The topic of their conversation is taxes. [Voronchikhin] Boris Viktorovich, literally everyone today is moaning about chaos in taxation. It is complicated, confusing, too much, unfair, and so on. In the past we only knew about income tax, plus childless people had to pay a certain percentage of their wages. Now there are all sorts of deductions. I bet that soon there will a tax on beards. Do we really need such a multitude of taxes, and can we not do without them altogether? [Melentyev] By tax we usually understand mandatory payments appropriated by the state. We usually part with this money with regret, especially if taxes are high. Nevertheless, a certain part of taxes, especially at the all-Russia (federal) level, are a necessary attribute of financial regulation of economic activities. They are needed because the state, through tax revenue, finances directly out of the budget, among other things, defense, the pension and other social funds, targeted development of new production, etc. [Voronchikhin] Since it is a "production necessity," dictated by "harsh reality," then should there not be, instead of the chaos that reigns today in state tax policy, a flexible system of duties that is agreeable for everyone? [Melentyev] Creating a logical system of taxes is to a certain extent an art: They must be simple; the principles for calculating them, understandable for everyone; there should not be many of them; and they should not be too high and should not suppress the initiative of economic growth. In order for taxes to serve as active means of state policy, it is desirable that they fulfill several functions--for instance, not only ensure the flow of revenue, but also stimulate achievement of certain policy goals. In particular, high excise tax on tobacco and alcohol products |
FBIS3-24370_3 | Kaliningrad Admin Chief on Economy, Lithuania | transit routes as a connecting link between East and West. [Govorushko] What is the socio-economic situation in the oblast? Did it gain anything from the free economic zone status? [Matochkin] Actually, benefits for the free economic zone began to accrue only since the first quarter of last year. At the same time, due to high transportation costs per unit of output produced in the oblast, it is not competitive. That is why the rate of decline of production in industry and agriculture is higher than the average for Russia. At the same time, customs benefits for the free economic zone stimulated external economic ties and led to increased investment in construction, which is higher here than the all-Russia average. Trade and commodity reserves have increase substantially. The rate of price increases is lower than in the country: at present Kaliningrad is among the cities where goods and services are cheaper. The difference between the living minimum and average income has changed for the better. Small and medium businesses and tourism are developing actively, and many small private enterprises are being set up. The oblast now holds third place in Russia for foreign investment, after Moscow and St. Petersburg. This year, however, began with difficulty, as in the entire country. It can't be helped: we get 90 percent of our supplementaries from the Russian Federation. The oblast remains subsidized, and will continue to be for a long time. We depend in many ways on the federal budget, which owes us 18 billion rubles for last year, while in the first quarter we didn't get a kopeck of 14 billion. What saves us, once again, is the free zone regime and the additional regional quota for exports of our own oil. This has helped build up small hard-currency reserves, on which we live, and we also invest in development of the infrastructure. [Govorushko] The forced militarization of the oblast, as far as I know, not only complicates relations with Baltic countries but is also, probably, a deadweight on the economy? [Matochkin] Our relations with Lithuania and Poland are not affected by this, though inter-governmental relations certainly are. But the population of the oblast supports the army and feels safer in its presence. From the economic, social and ecological aspects the armed forces are indeed a heavy burden on the oblast, something which ranking bureaucrats also sometimes fail to understand. In addition, relations |
FBIS3-24384_0 | News From St Petersburg City Death, Birth Rates | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by Irina Baglikova: "Alarming Statistics"] [Text] Heretofore unheard-of figures were cited yesterday at a meeting in Smolnyy: 32,400 children were born in St. Petersburg in 1993, while in the same period 85,600 persons died. For the first time in the history of the city, the mortality rate exceeded the birth rate by a factor of more than 2.5. The family crisis situation is leading to the fact that the birth rate is dropping catastrophically not only in St. Petersburg, but in the whole country--89.9 percent of the families consist of two to four persons; moreover, a big part consists of two persons. There has been a significant increase in recent years in the number of single mothers older than 40 years of age and younger than 18. The attention of the rayon family and children departments was turned at the conference to the socially unprotected families--giving them material (and humanitarian) assistance and offering moral support. The obligations of the rayons also include making resources available for subsidizing school lunches. After approving the city budget, compensation will be paid, as before, for newborn children.... How effective such assistance is can be evaluated according to the very same statistical data--only 98,000 children out of the 997,700 children of St. Petersburg are being reared in large families. It is probable that the birth rate is unlikely to increase this year either. |
FBIS3-24385_0 | News From St Petersburg Citizens Comment on Elections | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by Ye. Dolgopyatova: "I Will Ask My Neighbor Who To Vote For"] [Text] One week before the elections to the City Assembly, do the voters know at least something about the candidates and the coalitions they represent? Do Petersburg residents intend to vote at all? To get an answer to these questions I positioned myself, tape recorder in hand, during rush hour, when people are on their way home from work, in front of the building at 17 Bolshaya Monetnaya Street, which houses two Petrogradskiy Rayon district electoral commissions--No. 40 and No. 41. Here are some typical answers. Kapitolina Alekseyevna Kholopova, pensioner: "I will vote. I am not yet familiar with the candidates, so I plan to stop at the electoral commission right now. You see, the candidate for whom we had collected signatures in our microrayon later removed himself from the race. I recently attended a meeting with another candidate, but I have forgotten his name. I will ask my neighbor." A young woman who refused to give her name: "I am not going anywhere. I am up to my ears in work and family; I have no time for elections." Next passerby--two young men: "No, we are not going anywhere; actually, we have no idea where to go and who to vote for. No one has enlightened us." Valentina Petrovna, pensioner: "I do not know the candidates. In my opinion, the preparations for the elections have been handled very poorly this time. I think that a serious mistake has been made on the part of the election organizers. City residents have practically no information. We now do not even see candidates for deputy on television, where one could at least somehow form an opinion and learn about the candidates' programs." A young man, first-time voter: "We had the leaflets of some candidate plastered on the wall in our apartment building entrance, but I do not really know even his name. Since elections are being held, I have to vote, although I do not see any difference in principle whether a City Assembly gets elected or not. After all, we live without one now..." Yelena Shevchenko answers, holding two toddlers by the hand: "I am not going to vote because I do not trust or believe any candidate." An elderly woman: "I have not heard anything on the radio--who we are supposed to vote |
FBIS3-24386_1 | News From St Petersburg Election Registration Complaints | electoral district where she was going to run. The reason was that one of Petersburg newspapers printed some incorrect information on the addresses of buildings included in her district. The number of "outside" votes was not great, but the district commission refused to register D. Shulgina, and the city commission upheld the decision. The city court, in turn, dismissed D. Shulgina's complaint about the elections commissions' actions. Despite the fact that the elections are to be held in just a few days, the rejected candidate for deputy intends to continue her court battle for validation of her candidacy. D. Shulgina's appeal will be sent by mail to the Supreme Court of Russia. It is obvious that it will not be considered in time for the elections. A similar complaint was filed by Vladimir Radushnov, president of Tais-Sport--a St. Petersburg joint-stock company. As the Dzerzhinskiy Rayon district commission established, some of those who signed for Vladimir Radushnov also signed for his competitor in the same district. All these "duplicate" signatures were invalidated. As a result, Vladimir Radushnov came up several hundred votes short of qualifying as a candidate. Nobody questioned the citizens as to whom in fact they support. As experience shows, questionable issues in matters of signature collection are not interpreted in favor of the candidates. It is interesting that court hearings are taking place just a few days before the elections. The mayor's decision, which excluded some citizens from participating in the elections, was recently challenged by Federation Council Deputy Aleksandr Belyayev, who won the case. His complaint was found valid, and A. Sobchak's decision illegal. As we learned, A. Sobchak has appealed the city court ruling at the Supreme Court. Until the complaint is heard in Moscow, the city court decision is not in force. But the elections are to take place on 20 March. And some citizens will be deprived of an opportunity for full participation in them. On these grounds a group of unregistered deputies, as well as the Russian Peasant Party's branch, sent a letter to Russian Electoral Commission Chairman N. Ryabov asking him to interfere in the actions of the St. Petersburg city electoral commission and to postpone the elections. At this point, Moscow has not made its reaction known... Today the city court will hear the Peasant Party's complaint on the city electoral commission's actions. There are five days left until the elections. |
FBIS3-24387_0 | News From St Petersburg Yeltsin Representative on Local Elections | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Report by Svetlana Gavrilova: "Sergey Tsiplyayev: The Choice Will Be Almost Random"] [Text] The City Assembly will be adopting the City Charter and regional laws that will be mandatory. Therefore, the City Assembly will have a very important role in our life, Sergey Tsiplyayev emphasized in yesterday's conversation with journalists in St. Petersburg. The president's representative is concerned about the outcome of the election campaign mainly because it was not properly covered in the mass media. There is no question, remarked Tsiplyayev, that if each of the more than 700 candidates were given 20 minutes of air time, we could only pity our voters. Television debates between blocs and coalitions, however, would have helped voters make a choice. As it stands, said Sergey Tsiplyayev, name recognition is about the only factor that can affect the choice; if there is no recognized name on the candidate list, the choice will be almost random. This was exacerbated, on top of everything else, by shortcomings in the preliminary screening mechanism, which allowed 10-15 candidates per one seat to remain on the ballot. Political capital is not earned overnight on the eve of elections; in order to avoid the current difficulties next time, a city political elite should form. A considerable role in this may belong to the mass media, noted Tsiplyayev. |
FBIS3-24393_2 | Partnership for Peace Criticized | of an "allied") relationship between Russia and the United States, between Russia and the West, the necessity would disappear of preserving a military bloc created as a deterrence to international communism. In addition to this, it should be noted that in agreeing to the unification of Germany, repudiating the "Brezhnev Doctrine," and withdrawing from Eastern Europe, the USSR obtained assurances from the United States and its Western allies that they would not take advantage of this in filling up the vacuum created and alter the military-strategic balance in Europe to their benefit. I think former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev could discuss this more substantively and perhaps he will still do so. It is entirely evident that there are no external reasons and no threat on the part of Russia either for preserving NATO or, even more so--in circumvention of agreements with the USSR, for expanding NATO directly or indirectly (through the program "Partnership for Peace") to Russia's borders. Most likely the United States and its allies are setting other objectives through NATO and the "Partnership for Peace" program, proceeding from their long-range interests. First of all, the Americans henceforth intend through NATO to maintain and consolidate their military-political leadership in Europe. Secondly, for a number of NATO member countries and for those East European countries that have become candidates for membership in this bloc, joining the "Partnership" program, the United States presence in NATO, and the alliance itself constitute a reliable way of keeping a unified Germany under effective control. Thirdly, the expansion of NATO--even initially through the "Partnership for Peace"--does in fact comprise real steps on the part of the NATO bloc to fill the "power vacuum" left by the USSR, with the aim of containing and disciplining what is now Russia. A number of analysts believe that little depends upon Russia in the situation that has come about. Whether we like it or not, the process has already begun: More and more signatures are appearing under the "Partnership" program. Therefore, it only remains for us to find our place in this process. There are those who believe that Russia should push others aside and stand first in line at NATO's doorstep. It is strange that such judgments are coming from quite serious people--far from naive--who claim to be strategists in matters of foreign policy. But in the situation that has developed, where indeed very little depends on us, |
FBIS3-24397_1 | Lukin Views Diplomacy, Parliament's Influence on Foreign Policy | outside is, I think a good, useful quality. [Denisova] In 1968, when you were working in Prague at the international magazine, PROBLEMS OF PEACE AND SOCIALISM, you spoke out against the introduction of soviet troops into Czechoslovakia, for which you were deported to the USSR. For more than 11 years you were under a travel ban. [Lukin] There were several of us then who were "ceremoniously" dispatched to Moscow. In the same plane with us was Misha Polyakov, a nice guy, a specialist on America. There were also Kirill Khenkin and his wife Ira Kanevskaya--they are now working at Radio Liberty in Munich. There were others, as well. [Denisova] The last two years you were the Russian ambassador in the United States. What were you able and not able to achieve during your ambassadorship? [Lukin] An ambassador's is a bureaucratic job. Although I respect the ambassador's mission, I would say that in many ways it is a symbiosis of a postman and a waiter "with airs." A postman, because you get a communication from Moscow, with a list of whom to deliver it to, and what to say in the process. People in the host country are interested not in your personal opinion, which you are free to express unofficially: an ambassador is obligated to communicate the point of view of his country's official circles, the president or foreign minister. Well, and a waiter, because you continuously have to meet and treat high-ranking delegations. [Denisova] And were you successful? [Lukin] The first thing I managed was to master the ambassador's trade. I had specialized in international affairs and for a time worked on the central staff of the Foreign Ministry, but I had never been an ambassador. In Washington it took time for me to get to know the "thousand details" of the operation of a large embassy with a complex staff. The second thing I managed was to create an image of an authentic representative of our country during the time I represented it. I was, after all, the first Russian ambassador since 1917. Besides, I represented it during a period of development of democratic structures in our country. I have at home a U.S. diplomat of the year award. The means the Americans felt my work was successful. And third, I managed to establish good contacts with our compatriots. They saw me off literally with tears in their |
FBIS3-24398_9 | Proektor Ponders Post-Cold War Security System | understandable. Fears that NATO could draw closer to our borders in connection with the likely membership of the alliance of the former Warsaw Pact countries and our Western neighbors included. But if we intend to progress further along the path of the creation of a general system of security in the spirit of the ideas of the end of the 1980's-start of the 1990's, what is there to fear? It is hard to find serious arguments against the Partnership for Peace and the subsequent convergence of the security systems of East and West in some interacting structure, which could not happen any time soon, for that matter. We do not need new Berlin walls at the borders. They would be disastrous for us. We need integration in the world. Inside and outside. And unified security systems could contribute to this. Inside, in the form of a common security space in the CIS, outside, in consistent movement toward what was long since called general European and, subsequently, a global system of security. Even if only in the next century. A return, however, to bloc thinking would have deplorable consequences. After all, cold war blocs are a complex phenomenon. Defense against external attack is just one of their functions, not even, I would venture to say, the most important. The internal, "deterrent" functions are considerably more important. For the United States after the war this meant control and "reeducation" of German and Japanese extremism, the cementing of "Atlantic peace," and a strengthening of West Europe's relations with North America. For the elite of the USSR, control over the socialist camp and its unity and retention of East Europe in the orbit of the totalitarian structure and its protection against the impact of an alien system. But the question of questions is the correlation between security and the internal condition of society. Involvement in the most dangerous crises of the cold war era was a consequence of internal factors to a greater extent, probably, than external factors. In the West the fear of the ruling elites of appearing "weak" in the face of communism and losing the electorate and exaggerated fears in the face of the "world communist threat" stimulated the United States to war in Vietnam and an invasion of Cuba. In the East fears of internal ferment in the Warsaw Pact countries, dissidence, and the undermining of the socialist camp prompted |
FBIS3-24398_14 | Proektor Ponders Post-Cold War Security System | the most virulent pathogenic bacteria, like relics of the cold war. And the final point. Concerning the dimensions of a policy of security within the framework of Russia's relations with its neighbors. The concepts of "spheres of influence" and "national interests beyond one's borders" are highly contradictory. They disturb no one if democracy and accord constitute their foundation. They are unacceptable if totalitarianism and imperialism are mixed in here. The difficulty of this problem for Russia reflects the consequences of the disintegration of the Union. The impossibility of severing economic ties overnight. Millions of Russians who have been left abroad. The tremendous number of troops, a legacy of the cold war, who need to be removed, but whither we do not know. The need for Russia's peacekeeping in the conflict zones and for soldiers to guard what are now foreign borders. The strategic positions of the Black Sea region. And, finally, the specters, summoned from the darkness by conservative forces, of the consequences of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which have not been forgotten in East Europe and which are once again pushing it as far away from Russia as possible. It is clear that it will take great political skill in unentangling this knot of problems wound tight by the cold war not to overstep the fragile bounds separating that which is inevitable and necessary from imperial pretentiousness. The first would be understood. The second would to our and general shame be rejected. In all this lies the problem of problems. The 20th century is an unbroken unprecedented general crisis, a global transitional era on the way to some new future world, possibly. Only in this context is it possible to think about security. It cannot be ruled out that if the new generation of politicians simply disregards the lessons of the past cold war, it could pull the world into the semblance of a new one. Its possible outlines are not clear as yet. Whether there would be a series of some small cold wars or, God forbid, a new, albeit brief, NATO-Russia or Russia-rest of the developed world split. Both would be an intensification of our tragedy. Yet there is hope: Good sense and a recognition of the experience of the catastrophic 20th century will halt the flight to nowhere. The world will inevitably come together and unite, which will help overcome cold wars and make security more stable. |
FBIS3-24402_3 | Continued Cooperation With U.S. Foreseen Despite Ames Affair | people say--learning other countries' secrets, analyzing them, and reporting observations to the government. There are, however, some differences in the activities of the two special services: While Russian intelligence in the case of the Ameses, according to American sources, was interested in CIA operations in the Soviet Union (and later Russia), as Woolsey's statements demonstrate, American intelligence is interested in "high politics." The latter, as a sophisticated leader understands, is conducted in the Kremlin offices, and a limited number of people have access to it. Is it worthwhile under such circumstances to raise such a clamor, as some American Congressmen and CIA top officials did, on the subject of detaining a CIA officer who shared secrets with foreign intelligence? If we approach this soberly, calmly, from the standpoint of developing partnership relations--hardly. Double Bookkeeping Perhaps we should have put a period at this point, had it not been for one piece of news, which came practically simultaneously from faraway Australia, where local newspapers, as though on command, raised the subject of Russian intelligence activities. The topic--several Russian diplomats who had left the country back in the middle and second part of last year. In response to the inquiry of a liberal party representative in parliament, Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Evans Gareth especially emphasized that the de facto expulsion had not been made public because Australia did not wish to aggravate relations with Russia. Interestingly, the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD newspaper, quoting informed sources, reported that information on Russian intelligence officers working in Australia had been received by Australian special services at the end of 1992-beginning of 1993... from the American CIA. (Note: During this period the CIA and the FIS were moving toward searching for areas of interaction!) Also, the CIA, together with British intelligence (which, by the way, also began talking about partnership relations with the FIS at the time), insisted that the activities of aforementioned persons were energetic and dangerous to Australian security and that insufficiently decisive actions with respect to Russian representatives on the part of Australian special services allegedly compromised these organizations. Today, after the arrest in the United States of CIA officer Aldrich Ames, American-British pressure apparently was brought to bear all the way up. Gentlemen's agreements, which had previously been lauded in England and the United States, were forgotten this time. Learn To Be Peaceful Rivals The campaign of unmasking Russian intelligence agents is |
FBIS3-24402_5 | Continued Cooperation With U.S. Foreseen Despite Ames Affair | gathering speed, and it is clear that its organizers have little concern for the development of interstate relations, which may to a certain extent be jeopardized, or the development of partnership ties, which are just beginning to produce the first results along lines important for many countries, including the United States. Political salvos have already had a negative impact on the economic sphere of U.S.-Russian relations. The mass media have already reported numerous times on the blunt statements of some American Congressmen, who believe it necessary to immediately suspend appropriations of any money whatsoever to support the program of reforms in Russia. Now we are getting the first reactions from experts and direct capital holders. It should be noted that they reflect a much more realistic approach to the problem. "The effect of the Ames affair should be short-lived," the REUTER agency quotes Aleksis Rodzyanko, managing director of the Chemical Bank--the largest in the United States. Neither do representatives of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Johnson & Johnson foresee any problems for their companies. But this, it should be noted in parentheses, mainly goes for companies already actively doing business in Russia, who have invested serious capital in the country and have established themselves in the market. The spy scandal per se will undoubtedly die down; however, the reverberations of the noise raised around it will long serve as an irritant, causing excessive caution among investors--especially those who are just contemplating investing their capital in Russia. Thus, they are in a way being pushed in the direction of thinking that with all the attractiveness of the Russian market, there exist numerous others--East European, Asian, or Latin American--where investment can bring no less profit to American companies, and without fear of being "accused of collaborationism." At this point, as a counterbalance, I want to quote the remarks of U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher at hearings on the federal budget for the 1995 fiscal year at the subcommittee for operations abroad of the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee. The United States "must be a realist" in conducting policy with respect to Russia, he said, expressing the administration's opinion. As American-Russian relations develop, disagreements are inevitable, believes W. Christopher, and in this case the United States must act on the basis of its national interests. Recalling some Congressmen's calls for cutting or suspending aid to Russia entirely in connection with the |
FBIS3-24404_4 | U.S. Quest for Influence in Southern Republics Viewed Islamic Republic Risks | dangerous for its very future, that are already under way on its southern borders. The specter of a new "cold war" already looms in Russian-American relations. It is obvious also that a development of events in the contemplated direction would signify a growth of the anti-American mood in Russia, the corresponding evolution of the regime (if not its replacement), and an even greater exacerbation of Russian-American relations. Second, the intrusion of a foreign element into the region and an aspiration to isolate and weaken Russia and the other regional powers with traditional interests here--all this could disrupt the stable geopolitical balance, which would inevitably lead to the unpredictable and dangerous fragmentation of the geopolitical space. In a search for military-political allies, Russia could turn to Iran, Iraq.... Third, in the Americans' place I would think long and hard before undertaking a concentrated military-political penetration of the region of the post-Soviet South. The region is characterized by an extremely high degree of conflict potential. A listing of the conflicts that have flared up and those that are ready to erupt (even more numerous and serious) could have taken up the whole of this article. The introduction into this zone of a foreign element and internationalization of the conflicts with regard to the United States would necessarily signify a growth of the conflict potential. And, naturally, destabilization--regional and, possibly, global. Fourth, were I an American, I would beware of an outbreak of Islamic fundamentalism--not that which is attributed to Iran but that which would flourish independently, without outside influence even, as a luxuriant bloom in all Muslim states of the post-Soviet South to which the United States came. Imagine, in addition, a combination of different streams of Islamic fundamentalism here--Near East and Middle East, Central Asian and Caucasian.... Imagine also a combination of Islamic fundamentalism and Russian nationalism (there have been such theoretical and practical attempts).... Fifth, no one has yet calculated what the corresponding expenditure would cost the American taxpayer. And how many American soldiers would, God forbid, lay down their lives in the mountains of the Caucasus and the deserts of Central Asia. American penetration of the post-Soviet South would be dangerous primarily for the United States itself, not to mention the likelihood of regional and global destabilization. I see the Americans in this region in the role of torch-bearers who have blundered into the powder magazine. God bless America! |
FBIS3-24408_0 | Prospects for Increased Trade With Vietnam | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by Svetlana Sukhova: "Moscow Changes Tactics in Relations With Hanoi"] [Text] Yesterday in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations a protocol on commodity deliveries between Russia and Vietnam in 1994 was signed that will substantially increase both the types of products delivered and the number of facilities built by Russia in Vietnam (which created a small sensation). This week Moscow carried out an "offensive" across the entire line of the "Vietnamese front": on Thursday talks were also held between the chiefs of the two countries' general staffs. The discussion focused on questions related to the servicing of the Russian military base at Cam Ranh. After the removal of the U.S. trade embargo on Vietnam, Russia, remembering the losses of many East European and Asian markets, decided to change its tactics for the protection of its interests in that country. And although, according to Mikhail Fradkov, first deputy ministry of foreign economic relations, Russia has not yet felt competition from the United States in the Vietnamese market, Moscow has already felt a slight chill in relations with the "Hanoi comrades." And in order to ensure against possible unpleasantness in the future, Russia has placed its stakes on not only preserving but expanding the spheres of cooperation. As a KOMMERSANT correspondent learned, the greatest difficulty in the talks was caused by the problem of Vietnamese indebtedness (its the overall volume today comes to $10 billion). And that is why Mr. Fradkov called the decision to reinvest at least part of it in setting up joint ventures in Vietnam ($80 million worth) the "Russian delegation's greatest success." Two Russian-Vietnamese joint ventures for the production of latex and activated charcoal were chosen as targets of investment. It was possible to reach agreement for part of current indebtedness to be paid in the form of deliveries of goods ($70 million worth). On the other hand, in the opinion of [Le Suan Chin], the head of the administrative offices of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam government, the Vietnamese side's main victory was to get a considerable expansion of the list of mutual deliveries of goods in 1994, as well as the list of industrial facilities in Vietnam whose construction will be carried out with Russia's assistance. However, whereas such construction was financed with Soviet state credits during the existence of the USSR, today all projects are being financed jointly by |
FBIS3-24425_0 | Anti-Dashnak Organization Reportedly Formed in Baku | Language: Armenian Article Type:CSO [Excerpt] We read in today's [Istanbul] CUMHURIYET: In Azerbaijan a pro-government organization has been created to wage armed struggle against Armenian expansionism. The organization, called "Anti-Dashnak Organization," held its first meeting in Baku yesterday and proclaimed its goals as follows: "Our principal objective is to wage a just and armed struggle against the Armenian Dashnak party [Armenian Revolutionary Federation]. As is known this party has resorted to cruel acts and has perpetrated genocide against Turkish and Muslim people with a fascist mentality and with rigid and uncompromising Armenian fanaticism. The Armenians have been perpetrating genocide against the people of Azerbaijan for more than 100 years. They use every opportunity to exterminate hundreds of thousands of innocent and defenseless Azeris. Throughout history Armenians have repeatedly attacked and tried to seize our lands. "The Anti-Dashnak Organization is determined to stop the savagery and massacres by the fanatical Armenians." The statement notes that the headquarters of the organization is in Baku and that the new group is engaged in extensive work to organize across the country. [passage omitted] |
FBIS3-24448_0 | Soskovets Aide on Role of Financial-Industrial Groups | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Interview with Yevgeniy Lenskiy, adviser to the first deputy prime minister, by Aleksandr Golyayev; place and date not given: "An Answer to Wastefulness"] [Text] For almost a year a group of experts headed by government First Deputy Chairman Oleg Soskovets has been working on the problem of creating financial-industrial groups (FPGs). Why has this process, of all others, attracted the government's attention? Yevgeniy Lenskiy, an adviser to the first deputy prime minister, answers this question. [Lenskiy] In our difficult conditions it became necessary to implement such production maneuvers as changing the production profile, organizational restructuring of industrial sectors and enterprises with precedence given to the development of the nonstate sector. Under these circumstances, there is a shift from an expenditure-based economy to a system of sectors and enterprises, which produce, on the basis of new technologies, the output everybody needs. [Golyayev] What general economic tasks are being resolved in the course of such a maneuver? [Lenskiy] First and foremost, the fastest possible overcoming of the production decline on a, so to say, noninflationary basis. This is probably the most important point. [Golyayev] Is there a mechanism for resolving this problem? [Lenskiy] This involves a series of economic measures, among which one of the most important is to create conditions that stimulate natural market changes in the structure of goods produced and hence change the proportional weight of different economic sectors. The meaning of the maneuver is not a state-directed structural restructuring of industry from above, but the state creating conditions whereby old enterprises undergoing transformation along with newly-emerging private enterprises build product markets along technological chains of demand and supply. An FPG is one of such mechanisms for implementing Russian industrial policy. You see, it would be wrong to change the "rules of the game" in the implementation of the privatization program. This does not mean, however, that issues of adjustments to the privatization policy are no longer on the agenda. Today, in my opinion, it is mainly aimed at excessive fragmentation of production and cannot result in the creation of a modern market economy. I support the proposals of those who propose a course toward the creation of large FPGs that will be competitive in the world market, rather than creating internal competition at the cost of a sharp decline of effectiveness of the national economy. What is needed are groups of enterprises linked together |
FBIS3-24460_10 | Future of Diamond Industry Viewed | And how are your relations with the State Duma on this matter shaping up? Will the appropriate legal basis be prepared? [Gurevich] I have already been in the Duma and tried to draw attention to this matter. We need to adopt a law on precious metals and precious stones. I believe that a draft of such a law will soon be submitted for the State Duma's consideration. And we will be happy if we find people there, who are also "taken" with diamonds. This is truly a fine, patriotic idea. * * * P.S. De Beers' Revenues Are Growing The world monopolist in the trading of rough diamonds, the De Beers company, recently reported an increase in its revenues in the past year by 21 percent. The profits of the company, which combines the South African De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., and the Swedish De Beers Centenary AG, amounted in 1993 to $595 million ($491 million in 1992), which made it possible to increase the per-share dividend from 79.1 cents to 84.4 cents. Named among the reasons for such a sharp rise in revenues are the record sales of rough diamonds and the renewed increase in sales in the diamond ornaments markets. As stated by De Beers Board Chairman Julian Ogilvy-Thompson, whose words are cited by the Reuters Agency, an increase in retail sales of jewelry ornaments with cut diamonds was noted first over the past 3 years. He expressed the hope that the noticed trend would continue, provided the predictions for the growth of the world economy as a whole are proven correct. Last year, $4.37 billion worth of precious stones, which is 28 percent more than in 1992, were sold through De Beers' Central Sales Organization (TsSO) in London, which controls around 80 percent of the world sales of rough diamonds. According to data from the Central Sales Organization's management, originally, the increase in the demand for jewelry ornaments with cut diamonds (by 7-9 percent on the whole) was noted in the United States, which is the largest sales market for these goods. But subsequently, an even greater increase in demand (by 15-16 percent on the whole) occurred in the countries of Southeast Asia. At the same time, a drop in sales volumes was noted in Europe. Specialists are predicting an increase in the demand for jewelry ornaments with cut diamonds in Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan. |
FBIS3-24463_1 | Shipyard Activities Reported | performance and structure in domestic shipbuilding and even in the world. The new passenger ship, developed in accordance with the conversion program, is distinguished by its irregular contours, particularly those of the subsurface hulls, powerful main power unit with Z-shaped drive to two engines, unique system of reversing the ship and moderation of pitching. There are many new, non-traditional engineering designs in the structure of the SMPV. The passengers are ensured comfort when the sea conditions are five points on the scale. Among the suppliers of the ship's basic engineering equipment, gear and finishing and building elements are such well-known firms as MTU (FRG) -- main engines; Sperry Marine (United States) -- complete control system; NPO [Scientific Production Association] imeni N.Ya. Klimov -- angle reduction gears; ANTK imeni A.N. Tupolev -- passenger lounge equipment. The collective of engineers and specialists of the Almaz company, headed by A.P. Korolev, general director, has confidence in the successful development of the prototype ship, and in the future, of series construction of various modifications of the SMPV. (Yu.N. Peresvetov). Krasnoye Sormovo Yard Production Association On 13 March of this year, the plant launched the next cargo motorship of the "river-sea" type, the Volga. This ship, ordered by the Roschart Company, has been named Myskhako. The Sormovo workers are planning to broaden the export of their ships. These are, mainly, ships of the Volga type, with a cargo capacity of 4,000/5,500 t, of the Nizhniy Novgorod type (or Ni NO-3000, design 19611), with an average cargo capacity of 3,000 t, and the Rossiya type (design 17310) with a cargo capacity of 2,000/3,000 t. The set of documents for these ships was turned over for expert examination to the specialists of Det Norske Veritas classification society, to ensure that the export orders conform to the maximum to Western standards. On the whole, the ship meets the basic requirements of foreign shipowners and supervisory bodies. Motorships of the Volga type, however, for example, were marked by a relatively low level of automated ship control, and a large crew; the radio-navigation equipment is not up to the mark and some materials not recommended in the West (asbestos-containing) are used. In the process of negotiations with the Norwegian firms, the possibility of supplying other ships, including tankers, was discussed. Yaroslavl Shipyard The search for solvent buyers has been the yard's main problem recently. The yard often has to develop |
FBIS3-24463_13 | Shipyard Activities Reported | the technology of the marking-out and control operations. * * * The enterprise has begun series production of P1-PKV crystallizers -- special devices to intensify the process of sugar crystallization. The use of these devices will make it possible to increase the production of the prepared product at sugar plants, at the same time simplifying the procedure for controlling the manufacturing process. * * * The Arkhangelsk Oblast Council of the Shipbuilding Scientific Technical Association imeni Academician A.N. Krylov, summed up the results of a competition for the best work on mechanizing and improving manufacturing processes. The following works by association specialists were commended with honorary diplomas: "An Automated System for Producing a Set of Planning-Engineering Documents, Based on a Local Personal Computer Network" (E.S. Khandanyats), "Remote Control of Power and Heating Pump Stations" (P.A. Marin, Yu.M. Kotsov, V.O. Levshin), "A Stand for Testing Automatic Devices of the Elektron Series" (I.K. Chekrygin, Ye.F. Yermolin, V.A. Shilnikov), "Introduction of an MRN 340-01 Contact Machine for Group Projection Welding of Wire Screens" (V.I. Sergevnin, V.Ye. Sherstnev, G.G. Golyakov), "Modernization of the Gripping Mechanism of an M10P.62.01 Industrial Robot, Included as Part of an RTK [Robot-Technology Complex]" (A.V. Popov, V.M. Pozdeyev). Vint Scientific Production Association One of the latest works of the association's specialists is developing the structure of an active water-jet-type rudder (ARV). This rudder is designed for installation on transport, passenger, fishing and other vessels, in order to increase maneuverability in forward and reverse motion, and also to provide low speed for the ship when the main engine is switched off. The ARV is distinguished by increased reliability and ecological safety, which are ensured by the degree to which the working element is protected against mechanical damage and auto-rotation, and by eliminating from the design seals, angle gearing or a submerged electric motor in the sea space, characteristic of traditional active rudder systems. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Specifications of Three ARV Type-Sizes | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Power consumption,|30 |47 |95 | | kW | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Diameter of rotor,|0.3 |0.31 |0.54 | | m | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Rotational speed |1,475 |1,450 |975 | |of rotor shaft, r-| | | | |pm | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Traction on moori-|4.9 |7.0 |15.0 | |ng lines, kN | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the ARV is in operation, the water enters through notches in the side surfaces of the rudder blade, or at the |
FBIS3-24465_2 | Plant Director on Decreased Vehicle Prices, Sales Policy | things amazed me: the buyer is always right. They love him. And they emphasize this in all sorts of ways, starting with a cup of coffee while they are discussing the purchase of one make of automobile or other and ending with advice about what upholstery to choose for the interior. Why doesn't it work like this here? Is it because LogoVAZ has a virtual monopoly on the sale of automobiles and you are not stimulated by healthy competition? [Krasnenker] We're doing fine as far as competition goes, I assure you. There are dozens of small firms trading in Volga motor vehicles. But people come to us. Why? Because for the same money we offer many advantages in the purchase of an automobile. I'm not going to talk about coffee, like at Honda, but here, for example, following the example of Western leaders, we are learning how to do custom work, gaining in quality of service, maximal good will toward the customer, and our ability to solve his problems. When you buy an automobile you can order, "without walking away from the cashier," additional equipment, an anti-theft device, anti-corrosion treatment, car cassette-radio, and so on. If you live, let's say, in Bishkek, again, then you can buy any model VAZ through your local LogoVAZ office. They will get it to you within an agreed-upon length of time. This is the system for custom work. Moreover, LogoVAZ specialists continue to pay attention to the car you buy even after the sale, unlike, say, the so-called re-export models. Think about the way people used to buy automobiles: once you had driven out of the gates, no one cared about your problems anymore. Should a serious defect be uncovered immediately after the purchase of the car, LogoVAZ makes an effort to resolve these problems without additional payment. You see, the time has passed when people bought automobiles indiscriminately, following the principle, "Thank God I got it." Now there is choice; the automobile market is well saturated. The only way you can be successful is by improving service. [TRUD] Or "lobbying," for instance. Let us recall the recent introduction of draconian duties on imported automobiles. [Krasnenker] Some people would really like to ascribe that service to the VAZ structures. But let's reason logically. LogoVAZ sells more than just Zhigulis; we have plenty of other lines as well--Volvo, Mercedes, Honda, used foreign makes, and so |
FBIS3-24469_26 | The Tragedy of the Submarine `Komsomolets': Designer's Arguments | at my request Captain 1st Rank M. V. Petrovskiy, chief mechanical engineer of the Northern Fleet, telephoned the hospital and asked Lieutenant A. V. Zaytsev by specifically what means (batch [portsionnyy] or emergency) the end groups of ballast tanks were blown. Lieutenant Zaytsev replied that emergency blowing was carried out, because the batch blowing system was ``not in operation.'' It follows from this reply that the submarine went to sea with a faulty system of batch blowing of ballast tanks. An examination of the submarine ``Komsomolets'' with deep-sea submersibles in August-September 1991 revealed that it lacked an aft outboard television camera. Review of video tape showing the location at which this camera is secured permits a categorical conclusion--the television camera had been removed from the submarine at the base, prior to its cruise. Such are the facts. RBZh-PL-82, Article 173: ``Departure for sea is prohibited...in the presence of faults in the hull, technical equipment or rescue devices.'' It is difficult to say how much a working television system could have helped the submarine's attack center to correctly estimate the situation in compartment 7 and adopt the necessary damage control decisions, but one thing is clear--there is no doubt that its breakdown played a negative role. As far as the oxygen gas analyzer is concerned, its role in creating the accident situation in compartment 7 will be discussed later. Prior to the patrol the ``Komsomolets'' took aboard stores of provisions, bed linens, underwear, warm clothing and other gear and supplies for 69 persons intended for full self-sufficiency; in this case part of these provisions and supplies (including bread) were stored in compartment 7, even though their storage here is not foreseen by the design documents. And despite this, the government commission's working group failed to establish either the assortment or the quantity of provisions and gear in compartment 7. The joint act of the two sections simply states: ``The following may be noted among conditions contributing to fire in compartment 7: ...presence of 500 kg of bread, for which alcohol is used as a preservative, during the cruise in compartment 7.'' We should add to this that in the initial stage of the commission's work the figure was 1,000 kilograms of bread. But by calculation, there should have been not less than 2,000 kilograms of bread in compartment 7 at the moment of the accident. It was revealed during investigation of |
FBIS3-24469_191 | The Tragedy of the Submarine `Komsomolets': Designer's Arguments | attention needs to be devoted to an article by Captain 1st Rank (Reserve) A. N. Gorbachev, a former submarine commander, printed in the newspaper KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA (29 April 1989), and to his interview with this paper on 17 December 1989. In both publications Gorbachev blames the demise of the submariners and the submarine itself on the designer on the basis of rumors and talks with ``yardkeeper acquaintances'' of his. But it is not among designers, it is not in ship building industry, it is not in the military acceptance system and, finally, it is not in the navy's Main Directorate of Ship Building that we must seek those ``who sank this ship as well,'' as the captain 1st rank (reserve) does. To put it briefly, the tragedy occurred due to a catastrophic gap between the level of the equipment installed in modern submarines and the level of occupational training of submariners, the quality of routine maintenance and repairs carried out during preparation of submarines for cruises. High personnel turnover brought about by the lack of social safeguards for submariners doesn't play the last role either. As for the culprits, they must be sought among those who permitted this inconsistency to develop. As for ``ensuring this nuclear-powered submarine against accidents,'' the high fire and explosion safety of the submarine ``Komsomolets'' was confirmed by an expert commission appointed by the navy after a hands-on inspection of its condition in the period from 11 to 20 October 1983. The fact that even after that deflagration occurred in compartment 5 a fire didn't start in it also attests to the fire safety of compartments of the submarine ``Komsomolets''. And it was not from a random electric spark or flash that the fire started in compartment 7, as Gorbachev asserts. The fire was predestined by the poor preparation of the ship for the cruise and the grossest violations of the rules of operating the submarine's equipment. Nor was the compartment fully involved aboard the submarine in the initial period of the accident. It was not until 15-20 minutes after the fire started as a result of the incompetent actions of the ship's command that the compartment became fully involved. Praising or, on the other hand, cursing the LOKh fire extinguishing system using freon as the fire extinguisher wouldn't change anything. There are no alternatives today, and there will be none before 1995. And in the |
FBIS3-24469_214 | The Tragedy of the Submarine `Komsomolets': Designer's Arguments | demise; the sunken submarine locator failed to operate; the inflating system of the PSN-20 life rafts failed to work completely, ``by the book''; the survival suits and diving suits are hard to use; the face masks of the IDA-59 apparatus are uncomfortable and unreliable. We should also add to this list the ``Listvennitsa'' loudspeaker communication system, although it has already been discussed. These are all different items of equipment, but there is one common trait that unites them. All of these items of equipment were designed on the basis of specifications of the navy's institutes, and under their observation and leadership. The navy accepted this equipment as armament and as supply items. The questions that arise in this connection are: Aren't there a little too many negative remarks regarding equipment for which the navy bears responsibility, and is there in fact ``something rotten in Denmark''? And could it be that concern for the ``cleanliness of the uniform'' has overshadowed concern for creating reliable equipment? There's some ``food for thought'' for you. Now a few words about measures to increase fire protection to submarines and exclude accidents aboard them, developed on the basis of the results of examining the circumstances of the accident aboard the submarine ``Komsomolets'', and accepted for implementation. A joint decision of the USSR Ministry of Ship Building Industry and the naval leadership foresees development of a large number of measures directed at raising the fire safety and survivability of submarines, at developing documentation and at designing crew training equipment. As for the degree to which these measures will be implemented and by when, and how much they will help to increase the survivability of ships and improve crew training, life will show. However, many years will pass before there can be any discussion of results. In August 1990 the USSR Council of Ministers published a decree on the results of the examination of the circumstances behind the accident aboard the submarine ``Komsomolets'', drafted by the naval leadership. It contains measures for creating training centers and for improving ship basing and technical maintenance conditions, it foresees fulfillment of a large number of scientific research and experimental design projects, and it doesn't forget the social sphere either. But there's one thing that raises questions: The deadline for fulfilling measures to organize training centers and to improve submarine basing and technical maintenance conditions, and measures in the social sphere, has |
FBIS3-24505_1 | Plan for Erecting Experimental Solar Electric Power Plant in Kislovodsk | electric power plant, and the Power Engineering Institute imeni G.M. Krzhizhanovskiy has been put in charge of creating it. The planned 1.5-MW-capacity modular solar electric power plant will be used to partially cover the electricity and heat demand of users in the plant's vicinity. The plant will consist of two independent parts: The first will convert solar radiation into electricity by using solar batteries based on silicon single crystals and polycrystals, and the second part (the thermodynamic part) will use Stirling motor-generators (i.e., electrical generators connected to a Stirling motor that is excited by solar radiation) as converters. The new solar electric power plant includes the following components: four fields of solar photoeletric modules; two fields of solar modules with Stirling motor-generators; a field of solar water-heating modules; three inverter substations; and control, regulation, protection, and automation systems. The station's circuit includes three independent solar power units that are connected through transformers to a common system of station generator buses. Together, the solar modules' design peak capacity is 1,907 kWe. The new solar electric power plant's basic technical-economic indicators are as follows: peak intensity of solar radiation flux, 0.9 kW/m[.sup]2[/]; number of hours of sunshine annually, 2,147; total yearly solar radiation, 1,345 kWh/m[.sup]2[/]; peak electrical capacity, 1.6 MWh; peak thermal capacity, 10.5 MW; yearly output of power to consumers, 1,560 MWh of electricity and 46,000 GJ of heat; average thermal efficiency of the solar modules, 57 percent; total area occupied by the fields of solar modules, 10.7 hectares; area of the solar modules' active receiving surface, 35,280 m[.sup]2[/]; specific capital investments per unit power, 6,770 rubles/kW for electricity and 5,000 for heat; cost of producing electricity, 34.8 kopecks/kWh; cost of producing heat, 76.5 rubles/GJ; and number of servicing personnel required, 64. The new solar electric power plant has a design service life of 30 years, and the electricity and heat produced by it should reduce wastes released into the environment by the following amounts: 7,000 tons of ash; 18,000 tons of carbon oxides; 1,400 tons of nitrogen; and 3,800 tons of sulfur. The new solar electric power plant should also reduce heat emissions by 7 x 10[.sup]8[/] J and should conserve the 12,000 tons of atmospheric oxygen conventionally required to burn fossil fuel in boiler furnaces. The new Kislovodsk solar electric power plant is slated to be completed in 1996. Figure 1, table 1; references 8: 2 Russian, 6 Western. |
FBIS3-24528_0 | Preparation and Bacterial Expression of Human Lymphotoxin Gene (TNF) | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by V.G. Korobko, I.V. Davydov, V.N. Dobrynin, N.M. Pustoshilova*, L.R. Lebedev*, I.P. Gileva* and V.A. Petrenko*, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry imeni M.M. Shemyakin and Yu.A. Ovchinnikov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; *Scientific Research, Engineering and Technology Institute of Biologically Active Substances, ``Vektor'' Scientific Industrial Association, Berdsk, Novosibirsk Oblast; UDC 577.113.6:579.(252.5+253.4).083] [Abstract] A 24-base oligonucleotide was used for the preparation of a mutant gene of human lymphotoxin (tumor necrosis factor _b_) lacking 21 N-terminal codons. The mutant gene was then introduced into plasmid pLT21, constructed by recombination of plasmid pLT18 with phage M13LT2. pLT21, with the lymphotoxin gene controlled by tandem constitutive T7 coliphage promoters, was employed in the transformation of E. coli SG20050. Ultrasonication of the transformed E. coli cells and successive chromatography of the supernatant on DEAE-cellulose DE-52 and hydroxyapatite yielded 5.6 mg of the recombinant protein per 3 g of wet cells. Cytopathic activity of the preparation on L-929 murine fibroblasts was on the order of 5 x 10E7 U/mg protein. Figures 3; references 24: 9 Russian, 15 Western. |
FBIS3-24530_0 | Oligodeoxyribonucleotides Bearing 2'-Amino-2'-Deoxypyrimidine Nucleosides | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by L.G. Kuznetsova, Ye.A. Romanova, Ye.M. Volkov, V.N. Tashlitskii, T.S. Oretskaya, N.F. Krynetskaya and Z.A. Shabarova, Chemical Faculty, Moscow State University imeni M.V. Lomonosov; UDC 547.963.32.057:542.95] [Abstract] Automated solid-phase amidophosphite methods (Victoria-4M and Applied Biosystems 380B systems) were employed for the synthesis oligodeoxyribonucleotides containing 2'-amino-2'-deoxyribopyridine nucleosides residues. The 12 compounds were 5 to 20 nucleotides long, some of which corresponded to stretches of 5S rRNA of E.coli. Oligonucleotides bearing 2'-amino-2'-deoxyribopyridines withstood acid hydrolysis, with the amino groups undergoing acetylation and reacting with FITC to form fluorescent compounds. CD spectra and melting studies showed that the 2'-amino-2'-deoxypyridine moieties destabilized DNA-duplexes. Comparative evaluation indicated that such derivatized oligodeoxyribonucleotides with a high G:C content may find application as hybridization probes; similar arguments apply to derivatives with modifications on the 3'- or 5'-ends of the oligonucleotides. Figures 6: Tables 1; references 19: 6 Russian, 13 Western. |
FBIS3-24531_0 | Porphyrin Derivatized Oligonucleotides. Part 1. Synthesis of 2,4-Di[-(Hydroxyethoxy)Ethyl]Deuterophorphyrin IX (DDP) and Fe(III)DDP and Assessment in Oxidative Modification of DNA | Jul 92) pp 439-454 947C0055F Moscow BIOORGANICHESKAYA KHIMIYA Language: Russian Language: <f 105> final Article Type:CSO [Article by Ye.I. Frolova, Ye.M. Ivanova, N.I. Komarova, A.S. Rayt, V.V. Vlasov, G.V. Ponomarev* and G.V. Kirillova*, Novosibirsk Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences; *Institute of Biophysics, Ministry of Health, Moscow, Russia; UDC 577.113.4/6] [Abstract] Homogenous phosphotriesterase synthesis was employed for the preparation of oligonucleotides derivatized on the 5'- or 3'-ends with DDP or Fe(III)DDP in 15-30 min in yields approaching 95%. Both agents were effective in modifying DNA, particularly Fe(III)DDP in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The reaction mechanisms involved covalent adduct formation adjacent to a guanosine duplex, direct scission of the DNA, as well as molecular lesions that led to DNA cleavage after addition of piperidine. In analogy to porphyrins, the derivatized oligonucleotids also bound to HeLa, bone marrow and Krebs-2 ascitic carcinoma cells. These observations support the contention that oligonucleotides derivatized with DDP and Fe(III)DDP may have applications in modifying gene expression. Figures 7; Tables 1; References 31: 7 Russian, 24 Western. |
FBIS3-24532_0 | Immunochemical Analysis of Radianthus Macrodactylus Neurotoxins | Sep 91) pp 374-382 947C0107A Moscow BIOORGANICHESKAYA KHIMIYA Language: Russian Language: <f 105> final Article Type:CSO [Article by T.V. Shvets, E.P. Kozlovakaya and A.N. Filitov, Pacific Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Far Eastern Oblast, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok; UDC 577.112.083.3] [Abstract] An immunochemical assessment was carried out on neurotoxin RM-III of the sea anemone Radianthus macrodactylus using specific polyclonal rabbit IgG antibodies. Solid-phase immunoenzyme studies showed that native Rm-III reacted with the antibodies with and I[.sup]50[/] of 1.4 x 10E-9 M. Inhibition studies involving the anti-Rm-III antibodies and related toxins with diminishing homologies with Rm-III yielding showed a rise in I[.sup]50[/] to 3.7 x 10E-6 M for the least homologous toxin. Correlation of the immunochemical findings with amino acid sequences showed that the epitopes of the homologous toxins share identical structural dispositions that encompass amino acids at positions 2, 11, 20, 28 and 46-48. Figures 3; tables 3; references 29: 6 Russian, 23 Western. |
FBIS3-24534_0 | E. Coli Expression Systems for Human Interleukin-3 | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by S.V. Lutsenko, A.I. Gurevich, L.R. Ptitsyn, L.A. Ryazanova and V.A. Smirnov, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry imeni M.M. Shemyakin, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; UDC 577.112:577.113.6.088:547.963.32.057] [Abstract] Various strains of E. coli were tested for efficiency in expression of the human interleukin-3 (HIL3) gene borne by plasmids pTOTE2IL3 (induced biosynthesis) or pTE2IL3 (constitutive). The results showed that under appropriate combinatons of expression vector and host HIL3 yields approached 30-40% of total cell protein. Such optimal combinations were represented by E. coli HB101 and pTEIL3, and E. coli TG1 and pTOTE2L3. Precipitation, ultrafiltration and purification via HPLC provided IL3 preparations with a purity of > 98% and a specific activities on the order of 5 x 10E6 U/mg. Figures 6; tables 1; references 6: 2 Russian, 4 Western. |
FBIS3-24540_0 | Coriolus hirsutus Laccase -- A New Marker Enzyme for Enzyme Immunoassay | pp 354-361 937C0058A Moscow PRIKLADNAYA BIOKHIMIYA I MIKROBIOLOGIYA Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by O. V. Skorobogatko, A. L. Gindilis, A. M. Shuster, Ye. N. Troitskaya, A. I. Yaropolov, Institute of Biochemistry imeni A. N. Bakh, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; UDC 577.152.9] [Abstract] Enzyme immunoassay is widely used in biology, medicine, and the food industry because of its high level of sensitivity, which is primarily the result of the marker enzyme/ligand conjugates used in the analysis. The researchers here create conjugates consisting of a ligand and laccase extracted from the culture fluid of Coriolus hirsutus, and they use the reagents in various enzyme immunoassays and compare the properties of the reagents with those of immunoperoxidase conjugates. The laccase conjugates can be used in sandwich, concurrent, and indirect EIA. The absolute sensitivity of laccase/antibody conjugates was shown to be threefold higher than that of similar peroxidase conjugates (7.7 x 10[.sup]-11[/] M versus 2.3 x 10[.sup]-10[/]). The use of laccase conjugates simplifies the assay process by its use of atmospheric oxygen as a second substrate for the enzymatic reaction. Figures 5, references 17: 4 Russian, 13 Western. |
FBIS3-24548_1 | Subsensory Reactions and the Problem of Unconscious Perception | autonomic and bioelectric reactions to audio stimuli led him to the conclusion that the suppression of alpha-rhythm to sounds of different strength and simultaneously recorded cutaneogalvanic reactions are both components of an orientation reflex. Gershuni's thinking regarding the existence of a cortical electrical component of the orientation reflex and the concept of a multicomponent orientation reflex as a centrally integrated reaction has since been confirmed by others and has proved to be a very productive concept in the study of subsensory reactions. Gershuni identified two types of subsensory reactions. The first, either autonomic or bioelectric, is induced by trauma or hysteria (i.e., by brain pathology) and is manifested as a steady decrease in the excitability of the structures of a given sensory system. The second is observed under conditions of the normal activity of the human central nervous system. Research conducted by Gershuni and his associates during World War II established that patients suffering from closed craniocerebral trauma manifested a cutaneogalvanic response to audio stimuli that were 30-40 dB below the audibility threshold. The size of the subsensory zone of one and the same patient has since been shown to fluctuate from 0 to 50 dB from day to day depending on that patient's clinical condition: The subsensory zone becomes bigger as a patient's emotional state deteriorates. Gershuni's work on subsensory reactions has been used by others, including I.S. Beritashvili, to explain the nervous mechanisms of blind people's spatial orientation. Beritashvili's work provided additional confirmation of Gershuni's notion that during pathological states of the central nervous system, the number of external stimuli that are not consciously perceived by a person but that induce various autonomic, bioelectric, and motor reactions increase significantly. Another important contribution of Gershuni and his associates was the idea (which he confirmed through laboratory studies) that the simultaneous effect of a set of stimulants on the sense organs creates conditions favorable to the formation of subsensory conditioned reactions. Gershuni's work in the area of the physiological mechanisms of unconscious psychic phenomena in man was abruptly halted in the early 1950s by what has since been termed the ``Pavlov'' joint session of the two academies. His work was only rebegun and continued 20 years later, but by different teams of researchers. One continuation of Gershuni's work has been in the form of studies of the effect of photostimulation on the audio stimulus detection threshold of healthy persons, patients |
FBIS3-24568_0 | Effect of Rare Earth Elements on Solid Phase Epitaxial Recrystallization Rate in Amorphized Silicon Layers | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by A.A. Balychenko, K.A. Iskhakov, V.S. Kulikauskas, V.V. Makarov, A.N. Shokin, Submikron Scientific Research Institute; UDC 621.382] [Abstract] Recovery of the amorphized silicon crystal lattice at an annealing temperature below the melting point by the solid phase epitaxial recrystallization mechanism (TFER) and the attendant complex processes of impurity atom redistribution and embedding, point defect and capture center generation, etc., are discussed, and an attempt is made to examine solid phase epitaxial recrystallization in amorphized silicon layers with ion-implanted Sm and Yb. These rare earth metal (RZE) impurities were selected due to their low solubility in silicon and, consequently, the low concentration of active atoms. KDB-12 <100> Si slices were used as the source material, and [.sup]152[/] Sm[.sup]+[/] and [.sup]174[/] Yb[.sup]+[/] ions were implanted in a Vezuviy-5 unit. The samples were annealed in an atmosphere of nitrogen. The solid phase epitaxial recrystallization processes were studied by the methods of Rutherford's backscattering (ROR) using primary [.sup]4[/]He[.sup]+[/] ions with a 1,500 keV energy and secondary ion mass spectrometry (VIMS) in an IMS-3F unit; the backscattered ions were recorded by a solid state semiconductor detector with a 17 keV energy resolution, and the primary O[.sup]2[/][.sup]+[/] ion beam with an 8 keV energy and 1-2 A current was scanned into a 0.5x0.5 mm pattern. Rutherford backscattering spectra and Sm and Yb concentration profiles in ion-implanted Si samples are plotted, and the ion implantation and heat treatment conditions are summarized. The study shows that after the heat treatment, the impurity distribution is characterized by three types of peaks; on the surface, slightly off-surface in the case of incomplete recrystallization, and on the boundary between the amorphized layer and crystal substrate. The effect of impurities on the recrystallization rate, i.e., the solid phase epitaxial recrystallization front velocity, is examined: given a 470C annealing temperature, it is equal to 0.9+/-0.1 nm/min for Sm and 1.7+/-0.1 nm/mm for Yb, which is grater than that of Si[.sup]+[/]-implantation by three- and sixfold, respectively. The characteristics of ion-implanted rare earth elements in Si during heat treatment may be used in semiconductor technology for producing heat- and radiation-resistant semiconductors, getter areas, small p-n-junctions, and other applications. The authors are grateful to Yu.A. Klimov for constructive discussions. Figures 4; tables 1; references 8: 6 Russian, 2 Western. |
FBIS3-24595_1 | New Site-Specific Endonuclease and Methylase From Bacillus licheniformis 736 | and N.I. Matviyenko, Molecular Diagnosis and Treatment Institute, Moscow, Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, and Protein Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino; UDC 577.152.314'1] [Abstract] The new site-specific endonuclease R Bli7361 and methylase M Bli7361 have been isolated from Bacillus licheniformis strain 736 by blue-agarose, hydroxyapatite-Ultragel, and heparin-Sepharose chromatography. The new enzymes were found to be free of interfering impurities. The endonuclease R Bli7361 recognizes the DNA sequence 5'-GGTCTCN1-3'[downward arrow-pointing] and 3'-CCAGAG5N-5'[upward-pointing arrow] and cleaves it, as indicated by the arrows, at a distance of 1 and 5 nucleotides from the recognized sequence to form single-strand 4-nucleotide 5'-protruding termini. This new endonuclease is thus an isoschizomer of Eco31I, PpaI, and BsaI. The isolation of MBli736I was hailed as opening the possibility of studying the nature of the methylation of the enzyme site recognized by it. Several possible applications of the new enzymes were discussed: (1) using R Bli7361 with the DNA of the plasmid pBR322, which has only one site for this restrictase that is located in the gene of resistance to ampicillin, in order to cleave the molecule and thus permit radioactive labeling that would in turn facilitate more precise restriction mapping (by Smith and Bernstiel's method) of DNA fragments integrated at the PstI site; (2) using Bli7361 with the DNA of the phage _l_ for selective labeling of terminals by using a Klenow fragment as an alternative to using labeled oligonucleotides complementary to the natural ``adhesive'' terminals of the DNA of the phage _l_ in ``cos''-mapping of recombinant phages; (3) using Bli7361 to create selective ``holders'' for site-specific mutagenesis or to create vectors for directed unilateral shortening of integrated fragments and to create ``restoring'' and ``multiplication'' vectors. The promise of using the new restrictase to create ``restoring'' vectors was given special attention. Specifically, it was stated that because the phage M13mp18 does not contain sites for Bli7361, taking two oppositely directed sites for Bli7361 that have a GC-dinucleotide between them and introducing them into a polylinker sequence will result in the creation of a site for the ``blunt-ended'' restrictase NruI, for which there is no site in the vector either. This NruI site may then be used to clone chemically synthesized oligonucleotides for the purpose of subsequently assembling a whole gene in a single ligation reaction from oligonucleotides cut from recombinant DNA by using Bli7361. Figures 16; references 15: 2 Russian, 13 Western. |
FBIS3-24597_0 | Reaction of Oligonucleotides With Blood Serum Proteins | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by V.V. Vlasov, L.V. Pautova, Ye.Yu. Rykova, and L.A. Yakubov, Novosibirsk Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Siberian Department, Russian Academy of Sciences; UDC 577.123] [Abstract] A study examined the reaction of oligonucleotides and their reactive derivatives carrying the fragment 4'[N-2-chloroethyl-N-methyl)amino]benzylamine in their 5'-terminal phosphate group with the proteins of blood serum. The desoxyribonucleotides p(T)[.sup]16[/] and (pTGACCCTCTTCCCATT) used in the studies were synthesized by the phosphotriester method in a solution. A [.sup]32[/]P radioactive label was introduced into the oligonucleotides by exchange of the 5'-terminal phosphate. Double-stranded DNA of the plasmid pTZ18R and heparin were used as competitors to determine the specificity of the reaction of the oligonucleotide derivatives with the proteins. Murine monoclonal antibodies specific for human myoglobin were used to study the interaction of the oligonucleotides with the immunoglobins IgG and IgM. During the experiments, whole human blood serum was incubated with different concentrations of alkylating oligonucleotide derivatives at 37 for 10 or 40 minutes. The modified proteins were analyzed by DS-Na-electrophoresis in gradient polyacrylamide gel in a Laemmli system. The experiments demonstrated that incubation of whole human blood serum with different concentrations of the alkylating derivative p(T)[.sup]16[/] results in affine modification of several proteins, including albumin and the immunoglobins M and G. The dependence of the degree of modification of these three proteins on oligonucleotide concentration was taken as evidence that the oligonucleotides have a higher affinity to IgM than to IgG and albumin. Binding of the reactive oligomer derivatives with the proteins was inhibited in the presence of various polyanions, i.e., oligomers of another composition, double-strand DNA, and heparin. The fact that heparin had the greatest inhibiting effect for the immunoglobins led to speculation regarding relatively nonspecific ionic interaction in the formation of the complex IgG-oligonucleotide. Reaction of the oligonucleotide with monoclonal antibodies of the subclass G1 was inhibited in the presence of a specific antigen. This finding was taken as an indication that the oligonucleotides may react with the immunoglobins either at or near the site where the antigen is recognized by the antibody. The experiments performed thus established that oligonucleotides bind with basic blood proteins with a rather high affinity and revealed interacting features of the reaction of immunoglobins with oligonucleotides that may be used to study the effector functions of these molecules. Figures 4; references 9: 3 Russian, 6 Western. |
FBIS3-24598_1 | Isolation and Characteristics of _a_-Specific Thrombin-Like Enzymes From the Venom of the Common Pit Viper (Agistrodon halys halys) and the Eastern Pit Viper (the Central Asian Subspecies Agkistrodon halys Blomhoffii) | was used to isolate two thrombin-like enzymes from the venom of common and eastern pit vipers (Agistrodon halys halys) and Agkistrodon halys Blomhoffii). The new enzymes, which were given the respective names Ancistron-H and Ancistron-B were isolated in homogeneous form. The new thrombim-like enzymes are serine proteases with respective molecular masses of 34 and 29 kDa, respective isoelectric points of 6.6 and 6.3, and respective specific coagulation activities of 410 and 110 NIH units/mg of protein. Upon incubation with fibrinogen, they only cleave fibrinopeptide A from the A_a_-chain, leaving the B_b_- and _g_-chains intact. Both enzymes were demonstrated to hydrolyze arginine esters and thrombin-specific chromogenic peptide substrates and to manifest weak caseinolytic activity and no fibrinolytic activity. The newly isolated enzymes were used to develop simple coagulation-based diagnostic indicators to determine the fibrinogen level in blood plasma during heparin therapy without the need for any special equipment. Ancistron-H may also be used for clinical purposes. Tests conducted on rabbits confirmed the possibility of using it in vivo as a defibrination agent. Specifically, intravenous [IV] injection of Ancistron-H in a dose of 300 NIH units per kilogram of body weight resulted in the death of all of the test animals within 2-5 minutes as a result of the development of acute thrombosis of the truncal vessels and in the vicinity of the right ventricle. After IV injection of Ancistron-H in a dose of 100 NIH units per kilogram of body weight, all the test animals remained alive; however, blood taken from them 30 minutes later showed advanced hypercoagulation. Blood samples taken 120 minutes after the animals were given IV injections of Ancistron-H in a dose of 25 NIH units per kilogram of body weight, on the other hand, confirmed the development of deep hypofibrinogenemia. The possibility of using Ancistron-H for analogous purposes was also confirmed in experiments studying the effect of a decrease in fibrinogen level on metastasized L carcinoma in mice. IV injection of Ancistron-H into the mice's venous sinus in a dose of 2.5 NIH units per kilogram of body weight induced a decrease in fibrinogen level to 30 percent of the norm, which in turn reduced metastasis by a factor of 2.7-3. Experiments on mice also confirmed the possibility of using Ancistron-H to prolong the effect of liposomal drugs during correction of the process of intravascular blood coagulation. Figures 3, tables 3; references 42: 12 Russian, 30 Western. |
FBIS3-24601_0 | Two-Site Immunoenzyme Analysis of Antibodies Against _a_-1 BG and _a_-2 BG Based on Column Immunoadsorption Chromatography | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by V. P. Chekhonin, I. A. Ryabukhin, T. B. Dmitriyeva, V. V. Rynskov, L. T. Mikhalchuk, and L. Ye. Breusenko; All-Union Scientific Research Institute (VNII) of General and Criminal Psychiatry, Moscow, 119839; UDC 543.544.42:57.083.3] [Abstract] The recent discovery of two new neurospecific proteins (NSP) -- _a_-1 BG and _a_-2 BG -- in human brain extract has opened new horizons in the search for these proteins and antibodies against them in the biological fluids of patients with various neuro-psychiatric diseases. In this work, a highly sensitive variant of immunoenzyme analysis based on column immunoadsorption chromatography (TIEAIC -- two-site immunoenzyme analysis by immunoadsorption chromatography) was developed for quantitative determination of antibodies against _a_-1 BG and _a_-2 BG (detection limit -- 0.35 ng/ml). The phenomenon of the presence of antibodies against the above-listed proteins was identified in extreme conditions caused by psychiatric diseases (36-42%), multiple sclerosis in the active phase (16-29%), injuries (14-43%), astrocytomal (14-33%) and oligodendrogliomal (18-40%) brain tumors, as well as influenza (13%), intestinal infections (6-9%), pneumonia (28%), and peritonitis and pancreatitis (25-33%). The authors proposed that TIEAIC analysis of antibodies against _a_-1 BG and _a_-2 BG may be used as an auxiliary test for diagnostics and monitoring during the treatment of several diseases whose pathogeneses involve a breach in the blood-brain barrier. Figures 2; references 12: 5 Russian, 7 Western. |
FBIS3-24602_0 | RNA-Ligase From Bacteriophage T4. IX. Synthesis of Oligoribonucleotides Containing the Initiation Codon on the 5'-Terminal of the Molecule With the Aid of an Immobilized Enzyme | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by A. G. Venyaminova, L. V. Vratskikh, N. I. Komarova, M. N. Repkova, and V. I. Yamkovoy; Novosibirsk State University, 630090; Novosibirsk Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Siberian Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences; UDC 547.963.32.07] [Abstract] Synthetic oligoribonucleotides with a predetermined heterocyclic base sequence are widely used as research tools for solving a number of problems in bioorganic chemistry and molecular biology. In particular, oligoribonucleotides containing the ApUpG initiation codon on the 5'-terminal of the molecule have found application as mRNA models in studies of ribosome functional processes. The most promising and universal method for preparative synthesis of short oligoribonucleotides is based on using immobilized T4 bacteriophage RNA-ligase for joining chemically synthesized triplets. In this work, the oligoribonucleotides ApUpG(pU)[.sup]n[/] and ApUpG(pU)[.sub]n[/]pUp were synthesized from oligoribouridilates via catalysis with immobilized RNA-ligase. The oligoribouridilates were obtained from hydrolysis of poly(U) endonuclease from cobra venom and from ApUpG trinucleoside diphosphate that had been chemically synthesized by the phosphotriester method. Seven reaction cycles were carried out on one column with the immobilized enzyme. The end product yield varied from 4.9 to 18.0% after chromatographic purification. The structure of the obtained compounds was verified by chromatography with labels and enzyme hydrolysis down to the nucleosides. References 15: 12 Russian, 3 Western. |
FBIS3-24603_0 | Solid Phase Enzymatic Synthesis of Oligonucleotides. II. Properties of Biogel P-300, Sepharose 4B, and Cellulose Hydrazides | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by N. F. Trotskiy and V. I. Yamkovoy; Novosibirsk State University, 630090; UDC 577.113.6] [Abstract] In order to improve solid phase enzymatic synthesis of extended oligoribonucleotides, the authors used biogel P-300, sepharose 4B, and cellulose hydrazides as substrates to immobilize tetraribonucleotides that had been oxidized with sodium periodate. The reactivity of (pU)[.sup]3[/]pU[.sub]ox[/] and (Ap)[.sup]3[/]A[.sub]ox[/] tetraribonucleotides immobilized on the above substrates was studied in solid phase ligation and phosphorylation reactions. The subscript ``ox'' indicates a sodium periodate-oxidized nucleoside residue with cleavage of the 2'-3'-C-C-bond. In this case, it was discovered that the greatest yield in both reactions was achieved with the use of biogel P-300 and sepharose 4B. An advantage of sepharose 4B over biogel P-300 was that it had superior hydrodynamic qualities. References 7: 6 Russian, 1 Western. |
FBIS3-24604_0 | Investigation of Phage Resistance and Plasmid Profiles in Industrial Lactococcus Strain Mutants Deficient in Their Ability to Ferment Sugars | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by N. O. Molotova, V. I. Ganina, S. V. Molotov, and V. V. Sukhodolets; Scientific Research Institute (NII) of the Genetics and Selection of Industrial Microorganisms, Moscow, 113545; All-Union Scientific Research and Design Institute for the Dairy Industry, Moscow; UDC 579.253.4:57.063.8] [Abstract] In a group of industrial Lactococcus lactis, subspecies lactis and cremoris strains, mutants were produced that were deficient in lactose, sucrose, and fructose utilization. Analysis of the plasmid profiles indicated an absence of plasmids 45-54 TPN in size in several mutants. From studying these mutants, the authors were able to identify the plasmids containing the genes for lactose, sucrose, and fructose fermentation in these microorganisms. Two strains, L. lactis lactis 90 and L. lactis cremoris ROM, were identified in which the mutants, deficient in lactose utilization, experienced phage resistance spectrum changes; in both cases, the changes consisted of the appearance of phage sensitivity with respect to various phages. In L. lactis lactis 90, the genes corresponding to lactose utilization and the genes participating in phage resistance control were apparently located on the 53.7 TPN plasmid. This work was completed, in part, with resources supplied by the Russian State Scientific and Technical Program ``Priority Directions in Genetics.'' Figures 1; references 10: 4 Russian, 6 Western. |
FBIS3-24611_0 | Tissue Damage Caused by Thermokeratocoagulation | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by S. N. Fedorov, A. I. Ivashina, Ye. G. Antonova, N. K. Korshunova, N. A. Bozhkov, V. M. Karpov, and G. A. Bezruk; MNTK ``Mikrokhirurgiya glaza'' [Eye Microsurgery], Moscow; reply to article ``Experimental Radial Thermokeratoplasty in Rabbits'' by S. T. Feldman, W. Ellis, J. Frucht-Pery, A. Chayet, and S. I. Brown; UDC 617.753.1-089] [Abstract] In the course of conducting theoretical and experimental studies of the histopathological effects of thermokeratocoagulation on rabbit corneas, the authors found a similar American study (Feldman, et al.) to be erroneous in its conclusion that thermokeratocoagulation is inadequate in terms of safety and efficacy. In this work, the authors found that thermokeratocoagulation is relatively safe and that severe tissue damage is primarily caused by improper insertion of the needle into the cornea. The authors also found that the use of thermal effects in ophthalmic surgery calls for a very precise application of data obtained from animals to humans, i.e., thermocoagulation conditions designed for humans cannot be automatically applied to rabbits, which was the mistake made by the Americans. They also concluded that using mathematical simulation in ophthalmosurgery will substantially facilitate the analysis of specific surgical processes, greatly reduce costly and time-consuming medical and biological studies, and provide for more accurate predictions of the outcome of operations, including the transition from animal to human experiments. The computerized TERMO-K modeling program (IBM PC AT) developed by the authors successfully predicted the American ophthalmologists' results, which was additional proof of the program's scientific and educational applicability. Figures 9; references 5: 4 Russian, 1 Western. |
FBIS3-24612_0 | Hyperbaric Oxygenation Treatment for Deafness | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Unattributed article under the ``Hope'' rubric: ``Children Will Hear!''] [Text] In Russia a brand new unique method for treating acute deafness in children has been developed. Staff members at Russia State Medical University have had success with the method in 67 percent of cases. Throughout the world, the results of treating this pathology are virtually nil. Staff members in the Hyperbaric Oxygenation Laboratory (that is, treatment in baric chambers under elevated or reduced oxygen pressure) working under the direction of Professor Sergey Baydin developed their own original method to solve the problem. In a conversation with an ITAR-TASS correspondent, Sergey Baydin emphasized that only acute deafness is cured. In other words, the treatment is effective only during the first 3 weeks after the onset of decrease or loss of hearing. To date, in other cases it has only been possible to halt the process' development. ``There are many reasons for the development of deafness in children,'' said Sergey Baydin. ``Included among them are catarrhal illnesses, nervous stresses after family rows, and overdoses of drugs (especially antibiotics).'' The treatment is conducted in domestic baric chambers. In addition to using their new method to treat deafness, the physicians have learned to use it to manage critical diseases in neonates. Special chambers have been designed and constructed for this. In adults, hyperbaric oxygenation has proven effective against cardiovascular diseases, conditions following myocardial infarction, stomach and duodenal ulcers, and purulent tissue lesions. In many cases, treatment in baric chambers makes it possible to avoid using drugs or keep their use to a minimum. |
FBIS3-24615_0 | Child Health Concerns in CIS Republics Interview Reflects Concern About Child Morbidity | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Interview with Doctor L. F. Berezhkov: ``A Doctor's Heartache -- Every Other Child in the Russian Federation Has a Chronic Illness''; first paragraph is PRAVDA introduction] [Excerpts]Leonid Fedorovich Berezhkov, doctor of medical sciences and professor, heads the Department for the Study of dynamics of Schoolchild Health Dynamics, Scientific Research Institute of Hygiene and Prevention of Diseases of Children, Adolescents and Young People, of the RF Goskomsanepidnadzor [State Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Oversight]. Our correspondent asked him to answer a few questions. [Question]How do you generally assess the physical condition of the youngest Russian citizens? [Answer]Unfortunately, there is little reason for optimism. More than half of all schoolchildren suffer from chronic diseases. In essence this refers to pathology of the nasopharynx, digestive organs, nervous system, anemia and allergies. [Question]What do the scientists predict for the next few years? [Answer]Frankly speaking, nothing good. In view of deterioration of ecological conditions, we should expect a rise in both acute and chronic diseases, particularly allergies, bronchial asthma, and dermatitis. Worsening of nutrition will lead to being underweight, retarded growth, sexual development, anemia, and diminished constitutional resistance. The more stress situations there are, the more often we will encounter mental diseases, poorer immunity, physical development, pathology of digestive and hemopoietic organs. [Question]You mentioned the impact of ecological conditions on child health. In what regions are there more sick kids? [Answer]There are the fewest healthy children in the Central-Chernozem region (33 percent), Volga region (39 percent), the Far East (41 percent), while the best regions are: North Caucusus (55 percent), North-West (54 percent), and Kaliningrad (51 percent). The largest number of children with chronic disease are in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The children of the Urals and West Siberia do not enjoy good health. |
FBIS3-24617_0 | Child Health Concerns in CIS Republics Kazakhstan Deputy Health Minister Comments on Child Health | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by Aman Duysekeyev: Infancy Is a Happy [preceding word crossed out] Dangerous Age''; first paragraph is AZIYA introduction] [Text]As already written in the AZIYA newspaper, an international seminar was held recently in Alma-Ata which discussed problems related to mother and child health. This was followed, in the same place, by another seminar organized by UNICEF, the Kazakhstan Ministry of Health and the Bobek Children's Charitable Fund. This time, the talks revolved around the subject of a program of controlling pneumonia among children in Kazakhstan. What prompted such representative meetings of physicians in Alma-Ata? At the newspaper's request, Aman Duysekeyev, deputy health minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, shared his thoughts: First, let me cite some figures: in our republic 40 children are born per hour, but there is also one death per hour, which is indicative of high infant mortality. Analysis of child morbidity revealed that it has risen everywhere. For example, the highest incidence of infectious diseases is noted in Kzyl-Orda and Mangistau oblasts, and the city of Alma-Ata. Most often, blood and hemopoietic organ diseases are detected in the above-mentioned oblasts, as well as Semipalatinsk Oblast. In our opinion, the rise in morbidity among tots is related, first of all, to the poor ecological situation in this republic and worsening of the people's socio-economic status. Infant mortality is one of the most sensitive indicators of socio-economic development of society, which comprises the educational and cultural level, condition of the environment, efficacy of preventive measures, medicogenetic consultations, availability and quality of medical care, distribution of social and material wealth. It has been established that the highest indictors of infant mortality are observed in oblasts with a high birthrate, since they have the poorest obstetric and pediatric care resources, and lowest per capita consumption of basic foods. And this enables us to conclude that planning of resource capabilities of mother and child care services was carried out for many years without consideration of the regional distinctions (in the sense of high or low birthrate). True, for the last few years emphasis has been placed on the regional conception of distribution of resources. But the difficult socio-economic situation, reduction in funds allocated to medicine from the State budget have diminished the capacity to carry out the work that was begun. Yet we are dealing with children. Today, more than ever, safeguarding their health requires effective government |
FBIS3-24617_2 | Child Health Concerns in CIS Republics Kazakhstan Deputy Health Minister Comments on Child Health | support. What else causes infant mortality? Studies carried out by the Kazakh Scientific research Institute of Pediatrics show that the more abortions are used as a birth control method, the higher the gynecological pathology, the more often there are complications of pregnancy, considerable share of premature infants, while the risk of infant mortality increases 20-fold. The physical condition and morbidity rate of children, particularly in infancy, is also directly related to how they are fed. Yet requirements such as keeping mother and infant together in maternity homes, and immediate nursing of the infant are not followed actively enough in Kazakhstan. And this can ultimately lead to catastrophic rise in number of infants deprived of maternal milk. Even now, in this republic only half the infants up to the age of 3 months and one-third of those up to 6 months old are breast fed. This cannot fail to cause alarm. Especially since the prognosis is depressing, since Kazakhstan does not have its own baby food industry, and support of breast feeding involves major socioeconomic difficulties. In most of the world's nations, including CIS states, prevention and treatment of respiratory diseases is one of the pressing socio-medical problems. In our republic, for example, bronchopulmonary pathology among children constitutes more than 64 percent of all diseases. Thus, the rise in incidence of acute pneumonia among tots in Atyrau, Zhezkazgan, Kzyl-Orda and South Kazakhstan oblasts is attributable to inadequate supply of necessary equipment to the roentgenological service, difficulties in making the exact diagnosis, and problems of professional training of pediatricians, particularly on the primary level. The high incidence of pathology of respiratory organs among children is related not only to unsolved medical, but also socioeconomic, ecological and ethnic problems. For this reason, only a comprehensive approach is needed to solve this problem. In recent years, many scientists have concluded that it is important to instruct mothers on first medicosanitary aid. As shown by studies, the education of moms was instrumental in establishing a health lifestyle, expanding knowledge about acute respiratory infections, and helped lower infant mortality by 29 percent. Consequently, we consider primary prevention and hygienic education of the public to be the chief role of out-patient and polyclinic institutions. At this stage of economic and social transformations, and with changing demographic processes, the most important task to health care practice is to preserve the life of every infant. And I should like |
FBIS3-24618_0 | Child Health Concerns in CIS Republics Asian CIS Health Officials Comment on Women's Health | Language: Russian Article Type:CSO [Article by Zoya Korneyeva and Dinara Shugabayeva (AZIYA correspondents): ``The Health of Women is the Health of the Nation''; first three paragraphs are AZIYA introduction ] [Excerpts]Pregnancy and birth of a child must be not only usual, natural, but also virtually safe and definitely joyous events. However, statistics show that this is far from true in many developing countries. Each year, about a million women die of complications arising during pregnancy and parturition. In the same countries, 10 million children die each year, and about half of them in the first month of life. Many children expire of the same complications that killed their mothers. These complications are directly related to the condition of maternity institutions, general physical condition of mothers and their diet even before they become pregnant. As we have already reported, there was a seminar in the middle of January in Alma-Ata dealing with mother and child health. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) sponsored this seminar. The seminar assembled more than 70 Central Asian health care workers and many prominent foreign specialists. The purpose of the seminar was to learn and exchange information with participants from the United States and Central Asia about the latest facts on matters of mother and child care, nursing and family planning. This is what the seminar participants told AZIYA correspondents. Aman DYUSEKEYEV, deputy health minister of Kazakhstan: In our republic, the index of women's health is dropping each year. Last year it constituted about 30 percent. This means that only 30 women out of 100 are in good health. Out of 1000 infants born, 146 are sick. Respiratory organ diseases are in first place, parasitic diseases in second, and nervous system diseases in third. The adverse ecological situation and deteriorating financial status of the people have an adverse impact. We are in second place among CIS states with respect to birthrate. In our republic there are 67.2 maternal deaths per 100,000 deliveries. Of this number, 38 die of abortions. Infant mortality is high in Shymkent, Semipalatinsk, Zhambyl and Kzyl-Orda oblasts. These indicators are considerably lower in northern oblasts. At present, development of a 5-year program to lower infant and mother mortality is being finalized in our republic. The government of the Kazakhstan Republic has spent much money to purchase drugs. In the summer, there will be a conference in Alma-Ata on the problem of diarrhea. |
FBIS3-24618_4 | Child Health Concerns in CIS Republics Asian CIS Health Officials Comment on Women's Health | populated centers, particularly rural ones, flaws in organization of potable water supply to the public, absence and unsatisfactory operation of sewer systems, water treatment installations, and inadequate role of the sanitary and epidemiological service. The leading risk factors of mortality are medical organizational which are controllable (68.7 percent), then social (16.1) and biological (15.3). The most important medical organizational factors are: incomplete examination, lack of regularity in preventive observation, lack of urgent therapy at the prehospital stage and laboratory tests, extremely serious condition of patients when admitted, which is related to late hospitalization. The leading social factors reflect the sociodemographic distinctions of the region studied: large families (housewife mother), low level of mother's education, flaws in child care (no massage or exercise). The prevalent biological factors are: physical condition of the mother (anemia), inadequate postpartum rehabilitation related to short intervals between pregnancies, which is also the cause of low weight of the child. In all regions as a whole, 67.1 percent of deaths were deemed preventable. Lyudmila RYBALKINA, deputy director of the Kyrgyz Scientific Research Institute of Obstetrics and Pediatrics: In our republic, infant mortality is high, 31.7 per 1000 births. Maternal mortality constitutes 71 per 100,000 deliveries. There are many causes involved and, first of all, the initially poor physical condition of women of child-bearing age which, in turn, is attributable to the difficult ecological situation and overuse of chemicals in the soil. Our women work in cotton and tobacco raising regions. One often observes women nursing infants right under the tobacco-drying awning. The Institute of Obstetrics and Pediatrics carried out studies in regions where there is particularly intensive use of pesticides and chemicals to stimulate growth of crop. We took blood and milk samples for testing from pregnant and nursing women. We found a close correlation between physical condition and environmental pollution. For example, 16 percent of the girls presented retarded sexual and physical development, 20 percent of the women revealed instances of sterility and premature delivery of infants. In such regions, the children suffered from hypotrophy. Talaybek BUYLASHEV, deputy director of the Kyrgyz Scientific Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology: In our republic, as a rule, the number of children desired was born to the detriment of the mother. In 70 percent of the cases, mothers of many children suffered from anemia, parturition-related hemorrhages, and late toxicosis. In Kyrgyzstan, in urban areas, 30 percent of the women |
FBIS3-24618_5 | Child Health Concerns in CIS Republics Asian CIS Health Officials Comment on Women's Health | many causes involved and, first of all, the initially poor physical condition of women of child-bearing age which, in turn, is attributable to the difficult ecological situation and overuse of chemicals in the soil. Our women work in cotton and tobacco raising regions. One often observes women nursing infants right under the tobacco-drying awning. The Institute of Obstetrics and Pediatrics carried out studies in regions where there is particularly intensive use of pesticides and chemicals to stimulate growth of crop. We took blood and milk samples for testing from pregnant and nursing women. We found a close correlation between physical condition and environmental pollution. For example, 16 percent of the girls presented retarded sexual and physical development, 20 percent of the women revealed instances of sterility and premature delivery of infants. In such regions, the children suffered from hypotrophy. Talaybek BUYLASHEV, deputy director of the Kyrgyz Scientific Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology: In our republic, as a rule, the number of children desired was born to the detriment of the mother. In 70 percent of the cases, mothers of many children suffered from anemia, parturition-related hemorrhages, and late toxicosis. In Kyrgyzstan, in urban areas, 30 percent of the women are multipara, and in rural areas, they constitute 50-55 percent. About one-third of the number of annual maternal deaths is referable to multipara from socially deprived families. In our republic, abortion has been the main form of family planning. There were 48 abortions per 100 births. The ethnic lifestyle distinctions made it necessary to search for new approaches to sociomedical aid to the family. For this reason, a new family planning and social protection service was created in Kyrgyzstan in 1989. The tasks for this service are to plan families and disseminate information about a healthy lifestyle, education, social and legal protection of families in the risk group. Of course, we realize that every family should decide on its own how many children it must have. But there must be an interval of 2.5-3 years between them. At present, there are more than 56 family planning centers in this republic. Maternal mortality has dropped from 81.6/100,000 births in 1990 to 76.4 in 1991. There has been a drop to one-third in percentage of women who give birth after the age of 30 years. Khamgeldy MAMEDOV, deputy health minister of Turkmenistan: We have the highest mortality rate, as compared to other |
FBIS3-24618_6 | Child Health Concerns in CIS Republics Asian CIS Health Officials Comment on Women's Health | are multipara, and in rural areas, they constitute 50-55 percent. About one-third of the number of annual maternal deaths is referable to multipara from socially deprived families. In our republic, abortion has been the main form of family planning. There were 48 abortions per 100 births. The ethnic lifestyle distinctions made it necessary to search for new approaches to sociomedical aid to the family. For this reason, a new family planning and social protection service was created in Kyrgyzstan in 1989. The tasks for this service are to plan families and disseminate information about a healthy lifestyle, education, social and legal protection of families in the risk group. Of course, we realize that every family should decide on its own how many children it must have. But there must be an interval of 2.5-3 years between them. At present, there are more than 56 family planning centers in this republic. Maternal mortality has dropped from 81.6/100,000 births in 1990 to 76.4 in 1991. There has been a drop to one-third in percentage of women who give birth after the age of 30 years. Khamgeldy MAMEDOV, deputy health minister of Turkmenistan: We have the highest mortality rate, as compared to other regions of Central Asia. The chief cause is the high birthrate. More than 80 percent of Turkmen women of child-bearing age are sick. Seventy percent of the pregnant women are anemic. The indicator of respiratory and intestinal diseases is very high. The ecological situation in the republic is poor. Tashauz and two rayons are in the Zone of the Aral disaster. Toxic chemicals that were used at one time are undermining the health of women. We raise a cotton monoculture, which requires an enormous volume of manual female labor. There are no healthy women wherever cotton is raised. This means that there are no healthy offspring either. The water shortage in some regions and lack of municipal services are also devastating factors. In our region, servicing rural health care is an urgent matter, since the highest percentage of deaths is referable to residents of rural areas. It is difficult for Americans to comprehend that, for us, the main thing is to improve the material and technical base, and specialists. While in the United States midwives manage to perform their duties very well, in or country, the physician replaces both a midwife and nurse. We are also experiencing a severe scarcity |
FBIS3-24619_5 | Health Status of Children in the West Siberian Region | of infant mortality in West Siberia as a whole is the same as in the Russian Federation. While the leading cause of infant death here was respiratory disease in 1980 (37-43 percent), with infectious diseases in 2d-3d place (16-23 percent), in 1990 perinatal pathology advanced to first place (34-50 percent) and congenital defects in 2d; respiratory disease moved to 3d place and infectious diseases, to 4th. These data confirm the conclusion that there is a decline in reserve for lowering infant mortality due to exogenous causes, which could be considered arbitrarily eliminated (respiratory and infectious diseases). Analysis of the causes of infant mortality in urban and rural areas of West Siberia shows rather significant structural differences. Although there was prevalence in 1980 of respiratory, infectious diseases and perinatal pathology among causes of infant death in cities, by 1990 the structure of infant mortality began to correspond to the republic mean. In rural areas, the findings were different. In 1980, respiratory disease was very prominent among causes of rural infant death in the West Siberian region (47 to 57 percent), and in 1990 this class of causes was in one of the leading places (2d place in Kemerovo and Novosibirsk oblasts, 3d in Altay Kray and Omsk Oblast). The share of infectious diseases dropped in 10 years to 1/2-2/3. As was the case everywhere, the percentage of perinatal pathology rose in rural areas of West Siberia, and in 1990 this class of causes advanced to first place; however, as compared to urban areas, the share of rural perinatal pathology was not as great (29-38 percent in rural areas versus 38-53 percent in cities). Thus, in rural parts of West Siberia, respiratory diseases are still a rather serious problem. The mortality rate for children up to 14 years of age is also higher in our country than in other economically developed nations [22]. In the structure of child mortality (up to 14 years) in the Russian Federation, congenital developmental defects are in one of the first places, and their incidence has increased appreciably in recent years, constituting 28.3/1000. In essence, this refers to defects of the musculoskeletal system (27 percent), gastrointestinal tract (17.5 percent) and cardiovascular system (17.5 percent). Analysis of postmortem findings data revealed that, on the whole, the incidence of congenital defects in children up to 14 years old constitutes 25.8 percent. This is considerably higher than in the population, |
FBIS3-24619_8 | Health Status of Children in the West Siberian Region | most (39 percent) consists of borderline diseases (neurasthenic syndrome, enuresis) [11]. According to data of the Novosibirsk Oblast Health Department, in 1990 the incidence of mental illness per 1000 child population constituted 26 cases, there being 1.7 cases of infantile cerebral paralysis and 2 of epilepsy. Respiratory disease is among the most frequent causes of childhood morbidity and mortality. It constitutes 77 percent of all pathology encountered in infants 1 to 3 years old. In children attending preschool institutions respiratory disease is recorded 3 times more often. This refers primarily to acute viral respiratory infections, nasopharyngitis, influenza, bronchitis and sore throat [8]. In the Russian Federation the incidence of chronic pneumonia among children up to 14 years old constitutes 0.5-0.9/1000 and bronchial asthma, 4-9/1000. At the same time, according to N. A. Bogdanov et al. [5], the incidence of chronic nonspecific lung diseases in children of rural areas is 8-9 percent, while the threat of their development applies to 24.5 percent of the children. In 1990, the incidence of chronic pneumonia constituted 4, chronic bronchitis 2, and bronchial asthma 3 cases per 1000 child population of Novosibirsk oblast. Cardiovascular diseases are among the key pediatric problems. Their incidence per 100,000 child population of Russia is as follows: 342 for congenital heart defects, 40 for primary rheumatic disease, 140 for recurrent rheumatism, 20-30 for rhythm disturbances, 30 for various forms of arthritis, 10-20 for myocarditis, and 5-14 for hypertensive states [4]. In recent years, hypotensive states began to be noted in adolescents more often than hypertensive ones. Arterial pressure was 90/40 mm Hg or lower in every fifth adolescent [14]. An All-Union study of precursors of atherosclerosis in children and adolescents, which was carried out in the mid-1980s, revealed that 80 percent of school-age children had some risk factor or other for development of cardiovascular disease. The incidence of such risk factors among Novosibirsk schoolchildren was as follows: hypodynamia 64 percent, dyslipoproteinemia 41 percent, obesity 16 percent, smoking 8 percent, arterial hypertension 6 percent [20]. A recheck of the same children 5 years later revealed that the situation had become even more serious: incidence of arterial hypertension rose to 11 percent (among young boys) and hypodynamia to 83 percent (among young girls); the incidence of obesity rose to 30 percent, and there was a significant rise in percentage of habitual smokers, to 50 among young boys and 26 among young girls |
FBIS3-24619_10 | Health Status of Children in the West Siberian Region | [21]. In recent years, there has been a rise in number of children with digestive diseases of noninfectious etiology. While in 1975, 70-75 cases were recorded per 1000 child population of the Russian Federation, in 1989 there were already 100-110 [12]. In the structure of digestive diseases, pathology of the gastroduodenal zone is in 1st place (51-57 percent), diseases of bile ducts are in 2d (24-37 percent), and intestinal pathology in 3d (7-16 percent) [15]. Acute intestinal infections are recorded annually in 65-70 percent of the children [13]. In 51 percent of the cases their etiology is unknown, in 33 percent the diagnosis is shigellosis, in 12 percent enteritis of diverse etiology, in 3 percent typhoid fever and paratyphoid, and in 2 percent Yersinia infection. The age breakdown for acute intestinal infections is as follows: 58 percent 0-2 years, 25 percent 3-6 years, and 17 percent 7-14 years. The prime cause of the adverse situation with regard to acute intestinal infections in Russia is related, first of all, to the unsatisfactory condition of water supply and quality of drinking water. In children, intestinal infections are often related to consumption of tainted food, particularly dairy products [13]. Among children over 1 year old, mortality due to malignant pathology is in 2 place, after accidents. In the structure of causes of death due to malignant pathology, lymphatic and hemopoietic tissue tumors are in 1st place (53 percent) among children, other nosological forms (bone, connective tissue and urinary tract organ tumors 5 percent, digestive organ tumors 4 percent, tumors of the buccal cavity and throat 1.3 percent) are encountered much less often [1]. The incidence of diseases of the urinary system among the child population of the Russian Federation constitutes 3/1000 [7]. There is prevalence of bacterial and inflammatory processes. Infection of the urinary tract is encountered in 33 percent of the cases, and various forms of pyelonephritis in 48 percent. Glomerulonephritis is encountered in 8 percent of the children with diseases of the urinary system; congenital and hereditary nephropathy, in 7 percent. There are distinctive features in urinary system pathology among children residing in different parts of Russia. For example, there is prevalence of a distinctive renal syndrome following hemorrhagic fever in the Far East, and latent nephropathy in the region of the Baykal-Amur highway [7]. In 1990, the incidence of urinary system pathology per 1000 child population of Novosibirsk Oblast constituted |
FBIS3-24634_2 | Beijing Sees Continued Obstacles to Better Relations | Sino-U.S. trade deficit continue to hamper the development of a "normal" relationship. At his meeting with Secretary Bentsen on 19 January, for example, Li reiterated China's longstanding position on U.S. human rights demands, saying that the two sides, in handling "differences in ideological concepts and values," should "seek common ground while reserving differences." In apparent reference to the MFN question, Li called on the United States to "seize the opportunity" created by the November summit meeting between Presidents Bill Clinton and Jiang Zemin and "do something practical and down-to-earth" in order to push Sino-U.S. relations back onto a "normal track" of development. Media commentary on Secretary Bentsen's visit went even further in decrying the obstacles to better relations. The 22 January Xinhua commentary, for example, complained that the trade deficit continues to "affect" bilateral ties. It noted that, although there are now "sound grounds" for developing bilateral economic and trade ties, the "annual discussion" of MFN status for China continues to "cast a shadow" over the relationship. Placing the burden for removing these obstacles on Washington, the article predicted that there would be "smooth development" of bilateral economic and trade ties if the MFN question was "permanently" resolved and that there would "surely" be a "remarkable increase" in Chinese imports from the United States if U.S. restrictions on exports to China were rescinded. The 22 January Wen Wei Po editorial also portrayed the annual debate over China's MFN status and U.S. restrictions on exports as "obstructions" to Sino-U.S. trade. Like the Xinhua commentary, the editorial called on Washington to take steps to resolve these issues, expressing the "hope" that the United Sates will do "more solid work and break away from quibbling over certain issues to vigorously make a new step forward." Prospects While Chinese leaders are clearly buoyed by the increasing number of high-level contacts with the United States, there is no media evidence at this time to suggest that Beijing is prepared to make significant changes in its position on human rights and the Sino- U.S. trade deficit in order to improve bilateral ties. Routine media commentary continues to suggest that Beijing believes it can rely on the lure of the Chinese market and pressure from U.S. business interests to limit Washington's options on MFN, human rights, and trade deficit questions. (AUTHOR: HEBBEL. QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS, PLEASE CALL CHIEF, CHINA ANALYSIS TEAM, (703) 733-6097.) EAG/BIETZ cka 02/2124z feb |
FBIS3-24643_5 | IRAN: COMPLAINTS TO NEWSPAPER REFLECT ECONOMIC, | thing is not related to government policy. However, it might be that the Meat Organization will have to supervise the packaging process. (SALAM 27 Nov) Caller: I am calling from Khorramabad and work in the office of communication. On Wednesday one of our customers came to complain about his bill. We verified it and told him that the bill was correct and he should pay it. When he was leaving, he asked: "What am I supposed to do, now?" We told him to pay it. "He said that my problem is something else. I am a civil servant and earn 15,000 tomans. The telephone bill is 4,800, the water bill is 6,000 and the electric bill is 2,800 for a total of 13,600. Only 1,400 tomans are left. I have three children and rent to pay. Why don't you budget your charges so that I can know how to continue my life." would like you to publish this so that the public will become more sensitive to our problems. (SALAM, 2 Dec.) On Shortage of Medications Caller: One cannot find any aspirin in this country. How does the Health Minister justify this? SALAM: The aspirin shortage is real. Officials admit to its shortage and that of many other medications. These shortages are simply the effect. The real cause is the financial difficulties that have prevented pharmaceutical companies from producing medicines. The president declared in recent weeks that these companies will receive financial assistance. We have no information about how this promise will be kept, but many commonly needed medications are available. (SALAM, 28 Nov) On Taxes Caller: Aren't taxes collected by the government to provide comfort and service to the public? What is the reason for the excessive increase in taxes, such as the ones on water and electricity. The taxes are far greater than what we can pay. And, has the government provided any services in exchange for collecting these huge taxes to satisfy the nation? Furthermore, are these taxes collected only to solve the government's problems or should they also solve the nation's? (SALAM, 5 Dec.) On Exorbitant Lawyers' Fees Caller: I have a question from the Judicial Branch. Hasn't the Judicial Branch set the fees that lawyers charge their clients? If the Judicial Branch has set these fees, why are they so high? And, if it has not, why don't they control them. They are exorbitant. Lawyers |
FBIS3-24648_1 | PERSPECTIVES SELECTIONS ARE BASED SOLELY ON FOREIGN NEWSPAPERS, | Bologna Motor Show in December. The 4- or 6-seat minibus is a van with a 500-kilogram payload capacity. Another version is a garbage truck with a 400-kilogram payload capacity. All versions are powered by the 10-kilowatt M1O0 electric motor developed by Micro-Vett. Part of the kinetic energy generated in braking is converted to electricity for battery recharge. The vehicle's top speed has been held to 55 kilometers per hour to maximize acceleration and range. The new vehicle is exempt from certain taxes, and its insurance rate has been reduced by 50 percent. Sales were slated to begin in January through Piaggio's sales network, with the price of the minibus expected to be 35,280,000 lire ($20,700). (Rome ANSA 7 Dec 93)* Sharon W. 733-6395 (Germany) Volkswagen is preparing to market the Golf Ecomatic, the first production-model automobile that conserves fuel and reduces emissions by turning off its engine when the gas pedal is released and restarting it when the pedal is again depressed. An electronics package controls the engine and maintains safety functions such as power steering, lights, and power brakes. When the gas pedal is released, the engine stops and a servomotor engages the clutch, disconnecting the wheels from the transmission and allowing the car to continue forward by momentum alone. When the engine restarts, the car's electrical system switches to an auxiliary battery so that it is not subject to the voltage drop associated with the starter's high electrical consumption. In large urban areas, where a car's engine might be off up to 60 percent of the time, the system could reduce carbon monoxide emissions by 36 percent, hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions by 25 percent, and carbon dioxide emissions by 21 percent. Fuel consumption could be reduced by at least 1 liter per 100 kilometers. (Paris L'USINE NOUVELLE 2 Dec 93)* Alexis M. 733-6345 (France) Working with French automakers, the French Petroleum Institute (IFP) has developed two experimental fuel-injection techniques aimed at making the two-stroke automobile engine a viable alternative to the conventional four-stroke engine by eliminating its chief disadvantage: emissions of unburned hydrocarbons that are 10 to 20 percent higher than those of a conventional engine. One technique, a direct liquid injection procedure, allows fuel to be fully atomized just before ignition. Another, an air injection procedure developed with Peugeot, can, according to initial research, reduce hydrocarbon emissions by over 97 percent and carbon monoxide emissions by |
FBIS3-24648_4 | PERSPECTIVES SELECTIONS ARE BASED SOLELY ON FOREIGN NEWSPAPERS, | Electric Power, the Xizang Planning Commission and Gerze County. Ground was broken on the project in 1991 and the facility was officially inaugurated in November 1993. (Beijing RENMIN RIBAO (OVERSEAS EDITION) 3 Dec 93) Parker H. 733-6336. (United Kingdom) A 30-megawatt electric power plant that produces energy by burning discarded tires has been opened in Wolverhampton. The $85 million plant will burn 8 to 10 million automobile and truck tires a year to produce electricity for 25,000 households. It produces no harmful emissions, and the residue from the combustion process will be recycled for other industrial uses. (Rome ANSA 12 Nov 93) Brussels Bureau/Sharon W. 733-6395 (Japan) Working with Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, and Toho Gas, Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Company, Ltd. has developed a gas turbine combustor with low nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions (25 ppm NOx) with 16 percent O2 when installed in Mitsui's 1,000-kilowatt gas turbine). The Mitsui Super Premix employs a dry method called "lean diffuse/premix two-stage combustion," which reduces NOx emissions by diffuse-combusting some of the fuel to stabilize the flame, then premixing most of the remaining fuel with combustion gases and eventually reducing the flame temperature for improved gross thermal and overall efficiency. The dry design eliminates maintenance and water purification problems associated with the water or steam spray method. The new combustor, which meets Tokyo's and Osaka's strict NOx regulations, is expected to encourage the use of cogeneration. Two of the combustors are operating in cogeneration systems in Sapporo City. (Tokyo KAGAKU KOGYO NIPPO 15 Dec 93)* Junko A. 733- 6346 Clean Manufacturing (Germany) An environmentally friendly water treatment system at the Siemens Matsushita aluminum capacitor plant in Heidenheim uses a dialysis system that makes it possible to recover and reuse materials used in the manufacturing process, reducing overall production costs by nearly 75 percent. The treatment system cost 1.2 million marks ($687,000); the cost for a conventional system is 1.7 million marks ($974,000). Waste water recovered after aluminum etching has high concentrations of hydrochloric and sulfuric acids. Conventional water treatment systems include a neutralization phase followed by separation of liquids and solids. The liquids are released into the sewer system, while the solids are dumped. In the Heidenheim system, a membrane separates the waste water directly into two parts: one rich in hydrochloric and sulfuric acids (up to 80 percent of which can be recovered and reused) and the other rich in metals. |
FBIS3-24648_7 | PERSPECTIVES SELECTIONS ARE BASED SOLELY ON FOREIGN NEWSPAPERS, | circuit materials and other electronic devices for automotive applications, computers, and similar high-tech products for both the domestic and international markets. (Beijing RENMIN RIBAO OVERSEAS EDITION 20 Dec 93)* Thomas T. 733-6342 Solar Cells (Japan) Sharp Corporation has developed a 1 x 1-centimeter solar cell whose deterioration in efficiency is one-third that of conventional solar cells. The efficiency, initially 11.4 percent, dropped to a low of 10.2 percent after 300 hours of exposure to light but improved to a final 10.4 percent after another 50 hours. The 450-nanometer-thick cell consists of a layer of amorphous silicon/carbon sandwiched between two layers of amorphous silicon/germanium on a glass substrate. Researchers maintained high conversion efficiency with these thin films by changing the wavelength of incoming light. Sharp is developing a 10 x 10- centimeter prototype cell and hopes to produce 30 x 40-centimeter cells for practical application by the year 2000. (Tokyo NIKKEI SANGYO SHIMBUN 22 Dec 93) Junko A. 733-6346 FEATURE ARTICLES ISRAEL/GERMANY/ITALY: POSSIBLE BREAKTHROUGH IN BATTERY TECHNOLOGY European tests of an Israeli-developed zinc-air battery show it gives an electric vehicle the performance and range capabilities of one powered by an internal combustion engine. Recent German and Italian press reports suggest that an Israeli- developed zinc-air battery may represent a breakthrough for electric vehicles. Tests by the German federal postal authority (the Bundespost), as well as by Italy's National Electricity Board and the Montedison company, showed that the new battery is lighter than other systems and has a long life. It is also the first battery capable of giving electric vehicles performance and range characteristics comparable to those of vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. The Bundespost is so impressed that it plans to replace part of its diesel fleet with electric vehicles powered by zinc-air batteries. About five years ago, an Israeli researcher achieved a breakthrough in zinc electrode processing that led to development of the new zinc-air battery. According to a report in DIE WELT (17 Jun 93), it has long been known that zinc can be used to make high- energy-density batteries. Many small standard 1.5-volt batteries already have zinc electrodes that produce electrical energy through an oxidation process. But increasing the energy density enough to power a vehicle requires creating a much larger electrode surface area, and the very fine zinc powder needed to achieve this surface area was extremely flammable and virtually impossible to process. The Israeli |
FBIS3-24648_25 | PERSPECTIVES SELECTIONS ARE BASED SOLELY ON FOREIGN NEWSPAPERS, | Corporation's ESR uses the Series Hybrid Electric system, which combines an alkaline battery with a compact AC induction motor and motor controllers, a 1,500-cubic-centimeter internal combustion engine for generating electricity, an AC generator, an energy regenerative braking system that converts the kinetic energy in braking for battery use, and roof-top solar cells. GRAPHIC: color photo of ESR The ESR operates both by battery alone and in hybrid mode when the battery runs low and has reportedly reached a top speed of 200 kilometers per hour and a maximum cruising range of over 500 kilometers at 40 kilometers per hour (JAPAN 21ST Dec 93). (For photographs of the Daihatsu EV Sedan, Honda EVX, and Suzuki EE-10, see PERSPECTIVES Vol. 8 No. 11, 30 Nov 93.) Automakers Aiming for US Market Japanese corporations have been developing electric vehicles with the US market in mind. Analysts for the automobile technical journal JIDOSHA KOGAKU (Oct 93) and NIKKEI ELECTRONICS (20 Dec 93) note that EVs are the only viable option capable of meeting the stringent California requirements for zero-emission vehicles, given the present state of automotive technology. One analyst estimates that each Japanese company must sell at least 700 EVs to comply with 1998 California requirements that 2 percent of all cars sold there be nonpolluting. He says Japan's auto industry is aiming to develop products for fall 1997 to meet the 1998 deadline. Daihatsu has the industry lead in building a mass production system for electric vehicles. With over 90 percent of Japan's registered on-road EVs, Daihatsu Shatai (Daihatsu Auto Body), the company's wholly-owned subsidiary and manufacturer of Daihatsu's Hijet van series, reportedly is the only Japanese company with mass- production capability. It plans to produce 400 EVs in fiscal year 1993, approximately 20 percent more than it produced in 1992. Moreover, Daihatsu Shatai is strengthening joint R&D with its parent corporation to develop dedicated EV auto body and recharging technology (NIHON KEIZAI SHIMBUN 3 Jul 93). Counting on government assistance, Daihatsu is planning to expand annual production to 10,000 vehicles by 1995 or 1996. In May the company announced plans to develop a one- or two-seat EV measuring about 3 meters long by 1 meter wide, weighing less than 500 kilograms, and featuring a top speed of around 100 kilometers per hour. Priced at under 1 million yen ($9,000), the car would sell for about one-third the price of the cheapest EVs |
FBIS3-24648_51 | PERSPECTIVES SELECTIONS ARE BASED SOLELY ON FOREIGN NEWSPAPERS, | Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), and the Environment Agency (EA) are jointly proposing strategies for a low-interest loan system to encourage commercialization of low-pollution vehicles and for the incorporation of photovoltaic power and other energy conservation systems into residential housing. MITI and MHA are also intensifying their efforts to promote wind power generation and the use of waste materials to generate power. The fiscal year 1993 Science and Technology Research Survey report published by the Management and Coordination Agency in the Office of the Prime Minister says that fiscal year 1992 energy research expenditures totaled some 1.05 trillion yen ($9.4 billion), a 7.4-percent increase over the fiscal year 1991 figure. More than 8,000 organizations, including companies capitalized at over 100 million yen and scientific research organizations and universities, participate in the agency's annual survey. The following table shows fiscal year 1992 energy research expenditures. Research Area Fiscal Year 1992 Expenditure (billion yen) Fossil energy 95.1 Petroleum 46.2 Natural gas 7.3 Coal 35.2 Other 6.4 Natural energy 35.6 Geothermal 4 Solar 22 Ocean 1.3 Wind 1.5 Biomass 4.9 Other 1.9 Nuclear energy 488.2 Power generation 205.3 Multipurpose reactors 16.7 Nuclear fuel cycle 109.5 Nuclear fusion 50.1 Nuclear powered ships 1.7 Radiation use 26.6 Radiation safety 42.7 Other 35.6 Energy conservation 411.2 Industrial sector 41.5 Home affairs 40.8 Transportation 254.5 Energy conservation/storage 54.1 Hydrogen energy 7.4 Other 12.9 Other 17.8 Total 1,047.9 (KAGAKU KOGYO NIPPO 3 Dec 93, 14 Dec 93) Junko A. 733-6346 JAPAN: FUEL CELLS Fuel cells convert chemical energy directly into electrical energy, producing electric power from the chemical reaction between the electrolyte and fossil fuel. Because fuel cells require no steam cycle, they are efficient power generators, reaching about 80- percent efficiency when exhaust heat is added. Fuel cell-powered facilities can be located inland because the cells require no cooling water. They create a minimum amount of noise and emit little carbon dioxide (CO2) or nitrogen oxide (NOx) (NIKKAN KOGYO SHIMBUN 29 Sep 93. Fuel cells are thought to have considerable potential for use in large power plants, cogeneration systems, on-site public and residential facilities, and electric vehicles. So far, 76 phosphoric acid-type fuel cell power plants (18,500 kilowatts) have been installed in Japan (NIKAAN KOGYO SHIMBUN 29 Sep 93). Led by MITI's Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), fuel cell development projects have been under way since 1981. The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization |
FBIS3-24653_5 | PACIFIC RIM ECONOMIC REVIEW -- 9 FEBRUARY 1994 | quality overseas, Kansei began purchasing other items, such as wire harnesses and crossing coils. Kansei also purchases parts from the Philippines, Thailand, and Taiwan. (Tokyo NIKKEI SANGYO SHIMBUN 24 Jan 94 p 10) Saison Group To Market Chrysler Automobiles in Japan -- The Saison Group has revealed plans to market three of Chrysler Corp.'s new models in Japan. Seibu Motor Sales, a subsidiary of the group, has reached agreement with Chrysler Japan Sales (CJS), a joint venture between Chrysler and Osawa Sales Co., which is also part of the Saison Group, to import and sell Chrysler vehicles through Seibu Motor Sales' 300 dealer outlets. The Saison companies want to import three models that are referred to as "Japanese car-killers" because of their "high quality and low price." The companies are already preparing to import the "Eagle Vision" as early as March, and are particularly interested in the "Neon," which has a low price of $8,975 (980,000 yen) and an engine larger than 2,000 cc. However, regarding the Neon and another Chrysler model, the "Cirrus," CJS officials say they have not yet decided what action to take. Osawa Sales Co. currently markets the Dodge "Viper" and Chrysler- made recreational vehicles (RVs). Chrysler also has an arrangement with Honda Motor Co., which markets Chrysler RVs imported by CJS through 1,700 of its sales outlets. Chrysler is also negotiating with Mitsubishi Motor Corp., "which has shown interest in selling Chrysler sedans." (Tokyo NIKKEI RYUTSU SHIMBUN 25 Jan 94 p 7) Economic Trends - NIES Studies Population Redistribution To Reduce Energy Consumption -- The Environment Agency's National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) has revealed that a regional redistribution of Japan's population could reduce energy consumption in the transportation sector by as much as 20 percent, according to a general simulation study it recently conducted. The study was based on factors such as the long-distance transport of goods, intra-city and inter-city traffic, national land use, and global environmental issues. As one example derived from the exercise, it was found that redistributing 30 percent of the population in Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas by shifting half the population in the Kanto and Kinki regions to the Chugoku and Shikoku regions would result in an optimum 20 percent reduction in energy consumption in the transportation sector, from 724 trillion kilocalories to 594 trillion kilocalories. This reduction in turn would have a favorable impact on protecting the global |
FBIS3-24653_84 | PACIFIC RIM ECONOMIC REVIEW -- 9 FEBRUARY 1994 | order for Iljin to suspend production was thus a severe shock" to ROK manufacturers. Although the ruling has "no force" in South Korea, it does have "political significance." There is also potential for "retaliatory measures from the country affected," which could set off an "unwanted trade war." Assessing the immediate fallout, the magazine reports that Iljin's U.S. assets will likely be frozen, but that these are small and "the damage would not be as bad as expected." However, the U.S. Government "will probably exert diplomatic pressure" and find other ways to "browbeat" South Korea, such as banning tools made with Iljin diamonds. Since 30 percent of the ROK's industrial diamond needs are supplied by Iljin, suspending production would cause the ROK to suffer a loss of $1 million monthly in import savings. The magazine suggests that both governments "positively encourage reconciliation between Iljin and GE" and work toward a "satisfactory compromise." CHUGAN MAEGYONG's four-page report neglects to bring out some facts raised in the litigation that show Iljin's position in a less favorable light. Absent from the account is any mention that the former GE and Norton employee Sung (AKA Larry King) was paid more than $1 million a year from Iljin for handing over materials purloined from the two U.S. companies, according to one well- documented study (Peter Schweizer, Friendly Spies, The Atlantic Monthly Press, N.Y., 1993 pp 176-185). Nor is there any reference in ROK press reports to the main body of evidence on which the case was decided, namely, some 14 file cabinets of GE and Norton documents seized in Sung's home. ROK press reports, however, do note a difference between the Iljin case and Japan's efforts to informally acquire U.S. technology. CHUNGANG ILBO opined that U.S. companies, mindful of the Japanese's negotiating abilities regarding intellectual property rights, "do not touch Japanese firms lest they be countersued." CHUGAN MAEGYONG cites a case where a Japanese court overturned a U.S. court's ruling against a Japanese firm charged with stealing trade secrets. Not only is Japan more successful than South Korea in defending itself against commercial espionage charges, the magazine notes, it does so despite the fact that its motivation for obtaining U.S. technology is less urgent. "If even a technologically advanced country like Japan hastens to learn from U.S. technology, then what more can be said about South Korea?" FEATURE: ROK To Export Nuclear Equipment and Technology -- |
FBIS3-24653_105 | PACIFIC RIM ECONOMIC REVIEW -- 9 FEBRUARY 1994 | Equalstar will use three of the aircraft for its operations in the Pacific Islands and Papua New Guinea, while IBC will use the other two in Indonesia. To date, Dornier has received orders for 25 aircraft from nine parties. (Kuala Lumpur NEW STRAITS TIMES 22 Jan 94 p 4) Bangkok Bureau LAOS: Germany To Give Aid for Telecommunications, Agriculture Projects -- Germany will provide $14.7 million in assistance to Laos for a telecommunications project, a public works project, and agricultural promotion. The projects are expected to be carried out over a two-year period. (Vientiane Vitthayou Hengsat Radio Network 1200 GMT 23 Jan 94) Bangkok Bureau PHILIPPINES: Customs Computerizes Procedures at Ports, Airport -- The Philippines' customs authorities have begun computerizing cargo clearance procedures at Manila, Batangas, Cebu, and Mactan Ports, and Manila International Airport. The project, funded by a $27.4-million World Bank loan, will be completed at the end of the year. An electronic mail system linking port authorities, and domestic and foreign shipping companies are already in operation. According to the customs commissioner, the computerized system will standardize procedures, curb pilferage, and reduce processing time from two days to two minutes. (Manila BALITA 4 Jan 94 p 2) BOI Says 1993 Investments Below Target -- The Board of Investments (BOI) reports that 1993 investments totaled $3.8 billion, falling $200 million short of the $4-billion target. Local investments surpassed foreign investments, with the largest projects concentrated in the construction industry. Japan remained the top investor, followed by the United States, the Netherlands, South Korea, Singapore, and Germany. (Manila PHILIPPINE DAILY INOUIRER 20 Jan 94 p 15) Bangkok Bureau Petrochemical Project Approved -- The Board of Investments has approved the $357-million petrochemical project proposed by JG Summit Holdings Inc. The venture will produce both polypropylene and polyethylene resin at an annual capacity of 300.000 metric tons. (Manila PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER 22 Jan 94 p 17) Bangkok Bureau Phone Pact With France Signed -- The Philippine Government has signed a $12.8-million, 16-month contract with France to install 82 public-phone offices in Southern Leyte, Western Samar, Albay, Camarines Norte, Sorsogon, and Biliran. The project will be financed with a $10.6-million loan from France, and the Philippines will provide the remaining $2.2 million. (Quezon City MALAYA 22 Jan 94 p 11) Bangkok Bureau SINGAPORE: LPG Storage Terminal Established in PRC -- Singapore- based oil trading firm Vitol Asia, Hong Kong-based Fortune Oil, and Guangdong |
FBIS3-24655_4 | RUSSIA: Welcome Back Cuba | He found the established trade terms beneficial to Russia, since "Russia can obtain from Cuba, on a stable basis and without any intermediaries, the quantity of sugar we need as and when we need it. The shipment of oil takes place over a period of a few months, which is also within Russia's capability (with the Cubans providing a concealed interest-free financing of Russian imports)." Bay commented that some of the sugar will also be paid for by "Russian goods that are uncompetitive in the world market," noting that "only Castro would accept something that nobody else needs any more" (Moscow IZVESTIYA in Russian 28 Dec 93 First Edition p 3, Daily Report FBIS-SOV-93-248 29 Dec 93 pp 8-9). -- DELOVOY MIR's international correspondent Anatoliy Medvedenko argued that unless Russia presses ahead with economic ventures to overcome its past "withdrawal" from Cuba, vital opportunities will be lost. He reported that 25O Cuban enterprises are in dire circumstances due to a lack of raw materials and spare parts and that the Cubans are ready to accept any proposals from Russian businessmen regarding joint ventures or capital investments with profit sharing. Medvedenko asserted that "many capitalist countries" are showing interest in Cuba, attempting "either to renew cooperation with this Caribbean country or extend contacts that already exist." Medvedenko observed that Russia has made considerable investments in Cuba in the past, creating "a rich and far-reaching infrastructure" composed of industrial and nuclear power installations and a major oil refinery, and warned of the "quite real possibility that others will profit from the fruits of our labor" (Moscow DELOVOY MIR 23 Dec 93 p 7). -- PRAVDA commentator Valeriy Mironov also raised the issue of past association, stating that "we should not forget the history of more than 3O years of cooperation between the former Soviet Union and the Republic of Cuba, which was our reliable political, trade and economic partner. This cooperation was fruitful and mutually advantageous in every regard." Mironov asserted that the United States had pressured Gorbachev to curtail the Soviet Union's cooperation with Cuba, for "otherwise there would be no support for perestroyka." Mironov argued that Russia has a moral responsibility to the Cubans, asking: "How can we talk of morality in politics seeing that we had first drawn Cuba into our sphere of influence and then looked for new friends and partners--moreover, among those who, for the last 3O |
FBIS3-24656_18 | FOREIGN PRESS SURVEY--FB PSE 94-006--WEST EUROPE | are more difficult to transport and which yield more money per unit of land. By continuing to produce low-income, easily transportable crops like wheat, barley, oilseed, and sugar beets, he argues, German farmers are surrendering their natural advantage in the high end of the domestic agricultural market to overseas producers. Kemper concludes that farmers cannot manage the required shift in agricultural production without assistance and notes that German agricultural leaders and officials will need more imagination than they have shown thus far to implement the necessary changes. (RoH) (Frankfurt/Main FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE in German 22 Jan 94 p 11) DISAGREEMENT AMONG MINISTRIES SLOWS ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP--The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Environment are debating the anticipated expenditure of DM6 billion for the cleanup of former GDR industrial sites. To date, some 20 major cleanup projects, each costing at least DM100 million, have been identified. At issue is the application of the "Agreement Regulating Financing of Residual Ecological Burdens," which obligates the Finance Ministry's Trust Agency to underwrite 60 percent of general cleanup costs and 75 percent of the costs incurred in designated major projects. The Environment Ministry view is that cleanup must include preparing the sites for continued industrial use, thus averting continued industrial expansion into open land. The Trust Agency preference is to limit cleanups to what is needed to avert present dangers, without pursuing further environmental goals. (CW) (Duesseldorf HANDELSBLATT in German 13 Jan 94 p 3) TRUST AGENCY PR0MOTES RUSSIAN INVESTMENT--The Moscow office of the Trust Agency's East European Consulting Group has set up an April investor workshop for representatives of small and medium- sized German businesses interested in the privatization of Russian companies. The areas targeted are wholesale and retail trade, food service, and transport operations. Since 1992, the Trust Agency group has had some 30 specialists in 17 cities of the Moscow oblast assisting in privatization and restructuring, and it reports that about 80 percent of the 10,000 businesses in the pilot areas have been privatized. In this case, "privatized" means that 51 percent of the shares in each company are held by the firm's employees, and investors are being sought for the remaining shares. Additional consulting services are in the works for St. Petersburg, Vladimir, Irkutsk and Krasnojarsk, and the group has also been advising the Ministry for Privatization and the Russian Government's antimonopoly commission. (CW) (Frankfurt/Main BLICK DURCH DIE WIRTSCHAFT in German |
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