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BFN A senior official in the Chechen State Security Department said that Russian troops were on the move in areas bordering on Chechnya. The department's deputy head Khamid Dzhalmaldayev said that, according to the Chechen general staff, a Su-27 attack plane unit had flown to the air base in Mozdok, North Ossetia. He added that Russian Interior Ministry special troops whose fire power is equal to that of a wartime infantry division had moved into the Prigorodnyy District of North Ossetia. Dzhalmaldayev thought that these troop movement had to do with the latest events such as the attempt on Dzhokhar Dudayev's life and efforts mounted by the Russian special services to destabilize Chechnya. Meanwhile, defense, interior and security chiefs told a conference chaired by Chechen President Dudayev that the situation in the republic was under control.

BFN Musa Doshukayev, deputy prime minister of the Chechen Republic, tended his resignation at the latest meeting of the government. One of his aides told Interfax that the reason was that Doshukayev could not honor his electoral commitments. President Dzhokar Dudayev has not accepted his resignation thus far.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Lyudmila Yermakova] Moscow May 26 TASS -- Russian Vice-Premier Sergey Shakhray does not rule out that the president of Chechnya "can become a political leader who would normalize relations with the Russian Federation." Talking to newsmen, Shakhray did not name the dates of the meeting between the leaders of Russia and Chechnya, but noted that such a meeting should be prepared. Taking part in an all-Russia Conference on Federalism and Interethnic Relations, Shakhray emphasised that relations with Chechnya will be regulated on a negotiatory basis with bodies of power and all political forces, and will include free and fair democratic elections in the republic as a legal way out of the political crisis." Shakhray said that the State Duma had accepted the Russian president's logic and has reproduced it in a resolution. The government has been directed to hold consultations with Chechnya's power bodies and political forces. The object of the consultations will be the draft treaty on the delimitation of subjects of control and authority. The treaty will be signed under the condition that Chechnya holds the elections, the deputy emphasised. There is no other way to "overcome the decision adopted by the Fifth Congress of People's Deputies on the illegality of elections in Chechnya," according to Sergey Shakhray. At the same time, he explained that at the present, no ultimatum is being issued as to when and under what conditions the elections are to be held.

BFN [From the "Vesti" program] The Ingushetian president decreed a curfew today on part of the republic. Ruslan Aushev's decree states that this has been done because of a sharp exacerbation of the situation. Eight Georgians working on Ingushetian territory were killed on 27 May. The president of Ingushetia has released Bashir Aushev, republican minister of internal affairs, of his post.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Valeriy Shanayev] Vladikavkaz, 29 May -- The extension of the state of emergency in some areas of North Ossetia for another two months currently serves as a guarantee of the safety of the republic's citizens, North Ossetia's President Akhsarbek Galazov told ITAR-TASS today. He strongly rejected the idea of introducing federal government in Prigorodnyy Rayon. This will be, in his opinion, a deadlock that may cause a new tragedy in the North Caucasus. Galazov left for Moscow today to take part in a meeting of the Federation Council, which will consider the situation in the zone of the Ossetian-Ingush conflict and the extension of the state of emergency in some parts of North Ossetia and Ingushetia. The president believes that peaceful negotiations should be the main thrust in settling relations between the peoples of North Ossetia and Ingushetia.

BFN Moscow May 30 TASS -- Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree on Monday imposing a state of emergency in parts of North Ossetia and Ingushetia. The state of emergency will be imposed from 14:00 on May 31, 1994 till 14:00 July 31, 1994. The decree also lifts as of 14:00 May 31 the state of emergency imposed by the presidential decrees of April 4 and April 27, 1994. The decree comes into effect from the day it is signed, the presidential press service said.

BFN Boris Yeltsin signed a decree today extending the state of emergency in the Ingush-Ossetian conflict zone to the Malgobekskiy and Sunzhenskiy Rayons of Ingushetia. This decree has to be approved by the Federation Council. It is worth mentioning that Boris Yeltsin's actions will provoke a strongly negative reaction in Groznyy. Here these rayons are considered to be historically Chechen lands. This is what (Mavlen Salimov), an aide to the president of Chechnya, said to Radio Ekho Moskvy about this: [Begin Salimov recording] We consider that these actions are unlawful, and consider them as aggression, as an attempted act of aggression. [end recording] [Announcer] Also today, a high-ranking official from the Chechen state security department told INTERFAX that Russian troops are being redeployed today on the border of the republic. Khamid Zhemoldayev, deputy head of the department, says that special units of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, equal to an army division, have arrived in Prigorodnyy Rayon of North Ossetia. Also today, Chechen President Dudayev held an emergency meeting with power ministers.

BFN Groznyy, will react "extremely negatively" if the Russian authorities extend the state of emergency to part of Malgobek and Sunzhen Regions in Ingushetia, Chechnya's presidential structures told Interfax on Tuesday. An official reaction will follow as soon as the decree signed by the Russian president on this score is "studied carefully enough." The decree signed by Boris Yeltsin on Monday provides for the imposition of a special regime virtually throughout Malgobek and Sunzhen Regions in Ingushetia. These regions are disputed by Chechnya and Ingushetia, and Groznyy, views them as inherently Chechen territories. As Chechnya's Foreign Ministry told Interfax, Groznyy, will view the deployment of Russian troops in Malgobek Region as an "aggression by a foreign country." Chechnya's Foreign Minister, Shamseddin Yusef, told Interfax that "adequate measures will be taken to rebuff an aggression by Russian troops." In the meantime Interfax learned from military sources in Groznyy that on Wednesday Chechnya's armed forces are beginning military exercises. The exercises are to take place in the "territories bordering on adjoining states." Last week Chechnya's troops went on high alert in connection with the possible imposition of a state of emergency in Malgobek and Sunzhen Regions of Ingushetia by Moscow.

BFN Ingush refugees will not be able to return to North Ossetia unless Ingushetia meets certain conditions, North Ossetian President Akhsarbek Galazov told Interfax in Vladikavkaz before flying to Moscow. Galazov said that Ingushetia had to forego its claim on the Prigorodnyy District of North Ossetia and that the Ingush refugees had to understand they were North Ossetian citizens and were not allowed to sabotage the decisions of the local authorities. He said it was important that the provisional administration let the local authorities organize the life of the North Ossetian population. He believed that the use of force to return the refugees would result in an out-and-out civil war in the Caucusus which would spread to Russia proper.

BFN ["Exclusive" report No. 21 of 71] According to analysts, the treaty signed between the Russian federal government and Tatarstan on the separation of powers has not offered Tatarstan the expected economic prosperity. Moreover, there are signs of a political crisis in the republic as relations are worsening between the executive and legislative branches of power. These questions were the subject of an Interfax interview with the Vice-President of Tatarstan VASILIY LIKHACHYOV. INTERFAX: Having signed the treaty with Russia Kazan resolved its political problems: The new status of Tatarstan was recognized. But today the republic is facing domestic problems which are no less grave. More and more often politicians speak of a critical state of the Tatar economy, politics and ideology. What is your personal opinion of the situation? LIKHACHYOV: During the past few years the Tatar leadership has been quite energetically working on its strong socio-political potential. Its legal status is evident now. It has been formulated. But it so happened that political and legal developments went ahead of economic. This is objective reality. We had to carry out the tasks put forward in the declaration of sovereignty and in the new constitution of Tatarstan. The republic, now a truly sovereign state, is facing a number of contradictions some of which are quite deep. First of all, the legislative and executive branches of power worked together without conflicts toward a common objective: sovereignty and its recognition by Moscow. It is evident that the responsibility for the current situation in the republic, for the mistakes and shortcomings lie equally on the president, his staff, parliament and government. But they also should work together to overcome the crisis. Unfortunately, not all power structures are ready for such joint work and for reforming themselves. Under the constitution both the parliament and the government have supervising powers. It is incorrect, to say the least, for parliament to try to act separately. I would say it is politically wrong. Besides, after signing the treaty with Tatarstan the system of values is naturally and logically changing. Everyone was convinced that political achievements should open up broad prospects for economic reforms. But they should have been carried out with reliance on local resources which proved to be difficult. A financial, economic and technological collapse followed. On the other hand, we somewhat underestimated the high degree of Tatarstan's integration in the Russian economy. The weakness of our stance I think was that it was not comprehensive. Today the Tatar leadership is giving up the illusion that when a high rise building is on fire one can survive by closing one's own door. Tatarstan can hardly work out any independent original program of overcoming the crisis: we are in a common economic space with Russia, therefore federal processes should be taken into account. Speaking of a crisis one should bear in mind that the whole of the Russian Federation, Tatarstan being part of it, is facing political and economic difficulties. Besides, it is evident to me that the anti-crisis program now in the making might not work, if the approach to the selection of top officials is not changed. INTERFAX: Some analysts claim that a power crisis is moving on Tatarstan. Do you think the mutual accusations of parliament and government might develop into a more serious conflict that can end with the resignation of someone from the top echelon? LIKHACHYOV: Having resolved several important political questions the Tatar leadership unfortunately fell into euphoria taking the period of stabilization for actual reforms. However, the question of deep economic changes and the development of projects was never raised. It turned out that the political prerequisites for reforms were wonderful, but there was no noticeable advancement of economic thinking. Now in typically Russian traditions the republic has started looking for a scapegoat. Important matters were resolved better or worse during the stabilization period. It is a different matter that new versions of advancement should have been sought simultaneously. But is the government alone to blame for what did not happen? I would like to reiterate that the necessity of serious changes in all spheres, including appointments, is evident. One must face the truth. I think that many leaders, some quite high-ranking, should resign. But the process is always very painful and accompanied by personal tragedies. I think that a person should first of all realize one's own potential. If one feels having exhausted it and become only a professional instrument in the hands of others, he must resign. INTERFAX: In Tatarstan unlike many other parts of the Russian Federation the political elite did not change. Analysts say the party elite is actually still in power at all levels. Probably the stabilization period, as you called, it had its favorable effect allowing to keep the republic controllable and prevent a total collapse of the economy. But will President Mintimer Shaymiyev agree to radical changes in his staff? After all it was he who formed this team. LIKHACHYOV: Mintimer Shaymiyev will never become a hostage of his own associates. Today we can say that there are no so-called grey cardinals who could resolve their own problems behind his back. On the whole the administration reacts to changes in the situation quite adequately. The elite is not homogeneous at all. Many old regional party leaders in the new conditions have found their own niche. But now it turns out that some of them clearly lack training. And that is first of all a personal crisis. Besides, the administration itself is far from being perfect. On the one hand, it is highly responsible and disciplined, on the other, negative tendencies have appeared: territorial groups, regional lobbies. The change should begin with the presidential team. I see the way out in the appearance of striking, dynamic , unbiased persons. Shaymiyev is now facing a most difficult task because the constitutional provision that he is a guarantor of rights and liberties, a guarantor of stability requires a new interpretation. The Tatar economy can no longer be based on oil dollars and the Tatar leadership must realize the new standard of tasks facing the country. This requires the interference of the president and his closest circle that should change in an evolutionary as well as revolutionary manner. I think the management should be more democratic and open in its work. I know that the criminal world has started approaching certain government structures. In my opinion the time is ripe to set up a Security Council of Tatarstan. The republic needs a normal policy of choosing and appointing officials that would not be carried out by certain half-hidden persons. It should be an open policy covering the entire government mechanism, guaranteeing the change of generations in the Leadership and respect for those who are resigning. INTERFAX: The media claim that President Shaymiyev might find himself in a similar situation with Boris Yeltsin who in their opinion has successfully resolved Russia's foreign problems but fails in resolving domestic ones. LIKHACHYOV: I remain an optimist in this respect. I think that President Shaymiyev has the necessary willpower, energy, possibilities and potential.

BFN Tatar nationalist organizations said in a joint statement that the Russian president's tour of Tatarstan was undesirable. The statement was signed by the All-Union Tatar Social Center, the Sovereignty committee, the Marjani society, the Azatlyk youth movement, the Working Kazan movement and the Republican Party of Tatarstan. They believed that Yeltsin had failed to honor his pledge on the Tatar people's sovereignty that he had made during his previous tour of the republic. They argued that the elections of the Russian president had not been held in Tatarstan, the new Russian Constitution was not passed there and the Moscow-Kazan treaty ran counter to the people's desires expressed in the referendum. According to unconfirmed reports, two members of the Tatar independence party Ittifak and Azatlyk went on hunger strike in protest against Yeltsin's visit to Tatarstan.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondents Tamara Zamyatina, Yuriy Sizov, and Nikolay Sorokin] Naberezhnye Chelny May 30 TASS--Fighting organised crime in Russia must become a top priority task, Russian President Boris Yeltsin said. Speaking at a meeting with the leaders of Tatarstan's law enforcement bodies on Monday, Yeltsin called for working out a legislative framework for the implementation of the federal programme of combating organised crime in Russia adopted last week. He said special attention should be paid to fighting corruption, machinations in the credit and monetary system, tax evasion and illegal deals with privatisation vouchers.

BFN The Russian government will make a list of potentially bankrupt factories, Russian President Boris Yeltsin said Monday when he met with the managers of the Kama automobile factory KamAZ in Naberezhnye Chelny during his tour of Tatarstan. Yeltsin explained that the list would include factories which could not be run profitably on their own and that it would be updated monthly. He said that the decrees on tighter finances and production that he had signed earlier would be supplemented with four new decrees of the same kind. He emphasized that the Russian economy, notably its manufacturing industries, needed faster restructuring. Because this was proceeding slowly, the payment crisis was getting worse, he said. He promised that the state would help KamAz which was recovering from a fire. Foreign investments would be attracted to it and credits would be made available. Yeltsin said that KamAz was exempt from profit and value-added taxes until the end of the year.

BFN In his exclusive interview with Interfax, Bashkirian Premier Anatoliy Kopsov gave a high appraisal to the package of the inter-governmental agreements between Russia and Bashkortostan signed on May 25 in Moscow. In his opinion, conclusion of such agreements between the center and the republics "would facilitate strengthening of the truly federative principles of Russia's existence." Moscow and Ufa have signed a package of 10 agreements including those on economic interaction, on division of authorities in the sphere of international relations and foreign economic activity, on interaction in the sphere of education, development of defense branches, crime fighting, etc. Kopsov expressed hope that two agreements on which the parties failed to find mutual understanding, namely on budget relations and on relations between the Central Bank of Russia and National Bank of Bashkortostan, would be also initialled in the near term. In his words, the Bashkirian side insists on a one-channel system of the budget's formation and Russia -- on a tow-channel one. Kopsov also deems it necessary to put in place additional powers for the National Bank of Bashkortostan, in particular regarding fiscal and currency regulation. Kopsov declared that Bashkortostan would like to fix its right to use the gold reserve totalling 250 kilograms of gold which was left in Ufa for storage from the "pre-perestroika" times as collateral for currency credits received by Bashkortostan.

BFN Bashkortostan's President Murtaza Rakhimov stated that his republic did not need a civic accord agreement. He told Interfax that the signing of declarative agreements was a waste of time, given a stable political and ethnic situation in Bashkortostan. "Russia's troubles are rooted in its ailing economy, not in a lack of political declarations," he said. He also pointed out that the Bashkortostan leaders had concentrated on measures to prevent the economic ruin and to create normal conditions for industrial production. To quote Rakhimov, the leaders of Bashkortostan have passed a number of decrees aimed at shaping reserve salary funds and delaying tax payments.

BFN [From the "Pacific Ocean" Program] Lieutenant General Aleksey Shcherbakov, deputy commander of the Russian border troops, headed an inspection commission which carried out a systematic survey of the defense of Russia's Pacific Ocean border. He held a news conference in Vladivostok, at which he said that troops of the Pacific Border District were in a state of good combatreadiness. The inspectors had the opportunity to witness with their own eyes that the eastern border protected by the Pacific troops was still strong and secure -- the district's border guards detained 35 transgressors, uncovered and prevented 63 attempts to use counterfeit passports at border crossings, and seized a large contraband shipment of choice seafood delicacies, which domestic businessmen attempted to export to Japan illegally. The chairman of the inspection commission said: "We evaluated the situation in the border district strictly and impartially. Practically every aspect of the condition of the troops was examined, and in spite of the numerous problems, all troops and units of the district cope well with the goal of protecting the border, and the state of morale of the officers and personnel is praiseworthy."

BFN [V.K.-signed report under the "In Brief" rubric: "Moscow"] Yakutia President Mikhail Nikolayev has met with Russian President Boris Yeltsin in the Kremlin. Mr. Nikolayev described in detail the critical situation that has come about in the Republic of Yakutia owing to the failed efforts to bring freight and goods into so vast a region. He pointed out that the situation is becoming more than an economic problem and taking on an acute political nature. President Yeltsin voiced concern for the requests made by Mr. Nikolayev and issued instructions on all problems that were outlined. The question of granting an appropriate loan to the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) was also resolved.

BFN Ukraine's Ministry of Defense press service reports the details of Minister Vitaliy Radetskyy's official visit to Brussels. He held intensive talks with his counterparts from Slovakia, Lithuania, Albania, Moldova, and Poland. These meetings focused on issues concerning European security, cooperation within the Partnership for Peace program, and ways of bilateral cooperation in the military sphere. A number of important agreements were reached with regard to joint military training and exchange of delegations. The defense ministers of the above countries expressed concern at the developments in Crimea. They supported Ukraine's stance on the issue and proposals voiced by Radetskyy for a settlement on the Crimean peninsula. In this context they agreed that Ukraine was justified in raising the issue of fair division of the Black Sea Fleet and its deployment.

BFN [Unattributed report] Ukraine's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in the Polish Republic H. Udovenko handed in the letter from Ukraine's foreign minister A. Zlenko on Ukraine's position regarding the recent events in the Crimea to Polish deputy foreign minister I. Byczewski. I. Byczewski showed understanding of Ukraine's position and pointed out that the situation in the Crimea must only be resolved by peaceful means. He also stressed that Poland has been consistently pursuing the policy of support for the strengthening of Ukrainian independence and its integration into European and world structures.

BFN On Saturday Ukrainian Defense Minister Vitaliy Radetskyy told newsmen in Kiev that security for Ukraine spelled overall security. Radetskyy summed up results of an official visit by a delegation of Ukrainian military to NATO's headquarters in Brussels. According to Radetskyy, the participants in the Brussels meeting appreciated the Ukrainian stand on efforts to build a new system of security in Europe and approved principles on which Ukraine was to build its armed forces. Everyone he met, Radetskyy said, supported, in no uncertain terms, the Ukrainian leaders who sought to preserve the territorial integrity of their country and insure the inviolability of the Ukrainian frontiers. Radetskyy assigned priority to moves "to bridge the artificially-created gap between Ukraine and Europe and return Ukraine into the family of advanced European nations". As a constituent part of Europe, Ukraine based its moves in the field of military politics on the principles of multilateral cooperation, Radetskyy said.

BFN [RUKH PRESS report: "The Case of Missing Mykhaylo Boychyshyn Has Become Internationally Known"] Ukraine's People's Rukh [Movement for Perestroyka] appealed to parliaments of several countries and to the human rights organization "Amnesty International" with a request to help in the search for the deputy chairman of Rukh and head of its secretariat, Mykhaylo Boychyshyn, who disappeared without a trace. One of the deputies of the Swedish parliament, Peter Lyuksep, proposed that this affair be considered by the Swedish Parliament and also turned to parliamentarians of other European countries. The German Christian Democratic Union, the Conservative Party of Great Britain, the Conservative Party of Norway, the Liberal Party of Finland, and also the Human Rights Democratic Institute in Warsaw have already shown interest in the Boychyshyn affair. "Perhaps, the fact that Boychyshyn's case is becoming increasingly known in the international arena will compel law-enforcement bodies, which show total inactivity, to do something," a hopeful Vyacheslav Chornovil said.

BFN Turkey is ready to use its influence over NATO, the European Union and the UN to support the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the presence of Crimea within Ukraine. This was disclosed to the press by the leader of the Crimean Tartar Mejlis Mustafa Jamilev who met Turkish President Suleyman Demirel in Kiev on Monday. According to Jamilev, Ukraine has made much greater concessions to Crimean separatists than it should have. He was satisfied with the fact that now Kiev holds a tougher, principled approach to Crimea. The head of the Mejlis called Crimea an illegal republic of colonists. He said that the future course of development in Crimea depends on how much Russia and other neighbors are going to respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Jamilev said there are signs today that Russia will continue interfering in the situation. In his opinion, the pressure of the world community could have a certain effect keeping Russia from actions that destabilize the situation in the Crimea. Jamilev said the Turkish president promised to finance the construction of about 1000 apartments for Crimean Tatars.

BFN [No video available] The signing of Ukrainian-Turkish interstate agreements took place in the White Hall of the Mariyinskyy palace. Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk and Turkish President Suleyman Demirel signed a joint statement that confirms the two countries' mutual desire to develop friendly relations, aim their political moves at strengthening stability in the Black Sea region, and intensify cooperation for the good of both nations. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Anatoliy Zlenko and his Turkish counterpart signed a protocol on exchange of ratification instruments to the treaty on friendship and cooperation between Ukraine and Turkey, as well as an interstate agreement on cooperation in the sphere of tourism. An intergovernmental agreement on international road transport was signed by Ukraine's Transport Minister Oprest Klympush. After signing the Ukrainian-Turkish documents, Demirel and Kravchuk answered questions from journalists. [Begin Demirel recording in Turkish with superimposed Russian translation] Turkey and Ukraine are the region's two largest countries, and they feel a responsibility for friendship and peace in the region. Therefore, their cooperation benefits the maintaining of peace in the region and in the world, benefits their people. During Mr. Kravchuk's visit to Turkey in 1992 we signed an agreement on friendship and cooperation in the trade sphere. There are no political problems between Turkey and Ukraine. Turkey is against any conquest of territories by force, against interference in any country's internal affairs. Like the rest of the countries, we support Ukraine in the defense of its territorial integrity. Crimea is Ukraine's internal affair. [end recording] [Begin Kravchuk recording] Indeed, Crimea is Ukraine's internal problem, but since it affects many problems in the Black Sea region, we support the principle stipulated by the Black Sea Parliamentary Assembly and the treaty that this region is a region of peace and cooperation, and that it should be strengthened by confidence-building among the states existing and working in this region. It means that the problem of Crimea here is a Ukrainian problem, but we would not like Crimea to upset the balance, the cooperation, and the relations that have been and will be established in the region. As far as our Crimean problems are concerned, these can be discussed separately, especially since the Supreme Council will address the problem again the day after tomorrow [1 June], and everyone interested can find out the details. [end recording]

BFN [Announcer-read report over video] Agreements on highway transportation and tourism cooperation and a protocol on the oil pipeline that will transport Middle East oil to Ukraine via Turkey were signed between Ukraine and Turkey in Kiev today. TRT correspondent Yavuz Yorulmaz reports on President Suleyman Demirel's contacts in Ukraine: [Begin recording] [Yorulmaz] This is the palace where the agreements were signed with Ukraine. Demirel declared that the agreements will encourage the development of bilateral relations. Demirel, currently on an official visit to Ukraine, is continuing his contacts. The talks between the delegations of the two countries headed by their respective presidents were also concluded. The joint communique pertaining to the talks was signed by Demirel and Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk. In a statement at the signing ceremony, Demirel said that the cooperation between Turkey and Ukraine will benefit world peace as well as the region. The aim is to increase the existing $500-million bilateral volume of trade to $1 billion, Demirel stated. Stressing that Turkey is in favor of continued peace in its region and in Europe, Demirel noted: We are opposed to gaining territory through the use of force or to interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. As with other countries, we support the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Demirel expressed the belief that bilateral relations will develop even further in the future, adding that the necessary political will exists to this end. Answering a question concerning Crimea, Demirel said that this is Ukraine's internal matter. Kravchuk, in reply to a question of whether the protocol on the oil pipeline project can be interpreted so as to support Turkey's view that the straits not be used in oil transportation, declared: As far as we are concerned, this is not an issue only between Turkey and Ukraine. It concerns the whole of Europe from an environmental aspect. Meanwhile, highway transportation and tourism cooperation agreements were also signed between Turkey and Ukraine in Kiev. The agreements were signed by the foreign and transportation ministers of the two countries. Kravchuk also hosted a dinner in honor of Demirel. In his dinner toast, Kravchuk described the visit as a natural extension of the constructive dialogue between the two countries. He remarked that Ukraine is still at the beginning of the path seeking the right place among democratic countries, a path long ago discovered by Turkey. He added: What brings us together is not just geographic proximity and history. We are brought closer together by the economic reforms introduced for the people's prosperity and the struggle waged for the development of the democratic society. Kravchuk explained that bilateral relations have been based on a sound legal foundation and concrete steps were taken in the fields of economic, commercial, cultural, and scientific cooperation. The two countries must establish closer ties to ensure peace and stability in the region and in the whole of Europe, Kravchuk said. This visit, he noted, will open a new page in the relations between Turkey and his country. Demirel, for his part, declared that a brand new period has begun with the reciprocal visits of the two leaders. [Demirel] Turkey believes that the Cold War period should not be replaced by a cold peace period. We must now experience a period in which nations reach out for one another, [as heard] with the most the common history of the human race should become one of peace, friendship, solidarity, and cooperation. The fact that Ukraine, an important country of our region, shares these views with us gives us confidence. [Yorulmaz] The president stated that Turkey is exerting great efforts for the peaceful solution of all the problems in the region, adding that it is pleasing that Ukraine also takes part in these efforts. Pointing out that the Black Sea Economic Cooperation brings Turkey and Ukraine closer together, Demirel said that it is beneficial for the Black Sea countries to join their efforts for the development of friendship and cooperation. Turkey sincerely supports Ukraine's goal for modernization as well as its independence and territorial integrity, Demirel concluded. Demirel laid a wreath at the unknown soldier's monument in Kiev today. He will continue his contacts in Ukraine tomorrow as well. [end recording]

BFN [Announcer-read report] President Suleyman Demirel has declared that Turkey's current difficulties should not prevent it from exploiting the opportunities it encounters while a new world is being established. Demirel stated: Turkey should not drown in daily problems or stop seeing what is in front of it. Demirel, who is currently visiting Ukraine as the official guest of Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk, held a news conference at his residence in Kiev yesterday and commented on Turkey's foreign policy and his contacts. TRT correspondent Yavuz Yorulmaz reports from Kiev: [Begin Yorulmaz recording] In his news conference, Demirel explained that Ukraine is an important country because of its natural resources and its geographical position. If Ukraine fails in its goals, Demirel noted, the world will be faced with attempts to reactivate the old Soviet system. Stressing that Turkey wants to continue its good relations with the newly independent former Soviet republics, Demirel noted that Turkey has enjoyed goodneighborly and friendly relations with Ukraine for 70 years. Demirel remarked that Turkey has not yet reached the desired level of cooperation with Ukraine, adding that his visit is aimed at further developing the existing opportunities for cooperation even further. Within this framework, Demirel recalled, a protocol was signed on the construction of the Ceyhan-Samsun oil pipeline, and this project will enable the transportation of Middle East oil through Turkey to Ukraine via the Black Sea, and from there to Europe. Demirel said: This benefits Turkey. It is an extremely interesting project. As it stands, there is an oil pipeline from Yumurtalik to Kirikkale. We can join Kirikkale to Samsun and this matter is solved for the beginning. The project to construct an oil pipeline for 40 million tonnes, which was proposed by them, is an extremely important project. We will only charge transit fees. Demirel said that during his contacts, he had the opportunity to discuss the situation of Crimean Tatars with Ukrainian officials. Noting that the Crimean Tatars were mistreated during the Stalin period and the world remained a spectator to this situation, Demirel remarked that it is Turkey's duty to extend a hand to these people at a time when they want to resettle in their motherland. Tomorrow morning Demirel will proceed to Moldova, the second leg of his tour. [end recording]

BFN The second round of negotiations between government delegations of Russia and Ukraine on the problems of the Black Sea Fleet will begin in 10-15 days in the Ukrainian capital, acting Prime Minister of Ukraine Yukhym Zvyahilskyy told journalists upon his return from the meeting in Moscow. Summing up the meeting, he said: "We did not win in Moscow, but neither did we lose. The talks were very nervous and tense." "We were trying," he said, "to find options of positive solutions in fulfilling the tasks set by the president of Ukraine. We made concessions, but not those which would make Ukraine lose its wealth and independence." Zvyahilskyy believes that a generally positive solution was found to the problem of separate deployment of the Black Sea Fleet and Ukraine's navy. Sevastopol will be the main Russian naval base in the Black Sea, while Ukraine's navy will be based in Balaklava and Donuzlav.

BFN [Quotation marks as received] Sevastopol, 28 May -- "For the first time the negotiating process is proceeding constructively, Vice Admiral Volodymyr Bezkorovaynyy, Ukraine's Navy Commander, reported at a news conference on the results of the latest Russian-Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet talks, which he conducted on 27 May. The Russian side has taken up a softer position. The fact that for the first time we are discussing details in depth and are working on each facility in detail adds optimism. The Russian delegation was discussing issues that it had avoided at the talks in Sevastopol. One feels that Russia's delegation has a purpose: To resolve the issue," Mr. Bezkorovaynyy emphasized.

BFN [No video available] [Excerpt] The chairman of Ukraine's Supreme Council today met representatives of foreign embassies and consulates in Ukraine. [Correspondent] More than 50 countries have embassies and missions in Ukraine today. Their heads and diplomats took part in this meeting today. Extending warm greetings to his guests, Ukraine's Supreme Council Chairman Oleksandr Moroz said: [Begin Moroz recording] Diplomats are concerned at the events taking place today in Ukraine. One such event is, of course, the situation in Crimea. The Supreme Council and I have done and will do our best in order to relieve in a civilized and non-violent way the tension over the conflict caused by excessive use of subjective influences in the settlement of the problems which indeed exist in Crimea today. I am talking first of all about negotiations and, thus, a return of parliamentarians and other power structures in Crimea into the Ukrainian constitutional channel. The general view is this: Everybody who is guided by common sense understands that the Crimea-Ukraine status quo must be preserved, and this fully accords with the stance of Ukraine's Supreme Council. [end recording] [Correspondent] The Ukrainian parliament speaker stressed that the Crimean problem is not the only one which calls for the Supreme Council's attention. It is necessary that we urgently set about pulling our economy out of crisis. Considering the nature of his audience, Oleksandr Moroz also spoke about the need to encourage foreign investors who could help Ukraine build an independent state. He also spoke about Ukraine's nuclear status which naturally concerns diplomats. Oleksandr Moroz expressed his willingness to meet personally each of the foreign diplomatic representatives in Ukraine in the future. [passage omitted]

BFN [Editorial Report] Kiev UT-1 Television Network in Ukrainian at 1600 GMT on 30 May carries a 27-minute recorded news conference by Ukrainian Supreme Council Chairman Oleksandr Moroz in Kiev on 30 May. No video is available. Moroz is asked about Ukraine's participation in the Interparliamentary Assembly of CIS countries. Moroz says he believes Ukraine should be part of this structure "because there are so many issues to be resolved today--first and foremost, economic issues in relations and within the CIS." Moroz then discusses the Crimean issue. He says: "We have just formed a commission of parliamentary deputies headed by Borys Oliynyk. They will leave for Crimea in the near future and will work with the relevant commission of the Crimean parliament. In my view, we should finally agree on a joint result that will consent to the abrogation of the decisions of the Crimean parliament on the introduction of the 1992 Constitution." Moroz says there is a need to avoid confrontation between the Ukrainian and Crimean parliaments. He adds: "I understand that, in a different situation, one could resort to more radical measures. Today, however, it is not in the interests of the world community, of Ukraine, or of many individual countries. They would not be happy if the Crimean situation became aggravated. Therefore, in my view, it is simply necessary to pursue a considered and restraining policy in order to keep the radicals in Crimea, as well as radicals in other places, within the Constitution." Speaking on a political union with Russia, Moroz said: "I think that we have a political union with Russia today on the basis of a treaty signed--if I am not mistaken--on 19 November 1991. If we need to clarify some articles of this treaty, and if there is such a need, then I think we will come to an agreement with the Russian leadership, and we will conclude a new treaty. A key aspect of this document, however, would undoubtedly be the full state sovereignty or state independence of Ukraine, as well as the state independence of Russia. This would be a treaty between great neighboring countries." On the subject of nuclear weapons, Moroz says that foreign leaders were constantly asking when Ukraine would become a non-nuclear state, but they never spoke about the conditions that their states had to fulfill if this happened. Answering a question on the problems of the Black Sea Fleet, Moroz says that it was indeed a very complex issue and that many mistakes had been made. He says he believes that the fleet should be an element of collective defense but that much time had already been wasted. He adds that the Black Sea was a zone of specific interest to both Ukraine and Russia and that the problems of the fleet should be resolved proceeding from this fact. Moroz says he would decline to speak in any more detail on the issue of the fleet because "there are many aspects that are very important in themselves. When we begin to take these aspects as a basis, then we can come up with a decision that is contrary to what was envisaged when this subject was included in the agreement or negotiations." He adds that "we should work toward creating both a Ukrainian fleet and a Russian fleet that will always have relations between themselves." Speaking on the subject of nuclear disarmament and the arms question in general, Moroz says that Ukraine's acquisition of a non-nuclear status creates certain advantages for the West. He says: "We gave them the possibility of earning additional profits. Take, for example, the trade in arms. In the last two years, the volume of the arms trade by the United States has increased by approximately 18 billion U.S. dollars, whereas we have nothing, even though we have enterprises, developed technology, and products that we could sell in foreign markets." Moroz adds that the objective interests of Ukraine's economy must be taken into account and says these interests involve Ukraine's manufacturing potential, which today is dependent on the military industrial complex and on those enterprises that manufacture nuclear weapons. On the subject of land privatization, Moroz says that land should not be bought and sold, but could be leased for a period of 90 years or for shorter periods and that this would not be a threat to foreign investment.

BFN Ukraine cannot afford nuclear weapons, Aleksandr [Oleksandr] Moroz, the country's parliament chairman said in Kiev Monday. He added, however, that Ukraine was the sole country in the world that was gradually becoming nuclear-free. Moroz said that Ukraine could not make this step all at once, no matter what kind of pressure was brought to bear on it. In his view, the West had to meet Ukraine half-way. The Western countries had to understand that investing in Ukrainian disarmament was not charity but payment for the security they enjoy as a result of Ukraine's moves. Moroz admitted that he had once regarded the Black Sea Fleet as an element of collective defense forces. But now it was time to become aware of the fact that Ukraine and Russia had different interests in the Black Sea, meaning two friendly navies had to be set up. He said that he would work for closer relations with Russia but thought that Ukraine's rejoining the ruble zone would do no good either to Ukraine or Russia.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondents Viktor Demidenko and Mikhail Melnik] Kiev May 31 TASS -- Financial assistance to Ukraine in the construction of new nuclear power stations, so that the Chernobyl station could be shut down, was discussed during a closed door meeting between Group-of-Seven experts and a Ukrainian Government delegation here on Tuesday. According to well-informed sources, the international group of experts, after a series of meetings and consultations and the study of the situation, will prepare a report with due regard for the Ukrainian Government's wishes. The report will serve as the basis of a project for assistance to Kiev. The project is then to be considered at a working meeting of G-7 representatives in Rome in June. A specific `nuclear assistance' programme is to be discussed at a regular G-7 summit in Naples in July.

BFN Oleksandr Moroz, chairman of the Supreme Council of Ukraine, and Daniel Kaufmann, chairman of the World Bank's regional office, held a meeting at the latter's request devoted to issues of investing foreign capital in Ukraine's economy. As is known, the World Bank unites 180 countries and annually draws up over 100 projects in the privatization sphere, reform of entrepreneurship, and the development of the private sector. Ukraine was admitted to this organization in 1992. The chairman of the World Bank's regional office acquainted Oleksandr Moroz with his activities in Ukraine. Daniel Kaufmann said that already now the World Bank can annually allocate 1 billion dollars to Ukraine. However, for this purpose the Ukrainian side should make a decision on the legal protection of foreign investments. The Supreme Council chairman and World Bank representative exchanged opinions concerning the state of the Ukrainian economy and possible projects. According to Oleksandr Moroz, the drawing up of a program for stabilizing Ukraine's economy is nearing completion. This program, called Trud [Labor], is being devised with the participation of qualified specialists who were not involved in such projects before. Great hopes are pinned on the Supreme Council of Ukraine standing Commission for Issues of Economic Reform, which consists of businessmen and specialists in the market relations sphere.

BFN Ukraine has become the fourth country following Israel, Egypt, and Russia, which will receive considerable U.S. financial aid in the near future. Oleh Bilorus, Ukraine's ambassador to the United States of America declared this at a meeting with journalists. He pointed out that the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States managed to convince the U.S. Government that Ukraine requires aid today, when the first steps toward a market economy are being made. Bilorus underlined that President Bill Clinton's attitude toward Ukraine changed for the better and the United States of America was ready to support Ukraine politically and economically to consolidate its independence.

BFN Ukraine intends to officially submit a memorandum on foreign trade regulations to GATT at the end of June. This was announced to the press on Saturday by the Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Economic Relations Oleg Slepichev. On Friday a government conference on Ukraine's membership in GATT ended in Kiev. It was attended by a GATT delegation led by the head of the commission on Ukraine's admission Andrew Stoller. According to Slepichev, among other things participants pointed to the need to harmonize the foreign economic legislation of Ukraine with GATT norms. The need was stressed to change laws regulating investments and taxes. Slepichev said Ukraine's foreign partners are alarmed by constant alterations of Ukrainian legislation. Meanwhile, Stoller said that after the conference the American government intends to offer Ukraine technical assistance in harmonizing its legislation.

BFN The Ostankino TV company covers relations between Ukraine and Russia tendentiously. It does not provide authentic information and therefore fails to promote neighborly ties between the two countries. President Leonid Kravchuk made this statement on Saturday, commenting at journalists' request on the decision to deprive several Ostankino reporters of their accreditation in Ukraine. Earlier the press service of Ukraine's Foreign Ministry deprived Ostankino reporters in Donetsk, Kharkov and Odessa of their accreditation. Nevertheless, President Kravchuk said that Ukraine is not against a unified information space. It only wants the coverage of events in that space to be objective. Leonid Kravchuk also criticized some Ukrainian news media for having a penchant for "hot" facts and for failing to present a complete picture of developments and processes in Ukraine. He did not specify precisely what publications he meant.

BFN [Unattributed report: "`Ostankino' Correspondents Have Been Denied Accreditation"] Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has adopted a decision to deprive correspondents of the "Ostankino" television company who work in Ukraine of their accreditation. This was stated to UKRINFORM by Yuriy Serhyeyev, chief of the Information Administration at Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He pointed out that the decision had been adopted in view of the actions, which are incompatible with international concepts of information. The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated that the decision had been adopted following "the provocative coverage of events in Odessa, the Crimea, and in Eastern Ukraine." All of this led us to adopt such a decision, he said. We are not depriving these mass media of a possibility to work, but we want information carried by them to be objective.

BFN [Viktor Litovkin report: "Russian Strategic Missiles No Longer Threaten United States and Britain"] As of 30 May 1994 none of Russia's more than 1,000 strategic missiles on alert duty in silos, on submarines, and on road-mobile launchers are targeted against any installations on the territory of the United States and Britain, IZVESTIYA was told by the Strategic Missile Forces [SMF] Press Center. The missiles have been retargeted in line with Russian-U.S. and Russian-British accords and also in connection with the Russian president's directive, the military said. According to them, the SMF have formulated and implemented special measures to organize the daily activity and lives of the troops with untargeted missiles. At the same time missilemen have given assurances that the missile units' combat readiness remains at the same high level.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Mikhail Shevtsov] Moscow May 30 TASS -- Russia intends to join NATO's Partnership for Peace Programme in two to three weeks, Russian Defence Minister Pavel Grachev said. Speaking at a meeting with parliamentary state secretary of the German Defence Ministry Michaela Geiger in Moscow on Monday, Grachev said that the final date of signing will depend on how soon Russia's proposals are considered and approved by NATO. Grachev stressed that the results of his visit to Brussels and his speech at the NATO headquarters have been approved by Russian President Boris Yeltsin. He added that technical aspects of Russia's accession to the programme will be ironed out through diplomatic channels.

BFN Russia may sign the NATO Partnership for Peace program in June, well informed sources close to the Russian government told Interfax. The Russian Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry intend to propose that Russian President Boris Yeltsin join the NATO program before his official visit to Naples for the G7 summit planned for early July. The ministries made such a decision after the visit of Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev to the NATO headquarters in Brussels, the same sources added. The sources said that in Brussels the NATO defense ministers had spoken in favor of Russia joining the Partnership for Peace (PP) program. At the same time, the NATO defense ministers regarded Grachev's proposal to sign simultaneously the PP program and the Russia-NATO program on cooperation "with understanding." The same sources told Interfax that the time frame for Russia joining the PP program would depend on how early the NATO defense ministers consider the formula of the Russia-NATO program on cooperation.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Mikhail Shevtsov] Moscow May 30 TASS--Russian Defence Minister Grachev said that Russia may join NATO's Partnership for Peace programme within two to three weeks. Speaking at a meeting with visiting parliamentary state secretary of the German Defence Ministry Michaela Geiger, Grachev said that the final date of signing will depend on how soon Russia's proposals are considered and approved by NATO. Grachev stressed that the results of his visit to Brussels and his speech at the NATO headquarters have been approved by Russian President Boris Yeltsin. He added that technical aspects of Russia's accession to the programme will be ironed out through diplomatic channels. He expressed the confidence that Geiger's visit will help boost Russian-German ties, especially in the military sphere. "Strong German-Russian relations will guarantee stability in Europe, because in terms of military might Germany is second only to Russia in Europe," Grachev said. Speaking about his recent visit to Brussels, Grachev said that Russia's position was met with understanding by NATO leaders, adding that he was "pleasantly surprised" by the positive reaction to Russia's proposals from the Baltic states. He stressed that Russia will not seek to take part in discussions on NATO internal issues. It only wants to coordinate with NATO on matters concerning peace-keeping operations and prevention of conflicts. The talks with Geiger were also attended by First Deputy Defence Minister Andrey Kokoshin. During the visit, Geiger will tour one of the military units, a Moscow aircraft plant and a space training centre. Russian governmental circles confirmed on Monday that no concrete date when Russia will sign the Partnership for Peace programme has been named so far. They said it will depend not only on Moscow, because the NATO leaders need to study Russia's proposals concerning key elements of partnership.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS parliamentary correspondent Ivan Novikov] Moscow May 30 TASS -- Chairman of the Duma Committee for Defence Sergey Yushenkov described as "symbolic" today's meeting between Russian and American MP's [members of parliament] in the lower house of the Russian parliament. "Starting from this day," he stated, "the strategic missiles of Russia, the United States and Great Britain will no longer be aimed at targets in the three countries. This means that the agreements reached by Boris Yeltsin, Bill Clinton and John Major, aimed at consolidating world peace and international security, are going into effect." Leader of the U.S. delegation Sam Nunn, chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, noted the extraordinary character of the current meeting between American and Russian MPs. He said that the meetings he had with members of the Supreme Soviet during his numerous visits to Moscow over the past 20 years were purely formal, protocol-type functions, while the current one was marked by cordiality. He said that his delegation wanted to have serious talks with the Russian parliamentary committees, dealing with military matters. Nunn added that his delegation also planned to meet representatives of the executive branch of government, but would focus mainly on talks with parliament members. Dwelling on the nature of the forthcoming contacts with representatives of the U.S. Congress, Yushenkov told ITAR-TASS that the parliamentarians of the two countries wanted to discuss matters linked with the work of the Duma Committee on Defence and the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services to adopt military budgets and ratify international treaties, primarily the START-1 and START-2 agreements. Yushenkov said that the sides would also discuss problems linked with the expansion of relations between Russia and the United States, and also problems of security. "Of course, we shall discuss also the all-embracing NATO Partnership for Peace programme," Yushenkov stated. He expressed the hope that some common approaches to those problems would be determined, and "we shall be able to reach agreement on further cooperation within the frameworks of the agreements reached as a result of Duma Speaker Ivan Rybkin's recent visit to the United States". Yushenkov said that he hoped the visit of the American delegation would turn a new page in the cooperation of the two parliaments.

BFN [Report by Vladimir Nadein: "Russian Mafia Alarms America"] Washington -- The U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has held hearings on the question of organized crime in Russia. The members of the subcommittee, headed by the very influential legislator Sam Nunn, were addressed by Louis Freeh, director of the FBI; Hans-Ludwig Zachert, president of the German federal criminal police, and Mikhail Yegorov, Russian first deputy minister of internal affairs. "Today organized crime in the former Soviet Union is an international problem," the FBI director noted. "A global problem can only be solved by global methods," Senator Nunn said in his opening speech. No one has accused the Americans of interfering in our internal affairs. Russia does not feel sorry for its mafia. But the chairman, wishing to avoid any possible misunderstanding, immediately explained what the U.S. interest is. First, crime -- and organized crime above all -- has become a threat to the democratic transformations in Russia and is pushing the country toward national socialism. Second, it is undermining U.S.-Russian business links. Third, it has penetrated U.S. territory. Fourth, it poses a potential nuclear threat: Criminal groups dream of capturing mass destruction weapons in order to be able to hold the world to ransom. Fifth, Russian organized crime has breathed new life into trafficking and contraband in narcotics. Another important reason for the Senate hearing was the fact that the United States has the world's richest police experience in combating organized crime. Several senators compared the dangerous streets in Moscow today with Chicago in the twenties and thirties, in order to demonstrate how familiar the difficulties and hardships of the young democratic Russia are to Americans, who have still not beaten this monster. When Was the Gun Loaded? The distinctive and in many respects unparalleled organized crime of the postcommunist world is not a brand-new phenomenon, although, as FBI Director L. Freeh said, "only four years ago the former Soviet Union did not officially recognize organized crime among its serious problems." There was no objection from his colleagues to this viewpoint. The German expert put the flare-up of organized crime down to the "opening up of Eastern Europe and its desire for political changes" and to the criminals' extraordinarily swift adaptation to completely new circumstances. The general from the Internal Affairs Ministry [MVD], Mikhail Yegorov, gave a more detailed account: "The growth of criminal associations in the former USSR was due to the state command system of government and its result -- the shadow economy. The numerous efforts in the sixties and seventies to change economic laws by force encouraged the expansion of the underground market and the creation of a substantial criminal potential. Illegal industrial and commercial structures appeared. Major thefts became widespread in the state and public sectors of the economy and official corruption became common. A new social stratum emerged, comprising people with large amounts of illegal capital. At the same time, in the criminal milieu tens of thousands of bosses of various ranks were trained within prison walls." According to Yegorov, the changes that then took place in public and political life led to a conflict of interests between dealers in the shadow economy and the traditional criminal world, particularly for spheres of influence. But they soon found a common language based on mutual interest. Dirty money, legalized in the economic sphere through bank fraud, theft, racketeering, robbery, and the sale of weapons and drugs, sewrved to develop organized crime. Twenty "Dirty" Billion FBI Director Freeh from America, President H.-L. Zachert from Germany, and Gen. M.K. Yegorov from Russia are the senior people in their countries responsible for the fight against organized crime. They have all climbed the professional ladder, from the bottom to the top. All three are regarded not only as experienced leaders but also as experts in the field. As they sat there at the same table they often referred to one another's speeches. Not once did they resort to refuting a colleague's words; they agreed on practically everything, only rarely providing extra clarification. So it could be said that the data on organized crime cited by Yegorov are shared by the chiefs of the leading Western police services and their numerous experts. According to Yegorov, 785 organized criminal groups were active in Russia in 1990. In early 1994 there were already 5,691 known groups, led by nearly 3,000 criminal bosses, and they included 279 "godfathers." (Director Freeh had earlier given the openmouthed senators a popular account of our linguistic termninology, enunciating in Russian words which have become common parlance here, such as "vor v zakone" ["godfather"], "vorovskoy zakon" ["criminals' law"], "blatnoy" [criminal], "smotryashchiy" [?someone who keeps a lookout], "obshchak" [fund of money for criminal purposes], and so on. Some 926 groups make up 155 criminal associations with memberships of between 70 and 300. The total number of active members of these associaitons is more than 100,000. But there is no single organized crime center in Russia and the groups and their leaders have many differences. Bank frauds were recognized as the largest-scale crime in Russia. "It appears that the most frequent form of criminal activity bringing in high profits in Russia is bank frauds and other forms of swindle in which corrupt businessmen and government functionaries participate," the FBI director said. "At the present time the FBI has launched several special investigations into Russian-American enterprises which have engaged in laundering `dirty' money through American banking institutions. These complex schemes are linked with multilateral international transactions, and in many cases are at the final stage sent back to Russia in the form of cash." Freeh attributed the deaths of 35 Russian bankers in the past year to the handiwork of organized crime, perfectly obviously in pursuit of the goal of gaining control over the Russian financial system. He also added that amendments adopted by Congress in October 1992 to the law on the procedure for investigating the laundering of "dirty" money are making U.S. soil less congenial to Russian crooks, and that cooperation with the MVD will enable a significant proportion of the billions of dollars which disappear to the West every year to be returned. Gen. Yegorov again confirmed that the sum of this money is roughly equal to $20 billion. He acknowledged that his subordinates do not yet have sufficient experience and knowledge to put active members of criminal groups behind bars. However, the majority of them are under MVD surveillance. President Zachert did not express optimism. In his opinion, Germany has been in the past few years not just an arena of high criminal activity on the part of Russian criminals, but also a place for them to relax and plan new operations, a place for their families to live and bring up their children. "Several instances of extortion, often connected with the kidnap of family members, have been recorded in Germany," President Zachert said. "In the majority of cases this is directed against former Russians well known for their criminal past." He also cited cases where German businessmen have also been victims of savage beatings for refusing to pay up to extortioners from private Russian "protection bureaus." The FBI director thoroughly analyzed every case of criminal actions against Americans in Russia, and Gen. Yegorov reported a high clear-up rate for such crimes. However, senators intimated unambiguously to the MVD's authorized representative that they consider the actions of the Russian militia in investigating crimes against American citizens to be extremely slow. Verging on Fantasy The most mystical part of international police operations (and criminal actions too, however) is connected with nuclear fissionable materials. Let us leave to one side the science-crime-fiction element, although it was referred to by Senator Cohen in posing questions about the probability of components for the manufacture of nuclear charges falling into criminal hands. And let us not censure the Americans for being more worried about the threat of a nuclear bomb explosion somewhere among New York's skyscrapers than about Chechen crimes in Moscow. The problem is fueled by the fact that many entirely respectable publications and television companies have published reports about kilograms of plutonium which have already been stolen from Russian enterprises and military bases. And about the tonnes of plutonium which will mysteriously disappear tomorrow. Such an article, which has just been published in the magazine ATLANTIC MONTHLY, was cited during the hearings by Senator Nunn. On these questions, the FBI director stated that "as of the present time not one case is known in which the existence for sale of highly enriched materials suitable for the manufacture of nuclear weapons has been confirmed by the law-enforcement organs." However, he added that there have been many cases of the illegal transportation of uranium and plutonium in Europe, and that all this material had been stolen in the former USSR. For his part, Yegorov analyzed in detail, without exception, every case of the theft of nuclear material. He graphically demonstrated that it invariably involved material which, if it were to be regarded as a real threat, would require intensive reprocessing at a number of specialized enterprises. The demand for radioactive materials in Europe, particularly Germany, was described by president Zachert as a myth, one to which the "crassest section" of the criminal world responds with surprising persistence. It has been proved, he stated, that there is no market for such products in Europe. However, the danger of real weapons of mass destruction being stolen cannot be ruled out. Zachert said that this kind of control requires considerable expenditure on specialized equipment. Moreover, the lack of demand here today does not mean that it won't appear tomorrow in another place. The "Golden Crescent" and Dope-Induced "Highs" from Chernobyl It was noted at the conference that the enormous contribution of the post-Soviet area to the world trade in narcotics was not a myth but a proven reality. The enormous potential of the "Golden Crescent" -- Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran -- in producing opium has become a factor posing a serious threat since the previously carefully guarded borders of the USSR collapsed and disappeared Through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, which add their own narcotics production to the goods in transit, the route runs via Kazakhstan, Russia, the Baltic states, and Poland to West Europe. Modern semi-industrial facilities for manufacuring synthetic drugs operate in Russia, Poland, and Czechoslovakia [as published], while poppy straw, which also goes for export, grows around Chernobyl, although it is not of such good quality as that from Kirghizia [Kyrgyzstan] and the Chu Valley. Because of the absence of borders and the utter corruption of officials, this route has become so easy and accessible that the Colombian cocaine barons now use it too. According to a representative of the German police, where narcotics infiltration routes are studied specially carefully, Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport has become an important transit point for smuggling drugs to the West. Time Is Short The leaders of the world's three largest police agencies agreed that they are dealing with clever, treacherous, and ruthless enemies. They unanimously expressed themselves in favor of the closest cooperation: The American, the German, and the Russian confirmed that time is short. Freeh reported that he will very shortly be visiting Moscow as part of a high-powered American delegation (State Department, Treasury, and Drug Enforcement Administration), where an agency maintaining constant liaison between the MVD and the FBI will be opened. "Our cooperation requires a legislative foundation," Yegorov stated. According to him, the present high level of cooperation is due to the personal trust and liking that exists between him and the FBI director. "But cooperation should not depend on likes," the MVD general stated. Asked by Senator Nunn what he would do with $15-20 million ("I'm not giving it to you, it's just a hypothetical question," the American hastened to add, making plain the cold reality), Yegorov said: I would buy computers, develop a data base, and assemble people for two kinds of attack on crime -- brainstorming and the armed approach. However, he described the creation of international police groups to investigate specific cases as the chief prerequisite for success in the fight against international crime. The Russian general unambiguously rejected any likelihood of the occurrence of what is the topic of animated discussion in the American press, namely the possibility of power being seized in Russia by a criminal group. However, he did not rule out a turn of events whereby a mafia stooge is elected a deputy or appointed to high office. The session of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has not received extensive comment in the press yet but has been briefly commented on in television bulletins. Asked by me whether he could compare the hearings in the American Senate and the Russian Duma, Yegorov said: "I won't answer because I don't want to offend anyone...."

BFN [From the "Novosti" newscast] According to an Ima-press report, LITERATURNAYA GAZETA has sensational materials at its disposal that testify to the fact that Aldridge Ames, who was recently sentenced for spying in the United States, has been handed over to a high-ranking member of staff in Russia's external intelligence service. According to the same source, that double agent still remains in his post in the department of Yevgeniy Primakov. It is expected that he will be exposed in the next few days.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS special correspondent] Paris, 27 May -- Russian Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev, who has taken part in the two-day international conference here to work out a pact on stability in Europe, has left Paris's Orly airport for Moscow. In a conversation with an ITAR-TASS correspondent not long before his departure, he said that "Russia supported the French initiative for the conclusion of this pact, helped to implement and formulate the initiative, and assisted the success of the Paris conference." Delegations from 57 states and international organizations took part in the conference.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondents Dmitriy Gorokhov, Andrey Krasnoshchekov, and Andrey Shtorkh] Paris May 27 TASS -- "The signing of an agreement on Russian-European partnership will be a major Russian step to Europe," Russian Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev told ITAR-TASS correspondent while in Paris to attend an international conference on a stability pact. In the words of Kozyrev, much work has been done to finalize the document, and it is clear already now the document will be fundamental. Technical details will be coordinated and the document will be edited and translated into languages of states-members of the European Union. The minister did not exclude experts may fail to do this job by the next session of the European Union to be held in June. That is why, the agreement will be signed later, and initialed in June. He stressed "there is no need to hurry, since the basic agreement to sign the document has been reached". The Russian-European agreement is very important from the political point of view, stressed the minister. This document will provide for the future form of all Russian-European relations. The agreement envisages a system of political consultations, a mechanism of political interaction. Under the document, summit meeting with the leaders of the "European Three" will be held at least once in two years, and contacts between ministers will be regular. A major aspect of the agreement is that it opens way "to gradual but decisive Russian entrance to the world markets of goods, including products of the nuclear cycle, services, capital and labor", said the minister. The document will lay down the basis for fundamental political and economic interaction between Russia and the European Union, he said.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondents Dmitriy Gorokhov, Andrey Krasnoshekov, and Andrey Shtorzh] Paris, 27 May -- Russian Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev had talks with his Croatian counterpart Mate Granic during the international conference on stability in Europe that has been held here. The Russian minister told the ITAR-TASS correspondents today that the sides exchanged views on the prospects for an end to the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and analyzed the work of the Contact Group working on a Bosnian settlement, which has been meeting representatives of the warring sides in the French town of Talloires over the past few days. "The work of the Contact Group is coming up against great difficulties, but everything is turning out reasonably well: Gratifyingly, we managed to get the Serb side to take part in the group's session," the minister pointed out. "Our western colleagues have also fulfilled the promises they made in Geneva in mid-May, and have got the Bosnian Muslims and Croats to the negotiating table." Andrey Kozyrev said he had information that the Muslim and Croat sides are virtually ready to accept the plan proposed for the territorial division of Bosnia-Herzegovina. This plan allots 51 percent of the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina to a Croat-Muslim federation, and 49 percent to the Bosnian Serbs.

BFN Today (at around 11:35 Moscow time) the Russian president's envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Vitaliy Churkin leaves for Ljubljana from which he will leave for Zagreb for meetings with the Croatian leadership. The Russian Foreign Ministry told Interfax that Churkin intended to examine implementation of the Croatian-Serb agreement aimed at putting an end to hostilities in the Serb Krajina republic on Croatian territory reached under the mediation of Russia. Churkin is also expected to visit Belgrade where he will discuss the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Interfax also learned from sources in the Russian Foreign Ministry that Churkin would go to Tallinn next week. He will meet officials in the Estonian Foreign Ministry in order to settle the problems which the state delegations have failed to solve. An agreement on this visit was reached during the recent meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev and Estonian President Lennart Meri.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS special correspondent] [Excerpts] Beijing, 27 May -- Jiang Zemin, chairman of the People's Republic of China, accepted Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin's invitation to make an official visit to Russia with great enthusiasm, Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin announced at a news conference in Beijing on the second day of his visit. [passage omitted] Chernomyrdin said: "We were unanimous in the view that relations between our countries are on a firm path towards constructive partnership on a broad range of bilateral and international problems." The prime minister believes that China can play an important role in opening up Siberia and the Far East. The possibility of Russia participating in the reconstruction and modernization of industrial enterprises built with the help of the USSR in the 1950's was discussed, along with the building of the "three gorge" hydroscheme power installations. The sides agreed to lift obstacles hindering joint enterprise, investment cooperation, and other forms of direct partnership. [passage omitted] The exchange of views during the talks and meetings with the Chinese leadership on the main issues in the world showed that the views of China and Russia on the main international issues coincide, or are close, the Russian prime minister said. Constructive inter- relations in regional and world affairs, he said, are an important factor for stability and security in Asia and general improvement of the situation in the world as a whole.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS special correspondents Marat Abdulkhatin, Lyudmila Aleksandrova, Aleksandr Romanov, Pavel Spirin and Vyacheslav Tomilin] Beijing, 27 May -- A stable, friendly China that is successfully implementing reforms is in Russia's national interests. The strategic aims for the socioeconomic development of both states coincide in what is most important or are running in parallel, which, consequently, creates reliable preconditions for joint production and cooperation. This was stated today by Viktor Chernomyrdin, chairman of the Russian Government, as he addressed representatives of Chinese business circles at the PRC committee for promoting the development of international trade. Broad prospects are now opening up, the prime minister noted, for Russian-Chinese relations to attain a fundamentally new level of constructive partnership, geared toward the 21st century. It [the partnership] is in the two countries' national interests and is an important factor in maintaining peace and stability in the Asia- Pacific region and throughout the world. Meanwhile, continued Chernomyrdin, Russia and China -- whose trade turnover is approaching $8 billion -- are yet to explore the great potential of objective possibilities for joint economic activities. The noticeable drop in trade turnover, especially at the beginning of the year, prompt us to look for new forms of mutually beneficial forms of interaction. In Chernomyrdin's opinion, mutual investments and attracting Chinese investments and the work force into exploration of Russian natural resources and construction of infrastructure facilities, as well as Russia's participation in large projects in China. [sentence as received] It is now time to think about creating joint investment and brokering corporations and there is the possibility to re-examine the agreement on the clearing system of payments. The Russian prime minister also called for broadening cooperation in the sphere of conversion of defense enterprises. He proposed elevating border ties to a higher level by promoting production cooperation and the creation of trade zones with a special regime for foreign investment. At the talks with Premier Li Peng there was a discussion of the question of setting up a bilateral inter-regional body for coordinating trade and economic cooperation between border regions. Dwelling on the economic situation in Russia, the Russian Government chairman noted that in just over two years of reforms progress had been achieved in establishing market relations and consolidating the legal basis of the state. Chernomyrdin told the representatives of business circles that the Russian Government intends by January to reduce inflation to 5-7 percent. In his opinion, of important significance here are the edicts signed a few days ago by the Russian president on tax policy, strengthening the budget and payments discipline, normalizing accounting, liberalizing foreign economic activity, and the reforms of state enterprises. The state does not intend to throw loss-making state enterprises to the mercy of fate. The necessary help will be given to ease the difficulties of the period of transition. Above all, this concerns questions of the social sphere. The government is taking specific actions, which will help to prevent, in practice, a further reduction in the living standards of the Russian people and to keep inevitable unemployment at a socially acceptable level, the Russian prime minister said.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS special correspondents Lyudmila Aleksandrovna, Vyacheslav Tomilin] Shanghai, 28 May -- "The economic zone in Shanghai is a real miracle, and the Chinese experiment should be put to use in Russia as quickly as possible," Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin said today after acquainting himself with a new district of China's largest city. A visit to the Pudong economic development zone was the main item on the agenda for the third day of the Russian prime minister's official visit to China. After looking at Pudong, Viktor Chernomyrdin told journalists of the need to start real work right away on free economic zones in Russia, perhaps without even waiting for a law on them to be passed. "We need to start immediately in individual parts, in the regions," he said. The head of government also stated his intention to "immediately fly to Nakhodka" where there are plans to set up a free economic zone and, if possible, to prepare the appropriate presidential decree. "This should be the locomotive that will move everything else," Viktor Chernomyrdin concluded. During his visit to Pudong, the deputy head of administration of the district, Huang Qifan, told the Russian prime minister how the new territory had been exploited. Huge resources had been invested in Pudong during the four years of its existence. At present, there are about 2,000 enterprises with foreign involvement registered here, and the total investment through concluded contracts amounts to $8.5 billion. According to Huang Qifan, foreign investment is being directed not only into the development of industry, but also into trade and economic and financial spheres. Large resources -- more than 20 billion yuans -- have been used to set up the infrastructure. The deputy head of the district administration gave two reasons for the success: the state's preferential tax policy and the major investment of Chinese national capital, $10 billion over less than five years. The Russian prime minister showed special interest in the conditions of preferential taxation. The district leaders presented Viktor Chernomyrdin with a package of documents concerning the functioning of Pudong and also a symbolic souvenir -- a stone from the Nanpu suspension bridge, which was crossed by the Russian delegation's motorcade. Viktor Chernomyrdin also visited a joint Chinese-Japanese enterprise producing air conditioning systems and the Waigaoqiao free trade zone. Then, the head of the Russian government laid flowers at the monument to Aleksandr Pushkin. Viktor Chernomyrdin's program in Shanghai ended with a meeting with the city's leaders. Tomorrow. the prime minister leaves Shanghai for Dalian.

BFN [By unidentified ITAR-TASS special correspondents Lyudmila Aleksandrova, Grigoriy Arslanov, Pavel Spirin, and Vyacheslav Tomilin] Beijing, 27 May -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin has accepted with great enthusiasm the invitation from Russian President Boris Yeltsin to pay an official visit to Russia. This was stated at a news conference in Beijing today by Viktor Chernomyrdin, head of the Russian Government, on the second day of his visit to the PRC. The prime minister said that the visit by the Chinese leader should take place in September. It was proposed that on his way to Moscow, Jiang Zemin should visit one of Russia's regions, most probably one in the Far East. We regard the forthcoming meeting of the leaders of the two states as very important, Chernomyrdin stated. He added that the conversation that he had had today with Jiang Zemin had been rich in content and very interesting. What we have done represents great progress in the development of our relations, he stressed, summing up the results of the two days of his visit to the PRC. The head of the Russian Government noted the "smooth development" of links between the two countries and stressed that the main stratum of Russian-Chinese relations has not yet been reached and the sides are only now approaching it. Chernomyrdin pointed out that the reduction in the volume of bilateral trade in the first quarter of this year was a temporary phenomenon caused by objective as well as subjective factors. However, there are no grounds for saying that anything serious has occurred and the situation will be put right before the end of the year. Comparing the progress of economic reform in China and Russia, the chairman of the Russian Government noted that it was similar in many respects. Any differences were explained by different potential and different conditions. The PRC is pursuing socialist economic reforms, while we are carrying out economic reforms that have a social thrust, he said. The reforms in China began earlier and there was no shock therapy. In Russia, however, the situation is different. We began with shock therapy. It could not be done any other way. That much is clear, the prime minister stressed. He believes that in future there will be more similarities than differences in the implementation of reform in Russia and China. Referring to China's place in Russian foreign policy, Chernomyrdin noted that relations between Russia and the PRC influence the entire situation in the Asian-Pacific region. I do not think that any issues in the Asian-Pacific region could be discussed or resolved without the participation of these two states, he added. He said that China's growing weight in Asia and its' ties with the states of Central Asia did not worry Russia at all.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondents Grigoriy Arslanov and Pavel Spirin] Beijing, 29 May -- The visit to China by Viktor Chernomyrdin, chairman of the Russian Government, has been completed and he has left the north-eastern Chinese town of Dalian for home. A communique on the results of the visit notes that it was a complete success. At the meeting with Chinese President Jiang Zemin and talks with State Council Premier Li Peng, which were held in a friendly, businesslike, and constructive atmosphere, there was satisfaction that fruitful cooperation in the political, economic, scientific- technical, cultural, military, and law-protection spheres had been established. During the Russian prime minister's four-day official visit, seven intergovernmental documents were signed and willingness was expressed to go on expanding and extending Russian-Chinese cooperation in all directions. The parties confirmed their commitment to the principles established in the joint declaration on the basis of cooperation between Russia and China signed during President Boris Yeltsin's visit to Beijing in December 1992. They declared their resolve to move their good neighborly and amicable interstate links into a new stage of development. The parties are firmly convinced that long-term and stable relations of good neighborliness, friendship, and mutually beneficial cooperation aimed at the 21st century meet the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples and are an important factor for peace, stability, and development in the Asia- Pacific Ocean region and the world as a whole. The further development of Russian-Chinese cooperation in trade and the economy and in science and technology occupied a central place in the talks and the parties expressed their intention to give this greater priority. Since cross-border and interregional cooperation is becoming an essential, constituent part of these relations, the desire was stressed for cooperation in manufacturing and on joint investment projects at regional level. Russia and the People's Republic of China also intend to develop military-technical links while observing both sides' international obligations. There was positive assessment of the Russian-Chinese talks on border questions and the mutual reduction in the Armed Forces and confidence-building measures in the military sphere in the border region. Compliance with the spirit and letter of the agreement on the state border on its eastern part was reaffirmed. The sides intend to continue their talks on outstanding problems, and also to intensify preparations for the agreement on the Russian-Chinese state border on its western part. The importance of reaching an early agreement on a mutual reduction in Armed Forces and confidence-building measures in the military sphere in the border region was noted at the talks. It was felt mutually that the further reaffirmation at the border between the two countries of an atmosphere of peace, good-neighborliness, and cooperation not only contributes to a deepening of mutual trust and mutual understanding in Russian-Chinese inter-state relations, but also favors security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. During the course of an exchange of opinions between Chernomyrdin and the Chinese leadership on questions of the socioeconomic changes in Russia and China, the usefulness of mutual knowledge of the theory and practice of reforms and exchange of experience, with due regard for the specific characteristics of the two countries, in order to assist in deepening an understanding of the situation in Russia and in China, was noted. The document notes the proximity or coincidence of the views of the two countries on fundamental international problems and their intention to strengthen their multitiered, constructive cooperation in regional and world affairs, which is an important factor for stability and security in Asia and for the overall improvement of the situation in the world. The importance of multilateral, economic cooperation in north-east Asia and in the Asia-Pacific Ocean region was acknowledged. The parties agreed to maintain and develop active dialogue at all levels including the highest as they believe that this is of great significance for the further expansion of mutual understanding and mutual trust and the uninterrupted development of good-neighborly and amicable relations and mutually advantageous cooperation between Russia and China. On behalf of the Russian Government, Viktor Chernomyrdin invited Premier Li Peng to make an official visit to Russia in 1995.

BFN Russia's Vice Premier Aleksandr Shokhin announced that a Russian government delegation's official visit to China had failed to settle the problem of mutual debts. He told Interfax that China had not repaid Russia the 80 million Swiss franc credit, extended to it for the construction of a railway (1 dollar equals 1.4 Swiss francs - Interfax). According to the Russian Ministry for Foreign Economic Relations, in 1990 the Soviet Union borrowed 0.5 billion Swiss francs and in 1991 - 1 billion Swiss francs from China (Russia is the Soviet Union's legal successor). Moreover, Russia's debt to China for supplies on a clearing basis exceeds 800 million Swiss francs. Shokhin said that the sides had not yet evaluated all of the mutual debts and claims, and that this work was to be done during the next few weeks. To quote Shokhin, "in order to retain an equal attitude to all creditors, given the current financial problems and other considerations, Russia will have to ask Beijing to put off the repayment of the debt on terms similar to the ones advanced by the Paris Club. Although China is not a member of the Paris Club, if Russia repays its debt to China on more favorable terms, Moscow will find itself in a difficult situation on the eve of the talks with the Paris Club," Shokhin pointed out. "Without a departure from the barter scheme, which allows a couple of Chinese companies to dictate prices and choice of goods, we shall fail to keep trade with China on a proper level," he continued. He also said that China had promised to give Russian exports broader access to the Chinese market.

BFN Russia's First Deputy Defense Minister Andrey Kokoshin is convinced that the Chinese market is lucrative for Moscow and is ready "to consume Russian systems of armaments." He told this to Interfax at the end of the talks he conducted in Beijing as a member of a Russian Government delegation that accompanied Premier Viktor Chernomyrdin in his official visit to China. Kokoshin explained that the systems of arms available in China today had been patterned on Soviet weapon designs. He reported that a contract to sell 26 SU-27 war planes to China was already being implemented. He described SU-27 as a "good machine, which will apparently be in service until 2020-2025, under conditions of essential modernization." He added that there were plans to equip this fighter plane with new on-board arms. He said that his negotiating partner in Beijing was General Liu Huangquing, a vice-chairman of China's Central Military Council. In Kokoshin's assessment, "military cooperation has been going well with close contacts between border military districts and extensive delegation exchanges." He revealed that the Chinese defense minister is to visit Moscow soon. Chinese servicemen are expected at Russian military academies, and Russian Army officers are to undergo training in China.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Aleksandr Chernov] Moscow May 30 TASS -- The Russian president's press service has announced a programme for the South Korean president's forthcoming official visit to Russia. President Kim Yong-sam of the Republic of Korea and his wife arrive in Russia on June 1. The official part of the programme for his stay begins the next day. After a wreath-laying ceremony at the unknown soldier's tomb, an official ceremony of the meeting with President Boris Yeltsin is planned for Thursday morning. Mr. Kim and Yeltsin are to have a conversation later on. Russo-South Korean talks are to be held in the Catherine Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace at 10.40 (06.40 GMT). Then a ceremony is to be held in the St. Vladimir Hall of the palace to hand over archival documents dating back to the 1950-1953 war in Korea. Russo-South Korean documents are to be signed by noon (08.00 GMT). Then a joint press conference of the two presidents will be held. A luncheon with the leaders of parliament houses and members of a number of commissions of Russia's federal assembly is to be held at President-Hotel at 13.30 (09.30 GMT). Later on Mr. Kim is to call on the Federation Council and address the deputies. An official dinner on behalf of the president of Russia is to be given in the Hall of Facets of the Kremlin Palace in the evening on Thursday. Early on Friday morning, June 3, the president of South Korea is to hold a luncheon with Korean journalists at the Staro-Ogarevo residence. Ceremonial activities on that day will begin with a visit to Moscow's M.V. Lomonosov University where the South Korean president will be presented with a certificate of doctor honoris causa. Then Mr. Kim will have a luncheon with representatives of the Russian and Korean business communities. An official ceremony to see the South Korean president off is planned for 16.30 (12.30 GMT). In the morning of June 4, the president of the Republic of Korea and his wife will leave for Tashkent. Judging by a tentative programme, he will leave the capital of Uzbekistan by air for Khabarovsk on June 7 for a meeting with the Khabarovsk territorial administration chief. Mr. Kim will make a flight to Vladivostok where he will meet with the administration chief of the Maritime Territory. A luncheon is to be given in honour of the guest there. In addition, Mr. Kim is to visit a large anti-submarine ship of Russia's Pacific Fleet. Next Tuesday Mr. Kim is to leave by air for Khabarovsk and in the evening of June 7 the president and his wife will depart for Seoul.

BFN [Interview with ROK President Kim Yong-sam by RIA Novosti correspondent Sergey Kudasov specially for NOVAYA YEZHEDNEVNAYA GAZETA in Seoul; date not given: "Eve of Visit: Can You Travel From Seoul to Moscow Bypassing Washington?"] ROK President Kim Yong-sam arrives in Moscow 1 June on an official visit. Russian journalists accredited in Seoul interviewed the South Korean head of state on the eve of his trip. [Kudasov] What is Russia's place in the ROK's "new diplomacy" now and in the long term? [Kim] Korea and Russia have become important partners in cooperating in various spheres, including the economy, security, and culture. That is why I believe that my present visit to Moscow will make it possible to strengthen still further the relations of friendship between the two countries that have developed. If you look at our bilateral relations from the historical viewpoint and with consideration for the geographical location of the two countries one can say that their role and significance will be enhanced in the future. I therefore think that they will develop rapidly despite the past associated with the Cold War years. I have long wanted to visit Russia without combining this visit with trips to other countries since I regard it as extremely important. [Kudasov] In your view, what could be the main result of the coming summit-level meeting with Russian President Boris Yeltsin in the political sphere and the sphere of bilateral trade and economic relations? [Kim] I have already met with B. Yeltsin. I therefore think that during our meeting in Moscow we will be able to have an open exchange of opinions on various issues. Our summit meeting with the Russian president will primarily confirm the fact that constructive partnership, mutually complementary relations already exist between our two countries. Thanks to talks at summit level the sad past in our relations will remain just that and a new era of friendship and cooperation will open up instead. President Yeltsin and I will discuss the international situation and the situation in the region, along with ways of promoting the development of Korean-Russian relations. Thanks to the current talks our countries will strengthen their cooperation not only as regards stabilizing the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia, but also as regards their activity in the United Nations and in the international arena. From the economic viewpoint the Korean-Russian talks will serve to strengthen and develop real mutually complementary relations geared to the future. [Kudasov] How do you see the situation developing in relations between South and North Korea in the near future and can you predict with certainty any substantial progress in this area, including the possibility of a summit-level meeting with DPRK President Kim Il-song? [Kim] As our government has repeatedly stated, given the uncertainty over North Korea's nuclear plans no progress can be expected in North-South relations. In order to make this progress North Korea must first provide the international community with clear proof that it is suspending nuclear development work. If Kim Il-song does indeed want peace on the Korean Peninsula he should abandon nuclear development. If he is sincerely committed to peace North Korea should enter into direct dialogue with the South and should not strive to resolve Korean problems via the United States. The cessation of North Korean nuclear research is the only way of ensuring peace on the Korean Peninsula. Russia has hitherto actively supported our stance on the nuclear problem of North Korea and I am counting on that support in the future. [Kudasov] Do you not have plans to change your system of military cooperation with the United States given your closer rapprochement in this sphere with Russia and, in particular, do you not have plans to buy arms from the latter? [Kim] Our government's main position is that, in order to ease tension on the Korean Peninsula, it is necessary to strengthen relations not only with the United States but also with any neighboring country. Korean-Russian relations have grown even stronger as a result of visits to Russia by the chief of the General Staff of our Armed Forces and the defense minister and also the Russian defense minister's visit to Korea and Russian Navy ships' friendly visits to our ports. In principle I think that the sphere of defense procurements can be expanded. However, this question must be given careful study on the principle that this output must conform with our existing arms systems and their tactical use.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Ivan Zakharchenko] Seoul May 30 TASS -- "South Korea is looking forward to Russia's assistance in the effort to settle the nuclear problem on the Korean peninsula. It will strive to get the Russian Government's support to possible U.N. Security Council sanctions against the Korean People's Democratic Republic during the summit negotiations in Moscow," a representative of the presidential chancery, who preferred to remain anonymous, told a briefing for foreign journalists here today. He said that the South Korean-Russian summit, which is to take place during South Korean President Kim Yong-sam's visit to Moscow (from June 1 to June 4), would be of great importance for the security of the peninsula. The Seoul leadership is disturbed by North Korea's efforts to develop its own nuclear weapons. It calls for international measures to influence Pyongyang if the latter refused to comply with its commitments under the nuclear weapons non-proliferation treaty. In this connection, the support given to this stand by Russia and other major powers would be very important for South Korea. The presidential representative noted that the possibility of Security Council sanctions was growing due to the recent replacement of fuel rods in North Korean 5 megawatt nuclear reactors without the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Kim Yong- sam plans to discuss this problem with Russian President Boris Yeltsin during his visit to Moscow and to find out what would be Russia's stand in this connection. Commenting on Moscow's proposal to call a multilateral conference on the nuclear problem on the Korean peninsula with the participation of Russia, the United States, Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, the Korean People's Democratic Republic, and leaders of the United Nations and the IAEA, the South Korean president's representatives noted that the Seoul government was "carefully studying" the idea. "However," he said, "it is first necessary to see how the situation on the peninsula develops under the impact of continuing efforts exerted in the same direction by the United Nations and the IAEA." During his talks with Boris Yeltsin, the same source informed, Kim Yong-sam plans to discuss the terms of the treaty of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance, which was concluded between the USSR and the Korean People's Democratic Republic in 1961. The South Korean side is particularly interested to know whether Russia would be inevitably drawn into a military conflict if it broke out in Korea. According to the YONHAP news service, a meeting on problems of security was held in Seoul today. President Kim Yong-sam instructed his government during the meeting to take preparatory steps against any surprises linked with the unpredictability of Pyongyang's nuclear plans. At the same time, south korea reaffirmed during the meeting its intention to continue the efforts to overcome the current crisis by peaceful means.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Vladimir Solntsev] Moscow May 30 TASS -- Disagreements over the location of the Russian Embassy in Seoul have lately become one of the main irritants in relations between Russia and South Korea, Russian high- level sources said on the eve of South Korean President Kim Yong- Sam's official visit to Moscow beginning on June 1. The sources said that the South Korean Embassy in Moscow is located in the prestigious quarters of the city in an excellent building, while the Russian diplomats have been provided with a building in a poor condition on the outskirts of the city. Additionally, the South Korean authorities have confiscated, without ample enough grounds, according to the Russian side, the territory previously occupied by the Russian Embassy. "This question has a very disappointing side," a high-ranking Russian diplomat said. After South Korea established diplomatic relations with China, the Russian officials recalled, China received the building of the former Taiwanese Embassy in the centre of Seoul without any problem. Vietnam was provided with the building previously occupied by South Vietnam and only Russia has been denied the right to the building which, officials said, had been its rightful property since the end of the 19th century.

BFN Moscow, May 29 (YONHAP) -- Russia's national television Ostankino cancelled airing of the second part of its documentary on the Korean war, which had been to be aired Saturday afternoon. The program was to be aired from at 3:55 to 4:25 PM, but shortly before the airing, Ostankino said the program was cancelled because of "an unexpected condition." Ostankino gave no further explanation, only adding that it will later announce the airing time of the program, but informed sources here said the program is likely not to be aired. At the first part of the program aired on May 21, Gen. Dmitriy Volkogonov, a Russian authority on the Korean war and former military adviser to President Boris Yeltsin, clearly showed that the Korean war broke out by North Korea's invasion of the South. Sources in the Russian press said that North Korea seemed to have appealed strongly to the Russian Government, legislature and Ostankino on airing of the program and called on them to stop airing the second part of the documentary.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Aleksandr Valiyev] Pyongyang, 30 May (ITAR-TASS) -- A military delegation from Vietnam paid an unannounced visit to the DPRK this month. The talks with the North Korean side covered a number of issues, primarily the coming visit of the Vietnamese defense minister to Pyongyang on 16 June, informed sources told ITAR-TASS. The sources said the visit should have taken place three days ago but was postponed for undisclosed reasons. The republic's mass media said nothing about the Vietnamese military delegation's visit. Local observers believe that the sides are also making arrangements for the sale of rifles and other arms manufactured in the north of the Korean peninsula. Representatives of the Vietnamese Embassy in North Korea denied that a Vietnamese military delegation visited North Korea. According to them, the Vietnamese defense minister will visit Pyongyang this year as planned earlier, but they declined to say what is in the plan.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Vadim Byrkin] Moscow May 30 TASS -- The equipment of the Kuwaiti army with the newest Russian arms which have been demonstrated to Kuwaiti military leaders and which will soon begin arriving in Kuwait will help increase Kuwait's defence capability, Russian Defence Minister Pavel Grachev said. The Russian Defence Ministry will also train specialists to operate and maintain Russian military equipment in Kuwait, Grachev said at a meeting with visiting Kuwaiti parliament chairman Ahmad al-Sa'dun in Moscow on Monday. Kuwait is the first Persian Gulf country to have signed a military cooperation agreement with Russia. "Russia strictly and consistently observes the spirit of the agreement signed by the defence ministers of the two countries on November 29, 1993 in Moscow," Grachev said. He used as an example the joint Russian-Kuwaiti military exercises which Russia is ready to repeat and military and technical cooperation between the two countries. The Russian minister pointed to the similarity of positions of the Russian and Kuwaiti leaders on regional and global security, including Middle East settlement and the resolution of the crisis in Yemen. Grachev welcomed the visit of the Kuwaiti parliamentary delegation to Russia as an important event in the development of bilateral cooperation, including in the military sphere. Ahmad al-Sa'dun told journalists after the meeting that the aim of his visit is to convey the warmest wishes and gratefulness of the people of Kuwait for Russia's firm position on the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. He also pointed to the closeness of his views on Russian-Kuwaiti military cooperation with Grachev's and said that the Kuwaiti parliament fully supported and ratified the agreement on military cooperation between the two countries. He expressed the confidence that the Russian lawmakers will follow suit.

BFN [From the "Diplomatic Panorama" feature by correspondents Igor Porshnev, Vitaliy Trubetskoy and others] The ten-day term within which Russian and Ukrainian experts must work out an agreement on the Black Sea Fleet, will be counted from May 30 Monday and instead of May 25 Wednesday when the talks between the Russian-Ukrainian premiers had been completed, a Russian Foreign Ministry official, a participant in the talks told Interfax. Referring to an agreement with the Ukrainian party, he refused to enumerate the issues on which the parties had failed to agree. "We keep our word if we give it. Unfortunately, this cannot be said about some members of the Ukrainian delegation," he remarked mentioning the leakage of information on unsettled issues in Kiev. Commenting on possible introduction of direct presidential rule in Crimea, the diplomat suggested that the Crimean problem could not be solved just by administrative measures. "It is possible to dismiss the Crimean parliament unwilling to cede to the pressure exercised by Kiev and thus to gain political capital before the presidential elections. However, this will not resolve the Crimean problems," the diplomat underlined. He said that the Russian Foreign Ministry and other Russian organizations were receiving more and more letters from Russians living in Ukraine. They were complaining about the arbitrary rule exercised by the local authorities which were carrying out forceful "Ukranization," the diplomat stressed. He said that this was not in conformity with democratic principles and values in fidelity to which Kiev had sworn. In an interview with Interfax a former Soviet human rights' activist, now the head of the department for international humanitarian and cultural cooperation at the Russian Foreign Ministry Vyacheslav Bakhmin has said that the introduction of presidential rule in Crimea can freeze the situation at best, even though that is hardly likely. In his opinion extraordinary regulations will not resolve the problems of Crimea. They should be resolved at the political level through a dialogue and mutual concessions. From a diplomatic point of view Crimea constitutes an internal problem of Ukraine and Russia's active interference would be counter-productive, Bakhmin said. The diplomat believes that the idea of holding a referendum on separation from Ukraine in Crimea has not future. In principle CSCE permits such a possibility, but the example of Karabakh shows how the principle works in real life politics. It works poorly causing much bloodshed. In Bakhmin's opinion the introduction of dual citizenship can hardly resolve all Crimean problems. "Dual citizenship can change the psychological condition of a man but it can hardly influence his actual position, he said. An agreement on dual citizenship implies the principle of effective citizenship, i.e. the citizenship of the country in which the person lives at the moment. The other citizenship "sleeps" meanwhile. It "wakes up" when the person moves to the country of his second citizenship." The diplomat is convinced that problems similar to the Crimean one and related to the rights of nations or big groups of people can be resolved only on the basis of respect for human rights not just the rights of nations. The rights of nations are secondary compared to human rights, Bakhmin stressed.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Anatoliy Gordeyev] Donetsk May 27 TASS -- At their meeting in Donetsk today, leaders of frontier regions of Russia and Ukraine adopted a number of documents which will regulate economic and cultural cooperation between regions. Representatives of the Rostov, Bryansk, Kursk, Voronezh and Belgorod regions of russia, and the Kharkov, Lugansk, Sumy, Chernigov and Donetsk regions of Ukraine have established an executive committee of the council of leaders of frontier regions and elected co-chairmen. During the first year the work of the executive committee will be coordinated by Vasiliy Ryabykh, head of the department in the administration of the Belgorod region. One of the main documents signed by participants in the meeting is a package of proposals on inserting amendments in standard acts of the two states regulating frontier relations. The status of frontier regions envisages real business cooperation between neighboring regions. On the basis of this document import and export of industrial commodities manufactured there and intended for the use at plants located in neighboring regions, must be exempted from customs duties and taxes. Participants in the meeting also discussed the mechanism for the implementation of the Ukrainian president's decree "on measures on the development of economic cooperation among regions of Ukraine and frontier regions of the Russian Federation" which provides for the possibility for students of one republic to study in educational establishments of the other republic. It was noted at the meeting that positive experience in this field was accumulated, for instance, by the Rostov and Donetsk regions which are carrying out the exchange of students. The meeting also considered a question of setting up an association of economic cooperation called the "Russian-Ukrainian Union". However, participants in the meeting stressed that all these documents just as cooperation between separate regions of the contiguous states would remain only good wishes if the aspiration for neighborliness was not legalized by corresponding inter-state acts. In this connection participants in the meeting appealed to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine to speed up the working out and signing of a treaty on friendship, cooperation and partnership between the two states.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Vladimir Gondusov] Moscow, 27 May -- Principles of Russia's border policy will be set out today by Boris Yeltsin at a conference of top commanders of the Russian border troops. On the eve of the president's address the deputy commanders-in-chief of the Russian border troops and commanders of border districts and groups were presented to him. On arrival at border troops headquarters, Yeltsin said he intended to discuss with border troops the complex tasks facing the defenders of the Russian border. The president spoke of the need to organize a new system for the protection of borders with the Baltic republics, the Transcaucasus, and other states of the CIS. Yeltsin stressed that, in accordance with Russia's new constitution, it was necessary to improve the legislative basis for the activities of border forces and departments that cooperate with them.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondents Viktor Demidenko and Mikhail Melnik] Kiev, 28 May -- The Crimean leadership's position will damage "Ukraine's goodneighborly relations with Russia, which have always been, and still are, the determining factor in spite of everything," Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk believes. The Ukrainian head of state said this at the end of his one-day visit to Chernobyl AES [nuclear power station] and to the power workers' town of Slavutich. "The leaders of the Crimean Republic say they want to be a bridge between Ukraine and Russia, but in fact they are laying a `mine' under this bridge," the president said. Leonid Kravchuk believes that there are forces that are doing this consciously, and there are also those who are laying this `mine' because they can see no civilized way to resolve the problem" [no open quotation marks as received]. "They have an arsenal of rallies and slogans," he added. At the same time, the president voiced the hope that "common sense will prevail among those who are disregarding the laws and Constitution of Ukraine and the universally acknowledged principles of the world community." The president thinks "no one has the right to cross over the `red' line in pursuit of ambitions. If anyone goes this far, we will take decisive and consistent action, but within the framework of the Constitution. There is no other way." There is only one way: To resolve all problems peacefully in accordance with the law, Leonid Kravchuk emphasized. He also issued a warning to those who strive to achieve their own parochial interests. The president stressed: There are enough forces in Ukraine to neutralize those who "resort to unlawful actions." He stressed at the same time that he will not permit any infringement of the principles of goodneighborly relations with Russia.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondents Viktor Demidenko, Mikhail Melnik] Kiev, 27 May -- Ukrainian Presidential Aide Nikolay Mikhalchenko has denied Russian media reports about a statement he is supposed to have made on the possibility of introducing presidential rule to Crimea. In an exclusive interview with ITAR-TASS today, he said that on 31 May, the Ukrainian Supreme Soviet may resume debating the Crimean question as the 10-day deadline for bringing the Crimean constitution into line with that of Ukraine, as set by the Ukrainian Parliament, is running out. "It is impossible to predict today what decisions the Supreme Soviet will take or to talk about specific steps," Nikolay Mikhalchenko said. At the same time, he added that "Ukrainian legislature does not provide for introducing presidential rule. Therefore, anyone who talks about it is deliberately tricking the public."

BFN [By ITAR-TASS special correspondent Vladimir Gondusov] Simferopol, 30 May -- Deputies of the Crimean Parliament have decided at the sittings of their commissions that there are no grounds for rescinding their decision on restoring the main points of the 1992 Constitution, which provides for setting up a Crimean statehood and building Crimea's relations with Ukraine on the basis of treaties. An ITAR-TASS correspondent learned this from Viktor Mezhak, deputy chairman of the Crimean Parliament. Today is the deadline of the 10-day period during which, at the demand of the Ukrainian Parliament, the Crimean Supreme Council was to have brought the Crimean Constitution into agreement with the Ukrainian Constitution currently in force and with the law on the division of powers between the state power bodies of the two republics. Mezhak said that common sense should prevail at the session of the Ukrainian Supreme Council, which is opening tomorrow [31 May], and that the Ukrainian Parliament should not empower the president of Ukraine to "act stupidly" with regard to Crimea, as he called it. All the more so, he said, that not a single statement in the restored Constitution violates territorial integrity or leads to existing borders being redrawn because, under the Constitution, Crimea remains part of Ukraine. However, it would henceforth develop its relations with Ukraine on the basis of treaties and agreements through delegating power. According to the deputy chairman of the Crimean Parliament, a working group is to be formed from deputies of the Ukrainian Supreme Council and it is to come to Sevastopol no later than Friday [3 June] in order to continue the talks previously held in Kiev. Mezhak said the situation in Crimea is reasonably quiet and there are no grounds for concern. However, in his opinion, attempts to destabilize it from the outside depress people and introduce a note of anxiety into their everyday life and work.

BFN [Viktor Yadukha report from Simferopol in the "Peninsula" column: "Crimean Parliament Shows Its Teeth to the President. Half the Peninsula's Population Awaits Action from Meshkov"] The Crimean Supreme Council session which has just opened showed that, despite ideological common ground with the parliamentary majority, President Yuriy Meshkov has failed to avoid traditional friction with people's deputies. After the session formed a working group on further talks with Kiev on the fate of the Crimean constitution the deputies went ahead with discussing the cabinet structure. The president's proposal to cut the apparatus of the ministries of culture, education, and public health by merging them into a social security ministry was rejected out of hand by the Supreme Council. Yet more important for the head of state was the confirmation of eight candidates from the Yevgeniy Saburov team who so far are only acting ministers. Addressing parliament, Mr. Saburov stated that Crimea has turned out to be not ready to rectify the "twisted economic relations" amid plummeting demand. The vice premier sees an answer in attracting foreign investments and swifter privatization and reform in general. This did not please the deputies who do not trust in the possibility of legal privatization while regarding calls for wide investments as attempts by "Moscow Varangians" to sell off the peninsula to foreigners. The house jeered and called for a concrete plan of action. It was in vain that Mr. Meshkov tried to remind the deputies about former cooperation, asking to confirm his men. The cabinet opponents were joined by communist and Crimean Tatar factions, with the result that the ministers were not approved. Meshkov, Saburov, and the government walked out of the house. Meanwhile, the popularity rating of Meshskov, who not so long ago scored a fairly convincing victory in elections, is falling. According to the Crimean Social Studies Center, only 12 percent of the respondents fully approve of the president's performance; 18 percent support it; the same proportion of respondents say they have never trusted him; and 43 percent want action from him.

BFN [Nikolay Semena report: "Ye. Saburov Has Problems with Crimean Parliament"] Sevastopol -- On 26 May the Crimean parliament deferred the adoption of a decision on the formation of the republic's government. Yu. Meshkov called this the third government crisis in the Crimea. After submitting to the Crimean Supreme Soviet a report on the program for a solution to the crisis, Vice Premier Ye. Saburov came under the fiercest criticism from the deputies. Deputy V. Balla, chairman of the parliamentary economy commission, called his speech "an economics lecture for first-year students." Doubts were voiced about the report's provisions on the role of the banks in the Crimean economy and its view of privatization. Moreover, he was accused of lacking confidence in local cadres of leaders and specialists, of inactivity, and of not being in charge of the situation. Deputy V. Shevza proposed that he seize the initiative and draft his own program for a way out of the crisis instead of the government. Deputies demanded that a law on the government be submitted to the Supreme Council session first, then its concept and structure, and only after that should personnel appointments be made. Crimean President Yu. Meshkov tried to convince deputies of the need for the earliest possible solution of the question of the government and asked that, in accordance with the results of an opinion poll among inhabitants of the Crimea, he be empowered to issue edicts with the force of law and form a government on the basis of the structure envisaged by an edict already issued. Yu. Meshkov said that the deputies' criticism of Ye. Saburov was unethical and premature because there is no government as such yet. Ye. Saburov himself also considered this criticism wrong because he said that it was biased, uninformed, and expressed from the Ukrainian Government's standpoint. He described how at the meeting in Moscow "the wise Ye. Zvyagilskiy had advised him not to sever ties with his institution once and for all." The deputies, however, with the active participation of the "Russia" bloc, did not support the president and deferred the question on the government. After that, deputy L. Krasnovskaya announced that she was leaving the "Russia" bloc, and Yu. Meshkov, Ye. Saburov, and all the candidates for ministerial posts ostentatiously left the hall. After examining the results of the talks in Kiev on the fate of the constitution, the Crimean Supreme Council elected its part of the general working group, which included five deputies. It also recommended that several specialists be invited to take part in its work. As for the agreed suspension of the law on the restoration of the constitution, the Crimean deputies decided not to do that for the time being but to return to the question later. Here are further details on one event. At 1600 hours on 24 May, the Sevastopol militia discovered two home-made explosive devices made from TNT cartridges weighing in total 5.2 kg, plus six detonators and 36 meters of fuse wire which had been hidden near a bridge across the Fiolentovskoye Highway. Later that night a suspicious individual was detained near the same place as he was attempting to throw an object away into the darkness. A search revealed this object to be a revolver. The detainee was searched and more fuse wire was found, identical to that found together with the concealed explosive device. The detained man was Veniamin Demin, a retired officer who hails from Moscow. He used to be a miner in a special-purpose team in Nikolayev Oblast. Back in December 1993 he was ordered to leave his permanent place of residence in Ochakov and go back to Moscow. Competent organs have confirmed the discovery and the detention. It is believed that the detained man worked for a mafia grouping and that his mission was to commit an act of terrorism, but other motives have not been ruled out. An investigation is in progress.

BFN The Crimean leadership's goal is economic independence, not Ukraine's breakup, the Crimean president's top aide Vladimir Karpov told Interfax on Monday. He said that Crimea would welcome relations with Kiev similar to relations between Russia and Tatarstan. Meanwhile, Kiev has stated on many occasions that unlike Russia, Kiev was a unitary state and that the conclusion of such an agreement would go against the Ukrainian laws. Commenting on some of the Ukrainian politicians' plans to introduce direct presidential rule in Crimea, Karpov said that the implementation of such a plan would be unfair. He admitted, however, that the Crimean parliament's decision to restore the 1992 Constitution had been taken in haste. He noted that on the eve of the decision-making, Crimean President Yuriy Meshkov had urged the deputies to put the decision off at least until autumn. Crimea's restored constitution provides for treaty-based relations with Ukraine and for the Crimean citizens' right to dual citizenship. Karpov believes that a commission of Crimean deputies and their Ukrainian colleagues could settle all the disputable issues. He also expressed the hope that a Ukrainian parliamentary delegation's forthcoming visit to Crimea would help ease tensions. "Crimea is always ready for compromise. The Crimean deputies have a good command of the language of compromise and diplomacy," said Karpov.

BFN Kiev [no dateline as received] -- A UNIAN correspondent learned on 27 May that Ukrainian Interior Minister Andriy Vasylyshyn has sent a letter addressed to President Kravchuk, Acting Prime Minister Zvyahilskyy, and Supreme Council chairman Oleksandr Moroz. The letter particularly notes that in connection with the complex crime situation on the peninsula, Ukraine's Interior Ministry is taking additional measures towards stabilizing it. In particular, the ministry has instructed the heads of interior bodies in the Crimea to adhere strictly to the law of Ukraine "on the militia" and not to allow illegal actions, which inexperienced politicians and Valeriy Kuznetsov can depend on. Ukraine's interior minister has consulted with Russian Interior Minister Yerin on these issues. The letter also notes that Kuznetsov is intensifying the atmosphere of confrontation. In particular, he banned the heads of the Crimea's interior bodies from giving permission for a meeting between Ukraine's Interior Ministry employees with the personnel [presumably of the Crimea's interior bodies]. "The complexity of the crime situation in the Crimea and the adoption by Valeriy Kuznetsov of unprofessional decisions compels Ukraine's Interior Ministry to keep a small number (30 persons) of unarmed employees from the apparatus of Ukraine's Interior Ministry directly in the Crimea," the letter notes. On 28 May a senior official in Ukraine's Interior Ministry, who wished to remain anonymous, commented on the situation at the request of a UNIAN correspondent, noting that "after the election of Yuriy Meshkov as president of the Crimea, it was expected that a conflict would emerge between him and Oleksandr Plyuta, Crimea's interior minister, who refused to implement a decree by Yuriy Meshkov that ran counter to Ukraine's current legislation. But the arrival of Valeriy Kuznetsov, a person from Yuriy Meshkov's entourage, on the scene as well as his attempt to resubordinate to himself a Berkut detachment, made the situation more complicated. Understanding that the situation was becoming more acute, Andriy Vasylyshyn has been trying to contact Yuriy Meshkov, but he has left his telephone calls and letters unanswered. "Ukraine's Interior Ministry, while striving to avoid an escalation of tension, contemplated the possibility of confirming Valeriy Kuznetsov as Crimea's interior minister. But by his actions, he has proved himself not only unprofessional but also dangerous. He has himself ended up as a hostage to the situation. "Having exhausted all possibilities, Ukraine's Interior Ministry has appealed to President Kravchuk with a request that he make use of his right as commander in chief and resubordinate the Crimea's armed militia detachment to Ukraine's Interior Ministry. As a result, the main interior directorate of Crimea of Ukraine's Ministry Interior was formed, which was headed by Valeriy Chernyshov. The events in the Crimea have shown that Valeriy Kuznetsov and the people who direct him are trying to play the Crimean card according to this very scenario, but we have managed to achieve a certain improvement of the situation through personal contacts and explanations too."

BFN [By ITAR-TASS special correspondent Sergey Karmalito] Simferopol May 27 TASS -- The decree of Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk to reorganize the Crimean security service into the Ukrainian security service's main department in the Crimea and subordinate it directly to Kiev "is illegal in all respects," Chairman of the Crimean Security Service Vladimir Lepikhov told ITAR-TASS today. In his opinion, the decree will not help to raise the efficiency of the department or ensure security of the law-governed democratic Crimean Republic. Judging by official statements of the Ukrainian side, the Ukrainian Security Service does nothing to destabilize situation in the Crimea, said the service chairman. At the same time, movement of materiel and deployment of hospitals claimed by Kiev as an arrangement planned for the first half of the year run counter to the striving to preserve tranquility in the Crimea and give grounds to mass media for stirring up tension. The ongoing reinforcement of the Ukrainian National Guard units in the Crimea both with materiel and personnel does the same. All these steps provoke concern of Crimean residents, parliament deputies and republican heads, said Lepikhov. It would be better to abstain from these actions or change their form, he added. In the opinion of Lepikhov, the only civilized way out is boosted negotiations with the Crimea. The intensive dialogue should aim to settle disputable issues related to the restored validity of the Crimean Constitution of May 6, 1992, coordination of this decision with Ukraine at all levels, and conclusion of corresponding treaties and agreements and delegation of powers. All efforts should aim to reach a consensus, he stressed.

BFN Sevastopol, 26 May -- The Crimean security service personnel have declared their support for the Ukrainian president's edict disbanding the service. They confirmed their subordination to the Ukrainian leadership and expressed their willingness for close cooperation with the leaders of Crimea "for the sake of solving vital problems in the region." The appeal by the personnel of the Ukrainian security service directorate in Crimea to the Crimean president and parliament was published in the Crimean press.

BFN ["Excerpt" of Interview with Yevhen Marchuk, minister of state for the Ukrainian National Security Service, by unidentified correspondent on 26 May; place not given -- originally carried on Ukrainian television program "Pravo"] [Correspondent] Yevhen Kyrylovych, my colleagues and some politicians have immediately rushed, in my opinion, into christening the developments in Crimea to be an acute crisis, as it were. Does this in your view as a professional correspond with reality and how does the Security Service feel in the present situation in Crimea? [Marchuk] In spite of the atmosphere there in this episode in particular and that surrounding the service -- the former security service of Crimea -- in general, the people we are working with are high-standard professionals, rather than (?hysterical) nervous wrecks, which is why situations like this, as they say, do not make us feel at a loss. To date, the National Security Service of Ukraine has fulfilled the requirements of Ukrainian President Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk's directive of 18 May on reforming the Crimean security service and setting up on the basis of that service the Security Service of Ukraine Main Directorate in Crimea. The president in this particular case exercised his constitutional right. In accordance with Article 114.5, the president as a guarantor of the Constitution, territorial integrity, and national security, has the right to reorganize -- I would like to emphasize that this is exactly what that article in the Constitution points out -- to create, reorganize, and disband various executive power establishments such as ministries, departments, and so on. The security service is a branch of executive power and it is exactly on the basis of those requirements in that article of the Constitution that the reorganization was carried out. What does it mean? It means that a Security Service of Ukraine subdivision is in action in Crimea. It functional duties, structure, and numerical strength, however, have not been altered. I, incidentally, informed Crimean President Meshkov about this in writing in a telegram. And secondly... [Correspondent] As for -- I beg your pardon -- as for the accusations that the Security Service of Ukraine and its subdivisions in Crimea are now pursuing an anti-Crimean policy and engaging in anti-Crimean activities, can you respond to these accusations and can you say if they conform to reality? [Marchuk] This, as they say, is a preplanned misinformation because, as I have already said, neither the functional duties nor the structure or the numerical strength of this subdivision have been changed. And the priority tasks of this subdivision remain as they were before: to combat corruption, organized crime, protect the economy, and protect civil peace in Crimea. However, at present, unfortunately, by virtue of the circumstances which are now taking place in Crimea we had to slightly shift emphasis and give priority to carrying out the work which is necessary to ensure civil peace and ease tensions in society. And, without fail, one of our principal tasks is to provide the bodies of power with information... [Correspondent] By the way, I would like to ask you how does the Security Service build relations with the local administration? [Marchuk] ...today -- I have not completed the sentence -- to provide the bodies of power with information about the most vital problems of Crimea, as, by the way, is the case with all our territorial subdivisions. In this respect we changed nothing. As we were providing information before, the Main Directorate of the Ukrainian Security Service in Crimea now informs the leading bodies of Crimea in writing, both the president and the Supreme Council, about issues which, even at a local level, the issues which are of vital importance for Crimea. Two written reports of this kind have been made today. In all, a few reports have been made in the last few days since 18 May when the status of the [Crimean] security service was changed and it was reorganized. Because there is a very large number of various insinuations, I would like to emphasize and to some extent explain why the president of Ukraine took that decision. You know that a decision of that kind was also taken in relation to Internal Affairs Ministry structures, but I would only like to speak on the security service. The thing is that the Crimean leadership made two attempts, unilaterally and without any coordination with Kiev. The first one was the attempt to give the chair of the head of the Security Service of Crimea to a former or retired military general who had been chief of staff of the XXXII Army Corps. But in compliance with our law, the security service of Crimea, as all territorial bodies, is a constituent part of the single security system, which is, by the way, the case with all countries, even federative ones. Then the second attempt. [Correspondent] A relevant militarization, so to say, of the power-wielding structures. Am I right? [Marchuk] Yes, you are right. To be more precise and to compare the two actions, the first one being the appointment of the former commander of the XXXII Army Corps minister of internal affairs by the president of Crimea and then by the Supreme Council [of Crimea], and then the attempts to give, as I have already said, the chair of the chief of the Security Service of Ukraine to the former chief of staff of this XXXII Army Corps; that is to say, he is also a former military general. And it became clear that the leadership of Crimea was embarking on the road of militarization of the power-wielding structures; that is, these former, retired generals, as it had probably been planned, were supposed to establish order in Crimea. You can understand what it means when generals in retirement establish order on such a small territory as the Crimean autonomous region. No great deal of forecasting need be made here, as they say, because it is already known what kind of heroic deeds have now been undertaken by the internal affairs minister as a result of his unprofessional actions, which he himself, incidentally, admitted saying that he was not a professional (?in that field). [Correspondent] Once we have started disproving rumors and some unverified information, can you refute reports by some of the media on spetsnaz troops being deployed in Crimea, on bringing National Guard units to full combat alert, and so on, as the list is endless? And incidentally, as a professional, what in your view are these allegations aimed at? [Marchuk] Before I answer this question I would like to underline, and I want all citizens of Ukraine to know this, first and foremost those who reside in Crimea: The Security Service of Ukraine as a whole and all its subdivisions and the Main Directorate of the Security Service in Crimea -- I am saying this with absolute responsibility and officially -- is one of the factors of stabilization of the situation in Crimea. I have already said that we had to do and we now have to do much, even here in Kiev, so as to neutralize and alleviate the situation in Crimea. I will provide the following example. Quite often I speak with various Crimean leaders, including president Meshkov, and so on. But most often I have to talk with the Black Sea Fleet commander Eduard Dmytrievich Baltin, because you understand that such a gigantic military structure is stationed there and the situation in Crimea will very much depend on how it behaves. During one of our conversations he complained: Yevgeniy Kirilovich, you understand, how should I, as a serviceman, as the one responsible for the fleet, perceive this, for example, report that in the vicinity of some village in Kherson Oblast a hospital is being deployed to receive those wounded by shrapnel, that in the vicinity of some village in Odessa oblast a hospital is being deployed, allegedly the hospital of the Odessa military district is being deployed according to a war-time scale, that attacks are being prepared against the Black Sea Fleet riverine brigade's ships in Izmail. It took me no more than 20 minutes to immediately give the task to our directorates in Odessa and Kherson and to the military counter-intelligence and then to contact the minister of defense, Radetskyy, to clear up in 20 minutes that this is an outright lie -- excuse me for this word. But someone is bringing it to the knowledge of the Black Sea Fleet commander. Incidentally, you and we are in a way colleagues in that, being professionals, both you and we operate primarily on the basis of information. It seems to me, however, that that information has a somewhat specific character and just a journalist without a prompt from a specialist would simply not be able to present or invent it. This is someone being used as a mouthpiece and the mass media have spread this misinformation with a particular aim. But what is this aim, (?I would like to ask)? After that conversation with Baltin, tension was eased, as it were. I, by the way, had some information too. [Correspondent] As a challenge? [Marchuk] As a challenge. I had some information about a plane from Moscow, incidentally with a spetsnaz group on board too, flying towards one of his airfields. As officials, I trust Baltin and he trusts me. We may withhold something from each other but I do not think we could tell untruths. At least I do not do this. So literally within 20 to 30 minutes we disposed of much of the information that was causing tension. Some two-and-a-half to three hours later, however, with a map and a sound accompaniment on top of it all, and I am told by our staff in Crimea about whom this all benefits and who presents this information this way. From the point of view of a professional, all this, unfortunately, is very simple: All this is qualified as information of a purposeful nature, popularly known as misinformation or, in even simpler terms, a lie. It is presented, however, at a certain moment in time, in a certain way and on a certain territory in order to -- it is aimed at something after all -- to cause tension, intimidate, for example, the Crimean leadership by saying: "You see what is happening" and push someone towards some careless or even, forgive me, hysterical actions. However, unfortunately, those who were organizing this so-called help to Crimea, those who thought they were helping it, they did grave harm to Crimea. Very many applications from other countries have been withdrawn by today. I do not know exactly how many. [Correspondent] Up to 15,000 according to information available to me. [Marchuk] I believe the losses suffered by Crimea will amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions due to this very information. It was spread all over the world. It was spread all over the CIS countries. We already know that foreign companies from the CIS countries cancelled many routes and tours. So as they say, it was quite excessive, ostensibly endeavoring to achieve a noble goal but at the same time, I think, harming Crimea primarily by creating an atmosphere of quite serious tension, if not a panic, and, secondly, frightening off the people whose stay there could have generated some revenues to the local budget. [Correspondent] That is, to the detriment of their own? [Marchuk] Mainly to the detriment of Crimea, rather than that of their own as they are not in Crimea. I think that there is a way out of it after all but everyone should cool down, as they say, and realize it is they themselves who are responsible for their decisions.

CSO ["Declaration of the Republic Committee of the Communist Party of Crimea"] The Supreme Council of the Republic of Crimea has reinstated the validity of certain provisions of the Republic of Crimea Constitution of 6 May 1992, thereby providing a pretext for interpreting this step as a premise for violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. While understanding the motives guiding the people's deputies, the Republic Committee of the Communist Party of Crimea nonetheless considers it its duty to declare that this step contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine and generally recognized principles of international law, providing dishonorable politicians an opportunity to stir up conflict. This is exactly what has prompted the sense of alert with which the world is following the development of events around the peninsula. However, something else is also drawing attention. Why is it precisely right now that Crimea is surrounded with such attention? The president of Ukraine has long been attempting to postpone the elections of the president and local councils. Rumors persistently abound regarding the incapacity of the new Supreme Council of Ukraine, on the possible introduction of presidential rule, and then--on elimination of the very system of councils as organs of true sovereignty of the people. Those who would like to see this have placed their hopes in a breakdown of the elections of the Supreme Council of Ukraine. Not only did the elections take place, however--they also constituted in essence a universal referendum which the president has always avoided (contrary to the demands of the miners) and which in fact condemned the course of the Ukrainian leadership to one of self-isolation and severed ties with Russia and other CIS countries, though in words there is no shortage of oaths testifying to the benefit of such ties. Is this not why the presidents of Russia and Ukraine urgently needed (just as was the case during the "conflict" in Odessa prior to the second round of voting in the elections to the Supreme Council of Ukraine) to tie into a single knot the boycott by national-democrats of the functioning of the Supreme Council of Ukraine, the tension surrounding Crimea, the resolute declarations of ministers of defense and politicians, and the no less haughty and disdainful utterances of B. Yeltsin "warning" the Ukrainian president? Here they were counting on providing the president of Ukraine a "pretext" for the introduction of presidential rule and for postponing the elections of the president and local councils. And on the president being able to "save face" in this regard, "basing" this step on the highest interests--the preservation of peace and tranquility in Ukraine and in the world. A dishonest game, a hypocritical position that can lead to bloodshed--this is the price of that "anxiety" over the situation in Crimea we hear resounding in speeches in Kiev and Moscow, in the calls to "stand up for Crimea" that are ringing out in response on the peninsula itself. We turn to the deputies of the Supreme Councils of Crimea and Ukraine, and to political parties and movements, with the following appeal: Realize in whose hands you may turn out to be a tool, though guided by the finest motives. We call upon you not to provide any pretext for canceling the elections of the president and local councils in Ukraine. For if these elections are not held, it will be a victory for reactionary forces. A victory the consequences of which will be tragic for the fate of social justice, democracy, and the striving to unite the peoples of all fraternal republics! People, be vigilant!

BFN [Captain 1st Rank Pasyakin report in the "News from the Regions" column: "Hryvna Advancing; Coupon in Rapid Retreat"] Sevastopol -- Following the deterioration in the situation in Crimea, a meeting took place in Sevastopol of representatives of various parties and movements which created the National Front "Sevastopol-Fleet-Russia." Crimean Supreme Soviet deputy Aleksandr Kruglov has been elected its chairman. Political instability is leading to economic instability. The U.S. dollar, the West German mark, and the Russian ruble have surged in value. Dollar bills are being bought at the rate of $1 per 50,000 karbovanets. Large-denomination Russian bank notes (they are especially valued) go at 1:25. The people, repeatedly cheated by the state and "fed" by rumors about the introduction of the Ukrainian hryvna, are actively dumping coupons and sweeping everything off the shelves.

BFN Sevastopol [no dateline as received] -- The press center of the Naval Forces of Ukraine reported on 28 May that the brigade of the Black Sea Fleet river ships stationed in Izmail was brought to full combat readiness. The personnel on the motorboats and bases on shore received weapons and bullet-proof vests. Six motorboats carrying full loads of fuel and food were moved into battle formation. Urgent training was conducted at the commandant's office, which was put under the protection of military guards. Devices were dismantled on the reserve motorboats and on shore, and a reserve weapons firing system was wrecked. These actions were the result of a possible order on the transfer of the motorboats to the Sea of Azov. According to the Ukrainian Naval Forces press center, the order to bring the brigade to full combat readiness was issued by its commander, Captain 2d Rank V. Belenko, who was not sober at the time. According to information provided by the Ukrainian Naval Forces press center, the fleet command is concerned about the developments in Izmail, which could have led to unpredictable consequences. The command of Ukraine's Naval Forces expressed the hope that the Black Sea Fleet command would be able to control the situation in its subordinate units and formations and would do everything possible to make the division of the fleet peaceful.

BFN The generator of power unit No. 1 at Khmelnitskiy nuclear plant was disconnected for several hours. The plant information center reports that this was caused by false activation of the modular transformer containment system due to a short circuit in the control cable conductors. The generating set was reconnected upon the removal of the defect. The conditions of the plant's safe operation were not affected. The radiation situation is unchanged.

BFN [Unscheduled interview with A.A. Moroz, chairman of the Ukrainian Supreme Council, by unidentified correspondent; date and place not given -- recorded] [Text) [Unidentified correspondent] Oleksandr Oleksandrovich, perhaps the only serious result -- from the public viewpoint -- achieved in the three weeks that the new Supreme Council has been working is that it has managed to extinguish the fire of conflict with the Crimea which nearly flared up. You are going there on a visit. What is the purpose of your visit, and what are the Supreme Council's and your own future plans as regards this matter? [Moroz] Talking about the Crimean issue, this situation has brought people, including the deputies, into a state of agitation. When considering this question they have shown their maturity, an ability to make compromises and tolerance; they have taken into account the interests of the other side, or rather of different sides. I have recently spoken to many leaders in the Crimea, Ukraine, and Russia, and it seems to me that the conflict can be brought to a less intense level. We can find a solution to which all would agree. I hope to be able to fly to the Crimea next week. I know many residents of the Crimea and will have meetings with many representatives of the power structures, with the military, and with officials in charge of economic matters, and I hope that we will be able to find a reasonable way of resolving the issue, which would take into account both the interests of the Crimean people and of Ukraine. I think the interests of the peoples of Russia will not be ignored, either. It seems to me that this is the only way -- to settle all disagreements through talks. [Correspondent] How important at the present stage are the talks on the future of the Black Sea Fleet and Sevastopol? [Moroz] We do not regard this as a separate issue. Here a very important condition is necessary -- that both sides should be willing to resolve the problem and not to drive it into an impasse. It appears to me that some solutions to this already exist. There are many issues here which should be settled in a principled and determined way, keeping the main purpose in mind -- that we should remain good neighbors forever. I think if we continue our work in this mood -- the Crimeans, Ukrainians, and Russians, and the world community as well...[pauses] Playing the Crimean card at the time when certain interested forces are standing behind each player is risky and this ought not to be done. Therefore, I see my task in using all means available to the Supreme Council as a legislative body and to its commissions in order to relax and remove the tension. Everyone will profit by this.

BFN [Editorial Report] Kiev UT-1 Television Network in Ukrainian at 1720 GMT on 27 May broadcasts an approximate 25-minute recorded speech by Ukraine's Supreme Council Chairman Oleksandr Moroz. However, due to technical difficulties, the first 10 minutes of the appearance was missed. Oleksandr Moroz says there is a possibility that two more deputy Supreme Council chairmen will be elected, thereby more fully reflecting the different political forces in the Supreme Council. He says that it had been hoped that the parliamentary commissions would be formed quickly. The process is indeed coming to an end, and given the commissions' composition, he is sure that they will work fruitfully. However, says Oleksandr Moroz, political differences have emerged on the issue of the commission chairmen. According to Moroz, the principle of proportionality has been taken into account in this, too. But some groups, above all those of a right-wing tendency, although not numbering many representatives in parliament, are claiming and insisting on key positions and key commissions. Although this may seem boring to viewers, who are waiting for some results from parliament, Moroz says: "We must now create the conditions so that those results really will appear and so that the changes, which people are waiting for, occur in our state and in our society. The point is that we should change policy, first of all policy in the economic sector. We should move toward reforming the economy, but along which path? The one we have been going along until now? No, that is not right. For people understand very well that this path does not construct one's own economy, this does not strengthen the state. This destroys production, this robs the state. Everyone now understands this. And if someone wanted to reproach me or my supporters, or those who supported my candidacy, saying that we do not want to agree to a compromise, we have sufficient arguments to contradict them." Moroz then cites as examples support for Mykhaylo Kosiv for the commission for culture issues and support for Hryhoriy Omelchenko for the commission for issues of the campaign against corruption and crime, and adds that similar examples of their compromising may be found in all commissions. He continues: "Unfortunately, it appears that not everyone needs the work of the Supreme Council at all. Speculation has begun today on the matter of collecting signatures for the dissolution of the Supreme Council and the introducton of direct presidential rule. Nowhere in the world can one introduce the practice whereby, while the president's activity is coming to an end, he would risk introducing direct presidential rule. There are no grounds for it anyway. Moreover, there is no doubt that we will form working bodies of the Supreme Council on Tuesday 31 May, that we will make, so to speak, a base for legislative work, and in order of their urgency the draft laws, which people are waiting for, will start to work. "And to demand the introduction of direct presidential rule now, with unrest within society, which is caused above all by the collapse of the economy, unfair privatization, and many other ills, is at the very least irresponsible. I think the electors will understand that this is socially conditioned, that someone is directing their representatives toward such steps. I am convinced that the president would not resort to such steps and that he is not involved in this. I and he do not in fact have differences on the matter of the important steps which both the executive and legislative authorities must now take. It is above all about forming a strong executive power." Moroz adds that a new Cabinet of Ministers and prime minister should be appointed urgently without wasting any time, and without waiting for the presidential election. He adds: "One can say, for instance, that the president has now assumed responsibility for executive power, this is understandable. But the combination of the functions of president and head of government, and also the incomplete nature of the vertical structure of executive authority, confirm the necessity of concentrating power in the Cabinet of Ministers, in particular I mean executive power. And I am convinced that the Supreme Council supports such approaches, and that the president also agrees in principle with these approaches." Moroz dwells on the methods used by those not wishing the Supreme Council to work efficiently, for example, not registering for the parliament sitting. If this method continues to be used, Moroz says he will ask the media to print the names of deputies refusing to register. In another case Moroz can see that a deputy from a right-wing group wants to cooperate, but is dependent on a certain political force. Moroz says that he promised deputies today that the organizational process would be completed on 31 May, that he would submit candidacies for heads of commissions, and that the candidacies would be confirmed by voting, taking into account the proposals of all groups as much as possible, but bearing in mind that there can be no ideal solution. He continues: "While understanding the complex situation in our state, I and my deputies have to intervene in specific matters, in the life of the regions, and not only Crimea, not only in the problems of, for instance, agriculture, preparations for the winter, problems of the energy complex, problems of the banking system. We also have to get involved in these problems, although I understand that to some extent these issues are more for the executive power to deal with. But now such intervention is truly needed, because those processes which ensure the freedom of production, facilitate commodity turnover, and an increase and consolidation of the budget should be speeded up." Moroz concludes by saying: "Appealing to you, esteemed electors, I would like to ask you, please support those deputies who conscientiously work in the Supreme Council, who do not endeavor to resort to speculation, to disrupt the sittings, but honestly fulfil their obligations to you. I am convinced that their example will be a good model for other deputies, so that from next week the Supreme Council finally works constructively and efficiently, as current time demands, and as envisaged by the status of the state's highest legislative body. Thank you for your attention."

BFN Kiev, 27 May -- Speaking at the Supreme Council's evening sitting, chairman Oleksandr Moroz said: "I have to ask all deputies to organize the attendance of the Supreme Council's closed morning sitting on 31 May by all people's deputies. The sitting will be held as requested by the president. I shall present to you a package of proposals on commission chairmen you and I agreed and voted on. So whether you want to or not, you shall vote, for or against it. We shall thus elect Supreme Council commission chairmen who will be able to work professionally." At the end of the evening sitting, the Supreme Council of Ukraine Secretariat distributed among people's deputies a list of Supreme Council deputies' groups and groupings as of 27 May, as follows: 1. Center -- 38 deputies. Group's authorized representatives Vasyl Durdynets, Yuriy Spizhenko, Valeriy Cherep, Volodymyr Yavorivskyy, Valeriy Kolomoytsev; 2. People's Movement of Ukraine -- 27 deputies. Authorized representatives Vyacheslav Chornovil, Oleksandr Lavrynovych, Vasyl Kovtunets; 3. Unity -- 26 deputies. Authorized representatives Oleh Taranov, Oleksandra Kuzhel, Leonid Kostyuchenko, Yevhen Shcherban, Volodymyr Oleksyeyev; 4. Ukraine's Communists for Social Justice and Democracy -- 86 deputies. Authorized representatives Petro Symonenko, Yevhen Marmazov, Borys Oliynyk; 5. Ukraine's Agrarians -- 33 deputies. Authorized representatives Oleksandr Borovyk, Serhiy Dovhan, Kateryna Vashchuk, Anatoliy Danylenko, Volodymyr Kravchuk, Yevhen Chuvyakov; 6. Reforms -- 27 deputies. Authorized representatives Volodymyr Lanovyy, Viktor Pynzenyk, Serhiy Holovatyy, Hryhoriy Omelchenko, Taras Stetskiv, Serhiy Sobolyev; 7. Socialist -- 25 deputies. Authorized representatives Volodymyr Mukhin, Ivan Chyzh, Yosyp Vinskyy, Volodymyr Marchenko, Valeriy Pudryk, Mykola Lavrynenko; 8. Statehood -- 26 deputies. Authorized representatives Mykhaylo Pavlovskyy, Ihor Yukhnovskyy, Mykola Porovskyy, Roman Bezsmertnyy; 9. Interregional Deputies Group [MDH] -- 27 deputies. Authorized representatives Mykola Azarov, Oleksandr Karpov. The following 23 deputies have not declared their affiliation with any group or grouping: Ruslan Bodelan, Viktor Bondarenko, Yuriy Buzduhan, Oleh Vitovych, Volodymyr Hovorun, Volodymyr Honchar, Valeriy Horbatov, Eduard Hurvits, Anatoliy Zasukhov, Yaroslav Ilyasevych, Nina Karpachova, Roman Kuper, Vitaliy Masol, Volodymyr Musiyaka, Vitaliy Nosov, Ivan Popesku, Taras Protsevyak, Mykhaylo Ratushnyy, Valentyn Symonenko, Yuriy Tyma, Stepan Khmara, Mykola Chechetov and Volodymyr Yakovenko [probably one of the following: Valentyn Yakovenko, Oleksandr Yakovenko, or Volodymyr Yarovenko].

BFN Kiev [no date as received] -- UNIAN has learned that Ukrainian People's Deputy Volodymyr Bortnyk fell victim to an armed attack at 0915 today. Some sources name him as one of the promising candidates for the post of agriculture minister in Ukraine's new government. Volodymyr Bortnyk, a mechanical engineer, is chairman of the board of directors at Ukragrotechservis concern. He is a non-party man living in Kiev, and was elected people's deputy in Izyaslavskiy constituency No. 413 (Khmelnitskiy oblast). Bortnyk was walking out of his house on 4 Vynohradna Street toward a Volvo-940 office car when he was shot twice by a stranger using a small-bore gun. The first bullet hit his head, while the second went in his shoulder. Volodymyr Bortnyk is currently in a neurosurgical ward in the hospital. UNIAN has learned that robbery is believed to be the likely motive of the armed attack. While in an ambulance car, Volodymyr Bortnyk said his attache case and a package had disappeared. However, the attacker did not take Bortnyk's folder with money. A detective group from the Kiev Directorate for Internal Affairs and representatives of Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs central office are working at the scene of the shooting.

BFN [No video available] With the aim of the further development of the stock market in Ukraine and the introduction of electronic circulation of securities in accordance with modern world technology, the president of Ukraine has issued an edict on the electronic circulation of securities and a national depository.

BFN Kiev -- The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and National Bank of Ukraine [NBU] adopted a joint resolution on 28 May "On the Withdrawal from Circulation of Coupons with a Nominal Value of 10 and 25 Karbovantsi." Proceeding from the inexpediency of further using these banknotes in cash settlement operations, the Cabinet of Ministers and the NBU have obliged regional boards of the NBU and commercial banks to ensure that the 10 and 25 karbovantsi banknotes are withdrawn from circulation by 1 August. Banknotes that have been withdrawn will be kept in regional NBU branches until the NBU decides on the issue of their recovery. The banknotes remain legal tender by all entities of entrepreneurial activity, regardless of their form of activity, by banks, and by enterprises of the Ministry of Communications until the time limit determined by the resolution. The resolution says that in connection with this, from 1 June the setting of retail prices for goods, services, and works should be carried out in figures that are a multiple of 50.

BFN As has been reported by the press service of the president of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers, the government has approved a resolution on converting state-owned property into the communal property of oblasts and the cities of Kiev and Sevastopol. The resolution contains a detailed list of incomplete construction facilities, children's pre-school institutions, health protection establishments, housing and utilities. Relevant ministries, departments, and corporations are to ensure that the above conversion be completed by 1 July this year.

BFN Russian Interior Minister Viktor Yerin has emphasized that there are no differences between the Interior Ministry and the Federal Counterintelligence Service (FCS) as represented by some parts of the media. Speaking at a nation-wide conference in the FCS in Moscow Friday, he called for combined efforts and coordinated activities by the law-enforcement bodies in the struggle against crime which had corrupted many state offices, the FCS public relations center told Interfax. The conference was attended by officials of the Prosecutor's Office, State Customs Committee, Supreme Court, tax police and border guards. Yerin said that revealing traitors was equally important for all agencies. "We struggle for the honor of the law-enforcement bodies, removing those who cooperate with criminals," he was quoted as saying. In Yerin's opinion, supported by the FCS Director Sergey Stepashin, it is necessary to develop an agreement between the Interior Ministry and the FCS clearly defining their interaction in critical and emergency situation. Acting Prosecutor General Aleksey Ilyushenko said that crime had expanded in Russia recently. He called for the return of investigation units which used to be the most professional structures within the Russian Security Ministry specializing on specially grave crimes.

BFN The numbers of operational purpose formations and military units of the internal forces of Russia's Internal Affairs Ministry will be increased by 52,000 units. This is provided for in the federal program for stepping up the fight against crime in 1994-1995, which has been sanctioned by the president. In accordance with the program, the rights of the militia will be expanded. It is proposed that it should be granted the right to inspect the buildings of enteprises and institutions, irrespective of the type of ownership, in cases where information is available that a crime is to be committed. The rules are to be changed regarding the use of weapons by law enforcement bodies staff during the fulfillment of their official duties. It is planned to set up special militia subunits to escort long-distance trains and suburban trains.

BFN [Speech by Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin at the conference of leadership personnel of the Russian Federal Counterintelligence Service: "I Demand That You Act Vigorously, Bravely, and Decisively"] The aim of our meeting today is to map out paths to develop the service and define its place and role in the overall system of ensuring Russia's security in today's conditions. Profound economic and political reforms are under way in the country. People's way of life is being turned upside down. Global changes are occurring in the international situation. Russia must take its proper place in the world community and ensure effective protection of its independence, integrity, and historical identity. This is precisely why the country needs strong and combatable special services both today and in the future, and this includes the counterintelligence organs. We need new approaches to the system of ensuring the security of the Russian Federation. First and foremost we need an accurate, professional, and prompt analysis of many factors and circumstances in order to identify the real threats to the security of the Russian Federation. The country's leadership expects from you accurate assessments of the possible consequences of these threats and the best ways to neutralize or eliminate them. It is important that we possess reliable, systematic, and unabridged knowledge of the situation inside the Russian Federation and around it. We need advance information with variant forecasts and appropriate draft proposals on possible management or political solutions. I categorically disagree with the view that the information and analysis work of the counterintelligence service should be performed only on instructions from above. This is a profoundly erroneous stance! On the contrary, we need as much initiative as possible. Waiting around for instructions is just a nonstate approach. If you like, it is a question that touches on the professional honor of the counterintelligence service. I would also like to clarify the line of argument that the counterintelligence organs stand outside politics. As far as individual staffers are concerned, they are certainly not allowed to combine their work with political activity, that is to say to serve the interests of a particular party or social organization. But the Federal Service is a state organ. Its main purpose is to execute state policy. This must be clearly understood by all staffers and by their leaders in particular. Personnel in state service, wherever they may work, have just one policy -- that of the state. To be outside this policy is a sure sign of professional unsuitability. We want Russia to become a truly strong and effective state. We want democratic institutions to develop not just in word but in deed. We want guarantees of human rights to be strengthened. This is precisely why we will demand that all organs and structures of the executive branch accurately follow the priorities of state policy. This is our principled line. Your service is called upon to perform primarily counterintelligence functions. Whatever changes may occurr in Russia and the world, we are still a long way from the day when the counterintelligence services will have nothing to do. Unfortunately, there are forces in the world which have set themselves the aim to weaken Russia and turn it into a feeble competitor with a cheap labor force and low intellectual potential. There are those who want to appropriate Russia's natural wealth and take possession of our advanced technologies in space, military, and other spheres. The main rule is that any action capable of damaging national interests should be prevented or neutralized. From whatever direction it might come. There can be no question of any exceptions. But I would like to emphasize that the efficacy of your work is not judged by the number of spies you apprehend. Your task is not just to expose but primarily to prevent intelligence activities in Russia. Let us not fool ourselves: There is as yet no reliable protection in Russia against the gathering of information and the establishment of agents networks. The reasons for this are loopholes in the laws, our open borders, falling standards in discipline, the cost of comercialization, and other factors. The counterintelligence service is aware of all this more clearly than anyone else. It is precisely you who are obliged to inform the organs of power about this and to persistently propose specific solutions from an organizational and legal point of view. The collapse of the system of state secrets is causing serious alarm. The Law "On State Secrets" came into force in Russia in 1993. But a new system for the protection of secrets based on it has not as yet been created. It is essential to make full use of the powers granted you. First and foremost the right to monitor that the demands regarding the protection of state secrets are carried out precisely. Your assistance in elaborating and implementing procedural [rezhimnyy] measures is especially needed by nonstate structures. An exceptionally important area of your activities is the struggle against illegal infringement of the constitutional system. It is no secret to anyone that there are in Russia certain parties and movements, as well as public figures and citizens, who are banking on this. Illegal methods do not always receive the proper rebuff. Part of this problem is down to your shortcomings. There is absolutely no justification for blaming this on an alleged lack of the necessary legal base for exposing and putting a stop to unconstitutional activity. Yes, our legislation is not perfect. But we have enough existing legal norms for counterintelligence work to neutralize extremist plans. I will make only one amplification on a matter of principle. This work should be based not on the monitoring of citizens' political conduct and views, but on the exposure, prevention, and thwarting of unconstitutional and other illegal activities. This is a most important factor which will make it possible to avoid the counterintelligence organs becoming organs of political investigation. Interethnic contradictions are one of the basic factors causing tension in Russia. The conflicts in Chechnya, North Ossetia, and Ingushetia are assuming a protracted nature, and are throwing the country into a ferment. Enormous resources are being diverted in order to settle them and to eliminate the consequences. The intervention of the Armed Forces, law enforcement bodies and other departments is needed. Innocent people are perishing as the contradictions are being resolved. Tens of thousands of people are becoming refugees. In these conditions the forecasts for the development of events and suggestions of essential measures are extremely important. There is patently a lack of efficiency at the present time. I am drawing this to the most serious attention not only of the leadership of the FCS but also the leaders of the territorial organs. The whole arsenal of forces and resources of the FCS must be brought into play and new, nonstereotyped methods of work must be actively sought. Inaction and irresolution are fraught with the most serious consequences. These include a decline in the prestige of the authorities both in the center and at local level, and a critical reduction of the level of personal security, extremism, and chaos for years to come in whole regions. In the face of these dangers sluggishness and unconcern are not only impermissible but criminal. The paramount task for Russia today is to surmount the economic crisis. Therefore I ask you to pay special attention to questions of counterintelligence backup for the protection of the Russian economy. At present we are protecting Russian economic interests poorly. There is no system or assertiveness in the FCS's actions in this area. We must not go on trailing in the wake of events and only reacting to them (even then belatedly at times). Of course, ensuring economic security is a statewide task. I address this criticism to everyone -- to economic departments, above all. The time has come for the government to work out a strategy of Russia's economic security. Counterintelligence must act selectively in the economic sphere. I am talking, first, of questions to which the answers can only be given by the special service and no other state organ. Second, of the most vital state requirements or "sore points." Third, everything must be done to ensure that Russia does not end up "on the sidelines" of the world economy. It is necessary to preserve progressive economic, scientific, and technical potential and to ensure our export potential. This is a task not only for science, industry, and foreign economic departments. For this the special services must also make an effort. In addition, we must have a detailed picture of the preconditions for possible extraordinary occurrences (explosions, fires, accidents, disasters, and so on). I can state without exaggeration that every major extraordinary occurrence now deals a painful blow to Russia's entire economy and to the social well-being of citizens. We must have exhaustive knowledge of the threats associated with flawed technologies for storing, neutralizing, and destroying the waste material from dangerous production processes and nuclear and chemical materials and weapons. The use of Russia's territory to bury ecologically dangerous materials illegally imported from abroad constitutes a special question. Active counterintelligence work in this area will not only help the state to save considerable funds but will also save people's lives. Counterintelligence backup for conversion is one of the most important problems. Conversion is a commandment of the times. But we do not travel the same road as those to whom conversion and scientific and technical regression mean one and the same thing. For us these concepts are incompatible. Our task today is to hold on to Russia's advanced positions in scientific and technical development, and tomorrow to expand them. Russia's defense capability can on no account be allowed to be weakened. Secrets of state importance concentrated in this sphere cannot be allowed to go abroad. This task cannot be resolved without selfless activity by the FCS. At the same time counterintelligence must not hamper the expansion of international cooperation within the framework of interstate agreements and existing legislation. The iron curtain has collapsed! Not just between states but also between people. International contacts will develop in the ascendant. You must accumulate experience of work in conditions of an open society and a market economy. The further we get from total bans, the more professionally and delicately counterintelligence must operate. I cannot ignore the question of crime. Smuggling has become widespread in recent years. We are incurring tremendous losses as a result of the uncontrolled export from the country of raw materials, semimanufactures, and objects of art, culture, and our spiritual heritage. Financial assets are being taken out of circulation and are settling in foreign banks. Frequently the damage is irreparable! Therefore the struggle against these phenomena is one of the priorities of the FCS and its organs. Smuggling is associated with other grave crimes -- embezzlement, bribery, currency swindles, illegal crossings of the state border, and so on. Therefore your efforts here must be stepped up constantly. I am talking of exposing all the links of criminal chains, of tracking down international groups of smugglers and rendering them harmless. Close businesslike cooperation will be required between the FCS and customs organs, the Federal Border Service, and internal affairs organs. Unfortunately, the criminalization of society is continuing. Violent crimes by organized groups are acquiring forms of criminal terrorism. The growing corruptness of power structures and of law enforcement and other state organs is extremely dangerous to the state. Particularly in the sphere of the redistribution of property. Certain successes have been scored recently in the fight against crime. But the results, on the whole, are unsatisfactory. Just like the efforts of counterintelligence in this sphere. Organized crime is no longer limited to the sphere of ordinary criminal activity. It persistently seeks admission to big-time politics and access to the administration of the state and its regions. This is your problem. The FCS must counter such attempts with all its operational and operational-technical potential. In collaboration with the MVD [Ministry of Internal Affairs] and the Tax Police, it must expose criminal sources of funding for political campaigns, the links between statesmen and politicians and the organizers of criminal fraternities which seek to get their people into the organs of power, and, indeed, which are primed with funds from abroad. All the above applies in full measure also to the problems of the uncontrolled proliferation of firearms and narcotics. The task of the FCS' operational subdivisions is to take original, decisive, and at times even bold measures to eradicate these phenomena, which are extremely dangerous to society. Only thus can the ongoing situation be influenced for the better. I know that counterintelligence officers have always been distinguished by a creative, original, and unexpected approach to their work. This was and remains the supreme sign of professionalism, the object of your legitimate pride. To achieve a breakthrough in the struggle against the most dangerous manifestations of crime is a task that is worthy of you. But there is also another side to the fulfillment of this task. You and you colleagues to this day have to bear a heavy load of responsibility for the crimes of past security organs, which you did not commit. Above all for the mass repressions of Stalinism. Life changes, the state and people change, but the old alienation is evaporating too slowly. I think that it is precisely the active participation of the FCS in the struggle against crime -- this paramount danger to the ordinary citizen -- that will finally close this subject. Achieve a breakthrough in this field, protect Russians against crime, and, I am sure, they will thank you. The icy wall of fear and mistrust will crumble once and for all. I am confident that this is necessary not only to the counterintelligence service, but to Russian society as a whole. The FCS contains military counterintelligence subivisions. They have special tasks -- to know the situation in the Army, to protect it from those who want to get their hands on military secrets and facilities. The merits of military counterintelligence officers are considerable, but the results of their activity must be significantly more substantial. A special word on the proliferation of arms from Army dumps throughout the country. Now in Maritime Kray, now in Irkutsk, now in other regions, fires are breaking out in munition stores. Where are the advance warnings about violation of the conditions of the storage of munitions?! But perhaps the fires in the stores are no accident? And another question: From what stores are weapons being delivered to "hot" spots? Military counterintelligence must provide the answers. Russia's nuclear security is an extremely important, cardinal problem. The proliferation of nuclear and other categories of weapons of mass destruction within the country and beyond cannot be allowed. This is also our international obligation. I expect regular briefings from the counterintelligence service on all aspects of this problem. Special attention must be paid to anticipating and resolutely thwarting attempts to gain unauthorized access to nuclear components. There have been no cases of "nuclear terrorism" in Russia, and there must be none. The active formation of a state border is now under way in Russia. Counterintelligence is a component of the forces and resources needed to protect it. It is important that we maintain good-neighhborly relations with neighboring states. At the same time we are doing everything necessary to increase the security level of the borders and Russia's exclusive economic zone. We know that the situation on the Russian border is not peaceful at the moment. And there is vast scope for activity for you here. In the near future we will discuss questions of guarding our country's borders in the Security Council. I have no doubt that S.V. Stepashin, who is a permanent member of the council, will report what the FCS sees as the solution to border problems. I am well aware that tackling the complex tasks facing your service will make special demands on the people working here. A counterintelligence officer's work requires great resilience, the ability to think in an innovative way and to operate using initiative within tight time constraints, and under a great mental and physical load. This is why, in setting up the FCS and carrying out the professional certification [of personnel], I demanded a careful and attentive approach toward every staffer. A professional counterintelligence officer, especially a leader, is formed over many years. We cannot allow ourselves to take an irresponsible attitude toward any of you. All cases of superficial certification must be investigated very carefully. Worthy, committed, and energetic staffers must be brought into play in the work. Will the FCS be further reformed? This question is constantly asked by your colleagues. This is the answer: Yes, it will. But it is not a question of any new, radical shakeup but of changes which will take time. There is no country in the world in which a constant improvement of special services is not takiong place. Your department is no exception. There is one aim -- to increase the effectiveness of counterintelligence. When we embarked on breaking up the KGB, for political motives among other things, we by no means denied -- and do not deny -- the need for fairly reliable and close coordination of the work of the various former parts of it which have been divided into autonomous structures, as well as of the Armed Forces General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate [GRU]. We are thinking about what kind of collaboration mechanism there should be. Mainly it must obviously rely on bilateral relations and on forming operational groups to tackle certain tasks of one kind or another which include representatives of various special services. I have carefully considered the results of the meeting of your collegium together with the FIS directorate [direktorat] and have concluded that in this respect you are on the right road. In this auditorium I cannot fail to talk about the specific characteristics of local FCS organs. We take as our basis the principle that there cannot be a "Nizhniy Novgorod" or a "Maritime Kray" counterintelligence service. We have one counterintelligence service -- Russian counterintelligence, organized in a strict hierarchy, independent of local authorities. Under the constitution it is subordinate to the Russian president. This status does not preclude but presupposes close cooperation and mutual assistance between FCS subdivisions and the executive organs of republics, krays, and oblasts. Let me stress that priorities have been set. No distortions in ensuring regional security to the detriment of federal security are permissible. Otherwise both people unaware of what state security is and the FCS director will be held responsible. Very serious attention must be devoted to questions regarding the training of a new generation of counterintelligence officers. Today a counterintelligence potential is being developed which will give a return in five to 10 years. Programs for training and retraining personnel must be carefully reviewed. Prompt changes must be made in them in the light of the development of the legal and normative base and the clarification of priorities for the FCS' activity. You have everything necessary for this. I will also say a few words about the role of leaders. The indispensable requirements with regard to them are a high degree of professionalism, competency, responsibility, loyalty to the motherland, honesty and integrity, and the ability to make the collective follow their lead. Putting it in military terms, a leader must be prepared to give the command "Do as I do," and carry it out better than his subordinates. These are the kind of leaders and operatives we will support and create the necessary conditions for. But above all we will demand fruitful work. In talking about FCS personnel I cannot bypass the problem of their probity and incorruptibility. Everything must be done to ensure that the best traditions here are not only maintained but also strengthened. As regards this question the position of all leaders and personnel apparatuses must be a principled one. It has been reported to me that there are differences in the level of social protection for staffers of various special services and law-enforcement organs. And not in favor of FCS staffers. I will say frankly that I am against "leveling." But if it is a question of substantial distortions in the wages of different departments, we will rectify it. Your calling and your professional duty is to ensure the security of the individual, society, and the state. The main conditions for this are well known to all: Civil peace in Russia must be maintained and strengthened, revolutionary upheavals must be prevented, and the profound economic crisis must be overcome. We will be able to achieve this by consolidating our Russian state in action. The Russian Federal Counterintelligence Service is one of its important, inalienable institutions. Your service must be strong and have a flexible structure. Its extensive possibilities must be effectively used in the defense of Russians both in the country and abroad, in the defense of Russian interests against the aspirations of foreign intelligence services and other criminal encroachments. Therefore I firmly recommend -- get rid of achronisms. Therefore I demand: Act energetically, boldly, and decisively. I sincerely wish you success in your work, which is difficult and dangerous, but vitally necessary to Russia.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent] Moscow, 27 May -- Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin today issued a decree on changes to the Council for Personnel Policy under the Russian president. According to the document, Nikolay Yegorov is replacing Sergey Shakhray on the Council. This follows the president's edict of 16 May relating to the minister for affairs of nationalities and regional policy, the president's press service said.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Igor Belskiy] Moscow May 27 TASS -- Russian Vice-Premier Sergey Shakhray will not run for president in 1996, according to his statement at today's meeting with students and professors of Moscow University. Speaking of his resignation from the post of minister for affairs of nationalities and the voiced intention to leave the vice-premier's post, Shakhray said "the question has been closed, I remain the vice-premier". He told the audience that meetings with the prime minister and president assured him "his potential has not been exhausted". Shakhray did not exclude "the right to future existence of Far Eastern or Urals republics on condition it will not be a mere isolation of the region or the territory within the current administrative borders". In his opinion, this is possible "in case of formation of larger federation subjects on the basis of inter-regional economic unity and cooperation". Commenting on press reports claiming fake results of the December 12 referendum on the new Russian Constitution, the vice-premier said "as long as these claims are not proved, I will think that the Constitution has been approved". The Constitution is a reality, said Shakhray.

BFN [Dmitriy Kamyshev report: "Regional Policy in New Conditions. Regions Combat Moscow and Bad Weather"] The changing weather of May meant continuous troubles for the organizers of the "Federalism And Interethnic Relations in Modern Russia" conference that ended in the "Forest Vistas" [Lesnyye Dali] guest house near Moscow Saturday. First, owing to the sudden spell of cool weather and other state affairs, Ivan Rybkin and Sergey Filatov could not make it to the conference. Second, the participants in the conference, whom the inclement weather drove under the roof of the main building of the guest house, started to show marked boredom by the end of the first day and started to slip away. Even despite the absence of the heads of the State Duma and the President's Staff, however, it was full house during the first plenary sitting, with Sergey Shakhray, who had not been permitted to quit [as vice premier] the day before, appearing on the panel apparently as an attraction. The vice premier, who presented a paper [doklad] on the problems of federalism in Russia, expressed the conviction that the main problem is a contradiction between the ethnic and territorial principle of the state's construction (the "asymmetrical" nature of the federation), and he once again lauded the treaty with Tataria [Tatarstan] whose model, in Shakhray's words, is quite applicable in Crimea, the Dniester Region, and Karabakh. The vice premier also complained that market relations in conditions of weakness of federal authorities increase regional disproportions, and declared for regulation of prices of energy and shipping by rail. Shakhray's speech provided the point of departure for the conference participants, who had come, according to its organizers, from 66 federation components. Remarkably, the number of critics of the "May Theses" [Shakhray's keynote address, paralleled with Lenin's "April Theses"] was greater than of those who went along with them. For example, Ramazan Abdulatipov, Federation Council vice speaker, deemed the signing of separate agreements with federation components to be incorrect, while delegates from the republics did not like the idea of a gradual transition to a territorial structure of the federation. Despite the cool weather outside the window, especially heated debates flared up during the second day of work at the sittings of the sections and "roundtables." In the course of the discussion the participants divided in two big distinct groups: representatives of the republics, who demolished the new Constitution, which should never have been passed in a referendum, and those who were demanding that the Federation Treaty be religiously observed and suggested that separate agreements be signed with all who would like to sign them. Delegates of the krays and oblasts (supported by Moscow politicians and academics) tried to persuade the "republicans" not to hurt ethnic Russians, to give up the idea of sovereignty and remake their constitutions as Moscow is asking for. At the end, everyone remained of the same opinion, agreeing only that the State Duma, 40 percent of whose members are Muscovites, cannot reflect the regions' interests adequately.

BFN [Aleksey Kirpichnikov report under the "Difficulty": "Subsistence Wage To Match Consumer Basket"] Aleksandr Osovtsov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Labor and Social Support Committee, and committee member Valentin Lednev, both associated with "Russia's Choice," spoke at a news conference about the faction's activities in making laws pertaining to the social sphere. At their prompting, the Duma Council has decided to include in the plan of immediate legislation laws on the subsistence wage and on veterans, which were elaborated with the active participation of "Russia's Choice." The portfolio of the faction and the committee also contains a program to combat poverty, draft laws on social services, on social protection for the disabled, and on ritual support (a euphemism for burial services). Thus, the organizers of the news conference underlined, "Russia's Choice" is as good as its pledge to the voters. The faction's approach to social policy is special in that it is trying to find a common denominator of social payments. For example, there are now 54 decrees in effect on provision of benefits to veterans. Some normative acts, however, treat all alike. Mr. Osovtsov cited the example of Robert Kennedy, a father of nine, who would have been legally eligible for the "multiple children benefit." There is an equal mess about housing, and so on. "Our objective is not to endlessly discuss the issue but to give at least a spoonful to each who are hungry," Mr. Osovtsev underlined. Such a common denominator should apply to the subsistence wage. The law on it relies on federal budget appropriations to the tune of 2.6 trillion rubles (for benefits to the needy) and is supposed to go into effect as of 1 January 1995. The draft law provides for a dual principle of counting: The subsistence wage level to be established in every federation component is 40 percent of the average per capita income but not less than the cost of the consumer basket. The same dual macro-approach of the "Choice" applies to social policy. On the one hand, Mr. Gaydar constantly reminds about the need to cut back centralized subsidies, while on the other hand, "Russia's Choice" men seem to be dealing the budget a serious blow promising protection for the underprivileged. The organizers of the news conference specially underscored that this is a seeming contradiction because the men's activities in drafting laws in the social sphere do not set the aim of the "each will get an apartment" type -- this is demagoguery. Their efforts are aimed at a just distribution of state assistance so that "a one-room family with two children, two domestic servants and two Volvo cars could buy an apartment rather than wait for municipal housing." A smart plan. Unfortunately, such social policy leads to the need to withdraw benefits from those who undeservedly enjoy them -- like the above-mentioned family or that same family of Robert Kennedy -- and it is common knowledge that we like to get benefits and hate to give them back. On the other hand, voters who enjoy "dishonest" benefits may not make up Mr. Gaydar's electorate after all. At any rate, the journalists were made to understand that unpopular measures are not something he has to come to terms with.

BFN [Viktor Khamrayev report in the "Genesis" column: "The Gaydar Party Is Preparing an `Economic Miracle.' Russia's Choice Will Have Many Platforms"] Last Saturday 363 delegates to the Moscow city founding conference of the Russia's Choice party unanimously recognized that confrontation among the democrats in the present situation, "balm to the national-communists," is "dangerous." Noting the vital need for democratic unity, the delegates concentrated their attention on drafting party rules and a program whose implementation they linked directly to their own "advent to power." Yegor Gaydar made a policy speech. Making a brief digression into his premiership, the leader of the faction and the future party identified a "fundamental mistake" by his team, which in its time gave way to demands from the nomenklatura which "subjected it to pressure unprecedented in Russia's history," allowing it to restore various "committees and subcommittees." Yegor Gaydar sees the natural results of that compromise in "the runaway swelling of an overwhelming bureaucratic apparatus" and "the interruption of the economic reform in mid-course" by the same apparatus. The possibilities that have opened up for the people to choose and buy any goods and freely change rubles into dollars, according to Mr. Gaydar, "are not yet the market," which will really be possible "on the basis of economic growth." The main obstacle to growth is the existing "huge corrupt state machine," toward reforming which the party founder is directing his colleagues' efforts. Assessing the chances for the democrats' success, Yegor Gaydar told the delegates, "in the regions as well as in the central apparatus people who in no way share our thinking have taken over all the key posts.... The threat of hardline conservatism and reactionary backlash is great." Under these conditions, in Gaydar's opinion, the democrats need not "amorphous organizations, like in the period of struggling against the sclerotic regime," but effective parties. Party effectiveness was demonstrated by Yuliy Nisnevish: Having conducted the conference in rigid compliance with the approved schedule and procedures specified by the minute, he skillfully dampened emerging disagreements between city and district organizing committees over procedures for nominating delegates to the constituent congress. In the lobbies this fact was assessed as a precursor to "intraparty discord in the future." With respect to other issues Russia's Choice members had no more complaints to make against each other, approving the party's economic course aimed at "a Russian economic miracle through domestic economic growth," and a political course aimed at "stimulating growth points," and in the very near term, "coming to power." After making more than 140 amendments to the program, approximately 400 amendments and 19 basic comments to the rules, the delegates agreed that their party will be of a parliamentary type with an individual fixed membership, an orientation towards entrepreneurs and the intelligentsia, and allowing various intraparty platforms. The delegates decided that party members have no need for weapons. The word "Mister" [Gospodin] has been adopted as the party form of address. With time, a youth organization will be formed within the party. On the subject of upcoming presidential elections the conference decided that it would be reasonable for all democrats to unite in a single bloc and field one candidate.

BFN Yegor Gaydar, leader of the Russia's Choice faction in the State Duma, declared that "under the obvious offensive of conservative and reactionary forces" the Russia's Choice party faces the goal "to defend the democratic alternative in Russia." Addressing the constituent conference of the party's Moscow organization on Saturday, Gaydar expressed his opinion saying that "the organizational weakness and crumbliness of the democratic movement represent a serious threat for Russia's future." The new party of a parliamentarian type which is being created on the initiative of the Russia's Choice faction is intended "to unite those who share the valuables of the market, democracy, and private ownership." As Gaydar said, the implementation of the party's program "will assist in stabilization of the situation in the country and its growth." In Gaydar's opinion, Russia is experiencing "an inevitable wave of reaction with respect to the deep transformations underway in the country now" but "not the beginning of an irreversible turn backwards." He believes that "this wave will go away" because "the communists and their allies, the radical nationalists, have no notion what to offer to the society" but the "unpopular program" which "was already implemented in Russia some time ago."

BFN [Anatoliy Veslo report under the "Recipes" rubric: "A Detailed Reply by the LDPR to Mr. Svanidze. Zhirinovskiy Faction's Innovations Run Up Against `Russia's Choice'"] Vladimir Zhirinovskiy's Liberal Democrats, outraged by television journalist Nikolay Svanidze's statements that the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia [LDPR] has not submitted a single draft to the Duma, told the public about their lawmaking activities and their economic research efforts. LDPR deputies explained that all of their innovations run up against "Russia's Choice" opposition in the Duma Council and at plenary sittings. For this reason the draft laws "On Regulation of Ownership in the Russian Federation," "On Russian Federation Property Abroad," "On Trust," "On the Restoration of Property Rights of Russian Federation Citizens Violated in the Period 17 March 1917 through 12 December 1993," and "On the Brain Drain From the Russian Federation" have not become full-fledged state acts after all. The journalists' close attention was drawn to the first three draft laws. The law "On Trust" was drafted by Deputy Aleksey Zuyev, who, before his election, was adviser to the president of the "GMM" trust company, whose activities drew complaints from the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank. The other two laws are devoted to the implementation of the party's economic program. The one regulating the rights of ownership puts an end to the voucher privatization that is nearly completed anyhow. Instead of this robbery, all citizens of the Russian Federation are supposed to open Savings Bank accounts marked "NP" (National Property), "PP" (Privatized Property), and the "RNP" (Regional National Property). The various owners -- the state, the regions, and private owners who have snapped up their share of the generous LDPR handouts -- are supposed to put their earnings in these accounts. It has been decided to name this process privatization. That, the Liberal Democratic innovators have calculated, would make for a comfortable life for 60 percent of Russia's citizens. It is even easier with investments in industry -- one only has to mortgage all Russian Federation property abroad in Japanese banks, to pour all the earned yen into the needy enterprises, to ban without fail liberalization of external trade, to stir the concoction and have Mr. Zhirinovskiy and his economic advisers drink it up with a feeling of deep gratitude. A sudden drain of healthy brains, if the program gets implemented, can be prevented by the corresponding law drafted in the committee on geopolitics.

BFN Leader of Russia's Liberal-Democratic Party Vladimir Zhirinovskiy stated in Moscow on Monday that "sooner or later historical justice will triumph and the Vilnius territory which was always part of Russia, would be re-joined to Russia and the Kaliningrad Region will cease to be isolated from us." He told the press conference devoted to a State Duma delegation's visit to Russia's Baltic exclave, located between Lithuania and Poland, that "Kaliningrad is an inalienable part of Russia and that neither Lithuanians, nor Estonians, nor Poles or Germans, will be able to tear it away from the motherland." The Kaliningrad Region (former East Prussia) was joined to Russia following the Potsdam conference in 1945. The Vilnius territory is the south eastern part of Lithuania which was occupied by Poland in 1919-39. In 1939, following the occupation of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union sent its troops to this territory and subsequently joined it to Lithuania.

BFN The closest political goal of the opposition consists in the establishment of a single popular movement which would gain the majority of seats in the Russian parliament during the next parliamentary elections and thereafter win the presidential elections, former Russian vice president Aleksandr Rutskoy stated in an interview with Interfax today. The Accord for Russia opposition movement will hold a meeting of its National Council in Moscow on Saturday. Rutskoy stressed that the opposition should be careful not to let one more candidate from the present regime to take the highest post. That is why the opposition needs a single candidate. Rutskoy said that each of the party leaders believed that he must be elected the president. Rutskoy himself said that he does not especially seek the presidency and that any candidacy should be put forward taking into consideration the interests of the cause. Rutskoy suggested that a tough politician must take this post since the present situation in the country required rule with no compromise, consensus or games with the law. Rutskoy said nothing would be changed in the country as long as Boris Yeltsin remained in power. Neither a government of national confidence, nor a new composition of the parliament will change the situation. It must go through radical changes, Rutskoy affirmed. Rutskoy said he was ready to lead the united opposition.

BFN [Arkadiy Nikiforov report under the "Authority" rubric: "Boris Yeltsin Gives Yuriy Skokov New Carte Blanche. Commodity Producers Federation Chairman Strengthens His Position at State Duma"] The Russian Federation of Commodity Producers [RFCP] and the State Duma's second largest faction, the New Regional Policy, represented by their leaders, Yuriy Skokov and Vladimir Medvedev respectively, have signed an agreement on a wide-ranging coordination of their efforts in devising common approaches to political and economic areas, defining the main areas of legislative activity, and joint work on resolving urgent problems at the federal and regional level. Before the agreement was signed, Skokov and Medvedev had lengthy meetings and conversations with Boris Yeltsin, who, according to available reports, approved of this far-reaching alliance. It is worth noting that neither the RFCP nor the New Regional Policy Faction have signed the Treaty on Social Accord in the belief that without resolving the most acute economic and social problems it will end up being yet another declaration of good intentions. Yuriy Skokov, who is a serious candidate for top government posts, is clearly strengthening his position and acquiring new opportunities to influence the State Duma and the regions. The formalization of this alliance will be undoubtedly a shot in the arm for Vladimir Medvedev himself and his faction at the State Duma, which can now rely on direct support from one of Russia's most promising and experienced politicians. In that regard, a question arises as to whether Sergey Shakhray's removal from the post of minister for nationalities and regional policy was prompted by the carte blanche Yuriy Skokov apparently received from the Russian president to pursue a new political line toward the federation components. It cannot be ruled out that the RFCP chief's flurry of activity also stems from the president's harsh criticism of the government's performance and the signing of a package of edicts aimed at stabilizing the economy and streamlining market-oriented reform. In that context, the following question will be only logical: What will happen after the Chernomyrdin government is yet again unable to enforce President Yeltsin's strict instructions and to hold up the avalanche-like production slump? The situation will apparently require that a new prime minister be appointed who must have not only the experience of a large-scale economic manager, but also a serious, thought-out, and, most important, realistic program of lifting the Russian economy out of its deepest crisis.

BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Tamara Ivanova] Moscow May 27 TASS -- The Russian State Duma has proved to be adherent to the former Supreme Soviet's traditions, Chairman of the All-Russian TV and Radio Company Oleg Poptsov told ITAR-TASS here today, commenting on the Duma decision to form its own TV and radio service. In his opinion, the Duma "claims on certain information exclusiveness", which may provoke a chain reaction on the part of other power structures, including the juridical one. "Then we will have a splendid TV and the radio," said Poptsov. Lamenting there were no deputies to show wisdom and understanding, Poptsov stressed "the main feature of democracy is openness, modesty and availability of power bodies, their ability of self-estimation, and not claims on privileges".

BFN [From the "Vesti" newscast] The Russian Union of Journalists, the Committee for Defending the Freedom of Speech and Journalists' Rights, and the Fund for the Protection of Glasnost have made a statement today. They regard the recreation of a parliamentary TV service as an attempt to make it impossible for the electorate to form an objective opinion of deputies' activities. The same tendency can be observed in the attempts by other authorities to bend the media to their will and make them a mouthpiece of their time-serving interests. It is inadmissible that the broadcasting time belonging to the whole society should be split into departmental domains, or even worse, be monopolized, the statement of the journalists' unions stresses.