Russian salad

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 3, No. 60, Part I, 26 March 1999

A daily report of developments in Eastern and Southeastern
Europe, Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia prepared by the
staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

This is Part I, a compilation of news concerning Russia,
Transcaucasia and Central Asia. Part II covers Central,
Eastern, and Southeastern Europe and is distributed
simultaneously as a second document.  Back issues of
RFE/RL NewsLine and the OMRI Daily Digest are online at
RFE/RL's Web site: http://www.rferl.org/newsline

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Headlines, Part I

* ANTI-U.S. SENTIMENT GROWING AMONG OFFICIALS

* 'KOMMERSANT' FIRES EDITOR FOR CRITICIZING PRIMAKOV
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RUSSIA

ANTI-U.S. SENTIMENT GROWING AMONG OFFICIALS... Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov accused the U.S. on 25 March of seeking
"to impose a unipolar order on the world, in which peoples'
fates should be decided in Washington," and providing direct
assistance to the Kosova Liberation Army. He asked, "Does the
U.S. not understand that by backing Muslim extremists at the
expense of American taxpayers it's breeding new bin Ladens?"
in allusion to the accused terrorist Osama bin Laden. Former
Ambassador to the U.S. and State Duma Foreign Relations
Committee Chairman Vladimir Lukin said that the "U.S. has
clearly shown that it does not care one whit about relations
with Russia or about the START-II treaty." The same day,
Ivanov also noted that "we are not in favor of a breach of
diplomatic relations with the U.S" and "clearly realize how
important for the world as a whole are relations between
Russia and the U.S." JAC

....AND IN THE STREETS. Demonstrations were held outside the
U.S. embassy in Moscow and consulates in St. Petersburg,
Yekaterinburg, and Vladivostok on 25 March, Russian news
agencies reported. According to "Izvestiya" on 26 March,
protesters gathered outside an oblast administration building
in Volgograd and burnt the U.S. flag. In other cities, they
burnt the U.S. flag and threw ink, eggs, and beer bottles.
Demonstrators displayed signs and banners reading "Yankees,
Go Home," "Pentagon Die," and "Retribution Is Coming." Police
told Interfax that more than 1,000 people attended a rally
outside the Moscow embassy, although AFP estimated that there
were some 600 people in attendance. While most public
attention seemed focused on the U.S., the consulate in
Novosibirsk of another member of the NATO alliance, Germany,
was set on fire and a note attached "For Serbia," ITAR-TASS
reported. JAC

RUSSIA TO OFFER INTELLIGENCE DATA TO YUGOSLAVIA? Although
Duma Chairman Gennadii Seleznev told reporters that he was
"sure that [Russia] would offer military assistance to
Yugoslavia," Russian media did not take this claim seriously.
General Anatolii Kvashnin, chief of the general staff of the
armed forces, told Interfax that Russia is prepared to
exchange intelligence data with Yugoslavia if it requests it.
However, Russian "military experts" told the agency that arms
deliveries to Yugoslavia would be difficult since they could
be transported only by sea and thus through the Bosphorus.
JAC

RUSSIANS VOLUNTEERING FOR DUTY IN YUGOSLAVIA. The office of
Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovskii, who
had announced earlier that he is ordering charter flights to
dispatch volunteers to Yugoslavia, has been converted into a
mini-recruitment center for Russian citizens wanting to
volunteer for Yugoslavia, the "Moscow Times" reported on 26
March. According to one staff member, more than 2,700 people
telephoned on 25 March expressing their willingness to sign
up. In Primorskii Krai, 91 people signed up and 100 in Pskov.
In Khabarovsk, Colonel-General Viktor Chechevatov, commander
of the Far Eastern Military District, announced his
willingness to head any military unit dispatched to
Yugoslavia, ITAR-TASS reported. And in Irkutsk, Cossack
ataman Nikolai Merinov expressed his readiness to organize
and head a Cossack brigade for the defense of Serbia,
Interfax-Eurasia reported. JAC

'KOMMERSANT' FIRES EDITOR FOR CRITICIZING PRIMAKOV.
"Kommersant-Daily" editor Raf Shakirov has lost his job over
an article on 24 March that was highly critical of Prime
Minister Yevgenii Primakov's decision to return to Moscow in
mid-air (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 March 1999), Russian
Public Television reported on 25 March. According to
Interfax, the newspaper apologized for the article. JAC

INTERIOR MINISTRY STAFF FACING LARGE REDUCTION. The Interior
Ministry will cut 129,000 personnel from its staff in 1999,
including 66,000 policemen and 63,000 servicemen, ITAR-TASS
reported on 25 March. Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin told
a conference of personnel chiefs from police departments
across the country that 59 of Russia's 89 regions will face a
10 percent personnel reduction on average in their police
forces.
Current staff in the ministry totals just under 2
million, according to the agency. JAC

KOSOVA, IMF UNCERTAINTY PUTS RUBLE UNDER PRESSURE. The street
value of the ruble continues to fall, despite the firming of
its official rate. Muscovites, according to the "Moscow
Times" on 26 March, were exchanging rubles for dollars at
rates of 28 rubles per dollar--16 percent above the official
rate. In other parts of Russia, the daily reported, workers
are turning their ruble salaries into dollars as a matter of
course.

FIRST BATCH OF EU FOOD AID ROLLS IN. Twenty-four trucks
loaded with 18 tons of German beef from the EU arrived in the
city of Smolensk on 25 March, Interfax reported. The next
shipment of EU food aid, which will contain Irish beef, is
due to arrive in St. Petersburg at the end of March.
Deliveries were supposed to start in February but were
delayed because of high Russian customs duties and Russian
officials' criticism of the quality of the meat and grain,
dpa reported. JAC

COMMUNIST ADMINISTRATION PAYS FOR CHURCH CONSTRUCTION IN
VORONEZH. Construction of the Cathedral of the Annunciation
in down-town Voronezh is proceeding quickly, thanks to state
revenues channeled directly to the Church, according to the
"IEWS Russian Regional Report" on 25 March, citing the local
newspaper "Novaya gazeta." Under a decree signed by Governor
Ivan Shabanov some 15 months ago, major companies in the
Communist-controlled oblast have transferred some 7 million
rubles ($289,000) in tax arrears to the Voronezh diocese for
the purpose of completing the cathedral. JC

Georgi M. Derluguian
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology
Northwestern University
1812 Chicago Avenue
Evanston, Illinois 60208-1330
(847) 491-2741 (rabota)