
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 9, 1993                   TAG: 9307090061
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: MOSCOW                                LENGTH: Short

RUSSIAN TERRITORY TAKES POWER

Russia's militarily and economically important Pacific Maritime Territory seized a new measure of power from the Russian government Thursday, proclaiming itself a republic with authority over its economic resources.

The Maritime Territory's parliament in Vladivostok declared its new authority despite a warning Tuesday by President Boris Yeltsin that such moves by territories and provinces risk destabilizing Russia and should be suspended. The Maritime Territory, a region of more than 2 million people, is on Russia's southern Pacific coast.

Vladivostok's declaration came a week after a similar one by the industrial province of Sverdlovsk - Yeltsin's home region - and appeared likely to encourage other regions now considering the move. The province of Vologda, northeast of Moscow, declared itself a republic in May.

Tuesday, Yeltsin called the trend "untimely," asking the regions to halt such moves until a commission drafting a new Russian constitution can negotiate a future relationship between federal and regional governments.

Yeltsin is banking on a new constitution to give him a lasting victory over conservatives who have opposed his reform program. The seizures of economic power could "lead to a destabilization of power and a deepening of [Russia's] crisis," Yeltsin's statement said.

by CNB