Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 19, 1994 TAG: 9401190015
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOSCOW LENGTH: Medium
In another indication of a possible turnabout by Yeltsin, Russia's foreign minister called Tuesday for keeping Russian troops stationed in other former Soviet republics.
Finance Minister Boris Fyodorov, an advocate of fiscal and monetary restraint, resigned Tuesday, the ITAR-Tass news agency and radio Ekho Moskvy said. Fyodorov spokeswoman Olga Leonova denied the reports, but said it was unclear whether Fyodorov would stay in the Cabinet.
Economists and analysts said that Fyodorov's reported departure - the latest in a series of reformers' resignations - would indicate a victory for the "go-slow approach" advocated by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.
The White House said Tuesday that Fyodorov's reported departure doesn't suggest Yeltsin has broken the commitment he gave President Clinton last week to continue reforms.
Still, as Yeltsin tried but failed Tuesday to find a new Cabinet lineup in meetings with Chernomyrdin, the ruble tumbled Tuesday to a record low of 1,504 to the dollar amid the uncertainty over Russia's economic future.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky and other hard-liners promised to throw their support behind Yeltsin's government Tuesday if more reformers left.
Reformers within the government have been split since communists and nationalists capitalized on Russian anger over the economy, rising crime and the loss of the former Soviet empire to win December parliamentary elections.
by CNB