NEMTSOV URGES TAX CRACKDOWN.

In an address to the Russian Supreme Court on June 17, First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov complained that courts are too lenient with tax-dodgers. He said that current legislation allows a maximum prison sentence of only three years, so tax evasion should be reclassified as a serious offense. The State Tax Police prosecuted 5,500 tax offenders in 1996, up from 800 in 1994, and claim to have recovered 30 trillion rubles ($5.2 billion)

Tokyo Mulls Territorial Issue.