NEW DEPUTY PREMIER NAMED, SEEKS CHANGES IN ECONOMIC POLICY.

Vladimir Kadannikov, one of Russia’s leading industrial managers, was yesterday appointed First Deputy Prime Minister with responsibility for the economy, taking over the portfolio held until last week by Anatoly Chubais. (1) The appointment sets the seal on the government’s shift toward greater state intervention in the economy, in the making since the Communist party emerged triumphant from last December’s parliamentary elections. Kadannikov, 55, has been general director of Russia’s largest auto producer, Avtovaz, since 1988. A lifetime member of the Communist party, Kadannikov joined Avtovaz, which manufactures Lada cars, as a shopfloor engineer in 1967.

Kadannikov said yesterday that he favored "serious corrections" in economic policy. Over the past year, he has called repeatedly for greater state intervention to bail out ailing Russian enterprises, among them Avtovaz. (2) The new first deputy premier has also advocated higher tariffs on imports to protect domestic producers and has complained that the tight anti-inflationary policy pursued by Chubais adversely affected domestic producers by strengthening the ruble and making Russian exports less competitive on world markets.

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