RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT TO HELP ONLY "GOOD" BANKS IN CURRENTCRISIS.

As the Russian government and central bank struggleto restart interbank relationships this week and thus end thefinancial crisis that began August 23, Deputy Premier AnatolyChubais told Russian radio August 26 that the government willtarget its financial infusions to "good" banks only.Chubais did not define which ones he considered to fall into thiscategory, but a radio commentator suggested that Chubais meantthe banks that are ready to support the government in the currentelection campaign. Meanwhile, Yeltsin’s economic advisor AleksandrLivshits told Itar-Tass August 26 that approximately 100 bankswill fail during this crisis and that another round of bank bankruptcieswill hit later this fall. But Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdinand acting Central Bank chief Tatyana Paramonova tried to putthe best face on the crisis by suggesting that it was a reflectionof the birth of a market economy.

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