YELTSIN AND CHERNOMYRDIN DOWNPLAY RESHUFFLE RUMORS.

As for the government, Yeltsin said he had decided that the current team headed by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin could be kept "almost intact." It was possible, he added, that "one or two people" might have to be replaced. He did not say who they would be. Chernomyrdin told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos that he had "so far" given no thought to the possibility of running for president. Chernomyrdin also said that First Deputy Premiers Anatoly Chubais and Boris Nemtsov, sidelined in his recent cabinet reshuffle, would remain in the government for the foreseeable future. He declined to comment on Yeltsin’s statement that "one or two" ministers might be dismissed. And, in a pointed gesture, Chernomyrdin said he would, after all, be delegating responsibility during his vacation to Chubais or, in Chubais’ absence, to Nemtsov. (RTR, January 31)

No Breakthrough in Primakov-Albright Talks.