MILITARY LEADERS REACT TO YELTSIN DECREES.

Russian defense minister Pavel Grachev applauded the measures announced by Yeltsin on May 8, saying that they would allow the army to prioritize its procurement activities to meet key technical needs and thus provide it with more state-of-the-art military technology. But Zinovy Pak, who was named to head the old defense industry committee in late January, suggested that the defense industries ministry would not ask for significant new budget allocations. Complaints about shortages of finances are often only excuses for ineptitude," he said. Pak looked instead to revenues from foreign arms sales, projecting that Russia’s annual earnings from such exports will rise from their current $3 billion to $10 billion by the year 2000. He said that the number of defense enterprises allowed to market their products independently would be raised from 7 to 24, and that the government would soon consider proposals under which it would repurchase stakes in selected defense enterprises. (Interfax, May 8)

Moscow Protecting its Own in Azerbaijan…