A SPECIAL STORE FOR DUMA MEMBERS.

Duma members now can patronize a specialstore closed to ordinary citizens, Obshchaya gazeta (no. 20) reported. Thisreturn to a Soviet-era institution is one more way the government of PrimeMinister Chernomyrdin is seeking to win the backing of incumbents, and onemore reason why incumbents are fighting so hard to hold onto their jobs. Butpublic discussions about such stores will only further erode the authority ofboth the Duma and the Chernomyrdin administration.

The Chernomyrdin “Russia is Our Home” bloc may soon have otherproblems as well, Kommersant-daily reported May 18. Duma Security chiefViktor Ilyukhin has asked the authorities to investigate where that bloc isgetting its funds: if they are from state enterprises, that is embezzlement;if they are from private ones, that is corruption, Ilyukhin said.

Problems With The Arms Export Probe.