…AS YEGOROV, SOSKOVETS SUGGEST ECONOMIC POLICY MAY CHANGE.

Yegorov told reporters yesterday to expect additional personnel changes in the presidential administration, but not a wholesale purge. Yegorov intimated that the results of the December elections had convinced Yeltsin to focus more on social policy. That theme apparently also dominated a meeting between Yeltsin and Soskovets devoted to the upcoming presidential election. Although he spoke only in the vaguest terms, Soskovets said adjustments in Russian economic policy were forthcoming. He hinted that such changes might entail a weakening of the government’s current anti-inflationary policies in favor of strengthening the social safety net and providing support for manufacturers. Soskovets described his appointment as campaign chairman as public service work, saying he would retain his current governmental responsibilities and posts, which he specified as including the military-industrial complex and its conversion, industrial policy, transportation, communications, and the fuel and energy sector. (5)

Zyuganov Says Yeltsin Should Step Aside.