CHECHEN OFFICIALS CALLED TO REPORT.

On October 22, the pro-Moscow chief of the civilian administration in Chechnya, Akhmad Kadyrov, summoned three high-ranking officials of the Chechen government, presently headed by Premier Stanislav Il’yasov, onto the carpet to give reports concerning their activities. The three officials were: Deputy Premier Zina Batysheva, Minister of Economics Visait Alerkhanov and Minister of Finances Sergei Abramov. It was expected that following their reports there would take place removals from office. “The ministers,” the newspaper Kommersant underlined, “had nothing to boast of. Of 10 billion rubles earmarked for the restoration of the socioeconomic sphere of the republic in 2001, only 700 million had actually been spent.” In like fashion, “Of the 2,500 houses and 4,500 apartments planned for construction this year, only 100 private houses have in fact been built.” The first of the officials to get the sack, Kommersant predicted, would likely be minister of finances Abramov, who had come to Chechnya as part of the team of Premier Il’yasov (Kommersant, October 23).