CHERNOMYRDIN: MOSCOW WILL NOT COMPENSATE FRAUD LOSSES.

During his visit to the Altay, Russian prime minister ViktorChernomyrdin said that the Russian government will not compensatedepositors who lost their money from fraud by such companies asMMM and the Selenga house, Krasnaya zvezda reported August23. The Russian media reported the same time that Russians havelost some 20 trillion rubles to fraudulent companies. In othercomments, the premier said that the government would try to indexdefense industry orders next year but urged defense firms to tryto find profitable lines rather than to rely on the government.Chernomyrdin’s first announcement will infuriate many Russianvoters; his second may reassure some in the military-industrialcomplex.

Bomb Found Near American Embassy in Moscow.