DUMA SCHEDULES SEQUESTRATION DEBATE.

June is the last monthof work for the Russian Duma before the summer recess, which willlast from July 1 to August 31. The Duma has resolved to debatethe government’s proposed spending cuts on June 11. Before therecess, Duma committees are also expected to begin work on the1998 draft federal budget, which the government has promised topresent to parliament before the beginning of its autumn session.(Itar-Tass, June 3) As for the discussion of the new tax code,Duma speaker Gennady Seleznev cautioned against "haste"and said deputies would consider the code in due course. FirstDeputy Premier Anatoly Chubais sees things differently: he isquoted in a newspaper interview published this week as sayingthat the country’s future depends on the adoption of a new taxcode. Chubais said the government is ready to accept amendmentsto the draft and to compromise on significant matters, "butthis will require the approval of the code in the first readingbefore the summer vacation." He noted that, under the constitution,President Yeltsin has the right to dissolve the Duma, but saidhe didn’t know if things would come to that. (Interfax, June 3)

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