ESTONIAN-RUSSIAN CULTURAL AGREEMENT SIGNED; LOOTED ART REMAINS A PROBLEM.

Culture Minister Yevgeny Sidorov, the first Russian minister to visit Estonia in five years, signed on March 21 with his counterpart Jaak Allik a bilateral cultural agreement for 1997-98, which in practice extends and enlarges a similar program for 1995-96. Much of the agreement is geared to the needs of Russians in Estonia. Sidorov "personally" sympathized with Tallinn’s request for the return of Estonia’s presidential insignia, seized following the Soviet occupation. But Sidorov resisted requests for the return of the collections of the Estonian Art Museum and of Tartu University, transferred by the Soviet authorities to Russia and still kept there. (BNS, Interfax, March 21-22)

Kuchma Lambasts Government’s Economic Policies; Appoints Lanovy to State Property Fund.