GOVERNMENT MAKES DEAL WITH BANKING CONSORTIUM.

The government of Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin is ready to complete its deal with the eight biggest Russian banks, according to which the banks will get shares of state-owned enterprises in return for their giving credits to the government. The enterprises in question are among the most lucrative, including the Lukoil and Yukos oil companies, Norilsk Nickel, and the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant. Earlier, State Property Committee chairman Albert Kokh recognized that this year’s revenue from privatization was lower than expected, and predicted that the government will receive 3 trillion rubles in credit from the banks as a result of this deal. (6)

Hostages Rescued in Dagestan.