IMF DISTURBED BY RUMORS OF CHUBAIS RESIGNATION.

Although Russian first deputy prime minister Anatoly Chubais has denied rumors that he plans to resign, a news source reported yesterday that Western lenders are concerned about his future. The IMF’s cooperation with Chubais and his colleagues "has been very useful, especially in the past year," said the source. The IMF will hold a meeting January 15 on an extended $9 billion loan to Moscow. According to the source, Chubais’s departure could force the IMF to delay the agreement. (6) Earlier in the week, Chubais told the BBC in London that Russia’s economic transformation had gone too far to be derailed by a communist victory in the June 1996 presidential election or by events in Chechnya. (7)

Minsk May Create State Banking Monopoly.