MOLDOVA….

Already out of money and out of credit, Moldova may soon be out of gas. Russia’s Gazprom cut deliveries earlier this year and is threatening now to terminate all shipments if payments do not improve. Since the beginning of the year, according to press reports, Moldova has paid about $30 million for $90 million of gas, adding $60 million to a tab that over five years totals around $600 million. That includes debts incurred by entities in the breakaway Transdniester region, which accounts for about 40% of Gazprom’s deliveries. UKRAINE…. The government and the major unions in the coal industry have reached a settlement on wages, ending months of sporadic strikes and demonstrations. The deal calls for payment of June wages by July 20 and timely payment of current wages thereafter, with pre-June arrears to be caught up by the end of 1998. To make the settlement work, coal producers are supposed to sell only for cash. That means power producers and other industrial users will have to find the funds to pay…. In Kyiv, the parliament elected last March 29 remains hopelessly divided, unable even to elect its own leadership. After 16 ballots, the Communist candidate for the chairman’s post was still seventeen short of a majority in the 450-seat chamber. Despite official denials, speculation is growing that an exasperated President Leonid Kuchma may seek a way to dismiss the legislature and force new elections.