NAVY COMMANDERS COMPLAIN OVER FUNDING.

The first deputy commander of Russia’s beleaguered navy complained May 15 that the government pays little attention to the fleet’s problems and that the navy has "neither a faction, nor individual deputies in the State Duma." Northern Fleet Commander Oleg Yerofeyev told the same conference in St. Petersburg that the decommissioning of nuclear submarines and the recycling of spent nuclear fuel are the main problems facing the fleet. (Interfax, May 15) On May 6 First Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Soskovets had promised to give greater attention to the navy’s budget. (See Monitor, May 7)

Uzbek-U.S. Conversion Committee Formed.