OUTPUT DOWN AT CONVERTED RUSSIAN DEFENSE PLANTS.

According to Russia’s State Statistics Committee, the volume of production from some 700 Russian firms involved in defense conversion fell by 20 percent in the first quarter of 1996 as compared to the same period last year. Approximately one in two such enterprises saw a decline in output of both civilian and military products, the report continued. It also said that civilian products now make up more than 80 percent of total output at more than half of the defense plants undergoing conversion, and that one in five produce only civilian goods. (Interfax, July 2)

Russian Far Eastern Trade Slumps.