RUSSIA NEEDS A VODKA MONOPOLY.

The deputy director of the Federal Bankruptcy Department told Trud May 5 that the influx of foreign vodka has seriously reduced state revenues. He said that the state vodka monopoly on domestic production had been rendered meaningless by these imports. In other comments, P. Karpov said that bribery had become a way of life in many parts of the economy, with bribes of three to ten percent of the value of deals now being the standard in the energy sector. He said that getting indictments was virtually impossible: no one wanted to talk, many of those involved were well-connected, and there was a general concern that trials would simply harm the economy by frightening away Western investors.

Yeltsin Dissolves Russian Delegations.