RUSSIA STRIKES COTTON DEAL WITH UZBEKISTAN.

Late last year Russia signed an agreement with Uzbekistan under which Russia will import 77,000 tons of cotton in 1997 in return for shipping 400,000 tons of grain to Uzbekistan. This deal enables Russia to meet about half its annual cotton requirement, at a price 15-20 percent below the world market level. Russia has concluded similar swap deals with Uzbekistan each year since 1992. In 1995 Moscow introduced a ban on the re-export of cotton to prevent entrepreneurs from selling the cotton on the world market instead of delivering it to Russian factories. On May 20 the government decided to extend the ban through the end of 1997. (Interfax, 20 May)

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