SOSKOVETS UPBEAT ON CIS ECONOMIC UNION.

Russia’s first deputy prime minister Oleg Soskovets predicted yesterday that the first stage of a CIS economic union would be completed by the end of 1996. The low competitiveness of many goods produced in CIS countries, plus the latters’ reliance on Russian energy and raw materials will work in favor of an economic union, he said. Soskovets also renewed Moscow’s proposal to acquire shares of stock in "certain" industrial enterprises in CIS countries in payment for past oil and gas supplies. (2)

Defense Sector to Increase Civilian Production in 1996.