TOOLING UP….

Prime Minister Yuri Primakov typically scores first or second in presidential preference polls, though he denies any interest in seeking the office. But he has installed two former colleagues from the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), which he used to run, as head of the news service and head of Radio Russia at the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. Press reports last week suggested a third SVR man would soon be named to the number two position in the company. That could set the company up to function as a state-owned and state-financed media arm of a Primakov presidential campaign.