…AFTER FIVE-YEAR BUREAUCRATIC BATTLE.

Kotelkin, who moved to Rosvooruzhenie in 1994 as a protege of Yeltsin’s ex-security chief Aleksandr Korzhakov, battled with Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Soskovets for control over arms exports. Kotelkin was seen as a representative of the former military intelligence officials in Rosvooruzhenie, who were being challenged by an ex-KGB grouping. After Soskovets’ dismissal in July 1996 Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed appeared as a new (but fleeting) protector. Kotelkin was forced out of Rosvooruzhenie in August by Economy Minister Yakov Urinson and replaced by ex-banker Yevgeny Ananev. However, Kotelkin was given a post as first deputy foreign trade minister. Since that time Urinson has been maneuvering to dislodge Kotelkin from the ministry, blaming him for the slump in arms exports. Another sign of the weakening of the Kotelkin clan was the resignation of Boris Kuzyk, presidential aide for military industry, on February 3. (Kommersant-daily, February 13)

Urinson broke the monopoly of Rosvooruzhenie this past August by allowing individual arms enterprises to apply for licenses to sell weapons abroad (eight have been granted to date), and by creating two new companies to handle foreign sales of excess weapons from the Russian armed forces (Promstroyexport) and licensing of new technology (Rossiiskie tekhnologii). Rosvooruzhenie is still responsible for new weapons sales abroad. However, it seems that these new companies are still not yet up and running. Russia has lost several important arms deals in recent months (in Ecuador and Indonesia for example) although this is probably due more to exogenous factors than the deficiencies of Russian arms agencies. (Russky telegraf, March 11)

Tax Break for Russian-Us Oil Joint Ventures.