BEREZOVSKY CALLS PRIMAKOV AN “ABSOLUTELY TOTALITARIAN” THINKER.

In a live interview from Paris yesterday, Boris Berezovsky–who last week became the target of an arrest warrant issued by the Prosecutor General’s office concerning alleged embezzlement from Aeroflot airlines–angrily lashed out at Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov. The tycoon and former Commonwealth of Independent States executive secretary charged that Primakov is a person of “absolutely totalitarian thinking” who wants to take Russia back to “the previous regime.” Berezovsky charged that Primakov was directly attacking private business in Russia and directly interfering in the media, particularly in the work of ORT, the country’s main television channel which Berezovsky is also said to control. Berezovsky said that Primakov wants to change ORT into something resembling Soviet-era television, but said: “That won’t happen.” Berezovsky yet again called for a ban on the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), which he called a fascist organization, while again defending President Boris Yeltsin, whom he called a person of liberal thinking despite his many mistakes.

Berezovsky again promised to return to Moscow this week but admitted he could be arrested upon his arrival. On the other hand, Interior Minister Sergei Stepashin said on April 9 that he does not plan to arrest Berezovsky, adding that the tycoon had promised to return and clear things up, which, Stepashin said, would probably end the controversy (ORT, April 11).

UKRAINIAN LEFT: PROGRESSIVE SOCIALISTS STAND ALONE, PEASANTS SUPPORT COMMUNISTS.