KIRIENKO SETS UP ECONOMIC POLICY PRESIDIUM.

As part of the current reform, an eight-member economic policy presidium is being formed within the government. Kirienko on May 5 named the members as: himself as prime minister; his three deputy premiers Boris Nemtsov, Viktor Khristenko and Oleg Sysuev; Economy Minister Yakov Urinson; Finance Minister Mikhail Zadornov; State Property Minister Farit Gazizullin; and Science and Technology Minister Vladimir Bulgak. Other members may be added later, Kirienko’s spokesman said yesterday, bringing the total up to as many as eleven. The new minister of trade and industry, whoever he is, is an obvious candidate. (Itar-Tass, May 5 and 6) The presidium will face some tough choices. Yeltsin has already told Kirienko that the new government must base its budgetary commitments on “pessimistic” revenue expectations. Meanwhile, Nemtsov told an audience in Tver yesterday that the new government will make a number of “vital” decisions aimed at overcoming the economic crisis and improving social conditions within the next “100 to 150 days.” (Russian agencies, May 6)

CHUBAIS’S UES APPOINTMENT RECEIVES STRONG REGIONAL SUPPORT.