NEWSPAPER PUBLISHES NEW “KOMPROMAT” AGAINST BEREZOVSKY.

Today the campaign of “kompromat”–compromising materials–against financier Boris Berezovsky continued. “Moskovsky komsomolets” published what it said were telephone conversations Berezovsky had in 1997 and 1998, including one with Tatyana Dyachenko, Yeltsin’s younger daughter and “image” adviser. In that conversation, which allegedly took place August 1, 1997, Berezovsky–who was then secretary of Yeltsin’s advisory Security Council–complained about rival oligarch Vladimir Potanin–founder of Oneximbank and the Interros financial-industrial group and a former first deputy premier, who had just won a tender for a quarter of Svyazinvest, Russia’s telecommunications holding company. Berezovsky, who did most of the talking, said Potanin was able to win because he, Potanin, had awarded Oneximbank the right to hold US$1 billion from the state tax services, as well as finance ministry funds, while serving as first deputy premier. In the same conversation, Berezovsky called then-Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov’s initiative requiring top government officials to file income and property declarations “idiotic.” Berezovsky said there should first be a law mandating an amnesty for “initially accumulated capital” (Moskovsky komsomolets, February 12). In 1997, Dyachenko was widely rumored to be under Berezovsky’s sway. Where she stands now is unclear.

UKRAINE TO EXPAND DEFENSE COOPERATION WITH NATO AND POLAND.