Chubais to be stripped of finance portfolio

MOSCOW, November 19: Russia's radical reformer Anatoly Chubais appears to be losing the post of Finance Minister after President Boris Yelt...

MOSCOW, November 19: Russia’s radical reformer Anatoly Chubais appears to be losing the post of Finance Minister after President Boris Yeltsin today approved a proposal that Deputy Prime Ministers should not mix their posts with Ministerial positions.

A Kremlin spokesman said the President “has accepted and supported the proposal to divide the posts” as part of the compromise package to diffuse the current Kremlin-Duma standoff Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin made this offer at his emergency meeting with the Duma faction leaders today.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Communist-dominated State Duma (Lower House of Parliament) urged the President today to dismiss Chubais. But Chubais will retain charge of so-called “economic bloc” in his capacity as number two in the Cabinet. Communist leader Gennedy Zyuganov declared that the Left Opposition is withdrawing its demand for Chubais’ removal from all posts in exchange for its support for the budget.

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He, however, said the Left majority in the House “will not be fully satisfied” if Chubais retained his first Vice-Premiership, radio `Ekho Moskvy’ reported. The Finance portfolio has been offered to the chairman of Duma committee on budget and finances, Mikhail Zadornov, a close associate of Yabloko leader Dr Grigory Yavlinsky.

Meanwhile, the fourth session of the Indo-Russian Inter Governmental Commission (IGC) on trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation scheduled for the later part of this month has been postponed, as a spin off the crisis.

The session was scheduled to be held in New Delhi from November 27-29 and was supposed to set the stage for Yeltsin’s visit to India.

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