C00042348 ZEditaid ~portj Moscow Television Service is Rus- aim at 19033 OM'I' an 17 November carries a 37-minute according of a saws cosilerenoe held an 13 November with Leonid Abalkin. deputy chairman of the USSR ? Council of Ministers, as the conclusion of the scientific and practical eoafereooe held in Moscow so discuss Soviet economic reform. Video shows Abdkin as tos- trum. An unidentified chairman opens the news eomfeo- eaoe~ "Esteemed ladies and gent amen, we have invited you to a meeting in connection with the eomdusion of the alHmion scientific and practical conference an radical economic reform. This conference opened on Monday and ended today in the Hall of Columns of the House of the Unions." 'oday Academician Leonid Ivanovich Absikin, deputy chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, will share his impressions on the conference ~L " Wi+~eat ~measures, Abnikin says, must be taken to impl - U meat economic reform, and these measures must be drawn up before the Congress. Taking part in the con- ference were experts in all fields, to discuss as openly as possible, with all possible opinions r+epi es anted, a nationwide program to take into account of all shades of opinion. '%=f=m t brealistic, comprehenssive, and bold. ce yielded a great deal ofmate real over the 3 days it was held. The first question is from a TASS correspondent who asks about the basis for the theory of the transitional period. Abdkin says one main issue is how to move from a nomnarket economy to a market economy, bow to create the isdrastucui e. The program is based upon a critical evaluation of past experience, both in the USSR and abroad, a scientific and theoretical analysis was also made. All this went into the proposals advanced. A BTA correspondent asks about consensus on the issues discussed and on approaches to republican GRIMM y jue tioa from the FINANCIAL TIMES ( j I yM . piopam as a Rua of the coa>fereace7 Ii seemed tlbat toe readlon so your program was pretty Sotatmp. Do you agree with that st saaaeat?" ;~Abelkin asponds: "The conference yielded no usental chatepes, no errors s of any directions or of reform. Glonservat ve moods, horeever, turned col started. This perhaps inflects the general-a mwe i tinily different from the situation in the 'mmpr, this complex development of events: One cannot brush it aside, one must be ready for it. sections-work went on in eight sections, four m" tables, and over 200 people spoke-411 this most be looked at attentively, some interesting ideas. and am?: a fictions may evidently be found there. And only dies will it be possible to evaluate folly the quality of due discussions~" A Portuguese correspondent asks whether public opinion ' might oppose the changes needed to emerge from impasse. The correspondent also asks what will be the rote of the congress. Absdkin responds that public opinion is vital; attempts have been made to play with public opinion and manip- ulate it. Public opinion must be mobilized-it is awaiting constructive measures and decisions. The cos- areas will certainly be very turbulent and contradictory. We must learn to listen and hood one another, we must overcome social .VuL ." An Italian correspondent asks in English about opposi- tion in society to private ownership. Abolkin says the law on ownensbip, like the law on must be submitted for nationwide disausion? lion rata .As an economist, Abalkin says that it is very common for terms to be misunderstood, terminology is a sours of idstanding and therefore of tension. Terms suds as private ownership and cooperatives have been inter- preted in diffeent ways, giving rise to unnecessary polemic. We must not by to put over new thinking in the old terminology of the 19th Century. An EL PATS correspondent, in Russian.--asks:_'The---- ----- newspaper EL PALS, Spain. I should like to learn about table convertibility--that is one point; then also about a system of rationing, and thirA, parallel money- Abolkin says consawu is impossible is such cases Fall agreement would mean stagnation in Winking. All aspects must be weighed and conclusions reached. Agreement an the basic fimdamentak was, Ire her. amine. Without reform, we have an impasse. Coo- sensus in the sense elan understanding of the responsi- bnlity of the decisions to be made was thus readied. Financial autonomy mast be introduced in the republics from 1990, which leaves very little time. Huge price changes are impossible, but we are compelled to take interim measures to compensate until foil measures are implemented. The source of republican budgets have Approved for Re ease pate -U6 91 C00042348 astral hh the lain _ con IL to vas done MUNK four this so y the quality about a saiog~y ru a sounoe or rise to mneoearmr exnewthiniriagiodw ry lhweaa, alit `'ht mint; then also about s money" . parallel *ere is a seed for a Soviet table to be tb;phoe lies in at act that the WOOS- am oMeae a session of the Supreme Soviet and :~ lepoduoe Table convertibility as of i January. in we ....... have ":.h.:,. she p e sgvdnre on the wMd mantel. We mist and at least what we call internal '.kpp nlblil1ty. We must have well-trained protes- y lmb we must have a whole host of other conditions ;.Wi csenot be created jest by doom or administrative 4pisioes made purely at will. This is the road we must - doaa.. But we must go down it aware of all its ample xltes. This must be the case at subsequent stages itlas move neat, as well. of rationing is, in my opinion, an unacoept- die pith. We acted the country's leading academics and eaaomists for an analysis of this problem and of the plwilhie economic and social consequences. We had rirtsspy total unanimity from than in their assessment of the inexpediency and of the socioeconomic unjudifi- d0y of such a move. It does not future in the program liar actions. If we succeed in implementing the steps that lave been mopped out in the course of this year and that Year. then this issue will have been removed from b '.'lion by the start of the i990's. if this program is aM implemented--if something prevents it from being anried through--and if by the end of 1990-by the start Ktbe 1990's we are unable to stabilize the situation in the country, then a system of rationing will be inevitable, hM cat will be the end of the reform. "Ihequestion of a parallel currency is a question that is apes to discussion. ft is open to discussion. There are 11121111 and proposals on this score, but there has hies ao decision on this matter. There are pros and cons. his not adsr which outweigh which, or by how much. We need some more time to forma definite opinion, but Out is less than a mouth for this.- As APN correspondent asks about the difficulty of the druggist Oft of affairs and whether the population 4pected to wait. republics must be even their chance: In 1990 they mum be hones of dhanq they mud show that things are -changing for the better. An ABC correspoodau, speaking in English with super- ihrrposed Russian tanslation, auk:: "President Hush has said that he wants peresttvyka to succeed. What steps would you like the United States to take in the economic sphere to help pare treyka succeed?" Absikin responds: "We must do most of the work ourselves. I remember what fah said about Poland and Hungary. He was quite tight, I think, when he said, as a wise and realistic politician, that the Poles and Humpr- ians themselves must bring their country out of eoo- nomic crisis, just like the Soviet people must do. We must do this ourselves. I am concernedmast by what must be done in our country in these matuts. A Of --------- what can be expected of the United States of America, which might be of assistance, I do not wish to develop this topic, because apart frouilhe most general concepts with which you have all long been familiar-decide the issue of the most-favoured nation system, remove some other restrictions- i shall not be enriching our knowl- edge with anything.- A (?HARLEMS DAGLAD) correspondent, speaking in Rusian, asks: "We did not all manage to follow the debates conducted at the conference. Could you perhaps tall us more specifically which points gave rise to the most negative reaction from the conservatives, and how do you reckon to break this opposition?" Abalkin answers: "We have a great deal of historical experience on how to break the opposition. (laughter in hail] Therefore, the main task is bow to learn to hold a dialogue with the opposition. The best way is to compel the conservatives to do battle with the radicals, while we get on calmly with the job at hand. [laughter] That would be the wisest solution, we have both radicals and conser- votives. At the shone time, we must take all the valuable and useful and sensible things offered by both of these, and include these in ourprogramme and get on along our own way. As for the sweets which came in for criticism, I would limit myself to just two approaches. Emotions carried over from meetings were present at the confer- em,- and there were also scientific discussions. "Everything starts at the very beginning: Should state property be left unaltered, or should we start to mod- ernize and renew, make it man flexible and start the process of dadatization, given labor collectives on this basis the freedom to decide matters independently and dMlkia saps everyone is waiting for an instant miracle. so elect their manager. Or should we maintain the system to tlro past, he says, it is at buses like this that reports of of administration by injunction. Should we move to a Uf s start circulating. We must convince public;, market with new laws of regulating it, with flexible and I by means of the truth and nothing but the truth. mobile prices. Or should we as before keep prices unarn- an inevitable after huge Mu- biguously under harsh state control. A quite normal '41111 gloat The u nfortumate mum be made aware of the state's process is under way, not a very pleasant one, but a maoern for their wall-being. We mum not give way to normal process of counterposing and weighing up and to "otions. The individual must be made to feel his own forth. At the same time-and this is also a very well ibility and the importance of this work. The known thing-the existence of any opposition :,compels LD20 174289 Report) Moscow Television Service Rus- GM, on 20 November begins a iy of the 20 November Sup~he Soviet ion in the Kremlin. principles oft draft on ilk republian economic autonomy. The morning session open. He pkted this week, find its way into vided in time. Toda; submitted by deputies. At 1604 GMT, an uni Autonomy of the Baltic At 1620 GMT, Nis" original agenda set in work. Deputies have in General Prw*dvw At tl. report by trying to Abdkin takes the draft kw, which w variant of the IN submitted for seed for dwell on the law have be regional to develop kys strew and the certain and aamdyA not ban on. The republics tb social distribution of labor. Dome under a ministry or not. t ofthe Fcooossyle at its first rardiot AI drawn up and bas b ration. Abalkin stratus rtional approach. He I ipetence of the nselves mot 4 kterpr idlers of i sian at 1635 GMT, ON 20 No ber eontin cr recorded relay of the 20 Novem Suprc morning session proceedings in the Kremlin. At 1635 gift, Abalkin states that wi regan to %a.c a..a...an, .-.......v .', w.~.-------- of the republics. The financial basis ~fwcalsoviets