The is no truth in (pravda)..
Yeltsin Under Fire
By Sergiusz Morenc -- ABCNEWS.com
M O S C O W, Sept. 16 ? This is not
how President Boris Yeltsin envisaged his
final year in office.
Having survived two communist-led
coup attempts in 1991 and 1993, a
life-threatening heart ailment and
multiple-bypass surgery in 1996, a
near-collapse of his country?s economy in
1997, and impeachment proceedings
earlier this year, the Russian leader now
finds himself in the middle of:
a sticky international bribery and
kickback scandal and
new calls for his resignation today after
the deaths of nearly 300 people in two
weeks of terror attacks (see story,
below).
Yeltsin prides himself on dismantling
the Soviet empire and burying
communism, but has said his true
ambition is to be remembered for leading
a reformed and emerging Russia into the
21st century. He says he wants to spend
his final year in office handing power over
gracefully.
He may not get his wish.
Not only is he being assailed for being
unable to control terrorist attacks, but he
could in coming weeks be subject to
embarrassing revelations of financial
dealings involving himself, close aides
and relatives.
At the end of his second term in
office, Yeltsin finds himself increasingly
isolated in his Kremlin office, surrounded
by a mediocre group of aides and his
closest family: daughters Tatyana and
Yelena, and wife Naina (see graphic,
above).
Most of his original team of political
and economic reformers is long gone,
many victims of political compromises
and intrigue. A ?fortress mentality?
dominates Kremlin corridors of power.
Questions on Yeltsin?s
Inner Circle
Many of Yeltsin?s current problems stem
from allegations of kickbacks purportedly
received from an obscure Swiss
contracting company ? ?Mabetex? ?
which in recent years renovated parts of
the Kremlin.
The initial investigation was launched
last year by Swiss prosecutor Carla del
Ponti, and subsequently picked up by
Russian Prosecutor General Yury
Skuratov. At least 24 members of
Yeltsin?s ?inner circle,? including the
president and his daughters, allegedly
received kickbacks from Mabetex?s
owner, B. Paccoli.
For months, the Kremlin has been
ignoring the allegations, and Skuratov
was suspended while other investigators
have been moved to other assignments.
But del Ponti?s investigations have moved
forward and the affair has generated so
much international and domestic publicity
so the Kremlin can no longer afford to
ignore it.
Investigators say the cash amounts
run into millions of dollars, transferred by
Mabetex to foreign banks and credit card
accounts held by several present and
former Kremlin officials and members of
their families, including the president and
his daughters.
The alleged mechanisms used were
neither complex nor original: the Kremlin
was said to have approved ?padded?
contracts. Mabetex would then keep its
side of the deal by contributing to certain
bank and credit card accounts in Western
Europe.
?They Just Paid my
Expenses?
For the time being, the spotlight is on
Pavel Borodin, who for several years has
been in charge of the Kremlin?s vast
properties. Borodin strongly denies all
allegations of wrongdoing.
He says Mabetex paid his expenses
on three related business trips to
Switzerland, which corresponds to
contractual agreements between the
company and the Kremlin. No illegal
payments have been made and no illegal
accounts exist, Borodin says.
Whatever the truth may be, the
Kremlin is seriously concerned. The focal
point of the investigation is in Switzerland
and other Western European countries
where the Kremlin has little, if any,
leverage to stop efforts that in the next
few weeks or months could embarrass
Russia and disgrace its president.
Copyright 1999 ABC News Internet
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