Upstairs

A super oligarch has appeared in Russia
By presidential decree, the Ministry of Press, Television and Radio Broadcasting and Mass Communications was created in Russia.

If until recently there were two recognized oligarchs on television - Boris Berezovsky (ORT, TV-6) and Vladimir Gusinsky (NTV), now they have been joined by a third - Mikhail Lesin (previously he was only called in behind-the-scenes conversations the shadow owner of RTR and "Culture" "). Moreover, Lesin became the main oligarch: as Minister of Press, he received, in particular, the right to issue and take away licenses from television channels. “Hour X” has already been appointed for the remaining media magnates: the President instructed Lesin “no later than March 1, 2000” to hold competitions for the issuance of new licenses for all types of activities in the field of media and mass communications. With this appointment, the Kremlin received additional leverage over television channels, which by that time will already be promoting each of their presidential candidates with might and main. However, having appointed Lesin as head of the ministry, the Kremlin itself, it seems, did not fully understand what it had done. For all his trusting relationships with the presidential entourage, Lesin, unlike, say, Berezovsky, is not distinguished by reckless adventurism. And therefore, it is unlikely to agree to conduct the election campaign of such, for example, exotic candidates as Nikolai Aksenenko or Alexander Lebed through controlled media.

"The Russian ruble will be better than the euro"
Last week a sensational event occurred. Chairman of the National Bank of Belarus Pyotr Prokopovich said at a meeting of the Russian-Belarusian executive committee that he is ready to recognize the Russian ruble as the single currency of the union state, and the Russian Central Bank as the only emission center.

True, all this, according to the concept, can take place no earlier than 2008. But the desire of Belarusians to renounce currency, and therefore political sovereignty, shocked the deputy chairman of the Central Bank Oleg Mozhaiskov. He immediately rushed to persuade his Belarusian colleague not to do this: “The introduction of the Russian ruble will cause unpredictable consequences for you.” Prokopovich stood his ground. Stepashin stopped the discussion. He clearly liked the idea of a ruble Anschluss of Belarus, which would inevitably be followed by Belarus’s entry into Russia: “Prokopovich is not proposing to introduce the euro, but our Russian ruble. The proposal is accepted.”

Magazine "Kommersant Money" No. 27 dated July 14, 1999, p. 17

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