Vadim Soloviov Nezavisimaya Gazeta, March 13, 2001
SUMMARY:
Klebanov’s statement on the postponement stunned everybody. The whole project is supposed to cost $70 million, and Russia has to raise half of the sum. Klebanov’s is reputed by state officials to have been ordered to find the money.
As a candidate for the post of defense minister, Klebanov does not want the complicated operation to proceed. Too many things may go wrong. Klebanov will be inevitably blamed and his career will be over.
Specialists say public statements of Klebanov’s commission are deliberately vague and misleading. Too much is at stake, and bureaucratic intrigues are predictably intricate.
