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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Yeltsin Makes Comeback In Health And Economics

Washington Post

A year ago, President Boris Yeltsin was teetering on the verge of a third heart attack, had put economic reform on hold, was frantically shuffling his Kremlin command and was facing his biggest fight for re-election against the Communist Party’s leader.

Thursday, as he flew to Denver to participate in the 23rd annual meeting of the leaders of the seven major industrial democracies, Yeltsin was in many ways a new man.

Not only has he defeated the Communists and survived a quintuple heart bypass operation, but he has installed the most reform-oriented, free-market government since 1992.

Yeltsin has been invited to every meeting of the Group of Seven since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, but this year he is being accorded grander perquisites.

He is to deliver the opening address. The meeting has been named the “Summit of the Eight,” and Yeltsin said he wants “very much” to persuade the seven other nations, especially a reluctant Japan, to expand their exclusive club to a permanent Group of Eight.

The summit may have little of substance to offer Yeltsin, but the symbolic rewards should be bountiful. It is the consolation prize for his agreement to allow the eastward expansion of NATO.

Russia’s still-depressed market economy does not qualify for a seat at the table with the leading industrial democracies, but Yeltsin’s invitation amounts to a promise from the West that Russia will not be left out as it struggles through a tough transition.

Such a gesture is especially vital to Russia now as it seeks Western loans. Just Thursday, Russia sold $2 billion in 10-year Eurobonds to overseas investors. The bonds were priced to yield 10 percent, compared with 6.3 percent for similar U.S. Treasury bonds. Overseas financing would be far more costly should Russia become isolated from the major democracies and their financial markets.