Russian Trade Official Quits Amid Scandal
MOSCOW — Foreign Economic Relations Minister Sergei Glazyev resigned Saturday amid a growing scandal over corruption at the heart of Russian politics.
Glazyev, 32, blamed criminal gangs for trying to thwart his attempts to tighten state controls on Russia’s chaotic foreign trade.
In a resignation letter to Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin, he also accused First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir F. Shumeiko and Justice Minister Yuri Kalmykov of hounding him.
Glazyev’s ministry announced last Wednesday that it was slashing the number of firms allowed to export oil and precious metals, two of the most profitable areas for Russian business.
Glazyev was the second minister to resign in two days. Press and Information Minister Mikhail A. Fedotov quit Friday complaining of conservative attempts to muzzle the press.
Kalmykov said in a newspaper interview published on Saturday that the foreign economic relations, economics and energy ministries were the targets of special investigations into corruption.
Mutual accusations of graft and fraud have become key weapons in the long-running power struggle between Yeltsin and his conservative opponents.
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