The old feud between Luzhkov and Chubais -- which climaxed last year over the mayor's privatization plan for Moscow -- has heated up again recently over food-import tariffs for Moscow. Since Chubais accused the mayor of plotting to support monopolists in late June, the mayor's office has gone on the offensive, both through a lawsuit and on the pages of local newspapers.
In an interview in Thursday's edition of Argumenty i Fakty, Luzhkov outlined his own philosophy of controlled economic development, which requires "discipline" and "dictatorship." His criticism for federal sell-offs was characteristically harsh.
"One cannot give up one's property for nothing," Luzhkov said. "Even the states with the most developed market economies hold between 25 and 30 percent of property, which determine the strategic aspects of the life and security of the country."
He added that Chubais' privatization program had failed to deposit property in the hands of competent private managers.
"Chubais has not seen to that. Chubais, I would like to emphasize, has seen to the destruction of the state economy," Luzhkov said. When asked how Chubais had done this, he replied, "Any country seeks to create an economy that is competitive and has markets. But who needs a strong competitor? So they have found a way to weaken it without spending much -- through an internal counterrevolution."
In late 1993 and early 1994, Luzhkov and Chubais were publicly at loggerheads over federal privatization policy. Luzhkov's special privatization package -- which he finally won in February -- made sell-offs more gradual, gave the city more control over privatized businesses and forbade land privatization, in defiance of several federal decrees.
Spokesmen for Chubais and Luzhkov both said there was no real flare-up between the two, despite long-standing economic differences. Recently, however, the two have publicly clashed dramatically over food-import tariffs for the city. Luzhkov's centralized food distribution system has enjoyed artificially low tariffs since perestroika, when they were set as an emergency measure during food shortages.
Chubais has accused Luzhkov of using the tax credits to nurture several monopolistic importers for his own profit.
Chubais won that round, since new tariffs have been in force since July 1, but Luzhkov responded with a blitz of articles in the local press in the vein of "Fall Menu: Scarce and Expensive," which appeared in the newspaper Kuranty. In it, a mayoral aide promises that the city government will appeal to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin to return the tariffs to their earlier levels, thereby preventing sharp inflation in the capital.
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