Leaders of the newly formed electoral bloc headed by State Duma speaker Ivan Rybkin made their maiden public appearance Monday, airing an agenda that was virtually identical to that of their chief rivals -- the Our Home Is Russia bloc of Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.


The group's leaders were vague on their proposed policies and even on what the party should be called. While the Russian press has referred to it as Accord, Rybkin said Monday that 70 possible names were being considered.


Rybkin officially announced the bloc's creation Friday, naming among its top leaders General Boris Gromov, who commanded the Soviet force in Afghanistan and its withdrawal, and Yury Petrov, former chief of staff to President Boris Yeltsin.


Neither of these two big names showed up at Monday's press conference, however, leaving the stage to Rybkin and a panel of little-known leaders of small groups, including the Union of Afghanistan Invalids and the ex-Young Communist League Union of Russian Youth, both of which have joined Rybkin's bloc.


Vladimir Shcherbakov, leader of the United Industrial Party, emerged as the group's spokesman on economic matters. But nothing in his remarks pointed toward the group's left-wing orientation, which was stressed by Rybkin and other participants.


"We like Our Home's goals and we think they are correct," Shcherbakov said, referring to the so-called party of power. "But we do not believe in the mechanisms they suggest -- in three years of reform, these mechanisms have not yielded any positive results."


When it came to describing new "mechanisms," however, Shcherbakov sounded as if he was reciting from the government's economic program. He said he did not believe the state should expand its control over the economy or increase investment in industry, as other left-leaning economists such as Sergei Glazyev have proposed.


"The government should invest the Western loans it receives into Western insurance companies and thus make sure that private investors can put money into production without fearing political risks," Shcherbakov said. He stressed that the bloc stood for "developing market methods" or reviving the economy rather than relying on state interference.


Asked how his conservative background as a member of the Agrarian Party matched such liberal economic declarations, Rybkin replied, "'Liberal' is your assessment, not mine. We are always in favor of combining reasonable ideas," he added. "Where the state can help, it should do so. Where the private sector can be used, it should be used."


At the same time, Our Home Is Russia's program, approved by a conference held over the weekend, stresses the need for an increased government role in the economy. The eclecticism of both blocs' platforms seems likely to make it hard for voters to choose between them.


However, there is an easy explanation for this eclecticism: Both blocs were formed after Yeltsin earlier this year said that Rybkin and Chernomyrdin must form electoral movements to "squeeze out the extremists" from the next Duma.


"This is merely Yeltsin giving people an appearance of choice," said one Western diplomat. "In fact, these blocs are just the same."


Recognizing this ambiguity, Leonard Vid, head of Our Home's executive committee, told a recent press conference that the party was not quite pro-government and its attitude to the cabinet was one of "critical solidarity."


On the other hand, the word "opposition" was not mentioned once at the press conference by the members of Rybkin's bloc.


Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Soskovets said over the weekend that Our Home Is Russia hopes to win 30 percent of the Duma seats in the Dec. 17 polls. Rybkin would only say that "three centrist groups together could get 50 percent of the seats."


Among the three, he named his group and the Agrarian Party, which has refused to join the bloc but might still strike a deal on a united list of candidates in single-mandate constituencies. It seemed clear that Our Home Is Russia was the third bloc in Rybkin's formula.


"In many regions," the Duma speaker said, "united movements are being set up that are going to pay no mind to the fine distinctions between parties that seem so important here in Moscow."