President Boris Yeltsin, slapping down his new privatization boss for "inept statements" such as declaring support for renationalization, declared Wednesday that Russia's move to a market economy would not change.


"In the strategy and tactics of reforms in Russia, there'll be no changes, either on the side of the president or the government," RIA quoted Yeltsin as telling reporters at the Kremlin.


Yeltsin mentioned "several inept speeches" by privatization boss Vladimir Polevanov, who last month suggested renationalizing "unfairly privatized" oil and metals companies, RIA said.


In January, Polevanov barred foreigners, as well as several press officers, from entering the State Property Committee headquarters in Moscow to protect state secrets. He has refused to follow an order by First Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Chubais, formally his boss, to scrap this ban.


According to stock brokers, Polevanov's reactionary moves have provoked a slump in activity of Russia's equity markets.


"This man has come from the periphery of power to a high-ranking post and has not understood his role. He has not understood that he has to work in a single team," Yeltsin said.


Yeltsin said the government would "correct" this issue soon, suggesting Polevanov would be brought into line.


The tough presidential statement, which has come as a top-level International Monetary Fund delegation is in Moscow negotiating a crucial $6.25 billion standby loan to Russia, echoed a sharp criticism of Polevanov's attitude by Chubais last week.


This, coupled with the news of Chubais' being put in charge of settling Russia's huge intercompany debt, is seen to signal Yeltsin's support to a reformist wing in the government, led by Chubais.


However in a separate development Wednesday, Polevanov's press office issued a statement saying a special commission was set up to edit the government privatization program using the Moscow sell-off experience.


Igor Plotnikov, spokesman for the State Property Committee, said Wednesday the commission was set up last week to finalize the government program for the second stage of privatization.


President Yeltsin signed a decree in July to launch a privatization-for-cash program, after the Duma rejected a compromise bill. No legislation to implement the decree has since been passed.


The State Property Committee commission, in cooperation with the State Duma deputies, is expected to come up with an edited version of the document within a month, Plotnikov said. He said the deputy chairman of the committee, Oleg Kachanov, was appointed to head the commission.


The commission will edit the program "taking into account amendments proposed by deputies and analyzing the mistakes of the first stage of privatization," the statement said. It quoted Polevanov as saying that the Moscow sell-off experience should be used in all of Russia's regions.


Plotnikov said it is difficult to say at this point whether any radical changes to the program would be made. But according to the committee's statement, Polevanov suggested that much of the Moscow city privatization experience should be used in the federal program.


The reference to Moscow's privatization plan seems to be another of Polevanov's moves against Chubais, who has been involved in a fierce battle with Mayor Yury Luzhkov over privatization in the capital last year, when the mayor banned the sale of land in Moscow.