President Boris Yeltsin has rejected two sets of economic legislation because they violated the constitution or needed government approval, Russian news agencies said.


Itar-Tass quoted Yeltsin's office as saying a draft law on the disposal of state-owned shares in privatized firms could be adopted only if the government approved it because parliament's option would cut budget revenues.


The law would ban the existing mechanism of transferring shares without creating a new one, put brakes on the process of privatization and halt the income from privatization to the budget, Itar-Tass said.


Yeltsin also vetoed a bill which would ban punitive power cuts for consumers who did not pay electricity bills because it violated an article of the constitution guaranteeing freedom of economic activity, Itar-Tass said.


The draft law on energy supplies was adopted by parliament after power companies pulled the plug on defense establishments which did not pay their bills.