Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin held talks with Mayor Yury Luzhkov on Tuesday after casting doubt on Luzhkov's chances of implementing a separate privatization program for Moscow, a government spokesman said. The spokesman, Vartan Ovsepyan, refused to give details, saying only that Luzhkov and Chernomyrdin had conducted a regular "working meeting" where privatization was only one of several topics discussed. But an official in Chernomyrdin's press office, who would not identify herself, said Tuesday that the prime minister would not prevent Luzhkov from carrying out his planned "special" Moscow privatization program. "They were just coordinating their actions," the official said of Luzhkov and Chernomyrdin. She then quickly added that her comments were not official. The meeting came one day after the prime minister told a government session that all privatization in Russia must take place in "a unified legal space," which led federal privatization officials to claim victory in their longstanding battle with Luzhkov for control over Moscow sell-offs. Chernomyrdin, whom Luzhkov has long claimed as a staunch supporter, last week ordered the mayor to resume registration of privatized state-owned businesses. Luzhkov had ordered the registration to be halted starting April 1. In the last few months, Luzhkov has also forbidden the federal government from carrying out privatization in Moscow without his permission, suspended privatization of real estate and announced plans to ban private land ownership. That led Russia's top privatization official, Anatoly Chubais, to threaten Luzhkov with court action unless the mayor repealed the moves.
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