"There was just Chubais' speech, but it was not supported by documents," said a spokesman for Shamil Tarpishev, who heads the presidential Coordinating Committee for Physical Education and Sports and is a frequent tennis partner of Boris Yeltsin.
"They made a lot of suggestions, but not all suggestions become decrees or documents," added the spokesman, who did not identify himself.
No one at the National Sports Fund could be reached for comment.
An official reached in Chubais' office, however, said that a "separate decree of the president and a resolution of the government on the issue is in the offing." The official, who did not give his name, said that an order ending the privileges has been prepared, but "still hasn't been signed."
A decree rescinding the exemptions, he said, will be issued after Chubais returns from the United States, where he will attend a meeting of the World Bank.
The official said that the National Sports Fund has been "putting up a fight," but that he thought Chubais would prevail. The exemptions are estimated as costing the federal treasury $200 million or more a month.
Another government source said a presidential decree ending the privileges was issued last spring, but was delayed several times. That decree, the source said, became effective Oct. 1. It was uncertain whether the decree was being enforced, said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.
"But I haven't heard the other version -- that it didn't come into force," he added.
Several social and charitable organizations were exempted from import duties and other taxes by a December 1993 presidential decree. Russia has been under pressure from world lending institutions to revoke the privileges.
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