European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 31, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                _ Wibling perestroika a a Quot 4 k a a a a a of cd it it a soviet Economy on the ropes by Thomas Kent associated press a decade ago Moscow was a City of boasts of sure fire government plans of Blithe assertions that the soviet Union would Lead the world to a better society. Today it is a City of cynicism sometimes of despair. Talk is of just getting through the Winter of keeping Bare necessities on store shelves of somehow reforming a strangled Economy before it collapses into chaos. Recent meetings with top soviet officials and a wide Range of workers Farmers and professionals suggest a darkening National mood that takes Little account of the country a enduring assets. From gilded Kremlin reception rooms to angry Street demonstrations there is Little mention of the nations Rich natural resources its literate and educated workers its High technology and huge internal Market. All could be important engines of perestroika president Mikhail s. Gorbachev s plan to revive the Economy. Instead soviets Point with growing alarm to shortages of food and almost everything else and the absence of any serious sign that things will improve soon. Life is hard As Winter approaches. Despite the theoretical Promise of perestroika Prosperity seems far away. The display cases Are almost Bare in the Small poorly lighted food store on Tverskaya Street one of Moscow a busiest avenues. Today the store is rationing bread one kilogram 2.2 pounds per customer. An elderly Man profiting from the new Freedom of speech accost a group of american visitors Quot it s the communist party that a responsible for All of this. Look at the empty  muscovites say milk is still plentiful in state stores but that finding anything else is a Roll of the Dice. The severe bread shortages of a few weeks ago Are Over but decent meat and Many vegetables Are rare. In the cavernous gum department store on red Square Many stalls once crowded with goods Are closed off by Metal grates. The goods May have been shoddy five years ago but at least they were there. Such shortages Are common throughout the country. Quot actually we spend a lot less time waiting in line these Days Quot said a woman in Leningrad russians second largest City. Quot now there a nothing to buy so we just stay  Nikolai Petrakova one of Gorbachev s top political advisers puts it Point Blank a the Economy to All intents and purposes has ceased to  the declaration seems somewhat melodramatic. Outside the window is not an arid Plain but a cacophony of trucks and buses. Hurrying workers and shoppers compete for space on the Rainy sidewalks. Petrakova thinks he knows what the future looks like. The government will make a Start on economic revival with its much debated 500-Day plan Petrakova says and predicts the transition to a Western style Market Economy will be Complete in 10 years. Economic plight has turned Moscow into a City of cynicism and despairing demonstrators. Talk is of just getting through the Winter. Others dwell More on the problems. Alexander Yakovlev a senior Gorbachev aide admits readily that reforming the soviet system is far harder than he imagined. He says it s Fine to plan things like a modern real estate Market and effective Banks but How to do it in a country where no one knows what land prices should be and Only Quot two to three people Quot really understand the Western banking and credit system Many people ask How authorities will persuade frightened conservative bureaucrats to give innovators the Chance to make Money in new ways and resuscitate the Economy in the process. At the Ray of Lenin collective farm outside Moscow the chairman granted that soviet agriculture is less productive than . Farms. He sees the solution in importing american experts and studying . Methods. He opposes abolishing the whole concept of collective farms the soviet system in which families join in tilling land they do not own and receive wages in proportion to their work. Later in his neat cottage one of the Farmers expressed very different ideas. People will work really hard Only if they own their land he said. He said he tried to talk the farm chairman in the spirit of perestroika into one Little innovation leasing him one of the collective farms greenhouses. If he could make it More productive the Farmer said he would earn extra Money for his family and the farm could learn something about greenhouse techniques. The chairman said no. Gorbachev s policy of glasnost has brought breathtaking changes to politics. Street Corner orators denounce one politician or another As policemen stroll by unconcerned. Gorbachev and his ministers must defend themselves before angry legislators who want to know everything from what personal privileges the leaders enjoy to How they will Reform the Economy. This looks at first like robust democracy. But some soviets see the whole affair especially the raucous parliament debates televised nationwide As something else another cooked up in the Kremlin plan to create the illusion of Progress while the Hopes of Consumers Are put on hold again. People have Learned to watch carefully but not join in too quickly when the Kremlin suddenly announces new ways of doing things. Since Gorbachev came to Power in 1985, practically every political idol has been toppled As society roared toward More democratic politics. But in the same period most people Are convinced living conditions continued on Page 14 wednesday october 31, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 13