European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 22, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Alison Mitchell new Day. Cenes from Leningrad 10 Days Afler it began ifs first comprehensive food rationing since orld War ii show Why after a record Harvest the soviet Union finds itself in a Winter so Barren that some City food stores have just closed and the superpower has been reduced to soliciting tons of food from former ideological enemies around the world Alexander motoring and Yevgeny Safronov marched through Leningrad s port past what could have been a turn of the Century tableau of struggling workmen filth streaked and sweating despite the cold pulling a Handcart loaded with two Frozen steers across the ice. The two City councilmen deputized to investigate food1 shortages entered a warehouse stacked with boxes where a woman was sweeping the floor Quot the temporary commission on the movement of food Quot said motoring identifying himself and the woman burst out laughing in. Derision and astonishment. Quot what s there what s there Quot asked motoring pointing to boxes. A a  meat. Powdered milk. Some boxes had Sal ,. V. A Quot we Yuan t it taken out Quot motoring asked. Quot Why do you ask me i Only work Here Quot the sweeper snapped Back. By the time the men finished they had found 28 shipping Container loads of Coffee sitting untouched in the port since june despite Leningrad s food shortages. A ship carrying 902,000 tons of Lamb and pork had arrived from Germany on dec. 6, but now five Days later some of the meat was still unloaded. / a another 13 a refrigerated Container loads of the meat was unloaded but still on the. Docks because of a Lack of transport the truck depot was detailing five or six trucks a Day to haul furniture to the City but Only two a Day to carry meat a a Ivy / a a a v v  a. Quot Well have to find out who said it s More important to ship  than food Quot said motoring As he returned to the City Council to report on the inefficiency in he port. A rebellion had erupted in a line at the meat counter in a food store on Leningrad a main Street Nevsky Prospect. The Tine had been moving peacefully until the Butcher nearing the end of the meat started handing out portions containing Bone to people seeking their monthly ration of 3.3 pounds of meat at the fixed state Price of 90 Kopek a Pound about 54 . Cents a Pound Al the new commercial Exchange rate. Most of the customers had chosen to Wail in line for chaos in food distribution cheap rationed meat rather than buying the plentiful fresh looking chopped meat from Estonia that could be obtained without a ration card for 3.18 rubles about st.90 a Pound. Women began to shriek. Quot that a not half a kilo Quot one protested. A. The Stout store manager her hair in a Bun  on her hips shouted Back Quot you re allowed t6 to 33 percent of Bone per kilogram Quot. One. Of the angry shoppers pushed up close until she there seems to be plenty available a at substantially higher prices a on the private free Market Here a Butcher in Leningrad reads a paper next Toa full counter of cleaned rabbits. Was virtually spitting in the managers face. Quot you re cutting off the Best meat to sell at higher prices Quot she said. Quot i know about All of you who work in Trade. You re thieves criminals . A the manager who refused to Index tiny herself by name Shook her head in disgust at the customers who feel entitled to cheap food and at the ration cards and the state set Price which prevent economic Laws of Supply and demand from taking hold. Quot in the West you buy As much As you want and the prices Are very different for Bones for meat for steaks and Here everything is the same Price Quot she said. A few blocks from the City Council a new private business was being born. A Man and woman stood in the cold flanking a 6-foot-High pile of cases of German Beer on Sale for 14 rubles a Bright shining can $8 a can at the commercial Exchange rate 70 cents a can at the Black Market rate. An average soviet salary is 250 rubles a month a Quot. A City councilman suspecting that these were illegal Black marketeers since such products and packaging Are virtually unseen in the soviet Union demanded to see the Man s papers. But All turned out to be Legal. The new non state company had found a Way to obtain imported. Beer during these times of Short Supply but had not found a Way to get premises it. Might have a better Chance next month when the City Council plans to auction off unprofitable stores to new lease holders As a move away from the strictly . A Quot he gave me some interesting figures Quot said Leonid Gulish a City councilman. Quot in spite of the prices he Selling 20,000 rubles Worth every Day. It s very expensive but still there Are people ready to pay the Price Quot Gaulish added almost As an afterthought Quot it s not Normal that stores Are empty and goods Are being sold on the Street but that a what we have  across the soviet Union the kinds of economic quirks. And disarray seen on Leningrad s streets  chaos in the food distribution system. Longtime problems. Such As outdated technology and the carelessness. Caused by a state system where no one suffers financial loss from waste have been augmented by new difficulties caused by the transition to a Market Economy. Some parts of the old soviet command administrative system have just collapsed with no one taking charge of moving  ports and warehouses. Fledgling private businesses have not yet taken the place of the state Consumers who want the Bounty of the West Are showing resistance to the Price decontrol that a. Accompanies Market   this has been the december when people in Moscow the onetime showplace can t find Mayonnaise and have a hard time tracking Down flour and milk. A a a a grocery shopping in the evening is impossible because nothing remains on store shelves in the last Days before Leningrad began rationing dec 1, the lines for meat could be up to five hours Long. Moscow residents ask friends in siberian Krasnoyarsk to mail them Spaghetti. V but soviet officials say that there is no evidence of. Starvation in hard hit russian cities and that there Are actually signs that despite the terrible inconvenience of a shopping citizens May have record stocks of food at Home. Quot All this commotion about famine and extreme shortages of everything has unfortunately been. Considerably exaggerated Quot Anatoly Lukyanov the head of the soviet parliament said last  leaders and store employees say that the nation has been swept by extraordinary Waves of. Hoarding that began in May when  Nikolai Ryzhkova proposed that bread prices triple As part of a move toward a Market Economy. The parliament blocked the Price Rise but hoarding has continued unabated because people fear inflation and shortages. For those few with enough Money there Are additional Legal but exorbitantly priced food outlets. For variety an Moscow shoppers queue at a sidewalk stalls Page 16 a a a the stars and stripes saturday december 22, 1990