European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 11, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday december 11, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 9fall of the soviet Union soviet Oil lag worries Castro Agency reports Mexico City a Cuba has not received a drop of soviet Oil this month and could end the year with a spate of Power outages the mexican news Agency no Timex reports. The soviet Union had agreed to ship Cuba 2.9 billion Gallons of crude this year at a subsidized rate but shipments began lagging behind in october. President Fidel Castro has proposed to russian president Boris n. Yeltsin an Exchange of cuban sugar for russian Oil in 1992 but the proposal has not been welcomed in Moscow no Timex reported from Cuba on sunday. Even if Cuba were to accept exchanging sugar for Oil on the open Market there is no authority in the collapsed soviet Empire that can guarantee shipments Castro was quoted As saying. The Island nation among the world s last remaining communist states is operating with about half the amount of Oil it usually uses endangering the upcoming sugar Harvest. To meet the crisis the government of Fidel Castro has Cut transportation services by 40 percent and More reductions Are expected in the coming months. Minsk stinks Moscow says Over plan to move capital Moscow apr residents of Moscow were dismayed at news that the newly created Commonwealth of Independent states would move the capital from their ornate City to drab Minsk Best known for tractors and trucks. A a it a not right. Moscow is considered the Center of Russia and the Center of the country a said Kostya Gusov 19, who Sells Knickknacks to foreign tourists. A Moscow should remain Moscow.�?�. Most muscovites weren to too Happy to learn that the Gray Industrial byelorussian capital has been chosen As the administrative capital of the Commonwealth of Russia the Ukraine and byelorussian. With its Golden cupolas elegant architecture and flowing River Moscow Nas managed to retain remnants of its pre revolutionary Charm despite bad Urban planning and years of neglect under the communists. But Minsk which was almost destroyed during world War ii is a polluted City of 1.5 million known for the heavy machinery that it supplied to the soviet Union. The City a Dull architecture consists primarily of Square Concrete buildings and its landscape is dotted with smokestacks. A everything is located in Moscow the White House russian parliament building red Square a its the Center of our country a Gusov said. A moving it to some kind of Minsk is just not  Misha tug nov 30, said transferring the capital 415 Miles from its current location would be a waste of both time and Money. A there Are so Many National institutions and ministries in Moscow and think How much Money it would take to move them to Minsk a said tag nov employed by one of Moscow a budding joint venture businesses. A we done to live that Well. It would better to spend the Money on something  Engineer Ivan Mikhailov 53, said the capital could be moved Only by staging a National referendum and that in any Case the entire concept of creating a Commonwealth was illegal. The plan to put the Commonwealth in Minsk was aimed at cutting ties with the old Union based in Moscow. The bolsheviks did the same thing in 1918 when they switched the capital from the czarist Metropolis of St. Petersburg to Moscow. But some people said More was at stake. A a it a not right. We re not just talking Here about whether the capital will be Here or there a tug nov said. A they can t say there is no soviet Union. We already had a referendum and the bulk of the population voted for the soviet Union. If you want to create a Legal government All the participating parties must observe the  but Alexei Jurasov a 15-year-old High school student was excited about the new Commonwealth. He said it could be the death blow for Mikhail s. Gorbachev the soviet president. A Quot a i done to like Gorbachev a he  of Union does t Surprise dec leaders by Craig r. Whitney the new York times maastricht Netherlands a since it has been Clear for several months that the a mighty indivisible indestructible soviet Union was a thing of the past its formal unravelling has not come As an unsettling Surprise to Western european leaders trying to decide How to bind their own countries More closely together. The soviet Union began falling to pieces immediately after russian president Boris n. Yeltsin and other leaders of constituent soviet republics faced Down the hard line coup against president Mikhail s. Gorbachev in August. Although the coup failed it weakened Gorbachev and most West european leaders now apparently believe that his Power cannot be restored. A i think the soviet Union has been coming apart for a Long time Hasni to it a the British foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd said monday. He added that the agreement announced in Brest on sunday to form a new Commonwealth of the three slavic republics with its capital in Minsk May have been the final blow. A i think it will be some time before we see the new pattern at All clearly a Hurd said As european Community members met in maastricht on monday. Although neither the Heads of government nor their foreign ministers spent much time monday discussing events in the soviet Union they Are not without concern about it. They worry As they have since last August about who will ensure the control and safety of the soviet nuclear and conventional Arsenal that belonged to Moscow. And they cannot yet be sure How seriously to take the assurances of Yeltsin and the leaders of Kazakhstan the Ukraine and Bye Lorrisia that the nuclear weapons stationed in their territories will remain under strict and joint control. British prime minister John major on monday described the nuclear question As  another official said a reassuring noises Are coming out of the soviet Union. I  say this is something where there san urgent concern but its something we want to keep on top  major also said he and others at maastricht would be concerned about the assurances of human rights and the question of responsibility for soviet debt. But a larger question a one overshadowed sunday by the problems of agreeing on a single european currency and strengthening political cooperation among the 12 european Community member states in the next Century a is what they can jointly do to Channel change in the East into constructive areas. Although they Are talking about european political Union the Community leaders have not yet been Able to agree even on any meaningful Way of stopping Yugoslavia a Long decline into a civil War right on their soviet Commonwealth three slavic republics that formed a new Quot Commonwealth Oltha total soviet population of 285 million. Combined they have 210 million citizens out Ukraine a second Moat populated slavic a late with 52 million Paola. A provides Quarter of the country a Industrial and agricultural output. Considered soviet wheat Belt. A newly elected president Leonid Kravchuk said last week he would consider forming in economic and military Union with the other slavic republics As Long As it had Only a Quot coordinating body not a Central government. Byelorussian population 10.2 million Paola. A heavily industrialized producing machinery tools textiles and Glass. A absorbed much of the radiation from the 1986 explosion at the chernobyl nuclear Power Plant in the ukr los and Many byelorussian blame the Central government for the Accident. A increasingly defiant since april when 200,000 workers went on strike to protest nationwide Price increases. Russian federation a population 147.4 million. A dominant soviet Republic. A controls most of the soviet unions natural resources As Well As 76% of its territory. A president Boris n. Yeltsin a administration has steadily taken Power from the Central government since the coup attempt. Internal problems include High inflation food shortages and secessionist movements in the ethnic regions of tatars an and chechen Lungu Setfa. Doorsteps. They do not want to see the soviet Union become a Yugoslavia with nukes Quot As . Secretary of state James a. Baker Iii put it. A danish foreign ministry official said there was some concern among the dec leaders about a total  a British official said major would Send a representative to Kiev Minsk and Moscow later this week to size up among other things what the red army planned to do about the latest developments. But the dec Long a bulwark against the threat of soviet communism was not designed As Protection against its collapse. The 12 foreign ministers will not meet formally to discuss the subject until next monday a Drian Gangan in Brussels Belgium. Earlier this year the soviet Union was Given special association status by the group of seven Industrial democracies which includes the european Community. With the dissolution of the soviet Union both Europe and the United states have Only begun to learn How to Deal with the new Independent republics on their own. A $325 million dec package of Grants to help the soviet a Nion avoid economic ruin was delivered to Moscow earlier this year. Now Community officials will probably have to decide where to direct a $520 million line of credit and $1.56 billion in credits for food and humanitarian assistance