European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 22, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes wednesday january 22, 1992strapped russians Selling heirlooms Moscow apr the former soviet unions economic tragedy has produced a cultural Haemorrhage. To supplement paltry incomes people across the onetime republics Are Selling treasured heirlooms and handicrafts a weekend walk through the Imu Lovo Market on Moscow s outskirts gives a taste of the sell off a i Ruble about i cent Entrance fee to the Snow covered outdoor Bazaar reveals Antiques rugs crafts collectibles and artwork from far Corners of the former Empire a All for rarely More than $300 each. Such Flea markets have mushroomed in recent years in Moscow St. Petersburg and other Urban centers. Now they Are getting a boost from the governments shift toward a free Market and the painful Price rises introduced Jan. 2. And there now is a steady Stream of foreigners prowling for soviet Memorabilia. Forget cheap mass produced Lenin pins and Gorbachev dolls. More interesting Are Plush red Gold threaded embroidered flags awarded to factories and cooperatives for heroic efforts during the Stalin and Brezhnev years. Once highly prize they hang on fences Selling for $50 to $100. One set went to a Manhattan collector to Grace her Sutton place Salon. Hundreds of icons also Are for Sale a with numerous fakes mixed in among authentic paintings dating to the 18th and 19th centuries. To prevent the loss of the country a heritage most items made before 1945 cannot legally be exported without permission from the culture ministry. But Many foreign buyers at the Market appeared willing to take the risk. According to icon traders foreigners account for 90 percent of their business and most pieces wind up smuggled out of the country. One seller Nikolai Vasilievich said he and two friends from Nizhni Novgorod formerly Gorki have been driving to Small villages two or three times a month with chocolate and sugar to Trade for old family icons. A we bring firewood and food such a a a Quot a r j a russian women display their Handiwork which sell for 1,000 rubles about $50in a Moscow Market things that they done to have. We have even traded icons for work. Eventually it s easy to buy a he said. A we have More than  police do not bother him he said and the rewards Are lucrative. A i have now two volgas cars and earn 20,000 to 30,000 rubles a month a and i am a very average merchant. Others Here sell  the average russian worker earns about 960 rubles a month about $9.60 according to common rates at auction. In another Section of the Market traders from the Southern rim of the former soviet Union spread carpets from army Mcdonald s to open restaurant in Beijing Beijing apr Mcdonald a will open its first restaurant in Beijing this year according to a Mcdonald a advertisement in a local newspaper. The and in sundays Beijing daily said the new store would open on Wang using Street Beijing a main shopping Street. Two other major . Fast food chains pizza hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken have stores nearby. Pizza hut has two outlets in the chinese capital and Kentucky Fried Chicken has four. The Mcdonald a advertisement was seeking applications from a healthy energetic Quot people Ages 18 to 50 to fill 800 positions at the new store. Mcdonald a first store in China opened in october 1990 in the Southern City of Zhenzhen and it was flooded with More than 9.000 applications for 240 openings. The and said the Beijing Mcdonald a is a joint venture with Beijing agricultural Industrial and commercial amalgamated inc. Repeated efforts monday to reach Mcdonald a Beijing representative Tim Lai for comment failed. Mcdonald a officials had said in the past that they would not open outlets in China until they were convinced they could maintain the same Quality of food As in the United Stales. Nia Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan on the packed Snow. They sell for $80 to $300. Antiques at the Market run the Gamut Silver and tableware Samovar a medal urn used for making Tea coins and medals apothecary bottles ashtrays snuff boxes Lead soldiers and cameras. Among handwork Are hand knitted scarves Folk quilts paintings ceramics from Uzbekistan Folk carvings and paintings. Also abundant Are soviet military Wear including fur lined hats gloves and belts. A a it a becoming More commercial a Marina Golovchenko a guide who frequently brings westerners to Izmailova said of Maxwell s the Market. A there used to be very Good artists who would come and stand around waiting for buyers. But now there is this new Breed of professional people doing the  Maia Alexandrova Kolesova 70, was Selling a lace Wool Scarf she made herself that she said took two months to make. Although she got her asking Price of 900 rubles she still complained that now it takes at least 2,000 rubies a month to live. A a in la Tell you we done to have a real master of the House Quot she said. A no one is in charge like Stalin  will be auctioned to pay debts London apr the contents of Robert Max Wells apartment from bathrobes to works of Fine Art will be auctioned next month soothe by a auctioneers said monday. The feb. 14 Sale is expected to raise $720,000, with the proceeds to go to the Price waterhouse administrators of Maxwell communication corp. Pc soothe by a said. Maxwells Media Empire collapsed under the weight of its debt and allegations of financial improprieties following the publishing magnates mysterious death at sea on nov. 5. Most of the Empire is under bankruptcy court Protection from creditors and efforts Are being made to sell some of the pieces to pay off debts. Maxwell had used the apartment located in the Central London Headquarters of his Media Empire As his London Home since 1987, soothe by a said. The auctioneers said some of the More valuable items include his collection of 18th and 19th-Century English furniture his French and scandinavian paintings and some 18th-Century Silver. I he most valuable piece is a Regency three pillar dining table which could fetch As much As $63,000. It said. A but the Sale lots also will include pillowcases Bath Robes various pots and pans from his Kitchen and an ice Cream maker also being auctioned Are handmade carpets silk curtains French table Linen electrical and i i equipment wine Champagne books and armchairs. In another development sir Peter Parker chairman of the management consortium trying to buy control of Mirror group newspapers pc pledged monday that he would restore the company a missing pension funds it the bid was successful. Investigators say More than $720 million was taken trom the pension funds of Maxwell companies. Our position will be that you have to secure the pension fund and meet the liabilities that Are there. Now nobody at this Point can define that indeed it May e some titanic disaster. But in fact it can be something that is quite controllable Given time to sort out a Al n0uki be our strategy to do just a Parker told British broadcasting corp. Radio. Parker a former British rail chief said the missing pension funds would delay the Sale of the Maxwell fam group to cent a Teresa in the newspaper publishing i mean one  touch the thing until it s also u e y certain that the obligations to the pensioners can e met he said. A it has to be bottomed out. It Hasni to yet