SOVIET PRESS OPPOSES FOREIGN PARTICIPANTS, TECHNOLOGY

Another harsh attack on western investment in the U.S.S.R.'s petroleum industry and the industry's use of foreign technology has appeared in the Soviet press, with France's Ste. Nationale Elf Aquitaine the latest target.

But supporters of President Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika (economic restructuring) policies and allies of Boris Yeltsin, the even more reform minded president of the Russian Republic, have struck back.

The Supreme Soviet of the Russian Republic has demanded removal of the chief editor of the newspaper Sovetskaya Rossiya (Soviet Russia), which published criticism of last May's U.S.S.R. Elf Aquitaine exploration/production agreement (OGJ, May 28, p. 26) and recently carried two long articles scolding Moscow for welcoming foreign participation in Soviet petroleum industry development (OGJ, Sept. 24, p. 38).

In an article headlined "Seizure by Contract," Sovetskaya Rossiya charged that Moscow officials will allow Elf Aquitaine to exploit a 35,000 sq km area of the Volga River delta even though last February the Astrakhan provincial council had declared the region an ecological disaster zone.

Adding insult to injury, Sovetskaya Rossiya declared, Elf Aquitaine placed a large "self-serving" advertisement in Pravda at the same time that thousands of Astrakhan Province citizens were protesting the firm's contract as a threat to their environment.

The Volga delta and northern Caspian Sea include the last untouched areas in the region and should remain protected from industrial encroachment, the newspaper said.

It warned that the deal between Moscow and Elf Aquitaine would destroy a once rich and beautiful district, harm the health of residents, and damage farms and fisheries.

"There will be catastrophic pollution and environmental damage," Sovetskaya Rossiya declared. "Nobody in Moscow asked for the opinion of local residents, and regional governmental entities were ignored."

Moreover, the newspaper complained, this is not the first time the U.S.S.R. has opened Astrakhan Province land to foreign firms. It said the disastrous consequences of the first such action are painfully obvious.

Sovetskaya Rossiya said, "if one is to believe Soviet gas industry officials, the very best western technology was employed in building and activating the Aksaraisky gas/condensate complex near Astrakhan. After 3 years of illegal operation, it was recognized as an economically and ecologically bankrupt facility.

"Citizens of Astrakhan regard the Aksaraisky enterprise with fear and hatred. Environmental organizations in the province are threatening to sue the managers of the complex."