Russia faces potentially severe problems from the millennium bug. Despite having fewer computers than other leading nations, it is generally ranked in the bottom category in dealing with the Y2K problem.

On 12 July, Alexander Ivanov, head of the State Communications Committee, announced that only one third of the country's 28,000 vital computer systems were ready for Y2K.

He said the Russian Central Bank and most fuel and energy companies were prepared, but the number of flights would be reduced and some dangerous industrial processes halted for safety reasons.

A question of cash

Russia did not really begin taking steps until May 1998 and is desperately short of cash. Estimates of how much the government needs vary wildly, from an initial $500m, to $3bn but then back down to $187m on 12 July.

The higher figure represents 15% of the annual federal budget and a figure which the precariously financed government simply does not have.

The lack of cash led the Duma to order government and private bodies to develop plans to avoid chaos, but at their own expense.

Although there are concerns across the board, there are two areas of particular concern for the rest of the world - Russian nuclear missiles and Russian nuclear power plants.

When the screens go blank

The missiles themselves are not thought to be a major risk in practice. After the purchase of new hardware and reprogramming, launch and warhead control systems have been declared Y2K safe.

Early warning systems are more of a problem and US military experts have been working with their Russian counterparts to avoid major problems. The fear is that the screens could go blank or even give false readings of a nuclear strike - prompting a counter-strike.

Cost is again a factor, however, with the Russian military saying it has only $4m to spend on Y2K.

Power station worries

As late as June 1998, a nuclear industry spokesman was declaring that he and his colleagues would wait until the year 2000 itself before trying to tackle any problems.

These would probably hit control systems, temperature and radiation monitoring and automated emergency-response procedures. Although Chernobyl is in the Ukraine, there are worries that the 1986 incident could be repeated if too many systems fail at the same time.

One mitigating factor is that former Soviet nuclear reactors are less dependent on computers, with analog devices controlling most critical systems such as water cooling pumps.

In March, the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry said 97% of date-sensitive components had been checked and that all those which dealt with reactor operations or radiation containment had been declared safe.

The Ukraine is another area of international concern. It has 14 reactors including some still online at the Chernobyl site.

However, nuclear industry head Olexander Parkhomenko stated in March that most of them were too outdated to suffer from the millennium bug.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), August 26, 1999

Answers

The Russians are "short of cash" because they have spent so much on developing state-of-the-art new weapon systems (e.g. the Topel M missile), building (very) large underground facilities designed for use in the event of thermonuclear war, and other 'various' pursuits.

We cannot adequately prepare for what is coming except by faith in the Son of God. He is the only 'ark' that will bring us through the coming deluge.

-- TrustHim (ItComes@Soon.now), August 26, 1999.

TrustHim, .....perfect.

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Moscow and China cement anti-Nato pact

FROM MICHAEL BINYON IN MOSCOW PRESIDENT YELTSIN and Jiang Zemin, the Chinese leader, will begin a RARE summit meeting today that will underline the hostility in Moscow and Beijing to Nato's hegemony in Kosovo and the determination in both capitals to resist Western encroachments in their backyards.

Mr Yeltsin flew yesterday to Bishkek, capital of the Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan, for a meeting of the "Shanghai Five" - a loose alliance of Russia, China and the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Though regional security, border issues and trade form the bulk of the agenda, THE REAL IMPORTANCE LIES IN REINFORCING THE MOSCOW-BEIJING AXIS,and the growing determination of Russia and China to confront what they see as American world domination.

The meeting comes at a time when President Yeltsin is enjoying an unusual bout of good health and is likely therefore to go beyond the courtesies and formalities of this three-year-old grouping, set up in Shanghai in 1996.

On arrival at Bishkek, Mr Yeltsin told waiting journalists that he was in combative mood. "I AM READY TO FIGHT, ESPECIALLY WITH WESTERNERS," he said.

-- BB (peace2u@bellatlantic.net), August 26, 1999.