I am very thankful to Michele for opening finally such a subject in our conference - it is exactly what I intended to do already for several days...

For the next year, I am sure, it will be necessary to establish the fees for each CIS and Baltic country regarding the real statistics in respective country, unlike the previous year, 1994. We begin on Monday to collect from country to country the information about the real situation - I mean the amount of medium sallary in order to establish 10% of it as membership fee for the next year. But some observations I would like to propose you just now.

What concerns RUSSIA - the only CIS country mentioned in Michele's intervention - I believe The Economist. From the other hand, we have the recent information published in Izvestija about the medium sallary in Tula region during last month: RUR 200,000 (approximately USD 65). This region is not the poorest one, it neighboros with Moscow. Nevertheless I SUPPORT THE PROPOSAL ABOUT USD 11 AS MEMBERSHIP FEE IN RUSSIA FOR 1995. Among other things it will make our aim here more difficult and interresting, and it will mean that really only people deep sympatizing for the RP will join it. Another suggestion concerning Russia (and possibly other not extremely poor countries in the CIS) is to establish - apart of minimum fee - so called "recommanded fee", i.e. the sum which people can spend for one newspaper every day during the whole year: USD 24.

Completely other situation with Georgia and Armenia. The medium sallary in Georgia is about 1 (one) dollar per month. In this case the membership fee could be 10 cents, or voluntary. Of course it is impossible to exist for one dollar even in Georgia, but how people can live - it is a mystery! The same or almost the same situation in Armenia. But since we - Mamuka and me, at least - are against volutary fees on the "economic" reasons, if it is not a matter for possible governmental repressions - WE PROPOSE TO ESTABLISH FOR THIS TWO CAUCASIAN STATES - GEORGIA AND ARMENIA - THE MINIMUM FEE 1 USD, as minimal fee among existing fees.

What concerns other states of CIS and Baltics, we need a time to learn the situation there.