This is historical material, "frozen in time." The web site is no longer updated and links to external web sites and some internal pages will not work.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release July 15, 1998

STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

The Russian government today announced that the Government Commission on export control, chaired by Minister of the Economy Yakov Urinson, is conducting special investigations on nine entities, including the INOR scientific center, the Grafit and Polyus research institutes, the Tikhomirov institute, Glavkosmos, the Komintern plant in Novosibirsk, the MOSO company, Baltic State Technical University and Europalace 2000. These enterprises are believed to have violated Russian export controls and attempted to export goods or services which could contribute to weapons of mass destruction or missiles to deliver them. The investigations may result in administrative actions and criminal prosecutions.

Consistent with the Russian actions and where consistent with our own assessment, the United States will suspend immediately any U.S. government program or assistance to entities on this list and will proceed expeditiously to impose trade restrictions on such entities.

These steps support the Russian commitment to stop the flow of sensitive technologies and demonstrate the growing effectiveness of U.S.-Russian cooperation in halting the proliferation and transfer of dangerous weapons technology and materials. The U.S. and Russia will continue to work together to strengthen controls on such exports and to enforce compliance with the laws, policies and international agreements on such transfers.

# # #