15 



Mr. Allard. Hectares. How many hectares are in that area? An 

 estimate. 



The Translator. Hello, Moscow. Do you hear us? 



Mr. Allard. I haven't heard a response. How many? 



The Translator. We don't hear Moscow. I think the line 

 dropped out. 



Mr. Allard. I see. Would you say that private ownership is one- 

 tenth of that area or one-twentieth? 



The Translator. The signal keeps coming in and out. 



Mr. Allard. What I'm trying to determine is, is most of the land 

 in private ownership, or is most of it still owned by the Govern- 

 ment? And if the Government still owns some of the farm oper- 

 ations, how do those farmers react to those farmers that are in 

 business for themselves? 



The Translator. I don't hear anything. 



Mr. Allard. It seems to be cutting out. 



The Translator. I don't hear anything. The last thing he said 

 was that the majority of the land is in Government ownership, and 

 after that I don't hear any signal. 



Mr. Penny. I wonder if we might attempt one last question, and 

 if we still have a disconnect somewhere between here and Moscow, 

 we'll probably have to conclude. 



The Translator. The signal just came back. 



Mr. Penny. If the signal seems to be coming back, I think I'll 

 defer now to the chairman of the full committee, Mr. de la Garza, 

 for a couple of questions, and then I'll have a concluding question. 



[Remarks in Russian by the chairman.] 



The Chairman. I'll tell you later what I told him. [Laughter.] 



Mr. Zamaratskil We'll be looking forward to some help. We hope 

 you'll help us. 



Mr. Penny. This is Congressman Tim Penny again. I have one 

 concluding question, and it relates to the farmer-to-farmer ex- 

 change program which is being administered by VOCA, Volunteers 

 in Overseas Cooperative Assistance. I'm curious to know whether 

 Vladimir has had experience with this program, and then, in gen- 

 eral terms, what level of value they attach to this program. In 

 other words, is this the kind of assistance that is meaningful and 

 beneficial to the private sector within Russia? 



Mr. Zamaratskil In one word, it's very useful. We've been in 

 contact with them for half a year. 



The Translator. He's trying to establish how long they've been 

 in contact. 



Mr. Penny. What was that? 



The Translator. He's trying to establish how long they've been 

 in contact with the VOCA volunteers. 



Mr. Penny. I see. 



Mr. Zamaratskil About 6 months. 



Mr. Penny. Did we lose contact again here? 



The Translator. No. 



Mr. Penny. In terms of the assistance that they specifically have 

 received, have they had a VOCA volunteer on-site on their farm? 

 And if so, what t5rpes of assistance have these individuals provided? 



Mr. Zamaratskil What we need is practical help. They've agreed 

 to consulting help, and the only thing that we've seen so far is Dan, 



