The latest blow to Yeltsin’s reputation stems from the serious allegations of corruption. In early July Swiss prosecutors announced that, at the behest of their Russian counterparts, they were launching an inquiry into whether Swiss contractors hired to renovate government buildings paid kickbacks to Kremlin officials, who laundered the money through Swiss banks. Then last month Italy’s Corriere della Sera reported that investigators had linked Yeltsin’s family to the renovation scandal. Specifically, it said that the contractors–a company called Mabetex–had paid for thousands of dollars of credit-card charges for Yeltsin and daughters Tatyana Dyachenko and Yelena Okulova. Mabetex’s owner, an Albanian named Behgjet Pacolli, has repeatedly denied the charges; so has the Kremlin.
Late last week the hot Moscow rumor was that Yeltsin would resign this week. The theory: Yeltsin could wrong-foot his political opponents by rearranging the electoral schedule. And possibly change the subject from corruption?
