http://www.russiatoday.com:80/rtoday/news/08.html

I Wonder if Russia is just going to fiddle away this money like all of the rest. It is tooo Late to fix problems of this magnitude byfore the roll over.

Comments? _____________________________________________________

Russia Needs $1B To Cope With Y2K Bug

MOSCOW, Apr. 29, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Russia needs about $1 billion to deal effectively with the millennium computer bug, Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Bulgak warned the government Wednesday, Itar-Tass news agency said.

Of some 56,000 Russian computer systems, 16,000 were considered to be "crucial," Bulgak said.

Citing two examples, he said the electronic vote counting system for the two chambers of parliament was under threat as was that of the central electoral commission.

On Jan. 12, 2000, the electoral commission is scheduled to proclaim the final results of legislative elections due to be held in December, Bulgak noted.

He also said that if nothing was done, on Jan. 1, not a single lift (elevator) would be working in the government building.

In February, Aleksander Krupnov, chairman of the state communications committee, said Russia needed to spend between $2-3 billion to cope with the millennium bug.

He said neither the military nor transport sectors had done enough to prepare for the switchover to the new century.

Computer experts predict serious problems even program shutdowns, for computer systems whose dating systems use only the last two digits for the year, since they will be unable to make the distinction between 2000 and 1900. ( (c) 1999 Agence France Presse)

-- helium (heliumavid@yahoo.com), April 29, 1999

Answers

"He also said that if nothing was done, on Jan. 1, not a single lift (elevator) would be working in the government building."

This contradicts recent reports that elevators were Y2k OK.

Going down?

-- regular (zzz@z.z), April 29, 1999.

So they can raise their hands to vote and take the stairs. There are a lot more important places where the money needs to go. Is that the best they can come up with?

-- none (none@none.none), April 29, 1999.

Americans: How is your Y2K remediation going?

Russians: Y2K?

Americans: How much money will it cost you? How much money have you spent already?

Russians: Oh, THAT... Y2K remediation is NOT GOOD!

Americans: Have you checked your missiles?

Russians: Missiles? Missiles? Oh, THAT... We are very concerned that they may launch.

Americans: How much money do you need to fix the missile problem?

Russians: My accountant will get back to you!

-- Stan Faryna (info@giglobal.com), April 29, 1999.