Yeltsin blames regions for non-payment of wages

President Yeltsin has blamed regional leaders for the failure to pay off all public sector wage arrears by the end of last year, as the government had promised.

Speaking in his weekly radio address, Mr Yeltsin said the government had made the money available but officials in six regions had failed to pass it on to the workers.

He called this a disgrace and said he had ordered a report to be delivered to him within a week.

He warned that those found to be responsible would be brought to account.

Millions of Russian workers have gone for months without pay in the past year.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service