Arsenal Suggest 9 1/2 Weeks

<BR>ZAO Arsenal has proposed an anti-crisis programme called '9.5x9.5'.<BR>The programme is designed to fix the dollar rate at at 9 roubles 50 kopecks within nine and a half weeks, and is being distributed with all Russian-made software products sold by dealer distribution and by retail.<BR>"We are not talking about potential or deliberate losses, but about reducing profit," says Stanislav Ekzemplyarov, deputy director of Arsenal's St Petersburg branch, "You can't chase after the dollar all the time. The demand for them is massive, but they are not actually worth that much. We want to build an island of stability in a sea of panic." The company's management has sent a proposal to all Russian software manufacturers, inviting them to join the programme, which could save the computer market.<BR>"It is not interesting for us," says Yana Tsvilihovskaya of Garant International, "We orient ourselves by the Central Bank's dollar rate in our work." "I am in favour of the programme," says Lev Grigoriev, general director of ZAO Biznes Servis Soft, "We are ready to distribute it with all the software we produce." "Unity between manufacturers could save the situation," says Sergei Kurianov, Polikom Pro's head of marketing, "The same is true with services, but without a general agreement we cannot improve the situation."