31.   But high-ranking officials said the planned reform would bring about a series of mergers and acquisitions among major banks.

32.   But James Tien, chairman of the powerful General Chamber of Commerce and a member of the pro-business Liberal Party, said political reforms would bring instability.

33.   But the reforms also have brought popular discontent over rising unemployment, inflation and wage freezes for public employees.

34.   But Vahi said he would also try to ease the hardships the reforms have brought, which he said have hit people in the countryside the hardest.

35.   Chubais was a particular target of anti-reform lawmakers, who blamed him for the hardships the market reforms brought to millions of Russians.

36.   For Russians to whom post-Soviet reforms have brought pain and worry, the Communists promise stability.

37.   High-ranking officials said the planned reform would bring about a series of mergers and acquisitions among major banks.

38.   Recent reforms brought citizen oversight to the state electoral commission.

39.   Serbian politicians on Tuesday welcomed a deal President Slobodan Milosevic made on Kosovo, but warned only substantial democratic reforms could bring long-term peace in the Balkans.

40.   The banking system is awash in bad debt, unemployment hovers at record highs and the government itself is predicting reforms will bring more short-term pain.