RUSSIA REELS; DOWN 357; MOSCOW'S WOES BEAR HEAVILY ON U.S. STOCK MARKET.

Byline: Celestine Bohlen The New York Times

Pressure mounted on President Boris Yeltsin to cede some of his powers or even step aside as Russia's political leaders frantically negotiated over fundamental changes in the country's economic policies.

Emboldened by Yeltsin's weakness, his political opponents pushed for a series of steps that would reverse seven years of an uneven transition to a democracy and market economy. They also proposed to skirt the constitution by usurping some of the president's powers and leaving him as a ceremonial head of the government.

Yeltsin's future is so much in doubt here that rumors circulated that he had signed an undated letter of resignation. While the rumors were strongly denied by his spokesman, they seemed to suggest a widening political vacuum in which an early resolution of the crisis was slipping away.

All week, the country has been shaken by a deepening financial crisis in which the value of the ruble seems to be evaporating by the hour. For the second day in a row, Moscow's currency exchange shut down 10 minutes after trading showed the value of the ruble heading for another precipitous plunge.

The Central Bank of Russia, its reserves already severely depleted, gave up trying to defend the currency and announced Thursday that the currency exchange would remain shut ``for some time,'' meaning that it is virtually impossible to buy dollars here.

Acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin said he is ready to take steps to bring the situation under control, although he did not say what they will be.

Speaking to reporters late Thursday evening, he said, ``Now I finally have a clear picture of the situation and can say it is indeed difficult but absolutely manageable. A series of decisions have been taken after consulting Russia's best brains. The main goal is to stop the ruble's fall, not allow the economy to collapse and reduce the losses of every Russian from this financial turmoil.''

The banking crisis claimed its first victim Thursday, with a move by the Central Bank to nationalize the country's second largest bank, SBS-Agro, which is deeply in debt. More banks announced Thursday that they will consolidate operations to survive and seek common shelter from angry creditors and customers.

Panic buying 

With the value of the ruble now suspended, and few dollars available trading at rates as high as 16 to the dollar - almost three times its 6.2 rate of two weeks ago - Russia's financial crisis has now seeped deep into the economy. There were scattered reports Thursday of panic buying of food stuffs, of stores shutting down as they await new prices and of a spreading deadlock on payments from banks to their clients, from employers to their employees.

Returning from a hasty trip Wednesday to Ukraine where he met with the head of the International Monetary Fund, Chernomyrdin resumed talks with the communist opposition over its demands for a reversal of Russia's economic policies. The parliament's program, released Thursday, calls for a return to increased state control over the economy, including the nationalization of strategic industries. The Communist Party, now Russia's largest opposition party, also is expected to press for a number of jobs in the Chernomyrdin Cabinet.

But looming over the future of the new government is the uncertain future of Yeltsin himself, the man who has dominated Russia's shaky democracy since its birth seven years ago. His recent absence from the political scene, after Sunday's abrupt change in government, has again fueled rumors of his early resignation and deteriorating health. Pressed by rumors circulating here and abroad that Yeltsin is ready to resign, Kremlin spokesmen Thursday repeatedly stated that such reports were untrue.

``The president's resignation has been and is out of the question,'' Yeltsin's press secretary, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, said Thursday night, after CBS reported that Yeltsin had agreed to resign once Chernomyrdin is confirmed as prime minister by the parliament. ``I would like the Russian public, the Russian and foreign media, to calm down,'' Yastrzhembsky said.

Yeltsin - who since a televised statement Monday has appeared only once this week to meet the visiting Vietnamese president - is due to meet today with President Pyotr Stoyanov of Bulgaria, and next week with President Clinton.

Deal with Communists

In an unusual move that spoke volumes about Yeltsin's diminished authority, it was Yastrzhembsky who went to the parliament Thursday and spent three hours in conference with the chief of Russia's Communist Party, Gennadi Zyuganov. The focus of their discussions was a draft document that demands that the president cede his considerable powers to appoint and fire governments and sign economic decrees, and yield them to the parliament, or Duma, now dominated by the Communist Party-led opposition.

In return, the document would commit the Duma to support Chernomyrdin as prime minister, stop impeachment proceedings against Yeltsin, impose a moratorium on no-confidence votes against the government and pass a law on ``social guarantees'' for the president.

The political document - devised as an informal treaty among the Kremlin, the Duma and the Russian government - would circumvent the Russian constitution, forcing Yeltsin to become little more than a ceremonial head of state, with powers similar to Britain's Queen Elizabeth.

According to a well-informed Russian journalist, Yastrzhembsky told Zyuganov on Thursday that the president will refuse to sign the document. Zyuganov, in turn, said that without the president's signature, the parliament will not confirm Chernomyrdin as prime minister at a session now scheduled for next week.

In public comments after the meeting, Yastrzhembsky said only that the political document, and the separate draft program for a radical change in the country's economic course, ``constitute a basis for compromise.'' Zyuganov hinted that negotiations are not over.

``The presidential camp is now aware of what is happening in the country and now that they understand reality, consultations may become more productive,'' he said, noting in other comments that the president's future ``social welfare'' also was discussed.

According to Sergei Markov, director of the Institute of Political Studies, Yeltsin's resignation before his term expires in 2000 is ``definitely under discussion, but the issue is when, and with what mechanism.'' Markov said Yeltsin's primary concern will be a guarantee that he and his family will be immune from any future prosecution, which could arise on a list of charges, including treason, included in articles of impeachment now being discussed in the Duma.

``But,'' said Markov, ``Boris Yeltsin can only resign if he sees that Mr. Chernomyrdin controls the situation.'' Markov and other political analysts say pressure on Yeltsin to resign is probably coming from advisers who want to see Chernomyrdin - whom Yeltsin already has anointed as his successor - run for president in early elections, before he is too badly tarnished by the economic crisis.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, chart

PHOTO (1 -- color) SBS-Agro clients jostle to enter the Moscow bank early Thursday. Many banks are on the verge of ruin.

Misha Japaridze/Associated Press

(2 -- color) no caption (stock trader)

Chart: Down 357