08/27/1998 06:22:22 Russia MICEX takes only rbls as futures guarantees

MOSCOW, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Russia's MICEX exchange has

changed its rules on guarantees on about $1 billion of futures

contracts and will only accept roubles as guarantees in the

future, it said on Thursday.

MICEX (Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange) will no longer

accept GKO t-bills, which have been frozen by government order,

and all market participants offering futures will be asked to

register rouble deposits with the exchange by September 1, a

spokesman said, explaining a statement issued on Thursday.