Soviets Reportedly Demand $2 Million for Shcharansky in Prisoner Exchange

The Soviet Union has demanded about $2 million for the release of Soviet dissident Anatoly Shcharansky as part of an East-West prisoner exchange, the Bild newspaper said today.

The Hamburg-based mass circulation newspaper on Sunday was the first to report a prisoner swap was in the making. U.S. and West German government sources since have said the exchange is expected to take place next week on a Berlin bridge.

However, in a telex sent to news media today, Bild said it had learned that “Moscow is now demanding about 5 million marks ($2 million) for Soviet regime critic Shcharansky.” It said the demand was “completely unexpected.”

The newspaper added that Jewish groups in Antwerp, Belgium, and the United States are ready to raise the money for the release of the prominent Jewish dissident.

Bild said, however, the Kremlin refused to consider an offer--”a sum of millions”--for the release of Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei D. Sakharov.

“So far the Kremlin has said, ‘nyet,’ “ Bild said.

Bild political affairs editor Hans-Erich Bilges said in a telephone interview that the information came from a source close to the negotiations. He declined to be more specific.

Bild said the report would appear in its editions Wednesday.

White House and West German officials have refused to comment on the reports of a proposed prisoner exchange, but a Western government source in West Germany said Monday the swap would take place. (Story on Page 4.)

Israel radio said the Reagan Administration sent a message about the plan to Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir. Shamir today denied he had been told Shcharansky would be released.

“Until this moment we have nothing. I don’t know anything about it. I would like to believe it’s true,” Shamir said in Jerusalem.

But he said he would not attach any political importance to the reported swap, calling it a public relations move by the Soviets.