E. German’s Feelings Hurt by Kohl Role : Diplomacy: Modrow goes home almost empty-handed despite plea for $9 billion in aid.

East German Premier Hans Modrow, his feelings hurt, left Bonn today promising under pressure that his lame-duck government will press for economic reform before the national elections scheduled for next month.

Modrow, who had conferred Tuesday with Chancellor Helmut Kohl and other West German officials, met with West German businessmen and industrialists today before returning to East Berlin. He had come seeking up to $9 billion in immediate financial aid to shore up the faltering East German economy but returned virtually empty-handed.

West German officials said there can be no substantial aid until after the East German elections.

Theo Waigel, the West German finance minister, did announce that more than $4 billion will be budgeted for East German recovery projects, but this money will be allocated to capital projects already proposed and will not be available for day-to-day expenses.

Aside from this, the only achievement in the two days of talks was agreement to form a joint commission on monetary union, but even this will not go into effect until after the elections. The commission is to meet for the first time next Tuesday in Bonn.

Modrow and officials who accompanied him to Bonn complained that the West Germans lectured them and treated them like indigents.

“They had a schoolmaster’s attitude toward the East German delegation,” said Sebastian Pflugbeil of the opposition New Forum, a member of the delegation.

Helmut Lueck, a spokesman for the East German Christian Democrats, said: “The West Germans have a certain tendency to behave like Big Brother, which damages the pride and identity of East Germans. We acknowledge that (the people) don’t want to be just taken over but economically we have little choice.”

The West German press also commented on Chancellor Kohl’s behavior at a joint press conference with Modrow on Tuesday, an attitude some perceived to be condescending and even arrogant.

Christa Luft, the East German minister of economics, said the West Germans had gone into the talks unprepared and with a lack of concern for her government’s problems.

“We’re still waiting for the other side to present just a half-piece of paper (on monetary union),” she said. “We brought a thick plan, with numbers, dates and proposals for economic development. All this talk about stalling by our government does not wash.”