Lawmakers Assail Yeltsin Reforms but He Keeps Powers : Russia: Criticism of Cabinet bodes ill for Congress’ confirmation of president’s likely choice for premier.

Russian lawmakers gave President Boris N. Yeltsin a “D” in economic reform Saturday. But they also handed him a key political victory by voting down--just barely--amendments that would have narrowed his powers to hire and fire his own Cabinet.

The Russian Congress of People’s Deputies, the supreme legislature that gathers more than 1,000 members in the Kremlin twice a year, resolved that the past year of radical reforms under Yeltsin “did not serve the interests of most people.”

It called the Cabinet’s performance “unsatisfactory,” wording that boded ill for acting Prime Minister Yegor T. Gaidar, who is expected to be proposed by Yeltsin as full prime minister when the Congress reconvenes Monday.

But in secret balloting, the Russian president’s opponents fell short of the two-thirds vote needed to require Yeltsin to obtain Parliament’s approval for Cabinet appointments.

Yeltsin had warned that limiting his freedom to form his own Cabinet would hurt his ability to carry out reforms.

“This is the first step in the direction of our victory,” rejoiced Economics Minister Andrei Nechayev after vote results came out.

Other Yeltsin allies were still too concerned by the Cabinet’s “unsatisfactory” rating and the vote’s thin margin to cheer.

“The government has received a warning,” Deputy Oleg Rumyantsev said. “Yeltsin has not lost all his authority, but he must be more cautious when picking people for government positions. The government must not only drink vodka to celebrate the victory. It is time for them to think about new tactics.”

The Congress also passed a key amendment easing the limitations on the purchase and sale of land. The new amendment is expected to encourage private farming by making it easier for farmers to use their land as collateral for loans.

And, in a show of its conservatism, the Congress refused to exchange Russia’s state crest, which includes a Soviet-era hammer and sickle, for the old czarist double-headed eagle.

Yeltsin won the balloting on Cabinet appointments by a tiny margin of only four votes--the amendment needed 694 to pass and garnered only 690.

He also lost on several other minor amendments. The Congress gave itself new powers to reorganize the government bureaucracy and declared that the Cabinet is “accountable” to Parliament as well as the president--a vague term that could mean as little as making frequent reports.

Under existing laws, Yeltsin must still present his prime minister for parliamentary approval. He is expected to propose Gaidar, the 36-year-old economist who has presided over Russia’s push from socialism to a market-driven economy over the last 11 months.

Yeltsin’s ministers worried that the vote on Cabinet appointments had been so close that frustrated hard-liners could now try to take out their displeasure on Gaidar.

Gaidar’s Cabinet members had hinted before the vote that they could quit en masse if the Congress passed amendments putting them in the Parliament’s power. Yeltsin allies had also whispered that the president was considering dissolving the Congress or calling for a referendum to get rid of it.

The voting results appeared to alleviate some of that tension without affecting the deep underlying conflict between Yeltsin’s reformers and the Parliament’s conservatives, between government members defending the executive branch and lawmakers seeking more power for Parliament.

Andrei Ostroukh of The Times’ Moscow Bureau contributed to this report.