BELGRADE. Oct !>: A year and 1 half under International embargo. Yugoslavia lias l>e-.come a country with millions of poor trying to scrape by with an average of 15 dollar a month and a small number of rich businessmen and mafia types.

Yugoslavia ( Serbia and Montenegro) ”ls coming ever closer to being a society of the South American type, with 80 to 90 per cent of the population poor and five to 10 per cent rich." Aleksandra Posarac. a re searcher al the Belgrade Ins tilule of Economic Sciences, told AFP.

"Nearly 90 per cent of Yugoslavia can no longer Icvil themselves normally and are trying to survive. Bread Is lie-coming the basic food. If the water-heater or the stove breaks down, that means disaster. We have fallen from a European standard of living to an African level," she said.

Yugoslav dally life is becoming tougher and tougher. Mosi stores are empty, and the only place one can find— and pay dearly for— ordinary consumer products such as cooking oil. sugar and flour Is on the black

marker (layingdearly.

Introduction of rat tuning card-. in Serbia and Montenegro has not improved things. At Lesovac. Pirot and Zajecar. in eastern Serbia, bread has been rationed for weeks at a level of 500 grams per person per day. and meat Is rationed In his. in the east.

" A new drop In wages before year's end is inevitable, and we're headed right for disaster. The economy doesn't any more. It's been killed' by hyperinflation. which Is reaching 10 per cenl a day and will show up In an clghleen-dlgit number at the end of the year.” warned Posarac.

In. a crisis-ridden atmosphere, war profiteers, embargo runners,, hoarders and currency traffickers have made spectacii; lar fortunes.

While Yugoslav per-caplia Income Is expected to be about 350 dollar this year I against 3.000 in 1990). certain people have build up fortunes In two years estimated by the press at hundreds of thousands anil even millions of dollars.

This sudden prosperity gcii r.»lly rcdists suih .icilvlilrs as currency traffic, rounding up-

and selling gixxls that cannot be found on the market, bank fraud and real estate speculation often with the complicity of some politicians.

Two ministers were arrested here In the last few months on charges of having received hundreds of thousands of dollars In connection with clandestine deliveries of gasoline to Yugoslav.

" The "new rich" drive around In luxury cars and buy houses and apartments In chic Belgrade districts. The more cautious among them open foreign bank accounts, generally in Cyprus or Greece, according to the press.

One original kind of fraud Involves setting up private hanks paying extravagant interest rates, before going bankrupt — and by strange coincidence, the owners generally vanish without a trace.

Some underground charac-lers have given thetr careers a new direction by selling “war Ixxjty" resulting from two years' fighting In Croatia and Bosnia — i rucks, cars. TV sets. Jewellery - and Investing the proceed- In more traditional kinds business.