The purpose was to force the government to settle with constituents who had financial promises from the provincial government unfulfilled.

He said MirCorp felt Russian officials were giving it time to deliver on its financial promises before setting a date for Mir's destruction.

Consequently, he believes the Government cannot afford to further weaken this system of controls as it continues to take on more responsibilities for loans and financial promises.

It's not wise for a company to make financial promises 40 or 50 years down the road.

The air security business held financial promise before Sept. 11.

Nor is the financial promise of Seragen dead.

"Somehow this is called a major financial commitment, when at best it's a major financial promise," Mr. Sullivan said.

"This gives them an enormous competitive advantage," Mr. Silverman said, particularly when applying for gambling licenses from state regulators who have grown wary of financial promises.

He has shown that he cares about the financial well-being of the city, and recycling has repeatedly failed to meet its financial promise.

That brings to a record $61.6 trillion the total of financial promises not paid for.