Grapevine

By DAVID ELLIS/

GEORGIAN ON THEIR MINDS? With his new powers as President and his handful of domestic woes, Mikhail Gorbachev is likely to relinquish the once powerful post of General Secretary of the Communist Party next month. Who will replace him? The momentum is swinging toward Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, who has also been considered a potential Prime Minister if Nikolai Ryzhkov is forced to step aside. The choice would be both surprising and plausible. If he is to succeed as President, Gorbachev will need a trusted ally to head the party; Shevardnadze has been a friend for 25 years. If the party is to survive, it will require a leader respected within and outside the ranks. Shevardnadze's political reputation is virtually spotless, and his non-Russian background -- he was born in the Georgian republic -- may help keep independence-minded party members from deserting. And who would take Shevardnadze's place? Experts are watching Yevgeni Primakov, 60, who has been an important player on Gorbachev's foreign policy team since 1985; his was the new face at the table at last week's summit.

With reporting by David E. Thigpen