A beleaguered Soviet premier appealed to consumers Friday to stop their panic buying of food, triggered by his announcement of plans for sharp price increases, and urged lawmakers to quickly approve economic reforms. Opposition deputies in parliament demanded a no-confidence vote aimed at bringing down Premier Nikolai I. Ryzhkov's government, but he got one important voice of support for his program: from President Mikhail S. Gorbachev. ``I'm hoping in the end, after all the debates _ and they won't be simple _ we'll agree that we have to move toward a market. I'm sure of this,'' Gorbachev said at a news conference. Ryzhkov's plan, broadcast on national television Thursday, proposes tripling the price of bread and other flour-based products on July 1 and increasing the prices of most other consumer goods in January. It envisions a five-year gradual shift to a government-regulated market economy by freeing most prices, raising taxes, selling off state property, and reducing central control of industry. Announcement of the plan triggered immediate rushes to stores for macaroni and bread, Ryzhkov told reporters at the Kremlin. ``Now this wave for bread and bread products has already rolled through half the country, and it's gotten to Moscow,'' he said. ``I am appealing for restraint and calm,'' said Ryzhkov, looking haggard and with his voice ragged from fatigue. ``Tension is growing. We're getting a lot of telegrams expressing concern: `How are we going to live?''' Ryzhkov told the Supreme Soviet parliament that must approve his economic plan. The premier, who bears responsibility for the economic program, indicated that if it led to a vote of no-confidence against his government, he would abide by the outcome. ``If there is no confidence in the government, then what?'' he asked. ``A new government will work.'' Opposition deputies in the Supreme Soviet have already demanded a no-confidence vote after the legislature votes on the economic plan. They have said they expect it to fail, but believe they have to make the political gesture. Deputy after deputy, both conservatives and radicals, took the podium Friday to attack the government plan. Ryzhkov said the criticism had helped the government see ``the weak sides'' of the program and should continue into next week, but urged a quick decision on whether bread prices should rise as planned. ``You have to decide, because this question is so difficult for us and for the people,'' he said. Bread is the staple of the Soviet diet, virtually the only product that's always readily available and remains cheap at about 32 cents a loaf. In the Ukraine, long known as the Soviet Union's breadbasket, the republic's prime minister said his government would fight Ryzhkov's plan, Ukrainian activists reported. Miners in the Ukraine's Donetsk coal region will consider calling for a countrywide coal strike to protest the plan when they meet June 11, according to the Rukh Press, an arm of the Ukrainian popular front. Supreme Soviet deputy Mikhail Bronstein warned that the entire country would need a ration card system to make it through the transition period. Ryzhkov indicated after his report Thursday that increased rationing might be needed. Most regions of the country already have some form of rationing. Radical economist Pavel Bunich told the Supreme Soviet the government had rejected more severe ``shock therapy'' reforms only to offer ``shock therapy without the therapy'' _ reforms that will hurt without leading to a real market system. Bunich proposed putting the whole plan back on the government drawing board. Ryzhkov acknowledged that the country will ``have to live through a pretty hard period,'' as the market reforms take effect. But he pledged government support for low-income families and other measures to cushion the bumpy economic ride ahead, in which economists have predicted millions of unemployed. Announcement of the economic program has already prompted Muscovites to stock up. At Food Shop Number One on Gorky Street, a shop assistant, who asked not to be identified, said panic-stricken buyers ``are literally clearing full shelves for hoarding.'' At another food shop near the center, an unusually long line of 25 to 30 people were packed into the grocery department. ``This is the first time I saw people lining up like this for some cheap cereals,'' a regular customer said. At the Novoarbatsky supermarket, however, manager Valentina Aramasova said the situation was normal, the same as the days before the economic program was announced.
