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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 1, No. 181, 97-12-17Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 1, No. 181, 17 December 1997CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT POSTPONES DEBATE ON CIS MEMBERSHIPThe Georgian parliament convened a special session on 16 December in response to a demand by 73 opposition deputies to debate whether Georgia should consider quitting the Commonwealth of Independent States, Caucasus Press reported. Instead of debating the issue, however, lawmakers adopted a resolution on the creation of a commission that is to assess whether Georgia's membership in various international organizations--including the CIS, the UN, and the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe, contributes to the restoration of the country's territorial integrity. The commission will present its findings within four months. In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Valerii Nesterushkin expressed approval of the postponement, Interfax reported. Nesterushkin conceded that cooperation within the CIS poses certain problems but said a decision on quitting that body "requires deep and thoughtful analysis." LF[02] GEORGIAN TERRORISM TRIAL RESUMESThe trial of former Mkhedrioni paramilitary leader Djaba Ioseliani and 14 of his associates resumed in Tbilisi on 16 December, AFP and Caucasus Press reported. Ioseliani and several other defendants, who face charges of masterminding the failed assassination attempt against then parliamentary chairman Eduard Shevardnadze in August 1995, protested that the proceedings were illegal and demanded that three prosecutors be replaced. Judge Djemal Leonidze rejected that demand. Several defendants also claimed they had given evidence under duress or torture during the pre- trial investigation. LF[03] ARMENIANS PROTEST LEADERSHIP'S KARABAKH POLICYSome 10,000 people attended a demonstration in Yerevan on 15 December to protest the perceived readiness of the country's leadership to sign a Karabakh peace agreement restoring Azerbaijani control over the disputed enclave, RFE/RL's Yerevan Bureau reported. Participants adopted a statement that was delivered to the embassies of the three countries--Russia, France, and the U.S.--that co-chair the OSCE's Minsk Group, which is mediating a settlement of the conflict, according to Noyan Tapan. The next day, Armenian President Levon Ter- Petrossyan met with the Russian, French, and U.S. ambassadors to discuss the agenda for the upcoming OSCE foreign ministers' meeting in Copenhagen, ArmenPress reported. LF[04] FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN ARMENIADirect foreign investment is expected to total $70-80 million by year's end, according to an unnamed Industry and Trade Ministry official quoted by ArmenPress on 15 December. The official said the lion's share of investment is divided between the recently privatized telecommunications enterprise ArmenTel, Coca-Cola Bottlers Armenia, Midland Bank Armenia, and the Armenian-U.S. joint venture Global Gold Armenia. Of a total of 766 joint ventures partly or wholly funded by foreign capital, 404 (53 per cent) are engaged in trade. Russia is the most important foreign investor (193 enterprises), followed by Iran, the U.S., France, Georgia, Germany, and Syria. Meanwhile, the Armenian government on 16 December granted two South African metallurgical companies a four-month exclusive concession to prospect for gold, copper, and molybdenum and prepare proposals for the joint development of deposits, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. LF[05] FORMER AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT SPEAKER STRIPPED OF MANDATERasul Guliev, who was forced to resign as parliamentary speaker in September 1996 and now lives in the U.S., was stripped of his deputy's mandate on 16 December, Turan reported. The official reason was that Guliev has failed to attend parliamentary sessions for more than one year. The previous day, however, the ruling Yeni Azerbaycan party had issued a statement accusing Guliev of anti-state activities. Ali Nagiev, the party's first deputy chairman, told journalists on 16 December that Guliev will shortly be expelled from the party. In his recently published book, "Path To Democracy," Guliev harshly criticizes the economic polices of President Heidar Aliev. LF[06] TURKMEN PRESIDENT CLOSES ACADEMY OF SCIENCESSaparmurat Niyazov on 15 December signed a decree abolishing the Academy of Sciences and all post-graduate institutions, Interfax reported. Researchers and scientists of the academy will now be responsible to the government ministries and agencies that deal with their respective specialist areas. Niyazov said he made the decision because of the "lack of any practical scientific results" from either the academy or the post-graduate institutions. BP[07] DAY OF MOURNING IN TAJIKISTANThe Tajik government has declared 17 December an official day of mourning for the 85 victims of the Tajik airliner crash in the United Arab Emirates on 15 December, according to ITAR-TASS. The Tajik Financial Ministry has been ordered to allocate funds for compensation to the families of those who died. Each family will receive a lump sum payment of 400,000 Tajik rubles (about $533). An investigation into the cause of the crash is under way. Tajik officials have said the plane was in good working order and that the crew were familiar with the Khujand-Sharja route. BP[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[08] WESTENDORP IMPOSES LAW ON BOSNIAN CITIZENSHIPCarlos Westendorp, the international community's chief representative in Bosnia, announced in Sarajevo on 16 December that a proposed law on Bosnian citizenship will go into force on 1 January. This is the first time that he used the powers the international community recently gave him to impose settlements when the Serbs, Croats, and Muslims cannot agree on issues of key importance for the implementation of the Dayton agreement (see "RFE/RL Newsline, 16 December 1997). Westendorp said that his decision to impose a settlement was reluctant and that he expects the Bosnian parliament to eventually pass the law. The Serbs blocked passage because the law contains no reference to dual Yugoslav and Bosnian citizenship for Bosnian Serbs. PM[09] ALBRIGHT PLEDGES BACKING FOR HAGUE COURTU.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in Brussels on 16 December that Washington will donate $1 million to the Hague-based war crimes tribunal so that it can build a second court room and hence speed up its work. Albright noted that NATO officials are currently discussing various options regarding a possible extension of the mandate of the Bosnian peacekeeping force beyond its expiration date in June 1998. She added that Serbia and Belarus threaten European stability because they oppose democratic principles and regional integration, "Nasa Borba" reported. Meanwhile in Washington, Clinton administration officials said that the U.S. is preparing proposals for an aid package to help rebuild basic infrastructure in parts of the Republika Srpska controlled by President Biljana Plavsic. It would be the first major international development package for the Bosnian Serbs. PM[10] CROATIA HAS PROBLEMS WITH BOSNIA...Alija Izetbegovic, the Muslim member of the Bosnian joint presidency, said in Sarajevo on 16 December that interethnic relations in Bosnia could suffer following Croatia's failure to list Muslims among the ethnic minorities explicitly named in its new constitutional amendments (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 December 1997). Izetbegovic added that he fears Croatia's "unjustified and regrettable" move will lead to a loss of rights for the thousands of Muslims in Croatia, many of whom have lived there for decades. PM[11] ...BUT TRIES TO REASSURE SLOVENIASlovenia had earlier protested the exclusion of Slovenes from the list of ethnic minorities and also warned that the exclusion could affect bilateral relations. But the Croatian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 16 December in which it sought to reassure Ljubljana: "The Croatian government wants to stress that the implementation of the stated constitutional regulations will have no negative influence on the status of the Slovene minority in Croatia. The government continues to firmly support all kinds of assistance to Slovene minority bodies for the purpose of preserving their identity and the protection of their minority rights." PM[12] CROATIAN CHURCH LEADER BLASTS INEQUALITYIn his Christmas message on 16 December, Archbishop Josip Bozanic criticized government officials who get rich at the public's expense. He said that it is evident that a few citizens are rapidly becoming very rich while the great majority of Croats are becoming poorer, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Zagreb. PM[13] BLACK MARKET GASOLINE RETURNS TO BELGRADEPrivate gasoline sellers have returned to the streets of the Serbian capital after having disappeared following the easing of wartime sanctions in 1996. The latest gasoline shortage is the result of China's decision to cut off supplies following Yugoslavia's failure to pay for previous deliveries, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Belgrade. PM[14] MACEDONIA'S GLIGOROV CALLS BORDERS "REALITY"President Kiro Gligorov said in Skopje on 16 December that any attempt to challenge Macedonia's territorial integrity would be adventurism. He warned that there are still unnamed forces in the Balkans that seek to promote instability and threaten peace. Gligorov added that Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Greece have failed to act on recent Macedonian proposals aimed at defusing regional tensions. Earlier this year, he criticized ethnic Albanians for wanting to secede from Macedonia and join Albania. Skopje has also had difficulties with Belgrade over delimiting the border between Macedonia and Yugoslavia. PM[15] SHOOT-TO-KILL ORDERS AGAINST ALBANIAN THUGSAn Interior Ministry spokesman said in Tirana on 17 December that Interior Minister Neritan Ceka has given police shoot-to-kill orders against what the spokesman called masked bandits and criminals. The spokesman added that "the bodies of criminals killed by police will be left lying on the ground for two or three days as an example to other thugs." The move follows the killing of three police officers this week and a series of highway robberies. Previously, police were obliged to fire a warning shot before taking aim at robbers. PM[16] ANOTHER BOMB EXPLODES IN GJIROKASTERA bomb destroyed the car of a local drug dealer in Gjirokaster on 16 December, police spokesmen said. It was the fourth bomb explosion in the southern city within four days and took place shortly after the arrival of special police forces. Police said they have no indication as to who may have planted the bombs, one of which destroyed the house of late communist dictator Enver Hoxha (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 December 1997), "Gazeta Shqiptare" reported. Meanwhile, seven Italian anti-Mafia investigators arrived in Tirana to look into the smuggling of immigrants across the Adriatic. FS[17] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT IN GERMANYAt the start of a three-day visit to Bonn, Emil Constantinescu on 16 December met with his German counterpart, Roman Herzog, and with Chancellor Helmut Kohl, an RFE/RL correspondent in Germany reported. The talks focused on bilateral relations and on Romanian efforts to join Euro-Atlantic structures. Kohl said Germany's "official policy" is that Romania should join the EU "as rapidly as possible." Constantinescu also met with German businessmen and asked them to increase their investments in his country. He also announced that 1998 will be "German year" in Romania. MS[18] ROMANIAN SENATE APPROVES AMENDED EDUCATION LAW REGULATIONS...By a vote of 82 to 49, the Senate on 16 December approved the "Pruteanu version" of government regulations amending the education law. That version makes the teaching of history and geography in the Romanian language compulsory in all schools, permits teaching of Romanian from special manuals for minorities in grades one to four only, and forbids separate universities in the languages of ethnic minorities. Bela Marko, the chairman of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania, expressed the hope that the Chamber of Deputies will approve a different version. He also repeated the appeal that the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic replace George Pruteanu as chairman of the Senate's Education Commission, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. MS[19] ...WHILE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES REJECTS OPPOSITION MOTIONBy a vote of 136 to 99 with one abstention, the Chamber of Deputies on 16 December rejected a motion by the opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania criticizing the sharp drop in living standards, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The same day, however, the ruling coalition again experienced inner turmoil when Democratic Party deputies joined the opposition to vote against allowing the government to introduce regulations that take effect immediately during parliamentary recesses. The resolution passed by a margin of just one vote. Democratic Party deputies called for a halt to the practice of ruling by regulation instead of parliamentary legislation. MS[20] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT DEFIES IMFLawmakers on 16 December amended the 1998 budget to allow a deficit of 600 million lei (some $128.5 million), which is the equivalent of 6 percent of GDP. That figure is double the one approved by the legislature on 25 November and violates agreements with the IMF, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Also on 16 December, the parliament approved a resolution whereby the country's six largest state-owned industrial enterprises will defer until 2002 payments of debts to the National Bank and interest on those debts, Infotag and BASA-press reported. The resolution was backed by Minister of Finance Valeriu Chitan. MS[21] NEW SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC BLOC IN MOLDOVAThe Social Democratic Party, the Party of Socio-Economic Justice, and the Radical Youth Organization have set up a joint electoral bloc called the Union of Justice, Infotag reported on 16 December. They said the decision was taken "out of concern about the aggravating socio-economic crisis in the republic [and about] the consolidation of anti- reform extremist forces and against the background of the general impoverishment of the population." The previous day, the Moldovan Socialist Party set up an electoral alliance with Socialist Unity-Edinstvo and the Communist Union. MS[22] IMF RELEASES FOURTH TRANCHE FOR BULGARIAThe IMF on 16 December approved the release to Sofia of a fourth $80 million installment of a stand-by loan approved in April. Some $160 million remain to be released, an RFE/RL correspondent in Washington reported. The loan agreement is valid until June 1998. MSREGIONAL AFFAIRS [23] RUSSIA-BELARUS UNION BUDGET APPROVEDThe Parliamentary Assembly of the Russia-Belarus Union on 15 December approved the alignment's first joint budget, "Kommersant-Daily" reported on 17 December. That move, however, is not legally binding. Russia is to provide 65 percent of planned revenues amounting to 385,811,000 new Russian rubles ($64,302,000) and Belarus 35 percent or 206,196,000 rubles ($34,366,000). The largest single item of expenditure is financing cooperation between the Interior Ministries, border guards, and customs services, for which 42.1 percent of total expenditures are earmarked. Another 17.1 percent is for finance, military, and technical cooperation, Interfax reported. Addressing the session, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Valerii Serov said that a single currency may be established for certain unspecified financial transactions within the union. LF[24] WHICH PIPELINE FOR RUSSIAN GAS EXPORTS TO TURKEY?Gazprom chairman Rem Vyakhirev will visit Georgia and Armenia on 17-18 December to discuss Russian gas exports to Turkey via those countries. Speaking in Tbilisi on the eve of Vyakhirev's visit, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze expressed doubts that the planned Trans-Black Sea underwater pipeline from Dzhughba to Samsun, which is intended to transport Russian natural gas to Turkey, will be built unless all Black Sea littoral states give their agreement. Shevardnadze pointed out that the existing gas pipeline through Georgia and Armenia to Turkey has an annual throughput capacity of 12 billion cubic meters, which is not being fully realized, according to Interfax. Bulgaria has protested that the Trans- Black Sea under-water pipeline poses an ecological threat. In late November, Sofia negotiated an agreement with Russia on gas exports to Turkey via its territory. LF[C] END NOTE[25] IS THE WORST OF RUSSIA'S FINANCIAL MARKET CRISIS OVER?by Floriana FossatoFirst Deputy Prime Minister Anatolii Chubais believes that Russia has overcome the worst of the global financial crisis that shook the country's financial markets in recent weeks. In a joint news conference with Finance Minister Mikhail Zadornov in Moscow on 15 December, Chubais said that "the turn is for the better...and there are grounds to believe that the more dangerous stage is already behind us." Russia's financial market suffered severely from the recent crisis in Asia, which undermined investors' confidence in emerging markets, prompting investor flight also from Russia's market. That development has threatened the modest economic stability Russia has achieved so far this year and cast doubt over optimistic forecasts. Chubais, however, said that purchases of foreign exchange, which threatened to cause a significant devaluation of the Russian currency, have declined significantly. "Last week, the central bank was not selling but buying foreign currency on the markets," he commented. He also remarked that, with loans totaling more than $2 billion expected from the IMF and the World Bank, the government is not seeking additional credit from abroad. Moscow will be able to meet President Boris Yeltsin's target of paying by the end of the year $1.6 billion in back wages to public sector employees, he predicted. Economic analysts in Moscow, however, remain skeptical that the government will be able to pay all back wages by 31 December because of continued revenue shortfalls. The payment of those wages is essential for Chubais's future in the government. His standing was badly damaged in a scandal in November over a high royalties payment for a book on Russian privatization. After the book scandal erupted, Zadornov replaced Chubais as finance minister, and some Russian observers say Yeltsin may soon sacrifice Chubais altogether. The source of Chubais' optimism was a decision recently taken by an IMF review team in Moscow. That team issued a statement saying it will recommend the release of a $700 million installment of a three-year $10.1 billion credit. IMF officials in Washington told RFE/RL that the fund's board may consider releasing the tranche as early as the first week in January. The IMF froze loan disbursements to Russia in October, because of poor tax collection (in the first nine months of the year, only 66 percent of projected revenues had been collected) and because of the government's failure to reform the tax system. Now, however, the IMF has indicated it is encouraged by Russia's effort to clean up its finances, saying the Russian authorities have "clearly confronted" their problems on tax collection and budget spending. IMF officials added that Russia has good economic prospects for 1998, "provided that the fiscal and monetary policies agreed during the review are fully applied on a sustained basis." A similar statement was recently made by the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD), which predicted GDP growth of 0.5 percent. Chubais said at the 15 December press conference that, despite the financial crisis, Russia still may meet a government target of 2 percent economic growth for 1998. Zadornov, for his part, said that tax collection improved in November and December. The sale of part of the state- owned Eastern Oil Company for $800 million dollars also helped boost revenues. That sale took place despite the recent unfavorable conditions on the stock market, and Chubais said about 20 percent of the money that was withdrawn from the treasury bill market in November is now being re-invested in Russia. However, analysts say that world markets are not yet steady and that Russia remains vulnerable, since it is not achieving revenue targets for 1997. Chubais and Zadornov both said they are encouraged by the fact that prospects are also good for two World Bank loans that the bank's board is expected to examine for final approval within the next few days. The two loans, which are intended for structural adjustment and reform of the coal industry, would total some $1.6 billion. World Bank officials have said their release would take place within hours of the final approval. Russian observers believe these positive developments allowed the Russian government to put off negotiations with four Western banks for a $2 billion loan. But the optimistic picture on which Russian financial officials and international financial institutions have recently based their decisions is marred by the State Duma's refusal to approve a government proposal to increase the government's foreign-borrowing limit. Moreover, the State Duma Council on 16 December approved a government request to postpone the second reading of the 1998 budget until 24 December. Duma Budget Committee Acting Chairman Aleksandr Zhukov explained that deputies need more time to consider government-backed amendments on planned 1998 expenditures. The author is a Moscow-based RFE/RL correspondent. 17-12-97 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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