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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 38, 00-02-23

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 38, 23 February 2000


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] LAWYER AGAIN INSISTS ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL AIDE NOT INVOLVED
  • [02] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT VENTURES INTO LION'S DEN
  • [03] RUSSIAN MINISTER DISCUSSES ENERGY COOPERATION IN KAZAKHSTAN
  • [04] OSCE REGISTERS FLAWS IN KYRGYZ POLL...
  • [05] ...AS OPPOSITION FEARS FRAUD
  • [06] TAJIK OPPOSITION LEADER ACCUSES PRESIDENT OF VIOLATING

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [07] MACEDONIA PUTS FORCES ON HIGHER ALERT
  • [08] KFOR CARRIES OUT ARMS SEARCH IN MITROVICA
  • [09] RUBIN BLAMES MILOSEVIC FOR MITROVICA VIOLENCE
  • [10] THACI SLAMS SERBIAN SECRET SERVICES
  • [11] ARTEMIJE URGES WORLD TO HEED MODERATES
  • [12] FRANCE'S RICHARD CALLS FOR CLEAR GOALS...
  • [13] ...WHILE INTERIOR MINISTER REJECTS KOUCHNER'S COMPLAINT
  • [14] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT BLASTS MILOSEVIC
  • [15] MONTENEGRIN MINISTER SAYS YUGOSLAV ARMY TAKING POLITICAL
  • [16] BOSNIAN SERB SOCIALIST LEADER WANTS PARTY TO STAY IN
  • [17] NEW ROMANIAN COALITION CRISIS AVERTED?
  • [18] ROMANIA LAUNCHES PROBE INTO CYANIDE SPILL INCIDENT
  • [19] GAZPROM AGAIN THREATENS TO CUT MOLDOVA'S SUPPLIES OFF
  • [20] LIBYA ACCUSES BULGARIANS OF CONSPIRACY AGAINST NATIONAL

  • [C] END NOTE

  • [21] RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS' PRE-ELECTION ASSET GRAB

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] LAWYER AGAIN INSISTS ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL AIDE NOT INVOLVED

    IN PARLIAMENT SHOOTINGS

    Ruben Sahakian told RFE/RL's Yerevan

    bureau on 21 February that he will demand that the

    investigation into Armenian presidential aide Aleksan

    Harutiunian's possible involvement in the 27 October Armenian

    parliament shootings be transferred from the Military

    Prosecutor-General to the Office of the Prosecutor-General.

    Sahakian said he is convinced Harutiunian is innocent and

    that the Military Prosecutor-General has no evidence to

    substantiate its charges against him. He said he will appeal

    a court decision to extend by two months Harutiunian's pre-

    trial detention (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 February 2000).

    France's Ambassador to Armenia Michel Legras on 22 February

    said he doubts that Harutiunian is guilty. Legras added that

    he cannot comprehend demands for the resignation of President

    Robert Kocharian, given that the latter "has acted in

    accordance with the law and not interfered with the work of

    the parliament and government." LF

    [02] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT VENTURES INTO LION'S DEN

    Eduard

    Shevardnadze traveled on 22 February to Adjaria as part of

    his presidential election campaign tour of Georgia's regions,

    Caucasus Press reported. Following his talks with Adjar

    Supreme Council chairman Aslan Abashidze, known as the Lion

    of Adjaria, Shevardnadze said that agreement was reached on

    defining the division of power between the Adjar Republic and

    the central Georgian government. The lack of a clear ruling

    has compounded tensions between Tbilisi and Adjaria.

    Shevardnadze said the draft agreement will be submitted to

    the Georgian parliament in the next few days. Abashidze

    termed the talks useful, adding that he and Shevardnadze had

    discussed neither the threat by the Revival Union, which

    Abashidze heads, to boycott the presidential poll nor charges

    that Adjaria has withheld millions of lari it should have

    transferred to the central budget. LF

    [03] RUSSIAN MINISTER DISCUSSES ENERGY COOPERATION IN KAZAKHSTAN

    Visiting Astana on 21-22 February, Russian Fuel and Energy

    Minister Viktor Kalyuzhnyi discussed bilateral cooperation in

    the energy sector with Prime Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev and

    President Nursultan Nazarbaev, Russian agencies reported.

    Toqaev said after those talks that the Caspian Pipeline

    Consortium is "a national priority" for his country and the

    most feasible of all export pipeline options. Kalyuzhnyi told

    journalists that Russia may raise the current 9.5 million ton

    ceiling on exports of Kazakh crude via the Atyrau-Samara

    pipeline, whose throughput capacity will be increased to 15

    million tons by the end of this year. Also discussed were the

    prospects for creating an energy union of which Russia,

    Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Belarus, and possibly Ukraine would

    be members, according to "Kommersant-Daily" on 23 February.

    Those states would coordinate a schedule for the supply and

    demand of oil, gas, coal, and electricity. LF

    [04] OSCE REGISTERS FLAWS IN KYRGYZ POLL...

    In a statement

    released on 22 February, the OSCE characterized the 20

    February Kyrgyz parliamentary elections as "not in full

    compliance with OSCE commitments," AP reported. The statement

    noted interference in the election campaign by public

    prosecutors, the exclusion of major opposition parties,

    attempts by some candidates to bribe voters, and cases of

    multiple voting or pressure on voters to cast their ballot

    for a specific candidate. LF

    [05] ...AS OPPOSITION FEARS FRAUD

    Kyrgyz Central Electoral

    Commission spokeswoman Vera Orenburgina said in Bishkek on 22

    February that the results of voting in single-mandate

    districts may not be released for up to two weeks because of

    delays in bringing protocols from remote mountain villages to

    the capital, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Opposition

    politicians attribute the anticipated delay to the

    authorities' intention to falsify the final returns. Also on

    22 February, Emil Aliev, who coordinated the election

    campaign of candidates from the opposition Ar-Namys party,

    told RFE/RL that according to election observers, the party's

    chairman, Feliks Kulov, polled 52.2 percent in a single-

    mandate district in Talas Oblast but the local election

    commission forged the final protocol to give Kulov less than

    the 50 percent minimum for a first-round win. Aliev said

    Kulov's representatives were barred from observing the vote

    count. LF

    [06] TAJIK OPPOSITION LEADER ACCUSES PRESIDENT OF VIOLATING

    ELECTION AGREEMENT

    Islamic Renaissance Party chairman Said

    Abdullo Nuri has written to President Imomali Rakhmonov, UN

    special representatives Ivo Petrov, and OSCE representative

    Marin Bukhoara complaining that the president has violated

    the protocol the two men signed on 5 November 1999,

    "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 23 February (see "RFE/RL

    Newsline," 8 November 1999). That protocol detailed

    procedures for the parliamentary election campaign. Nuri

    claimed that in 25 single-mandate constituencies

    representatives of his party have been excluded from local

    election commissions in violation of a Central Electoral

    Commission ruling. Nuri appealed to the UN and OSCE

    representatives to help prevent "violations of the law and of

    the rights of individual citizens and political parties." On

    21 February, Asia Plus-Blitz quoted a spokesman for the

    Central Electoral Commission as saying that body has not

    received any complaints from candidates or registered any

    violations of election campaign procedure. LF


    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [07] MACEDONIA PUTS FORCES ON HIGHER ALERT

    A Macedonian army

    spokesman told AP on 23 February that the "combat readiness

    of our Kumanovo Corps has been increased by one notch, which

    means the soldiers and officers of this part of the army have

    intensified their guard and monitoring." He added that the

    Macedonian authorities are concerned that ethnic tensions in

    Kosova could spill over into Macedonia. Approximately 23

    percent of Macedonia's population is ethnic Albanian. One of

    the two largest ethnic Albanian parties is part of the

    governing coalition. Macedonia took in tens of thousands of

    Kosovar refugees during the 1999 conflict, but the violence

    did not spill over into Macedonia. PM

    [08] KFOR CARRIES OUT ARMS SEARCH IN MITROVICA

    U.S., British, and

    French troops launched a previously unannounced search for

    weapons in mainly Serbian northern Mitrovica on 23 February.

    KFOR spokesmen said that the purpose of the exercise was not

    only to collect illegal weapons but also to demonstrate that

    U.S. and other NATO troops are free to move where and when

    they please. The soldiers arrested eight people for illegal

    arms possession and confiscated a rocket-propelled grenade

    launcher, several rifles, several grenades, and an

    unspecified quantity of ammunition, AP reported. When some

    300 U.S. paratroopers marched past a cafe frequented by

    Serbian hard-liners, some of the Serbian cafe patrons jeered,

    but there was no violence. KFOR spokesmen said that the

    troops were welcomed in the ethnically mixed Little Bosnia

    neighborhood. The troops returned to the mainly Albanian

    south of the city later in the morning. PM

    [09] RUBIN BLAMES MILOSEVIC FOR MITROVICA VIOLENCE

    U.S. State

    Department spokesman James Rubin told a Washington press

    conference on 22 February that "we continue to call upon all

    parties to cease violent acts and confrontations and seek a

    political solution to legitimate grievances." The spokesman

    stressed that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has been

    "trying to keep things as tense as possible. We have reason

    to believe that Milosevic is trying to stir up the pot

    because he benefits from ethnic tensions." Referring to a

    build-up of Serbian forces on the Serbian side of the

    frontier with Kosova, Rubin said: "We are monitoring that

    situation very, very closely. And we certainly would be

    prepared to respond if Serbian forces made the grave mistake

    of trying to interfere with KFOR operations." On 23 February

    in Belgrade, General Vladimir Lazarevic said the only

    increase in forces in southern Serbia was that of police to

    patrol the Macedonian frontier, AP reported. PM

    [10] THACI SLAMS SERBIAN SECRET SERVICES

    Hashim Thaci, who heads

    the Kosovar Albanian Party for Democratic Progress, said in

    Prishtina on 23 February that "the authorities in Belgrade

    are responsible for the latest developments in Kosovska

    Mitrovica." He specifically blamed "the Serbian secret

    services" for the unrest, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service

    reported. In the Serbian capital, Yugoslav Information

    Minister Goran Matic said that "Albanian terrorists" and not

    Belgrade are to blame. PM

    [11] ARTEMIJE URGES WORLD TO HEED MODERATES

    Serbian Orthodox

    Archbishop Artemije, who is one of the main political leaders

    of the Kosova Serbs, said at the UN in New York on 21

    February that it is necessary to break "the spiral of

    violence" in the province. He added that a "peaceful new

    beginning" is necessary to build a multiethnic and democratic

    Kosova, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The

    archbishop blamed "Albanian extremists and the Belgrade

    autocratic regime" for the current conflict, "Vesti" noted on

    23 February. The Kosova problem has existed "for centuries,

    but it will most likely be solved in our time," Artemije

    said. He added that "all cities" in Kosova have been

    "ethnically cleansed" of Serbs and that the 100,000 Serbs

    remaining in the province face an uncertain future. PM

    [12] FRANCE'S RICHARD CALLS FOR CLEAR GOALS...

    Speaking in

    Washington on 22 February, French Defense Minister Alain

    Richard said that the international community must clearly

    define its goals for securing peace in Kosova, RFE/RL's South

    Slavic Service reported. He added that the international

    community should make clear "in the course of the year" what

    the province's future political status will be. This will

    involve broad autonomy "in relation to Belgrade" but will

    stop short of independence, he said. In Paris, Foreign

    Minister Hubert Vedrine blamed what he called extremists on

    either side for the recent violence. PM

    [13] ...WHILE INTERIOR MINISTER REJECTS KOUCHNER'S COMPLAINT

    Interior Minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement told the National

    Assembly on 22 February that France is fulfilling its

    commitments to send police to the province but that only 37

    of 137 French volunteers have been approved by the Kosova UN

    administration, Reuters reported. "An extra 30 or 40

    policemen would not make any difference in the current

    situation," he added. Bernard Kouchner, who heads the UN's

    civilian administration and is a French former cabinet

    minister, has criticized many countries for promising to send

    police to Kosova but not doing so. PM

    [14] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT BLASTS MILOSEVIC

    Speaking in Tallinn,

    Boris Trajkovski said on 22 February that "there will be no

    stability in Montenegro or [Kosova] as long as Milosevic

    remains in power. When he is replaced, we will see a

    stabilizing of the situation," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service

    reported. PM

    [15] MONTENEGRIN MINISTER SAYS YUGOSLAV ARMY TAKING POLITICAL

    ROLE

    Economics Minister Vojin Djukanovic said in Podgorica

    on 22 February that the Yugoslav Army is supporting

    "propaganda machinery from Serbia in Montenegro" by providing

    its equipment to broadcast pro-Milosevic television programs

    to the mountainous republic. PM

    [16] BOSNIAN SERB SOCIALIST LEADER WANTS PARTY TO STAY IN

    GOVERNMENT

    Zivko Radisic, who is the ethnic Serbian member

    of the Bosnian joint presidency and chair of the Socialist

    Party, said in Banja Luka on 22 February that officials from

    his party will remain in the government even though the party

    has left the governing coalition (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22

    February 2000). He denied that splits have emerged in his

    party over the question of remaining in government,

    "Oslobodjenje" reported. PM

    [17] NEW ROMANIAN COALITION CRISIS AVERTED?

    The leaders of

    Romania's ruling coalition are meeting with Prime Minister

    Mugur Isarescu on 23 February to enlist his support for an

    agreement reached the previous day on how to resolve the

    "Babiuc crisis." Isarescu on 22 February rejected a demand by

    the Democratic Party that he should dismiss Defense Minister

    Victor Babiuc, saying it is a matter for the coalition

    leadership to deal with. As a result, Democratic Party

    parliamentary deputies walked out of the debates in the

    parliament, and party deputy chairman Traian Basescu, who is

    also transportation minister, said the coalition "cannot last

    longer than two weeks." Basescu also attacked President Emil

    Constantinescu and National Liberal Party Deputy Chairman

    Valeriu Stoica, saying they are "interfering in the affairs

    of the Democratic Party" through "Balkan-like manipulations."

    MS

    [18] ROMANIA LAUNCHES PROBE INTO CYANIDE SPILL INCIDENT

    The

    Prosecutor-General's Office on 22 February launched a

    criminal investigation into the Australian-Romanian Aurul

    gold-mining company, which is suspected of having caused the

    cyanide spill that resulted in widespread river pollution,

    RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Also on 22 February,

    Australian experts arrived in Romania to investigate the

    cause of the spill. MS

    [19] GAZPROM AGAIN THREATENS TO CUT MOLDOVA'S SUPPLIES OFF

    Prime

    Minister Dumitru Braghis on 22 February told national

    television that Gazprom has warned Moldova it will cut off

    gas supplies if Chisinau fails to pay its outstanding debt by

    25 February, Infotag reported. Gazprom said that during the

    first 45 days of 2000, Moldova received deliveries worth

    $17.6 million but paid only $3.4 million. The debt for

    supplies in 1999 stands at $190 million. Earlier this month,

    the two sides agreed on the restructuring of the 1999 debt.

    Braghis also said the 2000 budget cannot accommodate any

    increase in expenditure but if the parliament passes the

    privatization laws agreed with the IMF, revenues are expected

    to total some $200 million. However, deputy parliamentary

    chairman Vadim Mishin said his Party of Moldovan Communists

    will continue opposing the privatization of the tobacco and

    wine industries. MS

    [20] LIBYA ACCUSES BULGARIANS OF CONSPIRACY AGAINST NATIONAL

    SECURITY

    Libya is charging five Bulgarian nurses and one

    doctor with conspiracy against its national security, AP

    reported on 22 February, citing Bulgarian state radio. The

    six have been held in custody for one year. A Foreign

    Ministry official told the radio that the six are accused of

    having willfully infected 393 Libya children in a Benghazi

    hospital with the HIV virus. The trial is scheduled for 28

    February and the daily "Sega" says the prosecutor is

    demanding the death penalty. Foreign Minister Nadezhda

    Mihailova on 22 February urged her Libyan counterpart, Omar

    el-Muntasser, to ensure that the six are granted a "fair,

    impartial and transparent trial." Libya has not issued a visa

    to a Bulgarian lawyer whom the defendants' relatives have

    hired. MS


    [C] END NOTE

    [21] RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS' PRE-ELECTION ASSET GRAB

    by Julie A. Corwin

    Not content with winning seats in Russia's national

    legislature last December, two of Russia's best-known

    "oligarchs," LogoVAZ head Boris Berezovskii and Sibneft head

    Roman Abramovich, appear to be extending their influence to

    other sectors of the Russian economy and other Russian

    regions. This month, LogoVAZ and Sibneft revealed they are in

    the process of acquiring controlling interests in two of

    Russia's largest aluminum smelters, Bratsk and Krasnoyarsk.

    It was also announced that LogoVAZ has acquired a controlling

    interest in the Novokuznetsk Metallurgical Combine in

    Kemerovo Oblast. With these acquisitions, the

    Berezovskii/Abramovich tandem will have control over an

    estimated 60-70 percent of Russia's aluminum industry or some

    10-20 percent of the world aluminum market. Aluminum is one

    of Russia's most lucrative industries and, like the oil and

    gas sector, provides a steady flow of hard currency from

    exports.

    The timing of Berezovskii/Abramovich's moves, just

    before the 26 March presidential elections, has caused some

    analysts to conclude the duo is engaging in a last-minute

    asset grab before acting President Vladimir Putin is elected.

    While the prospect of a hand at Russia's helm stronger than

    former President Boris Yeltsin's shaky grip could be speeding

    the oligarchs' efforts, the aluminum acquisitions might be

    more accurately seen as part of a longer-term, two-track

    strategy to expand their influence not just economically--but

    also politically--across Russia

    Consider their role in past gubernatorial elections.

    Berezovskii played a highly publicized part in the April 1998

    election of Krasnoyarsk Krai Governor Aleksandr Lebed. Almost

    two years later, that investment appears to be paying off for

    Lebed as well as Berezovskii. On 20 February, the board of

    Krasnoyarsk Aluminum voted to exclude Chairman Anatolii

    Bykov, a prominent foe of Lebed, from its ranks. "Segodnya"

    reported on 19 February that Abramovich is trying to persuade

    Bykov to sell him his shares in Krasnoyarsk Aluminum.

    Within the last six months, governors close to

    Berezovskii and Abramovich were elected in Omsk and

    Novosibirsk Oblasts. Just two months before the elections,

    Omsk Governor Leonid Polezhaev hailed the positive role

    played by Sibneft in its home region, telling an audience in

    Chukotka that the company had helped pay off the region's 500

    million ruble ($17.4 million) debt to its pensioners.

    Polezhaev's re-election for another four years should ensure

    that Sibneft continues to enjoy a favorable environment in

    which to operate.

    Meanwhile, the 9 January 2000 election of Novosibirsk

    Mayor Viktor Tolokonskii to the office of governor may lay

    the groundwork for extending Berezovskii's economic influence

    into that region. Novosibirsk Oblast is home to Novosibirsk

    Electrorod factory, Russia's largest producer of electrorods

    for the aluminum and metallurgical industry. When incumbent

    Novosibirsk Governor Vitalii Mukha lost his post, Mukha's

    plans to reorganize the company and merge it with a new,

    partly foreign-owned firm fell by the wayside.

    Judging by LogoVAZ's acquisition of an interest in

    Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo is apparently another region that

    excites Berezovskii's interest. However, he has not yet won

    over Kemerovo Governor Aman Tuleev, since that regional head

    continues to fight for control over the factory. Just

    recently, Tuleev won a legal battle in the struggle for

    control over that plant when a local court extended external

    management of the company for another six months. The two men

    may be able to accommodate each other in some way. Tuleev,

    who is nominally a Communist, is perhaps best known for his

    pragmatism, having supported a number of the pro-Kremlin bloc

    Unity's candidates in the State Duma elections, despite

    appearing as number four on the Communists' list. In the

    meantime, Berezovskii continues applying pressure on Tuleev

    in the newspapers he controls. For example, "Kommersant-

    Daily" alleged on 16 February that Tuleev is receiving

    financial support for his presidential bid from the Kremlin.

    After Kemerovo, Berezovskii's next stop might be Samara

    Oblast, where incumbent Governor Konstantin Titov is up for

    re-election in December 2000. In that region, Berezovskii

    reportedly supports Samara Mayor Georgii Limanskii. Samara

    boasts one of Russia's strongest economies. And while

    Limanskii may have Berezovskii's support, he may no longer

    have the Kremlin's. In November, Unity head and Emergencies

    Minister Sergei Shoigu came to Samara and blessed Limanskii's

    effort to form the regional branch of Unity. However, AvtoVAZ

    Chairman Vladimir Kadannikov and his supporters three months

    later held a founding congress for its branch of Unity,

    electing Kadannikov leader of the Unity branch. According to

    "Kommersant-Daily" on 22 February, the presidential

    administration reportedly agreed to Kadannikov's selection.

    Exactly how the Kremlin--and specifically acting

    President Putin--views Berezovskii/Abramovich's political and

    business activities is unclear. The Kremlin, at least, would

    have Russian voters believe that its relationship with the

    duo is very remote: Putin has never publicly acknowledged any

    link with either oligarch, and in a recent question-and-

    answer session with readers of "Komsomolskaya pravda," he

    promised to make sure that Berezovskii and Abramovich answer

    for the legal consequences of their actions, should any

    criminal activity be found. As a presidential candidate, no

    matter how comfortable his lead, Putin would be ill-advised

    to speak warmly of Berezovskii, a figure universally loathed

    by Russia's voting public.

    The federal Anti-Monopoly Ministry has said it will make

    a decision on the oligarchs' recent moves in the aluminum

    market around 7 March. Most likely the ministry will find a

    good reason to delay an announcement for another two or three

    weeks. And Putin's real attitude toward

    Berezovskii/Abramovich may not become clear until after 26

    March--and the place to watch may not be Moscow but much

    farther east, in Siberia and along the Volga.

    23-02-00


    Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
    URL: http://www.rferl.org


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