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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 11, 01-01-17Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 5, No. 11, 17 January 2001CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] EU PROVIDES SIMULATOR FOR ARMENIAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT...A simulator financed by the EU was inaugurated at Armenia's Medzamor nuclear power plant on 16 January, according to a press release issued by the EU office in Yerevan the same day. The simulator will enhance safety at the plant by enabling personnel to conduct more extensive training in how to react to accidents. The EU has provided 12 million euros ($10.2 million) since 1996 in funds to improve safety at Medzamor, and is expected to commit a further 11 million euros for that purpose in 2001. LF[02] ...AS RUSSIA THREATENS TO WITHHOLD NUCLEAR FUELThe Russian government has officially notified Armenia that it will suspend supplies of nuclear fuel for Medzamor pending repayment of Yerevan's $16 million debt, according to the independent daily "Azg" on 13 January as cited by Groong. The Armenian parliament ratified in April 1999 a $20.6 million loan from Russia intended to finance purchases of Russian nuclear fuel for Medzamor. Armenian Energy Minister Karen Galustian was scheduled to travel to Moscow on 16 January for talks both on fuel supplies for Medzamor and Yerevan's $14.7 million debt to Moscow for gas supplies. It is not known whether Armenia's debts were discussed in the course of the 15 January telephone conversation between Armenian President Robert Kocharian and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. LF[03] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL CONCLUDES ARMENIA VISIT...Lord George Robertson held talks in Yerevan on 16 January with President Kocharian and Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian on regional conflicts and security, military parity in the South Caucasus, the CFE treaty, and Armenia's participation in NATO's Partnership for Peace program. Robertson characterized his talks with Kocharian as "very good [and] detailed," and NATO-Armenian relations as "dynamic, evolving, and rewarding for both sides," RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Robertson said in a public lecture at Yerevan State University the same day that a speedy solution to the Karabakh conflict is an essential precondition for economic development in the South Caucasus, adding that such a settlement cannot be achieved without Russia's participation. He ruled out any "lead role" for NATO in mediating such a settlement, but added that the Alliance is ready to support efforts by the OSCE and UN to do so. Asked to comment on the absence of diplomatic relations between Armenia and NATO member Turkey, Robertson said that NATO does not interfere in the policies conducted by member states. "If there was a settlement of the Karabakh dispute, the dispute between Armenia and Turkey would disappear," he predicted. LF[04] ...ARRIVES IN AZERBAIJANRobertson then flew to Baku where he met late on 16 January with President Heidar Aliev. During that meeting, Robertson again emphasized that a solution to the Karabakh conflict is essential in order to preclude the emergence of new "military, social, and economic problems" in the South Caucasus. He said such a solution depends on the two conflict parties, but also hailed Russian President Putin's stated readiness to mediate a settlement. Robertson also conveyed his thanks to Aliev for the participation of an Azerbaijani contingent in the NATO peacekeeping operation in Kosova. LF[05] KYRGYZ COURT RESUMES PROCEEDINGS AGAINST OPPOSITION LEADERThe Bishkek City Military Court on 16 January resumed its review of the case against former Vice President and opposition Ar-Namys Party chairman Feliks Kulov, RFE/RL's bureau in the Kyrgyz capital reported. Kulov was arrested in March 2000 and went on trial three months later on charges of abuse of his official position while serving as National Security Minister in 1997-1998, but was acquitted on 7 August. In September, however, the court's board ordered the case reopened (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 August and 12 September 2000). LF[06] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT CALLS FOR INCREASED MILITARY READINESSSpeaking at a session of Kyrgyzstan's Defense Council on 16 January, Askar Akaev warned that as in 1999 and 2000, Kyrgyzstan could face new incursions by Islamic militants this summer, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. He instructed Defense Minister General Esen Topoev, who outlined new security measures to the Council, to take all necessary steps to repel such an attack. Addressing parliament last month, Akaev had asked for a substantial increase in military and defense spending in 2001 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 December 2000). LF[07] TAJIK PRESIDENT MEETS WITH NEW OSCE MISSION HEAD...President Imomali Rakhmonov met on 16 January with Marc Gilbert, the new head of the OSCE mission in Dushanbe, to discuss the prospects for bilateral cooperation, Asia Plus-Blitz reported the following day. Rakhmonov stressed his readiness for such cooperation, especially in measures to promote further democratization and the formation of democratic institutions. Also discussed were the recent civilian casualties as a result of mines laid by Uzbekistan along the border between the two countries in order to deter incursions by Islamic militants. Reuters quoted Gilbert as saying he intended to raise that issue with the OSCE. LF[08] ...AS TAJIK GOVERNMENT COMMISSION DENIES PRESENCE OF MILITANTS IN EASTERN TAJIKISTANTajik Defense Minister Sherali Khairullaev told ITAR-TASS on 17 January that the government commission dispatched two weeks ago to assess the situation in the country's eastern Tavildara region had established that no members of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan had taken refuge there (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"11 January 2001). Russian media have in recent months repeatedly suggested that former Tajik field commanders, including Mirzo Zieev, who is now minister for emergency situations, collude with the Islamists. Asked by a Russian journalist last month to comment on Kyrgyz charges that helicopters belonging to his ministry had been used to transport arms and food supplies to the Islamists, Zieev denied that his ministry has any helicopters. LF[09] TURKMEN PRESIDENT DISMISSES TWO DEPUTY PREMIERS, OTHER GOVERNMENT MINISTERSSaparmurat Niyazov on 16 January fired Khudaikuli Khallykov, deputy prime minister responsible for transport, communications, and construction, for unspecified shortcomings in his work and also transfered Khallykov's duties to Transport and Communications Minister Rovshan Kerkavov, Reuters and Interfax reported. Khallykov was named chairman of the state company in charge of the country's highways, replacing Nurmurad Gullmuradov, whom Niyazov dismissed and indirectly accused of corruption. Niyazov also fired Chary Yazlev, deputy prime minister responsible for education, saying he lacks experience. The president also criticized Yazlev's choice of textbooks on Turkmen history. Also dismissed were Agriculture Minister Amanmukhammed Ataev, held responsible for the cotton harvest shortfall (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 and 27 November 2000), and Education Minister Abat Rizaev. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[10] SERBIA'S DJINDJIC CONTRADICTS KOSTUNICA ON HAGUE, DEL PONTESerbian Prime Minister-designate Zoran Djindjic told Beta news agency in Belgrade on 16 January that he will meet with Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte of the Hague-based war crimes tribunal on her upcoming trip to Belgrade (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 January 2001). Contradicting the views of Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, Djindjic said: "The Hague tribunal was formed by the UN Security Council and it is, therefore, an institution of the UN. It is the duty of a politician to meet with the representatives of all international organizations. ...I respect Mr. Kostunica and his team, and I believe that this [refusal of Kostunica to meet her] is a minor incident which will be resolved to the benefit of all." PM[11] MIGHT YUGOSLAV LEADER CONSENT TO MEET DEL PONTE IN FUTURE?Kostunica hinted in Athens on 16 January that he does not rule out seeing Del Ponte at another time. "I haven't thought about it, and I'm still not thinking about it. We shall deal with this matter at an appropriate moment, and then we shall find a way of informing Carla Del Ponte about everything concerning The Hague. ...It is not a secret that I believe there are legal shortcomings with the international court and I will raise them when she comes again," AP quoted Kostunica as saying. PM[12] SERBIAN PRESIDENT NOT WORRIED ABOUT HAGUEMilan Milutinovic told TV Politika on 16 January that his "conscience is clear" and that "I see no reason to surrender myself to the tribunal," in response to an indictment for war crimes. He stressed that the indictment against him contains no hard evidence. Milutinovic is one of the highest- ranking Milosevic allies still in power. His term expires in 2002. Djindjic recently told "Der Spiegel" that Milutinovic is not only not making difficulties for the new authorities but that he "has actually been cooperative." Over the years, reports surfaced in the media from time to time about alleged differences between Milosevic and Milutinovic. PM[13] IS FORMER YUGOSLAV LEADER CONCERNED FOR OWN SAFETY?Slobodan Milosevic recently met with Kostunica in order to express fears for his personal safety and that of his "businessman" son, Marko, "Vesti" reported, quoting unnamed sources in the governing coalition (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 16 January 2001). Milosevic is concerned about possible attempts to extradite him to The Hague, as well as about being kidnapped. The former leader reportedly also inquired about the safety of his son if Marko returns to Serbia from self-imposed exile. It is not clear what the outcome of the talks was. Milosevic reportedly sought but did not receive assurances that several of his top aides -- including Nikola Sainovic and Mirko Marjanovic -- will not become the object of lawsuits. PM[14] MONTENEGRIN LEADER TO BELGRADEPresident Milo Djukanovic is slated to arrive in Belgrade on 17 January for talks with Kostunica and Djindjic. He said that there is "room for talks" despite the differences between his and Kostunica's rival proposals on the future of Serbian-Montenegrin ties, AP reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 January 2001). "If we fail to reach an agreement, the citizens will say in a referendum" what they want, Djukanovic said. Djukanovic added that he will ask his hosts "why Serbia persistently wants Yugoslavia and why it does not want to be an independent state. ...In any case, after [seeing] Kostunica's proposed platform, there's a reason for us to be skeptical" about his intentions. Djukanovic stressed that he firmly believes that Montenegro and Serbia "can get to Europe faster" if they are independent countries rather than joined in a federation, "Vesti" reported. PM[15] SMOOTH SAILING FOR MONTENEGRO?Croatian President Stipe Mesic told Djukanovic in Zagreb on 16 January that there is no cause for any fear of violence in the Serbian-Montenegrin dispute. He stressed that the two former Yugoslav republics will resolve their differences through negotiations, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. In Belgrade, General Nebojsa Pavkovic, who heads the General Staff, said that the army will not interfere when Montenegrin citizens decide on their republic's political future. He confirmed that the Yugoslav Supreme Defense Council recently decided to disband the Seventh Battalion of the military police. The Montenegrin leadership regards that unit as a political formation created by Milosevic to use against his enemies in the mountainous republic. PM[16] VOJVODINA HUNGARIAN LEADER CITES DEATH THREATSubotica Mayor Jozsef Kasza told Hungarian Radio on 15 January that he recently received an e-mail that contained a death threat. An unspecified Serbian "liberation army" added in the message that all ethnic Hungarians should leave Vojvodina. The mayor stressed that several Serbian politicians, including an official of President Kostunica's party, have contributed to a climate of hate in the province by making anti-Hungarian statements. Kasza has sent copies of the e-mail message to Kostunica and Prime Minister- designate Djindjic, and plans to pass other copies on to Hungarian and international officials. PM[17] KFOR: ETHNIC ALBANIAN GUERRILLAS STEAL TEACHERS' PAYU.S. KFOR officials said in a statement on 16 January that fighters of the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac recently took $7,500 in Yugoslav dinars from a convoy of Serbs traveling from Bujanovac to Kamenica in eastern Kosova. The statement called the act "banditry," adding that the money was to be used to pay Serbian teachers' salaries. The guerrillas, for their part, displayed the bank notes to reporters, saying that they are investigating whether the money is "linked to crime," Reuters reported from Prishtina. PM[18] MACEDONIA TO RECOGNIZE TIRANA DIPLOMASEducation Minister Nenad Novokovski said in Skopje that the government plans to recognize university degrees issued by Tirana University, Makfax news agency reported on 16 January. He added that the Albanian diplomas will be recognized on the model of the way in which Skopje recognizes degrees from Sofia. Ethnic Albanian students with degrees from Tirana recently staged a protest to demand that their diplomas be recognized without their having to take additional examinations. PM[19] MACEDONIA'S ALBANIAN-LANGUAGE UNIVERSITY TAKES SHAPEThe official name of the new Albanian-language university will be the University of Southeast Europe in Tetovo, MIC news agency reported on 16 January (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 December 2000). Members of the governing board will be Zamir Dika, Murtezan Ismaili, Reshat Nexhipi, Bajram Polozani, and Danilo Gligorovski. Ferid Murat and Arben Xhaferi will be honorary members. PM[20] YUGOSLAV-SLOVENIAN BUSINESS CONTACTSA Yugoslav delegation of 36 businessmen has arrived in Ljubljana for talks with representatives of 110 Slovenian firms, "Delo" reported on 17 January. Marta Kos, who heads the Slovenian Chamber of Commerce, said that 70 percent of Slovenia's trade is with the EU. Only 16 percent of its exports are to "the Balkans," while only 7 percent of its exports come from there, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Since the ending of the Bosnian conflict in 1995, many Slovenian businesses have been eager to regain some of their former Yugoslav markets. PM[21] VETERAN SLOVENIAN POLITICIAN DIESSergej Kraigher, who was one of Slovenia's top politicians during the last years of the rule of Josip Broz Tito, died in Ljubljana on 16 January, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM[22] OSCE SLAMS HERZEGOVINIAN HDZIn Sarajevo on 16 January, the OSCE's Luke Zahner criticized the recent decision by the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) to boycott the parliament (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 January 2001). He stressed that a democracy cannot function if each time a party does not get its way it "packs up its toys and goes home," AP reported. PM[23] UP TO 50,000 ILLEGAL MIGRANTS TRANSIT BOSNIAThe UN's mission to Bosnia said in a statement on 16 January that up to 50, 000 people used Bosnia as an illegal transit route to Western Europe last year. The largest numbers came from Iran and Turkey, dpa reported. PM[24] CROATIA TO FUND HOLOCAUST STUDIESEfraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said in Zagreb on 16 January that President Stipe Mesic has confirmed that the government will carry out a program of Holocaust studies. Zuroff said it is "an honor" to meet Mesic, whose attitudes he described as "completely different" from those of late President Franjo Tudjman, dpa reported. PM[25] ROMANIAN EXTREMISTS WALK OUT OF PARLIAMENT IN PROTESTThe parliamentary group of the Greater Romania Party (PRM) in the Chamber of Deputies on 17 January walked out in protest against the approval of an article in the Local Public Administration Law granting minorities the right to use their mother tongue in contacts with the authorities and to post bilingual street signs, Mediafax reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 January 2001). PRM deputy Anghel Stanciu said the article is unconstitutional as it introduces Hungarian as a "second official language." He added that the PRM will contest the law in the Constitutional Court. On 16 January, the PRM asked the court to rule that the new house regulations approved by the Chamber of Deputies are unconstitutional, and announced it will also challenge the restitution law approved by the Chamber of Deputies on 16 January (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 and 16 January 2001). MS[26] WORLD BANK OFFICIAL MEETS ROMANIAN POLITICIANS...Andrew Vorkink, World Bank director for Central and Eastern Europe, said after meeting President Ion Iliescu on 17 January that the bank is ready to extend up to $1.5 billion in aid in the next four years if the programs proposed by the Romanian government will be judged as being "serious" and "advancing reform," Mediafax reported. After meeting with Prime Minster Adrian Nastase on 16 January, Vorkink said he is "encouraged" by the "seriousness" with which the government tackles the tasks ahead but added that it is "too early" to discuss "specifics." He said he agrees with the government's priorities of creating more jobs, improving the business climate, and attracting investors, as well as with the need to combat poverty. Vorkink also met with Defense Minister Ioan Mircea Pascu, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. MS[27] ...AND ROMANIAN FINANCE MINISTER PREPARES FOR IMF TALKSFinance Minister Mihai Tanasescu on 16 January said he will travel to Washington next week to meet with IMF officials to discuss the government's concept for the 2001 budget. An IMF delegation will visit Romania at the end of January. Nastase said after his meeting with Vorkink that he believes that the new IMF negotiator for Romania, Neven Mates, will display "particular understanding" for Romania's problems in the "transition period" because Mates is of Croat origin and is familiar with the problems of the region. MS[28] BULGARIA SEES NO 'BALKAN SYNDROME' RISKS FOR ITS KOSOVA PEACEKEEPERS"Radiological tests conducted last week on soil and water samples from the camps of the Bulgarian troops [stationed in Kosova] showed no uranium isotopes had been additionally introduced," Yurii Dunchev, Bulgarian army chief ecologist, told journalists on 16 January. The results confirmed earlier medical tests that found no health problems among Bulgarian servicemen deriving from depleted uranium ammunition. Dunchev said the 39 Bulgarian peacekeepers are stationed "well away from the regions where depleted uranium ammunitions were used in combat," Reuters reported. In other news, Nikolai Mihailov, department chief in the Defense Ministry, said on 16 January that Bulgaria has fully destroyed its stocks of anti- personnel mines, AP reported. Mihailov stressed that, unlike Bulgaria, Turkey and Yugoslavia have not yet signed the Ottawa Convention on the ban of these mines. MS[C] END NOTE[29] OECD PRAISES BULGARIAN FARM REFORMS, CONCERNED ABOUT ROMANIABy Ron SynowitzThe Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), has recently reviewed agricultural reform in Bulgaria and Romania. While there is praise for Bulgaria, the organization says the slow pace of reform in Romania is a cause for concern. In a survey released in Sofia on 16 January, the OECD says Bulgaria's agriculture policies in the last four years have saved the sector from collapse. The survey says Prime Minister Ivan Kostov's government has created a solid foundation for Bulgaria to make improvements in agriculture that are vital to its European Union membership bid. The OECD notes that Bulgaria and Hungary are Eastern Europe's only net exporters of food. The organization attributes this to more open trade policies and to the elimination of price controls that previously kept most farmers from earning profits from their work. But the OECD says Bulgaria still faces tough challenges. Among them are the need to create a functioning market for land -- where private land can be easily bought and sold or used as collateral for agricultural loans. Another challenge involves restructuring and encouraging competition among companies that process the farmers' output so that farmers receive a fair market price for their products. Two months ago, the OECD released a study on Romanian agriculture reform that is more critical. The organization cited the lack of an overall reform framework until 1997 as a key reason that Romania has become a net importer of food. OECD agriculture expert Andrzej Kwiecinski told RFE/RL that one problem facing Romania's private farmers is that they don't have access to the larger national market, since the links between state farms and food- processing companies are still very strong. He said that small-scale farmers are, thus far to a large extent, cut off from the main domestic and foreign markets. The only remaining option for them is local markets, which could offer the possibility to sell small quantities, but which do not provide small-scale farmers with the chance to expand their activities and to become more efficient. Private farmers in Bulgaria faced similar barriers in the mid-1990s, when either the state or nomenklatura business groups held monopoly control over food processing. Combined with the many restrictions on exporting at that time, private farmers had little choice but to sell their crops at prices that were far below international market prices. In practice, Bulgaria's main food exporters before 1997 were private business groups with strong enough government connections to obtain export licenses. The OECD report praises Kostov's government for tearing down some of the pillars of an agricultural sector that was, in effect, a system of nomenklatura feudalism. This was done mainly by liberalizing domestic food prices and abolishing the restrictive measures on exports. The OECD credits the policies of Kostov's government for stabilizing Bulgaria's national economy and allowing a market infrastructure to develop in agriculture. The OECD says another major advance for private Bulgarian farmers came in 1998 when laws were passed to establish a western-style warehouse receipt system. Warehouse receipts help western farmers get short-term credits for the seed, fuel, fertilizers, and pesticides that they need through the growing season. Warehouse receipts are essential to free-market agriculture because they allow farmers to obtain loans by using grain they've stored at licensed warehouses as collateral. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has committed about $100 million to a four-year program aimed at developing Bulgaria's warehouse grain receipt system. The EBRD has also praised the Kostov government for setting up the necessary legal framework and liberalizing the grain markets. Experts at the bank say lessons from this program could help neighboring countries improve the financial infrastructure of their own farming sectors. Agricultural experts from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) also agree that a proper legal framework is essential to a successful warehouse receipt program. A USAID pilot program for warehouse receipts in Ukraine during the mid-1990s has been cancelled, reportedly because too many traders used the forum merely as a meeting place and then conducted transactions on their own outside of the program. In Romania, the OECD says one of the biggest reform tasks facing the new government is to create job opportunities for rural residents who are leaving agriculture. More than 35 percent of all jobs in Romania are in the agriculture sector, but this is expected to decline as the sector becomes more efficient. Ironically, Romania's land privatization program has created a problem that is the opposite of the situation in Ukraine and Russia. Romanian farm plots are too small to be farmed efficiently. The OECD says the average plot size is about two hectares. The reason for this is because Romania's land privatization was based on restitution to the owners (or descendants of owners) before nationalization in the 1940s. Many Romanian landowners now are either leaving their fields fallow or are renting them to a few large farms that do not have any interest in protecting the long-term fertility of the soil. In contrast, Kwiecinski says the average size of farms in Russia and Ukraine is about 7,000 hectares. Most farm workers in those countries have a paper coupon showing they have rights to a portion of land from their former state farms. But few can identify an actual plot of land that is theirs. Moreover, the large collective state farms have been privatized only on paper, but have not been broken up into the ideally efficient size of 500 to 1,000 hectares. Nor has the management of most former state farms been changed. The author is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Prague. 17-01-01 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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