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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 155, 01-08-16Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 5, No. 155, 16 August 2001CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] DATE SET FOR PUTIN'S ARMENIA VISITRussian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Yerevan for an official visit on 14-16 September, Interfax reported on 15 August, quoting the Armenian Foreign Ministry press service. An official at the Russian Embassy in Yerevan told the agency that economic ties will top the agenda in Putin's talks with the Armenian leadership. LF[02] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TAKES ISSUE WITH WORLD BANK ASSESSMENTSpeaking at a textile factory in Yerevan on 15 August, Armenian President Robert Kocharian questioned the accuracy of a recent World Bank assessment that despite economic growth, poverty remains high in Armenia, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Kocharian argued that wages have increased this year as a result of a 20 percent surge in exports. He also predicted that the ongoing privatization process, which he said should be speeded up, will help create new jobs. He rejected criticism of the conduct and outcome of the privatization in 1998 of Armenian Telekom and the Yerevan Brandy Factory. LF[03] AVIATION OFFICIAL VISITS ARMENIA, AZERBAIJANEuropean Civil Aviation Conference President Alfredo Roma is currently holding talks with Armenian and Azerbaijani officials on the conditions under which Armenia would be prepared to lift its veto on Azerbaijani membership of that body, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported on 15 August. Azerbaijan and Turkey for their part are blocking Armenia's membership in the European Council of Transport Ministers. Roma told journalists in Yerevan that "in principle" the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaderships are prepared to lift those vetoes. Roma said he also discussed in both Armenia and Azerbaijan the possibility of opening Nagorno-Karabakh's airspace to civilian air traffic. It has been closed to civilian flights since 1994. Further talks on that issue will take place in Paris in October. LF[04] AZERBAIJANI COURT ORDERS CLOSURE OF NEWSPAPER THAT INSULTED ISLAMIC CLERICA Baku district court on 15 August ordered the closure of the newspaper "Etimad" for publishing an article deemed to be insulting to Azerbaijan's senior Muslim cleric, Sheikh-ul-Islam Allakhshukur Pashazade, Turan reported. The Muslim Religious Board of the Caucasus, which Pashazade heads, has also brought a criminal case for slander and libel against the paper's editor, Etibar Mansuroglu (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 August 2001). LF[05] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION ESTIMATES ANNUAL OIL LOSSES...Up to 1.5 million tons of oil are illegally exported from Azerbaijan via Iran every year, Azerbaijan National Independence Party Chairman Etibar Mamedov told journalists in Baku on 15 August, according to Turan. Mamedov said that he based that claim on "foreign diplomatic sources," and that the involvement of Iran in those exports is the primary reason why the Azerbaijani leadership has not reacted more strongly to Iran's claims on Azerbaijan's sector of the Caspian Sea. He also said those clandestine exports are one of the reasons for the IMF's suspension of credits to Azerbaijan. Total oil production by Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR was 9.01 million metric tons in 2000 and 3.7 million tons in the first six months of 2001. Of that latter amount, 1 million tons of oil and oil products was legally exported. LF[06] ...AS STATE OIL COMPANY ORDERED TO FEED DISPLACED PERSONSPresident Heidar Aliev has issued a decree ordering SOCAR to transfer 906 million manats ($190,000) every month to the bank account of the State Committee for Refugees and Displaced Persons in order to provide food for the inmates of displaced persons camps, Turan reported on 15 August. LF[07] AZERBAIJANI DEFENSE OFFICIAL SAYS STATISTICS ON PEACETIME FATALITIES 'STATE SECRET'In response to allegations that the number of noncombat deaths among army conscripts has risen dramatically (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 August 2001), Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Ramiz Melikov told a press conference on 15 August that his ministry has accurate records of the number of such deaths, but will not make those records public as they constitute a state secret, Turan reported. Melikov also rejected as "an exaggeration" claims that bribery is widespread within the military. LF[08] IRAN REJECTS U.S. COMMENTS ON ITS DISPUTE WITH AZERBAIJANIranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi on 15 August rejected as "unrealistic" and "provocative" a statement the previous day by U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Reeker condemning the recent repeated incursions of Iranian aircraft into Azerbaijan's airspace, Reuters' Tehran correspondent reported. "Any intervention by foreign states not located in the area in the affairs of the Caspian region cannot only impede a solution to the Caspian problem but also complicate it," Asefi said. He also denied Azerbaijani claims that Iran has violated its airspace, saying that, as in the past, Iran continues to conduct air patrols over its own sector of the Caspian, according to IRNA, as quoted by the Caspian News Agency. LF[09] AZERBAIJANI-GEORGIAN GAS EXPORT DEAL 'READY FOR SIGNING'Following talks in Baku on 15 August with President Aliev, visiting Georgian Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharishvili said that the signing of the planned agreement on the export via Georgia of Azerbaijan's natural gas can take place "at any time suitable" for Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, Turan reported. The signing was originally scheduled for last month but delayed at the last minute, reportedly because of disagreements over transport tariffs (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 and 10 August 2001). LF[10] GEORGIAN TAX MINISTER RESIGNS TO PROTEST DRAFT BUDGET FOR 2002Mikhail Machavariani announced his resignation at a government session on 15 August, arguing that the version of the budget for 2002 presented by Economy, Industry, and Trade Minister Vano Chkhartishvili is unrealistic, Caucasus Press reported. Chkhartishvili's draft sets incomes some 100 million laris ($48.3 million), or 10 percent, higher than does an alternative draft prepared by the Finance Ministry. Machavariani expressed his support for the Finance Ministry's version, while President Shevardnadze endorsed Chkhartishvili's estimates. Chkhartishvili had told journalists on 14 August that his draft is realistic provided that the Tax Ministry fulfills its obligations. Shevardnadze has not yet accepted Machavariani's resignation. The president has ordered the creation of a special committee, to be headed by Minister of State Gia Arsenishvili, to improve budget revenues, Caucasus Press reported on 16 August. LF[11] TBILISI MAYOR WANTS GEORGIAN PRESIDENT TO SERVE THIRD TERMTbilisi Mayor Vano Zodelava again argued on 15 August, as he had done last year (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 January 2000) that the Georgian Constitution should be amended to permit President Shevardnadze to seek a third consecutive term in the presidential polls due in 2005, Caucasus Press reported. Shevardnadze said last week he does not intend to run again in 2005, arguing that the constitution would have to be amended to permit him to do so, and that frequent amendments would undermine popular confidence in the country's basic law (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 August 2001). LF[12] WITNESSES IMPLICATE FORMER KAZAKH PREMIERThe prosecution on 15 August summoned the first six of a total of 75 witnesses in the trial of former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Kazhegeldin, who left Kazakhstan in 1999, is charged with demanding bribes from enterprise directors; granting unwarranted tax breaks; and signing, without consulting other cabinet members, government ordinances on the privatization of large state-owned companies, including a thermal power station in Ekibastuz, northern Kazakhstan, according to Interfax. Kazhegeldin denies all the charges against him, which he says are politically motivated. LF[13] UIGHURS ON TRIAL IN KYRGYZSTANThe trial opened in Bishkek on 15 August of four Uighurs, two from China, one from Uzbekistan, and one from Turkey, accused of the murder last year in Bishkek of an Uighur businessman (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 March 2000) and other crimes, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. The four men are also accused of planning to establish a branch in Kyrgyzstan of the Eastern Turkestan Liberation Front, which aims to establish an independent Uighur state. LF[14] TAJIK PRESIDENT APPOINTS NEW FOREIGN POLICY ADVISERPresident Imomali Rakhmonov has named First Deputy Foreign Minister Erkin Rahmatulloev as his foreign policy adviser, Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 15 August. Rahmatulloev was born in 1953 and graduated as an Arabist from Tajik State University, after which he served at the Soviet Embassy in Cairo before joining the staff of the Tajik SSR Council of Ministers in 1980. He was named first deputy foreign minister in 1992. Rahmatulloev succeeds Karim Yuldashev, who was gunned down at his home last month (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 July 2001). LF[15] TAJIKISTAN APPEALS FOR HELP TO COUNTER RAT MENACEThe Tajik Health Ministry has appealed to the World Health Organization for assistance in eradicating an influx of rats in Dushanbe that threatens to spread plague, rabies, and brucellosis, Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 15 August. Rats have also disabled computer systems at banks and at Dushanbe airport on more than one occasion by gnawing through cables. Asia Plus- Blitz quoted a staff member of the city's disease prevention center as explaining that funding cuts in recent years have forced his agency to cut back on rodent eradication programs. The virtual breakdown of the city's garbage collection service has compounded the problem. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[16] NATO 'VANGUARD MISSION' TO MACEDONIANATO ambassadors agreed in Brussels on 15 August to send an initial force of 400 British troops to Macedonia to begin preparations for Operation Essential Harvest, Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 August 2001). Fifteen NATO experts arrived in Macedonia the previous day to determine whether the cease-fire is holding, as generally appears to be the case. The soldiers of the vanguard mission are expected to begin arriving late on 17 August. PM[17] POLITICAL PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY IN MACEDONIAPresident Boris Trajkovski sent a proposal to the parliament on 15 August to enact the constitutional changes set down in the recent political agreement, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Parliament speaker Stojan Andov, whose Liberal Party has three seats in the 116-member legislature, said that a session to discuss the proposal will take place on 31 August. Trajkovski said that the amnesty for fighters from the National Liberation Army (UCK) will be limited to individuals who did not commit atrocities and who surrender their arms. UCK officials said that they will dissolve their formations and disarm within 45 days. For its part, the government agreed to NATO deployment to carry out Essential Harvest. PM[18] HOW WILL WEAPONS BE COLLECTED IN MACEDONIA?Speaking at a press conference in Skopje on 15 August, NATO representative Danish General Gunnar Lange said: "In order to collect the weapons, we [will] deploy a cordon around this weapon collection site, and then, it is our intention to move in with a column to this weapon collection site, collect the arms, extract [them], and deploy to an area where the ammunition can be destroyed and the arms can be collected for further destruction in a third country," RFE/RL reported. Essential Harvest is expected to involve some 3,500 troops. PM[19] U.S. TO PROVIDE LOGISTICAL SUPPORT IN MACEDONIAState Department spokesman Philip Reeker told a press conference in Washington on 15 August: "We've talked before, of course, about U.S. participation [in Essential Harvest] in terms of providing command and control and communications, and medical and logistical support, drawn largely from our forces in Kosovo and already deployed in Macedonia in support of the Kosovo force. And while we haven't determined yet exactly how many U.S. personnel would be involved, the number is expected to be [around] a few hundred... It's very important that that cease-fire hold [as a precondition for deployment]. Obviously that's a crucial element in bringing in the NATO deployment as an element in this whole process," RFE/RL reported. PM[20] WHO WANTS WHAT IN MACEDONIAN MISSION?The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported on 16 August that several of the countries participating in Essential Harvest have motives for doing so that go beyond promoting peace and security in the Balkans. Britain, which knows the dangers of such a mission from Northern Ireland, wants quick, effective, and decisive action in order to convince the U.S. to take on a greater role. It is noted in London that some of the Albanian guerrillas have said that they will surrender their weapons only to the Americans. Washington, the daily continues, wants to give its allies a chance to show what they can do in managing Europe's affairs by themselves. The Bush administration is nonetheless aware that the credibility of NATO is involved in the mission and will do its part. France wants to play a leading role in order to "limit the influence of the British and the Americans in the Balkans." German units will likely be placed under French command, but it is not clear precisely how the cash-strapped German military will participate. PM[21] NO ROLE FOR RUSSIA IN MACEDONIAThe Russian authorities are skeptical of the proposed mission to Macedonia and will not participate, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported on 16 August. Moscow believes that the root of the problem is in Kosova, and that there is no point in collecting guns in Macedonia when the neighboring province is awash with weapons. PM[22] ALBANIA HAILS MACEDONIAN DEVELOPMENTSSpeaking in Tirana on 15 August, Foreign Minister Paskal Milo said that his government backs the Macedonian political agreement and peace process, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Tirana supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Macedonia, as well as the development of a democratic and multiethnic society there, he added. Tirana condemns any attempt to destabilize Macedonia. PM[23] SERBIA TO WORK WITH HAGUE -- NEXT YEARYugoslav Justice Minister Savo Markovic said in Belgrade on 15 August that he expects the long-awaited law on cooperating with The Hague-based war crimes tribunal to be ready "by the end of the year," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. He noted that Belgrade is obliged to work with the tribunal because its work is sanctioned by the UN. Markovic stressed, however, that cooperation must be regulated by law. PM[24] SERBIAN PRIME MINISTER: TIME FOR TRUTH IN MURDER CASEZoran Djindjic told "Blic" on 16 August that the governing coalition is "finished" unless the facts surrounding the recent murder of state security officer Momir Gavrilovic are brought to light (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 and 15 August 2001). Attention centers on possible links between the office of President Vojislav Kostunica and criminal elements close to the former regime of President Slobodan Milosevic. "Vesti" noted that Rade Markovic, who was Milosevic's secret police chief, visited Kostunica in his office a total of 22 times between October 2000 and Markovic's arrest in February 2001 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 February and 3 April 2001). Social Democratic leader Vuk Obradovic and some other members of the governing coalition, however, argue that it will be counterproductive for democracy in Serbia for politicians to deal with the murder. Obradovic wants unspecified "investigative bodies" to handle the case. Some other observers argue that the Gavrilovic case must not be allowed to jeopardize the unity of the coalition. PM[25] BOSNIAN SERB TURNS HIMSELF IN TO HAGUEDragan Jokic, a colonel in the army of the Republika Srpska, became the first Bosnian Serb military figure to voluntarily go to The Hague to face war crimes charges, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 15 August. Jovic was indicted on charges stemming from the Srebrenica massacre of 1995. He surrendered to the authorities in Banja Luka, from where he was transferred to the Netherlands. In related news, the tribunal is seeking to obtain the written minutes of meetings of the Bosnian presidency from 1990 to 1993, the broadcast added. PM[26] ECONOMIC SPLIT BETWEEN BOSNIAN ENTITIES WIDENSIndustrial production grew by 14.6 percent in the Muslim-Croat federation during the first six months of 2001 but fell in the Republika Srpska by 9.3 percent, "Avaz" reported on 16 August. During June, the average monthly income in the Republika Srpska was one-third less than that in the federation: 304 marks against 440 marks. A family of four in the Republika Srpska needs 401 marks per month to survive, while the corresponding figure in the federation is 431 marks. (Bosnia's currency, the convertible mark, is the German mark. The exchange rate on 15 August was approximately DM 2.14 to $1.00.) PM[27] NASTASE VOICES SUSPICION OF WESTERN INTENTIONS TOWARD ROMANIASpeaking in Campia Turzii at a ceremony where a bust of Prince Michael the Brave was unveiled on 15 August, Prime Minister Adrian Nastase said Romanians must learn from the prince (who briefly unified the three Romanian principalities in 1601) in order to display solidarity and defend their own interests, Mediafax reported. "After the fall of communism, Romania found itself in a region that became the testing ground for remolding the spheres of influence and for gaining new markets. We must understand that not all those who volunteer advice to us wish our success." He warned that "if we do not display solidarity, we risk that others will teach us what Romanian history is." Romania, the premier said, always had to "fight for its national interests, and those did not always coincide with the interests of the Western powers. In today's world, which witnesses a confrontation of political and economic interests, Romania is duty-bound to defend its own national values." MS[28] ROMANIAN POLL SHOWS RULING PARTY'S POPULARITY DROPPINGAccording to a public opinion poll conduced by the Center for the Study of Public Opinion (CSOP) between 30 July and 5 August, the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) is still leading in preferences, but its overall popularity continues to decline, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. If elections were held now, the PSD would be backed by 51.5 percent. The figures for April, May, and June were 55.3, 52.6, and 52.2, respectively. The same trend shows that the popularity of the extremist Greater Romania Party (PRM) is growing: from 12.4 percent in April to 12.9 percent in May; 13.4 percent in June; and 14.6 percent today. Third place in June went to the Democratic Party (10.7 percent), followed by the National Liberal Party (PNL) with 8.7, and the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) with 6.9 percent. President Ion Iliescu is leading among trusted politicians (54 percent), followed by Bucharest Mayor Traian Basescu (53.3), Premier Nastase (52.1), PNL National Council Chairman and former Premier Theodor Stolojan (32.4), and PRM Chairman Corneliu Vadim Tudor (23.5 percent). MS[29] HUNGARIAN MINORITY LEADER DISSATISFIED WITH IMPLEMENTATION OF ROMANIAN LAWUDMR Chairman Bela Marko on 15 August told journalists that his formation is "dissatisfied" with the implementation of the Local Public Administration Law, Mediafax reported. Marko said that several months have passed since the law was approved by the parliament, but bilingual street signs have been posted in less than half of localities whose minority population makes up 20 percent or more of the inhabitants. With the exception of Harghita and Covasna counties, where ethnic Hungarians hold a majority, bilingual signs are "only rarely" posted and the UDMR "is losing patience," Marko said. He also said that the UDMR wants the pending revision of the constitution to be "profound" and "not a mere formality." MS[30] ROMANIAN BOOK TO SHOW 'TRUE FACE' OF EXTREMIST LEADERA group of Romanian journalists have produced a volume entitled "The Anthology of Shame," Cornel Nistorescu, editor in chief of the daily "Evenimentul zilei," told journalists on 15 August, AP reported. The anthology includes poems PRM leader Tudor wrote in praise of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena, "venomous stories" written by Tudor about other writers while he was serving the communist regime, as well as Tudor's attacks on his political rivals after the fall of communism. Nistorescu said the book was published in order to show Romanians -- 33 percent of whom supported the PRM leader's presidential candidacy in 2000 -- Tudor's "real face." MS[31] ROMANIA SUBSIDIZING MOLDOVAN PASSPORTSRomanian Ambassador to Moldova Adrian Balanescu on 15 August told journalists in Chisinau that experts from the Romanian and Moldovan foreign ministries have finalized the agreement under which Bucharest will grant Moldova $1 million to subsidize passports which are now obligatory for Moldovan citizens entering Romania, Romanian Radio and AFP reported. The regulations for crossing the border between the two countries were changed on 1 July in response to EU orders to step up security along the border, and Moldovan citizens will no longer be able to cross into Romania by showing ID cards. Since the measure took effect, the number of Moldovans traveling to Romania has dropped significantly, largely because the cost of a passport exceeds the average monthly salary in Moldova. The subsidy will enable students and those residing in border towns to acquire the necessary papers for a quarter of the normal price. MS[32] CRACKS IN THE BULGARIAN RULING COALITION?Osman Otkai, the deputy chairman of the ethnic Turkish Movement of Rights and Freedoms (DPS), resigned on 15 August, BTA reported. In an interview with RFE/RL, Otkai criticized the functioning of the coalition with the National Movement Simeon II (NDSV), of which the DPS is a junior partner. He said the DPS is not being consulted on major decisions of the government, but added that "pulling out of the coalition is simply out of the question for the DPS." The daily "Trud" cited Otkai as saying that following the formation of the coalition, "the DPS took over the political responsibility for the governance of the country, while the NDSV's responsibility is only at the personal level," that is, at the level of Premier Simeon Saxecoburggotski, BTA reported. Earlier on 15 August, Otkai suggested that responsibility rests with DPS leader Ahmed Dogan, saying "someone is being too credulous in this situation" and "too easily offered...his confidence." But Dogan is cited by "Trud" as saying that there are "no problems" between his party and the NDSV. "Novinar" hinted that Otkai's resignation was engineered by Dogan who, the daily said, has "given Saxecoburggotski a lesson in Balkan temperament." MS[33] BULGARIA NOT ASKED TO SEND PEACEKEEPERS TO MACEDONIA -- FOR NOWDefense Minister Nikolai Svinarov on 15 August said that "for now" Bulgaria has not been asked to send peacekeepers to Macedonia and that if such a request is made "normal procedure" will be followed, BTA reported. Svinarov said that the parliament would have to approve the dispatch of troops if a decision to do so is made and that he believes that in such a case members of the Bulgarian "special operation forces" will be dispatched. Svinarov also said that Sofia has received no information on which countries will be asked to contribute troops and "we have not been asked [to allow] passage" of troops through Bulgarian territory. MS[C] END NOTE[34] ALBANIAN ECONOMY SLOWS DOWNBy Fabian SchmidtAlbania's inflation reached 5.6 percent in July, according to figures published by the Institute for Statistics in Tirana, "Albanian Daily News" reported last week. Inflation has grown continuously since 1999, when the year ended with zero inflation, thanks primarily to international aid deliveries Albania received during and after the Kosova war. In 2000, however, inflation reached 4.6 percent. For 2001, the Central Bank had expected an inflation rate of between 2 and 4 percent. Central Bank Governor Shkelqim Cani said that the bank will try to keep to that target figure. He added that the increase in inflation is due largely to an unexpected surge in the money supply, which he expects to be only temporary. Cani said the amount of money held outside banks has grown by 18 percent since July 2000. Albania is largely a cash economy, with many small- and medium-size entrepreneurs not even using bank accounts. Bank deposits grew by only 14.7 percent since July 2000. According to Cani, Albania is on course to meet its target of 7.3 percent GDP growth this year, just slightly less than last year's rate of 7.8 percent. Unemployment fell to 13.3 percent, compared to 17.07 percent at the end of 1999. About 2,000 people found new jobs in June, bringing the total number of unemployed to about 190,000. In December 2000, there were approximately 215,085 people unemployed. It remains unclear, however, what impact recent emigration has had on the reduction of unemployment. Officials from the Labor Ministry said that the still-high level of unemployment is largely due to the closure of inefficient state enterprises and cuts in the work force in privatized companies. The government spent about $48.6 million over the past year on programs creating about 70,000 jobs, and has pledged to create another 10,000 jobs by the end of 2001. Cani warned, however, that the conflict in neighboring Macedonia and severe power shortages pose a threat to growth. Some foreign investors in the leather and textile industries have recently closed down their operations, saying that repeated power cuts are adversely affecting their production. On 8 August, the Albanian Electricity Company KESH announced that Tirana will have blackouts of six hours per day according to the new power cuts schedule for the capital and the rest of the country, "Albanian Daily News" reported. Tirana will be the most privileged city compared to other towns that will get power cuts of up to 10 hours a day. Citizens and companies in Tirana pay an average of 85 percent of their electricity bills, which is very high by Albanian standards. The capital consumes one-third of the country's electricity. Meanwhile, the former chief of Albania's National Energy Committee, Bujar Nepravishta, told "Tema" that "the decrease in electricity use is one of the conditions [for assistance] imposed by international financial organizations." He stressed, however, that the main reason for the current energy crisis is the poor condition of the power grid, which loses up to 55 percent of the electricity in the transmission process. Nepravishta added that "for the year 1999, electricity production amounted to 5.39 terawatt hours (twh). From that amount we lost 3.08 twh. We have the same situation this year, which is going to create the preconditions for another crisis." Albania is largely dependent on hydroelectric power, but Nepravishta added: "I don't think that the lack of rain is the reason for our crisis... The lack of rain only makes an already existing crisis more evident." Water levels in Lake Fierza, which provides water for the country's largest power plant, have fallen this summer to their lowest point in a decade. KESH Director Dritan Prifti said in July that Albania imported 900 million kilowatt hours (kwh) during the first half of 2001 and plans to import the same amount in the second half. Prifti added that the construction of a new $50 million high-voltage interconnection line linking Elbasan with Podgorica in Montenegro will help Albania increase its importing capacity. 16-08-01 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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