._.Datly Report— Central Eurasia This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners. Daily Report Central Eurasia FBIS-SOV-96-094 CONTENTS 14 May 1996 NOTICE: An * indicates material not previously dissenunated in electronic form PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES Russia: Zyuganov Interviewed on Election Platform /Moscow RTV/ Russia: Yavlinskiy Denies Giving Votes to Yeltsin /SEGODONYA 13 May] Russia: Lebed Addresses Voters on Election Broadcast /Moscow Radio] Russia: Lebed Sees ‘70 Percent Chance’ of Civil War After Election /INFORMATSIONNOYI AGENTSTVO EKHO MOSKVY]! Russia: Lebed Downplays Likelihood of Democrats’ Coalition /Moscow 2x2 TV] Russia: Fedorov Says “Third Force’ Has ‘Practically Fallen Apart’ //74R-TASS] Russia: Election Broadcast Hails Gorbachev's Leadership Qualities [Moscow Radio] Russia: Candidate Shakkum Interviewed on Background, Ambitions /7TRUD-7 /2-16 May] Russia: Election Broadcast Highlights Shakkum’'s Career, Political Views [Moscow RTV] Russia: Polls Indicate Most Russians Expect Yeltsin Reelection /INTERFAX] Russia: Poll: Voters Would Back Yeltsin Over Zyuganov in 2d Round /iINTERFAX/ Russia: Election Campaign To Air 14 May Through 14 Jun //TAR-TASS] INTERREGIONAL AFFAIRS CIS: Yeltsin Informed of 17 May Summit Preparations /INTERFAX] CIS: Border Troop Commanders Debate Common Defense System //TAR-TASS] CIS: ITAR-TASS Carries Press Review for 14 May RUSSIA INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS Russia: Yeltsin Meets With General, Discusses PRC Border Treaty /INTERFAX] Russia’ Russia, Belarus Defense Ministry Boards Begin Joint Forum //TAR-TASS] Russia: Grachev: Russia, Belarus May Form Powerful Military Group /INTERFAX/ Russia: Ten Military Agreements Signed With Belarus /INTERFAX] Russia: FSB Refuses To Comment on Rumor of U.S. Citizen's Expulsion (IZVESTIYA 13 May] Russia: Russians Arms Arouse ‘Enormous Interest’ in Asia /[ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA 1/3 May] Russia: Demirel Cited on Straits Closure Threat, Ceyhan Pipeline /TRUD /3 May] Russia: Posuvalyuk on Talks With Lebanese, Syrian Foreign Ministers //7AR-TASS] Russia: Russia Being Squeezed Out of Caucasus Oil Transit Projects (ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA 1/3 RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS Political Issues Russia: Yeltsin Releases Analytical Directorate Head From Post /Moscow Radio] Russia: Yeltsin Dismisses Chief of Federal Service for Employment //TAR-TASS]/ Russia: Lukin: “Wrong Time’ for No-Confidence Vote in Government /INTERFAX] Russia: Business Leaders To Air ‘Complaints’ Against Government //ZVESTIYA /4 May/ — Tight Security Measures During 9 May Parade Highlighted /NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA /3 May — FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Russia: Zhirinovskiy Associate Denies Being Drugged by IZVESTIYA /Moscow Radio] Media Issues Russia: State Broadcasters Credited With Saving Democracy /ROSSIYSKIYE VESTI 12 May] Military, Nuclear & Space Issues Russia: Military Leaders May Be Behind Sale of APC’s to Chechens /[MOSKOVSKIYE NOVOSTI 12-19 May] Russia: Tokobank Refutes Allegations ‘About Funding C hechen Rebels [INTERF. AX) Russia: Moscow Police Doubt Banks Channeled Money to Chechen Rebels /INTERFAX/ Russia: Trade Union Official Comments on Livshits Debts Statement /77AR-TASS/ Russia: Military, TU Leaders Discuss Arms Industry Problems [KRASNAYA ZVEZDA 13 May] — Government To taal Vienna Convention on Nuclear Damage sesmnaagidaaaie AYA GAZETA 13 ay ees e Russia: Radio Contact Lost With Military ‘Satellite After L aunch (IT: AR. TASS) Federal Assembly Russia: Duma Committee Claims Worst Budget Implementation Since 1994 Sb mcnmserndians 13 May] sali : Russia: Zorin Criticizes Y avlinskiy” s Plan for Chechnya [INTERFAX] Russia: Problem in Signing Sea Demarcation Accord With U.S. //TAR-TASS] Regional Affairs Russia: Chechen Government Approves Plan for Yeltsin Visit [INTERFAX] Russia: Fears Voiced Over Yeltsin Visit to Chechnya /KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA 14 May/ Russia: Terrorist Act Planned Against Yeltsin During Chechnya Trip (INTERFAX ] Russia: Federal Troop Commander Ready To Meet Basayev [Moscow ORT] Russia: Emil Pain Views Possibility of Peace in Chechnya /ROSSIYSKIYE VESTI 14 May] Russia: Talks With Chechen Armed Opposition To Begin in May [INTERFAX] Russia: Caucasian Confederation Offers Chechnya Mediation Services //TAR-TASS] Russia: ‘Analysis’ Shows Chechen Rebels’ Resources /JZVESTIYA 12 May] Russia: Coast Guards Open Fire To Warn Off Japanese Trawlers //NTERFAX] Economic Issues Russia: Lobov Outlines Energy Security Problems /[ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA 12 May] Russia: TV Program Reveals Draft Plan for Money Reform {Moscow ORT] UKRAINE National Affairs Ukraine: Kuchma on Referendum for Constitution /UNIAN] Ukraine: Kuchma Signs Law on Crimean Constitution /Kiev International] Ukraine: Marchuk Calls On Parliament To Accept USSR Debt, Asset Deal [INTERFAX] Ukraine: Police, Bank ‘Join Forces’ To Combat Organized Crime /DEMOKRATYCHNA UKRAYINA 8 May] Ukraine: Committee Protests. ‘Cadre Purges” in Crimean Mass Media /UKRINFORM] WESTERN REGION Moldova Moldova: Snegur ‘Might’ initiate Referendum on Fate of Government /BASAPRESS/ FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Central Eurasia Moldova: Chisinau, Dniester To Discuss Interim Agreement {INTERFAX ] Moldova: Chisinau Protesters Demand Release of Ilascu Group /INFOTAG] Moldova: Moscow Municipal Government To Help Gagauzia /INFOTAG] CENTRAL ASIA Tajikistan Tajikistan: Grachev: Russian Troops Will Not Fight Tajik Opposition /INTERFAX] Tajikistan: Tajik Communists Counting on Zyuganov Election Victory [Moscow NTV] Tajikistan: Intelligence Estimates 3,000 ‘Fighters’ on Afghan Borde: [Moscow ORT] Tajikistan: Radio: Government *.-:ault on Tavil Dara Unsuccessful / Voice of Free Tajikistan] Tajikistan: Clandestine on Protest by ‘Thousands’ in Khodzhent / Voice of Free Tajikistan] Turkmenistan Turkmenistan: Velayati Arrives in Ashgabat, Comments on Rail Link / Tehran Radio] Turkmenistan: Velayati Addresses Regional Economic Cooperation Forum /Tehran TV] Turkmenistan: Rafsanjani Holds Talks With Turkmen President in Mashhad [Tehran IRNA] Turkmenistan: Iranian Contractors in Turkmenistan Highway Project /Tehran IRNA] Uzbekistan aman! Projected Oil, Gas dole stem To Benefit Uzbekistan, Others /[ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA ay CAUCASUS Armenia Armenia: Primakov Delivers Yel’tsin Message to Ter-Petrosyan [ARAGIL ELECTRONIC NEWS BULLETIN] Armenia: Russian Relations Should Improve After Elections / INTERFAX] Armenia: Prime Minister Leaves for CIS Energy Meeting in Moscow / Yerevan Radio] Armenia: Ter-Petrosyan Guarantees Stability for Foreign Investors [INTERFAX] Armenia: Karabakh President Comments on ‘Conflict Settlement’ /SNARK] Armenia: CIS Border Troop Commanders Arriving for CIS Meeting / Yerevan Radio] Azerbaijan Azerbaijan: Aliyev’s Meeting With Rafsanjani Detailed /TURAN/ — Iran To Join International Gas-Oil Project in Azerbaijan /NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA 14 ay Azerbaijan: Baku To Take New Steps To Get Mutalibov’s Extradition /INTERFAX] Azerbaijan: Former President Mutalibov Interviewed [Moscow NTV] BALTIC STATES Estonia Estonia: Vahi, Latvian Premier Sign Maritime Border Agreement /Tallinn Radio] Estonia: Ulmanis Discusses Russian Presidential Elections /INTERFAX] Estonia: Two Russian Parties To Form Electoral Union /ETA/ _....... Gikssleibecscladl dvcaaesdeleinaan Estonia: Russian Citizens Union Protests Charges Against Leader (BNS] Latvia Latvia: Birkavs on Talks With Primakov at Council of Europe /Riga Radio] FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Central Eurasia Latvia: Two-Party Coalition Nominates Ulmanis for Re-Election /BNS/ Latvia: Military Cooperation With Denmark To Continue /BNS/ Lithuania Lithuania: Foreign Minister Presses NATO Membership at News Conference [ELTA] Lithuania: Group Seeks Simultaneous NATO Entry With C. Europe Countries [INTERFAX] Lithuania: Vilnius, NATO Consultations on Expansion Viewed [Vilnius Radio] Lithuania: Brazauskas Says EU Membership Possible by 2000 /INTERFAX] Lithuania: Prime Minister Urges Russia To Return Bank Deposits [INTERFAX] Lithuania: Daily Ponders Problem of Asian Refugees /[7RUD 13 May] FBIS-SOV -96-094 14 May 1996 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES Russia: Zyuganov Interviewed on Election Platform president of the country, wi LD1205220496 Moscow Russian Television Network legally binding in Russian 1600 GMT 12 Mav 96 [Zyuganov] To be honest, absoluteiy. We have said that many umes. Besides ire right. We will send five to seven representative f our every polling nm. We will have a cop number of votes {Inte “iew with Russian Communist Part retary Gennadiy Zyuganoyv by Niki Moscow on 10 May recorded counted for every ¢ tuen trom the moment the {FBIS Translated Text} |Svanidze nnadty Andreye ballot boxes are opene he moment the votes are vich, how do you view the progress of the election race? counted. We will be counting ‘sul longside the Are you happy or unhappy with the way thins re de Central Electoral Commussiot recently carried out veloping, in your own case in particula this sort of operation during the ‘cr elections Bryansk, imiari nd iyoprad. / tif anybody [Zyuganov]} Our election campaign is quite successfu tried to miscoun ; tes they were made to feel tn Apri! alone I visited Alta lat proceedings would be taken against them for their central Russia, and the northwe e held wclions and their deception ld be made public a fange Of important interest at the Council of Patriots eight regions were represented. Rec a conference of hero-cities in rallies on 9 and | May showed that we are gaining Svanidze| Almght. Here 1s another question, Gennady support and trat our men ire getting young if Andreyevich. What people fear is sition and elecuon campaign ts progressing quit ent your program is a radical change of poh Will there ganov, interrupting radical chang : of p [Svanidze] To specify my quest: ' Grigoriy Yavlinskiy let it be clearly kr lest Zyuganov} Nikolay Ka Statement that he might join forces with Y« It seems trained as a philosopher this would not strengthen your posit W } steer a big ship sh imply | rigl the left. The whole ‘ crew will definitely be thrown overboard and everything {[Zyuganov} We already knew tt \ vor » out 7 J ‘ ‘ . ; . n the hol il he t ile and wf — every scenario, we thought this might happ« fler a as aere we “* adage ee. set ton of whether one’s policies are radical? What is your out there that we are ready _ ndtable meeting attitude toward the market have a market and to discuss the real situati ) under which everybody with to the will of the people. Thu elections, honest calculations ; : " B ‘ there was the slave trade. Then they decided this was mechanism for the handing over of power eryone : - , immoral. At present the market is asserting itself. It is will sign this agreement, thereby recog: u will of the people at the elections wi are prepared to sit down at the same candidates and sign a document like th Svanidze}] Could you talk about the market, Gennadiy Andrevevich, about a regulated market, for instance | Zyuganov] The market is a natural and normal phenom- enon. It ts at least 7,000 years old. In the last century known under the name of commodity barter relations as heard] {Svanidze] S_. if the Central Elect — with your many observers present at the polling Zyuganov] The market exists wherever there are com- stations — announces results that sh that } are not modities, money, and exchange. We had a market in tain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination ut permission of the copynght owners PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES the USSR, but it was restricted by a whole number of directives {[Svanidze] I will read to you what you once said. It will be a pleasure to quote you. This is what you said. {[Zyuganov] Tell me the source, first. [Svanidze] ARGUMENTY I FAKTY No. 26, 1994 It must be understood that there is no such thing as regulated market relations. [Zyuganov}] Unregulated market relaucns. [Svanidze] The approach to reforms must be changed Market mechanisms cannot be introduced in the vast expanses of Russia {Zyuganov] Hold on a minute. It should read: unregu- lated market relations, not regulated’ [Svanidze] Let us say this ts a misprint, then. But what about the fact that market mechanisms Cannot exist in Russia's vast expanses? [Zyuganov]} That is plain. There is no such thing in the world as an unregulated market. It is being regulated everywhere, both in the West and the East. And if you introduce a pure market economy, without any regulations, in Vorkuta and Krasnodar, house prices in Vorkuta will rocket 500 or 600 percent. Then nobody in Vorkuta will be able to build a house or a mine {[Svanidze] But you are talking about market relations generally {[Zyuganov} No. You have taken two words out of context and statted to present all this {Svanidze]} But that’s what you said, Gennadiy Andreye- vich [Zyuganov] Yes, I did. What I said is that market relations will be regulated. I said the country, where two-thirds of the territory lies in the north, will not be able to develop production along the normal lines. If you fail to introduce regulated prices for railway tariffs and energy in our vast land, you will thoroughly destroy our economy. This is clear even to uneducated and incompetent people {Svanidze] Perhaps, you have not formulated your ideas clearly and this might put people off, Gennadiy Andreyevich. Anyway, let us get on with it. Let us talk about ownership — a favorite question. Will you be taking away property from those who have acquired it dishonestly, in your view? [Zyuganov] I want to tell you this. One's attitude toward property must be strictly reguiated by law. It is not a matter for subjective views. What I am trying to achieve is that everyone — from the man in the street FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 to the president must abide by the law. I understand very well that privatization has taken place. It has been dishonest and unfair. In many ways extortionate methods were used. But as a realisuc politician, | understand very well that if you begin to confiscate property tomorrow, the day after tomorrow the country will develop into an enormous horrible Chechnya. Our concern is different. We have worked out our approach and, incidentally, many businessmen agree with it. If a privatized organization functions normally, efficiently, complying with the law, paying taxes, we will not only support these people but also encourage them. After all, why do you privatize something? So that it can work better. But it has come to a halt. So, we will have to sort it out thoroughly and competently and find out why, what and wherefore But in some instances it was not just a matter of privatization. We used to have a lot of organizauons which had a monopoly. Some were simply scrapped As a result, 200 or 300 enterprises came to a standstill, bringing whole industries to a halt. This has just happened in the agricultural machine-building industry and many others. This is where we will have to sort things out. Besides, the state must be a good property owner. It must be able to control the situation and hold a controlling share of the energy and transport sectors, as well as in the military industrial complex. Without this [Svanidze] In other words, you will not be persecuting property owners, will you” [Zyuganov] We will encourage and support property owners but we want all citizens to be fully-fledged property owners and to have opportunities to do what they like with the results of their labor [Svanidze] Another quote from what you said arouses some doubt. Could you explain it? [Zyuganov] What arouses my doubts is the source [Svanidze] You can check it for yourself. You may write it down. This is from GLASNOST of 15 March, 1995: If we come to power, there will be no immediate expropriation of what has been stolen from the people. If this happens immediately, then there will be three Chechnyas in Moscow {Zyuganov] I do not know this. I have never said anything about three Chechnyas. I have just told you about our approach. It has been thought through very well. Incidentally, we recently examined these problems at an open session at the Duma with representatives of scienufic schools. We invited government officials and the president. And yet your program has said almost This report may contain copynghted matenal. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 nothing about it. We are now completing revision of our economic strategy. {Svanidze] When will you finish it? [Zyuganov} We will finish it in May. The question is whether we should publish it immediately or not. You will be taking odd passages out of context [Svanidze}] Passages? You have said it yourself, Gen- nadiy Andreyevich. After all, you are a presidential can- didate? [as heard] [Zyuganov] This is not what I am talking about. Here am I — a presidential candidate — and yet ir six months not a single national newspaper has published my elecuon platform, although they are bound to do so, by law I asked the firsi and second channels to give me an opportunity to speak on the main provisions. [Svanidze) I am giving you this opportunity now. {Zyuganov] Yes, this is a rare opportunity {[Svanidze] Gennadiy Andreyevich, let us continue talk- ing about property. | understand, of course, you are bored with this question. Nevertheless, let's say you are the president. Will private property exist? Yes or no? [Zyuganov] There will be state, collective, and property ownership. It is clearly stated in my platform. Forms of ownership cannot be abolished by decree. Therefore, we will support all forms of ownership. I have just met small businessmen, representatives of small businesses These are sensible and talented lads who worked in good institutions. Some of them are graduates of the Bauman Institute and the Institute of Physics and Technology. Most of the institutes have now closed down in Moscow. These lads have established their own businesses, opened workshops or a catering enterprise We will not only support them but help them. At present they are being stifled by raising prices for rented accommodation and interest rates to terrible proportions After all, they are very much in demand. Their work 1s extremely vital [Svanidze] These are fine words, Gennadiy Andreye- vich. It does say in your platform: We advocate an economy with many forms of ownership — that proba- bly implies private property {Zyuganov] It goes without saying [Svanidze} An economy with m.ny forms of ownership is a broad concept. We had many forms of ownership under Stalin, too. Anyway, what is your atutude toward the program documents of your party, as its general secretary? {Zyuganov] My attitude is that of respect PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES [Svanidze}] Let us open page 21: The party envisages three politica! stages in consistently achieving its aims. In the first instance we will preserve the many forms of ownership there are now, created by the levels of the production forces. During the second stage the leading role of socialist forms of ownership will clearly come to prominence. The creation of socialist relations will mark the third stage. Public forms of ownership will play a dominant role and gradually assert themselves in the economy {Zyuganov] What is arousing your doubt here, I won- der? [Svanidze] Where 1s there anything about private prop- erty here? | cannt see it {[Zyuganov] If we give priority to the collective and public forms of ownership, does this mean [Svanidze] But it is Fere in plain Russian this 1s my mother tongue, despite my Georgian name —- and in black and white. I will quote your own interview to DER SPIEGEL magazine in January 1996: We rec- ognize many forms of ownership along with political plurality. No questions here. in an interview to KOM- SOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA on 20 September 1994, you said: I support state ownership. Its leading role is deter- mined by the nature of the waitonal character What else is determined by the nature of the national character? {Zyuganov] I will tell you what determines the nature of KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA. In the last two years I offered it four articles. It has not published a single one {Svanidze] But what about this one? {Zyuganov] I have no knowledge of 1t {Svanidze] But what about this? It is KOMSOMOL- SKAYA PRAVDA of 20 September 1994 [Zyuganov] What 1s determined by the national charac- ter is that since Peter the Great the Russian economy has always been run primarily by the state. This is no secret to you either. Czar Nicholas II filled more than half of his treasury from state-owned enterprises {Svanidze] Comrade Zyuganov, so what? We had feu- dalism and slavery. So what? [Zyuganov} It is no secret to anybody that we have a number of national traits: We are collectivists; we are community spirited. That is how we are born, since the times of Christ (Svanidze] In other words, we are born to believe that there is no place for private property in our country This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination 1s prohibited without permission of the copyright owners PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES (Zyuganov} But we have a number of distinctive traits 1 am asking you about talking about the labor [Svanidze} Which ones? {Zyuganov] Don't you (Zyuganov] For instance, Czar Nicholas il had to gather all the adult members of the royal family if he wanted to sell several acres of land. He had to discuss this issue at a family meeting. Only after everyone agreed could he sell an estate or a country house. This ts a nationa feature of the Russian way of life property [|Zyugas forms [Svanidze] In other words, you are proposing we should live the way they did under Czar Nicholas I? [Zyuganov] | am proposing nothing. | am just that collectives, communities, a farmers’ community a labor collective [changes thought] destroying the labor collective. Yet, the | used to offer protection to people benefits and support. And this is where the leaders enterprises, including joint-stock and private compar stand out. In the West many would have been sacked nght away, while ours are keeping them, even if they have no resources D. iul you {Svanidze] Labor collectives are 2oo love the 0 elections collective myself, but what we are talking ; Soviet pe woperty property IZvuvar Zyu yanov Fedorov for instance, has intere sting ideas yUB } I looked at the way his enterprise works. Everybody is a property owner there. Nurses, doctors, and surgeons will know exactly how much they earn from one operation {Svanidze] Do you mean Svyatoslav Nikolayevich? Are you going to vote for Fedorov’ il iughs} {[Zyuganov] Everybody has their ow u tasks. What | am Saying is that we have certain special characteristics and you must reckon with this [Svanidze] Of course, I can reckon with this. But will private property owners want to reckon with this idea of our special national traits’ (Zyuganov} | am sure they will. | met many, includ ing people in the West and those who enjoyed the best resorts there, they miss their homeland and their collec tive. They will come back with pleasure and bring back their capital if the right conditions are created, while we want money to be invested in industries which will support all of us, our children and grandchildren. And we must therefore create the necessary conditions [Svanidze] I have known you a long ume, Gennady Andreyevich, and I am very much ensoying our cor versation, but you are not answering the question. | an asking you what time it is, while you are answer Thank you, I have already had dinner wher st Party re p [Svanidze} Of ¢ Yesterday during ‘ til IS A y i1\ think that AN ‘in the Great Patr This report may contain copynghted matenal ( is prohibited without permission of the copynght } (hat wt wall de ‘at will be super FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 iS preal as the feat War th (Zyuganov} Hold on a minute e restore the ¢ mice again, if we if we once 3 raise Our science this will be an ‘ ical {[Svanidze} All this is words We are talking about the Great War. Yesterday it was 9 May. It will the Victory Day be marked + May? you win the elections n 16 June f Zyuganoy} Nikolay Karlovich, d [Svarnidze}] i am not lec [Zyuganov] I have told you my tell you once more. According to the Barbar jismantie the USSR. Is tha The task t ' ' { the main task was t what you can graphically see now Was rewrite « ith and religi every The task was [Svanidze]} All t you exploit the f thing? I can sacred day understand presidenual candidate. But range is the and the way attempts are m to take away their victory from them Jit ve that these people have been described is red-brown the past three or four years. | wall 1 ger permit this to happen again in our history We will not I thank y od bye Andreyevich ther here. But Thank you and g Svanidze! r coming [Zyuganov] Good bye Russia: Yaviinskiy Denies Giving Votes to Yeltsin MK/405094596 Moscow SEGODNYA in Russian 13 May 96 pl Grigorty Yavlinskty The Yablok tes to Boris Report by Andrey Vermishev Has Made His Electoral Program Public Leader Does Not Intend To Give His \ Yeltsin" ] [FBIS Translated Text) On 12 May in St. Petersburg { the central board of Yablok made the electoral program of his Yaviinskiy’s opimon, the for a peaceful in Chechnya army from the republic nditions.” Obvious) il an itinerant meeting Grigory Yavlinskiy bloc public. In Mr conditions main settlement the withdrawal of the iny prec PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES the economic part of the electoral platform is being dominated by the promise to raise the minimum living standards of Russian result Of the abolishment of the privileges that being monopolistically enjoyed by Russian oil and gas consoruums. In addition, should the peop!t+ of Russia entrust him with the rule ¢ > country, Mr. Yavlinskty licy drastically ‘xports are h about $60 billion Federation citizens as the are currently ! the state p t} i oO lve a normal hfe raised to $270 1 reality, Mr me the Russian president Such become Yaviinskiy 1 At a board meetin are his plans. For them t nly to be« central press conference on the results of the g. the rf jer implied that he was § intentions and, the more so, to give his v In 0 Boris Yeltsin. The chances f were specified by Mr. Yavlinskiy’s return question t And what Boris lismuss all . nsidle staffers who the presidential election © the latter probability the journalists chances that Yeltsin will ire guilty for will acknowledge the gross mistakes that ind that he execuuive the downtall branch have rendered the threat of mumunist revanche in Russia a real pr ‘nied the allegauion { Grigony Yavlinskiy d iny nego trations with Mikhail Gorbachev tandem with the former USSR president. "My attitude to Gorbachev,” said Mr. Yavlinskiy, “can be defined is follows: a bi lan at the beginning of pere As regards the v and Aleksandr a possible electoral stroykKa, budding Lebed, honestly and a bit better than at its end link } intl now “all with Svyatoslav Fedor the partucipants ir. the coalition there have ‘ hserved tore there are no g not stand mn will electoral overloads ’ Everything, however, will depend on the actual align the election,” emphasized Mr. Yavlin out the possibility of ment of forces in " Skly who sull expanded to include like-minded sym does not 1 having his bloc tt ASSOC Tallons pathizers and er poutical parties and In reply to the question as to what he will do if he loses the Yabloko leader said rather harshly: “| am going to take part in rather than to think the election the clection so as to win about consequences of a possible defeat 1s prohibited with HM permisspwor This report may contain copynghted material. Copying am i the copyright 1 dissemination wroers PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES Russia: Lebed Addresses Voters v 1 Election Broadcast LD1405095696 Moscow Mayak Radio Network in Russian 0300 GMT 14 May 96 {Presidential election broadcast by Aleksandr Ivanovich Lebed; place not given — live or recorded] {[FBIS Translated Text] Hello, esteemed electors! The spring presidential race is on and they are chasing after you. The presidential candidates are crisscrossiny the country and handing out promises left, right, and center Sometimes what they say coincides, sometimes they sontradict each other. It is hard being a candidate. You have to make your pitch to as many and different people as possible, you have to explain to everyone that they need only drop their voting slip in the box and after that everything will be okay. Let me say straight away that I will disappoint those who expect to hear another round of promises. I do not intend to promise anything to anyone. I do not play that game. The only place you will find something for free is in a mcusetrap. I have never put my hand in one ot them, and I advise you not to. The things that are free are not worth anything. I, Aleksandr Lebed, belong to no party. It is my deliberate choice. Do you know why? The recent Duma elections showed that there 1s an electorate, a pre-packaged electorate that is divided into the Zyuganate and Yeltsinate. In the middle are 60 to 62 percent of the voters, who are simply people. Normal people, citizens in their land, wishing to be masters of their land and to live on it using their minds and by their own laws. I stand for them, for these voters, for the people A party always assumes there is an opponent, against a bloc there always stands another bloc. I depend only on you. Only on you So I entered politics. | will explain why, using an example. At the beginning of summer 1991, a high- ranking visitor came to the Soviet Union: U.S. Chief of Staff General Colin Powell. I was then the deputy commanding officer of the paratroopers, and I was asked to show off the power and strength of the airborne forces. There was a high wind on the day of the show. I reported to Gen. Grachev, the airborne forces commanding officer, that it would not be possible to do an air drop. He thought about it for a long time, and then unexpectedly decided to go ahead with it: Let Gen Powell see what Russian paratroopers can do. Do it So we jumped. People were hitting the ground at enormous speed. One man died, several others broke FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 their arms and legs. The American general stood in the viewing area and kept asking: What are you doing”? What are you doing? Was he impressed? No way. He is an ordinary man who understunds the value of life and blood. He simply was not used to seeing them treated like that So I ask: What are we doing? Why, six years ago, did we make dozens of men jump for the amusement of a foreign general? Now we send tens of thousands to Chechnya. What has changed? We were like cattle. We were just small cogs in the state machine, and that is how we remain. Nameless. The state is beyond our reach. lt is beyond us. It can do with us what it wants We are paralyzed by social dumbness and cannot get away from that. That is what they tell us: There is nothing you can do about it. I say chat there ts. | have had enough of it. Of no rights. I have had enough of the helplessness. I have had enough of the dumb society anu ! have had enough of lying in the mud. We are people in our own land. We are the masters here. We are going to live here, using our minds and applying our laws. We are going to make laws that are relevant, so it is worthwhile observing them. We will win our freedom with sensible laws. I have had enough I intend to set things to right, to break the dumb society. I intend to break down the wall of powerlessness and malice The state has done all i can to pervert the spirit of the ciuzen, away from the normal and honest. Nobody obeys the law and nobody fears the law. Nobody 1s afraid of not paying their debts, of not paying wages for months on end. They thieve not only the goods in the factories but the factories as well. Why? | think it is because there is simply no law. Instead of law we have thieves in law, and not in the traditional garb but official: | mean the bureaucrats. To put it politely, this is called nomenclatural capitalism. To put it bluntly, it is a complete mess But anyone who thinks this is total disorder is badly deluded. This particular complete mess has its own special and tightly-regulated order. Those at the top are the ones who profit. They can share out the bublik [bread roll similar to a bagel] among the gentlemen bureaucrats and give the hole to the people. This is why the state lives for itself away from the people and the people live away from the state, and away from the property This is the way we were brought up: Keep your head down below the pain threshold and somehow scrape by Everything in the state just exists by itself. This is no way to live This report may contain copynghted matenal. Copying and dissemination 1s prohibited without permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV-96-054 14 May 1996 There is no empire now. The empire collapsed. We may have regrets, and recal! what a great and proud empire it was, but it has gone. Russia is left. A young Russia standing at the crossroads The road we take today will dictate the road that our children and our Russia take tomorrow. Collectively, we are all parents. Our children have already picked up their first words: Reket [racket] krysha [cover], babki [cash], baksy {bucks}, konsensus, cat [as heard]. We should pass on to them a clean heritage. All the filth and lies, skepticism and cowardice we must overcome here and today. We must hand on to them clear, clean, simple, and honest laws, simple and clear rules for living. Then we will have our Russia. For five years we have been narking time. There comes the time when we must take our first honest and major step. The well is there to take this step. Give me the strength, the strength of your support Russia: Lebed Sees ‘70 Percent Chance’ of Civil War After Election LD1305123696 Moscow INFORMATSIONNOYE AGENTSTVO EKHO MOSKVY in Russian 1002 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Transiated Text} Russian Federation presidential candidate Lieutenant General Aleksandr Lebed sees his main task as “averting the civil war in the country that I can feel in my bones.” He was speaking at a news conference organized by Ekho Moskvy radio station in the Central House of Journalists today. In the opinion of Aleksandr Lebed, there is a 70 percent chance of civil war in Russia after the pres:dential elecuon: “The population is living in the hope of a miracle and there is a great danger of the masses’ hopes being dashed in a moment. The consequences could be most unpredictable.” “The extremist wing on the left flank supports Gennadiy Zyuganov for now, but takes a negative view of him Whether he wins or loses, they could play the card of saying that they waited and hoped, he deceived them, the election was rigged, and it is time for the vast country [Soviet term for USSR] to rise Furthermore, in the words of Aleksandr Lebed, “this is being encouraged by poor morale in the army, especially in the North Caucasus military group, where around 30 percent are saying out loud, regardless of their commanders, that the time may have come to turn their barrels the other way, and another 30 percent are not Saying it out loud, but are thinking it. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES The main sides in the confrontation in Russia, according to Aleksandr Lebed, “remain the traditional Reds and Whites, wine cannot forgive each other. Only today, they go under different names — anticommunists and anti- reformers, or democrats and communists”. ‘Il will be a Green [groups during the Russian Civil War loyal to neither Reds nor Whites], and | will thrash the Reds white and the Whites red,” A. Lebed said. “If there is a war, I will win it in any event and I will chase those who led the country to war to the ends of the earth. I intend to beat the hands of everyone who longs to shoot.” Russia: Lebed Downplays Likelihood of Democrats’ Coalition LD1305142996 Moscow 2x2 Television in Russian 1300 GMT 13 May 96 [Report by Moscow 2x2 TV correspondent including recorded remarks by Aleksandr Lebed at news confer- ence on 13 May; place not given] [FBIS Translated Text) [Correspondent] One can say goodbye to the possibility of a coalition between Alek- sandr Lebed, Svyatoslav Fedorov, and Grigoriy Yavlin- skiy. That is how one of the members of the expected coalition, Aleksandr Lebed, defined the situation at a news conference today. True, he did specify that it was a goodbye and not a farewell. As for agreements after his meeting with Boris Yeltsin he did not mention any. [Lebed] I met the president on the 2nd [of May]. I told him that I was going into the election. He said: Go ahead {laughter among journalists} [Correspondent] He was stern in his assessments of his colleagues in the much awaited coalition. He diagnosed Yavlinskiy’s behavior as a personality disorder {Lebed] First of all he said he was in a coalition with me and Fedorov, then that he was in a coalition with the president, then still that he was on his own [Correspondent] Speaking about the possibility of end- ing the war in Chechnya, he said that the methods should be harsh. In his opinion the president has no reason to be going to Chechnya and shouldn't go if only for reasons of security. The roots of the war are in Moscew and are still of a mainly economic nature. Aleksandr Lebed fears the possibility of a civil war in Russia which, to use his phrase, he can feel on his skin. He promised, it is true, that he would chase those who are pushing the country in that direction to the ends of the earth. [video shows Lebed addressing news conference sponsored by Ekho Moskvy radio staticn] This report may contain copyrighted maternal. Copying and d:. semination 1s prohibited without permission cf the copyright owners PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES Russia: Fedorov Says ‘Third Force’ Has ‘Practically Fallen Apart’ LD1305123196 Moscow ITAR-TASS in English 1203 GMT 13 May 96 (By Aleksandr Nechayev and Tamara Zamyatina] (FBIS Transcribed Text} MOSCOW, May 13 (Itar-Tass) — The so-called “Third force” at the upcoming pres- dential elections, which included presidenual hopefuls Grigoriy Yaviinskiy, Svyatoslav Fedorov, and Alek- sandr Lebed, has praciically fallen apart and will hardly be able to nominate a single candidate and to sign an economic charter, which it planned to do a month betore the June 16 election, eye surgeon Svyatoslav Fedorov told Itar-Tass on Monday [13 May] "We have failed to reach an agreement,” he said explaining that the “Third force’ became practically nonexistant after retired general Aleksandr Lebed stated that he would contest the elecuons independently. “A team stops to exist when one of its members falls out, he stated. However, Fedorov still hopes that he will be able t& work out a joint economic programme with liberal reformer Yaviinskiy He sees a way out of the country’s current predicament ia the formation of a “national unity government”, the prospects for which he discussed on Monday with some leading Russian bankers and businessmen who signed the so-called “letter of the 13° calling for a compromise between President Boris Yeitsin and his communist rival Gennadiy Zyuganov In his opinion, such a government could heip “do away with the wild confrontation in the society”. “There is ni other way out’, Fedorov stressed He did not explain how such a coalition government could be formed, stressing at the same time that its emergence did not mean any abolition of the elections Fedorov did not specify who could be included in the proposed government. He only noted that he personally did not claim any posts However, expounding on his meeting with the leading Russian bankers and businessmen, Fedorov said that they had “agreed that the confrontational state of our society could be overcome by the formation of a national unity government with the participetion of right-wing and leftist political forces Academician Fedorov called for the holding of the presi- dential elections within the fixed trmelimits, because, in his opinion the implementation of the “national unity government’ wea called for the “election of a man FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 who would guarantee the fulfilment of the agreements’ reached among the different politcal forces. answer Itar-Tass’ question of how a ment could be set up when, according nstitution, the Cabinet of Ministers President and the Premier. “We technology for achieving this nNitted ‘ ‘wu Fedorov failed t letter of the 13 created nothing, but state of affairs in the country and ing constructive”, Fed -ov, unfortunately, j his gap after his meeting with the bankers merely wished that “some main economic problems 1 be finally solved”. One gets the impression that letter enutied “We Must Break Out have given the presidential candidates ‘ing constantly in the spothight and he seeking a compromise Fedorov’s statement that the “elec- ceed under the flag of unity”. No polit- yet moved to pool the efforts of the munists, and ultra-nationalists mic aide Aleksandr Livshits earlier nly remained to be “sorry for the h attempts were made raise the issue of the at his meeting with Yeltsin n Wednesday However, v is likely to nauonai unit Povernment due to take place Russia: Election Broadcast Hails Gorbachev's Leadership Qualities LD1408092096 Moscow Programma Radio Odin Network in Russian 0330 GMT 14 May 96 election broadcast on behalf of Mikhail v by Aleksey Mananikov] yj} In his 10-minute presidential election f Mikhail Gorbachev, Aleksey On 16 June, Russia will for the first n president, and it 1s for the first time ne 1991 we elected not the president of an » but a Russian assistant to the Soviet Sergeyevich Gorhachev. Despite the ev himself, instead of giving him an him Boris Yeltsin. AS a re f our mistake at the election, the Union Treaty tell apart, millons of people have been impover- ished. parliament was shelled, war was started in Chech- nva, and Russia's internationa! prestige has fallen. Ev- eryone This report may contain copynghted matenal. Copying and dissemination is prohitited without permission of the « pynght owners FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 "On 16 June, we have the chance to remedy the mistake we made five years ago. Instead of electing someone to help the reformer, we can elect the reformer himself: Mikhail Gorbachev. And our current president agrees. He often says that the man who began the reforms in Russia should be the man who completes them.” Mananikov goes on list more of Gorbachev's qualities: the man who gave us freedom without spilling blood; the man who lifted the threat of nuclear wav; the man who has earned his place in history as a peacemaker; the man who took the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan and who can end the war in Ciechnya. It was not Gorbachev who ended the USSR, Mananikov continues. It was the Congress of People’s Deputies who voted for that, and most of them were communists. It was not Gorbachev who organized the 1991 coup, but the communist party. Neither was it Gorbachev who signed the CIS treaty. But had Gorbachev not still been, at least notionally, in power then how many casualties would there have been? He is to be credited with the lack of bloodshed because the Soviet Union was made to disintegrate by others. Mananikov goes on: “I am surprised when I read in the newspapers or hear on radio or television about the search for some kind of united democratic candidacy for president. Why argue over who is the unity candidate when there is only one man, the only man who began and who can successfully complete democratic reform in this country?” Gorbachev handed power to the people, Mananikcv says. Yeltsin has since started clawing it back, yet he calls himself a democrat. "Gorbachev is calm, reliable, confident and, importantly, sober and in better health,” Mananikov says. Dismissing low opinion poll ratings as manipulation of public opinion by those who know Gorbachev is their most potent rival, he concludes: “Gorbachev is our national asset, our national pride. If only because we should not be ashamed of our president, vote for Gorbachev. Gorbachev gave us our freedom, which we have not always used wisely. On 16 June let us correct our shared mistake. Let us return to power our liberator, whose services we so thoughtlessly rejected nearly five years ago.” Russia: Candidate Shakkum Interviewed on Background, Ambitions MM 1305160496 Moscow TRUD-7 in Russian 12-16 May 96 p15 {Interview with Martin Shakkum, Russian presidential candidate and first vice president of the “Reform” imternational foundation, by Olga Korabelnikova; place PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES and date not given: "Martin Shakkum: Governing Russia Is No Game"} (FBIS Translated Text] Academics and people in the production sphere speak of him with respect. Well- known specialists and unknown practical economists heed his opinion. In the view of Academician Stanislav Shatalin, Martin Skakkum “is an outstanding personality with original thinking, a man who has his own civic standpoint and knows how to uphold it, and a profound analyst who has the gift of foresight...” How did Martin Shakkum achieve his position, and what path did he travel in reaching his present age of 44? Our correspondent discussed this with the first vice president of the “Reform” international foundation. [Korabelnikova] Martin Lyutsianovich, today you are aiming as high as you possibly can in your career aspirations — the post of president. But what was your goal when you were 17 years old? {[Shakkum] Even at the age of 15 I clearly knew what I wanted to be: a scientist. I was attracted not only to scientific research as such, but also to its implementation. Even then I was interested in applied science. or you might say I was torn between science and practice. It so happened that one of my parents’ best friends — Bondarchuk, at that time a young major — persuaded me to enter military school. It is only in military production, he argued, that you will find the highest technologies and the most interesting and significant discoveries, and it is there that the most intelligent people work.... There were indeed many outstanding scientists working in the defense industry, but at the time I was naive and did not realize that you do not necessarily have to be in the military to do so. I entered the Kaliningrad Higher Military Engineer School. Two years running, in my third and fourth years, I came first in the student competitions among military educational establishments in the Baltic republics and Belarus. (Korabelnikova] In what field? {Shakkum] Theoretical research in the sphere of the stability of complex structures. [Korabelnikova] Had you already made a clear choice of career which you were following directly and calmly? {Shakkum] If only everything had been that simple.... Almost at the point of graduation I realized that there was no danger I would have a meteoric military career, and anyhow it did not attract me, and I deliberately quit school. This report may contain copynghted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited withou’ permission of the copyright owners 10 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES Then I returned to Moscow, finished off a number of subjects at a structural engineering institute, obtained my diploma, and went off to work at a special labo- ratory belonging to the Institute of Space Research. | spent three years working on the problem of landing spacecraft on Mars. Then, as is well known, the Amer- icans landed “Viking” on Mars and found no signs of life. It transpired that “apple trees would not blossom" there, interest in Mars abruptly evaporated, and in 1978 our research was wound up. My scientific hopes also collapsed. At the time I was 26 years old; I quit the institute and went to work in the production sphere. (Korabelnikova] Was this a turning point, was it perhaps the end of your romantic view of science? (Shakkum] Definitely. In short, I left. It was easy to find a job at that time; the pay was about the same everywhere. | worked first as a troubleshooting engineer, then I was spotted and appointed chief of a 170-truck truck convoy at the Moscow Engineering and Maintenance Trust. I did okay, but this wasn’t entirely my kind of thing. (Korabelnikova] Where did you find your vocation? {Shakkum] I probably came close to it in the Main Moscow Oblast Construction Administration. There I worked first as deputy chief of an administration, then as chief engineer and as chief of the administration responsible for capital construction and reconstruction of all the boilerhouses in Moscow Oblast — essentially the entire heat supply system. (Korabelnikova] So you rose confidently and swiftly from post to post and had no trouble in pursuing your career? What about party membership? [Shakkum] My work was interesting, and I rose one rung higher literally every year. I joined the CPSU when I was deputy chief of an administration. Party member- ship was mandatory for the post of chief engineer, say. Everything went fine for me.... (Korabelnikova] When did you make your first ruble, do you remember? {Shakkum] Of course. As a freshman, when we were sent out to harvest potatoes. At the time grain was rotting on the threshing floor because there were not enough people. There were five of us guys and we offered our services. We worked from morning till night and earned 150 rubles [R] each over the course of a month. That was a quite incredible sum of money for me in 1968. (Korabelnikova] At that time did you also earn money in, shall we say, not entirely traditional ways? FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 {[Shakkum}] When I was working at the Space Research Institule — pay there was poor — for two years running I spent my leave “moonlighting.” We were constructing housing, and this was when I first became practically acquainted with the construction industry. It is no accident that later I went in for this sphere. The first year I was an ordinary team member, but the second year I was organizing the team of construction workers. We earned R1,000-1,500 per month. [Korabelnikova] That was quite a lot of money for the time. What did you do with it? {[Shakkum] Nothing in varticular. I bought a tape recorder, a suit, and a few other things, and I gave the rest to Mom. At that time I was not married. In general, we did not have an affluent life. For instance, I never even had a bicycle. I dreamed of one all my childhood. Although a bicycle cost only R48, we could not afford this. [Korabelnikova] Was yours a big family? [Shakkum] The usual size —- my parents, me, and my brother. My father had fought in the war, reaching Prague. Then he went to Moscow, graduated from teacher training institute, worked as a teacher and school director, and then for 30 years headed the branch of the structural engineering institute in Krasnogorsk. Mom was an economist and also spent 30 years working in the same job — at the “Asbestos Cement” research institute. We lived modestly; we never went hungry, of course, but we had no luxuries. {Korabelnikova] Your forename, patronymic, and sur- name probably indicate Baltic roots? [Shakkum] A long way back. My Mom is Russian and comes from Blagoveshchenskiy Rayon in Amur Oblast. Her parents, my grandparents Stepan Vasilyevich and Mariya Yemelyanovna Shut, worked on a collective farm. My father’s parents were from Baku. I can clearly remember my grandmother Mariya Vasilyevna Shikina — she too was Russian and came from the Volga. My grandfather, after Daugavpils maritime school, went to work on contract for the Baku Shipping Company. In 35 years he became captain of its biggest tanker, the Leytenant Shmidt. And then he died tragically — he was cleaning a rifle that happened still to contain a bullet. He is said to have been an exceptional person — there are all sorts of stories about him. I was called Martin in honor of my grandfather — Martin Georgiyevich Shakkum. [Korabelnikova] Let us go back to your career. When did you sense you had some talent as an entrepreneur? When perestroyka began you became head of a nonstate enterprise, organized what was at that time a new This report may contain copynghted matenal. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 venture, then became general director of the “Reform” foundation... [Shakkum) It is probably not an entrepreneurial but an organizational bent. After all, I have never been a master or owner. Ai first I headed an enterprise employing around 300 people and a further 1,500 on contract. Yes, I earned money, but to ensure that extremely important scientific studies continued. That was the most important point. Unfortunately, | was not allowed to carry all this through to completion — I had to sue the firm's owners, who indeed cared only about money. So far as I was concerned it was merely a means of carrying Out serious science and production work. Incidentally, when I was working for this firm with a turnover of tens of millions of dollars which I myself organized, I did not even have an imported car or any of these capitalist ways in general. {[Korabelnikova] What about now? {Shakkum] The same now. If I were involved in entrepreneurial activity, | would not be sitting in the “Reform” foundation, which does not make money but only spends it. {Korabelnikova] How do you manage to find people you can rely on? {Shakkum] It’s a problem. In general cadres are the biggest problem. There used to be scientific schools — that was invaluable. A designer of surface-to-air missile launchers was murdered recently. Not only did he die, an entire scientific trend died with him. People are what is most important. With them you can move mountains, but it takes years to teach, organize, and train them.... {[Korabeinikova] When did you realize you have the ability and knowledge to work with people, lead them, and administer? {[Shakkum] Quite a long time ago. Maybe back in the Army, where I sensed I can command sensibly and quite confidently. It has to be admitted, I was no leader at school, I was just an ordinary kid. The fact that my father was a school director also clearly had an impact. I now realize I grew up and matured rather slowly. Maybe even now I have not totally lost my childishness and a naive faith in people. After all, there is the following kind of approach to cadres: You are nobody so far as I am concerned, but if you really show me what you are capable of, I will show you favor. That approach also has a right to exist. I am initially favorably disposed toward people, and only then do I begin to notice their shortcomings. {Korabelnikova] Have people you trusted often deceived you or let you down? PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES 11 {[Shakkum] They constantly let me down. It is also possible to deceive me, but only once. [Korabelnikova] People who work with you say you are a kind person. {Shakkum] I probably am, but only up to a certain point. I can also be tough. [Korabelnikova}] Do you often doubt the correctness of your decisions? [Shakkum] Constantly. From morning to night. Only doubt can help discover the path to the truth. Anyone who does not doubt will never be able to choose the correct path. Doubts and the choice of priorities are the most important thing. I constantly doubt, but if I have decided something I make every effort to achieve it. [Korabelnikova] But it is important for a leader to be able to make decisions quickly, preferably the correct decisions. {[Shakkum] Yes, I spend a long time thinking and weighing up all the “pros” and “cons” before finally settling on an option. Having said that, depending on the situation, I can also make my mind up quite quickly and almost imunediately adopt the oniy correct decision. But that is a matter of experience of management and of the ability to grasp the essence of a problem. For instance, scientists who have developed a fundamentally new type of engine come to see me. I list to them and in a while I begin to speak the same language as them. {[Korabelnikova] Obviously because you have a techni- cal education, scientific training, and practical and man- agement experience. Clearly, you also know the econ- omy not only from textbooks. But what about philoso- phy and psychology, for instance? [Shakkum] I didn’t want to say, but at the moment I am actually writing a dissertation about psychology. Because in order to manage people you have to know their psychology. The topic of my work is connected with choosing cadres to perform specific tasks. [Korabelnikova}] You sometimes sign your articles as a doctor of political science — what sort of a title is that? {Shakkum] It is an honorary title conferred on me by the International Pedagogical Academy on the basis of all my political science publications. {Korabelnikova] You have decided to run for president. When did you realize you were ready to run the state? Or did you perhaps simply want to take part in the most exciting political game? {Shakkum] I first thought about it last December. The decision came later. This is no game so far as | am This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying nd dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners 12 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES concerned. | always wanted to help the person running Russia. But when I realized that there is nobody on the political horizon who can realistically extricate the country from its impasse, | made up my mind. This is a serious attempt. And I will make it if not at the first attempt, then at the second. (Korabelnikova] But if you don’t will you consider your career to have been a failure? {Shakkum] No, there will be no drama. I have specially created a party in order to come to power sooner or later. {[Korabelnikova] Martin Lyutsianovich, what, in your view, should be the main qualities of a contender who wants to run the state? {Shakkum! First, he must be a highly educated person. Second, he must be a good organizer with experience of practical work and management. Third, he must be a professional, but not in a single narrow sphere. And, of course, he must be a patriot for whom the main task is to make the life of Russia's citizens better. What is the main problem today? Uncontrollability, corruption, and the dominance of organized crime. The president must get to the bottom of these problems and understand the causes and interconnections in order to overcome them. {[Korabelnikova] Do personal ambitions in your career play a big part? {[Shakkum] Certainly. You have to have ambitions, and there is no need to be embarrassed about this. But ambition must be backed up by professionalism. It is important that someone aspiring to the post of president not only have a great deal of knowledge and ability, but also be capable of learning not only from his own mistakes. {[Korabelnikova] Do you believe in Russia and its intellectual might? (Shakkum] Yes, of course. [Korabelnikova] Then tell me why, when it comes to elections of the authorities, the people who are really the pride of Russia do not seek power? For instance, if you look at the entire list of presidential contenders your faith in intellectual might turns into doubt. [Shakkum]} A normal person in a normal situation does not seek power. Do you think I am burning with desire? No, I realize that when you are in power you have to work 14-16 hours a day, without days off or holidays And that is not all. | would have to deny myself many things and forget my little weaknesses and habits. And just imagine the impossibility of simply going out into FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 the street! And would it be a great pleasure to be constantly “under surveillance” from your bodyguard? This is impossible for a normal person who values his personal freedom above all. But I see these as inevitable drawbacks of an incredibly difficult but desperately needed job that I am prepared to tackle.... Russia: Election Broadcast Highlights Shakkum’s Career, Political Views LD1405 112696 [Presidential elecuon broadcast by candidate Martin Shakkum — recorded; program ] {[FBIS Report] Moscow Russian Television Network in Russian at 0450 GMT on 14 May broadcasts a 15-minute presidential election broadcast on behalf of presidential candidate Martin Shakkum, introduced by Andrey Bystritskiy. The program takes the form of speeches to Camera, interspersed with video inserts containing his biographical details and political views and showing stills of himself and family. The first insert says he is 44 years old, Russian but with a Latvian surname derived from his grandfather. He is a graduate of a military engineering academy and of a civil engineering insutute. Shakkum then enters the studio in the style of a newscaster and to music in the style of a news bulletin, taking his seat behind a desk and attaching a microphone. He presents himself as an ordinary man of the people He says: “IT am one of you. I was born to an ordinary family in the workers’ village of the [?Barshinskiy] engineering works, in a communal apartment. My life has taken me from the Amur to Kaliningrad region, where I studied at the Military Academy of Engineering. “I know about life first-hand. I lived and worked among you, in the same villages and settlements and towns, which I helped to build as a construction worker.” An insert then highlights Shakkum’'s career, in which he rose from section head to director of the Moscow Re- gion Main Construction Directorate. In 1991, together with Academician Stanislav Shatalin he created the Re- form Foundation, a nongovernmental and independent research organization. The audio notes that according to data collected by the Reform Foundation, Shakkum is well-acquainted with the state of the economy. Shakkum says: “All our knowledge allows me today to make one conclusion: | know where the main tragedy of our society lies. I know the main reason for our poor quality of life. This main reason is the corrupt bureaucrat, who works hand-in-hand with the so-called This report may contain copynghted matenal. Copying and dissemination 1s prohibited without permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV -96-094 14 May 1996 businessman. Today, any flow of goods or flow of cash attracts these bureaucrats like flies to honey He continues, “Apart from that, everything created over the past 70 years has already now been carved up and over half of it has gone to the West. It is owned by private Western companies, behind which stand, again, our corrupt bureaucrats. Russia has never known such thieving, such rampant embezzlement. And I, Martin Shakkum, know how to fight these uncontrolled bureaucrats. | know who, where, and how they are thieving.” Another insert then gives others’ opinions of Shakkum as reliable, honest, fair, a man of his word, sees a job through to the end, hard-working, and a fishing fanatic Shakkum then speaks to camera. He says: ‘The government is incapable of running the country in virtually all the vital areas of its activity. This process cannot continue indefinitely. | can describe what awaits us in two or three years if this situation persists ‘The day will come when we are unable to control our nuclear weapons. We will be unable to ensure the security of our nuclear power stations. And in the end, NATO, which every day draws closer to our borders, will simply send in its troops to guarantee world geopolitical security. And this, in essence, will mean the loss of the Russian state. "I, better than the others, know what has to be done in this country. I have made my choice and I ask for your trust. | ask you to elect me as your president’. Shakkum’s political views are then set out in a video insert with a voiceover: ‘He is convinced that the primary aim of power is to serve the people. If you cannot make life better for your people, then resign. The country needs to be governed, not lorded over. The individual and his interests are our homeland’s greatest asset. His intellect and hands will revive the country. Russia needs a national program to save the socially vulnerable and less well-ofi: the pensioners, the disabled, the single mothers, the unemployed, and the refugees. The country has the money to tackle its urgent social tasks. It can be found without confiscating or taking over property Well-being comes from hard work, and not from selling off the national wealth.” In his final speech to camera, Shakkum advises voters to approach the election as if they are hiring someone to work for them: “I, for my part, promise you that I will work honestly and for your benefit, I will work for you. And I will not allow anyone to steal, I will not allow anyone to sit PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES 13 around. Everything in the state will be in its place. We still have a chance and we still have time,” Shakkum concludes. “Russia can become a great power. Russia can be only a great power, otherwise it 1s nothing.” The campaign broadcast ends with a sull picture of the Russian flag and of Shakkum, to a voiceover saying: ‘Russia needs a strong and fair president. Vote for Martin Shakkum!" Russia: Polls Indicate Most Russians Expect Yeltsin Reelection LD 1405094996 Moscow INTERFAX in English 0856 GMT 14 May 96 [FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW, May 14 (Interfax) — Public opinion polls indicate that while last January 14% of Russians predicted the re-election of President Boris Yeltsin, the figu'e grew to 52% at the beginning of May. The Russian Foundation for Public Opinion Studies reported the figures to Interfax on Tuesday. In each poll about 1,600 people were interviewed, asked every month who they thought would become president. In January 18% opted for Communist leader Gennadiy Zyugainov and 21% in May. At the beginning of the year 8% believed in the victory of Liberal Demo- crat Vladimir Zhirinovskiy, but by May their number dropped to 2%. in five months the number of people expecting Yabloko leader Grigoriy Yavlinskiy to become president fell from 5% to 1%. The chances of retired general Alek- sandr Lebed and head of the Workers’ Self-Government Party Svyatoslav Fedorov dropped from 4% and 2% re- spectively to merely 1%. Ten percent named other candidates in January, but none named others in May. The number of undecided also fell impressively from 40% to 21%. Experts say that not only Yeltsin's supporters but those planning to vote for Lebed, Fedorov and Yavlinskiy forecast the victory of the current president Nobody except Zhirinovskiy’s supporters expect him to become head of state The Public Opinion Foundation stressed that these are expectauon ratings, not popularity lists of presidential candidates. This report may contain copynghted matenal. Copying and dissemination 1s prohibited without permission of the copyright owners 14 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES Russia: Poll: Voters Would Back Yeltsin Over Zyuganov in 2d Round LD1405111196 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1038 GMT 14 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text} MOSCOW, May 14 (Interfax) — If current president Boris Yeltsin and Communist Party leader Gennadiy Zyuganov get through to the second round, 45 percent of the voters will support Yeltsin and 37 percent — Zyuganov, according to an opinion poll held by the All-Russia Center for Studying Public Opinion (VTSIOM) held on April 26 to May 5. The figures were announced by VTSIOM director Yuriy Levada during a press conference in Moscow Tuesday. He said the voters who are ready to support Yeltsin consider him to be the guarantor of stability. Zyuganov is preferred by the citizens “who are nostalgic about the past.” He announced that for the first time since the beginning of 1996 Yeltsin is likely to secure more votes in the first round than Zyuganov (28 percent against 27 percent). Leader of the Yabloko election bloc Grigoriy Yavlinskiy ranks third (9 percent). The presidential candidates representing the so-called Third Force (Lebed, Fedorov and Yavlinskiy) were supported by about 22 percent of the potential voters at the beginning of May. If the “third force” leaders urged their supporters to vote for Yeltsin, about 40 percent of the electorate would cast their votes for Yeltsin, thus increasing the number of his supporters by 10 percent, said Levada. Zyuganov would have secured an additional 15 percent of the votes in that case. VTSIOM predicts high voter turnout during the pres- idential elections on June 16. Levada said that more than 70 percent of those polled are determined to come to the polling stations. He noted, at the same time, that the population is more active in cities. The activity in the rural regions is 10 percent lower, he said. Russia: Election Campaign To Air 14 May Through 14 Jun LD1305141796 Moscow ITAR-TASS in English 1322 GMT 13 May 96 (By Tamara Ivanova] [FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW, May 13 (Itar-Tass) — On Tuesday, May 14, the Russian election campaign will go on air to run till June 14. From June 14 till the election day on June 16, any kind of propaganda will be banned according to Russia's legislation. Like during the December State Duma elections, “the rules of the game” are fixed by an instruction of the FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Central Election Commission worked out together with mass media heads. The main innovation of the present campaign is that the free air time for presidential candidates has been reduced by a third. Each working day, the candidates will get ten minutes in the morning (from 7 to 10), and another ten minutes in the evening (from 18 to 23) with regard for local time differences. The contenders themselves, however, did not lose on the air time being cut, as they are less numerous than the State Duma candidates of December. All in all, each candidate will get half an hour of free air time. As the final number of candidates for the Russian presidency remained unclear till the last moment, a 40- minute time reserve was left at each channel. Today, when the list has finally been fixed, it is still unclear whether the candidates will get back this time “debt". TV and radio companies will probably be offered to use this time for debates. However, TV-men are so interested in these clashes of opinions, that the All-Russian State Television and Radio Company (VGTRK), in particular, has announced in advance that it will be ready to offer free air for debates. The matter is expected to be finally settled together with the Central Election Commission. Three Russian television channels will take part in the election campaign: The Russian Public Television (ORT), the VGTRK and the Petersburg-5 channel. The following broadcasting stations will offer air time to the candidates: Mayak, Radio Rossii, Radio-1 and Yunost. Over 80 regional state television and radio companies will also take part in the campaign. Lots were drawn, and the first candidate to go on Russian television is the Chairman of the Russian Socialist People’s Party, Martin Shakum, who will appear on the second channel both in the morning and in the evening. The first one to speak on the radio, in Mayak pro- gramme, will be general Aleksandr Lebed. The evening time remains vacant. The first candidates to go on the first channel on May 15, will be Martin Shakum and liberal reformist Grigoriy Yavlinskiy. Apart from free air, the candidates and their initiative groups will get the same half an hour of paid air time. The sum charged for it will be the same as for ads. The television and radio companies have already got first applications. Some kind of activity has already been registered in political advertising. Yavlinsky has aiready This report may contain copynghted matenal. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES 15 handed in his reel. President Boris Yeltsin's isto follow __ their right to offer publicistic and analytical programmes suit. on the issue. Already on Saturday, the Russian TV Naturally, information programmes on all channels will ae ED Ge Werlly PREM Wee te closely follow the campaign. Besides, they will exercise This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners 16 INTERREGIONAL AFFAIRS CIS: Yeltsin Informed of 17 May Summit Preparations LD1405084296 Moscow INTERFAX in English 0743 GMT 14 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text} MOSCOW, May 14 (INTER- FAX) — CIS Executive Secretary Ivan Korotchenya informed Russian President Boris Yeltsin about prepa- rations for the May 17 CIS summit in Moscow at their Kremiin meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Yeltsin, as chairman of the Council of CIS Heads of State, stressed the need for in-depth preliminary work on documents to be discussed at the summit, Korotchenya told Interfax. Quoting Yeltsin, Korotchenya said the questions submit- ted for discussion must be ready for signing to the max- imum degree. In this case, the presidents would speak only on fundamental matters of principle, entrusting ex- perts with the preliminary debates. Korotchenya thinks that such an approach should promote the effectiveness of CIS top level meetings. Nine issues will be on the agenda, he said, among them a CIS development plan for the next two years. Yeltsin and the CIS official discussed matters related to the meeting of CIS leaders with U.N. Secretary General Butrus Butrus-Ghali who arrived in Moscow on Tuesday. As previously agreed, the U.N. leader should address CIS heads of state immediately after the plenary meeting of the summit, at about noon on Friday. The presidents of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Georgia are also expected to speak. CIS: Border Troop Commanders Debate Common Defense System LD1405084896 Moscow ITAR-TASS in English 0750 GMT 14 May 96 (By Tigran Liloyan] (FBIS Transcribed Text] YEREVAN, May 14 (ITAR- TASS) — The Council of border troop commanders of the Commonwealth of Independent States held their regular 21st meeting in Yerevan on Monday [13 May] under the chair of General of the Army Andrey Niko- layev, director of the Federal Border Service of the Rus- sian Federation. Opening the meeting, Nikolayev said that CIS countries have to take adequate moves to create a common system to protect borders of the Commonwealth and reported that some decisions by the current meeting would be submitted for approval of the May CIS summit. He pointed to growing integration processes in the Commonwealth, which was graphically demonstrated FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 by the signing of the Treaty between Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan as well as by the Treaty on forming the community between the Russian Federation and Belarus. The meeting was attended by the heads of border departments of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as well! as by the chairman of the Council's Coordination Service, Vice-Admiral Pavel Migachev. Speaking before the start of the meeting, Nikolayev ex- pressed confidence that participants will reach agree- ment On most questions under discussion. Following the opening ceremony, the meeting was held behind closed doors. CIS: ITAR-TASS Carries Press Review for 14 May LD1405061796 Moscow ITAR-TASS in English 0538 GMT 14 May 96 ["Press Review" — ITAR-TASS headline] (FBIS Transcribed Text) MOSCOW May 14 (ITAR- TASS) — Follows a review of Tuesday's Moscow- based Russian newspapers dated May 14. Some news- papers present as a sensation the findings of a regular sociological survey carried out by the All-Russia Cen- tral Institute for Public Opinion Studies. IZVESTIYA on Yeltsin's and Zyuganov’s ratings. The newspaper carries the findings of an opinion poll taken “among 1,600 urban and rural dwellers on the basis of an ail-Russia representative sampling. The findings indicate that 28 percent of respondents give preference to Boris Yeltsin and 27 percent to Gennadiy Zyuganov.” The findings are published under the headline “A change of leader in the presidential election race. For the first time since the beginning of the election campaign, Boris Yeltsin is ahead of Gennadiy Zyuganov.” ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA on election race leaders’ ratings in the event of a run-off. Referring to the Public Opinion Institute, the newspaper notes that “if Yeltsin and Zyuganov qualify for a run- off, the former is expected to get 37 percent of the vote and the latter would gain 31 percent”. ROSSTYSKIYE VESTI on the situation in Chechnya. “A desire for peace is stronger than any political doctrine” is the headline of an article to this effect by Emil Pain, member of the Presidential Council “The Chechen crisis can be resolved only provided all the sides involved in it emerge from the conflict ‘without This report may contain copynghted matenal. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 losing face’. If a regular army victory means the foe's surrender, it is increasingly difficult to achieve such a victory, as world experience indicates. But the task of the army in its actions against the separatists can be regarded as accomplished if it manages to induce the foe to sit down at the negotiating table and make considerable concessions in its demands.” ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA on Chechen militants’ leader Aslan Maskhadov. Maskhadov can be rightfully regarded as the main brain of small but quite efficient armed separatist Chechen groups possessed with the idea of Gazawat (holy war). Journalist Zamid Ayubov paints the portrait of this leader of Chechen militants. Five years ago, as the circumstances decreed, Maskhadov came to shoulder the unrewarding and heavy burden of the war and everything seems to indicate that now he would not mind to shake it off, the journalist points out. KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA on an "Estonian con- nection in Ulster and Chechnya”. According to the newspaper, Russia's Federal Security Service FSB adduces proofs of the activities of Estonian special services in Russia. It publishes “secret materials that shed light on the international terrorist activity” of Estonia which covertly supplies arms to the militants of the Irish Republican Army and to Chechnya. TRUD on Federal Production Corporation's suspected embezzlement. In an article headlined “Black hole", the newspaper gives scandalous details of the activities of the Federai Production Corporation which “was to become the piller INTERREGIONAL AFFAIRS 17 of a market economy in the agro-industrial sector and the main purchaser of food for Federal stocks". “Out of the budget-planned 13,000,000 million roubles in support of the agroindustrial sector, the rural people were to receive 2,900,000 million roubles in the first quarter of this year. The government allocated the funds but agricultural enterprises received only 460,000 million roubles. Where are the rest?” the newspaper queries. An answer to this question is to be provided by the Accounting Chamber of the Russian Federation, which has begun to check up the use of budget funds intended for the agro-indusrial sector. KRASNAYA ZVEZDA on the drafting Russian citi- zens, wh live in Russia’s ex-Soviet immediate neigh- bour countries, into military service. On the strength of an analysis of facts, the newspaper concludes that “Russian citizens in Russia's ex-Soviet neighbour countries voluntarely enlist in the Russian army. “It is precisely the readiness to live the same life as the Motherland, and the understanding of the difficulties which it has encountered and the desire to help overcome them and do if only something to Strengthen its might — this is what prompts young Russians in ex-Soviet republics to state: ‘I want to serve in the army’. KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA on an appraisal of Russia’s television and radio. Eduard Sagalayev, Chairman of the All-Russia State Television and Radio Network, reflects on the future of Russia's television and radio, highly praising the role of the country’s electronic media. This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners 18 RUSSIA INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS Russia: Yeltsin Meets With General, Discusses PRC Border Treaty LD1405110496 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1047 GMT 14 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW, May 14 (Interfax) — President Boris Yeltsin conferred with the comman- der of Russia's Far Easteri, Military District Col. Gen. Viktor Chechevatov in Moscow on Tuesday [14 May). The two men discussed ways to coordinate the activity of army units and other troops in the context of agree- ments on cooperation in the border zone reached during recent Russian-Chinese top-level talks, said the Russian president's press service. Russia: Russia, Belarus Defense Ministry Boards Begin Joint Forum LD1305195096 Moscow ITAR-TASS in English 1935 GMT 13 May 96 (By Mikhail Shevtsov} (FBIS Transcribed Text} MOSCOW, May 13 (Itar-Tass) — A joint session of boards of Russian and Belarusian defence ministries began today in the headquarters for coordination of military cooperation in the Common- wealth of Independent States. It is aimed at holding dis- cussions on questions of coordinating activities for im- plementing the Agreement on the Community between Russia and Belarus, preparing the general principles of military coordination and the concept of a common de- fence policy. It is being held under chairmanship of heads of defence departments of the two republics Pavel Grachev and Leonid Maltsev. Itar-Tass learned at the Russian defence ministry's information department that discussion would also be held on questions related to holding joint activities in the sphere of ensuring regional security, material and technical equipment supplies to armed forces of Russia and Belarus, preparation of a new agreement, defining principles of Russian-Belarusian military cooperation, as well as interaction in the sphere of training military personnel. A number of documents, aimed at further promoting the development of military and military-technical cooper- ation between Russia and Belarus, are expected to be signed at the end of the joint session of the boards of defence departments of the two states. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Russia: Grachev: Russia, Belarus May Form Powerful Military Group LD1405100996 Moscow INTERFAX in English 0939 GMT 14 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW, May 14 (Interfax) — Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev has not ruled out the formation of a powerful military group with Belarus in Belarusian territory, and said the leader of the neighboring country Alyaksandr Lukashenka also finds such a step possible. Moscow and Minsk are ready for certain moves in response to the possible NATO enlargement to the East, Grachev told a Tuesday news conference in Moscow following a joint conference of top Defense Ministry Officials from the two countries. He said Moscow closely follows the possible admission of neighboring Poland and Lithuania to NATO. “Their speedy NATO membership would create certain incon- venience for Russia as far as Kaliningrad region (the Russian exclave on the Baltic) is concerned. We would not want to be cut off from the Kaliningrad special de- fence district by NATO countries,” the minister said. In Grachev’s opinion Moscow must take military- political steps in the context of the possible NATO enlargement. “If our opinion is not taken into account by the NATO leadership, the army group in the West can be strengthened as a military counter-response,” Grachev said. Russia: Ten Military Agreements Signed With Belarus LD1405110396 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1043 GMT 14 May 96 {[FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW, May 14 (Interfax) — Defense Ministers of Russia and Belarus Pavel Grachev and Leanid Maltsaw met in Moscow on Tuesday to sign a package of ten military cooperation agreements between the two countries. Speaking after a meeting by senior defense officials on both sides, Grachev described the package as versatile and of long duration. He said the agreement on forming a Community of Russia and Belarus, signed by presidents Boris Yeltsin and Alyaksandr Lukashenka on April 2, has given a huge impetus to boosting military contacts between the two countries Grachev said he and his Belarusian counterpart have agreed to prepare draft papers by the end of this year on This report may contain copynghted maternal Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 joint efforts to ensure regional security, a joint concept of defense policy and the common principles on a build up of the Russian and Belarusian armed forces. It was agreed that the two countries would preserve their defense-related plants cooperating in the production of military equipment and spares, Grachev said, stressing the need to retain common weapons standards in both armies. For his part, Maltsaw said the two countries’ air defenses have begun joint combat duty since April 1. He thinks Russia and Belarus will have a common air defense system as a longer range prospect. Grachev said the Russian Defense Ministry was plan- ning similar meetings with the defense departments of Kyrgyzstan and “as a longer range prospect,” Uzbek- istan. Earlier the Russian ministry held joint meetings with se- nior defense officials of Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Russia: FSB Refuses To Comment on Rumor of U.S. Citizen’s Expulsion MM1405105896 Moscow IZVESTIYA in Russian 13 May 96 pl [Report by Aleksandr Dzyublo: “Lubyanka Not Sleep- ing, But Not Rushing To Talk About Expelled Spy Ei- ther"] (FBIS Translated Text] On Sunday 12 May we learned that U.S. citizen Richard Deni Oppfelt [last two names as transliterated) had been expelled from Kamchatka for having, according to the source, carried out activ- ity detrimental to the Russian Federation's security in- terests. In a phone call to IZVESTIYA Major Andrey Kozlov, the Federal Security Service [FSB] Kamchatka Oblast Directorate duty officer, neither confirmed nor denied the report. But a reliable source at the FSB Pub- lic Relations Center in Moscow told our correspondent Aleksandr Dzyublo that there “had been an expulsion,” but refrained from commenting for the time being, not- ing that “the matter is being decided at a high level.” According to certain information, the American is president of the Seattle Medical Export firm, which Operates on our medicine and medical equipment market through Russian corporate bodies. RUSSIA INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 19 Russia: Russians Arms Arouse ‘Enormous Interest’ in Asia MM1405084396 Moscow ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA in Russian 13 May 96 pill {Report by Vadim Alekseyev: “Rosvooruzheniye Con- quers Asian Market"] (FBIS Translated Text] Delhi — It appears that Rus- sian military specialists are beating a path to the door of Southeast Asia: Following the “Lima-95" international fair, the Rosvooruzheniye company participated suc- cessfully in the “Defense Services Asia-96" exhibition, which has just closed. In Malaysia again. Once again the Russian exhibits aroused enormous interest among specialists. On this occasion their attention was particu- larly drawn to the Smerch multiple rocket launcher and the T-72S tank. It has to be said that this exhibition is the biggest in the region, attended by 626 companies from 43 experts around 100 types of armaments produced by 30 military-industrial complex enterprises. [sentence as published]. According to the local press, each time Russia exhibits more and more new types of armament and demon- Strates their capabilities; moreover, as we can see, not for nothing: There is a significant arms market in the region, which is endeavoring to secure a variety of part- ners, so that it does not become dependent on just one, as in the past. Here the interests of Russia and the Southeast Asian countries coincide: Russia is prepared to satisfy the most stringent tastes, and the countries of the region are prepared to spend something in the region of $50 billion in the next two years on modernizing armaments and acquiring new hardware. Malaysia alone, it is estimated, plans to buy around 300 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, fast attack craft, and submarines... Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and other countries are showing an interest. Russia: Demirel Cited on Straits Closure Threat, Ceyhan Pipeline MM1305153596 Moscow TRUD in Russian 13 May 96 pl {Report by Vladimir Khovratovich under “Pulse of the Planet” rubric: “Turkey Closing Straits?”] {[FBIS Translated Text] Istanbul — Russian tankers will not pass through the straits: These words uttered by Turkish President Suleyman Demirel at the end of a three-day visit to Uzbekistan attracted the attention of all the Turkish mass media. By this the president This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners 20 RUSSIA INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS meant that the question of building an oil pipeline from Baku to Ceyhan (on the Turkish Mediterranean coast) via Supsa (Georgia) is not closed, as is imagined in Russia and the West. “If anyone decides to increase the oil tankers’ tonnage,” Demirel stated, “the tankers will remain at the entrance to the Bosporus. We will not grant them passage. The explanation for this is simple: The straits are overcrowded and the oil pipeline from Baku to Ceyhan is a profitable geographical and economic necessity.” The Turkish journalists who accompanied the president on his trip through Uzbekistan drew attention to his pronouncement on Chechnya: “We do not interfere in the internal affairs of any country, but as a human being I would like to say that no one has the right to spill blood. Everybody has a responsibility to others.” Russia: Posuvalyuk on Talks With Lebanese, Syrian Foreign Ministers LD1305154796 Moscow ITAR-TASS in English 1525 GMT 13 May 96 [By Anatoliy Golovastov] (FBIS Transcribed Text] BEIRUT, May 13 (Itar-Tass) — Russia, which has traditionally friendly relations with Middle East countries, will participate in all measures to strengthen peace and security in the region and intends to pursue an active policy there, Viktor Posuvalyuk, the Russian president's special envoy for the Middle East and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, stated here today. After the talks with Lebanese Foreign Minister Faris Buwayz, during which they considered not only the present situation in the region but also various aspects of Lebanese-Russian relations, Russian diplomat told journalists that the latest events in the region showed the necessity of joint efforts. He said it was necessary to resort to radical measures for the settlement of the conflict in South Lebanon. To ensure that the present ceasefire is not disrupted, it is necessary, without concentrating on provisional, tactical and technical steps, stipulated by the sides, to pass on to radical measures, clearly defined in the U.N. Security Council's Resolution 425 — the liberation of Israel-occupied Lebanese territory and ensure security both for Lebanon and for Israel, Posuvalyuk told Itar- Tass here on Monday. The Lebanese side, the Russian emissary informed, highly appraised Russia's efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the region. "We discussed in detail with the Lebanese foreign minister the issues connected with the establishment of a committee for control over the ceasefire, as well FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 as the formation of a consultative group for rendering assistance in the restoration of Lebanon,” the Russian diplomat pointed out. The Russian diplomat noted that the committee for control over the ceasefire, efforts for setting up of which are being made at the present time, “should deal with technical questions and security problems without any political aspects. In this Russia's position coincides with the joint Lebanese-Syrian stand,” Posuvalyuk stressed. At the same time the United States and Israel are trying to make this body of a political character which is raising resolute objections from Lebanon and Syria. Russian president's special envoy for the Middle East was on a short visit in Lebanon within the framework of his regular trip to the region during which he met, in particular, with Yasir ‘Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, and Syrian Foreign Minister Farug al-Shar’. “The meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Farug al- Shar’, which took place in Damascus on Sunday, was very important,” Posuvalyuk stressed without giving any details of the talks. On Monday the Russian diplomat returned to Damascus from where he will fly to Moscow. Russia: Russia Being Squeezed Out of Caucasus Oil Transit Projects MM1305143796 Moscow ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA in Russian 13 May 96 pill [Report by Aleksey Baliyev: “Will Russia Be ‘Admit- ted’ to Transcaucasian Integration?” | {FBIS Translated Text] The recent visit to Azerbaijan by a Turkish Government delegation coincided with im- portant events concerning the export route for Caspian oil: Turkish premier M. Yilmaz said in Baku that Turkey intends to fully finance work on the Baku-Poti route in the event that this route is seen as part of a more ex- tensive Caspian oil export trail, that is, to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan via the oil pipeline spur from Georgia. Backed by the World Bank, foreign oil companies are already competing with Turkey to decide which of the routes “circumventing” Russia will be the main export transit route for Caspian oil. The experts stress that it follows from the increasingly active Georgian- Azerbaijani rapprochement that Thilisi and Baku do not intend to “tie” their export communications to Turkey (Ceyhan) alone. So, political factors are enhancing the role of Transcau- Casian Communications and lowering the “transit rating’ of the North Caucasus. This report may contain copynghted matenal. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV -96-094 14 May 1996 It is interesting that the Western oil companies’ old promises to finance the construction of the Kizlyar- Budennovsk-Tikhoretsk oil pipeline, terminating at Novorossiysk and Tuapse and bypassing Chechnya, have been totally forgotten. The promises to finance work to increase the throughput capacity of the oil terminal at Novorossiysk, and of some sections of the Tikhoretsk-Novorossiysk oil pipeline, have also been forgotten. Ankara’s desire to establish an economic “entente” with Baku and Tbilisi confirms the trend toward gradually squeezing the Russian Federation out of Caucasian integration projects. Russia: Moscow Condemns Tajik Opposition Actions in Tavil Dara LD1305134796 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1335 GMT 13 May 96 {[FBIS Transcribed Text} MOSCOW, May 13 (Interfax) — Moscow condemns the actions of the Tajik opposi- RUSSIA INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 21 tion, whose detachments Sunday occupied the regional center of Tavil Dara in the Pamir region (about 200 kilometers from Dushanbe), a top-ranking official from the Russian Foreign Ministry told Interfax Monday. "The opposition’s actions are fraught ‘vith Uie disruption of the settlement process in Tajikistan. How can one speak about any settlement if a real war is going on in the region of Tavil Dara?” he said. The Russian Foreign Ministry intends to make a Sstate- ment due to the deterioration of the situation in Tajik- istan. "It will finally dot the ‘i's’ and cross the ‘t’s’,” he said. This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS Political Issues Russia: Yeltsin Releases Analytical Directorate Head From Post LD1305155096 Moscow Mayak Radio Network in Russian 1530 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Translated Text) The Russian president has released Mark Urnov from the post of head of the Analytical Directorate under the Russian head of state, at Urnov’s own request. Russia: Yeltsin Dismisses Chief of Federal Service for Employment LD1305150696 Moscow ITAR-TASS in English 1431 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW, May 13 (Itar-Tass) — Russian President Boris Yeltsin, by his decree on Monday [13 May], dismissed Fedor Prokopov from the post of head of the Russian federal service for employ- ment. The reason for his dismissal is “unsatisfactory utilisation of funds meant to create new jobs in con- ditions of the economic reform in Russia.” This was reported by the Presidential press service on Monday. "The recent check of the main controlling agency at the Russian President indicated that large funds supplied to the service for employment in order to alleviate unemployment were used ineffectively, quite often misused,” says the presidential press service's commentary on the decree. The commentary says it was found that sums of money from the employment fund in the amount of 15.4 billion roubles (as of December 1, 1995) were deposited on accounts of various commercial banks and that the sum of nonreturned funds from accounts, whose term for the return expired, made up 6.4 billion roubles. It was also found that the money was deposited at an interest far lower than the rates of the Bank of Rus- sia, although in accordance with law, monetary funds of the Russian State Foundation for the population's employment are Russian federal property and should be deposited with the Bank of Russia. “The fulfilment of the 1995 budget also attests to the unsatisfactory use of funds meant for promoting the pol- icy of the population's employment,” the commentary of the press service says. “A sum of 1,957,000 billion roubles, or 34 percent of the total sum of expenditures, was allocated for these purposes, whereas 1,392,000 bil- lion roubles was allocated for the maintenance of the state service for employment, information support for employment programmes and capital investment.” “The lack of due control by the central apparatus of the Russian federal service for employment resulted FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 in numerous occasions of malpractices and abuses in provinces, also by officials of branches of the foundations,” the presidential press service noted. “Additional funds for the maintenance of the apparatus are spent on premiums to staffers, food subsidies, interest-free loans, the purchase of office equipment and housing construction.” “Malpractices in the activity of the federal service for employment strained the social situation in the country,” the presidential press service notes. Russia: Lukin: ‘Wrong Time’ for No-Confidence Vote in Government LD1305154896 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1430 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW, May 13 (Interfax) — Vladimir Lukin, a senior parliamentary deputy and one of the leaders of the Yabloko reformist party, said on Monday it would be the wrong time now to propose a vote of no confidence in the government. Lukin, chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the State Duma (lower house), told Interfax this was his personal opinion and not the position of Yabloko, whose parliamentary deputies would discuss the matter on Tuesday. The Duma’s agenda for Wednesday [15 May] includes a report by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin on the government's incomes and expenditure in the first quarter of the year. Some deputies and parliamentary observers believe that after that Yabloko may again try to collect signatures in the house in support of a vote of no confidence in the government. The party made such an attempt in January but, since the Duma’s left-wing majority did not support the initiative, raised only 51 signatures, while a minimum of 90 was needed to put the matter on the house agenda. To demand a no confidence vote shortly before the presidential election means “to destabilize the situation too much,” Lukin said. “This shouldn't be done because now the main task is to carry through the presidential election in a normal and civilized way, after which the issue of the government would be brought up.” is report may contain copyrighted matenal. Copying and dissemunation is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV -96-094 14 May 1996 Russia: Business Leaders To Air ‘Complaints’ Against Government MM1405092896 Moscow IZVESTIYA in Russian 14 May 96 p2 [Report oy Aleksandr Anichkin: “Entrepreneurs Plan To Support President on Their Own Terms”} (FBIS Translated Text] The Seventh Congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs {(RUIE}, the leading lobbying organization for the country’s large enterprises, is being held in Moscow 14 May. According to preliminary information received by IZVESTIYA at the Union's headquarters, Arkadiy Volskiy, RUIE president and a veteran of Soviet and Russian politics, will voice support at the congress for Boris Yeltsin's reelection. It is thought that the congress will also adopt a statement calling for a consolidation of social forces advocating the continuation of the reform policy. At the same time, the congress organizers are admitting that the directors of state and joint-stock industrial en- terprises intend to use the congress to state their extreme dissatisfaction with the government's industrial policy, or, rather, lack of one. According to officially uncon- firmed information, it is this dissatisfaction that is keep- ing the RUIE from actively backing the Yeltsin election campaign. Just a day before the congress opened work was continuing on the final draft of the congress reso- lution, which is to reflect the industrialists’ complaints about the authorities. By all accounts Arkadiy Volskiy is trying to find a compromise option for his Union which would not place the corps of directors in opposition to the alliance of presidential forces but, at the same time, would not reduce the RUIE’s influence among industri- alists. Back on 21 April, following Yeltsin's statement on the Chechnya settlement, Volskiy himself stated that he would be winding up his own election campaign (an initiative group had nominated him) and would be voting for the current president in June. At a meeting with President Yeltsin, Volskiy handed him 42 draft laws drawn up by the RUIE, reflecting the wishes of entrepreneurs. The RUIE, which currently includes more than 4,500 companies and organizations, has on the one hand a great potential influence on government policy and legislative processes in the Duma and, on the other, great mobilization potential among voters. It is weil known that workers at enterprises are inclined to vote “the way the boss says.” RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS 23 This electoral potential, however, is weakened by the fact that the corps of directors is seriously annoyed with the government, first, for giving little support to “Russian producers” (that is, major state enterprises) and, second, for failing to intervene in conflicts between “outside” shareholders and enterprise directors and low- ering the status of directors as “bosses.” In the words of V. Loskutov, general director of the Muromskiy Zavod Joint-Stock Company, quoted at the congress, “the werd ‘director’ used to mean something. Now people some- times try to make out that it is a nonsense, something bad, even something holding them back, and so forth!" The congress participants will be insisting that ia return for their political support the government should Streamline and “amend” the privatization process and protect directors ‘from “corporate raiders" — outside investors who try to dictate their will to the former owners of industrial enterprises. "In many countries,” N. Mikhaylov, president of the Vympel Joint-Stock Corporation, believes, “industrialists do not claim to have the last say in their own policy, but they must have the first say in industrial policy. And professional politicians must take that into account.” The RUIE Congress will show how capable the current authorities are of organizing a dialogue with the “cap- tains of industry,” and, consequently, to what extent the presidential team can count on their support in the run- up to the election. Russia: Tight Security Measures During 9 May Parade Highlighted MK1 305135696 Moscow NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA in Russian 13 May 96 pp I, 2 [Report by Igor Korotchenko: “The Tradition of Red Square Parades Revived. The Main Protection Direc- torate Was Exceptionally Vigilant”) {[FBIS Translated Excerpt] [passage omitted] Smooth team work o/ all services involved in ensuring the secu- rity of the Russian Federation's top officials during the holiday celebration on Red Square was the first thing that caught the eye of those who were hurrying to take their guest places in the stands near the Lenin mau- soleum to review the parade of the Moscow Garrison troops in the early morning of 9 May. Over 60 roofed trucks packed with riflemen of the troops of the Inter- nal Affairs Ministry of the Russian Federation with full combat load and Caucasus shepherd dogs were massed on bystreets abutting on the GUM [State Department Store]. Army columns marching toward Red Square were met by a solid cordon of Main Protection Direc- torate [GUO] officers, to whom chiefs of military acad- emies showed special permits allowing their troops to This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners. a RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS pass to take part in the parade. Snipers placed on the top stories of the History Museum and the GUM kept the whole expanse of the country’s main square under aim and were ready immediately to neutralize possible mischief makers. All of those who passed to the stands according to invitation cards were subjected to careful scrutiny with the unavoidable examination of their iden- tification documents. Excepting Pavel Grachev, none of the top Russian com- manders who stood next to the Russian president on 9 May could avoid this procedure. Not only did they all, including Chief of General Staff Mikhail Kolesnikov, have to show their office ID's, but they also under- went a control procedure to check them for firearms (a portable metal detector was affixed underneath the jacket of a GUO officer past whom all the top gener- als were ushered, while their names were being checked against the list. Even some subordinates of Lieutenant General Aleksandr Korzhakov, who attempted in their spare time to watch the parade from the stands out- side the mausoleum, fell victim to the tight security measures. Having condescendingly uemonstrated their dark-crimson ID's with golden letters “Security Service of the President of the Russian Federation” stamped on them and inserts reading “Everywhere” (that is, they have access to any location without exception), they en- countered flat refusals by GUO officers to let them pass. It turned out that special extra marks on the permit were required on that day to enter the area of immediate con- tact with Boris Yeltsin. [passage omitted] Yet the parade was not entirely free of lapses. For instance, General Staff officers who accompanied the president carried the main and backup sets of the sub- scriber’s line equipment of the system of control over the strategic nuclear forces of the Russian Federation (the so-called “nuclear suitcase") past military attaches invited to attend the parade; some of the military diplo- mais were swift to exploit that: Not only did they take pictures of the event, but, judging by their manipula- tions, they switched on the sets of electronic intelligence equipment they carried on them so as to intercept possi- ble irradiation — to all appearances, to detect the work frequencies, code combinations, and operational algo- rithms of the Russian president's “nuclear suitcase.” Russia: Zhirinovskiy Associate Denies Being Drugged by IZVESTIYA LD1305215896 Moscow Radiostantsiya Ekho Moskvy in Russian 1945 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Translated Excerpt] Vladimir Zhirinovskiy has described an interview with his closest associate, Alek- sandr Vengerovskiy, which is published in today’s IZVESTIYA, as a provocation. During the interview, FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Vengerovskiy accuses the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia leader of political unscrupulousness, prostitution, and links with top criminals. {Begin Zhirinovskiy recording) They stuffed Vengerovskiy with drugs in the editorial office of IZVESTIYA and then made the interview. [passage omitted] [end recording] However, an hour ago we had the opportunity to listen to Vengerovskiy who apparently could talk. (Begin Vengerovskiy recording] | am compos mentis and in full command of my memory. I have not smoked cigarettes since 1980 and I hardly drink at all. As a sick person, I have not received any parcels from the LDPR since February. Therefore, there is no way I could have received drugs. [end recording] [passage omitted] Media Issues Russia: State Broadcasters Credited With Saving Democracy MM1305140796 Moscow ROSSIYSKIYE VESTI Sunday Edition in Russian 12 May 96 p 3 (Unattributed report under the “Fourth Estate” rubric: “Russia Calling. You are Watching Russian TV. The First Russian Television and Radio Company in Our History Is Five Years Old"] {[FBIS Translated Text] Russia has, in fact, been very lucky: In the space of a few months before the terrible days of August 1991, which were critical for its fate, it managed to elect its first president and to acquire its own television and radio broadcasting system, which helped that president to defend democracy and to uphold the country’s future. We will not compare the scale of those two strokes of luck, but we will nonetheless say that, if it had not been for the ARSTRBC [All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company], events could have taken quite a different turn. At the time of the events in Moscow 3-4 October 1993 the Russian channel once again turned out to be the only one to transmit information throughout the country about what was happening in the capital. A large group of company staff received awards from the young Russian state for Cafrying out their civic duty in defense of democracy and the constitutional system. A lot of people today like to say that RTR (Russian Television and Radio] is politically engaged. This motif is particularly fashionable in connection with the presidential election. Weil, RTR journalists believe that they are still obliged to uphold democracy and the principles of press freedom and thus to act in the pre- election situation exclusively on the basis of the Russian This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Federation Constitution and the legislation on elections. No authorities demand anything different of them. Moreover, the imaginary “purchase” takes the form of... chronic budgetary underfunding. Almost everything the company has achieved — believe me, it was not easy to create a modern technical base practically from scratch and to at least equal the venerable Ostankino in a very short space of time — has been done mainly with its own funds. The ARSTRBC today consists of two television chan- nels — Rossiya and Rossiyskiye Universitety — and radio broadcasting on the Radio Rossii wavelength. The Rossiya channel can be seen and heard by 98.7 percent of Russians, i.e. practically the entire population of the country. Rossiyskiye Universitety can be received on one television set in every four for 9.4 hours a day. For a long time this was a questionable channel, but with B. Yeltsin's help an important role has been preserved for it: to be an oasis of culture and enlightenment in the sea of market airwaves. During the “peak” weeks of the election campaign the ARSTRBC intends to offer for our attention the program “Who Is To Be Believed?". It employs a very interesting concept and will go so far as to have graphologists determine the candidates’ characters on the basis of their handwriting. So whai awaits us, hopefully, is not a gloomy, malevolent, politicized approach but a normal, not humorless, but most importantly objective and impartial discussion of the election programs and personalities of those who aspire to become head of state. ROSSIYSKIYE VESTI wholeheariedly congratulates its colleagues on the anniversary and wishes them unclouded broadcasting. Military, Nuclear & Space Issues Russia: Military Leaders May Be Behind Sale of APC’s to Chechens MK1405094696 Moscow MOSKOVSKIYE NOVOSTI in Russicn No. 19, 12-19 May 96 (signed to press 13 May 1996) p 1 (Report by Denis Baranets: “How the Secret APC's Disappeared. Chechen Separatists Are the First To Get State-of-the-Art Armor Designed for the Russian Military” ] (F<. Translated Text] As a result of a military op- eration by federal troops in Chechnya near the vil- lage of Goyskoye (Urus-Martan district) some of the newest models of domestically designed armored per- sonnel carriers, which have not as yet been adopted for service in the army, were seized from separatist fight- RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS 25 ers. As your MOSKOVSKIYE NOVOSTI correspon- dent learned from sources close to the military depart- ment’s leadership, these modern APC models are su- perior even to the latest BTR-80 series. The military believes that vehicles of this type will not be surpassed before the end of this century, because they have no counterpart in the world. Considering the highly classi- fied status of the new model, the Russian FSB [Federal Security Service] has begun a preliminary investigation to establish how this equipment ended up with Chechen separatists. Today there is reason to believe that the gunmen have several more such vehicles, while some of the “samples” have already been sold “for detailed study” abroad. Besides the difficulties of acquiring and shipping the combat vehicles themselves, the Chechens had to find trained specialists in the Kussian military to handle the equipment; they can be counted on one’s fingers. It so happened that these APC's were produced at a military plant in Arzamas and were fitted out with special equipment at a military science and research institute. Officially, these machines left the plant “for testing under combat conditions.” It is clear, however, that the newest secret equipment — importantly, not in series production — could not have been seized by the Chechens from the federal forces, nor could it have gone from the plant directly to the village of Goyskoye. Defense Ministry officials confirmed that these armored vehicles are not taking part in combat operations in Chechnya, nor have they ever been supplied to our Joint Force [in Chechnya]. The FSB does not rule out that top military leadership might have been involved in the disappearance of the secret equipment. Russia: Tokobank Refutes Allegations About Funding Chechen Rebels LD1305202096 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1718 GMT 13 May 96 ([FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW, May 13 (Inter- fax) — The management of Tokobask, a major Russian commercial bank, has denied accusations of its involve- ment in any transactions regarding the funding of illegal armed formations in Chechnya put forward by the au- thor of an article published by the daily IZVESTIYA on May 12. Izvestia last Sunday published an article entitled “The Second Front” that contains accusations against several banks, including Tokobank. “Tokobank has never been controlled by Chechen- Ingush or other groupings and forces,” reads a let- ter of Tokobank President Vyacheslav Khokhlov to This report may contain copynghted matenal Copying and dissemination 18 prohibited without permission of the copynght owners 6 RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS Igor Golembiovskiy, IZVESTTY A's editor-in-chief, cir- culated in Moscow on Monday. Tokobank’s performance is controlled only by its share- holders, who numbered 1,960 on January 1, 1996, Khokhiov said in the letter. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development [EBRD] has been a major shareholder of Tokobank since 1994. Tokobank remains Russia's only commercial bank in whose char- ter capital the EBRD has a stake, he stressed. EBRD representatives have more than once stressed that Tokobank attracted them precisely as Russia's most “transparent” bank audited by the renowned Coopers & Lybrand firm during the last few years, Khokhlov added. Purthermore, due to its active participation in various World Bank and EBRD projects and numerous bilateral agreements with major Western banks, Tokobank un- dergoes auditing by these institutions and independent Western auditors several times a year, he said. “Tokobank has a very high international authority pre- cisely due to its openness and independence,” Khokhlov went on to say. “Tokobank’s strategic policy includes active work on the international financial markets for attracting funds from Western banks and financial groups for Russian industry. Tokobank is now a leader among Russian commercial banks in terms of the crediting of fuel and energy, metallurgical and construction companies,” said Khokhlov. “Unfortunately, it is impossible to rule out that this principled policy provokes dissatisfaction of some forces that stand behind the authors of the so- called analytical report summarized by the author of the article in IZVESTIYA,” he said. “Such a strategy and international activities of Tokobank fully rule out its involvement in any doubtful financial operations, let alone illegal actions,” Khokhlov said. Such articles discrediting Russian banks “seriously limit the opportunities to attract free funds from Western financial institutions for modernizing Russian industry,” his letter reads. “Tokobank management is absolutely confident that the ‘information’ in the report is false,” Khokhlov said. “Taking into consideration that the article published in IZVESTIYA has already induced serious moral damage to Tokobank that obviously may be followed by material damage, we believe that IZVESTIYA must immediately publish a refutation of the information discrediting the bank's name and officially apologize before Tokobank’'s shareholders, employees and clients,” he said. Khokhlov also demanded that IZVESTIA make avail- able to Tokobank representatives the analytical report FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 on which “the totally tendentious accusations” were founded. These accusations “must be a purposeful ac- tion to discredit Tokobank,” he said. “The Tokobank management retains the right to apply to Russian judicial organs in order to demand a compen- sation for the moral and material damage caused by the publication in IZVESTIYA of false information casting a shadow on Tokobank’s name,” Khokhlov said in the letter to IZVESTIYA's editor-in-chief. Russia: Moscow Police Doubt Banks Channeled Money to Chechen Rebels LD1305171496 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1633 GMT 13 May 96 [FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW, May 13 (Interfax) — A senior official in the Economic Crime Board in the Moscow Interior Department said that his agency has no information on money transfers to Chechen rebels by numerous large Russian banks. His agency has no good reason to suspect Tokobank or Russian Credit of links with criminal gangs, he told Interfax Monday. The Izvestiya newspaper published a report Sunday listing over 20 banks “which could be implicated in transfers of funds for illegal militias in Chechnya.” “Some banks can be managed by criminal organizations and be involved” in this activity, but there is no such information on, say, Tokobank, the official said. Izvestiya referred to an “analytical paper” which was used in compiling the report. Aleksandr Zdanovicii, acting head of the Federal Secu- rity Service’s Public Relations Center, told Interfax that his agency did not compile any paper of that kind and if such a secret document existed, the service would not make it available to an Izvestiya reporter. The Main Board on Economic Crimes in the Russian Interior Ministry has nothing to do with that analytical paper, the board's chief Aleksandr Dementyev told Interfax. For this reason he declined to comment on the newspaper report. News reports implicating numerous Russian commer- cial banks such as Tokobank, Rossiyskiy Kredit and Rozbiznesbank in transfer of funds to illegal militias in Chechnya are not confirmed by any evidence in the criminal cases under investigation, another high ranking federal law enforcement official told Interfax. is report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination| is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Russia: Trade Union Official Comments on Livshits Debts Statement LD1305152496 Moscow ITAR-TASS in English 1346 GMT 13 May 96 [By Andrey Malosolov] (FBIS Transcribed Text} MOSCOW, MAY 13 (lItar- Tass) — Viadimir Pilipchuk, deputy chairman of the trade union of Russia's military industrial complex, described as ‘populist’ the statement by the Russian President's aide for economic issues Aleksandr Livshits on the possibility of extinguishing the government's debts to the defence-sector enterprises. In his interview for RIA Novosti, Pilipchuk put the total debt of the Russian government arising from its orders placed with the defence sector and wage arrears at 3.8 billion roubles. Meanwhile the amount of 2.8 billion roubles allocated under the President's decree ‘On Urgent Measures to Support the Defence Sector’ is but a bunch of promissory notes but not live money, which will reach the enterprises only in three to six months’ time via the banking system, the trade union leader warned. According to the data of the defence sector trade union, the funds appropriate by the government will be enough to cover the 1994-1995 debt, but will fall short of extinguishing the 1996 arrears for the government contracts placed with the sector. “It is evident that Yeltsin's promise to clear all debts owed to the sector by the end of May will remain a mere promise,” the trade union leader concluded. Russia: Military, TU Leaders Discuss Arms Industry Problems MM1305153196 Moscow KRASNAYA ZVEZDA in Russian 13 May 96 pl {“Own information” report: “Questions of Implementing Presidential Edict on Support for Defense Industry Discussed” ] (FBIS Translated Text} On 12 May a meeting took place between Andrey Kokoshin, Russian Federation first deputy defense minister, and Mikhail Shmakov, chair- man of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FITUR], during which questions of implement- ing the Russian Federation President's Edict “On Pri- ority Measures To Support Russian Federation Defense Complex Enterprises,” signed 8 May this year, were dis- cussed. It was noted that the Defense Minisiry and trade unions regard this edict as one of the most important state doc- uments in the sphere of ensuring the country’s defense RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS 27 capability. They are keenly interested in ensuring that its full implementation is ensured. During the meeting a number of additional measures were considered which will in practice help to implement this edict. According to Russian Federation Defense Ministry Main Military Budget and Finance Directorate figures, on 8 May the chief enterprises fulfilling the 1996 state defense order started receiving the financial resources totaling 2.8 trillion rubles which have just been allocated for the acquisition of arms and military equipment and to pay for defense research and development. Russia: Government To Sign Vienna Convention on Nuclear Damage MM1305095096 Moscow ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA in Russian 13 May 96 p9 [Russian Federation Government Decree No. 415 “On the Signing of the Vienna Convention on Civil Respon- sibility for Nuclear Damage” signed by Prime Minister Chernomyrdin in Moscow on 12 April 1996 — from the “Economic Union" departmental supplement) {(FBIS Translated Text] The Russian Federation Gov- ernment decrees: 1. That the proposal of the Russian Federation Foreign Ministry and the Russian Federation Ministry of Atomic Energy coordinated with the Russian Federal Inspec- torate for Nuclear and Radiation Safety on the signing of the 21 May 1963 Vienna Convention on civil respon- sibility for nuclear damage be adopted. 2. The Russian Federation Foreign Ministry is to sign the Convention mentioned in point | of this decree on the Russian Federation's behalf. [signed] V. Chernomyrdin, chairman of the Russian Federation Government Russia: Radio Contact Lost With Military Satellite After Launch LD1405094796 Moscow ITAR-TASS in English 0934 GMT 14 May 96 (By Anna Bakina} (FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW May 14 (lItar- Tass) — Russia failed to launch its military satellite of the Kosmos series from the Baykonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday [14 May). The military space forces told Tass that radio contact with the satellite, launched by a Soyuz-U booster, was lost on the sixth minute of the flight. is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners. RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS Federal Assembly Russia: Duma Committee Claims Worst Budget Implementation Since 1994 MK1405090296 Moscow SEGODNYA in Russian 13 May 96 p2 [Report by Natalya Olenich: “The Finance Ministry Refutes Mikhail Zadornov’s Figures. The Ministry Feels Sure That the Execution of the Budget Is Determined by Economic, Rather Than Political, Realities”) {[FBIS Translated Text] Today, the State Duma Budget Committee is to discuss once again the issue of the execution of the federal budget during the first quarter of 1996. In April, committee members addressed this problem more than once, but, as a result of differences in the figures given by the Finance Ministry and the Accounting Chamber, they were unable to come up with any draft Duma resolution. Today’s hearing on the budget issue at the committee will be the dress rehearsal before Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin’s report on the execution of the budget, scheduled for 15 May. Yesterday, the Duma did not feel sure, though, that the prime minister would honor the deputies with his presence this Wednesday. Regardless of whether Mr. Chernomyrdin will speak at the lower chamber or whether his report will be ad- journed again (initially, the prime minister's report was to be presented on 27 April) the Finance Ministry started the softening-up process well in advance. Yesterday, the press service of the financial agency distributed a press release refuting the figures on the execution of the bud- get in the first quarter as reported by Mikhail Zadornov, head of the Budget Committee, at a meeting with jour- nalists. The press release says that Mr. Zadornov's in- formation does not correspond to the data available to the Main Directorate of the Federal Treasury. Possibly, the Finance Ministry's press service is using the “latest” final figures for the first quarter. As for the head of the Budget Committee, he has to refer to the data that were presented by the Federal Treasury earlier. During the first consideration of budget execution at the committee in mid-April, the deputies were given as many as three memos on the execution of the budget in the first quarter — two of them were prepared by the Federal Treasury and one by the Accounting Chamber. The three documents showed considerable discrepancies in their figures. For instance, the discrepancy in the revenue figures given in the treasury memos amounted to 8 trillion rubles. The same figure showed a discrepancy between the latest information from the treasury and the documentation of the Accounting Chamber, having been prepared on the basis of data of the State Tax Service [STS], that FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 was as high as 14 trillion. Later it turned out that the difference between the data of the treasury and those of the STS was due to the use of different methods of calculation; that is, the tax service included in the first quarter revenues the treasury tax exemptions that were accredited by the treasury to 1995 revenues. The aim of the Finance Ministry's press release, how- ever, is far from a mere pointing out of the inaccuracy of Mr. Zadornov's figures. The main aim is to convince ev- eryone that the main parameters of the budget execution are determined above all by “economic realities,” rather than by the political situation, as was claimed by the head of the Budget Committee. By mentioning neither the commercial banks’ credit of 3.7 trillion, to which the Finance Ministry had to resort, nor the fact that in the first quarter the government has almost reached the year figure for internal and external borrowings, the press service attempts to place the main blame for the failure of budget execution on the deputies, who under- mined the revenue base of the budget, in particular, by the introduction of additional tax privileges. The zeal of the Finance Ministry staffers, trying “to put a good face on the matter,” is quite understandable. A report on the budget traditionally evokes a stormy reaction with the deputies. Twice — in the fall of 1994 and in the summer of 1995 — an unsatisfactory execution of the budget served as a pretext to raise the question of no-confidence in the government. According to the preliminary estimations performed by the Budget Committee, the failure of the budget execution in the first quarter of 1996 is the worst since 1994. Naturally, under the situation where the election campaign is drawing closer to the finish line, the government would not like to give the opposition a trump card as good as the unsatisfactory execution of the budget. Russia: Zorin Criticizes Yavlinskiy’s Plan for Chechnya LD1305100996 Moscow INTERFAX in English 0903 GMT 13 May 96 {[FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW, May 13 (INTER- FAX) — The plan of Chechen settlement within a hun- dred days proposed by Yabloko leader Grigoriy Yavlin- skiy is “deliberately populist,” head of the Duma Com- mittee on Nationalities Vladimir Zorin told Interfax on Monday. “The plan is a direct appeal to the armed opposition to postpone constructive negotiations with the federal authorities until the end of presidential elections,” said Zorin, who was deputy head of the Russian delegation to last year’s talks in Groznyy. is report may contain copynghted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 He thinks Yavlinsky’s plan “does not take into account the real economic, social and political roots of the Chechen crisis.” Commenting on Yavlinskiy’s proposal to dismiss all officials who started the Chechen war, Zorin said "the Chechen crisis could have been settled long ago if organizational and personnel issues were the problem.” He warned separatist leaders “against illusory hopes for changes in the state policy on Chechnya if a new president is elected.” The election program of Yavlinskiy made public a day ago says the Yabloko leader will stop the bloodshed in Chechnya within 100 days and personally control withdrawal of troops if he is elected Russian president. The presidential candidate thinks it necessary to suspend Yeltsin's decree on economic restorations in Chechnya, stop financing the restorations and start resettlement of people wishing to leave the North Caucasian republic. Russia: Problem in Signing Sea Demarcation Accord With U.S. LD1305233796 Moscow ITAR-TASS World Service in Russian 1431 GMT 13 May 96 {by ITAR-TASS parliamentary correspondent Igor Zhukov) (FBIS Translated Text] Moscow, 13 May (ITAR-TASS) — The participants in the parliamentary hearings held at the State Duma have proposed that the agreement between Russia and the United States on demarcating sea expanses should not be ratified until the issue of fishing in the Bering Sea is completely settled. Besides deputies of the lower house of parliament, representatives from the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Federal Security Service, the General Staff of the Defense Ministry, the Russian Federal Border Service and other interested structures took part in the hearings. The participants in the hearings recommended this measure to the parliament, since the agreement signed by the USSR and the United States in Washington in June 1990 did not take full account of Russian fishing interests. The parliamentarians and representatives of the Russian power structures have draw- up proposals on holding talks with the American side in order to reach a compromise. The parliamentarians’ position coincides with the po- sition of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, which he set forth in a letter addressed to State Duma Chairman Gen- nadiy Seleznev. The letter also expresses concern over the fact that the agreement does not properly account for Russian fishing interests. During the past two years, RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS 29 the letter points out, intensive talks were held with the American side on the signing and temporary implemen- tation of this agreement. “However, so far the United States has not made any concessions which would allow this problem be settled in a way acceptable to Russian interests. Nevertheless, not all the possibilities of reach- ing a mutually acceptable accord with the United States have been exhausted,” the Russian president believes. Regional Affairs Russia: Chechen Government Approves Plan for Yeltsin Visit LD1405 100096 Moscow INTERFAX in English 0923 GMT 14 May 96 ([FBIS Transcribed Text} GROZNYY, May 14 (Interfax) — The program for Russian President Boris Yeltsin's visit to Chechnya was approved by a Tuesday [14 May] meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nikolay Koshman of the republic's Moscow-backed government. Chechen press secretary Ruslan Martagov told Interfax Tuesday that Yeltsin will visit the capital, be introduced to the customs and ways of the Chechen people, and will present awards to workers in the agricultural and culture spheres. “Federal security forces will provide for the president's safety within their jurisdiction,” he said. “The Chechen Interior Ministry will also take part in assuring the president's safety.” Russia: Fears Voiced Over Yeltsin Visit to Chechnya MM1405141096 Moscow KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA in Russian 14 May 96 p 2 {Report by Aleksandr Yevtushenko: “Chechnya: Cam- ouflage Already Prepared for the President” } (FBIS Translated Text] Maybe the president does not yet know himself for sure when he will pay his promised visit to Chechnya. But people here for some reason are sure that if it is not today, then it will definitely be Wednesday [15 May]. They say that a new camouflage uniform to fit Yeltsin has already been selected It is perhaps the republic's ordinary inhabitants who are most reluctant and most fearful about Yeltsin's coming to Chechnya. After all, the Chechens say, all it takes is one rock thrown at the Russian president's back by a boy orphaned in the war, let alone more serious provo- cations, and a new wave of large-scale combat actions is virtually guaranteed. Then you have Zelimkhan Y andar- biyev, acting president and commander in chief of Ichk- ria, coming out with a menacing statement in which is report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination, is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners % RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS he gives absolutely no guarantees at all of Yeltsin's safety in the event of Zavgayev's representatives’ being brought into the talks. Is Yandarbiyev to be taken seriously? Strange as it may seem, even republic Justice Minister Usman Imayev, a close colleague of Dzhokhar Dudayev’s and former general prosecutor, doubts this. I would remind you that he headed the Chechen delegation at last year’s talks in Groznyy on the military group of questions. “When talking about peace talks with Russia — and I hope Yeltsin's coming to the republic will get them under way — it must not be forgotten that there is no third party to the conflict. There are only two: Chechnya and Russia. If the Russian leadership decides it wants Zavgayev or anyone else to speak for it, then let it. We would be happy to talk with the devil. Also for our part it is not absolutely essential that Yandarbiyev be the one to work with Yeltsin's representatives at the talks. As long as there is a result.” You also find more radically minded people among the top Chechens. “There is only one thing to talk about with Moscow: the withdrawal of Russian forces from the republic,” I was told by Aslambek Abdulkhadzhiyev, military commandant of Shalinskiy Rayon and Shamil Basayev's right-hand man. “And we will not tolerate any Zavgayev involvement in these talks. We are not planning any actions to coincide with Yeltsin's visit or with any other event. All dates and venues for operations are written down in a plan that has been drawn up. Including those that we have planned on Russian territory. Some of them outdo even Budennovsk in their scale....” Russia: Terrorist Act Planned Against Yeltsin During Chechaya Trip LD1405063196 Moscow INTERFAX in English 0608 GMT 14 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text] GROZNYY, May 14 (Interfax) — Federal troops in came under militant attack 21 times Monday [14 May], 10 of them in Groznyy, a spokesman for the federal command told Interfax Tuesday. There were no reports of Russian losses. According to the spokesman, the greatest concentration of militants was registered in Leninskiy and Oktyabrskiy districts of the capital. Quoting army intelligence the spokesman said separatist leaders are trying to find out the date of the possible visit of President Boris Yeltsin to Chechnya. They are planning an act of terrorism against the head of state, the spokesman said. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 He said federal troops continue combat actions against separatist formations in the area of Kharsenoy. A Grad rocket launcher was seized from militants there Monday. Russia: Federal Troop Commander Ready To Meet Basayev LD1305194896 Moscow Russian Public Television First Channel Network in Russian 1700 GMT 13 May 96 [Video report by unidentified correspondent, including recorded comments by Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, com- mander of the Joint Group of Federal Forces in Chech- nya; from the "Vremya” newscast] (FBIS Translated Excerpt] Today's reports from Chech- nya give hope that the crisis around the Urus-Martan village is close to being settled. [Correspondent] An operation was carried out today in Urus-Martan to check passports. Its aim was to sort out any gunmen and to find arms and ammunition caches. The district center administration did not rule out the possibility that there were some gunmen there, but flatly denied that there were any organized groups or that they may have fired on Russian helicopters. Local authorities believe that rocket and bomb strikes on Urus-Martan have been provoked by intentional disinformation of the Federal Command [sentence as heard]. [passage omitted] Ruslan Martagov, press secretary to the head of Chech- nya, said that if separatists sat at the negotiating table, they will no longer be bandits but rather political op- ponents. In this event, the outcome of the talks will be hard to predict. The federal side's stand concerning possible talks was formulated very clearly today. [Tikhomirov] The most important thing for us is a peaceful stand. If even a bandit like Shamil Basayev says he is ready for immediate peace, | am ready to meet him anywhere and start these negotiations. [video shows helicopter gunships, armored and other vehicles, road blocks; archive footage of Gantemirov, street scenes; Tikhomirov talking to journalists outside an unidentified building] S report may heed Eten anda — is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Russia: Emil Pain Views Possibility of Peace in Chechnya MM1405114096 Moscow ROSSIYSKIYE VESTI in Russian 14 May 96 pp 1-2 [Article by Emil Pain: “Desire for Peace Stronger Than Any Political Doctrine"] (FBIS Translated Text} Unfortunately, we have greeted the present anniversary of the Great Victory under conditions where the echoes of the present, Chechen, war have not yet died away. The majority of Russians consider it simply blasphemous to speak of victory in this war. People have grown immoderately tired of it and many are rightly demanding an end to it. These feelings can be understood but at the same time we cannot allow the readiness for peace to be implemented in its pessimistic version — the version of the defeat of the federal army and the federal doctrine of the Russian state’s integrity. Such an outcome will inevitably be the source of society's long-term destabilization and could result in the growth of interethnic Russian-Chechen tension because of a subconscious desire to “take revenge on those to blame for national humiliation." We want a real end to the war we cannot allow a sense that its actions in Chechnya are pointless to develop in the army. The Chechen crisis can be resolved only on condition that all sides invo!ved in it emerge from the conflict “without losing face.“ And the army itself — the soldiers, officers, and generals — and all society as a whole must see in the actions to suppress the gunmen not an alternative to the peace process but an important component of it necessary under today’s conditions. Everyone must understand that the resuii which we have achieved with such casualties among the federal troops is if not a victory then an undoubted success. The “success” is to drive the Dudayevites from the majority of villages and rayons, the gunmen’s destroyed heavy military equipment, but most importantly the political effect: The military must realize that it is only thanks to them that the coercion to peace has been effected, only thanks to their efforts and sacrifices that the “peace zones” have become possible and a readiness has emerged on the part of many field commanders to agree to talks and, moreover, to make important concessions at the talks. At the same time the ideas, characteristic of a part of Russian society, of military success as the total defeat of the illegal armed formations are Utopian and dangerous. The following arguments can be cited as proof: — the excessively high price of military successes — human lives, that is heavy losses among the population and the military and the rise in the number of refugees; RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS 3 — the relative nature of any really possible “success” in this field: The gunmen do not disappear completely but merely pretend to — hiding, dispersing, changing clothes — and then reappear at a Convenient moment. That is why many population centers are having to be won back for the second or third time by the federal forces and why in cities and settlements seemingly controlled by the Chechen Government there remain, according to the Federal Security Service's estimates, thousands of illegal armed formations; moreover, the places of the dead are often taken by their relations and friends and simply by young men who have grown up and whose proportion among the Chechens is as high as it is everywhere in the Caucasus; — the hypothetical nature of the interpretation of military success: To persuade a Russian, a Muscovite for instance, that the regular army has achieved complete military victory it will not be enough to clear all villages without exception of gunmen but he will believe immediately that the army has suffered defeat — it is enough for the Dudayevites to seize even a single village for just a day or to break through from four sides into central Groznyy, not to mention their seizure of a hospital or school somewhere outside Chechnya. If by victory of the regular army we understand the enemy's Capitulation then, as world experience shows, it is becoming harder and harder to achieve such a victory but in the actions against the separatists the army’s mission can be considered fulfilled if it succeeds in compelling the enemy to sit down at the conference table and make substantial concessions in his demands. | think that in Chechnya today we have come right up to this situation. Not long before his death (or disappearance) Dudayev made truly sensational statements to INTERFAX about his readiness for talks with the Kremlin, essentially without any preliminary conditions. This “uncondi- tional” readiness for talks was displayed by him for the first time and almost certainly it was the result of mil- itary pressure — coercion tc peace. The federal armed forces’ spring offensive on the gunmen’s positions has led not simply to the defeat and expulsion of a large pro- portion of gunmen from various rayons of the republic but also to their leader's inclination toward peace talks. It is true that Dudayev's heirs are now making tougher demands on the start of the talks, making their possible participation conditional on numerous preiiminary terms and stipulations. All this could be predicted: What the recognized leader of the separatists could allow himself is hardly accessible to people with a markedly lower political rating. To strengthen their authority among the armed detachments their new leaders — Z. This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination 1s ibited without permission of the copyright owners 32 RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS Yandarbiyev, A. Maskhadov, and Sh. Basayev simply have to show themselves to be greater radicals, more Dudayevite than Dudayev himself. The rivalry between A. Maskhadov and the leader of the “intransigents,” Sh. Basayev, is by no means impelling the gunmen toward peace and also reduces the likelihood that any of the agreements which could be reached during the talks will be fulfilled. Yes, Dudayev’s death has complicated the talks with the illegal armed formations but it would be wrong to believe that it has destroyed the Russian Federation president's entire peace plan. That plan by no means came down only to organizing contacts with the gunmen through mediators. It includes several salients of the president's “peace offensive,” for instance talks by the Chechen Republic Government with the participation of federal organs of power with inhabitants of various population centers on the creation and expansion of peace centers and zones. Dudayev's death has not had any effect on that process. Treaties have already been signed with the inhabitants of 167 population centers in which over 90 percent of the republic’s population lives. Here it is wrong to imagine that all these treaties were signed as a result of coercion — the majority of villages have not been subjected to a so-called clean-up and in all there has been fighting in 17 population centers out of nearly 400. It is wrong to believe that these talks will be violated as soon as the troops are withdrawn from Chechnya. As regards peace much attention is also being paid to the restoration of democratic institutions of power in Chechnya, primarily the holding of Chechen Republic presidential elections. In the past few days the Chechen Republic Government has agreed to make notable concessions to the moderate political (and not military) opposition on the question of the dates and forms of these elections and on this basis has been able somewhat to expand its social base and even begin the process of the consolidation of all political forces seeking a solution of the Chechen crisis by nonmilitary means. The signing of the treaty on social accord was evidence of that. Nor should we prematurely bury the idea of developing the contacts between the federal organs of power and representatives of the field commanders. indeed, such contacts have never ceased, for instance with the highly effective mediation of A. Bugayev, vice premier of the Chechen Republic Government, and Guideman, the leader of the OSCE mission. There have been other mediators, whose sometimes selfless activity has made it possible to the delicate threats of mutual relations from which the full fabric of the negotiations process could be created in the very near future. Many specialists support the idea of restoring the activity of the special commission to monitor the FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 fulfillment of the agreements on the military package of questions reached in the past. That organ could be not only an effective instrument for maintaining the truce regime and a condition of the safe withdrawal of the federal Armed Forces but could also serve as a bridgehead for a further “peace offensive,” raising fundamental political issues for discussion. It is important to stress the features of the present sit- uation and its difference from the situation in June- July last year (after Budennovsk). The Russian lead- ership’s present peace initiative was not immediately preceded by any terrorist action by the Dudayevites and SO NO One can say that “Moscow is going to the peace talks at gunpoint.” President B. Yeltsin has put forward the idea of hold- ing a tripartite meeting on a peaceful settlement of the Chechen problem with the participation of the Chechen field commanders, representatives of D. Zavgayev's government, and the State Commission. Thus the Rus- sian leadership is moving from the idea of contacts with the Dudayevites via mediators toward an understanding of the need to begin full-scale political talks on the entire range of problems of settling the situation in Chechnya. Despite the fact that Yandarbiyev has categorically de- nied the possibility that he will take part in the talks at the same table as the present Chechen government there is, in my view, a possibility of a sensible compromise being reached on this question. I know that the president still has in reserve a whole series of peace initiatives which could lend new impetus to a peaceful settlement of the Chechen crisis. We are only at the start of the process of a peaceful set- tlement of the Chechen tragedy. We must travel a long, hard path before its completion. But there are circum- stances which instill optimism as regards the possibility of Chechnya’s favorable albvit not rapid normalization. It is a case of the very strong, literally passionate de- sire for peace in the majority of Chechnya's inhabitants. That desire is stronger than any government doctrine and it will inevitably impel politicians to seek compro- mises. Russia: Talks With Chechen Armed Opposition To Begin in May LD1405062596 Moscow INTERFAX in English 0613 GMT 14 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW, May 14 (Interfax) — Consultations between the Russian government com- mission for a settlement in Chechnya and the Chechen armed opposition will begin this month, Nationalities Minister Vyacheslav Mikhaylov told Interfax Tuesday [14 May). This report may contain copynghted matenal. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV -96-094 14 May 1996 According to him, individual members of the commis- sion have contacted separatists but it is early to speak of that due to certain understandings. Mikhaylov stressed that so far only consultations are in question which in the future should develop into talks. The minister also found it possible to resume consulta- tions at the level of delegations that participated in the talks last autumn. Mikhaylov said he is ready tc head the government delegation again and sit down to the negotiating table with Khoj-Akhmed Yarikhanov who was the Chechen chief negotiator. He stressed the need for the head of the Moscow-backed Chechen adminis- tration Doku Zavgayev participating in the talks. Such tripartite talks can become an important stage in implementing the peace program of President Boris Yeltsin, the minister felt. On the meeting of Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and the head of the OSCE [Organization for Secu- rity and Cooperation in Europe] mission in Chechnya Tim Guidimann Mikhaylov stressed that they discussed OSCE assistance in organizing contacts. “We speak of their assistance, not of mediating the talks,” he added. The government commission led by Chernomyrdin is permanently working to carry out the presidential peace plan and Yeltsin has not simply proclaimed the settlement program but actively stimulates the process of its implementation, Mikhaylov said. Russia: Caucasian Confederation Offers Chechnya Mediation Services LD1305152796 Moscow ITAR-TASS in English 1516 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW, May 13 (Itar-Tass) — Amid continuing special operations conducted by the Russian federal security forces in Chechnya and dwindling support of separatists, the Confederation of the Caucasian Peoples has offered its services as a mediator in the organisation of the negotiating process in Chechnya. This initiative was made public after today’s meeting in Viadikavkaz between the leader of North Ossetia Akhsarbek Galazov and Confederation president Yusup Soslambekov. Meanwhile, federal forces killed 30 separatists and seized eight people on suspicion of complicity in the militant separatist activities. According to the federal military command, federal troops have set free two train conductors of a passenger train taken hostage by the separatist militants in December 1995. RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS 33 Fierce gunfire duels had taken place in Groznyy last night after mobile groups of well-armed separatist militants attacked 13 checkpoints and positions of federal forces in the city, sources in the commandant’s office of the Chechen Republic told Itar-Tass. According to the same sources, the separatists were particularly active in the Leninskiy district of Groznyy where they opened fire nine times at the filtration centre located there, killing one man and wounding seven others. A powerful bomb was successfully defused in the Oktyabrskiy district, and on Monday morning, a major operation began in the Staropromyslovskiy district of Groznyy, where the activity of the separatists was reportedly the highest. The operation involved more than 700 troops and officers of the Russian Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Interior Ministry of the Chechen Republic. Vice-Premier of the pro-Moscow government of the Chechen Republic Yunadi Usamov confirmed reports about the penetration of illegally armed groups of separatists into the residential centres of the Vedeno district from which the federal command is withdrawing its units. Usamov told journalists that the situation in that district was “grave” but stressed that the local inhabitants were favouring the peaceful settlement of the situation in Chechnya. Usamov noted that the groups of separatist militants were constantly on the move and the exact numbers were impossible to establish. Ruslan Marstagov, the press secretary of the head of the Chechen Republic, told journalists that resistance to the separatists was growing in other parts of the republic as well. According to him, the inhabitants of the district centre of Shali today disrupted the separatist attempt at calling an anti-government meeting. He cited eyewitnesses as saying that one of the field commanders, Aslanbek Alikhadjayev was beaten up by local inhabitants angered by his efforts to unleash rioting in the city. An operation to screen the true identity of residents was scheduled to begin today in the city of Urus-Martan after three air strikes over the past few days, Urus-Martan district administrator Yusup Elmurzayev told Itar-Tass. He said officers of the local police department and of the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs who were born in Urus-Martan are involved in the operation aiming to identify the separatist militants hiding in the city and locate caches of weapons and ammunition. This report may contain copyrighted maternal. Copying and disseminaton is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners od RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS Elmurzayev rejected allegations that the recent events in the Urus-Martz 1 district stimulated hundreds of people to join the ranks of the opposition. He was emphatic in saying that “none of the city’s residents joined the ranks of the illegally armed formations.” The district administrator also stressed that the local authorities maintained “normal relations with the command of the federal forces.” Sources in the Moscow Patriarchate’s external relations department told Itar-Tass that the dead body dressed as a priest which was found a few days ago near the admin- istrative border between Chechnya and Inghushetia was not that of Anatoliy Chistousov, the priest of the church of Michael the Archangel in Groznyy, who had been abducted together with a representative of the Moscow Patriarchate, Sergey Zhigulin by unidentified persons more than 100 days ago on the outskirts of Urus-Martan. The sources said the whereabouts of Chistousov and Zhigulin had yet to be established. As concerns the mediatory initiative put forth by Yusup Soslambekov during his talks with North Ossetia’s Akhsarbek Galazov, the latter promised to bring Soslambekov's proposals to the notice of the relevant bodies of federal authority of Russia. Russia: ‘Analysis’ Shows Chechen Rebels’ Resources MM1405115296 Moscow IZVESTIYA in Russian 12 May 9 pp |, 4 {Article by Vadim Belykh: “Second Front’ of the Caucasus War"] {[FBIS Translated Text} What has enabled the Chechen guerrillas to successfully resist the federal troops for almost 18 months now? Where do they get their increasing consignments of arms, ammunition, military equipment, trained mercenaries, and sabotage experts? In the article entitled “Chechen Transit" (IZVESTTYA No. 57) we described how the Russian special services are trying to answer these questions. At the time we only had at our disposal copies of certain reports and dispatches, which are regularly issued by the aforementioned services. This time we have been able to study an analysis report, a report on the ways in which the illegal Dudayevist armed formations are supplied. This “top-secret” document was distributed in late March to a number of leaders in the Russian power departments. Certain top state officials dealing with the "Chechen problem” were also familiarized with it. The information cited in the “analysis report” may be of varying quality, to wit utterly reliable, neutral, contentious, or false.... Nevertheless this long, top-secret FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 document does indeed exist. And, importantly, it is having a direct effect on the federal authorities’ acuons both in Chechnya and far from its borders. That is why we have decided to publish a summary of the “top- secret” document's contents. Tax on Blood You can talk as much as you like about the Dudayevists’ patriotism or, if you will, fanaticism, but you cannot get away from stating the obvious: Without lavish financial backing the guerrilla detachments would not have been able to fight for so long. According to the people who drew up the report, the Dudayevists receive least monetary aid of all direct from Chechnya. “Voluntary donaiions” are collected from the populatiun there, hostages are taken for ransom, and there is blatant looting. Schemes involving petroleum products play a marked role. According to the special services, petroleum products worth tens or hundreds of millions of rubles [R] are stolen in the Chechen Republic every day. The bulk of the revenue from such operations is used for the upkeep of the illegal armed formations. Sources of funding in Russia and the CIS countries are of far greater significance for the Dudayevist regime. According to the authors of the secret document, funds received straight from the federal budget occupy a special position here. The guerrillas’ leaders have various means of getting their share of the billions of rubles earmarked by the Russian Federation Government for the North Caucasus. Particularly the money passing through the State Com- mittee on Issues of Architecture and Construction, the Defense Ministry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry for Affairs of Civil Defense, Emergency Situations, and Elimination of Natural Disasters... There have even been cases of money earmarked for the organization of elections in Chechnya going straight to Dudayev's supporters. The Dudayevists are afforded considerable assistance by Chechen-Ingush communities in the CIS countries via a “voluntary tax" “to help their warring brethren.” In Kazakhstan the “tax” totals 10 percent of the national diaspora’s income. In Russia itself particular activeness in collecting money for the guerrillas has been noted in Moscow, Ivanovo, Irkutsk, Ufa, Nakhodka, Kamen-Rybolov, St. Peters- burg, Slantsy, Svyatogorsk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Kaluga, Yekaterinburg, Kostroma, Tver, Severodvinsk, Perm, Krasnodar, Omsk, Voronezh... This report may contain copynghted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 The annual aid provided by Russia's Chechen commu- nities alone to the Dudayevist regime is estimated by the special services to be worth at least R20 billion per year. What is more, the “analysis report" lists banks which, according to its authors, are controlled by Chechen- Ingush groupings and consequently may be involved in pumping money into the illegal armed formations. We think that the owners of these banks will be in- terested to learn of the capacity in which their ba- bies feature in the top-secret document, which may have already provoked some, albeit secret, actions on the authorities’ part. In Moscow alone, the document claims, the “black list" included Agrika, Arve, the Bank of the Church of Christ the Savior, Gagarinskiy, Drevmash, Iveko, Ivestbiznesbank, the Ostankino Com- mercial Bank, Mosstroyekonombank, Moselektrobank, Planeta, Profsportbank, Razvitiye, Romaton, Rosbiznes- bank, Rossiyskiy Kredit, Steyl bank, Stankomekhprom- bank, Sozidatel, Tepkobank, Tovnarbank, Tokobank, and Tkhabank. The report also refers to the Dudayevists’ use of branches of the Russian-Asian Bank in Maritime Kray and Irkutsk Oblast, the Irkutsk branch of Vostokinvest- bank, the Niyso bank, branches of the Siberian Trade Bank, Ironbank, Osbank, Groznyy’s North Caucasus Bank, and Estonia's Hansa Bank.... Money for War and War for Money According to the people who drew up the “analysis re- port,” the Chechen guerrillas receive considerable for- eign backing. But since no country officially backs the Dudayevist regime, aid — and I do not only mean finan- cial aid — comes through public and Muslim organi- zations. The document points to the following as being the most active: World Islamic Revival (Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan), the People’s Front of Azerbaijan (Azer- baijan), the “Gray Wolves” (Turkey, Azerbaijan), Dun- yavi Boz “urd [as transliterated; meaning unknown] (Azerbaijan), Islamic World, the North Caucasus Cen- ter, the Welfare Party (Turkey), Danerek (Turkey), the Caucasian-Chechen Solidarity Committee (Turkey), the Caucasian Mission in Turkey (Turkey), the Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt, Jordan), the Jordanian Aid Com- mittee for the People of the Chechen Republic (Jordan), the Society of Friends of Checheno-Ingushetia (Jordan), the Humanitarian Aid Organization (FRG), the Inter- national Islamic Salvation Organization, Humanitarian Initiative (Poland), Rukh (Ukraine), Ukrainian People’s Self-Defense (Ukraine), the Christian-Democratic Peo- ple’s Front of Moldova, nationalist organizations in Be- larus and the Baltic.... RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS 35 The Dudayevists receive the most aid from Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Amman [as pub- lished], Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan.... In September 1995 Ichkeria’s guerrillas were sent $10 million from Saudi Arabia alone, which had been collected by various public and religious organizations in Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia itself. But by no means all the money obtained is used directly for the war. A considerable proportion is simply mis- appropriated by guerrilla commanders. Corruption and financial speculation are an extremely painful problem here. The document contains information regarding the arrival in Chechnya in December 1995 of an unknown Amer- ican, alleged to be a member of the CIA, with three companions. There is every indication that he had no in- tention of spying, but carried out a very real audit. The results proved impressive. Thus, one Dudayevist “front” regularly wrote down “wages” for its 10,000 mercenar- ies although in reality it had no more than 1,000 men. The guerrilla commanders’ commercial activity is also cause for constant investigation. Gelayev, for instance, was suspected of obtaining $1.5 million abroad and bringing just $500,000 back to Chechnya. He is thought to have “invested” the missing million in his own firm abroad. There is also information that Salman Raduyev misappropriated around $2 million, which had been received from Yandarbiyev, then vice president of the “Republic of Ichkeria,” in order to buy arms and pay for volunteer militiamen. Two field commanders, who accused him of theft, died soon after in fairly strange circumstances. Then Raduyev himself was killed too. A full investigation was organized after several Du- dayevist emissaries, having received large sums of money to organize acts of terrorism in Russia, made off with the money... Continuous Flood In the article “Chechen Transit" IZVESTIYA has al- ready reported on what was said about the Dudayevist guerrillas’ supply routes in various reports and special dispatches from the Russian power departments. The se- cret “analysis report” says virtually the same. Notably with regard to the use of An-26's, which crossed the Russian border from Azerbaijan at an altitude of around 3,000 meters and subsequently landed at field airstrips on Chechen territory. The report provides greater detail about the shipment of people and freight directly through the Yarag- Kazmal- yar and Tagirgent-Kazmalyar border checkpoints on the Sumgait-Derbent-Makhachkala-Khasavyurt road rather This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners % RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS than via a circuitous route, by caravan trails. Accord- ing to the authors, the organizers pay the checkpoints $100 for every foreign mercenary, R500,000 for a ve- hicle, and R2-5 million for a truck. Military equipment is carried in Skodas bearing TIR international plates, along with MAZes and KamAZes. The accompanying documents list this freight as furniture, foodstuffs, and clothing... It also points out that Abkhazian territory is still being used by Chechen guerrillas for arms and ammunition shipments. It all arrives in the republic by sea and is then taken by various means across the mountains to its destination. According to the special services, there has recently been a dramatic increase in the number of Mi- 8's flying from Ingushetia and Dagestan to Abkhazia and subsequently landing in Agudzera. Finance for the Dudayevist formations arrives in Chech- nya via a combination of banking channels and courier. One of the people organizing the “money flow” is Baku inhabitant M.A. (his first name and surname are given in the document in full), an Azerbaijani and follower of the “Prophet Muhammad” sect. The delivery schedule is worked out down to we fine details. Thus, the “Dzhamagat” battalion, according to the people who drew up the document, is funded via the World Islamic bank. Funds from there are received by banks in Azerbaijan, cashed, and conveyed by courier to Chechnya via Dagestan. Cannon Fodder and Blue Blood According to the report's authors local young people, who mainly own firearms and are fighting the federal troops out of a sense of patriotism as well as for $200 per month, are valued the cheapest in the illegal Chechen armed formations’ detachments. The “work” of guerrillas trained in special camps and of most mercenaries is valued more highly, at between $2,000 and $5,000 plus bonuses for knocking out a tank Or an armored personnel carrier or killing an officer. Specialists’ services are valued far more highly. The Dudayevist command pays the closest attention to the quality of its men’s training. Several hundred guerrillas are being trained in camps on territory under their control under the leadership of instructors from Afghanistan, Palestine, and Azerbaijan. The report says that even before the war two battalions of volunteers were being trained in Azerbaijan near Agdam. They were sent to Chechnya in December. Pilots are now being trained for the “Dudayevist Army's” newly-formed air force. Several Chechen crews at an airfield in northwest Azerbaijan are re- FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 hearsing aerial combat. There is a base in the same republic at Zakataly where guerrillas are deployed. They are being sent to Chechnya by D.M., one of the leaders of Dunyavi Boz Gurd. Young Chechens (under the age of 18) were trained in sabotage in the period November through January 1995 [dates as published} in Crimea at Crimean Tatar camps near Simferopol (30 men) and Bakhchisaray (40 people). It is intended to use them to carry out acts of terrorism in Russia. The report also contains data regarding more remote training centers for cadres for the Chechen war. In Turkey, for instance, near Trabzon and Ankara. Until 4 September 1995 there was a guerrilla training base in the Afghan city of Ziarat Jah (Herat Province). It was then transferred to Iran near the city of Gorgan (Mazandaran Province). However, there are still plenty of training camps on Afghan territory. For instance, in the towns of Warsaj (Takhar Province) and Jabal os Saraj (Parvan Province). This is where not only Dudayevist guerrillas but also people from the Central Asian states, who are then sent to Chechnya and Tajikistan, grasp the subtleties of military art under the direction of instructors from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan. Around 40 Chechens have been trained at a base near the city of Khowst and in the Al-Khuldan [name as transliterated] camp. Incidentally, Shamil Basayev visited Afghanistan and Pakistan twice last year to modify his troops’ training programs. The Russian special services suspect that a separate Tajik guerrilla training base was set up in Pakistan in December 1995. Some 250 Chechens are currently being trained there under the direction of instructors from Egypt and Sudan. It is a three- or six-month course. Their main attention is focused on firearms training and subversive activity. Two 50-man sabotage groups were previously retrained in Pakistan. And a special detachment to combat ar- mored vehicles, comprising 40 people from every rayon of Chechnya, was also formed. But, come what may, Dudayev and Yandarbiyev, who later replaced him, have recruited a large number of specialists from various parts of Russia and abroad. Officers and enlisted men have been recruited from among federal troops and also from reservists. Du- dayev'’s emissaries in Arkhangelsk, Blagoveshchensk, Kostroma, Nizhniy Tagil, and Orenburg, Pskov and Sverdlovsk Oblasts, Taganrog, and Ufa, for instance, have been fairly successful. This report may contain copynghted matenal. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Uzbekistan’s Wahhabites are looking for people want- ing to fight in Chechnya among the young unemployed who have served in the Army. There are cases of Russian-speaking citizens of the former Soviet Cen- tral Asian republics, who possess scarce military spe- cialisms, being sent off to Dudayev on contract. In Afghanistan Shaykh Mukhammed Ali Akhund [name as transliterated) is training detachments of Taleban volunteers to be sent to Chechnya via Turkey. During the latter half of December 1995 around 600 guerrillas — Chechens and Afghans trained at Hizbollah and Muslim Brotherhood bases in Sudan — were sent to Dudayev’s aid. The document also cites specific examples of mercenary involvement in combat operations. In late 1994 Estonia's Kaitseliit organization sent around 100 people off to Chechnya. During the first half of 1994 a group of 12 people belonging to the Ukrainian nationalist organizations, the Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian People’s Self-Defense, were active on Dudayev’s side. Seven of them were killed during a clash with federal troops and two were captured. In late December 1995 around 100 Ukrainian National Assembly guerrillas made their way to Bamut via Baku and Derbent. Most of them have Abkhazian war experience. There is a mercenary detachment of around 80 men near Orekhovo. Among them are eight British subjects (Scots), one citizen of Saudi Arabia, and some Turks, and all these countries’ representatives speak excellent Russian. In addition the group includes Ukrainians, Balts, and Russians. The “Dzhamat" Wahhabite grouping (300 people) is considered one of the most dangerous. It mainly consists of Chechen citizens of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey.... Another Wahhabite detachment, which also numbers around 300 men, is led by one Abu-Bakr from Saudi Arabia. He previously commanded the “Fath” merce- nary battalion. A mercenary detachment of around 150 men has been formed in Azerbaijan's Belokanskiy Rayon by a branch of Dunyavi Boz Gurd. A group of 15 guerrillas from Saudi Arabia is based near the village of Kharachoy. The same number of Afghan mojahedin, who previously fought Soviet troops in Afghanistan, are based near Tsa-Vedeno. This document contains no specific conclusions or proposals. Although it is quite possible that there are even more secret appendixes which do contain all RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS 37 this information. We still have to find out how the “analysis report" was used and what steps were taken in connection with it. Russia: Coast Guards Open Fire To Warn Off Japanese Trawiers LD1405120396 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1121 GMT 14 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW, May 14 (Interfax) — A Russian patrol boat opened preventive artillery fire near the Southern Kuril islands in order to prevent an attempted violation of the Russian border by ten Japanese schooners. The incident took place at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, the press center of the information agency of the Federal Border Service told Interfax. The fast-speed schooners were fishing near Russia's territorial waters and were preparing to violate the border. The attempt was disrupted thanks to preventive fire. Economic Issues Russia: Lobov Outlines Energy Security Problems MM1405105296 Moscow ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA in Russian 12 May 96 Weekend Edition p 4 [Article by Oleg Lobov, secretary of the Russian Se- curity Council: “Energy Security Is Not Only Russia's Concern, but Our Neighbors’ Too") {[FBIS Translated Text) For Russia, the problem of na- tional security is determined not only by the coun- try’s military-industrial might, but also by its natural re- sources and economic and technological potential. This in turn is directly associated with the efficient use of fuel and energy resources. Only quite recently the couniry was extracting more than 600 million tonnes of oil a year. Production of the main types of energy sources took place with minimal economic losses, and they were sold at ultra-low prices. There seemed to be no particular need for concern about the state’s energy security. There were more than enough resources both for domestic consumption and for export needs. The reliable operation of the integrated energy system and the country’s integrity were a sure guarantee that energy would reach consumers in the necessary quantities. Today the situation in the fuel and energy sphere is radically different from before. Oil and coal extraction in Russia has fallen dramatically, the integrated energy system hrs been split up, economic links have been disrupted, and as a result contentious issues have arisen This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners 38 RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS that hamper the development of the CIS countries’ fuel and energy complexes. Furthermore the problems of exportation and transit of energy resources have become exacerbated, and the question of the status of the Caspian has arisen. All this is markedly delaying the development of the economy of all the states newly formed in the post-Soviet area, and constitutes a direct threat to their national security. In view of the key role of energy in the economic and social life of Russia and the majority of the CIS countries and our countries’ interdependence in the fuel and energy sector, determined primarily by historical factors, we are obliged to say today that there is a pressing need to coordinate actions at interstate level and tackle jointly the problems that arise. The consultative conference held a year ago on “Russia and Europe: Energy Security Strategy” confirmed the general mutual dependence of all the countries of the Eurasian continent in the area of ensuring reliable energy supplies to consumers as a necessary condition of the development of sovereign states. This is largely conditioned by the fact that for Russia, the biggest producer and supplier of energy resources to the CIS countries, the problem of energy security is articularly acute. Russia’s fuel and energy complex represents a vital ne- cessity for the economy and the social sphere, the main source of budget and foreign currency revenues, and one-third of the total volume of industrial production. Basically the fuel and energy complex is the sole guar- antor of the country’s steady development in the im- mediate future, and that determines its role and place in the system of national security. However, in present conditions even the slightest hitches in the work of the energy supply system can lead to very serious conse- quences for the country and for individual regions of it. In this connection a systematic approach to resolving energy security problems is needed. A concept of Russia’s national security is currently being drawn up. It will devote a significant place to the Doctrine of Russia's Energy Security, drawn up with the participation of specialists from the Ministry of Fuel and Energy and the Security Council. The implementation of its system of provisions and principles should ensure the steady development of the economy and society through the reliable functioning of the fuel and energy complex. The Russian doctrine is characterized by the fact that many of the threats to Russia's energy security also affect the interests of our neighbors to some degree, which is yet another argument for joint efforts with the CIS countries to ensure their energy security and our own. FBIS-SOV -96-094 14 May 1996 To come back to Russia: For us, the most difficult problems to overcome today are the economic threats to energy security. On the one hand, the Russian fuel and energy complex is a donor and driving force of the economy, on the other this donor is limited in its potential. Low efficiency of use of energy resources inside the country is one of the main economic threats. The energy- intensiveness of our output is 2.5-3 times the level of that indicator in the United States, the European countries, and other industrial countries, and that increases the burden on the fuel and energy complex and makes our output uncompetitive in the foreign and domestic markets. In the conditions of the decline in energy provision and the reduction in investments in the fuel and energy complex, a country with huge reserves of fuel and energy resources can experience an acute shortage of them. This must be overcome either by reducing exports or by restricting the country’s own consumers. Energy security is the prerogative of the state, and in this sense it is proposed to monitor at state level the energy situation and the state of the country’s energy security. We cannot see the resolution of the problems of Russia’s energy sphere in sector terms — these are intersector and interregional problems. At the present stage, measures of a macroeconomic nature are particularly urgent. The resolution of the problem of increasing investments and renewing worn- out equipment is the most pressing task as of today. The formulation of legislative principles — Russia's Energy Code — will promote legal stability, the growth of investment activity, and the openness of the Russian economy and the energy sector. We advocate the joint, mutually advantageous assimilation of Russia's natural resources. We must adopt measures aimed at preserving and ex- panding reliable markets for energy sources and opti- mizing the conditions of sale, and supporting national Capital participating in the foreign energy sector. We advocate dialogue, and we hope the number of participants will grow. Russia: TV Program Reveals Draft Plan for Money Reform OW1 305124396 Moscow Russian Public Television First Channel and Orbita Networks in Russian 1800 GMT 12 May 96 {Announcer-read report; from the “TeleUtro” program presented by Andrey Malakhov] [FBIS Translated Text] Hello. A draft program of extraordinary measures for emerging from the crisis This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 and restoring the national economy has fallen into the hands of our program. We do not know who the author of this draft is, however, there are clear indications that its compilers have party allegiances. The draft has been drawn up in case the candidate of the popular patriotic forces — uniting the communists, agrarians, and patriots — wins in the coming presidential elections. [video shows typed document with some paragraphs highlighted in yellow) Here are some excerpts from the draft: Elimination of the socioeconomic base of the counterrevolution will require severe and decisive measures for nationalizing and expropriating illegally acquired property in order to establish complete state control over the financial and banking spheres, income, and commodity money cir- culation through the economic, administrative and legal suppression of the resistance of the business bourgeoisie and organized crime. In practice, this should mean the introduction of a regime of extraordinary supervision of the economy envisaging temporary transferal of ex- traordinary powers, including legislative powers, to the highest powers of state administration. Extraordinary programs for freezing prices, wages, and incomes, as well as other progsams aimed at directly suppressing inflation, will be implemented. Public su- pervisory councils will be established with the aim of establishing public control over the functioning of en- terprises of general national and regional significance as well as enterprises playing an important role in the life and provisioning of population centers, cities, and ter- ritories. They will include representatives of party or- ganizations, labor collectives, trade unions, and other public organizations and representative organs of power. The supervisory councils will implement overall control over the work of enterprises ensuring that the activities of the enterprise management favors the interests of so- ciety and labor collectives. As we understand it this is a noneconomic method of administration. Purther: Comprehensive curreacy reform will be carried out. Exchange of cash in hand and money in savings and commercial accounts will be carried out at a ratio of one new ruble for 10,000 old rubles for sums and deposits that do not exceed 5 million rubles. A decreasing scale of exchange ratios would be introduced for larger amounts whose legality has been confirmed through a tax declaration and a taxation inspectorate certificate. Amounts of money exceeding 5 million rubles that do RUSSIA NATIONAL AFFAIRS 39 not have a proven lawful source of origin would be subject to confiscation by the state. With implementation of the currency reforms a nominal sale of expensive consumer goods and luxury items will be introduced requiring taxation declarations. The operation of currency exchange points will be suspended and all channels for transferring money abroad will be blocked. With the aim of strengthening the exchange rate of the ruble an administrative exchange of cash in the possession of and on the bank accounts of the population will be carried out at the rate of 500 rubles for one U.S. dollar. The exchange will be carried out over a period of three months in branches of the Russian Savings Bank with the exchanged amounts being recorded on citizens’ ruble deposit accounts. It is curious that existing benefits enjoyed by Great Pa- triotic War veterans and labor veterans will be expanded to include active participants in the resistance against the antipopular regime, defenders of the White House, par- ticipants in mass meetings and demonstrations, as well as people actively involved in the 1995-1996 preelec- tion campaign and party veterans. The system of per- sonal pensions for individuals who actively promoted the reestablishment of popular power will he restored. The draft’s authors clearly understand that, after prices and wages are frozen, interruptions will inevitably occur in the supply of food and essential goods to the popula- tion. It will be necessary to create special commissions consisting of representatives of the leading bodies of the KPRF (Communist Party of the Russian Federation], MVD [Ministry of Internal Affairs], FSB [Federal Secu- rity Service}, and public organizations for the implemen- tation of the following short-term tasks: Leading central and regional bodies of the KPRF must adopt measures to establish primary party organizations at enterprises of all forms of ownership, law enforcement agencies, and the armed forces. They must be given financial and organizational support to ensure the competent work of party organizations. It is essential to (reestablish) the duties of released party workers ensuring their financing at the expanse of funds allocated by the state budget for the maintenance of the management apparatus. So this morning you have something to think about! is report may contain copyrighted maternal. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners UKRAINE National Affairs Ukraine: Kuchma on Referendum for Constitution LD1305185296 Kiev UNIAN in Ukrainian 1630 GMT 13 May 96 {FBIS Translated Text] Kiev [no date as received] — Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma stressed that the success of a referendum on adopting a new Ukrainian constitution depends on local leaders influencing the progress of the constitutional process. Kuchma stated this at a meeting with members of the Association of District Councils Based in Towns. He emphasized that he did not want a referendum, but has been forced to agree to such a step because of parliament's inability to make specific decisions. He stressed that it was practically impossible to coordinate the draft basic law in parliament at the commission level. Leonid Kuchma noted that amendments had been made to the draft constitution so far and that he had agreed for the sake of compromise with parliament. In particular, keeping the provisions of a unicameral parliament in the draft constitution on a temporary basis. The president said the compromise decisions included increasing the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers. Kuchma stated in accordance with the new formula, the government is the higher body in the executive power system. He believes this should mean an increase in the government's accountability. At the same time, the president is convinced that a strong executive authority, concentrated in one pair of hands, is needed for the transitional period. Ukraine: Kuchma Signs Law on Crimean Constitution LD1305163396 Kiev Radio Ukraine World Service in Ukrainian 1500 GMT 13 May 96 {FBIS Translated Text] Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has signed the law on the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the document says, is an organic constituent part of Ukrainian leg- islation and has power over all of Crimea’s territory. Amendments and additions to the Constitution must be adopted by the Crimean Supreme Council and will come into force after being approved by the Ukrainian Supreme Council. Ukrainian law on the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is valid inasfar as it Goes not contravene the articles of the Constitution which have been approved and operates at the level of the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Signed by the Ukrainian president on 4 April, the law approves the Constitution of FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, adopted by the Crimean Supreme Council, with the exception of the preamble and a number of articles mentioned in the law. Ukraine: Marchuk Calls On Parliament To Accept USSR Debt, Asset Deal LD1305171196 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1652 GMT 13 May 96 {(FBIS Transcribed Text) KIEV, May 13 (Interfax- Ukraine) — Ukrainian Prime Minister Yevhen Marchuk believes that the parliament should ratify the agreement which transferred all the foreign debt and assets Ukraine inherited from the USSR to Russia. “If we signed the agreement, then, according to interna- tional law, it is valid,” Marchuk told journalists Monday after the Cabinet voted to send the document to parlia- ment for approval. He stressed the necessity of Ukraine keeping to a predictable foreign policy on intergovernmental debt payments. Ukraine, he said, “is trying and will continue to try to be extremely disciplined” in servicing its foreign debts. Ukraine made a deal with Russia which tied the agree- ments for the former USSR's debt and assets and the re- structuring of Ukraine's debt to Russia to another agree- ment transferring 36 former Soviet pieces of property to Ukraine for housing its diplomats, Marchuk said. But this was a “gentlemen's” agreement lacking a legal foun- dation, he said. Russia is refusing to approve the transfer of property. Ukraine: Police, Bank ‘Join Forces’ To Combat Organized Crime AU1305134496 Kiev DEMOKRATYCHNA UKRAYINA in Ukrainian 8 May 96 p 3 [Report by unidentified DEMOKRATYCHNA UKRAYINA correspondent: “To Join Forces in Combating Organized Crime — This Was the Decision Adopted by the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Industrial Investment Bank”) {(FBIS Translated Text} It is no secret to anyone that organized crime has found its way into the financial and banking sphere. It is enough to recall the notorious “Chechen letters of advice,” the fictitious trusts, or insurance companies that have robbed hundreds of thousands of trusting citizens to become convinced that this sphere attracts dishonest dealers like a magnet. They have at their disposal the most up-to-date technology and experienced “advisers.” It is, therefore, sometimes very difficult to crack crimes in this sphere. is report may contain copyrighted maternal. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Deeply aware of all of this, officials of the Main Administration for Combating Organized Crime at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ukraine’s Industrial Investment Bank decided to join forces. An accord on interaction in this sphere was signed by Yu. Vandin, first deputy minister of internal affairs, and V. Matviyenko, head of board at the Industrial Investment Bank. As is underscored in the joint document, the objective of this interaction is to combine efforts in an effec- tive struggle against organized crime in the sphere of banking and credit and finance relations, to prevent and uncover abuse of financial resources, embezzlement, bribery, and mishandling of credit resources. The doubling of efforts in achieving this goal will be accomplished at all levels — from rayon internal affairs departments and rayon branches of the bank to central apparatuses of the miristry and of the Industrial Invest- ment Bank. Such an approach opens up extensive pos- sibilities for large-scale preventive measures, exchang- ing various types of information which presents mutual interest, and offering mutual support in solving com- mon problems. This accord became possible owing to the fruitful cooperation between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Industrial Investment Bank, which has repeatedly granted financial support to law-enforcement officers and opened a charity fund for assisting families of those policemen who died while on duty. The in- ternal affairs bodies, in turn, render every assistance to the bank officials in uncovering and preventing crime in their institutions, and help prevent criminals from pen- etrating their system. Now, after signing the accord, this cooperation will become even more successful. We will publish regular reports on its practical implementation in the pages of BANKIVSKYY VISNYK [Banking News). UKRAINE Ukraine: Committee Protests ‘Cadre Purges’ in Crimean Mass Media WS1405083896 Kiev UKRINFORM in English 0715 GMT 14 May 96 {From the “Current Events” feature] {[FBIS Transcribed Text] As UKRINFORM’s corre- spondent in Simferopol, Crimea’s capital, reported on Monday, May 13, the recently instituted Crimean Com- mittee for Promotion of the Constitutional Process in Ukraine circulated a statement to express its growing concern over mounting “cadre purges” in the Crimean mass communication media, which have placed the con- stitutional process in jeopardy. In particular, the state- ment accuses the “Crimea” state-run television com- pany’s management CEO Valeriy Astakhov, his radio assistant Serhiy Hromov of sacking experienced televi- sion journalists and replacing them with workers, who lack both education and experience, but are well-versed in Carrying out anti-state and secessionist propaganda campaigns, quite often supporting the Ukrainian Com- munist Party's dubious platform and draft constitution aimed at perpetuating the "Soviet Power." The statement urges the Ukrainian President and the Verkhovna Rada [Supreme Council] of Ukraine to dispatch a fact-finding mission to Crimea to eventually put an end to such anti-national activities. The statement also suggests that the National Security Council under the President of Ukraine scrutinize the precarious situation and take steps to unsure Ukraine's integral information system extended to the Crimean Autonomous Republic. WESTERN REGION Moldova Moldova: Snegur ‘Might’ Initiate Referendum on Fate of Government AU1405114296 Chisinau BASAPRESS in English 2345 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text) Chisinau 13/5/1966 (BASA- press) — Moldovan President Mircea Snegur might start a referendum on confidence to the cabinet, presidential adviser Anatol Ciobanu told BASA. He said the president allotted the cabinet two weeks to submit a timetable to settle all salary and pension arrears Ciobanu said the plebiscite has juridical consequences equal to constitutional laws. Asked by BASA about the cabinet’s possibilities to improve the situation within two weeks, Veniamin Balan, head of the cabinet’s press service, said he lacks the necessary information to give an answer. Valentin Krylov, deputy of the Socialist Unity faction, told BASA that the referendum would be the “last weapon of the president in his struggle with the cabinet.” At the same time he said many Socialist Unity deputies think the referendum law should be modified to make it clear which problems can be put at a referendum. Krylov said many deputies deem that “the referendum has nothing to do” with the no-confidence vote to the cabinet. Sources from the executive board of the Agrarian Democratic Party of Moldova told BASA that the no- confidence vote to the cabinet should not be a matter of referendum. The cabinet will debate the salary and pension arrears at a meeting scheduled for 15 May. Moldova: Chisinau, Dniester To Discuss Interim Agreement LD1305173396 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1526 GMT 13 May 96 (From the "Presidential Bulletin” feature} (FBIS Transcribed Text] President Mircea Snegur and the leader of Moldova's breakaway region of Transd- niester, Igor Smirnov, are due to meet on Tuesday to discuss a draft interim agreement on the region's status. The draft document, to lay down basic principles for the settlement of the conflict, is based on the principle that the breakaway region, which calls itself the Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic, must remain part of Moldova, sources close to Snegur told Interfax. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 On Monday the draft, prepared by a team of experts, was discussed in Chisinau by Snegur, Parliamentary Chairman Petru Lucinschi and Prime Minister Andrey Sangheli. The accord would embody an initiative put forward by Russia. “President Boris Yeltsin believes that it is possible to sign a transitional document which would formulate basic principles for the status of Transdniester on the basis of the principle of the territorial integrity of Moldova,” Yuriy Karlov, who on Yeltsin's behalf mediates negotiations between Chisinau and Tiraspol, said last week. Moscow came up with the initiative after on May 8 a Moldovan- Transdniestrian meeting ended in failure. Under an earlier plan, the presidents of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Transdniester were to sign a memorandum to set out fundamental principles for a settlement and seal guarantees that Russia, Ukraine and the Organiza- tion for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) would undertake as mediators. The document, which was to be signed in Moscow in mid-May, would also be based on the premise that Transdniester is part of Moldova. After its signing work was to start on a law on the region's status. After talks held on April 24 experts were instructed to finish the main points for the memorandum by May 8. The next two weeks of daily consultations in Chisinau and Tiraspol resulted in an agreed draft. Smirnov, however, turned down the proposed document as one “which does not meet the interests of Transdni- ester.” Abandoning his earlier position, he rejected the principle that the region must remain part of Moldova. Moldova: Chisinau Protesters Demand Release of Ilascu Group AU1 305201696 Chisinau INFOTAG in English 1756 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text} Chisinau, 13 May (INFOTAG) — A protest action has been on for more than a week by now in front of the government building in Chisinau. The protesters are demanding from the authorities to undertake resolute, practical actions to liberate MP Ilie Ilascu and his comrades from a Dniester jail. They have been sentenced to different terms — and Ilascu to death — for committing acts of terror during the 1992 armed conflict in Dniester. Some two dozen protesters have erected posters which demand to free the political prisoners and call the public to join the protest action. They are blaming the govern- ment for taking “absolutely no measures” to liberate the is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 group. They would not listen to government's explana- tions that the liberation may only be achieved through negotiating with Tiraspol. The protest initiators, who are mostly Dniester armed conflict veterans, have appealed to right-wing parties for support and joining efforts. However, none of the parties have officially responded to these appeals. The strikers’ demands have been delivered to the Pres- ident, Parliament and Government. Last weekend, the Presidential Press Service distributed a press release stating that “the Ilascu group problem has been con- stantly raised at the Chisinav-Tiraspol negotiations, and by the status drafting teams at their sittings.” The press release also reads that on Snegur’s initiative a special medical commission has been set up recently. Headed by a presidential adviser Nicolae Lesan, it keeps under control the state of health of the convicts. The commission has raised donations for the prisoners’ fami- lies, which money allowed to purchase medicaments for the Dascu group. Moldova: Moscow Municipal Government To Help Gagauzia AU1 305201596 Chisinau INFOTAG in English 1756 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text] Comrat, 13 May (INFO- TAG) — The Moscow municipal government will help WESTERN REGION 43 Gagauzia in solving problems being faced by the local agro-industrial complex — e¢.g., in purchasing seeds, fertilizers and fuels, as was agreed last autumn at the meeting of Moscow and Gagauzi delegations. Currently, the sides are negotiating concrete cooperation issues, and the order of account settlement. Gagauzia, which is suffering acute financial problems and cannot purchase necessary items, will be repaying in ready products. Mr. Ivan Bejan, Deputy Chairman of the Gagauzi Popular Assembly, has expressed satisfaction about the way the contacts with the Moscow government are developing. He said these links are promising to develop into an efficient cooperation thank to which Gagauzia believes to solve not only its economic problems but humanitarian ones as well. In particular, Comrat is going to soon receive a big consignment of school textbooks to be used in Russian-language schools in Gagauzia. A Gagauzi delegation is preparing to go to Moscow soon to negotiate training of specialists for the Gagauzi economy in Moscow universities and institutes. First school graduates from this south Moldovan region will go to Moscow and try their luck at the entrance exams already this summer. 1s ibited without permission of the copyright owners. CENTRAL ASIA Tajikistan Tajikistan: Grachev: Russian Troops Will Not Fight Tajik Opposition LD1405093296 Moscow INTERFAX in English 0848 GMT 14 May 96 {FBIS Transcribed Text] MOSCOW, May 14 (Interfax) — Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev has dis- missed the possibility that Russian peacekeepers based in Tajikistan will retaliate against the Tajik opposition’s seizure of the Tavii Dara region. Units of Russia's 2O0lst peacekeeping motorized- infantry division “will not be engaged in active Operations against the Tajik opposition fighters who have penetrated deep into Tajikistan,” Grachev told Interfax on Tuesday. Rather, the 20Ist division will guard and defend state and vitally important facilities in Tajikistan, he said. “If necessary, Russian servicemen will help border guards prevent the militants’ breakthrough into Tajik- istan,” he said. Russian servicemen will use artillery, tanks and aircraft to support the border guards, Grachev said. Tajikistan: Tajik Communists Counting on Zyuganov Election Victory LD1305182796 Moscow NTV in Russian 1700 GMT 12 May 96 [From the “Itogi” program) {[FBIS Translated Excerpt] One of the main points in Gennadiy Zyuganov's election manifesto is the voluntary restoration of the former USSR. There is only one republic among the former Soviet republics which is prepared to unite with Russia on any conditions and under any political regime in Moscow. At any rate, that is the way our special correspondent Boris Koltsov sees it. He is just back from Dushanbe. [Begin recording) [Koltsov] Tajikistan is the only Cen- tral Asian republic for which the breakup of the Soviet Union is linked with the start of a civil war, which is still ongoing. Another characteristic of this republic is that the Communist Party of Tajikistan did not cease to exist after the disbandment of the CPSU. Incidentally, local communists think that it was precisely thanks to the October revolution that the Tajik State appeared in the world. [Shodi Shabdolov, caption identified as first secretary of the Tajik Communist Party] The formation of Tajik national statehood — though our Tajikistan is a multi- ethnic state — is connected with the name and activities of the Communist Party of Tajikistan; it was the FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Bolshevik party at the time. I have showed you the old banner. [Koltsov] However, having received the right to state- hood, the Tajiks lost their elite, the people whe make up the basis of any society. {Asleddin Sukhibnazarov caption identified as deputy chairman of the Democratic Party of Tajikistan) The Communists have still not admitted their past mistakes, have not admitted that mistakes were made, that we committed the genocide of a huge number of the civilized part of muslims, let's say. [passage omitted] [Koltsov] Those currently governing the republic inher- ited from the USSR a country being torn apart by re- gional elites, a people which has forgotten its roots, and its enemies — in the guise of their compatriots who remembered their roots. Under these conditions, it is virtually impossible to keep power without somebody's help. [passage omitted] {Koltsov) For the moment, Russia's interest in the re- gion is shown in guarding the border and maintaining coalition peacekeeping forces. Incidentally, the func- tion of peacekeepers has recently been reminiscent of some sort of humanitarian organization helping the re- maining Russians to survive, especially in districts far from the capital. The Tajik economy gets foreign cur- rency injections, also thanks to the Russian military: their pay is several times higher than the salary of the average Tajik white collar worker. However, there are not enough peacekeepers to help all the Russophone in- habitants, and their position in the republic is getting perceptibly worse. Single elderly people have a partic- ularly hard time of it. [passage omitted] Social difficulties, a complete lack of faith in the future, and nostalgia for the past are the most fertile ground for those who have always called themselves the defenders of the people. There are indeed a large number of communist supporters in Tajikistan. [Shabdolov] We understand that you can’t build social- ism in a single republic. However, you can move toward socialism through an alliance of fraternal peoples, and therefore — I tell you quite frankly — we are very much counting on the victory of left-wing communist and pa- triotic forces in Russia, which will turn the course of social development toward the people. [passage omit- ted] (Koltsov] It is not ruled out that officials in Tajikistan have taken up a waiting position. For example, President Emomali Rakhmanov refused to talk to our film crew about the ways toward integration, on the grounds that he did not want to interfere in the election campaign in Russia. is report may contain copynghted material. Copying and dissemimation is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 For the majority of the inhabitants of Tajikistan, the state’s sovereignty is for the moment linked with the loss of past prosperity, and therefore any form of unity with Russia will be accepted with alacrity — insofar as it is precisely with this that hopes for a better future will be linked. [end recording) Tajikistan: Intelligence Estimates 3,000 ‘Fighters’ on Afghan Border LD1305191796 Moscow Russian Public Television First Channel Network in Russian 1700 GMT 13 May 96 {From the “Vremya” newscast presented by Arina Sharapova] {[FBIS Translated Text] According to an ITAR-TASS report, the command of the Russian border troops in Tajikistan has taken measures to ensure the safety of the residences of military units and servicemen. {Begin Mikhail Nikulin recording} [Lieutenant General] Pavel Tarasenko, commander of the Russian border troops in Tajikistan, said in an exclusive interview that in the next few days the situation on the border could take a sharp turn for the worse. The general believes that intensive concentration of opposition detachments is taking place all along the Tajik-Afghan border. Military intelligence reports suggest these include between 2,500 and 3,000 fighters. The Khorog sector is currently considered the most dangerous. In this area of the Pamir the opposition prepared a massive operation to redeploy fighters from border areas of Afghanistan into the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan, and further on into the Garm and Tavildara areas. Mikhail Nikulin, Boris Aramov, Central Asian bureau, Russian Public TV, reporting from Tajikistan. [end recording] Tajikistan: Radio: Government Assault on Tavil Dara Unsuccessful LD1405113096 (Clandestine) Voice of Free Tajikistan in Tajik 0300 GMT 14 May 96 (FBIS Translated Text) Alarmed at their surprise defeat, Tajik Government forces launched a larger-scale assault on mojahedin positions [in Tavildara district]. Accord- ing to the latest reports, this assault by the regime's forces has alse been unsuccessful. Military sources of the Islamic Movement of Tajikistan say serious clashes continued yesterday (13 May] in the village of Taraghak, which links the Karaghach pass with) Tavildara district. Details of the clashes have not been reported. Military experts think that failure of the CENTRAL ASIA 45 {government's} Karaghach offensive would block one of the main roads through which the government forces enter Tavildara. Tajikistan: Clandestine on Protest by ‘Thousands’ in Khodzhent LD1405114196 (Clandestine) Voice of Free Tajikistan in Tajik 0300 GMT 14 May 96 {[FBIS Translated Excerpt] Thousands of residents of Khodzhent, the central city of Leninabad Region [in northern Tajikistan} have come out on the streets and squares of the city in protest against the policies of [Tajik President Emomali] Rakhmanov’'s regime. [passage omitted] The rally started after a 48-year-old businessman from Khodzhent, identified as Ahmadijon Ashurov, was killed by unidentified people. More than 1,000 of his friends and relatives arranged a motorcade and, after the burial ceremony, the agitated mass went up to the building of the regional administration and the interior affairs department and expressed their resolute protest against repeated violations of the law and disorders by the government. The ranks of the demonstrators increased yesterday, and new groups from the city and even from the districts close to the city were joining them every hour. Reporters say the demonstrators demand that the mur- derer of Ahmadjon Ashurov be found immediately and face open trial in court. They also demand that Depart- ment Six of the Interior Ministry be abolished, that local people be appointed to head the law-enforcement bodies of the region, and that fair distribution of humanitarian assistance be put under strict control. Yahyo Azimov, the prime minister of the regime; Pros- ecutor General Amirqul Azimov; and Interior Minister Saidamir Zuhurov came to Khodzhent to answer the protests of the people, but their talks produced mea- sures that did not meet the demands of the people. The rally participants did not accept a draft protocol to settle the contentious issues, as had been elaborated by rally representatives and the officials of the regime. Experts say that Rakhmanov’s staffing policy actually caused the protests of the people. As is known, the residents of Kulyab (southern region], most of whom are fighters of the so-called Popular Front, head the law-enforcement agencies of all districts and towns of the Leninabad region, and have taken these offices as reward for shedding the blood of their own people. A report has also been received that four restaurant workers have been shot dead by Interior Ministry Officers. The tragedy took place when armed men : = : Ss — is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners. ue CENTRAL ASIA refused to pay for their dinner. To the question of who will pay for the dinner, they answered that Rakhmanov would. The argument over payment for the dinner ended when the fighters of the Dushanbe government, who came along with Saidamir Zuhurov from Dushanbe, shot the four people dead. Experts predict that now, using the pretext of mass disorders, the rally in Khodzhent will probably be suppressed. Turkmenistan Turkmenistan: Velayati Arrives in Ashgabat, Comments on Rail Link NC1105083496 Tehran Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran First Program Network in Persian 0330 GMT 11 May 96 (FBIS Translated Text] Foreign Minister Dr. Velayati and his accompanying delegation arrived in Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan, last night to attend the ministe- rial meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization {ECO}. He was met at the airport by Boris Shikhmu- radov, the deputy prime minister who is also Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan. According to the special correspondent of the Cen- tral News Unit, our foreign minister addressed corre- spondents at Ashgabat airport, expressing picasure at the successful days ahead of the ECO. Velayati said: The Mashhad-Sarakhs-Tajan railroad, which will be- come operational on Monday [13 May] and the inaugu- ration of the shipping lines are among the ECO’s main achievements. Our foreign minister stressed that the opening of this railroad will have a massive impact on the growing trend toward cooperation between the regional countries and the rest of the world, especially with Europe. This rail link is thus of extreme importance to CIS countries and to Turkmenistan in particular, as these republics will henceforth have access to free waters. In answer to one of the correspondents regarding the West's position on the ECO's activities and the role of the Islamic Republic of Iran in that organization, Dr. Velayati said some of these countries were displeased, and he stressed: The ECO is a suitable framework for regional cooperation and the Islamic Republic of Iran is seeking to broaden this cooperation, especially with its neighbors. Our special correspondent dispatched to Ashgabat has sent a report on the convocation of the sixth annual meeting of ECO foreign ministers in Ashgabat, which we will listen to together: FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 {Begin recording] Greetings to the listeners of the morning news of the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The sixth meeting of ECO foreign ministers is scheduled to begin in a few hours in Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan. Our Foreign Minister Velayati, who arrived in Ashgabat yesterday evening, will attend the meeting. According to sources close to the meeting, he will present a report on the successful performance of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the completion and operation of the ECO shipping lines, the inauguration of the Mashhad- Sarakhs-Tajan railroad, and the implementation of the ECO airlines project. Speaking at Ashgabat airport yesterday, he stressed that the Mashhad-Sarakhs-Tajan rail link will greatly boost the broadening trend toward cooperatic among regional countries and with other countries of che world, especially Europe. At today’s session which will be attended by high- ranking delegations from all the ECO member countries, the results of the four-day efforts of ECO experts will be announced and the ministerial council will submit a draft of the joint statement of ECO member countries. The new format of the ECO secretariat, which will be permanently located in Tehran, will be laid out. Also, the ECO's performance for the past year, the strategy for cooperation among the member countries for the next decade, and the draft of the agenda for the upcoming summit session will be reviewed. The ministerial meeting will conclude on Saturday [11 May], and on Monday, the fourth ECO summit will open in Ashgabat. This is the special Central News Unit correspondent, Ashgabat. [end recording] Turkmenistan: Velayati Addresses Regional Economic Cooperation Forum LD1105123996 Tehran IRIB Television First Program Network in Persian 0930 GMT 11 May 96 [FBIS Translated Text] The sixth meeting of the ECO [Economic Cooperation Organization] foreign ministers, which includes delegations from 10 member countries, has started its work in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat. The meeting began officially with an address by Turk- men Deputy Prime Minister Shikhmuradov, and was fol- lowed by addresses from the heads of the delegations, including our country’s foreign minister, ‘Ali Akbar Ve- layati. Mr. Velayati told the meeting it is vital for the member countries to continue their mutual cooperation, and to focus on their joint and strategic resources. He said is report may contain copynghted matenal Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV -96-094 14 May 1996 ECO enjoys an acceptable status in the world, and that the United Nations and many other regional and international organizations are interested in close and practical cooperation with it. In another part of his speech, he stressed the achieve- ments of ECO, which includes the establishment of ship- ping lanes, the imminent formation of an ECO airline, and the inauguration of the strategic Mashhad-Sarakhs- Tedzhen railway. He said the railway will open a new chapter in coop- eration between the ECO member countries and, on an international level, will connect Europe to China. Mr. Velayati expressed regret regarding the volume of trade between ECO member countries and called for removing the obstacles which exist in the way of trade between these countries. He said the review of the Izmir agreement and a new organizational charter for ECO could have * positive influence on the expansion of relations between the member countries. Turkmenistan: Rafsanjani Holds Talks With Turkmen President in Mashhad LD1205110896 Tehran IRNA in English 0901 GMT 12 May 96 {(FBIS Transcribed Text] Mashhad, Khorasan Prov., May 12, IRNA — Iranian President Akbar Hashemi- Rafsanjani and Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov held a meeting Sunday morning in Mashhad, the capital city of Khorasan Province, in northeastern Iran. Niyazov, heading a 27-member delegation, arrived here Sunday morning to attend the May 13 inauguration ceremony of the Mashhad-Sarakhs-Tajan railway. He was greeted by the Iranian president. Praising the islamic republic for its efforts in imple- menting the project, the Turkmen president said this venture would certainly have a positive impact on the fourth summit of the Economic Cooperation Organiza- tion (ECO), to be held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 14-15. Scores of foreign guests from more than 50 countries, including the heads of the ECO member states, are expected to be present at the inauguration of the railway. Hundreds of domestic and foreign reporters have also arrived here to cover the ceremony. CENTRAL ASIA Turkmenistan: Iranian Contractors in Turkmenistan Highway Project LD1205134596 Tehran IRNA in English 1319 GMT 12 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text] Mashhad, Khorasan Prov., May 12, IRNA — Iranian contractors are to implement two projects in Turkmenistan, one concerning the build- ing of a highway between Ashgabat and Kuk Tappeh and the other for manufacture of optic fibre cables si- multaneously with inauguration of the ECO summit meet. The summit meeting of the 10-member Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is to be held in Ash- gabat May 14-15. Iran's ambassador to Turkmenisian Mir Abu-Talebi said here Sunday that the project for construction of the 50- km Ashgabat-Kuk Tappeh highway is expected to cost dirs. SO million and take three years to be completed. Moreover, manufacture of 700 km of optic fibre cable in Turkmenistan by the Iranian telecommunications company will take 18 months. The project will be completed with an investment of dirs. 21 million. The Iranian diplomat said that the new building of the Iranian embassy is to be inaugurated in Ashgabat in the presence of the Iranian and Turkmen presidents. Uzbekistan Uzbekistan: Projected Oil, Gas Pipeline To Benefit Uzbekistan, Others MM1305124996 Moscow ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA in Russian 13 May 96 p5 {Unattributed report: “New Trans-Asian Arteries” ] (FBIS Translated Text] Uzbekistani President Islam Karimov is pinning great hopes on the creation of a Central Asian oil and gas pipeline. This was stressed by the Uzbekistani head of state when receiving Marty Miller, vice president of Unocal, one of the biggest U.S. corporations, and "Uthman Kaldimir (surname as transliterated] of Saudi Arabia, vice president of Delta Oil. The participation of these two respected firms in the implementation of this important project, Islam Karimov noted, will undoubtedly have a favorable impact on the economic development of Uzbekistan and other Central Asian states. The visit of the Unocal and Delta Oil leaders ended with the signiag of a protocol of intent on prospecting and the development of oil and gas fields with the “Uzbekneftegaz” Corporation. An agreement was also concluded with the Uzbekistani Government on the implementation of a number of projects to build an oil and gas pipeline in Central Asia, whose implementation This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners an CENTRAL ASIA will make it possible — for Uzbekistan in particular — to develop its large-scale underground riches and export oil to other countries. Uzbekistan: Official on Uranium Clean-Up in Yangiabed LD1105165596 Tashkent PRAVDA VOSTOKA in Russian 11 May 96 p 2 {Interview with Valentina Mikhaylovna Ryzhova, head of the Main Directorate for Atmospheric Protection and Waste Reclamation, by unidentified correspondent; place and date not given) (FBIS Translated Text} A relevant decision by the au- thorities, dated 17 June 1994, provided for the destruc- tion of uranium mines and the technical radioactive decontamination and recultivation of some land in the vicinity of the town of Yangiabad in Tashkent Region. Almost two years have passed since then. What has been done in this period? What problems are there? This was the topic of our conversation with V.M. Ryzhova, the head of the Main Directorate for Atmospheric Air Protection and Waste Reclamation of the republic's State Committee for Nature [as published). [PRAVDA VOSTOKA] Valentina Mikhaylovna, please tell us first, briefly, what it is all about, so that our readers can get the picture. [Ryzhova] It is about a 70-hectare plot of land in the town of Yangiabad, where a special kind of freight- transfer base used to be situated. Uranium ore was extracted from the mountains, delivered there, and piled up. Then it was loaded into freight trains and transported by rail — as a railway runs nearby — beyond the republic for refining. This whole conveyor belt came to a halt recently, which is quite understandable. However, a contaminated area was left behind. In some piaces background radiation is as high as 2,500 microroentgen per hour, whereas the normal level is 60. Moreover, the road leading to Angren (near Yangiabad in the east of Tashkent Region) and Dukent [place-name as published] and haulage enterprises are close uy. A residential area is a little further on. There is virtually nothing between them, which gives cause for concern. Now let me tell you what needs to be done. Some half a million cubic meters of contaminated soil need to be removed and taken six to 13 kilometres away. About 600,000 cubic meters of clean soil must be delivered and spread in its place. It is also necessary to establish a special station for storing materials with low levels of radioactivity, to carry out radioactive decontamination FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 of buildings, to close down mine workings, and to dismantle mine buildings and installations. For this purpose, a special uranium mine destruction board has been set up, headed V.V. Iostochnikov, by a deputy head of administration of the town of Yangiabad. ([PRAVDA VOSTOKA] Vyacheslav Viktorovich fre- quently visits our editorial office. He wrote an article en- titled “Ecology in Yangiabad” in PRAVDA VOSTOKA in December last year. In this article he wrote for the first time that the implementation of this program was unsatisfactory. What kind of changes have taken place since then? [Ryzhova] Regrettably, no money has yet been allocated this year to implement this very important task. Only 12.5 percent of the work was carried out in 1994 and 1995. The stipulated schedule for this volume of work is 42 to 45 months. In other words, half the time allocated has already passed. Neither the board nor Istochnikov is to blame for this. Vyacheslav Viktorovich himself is an energetic and competent specialist. The obstacle is poor financing. The fact of the matter is that even the funds that have been allocated come via the Tashkent regional administration, which naturally has many other problems. That is why the transfer of money into the account of the customer — the board — is several months late. If there is no money, there will be no progress. Highly qualified specialists are leaving. This is really depressing. After all, the Yangiabad site, in this case, is the only testing ground of its kind, which ought to provide a lot of experience for dealing with similar problems. Similar work is still awaiting us in Uchkuduk, Zarafshan and Sovetabad... [ellipses as published] [PRAVDA VOSTOKA] This is a bitter legacy of the planned economy. What about the public, particularly in Yangiabad itself, Valentina Mikhaylovna — have they been informed of the radioactive contamination? {[Ryzhova] Some of them know, but some of them possibly have not even guessed it, although we are engaging in constant explanatory work. Even the coal extracted in that area sometimes contains radioactive contamination several layers deep. That is why special posts are being set up in some places. It is unacceptable for us to learn from our mistakes. We already have enough lessons from the past. {[(PRAVDA VOSTOKA] What contacts do you have with the republic's Ministry of Health? After all, this Case represents a probable danger to people's health. S report may hed 7 is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 [Ryzhova] We cooperated closely in the past. These relations are not working out very well now. Perhaps we ourselves are to blame for this. We are absolutely convinced that it is we who ought to deal with all technical matters related to the operations of economic facilities and their impact on the state of the environment. Meanwhile, it is for the Ministry of Health to organize environmental health studies to find out that a particular percentage of the public in a certain area is exposed, for example, to colds, that a certain number have sustained physical wounds and mutilations, or that so-and-so many people are suffering from purely specific illnesses caused by the poor quality of air in the atmosphere or by the impact of contaminated waste. I am aware that a law on state environmental controls is currently at the drafting stage. I hope that it will settle all these questions. As for the Yangiabad problem, it has to be tackled without delay. {[PRAVDA VOSTOKA] But how? The other day lostochnikov complained that instead of the 20 millien soms announced, the regional administration had granted his board only 2 million. Even then, there is no way of knowing when that money will reach the customer’s bank account. CENTRAL ASIA ry) {[Ryzhova] That is right, it all comes down to the prob- lem of funding. We recently wrote to higher authorities, stressing that if this state of affairs persists, completion of the work started in Yangiabad will be delayed indef- initely. Istochnikov is proposing that we return to the funding plan agreed in 1993-94, when the funds granted came via the following chain: From the State Committee for Statistics and Forecasting, to the Ministry of Finance, to Uzpromstroybank [Uzbek Industrial Construction Bank], to the bank’s regional and city branches, to the customer. I think that this system will improve matters — of course, as long as there is adequate funding. Obviously, we need to get rid of that contaminated site as quickly as possible, especially as it is a specific type of contamination, which can be detected only with special equipment. This is something that we must all remember. Careless- ness is unacceptable and unforgivable, if I may put it that way. This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners. CAUCASUS Armenia Armenia: Primakov Delivers Yel’tsin Message to Ter-Petrosyan NC1105130296 Yerevan ARAGIL ELECTRONIC NEWS BULLETIN in English 0752 GMT 11 May 96 {FBIS Transcribed Text] Yerevan ("Aravot" daily), 05/ 11/96 — The delegation, headed by Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeniy Primakov, has yesterday left for Baku, along with 67 Azeri prisoners of war. An agreement about the exchange of prisoners of war, based on the “all against all” principle, was reached during Primakov’'s visit to Mountainous Karabakh on 8 May, as a result of negotiations with the leaders of RMK (Republic of Mountainous Karabakh], involving Rus- sian Deputy Foreign Minister Boris Pastoukhov [name ‘a8 received] and Russian Co-Chairman of OSCE Minsk group Vladimir Kazimirov [name as received]. The del- egates discussed peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict with RMK President Robert Kocharyan. Pri- makov handed Russian President Boris Yel'tsin’s per- sonal message to Kocharyan [name as received]. Russian delegation has met with the Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan in Yerevan on 9 May, and handed him Yel'tsin's message in regard with resolution of the Azeri-Karabakh conflict. The sides discussed the opportunities for the development of negotiations for resolution of the conflict. Armenia: Russian Relations Should Improve After Elections LD1305155196 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1525 GMT 13 May 96 (From the “Diplomatic Panorama” feature) (FBIS Transcribed Text} YEREVAN, May 13 (Interfax) — Armenian-Russian relations should improve no mat- ter who wins the upcoming presidential elections, Ar- menia’s Ambassador to Russia Yuriy Mkrtumhan told a Monday [13 May] press conference. Russian President Boris Yeltsin assigns great signifi- cance to his country’s relations with Armenia, Mkr- tumhan said. “In his person Armenia has a great friend, ready to support the country in solving diverse and the most difficult issues,” he said. Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin’s visit to Armenia at the end of May, during which a number of economic agreements are expected to be signed, will be important, Mkrtumhan said. The visit will aid the development and strengthening of bilateral economic cooperation, he said, the level FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 of which now lags behind the countries’ political and Several Russian culture days are slated to be celebrated Armenia in September, he said. Armenia: Prime Minister Leaves for CIS Energy Meeting in Moscow NC1305164196 Yerevan Armenia's Radio First Program Network in Armenian 1600 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Translated Text] A government delegation headed by Armenian Prime Minister Grant Bagratyan left for Moscow for a brief working visit on 12 May. It will attend the International Consultative Conference on Energy Safety of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Armenian Energy Minister Gagik Martirosyan, Econ- omy Minister Vahram Avanesyan, head of the prime minister’s staff Vardan Sargisyan, Deputy Economy Minister Gregori Manasaryan, Armenian Ambassador to Russia Yuri Mkrtumyan, government spokesman Mar- tin Hurikhanian are included in the delegation. Armenia: Ter-Petrosyan Guarantees Stability for Foreign Investors LD1305172996 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1526 GMT 13 May 96 [From the “Presidential Bulletin” feature] The consistent implementation of the reforms and political stability are viewed as the basic guarantees by foreign investors, President Levon Ter-Petrosyan told an international conference on foreign itvestments to Armenia, held in Yerevan. He said he did not doubt that the Armenian authorities will remain strong enough to carry the reforms on during the next five years. “The economic reform, and democratization will be con- tinued and deepened against the background of polit- ical stability,” he told the participants in the confer- ence, among them many foreign entrepreneurs. IF Note: In accordance with the Law on Presidential Elections, adopted by the Armenian parliament, on September 2i Armenia will elect a new president. Presidential elec- tions are held in Armenia once in five years. The cur- rent president was sworn in on September 11, 1991. On September | the same year Armenia was proclaimed an independent and democratic state in accordance with a referendum. The current leadership has nothing to be ashamed of because “our work over the past five years was seen by all and vividly characterizes our principles and mode of 1s prohibited without permission of the copynght owners. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 conduct,” he said. The course for building a democratic and law-based state and creating a free market economy, is being pursued to this day. Moreover, this policy is irreversible, although a long time, possibly decades, will pass before we attain the set goals, said Ter-Petrosyan. In his opinion, Armenia has already proved that out of the former Soviet republics, Armenia was “more consistent” in implementing economic reforms. He also noted that he would not like to describe the reforms as “radical” for the only reason that “for many this word has a negative connotation.” "The results of the reform speak for themselves,” said Ter-Petrosyan. Analyzing the implementation of the reforms in Arme- nia, he suggested that the period following the attain- ment of independence in 1991 should be subdivided into three periods. The first period — from 1991 to 994 — was the most difficult one, as the main problem was that of survival not economic development. A great deal had to be done to help the regions which suffered during the devastating earthquake in 1998. “Add to this 300,000 refugees, economic and transport blockade and problems connected with the receipt and distribution of foreign humanitarian aid,” he said. The second stage began in December 1994, when Ar- menia began to implement reforms leading to macroe- conomic stabilization with the help of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Presently, he continued, Armenia is entering a new stage of economic development, whereby foreign investments are acquiring the decisive importance. “So the time for organizing a conference on investment opportunity was chosen correctly,” said Ter-Petrosyan. He said that “the most liberal regime of foreign trade”, adopted by the Armenian government was proof of the government's adherence to market reforms and its determination to broadly attract foreign investments. Another guarantee of successful market reforms, he said, is the creation of “basic social institutions without i even the most principled policy will remain " As an example of the correct course chosen by Armenia, he referred to the establishment during the two months of the Union of Manufacturers and Entrepreneurs and of the Agrarian Union “which unite those who want to work efficiently for the benefit of the CAUCASUS 51 Speaking about further tactical economic tasks he said that the rate of privatization must be accelerated, eco- nomic laws created and the banking system perfected. In addition to this, he said, Armenia is to tackle “a number of strategic problems” mostly connected with the problems of energy and external communications. This has to do with the foreign-economic factor, he said. In this connection he emphasized the importance of es- tablishing relations of friendship, partnership and close economic cooperation with Armenia's direct neighbors - Georgia, Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkey. “This is the most important and unchangeable principle of Armenia's for- eign policy as an independent state,” he said. He said that Armenia's relations with Georgia and Iran were “as excellent as one could ensure at the current Stage.” He said, at the same time that relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan are directly linked with the settlement of the situation in Nagorno Karabakh. He said he did not doubt that to some extent, the set- Uement of the Karabakh problem will help “normalize relations with Ankara.” Then the hitherto closed roads to Turkey will open and link Armenia not only with that country but also, through Turkey, with the entire Arab world, he said. He said he was satisfied with the cease-fire in Karabakh in effect since May 12 1994, and assured that on its part Armenia will make every effort to strengthen stability in the region. He also stated that Yerevan was ready to observe the cease-fire regime in Karabakh up to the conclusion of a comprehensive political agreement with Baku. Saying that the problem of regional stability worried potential investors, he said at the same time, that the situation in Nagorno Karabakh “inspires additional confidence in prospects for settling our relations with the nearest neighbors.” Armenia: Karabakh President Comments on ‘Conflict Settlement’ NC1305161296 Yerevan SNARK in English 1252 GMT 13 May 96 [FBIS Transcribed Text] Stepanakert, May 13 (SNARK) — NKR _ [Nagorno-Karabakh Republic} President Robert Kocharyan stated in an exclusive interview with SNARK that only the de jure recognition of Karabakh's independence by the world community can be seen as a tapid way of the conflict settlement. However there are several facts without which any resolution is impossible. wh ep Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners 52 CAUCASUS These are military and political realities; changes oc- curred during the was in psychology of conflicting peo- ple; the problem can not be solved by other parties, mediators can to promote talks but the conflict should be negotiated by the belligerents themselves. [sentence as received] According to Kocharyan, belligerents have difficulties in realizing the reality, sometimes the following generation is able to understand it. Azerbaijan will never rule Karabakh again. The crucial issue is to establish good-neighborly relations or an equal basis. The President considers this the most reliable and quick way of removing the consequences of the conflict. Armenia: CIS Border Troop Commanders Arriving for CIS Meeting NC1305174496 Yerevan Armenia's Radio First Program Network in Armenian 1600 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Translated Text} Matters relating to joint activity for the protection of the CIS internal borders will be discussed during the meeting of the supreme command of the CIS border troops in Yerevan on 14 May. Major General Levon Stepayan, commander of the bor- der troops of the Armenian National Security Ministry, told an ARMENPRES correspondent that all the CIS countries, with the exception of Azerbaijan, have agreed to attend the meeting. The working meetings have al- ready begun [word indistinct]. The heads of the del- egations, including Army General Andrey Nikolayev, director of the Russian Federation frontier service, have been arriving in Armenia's capital today, 13 May. Azerbaijan Azerbaijan: Aliyev’s Meeting With Rafsanjani Detailed NC1 305162396 Baku TURAN in English 0527 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text) Baku/13.05.96/TURAN — May 12 President Aliyev arrived in Iran's city of Mashad and was received by Iran's President, ‘Ali Hashemi-Rafsanjani, there. Deputy Ambassador of Iran to Azerbaijan, Afshar Suleymani, told TURAN Agency that the issues of mutual interest and related to bilateral relations have been discussed during the meeting. Mr. Suleymani has expressed hope that the current visit of President Aliyev to Iran “will improve the relations between two countries, which have worsened after Iran's non- participation in the oil consortium”, the diplomat said. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Today there was ceremonial opening of railroad string Mashad- Sarakhs and the head of countries of Central Asia and Transcaucasus participated in it. Azerbaijan: Iran To Join International Gas-Oil Project in Azerbaijan MK1405103596 Moscow NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA in Russian 14 May 96 p 3 (Report by Mekhman Gafarly: “Iran Will Take Part in the Shakhdeniz Project. Baku Has Ceded to Tehran One-Tenth of Its Stake in This Deposit Development Project") (FBIS Translated Text} The visit by a delegation of the Iranian National Oil Company (NIOC) to Baku to com- plete negotiations with the State Oil Company of Azer- baijan (SOCA) finally clarified the question of Iran's participation in the project to develop the Caspian gas- condensate deposit of Shakhdeniz. Last Saturday [10 May] the SOCA officially ceded half of its 20-percent stake in the project to develop the gas-condensale sea deposit of Shakhdeniz in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea to the Iranian Oil Industries Engineering Company. Commenting on Iran's involvement in the project, SOCA President Natig Aliyev has told jour- nalists that because “the main parameters” of the future contract have already been coordinated with the British- Norwegian alliance British Petroleum-Statoil and the Turkish TRAO, which have a 60-percent stake in the project, all other parties aspiring to join it are to accept these conditions fully and unconditionally. The singing of an agreement between the parties to the Shakhdeniz project is scheduled for late May-early June. Thus Iran is acceding to the project without apparently having to fear a recurrence of the situation with the Gyulistan project, which envisioned the developm: at of the deposits of Azeri, Chirag, and Gyuneshli and which it was not allowed to join because of U.S. objections in spite of Baku's conciliatory position. Via Iran's participation in the second international “project of the century,” Azerbaijan is hoping to consolidate its relations with its southern neighbor. Earlier, the SOCA signed memorandums with the Rus- sian Lukoil and the French Elf Aquitaine on ceding to them 10 percent of its stake, which was originally 40 percent. Meanwhile, Lukoil Deputy President Ravil Maganov did not rule out the possibility of an increase in the share of the Russian company resulting irom the cession of shares by the main parties to the contract: British Petroleum, Staoil, and the TRAO. He said, how- ever, that such negotiations can only begin after the main, production sharing, agreement is concluded with all the parties to the project. report may contain copynghted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 According to our sources the project participants have the following shares: British Petroleum-Staoil, 51 per- cent; SOCA, Lukoil, Elf Aquitaine, and NIOC, 10 per- cent each; and the TRAO, 9 percent. The British Ramco is also expected to join the project. The deposit's esti- mated gas reserves are some 400 billion cubic meters; gas-condensate reserves, 200 million tonnes; and oil, 100 million tonnes. The overall cost of the project is put at $4 billion. Azerbaijan: Baku To Take New Steps To Get Mutalibov’s Extradition LD1305134696 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1259 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text] BAKU, May 13 (Interfax) — Azerbaijani National Security Minister Namik Abbasov says he is sure that ex-President Ayaz Mutalibov will sooner or later be extradited to face treason charges in Azerbaijan. "I think additional steps will be taken to resolve the extradition issue in a positive way,” he told Interfax on Monday commenting on the refusal by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office to extradite the former Azerbaijani president, who was released from police custody after being detained in Moscow in April. “If the Russian side does not believe charges against Mutalibov to be sufficient now, use situation may change after some time as more evidence is being given,” Abbasov said citing those who were involved in the 1994 and 1995 events which Azerbaijan qualifies as coup attempts. The minister said there would be more talks on the issue of extradition. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office refused to extradite Mutalibov on the grounds that most charges brought against him do not entail imprisonment in Russia. Nor is there substantiated evidence indicating his involvement in the theft of weapons or the formation of armed units. Azerbaijan: Former President Mutalibov Intervie wed LD1305211396 Moscow NTV in Russian 1535 GMT 13 May 96 {Interview with Ayaz Mutalibov, former Azeri president by Pavel Lobkov from the “Hero of the Day” program — live] (FBIS Translated Excerpt] {Lobkov}] The Russian Prosecutor- General's Office has refused to extradite Ayaz Mutalibov, the former CAUCASUS $3 president of Azerbaijan. Mutalibov was accused of arms theft and creating armed formations. Today Ayaz Mutalibov, who was detained on 11 April, has been released from custody. [passage omitted] Today he is free and in our studio. Hello, Ayaz Niyazovich. Can you tell me whether late last night or this morning you were prepared to be released today? To what extent did you expect this decision? [Mutalibov}] Generally | was sure that this would happen, because | never thought | was especially guilty, although I have been terrorized in this way over the past four years. [passage omitted] I have never cherished any armed attempts to get back into power. [passage omitted] [Lobkov] I will read a brief quote to you: Today, Namig Abbasov, the minister of national security, said that sooner or later Ayaz Mutalibov, the former president of the country, accused of crimes against the state, will be extradited to Azerbaijan. I think additional measures will be taken to resolve the issue of Mutalibov's exiradition positively. {Mutalibov]} I do not deem the opinion of the so-called minister for national security.... {Lobkov interrupting} But he is controlling a power ministry, after all .... [Mutalibov interrupting} So what? Let him control it as much as he likes. Who is he, anyway? Who is he to judge the first president, a person who is now part of Azerbaijan's history? Who is he? He is just an official, let him do his job. I do not share his view at all. This is his personal opinion. It does surprise me sometimes how personal opinions by this sort of people are made public on the air and are then being discussed. What I am sure of is that sooner or later justice will triumph. {[Lobkov] Why do you think Azerbaijan's demands and your arrest was made so public in Russia and so much importance was attached to it? After all, it is no secret to anyone that the special services of other CIS country feel quite free and easy on Russian territory. While you have lived here in Moscow, have you ever thought that you might be kidnapped and taken to Azerbaijan? After all, the possibility exists. The borders are transparent. (Mutalibov] Absolutely, without doubt. This could have happened on 7 May last year. It could have happened this time, as weil. Everything can happen in these restless times. I do not at all rule out this possibility. {[Lobkov] Why do you think Azerbaijan's government thinks you pose such a danger to them. What do you This report may contain copynghted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners ss CAUCASUS think? Do they think that you will try to get back into power? {Mutalibov] No, that is not the point. The problem is that somebody thinks that I am trying to get back into power at all costs. But a person who is so obsessed with that sort of ambition, would have managed to hold on to power, anyway. He would have had his constitutional right to use troops both on 6 March and 14 May. But I did not take this option because at that time in society there was a clear lack of understanding. [passage omitted] After all this, the talk about me trying to plot an armed seizure of power; this is just delirium, delirium and paranoia from which the current authorities in Azerbaijan are suffering. {[Lobkov] But what about another former president Elchibey, your opponent? He was the leader of the People’s Front. He now lives without any problems in Nakhichivan, as far as I know, and nobody is interested in him. Why do you live in Moscow? (Mutalibov) Elchibey has found patronage in Turkey. {[Lobkov] Have you found patronage in Russia, then? [Mutalibov] I believe that what I am hoping to find in Russia is objectivity which has come to triumph this month. I was sure it would triumph. That cannot be called patronage. This is an objective approach to the materials crucial for a person's future. {Lobkov} Do you know any people here who would like to see you extradited or people who have protected you. {[Mutalibov] | would not know. Man is an island. It is possibie that certain people have plans of their own, thinking that I might be able to implement them. But their hopes are in vain. | am not a confrontational person. {Lobkov] Look, the Azerbaijani authorities can still at present use illegal means to resolve this problem. [Mutalibov] But that is up to their own conscience. {[Lobkov] Will you feel safe now, after your release. [Mutalibov] What is safety, anyway? What is safety? {Lobkov] Before your arrest, did you feel that you were being followed. Can you live with this sense of being hunted after? FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 {Mutalibov] I have lived with this sense for four years now, permanently under pressure. In my life people are always coming and going, agreements are being reached, letters written. I have already developed certain immunity. But generally, we are all human. {[Lobov] But what about your family? [Mutalibov] We are all tense and nervous. You see, generally speaking, this is a disgraceful phenomenon in Azerbaijan's reality, a Stone Age attitude to their fellow- countryman who, whether the current authorities want it or not. has entered the history of their republic. This is a Caveman’s, primitive attitude which does not add to their virtues and has nothing tod: ith the people. [Lobov] But there are also other oppor .uuities, and many leaders have taken them, leaving for countries, which have no extradition agreement with Azerbaijan. Have you got such an opportunity? [Mutalibov) I have no such opportunity. {Lobov] Why? {Mutalibov] Because I have not got the money to leave — something which cannot be said about the current leaders. If I had had such an opportunity, I probzbly would have taken it. They have taken care of their own future well in advance. So, they will have no such problem. {[Lobov]} But did not you think about this in advance. [Mutalibov] No, I did not have enough time. I worked six months after the elections, and that was it. [Lobov] But what is your feeling now, after having been released. Are you happy that justice has taken the upper hand? Or are you bitter that all this will go on. {Mutalibov} No, I do not think that this will go on. I have the feeling of satisfaction and confidence that incidents of this sort at state levels, | mean, at the level of state structures must not recur. {Lobov] Thank you, Ayaz Niyazovich. This was a very interesting interview. I thank you for coming to our studio. This report may contain copynghted matenal. Copying and dissemination is prohibited withou. permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Estonia Estonia: Vahi, Latvian Premier Sign Maritime Border Agreement LD1205174596 Tallinn Radio Tallinn Network in Estonian 1700 GMT 12 May 96 [FBIS Translated Excerpt] Estonian Prime Minister Tiit Vahi and Latvian Prime Minister Andris Skele met in order to discuss the issues of maritime border, in Rujiena in Latvia today. {passage omitted] [Begin Vahi recording, on telephone] The talks took place on the principles and basis of the Vilnius agree- ments. Unlike in Vilnius, this time we agreed the bor- der line in a greater detail both on map and according the coordinates. In order to avoid future confusion, differing understandings and interpretations, Skele and signed the map. The border is defined from Ainazi to Baltic Sea, to the point where the territorial waters meet Swedish waters. [passage omitted] The agreement is that everything above the border line is Estonian territory, where Estonian fishing rules apply. Everything that is under the line, is Latvian territory and Latvian fishing rules apply there. [passage omitted] Today we reached an agreement, today we signed the map, but the parliaments of both countries will yet have to ratify the agreement. We agreed that if the parliaments ratify the agreement, it comes into force, but if they do not ratify it, then, Clearly, one should seek solution from a third party, this is taking into account international law and asking international judges. [passage omitted] [end recording] Estonia: Ulmanis Discusses Russian Presidential Elections LD1305200696 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1526 GMT 13 May 96 {From the "Presidential Bulletin” feature] (FBIS Transcribed Text} President Guntis Ulmanis says the outcome of Russia's presidential poll can hardly mar Moscow’s relations with neighbor states, Ulmanis said speaking on national radio on Monday. Ulmanis said he did not believe that a changeover in a country as big and influential as Russia could bring about a crucial policy change within a relatively short period of time unless some other state backs such trends. Russia cannot change the trends of world development on its own, he said. Ulmanis said his country would have to change its position if Russian forces which insist on dealing tough with the Balts arrive in power in Moscow. BALTIC STATES 55 Ulmanis and other Latvian officials reiterated the need for Riga’s entry into the European Union and NATO as part of the country’s longer range foreign policy priorities approved by the government and legislators last year. On presidential elections scheduled for July 7, Ulmanis said his re-election was being supported by two out of the eight factions of parliament which is entitled to elect the head of state. This includes the Naticnal Independence Movement and coalition of the Peasants and Christian Democrats Unions, holding 8 seats each. Ulmanis said he was due to start consultations with other factions in the next few days. The influential Democratic Saimnieks party, which holds 18 seats, named Ilga Kreitus, parliament speaker and party representative, as its own presidential candi- date. Imants Liepa of one other movement called for Latvia and holding 15 seats was named as its candidate for the country’s presidency. Estonia: Two Russian Parties To Form Electoral Union WS1305124596 Tallinn ETA in English 0759 GMT 13 May 96 (From EESTi PAEVALEHT, May 11, p.3; Bulletin” No. 91/96] {[FBIS Transcribed Text] The two biggest Russian parties in Estonia, Estonian Russian Party and the United Popular Party, plan to form an electoral union for the elections of the local councils. “News Riigikogu Russian faction Chairman Sergey Ivanov said forming an electoral alliance was especially important in Tallinn where false tactics could be crucial. He did not exclude a possibility that they would find allies among the Estonian parties for the elections in Sillame and Narva. Member of the Russian faction Valentin Strukov told work- groups had been formed to held the negotiations over the future electoral union. Estonia: Russian Citizens Union Protests Charges Against Leader WS1405084496 Tallinn BNS in English 2006 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text} Tallinn, May 13, BNS — The Tallinn Russian Citizens’ Union (RCU) is protesting against what it claims is prosecution of the Estonian Russian Citizens Union leader, Yuriy Mishin, and is report may contain is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners. 56 BALTIC STATES appeals to the Russian Foreign Minister, Yevgeniy Primakov, to take the toughest possible measures against Estonia. “We demand that you apply a variety of the toughest possible measures to protect Russian citizens against discrimination by Estonian authorities," the Tallinn RCU writes in its appeal to the Russian foreign minister. The appeal, signed by the Tallinn RCU leader, Oleg Mo- rozov, also demands the recall of the Russian Consul- General in Narva, Gennadiy Yefimov, on the ground that Yefimov failed to send a consulate’s representative to witness the search in Mishin’s flat and in the Narva RCU headquarters. Mishin told BNS on Monday that he had nothing to reproach the Russian Consulate-General in Narva for. The RCU, being a non-governmental organization, only has indirect links with the consulate-general, he added. “Of course, if it turns out the consulate official could have helped me during the search, I shall give consid- eration to it in my future plan of action,” Mishin said. He promised to have a consultation over the issue with the Russian Foreign Ministry. The Estonian defense police launched a criminal case against Mishin last week, accusing hiin of instigating anti-Estonian sentiments. Under the Estonian Constitu- tion, Mishin’s activity is regarded as being against Es- tonia’s constitutional order and territorial integrity. On May Day, the former Communist Party ideology secretary in Narva organized a meeting in Narva with Soviet symbols prominently displayed and with outspo- ken criticism against the Estonian government. In the course of a search last Friday the defense police confiscated all materials concerning the activity of the Narva RCU. Mishin himself is not under arrest at present. Deputy director of the defense police, Mati Erik, said that Mishin’s activity had to be viewed in its integrity starting with 1993 when he actively participated in the organization of an anti-Estonian referendum in Narva. Erik found it was not necessary to arrest Mishin, because he did not present such great danger to the Estonian state. Latvia Latvia: Birkavs on Talks With Primakov at Council of Europe LD1005185996 Riga Radio Riga Network in Latvian 1300 GMT 10 May 96 (FBIS Translated Text] Foreign Minister Valdis Birkavs today gave a news conference at which he reported on his recent important visits abroad. He took part in the Committee of Ministers’ session of the Council of Eu- rope in Strasbourg, and in the meeting of ministers of foreign affairs and defense of the Western European Union in Birmingham. In London Valdis Birkavs met Nicholas Bonsor, the minister of state at the Foreign Of- fice. They signed a convention on the avoidance of dual taxation. Valdis Birkavs also [words indistinct] confer- ence, organized by the British Ministry of Defense and Foreign Office. At his news conference today, Birkavs spoke in more detail about the Council of Europe [word indistinct], where he had talks with the Russian foreign minister. [Begin Birkavs recording] Mr. Primakov expounded on Russia’s position on the European [word indistinct]. He told me that Russia is ready to take part in the Council of Europe. So starting with the problem of minorities, believing that Russia is ready to go a long way as regards putting its legislation in order, and working actively within the standards laid down by the Council of Europe, he mentioned going very far in the sense that it would also be necessary for the Baltic countries to improve the situation — using this word, together with the Baltic countries — and spoke about how one ought not to allow double standards in the Council of Europe. (Word indistinct] activity on refugees, on organized crime, on cross-border cooperation, on reinforcing the humanitarian aspects especially. He emphasized that Russia had joined the Council of Europe not to put pressure on the Council of Europe's [word indistinct] standards, but through the medium of the Council of Europe [word indistinct] the standards of the Council of Europe in Russia. Speaking about refugees, he talked about how one ought to [word indistinct) together with the countries of the Council of Europe. He also mentioned, together with the Baltic [word indistinct) and the countries of the CIS to bring about a situation where refugees, evidently thinking in terms of the broader category of people, remain where they reside, so that there are no great movements. Well, anyway, I interpret that as a desire to end the relocation of great masses of people from one place to another, which he believes creates great problems for Russia. [end recording) is report may contain Fee SP See pr pees is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners. FBIS-SOV -96-094 14 May 1996 Latvia: Two-Party Coalition Nominates Ulmanis for Re-Election WS1005122696 Tallinn BNS in English 0905 GMT 10 May 96 {FBIS Transcribed Text) Riga, May 10, BNS — The coalition of the Latvian Farmers Union (LZS) and the Latvian Christian Democrat Union (LKDS) Thursday Officially nominated incumbent President Guntis Ulma- nis for re-election in this post. Official support for Ulmanis’ candidacy has been also expressed by the Latvian National Conservative Party's (LNNK) Saeima faction deputies. Thus Ulmanis can currently count for support of 16 LZS and LKDS Board said at the meeting that re- election of Ulmanis will preserve the current balance of forces in the parliament as well as positively influence Latvia's international prestige. Ulmanis told the meeting that he is ready to continue his work for the next three years and, if re-elected, he would speak about processes goining on in the state more openly and boldly. Unity Party's Sacima faction had not yet expressed support for any presidential cand’ date. The National Harmony Party and socialist deputies are against re- election of Ulmanis. Until now, two presidential candidates have been nom- inated. The Democratic Party Saimnieks wants to see Saecima Chairwoman Ilga Kreituse in the post and the opposition faction For Latvia — its deputy Imants Liepa. Sacima deputies of the Equality of Rights movement plan to nominate next week the imprisoned former leader of the Latvian Communist Party Alfreds Rubiks for state president's post. Patheriand and Freedom union's Sacima faction also plans to nominate its own candidate. Latvia's Way faction plans to announce its stance on May 18. Until now, its representatives have expressed support for Ulmanis. Ulmanis’ presidential powers expire on July 7. Latvia: Military Cooperatioe With Deamark To Coatinue W3S0905 100596 Tallinn BNS in English 1900 GMT 08 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text) Riga, May 8, BNS —- Mili- tary cooperation between Latvia and Denmark will be BALTIC STATES 57 continued, National Armed Forces (NAF) Cmdr. Juris - Dalbins told a press conference on Wednesday. Danish Armed Forces Cmdr. Hans Garde said Wednes- day, concluding his two-day visit to Latvia, that his country has rich experience in setting up its armed forces according to NATO requirements, and that ex- perience could be shared with Latvia. He failed, however, to concretize what military assis- tance will be provided to by Denmark to the Baltic state. By now, Denmark has extended help to Latvia not only in the field of military education and training, but has also sent equipment to NAF. Garde said that cooperation has developed especially successfully between the Latvian and Danish air forces. Two Latvian peace-keeping platoons have undergone three-month trainings in Denmark, and one of them is participating in the ranks of the Danish battalion in a peace-enforcing mission in Bosnia. An agreement on cooperation between the Latvian and Danish defense minisizies was signed in January of 1994. Lithuania Lithuania: Foreign Minister Presses NATO Membership at News Conference WS1305083296 Vilnius ELTA in English 1524 GMT 10 May 96 [From “News Bulletin” No. 1007] (FBIS Transcribed Text} Vilnius, May 10, ELTA — Ac- cording to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Povilas Gylys, elimination of the Baltic states from the list of can- didates to NATO “would also be a loss to the North Auantic Alliance countries and to the whole continent”. European security is impossible without security of the Baltics, Minister Gylys said at the press conference on Friday. During the visit in Estonia this week Lithuanian Seimas Chairman Ceslovas Jursenas stated that “the Baltic States had a common sirategic aspiration — to integrate to European economic and security structures”. While pursuing this aim the three Baltic states can have perfect co-operation, but competing and looking for their own ways they should try to remain polite in politics, Lithuanian Parliamentary Chairman stressed. Minister Gylys described this Jursenas’ statement as “interesting and worth discussing”. This statement is reasonable with regard to the fact that “more security should be given to those, who lack it", Gylys said. is report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination is probabited without permission of the copynght owners. BALTIC STATES Commenting Russia's renewed threats against NATO's expansion, Minister Gylys said that he understood the pre-election atmosphere in Russia. Gylys said that such statements should not be overestimated, adding that he got information from one Russian Foreign Ministry official that such statements did not correspond with the official Russia's position. NATO's expansion was also discussed at the American Centre in Vilnius. According to the NATO deputy chief of US mission Robert Pearson, “Lithuania is part of Europe and must participate in creating its security”. Therefore, according to the diplomat, there shoud be no search for NATO's alternatives. Director of the Politics department of the Foreign Ministry Vygaudas Usackas approved the idea. “Indivisible security — common position of Lithuania and NATO", he said. On Friday the Lithuanian delegation headed by Foreign Ministry secretary Albinas Januska attended the meeting of NATO officials from 16 countries in Brussels. Lithuania: Group Seeks Simultaneous NATO Entry With C. Europe Countries LD1105154296 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1232 GMT 11 May 96 {FBIS Transcribed Text] VILNIUS, May 11 (Interfax) — Lithuania has demanded that its planned acceptance into NATO as a member be made simultaneous with the admission into the North Aulantic alliance of Poland and other central European nations. The demand was forwarded by a Lithuanian delegation at a “Sixteen Plus One” meeting with NATO represen- tatives. The main subject at the meeting, held in Brussels, was a “Discussion Document on the Enlargement of NATO” drawn up by Vilnius and handed to NATO Secretary General Javier Solana during his official visit to Lithuania nearly a month ago, a Lithuanian Foreign Ministry spokesman told Interfax on Saturday. The delegation sought to convince NATO that keeping the Baltic states out of the alliance would lessen Lithua- nia’s security and proposed that Lithuania be given an interim status in NATO similar to the country’s asso- ciated membership in the European Union, delegation leader Albinas Januska, deputy foreign minister, told reporters. A second Lithuanian-NATO meeting on the issue is scheduled for late next month. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Lithuania: Vilnius, NATO Consultations on Expansion Viewed -- LD1105140796 Vilnius Radio Vilnius International Service in Lithuanian 2100 GMT 10 May 96 (FBIS Translated Text] Consultations on NATO expan- sion were continued in Brussels on 10 May by Lithua- nian and NATO representatives. Basing their talks on a discussion document presented to the NATO leadership, the Lithuanian representatives gave an exhaustive explanation of Lithuania's position with regard to NATO expansion. One of the most important topics discussed at the meeting was how to guarantee that the expansion of NATO contributes to the security of all European states and not only to thai of new members. According to the head of the Lithuanian delegation, Deputy Foreign Minister Albinas Januska, the NATO representatives said that Lithuania’s proposal to disclose which state would be admitted to NATO, and when, in the process of NATO expansion, would be studied thoroughiy. The NATO representatives said that Lithuania's good relations with all the neighboring states, its active participation in the solution not only of regional but also of European problems — first of all its participation in the peacekeeping effort in Bosnia — already indicates Lithuania’s contribution, as a future member of NATO and EU, to securing peace in Europe. It has been agreed that bilateral dialogue between NATO and Lithuania on the expansion of the alliance should continue. In the first stage of NATO expansion all the partnership countries should be invited, because only in this way could Europe be secured against possible instability, believes Vygaudas Usackas, head of the politica! affairs department at the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry. He presented Lithuania’s position on NATO expansion and Lithuania's objectives in this process at a discussion on the expansion of the alliance held in the American Center in Vilnius on 10 May. Lithuanian politicians understand and support the efforts of NATO and the EU to strengthen ties with Russia. However, these ties must on no account hinder the process of integration of the cast countries into Europe, Vygaudas Usackas stressed. Speaking at the discussion, (Robert Turpin) deputy head of the U.S. NATO Mission, said that NATO considers Lithuania one of the most active members in the Partnership for Peace Program and as very important in the expansion process of the alliance. is report may conta; is prohibited without permission of the copynght owners FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 Audrius Butkevicius, former Lithuanian minister of de- fense and currently leader of the Lithuanian Independent Strategic Studies Center, says Lithuania will certainly not join NATO very soon; therefore, ensuring Lithua- nia’s security during the transition period is the most important issue. Our security today depends on Russia and not NATO, he stressed. Lithuania: Brazauskas Says EU Membership Possible by 2000 LD1005150696 Moscow INTERFAX in Fnglish 1336 GMT 10 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text] VILNIUS, May 10 (Interfax) — Lithuanian President Algirdas Brazauskas believes that Lithuania may become a member of the European Union by the year 2000. He expressed his view last night in his TV address to the republic's inhabitants which was devoted to Europe Day celebrated by Lithuania for the first time. According to the president, “Lithuania deserves to be a member of the European Union — since independence was restored, democratic reforms are being carried out in the republic; the country has ensured the main rights and freedoms of man, and the national minorities live in peace and accord.” Brazauskas also said that Lithuania is ore of few countries of Europe which signed agreements on neighborliness with all countries it borders on. “Lithuania historically orients itself on the values and ideals of the European civilization, that is why Europe is the only space in which our people can preserve its distrinctive features,” he said. Brazauskas reasoned the need of integration into the European Union also by the fact that this will help not only to expand the zone of stability and well-being in Central Europe, but will also strengthen the security of Lithuania itself. He expects that a EU membership will attract foreign investments into the republic and will enable it to join the international division of labor. Lithuania: Prime Minister Urges Russia To Return Bank Deposits LD1305121796 Moscow INTERFAX in English 1136 GMT 13 May 96 (FBIS Transcribed Text] VILNIUS, May 13 (Interfax) — Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Stankevicius has sent a letter to Russian Prime Minister Viktor Cher- nomyrdin urging him to help return the former Soviet Vneshekonombank's deposits to Lithuanians, Lithua- nia’s representative for the press, Vilius Kavaliauskas, told Interfax. BALTIC §* ATES 59 Stankevicius also wrote that during the talks in Visby, Sweden, at the beginning of May, Chernomyrdin stated . that the return of Vneshekonombank deposits to Lithua- nians was possible and promised to instruct correspond- ing agencies to solve this problem. The letter also says that the liquidation balance sheet of Vneshekonombank’s Lithuanian department was coor- dinated in Moscow in June 1995, and the $9.19 mil- lion deposited by individual Lithuanian clients with Vneshekonombank were frozen. The Bank of Lithuania reports that by the time Vneshekonombank’s Lithuanian department was closed in 1992, Lithuanian depositors had about $150 million in its accounts. No talks are being held on their return. Since March 1993, the Lithuanian government has made three partial compensation payments to depositors with the Vneshekonombank, each one worth $400-$500. Lithuania: Daily Ponders Problem of Asian Refugees MM1305160896 Moscow TRUD in Russian 13 May 96 p4 {Report by correspondent Yuriy Stroganov: “Lithuania: ‘Human Contraband"") (FBIS Translated Text) The mass suicide threatened by 46 refugees — Kurds, Afghans, Pakistanis, and Chinese — detained for entering Lithuania illegally has not taken place. They confined themselves to a short hunger strike, which attracted the attention of Lithuanian journalists to the problem. The refugees are housed in the border guards’ training center at Visaginas, and relatively acceptable conditions have been created. But the problem remains, a problem which is becoming very acute for Lithuania. The republic has around 800 illegal migrants in detention. What is to be done with them? The Law “On the Status of Refugees in the Lithuanian Republic,” which guarantees asylum and certain social rights, was adopted quite recently. However, there is no single place of detention for the migrants; they are scattered throughout the republic. And with the onset of summer Lithuania will again face a mass influx of Asian refugees, who mainly enter the republic from Russia and Belarus. The refugees from Asian countries are desperate to get to the West. Lithuania is a transit center. Certain groups of “businessmen” capitalize on people's lives and misfortune. One professor of chemistry from Pakistan reported that he had fled political persecution and had paid an unknown intermediary $4,000 to get him to This report may contain copyrighted material. Copying and dissemination is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners 60 BALTIC STATES Germany. The money has now vanished, there is no way back to Pakistan, and he cannot be returned to Moscow. According to the republic’s special services, an interna- tional mafia is involved in transporting illegal migrants. This is a highly profitable venture which is comparable, according to some estimates, to the drugs business. The information is that a guide obtains $100 for taking an illegal migrant across the Belarusian-Lithuanian border and $200 for the Lithuanian-Polish border. ...1 will never forget the faces of the refugees captured by the police near Klajpeda last year. The whole of their expression bespoke pain, sadness, and longing. The majority of the 67 refugees claim to be political refugees. They included, among others, a former colonel in the Afghan secret police; a former leader of the Kurdish Social democratic party; the former editor of a Kurdish newspaper, whose children have disappeared without trace; and two former ministers of Afghanistan. The majority of them had tried every way to get into CIS countries and were then illegally transported to the Zuvedra sailors’ recreational facility near Klajpeda, where they were abandoned. FBIS-SOV-96-094 14 May 1996 For the first time a group atilempting to transport “human contraband” was convicted last year. A small seiner was detained 50 nautical miles off the Lithuanian coast. The ship, which was designed for an 18-man crew, was carrying... 74 illegal migrants from Afghanistan and Somalia. One of them related how he had paid $3,000 each for the transport to Sweden of his year- old and three-year-old daughters and $6,000 each for the adults — himself, his pregnant wife, and his 70-year-old mother. Five sailors were sentenced to various terms, the refugees were granted temporary asylum, while the organizers were, naturally, not found. In the police's opinion, it is almost impossible to lay hands on the bosses of this criminal business. So long as there are reasons for people to flee there will also be illegal migrants, guides, and deceived refugees. And tiny Lith gpa is not capable of rooting out those Causes.... This is a U.S. Government publication produced by the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS). Its contents in no way repre xent the policies, views, or attitudes of the U.S. Government. FBIS collects, transiates, disseminates, and analyzes foreign open-source information on behalf of the U.S. Government. 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