October 14, 1997 
This Date's Issues: 1282 •1283

Johnson's Russia List
#1283
14 October 1997
davidjohnson@erols.com

[Note from David Johnson:
1. Fred Weir in Moscow reports on Duma's no-confidence vote.
2. AP: Russian PM Threatens To Resign.
3. Interfax: Duma Speaker Confirms PM's Threat To Resign.
4. RFE/RL: Chernomyrdin To Resign If No-Confidence Vote Succeeds.
5. Rossiiskiye Vesti: THERE IS NO EUROPE WITHOUT RUSSIA.
President Boris Yeltsin's Remarks at the Council of Europe Summit.
6. RIA Novosti: ACCORDING TO ANATOLY KULIKOV, HEAD OF THE 
INTERIOR MINISTRY, THE DATA OF THE SENSATIONAL US REPORT 
ON THE CRIMINAL CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN STATE "ARE SOMEWHAT 
EXAGGERATED."
7. RIA Novosti: THE "YABLOKO" FACTION DID NOT CHANGE ITS 
POSITION CONCERNING THE QUESTION OF NO-CONFIDENCE TO THE 
GOVERNMENT, GRIGORY YAVLINSKY SAID.
8. RIA Novosti: THE DESTINY OF THE 1998 BUDGET SHOULD NOT 
DEPEND ON THE GOVERNMENT "WHICH CAN BE CHANGED OR FORMED,' 
BELIEVES REPRESENTATIVE OF THE LEFT-WING OPPOSITION.
9. RIA Novosti: NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE IN THE GOVERNMENT MAY 
LEAD TO TREMENDOUS ECONOMIC LOSSES FOR RUSSIA, BELIEVES
BORIS NEMTSOV.
10. Toronto Star: Olivia Ward, Russia's promise to join mine 
ban a surprise move.
11. Russian-American Chamber of Commerce: "Russian-American Business 
Summit 2001."
12. RFE/RL NEWSLINE: IS OPPOSITION UNAFRAID OF DISSOLUTION? and
ZHIRINOVSKY ACCUSES NEMTSOV OF CORRUPTION and LEBED SEEKS 
COOPERATION WITH POTENTIAL CAMPAIGN RIVALS.
13. RFE/RL NEWSLINE: LUZHKOV BLASTS CHUBAIS and DUMA APPEALS TO 
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT and CONTROVERSY OVER PRESIDENTIAL FOREIGN POLICY 
DEPARTMENT.
14. Jamestown Foundation Monitor: CORRUPTION AND CONSPIRACY.
15. Reuters: Air fatalities in ex-Soviet Union fall sharply.
16. Reuters: Shevardnadze says no to closer CIS integration.]

*********

#1
From: fweir.ncade@rex.iasnet.ru
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 15:08:01 (MSK)
For the Hindustan Times
From: Fred Weir in Moscow
URGENT!

MOSCOW (HT Oct 14) -- Russia's Communist-led State Duma, the
lower house of parliament, will go ahead with a no-confidence
vote in President Boris Yeltsin's government Wednesday despite
fears that it could lead to an all-out confrontation with the
Kremlin.
"Passing a no-confidence vote is a constitutional right of
the State Duma, but it would not bring about a positive result,"
Mr. Yeltsin's press spokesman Sergei Yastrzhemsky said Tuesday.
"It is difficult to say what the president's possible
reaction might be."
Under Russia's tough, Kremlin-centred constitution, Mr.
Yeltsin has the authority to dissolve the Duma if it votes no-
confidence in his government twice within 90 days. In recent
weeks the president has repeatedly threatened to use this power.
Tensions have flared over Mr. Yeltsin's insistence that the
Duma pass an austere 1998 state budget, which would slash
spending for social welfare, industrial support and regional
subsidies.
Last week the Duma voted overwhelmingly to reject the
budget, but agreed to send it on to a joint commission that would
seek to hammer out an acceptable compromise.
But the powerful Communist Party, which controls almost half
the Duma's votes, indicated Tuesday that the commission's work is
going nowhere.
"We see no choice but to remind the government that the Duma
exists, that the Russian people elected it to do certain things,
and one of those things is to approve a proper budget for the
country," says Yuri Ivanov, a leading Communist parliamentarian.
"The budget the government proposes is inhuman and
destructive. If it will not compromise, we will go ahead with a
no-confidence motion and let the chips fall where they may."
On Tuesday Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin raised the
stakes by saying he will resign if the no-confidence vote passes
in the 450-seat Duma.
Mr. Chernomyrdin, Russia's Prime Minister since 1992, is a
conservative pragmatist who has managed to work productively with
successive opposition-dominated parliaments. 
Should he carry out his pledge to resign, it could destroy
the fragile peace between president and legislature and bring on
a new wave of political confrontation in Moscow.
"This is a game of escalating demands that will probably end
in mutually-acceptable compromise," says Nikolai Petrov, an
analyst at the Carnegie Endowment in Moscow.
"But the budget issue is the one thing the Duma has some
power to act on under Russia's constitution, and this is the
moment in which it must act."
The most likely candidates to replace Mr. Chernomyrdin,
should he leave the stage, are the young pro-market deputy prime
ministers Anatoly Chubais and Boris Nemtsov, neither of whom
would be acceptable to the Duma.
According to Russia's constitution Mr. Yeltsin can dissolve
the Duma if it rejects his choice for Prime Minister 3 times.
Despite the parliament's opposition majority it has only
once before voted no-confidence in the government, in 1995, a
decision it quickly retracted.
But the battle lines over the new budget are more firmly
drawn now than previously, and there would seem little room for
either side to compromise or retreat.

********

#2
Russian PM Threatens To Resign
By MAURA REYNOLDS Associated Press Writer
October 14, 1997
MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's prime minister raised the stakes today in a
government confrontation with the hard-line parliament, suggesting he may
resign if lawmakers vote no confidence in the government.
Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, is expected to hold
a no-confidence vote Wednesday -- a move that registers strong disapproval
in the government but has no legal effect unless it is followed by a second
vote within 90 days.
But in a statement broadcast on national television, Prime Minister
Viktor Chernomyrdin said his administration would not wait for three months
to resolve the conflict, which stems from a controversial deficit-cutting
budget proposal.
``I can only say now that the government will not be left to work
hanging in suspense,'' he said. ``Everything will be settled within the
bounds of the Constitution and not within three months as somebody is
hoping, but much quicker.''
Earlier in the day, the parliament leader of Chernomyrdin's party was
more precise, saying Chernomyrdin had pledged to offer his resignation if
the no-confidence vote is approved.
``He said that most likely, `I would insist on my resignation,''' said
Alexander Shokhin, who heads the pro-government Our Home Is Russia faction.
The Duma, which is dominated by communists, nationalists and other
hard-liners, has been moving for weeks toward a showdown with the
government over the 1998 budget.
President Boris Yeltsin has proposed an austere, deficit-cutting draft
budget, which is vehemently opposed by communists and others who want to
restore hefty state subsidies to the military and agriculture.
Originally, passing a single no-confidence motion was seen as a
relatively painless way for hard-liners to register their disapproval of
Yeltsin's policies.
But Chernomyrdin's resignation threat could change the equation and make
both sides more willing to negotiate a compromise.
The main candidates to succeed him would be young reformers that many
hard-liners in parliament would find more objectionable.
It is not clear if the communists have enough votes to pass the
no-confidence motion. Communists and their allies control the largest
number of seats in the 450-seat Duma, but they can't be assured of getting
the 226 votes needed to approve the no-confidence move.

********

#3
Duma Speaker Confirms PM's Threat To Resign

MOSCOW, Oct 14 (Interfax) - Chairman of the State Duma *Gennady Seleznyov*
told journalists on Tuesday that on Monday he met with Prime Minister
Viktor Chernomyrdin who told him he would most probably resign if the upper
house passes the vote of no-confidence in the government. 
He quoted Chernomyrdin as saying that it would be difficult for a prime
minister not trusted by the Duma to continue working, so the vote of
no-confidence will most probably be followed by his resignation. 
The Russian Duma will meet at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday to decide whether
to hold a vote of no-confidence in the government. 
Seleznyov told Interfax that the vote is aimed primarily at first deputy
prime ministers Anatoly Chubais and Boris Nemtsov. "The constitution allows
the State Duma to pass a vote of no-confidence in the prime minister. But
the others can walk around with their hands in their pockets and grins on
their faces," he said. "It's very easy to be deputy prime minister or
minister in this country because the Duma cannot remove them from office,"
he said. 
He said the procedure of passing the vote of no- confidence will be as
follows: Zyuganov will make a 20-minute speech on behalf of the initiators
of the vote, after which faction leaders opposing the vote will speak,
Chernomyrdin will answer questions and an open vote will be held. 
The procedure will take about 90 minutes. Undoubtedly, resignation is
not Chernomyrdin's exclusive affair. He will have to discuss it with the
president who is to take a final decision, Seleznyov said. 

********

#4
Russia: Chernomyrdin To Resign If No-Confidence Vote Succeeds

Moscow, 14 October 1997 (RFE/RL) - Russian Prime Minister Viktor
Chernomyrdin made it clear today that he is ready to submit his resignation
if the lower house votes no-confidence in his government. Itar-tass quoted
Chernomyrdin as saying that his Cabinet will not work "in a state of
suspense" for three months and that the issue will be decided within the
constitution, but much sooner. 
The Duma has scheduled a debate on a communist-proposed no-confidence
vote tomorrow. If the Duma votes twice no-confidence in the government
within three months, President Boris Yeltsin will have either to dismiss
the Cabinet or dissolve the Duma. 
Chernomyrdin, in a clear attempt to avoid a full-scale showdown, however
left open the possibility for compromise saying that he preferred "an open
dialogue" to "votes and rows." Today Chernomyrdin is expected to take part
in discussions on the 1998 draft budget in a conciliation commission,
including government representatives, Duma deputies and members of the
Federation Council. 
Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov said that if the
opposition-dominated Duma passes a vote of no-confidence in the government,
the Russian economy might suffer heavily. 
Interfax quoted Nemtsov as saying that a no-confidence vote could hit
the shares of Russian companies trading abroad. Nemtsov also said the
crisis could affect forthcoming privatizations of a number of major Russian
oil companies. 
Russia's privatization chief, Maxim Boiko, said earlier today that
Russia will auction off stakes in five major state companies before the end
of the year. 
Earlier today, Russian President Boris Yeltsin urged deputies in the
lower house to show "good sense" when deciding on a no-confidence vote in
the government. 
Spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky quoted Yeltsin as saying that a
no-confidence vote would have "no positive results." 
The showdown between Yeltsin and the Duma escalated recently over the
draft 1998 budget. A conciliation commission was formed to reconcile the
opposing sides after the Duma rejected the draft in its first reading. 

********

#5
>From RIA Novosti
Rossiiskiye Vesti
October 14, 1997 
THERE IS NO EUROPE WITHOUT RUSSIA

President Boris Yeltsin's Remarks at the Council
of Europe Summit, October 10, 1997

Esteemed Mr. Chairman!
Esteemed heads of state and government!
Ladies and gentlemen!
It is the first time that I address you at this high-level
assembly as the leader of Russia, a full-fledged member of the
Council of Europe.
The leaders of the majority of European countries are
gathered here in the Palace of Europe. I personally represent
156 million Russians. It is a great honour and huge
responsibility for me.
Eighteen months have elapsed since Russia has joined this
prestigious organisation of Europe's democratic nations. This
became possible thanks to the positive changes in the Russian
Federation and in Europe as a whole. As a result of the victory
of democracy in Russia and its joining of the Council of Europe
the "territory of freedom" has noticeably expanded. It now
covers twelve time hours.
We have come up to the point of jointly building a new
Greater Europe without any lines of division, a Europe in which
no country will impose its will on others and where all the
countries, both large and small, are equal partners united by
the common principles of democracy.
Today, it is precisely Greater Europe that can become a
powerful community, which is incomparable with any other region
of the world in terms of potential and capable of ensuring its
own security.
It imbues the indigenous experience of the cultural,
national and historic heritage of all the European peoples.
The way to Greater Europe is long and difficult, but it is
in the interests of all the Europeans to cover it. Russia is
making its contribution to reaching this goal. We have already
made substantial [progress in concrete cooperation with the
main bodies of the Council of Europe. Russia actively
participates in the work of the Parliamentary Assembly and
inter-government committees and working bodies of the Council.
Russian republics, territories and regions display
tremendous interest in the activities of the Congress of Local
and Regional Authorities of Europe.
The integration of our country into the European
democratic community proceeds very dynamically. The issue at
hand is not only the pace of such integration, but also the
qualitative contents of this process.
In a matter of several years we have turned from a
totalitarian country into a country which is open to the world
and boasts of a market economy, free elections and a free
press. Our country becomes part of the system of democratic
security on the continent. We will do the utmost for the
principles of democracy to become a norm of life for the people
of Russia.
Standards of freedom ought to be the same for all the
Russians, regardless of residence and nationality. They should
be the same for all the people, regardless of their number.
Our country actively participates in the settlement of
regional conflict. Armed confrontation has been stopped in
Nagorny Karabakh, the Trans-Dniester region, Tajikistan and
Abkhazia with our active assistance.
Having become a member of the Council of Europe, Russia is
developing cooperation with the law-enforcement authorities of
other countries both at a bilateral and a multilateral level.
We have launched a fundamental reform designed to
strengthen our judiciary branch and law and order in the
country, to protect it from corruption in the state apparatus
and from organised crime.
Russia has imposed a moratorium on the execution of
capital punishment. We strictly fulfil this obligation.
I know that the European public has been shocked with the
news of public executions in Chechnya. The Russian leadership
takes all the necessary measures to localise such
manifestations of Middle Ages barbarity.
As the President of Russia I will actively facilitate the
ratification of the fundamental covenants which we signed when
joining the Council of Europe. I confirm that Russia will
fulfil all the obligations assumed within the framework of the
Council of Europe. We will fulfil these obligations despite the
fact that certain forces strive to isolate Russia and put it in
an unequal position. These forces refuse to understand that
there is no Europe without Russia.
What I mean is the practice of double standards.
reciprocal mistrust, discrimination of Russian producers and
restrictions which continue to be imposed with regard to the
issue of visas to Russians.
Our country cannot put up with the fact that hundreds of
thousands of people, including our compatriots, have no
citizenship in modern Europe. I hope that this issue will be
settled in Latvia and Estonia.
I am talking of these problems from the rostrum of the
Council of Europe because precisely this forum overcomes the
Cold War notions quicker than any other.
We hope that the European community will continue to
support Russia's young democracy and out efforts to protect the
rights of Russian citizens and Russians living abroad.
Esteemed Mr. Chairman!
Ladies and Gentlemen!
The prime mission of the Council of Europe is the
strengthening of the humanitarian component of security on our
continent. 
People, their safety in all the dimensions--from the
natural environment to the right to acquire an education in
one's native tongue--should be in the focus of our attention.
And this task should be handled not selectively but
comprehensively, on the scale of the continent as a whole.
We should not search for differences. Quite the contrary,
we should develop all that brings us closer together, enhancing
the legal, law-making work of the Council.
We need an effective human rights system, "partnership for
democracy" on a Europe-wide scale. We need to create mechanisms
of preemptive legal and humanitarian diplomacy along the
Council of Europe line.
It is important to establish cooperation between the
Council of Europe and other European organisations, above all,
the Organisation on Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE.
All will stand to gain if we ensure coordination between the
European organisations.
The handling of European tasks requires reliable
personnel, above all, in the legal sphere and the sphere of
inter-state cooperation.
I suggest the drafting, under the Council of Europe aegis,
of a European program for training such personnel for the
Europe of the 21st century. We pin great hopes on the younger
generation of politicians. They are to continue our cause and
develop the democratic traditions to which the overwhelming
majority of European nations adhere at present.
Our continent has radically changed in the past decade. We
now have common tasks and a common cause. The Charter of
European Security is to consolidate all this at the threshold
of the 21st century.
In 1999, the last year of the 20th century our forum will
celebrate its 50th anniversary. I am sure that the Council of
Europe has every chance to enter the next century renewed and
projected into the future.
Our common goal is the well-being of every European and
Europe as a whole. Let us work together in the name of this
lofty objective.

********

#6
ACCORDING TO ANATOLY KULIKOV, HEAD OF THE INTERIOR 
MINISTRY, THE DATA OF THE SENSATIONAL US REPORT ON THE 
CRIMINAL CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN STATE "ARE SOMEWHAT 
EXAGGERATED"
MOSCOW, OCTOBER 14 /FROM RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT ANDREI
GALKIN/ -- The data of the sensational US report on the criminal
character of the Russian state, prepared by four former CIA
directors and distributed among the US congressmen, "are
somewhat exaggerated", Anatoly Kulikov, minister of the Interior
of the Russian Federation, said today in an interview to RIA
Novosti.
Kulikov has already read the translation of the report and
believes that "what is contained in it is not a news for the
Interior Ministry". More than that, the minister pointed out
that the document is "mostly" based on the "data of the Russian
law-enforcement bodies". 
However, the conclusions made by the authors, in
particular, concerning the control by mafia structures of the
power bodies and bureaucracy in Russia, and the criminal nature
of big business of Russia represent "an exaggerated picture",
Kulikov says.
The reason for such a misinformation of Western public
opinion, the minister says, lies in the desire of certain forces
at "the present stage of a relative stabilization of relations
between Russia and the West to hinder the inflow of foreign
investments to the Russian economy". The publication of the
report during the autumn session of the US legislators, the
minister believes, can be simply explained by the desire to
"guarantee greater financing of their power bodies".
Talks about the "threat" created by the "Russian mafia" are
idle fantasies, the minister stressed.
According to the data of the law-enforcement bodies of the
Western countries and the United States, "the share of crimes
committed by former Russian citizens in the structure of crimes
in these countries is less than one percent", Anatoly Kulikov
stressed. 

********

#7
THE "YABLOKO" FACTION DID NOT CHANGE ITS POSITION 
CONCERNING THE QUESTION OF NO-CONFIDENCE TO THE 
GOVERNMENT, GRIGORY YAVLINSKY SAID
MOSCOW, OCTOBER 14 /FROM RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT YULIYA
PANYUSHKINA/--The "Yabloko" faction in the State Duma did not
change its position and will vote tomorrow for the
non-confidence to the government. Faction leader Grigory
Yavlinsky told about this in an interview to parliamentary
correspondents today.
In addition, he stressed that the main reproach of the
faction to the government is "that the government-prepared
budget for 1997 proved to be unfounded and simply fell to
pieces".
Besides, Yavlinsky said, the government insists on the
adoption of "a tax code which will in the future worsen the
situation with the collection of taxes and the budget".
According to him, by pursuing this budget and tax policy the
government can not but understand that it "can not expect some
confidence in its work".
The leader of the "Yabloko" faction expressed his opinion
that in case the no-confidence vote to the government is not
supported by the necessary number of the deputies' votes, this
will signify "the lack of confidence not only in government but
also its allies in the State Duma in the person of the Communist
Party faction and the LDPR". Yavlinsky is sure that it was with
the consent of those factions that "all key decisions of the
government were taken in recent years".

********

#8
THE DESTINY OF THE 1998 BUDGET SHOULD NOT DEPEND ON
THE GOVERNMENT "WHICH CAN BE CHANGED OR FORMED,' BELIEVES
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE LEFT-WING OPPOSITION
MOSCOW, OCTOBER 14 /FROM RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT
ALEXANDRA UTKINA/ -- The 1998 budget ought to be "adopted in
time" and its destiny not depend upon the government, which can
be changed, or formed." This opinion was expressed in a RIA
Novosti interview by Alexei Podberezkin, one of the leaders of
the People's Patriotic Alliance of Russia, Chairman of the
"Spiritual Legacy" movement. 
The communists formed their stand concerning the
no-confidence vote to the government a year ago, he noted, when
the faction "tentatively voted" for expressing confidence in the
Cabinet of Ministers, declaring that it will request it to
report on the fulfilment of the 97-budget. During the past
year, asserted Podberezkin, no impressive results have been
achieved. "We are entering such a phase now when, on the one
hand, we must declare our position and, on the other, look for
ways of getting out of the crisis," said Podberezkin. The
parliamentarian noted that "there is nothing new" in the
communist-prepared draft resolution on expressing non-confidence
in the government, "it is a principled, but sufficiently old
document."
Speaking of the possibility of the State Duma's
disbandment, he said that a new composition will "represent
non-professional radicalism" and "will be less constructive."

********

#9
NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE IN THE GOVERNMENT MAY LEAD TO
TREMENDOUS ECONOMIC LOSSES FOR RUSSIA, BELIEVES
BORIS NEMTSOV
MOSCOW, OCTOBER 14 /FROM RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT REGINA
LUKASHINA/ -- The attempt of the State Duma to express a
no-confidence vote in the government may result in tremendous
economic losses for Russia, journalists were told by first
Vice-Premier of the Russian Government Boris Nemtsov today.
Nemtsov specified that the attempt by the communist majority in
the Duma to take such a decision may bring about a government
crisis and result is a great economic loss. This may seriously
affect the position of Russian enterprises on the foreign
market, while the stock quotations of the major companies may
drop considerably. The Vice-Premier explained that the funded
loans of the Russian joint-stock companies Gazprom, the Unified
Energy System and LuKoil are to be placed precisely next
November and December. Nemtsov said that if the communists
"realize their scheme with the non-confidence vote, this will
result in the leading national companies failing to receive
hundred of millions of dollars, which are necessary for settling
strategic and economic tasks. "It is unacceptable for us that
the communists are trying to orchestrate a government crisis
precisely at the moment when a corporatization of major oil
companies is scheduled. As a result, the treasury may lose
trillions of roubles in revenues which are intended, above all,
for the payment of pensions and wages," stressed Nemtsov. 

********* 

#10
Toronto Star
14 October 1997
[for personal use only]
Russia's promise to join mine ban a surprise move 
By Olivia Ward 
Toronto Star European Bureau 

MOSCOW - In a dramatic departure from Russian military doctrine, Boris
Yeltsin gave the Ottawa convention on banning anti-personnel land mines its
biggest boost by becoming the first major world power to sign on to it.
The announcement was a surprise, coming as a group fighting for the ban
won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, and casting a dim light on the United
States, which has dragged its heels on the treaty.
``I will tell you that we accept . . . and will work to reach a solution
and sign the convention,'' Yeltsin said at a Council of Europe summit in
Strasbourg, France last Friday.
For years Russia has resisted the ban because its disintegrating army has
made increasing use of the deadly weapons.
``Mines are defensive weapons,'' says Paul Castella of the International
Committee of the Red Cross in Moscow. ``They're cheap and simple to use and
they're a vital part of former Soviet military doctrine.''
Russia's military is surrounded by countries that it has at one time or
another subdued by force. When trouble looms on its borders, military
analysts say, it sees mines as the most efficient protection, eliminating
the need for vulnerable troops.
The ban is not likely to win applause from troop commanders who have to
cope with a shortage of manpower, and often, equipment.
Russia has recently mined the borders of separatist Chechnya where
kidnappers and smugglers make forays into southern Russia. The 21-month war
in Chechnya turned the spotlight on the weakness of the Russian Army,
poorly trained and disciplined, half-starved and under equipped.
With a new professional army far down the road, military commanders
believe that using mines to protect their positions against the enemy makes
sense.
The same tactics were used by former Soviet troops fighting in separatist
wars in Abkhazia in northwestern Georgia and the largely Armenian enclave
of Nagorno Karabakh in Azerbaijan. 
Afghanistan, where the Soviet Union fought a bitter and lengthy war, has
an estimated 10 million land mines strewn over the mountainous territory by
Soviet and Islamic forces.
Russia still has uncounted numbers of mines left over from World War II,
which occasionally maim and kill unsuspecting people.
Most recently, Chechnya has been devastated by mines which were dropped
from Russian planes in the most remote areas.
In the decimated village of Goiskoye south of Grozny, families are unable
to grow the food they need to see them through the hard winter because the
land is too dangerous to till.
``We don't have much to offer, I'm afraid,'' villager Fatima Umarova
apologized to visitors last spring. ``We have just put our house back
together after the bombing. But we couldn't do any planting or harvesting
because of the mines.''
A war survivor with one neighbour dead and five others injured less than
a kilometre away, she will not let her sons venture into the fields.
``There is an urgent need for demining in Chechnya,'' says a report by
the HALO Trust, a British charity dedicated to ridding hazardous areas of
their unwanted explosive debris.
The Trust, made up mostly of retired British army officers, recently sent
a team to Chechnya to draw up a plan for clearing the land. 
They estimated that 12 months of intensive work, costing slightly less
than $1 million (U.S.) would be needed to make the tiny republic safe.
Russia is a party to a protocol of the 1980 United Nations convention
restricting the use of anti-personnel mines, although it formerly refused
to support a blanket ban.
But mapping of mine fields, as the protocol decrees, is lax or
non-existent in the former Soviet Union, and maps that existed quickly
disappear after the troops disband.
According to a spokesperson for the official Russian arms seller
Rosvooruzheniye, Moscow is abiding by an international export embargo and
no more of the mines are sold outside the country. 
For Chechnya, and other former Soviet conflict zones, the near-term
prospects for doing away with anti-personnel mines may also be bleak as
long as Russia is caught in its vicious circle of corruption, nostalgia for
its old empire and economic and military collapse.

*********

#11
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 22:44:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: Russian-American Chamber of Commerce <russia@rmi.net> 
Subject: "Russian-American Business Summit 2001" October 22, 1997 
in Washington D.C.

Dear Mr. Johnson,

Following is information on the fifth annual conference of the
Russian-American Chamber of Commerce¨. This may be of interest to
other JRL readers. 
If space is available in your next list, please include. 

Sincerely, 
Damon C. O'Neill

Upcoming Conference Notice! You Won't Want to Miss It!
Russian-American Business Summit 2001
Washington D.C.
October 22, 1997
For Immediate Release

Denver, Colorado, October 13, 1997. The Russian-American Chamber of
Commerce¨ today released additional details on its 1997 national annual
conference "Russian-American Business Summit 2001" to be held October
22, 1997 at the Sheraton City Centre in Washington, D.C. This one-day
event will focus on analyzing the latest business issues of importance
to American companies in Russia. Corporate sponsors include 3M,
American Express, Arthur Andersen, Corning, DirectNet, FATA Hunter,
Finnair, Global One, Havens Steel, IBM, Lockheed Martin and PepsiCo. A
special gala reception "Tribute to the Flourishing of U.S.-Russian
Relations in the 21st Century" will be held at the Embassy of the
Russian Federation hosted by Russian Ambassador to the U.S., His
Excellency Yuli M. Vorontsov in the evening.
The Chamber's annual D.C. conference is the single, best and most
authoritative conference offered in the U.S. on American business with
Russia. It is sponsored by American companies for American companies. A
host of executives and specialists will focus on and emphasize practical
business issues, and the latest political, economic and business
developments in Russia. Special sessions and panels include one on the
Russian telecommunications industry "Why RussiaŐs Telecom Industry is
Flying High" and one on companies' success strategies. Participants will
learn the latest on what prominent companies are doing in Russia; will
enjoy a session on managing your workforce in Russia and will hear
multiple industry reports from senior executives.
The annual D.C. meeting of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce¨
has become a magnet drawing business leaders from across the country to
discuss Russia's latest business developments and to get acquainted with
industries diverse from their own. The Chamber's state-of-the-art
knowledge of the Russian business environment provides participants with
valuable knowledge and information often difficult to find elsewhere.
This conference is by invitation only.
Participating companies include 3M, American Express, Arnold & Porter,
Columbia University, Corning, Cyprus Amax Minerals Company, DirectNet,
Embassy of the Russian Federation, FATA Hunter, Finnair, Global One,
Hewlett-Packard, Hughes Network Systems, IBM, IRIDIUM, Lockheed Martin,
Lucent Technologies, PepsiCo, Shimoda Capital, Steptoe & Johnson and
many more. Endorsers include the Embassy of the Russian Federation and
the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation.
The event begins 8:30 a.m. the morning of October 22 at the Sheraton
City Centre and ends the same afternoon at 5:00 p.m. The conference is
followed by the Russian Embassy Gala Reception at the Embassy of the
Russian Federation at 7:00 p.m. World-class jazz entertainment will be
provided by Keter Betts & Quartet.
For more information or to register for the conference call the
Russian-American Chamber of Commerce¨ at (303)745-0757 or fax: 
(303)745-0776. Johnson's Russia List readers will receive the special
membership rate of $295. Look for up-to-date conference information on
our Web site at http://www.rmi.net/racc. Our e-mail address is
russia@rmi.net.
Sponsored by American Industry for American Industry

********

#12
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 1, No. 138, Part I, 14 October 1997

IS OPPOSITION UNAFRAID OF DISSOLUTION? Duma Legislation
Committee Chairman Anatolii Lukyanov, a prominent Communist,
told RFE/RL's Moscow bureau on 14 October that the Communist
Party does not fear the dissolution of the Duma. If early
parliamentary elections are held, Lukyanov added, the left
opposition will win even more seats. Communist Party leader
Gennadii Zyuganov announced the same day that his party will insist
on a no-confidence vote on 15 October despite rumors that
Chernomyrdin may resign, Interfax reported. Duma Defense
Committee Chairman Lev Rokhlin on 13 October said his Movement
in Support of the Army also favors a no-confidence vote, RFE/RL's
Moscow bureau reported. Rokhlin predicted that if Yeltsin disbands
the Duma, "patriotically-minded forces" will win a majority of seats
in the next parliamentary elections. Opinion within the Communist
Duma faction is reportedly divided over whether to pass two no-
confidence votes and risk the Duma's dissolution.

ZHIRINOVSKY ACCUSES NEMTSOV OF CORRUPTION. Liberal
Democratic Party of Russia leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky has again
accused First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov of taking bribes
and embezzling a total of $18 million while serving as governor of
Nizhnii Novgorod Oblast, ITAR-TASS reported on 13 October.
According to "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 14 October, the businessman
Andrei Klimentev, who first lodged the accusations against Nemtsov,
was scheduled to testify before a Duma commission on corruption
and to give a press conference in the capital. However, the Nizhnii
Novgorod Oblast Court did not allow Klimentev to leave the region,
because he is under criminal investigation. Nemtsov's lawyer, Vitalii
Khavkin, has dismissed the accusations as lies intended to damage
Nemtsov's political career. Khavkin said that in the summer, Nemtsov
requested that the Prosecutor-General's Office open a slander case
against Klimentev (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 August 1997).

LEBED SEEKS COOPERATION WITH POTENTIAL CAMPAIGN RIVALS.
Former Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed says he hopes to
cooperate with both Moscow Mayor Luzhkov and with Yabloko
leader Grigorii Yavlinskii during the next presidential campaign,
scheduled for 2000. In an interview published in "Komsomolskaya
pravda" on 11 October, Lebed said he is also ready to work with First
Deputy Prime Minister Nemtsov, who, he commented, has "many
positive qualities." Lebed and Yavlinskii held unsuccessful
consultations on forming an electoral alliance during the 1996
presidential campaign. Luzhkov has sharply criticized Lebed in the
past, especially for the peace agreement Lebed negotiated with
Chechnya in August 1996. Although Luzhkov has frequently denied
harboring presidential ambitions, he, like Lebed, is seen as a leading
contender for support from the "patriotic" wing of the Russian
electorate.

********

#13
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 1, No. 137, Part I, 13 October 1997

LUZHKOV BLASTS CHUBAIS. Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov on 10
October charged that all of First Deputy Prime Minister Anatolii
Chubais's policy initiatives have failed, Russian news agencies
reported. Luzhkov added that Chubais's recent address to the Duma
was "disgraceful and unskilled." Chubais recently argued that
Moscow does not need compensation for the costs of maintaining
federal facilities in the capital, particularly in light of the recent
celebrations of Moscow's 850th anniversary (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
10 October 1997). Luzhkov countered that Moscow had earned
substantial revenues from those celebrations. For his part, Chubais on
10 October accused Luzhkov of turning policy disputes into personal
attacks and argued that Moscow "can provide for itself and for other
[Russian] regions," although to do that the Moscow authorities "would
have to build one less monument." Meanwhile, speaking to
journalists in Berlin on 11 October, Luzhkov again denied that he
plans to run for president.

DUMA APPEALS TO CONSTITUTIONAL COURT. The Duma on 10
October appealed to the Constitutional Court against Yeltsin's failure
to sign the law on the government, ITAR-TASS reported. That law
would require the entire cabinet to resign if the prime minister quit
or was dismissed. Both houses of the parliament overrode a
presidential veto of the law earlier this year, but Yeltsin charged that
unconstitutional voting procedures were used (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 1 and 7 July 1997). On similar grounds, the president
refused to sign a law that would ban the removal of "trophy art"
from Russia. The Duma's appeal, which does not cover the trophy art
law, argues that the president does not have the right to refuse to
sign "federal constitutional laws," a special category that includes the
law on the government. Such legislation must be approved by a two-
thirds majority in the Duma and a three-quarters majority in the
Federation Council.

CONTROVERSY OVER PRESIDENTIAL FOREIGN POLICY DEPARTMENT.
Writing in "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 10 October, Karen Khachaturov
accused the Department for Foreign Policy within the presidential
administration of seeking to usurp the functions of the Foreign
Ministry. The department, created under a September decree issued
by Yeltsin, replaced the Presidential Council on Foreign Policy and
has more extensive powers than its predecessors. Khachaturov
described the department as a "bureaucratic monster" that ignores
the executive branch and is unconstitutional. He pointed out that its
creation has fueled rumors of the imminent dismissal of Foreign
Minister Yevgenii Primakov. In September, Primakov was named as
chairman of a commission on international security that is
subordinate to the Russian Security Council. Khachaturov described
the commission as "purely decorative."

*******

#14
Jamestown Foundation Monitor
14 October 1997

CORRUPTION AND CONSPIRACY. The pages of the Russian press have seen many
articles of late reflecting on the political implications of the "bankers'
war." Valery Khomyakov argues that over the past four months the financial
elite has united around a single theme -- the discrediting of Anatoly
Chubais. (Delovye lyudi, no. 82) Ivan Sergeev concurs, and fingers Boris
Berezovsky as the evil genius behind this campaign. (Kommersant-daily,
October 7) Right on cue, Nezavisimaya gazeta -- a paper close to Berezovsky
-- ran an article on October 11 by the maverick governor of Primorye,
Yevgeny Nazdratenko, in which he blasted Chubais's campaign to remove him
from office.

Sergeev argues that Berezovsky has successfully unified Russia's fractured
financial elite behind the idea that the technocratic reformism of Chubais
and his ally Boris Nemtsov, the so-called "second liberal revolution"
launched in March of this year, represents a collective threat to "business
as usual" as it had developed over the past five years. Moreover, the
journalists suggest that Chubais's opponents are skillfully using corruption
allegations to discredit him in the eyes of his supporters in the US
administration and international financial institutions. 

Accusations of corruption have been a central theme in the attack on
Chubais. These began with revelations about the interest-free loans that
Chubais obtained and turned into $350,000 of profit during his three-month
sojourn in the private sector in spring of 1996. They continue currently
with the accusations against Chubais ally and former privatization chief
Alfred Kokh, who while in office took a $100,000 advance for an as yet
unwritten book.

Those involved in this devious conspiracy, if it really exists, could not
have picked a more opportune time. Last month World Bank president James
Wolfensohn made battling corruption a top priority for the bank. Even the
OECD is introducing guidelines for its member states which, along the lines
of U.S. legislation on foreign corrupt practices, ban dubious "consultancy
fees" and other forms of hidden kick-backs. On October 7 the OECD announced
that Russia is to be admitted to the club of 29 industrial nations.
(Nezavisimaya gazeta, October 9) It is difficult for the Russian government
to respond to this international pressure while the pages of the Russian
press are full of plausible corruption allegations involving top officials.

Charges of corruption are not confined to the executive branch. Businessman
and Duma deputy Konstantin Borovoi told a Duma conference on October 13 that
corruption is rife within the legislature itself, with businesses spending
millions of dollars to "buy" legislative proposals. He cited the example of
a draft law to nationalize the aluminum industry, which caused a slump in
the price of aluminum plant shares, making it easier for the bribing
corporation to buy them up. (Russian agencies, October 13)

********

#15
Air fatalities in ex-Soviet Union fall sharply
October 13, 1997
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The number of aviation fatalities in the former Soviet
Union fell sharply in the first nine months of the year compared with 1996,
the country's leading air safety body said Monday. 
The Interstate Aviation Committee said 76 people were killed between
January
and September in crashes involving civil aircraft from the 12 ex-Soviet
republics in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), versus 224 people
in the same period last year. 
``I can't say everything is fine but this past tendency toward a sharp
worsening in safety standards has been halted,'' said Rudolf Teimurazov, the
IAC's chairman. 
Aviation standards declined sharply with the collapse of the Soviet
Union in
1991 and the break-up of former monopoly Aeroflot into hundreds of regional
airlines struggling to survive. 
The worst year of the past decade in terms of air fatalities was 1993, when
349 people died in 17 accidents. 
The IAC said there were 10 air crashes in the first nine months of 1997,
down
from 12 in the same period a year ago. It said nine of the 10 fatal accidents
occurred in Russia, accounting for 70 of the 76 deaths across the CIS. 
``This year we have not had any accidents on regular passenger flights
-- I'm
touching wood as I've got a wooden table,'' Teimurazov said. ``We are very
seriously looking at the safety of non-scheduled flights such as charters,
because with these there has been a basis for serious criticism.'' 
Below is a list of air crash data for 1986-1996 which were recorded by the
IAC in the former Soviet Union and CIS states (data after 1992 exclude
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which did not join the CIS after the collapse
of the Soviet Union): 
Year Number of crashes Number of victims 

1986 29 324 
1987 13 47 
1988 17 120 
1989 24 107 
1990 28 203 
1991 35 249 
1992 33 253 
1993 17 349 
1994 19 321 
1995 18 246 
1996 20 292 
1997 10 76
(Jan-Sept) 10 

*********

#16
Shevardnadze says no to closer CIS integration
By Lawrence Sheets 

TBILISI, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze on Monday
dismissed Russian calls for closer economic integration in the Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS), saying the body failed to implement its own
decisions. 
CIS heads of government met last week in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek to try
and hammer out a blueprint for closer economic cooperation. 
The 12 former Soviet republics that make up the CIS have suffered from the
severing of ties that followed the 1991 disintegration of the Soviet Union. 
But Shevardnadze, the former Soviet foreign minister, said that his
mountainous republic of six million would not sign up to the latest
integration proposals spearheaded by Moscow. 
``Georgia decided not to take part in some of the projects. None of the
countries of the CIS are against reasonable forms of integration that will be
in the interests of their own well-being,'' he said in his weekly radio
address. 
``(But) an enormous quantity of CIS resolutions have not been carried
out,''
he added. 
Georgian state minister Niko Lekishvili, who represented his country at the
meeting, called proposals for a single economic space under a common
administration, common market, and single tax system ``an attempt at
recreating an economic system with the trappings typical of the Soviet
economic structure.'' 
Georgia and Russia are still locked in a row over shipments of raw alcohol
into Russia. Moscow has refused to let hundreds of trucks enter its territory
from Georgia, saying the spirits -- used to make cheap alcoholic beverages --
are a health menace. 
Georgia says the ban is an attempt by Moscow to discredit it as a transit
country. The alcohol does not originate in Georgia. 
Russian border troops chief Andrei Nikolayev said last month that he was
ready, if necessary, to use the Russian air force to keep the alcohol out. 
``There is talk of a common market and open borders and on the other, a
deviation from previously agreed principles and threats of bombing,'' said
Shevardnadze. ``Thus we regard any talk of integration with great caution,''
he added. 
Shevardnadze also rapped Russia for failing to hand over his ex-security
minister, Igor Girogadze, whom Tbilisi has accused of organising a 1995
assassination bid against the president. 
``Russia has become a safe haven for Georgian terrorists,'' Shevardnadze
said. 

********