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CDI Library > Johnson's
Russia List |
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May
19, 2000
Johnson's Russia List
#4312
19 May 2000
davidjohnson@erols.com
[Note from David Johnson:
1. Reuters: Most Russian men die drunk, after binge
weekend.
2. Bloomberg: UES Shares Tumble, Erasing $1.6
Billion Market Value.
3. Journal of Commerce: John Helmer, A CHEAP
CHOPPER. (re Putin government)
5. BBC MONITORING: DAILY SAYS PRESS MINISTRY
IMPOSES "IRON CURTAIN" ON FOREIGN MEDIA.
6. Reuters: Putin to boost hold on Russian regions.
7. The Globe and Mail (Canada): Geoffrey York, Putin
begins move to centralize power in the Kremlin. Critics worry regional
autonomy will be lost when generals, security officers run regions.
8. Business Week: Can Putin Squash Dissent and Free
the Economy?
9. Parlamentskaya Gazeta: Yuri Malov, DUMA PORTRAIT
IN FIGURES
10. Moscow Times: Robert Coalson, MEDIA WATCH:
Uniting to Protect Media.
11. BBC Monitoring: RUSSIAN DUMA FACTION LEADERS
SPEAK IN PREMIERSHIP DEBATE. (Zyuganov, Primakov, Nemtsov, Ivanenko)]
******
Most Russian men die drunk, after binge weekend
MOSCOW, May 19 (Reuters) - Two thirds of Russian men die drunk and more
than
half of that number die in extreme stages of alcoholic intoxication, the
daily Kommersant newspaper quoted a report as saying on Friday.
Kommersant cited a three-year study of men aged between 20 and 55 in
Moscow
and Russia's Republic of Udmurita that found alcohol played a major role
in
deaths of among males.
``Everyone is drunk: murderers and their victims, drowning victims,
suicides,
drivers and pedestrians killed in traffic accidents, victims of heart
attacks
and ulcers,'' the paper said in a commentary on the study.
The report said most deaths among Russian men occurred on Mondays after
a
weekend of heavy drinking.
Russian men have the lowest life expectancy in Europe at 57.4 years, and
the
country has one of the highest rates of alcoholism in the world.
According to the study, heart disease, accidents and suicides account
for
nearly 75 percent of all deaths but that those men are seldom sober when
they
die.
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was the last leader to try to tackle
alcoholism in Russia, but his campaign against ``demon vodka''
backfired,
causing widespread discontent and huge queues which eventually forced
rationing to be introduced.
The study found that education, financial standing and smoking played
almost
no role in the male death rate.
******
UES Shares Tumble, Erasing $1.6 Billion Market Value
Moscow, May 19 (Bloomberg)
-- RAO Unified Energy Systems shares fell as much as 10.2 percent,
extending a week of declines that erased $1.6 billion of the Russian
power
monopoly's market value, on investor concern about a planned
reorganization.
UES shares were recently down 9.7 percent, or 1.45 cents, at 13.55
cents, a
three-month low, down from 17.3 cents Friday. Chief Executive Officer
Anatoly
Chubais, a former finance minister and architect of Russia's
post-communist
state asset sale program, plans to visit the U.S. next week to help
promote
his proposal for breaking up the monopoly and attracting new investment.
Investors worry the reorganization ``won't be done in a
shareholder-friendly
way,'' '' said Andreas Keller, vice president at Clariden Bank in
Zurich,
which manages $50 million in Russian stocks and owns UES. ``There is a
skepticism the management even wants to do it in the interests of the
shareholders.''
UES, which operates the world's biggest energy grid, hopes the
reorganization
will help the utility attract needed investment to upgrade aging plants.
The
plan involves spinning off power generators from the company that
handles
distribution and operates Russia's power grid. In the U.S., Chubais also
will
promote the company's plans to issue more American depositary receipts.
The stock's decline helped pull down the benchmark Russian Trading
System
stock index 7.7 percent to 188.92, a 10-week low.
``UES is falling because of the restructuring plan,'' said Luca
Parmeggiani,
manager of more than $350 million in East European stocks at Vontobel
Asset
Management in Zurich and owns the stock. ``The issue is being blown up
into a
bubble.''
******
From: "John Helmer" <helmer@glas.apc.org>
Subject: A CHEAP CHOPPER
Date: Fri, 19 May 2000
A CHEAP CHOPPER
By John Helmer
Journal of Commerce, coming
MOSCOW. For months now, Russia's government ministers have not
exactly
been singing the famous song of those condemned to die in Gilbert &
Sullivan's
opera, "The Mikado".
According to the song, they should have been:
(ITALICIZE)
"awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock
from a cheap and chippy chopper,
on a big black block."
In fact, as the selection process wore on in Moscow, it became
clear the
chopper would be such a cheap one, it would cut almost no heads.
What the announcement of the new Russian government means is that
almost
nothing will change. The men who led Russia through the grand larcenies
of
the
Yeltsin period, including the rouble collapse and defaults of 1998, have
largely been reappointed.
Mikhail Kasyanov, the new prime minister, is accused and widely
believed of
having used his previous power in the Finance Ministry to provide
lucrative
favors to bankers, traders, security dealers, and company proprietors.
Not
since the allegations against Victor Chernomyrdin, the Gazprom executive
who
was prime minister from 1992 to 1998, has so much been said, and so
little
done, about the propriety of the head of the Russian government.
To all of this, Kasyanov has issued denials, claiming he has no
"concrete
ties to any particular financial-industrial group. I maintain contacts
with
everybody." That, of course, is a humorous way of confirming the
problem, not
solving it.
The new deputy prime minister and finance minister, Alexei Kudrin,
has been
at the Finance Ministry as a hatchetman for Anatoly Chubais for much of
the
past decade. Chubais, once the most powerful figure in Russian politics
after
President Boris Yeltsin, has been pushed by Putin to the political
periphery,
and now runs the state electricity company. As Gilbert and Sullivan
illustrated in song, it is the fate of all hatchetmen to choose their
loyalties; or their heads. Kudrin has chosen Putin, and Chubais is the
loser.
Kasyanov, however, is placing his own watchdogs above and below
Kudrin, just
to be sure.
The abolition of the trade ministry is a sign that Russia's
mightiest
export constituents -- the so-called oligarchs who control oil, gas,
steel,
aluminium, arms, timber, platinum, nickel, and diamonds -- are more or
less
content with the international commodity cycle, and their offshore
banking
arrangements. They don't really care if Russian products are hit with
anti-dumping suits, or the Russian consumer market filled with dumped
goods
from abroad.
The only protection left for Russia's manufacturing sector will
be the
rouble -- and that's been left in the hands of the same Central Bankers
whose first loyalty, according to international and domestic audits, is
their own pockets.
When he was running for election, Putin promised to keep
equidistance from
the oligarchs, and to eliminate them "as a class". The
reappointment of the
ministers indicates the President has neither the fear, nor the
incentive, to
upset the way the oligarchs are currently running their businesses. The
reappointment of the cabinet is simply an invitation, carte blanche in
fact,
for them to decide the economic policy the country will now follow, just
as
they were doing before.
This is why weeks of much-publicized research and debate over the
government's economic reform strategy have been nothing but a burlesque.
Corruption masquerading as reform, the buying of offices, and the
bribery of
the courts, were amusing when Gilbert and Sullivan wrote the lyrics and
tunes. Russia, as they used to say in Soviet times, dies laughing.
German
Gref, whom Putin put in charge of preparing the economic plan, has been
given
a cabinet post entitling him to continue this masquerade, for as long as
he
can bear it.
There is a sombre side to what has been done, and not done. By
leaving the
cabinet the way it was, the President is signalling that what really
worries
him is somewhere and someone else. This is why the real chopper and the
big
black block have been moved to the military command-and-control system,
and
to
the regional authorities.
What is happening there is that Putin is making sure no enemies
or rivals
can threaten him. He has begun a purge of the general staff, and he has
despatched trusted officers from the Army and the old KGB to try to rule
the
governors.
If there are to be short, sharp shocks in Russian politics over
the next
year, that is where to look.
******
US Expects Little Progress at Russia Summit, Wash Post Says
Washington, May 19 (Bloomberg) -- The Clinton Administration expects
little
progress to made on new arms control agreements with the Russians at a
Moscow summit meeting next month between U.S. President Bill Clinton and
his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the Washington Post reported,
citing unnamed senior officials. An unnamed senior State Department
official said the summit is not an ``arms-control-only'' summit, and
both
sides would be happy to come away with a plan for future talks before
Clinton leaves office in January, the newspaper reported. The Pentagon
yesterday announced a second postponement of the missile defense system
flight test -- until probably early July -- and Pentagon spokesman
Kenneth
Bacon said the delay shouldn't have any impact on Clinton's decision
whether to proceed with the system, the Post reported.
The U.S is proposing to alter the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty to
allow the limited U.S. missile defense system Clinton is considering to
blunt possible attacks by rogue nations such as North Korea, Iran and
Iraq.
******
BBC MONITORING
DAILY SAYS PRESS MINISTRY IMPOSES "IRON CURTAIN" ON FOREIGN
MEDIA
Source: `Segodnya', Moscow, in Russian 17 May 00
While the Russian and world media are continuing to comment on the raid
on
the Media-Most Holding Company's offices, the Russian Federation
Ministry
for the Press, Radio and Television Broadcasting, and Mass
Communications
was preparing a new surprise. This time the blow will be struck against
the
foreign media working on Russian territory. Radio Liberty [RL] has been
chosen as the test target.
Andrey Romanchenko, Russian Federation deputy minister for the press,
began
by setting out a new concept for interaction with the media. The
existing
law on the media must be revised to provide the possibility of
withdrawing
broadcasting licences from the foreign media which adopt a stance
hostile
to the Russian state. RL's stance, in his opinion, has indeed been
hostile,
particularly on questions relating to Chechnya.
Yuriy Akinshin, leader of the Russian Federation Ministry for the Press,
Radio and Television Broadcasting, and Mass Communications' press
service,
speaking on Ekho Moskvy, later repeated Romanchenko's comment,
explaining
that the deputy minister was "merely calling for the introduction
of
reasonable legal restrictions on the foreign media's presence in
Russia".
Yesterday, however, Konstantin Vetrov, head of the Duma Committee for
Information Policy, confirmed that the law on the media will be amended.
The draft amendments that are already on the committee head's desk
include
a proposal to introduce the principle of parity in the work of foreign
television and radio stations broadcasting on the Russian Federation's
territory. "In other words, if RL and Voice of America, say, are
operating
on Russian territory, it would be good if Russian radio stations such as
Mayak or Radio Rossii had the opportunity of working in Washington or
London, for example."
Let us leave aside the question of funding such a tempting project.
Western
journalists are openly asked to operate in Russia not on the basis of
the
principles of democracy and free speech, but on the principles of
special
services casuistry when the espionage departments of unfriendly
countries
are measured in terms of the number of agents expelled.
Is the Ministry for the Press, Radio and Television Broadcasting, and
Mass
Communications aware that it is imposing an "iron curtain"
with its own
hands? You can bet on it!..
******
Putin to boost hold on Russian regions
By Patrick Lannin
MOSCOW, May 19 (Reuters) - The Kremlin made public plans for a clampdown
on
the powers of regional governors on Friday while President Vladimir
Putin
wooed the leaders of strategically important Central Asian states on a
foreign visit.
Putin, who named most of his new government on Thursday, held talks in
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, both former Soviet states where Russia
wants
to bolster its influence.
As Putin toured abroad, his proposals for a radical shake-up of Russia's
89
regions were submitted by the Kremlin to the State Duma in Moscow in the
form of three main bills.
The Duma, the lower house of parliament, must approve the plans, the
most
radical shake up of the way Russia is run since former President Boris
Yeltsin rewrote the constitution and used tanks to put down a
parliamentary
rebellion in 1993.
Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov told reporters the house might hold the
first reading of the bills next week.
``As the president is asking that the bills be quickly considered,
deputies
will have to shorten procedures for their consideration,'' he said.
Putin announced his intention for a clampdown on the powers of regional
governors and a strengthening in central control of the country's vast
regions in a television address on Wednesday, his first since being
inaugurated on May 7.
He has also named seven Kremlin envoys, including a liberal politician
and
two army generals, who will be Putin's eyes, ears and voice outside
Moscow
in vast new administrative zones.
One of the bills gives Putin the right to sack regional heads and end
their
right to automatic seats in parliament's upper house, the Federation
Council.
Putin's plans are expected to propose that the upper house be formed by
representatives of governors, approved by elected local officials in
regional assemblies.
REGIONAL ENVOYS
Putin's seven handpicked representatives include former Prime Minister
Sergei Kiriyenko, who will oversee a swathe of territory in the Volga
region, including Moslem Tatarstan.
General Viktor Kazantsev was appointed to run the North Caucasus region,
including Chechnya, where he until recently spearheaded Russia's
offensive
against separatist rebels.
Most regional leaders have hedged their bets in backing Putin's proposal
although Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov was quoted by Russian media on
Thursday
as saying in Israel that altering the Federation Council probably
violated
the constitution.
The powers of the new envoys seem set to be wide, with most federal
bodies
answering to them as the representative of the Kremlin rather than to
the
local governor.
Commentators have noted that many of the envoys are linked to the army
and
that some of the new administrative areas coincide with the boundaries
of
military command zones.
This has sparked speculation of a rise in the role of the security
forces
in running Russia, which Putin's past as former head of the FSB domestic
security service had already caused.
NEW GOVERNMENT FORMED
Putin on Thursday signed decrees to appoint all but a few of his 24
ministers after Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov won wide parliament
backing
in a confirmation vote on Wednesday.
Security and foreign affairs were left in familiar hands with Defence
Minister Igor Sergeyev, Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo and Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov retained.
However, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and German Gref, head of a new
ministry for economic development and trade, were new faces. Both are
viewed as liberal economists.
Putin's talks in Uzbek capital Tashkent with President Islam Karimov saw
him focus on terrorism and religious extremism, which both leaders see
the
need to fight.
``Any threat to Uzbekistan is also a threat to the Russian Federation,''
Putin said. ``If we do not understand this and cannot stop the
aggression
in the south, then we shall have to deal with it at home.''
******
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
May 19, 2000
Putin begins move to centralize power in the Kremlin
Critics worry regional autonomy will be lost
when generals, security officers run regions
GEOFFREY YORK
Moscow Bureau
Moscow -- President Vladimir Putin is recruiting Russian army generals
and
secret-service officers for an ambitious campaign to strengthen the
Kremlin's
power over its shrewdest rivals: the regional bosses who dominate the
Russian
provinces.
Mr. Putin announced yesterday that he has appointed seven top officials
--
including two army commanders, a senior police officer and a former KGB
officer -- to supervise Russia's 89 regions.
Under his sweeping new plan, the regions will be monitored by seven
large
administrative districts, each headed by a powerful Kremlin
representative
who will oversee all federal agencies and ensure that Moscow's decrees
are
enforced.
Mr. Putin has also unveiled a controversial plan to weaken the regional
barons by removing them from the upper house of parliament and
authorizing
the Kremlin to sack governors who violate federal laws.
Analysts are calling it the biggest overhaul of Russia's political
system
since Boris Yeltsin dissolved the Supreme Soviet and introduced a new
constitution in 1993.
According to one Moscow newspaper, Mr. Putin threatened to cancel
regional
elections and appoint the governors himself if they refused to accept
his
plan.
The scheme is part of the President's larger ambition of establishing a
"dictatorship of the law" in Russia. "Above everything
else, the state is the
law," Mr. Putin said in a televised speech Wednesday night.
"It stands for constitutional law and order and discipline. . . .
It would
mean that we are living in one strong country, one single state called
Russia."
Mr. Putin, elected in a landslide victory in March, is trying to exploit
his
mass popularity and his dominance of parliament to strengthen the
Kremlin's
powers in the early days of his term.
He is asking parliament to approve a series of draft laws to weaken the
regional chieftains. So far, most parliamentary leaders -- and even some
regional bosses -- seem willing to accept the Putin plan. But several
governors are strongly opposed.
"The danger is that the new laws can turn into an instrument of
political
reprisal against dissidents, and become a means of sorting out
disobedient
governors," said Aman Tuleyev, the popular governor of the Siberian
region of
Kemerovo.
An official in Tatarstan, one of the most autonomous regions in the
country,
denounced the plan as "an infringement of the rights of Russia's
regions."
And the president of the southern Ingushetia region, Ruslan Aushev,
condemned
it as "an attempt to control everything from Moscow, a return to
the doubtful
practices of the Communist Party Central Committee."
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, many of Russia's
regional
bosses have established nearly dictatorial powers. They control local
industries, make all key appointments, issue decrees, and rule their
regions
like feudal chieftains. While they are subject to elections, many
governors
are almost unchallenged and have eliminated all serious opposition.
Mr. Yeltsin often attempted to regain control of the regions, but he
never
succeeded.
Mr. Putin, a retired KGB lieutenant-colonel, has vowed to restore a
centralized system of "vertical power" that flows from the
Kremlin to
regional and local authorities.
"From the very beginning, Russia has been created as a
supercentralized
state," he said in a book released before the March presidential
election.
"This is fixed in Russia's genetic code, in its traditions, and in
the
people's mentality."
In his televised speech this week, Mr. Putin said that 20 per cent of
regional laws are in violation of the Russian constitution. "Trade
barriers
or, even worse, border posts are set up to separate Russia's territories
and
regions," he said.
He warned of "disastrous consequences," such as Chechnya-style
separatist
movements, if the regions continue to ignore federal laws.
While analysts agree that the regional bosses are too powerful, they are
wary
of what seems to be an authoritarian response from the Kremlin. They
note
that the seven new administrative districts will be based on the same
boundaries as Russia's military districts.
"It's part of the tendency toward the militarization of our
country," said
Andrei Piontkovsky, head of the Centre for Strategic Studies in Moscow.
He also noted the military and security backgrounds of most of the
Kremlin's
new regional representatives. "Military and security people are
getting more
and more prominent posts. Putin's authoritarian instincts are evident.
It's
quite natural for him -- he spent all of his career in the police
structures."
The liberal newspaper Sevodnya warned the Kremlin must not try to
transform
Russia from a federal state into "a single state enterprise, or
even worse, a
military unit."
In another move yesterday, Mr. Putin reappointed most of his cabinet
ministers, including his foreign and defence ministers, but added two
young
liberals to the finance and economic portfolios.
The new ministers are 40-year-old Alexei Kudrin, who becomes the Finance
Minister and one of five deputy prime ministers, and 36-year-old German
Gref,
who heads an expanded Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.
******
Business Week
May 29, 2000
[for personal use only]
Russia: Can Putin Squash Dissent and Free the Economy?
Can Russia's new president, Vladimir V. Putin, have his cake and eat it
too?
He seems to think he can: Putin aims to make his country more prosperous
by
pursuing liberal economic reforms. But at the same time, he is clamping
down
on political dissent and reasserting the Kremlin's control over Russia's
regions.
The clampdown is happening fast. On May 11, just four days
after Putin's
inauguration, machine-gun toting federal police raided Media-Most, the
Moscow
media conglomerate that has been critical of the Kremlin's military
campaign
in Chechnya. Then on May 17, in an unexpected television address, Putin
called for the right to fire Russia's popularly elected governors and
dissolve regional parliaments.
Putin is actually making a calculated gamble that he can
create a new
model for Russia: a liberal economic environment coexisting with
political
illiberalism. His bet is that he can chill criticism at home while
maintaining support from foreign investors and Western governments whose
top
priorities lie elsewhere. The KGB veteran stands a strong chance of
getting
away with it--if not in the long run at least in the short term.
SHRUGS. Neither foreign investors nor foreign governments have an
interest in
antagonizing Putin this early in his regime. Investors mostly shrugged
in
reaction to the raid on Media-Most. ``I don't think anyone in the
business
community particularly liked this, but there were no people selling
stock
because of what Putin did,'' says William Browder, manager of the $430
million Hermitage Fund in Moscow. More important for business folks are
reports the Kremlin is putting the final touches on an economic reform
plan,
including sweeping tax cuts.
Washington also is keen to maintain good relations.
Presidents Clinton and
Putin plan to meet for a summit in Moscow on June 4-5. Although Clinton
can
be expected to raise the question of Putin's commitment to freedom of
the
press, the White House is more focused on cutting a deal with the
Kremlin on
U.S. plans to build a national missile defense.
Nevertheless, Putin's press crackdown suggests that his
regime is mindful
of its own vulnerabilities. The main weak point is Chechnya. Through
state-controlled media, the Kremlin has promoted Chechnya as a
successful
campaign in which Russian military losses have been minimal. But the
stubborn
reality is that the Chechen rebels have not been subdued. On the day of
the
raid on Media-Most, 18 Russian soldiers were killed in an ambush on the
Chechen border.
Far from being over, the war may widen. This presents a
threat to Putin's
credibility. He rose to prominence on his image as a tough guy who
brought
the Chechens to heel. He feels threatened by Media-Most and other
outlets
that call attention to what looms as a failed policy. The worse it goes
in
Chechnya, the more compelled the Kremlin may feel to squelch dissent.
The open question is how Russians, foreign governments, and
investors will
react if Putin continues to consolidate power in the Kremlin. Some
Russian
politicians are warning that Putin won't be able to sustain an
authoritarian
stance. ``Russia has already lived through a huge number of
authoritarian
regimes and can't tolerate another attempt,'' says Duma deputy Irina
Khakamada, a liberal who supports Putin's economic program but sees the
Media-Most raid as an affront to democracy.
She may be right. If Putin keeps pursuing his own model of
economic
liberalism and political illiberalism, Western governments--including
Clinton's successor--could face their toughest decisions on Russia since
the
Soviet Union's collapse.
By Paul Starobin and Sabrina Tavernise in Moscow, with Stan Crock in
Washington
EDITED BY ROSE BRADY
******
Parlamentskaya Gazeta
May 18, 2000
[translation from RIA Novosti for personal use only]
DUMA PORTRAIT IN FIGURES
By Yuri MALOV
On December 19 last year, the people elected
441 out of
the 450 deputies of the State Duma, including 225 in the
federal election district, and 216 in single-mandate districts.
Another eight deputies were elected in single-mandate districts
during the March 26 runoff elections. One seat, reserved for a
deputy representing Chechnya, is still empty, as elections will
be held in that republic later.
The current Duma consists of deputies from six
associations - the Communist Party of the Russian Federation,
Unity (Bear), Fatherland-All Russia (OVR), the Union of the
Right Forces (SPS), the Zhirinovsky Bloc, and Yabloko.
The Communist Party has 113 deputies (158 in
the previous
Duma), Unity has 73 deputies, the OVR has 68, the SPS 29,
Yabloko 20 (45), and the Zhirinovsky Bloc 17 (51) deputies.
Other election blocs and associations, which took part in the
elections have the following number of deputies: Our Home Is
Russia has seven deputies, the movement In Support of the Army
and the Russian People's Union two deputies each, and another
five election blocs and associations (The Congress of Russian
Communities and the movement of Yuri Boldyrev, the Spiritual
Heritage, the Bloc of General Andrei Nikolayev and Academician
Svyatoslav Fyodorov, the Party of Pensioners, and the Russian
Socialist Party) have one deputy each.
A total of 105 deputies (less those elected on
March 26)
do not formally belong to any party or election association.
They make up nearly a half of the deputies' corps elected in
single-mandate districts (77 in the previous Duma).
As for the balance of political forces in the
1999 Duma,
it can be judged not only by the number of deputies
representing this or that party or election association, but
also by their distribution in the Duma factions and committees.
As of now, there are nine deputy associations,
including
six based on the political/party principle. They are the
faction of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (83
members), Unity (89), the OVR (46), the SPS (31), Yabloko (21),
and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (16). Three other
deputy groups unite their members by common goals - People's
Deputy (57), Russia's Regions/the Union of Independent Deputies
(40), and the Agro-Industrial Group of Deputies (42). Fourteen
deputies keep aloof from any of the registered deputy
associations.
In addition to their own members, all party
factions were
reinforced by independent deputies and representatives of other
parties. For example, the Unity faction has 6 and 3 such
deputies, respectively, the Communist Party faction has 5 and
1, the SPS faction, 2 and 1, the OVR faction, four independent
deputies, and the Yabloko and the LDPR factions, one deputy
each.
In its turn, the Communist Party helped to form the
Agro-Industrial Group of Deputies by delegating 30 members to
it.
The posts in the leading bodies of the State
Duma were
distributed depending on the political weight of deputy
associations. The Communist Party faction, the largest in the
Duma, received the post of the house speaker. A representative
of the Unity faction holds the post of first deputy speaker.
Members of all other factions and deputy groups hold the posts
of deputy speakers.
In addition, members of the Communist Party
faction were
elected chairmen of nine out of the 28 Duma committees. Seven
committees are headed by Unity members, five by members of the
People's Deputy group, the OVR and the Agro-Industrial Group
have two committee chairmen each, and other factions and deputy
groups have one committee chairman each. The only exception is
Yabloko.
The distribution of deputies in committees
presents
considerable interest. Despite the relative nature of such
comparison, it gives us a chance to create an impression of the
goals and intentions of individual associations, and the
directions of the Duma work that they regard as priorities.
Unity, the OVR and the People's Deputy group
have the
largest representation, as they have enough members who can be
more or less equally distributed between virtually all
committees. The said associations pay special attention to
certain spheres of legislative activity by ensuring a more than
average representation in corresponding committees, in
particular the committee on the budgetary legislation (People's
Deputy, Unity, the OVR, and the Communist Party), the committee
on financial legislation (Unity, the People's Deputy), the
committee on industrial and construction legislation (the
Communist Party, Unity, and the OVR), the committee on power
engineering, transport and communications (Unity and KPRF), the
security committee (Unity), the committees on foreign policy,
federal relations, science and education, and culture (the
Communist Party), and the committees on health care and the
problems of the North and the Far East (the People's Deputy).
As for other deputy associations, the analysis
of their
representation prompts the conclusion that they plan to focus
their attention on the committees on the budget and taxes (the
SPS, Yabloko, the LDPR, and Russia's Regions), legislation
(Yabloko), power engineering, transport and communications (the
SPS, Russia's Regions, and the Agro-Industrial Group), on the
federation and regional policy (Russia's Regions), and on
agrarian questions, industries and construction (the
Agro-Industrial Group).
This is the general party/political picture of
the 3rd
State Duma. Time will show if it corresponds to the real lineup
of forces in the house and if it will be able to work
effectively.
*******
Moscow Times
May 19, 2000
MEDIA WATCH: Uniting to Protect Media
By Robert Coalson
When I was invited to write this column, I actually doubted whether it
would
be possible to come up with something media-related to write about each
week.
Now, for the third or fourth week running, I find myself laying aside a
half-written column about advertising in order to write another
"emergency"
column that will most likely be somewhat dated before it even gets into
the
paper. It's hard writing a column about a subject that is never absent
from
the news pages.
Nonetheless, it is impossible to ignore the Media-MOST scandal and,
especially, the reaction of Russian journalists and human-rights
activists to
it. And that reaction, I should say immediately, has been considerably
more
energetic and appropriate to date than the reaction to the kidnapping of
Radio Liberty correspondent Andrei Babitsky in January. In that case, it
will
be recalled, although Babitsky disappeared on Jan. 15 and a few lonely
alarm
cries went up in the ensuing days, it wasn't until Feb. 16 that
journalists
got together for a special edition of Obshchaya Gazeta.
This time, things moved much more quickly and with far more national
scope.
The Babitsky special edition was sponsored by just 31 Moscow-based
publications and organizations. For the Media-MOST raid, organizers made
a
bit of an effort to enlist the support of the entire journalistic
community
of Russia, and, as a result, the special edition that appeared on
Wednesday -
just five days after the raid - was endorsed by 62 publications, many of
them
nonstate newspapers from across the country.
I am proud of that response, since the organization that I work for
helped
spread the word about this action among regional newspapers. And the
responses I got were striking. Publishers wrote, in effect, that they
understood the importance of standing up and being counted at this time,
but
wish that Media-MOST and other central media would take a more active
stance
in defending the regional press, which experiences such intimidation
tactics
on a daily basis.
>From Petrozavodsk, an editor wrote that he supports the protest.
"But I am
concerned that it doesn't reflect the whole picture," he wrote.
"The attack
on [MOST] is nothing in comparison with the arbitrary attacks that we
see in
the regions. I can't help but be disappointed in our 'human-rights
activists'
and, in particular, in our 'representatives' in government."
One of the immediate reactions to the Media-MOST raid was the creation
of a
"press freedom monitoring group" headed by former Soviet
President Mikhail
Gorbachev. It is encouraging that Gorbachev is concerned that the
greatest
achievement of his rule, glasnost, has made so little progress since he
left
power and now is decidedly at risk. That Media-MOST is willing to fund
such
an organization is also, potentially, a big step forward for Russia: I
have
long wondered why George Soros and Western governments have had to pay
for
all the press freedom advocacy going on here.
But I am skeptical. The fact is that MOST owner Vladimir Gusinsky has
shown
very little genuine concern for press freedom. Like the other oligarchs,
he
only appears when his own interests are directly at risk. When NTV
general
director Yevgeny Kiselyov says, as he did Wednesday, that "a lot of
people we
call colleagues have become cowards," I wonder where MOST has been
for the
last year while the newspaper Chelyabinsky Rabochy in Chelyabinsk has
been
under constant assault from the local authorities. Where was Gusinsky
when
the newspaper MiG in Astrakhan spent nearly a year fighting a court
order of
prior restraint without any outside assistance? How much did Gusinsky
give to
provide legal help to "colleagues" like Alexander Nikitin or
Grigory Pasko or
Altaf Galeyev or others who have sat in prison for the sake of press
freedom
in Russia?
Now, however, I am sure the nonstate regional press is ready to let
bygones
be bygones. Let's see what Gorbachev can do, not just to protect NTV and
Gusinsky, but to really defend the principle of freedom of the press.
Where
should he start? How about the newspaper Kurier Plus in Syktyvkar, which
is
in danger of closing down because of a politically motivated civil suit
by
the local prosecutor? How about all the cities across Russia that don't
even
have a nonstate press to be assaulted?
Robert Coalson is a program director for the National Press Institute.
The
views expressed here are not necessarily those of NPI.
*******
Excerpts
BBC Monitoring
RUSSIAN DUMA FACTION LEADERS SPEAK IN PREMIERSHIP DEBATE
Source: Russia TV, Moscow, in Russian 0600 gmt 17 May 00
The Russian State Duma held a debate on 17th May 2000 prior to endorsing
Mikhail Kasyanov for the post of prime minister. Following Kasyanov's
opening speech and a question and answer session, the leaders of the
Duma
factions and deputies' groups took turns to sum up their factions'
decisions and suggestions to the new premier. The following are excerpts
from the speeches, in the order of appearance, broadcast by the Russian
TV.
Subheadings identifying the nine speakers have been inserted
editorially....
Communist leader Gennadiy Zyuganov
Respected colleagues, this is the seventh time within the last two and a
half years that we have been considering a candidate to the prime
minister's post. There is no team in the country which changed its
leader
seven times during that period. Everyone is well aware that with such a
confusion in the ranks, an organization would break up. Looks like
Mikhail
Mikhaylovich is lucky, he is the seventh one and in Russia this number
has
always been respected. Maybe this time round we shall be lucky with the
government.
I think that by accepting the proposal to become a prime minister
Kasyanov
made a very brave decision, as he is going to lead the government in a
country which is a territory but not a state, in which the law has no
effect beyond the central circular road of Moscow, which has revolt in
Chechnya and an independent Republic of Tatarstan. This is a country in
which power is being switched off for 18 hours a day in the Far East and
Kamchatka, in which all strategic reserves and resources have virtually
been squandered away, in which 50m people cannot feed themselves, 20m
have
no job, and 10m have become refugees or are thrown into the street.
Yesterday, very interesting presentations took place in this hall where
your ministers, Mikhail Mikhaylovich, were telling us about the state of
the energy industry. Nearly 80 per cent of the oil refining facilities
are
past their service life and the rich country of ours can end up without
fuel tomorrow. In this season of spring work most agricultural
enterprises
yet again have not received the much needed fuel and the peasants are
facing poverty.
Today we have no realistic programme for the country's revival.
Conversations in factions, groups and workplaces have shown that you
understand this and are ready to consider all our proposals.
I would first of all ask you to study carefully the experience
accumulated
by our governments during the past 10 years. There was a single period
of
eight months, when the government of was headed by [Yevgeniy] Primakov
and
[Yuriy] Maslyukov, and that government managed to hold Russia and the
economy on the edge of abyss when everything around was crumbling and
collapsing. This period of eight months stood out with its two or three
achievements. The government managed to reduce sharply the flight of
capital from the country, it succeeded in curbing the prices of energy
carriers, it established a normal dialogue with the State Duma, with its
relevant committees and its many professionals. But that government did
not
satisfy the regime politically and therefore they were quickly sent off.
Many people will tell you today that you have choices. In our view, in
the
present situation you have practically no choice. If you accept this
version of the programme, there is no point in dissembling. You have met
[German] Gref and his programme is known - it has been published in
several
newspapers and received by the Duma factions. He has already been here
and
he is coming back tomorrow. We have invited him to come and talk to us
specially. This is a completely liberal programme, and a programme that
Russia will not only refuse to accept but which will lead Russia into
total
disaster. This programme envisages further sale and disintegration of
all
natural monopolies, the sale of land and destruction of all social
guarantees and achievements. It proposes restoration of the
administrative
vertical structure of power on the Latin American model, which means
setting up a military junta in Russia.
We have a big question for you. To be honest, I was surprised: the
meeting
with you was quite interesting and topical. The programme of the [Union
of]
People's Patriotic Forces, on which the best academics worked, was
published a year ago. The programme was discussed in the committees of
the
Duma and the Federation Council. This programme was thoroughly examined
by
academics, experts, financiers and businessmen at a scientific-practical
conference in Leningrad [St Petersburg].
This programme was discussed in workplaces throughout the country. This
programme was prepared by Glazyev, Lvov and many other experts in their
field. It should have been your duty to study and to know this programme.
We insist that you must not just deal with Gref and his team, but also
with
members of that group. You must discuss their programme as well and look
at
their constructive and realistic proposals...
We think that your policy must become qualitatively different. The main
task is protecting the people. We have a programme which you better
study.
In it, we show how to let everyone have a job within two years, there is
a
proposal to ensure a minimum income of R1,000 for everyone, pensioners
and
citizens alike, and R3,000 to teachers, doctors and engineers because
they
cannot work and teach normally on a lesser salary. There is an
opportunity
to double up our budget from as soon as tomorrow. Last year,
80bn-dollar-worth of raw materials were produced in the country. What
proportion of this ended up in your budget? Practically nothing. Take
even
one third of this and your budget will double.
We think that, first of all, prices of medication have to be stabilized
and
hot food and textbooks provided to children. These are very real things
and
the government must take care of them.
The major stabilizing factors are the issues of land, energy production
and
transport. For a large country with cold climate, this is a matter of
life
and death. You promised us that your government will not propose free
sale
and purchase of land. If this is introduced, just bear in mind that you
will not only be in conflict with the entire left wing but also with the
entire Cossack-populated belt of land stretching from River Don to the
Pacific Ocean, with its 20m people. You would put in a difficult
position
nearly 20 regions where referendums have already been held and the
population has been prevented from selling agricultural land.
With regard to the energy industry, it has become the talk of the town.
Your minister [Viktor] Kalyuzhnyy yesterday revealed to us the real
state
of the energy industry. I don't know whether he will be working [in the
government] or not. I urge you to request one single document, the
programme which [Anatoliy] Chubays [chairman of the Unified Energy
System]
prepared and marked confidential for internal use only. This programme
has
already been implemented in full in Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Do request
this
document and see for yourself what results it has achieved within the
last
three to four years and what it has done to Ukraine's industry, which
was
strong and good not quite so long ago...
I don't know whose initiative it was, but the defence minister allegedly
gave an order to send an instruction to all top generals, which 60
generals
and admirals received, asking them to submit resignations in connection
with the election of the new president. This is not just stupidity but
sabotage against the army, degrading as it is. We ask you to rectify
this
if this is true, because it is absolutely impermissible. It is one thing
when the government resigns, but a totally different matter altogether
when
all commanders of military districts and formations who must be on duty
every day begin to resign.
We shall judge your government by its deeds. You have the next three to
four months to show which course you choose. Our attitude towards you
will
depend on the course you choose. I wish you success.....
Fatherland leader Yevgeniy Primakov
Esteemed colleagues, the candidate to the prime minister's post, Mikhail
Mikhaylovich Kasyanov, has already visited our faction and answered our
numerous questions. Our faction supported his principal thesis which he
proposed to us, namely, that some degree of intervention by the state,
state regulation and state control [of the economy] are required during
transitional period towards market economy, and especially in order to
pull
the country out of a long-term and very deep crisis. This is why we
decided
to support his candidacy and to cast our votes for him.
But I must say that his thesis must be developed through concrete deeds
and
our support to certain extent will be, if you like, conditional on the
results of our monitoring the actions which the government will be
taking
in implementing this important thesis. Here is what I mean.
Firstly, while continuing the process of privatization, it is necessary
to
give up fiscal considerations as the principal criteria in privatizing
an
enterprise. The main criteria here must be the evidence of how this
given
privatization would affect production efficiency...
The next thing. We can see that redistribution of property is now under
way, and it is done mainly through market monopolization. The process is
well under way. We shall be monitoring the government's actions in these
circumstances. Our faction is not satisfied with what the anti-monopoly
committee has been doing so far. There is already a popular saying:
"A and
B sat on a pipe, now they are sitting on aluminium" [the joke is a
paraphrase on a children's rhyme and a reference to Roman Abramovich and
Boris Berezovskiy, met with applause]. I think that now the government
must
do everything to prevent redistribution of property through market
monopolization. Incidentally, this prevents us from creating necessary
conditions for market competition. President Putin dais that all the
groups, including the so-called oligarchs, must have a chance to compete
on
equal basis. The government should monitor this and make sure that whole
areas - like advertising business, for example - would not be
monopolized
by a single company to the tune of 72 per cent. The government must pay
most serious attention to this...
Union of Right Forces leader Boris Nemtsov
Good day, esteemed deputies. Yesterday the Union of Right Forces faction
conducted a detailed discussion, together with Mikhail Mikhaylovich
Kasyanov, of the problems facing the country. The overall decision of
the
faction is as follows: the Union of Right Forces faction will support
Kasyanov's candidacy for the post of chairman of the government...
Our faction will support the candidacy of Mikhail Mikhaylovich Kasyanov
for
the post of chairman of the government but we shall not be voting en
bloc.
I would like to explain our position. We completely support the
government's position on radically lowering the tax burden on
enterprises.
In my view this is a really revolutionary step which can improve the
investment climate in the country and which will result in capital being
returned to the country. And the most important thing is that the
lowering
of the tax burden on the wage fund will lead to a real increase in wages
and to the legalization of those incomes which are currently being
concealed from paying tax...
However, I must say that there are a number of questions on which we did
not receive replies. These questions are important for all of us and for
the country as a whole.
First of all there is Chechnya. We believe that there is no military
solution to the Chechen problem. Many military men and many generals
also
believe this. Political methods of resolving the issue must also be
sought.
Purely political means, undoubtedly, may not lead to success while
guerrilla warfare is still going on and terrorist groups are operating.
Therefore, a statement - and this statement must be made by the
government
- that we are moving over to military-political methods of resolving the
problems of Chechnya would be a gigantic step forward...
Secondly, there is the question of land. This question was discussed
very
seriously and our faction got the impression that Mikhail Mikhaylovich
had
not finalized his position on this. The absence of clear and precise
rules
for holding and dealing in land results in the existence of a black
market
in land, illegal redistribution of land ownership and very poor
conditions
for attracting investments...
Another aspect which we regard as very important is the freedom of the
press. I shall speak very briefly about this. The Russian Federation has
a
constitution. In accordance with the constituency the freedom of the
press
is guaranteed in the country. And the government together with the
president should act as the guarantors so that our journalists do not
get
beaten up, so that there are no illegal actions in the Moscow or in the
regions against those who hold views which do not agree with those of
the
authorities. We believe that this stance is extremely fundamental...
Here is my last question. Recently the Russian and foreign press have
carried quite a large number of articles which discredit Mikhail
Mikhaylovich. You know that newspapers write lots of different things
about
all of us and should not be believed verbatim - I know this from my own
experience. But I believe that Mikhail Mikhaylovich is simply obliged -
since h intends to run the government - he is simply obliged, publicly
and
openly, here in the State Duma, to reply to all the accusations that
have
been made...
Mikhail Mikhaylovich, we shall vote for you, in effect supporting German
Gref's programme. Thank you.
Yabloko deputy head Sergey Ivanenko
Esteemed chairman and esteemed deputies! The Yabloko faction believes
that
the president elected recently, a month and a half ago, has the right to
make a free political decision in determining his candidate for chairman
of
the government. This political decision is significant in assessing the
policy that will be pursued.
We do not see sufficient grounds for supporting Mikhail Mikhaylovich
Kasyanov for chairman of the government. Many deputies in the Yabloko
faction regard the president's choice as not a very successful one, and
will not vote in favour of it. To put it mildly, we don't regard as
successful the economic policy which has been pursued in recent years,
and
in which Mikhail Mikhaylovich Kasyanov has played the most active part.
We
have very serious doubts, in particular, about the restructuring of the
Soviet debt at the London Club talks.
Aside from that, at our meeting with Mikhail Mikhaylovich Kasyanov we
failed to obtain intelligible answers regarding the position of the
future
chairman of the government on incidents of intimidation of the media,
like
those involving the NTV, and `Novaya Gazeta' and `Sovetskaya Kalmykia'
newspapers. We see this as a fundamentally important matter. The
chairman
of the government is a political figure, and his position on this issue
must be absolutely clear.
All this cannot inspire optimism, and gives rise to serious concern on
our
part, and this is what has motivated our decision. At the same time, we
want to hope that very important economic decisions - economic decisions
above all - will be adopted. We believe that these should be, above all:
First, drastic tax cuts and a simplification of tax collection
procedures.
Second, the creation of a transparent banking system that provides
incentives for producers and ensures economic growth. Third, providing
for
the protection of private ownership and reliable and effective
management
of state property. Fourth, further active development of free trade,
honest
competition, and small and medium business, as well as demonopolization.
Fifth, an end to high-handed administrative and criminal pressure on
economic entities. Sixth, the renunciation of a situation whereby real
control of all financial resources and flows within the country is
exercised not by society as a whole, including the elected
representatives
of the people, but by two or three narrow financial oligarchic groups.
And
seventh, the creation of conditions for long-term economic planning to
ensure that entrepreneurs, industrialists and financiers can have
confidence in political stability and in an economically favourable
economic situation.
This is what, from our point of view, the government should be doing
today.
We believe that the Russian economy must stop being the economy of the
pipeline - in other words, an economy based exclusively on exports of
raw
material resources - but should become the economy of good brains,
skilled
hands and modern technology. Russia is very rich in these. We believe
that
education must finally become priority number one for the new government
and the government mustn't play games, but must ensure reliable and
fitting
finance for this very important sector of the national economy.
We also believe that only an honest social policy can ensure that people
have confidence in authority, without which the democratic governance of
the country is impossible. We particularly want to emphasize that the
continuation of the war inside the country and making war perennial
political practice is leading to colossal damage to the upbringing of
future generations. This cannot fail to lead Russia to a complete and
hopeless backwardness in the 21st century.
We believe the very first task of the new president and the new
government
must be the struggle against corruption, and an end to the practice of
completely merging business and authority. That was pretty well the main
reason why Russia needed a change of president. And if nothing changes
in
that respect, we shall never become an open society or a country with
democratic institutions, a country in which people would have equal
opportunities and in which they would be protected and feel secure.
The desire to see Russia as such a country was and remains our main
political objective. We wish the new president and new government every
success, and shall assist in every way in their work for the good of the
homeland. Thank you for listening.
*******
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