December 15, 2000   

This Date's Issues:   4689 • 4690

Johnson's Russia List
#4690
15 December 2000
davidjohnson@erols.com

[Note from David Johnson:
1. AFP: Baikal: "the Pearl of Siberia."
2. Vremya ORT Program: INTERVIEW WITH VLADIMIR LUKIN, STATE DUMA 
VICE SPEAKER, ON US ELECTIONS.
3. The Guardian (UK) editorial: Mr Putin gets to work. George W Bush will find him a handful.
4. Reuters: Exasperated Russia changes tactics in Chechnya.
5. Reuters: Chernobyl power station officially closed.
6. AP: Debate Over Lenin's Body Put Off.
7. Globe and Mail (Canada): Amy Knight, Mr. Putin goes to Ottawa. If the Russian President wants to improve relations abroad, he first has to clean up his act at home.
8. Toronto Sun: Matthew Fisher, New Russia sings old tune.
9. AFP: Putin completes historic conquest of Cuba on its beach.
10. New York Times editorial: A Russian Return to Havana.
11. Christian Science Monitor: Scott Peterson, After disaster: the people who call Chernobyl home. The power plant that triggered the worst-ever nuclear accident shuts down today. 
12. The Economist (UK): Russia. The very long arm of its law. (re Gusinsky)
13. Bloomberg: Russia Approves UES Breakup Program: Shares Plunge.
14. Segodnya: RUSSIAN OIL PRICES DOWN ONE-THIRD.]

******

#1
Baikal: "the Pearl of Siberia"

LISTVYANKA, Russia, Dec 15 (AFP) - 
Buryat ethnic Mongols settled the shores of Siberia's Lake Baikal long
before the 13th-century conquests of Genghis Khan, and centuries ahead of
the Russian fur traders who arrived in the 1640s.

Indigenous Siberians have always had a mystical feeling for the "Pearl of
Siberia," a vast inland water mass which contains about a fifth of the
world's fresh water reserves and is the world's deepest and oldest lake.

"If all petty worries, all the vanities of the world, fall away like autumn
leaves, and the soul takes wing and is filled with light and silence,"
local poet Mark Segeyev writes.

"If a simple earthly wonder has entered your life and you have felt
ennobled by this encounter -- it means, this is Baikal."

Sunlight casting its rays over the misty haze reflected in the snow
covering the frozen Siberian landscape, the 25-million-year-old lake
stretches away into immensity.

Located inbetween the Buryat Autonomous Region and Irkutsk region, Baikal
is 636 kilometres (398 miles) long, has a surface area of 31,500 square
kilometres and contains 23,000 cubic kilometres of water.

There are larger lakes than Baikal, in Africa and America, but none of the
world's freshwater lakes are deeper than Baikal, which plunges to a depth
of 1,637 metres. Lake Tanganyika in central Africa is at its deepest 1,435
metres.

>From the surface to the depths, Baikal has given home to a multitude of
forms of life. It contains 848 native species of animals unique to the lake
(56 fish inhabit Baikal including the succulent Omul) and 133 species of
likewise unique plants.

Unlike other deep lakes of the world in which the lower depths are dead,
poisoned by hydrogen sulphide and other gases, here the entire depth is
rich in oxygen.

The small transparent glass-like golomyanka fish, more than half of which
consists of fat, plies calmly between the surface and the bottom.

The lake's huge water mass gives it certain features of a sea climate.

In autumn there can be 18 stormy days a month, and the strongest and most
dangerous wind that blows is the Gornaya (mountain-bred), which reaches a
hurricane's strength of 40 metres per second or more.

A peculiar feature of this wind is its suddenness: in 1902, during a spell
of Gornaya, a ship Potapov, perished with its 200 passengers.

Baikal is still remarkably clean, but environmentalists famously lost a
battle to stop the construction of a huge cellulose plant on the shores of
the lake in the 1960s.

To this day dumping of industrial waste into the lake continues and bilious
smoke still rises from the Pulp and Paper Plant at Baikal's southernmost
point 24 hours a day.

In the second half of January, Baikal is fully covered with ice one-metre
(three-foot) thick and more, and vehicles venture across the desolate
wasteland -- occasionally plunging through the ice to a freezing grave.

During the Russo-Japanese war, when ice thickness was more than one a half
metres (the winter of 1904-5 was severe) the railway track was laid
straight over the ice, which made it possible to carry 2,300 carriages and
65 locomotives -- by horse traction over 17 days.

In late April-early May the ice breaks.

The 2,000-kilometre (1,250-mile) shoreline presents a landscape of striking
and unique beauty.

Mountains, covered in thick forest, are the main feature but in places
mountain ranges fall away from Baikal, giving way to steppe.

******

#2
TITLE: INTERVIEW WITH VLADIMIR LUKIN, STATE DUMA VICE SPEAKER, ON 
US ELECTIONS
[VREMYA ORT PROGRAM, 21:00, DECEMBER 13, 2000]
SOURCE: FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE

Anchor: We will now hear the views on what is happening across
the ocean of a man who early in the 1990s represented Russia in the
United States. We have here live in Vremya program our country's
former ambassador in Washington and now a State Duma deputy
Vladimir Lukin. Good evening, Vladimir Petrovich.

Lukin: Good evening. 

Q: When you worked as a diplomat, did you meet with Bush Jr.?

A: Frankly, I do not know. The matter is that I often met with
Bush Sr. to whom I presented my credentials. We even met in a
rather narrow family circle that included his relatives. But I do
regret that I cannot recall if the future president was among them.

Q: Now that the victory of George Bush Jr. is beyond doubt,
what are the possible steps of the new administration in respect of
Russia?

A: The actions of the new administration in respect of Russia
will be first and foremost the actions of a Republican
administration, an administration of a very strong country that is
confident of itself. I regard as mistaken all this talk that the
Bush government is going to be a weak government, a government not
sure of itself because of the peculiar way in which Bush has come
to power, a way that is far from typical for America.
All this is going to happen, but not earlier than 2-3 months
from now. What we really should reckon with is that America has a
Republican government, a Republican lower house and upper house of
parliament. Even although the votes in the upper house are equal,
the vote of the vice president, the official chairman of the upper
house, will be decisive. That is going to be a homogeneous
government. And this means that it will be a strong government.
This means that Congress, a very powerful and strong organization
in America, will support the President. That is going to be a
strong country with a strong government and this is something that
we should bear in mind.

Q: I will now put my last question to you. But I have to ask
you to give me a brief answer. What are your feelings, were the
Russian authorities prepared for the change of leadership in the
White House, I mean the replacement of the Democrats with the
Republicans? 

A: I think that our authorities had an inkling that the
chances of Bush were better, that he would come to power. In this
sense they knew this in advance. How have they prepared themselves
for this? That is a big question. After all, we also have a young
president and a young government. We must take note that the
Republicans are a party with a somewhat more rational, I would say,
cynical and very practical approach. Are we ready for this? Time
will show.
I hope that we are ready. We have cadres who know what
Republicans are. It is simply necessary to use them. 

Anchor: Thank you. This was Vladimir Lukin live in Vremya
program, a deputy of the State Duma and in the past Russia's
ambassador in the United States.

******

#3
The Guardian (UK)
15 December 2000
Leader/Editorial
Mr Putin gets to work 
George W Bush will find him a handful

With intriguing symbolism, the first day of the Bush ascendancy has
coincided with the first visit to Cuba by a Russian leader since the
collapse of the Soviet Union. Vladimir Putin is a pushy chap. Since
succeeding Boris Yeltsin last March, he has been busily challenging
America's global hegemony, as seen from Moscow, at every opportunity. He
has intervened directly in the US-led Middle East peace process, given
succour to Iraq, and resumed arms sales to Iran and Libya. He visited North
Korea, that most roguish of US-designated "rogue states", and cheekily
claimed to have curbed its menacing missiles. He went to India, bidding to
revive Soviet-era ties in direct competition with Bill Clinton's efforts to
woo Delhi last spring; and has increased military and political cooperation
with China - identified by Mr Bush as a potential 21st-century antagonist.
Mr Putin regularly stresses Russia's national interests in the Balkans, its
opposition to Nato expansion and its deep dislike of Mr Bush's plans for a
treaty-busting national missile defence system. Now here he is in Havana,
getting chummy with America's chief bogeyman, Fidel Castro. 

Mr Putin's aim is partly new business and investment; partly recovery of
old debts. But this geopolitical assertiveness is also a broader expression
of his determination to make Russia a force in the world again. Although a
distracted Washington has taken its eye off the ball, the challenge this
represents to the US president-designate should not be minimised. Mr Putin
is six years younger than Mr Bush, tougher and more experienced, and
probably a lot smarter. 

In some areas, US-Russian interests coincide. Both countries seek to curb
international terrorism; an accord was signed in Moscow this week. Both
worry about Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Islamic insurgencies in central
Asia. Both are pledged to promote bilateral trade; and Russia badly needs
US support for further loans and credit to support market reforms. Mr Putin
says he wants good relations with the west. Hence his cosy chats with Tony
Blair and his pardoning of a US "spy". He has even indicated flexibility on
NMD and Nato issues. But there is a darker, scarier side to Mr Putin, as
seen in Chechnya. This Putin has a vision of a proud, revived Russia again
advancing at home and abroad to the tune of the old Red Army anthem. His
vision has power, purpose and coherence. Is poor Dubya ready for this? You
tell us. 

*****

#4
Exasperated Russia changes tactics in Chechnya
By Andrei Shukshin

MOSCOW, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Russian generals, weary of cat-and-mouse clashes
with Chechen guerrillas, said on Friday they would take their troops out of
the safety of army bases and deploy them in small contingents across the
rebel region. 

The armed forces chief of staff, Anatoly Kvashnin, said a task force would
hunt down leading Chechen commanders who form the backbone of rebel
resistance 14 months after Russia mounted its second campaign to crush the
separatists. 

"I think that this will be the most resolute stage of the anti-terrorist
operation," Kvashnin said in an interview with the military daily Krasnaya
Zvezda, using Moscow's preferred term to describe the military drive. 

The decision, certain to expose troops to greater danger, illustrates the
degree of exasperation in the Kremlin with the military's inability to
stamp out rebel attacks and stem a steady trickle of Russian casualties. 

The military has repeatedly vowed that it will deal the rebels a crushing
blow this winter. 

Russia's longstanding strategy has provided for troops based in a handful
of strong points to launch search-and-destroy raids against the rebels,
backed up by shelling and aircraft fire. Troops come under daily bomb and
firearm attacks by the rebels. 

In a typical dispatch from the region, Russian news agencies said that,
over the previous 24 hours, artillery had pounded remote areas where rebels
had been spotted and the guerrillas had mounted 16 hit-and-run attacks on
Russian positions. 

PLAN TO HOBBLE REBELS 

Kvashnin said by fanning out across the province, police and troops would
hobble the rebels' movements and stop them blending with civilians often
willing to give them food and shelter. 

"Such garrisons will be stationed in more than 200 of Chechnya's 357 towns
and villages," he said. 

Kvashnin dismissed suggestions that he might have insufficient manpower,
saying his force stood at much more than the 26,000 servicemen who fought
and lost a war in 1994-96, after which Russia withdrew from the region. 

He gave no exact figure, though Russian officials say troop strength has
been reduced from a high of about 100,000 during heavy fighting earlier
this year. 

Troops and security forces will also be placed in the southern mountains
where the rebels hold sway, Kvashnin said. The redeployment is due to be
completed within two months. 

The move also aims to give at least some protection to local pro-Moscow
administrators, regular targets of rebel hitmen. 

Kvashnin, who has spearheaded Russia's military strategy in Chechnya, also
appealed to Chechen civilians to stop laying mines, the prime cause of
Russian casualties in recent months. 

He conceded that Moscow had so far failed to improve living standards in
the impoverished republic, where work is scarce. But he pleaded with
Chechens to take no money from the rebels. 

******

#5
Chernobyl power station officially closed

CHERNOBYL, Ukraine, Dec 15 (Reuters) - An engineer at Chernobyl nuclear
power station pressed its stop button for the last time on Friday,
officially closing the plant that caused the world's worst nuclear accident
in 1986. 

At a lavish ceremony in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, President Leonid Kuchma
gave the order to press the button. The order was relayed to the control
room of Chernobyl's last functioning reactor by a live television link. 

An engineer at the station pressed the button and said that the reactor's
control rods had started their descent into its core, slowly shutting it off. 

"Mr President of Ukraine, the third reactor is being stopped for good. I
have nothing more to add," reported the station's director, Vitaly
Tovstonohov, wearing white protective clothing. 

Around one hundred workers at the plant followed events in the control room
on a large television screen. Many had tears in their eyes as they stood to
watch. 

The station's 6,000 workers now face an uncertain future and, after the
closure, one worker cried out: "We despise Leonid Kuchma." 

Following years of pressure from the West, Kuchma agreed earlier this year
to close down Chernobyl in return for Western financial aid to help finish
building replacement reactors elsewhere in the energy-starved country. 

Ukraine has pledged not to use Chernobyl for electricity generation again.
Officials say it will take until 2008 before the last fuel rods are removed
from the plant, which is 125 km (70 miles) north of Kiev in a poisoned
no-go zone. 

The 1986 disaster has been blamed for thousands of deaths from radiation,
including the early deaths of clean-up workers who went to the station
shortly after the accident. Today one in sixteen Ukrainians suffers health
problems linked to the accident, as do millions in neighbouring Russia and
Belarus. 

******

#6
Debate Over Lenin's Body Put Off
December 15, 2000
By ANDREW KRAMER

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's lower house of parliament decided Friday to put off
a bitter debate about whether to remove Vladimir Lenin's body from its
mausoleum on Red Square. 

A reform-oriented party backed down from an effort to get lawmakers to ask
President Vladimir Putin to decide the fate of Lenin's body, which has been
on display under glass for decades. 

The Union of Right Forces had drafted an appeal to Putin suggesting that
the mausoleum, which drew snaking lines of secular pilgrims in communist
times, could become part of a museum of political repression. 

Reform politicians saw the idea as a sign of resistance to the recent
return of Soviet-era symbols in Russia. The measure itself was largely
symbolic, however, and had little chance of success. 

The Russian Communist Party vehemently objected to the measure, which had
been scheduled for discussion Friday. A Communist Party statement called
the proposal an attempt by ``neo-liberal right forces to exterminate
everything related to the Soviet period of history from the citizens'
consciousness.'' 

Other reform-oriented parties said it would be better to take up the fight
later, and the party that had drafted the appeal asked that it be withdrawn
from the agenda. 

Lenin died in 1924, at age 53, after a series of strokes. He had expressed
a desire to be buried in St. Petersburg, but his body was soon put on
display in Red Square. 

The Soviet founder's mummified corpse and the debate over its fate embody
the schism that divides Russia between those who want to revive the Soviet
Union and those who want the country to move on. Last week, the parliament
approved Putin's suggestion that the melody of the Soviet national anthem
be used for Russia's national hymn. 

``In the long run, Lenin's body should be buried. But today it is not
timely to discuss the topic,'' reformist lawmaker Grigory Yavlinsky's
Yabloko party said in a statement. ``Lenin's mausoleum remains a sacred
place for many citizens of Russia.'' 

*******

#7
Globe and Mail (Canada)
December 15, 2000
Mr. Putin goes to Ottawa
If the Russian President wants to improve relations abroad,
he first has to clean up his act at home, says political scientist AMY KNIGHT
Amy Knight teaches political science at Carleton University and is the
author of several books on Russia, including Spies Without Cloaks: The
KGB's Successors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's three-day state visit to Canada, which
begins on Sunday following his trip to Cuba, marks the end of a year of
frenetic travel for a leader whose previous experience abroad was limited
to a stint for the KGB in Soviet-controlled East Germany during the 1980s.
By the end of the year, he will have made 20 trips abroad since his
election as President in March.

Mr. Putin's wanderlust marks a sharp contrast to the couch-potato
reclusiveness of his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, who spent much of his
second term in office fighting off illness. What is Mr. Putin trying to
achieve?

Mr. Putin's domestic critics have claimed that he travels a lot because he
is unsure of what he should be doing at home. In their view, by creating
the illusion of statesmanlike activity he wants to distract people's
attention from how little progress he has made toward solving Russia's
problems. Given that Russia's economy is in dire straits and the war in
Chechnya is still raging, Mr. Putin, indeed, has plenty to keep him busy in
Moscow.

But he and his advisers have more on their minds than his image at home.
They are pursuing an activist foreign policy that they hope will set Russia
firmly on the world stage, while nudging the United States slightly away
from the centre. The visit to Canada by Mr. Putin, who has repeatedly
spoken out against a "unipolar world," dominated by the United States,
should be viewed in this light.

Russian decision-makers have typically lumped Canada together with the
United States in formulating their foreign policy. In this sense, Mr.
Putin's trip to Canada, without even a stopover in the United States, might
be seen as an attempt to set Canada apart from its southern neighbour. If
this is so, then Mr. Putin probably considers the unexpected controversy
over the U.S. presidential election as a fortuitous opportunity to
establish a relationship with the solidly elected Prime Minister Jean
Chrétien at a time when there is not yet a firm U.S. administration in
place looking over Canada's shoulder.

Although Mr. Putin must realize that his Canadian counterpart is not likely
to stray from the interests that Canada shares with the United States, he
nonetheless will attempt, as he did in Britain, to make his Canadian hosts
receptive to the idea of dealing with Russia on their own terms.

What exactly does Mr. Putin expect to gain from his Canadian visit? As with
his diplomatic efforts elsewhere, he is trying to encourage foreign
investments in his country by convincing Canadian businessmen that the
economic climate in Russia is favourable. This will be an uphill struggle
for Mr. Putin, given how little progress he has made in curbing the rampant
corruption and lawlessness that pervades Russia's economy. The Russians
will also try to gain sympathy in this country for their proposal of
radical cuts in Russian and American strategic weapons on the condition
that the 1972 ABM treaty is preserved. With George W. Bush now the
president-elect, this issue is more pressing for the Russians, who fear
that the Republicans will put the building of an anti-ballistic missile
system, and thus the abrogation of the ABM Treaty, on their immediate agenda.

The bottom line is that Mr. Putin, in pursuing new foreign-policy
initiatives, wants to be treated as a world leader and have Russia accepted
as an equal with the Group of Seven industrial nations. But whether his
visit to Canada will further this goal is an open question. Mr. Putin has
raised eyebrows in the West by deepening ties with some of Russia's
Soviet-era allies, such as Iran, Iraq, Libya, and North Korea. The
Kremlin's decision to sell arms to Iran is just one example of its defiance
toward the United States and its allies.

And a Moscow court's conviction last week of American businessman Edmond
Pope on espionage charges was another provocation. Mr. Pope, who is
suffering from bone cancer and has languished in the notorious Lefortovo
prison since April, is the first American to be tried on such charges in 40
years. The 20-year sentence, handed down after the judge deliberated for
only a couple of hours, was the maximum for this crime under the law.

The handling of Mr. Pope's case, which normally would have resulted in
nothing more than his expulsion from the country and an official protest
from Moscow, was reminiscent of the bitterest period of the Cold War.
Although Mr. Putin has now granted Mr. Pope a pardon, the Federal Security
Service, or FSB, would never have pressed ahead with a trial and a
conviction without the President's sanction.

In order to convince the leading industrial nations in the West that Russia
deserves to be a member of their club, Mr. Putin will have to address some
burning domestic issues -- issues that are bound to cast a shadow over his
diplomatic overtures toward Canada. First, of course, there is the question
of Chechnya, where the Russian military continues to commit human-rights
abuses and civilian casualties are still mounting. Then there are the
numerous high-profile cases of environmentalists, scientists and
journalists who have been arrested.

A case that has particular resonance in Canada is that of Igor Sutyagin, a
researcher at the USA/Canada Institute in Moscow who is being tried for
treason after helping scholars from Carleton and York universities on a
project involving civil-military relations.

And as with other such cases, the charges against Mr. Sutyagin -- giving
away state secrets -- appear to be bogus.

Mr. Putin cannot have it both ways: antagonizing the West by courting
"rogue states" and allowing his security services to revert to a
Soviet-style modus operandi, while at the same time expecting the West to
embrace Russia as an equal. Whatever his diplomatic abilities, Mr. Putin
will have to do more than memorize hockey statistics and learn a few words
of English if he wants to make headway with his foreign-policy initiatives.
He will have to demonstrate that he is attempting to make his country into
a workable democracy that not only protects the rights of its own citizens,
but is hospitable to foreigners and foreign investments. For Mr. Putin,
this would entail an all-out battle against corruption and also a decreased
reliance on his colleagues from the KGB.

Mr. Putin's popularity ratings are now at 70 per cent, so he is in a
position to bring about real changes in his country. But in order to do
this he should probably spend more time at home in 2001. 

*******

#8
Toronto Sun
December 15, 2000 
New Russia sings old tune
By MATTHEW FISHER -- Sun Columnist at Large

What anthem, if any, will Canada play for Vladimir Putin when the Russian
president arrives in Ottawa from Cuba on Sunday? 

Will it be the little known and rather dull current Russian anthem or the
new Russian anthem, which is to say the old Soviet anthem, for this is to
become the official anthem of Russia on New Year's Eve? 

Like many Canadians of a certain age, I loved the old Soviet anthem. It was
a catchy, heroic tune which recalls Tretiak, Kharlamov, the wily Firsov and
the Golden Age of Soviet hockey. 

For millions of others, of course, the song and the words that go with it
conjure up dark memories. When they hear the first few notes they think of
Stalin, show trials, gulags and the subjugation of Eastern Europe, the
Caucasus and Central Asia. 

The anthem had so fallen out of favour that it had become something of a
joke the last time I heard it played about two years ago in Moscow in a
notoriously raucous Canadian-owned bar. Its music provided the beat for a
striptease routine by a Nigerian man and several very young Russian women. 

How the Soviet anthem came to suddenly be rehabilitated says a lot about
the governing style and intentions of the KGB man who is about to receive a
regal reception from Governor General Adrienne Clarkson and Prime Minister
Jean Chretien. 

Much in the Soviet manner, Putin publicly announced a few weeks ago that
the old anthem must return, albeit with new words to replace phrases such
as "The party of Lenin and the strength of the people will bring us the
triumph of communism." As in Soviet times, the Russian parliament dutifully
rubber-stamped the leader's diktat a few days later. 

There was little political or public discussion about the restoration of
the anthem. Although many prominent Russians were aghast at Putin's
decision, the story was only a one- or two-day wonder in the Russian media. 

Putin has been very busy on the international stage since being anointed by
Boris Yeltsin last New Year's Eve. But it is as if he operates in a
Brezhnevian time warp. The top priority has been to significantly upgrade
relations with the Soviet Union's old pals - North Korea, Iraq, Iran and
Libya. 

Although it's not clear whether Russia's feeble factories will actually be
able to deliver the goods, the Kremlin has recently arranged ominously big
sales of arms - tanks, subs, fighter jets and surveillance aircraft - to
China, Iran and India. Relations with another pariah, Cuba, which used to
exist on Soviet handouts, have been improved, too. 

For the first time in 40 years an American has been convicted of espionage
in Moscow. But by issuing a Soviet-style decree, Putin had the man released
from prison two days ago. 

Even Canada has felt the Kremlin's chill. Nuclear-capable Russian Bear
bombers have been practising longe-range bombing runs on Canada's frozen
margins, forcing Canada to deploy CF-18 Hornets to forward operating
locations in the High Arctic. 

The Bear bombers are more of a nuisance than a threat. But they are a
reminder that President Putin wants Russia to be taken seriously as a
global military player again. 

The truth is that there are no big issues dividing or uniting Russia and
Canada. Except for one remaining dispute, Canadians who were cheated by
their Russian partners have either won modest legal victories or given up
and gone home. Anyway, oil and gas are about the only businesses lucrative
and safe enough to keep many Canadians in Russia. 

Since Putin's actions have already complicated Russia's relations with the
U.S., Canada apparently hopes to act as a bridge between Russia and the
U.S. However, Britain's Tony Blair is keen for Downing Street to be the
Kremlin's go-between with the White House. 

The winner of this obscure competition may be the government which can
divine what, if anything, Putin's new anthem portends for Russia's
relations with the only remaining superpower. 

******

#9
Putin completes historic conquest of Cuba on its beach

HAVANA, Dec 15 (AFP) - 
Russian President Vladimir Putin completes his historic conquest of Cuba on
the Communist island's sunny beaches Friday after embracing Cold War ally
Fidel Castro and berating the United States.

A relaxed and visibly confident Putin will travel with his wife Lyudmila to
Cuba's coast resort Varadero before flying nonstop over the United States
on Sunday to launch an official, two-day tour of Canada.

But first he will take questions from reporters curious to gage the candor
with which Putin brushed aside a decade of frozen Cuban relations Thursday
to cast this isolated island as one of the last roadblocks to complete US
hegemony.

Washington is "attempting to place a monopoly over international affairs,"
Putin, 48, declared on Thursday, a stoic Castro, 74, sitting in green
battle fatigue at his side.

"Russia intends to bridge the gap between the so-called golden billion and
the rest of humanity -- and we will be solving this question by taking our
very good ties with Cuba into account," Putin said.

Only moments earlier, Castro warmly welcomed the Moscow delegation of top
military and trade ministers, Putin becoming the first Russian leader to
visit this isolated Communist island since the Soviet bloc's demise.

Under a dazzling blue sky and against a backdrop of lush palm trees, the
two leaders strolled past colorfully-outfitted Cuban troops on Revolution
Square before heading inside the white marble Palace of the Revolution.

And while Putin did send a congratulatory letter to US presidential
election winner George W. Bush, the Kremlin barred journalists from asking
the Russian leader about his new Washington counterpart.

Instead, Putin himself ominously warned the United States that its sway on
the international arena will, inevitably, wane.

"Similar attempts at world domination were made numerous times throughout
the course of history ... and it is well known how they all ended," Putin
said.

The saber rattling inspired Castro, who lashed out at world trade bodies as
"the kiss of death," arguing the United States was "forcing neo-liberal
globalization" on Cuba.

"Even in the age of colonialism and slavery, the poor were not stolen from
by the rich like this," Castro fumed.

The two sides signed five trade and diplomacy agreements while Putin and
Castro pledged to support "sovereignty, self-governance, non-intervention,
independence and territorial integrity" in their joint declaration.

"This is a very important document. On almost all issues, our positions
converge," said Castro, thanking Russia for consistently arguing against
the US-imposed economic sanctions on his island.

Castro also accepted an invitation to pay his first visit to post-Soviet
Russia, although a date for the trip has not yet been set.

And in a striking dig at the United States, Castro apparently changes his
plans in the last minute to join Putin on his visit to Lourdes.

A closely-guarded town on the outskirts of Havana, Lourdes houses a cryptic
Moscow-funded listening station that monitors submarines and which most
analysts agree hones in directly on Washington.

While Moscow has not yet decided if -- despite strong US pressure -- it
will keep funding the listening post, Putin's rhetoric Thursday suggested
that he was keen to press Moscow interests on the island in the coming years.

While annual Cuban-Russian trade stands at just under one billion dollars,
the Russian delegation was due to discuss a proposal that Moscow hopes will
finally settle Havana's 11-billion-dollar Russian debt.

Executives at Russia's giant Norilsk Nickel metallurgy plant announced they
intended to complete construction of a Cuban smelter in a joint venture
with the state-run General Nickel Company.

Norilsk wants the Cuban profits from the venture to go directly to the
Russian government to pay off the outstanding debts. It was not immediately
clear whether any headway was made on that deal Thursday.

*******

#10
New York Times
December 15, 2000
Editorial
A Russian Return to Havana

President Vladimir Putin is in Cuba this week, on a visit rich in
symbolism. But Mr. Putin, the first Russian leader to visit Havana since
the disintegration of the Soviet Union, brings a substantive agenda as
well. He seeks to repair political and economic ties that have frayed in
recent years. The days are past when Moscow's relations with Havana
threatened American security. But Mr. Putin should not provoke Washington
by expanding Russian arms sales to Cuba or helping Havana complete an
unfinished civilian nuclear reactor. 

After the demise of the Soviet Union, Moscow cut off its $2 billion annual
subsidy, plunging Cuba into economic crisis. European and other Western
companies stepped in with investments and trade, shouldering Russian
businesses aside. Annual trade between Moscow and Havana has plummeted from
$3.6 billion in 1991 to less than $1 billion today. 

How far Mr. Putin plans to go in rebuilding the relationship is unclear. He
will surely promote new Russian investment, particularly in developing
Cuba's rich nickel deposits, and will try to work out terms for repayment
of some of the estimated $20 billion that Havana owes Moscow. But his
ambitions may go beyond the purely commercial. There has been discussion of
new Russian weapons sales to Cuba's military and of help in completing the
unfinished power reactor, near Cienfuegos. Washington fears that once this
reactor is completed, its fuel could be secretly diverted to nuclear
weapons production. It is also concerned about safety risks to Florida. 

This trip is part of Mr. Putin's effort to raise Russia's diplomatic
profile after its erosion during the final years of Boris Yeltsin's rule.
He has tried to strike a balance between challenging American policies on
problems like Iran and Iraq and cooperating with Washington on other
issues, like arms control and Mideast peace. 

Yesterday Mr. Putin made the right decision in pardoning Edmond Pope, the
American businessman convicted of espionage last week. Mr. Pope suffers
from bone cancer and his release is a welcome humanitarian and diplomatic
gesture. But Moscow was wrong in pressing Spain earlier this week to arrest
Vladimir Gusinsky for extradition to Russia on fraud charges. Mr.
Gusinsky's television stations and print outlets have been critical of the
Putin government, and his prosecution appears politically motivated. 

*******

#11
Christian Science Monitor
December 15, 2000 
After disaster: the people who call Chernobyl home
The power plant that triggered the worst-ever nuclear accident shuts down
today. 
By Scott Peterson, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor 

For the contaminated area closest to Chernobyl - site of the world's
worst-ever nuclear accident -time appears to have stopped on April 26, 1986. 

Silence took over as more than 100,000 evacuees fled fallout 100 times more
radioactive than the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at
the end of World War II. 

Across a vast restricted area, towns and villages remain eerily empty, an
amusement park lies in ruins, weeds have grown into trees. The moss near an
empty bumper car makes a Geiger counter crackle and sing at three times the
normal rate. Nearby, pine trees show multiple signs of mutation. 

Today, after years of Western pressure on Ukraine, Chernobyl is to be
officially shut down. It's something of a formality -Reactor No. 3 has been
on-again, off-again during three weeks of technical glitches. Engineers
will press the button that stops the nuclear chain reaction for the final
time, in a move critics say is long overdue. 

Fallout persists 

Chernobyl's legacy of contamination across Eastern Europe is expected to
last for decades. Among victims are the 30 or so firemen who died in the
initial explosion of Reactor No. 4, and the thousands of subsequent deaths
widely attributed to the fallout in Ukraine, Belarus, and western Russia -
although the figure is disputed by some. 

"The danger is tremendous, and we don't know the impact on future
generations because we don't know about lower doses," says Andrei Zabov,
with the nuclear nonproliferation project of the Carnegie Endowment in
Moscow. Ukraine took over the reactor after the breakup of the Soviet Union
in 1991. 

"Living there is a risk, and the risk is higher than in other areas," he
adds. "People take risks every day, just crossing the road. But I would be
afraid to go there." 

Contamination is still spreading: One town 30 miles west of Chernobyl was
evacuated just last year. But as scientists debate the long-term effects of
low-level radiation exposure, amid the radioactive detritus there is a
human face. The risks are in the eye of the beholder, and there may be no
more cavalier attitude than among the few who live closest to the reactor
itself, in the barbed-wire fenced "exclusion zone" that marks an 18-mile
radius from the epicenter of the blast. 

"We've already consumed all that radiation," says Nina Franko, a
large-handed collective farm veteran in the near-empty village of
Obachichi. She is one of 3,000 people who returned to homes in the zone a
year after the blast, despite warnings. Today, only 300 remain, all of them
elderly. 

"We've stayed here all these years. It means we got used to the radiation,
and the radiation got used to us," says Mrs. Franko, who worked briefly as
a cleaner at the reactor. Virtually all other plant workers commute to work
by shuttle from a purpose-built city outside the zone perimeter. 

The radioactive cloud was large: Belarus received 70 percent of the
fallout, and research in 1989 indicated that one-fifth of that
former-Soviet state is "significantly contaminated." In Ukraine, officials
say 3.5 million people live on "hot" soil. Cases of thyroid cancer have
surged 100-fold in some areas, and by one count, 15,000 have died. 

As many as 800,000 soldiers and volunteers, called "liquidators," were
heavily exposed to radiation while helping to clean up the Chernobyl site.
There is no record of who they were, or their current state of health. 

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted earlier this year: "The catastrophe
is far from over. It continues to have a devastating effect not only on the
health of the people, but on every aspect of society." 

Still, those living nearby get by. More than 40 percent of the exclusion
zone is covered with pine trees, and many of the so-called "self-settlers"
left after a 1991 forest fire spread radioactive particles farther and
turned some villages to ash. 

"We thought we would die when we returned, but we are still here," laughs
Nastasia Chikalovets, the silver-capped arc of her teeth flashing with a
broad smile. She runs a modest farm, though nobody beyond the exclusion
zone will touch the local produce. 

Locals shrug off the fears of outsiders, point to their own robust health,
and cite tests -selective though they may be -that show no danger as long
as 22 pounds of local mushrooms are not consumed at a single sitting.
Radiation levels, they contend, are higher elsewhere in Ukraine. 

"What is radiation?" asks Mrs. Chikalovets. "We didn't feel it then, we
don't feel it now. Let it be radiation. It's on our land." 

"They explained it all to us," adds Valentina Kortunenko, as Fluffy, her
long-haired cat, slinks through the living room graced with six perfect red
roses from the garden. "They said don't go, its dangerous. Don't eat
anything," Mrs. Kortunenko says. Since then, "all the world" has visited,
measuring radiation levels and writing reports. 

So these three friends, who might be simple babushka anywhere else in the
former Soviet Union, know some things about radiation. They can tick off
differences in the half-life and ionizing characteristics of radioactive
elements that they live with: plutonium, cesium-137, strontium, and
radioactive iodine. That is also the language of nuclear scientists and
officials at the Chernobyl plant, who argue that Ukraine desperately needs
the 5 percent of the nation's electricity it produces. 

The destroyed core of the reactor has been encased in a "sarcophagus," a
concrete and steel shell that requires constant care and remains extremely
radioactive. Inside, the control room for unit No. 4 is covered with a
veneer of purple goo designed to keep down radioactive dust. 

In front of the console, a technician points to the trigger for the
accident: the last button pushed at 1:26 am on April 26, as part of an
experiment to test the reactor's capacity, while most safety mechanisms
were off. 

"Half of Ukraine's regions have 'hot' spots," says Nikolai Dmytruk, of the
official InterInform agency in Chernobyl, who estimates that some 3.5
million Ukrainians "live in contaminated areas. Even now, the zone grows to
the west." Other towns in that direction are likely to be evacuated in
coming years. 

Part of the cesium cloud that soared into the atmosphere during the
explosion was detected across Europe, as well as in northern Iraq. 

Lingering concerns 

Officials here worry that the international community may forget about
Chernobyl - and its continuing need for cash to be safe - once it shuts
down for good. 

A particular concern is the river that flows past the reactor and feeds
into the Dnieper River, past the capital, Kiev, and finally into the Black
Sea - the watershed that provides 9 million Ukrainians with drinking water. 

In the "exclusion zone," where settlers this year fought off growing packs
of wolves, the government provides an allowance for buying "safe" food from
outside. A vehicle brings food for purchase every week. 

Still, residents say they find a certain pleasure in being pioneers, though
it is often a lonely business. No one, for example, lives in Pripyat, a
city once home to 50,000 people, where lamp posts are still hung with
festive Soviet hammer-and-sickle signs, in preparation for 1986 May Day
celebrations that never took place. 

The amusement park was supposed to open that day, too. 

Back in Obachichi village, the three lady friends laugh about a neighbor
who once dug up her entire garden. "I never found radiation!" the woman
exclaimed. "Where is it?" 

"We are sorry the villages are empty and trees grow in the gardens. It's
very sad," says Kortunenko. "It is awkward to live here. But they won't
take us forcefully." 

******

#12
The Economist (UK)
December 16-22, 2000
Russia 
The very long arm of its law 

FIRST a Chilean ex-dictator, now a Russian tycoon: never a dull moment, it
seems, for Spain’s extradition court. The latest case concerns the former
owner of Russia’s main independent media empire, Vladimir Gusinsky. Russia
wants him extradited on fraud charges. Spanish police, acting on an
Interpol warrant, duly nabbed him this week. 

“You are making a big mistake,” Mr Gusinsky reportedly protested to the
police taking him from his house in the southern Spanish resort of
Sotogrande. “I am a friend of Bill Clinton.” The claim to friendship is
dubious, though the American president has been interviewed on Mr
Gusinsky’s radio station. But there is much less doubt about his
enemies—such as Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. 

In recent months Mr Gusinsky and his media company have faced a barrage of
intimidation from the authorities. In the civil courts, he was sued by
Gazprom, the national gas company, over a $300m loan. He spent four days in
prison on flimsy-sounding firearms charges, and was let out, in a deal
brokered by the government, only when he agreed to hand over a majority
stake in his media empire to Gazprom. 

For now, NTV, Mr Gusinsky’s television channel, still maintains a robust
editorial line. Last week, for example, it gave plenty of prominence to
opponents of the Soviet national anthem, which Russia has just restored.
But should the authorities want to change things, they will find it a lot
easier when the buck starts with Gazprom.

Although Gazprom itself seems happy with the deal, the prosecutors do not
want to let Mr Gusinsky off the hook. They say that he lied about his
company’s assets when he borrowed the money from Gazprom. Last month he
decided to stay abroad rather than argue his case before a Moscow court.
Perhaps he was wise: more than 96% of criminal cases in Russia end in
conviction. 

Whether he will be extradited is another story. On paper, Russia has a
strong case: fraud is a crime in Spain too. But Mr Gusinsky can afford good
lawyers and has some sturdy friends. The World Jewish Congress, whose
Russian branch he heads, has vigorously protested. His lawyers can produce
a document, signed by the press minister, Mikhail Lesin, guaranteeing his
freedom if he hands over his shares. From that, they could argue that the
case is really political. 

Or the Kremlin may decide to let it drop. Most of Russia’s other tycoons
have cupboards full of financial and other skeletons, should the
authorities start rummaging. The message to them is already plain. Step out
of line, and you not only lose your property, but face embarrassing and
potentially dangerous hassles—even when living abroad. 

******

#13
Russia Approves UES Breakup Program: Shares Plunge

Moscow, Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- RAO Unified Energy Systems said the Russian
government gave preliminary approval to the breakup of the national energy
monopoly, paving the way for sales of dozens of power generators opposed by
minority shareholders. 

The Russian government, UES' majority owner, approved at today's meeting
the basic principles of management's reorganization plan, UES Chief
Executive Anatoly Chubais said. The government met to discuss proposals to
split UES into a state-run transmission company and distribution and
generating units to be sold off. 

UES shares fell as much as 11.4 percent to 7.7 cents after Kudrin announced
state backing for the plan. Minority shareholder concerns have pushed UES
prices down more than 60 percent since March. Investors are concerned UES
will choose buyers not interested in building value. The World Bank has
said Russia should first improve regulations and force UES companies to
compete among themselves before selling assets. 

``It would be a mistake to rush to divestiture,'' said Michael Carter, the
World Bank's country director for Russia, in an interview. ``Without strong
regulation you will have problems.'' 

Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said after the meeting that the government
would still need to make some changes to the reorganization plan, Interfax
reported. 

Chubais has said that UES, which controls the world's largest power grid
and has more than 70 regional companies, can raise the billions of dollars
needed to upgrade old plants only if it reorganizes, sells generators and
persuades the government to accelerate an increase in regulated tariffs. 

Volga Pilot Project 

UES has proposed creating about 15 inter-regional power companies
throughout Russia that would compete on a nationwide market. Tariffs, which
are now set by the state, would rise. 

Last month the company's board approved creating a new fully owned
subsidiary to manage several of its power generators in the Volga region, a
step toward plans to reorganize UES. 

The new subsidiary will aim to improve the units' performance on the model
of the Samara region power company, AO Samaraenergo, which said profit rose
88 percent in the first nine months of the year to 484.3 million rubles
($17.4 million), compared with the same period in 1999. 

Russian media reported the Volga company will manage AO Saratovenergo, AO
Penzaenergo and AO Ulyanovskenergo in addition to Samaraenergo. UES will
need shareholder approval to create the new company, which would serve an
area of about 233,000 square kilometers -- two-thirds the size of Germany
-- with a population of about 9 million. 

Several of Russia's biggest industrial companies are based in the area,
including OAO AvtoVAZ, the country's No. 1 carmaker, and refineries
belonging to oil producers such as AO Yukos, the No. 2 oil company, and OAO
Sidanco. 

Samaraenergo, the only one of the four whose stock trades regularly, has a
market capitalization of 1.3 billion rubles. 

Shareholder Worries 

Some minority shareholders have demanded the government slow the
reorganization, though no ministry has come up with an alternative
proposal. They say they back the general concept of reorganization and only
want more safeguards to prevent quick asset sales at low prices. 

``The minute they start selling things at these price levels the
shareholders will be damaged,'' said Bill Browder, who oversees $425
million of assets at Hermitage Capital Management and owns UES shares.
``The main guarantee we are looking for from the government is transparency
over asset disposal.'' 

The fight over UES's reorganization has contributed to a 29 percent decline
in the benchmark RTS stock index in the past three months. UES accounts for
about half of all transactions every day on the Russian Trading System, the
nation's biggest stock market. 

President Vladimir Putin, who since his inauguration in May has pledged to
protect investors' rights, has indicated he'll try to ease minority
shareholders' concerns. 

Board Meeting 

Putin's Chief of Staff Alexander Voloshin has provided a group of minority
shareholders assurances that an extraordinary shareholders' meeting will be
called to change the UES charter to require approval by two-thirds of the
board for any sales involving more than 4 percent of UES assets, Browder
said. The government owns 52 percent of UES. 

``We've come to a verbal agreement with the government which will create
accountability and transparency in asset sales,'' Browder said. ``Whatever
plan has been approved (this agreement) would create some checks and
balances to prevent assets being stripped from the company.'' 

The World Bank said some of shareholders' concerns are justified. 

``To some extent there is a question for all shareholders of getting as
good a value as possible from sales,'' Carter said. ``But there is another
concern, that the sales not take place in a way that would impede
competition.'' 

The government plans to introduce bills to provide additional financing to
some groups of the population and strategic industries to protect them from
any power shortages resulting from rate increases. Russia keeps utility
rates artificially low, a form of indirect subsidies to both the industry
and population. 

Some critics of the plan are concerned that all parts of the country may
not have sufficient heat supplies after the reorganization. UES produces
about a third of all heat in Russia, which has one of the coldest climates
in the world. Some government officials also have disputed the size of the
stake the state should control in the transmission company. 

******

#14
Segodnya
December 15, 2000
[translation from RIA Novosti for personal use only]
RUSSIAN OIL PRICES DOWN ONE-THIRD
By Milana DAVYDOVA

The 2001 budget, which was adopted yesterday by the State 
Duma in its fourth and final reading, is in danger. The reason 
is a steep fall in oil prices. On November 13, the price of the 
Russian Urals oil was 22.27 dollars per barrel. In the context 
of the oil euphoria of this year, when the price of a barrel of 
oil did not drop below 30 dollars for a long time, the 
government's experts priced a barrel of oil at 21.5 dollars in 
the next year's budget. This forecast seemed quite realistic 
until recently but current developments on the world market 
show that in 2001 the oil prices might be lower.
Since November 15, Russian oil prices dropped by a third. 
In the oil market analysts' opinion, these are not price 
fluctuations, as it was before, but a new tendency based not 
only on the information about the resumption of oil exports by 
Iraq, but also on some negative news coming from the United 
States.
"American companies' profits are falling and the GDP growth is 
slowing down, therefore traders have reasons for misgivings 
that the demand for oil will fall even further," says Stephen 
Dashevski, experts of the ATON investment company. In his 
opinion, "the market will put everything in its place over the 
next two months, and the place of Russian oil in it is below 20 
dollars per barrel. Forecasts of the Troika-Dialog investment 
company are even more pessimistic. "Next year, the average oil 
price will be about 17 dollars per barrel," says the oil market 
analyst Ivan Mazalov.
Oil producers make similar forecasts. "In the 2001 
holdings' budgets oil prices do not exceed 18 dollars per 
barrel," said a representative of a big oil company. Naturally, 
if things develop this way, the government's latest tax 
initiatives as regards the oil sector will become just 
pointless. Oil producers will have barely enough (in current 
income) to maintain production and pay export duties. Thus, 
budget revenues will inevitably fall. True, the Russian 
President Vladimir Putin is still optimistic. In an interview 
to Canadian media, which he gave on November 14, Putin said in 
particular that "Russia is ready for a turnabout when oil 
prices might fall sharply, so it is doing a great deal not to 
squander the positive resource which it has in its disposal 
now." 

******* 

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