#5 - JRL 7211
TV1 Review
www.1tv.ru
Compiled by Luba Schwartzman (luba_sch@hotmail.com)
Research Analyst, Center for Defense Information, Moscow office
HEADLINES,
Wednesday, June 4, 2003
- Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the upcoming meeting on the 2004 budget and progress on high-priority laws in the State Duma with Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov.
- President Putin chaired a meeting of the State Council Working Group on Ecology dedicated to environmental problems in Russia. Working Group Chairman and Astrakhan Oblast Governor Anatoly Guzhvin presented the main report on an environmental doctrine for Russia. Dozens of rare species of animals are facing extinction in Russia. Statistics show that 60 percent of Russian residents live in conditions that do not satisfy ecological requirements. President Putin noted that legal mechanisms that force polluters to pay for the damage they cause are absent.
- A meeting of the NATO-Russia Council was held this morning in Madrid. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov declared that NATO countries are prepared to exhibit "military moderation" on the territories of new members. Ivanov also announced that he has received assurances from the US, that Russian companies will participate in the restoration of Iraq on par with US and other Western firms.
- The Russian system of mandatory health insurance has been around for ten years. Almost 95 percent of the population is insured. At a conference dedicated to the anniversary, Deputy Prime Minister Galina Karelova noted that the system does have many problems, the worst of which is the problem of funding.
- The State Duma accepted in the second reading a resolution on amnesty in Chechnya.
- Chechen Prime Minister Anatoly Popov introduced Khozh- Akhmed Arsanov, the new Mayor of the City of Grozny.
- The 5th International Exhibition of Military Technology opened in Omsk. Over 170 enterprises of the defense-industrial complex will participate. Representatives from 32 countries, including NATO countries, will attend the expo.
- 22-year-old lance sergeant Vladimir Shumenko has been found guilty of beating up private Aleksandr Fokin, and bringing Fokin to attempted suicide. Shumenko was sentenced to 2 year imprisonment; the punishment was changed to two years in a disciplinary division.
- The 14th Annual Kinotavr Film Festival will open in Sochi.