January 30, 2001   

This Date's Issues:   5058 • 5059 • 5060

Johnson's Russia List
#5059
30 January 2001
davidjohnson@erols.com

[Note from David Johnson:
1. Moscow Times: Grigory Yavlinsky, Sham Reform Leads to National Bolshevism.
2. AFP: Russian media mogul's fraud topped a billion dollars: prosecutor.
3. The Russia Journal: Yury Sigov, Americans get a taste of Russian inventiveness.
4. Interfax: Over 40 per cent of Russians believe media have sufficient freedom.
5. Interfax: Poll shows Russians welcome troops reduction in Chechnya.
6. Jacob Kipp: re 5056-Stalingrad Film/Enemy at the Gates.
7. Steve Wegren: query re import tariffs.
8. strana.ru: Russia will get rid of a problem if private ownership of land is introduced in the country.
9. Reuters: Improved corporate governance key to Russian market.
10. BBC Monitoring: Russian opponents of the IMF hold anti-Davos news conference in Moscow.
11. Boston Globe: Marshall Goldman, Putin, the Pesky Press and Dictatorship of the Law.
12. Moscow Times: David Kotz, The Real Problem. (re economy)
13. The Guardian (UK): Amelia Gentleman, Sushi and coke - the new world of Anna Karenina.
14. Itar-Tass: Security Concerns High on Agenda in Russia, United States.
15. BBC Monitoring: Summary of Russian press for Tuesday 30 January 2001.] 

*******

#1
Moscow Times
January 30, 2001
Sham Reform Leads to National Bolshevism
By Grigory Yavlinsky 
Grigory Yavlinsky is the leader of the Yabloko party. The above text was
taken from his speech to the Emergency Congress in Defense of Human Rights
on Jan. 21.

More and more people are beginning to understand, albeit very slowly, what
is happening in our country. 

People are beginning to understand that we have sham freedom of speech,
which really only allows us to systematically praise the bosses.

People see that we have sham independence of the judicial system, which
continues to heed the commands of its superiors. This system can be used as
a truncheon whenever it is needed. It is always ready to open a criminal
case and start to hound someone.

We have sham elections: Everyone is well aware that people are able to
elect not those who they want, but those who the government puts forward.
This happens on all levels.

The country has a sham multiparty system: The party of power has certain
privileges. This "party" is now trying to become a monopoly, having in
essence joined forces with the Communists.

We have sham separation of powers because our government is not subordinate
to anyone. The executive branch does whatever it feels like — it is
accountable to no one, not on a single issue.

The most characteristic trait of today's government, which it unabashedly
demonstrates, is the absence of any notion of the value of human life, any
idea that there are inalienable rights and freedoms. It is senseless to try
to explain this to the authorities: They don't allow these simple ideas
into their consciousness. This is how it's been for almost 10 years. And
what is the result? 

In 10 years, our country has suffered through two wars, one of which
continues; two defaults, one of them immense; and hyperinflation in 1992,
which destroyed all the material resources of our fellow citizens. In 1993,
we saw the beginnings of a civil war.

Today our country has ceased to count its dead. We no longer pay attention
to the number of people who are killed every day in zones of military
conflict — [this occurs] for many reasons that cannot be explained from the
point of view of logic, the law or the Constitution. A country that does
not count its dead is moving on a very dangerous road — it becomes
indifferent. And this is just what those who would take political advantage
of the country need.

The foundations of a new political system are being laid. Today I would
call it yet unrecognizable national bolshevism. One of the reasons for it
is the attempt to create a capitalist system without civil society.

Only reforms that guarantee real rights to everybody — only reforms that
reach each individual and improve his life — can guarantee our country's
strength and prosperity.

******

#2
Russian media mogul's fraud topped a billion dollars: prosecutor

MOSCOW, Jan 30 (AFP) - 
Russian media company Media-MOST -- often a thorn in the government's side
-- received over a billion dollars via the fraudulent actions of its owner
Vladimir Gusinsky, Russia's top prosecutor said Monday.

Gusinsky, an outspoken government critic, is currently under house arrest
in Spain pending extradition hearings on multi-million dollar fraud charges.

Prosecutor t Vladimir Ustinov told state-run ORT television late Monday
that part of the fraudulent billion dollars was spent directly on
Media-MOST subsidiaries whilst some money was transferred to offshore
accounts.

"We know for definite that 100 million dollars has been transferred to Most
Ltd to an island haven, 75 million dollars to Media-MOST Ltd in Gibraltar
and 40 million dollars to Media-MOST Ltd in the Netherlands," Ustinov said.

"A large sum was also given away as interest-free loans during the 1990s to
over 100 employees and associates, which we doubt will ever be returned,"
he said.

Ustinov also rejected accusations of harassment from journalists of
Media-MOST's flagship NTV channel, saying that his questioning was not
personal or an attack on press freedoms but linked solely to the Gusinsky
case.

"We have not and never will have any questions for journalists regarding
their professional activities," he said after attending a meeting between
Russian President Vladimir Putin and 11 NTV journalists.

The Prosecutor General also vowed Monday to stop raids by armed secret
police, who have repeatedly turned up at Media-MOST offices.

"I have banned the use of force in searches. Waving guns around is not the
way to conduct investigations," he said, adding that Putin had broached the
"error" with him.

The president invited NTV journalists to the Kremlin Monday after they
appealed to him for a meeting to discuss the investigation into payments
made by Gusinsky to help his top stars buy luxury apartments.

NTV anchorwoman Tatyana Mitkova was summoned for questioning last Friday
about a 70,000-dollar loan she received in 1994 for a two-room apartment.

Despite agreeing that the questioning of journalists was wrong, Putin
failed to reassure the broadcasters by stressing that the prosecutor's
office was an independent body and by advising them to take all complaints
to court, broadcaster Irina Zaitseva said.

Prosecutors last year accused Gusinsky of involvement in fraud amounting to
250 million dollars and issued an international arrest warrant.

He was detained in Spain on December 12 but released ten days later on bail
and placed under house arrest in his villa in the south of the country.

Spain's highest penal court is scheduled on Friday to examine a
prosecutor's demand to reverse the decision to allow Gusinsky to stay out
of jail while the extradition demand is examined.

Gusinsky, 48, faces a minimum jail sentence of six years, or up to 10 years
in a Russian prison, if convicted of fraud.

Gusinsky says that the charges against him have been trumped up because of
his outspoken criticism of the war in Chechnya and that he is the target of
a campaign by Moscow to silence the independent press.

Media-MOST's finance chief, Anton Titov, was arrested earlier this month on
fraud charges and sent to Moscow's high-security Butyrskaya jail.

Although details of the case against Titov remain unclear, he faces a
prison sentence of up to 10 years if convicted.

*******

#3
The Russia Journal
January 27-February 2, 2001
Americans get a taste of Russian inventiveness
By YURY SIGOV / View from America

Necessity, goes the proverb, is the mother of invention. A rather
overbearing mother in the case of Russia, but it makes Russians a very
inventive people. Couple this with the thieving urge noted by even such
patriots as 18th-century historian Nikolai Karamzin, and what do you get –
corruption, banking scandals and so on.

The average American might not know Karamzin, but they’re getting the idea
that you can’t trust those diabolically inventive Russians. Some of the
stories of Russian antics in the citadel of world capitalism have now
passed into history. Russian comedian Mikhail Zadornov has tales of Soviet
immigrants back in the 1970s weighing their own bananas in American shops.
They’d do no more than brush the scales with the bananas, paying a few
cents rather than a couple of dollars.

American salespeople eventually caught on and don’t allow that kind of
self-service anymore. But Russian inventiveness has since found plenty of
other outlets. Take the scandal involving $900,000 in Salt Lake City at the
end of last year. The capital of Utah, which is to hold the winter Olympics
next year, has been getting visits from foreign Olympic committee
officials, among them two representatives of the Russian Olympic Committee,
coming to open bank accounts and prepare the ground for their national teams. 

The catch is that these two Russians – they had Russian passports and
(probably fake) IDs signed by the Russian Olympic Committee president –
opened bank accounts, received checkbooks and made off with $900,000. It’s
entirely possible the two fraudsters weren’t Russian citizens at all, but
that they used Russia as a cover says something in itself. 

It may be unfortunate for Russia’s image, but there are reasons why
Russians get painted in such black colors in America. Just take another
story of two Petersburgers who moved to New York, rented a car and set
about rifling through the contents of mailboxes in the city’s poorer
districts. What they were after was envelopes containing credit cards,
phone accounts and other financial documents. The swindlers’ enterprising
operations in cashing in other people’s bank checks and withdrawing money
using others’ credit cards came to an end when they were caught by an old
woman. 

Her suspicions were aroused when she saw them come three times in one day
to the same mailbox, knowing that a federal welfare check was due that day.

In Los Angeles, Russians, who had caught on to the American love of various
charities and funds, gathered donations for all kinds of monuments,
environmental causes and people in need. Needless to say, the money didn’t
reach its stated destination. One pair of Russians even collected a tidy
sum in the name of protecting dolphins, though they’d probably never seen a
dolphin in their lives.

Another Russian opened a mobile fortune-telling clinic in California using
a van stolen in Colorado. In just a couple of weeks, he diddled naive
Californians out of more than $50,000 with his dubious consultations, but
was caught after two old ladies called the police. 

On a smaller scale, there’s the age-old Russian love of getting something
for nothing. When a group of high-placed Russian officials arrived in the
United States to observe the presidential elections, they brought with them
a host of respectable-looking chief secretaries and security people. 

But the minute the bosses were busy in meetings, their respectable
subordinates waiting in the reception areas of reputable American
institutions stormed the telephones, calling Krasnoyarsk, Lipetsk and
everyone back home. One Ukrainian intern in a well-known Washington
foundation ran up $2,000 worth of calls back home from the office phones.

It might be some consolation to the average Russian that at least in all
these cases, the people being taken for a ride are gullible Americans
rather than unfortunate victims in Russia.

But the downside is that none of this will do anything to persuade the
average American, or the country’s new president and his team, to change
their perceptions of Russia. 

(Yury Sigov is Washington bureau chief for Noviye Izvestia and a regular
columnist for The Russia Journal.)

******

#4
Over 40 per cent of Russians believe media have sufficient freedom 
Interfax 

Moscow, 29 January: Forty-two per cent of Russian citizens think that
television, radio and the press have sufficient freedom, while 18 per cent
believe that the degree of freedom is too great. 

This is clear from an opinion poll conducted by the All-Russia Public
Opinion Centre on 26-28 January. The poll involved 1,600 respondents. 

But one third or 33 per cent of those polled said that the level of freedom
is not high enough. 

Seven per cent of the respondents were undecided. 

******

#5
Poll shows Russians welcome troops reduction in Chechnya 
Interfax 

Moscow, 29 January: An absolute majority of Russian citizens (68 per cent)
welcome the Russian leadership's decision to reduce the federal contingent
in Chechnya and transfer the commanding functions from the Defence Ministry
over to the Federal Security Service. Less than a quarter of citizens (23
per cent) disapprove of this decision, according to an opinion poll held by
the All-Russia Public Opinion Centre. The poll involved 1,600 adult
respondents and was held on 26-28 January. 

The opinion poll also shows that more than half Russian citizens (57 per
cent) do not think that rebels' resistance has been decreased and that
order in Chechnya may be maintained without the involvement of a large
military contingent. Only 30 per cent of the respondents have a different
opinion. 

Moreover, 58 per cent of those polled think that the rebels will regain
control over the situation in Chechnya and troops will have to be sent to
this republic once again. The opposite opinion is shared by 26 per cent of
the respondents. 

******

#6
From: "Jacob Kipp" <KIPPJ@LEAVENWORTH.ARMY.MIL>
Subject: re 5056-Stalingrad Film/Enemy at the Gates
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 

OK, Konig story has not been proven. But that is not to say that Vasiliy
Grigor'evich Zaitsev [born Mar 23, 1915) did not kill quite a few Germans
during the battle of Stalingrad. Zaitsev's service record [Geroi Sovetskogo
Soyuza I] says that he was naval infantry, who joined the 1047th Rifle
Regiment of the 284th Rifle Division of General Vasily Chuikov's 62nd Army
[Stalingrad Front] in September 1942. Sniper Zaitsev is credited with
killing 225 enemy officers and soldiers in the period 10 October to 17
December 1942. The 149 figure is down to November 7, the anniversary of the
Bolshevik Revolution]. He is also credited with training 28 snipers during
the battle. At the time Chuikov's Army had been ordered to fight through --
holds it ground and prevent the Germans from clearing the west bank of the
Volga in order to set the trap for the coming counter-offensive. The task
was to do that with few replacements. I do not think that the centrality of
the Zaitsev-Konig duel to "Enemy at the Gates" makes it the same sort of
metafiction that we saw in U-571 -- transformation of nationality and
hollywoodization of the event beyond any relationship to an actual event.
If Konig is the problem then we have to deal with the origins of that story.
Is Konig tale simple propaganda or the sort of combat legend that Paul
Fussel wrote about in War and Modern Memory? That would be a topic for real
research. Certainly it had some connection with the "sniper movement" and
the socialist competition unleashed before the 25th anniversary of the
Bolshevik Revolution {Beevor, 203-204]. Beevor says Konig tale was probably
a legend. Might I suggest that "Enemy at the Gates" is something a bit
closer to "Saving Private Ryan" -- an invention but grounded in real
events-- than U-571. For Americans, "Ryan" became a vehicle for showing the
horrors of combat [first fifteen minutes of the landing] and of saying
something about an extraordinary generation. My conversations with veterans
of the Eastern Front also suggest an extraordinary generation. One might
also note that the Germans did a film on Stalingrad in the last decade. I
saw it in Germany but it did play in the United States. I have no idea if
it every played in Russia. 

******

#7
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 
From: "Steve Wegren" <swegren@post.cis.smu.edu> 
Subject: query re import tariffs

David,
Could you ask your readership if anyone knows the average import tariff
rate on
manufactured goods and machinery which the Russian government imposes? I
realize rates differ by product, but if anyone knows a general average, or the
rate most commonly applied, it would be useful to me. They can respond
directly to my email: swegren@mail.smu.edu
Thanks,
Steve 

******

#8
strana.ru
January 29, 2001
Russia will get rid of a problem if private ownership of land is introduced 
in the country
By Yevgeny Yevdokimov, Strana.Ru observer

Throughout Russia's centuries-long history land has always been more of a 
political than economic issue. It has had a drastic effect on the country's 
fortunes, and especially so at turning points in its history. 

The fact of the matter is that Russia being an agrarian country during much 
of its history, private ownership of land in the Western sense of the notion 
has never existed. Originally, land in Russia belonged to feudal landowners, 
then the tsars took over property rights and used them to award land to 
landed gentlemen. When serfdom was abolished in the mid-19th century, the 
peasants gained personal freedom but received no plots of land. From that 
time on Russian peasants, who then accounted for close to 90% of the 
country's population, owned land collectively within the framework of a 
community. 

With the arrival of fledgling capitalism in the early 20th century when 
Nicolas II was Russia's tsar, Premier Peotr Stolypin attempted to introduce 
agrarian reform. Hundreds of thousands of peasants were moved to Siberia 
where the state had provided large tracks of unused land for them to till 
provided they renounced their community status. Stolypin's reform was a 
success: within a short period of time Russia had become the world's leading 
exporter of grain. But Stolypin's reform was inconclusive because of the 
assassination of its architect and the start of World War I. After the 1917 
revolution the Bolsheviks went a long way toward restoring the feudal order 
by taking the land away from peasants and returning it to the state. 

Today Russia is making a third attempt to resolve the land problem, a problem 
that once again stands in the way of reform. Much has been done in the ten 
years since the collapse of socialism: democratization, privatization and a 
transition to a market economy. But private ownership of land is still an 
outstanding problem. 

Communists and their political ally the Agrarian Party (representing the 
interests of countryside bureaucrats) are dead set against the idea of 
selling and purchasing land. They attempt to scare their electorate by 
dangling the bogie of "oligarchs and foreigners buying off the whole of 
Russia" once the land market is liberalized. They managed to block a land 
code in two previous Dumas.

Meanwhile, the situation in Russia's agriculture remains critical. The 
cooperative farm system still persists albeit in a slightly modified form. 
Local officials retain control over the land and income. They have no use for 
any private initiative, and they go out of their way to obstruct the work of 
the few farmers who were given the right to rent land under Yeltsin. The 
country's agriculture is still one of the most ineffective branches of the 
economy. According to official statistics, 80% of Russian farming enterprises 
are unprofitable. 

Another side of the problem is that heavy taxes and large imports stifle the 
countryside. Besides, agricultural output is bought at very low prices 
whereas agricultural enterprises have to pay exorbitant prices for equipment, 
fuel and fertilizer. However, these problems too will defy solution unless 
the land problem is resolved.

Russia has every prerequisite for a sensible land reform and a normal market 
for the purchase and sale of land. According to opinion polls, only 17% of 
the Russians are categorically opposed to the introduction of private 
ownership of land countrywide. If at long last the authorities get down to 
business instead of engaging in empty rhetoric, the country may well start 
developing at a faster pace. Land is a vast potential capable of taking the 
financial system, industry and the problem of investment off the ground.

******

#9
DAVOS-Improved corporate governance key to Russian market

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 29 (Reuters) - An improvement in corporate governance 
could allow Russia to double the capitalisation of its stock market to about 
$100 billion, Troika Dialog brokerage said in market review on Monday. 

The research, presented at the World Economic Forum, encompasses 60 Russian 
companies, or 94 percent of the country's equities market. 

"If Russia maintains all other risks at the current levels, but only improves 
corporate governance, Russian market capitalisation may double," Troika's 
head Ruben Vardanyan told reporters. 

The Chairman of Russia's Federal Securities Commission Igor Kostikov said the 
Commission together with leading businessmen would draft a corporate 
governance code by November. 

Troika said a discount between the Russian market's current and target 
valuation amounted to $54.8 billion, of which $34.7 billion or 63 percent was 
accounted for by an aggregate of the biggest companies -- Gazprom, UES, 
Norilsk Nickel and LUKOIL. 

"All four companies are now at the forefront of corporate governance 
concerns," Troika said. 

Other leading oil companies, Surgutneftegaz, YUKOS and Tatneft, increased 
market capitalisation after an improvement of corporate governance, the 
brokerage said. 

"Surgutneftegaz is the only significantly overvalued share on this basis, a 
measure of how successful it has been in recovering market confidence 
following its early 2000 restructuring," Troika said. 

Ronald Freeman, chairman of Emerging Europe Business Council, told a news 
conference the government, a shareholder in many big companies, should help 
them adopt corporate governance rules and therefore boost market 
capitalisation. 

"If companies were compliant, the market will be worth $50 billion more. And 
since the government is a shareholder, it is interested to see this gap 
closed by proper corporate governance. This is not a theoretical issue," 
Freeman said. 

"And then you'll see the price of shares rise and that's the goal." 

******

#10
BBC Monitoring
Russian opponents of the IMF hold anti-Davos news conference in Moscow 
Source: Kommersant, Moscow, in Russian 27 Jan 01 

None to vanquish the IMF. 

In Moscow yesterday, a few Russian antiglobalists held a news conference
timed to coincide with the summit in Davos. During it they expressed their
regret that they had no money to go to Davos and sling manure at the
participants in the summit. 

The organizers began the news conference with a statement that the
antiglobalists are certainly not hooligans, as they are usually
represented, but altogether serious people. And of course, the especially
serious antiglobalists live in Russia. They organize news conferences
rather than sensational protest actions. 

However, they are not averse to participating in a sensational protest
action either. In September a delegation of 60 Russian citizens were about
to try to get into Prague where the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange
[MICEX] and the IMF were conducting their most recent meeting ... 

However, [former dissident] Boris Kagarlitskiy said, the antiglobalists are
not antiglobalists at all and the term "antiglobalists" is just as wrong as
"anti-Soviets". Actually they are in favour globalization but of a
democratic globalization. The very method of organization of this movement,
with leadership exercised from several centres via the Internet, is a model
of true democracy whereas, according to Mr Kagarlitskiy, the IMF itself
apes the purely Soviet structure and is an implement of diktat and
pressure. In the opinion of Moscow State University Professor Aleksandr
Buzgalin, Russia suffers more than other countries from globalization.
Salvation can come from religious fundamentalism or great power chauvinism,
but according to the professor, these are not, of course, appropriate for
Russia. So true antiglobalists are advising Russia to join the third world
countries and start a difficult economic struggle against the "global
players". Mr Kagarlitskiy went on to say that there is no reason for Russia
to ask to join the World Trade Organization, which is even worse for Russia
than MICEX and the IMF. He also commented that our "great power opposition"
did not participate in the actions abroad. "How would they look against the
background of the anarchists and feminists there?" the former dissident
asked people to picture. He himself participated in the actions in Prague
and apparently did not look too bad in the eyes of the feminists. 

******

#11
Boston Globe
January 29, 2001
Putin, the Pesky Press and Dictatorship of the Law
By Marshall I. Goldman
Marshall I. Goldman is the Kathryn W. Professor of Russian Economics at
Wellesley College and the Associate Director of the Davis Center for
Russian Studies at Harvard University.

President Vladimir Putin's refusal to provide assurances that the state
will not interfere if Ted Turner offers to help bail out Vladimir Gusinsky,
Russia's most independent media baron who Russia is seeking to arrest,
highlights how President Putin is determined to curb freedom of the press,
especially if that press is critical of Mr. Putin. 

The Russian public seems to support Mr. Putin. His actions are applauded
by over 70% of the Russian public. They crave a strong and forceful
leader; his KGB past and conditioned KGB responses are just what the people
seem to want after what many of them regard as the social, political and
economic chaos (bezporyadok) of the last decade. 

But what to the Russians is law (the "dictatorship of the law" as Mr. Putin
has so accurately put it) and order, to many western observers looks more
and more like an old soviet clampdown. 

There is no complaint about his promises. "Freedom of the press" is what
he wants, he tells everyone from Larry King to any head of state who asks.
But in the context of his KGB heritage, his notion of "freedom of the
press" is something very different. When pressed, he may add, as he did in
an interview with the Toronto Globe and Mail, that such freedom of course
excludes the "hooliganism" or "uncivilized" reporting he has to deal with
in Moscow. By that he means criticism, especially of his conduct of the
war in Chechnia, his belated responsiveness to coping with the sinking of
the Kursk and the heavy handed way in which he has pushed aside candidates
for governor in regional elections if they are not to Mr. Putin's liking. 

Clearly he does not take well to criticism. When asked by the relatives of
those lost in the Kursk why he seemed so unresponsive, Mr. Putin tried to
shift the blame for the disaster onto the media barons, or at least those
who had criticized him. They were the ones he insisted, who had pressed
for reduced funding for the navy while they themselves were building villas
in Spain and France. As for their criticism of his behavior, "They lie!
They lie! They lie!"

Our western press has provided good coverage of the dogged way Putin and
his aides have tried to muscle Mr. Gusinsky out of the Media Most press
conglomerate he created. But those on the Putin enemies list now even
include Boris Berezovsky, originally one of Mr. Putin's most enthusiastic
promoters and supporters who after the sinking of the Kursk also became a
critic and thus an opponent.

Admittedly Mr. Gusinsky would have a hard time winning a merit badge for
trustworthiness, (Mr. Berezovsky shouldn't even apply), but in the late
Yeltsin and Putin years, Mr. Gusinsky has come to warrant enormous credit
for his consistently objective news coverage, including a spotlight on
malfeasance at the very top. More than that, he has supported his
programmers when they subjected Mr. Yeltsin and now Mr. Putin to bitter
satire on Kukly, his Sunday evening prime time puppet show.

What we hear less of though is what is happening to individual reporters
especially those engaged in investigative work. Almost monthly now there
are cases of physical violence and intimidation. Among those brutalized
since Putin assumed power are a reporter for Radio Liberty who dared to
write negative reports about the Russian army's role in Chechnia and four
reporters for Novaya Gazeta. Two of them were investigating misdeeds by
the FSB (today's KGB) including the possibility that it rather than the
Chechins had blown up a series of apartment buildings. Another was also
pursuing reports of money laundering by Yeltsin family members and senior
staff in Switzerland. Although these were journalists working for national
and Moscow papers and therefore very much in the public eye, they were all
physically assaulted. 

Those working for provincial papers labor under even more pressure and less
visibility. There are numerous instances where regional bosses such as the
governor of Vladivostok operate as little dictators and as a growing number
of journalists have discovered, challenges are met with threats and
physical intimidation, and if need be, murder.

True, freedom of the press in Russia is still less than 15 years old and
not all the country's journalists nor their bosses have always used that
freedom responsibly. During the 1996 presidential election campaign for
example, the media owners including Mr. Gusinsky conspired to denigrate or
ignore every viable candidate other than Mr. Yeltsin. But attempts to
muffle if not completely silence criticism have multiplied since Mr. Putin
and his fellow KGB agents have come to power. Criticism from any source,
be it an individual journalist or a corporate entity invites retaliation.
When Media Most persisted in its criticism, Mr. Putin sat by approvingly as
his subordinates sent in masked and armed tax police and prosecutors. When
that didn't work, they jailed Mr. Gusinsky on charges that were later
dropped although they are seeking to extradite and jail him again along
with his treasurer on a new set of charges. They are also doing all they
can to sabotage efforts by Mr. Gusinsky to refinance his debt ridden
operation. For example, Ted Turner has offered to pay some of Mr.
Gusinsky's debt if Mr. Putin will provide assurance that the state will not
try to control Media-MOST's coverage. "Absolutely unrealistic," was the
response.. The government's goal is simply to put an end to independent TV
coverage in Russia.

An uninhibited press in itself is no guarantee that a society will remain a
democracy but when it becomes inhibited, the chances that there will be
such freedom all but disappear. 

When Western leaders meet Mr. Putin, they must insist that a warm handshake
and skill at karate are not enough for Russia and Mr. Putin to qualify as a
democratic member of the Big 8. To do that, Russia must have freedom of
the press, but a freedom of the press determined by deeds, not mere
declarations.

******

#12
Moscow Times
January 30, 2001
The Real Problem
By David Kotz 
David Kotz is professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts at
Amherst and co-author of "Revolution from Above: The Demise of the Soviet
System." He contributed this comment to The Moscow Times.

Nine years ago Western economic advisers were certain that their plans for
Russia’s rapid transition to the market would bring prosperity and
progress. After the 1998 financial debacle, no one could deny the abject
failure of the Western-inspired "neoliberal" economic model for Russia.
Recently a new dogma has arisen in the West to explain why such excellent
advice led to crime, corruption and economic collapse. It seems that
nothing was wrong with the advice —the problem was a missing element in
Russia, namely "rule of law." That is, Russia lacked a law-based state and
its key features, clear property rights and impartial enforcement of
contracts.

This flaw in Russia’s institutional makeup is traced to the Soviet
inheritance, to centuries of despotism, or to something about Russian
culture. Just reform the legal system to create a law-based state, while
"staying the course of economic reform," and foreign investment will pour
into Russia while Russia’s domestic investors will turn from asset
stripping and capital flight to productive investment in Russia’s future.

This latest piece of Western advice fails to grasp the cause of Russia’s
economic and social woes. While rule of law is certainly desirable, its
absence is not the underlying cause of Russia’s economic debacle. It is the
very economic model urged on Russia, from 1991 to the present, which has
brought both economic collapse and a lawless society.

The neoliberal model is based on the triad of liberalization, privatization
and stabilization. The first means eliminating government regulation of
economic activity, the second means privatizing not just government
enterprises but also responsibility for individual economic welfare, and
the last means stabilizing the price level by cutting public spending and
keeping money and credit scarce.

This economic model has made productive investment generally unprofitable
in Russia. The first act in January 1992 suddenly freed prices, setting off
runaway inflation that expropriated savings and drove real incomes to
subsistence levels, shrinking the domestic market virtually to nothing.
Continuing cuts in public spending and public investment have further
reduced domestic demand. The rapid opening of Russia’s market to imports
assured that what little remained of the domestic market would be dominated
by powerful Western firms, with their superior marketing and financial
resources. Tight monetary policy has kept credit scarce and expensive,
assuring that only investments promising a very high and quick return will
be attractive.

Under such conditions, those who obtained property from the privatizations
typically found that they could generate profits only by unproductive and
often illegal activities. The Western-inspired policies impoverished state
employees, rendering them unable to resist bribes or effectively prosecute
law-breakers. These conditions — produced by the neoliberal model, not by
something in Russia’s culture — explain why extortion, skimming revenue
from enterprises and sending capital abroad have flourished while
productive activity and living standards have plummeted.

Ironically, U.S. history exposes the shallowness of the currently
fashionable rule of law hypothesis. During the Robber Baron era of the late
19th century, neither clearly defined property rights nor effective rule of
law prevailed. Big capitalists maintained private armies that fought one
another, stole from the state and from each other, paid judges to rule in
their favor and had their own captive newspapers and politicians. Yet these
same capitalists were lacing the country with railroads and building giant,
efficient steel mills and oil refineries. The reason was that, despite the
absence of effective rule of law, conditions were favorable for making
great profits through productive investments.

Why? Superior foreign competition was kept at bay by a protectionist
government, which levied high tariffs against those imports that most
threatened America’s newly developing industries. The relatively high wages
that prevailed in the United States despite its underdeveloped economy
during that period, along with the presence of a large class of prosperous
farmers, created a potentially large domestic market. The government
financed the building of a canal and rail transportation system to make
that large internal market a reality. Under such conditions, the absence of
effective rule of law did not deter a large volume of productive
investment, which soon made the United States the world’s leading
manufacturing nation. 

Contemporary China provides another example. Western analysts decry the
absence of rule of law in China. China’s developmental state has followed
policies that are the opposite of the neoliberal model, including
expansionary monetary policy, growing public spending and public investment
and significant regulation of the domestic economy as well as of
international trade and financial flows. Under such policies, China’s
economy has grown at nearly ten percent per year for the past two decades.
Despite the absence of a law-based state, China has become the largest
recipient of foreign direct investment of any developing country.

Overcoming Russia’s dead-end trajectory requires the abandonment of that
model, not just in words but in deeds. History teaches that some form of
developmental state, capable of stimulating, promoting, and guiding
economic recovery and development, is a necessary basis for economic
progress in a country facing powerful foreign competitors.

*******

#13
The Guardian (UK)
30 January 2001
Sushi and coke - the new world of Anna Karenina 
Amelia Gentleman in Moscow

When Anna Karenina first appeared in Russia, Fyodor Dostoevsky put aside
his feelings of rivalry towards Leo Tolstoy to declare the novel a "perfect
work of art". 

More than 120 years later the Moscow publishers of a new version of the
book felt this was no longer the case, arguing that it was long-winded,
somewhat dated, and in desperate need of a few pictures to lighten the prose. 

So they have sought to please the modern reader by transforming the novel
into an 80-page cartoon strip with lurid illustrations that owe more to
Judge Dredd than Tolstoy. And to make the drama more immediate, the artists
have jettisoned the backdrop of late 19th-century high society in favour of
1990s Russia. 

Anna and Vronsky's liaison no longer develops in salons and ballrooms but
sushi bars and strip clubs, alongside characters who cut lines of coke with
their credit cards and send billet doux in the form of text messages. 

Tolstoy's exposé of the moral disorder seeping through Moscow and St
Petersburg's aristocratic circles has become a satire on the vacuous lives
of rich post-Soviet New Russians. 

The book's appearance has met with disgust in the literary community. The
daily newspaper Izvestiya invited teachers, librarians and critics to a
debate on the merits of such a venture, and most voiced their firm
disapproval. 

Critics are distressed by the loose interpretation and aghast at the
reduction of nuanced dialogue to speech bubbles. 

Anna Karenina does not beguile men with "the expression of utter sweetness
in her charming face". The cartoonists, Valery Kachaev and Igor Sapozhkov,
have turned her into a Russian Lara Croft, seen mainly in a negligee. By
the end of the book she has become a depraved drug addict. 

Her husband, Alexei, has been updated from a senior government official
into a sinister oligarch. Vronsky's appearance has been modelled on that of
John Travolta. 

Ilya Tolstoy, the novelist's great-great-grandson, expressed polite dismay
last night. "I can't believe that this is a serious project," he said. "I
hope that our children will not start studying literature using this kind
of material." 

But the comic's author, Katya Metelitsa, insisted that she was inspired by
admiration of the novel. 

"People in Russia simply aren't used to the genre of cartoon strips, which
is why there's been such a fuss," she said. "Most of the words are taken
straight from the book. I think Tolstoy would have approved." 

*******

#14
Security Concerns High on Agenda in Russia, United States. .

MOSCOW, January 30 (Itar-Tass) -- In Novosibirsk, West Siberia, the Russian
president's plenipotentiary representative in the Siberian federal district
Leonid Drachevsky on Tuesday will chair a meeting which will discuss
questions related to national security and the maintenance of law and order
in the district. 

Participants in the meeting will discuss army reform in the Siberian
military district, including the organisation of work with the officers
dismissed from the armed forces and the rational use of infrastructure of
the army units due to be reformed. They will also consider the status of
the struggle against illicit narcotic drug trafficking in the Siberian
federal district. 

In Moscow, Russian generals will meet in early February to discuss the
situation that can result from the withdrawal of the United States from the
1972 Anti-ballistic missile (ABM) treaty. Coordinator of the public
movement of generals and admirals "For peace and security" Major General
Yuri Lebedev told Itar-Tass that all the foreign military attaches based in
Moscow have already been invited to attend the hearings "About the U.S.
intention to deploy a national missile defence system." 

Major-General Vassily Belous is due to make the keynote speech to the forum
which has been called in response to U.S. Vice-President Richard Chaney's
statement made last Sunday to the effect that the United States retained a
right to withdraw from the ABM treaty unless its modification was secured. 

Chaney said in Washington that the 1972 ABM treaty was the main obstacle to
the development and deployment of the U.S. national missile defence system.
He said the new administration would not allow anyone to dictate the
country what it should do to ensure its own security. 

In New York, influential American politician Sam Nunn, for his part,
pointed out in an interview published by the New York Times that ensuring
Russia's security, including from an outside nuclear strike, met the
interests of the United States itself. "It is our problem to the same
degree as theirs," he said. Nunn declared that it was not in the interests
of the United States to see Russian infrastructure decline to a degree
where they will not be able to maintain their warning systems in working
order. 

The former senator, who in the past co-authored with Senator Lugar a
programme of assistance to Russia in the safe-keeping and elimination of
weapons of mass destruction, this month formed in conjunction with Ted
Turner, the CNN founder, an organisation for the struggle against the
threat of such weapons. 

According to Nunn, a real threat has existed since the late 1980s that a
nuclear warhead could be launched inadvertently or that terrorists would
get hold of nuclear weapons to reach their own ends. 

Although much has been done to eradicate the threat, much remains to be
done to find adequate means of solution to the problem, Nunn noted. 

******* 

#15
BBC Monitoring
Summary of Russian press for Tuesday 30 January 2001 

Rossiyskaya Gazeta 

1. Aleksey Chichkin report on 29 January session of Russia-Belarus union
Council of Ministers, Putin's earlier announcement on abolition of
Russia-Belarus customs border, outlook for economy when customs union
materializes p 1 (500 words) 

2. Tatyana Smolyakova report on State Statistics Committee's latest data on
wage arrears p 1 (400 words) 

3. RIA-Novosti report citing Kemerovo Region governor Aman Tuleyev's
comments on his plans to contest forthcoming gubernatorial election p 2
(500 words) 

4. Vladimir Gurvich report on results of Audit Chamber's audit of Gazprom's
operations in 1999 and first nine months of 2000; main problem identified
as increasingly downward trend in gas extraction p 4 (400 words) 

5. Igor Kolosov interview with Dalenergo director-general Yuriy Likhoyda on
energy crisis in Far East, its causes and impact, outlook for future p 4
(1,800 words) 

6. Nikolay Perepelkin report on picketing of Russian White House by scrap
metal industry workers in protest against high export duties on scrap
metal, ensuing glut of scrap in Russia which means that enterprises have to
cease operations and send workers on administrative leave p 6 (700 words) 

7. Article by Dr Viktor Melnikov (Economy), deputy chairman of the Central
Bank of Russia, arguing in favour of "well organized state control of
financial operations" so as to combat "shadow" economy, outlining main
principles of his idea for such a system p 6 (2,200 words) 

8. Vladimir Yefanov report on Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's
27 January charges against OSCE over latter's support for opposition,
OSCE's response, Belarusian Foreign Ministry's refusal to comment p 7 (550
words) 

9. Sergey Merinov report/comment comparing Putin, Bush comments on
strategic arms and strategic stability p 7 (700 words) 

10. ITAR-TASS correspondent Vladimir Smelov with German Defence Minister
Rudolf Scharping prior to his departure on visit to Moscow p 7 (500 words) 

11. Vladimir Berezovskiy report on Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev's edict
endorsing ethical code for behaviour of country's civil servants p 7 (600
words) 

12. Ivanna Gorina report on formation of new right-wing bloc of Ukrainian
"Nazi" and centrist parties which have rallied round ousted Deputy Prime
Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko with the "sole objective of changing the
incumbent authorities" p 7 (1,100 words) 

13. Report on launch of new quarterly almanac entitled "Ekonomika Rossii:
XXI Vek" ("Russia's Economy: 21st Century) p 8 (250 words) 

Izvestiya (electronic version) 

1. Yevgeniy Chubarov report/commentary on 29 January opening of all-Russia
annual conference of court chairmen; cites remarks of Supreme Court
Chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev, deputy chief of presidential staff Dmitriy
Kozak (900 words) 

2. Aleksandr Arkhangelskiy commentary on official "leak" concerning
earnings of NTV journalists, viewing this as aimed at "publicly
discrediting" them (500 words) 

3. Yevgeniy Krutikov report on 29 January Volgograd press conference by
Russian soldier Vasiliy Kalinkin, who deserted from army in 1991 and joined
Chechens; he was trained in Peshawar by American identified only as Bill,
who induced him to sign contract promising to work for unnamed "US special
service"; at Chechens' instigation, he joined motorized rifle unit in
Volgograd in 1995, but, when called upon to facilitate operation to blow up
Volga dam, contacted Federal Security Service and informed them of
terrorist group (1,650 words) 

4. Nils Yogansen report on speech at Davos World Economic Forum by Federal
Securities Commission head Igor Kostikov, which "essentially boiled down to
veiled advertising for investment in Russia" (600 words) 

5. Svetlana Karpekova report on Belarusian President Lukashenka's TV
interview denouncing OSCE, claims regarding Western spy followed by comment
on Putin thanks to Belarusians for introducing customs duty on petroleum
products (650 words) 

6. Sergey Leskov report citing experts on possible reasons for crash
landing of An-70 experimental aircraft near Omsk (450 words) 

7. Andrey Kolesnikov commentary on Putin meeting Russian diplomatic corps
suggesting that his stated goal of achieving a positive image for Russia
abroad will only be achieved when country pays its foreign debts, puts an
end to scandals like the Borodin one, and "becomes normal" (750 words) 

8. Viktoriya Averbukh report on incident in Ottawa where Russian diplomat
Andrey Knyazev was involved in traffic accident in which 50-year old
Canadian woman died. Canada is demanding that Russian embassy waive
diplomatic immunity, following precedent of prosecution of staffer at
Georgian embassy in United States (550 words) 

9. Boris Vinogradov report on visit to Moscow by FRG Defence Minister
Rudolf Scharping, talks to include future of Balkans after US withdraws,
possibility of creation of Russian nuclear missile umbrella for whole of
Europe (100 words) 

10. Sergey Zhdakayev report on Kaluga mayoralty election (100 words) 

11. Yelena Stroiteleva commentary on Russian Supreme Court finding in
favour of car-owner Rostislav Rychanov in his action against YelAZ-General
Motors for allegedly supplying shoddy goods (650 words) 

12. Aleksey Tarasov report/comment from Krasnoyarsk Territory on election
of Norilsk Nikel director Aleksandr Khloponin as governor of Taymyr
Autonomous Area (400 words) 

13. Denis Anoshin interview with Magomed Sheyman-Ismailov, member of
presidium of Svyatoslav Fedorov party of self-government and member of
Political Council of Rossiya left-wing democratic movement, a Chechen by
birth who describes himself as Russian patriot. Interview focuses on what
must be done about Chechnya. Sheyman-Ismailov lauds Putin's decision to
place accent on special services in antiterrorist operations in Chechnya
and also urges long-term investment in Chechnya as component of Russian
federation (1,250 words) 

14. Yevgeniy Bay report from Washington restating assertions by Bush
administration to press ahead with Nuclear Missile Defence (NMD) and
reduction of US nuclear missile arsenal, with appended comments by David
Wright and Theodore Postol, teachers at MIT, and by Aleksandr Yereskovskiy,
scientific associate at Harvard University (850 words) 

15. Unattributed report from the "Chronicle" column on Kabarda-Balkar
President Valeriy Kokov's declaration of authorities' determination to
combat extremism (100 words) 

16. Unattributed report from the "Chronicle" column on Saratov Region
governor Dmitriy Ayatskov's statement in favour of abolishing limits on
presidential terms in office (150 words) 

17. Vladimir Yemelyanenko report on latest rumours about captors of US
citizen Kenneth Gluck, Yastrzhembskiy's confirmation that Russia would not
meet kidnappers' demands (500 words) 

18. Aleksandr Sadchikov interview with Unity faction member Aleksandr
Chuyev on prospects for draft laws on political parties due to be examined
by State Duma in early February (1,000 words) 

19. Tatyana Redchits report on Kaliningrad Region governor Vladimir
Yegorov's arrival in Moscow for talks with "top leaders" about Region's
status and German claims (450 words) 

20. Lyubov Kizilova report on State Duma's hearings on ratification of
Energy Charter, Gazprom opposition to accession (600 words) 

21. Mariya Ignatova report on plans of Russian oil companies, and
Surgutneftegaz in particular, to boost oil extraction, mainly by acquiring
new fields (650 words) 

22. Olga Gubenko report on Russia's resumption of electricity supply to
Georgia (400 words) 

23. Olga Gubenko report on clash between Viktor Tarkhov (Samara governor
and Konstantin Titov's rival in latest gubernatorial election) and Irina
Gendel, director-general of A-teks company, over control of Fosfor
enterprise, Russia's sole producer of yellow phosphorus; Tarkhov and his
associate Leonid Simanovskiy want to incorporate Fosfor within a Samara
Region petrochemical holding company (700 words) 

24. Anna Zolotova interview with Sergey Aksenov and Renat Gareyev,
attorneys acting for Tatyana Fedorova, failed contender in Nenetsk
Autonomous Area gubernatorial election, in her suit against winner Vladimir
Butov over allegations of numerous breaches of federal law on elections
(2,000 words) 

Moskovskiy Komsomolets (electronic version) 

1. Report/commentary by Aleksandr Melman and Vadim Sukhoverkhov on Putin's
meeting with NTV journalists; "according to our information from the
Kremlin", Putin decided to discuss with journalists the fact that 'he would
like to see them behave more constructively on air" (600 words) 

2. Vadim Sukhoverkhov article on continuing dearth of information about
Lyudmila Putina; suggests that she is resistant to efforts of Kremlin
imagemakers and that "the Russian beau monde swiftly appreciated the first
lady's wilfulness" pp 1, 2 (900 words) 

3. "News service" report that henceforth all sellers of video and audio
recordings and computer disks in Moscow will have to be registered with
city hall p 1 (200 words) 

4. Melor Sturua article profiling new US first lady Laura Bush p 2 (900
words) 

5. Natalya Ozhogina report on disappearance from public view of Moscow
Internal Affairs main administration acting chief Viktor Shvidkin p 3 (350
words) 

6. Information Service report on data for flu epidemic in various Russian
regions p 3 (100 words) 

7. Ivan Molchov article predicting government-Duma clash over production of
school textbooks (deputies want "radical reform" of textbook production and
distribution on "national security" grounds; government feels this would
lead to textbook shortage), viewing current situation in the area, how it
used to be in Soviet times p 4 (1,300 words) 

8. Information Service report on Sheremetyevo police "neutralization" of
"Cargo 2000" brokerage firm said to have defrauded customs of sum "possibly
running into millions of dollars" through scam involving network of dummy
firms p 6 (400 words) 

Komsomolskaya Pravda (electronic version) 

1. Ostrovskaya, Klimov report on Emergencies Minister Sergey Shoygu's visit
to Maritime Territory, reporting that he secured promises from Yakutiya,
Chita and Kemerovo Regions to ship coal to the Territory, reporting that he
congratulated Vladivostok mayor Yuriy Kopylov for dealing with the
emergency by spending one-third of the city budget, reporting rumours that
a fire destroyed the supporting financial documents (300 words) 

2. Beliy report that President Putin phoned NTV "Glas Naroda" ("Vox
Populi") programme host Svetlana Sorokina immediately after she invited him
on air to meet with NTV, reporting that Putin said that the invitation
should not have been made on air, reporting that 11 NTV representatives met
Putin at the Kremlin on 29 January, reporting that they were kept waiting
for 40 minutes, noting that the results of the meeting were unknown at
press time (200 words) 

3. Gerasimenko report on the prosecutor's office in Chechnya announcing the
arrest of one Varayev in connection with the 29 May 2000 killing of deputy
presidential representative Sergey Zverev (100 words) 

4. Korotkova report from a German paper on a message to President Bush that
Yavlinskiy distributed at the Europe Without Borders conference that
Yavlinskiy wrote but attributed to Putin, reporting that Yavlinskiy did so
to draw attention to the document which viewed the future of Russia-Western
relations (250 words) 

Krasnaya Zvezda 

1. Mikhail Falaleyev: 40th-anniversary report on the history and devotion
to duty of the Strategic Missile Troops' central computer centre (1,400
words) 

2. Yevgeniy Shalnev: item on unnamed helicopter squadron stationed in
Tajikistan. Missions include convoy escort (for the 201st division) and
search and rescue (100 words) 

3. Capt First Rank Oleg Bendus, head of the Black Sea Fleet technical
directorate, reports on the activities of the fleet's ship repair
facilities and the personnel and financial problems they face (700 words) 

4. Sergey Voyeykov and Aleksandr Tikhonov contribute items on the army's
year 2000 enlistment campaign. The common theme: the poor quality of
recruits (900 words) 

5. Yaroslav Yastrebov: report on the worsening conditions along the
southern border of Serbia due to provocations by Albanian terrorists.
Suggestion is made that attacks in the area and resultant appeals to
Washington could lead to the introduction of NATO forces to the area (800
words) 

*******

CDI Russia Weekly:  http://www.cdi.org/russia

Johnson's Russia List Archive (under construction):  http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson