Johnson's Russia List #6024 15 January 2002 davidjohnson@erols.com A CDI Project www.cdi.org [Note from David Johnson: 1. AP: Russian Delegation Opens Talks in D.C. 2. Interfax: Top MP says Russia should drop Cold War treaties. (Rogozin) 3. BBC Monitoring: USA, Russia should work together on anti-missile defence - congressman. (Weldon) 4. AFP: Putin's quickfire Paris excursion testifies to closer ties. 5. The Independent (UK): Patrick Cockburn, Russia invented ambush by Chechens to hide friendly-fire massacre. 6. Moscow Times editorial: TV6 Case Sets a Bad Example. 7. Itar-Tass: Anti-tobacco law comes into force in Russia. 8. Nezavisimaya Gazeta: GAZPROM - SHEREMET, SIBUR - GOLDOVSKY, SURGUTNEFTEGAZ- BOGDANOV...A NEW PHASE OF REDISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS BEGINS IN RUSSIA. 9. Moskovsky Komsomolets: A LABORATORY OF RUMORS. Forecasts on year 2002 by Russian political observers. 10. Washington Post: Peter Baker, U.S.-Russia Ties Suffer A Renewal Of Tension. Sides Trade Barbs On Human Rights, War in Chechnya. 11. Reuters: Ukrainian 2001 GDP grows record nine pct. 12. Reuters: US rescues Russian politician stuck at South Pole. 13. NTV news summary. 14. Izvestia: THE UNITED STATES AGAIN DIVIDES TERRORISTS INTO GOOD AND BAD ONES. 15. Reuters: Zhirinovsky cleans up his act, loves America. 16. pravda.ru: SERGEY SHARGUNOV: NEVER DESPAIR! MY STORY IS ABOUT A DIFFERENT HERO. (literary context) 17. UPI: Bin Laden charge triggers Prague denials. (re Falkon Capital) 18. Reuters: Gap between good and bad Russian firms widens.] ****** #1 Russian Delegation Opens Talks in D.C. January 15, 2002 By BARRY SCHWEID WASHINGTON (AP) - A Russian military delegation is holding two days of talks with top Pentagon officials on cooperating against new terrorism threats and creating a new military relationship overall. The two sides will look for ways to shield themselves against a terrorist attack, especially from so-called rogue states, a senior Bush administration official told The Associated Press. On the agenda are prospective joint military exercises with the American and Russian troops, based on the concept that the United States and Russia have long ceased being adversaries and are now friends, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Still, there are areas of difference, including Russian technology sales to Iran, the official said. Iran is believed to be engaged in a program to develop nuclear weapons and American officials fear that Russian technology could give the program a boost. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks heightened Russia's interest in countering terrorism and cooperating with the United States against it, the official said. The two countries are not in a hostile relationship and have met several times in Washington and Moscow since the onset of the Bush administration a year ago to plot joint efforts. The official said Russia clearly was interested in working with the United States on joint improvements in security that could produce an understanding when President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold talks next spring in St. Petersburg, Russia. Last week another senior U.S. official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States would be willing to help Russia in an anti-missile venture and provide technology for such a program. The Bush administration is embarked on an ambitious program to develop a shield against a missile attack from such states as Iran and North Korea, as well as terrorist cells, and Bush is withdrawing the United States from a 1972 treaty with Moscow that barred the kind of missile defense tests now in the offing. At the same time the two sides are committed to major reductions in the arsenals of strategic offensive nuclear weapons. At their November meetings in Washington and in Texas, Bush pledged to cut back to 1,700 to 2,200 long-range warheads from the current U.S. level of about 7,000. Putin said Russia, which has about 6,000 strategic warheads, would respond in kind. However, the Russian leader suggested that mutual reductions be incorporated into a treaty. Bush, who has voiced skepticism about such binding agreements, did not go along with that suggestion. But since their meetings, senior U.S. officials have expressed a willingness to ``put something on paper'' if Russia insisted on it. The Russian delegation is headed by Col. Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, the no. 2 official in the Russian military establishment. Douglas Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy, heads the U.S. group. ******* #2 Top MP says Russia should drop Cold War treaties Interfax Moscow, 15 January: Head of the Duma International Affairs Committee Dmitriy Rogozin believes Russia should not take the road of confrontation with the United States because of the American decision to withdraw from the ABM Treaty. "Russia's response should not be confrontational, but should give Russia a free hand in choosing the forces and means of attaining greater security for itself and its partners," he told the press on Tuesday [15 January]. In Rogozin's opinion, Moscow should pay greater attention to the reasoning of President George W. Bush, who has described the ABM Treaty as a vestige of the Cold War, and to the need to guarantee the security of Russian citizens. "We should be acting from similar positions," Rogozin said. Russia should "analyse the treaties that today belong to the category of Cold War relics, and also guarantee full freedom of action with the purpose of repelling possible threats", he said. He said he believes it important to get rid of excessive commitments related for instance "to flank restrictions imposed by the CFE [Conventional Forces in Europe] Treaty". "It is more important for us now to concentrate military potential in the southern, not western direction," Rogozin said. He also spoke "for revising, if not denouncing, individual provisions of START-1 that for instance ties our hands on heavy bombers". ******* #3 BBC Monitoring USA, Russia should work together on anti-missile defence - congressman Source: Ekho Moskvy news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0838 gmt 15 Jan 02 [No dateline as received] "Russia and the USA should work together on the anti-missile defence project - the Russian military will only benefit from this", US congressman Curt Weldon said, speaking live on Ekho Moskvy radio. Weldon is a member of the Congressional Committee on Armed Services. "I understand the political significance of the ABM treaty for Russia, but the actions of [US President George W.] Bush have not been aimed at undermining stability", he said. He said that one of the reasons why the anti-missile shield was being created is that long-range missiles could be created and used by China or North Korea. He said that the USA "keeps investing millions of dollars in the joint US-Russia missile programme", he said. Weldon said "there should be broader programmes that should involve not only Russia and the USA, but also Turkey, Israel and Iran". He said Russia and the USA had an historic opportunity to become real partners and achieve a situation whereby there relations will be based not only on the ABM treaty, but also on joint activities in the fields of health, culture, science, environment, etc. Weldon said that he once submitted proposals to Bush on changing the approach to the relations with Russia. Those included the annulment of the Jackson-Vanick amendment; the ratification of the convention on the law of the sea; support for Russia's admission to the WTO; and helping Russia resolve its problems with the London and Paris clubs [of creditors]. Weldon said that "the USA of the 1990s had failed to help Russia solve its problems, and namely to tackle corruption". "The position of the previous administration was often negative. This is why Russians have lost their confidence in America. But now both states have new presidents. There are new people in the US Congress who want to see Russia as a trusted partner", he said. ******* #4 Putin's quickfire Paris excursion testifies to closer ties January 15, 2002 AFP President Vladimir Putin makes a lightning visit to Paris Tuesday, seen as confirming a new warmth in relations between the two countries and Moscow's increasingly pro-Western slant. Decided almost on the spur of the moment, Putin's trip follows an official visit to Moscow by French President Jacques Chirac last July and a visit here by Prime Minister Lionel Jospin three months later. The Paris trip, squeezed in between a visit by Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso to Moscow and a visit by Putin to Warsaw, emerged from a telephone conversation with Chirac just a few days ago, Russian sources said. Such a swift response to the invitation to visit is unprecedented by any Kremlin leader, though Putin has shown himself increasingly partial to informal contacts with European leaders, notably with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on December 9 and with British Prime Minister Tony Blair two weeks later. Chirac and Putin will meet at the Elysee Palace in the afternoon before holding a joint press conference and a working dinner with the French and Russian Foreign Ministers, Hubert Vedrine and Igor Ivanov. After spending only a few hours in Paris, the Russian leader will fly out for a two-day official visit to Poland. Putin and Chirac held two telephone conversations during the last days of 2001, mainly dealing with the Middle East and with the mounting tension between India and Pakistan. On January 4, at the annual New Year ceremony for the diplomatic corps at the Elysee Palace, Chirac expressed the wish that "Moscow's strategic choice" -- implicitly, its rapprochement with the West -- receive "an open response," particularly from NATO and the European Union. During the international anti-terrorist campaign in Afghanistan, Russia allowed French warplanes, along with those of other members of the anti-terrorist alliance, to overfly its territory. Moscow also gave tacit approval for French troops to be stationed in Tajikistan, where they are based at Dushanbe airport, and in Uzbekistan, where it leant on local authorities to allow through a group of French soldiers to Afghanistan. The two leaders are expected to focus on international security at their talks Tuesday, with particular reference to the threat of a conflict between India and Pakistan, both equipped with nuclear weapons. Russia, by far the largest supplier of weapons to India, is well placed to bring influence to bear on New Delhi, officials in Moscow said. Diplomatic sources fear however that the Indian government under Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee might seek to internationalise the conflict over Kashmir under cover of the international campaign against terrorism. Putin and Chirac were expected also to discuss the commercial aviation sector, in which the US company Boeing and the European Airbus are in strenuous competition for contracts to renew Russia's ageing fleet. Russia's trade exchanges are significantly greater with the European Union (40 percent of the total) than with the United States (less than 10 percent), and Russian contracts would provide a massive boost to the European aeronautics industry. However not everyone is happy about Putin's Paris trip. France's Green party candidate for president, Noel Mamere, denounced the visit which he said came at a time when "death squads" are at work in Chechnya. In a statement on Monday, Mamere said he regretted that Chirac was ready to receive Putin with great ceremony when "the real terrorism is the war that Moscow is leading in Chechnya. The Green party, part of the governing coalition, said Mamere will take part in a demonstration against Putin's visit with the French Chechnya Committee on Tuesday. ****** #5 The Independent (UK) 15 January 2002 Russia invented ambush by Chechens to hide friendly-fire massacre By Patrick Cockburn in Moscow The ambush by the Chechens appeared highly successful. As a unit of 98 Russian soldiers entered Grozny on board nine trucks, they came under fire from machine-guns and grenade launchers. By the time the slaughter ended four hours later, 22 Russians were dead and 31 wounded. A Chechen commander said he had made the attack, and the Kremlin was specific: the Chechen guerrillas had caught by surprise the interior ministry troops, known as Omon in Russia, newly arrived from the town of Sergiyev Posad near Moscow. The attackers got away because they had booby-trapped their escape route. An interior ministry general gave a similar account of the devastating ambush to the Russian parliament. None of it was true. In fact, the Russian soldiers fell victim to "friendly fire". The accounts of the Chechen attack two years ago were a cover-up. The men from Sergiyev Posad were killed by Russian troops who believed they were shooting at Chechen guerrillas in disguise. Three senior Russian officers go on trial this week accused of negligence leading to the worst Russian losses from friendly fire since the beginning of the second Chechen war in 1999. Among the accused is Major-General Boris Fadeyev, now the head of the Moscow region traffic police, who was then a commander in the Russian military headquarters for Chechnya. Also on trial are Major Igor Tikhonov, the commander of the Omon unit that shot its comrades, and Colonel Mikhail Levchenko, an interior ministry official in Chechnya. Information from the Russian prosecutor's office and leaks in the Russian press say local police and an Omon unit from Podolsk in the Moscow region did not know about the arrival of the soldiers from Sergiyev Posad. They also had information that guerrillas wearing police uniforms might try to infiltrate Grozny, the Chechen capital, and were waiting for them. The cover-up underlined the difference between the war as reported in the Russian media and events on the ground. Although the military insists they are now in the last stages of a mopping-up operation, Chechen guerrillas appear able to enter at will towns long under Russian control. ****** #6 Moscow Times January 15, 2002 Editorial TV6 Case Sets a Bad Example The liquidation of TV6 is not, as much of the Western media insists on describing it, the end of independent national television in Russia. TV6 is independent of the government, but it is controlled by Boris Berezovsky, who openly acknowledges that it is politics, not business, that drives his interest in the television station. And his politics is to make trouble for the Kremlin. Berezovsky's TV6, like Vladimir Gusinsky's NTV before the Gazprom takeover last year, may not have been a model of unbiased reporting, but it gave us a point of view different from that espoused by the state channels. We viewers will be the poorer without it. What the word independent also does not apply to in this case is the judicial system. The Supreme Arbitration Court on Friday ordered the liquidation of TV6 on the basis of a now-nonexistent law, a law so inane and detrimental to business that the State Duma took the trouble to repeal it last year. As Boris Nemtsov said after the TV6 decision, "any talk about the independence of Russia's judicial system will not be possible without an ironic smile." The U.S. White House also lamented the "strong appearance of political pressure on the courts." The U.S. State Department said the case raises questions about freedom of the press. And there is reason to worry. The message the TV6 case has sent to journalists in Russia, and to those who wish to control them, is strong. After the TV6 ruling, journalists have been given more reason than ever to think twice about what they choose to report. Grigory Yavlinsky and other liberal politicians hit the nail on the head in warning that regional authorities could interpret the outcome of the case as a green light to crack down on local independent press that dare to challenge them. "There is no doubt that the liquidation of TV6 will lead to a chain reaction of prosecution of mass media in the regions," Yavlinsky said. Regional leaders, who traditionally act on what they see as Moscow's cue, have a reputation for not tolerating dissent in the media. Nemtsov, in a comment he wrote for The Moscow Times in September, said that as much as 90 percent of regional media is already directly or indirectly controlled by local authorities. With the perceived TV6 precedent from Moscow, the remaining independent voices in the regions could also be silenced. And, unfortunately, the odds are that nobody in Moscow would hear about their demise -- much less report on it. ****** #7 Anti-tobacco law comes into force in Russia ITAR-TASS Moscow, 14 January: For the first time, tobacco smoking restrictions have been introduced in Russia. They are foreseen by a federal law that was adopted by the Russian parliament six months ago and came into force today. The law, in particular, prohibits retail sale [as received] of tobacco products to people under 18, and bans smoking at working places, in public, municipal and air (in case of flights lasting less than three hours) transport, in roofed sport facilities, in health and cultural organizations, and in the premises occupied by governmental authorities, but for specifically designated areas. Moreover, showing the tobacco smoking is prohibited "in all new TV programmes, films and plays, unless such process is an indivisible part of the creative design". The law contains another provision prohibiting "showing tobacco smoking by public and political figures in mass media". According to the [Russian] legislation, the law came into force six months after the day of its official publication, 14 July 2001. ****** #8 Nezavisimaya Gazeta January 14, 2002 GAZPROM - SHEREMET, SIBUR - GOLDOVSKY, SURGUTNEFTEGAZ- BOGDANOV... Author: Varvara Aglamishjan [from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html] A NEW PHASE OF REDISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS BEGINS IN RUSSIA. A new series of clam down on Russian oil moguls may be a signal that another phase of redistribution of wealth is undeerway The New Year break was short-lived in the news. There are reasons to believe that a new phase of redistribution of wealth has begun. If it has not, there is no guarantee in Russia nowadays that a new phase is not going to begin sometime soon. There can be no doubts at the same time that battles over control for spheres of influence in state structures are underway. Consider staff shuffles in the Ministry of Railroads. Redistribution of semi-state structures is underway as well - take Gazprom for instance. It does not take a genius to foresee a continuation of the process. The Prosecutor General's Office is playing an important part in it. At his meeting with Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov last weekend, President Vladimir Putin said he saw the Prosecutor General's Office as "the universal tool of seeing to the interests of the state" and an element "responsible for effectiveness of the whole system of state institutions". The arrest of three top managers of the Siberian-Urals oil-gas chemical company (SIBUR, a subdivision of Gazprom) was one of the latest scandals. They are accused of misappropriating 2.6 billion rubles worth of assets from the company. Moreover, Ustinov's advisor, Vladimir Kolesnikov, says that the Prosecutor General's Office plans a full-fledged inspection of the fuel and energy complex. Surgutneftegaz is the third largest oil company in Russia after LUKoil and YUKOS. Russian and foreign experts say it is the most discreet structure and its head Vladimir Bogdanov is one of the least known Russian businessmen. At the same time, he is on the list of Russia's top ten oligarchs and five wealthiest men. According to some estimates, Bogdanov had earned almost $5 billion as at last September. Virtually without serious investments, Surgutneftegaz came up with 44 billion rubles in profit in the first nine months of 2001... (Translated by A. Ignatkin) ******* #9 Moskovsky Komsomolets January 14, 2002 A LABORATORY OF RUMORS Forecasts on year 2002 by Russian political observers Author: not indicated [from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html] BLITZ INTERVIEWS WITH DUMA DEPUTIES AND POLITICAL SCIENTISTS. FORECASTS FOR 2002 ARE OFFERED BY EVERYONE BEGINNING WITH ASTROLOGERS AND ENDING WITH POLITICAL SCIENTISTS. THE OVERALL PICTURE IS GLOOMY - PROBLEMS AND UPHEAVALS ARE IN STORE FOR RUSSIA. THE CORRIDORS OF POWER WILL ENGAGE IN A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. THE US DOLLAR IS CREEPING UP, THE GDP IS FALLING... Duma deputy Viktor Pokhmelkin: As I see it, 2002 will be a year of a growing longing for freedom on the part of the people, the year of liberalization of all aspects of life of the state and society. Concentration of power as a tendency will drop. This will take the form of aggravation of struggle in all spheres. In the economy, for example, it will take the form of struggle between bureaucracy (it will try to solidify its positions and put pressure on businesses) and free businesses (which will fight for freedom from state interference). Discord between the federal center and the regions will escalate along with social problems. A lot of Russians will grow convinced that despite all their expectations, the authorities cannot pay them decent wages or pensions. All of that will feed socialist moods on the one hand, and liberal on the other. Disappointment in Putin and in the government will be related to disappointment in the state as such. Andrei Tsunsky, an expert with the Center of Political Technologies: 2001 was a clear indication that President Putin advocates a process of modernization of Russia. Unfortunately, the condition of the country as such and of the moment leave him with few instruments to wield. Moreover, he has to overcome resistance from the elite. This is going to be the year of checking Putin's model of relations between society, businesses, and authorities for resilience. Relations via non-governmental structures, I mean. The question is whether or not these non-governmental structures are ready for stiff competition against the bureaucratic apparatus and traditional models of lobbying. The situation in the sphere of free speech and human rights will deteriorate. The security structures will try to build everything into a single vertical structure. Amendments to the Constitution are what we should not expect soon. The same applies to redistribution of power. Georgy Satarov, President of INDEM Foundation: I do not think there will be any cataclysmic changes in political life. Nothing fundamental will happen. The processes that are currently underway will proceed at their own rate. Reshuffles have taken place in the government but they are insignificant. It would be of no use to expect something significant from the opposition. What opposition are we talking about? Opposition is an alternative to the regime that stands a chance of coming to power in the election. Berezovsky and his quasi-party are not an opposition. Neither shall we expect any economic or financial cataclysms... (Translated by A. Ignatkin) ******* #10 Washington Post January 15, 2002 U.S.-Russia Ties Suffer A Renewal Of Tension Sides Trade Barbs On Human Rights, War in Chechnya By Peter Baker Washington Post Foreign Service MOSCOW, Jan. 14 -- The improved ties between the United States and Russia have begun to fray in recent days as the two sides have renewed criticism of each other over such issues as human rights and the war in Chechnya. U.S. officials recently have spoken out against the crackdown on independent media in Russia, espionage trials against scientists and activists, and the use of force against civilians in the breakaway southern region of Chechnya. Moscow responded today with bitter complaints that Washington once again is interfering in Russia's internal affairs and holding it to a "double standard." The terse exchange did not appear to endanger the new alliance forged by Presidents Bush and Vladimir Putin after the Sept. 11 attacks, according to analysts here. But it suggested that tensions are beginning to reemerge. "In the last several weeks, there has been almost no movement forward in Russian-American relations," said Sergei Rogov, director of the Institute for USA and Canada Studies. "Today it's a slogan without substance." Without progress, Rogov said, old issues such as human rights and Chechnya can return to the fore. "We need some progress and, in fact, the new Russian-American relations should be fixed in the next several months before President Bush comes here. If we don't have new agreements and arrangements, then the window of opportunity may begin to close." Last week, the State Department issued its toughest criticism of the Chechnya war in months, calling recent operations "a continuation of human rights violations" and an inappropriate "use of overwhelming force against civilian targets." Today, the Russian Foreign Ministry filed a diplomatic note of protest because two U.S. diplomats attended a rally in Vladivostok in support of Grigory Pasko, a military journalist who exposed nuclear waste dumping by the Russian navy and was convicted of treason. The U.S. Embassy confirmed that two officials attended the demonstration on Thursday, but only to watch. The Foreign Ministry also accused the United States of attempting to pressure courts to reverse a decision liquidating TV-6, the last major independent national television channel in Russia. U.S. statements on the subject are "a manifestation of double standards concerning the freedom of the press in Russia," the ministry said in a statement. "In fact, it is a call to put pressure on the courts, which is inadmissible." TV-6 faces closure because a minority shareholder, the pension fund of the Russian oil giant Lukoil, won a court ruling attacking the station's finances. TV-6 management today tried to head off the move by sending a letter to the government asking to turn over its broadcasting license to the journalists who run the station. ****** #11 Ukrainian 2001 GDP grows record nine pct KIEV, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Ukraine posted record economic growth last year, fuelled by a rise in industrial output, stronger exports and a good harvest but the expansion is expected to slow down in 2002, the government said on Tuesday. Serhiy Samoilenko, an aide to Deputy Prime Minister Vasyl Rohovy, told Reuters gross domestic product grew by nine percent in 2001 after a 5.8 percent rise the previous year. Ukraine suffered almost a decade of recession after independence from Moscow in 1991. GDP growth was supported by a record 14.2 percent rise in industrial production. Annual inflation plunged to 6.1 percent in 2001 after 25.8 percent in 2000. The central bank's main refinancing rate is at an all-time low of 12.5 percent, while hard currency reserves reached a record high of $3.2 billion at the end of the last year. Ukraine, which was once known as the breadbasket of the Soviet Union but then saw its agricultural sector crumble, harvested its best grain harvest in many years in 2001. The crop totalled 39.7 million tonnes after 24.4 million tonnes a year earlier. The government is less upbeat for 2002 however. Earlier this month, President Leonid Kuchma questioned his government's forecast of six percent economic growth for 2002 and said several critical questions needed to be resolved. Ukraine has so far failed to unlock vital aid from the International Monetary Fund under a $2.6 billion loan programme. The two sides are arguing over tax reform and a lack of transparency on the energy market. The government is also facing looming U.S. trade sanctions in retaliation for the continued piracy of music compact discs and other media products. Prime Minister Anatoly Kinakh has said the first quarter of the year would be hard due to global economic slowdown which would hit exporters, the backbone of the recovery. Exporters account for around half of Ukraine's gross domestic product. Kinakh has said the government's main task this year will be to develop the domestic market, but purchasing power in the country of 49 million people remains low. Monthly salaries average $40. ****** #12 US rescues Russian politician stuck at South Pole By Graeme Peters WELLINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The United States came to the rescue of a high-ranking Russian politician's tour party stranded at the South Pole by an aircraft breakdown, the U.S. Antarctic Program said on Tuesday. Artur Chilingarov, the deputy chairman of the State Duma and a noted polar explorer in Russia, led a group commemorating the 60th anniversary of the first Russian flight to the South Pole last week, a Russian embassy official said. After getting passports stamped and touring the U.S. Amundsen-Scott South Pole base on January 8, the group of 14 Russian, United States, Ukrainian, French, Swedish, and Swiss nationals could not leave, said John Sherve, New Zealand manager of Raytheon Technical Services, the support company for the U.S. Antarctic Program. "They went back to their plane, tried to start it and it wouldn't start," Sherve told Reuters in a telephone interview. A day later the Russian members of the group left the pole in a U.S. ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules, with the seven others flown out by Adventure Network International, a private tour company operating trips to the South Pole. Sherve said that the U.S. initially thought that the trip was a Russian government venture, so agreed to carry seven Russians including Chilingarov back to Christchurch, the New Zealand base of the U.S. Antarctic Program. "There was some confusion about whether it was a private or government venture, and the Russian embassy in Washington clarified that it was indeed a private venture," Sherve said. The U.S. government would bill the Russian government $80,000 for the rescue of Chilingarov, he said. The stranded Russian plane -- an Antonov-3 single-engine biplane airlifted to the Antarctic coast, about 1,200 km from the South Pole, in a giant Russian cargo plane -- is still at the U.S. base of about 200 researchers and staff. Russia's ambassador in Wellington, Gennadiy Shabannikov, said the re-enactment included raising the Russian flag at the South Pole followed by a congratulatory phone call from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Shabannikov, who greeted Chilingarov when he arrived in Christchurch late last week, said the trip was a partnership between the Russian government and the private sector. He did did not know at this stage what would happen to the plane, but said a bill would not be a surprise. "If they decide this way (to bill the Russian government), probably they have grounds for that, but it's up to them to decide," Shabannikov ***** #13 NTV news summary The following is a transcript of the main news broadcast at 1900 on the Segodnya Program. The Presenter is Tatyana Mitkova News of a tragedy in the Komy republic first. We have got the details on it today. There has been a fire blazing at Vorkutinskaya mine for more than 24 hours now due to a methane explosion the previous day. The exact number of injured and dead is not reported yet. Now the first coverage from the site of the tragedy that we have just received ---------------- An unprecedented court trial was to start today. Senior militia officials are being charged with gross negligence causing the death of Russian service men. The court hearing has been postponed because one of the accused, a major by rank, has failed to appear in court. The tragedy happened 2 years ago when 22 men of the Militia Special Forces contingency from the town of Sergiyev Posad were killed in the Staropromyslovsky district of Grozny. According to the evidence obtained by the investigators it appears they were mistakenly attacked and shot by friendly fire from their own troops. ---------------- We have just got some news marked "urgent." In his letter to the Press and Information Ministry TV6 executive director Paul Korchagin has announced he no longer requires a license to broadcast on TV6 even though the license hasn't yet expired. The Press and Information Ministry lawyers are working into the process of closing down TV6. It has been announced today that the Moscow Independent TV Company's license that TV6 now has will be annulled immediately after the Liquidation committee is formed. That's quite a precedent for Russia. Moscow has responded to a series of statements made by official Washington on the situation around the TV 6 channel. Earlier the American Administration spokesmen described the decision to close down TV6 as a Kremlin attack on the freedom of speech. The Russia Foreign Ministry declared that by making such statements the State Department "manifests its double standards in tackling the problems of mass media freedom in Russia". According to Interfax, the Foreign Ministry regards this as "an actual call to influence the court authority which is against the law." The Foreign Ministry points out that "the TV6 case is an exclusively juridical matter." ----------------- Four State Duma deputies - Victor Pokhmelkin, Sergey Yushenkov, Vladimir Golovlyov and Yuly Ryubakov - have announced today they are leaving "The Union of the Rightist Forces" without any official explanations given. But in his interview to Interfax Sergey Yushenkov pointed out his colleagues and he considered it impossible to keep membership in the faction that " supported the policy of introducing a police regime conducted by the country leadership." Deputies Yushenkov and Pokhmelkin are already participating in the work of "Liberal Russia", a new political movement that is being built up by Boris Berezovsky. -------------------- The results of the presidential election in Adygeya are a political sensation. Aslan Dzharimov, who has headed the republic for the last 13 years, has quite unexpectedly lost the election campaign. Dzharimov, aged 62, headed the Adygeya regional party committee in the Soviet era, supported the pro-Gorbachov "center" and dropped out of the party in perestroika years. He later vowed his strong support for reforms and made the combining of two posts (that of President and Head of State) possible. The man has a reputation of being a dictator. Dzharimov will be succeeded in his post by Khazreth Sovmen, a gold- mining co-operative owner. -------------------- Yakutia has elected a new leader from the diamond-mining industry. The Alrosa company head Vyacheslav Shtyrov beat his main rival in the second round of the presidential election campaign. The latter reportedly is not going to give in, though. ------------------- Today we have got some promising news from the Krasnodar region, where local authorities are fighting against the most powerful flood. Having burst its banks earlier the height of the Kuban River is gradually receding after several days of demolition works to clear the ice jams away. Thousands of local residents won't be able to return to their normal way of life for quite a time yet, though. --------------------- A passenger plane TU-204 belonging to "The Siberia" aerocompany has made an emergency landing in Omsk with 143 people on board. It had been carried almost half a kilometer away from the runway by cross winds. The liner was heading for Novosibirsk from Frankfurt. Due to bad weather the crew had to ask for an unplanned landing in Omsk. During the descent the pilots realized that heavy cross wind could make the liner miss the runway, but the crew still didn't risk the second try to land because they were running out of fuel. According to the specialists, the plane put out chassis too late on the runway so there was actually no time for proper braking. As a result the liner got stuck deep in the snowdrifts and is still to be extracted from there. All the passengers have already taken another flight to Novosibirsk. ------------------------- The European Council Parliamentary Assembly officials are on another visit in Chechnya. They expressed their worries over the fate of the Chechen refugees due to severe winter conditions and over the human rights situation in the region. --------------------------- There's a new sensation in the sports world. For the first time in history a 4-year old boy has scored an impressive victory in the national US chess championship. Erick Leao played his first game of chess when he was 3. It was his mother who taught the boy how to play chess. His patience is quite impressive. Unlike other children his age the boy can sit at chess table for several hours. The youngest US champion is sharing his professional plans for the future with the public. According to Erick, next year when he is 5 he is sure to beat his coach at chess. Meanwhile the wonder-boy is predicted the fate of Bobby Fisher who won his first championship at the age of 10. ----------------------- President Bush's habit of taking his meals while sitting in front of a TV set has led to unpleasant aftermaths, world press agencies report. The American President was reportedly sitting comfortably on a sofa eating salted pretzels and watching a football match. Suddenly everything went black before his eyes. The next thing the President saw when he regained consciousness was the carpet covering the floor in his living room. It turned out that a piece of pretzel nearly choked him. According to Mr. Bush, he didn't even realize what had happened until he saw his reflection in the mirror. The incident resulted in several scratches and a small bruise. Mr. Bush is said to have made a promise to himself from now on to follow his mother's advice and to chew food properly. ******** #14 Izvestia No. 4 2002 [translation from RIA Novosti for personal use only] THE UNITED STATES AGAIN DIVIDES TERRORISTS INTO GOOD AND BAD ONES By Maxim YUSIN, Alexander SHUMILIN U.S. Department of State spokesman Richard Boucher has accused Russian troops in Chechnya of disproportionate use of force against civilian facilities and continued human rights violations. Things have returned to what they used to be before the September 11 terrorist attacks - the same rhetoric, the same criticism, the same arrogant tone of a mentor. As if there had not been a four-month-long moratorium on criticism of Russia, although not officially declared yet strictly observed. After the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and after President Vladimir Putin's famous call to President George Bush, Americans more often paid compliments to Russia than criticised it. At Bush's Texas ranch, the two presidents met not only as allies but also as friends. American officials did not stint praise in describing Russia's contribution to the common cause of anti-terror struggle. Moscow's main propaganda victory was the U.S. Department of State's public acknowledgement that Chechen "fighters for freedom" were linked with Osama bin Laden's group. It seemed that after those words there could be no return to pre-September statements about disproportionate use of force. It seemed that Americans, who themselves became a target of terrorist attacks, finally began to understand us, that they finally realised that it is very difficult to observe all the required "proportions" in combating such people as bin Laden or Shamil Basayev. Alas, it only seemed. September 11 has not changed anything, and Americans have not changed. Russia and its president should not hope for any special attitude, leniency or solidarity on the part of the only superpower. The moratorium did not last long - only four months, until Americans won the war in Afghanistan. As soon as they won it, the value of the "strategic alliance" with Moscow immediately diminished in Washington's eyes. As before, terrorists are again divided into two categories - bad and good ones, into those who fight America and those who fight for freedom and against whom force is used disproportionately. What is behind Boucher's harsh statements? What message did Washington want to convey to Moscow? We asked experts in international relations to answer these questions. Viktor KREMENYUK, deputy director of the Institute of U.S. and Canada Studies: "The matter at issue is the bargaining between Moscow and Washington over a type of relations between them upon completion of the anti-terror operation. Moscow hoped that its interaction with the U.S.A. in the last few months would help raise their relations to a higher level. Americans want to cool this ardour, showing that there is something on which they disagree with the Russian leadership. Washington does not like Russia's union with Belarus, widespread corruption and the outburst of spymania in Russia. Americans show that they will demand changes in Putin's policy. I don't think this position will bring about coolness between the two countries. These demands should be viewed as a price for the help America intends to give Russia, for Russia's admission to the WTO and, in a broader sense, for Russia's inclusion in the new world order." Vyacheslav NIKONOV, president of the Politika Foundation: "The U.S. policy is rather consistent. Despite the community of our interests in Afghanistan, differences between Moscow and Washington persist. Americans still believe that the freedom of speech is not ensured in Russia and that the problem of peace settlement in Chechnya is not being solved. When the United States takes a position, it then consistently upholds it." ******* #15 Zhirinovsky cleans up his act, loves America By Richard Balmforth MOSCOW, Jan 15 (Reuters) - His anti-Western rhetoric, xenophobic utterings and appetite for the outrageous made him everybody's favourite whipping boy in the West. But after eight years of hating Uncle Sam, Russian nationalist bad boy Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky now says he's learning to love America -- and he's sounding cooler about his old friend, Saddam Hussein, too. In a political U-turn, the flamboyant populist, who once denounced U.S. policy-makers as "hooligans and cowards" under the influence of drugs, now declares: "We want cooperation with the United States on all positions." Widely-regarded as a touchstone for Kremlin policy in spite of his clownish antics, Zhirinovsky's sudden conversion seems to be the surest indication yet that President Vladimir Putin's new pro-Washington line is here to stay. Between shots of "Russky Standard" vodka and forkfuls of salmon at an American fast-food restaurant in Moscow, 55-year-old Zhirinovsky rapped out his message on the table-top with the flat of his hand. "We are removing all anti-Americanism from our programme. We are removing the anti-Western feeling," he told Reuters. With a radically-changed mood in Russia after the September 11 attacks on the United States and an eye to parliamentary elections in two years' time, he admitted he was driven by political expediency. "There's no future in saying, like the communists,: 'Down with NATO, Down with the U.S., Down with the West.' Let's be honest. Who are we going to be with in the future? With bin Laden? With the Chinese?," he asked. On the face of it, it is a huge turnaround for a politician who led his Liberal Democratic Party of Russia to election triumph in 1993 after a campaign of vitriolic anti-Western rhetoric and extremist comments that earned him the label of fascist and anti-Semitic. That victory, in which the LDPR took almost a quarter of seats in the State Duma, spooked the Kremlin and jolted world financial markets at the prospect of a far-right resurgence led by a man who had been dismissed as a publicity-seeking clown. Zhirinovsky's star has waned since then and his party now holds only 17 seats in the 450-seat assembly. But he remains a fixture on the political scene and is a deputy speaker in the Duma. WANTS TO CLEAN UP ACT His move to tap pro-American feeling in Russia is the more abrupt since he appeared to be anti-Washington even shortly after the September attacks. His faction refused to join other Duma deputies in standing in memory of those killed. Seated before a wall-poster of New York harbour and the Statue of Liberty, Zhirinovsky defended that move saying foreign parliaments had made no such gesture towards Russia over the Kursk submarine tragedy or other disasters. But -- while losing none of his combative, fast-talking panache and his showman style -- he's decided he has to clean up his act if he is to survive politically. On his relations with Saddam Hussein whom he visits frequently, he said defensively that his courting of the Iraqi leader had been motivated by close economic ties. "If Iraq did not owe Russia (so many) dollars, I would not have been friends with anyone," he said. Saying he wanted to help the West transform Iraq's "dictatorial regime," he proposed sending Russian forces to Baghdad to help ensure a transition to a more democratic leadership. "In two or three years' time, I can guarantee you the regime will be democratic, there will be a multi-party system, the economy will be free and Saddam will step down," he said. DENIES ANTI-SEMITIC CHARGE Equally, he is at pains to deny charges of anti-Semitism, though attacks on "Zionists" studded his Russian nationalist diatribes and he still says there are too many Jews holding top posts in Russia. "My mother was Russian, my father was Jewish. His name was Eidelshtein," he said, jabbing his finger at black-and-white photographs of his parents in a copy of his latest book "Ivan, Close Your Soul." "There cannot be any anti-Semitism in the party when my father was Jewish," he added. Arguing that he reflects the views of ordinary Russians, he said: "I don't say that Jews are bad, but simply there are not enough Russians around. Let's add a few more Russians, let's say, a few more Russian ministers. Jews are talented and clever. But there are very many of them at the top..." KREMLIN CONTROL? Cold-shouldered by several Western countries, he said Britain had been sitting on a visa request from him for three months. Even under Boris Yeltsin, Zhirinovsky acted as a lightning conductor to draw fire away from Kremlin policy and siphon off support for the communists. In the eight years that the LDPR has been an effective force, its deputies have rarely voted against Kremlin policy and Zhirinovsky describes his party as only "half-opposition." "We support 70 per cent of what Putin is doing," he said. By that token, the Kremlin will want his party to perform well enough in the December 2003 elections to secure the five percent of the vote needed to maintain a presence in the Duma. Can Zhirinovsky, who has drawn much of his support by appealing to the gut instinct of the man in the street, clean up his act and, at the same time, retain his constituency ? He thinks he can. "In December 2003 any normal person will vote for the LDPR. I can get 25 per cent of the vote. I am not bluffing. In the present circumstances it is better for Russia to be with the West. My electors will understand me." He has made his political livelihood out of committing outrageous acts and voicing the politically incorrect. Does all this mean an end to Zhirinovsky the showman? That remains to be seen. ******* #16 pravda.ru January 15, 2002 SERGEY SHARGUNOV: NEVER DESPAIR! MY STORY IS ABOUT A DIFFERENT HERO About forty thousand young people have submitted their works to a widely advertised literary contest Debut-2001. Summing up of the contest’s results and awarding of winners took place on the New Year’s eve. There were five winners in five nominations. Sergey Shargunov, the author of the story “Kid is punished”, won the nomination “Large-scale prose”. Sergey is a fifth-year student of the journalistic department of the Moscow State University. Russia’s intellectual elite was shocked by Sergey’s decision to give his premium at the rate of $2 000 to writer Eduard Limonov imprisoned in Lefortovo prison. PRAVDA.Ru correspondent congratulated Sergey Shargunov with the victory and asked to tell about motives of his decision and his creative plans for the future. - It was not that easy to make such a decision. The jury liked my story; I understood that my decision would cause a shock. Indeed, displeasure of most well-wishers was mirrored on their faces. But my decision was a manifestation of my independence. Should I do it the other way, it would be quite a punishment for me. I say once again, I am not Limonov’s follower. But my decision is an attempt to draw public attention to the problem: it is a decent contribution to release of the talented writer. Rather fantastic charges have been brought against Eduard Limonov: they say that he tried to create a Russian republic in Kazakhstan. These are awful charges ! That is why I could not keep silent. - Where did the awarding take place ? What was the public reaction to your decision ? - The pompous awarding took place in the Prague restaurant. The whole of elite was there: Russia’s minister for culture, writers, publishers… I must have spoiled the party for some of them. But many people approved of my decision by applause. Honest and clever people understood the importance of my action. - What is your story “Kid is punished” about ? What is its main idea ? - The story is about love. About a young man and his passion for a crafty woman involved in drug dealing. The story is a hard and brilliant work. Now we can seldom find stories about love. The society is overwhelmed by smutty stories. My heroes are different. - What do you work on now ? - Now I work on a story about a good positive hero. He knows present-day conditions that sometimes even hurt people, but the hero chooses a different way, a good one. I think, a positive hero, not a drug addict or a sodomite is important now. By my work I try to support sound people and create a new positive example for the youth. - What do you think are the future prospects of Russia’s literature for the next twenty years at least ? Will it develop or weaken ? - Weakening of Russia’s literature is out of the question ! There is vividness of thoughts, that means that the literature will exist. We know, whatever happens, the Russian people possess creative powers and internal beauty. Certainly, the circle of readers gets narrower. People read detective stories and thrillers in the metro. But still, people find strong heroes in such cheap books. It is considered that serious, high quality literature lacks dynamism and heroism. - Tell please, what are your criteria of high quality literature – real one, as we say ? - Tastes differ; yours and mine are more likely to be different. The problem you have touched upon is subjective and delicate. I like when literature has an impact on the eye and emotion. Recently I told that lots of boring and sleety books have appeared, they lack liveliness and flight. Russia’s literature is famous for its flight. In response to my statement influential critics told that I tried to make everyone write in a manner of Russian writer Alexander Kuprin. In his time Kuprin’s works were pungent and fresh. On the contrary, I support development of literature; we should not destroy it. - Do you observe “the fathers and children” problem in literature now ? Do young writers manage to reach mutual understanding with an older generation ? How do you see “a hero of the time” ? - A gap between generations has always existed. But now the degree of estrangement between younger and older generations is great: there are lots of differences between the Soviet generation and the younger, present-day generation. They lack understanding. I think, it is the young energetic and curious generation that may prevent a fatal break between the generations. The young generation can adequately explain its essence. Young writers are to act as a connecting link. As for a hero of our time, people are all different in the chaotic time. My objective is to create a hero that is close to me by usage of different present-day characters. - What is your credo ? - I say, never despair. One is to be brave and overcome the delirium and disintegration of the present day that try to swallow us up. My new story is called “Hurrah !” Sergey Shargunov was interviewed by PRAVDA.Ru correspondent Sergey Stefanov Translated by Maria Gousseva ******* #17 Bin Laden charge triggers Prague denials PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Prague officials scrambled Monday to deny a Moscow newspaper's claim that an investment firm with ties to Osama bin Laden will earn about $770 million for arranging a Russian debt-payoff deal with the Czech Republic. The office of Jiri Rusnok, Czech finance minister, said the investment firm Falkon Capital was cleared by both the Czech and Russian parties. But the bin Laden allegation, appearing in the independent weekly Novaja Gazeta, was only the latest in a months-long string of intriguing reports highlighting the mysteries of the Czech-Russia-Falkon deal. Prague journalists, opposition politicians and even the Czech government's intelligence service started raising caution flags when confidential talks on a debt agreement began last spring. Russia has owed the Czech Republic about $3.6 billion since the fall of the Soviet Union 12 years ago. The size of the debt was set in 1994, but efforts to settle dragged for years before the first sign of progress was announced last April. Eventually the talks led to an agreement signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman in Prague in October. The deal was closed Dec. 19 when Falkon agreed to pay the Czech government about $570 million for $2.5 billion, or about two-thirds, of the Russian debt. The rest of the debt will be negotiated later. Although basics of the deal were publicized -- and even hailed by Russia as a landmark precedent for its future debt payoffs -- officials involved in the talks kept most transaction details secret. Rusnok said privacy was a condition stipulated by Falkon and the Russian government. But the secrecy -- as well as uncertainty surrounding Falkon's activity and financial backers -- fanned suspicions and helped journalists fill Prague newspaper columns for months. News of Novaja Gazeta's report moved as a bulletin Monday afternoon on the Czech news wire CTK. Within an hour, Rusnok, Zeman and other officials were responding to a flood of media calls. In his story, Novaja Gazeta reporter Oleg Lurje claimed that Falkon is a daughter company of the Saudi BinLaden Group, the multibillion-dollar construction company operated by bin Laden's family. Although the family says it has disowned the terrorist mastermind -- and denied him any stake in the company -- Lurje asserted proceeds from the Falkon deal "will flow smoothly in the direction of Osama bin Laden." The report said Falkon would receive $1.35 billion from the Russian government, including $580 million in cash. Most of the cash was to be transferred directly to the Czech government. The non-cash payment to Falkon was in the form of about $770 million worth of credit toward future sales of Russian-produced electricity, stretched over several years. The report called the Russia-Falkon deal "extremely tangled" and "difficult" for any government agency trying to monitor the cash flow. But essentially Falkon -- and allegedly by extension, Osama bin Laden -- was to make $770 million from the deal. Gazeta's allegation of an Osama bin Laden connection to Falkon was emphasized with a schematic diagram of Saudi BinLaden Enterprises that the reporter said came from an American source. Although little is known about Falkon, even among financial analysts in Prague, the firm won the exclusive right to bargain with Moscow and Prague last summer, after the two governments agreed to settle the debt. The preliminary agreement was penned in June at a private meeting in St. Petersburg between the Czech and Russian prime ministers. The final agreement was supposed to be signed in July. But the process was delayed. That's when allegations of bribery and organized crime began to surface. An intelligence report written by the Czech Ministry of Interior and obtained by a Prague newspaper suggested Falkon may have ties to the Russian mafia and "foreign intelligence services." However, the report did not stop the dealmaking. Journalists also discovered through police reports that, in July, Falkon director Jozef Cimbora lost a suitcase in Prague stuffed with $180,000 in U.S. currency. The suitcase and cash was recovered, but Cimbora never explained why he had the money, and the finance ministry declined comment. A few days before the final agreement was signed in October, the economics newspaper "Hospodarsky noviny" -- an affiliate of The Wall Street Journal Europe -- charged that Falkon was tied to a heating-oil tax scandal. That same month the political weekly "Respekt" claimed Falkon might use the debt transaction to launder millions of dollars in dirty money. Opposition politicians also joined in criticizing the debt settlement. Leaders of the Freedom Union party, for example, filed a lawsuit against the Social Democrats-led cabinet for refusing to release the Falkon contract. And the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International has been monitoring developments. "It's definitely very suspicious," said David Ondracka, an employee at the group's office in Prague. Rusnok, the finance minister, has insisted that a variety of fiscal controls were implemented to guarantee the legality and safety of the deal. The $570 million cash payment from Falkon, for example, was to be "sanitized" by auditors to make sure the money was not from criminal sources. The cash, in U.S. currency, was deposited just before Christmas at a Prague branch of Deutsche Bank. Eventually it was to be converted into Czech currency and transferred into a government account at the Czech National Bank. Monday night on Czech Television, the Moscow reporter Lurje said he was "dead certain" that Falkon was connected to the bin Laden organization. But Zeman, the prime minister, rejected the claim. He said all Czech companies were thoroughly examined after Sept. 11 for possible ties to terrorists, and Falkon "was not on the list." ******* #18 Gap between good and bad Russian firms widens MOSCOW, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The gap between Russian companies who treat shareholders well and those who treat them badly is widening, a corporate governance expert said on Tuesday. Investor perceptions of a big improvement in corporate practice among top Russian firms, once renowned for almost universally riding roughshod over shareholders, was seen as one of the key factors in spurring a rise in local shares last year. Dmitry Vasilyev, head of corporate governance ratings agency the Institute of Corporate Law and Corporate Governance and former head of Russia's stockmarket watchdog, said a new survey of 30 companies showed changes among firms and within sectors. "In the first three quarters of 2001 the gap between the quality of corporate governance seen in the best and worst companies grew," he told journalists. "The difference is also growing within individual branches of industry, for example, telecoms," he added. Positive developments in the period included a sharp improvement in the quality of financial reports presented by the best companies and the fact that a lot more information was available on their websites, said Vasiliev. He also said there had been positive changes in the structures of boards, with more independent directors appearing. However, he said there had been an increase in the number of companies with unequal shareholder rights written into charters and the number of managers with too much power. Russia's second largest telecommunications company, Vimplelcom, topped the list, while the country's largest mobile phone company Mobile TeleSystems made the list for the first time, pushing in at number two. Moscow Department store GUM was at number three while utilities UES, Lenenergo and Mosenergo took the next three places. Oil firms came in much further down, although their reputation has generally improved since the days in the mid and late 1990s when they were seen as the most grievous corporate governance sinners. Number six producer Sibneft was the first oil company to appear, coming in at number 11, while number one producer LUKOIL only managed to tie at number 23. *******