Johnson's Russia List #6025 16 January 2002 davidjohnson@erols.com A CDI Project www.cdi.org [Note from David Johnson: 1. Reuters: Putin rejects Chechnya criticism. 2. RIA Novosti: PUTIN: RUSSIA SHOULD FOLLOW WAY OF ALL INDUSTRIALLY DEVELOPED AND DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES. 3. RIA Novosti: VLADIMIR PUTIN VIEWS STALIN AS DICTATOR; URGES NOT TO IGNORE HIS ROLE IN HISTORY. 4. RIA Novosti: PRESIDENT PUTIN: "ULTIMATE SOLUTION OF CHECHEN PROBLEM IN RUSSIA CAN BE FOUND THROUGH POLITICAL DIALOGUE WITH THOSE WILLING IT." 5. Stephen Shenfield: Note of correction. (re JRL 6022) 6. Interfax: 49% of Russians expect 2002 to be better than 2001. 7. Interfax: Russians' attitude to Russian mass media varies - poll. 8. CNN: Russians face fuel price hikes. 9. Itar-Tass: Russian power boss pledges understanding for real hardship in regions. (Chubais) 10. RFE/RL: Michael Lelyveld, Russia: Oil Companies Shift Toward U.S.-Backed Routes. 11. gazeta.ru: Sergei Ivasko, Neglected Children Feed Bureaucrats. 12. Vremya MN: Aleksandr Deykin, Death Will Not Be Swayed. (Economist Fears 'Extinction' of Russia's Population) 13. UPI: Russia's TV6 staff forms new firm. 14. Asia Times: Sergei Blagov, Russian privatization: The Code has landed. 15. London's Al-Majallah: Murad Ahmad, Report Cites Russian 'Documents' on Bin Ladin's Past.] ****** #1 Putin rejects Chechnya criticism By Joelle Diderich PARIS, Jan 15 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin rejected fresh criticism over Russia's war in the breakaway region of Chechnya on Tuesday, saying during a visit to Paris it was comparable to the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan. At a news conference after an informal meeting, President Jacques Chirac urged Putin to restart peace talks with Chechen rebels and insisted the Chechen conflict "could not be reduced solely to its terrorist aspect." Despite restating differences over Chechnya, Putin and Chirac stressed the need to boost trade ties between Russia and the European Union and insisted on Russia's role in global defence efforts after the September 11 U.S. attacks. In an affair which has gained international exposure, Putin also said he was ready to consider a pardon for a Russian journalist jailed for high treason for telling Japanese media the Russian navy had dumped toxic waste in the Sea of Japan. After a lull following the September 11 attacks and Russia's support for its crackdown on suspected terrorists, the United States last week renewed criticism of Moscow's use of force in Chechnya, pointing to indications of human rights abuses. But Putin, on a brief visit to Paris before heading off to Poland, insisted Russia's operations there were fully justified. "On September 11, the world trembled because the attack on the World Trade Center was a crime against all of humanity. But Russia trembled well before that when hundreds of people were killed in explosions at buildings in Moscow," he said. "The blood of Russians who died in Moscow is of the same colour as the blood of the people who perished on September 11," said Putin, speaking through an interpreter. Chirac, who publicly disagreed with Putin over Chechnya during a meeting last July, said France firmly condemned all terror acts. "But the Chechen problem cannot be reduced only to the terrorist aspect...Its solution justifies the resumption of a political dialogue," he added. CONTACTS HALTED Russia, which has admitted to only two hours of peace talks with Chechen rebels in nearly two and a half years of war, said on Monday all contacts had been halted because Chechen rebels had refused to surrender their arms. On economic ties, Chirac said he would push for the European Union to discuss in coming months how trade with Russia could be enhanced, while Putin noted there was potential for trade with France in particular to be increased. Putin also said he was ready to consider a pardon for journalist Grigory Pasko, sentenced for high treason in December for telling Japanese media the Russian navy had dumped toxic waste in the Sea of Japan. The sentenced has triggered protests in Russia and provoked diplomatic rumblings as Moscow slammed two U.S. diplomats who said they attended a rally of his supporters last week as observers. "If a request is made for a presidential pardon, it will be studied," Putin said of Pasko's case. ****** #2 PUTIN: RUSSIA SHOULD FOLLOW WAY OF ALL INDUSTRIALLY DEVELOPED AND DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES MOSCOW, January 15, 2002. /RIA Novosti/. - Vladimir Putin thinks Russia should not invent the wheel but should follow the way of all industrially developed and democratic countries, he told Polish mass media on the threshold of his visit to Warsaw. Putin characterized democracy as "rules written in laws adopted constitutionally by the elected representative body of power - the country's parliament." "We are following this way, with confidence and consistency," he said. The Russian President pointed out to the general difficulties the countries of the former "Eastern bloc" are faced with, above all, the way the population perceives its relations with the state and the state's obligations to the population. It is evident now for everyone that there is no alternative to market economy and democracy, stressed Putin. Another way of development is just stagnation, falling behind in anything, he added. It is necessary that each ordinary citizen understand and support the idea that his position, as well as his family's, district's, region's, their contribution to the general work, the quality of their work influence the financial position of individuals, districts, regions and the whole country. ******* #3 VLADIMIR PUTIN VIEWS STALIN AS DICTATOR; URGES NOT TO IGNORE HIS ROLE IN HISTORY MOSCOW, January 15. /From a RIA Novosti correspondent/ -- Vladimir Putin regards Stalin "undoubtedly" as a dictator but says his role in history should not be ignored. Under Stalin's leadership the country won in World War II and "this victory is very much connected with his name", said the Russian president in an interview to the Polish mass media. "Ignoring this would be silly", said Putin. Vladimir Putin expressed firm conviction that Stalin "was very much guided by the interest of preserving personal power, which explains a lot". Overall, Putin said the question of Stalin's place in the history of Russia is "somewhat provocative". Asked by Polish journalists to name historical figures which can be likened to Stalin, Putin said this figure is closest to Tamerlaine. ****** #4 PRESIDENT PUTIN: "ULTIMATE SOLUTION OF CHECHEN PROBLEM IN RUSSIA CAN BE FOUND THROUGH POLITICAL DIALOGUE WITH THOSE WILLING IT" MOSCOW, January 15. /From a RIA Novosti correspondent/ -- Vladimir Putin believes that an ultimate solution of the Chechen issue in Russia can be found through "political dialogue with the population and those willing such a dialogue". Putin said this in an interview to Polish reporters on the eve of his visit to Warsaw. On Tuesday the text of the interview has come to hand at RIA Novosti from the Kremlin press service. Putin said that in Chechnya the army "actually is not conducting combat operations and only local operations are carried out". "Simultaneously, a political dialogue with the population and those willing such a dialogue is under way. Only through dialogue can a final solution be found", he said. "We are following this road and will do so for the attainment of a final solution of this question", stressed Putin. The president noted that "terrorism, fundamentalism and other manifestations of extremism are developing in territories which are out of control of the internationally recognised governments". "This is what we must never allow to happen. This does not mean that we should not take account of legitimate requirements, interests of a nation, a group of people and so on. Of course, this goes in full measure for the people of Chechnya. Complicated processes are taking place there", said Putin. As regards the problems of terrorism, the Russian president declared that international terrorists "are to be condemned and isolated, or destroyed", as is the case in Afghanistan now. "The same for Chechnya, where a symbiosis of separatism and international extremism has taken place. It is leavened with the extreme manifestations of Islamic fundamentalism", said the Russian president in conclusion. ******* #5 Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 Subject: correction From: Stephen Shenfield NOTE OF CORRECTION In the recently distributed issue No. 4 of the JRL Research and Analytical Supplement (JRL 6022, Jan. 16) there is a piece about the writer Viktoria Tokareva in which I express regret that her work has not appeared in English. I have since learned that this is not the case. Picador published a volume of her work in 1993 entitled "The Talisman and Other Tales." Some of her stories have also appeared in two anthologies edited by Helena Goscilo: "Balancing Acts" (Indiana UP, 1989) and "Lives in Transit" (Ardis, 1995). There may also be a few stories in other collections. ******* #6 49% of Russians expect 2002 to be better than 2001 MOSCOW. Jan 15 (Interfax) - In summing up the results of 2001, 49% of the Russians polled reported a decent financial situation, but said they have to work hard to achieve it. A slightly lower percentage of Russians (42%) said they are dissatisfied with their financial wellbeing because they spend all of their money on food. The percentage of those who are "financially comfortable" (6%) is three times as high as that of those who "live in poverty and don't have evough money for food" (2%). This information was provided to Interfax by the research group monitoring.ru on Tuesday. It was obtained by polling 1,600 Russians from throughout Russia. In response to the question, "What do you expect for yourself in the new year [2002]?" half of the respondents said they hope that their financial situation will improve this year. Twelve percent of the respondents are hoping to get a different job, and 8% are expecting a promotion, which is perhaps connected with the prospects of higher wages. Four percent of Russians are afraid that their financial situation will worsen in 2002. However, a large percentage of those polled (23%) said they do not expect anything from the new year. ******* #7 Russians' attitude to Russian mass media varies - poll MOSCOW. Jan 15 (Interfax) - Russians have various attitudes to Russian mass media: 41.4% of the respondents said they trust them, 52.4% said they do not trust them and 6.2% of those polled said they were undecided, the independent research center Russian Public Opinion and Market Research (ROMIR - Gallup International) told Interfax on Tuesday. This information was obtained from a poll of 2,000 adult respondents throughout Russia. The analysis of the socio-demographic characteristics of the poll's participants shows that older respondents (aged 50 and up) and young people aged 18 to 29 tend to trust the mass media. People with university degrees and university students tend to trust the mass media less, the poll showed. ******* #8 CNN January 15, 2002 Russians face fuel price hikes MOSCOW, Russia --Russian consumers face price hikes of up to 35 percent on their fuel bills this year. The government has decided to allow state-controlled monpolies of natural resources to increase prices after years of artificially low charges which has left them debt-ridden. Recognising it now wants more revenue from its natural resources the government has allowed the electricity monopoly Unified Energy Systems and the gas giant Gazprom to significantly raise prices. Russians will see their electricity prices increase by 32 percent and natural gas by 35 percent this year, officials said Tuesday. But even so the government refused to allow the debt-laden companies to increase prices by as much as they wanted. UES had asked the government to approve a 44 percent boost in prices, and Gazprom had asked for a 37.5 percent increase. The Ministry of Economics and Trade objected, convincing Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov that the higher increases would push inflation well above the 10 percent to 13 percent rate targeted in the 2002 budget, the Vedomosti daily reported on Tuesday. The head of the electricity giant, Anatoly Chubais, welcomed the new rates. "Our suggestion was more radical, but I think that the decision that was finally taken is a sound one," he said. "More important than the extent of the increase is the fact that a decision was taken." The increases will be implemented in two stages, in February and June. Chubais also said his company was in preliminary talks with Germany's EON Ag and France's Electricite de France about possible investments in Russia's electricity sector. Russians will also face big rises in their rail fares also, up to 26 percent, as the Railways Ministry has also come under pressure to improve revenues. ******* #9 Russian power boss pledges understanding for real hardship in regions ITAR-TASS Moscow, 15 January, ITAR-TASS correspondent Robert Sepebrennikov: Unified Energy Systems of Russia [UES] is acting in accordance with the declared wishes of the Russian president that it not rush into a strict implementation of a power-for-money formula during Russia's transitional period, the chairman of the UES board, Anatoliy Chubays, told ITAR-TASS, while fielding questions in the State Duma [Russian lower house] today. The energy boss said that exceptions will be made to this formula in cases where there is objective evidence that delays in payments for electricity in a given area are related to real difficulties in the budgetary system. Chubays cited as an example Ulyanovsk Region, where in November and December of last year no payment was received for current electricity supplies. The total debt was somewhere in the region of R130m. What's more the volume of electricity stolen from other areas is equal to two years' electricity consumption in the Region. Despite this, UES has decided not to take any measures with regard to Ulyanovsk Region's debt. On Wednesday [16 January] a special meeting will be held to discuss how best to resolve this situation. The UES boss added that he had given an order forbidding the company to cut off electricity in the evenings. "Any instance of evening shut-offs will be treated as an example of unprofessional conduct," he stressed. ******** #10 Russia: Oil Companies Shift Toward U.S.-Backed Routes By Michael Lelyveld Russia's Yukos oil company is said to be seeking a share in the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. The decision follows reports that Russia's LUKoil is also considering an investment in the project. Boston, 15 January 2002 (RFE/RL) -- Russia's second-largest oil company has reportedly shown interest in joining the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline project, continuing a shift toward accepting the U.S.-backed route from the Caspian Sea. Last month, Russia's Yukos wrote to Azerbaijan's state-owned oil company SOCAR seeking a role in the pipeline, according to Azerbaijan's Turan news agency. Yukos is said to be ready to finance a 12.5 percent share of the $2.8 billion project, which is scheduled to start construction this year. Yukos told Turan it is studying routes from the Caspian region and opportunities in Azerbaijan. The interest of Russia's biggest oil company, LUKoil, has also been reported for several months. Last month, LUKoil's president Vagit Alekperov said the company would take a 7.5 percent stake in the venture, if it gets approval from the Russian government. The reports seem to be signs of a gradual but steady change in Russian attitudes toward the 1,730-kilometer pipeline, which is planned to run through Georgia to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Last May, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Ivanov gave the first indication that Moscow might soften its opposition to the pipeline, despite its preference for transit on its own territory. Speaking at a conference in Turkey, Ivanov said Russian companies would be allowed to join in construction, even though he continued to argue against the route. As reported by the "Turkish Daily News," Ivanov said: "We say that the line is not economic. You can go on with the construction of the pipeline. Our firms are ready to take part in the construction. And we will not assert any political conditions for this." The statement seemed to mark a new stage in the evolution of Russian policy from outright opposition, to competition, and finally to acquiescence as the project moves toward reality. But despite U.S. arguments that Russian companies may find the route to be a useful option, the final word on participation has been slow in coming. In the seven months since Ivanov's statement, LUKoil has repeatedly hedged on a commitment to the pipeline. In late December, Alekperov issued a statement saying that reports of a decision were premature and conditional. Alekperov said, "We do not rule out a positive answer to the company's participation in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan main export pipeline, provided there is recognition of its economic efficiency and approval by the government of the Russian Federation for participation in the project," Azerbaijan's Mediapress reported. Azerbaijani officials, including SOCAR's vice president Ilham Aliev, have been talking with LUKoil for months about a role in the pipeline. Last month, Aliev told Azerbaijan's ANS television that "in all likelihood, they will join." LUKoil has held a 10 percent share in Azerbaijan's major offshore oil project since 1994. Britain's BP oil company, which is leading the pipeline consortium, said last month that it welcomes LUKoil's interest. But officials added that the project will be successful whether the Russian firm joins it or not. It is notable that the reports on Yukos' interest in the pipeline have not included any reservations based on Kremlin approval. The Russian government holds 15.5 percent of LUKoil, while Yukos is fully privatized. Russia is still likely to be sensitive about the line, which competes with its preferred route from Baku to Novorossiisk. But the Black Sea port, which is often closed by winter storms, also serves as the outlet for a new Caspian pipeline from Kazakhstan which crosses Russian territory and was backed by the United States. Early last month, Russia's Caspian envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Viktor Kalyuzhny, denied in an ANS interview that he had spoken against Baku-Ceyhan during a State Duma session, when the pipeline was reportedly criticized for running counter to Russian national interests. Russian oil companies may now see the merit of alternatives for their Caspian investments. LUKoil and Yukos are competitors, but they are also partners in the Caspian Oil Company, a venture in the northern Caspian. The Russian government estimates that its sector contains 4.4 billion barrels of oil reserves. According to Interfax, Yukos has also offered to help upgrade shallow-water production at Azerbaijan's Guneshli field, which accounts for much of SOCAR's output. Perhaps most important, Russia's big oil companies now have investment capital which could be frozen out of a profitable project in the region unless they act soon. Last month, LUKoil vice president Jevan Cheloyants told a press conference in St. Petersburg that a new feasibility study showed an increase in the pipeline's profitability from 16 percent to 24 percent. Since some of the risk may be due to Russia's opposition, the decisions of the Russian oil companies could prove to be a big break for the project. ******** #11 gazeta.ru January 15, 2002 Neglected Children Feed Bureaucrats By Sergei Ivashko President Vladimir Putin has ordered Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov to address the problem of homeless children in Russia. Gazeta.Ru has learnt that to begin with, the government officials plan to make a count of all urchins roaming this vast nation, after which they will undoubtedly demand extra budget funds for programmes to tackle the problem and to set up committees to implement those programmes. On Monday the president of Russia Vladimir Putin instructed Prime Minister Kasyanov to address the problem of child abuse and destitution. As Gazeta.Ru has learnt from the presidential press-service, Putin emphasized: "Child neglect and juvenile crime in this country have reached threatening proportions, and urgent measures are required". Commenting on the president's initiative, chairwoman of the State Duma Committee for Women's, Family and Youth Affaires, Svetlana Goryacheva told Gazeta.Ru that she hoped that this time the country's leadership would abandon the hitherto policy of double standards in tackling the problem of child neglect. Svetlana Goryacheva told us that her committee has already had a chance to hear the president's views on the issue when the committee elaborated a draft bill to regulate the work of commissions for youth affaires. "The bill was passed by all organs (legislative organs: the State Duma, the Federation Council), yet it was the president who vetoed it. And ever since the functioning of the entire structure (of juvenile commissions), that has been a part of the Interior Ministry since 1967, has been suspended, and, therefore, they cannot work normally," the committee's chairwoman complained. However, Ms.Goryacheva admits that the network of commissions for juvenile affaires alone is not capable of solving the problem of child neglect. "We do not even know how many children are roaming around the country now. But one thing is for sure: this number is far higher than in the years following the Great Patriotic (War (1941-1945)), though recently we have not had such large-scale wars on our territory". Svetlana Goryacheva believes that more provisions should be made to allow families to foster orphans and homeless children. The Duma committee headed by Goryacheva is now elaborating a bill that would facilitate child adoption procedures for Russian citizens and another bill stipulating for the creation of a database on all orphans and neglected children. Russian human rights activists agree that public services like the youth commissions alone are incapable of handling the grave problem. Chairman of the Russian Research Centre for Children's Rights Boris Altshuler told us he presumes that Mikhail Kasyanov will pass the presidential order on to vice-prime minister in charge of social policies, Valentina Matvienko. "As soon as that happens," holds Boris Altshuler, "the entire initiative will disintegrate since the solution of the problem of child neglect lies in the coordination of action between local administrations, social security agencies, education departments and police departments. To consolidate their work, the premier's direct influence is necessary, even better -- presidential influence". Altshuler says that all attempts by social workers to revise the principles of work with children have encountered strong resistance from the Interior Ministry, the Ministry of Education and local administrations. "In the social sphere there are opportunities for colossal embezzlement. Firstly, (funds allocated for) the construction and renovation of children's homes. Secondly, (funds for) providing children with foodstuffs, clothes, and everything else. "Besides, officials will probably attempt to set up new committees, which means – premises (to house those committees), office equipment, benefits, places in health centres… And, after that, they will try to get money for the implementation of new programmes. Therefore it will probably be a disadvantage for officials in charge of the existing system for work with neglected children. "In all civilized countries permanent deprivation of parental rights is an extreme measure. In our country it is a norm. Russia is the only country where a policeman when seeing a homeless child in the street turns away and passes by." "Under existing legislation our policemen only have the right to detain children who have committed a certain offence. Thus our law deliberately incites children to commit crime, for only then will the child get food, be washed and be given a warm bed to sleep in. "In New-York, for instance," says Altshuler, "a policemen who see a child begging immediately takes him away and hands him over to social workers. If that child has parents, they will be temporarily deprived of parental rights. Social workers will then work with those parents as long as needed until those parents come to understand their parental duty. And after that the child will be returned to them." "And here everything is simple: they grab a child, shut him up in a children's home, and everything's fine. There are only a few regions where social workers work closely with families." "Moreover, in our Family Code (the Russian law on family relations) there is not a single provision to help preserve a family and prevent child neglect. The whole article deals only with work with orphans." "As of today there are 200 thousand children who live in children's homes, whereas the entity in charge of their maintenance employs 300 thousand people. Instead of searching for new parents for the children in state care those people do all they can to fence them off from the outside world and from a family." "As a result those who eventually leave children's homes (upon reaching an age of 18), accustomed to the life within the walls of a children's home, are absolutely unprepared for life in the real world. That's why they either commit suicide, or join criminal gangs where they at least get some sort of care." When on December 11 vice-premier Valentina Matvienko, who is likely to be ordered by the PM to address the problem of child neglect and homelessness, held a government session dedicated to the problem, the main thing she insisted on was to expand the practice of depriving bad parents of parental rights. She was especially concerned not with the fact that adults leave their children to the mercy of fate, but that they continue to collect children's allowances thereafter. No matter what measures governmental officials invent to clean the streets of urchins and to give our neglected youth hope for the future, one thing is clear; there are no funds for the implementation of any such programmes. The 2002 budget has been passed and especially given slump in oil prices, no significant extra funds are likely to be provided. Still, such funds could be raised elsewhere. For instance, during his first meeting with Russia's major entrepreneurs, Putin coerced them to donate $50 million for setting up a relief fund for military servicemen in Chechnya. The same method could be applied for helping neglected youth. But even if Putin does so, given that there are so many organs and bureaucrats in charge of childcare, the problem of misspending and embezzlement of funds will remain. ******** #12 Economist Fears 'Extinction' of Russia's Population Vremya MN 10 January 2002 [translation for personal use only] Article by Aleksandr Deykin, economist: "Death Will Not Be Swayed" It would be wise for the Russian Government to wonder about the sense of stimulating economic growth and striving for "additional income" from taxes if all of this is only hastening the extinction of the country's population. Russian demographic patterns are displaying two conflicting tendencies: The number of people dying in Russia exceeds the number of new citizens being born by two-thirds, although the birth rate is rising more quickly--by 0.01 percent--than the mortality rate. Immigration covered part of the huge gap between the two indicators in recent years, but now migration figures are decreasing dramatically: Migration made up for more than 45 percent of natural attrition in 1997, but the figure was below 8 percent in the first 10 months of 2001. The birth rate obviously will not compensate for these migration losses for a long time. An analysis of the causes of mortality is not encouraging either: The number of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases (the cause of 55.2 percent of all deaths) was 13 percent higher in the first 10 months of 2001 than it had been in the first 10 months of the previous year. Deaths caused by diseases of the digestive organs increased by 3.5 percent. Meanwhile, deaths due to infectious and parasitical diseases decreased by 0.9 percent and deaths caused by respiratory ailments decreased by 6.8 percent. The last two causes combined, however, are equivalent to only about one-tenth of the number of cardiovascular fatalities. Furthermore, the declining rate of fatal respiratory disorders is clearly due to the closure of many industrial production units entailing work with chemicals, paints, and other harmful substances. The overall result--a higher rate of mortality combined with a rising birth rate--seems confusing, but only at first. Its direct relationship to the non-democratic indices of the State Statistics Committee is evident. Above all, there is the steady growth of the GDP. It is true that the industrial product has decreased perceptibly in recent months along with the whole gross product: Industrial production in November 2001 was 2.9 percent below the October figure, and GDP growth in the third quarter of 2001 was only 4.9 percent, as compared to 5.3 percent in the second quarter. Production volume in the basic sectors decreased by 6.3 percent in November. Changes of this magnitude during these months, however, have been characteristic of the Russian economy in recent years. In spite of this atmosphere of economic growth, the rate of natural attrition will reduce the population of Russia to only 140 million in five years (the figure is 144 million now, but it was about 150 million 10 years ago). The barely noticeable "natural growth" of the population does not seem to be inconsistent with the statistical evidence of a tendency toward GDP growth, but the continuation of the essential extinction of the population offers more eloquent testimony. Overall economic growth must be accompanied by the growth of personal income--the official indicator of the standard of living. This seems to be the case. The real average wage was 23.5 percent higher in November 2001 than in November 2000 (and amounted to a nominal 3,655 rubles). The growth of the average wage during the year ranged from 8 percent (in the microbiological industry) to 61.9 percent (in the wholesale trade in consumer goods) in different sectors of the economy, but in most branches the increase was from 35 percent to 55 percent. This was true, for example, of light industry, the timber industry, education, public health, and all of the fuel branches. The appearance of the uniform and "equitable" growth of wages is shattered completely by elementary statistical comparisons, however: The monthly increase in wages in rubles amounted to 484 rubles in agriculture, about 560 rubles in education, and about 580 rubles in public health care, but those same average "percentages of growth" produced a monthly wage increase of 4,600 rubles in the gas industry, 3,800 rubles in the oil industry, 1,800 rubles in electrical power engineering, 2,250 rubles in transportation, 1,300 rubles in communications, and 3,000 rubles in the financial and insurance sphere. The increase in the monopolistic branches is two or three times as high as the whole salary in some branches of the budget-funded sector. This also has a "demographic" impact: In the most successful branches, the recorded economic growth has produced tangible gains, quite sufficient to foster a slight rise in the birth rate for the families of workers in this relatively small number of branches. In the spheres representing the most common occupations, on the other hand, the population is dying out. The propaganda about "a better life and a happier life" can still act as an emotional stimulus affecting the birth rate, but death cannot be swayed by government assurances. Obviously, there are many things our officials could do about this if they wanted to. They would have to start, however, with a clear idea of the ultimate goal and would then have to pursue it consistently. The recent expectations of the favorable impact of economic growth have proved to be groundless, as the earlier statistical comparisons demonstrated: The qualitative aspect of this growth clearly has not improved the quality of life for everyone in the country. Meanwhile, the rate of growth is declining steadily. The government's lack of an integral social policy is an even bigger problem. Whereas some high-ranking officials want to focus more attention on social problems, others have been busy compounding these problems. One of our top officials has proposed the legitimization of paid medical services, probably forgetting that his official duties consist in maintaining and improving the standards of universally accessible health care. This nasty trick--it cannot be described as anything else--might be explainable, although it does seem inexcusable, by the inexperience of the Minister of Public Health in matters of economic and social policy. That is "not his bailiwick" (although it does seem that he has a professional obligation to know that the governments of the largest countries, such as the United States, Canada, and Germany, have been doing their utmost for years to protect people from the ruthless vicissitudes of the medical and pharmaceutical markets). The Deputy Finance Minister also has a professional obligation to realize that the assertion that higher taxes on medicines will not raise their prices--ostensibly because "prices determine the market"--is not only an example of economic nonsense, but also of highly dangerous nonsense. The year has just begun, the new taxes have not even been charged yet, but the market has already pronounced its judgment on the professional competence of the Russian financial experts: Medicine prices are already soaring, and some medicines are no longer being sold. Meanwhile, the prices of medical services are rising more quickly than inflation, even without the Minister's permission. This is not the main problem, however. In this case, the higher prices in the "self-regulating market" will have a clear-cut result: The population will buy less of the more expensive medicine, which could not have been described as readily affordable even before, and the quality of the medical care available to most of the population will be worse than it is now. The actions of those two officials will result in worse preventive health care and medical treatment. That is why we should not expect a lower rate of mortality in the country, especially from diseases of the cardiovascular and digestive systems, despite all of the encouraging "economic" assurances of the government. The value-added tax on medicine will contribute from 5 billion to 7 billion rubles to the budget. At the end of this year, we will be able to calculate the exact "human cost" of this meager 0.5 percent of "additional income" in the federal budget by taking a look at demographic dynamics. All of these statistics underscore the regrettable fact that our government officials are less likely than ever to coordinate their decisions and that they cannot foresee the impact of their own words and actions. ******* #13 Russia's TV6 staff forms new firm MOSCOW, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- A group of around 50 journalists working for Russia's embattled TV6 television network, which has been ordered shut down by two courts, have established a new company in a bid to stay on the air by dumping their main shareholder, network sources said Tuesday. The group of journalists and anchors has decided to form a new limited company and will apply for a temporary broadcasting license from the Media Ministry, TV6 spokeswoman Tatyana Blinova said. TV6 Executive Director Pavel Korchagin told the Kommersant business daily that he had sent a letter to Media Minister Mikhail Lesin requesting that a license be awarded the new company, which has excluded TV6's main shareholder, the self-exiled tycoon Boris Berezovsky. Berezovsky controls around 75 percent of TV6 and has led an increasingly vocal crusade against the Kremlin after publicly falling out with President Vladimir Putin. Two courts have ruled to shut down TV6 because of losses incurred over several years, after a minority shareholder, LUKoil-Garant -- a pension fund owned by Russia's largest oil company LUKoil -- took its case to court to shut the network down. The Kremlin has denied involvement in the case, which proceeded swiftly to conclusion despite the reputation for mountains of red tape associated with Russia's unreformed legal system. The Bush administration has expressed regret with the court ruling to shut down TV6 and indicated that political pressure had been applied, but the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded statement accusing Washington of "double standards," and Putin, in an interview with Polish media, insisted that the dispute was between shareholders. Lesin said he was encouraged by the journalists' move to rid themselves of Berezovsky as he considered the dispute which led to the closure of TV6 a matter between shareholders LUKoil and Berezovsky. He said the chances of the new company gaining a temporary broadcasting license were rated as "very high," but cautioned that they may have acted hastily in canceling their existing license. According to a ruling of Russia's Supreme Arbitration Court passed last Friday, TV6 must be liquidated no matter what. The process is expected to take about six months, and the Media Ministry had been expected to allow the network to continue broadcasting while a tender for the air frequency is announced. LUKoil has indicated an interest in setting up a network on the same frequency, but media analysts say the company running the station even temporarily has the greatest chance of winning the tender, providing TV6 staff with a ray of hope. Berezovsky said he had no grudge against the staff of TV6 for dumping him, but called their decision to give up the fight against the courts "a sign of weakness." "These people have suffered a lot," Berezovsky told Kommersant, which he also owns. The tycoon said he had no reason to trust Lesin and warned the TV6 staff that by applying for a temporary license from the Media Ministry, they were putting their future at stake. The closure of TV6, Russia's last national independent television network, leaves the country with state-owned RTR and ORT networks and the NTV network, which was taken over last spring by management linked to the natural gas monopoly Gazprom, which is part-owned by the state. Most of the current staff of TV6 fled NTV after the management takeover. ******* #14 Asia Times January 14, 2002 Russian privatization: The Code has landed By Sergei Blagov MOSCOW - For the first time since the Bolshevik Revolution, Russia is entering a new year with moves to build up a private land market. With a new Land Code in force, Russia is now looking to capitalize on agricultural land, the last frontier yet to be privatized fully. The Land Code came into force last fall after years of struggle between the Kremlin and the left-wing opposition in parliament. The opposition argued that freedom to buy and sell land will lead to large-scale purchase of land by speculators from impoverished farmers. The Kremlin finally prevailed. Limited land sales had been taking place even before the Russian Lower House of parliament, the State Duma, approved the law authorizing the sale of land. These sales followed the passing of regional bills by local authorities, notably Moscow, St Petersburg, Samara, Saratov and Nizhny Novgorod. Now a national Land Code provides clear rights for private parties to own urban and industrial land, reconfirms private right to household plots, and gives private owners authority to decide how to use and transfer their land. The Land Code deferred, however, the key issue of agricultural land transactions to a future "law on turnover of land of agricultural designation". The current Land Code permits the sale of just about 2 percent of the country's 1.7 billion hectares of land. In a measure expected to boost investment, including foreign investment, the code allows the sale of commercial land and land in cities. It also legalizes ownership of about 40 million household plots. Foreigners have the same rights as Russians under the Land Code, except that they cannot buy plots close to federal borders and in areas of national security. The government is currently working out a list of such areas. Other rules for implementing the Land Code are also being drawn up. Most farmland in Russia is no longer state property, and private ownership of land is guaranteed by the constitution. The difficulty arises in buying and selling of this land. During the past decade, 12 million farm workers, pensioners, and other rural workers were given 120 million hectares of farm land by way of "land shares". A land share means rights to a specified area in a former collective farm. In theory, a land share can be withdrawn as a separately demarcated farm. It can also be transferred at the discretion of its owner. In practice, red tape has been preventing farmers from doing so. Over the past decade, the lack of a Land Code has been seen as an obstacle to the development of agriculture. Banks were unwilling to give loans against land unless the land could be sold on closure of a deal. Bank mortgages for buying land are of vital importance to Russian farming, which has been plagued for years by lack of funds. The lack of true private ownership has held farmers back from raising the loans needed to boost production. The new Land Code legalizes purchase of land, but the lack of clear legislation on sales makes buying near impossible in most regions. Some 40 million people (of Russia's 146 million population) living in rural areas are affected. The Soviet system of collective farms was highly unproductive. On the other hand, the market value of the nation's land was estimated at some US$5 trillion, according to the Russia's State Land Committee. A property tax of about 2 percent of market value could net a substantial income. The Kremlin is moving now toward making money on Russia's land riches. The federal land service, Roszemkadastr, has been asked to prepare a registry and valuation of all land parcels. On the other hand, the numbers of state employees serving land has fallen from some 20,000 in 1992 to about 7,000. In some regions, a single inspector has to serve up to 200,000 hectares. With land inspectors' salaries at about $50 a month, graft remains widespread. This year a new federal program will be launched to computerize land and real-estate registration systems, with planned funding of roughly $60 million. Russia is taking steps on privatization ahead of neighboring Ukraine, the second-largest former Soviet state. Ukraine also enters the year with a new Land Code in force. But Ukraine, which was the grain basket of the former Soviet Union, has opted for a more restrictive code. Ukraine's Land Code lays a moratorium on sale of agricultural land until 2005 and also bans sale to foreigners. Sale of agricultural land is being seen as a way to boost rural economies in former Soviet republics. But there are still critics who remain wary that unrestricted sale will mean that land will be bought cheap by affluent locals or foreigners, and peasants will again become landless serfs. (Inter Press Service) ****** #15 Report Cites Russian 'Documents' on Bin Ladin's Past London's Al-Majallah in Arabic 23-29 December 2001 [translation for personal use only] Report by Murad Ahmad from Moscow Who is Usama Bin-Ladin? What is the truth about his role in the Islamic movement? A lot of questions have been raised about this mysterious personality by the leadership of the former Soviet Union. Of course, the Russian intelligence services were the first to try to find answers to these questions. Over more than 20 years, these services have been following the tracks and news of their enemy number one and came up with good conclusions. Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union and the radical change in the policies and trends of the Kremlin, the mission the Soviet intelligence or KGB (State Security Commission) had sought to carry out is still on the agenda as one of the most vital missions for the new Russian intelligence service or the FSB (Federal Security Service). This mission is to hunt down and destroy Usama Bin Ladin, since he is enemy number one of Moscow because of the battles in which he took part in Afghanistan and Chechnya. Moscow's conflict with Usama Bin Ladin, and the policies and trends he represents, started at the end of the 1970s when the Soviet forces entered Afghanistan to strike the religious opposition forces, whose effect and influence on Afghan society had increased to a degree that threatened the successive pro-Soviet governments. That period witnessed the arrival of volunteers in Afghanistan to fight alongside the religious opposition. The reconnaissance and intelligence gathering operations carried out by the Soviet intelligence revealed that a millionaire called Usama Bin Ladin was behind the call for jihad in Afghanistan. It was said then that a special committee was formed whose sole mission was to track down and monitor Bin Ladin to find out the parties that supported him. This committee collected all the information about this young millionaire, who appeared all of a sudden at the center of international events and conflicts. Between Finance and Leadership The documents possessed by Moscow indicate that Bin Ladin began his activities in the early 1980s when he appeared as a religious preacher while the Afghan war was raging after the entry of the Soviet forces. His religious call was based on struggling against the Soviet unbelievers and supporting the Muslims of Afghanistan. The Russian reports confirm that Usama was not thought of then as a religious leader and that his role was confined to financing the jihad. Russian researchers say that Bin Ladin began to develop into a hard-line religious fighter at that time. He started to change from a businessman and financier to a leader of religious groups, especially after he had set up the "Islamic Salvation Fund" in Pakistan to support and finance the mujahidin. At the end of the 1980s, and based on this fund, al-Qa'ida organization was established. Al-Qa'ida managed to benefit from the relations and connections of the Islamic Salvation Fund. In fact, al-Qa'ida was the heir to all the establishments that had operated then in Pakistan, such as the services office and its establishments--Bayt al-Ansar and Bayt al-Qai'da. Some of these had branches in the United States, specifically in Brooklyn. Al-Qa'ida was not a large organization. Russian security agencies believe that this organization was careful at the beginning of its operation to focus on quality, and not quantity. Therefore, it was a closed organization with limited membership. Most of its members were from the relatives and acquaintances of Usama Bin Ladin, such as his son and his son's father-in-law, Abu-Hafs al-Masri, who commanded the military wing. The members of this organization also came from different countries. They included Egyptians, such as Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Sudanese, such as Muhammad Salim, who is considered one of the intellectual leaders of the organization. Russian circles believe that Bin Ladin tried afterward to set up connections and formations in Russia. In 1991, a Saudi businessman visited Russia to finance the building of a mosque in the city of (Ulyanov). The Saudi businessman had brought with him a large amount of money for this purpose. In Ulyanov, the man met with a number of Russian Islamic leaders, including Shaykh Tal'at Taj-al-Din, mufti of the European section of the Muslims of Russia. These leaders were supposed to play a role in the building of a mosque in the Russian city of Ulyanov. After the man left Russia, the mosque was not built and the huge amounts of money he left in Ulyanov for the mosque disappeared. There were conflicting stories. Some people openly accused the mufti of seizing the funds, while others asserted that these funds were seen with the Chechen groups in the city of Ulyanov, led by (Zorab Bata Jaf), in order to send them to the Chechen opposition. Conflict of Interests Russian official circles believe that Bin Ladin's relations were with Chechen opposition circles after that period, specifically after Aslan Maskhadov assumed power in the Chechen Republic. If this proves to be true, it agrees with the logic of things, since the stage of the first Chechen war during the rule of President Djokhar Dudayev was characterized by two aspects: 1. The religious view did not control the policy of the Chechen leadership, in light of the assertions of the Chechen foreign minister in the Dudayev government that the Chechen leader had maintained his Communist convictions. 2. During the first stage of the war, Chechnya had included the largest depots of Russian weapons and military hardware. Trading in these weapons was done by a group of Soviet army generals, through an agreement with Dudayev. Some people argue that the reason for the first war was the disagreement between Dudayev and his partners--the generals--over splitting of shares, which means that Chechnya was in no need of weapons or military hardware. On the contrary, Chechnya was the source of these weapons for whoever pays the price. In Sudan The Russian intelligence had been monitoring and observing the enemy of the Soviet Union. It followed his activity in Sudan when he arrived in Khartoum in late 1991. He was received in the country as an important guest. At the outset, his activity was focused on construction and investment. At that period, Sudan witnessed a flood of investment by Bin Ladin in the fields of construction and medicine. Some Russian circles say that Bin Ladin's activities in these countries were free of any military actions, based on two points: First, Usama Bin Ladin was careful to build Sudan and solve its crisis, since it was a model of Islamic rule, which reflects his conviction. Second, Bin Ladin, at that stage, had not been deeply involved in the grand political game; he only played the role of financier. To Afghanistan In May 1996, Usama Bin Ladin had to leave Sudan because of US pressure, which was exercised on the Khartoum government. Russian intelligence reports say that Bin Ladin was prepared for such an eventuality. He had already started preparing a new position for himself in Afghanistan through reviving his contacts with the various Afghan factions. The Russian intelligence services observed the beginnings of Chechen cooperation with Usama Bin Ladin. Russian documents, citing information obtained in Milan during a conversation between one of the commanders of al-Qa'ida, who is a Lebanese, and Sami Bin-Khamis al-Sayyid, the official in charge of its branch in Italy, indicate that Bin Ladin spent more than $10 million to establish the military forces of the Chechen opposition. Bin Ladin obtained these funds from selling the American Tomahawk missiles, which were fired on al-Qa'ida camps in 1998 and did not explode. He sold these missiles to China, which wanted to know how these missiles work. In statements to the media, (Sergey Yasterjimbsky), assistant to the Russian president for media affairs, repeatedly said that Usama Bin Ladin extends great support to the Chechen opposition. He said that according to Russian intelligence reports, the commanders of al-Qa'ida organization made several visits to Chechnya to prepare and equip the Chechen fighters. Ayman al-Zawahiri visited Chechnya and Dagestan in 1996. He returned to Dagestan in 1997 and stayed in it for several weeks. He supervised the preparation and training of fighters. (Sergey Yasterjimbsky) said that Usama Bin Ladin himself visited Chechnya several times, the last time was in late 1999 and early 2000. He extended huge funds to support the Chechen opposition forces after their defeat in the Grozny battles. Participation in Chechnya The assistant to the Russian president for media affairs said that Bin Ladin's support for the Chechen opposition movement was not confined to extending funds and preparing fighters; it went beyond that to actual participation in the battles against the Federation forces by sending volunteers to Chechnya. The assistant to the Russian president asserts that the assistants to commander Khattab were from the most prominent personnel of al-Qa'ida organization. They include Abu-Umar, Abu-Ya'qub, Abu-Jar, Abu-al-Walid, in addition to hundreds of volunteers who were prepared at al-Qa'ida camps in Afghanistan. Radioactive Uranium The reports of the Russian intelligence indicate that prior to the qualitative shift in the policy and activities of Usama Bin Ladin, he had made several attempts to obtain radioactive uranium 235 to use it in manufacturing advanced weapons. Russian documents show that the Russian intelligence succeeded in foiling a deal, which a Pakistani company belonging to Bin Ladin tried to conclude to buy uranium 235. Experts note that following the collapse of the Soviet Union and when Kazakhstan declared that it is a nuclear-free country and delivered the nuclear weapons it had possessed during the Soviet rule, rumors spread then that during the transfer of nuclear weapons from Kazakhstan, some systems of exploding nuclear missiles had been stolen. Terrorism and Nuclear Weapons Russian researchers and experts think that Usama Bin Ladin is not a puzzle. They hold conflicting views about the truth of his political role. Professor (Alexander Ignatinko), a Russian researcher, says that Usama Bin Ladin called for a coup in religious concepts, based on abandoning tolerance and mercy in favor of violence and terrorism. This agreed with the US trends to associate Islam with violence and terrorism in the consciousness of the Western citizen. Prof. Ignatinko thinks that Usama Bin Ladin is part of US interests. In other words, there are elements for benefiting from him and his political role anywhere on earth, since he will become a headline of all US campaigns against terrorism anywhere in the world. In this context, the Russian researcher refers to statements made last year by Richard Clark, White House adviser for anti-terrorism affairs, in which Clark said that the new strategy of the US Administration adopted the right of directing preventive strikes against military and civilian sites involved in supporting terrorism, wherever these sites may be. Prof. Ignatinko adds that Bin Ladin is being used as a tool that allows Washington to interfere in the domestic affairs of many countries. This does not apply to Sudan alone. The same attempts could take place with Russia by promoting the idea that Bin Ladin managed to obtain nuclear weapons from some workers in this field in Russia. Irrespective of the truth of this information, this will start a discussion on the need to impose control on the Russian nuclear arsenal to keep terrorists away from it and protect the world from the danger of their possession of nuclear weapons. Ignatinko believes that the insistence of some people within the Russian authority on fighting terrorism in line with the American scenario has created tension in the atmosphere and relations within Russian society. Also, this has almost threatened Russian-Arab relations and Russian relations with Islamic states. This situation, which could weaken Russia, is in itself a goal for some international forces. International Cooperation Another trend of Russian strategic analysts believes that the US alliance with Bin Ladin has already been disrupted, contrary to the theory expressed by Prof. Alexander Ignatinko, and that Bin Ladin--just like the case with the Americans--had shared interests with Washington at one stage, but then parted ways with them. The makeup of US policy and US interests is based on liberal foundations that are completely opposed to the concepts of terrorism and suppression. The people who support this trend say that Russia currently has a chance to destroy its mortal enemy, Usama Bin Ladin, by joining the international campaign to hunt him down. This will make Russia win international support for its policy in Chechnya on the one hand and will destroy its most dangerous enemy over the past 20 years on the other. Against this background, Nikolay Patruchev, head of the Russian Intelligence Service, called on the US intelligence to cooperate to destroy Usama Bin Ladin and international terrorism. [Description of Source: London Al-Majallah in Arabic -- London-based Saudi-owned weekly; sister magazine of Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues] *******