#13 - JRL 6585
gazeta.ru
December 3, 2002
Kasyanov promises Germans more openness
By Andrei Litvinov

On Monday Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov arrived in Germany where he took part in discussions on Russia’s reforms. He immediately won friends among his western audience by restating the Russian government’s commitment to continue the democratic processes in the country.

Speaking at the ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the Eastern Committee of the German Economy, Kasyanov offered ''serious guarantees'' to foreign investors, and promised that the Chechen conflict would be resolved via ''an intensive political process''.

The programme of the Russian PM’s visit to Berlin proved quite eventful. In addition to meeting with the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for talks on economic cooperation between the two states, Kasyanov was scheduled to take part in several forums, in particular, the round-table discussion dedicated to the transformations in Eastern Europe.

On Monday evening Mikhail Kasyanov delivered a speech at the ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the Eastern Committee of the German Economy. Kasyanov conveyed President Putin’s greeting to the chairman of the committee Klaus Mangold.

In his address Kasyanov could not avoid the topics which have been making news headlines in Russia lately, in particular, the problem of terrorism. The premier pledged that the Russian authorities would offer no concessions to the terrorists. He backed the actions of the state authorities and security forces during October’s hostage crisis in Moscow. ''No dialogue is possible with the terrorists,'' the premier emphasized.

The impression made on the audience by those words was somewhat alleviated by what Kasyanov said next. Firstly, he assured the audience that Russia would apply every effort to settle the Chechen conflict ''via an intensive political process''.

Kasyanov said that Chechnya's constitution is currently being drawn up and all the necessary democratic stages will take place in Chechnya, including a referendum to adopt the constitution and elections. The PM then reported on the progress of liberal reforms in Russia.

According to Kasyanov, in the near future Russia will adopt a new law, making Russia’s authorities more open to the public and that will allow common Russians to take an active part in the country’s decision making.

Furthermore, Kasyanov assured his audience that Russia would never return to its totalitarian ways, as its democratic foundations were too strong. He admitted, however, that unlike Eastern Europe, in Russia all generations had lived under a totalitarian regime. As a result, democratic reforms were proceeding far more dramatically in Russia than in Eastern Europe, he said.

Russian citizens suffer from the ''totalitarian syndrome'', he said. ''Whereas the top-level political and democratic organizations are functioning the right way, as in other countries, at the local level problems keep arising.'' He said that at the grass roots level Russian voters look for ''a boss'' to solve all problems for them.

When asked about the possibility of Russia's accession to NATO, Kasyanov emphasized: ''Russia is not going to join the alliance. We are talking about the complete elimination of elements of mistrust that existed between us and still partly exist.''

Kasyanov noted the importance of the decision to create the Russia-NATO Council and expressed confidence that further relations between Russia and the North Atlantic alliance will develop within this framework. He said NATO should confirm the positive changes in its position with regard to Russia.

Also, the prime minister said a few words on the current economic situation in Russia and urged western investment. Russia's state debt will decrease to 35 per cent of the gross domestic product by the end of 2003, Kasyanov said. On the development of the Russian economy, the prime minister said an important aspect of the process is that tax collection in the country has reached 95 per cent. ''This is more than in some of the EU countries,'' he said, adding that GDP should grow by 4 per cent in 2002.

Kasyanov called on Germany and other European states to invest more in the Russian economy under ''serious guarantees from the Russian government''. In Kasyanov’s opinion, Russia would be of interest to European businessmen not only because of oil and gas projects, but also because of the country’s hi-tech sector.

''We can offer projects in aerospace, as well as in transport, telecommunications, fuel and energy, information technology and science,'' he said. ''We know about the difficulties investors encounter in Russia, and that is why I say that serious investors in the Russian economy will be given serious support by the government,'' Kasyanov said.

He also promised that the living standard in Russia would reach European levels by 2010. That will create the conditions for building a single economic space. ''We insist on interaction, equitable partnership and integration between Russia and the European Union,'' Kasyanov emphasized.