RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 39, 00-02-24

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From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 39, 24 February 2000

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] NEW ARMENIAN CABINET LINEUP AGREED

[02] AZERBAIJAN PIPELINE TALKS FAIL TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS

[03] CONOCO TO RESUME OPERATIONS IN AZERBAIJAN

[04] GEORGIAN GUERRILLA LEADER ARRESTED IN WESTERN GEORGIA

[05] USAID, RED CROSS, EU ALLOCATE FUNDS FOR GEORGIAN DISPLACED

[06] KAZAKHSTAN'S PREMIER WARNS AGAINST UNSANCTIONED OIL SALES

[07] FORMER KAZAKH PREMIER'S BODYGUARDS CHARGED

[08] TAJIK OPPOSITION FIGURE BACKS RULING PARTY IN PARLIAMENTARY

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[09] NATO READY TO DEAL WITH MILOSEVIC THREAT

[10] FRANCE TO SEND MORE TROOPS TO KOSOVA

[11] HOLBROOKE WARNS MILOSEVIC AGAINST NEW CONFLICT

[12] NATO TO RESETTLE ALBANIANS IN MITROVICA

[13] MACEDONIA CONCERNED ABOUT BELGRADE'S PLANS

[14] EU AID FOR KOSOVA

[15] KOSOVA ADMINISTRATION CALLS FOR FREEDOM FOR PRISONERS

[16] BOSNIAN ELECTION CAMPAIGN BEGINS

[17] CROATIAN COURT AGAINST WIRE-TAPPING

[18] ZAGREB WELCOMES REFUGEES

[19] CROATIAN GOVERNMENT FUDGING ON CAMPAIGN PROMISE?

[20] HUNGARIAN VISITOR CONFIRMS CHARGES AGAINST ROMANIAN COMPANY

[21] ROMANIAN NATIONALISTS NOT TO PROSECUTED...

[22] ...WHILE CLUJ PRESSES CHARGES AGAINST ITS MAYOR

[23] 'BABIUC CRISIS' STILL UNSOLVED IN ROMANIA

[24] BULGARIA ALERTS INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ON LIBYA TRIAL

[C] END NOTE

[25] HARDSHIP FUELS GAMBLING FEVER IN ARMENIA

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] NEW ARMENIAN CABINET LINEUP AGREED

Sargsian and the eight political parties represented in the

parliament reached agreement late on 23 February on the

composition of a new streamlined cabinet, RFE/RL's Yerevan

bureau reported the following day. The number of ministries

has been cut from 24 to 16, of which six will be headed by

new appointees. The defense, national security, interior, and

foreign ministers retain their posts. The Communist Party

will join the cabinet for the first time since ceding power

in the 1990 Supreme Soviet election, and a member of the

opposition National Democratic Union will head the Ministry

of State Property. Former Premier and Economy Minister Armen

Darpinian loses his post. His ministry will be merged with

the Finance Ministry, which will be headed by current

Minister of Finance Levon Barkhudarian. President Robert

Kocharian is expected to endorse the new cabinet on 24

February. LF

[02] AZERBAIJAN PIPELINE TALKS FAIL TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS

of talks in Baku between Georgian government representatives

and potential investors in the planned Baku-Ceyhan oil export

pipeline, which were also attended by Azerbaijani and Turkish

government representatives, ended on 23 February without an

agreement being signed, Reuters reported. Those talks will

resume in Istanbul on 26 February. According to Caucasus

Press, the sides agreed on four concerns raised by the

Georgian government, but there was no consensus on

responsibility for the security of the pipeline, for which

Georgia declines to take responsibility, or the amount that

Georgia will receive in transit tariffs. Georgia is

reportedly demanding $0.20 per barrel, while Turkey will

receive $1.59 per barrel of the total $2.58 tariff. LF

[03] CONOCO TO RESUME OPERATIONS IN AZERBAIJAN

company Conoco will acquire a 20 percent stake in the

consortium to develop the Zafar/Mashal offshore Caspian oil

field, Turan and Interfax reported on 22 February. The other

partners in the production-sharing agreement to develop that

field, which was signed in April 1999, are Exxon (30 percent)

and Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR (50 percent). Conoco

closed its office in Baku last month following its failure

during three years of negotiations to conclude an agreement

with the Azerbaijani government on reviving the shallow-water

sector of the Gyuneshli oil field (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27

October 1999). LF

[04] GEORGIAN GUERRILLA LEADER ARRESTED IN WESTERN GEORGIA

in the west Georgian town of Zugdidi have arrested Ramin

Pirtskhalava, a deputy leader of the White Legion guerrilla

detachment operating in southern Abkhazia, on charges of

manslaughter, Caucasus Press reported on 23 February. On 21

and 23 February, representatives of the Abkhaz parliament and

government in exile claimed that the Abkhaz authorities are

deploying additional militia in the security zone along the

Inguri River, which separates Abkhazia from the rest of

Georgia. Under a protocol signed on 3 February, a maximum of

320 Abkhaz police may be deployed in Abkhazia's southernmost

Gali Raion. LF

[05] USAID, RED CROSS, EU ALLOCATE FUNDS FOR GEORGIAN DISPLACED

The U.S. government and the International Committee

of the Red Cross signed an agreement in Tbilisi on 24

February to provide $1.2 million for ethnic Georgian

displaced persons who fled the conflicts in Abkhazia and

South Ossetia, Caucasus Press reported. Those funds will be

used to restore homes and assess how to reintegrate the

displaced persons into social life. Also on 24 February,

Caucasus Press cited the Georgian Foreign Ministry as saying

that the EU will extend its funding for the restoration of

homes damaged during the fighting in South Ossetia. Some 150

displaced persons from Abkhazia blocked traffic on Tbilisi's

main boulevard on 21 February to demand their allowances,

which have not been paid since November 1999. LF

[06] KAZAKHSTAN'S PREMIER WARNS AGAINST UNSANCTIONED OIL SALES

expressed concern that crude oil is being exported from

Kazakhstan through off-shore zones at dumping prices,

RFE/RL's Astana correspondent reported. Toqaev later told

journalists that in 1999, three joint ventures exported a

total of 28,000 tons of crude at prices ranging from $47.46--

$64.32 per metric ton, compared with the world market price

of $114.74, according to Interfax. He said that a state

commission has been created to monitor the oil sector. Toqaev

also expressed the hope that rising world prices for oil and

non-ferrous metals will boost the country's economy in 2000.

Also on 23 February, Rosneft Vice President Sergei Oganesyan

told journalists in Moscow that his company may sell part of

its 7.5 percent stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium,

Interfax reported. That consortium is building a pipeline to

export crude from western Kazakhstan to the Black Sea port of

Novorossiisk. LF

[07] FORMER KAZAKH PREMIER'S BODYGUARDS CHARGED

Kazhegeldin's bodyguards who have been held in custody since

December have been formally charged with illegal possession

of weapons, RFE/RL's Almaty bureau reported on 24 February

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 December 1999). The former

commander of Kazhegeldin's squad of bodyguards told

journalists in Almaty on 21 February that all the weapons his

men had at their disposal were returned to the authorities

following Kazhegeldin's resignation in the fall of 1997. LF

[08] TAJIK OPPOSITION FIGURE BACKS RULING PARTY IN PARLIAMENTARY

In an article published on 21 February, First Deputy

Premier Khodji Akbar Turadjonzoda appealed to the Tajik

electorate to back the ruling People's Democratic Party of

Tajikistan (the former Communist Party) in the 27 February

parliamentary elections in order to prevent a possible

confrontation between the legislature and the executive,

should the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) win a

majority in the new parliament, Asia Plus-Blitz reported.

Turadjonzoda also criticized an IRP campaign slogan that

equates the IRP with Islam and argues that votes cast against

the party are anti-Islam. He claimed that the 2 percent of

the vote which the IRP's candidate polled in the November

1999 presidential poll reflects its popularity among the

electorate. IRP leader Said Abdullo Nuri predicted earlier

this month that his party will win 35 percent of the seats in

the new parliament. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[09] NATO READY TO DEAL WITH MILOSEVIC THREAT

Commander in Europe General Wesley Clark told the

"International Herald Tribune" of 24 February that Yugoslav

President Slobodan Milosevic recently launched a new campaign

of covert operations to challenge the Atlantic alliance.

Serbian agents have gone into Kosova and neighboring areas,

including Montenegro, to sow unrest, according to Clark. He

stressed that NATO is determined to make Kosovska Mitrovica a

multi-ethnic community, despite the "intimidation and other

dirty work of the military units, gangs, and thugs who have

been sent there by Belgrade." On his recent visit to the

Balkans, he added, he warned ethnic Albanian leaders not to

contribute to the tensions, saying that NATO does not want

fighting to spread to the Presevo-Bujanovac-Medvedja area of

southern Serbia. Up to 100,000 ethnic Albanians live in that

region, to which the Belgrade authorities recently sent an

additional 200 special police. PM

[10] FRANCE TO SEND MORE TROOPS TO KOSOVA

February, French Defense Minister Alain Richard told a press

conference that his government has decided to send between

600 and 700 soldiers to Kosova in addition to the 4,500 it

already has there. He said this is necessary in order to

"take control of the situation," AP reported. U.S. Secretary

of Defense William Cohen said that "a greater show of force

and a greater capability is going to be essential" in

Mitrovica in the very near future and that Washington is

considering sending more troops. In London, a Defense

Ministry spokesman told Reuters on 24 February that the U.K.

does not plan to send any additional forces to the province.

There are approximately 30,000 NATO troops in Kosova, in

addition to 7,000 peacekeepers from non-NATO countries. PM

[11] HOLBROOKE WARNS MILOSEVIC AGAINST NEW CONFLICT

Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke said in New York on 23

February that Belgrade is "playing a very dangerous game" by

provoking unrest in Mitrovica. He added: "They lost four wars

in the last eight years. I don't know what they think they're

doing, but whatever it is, it's not going to work." The

ambassador stressed that "the Serb leadership in Belgrade is

trying to partition [Kosovo] at the Mitrovica bridge. This is

a campaign being directed by Belgrade, directed by Mr.

Milosevic and his senior colleagues. They are infiltrating

people. Mitrovica is now certainly the most dangerous place

in Europe. The reason for that is not because Albanians and

Serbs don't like each other. That's an established historical

fact. It's because the leadership in Belgrade, led by

President Milosevic, is conducting a campaign to undermine

the efforts of NATO and the United Nations," AP reported. PM

[12] NATO TO RESETTLE ALBANIANS IN MITROVICA

in Mitrovica on 23 February that the Atlantic alliance will

soon start moving ethnic Albanians back to their homes in

Serb-held northern Mitrovica. Local Serbian leader Oliver

Ivanovic argued that a crisis "will come to a head within 10

to 15 days" unless NATO abandons those plans, AP reported.

Meanwhile in Brussels, unnamed NATO officials said that the

alliance's North Atlantic Council, which is its governing

body, will hold a special meeting on 25 February to discuss

the situation in Kosova. PM

[13] MACEDONIA CONCERNED ABOUT BELGRADE'S PLANS

the Macedonian Defense Ministry told an RFE/RL correspondent

in Skopje on 23 February that troops went on a higher state

of alert and increased the number of border patrols recently.

He said that the main reason was the increased concentration

of Serbian forces in the south of that country (see "RFR/RL

Newsline," 23 February 2000). He added that Skopje is also

concerned that events in Kosova could affect Macedonia's

internal stability. "From the other side of the border,

things can happen that can get out of control," he said. PM

[14] EU AID FOR KOSOVA

Brussels on 23 February that it will make available $5.6

billion to promote democracy and stability in the Balkans.

The program will run through 2006 and will be funded

primarily with money taken from the EU's agricultural budget.

Most of the funds will go to Kosova. PM

[15] KOSOVA ADMINISTRATION CALLS FOR FREEDOM FOR PRISONERS

UN's provisional administration issued a statement in

Prishtina on 23 February calling on the Security Council to

appeal to the Belgrade authorities to free the approximately

1,600 Kosovars being held in Serbian prisons. The statement

also called on Belgrade to allow the Red Cross free access to

the prisoners. PM

[16] BOSNIAN ELECTION CAMPAIGN BEGINS

the OSCE's Robert Barry officially opened the campaign for

the Bosnian local elections slated for 8 April. He said that

68 parties, seven coalitions, and 18 independent candidates

will compete for 3,300 offices. A total of 21,000 candidates

have registered. Elections will not take place in Brcko,

which has a special status. The vote in Srebrenica is slated

for October. PM

[17] CROATIAN COURT AGAINST WIRE-TAPPING

on 23 February overturned legislation allowing the interior

minister to tap telephones and read correspondence in cases

where the minister deems national security to be at risk. The

court ruled that the legislation violates constitutional

provisions dealing with citizens' basic rights. PM

[18] ZAGREB WELCOMES REFUGEES

February, Prime Minister Ivica Racan dismissed criticism from

conservative deputies that the government wants to resettle

Serbian refugees before it finds jobs for "thousands" of

Croats. Racan said that his government does not favor Serbs

over Croats but merely wants to guarantee "the return of

Croatian citizens." Elsewhere, an OSCE spokesman praised the

government's plan to resettle 16,500 refugees (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 21 February 2000). He stressed, however, that the

government will be judged by how it implements the plan. PM

[19] CROATIAN GOVERNMENT FUDGING ON CAMPAIGN PROMISE?

parliament on 23 February began discussing the government's

plan to cut officials' salaries by 10-20 percent. During the

campaign, the governing coalition promised to cut salaries by

40 percent, but the proposed legislation provides only for

the salary of the president to be cut by that amount. The

pledge was very popular in the election campaign. Officials

receive high wages by Croatian standards. Observers note,

however, that the massive wealth accumulated by many

officials came not from their salaries but from the

opportunities they received by being part of the large

insider network of the former ruling party. PM

[20] HUNGARIAN VISITOR CONFIRMS CHARGES AGAINST ROMANIAN COMPANY

counterpart, Valeriu Stoica, in Bucharest on 23 February that

Hungary will launch court proceedings against the Aurul

company "within two days." She said Hungary wants the assets

of the Romanian-Australian company suspected of causing the

recent cyanide spill to be seized in order to pay for the

damage, Romanian and Hungarian media reported. Also on 23

February, a large UN team of experts arrived in Romania to

open an investigation into the incident, which has cause

widespread pollution in Central European rivers. MS

[21] ROMANIAN NATIONALISTS NOT TO PROSECUTED...

prosecutor's office announced on 22 February that it has

halted proceedings against Romanian nationalists who

disrupted last October's celebration of "Martyrs' Day" during

Hungarian Justice Minister David's visit to that city (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 7 October 1999). The prosecutor said the

demonstrators acted "spontaneously" and cannot be charged

with "breach of the peace. " MS

[22] ...WHILE CLUJ PRESSES CHARGES AGAINST ITS MAYOR

town council on 23 February voted by an overwhelming majority

to press charges against Mayor Gheorghe Funar. Using council

funds, Funar paid a fine imposed on him by a local tribunal

for having caused losses to the Alimentara company. Funar

said he will appeal the decision. Meanwhile, another Romanian

mayor, Marin Lutu, has been detained for 30 days on suspicion

of fraud. Lutu is the mayor of one of Bucharest's city

districts. He was expelled from the National Party Christian

Democratic (PNTCD) after he refused to renounce his seat on

the board of a company that he is suspected of having favored

in a privatization tender. MS

[23] 'BABIUC CRISIS' STILL UNSOLVED IN ROMANIA

Liberal Party says it will not agree to Defense Minister

Victor Babiuc's replacement until Transportation Minister

Traian Basescu apologizes to President Emil Constantinescu

for having insulted him in connection with the so-called

Babiuc crisis, Romanian Radio reported on 24 February (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 23 February 2000). Earlier, the coalition

leaders agreed on ways to solve the crisis, and the

presidential office said it does not expect Basescu to make a

public apology. The PNTCD, meanwhile, has said it is no

longer demanding that Basescu apologize to Constantinescu,

adding that the Democratic Party nominee for the defense

portfolio must have Constantinescu's approval, since the

president is the army's commander in chief. MS

[24] BULGARIA ALERTS INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ON LIBYA TRIAL

has "alerted all international institutions" and is seeking

"contacts on all levels, formal and informal," to enlist help

for the six Bulgarians facing the death penalty in Libya, AP

reported on 23 February (see "RFE/RL Newsline, " 23 February

2000). She also said Sofia has asked the Libyan authorities

to postpone the trial in order for the defendants to

"properly prepare their defense" and be allowed to meet with

Bulgarian embassy officials. Both Mihailova and President

Petar Stoyanov called on Bulgarians and the media to refrain

from comments in order "not to jeopardize the lives of

Bulgarians." MS

[C] END NOTE

[25] HARDSHIP FUELS GAMBLING FEVER IN ARMENIA

Every morning dozens of mostly elderly men and women

form a long line in the center of Yerevan in temperatures

below freezing. It is not pension benefits or relief aid that

they are waiting for. Somber and miserable, they are trying

their lack at gambling--an activity that until now was

unthinkable among that social group in Armenia.

One of the many gambling halls in Armenia offers

everybody a free ticket to take part in the opening draw of

bingo. It's a chance that those mired in poverty cannot

afford not to take.

Bingo halls packed with desperate people are symptomatic

of the nationwide fever for gambling. Lotteries, slot

machines, and casinos are now part of the day-to-day life of

a growing number of Armenians. And the proportion of those

people involved in gambling industry has become so large that

sociologists speak of a major change in the national culture.

Armenia's persisting social hardships make the industry

one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. That

growth has been particularly visible over the past year.

Snark reported earlier this month that revenues in 1999 from

licensing fees for casinos and gambling halls totaled 87.6

million drams (more than $160,000), while revenues from

lottery licenses amounted to 6 million drams.

Verzhine Marutian, 72, is poor, drawn, and not one's

idea of a gambler. She was visibly happy when she became one

of two lucky bingo players (out of more than 200

participants) to win 2,000 drams ($4). That sum is almost

equal roughly a third or even half of her monthly pension.

"Life forces us to come here," said another player, a

man in his 70s who was not lucky that day.

Life also forces many other people to bank on a sudden

windfall. A game known as "lotto" and similar to bingo has

come to be the most popular form of gambling. Those whose

numbers listed on cards are called out in a draw can expect

to win anything from a free lottery ticket to an apartment.

There are now more than a dozen weekly lotto games, all of

them run by private companies and broadcast live on

nationwide television.

Such games have regular slots on state-owned Armenian

National Television, the channel that can be received by the

largest number of people in the country. Every weekday at

7:10 p.m. local time ANT airs the lotto draw. Each day, the

draw is organized by a different company.

While competition is becoming increasingly tough, two

local firms, Family Lotto and Kind Lotto, have emerged as the

market leaders. In a country of just over 3 million

inhabitants, they each sell up to 300,000 tickets a week.

Only a quarter of ticket-holders win something. The main

weekly prize is usually the equivalent of $10,000. More than

a hundred other lucky ticket-holders win television sets,

refrigerators, and washing machines, while thousands of

others have to content themselves with smaller wins.

"This gambling boom results from the hopeless situation

the people are now in," said Aharon Adibekian, a local

sociologist. "Gambling gives them hope for a better life,

something which they haven't got from government officials

and politicians in the last 10 years." The popularity of the

games, Adibekian said, testifies to changes in a national

character that was molded over centuries. A tragic history

taught Armenians to tuck away extra money in the anticipation

of worse times. Reliance on hard work rather than pure luck

was a norm.

Since the transition to the free market has still not

translated into economic benefits for most people, Adibekian

argued, gambling may be perceived to be the most realistic

way of ending the miseries of life. "If things remain as they

are, the younger generation may adopt it as a norm of

behavior," he warned.

Lottery firms admit that poverty is the major driving

force behind their business. They are also keen to cite the

benefits they bring to the economy. As one Kind Lotto

executive put it, "a whole army of people" are kept busy

selling lottery tickets. And they sell well, judging by the

abundance of retailers in Yerevan alone. One such ticket

costs 300-500 drams.

Brisk sales are kept up by aggressive advertising, which

gives television channels hefty revenues. In addition, the

lottery firms are major taxpayers. Wealthier Armenians choose

to gamble in casinos and smaller "game houses" that have slot

machines only. According to official figures, there are

nearly 80 such places in Armenia, the bulk of them in the

capital. They, too, have spread rapidly in the last few

years, often at the expense of other businesses. One of

Yerevan's expensive jewelry shops shrunk its floor space by

half last year to allow slot machines to be installed.

Some casinos violate a government requirement

stipulating that they must be at least 200 meters away from a

school. Nor do they post a notice about the "negative

consequences of visiting a casino," as is required by law.

The author is an RFE/RL correspondent living in Yerevan.

24-02-00

Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org

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