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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 111, 00-06-08Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 4, No. 111, 8 June 2000CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] WORLD BANK AGAIN WARNS ARMENIA OVER ENERGY NETWORKPRIVATIZATIONSalman Zaheer, who is a senior energy consultant with the World Bank, told journalists in Yerevan on 7 June that the Russian firms seeking to gain control of four Armenian energy distribution networks are not as qualified to develop that sector as their Western competitors, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Other senior World Bank officials warned last month that disbursement of further loans to Armenia is contingent on the privatization of those networks by one of four Western companies shortlisted in the tender (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 April and 15 May 2000). Armenian parliamentary sources told RFE/RL last week that the two Russian companies concerned have proposed abandoning the tender and creating joint ventures with the Armenian government. Speaking on Armenian National Television on 5 June, Orinats Yerkir party leader Artur Bagdasarian condemned the bank's attempt to dictate the terms of the privatization as unacceptable and an obstacle to developing the Armenian economy, Groong reported. LF [02] ARMENIA, IRAN, GREECE ASSESS COOPERATIONAttending the secondsession of the industry and technology committee of the Armenia-Iran-Greece economic grouping in Yerevan on 7 June, trade and industry officials from those three countries sought ways to boost trilateral economic cooperation and trade, RFE/RL's bureau in the Armenian capital reported. They noted that previous agreements aimed at increasing ties have not been implemented despite the "strong political will" of the countries concerned. Armenian Industry and Trade Minister Karen Chshmaritian stressed the need for a solid legal basis for such cooperation, according to ITAR-TASS. In a joint memorandum, the three sides singled out the chemical, pharmaceutical, and construction sectors as promising areas for future cooperation. A group of Iranian businessmen attending the meeting proposed to open a number of manufacturing enterprises in Armenia with the financial assistance of their Greek and other Western partners. LF [03] NEW GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT HOLDS FIRST SESSIONPresidentEduard Shevardnadze chaired the first session of the new government at the state chancellery on 7 June, saying that the cabinet's priorities include solving social problems, restoring Georgia's territorial integrity, and meeting budget revenue targets, Interfax reported. Shevardnadze criticized reappointed Minister for Tax Revenues Mikhail Machavariani for his inability to achieve that latter goal. Machavariani was initially appointed six months ago. Bakur Gulua, whom Shevardnadze proposed as minister of agriculture, was reportedly asked to leave the session as parliamentary deputies had rejected his candidacy (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 May 2000). LF [04] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT MAJORITY, MINORITY STILL AT ODDSOVER PREMIERSHIPParliamentary speaker Zurab Zhvania and Union of Georgian Traditionalists leader Akaki Asatiani on 7 June failed to reach an agreement that would permit a debate on Asatiani's proposal to amend the constitution to reintroduce the post of premier (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 3, No. 17, 28 April 2000 and "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 June 2000). Asatiani told journalists, however, that Zhvania does not reject the restoration of the premiership but considers it inappropriate at present. Majority Union of Citizens of Georgia faction leader Mikhail Saakashvili similarly told journalists on 7 June that the reintroduction of the cabinet of ministers at the present stage would reduce the parliament to "an appendix" to the executive and thus result in "a non- democratic authoritarian regime." But he said that model could be reintroduced within six or seven years. LF [05] GEORGIAN GUERRILLAS REVERT TO OLD TACTICS?Two observationposts of the CIS peacekeeping force in Abkhazia's Gali Raion were subjected to machine- gun fire on 7 June, but no casualties were reported, according to Caucasus Press. It was the second such attack since the beginning of this month. Between 1994 (when the CIS peacekeepers were first deployed in western Georgia) and 1998, Georgian guerrillas systematically targeted the Russian peacekeepers, killing more than 60 of them. But in recent years they have concentrated their attacks on Abkhaz police patrols. LF [06] KAZAKHSTAN TO MONITOR ARMS SALESPresident Nursultan Nazarbaevhas instructed Kazakhstan's Security Council to set up a special body that will endorse planned sales of armaments to buyers abroad, Interfax and Reuters reported on 7 June. In addition, an inventory will be conducted by the end of this year of all weapons kept at Defense Ministry depots, Defense Minister Sat Tokpakbaev said the same day. He said there had been 12 cases of thefts of weaponry from such facilities in 1999. Also on 7 June, the Security Council approved a new draft military reform concept and a state program of military construction from 2000 to 2005, Interfax reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 February 2000). LF [07] WILL MOSCOW DEMAND TERRITORIAL AUTONOMY FOR RUSSIANSIN KAZAKHSTAN?Moscow plans to convene a congress on 23-24 June of ethnic Kazakhs living in the Russian Federation, which will discuss the creation of a Kazakh autonomous formation centered on Orenburg, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported on 7 June, citing APN. Western observers conclude that the only explanation for creating such a territorial unit is to provide the rationale for Moscow to demand similar autonomy for the Russian population of northern Kazakhstan (see "End Note," "RFE/RL Newsline, " 15 May 2000). LF [08] TWO KAZAKH OPPOSITIONISTS FINEDAn Almaty district court on 7 Junefined two members of former Premier Akezhan Kazhegeldin's Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan 2,900 tenges ($20) each for participating in an unsanctioned demonstration in Almaty on 31 May to commemorate victims of political oppression, RFE/RL's correspondent in the former capital reported. LF [09] KYRGYZ ROUNDTABLE IN JEOPARDYThe Communist Party of Kyrgyzstanand the Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzstan both announced in Bishkek on 7 June that they will not participate in the roundtable discussion between government, opposition parties and NGOs scheduled for 8-9 June, RFE/RL's bureau in the Kyrgyz capital reported. Their decision raises to six the number of opposition parties boycotting the session, according to Reuters. Jerzy Wenclaw, who heads the OSCE's Bishkek representation, told the news agency that the OSCE will not send a representative to the discussion as the format under which it will be held is no longer that originally agreed upon in March by the OSCE and the Kyrgyz leadership. LF [10] COURT OVERTURNS RULING AGAINST KYRGYZ OPPOSITIONNEWSPAPERThe Bishkek City Court on 8 June overturned the 31 March ruling by a Bishkek district court sentencing the independent weekly newspaper "Res Publika" to pay a 50,000 som ($1,000) fine for insulting the former chairman of the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 April 2000). The newspaper ceased publication in late March after being fined 200, 000 soms in another slander case (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 January 2000). LF [11] IRANIANS DETAINED IN TAJIKISTAN FOR ALUMINUMSMUGGLINGPolice in Turzunzade Oblast in western Tajikistan, the site of the country's largest aluminum smelter, detained on 6 June three Iranians suspected of trying to smuggle a total of 21 tons of top grade aluminum out of the country, ITAR-TASS reported. According to a Tajik Interior Ministry official, since the beginning of the year its personnel have intercepted more than 600 tons of aluminum intended for illegal export (see also "RFE/RL Newsline," 28 December 1999). LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[12] SLOVENIA HAS NEW GOVERNMENTThe parliament on 7 June voted 46 to 44to approve the center-right cabinet proposed by Prime Minister Andrej Bajuk, thereby ending a political crisis that has lasted since April. Slovenia will have a functioning government until scheduled elections take place in the fall. The new cabinet is the first since independence that is not led by former members of the communist-era nomenklatura (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 30 May 2000). The government's main task is to enact legislation necessary to help meet admission requirements for the EU. There is a broad consensus in Slovenian politics on the need to join the EU as soon as possible. PM [13] PETRITSCH SLAMS BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTERWolfgang Petritsch, whois the international community's high representative in Bosnia, said in Sarajevo on 7 June that joint Prime Minister Spasoje Tusevljak is a "virtual unknown" who was selected by the joint presidency and parliament in an "unprofessional way." Petritsch criticized recent remarks by Tusevljak, in which the economics professor argued that the reintegration of the various parts of Bosnia should proceed slowly. The Austrian diplomat argued that "we need to speed up the process of implementing [the 1995 Dayton agreement], not to slow it down." Tusevljak does not belong to any party. After war broke out in 1992, he was an economics adviser to former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, Reuters reported. U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia Thomas Miller also said that he is "very disappointed" with the selection of Tusevljak. Social Democratic leader Sejfudin Tokic said that the new prime minister will bring Bosnia closer to Belgrade and away from Europe, "Oslobodjenje" reported. PM [14] SARAJEVO POLICE ARREST SERBIAN WAR CRIMES SUSPECTPolicearrested Miroslav Pandurevic on 7 June in the Bosnian capital. It is not clear what the charges are, except that a Bosnian court indicted him in March for "atrocities against civilians," Reuters reported. In 1997, the Hague-based war crimes tribunal ruled that there is not enough evidence to substantiate charges of war crimes against him but that there is sufficient evidence to try him for murder, a spokesman for the tribunal told the news agency. Under the terms of the Bosnian peace settlement, any local court seeking to try a suspect for war crimes must obtain the tribunal's permission first. PM [15] FORMER BOSNIAN SERB POLICE CHIEF KILLEDUnidentified gunmenkilled Ljubisa Savic Mauzer in a drive-by slaying in Bijeljina on 7 June. Mauzer was a hard-line Serbian warlord in the area during the 1992-1995 war but later switched his loyalties to the moderate Prime Minister Milorad Dodik. Mauzer lost his job as head of the Bosnian Serb police in 1998 after being accused of using improper methods to convict hard-liners who had killed a local police chief. PM [16] MONTENEGRIN TRIAL OF ALLEGED KILLER OF MUSLIMSRESUMESThe trial of Nebojsa Ranisavljevic from Despotovac resumed in the Montenegrin town of Bijelo Polje on 7 June after a break of two years. Ranisavljevic is charged with having planned and carried out the abduction and murder of some 20 mainly Muslim passengers from a train on the Belgrade-Bar route in 1993. The trial reopened because Bosnian Serb authorities recently permitted Montenegrin experts to carry out an investigation on the site where the killings took place, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM [17] MILOSEVIC BACKERS WARN OF 'TORRENT OF EVIL' INMONTENEGROIn the runup to the local elections in Podgorica and Herceg Novi on 11 June, Bozidar Bojovic of the pro-Belgrade Serbian People's Party said in Podgorica on 8 June that a "torrent of evil...will cover Montenegro" if President Milo Djukanovic and his backers try to "steal the elections as [they did] in 1998," when Djukanovic won the presidency. Bojovic stressed that "you cannot build a barrier between Montenegro and Serbia without the river coming and carrying away that barrier, put there by force and not the peoples' will," Reuters reported. Bojovic warned that "in case of election fraud..., 65 percent of Montenegrins will not sit quietly with folded arms," AP reported. PM [18] CROATIAN, SERBIAN REFUGEES TO COOPERATEAn association ofCroatian refugees from Bosnia and two organizations of Serbian refugees from Croatia have agreed to work together to solve common problems, dpa reported from Zagreb on 7 June. Croatian Serb leader Milorad Pupovac said that "this is a new philosophy of political conduct and an important step in Croatia-Serbian relations that many people did not expect." In many cases, Serbian families from Croatia are now living in the former homes of Croatian refugees from Bosnia and vice versa. PM [19] FORMER CROATIAN MILITARY LEADER CHARGES INTIMIDATIONBY POLICERetired General Janko Bobetko, who was one of Croatia's military leaders early in the 1990-1995 conflict with Serbian forces, said that armed police tried to "humiliate" him by appearing in front of his home in Split, "Vecernji list" reported on 8 June. Bobetko argued that the incident was part of an alleged campaign by the current government to portray the war in a bad light and discredit the reputation of those who fought in it. He warned: "Let [the police] try to fire three bullets at me, because I'll fire back after the first one." PM [20] RED CROSS APPEALS FOR NEWS OF MISSING IN KOSOVAOfficials ofthe International Committee of the Red Cross said in Geneva on 7 June that some 3,368 persons remain unaccounted for as a result of the recent conflict in Kosova. The missing include about 2,700 ethnic Albanians, 400 Serbs, 100 Roma, and 150 members of various other ethnic groups. The officials added that the remains of some 2,000 people have been found but not identified. PM [21] SOLANA CALLS FOR BETTER TREATMENT OF KOSOVA'S SERBSJavier Solana, who is the EU's chief official for foreign and security policy, said inThessaloniki on 7 June that "the Serbian community in Kosovo has been treated in a manner that cannot be tolerated," Reuters reported. Referring to the political situation in Serbia, he called on the EU to "cooperate with the civil society in Yugoslavia." He added, however, that "the change of the political situation in Serbia is the responsibility of the people of Serbia." Meanwhile in Belgrade, the Yugoslav government issued a statement calling on NATO and the UN to leave Kosova because they have failed to ensure the safety of local Serbs. PM [22] SERBIAN COURT ORDERS BROVINA RETRIALThe Supreme Court on 7June ordered a retrial of Kosova rights activist Flora Brovina. She had been sentenced by a lower court to 12 years in prison for allegedly helping "terrorists" during the conflict in Kosova. The sentencing led to an international outcry from many human rights and writers' organizations. PM [23] MACEDONIA STEPS UP BORDER SECURITYA government spokesman saidin Skopje on 7 June that frontier guards "will shoot without warning at everyone who tries to cross [Macedonia's borders] illegally," AP reported. The previous day, President Boris Tajkovski told NATO ambassadors that Macedonia will have to take "unilateral measures to protect its borders, territory, and integrity" unless KFOR does more to prevent incidents along the frontier separating Macedonia and Kosova (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 June 2000). A NATO spokesman said in Brussels that officials of the Atlantic alliance will soon discuss the matter. PM [24] U.S. AID FOR MINE REMOVAL IN ALBANIAA spokesman for the U.S.embassy in Tirana said on 7 June that Washington has given the Albanian government $1 million to help remove remaining mines laid by Serbian forces along Albania's frontiers in 1999. PM [25] IMF EXTENDS ROMANIAN STAND-BY LOANThe IMF executive board hasextended last year's $540 million stand-by loan to Romania until 28 February 2001. Romania will immediately receive the second $110 million tranche of that loan, which will enable the World Bank to resume the disbursement of loans, Romanian Radio reported on 8 June. IMF First Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer was quoted by Reuters as praising Romania's economic performance in the last six months but said the country must forge ahead with reforms, particularly in the banking sector. MS [26] ROMANIAN INVESTORS CLASH WITH RIOT POLICEMore than 1,000people who had invested in the collapsed National Investment Fund clashed with riot police outside the government's headquarters in Bucharest on 7 June as they staged a protest to demand that the government return their money. Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, which became even more angry after the driver of a passing car lost control of his vehicle and ran over two protesters, one of whom sustained serious injuries. The driver ran away from the scene and demonstrators set his car on fire, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Later, a group of protesters was received by Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu. Romanian Radio said the two sides agreed that the government cannot compensate individuals for lost investments and that those affected must file complaints against the fund's management. MS [27] HUNGARIAN CANDIDATE WITHDRAWS FROM TRANSYLVANIANRUNOFFPeter Kovacs Eckstein of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania, who placed second in the 4 June Cluj mayoral elections, has announced that he is withdrawing from the runoff against incumbent nationalist Mayor Gheorghe Funar in favor of third-placed Democratic Convention of Romania candidate Serban Radulescu. Kovacs Eckstein, who is minister without portfolio in charge of national minorities affairs, explained his decision by saying it is necessary to unite all forces opposed to Funar and avoid having the vote split along ethnic lines. In the 4 June ballot, he received 21 percent, roughly equivalent to the percentage of the town's ethnic Hungarian population. Funar received nearly 46 percent backing and Radulescu 11.5 percent, Mediafax reported. MS [C] END NOTE[28] CHORNOBYL CLOSURE MEANS SEARCH FOR STORAGE SITES, NEWENERGYBy Tuck Wesolowsky As expected, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma announced on 5 June that the last nuclear reactor at Chornobyl will be shut down on 15 December. Kuchma made that statement in Kyiv during a six-hour visit to the Ukrainian capital by U.S. President Bill Clinton. The U.S. has been one of several countries appealing to Ukraine for years to decommission Chornobyl. The nuclear plant was the site of the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster, when reactor Number Four exploded on 26 April 1986, spewing radioactive fallout across Europe. Although most of the fallout fell on neighboring Belarus, radiation was detected as far away as Japan. Today, only reactor Number Three is in operation. Number Two was shut down in 1991, and Number One five years later. Mils Bohmer, a nuclear physicist working for the Oslo-based nuclear- monitoring organization Bellona, says it was the fading likelihood of more Western aid to upgrade Ukraine's rickety energy infrastructure, coupled with growing problems at Chornobyl, that prompted Kuchma to act now. "There have been a lot of technical problems with the Chornobyl reactor," he commented. "Since Christmas the remaining reactor has been [stopped] every other week...because of technical problems." Tobias Munchmeyer, an anti-nuclear campaigner with Greenpeace, says shutting down the sole operating nuclear reactor at Chornobyl should be relatively problem-free. The most pressing matter now, Munchmeyer says, is finding storage for the spent fuel and other radioactive waste inside reactor Number Three. "The reactor contains [not only] spent nuclear fuel," he notes, "but also tons of light-, medium-, and high- radiated nuclear waste, and this has to be decommissioned to be stored somewhere.... The financing for this decommissioning work has been given by G-7 countries." During his visit to Ukraine earlier this week, Clinton pledged $78 million to rebuild the sarcophagus entombing the crippled Number Four reactor. Next month in Berlin, donors from 40 countries are expected to announce they have secured the necessary $700 million to rebuild the concrete encasement, which was constructed in haste following the 1986 accident, and now has several cracks. During Clinton's visit, no mention was made of a project that has drawn criticism from environmentalists--the construction of two new nuclear reactors, at Khmelnitsky and Rivne, known as K-Two and R-Four. Ukraine has said the two reactors, which are about 80 percent finished, are needed to compensate for the energy lost from shutting down Chornobyl. But there is growing Western reluctance to fund the project. Among the most vocal opponents are Germany, Austria and Sweden, which have offered to fund non- nuclear alternatives. Emmanuel Bergasse, an expert in transition economies at the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), says Ukraine will have to choose between three main fuels. The first choice, he notes, is "expensive and environmentally- polluting domestic coal, but the reform program of the present government calls for less aid to the coal sector. The second alternative is to put more emphasis on environmentally friendly gas--but...gas is imported at quite a high cost from Russia and other CIS states, and further increases in gas imports would increase Ukraine's dependence on its powerful neighbor. Furthermore..., Ukraine already has a huge gas debt [vis-a-vis] Russia. The third alternative is nuclear power, which is relatively cheap but controversial both at home and abroad and which also would increase the country's dependence on Russia for securing nuclear fuel." Munchmeyer, Bergasse, and other energy experts say it is doubtful whether Ukraine really needs to build any new energy plants. Instead, Ukraine could meet its energy needs by better energy usage. According to Munchmeyer, "the energy problem existing in Ukraine is a fuel problem and an inefficiency problem. So on the one side, there is a lack of fuel and there is a lack of organization to get the fuel into the right places at the same time. The other thing is this huge inefficiency of the energy system. Ukraine is using five to eight times more electricity for producing goods compared to Western Europe." Wasting energy is endemic throughout the countries of the former East Bloc. Bergasse says one of the main causes of poor energy efficiency are the high subsidies paid for energy purchases. He says a 1999 IEA study of 10 countries with heavy energy subsidies--including Russia and Kazakhstan--showed there is no incentive for saving energy whenever energy is subsidized or sold below cost of production. "The non-payment problem which is pervasive throughout the CIS, although improving of late, is another form of energy subsidy," he explains, "So we calculated that the energy-savings potential of Russia alone is so enormous that if subsidies were abolished in Russia, Russia could save about twice the energy which Ukraine consumes today alone." Bergasse says remodeling the energy sector is dependent on more overarching reforms. He says the three Baltic states have made the most progress toward cutting energy waste, partly because they have better defined property rights. Baltic homeowners, Bergasse says, feel more secure in making the investment to upgrade their home energy efficiency. CIS countries are still lagging behind in this regard, however. The author is an RFE/RL senior editor based in Prague. 08-06-00 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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