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OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 74 Part I, 13 April 1995
We welcome you to Part I of the Open Media Research Institute's Daily
Digest. This part focuses on Russia, Transcaucasia and Central Asia, and
the CIS. Part II, distributed simultaneously as a second document,
covers East-Central and Southeastern Europe. Back issues of the Daily
Digest, and other information about OMRI, are available through our WWW
pages: http://www.omri.cz/OMRI.html
RUSSIA
WORKERS ACROSS RUSSIA PROTEST UNPAID WAGES. Hundreds of thousands of
workers throughout Russia attended rallies on 12 April to protest the
nonpayment of wages and falling living standards in what Nezavisimaya
gazeta of 13 April called the most powerful political action by trade
unions in recent years. The day of action was organized by the
Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia to protest the
government's failure to fulfill promises made after earlier rallies on
27 October 1994. Demonstrators called on the government to pay its
debts, index wages, promote domestic industry, and save jobs. Many also
called on the government to resign. According to figures provided by the
unions, 500,000 people rallied in the Russian Far East, where the
economic situation is particularly bad, Russian and Western agencies
reported. In Samara Oblast, marchers carried coffins to represent the
death of the defense industry there; in Buryatia, television stations
went off the air for two hours; in St. Petersburg, an estimated 60,000
protesters marched down Nevsky Prospekt; and in Moscow, 4,000-5,000
people, including many Communists, picketed government buildings.
According to the union, a total of 1.5 million people took part in the
protest, but law enforcement officers argued that those estimates were
way too high, Russian Public Television reported. -- Penny Morvant,
OMRI, Inc.
FEDERATION COUNCIL REJECTS DUMA LAWS ON ELECTING PRESIDENT, DUMA. The
Federation Council rejected a bill on presidential elections by a vote
of 95 to 11 with six abstentions, Interfax reported. The draft law had
been approved by the Duma on 24 March. The Council added several
amendments to the bill which will now be discussed in a conciliatory
committee. The Duma can overcome the upper house vote and send the bill
to the president with the support of 300 deputies. The Council objected
to several features of the bill, including a provision allowing the
Central Electoral Commission to set the date of the election if the
Council fails to do so. The upper house also wanted to reduce the number
of signatures a candidate needs to collect from 1.5 million to 500,000.
It further argued that campaign expenses should be covered by the
federal budget to give each candidate an equal chance. The Council also
rejected the bill on Duma elections by a vote of 113 to 11 with six
abstentions, arguing that fewer than half of the Duma deputies should be
elected by party list. The president's chief of staff, Sergei Filatov,
said President Boris Yeltsin would not veto the Duma bill. However,
Yelena Mizulina, vice-chairwoman of the Council's Committee for
Constitutional Legislation and Judicial Issues, said she hoped the two
houses would find a compromise. Less than 300 deputies in the lower
house had voted for each of the electoral laws. -- Robert Orttung, OMRI,
Inc.
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT RULES ON PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURES. The
Constitutional Court ruled that the phrase "overall number of deputies"
in the constitution means 450 for the Duma and that the chamber needs a
majority of 226 deputies to pass a law, Radio Ekho Moskvy reported on 12
April. The ruling is important because, until now, the Duma has adopted
laws with a majority of the number of deputies actually sitting in the
house rather than the number of seats provided for in the constitution.
Several seats have been vacant because of invalid elections and, more
recently, murders. Ivan Rybkin, for example, was elected Duma chairman
with only 223 votes. The court ruled that its decision is not
retroactive. -- Robert Orttung, OMRI, Inc.
DUMA APPROVES COMPROMISE ON MINIMUM WAGE. Deputies voted unanimously on
12 April in favor of a plan presented by Labor Minister Gennady Melikyan
that raises the minimum wage from 20,500 rubles a month to 34,400
retroactive to 1 April and increases it again to 43,300 as of 1 May,
Russian and Western agencies reported. Ending a long battle with the
government, the Duma rejected a Communist proposal to override the veto
imposed by Yeltsin in February on an earlier bill passed by parliament
that would have raised the minimum from 20,500 to 54,100 rubles. Yeltsin
had said such an increase was unthinkable in the current economic
situation. It had also been viewed as an obstacle to a large IMF loan,
which was officially approved on 11 April. Commenting on the latest,
compromise decision, Finance Minister Vladimir Panskov said it will cost
the government an extra 3 trillion rubles. "It will be difficult, but we
will find the money," he said. Melikyan said the most important aspect
of the change is that it will ease the tax burden on companies, which
must pay taxes on wages that amount to more than six times the minimum,
Radio Rossii reported. -- Penny Morvant, OMRI, Inc.
IMF GIVES OFFICIAL APPROVAL TO STANDBY LOAN. The IMF board of directors
officially approved a $6.25 billion standby loan to Russia on 11 April,
Interfax reported the next day. Russian First Deputy Prime Minister
Anatoly Chubais said, "Russia's Finance Ministry will receive the first
installment totaling $1.1 billion before the end of this April." Russia
will receive about $500 million a month through the end of this year.
Chubais said the loan will help in negotiations with the Paris Club to
restructure Moscow's debt. -- Michael Mihalka, OMRI, Inc.
RUBLE FALLS BELOW 5,000 MARK. The ruble continued its inexorable slide
against the U.S. dollar, dropping below the 5,000 mark on 12 April,
Western and Russian agencies reported. The ruble closed at 5,008 to $1
on the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange, down from 4,991 on 11 April.
Bankers and dealers were generally optimistic, noting that the decline
had been gradual, that it was in line with Central Bank policy, and that
it would boost exports. The strong dollar does, however, make life more
difficult for the average Russian by increasing the price of imports.
Alexander Livshits, President Yeltsin's economic adviser, said the 5,000
mark is a purely "symbolic figure that means nothing," ITAR-TASS
reported. He said the fall in inflation (from 18% in January to 9% in
March) would make ruble operations more profitable and predicted an
"unenviable future" for the dollar, warning people not to save in that
currency. -- Penny Morvant, OMRI, Inc.
PANSKOV: INDEXING SAVINGS WOULD TAKE YEARS. Russian Finance Minister
Panskov announced that it would take years to index savings in line with
inflation as required in a law passed by the Duma, Interfax reported on
12 April. President Yeltsin rejected the savings law twice, but the Duma
overturned his veto on 5 April, promising to restore the value of
citizens' savings deposited before rapid economic reforms began in
January 1992. Panskov said the law would increase Russia's internal debt
by 500 trillion rubles. He added that even if 5% of budget revenues were
spent on indexing savings, it would take 50 years to pay off everyone
guaranteed protection under the law. Panskov said the deputies who voted
for it had mainly "their own goals" in mind. -- Laura Belin, OMRI, Inc.
DECREE ON FEDERAL SECURITY SERVICE GOES INTO EFFECT. The decree on
transforming the Federal Counterintelligence Service (FSK) into the
Federal Security Service (FSB) went into effect following its
publication in Rossiiskaya gazeta on 12 April, Interfax reported.
Current FSK director Sergei Stepashin will head the FSB, and the FSK's
approximately 75,000 employees will be transferred to the new agency
automatically. Duma Security Committee Chairman Viktor Ilyukhin praised
the decree, which he said constructed a legal foundation for the
activities of Russia's security service for the first time, Russian
Radio reported. Ilyukhin added that the Duma had substantially revised
the decree, making it "more democratic" and "more specific." The decree
substantially broadens the authority of the security service,
particularly in connection with fighting organized crime. Critics have
warned that the new agency's powers will be comparable to those of the
KGB and could be used to curtail civil liberties in Russia. -- Laura
Belin, OMRI, Inc.
MORE POLITICAL SPARRING OVER CHECHNYA. The Duma overwhelmingly approved
the third reading of a draft law on settling the Chechen crisis, Ekho
Moskvy reported on 12 April. The law prohibits the use of the Russian
armed forces inside the country and instructs the government to begin
peace talks with the Chechen fighters immediately. Duma Chairman Rybkin
told Ekho Moskvy he was optimistic that President Yeltsin would sign the
law, since its main points had already been approved by government
representatives in preliminary discussions. However, Prime Minister
Viktor Chernomyrdin said a new parliamentary commission on peace talks
in Chechnya was unnecessary and would only "confuse" matters, since
"there is no one to hold talks with" in Chechnya and Russia's main
military campaign there is over, ITAR-TASS reported. Meanwhile, Defense
Minister Pavel Grachev announced that new conscripts into the Russian
armed forces would not be sent to Chechnya, Interfax reported on 12
April. -- Laura Belin and Doug Clarke, OMRI, Inc.
TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
REBELS PRESS OFFENSIVE, GRACHEV SAYS NO MORE RUSSIAN TROOPS. Defense
Minister Grachev, speaking in Irkutsk on 12 April, said, "I have no
intention to increase the number of Russian border guards in
Tajikistan," Interfax reported. One Russian official said the rebels
trying to take power are increasingly well-coordinated but the Russian
border troops commander, General Anatoly Chechulin, said, "We will
resist all attacks, even if it means a blood bath," AFP reported. The UN
tried to negotiate a ceasefire between the commanders of the Russian
border guards and leaders of the Islamic opposition, but the attempt was
inconclusive. The UN Security Council has criticized the Tajik
opposition for violating the ceasefire agreement signed in Tehran last
September, Reuters reported. The Russian Duma was unanimous in its
condemnation of recent events, calling the actions "treacherous,"
according to Interfax. -- Bruce Pannier, OMRI, Inc.
TAJIK REBELS MAKE DEMANDS, AFGHANS PROTEST RUSSIAN BOMBING. As fighting
along the Tajik-Afghan border worsens, spokesmen for the Tajik
opposition have put forth their proposals for ending the bloodshed. On
12 April, rebels called on Moscow to replace the Russian-backed Tajik
president, Emomali Rakhmonov, with an interim government. Speaking from
Kabul, Tajik rebel leader Davlat Usman, said, "The key to the problem
lies with the Russians. If they want, the problem can be solved through
negotiations," a Western source reported. Meanwhile, Kabul Radio
continued to report bombing raids in northern Afghanistan by Russian
planes. In a broadcast monitored in Islamabad, the station claimed
Russian planes dropped 20 bombs in the Zaftal district of Badakhshan
province on 11 April causing civilian casualties, Reuters reported. The
Russian government continues to deny that charge but Vladimir
Zhirinovsky congratulated "the valiant Russian pilots who bombed out one
of the gangster lairs in Afghanistan," according to Interfax. -- Bruce
Pannier, OMRI, Inc.
CILLER IN BAKU. Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller arrived in Baku on
11 April to sign an intergovernmental agreement with Azerbaijan's
President Heidar Aliev that will raise Turkey's stake in a $7.4 billion
deal to develop oil fields in the Caspian Sea, Russian and Western news
agencies reported. Discussions between Ciller and Aliev will center on
the route of an oil pipeline, loans to Azerbaijan, and "ways to
intensify military cooperation in light of closer military ties between
Russia and Armenia," Interfax reported on 11 April. Turkey paid an
estimated $70 million to acquire 5% of Azerbaijan's original 20% share
in the deal. Ciller noted that Turkey was signing the contract "not for
oil, but for the future of Azerbaijan," which she called "my second
homeland," AFP reported on 12 April. Aliev expressed his support for a
Turkish proposal that would involve constructing a pipeline through
Turkey; Russia has opposed it, claiming security considerations, time,
and cost dictate export from Russia's port of Novorossiisk. The chief of
Turkey's pipeline company, Hayrettin Uzun, said the two proposals are
not alternatives but rather a complimentary system, Reuters reported on
12 April. -- Lowell Bezanis, OMRI, Inc.
MORE MOVES TO EXPLOIT KOKDUMALAK. The Uzbek government ratified a credit
agreement with the Export-Import bank of Japan on 31 March for an $85
million loan which is to be used to finance the development of the
Kokdumalak oil and gas field, Interfax reported on 12 April. The field,
Uzbekistan's largest, is projected to yield 200 million tonnes of crude
oil and gas condensate a year. Its cost is estimated at $160 million;
financing is to come from Uzbek government sources (15%) and from the
U.S. Export-Import Bank, with which Tashkent concluded an agreement last
month -- Lowell Bezanis, OMRI, Inc.
TURKMENISTAN'S POPULATION. Preliminary results of a census conducted 10-
20 January in Turkmenistan indicate that 4,000,460 people live in the
republic, 54% of whom dwell in rural areas. About 30,000 more women live
in the republic than men, Interfax reported on 12 April. -- Lowell
Bezanis, OMRI, Inc.
[As of 1200 CET]
Compiled by Victor Gomez
The OMRI Daily Digest offers the latest news from the former Soviet
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