SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #739 (5), Friday, January 25, 2002
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TITLE: March 27 Date Set for TV6 Tender
AUTHOR: By Andrei Zolotov Jr.
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - NTV Plus sports programming began airing on TV6's frequency Tuesday and the Press Ministry, which yanked TV6 off the air overnight on Monday, said that a tender for the channel would take place March 27.
The abrupt shutdown of TV6 at midnight Monday, just hours after a court ordered the ministry to do so, marks the first time a national television station has been switched off in Russia in a process not fully prescribed by law.
TV6 general director Yevgeny Kiselyov emerged from a somber, 75-minute meeting with his staff to declare that he was ready to fight to the end.
"We intend to do everything that we can to stay on air," Kiselyov told reporters. "If we cannot do it on television, then we will transmit our programs on Ekho Moskvy radio or on the Internet."
Echo Moskvy began airing TV6-produced news Tuesday.
Kiselyov said OOO TV6, a company set up by TV6 journalists last week, would take part in the tender for the channel's frequency, but expressed doubt that it would win.
"The frequency will most likely go to someone else," Kiselyov said.
Press Minister Mikhail Lesin said after Tuesday-morning consultations with the tender commission that it had decided to grant TV6's license for a $1-million fee on March 27. The commission will pick the winner based on their concept for the station.
NTV Plus, which will fill TV6 airtime with programming from its sports channels until the tender, will be ineligible to participate, Lesin said.
Lesin conceded that the law does not permit the issuance of temporary licenses, such as the one NTV Plus now has, but said it is "an established practice to grant temporary permits" when there is a lapse between licenses. Such was the case with ORT and TV Center in 2000, he said.
Furthermore, he said, the Press Ministry may consider giving TV6 journalists temporary permission to use the frequency if they "get organized" and "solve their internal problems."
He refused to elaborate. He hinted, though, that TV6 journalists should go ahead and register OOO TV6, figure out their allegiances and obtain the equipment and money needed to broadcast.
"Mr. Kiselyov is between a rock and hard place," Lesin said. "He has to decide whose side he is on - the [TV6] collective's, Berezovsky's or [Vladimir] Gusinsky's."
Kiselyov and many of the 1,200 employees at TV6 deserted Gusinsky's NTV after it was taken over by Gazprom-Media in April.
The RBC news agency said Tuesday that OOO TV6 may face problems getting registered. But the newspaper Vedomosti reported that another company, called ZAO TV6 and owned by Kiselyov and TV6 executive director Pavel Korchagin, had already been registered on Dec. 24, a couple weeks before OOO TV6 was first considered.
TV6 owner Boris Berezovsky said he will do his best to help the journalists who have been "essentially forbidden to practice their profession."
Saying the shutdown was part of a campaign by President Vladimir Putin to harness the independent media, Berezovsky said the Kremlin started the assault two years ago when ORT was "nationalized," continued with NTV, and "became completely clear" with TV6.
Berezovsky sold his 49-percent stake in ORT to Roman Abramovich, a reputed Kremlin insider, in 2000.
"Everybody got the clear signal today: You have no right to say openly what you think. Otherwise, you will be deprived of your piece of bread - literally," Berezovsky, who is living in self-imposed exile in London, said on Ekho Moskvy.
Some observers view the TV6 and NTV crackdowns as part of a Kremlin campaign to push once-influential oligarchs out of the media. But the process has raised broad concerns about the diversity of opinion on the government-dominated television market.
Lesin, who had said Monday that it would take two to three days to pull the plug on TV6, said he regretted that a compromise had not been found with TV6 journalists that could have kept them on the air.
Last week, TV6 and the Press Ministry appeared to have reached a deal allowing the journalists to broadcast until the tender was held. But on Monday TV6 backed out of the deal and court bailiffs handed papers to the ministry obligating it to suspend TV6 broadcasts.
Lesin said the only winner in the TV6 spat was Berezovsky.
"What else has he got to do living in London? He always has to prove he is a dissident," Lesin said.
He said TV6 minority shareholder LUKoil-Garant, the pension fund belonging to state-connected oil giant LUKoil, was behind the closure, not Putin. He said Putin told him to do his best to keep TV6 journalists on the air.
He said LUKoil holds a grudge against Berezovsky over the way he snapped up shares in TV6 in 1999.
"Today's situation cannot be considered by taking account only of what happened yesterday or a week ago," Lesin said. "Every issue has a history."
In the absence of TV6, the frequency is being filled with sports programming from NTV Plus satellite television, a subsidiary of NTV parent company Gazprom-Media.
With the Olympics coming up next month, the choice of sports is likely to be welcomed by many viewers. The choice of the politically neutral programming also does not give any public channel a business advantage.
Gazprom-Media spokesperson Oleg Sapozhnikov said the TV6 airtime was filled with a mix of two NTV Plus channels Tuesday, Sport and Football.
"Out of the two channels, we can form one that has rights for general-access broadcasts," he said.
More programming rights will be bought, Sapozhnikov said, and a separate control room will be set up. Advertising will also appear on the channel soon.
TV6's 160 affiliates across the country will have the option of picking up the sports programming or any other network, Lesin said.
Many of those regions were broadcasting local programming at midnight Monday and did not experience the blackout seen in Moscow when the Press Ministry switched off electricity to the station's broadcasting facilities, cutting off a host in mid-sentence.
Kiselyov said Tuesday that NTV Plus is using the TV6 frequency illegally.
Although TV6 managers promised to fight on, some of the channel's star journalists said they were not optimistic.
"We were saying good-bye to each other," satirist Viktor Shenderovich said after emerging from the staff meeting.
Svetlana Sorokina, anchor of the "Glas Naroda" talk show, said she would look for a job outside journalism "My career is over. That is absolutely clear," she was quoted by The Associated Press as saying.
Staff writer Robin Munro contributed to this report.
TITLE: Liberals: Brodsky Attack Political
AUTHOR: By Vladimir Kovalyev
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Some local liberal politicians are concerned about a recent assault on Mikhail Brodsky, the Legislative Assembly deputy and Union of Right Forces (SPS) faction leader who was beaten up by unidentified assailants near his house on Dec. 29. They say the assault may have been politically motivated, stemming from City Hall's dissatisfaction with SPS legislative policy.
"The political council of the St. Petersburg branch of Yabloko is concerned about yet another case of an assault against a Legislative Assembly deputy that may have hidden political motives," reads a resolution adopted by Yabloko earlier this month.
Brodsky, who was released from the hospital on Jan. 18, said that earlier on the evening of Dec. 29, he had had a conversation with former Vice Governor Viktor Yatsuba, who is a close political ally of Governor Vladimir Yakovlev. The conversation allegedly took place at a reception hosted by Yakovlev at K-2, the governor's residence on Krestovsky Island. Brodsky said that he was under the impression that Yatsuba had been waiting especially to talk to him.
"We talked about politics. He gave me some suggestions and said that it is not correct to be in opposition all the time. He was not threatening, but rather stated as a fact that I'm always opposing some [draft legislation]," Brodsky said in an interview this week.
"If [the attack] hadn't happened, I wouldn't think twice about this conversation. But now I'm thinking. If political discussions start turning into civil war, that is indicative of [our] opponents' weakness," Brodsky said.
Despite repeated efforts throughout the week, Yatsuba could not be reached for comment.
Alexander Afanasiev, Yakovlev's spokesperson, confirmed that City Hall is not pleased with SPS legislative policy, but said that if a conversation took place between Yatsuba and Brodsky, it was private. He added that Brodsky's implication of a connection between such a conversation and the assault was "stupid."
"[Yatsuba] doesn't work here anymore, but he shows up from time to time. But it is just stupid to think about it this way," Afanasiev said. "You know how many cases there have been when somebody was beaten while he was drunk and then started talking about political motivations."
Yatsuba became a vice governor, acting as Yakovlev's chief of staff, in June 1996. Throughout his time in office, local media reports mentioned him in connection with corruption in Smolny, but the reports have been consistently denied by the administration as "rubbish."
In 1998, then Legislative Assembly deputy Alexei Liverovsky testified in court that Yatsuba and Alexei Koshmarov, who was then an adviser to Yakovlev, frequently telephoned or visited lawmakers to cajole them into supporting the governor's initiatives.
Liverovsky said that this cajoling went far beyond mere lobbying and included a carrot-and-stick mixture of bribe offers and threats - the threats being against either deputies' persons or their business interests.
In 1999, Yatsuba unexpectedly resigned his post, citing ill health.
He currently works as a vice president of Bank-St. Petersburg.
Brodsky said that he was attacked by four men immediately after he entered his building. Two of the assailants blocked the door leading to the street, one blocked Brodsky's access to the elevator and the fourth began striking Brodsky in the face.
Brodsky said that the beating continued until he fell to the floor, at which point all four attackers fled without taking his wallet or any other valuables.
He was hospitalized with a broken nose and cheekbone and is currently recuperating at a local sanatorium.
Police refused to comment on the case.
"Why should I tell you anything? Are you a relative or something?" said Irina Dmitrieva, an investigator for the Vasiliostrovsky District police, who is responsible for the investigation.
Brodsky, however, said that police only began seriously looking into the case after he received high-profile visits in the hospital from Federation Council speaker Sergei Mironov on Jan. 9 and President Vladimir Putin's economic adviser, Andrei Illarionov, on Jan 11.
"Shortly after [the visits], the investigator called me and asked if I had been drinking. But I wasn't. I did not drink anything at the governor's reception. After that, I went to the Philharmonic Hall, where people don't usually do much drinking," Brodsky said.
Olga Pokrovskaya, a representative of the Yabloko faction, agreed that there are serious policy differences between City Hall and SPS, including draft laws on municipal-property ownership, a decision on scheduling the next Legislative Assembly elections and the issue of a third term for Yakovlev.
However, she was cautious about linking the attack on Brodsky to these differences.
"Nobody would say that I have sympathy for the governor, but I don't think he is to be blamed here. We have plenty of street crime in the city," Pokrovskaya said.
TITLE: Politicos Pan 'Stupid' Shutdown
AUTHOR: By Valeria Korchagina
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Politicians from across the political spectrum lashed out Tuesday at the shutdown of Boris Berezovsky's TV6, while ordinary Russians expressed frustration and confusion.
"President [Vladimir] Putin was fighting against Berezovsky, but the victims of the fight are viewers and journalists," said Boris Nemtsov, the leader of the Union of Right Forces party.
The decision to shut down TV6 "was a stupid move and a large-scale mistake," Nemtsov was quoted by Interfax as saying.
Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov told a news conference in Strasbourg, France, that although he does not share TV6' views, there was no need to "tune all mass media to one tone" and, thus, repeat the mistakes of the past, according to Interfax.
Human-rights activists chimed in.
"I think this is loathsome. It is an insult to people and common sense, and I cannot find any other name for it," activist Alexei Simonov said on the Ekho Moskvy radio station. "All these attempts to reach a legal solution are complete nonsense."
Nemtsov, who has called the TV6 dispute politically motivated, said it would be pointless to bring the matter up with Putin.
"I know in advance what would he say - that he is all for free speech and that he supports journalists," he said.
A snap survey Tuesday found that just over one-quarter of Muscovites believe the TV6 shutdown was hinged to a business dispute - the same reasoning TV6 minority shareholder LUKoil-Garant voiced when it started liquidation hearings against the unprofitable station.
About 20 percent of the 500 people polled by the ROMIR polling agency thought the closure was due to a struggle between the government and the oligarchs - namely Berezovsky - while 15.6 percent said it was linked to a feud between the government and TV6 journalists, particularly TV6 General Director Yevgeny Kiselyov, Interfax reported.
People on the street offered a more complex view.
"It is an internal struggle within the television world. There is also a conflict with the country's leadership. And Kiselyov has long been a thorn in everybody's side," said Vasily Dudaryov, 52, a contract worker. "So an opportunity was seized, and the channel was closed.
"All this is disgusting," he added.
However, large protests appeared unlikely to take place in Moscow, in contrast to the case with the takeover of NTV television by Gazprom-Media in April. Small protests were held in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.
"This is a mess," said Andrei Ivanov, a 39-year-old army officer. "It's like having your bag ripped off your shoulder. What are you going to do? Scream 'Help me, help me'? That would be pointless because nobody would help. It is exactly same with TV6."
Other Muscovites said they could not understand what the dispute was all about.
"If they say we have freedom of speech, why do they want to close the channel?" said Tatyana Baulina, 87, a retired economist. "I wish it was still working. What's so wrong with having a private channel?"
In St. Petersburg, about 30 people gathered at the local Federal Security Services' offices, waving posters that asked "Is Truth a State Secret?"
A larger protest was held in Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains, Interfax reported. About 60 people took to the streets demanding the resignation of Press Minister Mikhail Lesin.
Some Yekaterinburg protesters, however, appealed to the heavens for TV6's return. "God, Give Us Back TV6," one poster read.
TITLE: Homeless Children Now a State Priority
AUTHOR: By Andrei Zolotov Jr.
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - There is a well-known Russian proverb: With seven nannies, a kid loses an eye.
It is precisely this abundance of bureaucratic "nannies" that has become the main cause behind the growing problem of besprizorniki - street kids, most of whom run away from their parents, experts say.
Despite their differing approaches, the experts agreed that the existing system of child welfare must not be expanded but reformed: Today, they say, there is no single institution or individual responsible for coordinating the disparate activities of a host of government agencies dealing with millions of neglected children.
Street urchins and drug abuse unexpectedly skyrocketed to the top of the national agenda during President Vladimir Putin's televised call-in session with the public in December. Last week, Putin scolded Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matviyenko, who oversees social issues, for the government's failure to deal with homeless and runaway children and ordered Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov to draw up proposals for a solution.
"Homeless children and the criminalization of teenagers have reached threatening proportions," the order said.
Putin's displeasure has sent bureaucrats scurrying into action. A number of child-welfare officials contacted last week were busy writing reports for the cabinet or attending endless meetings with higher-ups.
Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov held a meeting last Friday at which he ordered the creation of a specialized center for working with kids in each of the city's districts and a municipal coordination task force, Interfax reported.
But child-welfare specialists warned against such a top-down bureaucratic approach, arguing that the existing financial and institutional resources are sufficient but in desperate need of restructuring and retraining of personnel.
No one knows exactly how many street children there are nationwide. While Matviyenko told Putin the figure has reached the million mark, the Prosecutor General's Office estimates there are as many as 3 million, and reports from Moscow City Hall placed the figure at 1 million to 5 million.
Moreover, the vast majority of today's street urchins have run away from living parents who drink heavily, have no means to feed their kids or routinely abuse them.
The economic crises suffered by Russia during its transition from communism have certainly played a role in the problem. But with more children in the streets today than immediately after World War II, experts believe that an erosion of the family and the overall moral degradation in Russian society have become equally significant factors.
"It cannot be boiled down simply to an economic problem, it's a moral issue," said Tamara Ivanova, who spent years as head of the Moscow police department's juvenile inspectorate before transferring to the Interior Ministry's research institute last year.
But perhaps the greatest obstacle in dealing with the crisis is institutional.
In 1999, in part to comply with European standards, the State Duma passed a law taking responsibility for troubled children away from the Interior Ministry - which had been in charge of the problem ever since 1921, when Soviet secret-police founder Felix Dzerzhinsky undertook to tackle the orphan crisis that arose after eight years of war.
Instead, a complicated system of child welfare was established under which different functions were given to branches of the Labor and Social Development Ministry, Education Ministry, Health Ministry, Justice Ministry and local authorities. Even police juvenile departments are now in dual jurisdiction - the Justice and Interior ministries'. Coordination is entrusted to special commissions that meet on an ad hoc basis.
"All the resources the country has are supposed to work for this system; but, while each link in the chain is very good in and of itself, the results run around in the streets," said Maria Ternovskaya, director of Moscow's orphanage No. 13, which specializes in foster care. "One agency [the Interior Ministry] lost its powers and others don't know how to deal with the problem. A gap emerged and children went en masse to the streets."
Ivanova said that social welfare agencies were not ready to assume the new responsibilities.
"We can boast as much as we want about signing various European conventions, but we did not sign them to send kids wandering in the streets and sniffing glue," she said in a telephone interview.
None of the experts felt that the police should again take charge of child welfare.
"It would be a step backward," Ivanova said.
"Kids should not be raised behind bars," Ternovskaya agreed.
But all of them said that police officers - who are now forbidden to touch street kids unless they commit a crime - must be allowed to take children off the street, place them in temporary shelters, use police databases to track down parents and place children in institutions run by social welfare or educational services if they cannot be returned home.
"In every country, a police officer serves as first aid to a kid in the street," said Boris Altshuler of the Child's Right group. "I know a case when a police officer who found a 3-year-old in the street spent a whole day calling various agencies, was unable to place him anywhere and eventually had to take him home. That's madness!"
Since Boris Gryzlov's appointment as Interior Minister last March, the ministry's position has changed and its social functions are likely to be broadened, Altshuler said.
In the mean time, local authorities are searching for stopgaps: The Moscow City Duma proposed last week to impose a curfew for children unaccompanied by parents - 11 p.m. for those 14 and under and 1 a.m. for those 16 and under. Apparently, the measure aims to create a legal pretext for police officers to detain street urchins.
But institutional reforms will not be enough on their own, experts said.
"A much bigger issue is the families from which kids flee because of drinking, beating, abuse and hunger," Altshuler said.
Ternovskaya, a member of the Education Ministry's working group that has developed proposals for changing the system, said the power to coordinate child-welfare activities should be enhanced at a local government level.
Local officials must take an active approach in evaluating families, finding endangered children and then steering them and their parents through the rehabilitation process, after which kids should either return home or be placed with foster families or boarding schools, she said.
When the 1999 law was adopted, the system it prescribed was not yet in place. Now it is more or less there. Ternovskaya said there are about 270,000 children living in 2,000 institutions. These include 1,330 orphanages (local education departments), 360 boarding schools (education and social welfare departments), 250 orphanages for kids under 4 (health departments) and 800 shelters (social welfare departments).
About 150 new institutions are built every year, costing the budget millions of dollars, Ternovskaya said.
She expressed concern that the president's order to take action and bureaucratic panic would trigger the building of more institutions, while proper retraining of personnel and reforms coordinated by local authorities would yield better results. Foster care - possibly leading to adoption - is one good option, she said. Another is building up local authorities' child-care branches and empowering them to take a proactive approach, since troubled families rarely ask for help and, instead, try to hide their problems.
Taking Britain as a benchmark, Ternovskaya said, 50 to 70 social workers should work at every low-level municipality, such as Moscow's upravy - which are now staffed by only one or two people each.
"The Family Code should include a clear separation of rights and obligations between parents and the respective services run by local authorities," Ternovskaya said. "These services should have rights to actively interfere in troubled families."
The State Duma has made some attempts to tackle the lack of coordination. After hearings on the issue in December, the Duma is set to consider a bill on plenipotentiaries for children's rights who would coordinate the work in every region.
TITLE: Deputies Move To Secure Positions
AUTHOR: By Vladimir Kovalyev
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The Legislative Assembly on Wednesday adopted an amendment to the City Charter that will allow deputies convicted of a crime but given a suspended sentence to maintain their official positions.
Deputies divided into two camps over the amendment - which passed by a vote of 38 to 10 - with supporters saying that it would secure them from "the tyranny of the courts" and opponents claiming that the measure had been passed specifically to support Sergei Shevchenko, an independent deputy who was convicted in November 2001 of extortion and given a 7 1/2-year suspended sentence.
"We have noticed that the prosecutorial system often acts as a tool for squaring accounts [between City Hall and the Legislative Assembly]," said Leonid Romankov, a deputy with the Union of Right Forces faction, on Thursday. "It is like a stick the administration uses to dislodge [its enemies]."
As an example of a politically motivated prosecution, Romankov mentioned former Legislative Assembly Speaker Yury Kravtsov, who was involved in a high-profile conflict with Governor Vladimir Yakovlev in 1998.
Kravtsov lost his post after city prosecutors charged him with accepting bribes. Although the charges were later dropped, Kravtsov lost all of his official positions.
"Today there is one, tomorrow there could be another," Romankov said.
Yabloko deputies, however, insisted that the amendment was drawn up with Shevchenko in mind.
"Yes, it was passed for this particular situation, and maybe some others were also thinking here about their futures," said Yabloko party member Boris Vishnevsky on Thursday.
Shevchenko was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1998 as a member of the so-called "Petersburg List," a slate of candidates officially supported by Yakovlev.
Most of the Legislative Assembly deputies who are generally considered to be pro-Yakovlev supported the amendment.
Shevchenko was convicted of extorting $50,000 from Maksim Kusakhmetov, the editor of Teleman, a weekly entertainment publication. The case stemmed from a concert that a company owned by Shevchenko and his brother was promoting.
"I don't understand why there are so many speculation about Shevchenko in the media on this question," said Andrei Krapivko, Shevchenko's spokesperson. "The City Charter was amended to bring it into line with federal legislation. That's why it was amended."
Others at the Legislative Assembly see things differently.
"[The amendment was passed] exactly because of this case. People here at the parliament have no doubts about it," said Oleg Alekseyev, an assistant for Oleg Sergeyev, a lawmaker from the pro-Kremlin Unity faction who opposed the amendment.
Alexander Afanasiev, Yakovlev's spokesperson, said the governor was not pleased with the amendment.
"The governor, you know, is in a very difficult position now. On the one hand, he must sign this according to the law. On the other, he doesn't like this type of amendment very much. I don't know what he is going to do in this situation," Afanasiev said Thursday.
TITLE: Army, Culture Ministry Renew Old Ties
AUTHOR: By Oksana Yablokova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - The army - tarnished by reports about hazing, draft dodging and underfunding - is not as bad as it is cracked up to be, military officials declared Thursday.
To prove it, the army is going to work hand-in-hand with the cultural elite to revive a Soviet-era tradition of making movies, television shows and radio programs dedicated to the machine-gun-toting boys in fatigues.
And to make sure that there is no doubt left in the minds of those in the armed forces, the country's top performers will tour barracks across the country to bolster morale.
"The 1990s have been difficult for both the army and culture, but now it has become clear that we need each other," Culture Minister Mikhail Shvydkoy said Thursday at ceremony where he signed a cooperation agreement with the Defense Ministry.
"This is a return to a tradition that was dumped for no good reason," said Deputy Defense Minister Igor Puzanov, surrounded by a small army of renowned personalities including Lyudmila Zykina, darling of the Politburo, actors Elina Bystritskaya and Vladimir Zeldin and composer Alexandra Pakhmutova.
The tradition Puzanov was referring to started during World War II when some 42,000 performers - orchestras, folk singers and actors - toured the front to boost army morale.
Puzanov said the first fruits of the drive to show the military in a better light - a few television and FM radio programs - will appear as early as Feb. 23, the public holiday Defenders of the Fatherland Day. More television and radio shows, along with movies, will be prepared throughout the year, he said.
One of the television productions will be a weekly series similar to "Sluzhu Sovetskomy Soyuzu," or "Serving the Soviet Union," which ran through the 1970s and 1980s.
"Remember how the entire country watched it every Sunday between 10 and 11 in the morning?" Puzanov said.
The program consisted of upbeat reports about the everyday lives of different troop divisions.
Puzanov was scarce on details about the radio shows and films, which were also both used in Soviet times to boost patriotism.
On Soviet-era radio shows, letters were read from soldiers and their relatives between the playing of popular songs. Movies included the much-loved "Officers," which followed a family whose children and their children proudly joined the army.
Puzanov refused to say how much the military plans to sink into the ventures.
He did say, however, that he was confident the army's reputation would grow stronger in the public's eye, particularly among a younger generation that lacks the respect their grandparents had for the military.
Moreover, the morale of soldiers and officers stationed in remote regions in Siberia and Far East and volatile areas such as Chechnya would be boosted by the performances by popular singers and actors.
The army is ready to offer its resources to ferry performers to remote locations and to provide settings for movies, Puzanov said.
Boris Morozov, artistic director of the Russian Army Theater, said that the thousands of troops and their families stationed in far-flung areas should be the main target.
"We are indebted to these people who are isolated from cultural life, from everything," Morozov said.
Zykina, a favorite of Leonid Brezhnev's who toured the Soviet Union numerous times singing folk songs to the troops, was enthusiastic about the projects.
"It's a shame what we have to watch on television these days. From morning to night, we are shown people on top of each other," Zykina said, sniffing in disgust. "Humph."
TITLE: New Web Of Pardon Bodies Goes To Work
AUTHOR: By Andrei Zolotov Jr.
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Regional governments this week began forming pardon commissions to replace the presidential pardons commission disbanded by President Vladimir Putin in hearing appeals from prisoners.
A pardons commission met for the first time in Saratov on Tuesday, a day after the region's governor, Dmitry Ayatskov, signed the necessary decree, Interfax reported.
Bashkortostan President Murtaza Rakhimov signed off on a pardons commission for his republic on Wednesday, State Duma Deputy Mikhail Bugera said Thursday.
Bugera, a member of the pro-Kremlin Fatherland faction from Bashkortostan, said at a news conference that such commissions will sprout up elsewhere over the next few weeks, and that all regions should have commissions by early February.
The regions were told to set up their own pardons commissions under the Dec. 28 Kremlin order disbanding the presidential pardons commission headed by well-known writer Anatoly Pristavkin.
The regional commissions are to offer their recommendations to the president, the only person under the Constitution who can issue pardons. The presidential envoys in the seven super regions are to supervise the commissions.
The relationship between the envoys and the commissions was unclear as of Thursday.
Pristavkin remains at work as a newly appointed aide to Putin.
On Thursday, Putin agreed to a proposal from Pristavkin and the head of a new Kremlin department on pardons, Robert Tsivilyov, to pardon all imprisoned mothers regardless of their crime, Interfax reported.
The mothers' cases will be reviewed by the newly established commissions. It was not clear whether the pardons will apply to all female convicts with children or only to those who gave birth in prison.
The Justice Ministry said 493 children aged three and under who were born behind bars were living with their mothers in prison as of November.
The Duma will have to give its approval to the proposal.
At the news conference, Bugera defended the structure of the new pardons commissions and said that at a regional level they will be better able to review each case.
The 15-member commission in Saratov is chaired by the dean of the city's law school, Fyodor Grigoriev, and includes the dean of the university's linguistics department, the region's trade-union boss and head of the region's branch of the Russian Fine Arts Academy, according to an Interfax report. It did not say which government and judiciary officials are also members.
In Bashkortostan, the commission will be chaired by the head of the region's legislation, Konstantin Tolkachev, who is a former Interior Ministry official and also serves as dean of Ufa's law institute. The commission includes the republic's police and prison chiefs, the head of the president's law department, two legislature deputies, the head of the constitutional court and civil servants, Bugera said.
Natalia Yakovleva, coordinator of the Public Center for Judicial Reform, a human-rights group, said placing prison officials on commissions was dangerous because they would not be likely to agree to pardons.
TITLE: Yastrzhembsky: Tape Proves al-Qaeda Behind Chechen Rebels
AUTHOR: By Nabi Abdullaev
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - A videotape obtained in Afghanistan by the U.S. newspaper Newsday shows footage of Osama bin Laden and Chechen rebel leader Khattab, and the Kremlin spokesperson on the Chechnya war said Tuesday that this should prove to the world that al-Qaeda is financing the Chechen rebels.
Analysts, however, said there is no way to know whether the tape is genuine, and it is unlikely to lessen Western criticism of Russia's conduct in Chechnya.
Newsday reported Sunday that it bought the tape for $500 from a Kabul landlord, who said it was left behind by his tenants, al-Qaeda members, when they fled the Afghan capital. Afghans have offered other such tapes and documents for sale.
The videotape shows footage of bin Laden and Khattab, an Arab who is among the leading commanders of Chechen rebels, but the Newsday report indicates that the two men are never shown together. The Newsday correspondent who bought the tape could not immediately be reached for comment.
According to the newspaper account, the video opens with an episode set in an al-Qaeda camp in the Afghan mountains, where bin Laden talks to his followers about their duty to fight the infidels. He does not mention Chechnya or Russia.
The video then shows Chechen rebels shooting what appear to be already dead Russian soldiers. Closeups show bullet wounds in their heads, suggesting they were executed. The next scene is of Khattab at a table with Chechen leaders, including Shamil Basayev, listening to a motivational speech by a man identified by the newspaper as an Arab.
The last segment of the tape is of two suicide bombings, one said to be south of Gudermes and the other in Argun. Newsday suggested these could have been suicide attacks carried out against Russian troops in 2000.
One purpose of the videotape might have been to show potential donors how al-Qaeda was helping the Chechens, Newsday said.
This one tape, which could easily have been produced by any interested party, cannot serve as proof of a link between al-Qaeda and the Chechen rebels, said Ivan Safranchuk, director of the Moscow branch of the Washington-based Center for Defense Information.
"There must be a critical mass of evidence of the regular exchange of such documents, like that tape," he said.
Videotapes featuring Chechen rebels' attacks and executions of Russian soldiers circulate widely in the Northern Caucasus and are openly sold in local video shops.
"It is not important whether the tape was fabricated or not," said Dmitry Trenin of the Moscow Carnegie Center. "It cannot change the critical position of the West, which knows that international terrorism is only a small element of the Chechen resistance, which also comprises homegrown terrorism, separatism, banditry and, most of all, the exasperation of the suffering people in Chechnya."
Although it is impossible to determine whether the tape was really used to solicit financial support for the Chechens, its existence plays into the Kremlin's hand, said Alexander Iskandaryan, the head of the Moscow-based Institute of Caucasian Studies.
"The attempt to connect internal enemies with the international terrorists against whom the United States has taken up arms is what Moscow naturally wants," Iskandaryan said. "However, the West's attitude to the war in Chechnya will depend not on such evidence but on the pragmatic political priorities of the Western governments."
The office of the Kremlin spokesperson on Chechnya, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, said Tuesday the videotape proves that Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov and his representative Akhmed Zakayev are not being truthful when they deny connection to al-Qaeda, Interfax reported.
Zakayev, appointed by Maskhadov last fall to represent him in peace negotiations with Russia, is representing the rebel leader at this week's session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, where Russia is expected to be criticized for its poor progress in negotiating with Maskhadov.
"It is impossible successfully to fight al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and at the same time actually encourage its action in Chechnya, calling for negotiations with those who deny a connection between Chechen rebels and this organization," Yastrzhembsky's office was quoted by Interfax as saying.
TITLE: Oblast: 2 New Plants To Locate in Region
AUTHOR: By Andrey Musatov
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Building on its previous success in attracting foreign firms to locate and invest in the region, the Leningrad Oblast Administration announced over the last week that two more foreign firms are planning to set up operations there.
Oblast administration representatives released further information this week about plans by Imasa, a Spanish construction firm, and U.S.-based Filtrona Richmond Inc. to open new facilities in the Vsevolozhsk and Gatchina regions, respectively, of the Leningrad Oblast.
The Imasa project involves the construction of a plant to produce hydrogen peroxide to be used for wood and pulp-and-paper processing.
The facility will take two years to build and, through a 10-year repayment deal with the Italian government, will eventually become the property of the oblast.
The tentative agreement calls for the Italian government to put up $93.5 million of the total $110 million cost of the plant, with the loan to be guaranteed by the Russian government. Imasa itself will pick up the remaining 15 percent of the cost initially, according to Imasa President Casado Martinez.
According to Alexander Butenin, the press secretary of the Economics and Investment Committee of the Leningrad Oblast Administration, an informal agreement on the construction of the plant was reached during a visit by Martinez, and he met with Leningrad Oblast Governor Valery Serdyukov last Thursday.
Butenin also said that Martinez had inspected the proposed location for the plant in the town of Morozov.
"The Spanish side was completely satisfied with the location," he said in telephone interview Thursday. "Although no agreements between Imasa and the administration were signed, they will have no problem getting the site as there is no opposition in the oblast administration."
Representatives of the Spanish firm also visited the Ford plant in Vsevolozhsk, and wrote in a press release that they "were very impressed with feedback from investors already working in the Leningrad Oblast."
Ford Press Secretary Yekaterina Kulinenko said that plant representatives had put in a good word for the region.
"Ford officials said that they were quite satisfied working in Leningrad Oblast and with the support and conditions the administration has provided for our work here," she said Thursday.
Imasa has built facilities with a broad rangey of purposes - including food-processing, power generation and cement and metal production - in over 20 countries.
Once completed, the Morozov plant will produce 30,000 tons of hydrogen peroxide per year.
Hydrogen peroxide is used in wood processing and pulp-and-paper production. The plant will bring a positive ecological influence as well, as the hydrogen peroxide will replace the environmentally damaging chlorine-based processes many companies in the industry presently utilize.
The second project, Filtrona's Gatchina plant, involves the production of cigarette-filters.
The company is one of the world's leading producers of charcoal cigarette filters and owns 16 production facilities worldwide, with total annual revenues of $300 million.
Filtrona originally proposed the project in the summer of last year. Butenin confirmed this week that the required documentation is already being processed for the $25-million dollar.
Projected annual revenues for the plant initially will total about $30 million, while long-range plans include the production of cellophane packaging for cigarettes
TITLE: Statistics Agency Releases Final Numbers for 2001
AUTHOR: By Alla Startseva
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - The State Statistics Committee on Wednesday issued a slew of final statistics for last year that largely confirmed what was already known - 2001 was a good year for the economy. But it wasn't as good as the year before and some worrying trends emerged, analysts said.
Figures released by the committee, or Goskomstat, showed that economic growth slowed in five core sectors - industry, construction, agriculture, transport and retail - to 5.7 percent, compared to 10.2 percent in 2000.
Industrial output grew 4.9 percent to 5.88 trillion rubles ($192 billion), missing the official target of 5.2 percent, but still one of the highest in the world. The second quarter showed the greatest gain over the same period in 2000, when industrial production grew 5.9 percent. However, production growth slowed continuously in the last quarter, with the December figure just 2.6 percent above the previous year.
"We can see here some negative trends as industrial growth slowed sharply at the end of the year. This trend might continue in January and slow economic growth as a whole," said Vladimir Tikhomirov, an economist at NIKoil.
The government forecasted gross-domestic-product growth of 4 percent at the start of 2001, but eventually raised that estimate to 5 percent to 5.5 percent. Goskomstat is expected to release final GDP data for 2001 in March.
Another worrying trend is the sharp reduction in export volumes, Tikhomirov said.
The visible foreign-trade surplus in the first 11 months grew 5.4 percent to $47.101 billion, compared to $55.367 billion a year ago. Exports declined 0.5 percent to $94.886 billion, while imports rose 19.5 percent to $47.785 billion between January and November.
"Even if exports stay at the same level while imports continue growing it will lead to a reduction of the trade balance and the balance of payments," Tikhomirov said.
However, Alexei Moiseyev, an economist at Renaissance Capital, said that such an increase in imports and decrease in exports is good for the economy.
"Exports will exceed imports for a while more, so the import growth will put healthy pressure on local producers, if it is not too sharp," said Moiseyev.
"The Russian economy showed that it reacts rather flexibly to international situations," Moiseyev added.
Real disposable incomes rose by an estimated 5.9 percent in 2001, and real wages were up 19.8 percent. Adjusted for inflation, wages rose 45.5 percent.
Another bright spot was in agriculture, where production grew 6.8 percent in monetary terms to 1 trillion rubles ($32.7 billion). Russia harvested 85 million tons of grain in clean weight last year, or 29.7 percent more than in 2000, although it harvested less corn, millet, buckwheat and rice.
Other statistics released include:
. Capital investment grew 8.7 percent to 1.6 trillion rubles.
. Freight turnover grew 3.1 percent (4.9 percent by rail).
. Retail sales rose 10.8 percent.
. Consumer price inflation was 18.6 percent.
. Producer price inflation was 10.7 percent.
. Unemployment shrank 9.1 percent to 6.4 million, or 9 percent of the workforce.
TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: Transneft, CPC Link
MOSCOW (SPT) - State-owned oil pipeline monopoly Transneft plans to construct a link between its pipeline system and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Prime-Tass reported a Transneft source as saying Thursday.
Transneft will finance the construction of the link, which will allow it to move more oil through the CPC, the source said.
The link is expected to allow Russian oil to be exported through the CPC, the source added.
The CPC is expected to transport 28 million tons of oil annually from the giant Tengiz oil field in Western Kazakhstan to the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk.
Transneft president Semyon Vainshtok made the decision to construct the new link at the request of oil major LUKoil, one of the biggest shareholders in the CPC, the source said.
Vimpelcom Plans
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The regional arm of No. 2 cellular operator Vimpelcom is considering a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in order to finance rollout plans for networks outside Moscow, its chairperson said Thursday.
"Vimpelcom is working on a Eurobond. Another way is the EBRD and another way is direct investment," Alexei Mishchenko, general director of regional unit Vimpelcom-R, told a news conference. He added that parent company Vimpelcom was coordinating with Vimpelcom-R on financing plans.
He said a decision on how to raise money was expected by March. Plans could be influenced by potential developments such as additions to the firm's license portfolio, he added.
Mishchenko said Vimpelcom-R's spending plans for 2002 envisaged $201 million in cash and vendor credits.
Vimpelcom-R increased its subscriber base to 110,000 people by the end of 2001, from 2,500 at the beginning of the year, Prime-Tass reported Mi shen ko as saying.
Sidanko Gets $100M
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Oil company Sidanko, in which international oil major BP holds 10 percent, said Thursday it had received $100 million in a syndicated loan from Western banks.
The credit was provided for 18 months and arranged by French Banks Societe Generale and Natexis Banque Populaire, Sidanco said in a statement.
The company will use its revenues from crude exports as collateral, while BP will buy the crude.
The statement also said the loan was the first international borrowing since Sidanko overcame financial difficulties and several bankruptcy procedures against its subsidiaries last year.
6.5% Pension Boost
MOSCOW (SPT) - Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has signed a government ruling approving the increase of state pensions for all categories of pensioners by 6.5 percent, Prime-Tass reported the government's press service as saying Thursday.
The ruling was signed following President Vladimir Putin's meeting with Pension Fund Chairperson Mikhail Zurabov.
During the meeting, Putin recommended that the government increase pensions from Feb. 1 because of the recent price increases on some essentials, including medicine.
Medicine prices jumped in January following the introduction of a 10-percent, value-added tax, which had not been levied in the past.
TITLE: WORLD WATCH
TEXT: Not Enough
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, (Reuters) - Argentine consumers and businesses complained on Wednesday that the government had not gone far enough in unfreezing bank accounts, while the IMF repeated an offer help to the recession-hit country if it presents viable economic plans.
New rules introduced on Wednesday allowed depositors to exchange up to $5,000 in frozen dollar savings into devalued pesos, a softening of curbs introduced last month to stop a run on banks that threatened to collapse the financial system.
Savers, angry at the measures cutting the value of dollar savings by about a quarter, joined long lines at banks, shielded by metal shutters installed after weeks of street protests.
Merger Go-Ahead Due
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co. is expected to win approval from the European Commission for its plan to buy Compaq Computer Corp in a $25-billion deal, an EU source said on Thursday.
The deal is an important test of antitrust relations between the EU and the United States. In a controversial move, the European Commission last year blocked General Electric's planned $42-billion purchase of Honeywell, prompting U.S. criticism.
It was the first time that European regulators had killed a merger approved by their U.S. counterparts. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has yet to rule on the HP/Compaq deal.
Euro Rush
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - Serbs handed over nearly one billion German marks ($455 million) in cash during the first half of January and walked off with the equivalent in crisp new euro notes, leaving U.S. dollars and Swiss francs on the shelf.
National Bank of Yugoslavia governor Mladjan Dinkic told a news conference that 756 million marks - the hard currency of choice for the past 10 - was converted into euros while 138 million marks went into new euro bank balances.
Just like the Germans, whose currency they clearly trusted, Serbs got one euro for every two marks. Only 62 million marks were converted into U.S. dollars or Swiss francs.
TITLE: Yabloko Rejects Putin's 'Managed Democracy'
AUTHOR: By Grigory Yavlinsky
TEXT: THE most important positive political development of 2001 is, without doubt, the set of decisions taken by the country's leadership in the wake of Sept. 11. President Vladimir Putin, despite opposition from the political elite and from his own entourage, came out in favor of Russia joining the international anti-terrorism coalition. This decision was the right one, not only for the show of solidarity with the victims of these ignoble attacks, but also because the threats with which the United State was confronted are no less - and possibly even more - daunting in Russia's case.
The main thing is that the direction of foreign policy following Sept. 11 has considerable strategic potential and could serve as one of the foundations for Russia to become a European state. In light of this, the agreements signed in October at meetings between Putin and the leaders of EU members in Brussels are very important.
However, the fact is that serious moves toward Europe can only be achieved if foreign-policy steps are attended by real and profound changes in domestic policy. So far, no such changes have taken place. On the contrary, domestically there have been no positive developments, only negative ones. The main one is the crack down on independent national television companies such as NTV last year and, now, TV6. The upshot is news coverage on different channels is becoming more and more uniform, and this is a huge leap backward toward the absolute supremacy of a single "correct" point of view.
And this is but one in a long list of missteps that includes the liquidation of the Presidential Pardons Commission and the indictment of Grigory Pasko on charges of treason - something that should be taken as a clear warning to all democratic politicians and journalists, and indeed, to all independent-minded people.
The direction of our domestic policy toward "managed democracy" and an administrative-bureaucratic corporatist system - in which emasculated democratic institutions and procedures reduced to an empty formality serve as some kind of fig leaf - remains unchanged. This system operates for the benefit of bureaucrats and functionaries. In this country, bureaucrats and the majority of politicians neither want nor are capable of running the country under democratic conditions, they merely want to look respectable in the eyes of the international community. Thus, instead of democracy, they are creating a Pyotemkin village, whose facade merely looks European.
In reality, power is concentrated in a single center: the Kremlin. The State Duma has ceased to play any serious role and merely acts obediently on the instructions of the executive branch. The government is entirely technocratic and largely represents the interests of natural monopolies and big business, which are intertwined with the state.
Our judges are not independent and frequently do not so much pass sentence so much as render services to the authorities, as in the case of Pasko, the TV6 case and many, many others at all levels.
Civil society is developing dynamically, but its participation in political and public life remains extremely limited. Last year, there was a very real danger of the authorities establishing control over civic organizations and that danger persists, especially for those organizations that monitor the state's compliance with human-rights and liberties legislation. I am convinced that the organization of the pompous "Civic Forum" in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses last year was undertaken with a view toward taking control of these organizations.
The advantages of "managed democracy" are very seriously discussed. The so-called political elite foists upon the country the following choice: either managed democracy or none at all.
However, attempting to manage democracy is tantamount to destroying it and with its destruction, the only hope for a worthy future for the country and its citizens will also die. Last year showed very clearly that the administrative-bureaucratic system wrapped in sham democracy is extremely ineffective.
Federal reforms and the construction of a "vertical executive chain of command" have clearly failed. Presidential plenipotentiaries in the federal districts can by no means be called key political figures, even in individual regions of their districts. In regional elections, it has become normal practice to use the dirtiest of smear campaign tactics. The courts, the prosecutor's office and law enforcement agencies perform political "orders," and the elimination of candidates (on some technicality) on the eve of elections is widespread. Furthermore, governors and the presidents of ethnic republics who pledge loyalty to the Kremlin are not only given carte blanche to continue their arbitrary and unchecked rule, but also get to run for an unconstitutional third term in office.
The authorities' propagandists have declared victory in the "information war" around the situation in Chechnya. However, the silence does not undo what is happening on the ground. Every day people are dying in the republic - including Russian soldiers and innocent civilians - and every day is marked by the complete absence of the rule of law. The policy toward Chechnya is at a complete impasse and is both senseless and dangerous. It has made the situation much more difficult than it was in 1999, when the federal government had a unique opportunity to win the support of the majority of the civilian population of Chechnya. The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that now a huge amount of preparatory work will be required for talks, which cannot be avoided, to produce some positive results. Today, Chechnya is a source of constant pain that has spread across the body politic and has contributed greatly to the moral degradation of the political elite.
Is capitalism in Russia becoming more civilized? Gradually, enterpreneurs, some major industrialists, certain journalists and the public in general are coming to the realization that the system of wild capitalism is hostile to an open society, democracy, and the observance of human rights. It is not only inadmissible and anathema to modern liberalism, it is also catastrophically counter-productive to the emergence of a competitive, modern market economy. The problem, however, is that the state is closely tied to this system, and is shored up by it, in spite of all the talk about "equal distancing from the oligarchs."
Economic growth, about which so much has been said for the most of the past year, has been primarily a product of high world oil prices. This cannot be considered an achievement of the government, but rather a stroke of good fortune that cannot be relied upon to endure.
In fact, there have been very few significant reforms. Yes, taxes have been reduced and an acceptable budget has been passed, the parameters of which, to a large extent, coincide with the alternative budget produced by Yabloko. Within the framework of Production Sharing Agreements, a contract has been signed with Exxon oil company to the tune of $12 billion. But this is not enough.
In general, obstacles are not being overcome and problems are simply being put off until tomorrow. This could result in Russia irreversibly falling behind Europe and the developed countries of the world. The necessary structural reforms, new technologies, real private property, and support for small and medium-sized enterpreneurs are not in place. In addition, there are serious demographic problems, as well as the problem of reforming the armed forces, on which the security of the country directly depends.
And time is running out. This year will in many respects be decisive, and success or failure depends on whether measures will be implemented to make good on the lag. If the problems of structural economic reform, attracting investment, creation of a modern, independent judicial system and stamping out corruption are not resolved in the next year or year-and-a-half, Russia's statehood may be under threat.
A great deal depends on the actions of the democratic opposition. Yabloko supports Putin's foreign policy after Sept. 11, but is completely and irreconcilably opposed to the course aimed at establishing in the country a full-blown corporatist police state.
A broad coalition is only now beginning to be formed. Last year, there were two sessions of the Democratic Consultative Meeting, which brought together political and civic organizations of a democratic orientation. The formation of a democratic coalition will be achieved by working out common positions on the most important issues in the life of the country, coordinating actions for the defence of human rights, democratic institutions, independent media, as well as the creation of similar coalitions at the regional level.
For our party, 2001 was not a bad year, although it was also not an easy one. Over the past six months, more than 6,000 people joined the party. We are learning to build a party on new principles. In leadership elections for the party and for selecting a candidate for the presidential elections, we also plan to hold primaries for first time in Russia.
Our goals for the immediate future are to oppose the building of sham democracy and to promote the necessary reforms for country. In the economy, this is the continuation of tax reform, the creation of a functioning banking system and developing legislation to facilitate investment into the country. In state building, top of the agenda is to make the Federation Council an elected body. The relevant bills are already ready or being prepared. We will also do all within our power to push armed forces reform forward and to adopt a professional army. This is absolutely essential and can be achieved in the immediate future.
Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the Yabloko party, contributed this comment to The St. Petersburg Times.
TITLE: Stay Tuned for the Sexy Bits
TEXT: WASHINGTON - Ah, Enron. It makes me nostalgic. I came to Russia in 1991 with enthusiasm for the blah blah blah. I left 10 years later knowing more than I had ever planned to about pyramid schemes, asset stripping, rigged auctions, paramilitary factory takeovers, share dilutions, "transfer pricing," "authorized banking," Cyprus-based tax-avoidance arrangements and the excellent sexual adventures of Yury Skuratov.
Not a particularly uplifting body of knowledge. And as I said my farewells, I doubted it would be much future use. Oh, sure, we have a "campaign finance problem" in America, and we have swindlers - but "true crime" is not terribly important, provided it stays in its "true crime" pigeonhole.
Enter Enron, a company that rose to America's 7th largest - to applause in all the best places - even though no one ever did know what it did. Remember, this is not some Internet play, where stocks soared on optimism about hypothetical future revenues; this was a company claiming inexplicably astronomical cash revenues in the here and now.
Want to know how? Consider "Project Braveheart," the code-name - borrowed from Mel Gibson's rape-and-pillage vehicle - Enron used for a venture with Blockbuster, the home video company. Enron announced the two would put an on-demand movie library at the finger-tips of every American with a TV remote. Next it borrowed $115 million for Project Braveheart, and promptly declared it had "profits" of $110 million. Cheers all around.
When this happened in Russia in 1994 it was called MMM, a pyramid scheme.
So there was less money than anyone thought. And much of what little there was is also gone: Enron, it turns out, had 2,382 "daughter structures," including 874 located in off-shore money-laundering havens like Aruba, the Caicos Isles and Mauritius. According to the consumer watchdog Public Citizen, Enron particularly liked the Cayman Islands, and had more than 600 daughter structures registered there. (For comparison, rival energy trader Dynegy has 12 subsidiaries, all in the United States; Exxon-Mobil, one of the world's largest companies, has about 150 subsidiaries, and less than a dozen in tax havens.)
Now comes the question: Is Enron a "true crime" story, albeit one of history's grander? Or is it a rare drawing-back-of-the-veil on a larger reality?
Before answering, consider this: In July 2001, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau testified that there were $800 billion U.S. dollars on deposit in the Caymans alone. That's a sum about 20 times the Russian federal budget; twice what's on deposit at every New York city bank; 1/5th of all bank deposits in America.
How'd so much money end up in Cayman banks? Well, Enron is not alone in paying zero income tax over four of the past five years despite declared profits of billions and a U.S. corporate tax rate of 35 percent. In 2000 alone, IBM reported $5.7 billion in pre-tax U.S. profits, yet paid just 3.4 percent as taxes; Ford reported $9.3 billion profits and paid 6.3 percent tax; General Motors reported $2.9 billion in profits yet paid negative $105 million.
Or did you really think Arthur Andersen, Deloitte & Touche and the other no-account accountants had to come to Moscow to dream up the elaborate tax avoidance scheme?
All that's missing now is the sex-romp tapes of a man who looks like Kenneth Lay. But stay tuned: Fortune Magazine reports "rumors of sexual high jinks" in Enron's executive suites "ran rampant."
Matt Bivens, a former editor of The St. Petersburg Times, is a fellow with the Nation Institute (www.thenation.com).
TITLE: Who Says the Berlin Wall Fell?
AUTHOR: By Boris Kagarlitsky
TEXT: A glossy women's magazine invites its readers to visit Berlin. The readership is informed that since the fall of the Berlin Wall, which divided the city, everything has been going swimmingly. "The two Berlins are gradually growing together, the invisible scar is mending and the architectural countenance of unified Germany's capital is becoming harmonious in its integrity."
In short, things could not be better. It's a great pity that the population of Berlin has a very different point of view.
Local elections resulted in defeat for both of the city's main ruling parties, with the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats losing ground. Moreover, the vote was not just against specific parties. It was also a vote against 10 years of eastern Berlin being ruled by its western half.
East Berlin essentially revolted against West Berlin. The former capital of the German Democratic Republic, or GDR, voted for the Party of Democratic Socialism, or PDS, successor to the former Communist Party. Once, the eastern part of the city was proudly named "Berlin - capital of the GDR." Now the slogan is: "Berlin - capital of the PDS."
Germany's capital city is bankrupt. That, in any case, is what Berliners seem to think.
The city has debts amounting to 900 million euros, there is no money in the municipal coffers, the streets have - uncharacteristically for Germany - become rather dirty and municipal transport expensive. But strangely none of this detracts from the city's charm. The atmosphere of 1920s Europe is ubiquitous.
Since the fall of the Wall, it has become clear that eastern and western Berlin, although living side-by-side, lead separate existences.
Each has developed its own culture, lifestyle, and politics. What's unique about the German capital is that these two distinct cities share the same territory. Mental walls separate the two no less firmly than concrete walls did before.
Eastern Berlin is poorer, tougher, more disciplined and harbors more grievances. Western Berlin is a strange melange of bourgeois, radical left-wingers and immigrants. In the Kreuzberg District, you rarely hear anything but Turkish spoken. In Pankow, you can feel the presence of old Prussia. And young people can be seen proudly wearing t-shirts with the inscription "Born in the GDR," although they look as though they had barely entered school when the GDR ceased to exist.
Another city has arisen of late. It is a city of bureaucrats, located in the middle between east and west where the Wall once ran. Federal bureaucrats moving from Bonn have been settled here. There seems to be very little interaction between these bureaucrats and the locals. The government quarter divides Berlin just as the Wall did.
Today, east and west are attempting unification once again. PDS politicians have been offered positions in the city government and party founder Gregor Gysi is to become minister of economy (although, considering the state of the city's finances, one can only sympathize with his situation). In the coalition agreement, the PDS officially apologizes for the building of the Berlin Wall and for the forced merging of the Social Democratic Party with the Communist Party in the 1940s.
Eastern Berliners snidely comment that their western colleagues, in turn, should apologize for the mess that they have caused in the eastern part of the city over the past ten years. Also, residents of the Schoenefeld district discovered to their disgust that the PDS had forgotten about its promise to oppose the construction of a new airport there. It's not much fun living next to an airstrip.
In a conversation with a PDS functionary, however, I got the impression that with the airport they would resort to bureaucratic sabotage, a tried-and-tested tactic from Communist times. Without actually saying no to the construction, they can start setting up commissions and the like to prevent the project from making any headway. And before they know it, either there will be no money or new elections will be looming.
At the symbolic level, the PDS' accession to power in Berlin marks the beginning of the long-awaited equality between the east and west of the country.
In the press there is already talk of a possible national coalition between the PDS and Social Democrats. PDS politicians are happy to have achieved respectability.
However, genuine integration depends not on political coalitions, but on investments into the economy and social sphere of the east. If PDS ministers do not ensure this, they will resolve only their personal problems and certainly not those of Germany's capital city.
Boris Kagarlitsky is a Moscow-based sociologist.
TITLE: Three Heartfelt Cheers For Forthright Chirac
TEXT: THANK you, Jacques Chirac. Thank you for continuing to be the world leader most willing to risk embarrassing and angering Vladimir Putin by urging him to end the disgraceful war in Chechnya and for refusing to allow Putin to get away with justifying the brutality there by equating the Chechens with the terrorists of Sept. 11.
Other leaders would have shied away from the topic after that memorable joint news conference in Moscow last July, when Putin abruptly seized the microphone before you had a chance to answer a journalist who had asked you, not him, about France's attitude toward Russia's war in Chechnya.
"I believe that if a group of mercenaries landed in southern France with similar aims, France would act in the same way," Putin said at the time. "As for political issues, we will solve them by political means."
Since Sept. 11, Putin has compared the Chechen militants to the terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and the leaders of the United States and Britain - eager for Russia's support in their campaign against Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda - have largely let him get away with it.
While visiting Paris on Jan. 15, Putin said the Chechen regime was "even more bloody" than the Taliban. Once again, he equated the Sept. 11 attacks with the 1999 apartment bombings, although the government has produced little evidence that Chechen separatists were to blame. "The blood of Russians who died in Moscow is of the same color as the blood of the people who perished Sept. 11," Putin said in Paris.
But you, Chirac, speaking at the same news conference, insisted the conflict in Chechnya "could not be reduced solely to its terrorist aspect" and urged Putin to start peace talks with the Chechen rebels.
Many of the Chechens who have taken up arms are fighting against what they see as an occupying power, which over the years has conquered their lands, deported their grandparents, bombed their cities, killed their fathers and raped their sisters.
The U.S. government also seems to be waking up. Ending a post-Sept. 11 trend of avoiding criticizing Russia over Chechnya, the State Department recently said it was worried about continued human-rights abuses and the use of overwhelming force against civilians there.
If only the Russian people, aside from a handful of dedicated human-rights activists, would speak out in defense of their fellow citizens - both the Chechen civilians and the military conscripts who are losing their lives in this brutal, senseless war. Perhaps they will when they feel their voices would make a difference.
This comment originally appeared as an editorial in The Moscow Times on Jan. 17.
TITLE: what are these creatures?
AUTHOR: by Galina Stolyarova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: Trying to define the genre of Tatiana Zhurkova's works is a hopeless task. At first glance, many viewers are tempted to call them "dolls," focusing attention on the porcelain dolls' heads that top off virtually all of Zhurkova's works.
But Zhurkova herself argues that her mystical creations are far too conceptual to be dismissed as toys. She refers to them simply as "objects."
Her caterpillars, dragonflies, fishes and Sun Goddess - currently on display at the Stroganov Palace of the State Russian Museum - are simultaneously realistic and surreal. Made of colored-plastic tubes, irregular cubes and balls, the objects remind one of laboratories, seeming to be embodiments of scientific formulas.
The current exhibition of 25 pieces is Zhurkova's first showing in her native country. She is making her first return to St. Petersburg since she emigrated to the United States in 1988.
A native of the western-Siberian city of Kemerovo, Zhurkova graduated from the local Nikolai Rerikh Arts College and the St. Petersburg Academy of Theater Arts. She later continued her studies in the United States, graduating from New York's Parsons School of Design.
"America made me independent," she recalls. "It started with very basic things like organizing my life. I had to change my mindset, to deliberate and to emancipate myself."
Alexander Borovsky, head of the Newest Trends Department of the State Russian Museum, which organized Zhurkova's show, notes that her art is particularly feminine and very Russian, harking back to folk-handicraft traditions. Zhurkova says that ever since she was a child, she would try to imagine what she could make out of whatever objects she saw. She says that dimensions are to be intuited, rather than measured.
Six years ago, Zhurkova made her first plastic object. Before then, she experimented with beads, glass and plastic buttons, hand-woven fabrics, crystals and embroidery.
Her 1989 "Three Sisters" consists of three porcelain heads of differing sizes attached to a single, large body made of Victorian-style beadwork. The body symbolizes a single family, a single root, but also hints at Zhurkova's interest in genetics and physiology. These interests become more explicit in her later plastic objects. Borovsky points out that Zhurkova's latest works are denuded. There are no fabrics, no antique insertions, no hand-made accents. He calls them "a victory of pure construction."
Zhurkova pays particular attention to the elements from which she constructs her objects.
"I use dolls' heads to connect my cosmic creatures with the human world," she says. "My works are not abstract. Faces give identity to my creatures."
Her tubes are analogous to human arteries or to the limbs of trees.
"In my art, tubes hold pieces together, forming a solid but flexible body," Zhurkova says.
The artist has a particular fascination with caterpillars, an image that is evoked frequently in her art ("Metamorphosis From Caterpillar to Butterfly," "Caterpillar with a Vacuum-Cleaner's Instinct" and "Blue Caterpillar With Five Heads and Nine Pairs of Legs," all from 1997). She describes the caterpillar as a symbol of transformation and transition.
"With my objects - although they are static - I am aiming to illustrate the processes of transition and metamorphosis," Zhurkova says. "Looking at my work, one can see a caterpillar turning into a spaceship."
The exhibition runs through March 11. See listings. http://www.rusmuseum.ru.
TITLE: music that's not just for bandits
AUTHOR: by Sergey Chernov
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: La Minor is a band that specializes in old urban folk songs such as the notorious "Murka." These songs - still too young to be called "traditional," but well on their way - are populated with sundry romanticized bandits, thieves and cheats. However, La Minor has taken this material into city rock clubs and attracted a loyal audience of students and rock musicians. In the process, it has given its own twist to the genre known as blatnyak, which is also the name of the band's recent debut CD.
"Blatnyak" stems from the slang word blatnoi, meaning "of the criminal world." These days, though, the genre is often referred to by the euphemism "Russian chanson," in an effort to lend it an air of respectability. It has its roots in the Black Sea port city of Odessa during the lawless 1920s and draws upon the Russian urban romance, Jewish and gypsy folk music and American jazz - which had only just arrived in the Soviet Union during this period.
Although a couple of La Minor tracks have cracked the playlist of Russky Chanson - the local radio station dedicated exclusively to the genre - the band plays music that is far from typical blatnyak.
Its songs have none of the pathos that characterizes the style of most contemporary performers in this genre. It has no cheap synthesizers, opting instead for an exclusively acoustic sound. Moreover, these folk songs are treated with a musical precision and respect that they have rarely been shown in the past. Most of the members of the band - which includes accordion, saxophone, double bass, acoustic guitar and drums - have studied at music colleges. The accordion player, Sanya Yezhov, is a graduate student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
"I was the one who decided to play this kind of song, perhaps because the chanson isn't interesting these days. We are reviving the style," says vocalist Slava Shalygin, 30, who boasts a large collection of material by Arkady Severny, the seminal Soviet performer of this once-banned genre, who died in 1980.
"[Severny] didn't write songs. All his songs are traditional, and that's the difference between him and a guy who has bought a synthesizer and performs what they play on Russky Chanson," Salygin says.
"We are just having a good time and, for some reason, many rock musicians come to our concerts and they like it. I think that they just relax to this type of music," he adds.
Although Severny and other traditional performers were legendary for their spontaneous, ad hoc performances, La Minor puts a lot of effort into its arrangements.
"[This music] used to be played with no rehearsals and arrangements done on the spot. Probably a certain harmony was set and then the musicians did whatever they wanted around it, whatever they could. But we made adjustments, and reworked our arrangements many, many times," says accordion player and co-arranger Yezhov, 24.
La Minor often selects rare versions of well-known songs as the basis for its renditions, sometimes changing a word or two in a way that seems only natural for a living folk genre.
"We avoid vulgarities and cliches," says Shalygin. "We have an inner feeling - songs we perform and songs we don't. Even Murka itself sounds different with us, I think."
Shalygin's career dates back to 1992-1993, when he performed with the psychobilly band the Navigators at the influential alternative TaMtAm club. But now he says that he doesn't see much that is new or interesting in contemporary rock music.
"I prefer more quiet music now. For instance, Squirrel Nut Zippers or Cesario Evora, to calm my nerves. I have always listened to Tom Waits, but for some reason, less and less these days," Shalygin says.
La Minor made its debut at the now-defunct Art Spirit club in November 2000. At the time, Shalygin was a manager at the club.
Although La Minor is often compared to the wildly popular local band Leningrad, which makes extensive use of blatnyak in its music, there are important differences between the two.
"For one thing, we don't write our own songs, but play traditional songs in our original arrangements," notes Shalygin. "Second, we have a somewhat different sound, less exuberant and more folk."
La Minor has yet to find its audience in Moscow, but the band successfully toured Europe last fall, playing pubs and eateries in France, Luxembourg and Germany.
"In France, they took us for Romanians, for gypsy music," Shalygin said.
La Minor will appear in concert at Red Club, 8 p.m., Friday, Jan. 25, and at Griboyedov, 10 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 26. The album "Blatnyak" is available from Titanic music stores and at the band's shows.
TITLE: chernov's choice
TEXT: The Rollins Band, is clearly the most exciting of the foreign acts appearing this weekend, with their Friday-night show sure to finish ahead of those by faded pop singer Demis Roussos and Portuguese Goth-rock act Moonspell in terms of the overall interest generated. See Gigs in the Listings for complete details.
Don't overlook the fact that the start time for the Rollins Band's concert is 7 p.m., unusually early for a show at PORT.
Meanwhile, the club boom in the city continues as at least two new spots will open this weekend.
One is an "art-blues" club called Gandharva, which is Sanskrit for "celestial musicians." Opening at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 25, the venue will host daily blues and rock concerts and art exhibitions.
On the list of future plans are film screenings, drama performances, festivals, fashion shows, all-night parties and other surprises.
During the day the club will also function as a cafe and as an exhibition hall.
According to Sergei Nekrasov, the club's founder, Gandharva will be "an art club for musicians, artists and actors," to some degree a reincarnation of the Art Club, which Nekrasov ran until it was closed in the mid-1990s.
The club is part of a bigger project, Delta Blues, which promotes open-air blues festivals, among other things. See www.nevadelta.spb.ru for more information.
Opening night will feature a concert by Liapin's Blues - the high-volume electric-blues band formed by ex-Akvarium guitarist Alexander Lyapin - and an exhibition of paintings by local artist Oleg Kotelnikov entitled "One Country, Four Capitals." Tickets cost 100 rubles.
Gandharva is at 12 Mytninskaya Ulitsa, M: Ploshchad Vosstaniya. Tel. 321-9481.
A new reggae bar called Popugai (Parrot), which will open at 7 p.m. on Saturday, is a little bit more of a mystery. No one was answering the club's telephone number this week, so it seems that we'll all just have to drop in to learn a bit more about the scene.
You'll find Popugai at 1 Fonarny Pereulok, M: Sennaya Ploshchad. Tel. 311-5971.
If you missed Markscheider Kunst at Faculty last Saturday, be sure to attend the birthday party for the multi-cultural, Afro-rock band's founder, Sergei Yefremenko, at Kunst's favorite club, Moloko, on Sunday.
Although it won't be the standard Kunst show, it will feature Tres Muchachos, a spin-off project featuring Yefremenko and bassist Kirill Oskin. Unlike Kunst, which writes its own Afro-Cuban material, Tres Muchachos tends to play early 20th-century Cuban music.
According to Yefremenko, the up-and-coming Moscow Afro-Cuban band Pakava It will also take part in the concert. Pakava It will play a full-length show at Moloko on Sunday. You can get a taste of their big-brass, banjo-filled music at the band's official Web site at http://pakava.msk. ru.
Another Kunst-related act is the St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Revue which features the band's drummer Sergei Yegorov and saxophone player Alexei Kanev, as well as musicians of the ska-punk band Spitfire. Revue plays Red Club at midnight on Friday.
- by Sergey Chernov
TITLE: just a little bit closer to 'cheers'
AUTHOR: by Robert Coalson
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The city still has a long way to go before it can boast a culture of friendly, Cheers-style neighborhood bars where "everyone knows your name." My friends and I have long dreamed of the day when we would walk into the bar where we've spent more evenings than any of us will admit and be greeted by a big smile and a friendly "Hello, boys! Will it be the usual tonight?"
Instead, we are regularly stared down like total strangers by a waiter who takes our order with a surly expression, brings it silently and then promptly disappears lest, heavens no!, we decide to order another round.
OK, that's an exaggeration. But not by that much. In reality, St. Petersburg's neighborhood bar culture is somewhere between these two extremes and, if truth be told, is moving fairly rapidly in the right direction.
To prove my case, I offer Exhibit A: Morskoi Volk (Sea Wolf), a pirate-theme pub on Maly Prospekt that does a nice job of making one feel right at home.
To my mind, of course, any place with karaoke loses some points, but Morskoi Volk redeemed some of them because no one was actually using the machine when I was there. This pub also offers less obnoxious entertainment, including board games, a breathalyzer test, a car wash and a 24-hour sauna with massage. We didn't actually try any of these things, but were impressed by the management's sincere effort to anticipate all our needs.
When we pulled in on an early Saturday evening, we were impressed by the fun, relaxed atmosphere. Kids were running around freely, the waiters were smiling and chatting and everyone genuinely seemed to be having a good time. Morskoi Volk has a playful, interesting, pirate-based interior design with plenty of intriguing details to distract the mind. At one end of the hall, an enormous, bright aquarium dominates the proceedings.
In addition to a full bar and a modest but adequate selection of bottled and draught beers, Morskoi Volk offers a sensible menu of hearty fare at cheap prices.
The menu launches with the usual selection of mayonnaise-based salads from 45 to 110 rubles ($1.50 to $3.67). The hot starters range from the simple "bread and cheese" for just 14 rubles ($0.47) to a shrimp-and-crayfish dish called "All Hands on Deck" for 150 rubles ($5).
We opted for a starter called "The Shark's Kiss," which was ham, potatoes, garlic and tomatoes for 55 rubles ($1.83). It was simple, hearty and a nice companion to our beer. Then we tried the squid in smetana for 65 rubles ($2.17), which was disappointingly heavy on the smetana, which overpowered everything else.
Undaunted, we moved on to the Norwegian Sailor, a thin salmon soup, for 55 rubles ($1.83). It was flavorful enough, but didn't quite cut through St. Petersburg's January chill.
Morskoi Volk's main dishes are a small range of fish, beef, pork and chicken dishes, all of them bearing nautical monikers such as "Rusalka's Bust" and "Pirate Joe's Treasure." They range in price from 130 to 250 rubles ($4.33 to $8.33).
We went for the "Boatswain's Smile," which is turkey fillet stuffed mostly with mushrooms and served with potato cutlets for 110 rubles ($3.67). The portion was generous and, it was obvious that this particular boatswain never went hungry.
We also dived into the "Bathyscaph," described as "fresh pork baked in aluminum foil with fried potatoes and garlic," for 250 rubles ($8.33, the priciest item on the food menu). The description was apt, and the meal was solid and filling.
In short, Morskoi Volk is well on its way to becoming a great neighborhood hangout for those living toward the tip of Vasilievsky Ostrov or for the before- and after-game crowd at Yubileiny, just a stone's throw away. My neighborhood could use a place just like it.
Morskoi Volk, 17/72 Maly Prospekt, 323-8088. Dinner for two with beer, 907 rubles ($30.23). Open daily 10 a.m. to 6 a.m. Menu in Russian only. No credit cards accepted.
TITLE: Quizzing of Detainees Begins in Cuba
AUTHOR: By Paisley Dodds
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - U.S. interrogators quizzed prisoners of the Afghan war about terrorist, training while sailors hastily constructed more cells at the near-capacity detention camp to allow flights carrying more detainees to resume.
Officials on Wednesday postponed bringing other detainees from Afg ha ni stan until investigators finish questioning the camp's current 158 inmates. Officials want to determine whether they should remain imprisoned on this remote U.S. outpost on Cuba's eastern tip, should be sent to another country or be returned to their homelands. They are nationals of at least 10 countries.
The detainees were not allowed lawyers as officers from several U.S. civilian and military agencies questioned them.
"We have a large enough population to begin interviews," Brigadier General Mike Lehnert, the Marine in charge of the detention camp at the U.S. Naval base on Cuba's eastern tip, told reporters on Wednesday.
In Washington, U.S. President George W. Bush brushed aside an international outcry over treatment of the detainees, telling legislators they "should be proud" of how detainees were treated.
White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer cast the detainees as suicidal fanatics who would "engage in murder once again" if freed, and said the president was concerned they might stage an uprising against their U.S. captors.
In Florida, a Navy admiral on Wednesday defended the military's treatment of the prisoners, saying it's better than what they would get at home.
Rear Admiral Jan Guadio, commander of the Navy's southeast region, which includes Cuba, said the prisoners are gaining weight and getting good medical care.
All the prisoners are suspected terrorists who fought for al-Qaeda or the ousted Afghan Taliban regime that sheltered that network blamed for the suicide airplane attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in suburban Washington.
A Muslim cleric, one of 12 in the U.S. military, arrived late Wednesday. Among other things, camp officials want to discuss whether detainees should be allowed to grow back the long hair and beards that devout Muslim men wear and that were shaved off in detention.
On Wednesday, 400 copies of the Koran, the sacred text of Islam, with passages in Arabic and English, were delivered to prisoners.
Because Guantanamo officials won't identify inmates by nationality, they have refused to say whether a flight on Monday carried six Algerian terrorist suspects arrested by Bosnian authorities and turned over to the United States, as U.S. military in Kandahar had reported.
However, Britain, Sweden, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Australia have said they have citizens among detainees in Guantanamo.
TITLE: WORLD WATCH
TEXT: Pakistanis To Vote
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Signaling the end of three years of military rule in Pakistan, President Per vez Musharraf announced Thursday that legislative elections would be held in October.
Elections for national and pro vin cial legislatures will mean that laws will be enacted in Pakistan by elected representatives rather than by military decree. Musharraf said the vote would be free, fair and impartial.
The announcement, which Musharraf made at a conference on human development in Islamabad, complies with a Supreme Court ruling. The court had ordered Musharraf, who took power in an October 1999 military coup, to bring back civilian rule by three years from the date of the coup.
Musharraf will remain president and also commander of the Pakistani military, the dominant institution in the country. That does not violate the court order since in Pakistan the president is the head of state while the prime minister runs the government.
Musharraf has said he plans to remain in office for five years after the new parliament takes office.
Coalition To Hold
VIENNA, Austria (Reuters) - Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said on Thursday his two-year-old center-right coalition had patched up its differences over European Union enlargement and there would not be an early election.
"Our project of reform has not come to an end. On the contrary, we want to carry on with full commitment until the end of the legislative period," Schuessel, leader of the conservative People's Party, said at a joint press conference with his coalition partners, the far-right Freedom Party.
The two parties had been at odds over a national petition organized by Joerg Haider's Freedom Party demanding that Austria veto Czech accession to the European Union unless the controversial Czech Temelin nuclear plant is shut down.
Some 15.5 percent of Austrian voters signed the non-binding petition, but Schuessel categorically ruled out an Austrian veto. Haider then raised doubts over the future of the coalition and said elections, not due until the end of 2003, could take place in the next few months.
Just Practising
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (Reuters) - The United States flew in more troops and equipment to the southern Philippines on Thursday for joint military exercises aimed at battling Muslim insurgency.
The troops, wearing combat fatigues and some carrying assault rifles, arrived hours after eight Muslim rebels were killed nearby in a clash with the local military.
The local military commander said two soldiers were wounded in Wednesday's clash on Basilan Island with Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, a rebel group better known for its beheadings and kidnappings and which authorities have linked to Osama bin Laden.
Fighting continued on Thursday and the clashes are bound to raise fresh questions on the advisability of holding exercises with U.S. troops on Basilan and in the nearby city of Zamboanga.
The controversy raged at a hearing of the senate in Manila.
An opposition leader said he was certain U.S. troops were in the country to fight the Abu Sayyaf, violating constitutional provisions barring foreign troops from a combat role.
On the Case
OMAGH, Northern Ireland (AP) - Northern Ireland's police commander, rejecting accusations that his force has bungled its handling of the 1998 bombing in Omagh, offered personal reassurances Thursday to relatives of the 29 people slain in Northern Ireland's deadliest atrocity.
"Sadly, in recent weeks and indeed months, there has been so much distorted material in the public domain that I am here to see the people who really matter," Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan said as he entered an Omagh hotel to answer questions from relatives.
Police have struggled to gather enough evidence against the Irish Republican Army dissidents who mounted the Aug. 15, 1998, car-bomb strike, which also wounded more than 300 people.
The first man linked to the attack was convicted this week in the neighboring Republic of Ireland and faces a potential life sentence, but nobody has been charged in this British territory, even though police say they have a good idea of the bombers' identities.
China Warms Up
BEIJING, China (Reuters) - China signalled a softened line on Taiwan on Thursday that could improve tense cross-Strait relations, saying only a small number of the island's pro-independence ruling-party members were separatists.
Vice Premier Qian Qichen also said members of Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were welcome to visit the mainland and called for renewed dialogue and stronger economic ties across the Taiwan Strait.
"We believe there is a distinction between the vast majority of DPP members and a very small number of stubborn Taiwan independence activists," state radio quoted Qian as saying.
"We invite them to tour and visit in an appropriate status to promote understanding," he said.
DPP representatives in Taiwan could not be reached immediately for comment, but Western diplomats and Chinese experts in Beijing said Qian's statements marked a significant shift in the Communist government's attitude to Chen's party.
West Bank Shooting
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Authority (Reuters) - Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian intelligence officer in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday, Palestinian security sources said.
The Israeli Army said it had no knowledge of the officer's death but that he could have been killed in a gunbattle between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen in the city early on Thursday.
One Palestinian security source said the officer, 23-year-old Riyadh Khattab, had been shot in the pelvis by an Israeli sniper after the gun battle stopped.
It was not immediately possible to confirm how he was killed.
Israeli troops have encircled Ramallah and kept Palestinian President President Yasser Arafat confined to his office there.
Israel has said it will not let Arafat leave until he has done more to arrest militants, including Palestinians it says were behind a shipload of arms it seized this month. The Palestinian Authority denies any involvement in the shipment.
TITLE: SPORTS WATCH
TEXT: Italian Player Killed
ROME - Brescia's Italian Cup game against Parma was called off on Wednesday following the death of one of its players.
Brescia defender Vittorio Mero was killed in a car accident on Wednesday afternoon. He had not been with the rest of the squad after being suspended.
"He was in his wife's car and on his way home. After training, we all went together to eat, joking and talking also about his future, if he would go or stay at Brescia," Brescia coaching assistant Enrico Nicolini was quoted as saying by Italian news agency ANSA.
"He was a great man, and you couldn't add any more than that. Parma understood our situation, that to play on would have been impossible."
The Italian Cup semifinal match between the two Serie A sides was about to get under way when news came through of Mero's fate. The Brescia players, many in tears, returned to the dressing room and both sides agreed to suspend the game.
The game will now be played on Jan. 30.
Three's a Charm
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Reuters) - American Ed Moses cracked his third world breaststroke record in two days on Wed nes day to complete his domination of a World Cup meet.
On the second and final day in the short-course competition, he clocked 57.47 seconds to win the 100-meter breaststroke, improving on his previous best of 57.66 set at Minneapolis, Minnesota, in March 2000.
On Tuesday, Moses had broken the 50- and 200-meter world breaststroke records.
"Three records in two days. It's probably been the best two days of swimming in my whole life," Moses said.
Osmonds Carry Torch
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Reuters) - Local pop singers Donny and Marie Osmond will be among those carrying the Olympic torch on the final stage of its relay to Salt Lake City in Utah for the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Games, officials announced on Wednesday.
The Osmonds, who have starred on stage and televison, still live in Utah and often talk about growing up in the state.
But officials refuse to disclose the identity of the person who will carry the torch into the stadium for the opening ceremony on Feb. 8.
"The notable carriers are a lot of fun, but the ordinary heroes, the common man and woman, are the most fun for me to watch," said Kelly Flint, senior vice-president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee.
Dungy Focuses on D
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (AP) - On his first day on the job, Tony Dungy promised to rebuild Indianapolis' defense and lead the Colts to the playoffs and, eventually, the Super Bowl.
Dungy was introduced as the Colts coach Wed nes day, one day after signing a five-year, $13-million contract.
He pledged to concentrate his efforts on improving a defense that allowed a league-high 486 points last season.
"Hopefully, it's pretty simple," Dungy said of his defensive strategy. "It's not what you do, but how you do it. You have to get guys to play hard down in and down out. It's attitude."
The 46-year-old Dungy is the Colts' sixth coach in 11 seasons. He replaces Jim Mora, who was fired Jan. 8 after going 6-10 this season and 32-34 in four years.
Dungy, fired by Tampa Bay on Jan. 14 after going 54-42 and leading the Buccaneers to four playoff appearances in six seasons, has a track record of quick successes.
Racy Outfits
TORONTO, Canada (Reuters) - Canada's Olympic speed-skating team might be showing off more than their abilities in Salt Lake City next month with their nearly transparent, high-tech suits.
When speed skater, Krisy Myers skated past photographers at the world sprint championships in Norway last weekend, happy-face underwear could be seen through her skin-tight suit.
The official yellow uniform, made by Descente, will be transparent to some degree, which has left some pundits wondering if advertisers will take advantage of this attention-grabbing space.
An ad on a skater's underwear, and showing through the suit, could definitely grab the attention of millions of viewers around the world, Olympic speed skater Clara Hughes told the Globe and Mail.
"It's revealing. You just have to be careful with your choice of underwear," Hughes said.
Tyson Strikes Again
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Reuters) - Two of the world's biggest sporting attractions, the Super Bowl and the 2002 Winter Olym pics, may be just weeks away, but both were left overshadowed on Wednesday by the latest scandal involving Mike Tyson.
From London to Los Angeles, the sporting spotlight has once again focused on Tyson, who triggered a mass brawl on Tuesday as he and world champion Lennox Lewis were attending a New York news conference to announce details of their long-awaited title match-up.
Tyson, rampaging out of control, fought with security guards, bit Lewis on the leg and snarled at reporters before exiting the mayhem screaming, "I just want to kill him"
No-Brain Comment
ADELAIDE, Australia (Reuters) - The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) was forced to defend captain Steve Waugh on Thursday as South African journalists accused him of making an insensitive remark about fast bowler Steve Elworthy's brain scan.
Elworthy ducked into a bouncer from Australia's Glenn McGrath during Tuesday's limited-overs international at Sydney Cricket Ground and was taken to a Sydney hospital.
As South Africa captain Shaun Pollock told an after-match news conference the scan had cleared Elworthy of any serious injury, Waugh was overheard to remark to ACB media manager Brian Murgatroyd: "Yeah, and I bet they didn't find a brain either."
South African journalists were highly critical of Waugh, describing the remark as "callous."
"When you say it as coldly as that it can come across as a bit offensive," South Africa selector Mike Proctor was quoted as saying in the Herald Sun newspaper on Thursday.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper sprang to Waugh's defense.
"Yes, Waugh's comment was silly but, really, it was just a flippant remark said every day in X-ray clinics across the nation."