Asia Times: Russia increases transit quota for Kazakh oil



	March 03, 1999	atimes.com

Central Asia / Siberia

NEWSLINE: Central Asia, Transcaucasia and Russia

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Russia increases transit quota for Kazakh oil
The press service of Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company said on 26 February that an agreement has been signed on increasing the amount of oil Kazakhstan can ship via Russia to countries outside the CIS, Interfax reported. The agreement, signed the previous day, allows Kazakhstan to ship 6 million tons of oil annually via Russian pipelines. Russia had agreed in December to increase the volume of oil transiting its territory from 3.5 million tons to 5 million. A spokesman for the national oil company said the increase ''meets the export potential of Kazakhstan.'' (Bruce Pannier)

Suspect in Tashkent bombings captured
ITAR-TASS reported on 27 February that one of six men sought by Uzbek authorities in connection with the 16 February bombings in Tashkent has been take into custody. Ravshan Salijanov, 27, is from the Uzbek city of Namangan and was apprehended in Tashkent. (B.P.)

Over 500 said to have been arrested
The acting director of the Moscow-based Society for Assistance of Human Rights in Central Asia, Vitaly Ponomarev, told a news conference on 26 February, that more than 500 people have been arrested in Uzbekistan since the 16 February bombings, Reuters reported. A statement released by the organization claims that among those arrested are ''Islamic activists, members of their families, supporters of religious groups not loyal to the regime, and several opposition activists.'' Many are reported to still be in jail. Ponomarev commented that while it is unclear how many people have been arrested, ''at least 200 is absolutely certain, just in Tashkent.'' He added that his figures are based on information received from various human rights organizations in Uzbekistan. (B.P.)

U.S. marks Central Asia on human rights
A human rights report conducted by the U.S. State Department and released on 26 February indicates that the five CIS Central Asian states have changed little since the 1997 survey was conducted. Kyrgyzstan faired the best but came under criticism for its citizens' inability to change their government through the electoral process. Kazakhstan, too, was complimented on respecting human rights, but early presidential elections and irregularities in the campaigning process were noted. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan continued to have ''poor'' human rights records but were eclipsed by Turkmenistan, whose record was deemed ''dismal.'' Freedom of speech and of the press was deemed insufficient in all five countries, as were conditions in jails. The report also noted that violence against women in those countries is a major problem. (B.P.)

Another bomb explodes in Almaty
A home-made bomb exploded outside the Russian Orthodox cathedral in the former Kazakhstani capital, Almaty, on 26 February, ITAR-TASS reported. Four people were injured and required medical attention as a result of the blast, which also caused substantial damage to the building, Police have taken a 43- year-old man into custody in connection with the bombing. The man had recently been released from jail, and it remains unclear what his motive might have been. There are no reports that he is linked to the bombing that took place in downtown Almaty on 21 February (see ''RFE/RL Newsline,'' 23 February 1999). (B.P.)

Armenia condemns Azerbaijan's Karabakh appeal . . .
The Armenian Foreign Ministry on 25 February issued a statement criticizing Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev's appeal to the French, Russian, and U.S. presidents to take more resolute measures to resolve the Karabakh conflict, Noyan Tapan reported (see ''RFE/RL Newsline,'' 24 February 1999). The statement said it is ''especially distressing'' that Baku, which rejected the most recent peace plan proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group, is calling on the mediators to demonstrate a more constructive approach. The statement termed Azerbaijan's position ''unconstructive,'' adding that it is the primary obstacle to a settlement of the conflict. It also criticized Azerbaijan's ''refusal to recognize Nagorno- Karabakh as a full party to peace talks'' and its attempts to ''place the conflict in the broader context of Russian-Turkish relations.'' French President Jacques Chirac has responded to Aliev's appeal, Turan reported on 26 February but did not elaborate. (Liz Fuller)

. . . And defends cooperation with Russia
In a separate statement issued on 26 February, the Armenian foreign ministry dismissed as ''unfounded'' and ''illogical'' Azerbaijani allegations that Armenia's ongoing military cooperation with Russia threatens to destabilize the Caucasus, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. It stressed that both UN and OSCE statutes recognize the right of any member state to choose how to ensure its security. The statement also rejected Baku's claims that transfers of Russian arms to Russian bases in Armenia constitute a violation of the limits imposed by the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe. Azerbaijan has itself exceeded its CFE arms ceilings, imports arms, and is engaged in the production of offensive weapons, the statement argued. (L.F.)

Former Armenian CP leader launches new party
Hundreds of delegates attended the 27 February founding congress in Yerevan of Karen Demirchian's center-left People's Party of Armenia (HZhK), RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. In a 90-minute speech, Demirchian, the runner-up to Robert Kocharian in the 1998 presidential elections, vowed to establish ''democratic and popular socialism'' if his party comes to power. Deploring what he termed the ''deindustrialization'' of Armenia under the failed liberal economic policies of successive post-Soviet governments, Demirchian called for comprehensive state programs to revive both industry and agriculture. He said he favors a state- regulated and socially-oriented market economy. The HZkK currently claims some 25,000 members throughout Armenia. (L.F.)

Georgian president visits Turkey
During his two-day visit to Ankara and Istanbul on 26-27 February, Eduard Shevardnadze held talks with his Turkish counterpart, Suleymen Demirel, and with Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on the prospects for resolving regional conflicts and expanding economic and transport cooperation, including the planned Kars-Tbilisi railway. In a joint communique released following Shevardnadze's meeting with Demirel, the two presidents called for the swiftest possible implementation of the Baku- Ceyhan oil export pipeline project. Shevardnadze told journalists on his return to Tbilisi on 27 February that Turkey will bear part of the estimated $3 billion cost of building that pipeline, ITAR-TASS reported. Shevardnadze also said Demirel would not object if part of Azerbaijan's Caspian oil were exported through the alternative pipeline from Baku to Georgia's Black Sea port of Supsa. Adjar President Aslan Abashidze failed to accompany Shevardnadze because of poor health, ''Akhali toaba'' reported on 27 February. LF

Who's minding the Kremlin?
Only four days after his spokesman announced he had fully recovered from a bout with a stomach ulcer, Russian President Boris Yeltsin returned to the hospital on 27 February complaining of stomach pains. Yeltsin's doctors announced on 1 March that Yeltsin's condition has stabilized but that he is likely to remain in the hospital for a week, RFE/RL's Moscow bureau reported. Prime Minister Yevgenii Primakov, who began a two-week vacation on 28 February, so far has no plans to return to Moscow, his spokeswoman, Tatyana Aristarkhova, told ITAR-TASS on 27 February. She noted that First Deputy Prime Minister Yurii Maslyukov will perform Primakov's duties during his absence. (Julie A. Corwin)

Moscow urges regional authorities to pressure media
The State Committee for Publishing has recommended that local authorities actively use their authority with the local presses in the struggle against political extremism, ''Vremya MN'' reported on 26 February. Two means at local authorities' disposal, according to the newspaper, are withholding tax privileges or applying financial pressure to local newspapers that promote political extremism. About 20 percent of regional newspapers and journalists currently lack the necessary resources to survive, making them vulnerable to such economic pressure. ''Vremya MN'' notes that local authorities own significant chunks of the regional press, for example 45 percent in the Adygei Republic, 52 percent in Dagestan, 53 percent in Kalmykia, and 33 percent in Karelia. The newspaper notes that the definition of what constitutes political extremism is likely to vary widely from region to region. (J.A.C.)

New allegations against Central Bank
State Duma deputy (independent) and member of the Budget Committee Nikolai Gonchar told reporters on 26 February that the Central Bank used the Channel Island firm FIMACO not only to manage its foreign currency reserves but also to hide millions of dollars in profits made on the treasury bill market. According to Gonchar, in September 1996 FIMACO earned a $38.9 million profit by investing in GKOs. By law, such profits should be directed to the federal budget, but they were not. Gonchar said that the Central Bank issued a special regulation allowing it not to show these amounts on its balance sheets. Instead, the profits were recorded in special accounts, to which the office of the prosecutor-general was denied access. (J.A.C.)

Otechestvo contemplates TV broadcasting
Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov told reporters on 26 February that his Otechestvo [Fatherland] political movement will announce its candidate for presidential elections in 2000 at its second congress, to be held on 24 April. The same day, Luzhkov told members of Otechestvo's Central Council that the movement will have to establish its own printing facilities and ''consider the possibility of entering TV broadcasting'' because Russian Public Television and Russian Television have received instructions not to ''shed any light on the purposes or tasks of the movement,'' Kommersant-Daily reported on 27 February. According to the newspaper, the upcoming congress will be held outside Moscow. Members suggested the cities of Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, and Nizhnii Novogorod. One participant even jokingly suggested Sevastopol, the city in Crimea, the loss of which prompted Luzhkov to oppose the Russian-Ukrainian friendship treaty. In response, Luzhkov quipped, ''Perhaps even Kiev.'' (J.A.C.)

Russia's Thatcherites unite
About 400 people gathered in St. Petersburg on 26 February to create a new conservative political party called ''Thatcherites of Russia,'' based on the political and economic principles of the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Part of the group's manifesto is to reduce taxes, establish a Russian House of Lords, and preserve the results of the country's past privatization efforts, Reuters reported. The new party will not participate in upcoming Duma elections, according to ITAR-TASS. (J.A.C.)

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