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Central Asia / Siberia
NEWSLINE: Central Asia, Transcaucasia and RussiaRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Turkmenistan criticized for introducing visas
Speaking in Minsk on 19 March, the chairman of the Integration Committee of the CIS Customs Union, Nigmatzhan Isingarin, said the CIS will make an ''adequate'' response to Turkmenistan's announcement that as of June, it will require citizens of most CIS countries to have a visa when traveling to that country (see ''RFE/RL Newsline,'' 18 March 1999), Interfax reported. Isringarin said the decision has ''pluses and minuses,'' adding that ''Turkmenistan will not only isolate itself from CIS countries but other countries will be closed to it.'' Isingarin pointed out that some highways connecting southwest Asian countries with the CIS run through Turkmenistan and that many CIS businessmen transit Turkmenistan on routes from one CIS country to another. ''This means [such businessmen] will find routes around Turkmenistan,Oewhich will lose most of all.'' (Bruce Pannier)
Visas necessary to keep out criminals, says Ashgabat
Turkmenistan's Foreign Ministry has sent a note to the CIS Executive Secretariat explaining the decision to introduce a visa regime, Interfax reported on 19 March. The note said the action ''should in no way be understood as aspiring to break off relations with governments of the CIS.'' It added that the 1992 agreement on visa-free travel was concluded to ''create favorable conditions for those who elected or desired to return to the country they considered their homeland.'' Now, it continued, ''the situation has been complicated as those who do not heed laws and criminal elements have become the main users of the visa-free regime.'' This situation is becoming ''more and more difficult to control,'' the note said. (B.P.)
Turkmentistan imposes transit fee on some goods
Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov signed a decree on 19 March establishing new rules for the transit through Turkmenistan of beer, hard liquor, wine, and tobacco products, Interfax reported. An unspecified fee will be imposed on goods transiting Turkmen territory at the point of entry into the country. Those same goods must leave Turkmen territory within 30 days and the fee will be returned at the point of departure. The Foreign Ministry is charged with informing accredited embassies in Turkmenistan ''and other interested parties'' about the new regulations by 3 April. The action is aimed at ''protecting the domestic market,'' according to Niyazov. (B.P.)
Niyazov declares another amnesty
Niyazov on 19 March signed a decree freeing 5,000 prisoners, Interfax reported. This latest amnesty coincides with the holidays of Nawruz and Kurban Bairami. The news agency reported that in 1999, more than 22,000 people have been freed under amnesties. The crime rate in January and February has reportedly dropped by 20 percent compared with the same period last year. (B.P.)
Turkmenistan plans 10-year reform program
At an expanded session of the Cabinet of Ministers on 19 March, President Niyazov signed a resolution on drafting a socio-economic reform program through 2010, Interfax reported. All proposals must be submitted by 1 September, and final approval is expected to be given at a joint session of the Peoples' Council, the Council of Elders, and the parliament in December. (B.P.)
Kazakhstan government wants cuts to budget
Kazakhstan's Finance Minister Uraz Jandosov told the parliament on 19 March that 1999 budget expenditures and revenues need to be cut by 29 billion tenge ($333 million) and 32.9 billion tenge, respectively, Interfax reported. Jandosov said the government predicts that this year's GDP will be down by 1.5 percent on 1998 and will be 8 percent smaller than forecast in the current version of the 1999 budget. The government also predicted that inflation for this year will be 3.7 percent, not the 8.3 percent foreseen by the budget, and that exports will shrink by 10.3 percent and imports by 12.3 percent (compared with the planned 1.3 percent increase). (B.P.)
Kazakh opposition party prepares for elections
The head of Kazakhstan's Orleu Movement, Seydakhmet Kuttykadam, said at a meeting on 19 March in the city of Shymkent that he expects his movement to win three or four seats in the parliamentary elections later this year, Interfax reported. Kuttykadam said he believes the elections will be moved forward from December to June. He also said he expects incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev to remain in office no longer than three more years. Kuttykadam said Nazarbayev will have to step down because of ''Kazakhstan's growing international isolation, on the one hand, and the catastrophic scale of the country's economic decline and corruption in all strata of government, on the other hand.'' (B.P.)
Karabakh 'parliament' welcomes European resolution
Boris Aroushanian, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the parliament of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, has described the 11 March endorsement by the European Parliament of the OSCE Minsk Group's Karabakh peace proposal as ''a hopeful sign,'' Interfax and Noyan Tapan reported on 18 March. At the same time, Aroushanian expressed incomprehension at Azerbaijan's rejection of those proposals, given that they comprise ''not a formula for the final resolution of the conflict but principles for continuing talks.'' Also on 18 March, Azerbaijan's opposition Vahdat Party and National Unity Party issued a joint statement condemning the European Parliament resolution as ''against the will'' of the Azerbaijani people, according to Turan. The two parties blamed the resolution on the erroneous foreign and domestic policies pursued by the present Azerbaijani leadership. (Liz Fuller)
Georgian foreign minister visits Yerevan
On a one-day working visit to Yerevan on 19 March, Irakli Menagharishvili discussed with his Armenian counterpart, Vartan Oskanian, the Abkhaz and Karabakh conflicts, the recent meeting in Strasbourg of the parliamentary speakers of all three Transcaucasus states, and the prospects for strengthening economic ties, Noyan Tapan reported. Speaking later to journalists, Menagharishvili said that while Georgia does not currently aspire to NATO membership, it considers the alliance ''an important component of the future European security structure'' and intends to increase its participation in the Partnership for Peace program, according to Interfax. Oskanian characterized ''stable'' Armenian-Georgian bilateral relations as an important component of regional stability in the face of growing ''polarization.'' (L.F.)
Vladikavkaz market death toll rises to 60
Interfax on 19 March reported that 60 people died and 101 were injured in the previous day's explosion in the central market in the North Ossetian capital, Vladikavkaz. Russian Interior Minister Stepashin, who flew to Vladikavkaz with a group of investigators, said the bomb was clearly intended to exacerbate tensions between ethnic groups in the North Caucasus. Federal Security Service (FSB) spokesman Oleg Vershinin similarly stated that the explosion was ''unequivocally'' a terrorist act. Both Stepashin and President Boris Yeltsin sent messages of condolence to North Ossetian President Aleksandr Dzasokhov. (L.F.)
Yeltsin sacks his administration chief
As was widely expected, former presidential administration head Nikolai Bordyuzha has been dismissed, just hours after returning to work on 19 March (see ''RFE/RL Newsline,'' 19 March 1999). To replace him, Russian President Boris Yeltsin promoted Aleksandr Voloshin, deputy head of the administration. According to ''Segodnya'' on 20 March, when Voloshin went into private business in 1993, one of his first business partners was Boris Berezovskii. In November 1997, Voloshin became an assistant to then head of the presidential administration, Valentin Yumashev, who is now an unpaid presidential adviser. Voloshin also prepared Aleksandr Lebed's economic program when the latter was running for governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai, ''Kommersant-Daily'' reported. The daily also commented that Yeltsin's choice of Voloshin had less to do with his connection to Yumashev and Berezovskii and more to do with the fact that the two met ''rather often'' while Yeltsin was in the hospital preparing his annual address to the nation. (Julie A. Corwin)
Russian state workers to get pay raise
Prime Minister Yevgenii Primakov signed a decree on 20 March increasing wages for state workers beginning 1 April, ITAR-TASS reported. The same day, Primakov chaired a meeting to discuss trimming the 300,000 or so workers in federal bodies located outside of Moscow. Meanwhile, ''Vremya MN'' reported that the wages backlog for state workers was 11.6 billion rubles ($440 million) as of 2 March and the government has had only limited success in reducing it in 1999. (J.A.C.)
Two-thirds of Russian banks may survive
Central Bank Chairman Viktor Gerashchenko told the Duma on 19 March that a little over 1,000 of the country's 1,500 commercial banks will survive the economic crisis that began mid-August, Interfax reported. Noting that the Central Bank originally forecast that no more than 250-350 banks would survive, he said that this forecast was overly pessimistic and that many provincial banks are ''surviving on their own without significant assistance from the Central Bank.'' On 16 March, the Central Bank launched a new organization to revive the banking industry, the ''Moscow Times'' reported. That organization will include members of international financial institutions as well as representatives from the Duma and Federation Council. Banking analysts, according to the daily, believe that the organization's principle goal will be to create the impression that the government is doing something to restructure the banking sector. (J.A.C.)
Omsk official survives 'vodka mafia' attack
First Deputy Governor of Omsk Oblast Andrei Galushko survived an assassination attempt on 22 March, ITAR-TASS reported. Galushko is in charge of finance, foreign trade, and property issues within the oblast administration and is also a member of the commission for tax and budget discipline. That commission recently approved a series of measures designed to bring order into the region's crime-ridden grain, vodka, and beer businesses, according to the agency. Galushko received two bullet wounds and his driver was killed. Omsk Governor Leonid Polezhaev's press secretary said that the attack on Galushko was a result of his attempts to fight drug trafficking, corruption, and the ''vodka mafia.'' (J.A.C.)
Russia to trim oil exports
Russia is cutting its oil exports by 100,000 barrels a day beginning 1 April, the Ministry of Fuel and Energy told ITAR-TASS on 22 March. The move is being taken to support OPEC and other oil producers in their attempt to raise flagging oil prices. (J.A.C.)
Rural folk using empties as cash
The Alexinbytservice company in Tula Oblast's Alexin Raion has introduced the use of empty glass bottles as a surrogate currency because of the lack of available cash in outlying rural regions, ITAR-TASS reported on 21 March. The firm, which provides a variety of services such as repairing domestic appliances, tailoring, and hair-cutting, found many potential clients but few with ready cash. According to the agency, a hair cut costs five empty bottles. The firm delivers its empties to wholesale buyers who pay 1.3 rubles (5 cents) per bottle. (J.A.C.)
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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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March 24, 1999
