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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 223, 99-11-16Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 223, 16 November 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] LOW-GRADE EXPLOSIVES FOUND IN ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTPolice on15 November evacuated the Armenian parliament building following an anonymous telephone warning to speaker Armen Khachatrian, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. They subsequently found under the presidium table a package containing low-level explosives. That package was rendered harmless, and Deputy Interior Minister Oganes Varyan denied it was life-threatening. Presenting newly appointed National Security Minister Karlos Petrosian to ministry personnel on 15 November, President Robert Kocharian said it is still premature to give a final evaluation of the 27 October parliament shootings, in which eight people, including Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian, died. LF [02] ARMENIA SENDS RESCUE TEAM TO TURKEYAn Armenian governmentspokesman said on 15 November that Yerevan is ready to send relief supplies, including blankets, generators, and medicines, to those made homeless by the 12 November earthquake in northwestern Turkey, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. A 24-strong Armenian rescue squad flew to the region on 13 November. LF [03] AZERBAIJAN ASKED TO RESPOND TO TORTURE ALLEGATIONSThe UNCommittee Against Torture in Geneva on 15 November asked Azerbaijan's Deputy Prosecutor-General Fikret Mamedov to respond to claims by human rights watchdogs that Azerbaijani prisoners are subjected to ill-treatment and torture, an RFE/RL correspondent in Geneva reported. Mamedov conceded that isolated cases of ill-treatment occur. He outlined new legislation intended to improve the rights of detainees and preclude police brutality. LF [04] GEORGIA REJECTS RUSSIAN CRITICIM OVER CFEIn his weeklyradio broadcast, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said on 15 November that Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov's claim that Georgia and Moldova are creating obstacles to the signing at the OSCE Istanbul summit of the revised CFE treaty is "unfair," ITAR-TASS reported. Shevardnadze told journalists later that day that Georgia will not give up the quota of armaments to which it is entitled under the CFE treaty. It currently shares that quota with Russia on a 50:50 basis. He said Georgia is ready to make unspecified compromises, but not to the detriment of the country's interests. LF [05] OSCE REGISTERS VIOLATIONS IN GEORGIAN RUNOFF POLLIn astatement issued in Tbilisi on 15 November, the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission registered "serious violations" during the runoff poll the previous day in 24 constituencies where no candidate had won a majority in the 31 October vote, Caucasus Press reported. Those irregularities included intimidation of members of local election commissions and ballot-stuffing in Tbilisi, Abasha, and Chkhorotsku. The statement also noted deficiencies in tabulating the first round returns. And it said that only 13 out of 19 members of the Central Electoral Commission signed the final protocol listing the first round results. LF [06] GEORGIA'S FUEL AND ENERGY MINISTER RESIGNSTemur Giorgadzeannounced at a Tbilisi press conference on 15 November that he has submitted his resignation following a public disagreement with Mikhail Saakashvili, who heads the majority Union of Citizens of Georgia faction in the Georgian parliament, Caucasus Press reported. President Shevardnadze said that Giorgadze's decision to step down was "in principle correct." Georgia has long suffered from intermittent and inadequate electricity supplies. A foreign study earlier this year calculated that $1.5 billion in foreign investment is needed in order to rehabilitate the entire power generating network. LF [07] KAZAKHSTAN CALCULATES DAMAGE FROM RUSSIAN ROCKET EXPLOSIONThe director of Kazakhstan's Space Research Agency, MeirbekMoldabekov, told journalists on 15 November that Russian and Kazakh experts have estimated that Kazakhstan should receive 19 million tenges (approximately $36,000) in compensation for the damage caused when a Russian proton rocket exploded on 27 October shortly after blastoff from the Baikonor cosmodrome, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Kazakhstan's Deputy Premier Aleksandr Pavlov and his Russian counterpart, Ilya Klebanov, will sign an agreement on 17 November on the payment of compensation for the damage. Pavlov told both chambers of Kazakhstan's parliament on 12 November that when he meets with Klebanov he will insist that Russia pays promptly and in full the $115 million annual rent for the use of Baikonur, according to Interfax. LF [08] KAZAKHSTAN ABOLISHES RESTRICTIONS ON FOREIGN-CURRENCYEARNINGSNational Bank of Kazakhstan Chairman Grigorii Marchenko told a congress of financiers in Almay on 15 November that the bank has revoked its April requirement that exporters sell 50 percent of their foreign-currency earnings, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported. Marchenko said the financial system has now stabilized following the de facto devaluation of the tenge in April. LF [09] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT REJECTS BUDGET DRAFT IN FIRST READINGParliamentary deputies on 15 November rejected the draftbudget for 2000 after the government refused to increase the minimum wage for teachers and doctors, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 November 1999). Meanwhile the Kyrgyz government has failed to reach agreement with the IMF on the terms of a second Economic Structural Adjustment Facility loan. Talks on that loan will resume in February. LF [10] KYRGYZSTAN ESTABLISHES DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH AFGHANISTANMeeting in Moscow on 15 November, the Kyrgyz and Afghanambassadors to Russia, Akmatbek Nanaev and Abdul Wahif Assifi, signed a protocol establishing diplomatic relations, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. LF [11] TAJIK PRESIDENT SWORN INImomali Rakhmonov was sworn in fora second term as president on 16 November, Asia Plus-Blitz reported. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the foreign ministers of Iran, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, and senior officials from China, India, and Uzbekistan attended the ceremony in Dushanbe. Rakhmonov said the most important objectives of his second term in office are creating conditions for political pluralism and media freedom, cracking down on crime, terrorism, and drug-smuggling, and making Tajik products more competitive on world markets. With regard to foreign policy, Tajikistan will continue strengthening ties with Russia, other Central Asia states, and the world community, he said. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[12] THOUSANDS PROTEST MACEDONIAN ELECTION RESULT...An estimated30,000 people gathered in central Skopje on 15 November charging that the 14 November election of Boris Trajkovski as president was fraudulent, AP reported. The state election commission said Trajkovski received some 77,000 more votes than did rival candidate Tito Petkovski. Turnout was reported to be about 70 percent. Petkovski supporters chanted "thieves, thieves" and waved Macedonian flags. Petkovski's Social Democrats--the former Communists--issued a declaration demanding that the election be annulled. Petkovski charged that vote counting at some 200 polling stations in western Macedonia--which is heavily populated by ethnic Albanians-- was "completely falsified." The election commission said cast ballots outnumbered listed voters in five electoral precincts. PB [13] ...WHILE OSCE GIVES ELECTION LUKEWARM APPROVALElectionobservers from the OSCE said on 15 November that the election was "generally carried out satisfactorily" but that officials should investigate a number of irregularities, particularly in the western part of the country and near the capital, Reuters reported. The OSCE noted that "large-scale proxy voting and instances of multiple voting" took place and that election officials should "carefully scrutinize" complaints of fraud. Mark Stevens, the OSCE's mission head, said there was an "extreme turnout of up to 97 percent" in some regions dominated by ethnic Albanians. He said if all those people did vote it was "a wonderful display of democratic practice." PB [14] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS KOSOVA CONFLICT 'WAKE-UP CALL'George Robertson said on 15 November in Amsterdam that thealliance's air campaign in Yugoslavia was a "wake-up call" to NATO that it must strengthen its military, AFP reported. Robertson, speaking to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, said the alliance's military capabilities are insufficient to meet future security needs. Robertson also complained of European members' poor contribution to the air campaign compared to the U.S. He said European countries contributed less than 5 percent to the NATO operation. In other news, Bernard Kouchner, the UN mission head in Kosova, said in Paris on 16 November that he has received only 1,700 of the some 6,000 international police he has requested for duty in Kosova. Kouchner added that he supports the idea of elections in Kosova before the summer of 2000. PB [15] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH UN BALKAN ENVOYMiloDjukanovic met with special UN envoy to the Balkans Carl Bildt in Podgorica on 15 November, AP reported. Djukanovic and Bildt urged the international community to step up its efforts in protecting the Serbian minority in Kosova. The two also discussed Montenegro's monetary reform and the republic's relations with Belgrade. Bildt said the West "will have to find effective mechanisms to help democratic Montenegro." He also met with Montenegrin Premier Filip Vujanovic. In other news, Ljubisa Krgovic, a member of Montenegro's Monetary Council, said the republic will ignore a ruling by the Yugoslav Constitutional Court that the decision by Montenegro to introduce the German mark as a dual currency is unconstitutional. PB [16] RADIO FREE MONTENEGRO BACK ON AIRThe independent radiostation Free Montenegro was allowed back on the air on 15 November, the Belgrade-based independent agency Beta reported. The radio was banned by the Montenegrin government for not having proper "technical documentation." The radio's editorial board challenged that ruling as politically motivated. The station is broadcasting on FM frequency 103. PB [17] BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY VOWS GREATER COOPERATIONThe threemembers of the Bosnian presidency agreed in a declaration at the UN in New York on 15 November to increase cooperation in an effort to fulfill the Dayton accords and create a multiethnic, democratic country, an RFE/RL correspondent reported. The declaration, proposed by U.S. Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke, Croat Ante Jelavic, Muslim Alija Izetbegovic, and Serb Zivko Radisic pledged to strengthen Bosnia-Herzegovina's central government and condemned "forces advocating ethnic hatred and division." They agreed to establish 400-strong multiethnic border patrol, support one national passport, and create a permanent executive staff for the joint presidency. Bosnia's high commissioner, Wolfgang Petritsch, said he welcomes the statement but added "it is now time that actions supported words." In other news, Bosnian Serb customs officials said they have seized $1.4 million worth of goods since beginning a "Stop Smuggling" campaign two months ago. PB [18] REPORT ON SREBRENICA BLAMES UN AND SERBSA report on the1995 fall of the UN safe haven of Srebrenica released on 15 November sharply criticizes the UN for not using force against Bosnian Serb forces, Reuters reported. The document concludes that a fighting force and air strikes should have been used in Bosnia much sooner. It states that "a deliberate and systematic attempt to terrorize, expel, or murder an entire people must be met decisively with all necessary means." It adds that the UN "failed to do [its] part to help save the people of Srebrenica from the Serbian campaign of mass murder." The report is also critical of the Dutch peacekeepers that were supposed to protect the town. The report covers events before and after the fall of the mainly Muslim town, from which the Red Cross says some 7,300 men and boys are still missing. PB [19] DOCTORS CLAIM TUDJMAN RECOVERINGDoctors attending CroatianPresident Franjo Tudjman said on 16 November that his condition continues to stabilize and that he is recovering from surgery performed two days earlier, Reuters reported, citing Hina. The independent weekly "Nacional" said the president no longer needs a respirator to breath but that his overall condition is critical. Officials from his ruling Croatian Democratic Community said they are not considering asking the Constitutional Court to declare Tudjman incapacitated. Tudjman must formerly declare a date for new parliamentary elections one month in advance. With the vote scheduled for 22 December, he thus has until 22 November in which to do this. If he or someone in his place does not do so, then the elections will be postponed. PB [20] SERBIAN OPPOSITION SAYS PARALLEL GOVERNMENT TO BE SET UPVladan Batic, the coordinator of the opposition movementAlliance for Change (SZP), said on 15 November that a parallel government will soon be established, Beta reported. Batic said he hopes the government will receive international recognition. He said the government will be led by Dragoslav Avramovic. Batic also said that the representatives from 11 parties and associations have agreed to join the SZP electoral coalition, which is now composed of 19 parties, associations, and trade unions. PB [21] SERBIA RELEASES SOME ETHNIC ALBANIAN PRISONERSA group of 47ethnic Albanians was released by the Serbian Justice Ministry on 15 November and taken to Kosova, Beta reported. That group had been imprisoned in Leskovac and Zajecar. The ministry claims to have released 267 of the estimated 2,000 or so prisoners whom Serbian forces took with them to Serbia when they left Kosova ahead of NATO forces. In other news, a Serbian prosecutor in the central town of Pozarevac charged a Kosova Serb with murdering three ethnic Albanians during NATO's air campaign in the province. No trial date has yet been set. PB [22] ROMANIA TO RESUME ENERGY SUPPLIES TO MOLDOVARomaniaannounced on 15 November that it will resume energy supplies to Moldova at midnight the same day, Rompres reported. Romania cut off its energy supplies to Moldova on 11 November, after the Moldovan government fell in a no- confidence vote (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 November 1999). Chisinau experienced power outages after Romania's decision. Romania supplies about 15 percent of Moldova's energy needs. Romanian Prime Minister Radu Vasile said on 15 November that a new contract for energy supplies to Moldova will be signed soon. Moldova owes Romania about $16 million. VG [23] ROMANIAN UNION THREATENS TO START STREET PROTESTSTheNational Trade Union Bloc on 15 November announced that it will launch street protests on 24 November if the government does not meet its demands to improve living standards, according to a 15 November Mediafax report cited by the BBC. The bloc is demanding that the government index wages to inflation, freeze prices for six months, and allow the bloc to take part in negotiations on next year's state budget. Union members warned that the street demonstrations could result in early elections. VG [24] VERHEUGEN REASSURES ROMANIA, BULGARIAEU EnlargementCommissioner Guenter Verheugen said on 15 November that he expects "positive results" for Romania and Bulgaria at the December EU summit in Helsinki, an RFE/RL correspondent reported. He added that he expects both countries to meet the conditions that the EU has set for starting accession negotiations with them. Verheugen was responding to French European Affairs Minister Pierre Moscovici, who expressed concerns that the EU was marginalizing Romania and Bulgaria by imposing extra membership conditions on them. The EU recently asked Romania to reform its orphanage system and Bulgaria to work out a plan for the closure of the Kozloduy nuclear plant before accession negotiations can begin. VG [25] MOLDOVAN CURRENCY LOSING VALUEThe leu fell to a record lowof less than 12 leu to $1 over the weekend, Infotag reported on 15 November. On the black market, it was trading at about 13 leu to $1. Meanwhile, the associate director of the bread producer Franzeluta, Spiridon Danilescu, said bread prices will go up by 10 percent in Chisinau on 16 November. He noted that the wheat and flour market has "practically disappeared" in Moldova as suppliers are refusing to sell to Franzeluta owing to the devaluation of the leu. He said the company is also hampered in making purchases of supplies abroad because of a shortage of dollars in the country's commercial banks. VG [C] END NOTE[26] OVERCOMING CORRUPTIONby Paul GobleMacroeconomic reforms--such as privatization, price liberalization and making national currencies convertible-- are not in themselves sufficient to overcome the corruption now holding back many post-communist countries, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In its annual report on transition economies released last week, the EBRD argues that such reforms have not had the effects on either relations between the state and the economy or hence on the level of corruption that both that bank and most other advocates of reform had expected. And it concludes that post-communist governments must do more to promote fair and transparent laws, strong regulatory agencies, and efficient and effective court systems if they are to bring corruption under control, something the bank said few of these countries have been able to do so far. In short, the solutions to the multifaceted problems of corruption are more often to be found in politics rather than economics. In the past, the EBRD, like other international lenders, has tended to shy away from discussing corruption in these countries, typically treating it as a transitional problem certain to be cured by the kind of free market reforms it and other Western institutions have advocated. But as the bank's report acknowledges, the high levels of corruption in these countries and, more important, the real sources of that corruption have prompted the EBRD to change its approach. The level of corruption in many of these countries is staggering. According to the report, officials in Georgia extract in the form of bribes some 8.1 percent of the annual revenues of companies operating there. In Ukraine, that figure is 6.5 percent, and in the Commonwealth of Independent States as a whole 5.7 percent. By adding to the costs of doing business, bribery keeps many firms from making a profit and thus dooms them to an early end. At the same time, demands for bribes discourage new investors from both within the countries involved and abroad. Indeed, the EBRD found that newly formed companies in these countries had to pay almost twice as much of their revenues in bribes as did more established concerns--5.4 percent, compared with 2.8 percent. And thus bribes serve as yet another barrier to the establishment of new businesses. Perhaps the most striking aspect of this year's EBRD report on transition economies, however, is its focus on what macroeconomic reforms cannot achieve by themselves. The bank noted that most post-communist countries have privatized many firms and reduced direct state intervention in the economy. But those macroeconomic steps have not necessarily reduced "the overall level of intervention or the informal tax imposed on firms in the form of bribes and time spent dealing with government officials." Indeed, the EBRD found that state-owned firms and privatized ones of the same size were forced to pay approximately the same percentage in bribes, an indication that privatization has not had the impact on corruption that many had expected. Sometimes this appears to be because the new owners are the former communist-era managers, who have a special relationship with government officials. Sometimes it is because the firms or the government agencies with which they must deal have one or another kind of monopoly power, something privatization has done little to change. Because economic changes alone have failed to overcome corruption, the EBRD argued that these countries must turn to political means instead. Indeed, in releasing the report, the bank's president, Horst Koehler, said: "I underline this twice. Weak institutions are the main obstacle to economic growth in a number of transition countries." But in contrast to some analysts who have written off any chance for improvement in these societies, the EBRD notes that the fight against corruption can be won by leaders and governments willing to take the political risks involved in breaking with the past and building institutions capable of managing a modern, free market economy. 16-11-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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