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Central Asia / Siberia
NEWSLINE: Central Asia, Transcaucasia and RussiaRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Export of Azerbaijani oil via Russia halted again
The export of oil via the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline was interrupted on 16 February for the third time in two weeks, Turan and Dow Jones Newswires reported. Transneft, which operates the Russian leg of that pipeline, attributed the disruption to ''technical problems.'' Chechen officials in Baku told AFP on 12 February that an earlier stoppage was the result of arson (see ''RFE/RL Newsline,'' 11 February 1999). They complained that Transneft was failing to pay the guards detailed to protect the pipeline. (Liz Fuller)
Turkmenistan to export 120bn cu. meters of gas by 2005
At a ceremony opening a new natural gas compression facility in Kaakhka on 16 February, Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov said his country will export 120 billion cubic meters of natural gas by the year 2005, ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported. Niyazov said that by then, the Trans-Caspian and Trans-Iranian pipelines are expected to be functioning, along with the Trans-Russian one. Niyazov said the new compression facility will ensure ''stable operation'' of the gas turbine at the Bezmenin power plant, installed by the U.S. company General Electric, and ensure ''more reliable'' supplies of gas to Ashgabat. The Kaakhka facility was built by the Ukrainian company Ukrgazstroi in part payment of that country's debt for Turkmen gas supplies. Niyazov noted that a deal has been struck whereby Ukraine will receive 20 billion cubic meters of gas this year. (Bruce Pannier)
Kazakhstan deports Uighurs to China . . .
Three ethnic Uighurs are being returned to China by the authorities in Kazakhstan. According to a statement issued by Amnesty International on 15 February, the three fled China's western Xinjiang province late last year and were arrested as they crossed into Kazakhstan's territory. All three are wanted by the Chinese authorities for political activities. (B.P.)
. . . While another gets 14 years' jail in Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court on 16 February upheld a ruling by a district court whereby Jalal Kasarji was sentenced to 14 years in prison, RFE/RL correspondents in Bishkek reported. In December, Kasarji, an ethnic Uighur and a citizen of Turkey, was found guilty of illegal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest. He and two other Uighurs were originally charged with possession and distribution of Wahhabi literature, training terrorists, and inciting inter- ethnic hatred. However, none of those charges was made against them in court, and the other two Uighurs were freed. (B.P.)
Armenian minister denies suspects were tortured
Interior and National Security Minister Serzh Sarkisian on 16 February explicitly denied allegations by a member of the Armenian Helsinki Association that two of Deputy Interior Minister Artsrun Markarian's bodyguards have been subjected to torture during the investigation into Markarian's death, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. The human rights monitor and the mothers of the two bodyguards told journalists earlier that day that the two men have been severely beaten. They also said no charges have yet been brought against the two, who were arrested on 10 February on suspicion of murdering Markarian. Under Armenian law, a suspect may be detained for no longer that 96 hours before being charged with a crime. LF
Mistreatment of Azeris in Georgian military alleged
Kamil Kireji, chairman of the Ozan society, formed in 1998 to protect the interests of Georgia's 250,000 strong ethnic Azerbaijani minority, told journalists in Baku on 16 February that hazing and gratuitous violence against ethnic Azeris serving in the Georgian armed forces have increased dramatically since 1998, Turan and ANS-Press reported. As a result, 70 Azeris serving in Tbilisi deserted from their unit earlier this month. Kireji said that repeated protests to the Georgian president and defense minister have failed to elicit any response to date. (L.F.)
Shevardnadze addresses Georgian parliament
In his annual address to the parliament on 16 February, Eduard Shevardnadze advocated amending the Georgian constitution to provide for the reintroduction of the post of prime minister, which was abolished in 1995, Reuters and Interfax reported. But he said this change will not affect the existing principle of ''strong president - strong parliament.'' Shevardnadze said that his administration's priorities are establishing ''mutual respect, good neighborly relations and cooperation with Russia.'' He also called on the U.N. Security Council to undertake unspecified ''decisive measures envisaged by U.N. rules'' to resolve the conflict in Abkhazia, arguing that failure to do so will reflect adversely not only on the U.N. but also on Georgia's international prestige. (L.F.)
Georgian displaced persons protest
Bearing placards calling for Georgia to leave the CIS and urging a ''Croatian model'' in resolving the Abkhaz conflict, some 500 Georgian displaced persons blocked the bridge linking Abkhazia with the rest of Georgia on 16 February, according to Caucasus Press and ''Rezonansi''. They were protesting the proposal by Abkhaz leader Vladislav Ardzinba to allow the return of Georgians to Abkhazia's southernmost Gali Raion beginning 1 March. In particular, the displaced persons object to Abkhazia's insistence on compliance with the provision of the April 1994 agreement on repatriation that empowers Abkhazia to screen the applications of would-be returnees in order to exclude persons suspected of committing war crimes. (L.F.)
Income under-reporting hides one fifth of Russian economy
About one-fifth of Russia's economy operates in the ''shadows,'' with businesses concealing or under-reporting their income in order to avoid taxes, according to the State Statistic Committee's estimates, Interfax reported on 15 February. The amount of income hidden varies by season and across sectors, with unreported agricultural income rising in the summer and the fall. The trade sector conceals 60 percent of its income, compared with 10-11 percent in industry. (Julie A. Corwin)
Outstanding leader or creative campaigner?
Primorskii Krai Governor Yevgenii Nazdratenko has declared that he won a $1 million cash prize from the Bahamas-based World Aristocratic Academy for being one of the world's outstanding leaders, the ''Moscow Times'' reported on 16 February. Past winners of the prize were reportedly New York Mayor Rudolf Guiliani, actors Harrison Ford and Demi Moore, King Juan Carlos of Spain, and the Russian pop group Na-na, but Guiliani's office denied ever having heard of the organization when contacted by the newspaper. Repeated attempts to contact the group in the Bahamas failed. Nazdratenko's political foes believe that the World Aristocratic Academy is a fiction concocted by Nazdratenko to boost his popularity before upcoming gubernatorial elections. They also claim that the money, which Nazdratenko said he would donate to needy people in the Krai, came from the region's budget. (J.A.C.)
Murdoch reportedly eyeing channel TV-6
Media magnate Rupert Murdoch has expressed an interest in purchasing shares in TV-6, ''one of Russia's most politically independent central TV channels,'' ''Kommersant-Daily'' reported on 16 February. According to the newspaper, Murdoch is primarily interested in TV-6, not Russian Public Television (ORT). Earlier reports of his interest in ORT prompted one State Duma deputy to submit draft legislation stipulating that no foreigner or foreign entity be allowed own shares in ORT. According to the newspaper, the channel, which is owned by Eduard Sagalaev (37.5 percent), Boris Berezovskii (37.5 percent), LUKOIL (15 percent), and the Moscow Science and Technology Committee (10 percent), needs money urgently because of the collapse in its advertising revenues. The newspaper predicts that Moscow Science and Technology Committee head Vladimir Yevtushenko, ''a protege of Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov,'' will oppose the sale. (J.A.C.)
(c)1998 RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
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RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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February 19, 1999
