CITY FATHERS OF VORONEZH ARE SPLIT INTO TWO CAMPS
Izvestia, July 29, 1999, p. 2
Some of them stand by Alexander Tsapin, mayor of Voronezh, but the others have elected themselves a new mayor, a certain Vasily Kochergin. Tsapin’s supporters have persuaded two “renegades” to reconsider their decisions, and their camp now has a quorum which can make legal decisions.
Kochergin and Co. responded immediately. On the morning of July 28, he turned up at the mayor’s office accompanied by OMON servicemen and essentially attempted to stage an armed coup. Nobody knows where he got the OMON. According to some reports, they had come from Moscow: they were a kind of loan from a police general close to the president.
Criminal charges have been pressed concerning the attempted coup on the municipal scale.
INDIAN SUBMARINE REPAIRED IN SEVEROMORSK
Izvestia, July 29, 1999, p. 2
The “Sinduvir” submarine of the Indian Navy has been repaired at the Zvezdochka facility in the town of Severomorsk. This was the first such export contract for the enterprise. The job took two years, and the submarine was tested recently in the White Sea.
Mr. Sakhi, Indian Naval Attache: India values the quality of the work done on the submarine.
ANOTHER SITTING OF THE CABINET WILL TAKE PLACE TODAY
Rossiiskaya Gazeta, July 29, 1999, p. 1
Economics Minister Andrei Shapovaliants will give a report on federal programs adopted for specific purposes. The agenda also includes discussion of insurance tariffs for 2000 to provide mandatory social insurance in case of industrial accidents and occupation hazards. The government will also discuss the construction and reconstruction of valuable cultural objects following a report delivered by Culture Minister Vladimir Yegorov.
Sergei Shoigu, Emergency Minister, will also have his moment in the spotlight. His report will concern the allocation of funds to the Chukotka Autonomous District for the social sphere and to Kabardino-Balkaria for post-hurricane reconstruction.
THE KHRUNICHEV CENTER AND MARTIN-LOCKHEED SIGN A COOPERATION AGREEMENT
Rossiiskaya Gazeta, July 29, 1999, p. 1
Anatoly Kiselev, General Director of the Khrunichev Center, and Thomas Corcoran, President of the Space and Strategic Missile Sector of the American corporation Martin-Lockheed, have signed an agreement on joint use of boosters of the Angara family.
Modernization of the Plesetsk launchpad is envisaged within the framework of the cooperation.
RUSSIAN TROOPERS ARE STILL BEING FERRIED TO KOSOVO
Trud, July 29, 1999, p. 1
The deployment of the Russian peacekeeping contingent will be completed by August 6, and it will be able to fully carry out its tasks only after that. Until now, only 3,000 officers and soldiers, 140 armored vehicles, and 451 cars have been transported to the Balkans. Yesterday, several landing ships of the Black Sea Fleet turned up at the Saloniki harbor with reinforcements. This news was announced by Colonel General Georgy Shpak, Commander of the Airborne Troops, whose subordinates comprise the nucleus of the peacekeeping contingent.
Apart from Kosovo, Russian troopers are on peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Abkhazia. Shpak is of the opinion that situation in Abkhazia is even more hairy than the one in the Balkans. A week ago, unidentified terrorists opened fire on the Russian checkpoint and wounded two peacekeepers.
According to the general, all difficulties and problems notwithstanding, the Airborne Troops have retained their high combat readiness. Their numerical strength is to be increased to 5,600.
PEASANTS SPLIT FROM THE COMMUNISTS FOR GOOD
Trud, July 29, 1999, p. 1
Mikhail Lapshin, leader of the Agrarian Party, has told reporters that peasants have split from the Communists for good and will run in the parliamentary election independently. The Agrarians hope to scale the 5% barrier.
Not so long ago, the Agrarian Party was friends with the Communists and intended to run side by side with the Communist party in the election.
Lapshin still hopes to find allies and establish “full-fledged representation of peasants in the Duma” to protect the interests of villages.
THE FIRST VISIT OF STEPASHIN TO THE UNITED STATES IS OVER
ORT (Russian Public Television), News program, July 28, 1999, 12:00
The goal of the visit was successfully accomplished: Premier Sergei Stepashin met with Vice President Gore within the framework of the Russian-American commission for economic and technological cooperation.
The sitting of the Stepashin-Gore Commission was the central event of the visit. Both co-chairmen agreed afterwards that the sitting had been productive.
Stepashin also had a meeting with President Clinton, and the conversation lasted almost an hour.
Stepashin: Together with the vice president, we informed Clinton of all agreements we had reached: concerning commercial and economic issues, sanctions, the problems of Iran and Yugoslavia… We also discussed at some length the problems of START-2, START-3, and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense Treaty.
Russia needs the status of a country with market-based economy. Stepashin made speeches to businessmen and the US Congress, assuring his audiences that the process of reforms is already irreversible, that investing in the Russian economy is safe, and that the industry is on the rise but needs credits. Wolfenson, President of the World Bank, promised that Russia would get the money.
Stepashin gave an interview to CNN today and answered all kinds of questions about the economy, politics, and the social situation in the election year. 1999 is an election year for Americans as well.
FOREIGN MINISTER IVANOV: RUSSIA IS ACTIVATING THE ASIAN DIRECTION OF ITS FOREIGN POLICY
ORT (Russian Public Television), News program, July 28, 1999, 12:00
Russia wants to have long-term and productive cooperation with the ACEAN countries and a broader dialogue with them on all topics, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov announced today in Singapore.
Ivanov: The prospects are very promising. The ACEAN countries represented at the Singapore forum welcome the activation of the Asian direction of Russia’s foreign policy. They want to cooperate with Russia and see it as a major player in the affairs of the Asia-Pacific region.
Ivanov met with his Indian counterpart and announced afterwards that the Russian-Indian declaration on strategic partnership is all but ready for the signing.
The forum was another confirmation of how similar the positions of Russia, India, and China are regarding many international problems. The creation of a political alliance was not discussed, however.
ANOTHER TERRORIST ACT IN DAGESTAN CLAIMS THREE LIVES
NTV (Independent Television), “Segodnya” program, July 28, 1999, 12:00
A remote-controlled device consisting of two 122 mm shells blew up at 08:20 this morning on the outskirts of the town of Buinaksk in Dagestan.
The device was triggered when a military URAL truck of the 136th Motorized Infantry Division of the Internal Troops drove by. Two servicemen died instantly and another one soon afterwards in the hospital. Two servicemen reported wounds of varying severity and were hospitalized too.
Law enforcement agencies interpret the explosion as a deliberate terrorist act. A team of officials from the Military Prosecutor’s Office under Major General Tin Magomedov, Dagestani Military Commissar, is in charge of the investigation.
