THE PRESIDENT HAS A CHANCE TO RECONCILE THE CHAMBERS
Vremya MN, July 15, 2000, p. 3
Alexander Shokhin, a Duma deputy: “The law on the formation of the Federation Council could be the issue, which could make the Constitutional majority in the Duma disappear. The agreements, which have been reached, will not satisfy the right wing, in particular the agreement to appoint senators by the decision of regional leaders. At the same time, an agreement regarding the right to withdraw them has not been reached.”
Valery Fyodorov, Deputy Director of the Center for Political Conjuncture in Russia: “Let’s see who in the Duma will oppose the presidential law and the veto of the Federation Council. Unity and the People’s Deputy group are not strong enough to oppose Putin. Berezovsky’s statements regarding his intention to create an opposition comprised of representatives of the pro-government factions have been rejected by leader of Unity, Boris Gryzlov. The right are in ideological opposition not to the president, but to the governors. That is why in this case, they will support the veto. Actually, the fate of veto will be decided by the centrists: the Fatherland-All Russia bloc and the Russian Regions.”
Vyacheslav Nikonov, President of the Politika Foundation: “There are no signs that the Duma will stop supporting Putin. The deputies have already expressed a certain independence when discussing the draft laws submitted by the government, in particular the draft tax laws. But this was an attack on the government, but not on the president. The possibility that the Duma will oppose the president is theoretical and is it unlikely to happen in the near future,.”
PUTIN IN URALS
Izvestia, July 15, 2000, p. 3
On July 14, Vladimir Putin met with the governors of the regions, which belong to the Urals federal zone. Putin told them that the governors should remain strong, but also noted that the federal center will not become weaker.
The president and the governors then headed for Nizhny Tagil to the arms show UralExpoArms 2000. Experts explained to the president the tactic-technical characteristics of the planes and artillery systems displayed at the show. They also presented a few models to him.
After visiting the show, the president visited with metallurgists.
THE JUSTICE MINISTRY EXPANDS
Izvestia, July 15, 2000, p. 3
On July 14, at a meeting of the heads of the bodies of justice of the republics and regions, which belong to the Southern federal zone, Justice Minister Yury Chaika announced that the Federal Department of the Justice Ministry of the Russian Federation for the Southern federal zone had been established. Such structures will be created in all federal zones. They will verify the compliance of regional laws with federal legislation.
PENSIONS IN MOSCOW TO BE RAISED TO 1,000 RUBLES
Komsomolskaya Pravda, July 15, 2000, p. 2
On July 14, 2000,Yury Luzhkov visited the editorial office of “Izvestia” and expressed his points of view on the most urgent issues of Russian life.
The Federation Council is the most powerful guarantor of stability in the state system. Each of its members is a representative of the people’s will.
As far as the presidential envoys are concerned, I think everything is alright there. The state’s vertical authority will become stronger.
The demand by the General Prosecutor’s Office that Potanin pay $140 million for Norilsky Nickel, for which he allegedly underpaid during privatization, is an absurdity. Only the court can make such a decision.
In a few hours, I will sign a decree on raising pensions in Moscow to 1,000 rubles beginning on August 1.
THE URALS AND PRIVOLZHSKY MILITARY DISTRICTS HAVE MERGED
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 15, 2000, p. 2
The issue of the merger of the Ural and Privolzhsky military districts was discussed last Wednesday in Moscow at the collegium of the Russian Defense Ministry. The plans to merge these military districts have been approved. It is planned that the headquarters of the Privolzhsky-Ural military district will be located in Yekaterinburg.
SURRENDER OF CHECHEN GUERRILLAS IS EXPECTED
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 15, 2000, p. 2
In the near future, fifty Chechen guerrillas will surrender to the federal forces in the Vedeno canyon. This statement was made on July 14 by Akhmed Kadyrov. According to Kadyrov, these people have nothing to do with the Wahhabis. He also stated that they are not involved in kidnappings. At the same time, Kadyrov stated that he will never protect those who kidnap and kill people in Chechnya.
The federal forces have destroyed 11 bases and camps of the Chechen separatists and nine weapon depots.
IVANOV PREPARES PUTIN’S VISIT TO CHINA
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 15, 2000, p. 2
On July 15, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and his Japanese counterpart have met in Beijing. This meeting was held on the eve of the visit of the Russian president to China which is scheduled for July 18 – 19. The positions of the Russian Federation and China regarding strategic stability and anti-missile defense coincide. But there are a few unsettled issues between China and Russia. It is supposed that the territorial issue will become the most difficult subject in the discussion.
YOUNG RUSSIAN TERRORISTS CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR AN EXPLOSION AT THE FSS RECEPTION DESK
Rossiiskie Vesti, No. 28, July, 2000, p. 9
Officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSS) and the Ministry of the Interior have recently uncovered several youth organizations that had apparently devised schemes to seize power in Russia . Those organizations were fairly serious – they have claimed responsibility for more than one terrorist act already.
The so-called Revvoensovet , the Russian Communist Youth Union of the Bolsheviks and the New Revolutionary Alternative claimed responsibility for most of the attempted and successful terrorist acts.
Officers of the Russian secret services have discovered two more radical leftist youth organizations, namely Khraniteli Radugi and the so-called Terrorist Department founded and headed by Andrei Sokolov, a former active member of the RKSM(b) who has already spent two years in prison for the organization of a bombing attack at Vagankovo cemetery. Members of Khraniteli Radugi have been devising plans to organize a series of ecological terrorist acts.
Recently, FSS officers discovered a plastic barrel buried in ground in the arboretum on Shipilovsky Proezd in Moscow. In the barrel were fifteen kilograms of ammonal, a clock connected to electric cables, seven blasting caps and other materials for the manufacture of a makeshift bomb. As a result, Mr. Sokolov’s apartment was searched. Police officers confiscated a hand-made revolver, sixty rounds, two remote-controlled mines, 150 grams of ammonal that Mr. Sokolov had manufactured himself and a manual for the manufacture of explosives and mines. All the components of the mines, which were discovered in Mr. Sokolov’ apartment and in the arboretum, were revealed to be identical to those used for the explosions near the FSS reception desk in April and August 1998.
The perpetrators of those terrorist acts have also been detained. As we have mentioned, the NRA claimed responsibility for those terrorist acts and for several others. It organized the explosions “as a protest against the bourgeois terror that has been unleashed on radical opponents of the regime by the police system of the modern Russian state.”
OLIGARCHS CONSPIRE TO DESTROY PRESIDENT PUTIN’S PRESIDENCY
Zavtra, No. 28, July, 2000, p. 1
According to our sources, last weekend, Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Gusinsky had a conversation, during which they reportedly achieved a “reconciliation among the oligarchs” and devised a strategy based on joint actions to “remove President Putin and his St. Petersburg grouping” from their positions of authority.(…)
FIRST 100 DAYS OF VLADIMIR PUTIN’S PRESIDENCY
Novoe Vremya, No. 28, July, 2000, p. 10
A symbolic date – the first 100 days of Vladimir Putin’s presidency – has passed virtually unnoticed. When asked to appraise the new president’s performance within that period, the majority of respondents (58%) stated that their attitude towards him has not changed since the day of the presidential election; 17% replied that their attitude towards President Putin has improved; 14% stated that their attitude towards the president has worsened and another 11% had difficulty answering the question. In other words, during the past 100 days, the general public’s attitude towards President Putin has practically remained unchanged.
The Russian people hope that the new president will be to control the oligarchs. Correspondingly, 21% believe that “President Putin will eliminate the oligarchs’ influence on the state”; 24% hope that he will at least “limit the oligarchs’ excessive influence.” Only 13% of respondents predicted that “the oligarchs will eventually acquire complete control over the state.”
