OFFICIALS DIVIDE FOREIGN PROPERTY
Izvestia, July 5, 2000, p. 2
Presidential aide Vladimir Kozhin has stated that responsibility for all of Russia’s property abroad will be divided between two departments: the Presidential Administration and the Foreign Ministry. This concerns several thousand buildings in 120 countries.
This statement could lead to some very serious disagreements. Firstly, at present 14 bodies administer Russian property abroad. The Presidential Administration, the Russian Foreign Center, and the RIA-Novosti news agency are among them. Secondly, the Property Ministry is not on the list of future administrators of state property abroad.
PUTIN WANTS ACTION AFTER FAILURE OF ELECTIONS IN INGUSHETIA
Rossiyskaya Gazeta, July 5, 2000, p. 1
The echo of the Nazran scandal has reached Moscow. After an unprecedented event – the cancellation of elections in Ingushetia – Central Election Commission Chairman Alexander Veshniakov has reported to the president about the situation.
Veshniakov suggested to the president that a special working group should be formed to analyze the practice of elections in Russia and prepare proposals for making amendments to the legislation. This decision is needed in order to prevent problems with early voting, as occurred in Ingushetia.
Vladimir Putin noted that those who are responsible for the failure of the election in Ingushetia should be punished in accordance with the law.
WEALTH AND POVERTY STATISTICS
Trud, July 5, 2000, p. 2
According to the State Statistics Committee, 33.7% of all revenue in Russia goes to the richest 10% of people. This is 7% less than in the first quarter of 1999. The proportion of people living in poverty has decreased. However, the figures are still not encouraging: 41.2% of the population are living below the poverty line. Nevertheless, this figure is lower than the result for 1999.
KOLESNIKOV: SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK
Moskovsky Komsomolets, July 5, 2000, p. 2
One of the most powerful generals of the Interior Ministry, former Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Kolesnikov, has been appointed as an adviser to the General Prosecutor.
FIGHTING THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE
Tribuna, July 5, 2000, p. 1
Activists in Lvov, Ukraine, are uniting “to save Ukraine from the dominance of the Russian language”. Recruiting is being carried out in the city center, near the monument to Taras Shevchenko, by members of the Ukrainian Republican Party. The core of this group consists of nationalists experienced in “fighting for liberation”.
According to the organizers of this protest action, members will have special IDs and will cooperate with police and municipal volunteer troops. One of their tasks can be summarized as follows: “If you notice that someone is speaking Russian in a shop or a cafe, appeal to the law enforcement agencies to take action against those who infringe regulations passed by local government on languages in Lvov.”
