Single candidates from Yabloko and the “Union of Right-Wing Forces” (SPS) hope to win the elections in St. Petersburg

Single candidates from the regional branches of the “Union of Right-Wing Forces” (SPS) and the public political movement, Yabloko balloting in the 31st and 44th electoral districts to the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg and in the 209th electoral distract to the State Duma of the RF hope that the democratic forces will win these elections. This statement was made at a joint press conference of the candidates in St. Petersburg on September 25, 2000.

Representative of the Yabloko faction doubts that the rights of the Russian delegation will be restored at the present PACE session

It is unlikely that the issue of restoring the rights of the Russian delegation will be raised at the present session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Such opinion was expressed by one of the leaders of the Yabloko movement Sergei Ivanenko in an interview in Strasbourg, where a session of PACE was scheduled to open on September 25.

Alexei Kudrin notes that the views of the government and Yabloko coincide on many items of the draft budget for 2001

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said that in many principal issues of the draft budget for 2001 the viewpoints of the government and Yabloko coincide. “We discussed the potential for a further rapprochement of our positions, so that Yabloko would support the draft budget at its first reading,” said Alexei Kudrin on September 22 after meeting members of the Yabloko faction and Grigory Yavlinsky at the State Duma.

Duma declines the proposal of the Yabloko faction to consider an inquiry into President Putin on use of the law-enforcement agencies to exert pressure on the mass media

The State Duma declined the proposal of the Yabloko faction to consider,

during the meeting on September 20, a State Duma enquiry on President Putin “On the use of the law-enforcement agencies aiming to exert pressure on the mass media”.

Grigory Yavlinsky thinks that the actions against Media-Most are destroying society’s political structure

The leader of Yabloko and its parliamentary faction in the State Duma, Grigory Yavlinsky, said that the actions undertaken by the authorities against Media-Most are virtually destroying the political structure of society. In an interview with journalists on September 20 Yavlinsky expressed his opinion that today society is virtually organised in such a way that “if political parties and politicians are not given an opportunity to speak, they do not exist."

Duma declines the proposal of the Yabloko faction to consider an inquiry into President Putin on use of the law-enforcement agencies to exert pressure on the mass media

The State Duma declined the proposal of the Yabloko faction to consider,

during the meeting on September 20, a State Duma enquiry on President Putin “On the use of the law-enforcement agencies aiming to exert pressure on the mass media”.

Grigory Yavlinsky: in certain circumstances the Yabloko faction may support the draft budget for 2001 at its first reading

The leader of Yabloko and its parliamentary faction, Grigory Yavlinsky, thinks that if the budget for 2001 obtains additional revenues, they should be used to repay foreign debt. “It would be wrong to use them for anything else,” stressed Yavlinsky in an interview with journalists on September 20, 2000.

The Coalition of the SPS and Yabloko considers participation in the municipal and parliamentary elections to be a priority

The Coalition of the right-wing parties SPS and Yabloko does not consider participation in the by-elections of the deputies to the regional legislative assemblies and heads of municipal entities as its first priority, although it will actively participate in them.

The leadership of Yabloko is pleased that President had paid attention to Grigory Yavlinsky’s budget proposals

The leadership of Yabloko has expressed its satisfaction that the President of the RF Vladimir Putin has paid attention to the budget proposals of Grigory Yavlinsky.

“We are satisfied that the President considers the ideas expressed by the leader of Yabloko,” said Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction Sergei Ivanenko in an interview with journalists.

Delegates of Yabloko faction to participate in the PACE session

Representatives of the Yabloko faction Sergei Ivanenko and Alexander Shishlov will participate in the autumn session of the PACE, scheduled to start in Strasbourg on September 25. This information was provided by Ivanenko, Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction.

The Yabloko faction initiates a parliamentary inquiry into the RF President regarding the latest events concerning the ORT channel and the Media-Most holding

A draft of a parliamentary inquiry into the president of Russia “On the use of the law and enforcement agencies to pressurise the mass-media” will be submitted by the Yabloko faction to the State Duma meeting on September 20, 2000.

Grigory Yavlinsky requests President’s assistance in punishing the people behind the contract killing of Larissa Yudina

At a meeting of the leaders of the Duma factions and the President on September 13, Grigory Yavlinsky expressed on behalf of Yabloko his satisfaction that the journalist of the “Sovietskaya Kalmykia Segodnya” newspaper and one of the leaders of the Yabloko branch in Elista Larissa Yudina had been awarded the Order of Courage (posthumously).

At the same time Yavlinsky asked for the President’s help in ensuring punishment for the people behind the contract killing of Larissa Yudina. He also noted that Yabloko had discovered their names through its own independent investigation.

The St Petersburg branches of Yabloko and the “Union of Right-Wing Forces” have declared their support for single candidates at by-elections to the State Duma and the Legislative Assembly of St Petersburg

On September 12, 2000, the Consultative Council of Yabloko and the “Union of Right-Wing Forces” (SPS) in St. Petersburg declared their support for single candidates at by-elections to the State Duma (the 209th electoral district) and the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg to be held this

autumn

Yabloko to insist on the creation of a parliamentary commission to investigate the accident with “Kursk” submarine

The Yabloko faction in the State Duma is going to insist on an independent parliamentary enquiry tino the accident with the “Kursk” submarine and the circumstances behind the rescue operation. Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction, Sergei Ivanenko, said at a press-conference on September 8, 2000, that the question can be summed up as follows: “either the Duma creates the parliamentary commission and conducts its own independent enquiry, or it

refuses to form such a commission and correspondingly conduct an independent enquiry”.

President of Russia grants Order of Courage (post-mortem) to journalist Larissa Yudina

The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has granted in a new Decree, the Order of Courage (post-mortem) to journalist Larissa Yudina, Editor-in-Chief of the “Sovetskaya Kalmykia” newspaper, for her courage and selflessness demonstrated in fulfilling her professional duties.

Yabloko thinks that granting Larissa Yudina the Order of Courage should not mean that the criminal investigation of her murder is stopped

“The Order of Courage is a deserving reward for Larissa Yudina. It requires courage to be an honest journalist in the present Russia. It is good that the head of the state has realised this fact. However this reward should in no case put an end to the criminal investigation of the murder that happened over two years ago.” This is how Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction, Sergei Ivanenko, commented on the decision of the President of Russia to grant the Order of Courage to the former Editor-in-Chief of the “Sovetskaya Kalmykia” newspaper, Head of the Yabloko branch in Kalmykia Larissa Yudina, who was murdered on June 7, 1998.

Plan of the Yabloko faction includes 79 draft laws

The Yabloko faction will work on draft laws in accordance with its plan for legislative work, including 79 draft laws, which was approved in spring 2000. This decision was taken at the first meeting of the faction held on September 7, 2000.

Mikhail Zadornov: budget revenues for 2000 may total 1.1 trillion roubles

The Deputy Head of the Sub-committee of the State Duma on the Central Bank (the Budget Committee) Mikhail Zadornov (the Yabloko faction) said in an interview with journalists on September 6 that budget revenues or 2000 may amount to 1.1 trillion roubles.

Mikhail Zadornov thinks that the rate of inflation stated in the budget-2001 is understated

The Chairman of the Subcommittee of the State Duma on the Central Bank (the Budget Committee) Mikhail Zadornov thinks that the inflation rate stated in the budget-2001 is understated. Zadornov made this statement in an interview with journalists on September 7, 2000.

Sergei Ivanenko: Draft Resolution on the establishment of a commission to investigate the accident with the “Kursk” submarine was submitted to the

Council of the Duma

One of the leaders of the Yabloko faction in the State Duma, Sergei Ivanenko, together with the Deputy Head of the “Fatherland-All Russia” faction (OVR) Vyacheslav Volodin, prepared and submitted to the State Duma a draft resolution on the establishment of a commission to investigate the accident with the “Kursk” submarine.

Alexander Shishlov: St. Petersburg branches of Yabloko and the SPS are likely to back Anatoli Golov as joint candidate at the by-elections to the Duma (the 209th electoral district)

The St. Petersburg branches of Yabloko and the “Union of Right-Wing Forces” (SPS) are likely to support Anatoli Golov as their joint candidate at the by-elections to the Duma (the 209th electoral district). Alexander Shishlov, Chairman of the regional branch of Yabloko, made this announcement at a press-conference in St. Petersburg on September 5, 2000.

Alexander Shishlov says that a parliamentary commission may be established to investigate the accident with the nuclear submarine “Kursk”

Deputy of the State Duma Alexander Shishlov (the Yabloko faction) said that a parliamentary commission may be set up to investigate the accident with the nuclear submarine “Kursk”.

Shishlov made this statement in an interview with journalists in St. Petersburg on September 5, 2000.

Vladimir Lukin: Vladimir Putin’s visit to Japan represents a perceptible

step forward in increasing trust between the two countries

Vice-Speaker of the State Duma Vladimir Lukin (the Yabloko faction) considers Vladimir Putin’s visit to Japan to mark a perceptible step forward in increasing trust between the two countries.

“Our strategic goal is to improve relationships with Japan. I think that Japan is also in turn interested in improving its relations with Russia,” said Vladimir Lukin in an interview with journalists on September 4, 2000.