|
 Russian Lawmakers Likely to Approve Nuclear-Fuel Bill
Jeanne Whalen, Staff Reporter
The Wall Street Journal via Dow Jones
Russia reprocesses its own spent nuclear fuel and has a special
agreement that allows the import of some spent fuel from the former Soviet republic
of Ukraine, scene of the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986 at the Chernobyl
power plant. The new bill would allow about 20,000 metric tons to be
imported over the next decade, which would give Russia about 10% of the world market,
according to the ministry.
Russia Debates Proposals to Profit From Nuclear Waste
Jeanne Whalen and Neil King Jr., Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal via Dow Jones
A law to allow nuclear-waste imports would be good news for two
competing plans to bring spent fuel into Russia. One plan is backed by the
Non-Proliferation Trust, a U.S. organization looking to send as much
as 10,000 tons of nuclear waste to Russia for storage. NPT is run by a number of former
U.S. intelligence and military officials, including former Central Intelligence
Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation director William Webster.
The other competitor is Russia's own Ministry of Atomic Energy,
known as Minatom, which has aggressively lobbied legislators to pass the
measure with promises of big budget revenues and stringent safety controls. Unlike
the NPT plan, Minatom wants the right to reprocess the fuel so it can be used
again in nuclear reactors.
Activists Win Reprieve in Nuclear Fight
Yevgenia Borisova, Staff Writer
Moscow Times, Friday, Mar. 23, 2001. Page 1
Opponents who have been fiercely protesting a plan to import 20,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel to Russia won a reprieve Thursday
when the State Duma decided to delay a vote on the bill until at least early April.
Interview of Grigory Yavlinsky for the “Geroi Dnya”
(“Hero of the Day”) programme, the NTV
December 21, 2000
Svetlana Sorokina: You say that establishing control over the mass media is part of the plan to
create a strong vertical power structure. Do you think that they will draw a line there? Is it
possible to create a controlled democracy in our country, as some political technologists say?
Yavlinsky: A controlled democracy brings you along a road that leads to a dead end. A 21st
century economy can only be created by free people, people who have all available information
about developments in their country and in the world, people who independently analyse their
own lives and develop the policies of their country.
HARD TALK with Tim Sebastian and Grigory Yavlinsky,
Leader of Russia’s Yabloko Party
The BBC, March 8, 2001
Tim Sebastian: What about now? What should the West be doing? We have a new administration in the
White House which is not so keen on dropping huge sums of money into Russia. What should the West be
doing? How can the West influence developments in Russia?
Grigory Yavlinsky: I think that the task that the West faces in this sense is very difficult. You must have a
transparent, clear and honest policy towards Russia. I am not sure that you are able to establish such a
policy.
Russia’s First Political Crisis of the 21st Century is Over
Dmitry Kamyshev, Konstantin Smirnov
Kommersant-VLAST, March 2001, No. 11, pp. 14-16
Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov did not attend the Duma debate on the no confidence motion last week,
despite a personal invitation from Duma Speaker Gennadi Seleznev. On March 14, he attributed his actions to
his belief that only one faction was out to get him – rather than the whole Duma. The prime minister was
referring to the Communist faction, which initiated the no-confidence motion...
Kremlin interested in a Duma Reshuffle
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Ivan Rodin, March 17, 2001, p. 3
Some Duma sources claim that Primakov is insisting that any changes should not alter the present political
balance in the Duma, or at least alter it proportionally. In other words, Primakov is demanding that "minor
factions," i.e. the Union of Right Forces (URF), Fatherland-All Russia (FAR), Yabloko, Russian Regions, and
the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), should gain control of some committees – not only those which have
been controlled by the Communists until now, but also those belonging to Unity.
Nuclear Bill Debate Heats Up
The Moscow Times, Yevgenia Borisova, Mar. 21, 2001, 1:07 AM Moscow Time
"Some cash will be paid as taxes, some to build new transportation systems, some to build new
[reprocessing] facilities and some to maintain them and pay the staff. There will be no cash to spent on
ecological programs," he told the "Itogi" program on NTV. But the Nuclear Power Ministry will never be held
accountable if it gets its way in opening a special fund in which to place cash from the nuclear program, said
Kuznetsov and Deputy Mitrokhin.
Mixed views on Russia's business climate
Reuters, Daniel Bases, March 20
Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of Russia's liberal Yabloko party and member of the lower house of parliament, or
Duma, told the conference that the stable business environment doesn't outweigh concerns about Putin's
"very strong tendencies in creating some kind of corporate system" that could impinge on individual
freedoms.
"There is a very clear feeling that the authorities are absolutely not prepared for any kind of internal criticism
in the country," he said.
Conference Debates Putin's Vision
Associated Press, Steve Gutterman, March 19, 2001
Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the liberal Yabloko party and a lawmaker in the lower parliament house, the State
Duma, said there are signs Russia may be moving toward a system restricting democracy.
"There is a very clear feeling that the authorities are absolutely not prepared to accept any internal criticism,"
Yavlinsky said. "They are very rigid to criticism."
Party Building is Postponed
Alexandre Sadchikov, Izvestiya, March 19, 2001
This week the Duma Committee on Public Associations should formally finish preparations of the
draft law on political parties for its second reading. However, predictions that the document will
not be adopted before the end of the session are frequently heard in the Duma.
First, all the interested parties - the President, the Central Electoral Committee and deputies of
the Duma – were full of enthusiasm, writing plans for party building in the Russian state...
Speech in the State Duma
by the First Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction Sergei Ivanenko during the discussion
of the draft resolution of the Duma “On No-Confidence Vote to the
Government”
Moscow, the State Duma, March 14, 2001
Today the debate about the Cabinet’s performance has been replaced
totally completely replaced by
back-and-white game and intrigues. That is why once again we call on the
deputies of the Duma not to
participate in this farce.
Mikhail Amosov (the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, leader of the Yabloko faction): the adoption of the law on parties
represents a positive trend in Russia’s politics
Rosbalt Information Agency, March 12, 2001
St. Petersburg. The adoption of the law on parties represents a positive trend in Russia’s politics,
said Mikhail Amosov, leader of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St.
Petersburg. According to Amosov, “until present the parties served on one the hand as an
instrument for attaining personal goals during election campaigns and disappeared immediately
after the election campaigns and, on the other hand, were objects to criticism as conductors of
somebody’s ideas.”
Russian
Duma Rejects Government No-Confidence Motion
By Ron Popeski, Reuters, March 14, 2001
Boris Nemtsov of the Union of Right-Wing Forces said the government was a ''ship standing
still'' failing to provide heat and electricity to vast regions. Sergei Ivanenko of the liberal Yabloko
party spoke of ``colossal instability'' in the Kremlin.
Bush Says Russia Not Enemy But Could Be Threat
Reuters, March 13, 2001
President George W. Bush said on Tuesday that his administration
planned to make it clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin that it did not see Russia as an
enemy, although it may be a threat.
Make Russia a Better Neighbor
By Anatol Lieven and Celeste Wallander
The New York Times
March 14, 2001
American economic and security interests in the former Soviet Union are
fundamentally linked. An economically stable Russia, integrated into the Western economy,
would be far less likely to want to damage Western interests or dominate its neighbors, like
Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova. Stable and prosperous neighbors would in turn support Russia's
new generation of political and business leaders who seek success in the global market through
domestic economic reform.
Inessa Slavutinskaya: An Administrative Trick
Profile, March 12, 2001
Alexander Voloshin, Head of the Presidential Administration, has decided to prevent President
Vladimir Putin from dismissing the Cabinet on his own. For this purpose, he has launched a
campaign for a vote of no-confidence in the Cabinet.
|
