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*** Due Diligence *** Business Intelligence *** Asset Retrieval *** *** Debt Recovery *** Disappearance Response *** *** TT Meerkat 500 ***  TT Business Intelligence Report Vol. 3, No. 63, 29 January 2004 Business Intelligence, Crime, Corruption and Debt in C&E/SE Europe and the FSU UPCOMING CONFERENCES FOULDS INGHAM'S "ANTI MONEY LAUNDERING AND OPERATIONAL RISK MANAGEMENT 2004" This event will take place on 3-4 February 2004 at the The Royal Hotel Luxembourg, Luxembourg. For further information, please contact Susan Nelson, tel: +44 (0)20 8238 5905; fax: +44 (0)20 8238 5901; email: [email protected]; W: http://luxembourg.moneylaundering2004.com THE EUROPEAN FINANCE CONVENTION'S "1st CONGRESS ON FINANCING INFRASTRUCTURE, MUNICIPALITIES & SUB-NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS IN CENTRAL, EASTERN AND SE EUROPE" This event will take place on 17-18 February 2004 at the Hotel Intercontinental, Vienna, Austria. For further information, please contact Claudio Cassuto, tel: +44 (0)20 7381 9291; fax: +44 (0)870 134 0064; email: [email protected]; W: www.euroconvention.com THE EUROPEAN FINANCE CONVENTION'S "2nd e-FINANCE CONGRESS FOR CENTRAL, EASTERN & SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE" This event will take place on 29-30 March 2004 at the Hotel Lev,Ljubljana, Slovenia. For further information, please contact Claudio Cassuto, tel: +44 (0)20 7381 9291; fax: +44 (0)870 134 0064; email: [email protected]; W: www.euroconvention.com BELARUS STILL NO DEAL BETWEEN BELARUS, GAZPROM Senior executives from Belarus's state-run gas-transport company, Beltranshaz, and Russian Gazprom failed to reach an agreement on 26 January on Russian gas deliveries to Belarus in 2004, Belapan reported. Participants in the talks included Belstranhaz Director Pyotr Pyotukh and Gazprom chief Aleksei Miller. "The 'romantic' period is over, and our Belarusian colleagues put forward more realistic proposals regarding delivery terms," the Gazprom press office quoted Miller as saying. "However, despite some progress in the talks, we have so far not reached mutually acceptable agreements." Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the same day that Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka confirmed in a recent telephone conversation that Belarus is ready "to switch over to market relations with Russian gas suppliers," RIA-Novosti reported. Putin reportedly instructed his cabinet to consider providing Belarus with a state loan to pay for future gas deliveries. The Kremlin appears to be using negotiations over gas supplies in 2004 to force Minsk into higher gas prices and the sale of a stake in Beltranshaz. (RFE/RL 27.i.04) BOSNIA BOSNIAN MUSLIM PARTY WANTS GOVERNMENT SHAKEUP The presidency of the Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA) passed a no-confidence resolution on 19 January regarding the government of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation. The government consists of three parties, of which the SDA is the most powerful. The SDA plans to launch talks soon with its partners on forming a new cabinet. In recent weeks, several SDA leaders have criticized Prime Minister Ahmet Hadzipasic, saying that he has better relations with the international community than with his own party, the SDA. Hadzipasic has nonetheless reportedly refused to submit his resignation. (RFE/RL 21.i.04) BULGARIA BULGARIAN OPPOSITION URGES GOVERNMENT TO CURB CRIME OR GO Rumen Ovcharov, deputy chairman of the Socialist-dominated opposition Coalition for Bulgaria, has called on the government to either accept his party's crime-fighting proposals, or resign, mediapool.bg reported. The move came after four people were killed in a 19 January bomb blast in Sofia, which is believed to be the latest in a string of underworld slayings. Socialist Party (BSP) Chairman Sergey Stanishev on 20 January said Bulgaria faces the question of "who is stronger -- the state or organized crime?" BTA reported. Stanishev said his party considers a recently adopted anticrime strategy to be insufficient and will therefore discuss moving a no confidence vote. The conservative opposition Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) also hinted that they might initiate such a vote. Sofia Mayor Stefan Sofiyanski, the leader of the opposition Union of Liberal Democrats, countered that organized crime cannot be fought with no-confidence votes. (RFE/RL 22.i.04) CROATIA SANADER'S MAGIC CARPET RIDE Ever since the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won general elections in November last year, its president, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, has been doing his best to assure the public that Zagreb is moving full speed ahead toward European Union and NATO membership. Sanader is convinced that 2004 will be the crucial year for the country's integration aspirations and, with that in mind, he his entourage have embarked on an ambitious diplomatic road trip around the Brusselsasbourg-Washington "magic circle." Trying to achieve the most favorable status for Croatia at the upcoming June NATO summit in Istanbul, Croatian Parliamentary Speaker Vladimir Seks and Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul on 20 January visited Washington and attended a series of meetings with U.S. senators and congressmen. Zuzul also attended talks in Brussels on 22 January and pledged to cooperate with the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Asked to comment on the U.S. media's assessments that Sanader's cabinet is pro-American, Zuzul said the cabinet was "pro-Croatian" and that the government hoped to strengthen relations with the United States because "it is in the interest of the Croatian people." Zuzul also said the new ruling team had a different stance toward Washington than the previous center-left government. "The Social Democratic Party (SDP) neglected the importance of NATO," he said, adding that the new government will work on improving ties with the Alliance. Zuzul's predecessor, Tonino Picula, however, shrugged off such claims. He pointed to several significant developments in Croatia-NATO relations during his term, including the country's admission into the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program in 2000, the joining of the Vilnius Group of NATO aspirants in 2001, and making the further step of admission into the Membership Action Plan (MAP) the following year. "MAP formally marked the institutionalization of relations with NATO on the path toward full membership," Picula said. Over the past few years, he added, "Croatia has changed its status from a country receiving security assistance to a country participating in peace operations around the world." Analyst Vlatko Cvrtila of Zagreb University's school of political science is convinced that the circumstances in the region are in Zagreb's favor. "Unlike Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia has created the image of a country which, by reforming itself and its armed forces, contributes to regional stability," he said. If NATO decides to accept new members in Istanbul, Zagreb will certainly be on its list, Cvrtila said. (TOL 22.i.04) CZECH REPUBLIC FIRST ELECTIONS TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO BE HELD IN JUNE The Czech Republic's first elections to the European Parliament (EP) are to be probably held on 11-12-Jun-04, and political parties will be required to submit their lists of candidates by 06-Apr-04, according to a report in Mlada fronta Dnes. Many parties, however, have already approved their slates or have decided on their election leaders at least. President Vaclav Klaus has to set the EP elections date at the end of the first half of March at the latest, according to the decision of the EU Council. In the EU countries, the EP elections are to be held between 10-Jun-04 and 13-Jun-04. In the Czech Republic, the election days are Friday and Saturday. The lists of candidates can be submitted by officially registered political parties and movements based in the Czech Republic, and also by coalitions, according to the interior ministry's Vaclav Henych. The groupings have to pay an election fee of 15k crowns. In exchange, they will be given free chance to present their programmes on public Czech Television and Czech Radio. A candidate for MEP can be any Czech citizen or a citizen of another EU country if he/she were registered as Czech resident 45 days before the elections at least. He/she has to be at least 21 years old. The costs of the EP elections will reach almost 900m crowns. They will be mainly shared by the interior ministry, the Czech Statistics Office (CSU) and the foreign ministry, Henych said. This is only a gross estimate, given that the EP elections are held for the first time in the Czech Republic, he added. The Czech Republic is among the ten candidates that will enter the EU on May 1st. It will have 24 seats in the EP. (NewsBase 27.i.04) NINE COMPANIES EXPRESS INTEREST IN SALE OF STAKES HELD BY CEZ POWER UTILITY Nine companies express interest in the post of adviser in the sale of stakes held by power utility CEZ by the deadline of Thursday, January 22, spokesman Ladislav Kriz said, adding that the selection of the adviser will take a couple of months. He would not disclose any names. CEZ is selling stakes in distributing companies Severoceska energetika SCE, Prazska energetika PRE and national grid operator CEPS upon decision of the anti-monopoly office UOHS. One of the terms of the tender for the adviser was that annual turnover of potential advisers over the past three years had to reach at least 2 billion crowns. Transfer of CEZ's minority stakes in PRE and CEPS is due to take place by September of the year. March 2005 is a deadline for the sale of the majority stake in SCE. (NewsBase 26.i.04) GEORGIA SAAKASHVILI SWORN IN AS NEW PRESIDENT Mikheil Saakashvili, a fiery 36-year-old U.S.-educated lawyer and anti-corruption crusader, was inaugurated Sunday as Georgia's new president, taking the helm amid high hopes that he can bring prosperity to the country. Saakashvili, his hand on Georgia's constitution, took the presidential oath in front of the parliament building where two months ago he led protesters who evicted longtime former President Eduard Shevardnadze. The parliament on Sunday was hung with four huge white and red medieval banners used by Saakashvili's opposition movement. After being sworn in, Saakashvili signed an act making the red-on-white, five-cross banner Georgia's new flag. Saakashvili raised the European Union flag opposite the new Georgian flag on the parliament steps, signaling his desire for integration with the West. "Our place is in European civilization," he said. "This, too, is the Georgian flag." Saakashvili also said Georgia needs a strong army, and after his inaugural speech he saluted as camouflage-clad servicemen paraded past, chins jutting. A handful of helicopters buzzed over Tbilisi's main avenue, followed by two pairs of fighter jets that screamed overhead as police rode through on horseback. Saakashvili plunged into the crowd after the ceremony, shaking hands and walking up the avenue to intermittent cheers. Saakashvili said that one of the new leadership's key tasks is to "uproot corruption" that has kept the economy mired in its post-Soviet morass. He said the most important challenge is to bring unity to Georgia, where two provinces, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, have won de facto independence in bloody wars in the early 1990s. Pushing his unification efforts, Saakashvili began the day by flying to the autonomous Black Sea region of Adzharia in a bid to ease tensions between its leaders and the central government. Saakashvili and Adzharian leader Aslan Abashidze, a longtime political foe, both expressed hopes for improved relations. But Abashidze supporters scuffled with backers of Saakashvili, who want Abashidze out. Adzharia hosts one of two Russian military bases that remain in Georgia, a major irritant in their relations. Moscow has dragged its feet on their promised pullout, saying it will take at least 10 years. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who signaled the U.S. interest in Georgia by attending the inauguration, said Sunday that Russia should abide by a 1999 pledge to close the bases and that he would discuss the issue in Moscow, his next stop Monday. His Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, also attended the ceremony. Powell, after meeting with Saakashvili, said the United States will provide $166 million of assistance to Georgia this year and conveyed an invitation from President George W. Bush for Saakashvili to visit Washington on Feb. 25. Georgia's position astride a key pipeline that is to carry Caspian Sea oil resources to Western markets starting next year makes its stability important for the United States, which wants to diminish its reliance on Middle East oil. Russia and the United States are wary of each other's activities in Georgia, where U.S. military instructors have been deployed, but both Powell and Saakashvili said the country should not be a focus of competition between Moscow and Washington. Saakashvili repeated his vow to improve relations with Russia, which dominated Georgia for more than 200 years and still holds powerful levers of control, including most of its energy supplies. (The Moscow Times 26.i.04) HUNGARY MATAV FINED FT 70 MLN BY GVH The competition office (GVH) has ordered telecom giant Matav Rt to pay a fine of Ft 70 million for taking unfair advantage of its dominant market position. GVH spokesman Geza Polgardy said that between February and July 2002 Matav set its interconnect service prices and its tariffs package prices in a way which could have hampered the entry of rival providers onto the market. He said Matav used a price squeeze, or even negative price margins, in the given period to impede market entry in the residential and corporate markets. (BBJ 28.i.04) HUNGARY EXPECTED TO DELAY EURO ENTRY Hungary is expected to postpone entry to the Euro zone by one or two years from the planned date of 2008 as it will likely overshoot budget and inflation targets in the next two years, according to a Reuters poll of analysts. Forecasts for the Hungary's Euro entry date averaged 2009. Finance Minister Tibor Draskovics has promised decisions on spending cuts worth some 0.6% of GDP, but also lifted the 2004 deficit target to 4.6% from 3.8%. These figures are well above the path designed last year that was intended to help the country enter the euro zone in 2008. (BBJ 27.i.04) CONFUSION STILL REIGNS OVER EU SOCIAL SECURITY With only a few months left before the adoption of the EU's social security legislation in Hungary, executives of international relocation firms say they are at a loss concerning its practical implications on clients. "There is a lot of talk about upcoming changes, but not much practical information is available," said Eva Eiler, managing director of Expatriates' Services Trust Kft. "Mountains are still moving and I expect this to continue until after Hungary's [EU] accession." "The official forms needed to administer the cross-border transfer of social security benefits have not been issued. I expect chaos after May 1," said Katalin Varga, managing director of Settlers Kft. After May 1, an EU directive on the coordination of social insurance systems in countries in the European Economic Area (which also includes non-EU countries like Switzerland) will become directly applicable in Hungary. The directive aims to make it easier for workers and their families to move from one member state to another without losing social security entitlements. For Hungary, the directive will bring changes as to where people who work abroad should pay their social insurance contributions. It will also supercede bilateral agreements Hungary has with Germany, Austria and Switzerland. "Despite the short time left before EU accession, the Hungarian version of the directive has not been officially published," said Beata Szabo, tax advisor at PricewaterhouseCoopers Kft. "I don't understand the delay. It should have been published, to allow time to prepare." (BBJ 26.i.04) KAZAKHSTAN KAZAKHSTAN, RUSSIA NOT PLANNING TO CREATE UNION STATE Kazakh Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev has denied information that Kazakhstan is planning to create a union state with Russia. "Using this opportunity, I would like to explain the ultimate goals of Kazakhstan's policy on Russia, bearing in mind the fact this issue is being discussed by our political scientists and mass media. It is absolutely wrong and inappropriate to speak about the two countries' intention to create a union state because there are no such plans," Tokayev said while opening a conference devoted to Kazakh-Russian cooperation in the 21st century and globalization issues in Astana on Friday. (Interfax 23.i.04) LITHUANIA PRESIDENT SETS CONDITIONS FOR APPEARING BEFORE IMPEACHMENT PANEL The parliamentary commission formed to investigate the possibility of impeaching President Rolandas Paksas sent a letter to the president on 22 January asking what would be an appropriate time for him to answer their questions and expressing their willingness to meet at the president's office if he did not wish to come to parliament, BNS reported. Paksas responded in a press release that he will "give his answer on participation in the commission's meeting" upon his reception of the complete "results of [the] investigation" and after his "lawyers are granted access to classified information." The commission has stated several times that it is sending all its material to the president and that the access to classified information Paksas seeks for his legal team is an issue to be decided by the State Security Department. Department officials said the process of granting access to requested classified material usually takes two to three months and the president's lawyers asked for it only recently. Paksas told News Radio on 22 January that he sent a letter to parliament that day "inviting them -- be they factions, committees, or individual members of parliament -- to come to talk about the current situation and in what way it might be changed." (RFE/RL 23.i.04) LITHUANIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES NEW VAT BILL Parliament on 15 January approved a value-added tax (VAT) bill that will comply with EU regulations, "Lietuvos rytas" reported the next day. The bill, which passed by a vote of 56 to nine, with 10 abstentions, will result in price increases for some goods and services as of 1 May 2004, when Lithuania is scheduled to join the union. One of the most significant increases will be seen in heating costs, with the current 9 percent VAT rising to 18 percent. A 5% VAT will be imposed on some imported medicines and on publications whose paid advertising accounts for less than 80 percent of total content. (RFE/RL 16.i.04) POLAND BANK HANDLOWY APPROVES CONTROVERSIAL MERGER WITH POLIMEX-CEKOP In another twist to an increasingly acrimonious shareholder dispute, Bank Handlowy which holds a 36.6% stake in construction company Mostostal Siedlce, approved the planned merger with Polimex-Cekop, despite its earlier publicly declared misgivings about the deal. This means that those in favor of the deal now control nearly 75% of the votes at the general shareholders' meeting. Minority shareholders say that they will continue to fight the merger, going to court if necessary. They argue that Polimex-Cekop's debt burden could cripple the merged company and destroy shareholder value. They also add that the merger negotiations were conducted with complete disregard for their interests and opinions. The dispute is seen as a test case for shareholder activism, which has been virtually unseen in the country to date. (WBJ 28.i.04) SLD-UP COALITION LOSES ITS MAJORITY IN PARLIAMENT The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), in search of support for Hausner's savings plan, held consultations yesterday with Jagielinski concerning his return to the ruling coalition. The talks will continue tomorrow, with former Health Minister Mariusz Lapinski, who was expelled from the SLD representing the coalition. Members of the SLD party emphasized that they are ready to cooperate with FKP, if the 15 members of the new party "know what discipline is." Jagielinski confirmed that his party does not exclude a vote for supporting Hausner's plan and his aim is to become a partner in the coalition on the same terms as the Labor Union (UP). SLD representatives announced that talks concerning cooperation will be held, however, the particularly sensitive issues such as the distribution of potential seats within the government, or management boards in companies where the State Treasury has shares, will not be discussed. (WBJ 27.i.04) POWERFUL FORCES LINE UP AGAINST COAL INDUSTRY REFORM More than just a workplace, a coal mine is a way of life. In Upper Silesia, this is no empty platitude. Here in the heart of Poland's coal country, mines care for miners and their families from childhood to death. Ryszard Kluska's story is typical. The 37-year-old from the 200,000-plus city of Bytom enrolled in a mine training school when he was only 12. From that moment he was certain of getting a job, a place to live, and a salary and benefits unattainable elsewhere. "Can you tell me where I could find another job if I'm laid off?" he asks. The fear of being laid off is rife in Kluska's mine, Bytom III, and three others nearby. They are targeted to be "extinguished," as the government's brochures put it, if a mining reform plan being pushed by the government becomes law. Nine thousand mine workers could lose their jobs. If the four mines close, they will share the fate of 23 other coal mines shut down since 1990. With them, the lives of thousands of miners changed irreversibly. Parting with one's way of life is difficult, however. The whole country saw how a miners' demonstration in Warsaw in September got out of hand. The angry crowd attacked police in front of the Economy Ministry, injuring several. Molotov cocktails flew into the windows. In Katowice, miners went underground and to the headquarters of Kompania Weglowa (Coal Company) to organize sit-ins. The protests were a clear "no" to the government's plans to reform the ailing industry that once was Poland's pride. (TOL 21.i.04) ROMANIA EUROPARLIAMENTARIAN SEEKS SUSPENSION OF ROMANIA'S ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS Dutch European Parliament member Arie Oostlander said on 22 January in Brussels that "if Romania does not profoundly change and begin respecting the principles of a state based on the rule of law, it can forget about EU accession," Mediafax reported. Speaking before the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Oostlander said the situation in Romania has deteriorated, and announced his intention to propose an amendment to the report presented by Baroness Nicholson. He said the amendment would call for the accession negotiations with Bucharest to be suspended "to make it possible for us to focus on these problems." Prime Minister Nastase responded from Bucharest that Oostlander is a member of the Christian Democratic Popular Party group and "has a problem" because the National Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) failed to gain representation in Romania's parliament in the 2000 elections. Nastase added that he would personally help the PNTCD re-enter parliament in 2004, "If only Oostlander would explain how I could do that." (RFE/RL 23.i.04) RUSSIA CBR TO INTENSIFY FIGHT AGAINST INFLUX OF 'HOT MONEY' The Central Bank of Russia will intensify the fight against the influx of hot money into Russia. This June new rules for hard currency regulation will come into force allowing CBR to require participants in forex deals to reserve up to 20% of a deal's value for up to one year, or 100% for under two months. The requirement will be extended to companies that draw foreign credits and loans. The measure is aimed at making foreign loans more costly and less attractive for Russian borrowers. Thus, a 20% one-year reservation will raise annual interest on a $500 million five-year loan from 10% to 12.5%. Earlier, several companies voiced an intention to place Eurobond issues in 2004. The RUSSIAN RAILWAYS company planned a $500m Eurobond issue, the Moscow city government a E380m issue and the ALROSA diamond mining company and ROSBANK a $300m issue each. (NewsBase 29.i.04) WARRANTS ISSUED FOR 10 YUKOS EXECUTIVES First Deputy Prosecutor-General Yurii Biryukov confirmed on 27 January that international arrest warrants have been issued for three major Yukos shareholders -- Leonid Nevzlin, Vladimir Dubov, and Mikhail Brudno -- who have been charged with tax evasion and other crimes, Interfax reported. Biryukov said that seven managers of "fake enterprises" that Yukos allegedly used to make bogus oil sales and thereby evade taxes have also been placed on the international wanted list. According to Biryukov, Nevzlin, who has already been charged with evading 26.7 million rubles ($925,000) in taxes in 1999-2000, also allegedly appropriated shares in two Eastern Oil Company subsidiaries, oil producer Tomskneft and the Achinskii refinery. Biryukov alleged that those actions defrauded the state of $39 million. Biryukov confirmed that Dubov has been charged with large-scale fraud and said Brudno is charged with embezzling $2.8 million in revenues from the Apatit fertilizer plant. Yukos shareholder Platon Lebedev was arrested last July on charges of stealing state property in connection with Apatit's 1994 privatization. Nevzlin and Dubov are in Israel, while Brudno is reportedly also abroad. (RFE/RL 28.i.04) KUDRIN: RUSSIA MAY JOIN WTO BY END OF 2004 Russia may join the World Trade Organization by the end of 2004, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Kudrin said. "In principle, Russia may enter the WTO by the end of 2004. But there is no rush whatsoever for us to do so: a certain situation needs to get formed that will allow us to become a member of this organization with maximum benefits for us," Kudrin said in an interview with the Itogi magazine to be published on Tuesday. He expressed confidence that membership in the WTO is necessary for Russia. On the one hand, Kudrin said, as Russia is currently outside the WTO, Russian companies are subject to trade restrictions. He cited as an example "more than one hundred sanctions" applied to Russian companies in 2003, which cost the country some $2.5 billion-$3 billion a year. (Interfax 27.i.04) VAVILOV FREE AFTER QUERIES Andrei Vavilov, the one-time oil baron and former first deputy finance minister, said Friday that he left U.S. investigators satisfied after four hours of questioning in connection with a high-profile embezzlement case against former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko. "I was interrogated as a witness," Vavilov said in an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio. "I gave a statement. There are no longer any claims against me. For me, the story is closed." He denied media speculation that the questioning had anything to do with the ongoing legal attack against Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky or the controversial sale of his oil firm Severnaya Neft to state-owned Rosneft last year. Vavilov learned that U.S. authorities wished to question him when his private jet touched down for customs clearance in Palm Beach, California, on Jan. 5. After four hours of talks between the agents and Vavilov's lawyers, Vavilov was permitted to continue his trip with the understanding that an investigator would sit down with him in Aspen, Vavilov's spokeswoman Maya Ivanova said Friday. (The St. Petersburg Times 27.i.04) BEREZOVSKY IS NO LONGER BEREZOVSKY It's official. Boris Abramovich Berezovsky is now Platon Ilyich Yelenin. Britain said it has issued documents allowing the wealthy businessman who is wanted in Russia on fraud charges to travel under the new identity. "Boris Berezovsky ... submitted a statutory declaration formally changing his name to Platon Yelenin, and the Immigration and Nationality Directorate issued a travel document, in accordance with the provisions of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, in that name," Home Secretary David Blunkett said Thursday, according to The Associated Press. Berezovsky has been living in self-imposed exile in Britain since 2000. Russian prosecutors tried to extradite him to face multimillion-dollar fraud charges, but a London court threw out the case in September when it learned that the British government had granted him asylum. Berezovsky said Sunday that the new travel documents with Platon Yelenin's name were issued in October at his own request. "So officially I am now Platon Yelenin, although for any public appearances or contacts with the press I am still Boris Berezovsky," Berezovsky said by telephone from London. He refused to comment on whether the change in name affected the status of any of his assets. He said Platon Ilyich Yelenin is a combination of the first name of the hero of a novel and film based on his life; the patronymic of Vladimir Lenin, who lived in exile in Britain before the 1917 Revolution; and the name of his wife, Yelena. Boris Berezovsky first became known as Platon Yelenin late last year when he flew into Georgia under the new identity for a quick visit. The trip prompted Moscow to issue a sharp protest to Tbilisi that it had failed to detain a wanted criminal suspect. Berezovsky said he also has used the travel documents to visit Israel. It was unclear Sunday whether Russia would seek Berezovsky's arrest by putting his new name on an international wanted list. But trouble is brewing in London over the decision to issue the new travel documents. Blunkett's confirmation of the new identity came in response to a written question in the House of Commons from opposition shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram. "This answer raises more questions than it answers. I will be making further inquiries about the way in which the Foreign Office deals with applications of this kind," Ancram told AP. Berezovsky cannot enter Russia even under the new name without losing the political refugee status granted by Britain, which ruled he may face persecution at home. But should he need to change his name again, he already has one picked out. "Then I'll change my name to Vladimir Putin," he said. "If they [Russian authorities] are going to have some fun, I'll also have same fun, so they will be looking for Vladimir Putin all over the world." (The Moscow Times 26.i.04) GERASHCHENKO NOT REGISTERED The Central Elections Commission on Thursday refused to register Viktor Gerashchenko for the presidential election in March, ruling that the former Central Bank chief was not exempt from the requirement to submit 2 million voter signatures. Gerashchenko said he was not collecting signatures because his nomination had been backed by one of the three parties that belong to the nationalist Rodina bloc. As one of the four political groups that won more than 5 percent of the State Duma vote on Dec. 7, Rodina has the right under election law to nominate a candidate without a signature drive. But the commission ruled that Gerashchenko should have had support from the entire bloc, not just one party. The Gerashchenko camp said it will contest the decision. The complication is that Rodina was cobbled together shortly before the Duma vote from three separate parties, and Gerashchenko was nominated by one of them, the Russia's Regions Party - not by a full Rodina congress. The documents he submitted to the Central Elections Commission at the end of December identify him as the candidate for Russia's Regions. With the growing realization that this could pose a problem, Rodina leaders released a statement late Wednesday on behalf of the three parties declaring that Gerashchenko had the bloc's full backing. Central Elections Commission chairman Alexander Veshnyakov responded to protests on behalf of Gerashchenko with a reminder that in late December he had encouraged Rodina to "fulfill all procedures required by law - and hold full party congresses [followed by] a conference of the whole bloc," Interfax reported. A thinly veiled undercurrent in this has been the antagonistic jostling for position between Rogozin, who has been named deputy Duma speaker, and Rodina co-chairman Sergei Glazyev, who has said he will run for president as an independent, though he has yet to register. Not only did Wednesday's statement, which Glazyev did not sign, give Rodina's blessing to Gerashchenko, it also explicitly opposed Glazyev's bid, barring him from using the bloc's symbol or regional branches to gather the 2 million signatures he needs. So far, only two of the 10 presidential hopefuls - Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party and Oleg Malyshkin of the Liberal Democratic Party - have officially registered as presidential candidates. Veshnyakov has been soberly bracing candidates for the possibility that even if they managed to collect enough signatures, not all will get them certified. He warned Thursday that paying voters for their signatures - a widespread tactic - constitutes a crime. Whether signatures are bought "with money, or with offers of a bottle of vodka, in any case, it violates the law," Veshnyakov said. Leading liberal candidate Irina Khakamada said she had well over 2 million signatures Thursday, a day after another liberal hopeful, Ivan Rybkin, said he too had reached 2 million. Putin's supporters said Thursday that they have collected more than 7 million signatures. The deadline for registering with election officials is next Wednesday. (The St. Petersburg Times 23.i.04) PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA LAUNCHING NEW STAGE OF REFORM Russia is preparing for a new stage of reform, President Vladimir Putin said at a Tuesday meeting with World Bank President James Wolfensohn. "These transformations will be aimed primarily at significant acceleration of economic growth, and on this foundation the resistance to poverty and the improvement of the infrastructure, first of all social," he said. Russia "is determined to continue improving its economic institutions, budget policy, financial markets and banking sector, to promote the private sector, and small and medium business," Putin said. Putin said the main tasks in Russia's lending cooperation with the World Bank should be to increase the effectiveness of projects and improve their management. World Bank experts should focus primarily on raising the effectiveness and flexibility of financial cooperation mechanisms, Putin said. They should also "take into account the growing stability of this country's budget and financial sectors," he said. (Interfax 20.i.04) GAZPROM PAYS OUT $90M Gazprom has paid Yakov Goldovsky, the ex-president of its petrochemicals holding Sibur, $90 million in exchange for disputed stakes in the latter's subsidiaries, Vedomosti reported Wednesday. Goldovsky was arrested and jailed for eight months during investigations into allegations of asset stripping at Sibur in the shake-up after Alexei Miller, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, was appointed Gazprom CEO in May 2001. Goldovsky was released in September 2002 after receiving a seven-month suspended sentence for abuse of office. He and another executive had initially faced other charges, including embezzlement and money laundering, but were acquitted for lack of evidence. Vedomosti reported that Goldovsky had struck a deal with Gazprom in April 2002 to return the shares in exchange for promissory notes valued at 17.8 billion rubles ($620 million), and Gazprom increased its stake in the Sibur holding from 50.7 percent to 75.7 percent. When the promissory notes did not materialize, Goldovsky's representatives threatened to go to court. But in December 2003 Goldovsky and his partners received $90 million from Gazprombank, the paper reported, citing Gazprom sources. (The St. Petersburg Times 16.i.04) SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO SERBIA REMAINS WITHOUT A NEW GOVERNMENT Democratic Party leaders Boris Tadic and Zoran Zivkovic said on 25 January in Belgrade that their party is committed to a Serbian governing coalition of all parliamentary parties that did not support the rule of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Zivkovic stressed that it would be pointless to hold new elections, which would most likely produce the same results as the 28 December vote. Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) leader Vojislav Kostunica meanwhile repeated his desire for a minority government supported by the Democrats in the parliament, but said he will not include them in the cabinet. He said he does not want what he regards as a party tainted by corruption in his government. On 24 January, the G-17 Plus political party called for a serious dialogue between the DSS and the Democrats lest unnamed powerful businessmen take advantage of the current political deadlock to further their own agendas. DSS Vice President Dragan Marsicanin said in Belgrade on 24 January that the DSS, G-17 Plus, and their two probable coalition partners -- the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) and the New Serbia party -- might field a joint slate if new elections are held as a result of the current political deadlock. Elsewhere, Tomislav Nikolic, who heads the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS), which won the most votes in the 28 December poll, said that time is on his side, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported on 26 January. He predicted that the SRS will do even better in any new elections, adding that, in any event, the SRS will form a government within three months. (RFE/RL 26.i.04) EUROPEAN COMMISSION WARNS EU AGAINST COMMODITIES IMPORTED FROM SERBIA/MONTENEGRO The European Commission has warned European Union operators to take all precautionary measures to verify the origin of commodities imported from Serbia-Montenegro under preferential trade arrangements, saying that the state union's administrative and legal systems do not guarantee that the origin of goods marketed to the EU is adequately certified. The EU has granted very liberal trade concessions to Serbia-Montenegro to help its recover the economy and has to make sure that the state union does not abuse the preferential trade treatment, said Customs Union Commissioner Frits Bolkestein. Stressing that the issue here is not a trade ban but rather a necessary step to protect the EU's business and financial interests, Bolkestein added that the measure will be suspended once Serbia-Montenegro restores confidence in the origin of its goods. In May-03, the European Commission suspended preferential rates for Serbia-Montenegro's sugar exports for a period of three months after it found out that some of the state union's companies marketed sugar previously imported from other countries. The suspension was extended for a further six months in Jul-03. (NewsBase 22.i.04) SLOVAKIA THIRD CANDIDATE ENTERS SLOVAK PRESIDENTIAL RACE Frantisek Miklosko, a parliamentarian in the junior ruling Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), was officially registered on 27 January as a candidate in Slovakia's presidential election slated for April, TASR reported. KDH parliamentary group leader Pavol Minarik gave parliamentary speaker Pavol Hrusovsky a list of 15 KDH deputies who support Miklosko's bid. Miklosko joins two other official candidates -- Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan for the senior coalition Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU) and Alliance for a New Citizen (ANO) candidate Lubomir Roman -- with others expected to join the race. (RFE/RL 28.i.04) ECONOMY MINISTER WARNS THAT POLITICAL INSTABILITY THREATENS FDI Disputes between the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU) and its breakaway party the Free Forum, and the resulting political instability, threaten potential foreign investments to a total value of 120 billion crowns, Economy Minister Pavol Rusko told a press conference on Monday. Rusko said that in twelve of the thirty biggest and most prepared investment projects, investors have expressed their concern over recent developments in Slovakia. Last week's developments also threaten the key investment project or Slovakia, the building of a Kia Motors' car production plant worth $1.5 billion, Rusko claimed. It is irresponsible for politicians to put their personal interest above the interests of the country, Rusko said and asked both SDKU leader Mikulas Dzurinda and Free Forum leader Ivan Simko to return to negotiations and seek a solution. Not finding a solution would seriously damage Slovakia, Rusko warned. Rusko, who is chairman of the ruling coalition's New Citizen's Alliance (ANO), said the ruling coalition parties are ready to support any solution the SDKU and the Free Forum would find, as long as it complies with the government's programme. (NewsBase 21.i.04) UKRAINE THE MEN WHO WOULD BE PRESIDENT With Ukraine's presidential elections only nine months away, speculation is intensifying over the likely contenders. The attraction of practically unlimited power is, unsurprisingly, luring a large number of the country's politicians. But, partly because any serious presidential bid will require immense resources, the field of candidates for the October elections is dominated by figures representing those either already in positions of power or closely tied to the government. All in all, it seems likely that there will be little choice on offer for Ukrainian voters come October: a choice between a bevy of former members of the Soviet-era nomenklatura and members of the "parties of power" -- figures widely seen as "oppositionists of convenience" -- and one candidate who has managed to put clear blue water between himself and the powers-that-be. That alternative is also one of Ukraine's most popular politicians, Viktor Yushchenko. Seen as a favorite of the West, Yushchenko established his credentials as an alternative during a 16-month stint as prime minister in 2000 and 2001, by exercising fiscal prudence and pushing through several key reforms in, for example, the agricultural sector. Yushchenko's bid for the presidency has produced one flare of publicity, after an aggressively charged confrontation on the campaign trail in Donetsk. With that exception, however, Yushchenko's campaign has been flagging and his poll ratings dropping under the incessant drone of pro-government messages emanating from the major television channels and other media, themselves under the firm control of those in positions of power. After being forcibly removed as prime minister in 2001, Yushchenko's ratings were unprecedented, regularly over 30 percent. Since then, his approval ratings have nose-dived to just over 20 percent -- still way ahead of the pack, however. Waning, under attack, and drowned out, the chances of Yushchenko being defeated are rising. And so the urgency grows of identifying other candidates for the seat that President Leonid Kuchma says he will vacate. (TOL 28.i.04) STATE PROPERTY FUND PUBLICISED LIST OF STATE-OWNED STAKES TO BE PRIVATISED IN 2004 The State Property Fund of Ukraine has publicised a list of state-owned stakes to be privatised in 2004, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported. The list included over 300 stakes of more than 25 per cent in respective state companies. The most significant ones are: 50 per cent in the Ukrrudprom state ore company, 25 per cent in the Zaporizhya Aluminium Combine, 69.9 per cent in the Privdendizelmash diesel manufacturer, 60.9 per cent in Makiyivka Steelworks, 42.9 per cent in Ukrtelekom, 43.1 per cent in the Ukrtatnafta oil company, 82.6 per cent in the Ukrvuhillyapromtrans coal company, 98.4 per cent in Makiyivka Coke Plant, 98.3 per cent in Zhytomyr Chemical Fibre Factory, 94 per cent in the Zaporizhya-based semiconductors plant, 26.3 per cent in the Kiev-based Astarta insurance company, 25 per cent in the Drohobych-based Galichina oil refinery, and 63.7 per cent in the Kharkiv-based Serp i Molot machine-building plant. The state is also going to sell stakes in the Kryvorizhstal steelworks and the Odessa Port Plant. The size of those stakes is yet to be determined. (NewsBase 23.i.04) UKRAINIAN PIPELINE TO GO THROUGH POLAND Polish and Ukrainian officials confirmed Friday plans to form a join venture to extend a Ukrainian oil pipeline through Poland that could eventually carry Caspian crude to Western Europe. The joint venture, between Poland's state-owned PERN, and Ukraine's Ukrtransnafta, is to start construction on the 500-kilometer extension the second half of this year. The project, expected to cost more than $500 million, is to be completed by the end of 2005. Initially the pipeline is to extend from the Polish-Ukrainian border to the central town of Plock, 100 kilometers west of Warsaw. Eventually organizers hope to continue the line to the Polish port city of Gdansk, where tankers could carry oil to western and northern Europe. Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister Marek Pol told reporters Friday that the joint venture was open for investors from other countries, including U.S. firms. "Natural partners for the project would be U.S. companies with access to Caspian oil fields as well as firms from countries which could benefit from supplies," Pol said. Poland is heavily dependent on supplies of Russian oil and the pipeline would allow it to diversify supplies. Ukraine built the 667-kilometer existing pipeline linking the Black Sea port of Odessa with Brody in western Ukraine in 2001, but it has remained largely idle amid bickering over whether it should carry Russian or Caspian oil. Washington strongly opposes running Russian oil from Odessa to Brody, claiming it will increase Ukraine's dependence on Moscow and chances of a spill in Turkey's clogged Bosporus strait. The Ukrainian government is expected to make a final decision on direction of the pipeline's flow by Feb. 1. 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