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*** Due Diligence *** Business Intelligence *** Asset Retrieval *** *** Debt Recovery *** Disappearance Response *** *** TT Meerkat 500 ***  TT Business Intelligence Report - CE/SEE & FSU Vol. 3, No. 68, 08 April 2004 Business Intelligence, Crime, Corruption and Debt in C&E/SE Europe and the former Soviet Union UPCOMING CONFERENCES THE EBRD'S 2004 BUSINESS FORUM "COMING OF AGE: OPPORTUNITIES OF AN EVOLVING REGION" This event will take place on 18-19 April 2004 at the Hilton London Metropole (HLM), London, UK. For further information, please contact Georgie Walker, tel: +44 (0)20 7338 6625; email: [email protected]; W: www.ebrd.com/am EVENTICA'S "7th ANNUAL RUSSIAN ECONOMIC FORUM" This event will take place on 18-20 April 2004 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster, London, UK. For further information, please contact Edward Cowell, tel: +44 (0)20 7510 2560; fax: +44 (0)20 7510 2561; email: [email protected]; W: www.eventica.co.uk BELARUS RUBLE INTRODUCTION IN BELARUS PUSHED BACK 1 YEAR The introduction of the Russian ruble as the only legal tender in Belarus, which was earlier scheduled for 2005, has been postponed for one year because the two countries have still not agreed on compensation for Belarus, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told the press on Wednesday. Kudrin said he had met with Belarusian government officials last week, including with the finance minister and a deputy prime minister. "They suggested not discussing the common ruble issue, because the positions on the introduction of the ruble and on compensations have not changed," Kudrin said. This implies that the Belarusian government is not planning to introduce the ruble in the near future and that therefore there is not enough time to introduce it in 2005, as was planned before, he said. Kudrin said he asked Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov to remove this issue from the agenda of a May session of the Russian government. At the same time, the finance minister insisted that the introduction of the Russian ruble in Belarus has been postponed not because the agreement was not drawn up on time but because Belarus continues to claim compensation for its budget. Kudrin emphasized that Russia does not intend to soften its position concerning the issue of compensation. "The package of agreements has been drafted, we have repeatedly voiced our position, and I do not see any reason to soften it," he said. (Interfax 31.iii.04) BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA EU AGREES TO NATO ROLE IN BOSNIAN PEACEKEEPING The EU agreed in Brussels on 6 April to accept a U.S.-backed demand that NATO remain in charge of catching indicted war criminals when the EU takes over Bosnian peacekeeping from the alliance at the end of 2004, as is widely expected, Reuters reported. In what the news agency described as a "Freudian slip," EU foreign and security policy chief Javier Solana said that "the United States will maintain... NATO will maintain, [a force numbering] in the hundreds, not more than that." The EU will replace NATO's current SFOR mission with its 7,000ong EUFOR. French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie wants the NATO role to be as small as possible. "We are not making a casus belli over [the issue of arresting indicted war criminals] with NATO, we just think that it would have been more normal for the European Union to take that [role]." The EU has no experience in "snatch" operations to arrest indictees, Reuters noted. NATO will also be responsible for fighting terrorism and training the Bosnian Army. (RFE/RL 07.iv.04) BULGARIA BULGARIAN MILITARY OFFICIAL SAYS ARMY IS READY FOR NATO Chief of General Staff General Nikola Kolev told BTA on 29 March that "the Bulgarian Army is ready to perform successfully its duties as a NATO member even though a lot of work remains to be done." Kolev said that for now the Bulgarian military can fulfill its duties as a NATO member with its current equipment, but added that it will soon be necessary to modernize that equipment. Kolev singled out the country's fleet of MiG-29 fighter jets, which were to be repaired and modernized by the Russian MiG aircraft manufacturer. "Our hope was to upgrade our MiG-29 fleet, but the talks on the contract are about to be abandoned and we are considering some alternative options," Kolev said. (RFE/RL 30.iii.04) CROATIA SIX INDICTED ETHNIC CROATS ARRIVE IN THE HAGUE Six prominent leaders of the former Herzegovinian Croat para-state known as Herceg-Bosna voluntarily arrived in The Hague on 5 April, where the war crimes tribunal recently indicted them for war crimes in connection with the 1993-94 Croatian-Muslim conflict within the 1992-95 Bosnian war. The six are former Generals Slobodan Praljak and Milivoj Petkovic, former Prime Minister Jadranko Prlic, former Defense Minister Bruno Stojic, former military police chief Valentin Coric, and Berislav Pusic, who was in charge of prisoners. Before leaving Zagreb, Prlic said that he was "shocked by the indictments" but will soon clear his name and vindicate the cause for which he fought. Ivic Pasalic, who was a leader of the so-called Herzegovinian lobby around the late President Franjo Tudjman and now heads the small opposition Croatian Bloc, charged that the government committed treason by accepting the tribunal's indictments. (RFE/RL 05.iv.04) CZECH REPUBLIC NO DECISION ON ADVISOR FOR CESKY TELECOM PRIVATIZATION BEFORE END APRIL A decision on the government’s advisor for the privatization of the dominant Czech fixed line operator Cesky Telecom (CT) will not be announced before the end of April, reports Thursday’s Hospodarske noviny (HN). National Property Fund (FNM) spokeswoman Petra Krainova says that an advisor will be selected by this date only if no complications to the tender arise, such as an appeal from a failed bidder. The government wants a definitive decision on an advisor by the end of May. The steering committee for CT’s privatization held its first meeting on Monday of this week, and further talks are scheduled for next week. At the coming session, the committee should eliminate offers that do not meet the selection criteria or have other drawbacks. Bidders eliminated from the tender will be allowed to appeal. The FNM received 11 bids for the advisor’s post in February and has already eliminated one bidder based on a technicality. Reports in the Czech press have identified the bidders as Wood&Company with Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley with Patria Finance, CSFB with Ceska sporitelna, HSBC with Komercni banka, Rothchild with CAIB, JP Morgan, Citigroup, ABN Amro, Dresdner Kleinworth Wasserstein and UBS with Central European Trust. The privatization of CT should start in 2H 2004 and be concluded in 2005. TDC along with Goldman Sachs; Swisscom with CVC Partners; and Czech investment group PPF have allegedly expressed unofficial interest in the state’s 51% stake in CT. (Interfax 04.iv.04) GOVERNMENT CHOOSES NEW OWNERS FOR SOKOLOVSKA UHELNA, OKD MINING COMPANIES The Czech Cabinet will sell the brown coal mining company Sokolovska uhelna (SU) to Sokolovska tezebni (ST), and the black coal mining company Ostravsko-karvinske doly (OKD) to its majority-owner Karbon Invest, Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka announced Tuesday. ST, a company established by SU managers, will pay CZK 2.6 bn for a 50% stake in the brown coal mining firm. Karbon Invest will pay CZK 2.25 bn for 46% of OKD. The sales are the result of controversial tenders. Critics charged both that the tenders were slanted in favor of the winning bidders and that the winning bids were too low. According to the UK’s Financial Times newspaper, the British power utility International Power (IP) plans to file a complaint with the European Commission (EC), claiming that it was blocked from acquiring two of the three coal mines up for sale. According to Trade and Industry Minister Milan Urban, Karbon Invest raised its original bid by over CZK 1 bn after exclusive talks with government. ST raised its original bid by over CZK 500 mln, according to Sobotka. Karbon Invest and ST both welcomed the Cabinet decision. Karbon Invest immediately announced plans to invest CZK 3 bn in OKD, while ST said it plans to participate in the development and growth of SU. ST will now have to make a buyout offer to Metalimex, a Karbon Invest subsidiary, which owns a blocking minority in SU. Experts estimated the value of Metalimex’s 36% stake at CZK 2 bn. SU union chair Jan Smolka told Interfax workers were pleased with the results of the tender and believed the government’s choice was the best for the development and stability of the firm and the region as a whole. Cabinet approved a plan to sell state stakes in two brown coal mining companies – SU and Severoceske doly (SCD) – last summer and launched the sales in October. In early March, the sale of SCD was cancelled and exclusive talks were launched with ST on the purchase of SU. The OKD sale was launched in mid-November 2003, when the government granted Karbon Invest three months of exclusive talks. (Interfax 26.iii.04) GEORGIA TBILISI ACCUSES ADZHARIANS OF PLOT TO KILL SAAKASHVILI Georgian authorities on Friday described an alleged plot directed by high officials of the defiant Adzharia province to assassinate President Mikhail Saakashvili, who accused the Adzharian leader of establishing a "dictatorial regime" and announced a new effort to bring him to heel. Deputy State Security Minister Gigi Ugulava said four men have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in a plot to kill Saakashvili. He said the arrests were made over a nine-day period beginning March 23 and that two other suspects are believed to be in the Adzharian capital Batumi. Ugulava said the men were working under the direction of Adzharian security minister Soso Gogitidze, his deputy Gogi Kupreishvili and other officials in the province. At a news conference later, Saakashvili said he has asked Adzharian leader Aslan Abashidze to adopt a law setting out the division of powers between the central government and authorities in the autonomous province, which he said would have a broad measure of self-rule but must forfeit what he called Abashidze's "private army" and "personal control" over customs duties. Saakashvili said that "an enemy camp, a dictatorial regime has been created in Adzharia" and accused Abashidze of creating an army funded with money from customs duties and oil shipments that should be used for pensions and other needs. Abashidze rejected the allegations of an assassination plot. "The absurdity of these statements is completely obvious, and it is not the first time we have heard such things from Tbilisi," he said, Interfax reported. (The St. Petersburg Times 06.iv.04) HUNGARY ASTORIA ICON CHANGES HANDS Swedish-owned real estate developer Skanska Property Hungary Kft has sold the 21,000-sqm East-West Business Center in downtown Budapest to Polonia Property Fund LP, an investment vehicle of Irish Allied Bank, unnamed sources reported. Built in 1991, the complex was the company's first investment in Central and Eastern Europe and one of the first modern office buildings in Budapest. The building changed hands for Euro 42 million, with Skanska making a profit of Euro 14 million on the deal. (BBJ 07.iv.04) SYNERGON ADDS TO PORTFOLIO WITH NEW CZECH PURCHASE Synergon Rt’s latest foreign acquisition demonstrates its commitment to regional expansion, analysts and executives said last week. In the purchase, Czech IT firm BrnoData-IS spol. s.r.o. was 100% bought by Infinity a.s. The latter is a Czech subsidiary of Synergon, an IT services firm listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange Rt (BET). Synergon announced the deal March 31, saying the purchase was made on the basis of a resolution by the board of directors and shareholders of Infinity. Infinity is covering the purchase price of BrnoData from a provision formed from last year’s profit especially for this purpose, according to a Synergon press release. No purchase price was disclosed. BrnoData has 14 employees and chalked up revenues of 11 million Czech koruna (€335,000) in 2003. The purchased company deals with the sale and implementation of Navision, a Microsoft business solution. The Synergon press release said that today, in the Czech Republic, the greatest segment of the ERP market is in the SME sector. The subsidiary will become part of a consolidated Infinity from July 1, 2004, and will operate in the future under the name InfinityData s.r.o. The deal will not have an impact on Hungarian operations. BrnoData is based in the Czech city of Brno and has been active on the Czech market for over ten years. It is a Microsoft Business Solutions Certified Partner. Infinity is based in Pardubice. Makray said Erste has a hold recommendation on Synergon, for which it maintains an optimistic forecast. He added that 2004 is likely to be a much better year for Synergon than 2003, with the company likely to post only a small after-tax loss. However, he said the firm is unlikely to post the after-tax profit it forecast itself. Synergon posted group losses of just under Ft 1.4 billion (E5.58 million) for 2003. Synergon acquired 66.67% of Infinity in 2001, with the rest owned by the firm’s management. Also in 2001, Synergon became majority owner of Croatian IT company Span d.o.o. Last year Synergon also acquired the Hungarian operation of France’s Atos Origin SA. In March 2003, Infinity set up its subsidiary in Slovakia, Infinity Slovakia s.r.o., which is essentially a sales office. (BBJ 05.iv.04) HUNGARY PRESSES EU TO OPEN LABOR MARKETS On the eve of an EU summit in Brussels, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy on 25 March urged member states of the European Union to lift restrictions on access to their labor markets for Hungarian job seekers, Hungarian media reported. In a letter to European Commission President Romano Prodi, Medgyessy called on member states to apply the conditions agreed in the EU accession treaty when setting terms for the acceptance of foreign workers, "Nepszabadsag" reported. Opposition FIDESZ Chairman Viktor Orban pressed the same point at a meeting of European People's Party leaders in Brussels. Meanwhile in Budapest, Hungarian President Ferenc Madl told his visiting Italian counterpart Carlo Azeglio Ciampi that regulations restricting the free flow of Hungarian labor in EU should be terminated as soon as possible, Hungarian television reported on 25 March. (RFE/RL 26.iii.04) KAZAKHSTAN GOVERNMENT TO RECEIVE $150M IN COMPENSATION FOR POSTPONING OF COMMERCIAL OIL PRODUCTION Kazakhstan expects compensation of $150 million for the postponement of the start of commercial oil production at the Kashagan field, reports Finance Minister of Kazakhstan Yerbolat Dosaev. Dosaev explains, "The compensation for postponement of deadlines for the Kashagan field will come in two installments." He adds, "A sum of $100 million will come until the end of March and I think that we will receive $50 million until April 10, 2004." On February 25, Kazakhstan signed an agreement with consortium of foreign oil companies on postponement of the date of beginning of commercial oil production at the Kashagan field approximately until 2007-2008. Simultaneously the parties reached an agreement that more than $29 billion would be invested in the Kashagan in a short period of time. (NewsBase 26.iii.04) LITHUANIA PRESIDENT OUSTED BY PARLIAMENT Lawmakers removed Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas from office in a narrow vote Tuesday because of his ties to a businessman who police said was linked to the Russian mob, ending the worst political crisis in the Baltic state's recent history. The ouster came less than three weeks before the country joins the European Union, and lawmakers said they wanted Paksas gone before the May 1 joining date to protect its reputation. The country's first vote to remove a sitting president -- believed to be the first in Europe, too -- was closer than predicted, with the three charges against Paksas narrowly clearing the 85 votes needed in the 141-seat Seimas. The Seimas approved all three accusations against Paksas: that he illegally arranged citizenship for one of this chief financial backers, businessman Yury Borisov, that he divulged state secrets and that he used his office for financial gain. The accusations stemmed from Borisov's role in Paksas' campaign, including, government reports found, that he was linked to Russian organized crime and his influence might give the Russian mafia access to the European Union. Borisov, an ethnic Russian who has denied any wrongdoing, donated 1.2 million litas ($400,000) to Paksas' election campaign in early 2003. After the campaign, Paksas helped Borisov get Lithuanian citizenship, although it was later revoked. The charge of divulging state secrets was tied to Paksas' apparent warning to Borisov that he was being watched by state security agents. The third involved his role in the privatization of a construction company. Deputies passed the first count 86-17, the second 86-18 and the third 89-14. Other deputies either were not present or did not vote. Paksas will not face trial; the decision Tuesday was final. The country joined NATO last week, and Paksas opponents said Lithuania risked losing the trust of both NATO and the EU had Paksas stayed on. While some ardent supporters believed Paksas' claims that there was a conspiracy against him, many were embarrassed and ashamed by his actions. Others said the affair raised questions about the extent of Russian influence on Lithuanian politics. Parliament Speaker Arturas Paulauskas, an ardent Paksas foe, became the acting president. New elections will be held within 60 days. While the president is not involved in the day-to-day running of the country -- a task left to the prime minister -- the head of state does serve as a leading foreign envoy. In Lithuania's parliamentary system, the president also plays an important role in the formation of governments. The red-and-white flag of the Lithuanian president was lowered and taken away at the presidential headquarters in the capital, Vilnius, minutes after Paksas' removal. Presidential plates on his black BMW limousine were also removed. Paksas, 47, is not barred from running in the next election, but he has not said yet if he will. The handsome, square-jawed Paksas, a one-time stunt pilot champion, was once the golden boy of Lithuanian politics. As Vilnius mayor in the mid-1990s, he was credited with reviving the city's old quarter after 50 years of neglect during Soviet rule, which ended in 1991. Two weeks ago, he said he was hiring Borisov as an aide. Paksas reversed that decision after a public outcry. The scandal emerged in October after a government report linked Paksas to Borisov, who police assert has ties to the Russian mafia. Parliament started impeachment proceedings weeks later. Just minutes before the secret ballots were cast, Paksas again maintained his innocence before the assembled legislators, who essentially acted as a jury while a judge presided. Had Paksas resigned, he would have kept privileges accorded to former presidents, including a state-funded residence, pension and title of president for life. But he steadfastly refused all calls for him to resign. (The Moscow Times 07.iv.04) POLAND GOVERNMENT SEEKS 15-YEAR TRANSITION PERIOD ON EU PHARMACEUTICAL LAW The government yesterday accepted a draft motion to seek a 15-year transition period before the EU's pharmaceutical laws will take effect in Poland. The Ministry of Health decided to table the draft motion largely due to the issue of market exclusiveness among medicines. Under EU law, any original drug registered after 2006 would be protected from the production of substitutes for a period of ten years. "It means reducing the availability of cheaper substitute drugs. It may result in the lower use of medicines as expenses will rise," a government statement announced. However, the draft motion would not please innovative companies, which support the EU regulations. As they bear the costs of developing new drugs, they feel they have the right to have their profits protected regardless of public health issues. (WBJ 07.iv.04) SLD BARONS FAVOR OLEKSY AND NOT BELKA AS THE NEXT PM Jozef Oleksy said during Saturday's meeting of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) that if the circumstances were favorable, then he would accept the post of the Prime Minister. "A second government with Oleksy as premier will become a fact anyway, but one needs to wait until Belka finally understands that he is not able of putting together a government which could win the support of a majority of Sejm deputies," said one senior SLD member. Party leaders were trying to convince the participants that it was in the interest of the party to create a coalition, which would allow Parliament to work until spring 2005, when the first effects of economic revival and EU integration would make itself felt. (WBJ 05.iv.04) OFFICIALS SAY TERRORIST THREAT TO POLAND IS 'REAL’ Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Jerzy Oleksy said on 1 April that the danger of a terrorist attack on Poland is "clear," PAP reported. The previous day, Polish Intelligence Service chief Zbigniew Siemiatkowski briefed lawmakers from the Sejm's Commission for Special Services on an Internet report discovered by Norwegian military officers in December that appears to target Poland for terrorist attack. According to the 1 April "Gazeta Wyborcza," the report analyzes Spanish policies and appeals to supporters of Al-Qaeda to attack Spain in order to pressure the Spanish government to pull out of Iraq. Much of the report reportedly touches on Poland and Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, and reportedly includes a wish that the earth "swallow up" Kwasniewski before the end of his term in 2005. "I believe that the threat to Poland, whether within the country or abroad, is real," Siemiatkowski told "Gazeta Wyborcza" of 1 April. The daily also carried opposition Law and Justice lawmaker Zbigniew Wassermann's comment that, "It seems this is no longer an issue of whether an attack [on Poland] will take place, but when." (RFE/RL 02.iv.04) POLAND DECIDES TO SUSPEND PRIVATISATION OF HUTA CZESTOCHOWA STEELWORKS Poland has decided to suspend privatisation of the Huta Czestochowa steelworks, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski announced on March 31, speaking in Kiev. Kwasniewski said that the results of a tender to privatise Huta Czestochowa would be re-examined and that either the tender would be annulled or a different solution would be found. Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma expressed his gratitude to Poland for this decision. In late February 2004, LNM Group (UK-India) was selected as the investor for Huta Czestochowa, despite the fact that the corresponding tender commission apparently decided in favour of Industrial Union of Donbass (Donetsk Ukraine), which reportedly proposed better investment conditions. The Industrial Union of Donbass turned to the Ukrainian government for protection. (NewsBase 01.iv.04) CSFB-LED CONSORTIUM TO ADVISE ON SALE OF 30% STAKE IN TOP BANK PKO BP Poland picked a consortium comprised of Credit Suisse First Boston and Polish Bank Gospodarki Zywnosciowej (BGZ) to advise on the sale of a 30% stake in PKO BP, the country's biggest bank, the Treasury Ministry said in a statement. With a PLN-13-mln bid, the CSFB-led team beat three other shortlisted groups headed by international banking giants Citigroup Global Markets, HSBC and Deutsche Bank Securities, all of which had bid with a Polish partner. Poland plans to sell the stake in an initial public offering on the Warsaw Stock Exchange yet this year. Last week, the government also proposed creating a national financial group by joining Poland's PKO BP and the country's top insurer, PZU. This plan would not hinder the planned sale of the minority PKO BP stake, it said. The government has said that it hopes to retain a majority position and operational control in the bank over the long-term. PKO BP is Poland's retail-banking leader and the biggest bank in the country. The bank boosted its net profit to a record PLN 1.23 bln in 2003. The bumper profit rested on a relatively good interest income performance, considering the fall of official rates, a good net provision result, an improved credit portfolio, and lower asset costs. It had assets of nearly PLN 85 bln at the end of the year. (Interfax 26.iii.04) ROMANIA PRESIDENT: UNJUSTIFIED ASSETS SHOULD BE CONFISCATED Replying to Prime Minister Nastase's recent remarks that unjustified assets should be taxed at 90 percent, Romanian President Iliescu on 29 March said unjustified assets should be confiscated and not taxed, Mediafax reported. In announcing a new program for combating corruption, Nastase on 27 March said all public officials and their relatives should publish a list of their assets and any assets unjustified by their income should be subjected to a 90 percent tax. Reacting to Iliescu's remarks, Social Democratic Party Executive Chairman Octav Cozmanca on 29 March said taxation seems to him a "much more reasonable" measure than confiscation. He warned, however, that illegally obtained wealth should be treated separately. He also said Nastase's proposal could be implemented this fall. (RFE/RL 30.iii.04) RUSSIA RUSSIA, U.S. PREPARING TO SIGN DEFENSE COOPERATION AGREEMENT Russia and the United States are preparing to sign an agreement on cooperation in defense technologies, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said. "We are getting ready to sign an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the area of defense technologies," Ivanov told journalists during a short stop-over in Oslo en route from Washington to Moscow. "The document will enable [Russia and the United States] to access each other’s defense technologies. We can develop a joint product together with the United States if the agreement is put into practice," he said. "This primarily concerns a theater missile defense system, including missile attack warning systems,” the defense minister said. "There is a draft of the two countries' agreement on rear services’ support for troops. This document envisions Russian rear services' support for U.S. military units on the territory of third countries and vise versa," Ivanov said. (Interfax 07.iv.04) SURGUT TAKES LEAD ON SAKHA OIL FIELD Surgutneftegaz, Russia's fourth-largest oil producer, will invite state-owned Gazprom and Rosneft to help it develop a $3 billion oil field in east Siberia after supplanting Yukos as the site's developer. Surgut on Monday said it agreed to buy oil exploration assets from Yukos Sakhaneftegaz, including its Lenaneftegaz subsidiary, which is exploring the Talakan field and its estimated 2.3 billion barrels of oil reserves. The $3 billion needed would pay for acquiring the field, exploring for and extracting oil and to link the Talakan to a planned pipeline to Nakhodka. Surgut, Rosneft and Gazprom last year said they would cooperate to exploit eastern energy resources, two months after former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested in October. Russia, which extracts most of its oil in west Siberia for sale to Europe, is seeking to tap fields in the country's east and export fuel to meet growing demand in Asia and the United States. In eastern Siberia, "we will make new discoveries as there are other oil fields in the region," Surgut CEO Vladimir Bogdanov said in an interview in Moscow. Surgut has been encouraged by government statements that indicate the country may decide to build an oil pipeline to Nakhodka on the Pacific coast to sell fuel to Japan, rather than a link to Daqing in China, Bogdanov said. Surgut has committed to invest $185 million in Talakan to date, Bogdanov said. That includes a $61 million payment to the government that the company promised in its bid for the Talakan field. Surgut lost that bid to Sakhaneftegaz, which was later acquired by Yukos. Surgut was later awarded the Talakan license after the Yukos unit's exploration license lapsed. (The St. Petersburg Times 06.iv.04) CO-OWNERS OF MDM INDUSTRIAL GROUP TO LIQUIDATE MDM’S MANAGEMENT COMPANY Sergei Popov and Andrei Melnichenko, co-owners of the MDM industrial group, are to liquidate the MDM group's management company, which they have owned since 2000. All industrial assets, except shares of United Energy Systems, Rinaco and Pipe Metallurgical Company, will be consolidated in EVROKHIM and a new holding company created at Siberian Coal and Energy (SUEK). The new company will comprise the group's coal and energy assets and be headed by Vladimir Rashevsky, an ex-head of MDM BANK, appointed to that post on April 2. The new company will manage stakes of power systems such as Altaienergo, Buryatenergo, Krasnoyarskenergo Arskenergo, Kuzbassenergo, Chitaenergo, Amurenergo, Dalenergo, Khabarovskenergo and Yakutenergo, as well as Lutek. (NewsBase 06.vi.04) THE INDISPUTABLE CRISIS OF KHORDORKOVSKY Mikhail Khodorkovsky has, by turns, been the symbol of the oligarchs who ruthlessly acquired vast wealth in the 1990s, and then Russia's answer to George Soros, the U.S. philanthropist and champion of "open society." His latest transformation has come in a prison cell, from where, on 29 March, he sent an open letter analyzing the "almost indisputable" crisis in Russian liberalism and throwing his backing behind President Vladimir Putin. The 2,500-word screed is a dramatic volte face. The oil tycoon who argued against higher taxes on oil companies is now calling on them to share their wealth with ordinary Russians. Khodorkovsky, until recently a leading critic of Putin and a man who has questioned Putin's legitimacy as president, now says that "we have to reject senseless attempts to undermine the legitimacy of the president." The change in position is so dramatic that, if the article had not appeared in the well-respected newspaper Vedomosti, it might had been viewed as a fabrication. What is unanswered, though, is whether the letter was a genuine change of heart, a calculated bid for clemency ahead of his trial for tax evasion and embezzlement, or was made under duress. While the letter is being taken as a mea culpa, there is his little sign of that on the questions that most directly affect Khodorkovsky: how he amassed his multibillion-dollar fortune. The closest he comes to admitting culpability is when he writes that "for an entrepreneur, it is much easier to reach agreement with the cupped hand of a bureaucrat than to bring his actions in line with a network of social institutions able to act." In his letter, he largely exonerates big business, saying the oligarchs revived industry and created "over 2 million high-paid jobs." The oligarchs' political failure, he writes, was that "we failed to realize at once" that they were being used by former President Boris Yeltsin. The oligarchs come across as a collection of broken-spirited men whose chief crime was that "by our pliability and resignation, our servile ability to give when asked and even when not asked," they fueled public anger at the political and business elite. The challenge for big business now, Khodorkovsky writes, is "to legitimize privatization" by sharing their wealth "with the people, probably by agreeing to the reform of taxation of mineral wealth and other steps probably not particularly pleasant for big business owners." Still, the letter undoubtedly is a further major setback for opponents of Putin, almost all of whom have, since December's parliamentary elections, found themselves outside the Duma. Khodorkovsky reaffirmed his stance on 1 April when the host of the TV program Svoboda Slova (Freedom of Speech) read out a letter from the former Yukos boss, in which he said that he had gone public because no progress is possible without a public analysis of mistakes and because the presidential elections had shown that "90 percent" of the public "considered property illegitimate." (TOL 05.iv.04) HEINEKEN PLANS TO BUILD $40M PLANT IN SVERDLOVSK The world's No. 2 brewer, Heineken, is negotiating the construction of a $40 million plant in the Sverdlovsk region, Sverdlovsk Governor Eduard Rossel announced this week. An expansion into the region would let Heineken tap into the promising markets of the Urals and Siberia. "They said they would like to build a plant. We gave our consent and will be discussing details," Rossel was quoted by Interfax as saying Wednesday. He said the planned investment was $40 million. "We can't confirm or deny this information," said Anna Meleshina, spokeswoman for Heineken Russia. "But we are studying the area, and we're not the only ones interested in it." Since Heineken's dramatic entry into the domestic beer market in 2002, when it bought St. Petersburg brewer Bravo for $400 million, the Dutch company has not expanded as aggressively as expected. The new factory, which analysts said could have a capacity of 1 million hectoliters to 1.3 million hectoliters, would give Heineken a window to the Urals and Siberian markets, where competitors Baltika and Sun Interbrew are already well established. "Heineken didn't come [to Russia] to be the sixth or seventh player," said Natalya Zagvozdina, a consumer goods analyst with Renaissance Capital. On the Russian market, Heineken is currently ranked sixth in volume terms, with a 4.5 percent market share, according to Business Analytica figures for 2003. Baltika and Sun Interbrew lead with 21.7 percent and 14.5 percent respectively. "They're doing what we did two years ago," said Alexei Kedrin, spokesman for Baltika. Russia's No.1 brewer has plants in Samara and Khabarovsk that supply the Urals and Siberian markets. Baltika is the No. 1 beer brand in the Sverdlovsk region capital, Yekaterinburg. The company's main competitor is local Patra brewery, which rivals Sun Interbrew and PIT have reportedly been considering buying. The Sverdlovsk region shows plenty of room for expansion compared to the fiercely competitive Moscow and St. Petersburg markets. Annual per capita beer consumption is 50 liters in Yekaterinburg, Kedrin said, while it is between 70 and 80 liters in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Baltika, which reported falling profits of 11 percent last year, is expected Friday to unveil plans to overhaul its brand portfolio, which will include a redesign of some of its popular labels. (The Moscow Times 02.iv.04) VSMPO AVISMA GROUP TO CONSOLIDATE ASSETS INTO A SINGLE CAPITAL Before the end of 2004, VSMPO AVISMA group, a major titanium producer on a world scale, plans to consolidate its assets into a single capital. The company unites the Verkhnyaya Salda metal production group (VSMPO) and the AVISMA company. For this, VSMPO will issue additional shares, to be swapped for AMISMA shares at a rate reflecting the free market value of each company. VSMPO is to pay R1/share in dividends for 2003. The payout will total R1.27 billion, or 9.14% of profit. Before the year-end, the company is to issue first-level ADRs for 12% to 15% of its stock to raise its liquidity ahead of an IPO set for 2005. (NewsBase 31.iii.04) RUSSIA CALLS ON OPEC, INDEPENDENT PRODUCERS TO STABILIZE OIL PRICES Russia would consider the range between $22 and $28 per barrel acceptable, says a report Russia’s Deputy Energy Minister Alexander Voronin is to present to OPEC’s 130th session on Wednesday. The situation with oil prices in recent months is causing concern, the report says. Oil prices have been above the upper boundary of the price range. "For this reason we would welcome a decision from OPEC that would calm the market and move the prices within a range acceptable to both the producers and the consumer. This issue would be best resolved through OPEC joining efforts with independent producers. We cannot attempt to make profits at the expense of consumers if inflation is to be kept in check and the world economy is to be kept stable," the report says. "Of course, in pressing for steps to stabilize world oil markets, Russia cannot overlook its own domestic economic and political problems. These problems will be resolved through tackling long-term strategic issues in structural changes to the national economy. The overriding goal of these changes is to assure significant growth of the gross domestic product in a relatively short period of time and, in a final analysis, to improve living standards. We are guided by these goals when we make decisions on amounts of oil to be exported," it says. "As before, in making these decisions Russia will bear in mind trends in the world's oil markets as well as our export commitments. In this context we wish to re-emphasize that cooperation with OPEC remains a priority for us," the report says. The Russian delegation intends to confirm Russia's willingness to continue multilateral and bilateral consultations with OPEC, including through talks between the Russian and OPEC energy ministers, it says. (Interfax 31.iii.04) NORILSK IN $1.16 BLN AFRICAN GOLD BUY Norilsk Nickel announced Monday it has snapped up a 20 percent stake in South African gold miner Gold Fields Limited for $1.16 billion. The deal, one of the largest single foreign investments by a Russian company, likely signals the start of Norilsk's expansion onto global gold markets, analysts said. Norilsk's purchase is potentially bigger than Kazan-based Tatneft's share in a $1.3 billion acquisition of Turkey's Tupras oil refinery, made jointly last month with the Zorlu Group, a Turkish financial-industrial holding. The acquisition dwarfs two deals completed in January -- LUKoil's $296 million investment into 800 gas stations in the United States from Conoco-Phillips, and the purchase by steelmaker Severstal of Dearborn, Michigan-based Rouge Industries for $286 million. Norilsk also trumped its own $132 million investment into the Montana-based platinum and palladium producer Stillwater Mining Co. last year. Over the last two years, Norilsk has increased its share of the domestic gold market with the acquisition of four gold mines worth just under $500 million, making it Russia's top gold miner and a global top-10 producer. The company has said it plans to increase its output of precious metals from 40 tons last year to 100 tons by 2007. While to market watchers, Monday's purchase indicated a move by Norilsk onto global gold markets, the company itself would not say if it plans to purchase any additional stakes in the South African miner. Norilsk was given just 10 days to confirm its purchase in Gold Fields, a company that has 4.3 million ounces of attributable annual gold production and 84 million ounces of mineral reserves. Gold Fields' mining operations in South Africa, Australia and Ghana are projected to be operational for another 25 years, a Johannesburg-based metals analyst, who asked not to be named, said Monday. The analyst said Norilsk was taking one of only a few options to gain a foothold in global gold production companies. Companies in the world's largest gold-producing nation, Australia, have already consolidated, while other South African miners, such as Harmony, are too South Africa-oriented for a company with global ambitions, the analyst said. Norilsk, the world's No. 1 platinum and palladium producer, said it financed the purchase from existing cash reserves and a bank loan. Charlier said Norilsk hoped to reveal the source of the loan in the near future. Norilsk had bought the stake for a lower than average discount of 6 percent to market price at $11.79 per share, analysts said, noting that the timing was good, considering that Gold Fields' share price was at a 12-month low in rand terms, and at a 7-month low in dollar terms, on Monday. Norilsk's share price was up 2.5 percent on the Russian Trading System at Monday's close. Gold Fields' price remained mostly static, falling 0.2 percent on the news of Norilsk's acquisition on the Johannesburg bourse. Anglo American said Monday it had sold its Gold Fields stake, which it acquired in December 2000, to concentrate its gold interests in AngloGold Ltd., the world's No.2 gold producer, Reuters reported Monday. The sale was expected to make Anglo American a gain of $480 million. Gold Fields is coming out of a season of operational turmoil, in large part driven by a strong rand against the dollar, the Johannesburg-based analyst said. The deal is, however, likely to strengthen the rand, since Anglo American said it would use the sale proceeds, which totaled 7.631 billion rand, to pay off debt and finance capital expenditure inside South Africa. Analysts in Moscow applauded Norilsk's further diversification into the gold sector, saying it would allow Norilsk, whose revenues are more than 50 percent based on nickel sales and under 10 percent on gold, to smooth cash flows. Oligarch Vladimir Potanin and Norilsk CEO Nikolai Prokhorov own more than half of Norilsk Nickel through the Interros holding. Potanin and Prokhorov are ranked Russia's fourth- and fifth-richest men with personal assets worth $4.9 billion and $4.8 billion respectively. (The Moscow Times 30.iii.04) YUKOS FAILS TO REPLACE SIBNEFT BOARD AND MANAGEMENT Yukos failed to replace the Sibneft board and management because it was refused registration. Yukos planned to establish operational control over Sibneft at a meeting by electing a new company president and board and amending the charter. After the aborted meeting, Sibneft shareholders announced that they were in compliance with the agreement of the company's ex- shareholders and Yukos owners. Yukos managers said they would sue Sibneft and its registrar Rost. (NewsBase 30.iii.04) PUTIN ORDERS POLICE TO RAISE PERFORMANCE President Vladimir Putin has taken aim at the Interior Ministry, telling a gathering of gray-uniformed, star-studded police generals that they need to turn their ministry into an efficient crime-fighting machine or risk having reforms imposed upon them. Putin told the generals they should rid their ministry of those functions that overlap with other law enforcement agencies and focus "on priority directions," such as fighting drug and human trafficking, terrorism and "crimes against people." This includes murders, grave injury, robbery, rape, offenses against minors and violations of individual freedoms. Putin said the MVD also should do more to battle corruption, but should be careful not to interfere in business disputes, according to the text of his speech posted on the Kremlin web site. Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev told reporters after the meeting that the president also ordered the ministry to crack down on organized crime. Putin chastised the generals for failing to tame the overall growth in crime. The number of registered crimes grew by 9.1 percent in 2003 to total 2.756 million, according to the ministry's web site. Theft, robbery and similar crimes accounted for 50 percent of all registered crimes. Street muggings and other crimes committed in public places grew by 17.6 percent to total 216,900 last year. At the same time, Putin said he has little faith in the ministry's statistics, noting that there have been cases of police officers refusing to register crimes or "directly falsifying statistics." The police have been accused of regularly either refusing to register offenses or doctoring statistics to artificially improve rates, since statistics remain one of the major criteria for evaluating their work. The situation has become so serious that the Kremlin has reportedly considered assigning the Federal Statistics Service to keep tabs on crime jointly with the Interior Ministry. The Russian press has been awash with speculation in recent months that the ministry could lose a hefty part of its vertically integrated structure as part of the Kremlin's administrative reform. Among other things, the MVD could lose its investigative committee, which along with the investigative branches of the Federal Security Service and Prosecutor General's Office would form one federal service of investigations. Another proposal reportedly under consideration is to form a federal police force on the basis of MVD's central directorates, and make the regional forces independent entities to be financed and overseen by the regional administrations. The ministry already has seen Putin spin off its anti-drug directorate into a separate independent agency under the command of Viktor Cherkesov, a former KGB officer and Putin loyalist. Cherkesov was quoted in the Thursday issue of Izvestia as saying that the MVD "still has an overflow of functions and different goals." While losing its drug-fighters, the ministry has engulfed the Federal Migration Service and the once-independent Tax Police. The ministry's leadership has been reshuffled under Putin, with two senior officers from its arch rival, the FSB, assigned to run the MVD and its feared internal affairs directorate, which investigates corruption within the ministry. The local press has speculated that the appointment of career FSB officer Nurgaliyev to the post of interior minister earlier this month could pave the way for a serious restructuring of the police, which recently have suffered from a series of corruption scandals. Nurgaliyev, however, made it clear Wednesday that he does not plan any dramatic personnel cuts in MVD's central staff. (The St. Petersburg Times 26.iii.04) SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO: HELPING AND UNHELPFUL Less than a month after a reform-minded coalition formed a new government under Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, Serbia has learned that Washington has frozen $25 million in aid to the country for "insufficient" cooperation with the Hague tribunal. News of the U.S. decision came just days after Serbia's parliament adopted a law on financial assistance to war crimes indictees. On 30 March, deputies approved legislation to provide financing for certain costs, including legal fees, of war crimes suspects indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. The new law also provides financial help to indictees' family members for travel expenses, hotel costs, and phone bills related to their visits to The Hague. Although a draft of the new legislation had the blessing of all the parliamentary parties except the opposition Democratic Party (DS), two of the parties in the government coalition pulled their support at the last moment. Most of the members of Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus's G17 party abstained--a few voted in favor--while the two-party coalition of Serbian Renewal Movement-New Serbia (SPO-NS) voted against it. Passage of the law fell to Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), the populist opposition Serbian Radical Party (SRS), and the Socialist Party (SPS), which supports the government without participating in it. The Serbian and Montenegrin governments have offered financial assistance to 18 war crimes indictees in The Hague who surrendered voluntarily. But four indictees, including former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, have not received aid so far. The new law changes that. The possibility that Milosevic and his family may soon be receiving government money for his trial-related expenses has outraged a large part of the population, as well as some political leaders. SPO head Vuk Draskovic told TOL that the new law was "scandalous" and a "celebration of criminals." Dusan Vukovic, who lives in the southern Serbian city of Kraljevo, also said he was furious about the new law. Vukovic's son Aleksandar was killed in the 1999 NATO bombings. Several nongovernmental organizations, along with the DS, had the same idea recently, when they gathered in front of the Supreme Court to call for the law's abolition. Two days later, the government official responsible for writing the new legislation's assistance guidelines, Finance Minister Mladjan Dinkic, announced that it was highly unlikely that Milosevic or his family would receive any aid under a government decree to be adopted within two weeks. The president of Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozar Marovic, said he did not see the law as a form of "financing of war criminals," but rather as the "strengthening of cooperation with the tribunal" in The Hague. (TOL 05.iv.04) SLOVAKIA PREMIER SAYS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WILL NOT AFFECT GOVERNMENT Prime Minister Dzurinda said on 5 April after a meeting of the SDKU leadership that the previous day's electoral results will not affect the performance of the four-party ruling coalition, CTK and TASR reported. Dzurinda said the coalition has a four-year mandate and intends to see it through. The SDKU leadership reportedly rejected the idea of personal consequences for either Dzurinda or the SDKU's unsuccessful presidential candidate, Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan. Dzurinda also rejected criticism by the KDH and SMK that his insistence on Kukan's candidacy and refusal to agree on a joint coalition candidate is at the root of the coalition's failure in the presidential vote. The KDH and the SMK backed Frantisek Miklosko in the first round, but he received just 6.5 percent of the vote. (RFE/RL 06.iv.04) SLOVAKIA: PRESIDENT MECIAR? Just two days after Slovakia joined NATO, Vladimir Meciar, the man responsible for the five-year delay in the country's membership since former federation partner the Czech Republic joined, has emerged as the country's likely next president. But Meciar's clear victory in the 4 April vote was much less of a surprise than the identity of the man who came in second--Ivan Gasparovic, once Meciar's closest ally. Gasparovic and Meciar parted company in 2002, but those Slovaks who bother to turn up to vote in the runoff on 17 April will effectively be voting for the two leading figures in the country's most important but highly divisive party of the 1990s, the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS). Between 1994 and 1998, when Meciar was prime minister, the country was repeatedly criticized by the international community for violations of minority rights, misuse of the secret service, and rampant corruption. As a result, the country was left behind in the EU and NATO integration processes. Throughout, Gasparovic was Meciar's right-hand man. A Meciar victory in the first round had always looked like a strong possibility. Meciar's HZDS has won every election since the division of Czechoslovakia. Even so, for Meciar, who won 32.7 percent of the vote, the victory is a personal triumph. He was denied power in 1998 and again in 2002 because his opponents united against him and, since then, he has suffered two serious splits within his party. In 2002, Gasparovic, his once close aide and a former parliamentary chairman, left the HZDS to form his own party, the Movement for Democracy (HZD). In 2003, other parliamentary deputies left the HZDS. Meciar now looks all but certain to be Slovakia's new president, succeeding Rudolf Schuster, who limped in with under 10 percent of the vote. There is no threshold in the second-round runoff. The elections proved a shocking debacle for the governing coalition. Pundits ascribe this partly to opinion polls, which had indicated that its candidate, Eduard Kukan, would comfortably make it into the second round. With just one exception, every poll had suggested there would be a face-off between Meciar and Kukan--and the exception indicated that Kukan would face Gasparovic. The polls may certainly have had a decisive effect, since Kukan (22.09 percent) trailed Gasparovic (22.28 percent) by just 3,644 votes. The point was underlined by the turnout, which, at just 47.9 percent, came as a surprise. Observers believe that some voters who did go to polling stations may have been lulled into a false sense of security and chose to give their first-round vote to minor candidates, saving their support for Kukan for the second round. (TOL 05.iv.04) SLOVENIA REFERENDUM FAILURE RAISES POLITICAL STAKES IN SLOVENIA Despite a nearly 95 percent referendum vote against a government-sponsored bill affecting the country's minorities, Slovenian Interior Minister Rado Bohinc said that he will continue to make retroactive rulings restoring residency status to "the erased". These are non-Slovenes removed from the population registry in 1992 after failing to apply for citizenship or permanent residency, whose residency status the bill would have restored. Opponents of the referendum charged that human rights were being subjected to a popular vote, and several prominent figures -- including Prime Minister Anton Rop and former President Milan Kucan -- urged a referendum boycott. The turnout was nonetheless comparable to that in other recent referendums, and the majority in favor of the conservative-backed referendum surpassed that of any such vote previously held in Slovenia. With upcoming European Parliament and national elections, the center-left government will be eager to restore public confidence before voters head to the polls again. (RFE/RL 06.iv.04) UKRAINE OPPOSITION THREATENS STREET PROTESTS AGAINST CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS Our Ukraine and the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc have said they will lead demonstrations in Kyiv the day the Verkhovna Rada holds its final vote on the hotly contested constitutional-reform bill that was preliminarily adopted in December and amended in February, Interfax reported on 6 April. It is unclear when the Ukrainian parliament will vote on the reforms. "The essence of these constitutional amendments is directed not toward forming a European model of democracy but toward passing some powers of the next president to the parliamentary majority," Our Ukraine lawmaker Yuriy Kostenko told journalists. "We are trying to respond," Yuliya Tymoshenko said. "We will use all possible levers of influence [to prevent the passage of the bill]." Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko said on 7 April that his parliamentary caucus might demand a vote on the pullout of the Ukrainian contingent from Iraq before voting on the constitutional-reform bill. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry meanwhile announced that an explosion in Iraq killed one Ukrainian soldier and wounded five others on 6 April. (RFE/RL 07.iv.04) STATE PROPERTY FUND IS GOING TO ANNUL ITS CONTRACT WITH MEGA-MOTORS The Ukrainian State Property Fund is going to annul its contract with the Mega-Motors jv (Germany-Ukraine) on the privatisation of the Kremenchuk-based AvtoKrAZ truck manufacturer over Mega-Motors's failure to meet is privatisation obligations, the SPF chairman, Mykhaylo Chechetov, announced on March 31. Chechetov said that AvtoKrAZ "touched the bottom" after its privatisation. Mega-Motors had acquired three stakes in AvtoKrAZ in 1999-2001, so it now controls 86.4% in KrAZ, which is Ukraine's only truck manufacturer. In 2003, AvtoKrAZ sold 1,176 trucks, 13% less than in 2002. (NewsBase 02.iv.04) INFORMATION PROVIDERS - For either a free trial, or for further information on the services of our Information Providers, please contact: NEWSBASE NewsBase is a leading provider of business and economic news and intelligence from Russia, Central Europe and the FSU. 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