This important short
article was brought to my attention by a friend in Austria
who found the Sept. 13 Reuters article on an economic
discussion board. Boris Gryzlov, leader of Russia's
Unity faction let the cat out of the bag when he told
reporter Shukshin that Russia would "have to deal in 2003
with a massive population shrinkage."
President Putin himself
was quoted as saying that the '"anticipated chain of
disasters due to hit the country in 2003" were "...a serious
threat for the existence, I want to stress this, for the
existence of Russia". The very next day, the story was
substantially 'sanitized' and converted into a ho
hum, crumbling infrastructure cover story, with Putin's
remarks completely removed from the story...Ken Adachi].
Russia's Parliamentary leaders and President Vladimir
Putin agreed Wednesday to embark on a three-year crash
course to thwart what they said was an anticipated chain of
disasters due to hit the country in 2003.
"(These are)
issues of extraordinary importance, strategic issues which
may degenerate into a serious threat for the existence, I
want to stress this, for the existence of Russia," former
Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov told reporters.
Pro-Kremlin Party Brought
Up The 2003 Problem Boris Gryzlov, leader of the
pro-Kremlin Unity faction which was the first to raise the
issue, said Russia would also have to deal in 2003 with a
massive population shrinkage.
Gryzlov said the
problems had already been discussed with cabinet ministers
and the parliamentarians had agreed with Putin to set up a
commission to tackle the issue head-on.
"The question was
discussed at length and the president approved our
initiative and said he would dispatch representatives of
his administration to the working group," Gryzlov said
after the Kremlin meeting.
Next day's 'sanitized'
and expanded version of above article... Read below
report...
From:
Johnson's Russia List
MOSCOW, Sept 13 (Reuters)
- Russia’s Parliamentary
leaders and President Vladimir Putin agreed on Wednesday to
embark on a three-year crash course to thwart what they said was an
anticipated chain of disasters due to hit the country in 2003.
”(These are) issues of
extraordinary importance, strategic issues which may degenerate into
a serious threat for the existence, I want to stress this, for the
existence of Russia,” former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov
told reporters.
Some experts have singled
out 2003 as the year when three problems - a big debt bill, eroding
infrastructure and an ageing population - could combine to throw Russia
into turmoil.
Primakov, leader of the centre-left OVR parliamentary faction,
was one of several top members of the State Duma lower house of
parliament to meet Putin in the Kremlin.
In addition to the “2003 problem,” the agenda included next year’s
budget and media freedom and ownership. Both sides agreed urgent
measures had to be taken to avert the looming disaster.
Problems of Russia’s crumbling industrial base were highlighted last
month when a nuclear-powered submarine sank with the loss of all 118
crew on board and a day-long fire gutted Moscow’s Ostankino television
tower, a national symbol.
Putin said at the time the fire was proof of the dangerous
condition of the Russian infrastructure.
A power shortage last weekend also forced officials to shut down nuclear
reactors, including those at a giant, top-secret fuel reprocessing plant
whose boss said that only staff discipline prevented a major crisis.
PRO-KREMLIN PARTY
BROUGHT UP THE 2003 PROBLEM
Boris Gryzlov, leader of the pro-Kremlin Unity faction which was
the first to raise the issue, said Russia would also have to deal in
2003 with a colossal $17 billion foreign debt payout and a massive
population shrinkage.
Gryzlov said the problems had already been discussed with cabinet
ministers and the parliamentarians had agreed with Putin to set
up a commission to tackle the issue head-on.
”The question was
discussed at length and the president approved our initiative and
said he would dispatch representatives of his administration to the
working group,” Gryzlov said after the Kremlin meeting.
He said the commission could
start work as early as Monday and suggested the government could
alleviate the crisis by using budget windfalls, such as extra revenue
from higher oil prices, on paying off straight away debts maturing in
2003.
Some observers said the 2003 deadline was rather artificial and might
serve political purposes.
Dmitry Pinsker, Kremlin-watcher for the liberal weekly Itogi,
said Kremlin spin doctors planned to make a fuss over the initiatives,
in part to answer critics who charged them with inaction during the
Kursk submarine disaster last month.
Economic analysts say Russia’s financial and infrastructure problems are
real, but picking a date is somewhat arbitrary.
”A lot here is
artificial,” Oleg Vyugin, a former first deputy finance
minister and now executive vice president at Troika Dialog
investment bank, told Reuters.
Russia is due to pay
slightly more than $16 billion in debt payments that year, compared with
$11.3 billion due in 2001, he said. But there was still plenty of room
for restructuring.
”Everyone knows that the
infrastructure is deteriorating, but that does not mean that this
will all happen in 2003. The television tower burned up this year,”
he said.
Al Breach, an analyst
with Goldman Sachs, said investors would applaud reform talk,
however artificial the deadline.
”For these guys to be
thinking three years ahead is pretty good,” he said.