Itar-Tass Russia, CIS news summary for Saturday, October 2 – 2
TASS
October 3, 2004 Sunday
MOSCOW
Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone talk with Tajik
leader Emomali Rakhmonov on Saturday to discuss practical issues
related to the planned visit by the Russian president to Tajikistan
and a summit of the Central Asian Cooperation Organisation, the
Russian presidential press service said.
SOFIA – Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov will chair a meeting of
the anti-terror commission in two-weeks’ time to evaluate the
implementation of the president’s decree on enhanced anti-terror
measures, a government official said. Responding to a question about
possible changes in the government structure, government chief of
staff Sergei Naryshkin told journalists on Saturday, “The role of the
staff matches relevant powers and functions.”
KIEV – The European Union plans to urge Ukrainian politicians to hold
free and democratic presidential elections in October. EU High
Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana
had a telephone conversation with presidential candidate Viktor
Yushchenko on Saturday, during which they discussed “numerous
violations in the course of the election campaign” and expressed
concern about its coverage in Ukrainian mass media, Yushchenko’s
election headquarters said.
BORISOV – President Alexander Lukashenko urged the Belarussian
military to develop peacekeeping skills. At the same time, he said
there was no question of their participation in peacekeeping missions
at the moment. Speaking at the Shchit Otechestva-2004 (Fatherland’s
Shield) military exercise on Saturday, Lukashenko said, “We were
invited and are invited to any region to carry out peacekeeping
missions. But I am not going to make any decision on the participation
of Belarussians in peacekeeping operations for the time being.”
KURSK – The heads of border-lying regions from Belarus, Russia and
Ukraine ended their meeting in Kursk on Saturday. The leaders of 15
border-lying regions from the three countries, ambassadors and
officials from border guard agencies attended the meeting. The agenda
included a variety of cooperation issues. The participants paid
special attention to a draft agreement between the Ukrainian and
Russian governments on the border crossing rules for residents of
border-lying regions.
YEREVAN – Russian Federation Council Chairman Sergei Mironov and
Armenian parliament head Artur Bagdasaryan opened the Russian-Armenian
regional cooperati on centre in a ceremony in Yerevan on Saturday. The
objective of the centre is promoting development of cooperation
between Russian and Armenian regions.
YEREVAN – To consolidate ties in the CIS it is necessary first of all
to implement the existing agreements, Russian Federation Council
Chairman Sergei Mironov said when answering questions of Yerevan
University students. Mironov heads the Council of the CIS
Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. The CIS authority in the world is
sharply higher at present, he noted.
TBILISI – Georgia’s law-enforcement agencies began an operation in the
Pankisi Gorge and the adjacent area on Saturday to spot and detain
suspicious persons. “Participating in the operation are special forces
of the Interior Ministry and the Security Ministry, and some of the
Defence Ministry’s units and equipment that are used for patrolling on
the ground and in the air,” Security Minister Vano Merabishvili said.
SUKHUMI – The situation in Abkhazia remains stable as the
independence-seeking region is getting ready for the presidential
elections where for the first time several candidates will compete for
the top post. Deputy head of the Abkhazian State Security Service Yuri
Ashuba told Itar-Tass on Saturday that the appearance of all five
candidates on local television on Friday when they urged the
population to exercise restraint and calm contributed to stability.
MOSCOW – Moscow, Tbilisi and SOFIA – Russian specialists will assist
in repair and modernisation of the Russian military hardware that is
in service in the Bulgarian army at present, Bulgarian Economy
Minister Lidia Shuleva said on Saturday after the meeting of the
intergovernmental commission on Russian-Bulgarian cooperation, that
was held in Sofia.
KURSK – Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin complained
that the economic potential of the two countries is tapped very
slowly. Speaking at the 16th meeting of the heads of border-lying
regions from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine in Kursk on Saturday,
Chernomyrdin said, “The development of the economic space of Russia
and Ukraine is estimated at 16 billion U.S. dollars on the Russian
side, while in the past it exceeded 70 billion U.S. dollars, and the
border-lying Russian regions have practically not used the economic
potential of the Kharkov region.”
MOSCOW – Russia plans to start exploring Mars’s satellite Phobos in
2009, the director of the Institute of Space Research, Lev Zelyony,
said. “This is the only national project of Solar system planetary
exploration,” he said on Saturday. “The project envisages the
construction of an interplanetary craft capable of flying to Mars,
landing on Phobos, taking samples of its soil and bringing them back
to Earth,” Zelyony said.