TEN Index
May 16-31, 1996, Vol. 2, No. 10
Transboundary News
TALLINN-MOSCOW -- A NEW ROUND OF ESTONIAN-RUSSIAN BORDER TALKS ENDED IN STALEMATE in Pskov as no progress was made on any of the disputed issues. The leader of the Estonian delegation, Foreign Ministry deputy chancellor Raul Malk, said that no amendments were carried into the border agreement text, as both sides insisted on former demands. Estonia still wishes Russia to acknowledge the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty in the political declaration of the agreement, whereas Russia claims the treaty to be long extinct. The next round of the talks takes place in Tallinn in July. (23 May, ETA)
RIGA-TALLINN-VILNIUS -- THE PRESIDENTS OF ESTONIA, LATVIA AND LITHUANIA affirmed in a joint statement the unity of the Baltic states in reintegrating to European institutions. "We, the Presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, express to the world our firm will to reintegrate to all European institutions. We believe that our states are able to give and will give their joint contribution to the European Union and NATO," the Presidents said at their summit meeting in Vilnius. Estonian President Lennart Meri, Lithuanian President Algirdas Brazauskas and Latvian President Guntis Ulmanis also discussed issues connected with Baltic cooperation, Baltic Sea regional ties, and relations with neighboring countries. (27 May, ETA)
RIGA-TALLINN -- THE DEMARCATION OF THE ESTONIAN-LATVIAN LAND BORDER now focuses on the border town of Valga/Valka which Latvia has refused to yield and give Estonia a plot of 3.33 hectares. Currently the plot belongs to Latvia. Nine of the ten families on the territory in question are Estonian and they wish to have their houses included on Estonian territory. Latvia refused the request at a meeting of the Estonian-Latvian committees on May 9. The next meeting has been scheduled for July. (16 May, ETA)
ESTONIA -- THE RUSSIAN FACTION IN THE ESTONIAN RIIGIKOGU ABSTAINED FROM VOTING FOR THE LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES ELECTIONS LAW because the law will require candidates to have knowledge of Estonian. Estonian President Lennart Meri had criticized the first draft of the law, passed by the Riigikogu in April, and refused to promulgate it on May 7 on grounds of discrepancies found with the Estonian Constitution and the UN international pact on rights on citizens' and political rights. The current draft requires knowledge of spoken and written Estonian for working in local municipalities but the candidates are not judged beforehand and can confirm their knowledge of Estonian with signature while registering as a candidate. (16 May, ETA)
HELSINKI-TALLINN-MOSCOW -- THE DISPUTE OVER THE ESTONIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH may find a solution soon. Orthodox patriarchates of Constantinople and Moscow met in Helsinki and drew up a preliminary agreement for settling the row. The Patriarch of Constantinople agreed to call for a four-month delay in its decision to accept the Estonian Orthodox church under its jurisdiction. In that time the Orthodox congregations in Estonia have to choose whether they would like to join the patriarch of Moscow or stay under Constantinople. A joint delegation of patriarchates from Moscow and Constantinople is expected to negotiate with members of the congregations. (17 May, ETA)
TALLINN-MOSCOW -- ESTONIAN AUTHORITIES HAVE GIVEN THEIR PERMISSION FOR RUSSIANS living in Estonia to take place in the voting for the June 16 Russian presidential election. Voting stations will be established in the Russian embassy in Tallinn and consulate in Narva. (24 May, SPb Vedomosti)
RIGA-TALLINN -- THE LITHUANIAN NATIONAL CARRIER LITHUANIAN AIR WILL OPEN A NEW ROUTE from Vilnius to Tallinn on August 1 at the latest, to add to the current flights of Estonian Air. Negotiations of Estonian and Lithuanian aviation board representatives on May 13-15 concluded that Estonia and Lithuania must have equal rights for the exploitation of Tallinn-Vilnius route. Currently Estonian Air is the sole airline offering the service and the seats are often sold out. (19 May, ETA)
HELSINKI-TALLINN -- AN AIR TAXI BETWEEN HELSINKI AND TALLINN with the helicopter Agusta 109 Hirundo is now available. In the past the helicopter made VIP flights but from now anyone who wishes can use it, Tonis Lepp from air rescue coordination center said. The helicopter can be ready for service it can be used an hour after the phone call. The helicopter takes on board six passengers, one flight hour to one person will cost about 3,300 kroons. The flight from Tallinn to Helsinki lasts 20 minutes. (May 21, Aripaev)
Environmental News
KRONSTADT, RUSSIA -- THE SOURCE OF A SIGNIFICANT OIL SPILL in the Gulf of Finland near the island of Kronstadt has not yet been clearly identified. The administration of the Kronstadt Naval Yard has been cleared of accusations that it is responsible for the spill. The most likely source of the spill appears to be an accident which took place two years ago during which a large quantity of oil was spilled on Kronstadt soil. The soil is so saturated with the oil in certain places that it leaks in the sea during certain times of the year. (18 and 21 May, Nevskoe Vremiia)
KALININGRAD-LITHUANIA -- CRUDE OIL SPILLED IN THE SEA NEAR KALININGRAD has reached beaches in the Lithuanian part of the Baltic Sea coast. The Lithuanian environmental protection ministry told said oil pollution spread from the state border along the beaches as far as Pervalka (about 33 km southward from Klaipeda in the Kursiu Nerija sand spit). The shore zone 2-3 meters wide is polluted in this area. Moreover, oil patches have been found further north at Alksnyne in front of the southern outskirts of Klaipeda. Neringa residents and border security forces are helping to clean the beaches from the spilled oil. (30 May, ELTA)
RIGA-TALLINN -- LATVIAN FISHING REGULATIONS WILL NOW PROHIBIT TRAWLING by its fishermen in the Gulf of Riga. Estonian fishermen have stated that this step should normalize fishing in the Gulf of Riga because one of the main causes of the conflict between Latvian and Estonian fishermen was that each nation had set its own timetable when trawling was allowed the Gulf. A full agreement between the two countries must still be reached on fishing quotas, resource conservation and research, and delimitation of fishing zones. It is expected that Latvia and Estonia will start negotiations on fishing regulations and fishing zone delimitation in August. (16 May, LETA)
VILJANDI, ESTONIA -- THE ESTONIAN FORESTRY INDUSTRY has recently received a large amount of foreign investment. A recent contract has been signed by AS Vilmets, AS Kilingi-Nomme Metsamajand, and the US investment company Baltic Fund. Together they have created a joint forestry venture. The Estonian side will hold 49 percent of the shares in the venture. The Americans are to invest nearly a million dollars in the new company. The new company will start a powerful sawmill in Viljandi and will start producing processed timber and furniture. (20 May, Aripaev)
RIGA-VILNIUS -- AN OIL AGREEMENT SIGNED BY LATVIA with the U.S. oil company AMOCO and the Swedish oil company OPAB is one of the main obstacles in reaching a final agreement on the sea border issue between Latvia and Lithuania. The oil field lies in the disputed sea border area between the two nations. The field is outside the territorial waters in an economic zone of the country that is not named yet. Latvia has signed a license agreement with US company AMOCO and Swedish OPAB. According to the document, Latvia together with those firms intends to extract oil from this oil field. After Latvia signed this agreement last year, Lithuania interrupted two-year long talks on marine borders. The next date of negotiations is not planned yet. (21 May, ELTA)
VAINAMERI, ESTONIA -- SWEDISH MINESWEEPERS CONCLUDED THEIR SEARCH FOR MINES in Vainameri, the gulf separating Estonia's two largest islands Saaremaa and Hiiumaa from the mainland, which was conducted over the past six weeks. The minesweepers destroyed five mines from World War Two and studying six wrecks lying on the sea floor. Three wrecks would have to be removed and a number of buoys installed in order to make the gulf navigable. The cost of minesweeping, a few million Swedish kronas, was paid by Sweden. Vainameri used to be closed for boats because it was surrounded by Russian military bases. After the withdrawal of Soviet troops, the near-by town of Paldiski has shown promise of becoming a busy port. (19 May, ETA)
VILNIUS -- LITHUANIAN POLICE HAVE SEIZED 13 KILOGRAMS OF RADIOACTIVE URANIUM and arrested six people trying to sell it, the Lithuania's interior ministry reported. The haul was made in the port town of Klaipeda and follows two other seizures of uranium this year, including 100 kg in February. Spokesmen for the interior ministry and the prosecutor's office said they had no information on the source of the uranium in the latest seizure nor its destination. A U.S. news program said 10 people were killed in gang warfare connected to the sales of radioactive material in the area. The report said the material was destined for a mystery Swiss buyer with North Korean interests for a price of $24 million. (22 May, Smena)
TALLINN -- A NEW LAW ON LAND REFORM IS DESIGNED TO SPEED UP PRIVATIZATION OF LAND in Estonia. The law was promulgated by Estonian President Lennart Meri on 21 May. The law will increase the speed of privatization of land to private persons and enable them to privatize land under houses and summer cottages at half the previous price. The Riigikogu dealt over four months with the law and over a thousand amendment proposals to it. The aim of the law is to enable as large a proportion of land as possible to go its present users. The Estonian government does not support renting land. The law states that land can be sold into private ownership to registered legal persons only. (21 May, ETA)
ST. PETERSBURG -- CITY OFFICIALS ARE MOVING TO BAN THE USE OF GASOLINE TANK VEHICLES which sell gasoline to motorists within city limits. Moscow recently banned the activity of such gasoline trucks. Such trucks rarely pay taxes for the gasoline they sell, represent an environmental danger with spilled fuel, and provide unfair competition for permanent gasoline stations. (23 May, Nevskoe Vremiia)
ST. PETERSBURG -- THE NEW SHIP "ECO-PATROL-2" FITTED WITH POLLUTION MEASURING equipment has joined the first such ship "Eco-Patrol-1" which came into service last year. Their crews are responsible for detecting environmental violations in the city region as well as on inland rivers such as the Volga. The new ship has a small helicopter aboard for observational and measuring purposes. (16 May, Smena, and 16 May, Vecher. Peterburg)
MOSCOW -- THE FINDINGS OF EXPERIMENTS FOR THE ALTERING OR DESTROYING RADIOACTIVITY are available to interested business parties in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine interested in environmental clean-up. Contact <russia@aa.net>, or http://www.aa.net/~russia. (TEIA)
Conferences, Events, and Meetings
PSKOV -- AN ART EXHIBIT ON LAKE PEIPSI HAS OPENED with the participation of Estonian and Russian school children. The international art competition and exhibit "The World of Water in the Eyes of Children" opened in Pskov, Russia, on June 5, and focuses on the subject of Lake Peipsi (Chudskoe). Most of the works by Estonian and Russian children depict scenes from the shores and waters of Lake Peipsi. The competition and exhibit are organized by the Pskov Ecological-Biological Center and the Peipsi Lake Project. More information on the competition and exhibit can be obtained by contacting the Ecological-Biological Center in Pskov at +7 (81122) 39919.
STOCKHOLM -- THE FIRST BALLERINA (BALtic Sea Region On-line Environmental Information Resources for INternet Access) WORKSHOP will be held 13-14 June. The aim of the workshop is to discuss and provide guidelines on how to make the BALLERINA initiative the gateway for environmental information on the Baltic Sea region on the Internet. BALLERINA will be developed as a cooperative effort among agencies and organizations which produce and disseminate environmental information about the Baltic Sea and its drainage area. Contact Sindre Langaas at langaas@grida.no, or Camilla Wahlman for practical questions about the workshop at cwa@environ.se, tel. +46-8-6981426, fax +46-8-6981584. (6 May, BALLERINA)
RIGA -- A SEMINAR ON TRANSIT SHIPMENTS was organized by the Riga School of Management and attended by representatives from 15O different organizations from Latvia, the CIS nations, Great Britain, Holland, Belgium, the U.S., and Sweden. The State Minister for Industry, Property, and Privatization, Eriks Kaza, hopes for an increase in the quantity of transit cargo passing through Latvia in the near future. The transit of Russia's petroleum products is very important because Russia's oil is the main cargo passing through the ports of Latvia. Last year Latvia's ports handled 4O million metric tons of cargo. Thirty-six million tons were for export, indicating that most of the cargo movement is from East to West. (16 May, LETA)
RIGA -- A NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION WOMEN'S INFORMATION CENTER has been founded in the city on the basis of the Lithuanian Committee and Secretariat which is making preparations for the 4th UN World Conference on Women's Problems. The Women's Information Center is funded by the UN Development Program. The aim of the Center is the education of women and society in the field of women's rights as well as to initiate sociological research and to publicize its results. The new Women's Information Center also has ties with the Human Rights Board of the European Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers. (20 May, ELTA)
TALLINN - THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A RUSSIAN CONSULAR DEPARTMENT CHANCELLERY in Tartu has been approved by the Estonian Foreign Ministry. The consular area would cover Tartu, Voru, Polva and Valga counties, according to the Foreign Ministry press service. The consular department chancellery will temporarily be located at Puiestee 73a in Tartu. (21 May, ETA)
ST. PETERSBURG -- A JOINT FINNISH-RUSSIAN SEMINAR ON THE ENVIRONMENT was organized by the Department of Environmental Protection of the city of St. Petersburg. The Finnish Minister of the Environment Pekka Khaavisto participated in the seminar. Discussion focused on the possibility of designating certain zones of the city and of Leningrad Oblast to be specially protected territories, as is the case of many such zones near the city of Turku in Finland. (16 May, Nevskoe Vremiia)
LATVIA -- A PROGRAM OF LATVIAN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION FOR NON- LATVIANS is being conducted by the UN Development Program in Latvia. The program will present an opportunity for adults and children to learn the Latvian language and ensure a unified approach to learning Latvian for all residents of Latvia, according to a Latvian government representative. (26 May, LETA)
HELSINKI -- THE FOURTH JOINT MEETING OF COORDINATION GROUPS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF BORDER REGIONS of Finland and Russia met in order to design a program of cooperation through the year 2000. More than 200 border projects are to be undertaken by both sides. Those Finnish projects being conducted on the Russian side are to be freed of paying Russian taxes. Representatives from Murmansk and Leningrad Oblast, St. Petersburg, and Karelia attended from the Russian side. (30 May, SPb Vedomosti)
TALLINN -- A TWO-DAY ENERGY CONFERENCE ORGANIZED BY THE HELSINKI-BASED PRO BALTICA FORUM recommended that a unified Baltic energy program be developed for the Baltic Sea region. The topic of the conference was the development of energy sources in the Baltic Sea region. A project for a joint Baltic energy system was first brought up in 1993 and then abandoned by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, though supported over by Scandinavian countries and Germany. The Pro Baltica Forum was started in Finland in 1992 by German and Baltic representatives. The conference was attended by representatives from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Germany and Denmark. (23 May, ETA)
ST. PETERSBURG - THE TWO-DAY SEMINAR "NATURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE IN EDUCATION AND TOURISM" was held at the Russian Geographic Society on May 22-23. The seminar focused on the methodological aspects of scholarship on the topic. The seminar was organized by the Russian Academy of Education, the Herzen Pedagogical University, and the St. Petersburg UNESCO Center. (21 May, Vecher. Peterburg)
ESTONIA -- THE ESTONIAN SAVINGS BANK LAUNCHED ITS FIRST INTERNET PRODUCT by enabling clients to make transfers in Estonia and receive account reports by Internet. The first product of Banknet is designed for private and smaller business clients. Savings Bank's creation of Internet banking will be followed by Tallinn Bank and Hansa Bank, which will start with Internet banking next year. At present there are about 20,000 Internet connections in Estonia. (29 May, Aripaev)
ST PETERSBURG -- THE FESTIVAL "MONTH OF EUROPEAN CULTURE" has begun in the city and includes a festival of military orchestra, sports events, a variety of theatrical performances, and a concert on Palace Square. A wide range of groups and organizations from Western Europe will participate in the festival. The events are organized to be held at the same time as the annual White Nights festival in the city. (22 May, Nevskoe Vremiia)
MINSK -- LITHUANIAN AND BELARUSSIAN BORDER GUARD REPRESENTATIVES met on May 30 to discuss the still growing flow of illegal migrants through the Belarussian-Lithuanian border. The representatives also exchanged their views on the demarcation of border between the two nations. 237 illegal migrants have been detained this year at the border, including a large number of refugees from Afghanistan who are seeking to enter West European countries. (28 May, ELTA)
LOMONOSOV, RUSSIA -- A SEMINAR ON THE STUDY OF ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS from the point of view, of moral, religious, and philosophical points of view was held under the guidance of the Center of Citizens' Initiative, which is based in San Francisco. The seminar was organized by the Northwest Center of the Socio- Ecological Union, the association "Children of the Baltic", and the Center of Youth Tourism in Lomonosov. (30 May, Chas Pik)
ST PETERSBURG -- A NORWEGIAN MILITARY ACADEMY DELEGATION met with Russian soldiers and officers of the Leningrad Military Division. The delegation observed training exercises and familiarized themselves with the life of Russian soldiers. Future civil administrators as well as military officers study in the Norwegian military academy. (22 May, Vecher. Peterburg)
New Facts and Statistics
ESTONIA -- THE AVERAGE MONTHLY INCOME in Estonia per person in December of 1995 was 3,561 kroons (US $292) according to a recent survey by the Social Ministry. The fastest growth in salaries in the past year has taken place in the health care and social welfare sector (1.47 times), education (1.45 times), forestry (1.36 times) and real estate and business services (1.34 times). (16 May, ETA)
LITHUANIA -- THE AVERAGE MONTHLY INCOME in Lithuania in the first quarter of this year was 446-517 litas (US $112-130) in urban areas and 403 litas (US $101) in the countryside, a survey of 2133 Lithuanian town and rural families showed. (31 May, ELTA) RUSSIA -- THE AVERAGE MONTHLY INCOME in Russia in April 1996 was 775,000 rubles (US $160), according to the State Statistics Committee. (16 May, Nevskoe Vremiia)
TALLINN-HELSINKI -- SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT LESS TICKETS WERE SOLD for cruises to Tallinn from Helsinki during the first week of May than had been sold in one week in April. Finland's new policy bans the import of alcohol from short-stay tours to Estonia and Russia of less than 20 hours. The restrictions on Finnish tourists came into force on May 1. Before the "dry law" date, record amounts of goods and alcohol were hauled over the Gulf of Finland. Estonian and Finnish ferry operators are suffering economically from the new law. Last year the port of Tallinn for the first time attracted more Finnish passengers than Stockholm as tourists rushed to buy cheap Estonian goods and alcohol, often priced three times lower than in Finland. (23 May, ETA)
TEN Index