TEN Index

Aug. 16-31, 1996, Vol. 2, No. 16


Transboundary News

RIGA-VILNIUS -- LATVIAN-LITHUANIAN SEA BORDER NEGOTIATIONS HAVE BEEN JEOPARDIZED over disagreement about exploration of a Baltic Sea shelf oil field. Both states have made claims to the same part of the shelf where the oil field is believed to be located. Latvia is on the verge of signing agreements with American AMOCO and Swedish OPAB companies to conduct oil surveys of the shelf. The oil issue has given rise to new disagreements among Lithuanian and Latvian negotiators who are working to delineate the state border. Lithuanian government officials have promised to take measures, including recalling the Lithuanian ambassador to Latvia, if the Latvian Parliament (Saeima) ratifies contracts with the AMOCO and OPAB oil companies. The Latvian parliament's Foreign Relations Committee has urged that the ratification of a Baltic Sea oil exploration on agreement between Latvia and the companies OPAB and AMOCO must be delayed because of fears that this will jeopardize border treaty negotiations with Lithuania. (ELTA, 22 Aug.)

RIGA-MOSCOW -- THE LATVIAN PARLIAMENT HAS PASSED A DECLARATION THAT LATVIA WAS A VICTIM OF SOVIET OCCUPATION. The declaration was accepted on the first reading of the Latvian parliament by a vote of 75 for and 8 against. The aim of the declaration is to inform the world of the fate of the Latvian nation this century and calls on foreign states and bodies to help Latvia repair the damage caused by occupation. It also states that, while Latvia does not seek revenge for past wrongs, it is disturbed by Russia's unwillingness to acknowledge the Soviet occupation and not to abide by the 192O peace treaty. The previously planned visit of Latvian Prime Minister Andris Skele to Moscow in September is unlikely to take place now following the parliament's passing of the occupation declaration, according to Russian Foreign Ministry sources. (LETA, 28 Aug., and SPb Vedomosti, 28 Aug.)

MOSCOW-RIGA -- THE RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY CONSIDERS the Latvian parliament's declaration that Latvia was occupied as a provocation. A statement released by the ministry on August 26 said that the declaration aims to "create a legal basis to push Russian speakers out of the country". The statement also accuses Latvia of having designs on 2,OOO square kilometers of historically Russian territory. This is the Abrene region that was annexed by Stalin. The statement criticizes the silence of the Latvian government over the declaration. That silence "casts doubts on Riga's stated intentions to normalize and develop Russian and Latvian relations". (LETA, 27 Aug.)

RIGA-TALLINN -- AFTER THE ESTONIAN PARLIAMENT RECENTLY RATIFIED THE ESTONIAN-LATVIAN SEA BORDER AGREEMENT, and the same agreement was also ratified by the Latvian parliament, Estonian Foreign Minister Siim Kallas said that other problems in the relations of the two states could now begin to be solved. Mr. Kallas stressed the security-political importance of the agreement to both countries. The Estonian-Latvian sea border agreement is based upon the UN marine convention and guarantees Estonian ships transit rights in Latvian waters and obliged Latvia to drop its interior sea conception in Livonian Bay. Mr. Kallas said that an Estonian-Latvian fisheries agreement will have to be concluded next, and Estonia and Latvia will have to act together in protecting fisheries resources. Such an agreement would put a final end to the "herring war" between Estonia and Latvia. (ETA, 22 Aug.)

ESTONIA-FINLAND -- VISA FREEDOM FOR ESTONIANS WHO VISIT FINLAND MAY COME INTO FORCE ALREADY IN 1996. Estonian Premier Tiit Vahi and his Finnish counterpart Paavo Lipponen at a meeting in Helsinki on August 20 agreed that visa freedom between Estonia and Finland could be concluded already at the end of 1996. According to the preliminary condition of the agreement, Estonia must join the convention of recalling the refugees and regulate the register of Estonian citizens. Finland will help provide funding to Estonia so that the registration of the citizens' register could be completed, promised Paavo Lipponen. (ETA, 21 Aug.)

LATVIA-RUSSIA -- THE LAST TRANSMISSION OF THE RUSSIAN TELEVISION CHANNEL ORT IN LATVIA took place on August 28. The channel is to be replaced by transmissions from an independent Latvian station. The station has promised to buy several popular Russian programs from Moscow. Television by satellite or cable will remain the only way for Russian-language residents of Latvia to continue to watch television. (Nevskoe Vremiia, 29 Aug.)

TALLINN-MOSCOW -- NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE MOSCOW AND CONSTANTINOPLE PATRIARCHS of the Orthodox Church in Estonia have ended in agreement over future ownership of all but two pieces of property of the Church. Moscow metropolitan Kirill and Constantinople metropolitan Meliton divided all Estonian property with the exception of that in Tartu and Valga, where church members themselves are divided in their choice of allegiance. (Komsomol'skaia Pravda, 29 Aug.)

RIGA-VILNIUS -- LATVIA'S OFFICIAL VIEW ON THE FUTURE BUTINGE OIL TERMINAL is being officially solicited by Lithuania. Lithuania would like to know Latvia's view on the participation of the Latvian Environment and Development Minister Induls Emsis in the recent rally at the Lithuanian-Latvian border and his statements about the oil terminal to be built in Butinge (northwestern margin of Lithuania's Baltic coast). Mr. Emsis, taking part in a rally at the border between Lithuania and Latvia on August 17 said that the construction of Butinge Oil Terminal is not grounded either economically, or ecologically. Terminal design and construction was based only on political solutions, he said. Mr. Emsis stated that Lithuania violated the 1974 Helsinki Convention on Baltic Sea protection, since Lithuania began construction of the terminal without consent from its neighbor Latvia. (ELTA, 19 Aug.)

HELSINKI-TALLINN -- ESTONIAN AND FINNISH SHIP COMPANIES ARE BATTLING FOR BETTER TIME SLOTS IN TALLINN PORT for the fall timetable. The interests of the customs, coastguard and port services had to be taken into consideration besides the constantly tightening ferry traffic for passengers, Captain of the Port of Tallinn Eduard Hunt said. Most of the ferry lines are adding new ships for the autumn, turning the port into a hectic place. Estonia's Tallink company is coming out with its fourth ferry Meloodia, and the Finnish Silja Line with its second ferry. The Finnish Eestin Linjat will leaves its vessel Apollo on the route. The catamarans of Finland's Viking Line will move until the weather makes the traffic hard. The multitude of ferry lines means that at peak hours a ship will depart from or arrive at Port of Tallinn every fifteen minutes. The port authorities fear that any small scheduling error could cause havoc at the port. (ETA, 27 Aug.)

Environmental News

IGNALINA ATOMIC POWER PLANT, LITHUANIA -- THE PLANT WAS COMPLETELY STOPPED due to a significant leak in the reactor's cooling system on August 27. The incident meant that the plant, which meets about 85 percent of Lithuania's electricity needs, was completely shut down, as a second reactor was undergoing routine maintenance at the time. "There was a minor leak in the cooling system of the reactor, but it had no impact on personnel or the environment," a senior ministry official said. During the stoppage, 40 percent of Lithuania's electricity needs is now being met by the Kruonis hydroelectric power station, and 60 percent is being imported from Russia and Latvia. Steam was also accidentally discharged at the plant on August 7, though no radiation was leaked. Ignalina, home to the two largest Chernobyl-style reactors in the former Soviet Union, has been the site of a number of accidents in recent years. (Reuter, 27 Aug. and ELTA, 27 Aug.)

ST. PETERSBURG -- BELLONA'S FINAL REPORT "THE NORTHERN FLEET: POTENTIAL RISK OF POLLUTION OF THE REGION" was presented and distributed to city journalists by Bellona director Frederik Hague at a press conference on August 30. The eight chapter of the report "Catastrophes and Accidents on Atomic Submarines" has been cited by the Russian Federal Security Agency as revealing state secrets. Bellona employee Alexander Nikitin has been held under arrest for the last seven months for his work on the chapter. Despite the release of the report to journalists at the press conference and its wide availability on the Internet, Nikitin remains in jail and the Federal Security Agency is continuing its prosecution of Nikitin. (Nevskoe Vremiia, 31 Aug.)

GULF OF FINLAND -- THE WRECKS OF TWO LARGE NAVAL SHIPS which sank in the Gulf in 1944 have been discovered by experts of the St. Petersburg firm Sea Technologies. The firm had been conducting explorations of the Gulf floor in order to publish charts and an atlas of the Gulf. Both sunken ships could represent a danger for ships operating near them today, as shells aboard the ships may still be active. Diesel fuel still remaining in the tanks of the ships may also represent an environmental threat, according to the firm Sea Technologies. (Smena, 31 Aug.)

LATVIA -- LATVIA'S FORESTS ARE BEING DESTROYED, according to a series of articles in the British press on the fate of Latvia's forests. In a recent article in The Daily Telegraph, environmental expert Charles Clover wrote that some of Europe's oldest forests which contain several rare animal species are being destroyed to supply British paper and building materials manufacturers. He wrote that the rate of felling in Latvia's forests has increased by 7OO percent over the past years. He argues that the decline of black storks from 1OO to just one mating pair is a sign of the damage to fauna. British Radio 4 Today has also run programs claiming that Latvia is a cheap supplier of wood materials. Some British wood importers are refusing to take Latvian materials because of the bad publicity. (LETA, 30 Aug.)

WESTERN LITHUANIA -- A SOUTH KOREAN CORPORATION IS INTERESTED IN THE FORESTS OF WESTERN LITHUANIA. The "Jinro Group International Corp" intends to invest about 6 million US dollars into Lithuanian forestry industry and will build a big wood processing plant in the Lithuanian town of Silute. Silute is attractive to South Korean investors for its geographical position, as it is situated not far from Klaipeda seaport and already has railway links with that seaport. The South Korean corporation has already found a suitable building for the plant and plans to equip it with modern equipment able to process large amounts of wood for export. (ELTA, 22 Aug.)

TALLINN - ESTONIA WILL LIBERALIZE ITS TIMBER CUTTING POLICY, according to Estonia's Environment Minister Villu Reiljan. A draft law will be submitted to the government in October. In the draft law, Mr. Reiljan proposes to increase felling volume from today's 4 million cubic meters to 8 million in 1997. Although calculations made by the Estonian Agricultural Academy show that Estonia's woods can survive felling in a volume of 11 million cubic meters per year, the draft law proposal is expected to provoke decisive action from environmentally minded Estonian politicians. (Aripaev, 27 Aug.)

SIAULIAI, LITHUANIA -- THE SIAULIAI WASTE WATER TREATMENT PROJECT has been granted financial aid of 1.6 million U.S. dollars by Norway. Lithuanian Environment Minister Bronius Bradauskas and Norwegian Charge D'Affairs Liv Kristensen signed the grant memorandum on August 30. Lithuania has already signed analogous agreements with Sweden and Finland. The Siauliai environment protection project also received financial support from the Lithuanian government, Siauliai municipal budget, and the World Bank. Construction of wastewater treatment plant is already under way and the Norwegian aid will enable construction of the plant to be completed. Part of the financial aid will also go toward financing projects of water quality improvement and reconstruction of utility networks in Siauliai. (ELTA, 30 Aug.)

KRASLAVA, LATVIA -- A WATER TREATMENT PLANT IN THE EASTERN TOWN OF KRASLAVA is to be constructed by the Finnish company, Soil and Water, Ltd. It won the tender to build a water treatment plant and a sewerage and pipe system. Half of the project will be financed by the Finnish government, and half by the Latvian government. The work will be carried out by local residents. One-fifth of the work force is unemployed in the town. (LETA, 27 Aug.)

FINLAND -- THE WORLD WILDLIFE FUND (WWF) HAS TRANSFERRED PROTECTION OF THE NEPRA (FRESH-WATER SEAL) to Finnish environmental authorities. The University of Joensuu and the Ministry of the Environment will now accept responsible for the preservation of Nepra in the region. They aim to raise the number of seals in the region to a minimum of 400 by the year 2025. (SPb Vedomosti, 22 Aug.)

Conferences, Events, and Meetings

JOENSUU, FINLAND -- THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL LAKE LADOGA SYMPOSIUM was held in Joensuu (Huhmari) on August 25-29. The aim of the Symposium was to unite the efforts of ecologists and socio-economists in making a detailed study of the present situation of Lake Ladoga, its catchment area and on-going changes related to the protection and use of the lake water resources, and the socio-economic aspects of the lake and its environment. The Symposium program included submitted papers and posters, which are to be published as conference proceedings. Contact Ms. Tuula Toivanen, University of Joensuu, Karelian Institute, tel. +358 73 151 3503, e-mail saimaa@joyl.joensuu.fi. (TEIA)

LITHUANIA -- DENMARK WILL PROVIDE LOAN ASSISTANCE TO LITHUANIA amounting to 15,000,000 US dollars for construction and reconstruction of water treatment facilities in the towns of Sirvintos, Vilkaviskis, Utena, Ukmerge, Alytus and Anyksciai. The proposals are to be discussed by Danish environmental agencies, the six Lithuanian municipalities, water supply companies, bank and Danish companies representatives. If the projects are approved by Denmark, the Lithuanian town municipalities will sign agreements with the Danish government providing for loans covering 25 percent of the cost of the projects. (ELTA, 26 Aug.)

LITHUANIA -- THE SWEDISH MINISTER OF THE ENVIRONMENT ANNA LINDH visited several Lithuanian environmental projects which are financed by the Swedish government. The minister together with specialists of Lithuanian environmental and agricultural ministries visited a water treatment institute in Kedainiai, and viewed work on the Graisupio River basin, a model farm in the Kedainiai district, and water treatment facilities in Kaunas. According to a 1992 agreement, Sweden designated almost 14 million US dollars for Lithuanian environmental projects. About 5 million dollars were designated for construction of waste water treatment facilities in Klaipeda, 4.65 million dollars for the town of Siauliai, and 4.1 million dollars for Kaunas. (ELTA, 28 Aug.)

TALLINN -- A SECRETARIAT OF THE BALTIC COUNCIL OF MINISTERS WILL BE FORMED IN TALLINN. The Estonian government decided at its August 27 session that a secretariat of the Baltic Council of Ministers would be formed in Tallinn for the period during which Estonia holds chairmanship of the council, Foreign Minister Siim Kallas told a news conference. The four-member secretariat will stop functioning after the half-year of chairmanship will draw to its close. (ETA, 27 Aug.)

ST. PETERSBURG -- THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL-ECOLOGICAL EXHIBIT "LIVE WATER" opened in the Palace of Sports on August 30. More than sixty firms at the exhibit demonstrated their sales production. The majority of the production items are designed for evaluating of water quality. A variety of water filters were also demonstrated at the exhibit. Two-thirds of the 35 firms producing water filters in the Russian Federation operate in the city or in Leningrad Oblast. (Nevskoe Vremiia, 31 Aug.)

VILNIUS -- THE "ENVIRONMENTAL BICYCLE TOUR '96" was aimed at popularizing bicycle transport on Lithuanian roads and raising public awareness of the possibilities of ecological tourism in the region. "If the central government and municipalities delay expansion of ecological tourism, the best tourism centers are to be devastated by "wild tourists," a Lithuanian organizer of the race said. Such tourism could help to collect raise budget funds, they said, but no efforts have yet been made to create an infrastructure for such tourism. (ELTA, 27 Aug.)

VYBORG, RUSSIA -- THE "WINDOW ON EUROPE - 96" FILM FESTIVAL opened on August 23 with a showing of the film of Elena Raiskaia "The President and his Wife", depicting previously unknown scenes of Boris Yeltsin's election campaign. The famous Monrepo Estate is the site of the festival. The Russian-European Film Association is the organizer of the festival. It is the fourth such festival in the city, and is sponsored by Delta Telekom. (Vesti, 24 Aug.)

ST. PETERSBURG -- THE PROGRAM "WEEK OF THE ENVIRONMENT" opened in the city on August 31. Visits by the public to city waste processing plants, the demonstration of an "Ecological Bus", and a number of seminars and conferences will take place in the realm of the program. Sponsors of the program include TACIS of the European Union, SIDA of Sweden, and the Dutch organization "CENTER". (Delovoi Peterburg, 20 Aug.)

VILNIUS-RIGA-TALLINN -- THE RELAY RACE "BALTIC WAY" STARTED at the Archicathedral in Vilnius on August 23. The race from Vilnius to Riga and Tallinn is devoted to commemorate Baltic cooperation, according to Romas Bernotas, the president of Lithuanian Running Amateurs. Fifteen Lithuanian runners began the race, and Latvians runners are to join their Lithuanian colleagues at the Lithuanian-Latvian border on August 24. The runners are to lay down flowers at the Freedom Monument in Riga. The race is to finish on August 25 at the parliament building in Tallinn. (ELTA, 22 Aug.)

ST. PETERSBURG -- THE OPENING OF AN "INFORMATION CENTER FOR EUROPEAN YOUTH" in the city was announced recently at the Russian-American Press Center. Citizens who visit the center will be able to review material about NATO programs, the Council of Europe and the European Union. The information center is organized by the Russian division of the international organization "European Youth for Security" and will be located in an office at Smolny. (Vecher. Peterburg, 28 Aug.)

ST. PETERSBURG -- A COORDINATING MEETING OF BORDER GUARD REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NORTHWEST REGION was held recently in order to discuss proposals for the strengthening of border and customs verification on transportation in the border region with Estonia and Finland. The border guards estimated that more than ninety percent of the illegal weapons confiscated in the border region are found on the Estonian-Russian border. (Vecher. Peterburg, 18 Aug.)

ST. PETERSBURG -- THE 6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BOREAL FORESTS took place on August 19-24. The problems of future protection of the forests and the establishment of quotas for their use by timber companies were discussed. Participants in the conference came from England, Canada, the United States, and from Scandinavia. The International Association for the Study of Boreal Forest was created six years ago and its members have met annually. (Vesti, 20 Aug.)

New Facts and Statistics

TALLINN -- ESTONIAN ELECTION INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET, following the Estonian National Election Committee's creation of a home page on August 19. After information on the presidential election, other information will be available on the local municipalities elections which take place in October. The Internet address of the election information home page is http://www.tpu.ee/~vvk. (ETA, 21 Aug.)

LITHUANIA -- GERMANY IS THE LARGEST INVESTOR IN LITHUANIA, according to the data of the Lithuanian statistics department. After Germany (273 million litas), the United States (241 million litas), Great Britain (162 million litas), Sweden (120 million litas), and Russia (92 million litas) led the list of investors last year. (ELTA, 16 Aug.)

BALTIC STATES AND RUSSIA -- THE HIGHEST AVERAGE SALARY in the region this year has been that of Estonians with an average monthly salary of 233 US dollars. The average monthly salary is 198 US dollars in Latvia, 162 US dollars in Lithuania, and 148 US dollars in Russia. (Aripaev, 28 Aug.)


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