MOSCOW-TALLINN -- THE ESTONIAN GOVERNMENT ENDORSED AN Estonian- Russian border deal at a special meeting on November 28 and gave acting foreign minister Riivo Sinijarv the credentials to sign it. The government of Estonia gave its approval both to the land border running between Estonia and Russia and to the agreement on the sea border in the Gulf of Narva and Gulf of Finland. Estonian Foreign Minister Siim Kallas and Russia's Foreign Minister Evgenii Primakov had met in Petrozavodsk on November 5. During that meeting Estonia dropped its former requirement that Russia acknowledge the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty. Kallas said that the compromise did not threaten the basis of the Republic of Estonia because the text of the accord has been worded so as to avoid such a legal contradiction. The Tartu Peace Treaty is mentioned in the constitution of Estonia as the foundation of the Republic of Estonia. Estonian politicians had stressed the need for the fast adoption of the Estonian-Russian border treaty in order that it not hinder the progress of Estonia toward joining the European Union. The new border deal now has to be ratified by the Estonian and Russian parliaments before it comes into force. (ETA, 28 Nov., SPb Vedomosti, 30 Nov.)
HELSINKI-ST. PETERSBURG -- AN AGREEMENT OF COOPERATION FOR 1997- 1998 BETWEEN HELSINKI AND ST. PETERSBURG was signed by St. Petersburg governor Vladimir Iakovlev during an official visit to Helsinki. The agreement concerns plans for future cooperation on city operations, joint environmental projects, and transportation. Iakovlev also met with several Finnish ministers, including the minister of the environment, and other national and city officials in Helsinki. (Nevskoe Vremiia, 20 Nov.)
KRONSHTADT, RUSSIA-GULF OF FINLAND -- THE CLOSED CITY OF KRONSHTADT became an officially open city of the Russian Federation. Resident documents or other documentation of permission to visit the island will no longer be requested at the beginning of the dam road leading to the military base and community. Kronshtadt residents fear an increase in the relatively low crime levels on the island today, which is widely attributed to the city's long history as a closed city. (Chas Pik, 16 Nov.)
FINNISH BORDER-TORFIANOVKA, RUSSIA -- A THREE-DAY BOYCOTT BY THE FINNISH UNION OF AUTOMOBILE TRANSPORTERS resulted in the widespread interruption of cargo transportation over the Finnish-Russian border. The Finnish transporters boycotted cargo traffic over the Finnish-Russian border in order to draw attention to perceived discrimination against Finnish transporters by Russian customs officials. Finnish transporters argue that their cargo is inspected more carefully and delayed more commonly than that of the Russian transporters, resulting in higher operating expenses for the Finnish transporters. (SPb Vedomosti, 29 Nov.)
ESTONIA-LATVIA -- LATVIA FINISHED TIGHTENING ITS VISA REGIME WITH ESTONIA by no longer issuing entrance visas to truck drivers who travel from Estonia to Latvia through the Ainazhi border checkpoint. Ainazhi was the only remaining road border crossing point of Latvia where such visas were issued - all other Latvian border checkpoints had already stopped issuing such visas. The tightened visa regime does not concern Estonian or Latvian citizens as they have the right to visa-free border crossing. Other citizens will have to acquire a visa from Latvian consular representations before approaching the border. (ETA, 19 Nov.)
KALININGRAD-LITHUANIA -- LITHUANIAN DIPLOMATS HAVE STATED THAT RUSSIA IN FUTURE MUST WARN LITHUANIA about planned military exercises in the Kaliningrad region which borders on Lithuania. Russian military forces on a military range situated 20 kilometers from the Lithuanian border launched a medium-range ballistic missile on November 15. The trajectory of launched Tochka-type missile was almost vertical, and therefore Polish and Lithuanian territorial limits were not violated. A missile of this type was tested by Russia in Kaliningrad region for the first time. Tests had previously been carried out in Kazakhstan. (ELTA, 17 Nov.)
ESTONIA-RUSSIA -- POOR ESTONIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS RESULT IN THE LOSS 600-700 MILLION DOLLARS OF OIL TRANSIT PROFITS FOR ESTONIA each year, according to Mikhail Bronshtein, an Estonian transit expert. Nevertheless, if in 1991 less than a million tons of oil products passed through Estonia in transit, last year 4.7 million tons passed through Estonia, and in 1996 probably over 6 million tons will pass through Estonia. Each ton of oil leaves an estimated 110-195 kroons for oil companies and the state as tax. The largest oil traders in Estonia are AS Pakterminal, AS Eurodek, and AS Estonian Oil Service (E.S.O.), a subsidiary of Coastal Baltica Holding. (Aripaev, 15 Nov.)
LITHUANIA-RUSSIA -- LITHUANIAN CONSERVATIVE LEADER VYTAUTAS LANDSBERGIS has accused the outgoing Lithuanian parliament of intentionally not paying Russian gas supplier Gazprom in order to provoke Gazprom into significantly cutting gas supplies to Lithuania. Landsbergis reported that Lithuania received a large credit for purposes of paying for the gas in September, but that bills to Gazprom had all the same not been paid. In this way the previous government and especially the Democratic Labor Party was successful in aggravating the social-political climate in Lithuania, argued Landsbergis. (Smena, 22 Nov., ELTA, 18 Nov.)
MOSCOW-RIGA -- AEROFLOT RECEIVED PERMISSION TO RECOMMENCE FLIGHTS BETWEEN MOSCOW AND RIGA. Those flights were suspended on October 31 by order of the Latvian government because of commercial disputes. Latvian Transport Minister Vilis Kristopans said that the new landing permission was a gesture of good will on the part of Latvia, and hoped it would open the possibility for negotiations over Moscow landing rights for Air Baltic and a resolution of debts owed to Russia by bankrupt Latvian airline Latavio. (Neatkariga, 20 Nov.)
GULF OF FINLAND -- THE ESTONIA FERRY IS REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN VANDALIZED BY DIVERS. A reopened hole has been discovered in the hull of the ship which is lying at a depth of 80 meters on the floor of the Baltic Sea, according to Gustav Hanoliak, a diving expert with the Swedish Administration of Shipping and Navigation. Hanoliak added that bars that had been welded over a previous hole made by vandals have been removed. Sweden, Finland and Estonia have signed a legal agreement which bans Swedes, Finns and Estonians from entering the waters around the sunken ferry in order to protect it as a sea grave. The Estonia passenger ferry sank in the Baltic Sea in September 1994, killing 852 people. (ETA, 17 Nov.)
RIGA-STOCKHOLM -- THE NEW FERRY LINE TO BE INTRODUCED BETWEEN RIGA AND STOCKHOLM will likely affect the passenger numbers of Estonian ferry operator Estline, sales director of Estline Marje Braunbruck said. The degree to which the new ferry line will influence Estline will depend on the prices and capacity of the new ferry, she added. Ferry Russ was built in 1986 in Poland and has 420 passenger seats and a car deck. A one way ticket on the ferry will cost 25-175 lats, including dinner and breakfast. (Aripaev, 26 Nov.)
BELARUS-LATVIA -- A BORDER COOPERATION AGREEMENT WAS SIGNED on November 27 between Belarusian and Latvian officials in Daugavpils. The deal foresees cooperative work in fighting contraband, and should lead to greater policing of forest and swamp territories in the border region. Electronic sensors will also bused for this latter task. (LETA, 28 Nov.)
PETROZAVODSK, RUSSIA -- THE KARELIAN NEWSPAPER "SEVERNII KUR'ER" HAS STRONGLY CRITICIZED a statement by the head of the Karelian government V. Stepanov in which he reported that Karelia would hire Ukrainian and Bulgarian firms to harvest timber in Karelia if Russian environmental organizations do not approve of the cutting methods of Finnish firms. Stepanov was responding to statements in the press concerning support of the widely publicized action by Greenpeace in August in forests near Kostomuksha. (Chas Pik, 21 Nov.)
UST'-LUZHSKAIA BAY, GULF OF FINLAND -- THE PLANNED CONSTRUCTION OF THE COAL TERMINAL on the shore of Ust'-Luzhskaia Bay will threaten many of the rare species which live and reproduce in the region. Wild salmon and seals represent only a small portion of the rare species for which the bay is an essential habitat. The risk to those rare species has not been taken into consideration in the planned construction of the coal terminal, according to environmental experts. (Smena, 21 Nov.)
NOVGOROD OBLAST, RUSSIA -- NEW EQUIPMENT FOR THE WASTE PROCESSING STATION AT BOROVICHI, the second-largest city in Novgorod Oblast, is being purchased by the Finnish Ministry of the Environment. The cost of the new equipment is 450,000 FIM. The Swedish government has also contributed 3 billion SEK for the reconstruction of a waste processing station in Novgorod. (Delovoi Peterburg, 19 Nov.)
ESTONIA -- THE COMPANY AS MAINOR PLANS TO OPEN A LARGE CELLULOSE PLANT IN ESTONIA, capable of turning out 200,000 tons of cellulose each year. The business project would be financed by American investors and local machine engineering company AS Dvigatel would help to produce the equipment. The cellulose would be sold in large part to China. Estonia currently exports most of its timber instead of manufacturing it. It is estimated that Estonian timber firms in this way lose 5-10 times more profit than if the timber were processed in Estonia. (Aripaev, 21 Nov.)
ST. PETERSBURG -- A NEW MOBILE LABORATORY WILL MONITOR AIR POLLUTION within the city. The laboratory will permit the measuring of industrial pollution in relative proximity to pollution sources. The mobile laboratory and its equipment were given to the city and Leningrad Oblast by the US government after the city participated in a competition and selection procedure. Similar laboratories are already in use in Kursk, Perm, and Tula. (Smena, 28 Nov., Vesti, 20 Nov.)
ESTONIA -- EXPLOSIVES ARE REGULARLY STOLEN FROM THE MINES of state mining company Estonian Oil Shale and used by crime groups for self-made bombs, police say. Surveillance is reportedly strict within the storage centers of Estonian Oil Shales, but many explosives are stolen after they have been issued to explosives experts. The management of the company has promised to fire anyone caught stealing. The Estonian penal code slaps only minor sentences on those who have been caught. A stick of ammoniate weighing 300 grams can be sold for about five USD on the black market. (Aripaev, 21 Nov.)
ORU, ESTONIA -- THE ORU PEAT FACTORY STOPPED PRODUCING PEAT on November 6 and now faces bankruptcy. The factory was once the world's largest peat processing plant. The firm suffered serious losses through fires at the peat fields during the summer, and owes 2.3 million kroons to its workers in unpaid salaries. Its debt for electricity is 2.9 million, the total sum of debts 27 million kroons. The peat industry is the main employer in the town of Oru in which 2,500 inhabitants lives. (Eesti Paevaleht, 25 Nov.)
TALLINN -- THE ESTONIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVED A DRAFT ENERGY BILL that would regulate the energy market and widen state supervision of the energy industry in Estonia. The bill deals with the general organization of the electricity market and the export and import of fuel energy, Economy Minister Andres Lipstok said at a recent press conference. The government has set May 1, 1997 as the date when the law should be enforced. The draft law will now be sent to the parliament. (ETA, 26 Nov.)
PSKOV OBLAST, RUSSIA -- THE WOLF POPULATION OF PSKOV OBLAST IS CONSIDERED TO BE TOO HIGH now for normal predatory and reproduction cycles. It is estimated that more than 2000 wolves live in the forests of the oblast, whereas 500 is considered a more sustainable number for the forests. The wolves pose a particular threat to domesticated animals in the region. Local environmental authorities are now waiting for the state Duma to pass a new law on hunting. (Pskovskaia Pravda, 29 Nov.)
ST. PETERSBURG -- WASTE FROM THE KRANSNYI TREUGOLNIK FACTORY will now be reduced by a factor of several times due to the installation of new waste water treatment equipment, according to Victor Seleznev of the St. Petersburg ECAT office. The factory produces a large number of the boots and shoes made in the city. Engineers from St. Petersburg University participated in the design of the new waste treatment process at the factory. The city of Hamburg, sister city of St. Petersburg, contributed to the reconstruction of the factory's waste treatment equipment. (Chas Pik, 21 Nov.)
RINUZI, LATVIA -- SCANDINAVIAN PETROL COMPANIES NESTE AND STATOIL ARE REPORTEDLY IN BREACH OF LICENSING LAWS in building an oil terminal at Rinuzi. Over a month ago, Riga city architect Gunars Asara wrote a letter to the firms informing them that they were acting illegally. He was subsequently beaten up in an assault and could not continue the investigation of the terminal construction. The paper Neatkariga was contacted on November 26, by Julijs Krumins, head of the Latvian oil firm Man-Tess, who said that he is calling for an investigation into a possible connection between Asara's protest against Neste and Statoil and the subsequent assault. (Neatkariga, 27 Nov.)
LITHUANIA -- A LAND REFERENDUM WAS DECLARED INVALID IN LITHUANIA as a result of low voter turnout. The Lithuanian electoral committee (VRK) announced on November 17 that the results of the November 10 referendum were invalid. Voters had been asked to approve or disapprove of an amendment to the constitutional article 47. The amendment would have given the right to legal entities to purchase land for agricultural purposes. VRK announced that the referendum failed due to a low - 39 percent - turnout among voters. The Lithuanian laws provide that a referendum-proposed regulation is adopted only if 50 percent of the electorate participates. (ELTA, 18 Nov.)
ST. PETERSBURG -- A MEETING OF ST. PETERSBURG AND SCANDANAVIAN ENVIRONMENTAL NGOS was held to familiarize all participants with the work and activities of St. Petersburg environmental NGOs in the city and Leningrad Oblast. Future cooperation was discussed in working groups on water issues, forest, and energy. The meeting was organized by Green World of Sosnovy Bor. The Coalition Clean Baltic, the Taiga Rescue Network, and the Baltic-Nordic NGO Network on Sustainable Energy sponsored the meeting. (TEIA)
KINGISEPP, LENINGRAD OBLAST -- THE SEMINAR "ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND THE ROLE OF NON- GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS" was held on November 21-22 in the city of Kingisepp with the support of the Mayor's Office of Kingisepp District. The seminar was organized jointly by the Koorgal Expedition (KE Association) of the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists and the European Union of Coastal Conservation. Issues concerning financial and technical support from international organizations were discussed with the aim of establishing a special-regulated territory, the Kurgal Peninsula, near the border with Estonia. (TEIA)
ST. PETERSBURG -- A PRESENTATION OF THE NEW BOOK "KARELIA AND ST. PETERSBURG" was made recently at the Finnish Consulate in St. Petersburg. The book is a joint Finnish-Russian publication. The book consists of 14 articles concerning the history of the region, ties between Karelia and Petersburg, and the economic, environmental, and social problems of northwestern Russia. Fourteen Finnish and twenty Russian specialists cooperated in preparing the articles for the new book. (SPb Vedomosti, 27 Nov.)
IUNTOLOVSKII NATURE RESERVE, LENINGRAD OBLAST -- AN AGREEMENT OF COOPERATION between the Direction for Environmental Protection of the city of St. Petersburg and the European Union for the Protection of Coastal Territories (EUCC) has been signed in order for 290 million rubles to be allocated for the protection of the Iuntolovskii Nature Reserve. The funds will be used to administer a program to assure that the approximately 150 rare species of birds which migrate to Western Europe through the reserve will no not be threatened in future by construction projects near the reserve. (SPb Vedomosti, 30 Nov.)
ST. PETERSBURG -- THE EXHIBIT "ART OF LATVIA, LITHUANIA, AND ESTONIA, 1945-1996" was held in the central Manezh exhibition hall of the city. More than 400 works of art represented 45 artists from the Baltic states. The goal of the project, financed by the Center of Modern Art of George Soros, is to introduce the city's public to the art of the Baltic avantgarde of the late Soviet period. (Nevskoe Vremiia, 26 Nov., Smena, 27 Nov.)
RIGA -- A MEETING ON ENERGY CONSERVATION was held on November 21 in Riga with experts from the Baltic Energy System and technical directors from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in order to discuss such common problems as large-scale energy loss, poor security in electricity supply, and the need for the introduction of new energy technology in the Baltic states. The experts from Lithuania and Estonia planned to visit important Latvian energy facilities during their visit. (LETA, 21 Nov.)
ST. PETERSBURG -- A CONFERENCE FOR THE APPRENTICE PROGRAM NORDPRAKTIC was held in the city in order to inform enterprises in northwestern Russia and of northern Europe of the possibilities for future exchange of their specialists. The program Nordpraktic has been operating since 1984 and since that time about 70 Russian specialists have trained in Scandinavian countries. Nordpraktic plans to increase the number of exchanges to several hundred per year. (Delovoi Peterburg, 22 Nov., Chas Pik, 20 Nov.)
PSKOV, RUSSIA -- THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE "NORTHWESTERN RUSSIA: ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT" was held recently in Pskov. The conference was organized by the Pskov Division of the Russian Geographic Society, the Oblast Committee for Environmental Protection, and Pskov Pedagogical Institute. Participants came from Pskov, Petrozavodsk, and St. Petersburg. The conference lasted two days and included an excursion to Pechory Monastery. (Novosti Pskova, 28 Nov.)
ST. PETERSBURG -- THE DUTCH FIRM BOSKALIS AND THE CITY DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION have signed an agreement of intent to dredge the city canals with equipment provided by the Dutch firm. Representatives of Boskalis plan to reuse as much of the dredged material as possible for fill for other city projects. In the past, the dredged material was discarded. (Chas Pik, 20 Nov.)
TALLINN -- THE RUSSIAN-LANGUAGE BUSINESS PAPER DELOVYE VEDOMOSTI is to be launched in early 1997, according to marketing manager of Estonian language business paper Aripaev Tanel Tammemagi. A test issue of the paper was distributed on November 24. The circulation of the test issue was 30,000 copies and the initial circulation in 1997 will be about 10,000 copies. Delovye Vedomosti will be published on a regular basis once a week on 32 pages. The new paper will be the daughter publication of the Estonian-language business paper Aripaev. (ETA, 24 Nov.)
ST. PETERSBURG -- THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE "PEDAGOGY IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION OF CHILDREN" was held November 18-23 in the city. Over three hundred participants attended lectures, film and slides shows, and various seminars. Sponsors of the program were the Dutch organization Milieukontact and the Dutch Ministry of the Environment. (Ekovolna, 23 Nov.)
ESTONIA -- ESTONIA HAS 86,939 NON-ETHNIC ESTONIANS WHO HAVE RECEIVED CITIZENSHIP, according to the Citizenship and Migration Department. Under the citizenship law that was valid until April 1, 1995, 35,041 people received citizenship by means of naturalization, 25,251 people because one of their parents was Estonian, 23,326 people on the basis of Estonian Citizenship Committee application cards, and 634 people for special services. Under the citizenship law valid at present, 1,003 people have received Estonian citizenship, including 8 people for special services. (ETA, 27 Nov.)
LITHUANIA -- LITHUANIANS ON AVERAGE SPEND 57 PERCENT of their household expenses on food products. Ten percent of all expenses go toward household, heating, and electricity. 7.4 percent of household expenses are devoted to clothing and footwear, 5.4 percent go toward transport, and 0.7 percent go toward educational purposes. (ELTA, 20 Nov.)
SOSNOVY BOR, RUSSIA -- THE LENINGRAD ATOMIC ELECTRIC STATION since January 1, 1996 has generated a total of 17.1 billion kilowatt/hrs. The station reached a record level of weekly production this year during the third week of November, when 508 million kilowatt/hrs were produced. (Vecher. Peterburg, 27 Nov.)
ESTONIA -- ESTONIA HAS 27.6 PHONES PER 100 RESIDENTS, in comparison with Estonia's neighbors Finland, Sweden and Norway, for which 60 phones per 100 people is the average. The highest average in Estonia is posted in Tallinn with 37 phones per 100 inhabitants and the lowest in the surrounding Harju County with 16 phones per 100 people. In 1993 only an average of 22.92 phones existed per 100 residents in Estonia. (ETA, 29 Nov.)
NORTHWESTERN RUSSIA -- NEW DIRECT DIAL SERVICE has been introduced for several cities in northwestern Russia. The cities can now be reached without a telephone operator. New area codes for these cities include:
8183590 - Arkhangelsk Oblast, O. Solovki
81556 - Murmansk Oblast, Zaozersk
81437 - Karelia, Belomorsk
81436 - Olonets
81547 - Suoiaprvi
(TEIA)