MOSCOW-TALLINN -- ESTONIA AND RUSSIA HAVE REACHED AN AGREEMENT ON SIMPLIFIED BORDER CROSSINGS over certain areas of their border. Estonian and Russian visas valid for one year will be issued in a simplified manner to certain persons who have relatives on the opposite side of the border or go to work or school there, own real estate on the other side, or have to cross the border regularly in order to comply with their religious beliefs and traditions. Estonian authorities will issue the special visas only to persons who live in areas on the Estonian-Russian border. In the Estonian border town of Narva, which lies across from the Russian town of Ivangorod, about 2,000 residents cross the border daily in order to go to work, according to Russian statistics. The agreement will affect about 10,000 people and must first be ratified by the Estonian parliament. The new agreement is expected to come into force in the spring of 1997. (ETA, 8 Dec.)
MOSCOW-TALLINN -- THE ESTONIAN FATHERLAND UNION HAS DEMANDED THAT A BORDER REFERENDUM BE HELD before a new border agreement with Russia is signed and ratified. "None of the political forces nor any of the ministries has the competence to decide on the Tartu Peace Treaty and the border it determines. This can be decided solely by the supreme power of the Estonian citizens," said Toivo Jurgenson, leader of the Fatherland Union. He argues that the cornerstone of Estonia's independence is the Tartu Peace Treaty which determines the border line with Russia. According to the new border agreement, Estonia will abandon its claim to 2,334 square kilometers of land that belonged to Estonia before 1940. Most of the land is inhabited by the Setu ethnic group of Estonians. The previous current government led by premier Tiit Vahi has pointed out that the fast signing of the border deal with Russia is a prerequisite for Estonia's entry into the European Union. (ETA, 1 Dec.)
MOSCOW-TALLINN -- THE ESTONIAN-RUSSIAN BORDER AGREEMENT WAS NOT SIGNED AT THE OSCE MEETING IN LISBON, though Estonian President Lennart Meri discussed it with Russian leaders at the summit. Estonian Interior Minister Riivo Sinijarv, who was attending the OSCE summit in Lisbon in the capacity of Foreign Minister had been granted powers by the government to sign the pact. According to Meri at a press conference, Russian Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin confirmed in Lisbon his interest in a fast conclusion of the Estonian-Russian border agreement. The Estonian side insisted that it will not agree to any link between the future border agreement and an evaluation of the economic and political position of Russians resident in Estonia, Meri's press service said. (ETA, 3 Dec.)
NORWAY-RUSSIA -- EIGHT RUSSIAN CITIZENS WHO REQUESTED POLITICAL ASYLUM in Norway were denied the right to asylum after one month of consideration by Norwegian authorities. The incident received wide attention in the Russian press, as political repression in Russia has in the last three years been rejected by most countries as justification for immigration from Russia. Russian authorities at the same time expressed discontent that they had learned of the request of the citizens not through official channels, but through the Norwegian press. The Russian citizens arrived in Norway by bus via Kirkenes. They asked for asylum in the city of Tromso, about 400 kilometers from the Russian border. The decision was taken by Norwegian authorities in a record short period, as most applicants for asylum usually receive a response in no less than three months. (SPb Vedomosti, 15 Dec.)
MOSCOW-VILNIUS -- LITHUANIAN-RUSSIAN BORDER NEGOTIATIONS WILL BE COMPLETED in the near future, according to the head of the Russian delegation, Aleksei Obukhov, who was visiting in Lithuania. Obukhov, accompanied by his Lithuanian counterpart Rimantas Sidlauskas, visited some of those border tracts in dispute. "The Lithuanian-Russian negotiations on delineating the state border have reached a final stage," Obhikhov said. Obukhov was also received by Lithuanian President Algirdas Brazauskas. "There remain disagreements on Lake Vistytis, the delta of the Nemunas River, and sea border with Kaliningrad Region," Brazauskas commented. Possession of the D-6 oil field situated in the Baltic Sea between the Kaliningrad Region and Lithuania also remains disputed. A year and a half ago Russian and German companies signed an agreement to found a consortium KANT to exploit the oil field. (ELTA, 5 Dec.)
MOSCOW-RIGA-TALLINN-VILNIUS -- NEGOTIATIONS OF RUSSIA AND THE BALTIC STATES OVER THE DIVISION OF BALTIC AIRSPACE ended without result in Paris at the International Civil Aviation Association (ICAA), said Enn Tuur, general director of the Estonian Aviation Board. Tuur said that the agreement was not signed in Paris because of the continuing disagreement between Latvia and Lithuania over where their common state border should pass. The ICAA gave another two months to Latvia and Lithuania to solve their dispute, but if that ends in failure, an independent agreement will be signed with Estonia, Tuur said. The air border is important because each country will demand payment for fly-overs. (Aripaev, 13 Dec.)
RIGA-VILNIUS -- LATVIA AND LITHUANIA ARE READY TO RESUME NEGOTIATIONS on their disputed sea border, probably after the new Lithuanian government takes office, the Latvian foreign ministry said. Ministry spokesman Maris Riekstins said Latvia "wants a solution as soon as possible," because further delays could harm the Baltic neighbors' chances of faster integration with the European Union. The dispute continues to center on a Baltic Sea oil exploration deal worth about one billion USD, which Latvia signed with Amoco of the United States and Opab of Sweden in October 1996. Lithuania says that the deal infringes on its sovereignty, and recalled its ambassador from Latvia after the document was signed. Despite Lithuania's demand that legal matters concerning the sea border be resolved first, Riekstins said Latvia was ready to separate the two issues if necessary to reach a compromise. (AFP, 10 Dec.)
MOSCOW-TALLINN -- ESTONIAN AND RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRIES' LEGAL EXPERTS AGREED THAT NO JOINT EXPERT GROUP WILL BE FORMED to investigate discrimination against the Russian population resident in Estonia, according to a spokesman for the Estonian Foreign Ministry. The meeting of the legal experts in Tallinn had a "friendly, constructive, and free-of-politics working atmosphere," Arusoo said. He added that the Russian expert group did present their views on the situation of the Russian population in Estonia and legislation concerning citizenship, language, and aliens' laws. The group of Russian Foreign Ministry legal experts arrived in Estonia in order to evaluate the situation of Russian-language population in Estonia and legislation concerning human rights issues. The Russian delegation included three lawyers of the Russian Foreign Ministry and two experts from the Russian consulate in Narva and embassy in Tallinn. (ETA, 10 Dec.)
BALTIC STATES-FINLAND-SWEDEN -- SWEDISH AND FINNISH POWER COMPANIES WILL END CURRENT COOPERATION WITH BALTIC STATE-OWNED POWER STATIONS. The Swedish power group Vattenfall and Finnish IVO are setting up their own companies in the Baltic states instead of cooperating there. IVO will buy out Vattenfall's share of Baltic Power Estonia Ltd. In Estonia, Vattenfall will form its own company Vattenfall Estonia OU. The new interest of the companies is sparked by the upcoming privatization of the state-owned power stations in the Baltic states. Two huge power plants, operated in large part on oil shale in northeastern Estonia close to the Russian border, provide 99 percent of the electricity for Estonia and also supply Russia and Latvia when necessary. It is estimated that if the Leningrad Atomic Electric Station in Sosnovy Bor in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, were to fail for some reason, St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast would have to import huge amounts of electricity from Estonia. (ETA, 11 Dec.)
RUSSIAN FEDERATION BORDER -- COLLECTION OF A NEW RUSSIAN BORDER CROSSING TAX IS NOT YET BEING ENFORCED. The Estonian-Russian border can still be crossed without paying the new tax, which was to have come to force on December 3. The law, signed by President Boris Yeltsin, was published on that date and it should have come to force immediately. Under the new measures, individuals entering or leaving Russia will all have to pay 80 percent of the Russian official minimum wage, currently 75,900 rubles (14 USD). A separate tax for motor vehicles, trains, passenger ships, and planes is also foreseen by the new law. (ETA, 11 Dec.)
ST. PETERSBURG -- IN REACTION TO THE PRESS RELEASE OF THE ASSOCIATION "GREEN WORLD" of Sosnovy Bor that radioactive water was released into the Baltic Sea near the Leningrad Atomic Electric Station (LAES) in Sosnovy Bor, the assistant head of the State Atomic Control, Boris Oreshkin stated that a "threat to the Gulf of Finland from the LAES does not and did not exist". He added that LAES continues to preserve its reputation in the world as a closely overseen nuclear station. The State Health and Epidemic Control, Radiev Institute, and Mayor's Office of Sosnovy Bor participated in a separate monitoring commission which investigated but did not find evidence of the dumping of radioactive water into the Gulf of Finland. (Delovoi Peterburg, 6 Dec.)
KOLA PENINSULA AND SOSNOVY BOR, RUSSIA -- LICENSES FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF TWO NEW NUCLEAR ENERGY BLOCKS OF TYPE VVER-640 have been issued for Sosnovy Bor and for the Kola Peninsula. The new energy blocks at Sosnovy Bor will be built on an existing experimental foundation, and the second will be build eight kilometers from the existing Kola Station AES-2. The company Izhorskie Zavody has received part of the order for the construction of the two new blocks. Nuclear electric stations are considered to be two to three times less expensive to operate in Russia than fossil-fuel electric stations and it is expected that that difference in price will grow in future as the price of gas, oil, and coal continue to rise in Russia. (Delovoi Peterburg, 6 Dec.)
TALLINN -- NEGOTIATIONS OVER COMPENSATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION by the German chemical firm United Products are being held in Tallinn with the Estonian Ministry of the Environment. The German chemical firm United Products, which no longer exists, transported hazardous refuse to Estonia in 1992. The resulting damages are estimated at 15 million kroons, according to spokesman of the Estonian Environment Ministry, Kalle Malberg. The German firm Goldschmidt, which had earlier ties with United Products, is prepared to provide some compensation for the contamination in order that the firm protect its reputation and to prevent the case from reaching court. Seven containers with the hazardous refuse are still in the Muuga port as negotiations continue over whether they will be returned to Germany or processed in Estonia. (Sonumileht, 4 Dec.)
ESTONIA -- THE NATURAL GAS SUPPLY TO ESTONIA SHOULD BECOME MORE STABLE in the next months as a new pumping station is opened on the Estonian-Latvian border which will allow Estonia to start ordering gas from huge depositories in Latvia. The consumption of natural gas has been growing in Estonia over the past years and is expected to continue in the next year, according to director general of Eesti Gaas, Aarne Saar. The share of natural gas in Estonian power production reached 11 percent last year, up from 7 percent in 1993. Gas is principally used for heating purposes in Estonia today. In future a gas pipeline will also connect Finland and Sweden, opening the possibility of construction of a pipeline between Estonia and Finland, and thereby allowing Estonia to become a transit country through which Russian natural gas is imported to Scandinavia from depositories in Latvia. (ETA, 5 Dec.)
NORTHEASTERN ESTONIA -- ESTONIA'S TWO LARGEST POWER STATIONS WOULD NEED 3 BILLION CUBIC METERS OF NATURAL GAS EACH YEAR if the largely shale-operated power stations were transferred to natural gas, according to Rein Ratas, chancellor of the Estonian Ministry of the Environment. The problem of a reliable supply of natural gas for the two large power stations is acute in northeastern Estonia because their current fuel, oil shale, pollutes the environment. As the power stations are now to be privatized, the new owner may choose not to pay pollution fees which in the case of the Baltic Power Station reached 5 million kroons in 1995, or 1,254 kroons per each 1000-watt/hr of electricity produced. In addition, the pollution fees in Estonia are much lower than in other northern and Western European countries and can be expected to grow. The power stations of Estonia currently are the largest known polluters in Estonia as heaps of oil shale residuals gather in the industrial region. If the power stations do give up the use of local oil shale, it will create mass unemployment in the mining region of northeastern Estonia and across the border in Russia. (ETA, 5 Dec.)
SOSNOVY BOR, RUSSIA -- THIRTEEN EMPLOYEES OF THE LENINGRAD ATOMIC ELECTRIC STATION (LAES) ended a 10-day hunger strike after having protested against the failure of the station administration to pay salaries for several months to its employees. A billion-ruble payment to the LAES administration from the federal budget on December 8 only aggravated relations between employees and management, as that payment was not immediately transferred to unpaid salaries. The LAES administration maintains that its clients are heavily in debt to the station and LAES as a result cannot pay its employee salaries on time. Employees point out that those salaries represent only five percent of the operating budget of the station and should be a priority for management. (SPb Vedomosti, 10 Dec.)
IGNALINA POWER STATION, LITHUANIA -- THE IGNALINA NUCLEAR POWER STATION WAS PUT BACK INTO OPERATION after a ten-day interval when the first unit of Ignalina nuclear plant was shut down on November 29 due to several defects. "The unit will operate with 1,300 MW capacity," said spokeswoman of Ignalina plant Rasa Sevaldina. This year has already seen seven interruptions of operation of the first and second units of Ignalina plant: twice for planned repair and five times due to observed defects. This year Ignalina nuclear plant already sold 9,926,000,000 kWh electric power. In addition to supplying Lithuania, sixteen percent was sold to Belarus, 13 percent to Latvia, and 4 percent went to Russia in return for nuclear fuel. (ELTA, 10 Dec.)
LITHUANIA -- A RADIATION MEASURING SYSTEM IS BEING INSTALLED IN SEVERAL CITIES IN LITHUANIA. The Lithuanian Ministry of the Environment is in the process of completing an advance radiation warning system to provide information about radioactive pollution to the Lithuanian and neighboring countries population in case of accident at the Ignalina nuclear power station. The devised system - the first in Eastern Europe - is being installed under the assistance of Denmark and Sweden. It includes a recently delivered station for measuring atmospheric radioactivity and nine radioactivity measuring stations earlier installed near Ignalina plant, in Vilnius, Klaipeda seaport, and Kaliningrad region. Denmark plans to deliver three more stations to the towns of Klaipeda, Siauliai, and Alytus. The whole system will be supplemented by a mobile laboratory given as a donation of the Danish Rotary club. (ELTA, 8 Dec.)
ST. PETERSBURG -- VODOKANAL ST. PETERSBURG HAS BEGUN RECONSTRUCTION OF ITS MAIN WATER PUMPING STATION in the city. The reconstruction is being conducted in order to increase the general quality of city drinking water. The company is investing one million USD of its own resources in the station. The station today processes 705,000 cubic meters of water per day and supplies largely the central part of the city. (Delovoi Peterburg, 13 Dec.)
TARTU, ESTONIA -- BALTIC ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS PREPARE TRANSBALTIC COOPERATION. Representatives of environmental NGOs from Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Russia met in Tartu, Estonia, to discuss the establishment of the Baltic Environmental Cooperation Initiative. The meeting was organized and sponsored by the Sacred Earth Network and hosted by the Lake Peipsi Project. Twelve environmental NGOs were represented at the meeting. As a result of the meeting, the group developed a structure for the Baltic Environmental Cooperation Initiative. The proposed project includes technical and organizational mechanisms for information exchange. Some of those mechanisms will include the loan of equipment and training for e-mail access and Internet use in order that information can be more efficiently shared among NGOs of the three Baltic States and the Baltic Sea watershed portions of Russia. For more information, contact Susan Cutting at sen@glas.apc.org.
MOSCOW-TALLINN -- THE FOURTH WORKING MEETING OF THE INTER- GOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION ON FISHING ON LAKE PEIPUS met in Pskov, Russia. The commission was created in 1994 by the Estonian and Russian government. The first head of the State Committee on Fishing, M.L. Kashintsev, led the Russian delegation. Data and observations were exchanged on the implementation of previous recommendations made at the third working meeting, of fish catches in 1996, and fish quotas for 1997. The overall recommended catch of white fish for 1996 was 50 tons divided evenly between Estonia and Russia. Estonian fishermen in 9 months of the year had already caught 62.8 tons of white fish. Two new working groups were created. One group will work out a system of regulation of fish catches on the lake, and the second group will organize scientific work concerning environmental and other questions of the lake. (Pskovskaia Pravda, 15 Dec.)
PETROZAVODSK, RUSSIA -- THE SEMINAR "ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL NGOS" was held in Petrozavodsk on November 28-December 1. The seminar was held within the realm of a number of training programs to be conducted throughout regions in Russia and organized by ISAR, the former Institute for Soviet-American Relations. Organizational, management, and financial approaches for the successful development of environmental NGOs in Russia were presented. The training addressed theoretical as well as practical issues for the resolution of a wide range of problems which environmental NGOs face in the quickly evolving economic and legal conditions of Russia. For more information, contact isarmos@glas.apc.org. (TEIA)
ST. PETERSBURG -- A WORKING MEETING OF ST. PETERSBURG ENVIRONMENTAL NGO REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SOCIETY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION OF FINLAND was held on December 14 at St. Petersburg University. The main goal of the meeting was to consider joint project and possibilities for their funding. Topics included forest protection, biodiversity issues, environmental education, and energy issues. For more information, contact Marijukka Kulmanen marijukka.kulmanen@vyh.fi of the Society for Environmental Protection of Finland, or Alexander Karpov of the St. Petersburg Naturalists' Society ask@val1.usr.pu.ru. (TEIA)
PSKOV, RUSSIA -- PSKOV "VODOKANAL" RECEIVED A COMPUTER MONITORING SYSTEM FROM THE DANISH GOVERNMENT for measuring the biological pollution level of waste water in the city. The monitoring system was put into operation one week after its arrival in the city with assistance from specialists of the Danish firm Kovi. The monitoring system cost more than one billion rubles and was paid for the Danish government. (Novosti Pskova, 9 Dec.)
IGNALINA POWER STATION, LITHUANIA -- CANADIAN AND GERMAN COMPANIES HAVE OFFERED TO SUPPLY NUCLEAR WASTE CONTAINERS to Lithuania. The Lithuanian Ministry of Energy in December 1995 announced a tender to choose the supplier of containers for nuclear waste at Ignalina nuclear plant and is to announce the winner in the near future. Two foreign firms expressed their wish to supply nuclear waste containers for the Ignalina station, including Canadian company Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) and the German company GNB. The Ignalina nuclear power station needs about 600 containers. The Canadian company is ready to sell such a number for 45-50 million USD. German containers would cost about 300-400 million USD. (ELTA, 5 Dec.)
STOCKHOLM -- THE SWEDISH GOVERNMENT WILL DONATE 9O,OOO USD FOR THE COMPLETION OF AN UNFINISHED WATER CATCHMENT SYSTEM in the town of Ogre to the south of Riga. This donation is part of a larger Swedish program to increase the water quality of the Baltic Sea. (Diena, 9 Dec.)
PSKOV -- THE TWO-DAY SEMINAR "PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING ANALYTICAL ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING" was held in the House of Science and Technology of Pskov. The main goal of the seminar was to acquaint participants with different methods of measuring pollution from industrial and household sources in the city and Pskov Oblast. Specialists from commercial and non-commercial organizations in the city and oblast participated in the seminar. The seminar was organized by the Pskov Oblast Committee for Environmental Protection. (Pskovskaia Pravda, 12 Dec.)
RUSSIAN FEDERATION -- EMIGRATION FROM RUSSIA BEGAN TO FALL during the period January-September 1996. 71,600 Russian citizens gave up their citizenship during this period in comparison with the same nine-month period in 1995, when the number of emigrants was 15,100 persons higher. More than ninety percent of those emigrants moved to the "far abroad," most often to Israel, Germany, and the United States. (Inostranets, 10 Dec.)
BALTIC STATES -- POPULATION LEVELS CONTINUED TO FALL IN ALL THREE BALTIC STATES in 1996. The largest decrease in population registered in 1996 was in Latvia, the Lithuanian statistics department data reported. During the first three quarters of 1996, the Latvian population fell by 16,275 persons, due to a rise in death rate and negative migration. The Lithuanian population fell by 2,729 and Estonian by 9,381 over the same period. The Lithuanian population on October 1, 1996 stood at 3,709,100 (in comparison with 3.715 million in Oct. 1995), the Estonian population at 1,466,900 (1.478 million in Oct. 1995), and the Latvian population at 2,485,400 (2.508 million in Oct. 1995). (ELTA, 4 Dec.)
EUROPE -- PERSONAL COMPUTER OWNERSHIP IS GROWING similarly in Eastern and Western Europe. There were 7 personal computers per 100 people in Estonia in 1996. Spain and Italy are on the same level with Estonia. In those countries there are 8 personal computers per 100 people. In Europe the level of computerization was highest in Switzerland and Norway, where there are twenty- five personal computers per hundred people and 24 computers per hundred people. In Finland the indicator is 15 computers per 100 people. (ETA, 3 Dec.)