TEN Index

May 1-15, 1997, Vol. 3, No. 9


Transboundary News

HELSINKI-TALLINN -- VISA-FREE TRAVEL BETWEEN THE SCANDINAVIAN STATES AND ESTONIA began on May 1. In addition to larger numbers of Estonians expected to travel abroad with visa freedom, the number of foreign tourists that visit Estonia is expected to increase by about 10 percent and to have a favorable effect on the development of the Estonian economy, mainly through services offered to foreigners. Visa-freedom with the Scandinavian states also has a symbolic meaning for the Estonians, as it brings them closer to visa-free travel in other countries of Western Europe in future. From May 1 Estonia will have visa-free travel rights with all Scandinavian states. Iceland was the last Scandinavian state with which a corresponding agreement was concluded on April 29. (ETA, 1 May)

MOSCOW-VILNIUS -- A BORDER AGREEMENT BETWEEN LITHUANIA AND RUSSIA could be initialled within one month. With approval of this document, an official Lithuanian delegation will be able to make a long-planned trip to Moscow. Lithuanian and Russian delegations would also meet in the near future in Vilnius. In responding to territorial claims, recently raised by the governor of Russian Kaliningrad Leonid Gorbenko toward Lithuania, Lithuanian government officials have considered them to be not serious. The Lithuanian press had earlier widely reported that Gorbenko stated the Lithuanian Klaipeda region should belong to Russia. The Russian governor later denied having stating this. (ELTA, 7 May)

NARVA, ESTONIA-IVANGOROD, RUSSIA -- POOR RELATIONS BETWEEN ESTONIA AND RUSSIA are the main reason for the trickling transit through Narva, Estonia's border town with Ivangorod, Russia, according to Estonian academician Mikhail Bronshtein at the Narva Transit '97 conference. He said that Russia's plans to build new ports around St. Petersburg to avoid using the ones in the Baltic states are expensive and economically unfeasible. Narva mayor Raivo Murd said that Narva should be granted the special status of a transit town. For this purpose, modern ports must be built in Narva and the neighboring Narva-Joesuu, Murd argued. Yet before Narva can be declared an international port, the Estonian-Russian border agreement has to be signed, he noted. (ETA, 11 May)

VENTSPILS, LATVIA-MOSCOW -- LATVIA HAS APPROVED THE RULES FOR SALE OF THE VENTSPILS OIL TERMINAL. The Latvian Privatization Agency on April 30 said it had approved the rules for the sale of major oil terminal Ventspils Nafta. The terminal is one of the main outlets for Russian crude and there has been much speculation that Russian oil firms YUKOS and LUKoil want to buy a chunk of the company. All investors can take part in share auctions, either in the public offer for vouchers or the seven percent stake to be placed abroad, according to the privatization agency. A company to carry out the international offer of Ventspils shares is to be chosen by the end of May. (Reuters, 30 April)

PSKOV, RUSSIA-TARTU, ESTONIA -- PSKOV AND TARTU MAY RELAUNCH FORMER FERRY ROUTE IN 1998. City representatives of the Russian town of Pskov/Pihkva visited Tartu to discuss opportunities for relaunching the previous passenger ferry link between the towns. The administration of the city of Pskov has applied to the Russian federal government for funding and asked to conclude an agreement with the Estonian government on creating new border checkpoints which would make the ferry link possible. Border checkpoints could be placed into the ports of Pskov, Oudova/Gdov, Mustvee and Tartu. In addition, Pskov Oblast has promised to provide support for the new checkpoints in its 1998 budget. (ETA, 12 May)

Environmental News

ESTONIA -- DENMARK HAS LAUNCHED AN INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT ENERGY SAVING PROGRAMS in Estonia. The Danish state will allocate 6 million kroons to energy saving programs in Estonia's housing and construction sphere, said an official from the Danish embassy in Estonia. The program financing will continue through 1999. The priority of the new program is to work out necessary financing systems so that house owners and inhabitants can begin to invest in saving energy. The program prescribes including environmental aspects in Estonian legislation that concerns construction work and harmonizing that legislation with the European Union regulations. The Danish finances will also be used to support public campaigns to increase awareness domestic energy saving measures. (ETA, 11 May)

SILLAMAE, ESTONIA -- THE RARE METAL PLANT SILMET intends to build two new sites in northwestern Estonia. The first site is to a new oil port in Sillamae where a metal plant is now also based. The port will be built farther away from the town where natural conditions are favorable. The depository of poisonous residuals of the plant may be developed into a dump site for hazardous substances in Estonia. The cost of the reconstruction of the depository is estimated at 60-100 million kroons. The site is suitable because underneath there is a layer of clay 80 meters thick. At the same time the site is dangerously close to the sea. Kalev Pikaru, a representative of the Economy Ministry, reported that the state would preserve its stake in Silmet for the foreseeable future. Silmet is a former secret Soviet factory and employs 1,500 people today. (ETA, 13 May)

VILNIUS -- THE AGRICULTURE MINISTRIES OF ESTONIA, LATVIA AND LITHUANIA WILL EXCHANGE AGRICULTURE REPRESENTATIVES to create a modern information network in cooperation with the European Union's PHARE program. The decision was made in Vilnius on May 6 where Baltic agricultural experts met at the international agriculture, foodstuffs and packaging fair Agrobalt '97. Representatives are to be exchanged in order to keep informed of agricultural activities in the Baltic neighbors. The Baltic farm trade has received a big impetus after the full free trade agreement came into force on January 1. The agreement was immediately put to use and the trade volumes have soared. (ETA, 6 May)

BUTINGE OIL TERMINAL, LITHUANIA -- LITHUANIA HAS HALTED THE CONSTRUCTION OF BUTINGE OIL TERMINAL. The Lithuanian Minister of the Economy Vincas Babilius has decided to put a halt to the process of establishing an oil concern in Butinge, under construction in Western Lithuania, after no foreign companies showed any interest in the block of shares in the plant. Further developments will depend on what objectives will be set for the oil terminal, he added. The minister stressed that the top priority today was to ensure a stable operation of the Mazeikiu Nafta oil-processing plant. (ELTA, 4 May)

UST'-LUGA, RUSSIA -- THE FUTURE CHEMICAL AND MINERAL TERMINAL being constructed on Russian territory in the Gulf of Finland will specialize on handling fertilizer cargo, according to a newly created council which is overseeing the establishment of the terminal. Representatives of the government administration of Leningrad Oblast, Kingisep region, and the firm "Ust'-Luga" sit on a new Council of the Industrial Zone of the Seaport of Ust'- Luga. Conditions for allowing discount customs taxes at this terminal are now being negotiated with federal officials in Russia. (Delovoi Peterburg, 7 May)

Conferences, Events, and Meetings

IGNALINA NUCLEAR PLANT, LITHUANIA -- ABOUT 50 NUCLEAR ENERGY EXPERTS from Lithuania and foreign countries, including Sweden, US, Russia, and Ukraine, met in the Lithuanian town of Visaginas for a seminar to discuss nuclear safety culture issues on May 6. The seminar, held in the framework of Ignalina safety's enhancement program, was initiated by IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and US Energy Department. Among topics discussed at the seminar, which sought to take into account recommendations of EBRD, were improvements of nuclear safety culture, and management structure. A spokeswoman of Ignalina plant Rasa Sevaldina said that foreign experts gave information about labor division among workers of their own plants and other management methods. (ELTA, 6 May)

VORU COUNTY, ESTONIA -- ESTONIA AND LATVIA TO CONCLUDE AGREEMENT OF JOINT CUSTOMS CONTROL. Estonian Prime Minister Mart Siimann during a tour of the southernmost Estonian county Voru county said that he was satisfied with the situation in Luhamaa and Murati border checkpoints he visited. Siimann and Latvian Prime Minister Andris Skele are to sign on June 12 an agreement between the two states that will prescribe joint border and customs control at the Murati border checkpoint. Estonia and Latvia are planning to sign another two projects that concern creating joint border checkpoints in Ikla and Valga-Valka, the twin cities on the border line. The overall goal of the agreement is to facilitate free market development in the Baltics. (ETA, 7 May)

VORU COUNTY, ESTONIA -- A LOGISTICS CENTER IS TO BE ESTABLISHED in Voru County. Estonian Prime Minister Mart Siimann took part in a transit and regional development meeting with the local government of Estonia's southernmost Voru County on May 6. The creation of a logistics center at Voru was discussed in detail there, said government spokesman Daniel Vaarik. Estonia's Cabinet also hold its regular session at Voru from time to time as part of an effort to give a boost to regional development. As a logistics center, Voru would use its geographical position as a natural passageway between Latvia and Russia. Voru is also a member of the BALTNET project, a joint effort of several European countries which strives to find new transit routes from Western Europe to Russia. (ETA, 6 May)

LATVIA - BORDER AND TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS will be introduced in Latvia this year with the help of the EU PHARE program, providing 9.7 million ECU for this purpose, Transport Ministry representative Vigo Legzdins said on May 5. PHARE is ready to finance eastern border building costs up to 50%, donating 3 million ECUs for building a border post in Terehova as well as in other places. PHARE also has expressed readiness to participate in the financing of highway and railway modernization projects in Latvia. (LETA, 6 May)

VILNIUS -- BALTIC STATE AGRICULTURE MINISTERS met recently at the international agriculture fair Agrobalt '97 in Vilnius to discuss closer cooperation of the three states in the area of agriculture. At the meeting, the ministers discussed how to unify the developments and better exchange information. The ministers noted that the Baltic states would find it simpler to find new markets if they unified their activities and engaged in mutual planning. In cooperation with the PHARE program, a modern communications network is to be created. (ETA, 7 May)

New Data and Statistics

ESTONIA-RUSSIA -- POOR RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA COST ESTONIA 500-600 MILLION USD ANNUALLY, according to an official Estonian estimate presented at the Narva Transit '97 conference. One of the leading transit experts, academician Mikhail Bronshtein, told the Narva Transit '97 conference this week that this means a loss of 500-600 million U.S. dollars for the Estonian economy every year. If Estonia managed to improve relations with Russia, the current transit trade turnover which forms 20-25 percent of the gross domestic product could be hiked 1.5-2 times. (ETA, 11 May)

IGNALINA POWER PLANT, LITHUANIA -- ONLY THE SECOND ENERGY UNIT AT IGNALINA POWER PLANT is now working at full power -- 1 thousand 300 MW - and the capacity of the first unit will stay idle until July 7 due to planned repair works. In addition, the plant has undertaken additional tasks, proposed in EBRD recommendations, to increase the plant's safety. Under the 1994 agreement between IAE (International Atomic Energy Agency) and EBRD, the European bank granted to the plant a 33 million ECU irrevocable loan aimed at short-time safety measures. Around 70 percent of this loan was already put into use. The plant is expected to operate for about ten more years. (ELTA, 6 May)


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