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RUSSIA
Political [...] Overview
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The political atmosphere during FY 1999 was unsettled, due in part to
the December 1999 Duma elections and the presidential elections, which
were initially scheduled for June 2000, but were moved up to March 2000
as a result of President Yeltsin’s resignation at the end of 1999. Prime
Minister Primakov's government was in place from September 1998 to May
1999, with economic policy led by First Deputy Prime Minister Yuriy Maslyukov,
a Communist Party leader and former head of the State Planning Committee.
In May 1999, President Yeltsin replaced Primakov with then-Interior Minister
Sergey Stepashin, who removed most Communist Party members from the government's
economic team. In July, President Yeltsin named yet another new prime minister,
then-Security Council Secretary Vladimir Putin, who was also quickly confirmed.
Prime Minister Putin focused heavily on security issues and largely retained
his predecessor's economic team, although many reform-minded officials
left the government for the private sector. One constant figure throughout
these changes was Viktor Gerashchenko, who has been the president of Russia’s
Central Bank since September 1998.
Overview of U.S. Government Assistance
In FY 1999, the U.S. Government provided an estimated $1.99 billion
in assistance to Russia, including $167.98 million in FREEDOM Support Act
funds, $1.16 billion in U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) funds (including
a concessional loan valued at $522.8 million provided to the Russian Government
under USDA’s Food for Progress Program), $389.40 million in U.S. Defense
Department (DoD) funds, $236.13 million in U.S. Energy Department (DOE)
funds, $17.72 million in other U.S. Government funds, and $19.92 million
in DoD excess and privately donated humanitarian commodities. USAID programs
accounted for roughly half of the total FREEDOM Support Act-funded assistance
provided to Russia in FY 1999 -
approximately $80.0 million, including $20.0 million for small-business
development and micro-credit programs, $12.5 million for health programs,
$12.2 million for the elimination of trade impediments, $8.2 million for
democratic reform programs, $5.9 million for Eurasia Foundation programs,
$6.4 million for environmental programs, $5.9 million for training programs,
$4.0 million for partnership programs, $355,000 for energy programs and
$5.0 million for other programs. As in FY 1998, FREEDOM Support Act-funded
assistance to the Government of Russia continued to be subject to a 50-percent
cut mandated by the U.S. Congress.
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Democracy Programs
USAID Independent Media Programs: A part of the U.S. Government’s
comprehensive response to the challenges posed to Russia’s independent
media by the country’s August 1998 financial crisis, USAID significantly
broadened its journalism training and media-related business support activities
in FY 1999.
· Internews: USAID-funded Internews provided technical
assistance to over 300 regional television stations in 81 of Russia’s 89
regions. A new training forum called “Local Time”—a series of regional
competitions/seminars in eight of Russia’s time zones plus a final round
in Moscow—enabled 30 to 50 stations from each region to compare programming,
have access to professional training, broaden their contacts with national
network executives, and have access to expert legal advice from the Moscow
Media Law and Policy Center, Glasnost Defense Fund and the National Association
of Telebroadcasters. Internews also launched a coordinated series of regional
media advertising-support activities in 67 cities throughout Russia, resulting
in the formation of a National Association of Regional Advertising Agents.
In addition, Internews provided production support grants to 27 regional
non-state television stations during the period of
sharply decreased media advertising revenues that followed the financial
crisis. Internews also launched a newsroom computerization program and
an Internet-based news exchange network called “InterNovosti,” and contributed
to the establishment of network of media organizations that worked to loosen
government controls on local media.
· National Press Institute: Since 1993, the USAID-supported
National Press Institute (NPI) and the Media Viability Fund, which is co-financed
by USAID and the Soros Foundation, have provided technical support to more
than 1,500 regional non-state regional newspapers in over 70 regions of
Russia. In May 1999, NPI established a new legal services program to help
regional independent newspapers defend their rights and oppose encroachments
by local authorities. In FY 1999, NPI conducted over 800 press conferences
and professional training events in its seven regional press centers located
in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Vladivostok, Nizhniy
Novgorod and Novosibirsk.
USIA Media Programs: In FY 1999, USIA administered and coordinated
a number of programs that brought Russian media representatives to the
United States on professional development programs. Three cooperative television
productions (TV co-ops) provided the opportunity for ten Russian television
professionals to travel to the United States and produce high-quality television
programming for large Russian viewing audiences on various aspects of American
life, including Y2K preparedness, civil-rights protection in a multi-ethnic
society, and U.S. television news. A USIA print media program focusing
on journalistic ethics brought six journalists from throughout Russia to
the United States. The journalists spent three weeks in the United States,
meeting with representatives of media, government and civic organizations.
Upon returning home, the journalists published articles in their respective
papers on their experiences in the United States. USIA also participated
in a $10 million independent media initiative launched by Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright during her visit to Moscow in January 1999. Under
this initiative, USIA brought U.S. speakers in the field of journalism
to Russia and organized media internships in the United States for Russian
journalists.
USAID Rule-of-Law Programs: In FY 1999, USAID continued to work
with the Russian judiciary, with both the commercial (arbitrage) courts
and the courts of general jurisdiction. During the last year and a half,
over 1,300 Russian judges and court administrators have participated in
USAID-funded programs aimed at improving the participants’ understanding
of law and judicial ethics, improving court administration, and improving
continuing judicial education. USAID’s support for the Russian Supreme
Court’s new Judicial Department, the entity now responsible for administering
the courts of gen eral jurisdiction, contributed to the improvement of
judicial administration in Russia. USAID also fostered partnerships between
U.S. and Russian judicial entities, including a partnership between Russia’s
Judicial Department and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. A
special program involving the Supreme Qualifying Collegium, the Russian
judicial-branch entity responsible for enforcing discipline against judges
accused of ethics violations, raised awareness of judicial ethics issues
among hundreds of judicial leaders from Russia’s regions.
USAID Support for Human-Rights Monitoring: In FY 1999, USAID
provided support for a human-rights monitoring program that covers 30 of
Russia’s regions and produced human-rights reports for all 30 regions and
a report about Russia’s national human-rights situation. Other USAID-funded
human-rights programs offered programmatic support and made facilities
available to NGOs working on issues such as the rights of minorities, refugees,
psychiatric patients, and other groups.
USAID Political Process Programs: In FY 1999, USAID continued
to support increased participation by Russian citizens in democratic political
processes, with a special emphasis on the December 1999 elections to the
State Duma (Russia’s lower house of parliament) and the presidential elections
now scheduled for March 2000. The USAID-supported International Republican
Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute for International
Affairs (NDI) helped democratically oriented Russian political parties
strengthen their local party organizations and increase party membership.
IRI and NDI trained more than 3,000 political party leaders and civic and
political activists in 12 key regions. IRI provided almost $122,000 in
subgrants to Russian NGOs whose mission is to promote democratic development.
These subgrants supported the training and research programs of four regional
NGOs. Through its NGO Advocacy Program, NDI facilitated the formation of
a coalition of national civic organizations whose mission is to organize
and coordinate election-oriented advocacy activities. The coalition is
comprised of seven national civic organizations, all of which have regional
affiliates. In addition, through its Moscow office and resource center,
the USAID-supported International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES)
provided technical assistance to Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC),
89 subject (regional) election commissions (SECs) and 2,700 territorial
election commissions (TECs). During August-September 1999, IFES and the
National Press Institute (NPI) conducted a unique series of election-related
seminars for media representatives, which gave them a chance to interact
with CEC representatives. Six cities hosted these seminars, bringing together
SEC members and journalists from a total of more than 35 regions. In FY
1999, USAID also continued to support the educational program of the Moscow
School of Political Studies (MSPS), which conducted training and roundtables
for approximately 300 Russian politicians and policy-makers in Moscow and
in the regions. USAID support enabled MSPS to translate and publish, as
part of an MSPS Library series, four Western scholars' books on democratic
theory and practice, and on liberal economics. Some 12,000 copies of these
books were distributed to the State Duma, presidential administration,
governmental institu-tions, universities and libraries.
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Security Programs
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) – Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR)
Program: In June 1999, the U.S. and Russian Governments signed a protocol
extending the CTR umbrella agreement, including its original liability
protections, tax and customs exemptions, and audit and examination provisions,
for another seven years. Despite problems in other areas of U.S.-Russian
relations, cooperation on CTR programs continued without disruptions throughout
FY 1999. [...] Projects were also initiated to help Russia process and
package fissile material in the post-dismantlement stage and to prevent
the proliferation of biological weapons expertise and technology.
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Social-Sector and Humanitarian Programs
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) – Food Assistance: In FY
1999, USDA provided Russia with 3.7 million metric tons of food assistance,
valued at $1.16 billion. The program consisted of approximately 1.7 million
metric tons of wheat and wheat flour donated under the P.L. 416 Program,
1.9 million tons of commodities provided under the P.L. 480, Title I Concesssional
Sales and Food for Progress Programs, and 100,000 metric tons of various
commodities donated as humanitarian assistance and delivered through five
U.S. private voluntary organizations (PVOs). Most of the proceeds of the
monetized components of this assistance were directed towards the Russian
Government's Pension Fund, providing support for elderly pensioners. Proceeds
from the seed sales under the Food for Progress Grants Program were used
to support credit cooperatives and seed research.
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Coordinator’s Office Humanitarian Assistance: Since 1992, the
U.S. State Department’s Operation Provide Hope has provided over $602 million
in humanitarian assistance to Russia. In FY 1999, the Office of the Coordinator
of U.S. Assistance to the NIS expended $1.34 million in transportation
and grant funds to deliver $19.92 million in targeted humanitarian assistance
to the people of Russia. Much of this assistance was in the form of donated
commodities distributed by small and medium-sized U.S. PVOs. However, the
majority of this assistance was in the form of high-value pharmaceuticals
provided through large PVOs like Project Hope. During FY 1999, the Department
of State funded six humanitarian airlifts and 163 surface shipments to
Russia.
USAID Health-Care Reform Programs: In FY 1999, USAID designed
and began to implement multi-year strategies aimed at specific health problems
in Russia, including women’s and infant health, AIDS/HIV prevention, and
tuberculosis control. USAID also continued to support U.S.-Russian primary
health-care partnerships and facilitated a dialogue at the national level
on the quality of health care in Russia.
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Preview of FY 2000 Programs
In FY 2000, U.S. Government assistance to Russia will strengthen its
regional and grassroots emphases, supporting the development of small business
and civil society, as well as health-care reform and environmental activities.
USAID will provide technical assistance to Russia’s electoral commissions
to help ensure that the presidential elections scheduled for March 2000
are free and fair. USAID-funded initiatives will also reach out to newly
elected legislators in the State Duma (parliament) and the regional legislatures,
as well as to municipal officials. The U.S. Government will continue to
target funds away from the Russian federal government and Moscow, towards
Russia’s reform-minded regions. Exchange programs will work to strengthen
the valuable partnerships between U.S. and Russian communities and organizations
in all sectors and will serve as vehicles to bring more Russians to the
West to observe democracy and free market economics first-hand. In Moscow,
U.S. Government-funded programs will also continue to address significant
obstacles to reform, including corruption, organized crime, and the overall
lack of an effective and comprehensive legal system that can ensure the
rule of law. USAID will continue to work with other donors to promote banking
and tax reform.
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