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No. 002  |
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December 18, 2000
War of Words Escalates between Nazdratenko and Pulikovskiy Camps
By James Schumaker, Acting Consul General
1.
(U) Over the past two weeks, the level of rhetoric exchanged between
Nazdratenko and Pulikovskiy supporters has increased in intensity, as the
Primorye administration continues to grapple unsuccessfully with the heating
crisis afflicting many of the poorer areas of the region. The latest
development has been the publication of stories, largely in Nazdratenko-controlled
newspapers, reporting that the Primorye government has filed suit against
Presidential Representative Pulikovskiy for besmirching the honesty, honor and
reputation of the Primorye authorities.
Pavel
Lysov, Pulikovskiy’s Man in Primorye
2. (U) In response, Pulikovskiy’s local
representative in Primorye, Pavel Aleksandrovich Lysov, issued a “Statement for
the Media,” published in many of the remaining opposition newspapers on
December 13 (full translation of text is at para 6). In the Statement, Lysov sets out in stark
detail how Pulikovskiy’s and Nazdratenko’s assessments of the situation differ,
outlines the problems still affecting the region, and notes that Pulikovskiy
has received no official notice of the lawsuit.
3. (U) This prompted a further response from Vice Governor Valentin Kuzov, the head of Nazdratenko’s administrative apparat. Kuzov noted on December 14 to “Novosti Dal’nego Vostoka” that the Primorye administration had indeed filed a lawsuit with a local court, but only to prove that their statements about the situation in Primorye were accurate and Pulikovskiy’s were not. Kuzov, sidestepping the issue of whether Pulikovskiy had ever been notified of this novel court action, said the Primorye administration was ready for constructive relations with Pulikovskiy and his representatives.
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| Demonstrators in Ussuriysk |
4. (U) In other developments, Governor Nazdratenko appears to have found his latest set of scapegoats for the heating woes of Kavalyerovo, Arsenyev, Artem, Khasan and Ussuriysk districts: local municipal officials. The MVD has been called in to investigate malfeasance, and the head of the Artem municipal heating plant has been arrested, among others. The mayor of Kavalerovo also resigned over the weekend, and new mayoral elections have been called for Ussuriysk (date to be determined). There appears to be sufficient progress in Arsenyev and Khasan to keep the current crop of officials, at least for now.
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| Still Snowing in Vladivostok |
5.
(SBU) Comment: Lysov’s Statement for the Media and Kuzov’s reply are only the
latest developments in a running battle of competing press releases between
Nazdratenko’s and Pulikovskiy’s men.
There appears to be particularly bad blood between Kuzov and Lysov.
Before Pulikovskiy’s appointment as Supergovernor, Kuzov was the Presidential
Representative for Primorye. Pulikovskiy’s October 2000 appointment of Lysov as
Chief Federal Inspector for Primorye in effect did away with Kuzov’s other job,
returning him to the joys of running Nazdratenko’s regional administration. The
allegations in Lysov’s Statement for the Media are quite serious. Between that and the older allegations of the
Kondratov report (Vladivostok 678), President Putin’s men should have little
trouble in digging up federal law violations to justify the removal of
Nazdratenko, should Putin eventually decide to go that route. Many citizens of
Vladivostok are privately skeptical that much will come of this clash of press
releases, but as recent events in Kursk and elsewhere indicate, Putin and his
representatives have acted before with far less provocation. End comment.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. (U) The following is a translation of Lysov’s
“Statement for the Media:”
QUOTE.
To
the Russian Federation President’s Administration
To
the Russian Federation Presidential Representative in the Russian Far East
STATEMENT
FOR THE MEDIA
Since
December 7, the Primorye media have been reporting that the Primorye Administration
has filed a number of law suits against public statements made by the Russian
Federation presidential representative K.B.Pulikovskiy that damage the honor,
self respect and business reputation of Primorye’s executive authorities.
I
have not have an opportunity to see the law suits, since Vice Governor
V.A.Kuzov refused to provide copies, citing procedures according to which all
of them have been forwarded to the plaintiff only, that is the Russian
Federation Presidential Representative himself.
As
of December 13, K.B.Pulikovskiy had also not received these documents. The
media, nevertheless, continue to report to the Region’s population that
“Pulikovskiy was summoned to court” (Novosti, December 12, 2000), “The wave
rolls up from Vladivostok. Yevgeniy Ivanovich had an argument with Konstantin
Borisovich in court procedure” (Tikhookeanskiy Komsomolets, December 8, 2000),
“Nazdratenko’s law suits: Pulikovskiy does not retract his words” (Utro Rossii,
December 9, 2000), “Primorye authorities ask court to confirm their diligence”
(Dalekaya Okrayina, December 9-15, 2000, etc).
Since the lawsuit against the Russian Federation Presidential
Representative has been acquiring political overtones, I have to comment on
those reports. I am guided only by newspaper and information agencies’ reports.
In
particular, the Regional administration was offended by K.B.Pulikovsky’s
statement that they had done nothing to resolve the heating and fuel crisis.
The
things I saw in Uglovoye and four villages of Kavalerovskiy district clearly
testify to the complete loss of control on the part of the Kavalerovskiy
district head V.V.Lomovtsev and the Vice Governors supervising that area. At
the briefing with the participation of the Russian Federation Minister for
Emergency situations S.K. Shoygu the first was telling about operative boiler
rooms and heating that was provided to residences, while no measures had been
taken in the district to repair hundreds of meters of defunct heating pipelines
and defrost heating radiators. The Regional administration learned of this
situation only after they arrived on location with the Ministry of Emergency
Situation’s team.
The
fact that the Russian Federation minister for emergency situations left his
deputy, Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel-General V.A.Vostrotin in the
territory to cope with the emergency situation, only confirms that Regional
authorities’ inability to restore order themselves.
Kavalerovskiy
district received fuel only on November 5. The reasons for the delayed delivery
are currently being investigated by the Russian Federation President’s Chief
Inspection Department task force that oversees the region. In any case, no one
had cancelled the task of preparing the central heating system for the season,
washing it and, in case of delays with heating, draining in due time. If done
before the cold weather, there would have been no need to declare an emergency
regime in the middle of cold season and replacing pipes and radiators.
Kavalerovskiy
and Khasanskiy districts and the village of Uglovoye are, sadly, not the only
locations on the map of emergency. Ussuriysk, Arsenyev and Spassk have fuel for
a few more days only. The situation in other towns and districts is no better.
Without new fuel deliveries, another disaster might strike that would be larger
in scale than the present one.
The
Regional administration did not like K.B.Pulikovsky reproaching them for the
fact that fuel is purchased for inflated prices, no less than 5 thousand rubles
per ton, while less expensive fuel could be found. The Duma chairman of
Ussuriysk and Ussuriyskiy district Yu.A.Yemets has forwarded to me the official
tender letter from the Yukos-M Trading House’s branch director V.V.Sedykh,
stating his willingness to sell crude oil to Primorye consumers in November at
a price of 3700-3750 rubles per ton. The same document says that the Yukos-M
Trading House had repeatedly informed consumers that the company is ready to
ship crude oil directly, with manufacturer’s prices and in quantities that more
than cover their demand. The question why the administration had not bought the
fuel from Yukos-M, saving 1300 rubles per each ton, has yet to be answered.
Another
cause for the court suits was K.B.Pulikovsky’s statement that the Primorye
Territory Department of Taxation had underpaid 2 billion rubles in taxes. It
remains unclear why the Regional administration was offended by this, for
taxation is carried out by the federal structure that does not report to the
administration. If the sum is to be argued, I can tell that it was taken from
the official report of that department. I can clarify that the overall tax debt
to the consolidated budget in the nine months of this year has increased by
2.61 billion rubles.
I
hope that the court will examine the submitted claims.
The
present reality is such that several locations in Primorye are facing a serious
threat. There is no fuel. The problem has transcended regional boundaries. The
visits of the Russian Federation Government Deputy Chairman I.I.Klebanov and
Russian Federation Minister for Emergency Situations S.K.Shoygu to the
territory, and the work of the Russian Federation President’s Chief Department
of Inspection specialists are another confirmation to that. Both the Regional
administration and the Russian Federation Presidential Representative in the
Russian Far East K.B.Pulikovsky are dealing urgently with the problem of
providing heat to Primorye.
I
ask all journalists to refrain from political speculations in his regard.
Chief
Federal Inspector
in
Primorye Territory
P.Lysov
END
QUOTE.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attachment
(see page 6): Original Russian-Language text of Statement for the Media that
appeared in Primorye Newspapers on December 13, 2000 (note: must be enlarged to
150% to be readable).
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