A week

Everything is calm at Gazprom
Last week, Kommersant's forecast came true that things would not come to an open war between the Kremlin and Chairman of the Board of Gazprom OJSC Rem Vyakhirev. A compromise was reached on the eve of the extraordinary meeting of shareholders, and the meeting itself took place without the slightest glitch.
Even two days before the meeting, a tough scenario for the development of events could not be ruled out. It consisted in the fact that Vyakhirev would not vote with the block of shares he controlled for the resignation of the current board of directors, and he would retain his powers (75% was needed for resignation). This would not prevent the meeting from electing a new board of directors. The resulting legal conflict (two legitimate boards of directors) could paralyze the management of the corporation.
But the parties came to an agreement. Vyakhirev remained in his place, and the state received five seats on the board of directors instead of four. It delegated there Viktor Chernomyrdin (chairman), two representatives of the Ministry of State Property (Minister Farit Gazizullin and his first deputy German Gref) and two representatives of the Russian Federal Property Fund - chairman Igor Shuvalov and his deputy Vladimir Malin.
The head of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy, Viktor Kalyuzhny (he was one of the first to advocate holding an extraordinary meeting), did not find a place on the council. This is said to be due to his apparent closeness to some oil companies and public criticism of Vyakhirev.
For the first time, Yuri Neelov, the governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Okrug, where most of Russian gas is produced, did not get into the council. And also for a simple reason. A democratically elected governor is not required to coordinate all his actions with the central authorities. But the Kremlin could not afford such luxury on the eve of the elections.

The mystery of Yeltsin's accounts
Last week, outgoing Attorney General of the Swiss Confederation Carla Del Ponte decided to loudly slam the door. Not believing in the judicial prospects of the cases opened against the “Russian mafia,” del Ponte provoked a leak of information to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The newspaper spoke about the tireless struggle of the Swiss prosecutor general against Russian corruption and, in particular, about the discovery of the accounts of Yeltsin and his daughters.
According to the newspaper, the Swiss prosecutor's office accessed the mentioned bank accounts almost by accident. She investigated the activities of the financial director of one of the divisions of Mabetex, 47-year-old Franco Fenini, who in 1991-1995 worked in Russia at the representative office of Banco del Gottardo and there, according to the investigation, extorted money and falsified documents. He told Carla del Ponte about a “suspiciously rich” client of this bank, a 35-year-old native of the USSR, who received Israeli citizenship and settled in Spain, Philip Turover. And Turover, in turn, agreed to reveal to the Swiss prosecutor the secret of the accounts of some Russians in exchange for renouncing his criminal prosecution.
Corriere della Sera presents an interesting dialogue between Carla del Ponte and the head of Mabetex, Beget Pacolli. A Swiss prosecutor asks an entrepreneur why he transferred $1 million to a Hungarian bank. He allegedly answers: “For small expenses for the President of Russia during his visit to Budapest.” Del Ponte asks: “And the 20 million lire received from you, which Yeltsin’s daughter Tatyana spent in one day from her credit card, what is that?” “Small expenses,” Pacolli replies calmly.

The minister is also a person
On Saturday afternoon, on the Tuula-Keila highway (Estonia), a police patrol stopped a car traveling at a speed of 140 kilometers per hour. The permitted speed on this section is 90 kilometers per hour. Imagine the surprise of the police when the offender presented a driver’s license in the name of Jüri Mõisa. The fact is that Mõise is the Minister of Internal Affairs of Estonia, that is, the direct superior of vigilant police officers. To the credit of the latter, despite this circumstance, they sent the case to court. Now Mõiz, who is also a candidate from the ruling Fatherland Union party for mayor of Tallinn, faces a fine of 60 to 150 days' salary or deprivation of his driver's license for a period of 3 to 6 months.
Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar did not rush to condemn his party comrade: “I, as the head of government, am pleased,” he said, “that Mõise, as Minister of Internal Affairs, managed to organize the work of the police so well that even violations of the minister himself."

Turkey is shaking again
In the Turkish resort province of Antalya on the Mediterranean coast on Wednesday, at 20.46 local time, an earthquake measuring 3.8 on the Richter scale occurred. According to the Seismological Observatory of Bosphorus University, the epicenter was located in the sea near Alanya. According to the international classification, the earthquake that occurred is considered weak.
The next day, the province of Isparta in southern Turkey was already shaking, where two tremors of magnitude 4.0 and 3.8 were recorded. In both cases there was no destruction or casualties. Unless, of course, you count the Turkish economy, and in particular the tourism industry.
The fact is that the earthquake in the Sea of Marmara put an end to the plans of the Turkish government to attract foreign tourists to local resorts. Although there is no threat of destruction of hotels, timid tourists began to hand over their vouchers en masse, which has already led to the bankruptcy of local travel agencies.

National anniversary of the armchair writer
The most amazing thing about the celebrations to mark the centenary of the birth of Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges is their scale. Opening of the Borges Museum, where his manuscripts and letters are exhibited; presentation of the Borges Prize ($50 thousand); poetry readings; the premiere of a biographical film directed by the Englishwoman Sally Potter - events are natural, worthy and understandable. However, for example, the construction by some Argentinean enthusiasts of a 250-meter labyrinth consisting of mirrors and dark passages cannot be classified as a generally accepted way to celebrate the anniversary of a favorite author. However, the labyrinth is one of the cross-cutting images in Borges’s stories, and the composition of his stories often resembles a labyrinth.
Borges himself, a bookish man and shy despite all his aristocracy, would most likely have been struck not so much by the scale of the celebrations as by the size of his fame and the number of fans of works that are far from simple and in no way appeal to the mass taste. For example, a globe-trotting exhibition featuring about 700 Borges’ personal belongings attracted more than 100 thousand visitors in Venice alone.
Perhaps this is due to humanity’s love of fiction - after all, Borges told fairy tales for adults with a higher education in the humanities. Plus - skillful marketing. Borges's legacy is managed by Maria Kodama, his student and secretary, whom the writer married three weeks before his death. Her successes once again prove that even the most elitist author can attract the favorable attention of the crowd - although, of course, we are not talking about Borges becoming a read by millions.

Left radicals unite
The movement in support of the army, defense industry and science, led by Viktor Ilyukhin, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, formed its own bloc with a number of opposition organizations of patriotic orientation. In addition to the DPA, it included the Russian National Movement of Alexander Bazhenov and Alexander Korzhakov, the Union of Compatriots “Fatherland” of Boris Tarasov, and the Union of Christian Revival of Vladimir Osipov. The name and top three of the bloc's electoral list should be announced today.
The bloc's founding congress is planned to be held on September 11-12. But before it, the congress of the Democratic Party itself must take place. This is where the main intrigue lies. At the last congress, the delegates split: some, led by Ilyukhin, are going to go to the elections without the Communists, some - together with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. It is also unknown whether General Albert Makashov will participate in the new bloc.

Rent can be worked off
On August 24, at a meeting of the Moscow government, the head of the capital's housing and communal services department, Nikolai Pavlov, made a sensational statement: it turns out that an interesting innovation is already being tested in the outlying Moscow district of Lianozovo. Its essence is that rent arrears can be paid off through public works. The administration of the Moscow district of Lianozovo attracts residents who have debts on utility bills to work on landscaping their courtyards. In total, Lianozovo municipal services employ 150 defaulters on public works every day, who manage to pay off debts totaling up to 50 thousand rubles in a month. This initiative is not enshrined in law, but there is nothing illegal in it, as a Kommersant correspondent was assured by the main legal department of the mayor’s office.
City authorities decided to take a closer look at the Lianozov experience. If everything goes well and the program does not cause any glitches, then starting next year the Moscow government intends to involve debtors throughout the capital in public works. But only on a purely voluntary basis.

Russia will not import grain
The Russian government is not planning centralized purchases of grain abroad this year. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Shcherbak, who took part in the Russian Farmer world fair in St. Petersburg. At the same time, according to him, the 60 million tons of grain that Russia expects to collect this year is not enough to satisfy all needs, so “a number of territories will have to purchase grain, although mainly feed grain.” These purchases will be made on a commercial basis. At the same time, he stated that “some traditional exports will remain – about 1.5 million tons – to the Transcaucasian republics, which are supplied with grain at Russia’s expense.” The Deputy Prime Minister did not rule out that the Russian government will turn to the US government with a request to provide protein feed. At the same time, he emphasized that “we are talking about help, but not about trade credit.” In addition, it is possible that grain will be supplied from Belarus. But it is difficult to call these supplies imports, since they will be carried out “in the order of payment for the gas consumed.”

Schnitzel of the world
After a three-year break, supplies of British beef to EU countries have resumed. 50 kg of beef fillet from Cornwall (UK) was delivered to Belgium, one of the member countries of the European Union. This symbolic portion was served at a dinner held in Brussels to celebrate the lifting of the ban on meat imports from the UK. The ban was officially lifted on August 1, but so far only one slaughterhouse in Cornwall has passed all sanitary and hygiene checks and received permission to export meat from the country.
A ban on the export of meat products from the UK was imposed in March 1996, after the British government recognized that the mad cow disease virus could cause harm to the human body. Although science does not know of a single proven case of human infection from a British cow, the entire population of cows in the UK was put under the knife.

The largest banks are suffering losses
According to official information from the Bank of Russia, losses of the 30 largest Russian banks exceeded 20.646 billion rubles as of July 1, having increased by 18.86 billion in June. Total assets decreased in June by 72.6 billion rubles, amounting to 890.038 billion. These figures were obtained by summing the balanced asset accounts. Compared to June 1, 1999, banks’ funds in accounts with the Bank of Russia decreased by 627 million rubles, amounting to 54.794 billion rubles, including 34.636 billion rubles in the form of required reserves. In addition, according to the Central Bank, as of July 1, the average capital adequacy ratio for the 30 largest banks was 13.56% (with a standard value of 8%), an indicator of the relative size of the bank’s liabilities to non-resident banks and non-resident financial organizations as a percentage of capital - 238.69% (maximum value - 400%).
The 30 largest included seven banks with 100% foreign participation - ABN AMRO Bank, BNP-Dresdner Bank, ING Bank, Credit Lyonnais Rusbank (St. Petersburg), Credit Swiss First Boston, " Citibank T/O (Moscow), Chase Manhattan Bank International, Russian Autobank, Alfa Bank, Vneshtorgbank, Vozrozhdenie, Gazprombank, Guta Bank, IFC, International Moscow Bank, International Industrial Bank, MENATEP St. Petersburg ", Rosbank, Mosbusinessbank (license revoked), Moscow Industrial Bank, Bank of Moscow, Most Bank, NRB, Promstroybank (license revoked), Industrial Construction Bank (St. Petersburg), "Russian Credit", Sberbank of Russia, SBS-AGRO , Sobinbank, Toribank and others.

Foreigners will be shaken
The state has tightened control over the export of currency by foreign citizens. Previously, they had to indicate the source of amounts over $500. Now every cent will have to be documented. Tourists will be able to take away from Russia only the cash that they brought into the country (confirming this with a declaration) or received by bank transfer (showing a bank certificate of transfer). Money received from foreign accounts through an ATM cannot be exported: customs officers do not consider invoices issued by an ATM as a document. Amounts for which there are no supporting documents will not be confiscated, but they will have to be left in the custody of customs until the owner returns to Russia.
Russian citizens can still take out up to $10 thousand and must explain the source of origin of funds over $500.

Limonovites are fighting for Sevastopol
14 members of the National Bolshevik Party (NBP) seized last Tuesday, on Ukraine’s National Independence Day, the building of the sailors’ club of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the very center of Sevastopol on Ushakova Street. Having gone upstairs, they broke down the door, barricaded themselves on the tower terrace and began scattering anti-Ukrainian leaflets from there. It was not possible to persuade the Limonovites to go down. The club was stormed by a separate guard battalion of the Black Sea Fleet and local police. The violators were taken to the police station. There it turned out that they were visitors from Moscow and Smolensk. The court sentenced all of them to 15 days of arrest for hooliganism.
According to a representative of the NBP, the action was intended to express a strong protest against “Ukraine’s illegal retention of the city of Russian glory, Ukraine’s prepared entry into NATO, the ratification by the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the shameful treaty between Russia and Ukraine, perpetuating the occupation of Sevastopol.”

The court believed Skuratov
The Khamovnichesky Intermunicipal Court of Moscow upheld the complaint of Yuri Skuratov and recognized the decision of the Main Military Prosecutor's Office to extend the investigation period in the criminal case initiated against him on April 2 of this year to 6 months as illegal and unfounded. Federal Judge Galina Pashnina considered that investigators had enough time to investigate the circumstances surrounding the criminal case, and no new evidence emerged in the case, the investigation of which could justify delaying the investigation. In addition, as noted in the court ruling, the continuation of the investigation in this case maintains the uncertain legal status of Skuratov, who has not yet been charged, and thereby his civil rights are infringed.
The representative of the GVP at the trial, Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Alexander Filippovich, promised journalists that the decision of the Khamovnichesky Court would be appealed to the Moscow City Court.

Prices for seats are rising on the stock exchange
On August 25, a trading space was sold on the New York Stock Exchange for a record amount of $2.65 million. Such generosity of the buyer, who chose to remain anonymous (as, indeed, the seller), is explained by the fact that owning a place gives the right to trade securities, and to vote at meetings of the New York Stock Exchange. The number of seats there is strictly defined (1366) and has not changed for almost a hundred years since the exchange moved in 1903 to its current location - on the corner of Wall Street and Broad Street. Negotiations are currently underway to construct a new building for the exchange. It is possible that after the move this tradition will be broken and the number of retail locations will increase.

Magazine "Kommersant Vlast" No. 34 dated 08/31/1999, p. 18

Week – Power – Kommersant