GalleryMonday, 5 June 2000
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Subj: Latvian mailer for Sunday, June
4th
Date: 6/5/00 12:15:19 AM
Eastern Daylight Time
From: Sturgalve
File: Aglona-organ-6733-36.jpg
(63894 bytes)
DL Time (32000 bps): < 1 minute
Sveiki, all, again!
Today was another practice session
for the song festival in Toronto—it's getting close! This week's links
reflect that musical theme.
As most of you know,
President Clinton is meeting with president Putin this week. Nothing has popped
up on the radar screen so far with relation to any dialog about the Baltics.
This week's news stories:
- Russia slams Latvian leader's "aggressive tone"
- Latvia tells EU good ties with Russia a priority
- Bilingualism Symposium to be held in Puerto Rico
- FEATURE-Latvia confident it has shaken off Soviet image
- Latvian petition opens to ban utility sale
- Schroeder to visit Baltic states before Putin summit
- Latvia-Russia dialogue prospects to be discussed
Finally, this week's picture is one of those sight-seeing pictures, in
this case, of Aglona Church.
Remember, mailer
or not, Lat Chat spontaneously appears every Sunday on AOL starting around
9:00/9:30pm Eastern time, lasting until 11:00/11:30pm. AOL'ers can follow this
link: Town Square - Latvian
chat.
Ar visu labu,
IN ACCORDANCE WITH AOL'S MAIL POLICY and good manners, please let Silvija (Silvija) know if you wish to be deleted from our mailing list. Past mailers are archived at latvians.com. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.
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Two musical links this week...
Keep up to
date on the Toronto Songfest scehdule at:
You can purchase tickets to events, too.
As many
of you know, one of our "links contributors" has been Gunars Zulis (who will
also be participating in Toronto). His cousin just released a pop music CD...
you can find her page at:
You can even download MP3-format clips of a number of the
tracks!
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Russia slams Latvian leader's
"aggressive tone''
Copyright 2000 Reuters
Ltd.
MOSCOW, May 30
(Reuters) — Russia lashed out at Latvian President Vaira
Vike-Freiberga on Tuesday, saying her comments in an interview with a German
news magazine over the weekend were aggressive in
tone.
Russia and former Soviet Latvia have recently
been locked in a war of words. In the latest salvo, Vike-Freiberga told Der
Spiegel that instability in Russia made her nervous and meant she could not
rule out the prospect of a new Russian occupation.
"We believe it is necessary to underline again that the elected president of
Latvia's aggressive tone regarding Russia is pointless," Russia's Foreign
Ministry said in a statement.
"We are sure that her
tone is not shared by many in Latvia and in other countries and international
organisations which have made it their goal to build democracy in Europe
without double standards and new dividing lines," it
said.
The Latvian leader angered Moscow earlier
this month when she accused it of harking back to the Cold War because of
Russian statements about Latvia's bid to join NATO.
"It is impossible not to pay attention to yet another example of the two-faced
approach from the head of the Latvian government," the ministry said, referring
to her comments.
Vike-Freiberga said in the
interview that relations between Latvia, which celebrated 10 years of
independence this month, and Russia under President Vladimir Putin had not
improved as much as she had hoped. Russia says Latvia mistreats its
Russian-speaking minority. About one-third of Latvia's 2.5 million people are
ethnic Russians, most of whom arrived during its 50 years as a reluctant Soviet
republic.
Latvia tells EU good ties
with Russia a priority
Copyright 2000 Reuters
Ltd.
RIGA, May 30 (Reuters)
— Latvia said on Tuesday it had told the European Union that improving its
troubled relations with Russia was a top priority and that the EU could also
help.
"As the EU develops its relations with Russia
it should have a stabilising effect on Latvian-Russian relations," Latvian
Prime Minister Andris Berzins told a news
conference.
He was speaking after returning from
Brussels, where he met EU Enlargement Commissionner Guenter
Verheugen.
"I explained (to Verheugen) that
improving relations with Russia is one of our foreign policy priorities and
that we hope that the new Russian government will cooperate with Latvia very
productively," Berzins said.
He added that
increased trade with Russia, which fell sharply in the wake of Moscow's 1998
financial crisis, could be a way of improving ties.
"Trade with Russia takes up a very small share in the Latvian trade balance,
and that gives evidence that we have a lot of unused opportunities to improve
relations with Russia and develop various economic projects," Berzins
said.
The Latvian cabinet on Tuesday approved a
treaty with Russia on the avoidance of double taxation for businesses operating
in both countries. It still has to be ratified by the
parliament.
Relations between the two countries
have been cool since Latvia regained independence from the Soviet Union in
1991.
Russia claims Latvia mistreats its
Russian-speaking minority. About one-third of Latvia's 2.5 million people are
ethnic Russians, most of whom arrived during its 50 years as a reluctant Soviet
republic.
Earlier on Tuesday Russia lashed out at
Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, saying her comments in an interview
with a German magazine over the weekend were aggressive in
tone.
Vike-Freiberga had told Der Spiegel that
instability in Russia made her nervous and meant she could not rule out the
prospect of a new Russian occupation.
Bilingualism Symposium to be held in Puerto
Rico
San Juan, May 31, 2000 (EFE via
COMTEX) — Linguists and language teachers from across the globe are
gathering in Puerto Rico for the International Symposium on Bilingualism and
Linguistic Rights, which begins Thursday in Puerto Rico and runs until June
6.
The conference on linguistic rights meets June
1-3 at Puerto Rico's Sagrado Corazon University, while other sessions at the
Universidad de Puerto Rico will deal specifically with issues related to the
Spanish and English languages.
Many specialists on
language issues in Puerto Rico, a predominantly Spanish-speaking island with a
large bilingual community, will participate in symposium
activities.
Symposium participants are expected
from approximately 45 countries, including South Africa, Spain, Latvia, Canada,
United States, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Slovenia, Romania, Germany,
Brazil, Austria, Finland and the Republic of Congo. EFE
http://www.efe.es
Copyright (c) 2000. Agencia EFE S.A.
FEATURE-Latvia confident it has shaken off Soviet
image
Copyright 2000 Reuters Ltd.
By Alan
Crosby
RIGA, June 1 (Reuters)
— Latvia is confident that it has shaken off the image of a
poverty-stricken former Soviet country by hosting a major financial summit,
emerging from the meeting as the epitome of post-socialist reform and
prosperity.
Some 2,600 bankers and investors
attended the May 20-22 annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development, one of the largest international events in Riga's 800 year
history.
Building crews worked feverishly to
prepare venues, repair roads and polish the city's image in the months leading
up to the meeting.
It was also a chance to show off
the gleam of nine years of reforms and prosperity since the Baltic nation
regained independence in 1991.
"This was an
excellent chance for Riga and Latvia to show off and it was utilised to the
fullest...sending the good news to the world about Latvia's potential and
future perspectives," Foreign Minister Indulis Berzins said after the
meeting.
"The most important message people
received was that Riga is a European city not only because of its history or
looks, wonderful cafes and outdoor bars, but also because of its ability to
organise (such events)," Berzins added.
The EBRD
was set up in 1991 to help the transition of emerging Europe along the free
market path.
In contrast to last year's meeting in
London, overshadowed by the impact of the 1998 crisis in Russia and war in
Kosovo, this year's was imbued by confidence about the economic outlook for the
region and the bank's own performance.
For the
first time in its history, the bank could boast that every recipient member
country is expected to achieve positive GDP growth this year with Latvia at or
near the top of the list.
Finance Minister Gundars
Berzins has predicted first quarter GDP growth could be as high as seven
percent, year-on-year. Four to five percent growth is expected for the year,
and that should rise to six percent in 2001. Last year GDP was 0.1
percent.
Latvian officials, buoyed by signs that
the economy is well on the road to recovery following the Russian crisis,
presented some 80 investment projects in need of financing in key sectors such
as transport, energy and tourism.
"The Latvians did
a very solid job in presenting themselves as part of Europe, as part of those
countries from the East Bloc that have kept on the reform path," said one
Nordic diplomat based in Riga.
"We will have to see
whether this pays off in terms of actual investments, but for sure it is
already paying off in terms of public relations because there really were no
major problems over the course of the meeting. It went very
smoothly."
BACK TO THE
USSR
Ironically, those past ties with the
former Soviet Union may end up being Latvia's gateway to the future. Now, that
same group of financiers says it may be time to go back to the
USSR.
Riga is one of the closest international
centres to Moscow, and nearly all Latvians speak
Russian.
Though official relations between Riga and
Moscow have been strained at best, many Russian companies have offices in
Latvia.
Russian trade, once the backbone of the
country's economy, has slumped in the past two years because of Russia's 1998
financial crisis.
Exports to Russia in the first
quarter were not even among the top five while the entire CIS only took in 7.8
percent of the total. The EU, for example, took in 68
percent.
Imports from the CIS were better,
accounting for 15.3 percent, but still paled in comparison to the 53.5 percent
share held by the EU.
But Russia's economy is on
the mend, and analysts say Latvian firms are well placed to benefit from the
upturn.
"With Russia recovering the Balts should
indeed face back to the East after 10 years of independence, but strengthened
with Western experience as well as the financial and political backing of
Western Europe and the U.S.," Hans Berndt, vice-chairman of the supervisory
board of Latvia's largest bank Parex, told Reuters.
Furthering the prospects for Latvia was the EBRD itself, which announced at the
meeting that it hopes to increase its investments in Russia to pre-1998 crisis
levels, focusing on the regions and energy.
Latvia
is already an integral part of Russian oil transport as its Ventspils Nafta oil
terminal accounts for 10-15 percent of all Russian crude exports and analysts
said it may find other sectors to exploit.
"What
might be specifically your thing is the development of Latvia as a financial
centre...having an extremely big neighbour where the financial services are not
yet as they should be," said Bernard Snoy, a director at the
EBRD.
"It may very well be that a number of
(investors) would decide to use a sound financial centre...to do some of their
transactions," he added.
Latvian petition
opens to ban utility sale
Copyright 2000 Reuters Ltd.
By Anastasia
Styopina
RIGA, June 1 (Reuters)
— Latvians were invited on Thursday to sign up to a petition calling for a
referendum on whether the privatisation of utility Latvenergo should be halted,
with far-reaching consequences to be considered for both the company and the
nation's investment image.
The Latvian government
approved a restructuring of Latvenergo this year and the Privatisation Agency
is in the middle of a tender to attract advisers for the sale of a 49 percent
stake in its two thermal power stations. The winner of the tender is to be
picked by July 17.
However, the Energija trade
union — seeking to keep the power monopoly in state hands — submitted
a bill to parliament this spring to ban the privatisation and restructuring
process.
They also launched the drive for a
referendum, which will take place if parliament rejects or amends their
bill.
Under Latvian law, the electoral commission
now runs the referendum initiative. It must gather one-tenth of the
electorate's signatures, 134,195 people, by June 30, if a vote is to be
held.
"If the signatures are collected and the
referendum succeeds, it will not send a positive message about our country,"
said Roberts Indelsons, managing director of the Suprema brokerage in
Latvia.
Political leaders say a vote, even if
unsuccessful, would slow Latvenergo's selloff, which ministers,
parliamentarians and bureaucrats have been mulling since
1996.
"I think only the next year (could Latvenergo
be privatised) because the referendum makes for a little bit slower process. We
have to wait until the referendum is finished and it really could be only in
autumn...this year, and then we can start some work," Economy Minister Aigars
Kalvitis told Reuters.
FROZEN SELLOFF WOULD
DAMAGE IMAGE
Analysts say a referendum result
freezing the selloff could do irreparable damage to the image of a country
already suffering from failures and setbacks in privatising other
firms.
"It could weaken Latvia's position in
relations with international investors because they will see that the rules of
the game can change here and those investors that wanted to participate in the
Latvenergo privatisation will be disappointed," said Suprema's
Idelsons.
Officials say the referendum also
threatens Latvenergo's plans to cooperate with neighbouring Estonia's Eesti
Energia and its 10-year investment programme.
Latvia and Estonia signed a cooperation agreement on May 26 that includes the
option of exploring an eventual merger.
"Latvenergo
will be prohibited from participating in any mergers or aquisitions in anything
that is connected with privatisation," said Privatisation Agency head Janis
Naglis.
"If we prohibit these opportunities, we are
prohibiting Latvenergo from developing further," Naglis
said.
Latvenergo's total 2000 investments, in both
networks and generating units, are planned at 61.298 million lats ($101.3
million), part of its 10-year programme of one billion lats by
2008.
Last year the company invested 69.3 million
lats in the modernisation and development of its
network.
"Without attracting credits and without
mortgaging property, such an investment programme is impossible," Naglis
said.
($1-0.605 Latvian lats)
Schroeder to vist Baltic states before Putin
summit
Copyright 2000 Reuters
Ltd.
BERLIN, June 4 (Reuters)
— Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will become the first German head of
government to visit Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia when he travels to the three
ex-Soviet Baltic states this week to discuss their entry to the European
Union.
German government sources said it was
significant that Schroeder, whose three-day visit begins in Estonia on Monday,
was squeezing in a Baltic trip before holding a summit with Russian President
Vladimir Putin in Berlin later this month.
Russia
views its three former satellites' drive for closer relations with the West
with suspicion and is particularly opposed to their desire to join the NATO
military alliance.
Estonia, whose President Lennar
Meri and Prime Minister Mart Laar will hold talks with Schroeder in the capital
Tallinn, is due to join the first wave of the EU's expansion to the east, which
will begin in 2003 at the earliest.
Schroeder is
due to deliver a speech to the Estonian parliament on Tuesday before departing
for Latvia, where he is scheduled to meet President Vaira Vike-Freiberga and
Prime Minister Andris Berzins in the capital Riga, followed by talks with
students.
Lithuania, which like Latvia is slated
for the EU's second phase of expansion towards the end of the decade, is
Schroeder's final point of call on Wednesday.
He
will hold discussions with President Valdas Adamkus and Prime Minister Andrius
Kubilius in Vilnius before a walkabout in the Lithuanian capital's old
town.
Latvia-Russia dialogue prospects to be
discussed
RIGA, June 5
(Itar-Tass) — A two-day conference, which is to begin in the Latvian
resort town of Jurmala on Monday, will deal with prospects for Latvia-Russia
dialogue. The conference will be attended by parliamentarians, political
scientists of the two countries as well as by experts from Denmark, Sweden, and
Estonia.
A report on Russia's foreign policy is to
be made by Professor Sergei Karaganov. His colleague, Igor Jurgens of Russia's
Council for Foreign and Defence Policies (CFDP) will devote his analytical
survey to the problems of the two countries' economic contacts. The CFDP is
partner of the Latvian Friendship and Cooperation foundation. It is these two
organisations that have arranged the convocation of this conference. Its
participants intend to analyse the current state of relations between the two
countries.
(c)2000 ITAR-TASS
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This week's picture is from the interior of the Roman Catholic Church in Aglona, taken in July of 1995. This view shows the rear balcony and organ, and gives some sense of the glorious space inside the church.
