MOSCOW, Sept 13
(Reuters) - Russia's Parliamentary leaders and President
Vladimir Putin
agreed on Wednesday to embark on a three-year crash course to
thwart what they
said was an anticipated chain of disasters due to hit the
country in 2003.
"(These are) issues
of extraordinary importance, strategic issues which may
degenerate into
a serious threat for the existence, I want to stress this,
for the existence
of Russia," former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov told
reporters.
Some experts have
singled out 2003 as the year when three problems -- a big
debt bill, eroding
infrastructure and an ageing population -- could combine
to throw Russia
into turmoil.
Primakov, leader
of the centre-left OVR parliamentary faction, was one of
several top members
of the State Duma lower house of parliament to meet Putin
in the Kremlin.
In addition to the
"2003 problem," the agenda included next year's budget and
media freedom and
ownership. Both sides agreed urgent measures had to be
taken to avert
the looming disaster.
Problems of Russia's
crumbling industrial base were highlighted last month
when a nuclear-powered
submarine sank with the loss of all 118 crew on board
and a day-long
fire gutted Moscow's Ostankino television tower, a national
symbol.
Putin said at the
time the fire was proof of the dangerous condition of the
Russian infrastructure.
A power shortage
last weekend also forced officials to shut down nuclear
reactors, including
those at a giant, top-secret fuel reprocessing plant
whose boss said
that only staff discipline prevented a major crisis.
PRO-KREMLIN PARTY BROUGHT UP THE 2003 PROBLEM
Boris Gryzlov, leader
of the pro-Kremlin Unity faction which was the first to
raise the issue,
said Russia would also have to deal in 2003 with a colossal
$17 billion foreign
debt payout and a massive population shrinkage.
Gryzlov said the
problems had already been discussed with cabinet ministers
and the parliamentarians
had agreed with Putin to set up a commission to
tackle the issue
head-on.
"The question was
discussed at length and the president approved our
initiative and
said he would dispatch representatives of his administration
to the working
group," Gryzlov said after the Kremlin meeting.
He said the commission
could start work as early as Monday and suggested the
government could
alleviate the crisis by using budget windfalls, such as
extra revenue from
higher oil prices, on paying off straight away debts
maturing in 2003.
Some observers said
the 2003 deadline was rather artificial and might serve
political purposes.
Dmitry Pinsker,
Kremlin-watcher for the liberal weekly Itogi, said Kremlin
spin doctors planned
to make a fuss over the initiatives, in part to answer
critics who charged
them with inaction during the Kursk submarine disaster
last month.
Economic analysts
say Russia's financial and infrastructure problems are
real, but picking
a date is somewhat arbitrary.
"A lot here is artificial,"
Oleg Vyugin, a former first deputy finance
minister and now
executive vice president at Troika Dialog investment bank,
told Reuters.
Russia is due to
pay slightly more than $16 billion in debt payments that
year, compared
with $11.3 billion due in 2001, he said. But there was still
plenty of room
for restructuring.
"Everyone knows
that the infrastructure is deteriorating, but that does not
mean that this
will all happen in 2003. The television tower burned up this
year," he said.
Al Breach, an analyst
with Goldman Sachs, said investors would applaud reform
talk, however artificial
the deadline.
"For these guys to be thinking three years ahead is pretty good," he said.