Federal Assembly - Parliament of the Russian Federation

STATE DUMA

Transcript of proceedings

Bulletin No. 281 (423)

September 17, 1999

PUBLICATION OF THE STATE DUMA

State Duma

Building of the State Duma. Main Hall.
September 17, 1999. 10:00 AM.

Presiding: Chairman of the State Duma
G.N. Seleznyov

Chairman. Dear deputies, good morning! Please, enter the hall.
Dear colleagues, please, take your seats.
Turn on the deputy registration mode.
Those without a card, please register at the secretariat.
Show the results.

Registration results (10:02:17 AM)

• Present: 352 people (78.2%)
• Absent: 98 people (21.8%)
• Total deputies: 450 people

Quorum is present.
Quorum is established.

Dear colleagues, allow me on your behalf to congratulate Viktor Yakovlevich Medikov and Valentin Georgievich Stepankov on their birthdays. (Applause.)

Dear deputies, you have the order of today's work in your hands. I propose to vote on it as a basis.

Who is without a card and would like to vote?
Show the results.

Voting results (10:03:10 AM)

• Voted for: 274 people (60.9%)
• Voted against: 0 people (0.0%)
• Abstained: 0 people (0.0%)
• Voted: 274 people
• Did not vote: 176 people
• Result: passed

Accepted as a basis.

In connection with today's agenda, with the "government hour," the floor is given to Boris Yuryevich Kuznetsov. Please.

Kuznetsov B.Yu., First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma.

Dear deputies, in the "Government Hour" section of our agenda today, the first item is the question of the activities of the MFA and the Ministry of Defense, well, for brevity I will say, regarding Transnistria. This was introduced by deputy Zhanna Mikhailovna Lozinskaya, and the chamber voted for this question.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Ivanov personally and in writing (you have this letter, it was distributed today), and yesterday in a verbal conversation with me, requested to postpone this issue to a later date. They are currently conducting intensive negotiations with the Transnistrian Republic; Smirnov is supposed to arrive and meet with the Chairman of the Government. They very convincingly request a postponement and are ready to consider this issue on October 1. Our capabilities coincide with their proposal, and we can postpone this issue to October 1. If we are still going to consider it today, then it should be kept in mind that Minister Ivanov is on a business trip and Vasily Dmitrievich Sredin, State Secretary and Deputy Minister, is ready to come to us to participate in the work. The chamber must now decide: either to postpone this issue of our "government hour" to October 1, or still carry it out today in a closed session, but the absence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs is recorded in the documents.

Thank you.

Chairman. Well, it seems to me that a letter also came from the Ministry of Defense. There it is also proposed: at the level of department heads.

Dear colleagues, I do not see, unfortunately, Zhanna Mikhailovna Lozinskaya, the author of this document. Please, let's exchange opinions from the factions on how we should proceed with today's issue.

Vladimir Volfovich, please.

Zhirinovsky V.V., head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia faction.

I think the absence of the initiator of the question speaks best of all to the fact that the question is superfluous, unnecessary. Leave our ministers alone today. Do you see what is happening in the country?! Remember, Gennadiy [?]

Bulletin No. 281 (423)

• Gennadiy Nikolayevich, you told us on Monday that a house in Volgodonsk was blown up, three days before the explosion. This can be interpreted as a provocation: if the State Duma knows that a house was allegedly blown up on Monday, and it is blown up on Thursday. And at this time, you and I are busy with completely different matters. Let's deal with this instead. How did this happen: they report to you that at 11 a.m. on Monday a house was blown up, but the administration of the Rostov region did not know that this had been reported to you? Everyone is asleep, three days later they blow it up, then they start taking measures.
• Yesterday you spoke very well about changing the management of "Transneft," but at this time, right now, workers in Krasnoyarsk are fighting off the same kind of OMON, while Lebed is trying to seize an enterprise that has long since been privatized. Let's have no double standards! If you are interested in "Transneft"... (Microphone turned off.)

Discussion

• Chairman. Vladimir Volfovich, everything should interest us. Where lawlessness reigns, we must intervene. (Shouts from the floor.) Yes, fine, I understand your faction's position.
• Sergey Nikolayevich Reshulsky, please.
• Reshulsky S.N., faction of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
• Of course, it is necessary for the minister to be present here, and we need to obtain the most reliable information about the work being carried out. I believe the faction does not object to moving it to the 1st.
• Chairman. To October 1st. The "NDR" faction also agrees.
• Golov, please.
• Golov A.G., "YABLOKO" faction.
• The "YABLOKO" faction proposes to invite Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko to the "government hour" on October 1st.
• Chairman. Anatoly Grigoryevich, we are not talking about that right now. We are talking about moving today's "government hour" on Transnistria to October 1st for the participation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Do you object? Good.
• Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov, your opinion.
• Ryzhkov N.I., head of the "Narodovlastie" deputy group.
• We believe that this issue should be considered in the presence of the minister. This is a most important issue. But nothing terrible will happen if we move it, so we do not object to moving it to the 1st.
• Chairman. Zhanna Mikhailovna has arrived, she agrees. Let's vote anyway. Yes, Gennadiy Ivanovich Raikov also thinks it's possible.

Voting Session 1

• I put it to a vote: to move this issue to October 1st.
• Who is without a card?
• Show the results.

Voting results (10:08:13)
* Voted for: 216 people, 48.0%
* Voted against: 4 people, 0.9%
* Abstained: 1 person, 0.2%
* Voted: 221 people
* Did not vote: 229 people
* Result: not passed

Discussion

• Please, turn on the microphone for Lozinskaya.
• Lozinskaya Zh.M., "Narodovlastie" deputy group.
• I apologize for the mix-up.
• Dear colleagues, I ask you, let's show organization and vote. There is a direct expediency. Of course, it is more reasonable for us to talk with the top officials on a very important issue. And a week or two will solve absolutely nothing; we have no fire in this regard.
• I ask, let's vote in an organized manner to move it to October 1st.
• Chairman. Colleagues, I suggest returning to the vote on this issue and resolving it. We are voting on the question of returning to the vote.
• Who is without a card?
• Show the results.

Voting results (10:09:16)
* Voted for: 288 people, 100.0%
* Voted against: 0 people, 0.0%
* Abstained: 0 people, 0.0%
* Voted: 288 people
* Did not vote: 0 people
* Result: passed

Voting Session 2

• Returned to the vote.
• I put it to a vote: to move the consideration of this issue to Friday, October 1st. Please, vote. Colleagues, the voting is underway.
• Who is without a card?
• Show the results.

Voting results (10:09:48)
* Voted for: 321 people, 71.3%
* Voted against: 0 people, 0.0%
* Abstained: 0 people, 0.0%
* Voted: 321 people
* Did not vote: 129 people
* Result: passed

Conclusion and Next Steps

• It is accepted.
• Please turn on the deputy recording mode for making proposals for the agenda. (Noise in the hall.) Anatoly Grigoryevich will also speak there.
• Please show the list.
• Deputy Astrakhankina, please. (Shouts from the floor.)
• Then you — from the faction. I will give the floor to the faction, yes.
• Tatyana Aleksandrovna, please.
• From the floor. (Inaudible.)
• Chairman. You are withdrawing it.
• Vladimir Volfovich — from the faction, please.
• Zhirinovsky V.V. Gennadiy Nikolayevich, it seems to me that after all, our committees and deputies should react to the situation themselves without being reminded. Here, [something] happened in Volgodonsk — where are the six deputies of the KPRF faction?! They should go there and help-