WEYMOUTH: What do you hope to get out of your upcoming talks with the U.S. administration? PRIMAKOV: I look forward to successful negotiations. I believe they can be successful because we have many coinciding interests. I think that it’s not only us who understands the importance of the United States, but the United States has not lost the ability to appreciate our importance, despite the difficulties we are living through now.
Why do you think that the IMF and the West have been reluctant to give Russia money since you came into office last September? Do you think it’s because you’re not a young reformer like Anatoly Chubais or Yegor Gaidar? I do not exclude the possibility that contacts with some of my predecessors could have made [Western negotiators’] position tougher. [But on the whole] I think this delay is caused by the wait-and-see approach of the IMF and a number of Western countries. Maybe they wanted to ascertain the real nature of the policy that would be pursued by our government. Of course, there are objective reasons as well. The IMF assisted our country for a long period of time, and that period proved to be not very successful.
Some U.S. government officials argue that the IMF and the West encouraged Russia to take on billions of dollars of loans. Is the United States responsible in part for Russia’s plight? On the threshold of negotiations, I would be a very unwise negotiator, to put it mildly, if I began blaming the IMF for anything.
What happens if you don’t get the IMF money? Will there be civil war, or instability? You told a U.S. cabinet minister that it could affect your own career. I don’t think Russia will perish. My personal career doesn’t play such a great role here in comparison with the fate of the state. Nevertheless, I remain an optimist, and I believe we shall come to terms with the IMF. I hope that the leadership of the IMF will make a step in our direction.
Most economists say your budget is unrealistic and you will have to cut spending, increase tax collection, print more money or just not pay people in order to close your deficit. No, that is not so. We collect more taxes now than before and that increase is not purely a result of inflation. For the first time in recent years, a budget with a primary surplus has been adopted.
Experts maintain that you don’t collect more taxes than before. Are they wrong? I do not collect their taxes, so how should they know?
Do you believe that Russia should integrate with the global economy or go it alone or try a third way? Our government will continue the reforms but with corrections. It will place emphasis on the social aspects of reforms and will increase the role of the state in the economy where it is indispensable.
President Yeltsin just held a meeting with Grigory Yavlinsky, the liberal reform-minded politician, and the press reports that there is tension between you and the president. How are your relations with Yeltsin? They are very good. Yesterday, he called me at 11:30 p.m. and we spoke for half an hour on the phone. He told me that he was going to work all through the night.
During the conversation, what did Yeltsin tell you? Was he supportive of you? I think he is supportive because he gave me several specific tasks to attend to. I can tell you about two of those. He wants me to assume the responsibility for the final solution with the IMF, as well as the issue of Chechnya [where a high-ranking Russian general was recently kidnapped and remains in captivity]. The president believes measures should be taken … but he is against military action. In this respect our views fully coincide.
Can you explain your fight with Boris Berezovsky, the business tycoon who has wielded immense political influence? Berezovsky used to be CIS [a group of former Soviet republics] executive secretary, and in that capacity, he was not entitled to criticize the government outright, without providing any reasons. And I said this to Berezovsky and he agreed with what I said.
But didn’t he go on trying to undermine you? In what way? Did he try to blow up my car?
Didn’t he use his newspapers to attack you? Nowadays, there is a lot of criticism in the media. Some of it is correct and some is thumb-sucking.
What will happen to Berezovsky? Could he be arrested and tried for economic crimes? Even when I was head of foreign intelligence, I never dealt with any arrests, and you want me to get involved in arresting people in my present capacity? I don’t see any charges which have been leveled against him that would justify his arrest. But that is my personal view. Generally speaking, this is a subject matter for the law-enforcement bodies to look at.
Are you running for president? No.
You won’t consider it? No, no, no.
The United States is convinced that 10 Russian companies–some closely linked to the Russian government–continue to assist Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. I’m telling you that this needs investigation and evidence. We should be more realistic in dealing with this subject matter. We are cooperating with the United States on this subject, and we have permanent channels for a confidential exchange of information. For example, if a [Russian] scientist from Moscow University went to Vienna and then appeared in Iran, would you use that to sever all relations with the university?
You’re against the use of force to impose peace in Kosovo. How would you protect Kosovars’ human rights against [Yugoslav president Slobodan] Milosevic? Do you believe that human rights can be protected solely through the split-up of Yugoslavia or through stripping Yugoslavia of its territorial integrity? We want the parties to come to an agreement. Moreover, we do everything to help in that process. If the parties come to an agreement, then it’s clear that Kosovo will have all the necessary rights. But there are Serb villages there as well, and that goes for them, too. In order to protect human rights, one does not necessarily have to strike another person on the head.
On many occasions you said that capital flight is the main economic problem for Russia. What is your reaction to the fact that the present head of Russian Central Bank, Viktor Gerashchenko, allegedly sent the country’s currency reserves to offshore accounts? I don’t know anything about it. This is the first time that I hear that Gerashchenko was sending his currency reserves, or rather the bank’s currency reserves, to an offshore zone.
That is about FIMACO–the firm that the central bank set up to invest some of its funds offshore. If that took place, I’m against that. You want me to be responsible for the government that was in office before me? If I get convinced that some illegal capital flight did take place, I will certainly look for any possible way to bring it back.
People in Washington are concerned that your government is conducting a crackdown on the Russian media. Is there such a crackdown? For the time being, it is the media that is attacking the government, not the other way around.
Some people fear that you’re inclined to roll back democratic reforms–for example, why did you say that regional governors should be appointed, not elected? That’s what I think. I think there should be vertical governance [which] combines the possibilities provided by democracy with the possibilities of control. But not for this year. I propose this to be considered for the future.
Are you concerned about rising anti-Semitism and nationalism in Russia? I don’t think this has become any big threat. But I’m sincerely against any manifestion [of anti-Semitism], and I think this is outrageous.
