ANNEX A
PARLIAMENTARY VISITS 1998-99
1998
PACOP—Parliamentary Co-operation Programme.
JANUARY
Tamara Zlotnikova, Chairwoman, Duma Ecology
Committee (FCO sponsored visit)
FEBRUARY
PACOP Seminar in Duma (two House of Commons
staff) (KHF).
Valery Borshchov, Deputy Chairman, Duma NGO/Religious
Affairs Committee (FCO sponsored visit).
MARCH
PACOP Seminar in Federation Council (three House
of Commons staff) (KHF).
Bruce George MP: Private visit to Duma conference.
APRIL
Two MPs; Margaret Hodge and Don Foster: Duma
visit (British Council).
JUNE
Six MPs, IPU British Group.
Baroness Smith (Future of Europe Trust fact-finding).
JULY
Alevtina Aparina, Chairwoman, Duma Committee
for Women, Family and Youth and four deputies (FCO sponsored visit).
PACOP Informatics study visit.
SEPTEMBER
Eight MPs, IPU Conference.
OCTOBER
Madame Speaker.
Mikail Prusak, Chairman, Federation Council
Foreign Affairs Committee and seven governors (FCO sponsored visit).
PACOP study visit.
1999
JANUARY
Ivan Rybkin, President Yeltsin's personal envoy
to CIS, and seven deputies for seminar on standards in public
life, organised by Leeds University (KHF).
MARCH
Nine MPs, House of Commons Defence Committee.
APRIL
Alexander Shokhin, Chairman of Duma, faction
of "Our Home is Russia" party, and four Duma deputies
to London and regions (KHF/Future of Europe Trust).
North Atlantic Assembly delegation to Moscow.
Five deputies, Duma Budget Committee (tax sub-committee)
(KHF).
MAY
Alexander Zhukov, Chairman, Duma Budget Committee
and four deputies (FCO sponsored visit).
Terry Davis MP (as candidate for Secretary General
Council of Europe).
JUNE
Six deputies, Duma Budget Committee (tax sub-committee)
(KHF).
Three deputies, Duma Budget Committee (tax sub-committee)
(KHF).
(note: the above two meetings are two separate
visits.)
Five deputies, Duma Information Policy Committee
(FCO sponsored visit/Britain-Russia Centre).
Nikolai Stolyarov, Deputy Chairman, Duma Foreign
Affairs Committee and four deputies (FCO sponsored visit).
Four deputies, Duma Veterans Committee (hosted
by MOD).
Nineteen deputies to UK for election study visit
(KHF/Democracy International).
Five MPs to Moscow and Regions (KHF/Future of
Europe Trust).
Six MPs to Moscow, for discussions on Kosovo
(FCO—Command Programme Budget).
Two deputies to UK (in group of Ministry of
Labour officials and NGO representatives) (KHF).
JULY
Vladimir Lukin, Chairman, Duma Foreign Affairs
Committee, for opening of Scottish Parliament (FCO sponsored visit).
Nikolai Stolyarov, Deputy Chairman, Duma Foreign
Affairs Committee for Inter-parliamentary seminar on security
issues (organised and paid for by Birmingham University).
SEPTEMBER
Lord Cromwell and Dr Michael Clark, MP to Moscow,
for meetings on democracy and governance.
Two Duma deputies, Ivan Rybkin and Viktor Sheinis
for a seminar on media and elections campaigns, organised by Leeds
University (KHF).
OCTOBER
Eight MPs from the House of Commons Foreign
Affairs Committee, to Moscow, St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg.
NOVEMBER
Andrew Tyrie MP to Moscow, for meetings on human
rights issues.
PLANNED FOR
2000
Visit by Speaker of Duma.
Visit by Speaker of the Federation Council.
Visit by Duma Defence Committee.
Visit by Duma International Affairs Committee.
+ 2 or 3 other committees (Security, Legislation,
Budget).
NATO PROGRAMMES AND RUSSIA
Your letter of 10 November to Mark Hutton asked
for a note about NATO programmes, in particular the science programme,
in Russia.
Since the Kosovo conflict began, all NATO programmes
which involve official contact between the Russian government
and NATO have been frozen by the Russians. This includes the science
programme. After the signature of the NATO-Russia Founding Act,
a Memorandum of understanding on science co-operation was agreed
by NATO and the Russian government which provides for a programme
of seminars and other events. All these events have been postponed
until further notice.
However, the main part of NATO's science programme
has been unaffected: Russian Scientists are still participating
in joint research funded by NATO with scientists from Allied countries.
This is because applications for funding are received direct from
Russian scientists (or from their partners in Allied nations)
and do not pass through any official channel like the Russian
Academy of Sciences.
Of the 627 projects and workshops that have
been awarded funding from the programme this year, NATO's International
Secretariat have told us that 45 per cent involve Russian scientists.
Of these awards, only about one-fifth are for research activity
"in Russia", the majority would be for activity in Allied
countries. This is very much a rough estimate as awards facilitate
many types of collaborative research and meetings of scientists,
all of which would involve some preparatory work "in Russia".
The important point is that Russian scientists are continuing
to work with scientists from NATO countries, but these contacts
are not organised through official channels.
Finally to complete the picture, the NATO programme
also funds fellowships for scientists to study in Allied countries.
There are no up-to-date statistics across the whole programme
as funding is devolved to each of the 19 Allied countries. Of
the 95 awards given out in this financial year by the Royal Society,
the British agents for NATO fellowships, 51 of the 95 awards went
to Russian scientists.
I hope this is helpful. Please let me know if
you require any further information.
Sue Hodgetts
Parliamentary Relations Department
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