Russia Offers to Evacuate Over 800 from Iraq
Wed Apr 14, 2004 09:36 AM ET
By Oleg Shchedrov
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow offered Wednesday to airlift more than 800 Russians
and citizens of ex-Soviet states out of Iraq after eight Russian and Ukrainian
workers were briefly kidnapped in Baghdad.
But the official Itar-Tass news agency said the scale of the pullout depended on the companies involved, some of which looked hesitant to risk contracts worth an estimated $1 billion.
The Emergencies Ministry said it would send planes on Thursday and Friday to evacuate employees of Russian companies in Iraq -- 553 Russians and 263 citizens from the Commonwealth of Independent States -- via Baghdad and Kuwait.
The move came two days after eight employees of contractor Interenergoservis building a power plant in Baghdad were kidnapped by armed gunmen and spent 19 hours in captivity.
Interenergoservis head, Alexander Rybinsky, said after the ministry's announcement the company remained uncertain over how many of its roughly 300 people in Iraq would leave. Other Russian contractors in Iraq appeared to have similar doubts.
Tass quoted an unnamed source in Moscow as saying the companies would ask staff in Iraq during the day whether they wished to remain or leave.
"If the majority prefer to stay, there will be no evacuation," the source said. "If most specialists decide to leave Iraq, than the entire staff will leave. Russian companies may suffer losses, but human life is more precious."
HARD DECISION
Tuesday, released hostages -- three Russians and five Ukrainians -- said the gunmen freed them after discovering they belonged to a company from Russia, which opposes the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq.
Many Russian companies hire cheaper workers from other ex-Soviet states for whom a decision to pull out would mean a loss of a stable and relatively well-paid job.
"We see no hostility here," one Russian hostage said in televised comments. "We are not planning to leave."
Russian news agencies quoted diplomats in Baghdad as saying that any Russian
worker wishing to continue working in Iraq would have to submit a written
statement.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said it would advise nationals working for Russian
firms to leave if Moscow decided to evacuate its staff. "We will recommend
that our citizens join the Russians and be evacuated," a ministry spokesman
said.
Several Russian firms, including Tekhnopromexport -- which is building a power plant outside Baghdad and has 370 staff in Iraq -- have already said they are planning to withdraw.
The United States initially excluded Russian companies from lucrative contracts to rebuild Iraq, but later granted them sub-contracts worth $1 billion, the daily Kommersant said. No official figures on Russia's commercial stake have been issued.
Apart from rebuilding Iraq's power network, Russian firms are also involved in the transport, oil and gas sector.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
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