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Article: Kaliningrad fears Kremlin's centralizing policies forcing exclave into isolation and poverty
- Article from:
- AP Worldstream
- Article date:
- March 30, 2005
- Author:
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YURAS KARMANAU, Associated Press Writer
AP Worldstream
03-30-2005
Dateline: KALININGRAD, Russia
Igor Zaretsky moved most of his business to neighboring Poland after President Vladimir Putin imposed customs barriers for this Russian enclave that forced him to buy wheat for his three bread bakeries from suppliers in far-off Russia.
The flour shipped in from Tambov, 1,400 kilometers (875 miles) away, not only was low-quality, it cost far more than flour next door in Lithuania or Poland and ate up his profits.
"Russia is beginning to close up and I'm afraid that soon Putin will close the western window in Kaliningrad," Zaretsky said, echoing a growing chorus of Kaliningrad residents who fear ...