[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 42 (Monday, March 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S2837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    A NEW INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP

 Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, this week an historic agreement will 
be signed here in Washington that I believe embodies the enduring 
spirit of international commerce and what could be the promoting future 
of the Baltic States.
  On March 28, 1996, government officials from the Baltic country of 
Estonia will sit down with representatives from one of my constituents, 
NRG Energy, Inc., and pen a memorandum of understanding [MOU] that 
could lead to NRG jointly owning, as well as managing and operating, 
the major electric generation assets in Estonia.
  The agreement is a further step forward for Estonia, which is rapidly 
progressing into the global village. At the beginning of this decade, 
Estonia was one of the first nations to break from the old Soviet 
sphere of influence. Movement toward the West has been constant ever 
since. In 1991, Estonia became a member of the United Nations and it 
was welcomed into the World Bank in 1992. Today, the nation envisions 
itself as a member of the European Union and has submitted a formal 
application for inclusion.
  Estonia's coalition government, led by Prime Minister Tiit Vahi and 
Foreign Minister Siim Kallas, has forged swiftly ahead in developing 
the open markets necessary to bring the nation into the global economy. 
These leaders should be commended for their foresight and resolve in 
making free trade a cornerstone of the country's impressive economic 
maturity.
  Mr. President, the Estonians should be praised for their steady 
progress away from a command and control economy and toward free market 
principles. They share with a majority of Americans a strong belief 
that most often the private sector can better conduct business than the 
government.
  Already the Estonian Government has privatized more than 377 of its 
enterprises. This includes the remarkable undertaking of privatizing 
and modernizing its entire telecommunications sector which was jointly 
accomplished with contributions from Swedish and Finnish interests.
  Under the guidance of Arvo Niitenberg, former energy minister and 
current Estonian Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, 
the most ambitious investment initiative to date is occurring in the 
electricity sector. For this endeavor, the Estonians looked to American 
expertise and know-how, and found these qualities in abundance with 
NRG. As a subsidiary of Northern States Power Company [NSP], a 
Minneapolis-based, multistate, investor-owned electric and gas utility, 
NRG has successfully brought the Minnesota penchant for hard work and a 
no-nonsense approach to international power projects in Australia and 
the former East Germany.
  No doubt, NRG's success around the globe will once again evidence 
itself in Estonia. The project entails an investment of up to $250 
million by NRG for environmental upgrades and plant life extension in 
the Estonian electric company and NRG's management and operation of 
three powerplants totaling more than 3,000 megawatts through a stock 
company jointly owned with the Estonians. This represents almost the 
entirety of Estonia's power production in what is sure to be a win-win 
partnership in which NRG will apply its extensive and renowned 
expertise in emission reductions and operation of world class 
powerplants for the growing Estonian economy.
  Mr. President, the MOU to be signed this week is the consummation of 
an important partnership not only between NRG and the Estonians, but 
also between Estonia and the United States. I welcome the partnership 
being established March 28 at the State Department as not only the 
teaming of a nation with a company, but also the commencement of a 
lasting relationship between two nations.

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