NEWSBRIEFS (02/11/96)

NEWSBRIEFS

Prosvita cites lack of Ukrainian programs

KYIV - The Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian Language Society, Prosvita, voiced its deep concern with the dearth of Ukrainian-language programming on government and commercial television channels and the preponderance of the Russian language on the airwaves. "Both governmental and private television broadcasters consistently violate the law on languages," said the head of Prosvita, People's Deputy Pavlo Movchan, at a press conference on February 2. "For example, in Kyiv only one out of six commercial channels broadcasts in Ukrainian, while on the other five the Ukrainian language makes only a rare appearance," he added. In letters to the chairman of the State Committee on Radio and Television, Zynoviy Kulyk, and to UT-2 Director Ihor Storozhuk, Prosvita criticizes what it calls the dearth of quality Ukrainian-language programming and the excessive amounts of Russian-language programs on the top two government-owned and -run channels. (Respublika)

Marchuk attends Davos economic forum

KYIV - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yevhen Marchuk returned here on February 4 following a visit to Switzerland, where he took part in the work of the international economic forum at Davos. While in Davos, Mr. Marchuk met with International Monetary Fund Assistant Director Stanley Fisher, who said he thought the IMF would extend the fourth tranche of a stand-by credit to Ukraine in April. The credit's release has been delayed due to IMF dissatisfaction with the pace of economic reforms in Ukraine. Mr. Fisher also said that Ukraine's energy supply problems would be solved jointly by Ukraine, Russia and the IMF. At the Davos conclave, Russian Duma Deputy and Yabloko leader Grigorii Yavlinsky came out in favor of a Russian-Ukrainian payments and customs union as the best solution to the current economic dislocations in the two countries. Mr. Yavlinsky said the formation of a common market is desirable, perhaps even leading to some form of federation, although, according to Mr. Yavlinsky, at present there is no need for a Russian-Ukrainian political-military union. (Respublika)

Baltin comments on his dismissal

SEVASTOPIL - Russian Admiral Eduard Baltin, the former commander of the Black Sea Fleet, told Russian media on February 5 that he was "deeply grateful to the Russian president for relieving me of the burden that rested on my shoulders." Adm. Baltin said he could not hand over part of the fleet to Ukraine, as he had been ordered to, because it represented "not only history but a part of Russia." He said that he had been dismissed because of "pangs of conscience." On February 5 Adm. Baltin turned over command of the fleet to his deputy, Vice-Adm. Gennadii Suchkov. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Ukraine watches alleged war criminal

KYIV - Ukraine's security service said on February 2 it was closely examining the case of a former Ukrainian policeman accused of Nazi war crimes in his country of birth and now living in Costa Rica. Anatoliy Sakhno, s service spokesman, said criminal proceedings had already been launched three times against Bohdan Koziy on charges of persecuting Jews and shooting dead a 4-year-old girl in Lysets, a town in western Ukraine. "This is a well-known case but very complicated," said Mr. Sakhno. "This man is accused of serious crimes, but it is up to a court to determine whether he is guilty. Ukraine is not seeking his extradition at the moment, but criminal actions have been launched three times, the first in 1975 and the last in 1987," he added. The director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Israeli office, Efraim Zuroff, said on February 1 in the Costa Rican capital, San Jose, that he would campaign for Mr. Koziy's expulsion. A 1986 request by the government of the former Soviet Union that Mr. Koziy be extradited was turned down by a Costa Rican court. (Reuters)

Blast ruptures Luhanske gas pipeline

DONETSKE - Part of a natural gas pipeline exploded in flames that gutted five homes in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhanske on January 30. Two people were injured, including a 90-year-old woman hospitalized in critical condition, said Mykola Vlasov, Luhanske's emergency manager. The blaze burned for several hours before firefighters could put it out. About 280,000 cubic feet of gas were lost. In addition to five homes, one car was destroyed, said Mr. Vlasov. The cause of the explosion was unclear. The pipeline, part of a network bringing natural gas from Siberia to eastern Ukraine and southern Russia, was shut down indefinitely. The explosion was visible across Luhanske, an industrial city of 505,000 people 24 miles from the Russian border. It was the worst accident on the pipeline since a 1983 explosion. (Associated Press)

Kuchma makes personnel changes

KYIV - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has formally dismissed Anatoliy Halchynsky, his advisor on macroeconomic issues, reported UNIAN on February 2. Mr. Halchynsky had announced his intention to resign in December 1995 along with another presidential aide, Oleksander Razumkov, to protest what they viewed as the growing and politically destructive influence of the president's chief of staff, Dmytro Tabachnyk. Mr. Kuchma named Petro Petrashko as his chief economic advisor in December. Mr. Halchynsky has agreed to head the Ukrainian Stock Market Association, made up of 20 companies so far, and cooperate with the Ukrainian Center for Economic and Political Research, headed by Mr. Razumkov. In other news, Mr. Kuchma dismissed three members from his presidential committee against crime and corruption, Justice Minister Serhiy Holovaty, Deputy Prosecutor Olha Kolinko and Hryhoriy Omelchenko, chairman of the Parliament's anti-crime committee. Deputy Prime Minister Vasyl Durdynets will keep his post as the committee's chairman, while the president appointed two new deputy chairmen, Prosecutor-General Hryhoriy Vorsinov and his predecessor, Vladyslav Datsiuk. (OMRI Daily Digest)

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