NEWSBRIEFS (08/04/96)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukraine-Pakistan tank deal confirmed

KYIV - Ukraine has signed an agreement to sell more than 300 Ukrainian-built T-80 tanks to Pakistan, Reuters reported on July 31. The deal is worth over $550 million and the tanks are to be delivered to Pakistan over a three-year period. The U.S. had stopped all military deliveries to Pakistan in 1990, but the deal was made possible under the Pressler Amendment, which allows Islamabad a one-time exemption for weapons purchases, excluding F-16 aircraft. Ukraine developed the tank at the Malyshev Plant in Kharkiv and first displayed it at an arms fair in Abu-Dhabi in March 1995. (OMRI Daily Digest)

UNSO reformed as trade union

KYIV - The Ukrainian National Assembly said on July 23 that it had disbanded its paramilitary wing, the Ukrainian National Self-Defense Organization, and had renounced violence, Ukrainian agencies reported that day. Leaders of the radical nationalist party said the decision was made to regain full official party status. They said they would no longer oppose the government and would use only constitutional means to pursue their goals. The UNA was stripped of its formal party status last summer after it was accused of inciting violence at the funeral of the late Volodymyr Romaniuk, patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate. UNSO is reforming and has been registered with the Ukrainian government as a trade union. Its acronym now stands for Ukrainian National Solidarity Organization. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Rents and utilities go up; wages also

KYIV - The Ukrainian government has increased prices for rents, utilities and consumer energy, but at the same time raised public sector wages and pensions, Ukrainian and Western agencies reported. The increases went into effect on August 1 and are a part of the government's effort to reduce subsidies and force consumers to pay 80 percent of the real costs of services. Rents are to be raised by 20 to 80 percent, depending on the size of the apartment, while water and heating will go up by some 140 to 150 percent. Energy prices will jump by 130 percent. At the same time, public sector wages will increase by nearly 11 percent and pensions by 10 percent. Alex Sundakov, the Kyiv representative of the International Monetary Fund, said the planned increases will allow Ukraine to meet its budget deficit target this year. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Statistics reported that GDP fell by 8.7 percent during the first half of the year, compared with a 3.1 percent decrease over the same period last year. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Monument to Princess Olha unveiled

KYIV - During the annual Kyiv Day celebrations held on May 26, a monument to Princess Olha, grandmother of Prince Volodymyr the Great, Christianizer of Kyivan Rus', was unveiled here on St. Michael's Square. Clergy, government officials, Parliament Chairman Oleksander Moroz and a throng of Kyivites took part in a procession from Princess Olha's burial site at Volodymyr Street to the square, where the three-statue monument, designed at the turn of this century by the renowned Ukrainian sculptor Ivan Kavaleridze, and recently executed in white Italian marble, was formally opened to the public. The center statue of Princess Olha is flanked by those of St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle and Ss. Cyril and Methodius, known for their proselytization among the Slavs and their invention of the Cyrillic alphabet. Celebrations associated with the monument's arrival included an international cycling competition, a children's program and a number of concerts harking back to the days of Princess Olha and Kyivan Rus', precursor of modern-day Ukraine. (Svoboda)

BSF policy to conform with Constitution

KYIV - Yuriy Sergeyev, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's Information Department, said Ukraine's position during negotiations over the Black Sea Fleet will be based on the country's new Constitution, Ukrainian Radio reported on July 30. He emphasized that Sevastopil cannot be the base of the Russian part of the Black Sea Fleet, adding that only some bays can be allocated for the use of the Russian fleet. Mr. Sergeyev's comments came in response to remarks by Russian Black Sea Fleet Commander Viktor Kravchenko, made on July 28 at Russian Navy Day ceremonies in Sevastopil. Adm. Kravchenko outlined on St. Petersburg Television the future composition of the Russian part of the fleet, which, he said, would consist of a western group of forces stationed in the Crimea and an eastern group based on Russia's Caucasian coast. The fleet will be mobile and capable of carrying out any task in the Black Sea region, the admiral added. (OMRI Daily Digest)

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