NEWSBRIEFS (09/08/96)

NEWSBRIEFS

Funds to close Chornobyl close at hand

KYIV - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Ukraine are about to sign an agreement to pay for the closing of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. EBRD representative Jaroslav Kinach said that G-7 countries have agreed to fund up to $3 billion to close the plant by the year 2000. "The agreement will be signed imminently so that work can proceed on the orderly closure of Chernobyl ... to close it is a very complicated technical feat and a very expensive undertaking," he said. The money will pay for the construction of two new reactors in Khmelnytsky and Rivne to replace electricity currently provided by Chornobyl; the repair of the concrete sarcophagus around damaged reactor no. 4; and storage of nuclear fuel rods, Western agencies reported on September 2. (Reuters)

Ukrainian foreign relations expand

KYIV - U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar discussed economic cooperation and international security with Parliamentary Speaker Oleksander Moroz and head of the National Security Council Volodymyr Horbulin on August 28, Ukrainian radio reported. The next day, NATO commander of European Forces Gen. George Joulwan met with President Leonid Kuchma, Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, Foreign Affairs Minister Hennadiy Udovenko and Defense Minister Oleksander Kuzmuk to discuss Ukraine's participation in the Balkan peacekeeping effort. On August 30, Georgian Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharshvili arrived to participate in talks on Ukrainian-Georgian cooperation and economic ties. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Stalin? Oh, he's a pop star

KYIV - A recent poll of Ukrainian children conducted in Khmelnytsky by Rukh's information service asked 200 children ages 9 to 14 who Joseph Stalin was. Now widely known as one of history's most sinister figures, Mr. Stalin ruled the USSR as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (among other titles) with a bloody hand from 1924 to his death in 1953. Ukrainian children were once taught to chant: "Thank you, Stalin, for our happy childhood." However, just under 100 children surveyed by Rukh identified him by his title. Thirty-one answered that he was "an executioner," 13 said they'd never heard of him and 11 said he was "a pop star." "The results were completely unexpected - it was not so many years ago that we found out about all this man's crimes," said Ihor Klyuv, head of Rukh's regional office in Khmelnytsky. In the late 1980s, even Soviet historians began releasing evidence that Stalin was responsible for the deaths of millions of his subjects, including 7-10 million who perished in Ukraine in the famine of 1932-1933. (International Herald Tribune)

Ukrainian miners killed in crash

KYIV - After 76 Ukrainian miners and their families were killed in a Russian plane crash on August 29, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma declared August 30 a national day of mourning, with a moment of silence at 4 p.m. The Moscow-based Tupolev Tu-154 chartered by Russia's Arktikugol mining company crashed on the Norwegian Arctic island of Spitzbergen, killing all 141 people on board. Trade unionists and coal industry officials said the crash would not deter any Ukrainians from continuing to fly to work for the Russian firm, where they earn more than three times as much as in Ukraine. "Crashes or accidents will not stop them until they are able to earn enough to keep their families in Ukraine," said Yuri Berdnyk, leader of the Independent Miners' Union. About 200,000 Ukrainian miners went on strike this summer to protest pay delays. Ukraine's government has pledged to settle $600 million in wage arrears by next month. (Reuters)

Russia, Ukraine sign accords on research

MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko signed agreements that included accords on technological and space research. They also discussed refining Russian oil and manufacturing military products in Ukraine. Minister Chernomyrdin said Russia wants to establish a strategic partnership with Ukraine and that a general treaty on friendship and cooperation will probably be signed at the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission in Kyiv in the fall, ITAR-TASS reported on August 27. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Trial of seven Ukrainians in Belarus starts

MIENSK - The trial of seven Ukrainians charged with public disorderliness and insulting police during the April 26 Chornobyl anniversary demonstrations in Belarus began on August 29. One has admitted to disturbing the peace and obstructing traffic, while six are pleading innocent. They face three-year prison sentences if convicted and have been in prison since their arrest. ITAR-TASS reported that the defendants have denied belonging to the ultra-nationalist organization UNA-UNSO. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Miensk-Moscow ties tighten

MIENSK - The Russian-Belarusian Agreement on Formation of a Community went into force on August 29. The agreement, signed on April 2, was overwhelmingly ratified by Parliament but caused mass protests in Belarus. Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Boris Pastukhov exchanged the instruments of ratification with Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Viktar Danilenka. (OMRI Daily Digest)