NEWSBRIEFS (10/06/96)

NEWSBRIEFS

Chornobyl neutron leaks not threatening

KYIV - A Ukrainian government commission has concluded that the three recorded increases in neutron emissions at Chornobyl reactor No. 4 in September caused no rise in radiation levels. Committee Chairman Viktor Chebrov said the incidents have posed "neither a nuclear threat nor a threat of sarcophagus destruction," as claimed recently by Ukrainian Environment Minister Yuriy Kostenko. Ukrainian and Western agencies reported that President Leonid Kuchma has admonished Mr. Kostenko for trying to "intimidate people" with his warnings of a possible steam explosion at the reactor. But he added that the uncertainty over the condition of the concrete-encased reactor will prompt him to press the G-7 powers at a meeting next month in Paris to help construct a new covering. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Boryspil renovation stalled by money woes

KYIV - Resurfacing work on the second runway at Kyiv's Boryspil International Airport has been halted because of a disruption in government financing. Boris Shakhsuvarov, the airport's first deputy director, said on September 18 that the goverment had allocated 35 million hryvni ($20 million) for the work but less than a third had been disbursed. "Financing has been stopped. The government has no money. We hope the government will come up with the money to finish the job." The second runway, built in the 1970s, was to have been brought back into service by mid-1997. But Mr. Shakhsuvarov said this was unlikely to happen before the end of next year. Boryspil's main runway is to be renovated in 1998. About 30 airlines, including most major European carriers, fly regularly into Boryspil. (Reuters)

Kuchma makes court appointments

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has appointed the first six justices to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. The six are: Ivan Tymchenko (the president's chief legal advisor), Mykola Koziubra, Petro Martynenko, Mykola Selivon, Volodymyr Tykhy and Volodymyr Shapoval. Twelve more justices remain to be named: six each by the legislature and a congress of judges. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Kyiv girl wins modeling competition

KYIV - A ninth-grader from Kyiv has won what is probably the world's most prestigious competition for up-and-coming models. The Kyiv Post reported that Diana Kovalchuk, 14, took top honors at the Elite Model Look contest, which took place in Nice, France, on September 17. She is represented by the Linea 12 agency of Kyiv. Her victory guaranteed her a one-year, $150,000 contract with the Elite Modeling Agency, one of the most successful in the world. (Kyiv Press Bureau)