NEWSBRIEFS (10/13/96)

NEWSBRIEFS

Marchuk to run for president

KYIV - Former Prime Minister Yevhen Marchuk announced that he will run against President Leonid Kuchma in the 1999 presidential election, reported Ukrainian TV on October 2. Mr. Marchuk, who has held a parliamentary seat since December 1995, made the announcement after being elected head of the 24-member Social-Market Choice faction in the Ukrainian legislature. Although the next presidential elections are not scheduled until October 1999, President Kuchma recently announced that he will seek re-election for a second five-year term, launching his presidential campaign early. Mr. Marchuk was dismissed by President Kuchma from the post of prime minister in May, and replaced by Pavlo Lazarenko, a political ally from Dnipropetrovsk. Mr. Marchuk had served in the Ukrainian government since 1991, when he was appointed the head of Ukraine's security services. To date, Messrs. Kuchma and Marchuk are the only two contenders for the post of president, but it is assumed that the list of hopefuls will continue to grow. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Crimean Parliament speaker resigns

SYMFEROPIL - Yevhen Supruniuk, the chairman of the Crimean Parliament, resigned on October 9, following criticism from pro-Russian deputies that he was too close to the government in Kyiv. Mr. Supruniuk, who has been under attack for months now, was accused of reducing the autonomous republic's powers, making it too subservient to the central government in Kyiv. Deputies in the Crimean legislature accepted Mr. Supruniuk's resignation by a vote of 74-2. (Reuters)

Ukrainian teachers protest wage arrears

KYIV - Between 10,000 and 15,000 teachers and university professors staged a rally in Kyiv on October 6 to protest against unpaid wages and deteriorating conditions in the country's schools and universities. The teachers are the latest among many categories of public sector employees to hold public protests against the government, which has not paid out wages for months. Reportedly, the Ukrainian government owes more than $1.5 billion in wages. The educators said the nation's students have been most affected by government cutbacks in education, which have created a shortage of textbooks and left many schools unable to pay for badly needed repairs. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Russia taxes Ukrainian imports

MOSCOW - Russia has implemented the long-discussed 20 percent value-added tax (VAT) on Ukrainian imports, ITAR-TASS reported on October 1. Although President Leonid Kuchma traveled to Moscow on the eve of this action, warning that Russia's decision, passed on August 18, could result in an "economic war" between the neighboring countries, the tax went into effect on October 1. Checkpoints are to be set up on the main roads used to transport Ukrainian imports to Russia. Ukrainian Parliament Chairman Oleksander Moroz said the VAT is not a closed issue. One complication is that Belarus, which has a customs union with Russia, has refused to impose the VAT on Ukrainian goods, leaving open the possibility that Ukrainian exporters will reroute their exports through Belarus. (OMRI Daily Digest)

U.N. reports on foreign investment in CIS

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has issued a report on foreign direct investment in 1995, ITAR-TASS reported on September 25. Russia received a mere $2 billion, compared to $3.5 billion for Hungary, and $2.5 billion each for Poland and the Czech Republic. Other CIS countries also fared poorly. Kazakstan received $284 million; Ukraine, $200 million; Uzbekistan, $115 million; Azerbaijan, $110 million; Moldova, $32 million; Belarus, $20 million; Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, $15 million each. (OMRI Daily Digest)