NEWSBRIEFS (04/13/97)

NEWSBRIEFS

Subotnyk flops in Kyiv

KYIV - Kyiv residents rebuffed their mayor's attempt to revive a Soviet-era tradition, virtually ignoring his call to hit the streets Saturday and help clean up the Ukrainian capital. Echoing Vladimir Lenin, Oleksander Omelchenko had decreed the revival of the "subotnyk," a voluntary day of labor. But on the first of four designated clean-up days this spring, Kyiv residents stayed away in droves and left the labor largely to the same street sweepers and park workers who do it for a living on weekdays. Ostensibly instituted by Lenin, "subotnyks" were used by the Soviet government to get workers out on weekends for cleaning, construction or any other job that needed doing, often around Lenin's birthday on April 22. (Associated Press)

Sevastopol says cancel Sea Breeze

SEVASTOPOL - The City Council of Sevastopol is calling on Ukraine to cancel U.S.-led military exercises planned for the Crimean Peninsula this summer. Sevastopol lawmakers passed an appeal last week urging the Ukrainian government to reverse its decision to play host to the Sea Breeze '97 exercises scheduled for August. The largely ethnic Russian port city is the main base of the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet and the center of a dispute between Russia and Ukraine over ownership of the naval force and its bases. Tension has been heightened by plans for Sea Breeze, in which American and other NATO forces will join Ukrainian troops in a simulation of a humanitarian rescue operation following an earthquake. Russia sees Sea Breeze as a show of Western force near its borders, on territory that some Russian politicians say should belong to Moscow, and has declined invitations to participate in the exercise. Ukraine is unlikely to heed the Sevastopol Council's call. President Leonid Kuchma has repeatedly said Sea Breeze will go ahead regardless of opposition in Russia and the Crimea. (Associated Press)

Ukraine to fly mission over U.S.

WASHINGTON - On April 13, the Ukrainian Open Skies AN-30 aircraft will depart Kyiv on a four-day journey across the Atlantic to perform an Open Skies joint trial flight observation mission in the U.S. It is scheduled to arrive in Washington on April 16. From there, the crew will fly to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio to fly a two-segment observation mission on April 19-20. They return to Washington on April 21, and will begin the return four-day journey to Ukraine on April 24. This will mark the first time a former Warsaw Pact nation aircraft will be allowed to fly an unrestricted observation mission over the U.S. (U.S. Department of Defense)

Ukraine imposes, then lifts, flight ban

MOSCOW - Ukraine on April 5 lifted a ban imposed late last month on Russian military aircraft flying over its airspace, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said. He told Reuters an accord was reached after telephone talks between the chief of the Russian general staff, Viktor Samsonov, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksander Zatynaiko. Ukraine had slapped restrictions for an indefinite period on Russian military aircraft flying in its airspace after unauthorized jets flew over the Black Sea during a recent NATO visit to Ukraine, a Ukrainian Defense Ministry official said on April 3. "Certain limits were imposed after some Russian aircraft flying over the Black Sea on March 25 and 26 violated rules governing the routes they were allowed to fly," said a duty officer in the Defense Ministry's press office. Ukrainian media, quoting unnamed defense officials, said the central Russia-based long-distance TU-22 military jets were flying spy missions in connection with a recent goodwill visit of NATO warships to the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa. "Russian planes must choose to follow international rules of aviation which require permission to fly certain air routes, in order to ensure safety in the air," the official said. (Reuters, RFE/RL Newsline)

Inflation for March: 0.1 percent

KYIV - Ukraine's Minister of the Economy Yurii Yekhanurov said the monthly inflation rate for March was 0.1 percent - the lowest since July 1996 and beneath the projected figure. Mr. Yekhanurov told journalists in Kyiv on April 3 that the government aims to keep annual inflation at 25 percent. Inflation has dropped from more than 10,000 percent in 1993 to just under 40 percent last year. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Wages will keep pace with inflation

KYIV - Ukraine's low average salaries are expected to keep pace with inflation in 1997, the vice minister of the economy said in mid-March. "Salaries will increase with inflation, which is forecast at about 25 percent this year," Oleksander Yaremenko told a news conference. Mr. Yaremenko said the average monthly salary in February was 138 hryvni for agricultural workers and 154 hrv for industrial workers, compared to January when agricultural workers averaged 140 hrv and industrial workers made 153 hrv. Mr. Yaremenko said unpaid wages now amounted to 4.2 billion hrv, and that Ukraine had little hope of repaying it until the Verkhovna Rada approves the 1997 budget next month. He told reporters the maximum monthly pension is about 49 hrv per month, and the average is 45 hrv. At current rates $1 (U.S.) in equal to 1.833 hrv. (Reuters)

Shadow economy up to 60 percent

KYIV - Ukraine's shadow economy has expanded to account for 60 percent of all economic activity, up from previous estimates of 40 percent, a Ukrainian economic expert said on March 19. "More than 60 percent of the economy is now in the shadow," Oleksander Razumkov, chief of the Ukrainian Center for Economic and Political Research, told politicians and economists. "The government has no influence in this area," he added. President Leonid Kuchma, in his state of the nation address on March 21 said the shadow economy had grown from 35-40 percent to account for 52-55 percent of economic activity. (Reuters)

N plants cannot afford repairs

KYIV - State Nuclear Committee Deputy Chairman Vasyl Katko says Ukraine's nuclear power plants will be unable to afford annual repairs this summer because energy consumers are not paying their bills. Mr. Katko estimated that Ukraine's five nuclear stations can undertake only 30 percent of the necessary repair work. Interfax quoted Environment and Nuclear Safety Minister Yurii Kostenko as describing the safety situation at the country's nuclear power plants as "unsatisfactory." He told the Verkhovna Rada on April 8 that the safety of the concrete sarcophagus covering the fourth reactor at Chornobyl has deteriorated because of moisture build-up, insufficient monitoring and inefficient contingency plans for a chain reaction. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lithuanian official presses U.S. on NATO

WASHINGTON - Lithuanian Parliament Chairman Vytautas Landsbergis said in Washington on April 8 that he has urged senior U.S. officials to support his country's application for NATO membership. Mr. Landsbergis said Russia is the "only obstacle" to Lithuania's admission to the Western alliance. He added that if Lithuania is not included in the first round, he hopes the U.S. will provide expanded bilateral as well as multilateral guarantees. So far on his U.S. tour, Mr. Landsbergis has spoken to Lithuanian Americans in Chicago and met with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Vice-President Al Gore. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine executed 169 in 1996

KYIV - Ukraine executed 169 convicts in 1996 despite having pledged to phase out the death penalty when it was accepted into the European human rights body in November 1995. Ukraine temporarily halted executions after it joined the Council of Europe, but resumed them several months later. Interior Ministry officials released the 1996 figure on April 8. In Ukraine, the death penalty generally is carried out by a single bullet to the back of the head. (Associated Press)

Belarus to retain separate statehood

MIENSK - Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka told a press conference this week that Belarus' new alliance with Russia does not mean a loss of statehood for either country. According to Mr. Lukashenka, unification will "take place in line with the EU [European Union] model, where each of the members retains its sovereignty." Mr. Lukashenka was speaking after meeting in Miensk with Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee. Interfax quotes President Lukashenka as saying that Belarusian athletes will continue to compete at the Olympic Games and other international competitions under the Belarusian state flag. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Belarus under fire for rights violations

WASHINGTON - The European Union has called the human rights situation in Belarus "inadmissible." In a memorandum sent to Belarusian Foreign Minister Ivan Antonovich on April 4, the organization criticized Belarus for its failure to uphold press freedom and the right of citizens to demonstrate freely. Also on April 4, the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe sent a letter to President Alyaksandr Lukashenka condemning what it says are blatant violations of human rights in Belarus. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Primakov on defending Belarus' interests

MIENSK - Russian Foreign Minister Yevgenii Primakov said on April 7 that in opposing NATO expansion plans, Moscow is also defending the interests of neighboring Belarus. "We are still insisting on our demands in order not to worsen the geopolitical situation," Mr. Primakov told a news conference in the Belarusian capital in reference to Russia's objections to NATO plans to expand eastward. "We are trying to minimize the possible consequences, and we are thinking not only about Russia but about Belarus as well, with which we are moving towards a union." Minister Primakov's trip to Miensk followed the signing last week of a union treaty between Russia and Belarus by Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Alyaksandr Lukashenka. (Reuters)

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