NEWSBRIEFS (08/17/97)

NEWSBRIEFS

Foreign investment increases

KYIV - Foreign investment in Ukraine totaled $335.5 million during the first half of 1997, a 46.1 percent increase over the same period last year, Ukrainian Television reported on August 13, citing government statistics. The largest investors were the United States ($315 million), Germany ($165.9 million), the Netherlands ($160.2 million), Great Britain ($130.9 million), Cyprus ($116.4 million), Russia ($114.2 million) and Liechtenstein ($103.1 million). Investments are mainly in the food industry, machine building, metal processing, finance and insurance, construction and construction materials production, and the chemical and petrochemical industries. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Luhansk miners continue strike

LUHANSK - The Luhansk Oblast administration on August 13 negotiated with picketers and hunger-strikers from the Krasnodon mine, UNIAN reported. Of the 300 people who have been picketing the administration since July 7, 170 are on a hunger strike. The miners are demanding that the administration abide by the Constitution by fulfilling labor contracts and paying wage arrears for the last nine months. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Belarus and Ukraine sign agreement

KYIV - Officials from Ukraine and Belarus exchanged instruments of ratification on an agreement that secures bilateral friendship and cooperation between the two countries on August 6, quieting concerns raised recently by Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka that border demarcation between the two countries would be "reopened." Ukrainian Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Borys Hudyma and Belarusian Ambassador to Ukraine Vitalii Kurashyk participated in the official ceremony that brought the Ukrainian-Belarusian Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation into force. Mr. Hudyma said the treaty sealed "the fundamentals of the existence of the two states, such as inviolability of borders, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, equality and non-interference in each other's internal affairs." The treaty had originally been signed on July 17, 1995, ratified by the Belarusian Parliament on April 25, 1996, but not ratified by Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada until May 16, 1997. (Eastern Economist, Interfax)

Floods inundate Crimean town

ALUSHTA - Flood waters have inundated 13 homes, a kindergarten, a sports school, city militia headquarters, and a car park in the town of Alushta in Crimea, killing one person. Militia rescued 35 detainees from a flooded jail house, UNIAN reported on August 12. (RFE/RL Newsline)

State Property Fund on land...

KYIV - On August 1, Volodymyr Lanovyi, acting director of Ukraine's State Property Fund, announced that the SPF will discontinue small lot sales and will concentrate on larger lots. Mr. Lanovyi told the InfoBank news agency that small lot sales are a breeding ground for speculators whose only purpose is to make purchases at the lowest possible price and then seek foreign buyers. The former Cabinet member said such practices led to the demise of Ukraine's cement industry. However, Mr. Lanovyi said a far greater problem is the Parliament's refusal to lift the 20 percent Value Added Tax on foreign investment. He said domestic companies that managed to attract investors suddenly face massive charges from the government. He cited the example of a brewery in Nizhen which received $1 million (U.S.) in equipment and was slapped with a $200,000 tax assessment. (Eastern Economist)

... and in space

KYIV - Ukraine's State Property Fund has joined the Pivdenne Design Bureau and Pivdenmash Plant from Dnipropetrovsk (President Leonid Kuchma's old stomping grounds), as a co-founder of the international space transport company KosmoTras, the InfoBank agency reported on August 1. The SPF owns a 37.5 percent interest in the "authorized capital fund," with 12.5 percent controlled by the Kharkiv-based Khartron enterprise. The remaining 50 percent of the company's shares is held by Russian companies. The newly established joint venture will be involved in the design, marketing and operation of rockets for launching spaceships into orbit, as well as in related areas, for instance, in the conversion of former space centers to satisfy the needs of the national economy. The value of the company's authorized capital fund was announced as 180 million rubles. (Eastern Economist)

Ukraine's rescue team in Poland

KYIV - A Ukrainian search and rescue team active in Poland since July 14 continues to work alongside the local relief effort in the Opole region in the aftermath of floods that devastated the area, the UT-1 television network reported on August 4. About 70 Ukrainian workers are working round-the-clock to repair dikes near the town of Opole, and Ukrainian rescuers and construction workers are preparing tap water tanks near the town of Glucholazy, using their own special filter station. The Ukrainian side has brought two excavators and seven dump trucks, and their Polish hosts supply the Ukrainian rescuers with food and fuel free of charge. (Eastern Economist)

Ukraine's brains still drain

KYIV - According to the latest figures released by Ukraine's Statistics Ministry, 686 Ph.D.s in science quit their jobs with domestic scientific establishments in 1996. Eighty-three emigrated from Ukraine outright, a 40 percent increase from 1995. Over half were former employees of the Education Ministry, some 23 worked at the National Academy of Sciences, and 12 percent were medical doctors and researchers. Favored destinations included Russia, the U.S., Israel and Germany. (Eastern Economist)

Amnesty lobbies for refugee legislation

KYIV - The Ukrainian Association of Amnesty International urged the Cabinet of Ministers on August 1 to formulate an explicit policy on the protection of refugees in accordance with international standards. Amnesty's campaign coordinator, S. Marintsova, and the head of the refugee campaign's working group, N. Dulnieva, met with officials from the State Committee for Problems Regarding Nationalities and Migration before announcing their concerns that Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers was reluctant to propose new legislation concerning refugees. (Eastern Economist)

Jewish writer to be honored

KYIV - A historical marker recognizing noted Yiddish writer Sholom Aleichem will be erected in Kyiv. According to the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, Aleichem was born in the Poltava region, was a rabbi in Lubni, and later moved to Kyiv and then Odesa, where he devoted his time to writing. A proposal for the memorial was made by many organizations representing the capital city's Jewish community and it has received support from the Kyiv City Administration. The marker will be financed by the Jewish Council of Ukraine. It will be temporarily situated near the building at 6 Krutyi Uzviz, but eventually will be moved to the corner of Chervonoarmiiska and Baseina streets. (Respublika)

| Home Page |