NEWSBRIEFS (10/19/97)

NEWSBRIEFS

Kuchma says CIS has exhausted itself

ALMATY - President Leonid Kuchma told journalists in the Kazak capital, where he arrived on October 14 for an official visit, that the Commonwealth of Independent States "in its current form" has exhausted itself as an institution. Mr. Kuchma was particularly critical of the customs union of four countries within the CIS, which, he said, is a serious obstacle to trade within the CIS as a whole. President Kuchma also met with his Kazak counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbaiev. At a joint press conference President Nazarbaiev characterized bilateral relations as "amicable" and affirmed that the two countries have the same views on all global problems. He also said that Kazakstan will consider any option for exporting its oil, including via Ukraine. The two presidents signed a declaration on bilateral cooperation. In addition, five inter-governmental agreements were signed, including one designating an area in Kazakstan where parts of Ukraine's Zenit rockets will fall back to earth. Several Kazak Senate members, including Engels Gabbasov, protested that accord at a meeting with President Kuchma on October 15. Mr. Gabbasov said he opposes allowing Ukraine or any other CIS state to use Kazak territory for military experiments. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine to sell metal from dead zone?

KYIV - According to an October 14 report on Kyiv's "Studio 1+1" television, Kyiv hopes to attract private capital to pay for the retrieval and sale of thousands of tons of metal now lying in the contaminated zone around the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. The television station did not indicate how the metal would be cleaned or where the funds for the project might come from. (RFE/RL Newsline)

CIS summit held in Kyrgyzstan

BISHKEK - Seven CIS prime ministers and seven first vice prime ministers met on October 9 to discuss the document "Concept for Integrated Economic Development of the CIS." This document had been discussed, but not unanimously endorsed, at a previous summit in March. All participants, except Georgia, signed a document on implementing this concept. Ukraine signed 13 out of a total of 23 documents discussed at the session, including a resolution on creating an anti-crime coordination bureau. Other documents included matters pertaining to transnational corporations, a common agricultural market and international road transport. Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin expressed concern that trade between CIS states had declined by 10 percent during the first six months of 1997. Mr. Chernomyrdin called for a coordinated monetary policy. According to Izvestiya of October 10, the prospect of introducing a single CIS currency between 2005 and 2010 was discussed. In Kyiv, after the summit, Ukraine's Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko stated that he remains confident about economic integration between the countries of the CIS. He noted that economic integration is based on "common sense." During the meeting Mr. Chernomyrdin and Mr. Pustovoitenko confirmed the need to speed up long-term economic cooperation between Ukraine and Russia. (Eastern Economist RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine, Hungary open NATO missions

BRUSSELS - Ukraine and Hungary became the first non-NATO countries to establish missions accredited to the Western alliance. Ukraine's Ambassador Borys Tarasiuk presented his credentials to NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana during a meeting of the alliance council on October 8. The opening of a military office as a part of Ukraine's mission to NATO was a topic of discussion at the first meeting of the Ukraine-NATO committee in Brussels on October 13. According to Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry, a memorandum on mutual understanding between Ukraine and NATO in the emergencies sector was signed. In Kyiv, NATO's information center jointly sponsored a seminar with the Center for Social and Political Research on October 13 for representatives of local media from Ukrainian cities. Although Ukraine held its first talks with NATO more than five years ago, most of the population is still not familiar with its work, according to the head of NATO's information center in Kyiv, Roman Lyshchynsky. (Eastern Economist, RFE/RL Newsline)

No executions since March

STRASBOURG - Attending the Council of Europe summit of heads of state on October 10, President Leonid Kuchma told the head of its Parliamentary Assembly Leni Fischer that "not a single execution has been carried out in Ukraine since March 1997." He qualified this statement by saying that he alone is unable to abolish the death penalty, since vote is required. Mr. Kuchma proposed on October 11 that the Verkhovna Rada ratify Protocol No. 6 to the Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, which concerns abolition of capital punishment. Ukraine signed this document on May 5 in Strasbourg. (Eastern Economist)

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