NEWSBRIEFS (10/26/97)

NEWSBRIEFS

Kuchma to visit NYC for vital meeting

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma will participate in the conference on contributions to the Shelter Implementation Plan at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. The conference is set to take place in New York on November 20, confirmed the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Vice-President Al Gore is to be present at the conference. (Eastern Economist)

Yelchenko named new U.N. envoy

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma appointed Ukraine's new representative to the United Nations on October 20. Volodymyr Yelchenko takes over from Anatolii Zlenko, who was recently appointed Ukraine's ambassador to France. (Eastern Economist)

Chornobyl will not be restarted this year

PRYPIAT, Ukraine - Officials at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant said cracks in the piping of one of the reactors will keep the plant closed until sometime in 1998, Interfax reported on October 16. That reactor, the only one to have operated in the last several years, was shut off in June for maintenance, during which the cracks were discovered. Chornobyl managers denied Kyiv press reports that workers at the plant have been subject to excessive levels of radiation as a result of the cracks. Ukraine has pledged to close the plant by the year 2000, if foreign governments provide sufficient funds to build an alternative power facility. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Chornobyl drivers stage protest in Kyiv

KYIV - Some 50 truck drivers who work in the "dead zone" around the troubled Chornobyl nuclear power plant staged a protest in Kyiv on October 20 to demand payment of wage arrears, Ukrainian media reported. The Ukrainian Energy Ministry said it would like to pay the drivers but has no money to do so. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Protest threatens Khmelnytskyi plant

KHMELNYTSKYI - Workers have staged a series of rallies to demand payment of back wages at the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant near Lviv, ITAR-TASS reported on October 21. The 600 employees of the plant have not been paid since February. Their action threatens the continued operation of the plant, even though under Ukrainian law workers at such facilities do not have the right to strike. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Half of population trusts Kuchma

KYIV - According to sociological research undertaken by Socis-Gallup in September, 50 percent of Ukrainian citizens fully or partially trust President Leonid Kuchma, while 43 percent do not. The rest failed to answer the question. During September, 1,200 people age 16 and older were polled in all Ukrainian oblasts. Almost 30 percent of respondents trust Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Moroz, and 21 percent trust National Deputy Yevhen Marchuk. (Eastern Economist)

Kuchma fears "trade war" with Russia

KYIV - Speaking to a conference of trade union leaders in Kyiv on October 21, President Leonid Kuchma said bilateral talks with Moscow have failed to prevent a "trade war" between the two countries, Interfax reported. He said that as a result, bilateral trade fell by 18 percent in the first eight months of 1997, compared with the same period last year. In particular, Mr. Kuchma criticized Russia's imposition of a 25 percent tariff on Ukrainian sugar. But he suggested Kyiv "is close to finalizing its transitional period" in economic reform. Other Ukrainian officials, however, were less optimistic. Oleksander Riabchenko, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada's Privatization Committee, said on October 21 that revenues from privatization are far short of projections and will certainly fail to reach the "planned level of 500 million hryvni" ($267 million) by the end of the year, Ukrainian media reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Swiss to help in energy privatization

KYIV - After meeting in Kyiv with the economy minister of Switzerland, Jean-Pascal Delamure, Ukraine's Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko said the most promising areas for cooperation between the two countries are in the production of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, and introduction of up-to-date technology in manufacturing, transport and communications. Inter-governmental agreements were signed dealing with financial and technical cooperation, and on financial aid to Ukraine for reducing infant mortality rates. Mr. Delamure told Economy Minister Viktor Suslov that Switzerland is ready to help Ukraine upgrade its power-generation and that Swiss companies are keen to participate in the privatization of energy enterprises. The Swiss also want to import Ukrainian electricity, the funds from which could be used to modernize the industry. (Eastern Economist)

Pynzenyk is elected chairman of party

KYIV - Former Vice Prime Minister and co-founder of the Reform and Order Party Victor Pynzenyk was elected its chairman at the party's founding convention. Mr. Pynzenyk stressed in his keynote speech that his party will demand the imposition of clear and permanent legislation for domestic businesses and foreign investors. He confirmed that one of the party's aims is the removal of obstacles to foreign investment, tax reform and deregulation of the economy. The tax reform package he initiated while serving as vice prime minister will form the nucleus of tax reform proposed by the party. He confirmed the creation of a reliable banking system as one of the priorities of his party's economic program and described the present "open door" import policy as ruinous. (Eastern Economist)

Crimea makes Russian official language

SYMFEROPOL - Crimean lawmakers on October 15 voted to make Russian, rather than Ukrainian, the official language of the autonomous republic and to have the clocks there conform to Moscow rather than Kyiv time, Interfax reported. The vote was 56 to 4 in favor of the language change; most of the other deputies, who represent the Crimean Tatars, abstained. The regional body took the step on the basis of a provision in the Crimean Constitution allowing the Crimean Parliament to make Russian the official language until more people there have learned Ukrainian. But Kyiv has not approved the peninsula's Constitution. Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko told journalists on October 17 that Kyiv may annul the Crimean Parliament's decision to put the peninsula in the same time zone as Moscow and to seek economic independence from Ukraine, Interfax reported. Mr. Pustovoitenko added that Crimea could make progress "only together" with the rest of Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan to increase trade

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - Meeting in the Kyrgyz capital on October 15, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev said their countries will increase the volume of bilateral trade at least 10-fold in 1998, ITAR-TASS reported. Total turnover between the two countries so far this year is less than $6 million. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Railways refuse to help Defense Ministry

KYIV - The railways are refusing to transport Defense Ministry freight and passengers until the government pays what the ministry owes for past services, ITAR-TASS reported on October 19. The railways' decision has blocked delivery of basic necessities to military bases and may create chaos when some 100,000 draftees are discharged from the service and sent home. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Thieves drill hole in oil pipeline

SUSKOVO, Ukraine - Unidentified thieves drilled a hole in the Druzhba pipeline near the village of Suskovo in Ukraine's Transcarpathian region, ITAR-TASS reported on October 18. The pipeline burst and several tons of oil flowed into a tributary of the River Uzh, which marks a large stretch of the Ukrainian-Slovak border. It is the third incident this year in which attempts have been made to tap the pipeline that carries oil from Russia to Western Europe. (RFE/RL Newsline)

NBU chairman is in the world's top six

HONG KONG - National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Viktor Yuschenko will receive an award from the Global Finance magazine. Mr. Yuschenko has been voted in the top six central bank chairmen in the world for 1997. He will receive the award at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Hong Kong, confirmed NBU press service chief Dmytro Rikberg.(Eastern Economist)

Constitutional Court's make up complete

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada completed formation of Ukraine's Constitutional Court on September 25. Mykola Korniyenko was approved as the Rada's member in the Constitutional Court through a secret ballot vote. The Constitutional Court incorporates 18 judges, one-third of whom are appointed by the president, another third by the Parliament and the remainder by the National Congress of Judges. (Eastern Economist)

Interpol arrests number 112 for 1997

KYIV - The National Interpol Bureau arrested 112 criminals since the beginning of the year, said the bureau's deputy head, Vasyl Nevolia. This figure includes 36 foreigners arrested in Ukraine and 76 Ukrainians arrested overseas. Although the bureau's activities are sponsored by the state budget, Interpol carries out the training of specialists and has equipped Interpol's Kyiv office for free with the latest electronic equipment. (Eastern Economist)

President announces new appointments

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma appointed former Crimean Prime Minister Arkadii Demydenko as Ukraine's vice minister of transport on October 7. Other appointments include Bohdan Butsa as first vice chairman of the State Committee for the Development of Entrepreneurship. The new head of the state's auditing department and vice minister of finance is Mykola Kalensky. Oleksander Motsyk is confirmed as the new ambassador to Turkey, while Yevhen Svynarchuk becomes ambassador to Cuba. (Eastern Economist)

Lytvak not approved for top legal post

KYIV - Three attempts were made by the Verkhovna Rada on October 8 and 9 to approve Oleh Lytvak as Ukraine's prosecutor general. All three failed. Mr. Lytvak is currently acting prosecutor general. Anti-corruption and organized crime committee member Anatolii Yermak noted that national deputies may have rejected Mr. Lytvak because of compromising files in his office on a number of deputies. In line with current legislation, charges against national deputies can only be filed by a prosecutor general. (Eastern Economist)

Fraud in housing payments uncovered

KYIV - The vast majority of Ukraine's population actually paid 100 percent of the cost of communal services in 1996. The Economy Ministry noted that this conclusion is based upon information from the financial activities of enterprises that provided communal services in 20 oblasts. However, many set higher tariffs for 1996 than was allowed. Although the Cabinet stipulates that the public should pay only 80 percent of the cost of communal services, the IMF requires full 100 percent payment for services rendered. Inspections made at 1,375 enterprises involved in the sector uncovered violations in half of them. (Eastern Economist)

Sevastopol moves to get compensation

SEVASTOPOL - A decision that confirmed ownership rights of the territorial community of the city of Sevastopol on land temporarily occupied by military bases, organizations and institutions belonging to the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol was approved by the City Council on October 10. The resolution intends to bring land policies in Sevastopol in line with Ukraine's land legislation and to provide rights to Sevastopol's population. The session also approved a request to address the Cabinet to develop and implement a mechanism by which Sevastopol would be compensated for the loss of funds by the city in the form of rent payments for the use of the land. (Eastern Economist)

| Home Page |