NEWSBRIEFS (11/16/97)

NEWSBRIEFS

U.S. ambassador to Ukraine confirmed

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate late on November 6 confirmed more than two dozen new U.S. ambassadors to international organizations and foreign countries. Among them was Steven Pifer, who was named ambassador to Ukraine. (Congressional News Service)

1814, 1917 - it's all the same

SYMFEROPOL - Confused schoolchildren in Crimea think that Napoleon or Adolf Hitler led the 1917 Russian Revolution. The children showed a lack of knowledge about Lenin that in some periods of Soviet history would have been suicidal. About 150 pupils took part in the poll, local journalists reported on November 10. Less than 50 percent knew that the Russian Revolution led by Lenin took place 80 years ago, and one in 10 did not know who started it. Twenty percent of final-year students said "kommuniaky" - a derogatory word for Communists rather like "commies" - organized it. A few fifth-grade students said Napoleon, Hitler or Joseph Stalin was behind the revolt. Some guessed its date as 1814. Less than 50 percent of the younger group, age 10-11, approved of Lenin. Of the older group of 16- and 17-year-olds, one-fifth wrote that the revolution did no good and only 7 percent judged Lenin a "great historical figure." The findings highlighted a generation gap in the former Soviet Union: older people were out in force last week to mark the revolution's 80th anniversary. (Reuters)

Compromise urged for democrats

KYIV - At a press conference on November 12, Pavlo Movchan, head of the organization "Prosvita," announced along with Ivan Drach, head of the Congress of Ukrainian Intellectuals, that a coordinating meeting would be held on November 25, sponsored by the two organizations, for representatives of national-democratic parties to gather, discuss compromises and select one candidate per voting district they all would support. According to both Mr. Movchan and Mr. Drach, early indications from proposed candidate lists for next spring's elections show that national-democratic parties risk competing with each other, thereby splitting the vote and throwing favor to the one Communist Party candidate running in the district. (Respublika)

Steps taken to unify Orthodox Church

KYIV - Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church Metropolitan Petro Petrus of Lviv announced on October 29 that he is joining the Ukrainian Orthdox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate, citing a desire to see one unified Orthdox Church in Ukraine. On October 28 150 parishes of the UAOC under the Lviv metropolia also agreed to join the UOC-KP for the same reason. (Respublika)

Ukraine admits executions

KYIV - The Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs acknowledged to the Council of Europe on November 7 that Kyiv has executed 13 convicted criminals this year, despite public assurances from senior Ukrainian officials that all such actions have been halted. But the Internal Affairs Ministry is reported to have now issued orders suspending all executions. Only China exceeds Ukraine in number of executions this year. (RFE/RL Newsline, Eastern Economist)

New center to attract foreign investment

KYIV - Head of the South Korean Daewoo group Kim Woo-Choong and Kyiv City Administrator Oleksander Omelchenko marked the beginning of construction of the International Business Center (IBC) in Kyiv's central Bessarabskyi district in a stone-laying ceremony on November 6. The Kyiv City Administration owns 49 percent of the complex, Daewoo owns 51 percent. Daewoo will invest approximately $280 million in construction of the IBC. This is the biggest foreign investment to date for Kyiv. The IBC will cover 16,500 square meters and will include 5,000 square meters of office space, 10,000 square meters for a stock exchange, 20,000 square meters for apartments, as well as 15,000 square meters for a shopping complex. There will also be a 5-star hotel and underground parking. Construction will last for 40 months and will also include restoration and reconstruction of the architectural memorials on the territory of the new business center. (Eastern Economist)

Interpol hindered by the lack of treaties

KYIV - According to the National Interpol Bureau, the majority of criminals presently hiding abroad are suspected of large-scale theft, tax evasion, fraud and robbery. Most are hiding in the U.S., Germany, Israel and CIS countries. The biggest problem concerning the return of these criminals to Ukraine's law enforcement agencies is the absence of inter-governmental agreements, including extradition treaties, between Ukraine and other countries. The problem is aggravated by the fact that suspected criminals from other countries also use Ukraine as a haven. Three resolutions on fighting money laundering were approved by the 66th Interpol General Assembly that took place in late October. Furthermore, Interpol has helped to return Ukrainian women working abroad as prostitutes. The numbers of women involved in prostitution abroad has significantly decreased, according to Col. Viktor Radetskyi, director of the National Interpol Bureau. (Eastern Economist)

Harvest to exceed last year's low

KYIV - Ukraine's harvest is set to reach 37 million tons of grain, 12 million more than last year, said First Deputy Agriculture Minister Borys Supikhanov on November 11. Last year's total was one of the lowest in decades. He said 2.2 million tons of sunflower seeds will be harvested, also an increase over 1996. Up to 2.2 million tons of sugar are expected to be produced. (Respublika)

Congressional site visit to Ukraine, Russia

WASHINGTON - Reps. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Vic Snyder (D-Ark.), members of the House National Security Committee, recently returned from a five-day visit to former Soviet missile sites in Russia and Ukraine that are being dismantled as part of the Cooperative Threat Reduction program (CTR). So far, 66 SS-19 silos and 58 SS-19 missiles in Ukraine have been eliminated; each of these missiles carried six nuclear warheads. During the mission, the congressmen oversaw the partial elimination of an SS-19 missile launcher at Pervomaisk, an ICBM base in Ukraine. All 132 SS-19 silos in Ukraine will be eliminated by the end of 1998, and the CTR program has begun preliminary work to eliminate all Ukrainian SS-24 missiles and launchers. Ukraine became nuclear-weapons-free on May 30, 1996, when the last nuclear warhead was sent to Russia for elimination. In Russia on October 18, the delegation toured the Research Institute of Chemical and Machine Building near Sergeiv Posad where SS-N-8 submarine-launched ballistic missiles are eliminated. (U.S. Department of Defense)

Missiles to be used for commercial launches

KYIV - The Ukrainian-Russian joint venture Kosmotras was registered on November 11 and the consortium will specialize in modernizing SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missiles for commercial launches. The first commercial launch of a missile is expected to be carried out in 1998. Ukraine will handle most of the technical issues, according to Oleksander Serdiuk of Ukraine's National Security Agency. The Ukrainian side will consist of KB Pivdenne, PivdenMash and AT Khartron. Ukraine and Russia will each own 50 percent of shares in the joint venture. The new Dnipro missile could be included in the large-scale Teledisk project, which will involve the launching into orbit of 840 American satellites for the new generation global computer network. Modernization of the missiles is expected to cost more than $100 million. (Eastern Economist)

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