NEWSBRIEFS (02/08/98)

NEWSBRIEFS

Chornobyl link seen in population drop

KYIV - The Ukrainian government said on January 30 that the Chornobyl nuclear accident is one of the main reasons that the country's population has decreased, Agence France Press reported. The State Public Statistics Committee reported that the population shrank by a total of some 375,000 people in the first 11 months of last year. Medical officials said that male fertility problems linked to the 1986 Chornobyl explosion, had contributed to a 3 percent drop in Ukraine's population since 1991. Another major contributor to the decline is the difficult economic situation, which has lowered life expectancy rates. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lazarenko urges inquiry into his past

KYIV - Ex-Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko asked the Verkhovna Rada on February 3 to create a special investigation commission made up of national deputies to study the information released by the Procurator General's Office concerning Mr. Lazarenko's alleged involvement in financial machinations. The Hromada leader said all the accusations against him are groundless. "In the event of an investigative commission proving my guilt, I am ready to relinquish my immunity as a deputy and to testify in court," said Mr. Lazarenko. (Eastern Economist)

Visas discussed with new ambassador

KYIV - The American Chamber of Commerce held a conference on February 3 with the participation of the new U.S. ambassador, Steven Pifer, and Consular Officer T.J. Rose concerning the visa process. According to official statistics, Ukrainian applicants have a 52 percent refusal rate. The worst offenders for visa fraud and corruption are Russia and Nigeria, followed by Ukraine. Some American-based companies have experienced difficulties in obtaining visas for their Ukrainian employees who need to visit the U.S. for business or training purposes. Statistics show that 6.2 percent of Ukrainians who applied for business visas were turned down. Mr. Rose said the Consular Department must carry out effective screening of applicants in order to weed out potential offenders of the terms under which visas are issued. Applicants under regulation 214b must persuade the consular officer that none of the relevant conditions will be violated. Mr. Rose suggested that U.S.-based companies could avoid some difficulties in the visa process by clearly stating the purpose of the visit and provide as much personal information as possible about the applicant. In related news, the cost of all consular services rose on February 1. The cost of applying for a non-immigrant visa is now $45 (U.S.), up from $20. The cost of an immigrant visa is now $325, an increase of $125. (Eastern Economist)

TransCanada ready to rebuild plant

OTTAWA - Meeting with Ukraine's ambassador to Canada, Volodymyr Furkalo, managers of the Canadian firm TransCanada Pipelines confirmed that it intends to invest between $80 million and $100 million (Canadian) in the reconstruction of a gas compressor plant in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. The company is in a position to expand investments in Ukraine after its recent merger with the Nova Corp. (Eastern Economist)

Yeltsin, Kuchma hold informal talks

MOSCOW - Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Leonid Kuchma, held informal talks in Moscow on January 30-31. Mr. Yeltsin announced that in the next Ukrainian presidential election, scheduled for 1999, he will back Mr. Kuchma. "After all, if there is a different president in Ukraine, everything will have to be done over again. There could be difficulties with the division of the Black Sea Fleet and bilateral economic relations," said Mr. Yeltsin. In a joint statement released on January 31, the two presidents praised "the process of positive changes in Russian-Ukrainian relations" and confirmed that they will sign a program on economic cooperation during President Kuchma's formal visit to Russia, planned for late February. However, the joint statement criticized "an unjustified delay" in settling some issues, such as the demarcation of the Russian-Ukrainian border and the implementation of agreements on dividing the Black Sea Fleet, Russian news agencies reported. They noted the positive influence of the abolition of the value-added tax on trade between the two states and the introduction of an import quota on Ukrainian sugar to Russia, as well as the expansion of trade and production ties. However, they also stressed the need for more active cooperation in important sectors like transport, agriculture and plane-building. The two presidents also discussed joint efforts to reform the Commonwealth of Independent States. (RFE/RL Newsline, Eastern Economist)

Impeachment proposal gets Rada backing

KYIV - By a vote of 194-9, the Verkhovna Rada supported a proposal presented on February 3 by one of the leaders of the Yednist (Unity) faction, Viktor Omelych, and included a draft law on impeachment of the president on its agenda for the ninth session. Mr. Omelych stressed that the draft law prepared by Yednist is currently being studied by the Parliament's Legal and Judicial Reform Committee. He noted that although an impeachment mechanism is absent in Ukraine, the approval of such a law is important in light of "constant violations of the Constitution by the president and his administration." Mr. Omelych also appealed to national deputies to request that President Leonid Kuchma prepare an annual report on Ukraine's domestic and foreign situation, as outlined in Ukraine's Constitution. The Progressive Socialist Party issued a statement February 3 favoring Mr. Kuchma's impeachment and dismissal of Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Moroz for crimes against Ukraine. The party noted that the president is "completing the demolition of Ukraine's economy." (Eastern Economist)

Rada calls for ban on daily to be lifted

KYIV - On February 3, the opening day of its ninth session, the Verkhovna Rada passed a resolution urging the government to allow the daily Pravda Ukrainy to resume publishing. Former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, the leader of the Hromada Party (which is strongly supported by Pravda Ukrainy), accused the government of exceeding its authority in banning the newspaper and of "rude reprisals" against the opposition media. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Inflation forecast at 17.8 percent

WASHINGTON - According to Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko, the level of inflation forecast by the Ukrainian government for 1998 is 17.8 percent. The government had previously expected an inflation level of 10 percent for the year. National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Viktor Yuschenko said, "the monetary and credit policy we plan for 1998 and the planned growth in the money base are capable of having an inflationary effect at last year's level, 10 to 12 percent, and the liberalization of utilities prices for the population will add about 6 to 7 percent to the annual figure." Currently, about 20 percent of the cost of utilities is subsidized by the state budget. The government plans to discontinue these subsidies in the first half of 1998. (Embassy of Ukraine)

German president praises Ukraine

KYIV - German President Roman Herzog said after talks with President Leonid Kuchma in Kyiv that Germany fully supports the country's moves toward closer relations with Western European structures, DPA reported on February 4. Mr. Herzog praised Kyiv's partnership charter with NATO, its bilateral treaties with Romania and Russia, and its participation in peacekeeping in the former Yugoslavia. But the German president criticized the slow pace of economic reform, which, he said, had resulted in weak foreign investment. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Large number of suicides in military

KYIV - Vasyl Kravchenko, Ukraine's chief military prosecutor, said on January 28 that there were 107 cases of suicide in the armed forces last year, Interfax reported. He added that five others died as a result of hazing incidents. Mr. Kravchenko reported the statistics in the wake of an incident in which a soldier fatally shot two servicemen before killing himself. The man was ruled to have suffered "permanent psychological damage" as a result of hazing. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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