NEWSBRIEFS (07/05/98)

NEWSBRIEFS

Kuchma: Communist can be chairman

KYIV - At a meeting with leaders of parliamentary parties on June 29, President Leonid Kuchma said that Petro Symonenko, head of the Communist Party caucus, would be acceptable as chairman if the Verkhovna Rada voted for him and if the right-of-center caucuses were allowed to control at least 10 of the 20 parliamentary committees, according to ITAR-TASS. The Parliament has been seeking to elect a chairman since May 12. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine complains about rights abuses

KYIV - Ukraine's Embassy in Moscow on June 30 asked the Russian authorities to investigate what it called human rights abuses in the Russian capital, the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington told RFE/RL. Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Viktor Nahaichuk said in Kyiv that Ukrainians working in Moscow have been mistreated or even beaten by local police because they lost or were unable to obtain residence permits from the city administration. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Find misuse of funds at Chornobyl

KYIV - Finance Ministry inspectors have identified massive misuse of clean-up funds at the Chornobyl nuclear plant, ITAR-TASS reported on July 1. The government press service said that approximately 10 million hrv ($5 million U.S.) have been embezzled, misappropriated or misused. After levying fines on officials involved, the auditing service has taken control over all monies in the fund. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Leftists charge bribery in election

KYIV - Leftist deputies have accused their political opponents in the Verkhovna Rada of attempted bribery during the voting on a parliamentary chairman, ITAR-TASS reported on June 24. They assert that some deputies have been offered $10,000 for casting blank ballots during the vote for speaker. The Parliament has set up a deputies' group to investigate the allegation. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Editor-in-chief steps down at paper

KYIV - The editor-in-chief of the Vseukrainskiye Viedomosti newspaper, Volodymyr Ruban, announced his voluntary resignation on June 29. The newspaper was shut down prior to the March parliamentary elections after a decision by the Chernivtsi Court of Arbitration to confiscate 3.5 million hrv from Vseukrainskiye Viedomosti when Dynamo soccer club President Hryhorii Surkis won a court case against the newspaper. Mr. Ruban said the court's decision is purely political. He said he plans to set up a new firm that would unite several different kinds of mass media. Mr. Ruban's newspaper has permanently ceased publication. (Eastern Economist)

White slavery seminar held in Kyiv

KYIV - The International Organization for Migration and the NIS-U.S. Women's Consortium held a seminar on June 29 on the prevention of trafficking in Ukrainian women. White slavery rings have thrived on the exploitation of women from developing countries for years; rising unemployment, poverty and weakened social structures have caused the NIS countries - and Ukraine in particular - to become the latest target countries for recruitment of women into sexual slavery. IOM research indicates that in Ukraine alone between 800,000 and 1.4 million women risk becoming victims of trafficking. The NIS-U.S. Consortium is attempting to reduce this trafficking by providing women with alternatives to working in the sex industry and the means to solve their financial problems. (Eastern Economist)

Ukrainian farmers demand land reform

KYIV - Approximately 400 Ukrainian farmers demonstrated in Kyiv on June 30 to call for the passage of reform legislation that would allow them to buy and sell land freely, give them expanded assistance and create a single tax on agricultural production, Interfax reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Argentina to help encase Chornobyl

KYIV - During an official visit to Kyiv on June 29, Argentina's President Carlos Saul Menem said his country will provide financial assistance to help build a more environmentally safe container for the Chornobyl nuclear power station, ITAR-TASS reported. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have shut down reactor No. 2 for repairs at the country's South Ukraine atomic energy station. Seven of Ukraine's 14 nuclear power reactors are now undergoing repairs. (RFE/RL Newsline)

NATO may open military mission

KYIV - A senior official of NATO said in Kyiv on June 26 that the Western alliance may open a liaison mission in the Ukrainian capital later this year, Interfax reported. Klaus Kleiber, an aide to NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana, said his boss will discuss that possibility during a July 8-9 visit to Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Miners demonstrate in capital

KYIV - Some 250 striking miners blocked streets in Kyiv on June 26 to protest wage arrears, Ukrainian and Western agencies reported. The leaders of the action said it was "a gesture of despair." In response to the mounting wave of job actions in the mining sector, President Leonid Kuchma dismissed four deputy coal industry ministers and named former union leader Viktor Derzhak as head of the state coal concern, Interfax reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yeltsin's visit to Ukraine postponed

KYIV - Boris Yeltsin's press spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembskii said on June 26 that the Russian president will not meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Leonid Kuchma, in Crimea in July, Interfax reported. The informal meeting had originally been scheduled for June. It was postponed until July during the recent Russian economic crisis. But Mr. Yastrzhembskii did not give a reason for this delay or announce a new date. On June 25 the Kremlin announced that President Yeltsin will delay a planned trip to Kazakstan in July to an unspecified date in September in order not to be away from Russia for several days during the continuing economic difficulties. Nezavisimaya Gazeta argued on June 27 that the postponement of Mr. Yeltsin's visits to Ukraine and Kazakstan, where he was to have met with the leaders of that country, China, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, "will further weaken Russia's influence in the CIS." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma praises relations with Poland

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said on June 25 that ties between Kyiv and Warsaw are "very good" and that his regular meetings with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski relieve any tension in the relations, ITAR-TASS reported. Mr. Kuchma was speaking in Kyiv on the eve of a two-day visit by Mr. Kwasniewski to Ukraine. The presidents are to hold talks in Kharkiv. Polish business leaders are accompanying their president. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Good news and bad on the economy

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said on June 25 that although Ukraine's GDP and industrial production have increased, the economy is in a "very difficult" situation, ITAR-TASS reported. Mr. Kuchma said the dismal performance of the stock market also is worrisome. He added that Ukraine must continue to borrow money from foreign lenders, saying that without loans from the IMF "Ukraine will be financially blockaded." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Bomb threat during Rada session

KYIV - A bomb threat on June 25 disrupted the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada shortly after it failed for the 15th time to elect a speaker, the Eastern Economist reported. The Parliament was searched, but no bomb was found and the session was continued behind closed doors. (RFE/RL Newsline)

First lady supports rights in Belarus

MIENSK - Hillary Rodham Clinton, wife of the U.S. president, sent a letter of support to the wives and mothers of men in detention in Belarus allegedly for their opposition to the Belarusian government, Belapan reported on June 25. Mrs. Clinton said she is concerned by "the worsening human rights situation in Belarus." She added that the women are not alone and that Washington supports their cause of defending human rights. (RFE/RL Newsline)