NEWSBRIEFS (08/30/98)

NEWSBRIEFS

Value of ruble plunges

MOSCOW - The value of the ruble continues to fall against the dollar, falling 10 percent and closing at 7.86 to $1 on August 25. It was the biggest drop since "Black Tuesday," October 11, 1994, when the ruble sank more than 25 percent. Acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin told reporters that the fall of ruble is both an "economic and a political issue." He said that "our economy is too closely linked to politics." Andrei Illarionov, director of the Moscow-based Economic Analysis Institute said he can envision a 15 ruble/$1 exchange rate if Russian financial policy is not overhauled and the leadership of the Central Bank replaced. Earlier Mr. Illarionov had declared a devaluation of the ruble inevitable. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine's hryvnia slides

KYIV - In the wake of the Russian ruble's plunge, the Ukrainian hryvnia slid to 2.249 to $1 on August 25, only slightly below the upper limit of 2.250 to $1 set by the government. National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Viktor Yuschenko had said last week's devaluation of the hryvnia to 2.243 to $1 was a "sufficient reaction to the decline of the Russian ruble," Ukrainian News reported on August 22. He pledged to keep the official exchange rate of the hryvnia below the previously announced upper limit of 2.250 to $1. He also stressed that Ukraine's banks are solvent, despite the fact that most banks curtailed financial operations last week. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko called for urgent talks with CIS government heads to work out a "common position" on the financial crisis in Russia, Interfax reported on August 21. (RFE/RL Newsline)

IMF delays action on loan

KYIV - The IMF announced on August 25 that it may need more time to assess the effects on Ukraine of Russia's financial crisis and change of government before setting a date to approve a $2.2 billion loan to Ukraine, the Associated Press reported. The IMF Executive Board was expected to meet by the end of August to approve the first installment of the loan, totaling between $200 million and $250 million. Ukrainian officials have said the loan will be used primarily to replenish the reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Michel Camdessus had told President Leonid Kuchma in a telephone conversation on August 22 that he expects the IMF to soon approve a loan to Ukraine. Mr. Camdessus assured the Ukrainian president that the fund supports Ukraine's economic reforms. The IMF loan is widely expected to stabilize Ukraine's financial market in the wake of Russia's financial crisis. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma for Chernomyrdin's approval

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma told Interfax on August 24 that he hopes the Russian State Duma will confirm Viktor Chernomyrdin as Russia's prime minister. The president of Ukraine added that the latest developments in Russia emphasize the importance of a "strong and stable government." An official from the Ukrainian presidential administration told ITAR-TASS the same day that Mr. Kuchma believes Mr. Chernomyrdin "will manage to put the nation's financial issues in order." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Protesting miners under investigation

LUHANSK - The Luhansk Oblast Procurator's Office has launched an investigation into a clash between riot police and 150 miners who were protesting wage arrears, Ukrainian Radio and Television reported on August 25. The clash took place in a Luhansk city park the previous day, Ukraine's Independence Day, when the miners gathered to burn a straw effigy. Police troops arrived at the scene after receiving an anonymous telephone call saying that the effigy contained an explosive device. The miners refused to let policemen examine the effigy and fought back. Twelve policemen and eight miners were hospitalized after the skirmish. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Odesa elects Bodelan mayor

ODESA - Ruslan Bodelan, former chairman of the Odesa Oblast, was elected mayor of Odesa on August 23, Ukrainian Television reported. Mr. Bodelan, who was supported by the government in his mayoral bid, received some 100,000 votes (36 percent) in the ballot. More than 30 candidates ran in the election, and turnout was 36 percent. The city's previous mayoral elections held in March were declared invalid when the victor, former Odesa Mayor Eduard Hurvits, was found guilty of breaking the law. Mr. Hurvits was banned from running for re-election. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma confers with Sen. Lugar

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma met with U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar in Kyiv on August 23 to discuss U.S. assistance to Ukraine's nuclear disarmament program. Mr. Kuchma noted that U.S. funds to assist Ukraine in destroying missile silos are being transferred "on time," but he complained that the money allocated for recultivating the land around the former silos is not, the Associated Press reported. Sen. Lugar, who along with Sen. Sam Nunn initiated a U.S. aid program to former Soviet republics to eliminate their nuclear arsenals, pledged continued economic aid to Ukraine and praised Kyiv for its support of the recent U.S. attacks in Sudan and Afghanistan. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Moroz receives Order of Yaroslav the Wise

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma presented the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise to Oleksander Moroz, former chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and today chairman of the Parliament's Committee on Agrarian Policy and Land. He received the award "for personal contributions to the Ukrainian state in the realm of state-building and a significant contribution to the development of legislative authority in the country." The award was presented on the occasion of the seventh anniversary of Ukraine's independence proclamation. (Respublika)

Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact protested

CHISINAU - Some 200 people on August 23 participated in a rally in Chisinau, capital of Moldova, marking the 59th anniversary of the signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, which led to Bessarabia's annexation by Stalinist Russia in 1940. The participants demanded the "elimination of the historic injustice," the annulment of "all consequences of the pact" and the restoration of the "Romanian unitary state within its historic borders," Infotag reported. The protesters also shouted anti-Russian slogans in front of the Russian Embassy and demanded the release of Ilie Ilascu, who has been jailed for six years in the Transdniester region. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Gorbachev denounces Russian president

MOSCOW - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev told Reuters on August 19 that President Boris Yeltsin would perform "his last good deed for his people" if he called early elections. But he suggested that Mr. Yeltsin is unlikely to do that because "I don't think he realizes what the situation is." Mr. Gorbachev said he is especially worried about the social and political impact of price increases certain to be triggered by the devaluation of the ruble. In a related development, Mr. Gorbachev told Interfax that he has turned down an invitation to meet with the Duma's Impeachment Commission personally because some of its members were supporters of the so-called Emergency Committee that launched the August 1991 coup against him. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Coup anniversary passes almost unnoticed

MOSCOW - Approximately 50 people gathered near the Russian White House on August 19 to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the 1991 coup and Russian resistance to it, the Associated Press reported. The demonstrators, who carried Russian flags and portraits of President Boris Yeltsin, were heckled by Communists and coal miners protesting the Yeltsin administration for failing to pay workers on time. Neither President Yeltsin nor former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev made any public statements about the events of 1991. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Pustovoitenko continues tax collection

KYIV - Following two unorthodox measures to collect tax debts - civil defense exercises for directors of debtor companies and the seizure of cars from tax delinquents - Ukrainian Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko announced a third stage of tax collection on August 19. The government is to immediately establish "tax collection posts" at all debtor companies. "The tax collection posts will exercise control over the production and sale of all output and the payment of taxes, including barter and goods exchange operations," Ukrainian Television quoted Mr. Pustovoitenko as saying. But Mr. Pustovoitenko's unorthodox measures to collect outstanding taxes have not proved very effective to date. Tax arrears totaling 8.3 billion hrv ($3.7 billion U.S.) on August 1 were reduced by only 5.6 percent by August 17. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lego exhibit arrives in Kyiv

KYIV - The 1998 Danish children's show, Legoland on Wheels, arrived for the first time in Kyiv on August 22-24. This free event, which celebrated Ukraine's Independence Day, included an assortment of games for children at Kontraktova Ploscha in the historic Podil section of the capital. With the guidance of Lego designers from Lithuania and Denmark, kids could also help construct a huge Lego Sphinx or a two-by-three meter Ukrainian flag. Lego's 1998 tour of European cities has already made stops in Austria, Germany, Norway and Switzerland. The models to be displayed are made up of 280,000 Lego pieces and cover 50 square meters. (Eastern Economist)

EBRD gives preliminary OK for credit

KYIV - The Ministry of Environmental Safety reported that the board of directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has agreed to provide $190 million (U.S.) in credits toward the completion of units at the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi atomic energy stations. The main condition for EBRD financing is the opening of power units at both plants. According to the EBRD, starting up the new units - which are being counted on to replace power lost from Chornobyl's shutdown - would ease the doubts that nag EBRD experts about EnergoAtom's ability to repay the credits. Environmental Safety Ministry experts, however, think that the financing will make it possible to begin operations by 2000; this target date is the main condition for an early shutdown of Chornobyl. Sources estimate the total necessary for the completion of the two power units at between $900 million and $1.6 billion (U.S.). (Eastern Economist)

| Home Page |