NEWSBRIEFS (09/13/98)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukraine cracks down on "mafia"

ODESA - In a large-scale operation undertaken in Odesa, the Ukrainian police and security service have arrested 48 people who had intended to hold a "Mafia conference," Ukrainian Television reported on September 8. Interfax reported that a total of 109 people were arrested, including underground leaders from 30 regions of Ukraine, as well as from Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakstan and the Transcaucasus. According to law enforcement agencies, those arrested had planned to meet in Odessa on September 5 to re-divide spheres of influence and plan future joint operations. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine, UNICEF sign agreement

KYIV - Ezio Murzi, UNICEF special representative in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, praised a recent agreement between the Ukrainian government and the United Nations Children's Fund. Mr. Murzi said that UNICEF's program will include special training for specialists in the social sector to address the needs of homeless children. Family and Health Minister Valentyna Dovzhenko signed the agreement on behalf of Ukraine, saying it will help "improve the condition of children in Ukraine" and expand cooperation with UNICEF, thereby increasing the flow of financial, humanitarian and other forms of aid geared toward addressing the needs of the country's children. (Eastern Economist)

Kyiv denies banning Romanian language

KYIV - The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry has rejected claims voiced recently in the Romanian press that the Ukrainian authorities have banned the use of Romanian (called Moldovan in Ukraine) in schools in Odesa Oblast, the DPA news agency reported on September 8. According to the ministry, there has been no change in the status of Romanian schools or in language policies in Ukraine since 1991. The ministry says that the Romanian claims are "absolutely groundless" and can be attributed to a "political and propaganda campaign" launched against Ukraine in the Romanian press. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Leader may be charged over Chornobyl

KYIV - Lubomir Strougal may face charges over having withheld information on the danger posed by the Chornobyl nuclear catastrophe in 1986, the Associated Press reported. Mr. Strougal, now 74, is suspected of having intentionally provided false or incomplete information on radiation levels measured on former Czecho-Slovak territory shortly after the explosion in Chornobyl. The Office for Investigation and Documentation of Communist Crimes, which has the power to prosecute, is investigating the case. A spokesman for the office said investigators hope to decide within a month whether to press charges. Mr. Strougal has denied the accusations. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Teachers start school year with strike

KYIV - According to the Education Ministry of Ukraine, more than 320 schools did not reopen in Ukraine on September 1 as teachers launched a strike over unpaid wages, the DPA news service reported. The teachers' trade union claimed that some 450 Ukrainian schools remain closed. Ukrainian Television reported that total wage arrears to teachers exceed 400 million hryvni ($177 million U.S.). Most affected by the teachers' action are Ternopil, Chernihiv and Kirovohrad oblasts, where teachers have not been paid for some six months. Teachers in Kherson are proposing a "forced job pause" to allow them to find temporary employment at collective farms to earn money for the winter, Ukrainian Television reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lithuania forms war crimes commission

VILNIUS - Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus has officially established an international commission to examine war crimes committed during the Nazi and Soviet occupations of Lithuania. Presidential adviser Julius Shmulkshtis told Reuters on September 7 that the commission's main function is "to investigate the World War II period and the immediate aftermath in order to come up with answers to various questions concerning Jewish and Lithuanian genocide." The commission will be headed by Parliament Deputy Emanuelis Zingeris. Earlier this year, the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia agreed to set up commissions in their countries to investigate the events of 1939-1991, especially during and after World War II. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kharkiv to send tractors to South America

KHARKIV - The Kharkiv Tractor Plant has manufactured the first batch of tractors in its XT3-170 series. The equipment will be supplied to Uruguay unassembled and without engines, in accord with a contract signed between the plant and the Uruguayan firm Dinavol. The Latin American firm assumed responsibility for assembling the tractors for sale at markets in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and Columbia. According to the plant's deputy director, Dmytro Serhienko, by the end of the year Kharkiv Tractor is obligated to supply 50 tractors equipped with Volvo engines to Dinavol. He added that the plant has the capability to install its tractors with engines from a variety of different firms. (Eastern Economist)

Peacekeepers headed for Transdniester

KYIV - The Joint Control Commission, which is observing the truce in the security zone in the Transdniester, has approved bringing 10 Ukrainian peacekeepers to the security zone, Infotag reported on August 26. The decision to bring the Ukrainian peacekeepers was made in March, but Chisinau and Tiraspol both failed to approve the plan until now. (RFE/RL Newsline)

New consumer NGO founded

KYIV - The Ukrainian Consumers and Producers League, headed by National Deputy Viktor Bilous, was founded on August 19. The NGO has over 300 members, including citizens and dozens of enterprises. The league's goal is to protect the social, economic, educational and cultural interests of consumers buying, ordering or using goods and services. It is geared exclusively to the domestic market and aims to unite the interests of domestic consumers and producers. (Eastern Economist)

Last SS-19 silo to be destroyed shortly

KYIV - Ukraine's last SS-19 nuclear missile silo will be destroyed this November, according to the Defense Ministry's Verification Center chief, Gen. Mykola Honcharenko. "Ukraine has destroyed 122 silos under the START I treaty," he said. Earlier this month Ukraine also began to destroy its more up-to-date SS-24 missiles together with their silos, of which 46 remain. Ukrainian and U.S. officials had destroyed the first weapons silo in a special ceremony in January 1996 at a military base near the small town of Pervomaisk in southern Ukraine. Ukraine accepted non-nuclear status in July 1996, sending all its 1,900 nuclear warheads to neighboring Russia in exchange for around $1 billion worth of fuel for Ukraine's five nuclear power plants. According to Ukrainian officials, the U.S. has already granted about $300 million for the destruction of missiles and silos. (Eastern Economist)

Recruits ready for military academy

KYIV - According to the press service of the Ministry of Defense, the Kyiv branch of the Ivan Bohun Military Lyceum has admitted its first 200 students for the coming school year. The institution was established at the Central Clinic Sanatorium in Boiarka, a Kyiv suburb. Defense Minister Oleksander Kuzmuk visited Boiarka on August 20 to inspect preparations for the new lyceum. The academic year began on August 25. (Eastern Economist)

Ternopil dig uncovers ancient graves

NEVSKE, Ukraine - In the valley of the Zherebets River near the village of Nevske, Ternopil Oblast, archeological excavations in catacombs have uncovered more than 30 Bronze Age graves. An unusually large number of children's artifacts have been found. Specialists are continuing excavations. Earlier excavations had discovered the well-preserved sword of Kyiv Prince Ihor. (Eastern Economist)

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