NEWSBRIEFS (10/04/98)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukrainian financial crisis deepens

KYIV - National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Viktor Yuschenko on September 28 pledged to keep the national currency within the new exchange rate corridor of 2.5-3.5 hrv to $1, which was introduced earlier this month, the Associated Press reported. However, Mr. Yuschenko gave no hint as to how he intends to prevent the currency from further devaluation. He had announced earlier that the NBU will not use its hard-currency reserves to support the hryvnia. The hryvnia exchange rate fell to 3.37 to $1 on September 25, compared with 2.25 to $1 at the beginning of the month. (RFE/RL Newsline)

EBRD pledges to continue cooperation

KYIV - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is determined to continue long-term cooperation with Ukraine despite the country's financial troubles. "The EBRD has a long-term commitment to Ukraine; we will remain involved in Ukraine," Reuters quoted EBRD First Deputy Chairman Charles Frank as saying. He added that the bank will focus on support for Ukrainian small and medium-sized businesses, the energy sector, and the privatization of telecommunications and energy companies. Mr. Frank noted that Ukraine, unlike Russia, has not defaulted on its debt payments and has not permitted an insolvency crisis in the banking sector. He said Ukraine can count on $1 billion from the EBRD for various projects currently under consideration. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russian economy worst of CIS

MOSCOW - The CIS Interstate Statistical Committee reported that during the first eight months of the year the Russian economy performed worse than that of any other CIS countries. Interfax reported on September 28 that from January to August, according to the committee, the Russian GDP fell by 2.1 percent and industrial output slipped 2.6 percent, compared with gains in GDP of 0.2 percent in Ukraine and 9.2 percent in Azerbaijan. The committee seems to be relying on the CIS nations' own economic reporting, since the GDP in Belarus is recorded as having risen an unbelievable 11 percent, while Tajikistan registered a 6.5 percent growth in GDP. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma meets with Kwasniewski

KYIV - At an informal meeting in Crimea on September 28, President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine and his Polish counterpart, Aleksander Kwasniewski, discussed the Russian financial crisis and a wide range of bilateral and economic issues, DINAU reported on September 28. President Kwasniewski assured the Ukrainian president that Poland, following its entry into the European Union, "will not turn its back on Ukraine." According to Polish Radio, President Kuchma assured that the reconstructed cemetery in Lviv for Polish youths who fell while fighting against Ukrainians in 1918 will be reopened this year. The cemetery was recently desecrated with paint smears and anti-Polish slogans, provoking a note of protest from the Polish Foreign Affairs Ministry. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Government says MPs block reform

KYIV - In a letter to the Verkhovna Rada, Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko and National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Viktor Yuschenko have accused opposition parliamentary deputies of blocking fiscal austerity measures and economic reforms needed to stabilize Ukraine's finances, Reuters reported on September 25. The letter - which singles out the Socialist Party and the Hromada Party for criticism - stresses that further opposition will lead to the complete depreciation of the hryvnia, a political crisis, Ukraine's isolation in the international arena and heightened social tensions. The Parliament has thus far vetoed three of President Leonid Kuchma's eight economic decrees issued last month to meet the International Monetary Fund's requirements for obtaining a $2.2 billion loan. (RFE/RL Newsline)

N-plant employees protest unpaid wages

KYIV - Employees at Ukraine's five nuclear power plants staged protests on September 26 to demand back wages for the past five months, the Associated Press and ITAR-TASS reported. Demonstrations took place in satellite towns built near the nuclear plants, which continued to operate normally. Ukraine's nuclear power plants account for some 50 percent of electricity produced in the country, but they can barely make ends meet because of huge debts owed to them by electricity consumers. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv kids recognized as Chornobyl victims

KYIV - The Kyiv City Council decided to grant the status of Chornobyl victims to all children born in the second half of 1986, the year of the nuclear accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. Approximately 320,000 children born between January 1, 1979, and June 30, 1986, had already been officially recognized as Chornobyl victims. The new decision adds another 25,000 children born between July 1 and December 31, 1986, to that category. The decision notes that the classification does not cover children of parents who moved to Kyiv after June 30, 1986, or children born between 1979 and 1986 who arrived in the capital for permanent residency after June 20, 1986. (Respublika)

Kyiv creates state broadcasting giant

KYIV - In accordance with a recent presidential edict, the Ukrainian government on September 24 announced the establishment of Ukrainian Television and Radio Broadcasting, a state shareholding company that will unite state-run broadcast media, the Associated Press reported. Several national television channels and radio stations, as well as 27 regional state-run television and radio companies that are not subject to privatization, will be united in the new entity. The Cabinet of Ministers appointed Mykola Kniazhytskyi as the company's board chairman. Information Minister Zynovii Kulyk said the government is currently able to finance only some 20 percent of broadcasters' needs. "It is entirely possible that we shall cut the national radio broadcasts, for instance, from 22 hours a day to seven or eight hours," he said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Leaders to calm fear of financial collapse

KYIV - Ukraine's regional government leaders agreed on September 24 to launch a nationwide information campaign to restore confidence in the national currency, the Associated Press reported. In the wake of the Russian crisis, the Ukrainian hryvnia has fallen from 2.1 hrv per $1 (U.S.) in mid-August to 3.25 hrv per $1 on September 24. Vice Prime Minister Serhii Tyhypko told regional leaders that "psychological factors" have played a "most significant role" in Ukraine's current economic slump. National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Viktor Yuschenko added that panic among the population is the only obstacle to stabilizing the hryvnia and curbing inflation. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Romanian minister comments on minority

BUCHAREST - Romania's Foreign Affairs Minister Andrei Plesu on September 16 appealed to journalists to display more "seriousness and responsibility" when reporting on the situation of the Romanian minority in Ukraine, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Referring to the campaign in the media on alleged infringements of that minority's rights, Mr. Plesu said reports are often "exaggerated, based on insufficient evidence and even groundless." He said the Romanian minority in Ukraine is "unfortunately divided into numerous rival factions" and that it was one of those groups that proposed changing the official designation of its language from "Romanian" to "Moldovan." Ukrainian authorities, he noted, have not acted on that proposal. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russian fleet commander charges abuse

SEVASTOPOL - Vice Admiral Vladimir Komoedov, commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, has sent an open letter to the Sevastopol city administration accusing it of "abusive actions" against Russian sailors, ITAR-TASS reported on September 17. Vice Admiral Komoedov said that sailors are discriminated against by the city authorities, who have deprived them of the right to use city transportation free of charge. He also points to increased pressure on the fleet to pay taxes and threats to confiscate property and cut off water and electricity supplies unless the fleet pays its debts. (RFE/RL Newsline)

World Energy Congress praises Ukraine

HOUSTON - A Ukrainian delegation headed by Energy Minister Oleksii Sheberstov and Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S. Yuri Shcherbak is participated in the World Energy Congress here. According to the Embassy of Ukraine, the congress noted that Ukraine had made the greatest progress among all the CIS states in reform of the energy sector. The Ukrainian delegates expressed satisfaction at the cooperation with the West that has been achieved and submitted proposals on plans for further cooperation. (Eastern Economist)

McDonald's to open Sumy restaurant

SUMY, Ukraine - McDonald's will add about 20,000 hrv annually to the Sumy city budget. Sumy's first McDonald's restaurant is expected to be opened on November 1. McDonald's had planned to open a restaurant in Sumy in 2002, but eventually decided to give the city preference over Odesa, Lviv, Cherkasy, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Luhansk. McDonald's is now operating in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk. The company plans to invest about $2 million (U.S.) in constructing the new restaurant. (Eastern Economist)

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