NEWSBRIEFS

Tarasyuk meets with Mandela

KYIV - Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk arrived in South Africa on a state visit on November 22 at the invitation of South African Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo. Mr. Tarasyuk's first official visit to the African continent is seen as an important step toward better Ukrainian-South African relations. Mr. Tarasyuk met with President Nelson Mandela and presented him with the Yaroslav Mudryi Award, the Ukrainian president's most prestigious honor, for his input into the development of democracy in South Africa. On November 24 Mr. Tarasyuk visited Johannesburg, where the Ukrainian delegation visited the regional Trade and Industry Association and became acquainted with small- and medium-sized enterprise support activities. Mr. Tarasyuk called on the entrepreneurs and industrialists of Johannesburg to take the initiative in developing cooperation with Ukraine on a regional level, to actively invest and create joint ventures with Ukrainian partners. He also lectured at the International Relations Institute on the issues facing Ukraine as it strives to define a role for itself in the post-Cold War era. (Eastern Economist)

Rada hopes to adopt budget soon

KYIV - Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Tkachenko said on November 30 that the Parliament plans to start considering the 1999 budget on December 2 in order to adopt it no later than December 25, Ukrainian News reported. "It will be far from the budget that would satisfy everyone, but it will comply with all the requirements of the existing legislation," the agency quoted him as saying. He added that the government-proposed budget revenues could be increased by 20 percent "simply by improving the quality of tax collection." The Associated Press reported on November 30 that the parliamentary budget committee is revising budget figures to make the 1999 budget nearly deficit-free. In particular, the Parliament has cut financing for the government and presidential administration. The revised draft budget provides for full payment of overdue wages and pensions. (RFE/RL Newsline)

New chief of staff for Kuchma

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma appointed Mykola Biloblotskyi on November 25 as presidential chief of staff. Mr. Biloblotskyi was born in 1943 and began his career in the construction industry. He has since held office as national deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, labor minister, social policies minister and vice prime minister before being appointed to the presidential administration. (Eastern Economist)

Reform party wants Yuschenko to run

KYIV - The Reformy i Poriadok (Reform and Order) Party announced on November 27 that National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Viktor Yuschenko is a suitable figure to lead the forces of democracy and reform to victory in the 1999 presidential election and 2002 parliamentary elections. Mr. Yuschenko has not yet officially announced whether he intends to run for president. (Eastern Economist)

Flooding disaster latest: mudslides

KYIV - Landslides in Zakarpattia are continuing, the Emergencies Ministry reported on November 25. Aerial surveillance on November 25 showed that around 200 potential landslides have now stabilized, and around 20 slides have already occurred. The Emergency Ministry announced that six investigation teams are working on aerial surveillance of the region; 41 towns and 130 kilometers of roads were observed by November 26. Work is now being conducted to reopen railroad transportation into and throughout the region. Five settlements remain cut off. Telephone connections have been re-established with all settlements. After inspections of water from centralized water sources, 11.5 percent of water supplies failed to meet acceptable standards. Overall, 2,002 buildings have been ruined and 285 flooded, while another 339 are in a precarious state and temporarily uninhabitable. In all, 5,219 people have been evacuated from areas effected by the mudslides; 16,046 people have returned to their homes after initial evacuation from the floods, while 18 have died and 851 have been hospitalized. As the aid program to help the region continued, the Rukh Party announced it had collected 33 tons of warm clothes and shoes for inhabitants of Zakarpattia. (Eastern Economist)

Ukraine opens culture center in Moscow

MOSCOW - Speaking at the opening of a Ukrainian culture center in Moscow on November 27, Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko said Ukraine places great importance on the new establishment. Apart from its educational and informational functions, the center will concern itself with the needs of the several million Ukrainians living and working in Russia. (Eastern Economist)

Inflation projected at 20 percent in 1999

KYIV - The government has increased its projected inflation rate for 1999 to 20 percent from 7.8 percent, the Associated Press reported on November 26. The revision came after President Leonid Kuchma criticized the draft 1999 budget the previous day, saying it was based on figures worked out before Russia's financial crisis impacted on Ukraine. Mr. Kuchma also repeated his former proposal that the government allow the hryvnia exchange rate to float freely. (RFE/RL Newsline)

NBU wary of floating exchange rate

KYIV - The National Bank of Ukraine warned on November 27 that the economy and the currency will collapse if the government allows the hryvnia to float freely and inflation to reach the projected rate of 20 percent. A floating exchange rate will "cause the currency to devalue, trigger inflation and ruin the economy," the Associated Press quoted a bank representative as saying. NBU Chairman Viktor Yuschenko said the same day that he sees "no fundamental reasons" to devalue the national currency. "The hryvnia is in a strengthening trend," Ukrainian News quoted him as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian-French trade relations grow

KYIV - The Embassy of France on November 27 presented a summary of Ukrainian-French relations and reported on the Embassy's activities in 1998. It was stated that France was in favor of Ukraine's full membership in the European Union; the only obstacle is Ukraine's death penalty. As of October 1 this year, France had exported $300 million (U.S.) in goods to Ukraine - 28 percent more than in the same period last year. French imports of Ukrainian goods were $130 million (U.S.), up 10 percent from last year. France invested $45 million (U.S.) in Ukraine during this period, mostly into agriculture. (Eastern Economist)

Four children die in tragic cinema crush

LVIV - Four children died and another 10 are in the hospital after a crush occurred at the movie theater Ukraina in Chervonohrad on November 30. Between two screenings of the Hollywood movie "Armageddon," two crowds of children coming to and from the theater collided and the resultant crush caused four deaths. President Leonid Kuchma sent his condolences to the bereaved. (Eastern Economist)

Russia less free for non-Orthodox

MOSCOW - The Moscow Helsinki Group, together with two other human rights groups, released a report on November 19 asserting that numerous violations of freedom of conscience have occurred since the enactment of the controversial 1997 law regulating religious organizations, the Moscow Times reported on November 25. According to the report, religious groups experience the most interference at the local level, "where legislatures have adopted restrictive measures that go even further than the federal law," the newspaper reported. For example, in the town of Volgodonsk in Rostov Oblast no non-Orthodox churches can be built, while in the Republic of Khakassia a Lutheran mission has been banned. The report concluded that the "legislative and administrative conditions" for "large-scale persecution of religious dissidents or of forced conversion of the population into Orthodoxy" have been created. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Leftists demand Kuchma's resignation

KYIV - Communists, Socialists and other leftists held rallies across Ukraine on November 24 to protest President Leonid Kuchma's policies and demand his resignation, the Associated Press reported. Some 700 people turned out in Kyiv and some 2,700 in Kharkiv. "Ukraine is prepared for a peaceful revolution and is ready to oust this anti-people president through elections," the agency quoted a Socialist leader as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma lambastes law enforcers

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on November 20 blasted the police and the court system for being inefficient in fighting crime, Interfax and the Associated Press reported. He told a conference on fighting organized crime and corruption that the three main factors hindering the work of law enforcement bodies are lack of experience, low moral standards among police officers and inconsistent legal norms. "People are losing faith in the state and the authorities" because of the police's inability to solve many serious crimes and combat organized crime, said Mr. Kuchma. According to official statistics, the police have rooted out nearly 3,000 criminal gangs that have committed some 21,700 crimes in Ukraine over the past three years. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... blames NBU for capital flight

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma and Prosecutor-General Mykhailo Potebenko blamed the National Bank of Ukraine for failing to prevent massive capital flight from Ukraine. Mr. Potebenko said many banks are using accounts with Ukrainian branches of foreign banks to launder money and transfer it abroad. According to Mr. Potebenko, such a practice testifies to "the lack of control over and the lack of responsibility on the part of the National Bank of Ukraine." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian delegation in Kazakstan

ASTANA, Kazakstan - Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko and his deputy, Anatolii Holubchenko, headed a delegation to a session of the Kazak-Ukrainian Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation here in the Kazak capital on November 10, RFE/RL's Almaty bureau reported. The next day the delegation met with Kazak Prime Minister Nurlan Balghymbayev. Their talks focused on the prospects for processing Kazak crude oil at Ukrainian refineries, the participation of Ukrainian workers in construction projects in the new Kazak capital, and the possible use of Ukrainian Black Sea ports to export Kazak wheat and metals. Kazakstan expressed an interest in purchasing the controlling interest in the Lysychansk oil refinery, which is slated for privatization, according to Interfax. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Defense minister asks for more money

KYIV - Defense Minister Oleksander Kuzmuk urged the Parliament on November 11 to increase military spending to 2.6 billion hrv ($760 million) from the 1.7 billion hrv planned in the 1999 draft budget, Reuters reported. Addressing the parliament's Security and Defense Committee, Minister Kuzmuk said the planned sum will not be enough even to cover wages, provisions and uniforms. He added that the armed forces need a minimum of 3.14 billion hrv to fulfill their role of defending the country. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma signs NATO program

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has approved a cooperation program with NATO that covers the period until 2001, Ukrainian Television reported on November 10, noting that the "large-scale and integrated" document is unmatched in any other country taking part in NATO's Partnership for Peace program. The document defines cooperation not only in the political and military spheres, but also in science and technology, emergency situations, nuclear non-proliferation, information exchange, environmental protection, and combating terrorism, organized crime and drug-trafficking. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Mayor wants to renovate Kyiv zoo

KYIV - The Kyiv Zoo will become one of Europe's best zoos by 2001, Kyiv Mayor Hryhorii Omelchenko predicted. The zoo has been recently renovated, and a full 100 million hrv reconstruction project is to be carried out over the next three years. The mayor said he was sure investors would be found for this project. Having finished the second stage of reconstruction, Kyiv Zoo was accepted as the 186th member of the European Zoo Association. (Eastern Economist)

Communist chief calls for united front

KYIV - Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko said on November 16 that leftists should talk not about the candidates for the future presidential elections, but about a "common team" that will be able to introduce its own program. Mr. Symonenko considers it to be "the most effective perspective to oppose those currently in power." Communists will try to attract all the leftist forces, and especially the Socialist Party, to one union that will nominate its common candidate, he said. Socialist leader Oleksander Moroz said that Mr. Symonenko is most likely to become the overall leftist candidate, although he didn't rule out leaders of other leftist parties being nominated as well. (Eastern Economist)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, December 6, 1998, No. 49, Vol. LXVI

| Home Page |