NEWSBRIEFS (12/20/98)

NEWSBRIEFS

National deputies approve draft budget

KYIV - The Ukrainian Parliament gave preliminary approval to a 1999 draft budget after defying the government by increasing revenue and spending targets, the Associated Press reported. The draft, which provides for a balanced budget, was passed by a vote of 288 to 25. Earlier, President Leonid Kuchma had termed the draft "populist and destructive." It now goes back to the government, which must resubmit it for a second reading on December 22. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Communists threaten to block ratifications

KYIV - The parliamentary caucus of the Communist Party of Ukraine has threatened to block ratification of all international agreements signed by the government, Reuters reported on December 14. Rada Vice-Chairman Adam Martyniuk, a member of the Communist Party, said his caucus will not vote for any of the 64 international treaties pending ratification until the Parliament approves Ukraine's membership in the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly. Communists hold 122 seats in the 448-member Verkhovna Rada and often block legislation together with the Socialist and Agrarian caucuses. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Miner sets himself afire over wages

LUHANSK - Oleksander Mykhalevych, a 35-year-old miner from Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, doused himself with gasoline and set himself afire on December 14 to protest unpaid wages, the Ukrainian news media reported. Mr. Mykhalevych, along with some 200 miners, had been on strike since July, living in shacks built near the Luhansk administration building. In a note written before his attempted self-immolation, Mr. Mykhalevych said he was taking this action because he has lost hope of receiving the some 5,000 hryvni ($1,450 U.S.) that he is owed. After police and fellow miners put out the flames, Mr. Mykhalevych was taken to the hospital, where he remains in critical condition. According to the Independent Miners' Trade Union, more than 20,000 miners are currently on strike over back wages. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Youths call for end to draft

KYIV - Representatives of Molodyi Rukh and the Ukrainian Students' Union picketed the Verkhovna Rada on December 9, demanding an end to the military draft. Molodyi Rukh Leader Taras Shamaida said the activity was timed to coincide with International Human Rights Day. He said he hoped the action would help initiate debate on the establishment of a professional army. He cited research which shows that 8 percent of young people age 18-30 are ready to serve under contract in the army for a monthly salary of $100 (U.S.). (Eastern Economist)

Belarusian, Ukrainian chiefs sign act

MIENSK - Presidents Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Leonid Kuchma, meeting in Miensk on December 11, signed a 10-year economic cooperation treaty and discussed ways to reduce the impact of the Russian financial crisis on both countries, Belarusian Television reported. "Whether we like it or not, relations between Belarus and Ukraine are directly dependent on stability in the Russian Federation," Mr. Lukashenka commented after the talks. The Associated Press reported that Presidents Lukashenka and Kuchma did not settle differences over the repayment of Ukraine's $200 million debt to Belarus. They will return to the issue in February. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine and China sign trade deals

KYIV - During Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk's visit to Beijing last week, Ukraine and China signed two trade agreements and discussed cooperation in farming and other areas, the Associated Press reported on December 12. Ukraine's trade with China in 1997 totaled $1.25 billion but has dropped by 30 percent this year. Mr. Tarasyuk said growing Chinese trade barriers to Ukrainian imports are to blame for this decrease. He confirmed Kyiv's commitment to the "one China" policy, which recognizes Taiwan as a province of mainland China. "We are maintaining trade and economic relations with Taiwan on an unofficial basis, but we have no military and technical contacts with it," ITAR- TASS quoted him as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Chornobyl fund donor countries meet

KYIV - An assembly of donor countries of the Chornobyl fund Ukryttia had its fifth meeting in London on December 14 with Vice Minister of the Economy Gennadii Yaroslavtsev heading the Ukrainian delegation. Participants discussed the fulfillment of Ukryttia projects oriented toward remodeling the sarcophagus over the fourth reactor at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant into a more ecologically secure system. Participants were told that high radiation levels had made it necessary to delay repair works and change the completion date to February 1999, pushing up the cost of the project from 1 million ecu (European Currency Units) to 1.6 million ecu. The Chornobyl fund has so far collected just $393.42 million (U.S.) of a planned $758 million, endangering not just proposed 1999 projects, but the entire Ukryttia program. (Eastern Economist)

Ukraine to pay Russian debts with grain

KYIV - Ukraine announced on December 10 that it will send 550,000 tons of grain and other goods to Russia to repay gas debts, the Associated Press reported. Artur Hubar, a spokesman for the Ukrainian state oil and gas company NaftoGas, said Kyiv will also send food, farm machinery and gas industry equipment to help pay a nearly $1 billion debt. (RFE/RL Newsline)

NATO to station liaison officers in Kyiv

KYIV - Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk and NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana said on December 9 that two NATO liaison officers will be stationed in Kyiv, an RFE/RL correspondent in Brussels reported. The announcement was made after a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO commission. Mr. Tarasyuk also said that President Leonid Kuchma will attend the alliance's summit in April. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada forms commission on Lazarenko

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on December 9 announced it will set up a commission to investigate the arrest by Swiss authorities of former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, the Associated Press reported. The commission will be headed by Parliament Vice-Chairman Viktor Medvedchuk. The Parliament also urged Chairman Oleksander Tkachenko to ask Swiss authorities to resolve the issue quickly. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma exempts farmers from VAT

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has issued an edict exempting farmers from value-added tax for five years, Ukrainian Television reported on December 2. The exemption extends to those who sell homemade goods, excluding those liable to excise tax. The only condition is that earnings from homemade products must exceed 50 percent of a farm's gross income. Money saved by not paying VAT is to be spent on improving equipment and production methods; otherwise the funds will be confiscated. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM promotes Kuchma candidacy

KYIV - Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko said President Leonid Kuchma should run as "the only candidate of the centrist forces" in the 1999 presidential polls, Interfax reported on November 23. Addressing a congress of the pro-presidential National Democratic Party the previous day, Mr. Pustovoitenko said President Kuchma "is capable of uniting around him all moderate political forces and of continuing the course of socially oriented, consistent economic restructuring." The prime minister urged the party to support Mr. Kuchma as its presidential candidate and to initiate the signing of a memorandum on uniting parties "that pursue stability and socially oriented economic reforms." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Center-right parties form council

KYIV - The heads of 12 center-rightist political parties signed an agreement on November 18 creating the united Council of Parties' Heads, whose aim is to create a unified political base among the center-right bloc for the forthcoming presidential elections. This agreement is the end product of seven previous meetings during which deputies of 16 parties discussed the principles of any future political union. The Council of Parties' Heads includes Vyacheslav Chornovil of Rukh, Oleksander Shandriuk of the Republican Party, Viktor Prysiazhniuk of the Peasants Democratic Party, Slava Stetsko of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists and Vitalii Kononov of the Greens. Mr. Prysiazhniuk said that, having lost out in the elections in March to Communists and Socialists, center-right parties have realized that the only way to avoid more leftist gains in the presidential elections is to support one candidate who will represent the interests of all parties who have joined this union. "The Ukrainian people expressed themselves in the December 1, 1991, referendum. Now it is the political leaders' turn to stand up for them," Mr. Prysiazhniuk said. The candidate to represent this union remains unconfirmed. According to Mr. Shandriuk, every party will propose its own candidate. (Eastern Economist)

Ukrainian AIDS epidemic gathers pace

KYIV - First Vice Minister of Health Raisa Bohatyriova said that the number of AIDS and HIV cases in Ukraine had increased 80 times over the last three years. She said there are currently 22,494 HIV-positive cases and 642 AIDS cases. "The number of HIV-positive cases in Ukraine is several times higher than the total for the rest of the CIS," she added. (Eastern Economist)

Opposition newspaper shut down

KYIV - Oleh Liashko, editor-in-chief of the daily Polityka, said he has been informed that a Kyiv court revoked the newspaper's registration, forcing it to shut down, the Associated Press reported. Mr. Liashko said no representatives of the newspaper had been asked to appear in court. He charged that the decision was made because Polityka recently published a series of articles on alleged corruption within President Leonid Kuchma's office. However, Mr. Liashko said, "in this case I don't see the hand of the president. I think it's an action by people who wish to arrange for Kuchma to look as if he's strangling the press." Polityka had closed down for several months earlier this year when a criminal case was launched against it by tax officials. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Pustovoitenko signs agreements in Tbilisi

TBILISI - Meeting on December 7 in the Georgian capital, Ukraine's Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko and Georgian Minister of State Vazha Lortkipanidze signed a 10-year agreement on economic cooperation, as well as accords on trade, banking, culture and transportation, Interfax and Caucasus Press reported. The two leaders discussed coordinating efforts to prevent a further devaluation of their countries' currencies. Mr. Pustovoitenko also held talks with President Eduard Shevardnadze, Parliament Chairman Zurab Zhvania and Foreign Affairs Minister Irakli Menagharishvili. The Ukrainian leader told Mr. Menagharishvili that Ukraine is willing to host talks between Georgian and Abkhaz representatives on confidence-building measures in order to expedite a settlement of the Abkhaz conflict. Mr. Pustovoitenko also inspected the oil terminal under construction at Georgia's Black Sea port of Supsa and again affirmed Ukraine's interest in exporting, via its territory, Caspian oil shipped by tanker from Supsa to Odesa, Interfax reported. He also visited Batumi, where he discussed the prospects for bilateral cooperation with Adjar Supreme Council Chairman Aslan Abashidze. A rail ferry service between Batumi, Poti and Ilichevsk was to begin operating on December 19 after several postponements. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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