NEWSBRIEFS (12/27/98)

NEWSBRIEFS

Kuchma seeks abolition of death penalty

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has asked the Verkhovna Rada to pass a law abolishing the death penalty in accordance with the country's international obligations, the Associated Press reported on December 19. Ukraine agreed to abolish capital punishment in 1995 when it joined the Council of Europe; it introduced a moratorium on executions in March 1997. This year Ukrainian courts have sentenced more than 80 people to death, but none have been executed. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lazarenko returns from Switzerland

KYIV - Former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who has been indicted for alleged money-laundering in Switzerland but freed on $3 million bail, returned to Ukraine on December 19. Viktor Omelych of the Hromada Party, headed by Mr. Lazarenko, told Ukrainian Television that Mr. Lazarenko has been "degraded, insulted and completely destroyed by [Ukraine's] authorities" and "will be continually working to show the [true] reason for his arrest to the entire public." Meanwhile, National Deputy Hryhorii Omelchenko told Ukrainian Television the day before that Mr. Lazarenko deposited some $200 million in several bank accounts in Switzerland over the past three years. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Central bank cuts discount rate

KYIV - The National Bank of Ukraine has lowered the discount rate from 82 percent to 60 percent as of December 21 and ordered commercial banks to adjust their interest rates to the new figure, the Associated Press reported on December 18. The decision came several days after NBU Chairman Viktor Yuschenko said Ukraine's currency market has started to show signs of stabilization following the onset of Russia's financial and economic crisis. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine opposes strikes against Iraq

KYIV - Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry said on December 17 that it cannot agree with U.S. and British military strikes on Iraq and expressed regret over civilian casualties as a result of those strikes, Reuters reported. "Ukraine, which has consistently advocated resolving any conflict situations by peaceful political means, cannot agree with forcible methods of tackling this issue," the ministry said in a statement. The statement warns against "unpredictable consequences [of the strikes] for the region and whole world" and expresses the hope that the United Nations Security Council will do "whatever is possible to avoid further escalation of tension around Iraq." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian plane down in war zone

KYIV - A Ukrainian AN-12B plane disappeared over the territory of Angola on December 14. According to the Russian consulate in Angola, that morning Angola's UNITA rebel groups laid siege to the city of Kuito backed by heavy artillery with anti-aircraft capabilities. According to unconfirmed reports the AN-12B flew out of Kuito airport heading to Luanda. After the plane reached an latitude of 5,200 meters a land-air missile hit the plane. The wreck of the Khors AN-12B plane, carrying five crew members and several representatives from the Angola Armed Forces was discovered the next day 12 kilometers north of the airfield. Khors Company Chair Vysochanskyi admitted that he doubted the reliability of information about military activities in the region of the airport at the time the plane took off. Several planes that belong to reliable companies had taken off from this airport just a couple hours before the accident, Mr. Vysochanskyi said in his defense. He stressed that Khors has not transported dangerous loads, except for ammunition in the last five years. It is the only company among Ukrainian airlines operating in Angola. (Eastern Economist)

Rada to halt energy sector privatization ...

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on December 16 gave preliminary approval to a resolution imposing a moratorium on the privatization of the energy sector, the Associated Press reported. The resolution orders the State Property Fund to stop selling energy companies until the Parliament approves an appropriate law. Deputies argue that many government officials make illegal profits from energy privatization by selling stakes to companies linked to them. The Parliament will take a final decision on the moratorium next week. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... stops telecommunications privatization

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on December 15 rejected a government bill providing for the privatization of Ukrtelekom, Ukraine's telecommunications monopoly. Deputies argued that the bill violates the Constitution and agreed to debate an alternative bill next week. Ukrtelekom and Ukraine's oil and gas pipeline network are widely believed to be the only state assets that could attract large-scale foreign investments into the country. According to Ukrtelekom officials, Ukraine could raise some $2.4 billion by selling a 25 percent stake in the company. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada rejects Crimean Constitution

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on December 15 voted 210-89 to approve the new Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, but fell 16 votes short of the required majority of 226 votes, the Associated Press reported. Lawmakers from the pro-government National Democratic Party criticized Crimea's basic law for containing "separatist provisions," in particular those allowing Crimea to engage in economic activities abroad and the Crimean parliamentary chairman to sign international agreement and treaties. The opposition Rukh, Hromada, and Green parties opposed the provision stipulating that taxes collected in Crimea are to be channeled only to the autonomous republic's budget. They added that the document fails to ensure the official status of the Ukrainian language and to provide for the rights of Crimean Tatars. The Verkhovna Rada has set up a commission composed of Crimean Tatar and Kyiv legislators to examine the disputed provisions. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tax breaks for completion of reactors

KYIV - Ukraine's legislature on December 16 approved three-year profit tax breaks for companies financing the completion of two nuclear reactors at the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants. A member of the Verkhovna Rada's Nuclear Safety Committee told the Associated Press that the reactors are 80 percent finished and the bill on tax breaks will allow construction to be completed within two years. Ukraine wants those reactors to compensate for the loss of electricity after the planned closure of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in 2000. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Udovenko at non-proliferation summit

KYIV - National Deputy Hennadii Udovenko participated on December 16 in a Tokyo forum on nuclear disarmament and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, sponsored by the Hiroshima Institute of Peace. The forum aims to prepare recommendations on non-proliferation initiatives, concentrating particularly on the Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests. Mr. Udovenko stressed that Ukrainians, who experienced awful results of the Chornobyl disaster, understand the real danger of nuclear weapons. (Eastern Economist)

Luhansk miners halt six-month picket

KYIV - Following the attempted storming of the regional administration building in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, by picketing miners, the Coal Mining Ministry has transferred 1.4 million hryvni ($400,000) to pay back wages, Ukrainian Television reported. Some striking miners in the Luhansk Oblast will receive payment only after a month, however. In the meantime, miners have dismantled a tent camp where they had lived for nearly six months in order to picket the Luhansk administration building to demand the payment of wage arrears. Some 200 miners had attempted to storm the regional administration on December 16. Police managed to stop the miners after they pushed down iron barriers in front of the building. The incident occurred two days after one of the protesting miners set himself on fire. Ukraine's miners are owed more than 2 billion hryvni ($580 million) in back wages. (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 Odessa, 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)

Kuchma signs World Bank deal

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma signed a draft law on a $200 million World Bank loan to upgrade Kyiv's heating system, the Associated Press reported on December 9. The deal must be ratified by the Verkhovna Rada and is still subject to the International Monetary Fund's approval of the government's reform program. The money would be used to modernize the city's power plants. (RFE/RL Newsline)

The human cost of coal mining

KYIV - Each ton of coal extracted in Ukraine costs the lives of five miners through accidents on the job. As of December 1, 344 miners died in Ukraine, which is 90 more than in 1997, reported the State Labor Protection Committee Chairman Stanislav Tkachuk. In 1998 the number of miners had decreased and the amount of coal extracted was reduced. (Eastern Economist)

Dynamo star signed by Lisbon

KYIV - Benfica of Portugal has signed Ukrainian defender Oleh Luzhnyi, 30, to a three-and-a-half year contract from Dynamo Kyiv, according to the Lisbon soccer club's president, Joao Vale e Azevedo. (Eastern Economist)

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