NEWSBRIEFS (03/28/99)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukrainian police arrest sex trade gang

SEVASTOPOL - Police in the port of Sevastopol, Crimea, arrested two men and a woman suspected of selling some 200 females age 13-25 to individuals engaged in illegal sex business abroad, UNIAN reported on March 17. The three allegedly received $2,000 for each woman sent to night clubs in Turkey, Greece or Cyprus, where the women were subsequently forced to become prostitutes. The International Organization for Migration estimated last year that more than 1 million Ukrainian women seeking work abroad are in danger of becoming ensnared in the illegal sex business. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President signs election bill

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has signed the law on presidential elections. He had vetoed the legislation last month, but the Parliament overrode his veto. According to the new law, the presidential campaign will officially begin on May 4. The nomination of candidates will start 10 days after that date and will last 30 days. Candidates can be proposed by political parties or by at least 500 voters. To be placed on the ballot, the nominees must be at least 35 years old , must have resided in Ukraine for the past 10 years, and must collect the signatures of at least 1 million of Ukraine's 35 million eligible voters. The election will take place on October 31. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma urges democratic forces to unite

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma addressed the nationwide forum of democratic forces Zlahoda (Concord) in Kyiv on March 19, urging those formations to unite in order to support Ukraine's independent statehood and economic reforms. "All of us must make a choice between statehood and amorphousness, between reforms and a retreat [from them], between democracy and anarchy or totalitarianism," the March 20 Uriadovyi Kurier quoted him as saying. The initiative to form Zlahoda came from Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko in an attempt to enlist wider support for Mr. Kuchma's re-election bid. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Industrial giants to be privatized

KYIV - The Ukrainian government has ordered that 12 industrial giants be prepared immediately for sale to private owners, the Associated Press reported on March 22. In particular, the government is offering a 53 percent stake in the Illich metallurgical plant, a 52 percent stake in the Odesa oil refinery, and a 29 percent stake in the TurboAtom company, which manufactures nuclear power plant equipment. The offer is seen as the government's move to entice foreign investors and raise revenues to pay off mounting debt obligations. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma speaks on language issue

KHARKIV - President Leonid Kuchma, while on an official visit to predominantly Russian-speaking Kharkiv, stated that he does not "support forcible introduction of the Ukrainian language." Addressing Education Ministry officials, the president stressed, however, that Ukraine cannot be careless about the nation's language and emphasized the need to create a favorable environment for learning Ukrainian. The president dismissed charges of oppression against Ukraine's Russian-speaking population as provocative allegations aimed at, on the one hand, stirring up inter-ethnic controversies and, on the other hand, undermining Ukraine's international image as an emerging democracy. Ukraine's Constitution, President Kuchma said, guarantees free development, use and protection of Russian and other minority languages, and this democratic principle must be adhered to. (Eastern Economist)

Ukraine ratifies N-cooperation pact

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on March 19 ratified a deal with the United States that will allow Ukraine to import much-needed modern technology to revamp its troubled nuclear industry. The two countries had signed the treaty on peaceful cooperation in the field of nuclear energy in May 1998. Parliament spokesman Mykola Khotskyi said the deal was made possible after Ukraine bowed to U.S. pressure in March 1998 not to build turbines for Iran's planned Bushehr nuclear power plant. Kyiv says U.S. technology could help improve safety at its nuclear reactors. A total of five nuclear plants operate 14 Soviet-designed reactors, which generate almost half the electricity consumed by the country. Hennadii Sazonov, a director at the state's nuclear energy company EnergoAtom, said the treaty could allow U.S. companies to join with Ukraine in setting up capacity to produce nuclear fuel originally supplied from neighboring Russia. Nuclear energy authorities say Ukraine will continue to buy Russian nuclear fuel for now, but that in time the country will also import part of its requirements from other sources. (Reuters)

Kazakstan, Ukraine hand over suspects

TASHKENT - Seven suspects in the February 16 bombings in Tashkent have been extradited from Kazakstan to Uzbekistan, ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported on March 18. According to reports, all detainees are ethnic Uzbeks, although some are citizens of Afghanistan and Kazakstan, and were found to be in possession of Wahhabi literature. Ukrainian police in Kyiv arrested four Uzbek nationals suspected of involvement in the bombings. In a March 16 statement Amnesty International identified two of the detainees as Yusif Ruzimuradov and Muhammed Bekjon, both members of Uzbekistan's banned Erk Party. Mr. Bekjon is the brother of Mohammed Solih, whom Uzbek President Islam Karimov had named as an organizer of the bombings. (RFE/RL Newsline)

92 percent of farms report losses

KYIV - The State Statistics Committee has said that 12,600 Ukrainian farms, or 92 percent of their total number, reported losses last year totaling to 4.3 billion hrv ($1.1 billion U.S.). According to the committee, an average farm spent 29 percent more on production costs than it received from the sale of its produce. Last year's agricultural output decreased by 8.3 percent, compared with 1997. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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