NEWSBRIEFS (05/16/99)

NEWSBRIEFS

Election campaign officially under way

KYIV - The Central Election Commission on April 30 officially launched the campaign for the presidency. The nomination of candidates by political parties is expected to begin May 14, reported CEC Chair Mykhailo Riabets. He added that the election campaign could cost the government over 140 million hrv, which is nearly twice initial estimates. The first round of voting is scheduled for October 31. (Eastern Economist)

GUAM is now GUUAM

WASHINGTON - During the 50th anniversary commemorations of NATO held in Washington on April 23-25, representatives of five former Soviet republics met and announced the expansion of a regional bloc up until then known as GUAM: Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova. A fifth member, Uzbekistan, has now joined the bloc, making its acronym GUUAM. The New York Times reported that the bloc is indicative of "their growing distance from Moscow, another rebuke for the world's largest ex-superpower." GUUAM is bound by common economic interests and a decidedly pro-NATO tilt. (The New York Times)

President decrees Mother's Day

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on May 10 issued a decree designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day from now on. (Eastern Economist)

Kuchma reaffirms ties with Russia

SEVASTOPOL - "There is not and will never be any severance with Russia, which is a traditional partner of Ukraine," President Leonid Kuchma said in Sevastopol on May 6 at a ceremony dedicated to Victory Day and the 55th anniversary of Sevastopol's liberation from the Nazis, UNIAN reported. Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeiev delivered Russian President Boris Yeltsin's message to the people of Sevastopol, describing the city as a bonding link between Ukraine and Russia. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Veterans protest on Victory Day

KYIV - Veterans and Communist hard-liners across Ukraine marked the 54th anniversary on May 9 of Nazi Germany's defeat with parades and protest marches, the Associated Press and DPA news agencies reported. Some 5,000 people took part in a demonstration in Kyiv, carrying old Red Army banners and red flags of the former Soviet Union. The demonstrators denounced NATO for its strikes in Yugoslavia and protested the policies of President Leonid Kuchma's government. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada overrides veto on veterans' benefits

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada voted 11 times on May 5 to override President Leonid Kuchma's veto of a bill providing for special payments to World War II veterans, the Associated Press reported. The Parliament finally voted 303-11 to approve annual payments to veterans ranging from 41 to 162 hrv ($12-$41 U.S.), in addition to the veterans' current pensions. Mr. Kuchma had vetoed the bill in December, arguing that the budget does not include the 340 million hrv needed to cover the additional payments. Communist national deputies also sought to override the president's veto on increasing the monthly minimum pension from 16.6 hrv to 55 hrv. After failing to do this, the Parliament re-approved its initial bill. In order to block the pension increase President Kuchma will have to impose a new veto. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Greens out to block new reactors

KYIV - The Ukrainian environmental organization Zelenyi Svit (Green World) stated May 11 that the construction projects for additional reactors at Khmelnytskyi and Rivne atomic energy stations are illegitimate. Zelenyi Svit claims it has identified contradictions and irregularities between the project and the laws on investment activity, nuclear energy usage and radiation safety, and environmental safety. The organization plans to hold public hearings addressing the issue of construction and "aims to try to stop this nuclear scam through legislation." (Eastern Economist)

Tatars march to demand more rights

SYMFEROPOL - Crimean Tatars on May 6 began a march on the Crimean capital to demand more rights for their ethnic minority, the Associated Press reported. Some 170 people set out from Kerch to Symferopol to cover the 190-kilometer route. Tatars from six other towns are expected to leave for the capital on foot over the next several days and to convene there on May 18 to mark the 55th anniversary of the deportation of Crimean Tatars to Central Asia. After the demonstration, the Tatars are planning to set up a tent camp in front of Crimea's government and Parliament headquarters and begin negotiations with the authorities. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Robotics for Chornobyl plant

PRYPIAT - The Chornobyl atomic energy station has just received the unique Pioneer remote-controlled diagnostic system, produced by the American Robotics consortium, announced the Chornobyl plant's information department on May 7. The system will operate inside the sarcophagus to study the condition of the ruined fourth energy block and characteristics of the remaining nuclear fuel, as well as investigate areas with very high radiation levels. (Eastern Economist)

Stars threaten strike over youth TV

KYIV - Thirty Ukrainian pop stars appealed to President Leonid Kuchma, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Tkachenko, Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko and the president of the National Broadcasting Company to put back on the air the Youth TV Channel, belonging to the Zoloti Vorota broadcasting company, shown on UT-2 channel. If their request is not fulfilled, the pop-stars Iryna Bilyk, Ani Lorak, Pavlo Zibrov, Taisia Povalii, Oleksander Ponomariov, Kateryna Buzhynska and Karina Plai will not permit their works to be shown on the National Broadcasting Company for the week of May 15-24. (Eastern Economist)

Germany: no money until debt repaid

KYIV - Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber said in Kyiv on May 5 that Germany will not lend Ukraine any more money until it repays a German loan for the construction of a chemical plant, Interfax reported. Germany has extended a credit line for Ukrainian industry, including a loan of 22 million DM ($12 million U.S.) for the Oriana chemical plant in Kalush, Ivano- Frankivsk Oblast. Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko assured Mr. Stoiber that Ukraine will repay the debt by resorting to "social welfare funds," the agency reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Inflation exceeds 2 percent

KYIV - Ukraine's monthly inflation rate reached 2.3 percent in April, up from 1 percent in March and February, the Associated Press reported on May 4, citing the State Statistics Committee. The hike was triggered by the government's April resolution increasing the price of electricity and gas, in compliance with requirements set by the International Monetary Fund. Ukraine's planned inflation rate in 1999 is 19 percent, but many analysts see this figure as overly optimistic, arguing that the government is likely to print money to pay off wage and pension arrears before the October 31 presidential elections. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Top domestic oligarchs are listed

KYIV - The Politics Institute, headed by Mykola Tomenko, on April 7 presented a list of the five most influential political oligarchs in Ukraine. They are: Ihor Bakai, president of NaftoGaz Ukrainy; Oleksander Volkov, national deputy and vice-chair of the Presidential Coordination Council; Viktor Pinchuk, national deputy and ex-president of InterPipe investment group; Vadym Rabinovich, president of the National Jewish Congress; and Hryhorii Surkis, national deputy and honorary president of the Dynamo Kyiv Football Club. The five were selected according to control or influence on at least one deputies' group, faction, political party or public organization, as well as control or influence on at least one national TV or radio broadcasting channel or publication, sector of the economy or national enterprise. (Eastern Economist)

Tractors to be leased out to farmers

KYIV - The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal by the Industrial Policy Ministry to manufacture 1,000 HTZ-170 tractors in 1999, worth 140 million hrv, at the Kharkiv Tractor Plant and supply them on leasing terms to domestic farmers. In line with the program, the KTP is to provide technical servicing of the tractors. The 140 million hrv are to be paid to the State Leasing Fund from depreciation payments earmarked by the budget to buy new farming equipment. The government also ordered the Finance Ministry to secure the servicing and repayment of a German credit received against governmental guarantees to buy engines and parts for HTZ-170 tractors under a contract between the KTP and German company Deutz AG. (Eastern Economist)

Ukrainian climbers on Everest

KYIV - A team of three climbers, including Vladislav Terziul, and Vasyl Kopytko of Odesa, and Volodymyr Horbach of Kyiv, reached the top of Mount Everest on May 8 and planted the Ukrainian national flag. They are part of a group of climbers currently attempting to climb the mountain as part of the first Ukrainian national expedition to Mount Everest. The three are currently engaged in their descent. (Eastern Economist)

| Home Page |