NEWSBRIEFS (05/23/99)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukraine's foreign trade shrinks

KYIV - Ukraine's exports from January through March decreased to $2.43 billion, down by 11.4 percent from the same period last year, Ukrainian News reported, citing official data. Imports in the first quarter of 1999 fell to $2.89 billion, down 18.9 percent compared with 1998. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Brzezinski on Baltic states and NATO

COPENHAGEN - Former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski told BNS on May 16 that NATO should consider admitting the Baltic states separately and not as a group. "I don't think there is a basis for saying [about] any region of Europe that all of the countries of the region should be taken in or not. I think each country has to qualify on its own merits," said Dr. Brzezinski, who was attending the Baltic Development Forum in Copenhagen. He also argued that it will be easier for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to eventually enter the alliance if they are considered separately. But he was "more doubtful" as to whether they will be ready for membership by 2002. "I think Lithuania might be ready, but I am not sure all three will be," he said. Speaking at RFE/RL headquarters the previous week, Latvian President Guntis Ulmanis had urged NATO to admit the three Baltic states simultaneously. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma says he will seek second term

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said at Lviv University on May 13 that he will seek a second term in the October 31 presidential elections. "I simply do not have the moral right to leave in the middle of the road everything that has been done in the last five years in Ukraine. A change of political leader in Ukraine is a change of political course, and I do not have the right to allow that," Reuters quoted him as saying. Mr. Kuchma told the agency that Ukraine has to keep on with reforms. "To convince people of that is my task today, the task of my team and of all those willing to support me," he added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Climber missing on Mount Everest

KYIV - Tragedy has struck the first Ukrainian expedition to conquer Mount Everest. Three Ukrainian climbers - Volodymyr Horbach, Vladyslav Terziul and Vasyl Kopytko - planted the Ukrainian flag on the 8,848-meter peak on May 8. As they descended at 8,600 meters they ran into a snowstorm that dumped 60 centimeters of snow in 20 minutes. Messrs. Terziul and Horbach survived and continued the descent. Mr. Kopytko disappeared and no trace of him had been found by May 13. The expedition is led by Valentyn Symonenko. (Eastern Economist)

Pustovoitenko elected NDP leader

KYIV - Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko was elected head of the National Democratic Party on May 15. He replaced Anatolii Matvienko, who resigned and quit the party. The same day the party voted to nominate President Leonid Kuchma for re-election. Mr. Matvienko had warned May 14 that by backing the incumbent the party would drive itself into a trap, since Mr. Kuchma had made every effort to prevent the NDP from growing into a strong party. (Eastern Economist)

Marchuk and colleagues leave SDP(U)

KYIV - Verkhovna Rada deputies Yevhen Marchuk, Ihor Pylypchuk and Oleksander Chubatenko have quit the Social Democratic Party (United) faction. The faction issued a statement, saying, "this came as no surprise to anyone, since these deputies did not hide their orientation towards other political goals and linked their personal agendas with other political organizations." (Eastern Economist)

UNHCR addresses Tatar citizenship issue

KYIV - The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) held a briefing on May 13 on the Crimean Tatars' citizenship campaign currently under way on the peninsula. Issues discussed included UNHCR activities in Ukraine, partnership with state authorities and the status of refugees and stateless persons in Ukraine. UNHCR representatives said all problems facing refugees and stateless persons arise from a lack of adequate citizenship granting procedures. Due to efforts by the Cabinet of Ministers and the presidential administration, there is a new simplified procedure for applicants for Ukrainian citizenship, responded presidential administration officials. Some 35,000 Crimean Tatars who had been deported to Central Asia and beyond by Joseph Stalin during World War II are currently seeking to obtain Ukrainian citizenship and are staging protest actions throughout the peninsula. (Eastern Economist)

Mitiukov scolds Rada for tax blunders

KYIV - Finance Minister Ihor Mitiukov told the Verkhovna Rada on May 11 that 24 resolutions on tax privileges and exemptions passed by the Parliament between December 1998 and March 1999 have caused losses totaling 4.7 billion hrv ($1.2 billion) to the budget, UNIAN reported. Mr. Mitiukov added that the absence of a number of badly needed tax laws costs the state budget another 1.5 billion to 2 billion hrv annually. He reminded deputies that in 1996 the Cabinet of Ministers had drafted a package of tax bills, of which only two have so far been passed by the Parliament. The legislature responded by passing a resolution saying the Cabinet's activities with regard to taxation are detrimental to the country's further economic development. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Cabinet raises unemployment benefits

KYIV - The Cabinet of Ministers has increased the size of the monthly benefit paid to the unemployed by the State Unemployment Fund to 25 hrv effective May 1. The same amount, or not more than the average salary, will also be paid to those unemployed involved in professional training or retraining programs. (Eastern Economist)

Vitrenko tops list of presidential hopefuls

KYIV - Natalia Vitrenko, the outspoken chairwoman of the Progressive Socialist Party, tops the list of Ukraine's presidential hopefuls, according to a poll conducted in April by the independent Democratic Initiatives Fund and SOCIS-Gallup. Ms. Vitrenko has 19 percent backing and is followed by President Leonid Kuchma (17 percent), Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz (10 percent), and Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko (8 percent). The poll also showed that 75 percent of Ukrainians intend to vote in the presidential elections in October. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Law on peacekeeping operations signed

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has signed a law on Ukraine's participation in peacekeeping operations, which was passed by the Verkhovna Rada last month, Interfax reported on May 12. The law allows Ukrainian troops to participate in international actions sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other regional bodies responsible for maintaining peace and security. Under the law, the decision to send Ukrainian troops abroad must be taken by the president and subsequently approved via an appropriate parliamentary bill. The participation of Ukrainian citizens in any peacekeeping contingent will be voluntary. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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