NEWSBRIEFS

Rada enacts budget changes

KYIV - Reacting to the president's issuance of a series of economic decrees on the eve of the expiration of special powers granted him by the previous Parliament (the term of those powers expired on June 28), the Verkhovna Rada on June 29 amended and enacted a number of bills altering the 1999 budget, increased funds for social welfare programs and obliged the Cabinet of Ministers to find funds for the ailing coal-mining industry. The Parliament prohibited the Cabinet from reducing budget outlays without legislative approval and earmarked 500 million hrv ($126 million U.S.) to finance education. It also suspended the Cabinet's right to offer guarantees for companies seeking foreign credits. The Verkhovna Rada increased the government's monthly contribution to the State Pension Fund from the current 16 million hrv to 88 million hrv. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Communists rally on Constitution Day

KYIV - Approximately 1,000 Communist supporters gathered in Kyiv on June 28, Constitution Day, to demand the payment of pension and wage arrears and the resignation of the president. It had been expected that as many as 15,000 would take part in the rally. One of the placards at the protest read "Kuchma, the guarantor of genocide," a taunting reference to the constitutional provision that describes the president as "the guarantor of the Constitution." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rusyns want recognition as distinct group

UZHHOROD - The fifth world congress of Rusyns (Ruthenians), convening in Uzhhorod on June 27, called on the Ukrainian government to recognize Rusyns as an ethnic group within multinational Ukraine, ITAR-TASS reported. The delegates want Rusyn to be listed among the country's nationalities in the 2001 census. They also want native-language schools to be opened and a Rusyn-language department established at university. According to congress delegates, more than 700,000 Rusyns live in Ukraine. Their total strength is 3 million: in addition to Ukraine, Rusyns live in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia and are well represented in the United States. In a referendum in December 1991, more than 78 percent of the population of the Zakarpattia Oblast supported autonomy for the region, but Kyiv ignored the results of that vote. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Cabinet removes food price controls

KYIV - The Ukrainian government on June 24 canceled the previous week's order to impose rigid controls on the price of bread, wheat and rye flour, sugar, cereals, and vegetable oil. "Prices remain liberalized, depending only on demand and supply. We think there is no need to regulate food prices," First Vice Minister of the Economy Viktor Kalnyk commented. He added that Ukraine's food market is saturated with staples, and prices have now stabilized following a recent jump. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PACE delays decision on Ukraine

STRASBOURG - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) voted on June 24 to put off until January a decision on whether to suspend Ukraine's membership because of the country's poor human rights record, specifically the fact that the death penalty remains on the books. The Council of Europe put off the decision in order to recognize the country's recent reforms aimed at improving its judicial and political systems. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Foreign minister visits Georgia

TBILISI - Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk held meetings in Tbilisi on June 28-29 with President Eduard Shevardnadze, Minister of State Vazha Lortkipanidze, senior energy sector officials and his Georgian counterpart, Irakli Menagharishvili, Caucasus Press reported. Speaking at a joint press conference on June 29, Mr. Menagharishvili said they had discussed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and reached "complete understanding" on all issues. Mr. Tarasyuk repeated Kyiv's willingness to participate in resolving the Abkhaz conflict, offering to supply peacekeepers to serve under the aegis of the U.N. or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He added that Ukraine may participate in the economic reconstruction of Abkhazia once a formal settlement of the conflict is reached. Mr. Tarasyuk also unveiled proposals for creating special coordinating bodies in each of the GUUAM member-states to enhance the effectiveness of that alignment, according to Nezavisimaya Gazeta. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rabinovich barred from entering Ukraine

KYIV - The State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on June 24 prohibited Vadym Rabinovich, a Ukrainian-Israeli business tycoon whose assets are estimated at $1 billion, from entering the country for five years. The SBU said Mr. Rabinovich, an Israeli citizen, president of the R. G. Holding Group and representative of the Ukrainian Jewish Congress, was banned for causing "considerable damage to Ukraine's economy" through his business activities. Mr. Rabinovich reacted by announcing the next day that he would hold a press conference in Tel Aviv on June 30, during which he will comment on SBU's decision to ban him from traveling to Ukraine for five years. He described the move as an "obvious provocation based on personal motivations committed by a number of persons without the knowledge of Ukraine's top leadership." Mr. Rabinovich said the charges are baseless and expressed his surprise at being stripped of the opportunity to come to Ukraine and offer explanations. Mr. Rabinovich said he invited Ukrainian journalists to the press conference, but expressed his doubts that they will be allowed to make public what they learn. At the press conference Mr. Rabinovich accused Volodymyr Horbulin secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, of being the instigator of the ban. He cited personal and long-standing "unpleasant conflicts" with Mr. Horbulin. (RFE/RL Newsline, Eastern Economist, Den)

Aide accused of money laundering

KYIV - The June 16 issue of the Kyiv-based newspaper Den reported that a parliamentary investigation commission has accused National Deputy Oleksander Volkov, President Leonid Kuchma's close aide and chief of his re-election campaign, of money laundering. The commission said the accusation is based on information received from Belgian judicial authorities. According to the commission, a Belgian judge has ordered a freeze on 135 million Belgian francs ($3.5 million U.S.) in Mr. Volkov's Belgian bank account and the confiscation of his private property and luxury cars. (RFE/RL Newsline)

OSCE closes down Crimea mission

KYIV - Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesmen announced the closing of the OSCE's mission in Ukraine and the end of its approved five-month mandate to stabilize the situation in Crimea. Volodymyr Belashov, head of the ministry's department for Euro-Atlantic integration, said a memorandum of agreement outlining future activities in Ukraine of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has been drafted and 99 percent agreed upon. Mr. Belashov said that under the new arrangement the OSCE will assist government agencies carrying out state-approved projects which are "in Ukraine's interests, based in reality and supported by the OSCE." (Eastern Economist)

Republican Christian Party for Kuchma

KYIV - The Republican Christian Party's third congress on June 6 nominated the incumbent, Leonid Kuchma, as candidate for president. The congress called on all pro-state political parties and non-governmental organizations to support President Kuchma, but allowed the Ternopil and Lviv regional RCP organizations to take an independent policy with respect to Mr. Kuchma's candidacy. (Eastern Economist)

Poltava Oblast becomes subsidized

KYIV -"In recent years Poltava Oblast was a net contributor [to the state budget], one of the very few in the country, but beginning this year it has been forcibly made a subsidized oblast," Poltava Oblast Council Oleksander Poliyevets complained in the June 16 issue of Holos Ukrainy. That change in the oblast's financial situation followed the government's decision to reduce the oblast budget's share of taxes collected locally. Thus, the oblast deduction from the income tax paid by state-owned enterprises was lowered from 70 percent to 50 percent; the share in the income tax paid by municipal enterprises was reduced from 100 percent to 50 percent; the share in the excise tax imposed on domestic commodities shrank from 20 percent to 10 percent. Mr. Poliyevets also complained that Kyiv takes all proceeds from the oblast's gas and oil extracting companies, while giving back only a "tiny bit" that in no way covers the costs of extraction. (RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report)

Italians plan new presence in Odesa

ODESA - Paying a visit to Odesa University, Italian Ambassador to Ukraine Luca Bertinetto expressed his readiness to promote cooperation in education. "Italy is planning to open a Consulate and an Italian Culture Center in Odesa that will house a collection of print media, video materials and Italian language courses," he said during his meeting with Odesa University Rector Valentyn Smentyna. Ambassador Bertinetto also met with Odesa City Mayor Ruslan Bodelan and Odesa Oblast Administration Chairman Serhii Hrynevetskyi to discuss, among other things, stepping up twin-city relations between cities in Ukraine and Italy. An association of twin-cities, including Odesa, Mariupol, Genoa and Savona, will soon be established. (Eastern Economist)

Ukrainian establishes relations with Congo

KYIV - Ukraine has established diplomatic relations with the Republic of Congo. Congo became 155th country with which Ukraine has diplomatic ties. (Eastern Economist)

Rada passes resolution on media

KYIV The Verkhovna Rada on June 1 adopted a resolution on the country's information policy, UNIAN reported. The resolution stipulates that investigations must be carried out into all complaints about the persecution or harassment of non-state media by the State Tax Administration, the Procurator General's Office or the presidential administration. The document requires that by September 1 the Cabinet of Ministers submit draft laws on freedom of speech and on information-related activities. The Parliament also requests that the Cabinet "create mechanisms" that will ensure the Verkhovna Rada, as a co-founder of national television and radio companies, has a say equal to that of the government as well as the right to appoint the directors of those bodies. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Economy predicted to decline further

KYIV - The International Center for Policy Studies on June 2 released a report forecasting a 4 percent decrease in Ukraine's GDP in 1999 and a 1 percent decrease in 2000, InfoBank reported. The center predicts that the hryvnia will devalue by 31 percent this year and 11 percent in 2000. "State policy does not stimulate economic growth," center analyst Hlib Vyshlynskyi commented. Ukraine's main problem next year will be to pay off its foreign debt, which may reach $3 billion, he commented, adding that "the best way to pay is rapid privatization for cash." The report estimates that real incomes of Ukrainians will drop by 2.5 percent in 1999 and by 3 percent the following year. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Party chief cites 'anti-Communist hysteria'

KYIV - Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko has accused President Leonid Kuchma of stirring up "anti-Communist hysteria" in the lead-up to the presidential elections on October 31, the Associated Press reported. According to Mr. Symonenko, President Kuchma is afraid of losing power and facing responsibility for his policies and, therefore, is seeking to shift the blame for his mistakes onto the Parliament and the left-wing camp. "Instead of repentance in front of Ukraine and its people, the dirty political affair of advancing the incumbent president in the elections is continuing," the agency quoted Mr. Symonenko as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine switching to volunteer army

KYIV - Internal Affairs Ministry Military Chief Volodymyr Povazhniuk said on May 29 that the ministry has begun the first stage of Ukraine's plan to switch to an all-volunteer army by the year 2005. He noted that security personnel at all nuclear power plants, scientific-research institutes and nuclear material storage facilities are all professionals recruited on a contract basis. As for troop mobility and equipment, Mr. Povazhniuk reported that three AN-72 and AN-74 aircraft, eight helicopters and approximately 100 Mercedes and Jeep vehicles had been transferred to the special forces. The ministry will purchase 500 Ukrainian-produced mobile radio stations for its troops, who will be armed with domestically produced Fort-12 and Fort-14 pistols. (Eastern Economist)

Moldova, Ukraine to sign border treaty

CHISINAU - Moldovan Vice Prime Minister Nicolae Andronic and visiting Vice Prime Minister Serhii Tyhypko of Ukraine told journalists in Chisinau on June 1 that the treaty on the demarcation of their countries' joint border will be signed during President Petru Lucinschi's official visit to Ukraine in July, Reuters reported. Mr. Tyhypko said the text has been finalized and that an official map will be completed within two weeks. Under the agreement, Moldova will receive a 100-meter swath of land along the Danube River, near the village of Giurgiulesti, which is essential for the construction of a Moldovan oil terminal. The two states will swap plots of land near the southern Moldovan town of Basarabeasca, and Moldova will give up a seven-kilometer portion of the road near the village of Palanca. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Transport Ministry reports on roads

KYIV - Transport Ministry spokesmen said on June 2 that UkrAvtoDor plans to repair up to 8,300 kilometers of highways in the first half of 1999 and 7,800 meters of bridges. A mere 50 kilometers of new highways are to be constructed during the same period. Traffic accidents decreased by 20 percent in 1998 from the previous year. (Eastern Economist)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, July 4, 1999, No. 27, Vol. LXVII

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