NEWSBRIEFS (07/11/99)

NEWSBRIEFS

Rada votes to provide peacekeepers

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on July 1 passed a resolution on Ukraine's participation in the peacekeeping operation in Yugoslavia, ITAR-TASS reported. According to the resolution, the government is obliged to submit a proposal on the issue to the president, following consultations with the United Nations, the Yugoslav government and participants in the peacekeeping operation. That proposal is to include information about the responsibilities of the Ukrainian contingent, its numerical strength and its weaponry. The resolution says Ukrainian peacekeepers cannot be under NATO command. It also stipulates that the cost of their operation is to be met "by those who unleashed the criminal war in Yugoslavia and did colossal damage to this country and its people." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada urges dismissal of two officials

KYIV - In a non-binding resolution passed on July 1, the Parliament urged the president to dismiss Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Kravchenko and Security Service of Ukraine Chief Leonid Derkach. Lawmakers approved the resolution by a vote of 250-19 after a parliamentary commission had accused the two officials of assisting President Leonid Kuchma in his re-election campaign. "Factory and institution chiefs, often facing the threat of dismissal, have forced their subordinates to collect signatures or sign in support of the current head of state," the Associated Press quoted Oleksander Yeliashkevych, parliamentary commission chairman, as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Greenpeace urges halt to N construction

KYIV - Greenpeace urged Ukraine on July 6 to forego plans to complete construction on new nuclear reactors with Western funds and to turn instead to alternative sources of energy. Ukraine is seeking Western support to complete two nuclear reactors at its Rivne and Khmelnytskyi plants to replace electricity capacity lost as a result of the Chornobyl nuclear accident in 1986. Greenpeace activists propose to replace Chornobyl's lost capacity without completing the new reactors. Greenpeace's two-phase plan provides for the construction of a modern $500 million gas power plant, with a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts and investment in local energy-saving projects totaling $1.2 billion (U.S.). President Leonid Kuchma stated on July 6 that "Ukraine does not agree with proposals to construct gas or heat power stations. Ukraine will not shut down the Chornobyl atomic energy station until 2000, if G-7 does not provide finances to introduce compensatory capacities." German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will be in Kyiv this week to discuss Western funding for new reactors in order to shut down Chornobyl. A G-7 summit in Cologne last month had been expected to approve $1.23 billion in funding for the reactors, but a decision was delayed pending Mr. Schroeder's consultations with Mr. Kuchma. The Bundestag demanded that Mr. Schroeder reject the funding, with the Greens, a coalition partner, supporting gas power stations. (Eastern Economist)

Luhansk development program approved

KYIV - The government on June 14 approved a program of social and economic development of Luhansk Oblast for 1999-2000, InfoBank reported. According to the June 12 issue of Region, the program was worked out by "several dozen [scholarly] institutes" and a "host of government structures," and may be viewed as a model development plan for other Ukrainian regions as well. The newspaper said the program gives local authorities more levers of economic and financial control in the oblast. In particular, the oblast administration will take control of a number of enterprises that have so far been managed by Kyiv ministries. As part of the program, the government postponed until 2005 the repayment of some 1.9 billion hrv ($480 million U.S.) granted to the oblast as a commodity credit. The oblast administration was also obliged to draft an energy-saving program, providing for a reduction by half of the oblast's energy-intensive production sector and services until 2010 and a 22 percent decrease in its gas consumption in 1999. (RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report)

Rada fails to override pensions veto

KYIV - The Parliament on July 1 failed to override President Leonid Kuchma's veto of a bill passed in May that would have increased the minimum pension from 16.6 hrv ($4.2 U.S.) to 55 hrv. Mr. Kuchma argued that the Pension Fund can muster only half of the 26 billion hrv needed annually to finance the increase. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Chornobyl reactor shuts for repairs

KYIV - The Chornobyl power station's information service announced on June 22 that the plant will be shut down from July 1 through November 9 for scheduled repairs on reactor No. 3. Repairs will include measures to enhance reactor safety as envisaged by a grant agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development that provides for the implementation of 11 safety projects costing 13.5 million ecu. In addition, the station plans to implement 57 safety measures costing $2.35 million (U.S.) for 1999. (Eastern Economist)

Kuchma, Symonenko put on ballot

KYIV - The Central Election Commission has approved the presidential candidacies of President Leonid Kuchma and Communist Party Chairman Petro Symonenko in the October elections. Mr. Kuchma's supporters collected 1.64 million signatures in support of his electoral bid, while Mr. Symonenko's gathered 1.2 million. The other 16 presidential hopefuls must present at least 1 million signatures to the commission by July 13 in order to be placed on the ballot. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Bilas withdraws from presidential race

KYIV - Verkhovna Rada National Deputy and Anti-Corruption Committee Vice-Chairman Ivan Bilas withdrew his candidacy from the presidential election race. According to Mr. Bilas, he took this step "to define a single presidential candidate from the national-statehood parties and blocs, to prevent the Communist and Socialist anti-democratic forces from suspending the process of national formation and development, and to ensure stability and order in the state." (Eastern Economist)

New tabloid sold at kiosks

KYIV - The Social-Democratic Union has begun to publish its own newspaper, SDS-Novyny. A recent editorial appearing in the newspaper claimed that the new tabloid will speak the truth to Ukrainians. The paper boasts a circulation of 100,000 and is supporting Yevhen Marchuk as a presidential candidate. (Eastern Economist)

IMF approves another loan tranche

KYIV - The International Monetary Fund on June 30 approved the release of a $115 million tranche of its three-year $2.5 billion loan to Ukraine. IMF Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer praised Ukraine for meeting all economic objectives set by the fund last September. At the same time, Mr. Fischer noted that future payments will depend on successful debt-restructuring talks. The release of the tranche came after Ukraine and ING Barings agreed to extend the deadline for the country's $163 million bond payment until July 9, Bloomberg News reported. "[The IMF] urged the authorities and Ukraine's creditors to persevere in their efforts to reach an agreement on terms comparable to other recent agreements with other creditors," Mr. Fischer said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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