NEWSBRIEFS (10/24/99)

NEWSBRIEFS

Belarusian opposition leader visits Kyiv

KYIV - Syamyon Sharetski, chairman of the opposition Belarusian Parliament, who is now residing in Lithuania, visited Kyiv last weekend at the invitation of Rukh, Interfax reported on October 18. Rukh spokesman Dmytro Ponomarchuk said Mr. Sharetski traveled to Kyiv "to warn Ukraine against repeating the Belarusian experience." Mr. Ponomarchuk added that Mr. Sharetski met with President Leonid Kuchma. However, Mr. Kuchma's spokesman Oleksander Martynenko said the presidential staff "has no information" about the president's meeting with Mr. Sharetski. Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk criticized Belarus for breaking up the October 17 march by the opposition. "Beating people who take advantage of the right to express their opinion does not conform with international norms," Interfax quoted Mr. Tarasyuk as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Council of Europe chastises Ukraine

KYIV - Meeting on October 18 in Kyiv, Council of Europe Secretary-General Walter Schwimmer and Iceland's Foreign Affairs Minister Halldor Asgrimsson criticized Ukraine for failing to fulfill its obligations as a council member. The council has repeatedly rebuked Ukraine for not abolishing the death penalty and for harassing independent media. On this occasion, council officials also expressed concern that presidential candidates have been granted unequal access to the state-controlled media. Earlier, the council had postponed until January 2000 a decision on whether to suspend Ukraine's membership. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kostenko will not support Kuchma or left

KYIV - The leader of the splinter Rukh Party and its presidential candidate, Yurii Kostenko, said in response to rumors of an impending alliance with President Leonid Kuchma or a leftist candidate that he vowed never to enter into such an agreement. He confirmed that there have been numerous overtures made by the Kuchma camp and some leftists to enter into an alliance. Mr. Kostenko said, "We cannot go together along the same road as today's administration, which has tangled the democratic process in the country and has done nothing to bring about genuine market reforms." At the same time he discounted proposals that all the other candidates should unite, regardless of their political beliefs, to beat Mr. Kuchma. He noted that "the main issue is not about personalities but about the political course that will be followed after the elections. If, in place of Kuchma, a leftist candidate comes to power, they will pursue policies just as destructive as Kuchma's." (Eastern Economist)

Kuchma faces impeachment threat

ZAPORIZHIA - Presidential candidate and Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz stated on October 16 that in the event of the re-election of President Leonid Kuchma for a second term, the Socialists are ready to initiate the process of impeachment through a referendum. (Eastern Economist)

Chornobyl to operate until summer

KYIV - The last functioning unit at the Chornobyl power station, the No. 3 unit, will work until the summer of the year 2000. This decision was approved at a session of the government commission on Chornobyl held on October 16 at the station and headed by Vice Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh. Prolonging the reactor's operation is justified by the guaranteed life cycle of the reactor which, according to estimates by engineers, will expire in the middle of the year 2000. Moreover, the Chornobyl plant has nuclear fuel to work until that time. However, it will be impossible to continue working after 2000 without reconstruction of the reactor. The government commission has also approved the station's proposals on decommissioning the No. 1 and No. 2 units. The commission has also approved the concept of handling radioactive waste from the Chornobyl shelter facility. Taking into account money received from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's Shelter Fund, over $100 million (U.S.) are to be spent on making the shelter facility safe. The Chornobyl plant was to have been closed down by the year 2000 in accordance with a memorandum signed by Ukraine and the G-7 states. However, the full amount of financial aid promised by the G-7 has not been provided. (Eastern Economist)

Kuchma: Symonenko is main rival

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said he believes that, of all his rival election candidates, only the leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Petro Symonenko, can be called an oppositionist. Mr. Kuchma addressed students and lecturers at the National Agrarian University on October 16. The comment is seen to be confirmation of views held by political analysts that Mr. Kuchma would like Mr. Symonenko to be his opponent in the second round. (Eastern Economist)

OSCE establishes election mission

KYIV - The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has founded an observer mission for the election in Ukraine at the request of the Ukrainian delegation at the OSCE's headquarters in Vienna. Headed by Simon Osborne, it consists of 24 long-term observers and 200 short-term observers. The latter will monitor the election and the ballot count on October 31. (Eastern Economist)

Kyiv criticizes PACE report

KYIV - The Foreign Affairs Ministry on October 14 criticized a report by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the presidential campaign in Ukraine, Interfax reported. "Perhaps the conclusions of the PACE rapporteurs would have been more consistent and objective if [the rapporteurs] had stayed in Ukraine for a longer period and not turned down proposed meetings with the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Justice Ministry and the State Tax Administration," the Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Sailors to face trial in Houston

KYIV - According to the U.S. federal attorney's office in Houston, four Ukrainian seamen are scheduled to go on trial on November 9 on drug-trafficking charges. The four men were indicted in June on charges of conspiracy to transport a large quantity of cocaine. Two other seamen were also indicted. Their Panamanian-registered ship China Breeze was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard and an estimated $400 million of drugs was discovered. Twelve other crew members held as witnesses have since been released. The U.S. federal attorney in Houston, Eric Reed, said that allegations of mistreatment by the Coast Guard are unfounded. Ukrainian consular officials were notified of the sailors' arrest in June, and the seamen were subsequently visited by the Ukrainian consul. (Eastern Economist)

Crew of cargo plane granted bail

KYIV - The nine-member crew of the Ukrainian cargo plane charged with espionage by Zambia was granted bail by a Lusaka High Court on September 23. The crew's lawyer said the judge demanded two working sureties and the surrender of their passports. In addition, it was ordered that crew members report to the police on Mondays. It is alleged they flew over a prohibited area while flying to Lusaka airport on August 15. (Eastern Economist)

Kurultai agrees to support Udovenko

SYMFEROPOL - The third session of the Crimean Tatar Kurultai, or national congress, voted on October 3 to support Rukh leader Hennadii Udovenko in the presidential election. It recommended that all Crimean Tatars vote for Mr. Udovenko in the first round and empowered the Mejlis, the self-styled Crimean Tatars Parliament, to determine who the Crimean Tatar will support in the run-off, based on the first-round results. The head of the Mejlis, Mustafa Jemilev, underlined that only Rukh stated in its program that it would seek the restoration of the Crimea's original status by implementing the will of its indigenous population. (Eastern Economist)

UT-1 cited as biggest law offender

KYIV - The National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting found 282 violations of the law on the presidential elections in Ukraine in television broadcasts. Speaking October 7 at a roundtable on the elections, one member of the council, Volodymyr Tsendrovskyi, said that monitoring of the three nationwide stations, UT-1, UT-2 and UT-3, during the period of September 10 through October 2 found the highest number of violations on UT-1. One common violation was propaganda on behalf of a presidential candidate masquerading as a news or information piece. (Eastern Economist)

Moroz fails to get air time on TV

KYIV - National Television Company head Vadym Dolhanov told Interfax on October 13 that the previous day Oleksander Moroz and some 50 supporters, including national deputies, entered the company building to demand that Mr. Moroz be given air time. The presidential candidate reportedly wanted to speak about the allegation that one of his election campaign organizers was involved in the grenade attack on Natalia Vitrenko. The Parliament on October 12 adopted a resolution demanding that the television company grant Mr. Moroz air time so that he could present his version of the attack on Ms. Vitrenko. Dolhanov said he will not obey the Parliament's resolution because the activities of Ukraine's media are regulated solely by laws. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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