U.S. Embassy comments on Ukraine's Y2K problem (10/24/99)

U.S. Embassy comments on Ukraine's Y2K problem

Eastern Economist

KYIV - As Ambassador Steven Pifer stated on September 10 in a meeting at the American Business Center, the U.S. Embassy is still assessing whether Y2K-related problems will affect Ukraine's energy sector.

Earlier this year the U.S. Department of State had identified the Embassy in Kyiv as one of about 40 embassies around the world that is likely to experience disruptions in electricity, heat and water because of Y2K. For that reason, the Embassy, with help from the U.S. Agency for International Development Office in Kyiv, has brought a team of U.S. energy and computer experts to Ukraine to assess the Y2K problem in the energy sector, and to make recommendations for correcting any problems they may find.

This team is working closely with the government of Ukraine. As Ambassador Pifer said in September, he will use the information from the USAID study to make a recommendation to the State Department about whether Embassy employees and their families should leave Ukraine because of Y2K problems.

This recommendation will also affect what advice the Embassy will give to other Americans living in Ukraine. The ambassador expects to make his recommendation to the State Department later this month.

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