NEWSBRIEFS (02/27/00)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukraine lets hryvnia float

KYIV - The Ukrainian government and the National Bank of Ukraine on February 21 allowed the national currency exchange rate to float freely. A joint statement by the Cabinet of Ministers and the NBU said the floating exchange rate will "correspond to Ukraine's level of integration in the world economy, balance the demand for and supply of foreign currency... as well as keep Ukrainian goods competitive and enterprises profitable." So far, Ukraine has tried to keep the hryvnia exchange rate within a "trading corridor." Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko commented the same day that the introduction of the floating hryvnia testifies to the stability of the Ukrainian currency. The current exchange rate is 5.56 hrv to $1 (U.S.), while the 2000 budget is based on an average annual exchange rate of 5.78 hrv to $1. Some Ukrainian currency dealers deem this projection "too optimistic," according to Interfax. (RFE/RL Newsline)

IMF decision to come after audit

KYIV - Vice Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov said on February 21 that the International Monetary Fund will decide whether to unfreeze its $2.6 billion loan program for Ukraine after an audit of the National Bank of Ukraine, Interfax reported. The audit was ordered after the Financial Times alleged in a series of articles that Kyiv misused some IMF credits. IMF mission head Mohammad Shadman-Valavi said after his meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko on February 21 that both sides reached agreement "on many points ... but a lot of work is still to be done." Mr. Yuschenko said the talks with the IMF mission ended "optimistically for Ukraine," adding that the fund will "most likely" make a decision on further credits in March. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Poll shows public trusts Yuschenko

KYIV - According to public monitoring carried out by the Socis Sociological and Marketing Research Center, 32 percent of people surveyed trust Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko, while 14 percent do not. The figures for President Leonid Kuchma are 22 percent and 33 percent, respectively. The center's analysts state that Mr. Yuschenko's decisions to cut apparatus expenditures and attempts to resolve the foreign debt problem added to his rating. Only 7 percent of respondents indicated that they trust the Verkhovna Rada, while 53 percent do not. These figures for the Cabinet of Ministers are 14 percent and 35 percent, respectively. A total of 1,200 respondents from all regions of the country were polled. (Eastern Economist)

IMF questions Kyiv's planned revenues

KYIV - The International Monetary Fund mission in Ukraine, which has started a detailed review of the country's 2000 draft budget, expressed doubts on February 16 about whether Ukraine will achieve its planned revenues, Interfax reported. Vice Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov made that statement to the agency, while mission head Mohammad Shadman-Valavi refused to comment. Mr. Yekhanurov added that Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko will ask national deputies "to adopt a number of laws oriented toward making budget revenue items more realistic." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tkachenko says Rada majority has split

KYIV - The leftist former chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Oleksander Tkachenko, told Interfax on February 18 that the center-right parliamentary majority is now suffering from "a split and misunderstanding." Mr. Tkachenko added that last week the majority approved only six bills of the 44 on the agenda and failed to agree on personnel issues. "The majority has no such enthusiasm as in the beginning. They have felt that they were fooled," Mr. Tkachenko added. Vice-Chairman Stepan Havrysh denied that the majority is facing a crisis. Mr. Havrysh said the majority's inability last week to appoint parliamentary committee vice-chairs was caused not by a lack of agreement but a lack of time. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma: referendum only solution

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said on February 21 that the "divergence of opinions" within the center-right parliamentary majority can be overcome only by the April 16 referendum, Interfax reported. Mr. Kuchma said the referendum is "absolutely necessary" and should help resolve Ukraine's main problem: "the ability of the state power to function." According to President Kuchma, the existence of a parliamentary majority is equivalent to the existence of the Parliament itself. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Marchuk injured in car accident

KYIV - The secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Yevhen Marchuk, was injured in a road accident on February 19 and was admitted to a hospital with injuries. The Interfax-Ukraine news agency learned from sources at law enforcement agencies that the accident happened on the evening of February 18 when Mr. Marchuk was returning home from work. His car swerved on a slippery road and flipped upside down. (Eastern Economist)

Rada approves deficit-free budget

KYIV - Lawmakers on February 17 voted 252-18 with 22 abstentions to adopt a zero-deficit budget for 2000, with revenues and spending at 33.4 billion hrv ($6 billion U.S.), Interfax reported. Leftist parliamentary caucuses did not participate in the vote. The lawmakers decided to exclude from the budget bill articles that stipulated changes in tax legislation. The passing of the zero-deficit budget removes a serious obstacle in talks between Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund on resuming the fund's $2.6 billion loan program. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine's budget sparks criticism

KYIV - Andrii Derkach, a member of the Parliament's Budget Committee, told Interfax on February 18 that Ukraine will soon see that the Economy Ministry made "miscalculations" in the 2000 zero-deficit budget, which was approved by the Verkhovna Rada the last week. Mr. Derkach also criticized the stance of some lawmakers during the voting on the budget, adding that "it is the government that invented this budget, so let the government implement it, while we will only approve it." Meanwhile, Leonid Davydov, a coal mining trade union activist, warned that miners may launch spontaneous protests over insufficient funding for the coal mining sector. The 2000 budget provides for some 1.5 billion hrv ($268 million U.S.) in subsidies to the sector, while trade unions demanded twice that amount. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian river is contaminated

KYIV - The epidemiological service in Zakarpattia Oblast has said that some water contaminated by cyanide has been discovered in the Tysa River. The use of water from wells has been banned in Ukrainian-Hungarian border villages, and fishing will not be possible for a long time to come. The residents of five Transcarpathian villages situated near the Tysa River have written to the Hungarian government with a collective demand for compensation to be paid for damages resulting from contamination. On February 22 it was reported that monitoring of the state of water pollution was continuing in the zones of the Tysa and Danube rivers. According to the Ukrainian Emergency Ministry, as of the morning of February 22 no cases of poisoning of people or animals had been registered. The level of cyanide and heavy metals in the water was reported as within acceptable norms.(Eastern Economist)

Latvia hosts meeting on war crimes

RIGA - Latvia on February 16-17 hosted an international meeting of investigators and prosecutors who agreed to cooperate in investigating war crimes cases. Officials from the United States, Canada, Germany, Israel, Great Britain and Australia joined their Latvian counterparts in pooling evidence on Konrads Kalejs, and Latvian Prosecutor-General Janis Skrastins said later that "several important elements" were unearthed, the BNS news agency reported. Mr. Skrastins also said the meeting laid the foundations for further cooperation on the Kalejs and other cases. Justice Minister Birkavs told participants, "We have gathered here with one objective to achieve: that all war criminals are called to responsibility." Russian investigators, who had earlier voiced anger over not being invited to the meeting, will be asked to attend talks later this month, officials added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

CE concerned about referendum

KYIV - Hanne Severinsen, a rapporteur from the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, said in the Ukrainian capital on February 17 that she hopes President Leonid Kuchma will suspend holding the April 16 constitutional referendum until the Venetian Commission presents its assessment of the referendum decree, Interfax reported. Ms. Severinsen added that she has invited President Kuchma to take part in a PACE session in Strasbourg in early April at which the Venetian Commission's conclusions are to be discussed. Meanwhile, a late January poll showed that 76 percent of Ukrainians want to take part in the referendum. According to that poll, if the plebiscite were held now, all the questions would be supported by more than 50 percent of those intending to vote. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Troops to learn about Nazi, Soviet crimes

VILNIUS - Members of the Lithuanian army are to start receiving education about crimes against humanity committed by both the Nazis and Soviets. An agreement to that effect was signed on February 21 by the Defense Ministry and the commission investigating Soviet and Nazi war crimes in Lithuania. Special emphasis will be placed on teaching about the Holocaust, reported the BNS news agency. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Zyuganov predicts Estonia-Russia union

TALLINN - The leader of the Russian Communist Party Gennadii Zyuganov told Eesti Paevaleht that in 15 years there could be an Estonian-Russian Union, noting that "historical development in post-Soviet territories is directed at integration." Mr. Zyuganov added, "We regard the disintegration of the Soviet Union as the worst tragedy for all the peoples involved, and so we are going to make our best effort to strengthen integration policy with former Soviet territories." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Clean energy program unveiled

KYIV - Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on February 18 announced the beginning of the clean energy program. Its aim is to liquidate any potential for abuse and corruption in the energy sector. The first target of the program's work is the nuclear energy field. Its strategic aim is to remove funds from circulation in the shadow sector and direct them towards the social needs of the field, payment of wage arrears and procurement of technical equipment. (Eastern Economist)

Veterans to get Polish pensions

PRAGUE - Ukrainian Television recently reported that former soldiers of the Polish army who now live in Ukraine are rushing to register at the Polish Consulate in Lviv. The Polish authorities have announced they will pay pensions worth $20 a month to those who took part in the war in 1939 when Germany attacked Poland. The deadline for registration was December 31. (RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report)

Kuchma praises new cooperation

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma believes that Ukraine's executive and legislative branches are now working "very constructively," his spokesman, Oleksander Martynenko, told journalists on February 16. Speaking about the forthcoming vote on confidence in the Parliament in the April 16 referendum, Mr. Martynenko said the vote was proposed in relation to the 14th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada, while "now we have the Verkhovna Rada of the third convocation," Interfax reported. With regard to other questions related to the referendum, Mr. Martynenko said "we need to wait for the Constitutional Court's ruling," adding that the president will take action on the basis of that ruling. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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