NEWSBRIEFS (12/24/00)

NEWSBRIEFS

Population to shrink to 49.28 million

KYIV - The State Statistics Committee estimated that by the beginning of 2001, Ukraine's population will drop to 49.28 million, or 210,000 persons less than the average figure throughout 2000. In the beginning of 2000, Ukraine had 49.71 million residents, while in the beginning of 1999 this figure was around 50.1 million. (Eastern Economist)

Odesa-Gdansk pipeline is discussed

ODESA - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and his Polish counterpart, Aleksander Kwasniewski, meeting in Odesa on December 17-18, discussed the construction of an oil terminal in Odesa and an Odesa-Gdansk pipeline to deliver Caspian Sea and Kazak oil to Europe. President Kwasniewski called for the creation of an international consortium to complete the pipeline, whose Ukrainian stretch is 80 percent finished, and to organize oil deliveries through it. "We are dealing with a very concrete project that demands our interest," Interfax quoted Mr. Kwasniewski as saying. Meanwhile, the United States is pressuring Kazakstan to make a firm commitment by February 2001 to export oil via the planned Aktau-Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine's GDP grows by 5.4 percent

KYIV - The State Statistics Committee reported on December 18 that GDP in January-November was 5.4 percent up on the same period last year. GDP in the first 11 months of 2000 amounted to 154.04 billion hrv ($28 billion U.S.). Earlier this year, the government predicted that the economy would grow by 2 percent in 2000. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Chornobyl experts to find work in Russia?

KYIV - Prime Minister Mikhail Kasianov of Russia promised to consider employing Chornobyl nuclear power plant workers at Russian nuclear power sites. He has reportedly already discussed this issue with President Leonid Kuchma, and the two agreed that 6,000 highly qualified specialists from Chornobyl will be able to find jobs at Russian energy stations. Mr. Kasianov also confirmed Russian intentions to increase electricity supplies to Ukraine, which would compensate for Chornobyl's lost generating capacities. As well, the Russian government is preparing a bill on employing Russian specialists in building reactors in Khmelnytskyi and Rivne. (Eastern Economist)

Lazarenko says he is political prisoner

SAN FRANCISCO - At a recent court hearing in San Francisco, Pavlo Lazarenko, the former prime minister of Ukraine who is currently being detained in the United States on charges of money laundering, declared himself a political prisoner. Mr. Lazarenko's attorney, Maryna Dovhopola, said that he made a statement in the court that Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and White House officials are in conspiracy against him. Mr. Lazarenko did not make any statements with regard to the Swiss law enforcers, who have already sentenced him to a year and a half in jail. (BBC Monitoring Service)

A tax break for Ukrainian

IVANO-FRANKIVSK - Starting on January 1, 2001, Ivano-Frankivsk will implement a privileged tax for enterprises that sell only Ukrainian-language products. Such enterprises will pay a single 11.4 hrv per month tax, or 43 percent less than the regular single tax rate. The vice-chairman of the City Council's Entrepreneurship Development Department, Andrii Sobolevskyi, said the decision was taken by the Ivano-Frankivsk City Council "to protect and spread the use of the Ukrainian language in the city." (Eastern Economist)

Britain ready to help Ukraine's army

KYIV - Great Britain is ready to help Ukraine in forming a professional army, said the chairman of the Defense Committee in the House of Commons, George Bruce. He added that Britain will provide a number of research documents on the benefits of a professional army and conduct appropriate training for Ukrainian officers. Mr. Bruce dismissed the thesis that a professional army costs more to maintain. Britain spends only 2.4 percent of its GDP for military purposes. (Eastern Economist)

Odesa among top cities for AIDS

ODESA - Odesa is seventh among European cities in the number of AIDS infected people. As of today, more than 15,000 people are afflicted by the disease. As in most European countries, the majority of AIDS infected people either use intravenous drugs or have alternative sexual lifestyles. However, according to a doctor at the Odesa Oblast's dangerous infections unit, Valentyna Lysetska, the disease has begun to spread among those normally not categorized as at-risk. Over 75 percent of the infected are men between the ages of 20 and 39. Despite the AIDS epidemic in Odesa, many people refuse to submit to diagnostic tests. (Eastern Economist)

Cabinet approves pension increase

KYIV - The Cabinet has approved a decision to increase pensions in two stages: from December 1 and from April 1, 2001, said First Vice Minister for Social Policy Petro Ovcharenko. He added that starting December 1, the minimum pension will be 30 hrv, while on April 1, 2001, this figure will increase to 34 hrv. The maximum pension for the majority of pensioners is 90 hrv. Pensions for miners and metallurgy sector workers starting December 1 increase to 128 hrv, while from April 1 increase to 136 hrv. Mr. Ovcharenko stated that the overall increase on April 1 will be 25 percent. (Eastern Economist)

Coal mines to be privatized in 2001

KYIV - Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko told journalists on December 7 that the government intends to privatize all Ukrainian coal mines by mid-2001, Interfax reported. She said coal mines will be divided into four groups, according to their potential to attract investment: profitable mines, potentially profitable ones, loss-making ones and mines that are to be closed. There are currently 196 coal mines in the country. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Gender gap in politics is closing slowly

KYIV - According to statistics, the lower the level of a government office, the more likely the position is to be filled by a woman, stated the report on Gender Statistics for Monitoring Equality of Men and Women. The number of women in the Verkhovna Rada increased from 19 in 1994 to 37 in 1998 and is slowly approaching the world average of 10 percent. The report goes on to state that, despite progress, there is a deep gender inequality and a general lack of balance between men and women in politics in Ukraine. Local legislative bodies have a greater percentage of women, with 30 percent in 1994 and 38 percent in 1998. Almost 38 percent of local and city court judges are women. (Eastern Economist)

Sailors return after detention in India

KYIV - Twenty-four Ukrainian sailors, crew members of the Kobe-Queen-1 returned to Odesa in later November after being held under arrest for 16 months in the Indian port of Chennai, formerly Madras. Indian customs services charged the sailors with drug trafficking, despite the fact that numerous inspections did not reveal any drugs on board the ship. A court case, launched by the receiver of the shipment, freed the sailors and ordered the sale of the ship's cargo. (Eastern Economist)

Communist Party most popular in poll

KYIV - The Communist Party placed first in a list of the country's most popular parties, as based on a poll by the Laboratory for Social Studies. The Communists rated 7.4 on a scale of 10, while respondents evaluated Communist activity at +1.1 on a scale of -5 to +5. The Social Democratic Party (United) was second with 6.9 and +1.8; followed by Batkivshchyna with 6.7 and +2.9. Rukh-Udovenko's popularity was rated 5.2. The lowest mark for activity was given to Natalia Vitrenko's Progressive Socialist Party at -3.1. (Eastern Economist)

GUUAM to meet in Kyiv in March 2001

KYIV - Meeting in Vienna, foreign affairs ministers of the GUUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova) alliance scheduled the organization's next summit for March 2001 in Kyiv. Relationships in economic, transportation and humanitarian sectors will constitute the summit's main issues. Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko said GUUAM will progress from declarative to real cooperation and begin implementing several multilateral economic and energy sector programs. (Eastern Economist)

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