NEWSBRIEFS

Inflation in Ukraine tops 25 percent

KYIV - The inflation rate in Ukraine for 2000 was 25.8 percent - far above initial forecasts and above 1999's 19.2 percent, the Associated Press reported on December 30, 2000. Price hikes for food and fuel are the single most important reason for the rise. In an effort to stabilize fuel prices, Kyiv in the past few days signed accords with Russia and Turkmenistan for delivery of oil and gas. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President predicts better 2001

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said on December 29, 2000, that inflation will fall in 2001 and the country's GDP will increase by 5 percent over the next 12 months, ITAR-TASS reported. He pointed to the National Bank's record gold and foreign currency reserves as evidence that the country will be able to repay all its foreign debts. Buoying Mr. Kuchma were the disbursal of the first installment of an IMF loan of $247 million on December 22 and of a $100 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Euroatom. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma seeks help on Gongadze case

KYIV - Arguing that "as president, I need the truth more than anyone else does," President Leonid Kuchma said on December 30, 2000, that he would welcome the arrival of foreign experts to probe the case of missing journalist Heorhii Gongadze, Interfax-Ukraine said. Meanwhile, Reporters without Borders told Interfax on December 29 that its experts will arrive in Kyiv on January 8 to investigate Mr. Gongadze's disappearance. DPA reported the same day that National Deputy Serhii Holovatyi (Reforms and Order Party) said that German forensic specialists have confirmed that a body believed to be Mr. Gongadze's is in fact that of the missing journalist. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Udovenko doubts Rukh merger

KYIV - The leader of one of the Rukh parties, Hennadii Udovenko, has said he does not expect unification of the two Rukh parties. He added that the unification process was complicated by the appearance of a third Rukh party registered last week with the aim of securing unity of the two. Besides, he added, the bloc of parties consisting of Rukh-Udovenko, Reforms and Order and the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists is in talks with Rukh-Kostenko to create a new bloc comprising these four parties. Mr. Udovenko said he is sure that the new pre-election bloc will be created, although the issue of the unification of the two parties has not been raised. (Eastern Economist)

Ukraine to reduce army by 25,000

KYIV - According to a decree issued on December 29, 2000, by President Leonid Kuchma on the basis of legislation approved on December 7, Kyiv will reduce the number of uniformed service personnel by 15,000 over the next five years and the number of civilians employed by the military by 10,000, ITAR-TASS reported. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that Ukrainian officials acknowledged on the same day that Kyiv had, as the United Nations suggested, unwittingly sold weapons to Burkina Faso that had fallen into the hands of rebels. Such sales have been stopped, the Ukrainians said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

More problems reported at border

MOSCOW - Border guard officials from Russia and Ukraine on December 29, 2000, told ITAR-TASS that the number of criminal groups smuggling migrants and illegal goods over the border increased during 2000. Specifically, the number of arrests of border violators by both sides grew by 33.4 percent in 2000 over the year before, while the value of confiscated contraband rose by 46.5 percent, of guns by 82.6 percent and of narcotics by 63 percent. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma, Putin push expanded ties

MOSCOW - At their meeting in Moscow, Ukrainian President Kuchma and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, sharply criticized the work of the existing intergovernmental economic cooperation commission and called for expanded ties, ITAR-TASS reported on December 22, 2000. Both presidents suggested that businessmen should be involved in the commission's work. They also agreed to defer payment of Ukraine's gas debt to Russia for 10 years. Negotiators for the two countries agreed on new guarantees for Russian gas transit across Ukraine and reserve supplies for and payments by Ukraine during the next year. The two leaders also participated in the opening of a new electric power station outside St. Petersburg, and the next day participated in the unveiling of a Taras Shevchenko statue in St. Petersburg. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma wants constitutional change

KYIV - On December 30, 2000, President Leonid Kuchma repeated his argument that his country will remain in a political stalemate unless the Constitution of Ukraine is modified to give him more powers relative to the Verkhovna Rada, Interfax-Ukraine reported. If there are no changes soon, he said, "Parliament will remain what it has been during the past month" and "nothing sensible" will be achieved. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Patriarch blames Vatican for problems

MOSCOW - Russian Orthodox Patriarch Aleksei II on December 29, 2000, expressed the hope that there will be improved relations between his Church and the Roman Catholic Church in the future, Interfax reported. But Patriarch Aleksei insisted that the "still serious problems" between the two confessions "have arisen through no fault of Orthodox Christians." And he added that the situation in western Ukraine is especially serious because there "three Orthodox eparchies were literally smashed up with the active support of Greek Catholics." In addition, he sharply criticized efforts by the Roman Catholic Church "under the pretext of 'social work'" "to convert Orthodox Christians. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Zlenko on Ukraine-Russia-NATO triangle

KYIV - Speaking on Ukraine's first "Day of the Diplomat," Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko on December 22, 2000, said that Ukraine will continue to cooperate with NATO as long as that corresponds to Kyiv's interests, ITAR-TASS reported. He argued that "the triangle Ukraine-Russia-NATO already exists de facto, but it is early to speak about its existence de jure." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russian prosecutors in Kyiv on case

KYIV - Officials of the Russian military prosecutor's office arrived in Kyiv on December 22, 2000, to interview senior Ukrainian officials, including Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, about the abuse of office charges against Gen. Georgii Oleinik, the former head of the Russian defense Ministry's Budget and Finance Department, ITAR-TASS reported. The investigators want to ask Ms. Tymoshenko about large cash transfers between the Ukrainian government and Russian officers. Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 29 issued a decree suspending Col. Gen. Oleinik, who has been charged with exceeding his authority and is being investigated for involvement in a multi-million dollar scheme between Russia and Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

OPIC chief comments on investments

KYIV - George Munoz, the president of the U.S. Overseas Private Investments Corp. (OPIC), told the Bloomberg Business Information Service that Kyiv has failed to create a favorable climate for foreign investment, ITAR-TASS reported on December 25, 2000. He added that the International Monetary Fund's willingness to resume loans is a positive step, but only if Ukraine lives up to the IMF's conditions. The Ukrainian Finance Ministry said that Kyiv will ask the Paris Club to reschedule Ukrainian debt payments, ITAR-TASS reported. Meanwhile, President Kuchma on December 23, 2000, signed into law the credit agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, under the terms of which Kyiv will get a credit of $100 million to purchase fuel this winter. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine to reorganize tax administration

KYIV - Tax Administration chief Mykola Azarov told Interfax on 26 December 26, 2000, that Kyiv will divide his organization into separate functional departments, modernize its facilities and improve management training in 2001. The moves are prompted by the government's need to improve tax collections, the Associated Press reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Moldova opts out of military cooperation

CHISINAU - Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi has announced that his country will not participate in any military cooperation projects within GUUAM, the informal group that aligns Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova, Caucasus Press reported on December 29, 2000. Mr. Lucinschi said Chisinau seeks to maintain its neutrality and will therefore abjure military cooperation within the CIS as well. But he reaffirmed Moldova's interest in economic cooperation within GUUAM, including the transportation of Caspian oil to European markets via the South Caucasus. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Icon thieves caught near Chornobyl

KYIV - Two men suspected of stealing church icons in 1997 from a special temporary storage facility in Chornobyl have been arrested, the Security Service of Ukraine told the Associated Press on December 28, 2000. The authorities noted that the icons were not radioactive. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Poll shows most Slavs favor unification

MOSCOW - The unification of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine in a single state - federative or unitarian - is supported by 61 percent of Russians, 53 percent of Ukrainians and 69 percent of Belarusians. The number of opponents is 15 percent , 36 percent and 19 percent, respectively, according to a report on the results of a December poll obtained by Interfax from the Moscow Humanitarian Academy on December 29, 2000. Academy sociologists had surveyed 1,700 adults in Russia, 1,100 in Ukraine and 1,000 in Belarus. Asked about the preferable form of the possible unification, 38 percent of the Russians, 43 percent of the Ukrainians and 57 percent of the Belarusians polled said they favored a single state as existed in pre-revolutionary Russia. The supporters of a federation were 36 percent , 16 percent and 15 percent, respectively. (Interfax)

IMF approves resumption of credits

KYIV - The International Monetary Fund's board of directors has unanimously approved the resumption of credits to Ukraine. The next tranche of $245 million (U.S.) will be provided by the end of the year. The IMF decision is a good sign for all foreign creditors and allows the Ukrainian government to start talks with the Paris Club on restructuring Ukraine's debts. The loans were suspended back in September 1999. IMF First Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer said that the "Ukrainian authorities should be commended for the recent improvements in economic policy implementation and progress on their reform agenda. Economic performance in 2000 has been encouraging, as real GDP growth is expected to be positive (5 percent) for the first time since independence, and there has been a significant turnaround in Ukraine's external position. The authorities are urged to continue with their overall economic strategy, based on a sound budget, tight monetary policy and the implementation of structural reforms." It is expected that the first tranche of the extended fund facility (EFF) loan will arrive in Ukraine on December 26-27, said First Vice Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov. (Eastern Economist)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 7, 2001, No. 1, Vol. LXIX

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