NEWSBRIEFS (02/25/01)

NEWSBRIEFS

Kuchma: No crisis in Ukraine

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said on February 19 that he "cannot agree with the opinion that is being insistently imposed [on us] that there is a political crisis in Ukraine," Interfax reported. "The Parliament and the government are remaining in their places and functioning despite all difficulties," he noted. Mr. Kuchma said the atmosphere among Ukraine's top leadership is characterized by "mutual understanding [and] closeness of positions." He added that mutual understanding also "dominates" in relations between the central and regional power bodies. "If someone thinks the crisis is in the excessive activity of some deputies who assumed the role of permanent revolutionaries, this is of course sad, but not lethal," the president told students at Kyiv University. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma suggests who sponsors unrest

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma suggested on February 20 that the current anti-presidential protests in Ukraine are financed with money from former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko and former Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Interfax reported. "Some grounds for this [conclusion] exist," Mr. Kuchma said. He added that "everything taking place [now in Ukraine] is based not on people's enthusiasm but on money." (RFE/RL Newsline)

... pledges to take "resolute action"

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said the current situation "obliges the authorities to take active and resolute actions" as well as use "all legal means" to avert threats to Ukraine's national security and stability. He added that he does not consider "those who are shouting in tent cities" constitute a "serious political force." Mr. Kuchma said the exit of his current opponents from the political scene "is only a question of time," adding, however, that they will not agree to quit that scene of their own will. "They have neither political principles, nor moral norms, nor anything sacred at all," President Kuchma said about his opponents. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Forum wants talks on Kuchma resignation

KYIV - Anatolii Matvienko, a leader of the Forum for National Salvation, said on February 20 that the forum is ready for talks with President Leonid Kuchma, but only about a "resignation formula" for the president, Interfax reported. A further condition stipulated by the forum for embarking on talks with Mr. Kuchma is the release of Yulia Tymoshenko from jail. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lawmakers seek probe into energy deal

KYIV - The parliamentary caucus of the Ukrainian National Rukh (led by Yurii Kostenko) has demanded an investigation into how the so-called "energy memorandum" was prepared and signed during President Leonid Kuchma's recent talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Dnipropetrovsk. The Rukh lawmakers believe the memorandum constitutes "Russia's attempt to completely seize the Ukrainian energy market through its powerful lobby in the highest circles of Ukrainian authorities, drive our country out of the European energy export market, and drag Ukraine into a union with Russia and Belarus," the Eastern Economist Daily reported on February 21, quoting UNIAN. Rukh noted that the energy deal is Ukraine's "most shameful capitulation to its northern neighbor in the last 10 years." (RFE/RL Newsline)

President vetoes election bill

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has vetoed the parliamentary election bill that provided for abolishing the current mixed voting and introducing a proportional party-list electoral system, Interfax reported on February 20. According to the presidential press service, the bill does not conform with the Constitution of Ukraine and a number of laws. The service added that the bill limits citizens' constitutional right to elect their representatives to the Verkhovna Rada by shifting a majority of election process prerogatives to political parties. There are currently 110 political parties registered in Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada without pro-Kuchma majority?

KYIV - Oleksander Turchynov, leader of the Fatherland Party parliamentary caucus, told the Verkhovna Rada on February 19 that the pro-government parliamentary majority "does not exist anymore," Interfax reported. He added that his caucus is ready to form a "new realistic majority that would be able to protect democratic reforms and do everything possible to overcome the socioeconomic and political crisis." Asked by Rada Chairman Ivan Pliusch if his statement means that the Fatherland Party is quitting the parliamentary majority, Mr. Turchynov said "we cannot quit the majority because it does not exist." The Ukrainian Parliament currently has 448 deputies. The pro-government majority, formed a year ago, consisted of 278 deputies, including 32 from the Fatherland Party. Following the sacking of Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko from the Cabinet last month, the Fatherland Party has begun to oppose presidential policies. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Sobor Party calls for Kuchma's dismissal

KYIV - The Sobor Party held its congress in Kyiv on February 17-18 and re-elected Anatolii Matvienko as its chairman, Interfax reported. The congress demanded that President Leonid Kuchma be immediately dismissed, saying Mr. Kuchma "bears direct political and moral responsibility for crisis in the country [and] for Ukraine's slide to authoritarianism." The congress also demanded the dismissal of Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Kravchenko, State Tax Administration Chairman Mykola Azarov, Procurator General Mykhailo Potebenko, and National Security and Defense Council Chairman Yevhen Marchuk who, according to a congress resolution, "have ultimately discredited themselves as human beings and state officials." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Picketers demand ouster of Potebenko

KYIV - Some 1,000 people picketed the Procurator General's Office in Kyiv on February 16, demanding the dismissal of Procurator General Mykhailo Potebenko and the release of former Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko from jail, Interfax reported. The protesters accused Mr. Potebenko of delaying the investigation into the disappearance of journalist Heorhii Gongadze and of ordering Ms. Tymoshenko's arrest because of political motives. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Anarchists deny attack on tent camp

KYIV - Several dozen unknown young men waving black flags with anarchist symbols on February 6 attacked the "Ukraine Without Kuchma" tent camp, and the media subsequently reported that they belonged to a "Syndicate of Anarchists." Kyiv Anarchists belonging to various initiative groups and NGOs who have participated in public actions in Kyiv, stated that they have never heard of a group called the "Syndicate of Anarchists." The Kyiv Anarchists released a statement saying: "We consider the attack an ugly and brutal provocation against participants of the 'Ukraine Without Kuchma' action. ... We condemn the provocation that took place on February 6 and we claim that state security bodies are responsible for it." (Kyiv Anarchists)

Kyiv: no way to learn cause of death

KYIV - Deputy Procurator-General Oleksii Bahanets told Interfax on January 26 that it is impossible to determine the cause of the death of the man whose body was found near Kyiv in November and is widely believed to be that of missing journalist Heorhii Gongadze. "Forensic experts have not determined the cause of the death, since it is impossible because of putrefactive changes in the body," Mr. Bahanets said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Visit to Moldova is postponed

CHISINAU - Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi's office announced on February 19 that a working visit by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has been postponed, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The visit should have started on February 20. As grounds for the postponement, the presidential office mentioned the need for the two sides' teams of experts to "better prepare the summit," particularly the planned meeting of the joint commission on Moldovan-Ukrainian cooperation. No new date was set. Infotag cited observers who believe the main reason for postponing the visit is the internal situation in Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

IMF withholds loan tranche

KYIV - International Monetary Fund official Thomas Dawson said in Washington last week that "Ukraine will not qualify to receive the next tranche from the IMF as planned for March because the government failed to fulfill its obligations to increase tax payments to the budget in the form of cash from electricity consumers," the Eastern Economist Daily reported on February 19. Mr. Dawson added that the Ukrainian government must also apply more transparent practices in the sale of state-owned property. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Civic initiative wants to sue president

KYIV - National Deputy Serhii Holovatyi told journalists on February 15 that the civic initiative Forum for National Salvation intends to sue President Leonid Kuchma, Rada Chairman Ivan Pliusch and Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko for slander, Interfax reported. Mr. Holovatyi was referring to the statement of the three leaders in which the forum was described as a group seeking salvation "for themselves from political bankruptcy and oblivion ... [and] criminal responsibility." The forum currently unites 63 representatives of political parties and public organizations. Procurator General Mykhailo Potebenko said the previous day that the Forum for National Salvation was created in "an unconstitutional way." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Reporters' group writes to Kuchma

KYIV - "The murder of journalist Heorhii Gongadze may not be further ignored," Robert Menard, head of Reporters Without Borders, said in a letter to President Leonid Kuchma, Interfax reported on February 15. Mr. Menard added that if the Gongadze case is not clarified in the next few weeks, his organization will ask the Council of Europe to suspend Ukraine's membership, and will request that the EU "make all necessary conclusions regarding its political and economic relations with Ukraine." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Gongadze's wife appeals for truth

KYIV - Myroslava Gongadze, wife of missing journalist Heorhii Gongadze, told the Ekho Moskvy radio station that she only wants to learn the truth about her husband's fate, Reuters reported on February 14. "Being at the center of these events is terrifying for me, but we must have an impartial investigation," Ms. Gongadze said. She added that the blame for the current political unrest in Ukraine "lies solely with the investigative organs: their complete inactivity." She said the refusal of Ukrainian officials to unambiguously identify the headless body found near Kyiv and believed to be her husband's signals that they are covering up his murder. "There is only one explanation: if there is no crime, then there is no perpetrator of the crime," she said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Student rallies focus on Gongadze case

KYIV - Some 100 students, led by the "For Truth" youth group, handed over a petition to the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv on February 15, asking the U.S. government to use its influence to solve the mystery of missing journalist Heorhii Gongadze, Interfax reported. The group also asked for an expert assessment in the United States of the tapes that allege President Leonid Kuchma's complicity in Mr. Gongadze's disappearance. Another 50 students picketed the Education Ministry the same day, demanding that the educational authorities reinstate students from Rivne who say they have been expelled from their college for taking part in anti-Kuchma protests. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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