NEWSBRIEFS (03/11/01)

NEWSBRIEFS

Kuchma: support me or quit

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said on March 6 that state officials have one week to publicly renounce ties to the opposition or resign their posts. "I suggest that every civil servant, starting with ministers, who are members of, or sympathize with ... opposition groups, should decide within a week whether to give up their jobs in authority bodies or publicly renounce anti-state groups," Interfax quoted Mr. Kuchma as saying. According to the president, such a step by officials would be "politically correct and honest." The president added that some officials, including those of "the highest rank," have taken a "wait-and-see position" on Ukraine's current situation. "One has an impression that some people want to keep silent, which is equivalent to passively encouraging those actions [by the opposition]. I do not understand or accept this," President Kuchma said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma against parliamentary republic

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma harshly criticized a draft law proposed recently by the opposition to change the Constitution in order to transform Ukraine into a parliamentary republic. Mr. Kuchma asked: "How much cynicism and disregard for the people is needed in order to practically reject the implementation of the [constitutional] referendum results, in order to redraft the Constitution for satisfying personal political ambitions?" The president noted that the current political campaign against him was initiated "not for national salvation or strengthening the state or the people's well-being, but for [gaining] power itself." He added that "It is necessary to do everything, in both the center and the provinces, in order to defend society in a democratic way from such deliverers." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Detectives to look for Melnychenko

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma told reporters from Poland's PAP news agency in Kyiv on March 5 that Ukraine has requested help from Western private detective agencies in investigating the bugging scandal provoked by former presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko, Interfax reported. Mr. Kuchma added that international detectives are working independently from Ukrainian investigators. Referring to Maj. Melnychenko, President Kuchma said: "Some say he is a hero, but the majority of people say he is a traitor, and I agree with them. For me, he is not a human at all." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma will not dismiss Cabinet

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said he is not going to dismiss the cabinet of Viktor Yuschenko. He noted, however, that the government should be efficient and depend more on the parliamentary majority. According to Mr. Kuchma, current relations between the government and the parliamentary majority are not developing well. The president said the prime minister should cooperate with all caucuses in the majority, not only with those Mr. Yuschenko "likes." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Opposition appeals for world support

KYIV - The Ukraine Without Kuchma public committee and the Forum for National Salvation have called on the world's democratic communities, parliaments and governments to support democracy in Ukraine, Interfax reported on March 2. A joint statement accused Ukrainian authorities of the failure to conduct a civilized dialogue with society; "grave crimes against man and humanity"; as well as corruption and embezzlement of state property. The statement notes that President Leonid Kuchma is "the obstacle upon Ukraine's path to democratic Europe [and] the free world." Addressing the Ukrainian people, the anti-Kuchma opposition appeals to them to "create structures of resistance in every town and village, at every plant and at home." (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM upbeat on restructuring foreign debt

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko on March 2 said he believes there is a good chance that the Paris Club of creditor nations will decide to restructure Ukraine's debts, the Associated Press reported. Mr. Yuschenko added that Ukraine sent a restructuring proposal to the Paris Club on February 1 for the country's $1 billion debt to that group. Ukraine's foreign debt now stands at $10.35 billion. Meanwhile, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development told the prime minister that Kyiv will receive money to complete the construction of nuclear reactors at the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi power plants only after it comes to terms with the Paris Club on a debt restructuring plan, the Eastern Economist Daily reported on March 5. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Chief tax inspector goes into politics

KYIV - At its congress on March 3, the Party of Ukrainian Regions elected State Tax Administration Chairman Mykola Azarov as its leader, Interfax reported. The Party of Ukrainian Regions, which until the March 3 congress bore the name of the Party of Regional Revival-Labor Solidarity of Ukraine, was created in November 2000 in a merger of five smaller parties. Mr. Azarov said after the congress that his party opposes the recently voiced proposal to create a "coalition government" and supports dialogue between the government and the opposition. Audiotapes published by former presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko implicate Mr. Azarov in blackmailing collective farm managers over unpaid taxes to muster support for President Leonid Kuchma during the 1999 presidential elections. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Soros calls on Kuchma to step down

LONDON - In an article published in the March 2 issue of the Financial Times, international financier George Soros urged President Leonid Kuchma to step down pending an inquiry into his alleged role in the disappearance of journalist Heorhii Gongadze. "If Mr. Kuchma cares about Ukraine's survival as an independent democratic state, he must take responsibility for his actions and hand over his duties to the prime minister," Mr. Soros noted. Mr. Soros also urged the West to take a clear position by denouncing President Kuchma's behavior and discontinuing doing business with the Ukrainian president until an impartial investigation has been completed. Mr. Soros, who gave more than $100 million in support to Ukraine through his Ukrainian Renaissance Foundation, said he was watching with dismay as Mr. Kuchma pressured independent media and used "questionable methods" during the last presidential campaign. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yuschenko prefers dialogue to force

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko told journalists in London on March 1 that as long as the possibilities to reach a "sensible compromise" have not been exhausted, the use of force against opponents of the government is "premature and inadmissible," Interfax reported. Mr. Yuschenko was commenting on the dismantling of the tent camp on the Khreschatyk in downtown Kyiv earlier the same day. Meanwhile, Yurii Lutsenko, a leader of the Ukraine Without Kuchma protest, said the authorities will be given an "adequate response" to their tearing down of the tent camp. The authorities on March 2 released all 44 protesters who were detained during the dismantling of the camp. Some of them were fined by courts. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Armenian president visits Kyiv

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma and his Armenian counterpart, Robert Kocharian, agreed in Kyiv on March 1 to increase economic cooperation and develop trade transit routes between the two countries, the Associated Press reported. "It's very important for Ukraine to transport its goods through Armenia to Iran and vice versa," Mr. Kuchma said. The presidents signed a joint statement and several agreements, including one on economic cooperation for 2001-2010. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Medvedchuk: coalition Cabinet is needed

KYIV - Verkhovna Rada Vice-Chairman Viktor Medvedchuk told journalists on February 26 that Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko will survive in his post only if the president, the Parliament and the government agree on forming a "coalition Cabinet," Interfax reported. Mr. Medvedchuk noted that unless a coalition Cabinet is formed under Mr. Yuschenko, "the reformist parliamentary majority will create a new coalition government with a new prime minister." Kyiv-based political analyst Mykola Tomenko said the same day that the Parliament will "most likely" dismiss Prime Minister Yuschenko in April because of his "failure to fulfill the government program" that was approved by lawmakers a year ago. According to Mr. Tomenko, the prime minister may be voted out jointly by the Communists - whose representative will subsequently head the legislature - and some currently pro-Kuchma caucuses that want Mr. Medvedchuk to head the government. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM rejects ultimatum from Medvedchuk

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko on February 28 said "the government will never participate in a dialogue of ultimatums with any political force," the Eastern Economist Daily reported. Mr. Yuschenko was commenting on Verkhovna Rada Vice-Chairman Viktor Medvedchuk's statement that the Cabinet of Ministers may be dismissed unless a coalition government is created. The prime minister added that Mr. Medvedchuk's statement is "a prologue for destabilizing the situation in Ukraine" and "an attempt to change Ukraine's future," Interfax reported. "We are convinced that this is a purely clannish approach toward organizing Ukrainian politics," Mr. Yuschenko said on behalf of his Cabinet, which discussed the domestic political situation at a closed-door session. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Communists want Yuschenko's ouster

KYIV - The Communist Party parliamentary caucus will vote to dismiss Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko if the issue is raised in the Verkhovna Rada, the Eastern Economist Daily reported on February 28. "This government openly states that it executes all IMF recommendations ... It is carrying out an anti-social, anti-national policy," Communist lawmaker Heorhii Kriuchkov noted, referring to recent rumors that the Communists may side with some pro-Kuchma legislators to oust Mr. Yuschenko. Progressive Socialist Party leader Natalia Vitrenko told Interfax on February 27 that she does not rule out the possibility of cooperation between the Communists and some "oligarchic" parliamentary caucuses in order to change the top leadership alignment in Ukraine. Meanwhile, National Deputy Serhii Tyhypko, leader of the pro-presidential Labor Ukraine Party, said the parliamentary opposition should obtain the right to appoint one deputy chairman of the Parliament and several chairpersons of parliamentary committees. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Deputy accuses NATO of bugging

KYIV - National Deputy Bohdan Boiko, a leader of the Popular Movement for Unity, told journalists on February 27 that President Leonid Kuchma's office was bugged by "special services of one or several NATO countries," Interfax reported. "The famous digital recorder of Maj. [Mykola] Melnychenko has nothing to do [with this case]," Mr. Boiko said. According to Mr. Boiko , Melnychenko is currently hiding in a "NATO military base, most probably in one of the Benelux countries." Mr. Boiko said the "first phase" of the NATO special services' operation against Mr. Kuchma misfired, because the president remains in his post. Mr. Boiko noted that the "second phase" will seek to discredit Mr. Kuchma by pointing to his alleged financial machinations and abuse of power during the 1999 presidential elections. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma: case used as "political weapon"

KYIV - In a letter published in the February 27 issue of the Financial Times, President Leonid Kuchma wrote that some Ukrainian politicians have turned the tragic death of Heorhii Gongadze into a "political weapon designed to destabilize Ukraine." Mr. Kuchma noted: "It is not by chance that my main accusers are precisely the same people who have blocked Ukraine's transformation to a free market economy." The Ukrainian president said there are no grounds to accuse him of Mr. Gongadze's murder, adding that he is committed to protecting the freedom and safety of the press. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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