NEWSBRIEFS (04/01/01)

NEWSBRIEFS

Powell meets with Zlenko in DC

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko in Washington on March 27. "[Powell] expressed our concerns about the case of the missing journalist [Heorhii Gongadze], the need for a full, open and transparent investigation, and said that we were prepared to cooperate in helping with that," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the same day. Mr. Boucher added: "The secretary expressed our firm support for Ukraine's independent destiny. .. He expressed our support for democracy, for freedom of the press, for the free enterprise system in Ukraine, and said we would continue to work with them and encourage that course." Mr. Zlenko brought a letter inviting FBI experts to Kyiv to help investigate the Gongadze case. Earlier this month, a team of FBI experts returned from Kyiv empty-handed because of a dispute between the procurator-general and Mr. Gongadze's mother. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM's former colleague faces new charges

KYIV - Kyiv City Prosecutor Yurii Haisynskyi on March 27 said new charges will be brought against Volodymyr Bondar, former vice-chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine, who was arrested last week on suspicion of financial abuses. Mr. Haisynskyi also attacked Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko by saying that the latter's statements "can be seen as putting pressure on the investigators." Mr. Yuschenko, who headed the NBU at the time of Mr. Bondar's alleged misdemeanors, said last week that he is certain of Mr. Bondar's innocence. Prime Minister Yuschenko and Finance Minister Ihor Mitiukov will be interrogated in the Bondar case. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Forum seeks talks with president ...

KYIV - The Forum for National Salvation on March 26 appealed to all democratic parties and organizations in Ukraine to form a single coordination center of the opposition on the principle of equal representation, Interfax reported. The FNS said it sees "roundtable talks" with the authorities as a way out of the current conflict. However, the FNS makes the beginning of such talks dependent on several conditions: the authorities must recognize the forum as an opposition force and the main negotiation partner; the talks should focus on reforming the power system in Ukraine via President Leonid Kuchma's resignation and early presidential elections; there must be regular and live relays of the talks on state-controlled radio and television. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... while Kuchma says talks have begun

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said on March 26 that a dialogue to seek stability and social accord in Ukraine is already under way. Mr. Kuchma added that he is ready to talk "to those who are listening and hearing, who are seeking a constructive solution to the problem instead of raising absurd ultimatums behind which there is only a void," Interfax reported. According to the president, it is difficult to consolidate the entire society "when people hardly known to anybody aspire to the role of [being] nationwide leaders not through democratic procedures, but after making several hysterical speeches on a street or a square." First Vice-Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Viktor Medvedchuk said talks between the opposition and the authorities will prove fruitless if the opposition continues to insist on President Kuchma's ouster. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Probe ordered into Chornovil's death

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has instructed Procurator General Mykhailo Potebenko to launch an investigation into the death of former Rukh leader Vyacheslav Chornovil, Interfax reported on March 24. An investigation group will include lawmakers from the National Rukh of Ukraine parliamentary caucus. Some lawmakers alleged last year that Mr. Chornovil's fatal car crash had been organized by a special unit subordinate to Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Kravchenko. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Chornovil memorial ceremony delayed

KYIV - On the second anniversary of Viacheslav Chornovil's death, a formal laying of flowers at Baikove Cemetery was planned for 11 a.m. on March 25 by various center-right groups and Mr. Chornovil's son, Taras. However, President Leonid Kuchma arrived half an hour before the scheduled ceremony and the entire area was closed off to the public by security forces. As a result, Taras Chornovil and politicians, including Viktor Pynzenyk and Volodymyr Filenko, were prevented from entering the cemetery until after the president left. Flowers were also laid at the site of the fatal accident on the Boryspil highway where Mr. Chornovil died and a memorial evening was organized at Budynok Uchytelia that evening. (Eastern Economist)

Pro-Kuchma party hires sleuths

KYIV - The Labor Ukraine Party has concluded a contract with Kroll Associates, a New York-based agency specializing in white-collar crime investigation and security, to probe the case of murdered journalist Heorhii Gongadze, Interfax and the Associated Press reported on March 23. Labor Ukraine leader Serhii Tyhypko said President Leonid Kuchma was told about the contract beforehand and approved it. Mr. Tyhypko, former minister of the economy, said it was necessary to "seize the initiative" from the opposition and make the investigation of the Gongadze case constructive. He noted that the involvement of a respected investigative company could also help Ukraine boost its image abroad. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Zyuganov and Symonenko meet

MOSCOW - Gennadii Zyuganov and Petro Symonenko, the leaders of the Communist parties of Russia and Ukraine, respectively, met in Moscow and announced their intention to work more closely together, Interfax reported on March 23. Mr. Symonenko said this is especially important because of the political crisis in Ukraine. "The problem of [Ukrainian President Leonid] Kuchma depends not only on internal, but to a greater degree on external factors. And it is becoming evident that the pro-Western direction conducted by the authorities in Ukraine in foreign policy and the complete dependence of Ukraine, especially in economics, on the financial structures of the West has led to a catastrophic situation," he said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada again passes bill on elections

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on March 22 voted 284-9 to pass a new bill on the introduction of a proportional party-list system in parliamentary elections, taking into account 23 out of the 38 changes proposed by President Leonid Kuchma, Interfax reported. The bill stipulates that only parties supported by no less than 4 percent of voters nationwide can be represented in the Parliament. President Kuchma had vetoed the previous bill, arguing that it limited citizens' constitutional right to elect their representatives to the Parliament by shifting a majority of election process prerogatives to political parties. (RFE/RL Newsline)

World Bank pledges $120 million

KYIV - Vice Minister of Agriculture Roman Shmidt told journalists on March 22 that the World Bank will give Ukraine a preferential loan of $120 million to speed up the process of land reform in the country, Interfax reported. Mr. Shmidt said the money will help finance the issuance of documents certifying private property rights on land lots and the creation of a registration system for real estate rights. He noted that one of the main conditions for the loan is the adoption of a new Land Code, which is expected to be discussed in the Verkhovna Rada soon. Currently, only 900,000 out of a total of 6.4 million farmers have received certificates documenting the private ownership of their plots. (RFE/RL Newsline)

UNA-UNSO leader is detained

KYIV - The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on March 21 detained Andrii Shkil, leader of the nationalist Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian Self-Defense Organization (UNA-UNSO), Interfax reported. The SBU said in a statement that Mr. Shkil was detained as a suspect in connection with an investigation into the March 9 violent demonstrations in Kyiv. Ukrainian news media reported previously that UNA-UNSO members were active participants in that day's clashes with police, in which some 50 people were injured. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... disapproves of new parliamentary group

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma criticized the recent formation of the Ukraine's Regions caucus in the Parliament, Interfax reported on March 21. "This is yet another confirmation that a [parliamentary] election campaign has already started off," he noted, adding that this campaign will impair the efficiency of work in the Verkhovna Rada. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Gazprom reportedly sues Ukraine

KYIV - Anatolii Podmyshalskyi, Gazprom's representative in Ukraine, told Interfax on March 21 that Russia's gas monopoly has sued Ukraine in an international court in order to obtain compensation for 1.1 billion cubic meters of gas that Ukraine allegedly siphoned off in the first half of 2000. Mr. Podmyshalskyi did not specify in which court the suit was filed. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lazarenko is denied asylum in the U.S.

KYIV - A New York court on March 19 denied former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko's request for asylum in the United States. According to law, U.S. officials have three options for deporting Mr. Lazarenko: They may send him to the country from which he arrived, to the country of which he is a citizen or to a country to which he would travel if allowed entry. Mr. Lazarenko is accused by the United States of laundering over $100 million. Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have repeatedly demanded that Mr. Lazarenko be deported to Ukraine, where the ex-prime minister would face trial. (Eastern Economist)

Eight die in military helicopter crash

KYIV - A Ukrainian Mi-8 military transport helicopter crashed on March 19 near Kherson. All eight soldiers that were aboard perished. No civilian deaths were reported in the crash. The accident occurred as the aircraft was being tested for parachuting purposes. Defense Minister Oleksander Kuzmuk returned from the military exhibition IDEX-2001 to deal with the incident. (Eastern Economist)

Udovenko: we must not follow Moldova

RIVNE - Currently the most important task for Rukh, according to its leader, Hennadii Udovenko, is the battle with those opposed to Ukraine's independence, the Communists. He said that the most important goal is to prevent the Moldova variant in Ukraine, or the empowerment of Communists through parliamentary elections. Mr. Udovenko added, "We will not join the leftist opposition under the red banner." He added that his Rukh faction is prepared to be a mediator between the authorities and the Forum for National Salvation. Communists recently won control of the parliament in Moldova and have made overtures to join the Russia-Belarus Union. (Eastern Economist)

Policemen picket Rada over privileges

KYIV - Some 5,000 policemen, including many police veterans, picketed the Parliament building on March 20, demanding the restoration of privileges to law enforcement officers, higher wages, and the punishment of those responsible for violent clashes during the March 9 anti-presidential protests, Interfax reported. In 1999 the Verkhovna Rada canceled privileges for law enforcement officers that covered the payment of rents, transportation fees and vouchers for stays in sanatoriums and recreation centers. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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