NEWSBRIEFS (04/22/01)

NEWSBRIEFS

Gongadze's wife says Kuchma responsible

KYIV - Myroslava Gongadze said on April 17 that, until investigators find the people responsible for the disappearance and presumed murder of her husband, Heorhii, she will consider President Leonid Kuchma guilty. Reuters reported that speaking at a press conference in Warsaw, Ms. Gongadze said: "If the people who have been accused - the president and his entourage - had wanted, then I think this investigation would have been more effective." Ms. Gongadze said prosecutors still are denying her access to information about the beheaded corpse that was found in November 2000, which many believe to be her husband's. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv criticizes U.S. asylum decision

KYIV - Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry called U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual on April 14 to demand an explanation for the granting of asylum to Maj. Mykola Melnychenko and the wife and twin daughters of Heorhii Gongadze, and to express its "deep amazement regarding the decision," the Associated Press reported. The Procurator General's Office said that Mr. Melnychenko has been charged with libel and forgery, and that the decision to grant him asylum "runs counter to the spirit of Ukrainian-U.S. partnership." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Thousands rally to support Yuschenko

KYIV - Some 2,000 people demonstrated outside the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv on April 17 to show support for embattled Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported. Mr. Yuschenko, who was to issue a report to the Parliament on the government's work later in the day, faces a vote of no-confidence later this month. Some 217 national deputies signed a petition last week calling for the government to be removed. A no-confidence vote by 226 deputies is needed for the government to be ousted. Prime Minister Yuschenko is regarded favorably by the West because of his attempts at reforming the country's economy. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Radio Kontinent may be saved

KYIV - The German news agency DPA reported on April 13 that President Kuchma instructed the National Council for Television and Radio to make a second review of the debts of Kyiv's Radio Kontinent before rescinding its broadcasting frequency. Earlier in the day, Mykyta Poturaiev, the vice-chairman of the council, declared that Radio Kontinent's frequency would be given to another station because the station has failed to repay a 400,000 hrv (approximately $300,000 at the time) credit it received from a state bank in 1996. Radio Kontinent Director Serhii Sholokh said his station will appeal the decision, which he said is politically motivated. The independent Radio Kontinent has original music programs but rebroadcasts news from Deutsche Welle, the BBC and the Voice of America. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM: Cabinet's ouster may impair economy

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko on April 12 said the possible ouster of the current Cabinet following a no-confidence vote in the Parliament will negatively affect the country's economy, Interfax reported. Asked about the prospects of a possible new Cabinet of Ministers, Mr. Yuschenko said: "It is hard to forecast, but I don't see anything good [in such a development] either for the economy or social policy, or in terms of the harmonization of political forces [in Ukraine]." Interfax reported that as of April 12, 238 deputies had signed a motion to hold a no-confidence vote in the Yuschenko Cabinet (226 votes are necessary to dismiss it). (RFE/RL Newsline)

Communist-oligarchic majority in Rada?

KYIV - Viktor Pynzenyk, leader of the Reforms and Order Party, said a new parliamentary majority of "Communists and oligarchs has already become an obvious fact," Interfax reported on April 12. Mr. Pynzenyk noted that the motion to hold a no-confidence vote in the government was jointly signed by lawmakers from the Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party (United), the Labor Ukraine Party, the Democratic Union and the Yabluko parliamentary group. At the same time, Mr. Pynzenyk added that the fate of Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko's Cabinet "does not depend on the Parliament but on the president's decision." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Opposition leaders under threat?

KYIV - Oleksander Skrypnyk, spokesman of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said the SBU is checking on information that unidentified assailants are plotting attempts on the life of Ukrainian opposition leaders Yulia Tymoshenko, Taras Chornovil and Oleksander Turchynov. The news came via the Internet from the Aleksandr Zhilin Russian Analytical Center, which claims that the alleged killings will subsequently be blamed on President Leonid Kuchma in order to provoke mass anti-presidential protests in Ukraine, oust Mr. Kuchma, and install Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko as president and Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz as the head of government. Russian analysts believe that the United States is an "ideological inspirer of Ukrainian extremists" and that the current protests in Ukraine are being financed by Washington. Messrs. Turchynov and Moroz commented that the news about the planned killings is a provocation. Mr. Moroz suggested that it may have originated among President Kuchma's "image makers." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Prosecutor says tapes include state secret

KYIV - Deputy Procurator General Oleksii Bahanets said on April 12 that recordings made by Maj. Mykola Melnychenko, a former presidential bodyguard, include a state secret, Interfax reported. "A part of these recordings includes a state secret, while another part deals with confidential information that cannot be publicized," Mr. Bahanets told journalists. It is not clear whether Mr. Bahanets' statement is tantamount to an official acknowledgment that the Melnychenko tapes are authentic. The official added that the tapes will now be subjected to a "phonoscopic analysis." The Internet newsletter Ukrainska Pravda suggested that experts will now be trying to find whether Mr. Melnychenko doctored the tape to include a state secret on it or whether this secret was revealed by President Leonid Kuchma or one of his interlocutors. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Falling crane shuts Rivne N-plant

KYIV - A construction crane fell on two transformers at Ukraine's Rivne nuclear power plant on April 11, forcing the plant to shut down, officials in Kyiv said. According to the duty engineer at the Rivne power plant, nobody was hurt in the incident and there was no increase in radiation. An investigation has started into the crane's sudden collapse. (United Press International)

Ukraine agrees to restrict pipe exports

MOSCOW - After a 10-hour meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasianov on April 10-11, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko agreed to restrict the export of Ukrainian metal pipes to Russia without the imposition of anti-dumping quotas, ITAR-TASS reported. Mr. Kasianov said that Russian producers will recover their losses from such imports during 2001. Mr. Yuschenko also said that Ukraine agrees to a "zero option" approach to the division of Soviet-era assets and liabilities, the Russian news agency said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ivan Pliusch is hospitalized

KYIV - Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ivan Pliusch's health is "progressively improving," but he will continue to be hospitalized over the Easter holidays, Interfax reported on April 11, quoting a hospital official. Mr. Pliusch was hospitalized on March 2 and diagnosed as suffering from radiculitis, the inflammation of the root of a spinal nerve. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine, Hungary confer on floods

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban agreed in Uzhhorod on April 9 to set up a group of experts to work out a plan to prevent and fight floods in the Carpathian region. UNIAN quoted Mr. Yuschenko as saying that both sides also agreed to organize a joint battalion by October 1 to deal with consequences caused by natural and man-made disasters. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine's foreign minister in Slovakia

BRATISLAVA - Visiting Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko on April 9 told journalists after meeting his Slovak counterpart, Eduard Kukan, that they had discussed, among other things, "minimizing the consequences" of Slovakia's expected accession to the European Union on bilateral relations between the two countries. Mr. Kukan said that after the accession "it is possible that the Schengen border will extend to the border with Ukraine. We take that into consideration and we want that border to be a modern, European one, not to harm bilateral relations and cooperation." Mr. Zlenko professed surprise at the Slovak position. The two ministers also discussed the planned construction of a gas pipeline from Russia through Ukraine, a project in which Slovakia has said it is interested in participating and investing. Mr. Zlenko was also received by President Rudolf Schuster and Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, CTK reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv to support Slovakia's Ukrainians

BRATISLAVA - Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko on April 10 promised moral as well as financial assistance to Ukrainians living in Slovakia, CTK reported. Michal Kalinak, a representative of the Ukrainian minority, said Ukraine should particularly subsidize the minority press, publishers and cultural associations. Mr. Zlenko, who was on a two-day visit to Slovakia, was accompanied by 30 Ukrainian businessmen seeking to boost business cooperation between the two countries. TASR reported that Ukraine's current share of Slovakia's foreign trade is only 1.3 percent. (RFE/RL Newsline)

CPJ supports Gongadze relatives' request

NEW YORK - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has recently become aware that Myroslava Gongadze, Lesia Gongadze and their lawyers have filed a request with the Pechersk raion court to obtain full access to the Pechersk raion procuracy's autopsy and forensic reports on the body discovered in Tarascha. "The Committee to Protect Journalists fully supports the initiative taken by Miroslava Gongadze, Lesia Gongadze and their lawyers to obtain full access to the government's autopsy and forensic reports on the body discovered in Tarascha," said Alex Lupis, Europe and Central Asia Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists. "The government's highly politicized investigation into the corpse found in Tarascha has only obstructed the truth surrounding the disappearance of Heorhii Gongadze. We believe that the government would be taking a positive first step by releasing all of these reports to Miroslava Gongadze, Lesia Gongadze and their lawyers." (Committee to Protect Journalists)

Kuchma suggests moving on beyond crisis

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma called the political crisis in Ukraine a "well-planned action" and added that the country needs "to move on." Asked about the drop in Ukraine's image abroad due to the audiotape scandal and the purported murder of independent journalist Heorhii Gongadze, Mr. Kuchma said: "There is nothing to comment about, we need to stand up and go on." (RFE/RL Newsline)

President doubts Tymoshenko's abilities

KYIV - In a telephone interview with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on April 3, President Leonid Kuchma said he does not believe that former Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, now his staunch opponent, can lead Ukraine. "I rule that out as of now. There is no woman on the Olympus [of Ukrainian politics] who could attract attention with positive ideas, with a constructive position, with her work, with her devotion to Ukraine, and not with her own interests," Mr. Kuchma told RFE/RL. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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