NEWSBRIEFS (06/03/01)

NEWSBRIEFS

Kinakh pledges to continue success

KYIV - Anatolii Kinakh, the newly appointed prime minister, promised on May 29 that he will do everything possible "to consolidate" the achievements of the previous Cabinet of Viktor Yuschenko, Interfax reported. Mr. Kinakh said he is going to form a new Cabinet as soon as possible, but mentioned no names. Meanwhile, Oleksander Volkov, leader of the Democratic Union parliamentary caucus, said the parliamentary groups that voted to approve Mr. Kinakh should propose their ministers for a new coalition Cabinet. "It cannot be otherwise, since then this country would have no future," the agency quoted Mr. Volkov as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma reappoints five former ministers

KYIV - Following Anatolii Kinakh's approval as prime minister, President Leonid Kuchma made five other Cabinet appointments. Mr. Kuchma appointed Oleh Dubyna, vice prime minister for industrial policy in the Yuschenko Cabinet, as first vice prime minister. He also reappointed Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko, Defense Minister Oleksander Kuzmuk, Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Smirnov and Minister for Emergency Situations Vasyl Durdynets. President Kuchma said establishing cooperation between the government and the Parliament will be a priority task for the Kinakh Cabinet. "If there is no parliamentary coalition on which the Cabinet could lean, we do not need such a Parliament or such a government," Interfax quoted Mr. Kuchma as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President introduces state secretaries

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has signed a decree introducing the posts of state secretaries and deputy state secretaries for the Cabinet of Ministers and individual ministries, Interfax reported on May 29. The state secretaries are to be appointed for five-year terms. Mr. Kuchma's spokesman, Volodymyr Lytvyn, explained that the decree was necessitated by frequent Cabinet reshuffles which, he argued, threaten to "disorganize the executive branch" in the country's "period of transition and political structuring." The state secretaries are to deal with day-to-day running of the government and provide continuity between consecutive Cabinets. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Nominee in discussion with deputies

KYIV - Soon after he was nominated by President Leonid Kuchma for the position of prime minister, Anatolii Kinakh held consultations with parliamentary groups. Interfax reported on May 24 that the previous day Mr. Kinakh had spoken with the Regions of Ukraine and Labor Ukraine caucuses, and commented later that the consultations were held in a "very constructive and professional atmosphere." Mr. Kinakh was expected to meet on May 24 with the Democratic Union, the Greens, Yabluko and Solidarnist deputy groups. Meanwhile, the Kostenko wing of Rukh called on the Udovenko wing of Rukh, Fatherland Party and Reforms-Congress parliamentary groups as well as on non-aligned legislators not to participate in the formation of a new Cabinet. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kinakh discloses his priorities

KYIV - Before his approval as prime minister of Ukraine, Anatolii Kinakh made known his priorities, Interfax reported on May 24. Mr. Kinakh told journalists that he would primarily tackle the problems of poverty, tax reform and energy security. He also said it is necessary "to rethink at a very essential level" the conditions of Ukraine's cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, but did not provide any details. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yuschenko consults on coalition

KYIV - Caretaker Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko, who was in the hospital with a back problem, conducted consultations on the creation of a broad coalition of democratic forces, his spokeswoman, Natalia Zarudna, told Interfax on May 24. Mr. Yuschenko was scheduled to speak with Solidarnist deputy group head Petro Poroshenko and Rukh leader Hennadii Udovenko later in the day. Ms. Zarudna told the news agency on May 23 that Mr. Yuschenko believes Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ivan Pliusch would be "the most harmonious follower" of the course of reforms in the post of prime minister. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Gongadze case not yet solved

KYIV - Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Smirnov told the Verkhovna Rada on May 25 that his previous statement on the successful outcome of the investigation into the murder of journalist Heorhii Gongadze was "premature," Interfax reported. Procurator General Mykhailo Potebenko also told the Parliament he has "no grounds to state that the killing of Heorhii Gongadze has been solved." Earlier Mr. Smirnov had claimed that Mr. Gongadze was killed by two criminals who were later murdered. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Poland wants Ukraine to join EU force

WARSAW - Poland has suggested to the European Union that it could include a Ukrainian military battalion in a Polish brigade to serve in the EU's rapid deployment force, the PAP news service reported on May 15. "Poland has presented the EU with a report on the matter, which mentions the possibility of including one Ukrainian unit in the Polish EU brigade and agreements reached in this respect with Ukraine. The report has been approved by several EU countries, among them Sweden, now chairing the EU," Polish Defense Minister Bronislaw Komorowski said in Brussels the same day. Poland's EU brigade is to number between 1,500 and 2,500 troops. The EU rapid deployment force - some 60,000 troops with air force and naval support - is to be operational in 2003. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Prosecutor charges judge

KYIV - Kyiv City Prosecutor Yurii Haisynskyi has launched a criminal investigation of Judge Mykola Zamkovenko for abuse of office, Interfax reported. In March, Judge Zamkovenko had canceled a warrant for the arrest of former Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, President Leonid Kuchma's most outspoken opponent, and released her from a remand prison. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Court withdraws warrant for Tymoshenko

KYIV - The Supreme Court on May 15 ruled that prosecutors acted illegally when they imprisoned former Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, now a leading opposition politician, in advance of her trial on charges of corruption, tax evasion, smuggling and document forgery, Reuters reported. The Supreme Court ruling followed an appeal in a lower court by prosecutors seeking to rearrest Ms. Tymoshenko. Ms. Tymoshenko must still comply with travel restrictions that prevent her from leaving the country until her trial. No date for the hearing has yet been set. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma praises Russian press

MOSCOW - In an ORT television program on May 14, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma said that the Russian press covers developments in his country objectively, adding that there is no reason to say that the Western media could do better, ITAR-TASS reported on May 15. Meanwhile, Interfax reported that, at a conference in Kyiv on Russian-language media, Mikhail Seslavinskii, Russia's first vice minister, said that Moscow is prepared to provide material support for the Ukrainian-language press in Russia. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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