NEWSBRIEFS (09/23/01)

NEWSBRIEFS

Rada passes resolution on TV coverage

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on September 13 passed a resolution ordering the National Radio Company to provide live coverage of the current parliamentary session four days a week. The resolution also obliges the National Television Company to air a daily 30-minute information program about parliamentary session proceedings on the UT-1 and UT-2 state-run channels. The document requests that President Leonid Kuchma sack National Television Company head Vadym Dolhanov for his failure to implement last year's parliamentary resolution on the television coverage of the preceding parliamentary session. (RFE/RL Newsline)

U.S. says Lukashenka stole election

WASHINGTON - U.S. officials on September 17 condemned in strong language Belarus's presidential election on September 9, saying it was "severely flawed," international news agencies reported. "Not only did Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Europe's last dictator, steal the elections from the Belarusian people - for the moment, he also stole their opportunity to return to a path towards democracy and free-market economy," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said in a written statement. "This was a sadly missed opportunity and a sad moment for a brave people who suffer under a climate of fear," the statement added. The White House said the United States will work with its European allies through foreign aid programs and international organizations to promote "democracy, human rights and the rule of law" in Belarus. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Poland recalls Soviet invasion

WARSAW - To mark the 62nd anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland, Poles on September 17 paid tribute to and prayed for those murdered and killed in Soviet camps and prisons, the PAP news agency reported. Speaking at a commemorative ceremony in Warsaw, Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek referred to the recent terrorist attack on the United States, saying that Poles must now manifest solidarity and prudence. "We should not forget how much freedom has cost us, this is why we should guard it in an extraordinary way," Mr. Buzek said. Earlier the same day, Mr. Buzek inaugurated an Internet index of the repressed persons compiled by the Karta Internet Center in Warsaw. Karta collects documents concerning the fate of Polish citizens in the former Soviet Union following the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma supports Tatar representation

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on September 17 met with the authorities of the Crimean Autonomous Republic and Crimean Tatar representatives, Ukrainian media reported. "I believe that increasing Crimean Tatars' representation in public administration is an important and urgent issue. .. Five percent of all civil servants in Crimea - [those are] the statistics I was given today - is obviously too little," Ukrainian Television quoted Mr. Kuchma as saying. The president also urged the central and Crimean authorities to speed up the allocation of land to repatriated Tatars. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russia, Ukraine discuss transportation

MOSCOW - Russian Transportation Minister Sergei Frank and his visiting Ukrainian counterpart, Valerii Pustovoitenko, on September 13 discussed expanding cooperation between the two countries in transportation, Interfax reported. They also reached agreement on simplifying border procedures for ground transport. (RFE/RL Newsline)

NBU halts trading in U.S. dollars

KYIV - The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) on September 12 canceled the sales of U.S. dollars to banks in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States, Interfax reported. The agency reported that Ukrainians sold U.S. dollars at currency-exchange booths that day at rates fluctuating between 4 and 5 hrv per dollar, but the booths offered the U.S. currency for sale at rates not falling below 5.35 hrv per dollar. In another move intended to stabilize Ukrainian currency markets, the NBU limited the day-to-day fluctuation of the price of a foreign currency in Ukrainian banks to a maximum of 5 percent. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Uzbekistan, Ukraine increase trade

TASHKENT - Trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Ukraine increased by 32 percent during the first eight months of 2001 to reach over $200 million, Ukraine's ambassador in Tashkent, Anatolii Kasianov, was quoted as telling the Caspian News Agency on September 12. Mr. Kasianov said Ukraine delivers to Uzbekistan products from its metallurgical, chemical and electronics industries, tires and medications, and imports natural gas, cotton fiber, textiles, copper, zinc, and agricultural produce from Uzbekistan. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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