NEWSBRIEFS (11/04/01)

NEWSBRIEFS

Election bill signed, with objections

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has signed into law a bill on parliamentary elections that was passed by the Parliament earlier this month. According to Interfax, presidential spokesman Ihor Storozhuk told journalists that Mr. Kuchma simultaneously asked the Verkhovna Rada "to urgently introduce a number of amendments" to the bill in order to hold next year's parliamentary election "with full observance of Ukraine's Constitution and legislation." In particular, Mr. Kuchma proposed changing the procedure for forming precinct election commissions and canceling the clause banning the participation in elections of parties that were set up less than one year before the election date.

Ukraine destroys last SS-24 missile silo

PERVOMAISK - On October 30 in Pervomaisk region of Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukrainian field engineers blew up the last of the Ukraine's 46 silos that were built to launch SS-24 intercontinental ballistic missiles, Ukrainian media reported. In this way Ukraine met its international commitment to liquidate its strategic offensive arms. Ukraine's Vice Minister of Defense Volodymyr Mykhtiuk and John Connell, the director of the program for elimination of strategic arms in Ukraine, signed a document providing for U.S. assistance of $30 million toward the dismantling of Ukraine's infrastructure used to construct SS-19 and SS-24 missiles. UNIAN reported that the United States also pledged its assistance in destroying Ukraine's 47 TU-22 heavy bombers. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Communists want Pascual out

KYIV - The Communist Party of Ukraine has called on the Foreign Affairs Ministry to declare U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Carlos Pascual persona non grata for interfering in Ukraine's internal affairs, Ukrainian media reported on October 30. Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko said Ambassador Pascual has grossly interfered in the country's affairs by sending a letter to the Verkhovna Rada and urging the "so-called parliamentary majority" to adopt laws on curbing copyright violations. According to Mr. Symonenko, some legislative provisions designed to crack down on Ukraine's market in pirated video, audio and computer software were inspired or even dictated by U.S. experts. The United States previously indicated that it could impose sanctions over Kyiv's inability to curb the piracy of intellectual property. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Horbulin calls for civilian minister

KYIV - Volodymyr Horbulin, the chairman of the State Commission for the Military-Industrial Complex, said on October 30 that he is ready to assume the post of defense minister, following last week's dismissal of Gen. Oleksander Kuzmuk over the accidental downing of a Russian passenger plane. Mr. Horbulin added, however, that this post has not been offered to him. He added that he believes Ukraine's defense minister must be a civilian. "I believe that the military is simply unable to carry out reform, without which the existence of the Ukrainian armed forces is impossible," One Plus One television quoted Mr. Horbulin as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Israeli families to receive compensation

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on October 27 to state that Ukraine will compensate families of Israelis killed when a Russian TU-154 airliner was accidentally shot down by a Ukrainian missile on October 4. "[Israel's] Foreign Ministry received the announcement with satisfaction, and we will open a diplomatic dialogue concerning all aspects of the tragedy," said Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon. Mr. Kuchma's spokesman, Ihor Storozhuk, said the Ukrainian president ordered Vice Prime Minister Oleh Dubyna to organize the collection of necessary funds, Interfax reported. It is not clear whether President Kuchma also promised compensation for the non-Israeli victims' families, or how much each family will be eligible to receive. Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh had said on October 25 that "all financial and legal issues" connected with the accidental downing of the airliner will be solved only after the Ukrainian and Russian state commissions investigating the causes of the crash publish their final conclusions. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Stock market official murdered

KYIV - Oleksiy Romashko, a member of the State Commission for Securities and the Stock Market, was stabbed to death on October 29 as he left his house in Kyiv, Interfax reported. Deputy Procurator-General Yurii Haisynskyi confirmed that Mr. Romashko was stabbed twice with a knife and added that he was also shot in the head after the stabbing. (RFE/RL Newsline)

TV airs report on journalist's death

KYIV - Ukrainian Television on October 28 broadcast a 25-minute film questioning the official version of the death of journalist Ihor Aleksandrov in Slaviansk, Luhansk Oblast, in July. Procurator-General Mykhailo Potebenko has announced that Mr. Aleksandrov was mistakenly killed by a homeless man who intended to kill Mr. Aleksandrov's lawyer. Two former police officers said in the film that the journalist was killed by a group responsible for a number of contract killings in the Luhansk region in recent years. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian journalist found dead

KYIV - Yurii Honchar, a part-time correspondent for the Fakty i Kommentari newspaper, has been found dead in Kyiv, apparently as the result of violence, UNIAN reported on October 25, quoting a police source. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma meets with Trajkovski...

SYMFEROPOL - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma met with his Macedonian counterpart, Boris Trajkovski, in Crimea on October 28. Mr. Kuchma assured Mr. Trajkovski that Kyiv will continue military cooperation with Skopje. "Ukraine, which has contracts with Macedonia and political agreements with NATO, will try to arrange a dialogue to come up with an optimal decision based on the understanding of the need for stability in Macedonia and guided by the global principles of international security," UNIAN quoted the Ukrainian president as saying. President Trajkovski told Macedonian Radio that Kyiv will continue arms supplies to Skopje, adding that this will be done "within a broader framework." The United States and NATO have recently raised objections to Ukrainian arms deliveries to Macedonia. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... and Yeltsin in Crimea

SYMFEROPOL - President Leonid Kuchma also met with former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who was spending his holiday in Crimea with his wife and daughter, RIA-Novosti reported, quoting Ukrainian presidential spokesman Ihor Storozhuk. According to Mr. Storozhuk, both statesmen "raised their glasses for friendship and recalled the good old days." Mr. Yeltsin praised President Kuchma for his contribution to "constructive" relations between both countries. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Miners strike for more state support

KYIV - Some 140 coal mines continued their protest for the second day on October 23 by refusing to deliver coal to customers, New Channel television reported. The protest was sparked by what the miners see as a meager state subsidy to the coal sector projected in the 2002 budget draft that is currently before the Verkhovna Rada. A state program named Ukrainian Coal is calling for 6 billion hrv ($1.13 billion) to the coal sector, while the draft budget envisages only one-third of this sum. "We have practically exhausted all civilized ways. We met the prime minister twice. We were given vague promises that the financing would be reconsidered. But the government has not actually taken any measures," the network quoted a representative of the Trade Union of Coal Industry Employees as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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