NEWSBRIEFS

USTR cites Ukraine's "persistent failure"

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on April 30 released its Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property, citing problems in Ukraine and Brazil and improvements in Korea and Macau. According to the report, intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in Ukraine remains inadequate. Ukraine's "persistent failure" to stop optical media piracy means it remains designated a priority foreign country, and U.S. imports from Ukraine remain subject to $75 million worth of sanctions annually, USTR said in the executive summary of the report. USTR warned that Ukraine's IPR problems could jeopardize its efforts to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) and undermine its efforts to attract trade and investment. The USTR cited Ukraine's problems "with disappointment" and said the U.S. government "continues to remain actively engaged with Ukraine in encouraging the nation to combat piracy and to enact the necessary intellectual property rights legislation and regulations." (USTR)

Ministry denies arms sales to Bosnia

KYIV - Defense Ministry spokesman Kostiantyn Khivrenko on May 13 denied that Ukrainian peacekeepers in Bosnia sold weapons to Bosnian Muslims in 1994, Interfax and New Channel Television reported. A Dutch military expert told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service earlier the same day that Ukraine was the biggest illegal-weapons supplier to the Balkans after Greece and Turkey. The expert said German and Dutch security services have information that Ukraine closely cooperated with Iran in illegal arms supplies to the Balkans. According to the expert, Iranian aircraft took off in Teheran, stopped in Ukraine to load weapons, and then flew on to airfields near Zagreb. The expert also alleged that the Ukrainian peacekeeping battalion, prior to leaving Bosnia, sold its armored personnel carriers and other weapons to Bosnians. Meanwhile, former Ukrainian Vice Minister of Defense Oleksander Stetsenko, who is the current chief of armament of Ukraine's armed forces, told journalists on May 13 that Ukraine did not grant permission to any Iranian aircraft to enter its airspace in 1994. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Sale of Kolchuhas under investigation

KYIV - Yevhen Marchuk, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, told UNIAN on May 9 that the Ukrainian and U.S. sides have begun independent checks of the contract whereby Kyiv sold three Kolchuha air-defense radar systems to Ethiopia. Last month, media reports alleged that in 2000 President Leonid Kuchma had approved a sale of $100 million worth of air-defense radar systems to Iraq in contravention of United Nations sanctions. Kyiv officially dismissed these allegations, asserting that the only country to which Ukraine has ever sold Kolchuhas was Ethiopia. Last month, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz suggested that Ethiopia could have been only an intermediary link in the delivery of the Ukrainian radars to Iraq. (RFE/RL Newsline)

United Ukraine supports Lytvyn

KYIV - The newly elected Verkhovna Rada was to gather for its first session on May 14. The pro-presidential United Ukraine bloc will propose Volodymyr Lytvyn, the former chief of the presidential administration, as its candidate for speaker, the UNIAN news agency reported on May 13, quoting Ihor Sharov from United Ukraine. The leaders of the six forces represented in the Parliament - United Ukraine, Our Ukraine, the Communist Party, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party (United) - were expected to meet later on May 13 to discuss rules of the game while electing the parliamentary leadership - a chairman and two vice-chairmen - and the heads of parliamentary committees. Their meeting on May 10 produced no agreement on the issue. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Blocs want Kinakh Cabinet out

KYIV - Yulia Tymoshenko on May 11 announced that her parliamentary caucus will initiate the dismissal of the current Cabinet of Ministers led by Anatolii Kinakh, the UNIAN news service reported. Commenting on the statement by Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko that the government should report to the Parliament about its activities, Ms. Tymoshenko said that her faction in the previous Parliament had repeatedly declared its intention to initiate both the dismissal of Mr. Kinakh's government and the impeachment of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. The same day, Hennadii Udovenko, the leader of the National Rukh of Ukraine (a constituent of the Our Ukraine bloc), said Our Ukraine also is in favor of replacing the Kinakh Cabinet. Mr. Udovenko also noted that Our Ukraine will "most likely" support Ivan Pliusch, the chairman of the preceding Parliament, as a candidate to head the current Verkhovna Rada. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv march commemorates V-Day

KYIV - Some 3,000 veterans, led by Kyiv Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko and Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ivan Pliusch, marched in downtown Kyiv on May 9 to celebrate Victory Day, Interfax reported. According to official data, Ukraine has 4.57 million World War II veterans. President Leonid Kuchma, who laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the morning, subsequently visited the grave of his father in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, where he died as a Soviet soldier in 1944. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Veterans in Kharkiv tussle with police

KHARKIV - Dozens of veterans scuffled with police in Kharkiv during the solemn wreath-laying ceremony at a local war memorial on May 9, 1+1 Television reported. Veterans and local officials showed up near the memorial at approximately the same time, but the officials, cordoned off by police, were the first to lay wreaths. The irked veterans, according to the report, "at first were only chanting protest slogans, but soon decided to apply their old combat skills and attempted to take the memorial by storm." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Crimean Parliament begins sessions

SYMFEROPOL - The new Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, which gathered for its first session on April 29, elected 63-year-old Borys Deich as its speaker. Mr. Deich obtained 52 votes, while former speaker Leonid Hrach received 22 votes, UNIAN reported. Mr. Deich was first vice-chairman in the preceding Crimean legislature. Mr. Hrach said the vote count was rigged and demanded a repeat election. The same day, the Supreme Council voted 64-0 to endorse Serhii Kunitsyn for the post of Crimean prime minister. The nomination of Mr. Kunitsyn, who already headed the Crimean government in 1998-2001, needs to be approved by President Leonid Kuchma. Meanwhile, Crimean Election Commission Chairman Ivan Poliakov announced the ethnic composition of the current 93-member Crimean legislature: 41 Russians, 35 Ukrainians, seven Crimean Tatars, four Jews, two Gagauzians, one Czech, one Greek, one Armenian and one Abkhaz. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Theology gains academic recognition

KYIV - The Governmental Committee on Social, Scientific and Humanitarian Development at the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine passed a resolution on March 11, in accordance with which theology is now included on the list of academic disciplines. "This is only the first step in order to enable a graduate from the academy or any other educational institution where theology is taught to receive a diploma recognized in Ukraine. The next steps should be the approval of the national standard for theology, licensing of the theological syllabus and, finally, accreditation of an institution," said a statement released by the information department of the Lviv Theological Academy (LTA). On the occasion of this resolution being passed, a liturgy was served in the LTA chapel. After the liturgy, the Rev. Borys Gudziak, Ph.D., rector of the LTA, said: "From the very beginning, when in 1994 the LTA was renewed, our whole community was united by the common goal of accrediting theology in Ukraine. Now our Church, other denominations and even representatives of non-Christian religions are going to benefit from this resolution. This great deed is just a small step. The fact that theology is now recognized as an academic discipline is probably not the most important, though. More important for us as Christians is the experience of remaining steadfast in our faith, which proves that in this country, too, one can achieve his goal without bribes and craftiness, even if at the beginning its achievement seems quite unrealistic." According to information provided by the Committee on Religious Affairs, at the beginning of 2002 there were 147 educational theological institutions with a total of 11,554 full-time students and about 7,000 correspondence students in Ukraine. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Filaret sees plot against UOC-KP

KYIV - The Procurator General's Office has said the registration of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate in 1992 was illegitimate, Ukrainian media reported on March 13. The decision followed a motion of 65 lawmakers who accused the UOC-KP led by Patriarch Filaret of illicitly appropriating property from the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate. Meanwhile, the State Committee on Religious Affairs confirmed the same day that the registration was legitimate. New Channel Television suggested that the Procurator General's Office's move is political revenge on Patriarch Filaret, who has repeatedly voiced his support for Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc. Patriarch Filaret openly blamed the Communist Party for his troubles. "[The Communist deputies] came forward with their protest aimed to abolish the Kyiv Patriarchate or, if not abolish, then deliver a blow that would knock the Kyiv Patriarchate out of existence and thereby help the Communist Party to win over voters who side with the Moscow Patriarchate," he told New Channel Television. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma pledges to reform grain market

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma promised on March 11 that the state will form a "civilized" grain market in Ukraine by this summer, Inter Television reported. Ukrainian grain producers complain that the intermediaries who sell grain domestically and internationally were buying grain from Ukrainian farmers at artificially lowered prices last autumn. "This situation was created deliberately. Deliberately! Why have we earned almost nothing from the exports that equaled 7 million tons?" Mr. Kuchma asked, promising that the government will monitor the grain market through the Khlib Ukrainy (Bread of Ukraine) state company to keep prices at the international level. The government also plans to introduce high duties on imports of food products in cases where similar products are made in Ukraine. Last year, Ukrainian farms harvested 36 million tons of grain - the best crop in the past 10 years - but on the whole, the money they earned sufficed only to repay loans and prepare the sowing campaign. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Church to be built in honor of firefighters

KYIV - Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate consecrated the site for a church in the Obolon district of Kyiv on March 22. The Church of the Burning Bush is going to be the first church erected in honor of firefighters who have died while doing their duty. Oleksander Omelchenko, mayor of Kyiv, and the administration of the Kyiv Fire Prevention Office also participated in the ceremony. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Kuchma cites threat to economic security

KYIV - Addressing a government conference on the protection of the domestic market on February 14, President Leonid Kuchma said smuggling is threatening the country's economic security, UNIAN reported. According to Mr. Kuchma, Ukraine's budget last year lost more than 2 billion hrv ($376 million) in unpaid customs dues. Without specifying a time frame, President Kuchma said illegal transit of alcohol across Ukraine has increased threefold. He also said Ukraine has become "a major link on the Balkan drug-trafficking route to Europe." The president added that Ukraine has seen a 300 percent increase in drug-related crimes in the past 10 years. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyivan Orthodox plan religious college

KYIV - Bishop Paisii of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), head of the Odesa and Baltia Eparchy, held a press conference in the building of the Golden Coast movie theater in Odesa, which is to be transferred to the Odesa Religious College of the UOC-KP. Hennadii Nahaichuk, cornet-general of the Black Sea Kozaks, also participated in the press conference, as his organization is a major sponsor of the college. According to Bishop Paisii, part of the movie theater will be rebuilt into a church for the religious college, while the premises on the second floor are planned to be used as classrooms. Organizers said they plan to open the college in September of this year. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Armenians mark genocide anniversary

LVIV - The Armenian community in Lviv, headed by Father Thaddeus Heorhian, pastor of Assumption Cathedral, on April 24 conducted a number of activities to commemorate the Armenian genocide that occurred in a Turkish massacre 87 years ago. According to the organizers of the commemoration, the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th century caused the mass slaughter of over 2 million Armenians. The commemoration opened with a memorial service in the Armenian church, after which Father Heorhian analyzed the tragic events. Documentary photographs depicting the horror of the tragedy were on exhibit on the church walls. The memorial ceremony continued with a procession of the Armenian community to the monument to Taras Shevchenko in the city center, where some speeches on the genocide were delivered. The demonstrators carried Ukrainian and Armenian national flags and a banner saying "The Armenian genocide of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire must be recognized by the civilized world. The executioners of 2 million victims must be condemned." A wreath with the inscription "A rostrum of freedom: to Taras Shevchenko on the day of memory of the Armenian genocide" was also laid at the Shevchenko monument. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 19, 2002, No. 20, Vol. LXX

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