NEWSBRIEFS

Yushchenko comments on Medvedchuk

KYIV - Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko told journalists on June 13 that the recent appointment of Social Democratic Party United leader Viktor Medvedchuk as head of the presidential administration is a step toward strengthening "outsiders" from the parliamentary elections and "revising the results of these elections," UNIAN reported. Such actions on the part of the authorities "separate us from democracy and political agreement," Mr. Yushchenko added. Political scientist and Our Ukraine lawmaker Mykola Tomenko echoed Mr. Yushchenko, saying that Mr. Medvedchuk's appointment means a victory for the "party of war" in President Leonid Kuchma's entourage and spells a tougher course of the presidential administration against the opposition. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Government submits budget guidelines

KYIV - Finance Minister Ihor Yushko told the Verkhovna Rada on June 19 that the government will draft a 2003 budget bill calling for a 0.5 percent deficit and an inflation rate below 10 percent, the UNIAN news service reported. The Parliament is currently viewing budgetary-policy guidelines for 2003. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Are Kinakh's days numbered?

KYIV - The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc has reportedly started collecting signatures in support of its motion to dismiss Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh's Cabinet. Meanwhile, Our Ukraine lawmaker Yevhen Zhovtiak told UNIAN that President Leonid Kuchma has decided to replace Mr. Kinakh with Donetsk Oblast Chairman Viktor Yanukovych. According to Mr. Zhovtiak, by promoting Mr. Yanukovych, President Kuchma wants to counterbalance the recent appointment of Viktor Medvedchuk (from the "Kyiv clan" of oligarchs) as presidential administration chief with a concession to the "Donetsk clan." (RFE/RL Newsline)

United Ukraine begins splitting

KYIV - The pro-presidential United Ukraine parliamentary group decided on June 18 to reorganize itself into "a bloc of caucuses, deputies' groups and individual deputies," UNIAN reported, quoting Labor Ukraine Party leader Serhii Tyhypko. Mr. Tyhypko noted that groups and deputies within the restructured United Ukraine will continue to coordinate their parliamentary work. It is expected that United Ukraine will split into six groups. Five of them - Labor Ukraine, the National Democratic Party, Ukraine's Regions, Ukraine's Agrarians, and Industrialists and Entrepreneurs - will reflect the party composition of Our Ukraine. The sixth group, called Power of the People (Narodovladdia), is to include Our Ukraine deputies with no party affiliation. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Miners protest wage arrears

KYIV - Some 90 coal miners from the Luhansk Oblast launched a hunger strike on Independence Square in Kyiv on June 18, demanding payment of overdue wages. "We are determined to stay here until the government pays our money. In some months, we get only one-third of our salaries - and sometimes nothing. It is impossible to live like this," one of the protesters told Reuters. The same day, some 70 miners from the Donetsk Oblast picketed the parliamentary and governmental headquarters in Kyiv with similar demands, the Associated Press reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Some don't buy Kuchma's address

KYIV - The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc failed to appear in the chamber for Kuchma's state-of-the-state address to the Verkhovna Rada on June 18, reported the UNIAN news agency. The bloc said in a statement that Mr. Kuchma's address in the Parliament is "window-dressing." The bloc accused the president of avoiding "direct and open dialogue" with society in recent years. Shortly before the address began, Socialist Party National Deputy Yurii Lutsenko presented President Kuchma with a pair of peasant shoes, saying: "For your trip to Europe." Mr. Kuchma reportedly threw away the present with the comment: "One needs to have something in one's head though." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine, Moldova tackle bilateral issues

KYIV - Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev on June 15 visited Kyiv, where he discussed unregulated property, trade and border issues with his Ukrainian counterpart, Anatolii Kinakh, UNIAN and Interfax reported. Mr. Tarlev urged Kyiv to accelerate the handover of some 130 Moldovan properties on Ukrainian territory. He welcomed Ukraine's recent transfer of two wineries (in Kyiv and Lviv) and a health resort (in Truskavets) to Moldova. Mr. Tarlev also proposed the liberalization of cross-border trade by establishing a free-transit corridor of Moldovan goods through Ukraine to Russia. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Moroz re-elected Socialists' leader

KYIV - A congress of the Socialist Party in Kyiv on June 15 unanimously re-elected Oleksander Moroz as the party's chairman, UNIAN reported. Mr. Moroz told the congress that the government has lost control over the economy and predicted that the country's financial situation will deteriorate and the shadow economy will grow. (RFE/RL Newsline)

UNA-UNSO wants comrades out of jail

KYIV - Some 50 members of the Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian National Self-Defense (UNA-UNSO) picketed the presidential administration building on June 17 to demand that the authorities release 13 UNA-UNSO supporters who were jailed following clashes with riot police during an anti-presidential protest in March 2001, UNIAN reported. UNA-UNSO leader Andrii Shkil, who was elected to the Verkhovna Rada in the March 31 election, was released from jail in April. "The day of reckoning will come - the UNA-UNSO people will be free, while Kuchma will be behind bars," one of the picket's slogans read. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Deputies have much work before recess

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada is to view 118 draft bills as well as hear the government's report on its performance and a presentation of its action plan for the future during the 12 plenary-session days remaining before the Parliament's summer vacation, UNIAN reported on June 17. President Leonid Kuchma submitted 14 draft bills to the Verkhovna Rada, urging lawmakers to consider them on a priority basis, UNIAN reported on June 13. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Belarus, Ukraine fail to agree on debt

HOMIEL - Contrary to expectations, Belarusian Prime Minister Henadz Navitski and his Ukrainian counterpart, Anatolii Kinakh, did not sign an accord on the controversial issue of Ukraine's debt to Belarus during their meeting in Homiel, southeastern Belarus, on June 13, Belarusian and Ukrainian news media reported. The politicians reportedly decided to meet later this week to finalize the settlement. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Probe closed into arms dealer's death

KYIV - An investigation into the death in an automobile accident of Valerii Malev, the general director of the Ukrspetseksport company, has been closed due to a lack of evidence of any crime, UNIAN reported on June 13. Mr. Malev died in a car crash in March, spawning rumors that his death was not accidental. Internal Affairs Ministry official Petro Koliada said investigators found no evidence indicating the incident was "deliberate" or that Mr. Malev committed suicide while driving his car. Mr. Koliada also said investigators determined that the car crash involving opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko in January was caused by Ms. Tymoshenko's driver. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Arms exporting company chief named

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma appointed Valerii Shmarov, former vice prime minister and defense minister, as the general director of the state-run Ukrspetseksport company which deals in arms exports, UNIAN reported on June 13. Mr. Shmarov takes over after the death in March of Valerii Malev, who was killed in an automobile accident. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma orders draft on gas consortium

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma instructed Vice Prime Minister Oleh Dubina to work out a concept and an appropriate draft agreement on the creation of an international consortium to manage Ukraine's gas-pipeline system, UNIAN reported on June 12. Mr. Kuchma, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on June 10 signed a trilateral accord on cooperation in developing and exploiting the pipeline infrastructure used to transport oil and natural gas from Russia through Ukraine to western Europe. A day earlier Presidents Kuchma and Putin reportedly signed a bilateral accord on "strategic cooperation" in the natural-gas sector. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma sees hope for smooth operation

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said on June 7 that following the distribution of the posts of committee heads among parliamentary caucuses, "the Verkhovna Rada has finally unblocked its work," the UNIAN news service reported. "Now it is necessary calmly to pass the laws required by the country," he added. Earlier the same day, Parliament voted 235-7, with three abstentions, to approve a resolution whereby Our Ukraine will head 10 parliamentary committees, the Communist Party six, United Ukraine four, the Socialist Party and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc two each, and the Social Democratic Party one. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kinakh seeks "efficient cooperation"

KYIV - Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh sent a letter to Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn, assuring him that one of the Cabinet's priority tasks is to ensure stable and efficient cooperation between the government and the Parliament, UNIAN reported on June 8. The previous day, Kinakh told journalists that the Cabinet of Ministers will introduce a special ministerial post for coordinating all issues connected with such cooperation. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv has 2.6 million residents

KYIV - According to last year's national census, 2,607,400 people lived in Kyiv as of December 2001, UNIAN reported on June 10. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine's top TV executive found dead

KYIV - Prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the suicide death of Ukrainian National Television Company deputy chief Andrii Feschenko on suspicion that he was forced to take his own life, Ukrainian media reported. Mr. Feschenko was found dead on May 31 inside his jeep on a street in Kyiv. Police also found a hunting rifle and a note from Mr. Feschenko in the car, but the contents of the note - which have not been released - prompted prosecutors to start looking for suspects who might have forced Mr. Feschenko to commit suicide. (RFE/RL Newsline)

World Bank to give Belarus Chornobyl aid

MIENSK - The World Bank announced on May 31 that it will give Belarus a $50 million loan to support people living on land contaminated by nuclear fallout from the 1986 Chornobyl disaster, Reuters reported the same day. The loan is important for the former Soviet republic, which has received little from international lending bodies after the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund stopped lending in protest of Belarus's reluctance to introduce reforms. A World Bank representative in Miensk, Serhii Kulyk, said the money will go to farmers and private businesses in the regions. The explosion at Ukraine's Chornobyl nuclear-power plant on April 26, 1986, has badly affected neighboring Belarus, contaminating large areas of land and leaving citizens to suffer a plethora of health problems. It has been estimated that more than 80 percent of all radioactive dust from the explosion landed on Belarusian territory. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Duma calls for use of Cyrillic alphabet

MOSCOW - The State Duma on June 5 adopted in its first reading a bill making the Cyrillic alphabet obligatory for all ethnic groups in the Russian Federation, RIA-Novosti reported. Deputy Anatolii Nikitin (Communist) of the Nationalities Committee introduced the bill as an amendment to the law on the languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation. The amendment stipulates that all state languages of the federation and its constituent republics should use Cyrillic and that the use of any other graphical basis for alphabets must be affirmed by federal law. The government's representative in the Duma, Andrei Loginov, said he supports the amendment because "if everyone invents their own alphabet, it would bring the state to chaos." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv could face lawsuits over jetliner

KYIV - The relatives of Russian passengers killed when a Ukrainian missile hit a Russian commercial airliner on October 4 may sue the Ukrainian government for as much as $100,000 per victim, the Associated Press reported on June 5. All 78 people aboard a Sibir Airlines TU-154 en route from Israel to Russia were killed when the plane crashed into the Black Sea after being hit by a missile fired by the Ukrainian Navy during training exercises. Ivan Ivanov, a representative of the Kyiv-based law firm Sikoilo-Matveev-Gabasov Partners, said the final amount that will be sought by victims' relatives still has not been decided. "It will definitely be higher than the sum named earlier [$20,000 per victim] by representatives of Ukraine and may be around $100,000," Mr. Ivanov said. Representatives of the victims' families say they plan to file a lawsuit against Ukraine's Defense and Finance ministries if an out-of-court settlement cannot be reached. Zeeb Ben-Ari of the Israeli Embassy in Kyiv said the amount of compensation Ukraine will pay the families of Israeli victims will be negotiated at the end of June. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine strikes $100 M tank-engine deal

KHARKIV - Ukraine has concluded a $100 million agreement with Islamabad on the delivery of 285 engines for Pakistani Al-Khalil tanks, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and the DPA news agency reported on June 10. Officials at the Kharkiv-based Malyshev Tank Plant, which is to supply the engines, said the first 15 engines to be installed in Pakistani vehicles have been undergoing testing since late 2001. (RFE/RL Newsline)

U.S. ready to assist Ukraine's NATO bid

KYIV - At a videoconference on June 5 dedicated to U.S.-Ukraine relations and Ukraine's potential integration into NATO, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Steven Pifer, who is a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, said NATO is ready to encourage Ukraine's desire to integrate into Europe, but that the former Soviet republic has to facilitate these efforts not only with words but with actions, by creating structures in line with the requirements of the military alliance, Interfax reported the same day. Mr. Pifer said that NATO regards Ukraine as a potential partner that will shed its Cold War mentality and think in terms of the future fight against terrorism. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Communists oppose NATO membership

KYIV - Petro Symonenko, leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine, told ITAR-TASS on June 6 that Communists in the Verkhovna Rada will never support Ukraine's joining NATO, because the idea "runs counter to the constitution and national interests." He said the resolution of the National Security and Defense Council, as well as a statement by President Leonid Kuchma, about Ukraine's desire to join NATO "constitutes a gross violation of the Constitution and all the norms of international relations." Mr. Symonenko said that the council and the president have the right to analyze various problems and to make recommendations, but neither has the right "to make official statements about the main directions of [Ukrainian] foreign policy." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 23, 2002, No. 25, Vol. LXX

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