NEWSBRIEFS (10/27/02)

NEWSBRIEFS

Piskun says he has convinced U.S. experts

KYIV - "I feel I have managed to convince American experts and lawyers that Ukraine didn't sell Kolchuhas to Iraq," Procurator General Sviatoslav Piskun told journalists on October 22, referring to his trip to Washington last week. Mr. Piskun also announced that a group of U.S. experts is to come to Kyiv "soon" to consult Ukrainian officials investigating the murder of Heorhii Gongadze. Moreover, Mr. Piskun said Ukraine has proposed to the United States that a group of German and Russian experts, with the participation of specialists from the United States and Ukraine, examine the authenticity of audio recordings allegedly made by former presidential security officer Mykola Melnychenko in Mr. Kuchma's office. (RFE/RL Newsline)

100,000 Ukrainian kids are homeless

KYIV - Valentyna Shevchenko, chairwoman of the State Committee for Family and Youth Matters, said on October 22 that there are more than 100,000 homeless children in Ukraine, UNIAN reported. Ms. Shevchenko noted that nearly 20 percent of these children have lost both of their parents. She also said there are nearly 70,000 families in Ukraine that are poorly provided for. "We need to work with such families, since most homeless children and child beggars come from families that are socially dysfunctional, have many children, or have lost at least one parent," Ms. Shevchenko said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada majority meets with president

KYIV - Ukrainian lawmakers from the officially announced 226-strong parliamentary majority met on October 21 with President Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh, the UNIAN news service reported. The meeting took place behind closed doors, and no official news conference was held after it concluded. The gathering was reportedly attended by 211 legislators. "The majority exists only de jure; it does not exist de facto," Social Democratic Party-United caucus member Oleksander Volkov commented. Answering a question on whether the majority is going to reappoint the heads of parliamentary committees, Mr. Volkov said such a move has been postponed in order not to disrupt the dialogue between the majority and Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine. National Deputy Oleh Bespalov from People's Power faction also confirmed that the continuation of the dialogue with Mr. Yushchenko was discussed at the meeting, but he did not elaborate. Our Ukraine's Yurii Kostenko commented on October 22 that the meeting of the "so-called parliamentary majority" with President Kuchma has blocked the process of creating a "democratic parliamentary majority" with the participation of Our Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Turkey extradites former UES execs

ANKARA- Four former executives of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine were extradited from Turkey on October 21, Ukrainian and international news agencies reported. The four, who were jailed in Turkey in June following a request from the Ukrainian Procurator General's Office, include former Board Chairman Yevhen Shaho and Hennadii Tymoshenko, the father-in-law of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. They are suspected of hiding hard-currency profits and stealing state assets while working for the energy company. Ms. Tymoshenko had requested that Turkish authorities grant the four asylum, claiming the arrest warrant is a politically motivated attack against her opposition activities. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rally demands president's ouster

KYIV - Several thousand people gathered on Independence Square in Kyiv on October 19 for a rally organized by the opposition as part of the ongoing "Arise, Ukraine" anti-presidential protest campaign, Ukrainian and international news agencies reported. Opposition leaders appealed to demonstrators to sign a resolution urging President Leonid Kuchma to resign on October 21. Demonstrators subsequently moved to the presidential administration headquarters on Bankova Street, where they lit candles and set up a plaque reading, "On this street a memorial will be erected to honor victims of the Kuchma regime." The rally coincided with the 10th anniversary of Mr. Kuchma's coming to power. In October 1992 the Ukrainian Parliament had appointed Mr. Kuchma as prime minister. He left the post of prime minister in 1993, and in 1994 was elected president of Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian miners halt strike

KYIV - Ukrainian coal miners suspended a general strike on October 18 after the Verkhovna Rada approved the first reading of a 2003 budget draft that pledges more financial support for the sector, Ukrainian news agencies reported. Last week miners at approximately 130 of Ukraine's 170 coal mines refused to ship coal to consumers or halted their work completely to protest what they said was insufficient funding for the coal-mining sector in the budget draft proposed by the government. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Experts assess Kolchuha allegations

KYIV - U.S. and British experts have completed a fact-finding mission in Ukraine, but need at least a week to establish whether Ukraine sold a Kolchuha radar system to Iraq in contravention of United Nations sanctions, Reuters reported on October 21, quoting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Carlos Pascual. "[The experts] are in the process of reviewing a very large volume of data and information which they collected. They need to assess it, they need to determine if there are any gaps, they need to determine if any additional information is necessary and they will then at that point reach conclusions," Ambassador Pascual told journalists. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Did Kuchma help fund Putin campaign?

MOSCOW - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma allegedly provided $50 million to $60 million to help finance President Vladimir Putin's 2000 election campaign, Kommersant-Daily reported on October 18. The daily's report is based on the controversial tapes that former security officer Mykola Melnychenko claims to have recorded in Mr. Kuchma's office between November 1999 and September 2000. The Kuchma administration has repeatedly denied that the tapes are authentic. The newspaper printed what it alleges to be a transcript of a conversation between President Kuchma and two officials that was recorded on July 15, 2000. "Before the elections we paid Russia at Putin's request, I don't know, about $50 million or $60 million," Mr. Kuchma is quoted as saying. The transcript also says the money was allegedly laundered through Itera, a controversial offshore company tied to Russian natural-gas giant Gazprom. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada approves 2003 draft budget...

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on October 17 passed the first reading of a surplus-budget bill for 2003, Ukrainian media reported. The bill calls for revenues of 55.2 billion hrv ($10.4 billion) and expenditures of 53.3 billion hrv. The bill was supported by lawmakers from pro-presidential caucuses and Our Ukraine, while the Communist Party, the Socialist Party and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc did not participate in the vote. (RFE/RL Newsline)

...forms commission to probe arms deals

KYIV - A total of 221 lawmakers - well above the required 150 - on October 17 endorsed a resolution creating a 12-member temporary commission to investigate whether Ukraine illegally sold arms to Iraq, reported the UNIAN news agency. The resolution did not specifically mention President Leonid Kuchma, whom the U.S. State Department accused last month of authorizing the sale of a Kolchuha radar system to Iraq. The commission is headed by National Deputy Borys Andresiuk of the Social Democratic Party-United. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Medvedchuk prepared for dialogue

KYIV - Presidential administration chief Viktor Medvedchuk, who also heads the SDPU, has told journalists that his party is prepared to enter a dialogue with Our Ukraine regarding the current political crisis, UNIAN reported on October 17. Mr. Medvedchuk was responding to Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko, who said following the "Ukraine in Europe" conference in Warsaw that Our Ukraine could sit at a negotiating table with the SDPU. "Medvedchuk is a Ukrainian reality. He is a fact, pardon my saying so," UNIAN quoted Mr. Yushchenko as saying on October 16. Mr. Medvedchuk said he has "only one personal request" to Mr. Yushchenko and explained that he wants the Our Ukraine leader to withdraw his signature under the opposition's September 16 resolution calling on President Leonid Kuchma to resign. It is not clear from the UNIAN report whether Mr. Medvedchuk considers this withdrawal a necessary precondition for entering talks with Our Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

A Russian consulate in Transdniester?

TIRASPOL - Citing confidential sources, Flux reported on October 16 that the Russian Federation had begun diplomatic procedures for opening a consulate in Transdniester. According to the reports, Russian Ambassador to Moldova Pavel Petrovskii spoke with Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin about the issue on October 11, after the Russian Duma adopted a decision to open a consulate. Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada is expected to vote by the end of this week on opening a consulate in Tiraspol. Previously, both the Moldovan authorities and opposition parties opposed the opening of foreign consulates in the Transdniester, as doing so would mean official recognition for the breakaway region. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Split in Parliament continues to grow

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on October 17 failed to place on the agenda discussions of the current political situation in Ukraine, a motion proposed by opposition groups, the UNIAN news service reported. The motion was supported by 205 deputies - 21 votes short of the number required for approval. The parliament also did not endorse a proposal by Our Ukraine to change parliamentary regulations to prohibit lawmakers from voting for absent colleagues using their magnetic voting cards. The opposition alleged that such cases of voting took place on September 26. Despite the controversy, Parliament Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn signed several legislative acts adopted that day, UNIAN reported on October 17. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Money-laundering blacklist updated

MOSCOW - The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) removed Russia from the list of countries that fail to combat money laundering, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin told journalists on October 11. Meanwhile, the FATF also threatened "countermeasures" against Nigeria and Ukraine, unless they took steps to enact or expand existing anti-corruption and anti-money-laundering legislation. Earlier this year, the Russian Federation established a Financial Monitoring Committee and the State Duma passed an anti-money-laundering law. According to the Financial Times of October 14, "FATF President Jochen Sanio said it was obvious Russia had 'invested a lot of money, a lot of technology and the best staff available' in the new agency." Mr. Sanio added, according to the paper, "The progress should be given a standing ovation," adding that "Moscow could become a full member of FATF by next year." The FATF is an agency comprising 31 member-states that was set up by the G-7. The agency's current list of "non-cooperative" states includes 11 countries. (RFE/RL Crime and Corruption Watch, The New York Times)

Ukrainian president visits Macedonia

SKOPJE - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma arrived in Skopje on October 22 for a two-day official visit, MIA news agency reported. Mr. Kuchma met with President Boris Trajkovski, Speaker of Parliament Nikola Popovski, and outgoing Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski. Mr. Kuchma's talks focused on future economic relations. At a joint press conference, Presidents Kuchma and Trajkovski said relations are good - as was evident during the conflict in Macedonia in 2001, when Ukraine supported the Macedonian army with helicopter gunships, fighter jets and pilots. President Kuchma stressed that both countries were in constant touch with NATO regarding their military cooperation during that conflict. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Romania may seek world court's ruling

BUCHAREST - Prime Minister Adrian Nastase said on October 7 that Romania might ask the U.N. International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule on the country's dispute with Ukraine over the delimitation of their border in the vicinity of Serpents Island in the Black Sea as well as control over several islets in the Danube River estuary, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Mr. Nastase spoke after meeting in Bucharest with ICJ President Mohamed Bedjaoui. In September President Ion Iliescu agreed with his Ukrainian counterpart, Leonid Kuchma, during a visit to Kyiv that, in line with the provisions of the 1997 basic treaty between their countries, experts representing the two sides would try to reach an agreement by June 1, 2003. The 1997 treaty includes an option for asking the ICJ to rule on the matter in the event that the sides fail to reach agreement. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Court case on Ukraine-Moldova border

CHISINAU - Moldova's Constitutional Court on September 19 began hearings on the appeal of Popular Party Christian Democratic leaders Iurie Rosca and Stefan Secareanu against the border re-delimitation agreement reached last year with Ukraine, Infotag reported. The plaintiffs said the Moldovan authorities have no right to cede to Ukraine part of a highway near the village of Palanca, since this is "unalienable Moldovan territory" and the agreement thus infringes on Article 10 of Moldova's Constitution. Yurii Stoikov, chairman of the Parliament's State Security Commission, told the court that Moldova has received much larger chunks of land in exchange for the ceded territory. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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