NEWSBRIEFS (08/31/03)

NEWSBRIEFS

Pro-Yushchenko group emerges

KYIV - A meeting of 74 delegates from Ukraine's 24 regions created an all-Ukrainian association called For Ukraine! For Yuschenko! in Kyiv on August 21, UNIAN reported. Delegates elected Our Ukraine lawmaker Yurii Yekhanurov to head the association. Mr. Yekhanurov told journalists that the association is intended to help Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine broaden its influence. According to Mr. Yekhanurov, the association will be based on regional "civic centers that want to support [Yushchenko's] initiatives regarding the democratic reconstruction of our country." Mr. Yushchenko, who was elected an honorary chairman of the association, warned the congress that the political reform proposed by President Leonid Kuchma might be modified in the near future. "The authorities might propose that the president be elected in the Parliament by a subjugated, undemocratic majority," Mr. Yushchenko said. "In the next few days, we might become witnesses to Byzantine politics, under which the two political reform drafts [one proposed by Kuchma and the other by opposition lawmakers] will be withdrawn from the Constitutional Court, and a third draft that is even more Jesuitical [than the previous two] will be submitted," he added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Compromise on political-reform sought

KYIV - Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko and Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz told journalists on August 21 that the presidential administration and the opposition are working on a joint bill of amendments to the constitution Interfax reported. Mr. Moroz said that a key innovation is the presidential administration's proposal that the Parliament elect the president, but he said on August 23 that he favors of holding direct presidential elections. Mr. Moroz said on August 23 that the new political-reform draft suggests that Parliament propose and confirm all Cabinet ministers except for the defense minister and the foreign minister, both of whom are to be nominated by the president. The draft reportedly drops President Kuchma's previous proposal that presidential, parliamentary, and local elections be held in the same year. Symonenko said the Communists want the current election law to apply to the 2004 presidential election, but want to reduce the president's mandate from four to two years. Mr. Symonenko added that a new Parliament, if elected under a fully proportional system, could elect a new president in 2006. Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko told the August 23-29 issue of Zerkalo Nedeli that a presidential model is more efficient for today's Ukraine that a parliamentary-presidential one. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma to back new reform plan

KYIV - Speaking on August 23, the eve of Ukraine's Independence Day, President Leonid Kuchma said he is ready to support a new constitutional-reform plan that has been agreed upon with the opposition, Ukrainian news agencies reported. "Despite certain drawbacks, I think that this draft should be approved by the Verkhovna Rada," Mr. Kuchma said. "The support of the constitutional majority of votes [300 votes] has already probably been secured for it." The previous day, Mr. Kuchma withdrew the political reform draft he submitted to the Parliament in June. (RFE/RL Newsline)

U.S. president sends letter to Kuchma

KYIV - A group of U.S. congressional representatives led by Representative Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) met with President Kuchma on August 24 and passed on to him a letter from U.S. President George W. Bush, Interfax reported. Rep. Weldon subsequently told journalists that in his letter Bush thanked the Ukrainian people for their support in combating terrorism. Mr. Kuchma reportedly said at the meeting that Ukraine is ready for broader cooperation with the United States in all areas. Referring to Ukrainian-U.S. relations in his speech on August 23, Mr. Kuchma said, "The logic of mutual interests, coincidence of strategic interests, and common values of democracy and humanism, have inevitably gained the upper hand over emotional and sometimes overly emotional perceptions of ambiguous and sometimes non-existing circumstances." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russia gives nod to TNK-BP merger

MOSCOW - The Antimonopoly Ministry has given its approval for the merger of the Tyumen Oil Company (TNK) and the Russian assets of British Petroleum (BP), ITAR-TASS and other Russian media reported on August 28. If the merger is completed, the resulting company will be Russia's third-largest oil concern. It is expected to begin operations at the end of this year and will operate in Russia, Ukraine, Eastern and Central Europe, and China, ITAR-TASS reported. The deal must still be approved by the Ukrainian government. (RFE/RL Newsline)

New pipeline across Ukraine pondered

KYIV - The international consortium for developing and managing Ukraine's gas transportation system, which was registered in Kyiv by Ukraine's Naftohaz and Russia's Gazprom, is planning to build a new gas pipeline linking Novopskov in Luhansk Oblast with Uzhhorod in Transcarpathia, Interfax and ITAR-TASS reported on August 26. That plan was discussed at a meeting in Kyiv of the consortium's leadership the same day. The meeting was attended by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko, Gazprom deputy heads Aleksander Ryazanov and Yurii Komarov, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Vitalii Haiduk, and Naftohaz Ukrainy head Yurii Boiko. Mr. Khristenko told journalists that the new, 1,500-kilometer pipeline will be built within two years and will cost $2 billion-$2.5 billion. The pipeline is expected to increase gas deliveries to Europe via Ukraine from the current 110 billion cubic meters to 131 billion cubic meters. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv's WTO entry on own schedule

KYIV - Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko said in Kyiv on August 26 that Ukraine will not coordinate its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) with Russia, Interfax and ITAR-TASS reported. "This issue has been removed from the agenda," Mr. Zlenko noted. He said Ukraine's affiliation to the common economic space of Russia, Belarus and Kazakstan will not hamper talks on Ukraine's admission to the WTO. Mr. Zlenko said the common economic space idea is "in evolution," adding that the four involved states are no longer considering a common currency or a common customs union. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Police detain Ukrainian ambassador

WARSAW - Police in Warsaw have detained Ukraine's ambassador to Poland, Oleksander Nykonenko, for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol, Polish Radio reported on August 26. Chief Commander of the Police Antoni Kowalczyk said he has passed the case on to the Interior Ministry and the Foreign Ministry. "This is outside my competence," Mr. Kowalczyk noted. "They [the ministries] will take further steps." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma replaces internal affairs minister

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on August 27 dismissed Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Smyrnov and replaced him with Mykola Bilokon, head of the presidential administration's Department for Judiciary Reform and the Activity of Military Formations and Law-Enforcing Bodies, Interfax reported. Mr. Kuchma commented that "there is no politics" in the replacement. "Fresh blood will in no way harm the activity of the Internal Affairs Ministry," the Ukrainian president said. Mr. Kuchma also suggested that other Cabinet changes might be forthcoming. (RFE/RL Newsline)

NGOs rally in support of Kyiv mayor

KYIV - Some 500 representatives of non-governmental organizations gathered before the office of Kyiv Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko on August 27 to protest what they believe is the imminent dismissal of Mr. Omelchenko by President Kuchma, Interfax reported. Since Mr. Omelchenko turned 65 earlier this month, he may be subject to obligatory retirement under a law on state service. NGO protesters argue that by virtue of the same law on state service, Mr. Omelchenko, who is simultaneously the head of the Kyiv City Council, an elected body, is not liable to dismissal even if he is overage. Mr. Kuchma said the same day that he is going to ask the Justice Ministry for clarification of those provisions of the law on state service that relate to dismissals of nominated officials who are overage. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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