NEWSBRIEFS (11/30/03)

NEWSBRIEFS

Rada sets new minimum wage

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada voted 237-46 to approve a new minimum monthly wage at 205 hrv ($38.50) as of December 2003, 237 hrv as of November 2004, and 262 hrv as of January 2005, Ukrainian news agencies reported. Some 161 opposition lawmakers ignored the vote. Deputies from the Our Ukraine, Socialist Party and Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc caucuses blocked the parliamentary rostrum before and after the vote as a means of protesting this new minimum wage, which they consider too low. Parliament Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn closed the session over the tumult. The current minimum monthly wage in Ukraine is 185 hrv. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma urges commemoration of Famine

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has called on his fellow compatriots to pay tribute to the victims of the man-made 1932-33 Famine-Genocide in Ukraine that claimed the lives of 7 million to 10 million people, Interfax reported on November 22. "Severe starvation was the apogee of mass repressions in Ukraine. ... The truth [about the 1932-33 Famine] only became common knowledge for the international public in the years since Ukraine's independence. In fact, the Famine is today recognized as a tragedy of mankind," President Kuchma said in his appeal. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Compensation for downed airliner OKd

KYIV - Ukrainian First Vice Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Yosef Lapid signed an agreement in Kyiv on November 20, whereby Ukraine will pay financial compensation to the families of Israeli passengers who died on October 4, 2001, when a stray Ukrainian rocket shot down the civilian passenger jet in which they were flying, Ukrainian and international news agencies reported. The missile, launched during a military exercise, hit the Russian TU-154 over the Black Sea, killing all 78 people onboard, most of whom were Israeli and Russian citizens. Mr. Lapid told the Kyiv-based Segodnya newspaper that relatives of the 40 Israelis killed in the tragedy will receive a total of $7.5 million. Mr. Azarov told journalists that a similar agreement on compensation is expected between Ukraine and the Russian Federation "shortly." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Journalist attacked in Odesa

ODESA - Oleksander Levit, a correspondent for the Kyiv-based Fakty i Kommentarii newspaper, was attacked in Odesa on November 19 by five unidentified people, Interfax reported, quoting a police source. The attackers reportedly beat the journalist and told him that he will be killed if he continues to write "critical materials." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv might turn to Hague re Tuzla

KYIV - Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko told journalists on November 19 that Kyiv might ask the International Court of Justice in The Hague to resolve the Ukrainian-Russian dispute over Tuzla Island in the Kerch Strait if bilateral talks with Moscow prove unsatisfactory, Interfax reported. "However, we of course prefer to find a solution in a bilateral format, which can allow us [to put the issue behind us] much sooner than any court examination or hearing," Mr. Gryshchenko added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Uzbeks want to work with Kyiv

TASHKENT - Uzbekistan wants to work jointly with Ukraine on the reconstruction of Afghanistan, Uzbek Foreign Minister Sodyk Safaev told a news conference in Tashkent after a meeting with his visiting Ukrainian counterpart, Konstantyn Gryshchenko, Interfax-Ukraine reported the same day. Mr. Safaev said that Uzbekistan's experience with working in Afghanistan, combined with Ukraine's industrial and construction potential, could bring tangible results in the industrialization of Afghanistan. He suggested that Uzbekistan and Ukraine could work together on the restoration of irrigation facilities and building power plants, roads and rail lines. The Uzbek foreign minister also said that Ukrainian firms should participate in the process of privatization in Uzbekistan. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Pipeline key in Kazak-Ukrainian relations

ASTANA - Foreign Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev of Kazakstan told his Ukrainian counterpart, Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, in Astana on November 4 that the completion of the Ukrainian Odesa-Brody oil pipeline and its extension to the Polish port of Gdansk is a top priority in Kazak-Ukrainian relations, Kazinform and khabar.kz reported. Mr. Gryshchenko heard a similar message from Kazak President Nursultan Nazarbaev the same day. Both Messrs. Toqaev and Nazarbaev assessed the current state of bilateral relations in the oil-and-gas sphere positively. Kazakstan is hoping to use the Odesa-Brody pipeline to export oil to Europe. Mr. Toqaev noted that the extension of the pipeline to Poland is also in the European Union's development plans. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Dispute over Moldova's federalization

CHISINAU - Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 25 canceled a visit to Chisinau that the Moldovan presidency had announced the previous day, RFE/RL's bureau in the Moldovan capital reported. No reasons were given for the cancellation, but the bureau said demonstrators blocked traffic on Chisinau's main boulevard protesting the Russian plan for Moldova's federalization. On November 24 Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin announced that Mr. Putin would pay a "working visit" to Chisinau the next day. Presidential spokesman Valeriu Renita said that same day that Moldovan and Transdniester experts have succeeded in eliminating the last obstacles to approving the federalization plan Russia proposed earlier this month. Mr. Putin was to witness the signing of the agreement by President Voronin and separatist leader Igor Smirnov, according to Infotag. Ukraine said it "fully backs" the Russian plan for Moldova's federalization in its capacity as one of the mediators and guarantor-states, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported on November 24, citing a statement by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. The opposition Our Moldova Alliance said on November 24 that if President Voronin signs the federalization plan proposed by Russia, he will "commit high treason by [attempting to bring about the] liquidation of the Moldovan state" and consequently will have to be impeached. Opposition parties called on Moldovans to be ready to defend the country's independence and constitutional democracy. Twenty-two parliamentary and extra-parliamentary formations announced on November 24 they have set up a Committee for the Defense of Moldova's Independence and Constitution. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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