NEWSBRIEFS (01/25/04)

NEWSBRIEFS

Anti-dumping investigation suspended

WASHINGTON - On January 16 the government of Ukraine and the United States Department of Commerce signed the Amendment to the Agreement Suspending the Anti-Dumping Investigation on Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from Ukraine from October 24, 1997. For the U.S. Department of Commerce, the amendment was signed by James. J. Jochum, assistant secretary for import administration, and for Ukraine's Ministry of the Economy and for European Integration by Mykhailo B. Reznik, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United States. This amendment envisages continuation of exports of certain cut-to-length carbon steel plate from Ukraine to the United States, and provides for the agreement to remain in force through November 1 of this year. Yevgen Burkat, the chief of the Trade and Economic Mission of Ukraine, stated: "The signing of the amendment to the agreement almost coincided with the suspension of protective measures by U.S. President George W. Bush, and in case of favorable market conditions in year 2004 Ukrainian steel producers will be able to export to the USA cut-to-length carbon steel plate to the amount, totaling up to $30 million (U.S.)." (Embassy of Ukraine)

UWC seeks Medvedchuk's dismissal

NEW YORK - The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), following up on the fiasco over the Kyiv venue of its eighth congress, wrote to the chief of presidential administration, Viktor Medvedchuk, requesting an explanation, inasmuch as the original congress site is within his jurisdiction. Having failed to receive a reply, the UWC executive board in December 2003 decided to wait an additional 30 days for a response, and failing that, to request that President Leonid Kuchma dismiss his chief of staff. The UWC's argumentation is as follows: the UWC entered into a binding contract with the Ukrainian Home to hold its eighth congress on August 19-21, 2003, and made the requisite deposit; two weeks prior to the event the UWC was notified that the Ukrainian Home was rescinding the contract because of imminent renovations; the Ukrainian Home falls within the jurisdiction of the presidential administration; throughout the ordeal the UWC intervened with representatives of the presidential administration insisting on contractual obligations; the UWC was compelled to contract for alternate accommodations; these events were followed up with a demand for an explanation from Mr. Medvedchuk; there has been no response. The UWC's formal request for Mr. Medvedchuk's dismissal was forwarded to the president on January 5. (Ukrainian World Congress)

Kyiv rally urges new union with Russia

KYIV - More than 1,000 people took part in a rally organized by the Progressive Socialist Party and the Russian Bloc in Kyiv on January 17 to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereiaslav, whereby Ukrainian Kozaks allied with Moscow against Poland. Participants in the rally called for the unification of the three countries that formed the Slavic core of the former Soviet Union: Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russian congress backs Kuchma

SYMFEROPOL - The Congress of Russian Communities of Crimea has urged President Leonid Kuchma to run in this year's presidential election, Interfax reported on January 19. "Any change in the top state leadership at this historic stage will upset the system of succession of Ukraine's domestic- and foreign-policy courses," the congress said in a statement. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled on December 30, 2003, that Mr. Kuchma may seek the presidency in 2004 despite a two-term limit in the Constitution of Ukraine that went into effect in 1996, during President Kuchma's first term. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian troops in midst of protest in Iraq

KUT, Iraq - Ukrainian army tanks and Iraqi police were confronted by angry demonstrators throwing explosives who gathered on January 12 and 13 at City Hall plaza in this city 100 miles southeast of Baghdad. The Washington Post noted that the demonstrations coincided with a growing split between U.S. officials and a prominent Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who demanded on January 12 that direct elections be held soon. Some residents of Kut said the protests were instigated by extremist Shiite groups who had access to grenades and dynamite, which were thrown at Ukrainian troops on both days. The protesters, however, said that no political or religious group was behind them. During the protests, Ukrainian troops sat in tanks surrounding City Hall and lay on nearby rooftops with rifles. Order was restored in the afternoon of January 13 after a local Shiite cleric, Laith Rubaie, intervened at the request of Iraqi police, calling over a loudspeaker for calm and drawing the demonstrators toward his mosque for prayers. (The Washington Post)

PACE warning on constitutional changes

KYIV - Hanne Severinsen, a member of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), told journalists in Kyiv on January 20 that current attempts by the pro-presidential parliamentary majority to change the Constitution of Ukraine during the presidential election year are not "acceptable," Ukrainian news agencies reported. Ms. Severinsen appealed to the parliamentary majority and the opposition to find a compromise, stressing that the constitutional-reform bill preliminarily approved on December 24, 2003, should be resubmitted to the Verkhovna Rada and debated "paragraph by paragraph," rather than being pushed through by presidential allies. Ms. Severinsen and her colleague, Renate Wohlwand, met with a number of Ukrainian officials and opposition leaders in Kyiv to gather information about Ukraine's constitutional reform for a PACE meeting scheduled for February. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma ready for talks with opposition

KYIV - Stepan Havrysh, coordinator of the pro-government majority in the Verkhovna Rada, told Interfax on January 19 that President Leonid Kuchma has agreed to pursue compromises regarding political reform through roundtable talks with opposition leaders. Mr. Havrysh was commenting on President Kuchma's meeting with leaders of the parliamentary majority earlier the same day. He added that Mr. Kuchma will meet with opposition leaders on the condition that they undertake specific commitments regarding a vote on political reform. Mr. Havrysh said that at their meeting majority leaders did not discuss Mr. Kuchma's possible participation in the 2004 presidential election. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Majority says it has requisite votes

KYIV - Stepan Havrysh, coordinator of the pro-government majority in the Verkhovna Rada, told the Inter television channel on January 15 that his bloc controls the 300 votes needed to pass a constitutional reform bill stipulating that the legislature elect the president in 2006. "The Ukrainian nation is currently expecting this reform. I am absolutely convinced of this," Mr. Havrysh said. Meanwhile, Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko told journalists the same day that the parliamentary opposition will do everything possible to prevent constitutional changes envisaging the parliamentary election of the president. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma aspiring to 'interim' term?

KYIV - Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko told journalists on January 15 that the pro-government parliamentary majority is seeking to make President Leonid Kuchma an "interim president" in 2004-2006, UNIAN reported. Mr. Yushchenko said the majority is set to support the constitutional reform plan preliminarily approved on December 24, 2003, which stipulates the election of a president by direct ballot in 2004 and then by Parliament beginning in 2006. Mr. Yushchenko quoted Nestor Shufrych, head of the Social Democratic Party-United parliamentary caucus, as saying that the pro-government majority and the Communist Party are 10 votes shy of the 300 deputies required to adopt the constitutional-reform bill and intend to "obtain" these votes from Our Ukraine deputies. Mr. Yushchenko added that Mr. Kuchma could even become an "interim president" until 2009, following a decision by the Constitutional Court. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Symonenko explains unusual alliance

KYIV - Communist Party head Petro Symonenko has disseminated a statement explaining why his organization supported the constitutional reform bill that was preliminarily approved on December 24, 2003, Interfax reported. Mr. Symonenko declared that the Communist Party is pushing for a radical reform of the country's political system through constitutional amendments. "[Such changes] can be achieved in a constitutional way only as a result of coordinating positions with other political parties and structures that are represented in Parliament, including those protecting the interests of the bourgeoisie," the statement reads. Mr. Symonenko stressed that the Communists oppose both a plan for parliamentary election of the president in 2004 and a possible third term for President Leonid Kuchma. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine's population continues to shrink

KYIV - The State Statistics Committee reported on January 13 that there were 47.66 million people living in Ukraine as of December 1, 2003, which was 321,600 fewer than on January 1, 2003, Interfax reported. According to the last national census, held in December 2001, the country had 48.44 million residents. The previous census, which was held in the Ukrainian SSR in 1989, found that there were 51.45 million people living in Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Poland, Ukraine sign accord on pipeline

WARSAW - The vice prime ministers of Poland and Ukraine signed an accord in Warsaw on January 16 on the creation of a joint venture to extend the Odesa-Brody oil pipeline to Plock in northern Poland, Polish Television reported. Under the accord, the construction of a 556-kilometer extension will begin in the second half of 2004 and be completed in 2005. "This undertaking has enormous significance for the government of Ukraine and will positively influence cooperation with the European Union," Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Andrii Kliuyev said at the signing ceremony, attended by his Polish counterpart, Marek Pol. "This is a strategic step," Mr. Kliuyev added. The plan for the extension has the support of the European Commission. Ukraine built the Odesa-Brody pipeline with the intention of pumping Caspian oil to Europe. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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