NEWSBRIEFS (03/14/04)

NEWSBRIEFS

Rally for press freedom held

KYIV - An estimated crowd of 5,000-7,000 people gathered near a statue to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko in Kyiv on March 9, the 190th anniversary of the poet's birth, to protest authorities' perceived attacks on freedom of expression in Ukraine, local and international news agencies reported. The rally, under the slogan "Freedom to the Word," was organized by Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, the Socialist Party and a number of media representatives. "The authorities persecute freedom of speech even more impudently than the Okhrana [tsarist secret police] persecuted the publication of Shevchenko's works," the Ukrainska Pravda website (http://www2.pravda.com.ua) quoted from a resolution adopted by the rally. Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko told the rally that current efforts at constitutional reform represent a "coup d'état" intended to install incumbent President Leonid Kuchma as Ukraine's prime minister after the 2004 presidential election. "Ukraine is living under a criminal authority," Mr. Yushchenko added. Ms. Tymoshenko called on demonstrators to be ready for a "serious civic uprising" in the event that the pro-Kuchma camp pushes its constitutional reforms through. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Will opposition field one candidate?

KYIV - Our Ukraine leader Yushchenko told the same March 9 rally in Kyiv that his bloc has reached "complete understanding" with the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc regarding joint actions by opposition parties in the 2004 presidential election, Interfax reported. "Three weeks ago we proposed a political manifesto, which gives an answer to how the three political forces [Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party] should prepare for the October presidential election with a single platform and a single candidate," Mr. Yushchenko said. "I am telling you now that we have reached complete understanding with the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc within the framework of this document. I hope the Socialist Party will give the same reply." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Independent wins by-election

KYIV - Ukraine's Central Election Commission announced on March 8 that Oleksander Vasyliev, head of the State Tax Administration in Donetsk Oblast, won election to the Verkhovna Rada in a Donetsk Oblast constituency (No. 61) on March 7, UNIAN reported. Mr. Vasyliev, who ran as an independent, won nearly 79 percent of the vote, far outpacing 24 other candidates. The election was organized in connection with the departure of lawmaker Hennadii Vasiliev, who was elected in March 2002 but appointed prosecutor-general in November 2003. The Committee of Ukrainian Voters, a non-governmental group that monitors election campaigns in the country, said there were numerous violations of the law during the 2002 election in constituency No. 61. In particular, the committee charged that Mr. Vasyliev had abused his official position to promote his candidacy and held meetings with voters at their workplace during the workday. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada backs proportional elections...

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada voted 262-7 on March 5 to adopt in its first reading a bill postulating a fully proportional party-list system for parliamentary elections, Ukrainian news media reported. The bill calls for the election of 450 lawmakers in 225 constituencies from the lists of those parties that win at least 3 percent of the national vote, instead of the existing 4 percent voting threshold. The adoption of a purely proportional system is a sine qua non for the Communist Party and the Socialist Party to support constitutional reforms that are being promoted by the presidential administration and the pro-government parliamentary majority. (RFE/RL Newsline)

...to the chagrin of two opposition blocs

KYIV - The Our Ukraine and Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc parliamentary caucuses, which oppose presidentially backed constitutional reforms, did not take part in the March 5 vote, the UkrainskaPravda website reported. Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko called the electoral bill a "ticket to a coup," suggesting that the aim of the constitutional reforms currently under debate is to shift presidential prerogatives to the prime minister and allow the pro-government coalition to remain in power after the 2004 presidential election. "The law on the proportional election [system] that was adopted today is a banal bribe that was offered to opposition forces to ensure their support for the anti-constitutional mutiny," Yulia Tymoshenko charged. "The law gives power to the [oligarchic] clans." (RFE/RL Newsline)

President sacks energy minister

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma dismissed Energy and Fuel Minister Serhii Yermilov on March 5, saying an inappropriate price policy on the coal market is one of the reasons behind the sacking, Interfax reported. Mr. Yermilov was a staunch supporter of using the Odesa-Brody oil pipeline in accordance with its original design - that is, to transport Caspian oil to Europe. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada fails to approve World Bank loan

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on March 3 fell 24 votes short of endorsing an agreement on a World Bank loan to assist the issuance of deeds to land and the development of a land registry in Ukraine, Interfax reported. The agreement envisages that the World Bank lend $195 million to Ukraine until 2012. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Broadcaster's closure elicits concern

WASHINGTON - U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher on March 4 criticized Ukrainian authorities' decision to halt FM broadcasts by Radio Kontynent, which retransmitted RFE/RL, BBC, Voice of America and Deutsche Welle programming. "The shutdown yesterday of Radio Kontynent and the silencing of RFE/RL, Voice of America, and other international broadcasters is an assault on democracy," Mr. Boucher said. "It is very serious in an election year in Ukraine, when the need for news from many sources is at its greatest." The move was also condemned by a number of international organizations, including the London-based Association for International Broadcasting, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, and the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists. Meanwhile, Ukrainian opposition lawmaker Mykola Tomenko on March 4 submitted a draft resolution that proposed a moratorium on all checks and inspections of mass media during the forthcoming presidential election campaign in Ukraine. The measure was backed by just 206 deputies, 20 votes short of the number required for approval, Interfax reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv, Warsaw at odds over steel mill

KYIV - Ukrainian Economy Minister Mykola Derkach told Polish Ambassador to Ukraine Marek Ziolkowski on March 4 that Ukrainian-Polish cooperation will be placed at risk if Ukraine's Industrial Union of Donbas is discriminated against when the Polish steelworks Huta Czestochowa is privatized, Interfax reported. The Ukrainians lost a tender last month for a state stake in Huta Czestochowa to the Indian-Dutch-British holding LMN and charged that the winner was selected based on political rather than economic considerations. Mr. Derkach added that Poland's rejection of the Ukrainian bid is seen by Kyiv as a "manifestation of 'Ukrainophobia' and discrimination against Ukraine." The Polish daily Rzeczpospolita recently reported that the Ukrainian bid was turned down after Poland's Internal Security Agency warned the government that the Industrial Union of Donbas might be involved in money laundering, the accumulation of capital from an unknown origin and the promotion of Russian interests in Poland. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lazarenko trial gets under way

SAN FRANCISCO - The trial of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko began here on February 19. Mr. Lazarenko is charged with laundering $114 million - money that he allegedly looted from Ukrainian industries in 1994-1999 - through U.S. banks. First on the agenda was selection of jurors. Next, U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins was to sift through videotaped depositions by Ukrainian witnesses and consider motions by the defense to narrow the charges against Mr. Lazarenko. (San Francisco Chronicle)

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