NEWSBRIEFS (04/11/04)

NEWSBRIEFS

Opposition threatens street protests

KYIV - Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc have said they will lead demonstrations in Kyiv the day the Verkhovna Rada holds its final vote on the hotly contested constitutional-reform bill that was preliminarily adopted in December and amended in February, Interfax reported on April 6. It is unclear when the Ukrainian Parliament will vote on the reforms. "The essence of these constitutional amendments is directed not toward forming a European model of democracy but toward passing some powers of the next president to the parliamentary majority," Our Ukraine lawmaker Yurii Kostenko told journalists. "We are trying to respond," Ms. Tymoshenko said. "We will use all possible levers of influence [to prevent the passage of the bill]." Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko said on April 7 that his parliamentary caucus might demand a vote on the pullout of the Ukrainian contingent from Iraq before voting on the constitutional-reform bill. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry meanwhile announced that an explosion in Iraq killed one Ukrainian soldier and wounded five others on April 6. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada passes bill on local elections

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada endorsed a bill on April 6 prescribing a majority system for rural councils and a proportional party-list system for all other councils in Ukrainian local elections, the Ukrainska Pravda website reported. The bill, which received 266 votes in the 450-member chamber, stipulates that deputies to rural councils must be elected under a majority system. Councilors to all other, higher-tier bodies of self-government, including the Parliament of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, will be elected under a fully proportional, party-list system with a 3 percent threshold for representation. Earlier the same day, the opposition Our Ukraine and Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, along with some deputies from the pro-government coalition, made three unsuccessful attempts to vote down the bill. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma signs bills on elections, NATO

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has signed into law a bill on presidential elections that was passed overwhelmingly by the Verkhovna Rada last month, Interfax reported on April 5. In particular, the bill reduces the presidential-campaign period from 180 to 120 days and lowers the threshold for registering a candidate from 1 million to 500,000 signatures. Mr. Kuchma also signed a bill endorsing a memorandum of understanding between Ukraine and NATO regarding Ukraine's support for NATO operations. In particular, the memorandum grants NATO troops the right to quick access to Ukrainian territory if such a move is warranted by the implementation of the alliance's general policies. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Opposition wants to review budget

KYIV - The Our Ukraine and Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc parliamentary caucuses demanded on April 6 that the Verkhovna Rada immediately consider an "extraordinary situation over the falsification of the [2004] budget," Interfax reported, quoting Our Ukraine lawmaker Viktor Pynzenyk as saying. Mr. Pynzenyk has accused Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's Cabinet of low-balling economic-growth estimates and thus "hiding" 10 billion hrv ($1.9 billion) in budget revenues and 5 billion hrv of pension-fund revenues. Mr. Pynzenyk claimed Ukraine's GDP will total 310 billion hrv in 2004, while the government projected a figure of 283 billion hrv. Last week, Our Ukraine staged a protest rally demanding that the government raise wages and pensions at the expense of revenues that it allegedly hid within the budget. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma signs proportional elections bill

KYIV - Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn forwarded last week's bill on a fully proportional parliamentary-election system in Ukraine to President Leonid Kuchma for approval, Interfax reported on April 1. Simultaneously, Mr. Lytvyn sent a list of sections of the bill that the legislature's legal staff believes contravene the country's Constitution. The next day the president signed the bill into law, stating: "I signed the law on proportional elections today. But parliamentary deputies have plenty of time to improve this law before the 2006 election campaign." Mr. Kuchma said he previously opposed the idea of proportional elections, but added that the situation has changed since the time when Ukraine "did not really have any parties except the one we had inherited from the old times." The adoption of a 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)

President pushes for constitutional reform

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma told a civic forum debating the ongoing constitutional reforms in Kyiv on April 2 that the amendments are aimed at implementing a "radical dismantling of the nomenklatura [and] administrative-and-command-system regime" in Ukraine, Ukrainian media reported. Mr. Kuchma praised the proposed reforms by saying that they will strengthen the economy and separate "the authorities and business as much as possible." He criticized opposition to the reforms as "horrifyingly irrational and irresponsible," saying in apparent allusion to Viktor Yush-chenko's Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc that some opposition groups are centered around "offended former prime ministers, deputy prime ministers, ministers, and their business entourage." The president pledged to "end without any hesitation" all possible attempts to destabilize the situation in Ukraine in connection with the planned constitutional amendments. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Voloshyn monument unveiled

UZHHOROD - A monument to Avhustyn Voloshyn, president of Carpatho-Ukraine was unveiled in Uzhhorod as a tribute to a distinguished pedagogue, scholar, journalist, enlightener, public, political and religious figure, commemorating the 130th anniversary of birth. It is also a tribute to his associates proclaiming an independent state in Zakarpattia 65 years ago, under the name of Carpathian Ukraine. The bronze statue stands on the bank of the river Uzh. (ARTUIS)

Soros meets with leading statesmen

KYIV - U.S. financier and philanthropist George Soros met in Kyiv on March 31 with President Leonid Kuchma, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, and Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn, Ukrainian media reported. According to Ukrainian Television, Messrs. Kuchma and Soros exchanged views on a broad range of geostrategic issues, including an enlarged Europe and Ukraine's European-integration prospects. They also reportedly discussed the development of open societies among former Soviet republics and freedom of speech. Meanwhile, the radical nationalist organization Brotherhood accused Soros of financing "subversive acts by the opposition and its attempts to overthrow the government according to the Georgian scenario," Interfax reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Papal nuncio gets award

KYIV - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma signed a decree on February 25 to award Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, who has served as apostolic nuncio in Ukraine for the last five years, the order of Yaroslav the Wise for his significant personal contribution to the development of Vatican-Ukraine relations. On February 11, Pope John Paul II had nominated Archbishop Eterovic general secretary of the papal synods in the Vatican and the papal nuncio left for Rome soon thereafter. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Russia, Belarus mark union anniversary

MOSCOW - The Russian Duma on April 2 unanimously adopted a resolution on the creation of the Russia-Belarus Union, ITAR-TASS and other Russian media reported. The resolution, which was adopted on the occasion of the eighth anniversary of efforts to create the structure, called the union state "the most advanced integration structure" in the former Soviet Union. Union Secretary Pavel Borodin told journalists in Moscow on April 2 that this year will be "decisive" in the formation of the new entity, adding that it should be built on the model of the European Union. Mr. Borodin added that it is possible that the Russian ruble will be introduced as the single currency of the union state as early as the end of this year, lenta.ru reported. However, Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin said last week that those plans could not go into effect earlier than 2006, grani.ru and other media reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Fifth baby born to Viktor Yushchenko

KYIV - Taras Yushchenko was born on March 25 to Viktor and Kateryna Yushchenko. The Yuschenkos also have two daughters, Sofiyka, 5, and Khrystynka, 3. Mr. Yushchenko also has a daughter, Lina, 23, and a son, Andriy, 18. The latest addition to the family was born in Vienna. Mr. Yushchenko's press-secretary, Iryna Heraschenko, reported that one of the reasons the baby was born outside of Ukraine is that the Yushchenko family lives in an atmosphere of threats and information persecution, which negatively influences the emotional state of a pregnant woman. Thus, even though Mrs. Yushchenko was attended by Ukrainian doctors during her pregnancy, she chose to have the baby in Vienna. (ARTUIS)

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