NEWSBRIEFS (07/11/04)

NEWSBRIEFS

Yushchenko vows to end corruption ...

KYIV - Our Ukraine leader Yushchenko told an estimated 50,000 people in Kyiv on July 4 that he will make Ukraine a European country and eradicate corruption in the government if he wins this year's presidential election, Ukrainian media reported. "The authorities will work for the people, corruption will be ended, all will be equal before the law, and bandits will go to jail," UNIAN quoted Mr. Yushchenko as telling a crowd of supporters that gathered shortly before he submitted the documents necessary for his registration as a presidential candidate to the Central Election Commission. "I see Ukraine as a state that is respected and valued by its own citizens, as well as treated with respect in both the West and the East," Mr. Yushchenko added. He formally proposed his presidential candidacy as an independent. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... signs coalition deal with Tymoshenko

KYIV - Viktor Yushchenko of Our Ukraine and Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the eponymous opposition bloc, signed a coalition accord in Kyiv on July 2 to pool efforts in the presidential-election campaign in order to promote a Yushchenko victory, Interfax reported. The accord sets up a new parliamentary group, the Power of the People (Syla Narodu), which will unite all lawmakers of the pro-Yushchenko coalition. The deal also proposes a program of joint actions, called the "Manifest of People's Victory," in order to "take over power in Ukraine for cleaning [the country] of criminal clans and political banditry" and build a "democratic and just state under the rule of law." The accord stipulates that in the event of Mr. Yushchenko's victory in the 2004 presidential ballot, the distribution of posts in the future government among coalition members will be carried out proportionally to their gains in the 2002 parliamentary election. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Prosecutor to probe Gongadze leaks

KYIV - The Ukrainian Procurator General's Office opened a criminal case on July 1 into pre-trial leaks of information from an inquiry into the slaying of journalist Heorhii Gongadze, the UNIAN news service reported. The Procurator General's Office provided no details. A June 22 article in The Independent (by an RFE/RL contributor) linking Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma to the slaying reportedly sparked the prosecutor's probe. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Deputy wants protection for Kravchenko

KYIV - Hryhorii Omelchenko, head of an ad hoc parliamentary committee investigating the Gongadze killing, said on July 1 that former Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Kravchenko should be granted extraordinary security because of the "threat to his life," the UNIAN news service reported. Mr. Kravchenko is believed to have orchestrated the unlawful surveillance of Gongadze and a search of his residence. Mr. Omelchenko also expressed his hope that other witnesses are safe. "I don't know what to do with senior criminals in our state if officers who have given evidence end up being physically liquidated," Mr. Omelchenko said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Government OKs reverse use of pipeline

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has signed a resolution amending a February decision of the Cabinet on the use of the Odesa-Brody pipeline to pump Caspian oil to Europe, Ukrainian media reported on July 6. The recent resolution effectively allows the use of the pipeline in both directions and is seen by some Ukrainian observers as a concession to Moscow, which has lobbied for the transport of Russian oil through the pipeline to the Black Sea port of Odesa. Mr. Yanukovych commented on July 6 on the resolution by saying that the pipeline will be used "in different modes depending on the situation," Interfax reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

U.S. encourages Ukraine on economy

KYIV - U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst said on June 30 that the United States will support Ukraine's efforts to become a market economy, the UNIAN news agency reported. Ambassador Herbst said that the country should still take a number of important steps in order to become a market economy and efficiently enter world markets. Ukraine has achieved significant changes in the macroeconomic sphere, but the lack of changes on the microeconomic level is "disturbing," Mr. Herbst added. The main problem of Ukraine's economy, according to the U.S. envoy, is insufficient transparency in the privatization process and flaws in laws regulating business activity. Mr. Herbst praised Ukraine's efforts to join the World Trade Organization but said that the issue of copyright protection still concerns the United States. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine, Uzbekistan for free-trade zone

KYIV - Uzbekistan and Ukraine will create the first free-trade zone in the CIS, the Ukrainski Novyny news agency reported on June 25. Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoev signed an agreement on June 25 in Tashkent removing all exceptions and restrictions to free trade between the two countries, the RBC reported. Ukraine's Ambassador to Uzbekistan Anatolii Kasianenko hailed the initiative as the first of its kind in the CIS, ITAR-TASS reported. Mr. Yanukovych also met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov to discuss bilateral cooperation and regional security issues. ITAR-TASS quoted the Uzbek leader as saying, "We are interested in establishing a free-trade regime without any exceptions between our countries for the long term." According to Ukrainski Novyny, trade volume between Uzbekistan and Ukraine in 2003 totaled $250 million, as compared to $140 million in 2002. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Romania, Ukraine discuss canal project

BUCHAREST - Romanian Foreign Ministry State Secretary Bogdan Aurescu on June 23 spoke with Ukraine's Ambassador to Romania Teofil Bauer about the planned Bystraya Canal, according to an official communiqué released the same day. Mr. Aurescu repeated the Romanian side's request that Ukraine stop working on the Danube delta project until an impact study requested by international conventions on wildlife preservation is completed. Mr. Aurescu said Kyiv should also send Bucharest detailed technical information on the project. In related news, the head of the Council of Europe's Natural Heritage and Biological Diversity Division, Eladio Fernandez-Galiano, is to visit the construction site in July to assess the situation. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine cuts army by 70,000

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada voted 238-1 on June 22 to pass a bill providing for the reduction of the armed forces by 70,000 troops in 2004, Interfax reported. The Communist Party, Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Center caucuses were not present at the vote. Under the bill, the Ukrainian army will be reduced to 285,000 troops by the end of the year. Ukraine currently has the largest army in Europe and the 13th largest in the world. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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