NEWSBRIEFS

Troop pullout from Iraq considered

CRIMEA - Presidential candidate and Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko said at a meeting with voters in Crimea on August 17 that the Our Ukraine parliamentary caucus will demand that the Verkhovna Rada consider the issue of deployment of the Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent in Iraq immediately after the opening of its session on September 7, Interfax reported, quoting Mr. Yushchenko's press service. According to Mr. Yushchenko, the session must be attended by President Leonid Kuchma and Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk who, Mr. Yushchenko stressed, should explain "the meaning of Ukraine's further military presence in Iraq." Mr. Yushchenko pledged to "bring the Ukrainian boys home from Iraq" if elected president. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yanukovych on allowing shadow capital

ATHENS - Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said during a meeting with a Greek businessman in Athens on August 17 that the current pace of economic growth in Ukraine could be maintained by legalizing shadow capital, UNIAN reported, citing Mr. Yanukovych's press service. "We believe that time has come to implement an amnesty for the shadow incomes of citizens," Mr. Yanukovych said. According to the prime minister, the process of legalizing shadow incomes in Ukraine may take five years. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Prison terms for sailors confirmed

KYIV - Kyiv's Court of Appeals on August 17 confirmed the verdict by the Iraqi Central Criminal Court sentencing Ukrainian sailors Mykola Mazurenko and Ivan Soschenko to seven years in prison each for oil smuggling, Interfax reported. Messrs. Mazurenko and Soschenko, who were detained and convicted in Iraq last year, were extradited to Ukraine in June. The two seamen may file their appeal against the August 17 ruling with Ukraine's Supreme Court within 10 days. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Symonenko demands troop pullout

KYIV - Communist Party head and presidential candidate Petro Symonenko on August 16 demanded that President Leonid Kuchma withdraw the Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent from Iraq and fire Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk, Interfax reported. Mr. Symonenko's demand came in the wake of reports that one Ukrainian officer was killed and four soldiers were injured in Iraq on August 15. "Not a single Ukrainian soldier should sacrifice his life for the sake of transnational corporations and Ukrainian criminal clans," Mr. Symonenko said. He also blamed presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc for the death of the Ukrainian peacekeeper in Iraq on August 15, apparently referring to the fact that a majority of the Our Ukraine parliamentary caucus voted for sending the Ukrainian continent to Iraq. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Candidate wants Transdniester integration

KYIV - Yuryi Zbitnev, who is running for president in Ukraine, has called for Transdniester's integration into his country, Flux reported on August 16, citing the Russian newspaper "Novye izvestiya." According to the report, Mr. Zbitnev, who heads the New Force party, said Transdniester was separated from Ukraine as a result of the Soviet decision on August 2, 1940, to set up a Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic. Mr. Zbitnev said a referendum should be held in the separatist region on whether it should rejoin Ukraine. Mr. Zbitnev said Russia is likely to welcome such a merger, because it would ensure the well-being of the Russian community in the province, as well as that of Ukrainians living there. Mr. Zbitnev added that Moldova will rejoin Romania "in the long run." Ukraine, he said, must "display initiative" in the Transdniester conflict and deploy peacekeepers to the region. Observers say Mr. Zbitnev has no chance in the October 31 presidential election. (RFE/RL Newsline)

European integration still on course

ATHENS - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has told a European journalist in Athens that Ukraine's course for European integration remains invariable, UNIAN reported on August 16, quoting the prime minister's press service. "We are in no way changing the course, but we are changing the tactic," Mr. Yanukovych said, stressing that Ukraine has its own vision of the path toward a unified Europe. (RFE/RL Newsline)

TV channel off the air in Uzhorod

UZHOROD - The Kram cable-TV operator has stopped broadcasting Channel 5 in the residential district of Uzhhorod, home to 30,000 of the town's population of 120,000, UNIAN reported on August 14. "We really have stopped broadcasting Channel 5 since some business issues were not resolved and we won't restart until they are completely resolved," Kram director Oleksandr Medvetskyy said, refusing to specify what those unresolved issues might be. Channel 5 is owned by Petro Poroshenko, a political ally of opposition Our Ukraine leader and presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko. On August 3, cable television operator Falstap stopped broadcasting Channel 5 in Dnipropetrovsk for technical reasons. On August 6, more than 50,000 opposition supporters picketed the Dnipropetrovsk regional administration building protesting the disappearance of Channel 5 from the city's cable networks. Falstap on August 7 resumed broadcasting Channel 5. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine to rotate contingent in Iraq

CRIMEA - Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk told journalists following his meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in Crimea on August 13 that Ukraine will replace its 1,600-strong brigade in Iraq with a new one "from mid-September until mid-October," Ukrainian media reported. Mr. Marchuk thus effectively refuted media speculation that Ukraine may be planning to withdraw its military contingent from Iraq in the near future. "No one can give you a deadline [for eventual withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Iraq] yet," RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service quoted Mr. Marchuk as saying. "This is a subject of negotiations and it will largely depend on the development of the situation in Iraq. This will depend on how soon the Iraqi security forces will be able to take control of the situation in their country." Meanwhile, international news agencies reported that Ukrainian officer Yuriy Ivanov was killed and four soldiers were injured in Iraq on August 15. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Peacekeepers will not travel to Moldova

KYIV - Vasyl Baziv, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, told journalists on August 13 that Ukraine will not send peacekeepers to the security zone dividing the opposing sides in Moldova unless the Joint Control Commission decides Kyiv should do so, ITAR-TASS reported. He was reacting to Transdniestrian "Foreign Minister" Valerii Liskay's statement of August 10, according to which Ukraine should dispatch those troops in line with the accords reached at Odessa in March 1998 by Russian, Ukrainian, Moldovan, and Transdniestrian leaders. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine urges Transdniester talks

KYIV - After visiting Chisinau and Tiraspol on August 13, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleksandr Motsyk said his country is concerned by the deterioration of the situation in Transdniester and urged all sides to resume negotiations in the five-party format, Infotag and ITAR-TASS reported. Mr. Motsyk met with Moldovan Reintegration Minister Vasilii Sova and with separatist leader Igor Smirnov. Mr. Smirnov told Mr. Motsyk that Tiraspol is opposed to any change in the five-party format and wants the Ukrainian and Russian governments to extend guarantees that will stop the "war of economic sanctions" launched by Chisinau. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rumsfeld meets with Kuchma

KYIV - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma assured U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in Crimea on August 13 that Ukraine's course toward European and Euro-Atlantic integration remains invariable, Interfax reported, citing the presidential press service. President Kuchma also affirmed that Ukraine remains a strategic partner of the United States. Both politicians confirmed their readiness to develop the Ukraine-U.S. partnership in the sphere of security and the struggle against terrorism. Secretary Rumsfeld praised the role of Ukrainian peacekeepers in Iraq and Kosova, saying that "the Ukrainians are doing their job wonderfully." Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk said after a meeting with Mr. Rumsfeld that the duration of the stay of the Ukrainian contingent in Iraq is a "subject of negotiations" and depends on the situation in that country. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko accuses PM of spying...

KYIV - Presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, who leads the opposition Our Ukraine bloc, said on August 11 that Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych is responsible for Mr. Yushchenko being shadowed in Crimea earlier last week, UNIAN reported. "It is work of this government, Yanukovych's government, to which the Internal Affairs Ministry and Internal Affairs Minister Mykola Bilokon are directly subordinated," Mr. Yushchenko said. He was referring to the detention of an Internal Affairs Ministry officer who was clandestinely filming Mr. Yushchenko's stay in Crimea on August 10. Meanwhile, Vice Minister for Internal Affairs Petro Opanasenko said on a national television channel on August 11 that the detained officer was there merely to ensure Mr. Yushchenko's own safety and protect him from possible "terrorist acts." Asked by the TV presenter why the presidential candidate was not informed about this extra security measure, Mr. Opanasenko replied that Mr. Yushchenko did not have to know. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... vows review of Kryvorizhstal

KYIV - Viktor Yushchenko said on the private Channel 5 television in Kherson on August 12 that the Our Ukraine parliamentary caucus deems the privatization of the Kryvorizhstal steel manufacturer illegal and will return to this issue in order to punish those who violated the law in the privatization process, UNIAN reported. "The privatization of Kryvorizhstal is theft that has nothing in common with the privatization that should have been held on the principles of honest competition," Mr. Yushchenko said, adding that Kryvorizhstal's real worth is between $4 billion and $5 billion. A 93.02 percent stake in Kryvorizhstal was bought for $800 million in June by a corporation led by Viktor Pinchuk, President Leonid Kuchma's son-in-law, and Donetsk-based oligarch Renat Akhmetov, despite much higher bids from foreign companies. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Putin calls Kuchma on birthday

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly congratulated Leonid Kuchma on his birthday in a telephone call on August 9. The heads of state discussed current issues in their countries' bilateral relations, and the schedule of forthcoming meetings at the highest level. Mr. Putin also sent a congratulatory message to the Ukrainian president. The message contained the following statement: "Your personal contribution to the fruitful development of the multi-layered Russian-Ukrainian dialogue is highly regarded in Russia. It is to a great extent thanks to your efforts that bilateral economic, humanitarian and cultural ties have been given a new impetus. In general, our relations of strategic partnership and collaboration have been considerably enhanced. I am convinced that your enormous experience of life, and your firmness and consistency will continue to be of service for the good of the Ukrainian state, and to contribute to friendly, neighborly relations between our fraternal peoples." (ITAR-TASS, ARTUIS)

Medvedchuk gets presidential medal

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma presented the chief of his administration, Viktor Medvedchuk, with the Yaroslav the Wise Order, Fifth Degree, according to the presidential press service. Mr. Kuchma cited Mr. Medvedchuk's contribution to the development of the Ukrainian democracy and noted that the award was presented on the occasion of Mr. Medvedchuk's 50th birthday. Mr. Medvedchuk is a leader of the Social-Democratic Party-United, and has been chief of the president administration since June 2002. (Ukrainian News, ARTUIS)

Tunnel to connect Crimea and Kuban

KYIV - Ukraine and Russia are seeking to build an underground transport passage tunnel beneath the Kerch Strait between the Crimea (Ukraine) and Kuban (Russia). Hennadii Babenko, the deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea, disclosed the plan on August 8 on the Dilovyi Svit (Business World) television program. He said that Ukraine has prepared the blueprint for the underground passage, which will be made up of three tunnels. "I am referring to a transporting underground passage ... Three tunnels, the first [goes] in one direction, the second in another direction, and the third is a technical corridor," said Mr. Babenko. He said the estimated cost for constructing the underground passage is $1.3 billion. "The cost is $446 million for the passageway itself, and plus up to $840 million more for development of the Kavkaz, Krym and Aivazovske stations and the corresponding port area installations," said the vice prime minister of Crimea. He assumed that the foreign ministries of Ukraine and Russia will in the near future coordinate the underground passageway project. (Ukrainian News, ARTUIS)

Printing of opposition paper is blocked

KYIV - The tax authorities on August 11 froze the bank accounts of the Mega-Plus publishing house, which printed Vechirni Visti, a newspaper linked to opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, UNIAN reported. Ms. Tymoshenko's Fatherland Party said in a statement that the move was made "without any explanation." The party described "the illegal acts by the tax-collecting agencies as a repressive action aimed at depriving the Ukrainian people of an opposition newspaper and taking revenge on the independent publication for its articles on crimes committed by the authorities." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Energy giants agree on debt payment

KYIV - Naftohaz Ukrainy, Ukraine's national operator of oil and gas pipelines, and the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom have signed an accord setting Ukraine's debt for Russian gas supplied in 1997-2000 at $1.25 billion and establishing a debt-repayment mechanism, Interfax reported on August 12. Naftohaz will pay the sum to Russia's Vneshekonombank, which has been previously empowered by Gazprom to claim the debt on Naftohaz's corporate bonds. Under the accord, Gazprom will make a onetime transfer of $1.25 billion to Naftohaz as an advance payment for the transit of 19.2 billion cubic meters of Russian gas across Ukraine in 2005-2009, while Naftohaz will pay this money to Vneshekonombank. (RFE/RL Newsline)

UOC-KP honors national deputy

KYIV - The Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) conferred the Order of St. Michael the Archangel upon Leonid Chernovetskyi, a national deputy and candidate for president of Ukraine. UNIAN was informed about the award on August 2 by Mr. Chernovetskyi's press secretary, Kateryna Shapoval. In his decree, Patriarch Filaret (Denysenko), primate of the UOC-KP, said that Mr. Chernovetskyi was recognized "for services with regard to the revival of spirituality in Ukraine and establishment of the National Ukrainian Orthodox Church." The announcement notes that Mr. Chernovetskyi is the author of the law "On the Protection of Public Morals" and is a patron of the Stefania Christian rehabilitation center, where thousands of homeless and poor people receive food and medical aid. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 22, 2004, No. 34, Vol. LXXII

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