NEWSBRIEFS (10/24/04)

NEWSBRIEFS

Pro-government deputies boycott session...

KYIV - Six pro-government parliamentary caucuses - Labor Ukraine, the Social Democratic Party-United, Ukraine's Regions, Single Ukraine, Democratic Initiatives and Soyuz - did not register for the parliamentary session and failed to appear in the session hall on October 20, Ukrainian news agencies reported. There are reportedly 248 deputies registered for the session, which is a sufficient majority for adopting most bills. Pro-government lawmakers tried to block the session the previous day as well. Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn said in Parliament on October 19 that pro-government lawmakers "are implementing a scenario" for disrupting the work of the legislature and holding early parliamentary elections. "After the [presidential] elections many people will need to find [new] jobs and they are now trying to find these jobs in the Verkhovna Rada; this requires a blockade of the Verkhovna Rada in order to hold new elections," Mr. Lytvyn said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

...but Verkhovna Rada struggles along

KYIV - Despite the absence of most pro-government lawmakers in the session hall, the Verkhovna Rada on October 19 managed to pass several bills, Ukrainian news agencies reported. One of the bills increased the average monthly subsistence minimum in Ukraine from the current 362 hrv ($70) to 432 hrv as of 2005. The bill was endorsed by 250 out of 257 legislators registered for the session. National Deputy Mykola Tomenko commented that by passing the subsistence minimum bill, the legislature effectively supported opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko's draft decree in which he promised such a raise after being elected president. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Melnychenko wins in court

STRASBOURG - The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on October 19 ruled that the Ukrainian authorities acted illegally by rejecting an application from Mykola Melnychenko, a former security officer to President Leonid Kuchma, to register as a candidate for the 2002 parliamentary election on the Ukrainian Socialist Party ticket, Ukrainian and international news agencies reported. Mr. Melnychenko left Ukraine in 2000 after secretly taping hundreds of hours of conversations in Mr. Kuchma's office in 1998-2000. The court said the authorities - in rejecting the application on the grounds that Mr. Melnychenko had submitted false information about his place of residence and that he had not been a resident in Ukraine for five years - violated the "right to free elections" stipulated in the European Convention on Human Rights. "Neither the relevant Ukrainian legislation nor practice contained a direct eligibility requirement of 'habitual' or 'continuous' residence in the territory of Ukraine for parliamentary candidates," the court said in its ruling. The court awarded Mr. Melnychenko 5,000 euros ($6,250) in damages. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... releases more secret recordings

WARSAW - Former Ukrainian presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko revealed more of his secret recordings in President Leonid Kuchma's office during a news conference in Warsaw on October 19, Interfax reported. The disclosed recording carries an alleged conversation between Mr. Kuchma and Viktor Yanukovych, in which the latter, then the chairman of the Donetsk Oblast, discusses corruption in the Parliament and briefs the president on how he muzzles the press in his region. Mr. Melnychenko promised to pass the recording to Ukrainian lawmakers. He also invited Ukrainian TV channels to another news conference in Warsaw on October 22, promising to disclose the nature of the contacts he maintained with current presidential administration chief Viktor Medvedchuk and oligarch and lawmaker Hryhorii Surkis in 2001-02. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Investigators allege terrorist activity

KYIV - Prosecutors in Kyiv have opened a criminal case under articles referring to terrorism and the formation of illegal armed groups in connection with the disclosure of explosive devices and materials in the offices of the non-governmental youth organization Pora (It's Time) in Kyiv on October 15, Ukrainian media reported. Police reportedly found a homemade explosive device, six TNT slabs, two electric detonators and a grenade at the Pora headquarters. Members of the organization and some opposition lawmakers called the discovery a provocation. "The authorities want to portray us as a terrorist organization," UNIAN quoted Pora activist Volodymyr Lesyk as saying. "Such methods shows that the authorities do not want honest elections," Mr. Lesyk noted, adding that Pora is conducting a "non-violent campaign of resistance" against the authorities in the presidential election race. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russian envoy proposes single currency

KYIV - Russia and Ukraine are ready to discuss currency integration and the introduction of a single currency, Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin told a roundtable meeting "Russia and Ukraine: Prospects of Cooperation in the Banking Sector," the BBC reported. On the initiative of the Russian Club in the Ukrainian capital, bankers of the two countries discussed measures to step up business cooperation in creating a free trade zone and solving the problems of deposit insurance, money transfers and legal unification. Gennady Melikyan, deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, who attended the forum, said Mr. Chernomyrdin's initiative was ill-timed. "At this time, Russia and Ukraine are not ready for that," he stressed. In his opinion, a smaller problem should be settled first: the problem of money transfers between Russia and Ukraine. According to Mr. Melikyan, tens of thousands of Ukrainians working in Russia have to send U.S. dollars to their families. (BBC)

Kuchma denies rumors of emergency

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on October 15 described as "mere fantasy" the rumors claiming that the military parade in Kyiv on October 28 will be used as an excuse to bring troops to the capital and introduce a state of emergency before the October 31 presidential ballot, Interfax reported. Mr. Kuchma said the parade, which is intended to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from German invaders, will feature no other military hardware except one World War II-era tank. "It is our duty to pay tribute to those who gave Ukraine and the nations of the world an opportunity to live in peace for many years," the president added. Commenting on dirty techniques used in the presidential election campaign, Mr. Kuchma said they "exceed the framework of human decency." (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM blames profiteers, opponents

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych charged on October 14 that profiteers and "some political forces" wishing to destabilize the situation on the food markets are responsible for recent food-price hikes in Ukraine, Ukrainian media reported. Mr. Yanukovych reportedly ordered that the law enforcement bodies intervene and keep food prices in check. Meanwhile, National Deputy Petro Poroshenko of the Our Ukraine bloc said the primary reason for the price hikes is Mr. Yanukovych's recent decision to raise pensions for more than 11 million people in Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

EU states urge stronger ties with Ukraine

BRUSSELS - Eleven European Union countries have called for stronger relations with Ukraine and underscored the need for a more uniform EU policy toward Russia, a diplomatic source said. The nations from the north and east of the 25-nation bloc who met on Sunday, October 10, agreed on "the need to develop contacts with Ukraine" and that pro-European political forces in the country should be strengthened, the source said. Participants included the three Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - northern EU members Denmark, Finland and Sweden, and the four Visegrad Group countries, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, plus Austria. The talks which took the form of an informal dinner held before an EU foreign ministers' meeting also agreed it necessary to give a "European perspective to Ukraine" so that it moves closer to the EU. (Action Ukraine Report)

Battle resumes for constitutional reform

KYIV - National Deputies Oleksander Moroz and Stepan Havrysh have submitted a draft bill to the Verkhovna Rada proposing that constitutional-reform Bill No. 4180 be adopted in its entirety, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported on October 13. The bill, which was approved in the first reading by the Verkhovna Rada in June, proposes transferring a significant part of presidential powers to the Parliament and the prime minister. The Constitutional Court ruled on October 14 that the bill does not contradict the Constitution of Ukraine. To become law, the constitutional-reform bill must be approved by a two-thirds majority (at least 300 votes) in the second reading. (RFE/RL Newsline)

| Home Page |