NEWSBRIEFS (06/05/05)

NEWSBRIEFS

Prosecutors probe alleged beating

KYIV - Deputy Procurator General Viktor Shokin told lawmakers in the Verkhovna Rada on June 1 that prosecutors have opened two criminal investigations into the alleged beating of opposition lawmakers Nestor Shufrych and Tamara Proshkuratova by a police squad in Uzhhorod on May 20, Ukrainian media reported. Mr. Shokin was speaking at a plenary sitting devoted to a discussion of the incident in Uzhhorod. He specified that one probe focuses on exceeding the authority by policemen while the other looks into the lawmakers' interference with the squad's actions during the incident. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Afghan war vets demand benefits

KYIV - Some 2,000 veterans of the Afghan war staged a picket in front of the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv on May 31, demanding the dismissal of Defense Minister Anatolii Hrytsenko, whom they blame for failing to provide social benefits and housing to them under a law on the status of war veterans, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported. Some 150,000 Ukrainians fought in Afghanistan - 3,290 were killed, more than 8,000 wounded and some 4,700 discharged from the army as disabled. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada approves amnesty for 17,000.

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on May 31 passed a bill on an amnesty proposed by President Viktor Yushchenko, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported. The bill will reduce or terminate sentences for more than 17,000 convicts. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yanukovych summoned for questioning

KYIV - The Ukrainian Internal Affairs Ministry summoned former Prime Minister and current opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych for questioning on May 30, in a criminal case connected with a directive his Cabinet issued in June 2004, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and Ukrainian news agencies reported. Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Lutsenko told journalists that Mr. Yanukovych will be questioned as a witness. "We are not working on criminal cases against citizen Yanukovych," Mr. Lutsenko added. Moreover, Interfax reported on May 27 that Mr. Yanukovych was called to appear at the Internal Affairs Ministry's Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Directorate on June 1 to provide explanations in connection with a land plot he obtained for construction purposes in the region during the time he served as prime minister. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Former PM fails to appear

KYIV - The Internal Affairs Ministry's Kyiv Directorate for Fighting Organized Crime wants former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych to explain why he failed to appear for questioning on May 30, Interfax reported. "Viktor Yanukovych was invited to come to questioning as a witness at 11 a.m. today [May 30], but he did not show up," Valerii Geletei, head of the directorate, told journalists, adding that Mr. Yanukovych was summoned through the mass media. Meanwhile, Mr. Yanukovych's Party of the Regions on May 29 issued a statement slamming the Ukrainian authorities for what it said is an ongoing campaign to present the opposition to the public as the "people's enemies," ITAR-TASS reported. "The new authorities are suffocating from their inability to solve social and economic problems, which result from their inept management and the destruction within less than four months of the tendencies toward positive economic growth achieved by the previous government," the statement read. "Thus, they simply have to find someone to blame for the hardships ordinary people are experiencing." (RFE/RL Newsline)

SPF opposes Kryvorizhstal settlement

KYIV - Valentyna Semeniuk, head of Ukraine's State Property Fund (SPF), said on May 30 that a peaceful settlement of the ongoing legal controversy over the privatization of the Kryvorizhstal metallurgical giant in 2004 is not possible, the Ukrayinska Pravda website (http://www2.pravda.com.ua) reported. "An amicable arrangement cannot be even viewed by court, since it has not been demanded by prosecutors or the State Property Fund [as claimants]," Ms. Semeniuk said. In April, the Kyiv Economic Court ruled that the purchase of 93.02 percent of shares of Kryvorizhstal by the Investment-Metallurgical Union, a consortium owned by Ukrainian oligarchs Rynat Akhmetov and Viktor Pinchuk, was illegal. Now the consortium is appealing against the verdict with the Kyiv Appellate Economic Court, at which it has reportedly called for an amicable arrangement with the government. Ms. Semeniuk also said the State Property Fund can question previous privatizations if new owners have not fulfilled their investment commitments. She said she has blacklisted 199 privatized companies that have failed to meet their investment pledges. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Media registration order is suspended

KYIV - Transport and Communications Minister Yevhen Chervonenko on May 26 was suspended for 10 days for his instruction of April 27 in which he ordered all electronic media, including Internet sites, to apply for registration with his ministry, Ukrainian media reported. Mr. Chervonenko told journalists that he wants to organize a roundtable in the ministry with all interested sides to discuss the instruction. "Nobody from the Yushchenko team will force anybody to register," he added. The instruction has provoked a flood of indignant reactions and protests in Ukraine, particularly among Internet users. "This step could damage freedom of expression on the Internet. We will be watching closely to see that this registration procedure does not become obligatory for private websites," the Reporters Without Borders media watchdog group said in a recent statement. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM vows harmony with president

KYIV - Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko told journalists in Kyiv on May 26 that she has agreed to work together with President Viktor Yushchenko in order to harmonize relations in the state-power system, Interfax reported. "I've had a wonderful talk with the president and I think that 99 percent of [issues] have been settled," Ms. Tymoshenko said. "Nothing will stop us from doing our business, even meteorites falling from the sky." Asked to comment on Mr. Yushchenko's proposal last week that she resign, Ms. Tymoshenko responded, "It [was] necessary to frighten Russian oil traders." Mr. Yushchenko reportedly made this proposal during a government meeting with Russian oil traders on May 18. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko underscores market rules

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko said at a business forum in Kyiv on May 25 that the recent fuel crisis in Ukraine should serve as a lesson to the government to respect the laws of the market, Ukrainian and international news agencies reported. "I will guarantee that the government will apply only market measures to respond to challenges on the fuel market, the market of meat, and other markets," Mr. Yushchenko said. The president rejected Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's earlier allegations that the fuel crisis in Ukraine resulted from a "plot" by Russian oil traders, which control four of Ukraine's six oil refineries. "There is no Russian conspiracy here, no Ukrainian conspiracy. The lesson to be learned is not to make up legends and myths," Mr. Yushchenko said. He also dismissed as "idle talk" rumors that he intends to sack Ms. Tymoshenko over her handling of the fuel crisis. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kinakh for synchronizing WTO entry

KYIV - Vice Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh said in a television interview on May 25 that Ukraine and Russia should synchronize and coordinate their efforts for joining the World Trade Organizations (WTO), Interfax reported. Mr. Kinakh also spoke in favor of Ukraine's active participation in the formation of the Single Economic Space (SES) with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. "This is a unique opportunity for the four states to create more favorable conditions for economic integration," he noted. Mr. Kinakh said the first stage in the SES formation should be establishing a free trade zone "without any restrictions and exceptions, on the basis of free movement of commodities and services." According to the vice prime minister, deeper integration within the SES is possible only after the four countries join the WTO and apply WTO and EU trade rules to such integration. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian president visits Kazakhstan

ASTANA - Ukrainian President Vladimir Yushchenko met with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev in Astana on May 30 for talks focused on economic cooperation, reported Kazakhstan Today. After their meeting, Mr. Nazarbaev told journalists that the two discussed the possibility of extending Ukraine's Odesa-Brody oil pipeline to Gdansk to provide an outlet to the Baltic, as well as the construction of a 52-kilometer pipeline from Dnipropetrovsk to Ukraine's Pivdennyi terminal. Mr. Nazarbaev said that in order to gain access to the Baltic through Odesa-Brody, "we are ready to act as pipeline shareholders," ITAR-TASS reported. For his part, Mr. Yushchenko said that Ukraine is ready to move ahead with the Single Economic Space (SES), Interfax-Kazakhstan reported. He said, "Participation in 16 of 29 documents of the first stage has already been considered and approved at government level." Mr. Yushchenko added, "We welcome all SES-related initiatives that would ensure mutual ties in transit, customs, budget and fiscal relations." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine still subject to sanctions

WASHINGTON - The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on April 29 announced the publication of its annual review of countries' intellectual property rights (IPR) practices. Ukraine once again was the only country designated as a "Priority Foreign Country," and thus remains subject to trade sanctions of $75 million per year, the USTR said. The report found that weak IPR protection continues to be a serious problem and calls for tough actions to combat global piracy and counterfeiting. The U.S. government is working globally, regionally and bilaterally, using all available tools, to establish strong legal protections for intellectual property, promote effective enforcement, and solve problems identified in this year's Special 301 Report (which is required by U.S. trade law), including piracy of copyrighted works in Ukraine, China, Paraguay, Brazil, Russia, India, Thailand, Bulgaria, Pakistan and other markets and inadequate protection against unfair commercial use for test data submitted by drug companies to health authorities in Israel, Turkey and elsewhere. The Trade Act of 1974 instructed the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to identify annually those countries that deny adequate and effective protection for IPR or deny fair and equitable market access for persons that rely on intellectual property protection. Countries are placed into a hierarchy of categories: Priority Foreign Country (reserved for the worst situations); Priority Watch List; or Watch List. Currently, only Ukraine is designated as a Priority Foreign Country and remains subject to $75 million in sanctions. Fourteen countries are on the Priority Watch List, while 36 are on the Watch List. (U.S. Department of State)

Depardieu to promote Ukrainian wines

SYMFEROPOL - French movie celebrity Gerard Depardieu, who visited Crimea through President Viktor Yushchenko's personal invitation, unveiled his intention to start producing Franco-Ukrainian wines. As an owner of several vineyards in France and a known connoisseur of vintages, Mr. Depardieu told journalists in Symferopol on May 6 that he intends to support Ukrainian viticulturists. As he noted, though he knows Ukraine has superb quality wines, he had little idea about Crimea's unique natural conditions, which are ideal for growing vines. Mr. Depardieu said he wants to study Crimea's varieties of vines, some of which will be bought to make new brands of wines. The actor also noted his intention to meet with Ukrainian First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko and take a familiarization tour of the famous Massandra Winery. (Ukrinform)

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