NEWSBRIEFS (07/10/05)

NEWSBRIEFS

Businesses sign deals in Poland

GDYNIA, Poland - The presidents of Poland and Ukraine - Aleksander Kwasniewski and Viktor Yushchenko, respectively - attended the signing of two major deals at an annual Polish-Ukrainian economic forum in Gdynia on June 30, Ukrainian and Polish media reported. The Industrial Union of the Donbas finalized the purchase of the Huta Czestochowa steel mill, following a lengthy and controversial privatization duel with the Indian-Dutch-British holding LMN in 2003-2004. Moreover, Ukraine's AvtoZAZ motor company signed a deal for the takeover - for a symbolic 1 zloty ($0.3) - of 20 percent of the troubled Warsaw-based FSO carmaker's shares. AvtoZAZ has promised that it will not lay off anyone from the 2,000-strong work force within the following six months. The remaining 80 percent of the shares in FSO belong to the South Korean company Daewoo, which became insolvent in 1999. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Poland to allow Ukrainian guest workers

WARSAW - Warsaw is finalizing negotiations with Kyiv on an accord that could allow up to 200,000 Ukrainian guest workers annually to work in Poland, the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita reported on July 1, quoting an official from the Polish Economy Ministry. "This is a part of the Polish strategy that intends to tie Ukraine to the West as closely as possible. The first stage of [this strategy] was the cancellation of visa fees for Ukrainians entering Poland," an official from the Polish Foreign Ministry told the daily. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Simplified visa regime for U.S. citizens

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko on June 30 issued a decree simplifying trips of U.S. citizens to Ukraine as of July 1. The decree, published on the government's website (http://www.president.gov.ua), stipulates that visas will no longer be required by U.S. citizens making a second trip within six months, provided the new stay in Ukraine does not exceed 90 days. The document says the measure is intended to develop and implement a "strategic partnership" between both countries. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Cabinet announces privatizations

KYIV - Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko told journalists on June 30 that her cabinet has approved a list of more than 10 enterprises that will soon be offered for sale, the Ukrayinska Pravda website reported. The list includes the Kryvorizhskyi Ore Enriching Combine, the Odesa Port Plant, the Nikopol Pipe Plant, the Kyiv Motorcycle Plant and a number of hotels. Ms. Tymoshenko also predicted that the controversial Kryvorizhstal steel mill will be resold by the government by October 24. Asked to comment on Kryvorizhstal former owner Viktor Pinchuk's words that no one will take part in the new privatization of the company as its recent takeover by the state is being disputed in the European Court for Human Rights, the prime minister said: "What Pinchuk said is psychotherapy for those who owned the steel mill. I know at least five large enterprises in the world that have expressed their interest in participating in a new auction." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russia not to control pipelines

KYIV - Naftohaz Ukrainy head Oleksii Ivchenko told journalists in Kyiv on June 29 that the International Consortium for the Control and Development of the Gas Transport System of Ukraine will not operate Ukraine's gas-transport system, Interfax-Ukraine reported. Mr. Ivchenko was commenting on his talks with Russia's Gazprom in Moscow the previous day. Mr. Ivchenko said the consortium will be reorganized to construct and subsequently operate a Bohorodchany-Uzhhorod pipeline, a part of the Novopskov-Uzhhorod gas pipeline. Russia and Ukraine set up the consortium in 2003 on a parity basis, with an eye to operating the entire gas-transport system in Ukraine. It was Gazprom that reportedly asked for the liquidation of the consortium, following Ukraine's refusal to buy 7.8 billion cubic meters of Russian gas stored in Ukraine. Mr. Ivchenko also said Ukraine will be able to pay fully in cash for Turkmen gas under a new contract signed last week. The new contract, according to Mr. Ivchenko, will allow Naftohaz Ukrainy to save $754 million on Turkmen gas supplies in comparison with the old contract. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Poroshenko pessimistic on NATO

KYIV - National Security and Defense Council Secretary Petro Poroshenko said in an interview with Interfax on June 29 that Ukraine may hold a referendum on NATO membership in the future, as the current Constitution does not allow the country to belong to any military alliance. Mr. Poroshenko admitted that at present no more than 35 percent of the population supports the idea of NATO membership. "Public opinion polls indicate that if a referendum [on NATO membership] were held tomorrow, the majority of the population in Ukraine would not support it," he said. "As things stand in 2005, NATO membership is not on the agenda." Touching upon the well-publicized reprivatization of the Kryvorizhstal steel mill, Mr. Poroshenko said the government expects to obtain no less than $2.4 billion for the company at a repeat auction, that is, three times as much as paid by Ukrainian oligarchs Rynat Akhmetov and Viktor Pinchuk in 2004. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Summonses still issued via media

KYIV - Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Lutsenko said in an interview with Interfax on June 29 that his ministry is doing the right thing in summoning former and current officials for questioning through the media. "Frankly speaking, I see no problems here," Mr. Lutsenko said. "At first people thought that calling for questioning was nearly tantamount to conviction. Today people have got used to this practice and know, for example, that the police have asked [former Internal Affairs Minister Mykola] Bilokin for interrogation. Where should we send a notice to him if he has 12 dachas in Ukraine as a minimum? Where should I send a notice to [former Prime Minister Viktor] Yanukovych, who now can be seen more often in Moscow than Kyiv, even though he has a multitude of houses in Donetsk and Transcarpathia? [Therefore] we invite him through the media." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainians, Poles seek reconciliation

LVIV - More than 500 priests of the Polish Roman Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church participated in a ceremonial liturgy in Lviv on June 26, at which they appealed to Ukrainians and Poles for mutual forgiveness and reconciliation, Polish Radio reported. The bishops of the two churches made a similar call in Warsaw a week earlier. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Pora wins its court case

KYIV - A Kyiv court on June 29 ordered the Ukrainian Justice Ministry to backdate the registration of the Pora student movement as a political party. In theory at least, the decision allows Pora, which played a key role in last year's Orange Revolution that brought President Viktor Yushchenko to power, to take part in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The Pecherskyi District Court ruled that Pora should be retroactively registered as a political party as of March 24. Yuriy Poliukhovych, the leader of Pora's Kyiv branch and a member of Ukraine's Popular Party, hailed the court ruling. "This is a renewal of justice and people are beginning to believe that common sense can prevail," he said. "This ruling shows that the 10,000 signatures that Pora had collected to register as a party were a fair decision." The court decision puts an end to a two-month struggle between Pora and the Justice Ministry. Pora had been seeking registration since March 24, when it held its founding congress as a political party. Arguing that only one-third of the signatures of support collected by Pora activists could be authenticated, the Justice Ministry first refused to register the student movement, but did so on June 1. The belated decision came too late for Pora, which was effectively barred from taking part in the March 2006 election. Pora leaders have blamed Justice Minister Roman Zvarych for the delay and organized street protests to demand his resignation. Mr. Zvarych eventually voiced support for Pora against his own administration. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Conflict reported over Ternopil church

TERNOPIL - Ivan Stoiko, chairman of the Ternopil Oblast Administration, issued a decree to temporarily close the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in the village of Zazdrist, Terebovlia district, until the conflict between the local communities of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC) and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) is settled. This news was posted by zik.com.ua on June 24. The conflict between the UGCC and the UOC-KP communities over the church building in Zazdrist, which is also the home village of the former head of the UGCC, Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, has lasted since the early 1990s. According to Yurii Zarutskyi, press secretary to the oblast chairman, Mr. Stoiko suggested that the two communities take turns using the church. Mr. Stoiko assigned the Terebovlia district and village administrations to prepare a schedule and get it approved by the two communities. The schedule was to be completed and approved by July 1. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Lutsenko supports religious education

PETRIVTSI, Ukraine - At a training seminar for the police forces of Ukraine held in Petrivtsi, Kyiv region, on June 16, Yurii Lutsenko, Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, stated that spiritual education is an important factor in the preparation of police officers. "Today I had a talk with Orthodox priests. And if in the past we used to say that spiritual education won't harm police officers, today we emphasize that the knowledge our trainees receive during the pastoral talks is absolutely necessary," pointed out Mr. Lutsenko. "Today's experience proves that we do not have the right to protect people without the blessing of God. That is why I am particularly pleased that our officers have an opportunity to train both their bodies and souls," he stressed. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Church most trusted institution

KYIV - The Church remains the most trusted institution in Ukraine. This was revealed in a survey conducted by the Institute for Social and Political Psychology at the Academy of Pedagogy of Ukraine on May 3-10. Interfax-religion.ru posted the news on June 16. According to Mykola Sliurevskyi, director of the institute, the survey covered 1,217 respondents in 370 locations in Ukraine. Approximately 63.7 percent of respondents stated that the Church was the most trusted institution. Last year this figure was 57.4 percent. Among other institutions with a positive support ratio were the armed forces of Ukraine, the system of education, and the Cabinet of Ministers. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

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