NEWSBRIEFS (09/11/05)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukraine to help hurricane victims

KYIV - The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has adopted a resolution to allocate 1 million hrv ($200,000 U.S.) as relief for the areas in the United States affected by hurricane Katrina. The money will be used to buy medicines and other necessities. Humanitarian relief cargoes are to be delivered to the United States by superheavy Ruslan transport planes. (Ukrinform)

Zinchenko resigns in protest

KYIV - Oleksander Zinchenko, the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, stepped down on September 2, Ukrainian media reported. Mr. Zinchenko held a news conference in Kyiv on September 5 at which he explained that his move was caused by increasing corruption in the president's inner circle. "Having organized an information blockade around the president, having taken him to a virtual, unreal world, cynically distorting the reality and true accents of life, [these people] are step-by-step carrying out their plan to maximally use government posts in order to increase their own capital, to privatize and get their hands on everything they can," an RFE/RL correspondent quoted Mr. Zinchenko as saying. "Their goal is a monopoly on key government functions. I will name some of them: Security Council Secretary [Petro] Poroshenko, senior presidential aide [Oleksander] Tretiakov, and some of their aides, including [Our Ukraine parliamentary caucus head Mykola] Martynenko." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Poroshenko denies accusations

KYIV - Speaking immediately after Oleksander Zinchenko at the same news conference in Kyiv, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Petro Poroshenko denied the corruption allegations voiced by the former, an RFE/RL correspondent reported. "I would like to emphasize that Petro Poroshenko is an absolutely self-sufficient person and that he has never clung onto a [government] post and never will," Mr. Poroshenko said. "He has not become one kopiyka or one share richer since he became a government official, and he will leave office in the same way. I emphasize now that the Security and Defense Council secretary has no influence either on the Procurator's Office, or on the Security Service of Ukraine, or on the Internal Affairs Ministry." Meanwhile, Mykola Martynenko said later the same day that he will sue Mr. Zinchenko for "mendacious and deliberately discrediting" allegations. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President convenes security meeting

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko chaired an eight-hour meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) in Kyiv on September 6, Ukrainian media reported. The meeting, attended by high-ranking state officials, followed the resignation of Oleksander Zinchenko, chief of the presidential staff, who on September 5 accused several officials in the president's inner circle of corruption. Presidential spokeswoman Iryna Heraschenko told journalists after the meeting that "there is no crisis among the authorities." She was quoted by Inter TV as saying: "The important, frank, and tough conversation centered on the need to optimize the work of all branches of power and also the need to consolidate the action of the team in power." Meanwhile, NSDC Secretary Petro Poroshenko, one of the officials accused by Mr. Zinchenko of corruption, told journalists on September 6 that he has requested that law-enforcement bodies investigate Mr. Zinchenko's allegations. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Putin: forcing reform could lead to chaos

MOSCOW - During a meeting at the Kremlin on September 5 with Western academics and journalists, President Vladimir Putin warned that forcing democratic reforms in post-Soviet states could plunge them into chaos, The Times reported the next day. "Our foreign partners may be making a mistake," Mr. Putin said. "We are not against any changes in the former Soviet Union. We are afraid only that those changes will be chaotic. Otherwise there will be banana republics where he who shouts loudest wins." Mr. Putin was particularly critical of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, accusing his government of corruption. The United States and the European Union supported Mr. Yushchenko, who won power following Ukraine's Orange Revolution in November-December. "No one wanted to listen to us - and we have to be listened to," the Russian president said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Wrangles over WTO-oriented bills

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on September 6 began its autumn session, Ukrainian media reported. Communist Party deputies blocked the parliamentary rostrum, protesting the postponed discussion over bills proposed by the government to facilitate Ukraine's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Parliament managed to adopt several WTO-oriented bills before its summer recess, although the Communist Party caucus attempted to block the debates by provoking scuffles and sounding sirens in the session hall. On September 6 the Verkhovna Rada reportedly managed to pass a bill on bringing Ukraine's food quality and safety regulations into line with WTO requirements. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Okean Elzy soloist is goodwill ambassador

KYIV - Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, the pop group Okean Elzy's soloist, has been appointed a goodwill ambassador of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Mr. Vakarchuk also happens to be the Ukrainian president's non-staff adviser for matters of culture, youth, social and informational policies. Mr. Vakarchuk has thus joined fellow singers Ruslana Lyzhychko and Ali Lorak who serve as good will ambassadors for U.N.-affiliated entities, the former as UNICEF goodwill ambassador and the latter as U.N. goodwill ambassador for combating HIV/AIDS. (Ukrinform)

Yushchenko remembers Stus, others

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko laid flowers at the tombs of human and national rights activists Vasyl Stus, Yurii Lytvyn and Oleksa Tykhy to commemorate them on Sunday, September 4 when Ukraine marked the 20th anniversary of the heroic death of Stus, a poet and rights advocate of the 1960s-1980s. (Ukrinform)

Porn producer plans "Yulia" sequels

MOSCOW - State Duma Deputy Aleksei Mitrofanov (Liberal Democratic Party) is promising to film two sequels to the pornographic film "Yulia," which depicts a hypothetical love affair between Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Novyi Region reported on September 1. The first film will be called "Yulia's New Adventures," he said, and the other "Tough Mrs." The film "Yulia" is expected to appear in Moscow this month, Novyi Region reported. Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin said on September 1 that "it hurts and offends me that there are people such as Mitrofanov," according to for-ua.com. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Official comments on Melnychenko tapes

KYIV - According to Deputy State Secretary Markian Lubkivskyi, Mykola Melnychenko's tapes have become a mere blackmail tool. Mr. Lubkivskyi thus commented on Mr. Melnychenko's recent public pronouncements, addressed to the president of Ukraine. If you really wish to help Ukraine, please come to Ukraine to publicly state your stand, instead of resorting to blackmail, Mr. Lubkivskyi said on September 2. What Mr. Melnychenko possessed was something more than just a commodity, as his information led to Ukraine's biggest crisis, he added. Now his information is viewed as just a commodity in gross violation of ethical norms and moral criteria, Mr. Lubkivskyi said. (Ukrinform)

Tensions mount around metals giant

ZAPORIZHIA - Several thousand workers of the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant in Zaporizhia Oblast staged a protest rally in front of the plant on September 1 against what they see as an attempted takeover of their company by the industrial group Pryvat, which is allegedly supported by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukrainian media reported. The rally was broadcast live on three television channels that are linked to Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Pinchuk, son-in-law of former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. A week ago the Kyiv Appellate Court annulled the sale of 50-percent-plus-one share in the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant to the consortium controlled by Mr. Pinchuk and ordered the stake to be returned to the state. On August 30 Pryvat, which holds a 27 percent stake in the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant, organized a shareholders, meeting and appointed a new manager of the plant. President Viktor Yushchenko instructed the government to resolve the conflict according to the law and restore "normal conditions" for the plant's operation. According to Mr. Yushchenko, the conflict reflects a clash of interests between two financial-industrial groups that were formed under the previous regime. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko at Solidarity Center ceremony

GDANSK, Poland - President Viktor Yushchenko participated in the signing ceremony of an act to found a European Solidarity Center in Gdansk on Wednesday, August 31. As Solidarity leader Lech Walesa noted, the center is aimed at promoting the ideas of the independent trade union movement. He said there still are countries where there is no democracy and freedom and, thus, it is important that these ideas be deliberated and discussed. Mr. Walesa stressed that the European Solidarity Center in Gdansk will be a scholarly, cultural, educational and archival center, a symbol of the victory of peaceful revolution. According to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, the signing of the act on establishment of the center in Gdansk will help future generations remember what happened in this city 25 years ago. "Solidarity and freedom are components of the European Union, its key values, he emphasized. "There is no freedom without solidarity, there is no Europe without solidarity and freedom," Mr. Barroso noted. The foundation act was signed by Mr. Walesa, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, European Commission President Barroso, British Vice Prime Minister John Prescott, Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka, Solidarity trade union Chairman Janusz Sniadek and Gdansk Mayor Pawel Adamowicz. The presidents of Ukraine, Georgia, Hungary and Serbia, and the prime ministers of Belgium, Croatia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Slovenia, Sweden and Slovakia signed the document as witnesses. (Ukrinform)

Walesa to receive Ukrainian medal

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree to decorate Lech Walesa, leader of the Solidarity trade union and president of Poland in 1990-1995, with the Order of Yaroslav the Wise, 2nd Degree. The September 1 decree notes that Mr. Walesa was decorated with the medal for his "significant personal contribution to the development of freedom and democracy in Central-Eastern Europe, his weighty personal role in supporting democratic processes in Ukraine and strengthening bilateral Ukrainian-Polish relations." (Ukrinform)

Talks with Gazprom a failure

MOSCOW - Gazprom Deputy Chairman Aleksandr Ryazanov said in Moscow on September 1 that recent talks in Kyiv with Naftohaz Ukrainy officials had failed and that the two sides did not reach agreement on a price for Russian natural gas supplies to Ukraine in 2006, strana.ru reported. Gazprom has pressed for a price increase from $50 to $180 per 1,000 cubic meters, while Naftohaz has rejected an increase and threatened to increase transit fees on Russian gas bound for Europe. Strana.ru reported that Russian Energy and Trade Minister Viktor Khristenko said Russia will refrain from signing documents on gas supplies in 2006 if it is unable to define prices for 2007 and 2008. "This is our principle position," Mr. Khristenko reportedly said. Some observers believe the Kremlin's political goals are blocking an agreement as much as financial differences. "Gazprom wants to inflict economic collapse on Ukraine," gazeta.ru commented on September 1. (RFE/RL Newsline)

20 percent in Russian schools

KYIV - Deputy Education Minister Viktor Ohneviuk said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine on August 31 that 1,500 schools in Ukraine teach some 1.2 million students, or approximately every fifth schoolchild in the country, in the Russian language. Mr. Ohneviuk also said some 150 schools in Ukraine instruct students in minority languages, including 33,500 students in Romanian-Moldovan, 20,000 students in Hungarian, 6,000 in Crimean Tatar and 1,400 in Polish. Mr. Ohneviuk added that Ukraine also has 550 schools with two languages of instruction, for example - Ukrainian and Russian or Crimean Tatar and Russian. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Is Yanukovych avoiding arrest?

KYIV - Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, leader of the opposition Party of the Regions, is staying abroad following a warning that he may be arrested, Ukrainian media reported on August 30, citing National Deputy Taras Chornovil of the Party of the Regions parliamentary caucus. Mr. Chornovil added that, fearing arrest, Mr. Yanukovych did not take part in recent celebrations of Miners' Day in Ukraine, as was his custom in the past. Earlier in August, the Party of the Regions press service said Mr. Yanukovych would go to Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic for a short vacation. Meanwhile, Mr. Yanukovych's press secretary Hanna Herman suggested to Ukrayinska Pravda on August 30 that Mr. Yanukovych may currently be in Ukraine. "I don't know [where Yanukovych is], I only know that, according to what I've heard, today in the morning he bought flowers for his teacher, and these flowers are to be sent to her on his behalf," Ms. Herman said. On August 29 Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Lutsenko told journalists that Mr. Yanukovych may have been involved in the misuse of budget funds. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Arms smuggling allegations denied

KYIV - National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Secretary Petro Poroshenko told journalists in Kyiv on August 30 that media reports alleging that weapons are smuggled from Transdniester to the Ukrainian port of Illichivsk are not true, Interfax-Ukraine reported. "As the NSDC secretary, I personally refute [those reports] and state that there have not been any similar facts [of smuggling]," Mr. Poroshenko said. He added that he has requested that the Procurator General's Office and the Security Service of Ukraine check those reports. "If they are confirmed, [the guilty parties] must be held accountable. If they are not, [I want to know] who made those allegations, since they discredit our borders," Mr. Poroshenko added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

| Home Page |