NEWSBRIEFS

Yushchenko signs immunity bill

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko on October 5 signed into law a controversial bill that grants immunity from prosecution to deputies of local councils, Ukrainian news media reported. Under the legislation, a local councilor may be arrested or criminally prosecuted only after approval is given by his or her respective council. The law, which the Verkhovna Rada passed on September 8, extends such immunity to some 200,000 regional legislators. The bill was supported by a broad range of deputies, including Communists, Socialists and members of factions loyal to former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Most deputies in Mr. Yushchenko's Our Ukraine People's Union group did not support it. In a television appearance on October 4 Mr. Yushchenko said he "in principle" opposes granting immunity from prosecution to all deputies in Ukraine. On the other hand, in a memorandum signed with former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on September 22, President Yushchenko pledged to provide such immunity to local council members. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lutsenko threatens to resign

KYIV - Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Lutsenko told Ukrainian journalists on October 6 that he may step down if the Constitutional Court fails to cancel the law granting immunity from prosecution to deputies of local councils, Interfax-Ukraine reported. President Viktor Yushchenko signed the relevant bill on October 5, but simultaneously declared that he will ask the Constitutional Court to rule whether the law is in line with the Constitution of Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lytvyn Bloc to run independently

KYIV - Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn told journalists on October 11 that the recently created People's Bloc of Volodymyr Lytvyn will participate independently in the 2006 parliamentary elections, Ukrainian news agencies reported. "Today it is impossible to form a bloc with political forces that are favorites in the parliamentary race because of a number of conditions presented by each side," Mr. Lytvyn said. He said that he declined an offer earlier this year to form a joint election list with the Our Ukraine People's Union and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc. The offer purportedly specified that President Viktor Yushchenko personally, Mr. Yushchenko's Our Ukraine People's Union, Ms. Tymoshenko's bloc and Mr. Lytvyn's People's Party would each supply one-fourth of the list's candidates. Meanwhile, a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology on September 18-25 concluded that seven Ukrainian parties would be able to overcome the 3 percent voting threshold for parliamentary representation: Viktor Yanukovych's Party of the Regions (20.9 percent), the Our Ukraine People's Union (20.1 percent), the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (19.5 percent), Petro Symonenko's Communist Party (9.5 percent), Oleksander Moroz's Socialist Party (6.6 percent), Volodymyr Lytvyn's People's Party (4.6 percent) and Natalia Vitrenko's Progressive Socialist Party (3.5 percent). (RFE/RL Newsline)

More Cabinet appointments

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko appointed Ihor Lykhovyi as minister of culture and tourism and Serhii Holovatyi as minister of justice. The post of health minister remains vacant. The president also appointed Yurii Melnyk as vice prime minister in the Cabinet of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Yuri Yekhanurov, Ukrainian media reported on October 5. Mr. Melnyk was deputy minister for the agro-industrial complex in Viktor Yanukovych's Cabinet from July 2003 to July 2005. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Poroshenko under PGO investigation

KYIV - The Ukrainian Procurator General's Office (PGO) opened an investigation on October 10 into a case of possible abuse of power involving Ukrainian oligarch Petro Poroshenko, former secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) and one of the staunchest allies of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko during the Orange Revolution, Ukrainian and international news agencies reported. Mr. Poroshenko is officially suspected of "hampering the legitimate business activity of two companies constructing a building" in Kyiv's historic center. He is also suspected of having sought a bribe from the companies for a permit to continue construction, according to Reuters. He has denied the allegations, saying a businessman representing the companies offered him a bribe in return for helping resolve legal difficulties with the project. President Yushchenko sacked Mr. Poroshenko from the post of NSDC secretary a month ago in a shake-up that included the dismissal of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her Cabinet. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Zvarych to represent Poroshenko

KYIV - Ex-Minister of Justice Roman Zvarych will defend the interests of Petro Poroshenko, former secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, in the case brought against him by the Procurator General's Office of Ukraine, according to Channel 5 TV. Mr. Poroshenko's attorney noted that there is no crime in the case; he stressed that the case has a political, and not a criminal implication. (UNIAN)

CPU: new allegations re Berezovskii

KYIV - The Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU) claimed in a statement on October 7 that Russian financial tycoon Boris Berezovskii has confirmed that he funded President Viktor Yushchenko's election campaign, Interfax-Ukraine reported. The statement also demanded President Yushchenko's resignation and urged the Central Election Commission to annul the results of last year's presidential vote and call a new election. The Communists referred to a meeting between Mr. Berezovskii and an investigative commission of Ukrainian lawmakers in London on October 6, when he purportedly said that he had transferred $15 million to support Mr. Yushchenko's presidential bid. Mr. Berezovskii countered on October 7 by saying the Communists' statement is utterly false. "There was an explicit understanding not to comment on our meeting before the publication of the official full text of my statement to commission members," Mr. Berezovskii told Interfax-Ukraine, stressing his readiness to come to Ukraine to testify before the commission. Meanwhile, Ukrainian lawmaker Ihor Shurma, who met with Mr. Berezovskii on October 6, told journalists that the self-exiled Russian oligarch admitted to having financed the development of civil-society institutions in Ukraine prior to the 2004 presidential election. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Aides deny taking Berezovskii funds

KYIV - Former first presidential aide Oleksander Tretiakov denied on October 12 that he gave Russian oligarch Boris Berezovskii any list of companies to which the latter allegedly was to transfer funds to support civil-society institutions in Ukraine and the presidential election campaign of Viktor Yushchenko, Ukrainian news agencies reported. The same day, former Transport Minister David Zhvania also denied that he asked Mr. Berezovskii for money to finance the Yushchenko election campaign. Messrs. Tretiakov and Zhvania were reacting to the published details of a meeting the previous week between three Ukrainian lawmakers and Mr. Berezovskii in London, which were carried by a number of Ukrainian websites on October 11. According to that account of the meeting, Mr. Berezovskii told the three lawmakers that Mr. Zhvania contacted him personally and Mr. Tretiakov by telephone long before the 2004 presidential election campaign, asking him to sponsor civil society in Ukraine. Mr. Berezovskii claimed that he did not know how the sums he transferred to companies indicated by Mr. Tretiakov were spent or whether he actually broke the law by sponsoring the election campaign from abroad. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Holovatyi presses Gongadze case

KYIV - Serhii Holovatyi, whom President Viktor Yushchenko appointed as justice minister on October 6, told Channel 5 on October 8 that Ukraine should replace Procurator General Sviatoslav Piskun if it wants to see "real" progress in the investigation into the murder of Internet journalist Heorhii Gongadze. "[The Gongadze investigation] will depend on who holds this post [procurator general] and whether a new holder will not prove to be another scoundrel," Mr. Holovatyi added. Meanwhile, Mr. Piskun reiterated to journalists on October 10 the allegation that Gongadze's murder was organized by former Internal Affairs Ministry Gen. Oleksii Pukach. Mr. Pukach was briefly arrested in 2003, but has not been seen in Ukraine since his release on a bail order in November 2003. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PGO targets Kuchma officials

KYIV - On October 8 the Procurator General's Office (PGO) instituted proceedings against representatives of Leonid Kuchma's administration. The charges brought against them involve the illegal dismissal of Procurator General Sviatoslav Piskun by Mr. Kuchma on October 23, 2003, which resulted in curtailment of the Gongadze case. Mr. Piskun, in a live appearance on the 1+1 TV channel, didn't rule out the likelihood of instituting criminal proceedings against former President Kuchma. He said that if the charges prove true, Mr. Kuchma will be brought to justice. Mr. Piskun said he believes his dismissal was connected with the arrest of Gen. Oleksii Pukach. He stressed that he had already determined the organizer of the murder, Gen. Pukach, who was released from arrest three days after Mr. Piskun's resignation. The person who ordered the murder is still unknown, but Procurator General Piskun said he is confident that this person will be identified. (Ukrinform)

PACE urges "steadfast resolve"

STRASBOURG - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a report concerning Ukraine on October 5 urging that country's leaders to preserve "their steadfast resolve" in carrying out necessary reforms, the PACE website (http://assembly.coe.int) reported. In particular, PACE called on Ukraine to bring to justice the masterminds behind the 2004 election fraud; adopt laws on the functioning of the branches of power, and guarantee the conditions for the functioning of the parliamentary opposition; transform state broadcasters into public service channels; bring to justice those who ordered, organized and executed the murder of Internet journalist Heorhii Gongadze; and investigate other high-profile cases allegedly documented on the so-called Melnychenko tapes. PACE decided to continue monitoring Ukraine and to make a further assessment of progress after the March 2006 parliamentary and local elections. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Brussels urges focus on reforms

BRUSSELS - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told visiting Ukrainian Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov in Brussels on October 6 that Ukraine should stop talking about joining the European Union and focus on pushing the political and economic reforms needed to bring itself closer to Europe, Reuters reported. "Our door remains open," Mr. Barroso said. "The future of Ukraine is in Europe. The best way to achieve it is not to discuss all the time European Union membership but to achieve concrete results, pragmatic results." Mr. Barroso added that the March 2006 parliamentary elections will be a "very important test for the credibility of all the democratic processes in Ukraine." Speaking at an investment forum in Brussels later the same day, Mr. Yekhanurov promised to create favorable conditions for foreign investors in Ukraine. Mr. Yekhanurov stressed that "speculations about reprivatization in Ukraine have been brought to an end," adding that dubious privatization deals will be viewed exclusively by courts, according to ITAR-TASS. "The state will be paid the real price for the underestimated facilities through amicable deals, but not a single effective holder will be harmed," Mr. Yekhanurov said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President upbeat about WTO status

LVIV - Speaking to an investment forum in Lviv in western Ukraine on October 6, President Viktor Yushchenko said he believes Ukraine will win market-economy status from the European Union by the end of the year and join the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ukrainian and international news agencies reported. "The simplest of objectives in the months to come must be securing market-economy status and doing away with anti-dumping legal cases which have closed off markets to us," Reuters quoted Mr. Yushchenko as saying. "This is our first task and it must be accomplished this year no matter what. The second task is the World Trade Organization. I will do everything to complete this second step so that Ukraine joins the WTO in December." Speaking to a rally of some 20,000 in front of the opera theater in Lviv later the same day, President Yushchenko said the dismissal of Yulia Tymoshenko's Cabinet and National Security and Defense Council Secretary Petro Poroshenko on September 8 was the only decision he could make under the circumstances "with a clear conscience," Interfax-Ukraine reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Most support religion in schools

KYIV - According to a survey conducted by the Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies, most Ukrainians believe that the school curriculum should include subjects on religion, reported the Religion and Mass Media website on September 21, citing interfax.religion.ru. The survey showed that 53.7 percent of the people polled believe that, in addition to a materialistic background, schoolchildren should also gain religious knowledge as an alternative to the materialistic vision of the world. For instance, together with Darwin's theory of evolution, the pupils should be taught the theory of creationism. A total of 21.1 percent of those surveyed disagreed and 25.2 percent declined to answer. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Yulia sceptical about new Cabinet

KYIV - Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said in an interview with Le Figaro on September 29 that the new Cabinet of Yurii Yekhanurov is of a "technical" nature and will not last long, adding that it is the presidential entourage that will actually govern the country. "It is practically the same government [as the previous one], which means that it was the dismissal of the prime minister, not the previous Cabinet. The new head of the government, Yekhanurov, maintains very friendly relations with former President [Leonid] Kuchma. So I think that in its spirit this government will be very close to the past regime." Meanwhile, the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Secretariat, Oleh Rybachuk, said in an interview with the September 30 issue of Kommersant-Daily that Ms. Tymoshenko's style of management was a "one-woman show." "I was a member of Yulia Tymoshenko's Cabinet. The meetings of the Cabinet lasted from 12 to 14 hours. But she was the only person to make decisions there, no matter who attended the meetings," Mr. Rybachuk said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Economy minister seeks stabilization

KYIV - Arsenii Yatseniuk, Ukraine's 31-year-old new economy minister, said in a press interview on September 28 that the government needs to stabilize the economy and stop the continuing fall in economic output, Interfax-Ukraine reported. "The situation is deplorable, you may take any data from the State Statistics Committee," Mr. Yatseniuk told the Kommersant-Ukrayina newspaper. "It would be unreasonable to speak about an economic upswing. There won't be any economic miracle, and there is no need for it. We will do our utmost to return the economy to the normal temperature of 36.6C, so that the situation stabilizes and the fall stops." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Pynzenyk pledges to complete job

KYIV - In a statement issued after his reappointment on September 28, Finance Minister Viktor Pynzenyk said he is remaining in the Cabinet to complete the work begun during the presidency of Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukrayinska Pravda website reported. "I am remaining because I have assumed this responsibility and cannot leave unfinished what I must accomplish," Mr. Pynzenyk said. "This is responsibility for the future of Ukraine which, due to the election of Viktor Yushchenko, has received a unique opportunity for the first time. We must not waste it." Mr. Pynzenyk also appealed to his colleagues from the Reforms and Order Party, which he heads, not to support a split among the forces that came to power with the president. Former Vice Prime Minister Mykola Tomenko, a member of the Reforms and Order Party, had earlier suggested that Mr. Pynzenyk should quit the party if he remains in the Cabinet. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Transdniester mediators invite EU, U.S.

ODESA - A September 26-27 meeting in Odesa of representatives of Chisinau (Moldova) and Tiraspol (Transdniester) along with mediators from Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe resulted in extending an invitation to the European Union and the United States to take part in the Transdniester settlement process as observers, Moldovan and Ukrainian news agencies reported. "Our proposal to expand the negotiation format was accepted by all participants in the consultative meeting, and this was the meeting's chief result," Infotag quoted Moldovan Minister of Reintegration Vasile Sova as saying. EU and U.S. observers are expected to attend the next round of negotiations on Transdniester scheduled for October 27-28 in Chisinau. (RFE/RL Newsline)

GDP growth rate continues to slump

KYIV - Ukraine's gross domestic product (GDP) in August fell by 1.6 percent compared to that in August 2004, while January-August growth in GDP amounted to 2.8 percent, Interfax-Ukraine reported on September 13, quoting a source in the government. In 2004, the Ukrainian government reported a 12 percent growth in GDP. Vice Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh said on September 14 that the government downgraded the expected GDP growth in 2005 to 4 percent from the 8.2 percent predicted in the beginning of this year. (Ukrinform)

Transdniestrians seek Ukraine citizenship

TIRASPOL - Infotag reported on September 13 that "gigantic" lines of Transdniestrian residents wishing to receive Ukrainian citizenship and Ukrainian foreign-travel passports can be seen in front of the Ukrainian Ethnic Community of Transdniester headquarters in Tiraspol. In accordance with amendments to a law on Ukrainian citizenship introduced by the Ukrainian Parliament in July, Ukrainian citizenship may now be given to people having Ukrainian roots or whose ancestors lived in Transdniester before October 1940, that is, when the region - which was called the Moldovan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic at that time - was part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The community will reportedly make public lists of Transdniestrians who are eligible to receive Ukrainian citizenship within the next three months. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Jewish world forum meets in Kyiv

KYIV - During the international forum titled "World Jewish Community Against Terrorism" that took place in Kyiv on September 12, Ukrainian Jewish Community President Vadym Rabinovych announced the community's desire to form a World Jewish Parliament. The Parliament would be engaged primarily with the settlement of problems in the Middle East, and fighting terrorism, xenophobia, fascism and international enmity. This decision was supported by all the forum delegates. During a speech at the ceremony to inaugurate the monument to victims of the September 11 and worldwide terrorist attacks, Oleksander Myshkovych, leader of the Eurasian Jewish Congress, said that Kyiv was purposely chosen to be a venue of the international forum because Ukraine is tolerant and indulgent to all nations. (Ukrinform)

Faithful pray for St. Sophia's opening

KYIV - On September 13 faithful of various Christian denominations gathered in front of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv not only to pray for the unity of Ukraine, the nation and the Church but also to ask to have the cathedral opened for religious services. Every month on the 13th, from May to October they gather at 1 p.m. near the Cathedral. While St. Sophia Cathedral operates as a museum, the faithful hope that one day it will be open for religious services. According to cerkva.org.ua, the number 13 is not accidental. It was on this day in 1917 that the faithful believe the Mother of God appeared in Fatima, Portugal. Tradition says that she appeared there every month on the 13th for half a year. Father Serhii of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate said: "For many years the city administration has given the faithful one answer: St. Sophia Cathedral has the status of a national reserve. But I hope that all the faithful will join us and only then will our country and our nation be united. Meantime, only the Greek Catholics and the Autocephalous Orthodox Church have joined us." (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

UOC-KP and UAOC discuss unification

KYIV - A joint meeting of the Plenipotentiary Committees on the Unification of Churches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), blessed by the heads of the UOC-KP and the UAOC, took place in Kyiv on September 15. As a result of their work, the committees came to a common vision of the importance and ways to unite the UOC-KP and the UAOC into a single Ukrainian national Orthodox Church. The committees agreed to continue their work regarding the unification of the UOC-KP and the UAOC. Another regular meeting of the committees on the unification of the UOC-KP and the UAOC took place in Kyiv on September 29. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Filaret sees one Orthodox Church

CHERNIVTSI - Patriarch Filaret (Denysenko), head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), said he is convinced that "Ukraine will have a single national Orthodox Church, recognized by other Orthodox Churches." He said this during a visit to the southwestern Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi on September 29 to October 1. "Now we are conducting negotiations regarding the unification of the Kyivan Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous [Orthodox] Church. This it only testifies to the fact that the Ukrainian national Church is strengthening its position and the time will come when Ukraine will have a single national Orthodox Church, recognized by other Orthodox Churches," said Patriarch Filaret. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Rukh honors Patriarch Filaret

KYIV - On September 10 a solemn meeting dedicated to the 16th anniversary of Rukh was held at the Kyiv Teacher's Building. At the invitation of Borys Tarasyuk, head of Rukh, Patriarch Filaret (Denysenko), head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), took part in the meeting. As a sign of Rukh's respect and appreciation of his work for the good of Ukraine, the patriarch was awarded the Order of Vyacheslav Chornovil (first degree). Patriarch Filaret blessed the meeting and called upon all patriotic and democratic powers of Ukraine to unite in the name of Ukraine and to accept the latest political events peacefully. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Belarus rejects Kyiv's mediation

KYIV - Ukraine's Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk met with Belarusian Foreign Minister Syarhey Martynau in Kyiv on September 26, Ukrainian and Belarusian media reported. "We are ready to act as a friendly side, a friendly partner regarding the problems Belarus has with the Council of Europe and the European Union," Mr. Tarasyuk said at a joint news conference later the same day. "[Belarus], as a sovereign state, will make its own decisions about processes taking place in its society and it does not need outside help, with all respect to brotherly Ukraine," Mr. Martynau said, answering a journalist's question about Ukraine's potential role in democratizing Belarus. It was agreed, however, that next month Ukrainian Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov will visit Miensk and President Viktor Yushchenko will meet with Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka either in the southeastern Belarusian town of Homiel or at a location near the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

EU to monitor Moldova-Ukraine border

CHISINAU - The European Union has agreed to send monitors as of December to help secure the Moldova-Ukraine border along its 400-kilometer Transdniestrian stretch, thus responding to a request voiced by Chisinau and Kyiv in June, Infotag and BASA reported on September 21. The cost of the operation is reportedly estimated at $3 million euros ($3.7 million U.S.) for the first six months. The mission may be extended by another year. The Moscow-backed Transdniester region is widely seen as a haven for smugglers and arms dealers. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russian minister on Ukraine policy

PARIS - Speaking in Paris on October 11, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia "cannot fence itself off from Ukraine as it is our nearest neighbor, old partner and close relative," ITAR-TASS reported. Our population will not be able to comprehend a split with Ukraine, he said. However, Mr. Lavrov said, Ukraine is a sovereign state and can choose its own partners and development model. "If they want to be integrated into the Single Economic Space, we will be happy; if not, they should take into account the [potential] loss of integration benefits," Mr. Lavrov said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, October 16, 2005, No. 42, Vol. LXXIII

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