NEWSBRIEFS

Market economy status for Ukraine?

LONDON - The Financial Times on November 8 quoted a European Commission document as saying that Brussels has decided to grant Ukraine market-economy status by the end of this year or early next year. The move, sought by Kyiv as one of its main political objectives this year, would reduce the EU's scope for imposing anti-dumping duties on Ukrainian imports. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said last week that Ukraine's losses in trade because of anti-dumping investigations amount to some $8 billion annually. The EU is Ukraine's largest trading partner, with annual trade turnover standing at $22 billion. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Leftists recall Bolshevik Revolution

KYIV - Up to 10,000 people participated in a rally and a picket in front of the government headquarters organized by the Communist Party and other leftist groups in Kyiv on November 7 to observe the 88th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, Ukrainian news agencies reported. The events were held under anti-government slogans, including "Away with Yushchenko"; "The True Revolution Is Still to Come" and "Ukraine Is Not for Sale." Other leftist rallies with slogans condemning Ukraine's official goals to join the World Trade Organization, NATO and the European Union were held in Mykolaiv (5,000 people), Kirovohrad (1,000), Symferopol (1,000), Odesa (1,000), and other Ukrainian cities. Demonstrators in Kyiv demanded that the government restore Revolution Day as an official holiday. The November 7 holiday was abolished in 2000. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Concern about chemical weapons

KYIV - The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry has urged Russia to make sure that it observes environmental security standards in storing chemical weapons near the Ukrainian border, Interfax-Ukraine reported on November 8. According to Kyiv, some 6,000 tons of chemical weapons are being stored in dangerous conditions in the town of Pochep in the Briansk Oblast, which is just 70 kilometers away from the Sumy and Chernihiv oblasts of Ukraine. Kyiv asserts that the time for which the storage facilities in Pochep were designed to be safely used has almost expired. The Moscow-based newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda charged last month that Kyiv uses abandoned mines in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts to store spent nuclear fuel and chemicals, thus reportedly threatening the environmental security of six Russian regions. (RFE/RL Newsline)

UOC-KP head calls for reconciliation

KYIV - "Ukrainians, all citizens of Ukraine, should be looking for a way to mutual understanding and reconciliation," said Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP). The patriarch had been asked by the press service of the UOC-KP about his attitude to the rehabilitation of soldiers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA), who fought the Soviets in the 1940s. "If we have managed to find understanding with the Germans, who once led a war against us, bringing suffering and hostility, why can't the citizens of one country reconcile?" asked the patriarch. The website uaorthodox.org posted the news on October 17. According to Patriarch Filaret, "Pro-Russian chauvinist powers are interested in spreading discord in Ukraine as well as inciting hatred and hostility. ... These powers are trying to incite hatred in those who fought for Ukraine's independence. The Ukrainian government should pay attention to their anti-Ukrainian activity because it violates the Ukrainian Constitution." The patriarch also emphasized that reconciliation in Ukraine concerning this issue will be possible only when the true story of the UPA becomes widely known. Otherwise, he said, pro-Russian chauvinists will continue to stir up this problem. "We condemn fascism and inciting of hostility between nations. We believe that fascist crimes against humanity cannot be justified. But we should not confuse the fighters for Ukraine's independence with the fascists. Those who committed crimes against humanity should be punished, and those who fought for Ukraine's independence under terrible conditions deserve our respect and honor," said Patriarch Filaret. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

President sacks two oblast chiefs

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko on November 8 dismissed Zaporizhia Oblast Administration Chairman Yuri Artemenko and Luhansk Oblast Administration Chairman Oleksii Danilov, Interfax-Ukraine reported. "Mr. Artemenko and Mr. Danilov will be offered other positions in the government," presidential spokeswoman Iryna Heraschenko commented on the dismissals. "The dismissals in Luhansk and Zaporizhia oblasts should be viewed in the context of the [upcoming] parliamentary elections," Party of the Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych said. "The governing party needs its own people in the regions, and if somebody fails to understand that, he has to leave." (RFE/RL Newsline)

EU helps fight illegal migration

KYIV - The European Union has allocated $3.8 million euros ($4.5 million U.S.) to help Kyiv fight illegal migration and create an efficient system of managing migratory movement through the country, Ukrainian media reported on November 8, quoting Vice Minister of Internal Affairs Hennadii Moskal. In particular, the money will be spent on the establishment of two detention centers for illegal migrants, one in the Volyn Oblast and the other in the Chernihiv Oblast. Mr. Moskal explained that Ukraine has no such centers at present, and detained migrants are kept jointly with vagrants and homeless persons, which is against international law. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President on WTO membership

KYIV - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said in a radio address on November 5 that he remains optimistic about Ukraine's chances of joining the World Trade Organization this year, but added that Ukrainians "should be frank" on this issue. "The answer to the question of whether Ukraine will be a WTO member in 2005 depends much on our partners and bureaucratic procedures," Mr. Yushchenko said. According to Mr. Yushchenko, Ukraine's WTO membership would result in many benefits to the country's economy. These benefits, Mr. Yushchenko went on, include the prevention of up to $8 billion worth of annual losses in trade because of anti-dumping investigations against Ukraine in various countries as well as a 10 percent increase in trade and a 1.9 percent increase in gross domestic product (GDP) annually after WTO accession. "If we join the WTO, we will retain existing jobs and will create thousands of new ones," the president said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yatseniuk cites trade war with D.C.

KYIV - Economy Minister Arsenii Yatseniuk said on the ICTV channel on November 4 that Ukraine is engaged in a "trade war" with the United States and this is holding up its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). "I would like to reject the accusation that the government is in a rush to join the WTO," Mr. Yatseniuk said. "If we really were in a rush, we would have signed a protocol [on mutual access to commodity and service markets] with the U.S. long ago. We are engaged in an extremely tough trade war with the U.S. - in defense of our own economic interests, while the U.S. is defending its interests." Mr. Yatseniuk said Ukraine has refused to eliminate customs duties on scrap metal and has rejected proposed conditions for agricultural support. "We are in a deadlock today, and that's why we have not joined the WTO," he added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yekhanurov comments on Belarus

WASHINGTON - Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov said in Washington on November 1 that he expects the 2006 presidential election in Belarus to be democratic, ITAR-TASS reported. "We want Belarus to be a peaceful neighbor," he said. Mr. Yekhanurov, who met with the Belarusian president on October 18, described President Alyaksandr Lukashenka as "a talented propagandist," unexpectedly adding, "Now I understand why women in the 1930s shouted, 'I want a baby from the Fuehrer!' " Mr. Yekhanurov also said he recently met with Belarusian opposition politician Stanislau Shushkevich and after this meeting he concluded that Ukraine can conduct a pragmatic dialogue with Belarus, including on the issue of democratization. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Miensk seeks explanation ...

MIENSK - Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ruslan Yesin told journalists on November 3 that Miensk has asked Kyiv to explain a statement Ukrainian Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov reportedly made about Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka two days earlier, Belapan reported. According to media reports, Mr. Yekhanurov said in Washington on November 1: "Two weeks ago I was in Belarus and met with Mr. Lukashenka. He made a good impression on me, he is a good propagandist. Now I understand why German women in the 1930s shouted, 'I want to have a baby with the Fuehrer.' You know, he is a man of great talent and he knows how to work with large masses of people." Mr. Yesin said the Belarusian government wants to know whether Yekhanurov actually made the statement and, if so, what he meant by it. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... while Kyiv cites media's distortion

KYIV - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk said on November 4 that some media incorrectly interpreted the recent remarks of Ukrainian Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov about Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Interfax-Ukraine and UNIAN reported. "This is an arbitrary interpretation by the media," Mr. Tarasyuk said on November 4, without elaborating. Mr. Tarasyuk said Kyiv is not going to respond officially to Miensk about Prime Minister Yekhanurov's statement in Washington. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada OKs new procurator

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada confirmed Oleksander Medvedko as the country's new procurator-general on November 3, Ukrainian media reported. Mr. Medvedko, who was a deputy procurator general, was backed by 303 deputies, well above the 226 votes needed for confirmation following his nomination by President Viktor Yushchenko. "The Procurator General's Office must quickly undertake steps easily understood by public opinion to show it wants to establish the truth and take legal measures in cases long subject to public debate," Reuters quoted Mr. Medvedko as saying in the Parliament. Mr. Medvedko replaces Sviatoslav Piskun, whom Mr. Yushchenko sacked last month. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President wants stepped up probes

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko welcomed the confirmation of Procurator General Medvedko on November 3 and pledged to press the new prosecutor to step up probes in high-profile cases, Interfax-Ukraine reported on November 3, quoting the presidential press service. Mr. Yushchenko has in mind the five-year-old case of the murder of Internet journalist Heorhii Gongadze and vote rigging in last year's presidential election, according to his press service. "It is intolerable that one year after the Orange Revolution, during which millions of people protested the total falsification [of the vote], the Procurator General's Office has not yet been conducting an active investigation into who organized those acts," Mr. Yushchenko was quoted as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PGO has Melnychenko tapes

KYIV - U.S. citizen Yury Felshtinsky, a witness in the trial of the murder of Internet journalist Heorhii Gongadze, has passed the original tape recordings purportedly made by former presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko to the Procurator General's Office, Interfax reported on November 2. The recordings consist of "10 CDs that I received from Melnychenko," Mr. Felshtinsky told the agency, adding that the discs "are believed to carry [Melnychenko's] fingerprints." Mr. Melnychenko in November 2000 made public recordings allegedly made in the office of former President Leonid Kuchma. The recordings suggest Mr. Kuchma's and several other senior officials' involvement in pressuring journalists, national deputies and judges over Gongadze's killing, and the sale of Kolchuha radar systems to Iraq. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada rejects aviation agreement

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada did not ratify on November 2 an agreement between Ukraine and NATO regarding the use of Ukrainian strategic aircraft in NATO operations and exercises, Interfax reported. The agreement, signed on June 7 in Warsaw, provided for the creation of legal grounds for the use of Ukrainian aircraft in such situations, and was intended to be a step toward active cooperation between Ukraine and NATO in the context of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Zvarych does not rule out Yulia as PM

KYIV - Roman Zvarych, chief of the Our Ukraine People's Union (OUPU) electoral staff, told the Chas.ua weekly, that Yulia Tymoshenko's appointment as prime minister after the 2006 parliamentary elections is not altogether ruled out. In Mr. Zvarych's opinion, there will be three major political forces in Ukraine's next Parliament, which will determine the supreme legislature's "weather," that is, the Party of the Regions, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine. Mr. Zvarych predicted that the Tymoshenko Bloc is highly unlikely to start tentative talks toward Ms. Tymoshenko's future prime ministership as such attempts will be opposed by the OUPU. Mr. Zvarych said it is highly unlikely that any alliance would be formed with the Party of the Regions, led by Viktor Yanukovych, as that party has very high chances to enter the new Parliament on its own. (Ukrinform)

Filaret meets State Department rep

KYIV - Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), received Philip Carl Bart of the Office of International Religious Freedom of the U.S. Department of State at his Kyiv residence on October 17. During their meeting they discussed religious freedom in Ukraine, the relationship of the Kyiv Patriarchate with other denominations and Church-state relations. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Mobile hospital earns praise

KYIV - The Ukrainian Emergency Ministry's mobile hospital has been recognized as the best among mobile medical teams aiding earthquake-hit Pakistan. Such a conclusion was made by experts of the International Red Cross Society, who visited all hospitals that had been deployed in stricken districts, the Emergency Ministry's press service told Ukrinform on October 27. According to the Red Cross, the Ukrainian team has professionally aided a record number of injured and sick persons - some 800 in all. (Ukrinform)

HIV/AIDS catastrophic in Ukraine

KYIV - By 2010 every 10th person in Ukraine may be HIV-infected, according to participants in the international conference "Improvement of Quality of Social Services and HIV/AIDS Prophylaxis: Partnership Advantages." Ukrinform reported on November 1 that the conference, which was sponsored by the Christian Children's Fund, was attended by UNICEF's representative in Ukraine, Jeremy Hartley; German Ambassador to Ukraine Dietmar Stuedemann; representatives of the European Commission office in Ukraine; international organizations, ministries and agencies; and the Academy of Pedagogical Science of Ukraine. Ambassador Stuedemann noted that 1.4 percent of the able-bodied population of Ukraine is currently HIV/AIDS-infected and annually the number grows by 20 percent. "This is a catastrophe," he stressed, adding that the problem is not only a medical one, but also has social and economic dimensions. According to the German ambassador, the first and paramount step in overcoming the epidemic is prevention and educational activity in society. He noted that German partners are ready to provide their know-how to Ukraine. Conference participants touched on a series of recent moves by Ukraine in combating this challenge. (Ukrinform)

Three peacekeepers injured in Iraq

KYIV - Three Ukrainian peacekeepers, on their regular engineer patrol of a road in the vicinity of the Iraqi town of An Numania, were slightly injured as a result of a land mine explosion on the roadside, it was reported on October 27. The Ukrainian peacekeepers' health condition was reported as satisfactory. Under a resolution by the president of Ukraine, the Ukrainian national peacekeeping contingent in Iraq will be withdrawn by the end of 2005 - between December 20 and 30. The withdrawal plan has been adjusted after consultation with all parties. (Ukrinform)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, November 13, 2005, No. 46, Vol. LXXIII

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