NEWSBRIEFS

New Rada to gather on May 25

KYIV - Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov said in an interview in the May 24 issue of the Kyiv-based daily Ekonomicheskie Izvestia that an "official negotiation process" regarding the creation of a new ruling coalition will begin only after the inauguration of the newly elected Verkhovna Rada. "For the time being, it's just a warming-up, preparatory work - there is an exchange of opinions [and] an ascertaining of positions of all sides," Mr. Yekhanurov added. The Ukrainian Parliament gathers for its inaugural session on May 25. Under the amended Constitution of Ukraine that took effect on January 1, the president has the right to dissolve Parliament if it fails to form a majority within 30 days after its first sitting or to form a new Cabinet within 60 days after the dismissal or resignation of the previous one. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko meets with Herbst

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko on May 24 received outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst. Mr. Yushchenko thanked the American diplomat for his significant contribution to construction of a strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States and for deepening trade, economic and investment cooperation. Also discussed at the meeting was an upcoming visit by U.S. President George W. Bush to Ukraine. (Ukrinform)

Kyiv appeals to West over gas prices

KYIV - In an interview published in the May 23 issue of the Financial Times, Ukrainian Economy Minister Arsenii Yatseniuk urged the United States and the European Union to help secure Russian gas supplies to Ukraine at the Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg in July. "I hope the G-8 will raise this issue. It's very, very important to coordinate our concerns," he said. Mr. Yatseniuk also noted that the January increase of the Russian gas price for Ukraine from $50 to $95 per 1,000 cubic meters will be felt by his country in slower economic growth and increased inflation. Referring to reports that Russia might seek a gas price increase to $230 per 1,000 cubic meters, Mr. Yatseniuk said such an increase could lead to a 6-7 percent drop in gross domestic product and a leap in inflation of 25-30 percent. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yanukovych foresees coalition in June

KYIV - The leader of the Party of the Regions, Viktor Yanukovych, on May 22 predicted that a parliamentary coalition with the Party of the Regions will be established in June. "Our stance is calm and confident, we believe that in June the coalition with the Party of the Regions will be finally created," Mr. Yanukovych said during a talk with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs David Kramer. Mr. Yanukovych said the Party of the Regions has developed a draft coalition agreement and is circulating it to other political forces. According to Mr. Yanukovych, concrete negotiations on signing it will start after deputies receive their mandates. The only condition of the Party of the Regions is creating a stable coalition for five years. "Otherwise we won't participate in it," Mr. Yanukovych said. (Ukrinform)

EBRD predicts low economic growth

KYIV - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has forecast that Ukraine's economic growth in 2006 will be the lowest in Central and Eastern Europe, UNIAN reported on May 22. The EBRD predicts economic growth of 1.2 percent in Ukraine in 2006, compared to 2.4 percent in 2005. The increased cost of imported gas is named as one of the factors for the lower expectations. The EBRD has forecast lower economic growth throughout the entire region. United Nations experts predicted in February that Ukrainian growth in 2006 would be 5 percent, UNIAN reported on May 22. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Demonstrations mark Sakharov's birthday

MOSCOW - Approximately 500 demonstrators in downtown Moscow marked the late Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov's 85th birthday on May 21 by protesting the deterioration of human rights in Russia, the dpa news agency reported the same day. "We have come together to defend freedom in our country as long as there is something left to defend," Yury Zamodurov, director of the Sakharov Museum, said in remarks reported by Interfax. Sakharov, the dissident Soviet physicist and rights activist, died in 1989. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine opposes isolating Belarus

KYIV - Ukraine supports democratic transformations in "any country of the world," Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's spokeswoman, Iryna Heraschenko, told reporters on May 18, but flatly opposes the international isolation of Belarus, Belapan reported on May 18. According to Ms. Heraschenko, Belarus and Ukraine maintain close economic and interpersonal contacts. "This sphere is very important for the president, and he will do his utmost to ensure that the Belarusian people feel that Ukraine is its partner and a friendly country," she said. The spokeswoman noted that the Ukrainian president is aware of an appeal that a group of Belarusian activists sent him a few days before in which they spoke out against what they believe are Russia's plans to absorb Belarus. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Holovatyi speaks on language issue

KYIV - Speaking during Cabinet deliberations on problems of the Ukrainian language in Ukraine, Justice Minister Serhii Holovatyi suggested that this sensitive issue be solved legislatively, with a view toward allowing the Ukrainian language to dominate in Ukraine, just as the Russian language dominates in Russia. Mr. Holovatyi noted that the Ukrainian state's strategic task is to attain what Ukraine's neighbors in the East and the West have attained. The Ukrainian language must have the same legal status as the Russian language has in Russia, especially since Ukraine, unlike Russia, is a unitary state. We are duty-bound to promote the Ukrainian language, which the totalitarian regime's propaganda destroyed, Mr. Holovatyi stressed. On May 18 the Donetsk Oblast Council passed a resolution on granting Russian the status of a regional language. Similar decisions were made earlier by the Kharkiv and Sevastopol city councils, and the Luhansk Oblast Council. The Justice Ministry carried out a study of these resolutions and decided that in passing these the councils had exceeded their mandates. The resolutions were challenged by the Kharkiv and Luhansk oblast prosecutors and Sevastopol's prosecutor. (Ukrinform)

Shamshur meets with congressman

WASHINGTON - Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S. Oleh Shamshur thanked Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) for his active support of Chornobyl relief programs. He conveyed his deepest gratitude to the Cuban American community for being involved in helping Ukraine. In particular Dr. Shamshur spoke of the humanitarian airlift to Ukraine in April. The airlift, one of the largest in recent years, was prepared and organized by the Children of Chornobyl Relief and Development Fund in cooperation with Cuban Americans. The congressman assured the ambassador that both the Cuban American community and he personally remain committed to helping Ukrainian children. (Embassy of Ukraine to the U.S.)

Tarasyuk meets with Herbst

KYIV - Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk met with the outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst on May 18. According to Mr. Tarasyuk, during his three-year-long mission to Ukraine the American envoy witnessed interesting moments of Ukraine's newest history and had an opportunity to personally contribute to promoting strategic partnership relations between the United States and Ukraine. The Ukrainian foreign affairs minister also noted improvements in Ukrainian-American bilateral relations, which were manifest in the signing of the bipartite protocol on access to markets of commodities and services, the granting of market economy status to Ukraine, the lifting of trade sanctions and revocation of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment's provisions as they pertain to Ukraine. Minister Tarasyuk thanked Ambassador Herbst for his weighty contribution to promoting U.S.-Ukraine relations and wished the envoy further successes in his next assignment. (Ukrinform)

Ambassador to Iraq is named

KYIV - According to the presidential website, on April 20 President Viktor Yushchenko appointed Ihor Diachenko as Ukraine's extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to Iraq. The post has been vacant since November 2005. The Iraqi Embassy in Kyiv closed in August 2003, which coincided with Ukraine's move to send a peacekeeping contingent to Iraq. The incumbent Iraqi government intends to resume the Iraqi Embassy's activities in Kyiv in 2006. (Ukrinform)

Holland honors Ukraine's ambassador

KYIV - Ukraine's ambassador to the Netherlands, Dmytro Markov, has been decorated with the Order of Orange Nassau for his significant contribution to the development of Ukrainian-Dutch relations. The ceremony took place at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Kyiv on the occasion of the Dutch national holiday of Day of the Queen. (Ukrinform)

Election winners to be compensated

KYIV - Ukraine's Central Election Commission Chairman Yaroslav Davydovych said on May 2 that the five parties that managed to overcome the 3 percent voting barrier and won parliamentary representation in the March 26 vote will be compensated for their election expenses, UNIAN reported. Mr. Davydovych said the Party of the Regions (186 seats) spent 112 million hrv ($22 million U.S.) on its election campaign; the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (129 seats), 13 million hrv; Our Ukraine (81 seats), 74 million hrv; the Socialist Party (33 seats), 35 million hrv; and the Communist Party (21 seats), 8 million hrv. Ukraine's election law stipulates that election winners are fully compensated for election expenses of up to 35 million hrv ($7 million U.S.). (RFE/RL Newsline)

Gas price to go up in July

KYIV - Gazprom deputy chief Aleksandr Medvedev said in an interview in the April 17 issue of the Ukrainian weekly Kontrakty that Gazprom will increase the gas price for Ukraine as of July. Under a deal from January, the price for Russian gas supplies to Ukraine increased from $50 to $95 per 1,000 cubic meters, but the deal guaranteed this new price only for the first six months of 2006. "The question of reviewing the price will be raised on July 1, 2006," Mr. Medvedev told Kontrakty, adding that the market price for Ukraine is $230 per 1,000 cubic meters. At the same time he stressed that, in accordance with the January deal, the transit tariff for Russian gas pipelines across Ukraine to Europe will remain unchanged until 2011 at the level of $1.60 per 1,000 cubic meters per 100 kilometers. Mr. Medvedev added that gas price concessions could be considered only if Ukraine was willing to create a consortium with Russia for joint control over the Ukrainian gas-pipeline network. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko pardons 125 convicts

KYIV - On the eve of Easter celebrations in Ukraine, President Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree to pardon 125 convicts. Since January 1, he has signed five decrees to pardon 393 convicts. A total of 7,058 pardon petitions has come to the Pardon Commission under the president, including 70 petitions by Verkhovna Rada deputies asking for pardons for 4,799 convicts. (Ukrinform)

Ukraine attractive to investors

KYIV - As reported by Radio Liberty on May 2, according to a study by the transnational firm A.T. Kearney, Ukraine is rated the world's fourth most investment-attractive country in the eyes of international trading chains, after India, Russia and Vietnam, but ahead of China. In the study authors' opinion, Ukraine is among the world's "peak markets" for retailers. (Ukrinform)

Ukrainians buy more cars

KYIV - According to the Kyiv-based Auto-Consulting, in March over 30,000 automobiles were sold in Ukraine - 43 percent more than in March 2005. Sales might have been even greater had it not been for shortages of vehicles. Nevertheless, March witnessed record-high sales of autos in Ukraine, with AvtoVAZ cars in the lead (32 percent of total sales). Daewoo was in the second place (12.9 percent), followed by ZAZ (10 percent), Chevrolet (9.9 percent), Skoda (5 percent). Chinese automobiles, which are new on the Ukrainian market, accounted for 0.7 percent. Sales of cars in Ukraine in 2005 increased by 25.6 percent from 2004 and totaled 265,000 vehicles. Ukraine's market of cars is viewed as among Europe's most promising by foreign automakers. (Ukrinform)

Chyhyryn coin is released

KYIV - The National Bank of Ukraine on May 18 put into circulation the 10-hrv commemorative coin "Chyhyryn." Five thousands copies of the silver coin weighing 31.1 grams were issued as part of the series of "Hetmans' Capitals" commemorative coins. The obverse side of the coin contains a depiction of a Kozak against the backdrops of cannonballs and gonfalons and a small state emblem of Ukraine. The reverse includes portraits of five hetmans: Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, Yurko Khmelnytskyi, Ivan Vyhovskyi, Pavlo Tiura and Petro Doroshenko, with the Chyhyryn emblem at the top. The coin was designed by sculptor Volodymyr Atamanchuk. (Ukrinform)

Rybachuk named to Political Council

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko appointed Oleh Rybachuk, chief of staff of the Presidential Secretariat, as secretary of the Political Council under the president of Ukraine, having relieved Ivan Vasiunyk of the post. The relevant decree was signed on May 17. The Political Council is an advisory body aimed at establishing stable and constructive dialogue between the president of Ukraine and political forces in the Verkhovna Rada. (Ukrinform)

Moat to be dug on Ukraine-Russia border

KYIV - The State Border Service of Ukraine is planning to dig a 400-kilometer-long ditch on the Luhansk Oblast stretch of Ukraine's border with Russia in 2006, Interfax-Ukraine reported on May 3. The measure is intended to prevent contraband trade in the area. At present, smugglers from Russia and Ukraine reportedly cross the border in motor vehicles at high speed, making it extremely difficult for border guards to stop and check them. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine third in space launches

KYIV - According to Yurii Alekseyev, director general of the National Space Agency, in 2005 Ukraine carried out five successful launches of domestically made carrier rockets, which placed Ukraine in third place among the world's space-launching states. Mr. Alekseyev said four launches of Zenith boosters were carried out from the Sea Launch floating launch pad in the Pacific, and one Dnepr conversion booster was launched from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. Russia topped the list of the world's space-capable nations, having launched 25 boosters, and was followed by the United States with a dozen launches. Ukraine shares third place with France and China, with five launches for each. The countries were followed by Japan (two launches) and India (one launch). Mr. Alekseyev disclosed that enterprises under the National Space Agency of Ukraine are expected to increase their production output in 2006 by 10 percent to 15 percent, thanks to a number of international agreements on space cooperation. (Ukrinform)

Litigation continues over Serpents Island

KYIV - Ukraine on May 16 passed on to the Hague-based International Court of Justice a memorandum concerning the delimitation of the continental shelf near Serpents Island in the Black Sea, Interfax-Ukraine reported. The memorandum is a response to a similar document that Romania provided the court in August 2005 . Since 1997, Ukraine and Romania have been locked in a bitter dispute over how to demarcate their maritime border around the tiny island. The continental shelf is reportedly rich in oil and gas deposits. At the heart of the dispute lies Ukraine's claim that it has the ownership rights to territorial waters around what it considers its island. On the other hand, Romania argues that Serpents Island is just a rock deposit and Kyiv has no right to claim its ownership to the adjoining sea basin. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kinakh heads to Verkhovna Rada

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko relieved Anatolii Kinakh of his position as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine due to his election as national deputy. The relevant decree was signed by President Yushchenko on May 16. The Central Election Commission registered Mr. Kinakh as deputy on May 15. He was elected on the Our Ukraine roll. Mr. Kinakh was appointed NSDC secretary on September 27, 2005. (Ukrinform)

Belarus opposition leaders released

MIENSK - Authorities on May 11 set free Belarusian Party of Communists leader Syarhey Kalyakin and Belarusian Popular Front leader Vintsuk Vyachorka, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported. Messrs. Kalyakin and Vyachorka were jailed last month for 14 and 15 days, respectively, for their role in an opposition demonstration in Miensk on April 26 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster. "I am ready to continue the struggle against the regime," Belapan quoted Mr. Kalyakin as saying to journalists after his release. On May 13 the same jail released former united opposition presidential candidate Alyaksandr Milinkevich, trade union activist Alyaksandr Bukhvostau and youth leader Zmitser Dashkevich, all of whom were jailed for participating in the Chornobyl Way rally, Belapan reported.

Military-service terms reduced

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko has signed a decree under which the terms of compulsory military service for several categories of draftees will be lowered, Interfax-Ukraine reported on May 10. In particular, the term of service for the ground forces was cut from 18 to 12 months and for naval forces from 24 to 18 months. Conscripts with university diplomas will now have to serve nine months instead of 12. The decree also raises the age limit for contract servicemen from 30 to 40. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Higher minimum wage suggested

KYIV - The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has suggested to the Verkhovna Rada an increase in the minimum wage to 450 hrv per month (approximately $90 U.S.) in 2007, Finance Minister Viktor Pynzenyk said on May 19 as he commented on the draft budget resolution for 2007, which the government has recently passed. (Ukrinform)

Scholar receives Ukrainian state award

ROME - During a ceremony at the Ukrainian Embassy in Rome, University of Naples "Federico II" Professor of History Andrea Graziosi was decorated with the Order of Yaroslav the Wise. The medal was presented to the professor by Ukraine's Ambassador to Italy Heorhii Cherniavskyi. Prof. Graziosi is known for his studies of Soviet history. In 2005 he visited the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy to present his book "The Land's Death: Ukraine's Great Famine of 1932-1933." (Ukrinform)

Shamshur addresses TWG, UCCA

WASHINGTON - Upon the invitation of The Washington Group and the local chapter of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Ambassador Oleh Shamshur spoke on May 18 at the Army and Navy Club. He used the opportunity to thank Washington's Ukrainian community for its valuable contribution to lifting the Jackson-Vanik Amendment as it pertains to Ukraine. "Ukraine needs you now more than ever. Your ideas, connections, your resolve in making business with Ukraine are of crucial importance at this stage of Ukrainian history", he said addressing the audience, which was composed mainly of Ukrainian American professionals. Characterizing current foreign policy priorities of Ukraine, he said they are a "long-anticipated return to the Western civilization," manifested in European and Euro-Atlantic integration. With regard to the new agenda of U.S.-Ukraine relations, the ambassador spoke of two major directions: rekindling political dialogue and establishing a vibrant network of the bilateral cooperation on both the business and non-governmental levels. (Embassy of Ukraine to the U.S.)

Ambassador speaks at Capitol

WASHINGTON - On May 18 Ambassador Oleh Shamshur spoke at the Capitol as part of the Congressional Economic Leadership Institute's "Ambassador Series" program. The meeting, which was attended by members of Congress and their staffers, was dedicated to the current political situation in Ukraine as well as to U.S.-Ukraine relations. Ukraine's envoy shared his views on the accomplishments and shortcomings of the post-Orange Revolution period in Ukraine. He said that one of the most important outcomes of this period was the revival of a strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States. (Embassy of Ukraine to the U.S.)

Council on Ethnic Policies created

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko on May 23 issued a decree creating a Council on Ethnic Policies as an advisory body to the president of Ukraine. The council's goals are to preserve civil concord in society, harmonize inter-ethnic relations, and promote the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and spiritual originality of Ukraine's national minorities. National Deputy Hennadii Udovenko has been appointed to chair the council. (Ukrinform)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 28, 2006, No. 22, Vol. LXXIV

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