NEWSBRIEFS (10/08/06)

NEWSBRIEFS

Our Ukraine still undecided

KYIV - Roman Bezsmertnyi, head of the pro-Yushchenko Our Ukraine People's Union (OUPU), told journalists on October 3 that his party would decide on October 4 whether to enter into a ruling coalition with the Party of the Regions, the Socialist Party and the Communist Party or switch to the opposition, Interfax-Ukraine reported. "If we become an opposition party we'll ask all of our ministers to quit the government and urge the president to recall his ministers," Mr. Bezsmertnyi said. The OUPU Political Council on October 3 obliged Mr. Bezsmertnyi to sign only a coalition deal that will include all provisions of the Universal of National Unity adopted by President Viktor Yushchenko and major political parties on August 3. According to Ukrayinski Novyny, The Communist Party is staunchly opposed to the idea of including the Universal of National Unity in the coalition pact. Ukrayinski Novyny also reported that the Party of the Regions said it expects Our Ukraine to join the coalition sometime between October 2 and 6. (RFE/RL Newsline, Ukrayinski Novyny)

Rukh Party now in opposition

KYIV - The People's Rukh of Ukraine Party announced on October 4 that it is joining the opposition. News of the decision was published on the Rukh website, which noted that the Anti-Crisis Coalition is not conducting constructive work toward creating a Coalition of National Unity, and is acting against the principles and agreements contained in the Universal of National Unity. Therefore, the party's Political Council, decided to join the opposition. (Ukrayinski Novyny)

Yanukovych expects gas price increase

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said at a government meeting in Kyiv on October 4 that the price of gas imported by Ukraine in 2007 will be known later this month, Ukrainian media reported. "But we have grounds to consider that the price will be $130 [per 1,000 cubic meters]," Mr. Yanukovych noted, adding that the Finance Ministry has been instructed to draft a 2007 budget proceeding from this figure. Ukraine now pays $95 per 1,000 cubic meters of an imported Russian-Turkmen gas mix. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... hopes to get gas cheaper than neighbors

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers in Kyiv on September 28 that Ukraine will be receiving gas from Russia until 2010 at a price lower than that charged on other neighboring countries, Interfax-Ukraine reported. "The price of gas will be lower than that asked of our neighbors," Mr. Yanukovych said. "If it is $130 per 1,000 cubic meters, it will be top class for us," he added. Meanwhile, Gazprom said in a press statement on September 27 that RosUkrEnergo, which monopolizes gas supplies to Ukraine, will deliver gas to Ukraine in the fourth quarter of 2006 at the current price of $95 per 1,000 cubic meters. The statement appeared after talks held between Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller and Ukrainian Energy Minister Yurii Boiko in Moscow earlier the same day. The statement says that a contract for gas supplies to Ukraine in 2007-2009 will be drafted by the end of this year. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Central Asia expected to provide gas

KYIV- Fuel and Energy Minister Yurii Boiko told journalists in Kyiv on October 4 that the Swiss-based gas trader RosUkrEnergo will provide Ukraine in 2007 with gas produced in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Interfax reported. "We've already signed contracts to supply Ukraine with 7 billion cubic meters of Uzbek gas per year, a contract with Kazakhstan to supply 8.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year, and one for 42 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas. In other words, we'll be receiving gas from three Central Asian republics," Mr. Boiko said. He did not specify whether RosUkrEnergo will supply Ukraine with gas produced in Russia next year. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM seeks firing of regional leaders

KYIV - Minister Viktor Yanukovych on September 28 demanded that President Viktor Yushchenko fire five oblast administration chairmen for what the government sees as their unsatisfactory performance in resolving socioeconomic problems, Ukrainian media reported. The demand concerns the leaders of Poltava, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Kherson and Chernihiv oblasts, who are from the pro-presidential Our Ukraine bloc. "The dismissal of the heads of oblast administrations cannot be considered by the Cabinet of Ministers, since this [issue] is outside the government's competence," Our Ukraine said in a statement later the same day. "Political motives behind such actions are obvious: The [five] governors are being accused of 'unsatisfactory solutions to problems that hamper social and economic development' while it is generally known that the highest debts arising from overdue wages are in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, but the government remains silent on the leaders of these regions," Our Ukraine added. Under the Constitution of Ukraine, all oblast administration chairs are appointed by the president. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Strikers seek ouster of Kharkiv leader

KHARKIV - A group of councilors representing mostly the ruling Party of the Regions in the oblast, city and district councils of the Kharkiv region went on a hunger strike in the building of the oblast administration in Kharkiv on October 2 over President Viktor Yushchenko's failure to sack Kharkiv Oblast Administration Chairman Arsen Avakov, Interfax-Ukraine reported. Four months earlier, more than two-thirds of the deputies of the Kharkiv Oblast Council reportedly passed a no-confidence vote in Mr. Avakov over the region's deteriorating socioeconomic situation. The protesting deputies cite Article 118 of the Constitution of Ukraine, under which a no-confidence vote supported by two-thirds of lawmakers is sufficient to oblige the president to sack the head of a district or oblast administration. Last week Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych demanded that President Yushchenko fire five oblast administration chairmen, including Mr. Avakov. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Crimean deputy released from custody

KYIV - The Procurator General's Office on October 2 decided to release Oleksander Melnyk, a deputy of the Bloc for Yanukovych in the Crimean Supreme Council, from custody, the Ukrayinska Pravda website reported. Police officers had detained Mr. Melnyk last week on suspicion of murder and participation in an organized-crime group. Mr. Melnyk was allegedly involved in the killing of several businessmen in Crimea in 1995-1996. Prosecutors reportedly did not find sufficient evidence of Mr. Melnyk's wrongdoings in materials supplied by the police following his arrest. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President enforces law on army reduction

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko has signed into law a bill providing for the reduction of Ukraine's armed forces to 200,000 personnel, including 48,000 civilians, by the end of 2007, Interfax-Ukraine reported on October 3. According to Defense Minister Anatolii Hrytsenko, the current numerical strength of the Ukrainian armed forces is 245,000. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President appoints new spokesperson

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko has appointed Iryna Vannykova as his press secretary, Interfax-Ukraine reported on September 29. Ms. Vannykova has pursued a television journalism career since 1995. She will replace Iryna Heraschenko. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Controversy over moratorium on gas tariffs

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has asked the Verkhovna Rada to withdraw its bill of September 22 overriding the presidential veto on a moratorium on utilities-payment hikes in 2006, Interfax-Ukraine reported on September 29. "We must admit that the decision by the Verkhovna Rada was first, unconstitutional; second, unrealistic, because it will destroy the system of payments inside the country, [it] will destroy the economy and the fuel and energy complex," Mr. Yanukovych said, adding that the execution of the bill will lead to "economic collapse.'' According to estimates voiced by some Ukrainian politicians, the implementation of the moratorium would cost the budget an extra 8 billion hrv ($1.6 billion) in 2006. Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Moroz said he will not sign the moratorium bill, arguing that its adoption violated parliamentary procedure. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tarasyuk refutes discrimination charge

KYIV - Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk told journalists in Kyiv on September 28 that Moscow's recent charge that the Russian language is discriminated against in Ukraine constitutes "evident interference" in Ukraine's internal affairs, Interfax-Ukraine reported. "Regretfully, we have to highlight that raising the topic [of Russian in Ukraine] is not beneficial to Ukrainian-Russian relations," Mr. Tarasyuk added. "Oppressors of the Russian language in Ukraine should understand the necessity to finally realize that bilingual Ukraine is a historic phenomenon, and that is why it is counterproductive to eradicate the Russian language," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on September 27. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President honors former Soviet dissident

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko named Yevhen Proniuk, leader of the All-Ukrainian Association of Former Political Prisoners and the Repressed, a Hero of Ukraine. The title was conferred via Presidential Decree No. 787/2006. The decree notes Mr. Proniuk's civic heroism and courage in standing up for the ideals of freedom and democracy, as well as for social-political activity for the benefit of Ukraine. Mr. Proniuk, who turned 70 on September 26, is one of the founders of the Ukrainian Republican Party. (Ukrayinski Novyny)

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