NEWSBRIEFS (10/15/06)

NEWSBRIEFS

No funding for Holodomor complex

KYIV - The draft budget for 2007 does not include any funding for the memorial complex planned in honor of the millions of victims who were killed by the Soviets during the last century, reported Channel 5 TV on September 28. In addition, practically no funds are allocated to the Institute of National Memory that was created by presidential decree last year. Human rights groups, together with the Prosvita and Memorial organizations, issued an appeal (for full text, see page 9 of this issue) alerting Ukrainians to the fact that despite promises, the government is not following through on its plans. Roman Krutsyk of the Memorial organization said that the government has taken the Institute of National Memory away from the Ministry of Culture and made it subordinate to the State Archive Committee now headed by Communist Olha Ginzburg. (Channel 5 TV)

Sheptytsky honored for rescuing Jews

KYIV - "I bow my head before the memory of the great Ukrainian, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky," who saved Jews during World War II, said Moshe Fishbein, a Jewish translator and poet, speaking on September 27 at the international forum "Let My People Live!" dedicated to the memories of the Jews who were killed 60 years ago at Babyn Yar. In his speech at the forum, Mr. Fishbein emphasized that we are in debt not only to the victims of Nazi terror, but also to those who rescued the Jews from death, risking their own lives. "I bow my head before those righteous, those Ukrainians who, risking their own lives, rescued Jews. I bow my head before the memory of the great Ukrainian, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, who hid Jews in his house, and among them there was Rabbi David Kahane. I bow my head before the memory of Greek-Catholic nuns who hid Jewish children. I bow my head before hundreds of Ukrainian families who rescued Jewish souls," said Mr. Fishbein. Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky was the head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church from 1901 to 1944. His cause for beatification is making progress in Rome and the case has now been referred to the Vatican's Theological Commission. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Ukraine to import Central Asian gas

KYIV - Fuel and Energy Minister Yurii Boiko told journalists in Kyiv on October 6 that Ukraine will not import Russian gas for domestic consumption next year, Ukrainian media reported. Mr. Boiko specified that Ukraine in 2007 will receive at least 57.5 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan through the Swiss-based Russian-Ukrainian joint venture RosUkrEnergo. Two days earlier Mr. Boiko announced that Ukraine has signed contracts on buying 42 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas, 7 billion cubic meters of Uzbek gas and 8.5 billion cubic meters of Kazakh gas in 2007. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Top national security official appointed

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko has appointed Vitalii Haiduk as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), UNIAN reported on October 10. Mr. Haiduk, 49, was vice prime minister for the fuel and energy sector in Viktor Yanukovych's Cabinet in 2002-2003. Last month President Yushchenko issued a decree on the make-up of the NSDC, which is a constitutional body for coordinating and monitoring the activities of executive bodies in the sphere of national security and defense. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President urged to kick out Zinchenko

KYIV - The Our Ukraine party has appealed to President Viktor Yushchenko to cancel his recent decree appointing Oleksander Zinchenko as a presidential adviser, UNIAN reported on October 10. "Oleksander Zinchenko, while holding the post of state secretary [in 2005], disseminated dirty and ungrounded allegations, including with regard to members of our party. In the final analysis, [those allegations] created an artificial crisis in Ukraine, split the Orange [Revolution] camp, delivered a painful blow to the international image of the state, and affected the results of the parliamentary elections in 2006," Our Ukraine said in a statement. Mr. Zinchenko stepped down on September 2, 2005, from the post of head of the presidential staff, accusing then National Security and Defense Council Secretary Petro Poroshenko as well as several other presidential aides of corruption. Mr. Zinchenko's allegations, which have not been confirmed in court, triggered the dismissal of Yulia Tymoshenko's Cabinet by President Yushchenko. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Synod ends

LVIV - A session of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC), which discussed the education of priests, was held in Briukhovychi, near Lviv, on September 13-20. Three metropolitans and 33 bishops, members of the Synod from Ukraine and the diaspora, participated in the session headed by Patriarch Lubomyr Husar, head of the UGCC. The bishops listened to Patriarch Lubomyr's speech about the strategy of the UGCC and reports on activities of synodal committees, work on writing the catechism of the UGCC, and preparation for the 2007 Patriarchal Sobor (assembly) dedicated to youth issues. In addition, the hierarchs considered the appointment of new leaders to sees that lack ruling hierarchs and to places where auxiliary bishops are needed. On September 19 voting for specific candidates for bishops of the UGCC was held. The hierarchs invited the pope to visit Ukraine. The next synod is planned for late September 2007 in Philadelphia, marking the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first Greek-Catholic bishop, Soter Ortynsky, in the United States. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Yanukovych urges more coalition talks

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said in Mykolaiv on October 5 that despite Our Ukraine's declared intention to withdraw its ministers from the government and join the opposition, his Party of the Regions insists on the need to create a broad coalition with the pro-presidential bloc, Ukrainian media reported. "I'm sure that we have not yet completed this process [of building a broader coalition] and that President [Viktor] Yushchenko, with whom we reached agreements, remains and will continue to be Our Ukraine's leader, and that the de facto representatives of Our Ukraine in the government are working in accordance with our agreements," Mr. Yanukovych said. In turn, President Yushchenko said in a press release later the same day that participants in the failed coalition talks "still have the chance to reach agreement on key issues," adding "I do not consider the negotiating process to be exhausted." Mr. Yushchenko said that a potential agreement between Our Ukraine and the ruling coalition should be based on the Universal of National Unity signed by Ukraine's major political forces in August. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Poll says Yanukovych most influential

KYIV - According to a poll conducted in late September, 44 percent of respondents said Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych is the most influential political figure in Ukraine, while 19 percent said President Viktor Yushchenko is the most influential, Interfax-Ukraine reported on October 5. Three-fourths of respondents stated that Messrs. Yanukovych and Yushchenko pursue policies that are at variance with each other, while just 13 percent said their policies are coordinated. The poll was conducted by the Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies among 2,005 adult Ukrainians. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Fund to facilitate Lviv's preservation

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine and his Lithuanian and Polish counterparts, Valdas Adamkus and Lech Kaczynski, are planning to initiate the creation of a fund for facilitating the development of Lviv. The presidents signed a joint declaration at their September 30 meeting in Lviv during the celebrations of Lviv's 750th anniversary. In the document, the signatories addressed the peoples and presidents of those countries that contributed to the formation of Lviv's cultural traditions, as well as international organizations, the public, cultural activists and business representatives concerning the development and preservation of Lviv's cultural heritage and the city's architecture. The meeting participants are confident that the declaration will essentially contribute to safeguarding Lviv's uniqueness. (Ukrainian News Agency)

Presidents want to resolve Georgia crisis

KYIV - Presidents Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine, Lech Kaczynski of Poland and Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania on October 5 released a statement on international efforts aimed at constructively resolving the Russia-Georgia crisis. "We appreciate the efforts by the OSCE chairman-in-office, Belgian Foreign Minister Karol De Gucht, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country presides in the European Union, as well as by other representatives of the international community, to resolve the problem. We are convinced that their involvement can be the major factor in the settlement of conflicts in Georgia to ensure its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," they said in a joint statement. The presidents said they were worried about the situation in Georgia and called on Russia and Georgia "to refrain from mutual accusations and to start negotiations." They added, "Every conflict can be settled through negotiations, in which we are ready to participate as mediators." (Official Website of the President of Ukraine)

OU slams Russia's imperial policy

KYIV - The Our Ukraine parliamentary caucus on October 4 released a statement condemning Russia's "imperial foreign policy" aimed at "weakening the sovereignty or territorial integrity of the Georgian state," Ukrainian media reported. Our Ukraine criticized Russia for bans on Georgian imports and "an entire range of economic sanctions" against Georgia, as well as for the holding of military exercises close to Georgia's maritime borders. "We express our solidarity with Georgia and its people at a time when Russia is taking a provocative, impulsive and emotional style in interstate relations and returning to imperial rhetoric," the statement read. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada cancels utilities moratorium

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on October 5 revoked the moratorium on utilities-payment hikes it had endorsed last month. The revocation was supported by 340 votes. The motion to cancel the moratorium - backed on October 5 by 249 deputies - was submitted by the Cabinet of Ministers, which argued that the implementation of the moratorium would place an onerous burden on the state budget. The opposition Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc announced that it will question the legality of the October 5 vote in the Constitutional Court. (RFE/RL Newsline)

| Home Page |