NEWSBRIEFS

PRU slams opposition on reform

KYIV - Party of the Regions of Ukraine (PRU) National Deputy Raisa Bohatyriova told the Verkhovna Rada on November 14 that her caucus is calling for the adoption of a resolution condemning the previous week's decision by the opposition Our Ukraine People's Union (OUPU) to contest the validity of the 2004 constitutional reform before the Constitutional Court, Ukrainian media reported. Ms. Bohatyriova was referring to a congress of the pro-presidential OUPU on November 11 that obliged OUPU lawmakers to demand that the Constitutional Court recognize the constitutional reform adopted on December 8, 2004, as unlawful. "Do not stir bees in the hive if you don't know how to gather honey," Ms. Bohatyriova warned the OUPU lawmakers, adding that the OUPU's move is tantamount to a call for changing the country's constitutional system. The 2004 constitutional reform shifted the balance of power in Ukraine from the presidency to the prime minister and Parliament. Some experts believe that the adoption of the reform - a political compromise that ended the standoff that emerged as a result of the country's contentious 2004 presidential elections - violated constitutional and parliamentary procedures. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Will Rada dismiss Tarasyuk?

KYIV - Presidential aide Taras Stetskiv predicted on November 14 that lawmakers of the ruling coalition of the Party of the Regions, the Socialist Party and the Communist Party will vote on November 15 to dismiss Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk, Interfax-Ukraine reported. "The Anti-Crisis Coalition has long had the temptation to get rid of the foreign minister, and it won't miss its chance tomorrow," Mr. Stetskiv said. Mr. Tarasyuk and Defense Minister Anatolii Hrytsenko were summoned by the Verkhovna Rada to deliver reports on November 15 on their performance. Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych also signaled that he wants a replacement for Mr. Tarasyuk. Under the Constitution of Ukraine, as amended in December 2004, the country's defense and foreign affairs ministers are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Verkhovna Rada, which also has the right to dismiss the entire Cabinet of Ministers. Meanwhile, Our Ukraine has prepared a petition to the Constitutional Court asking for a ruling on whether the Verkhovna Rada actually has the right to dismiss the ministers nominated by the president. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tymoshenko to run for president

KYIV - The leader of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc has announced her intention to run for president of Ukraine in 2009. Ms. Tymoshenko revealed her intention in an interview in the newspaper Economicheskiye Izvestiya (Economic News). Ms. Tymoshenko explained that her motivation is the desire to change life in Ukraine for the better. In the 2004 election Ms. Tymoshenko supported Viktor Yushchenko. In the 2006 parliamentary elections her bloc won second place among 45 parties and blocs and gained 129 seats in the Verkhovna Rada. (Ukrinform)

Council of Europe to open Kyiv office

KYIV - Ukraine and the Council of Europe signed a memorandum on mutual understanding regarding the opening of a Council of Europe office. The document was signed by Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis, who was on an official visit to Ukraine. According to Mr. Davis, the office will open in early 2007. The Council of Europe delegation to Ukraine has begun a search for premises and has announced an opening for office director. (Ukrinform)

Zvarych named president's rep to Rada

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko on November 11 appointed ex-Justice Minister Roman Zvarych as his representative to the Verkhovna Rada. Mr. Zvarych will replace Yurii Kliuchkovskyi, who had been performing those duties. On November 1 Minister Zvarych resigned from his Cabinet post. (Ukrinform)

Clinton Foundation fights HIV/AIDS

KYIV - A project aimed at treating HIV/AIDS in Ukraine was presented on November 12 by representatives of the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiatives. The project will be launched in 2007 in the Dnipropetrovsk region and will involve $2.5 million (U.S.) in financial support from the Elena Franchuk Foundation Anti-AIDS and the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. The Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiatives provides unique equipment to treat HIV/AIDS. The program aims at enhancing access to HIV/AIDS therapy and decreasing the risk of contracting the virus. According to Ms. Franchuk, the virus is rampant in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which is the project's pilot region. The project will provide high-quality facilities for medical service, blood tests, provision of medications and training of medical personnel. The program envisages unveiling 270 new centers and medical courses for 8,000 doctors as well as providing anti-retrovirus therapy for 34,000 people. (Ukrinform)

Yanukovych wants Tarasyuk out

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych called on President Viktor Yushchenko and the Verkhovna Rada in a television interview on November 11 to dismiss Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk, Interfax-Ukraine reported. "How can I react to a minister who says he is in opposition to the government? What does this mean? This means he disagrees with the program the government is fulfilling. If you are a man, if you have principles, resign. Do this on your own. But if you are not, if you don't want to - we'll help you, of course. This is certain," Mr. Yanukovych said. He also alleged that the "unscrupulous and irresponsible" Minister Tarasyuk prevented a meeting between the Ukrainian prime minister and Council of Europe Secretary-General Terry Davis last week. Earlier this month, the Verkhovna Rada passed a resolution demanding that Mr. Tarasyuk and Defense Minister Anatolii Hrytsenko on November 15 deliver reports on their performance. Ukraine's defense and foreign ministers are nominated by the president and confirmed by Parliament, which also has the right to dismiss them. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Our Ukraine elects leadership

KYIV - The pro-presidential Our Ukraine People's Union (OUPU) held the second stage of its congress on November 11, Ukrainian media reported. At the first stage of the OUPU congress last month, President Yushchenko, who is also OUPU honorary chairman, called on the party to profoundly reform itself and elect new leaders. The November 11 convention elected an OUPU Council composed of 214 activists, including current OUPU leader Roman Bezsmertnyi and his close associates Petro Poroshenko, Mykola Martynenko, David Zhvaniya, Oleksander Tretiakov, Yevhen Chervonenko and Roman Zvarych. The OUPU also confirmed its earlier stance that it will remain in opposition to the government of Prime Minister Yanukovych. The OUPU Council is expected to appoint a new party leader in the near future. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yanukovych blames predecessors

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on November 10 accused the Cabinets of Yulia Tymoshenko and Yurii Yekhanurov, which were formed by victors in the 2004 Orange Revolution, of weakening the country's economy, Ukrainian media reported. Mr. Yanukovych was speaking at an "extended meeting" of the ruling coalition and the government in Kyiv. "The ideology of social populism has extremely exhausted the economy and led to a number of problems," Mr. Yanukovych said. According to the prime minister, the social spending promised by the two former Cabinets cannot be sufficiently covered by budget revenues. "The largest state monopolies Naftohaz [operator of gas pipelines] and Ukrzaliznytsia [state railways] have been pushed to the verge of bankruptcy. Privatization revenues have been simply eaten up. I ask - 'Where is the 25 billion hrv [$4.95 billion] from the privatization of Kryvorizhstal [steel mill]?' - and find no answer," Mr. Yanukovych said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Hrytsenko regrets Rumsfeld resignation

KYIV - During a press conference on November 9 in Zhytomyr, Ukraine's Minister of Defense Anatolii Hrytsenko expressed regrets over the resignation of U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He said that Ukraine had good relations with Secretary Rumsfeld and that he had a positive attitude toward Ukraine. Mr. Hrytsenko observed: "He loves Ukraine, and all our meetings, both formal and informal, always began with him asking 'How can we help Ukraine?' " He added that hundreds of Ukrainian officers participated in training programs in the United States and that various U.S. programs aimed at helping Ukraine's armed forces are in place. (Ukrayinski Novyny)

Most blame Soviets for Famine

KYIV - A majority of Ukrainians believe the 1932-1933 Famine in Ukraine was the result of deliberate intentions on the part of Soviet authorities, said the president of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Valerii Khmelko. Opinion polls suggest that 94 percent of the Ukrainian population is familiar with the event, and 69 percent of them believe the Famine resulted from the actions of Soviet authorities. Only 12 percent believe the Famine was due to natural causes. Most of those who hold the Soviet regime responsible for the devastating Famine reside in west ern Ukraine. As many as 84 percent of respondents believe the Famine was triggered purposely, and 26 percent of them believe the Famine was directed toward crushing vestiges of Ukrainian nationalism, while 61 percent believe that the Famine was targeted against all citizens, irrespective of nationality. (Ukrinform)

U.S. Embassy purchases new property

KYIV - U.S. Ambassador William B. Taylor and Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky finalized the purchase of property for a new U.S. Embassy compound on October 23. The lot, located at 4 Tankova St., Kyiv, was purchased for over 27 million hrv. Now that the purchase is finalized, the project will enter the design stage. All Embassy operations will be consolidated at this site in a single, more secure facility that will allow more efficient operation and better service. (Embassy of the United States in Ukraine)

President honors Helsinki monitors

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko on November 9 presented state awards to members of the Ukrainian Public Group to Promote Implementation of the Helsinki Accords (the Ukrainian Helsinki Group), which was founded in Kyiv 30 years ago to monitor Soviet Ukraine's adherence to the Helsinki Accords. "You laid the first brick in the reconstruction of Ukraine's civil society. You equated human freedom to the freedom of your nation, and put human rights higher than the rights of your state," Mr. Yushchenko said. The president also said the group had renewed the Ukrainian state, challenged the totalitarian system and preserved the "profoundly democratic" traditions of Ukrainians. He characterized these three achievements as seminal. "The Ukrainian Helsinki Group transformed its fight against totalitarianism into the universal democratic process," he noted. The president honored the most prominent members of the group, among them Vasyl Stus, Ivan Kandyba, Oles Berdnyk, Mykola Rudenko, Vyacheslav Chornovil, Yurii Shukhevych, Levko Lukianenko, Valerii Marchenko and others. "Today's state awards for your personal contribution to Ukraine's revival show that the country remembers its heroes and wants to honor your deeds performed for the sake of posterity," Mr. Yushchenko said. (Ukrinform)

Ambassador meets with NASA official

WASHINGTON - On November 8 Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States Dr. Oleh Shamshur held a meeting with the Assistant NASA Administrator for External Relations Michael O'Brien. During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on ways to enhance cooperation between Ukraine and the United States in the sphere of space exploration, in particular, finalizing the bilateral Agreement for Cooperative Activities in the Exploration and Peaceful Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes. Dr. Shamshur presented to Mr. O'Brien a letter from the director general of the National Space Agency of Ukraine, Yurii Alekseyev, to NASA Administrator Michael Griffin containing an invitation to Dr. Griffin to visit Ukraine at his earliest convenience. (Embassy of Ukraine in the United States)

Russian foreign minister visits Ukraine

KYIV - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Borys Tarasyuk, in Kyiv on November 8. He also met with President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Moroz, Ukrainian media reported. The talks and meetings reportedly brought no substantial progress on sensitive issues in bilateral relations, including the delimitation of the border in the Azov Sea, the use of the Russian language in Ukraine or the presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea. Messrs. Lavrov and Tarasyuk were also unable to determine the date of an anticipated trip by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Kyiv. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tap water use restricted in Sevastopol

SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine - A water supply company in the port of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula on November 9 issued a warning restricting the use of tap water in the city, Ukrainian media reported. The company warned against using water for drinking or cooking meals, stressing that it can only be used for technical purposes because of the deterioration of its quality in a local reservoir. According to city officials, the quality of water deteriorated due to the recent "worsening of weather and floods" on a local river. Meanwhile, a number of Sevastopol residents told Interfax that water supply in the city had been suspended altogether since the morning of November 9. There were rumors among local residents that some chemicals were dumped into the water reservoir by the Russian Black Sea Fleet deployed in the port. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Putin hints that U.S. is a threat

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin visited the new headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Armed Forces General Staff in Moscow on November 8, news.ru reported. The daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta noted ironically the following day that the event was "shrouded in ... secrecy ... in the best traditions of the intelligence department." Mr. Putin suggested to GRU staff that the United States poses a threat to Russia, saying that "the practice by a number of states of taking unilateral illegitimate action seriously undermines [international] stability." He added that "this also goes for their attempts to push their positions unceremoniously, fully ignoring the lawful interests of other partners." Lest there be any doubts as to which country he had in mind, he noted that "a number of states are striving to free their hands so they can deploy weapons in space, including the nuclear weapon." He told GRU department heads that "it is important to define correctly the development of the military-political situation, to follow in detail trends of technological, economic competition." For his part, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov praised the new GRU headquarters as using the most up-to-date equipment in a way that is unique in Russia. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Media comment on U.S. elections...

MOSCOW - Konstantin Kosachyov, who heads the State Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee, said on November 8 in Moscow that the U.S. mid-term elections the previous day amounted to a "no-confidence vote" in the Republican administration of President George W. Bush, Russian news agencies reported. Mr. Kosachyov added that the United States "will enter ... a new stage in its development ... from cooperation between the administration and the Republican majority in Congress to rivalry" between the White House and a Congress controlled by the Democrats. He also suggested that U.S.-Russian trade relations might become more difficult, the daily Vremya Novostei reported on November 9. For its part, the daily Izvestia wrote that U.S. voters sent Bush the message that they have become disillusioned with the war in Iraq and regard it as "senseless." The daily Viedomosti predicted that the impact of the vote on U.S.-Russian relations will be minimal. The paper argued that the two countries are not significant trading partners, so there is no important economic relationship to affect one way or another. It suggested, however, that negotiations leading to Russian membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) could now become more "complex" unless President Bush and President Vladimir Putin reach a deal soon. On a broader level, the paper suggested that the Democrats might bring about unspecified changes in U.S. policies in the Middle East that could lead to a change in the price of oil, which is currently very advantageous to Russia. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... cite significance of rights issues

MOSCOW - The newspaper Viedomosti argued on November 9 that the Democrats are more likely than the Republicans to take a tough line with Moscow over human rights. Novye Izvestia wrote that U.S. voters would not have turned against the Republicans had they not been convinced by their media that the war in Iraq is going very badly. The paper also noted that the new chairman of the House International Relations Committee will be Congressman Tom Lantos (Democrat, California), who is "one of the strongest critics of Russia" in that body. The daily Kommersant also drew attention to Rep. Lantos, whom it called "one of the American establishment's harshest and most irreconcilable critics of the Kremlin." The paper pointed out that Mr. Lantos is a staunch defender of human rights and has referred to imprisoned oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky as a "political prisoner." Elsewhere, Sergei Rogov, who heads the U.S. and Canada Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told RIA Novosti on November 9 that there will be no fundamental change in relations because both the Democrats and Republicans have an "extremely negative" view of Russian foreign and domestic policies. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, November 19, 2006, No. 47, Vol. LXXIV

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