NEWSBRIEFS (12/17/06)

NEWSBRIEFS

Rada passes last WTO bill

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on December 13 repealed a ban on export of scrap nonferrous metal and alloy, alloy ferrous metal and on export of semiproducts of crude copper that will go into effect after Ukraine joins the World Trade Organization. According to the bill, the Parliament resolved to establish duty tariffs for export of this scrap and semiproducts in the amount of 30 percent and during the next five years to reduce it up to 15 percent. The bill is reportedly the last piece of legislation needed by Ukraine to bring its laws in line with WTO standards before joining this organization. Ukraine still needs to sign a bilateral trade accord with Kyrgyzstan in order to qualify for WTO entry. The process of Ukraine's integration into the WTO has been ongoing for more than 12 years. Sixteen official sessions of the working group for consideration of Ukraine's application for accession to the organization have been held. Some 70 percent of Ukrainian exports go to WTO countries. (Ukrinform, RFE/RL Newsline)

Communists issue ultimatum

KYIV - The Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU) has presented its partners in the ruling coalition, the Party of the Regions and the Socialist Party, with a "political ultimatum," the Ukrayinska Pravda website reported on December 9, quoting Leonid Hrach, head of the CPU's Crimean branch. According to Mr. Hrach, a meeting of the CPU Central Committee on December 9 concluded that the CPU's ruling coalition partners are not fulfilling coalition commitments as regards government appointments and other issues. In particular, Mr. Hrach mentioned the Socialists' recent support for a bill defining the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine as genocide. Mr. Hrach warned that the CPU may leave the ruling coalition if its partners fail "to correct their mistakes." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Envoy comments on Famine law

KYIV - Ukraine's Ambassador to Russia Oleh Diomin said on December 9 that the law titled "On the 1932-1933 Famine in Ukraine" recently adopted by the Ukrainian Parliament is not aimed at any specific country. Mr. Diomin was responding to questions from Russian journalists while addressing journalists, diplomats and scientists at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Moscow on Friday. According to the envoy, recognition of this tragedy by other countries will be a strictly humanitarian gesture. He stressed that the adoption of the law was the result of a long period of debate within Ukrainian society. He said the law was adopted at the initiative of President Viktor Yushchenko and the fact that the Verkhovna Rada adopted it demonstrates that the society understands the full scope of the tragedy and considers it a "genocide against the Ukrainian people." He said that the Famine issue is an issue of international importance and that several countries have already recognized the tragedy with memorial signs. He also said that Ukrainian-Russian dialogue on the cause and consequences of the Famine was being stepped up. (Ukrinform)

Rada issues statement on Tarasyuk

KYIV - The press service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on December 9 circulated a statement on the situation with regard to the dismissal of Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk. The statement explains the authority of the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers as to the dismissal of executives, in compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine. The statement said that, in connection with the constitutional reform that took effect on January 1, the authority for forming the staff of the Cabinet of Ministers has passed from the president to the Verkhovna Rada. The Rada press service argued that the dismissal of Mr. Tarasyuk from the foreign affairs minister's post, following his report to the Parliament, was lawful and met all procedural demands. Thus, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court's ruling to suspend the Rada resolution on dismissal violated the Constitution, as the Rada resolution can be challenged only by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. (Ukrinform)

Justice Ministry weighs in on decree

KYIV - The Ukrainian Justice Ministry said on December 8 that the presidential decree directing Borys Tarasyuk to continue fulfilling the foreign affairs minister's duties violates the Constitution of Ukraine and goes beyond the constitutional authorities of the head of state. The ministry concluded that "the president has practically overstepped his authority that the Constitution entrusts to the Verkhovna Rada, having thus violated the principle of the power distribution." The Justice Ministry said the decree might be challenged in the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. The ministry's statement also said the Constitution clearly provides that the president's submission of a candidacy must precede the candidate's appointment to the foreign ministry post, but submitting the candidacy while dismissing the minister is not envisaged. "Dismissal of the foreign affairs minister is within the constitutional authority of the Verkhovna Rada, which it implements independently and doesn't require any relevant presentation or other actions on the part of the president of Ukraine," the document maintained. (Ukrinform)

Yanukovych: Rada decision is primary

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said on December 8 that in the conflict that emerged around Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk one should stick to the resolution of the Verkhovna Rada, which sent the minister packing on December 1, not to the Shevchenkivskyi District Court ruling suspending the resolution. "Otherwise, we could sink into the absurd," the prime minister said after a meeting with President Viktor Yushchenko. Mr. Yanukovych said the candidacies of the ministers of foreign affairs and defense will be determined by the government and the Anti-Crisis Coalition by end of 2006. The prime minister did not comment on the opinion of the president, who, in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine, is entitled to nominate these ministers for the Parliament's approval. (Ukrinform)

New emergency situations minister

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on December 12 backed the appointment of Nestor Shufrych as emergency situations minister, Ukrainian media reported. Mr. Shufrych, a deputy in the Crimean autonomous legislature, was a lawmaker of the Social Democratic Party-United in the preceding Verkhovna Rada. He will replace Viktor Baloha, who was appointed as head of the Presidential Secretariat by President Viktor Yushchenko in September. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Protesters rally at Kyiv City Hall

KYIV - Some 5,000 Kyiv residents turned up for a rally in front of the City Hall on December 7 to protest the recent decision by Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi to increase housing and utility tariffs sharply as of December 1, Ukrainian media reported. The rate hikes would amount to a more than threefold increase. Meanwhile, deputies supporting Mr. Chernovetskyi scuffled with deputies from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (YTB) during a Kyiv City Council session, after Mr. Chernovetskyi refused to put a draft resolution on canceling the higher communal tariffs to a vote. A YTB councilman was reportedly hospitalized after losing consciousness during the scuffle. The mayor's supporters on the council blocked all attempts to revise the rate hikes, agreeing only to set up an ad hoc commission to consider the issue. Mr. Chernovetskyi reportedly used highly abusive language with regard to his opponents. "I prohibit you from taking the floor in accordance with the rules of procedure because of your hooligan actions and your brazen mug," Mr. Chernovetskyi told Councilman Mykhailo Brodskyi. "All those who have so far treated Leonid Chernovetskyi as a fool who came to power as a result of a fatal misunderstanding have now seen that the post of mayor was taken by an absolutely inadequate person who poses a threat to the life of normal people," the YTB said in a statement after the session. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Mayor told to revise rate hikes

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko has advised Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi to reconsider his recent decision to increase housing and utility tariffs as of December 1 by more than threefold, Interfax-Ukraine reported on December 12. "Of course, I as the president could not allow the living standards of hundreds of thousands of Kyiv residents to worsen sharply," Mr. Yushchenko said in a statement. "I also instructed the city head to reduce the rates for residents of the capital who live in old houses. ... If the Kyiv administration refuses to agree with my proposals, I will issue a decree annulling the inflated rates." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russian defense minister visits Kyiv

KYIV - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov came to Kyiv on December 7 to discuss the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Ukraine by the end of this month, Ukrainian media reported. Mr. Ivanov met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Anatolii Hrytsenko, as well as with President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Mr. Ivanov told journalists in Kyiv that Ukraine's potential NATO membership will affect relations with Russia. "Whether we want it or not, this step will certainly have an inevitable effect, one way or another, on our relations, for instance on cooperation in the military-industrial sector. We think this will happen, and not because a malicious Russia will want it to happen. Not at all. This will simply happen for objective reasons," Mr. Ivanov noted. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Parliament adopts 2007 budget ...

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on December 6 adopted a budget bill for 2007, Ukrainian media reported. The bill envisages government spending at 161 billion hrv ($32 billion U.S.) and revenues at 147 billion hrv, thus setting a budget deficit at the equivalent of some $2.8 billion hrv. The bill projects $2 billion hrv in income from privatizations in 2007. The bill also sets the monthly subsistence minimum at 492 hrv ($97 U.S.) and the monthly minimum wage at 400 hrv ($79 U.S.) as of January 1, 2007. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... and privatization program

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on December 6 passed a privatization plan putting dozens of potentially attractive state-run enterprises up for sale, Ukrainian media reported. The bill was supported by 226 deputies - the minimum required for approval. The most valuable enterprises for sale include minority stakes in the Ukrtelekom telephone communications provider, the Odesa Port Plant producing fertilizers, and 12 regional producers and distributors of electricity. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President vetoes 2007 budget bill...

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko has refused to sign the 2007 budget bill that was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada and proposed that the Parliament amend it, Ukrainian media reported on December 11. The Presidential Secretariat criticized the budget for having failed to meet all suggestions by the president, including those related to the social sphere. Arsenii Yatseniuk, first vice-chairman of the Presidential Secretariat and the presidential representative in the government, is to present Mr. Yushchenko's budgetary proposals to the Rada. Ivan Bokyi, head of the Socialist Party's parliamentary caucus, told journalists on December 12 that President Yushchenko's veto on the 2007 budget bill is a "stab in the state's back," Interfax-Ukraine reported. The Verkhovna Rada needs at least 300 votes to override the presidential veto. (RFE/RL Newsline, Ukrinform)

Yanukovych indignant over veto

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said at a Cabinet meeting on December 13 that he "practically" does not see any chance for a compromise with President Viktor Yushchenko regarding the latter's veto on the budget bill for 2007, the Ukrayinska Pravda website reported. "It has been proposed that we should find on paper 10 billion hrv ($2 billion), but we know very well, and our citizens know very well, that money does not fall from the sky and that we need to earn it," Mr. Yanukovych said. "They [the pro-presidential opposition] hope that we will be patiently listening to the fairy tales they tell people. I have warned that I am going to work and not to talk much. This is going to be our style. There should be no populism here." (RFE/RL Newsline)

YTB will not vote to overturn veto

KYIV - Commenting on the president's veto of the 2007 national budget, Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (YTB) member Oleksander Turchynov on December 12 noted that the risk of that move can serve grounds for the Anti-Crisis Coalition's Communists, Socialists and Party of the Regions members to accuse the head of state of internal policy collapse. Mr. Turchynov said he believes the president's remarks about the "anti-social" budget are absolutely justified. But remarks are not enough to balance revenues and the needs of citizens next year. He added that he believes that a new version of the budget must be approved by the end of 2006. The YTB representative denied rumors that his political force is allegedly ready to vote for overcoming the presidential veto in exchange for positive voting on the bill "On the opposition." Mr. Turchynov said YTB will never back the anti-social policy of the government - "this is a principled position, and we will not bargain on that." The budget for 2007 was adopted on December 6 with 249 votes of the Anti-Crisis Coalition, plus nine members of the YTB and Our Ukraine. (Ukrinform)

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