NEWSBRIEFS

President appoints Skliar deputy minister

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko appointed Oleh Skliar as deputy minister of internal affairs on December 27. Mr. Skliar is the former deputy chief of the ministry's agency that combats organized crime. (Ukrinform)

Yanukovych 2006 Person of the Year

KYIV - An opinion poll conducted by the Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies found that 26 percent of respondents thought Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych should be Person of the Year for 2006. Slightly over 19 percent voted for Yulia Tymoshenko, while President Viktor Yushchenko took 8.6 percent of the vote. In 2000-2004 President Yushchenko received the most votes; in 2005 Ms. Tymoshenko was respondents' favorite. The Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies began the Person of the Year poll in 2000. (Ukrinform)

UkrEksimBank most transparent

KYIV - The Standard and Poor's rating agency named UkrEksimBank the most transparent of Ukrainian banks in 2006. UkrEksimBank was recognized as Ukraine's best bank in 2005 by the newspaper Banker, and the best bank of Ukraine by the magazine Global Finance. (Ukrinform)

President signs 2007 budget

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko on December 22 signed the state budget for 2007, which was passed by the Verkhovna Rada on December 19. The presidential press service said the Cabinet of Ministers and the Rada fulfilled the president's key demand: increased social standards of the population in 2007. On December 22 the Rada adopted a decision to increase the minimum wage and subsistence level, as well as the minimum pensions paid to more than 15 million Ukrainian citizens. The Parliament adopted a resolution that obliges the government to submit amendments to the 2007 budget based on outcomes of the first quarter of the new year. As of April 1, 2007, disabled persons will receive monthly payments of 397 hrv, or $79.40 (U.S.) and $80 as of October 1, 2007. The government is also supposed to raise the minimum wage to 420 hrv, or $80 as of May 1, 2007, $86 as of August 1, 2007, and $92 as of December 1, 2007. On December 12 the president had vetoed the budget that was passed by the Parliament on December 6. (Ukrinform)

Rada endorses dismissal of SBU chief

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on December 22 approved the dismissal of Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) chief Ihor Drizhchanyi, Ukrainian media reported. The motion was supported by 407 deputies. A similar motion was rejected by Parliament the previous week. President Viktor Yushchenko dismissed Mr. Drizhchanyi last month and earlier this month appointed him deputy secretary of the National Defense and Security Council. In accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine, the nomination and release of the SBU chief by the president must be approved by the Verkhovna Rada. Oleksander Turchynov of the opposition Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc told journalists on December 22 that the ruling coalition may have endorsed the dismissal of Mr. Drizhchanyi in exchange for some compromise from the president. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM wants acting foreign minister

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on December 20 asked the Verkhovna Rada and President Viktor Yushchenko to name an acting minister of foreign affairs. He told the press, following a meeting of the Cabinet, that a decision was made to seek the appointment of an acting minister, which could be the first vice-minister of foreign affairs. Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk was sacked by the Parliament, but that decision was declared invalid by a Kyiv court. President Viktor Yushchenko then decreed that Mr. Tarasyuk should stay on in his post. However, the Cabinet has not admitted Mr. Tarasyuk to its meetings. (Ukrayinski Novyny)

Ukrainian airline to be privatized

KYIV - Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) will be privatized it was reported on December 19. The state share in the company will be decreased from 61.6 percent to 41 percent. The head of UIA's supervisory council, the first deputy head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF), Viktor Petrov, explained that reduction of the state's share in the airlines by 20.6 percent won't reduce its influence on decision-making "in any way," since, according to the company's statutes, serious decisions are made by qualified majority in 75 percent of shares. He noted that he welcomes the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Austrian Airlines as reliable investors in UIA. Ukraine International Airlines is the second largest passenger air carrier in the country. As many as 61.6 percent of the company's authorized funds are state property, 22.5 percent belong to the Austrian Airlines, 9.9 percent to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and 6 percent to the international leasing company AerCap. The company has over 250 routes weekly to 15 cities of Europe from Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa and Symferopol. The UIA air fleet consists of 12 Boeing-737 jets. (Ukrinform)

Yaremcha now officially Yaremche

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on December 14 voted to rename the town of Yaremcha in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast as Yaremche, thus reverting to its historical name. The change was supported by 406 national deputies. The Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Council had decided on June 30 to appeal to the Verkhovna Rada to change the name of this popular tourist destination. Yaremche encompasses the villages of Yamna, Dora, Tatariv, Mikulychyn, Yablunytsia, Voronenko, Palianytsia and Vorokhta. Its population is 25,000. (Ukrayinski Novyny)

New faction leader for Our Ukraine

KYIV - The presidium of the Our Ukraine bloc on December 21 decided to designate Viacheslav Kyrylenko as chief of its parliamentary faction. His candidacy was announced for voting at the faction session. On December 19 the chairman of the central executive committee of the Our Ukraine party, National Deputy Roman Bezsmertnyi, resigned as faction leader. Mr. Kyrylenko is a member of the Our Ukraine party - the third largest in the Verkhovna Rada. He held the post of vice prime minister in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov. (Ukrinform)

Crimean Tatar youth leader killed

KYIV - Norik Shyrin, the leader of the youth Crimean-Tatar organization Birlik-Unity and member of the Youth Policy Council under the Crimean chairman, was murdered in Symferopol on December 20. According to preliminary information, he died of numerous knife injuries. The 22-year-old student of the Tavrichesky National University was well-known among the Crimean Tatar youth. He was founder and editor of the recently established Golos Molodezhy (Youth's Voice) newspaper and organizer of the popular Eastern Discotheque. According to information from organization members, Mr. Shyrin had recently returned from Kyiv, where he received documents for opening a youth radio station in Crimea. His father, Reshat Osmanov, an entrepreneur, was deputy of the Symferopol City Council of the past convocation (2002-2006). (Ukrinform)

Persona non grata receives honor

KYIV - First Vice Prime Minister Mykola Azarov conferred the honor cross "For Revival of Ukraine" (first degree) on Russian Deputy Konstantin Zatulin, who had been proclaimed persona non-grata in Ukraine. The honor was established by the Scientific-Economic and Law Cooperation Fund headed by Mr. Azarov. Mr. Zatulin was visiting Kyiv to participate in a sitting of the inter-parliamentary commission on cooperation between the Parliaments of Ukraine and Russia. According to Mr. Zatulin's press service, he encountered no problems crossing the state border of Ukraine at Boryspil International Airport. Ukraine was not implicated in conferring the order "For Revival of Ukraine" on Mr. Zatulin, explained President Viktor Yushchenko's press secretary, Iryna Vannykova. She added that the chief of the Presidential Secretariat, Viktor Baloha, underscored that Ukraine had not decorated the Russian deputy with a state order. Mr. Zatulin had been announced a persona non-grata in Ukraine for interfering into internal affairs of Ukraine. (Ukrinform)

Ternopil Rada: honor Shukhevych

TERNOPIL - The Ternopil Oblast Council has appealed to President Viktor Yushchenko with a proposal that the title Hero of Ukraine be granted posthumously to Roman Shukhevych (1907-1950), commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). A resolution to that effect was approved by the Ternopil Oblast Council on November 28. The appeal pointed out that 2007 will mark the 100th anniversary of Shukhevych's birth and underscored that the UPA general was also a noted leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. As well, they noted that 2007 will mark the 65th anniversary of the founding of the UPA. The deputies also decided to proclaim the year 2007 in the Ternopil Oblast as the Year of Roman Shukhevych and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. (Ukrayinski Novyny)

Lukashenka admits falsifications

MIENSK - Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who in March was re-elected to his third straight term as president of Belarus in a ballot that was internationally decried as deeply flawed and fraudulent, on November 23 acknowledged that he rigged the March presidential election, but he claimed to have stolen the vote from himself, not from the opposition. "Yes, we falsified the last election. I have already told the Westerners [about this]. As many as 93.5 percent of voters voted for President Lukashenka. But they said this was not a 'European' result. So we made it 86 [percent]. That is true," Mr. Lukashenka said. "If we were to start recounting ballots now, I don't know what we would do with them. The Europeans told us before the election that if there were 'European' figures in the election, they would recognize our election. And we tried to make European figures." (RFE/RL Newsline)

National council to focus on Chornobyl

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko has established a national council on alleviating the aftermath of the Chornobyl nuclear accident, it was announced on December 12. The council will be a consultative/advisory organ under the auspices of the president. Its aim is to consolidate the efforts of the authorities, public organizations and scientists aimed at alleviating the aftermath of the Chornobyl nuclear accident. The tasks of the council include analyzing the effectiveness of implementation of laws, international agreements and other Ukrainian legislative acts related to the Chornobyl nuclear accident; preparing proposals on optimization of anti-radiation, medical, socioeconomic and psychological protection for the victims of the Chornobyl nuclear accident; and ecological and economic rehabilitation of the territories contaminated as a result of the Chornobyl disaster. The council will deliver annual reports on its activities to the president. (Ukrinform)

Yushchenko supports Estonia's Ukrainians

TALLINN - President Viktor Yushchenko, while visiting Estonia, met on December 13 with the Ukrainian diaspora in the Estonian capital, Tallinn. He promised to support the diaspora's goal of giving their children an education that includes Ukrainian language, as well to the establishment of Ukrainian courses and schools. Mr. Yushchenko directed Ukraine's ambassador to Estonia to prepare a list of books, equipment and other materials needed for these undertakings. Mr. Yushchenko also said, "My wife will take educational themes under her patronage." In addition, the president said Ukraine would help Ukrainian students from Estonia gain entry into the country's universities. Mr. Yushchenko also said he would support initiatives to establish Ukrainian press organs in Estonia and to give Estonia's Ukrainians access to Ukrainian mass media. There are 28,000 Ukrainians living in Estonia (Ukrayinski Novyny, Press Office of Ukraine's President)

Poland recognizes Famine as genocide

WARSAW - Polish lawmakers unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the totalitarian Soviet regime responsible for the forced Famine in Ukraine and recognizing the Famine as genocide. The resolution noted that the Polish Parliament, "joining in pain with relatives of the victims of the Great Famine in Ukraine, which cost the lives of millions of residents of the Ukrainian countryside from 1932-1933, condemns the totalitarian regime responsible for the genocide." The Famine was orchestrated by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin; it killed 7 to 10 million Ukrainians, almost one-third of Ukraine's population at the time. The Polish resolution was passed a week after the Verkhovna Rada in Ukraine adopted a bill recognizing the Famine as genocide. (Associated Press).

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, December 31, 2006, No. 53, Vol. LXXIV

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