NEWSBRIEFS ON UKRAINE (01/03/93)

NEWSBRIEFS ON UKRAINE

KHARKIV - Viktor Chernomyrdin's appointment as the new Russian prime minister inspires hope for Ukrainian-Russian bilateral relations, President Leonid Kravchuk told workers at a Kharkiv machine-building plant, reported Interfax on December 16. The Ukrainian leader characterized Mr. Chernomyrdin as a practical and sober politician, well-versed in various aspects of economic cooperation. (RFE/RL Daily Report)
KHARKIV - Organizers of the Civic Congress of Ukraine concluded their meeting in Kharkiv, where they drafted an appeal to the population, Ostankino TV said on December 15. The Civic Congress was formed in the fall and supports a federated structure for Ukraine, official status for the Russian language, and closer ties with Russia and within the CIS. (RFE/RL Daily Report)
KIEV - Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk has once again raised the problem of "the disease that is called imperial thinking." Referring to the recent decision of the Russian Congress of People's Deputies to raise the question of the status of the Crimean city of Sevastopil, Mr. Kravchuk explained that the step was taken by people who still believe in the idea that "all of the peoples (of the former Soviet Union) live under the leadership of the great Russian people." The result, he continued, is that such people feel free to interfere in the internal affairs of others in order to "impose order." Mr. Kravchuk's remarks were made in an interview on December 10 with the Ukrainian Information Agency and state television. (RFE/RL Daily Report)
KIEV - A survey conducted in four Ukrainian oblasts in November shows widespread public apathy towards political parties. Asked for whom they would vote among 15 political parties if elections were held today, almost 76 percent responded that they could not say. But 31 percent of those said they would not vote at all, Rukh had the greatest number of sympathizers among those who had made their choice. The results were reported by Ukrainian TV on December 8. (RFE/RL Daily Report)
KIEV - The CIS has proven to be an effective organization, President Leonid Kravchuk told Interfax on December 17. He also repeated his often stated view that the CIS was established in order to dismantle the USSR in a civilized fashion. He said the former Soviet republics should agree to help one another instead of adhering to the principle that might makes right. Mr. Kravchuk spoke with reporters after talks with Belarusian Prime Minister Vyacheslau Kebich. (RFE/RL Daily Report)
SEVASTOPIL - The Crimean Parliament rejected a proposal to place the question of the status of Sevastopil in its agenda at the opening of the 10th session on December 16. Russian TV's "Vesti" reported that the question of reviewing the Crimean city's status was raised in a resolution adopted by the recently concluded Congress of Russian People's Deputies. (RFE/RL Daily Report)
WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger on December 17 warned Ukraine that continued delay in ratifying the START treaty and the Lisbon Protocol would harm U.S.-Ukrainian relations, reported Reuters. He also called for Ukraine to hasten the process of agreeing to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. In December, President Leonid Kravchuk stated that the treaty would be ratified by the end of December or early January. However, in the past week the Parliament has requested more time to study it. The Chairman of Ukraine's Parliament Ivan Pliushch, claimed he was not delaying the treaty, but that copies of the 700-page document were not delivered to the Parliament until last week, Interfax reported. Belarus and Kazakhstan have ratified the treaty, but Russia has stated it will not consider the treaty before Ukraine ratifies it. (RFE/RL Daily Report)
KIEV - The deputy chief of the operations department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Ivan Cnidenko, confirmed that strategic nuclear missiles located in Ukraine are not on alert, reported Interfax on December 17. CIS Joint Armed Forces Command representatives had made similar comments, but this appears to be the first statement by Ukrainian sources. (RFE/RL Daily Report)
KIEV - A group of people's deputies on December 25 demanded the resignation of Ukraine's defense minister, blaming him for the armed forces' alleged low combat readiness. The minister, Konstantin Morozov, on December 28 refuted the accusations and said the armed forces being constructed are instrumental to the nation's independent military policies and a safeguard of its sovereignty. He also rejected claims the armed forces have been re-politicized. (Ukrinform)
KIEV - Members of the Cabinet of Ministers Viktor Pynzenyk, Yuliy Ioffe, Vasyl Yevtukhov and Volodymyr Demianov held a press conference on December 26 to discuss recent food price hikes. Mr. Pynzenyk, deputy prime minister for economic reform, said the government's main concern was to stabilize the economy and pull it out of an extremely deep crisis, rather than to gain popularity. He said the increases occurred because too many enterprises were not cost-efficient. He singled out the high cost of fuel as the single largest reason for the current price hikes. All the ministers emphasized that inefficient enterprises must no longer be subsidized even at the expense of bankrupting them. They also agreed that society's underprivileged strata must continue to be protected by regulating price hikes with precision targeting. New minimal wages are expected to be introduced just after the new year. (Ukrinform)
KIEV - The sixth session of the Ukrainian Parliament closed on December 20 with a speech by Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma. Mr. Kuchma told deputies that his program outlining the work of the Cabinet of Ministers will be ready in three weeks. Among other initiatives, the lawmakers formed a temporary parliamentary commission on questions concerning the fight against organized crime. (RFE/RL Daily Report)

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