NEWSBRIEFS (05/12/96)

NEWSBRIEFS

Railroad union threatens deadbeats

KYIV - Ukrainian industrial combines and firms consistently delinquent in paying freight bills may find themselves without a means of transport for their goods, the Council of the Railroad Workers and Builders Union said on April 25. Currently various customer-debtors owe Ukraine's national railroad over 50 trillion karbovantsi, a sum equivalent to five months' pay for all railroad workers in the country, workers who have not received on-time paychecks in the past several months. The railroad's most prominent deadbeats are the Ministry for the Coal Industry, Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Energy and other government bodies. The union reserves the right to strike in the future, should the customers' debts not be cleared in the near future. (Respublika)

Solana: no new NATO members in 1996

PRAGUE - NATO Secretary General Javier Solana arrived here on April 29 and told Czech leaders that NATO will not admit new members at its December Council of Ministers meeting, Mlada Fronta Dnes reported. He said, however, that NATO will devote 1996 to "individualized dialogues with potential members," and these dialogues will lead to a decision in December on whom to later admit. The Czech Republic is to start such "an individualized dialogue" with NATO in May. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Tabachnyk nixes rock show

KYIV - A "Rock Against Communism" concert scheduled for May 1 at the Druzhba Narodiv monument was cancelled by order of the chief of the presidential administration, Dmytro Tabachnyk. The organizers of the show, the Ministry of Education and the Ruthenia youth association, had obtained permission from the Kyiv city administration on April 29. However, the following day, the administration rescinded its permission, after informing concert organizers and People's Deputies Oleh Vitovych and Yuriy Tyma. The deputies were told by city officials that Mr. Tabachnyk had ordered them to ban the concert. Among those scheduled to appear at the cancelled show were Komu Vnyz, Viy, Aktus and Zarathustra, all popular bands in the capital. (Respublika)

Mukhin wary of new Cold War blocs

BUDAPEST - The chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament's defense committee, Volodymyr Mukhin, was quoted as saying on May 8 that NATO enlargement could make Ukraine a buffer zone between two Cold War-style blocs. "It seems that the Cold War period did not provide enough lessons for Europe as two blocs are again emerging on the continent," Mr. Mukhin was reported as saying by the Hungarian news agency MTI. The chairman of the state security and defense committee made his remarks in a speech to the Hungarian Parliament's defense committee. "Ukraine does not want to become a buffer zone between NATO and Russia," he said. Mr. Mukhin, who headed a Ukrainian defense delegation on a two-day visit to Hungary, said NATO's enlargement in itself did not alarm Kyiv since each country had the right to decide about membership. "However, European security is not possible if Russia is left out of the process," he said. Ukrainian leaders told NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana last month they wanted a closer relationship with the alliance, but said Ukraine was not yet ready to join or to abandon its non-aligned status. Russia fiercely opposes any enlargement of NATO, saying such a move would threaten its vital security interests. (Reuters)

Udovenko bullish on EU

KYIV - Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hennadiy Udovenko told officials from the European Union here that Ukraine's strategic goal is to become a full-fledged member of the EU. He said this will be possible only once Ukraine has become economically strong. Mr. Udovenko called on the EU to help Ukraine, not only with its fiscal and technical planning, but also in expanding trade with EU countries. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Oil spill in Luhanske oblast

KYIV - An accident along the Luhanske-Tykhoretske oil pipeline has resulted in the emission of over 500 tons of oil, Ukrainian Radio reported on May 5. The fuel spilled into the Bilenka River and caused a fire in the village of Nyzhnie, which destroyed a number of homes and crops. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Justice minister comments on referendum

KYIV - Ukrainian Minister of Justice Serhiy Holovaty, who also heads the Constitutional Commission, said that according to the current constitutional accord, a national referendum on adopting the constitution can only take place if both the president and Parliament agree to it, Ukrainian Radio reported on April 30. The mechanism for adopting the new constitution has not yet been decided. It will be difficult for any draft constitution to win the necessary two-thirds majority in Parliament, and it has been proposed that the constitution be passed by a simple majority vote and then put to a national referendum. (OMRI Daily Digest)

| Home Page |