NEWSBRIEFS (03/16/97)

NEWSBRIEFS

British secretary on Ukraine, NATO

WASHINGTON - British Foreign Affairs Secretary Malcolm Rifkind said in Washington on March 11 that NATO should expand to Ukraine's eastern borders, NTV and Intelnews reported. He said the move would give the alliance the opportunity to prevent the development of ethnic conflicts. This is the first time a high-ranking official from a NATO member-country has raised the possibility of Ukraine's inclusion into the alliance, and there has been confusion over how the remark should be taken. British Ambassador to Ukraine Roy Reeve played down Mr. Rifkind's statement, saying only that Ukraine has the right to choose its form of cooperation with NATO structures. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Russian Duma blasts NATO expansion

MOSCOW - By a vote of 300-1, the Russian State Duma on March 12 passed a resolution harshly criticizing NATO's expansion plans, which it said would "detract" from efforts to "construct a new global security system in Europe," ITAR-TASS reported. The resolution backed the government's public negotiating stance in talks on a proposed charter with NATO, saying any such agreement should "be of a restrictive nature and contain effective security guarantees for Russia." It also argued that the 1995 Russian federal law on international treaties requires that any proposed charter be subject to parliamentary ratification. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Rumors circulate about PM's dismissal

KYIV - Rumors that Pavlo Lazarenko's days as prime minister are numbered have increased as he entered his eighth month in office, Ukrainian Radio reported on March 9. The rumors, which began as soon as he assumed the office of prime minister, stem more from his involvement with various firms that have profited under his leadership than from shortcomings in economic reform. Observers say President Leonid Kuchma's postponement of his annual parliamentary address from March 14 to March 21 is intended to give him room to maneuver. Other signs that Mr. Kuchma is distancing himself from the current government are the recent dismissals of the finance and agricultural ministers and the president's decision to ask former Donetsk Oblast Chairman Volodymyr Scherban, rather than Prime Minister Lazarenko, to attend his meeting with Gazprom head Rem Viakhirev. Observers also point to Mr. Lazarenko cutting short his vacation by two weeks and his recent public statements stressing that he and President Kuchma are of one mind over policy. Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Moroz on March 10 spoke out in defense of Mr. Lazarenko, saying there are few real changes when prime ministers are replaced. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Yeltsin, Lukashenka sign joint declaration

MOSCOW - President Boris Yeltsin and his Belarusian counterpart, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, signed a joint declaration "covering the entire sphere of bilateral relations," ITAR-TASS reported on March. 7 Opening the meeting, Mr. Yeltsin told Mr. Lukashenka that Russia and Belarus have the "closest relations," adding that ties should be further improved in order to "achieve a level of integration that exceeds integration in Europe and other parts of the world." The two presidents also declared "unanimous" opposition to NATO enlargement, while denying that Russo-Belarusian integration is directed against the West. Later, when he addressed the Russian-Belarusian parliamentary assembly in Miensk, President Lukashenka urged that steps be taken to speed up integration between the two countries, international agencies reported on March 11. While criticizing Russia yet again for the little progress toward this goal, Mr. Lukashenka proposed every citizen of Russia and Belarus have "community" citizenship as well as their national passport. He said the equal union of Russia and Belarus was the most acceptable form of integration, but stressed there is no need for Belarus to synchronize its economic reform with Russia's. (OMRI Daily Digest)

100 arrested in Miensk demonstration

MIENSK - Some 100 people, mostly youths, who took part in a Miensk demonstration against integration with Russia, have been detained by Belarusian security forces, Reuters reported on March 11. They face fines and up to two weeks in prison. Despite President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's restrictions on demonstrations, the democratic and nationalist opposition is planning additional rallies for the spring. Vyacheslau Siuchyk, a leader of the Belarusian Popular Front, said a rally will be held on March 15, the anniversary of the adoption of the 1994 Constitution. (OMRI Daily Digest)

PM promises progress on wage arrears

KYIV - Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko told the Verkhovna Rada on March 11 that Ukraine owes 1.36 billion hryvni ($750 million U.S.) in wage arrears and 1.2 billion hrv (more than $700 million U.S.) in unpaid pensions, ITAR-TASS reported. He said the debts have accrued because budget revenues were smaller than predicted, unforeseen wage increases were being financed from the budget and local budgets were higher than expected. Mr. Lazarenko said he hoped that 35 percent of all wage arrears would be paid by May and all pensions dating from December 1996 by the end of March. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Moldova, Ukraine sign customs pact

CHISINAU - President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine paid a one-day visit to Moldova on March 11, Infotag reported. He and Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi signed five agreements, the most important of which deals with setting up a customs union between the two countries. Customs legislation and tariffs are to be unified, customs controls improved and bureaucratic obstacles to trade removed. At a press conference in Chisinau, the two presidents said the customs union will be totally different from that between Russia and Belarus, because it will be based on full equality. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Russia blocks Ukrainian tank deal

MOSCOW - Russia reassured India that it would derail Ukraine's $550 million tank deal with Pakistan by refusing to deliver components necessary to complete the tanks, The Times of India reported on March 6. Ukrainian stocks of Russian-supplied components are reportedly sufficient to build only 30-35 T-80 UD tanks. So far, Kyiv has delivered 15 out of the scheduled 320 tanks to Islamabad. Since the deliveries began last month, the Russian press has been denouncing the deal and Ukraine's decision to develop its tank industry without Russia. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Women stage "empty saucepans" march

KYIV - Police beat several elderly women with metal bars at an "empty saucepans march" on the Kyiv City Administration building, international agencies reported on March 6. Some 500 retirees, mostly women, marched through Kyiv to protest low pensions in an action organized by an association of pro-Communist organizations. Pensions in Ukraine, $30 on average, are often months overdue and shrunk by inflation. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Moldova worried about NATO expansion

WASHINGTON - Moldova's ambassador to the U.S., Nicolae Tau, says his country has one major concern about NATO expansion: it does not want to end up as a buffer zone with Russian troops on its territory, RFE/RL reported on March 4 citing the Washington Times. The statement is ill-timed for Romania, which is pressing hard for NATO membership, but may well serve Russian interests opposing the expansion. Though it is a participant in the Partnership for Peace Program, Moldova is not applying for membership. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Workers paid with old train cars

SEVASTOPOL - Railroad managers in Crimea have come up with a way to clear a backlog in wages owed to railroad workers: pay them with old train cars. A senior official at Crimea's railroad system said in mid-February that dozens of employees had spent the past two months at train stations dismantling old passenger cars so they could take the spare parts to sell later. "It is very difficult to sell old cars. We have decided to pay off the salaries this way. We have no money to pay them anyway,'' said the official, who asked not to be named. Windows, doors, shelving and locks from the cars have been sold at markets in the Crimean capital of Symferopol and in the cities of Sevastopol, Dzhankoi and Kerch. (Reuters)

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