NEWSBRIEFS (08/03/97)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukraine, IMF reach tentative agreement

KYIV - Goohoon Kwon, the IMF's resident representative in Kyiv, says an agreement has been reached in principle with Ukraine on a temporary loan, Reuters reported on July 30. The agreement is tentative and subject to the approval of the IMF board in Washington. Mr. Kwon did not say how much the one-year loan is worth, but Ukrainian officials have said it will total $750 million. Ukraine's last stand-by agreement with the IMF expired in February. The agreements are seen as a temporary measure until Kyiv fulfills conditions to qualify for a three-year credit valued at between $2.5 billion and $3 billion. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma criticizes EU for delays in aid

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on July 28 criticized the European Union for "unfair delays in providing assistance" to help boost Ukraine's struggling economy. President Kuchma spoke to journalists in Kyiv after meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene, who arrived for a two-day official visit. The Ukrainian president said European countries have demanded too many conditions in exchange for financial assistance, including the closure of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and the elimination of Ukraine's tactical and strategic nuclear weapons. He said the U.S. has surpassed the EU in investments and financial assistance to Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Back wages problem is Cabinet's priority

KYIV - Ukraine's new prime minister, Valerii Pustovoitenko, has promised that all back wages and social debts owed by the government will be paid out by December 1. On July 28, Mr. Pustovoitenko said payment of back wages is "a priority for the Cabinet." He claimed the Cabinet has already prepared a decree on a schedule for repayment. President Leonid Kuchma said on July 24 that unpaid back wages have reached 4.7 billion hrv ($2.5 billion). (Eastern Economist)

Inflation, GDP fall in Ukraine

KYIV - Ukrainian National Bank Chairman Viktor Yushchenko told a German-Ukrainian economic seminar in Kyiv on July 17 that inflation amounted to 17.8 percent in Ukraine during the past 12 months, Interfax reported. The figure is the lowest since Ukraine proclaimed independence. Since June 1996, the volume of capital markets has grown 75 percent to $3 billion. Despite achievements in financial stabilization, real gross domestic product is not growing. A board member of Deutsche Bank Research, Axel Siedenberg, told the seminar that real GDP could shrink an additional 3 percent this year due to the slowness of structural reforms in Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma vetoes increase in budget deficit

KYIV - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has vetoed a law passed by the Verkhovna Rada that would have increased the budget deficit in order to finance construction of an iron ore refinery, his top aide said on July 30. Parliament voted on July 18 to raise the deficit by 0.1 percent to complete construction of the Kryvorizhsky Hirnycho-Zbahachevalny refinery in eastern Ukraine. Finance Minister Ihor Mitiukov said this week his ministry and the presidential administration were seeking other sources of financing for the iron ore refinery, whose construction began in the Soviet era but was halted due to a lack of funds. (Reuters)

Floods cause damage in Lviv region

KYIV - Floods caused by heavy rains have hit the Lviv region of western Ukraine, leaving 50 villages and small towns partly under water, local officials said on July 29. "Heavy rains last weekend caused the water levels in some rivers to rise between three and three and a half meters," said a spokesman for the Lviv regional administration, naming the Dnistro, Stryi and Yablonka rivers. "More than 1,700 houses in 50 villages and small towns were affected by the waters, about 800 people were evacuated," spokesman Viktor Kobzarenko said from Lviv, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) west of Kyiv. He said no deaths had been reported due to the floods. Mr. Kobzarenko said newly appointed Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko was to visit the area on July 30. The UNIAN news agency said the prime minister has allocated 2 million hrv ($1.1 million) from government funds to repair the flood damage. Ukrainian television reported that preliminary estimates on damage stand at 10 million hrv ($5.5 million). An agriculture official from the Lviv administration said 44,000 hectares (108,000 acres) of grain, or about 10 percent of the total sown area in the Lviv region, had been affected. (Reuters)

Ukraine receives six warships from Russia

KYIV - Russia has handed over to Ukraine six out of the 11 Black Sea Fleet warships it is due to receive, as the two countries complete the second stage of the fleet's division, the Ukrainian Navy's press service told ITAR-TASS on July 24. Kyiv has already received 12 out of 30 auxiliary vessels and 10 shore installations out of some 100 that it has been allocated. Under the division plan, the last warship is to be handed over to Ukraine before July 25. The deadline for completing the division is August 1. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Chornobyl reactor repairs postponed

PRYPIAT - Chornobyl nuclear power plant director Sergei Parashin told journalists on July 25 that repairs to the third reactor at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant have been postponed until October 1. The third reactor is the only one at the facility still in operation. He said the plant has received only 25 percent of the equipment it needs. Meanwhile, work on the sarcophagus covering the damaged fourth reactor and on the first and second reactors has received almost no financing since the beginning of this year. The first reactor was halted last year in accordance with a memorandum signed by Kyiv and the G-7. Mr. Parashin said he hopes the halt of all power units will not result in the plant's closure. But he said the lack of control over the power plant may have "dreadful consequences." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Reported crime rises in 1997

KYIV - In the first six months of 1997, over 300,000 crimes have been reported, with some 600 gangs operating throughout Ukraine, InfoBank reported on July 8. Cases involving financial fraud and bribery increased by 53 percent and 25 percent, respectively, over the corresponding period last year. (Eastern Economist)

| Home Page |