NEWSBRIEFS (10/05/97)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukrainian-Russian council formed

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said on September 29 that Moscow and Kyiv have no fundamental differences in approach to foreign policy questions. He was speaking after representatives of the newly established Ukrainian-Russian Consultative Council gave him a document calling for the two sides to raise their "relations to the level of strategic partnership." Mr. Kuchma also said he will make an informal visit to Moscow to meet with Russian President Boris Yeltsin before his official trip to the Russian capital in January. The new council, which is to research and prepare recommendations in key areas of Ukrainian-Russian relations, will be considered a "public organization," and meetings and advice will have "unofficial status." (RFE/RL Newsline, Eastern Economist)

Ukraine receives IMF credit

KYIV - On September 26 Ukraine received an initial payment of $49 million of short-term credit from the International Monetary Fund. The total available short-term credit is $542 million, well below the requested $2.5 billion to $3 billion extended credit requested by Ukraine. The Ministry of the Economy confirmed on September 26 that the budget deficit increased by more than 1 billion hrv in August, the highest monthly increase in the deficit this year. The January-July period saw an average monthly increase in the budget deficit of 358 million hrv. The rise has caused tensions with the IMF; further payments will depend on conforming to agreed-upon economic reforms. On September 28, Vice Prime Minister for Economic Reform Serhii Tyhypko stated that he believes Ukraine will not need assistance from the IMF and World Bank after the year 2000, though the country would still need advice and guidance. (Eastern Economist)

Available for purchase: votes

KYIV - Basic tenets of democracy may not have fully taken root in Ukraine. Nearly one-third of Ukrainians said they would sell their votes to the highest bidder in parliamentary elections next March, according to an opinion poll published on September 30 in the newspaper Vseukrainskiye Vedomosti. Thirty-two percent of those queried said their votes could be bought by political parties or candidates. Those who would take money quoted prices ranging from $11 to $400, the pollsters said. No margin of error was given for the poll taken by the Yevrasia think-tank, which questioned 730 people in eight cities. While the results indicate a jaded electorate that has little faith in its representatives, 70 percent were still hopeful that their lives will improve after the elections to the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada. (RFE/RL Newsline, Associated Press)

New political group headed by Lazarenko

KYIV - Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko was elected on September 27 to head a new political movement Hromada (Community). Approximately 1,000 delegates, claiming to represent more than 17,000 members of Hromada, elected Mr. Lazarenko as their chairman. Mr. Lazarenko described his party as social-democratic and said its main task would be to win a majority in the legislative elections in March. A Hromada spokeswoman, Yulia Tymoshenko, who heads United Energy Systems, said the group will be "in open opposition to the ruling regime," specifically, President Leonid Kuchma. She announced on September 27 that deputies from the Hromada group will initiate the creation of a special investigations committee set to review financial activities in Ukraine. She added that serious securities violations have been committed and claimed that "as a result of financial speculation involving securities, more than $800 million has been taken out of the state budget in the last two years." (Reuters, RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian Muslim Party formed

DONETSK - On September 28, 50 delegates representing Islamic communities from 15 Ukrainian regions met in Donetsk to form the Ukrainian Muslim Party. The as-yet unregistered party will be headed by Rashit Bragin. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President brings back campaign aide

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on September 30 issued a decree appointing Dmytro Tabachnyk as an adviser. Less than a year ago Mr. Kuchma fired Mr. Tabachnyk, who was a leader in Mr. Kuchma's first election campaign, but later was accused of corruption. Mr. Tabachnyk's return suggests the presdient's is preparing for a re-election campaign in 1999. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Dumping investigation is stopped

WASHINGTON - Representatives of Ukraine's Ministry of Industrial Policy and the U.S. signed an agreement on September 24 to stop the anti-dumping investigation being conducted by the U.S. involving three Ukrainian steel producers. These companies supplied the U.S. market with metal plate. The agreement will last five years. These companies have agreed not to sell more than 158,000 tons of plate in the U.S. per year. The anti-dumping investigation was started in November 1996, following a claim filed by two American steel companies, and led to preliminary anti-dumping duty effectively price Ukrainian steel makers out of the U.S. market and negatively influenced the allocation process of U.S. aid to Ukraine. (Eastern Economist)

Bad weather caused fatal Bosnian crash

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Aviation Technical Commission investigating the crash involving the Ukrainian MI-8 MTV-2 helicopter in Bosnia September 17, in which 12 passengers died, concluded on September 26 that the Ukrainian crew members took "the only correct" course of action. Commission member Giorgio Bendoni pledged to uphold this conclusion, saying experts who carried out an investigation at the scene concluded the aircraft was in good technical order and that the main reason for the accident was a sudden deterioration in weather conditions. Mr. Bendoni praised the courage of the Ukrainian crew. (Eastern Economist)

Lucrative deal made with Iran

KYIV - Ukraine has signed a contract to supply Iran with Antonov-74 transport jets and is waiting for international safety clearance for a new passenger plane it plans to build for Tehran. Ukraine, dependent on Russian oil supplies, views Tehran as an important economic partner and potential energy provider. Ukrainian officials stress that such cooperation does not violate any international agreements on rocket technology or nuclear proliferation. (Reuters, Eastern Economist)

Leaders back regional summit plans

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said several European countries have backed his call for a 1999 Baltic-Black Sea summit in Yalta. His remarks came on September 29 during a visit to Kyiv by Latvian President Guntis Ulmanis, who said he too supports the idea. The 1999 meeting would be a follow-up to the European security conference held in Vilnius in early September. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russia to build floating nuclear plant

MOSCOW - Russia plans to build a floating nuclear power station off the Chukotka peninsula to provide electricity to remote areas of northern Siberia. A decision to build the power station, which will be based on a submarine, was reached in a meeting between the Minister for Atomic Energy Viktor Mikhailov and the governor of Chukotka, Aleksandr Nazarov, on September 10. The new nuclear station is intended to replace the aging coal-powered electricity plant in the remote Chukotka town of Pevek. The nuclear station is expected to be operational by 1999. (ITAR-TASS, RFE/RL Newsline)

Lviv celebrates birthday

LVIV - The city of Lviv celebrated its 1,303rd birthday on September 21 as guests from the U.S., Canada, Japan, and neighboring countries took part in numerous celebrations on the city's streets, and oblast officials greeted inhabitants and guests of the city. (RFE/RL Newsline)

VAT approved by Parliament

KYIV - Parliament approved changes and additions to the law on the Value-Added Tax (VAT) on September 26, with 252 deputies in favor. Among the provisions: the sale of electricity, gas and coal to the public and industrial consumers will be free from the VAT until January 1, 1999; certain imported goods deemed vital are exempt; companies located in the Syvash free trade zone will also be exempt. Operations involving circulation of national and foreign currencies and privatization of state property in exchange for privatization certificates are not subject to the VAT. Since foreign trade is conducted on a barter basis, the Cabinet signaled its intentions to limit the amount of barter trade in Ukraine by limiting VAT credit and exemptions on barter. Special consideration was given to Ukrainian producers that rely on imported products. According Economy Minister Viktor Suslov, the regulations are a "compromise reached by the Cabinet of Ministers, the Parliament and the Ukrainian Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Union." (Eastern Economist)

Boryspil opens business-class lounge

KYIV - A lounge serving business lunches to passengers traveling on business-class flights was opened at Boryspil Airport on August 8. The total cost of the project is $380,000 (U.S.). Borys Shakhsuvarov, the airport's deputy general director, said the money invested in this project will be repaid within 18 months. The lounge is equipped with all types of communication equipment and computers. There are bars and shops, as well as a room for business negotiations. The value of services provided in the business lounge is included in the price of an airline ticket. The Kyiv-based company AeroBud built the business lounge. A VIP lounge also will be opened at Boryspil Airport. Implementation of these new services is expected to be started before the annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development scheduled to take place in Kyiv in May 1998. The 21 foreign airlines operating from Boryspil had demanded that a business-class type lounge be constructed at Kyiv's international airport. (Eastern Economist)

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