NEWSBRIEFS (04/05/98)

NEWSBRIEFS

Symonenko wants to abolish presidency

KYIV - Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko said on March 30 that he expects his party to receive 30 to 35 percent backing in the party-list vote. He commented that preliminary results show that "we must cast off this ruinous [reform] course." Mr. Symonenko accused President Leonid Kuchma of "bringing Ukraine to the brink of economic collapse" and he reiterated his call to abolish the presidency. Mr. Symonenko has also strongly criticized international aid organizations, saying they treat the Ukrainian economy like a "marionette." The Communist Party, which was banned from 1991 to 1993, had 80 seats in the outgoing legislature. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President did not enfranchise Tatars

KYIV - Leonid Kuchma said on March 26 that signing a decree giving Crimean Tatars who are not citizens the right to vote would be unconstitutional. He commented that he cannot violate the Constitution, even if such a move would relieve tension in Crimea. Thousands of Tatars in Symferopol had clashed with police in protests demanding they be granted suffrage in time for the March 29 elections. (RFE/RL Newsline)

CEC looks at voting by expatriates

KYIV - A recent meeting of the Central Election Commission reported that 110,000 Ukrainian citizens are registered in 71 diplomatic missions abroad. A working group was created to coordinate all the work on this issue. At the moment, there are 65 electoral offices in 55 countries. Approximately $92,000 (U.S.) is to be spent on polling outside Ukraine. (Eastern Economist)

Ukraine clarifies position on NATO

KYIV - Ukrainian officials said at a March 26 session of a NATO-Ukraine Commission that Kyiv "does not rule out" joining the alliance but that such a move is currently unrealistic, an RFE/RL correspondent in Brussels reported. The Ukrainian delegation named three conditions for joining NATO: decisive public opinion in favor of accession; bringing the Ukrainian military into line with NATO standards; and a guarantee that joining the alliance will not hurt relations with neighboring countries, particularly Russia. The NATO-Ukraine Commission is meeting to discuss how to implement the partnership charter signed last year in Madrid. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Viedomosti to cease publication

KYIV - The newspaper Vseukrainskiye Viedomosti will cease publication on March 30, Editor-in-chief Volodymyr Ruban announced on March 27. The decision to suspend publication was made as a result of severe pressure from government structures, he said, stemming from a court case launched against the newspaper last December by the president of Dynamo Kyiv soccer club, which resulted in the paper paying the club 3.5 million hrv in damages. On a positive note, he added that Vseukrainskiye Viedomosti may resume publication in mid-April. (Eastern Economist)

Donors focus on Chornobyl disaster

GENEVA - Representatives from 29 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Japan, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and international organizations met here on March 26 for the second U.N. donors' conference to assist in the amelioration of the long-term health and environmental consequences of the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear power plant disaster. The first donors' conference was held November 25, 1997, in New York. In Geneva, delegations from the U.S. and Greece announced commitments; delegations from Great Britain, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, among others, committed funds in principle with approval for final amounts still pending with their governments. (Ukrinform)

Ukraine begins to eliminate landmines

KYIV - Ukraine has begun to voluntarily eliminate part of the huge stockpiles of anti-personnel landmines inherited from the former Soviet Union by recently destroying 1,152 of its HE anti-personnel mines (APMs). Ukraine does not produce the APMs prohibited by the Ottawa Convention (on the prohibition of landmines), and will demolish all HE APMs still found on its territory by April 9, 1998, at a cost of $242 million. (Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations)

Meeting discusses trafficking of women

KYIV - The NIS-U.S. Women's Consortium organized an informational meeting on the prevention of trafficking of Ukrainian women at the American Business Center on March 16. The meeting of representatives of Ukrainian NGOs, government agencies and embassies discussed problems surrounding the trafficking of Ukrainian women abroad to work illegally as prostitutes. According to Cara Galbraith, NIS-U.S. Consortium coordinator, "white slavery" has become widespread in Ukraine because of economic stagnation and unemployment. Financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development and consisting of 170 women's NGOs in the U.S. and the new independent states, the Women's Consortium strives for equality between the genders. (Eastern Economist)

Kuchma, Yeltsin to meet in June

KYIV - The third informal meeting of President Leonid Kuchma and Boris Yeltsin is planned for June, reported ITAR-TASS on March 25. Questions related to that meeting were discussed by Oleksander Razumkov, deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, and Sergei Yastrzembskyi, vice-chairman of Russia's Presidential Administration. (Respublika)

Georgia claims wineries in Russia

TBILISI - Georgian Deputy State Property Minister Zurab Bakhtadze told journalists on March 26 that Tbilisi is claiming ownership of seven wineries and distilleries in Russian cities, ITAR-TASS reported. Moscow, for its part, has laid claim to 70 Georgian facilities, mostly at health resorts on the Black Sea coast. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Authorities bust counterfeiting operations

KYIV - Twenty-seven counterfeiting operations were uncovered in 1997, the Internal Affairs Ministry reported. Law enforcement agencies arrested four people in the Cherkasy Oblast town of Vatiutino on March 16. They had been using a scanner, a computer and specially designed computer programs for printing Ukrainian, Russian and U.S. currency on a color printer. Investigation revealed that the group had ties with the Russian mafia. (Eastern Economist)

Kyiv high-rise office building is unveiled

KYIV - Kyiv's first high-rise office building was topped off at a ceremony organized by Jones Lang Wootton, the sole leasing agent on March 19. The developer was ISA Developments, and the main contractor was Kadima Group, a Canadian construction company. The tower offers second-generation office accommodations for between $45 and $75 (U.S.) per square meter. The entire project contains over 16,000 square meters and is in the downtown area of the Pechersk district. The building was originally developed as a mixed residential project called the Tracy Center. When the project was revived the balconies were closed in to create a proper air-conditioned office tower. (Eastern Economist)

Ukrainian-U.S. founding memo is signed

DONETSK - A memorandum on the founding of a Ukrainian-American educational center has been signed between the rector of the Donetsk Academy of Management, Stanislav Povazhnyi, and the head of the USAID mission to Ukraine, Gregory Huger. The memorandum foresees further development of a strategic partnership between Ukraine and the U.S. within the framework of the Kuchma-Gore Commission. The Donetsk Academy will cooperate with the Will Rodgers University in Tulsa, Okla. U.S. specialists will share their experience of local budgets and organization of communal services. (Eastern Economist)

American fighter dies from injuries

KYIV - An American citizen who was badly injured in a no-holds-barred fighting match at the Palace of Sports complex on March 16 died in the early hours of March 18. The father of five failed to recover from injuries sustained from his opponent from Kharkiv. (Eastern Economist)