NEWSBRIEFS (06/07/98)

NEWSBRIEFS

Kuchma lauds consultations with Bonn

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has hailed the political consultations between Ukraine and Germany, which were launched during his May 28 meeting with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in Bonn, as an "outstanding event in the history of relations of the two countries," Ukrainian Television reported. He added that Ukraine counts on German support in its aspirations toward European integration. Mr. Kohl, for his part, advised that Ukrainian ties with the European Union and NATO should not be too hastily developed. "I am strictly against naming concrete dates," the DPA news agency quoted the German chancellor as saying. But he was more upbeat about the prospects of building a large German-Ukrainian-Russian transport aircraft, based on the Ukrainian AN-70 aircraft, saying the decision will be made next year following a feasibility study by aviation experts. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine, Gazprom sign exploration deal

KYIV - Ukraine's Chornomornaftohaz oil and gas company on May 29 signed a deal with the Russian monopoly Gazprom on creating a joint venture to prospect for oil and gas deposits in the Black and Azov seas, ITAR-TASS reported. According to the Chornomornaftohaz Director Mikolai Ilnitskyi, those deposits are estimated at 1.5 billion tons and may be tapped by the new joint venture "in a year or two." The deal provides for the equal role of the two companies in the gas fields around Crimea. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Official cites "budget catastrophe"

KYIV - Reporting to the Verkhovna Rada on budget expenditures and revenues, Accounts Chamber Chairman Valentyn Symonenko said "Ukraine is nearing a budget catastrophe," ITAR-TASS reported on June 2. "The country has no money whatsoever," he said, noting that budget revenues in the first four months of this year totaled 4.1 billion hrv (just over $2 billion) while the domestic and foreign debts amounted to 4.7 billion hrv. The cost of servicing and repaying the state debt is now equal to total budget revenues, according to Mr. Symonenko. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Transdniester "referendum" OKs union

CHISINAU - A "referendum" on joining the Russia-Belarus union has ended in the separatist region, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported on June 1. The initiative was, in fact, a campaign to collect signatures supporting the union, whose conclusion was twice postponed, reportedly because of low participation. Official results were to be announced at the end of the week. According to the chairman of the Central Election Commission, 64.8 percent of the 150,000 eligible voters supported the union. But the official Pridniestrovie daily reported on June 1 that some 70-80 percent were in favor. The results of the "referendum," spearheaded by the deputy leader of the separatist region, Aleksandr Karaman, are to be sent to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Russia-Belarus Union. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv to pay miners current wages

KYIV - Vice Prime Minister Anatolii Holubchenko told the Verkhovna Rada on June 2 that the government will pay current wages to miners, Ukrainian Television reported. According to a protocol signed by the government and some miners' trade unions, the government will allot 400 million hryvni ($200 million) from the budget and take out a 400 million hryvni loan from the National Bank to pay wages for May through the end of the year. Mr. Holubchenko added that the government currently is unable to pay Ukraine's total wage arrears, which amount to 6 billion hrv. Some 400 miners from the Donbas coal mining region had begun an "indefinite picket" of the presidential administration building in Kyiv on May 27 to demand the payment of wage arrears, Ukrainian Television reported. The action, later joined by other miners, was organized by the Trade Union of Coal Mining Workers, Ukraine's largest mining trade union. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Left-wing deputies want to unseat Cabinet

KYIV - Left-wing national deputies have collected 191 signatures supporting a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko's government, Reuters reported on June 2. Under parliamentary rules, a third of the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada must agree to table a motion, while a simple majority is enough to pass it. The final decision on whether the vote will take place will be made on June 10. Observers say the motion is a political maneuver by left-wing deputies trying to bring pressure on parties that support President Leonid Kuchma. Those parties have blocked three attempts to elect a leftist speaker. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine increases refinancing rate

KYIV - National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Viktor Yuschenko on May 28 raised the refinancing rate from 45 percent to 51 percent in an attempt to shield the country from turbulence on the Russian financial market. Commenting on Russia's decision the previous day to triple interest rates, Mr. Yuschenko expressed hope that Russia will continue seeking to curb financial uncertainty since Ukraine might otherwise be unable "to stay the course." In a joint statement issued on May 28, the NBU and the government said the situation on Ukraine's financial markets "remains difficult, but generally controllable," Ukrainian Television reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv condemns Pakistan's N-tests

KYIV - In a statement issued on May 29, the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Ukraine condemned Pakistan's nuclear weapons tests, Reuters reported. The statement said the nuclear tests conducted recently by India and Pakistan demonstrate that international mechanisms to control nuclear non-proliferation are ineffective and need to be modernized. The ministry called on the United Nations Security Council to hold a session devoted to nuclear testing. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine signs military pact with Turkey

KYIV - During Turkish President Suleyman Demirel's official three-day visit to Ukraine, Kyiv and Ankara signed a military cooperation agreement, ITAR-TASS reported on May 21. Mr. Demirel said he sees "great prospects" for bilateral cooperation in the military sphere. President Leonid Kuchma declined to comment on details of the agreement, saying that "details will be tackled by the military." Meanwhile, the May 22 Turkish Daily News reported that Ukraine "is on tenterhooks" to sell T-84 tanks to Turkey, which, the newspaper said, is "in the market for 1,000 battle tanks." President Demirel announced in Kyiv that Turkey is going to spend $150 billion on armaments over the next 30 years. (RFE/RL Newsline)

World Bank lends Kyiv $200 million

KYIV - The World Bank has approved a $200 million loan to Ukraine to modernize and improve the central heating system in Kyiv. But the loan will be on hold until Ukraine makes more progress in economic reform, Reuters reported. In March, the World Bank delayed releasing $600 million in loans to support business and strengthen the banking sector because of the slow pace of microeconomic reform. World Bank representative for Ukraine Paul Siegelbaum told Reuters that the current loan is "investment lending" to the project, which, he said, will pay for itself "in three or four years" due to an increased efficiency in heat delivery. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv fails to collect $2.5 billion

KYIV - Presidential spokesman Oleksander Maidannyk said on May 20 that the Ukrainian budget failed to collect 5 billion hrv ($2.5 billion) in the first quarter of this year, ITAR-TASS reported. According to Mr. Maidannyk, the main reasons for this failure are tax evasion and the slow pace of privatization. He added that President Leonid Kuchma has submitted to the Verkhovna Rada several draft laws intended to stabilize the budget situation, including a bill on reducing income tax and another on introducing a single land tax. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Presidents appeal for help for Ukraine

RZESZOW, Poland - Presidents Aleksander Kwasniewski and Leonid Kuchma, respectively of Poland and Ukraine, on May 24 called for international institutions to urgently grant Kyiv help for vital economic reforms, Reuters reported. Together with Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus, Messrs. Kwasniewski and Kuchma were taking part in a two-day Polish-Ukrainian business forum in Rzeszow, southeastern Poland. President Kwasniewski rejected arguments put forward by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank that Ukraine should tackle reform before it receives assistance. "Each day of delay may be impossible to catch up," President Kwasniewski commented. President Kuchma voiced fears that Poland's intended membership in the European Union may create a barrier between Poland and Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)