NEWSBRIEFS

Ukrainians divided on independence

KYIV - A study published in The Willard Group Report by the Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the Academy of Psychological Science reports that 61 percent of citizens feel Ukraine should remain independent, 19 percent do not feel Ukraine should be independent and 21 percent are undecided. Furthermore, 31 percent said that a referendum should be held on "restoring the union of brother Soviet nations." Thirty-seven percent oppose such a referendum. (Eastern Economist)

Coal disaster takes lives of 20 miners

LUHANSK - Twenty miners have been killed and four more people are missing after a methane explosion at the LuhanskVuhillia Party Congress mine early on August 16. Over 30 rescue teams are at work searching for the four missing miners. An investigative committee headed by Labor and Social Policies Minister Ivan Sakhan has gone to Luhansk to investigate the accident. Coal Industry Minister Serhii Tulub said the concentration of methane in the mine at the moment of explosion was not unusually high, with meters registering a 0.9 percent concentration of methane; the upper limit for methane concentration is 1.3 percent. Mr. Tulub said that 264 miners have died this year in mining accidents. In April an explosion at a Donetsk mine killed 63 miners and a methane explosion at another Donetsk mine also caused fatalities. Mr. Tulub added that 70 percent of domestic mining equipment is worn out. (Eastern Economist)

Teachers threaten protest unpaid wages

KYIV - The Ukrainian Trade Union of Education Workers has threatened to refuse launching the new school year on September 1 unless teachers are paid their back wages, Ukrainian Television reported on August 17. At its plenary session in Kyiv the same day, the trade union announced it will stage a rally on Kyiv's main street if the government does not meet the teachers' demands within the next two days. A Cabinet member told the television station that the state budget has no funds for teachers and the government does not intend to print money to cover payments. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Educational system lacks funding

KYIV - According to the Education Ministry, Ukraine is unable to finance its educational system. Only 16 percent of the necessary number of textbooks have been printed. The salary debt for educational workers totals 419.1 million hrv. The situation is worst in the Kirovohrad, Ternopil, Chernivtsi and Rivne oblasts and Crimea, where salaries have not been paid for three to seven months. (Eastern Economist)

Yalta anniversary fest under way

YALTA - A celebration of Yalta's 160th anniversary began on August 15 with a fair, performances by song and dance ensembles, theatrical productions, an air show and a parade of brass bands. Ukrainian Naval and Russia Black Sea fleet personnel are participating in the celebrations. (Eastern Economist)

Chernihiv workers discover treasures

KYIV -Workers at a McDonald's construction site in Chernihiv uncovered a jewelry workshop which experts date to the 11th or 12th century. This discovery is just a few hundred meters away from a recently discovered medieval cemetery. Archaeologists speculate that the workshop, which includes an array of bracelets, rings and crosses, was destroyed by invading nomads. (Eastern Economist)

Kuchma amnesties 25,000 prisoners

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma signed an amnesty law that will free some 25,000 prisoners, Interfax reported on August 12. The amnesty applies to convicts who have not committed grave crimes and will include minors, prisoners who have children under 18 or disabled children and pregnant women. It will not extend to those defined as "dangerous recidivists" by courts or who received the death penalty commuted to a prison term. The law will take effect on the day it is published and will be carried out within three months. As of July 1 there were 236,000 inmates in Ukraine's prisons. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Pustovoitenko seizes cars from debtors

KYIV - Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko continued his crackdown on budget debtors by ordering the authorities to seize personal cars from directors of non-paying companies and to impose severe fines on non-payers, ITAR-TASS and the Associated Press reported on August 14. More than 11,000 cars have been listed for confiscation and 97 cars have already been seized. The tax police have fined tax defaulters a total of 3.7 million hryvni ($1.8 million). The previous day the Cabinet of Ministers appealed to all government employees to surrender 50 percent of their August salaries to the pension fund. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Wives of pilots block military airfield

MYRHOROD - Some 30 wives of military pilots have been picketing the military airfield in Myrhorod, Poltava Oblast, for the past week to prevent their husbands from conducting duty flights, Ukrainian Television reported on August 12. The wives are demanding that their husbands' wages for the past six months be paid and are threatening to launch a hunger strike. The Myrhorod airfield is the base for Ukraine's largest group of SU-27 fighters, which defend the country's air space. According to the station, the pilots - who are prohibited from striking by military law - support the action and are letting their wives into the airfield despite the fact that military authorities have dug ditches and set up additional sentry posts. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Belarusian newspaper sues government

MIENSK - The Higher Economic Court on August 12 opened the case brought by the Belarusian-language newspaper Nasha Niva against the State Press Committee, Belapan and RFE/RL Belarusian Service reported. Nasha Niva's chief editor, Syarhey Dubavets, demanded that the committee revoke the warning it issued in May not to use traditional Belarusian spelling, banned by Joseph Stalin's regime in 1933. Mr. Dubavets asked the court to set up an expert linguistic commission to determine whether the newspaper distorts the "generally accepted norms" of the Belarusian language, as stated in the official warning. Judge Ina Petukhova, who speaks no Belarusian, agreed to postpone the court proceedings until August 14. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Foreign investment up so far in 1998

KYIV - Foreign investment in the economy in the first half of 1998 totaled $517.7 million (U.S.), or 54.3 percent more than in the same period of 1997. Direct foreign investments as of July 1 totaled $2.47 billion. The largest investors were the U.S. with $428.9 million (17.4 percent of the total); Holland with $234.7 million (9.5 percent); Germany with $196 million (7.9 percent); South Korea with $182.5 million (7.4 percent) and Great Britain with $168.3 million (6.8 percent). (Eastern Economist)

Lviv distiller receives gold medal

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Perlova Vodka, distilled in Lviv in accordance with a 400-year-old recipe, won the gold medal in the premium category at the recent international Wine and Vodka Fair in St. Petersburg, Russia. In a blind taste-test nine judges chose Perlova Vodka over 360 entrants in the premium vodka category. Perlova Vodka has been available in Canada for three years and is now also being imported by Perlova imports of Alexandria. This year's St. Petersburg expo, which dates back to 1829, hosted more than 150 distilleries and wineries from Europe and Russia. (Eastern Economist)

Ukrainian planes win English honors

KYIV - The Ukrainian Air Force won honors at the July 25-26 Fairford International Air Tatoo in Gloucester County, England. The Ukrainian AN-72 aircraft won the contest for Best Foreign Flying Display and the TU-22M3 Backfire Bomber was runner-up in the Best Static Display category. Ukraine's Air Force also sent the military IL-76MD cargo aircraft for static display and Ukrainian Cargo Airways sent a IL-76MD civilian aircraft. All military aircraft were from the Poltava Military Regiment. This is the third year of Ukrainian participation in the Fairford Tatoo, which is the world's largest air show. (Eastern Economist)

Ukraine repays $450 M to Japanese firm

KYIV - The Ukrainian Finance Ministry has repaid in full a $450 million (U.S.) loan to the Japanese firm Nomura International, Ukrainian News and DPA reported on August 12. That move eases fears that Ukraine is facing bankruptcy. According to Ukrainian News, the Finance Ministry paid $406 million from the National Bank's hard currency reserves, which amounted to some $1.5 billion earlier this month. Short-term debts to be paid by Ukraine in August total $1 billion. (RFE/RL Newsline)

National bank's reserves fall sharply

KYIV - Ukrainian National Bank Chairman Viktor Yuschenko says the bank's reserves dropped to $1.15 billion (U.S.) from $1.49 billion in August, following the repayment of a loan to Nomura International. The government initially planned to repay the loan with foreign aid but was unable to secure such assistance because of the lack of confidence in Ukraine among foreign investors. Mr. Yuschenko remains optimistic about the country's financial prospects. "The largest payments in 1998 have been made, and now everything should be done to win the confidence of both market operators and Ukraine's creditors in the Ukrainian market," Interfax quoted him as saying on August 15. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine, Moldova settle border dispute

KYIV - During Moldovan Prime Minister Ion Ciubuc's August 4 visit to Kyiv, agreement was reached on resolving a border dispute in an area near the Danube delta. Under that agreement, Moldova will receive a small area of Ukrainian territory to build an oil terminal on the banks of the Danube River. In exchange, Ukraine will receive a section of the road connecting the Ukrainian cities of Odesa and Izmail. Ukrainian Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko said that Moldova is Ukraine's strategic partner and that economic relations between both countries must be intensified. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine sees better economic prospects

KYIV - Ukraine's vice minister of the economy, Ihor Shumylo, on August 5 presented the government's forecast of basic economic indicators for next year, Ukrainian Television and the Associated Press reported. Ukraine expects economic growth to total 2 percent of the gross domestic product in 1999, up from 0.5 percent planned for this year. The budget deficit is expected to decrease to 1.5 percent of the GDP, down from 2.5 percent forecast for this year. Inflation is expected to decrease to 7 percent from 12 percent anticipated in 1998. Mr. Shumylo said the government's optimistic economic prognosis stems from economic reform measures taken recently by Ukraine to secure a large loan from the International Monetary Fund. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Construction of pipeline begins in Crimea

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on August 5 attended the inauguration of the construction of a new gas pipeline in Crimea, Ukrainian Television reported. The 269-kilometer pipeline will link the Crimean cities of Dzhankoi, Feodosiia and Kerch, improving gas supplies to some 30 percent of the peninsula's population. The construction will cost $100 million; 20 percent of that sum is to be paid by the UkrNaftoHaz national oil and gas company and 80 percent contributed in construction materials by domestic enterprises in repayment of their debts to the state budget. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine toughens border controls

KYIV - In a bid to clamp down on illegal immigration via Ukraine, the government has introduced new restrictions on foreigners staying in Ukraine's border zone, Ukrainian Television reported on August 6. In addition to valid passports and visas, foreigners there must now have a document from the Internal Affairs Ministry confirming "the necessity of their stay on that territory." Pavlo Shysholin, chief of staff of the Ukrainian Border Troops, told journalists on August 6 that 11,000 border violators were detained in Ukraine in the first half of this year, including 5,000 illegal immigrants who were seeking to reach the West. Two-thirds of the illegal immigrants from Asia, the Middle East and Africa arrive in Ukraine via Russia. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv to cut administration staff

KYIV - Oleksander Yakovenko, head of the personnel policy department in the presidential administration, has announced that the government administration will be cut by 100 people to a total of 600, Ukrainian Television reported on August 6. He added that the Ukrainian president's administration will be cut by 20 percent. He provided no figures for that reduction because, according to the television station, "it is unknown how many people are working in the [presidential] administration." The reductions are part of an ongoing administrative reform that is to be completed in 2010. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian plant threatens to poison river

STEBNIK - Workers of a chemical plant in Stebnik, Lviv Oblast, have threatened to release poisonous waste into the Dnister River unless they are paid their wages for the past six months, ITAR-TASS reported on August 6. The river passes through the Lviv, Ternopil, Chernivtsi and Odessa oblasts, as well as neighboring Moldova. The plant's management has sent a delegation to Kyiv to obtain funds to repay wage arrears totaling 8.5 million hrv ($4.1 million U.S.). (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine falls short in privatization

KYIV - Oleksander Bondar, acting head of the Ukrainian State Property Fund, said on July 28 that privatization revenues this year will fall short of the planned $1 billion hryvni ($475 million), Ukrainian Television reported. In the first six months of 1998, those revenues totaled only 240 million hryvni. In Mr. Bondar's opinion, the fund will not fulfill its privatization plan because of the "emergency situation at a majority of Ukrainian enterprises." He added that it is impossible to sell shares in the most attractive enterprises "even at nominal prices." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Nazi victims receiving compensation

KYIV - The Ukraina Bank has disbursed compensation to 83,666 victims of Nazi concentration camps. The bank's press secretary, Yurii Kylymnyk, said that as of July 1, almost 49.7 million DM had been paid out. Payments will be completed after the bank receives more lists of persons entitled to compensation. (Eastern Economist)

Pivdenmash, Case set up joint venture

KYIV - Yurii Alekseiev, director general of the Pivdenmash integrated works, and Jean-Pierre Rossaue, president of U.S.-based Case, signed an agreement on June 22 creating the joint venture DniproCase. The JV will use Case's technology to make 250 HP tractors in Dnipropetrovsk. The JV hopes to roll out 500 new tractors by the end of 1998 and DniproCase hopes to manufacture 4,000 to 4,500 tractors per year within five years. Within three to four years these tractors will be assembled using Ukrainian-made parts. The JV will also market, sell and service Case tractors in Ukraine. (Eastern Economist)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 23, 1998, No. 34, Vol. LXVI

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