NEWSBRIEFS (09/27/98)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukrainian PM locks up debtors, again

KYIV - Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko on September 22 began a new crackdown on debtor companies by locking up executives from more than 50 firms in a government building and demanding that they sign obligations to pay their debts, Ukrainian Television reported. Mr. Pustovoitenko applied a similar measure to some 2,000 tax debtors in early August. This time, the targets of his campaign are managers who have been slow in returning foreign debts guaranteed by the government. Mr. Pustovoitenko said the government needs the $734 million it paid to foreign creditors on behalf of debtor companies. Both Procurator General Mykhailo Potebenko and Prime Minister Pustovoitenko have threatened to take executives of debtor companies to court and initiate bankruptcy proceedings. (RFE/RL Newsline)

12,000 Ukrainian pupils out of school

KYIV - Some 12,000 schoolchildren in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kirovohrad and Zakarpattia oblasts have not been to school since the beginning of the school year on September 1 due to a teachers' strike over unpaid wages, the Associated Press reported. Ukrainian teachers are owed some 410 million hryvni ($132 million U.S.) in back wages. Ukrainian Television reported that teachers are paid full and regular wages only in the city of Kyiv. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Moroz to run for president in 1999

KYIV - Oleksander Moroz, leader of the Socialist Party of Ukraine and former chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, has announced he will run in the 1999 presidential elections, Ukrainian Television reported on September 21. The Socialist Party Political Council has appealed to the left-wing, left-of-center and democratic forces to support Mr. Moroz as the "only realistic alternative" to President Leonid Kuchma. UNIAN reported that Mr. Moroz may be nominated by the Socialist Party as its official presidential candidate at a party congress in October. (RFE/RL Newsline)

FIS declines comment on Monica

MOSCOW - ITAR-TASS on September 16 reported that the Chinese magazine Guandong Writer published an article alleging that former White House intern Monica Lewinsky is a Russian spy. When asked about the report, Russian Foreign Intelligence Services (FIS) spokesman Yurii Kobaladze responded with some amusement, saying "we do not comment on allegations of whether individuals belong to Russia's intelligence services." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tripartite border protection pact is signed

TBILISI, Georgia - The commanders of the Georgian, Azerbaijani and Ukrainian border guard troops signed a cooperation agreement in Tbilisi on September 16, Interfax and Caucasus Press reported. That agreement falls within the parameters of the Economic Consultation Agreement concluded by Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova. Georgian Border Guard Commander Valeri Chkheidze told journalists the Tbilisi meeting is not directed against other states, nor does the signed agreement run counter to CIS agreements on border cooperation. He added that Moldova will sign the agreement at a later date. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv authorities rein in prices on staples

KYIV - The Kyiv city administration has introduced limits on the prices of a number of staples produced by domestic firms, Reuters reported on September 16. The decision prohibits increasing the retail price of bread by more than 15 percent above its wholesale price. Retail prices for oats, pasta, butter and milk are not allowed to increase by more than 25 percent over their wholesale prices. The move is aimed at softening the impact on consumers of the de facto devaluation of the hryvnia earlier this month. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Senior U.S. official ends Ukraine visit

KYIV - Following up on recent visits by U.S. Vice-President Al Gore and Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, Dr. Terry Lash, a senior official at the Department of Energy completed a 10-day visit to strengthen U.S.-Ukrainian nuclear cooperation. During his visit Mr. Lash discussed nuclear fuel availability problems and a U.S. project to help Ukraine improve the capacity factors of its VVER-1000 reactors. He also met with Ukrainian nuclear companies expected to participate in a November 9-10 U.S.-Ukraine nuclear trade and cooperation conference in Washington that will bring about 35 Ukrainian business and industry officials to the U.S. to meet with nuclear industry representatives. Mr. Lash also visited Chornobyl, where he reviewed progress on U.S.-funded projects at the Unit 4 sarcophagus, including the testing of a robot designed to help with the reconstruction of the "ukryttia." He told officials he is "personally committed" both to improvements in Ukrainian nuclear safety and to Ukraine's economic growth and well-being, especially in the area around Chornobyl. (Eastern Economist)

Police arrest Hromada official

KYIV - Police have arrested Mykola Syvulskyi, a senior official in the Hromada opposition party's shadow Cabinet, on charges of embezzlement and tax evasion, Ukrainian Television and the Associated Press reported on September 17. Mr. Syvulskyi, former deputy chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine and former vice minister of finance, is suspected of transferring more than $5 million from the Ukrhazprom state gas company to United Energy System (UES), a private gas company. He was officially charged with abuse of authority on September 21. According to the AP, Mr. Syvulskyi's arrest is the "latest chapter in an investigation" launched by state prosecutors against former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, leader of the Hromada Party. Mr. Lazarenko's opponents accuse him of abusing his authority and reaping huge profits when he was prime minister in 1996-1997. The Hromada Party called the accusation "political revenge." Yulia Tymoshenko, a leading member of Hromada, is a former president of UES. (RFE/RL Newsline, Eastern Economist)

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