NEWSBRIEFS

Tkachenko pledges support to Yugoslavia

KYIV - Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Tkachenko told the Yugoslav ambassador to Ukraine on October 7 that Ukraine will give Yugoslavia "material and moral support" in the Kosovo crisis, Interfax reported. "If the Yugoslav government appeals to us with such a request, we will offer help, despite our difficulties," Mr. Tkachenko said. He added that Ukrainians oppose the use of military force in Yugoslavia, irrespective of any decisions by NATO or the United Nations Security Council. He added that the recent statement by a Foreign Affairs Ministry official does not reflect the ministry's stance. Andriy Veselovskyi, an official in the Foreign Affairs Ministry, had told journalists on October 6 that Ukraine "will unconditionally support" a possible decision of the U.N. Security Council on the use of force against Yugoslavia, but he stressed that Ukraine is interested in a peaceful resolution of the Kosovo crisis. The same day, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution calling for the issue of Kosovo autonomy to be settled "in a peaceful, civilized way, while maintaining the territorial integrity of the [Yugoslav] state." ITAR-TASS reported that Rukh deputies did not participate in the vote on the resolution, nor did part of the National Democratic Party and the Greens parliamentary caucuses. Ukrainian Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko, who is currently in Washington, has said his government sides with Russia in opposing the use of force in Yugoslavia, DPA reported on October 7. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Workers support Russian protesters

KYIV - Thousands of Ukrainian workers and hard-liners demonstrated on October 7 to show support for protests in neighboring Russia and to demand the resignation of President Leonid Kuchma, the Associated Press reported. The largest demonstrations were in Kyiv (1,000 people), Donetsk (6,000) and Kharkiv (1,000). The Independent Trade Union Federation sent a letter to Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Russian labor activists saying that Ukrainians have been hit hard by the Russian economic crisis and can understand the demands of the Russian protesters. Meanwhile, at a meeting with Justice Ministry officials on October 7, President Kuchma said Ukraine will overcome the current crisis. He accused various political groups of exploiting the country's difficulties and called upon them "to sit down at the negotiating table" with the executive, Interfax reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Alcohol, tobacco income to be increased

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma ordered government officials on October 6 to raise more money from the country's alcohol and tobacco industries by cutting taxes and reducing smuggling, the Associated Press reported. Mr. Kuchma criticized the government's increase in the excise tax on alcohol, which had to be revoked last week because prices increased so much that distilleries were unable to sell their products. Mr. Kuchma also said the heavy taxes on tobacco and alcohol have resulted in a huge black market for those goods, adding that 75 percent of cigarettes and 25 percent of alcoholic beverages sold in Ukraine are either smuggled into the country or illegally produced. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Inflation rate reaches 3.8 percent

KYIV - The State Committee on Statistics has reported that the monthly inflation rate rose to 3.8 percent in September, up from 0.2 percent in August. However, experts believe that figure is grossly understated. The official inflation rate for the first nine months in Ukraine was 6.1 percent. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tkachenko opposes no-confidence vote

KYIV - Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Tkachenko has said he is opposing a vote of no confidence in the government, ITAR-TASS reported on October 5. A total of 202 deputies have supported a motion by the Hromada Party and the Socialist Party to put the issue on the parliamentary agenda. The Cabinet of Ministers is expected to deliver a report on the economic situation to the legislature on October 13. Mr. Tkachenko said that, given Ukraine's current financial straits, the Parliament should seek to avert a political crisis. He added that he does not rule out the possibility of replacing some ministers, but is against ousting the entire Cabinet. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Foreign currency purchases restricted

KYIV - In a bid to stave off the depletion of its reserves, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has sharply tightened procedures for purchasing foreign currency, Ukrainian News reported on October 1. The new rules stipulate that foreign currency can be purchased by authorized banks only if their customers produce the required documentation, which includes foreign trade contracts and tax and customs clearance. Banks are obliged to provide the State Tax Administration with information about customers wanting to buy foreign currency, including passport details of customers' employers and accountants. Permits for purchasing foreign currency are to be issued by NBU regional departments. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yuschenko: economic situation improves

KYIV - National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Viktor Yuschenko said the country's economic situation has improved in recent days and that the hryvnia has stabilized within the exchange band of 2.5-3.5 to $1, the Associated Press reported on October 3. "The key thing is that we have managed to separate ourselves from the Russian economic crisis and its negative influence," he said. The hryvnia exchange rate stood at 3.41 to $1 on October 2. President Leonid Kuchma met with top economic officials the same day to discuss ways of stabilizing the hryvnia, Ukrainian Television reported. Participants in the meeting failed to reach agreement on how to achieve that goal. Many analysts believe the present hryvnia exchange rate is artificially maintained by regulations forcing exporters to sell much of their foreign currency earnings to the state and by restrictions on foreign currency purchases. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada releases information on factions

KYIV - According to the latest information, 421 national deputies belong to nine factions and one group in the Verkhovna Rada. The breakdown of membership in various factions is as follows: Communist Party, 122 deputies; National Democratic Party, 85; Rukh, 47; Hromada, 45; Green Party, 24; Social Democratic Party, 23; Left Center, 16; Agrarian Party, 16; Progressive Socialist Party, 14. In addition, there are 22 members in the Independent group of deputies. Ukraine's Parliament now has 447 deputies; three seats are currently vacant. (Respublika)

Ukraine to conduct census in 2001

KYIV - A census of Ukraine's population will be conducted in 2001- not in 1999 as had been planned. In accordance with a decision of the government, the State Committee on Statistics, along with interested ministries and other agencies, have until January 1, 1999, to present proposals on how the census is to be conducted. (UNIAN)

IAEA lauds Ukraine's nuclear safety

KYIV - The Ukrainian delegation to the 42nd session of the International Atomic Energy Agency held in Vienna on September 21-25 considered its trip a success, delegation leader and Environment and Nuclear Safety Minister Vasyl Shevchuk declared upon his return. IAEA Director General Mohamed El Baradei gave Ukraine high marks for increasing nuclear safety in Europe and the world. Ukraine and the IAEA agreed upon a two-year program of technical cooperation for 1999-2000. According to the program, the domestic atomic energy sector will get $3.2 million (U.S.) in aid for increasing nuclear safety, of which $1.5 million has already been included in the organization's budget. Also in the pipeline are projects for the development of a national nuclear energy strategy and studies of the medical aspects of nuclear energy. A number of IAEA-funded projects are already under way. For example, new equipment worth $1 million for removing radionuclides from contaminated milk will shortly go into operation at the Obruch milk plant in the Zhytomyr Oblast, one of the areas worst hit by the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident. (Eastern Economist)

Havel suggests Albright as successor

WASHINGTON - The daily Mlada Fronta on September 30 quoted State Department spokesman Lee McClenny as saying Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright was "very pleased" that Vaclav Havel had suggested that she succeed him as Czech president. But the spokesman added that Secretary Albright "already has a job she likes very much and she is not looking for another job," the Associated Press reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine, Belarus plan cooperation

KYIV - Ukrainian Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko and Belarusian Prime Minister Syarhey Linh said on September 28 in Kyiv that Belarus and Ukraine are strategic partners, ITAR-TASS reported. They expressed the need to draft a long-term program of economic cooperation. In Mr. Pustovoitenko's opinion, this should be a 10-year program. The Ukrainian government's press service said the two leaders had reached an understanding on several issues, including barter settlements between their countries. Mr. Pustovoitenko proposed to set up a banking consortium with the participation of Ukraine's Prominvestbank, Belarus's Promstroibank, and some Russian banks. According to Ukrainian Trade Minister Serhii Osyka, the long-term cooperation program is already 70 percent complete and will boost Ukrainian-Belarusian trade by up to $700 million next year. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Scherban suspects are arrested

KYIV - The suspected killers of Verkhovna Rada National Deputy Yevhen Scherban have been arrested, Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Kravchenko announced on September 23. "The investigation is continuing, and law enforcement bodies are now working to arrest the organizers of the murder," said Mr. Kravchenko. Mr. Scherban was gunned down with his wife at Donetsk Airport on November 3, 1996. Referring to the assassination of Ukrainian Interbank Currency Exchange head Vadym Hetman on April 22, 1998, Mr. Kravchenko said the involvement of Russian and Ukrainian banking structures in the killing are being investigated and movements of capital are being traced. (Eastern Economist)

Unpaid pensions traded for food

KHARKIV - Authorities in 14 towns in the Kharkiv Oblast have organized fairs at which local pensioners can obtain food as compensation for pension arrears, the daily Fakty reported on September 24. Some 3,000 people in the town of Valky are able to choose among pork, beef, milk, sugar and other foodstuffs provided by enterprises that owe money to the State Pension Fund. Despite the government's repeated attempts to crack down on debtor enterprises, the total debt to the fund remains virtually unchanged, at some $3 billion hryvni ($900 million U.S.). (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rotaru: honorary citizen of Chernivtsi

CHERNIVTSI - The popular singer Sofia Rotaru, who holds the distinction of being a national artist of both Ukraine and Moldova, has been named an honorary citizen of Chernivtsi, the western Ukrainian city where she got her start in music with the Chernivtsi Philharmonic. The Chernivtsi City Council decided to confer the honor on Ms. Rotaru in recognition of her many years of activity in popularizing the musical traditions of the Bukovyna region. Ms. Rotaru was presented a special certificate during her concert in that city on September 30. (Respublika)

Azerbaijan, Ukraine discuss oil exports

KYIV - First Vice Prime Minister Abbas Abbasov of Azerbaijan met with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma on September 24 in Kyiv to discuss the prospects for exporting some of Azerbaijan's oil by tanker from the Georgian port of Supsa to Odesa and then via a pipeline to Brody in western Ukraine, the Associated Press reported. Ukrainian officials maintain that this is the shortest and cheapest route for transporting Caspian oil to Europe. Ukraine's First Vice Prime Minister Anatolii Holubchenko said completion of the half-built pipeline will cost approximately $400 million (U.S.) and take some two years. The cost of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline is estimated at $3 billion. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Deputies protest Syvulskyi arrest

KYIV - The Procurator General's Office has received a protest against the arrest of former Vice Minister of Finance and Verkhovna Rada National Deputy Mykola Syvulskyi signed by Mr. Syvulskyi's lawyer, Valerii Yatsiuk, and 45 national deputies. Mr. Syvulskyi was arrested on September 17 and charged with the illegal transfer of 10.41 million hrv belonging to AT UkrGazProm to the account of the United Energy Systems corporation. "This arrest is another attempt by the government to destroy a representative of the opposition and to discredit the opposition as a whole," said National Deputy Oleksander Turchinov on September 24. Mr. Yatsiuk claimed that the arrest was judicially ungrounded, saying that the transfer of funds from UkrGazProm to UES was a normal economic contract that should have been reviewed in the arbitration courts and not in the field of the criminal law. He described the case against Mr. Syvulskyi as "ridiculous." (Eastern Economist)

Marchuk comments on 1999 elections

KYIV - The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada's Social Policy and Labor Committee, Yevhen Marchuk, said that in the 1999 presidential campaign the most important role would be played by personalities, with parties acting only as a mechanism for providing an election campaign. He predicted that more than 30 candidates would take part in the election. (Eastern Economist)

Kuchma ready for "toughest" measures

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma told a meeting of regional newspaper editors in Kyiv on September 23 that Ukraine is facing the worst crisis in its seven years of independence, Ukrainian Television reported. Stressing that the government is keeping the current situation under control, Mr. Kuchma said he is ready to take "the toughest and most unpopular" measures to fight the crisis. He added that although he intends to seek re-election, he gives priority to maintaining the course of reform over his own election victory. President Kuchma argued that the Russian crisis has proven the CIS's inability to react to emergencies. Instead of working out a joint strategy, Commonwealth of Independent States countries have chosen "to die on their own," Interfax quoted Mr. Kuchma as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russia to help build nuclear reactors

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said on September 23 Russia has promised to help Ukraine fund the construction of two new nuclear reactors at the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi power plants to replace the only working reactor at Chornobyl, Reuters reported. "We fully agreed in Moscow that there will be $180 million in the Russian 1999 budget for this work," he said, referring to his meetings the previous week with President Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister Yevgenii Primakov. Ukraine promised in 1995 that it would close Chornobyl by 2000 with Western assistance. But it has recently grown impatient as the deadline approaches and only a fraction of the required $2 billion has been raised so far. "We will complete the reactors ourselves or together with Russia, whether or not the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development assists us," the news agency quoted Mr. Kuchma as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lukashenka regrets giving up nukes

MIENSK - Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka told journalists on September 23 that the 1992 decision of the Belarusian leadership to allow the withdrawal of nuclear weapons from the country was "a crude mistake, if not a crime," Interfax reported. Mr. Lukashenka said the withdrawal was under way in 1994 when he was elected president so he could not stop it. But he added that he "kept the process on the slow track for 18 months." Mr. Lukashenka commented that the withdrawal had an impact on Russian-NATO talks by making Russia more "pliable." He denounced NATO for installing "three powerful radar stations" on the Belarusian border, the Associated Press reported. "Slowly, slowly, this bloc is becoming more and more impudent," the agency quoted him as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, October 11, 1998, No. 41, Vol. LXVI

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