NEWSBRIEFS

Tkachenko says he is acting chair

KYIV - Oleksander Tkachenko told the Kontynent radio station on January 24 that he is "acting chairman of the Verkhovna Rada," Interfax reported. Last week the center-right, pro-presidential majority voted to oust Mr. Tkachenko from the post of Parliament chairman. He did not rule out that the dismissal of the Verkhovna Rada leadership may be put on the agenda of the session scheduled for February 1. He said 150 votes are sufficient to submit such a motion for parliamentary consideration. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Leftists say split is coup d'état

KYIV - The Progressive Socialist Party on January 24 said the parliamentary split in Ukraine is an "unconstitutional, criminal coup d'état" that is being perpetrated "to please foreign capital in order to enslave Ukraine," Interfax reported. The Communist Party also disseminated a statement saying that "under the patronage of President Leonid Kuchma an unconstitutional, criminal coup d'état is taking place in the Verkhovna Rada and around it." Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz told the Kontynent radio station that the parliamentary split is "an attempt at a coup d'état," adding that its goal is to install "an authority of oligarchs" in the country. Mr. Moroz also said the parliamentary majority "does not realize what it is doing" and warned the majority deputies about criminal responsibility for exceeding their constitutional powers. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Leftists appeal to Council of Europe

KYIV - Ukraine's leftist parliamentary minority has adopted an appeal to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, urging the council "to speak in the defense of parliamentarism in Ukraine," Interfax reported on January 22. The appeal wants the European body "to prevent the violation of freedom and democracy in the very center of Europe." The appeal warns that President Leonid Kuchma intends to establish an "unrestrained presidential authority" in Ukraine through a constitutional referendum. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tkachenko deprived of perks

KYIV - National Deputy Yaroslav Kendzior of Rukh told Interfax on January 22 that he has signed an order to deprive Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Tkachenko of official bodyguards and a business car, as well as to disconnect telephone lines from the chairman's office in the parliamentary building. Mr. Kendzior said he had the right to sign such an order as head of a temporary commission investigating Mr. Tkachenko's activities, which was set up at the parliamentary majority session the previous day. Communist leader Petro Symonenko told Interfax that similar restrictive measures have also been taken against Vice-Chairman Adam Martyniuk, a member of the Communist Party. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russian cases most numerous at court

STRASBOURG - The European Court of Human Rights said on January 24 that it had taken up more cases from Russia last year than from any other country, the Associated Press reported. Of the 8,396 cases lodged with the Strasbourg-based court, 972 were from Russia. The total number of cases grew 40 percent over the past year, the court said in its press release. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Talbott: Chechen war threat to Russia

TALLINN - Speaking in the Estonian capital on January 24, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott said that "the horror unfolding [in Chechnya] is a threat to the evolution of both Russia's domestic order and its international role," Reuters reported. The American diplomat added that "Russia is not exactly sure where its home is - where, in its own transition from the Soviet era, it should go next; where it should come home to." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Talbott says Baltics are litmus test

TALLINN - U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott's three-day visit to Estonia on January 22-24 was focused on the country's integration into NATO. President Lennart Meri conferred the Cross of Terra Marianna First Order - the highest civilian honor - on Mr. Talbott for his work in strengthening U.S.-Estonian relations. In talks with Prime Minister Mart Laar, Mr. Talbott praised the commitment to increase defense spending to 2 percent of GDP by 2001, the government press secretary reported. On January 24 Mr. Talbott gave a lecture titled "A Baltic Homecoming" in honor of the first U.S. ambassador to Estonia, Robert Frasure, who died in a road accident in the Balkans in 1995. Mr. Talbott said, "The fate of the Baltic states is ... a litmus test for the fate of this entire continent," adding that "we will (pass the test) when ... Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are secure, stable, prosperous democracies integrated" into Euro-Atlantic structures. (RFE/RL Newsline)

EU concerned about Chechnya

BRUSSELS - The foreign minister's council of the European Union on January 24 expressed its concern about Russian behavior in Chechnya, but decided not to impose sanctions or to challenge Russia's right to defend its territorial integrity or fight terrorism, ITAR-TASS reported. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said after the meeting that "the chances of Brussels to exert pressure on Moscow are restricted," adding that "we must make use of an open dialogue with the Russian leadership." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma to run for third term?

KYIV - Oleksander Volkov, a national deputy and former aide to President Leonid Kuchma, has suggested that Mr. Kuchma may run for a third term as president, Interfax reported on January 24. "When Kuchma was elected the first time, there was no Constitution. It is the 1997 Constitution that stipulates that the president may not hold his post longer than two terms. And the law cannot be retroactive," Mr. Volkov told a Kyiv weekly. Mr. Volkov is seen by the anti-Kuchma opposition as an "oligarch" who helped collect some 4 million signatures in support of a constitutional referendum through the Social Protection Fund network he heads. The Financial Times reported last week that the U.S. government had requested that Mr. Kuchma remove Volkov from the process of decision-making in the presidential entourage, but Kyiv has not confirmed this report. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Gazprom to reschedule Ukraine's debt

KYIV - Following his meeting with Gazprom head Rem Viakhirev in Kyiv on January 20, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko said the Russian company has agreed to reschedule Ukraine's gas debt payments, Interfax reported. Mr. Yuschenko added that Gazprom and Ukraine will combine the country's state and commercial debt obligations into one package and sign a joint protocol on repayment within a month. He declined to provide a precise gas debt figure, saying only that Gazprom estimates it to be between $1.7 billion and $2 billion. Mr.Viakhirev refused to comment on his talks with Prime Minister Yuschenko. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Reconciliation in Crimean legislature?

SYMFEROPOL - Ten deputies from the Respublika caucus in the Crimean legislature on January 20 appealed to their colleagues to resume their work in Parliament, Interfax reported. The Respublika and Zlahoda caucuses have blocked the continuation of the current parliamentary session since December. The deputies said the parliamentary standoff in Crimea has paralyzed both the legislative and executive branches on the peninsula and undermined their authority. Crimean Parliament Chairman Leonid Hrach has called for the legislature to resume working on January 21. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Forced labor on agenda in D.C.

KYIV - The next round of talks between Germany and the countries demanding additional compensation payments to forced laborers who worked in Germany during World War II will take place in Washington on January 31. Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Israel, the United States and world Jewish organizations will participate in the talks. If the meeting is a success, each of the 600,000 forced laborers from Ukraine will be eligible for compensation. About 280,000 of them who worked in the industrial production sector will receive 5,000 DM each, while persons who worked in the agricultural sector will receive slightly less. (Eastern Economist)

Renaissance supports Ukrainian language

KYIV - The International Renaissance Foundation on January 11 announced three grant programs in 2000 that are aimed at developing the national publishing and book markets. The Information Program will focus on legislative support of publishers and local authors. The Translation Project will finance the translation of European humanitarian and social works into the Ukrainian language. The Library Program will assist in the development of the country's libraries, which will provide Ukrainian libraries with access to magazines, newspapers and news bulletins in electronic format. The establishment of regional Internet servers, which will contain updated information from Ukrainian regions, also is planned. (Eastern Economist)

Oil supplies to Ukraine to be renewed

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko, commenting on his Moscow visit, said that acting President Vladimir Putin had instructed in his presence that oil supplies to Ukraine be renewed. The prime minister also noted that fuel and energy issues with Russia are being regulated. Mr. Putin stated during his meeting with Mr. Yuschenko that Russia and Ukraine have only temporary economic problems and a suitable solution for both countries can be found. Mr. Yuschenko stressed that Ukraine is a solvent country and intends to take real steps to repay its debts. "The two countries have no insurmountable problems in regulating Ukraine's Russian gas debt," said President Leonid Kuchma. (Eastern Economist)

EBRD grants Ukraine 1.2 billion euros

KYIV - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development plans to provide Ukraine with 1.2 billion euros for the execution of 27 projects with different timetables of implementation, stated the head of the EBRD representative office in Ukraine, Andrew Seton. He added that the EBRD had previously allocated $220 million (U.S.) for these projects. The total funds allocated by the EBRD as of November 1999 were $699.5 million (U.S.). About 65 percent of these were spent on non-governmental projects. Eighty-four percent of the total EBRD funds in Ukraine were loans, while the remaining 16 percent were allocated toward direct investment. In December 1999 the bank also approved the decision to issue a $51.88 million (U.S.) loan for modernization of the railroad infrastructure on the Kyiv-Lviv line. (Eastern Economist)

ING Barings to lead debt restructuring

KYIV - A syndicate of foreign banks that will be authorized by Ukraine's government to negotiate the country's foreign debt restructuring will be headed by the ING Barings bank. The debt in question is due for repayment this year, said Finance Minister Ihor Mitiukov. The syndicate was formed following a tender held by the ministry, to which five out of 10 banks responded. The Reuters news service, citing its sources in London banks, reported that the decision on the restructuring of Ukraine's nearly $2 billion (U.S.) debt is to be announced by the end of this month. Reuters noted that the government of Ukraine is to propose that all private creditors bearing Ukrainian foreign loan T-bills exchange them for Eurobonds, which will mature in seven to 10 years. The interest of new Ukrainian Eurobonds has been preliminary set at 10 percent annually. ING Barings is one of the largest private Western creditors of Ukraine's government. (Eastern Economist)

Flu epidemic continues in Ukraine

KYIV - Ukraine will break the flu epidemic threshold January 21-28, said Ukraine's chief medical doctor, Olha Bobyliova. The Odesa, Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad and Chernihiv oblasts have broken the threshold, she added. Last week 28,462 people infected with the flu were registered in Kyiv. The first death as the result of the flu was registered on January 18 in Odesa. In a related development, Kyiv mayor, Oleksander Omelchenko, signed an order closing schools in the capital beginning on January 22 due to the flu epidemic. Regular school sessions will resume when the situation stabilizes. (Eastern Economist)

Kuchma dismisses committee heads

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma signed decrees for the dismissal of Valentyna Dovzhenko as chair of the Committee for Family and Youth, Mykhailo Kaskevych as chair of the Committee for Consumer Rights Protection, Oleksander Volkov as chair of the Committee for Physical Education and Sport, and Valerii Tsybukh as chair of the State Committee for Tourism. The dismissals took place due to the liquidation of mentioned committees. (Eastern Economist)

President appoints new ministers

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma signed a decree appointing Mykhailo Hladii as vice prime minister, Ivan Kyrylenko as minister for agrarian policy, and Vitalii Moskalenko as minister of health care. Mr. Kuchma also appointed Oleksandra Kuzhel as chair of the State Committee for Regulation Policy and Entrepreneurship, Vasyl Durdynets as minister of emergency situations and Chornobyl, and Petro Kaban as chair of the State Committee for Standardization, Measurements and Certification. (Eastern Economist)

Chechen info center set up in Odesa

ODESA -Ukraine's first Chechen information center was set up in Odesa. It will function under the Rukh oblast organization. The organization's head, Viktor Tsymbaliuk, said information on events in Chechnya is insufficient. The center's goal is to provide objective information to the Ukrainian public. (Eastern Economist)

Armenian foreign minister in Kyiv

KYIV - Armenia's Foreign Affairs Minister Vartan Oskanian and his Ukrainian counterpart, Borys Tarasyuk, signed six agreements on railway transportation, pharmaceuticals, tourism, culture and education in Kyiv on December 24, 1999, reported the Associated Press. Ukraine also agreed to let Armenia use its Black Sea port of Ilyichevsk for shipping. Ukrainian presidential spokesman Oleksander Martynenko said Mr. Oskanian urged President Leonid Kuchma "to help Armenia integrate into Europe." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine wins but fails to advance

KYIV - Ukraine beat Slovakia 3-1 at the World Junior Hockey Championship January 2 in Sweden. However, it still failed to proceed to the next round of the competition. In the semi-finals, the United States team faced the Czech Republic, and Russia played Canada. (Eastern Economist)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 30, 2000, No. 5, Vol. LXVIII

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