NEWSBRIEFS (09/24/00)

NEWSBRIEFS

Medal winners to get bonuses

KYIV - Ukraine's medal-winning Olympians have an incentive to do well at the Sydney Summer Olympics. The government has promised a bonus of $50,000 for a gold medal, $30,000 for a silver and $20,000 for a bronze. The sums compare with an average monthly salary in Ukraine of some $40. Ivan Fedorenko, president of the country's Olympic Committee, said Ukraine's best prospects are in track and field, swimming, wrestling, weightlifting, sailing, boxing and fencing. (Reuters)

Cabinet proposes balanced 2001 budget

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko's Cabinet submitted a draft of the 2001 budget to the Verkhovna Rada last week. Finance Minister Ihor Mitiukov told journalists on September 18 that the document calls for consolidated budget revenues and expenditures of 52.3 billion hrv ($9.6 billion) each, Interfax reported. Mr. Mitiukov said the document was drafted on the basis of forecasts that in 2001 Ukraine's GDP will increase by 4 percent, the average hryvnia exchange rate will be 6.3 hrv to $1, and inflation will not exceed 19 percent. The draft is Ukraine's second balanced budget: the 2000 budget provides for revenues and spending at 42.3 billion hrv each. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma praises Cabinet for economy ...

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on September 19 said he is happy with the economic performance of Viktor Yuschenko's Cabinet of Ministers, Interfax reported. "We should look at the government's activity through statistics, which are positive," Mr. Kuchma said, noting that Ukraine's GDP is expected to rise by between 3 and 3.5 percent after a decade-long economic slump. The president added that industrial output grew 11 percent from last year and that a 0.2 percent growth was also registered in the agricultural sector. "Considering the situation of the economy, we should be pleased with these achievements," he said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... chides government for energy problems

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma criticized the Cabinet of Ministers for failing to resolve the problems in the fuel and energy sector. Mr. Kuchma recalled that Ukraine has not concluded an agreement on gas deliveries from its main supplier, Russia. Mr. Kuchma also slammed Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko for the protocol she signed on Turkmen gas deliveries in July during her trip to Turkmenistan. He said it was inadmissible for Ms. Tymoshenko to have signed the protocol and subsequently made known its terms when "Russia is forced to buy gas from Turkmenistan." He added, "The East is a subtle thing, and it would be better if men, not women, traveled there." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine makes Eurobond payment

KYIV - The Finance Ministry said on September 14 that Kyiv made a second scheduled payment of $56.3 million on its Eurobonds, Interfax reported. The Eurobonds are part of the debt-rescheduling scheme drawn up in the spring, whereby Ukraine swapped $2.7 billion worth of bonds maturing in 2000 and 2001 for seven-year Eurobonds denominated in Euros (10 percent interest annually) and U.S. dollars (11 percent interest annually). Ukraine must pay interest on Eurobonds every quarter. The country's foreign debt currently stands at $10.6 billion. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv confident about hryvnia's stability

KYIV - Economics Minister Vasyl Rohovyi on September 13 said that by the end of this year the national currency exchange rate will not exceed 6 hrv to $1, Interfax reported. Mr. Rohovyi added that the hryvnia will not weaken beyond that limit even if the International Monetary Fund refuses to resume its loan program to Ukraine. The current exchange rate is 5.439 hrv to $1. Meanwhile, the agency quoted Kyiv currency dealers as saying the relative stability of the hryvnia is being maintained by the National Bank of Ukraine's regular sales of hard currency. "If the National Bank fails to meet [the demand] on the currency market and stops selling hard currency even for one day, the hryvnia exchange rate will [go down]," one dealer said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

WB has new loan strategy for Ukraine

KYIV - World Bank official Dusan Vujovich has presented a three-year aid strategy for Ukraine that the bank adopted earlier this month, Interfax reported. Kyiv may obtain $1.8 billion in credits in 2001-2003 if the government enhances transparency in private property rights, improves the protection of those rights, introduces discipline in the financial sector, upgrades social services and government regulations, and improves the monitoring of business activities. Mr. Vujovich said Ukraine will receive only $461 million if the bank deems the government's performance to be poor. "The real aid level will depend now upon tangible results of the implementation of the Ukrainian government's reform program," the agency quoted Luca Barbone, the bank's representative for Ukraine and Belarus, as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Oblast heads to be held responsible

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko on September 18 said he will seek the dismissal of leaders of oblasts whose cash payments for electricity supplies are low, Interfax reported. Mr. Yuschenko said the reason for the punitive measure is the sharp decrease in cash payments for electricity this month. According to the prime minister, some oblasts have paid in cash for no more than 50 percent of electricity supplies in September. "I am in no way going to assume responsibility for these problems," Mr. Yuschenko told a conference of regional leaders and managers of energy supplying companies. Ukraine's oblast leaders are appointed and dismissed by the president. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Johns Hopkins fights abortion epidemic

LVIV - A public awareness project has begun in Lviv under the slogan "Modern Contraception: Our Common Choice." The three-week project is held under the joint sponsorship of Johns Hopkins University's Communication Programs Center and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Event organizers are concerned by the number of abortions and unwanted pregnancies in Ukraine. The situation in Lviv is especially critical: the birth to abortion rate is 100:69. Free consultation and a telephone hotline will be available as part of the project. Similar projects will be set up in Kyiv and the Kharkiv Oblast. (Eastern Economist)

IMF: Kyiv must do "a lot of work"

KYIV - The International Monetary Fund's first deputy managing director, Stanley Fischer, told journalists on September 15 that Ukraine has to do "a lot of work" before the fund will resume its $2.6 billion loan program, the Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, Julian Berengaut, head of an IMF mission currently visiting Kyiv, said the loan program can begin again only if Ukraine draws up its 2001 budget, intensifies privatization efforts and maintains a "healthy" banking system. At the same time, he praised many improvements, including those in the energy and agricultural sectors, as well as overall economic stability and strong economic growth, which he predicted would reach some 3 percent by year's end. The IMF officials' comments seem to be bad news for the Ukrainian government: while meeting foreign financial obligations, Kyiv has recently failed to pay some 80 million hrv ($14.7 million) on domestic T- bills. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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