NEWSBRIEFS (02/11/01)

NEWSBRIEFS

EU expresses concern over media freedom

KYIV - "The European Union wishes to repeat its concerns about the continuing problematic environment for the media in Ukraine and wants to stress to the Ukrainian authorities the need to ensure a safe, secure, and harassment-free environment for journalists to operate in," the EU's Swedish presidency said in a statement released on February 6. The statement also called on the Ukrainian authorities to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the disappearance of Heorhii Gongadze. Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Ihor Hrushko reacted to the EU statement by saying that it is "a biased opinion, a hasty measure that does not agree quite fittingly with what the initiators of this statement actually have in mind," Interfax reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma shrugs off ouster demand

KYIV - "The president, who has been elected by the majority of Ukrainian residents, 16 million people, will not yield to the resignation demand of 2,000," presidential spokesman Oleksander Martynenko told the Ekho Moskvy radio station the same day. National Deputy Serhii Kurkin told Interfax that President Leonid Kuchma voiced a similar argument the previous day during a meeting with Ukraine's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. According to Mr. Kurkin, President Kuchma said the 16 million votes cast for him in 1999 constitute "the credit of trust on which I am leaning." Meanwhile, Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz appealed to members of Parliament to pass legislation that would regulate the procedure for the president's impeachment. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Pro-presidential forum convenes

KYIV - Some 1,000 people convened for a pro-presidential "assembly of political parties and public organizations" in Kyiv on February 5, Interfax reported. They claimed to represent some 170 parties and organizations, including the Social Democratic Party (United), the Democratic Union, Labor Ukraine, the National Democratic Party and the Agrarian Party. The assembly pledged to unite efforts to preserve political stability in the country and to support the president in implementing his "strategy of national development." The forum simultaneously demanded that President Leonid Kuchma take all lawful measures "to prevent social confrontation and a violent scenario in the development of events." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Procurator general goes on leave

KYIV - Ukraine's Procurator General Mykhailo Potebenko on January 5 went on leave, Interfax reported. Opponents of President Leonid Kuchma accuse Mr. Potebenko of delaying the investigation of the Gongadze case in order to protect the president. National Deputy Hryhorii Omelchenko told the agency that Mr. Potebenko took a 45-day leave, adding that President Kuchma will most likely dismiss the procurator general because of "health reasons." (RFE/RL Newsline)

IMF official urges more reforms

KYIV - John Odling-Smee, head of the International Monetary Fund's Second European Department, said in Kyiv on February 5 that Ukraine should preserve and even reinforce the policy of reforms it embarked on last year, Interfax reported. Mr. Odling-Smee said Kyiv should continue its budgetary reform and launch reforms of the pension system, education and health care. He added that Ukraine should continue the privatization of large enterprises and stop state interference in the agricultural sector. According to Mr. Odling-Smee, Ukraine's transition economy faces typical problems resulting from the merger of interests of state officials and big oligarchic clans. He said a "new nomenklatura," which wants to maintain its monopoly on some markets in Ukraine, hinders the country's development, particularly in the private economic sector. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian Parliament begins session

KYIV - The third convocation of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada on February 7 opened its seventh session, which will last until mid-July, Interfax reported. Rada Chairman Ivan Pliusch said lawmakers are to consider 470 legislative issues, including the adoption of civil, economic, criminal, tax, customs, budget and land codes. (RFE/RL Newsline)

OSCE to meet on Transdniester conflict

CHISINAU - William Hill, head of the OSCE's permanent mission to Moldova, on February 2 told journalists in Chisinau that the mediators in the Transdniester conflict - Russia, Ukraine, Portugal and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe - had ended a meeting in Kyiv to prepare for a meeting in Bratislava at the end of the month with the sides involved in the conflict. Mr. Hill said the mediators discussed the Russian proposals for the conflict's resolution presented by the delegation headed by Yevgenii Primakov. He said those proposals will serve as "a basis for negotiations" in Bratislava, with the sides being able to "freely offer their own suggestions," Infotag reported. Mr. Hill stated that it is "regrettable" that no Russian armaments have been withdrawn from the Transdniester region "for almost a year," but added that he is sure Moscow can still meet the 2003 deadline set by the 1999 Istanbul OSCE summit. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Putin, Kuchma to meet in Dnipropetrovsk

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin of Russia will meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, President Leonid Kuchma, in Dnipropetrovsk on February 12, Mr. Putin's office told Interfax on February 1. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Security Service forces free hostages

KHERSON - Forces of the Security Service of Ukraine on February 2 freed two prison guards and killed three of their captors in a raid on a penal colony in Kherson Oblast, southern Ukraine. Six prisoners had held two of their guards hostage since January 30, reportedly demanding talks with representatives of Russia's insurgent Chechen Republic. According to Inter Television, one of the rebellious prisoners was Ruslan Kolaev, a Chechen who fought Russian troops in Chechnya in the mid-1990s. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Polish president regrets shooting

WARSAW - Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski on February 1 sent a letter of condolences to his Ukrainian counterpart, Leonid Kuchma, over the killing of a Ukrainian driver by a Polish policeman during a road check, Polish media reported. Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko, in a harsh statement on January 31, demanded severe punishment for the killer. "This self-willed act calls for strict measures. We are hard and adamant where our citizens' interests are involved," Mr. Zlenko said. Kyiv says the Ukrainian was shot in cold blood, while Warsaw maintains the death was an unhappy accident resulting from a scuffle. The killing received much coverage in the Ukrainian media. The Shield of the Motherland ultra-nationalist group staged a picket in front of the Polish Embassy in Kyiv demanding that the Polish policeman responsible for the shooting be handed over to Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Deputies have Melnychenko tapes

KYIV - National Deputy Viktor Shyshkin, vice-chairman of the parliamentary ad hoc commission to investigate the Gongadze case, said on January 31 that the commission now has all the recordings made by Mykola Melnychenko in President Leonid Kuchma's office, the Eastern Economist Daily reported. Mr. Shyshkin added that, in the interests of the investigation, the commission will not disclose the content of all the tapes. Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz said earlier that Mr. Melnychenko made 300 hours of recordings over a period of two to three months. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Western envoys concerned about radio

KYIV - The U.S. and British ambassadors and the German chargé d'affaires on January 31 told National Television and Radio Council Chairman Borys Kholod that they are concerned about the fairness of a tender for an FM frequency used by Kyiv's Radio Kontinent, Interfax reported. Kontinent, which rebroadcasts programs from the BBC, Voice of America and Deutsche Welle, is also known for its criticism of the Ukrainian authorities. Missing journalist Heorhii Gongadze was Kontinent's news editor. Kontinent director Serhii Sholokh has accused the Ukrainian government of planning to shut down the station under the pretext of reviewing broadcasting licenses. Mr. Kholod told the envoys that there will be no problems with the retransmission of Western radio stations. He added that Kontinent should apply for a new license as all other Ukrainian broadcasters have done. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Iranian foreign minister in Kyiv

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said after his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi on January 31 that Ukraine is interested in deepening its cooperation with Iran, particularly in the economic sphere, Interfax reported. President Kuchma and his Iranian visitor discussed the joint production of the Ukrainian-designed medium-range AN-140 passenger plane. It is expected that the first test flight of an Iranian-built AN-40 will take place next week during anniversary celebrations of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko said he and Mr. Kharrazi discussed transporting Iranian oil and gas via Ukraine to Europe. "The idea is very attractive as we are trying to diversify sources for energy supplies," Mr. Zlenko said without elaborating. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma not in full control?

KYIV - Political scientist Volodymyr Polokhalo has said President Leonid Kuchma controls only "30 to 40 percent of the situation" in the country, the January 30 issue of Eastern Economist Daily reported. Mr. Polokhalo added that his conclusion is evident from Mr. Kuchma's long-standing desire to dismiss Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and the way this ouster was eventually accomplished. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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