NEWSBRIEFS (08/05/01)

NEWSBRIEFS

Kyiv seeks explanation of Luzhkov's claim

KYIV - The Foreign Affairs Ministry of Ukraine asked on July 31 for an explanation from Moscow of a statement by Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov that Crimea is not a part of Ukraine, the DPA wire service reported. Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Serhii Borodenkov said in Kyiv that "Relations between Russia and Ukraine have been good up to this point," but he added that "we would prefer that the Russian side explain such behavior." Mr. Luzhkov told reporters in Crimea during a visit last week: "I believe that Crimea is Russian land. It has always been Russian and never belonged to Ukraine." Crimea was part of the RSFSR from the early 1920s until 1957, when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev handed it over to the Ukrainian SSR. Mr. Luzhkov had made several previous statements in the past, many of which were dismissed by the Kremlin as a statement by private citizen. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Oil and gas discovered in Black Sea

KYIV - Mykola Ilnytskyi, head of the state-owned Chornomornaftohaz joint stock company (a part of the Naftohaz Ukrainy monopoly), told Interfax on July 3 that an offshore drilling rig struck a commercial amount of oil and gas near Zmiinyi island (Serpents Island), some 55 kilometers east of the Danube delta. "It is clear for us even today that this region of the Black Sea is primarily oil-bearing," Mr. Ilnytskyi added. The discovery of the oil and gas deposit may add heat to Ukrainian-Romanian talks on the demarcation of the continental shelf around Serpents Island. The island was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1946 and subsequently turned into a military fortress. While not agreeing to return the island to Romania, Ukraine pledged to deploy no "aggressive weapons" on it and agreed to consider it "uninhabited," which, under international maritime legislation, means that Kyiv cannot claim an exclusive economic zone around it. (RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report)

World Bank likely to release loan

KYIV- Luca Barbone, the World Bank's top official in Ukraine and Belarus, said on July 27 in Kyiv that the bank is likely to approve a $250 million tranche of a loan to Ukraine this year once the International Monetary Fund resumes its assistance, the Associated Press reported. Mr. Barbone said that the IMF approval is expected to take place very soon, adding, "so I'm pretty confident that we should not have a problem." Mr. Barbone arrived in Ukraine on July 22 and ended his talks with Ukrainian officials on July 27. He said the World Bank is likely to provide a $150 million disbursement in October and $100 million the following month. This tranche is part of a $750 million loan program to Ukraine announced last year. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv agrees to Gongadze's mother's wish

KYIV - The Ukrainian government said on July 27 that it will not bury the decapitated body of Internet journalist Heorhii Gongadze until his mother agrees to do so, Reuters reported. Although independent DNA tests have shown a greater than 99 percent chance that the body is that of the missing journalist, his mother, Lesia Gongadze, is not absolutely certain it is her son. The Procurator General's Office had given a Kyiv morgue permission last month to bury the body. Vice Minister of Health Anatolii Kartysh said the ministry is prepared to help conduct a new DNA test with foreign experts to help convince Mrs. Gongadze that the corpse is indeed her son's. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine to halt arms sales to Macedonia

FOROS, Ukraine - Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh said in the Crimean resort of Foros on July 31 that Ukraine will stop selling arms to Macedonia, reported the DPA news agency, citing Ukrainian news sources. Mr. Kinakh made the statement after meeting with Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy and security chief. Foreign Affairs Ministry State Secretary Yurii Serheyev said at a Kyiv press conference that the decision to suspend weapons sales to Macedonia is a sovereign decision made by the Ukrainian government and is not due to EU pressure. A request for a halt in arms transfers to the Balkan country was made by U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice during her July 24-25 visit to Kyiv and again by Mr. Solana as he began his five-day visit to Ukraine on July 30. Ukraine has sold 10 helicopters and four Su-25 attack planes to Macedonia this year. (RFE/RL Newsline)

NATO-sponsored exercises in conclude

LVIV - More than 1,100 troops from 20 countries participated in NATO's Peace Shield 2001 military exercises that took place at the Yavoriv training grounds near Lviv on July 16-27, the Associated Press reported. The program included computer training and field maneuvers for two multinational brigades, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported. Troops from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Greece, Italy, Kazakstan, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, the United States, Turkey, Sweden and Ukraine took part. (RFE/RL Newsline)

U.S. copter certified for use in Ukraine

KYIV - The Foreign Commercial Service of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine hosted a ceremony on July 24 to announce that an American-made helicopter has been certified for use and sale in Ukraine. The certification of the Schweizer two-seat aircraft (models 300C and 300B) was provided by Ukraviatsia, the Ukrainian Department for Aviation Transport. The Schweizer is the first Western aircraft to be certified in Ukraine; the helicopter is built by the leading manufacturer of light helicopters, the Schweizer Aircraft Corp. in Elmira, N.Y. It is used primarily for patrolling, reconnaissance work and spraying crops. The helicopter's authorized distributor in Ukraine and other NIS countries is Novecopter SVL (UK). (U.S. Embassy in Kyiv)

'X-Files' producer plans series on KGB

MOSCOW - Bob van Ronkel, a producer of the popular U.S. television program "The X-Files," has opened talks with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) about the possibility of creating a Russian television series on some of the most spectacular KGB operations, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported on July 27. The paper said the FSB is enthusiastic about this plan because it could help to improve the image of the KGB in the minds of Russians and others. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma signs law on status of lawmaker

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has signed a bill introducing amendments to the law on the status of Ukraine's national deputies, Interfax reported on July 26. Mr. Kuchma signed the document after the Verkhovna Rada overrode his veto on the bill earlier this month. However, the president is going to ask the Constitutional Court to rule on whether the bill conforms with the Constitution of Ukraine. According to Mr. Kuchma, many of the bill's provisions contradict Ukraine's basic law - in particular one that bans police from launching investigations of national deputies who committed a crime. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Three presidents meet at Slavic fest

VITSEBSK - The presidents of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine - Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Vladimir Putin and Leonid Kuchma, respectively - met for informal talks in Vitsebsk on July 25. Mr. Lukashenka told journalists that they discussed international problems and issues of mutual interest, including the recent G-7 plus Russia summit in Genoa and U.S. proposals for a missile defense system. The three presidents also attended the gala concert of the Slavic Bazaar musical festival in Vitsebsk. The well-publicized visit of Presidents Putin and Kuchma to Belarus was seen by many Belarusian commentators as propagandistic support for Mr. Lukashenka with the approach of presidential elections in September. Belapan and RFE/RL's Belarusian Service reported that during the opening ceremony of the Slavic Bazaar, Mr. Lukashenka's bodyguards beat an opposition activist, Andrey Kanoprykau of the Young Front, into unconsciousness after he unfurled a white-red-white banner and tried to throw opposition leaflets into the crowd. (RFE/RL Newsline)

30 percent of Ukrainians want Slavic state

KYIV - In a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in June, among 10,475 people, 29.6 percent of respondents said Ukraine should unite in a single state with Russia and Belarus, Interfax reported on July 26. In a similar poll conducted in December 1997, the number of respondents opting for a single state of the three Slavic nations was greater by 3 percent. The latest poll also revealed that 57.9 percent of respondents believe "Ukraine and Russia should be independent but friendly states, with an open border, without visas and customs houses," while 10.7 percent said Ukraine should maintain the same border and visa regime with Russia as it does with other states. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Melnychenko seeks proper investigation

KYIV - Ukrainian legislator Oleksander Zhyr told journalists on July 25 that former presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko will pass the secret recordings he made in President Leonid Kuchma's office in 2000 to Western experts if Ukraine fails to organize an appropriate investigation into the "tape scandal," Interfax reported. Mr. Zhyr said he recently met with Mr. Melnychenko in the United States, where Mr. Melnychenko told him that he has not passed his original recordings to anybody, and therefore he is not a traitor or a defector. According to Mr. Zhyr, Mr. Melnychenko wants the authenticity of his recordings to be confirmed by a commission formed in Ukraine. Mr. Zhyr also suggested that Mr. Melnychenko has recordings implicating top Ukrainian officials in illegal trade in weapons. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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