NEWSBRIEFS (01/27/02)

NEWSBRIEFS

U.S. sanctions against Ukraine take effect

KYIV - The previously announced U.S. trade sanctions against Ukraine for its inability to curb compact disc piracy took effect on January 23, despite the fact that the Ukrainian Parliament on January 17 hastily passed a law regulating the production of CDs. UNIAN quoted Kenneth Fairfax, an official from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, as saying that the U.S. authorities received the text of the law on January 21 and are currently analyzing it. Mr. Fairfax said the sanctions may be lifted in time if the law satisfies the United States. He added, however, that the adopted law provides for "insignificant penalties," adding that "they will come as no more than an irritation for those who make millions of dollars annually" from CD piracy, STB Television reported. Under the sanctions, the U.S. will apply higher duties on $75 million worth of metals, shoes and other goods exported from Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma decries U.S. pressure

KYIV - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma told journalists on January 22 that he is inclined to sign the recently passed bill on the production of CDs in Ukraine, Interfax reported. At the same time he said that "no country in the world has the kind of law the U.S. is demanding from us." And he added: "So what is it? Cooperation or simply pressure? I regard this as pressure." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lytvyn expects new political structure

KYIV - Presidential administration head Volodymyr Lytvyn, who leads the For a United Ukraine election bloc, said in Lviv on January 22 that the upcoming parliamentary election should give rise to "a new structure of the political system" in the country, Interfax reported. Mr. Lytvyn added that Ukraine has not yet developed "a civilized party system." In his opinion, out of the 124 parties registered in Ukraine only 11 may claim to have a nationwide character. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tymoshenko vows to break info blockade

KYIV - Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the anti-presidential Forum of National Salvation and the election bloc bearing her name, told journalists on January 21 that she is going "to break the information blockade around the opposition" by meeting voters in regions, Interfax reported. "The authorities do everything to prevent our bloc from electioneering, the only [way out is to hold] meetings with voters," she said. She added that printing houses in Kyiv have recently refused to print the Vechirni Visti and Slovo Batkivschyny newspapers, which are backed by the National Salvation Forum. Ms. Tymoshenko made a written pledge last year not to leave Kyiv in connection with a corruption case conducted against her. In December she filed a lawsuit questioning the legality of the procedure that stripped her of her parliamentary immunity. A Kyiv court has accepted her lawsuit and ruled that law enforcement bodies may not take any actions against her that would violate a deputy's immunity. According to Ms. Tymoshenko, the ruling also means that the Procurator General's Office had no right to demand from her a written pledge to stay in Kyiv. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada seeks probe of Lytvyn car accident

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on January 16 submitted an inquiry to the police and the Procurator General's Office about the accident involving an automobile carrying the head of the presidential administration, Volodymyr Lytvyn, STB Television reported. Lawmakers doubt the official version of the accident, which claims that a car belonging to a pensioner who died in the accident swerved into the wrong lane, causing the crash. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Socialists criticize CEC stance

KYIV - The Socialist Party has said it disagrees with the statement of Central Election Commission head Mykhailo Riabets to the effect that former presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko, who has been residing in the United States for more than a year, cannot be registered as a candidate running on the Socialist Party election list, Interfax reported on January 17. Mr. Riabets said on January 15 that the election law stipulates that only those Ukrainian citizens who have been living in Ukraine for the past five years may be elected to the Verkhovna Rada. The Socialists retorted that, according to the same law, residence in Ukraine means also "staying outside Ukraine's borders in accordance with Ukraine's appropriate international agreements." The Socialists believe that Mr. Melnychenko's U.S. visa is a document envisioned by such "appropriate international agreements." The Socialist Party said Mr. Riabets' stance on Mr. Melnychenko is "preconceived." (RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report)

Airport evacuated after bomb threat

ODESA - Authorities on January 16 evacuated all staff members and passengers from the Odesa international airport after an explosion rocked a cafe near the airport and police received information that there was another bomb in the airport, ICTV Television reported. In addition, a Vienna-bound flight from Odesa was rerouted to Graz, Austria, after a bomb threat was phoned in while the plane was in the air, the Associated Press reported. Austrian Airlines announced that security officials examined the aircraft and luggage but found no explosives. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Accounting Chamber's powers widened

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on January 17 amended Article 98 of the Constitution of Ukraine, widening the powers of the Accounting Chamber, UNIAN reported. According to the amendment, the Accounting Chamber has acquired the right to control not only the use of budget funds but also the composition of state and local budgets' revenues in the section outlining the funding of local state administrations and the executive powers delegated to local authorities. (RFE/RL Newsline)

New law on Cabinet is passed

KYIV -The Verkhovna Rada on January 17 passed a law on the Cabinet of Ministers stipulating that members of the government, by the nature of their activities, are politicians rather than civil servants whose status is described under the civil service law. The law states that the Cabinet reports to the president, but is subordinate and accountable to the Verkhovna Rada. Under the law, a new Cabinet is formed no later than within 60 days of the president's inauguration or the resignation of the previous Cabinet. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv mayor sues over bugged calls

KYIV - Kyiv Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko has filed charges against all those who made public the recording of his telephone conversation with Our Ukraine bloc leader Viktor Yuschenko, New Channel Television reported on January 17. Mr. Omelchenko said he believes electronic and print media are among those who must go on trial together with Dmytro Ponomarchuk from the Ukrainian National Rukh for Unity, who was the first to make the recording public. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Putin on apologies for past wrongs

POZNAN, Poland - While on a visit to Poland, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Poznan that any possible apologies by the Russians and the Poles for wrongdoings of the past will not improve the relations between the two countries, Polish Radio reported. Mr. Putin was apparently referring to the expectation voiced in some Polish media that he would apologize to the Poles during his visit for the Katyn massacre. The Russian president said making apologies for the past could give rise to "a balance sheet of who apologized how many times." And he added: "I think it would be more objective to note that we see the problems of our history and that we shall draw conclusions from this. We have great respect for the Polish people, we see all the problems of our past, and of course we shall draw conclusions for the future." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine seeks equal job opportunities

KYIV - Ukrainian officials have proposed that seasonal job opportunities in Hungary extended to all Romanian citizens be offered to all Ukrainian citizens as well, Nepszabadsag reported on January 19. Citing reliable sources in Kyiv, the newspaper wrote that Ukrainian members of the Ukrainian-Hungarian intergovernmental joint committee made the proposal at the committee's last session. A compromise was reportedly agreed upon, under which Ukraine will request that all inhabitants of the Subcarpathian region, rather than just ethnic Hungarians, be entitled to the job opportunities made available under Hungary's Status Law. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tax police chief halts audits of media

KYIV - Last week, State Tax Administration (STA) head Mykola Azarov ordered a ban on government tax audits of media companies during the election campaign, Interfax reported. Critics of the Azarov-led agency have often complained in the past that the STA is used as a tool to harass media critical of the government. Moreover, Mr. Azarov announced that he will not run for Parliament, as "the jobs of STA chief and national deputy are incompatible." (RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report)

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