NEWSBRIEFS (02/03/02)

NEWSBRIEFS

Pro-presidential bloc to become party

KYIV - Volodymyr Lytvyn, the head of the presidential administration and the For a United Ukraine election bloc, said on January 29 that his bloc will transform itself into a party. "All members of the [For a United Ukraine] coordination board [have concluded] that we have to implement in practice the idea of setting up a political structure. We will tackle this in parallel with the election. Since we are associated with the party of power, think of it as a pro-presidential or presidential party," Ukrainian Television quoted Mr. Lytvyn as saying. The For a United Ukraine bloc consists of the Agrarian Party, the National Democratic Party, the Labor Ukraine Party, the Party of the Regions, and the Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tymoshenko hospitalized after car crash

KYIV - Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the anti-presidential National Salvation Forum and the election bloc bearing her name, was hospitalized with head and chest injuries after her automobile collided with another in Kyiv on January 29, Interfax reported. The accident occurred when Ms. Tymoshenko was on her way to the Kyiv Appeals Court. Oleksander Turchynov, a leader of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, told UNIAN that, according to doctors, Ms. Tymoshenko's condition is "serious." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Court restricts Tymoshenko's movement

KYIV - The Kyiv Appeals Court on January 29 rescinded a previous decision by the Pecherskyi District Court in Kyiv, which ruled that law enforcement bodies may not take any actions against Ms. Tymoshenko that would violate a deputy's immunity. This ruling allowed Ms. Tymoshenko to defy her former written pledge to the Procurator General's Office not to leave Kyiv, and to make election campaign trips to outlying areas. The court's decision restored the restriction on her freedom of movement as well as legal proceedings in connection with a corruption case against her. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Melnychenko threatened with arrest

KYIV - Deputy Procurator General Oleksii Bahanets said on January 24 that former presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko will be arrested if he returns to Ukraine from his asylum in the U.S. to participate in the parliamentary election campaign, Interfax reported. Mr. Melnychenko was proposed as a candidate on the Socialist Party's election list. Mr. Bahanets noted that prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation against Mr. Melnychenko, who is charged with abusing his office when he served as President Leonid Kuchma's security officer, and with divulging state secrets. Mr. Bahanets added that if Mr. Melnychenko is elected to the Verkhovna Rada, the Procurator General's Office will appeal to the Verkhovna Rada to strip him of his legislative immunity. (RFE/RL Newsline)

CEC refuses to register Melnychenko

KYIV - The Central Election Commission has refused to register former presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko as a candidate on the Socialist Party's election list, Ukrainian media reported on January 26. The commission said Mr. Melnychenko, who is currently residing in the U.S., cannot be viewed as a permanent resident of Ukraine, which is a requirement of the election law for parliamentary candidates. Yosyp Vinskyi of the Socialist Party disagreed with the ruling, saying that the election law allows anybody staying abroad under Ukraine's international agreements to become a parliamentary candidate. He recalled that in 1998 the Central Election Commission registered businessman Yukhym Zviahilskyi, who had lived in Israel for more than two years. "The Central Election Commission interprets this provision differently for different people. I see this as an element of political persecution against our candidate who is running for parliament on the list of the Socialist Party," Mr. Vinskyi said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Melnychenko: officials afraid of my return

KYIV - Former presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko said on January 28 that the Central Election Commission (CEC) refused to register him as a parliamentary candidate because CEC Chairman Mykhailo Riabets, President Leonid Kuchma, presidential Chief of Staff Volodymyr Lytvyn and others are "terribly afraid" that he will return to Ukraine having parliamentary immunity, UNIAN reported. Mr. Melnychenko added that if he were to arrive in Ukraine with parliamentary immunity, the Procurator General's Office would have to launch a criminal investigation of the above-mentioned individuals regarding the case of murdered journalist Heorhii Gongadze, as well as other corruption cases. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Some 500 observers expected for election

KYIV - Central Election Commission Secretary Yaroslav Davydovych said on January 25 that his commission expects that at least 500 international observers, including 280 from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, will monitor the parliamentary election. (RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report)

Ukraine to discuss sanctions with U.S.

KYIV - Vice Prime Minister Vasyl Rohovyi and Finance Minister Ihor Yushko are to hold consultations on the U.S. trade sanctions against Ukraine with U.S. officials during the World Economic Forum which begins in New York on January 31, the Associated Press reported on January 24. Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko told Interfax the same day that Kyiv is currently "clarifying" the reaction of the U.S. side to Ukraine's law against CD piracy that was passed earlier this month. The U.S. trade sanctions over what the U.S. sees as Ukraine's inadequate measures to curb CD piracy took effect on January 23. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine in trade war with Washington?

KYIV - Agricultural Minister Ivan Kyrylenko said that last week's ban on U.S. poultry exports to Ukraine was introduced following a demand from sanitary services and has nothing to do with the U.S. sanctions imposed on Ukraine over CD piracy. "The problem consists in the difference between Ukrainian and U.S. veterinary legislation," Mr. Kyrylenko told Ukrainian Television on January 27. Mr. Kyrylenko added that Kyiv needs full information from U.S. producers on preservatives they add to poultry products exported to Ukraine. The same day, Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh vowed to defend national interests in trade with the U.S. "We shall be doing our utmost to ensure that our partners, including the U.S., clearly understand that we are ready for compromise. We are ready to seek optimal solutions but there is a boundary that neither the Ukrainian president nor the Cabinet of Ministers will ever overstep - its name is the national interest of the state," Ukrainian Television quoted him as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Minister pessimistic over U.S. sanctions

KYIV - Economy Minister Oleksander Shlapak told ICTV Television on January 24 that the U.S. sanctions over CD piracy will cost Ukraine $51 million and "thousands of jobs." Mr. Shlapak added that U.S. trade sanctions from the Soviet era, which are still in force, suggest that there will be no swift end to the sanctions even if Ukraine fully complies with the demands of the international music industry. "The [Jackson-Vanik] amendment was passed by the [U.S.] Senate in 1974. It was aimed against the Soviet Union for violating the right of its Jewish citizens to emigrate. But this problem has long been solved in Ukraine, while the amendment is still in place. This shows how conservative the Americans are on economic issues," Mr. Shlapak noted. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Moody's raises Ukraine's ratings

LONDON - The rating agency Moody's on January 24 upgraded Ukraine's foreign currency ceiling for bonds and bank deposits, citing a sharp improvement in the country's macroeconomic indicators over the past two years, the Financial Times reported. Moody's raised the country's rating for bonds by two notches from Caa1 to B2 and the ceiling for bank deposits by one notch from Caa1 to B3. The move reflects the country's strong exports, tighter budgetary policies, reduction in some arrears and growth in foreign exchange reserves. (RFE/RL Newsline)

| Home Page |