NEWSBRIEFS (02/10/02)

NEWSBRIEFS

Rada wants investigation of Kuchma

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on February 5 voted to ask Procurator General Mykhailo Potebenko to open an investigation against President Leonid Kuchma, lawmaker Yukhym Zviahilskyi, and former Cabinet of Ministers member Anatolii Lobov for "the embezzlement and waste of state funds" equal to 12 million German marks ($5.3 million), UNIAN reported. The motion was proposed by lawmakers Hryhorii Omelchenko, Anatolii Yermak and Viktor Shyshkin. The Parliament also supported another motion by these deputies to investigate whether President Kuchma violated the Constitution of Ukraine by not signing the law on parliamentary temporary investigation commissions passed in December 2000. According to the Parliament, Mr. Kuchma vetoed the law too late, overstepping the constitutional 15-day term in which he has the right to either sign or veto legislation after receiving it from the Verkhovna Rada. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine to form special ops forces

KYIV - Lt. Gen. Mykola Palchuk, the first deputy chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces, told journalists on February 4 that Ukraine is to form special operations forces by 2005 within the front-line defense forces, ITAR-TASS reported. Gen. Palchuk said the main purpose of the special operations forces will be to carry out reconnaissance, sabotage and special operations inside enemy territory, as well as to be involved in fighting terrorism. He also said that a new draft of Ukraine's military doctrine does not provide for conducting combat actions along the entire perimeter of the country's border, unlike the previous doctrine of 1993. "This is impossible and not expedient, both from the economic point of view and in terms of defense sufficiency," he added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Chornovil's sons in rival camps

KYIV - The coming parliamentary ballot will see a confrontation between Taras Chornovil and Andrii Chornovil, the sons of Rukh charismatic leader Vyacheslav Chornovil, who died in an automobile crash in 1999. Taras Chornovil belongs to the Reforms and Order Party (a component of Viktor Yuschenko's Our Ukraine) and is running in a single-seat constituency in Lviv Oblast. Andrii Chornovil is No. 3 on the list of the National Rukh of Ukraine election bloc. This bloc was established by the National Rukh of Ukraine for Unity (led by Bohdan Boiko), a splinter group from the previously united and influential National Rukh of Ukraine led by Vyacheslav Chornovil. The two other Rukh factions - the National Rukh of Ukraine (led by Hennadii Udovenko) and the Ukrainian National Rukh (headed by Yurii Kostenko) - are part of the Our Ukraine bloc. (RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report)

Officials seeking office urged to take leave

KYIV - Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh on February 1 pledged to see to it that all government officials seeking parliamentary mandates in single-seat constituencies as well as "a maximum number" of those officials running as party-list candidates will take leave during the election campaign, Interfax reported. Mr. Kinakh noted that the election law does not include such a requirement, but added that he will insist on this measure in order to avoid possible accusations that government officials use "administrative leverage" to help their election bids. He did not say whether he himself would take such leave. Mr. Kinakh is running on the list of the For a United Ukraine election bloc. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lytvyn rejects involvement in tapegate

KYIV - Presidential administration head Volodymyr Lytvyn, who leads the For a United Ukraine election bloc, said on February 1 that he has no connection to the "tape scandal" provoked by former presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko, Interfax reported. Mr. Melnychenko's secret recordings from the president's office, which were made public by Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz in 2000, suggested that President Leonid Kuchma, former Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Kravchenko and Mr. Lytvyn might have been involved in the disappearance of journalist Heorhii Gongadze. Most recently Mr. Moroz made public five questions about the "tape scandal" that he said he would like to pose to Mr. Lytvyn in their anticipated public debate on radio or television. "Let Moroz elucidate this problem with Melnychenko or the Procurator General's Office, while I am ready for debates on election programs," Mr. Lytvyn responded. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tymoshenko, Medvedchuk debate

KYIV - Former Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the election bloc bearing her name, and former Vice-Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Viktor Medvedchuk, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (United) election bloc, sparred in a discussion broadcast live by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on the evening of January 23. The politicians touched upon their personal achievements in politics, the Land Code adopted last year, gas accords with Russia and the record of Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko's Cabinet, among other issues. Asked about her contribution to the well-being of the Ukrainian people, Ms. Tymoshenko said she managed to replenish the state budget with 10 billion hrv ($1.88 billion according to the current exchange rate) when she served as a vice prime minister responsible for fuel and energy issues in the Yuschenko Cabinet. In turn, Mr. Medvedchuk said he has served as a lawmaker for the past eight years and worked on legislation "that is changing Ukraine." (RFE/RL Newsline)

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