NEWSBRIEFS (04/21/02)

NEWSBRIEFS

CEC releases official party results

KYIV - The Central Election Commission on April 15 released the official results of the March 31 parliamentary election in the poll in which 225 seats were contested under a proportional party-list system, UNIAN reported. Our Ukraine obtained 23.57 percent of the vote (70 seats); the Communist Party 19.98 percent (59 seats); For a United Ukraine, 11.77 percent (35 seats); the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, 7.26 percent (22 seats); the Socialist Party, 6.87 percent (20 seats); and the Social Democratic Party (United), 6.27 percent (19 seats). (RFE/RL Newsline).

Alternative vote count results differ

KYIV - According to an alternative vote count of Ukraine's March 31 parliamentary elections conducted by the For Fair Elections committee, Our Ukraine obtained 25.04 percent of the vote; the Communist Party, 21.2 percent; For a United Ukraine, 9.4 percent; the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, 8.6 percent; the Socialist Party, 7.9 percent; and the Social Democratic Party (United), 6.3 percent, Interfax reported on April 15. Yulia Tymoshenko said For Fair Elections - which was formed by the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, Our Ukraine, the Communist Party and the Socialist Party - counted votes as they were recorded in official protocols from 97 percent of Ukraine's polling stations. Compared to the alternative vote count, the official results show a higher gain for For a United Ukraine and lower gains for all the other parties. Ms. Tymoshenko claimed that while vote-rigging in the election took place, its scale was "significantly smaller than that planned by the authorities." (RFE/RL Newsline).

Kyiv denies trading arms with Baghdad

KYIV - Serhii Borodinkov, press service chief at Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry, told journalists on April 16 that "Ukraine has not sold, is not selling and does not plan to sell any weapons to Iraq," adding that the Ukrainian leadership has not been involved in any illegal arms deals with Iraq, the UNIAN news service reported. Mr. Borodinkov's statement comes in the wake of recent media reports alleging that in 2000 President Leonid Kuchma approved a sale of $100 million worth of radar systems to Iraq in contravention of U.N. sanctions. (RFE/RL Newsline).

Kuchma accused of selling radar system

KYIV - The Ukrainska Pravda website on April 15 published a report by two journalists from the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity accusing Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma of the sale of "Kolchuha" radar systems worth $100 million to Iraq in contravention of United Nations sanctions. The journalists claim to have obtained access to a secretly taped conversation between Mr. Kuchma and Ukrspetseksport arms-trade company head Valerii Malev, in which the president reportedly authorized selling such radar systems, shipping them secretly into Iraq, and sending Ukrainian experts to assemble the systems on the spot. The operation was reportedly supervised by former Security Service of Ukraine Chief Leonid Derkach. The conversation between Messrs. Kuchma and Malev was secretly taped by former presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko on July 10, 2000. Mr. Malev died in an automobile accident last month. According to the DPA news agency, Mr. Melnychenko testified before a grand jury in the United States and claimed to have evidence that President Kuchma ordered and personally controlled deliveries of "Kolchuha" radars to Iraq. (RFE/RL Newsline).

U.N.: no evidence of arms sales to Iraq

UNITED NATIONS - Accusations recently appeared in the Ukrainian media that Ukraine, and in particular President Leonid Kuchma, were involved in the illegal sales of arms to Iraq. Since the implementation of United Nations sanctions in 1990, Iraq is forbidden to receive conventional weapons and components to make them, including those that can have peacetime applications, but can also be used in warfare. Accusations against Mr. Kuchma were leveled by Oleksander Zhyr, chairman of the parliamentary committee investigating the disappearance of Heorhii Gongadze. Two U.N. structures are mandated to monitor sanctions activity against Iraq: the U.N. Iraqi Sanctions Committee and the U.N. Monitoring, Inspection and Verification Commission (UNMOVIC). The UNIAN news service reported on March 30 that Dzahdizh Kunzhul, deputy head of the U.N. Iraqi Sanctions Committee, noted that his committee has no information about any delivery of weapons from Ukraine to Iraq. Soon thereafter, Dr. Hans Blix, executive director of UNMOVIC, was interviewed by Svoboda Editor-in-Chief Irene Jarosewich, who asked if there is evidence that Ukrainian leaders knowingly, directly sold arms to Iraq. Dr. Blix responded: "there is no evidence." (Svoboda)

Zhyr says Kuchma sells arms to Iraq

KYIV - Oleksander Zhyr, the head of the temporary parliamentary commission dealing with the murder of journalist Heorhii Gongadze, told the Ukrainska Pravda website on March 12 that President Leonid Kuchma is responsible for selling $100 million worth of weapons to Iraq in contravention of the 1990 United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 661. "President Kuchma personally authorized this [weapons] supply, and this is confirmed in his conversation with [Valerii] Malev," Mr. Zhyr said, adding that his commission has a recording of this conversation made secretly in President Kuchma's office. Mr. Malev, who died in an automobile accident on March 6, was the head of Ukrspetseksport, a state-run company trading in arms and military equipment. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President urges post-election stability ...

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma told Reuters on April 11 that he wants Ukrainian politicians to put aside personal ambitions and work with him to create an economically thriving Ukraine. "I want to see a Parliament creating political stability in the country, to see the Parliament as the driving force behind the country's development, instead of being a debating hall," Mr. Kuchma said. He added that he wants to go down in history as a leader who built a strong democratic country out of nothing. "Now there is a chance of stability in Ukraine, but our country's image has been damaged over the last few years," the president said. He hinted that he still has time to secure a legacy as the father of Ukraine before his second term ends in 2004, according to Reuters. (RFE/RL Newsline).

... remains skeptical about coalition

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma told journalists on April 12 that he foresees only insignificant changes in the current Cabinet of Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh, UNIAN reported. He explained that the Cabinet's final composition will depend on a future parliamentary majority, adding, "We will select some figures from the [parliamentary] configuration." Referring to a possible coalition government in Ukraine, he said he is ready "to view the creation of a coalition government on the first day after this provision is introduced in the Constitution of Ukraine." But he added, "Where is the guarantee that a newly created coalition government will not fall apart after several months?" (RFE/RL Newsline).

Two top blocs discuss alliance

KYIV - Serhii Tyhypko and Roman Bezsmertnyi - political coordinators of the For a United Ukraine and Our Ukraine election blocs, respectively - have discussed programmatic principles on which their blocs could form an alliance, UNIAN reported on April 12. Mr. Tyhypko told 1+1 Television the previous day that he and Mr. Bezsmertnyi had exchanged views on the positions of both blocs regarding "the filling of posts in the Cabinet of Ministers, the Verkhovna Rada and oblast administrations." Mr. Tyhypko said the meeting was intended to prepare future talks between the blocs' leaders, Volodymyr Lytvyn and Viktor Yushchenko. Mr. Tyhypko believes that the appointment of a prime minister will be the most essential issue in those talks. "Everybody understands that this post is of interest for those aspiring to run in the presidential election. And everybody understands that this springboard is of extreme importance in Ukraine," Mr. Tyhypko stated. (RFE/RL Newsline).

Yulia: "workable" majority impossible

KYIV - Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the eponymous election bloc, told journalists on April 15 that a "real, workable majority" in the newly elected Verkhovna Rada cannot be created, Interfax reported. Ms. Tymoshenko said there are no "basic principles" on which such a majority can be formed. "We can only speak about a situational majority," she added. She appealed to deputies elected in single-mandate constituencies not to join the pro-presidential For a United Ukraine bloc. She also announced that her parliamentary caucus will initiate an impeachment procedure against President Leonid Kuchma in the new Parliament. (RFE/RL Newsline).

Newly elected deputy released from jail

KYIV - A court in Kyiv on April 12 ordered the release of Andrii Shkil, the leader of the Ukrainian National Assembly, who was elected to the Verkhovna Rada from a single-mandate constituency in the Lviv Oblast, UNIAN reported. Mr. Shkil had been in jail for more than a year, facing charges of organizing violent clashes with police during an anti-presidential protest in Kyiv on March 9, 2001. (RFE/RL Newsline).

Anti-Kuchma deputy charges vote rigging

KYIV - Lawmaker Oleksander Zhyr, the chairman of the temporary parliamentary commission investigating the murder of journalist Heorhii Gongadze, has appealed to the Supreme Court to invalidate the election in single-mandate District 35 (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast), UNIAN reported on April 11. According to intermediate results during the vote count, Mr. Zhyr (supported by Our Ukraine) appeared to be winning the election in the constituency, but the protocol of the district election commission stated that another candidate outpaced Mr. Zhyr by 720 votes. Mr. Zhyr's proxies passed to the Supreme Court a videotape that reportedly shows representatives of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast administration instructing the heads of polling station commissions in the constituency to rewrite their protocols to Mr. Zhyr's disadvantage. Our Ukraine said in a statement that the ballot in District 35 represented a "mockery of the very idea of democratic elections." (RFE/RL Newsline).

Supreme Court rules on Zhyr appeal

KYIV - The Supreme Court has invalidated the election results in eight polling stations of District 35 and obliged the Central Election Commission to recount votes in this constituency without taking into account ballots cast in those eight stations, UNIAN reported on April 15. The court ruling followed a complaint by proxies of lawmaker Oleksander Zhyr, the chairman of the temporary parliamentary commission investigating the murder of journalist Heorhii Gongadze, who wanted the election to be invalidated in the entire constituency. Mr. Zhyr's proxies claimed that the election commissions in those eight polling stations rigged the vote results against Mr. Zhyr. They said Mr. Zhyr has a good chance to be re-elected to the Verkhovna Rada as a result of the court ruling. (RFE/RL Newsline).

CEC questions results in two districts

KYIV - The Central Election Commission (CEC) on April 10 canceled the decision of the election commission in District 18 (Vinnytsia Oblast), stating that Svitlana Melnyk (Socialist Party) won the parliamentary election in that constituency, UNIAN reported. The CEC obliged the district election commission to pass a new decision on the election results after reviewing all complaints regarding the ballot in the constituency. The CEC also annulled the decision of the election commission in District 119 (Lviv Oblast) giving the parliamentary seat to Our Ukraine candidate Oleksander Hudyma. The CEC's ruling followed a complaint from a candidate from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc who said the protocols handed by the district commission to election monitors differ from those passed to the CEC. (RFE/RL Newsline).

For a United Ukraine expands

CHERKASY - Six lawmakers of the seven elected in single-mandate constituencies in Cherkasy Oblast (central Ukraine) have declared their intention to join the pro-presidential For a United Ukraine parliamentary caucus, UNIAN reported on April 11, quoting the Cherkasy Oblast administration spokeswoman. The six reportedly made up their minds following a meeting with President Leonid Kuchma on April 9. (RFE/RL Newsline).

Our Ukraine loses Zaporizhia seat

ZAPORIZHIA - The Appeals Court in Zaporizhia has invalidated the election results in District 82 where, according to a preliminary report, the seat was won by Oleh Oleksenko from Our Ukraine, UNIAN reported on April 15. The court ruling is not subject to appeal. (RFE/RL Newsline).

EU notes democratic progress

KYIV - The European Union said in a statement released on April 10 that Ukraine's parliamentary election showed progress toward respecting international standards despite "major deficiencies" in the way the poll was conducted, Reuters reported. The statement expressed hope that Ukraine's newly elected Parliament will strengthen democratic reforms in the country. (RFE/RL Newsline).

Denmark closes Embassy in Ukraine

KYIV - The Embassy of Denmark in Ukraine will be closed down on June 1, UNIAN reported on April 10, and the embassy will stop issuing visas on April 15. Ukrainians must now apply to the Danish missions in Warsaw or Moscow for Danish visas. The Danish government is closing 10 embassies in various countries in an effort to reduce budget expenditures. (RFE/RL Newsline).

Russia to give up $170 M for Ukraine?

MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasianov told journalists in Moscow on April 10 that the Russian Federation, because of "strategic considerations," may stop collecting value-added tax (VAT) on Russian imports of energy resources to Ukraine, UNIAN reported. According to Mr. Kasianov, after canceling VAT on Russian gas imports to Ukraine, the Russian budget could lose revenues amounting to some $170 million a year. He added, however, that such a move may be viewed "proceeding not from purely economic interests, but from strategic partnership interests and geopolitical interaction" of both countries. "The Russian government can give up this $170 million, and I think that we will be able to survive [without this sum]," Mr. Kasianov said, adding that such a cancellation is possible only if there is "adequate movement on both sides." Earlier the same day, the Russian prime minister held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Anatolii Kinakh. Prime Minister Kinakh told journalists that next month Ukraine might adopt a decision on joining the Eurasian Economic Community - currently composed of Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakstan. (RFE/RL Newsline).

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