NEWSBRIEFS (05/05/02)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukraine arrests suspected Syrian terrorist

KYIV - The Security Service of Ukraine has arrested a Syrian national suspected of links to international terrorist organizations, New Channel Television reported on April 24. The Security Service accuses the Syrian, a former student of Kyiv University, of laundering $28 million hrv ($5.3 million), converting this sum into U.S. dollars, and sending it to the Middle East. The money-laundering operation was conducted with the use of fly-by-night companies registered in Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk under fictitious names. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Zhirinovsky wants CIS renamed USSR

MOSCOW - Taking the floor in the Duma on April 24, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Duma vice-chairman and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, proposed renaming the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) the Union of Free Sovereign Republics, the abbreviation of which is identical with that of the Soviet Union (USSR), RIA-Novosti, nns.ru, and izvestiya.ru reported on April 24. Mr. Zhirinovsky also suggested restoring the Tsarist-era names of some cities: Ulyanovsk to Simbirsk, Kirovo to Vyatka, and Volgograd to Tsaritsyn. Finally, he proposed redenominating the ruble. According to Izvestiya, the Duma voted in favor of Mr. Zhirinovsky's proposals and asked its appropriate committees to make the necessary inquiries to the CIS legislative bodies, the Russian government, and the Finance Ministry. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Customs nabs heroin in Odesa

ODESA - Ukrainian customs authorities seized 204 kilograms of smuggled heroin on April 16 at the southern port city of Odesa, the Ukrinform news agency reported. Customs officials said it was the largest-ever seizure of heroin in Ukraine. The value of the heroin on the international market was estimated at some $20 million. After inspecting a truck, customs officers discovered the heroin concealed in a fake wall inside the vehicle. The truck arrived in Odesa by ferry from Turkey, and was en route to Western countries through Poland. (RFE/RL Crime and Corruption Watch)

Four blocs want new election law ...

KYIV - Four forces represented in the newly elected Verkhovna Rada - Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, the Socialist Party and the Communist Party - have issued a joint statement declaring their intention to change the election law to allow the entire Parliament to be elected from party lists, with seats distributed on a proportional basis, UNIAN reported on April 25. The statement also publicized their intention to introduce "mechanisms" that could enable a parliamentary majority to form the government. Oleksander Turchynov from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc commented that the joint declaration is not tantamount to the creation of a parliamentary coalition by the four signatories, which currently control the majority of votes necessary to pass legislation in the Verkhovna Rada. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... see 'deformation' of parliamentary vote

KYIV - Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, the Socialist Party and the Communist Party slammed the authorities for an ongoing "behind-the-scenes revision" of the parliamentary ballot. The statement said the authorities, by way of bribery and intimidation, are trying to ensure support for the "ruling clique" among deputies who won their seats on independent tickets in single-mandate constituencies. "The basic task of all healthy forces in society is to prevent the deformation of the election results and the transformation of the parliament into a decorative body whose main function will be carrying out orders of the ruling clique," the statement read. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Vote invalidated in two constituencies

KYIV - The Central Election Commission has invalidated the March 31 election in District 18 (Vinnytsia Oblast) and District 201 (Cherkasy Oblast), the UNIAN news service reported on April 25. According to former decisions by the relevant lower-level election commissions, the ballot in District 18 was won by Socialist Party candidate Svitlana Melnyk and in District 201 by Our Ukraine candidate Mykola Bulatetskyi. Meanwhile, the election saga of Crimean speaker Leonid Hrach took a new turn on April 25 when a district court in Symferopol ruled that the ballot in Mr. Hrach's constituency was invalid, and subsequently canceled his registration as a deputy of the Crimean Supreme Council. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Zlenko nixes joining Eurasian community

KYIV - Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko said on April 25 that Ukraine has chosen its path of integration with the European Union and cannot simultaneously be a member of any similar union, UNIAN reported. Mr. Zlenko added that he fully supports the statement of Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry official Oleksander Chalyi, who said earlier this week that Ukraine cannot simultaneously integrate with the EU and the Eurasian Economic Community (Russia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Belarus). Russia's Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin called Mr. Chalyi an "obtuse man," and said, "Ukraine has not been invited to the EU thus far, while the Eurasian Economic Community is today's reality." 1+1 Television quoted Mr. Zlenko as saying, "Ukraine chooses the union it prefers. This is the EU. Of course, I think Viktor Stepanovich [Chernomyrdin] said this at the spur of the moment and probably did not completely understand the comments made by our state secretary, Oleksander Chalyi." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Presidents agree on necropolis' opening

IVANO-FRANKIVSK - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and his Polish, counterpart Aleksander Kwasniewski, met on April 27 at a health resort in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast where they discussed oil- and gas-pipeline projects, as well as European integration issues, Ukrainian and Polish media reported. However, the only specific result of the meeting was the two presidents' announcements that the Polish military cemetery in Lviv, the so-called Orleta (Eaglets) Cemetery, will be ceremonially opened on May 21. The renovated necropolis, which houses the remains of Polish soldiers and volunteers who died in fighting against Ukrainians in 1918-1919, has been a contentious issue in Polish-Ukrainian relations for several years. Its official opening has been repeatedly rescheduled. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko lays blame for economic woes

KYIV - Our Ukraine bloc leader Viktor Yushchenko has said the political forces that voted him out of the post of prime minister a year ago "are responsible for the wasted potential of that government," the UNIAN news agency reported on April 27. "It was only an adventurous scheme by certain political forces, in particular the United Social Democratic Party, that led to the dismissal of a pragmatic Ukrainian government," Mr. Yushchenko added. Speaking about the current economic situation, he noted that the upward momentum the new government inherited from its predecessor has already been exhausted. According to Mr. Yushchenko, the economy faces stagnation, growth figures have plummeted by almost two-thirds, a shortfall in budget revenues has been persisting for 10 months now, and privatization has almost ground to a halt. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Poll reveals top presidential contender

KYIV - A poll conducted by the Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Studies on April 18-21 among 2,000 Ukrainians found that Viktor Yushchenko stood the best chance of winning a presidential election if it had been held at that time, Interfax reported on April 27. According to the poll, Mr. Yushchenko would have obtained 29.3 percent of the vote; Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko, 12.6 percent; United Social Democratic Party leader Viktor Medvedchuk, 6.4 percent; former Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, 6.3 percent; Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz, 4.1 percent; and Progressive Socialist Party leader Natalia Vitrenko, 3.6 percent. The president of the center, Anatolii Hrytsenko, said Mr. Yushchenko would have fared best in western Ukraine, with 61.7 percent of the vote, while in the east he had a rating of a mere 12.7 percent and would have finished second to Mr. Symonenko. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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