NEWSBRIEFS (07/14/02)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukraine has new procurator general

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on July 6 signed a decree appointing Sviatoslav Piskun as Ukraine's new procurator general, Interfax reported. The Ukrainian Parliament overwhelmingly approved Mr. Piskun's candidacy on July 4 with 347 votes in favor, Ukrainian media reported. In addition to the pro-presidential United Ukraine bloc, which unanimously voted for the Kuchma-proposed candidate, Mr. Piskun was supported by 73 members of the Our Ukraine faction led by Viktor Yushchenko, 60 Communist Party members, and 10 independent deputies. The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc was the only faction to vote against Mr. Piskun, a former lieutenant-general of the Tax Police who had served as deputy head of the State Tax Administration since May. The post of chief prosecutor became vacant in April when Mykhailo Potebenko of the Communist Party was elected to Parliament. During his meeting with national deputies prior to the vote, Mr. Piskun promised to solve the murder of journalist Heorhii Gongadze "in six months" and vowed to stamp out corruption in the country. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Officials of Ukraina mine arrested

UKRAINSK - The director and the chief engineer of the Ukraina mine in Ukrainsk where 35 miners died on July 8 in an underground fire were arrested on charges of gross negligence and manslaughter, Interfax reported on July 9. According to the DPA news service, regional prosecutors said on July 9 that they believe they will be able to prove that the two mine managers grossly violated safety regulations, and are responsible for the 35 deaths because they allowed the mine shaft to operate with outdated equipment. However, Donetsk media carried stories arguing that the charges are an effort by regional coal tycoons to deflect responsibility by setting up a pair of low-level mine managers as scapegoats, the DPA reported. RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported on July 9 that experts in Donetsk said the miners could have been rescued and that they perished due to poorly organized rescue procedures in the first moments after the fire broke out. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Mine fire reported near Kryvyi Rih

KYIV - Reuters cited Ukrainian media as reporting that a fire broke out on the night of July 6-7 at a coal mine, near Krivyi Rih, in which 60 men were rescued. Ukraine's Labor Safety Committee reported that 116 miners were killed in industrial accidents in Ukraine from January through June of this year. Some 300 miners were killed in mining accidents last year, according to Reuters. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Moscow hopes to bring Ukraine into EEC

MOSCOW - Eurasian Economic Commonwealth Secretary-General Grigorii Rapota told journalists in Moscow on July 9 that his organization wants to upgrade the observer status of Ukraine and Moldova to full membership, RIA-Novosti and other Russian news agencies reported. However, he said that Ukraine needs time to "understand what we are doing." He added that the five members of the commonwealth - Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia and Belarus - are working to create a unified economic space with a single customs and transportation-tariff regime. (RFE/RL Newsline)

DV Lottery winners notified

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of State has released information on the number of winners by countries in the 2003 Diversity Visa Lottery, and the winners were being notified via mail sent out in May and June. A total of 4,035 persons from Ukraine now have a chance to apply for immigration visas to the United States. Not all of the winners will ultimately receive visas, as they have to meet eligibility requirements and file the required information to qualify. The Diversity Visa program is aimed at ensuring that the United States receives a balanced mix of immigrants. (U.S. Department of State)

Iraq reportedly sought Ukrainian arms

LONDON - The Financial Times reported on July 9 that a high-level delegation of Iraqi officials that visited Ukraine in June was openly shopping for weapons. The daily cited local media reports that quoted Ukrainian government sources as saying the Iraqi delegation offered to buy ships and aircraft. "For some years there was an intensive defense-technology relationship between Ukraine and Iraq. This appears to be re-emerging and we don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past," the newspaper's website quoted former United Nations weapons inspector Timothy McCarthy as saying. Ukraine recently opened its Embassy in Baghdad and in September 2001 signed a treaty with Iraq on trade and cooperation. During the 1990s a Ukrainian citizen, Yurii Orshanskyi, was the "honorary council" of Iraq in Kharkiv. He lobbied for technical aid to Iraq and even prepared a number of contracts for selling to Iraq components that could be used in the construction of nuclear reactors. These contracts were discovered by U.N. inspectors and Ukraine was forced to cancel them. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Iran, Iraq mentioned on recordings

LONDON - The "Financial Times" also reported on July 9 that after listening to recordings of what appears to be a conversation in 2000 between President Leonid Kuchma and Yurii Alekseyev, the director of the Yuzhmash rocket-building plant in Dnipropetrovsk, the men mention Iraq, Iran and rockets (Mr. Kuchma was director of Yuzhmash prior to Ukraine's independence). The recordings were made in President Kuchma's office by former presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko. Messrs. Kuchma and Alekseyev have denied that they supplied missile technology to Iraq. Earlier this year, in recordings made by Mr. Melnychenko of conversations between Mr. Kuchma and the head of the Ukrainian arms-sales company Ukrspetseksport, Valerii Malev, the president was heard giving the go-ahead to covertly sell Iraq three units of the Kolchuha radar system developed by the Ukrainian company Topaz that can detect stealth aircraft. Ukrainian authorities have vehemently denied these accusations. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Monument to pope unveiled in Lviv

LVIV - Some 10,000 people attended the unveiling ceremony of a monument to Pope John Paul II in Lviv on June 25, Interfax reported. The event took place a year after the pontiff's historic visit to Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Moscow concerned broadcast rules

MOSCOW - The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concern on July 9 over a decision by Ukraine's National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting to require that within the next year all domestically produced television and radio programs be in Ukrainian. Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Yakovenko said at a briefing, "basically this step limits the right of the millions of ethnic Russians who live in Ukraine and the many Ukrainians for whom Russian is their native language to receive information in their primary language," Interfax reported. Mr. Yakovenko added that such a measure contradicts the spirit of Russian-Ukrainian cooperation, as well as international standards for defending the rights of ethnic minorities, gazeta.ru reported. Mr. Yakovenko also expressed the hope that Ukrainian officials will take Russia's concerns over the issue into consideration. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv rebuffed at EU summit ...

COPENHAGEN - The European Union reiterated on July 4 at the European Union summit in Copenhagen that it welcomes Ukraine's interest in joining the EU, but said more reforms are needed before it can join, the Associated Press reported. "There is a need for adjustment in Ukraine in relation to the European Union," said Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark, who currently holds the six-month rotating EU presidency. Javier Solana, the EU's chief of foreign and security policy, also took part in the meeting. Through an interpreter, President Kuchma told reporters that "by 2011, we want to be ready to meet the standards." Mr. Fogh Rasmussen said the EU also supports Ukraine's desire to enter the World Trade Organization. "It is of interest for both of us," he said. "The best way to combat poverty is to stimulate economic prosperity." (RFE/RL Newsline)

... gets support in Riga on NATO

RIGA - At a meeting of prime ministers of NATO-aspirant countries held in the Latvian capital on July 5-6, "The Declaration of Riga" was adopted. According to the summit's website (http://www.rigasummit.lv), the declaration stated: "We [the "Vilnius 10"] are proud that our reforms and commitment to democracy may serve as a guide for other nations in Europe and beyond who are seeking a closer partnership with Euro-Atlantic institutions. We are particularly delighted to welcome Ukraine as a guest at this summit. We have been impressed by Ukraine's decision to build closer ties with European structures and we look forward to our close cooperation in the future to advance this commendable goal." (RFE/RL Newsline)

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