NEWSBRIEFS (08/18/02)

NEWSBRIEFS

Defense Ministry sued over airshow crash

LVIV - The parents of Hryhorii Kozak, a 23-year-old man killed in the disastrous airshow crash near Lviv on July 27, have sued the Defense Ministry of Ukraine, demanding 350,000 hrv ($66,000) in compensation for the death of their son, UNIAN reported on August 12, quoting Deutsche Welle. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma decrees more funds for military

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has signed a decree obliging the government to nearly double budget allocations for the armed forces in 2003 compared with those in 2002, the UNIAN news service reported on August 13, quoting presidential spokeswoman Olena Hromnytska. Mr. Kuchma appointed Col. Gen. Oleksander Zatynaiko as chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, UNIAN reported the same day. The president fired the previous chief of the General Staff, Petro Shuliak, following the airshow accident near Lviv. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Investigator cites airshow's shortcomings

KYIV - National Defense and Security Council Secretary Yevhen Marchuk, who heads the commission investigating the tragic crash in Lviv on July 27, said on August 12 that air force commanders, pilots and city authorities must share the blame for the death of 85 spectators, Ukrainian media reported. Mr. Marchuk reportedly told President Leonid Kuchma that "numerous violations and shortcomings by the show's organizers, servicemen, Lviv city authorities, and the pilots' deviation from the flight plan" caused the crash. President Leonid Kuchma ordered Mr. Marchuk to prepare a final conclusion regarding the reasons for the crash by September 15. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine's international reserves rise

KYIV - The international reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine increased by 14 percent in July and amounted to the equivalent of $3.8 billion, UNIAN reported on August 12, quoting a government memo. International reserves comprise a country's monetary gold, foreign-currency reserves and reserves allocated within the International Monetary Fund. (RFE/RL Newsline)

IMF refuses to disburse loan tranche

KYIV - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has refused to disburse the last of a $2.2 billion loan program that expires on September 3, the UNIAN news agency reported on August 7, quoting an official IMF statement. The IMF said Ukraine has failed to fulfill a number of IMF conditions to qualify for the tranche. In particular, the government has failed to reduce the number of tax breaks and the volume of value-added tax refund debts. Kyiv has thus far received some $1.5 billion of the planned $2.2 billion. Ukraine expected to receive $550 million this year, but negotiations with the IMF brought no result. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported on August 8 that the Ukrainian government has persuaded the National Bank to issue an additional $500 million. Vice Prime Minister Vasyl Rohovyi said the money will be issued to commercial banks to fund investment projects, but analysts claim most of the money will be funneled back to government coffers to patch up a growing revenue shortfall. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Bilozir's killers have sentences reduced

LVIV - The Lviv Oblast Appeals Court on August 7 reduced the prison terms of two men convicted of beating to death popular composer Ihor Bilozir in Lviv in May 2000, which subsequently fueled Russian-Ukrainian tensions in the city, the UNIAN news service reported. The court cut the sentences of Dmytro Voronov and Yurii Kalinin to 10 and eight years in prison, respectively. The Lviv Oblast Court had sentenced the two men to 15 and 12 years for premeditated murder but the Supreme Court, following an appeal, sent the case for review. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Schaffer proposes program for Ukraine

WASHINGTON - U.S. Congressman Bob Schaffer (R-Colo.), co-chairman of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, has sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill urging him to implement in Ukraine a pilot program of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), which was announced by U.S. President George W. Bush in March, Mr. Schaffer's website (http://wwwa.house.gov) reported on July 25. In his letter Rep. Schaffer called Ukraine a "premier candidate" for the president's MCA program. "Ukraine's potential for wealth creation is underdeveloped, but it will respond very positively to significant Western interest and investment," Rep. Schaffer wrote. "Ukraine's agricultural sector, having once supplied one-quarter of the entire Soviet Union's demand, is now floundering and is in desperate need of Western financial and technical investment," the congressman added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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