NEWSBRIEFS (11/24/02)

NEWSBRIEFS

PM-designate meets with Rada caucuses

KYIV - Donetsk Oblast Chairman Viktor Yanukovych, who was appointed prime minister by President Leonid Kuchma last week, began meeting parliamentary caucuses on November 19, ahead of an expected vote on his approval in the Verkhovna Rada on November 21, international and Ukrainian news agencies reported. "I see my role as stabilizing the work of the government and developing cooperation with the Parliament. We need stability. Everyone is sick of instability," Reuters quoted Mr. Yanukovych as saying. The People's Power, Agrarian Party, Social Democratic Party-United and European Choice parliamentary groups have reportedly decided to support Mr. Yanukovych. The Donetsk leader was proposed for the post by the Ukraine's Regions parliamentary caucus. The current line-up in the Verkhovna Rada is as follows: Our Ukraine (110 deputies), Communists (61), Labor Ukraine-Party of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists (42), Social Democratic Party-United (39), Ukraine's Regions (37), Socialists (21), Democratic Initiatives (22), European Choice (20), Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (18), National Democratic Party (16), Agrarians (16), People's Power (16), People's Choice (15). There are also 16 non-aligned deputies in the 449-strong Verkhovna Rada. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kinakh denied plans to step down

KYIV - Ukrainian Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh rejected on November 12 speculation that he has handed in his resignation, according to Interfax. "In a situation of tremendous ordeals, there is more need for stability than ever," the news agency quoted him as saying. "Such destabilization would affect every aspect of life in Ukraine, from international confidence in the country to its economy," Mr. Kinakh said, adding, "I am personally responsible for the activities of the state, and I haven't written any letters of resignation." The prime minister told reporters he "firmly controls the government [and is] trying to maintain its efficiency" as the year comes to a close and the budget is being drafted. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Donetsk leader to be tapped as PM

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma intends to nominate Donetsk Oblast Chairman Viktor Yanukovych as a candidate for prime minister, a source close to the presidential administration told Interfax on November 14. The source indicated the president will hold final consultations with caucus leaders and the parliamentary majority groups on November 15. A measure to dismiss the current government has already been prepared, and President Kuchma will announce his decision on November 15, the source suggested, adding that President Kuchma intends to submit Mr. Yanukovych's candidacy to the legislature soon to allow for a vote on November 21. Ukraine's parliamentary majority has proposed four candidates for prime minister, including Mr. Yanukovych, current Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh, First Deputy Prime Minister Oleh Dubyna, and State Tax Administration Chairman Mykola Azarov. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma plans to attend NATO summit

KYIV - Yevhen Marchuk of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council told Interfax on November 16 that President Leonid Kuchma will attend the NATO summit in Prague despite NATO's decision to hold a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Commission at the foreign ministers' level. Mr. Marchuk said President Kuchma will attend a session of NATO's 46-member Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), while Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko will represent Ukraine in bilateral talks with the alliance. Kuchma spokeswoman Olena Hromnytska declined to comment on the report, while press officials at the National Security and Defense Council said they can neither confirm nor deny the news, Reuters reported. NATO warned that President Kuchma will not be welcome at the summit after Washington said it believes the Ukrainian president approved the sale of a Kolchuha early-warning radar system to Iraq. "President Kuchma did not receive a personal invitation to come to the EAPC summit in Prague, but Ukraine, like any other EAPC country, has an invitation to come to Prague and is expected to be in Prague," NATO spokesman Yves Brodeur told RFE/RL on November 18. (RFE/RL Newsline)

U.S.: NATO trip up to Kuchma

WASHINGTON - Reuters on November 18 quoted a U.S. State Department official as saying that it is up to Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma to decide whether to go to Prague for a NATO summit to which he is not invited. "In the end ... the decision for President Kuchma to travel to Prague is for President Kuchma and the Ukrainian government to take," the official said. "The United States has no plans for any high-level meeting with Kuchma in Prague. Nevertheless, we remain committed to a broad robust relationship with Ukraine and a strong NATO-Ukraine relationship." According to Czech news agency CTK, Czech Premier Vladimir Spidla told journalists on November 18 that his country will grant an entry visa to Kuchma, who reportedly applied earlier the same day. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma wraps up China visit

BEIJING - President Leonid Kuchma on November 19 wound up his four-day visit to China, ITAR-TASS reported. According to the Ukrainian Embassy in Beijing, the visit resulted in "laying down the foundation for strategic partnership" between China and Ukraine. President Kuchma met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Parliament Chairman Li Peng, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Li Lanquing and Defense Minister Chi Haotian. The embassy said Ukraine regards China "as its key political and trade partner in the Asia-Pacific region." The sides reportedly examined the possibility of delivering AN-140 planes from Ukraine to China and prospects for boosting cooperation in aircraft building. The two countries signed an intergovernmental agreement on the protection of intellectual-property rights, a protocol on cooperation in aircraft building, and a joint declaration on the results of talks in which China expresses a readiness "to render Ukraine active support for its admission to the World Trade Organization." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Judge opens new case against Kuchma

KYIV - Kyiv Appeals Court Judge Yurii Vasylenko has opened a criminal investigation against President Leonid Kuchma over the latter's failure to sign into law within a prescribed period two bills passed by the Verkhovna Rada, Interfax and the Associated Press reported on November 13. One of the bills in question deals with the activities of the Cabinet of Ministers and the other with the creation of ad hoc parliamentary commissions of inquiry. Judge Vasylenko's move followed accusations by opposition lawmakers that President Kuchma deliberately failed to perform his official duties and enact the bills in order to prevent the legislature from extending control over the executive branch. Last month, Judge Vasylenko opened a case against the president in connection with charges by opposition lawmakers that he violated 11 articles of the Criminal Code. Among the violations is his alleged involvement in the sale of military technology to Iraq and the murder of journalist Heorhii Gongadze. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Duma approves Cyrillic-only bill

MOSCOW - The Russian Duma on November 15 passed in its second and third readings an amendment to the law on the languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation, newsru.com and other Russian news agencies reported. The amendment would mandate that the Cyrillic alphabet serve as the basis for the written languages of all peoples of the federation. The use of any other alphabet would have to be approved by a special federal law in each case, Interfax reported. Deputy Fandes Safiullin (Russian Regions), who represents a district in Tatarstan, spoke out against the bill, saying that "national alphabets cannot be made uniform" and "there is no precedent [for such a bill] in the world." Last year Tatarstan officially adopted an alphabet based on Latin script. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Countries impose ban on Lukashenka

PRAGUE - Fourteen of the 15 European Union states on November 19 imposed a travel ban on Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and seven other senior officials to protest human rights abuses in Belarus, international news agencies reported. Portugal, which currently holds the OSCE presidency, did not joint the ban, arguing the EU needs a more flexible policy with regard to Belarus. "We don't agree with the political timing of the initiative," the Associated Press quoted Portuguese Foreign Minister Antonio Martins da Cruz as saying. Portugal is to organize an OSCE ministerial meeting in Porto on December 6-7 and wants to keep its options with regard to Belarus open. Belapan reported on November 20 that the travel ban, apart from Lukashenka, extends to presidential administration chief Ural Latypau, Prime Minister Henadz Navitski, Defense Minister Leanid Maltsau, Internal Affairs Minister Uladzimir Navumau, Foreign Affairs Minister Mikhail Khvastou, Justice Minister Viktar Halavanau, and KGB chief Leanid Yeryn. "There will naturally be reciprocal measures; the Foreign Ministry will tackle this issue if need be, but in any case Belarus will respect itself and will not copy such mean steps," President Lukashenka's spokeswoman, Natallya Pyatkevich, told RFE/RL's Belarusian Service. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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