NEWSBRIEFS (01/26/03)

NEWSBRIEFS

Anti-monopoly body OKs gas consortium

KYIV - The Anti-Monopoly Committee on January 21 granted Russia's Gazprom and Naftohaz Ukrainy permission to pursue the establishment of the International Consortium on Management and Development of Ukraine's Gas Transport System during the pre-investment stage of the consortium's operations, Interfax reported. The consortium is being set up on a parity basis under last year's agreement between the Ukrainian and Russian governments. The pre-investment stage of the consortium's operations must end by August. During this stage the consortium's participants will conduct a feasibility study and develop a plan for financing the project. The implementation of the investment stage will require further permission from the Anti-Monopoly Committee. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchinsky is vice-chair of ECOSOC

UNITED NATIONS - Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Valeriy Kuchinsky on January 15 was appointed vice-chairman of the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Interfax and UNIAN reported on January 16. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Airline resumes North American routes

KYIV - The Ukrainian airline Aerosvit is resuming routes between Ukraine and North America after a four-year break, Interfax reported on January 16, quoting Aerosvit General Director Hryhorii Hurtovyi. The relaunch of weekend Boeing 767 flights is scheduled for March 30. Mr. Hurtovyi added that Aerosvit will begin a trans-Atlantic route linking Kyiv with Toronto in May. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian boy sues school

KYIV - A Ukrainian boy has taken his school to court for exploiting children after he was made to adhere to the Soviet practice of sweeping schoolyards and cleaning school buildings to instill the work ethic, Reuters reported on January 16, quoting Interfax. The boy's father said his son came home dirty and complained about feeling humiliated by teachers who made him clean the schoolyard instead of going to physical education or art classes. A court in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast said it will investigate the unprecedented case and then decide whether to pursue it. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv wants to delay new border regime

KYIV - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Anatolii Zlenko told his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov in a telephone conversation on January 15 that Ukraine wants to postpone the introduction of new requirements for crossing the countries' mutual border, the UNIAN news service reported. The planned changes include requiring Ukrainians and Russians to present foreign-travel passports when crossing the border. The Russian side had proposed that such a regulation be introduced on July 1. Quoting the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry's press service, the news agency reported that Mr. Zlenko said this new requirement would complicate "interpersonal and cultural-educational" ties between the countries due to the "realities of socioeconomic development." Obtaining foreign-travel documents in Russia and Ukraine sometimes runs into technical difficulties, since they are issued by special centralized offices rather than local police departments, as in the case of domestic passports. A great many citizens in both countries do not possess foreign-travel passports. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Two new lawmakers to join Rada

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada has terminated the parliamentary powers of Serhii Tyhypko (Labor Ukraine-Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs) and Mykhailo Papiyev (Social Democratic Party-United) in connection with their appointment to government posts, UNIAN reported on January 16. Mr. Tyhypko was appointed head of the National Bank of Ukraine in a controversial vote in December 2002, while Mr. Papiyev assumed the post of labor minister. In conformity with Ukrainian law, they will be replaced in the Verkhovna Rada by Yulia Chebotarova (Labor Ukraine-Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs) and Ihor Shurma (Social Democratic Party-United), who were next on the lists of candidates from their respective parties in the March 31 election. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Agricultural growth slows

KYIV - Vice Prime Minister for Agriculture Ivan Kyrylenko told the Verkhovna Rada on January 15 that Ukrainian economic growth in the agricultural sector in 2002 did not exceed 3 percent, UNIAN reported. In 2000 and 2001, Ukraine reported increases of 9.2 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively, in agricultural output. Mr. Kyrylenko also said more than 40 percent of Ukrainian farms posted losses in 2002. "The average monthly wage in the agricultural sector - 153 hrv ($29) - is the lowest among economic branches," Mr. Kyrylenko added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

New party seeks Slavic union

MOSCOW - A new coalition of national "patriotic" parties has emerged called the Union for Our Fatherland, Interfax reported on January 16. The organization comprises the People's Will Party of National Revival, Russia's Union of Patriotic and National Organizations, Russia's Slavic Party, the Great Brotherhood of Cossack Troops, For Holy Rus, and other movements. Nina Zhukova, deputy head of the People's Will Party of National Revival, said among the goals of the new public organization are "reuniting Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, and improving Russia's internal and external security." Ms. Zhukova is the former head of the Union of Realists. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lytvyn denies presidential aspirations

KYIV - Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn told journalists on January 17 that he is not going to run for president in the 2004 elections, Interfax reported. Mr. Lytvyn speculated that candidates might include Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko, Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko, Yulia Tymoshenko, Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, and presidential administration chief Viktor Medvedchuk. (RFE/RL Newsline)

CIS summit relocated to Kyiv

KYIV - Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko on January 21 confirmed media reports that the CIS informal summit originally scheduled for Ivano-Frankivsk, western Ukraine, on January 28-29, will be held at the same time but in Kyiv, the Interfax and UNIAN news services reported. UNIAN on January 20 quoted a diplomatic source from Moscow as saying that some CIS presidents objected to meeting in Ivano-Frankivsk, citing insufficient transport and accommodation infrastructure. Earlier, the radical nationalist Ukrainian National Assembly-National Self-Defense Organization announced it would stage protests against holding the CIS summit in western Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Miensk, D.C. agree on Nazi hunting

MIENSK - Representatives of the Procurator General's Office and the U.S. Justice Department on January 20 signed a memorandum of cooperation and coordination regarding efforts to prosecute Nazi war criminals, Belapan reported on January 21, quoting the Belarusian Foreign Ministry's press service. Under the memorandum, the parties are to be granted access to each other's archives concerning crimes perpetrated by the Nazis or their allies during World War II. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Belarusian-Russian summit held

MIENSK - Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, took part in a meeting of the Russia-Belarus Union Supreme Council in Miensk on January 20, Belarusian and Russian media reported. The meeting reportedly focused on socioeconomic matters of the union and brought no new decisions. Presidents Lukashenka and Putin stressed their commitment to introduce the Russian ruble as the sole Russian-Belarusian currency as of January 1, 2005, as previously agreed. The countries still face disagreement over currency and monetary controls, which Russia would like to see orchestrated from Moscow, while Belarus would like to create a joint central bank. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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