NEWSBRIEFS (05/04/03)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukrainian role in Iraq reconstruction?

LONDON - Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn on April 29 said he hopes that Great Britain will support Ukraine in its attempts to participate in the post-war reconstruction of Iraq, Interfax reported. Mr. Lytvyn was speaking at the Royal Institute of International Relations in London within the framework of his three-day visit to the United Kingdom. He stressed that his country possesses vast experience in the oil sector, a highly developed engineering structure, and experts who have worked on oil deposits in Russia. He said a Ukrainian delegation is to visit Washington on May 4-5 to raise the same issue. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lytvyn sees no need for referendum

LONDON - Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn told the Royal Institute of International Relations in London on April 29 that there will be no referendum on political reform in Ukraine, thus contradicting such a suggestion by President Leonid Kuchma at a news conference last week, UNIAN reported. Mr. Lytvyn said an appropriate decision to reform Ukraine's constitutional system will be adopted by the Parliament with a two-thirds majority before October 2004, when the next presidential elections are scheduled to take place. Mr. Lytvyn said he hopes the president and national deputies will arrive at a compromise on a political-reform bill. In particular, the Ukrainian opposition is against Mr. Kuchma's proposals to introduce a bicameral legislature and give the president the right to appoint some ministers. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President signs anti-censorship bill

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has signed into law a bill defining and banning media censorship in Ukraine, Interfax reported on April 28. The bill, passed by the Verkhovna Rada on April 3, makes it a criminal offense for officials to "deliberately intervene in the professional work of journalists." It also limits financial penalties against journalists for defamation claims. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma sacks naval commander

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on April 25 dismissed naval Commander Mykhailo Yezhel after visiting a number of military units and facilities in Crimea earlier the same day, Interfax reported, citing presidential spokeswoman Olena Hromnytska. She said the president criticized the living conditions of servicemen in the units he visited, adding that much of the property at the units has been ransacked. The next day, Mr. Kuchma appointed Vice-Admiral Viacheslav Sychov to assume Commander Yezhel's post. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv moves to avoid higher bread prices

KYIV - Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych requested on April 26 that the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Ministry of the Economy and other executive bodies "provide conditions" for grain purchases abroad to avoid significant increases in domestic bread prices, Interfax reported. "I believe today it is necessary to focus on the mobilization of bread-grain resources, [and] on its importation from Russia, Kazakstan and other countries," Mr. Yanukovych said. He said bread prices might be pushed up by a possible poor grain harvest this year. The prime minister said Ukraine lost more than half of its winter crops due to bad weather. UNIAN reported the same day that Agriculture Minister Serhii Ryzhuk proposed that Ukraine drop duties on 1 million tons of imported grain until July 31 in order to avoid "eating up our seed-grain resources." Ukraine's current import tax on wheat is 40 percent. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma wants halt to defamation cases

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma said at a news conference in Kyiv on April 23 that he has asked Procurator General Sviatoslav Piskun to discontinue the criminal investigations launched recently against a number of regional media outlets for allegedly defaming the president and obstructing his activities, UNIAN reported. Mr. Kuchma said he did not play any role in launching the cases, adding that he even does not know what media were targeted by the Procurator General's Office. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Battalion's return depends on Kuwait

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma told a news conference on April 23 that the return of the Ukrainian anti-nuclear, -biological and -chemical (NBC) battalion that was dispatched to Kuwait in late March is dependent on a Kuwaiti government decision, UNIAN reported. The president noted that Kuwait had requested a six-month deployment of the unit and now may either request shortening or prolonging its stay. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Foreign minister visits Prague

PRAGUE - Visiting Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko told journalists after talks with his Czech counterpart, Cyril Svoboda, in Prague on April 24 that Ukraine shares the Czech Republic's views on Iraq's post-war reconstruction, CTK reported. The two chief diplomats said the role of international organizations in that process must be boosted. They also agreed there is a need for their countries to reach an agreement on ways to cope with the problem of illegal Ukrainian workers in the Czech Republic. Messrs. Svoboda and Zlenko said they agreed in principle to replacing an expired accord on the mutual employment of nationals with a new agreement, adding that the Czech Labor Ministry is drafting that proposed agreement. The two sides discussed a possible investment-protection treaty and the opening of a Ukrainian Consulate in Brno and a Czech Consulate in Lviv. Mr. Zlenko also met with Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, with whom he discussed the settlement of Ukraine's several-billion-crown debt to the Czech Republic, and with President Vaclav Klaus. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Three states mull gas consortium

KYIV - Ukrainian and Russian government officials met with German representatives in Kyiv on April 23 to discuss the formation of an international consortium to upgrade Ukraine's natural-gas-pipeline system, Interfax reported. The consortium was registered in Kyiv in January by Ukraine's Naftohaz and Russia's Gazprom with $1 million in capital. Germany's Ruhrgas is expected to participate in the consortium. The trilateral meeting in Kyiv, which reportedly did not touch on "issues of principal importance," decided that corporate-level representatives from the three countries will gather for another round of talks in Kyiv on May 7-8. Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Vitalii Haiduk and his Russian counterpart, Viktor Khristenko, said they will begin preparing a business plan for the consortium in June. The Ukrainian gas-pipeline network, through which some 90 percent of Europe's gas imports flow, consists of 35,200 kilometers of pipelines, 122 gas compressors, and 13 underground gas-storage facilities. Russia's involvement in the Kyiv-based gas consortium is seen as a sign that Moscow has abandoned its earlier plans to build new gas pipelines to Europe that circumvent Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Latvia backs further expansion of EU

ATHENS - Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga told the European Conference in Athens on April 17 that while the planned enlargement of the European Union will increase European security, stability and welfare, the EU's future external borders should not "become barriers of economic development and democratization," the BNS news agency reported. She said that further EU expansion is possible both to the EU's south and east, but that the integration of individual countries depends on their ability and readiness to implement reforms. President Vike-Freiberga expressed the hope that the EU's ongoing eastward expansion will help Ukraine integrate and cooperate in establishing stability and security in the region. She also noted that Belarus should not be forgotten, as it is a direct neighbor of Latvia, and that there is a need for greater dialogue between Russia and the EU. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lithuanian, Ukrainian presidents meet

ATHENS - Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, meeting in Athens on April 17, discussed the signing of the European Union accession treaties and the need to expand bilateral relations, the ELTA news service reported. They spoke about the possibility of establishing visa-free travel for citizens of both countries, which would help increase economic and cultural cooperation. The presidents noted that the establishment of the regularly scheduled Viking freight-train route between Odesa and Klaipeda in February has boosted trade and transit. Mr. Paksas expressed satisfaction that Mr. Kuchma has accepted his invitation to visit Vilnius in early July for the ceremonies marking the 750th anniversary of the coronation of King Mindaugas. He also expressed his support for Ukraine's efforts to join the European Union. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lytvyn criticizes cases against media

KYIV - Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn on April 16 expressed disapproval over the announcement of criminal cases launched recently against a number of media outlets for allegedly defaming the president and obstructing his activities, Interfax reported. "Suing journalists is like complaining into a mirror," he said. RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported on April 11 that prosecutors had instigated criminal investigations at the regional publications Informatsiinyi Biuleten (Kremenchuk), Cherkaska Pravda (Cherkasy), Rivnenskyi Dialoh (Rivne), Pozytsia (Sumy) and Antena (Cherkasy). Asked by UNIAN whether the RFE/RL report is true, Polina Bashkina, spokeswoman for the procurator general, said, "Unfortunately, this topic is not [appropriate] for comment." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Georgia to help fill Ukrainian pipeline

KYIV - Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze told journalists after a meeting with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma in Kyiv on April 22 that Georgia can help Ukraine fill the Odesa-Brody pipeline with Caspian oil, UNIAN reported. Mr. Shevardnadze said the Odesa-Brody pipeline could receive oil pumped through the Baku-Supsa pipeline, which has a throughput capacity of 6 million tons annually, as well as oil transported across Georgia by rail (5-6 million tons annually). Presidents Shevardnadze and Kuchma also said they agree that the existence of the Commonwealth of Independent States with no established free-trade zone within the bloc is pointless and expressed their shared support for establishing such a zone. Officials signed three bilateral cooperation accords in connection with the meeting. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Putin supports unified economic zone

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin said in Moscow on April 16 that he is pleased with the progress made to date on a draft agreement to create a "unified economic zone" encompassing Ukraine, Kazakstan, Belarus and Russia. During a meeting with Vice Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko, who heads the working group on the unification of trade and tariff legislation, Mr. Putin said that, "despite a number of setbacks," the group's work is moving forward and the four countries should be able to enter the World Trade Organization as "a single economic space." The other members of the working group - Ukrainian First Vice Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, Kazak Vice Prime Minister Karim Maksimov and Belarusian Vice Prime Minister Andrey Kabyakou - also attended the meeting with President Putin. Analysts believe that the proposal to combine the four countries - encompassing a total population of 219 million people - is the most ambitious Kremlin initiative since the collapse of the Soviet Union and could lead to the creation of a new regional entity. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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