NEWSBRIEFS (08/24/03)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukrainian World Congress convenes

KYIV - More than 300 delegates and 200 guests from some 20 countries on August 18 opened the three-day conclave of the Ukrainian World Congress in Kyiv, Interfax and RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported. The forum, which is taking place in Ukraine for the first time, was expected to discuss the role of the Ukrainian diaspora in political and other processes in the country. "The tragedy of the current situation is that the authorities [in Ukraine] have not Ukrainianized themselves, [and] they have become even more indifferent [to Ukrainian problems]," former Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko, the leading democratic contender in next year's presidential elections, told the gathering. "Poverty and unemployment have killed faith in the Ukrainian state for many." The UWC was founded in 1967 in New York as the World Congress of Free Ukrainians. It includes more than 100 organizations of the Ukrainian diaspora. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Deputy requests protection for witnesses

KYIV - Hryhorii Omelchenko, head of an ad hoc parliamentary committee to investigate the 2000 murder of journalist Hryhorii Gongadze, has asked the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to guarantee the safety of individuals who come forward with information about the case, Interfax reported, quoting the Ukrainian media watchdog Mass Information Institute (IMI). National Deputy Omelchenko specifically asked that the SBU provide protection to SBU officers who reportedly helped former police officer Ihor Honcharov collect material on the Gongadze murder. Mr. Honcharov, who is regarded as a key suspect in the Gongadze case, died in police custody on August 1. Mr. Honcharov reportedly managed to give the IMI a 17-page handwritten document in which he claimed to possess information about Mr. Gongadze's killers, including audio recordings and a confession that he said he wanted to reveal to investigators in the presence of independent witnesses. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Marchuk receives Polish order of merit

WARSAW - Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski decorated Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk with the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Polish Republic in Warsaw on August 14, PAP reported. "In Ukraine, we have not only good politicians but also real friends," Mr. Kwasniewski said during the ceremony, stressing that Mr. Marchuk is "one of the advocates and architects of Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation." Earlier the same day, Mr. Marchuk met with his Polish counterpart, Jerzy Szmajdzinski, and discussed the joint mission of Polish and Ukrainian soldiers in the Polish-led stabilization sector in Iraq. Interfax reported that Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma on August 12 awarded Polish National Security Bureau head Marek Siwiec the Order of Yaroslav the Wise of the third class for Mr. Siwiec's "valuable personal contribution to the development of Ukrainian-Polish relations." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine seeks answers in Protsyuk case

KYIV - A spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Ukraine on August 14 released a statement that called the U.S. military inquiry's report on the killing of news cameraman Taras Protsyuk, a Ukrainian employed by the Reuters news service, incomplete. The Central Command on August 12 released a statement saying that the actions of U.S. troops which resulted in the deaths on April 8 of Mr. Protsyuk and Spanish cameraman Jose Couso were justified due to the fierce enemy resistance in the area at the time of the incident. Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry said that, while it understands "the argumentation about complex conditions and situations in which the U.S. military was functioning, Ukraine at the same time believes that the investigation should be continued with the aim of obtaining more concrete results." The statement added: "The conclusion of the U.S. side cannot be considered final as the issue is one of the moral and legal responsibility that should be borne by those guilty in the death of Taras Protsyuk." (Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine)

Reuters seeks inquiry into killings

LONDON - The Reuters news agency is seeking a full public inquiry into the death of a Reuters cameraman fatally shot by U.S. soldiers in Iraq on August 10. Mazen Dana was the second Reuters cameraman to be killed by U.S. fire in Iraq since the beginning of the invasion. Taras Protsyuk of Ukraine was killed on April 8. "Coming so soon after the death of Taras Protsyuk, and also involving an American tank, this latest death is hard to bear," said Tom Glocer, chief executive of Reuters, in a statement released to the press. Mr. Glocer called "upon the highest levels of the U.S. government for a full and comprehensive investigation in to this terrible tragedy." (The New York Times)

Minister comments on food prices

KYIV - Agricultural Minister Serhii Ryzhuk said on Ukrainian Television on August 17 that Ukraine will import 2 million to 2.5 million tons of grain this year because of an anticipated poor harvest. Mr. Ryzhuk predicted that Ukrainian farms will harvest some 20 million to 25 million tons of grain this year, compared with 39 million tons in 2002. According to Mr. Ryzhuk, the unexpected hikes in food prices in June can be blamed not only on bad weather and persistent rumors of the poor harvest in 2003, but also on excessive liberalization of the domestic grain market. "One of the reasons is that our liberalization of the grain market in particular was too fast during the transition period," Mr. Ryzhuk said. "[We] were somewhat euphoric, believing that the problem of grain was solved once and for all, [trusting in] market economy, private owners and so on. But, as it has turned out, the state has to play a rather active role even in these conditions. More than this, there has to be rigid regulation." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Three journalists attacked in Donetsk

DONETSK - Three Ukrainian journalists were beaten and robbed by unidentified assailants in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, over three consecutive days on August 13-15, Hromadske Radio reported. Vasyl Vasiutyn, Serhii Kuzin and Eduard Malynovskyi were attacked on August, 15, 14 and 13, respectively. Messrs. Vasiutyn and Kuzin have been hospitalized. Oleksander Mischenko, editor-in-chief of the Donetsk-based magazine Zolotyi Skif that employs Mr. Vasiutyn, told Hromadske Radio that the attacks were connected with their professional activities. Police reportedly think otherwise, claiming the assaults were ordinary robberies. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Three arrested for illegal flight to Ukraine

KYIV - Ukrainian police on August 18 arrested three German senior citizens for flying a private airplane to Dnipropetrovsk, eastern Ukraine, without permission, DPA and Interfax reported. The pilot of the plane is 74 years old, while the other two men are both 64. One of trio reportedly is a World War II veteran who wanted to visit the site of a battle in which he had fought. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tanker crew involved in smuggling

KYIV - Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Markian Lubkivskyi said on August 19 that the captain and 20 crew members of the Navstar-1 tanker apprehended in the Persian Gulf by a British Navy ship on August 9 are Ukrainian citizens, Interfax reported. The Navstar-1 reportedly was caught with an illegal cargo of some 1,000 tons of Iraqi diesel fuel and taken to the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr. Mr. Lubkivskyi added that two lawyers have been hired to represent the Ukrainian crew. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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