NEWSBRIEFS (01/04/04)

NEWSBRIEFS

Kuchma signs political-finance bill

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma signed a bill into law on December 22 that introduces the state funding of political parties' activities and parliamentary campaigns, Interfax reported, quoting the president's press office. State-funded activities may not be linked to the party's participation in elections, but the law also provides for reimbursing campaign expenses for parties that reach the four percent threshold for parliamentary representation. The annual allocations for political parties under the new law are defined as one percent of the average minimum wage multiplied by the number of registered votes in the most recent regular parliamentary elections. The law will come into force on January 1, 2005. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Agreement made on Kerch and Azov

KYIV - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement on the use of waters of the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov in the Crimean city of Kerch on December 24, Interfax reported. The agreement defines the Sea of Azov as the internal waters of both Ukraine and Russia, and it provides for the free navigation of Ukrainian and Russian military and civilian vessels in the area, while third-flag vessels need the consent of both Ukraine and Russia to operate within those waters. The document also provides for delimitation of the state border on the bottom and the surface of the sea. The unclear status of the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait prompted a high-profile dispute between Kyiv and Moscow in October-November (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada moves to amend constitution

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada approved the so-called Medvedchuk-Symonenko amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution on December 24, Interfax reported. Approval came on the strength of 276 votes, fewer than the two-thirds majority (300) that will be required when the draft amendments come before the legislature again in mid-January. The bill would allow for the direct election in October 2004 of a president, who would serve until a new president is elected by the Verkhovna Rada in 2006, among other changes. The Our Ukraine, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc, and Socialist Party of Ukraine caucuses opposed the amendment. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Polish activity in Iraq might be reduced

WARSAW - Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said on December 23 that Poland's involvement in stabilization efforts in Iraq might be gradually reduced beginning in 2005, Polish TV reported. 2004 will be a year of high activity in Iraq, according to Kwasniewski. "It is very important to maintain an international coalition...[and] implement a political plan for 2004 and 2005, a plan that envisages the formation of the Iraqi government, taking over the power in Iraq by this government, and the sorting out of many issues in international relations," Kwasniewski said. The next group of soldiers departing for Iraq will have an easier task due to the experience of their predecessors, he added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

EU readies peacekeepers to Transdniester

BRUSSELS - The European Parliament recently approved a resolution saying the EU is willing to join an international peacekeeping force under an OSCE mandate in the Transdniester, Flux reported on December 23. The agency said that at its December 15-18 session, the European Parliament criticized the Russian plan for Moldova's federalization, saying the rejected scheme was "aimed at legitimizing the current situation in the region" and its approval would have created a serious obstacle to Moldova's democratization. The European lawmakers deplored Moscow's actions, saying that "despite the obligations it has assumed, Russia does not intend to withdraw its troops from the Transdniester region by the end of 2003" and thus is essentially contributing to the status quo and the maintenance in power of the Tiraspol secessionist regime. The resolution also said the evacuation of Russian troops and military equipment from Transdniester must in no way be linked to the negotiations for a peaceful solution of the Transdniester conflict. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russians-Belgians buy power plant

TIRASPOL - A Russian-Belgian consortium has won a Transdniestrian tender for a 100 percent stake in the Moldavskaya Thermal Power Plant near Tiraspol, which is Moldova's largest electricity producer, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported on December 29. Saint Gidon Invest offered $29 million plus $161 million in investment into the plant's modernization over the next four years. The Transdniestrian authorities rejected a joint bid backed by Russian gas giant Gazprom and Unified Energy Systems to exchange the plant for a write-off of Tiraspol debt to Gazprom. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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