NEWSBRIEFS (07/18/04)

NEWSBRIEFS

Ukraine invites election monitors

KYIV - Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko has sent official invitations to heads of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe and the United Nations asking the organizations to send monitors for the October 31 presidential election in Ukraine, Interfax reported on July 13, quoting Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Dmytro Svystkov. Mr. Svystkov added that similar invitations were also sent by Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn to the European Parliament and parliamentary structures of the OSCE, the Council of Europe and NATO. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM promises fair presidential election

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych told The Washington Times on July 9 that the presidential election in Ukraine this fall will be free and fair, and added that he hopes the ballot will open the door to a new relationship with the West. "I've said before I don't need elections at any price," Mr. Yanukovych said. "We need to strictly keep to Ukrainian laws. The government will monitor the election and create all conditions for observers to be convinced of what is being done in Ukraine." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Medvedchuk comments on candidacies

KYIV - Presidential administration chief Viktor Medvedchuk, who is also leader of the Social Democratic Party-United (SDPU), said on July 13 that he is sure Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych will win the fall presidential election, Interfax reported. "[Incumbent President] Leonid Danylovych Kuchma has no desire to run [in the election]," Mr. Medvedchuk said. "Regarding myself, I have no such desire, either." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Moscow's take on Ukraine's election

KYIV - Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv, Kremlin insider and National Strategy Council head Stanislav Belkovskii said that Moscow sees three favorable scenarios for Russia in Ukraine's presidential election in October, glavred.info reported on June 15. The first scenario would be the election of current Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych as president, the second would be the hypothetical re-election to a third term of President Leonid Kuchma, and the third scenario would be the election of a "Ukrainian Putin," that is, a member of the security services. The third scenario would be the most desirable and the first one the least. Mr. Belkovskii also stressed that this is not his personal view, but "the opinion of the groups within the administrative-bureaucratic elite that have substantial impact on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, but I do not want to personalize," he said. But even if the election is won by Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's most popular politician, Moscow will eventually accept it. "Any next president of Ukraine will in retrospect be announced as 'Moscow's candidate,' even if it is Yushchenko," he said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Bucharest gives Kyiv 'last chance'

BUCHAREST - Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry State Secretary Bogdan Aurescu told journalists on July 12 that Romania will bring its dispute with Ukraine over the oil-rich Black Sea shelf surrounding Serpents Island (Zmiinyi Ostrov) before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague if no agreement is reached in bilateral discussions by next month, Mediafax reported. Mr. Bogdanescu said that a new round of talks ended in Yalta on July 10 without agreement between the representatives of Kyiv and Bucharest. A new round of negotiations is planned for August and, according to Mr. Bogdanescu, Bucharest will appeal to the ICJ if that round ends in a deadlock. (RFE/RL Newsline)

EU concerned about Danube canal

BUCHAREST - Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry State Secretary Bogdan Aurescu said on July 12 that European Commission President Romano Prodi and Foreign Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten have expressed their concern over Ukraine's decision to proceed with its construction of a deep-water canal through the Bystraya estuary, Mediafax reported. Mr. Aurescu said that at the previous week's European Union summit the two officials "firmly insisted" on the need for a study on the environmental impact the canal might have on the Danube Delta, adding that construction should be halted until the study can be completed. Mr. Aurescu said Ukraine has sent only a "summary" of its construction plans in response to Romania's demand that all documents pertaining to the project be released, in line with relevant international conventions. He said the canal is not just a Romanian-Ukrainian issue, as the Danube Delta is a site protected by UNESCO and other international organizations. He also said that Kyiv has yet to respond to a letter sent by European Environment Affairs Commissioner Margot Wallstrom. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Putin to envoys: improve Russia's image

MOSCOW - Speaking at the Foreign Affairs Ministry at a convocation of 160 Russian ambassadors on July 12, President Vladimir Putin urged Russian diplomats to respond to attempts from abroad to "discredit" Russia, ORT and other Russian media reported. "The image of Russia in the countries [you work in] is far removed from reality," Mr. Putin said. "Quite often there are managed campaigns aimed at compromising our country and the damage from such campaigns is obvious both for the state and Russian businesses." President Putin added that the priorities of Russian foreign policy remain the CIS, the European Union, the United States and the Asian-Pacific region. As far as the CIS is concerned, Russian diplomacy should reject the notion "that nobody except [Russia] can lay claim to leadership in this area," he said. Such ideas are both "illusory and mistaken - the extension of the EU and NATO create a new geopolitical reality" that must be considered in formulating Moscow's foreign policy. Mr. Putin added that good relations with U.S. officials are not enough for a "sustainable partnership" and called for cooperating with "broader circles" of the American public. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma praises his 10 years in office

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma told 1+1 Television Channel on July 11 that during his 10 years as Ukrainian president, the Ukrainian government has averted an economic collapse, raised living standards in the country and achieved "impressive" economic results. According to the Ukrainian president, the three main foreign-policy achievements in the last 10 years are the international recognition of Ukraine as a state, Ukraine's membership in collective security organizations, and the fixing of the state's borders. Mr. Kuchma avoided a direct response to a question about whether he will run for a third presidential term. He praised Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, a presidential candidate, for the "specific results" that Mr. Yanukovych achieved with his Cabinet and criticized Viktor Yushchenko for making "populist" election promises. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Wiesenthal Center seeks Kyiv's assistance

KYIV - The Simon Wiesenthal Center has asked Ukraine's justice agencies for assistance in finding Nazi war criminals that may be residing on Ukrainian territory. The subject was discussed at a meeting between the director of the center's Israeli department, Efraim Zuroff, and Ukrainian Justice Minister Oleksander Lavrynovych on July 7 in Kyiv, the ministry's press service reported. Mr. Zuroff told Mr. Lavrynovych that the Wiesenthal Center is searching for former Nazis responsible for crimes committed during World War II. He said that over the last three years the center has been working in Eastern European and other countries, including Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Croatia and Austria. Over that time, it has found 266 Nazi war criminals, most of whom have been punished. Mr. Lavrynovych said the search for and punishment of Nazi criminals should be done in accordance with the law, and law-enforcement agencies should study information about these criminals and conduct pre-court investigations. (Interfax)

91% of software in Ukraine is pirated

SAN FRANCISCO - Thirty-six percent of the software installed on computers worldwide was pirated in 2003, representing a loss of nearly $29 billion. These are the key findings of a global software piracy study released on July 7 by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the international association of the world's leading software manufacturers. The study found that while $80 billion in software was installed on computers worldwide last year, only $51 billion was legally purchased. Among key findings: The piracy rate in the Asia/Pacific region was 53 percent, with dollar losses totaling more than $7.5 billion. In Eastern Europe, the piracy rate was 71 percent, with dollar losses at more than $2.1 billion. In Western Europe, the rate was 36 percent, and dollar losses totaled $9.6 billion. The average rate across Latin American countries was 63 percent, with losses totaling nearly $1.3 billion. In the Middle Eastern and African countries, the rate was 56 percent on average, with losses totaling more than $1 billion. In North America, the piracy rate was 23 percent. The losses totaled more than $7.2 billion. The study found that the size of a regional software market is the critical link between piracy rates and actual dollars lost. For instance, 91 percent of software installed in Ukraine in 2003 was pirated, as compared to 30 percent in the United Kingdom. But dollar losses in the U.K. ($1.6 billion) were about 17 times higher than those in Ukraine ($92.1 million). This difference is attributed to a much larger total PC software market in the U.K. than in Ukraine. (Business Wire)

Ex-Soviet states rebuke OSCE

VIENNA - Russia and eight other ex-Soviet states accused Europe's biggest security and human rights watchdog on July 8 of failing to respect their sovereignty. The 55-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, whose activities include monitoring elections, has chided former Soviet states for ballots [elections] it says failed to live up to democratic standards. "In part (the OSCE) does not respect such fundamental principles ... as non-interference in internal affairs and respect of national sovereignty," said a statement signed by Armenia, Belarus, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Russia has long complained of double standards at the OSCE, which it says criticizes human rights and democracy failings east of Vienna, where the organization is based, but does not denounce similar shortcomings to the west. The OSCE said Russia's presidential election in March was well administered but fell short of democratic standards, particularly where the state media was concerned. "It is of concern that OSCE field missions focus not on their mandated role to help the authorities of the receiving state ..., but exclusively on monitoring human rights and democratic institutions," the CIS statement added. (Reuters)

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