NEWSBRIEFS (08/29/04)

NEWSBRIEFS

Government vows to raise pensions

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said on August 21 that the government in 2005 will increase the current minimum monthly pension of 137 hrv ($26) to the subsistence minimum for disabled persons, which now stands at 285 hrv, Interfax reported. The average subsistence minimum in Ukraine was established by the government in May at 362 hrv. The government is planning to increase this minimum to 382 hrv in 2005. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Fire destroys newspaper office...

LVIV - A fire at the office of the Lviv-based independent newspaper Postup has officially been declared an act of arson. This was reported by the Ministry of Emergency Situations directorate in Lviv Region. The fire broke out in the early morning hours of August 19 and destroyed the newspaper premises, computers and office equipment. The Ministry of Emergency Situations put the cost of the damage at 48,000 hrv (about $9,000). The editorial board of the newspaper put it at 300,000 hrv (about $56,500). The director of the Postup publishing house, Andriy Bilous, said he is convinced that the office was set on fire because of critical, anti-government publications in Postup. The Channel 5 TV program reported that the Ukrainian Union of Journalists has appealed to the Internal Affairs Ministry to investigate the Postup incident immediately. (BBC Monitoring Service, ARTUIS)

... Yushchenko accuses authorities

KYIV - Our Ukraine leader and presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko has suggested that the fire in the editorial office of the daily Postup may have been inspired by the authorities, the Ukrainska Pravda website reported on August 20. According to police, the fire, which destroyed 48,000 hrv ($9,000) worth of equipment and property, was an act of arson. Mr. Yushchenko compared setting fire to the Postup editorial office with preventing Our Ukraine from holding a convention in Donetsk in October 2003, the controversial mayoral election in Mukachiv in April and the recent shadowing of him by Internal Afffairs Ministry officers in Crimea. "These are desperate actions of the same kind," Mr. Yushchenko said. "The authorities are weak and they are not going to conduct honest political play. They not only illegally use law enforcement bodies and administrative resources, but also have no scruples against cooperating with overtly criminal groups." (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM vows to lower bread prices

POLTAVA - Prime Minister and presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych said on August 19 that the government will work with regions to have bread prices reduced, Interfax reported. "We will meet with the leadership of each region, we will have talks to persuade them in an amicable way," Mr. Yanukovych said in Poltava. "We propose to reduce [bread] prices but not at the expense of farms." He added that the Poltava Oblast is prepared to reduce bread prices by 10 percent as soon as September. Meanwhile, Communist Party leader and presidential candidate Petro Symonenko has called on the government to stop "uncontrolled exports" of grain. "Having no conditions for the preservation and processing of harvested grain, farms are forced to sell grain to profiteers for a song," Mr. Symonenko said. "Grain is already being shipped abroad at world prices in an uncontrolled way through Ukrainian sea ports, in particular, Odesa and Illichivsk." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma reprimands defense minister

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma reprimanded Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk and sacked First Vice Minister for Defense Oleksander Oliinyk on August 19 for their failure to demilitarize and ecologically revive Balaklava Bay in Sevastopol, as the president had ordered in mid-2003, Ukrainian media reported. "The fixed capital and property of the disbanded military units that were deployed along the Balaklava Bay have not been fully released, whereas the released property is being transferred to commercial structures for conducting entrepreneurial activities," Mr. Kuchma said in a decree meting out punishments for Messrs. Marchuk and Oliinyk. "Ecologically dangerous production capacities continue to operate in the Balaklava Bay area." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrtelekom's privatization suspended

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has ordered the suspension of the privatization of Ukrtelekom, the largest national telecommunications operator in Ukraine, and a chemical plant in Odesa, Ukrainian media reported on August 19, citing the presidential press service. Earlier this month, the government had announced the sale of a 43 percent stake in Ukrtelekom. The opposition has subsequently accused the government of selling off state properties on unfavorable terms for the state before the October 31 presidential election. The presidential press service said Mr. Kuchma made his decision "taking into account the recent speculation concerning privatization processes in Ukraine." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian soldier killed in Iraq

BAGHDAD - A Ukrainian soldier was killed on August 15 in a land mine explosion southeast of Baghdad, a spokesman for the multinational forces said. The blast occurred near Suwayrah, some 25 miles south of Baghdad, in the Ukrainian troops' area of responsibility. Ukraine, which has about 1,600 troops in Iraq, is the fourth-largest contributor to the U.S.-led coalition and the largest among non-NATO countries. Seven Ukrainian soldiers have died in Iraq and about 20 have been wounded. (Associated Press)

Schroeder comments on Danube canal

BUCHAREST - During an official trip to Romania on August 12, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said that Ukraine should stop building the controversial Bystraya Canal in the Danube River delta until experts have assessed its impact on the environment, Reuters reported. The subject was raised during the talks between Schroeder and Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase. Mr. Schroeder said the German government has made its views known to Kyiv. However, he added, his Cabinet is not in a position to stop German companies from working for the Ukrainian project, according to Mediafax. Last month, the European Union asked Ukraine to halt the construction of the canal amid fears that the waterway could affect the Danube delta's unique ecosystem. (RFE/RL Newsline)

11 priests join "Sobornopravna" Church

KYIV - Eleven priests representing 15 parishes of the Fastiv district in the Kyiv region have left the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) and joined the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church - Sobornopravna (UAOC-S). "Sobornopravna" means "governed by the church assembly." Metropolitan Moisei, head of the UAOC-S, made the announcement at a press-conference conducted by the UNIAN news agency on July 29. Metropolitan Moisei also indicated that the UAOC-S is now "in the process of being registered" by Ukraine's government. At the press-conference, Metropolitan Moisei, Mitred Archpriest Heorhii (Kushniriuk), and several other priests from Fastiv criticized the activities of Patriarch Filaret (Denysenko), head of the UOC-KP. The Fastiv priests condemn Patriarch Filaret for his appointment of "several priests to one and the same position of authority in the Fastiv district without taking into account the interests of the religious communities and the clergy," read the statement released during the press-conference. The press release also noted that "the absence of any help for the religious communities from the UOC-MP, the personal negligence of Filaret concerning their urgent problems, in addition to 'church dislocation,' led the Fastiv priests as a group to leave the UOC-KP jurisdiction and join Metropolitan Moisei." (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

UOC-KP calls on priests to repent

KYIV - The press service of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) released a statement on July 30 concerning 11 priests of the UOC-KP in the Fastiv district, Kyiv region, who have joined the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Moisei of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church-Sobornopravna (UAOC-S). The hierarchy of the UOC-KP called these priests "hostages of the ambitions" of those people who were excluded from the UOC-KP in the past and called on them to repent. "Patriarch Filaret is giving the priests a chance to repent and return to the jurisdiction of the Kyivan Patriarchate. If this does not happen in the near future, they will be excluded from the UOC-KP once and for all, and their posts will be taken by other pastors," the press service of the UOC-KP stated. Without being registered by state authorities, Metropolitan Moisei's followers have no legal right to take the parishes of the Kyiv Patriarchate under their jurisdiction. "Therefore, all parishes of the Kyiv Patriarchate in the Fastiv district continue to be part of the UOC-KP, " the document emphasized. According to the representatives of the UOC-KP, "the structure headed by Metropolitan Moisei is a new religious organization, that has nothing in common with Orthodoxy apart from its outer resemblance." The documents state that Metropolitan Moisei, formerly a priest of the UOC-KP named Oleh Kulyk, "was excluded from the UOC-KP in 2002 for the propagation of heretical ideas and other transgressions, and the priest Heorhii Kushniriuk was excluded from the UOC-KP on July 6 for behavior unworthy of holy orders." (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

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