NEWSBRIEFS

Yushchenko to attend NATO summit

KYIV - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is due to travel to NATO headquarters in Brussels on February 22 for a NATO summit meeting that will be attended by leaders of the 26-member alliance. Among those who are to attend is U.S. President George W. Bush, who will be on his first foreign trip since the start of his second term in office. (Agence France-Presse)

Yushchenko to visit U.S. in April

KYIV - Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko will visit the U.S. in early April. During the visit Ukraine hopes to come closer to its entry in the World Trade Organization, Vice-Prime Minister for European Integration Oleh Rybachuk told the press on February 11. "I regard it as my goal to take advantage of the visit [to settle the issue of Ukraine's entry in the WTO] to the U.S. that will occur early in April," he said. "We must be rid of obstacles as much as possible by the time," he said. During his visit to the U.S., President Yushchenko intends to meet with the U.S. president and administration officials, as well as to address the U.S. Congress. Mr. Rybachuk did not rule out the possibility that during the visit the U.S. Congress would cancel the Jackson-Vanik amendment provisions as applied to Ukraine. "I think it would be a good present from the Congress," he said. The dates for the president's visit have not yet been released. (Interfax-Ukraine)

Yushchenko wants EU membership talks

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko told a forum of investors organized by Russia's Renaissance Capital association in Kyiv on February 15 that he hopes to start talks on Ukraine's membership in the European Union immediately after the fulfillment of a recently updated three-year Ukraine-EU action plan, Interfax reported. According to Mr. Yushchenko, as soon as this year Kyiv intends to secure Brussels's recognition of Ukraine as a free-market economy, as well as soften its visa regime for EU citizens. "Let no one get the impression that our nation is standing in short pants at the gates of Europe, knocking to get inside," Reuters quoted President Yushchenko as saying. "We are not Europe's neighbors. We are the center of Europe. What we are is the EU's neighbor. And we want EU membership." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Executive branch to be purged

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko said on February 15 that he will replace all former leaders of the executive branch at the regional level, the Ukrainska Pravda website reported. Mr. Yushchenko told a congress of the Association of Farmers and Private Landowners: "Nobody will be invited to this government [from those] who worked against us during the elections in November-December 2004. ... We will not leave in the new government any [previous] raion administration head. Not a single head of the [oblast and raion] departments of internal affairs will remain in his post. The same principle will be applied to [regional] tax administrations." Mr. Yushchenko added that he needs to make some 5,000 to 6,000 appointments in the executive branch in the near future. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Body of Gongadze to be examined

KYIV - The press service of the Ukrainian Procurator General's Office said on February 16 that forensic experts from the Ministry of Health will hold an additional examination of the body of Internet journalist Heorhii Gongadze, who was found dead in November 2000, Interfax and UNIAN reported. Ukrainian experts are going to hold the examination jointly with forensic specialists from Munich. A forensic-medicine institute in Zurich will reportedly conduct a separate, "parallel" examination. President Viktor Yushchenko pledged to a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in January to make every effort to assist the investigation of Gongadze's killing. According to the so-called Melnychenko tapes, former President Leonid Kuchma and former Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Kravchenko may have been involved in the kidnapping and killing of Gongadze. The current whereabouts of Mr. Kravchenko are unknown. Mr. Kuchma, meanwhile, arrived in Karlovy Vary, the Czech Republic, on February 15 for spa therapy, the CTK news service reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President wants review of privatizations

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko told a conference of investors in Kyiv on February 15 that in the coming weeks the government will review the privatizations of 30 to 40 enterprises, Ukrainian media reported. "The list will be limited. It will be closed, meaning that nobody will be allowed to expand it," Mr. Yushchenko said. "It will include 30 to 40 facilities." The president added there will be no "mass reprivatization" in Ukraine, stressing that "from 90 to 98 percent" of businesses in Ukraine have been privatized in accordance with the legislation in force. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM confirms power-sharing pact

KYIV - Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on February 15 confirmed that she, President Viktor Yushchenko and Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz have signed an accord on the "distribution of powers in the executive branch," Interfax reported. "Such an accord does exist, it has been distributed," Ms. Tymoshenko said in answer to a question about whether there is a document providing for the allocation of one-sixth of executive-branch posts to the Socialist Party, one-fourth to the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, and the remaining share to the Our Ukraine bloc. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Asylum recipients want to return

KYIV - Mykola Melnychenko, the former security officer of Ukraine's former president, Leonid Kuchma, former National Deputy Oleksander Yeliashkevych and Serhii Sholokh, the owner of the Kyiv-based radio Kontynent, have stated that they wish to return to Ukraine now that the Orange Revolution has secured victory. The three have met with Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S. Mykhailo Reznik to discuss their options of returning to Ukraine from the U.S. and a possible meeting with Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko during his visit to the U.S., Deutsche Welle reported on February 11. The three demand as a condition of their return to Ukraine that Ukraine's new powers recognize them as political emigrants who had to leave their motherland due to threats to their lives and the lives of their families. They expect the Procurator General's Office of Ukraine to investigate in the crimes of the Kuchma regime and claimed that they have information on some of those crimes. They also demand that former President Kuchma compensate them for moral and material damages. (Interfax-Ukraine)

Liberal Russian leader named advisor

KYIV - Boris Nemtsov, a member of the political council of the Union of Rightist Forces and a former vice prime minister of Russia, announced on February 14 that he had been named an unpaid adviser to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Russian and international media reported. Agence France-Presse said that the presidential press service confirmed the appointment, adding that it is intended to boost relations between the two countries. Mr. Nemtsov said his role will be "to attract Russian investments" and "to help improve Ukraine's investment climate," according to the February 15 issue of The Moscow Times. Mr. Nemtsov told the daily that "Many of my friends and acquaintances look at Ukraine enviously. And many are considering a permanent move there should the situation here become unbearable." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Cabinet to abolish 14 state bodies

KYIV - Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said on February 12 that her Cabinet had decided earlier that day to liquidate 14 state committees and other offices, Interfax reported. The functions of the liquidated bodies will reportedly be passed on to ministries and other committees. The abolished bodies will include the State Committee for the Chornobyl Disaster, the State Aviation Service, the State Committee for Natural Resources, the State Committee on Religion and the State Committee for Sports. According to official sources, the Ukrainian government currently comprises 17 ministries and 45 other bodies of state control. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Cabinet to revisit land leases

KYIV - The Cabinet of Ministers on February 12 decided to draw up a register of the previous Cabinet's resolutions on long-term land and forest leases, as well as on tax preferences, Interfax reported. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko told journalists that her Cabinet wants to know the resolutions that "illegally leased the best land resources in Crimea, around Kyiv, and in all of Ukraine for 49 years to absolutely specific persons from the former president's entourage." Ms. Tymoshenko said the Cabinet has already canceled two Cabinet resolutions on leasing 114 hectares of forests near Kyiv and 11 hectares of land near Sevastopol. "Both resolutions were adopted in favor of structures [controlled by former President Leonid Kuchma's] son-in-law Viktor Pinchuk," Prime Minister Tymoshenko added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Cabinet to revise Kuchma's perks

KYIV - Ukrainian Justice Minister Roman Zvarych has said he will bring into compliance with the law the resolution of the previous government regarding endowment, service and protection for former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko disclosed this after the Cabinet meeting on February 12 and said the government is going to focus on the matter. She added that the previous government had exceeded its authority while making such a resolution. As reported earlier, according to the government resolution of January 19 signed by acting Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, the state was to provide the former president of Ukraine with an endowment, two assistants and one advisor. Mr. Kuchma will also have a dacha, two cars and four drivers. (Interfax-Ukraine)

Cabinet approves Ukraine-EU plan

KYIV - During its February 12 meeting the government of Ukraine approved the Ukraine-European Union action plan, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said. She also said the government ratified the civil convention on fight against corruption. Ratification of the convention means the start of practical work on rooting out corruption in the country, she noted. The prime minister also said the government has set up a working group to analyze privatization processes. During the next several weeks this group will work out the previously announced program "The Property of the Nation." (Interfax-Ukraine)

Yushchenko seeks dermatology treatment

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko visited an unidentified dermatology clinic in Switzerland on February 12-13, Ukrainian media reported, quoting the presidential press service. Mr. Yushchenko's face remains visibly disfigured and pockmarked following his poisoning by dioxin in September 2004, which was diagnosed by doctors from an Austrian clinic. The president claims to be in good health but has not ruled out treatment to improve his appearance. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian delegation to visit Iraq

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko said that a Ukrainian governmental delegation led by Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk will visit Iraq in several weeks to negotiate with the government of that country. He told this to the U.S. Congress delegation visiting Kyiv on February 11, according to the presidential press service. The parties discussed various issues, including withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Iraq. Mr. Yushchenko reminded the U.S. legislators of Ukraine's decisions on the issue, noting that the presence of Ukrainian troops in Iraq is not supported by the people of Ukraine. At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine will have talks with its partners in the coalition before implementing the decision. (Interfax-Ukraine)

Yushchenko warns Donetsk officials....

DONETSK - President Viktor Yushchenko presented newly appointed Donetsk Oblast Chairman Vadym Chuprun to the regional administration's staff on February 10, Ukrainian and international news agencies reported. Donetsk was one of the several regions that overwhelmingly supported Mr. Yushchenko's rival, Viktor Yanukovych, in the 2004 presidential election and threatened to seek a federal status in response to the pro-Yushchenko Orange Revolution. President Yushchenko warned Donetsk political leaders against tolerating or engaging in corruption. He also pledged that he would work toward bringing what he estimates to be two-thirds of Donetsk's economy out of the shadow economy, and threatened to punish any attempts at regional separatism. "There will be no further talk of separatism or federalism," Reuters quoted him as saying. "The people who proposed this absurdity to Ukraine's people will have to answer for it in a court of law," Mr. Yushchenko said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

...demands apology for posters

DONETSK - During his meeting with the Donetsk Oblast Administration staff on February 10, President Viktor Yushchenko recalled his visit to Donetsk in October 2003, when local authorities prevented his Our Ukraine bloc from holding a forum of democratic forces there and allowed the dissemination of posters depicting Mr. Yushchenko in an SS uniform, the Ukrainska Pravda website reported. "I ask the oblast leadership: Who ordered the printing of those posters, who disseminated them?" President Yushchenko said. "If you are convinced that I am really such a man, then prove it publicly. But if you cannot prove it, I'll make you apologize. I don't want to forgive you for that." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko pelted with snowballs

DONETSK - President Viktor Yushchenko arrived in Donetsk on February 10 to introduce newly appointed Donetsk Oblast Chairman Vadym Chuprun to the regional administration staff, the Ukrainska Pravda website reported. While approaching the oblast administration building, Mr. Yushchenko was pelted with snowballs thrown by a group of supporters of former presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych who held placards reading "Yushchenko [is an] impostor" and "Forever with Russia." President Yushchenko took cover from the bombardment behind his umbrella. He subsequently shook hands with members of a group of his backers who also gathered in front of the oblast administration building. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lutsenko sacks two generals

KYIV - Newly appointed Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Lutsenko has dismissed Lt. Gen. Serhii Popkov, vice minister of internal affairs and commander of the Internal Affairs Ministry troops, as well as Maj. Gen. Hennadii Heorhienko, head of the Internal Affairs Ministry's Traffic Police Department, Interfax reported on February 10. According to Ukrainian and foreign media reports, Lt. Gen. Popkov was on the verge of bringing special-task police troops to Kyiv in late December to break up the Orange Revolution. He denied the media allegations, saying the troops were on battle alert, but never left their deployment units. As he introduced the new minister on February 7, President Viktor Yushchenko said of Mr. Lutsenko: "This is the very minister the Internal Affairs Ministry needs today. ... He is an exceptionally honest man." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Piskun comments on poisoning

VIENNA - Procurator-General Sviatoslav Piskun has said President Viktor Yushchenko was most likely poisoned around September 5, the date on which he dined with officials from the Security Service of Ukraine, Reuters reported on February 9. "There is no doubt that this was a planned act, in which several people from the government were probably involved," Mr. Piskun said in an interview with the Vienna-based newspaper Der Standard. "The general timing is around this dinner [on September 5]. But we cannot say with certainty that it was on this day," Mr. Piskun said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

National TV company head resigns

KHARKIV - President Viktor Yushchenko has accepted the resignation of National Television Company Chief Oleksander Savenko. The announcement was made by Ukraine's State Secretary Oleksander Zinchenko at a press conference in Kharkiv on February 14. The choice of a new head for the television company is currently under discussion, he said. Mr. Savenko, 49, has been in charge of the National Television Company of Ukraine since March 2003. (Interfax-Ukraine)

PM pledges crackdown on corruption

KYIV - Newly appointed Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has promised comprehensive measures to counter corruption. "We will be countering corruption in a comprehensive and systematic manner," Ms. Tymoshenko told the Verkhovna Rada on February 4. Corruption "has swept over all of Ukrainian society. But I think we will get rid of it very easily," she said. Ms. Tymoshenko said her government would give top priority "to exterminating the vertical of corruption," a system in which money is collected by low-ranking officials and passed up to higher-ranking officials. The government will work to improve contacts with society and compile a blacklist of documents for which people have to pay bribes, she said. "It will be our battlefield map," she said. All licenses, certificates and other documents which are issued for bribes will be revised, she said. Measures will be taken to raise the salary of civil servants to discourage them from taking bribes, she added. The absence of relations with business and lobbying groups, no history of bribe-taking and professionalism will be among the main requirements for candidates for government posts, she said. (Interfax-Ukraine)

Peacekeeper found dead in Iraq

KYIV - A Ukrainian high-ranking Ukrainian military officer was found dead in Baghdad on February 6. Col. Roman Serednytskyi was a Ukrainian officer in the headquarters of the multinational division in Iraq, the press service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported. According to a preliminary diagnosis, the Ukrainian officer died due to a heart attack. Ukraine's Defense Minister Anatolii Hrytsenko ordered an investigation in the death of the Ukrainian peacekeeper. The Defense Ministry expressed its condolences to the family of the colonel. Col. Serednytskyi has a wife and two daughters in Kyiv. (Interfax-Ukraine)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 20, 2005, No. 8, Vol. LXXIII

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