NEWSBRIEFS (10/01/06)

NEWSBRIEFS

Cabinet refuses seven presidential decrees

KYIV - The Cabinet of Ministers has returned seven presidential decrees concerning the judicial sphere and the appointment and dismissal of ambassadors to the Presidential Secretariat, arguing that President Viktor Yushchenko violated the constitutional procedure for their publication, the Ukrayinska Pravda website reported on September 21. According to Oleksander Lavrynovych, deputy minister of the Cabinet of Ministers, President Yushchenko made these decrees public without securing the countersignatures of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and ministers responsible for their implementation, as stipulated by Article 106 of the Constitution of Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM wants to draft presidential decrees

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said on September 25 that the Cabinet of Ministers should be directly involved in the drafting of presidential decrees, Interfax-Ukraine reported. "[The drafting process should include] the minister who will execute the decree and, of course, the prime minister. There are no politics here," Mr. Yanukovych noted. Last week the Cabinet of Ministers refused to implement seven presidential decrees, arguing that they were published without the countersignatures of Mr. Yanukovych and ministers responsible for their implementation. Mr. Yanukovych said his refusal to countersign the decrees will help regulate relations between the Cabinet of Ministers and the president. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Poll: Yanukovych most trusted politician

KYIV - According to a poll conducted in mid-September by the Ukrainian Institute for Social Studies and the Social Monitoring Center, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych is the most trusted politician in Ukraine, with 50 percent of respondents expressing trust in him and 43 percent distrusting him, Interfax-Ukraine reported. President Viktor Yushchenko is trusted by 37 percent of Ukrainians and distrusted by 55 percent, while opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko is trusted by 37 percent and distrusted by 57 percent. "Today, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych shows himself as a strong personality. The people tend to trust in a strong personality after [experiencing] a weak president," Olha Balakireva, the head of the Ukrainian Institute for Social Studies, commented on the findings. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Babyn Yar massacre is commemorated

KYIV - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on September 26 launched two days of commemoration for the 65th anniversary of the Nazi massacre at Babyn Yar, Ukrainian and international media reported. On September 29-30, 1941, invading Nazis killed more than 33,000 Jewish men, women and children in the Babyn Yar ravine near Kyiv. During the war more than 100,000 more people - including Jews, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and Ukrainian nationalists - were executed at the site. "Babyn Yar must become a link that should forewarn and guard the world from aggressive and bloody xenophobia," Mr. Yushchenko said during the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the massacre in Kyiv. The ceremony was attended by Israeli President Moshe Katsav, Croatian President Stipe Mesic and Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyrgyzstan blocks Ukraine's WTO bid

KYIV - Ukraine's First Vice Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on September 25 that Kyrgyzstan is refusing to sign a protocol with Ukraine on mutual access to commodity and service markets, which would pave the way for Ukraine's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), UNIAN reported. According to Mr. Azarov, Kyrgyzstan put forward "unsubstantiated demands to return non-state debts" as a condition for signing such a protocol with Ukraine. He did not elaborate. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tymoshenko takes lead of opposition

KYIV - Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is head of the eponymous opposition bloc, announced on September 22 that her bloc will form the core of an interfactional opposition in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukrainian and international news agencies reported. So far, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc has been joined in opposition by two lawmakers elected from the Socialist Party list - Yosyp Vinskyi and Halyna Harmash. Ms. Tymoshenko expressed hope that the parliamentary opposition will soon be expanded with lawmakers from Our Ukraine, but she did not specify any number. Ms. Tymoshenko took the helm of the interfactional parliamentary opposition. Her deputies are Oleksander Turchynov and Mykola Tomenko from her bloc and Mr. Vinskyi. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine agrees on gas supply volumes

KYIV - Ukrainian Fuel and Energy Minister Yurii Boiko told journalists after Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's return from Moscow to Kyiv on September 22 that the two sides agreed on an annual volume of gas supplies to Ukraine of 62 billion cubic meters in 2007-2009. "The [gas] balance for the next three years is closed due to gas from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and, partially, Russia," Mr. Boiko noted, saying nothing about the price. He did not reveal which company would supply the Russian and Central Asian gas to Ukraine over the next three years. Mr. Yanukovych said in televised comments later the same day that new gas prices for the fourth quarter of 2006 will be decided within the next few days. A January deal set the price of gas imported by Ukraine at $95 per 1,000 cubic meters for January-June 2006. In June Gazprom extended this price for three more months. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ambassador to Canada is named

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko on September 11 issued a decree appointing Ihor Ostash as ambassador to Canada, the president's press service has announced. Mr. Ostash, 47, was a national deputy in the three previous Parliaments, in the most recent Parliament as vice-chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He ran in the March parliamentary election on the list of the Pora-Reforms and Order bloc, which failed to overcome the 3 percent barrier. He speaks English, Polish, Slovakian, Serbian, Croatian and Bulgarian. Until now, Ukraine's interests in Canada have been represented by the chargé d'affaires ad interim, Vadym Prystaiko. The ambassador's post has been vacant since February, when Mykola Maimeskul was appointed vice minister of foreign affairs. Mr. Maimeskul had headed Ukraine's diplomatic mission in Canada since March 2003. In that post he also represented Ukraine in the International Civil Aviation Organization. (Interfax-Ukraine)

Yanukovych vows push toward EU

BRUSSELS - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine declared in Brussels on September 21 that the fight against corruption and economic reform will be Ukraine's top priorities as the country seeks to get closer to European Union membership, reported the Associated Press. Mr. Yanukovych also said Ukraine will push for World Trade Organization membership and the creation of a free-trade area with the EU. "We are ... aware that most of the effort must be made on the part of Ukraine in order to have this approximation to the EU," Mr. Yanukovych said after a meeting with European Parliament President Josep Borrell. (RFE/RL Newsline)

EC wants to bring Ukraine close to EU

BRUSSELS - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso reiterated on September 21 that the commission will start a discussion early next year on a broader cooperation agreement with Ukraine that could include a free-trade deal, Ukrainian and international media reported. Mr. Barroso was speaking after talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in Brussels. "Our objective is to bring Ukraine closer to the European Union. Our objective is also to support political, institutional and economic reforms in a way [that would] contribute to economic growth and the improvement of the living standards of Ukrainian citizens," Mr. Barroso said. Mr. Yanukovych commented that "Mr. President [Barroso] and I agreed that Ukraine and the European Union should now take on the complex path of achieving the strategic goal of Ukraine joining the European Union." Moreover, the Ukrainian prime minister reaffirmed to Brussels that Ukraine is not going to join a customs union with Russia within the framework of the Single Economic Space, which also includes Kazakhstan and Belarus. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Verkhovna Rada overrides presidential veto

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on September 22 rejected the presidential veto on a bill introducing a moratorium on utilities payment hikes in 2006, UNIAN reported. With at least 300 votes required to override a presidential veto, 344 lawmakers voted for the motion. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Parliament begins debate on budget

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on September 21 began a debate on a 2007 draft budget approved by the Cabinet of Ministers the previous week, Ukrainian media reported. The document sets consolidated budget revenues in 2007 at $180 billion hrv ($60 billion) and spending at $186 billion hrv. The draft budget projects economic growth in 2007 at 6.5 percent of gross domestic project (GDP). (RFE/RL Newsline)

Melnychenko wants to live in Ukraine

KYIV - Mykola Melnychenko, a former security officer for President Leonid Kuchma who is known for a series of recordings made in the president's office, intends to live in Ukraine. The news was announced on September 20 by National Deputy Ivan Bokyi (Socialist Party). "He wants to return to Ukraine, but thus far this is not possible," Mr. Bokyi said. He went on to express skepticism about the Procurator General's intention to initiate a criminal case against Mr. Melnychenko for revealing state secrets. "I did not know that presidential cursing constitutes state secrets," the national deputy joked. (Ukrayinski Novyny)

MANPADS destroyed in Ukraine

WASHINGTON - The world's skies were made a little safer when the controlled destruction of 1,000 Ukrainian man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), was completed on September 20 in northeast Ukraine, outside the city of Shostka, the U.S. State Department reported. These weapons, deemed by Ukraine to be excess to its defense needs, are but the first installment in a 12-year weapons and munitions destruction project being undertaken by Ukraine and NATO in a NATO-Partnership for Peace Trust Fund initiative - the largest such multilateral destruction project of its kind. The United States is the lead sponsor of the first three-year phase of this project, to which it already has contributed over $3.64 million. Twelve other countries and the European Union have pledged approximately $7.2 million. Ukraine is providing most of the operational funding and in-kind support. A total of approximately $27 million will be required from donors to complete the project. In addition to the MANPADS that were destroyed, 15,000 tons of stockpiled excess and unstable munitions, including ammunition for automatic weapons, artillery shells and mortar rounds, and 400,000 small arms and light weapons, are scheduled to be destroyed during the first phase. By the end of the 12-year project, a total of 1.5 million small arms and light weapons, and 133,000 tons of munitions will have been safely destroyed. (U.S. Department of State)

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