The Ukrainian Observer

Prime Minister hopes Parliament will amend Constitution next week

KYIV, May 8: Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has said she hopes Parliament will adopt amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine next week. Speaking at a news conference in the Cabinet of

Ministers after a cabinet meeting yesterday, she said: "I really hope that constitutional changes can be adopted next week on the basis of a consolidated position of the majority, and what is more, the constitutional majority (of 300 votes)," she said. More

Oil and gas chief expects pipeline to start pumping Caspian crude by July

KYIV, May 8: The chairman of state oil and gas company Naftohaz Ukrayiny, Oleh Dubyna, has said that the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline will start pumping light crude oil from the Caspian in the originally-planned direction from Odessa by the end of June.

"In order to transfer to the other direction, it is necessary to buy 485,000 tonnes of light oil to substitute. Ukrtransnafta (oil pipeline operator) is doing this," Dubyna was quoted as telling journalists today, adding that this work would be completed in the first half of July.

Asked about the reaction of the Russian-British company TNK-BP, which is currently using the pipeline to deliver oil to Odessa, Dubyna avoided answering. Dubyna also said that the issue of pumping 44,000 tonnes of Caspian oil to the Czech refinery at Kralupy would be resolved in May. More

Ukraine says it will initiate talks on visa-free travel with EU

KYIV, May 8: The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is planning to begin talks with the EU on visa-free travel this year, Deputy Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Yeliseyev told a news conference.

"This year we are seeking to start dialogue with the EU on visa-free travel," he said.

Yeliseyev also said that the Foreign Ministry keeps drawing attention to the shortcomings of the Ukraine-EU agreement on a more liberal visa regime, ranging from "the attitude of embassies and consular sections towards Ukrainian citizens to the consistency of the lists of documents our citizens have to submit to get visas". More

Prime minister upbraids regional gas distributors over debts

KYIV, May 7: Ukrainian regional gas distribution companies will be sold off unless they clear their debts, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko told company chiefs today.

She summoned regional governors and heads of regional energy directorates for a conference.

The reason for the meeting was the debts run up by Ukrainian companies. She gave their heads one month to clear the debts and threatened to launch bankruptcy proceedings and hold a subsequent sell-off for those failing to meet the deadline. More

Foreign Ministry says Russian fleet celebrations next week should be confined to base

KYIV, May 7: The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry believes that celebrations of the 225th anniversary of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation should be conducted at the facilities of the Black Sea Fleet, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vasyl Kyrylych has said. Speaking at a briefing he noted that the Russian Black Sea Fleet is based in one of the territorial and geographic sectors of Sevastopol, but Sevastopol is not a base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

"We believe that celebrations of the anniversary of the Black Sea Fleet should be held at the facilities of the Black Sea Fleet," Kyrylych said.

"Military hardware passing en masse and on a large scale through the city is already a military parade, which has an element of ideology to it," he added. More

Privatization official caught taking big bribe

KYIV, May 7: A deputy head of the directorate for the implementation of the privatization program of the state-owned joint-stock company National Network of Auction Centres has been detained accepting a bribe of 147,000 dollars, the press service of the Security Service of Ukraine reported today.

It was established that in early April 2008 one of the bidders planning to purchase a municipal property facility in Kyiv Region was asked to pay a bribe of almost 150,000 dollars to ensure his win in a tender on buying the non-residential building. More

Ukraine protests against Russian fleet's military exercise in Crimea, demands explanation

KYIV, May 6: The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has forwarded a protest note to the Russian embassy in Kyiv regarding the Russian Black Sea Fleet's military exercise in Crimea, Ukrainian TV reported today.

The TV channel recalled that on April 27 Ukrainian border guards found a Russian missile near the village of Pryvitne in Alushta District. As was later discovered, a Russian military ship "lost" the missile during an exercise on April 15. More

Embattled privatization chief suspends deputy over sale of chemical plant

KYIV, May 6: The head of the State Property Fund, Valentyna Semenyuk-Samsonenko, has suspended her deputy, Dmytro Parfyonenko, since he is under investigation for abuse of authority.

Semenyuk-Samsonenko said at a news conference today that the SPF's department for control and audit work and economic intelligence conducted this investigation together with responsible agencies following the resumption of the attempt to sell a 99.52-per-cent stake in the chemical producer Odessa Port Plant announced in a recent issue of the bulletin Vidomosti Pryvatyzatsiyi (Privatization News), which Semenyuk regards as fake. More

Ambassador to Russia to represent Ukraine at Medvedev inauguration tomorrow
KYIV, May 6: Ukraine's ambassador to Russia, Oleh Dyomin, will represent Ukraine at the inauguration of Russian president-elect Dmitriy Medvedev, Vasyl Kyrylych, the head of the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, announced today. "Dyomin will be performing his duties until the appointment of a new ambassador,'' said Kyrylych. More

President attends unveiling of new helicopter

KYIV, May 5: President Viktor Yushchenko has attended the ceremonial unveiling of a new Ukrainian light helicopter, the KT-112 Cadet, in the town of Borodyanka, Kyiv Region.

It is equipped with two engines, which make it safer and more reliable during flights over population centres. Yushchenko said it would create ''a winged future for our Ukrainian helicopter-building".

He said he hoped it would be certified by October 2008. More

Transport minister says pilot error caused Black Sea helicopter crash

KYIV, May 5: Information from flight recorders of the Mi-8 helicopter that crashed in the Black Sea on April 28 shows that the helicopter was in order, Ukrainian Transport and Communications Minister Yosip Vinskyy said today.

"We have deciphered information from the flight recorders. There were no technical failures," he said.

He added that "obviously, the crash resulted from a piloting mistake." More

President asks Cabinet to observe the law in row over privatization chief

KYIV, May 5: President Viktor Yushchenko has called upon the Cabinet to adhere to the Constitution in the issue of a possible replacement of the management of the State Property Fund.

"The dismissal or appointment of the head of the State Property Fund in accordance with the constitution falls within the exclusive competence of the Ukrainian parliament. Nobody will amend this norm of the law, and I oblige all the parties involved in the conflict today to be guided by nothing but the Constitution,'' he told reporters in Borodyanka, Kyiv Region, today. More

Police close down drugs lab in central Ukraine, detain ammunition dealer in east

KYIV, May 2: Police in Kirovohrad Region have detained seven members of a gang that is suspected of producing and distributing synthetic drugs in Ukraine.

The public relations department of the Interior Ministry's Kirovohrad regional directorate revealed that the laboratory was discovered in a garage belonging to one of the gang members.

It contained equipment, chemicals, rubber costumes and breathing apparatuses. More

Ukrainian firm says ready to implement Tajik energy projects

DUSHANBE, May 2: Ukrainian company Ukrvazhmash Ltd has expressed its readiness to implement a number of projects in Tajikistan.

A source in the Tajik Ministry of Energy and Industry told the Tajik news agency Asia-Plus that the company's intentions had been confirmed in a memorandum of cooperation between the two countries.

The source said that the Ukrainian company had expressed readiness to implement projects to construct small, medium-sized and large hydroelectric power stations, as well as reconstruct the existing hydropower facilities, in Tajikistan. More

Founding stone of new Polish consulate laid in Lviv

LVIV, May 2: A corner stone under the building of the new Polish consulate in the western city of Lviv was laid today, Polish consul-general Wieslaw Osuchowski has announced.

"We hope that construction will end in February 2009 so that the consulate can open in May 2009," Osuchowski said. The consul stressed that the new Polish mission will service mainly to help Ukrainians get Polish visas. More

Ukrainians among casualties in bus accident in Egypt's Sinai

SOUTH SINAI, May 1: Eight tourists were killed and 23 injured when their bus overturned early on May 1 on the Sharm al-Shaykh-Cairo road in Hammam Fir'awn area, police said.

The victims were from Canada, Britain, Ukraine, Russia and Egypt, the police source said.

The bus, owned by Azur Travel, was carrying 37 tourists from the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Shaykh to Cairo, the source said.

It overturned at a sharp curve and hit a large block of concrete before catching fire. The accident occurred at 5.54 a.m. near Shahid Ahmad Hamdi Tunnel, some 40 km off Abu Zinayma by the Suez Canal, the source said. More

Left-wing parties mark May Day separately, but make strange call for unity

KYIV, May 1: Political forces making up the Ukrainian left celebrated May Day separately. Socialists led by former parliamentary speaker Oleksandr Moroz held a rally in Independence Square, while supporters of the Communist Party of Ukraine and the Progressive Socialist Party marched along the capital's thoroughfare, Khreshchatyk.

The news channel 5 Kanal quoted Communist leader Petro Symonenko as saying he would not object if Moroz walked with them.

"Today we suggested marching together along Khreshchatyk to hold a unifying event, express our position, adopt a resolution and show people that there are progressive forces in Kyiv. I hope they will join us when we march in a column, I hope common sense will prevail,'' he said.

However, Natalya Vitrenko, the leader of the Progressive Socialists, rejected the idea.

The channel showed her saying: "It was absolutely clear that we were taking different roads. We are on the same road with the Communists. While our basic principles and directions coincide with those of the Communists, they, unfortunately, in no way do with the Socialists and the Social Democrats." More