UKRINFORM NEWS AGENCY

  NEWS FROM UKRAINE

President Viktor Yushchenko has sent Fuel & Energy Minister Ivan Plachkov and Emergency Management Minister Davyd Zhvaniya to the Donetsk region on a fact-finding mission after an accident in the Rossiya coal mine, with a view of establishing the accident's causes and circumstances and aiding the families of those who suffered in the accident.

The Head of State urged to exert every effort to save the miners, who were trapped 400 meters below the surface after a longwall collapsed.

As of 6 a m Sunday, one coal miner was rescued and hospitalized. The destiny of one of those five coal miners, who were blocked, remains uncertain.

Four teams of rescuers are engaged in the operation in the operation to save the coal-miners.

Speaking on the phone to Donetsk Regional Administration official and senior execs of the holding company SelidovVuhilia, which runs the Rossiya coal mine, President Yushchenko underscored the significance of displaying caring attitudes to the sufferers' families.

According to the Emergency Management Ministry's public relations, as of 19:45 Sunday, another coal miners was rescued and hospitalized.

As of 6 a m Monday, two bodies were recovered for the coal mine.

Ivan Plachkov and Davyd Zhvaniya, who spent Sunday at the coal mine, were joined by Governor Chuprun.

They conducted deliberations of rescuers to outline further steps in the SAR operation, n eliminating the accident's consequences, establishing its causes, organising medical treatment of the injured coal miners and rendering aid to the accident's victims and families of those who perished in the accident.

***

Speaking to journalists in Kyiv on Sunday, President Viktor Yushchenko dismissed speculations about what might have prompted Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to postpone her scheduled visit to Moscow.

The visit's postponement, Mr Yushchenko noted, is due to purely technical matters inside Ukraine.

Similar situations occur in many nations, the President said.

Commenting on relations between Ukraine and Russia, President Yushchenko said these must be honest, public and productive.

Touching on recent rumors about the Prime Minister's imminent resignation, President Yushchenko said he was sorry and felt ashamed listening to such rumors, which are sheer nonsense.

On the eve of Yulia Tymoshenko's visit to Moscow, which had been slated for April 15, President Yushchenko signed an errand for the Premier, urging her to cancel all trips abroad by Cabinet members until after the vernal crop sowing campaign, with a view of solving matters pertaining to stabilization of the economic situation in Ukraine.

***

We'd like to clearly declare that the GUUAM has never been and will never be alternative to the CIS and to Russia, Secretary of National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko stated at a meeting of GUUAM Security Secretaries (Georgia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova).

Moldova proceeds from the fact that the GUUAM will in no way be directed against somebody or something, the project is aimed at ensuring and achieving common interests and tasks, which the member-states face, Moldovan National Security and Defense Secretary Ion Morei said. He viewed the idea of other countries' accession to the GUUAM as possible, as "the organization is constructive, having no negative attitudes toward other formations and projects".

The consultations in Kyiv were also attended by Secretary of National Security and Defense Council of Georgia Gela Bezhuashvili and the Azeri President's assistant Vahid Aliyev. The organization's fifth participant, Uzbekistan's representative failed to arrive in Kyiv.

***

Serious initiatives, which were discussed at a recent meeting of GUUAM partners at the level of Secretaries of National Security Councils, have once again testified to the fact that the GUUAM is an alive developing instrument, which is filled with an absolutely concrete, practical and comprehensive content. Such a statement was aired by Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Petro Poroshenko, who met in Kyiv with his counterparts, Georgian Security Secretary Gela Bezhuashvili, the Azeri President's assistant Vahid Aliyev and Moldovan Security Secretary Ion Morei on the eve of a Chisinau summit, with a view of discussing a series of topical matters.

In particular, the meeting focused on facilitation of the GUUAM's activity in settlement of frozen conflicts. As Petro Poroshenko stated, Ukraine means to offer a number of initiatives for settlement of conflicts in Transdniestria.

As the Moldovan National Security Secretary noted, that Kyiv initiatives will help to strengthen the cooperation within the GUUAM. He expressed his gratitude for Ukraine's steps toward resolving the frozen conflicts, and not only the Transdniestrian one.

The meeting also touched on the GUUAM participants' action coordination in Iraq's post-war reconstruction, exchange of information and projects, establishment of working groups. The parties agreed to study the experience of other integration entities, particularly of Baltic states, in security and economic cooperation matters.

***

We have arrived at a common conclusion that those values which we mean to proceed on in our work are European values and our common Eurointegration course, Gela Bezhuashvili, Secretary of the Georgian National Security Council, said, by way of commenting on the Kyiv meeting of the GUUAM's National Security Council's Secretaries.

The meeting was attended by chiefs of the National Security Councils of Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Moldova, who agreed to coordinate their steps with regard to strategic and tactical documents, adopted by the EU and NATO.

***

On Sunday, April 17 State Secretary Oleksandr Zinchenko left for Libya on a two-day working visit. He is supposed to hold meetings with Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi, other top-placed officials and to attend a ceremony to open an international expo, at which Kharkiv and Zaporizhia region manufacturers will display their specimen products. In particular, the Kharkiv region will be represented by the Malyshev Works and the Morozov Design Office.

***

An all-Ukrainian gathering of local self-government bodies, will most probably be postponed to April 25 and 26, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn told journalists on Monday. The decision to postpone the session is connected with the President's absence on April 23, the date when the session was expected to be primarily held, and his presence and a speech are very desirable.

As Volodymyr Lytvyn said, he expects a sincere, comprehensive and principled talk among representatives of the local power at the all-Ukrainian gathering for matters of ensuring the power's integrity and realizing reforms, offered by the President and the Government. By this, the most important is to preserve tranquility and stability in the country, Mr Lytvyn stressed.

Answering the journalists' question on likelihood of holding a referendum on political reform in Ukraine, Volodymyr Lytvyn spoke up against the referendum, saying similar referendum was held in 2000, which neither decision was realized, as the Constitution may be amended only by the Parliament's two thirds of votes. According to Volodymyr Lytvyn, the referendum may cause anxiety in the society and entail some instability, which is absolutely unnecessary in the current political situation.

***

As Verkhovna Rada First Vice Chairperson Adam Martyniuk told in Monday press conference in Kyiv, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn has approached the Court for terminating competence of 21 people's deputies for combining their mandates with  executive posts.

According to Adam Martyniuk, there are 34 deputies in the Parliament who combine their parliamentarian mandates with discharging other functions.

Adam Martyniuk articulated his strong doubts about the Verkhovna Rada's ability to elect a new Vice Speaker from among the four candidates.

The more candidates, he said, the slimmer chances for electing the Parliament's Vice Speaker.

***

According to Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn, next Thursday (April 22) the Parliament will likely elected a new Vice Speaker.

As Mr Lytvyn told attendants of the VR Arranging Council's Monday session, four deputies have chances for being elected to the vacant post, to wit, Anatoliy Matviyenko, Yuriy Kostenko, Bohdan Hubskiy and Viktor Musiyaka.

According to the Speaker, on April 23 an all-Ukrainian meeting of local self-government bodies will be held. As Mr Lytvyn disclosed, later in the day chairpersons of VR Standing Committees, leaders of factions and deputy groups were supposed to meet with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Cabinet members to discuss the candidatures for the Vice Speaker post.

***

As Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn told members of the VR Arranging Council on Monday, the plenary session week, which will start on Tuesday, April 19, will have to tackle as many as over 120 bills, of which three are viewed by the President as urgent and 17 bills are the Government's priority no. one.

Tuesday's agenda provides for vetting 14 bills in their second hearing and 18 other bills.

Wednesday will be devoted to hearings into Ukraine's cultural policies.

Thursday's agenda incorporates 47 issues, including election of a new Vice Speaker. Thursday's bills include 20 documents to be considered in the second hearing and two documents to override the President's veto. Friday's main agenda item will be a bill on setting the minimal wage for 2005.

On April 25 through 29 the deputies will work in their constituencies.

The Parliament's May 4 - 6 plenary session is supposed to address up to 30 agenda items, Volodymyr Lytvyn disclosed.

The VR Arranging Council's Monday session was attended by First Vice Premier Anatoli Kinakh, who briefed the deputies about key issues, which the Government intends to address this week.

***

On Sunday, April 17 President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Verkhovna Rada Chairperson Volodymyr Lytvyn, Vice Premier Mykola Tomenko,  Natural Environmental Protection Minister Pavlo Ihnatenko, Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, Culture & Arts Minister Oksana Bilozir, Agrarian Policy Minister Oleksandr Baranivskiy, Industrial Policy Minister Volodymyr Shandra, Education & Science Minister Stanislav Nikolayenko, Transportation Minister Yevhen Chervonenko, Kyiv Governor Yevhen Zhovtiak, Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko participated in the all-Ukrainian action "Green Sprout of the Future" in Kyiv's Glory Park.

They were joined by WWII veterans, students of the Minor Science Academy in planting tree seedlings in the park.

***

The Constitution Reform means chaos in Ukraine. If it takes effect on September 1, 2005 this will cause a tremendous problem for Ukraine, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko commented on the reform, meant for Ukraine's transition from the presidential-parliamentary paradigm to the parliamentary-presidential order.

This opinion was partly supported by First Vice Premier Anatoliy Kinakh, who said that transition needs a lengthy period of  adjustments, otherwise risk will be too high of forming an amorphous authority of "collective irresponsibility."

State Secretary Oleksandr Zinchenko stated the need for holding a popular referendum of he reform. These utterances triggered objections not only on the part of opposition representatives.

Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz said there were no legal grounds whatsoever for questioning the expediency of the constitutional reform.

Oleksandr Moroz accused the incumbents of attempting to revise the Verkhovna Rada's Resolution 4180 of December 2004.According to available information, over 60 VR deputies have signed a letter to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, which questions the legitimacy of procedures in adopting the reform bill.

***

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has published yet another list of persons, summoned for questioning by police bodies.

The list includes:

-Andriy Demydenko, former first vice chairman of the Vinnytsia Regional Administration (for giving explanations about misuse of budgetary funds to the tune of 6 M.UAH in purchasing medical equipment)

-Anatoli Zasukha, former Kyiv Region Governor (to give explanations about unlawful use of two luxury cars over two years, which belonged to the Interior Ministry's Main Agency in the Kyiv Region)

-Sergei Kivalov (to furnish explanations about unlawful alienation of part of the Odesa Juridical Academy's property)

-Viktor Kotsemyr, former Vinnytsia Governor (to provide explanations about unlawful reimbursement of the VAT to the tune of 3.3 M.UAH in favor of bodies under his control)

-Vasyl Kravets, Ternopil Regional Rada chairman (to furnish explanations about misappropriation of funds to the tune of 2.5 M. UAH, when he was chairman of the Kremenets District Administration)

-Viktor Lysak, vice chairman of the Poltava Regional Administration (to give explanations about misdeeds in purchasing medical equipment)

-Vadym Leshenko, former Cherkasy Governor (to give explanations about unlawful registration of luxury automobiles without paying customs)

-Yaroslav Masliy, chief of the Rivne Regional Administration's Health Care Agency (to give explanations about misappropriation of funds to the tune of 64 M. UAH in purchases of medical equipment)

-Ivan Rizak, former Transcarpathian Governor (to furnish explanations with regard to pressure having been brought to bear on some officials to make them remit money to the charitable fund "Transcarpathia's Development")

-Vladimir Khodakovsky, Kherson Regional Rada chairman  (to give explanations with regard to unlawful alienation of the Kherson Marine College's property in his favor)

-Volodymyr Tsymbaliuk, former first vice chairman of the Khmelnytsky Regional Administration (to furnish explanations about unlawful alienation of land plots in favor of private individuals)

-Volodymyr Shcherban, former Sumy Governor (to provide explanations about improper use of budgetary funds).

***

The Finance Ministry's outing deliberations were held in Chernihiv, conducted by Minister Viktor Pynzenyk and attended by Finance Ministry officers, key personnel of the region's financial, tax, custom, treasury bodies.

Similar outing deliberations were held in Kirovograd and Cherkasy.

***

The Economics Ministry has set the ceiling on wholesale prices for diesel oil and gasoline at 2,932 UAH per ton of diesel oil, 3,528 UAH per ton of A-95 gasoline, 3,481 UAH per ton of A-92 gasoline, 3,455 UAH per ton of A-76 gasoline.

***

On Monday, April 18 Supreme Court Chairman Vasyl Maliarenko met with a USAID expert delegation, the Supreme Court's press service told Ukrinform.

The meeting dealt with Ukraine's judicial power and ways to make it really independent.

The host party briefed the USAID delegation about topical problems of the judicial-legal reform.

The USAID expert group arrived in Ukraine on April 11. Their visit will last through April 25.

The USAID delegation state their mission as studying Ukraine's steps toward fighting corruption and attaining the supremacy of Law.

***

On Monday, April 18 69-strong personnel of the 81st Tactical Group, who arrived in Iraq as an advance party by way of rotating personnel of the 7th Detached Mechanized Brigade, joined the brigade's personnel in carrying out patrol missions at the camp DELTA in Iraq's Wasit Province, the Defense Ministry's press service told Ukrinform.

***

As the Defense Ministry's press service told Ukrinform, scheduled rotation began of the 56th Detached Helicopter Squadron in Liberia, which will last through April 26 and which will involve about 300-strong personnel.

Besides, the rotation operation provides for replacing four of the squadron's fourteen helicopters, which will be airlifted to Ukraine by an AN-124 Ruslan plane.

The relief personnel will be recruited from among servicemen of the Ukrainian Army's Western Operational Command.

They are supposed to be skilled helimen, who are 1st Class pilots and have flown at least 1,000 hours.

Since September 2004 helimen of the 56th Detached Helicopter Squadron have flown over 4,390 sorties on transportation and patrol missions.

***

 Speaking to journalists in Kyiv City's Glory Park on Sunday, President Viktor Yushchenko said Ukraine counts on regulating problems with Russia this year, in particular, those pertaining to the Russian Black Sea Fleet's presence in Crimea, the borderline's delimitation and promoting energy cooperation with Russia.

In Viktor Yushchenko's opinion, between 25 and 30 agreements will have to be signed between Ukraine and Russia to regulate these matters.

As far as the Black Sea Fleet's stationing in Crimea is concerned, it is regulated by five bipartite agreements, which, however, do not fully mirror the current situation.

As far as the borderline's delimitation is concerned, the President went on, during the latest Ukrainian-Russian Summit the Heads of State agreed to solve the problem of the Kerch Strait's demarcation, delimitation, as well as problems of crossing the frontiers and readmission.

These will necessitate signing additional six to seven agreements, President Yushchenko told the journalists.

President Viktor Yushchenko also noted unique opportunities for promoting Ukrainian-Russian cooperation in the fuel-energy sector.

As he said, Ukraine's success will depend solely on Ukraine's activity.

***

On Monday, April 18 President Viktor Yushchenko introduced the newly appointed State Property Fund chairperson, Valentyna Semeniuk to senior SPF staffers.

President Yushchenko criticized the SPF's Juridical Agency for having failed to protect the State's interests in the KryvorichStal steel works' privatization, which he called a graphic example of the State Property Fund's negligence of the nation's interests.

The Head of State outlined the SPF's major tasks in carrying out further privatization and managing the State's corporative rights.

He urged the SPF's chiefs to analyse the state of affairs in observance of their obligations by former state-run enterprises' owners.

The SPF's new chiefs, President Yushchenko said, must decide on three to four priority moves, which will provide a base for the SPF's further activity.

In turn, Valentyna Semeniuk stated her vision of the SPF's major goal as restituting the people's trust in the State Property Fund.

She pledged to exert every effort to dispel widespread view of the State Property Fund as a corruption-infested body of state authority.

***

President Viktor Yushchenko introduced new chief of the State Affairs Management Agency Ihor Tarasiuk on Monday, the presidential press service told Ukrinform.

The President outlined prime tasks of the agency, stressing on the need to hold inventory of the state property and "to get rid of superfluous luxury in cabinets". According to the President, state offices must correspond to the Ukrainian culture and spirit, all attributes and presents, which are used during protocol event, must be made in Ukraine and represent Ukraine.

According to Mr Yushchenko, over the past years the agency has discredited itself, having turned into "an empire with its own laws" and have become "a symbol of state injustice". The agency new chief's main task is to "wash from the agency these negative associations and make its activity transparent and moral".

President Yushchenko described Ihor Tarasiuk as "wise and ambitious person". In his turn, Mr Tarasiuk thanked the President for the trust and assured the Head of State in his awareness of the complexity of the set tasks.

As he told journalists, the State Affairs Management Agency means to start reconstruction of the Mariinsky Palace. During this period, which may last three years, the presidential residence will move to the Health Ministry.

***

President Viktor Yushchenko has issued insttuctions for holding an international investment forum in Ukraine on June 16 and 17.

The Head of State has ordered to hold consultations toward securing the World Economic Forum's support for organising the investment forum.

Vice Premier Oleh Rybachuk has been appointed the Organising Committee's chairperson.

***

Though the new authority has come to power in Ukraine with the slogan "Bandits to Prison!", practical steps to root out crime and corruption have not been taken, Verkhovna Rada First Vice Chairman Adam Martyniuk told a Monday news conference in Kyiv. In Mr Martyniuk's opinion, fighting crime and corruption, which are widespread in Ukraine, should not have started with the Donetsk region, because this gave grounds for talking about "political persecutions". Not only Donetsk region bandits must be brought to justice, he said, but also bandits in other regions, such as, say, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil regions (West Ukraine).

Touching on the constitutional reform, Adam Martyniuk said there is no need to hold an all-national referendum.

If one starts questioning the constitutional reform bill, which was adopted in a single parcel with a bill on the repeated run-off, then the presidential elections' outcome could be questioned as well,

Though Adam Martyniuk did not rule out the likelihood of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko stepping down in September 2005, he noted that no one was entitled to demand Mrs Tymoshenko's resignation as this may be legally possible only after a year has elapsed since her Government's action program was endorsed by the Parliament.

The Tymoshenko Government, Adam Martyniuk ventured to predict, will keep working until May 2006 when the Verkhovna Rada chooses the new Cabinet.

***

A Ukrainian delegation, led by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, arrived in Chisinau, Moldova on an official visit, with a view of getting prepared for a summit of GUUAM Heads of State, which is slated for April 22, 2005.

As the NSDC's press service told Ukrinform, NSDC Secretary Petro Poroshenko met with Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin. The sides viewed initiatives and proposals by GUUAM Security Secretaries, which were offered at the April 16 consultations in Kyiv. The Moldovan President reassured the Ukrainian Security Secretary in Moldova's comprehensive support for Ukraine's accession to the WTO. Messrs Voronin and Poroshenko also discussed the matter of strengthening the Ukrainian-Moldovan borderlines, deepening the democratization processes, ensuring the economic development and regional security. The parties to the meeting tackled the matter of establishment of a Ukrainian-Moldovan commission on hydroaccumulation station.

Petro Poroshenko and Vladimir Voronin were glad to state that Ukrainian and Moldovan viewpoints on settlement of the majority of problems and common development goals coincide.

***

Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister for European Integration Oleh Rybachuk presented an anglophone version of the list of events of the Ukraine-EU Action Plan "roadmap", which was endorsed at the Govt's recent session on April 16, to the British Premier's European Affairs Adviser Kim Derek on Monday. According to Mr Rybachuk, it is very important that British experts are the first to consider the "roadmap", as Great Britain is the next country to preside in the EU, and during its presidency many issues, which are important for Ukraine's Eurointegration, may be solved. As he also said, the "roadmap" will be presented at a scheduled session of the Ukraine-EU Commission in Brussels.

As the British side noted in turn, a good fundament has been laid for the development of Ukraine-EU relations. As he noted, a group of British experts will visit Ukraine soon, who are to view opportunities for providing Ukraine with a technical assistance for the "roadmap" fulfillment.

***

Intense preparations for the jubilee 60th summit of the UN General Assembly, which is to be held in September 2005, go on. A corner-stone of this process is the report of the UN Secretary General "In sake of Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All", which is devoted to the survey of a five-year progress in fulfilling the UN Millennium Declaration.

The UN SecGen met with the Far East regional group, which unites 22 UN member-states, with a view of discussing the report. Ukraine is the group's active participant. The Secretary General stated his support for the idea of preserving the UN existing groups while transforming the organization, which is, according to him, has been reflected in the report.

As the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's press service told Ukrinform, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to UN Valeri Kuchynsky highly assessed the report of Kofi Annan as an important contribution to the UN modernization process and stated Ukraine's readiness for further cooperation  with the Secretary General  for enhancement of UN authority. The Ukrainian diplomat hailed the position by the UN SecGen with regard to the necessity of preserving the existing regional groups in UN. At the same time he stressed that any variant of reform by the UN Security Council must envisage rendering additional places to East European nations.

***

As Sergei Kasyanov, chairman of the mixed Parliament-Government Commission for Ukraine's accedence to the WTO, told a Monday round table in Kyiv to tackle this problem, the date of Ukraine's accedence to the WTO will depend on the nation's success in adjusting its legislation to WTO standards and on consummation of Ukraine's talks with the Working Group.

***

A presentation of the MOTOR SICH company was held at the Ukrainian Embassy in Turkey on the occasion of the first anniversary of launching the direct flight between Kyiv and Ankara, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry sources told Ukrinform.

Turkish officials and businessmen took part in the event.

As the Ukrainian company's CEO G.Maslov noted in his speech, the first air communication between Kyiv and Ankara has become an impetus for speeding up bipartite political, economic, cultural and humanitarian contacts between Ukraine and Turkey.

In summer 2005 the aviation company MOTOR SICH stated its intention to exercise direct flights from Zaporizhia to Antalya.

***

According to the Interior Ministry's acting public relations chief Kostiantyn Stohniy, the National INTERPOL Bureau has approached Russian law enforcement bodies to ask them for either confirming or denying reports, which allege Ihor Bakai's Russian citizenship.

As Konstiantyn Stohniy said, if the answer is  in the affirmative the Ministry of Internal Affairs will have some questions to ex-president Leonid Kuchma and his chief of staff Viktor Medvedchuk about grounds which allowed Ihor Bakai to hold Russian citizenship, while being a Ukrainian public servant.

Also, Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Medvedchuk will have to answer questions with regard to their step to confer the Hero of Ukraine title upon Aleksandr Bartenev, a known criminal gang leader, nicknamed "Major," against whom legal proceedings have been institutes.

***

The Volyn region's administrative center hosted a Ukrainian - Lithuanian business forum, in which senior execs of a dozen Lithuanian businesses participated.

The Ukrainian party acquainted the Lithuanian business executives with the Volyn region's investment opportunities.

The Lithuanian business delegation showed their particular interest to the region's wood treating, food and construction industries.

The forum was attended by Volyn Governor Volodymyr Bondar, who stated the Volyn region's trade turnover with Lithuania at 7.4 M. USD in 2004.

According to Governor Bondar, the Volyn region maintains economic cooperation with over 80 countries.

The region's foreign trade turnover almost reached the 1 bn. USD mark in 2004, Mr Bondar said.

***

According to the Zaporizhia Region Prosecutor Office, legal proceedings have been instituted against MOTOR SICH company execs, who are suspected of having unlawfully sold nine aviation engines in 2002'a first half and of having pocketed the money.

The Regional Prosecutor Office has also instituted legal proceedings against officials of the Regional Administration's Main Agency, who are suspected of fund misappropriation. In particular, they are believed to have shared among them part of relief funds, meant for elemental disaster-affected farmers.

***

According to the PGO press service, a former high-ranking officer of the Kyiv Regional Police Department has been detained as suspected of having killed Yuriy Verediuk, who had been charged with the murder of journalist Igor Aleksandrov, director general of the TOR tv and radio broadcasting company.

The detainee's name was not divulged.

Two Donetsk police officers were earlier detained, who are charged with the journalist's murder.

They were reported to have admitted to their crime.

Yuriy Verediuk was charged with the murder, but in May 2002 the Court decided to release him for lacking evidence of his guilt.

On July 19, 2002 he was found dead in his cell.

His death was officially explained as having come through heart failure.

The Lugansk Region Appellate Court is considering a criminal case, which involves a dozen persons, suspected of having committed crimes as members of a group, including the journalist's murder.

***

On Saturday/Sunday night a hand grenade (equivalent to 150 grams of TNT) was thrown over the fence of an Odesa house yard.

The explosion caused material damage, but nobody suffered.

The house belongs to Zoya Kovaleva, an aide to people's deputy Anton Kisse and chairperson of the Odesa regional organisation of the all-Ukrainian organisation "Public Control."

The incident, as law enforcement officers believe, should be linked to Ms Kovaleva's public activities.

She is known to lead Odesa residents' actions of protest against felling trees and entire park zones in the city's coastal strip for construction of dachas for high-placed officials and wealthy businessmen.

Anton Kisse was reported to have approached the Regional Prosecutor Office and the Odesa Region Police Department to demand an investigation into what might have been an attempt on his aide's life.

***

Experts note the efficacy of a Ukrainian-Russian joint project toward improving environmental standards of the river Seversky Donets and its basin, shared by three regions of Ukraine and two Russian provinces (Belgorod and Kursk). In particular, in the Kharkiv region's segment of the river there are about 600 beavers. Over the past several years concentrations of nitrates have reduced almost eightfold, same as contents of petroleum products, heavy metals and other harmful substances. The project's implementation has been now extended to the river's small tributaries.

***

The Kharkiv-based Malyshev Works has shipped an early batch of coal extracting machines to China.

The Malyshev Works will supply a total of eighteen BSHK-2DM machines to coal mines in Shanxi and Shandong provinces.

***

On an invitation by the Hainaut Province Governor a Poltava Delegation left for Belgium, with a view of signing a cooperation agreement, the Poltava Regional Administration's press service told Ukrinform.

The region maintains close business, economic and cultural contacts with the Belgian province. The two states' regions regularly make academic exchanges.

***

On Sunday, April  17 People's Artist of Georgia singer Tamara Gverdtsiteli gave a performance in Kyiv.

Her concert "Love's Blossom" included several Ukrainian songs and was staged within the framework of Year of Georgia in Ukraine events.

***

According to Kharkiv Vice Governor Yaroslav Yushchenko, who is chair of the Coordinating Council for development of Ukrainian Cossackhood, a body under the Governor, Kharkiv region Cossack grassroots unite over 5,000 Cossacks, who are members of the Kharkiv Region Association of Ukrainian Cossacks.

Since 2002 the Institute for Ukrainian Cossacks has been training teachers of Cossack history. The Institute is a unit of the National Grygoriy Skovoroda Pedagogical University. There are "Cossack classes" in the region's sixteen secondary schools.