UKRINFORM NEWS AGENCY

  NEWS FROM UKRAINE

President Viktor Yushchenko will hold  a meeting on unsatisfactory state of organizing work with citizens' claims, the presidential press service told Ukrinform.

The President noted that the largest number of claims, which came to his address, concern infringement on citizens' rights, unsatisfactory work of law-enforcement bodies and the judicial power branch. In this connection he underscores the necessity of improving work with citizens' claims with all state power bodies.

During 2005's first quarter close to 36,000 applications, claims and proposals came to the address of President Viktor Yushchenko from citizens.

As the presidential press service told Ukrinform, the largest number of letters came in March (17,492). Among those, who sent in their claims, residents of the Volyn, Sumy, Transcarpathian and Lviv regions were prevailing.

Invited to this meeting are Prosecutor General Sviatoslav Piskun, Justice Minister Roman Zvaryzh, Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko, Security Service Chairman Aleksandr Turchinov, Supreme Court Chairman Vasyl Maliarenko, High Council of Justice Chairman Mykola Shelest, Verkhovna Rada Commissioner on human rights Nina Karpacheva, Chairman of State Department for execution of penalties Vasyl Koshchynets, NSDC Secretary Petro Poroshenko and President's Adviser on legal issues Mykola Poludenny.

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Vice Prime Minister Mykola Tomenko held a meeting with former Vice Prime Ministers Mykola Zhulynsky, Valeri Smoliy and Ivan Kuras, where important aspects of humanitarian policies' formation in the country were discussed. Participating in the discussion also were Minister of culture and arts Oksana Bilozir and Director of the Institute of Philosophy under the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences Myroslav Popovych.

As Mykola Tomenko's press service told Ukrinform, the main theme of the discussion was preparation to parliamentary hearings on priorities, principles and ways of cultural policies' realization in Ukraine, which will be held in the Verkhovna Rada on Wednesday, April 20. Participants in the meeting also touched on urgent problems of education and science, functioning of educational establishments, in particular, the National Academy of Sciences, its place, principles of activities and the role in the society.

Scientists and officials agreed with the necessity to stop the process of discrediting  Ukrainian science  through purchasing scientific degrees and academic titles, which was legitimized till the present time. Scientists also spoke up against a practice of conferring Academician titles to officials of central and local power bodies. Representatives in the humanitarian sphere agreed that it is necessary to review the procedure of conferring scientific degrees  in Ukraine and return the necessary status and respect to the title of Academician. It should be a prerogative of the National Academy of Sciences to make a decision about conferring this title. Also, an opinion was expressed about advisability of limiting or re-attestation of scientific degrees, received by high officials during their work with executive power bodies.

Summing up results of the meeting, Mykola Tomenko noted that the new power should take into consideration all shortcomings of previous humanitarian policies and create conditions so that well-known Ukrainian scientists should not wait for assistance from the State, but have a possibility to influence our country's policies. 

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As of today Ukraine has fully or partially fulfilled ten to twenty items of the "roadmap" plan, Vice Prime Minister for Eurointegration  Oleh Rybachuk told journalists on Monday, talking about a prospective date of Ukraine's accession to the EU. According to him, a concrete date of Ukraine's integration with the EU is connected with the paces of Ukraine's fulfillment of the assumed obligations. There are two intermediate items in this process, a scheduled session of the Ukraine-EU Commission, which will be held on June 13 in Brussels, and a Ukraine-EU summit, which preliminary is supposed to be held in late October. The Ukrainian paces of the Action Plan fulfillment will be clearly seen at this summit, as well as the next Ukraine-EU program, one of the items of which could be Ukraine's concrete prospective in the EU, Oleh Rybachuk said.

According to him, one of the challenging items of the Action Plan is the Ukrainian Govt's unreadiness to assume responsibility for the fulfillment of the obligations and insufficient publicity of the Plan. According to the Vice Prime Minister, the Plan will soon be widely placed in the Internet and the mass media for public review.

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Anatoli Korchynsky swore an oath of people's deputy at the Verkhovna Rada's Tuesday plenary session.  The CEC registered him as people's deputy on April 14. He occupied the place of David Zhvania, who has been appointed Minister for Emergencies, under the list of "Our Ukraine" bloc.

First Vice Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Adam Martyniuk, presiding at the session, told the Parliament about Viktor Rozvadovsky's leaving the "United Ukraine" faction.

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The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the Consulate General in New York go on taking care of Nastia Ovchar, 5, who got numerous burns, rescuing her younger sister from the fire.

The health condition of the girl is stably grave. However, the American medics stated impressed with the internal power of the little girl and her strong will to life.

On April 18 the girl was visited by Chairwoman of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America Iryna Kurowyckyj and the spouse of the Ukrainian Consul General in New York. During a meeting with the mother of the girl, Ms Kurowyckyj conveyed her charitable money, which the Ukrainian Diaspora gathered in the USA.

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Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleh Shamshur met with a European affairs adviser of the British Prime Minister Kim Derrock, on a two-day visit to Ukraine, on Tuesday, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's press service told Ukrinform.

The two sides discussed ways to step up Ukrainian-British political dialogue, particularly, the recommencement of a Ukrainian-British Consultative mechanism at the highest level. The parties also touched on European integration-related matters in the light of the next presidency by the United Kingdom in the EU and international political matters.

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Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili is supposed to arrive in Ukraine on an official visit on Tuesday.

The Georgian Foreign Minister is expected to be received by President Viktor Yushchenko, to meet with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn. He is to hold scaled negotiations with Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk, the Foreign Ministry's press service deputy chief Dmytro Svystkov told a Tuesday news briefing.

According to Dmytro Svystkov, the visit is being viewed as a logical continuation of the bipartite political dialogue and is a confirmation of the two states' intention to develop strategic relations.

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Ukrainian-Romanian negotiations of experts on delimitation of the continental shelf and exceptional economic zones of Ukraine and Romania in the Black Sea were held in Kyiv, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's press service deputy chief Dmytro Svystkov told a Tuesday news briefing.

According to him, the sides has once more confirmed their high appraisal of the International Court of Justice as UN's main juridical body and an unbiased and authoritative arbitrator, able to solve the most complex disputes, which may emerge between the two states.

The sides agreed to hold the next round of expert negotiations in Romania in June.

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"Ukraine has reached significant successes in strengthening the nuclear safety regime", IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said during a meeting with Chairwoman of the State Nuclear Regulatory Committee of Ukraine Olena Mykolaichuk, Ukrinform reports with reference to the Foreign Ministry's press service. Mr ElBaradei highly assessed bipartite cooperation between Ukraine and the Agency and noted his readiness to further assist in settlement of such urgent problems for Ukraine as enhancing the safety of the reactors and prolonging the term of nuclear stations' exploitation.

The parties to the meeting turned a particular attention to Chornobyl-related matters. The IAEA Director General noted a significant progress in overcoming the Chornobyl disaster consequences and expressed his confidence that the aid by the international community in solving Chernobyl problems will be prolonged. The activity to this end, particularly within the framework of the IAEA Chornobyl Forum, will be summed up during a conference, which will be organized by the Agency in Vienna in early September.

"The progress in the sphere of nuclear safety over 19 years after the disaster at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Station, contributed to the change of perception of the nuclear power by the society", the IAEA chief said. With this regard he stressed the importance of focusing on future prospects of the nuclear sector and expressed his support for Ukrainian initiative with regard to holding a conference on these issues in Kyiv in 2006.

The sides also touched on the establishment of a nuclear regulatory body, strengthening the guarantee regime and a series of matters, which are connected with Ukraine's participation in the IAEA Technical Cooperation Program. The meeting was also attended by Charge d'Affaires ad interim of Ukraine to international organizations in Vienna, Austria Yuri Polurez, Director of the IAEA Division of Nuclear Installation Safety Ken Brockman and the Agency's other high officials.

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Important issues concerning rates of Ukraine's preparation to entering the WTO were discussed by participants in the round table  "Legislative support to the process of Ukraine's entering the WTO" in Kyiv.

Opinions and positions on this issue were expressed by people's deputies, representatives of the Ministry of economics and European integration and the Ministry of Justice, scientific and research establishments, public organizations and by leading Ukrainian experts.

Experts noted that adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to organization's standards is a paramount task on the way of Ukraine's integration with the WTO. Recently, according to participants in negotiations, much was done for realization of this task. As of April 2005, 30 bipartite Protocols with the WTO member countries were signed, which make up the majority out of the Working group for consideration of Ukraine's application for entering the WTO. Also, a text of the Working group's draft report, the document, which describes the country's trade regime and includes a list of obligations, was 70 percent adjusted. Tariff positions within the framework of access to the market of goods are over 95 per cent adjusted and negotiations are over with the majority of Working group's member countries with regard to entering the services market. At present, volumes of trade and economic cooperation with different countries increased by 40 percent.

First Deputy Minister for economics and European integration Valeri Piatnytsky noted, by way of analyzing activities of power authorities with regard to entering the WTO, that work is under way, but its rates are slow. According to him, in early 2005 Ministry's representatives submitted a packet, including over 50 different normative documents. They concern custom regulation, agriculture, taxation system, sanitary and phytosanitary spheres, protection of intellectual property and technical regulation. Valery Piatnytsky is convinced that Ukraine should adopt those norms. Ukrainian system differs greatly from the EU system, therefore Ukraine should adapt its system to European standards, he noted.

In her turn, people's deputy Ksenia Liapin noted during the sitting that the process of Ukraine's entering the WTO should develop openly for each common citizen, and the issue of custom-tariff regulation is not the main issue. According to her, the legislative base for entering the WTO already exists in the country, "but the laws are not observed at present".

The World Trade Organization, which is a leading economic organization, includes 148 member countries. About 96 percent of world trade volumes falls on this organization. Ukraine's WTO membership, according to experts, will result in safe and stable access for Ukrainian exports to markets of the WTO member countries, formation of conditions, which are favorable for development of effective and competitive Ukrainian producers, improvement of general economic indexes and Ukrainian consumer's wide access to high quality goods and services.

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President Viktor Yushchenko will make working visits to Romania on April 21 and to Moldova on April 22, the presidential press service told Ukrinform.

During his visit to Romania Viktor Yushchenko is expected to meet with Romanian President Traian Basescu, Senate Chairman Nicolae Vacaroiu and Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu. The Ukrainian President is supposed to deliver a speech to the two chambers of the Romanian Parliament.

In Moldova Viktor Yushchenko is to participate in a GUUAM summit.

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Presently, politics is dominating over economy in the matter of prices for fuels, Vice Prime Minister Mykola Tomenko said, by way of commenting on the sharp discussion around the situation with the prices for fuels.

As the Vice Prime Minister's press service told Ukrinform, among the reasons for the growth of prices for oil products there is one reason, which is little spoken about. According to him, this is a consequence of the Kuchma-Yanukovych-Medvedchuk politics, who paid with Ukraine's economic and energy security for Russia's political support in the 1999 and 2004 elections in Ukraine. "If recalling the history of the Ukrainian energy market and oil refineries privatization, we may find an actual surrender of the Ukrainian strategic oil refinery enterprises to Russian oligarchs by Kuchma and his team", Mykola Tomenko said.

Unfortunately, some politicians explain the situation with the fuels on the Ukrainian market exclusively with the growth of prices on the world fuel market. According to him, a discussion on the power's ability to influence the fuel market is a peculiar test for the current officials and politicians, which will show whom they really protect: the big business or Ukrainian customers. "If outstanding politicians say that "poor" oil refinery companies should be protected from the Govt's pressure, it is quite obvious, whose interests they lobby", the Vice Prime Minister said.

As Vie Prime Minister Mykola Tomenko stressed, a position of the Government with regard to setting an order on the energy market, lies in the protection of the customers' interests first of all, not business, and also in adoption of relevant measures to demonopolize the energy market in Ukraine.

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An official delegation, led by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, will come on a visit to Moscow on April 21, the NSDC's press service told Ukrinform.

The visit's schedule provides for a series of meetings, aimed at discussing matters of establishment of the Ukrainian-Russian high level commission.

As Ukrinform earlier reported, the intergovernmental high level commission "Yushchenko-Putin" has been established instead of the intergovernmental Ukrainian-Russian commission on activization of bilateral relations between Ukraine and Russia. The agreement to this end was reached during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Kyiv on March 19. The new commission will consist of four committees for defense matters, international cooperation, economic relations and humanitarian domain. The two Presidents instructed the two states' Security Councils to coordinate the activity of the commission.

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The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine didn't supported a proposal on inclusion of an item on establishment of a special investigation commission on checking into facts of political persecutions into the Tuesday agenda.

As VR First Deputy Speaker Adam Martyniuk told the plenary session, the matter was vetted at a session of the Arranging Council on Tuesday.

Regions of Ukraine and SDPU(U) factions insisted on the need to establish such commission. According to the factions' deputies, the commission would help to investigate into circumstances of the detention of Donetsk Regional Council Chairman Boris Kolesnikov and the dismissal of Odesa Mayor Ruslan Bodelan.

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Following continuous discussions and negotiations people's deputies did not manage to find a compromise with regard to creation of a Parliamentary Interim Investigation Commission on observing citizens' rights and freedoms in law-enforcement activities.

This resolution was proposed by a group of people's deputies and was voted in a packet with a proposal to hear a report by the Verkhovna Rada Investigation Commission on the Georgi Gongadze case.

Verkhovna Rada First Vice Chairperson Adam Martyniuk suggested to initiators of the resolution to prepare a new draft resolution, which would take into consideration viewpoints by different factions and would be supported by the Parliament.

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Ukraine has adjusted its policy to the values, which the new power adhered to during the "orange revolution", to the principles of struggling for the people's right not to falsify their will. In the international context, we express our concerns over the violation of human rights and remind our international partners on their international obligations, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's press service deputy chief Dmitri Svistkov told a Tuesday news briefing, commenting on Ukraine's voting at a session of the UN Commission on Human Rights with regard to Cuba and Belarus.

Ukraine, as a responsible participant in international relations, doesn't mean to interfere in other states' internal affairs, fully respecting their sovereignty. At the same time the Ukrainian State can't stay indifferent to the matter of adherence to human rights in other states, particularly in post-soviet countries. Ukraine will only turn attention of international partners to the commitments, which they voluntarily assumed within the framework of international organizations, in particular the UNO, the OSCE and the Council of Europe.

These problems are not far-fetched, to which testifies the fact that the situation in Belarus and Cuba is being discussed in UN bodies and in other authority international organizations.

Non-adequate reaction by the Belarussian and Cuban authorities has been caused by the fact the appeal to promote the establishment of democracy in these states was aired by Ukraine. And this is quite understandable, as in the past double standards were the determining trait of the former Ukrainian power.

Ukraine has changed and these changes are irreversible. We strongly believe that with the time these changes will become obvious for our international partners, Dmitri Svistkov stressed.

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Ukraine has no state debt to Belarus, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's Economic Cooperation Division chief Serhi Kruhlyk told a Tuesday news briefing, by way of declaring Ukraine's position with regard to Belarus's statements.

According to Serhi Kruhlyk, the Ukrainian state debt was rescheduled before official creditors within the framework of the Paris Club in 2001, the conditions of which were set in the relevant adjusted protocol and in separate bipartite agreements with creditor countries There is no state debt to Belarus among aggregated debts of Ukraine to foreign states. After the rescheduling Ukraine has no unsettled debt to any country.

According to him there are certain unsettled matters with regard to trade-economic relations between Ukrainian and Belarussian economic subjects in 1992, but there have never been financial claims from Belarussian economic subjects to this end, Mr Kruhlyk noted.

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A working group, headed by First Deputy Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko, visited Sevastopol (Crimea) with the aim of carrying out analysis of agreements with Russia on  functioning of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and its temporary stationing on Ukraine's territory in Sevastopol, Foreign Ministry press service deputy chief Dmitri Svistkov told Ukrinform.

During the visit, Dmitri Svistkov noted, a number of violations on the part of Russia was revealed with regard to fulfillment of base agreements on temporary stationing of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on Ukraine's territory.

Answering the journalists' questions whether the Ukrainian party assumes pre-term withdrawal of the Russian Black Sea Fleet from Crimea, Dmitri Svistkov noted that pre-term withdrawal of the Russian Black Sea Fleet from Crimea may take place only on the Russian party's initiative. "The matter does not concern the Russian Black Sea Fleet's stationing in Crimea after 2017, when the term of a relevant agreement expires", he said. 

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The Socialist Party of Ukraine and the Social-Democratic Party of Russia signed an agreement on cooperation and partnership on Tuesday.

The two sides undertook to develop and strengthen friendly relations between Ukraine and Russia on the basis of cooperation and good neighborly relations in accordance with the commonly recognized European standards.

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Finance Minister Viktor Pynzenyk met with leading national bankers. As the Finance Ministry press service told Ukrinform, during the meeting the Minister "suggested guiding lines" to national bankers with regard to spheres, which, in his opinion, are the most promising.

"Following adoption of amendments to the State Budget-2005 monetary income of the Ukrainian population will increase, which will lead to growth of demand for certain goods and to expanding sale markets. In this connection the Government suggests guiding lines for bankers as to where money should be invested", Viktor Pynzenyk underscored.

Therefore, the Finance Minister emphasized the fact that on April 1 and till the year-end increase of social payments is to take place to the tune of 25 bn. UAH.

Viktor Pynzenyk noted that increased income of citizens would be invested into the economy, for instance, through financing capital construction.

The Finance Minister said, in particular, that in the new Budget the Government is supposed to reduce the price of credits in the coal sector and to the village.

According to the Minister the EBRD is ready to work with Ukrainian banks on the programs of crediting small businesses.

In connection with possible attraction of credits from the World Bank and the EBRD Viktor Pynzenyk emphasized the necessity for the national banks to make the process of those credits' capitalization more effective. "The Government stops to be the banker, the Government's function is to reduce the price of credits and support the banking sector", the Minister summed up.

Touching on the monetary sphere, Viktor Pynzenyk expressed a position with regard to exchange rate policies According to him, rate policies should be constructed in compliance with the established inflation parameters. If the inflation rate is 9.7 percent, exchange rate policies must be aimed at maintaining this rate.

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The second international conference of military medics, in which a delegation of the Ukrainian Military-Medical Academy are participating, started in Yerevan, Armenia, the Defense Ministry press service told Ukrinform.

Representatives of NATO countries and North-Atlantic Alliance partner countries were invited to participate in the conference, which is dedicated to planning and coordination of actions between military and civil medical experts during liquidation of consequences of disasters, man-caused accidents and elemental disasters. The Conference will continue till April 23.

The Ukrainian delegation representatives are supposed to present a report on training personnel for the "disaster medicine", they will also familiarize their foreign counterparts with functioning of the unified medical space in the Ukrainian State. Organizers of and participants in the conference will be presented with a set of a special scientific publication "Military Medicine in Ukraine".

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German and Ukrainian specialists discussed a "brain drain" problem in Kharkiv. An academic seminar "Brain drain problem: evaluation of the state and possible ways of solving" were initiated by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Participating in the seminar were former scholars of the German Academic Exchange Service,  the Alexander von Gumboldt Scientific Fund and the Goethe Institute.

It was noted at the seminar that the "brain drain" problem is not a national peculiarity, but a threatening problem, which is peculiar both to German and Ukrainian researchers. Reports became an impulse for clear evaluation of the state of affairs, in particular, for demonstration of differences between Germany and Ukraine.

In Ukraine this theme is not often considered at the public educational-political debates.

The goal of the seminar is not only determining the problem, but also stimulating educational-political debates and formulation of recommendations. They should be aimed not only at Ukrainian policies in the educational sphere, but also at the German educational mediation organizations.

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Ukrainian Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro Ruslan Demchenko was on a working visit to Negotin and Kladovo communities in East Serbia, the Foreign Ministry sources told Ukrinform.

During meetings with high officials and businesspeople a wide range of issues was discussed with regard to development of economic and cultural cooperation at the regional level. Leaders of communities expressed their interest in investments from Ukraine and participation of Ukrainian companies in privatization processes.

The parties stated that considerable possibilities of cooperation are in chemical, processing and electric power branches, in agriculture and tourism.

With regard to the fact that the cities of Negotin and Kladovo are located on the Danube River, cooperation in development of shipping is very promising along this important transport artery.

Preliminary arrangements were reached on establishment of partner relations between Negotin and Kladovo and Transdanube cities of Ukraine.

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Official accreditation of journalists at the Eurovision-2005 song contest is completed.

According to National TV Company press attache Marko Markovych, the total number of media representatives, accredited for this event, is about 1,500 persons. The Ukrainian limit of 250 journalists was increased, Ukrinform reports with reference to the Eurovision web site www.eurovision.kyivstar.net.

During a song contest, a center "Press Working Area" on the territory of the Republican Stadium will be at the disposal of journalists.

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Enlarged Europe should be open for students and for implementation of youth talents, Rector of the National Technical University "KPI" Mykhailo Zhurovsky said in his welcoming speech at the opening of the International Students Forum.

According to him, it is necessary to build a united educational space on the territory of Europe, and Ukrainian students should create a new concept of students' self-government with taking into consideration new challenges of time.

Representatives of students' self-government from technical universities of Krakow, (Poland), Tallinn (Estonia), Brno (Czech Republic) and Ukrainian higher educational establishments are participating in the forum. The students' meeting will continue for five days in the plenary regime.

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The government intends to step up the fight against smuggling at Ukraine’s western border, First Deputy Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh announced on Tuesday.

According to Mr. Kinakh, the relevant decision was made at a meeting of the Inter-Agency Coordinating Council on Fighting Corruption.

Mr. Kinakh chaired the council’s meeting in Lviv on Tuesday.

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The Kyiv prosecutor’s office has launched a criminal case against officials of the Kyiv regional customs accused of abusing their offices, the press service of the Kyiv prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday.

Investigators established that officials of the regional customs illegally performed customs clearance of automobiles for a Ukrainian enterprise engaging in import operations, thus depriving the state budget of about 2 million hryvnia in revenues from mandatory payments.

According to the materials of the case, the enterprise colluded with customs officials to use documents containing inauthentic information to import 22 automobiles worth a total of 2.98 million hryvnia into Ukraine without customs control during the 2001-2004 period, thus avoiding payment of 1.725 million hryvnia in customs duties.

The Kyiv prosecutor’s office also launched a criminal case alleging smuggling of automobiles into Ukraine and evasion of mandatory payments against employees of the enterprise.

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The Security Service of Ukraine’s main department for fighting corruption and organized crime has uncovered a group of officials of the Health Ministry’s structural divisions engaging in illegal extraction of bone tissues from corpses.

This was announced by the press service of the Security Service of Ukraine.

According to the announcement, the Security Service of Ukraine’s main department for fighting corruption and organized crime uncovered a group of officials who collected fragments of tissues over several months without the consent of the relatives of dead people or with gross violations of the relevant procedures.

The tissues thus collected were taken out of Ukraine for use as give-and-take raw materials in the production of the ‘tutogen’ bio implants, which are widely used in traumatology and, consequently, have a high market value.

Officials at the press service said that the active legislation stipulates that removal of organs, tissues, their components, and fragments from dead people is possible only with the consent of the relatives who lived with them until they died. Moreover, the law states that removal of anatomical materials from a corpse should not result in deformation of the corpse.

The case will soon be sent to court.

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The parliament adopted the first reading of the draft law entitled “On Preventing Consumption of Tobacco Goods and Their Harmful Effect on the Health of the Population” on Tuesday.

The draft law defines the legal, economic, and organizational principles of government policy in the area of prevention of smoking.

The draft law stipulates the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Health Ministry, and local self-government organs in the area of preventing consumption of tobacco goods and their harmful effect on the health of the population.

The draft law provides for banning production, importation, and sale of tobacco goods that fail to meet the established labeling requirements regarding the effects of tobacco consumption on human health.

The draft law also provides for prohibiting the use of funds from the state or local budgets to finance or assist producers of tobacco goods and companies selling tobacco goods.

The draft law also provides for strictly regulating the sale of tobacco products to prevent their sale to minors.

The draft law also bans advertisement of tobacco goods on radio, television, the print media, and film theaters, among other places.