Main weekly events from Infobank News Agency
| 27 April 1998 | 04 |
PRESIDENT ALLOWS TO PURCHASE/SELL TITLE TO LAND
ELECTRICITY TARIFFS MIGHT GO UP BY 20 PERCENT FOR INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMERS AS OF MAY 1
ONLY THREE DOMESTIC OPERATORS TO HAVE ACCESS TO FOREIGN INFORMATION NETWORKS
HEAD OF UICE EXCHANGE COMMITTEE VADYM HETMAN KILLED
ELECTRIC ENERGY NATIONAL COMMITTEE ALLOWED TO REGULATE UKRAINE's OIL/GAS MARKET
PRESIDENT ALLOWS TO PURCHASE/SELL TITLE TO LAND
KYIV. On April 21, Ukraine's President signed a decree on the
protection of titles to land of owners of land shares which allows the
purchase, sale, exchange, endowment of titles to land.
According to the decree, members of collective farms, agricultural
cooperatives and JSC, as well as individual farmers have priority
rights in executing the abovementioned operations. Contracts for the
purchase/sale, endowment and exchange of titles to land attested by an
appropriate certificate and by a notary are to be registered in the
corresponding rayon state administration.
The Pressdient ordered the Cabinet of Ministers to submit within three
months its proposals on the amount of state dues paid for the
attestation by a notary of a purchase/sale contract and on the
reduction of state dues paid for a certificate on the inherited title
to land.
The decree becomes valid on the 21st day following its signing, unless
parliament enacts by that time another legislative act which resolves
the issue. The President had earlier submitted to parliament the bill
on the issue, similar in wording to his April 21 decree.
ELECTRICITY TARIFFS MIGHT GO UP BY 20 PERCENT FOR INDIVIDUAL
CUSTOMERS AS OF MAY 1
KYIV. The national commission for the regulation of electric power
engineering passed a decision to raise by 20 percent on average, as of
May 1, 1998, the tariffs for electricity for individual customers. The
commission decsion is a recommendation and to become law must be
supported by a government resolution.
Starting from May 1, the tariff for electricity for city customers may
rise to UAH 0.11 for 1 kWh (formerly - UAH 0.09), for rural customers
- UAH 0.1 (UAH 0.08) for 1 kWh. Customers living in houses equipped
with electric stoves and electric warming systems will have to pay UAH
0.08 for 1 kWh (formerly - UAH 0.06).
According to the commission experts assessments, proposed higher
tariffs will allow to maintain the profitability of domestic thermal
power plants at 7 percent in 1998, and oblast power utility companies
at 4 percent. The forecast is based, however, on a 100 percent payment
by customers of their electricity bills.
ONLY THREE DOMESTIC OPERATORS TO HAVE ACCESS TO FOREIGN INFORMATION
NETWORKS
KYIV. On April 22, Ukraine's President signed a decree to protect the
interests of the state in the information sector. The decree empowers
the state communications committee to provide access for domestic
consumers to foreign information networks only via three Ukrainian
operators, UkrTeleCom, UkrCosmos, and InfoCom.
In line with the decree, ministries and other central and local
executive agencies, as well as companies with classified information
departments now are to transmit their information only via the
abovementioned domestic operators. Local selfgovernment bodies are
also advised to use the new procedure for relaying information abroad.
The same decree orders the Cabinet of Ministers to submit to
parliament proposals to impose tougher control over security on
information newtorks in the country.
INTERNET SERVICES PROVIDERS - ON PRESIDENT's DECREE ON PROTECTION OF
UKRAINE's INTERESTS IN INFORMATION SPHERE
KYIV. The Presidential Decree of April 22 on measures to be taken to
protect the state's interests in the sphere of information will hamper
the development of global computer networks in Ukraine, said Serhiy
Hulchuk, Head of Lucky Net Company, a powerful company providing
Internet services in Kyiv, in an interview with an Infobank
correspondent.
According to Mr. Hulchuk, if cut off by force, the companies -
operators of data transmission networks that have their own channels
of access to foreign networks will sustain losses from paying fines to
the foreign companies leasing channels. These fines may amount to
millions of US dollars. Mr. Hulchuk admitted, however, that documents
similar to the Presidential Decree of April 22 exist in many countries
of the world as the Internet has become one of the traditional spheres
of a state's influence along with post, telegraph and telephone.
Oleksandr Soroka, Deputy Director-General of Global Ukraine, another
Ukrainian company providing the Internet services across the country,
has given a positive appraisal to clause 2 of the Decree, which
provides for the transmitting of the state-run establishments' data by
a limited number of operators. He said that all budget-funded
establishments must be united into a single network.
However, said Oleksandr Soroka, if all clauses of this Decree are to
be fulfilled immediately Ukraine's computer communications may find
themselves in a mess for 3-4 months. Some organizations' local
networks may be even paralyzed due to the change of IP addreses
(because of being connected to selected operators).
HEAD OF UICE EXCHANGE COMMITTEE VADYM HETMAN KILLED
KYIV. On April 22 at 8.30 p.m., Vadym Hetman, Head of the Exchange
Committee of the Ukrainian Inter-Banking Currency Exchange (UICE),
former Chairman of Board of the National Bank of Ukraine and former
MP, was found killed in an elevator in an apartment block on Suvorov
street in Kyiv. There have not been found any witnesses of the murder.
An Infobank correspondent has been told at the Public Relations Center
of the Ukrainian Internal Affairs Ministry's Main Department in Kyiv
that the investigation is working out a number of versions connected
with Mr. Hetman's work on the Ukrainian Inter-Banking Currency
Exchange and his participation in the Parliamentary election campaign
as well as UICE's purchasing of the Trade House in Kontraktova
Ploshcha and arguments connected with this.
ELECTRIC ENERGY NATIONAL COMMITTEE ALLOWED TO REGULATE UKRAINE's
OIL/GAS MARKET
KYIV. The President of Ukraine has issued a Decree by which he
authorized the National Committee on Regulating Electric Energy
(NCREE) to regulate the oil/gas market of the country. According to
the Decree, NCREE is put is charge of the tariff policy and is to
regulate the activities of natural monopolists in electric power
industry and oil/gas complex. NCREE is also to license and control
fuel market participants' work, work out and approve the rules of
electric energy and gas consumption and coordinate the state bodies'
work on regulating fuel markets.
According to the Decree, NCREE is not supposed to register with the
Ministry of Justice its documents on establishing tariffs on fuel
(except for the tariffs for citizens) and on regulating the fuel
market within its powers. The new regulation on NCREE approved by the
same Decree runs that the Committee is authorized to control the sale
of more than 25% of the assets of the companies that operate on the
fuel market, the quality of services provided by those companies that
supply electric power and gas and annul the licenses issued to
entities on the fuel market.
STATE COMMITTEE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS TO COME UP WITH PROPOSALS
TO REDUCE NUMBER OF CHECKS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESSES
KYIV. Ukraine's state committee for the development of
entrepreneurship is preparing proposals to the Cabinet of Ministers to
reduce the number of checks of SMBs by state agencies, said Olexandra
Kuzhel, newly appointed head of the state committee addressing
participants of the World Bank-organized seminar "Problems of
Organization and Development of Small Businesses in Ukraine".
The committee will propose to limit the number of routine checks by
one,to be carried out by the state tax administration, said Olexandra
Kuzhel. All other overseeing agencies are to time their checks with
the one made by tax collectors. The need for such proposal is based on
the fact that at present small businesses are checked on average 78
times a year by 32 state agencies.
Olexandra Kuzhel also said that she has plans to carry out complete
restructuring of her committee, creating a separate department for the
issues of deregulation of the economy. In line with February 3, 1998
presidential decree, the committee has been authorized to review the
existing legislation related to entrepreneurship and to annul it, if
need be.
The head of the economic ministry private sector department Hennady
Bilous said, addressing the participants of the World Bank seminar,
that about 2.5 million Ukrainians work in the private sector now.
There are 2 small businesses for every 1,000 Ukrainians, one of the
lowest indicators in the CIS. Only 42 percent of the registered small
businesses actually operate. The official said that the rest of the
small businesses either do not operate or operate in the "shadow"
economy sector, due to the shortage of starting capital, high taxes
and the absence of support from the Ukrainian government.
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