Main weekly events from Infobank News Agency
| 28 September 1998 | 26 |
STATE PROPERTY FUND CANCELS 29TH AND 30TH AUCTIONS FOR COMPENSATION CERTIFICATES
PRIME MINISTER LOCKS UP DIRECTORS OF COMPANIES HAVING BUDGET DEBTS AGAIN
UKRAINE TAKES 69TH PLACE IN THE WORLD FOR CORRUPTION LEVEL
MYKOLA KNYAZHYTSKY BECOMES NEW HEAD OF STATE-OWNED "UKRTELERADIO" COMPANY
PRESIDENT SIGNS LAW ON TEMPORARY BAN ON RAISING PRICES FOR PUBLIC
UTILITIES, PUBLIC TRANSPORT
STATE PROPERTY FUND CANCELS 29TH AND 30TH AUCTIONS FOR COMPENSATION CERTIFICATES
KYIV. Ukraine's state property fund took a decision to cancel the 29th
and the 30th auctions to sell corporate stock for compensation
certificates, as well as excluded from sale via the 29th auction the
stakes of companies proposed by the cabinet's resolution of July 31,
1998. Legal and natural persons who had filed their applications can
reinvest their certificates to buy stock at one of the following
auctions.
The SPF took this decision to implement parliament's September 15
resolution. On this day, lawmakers authorized the control commission
for privatization to start an investigation into the legality of a
transfer of compensation certificates unclaimed by Ukrainians by Jule
1, 1998 to state-owned DerzhInvest Ukrayiny (Ukraine's State
Investments) and FinProm companies, as well as the validity of the
cabinet resolution of July 31 to offer considerable stakes in
Ukraine's 93 largest companies for sale via the 29th auction. The 29th
auction was to have been held in August-September of 1998.
25-percent stakes in such companies as Mariupol-based AzovStal and
Illich steel plants, Kryvy Rih and Inhulets ore concentration plants,
Kharkiv-based TurboAtom plant, Khartsyzk pipe plant, Sumy-based Frunze
engineering plant were to have been sold via the 29th auction,
according to deputy Ihor Kvyatkovsky. The deputy considers it stange
that state-owned property which exceeds in value the cost of all other
state-owned plants sold for the last 5 years should be sold for
compensation certificates, not for cash.
PRIME MINISTER LOCKS UP DIRECTORS OF COMPANIES HAVING BUDGET DEBTS
AGAIN
KYIV. During his meeting with company directors on September 22,
Ukrainian Prime Minister Valeriy Pustovoitenko said that none of more
than 50 directors of the debtor companies would be able to leave the
big hall of the Government, where the meeting was taking place, before
they signed a commitment to repay loans. The meeting discussed the
situation around the repayment of Government-backed foreign loans
received by Ukrainian companies. Immediately after Mr. Pustovoitenko's
statement guards were put at the entrance to the hall.
During the meeting the Ukrainian Prime Minister also said that he had
ordered that law-enforcement bodies gather and bring to the meeting
the directors of debtor companies who had not arrived at the meeting.
The Ministry of Finance and the National Agency for Development and
European Integration are to hand over to General Prosecutor's office
all documents regarding the companies that have ovedue debts by
foreign loans so that criminal actions are brought against them. On
the same evening, after the directors had signed schedules of debt
settlement, each for their company, they were released.
According to the information provided by the Finance Ministry, during
the period of January 1992 to September 1998, Ukrainian companies have
received a total of US$ 2.5 billion worth of Government-backed foreign
loans. As of September 1, 1998, the debt of borrowers to the budget,
from where the foreign loans had been repaid according to Government's
guarantees, amounted to over US$ 734 million. Only this year US$ 243.5
million has been spent from the state budget to meet Governmental
guarantee commitments to repay companies' foreign export credits. By
the end of this year, the Government is to spend another US$ 140
million on the repayments. Only US$ 6 million has been paid to the
budget so far.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Prime Minister already employed similar methods
when he locked up directors of the companies that ran up debts to the
budget, Pension Fund and Chornobyl Fund until those signed commitments
to settle them. On August 5, 1998, such directors were kept in the
Ukrayina Palace in Kyiv where they had been invited to participate in
the governmental meeting.
UKRAINE TAKES 69TH PLACE IN THE WORLD FOR CORRUPTION LEVEL
WASHINGTON. Ukraine takes the 69th place among the 85 states rated for
corruption in 1998, says the report of the Transparent International,
an international organization for corruption monitoring, published
Sept. 22. The rating is based on evidence supplied by businessmen,
risks experts and public representatives.
According to the report, Ukraine gets one of the highest ratings for
corruption -- 2.8, with 10 for zero corruption, and 0 for the highest
corruption. Ukraine shares its rating with Bolivia. From among the FSU
countries, the highest levels of corruption are in Latvia (71th place,
rating 2.7) and Russia (76th place, rating 2.4). Among the East
European countries which were tested for corruption, the levels are as
follows: Poland - 39th place, rating 4.6 (jointly with Italy); the
Czech republic - 37th place, rating 4.8; Belarus and Slovakia - 47th
place, rating 3.9; Hungary - 33th place, rating 5 (jointly with
Mauritious and Tunisia).
The top 5 states with almost zero corruption are Denmark, rating 10,
Finland, rating 9.6, Sweden, 9.5, New Zeland, 9.4, and Iceland 9.3,
according to Transparent International report. The bottom 5 countries
where corruption is highest are Nigeria and Tanzania, rating 1.9,
Honduras, 1.7, Paraguay, 1.5 and Cameroon, 1.4.
MYKOLA KNYAZHYTSKY BECOMES NEW HEAD OF STATE-OWNED "UKRTELERADIO"
COMPANY
KYIV. Ukraine's cabinet of ministers appointed Mykola Knyazhytsky,
president of the STB TV channel, as new head of the state-owned
UkrTeleRadio company.
President Kuchma signed the decree to set up UkrTeleRadio state-owned
JSC in September, as has been earlier reported by InfoBank. In line
with the decree, UkrTeleRadio's statutory fund is to include
100-percent stakes in state-owned JSC created from state-owned
information companies which are not subject to privatization.
Mykola Knyazhytsky, 40, worked for the state TV as journalist and
editor, then as anchor for UTN and Vikna information programs. He was
one of the initiators of the creation of commercial UNIKA TV stations.
In 1994-1997 he was president of Mizhnarodny Media-Tsentr
(International Media Center) corporation.
PRESIDENT SIGNS LAW ON TEMPORARY BAN ON RAISING PRICES FOR PUBLIC
UTILITIES, PUBLIC TRANSPORT
KYIV. On September 25, the President of Ukraine signed a Decree on a
temporary ban on raising prices for and tariffs on public utilities
and services provided by public transport. The law was approved by the
Supreme Council on July 23, 1998. Originally the President had vetoed
the law as one being economically ungrounded but on September 15 the
Parliament overturned the veto by 317 votes.
Under the law, it will not be obligatory to make full repayment of the
cost of public utilities and transport until all the budget arrears in
salaries and other social payments have been repaid in full. Tariffs
on these services will be frozen and remain on the level of the
tariffs effective as of June 1, 1998. Besides that, the law also
prohibits the bodies of local administration and utility companies to
stop providing public services to debtor citizens whose salaries, even
a part of them, are in arrears.
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