[Ohio UZO News] Ukraine: NYT; WSJ; FT; RFE/RL

[Deychak, Orest]

The New York Times

www.nytimes.org

 

Ukraine Bans Big Crowds to Fight Swine Flu 

By CLIFFORD J. LEVY 

1 November 2009

Late Edition - Final

7

 

MOSCOW -- The Ukrainian government is taking some of the sternest measures in the world against the spread of the swine flu virus, ordering schools nationwide to close for three weeks, banning public gatherings and imposing restrictions on travel.

Prime Minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko announced the measures on Friday in response to rising fears about swine flu, especially in western Ukraine. Federal health officials said 33 people had died of the flu across the country, although there was conflicting information about which type of the virus was to blame.

The situation in Ukraine ''has reached the epidemic threshold,'' Ms. Tymoshenko said. The ban on public gatherings, she said, would apply to ''all large-scale events, concerts, movie showings and any other gatherings of people for the next three weeks.''

The World Health Organization said it would send a team to Ukraine to assist the authorities.

News reports from the western part of the country said there were long lines at pharmacies as people sought medication and masks.

With all rallies canceled, the antiflu measures were expected to have an immediate impact on the campaign for Ukraine's presidency. The election is on Jan. 17, and Ms. Tymoshenko formally registered as a candidate on Saturday.

The virus is spreading across Eastern Europe, but it was not clear why Ms. Tymoshenko chose to undertake stronger moves, like closing schools nationwide, than her counterparts in Russia and Poland.

There were indications, however, that the government's response was being influenced by electoral politics. Ms. Tymoshenko, one of the leading candidates, and her bitter rival, President Viktor A. Yushchenko, who is far behind in polls in his bid for re-election, both sought to make clear that they were aggressively addressing the outbreak.

On Friday, Mr. Yushchenko criticized Ms. Tymoshenko, saying he had ordered an inquiry into why the country was not, in his opinion, prepared.

''We will have an assessment of the issues that arose -- why this has turned out to be so acute,'' he said.

 

The Wall Street Journal

World News: Ukraine Defies IMF Warnings --- International Aid Is in Jeopardy After Increases in Minimum Wage, Pensions 

By James Marson in Kiev, Ukraine, and Alexander Kolyandr in London 

31 October 2009

The Wall Street Journal <javascript:void(0)> 

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Ukraine's president defied warnings of the International Monetary Fund and approved an increase in social spending that will balloon the government deficit. The move will likely lead to a suspension of IMF lending to one of Europe's most fragile economies.

In response, ratings agency Standard & Poor's <javascript:void(0);>  downgraded its outlook for Ukraine, while the IMF president said he is "very worried" by Ukraine's decision, according to Reuters.

Ukraine's collision with the IMF comes amid jockeying among Ukraine politicians before presidential elections in January.

While IMF officials worry that an economic meltdown in Ukraine could spoil a fragile recovery in Europe, the country has also emerged as a testing ground for the integrity of IMF lending standards.

Earlier in the week, the IMF warned Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko that he needed to veto the law boosting Ukraine's minimum wage and pensions if the country was to remain on track with the IMF lending program.

Mr. Yushchenko, who trails far behind major rivals in opinion polls, had remained noncommittal until Friday, when he announced to reporters that he had signed the bill. Mr. Yushchenko said he didn't want the country's budget problems to be solved "at the expense of pensioners, poor people and the disabled."

Of all the countries the IMF has helped this year, Ukraine has proved to be the most complex because of the tangled politics. The IMF delayed an earlier disbursement of money to keep pressure on Kiev. With local politicians denouncing the IMF for its austerity, the IMF's resident representative met this week with labor leaders and other officials to put forward a friendlier face.

But the president's action, in the face of a direct warning from the IMF, appears to leave little wiggle room.

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn told Reuters that Ukraine was now "off track and in this situation I'm afraid it would be very difficult to complete the next review of the program."

Mr. Yushchenko's move is seen as an effort to undermine his erstwhile ally of the Orange Revolution, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is now his bitter rival and far ahead of him in the opinion polls. The front-runner for the January ballot is Viktor Yanukovych, leader of the opposition Party of Regions, whose lawmakers have frequently blocked parliament in recent months demanding rises in social spending.

On Friday, one of Ms. Tymoshenko's top advisers, Deputy Prime Minister Hryhoriy Nemyria called Mr. Yushchenko's move, which increases the minimum wage and pensions in the crisis-stricken country by 20%, "irresponsible" and "politically motivated."

Mr. Nemyria said the government is in talks with the IMF to look for "exceptional solutions to this exceptional situation," but he declined to provide further details.

He said, though, that wage and pension rises jeopardize release of the next $3.8 billion tranche of an IMF bailout package and may also thwart financial help as well from the European Union and other financial institutions.

The IMF has already handed out almost $11 billion in loans to Ukraine since approving a $16.4 billion standby loan in the fall of 2008. These have helped to prop up distressed banks, plug holes in the budget and support the hryvnia, Ukraine's currency.

Rivalry between Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko was intense long before the official beginning of the election campaign this week, and their continual disagreements have left the government largely in gridlock.

On Friday, Ms. Tymoshenko ordered schools closed across Ukraine and banned public meetings including election rallies for a three-week period after confirming its first death from H1N1 flu.

Mr. Yushchenko called off a public meeting in Kiev where he had been due to announce his election agenda, telling journalists that 11 people had died of H1N1, contradicting a Health Ministry report of only one fatality. An aide and a ministry official said Mr. Yushchenko may have made a mistake. 

 

Financial Times

www.ft.com

IMF Warns Ukraine on Aid 

By Roman Olearchyk in Kiev, 

November 2, 2009 

 

KIEV - The International Monetary Fund has warned that it could cut financial assistance to Ukraine, one of the world's most recession hit economies, after the country veered "off track" by adopting populist wage and pension increases.


The warning came after Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's president, on Friday signed the increases into law, ignoring warnings from the IMF and Yulia Tymoshenko, his prime minister and bitter rival. The standoff is rooted in a rivalry between Ukraine's political leaders ahead of a hotly contested presidential election to be held in January.

 

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF head, said he was "very worried" over Mr Yushchenko's decision to sign the bill. Almost $11bn in IMF assistance received since the global financial crisis broke has kept Kiev afloat financially. 

 

The IMF is mulling whether to disburse an additional $3.8bn (euros2.6bn, £2.3bn) in November. It is seen as crucial to keeping Kiev stable in coming months, but Mr Strauss-Kahn said the 20 per cent wage and pension increases should be cancelled first.


Kiev found its finances stretched to the limit this year amid an 18 per cent drop in gross domestic product. The increases would cost an additional $10bn in expenditures, which government officials say simply do not exist in state coffers.

 

Ms Tymoshenko has accused Mr Yushchenko and other presidential candidates, including Viktor Yanukovich, of backing the increase to sabotage her government. Ms Tymoshenko's supporters said her opponents hope to derail IMF co-operation and plunge Ukraine deeper into crisis, thereby undercutting her presidential bid.

 

Ms Tymoshenko's opponents have accused the IMF of being soft on her government in dolling out bailout aid despite lacklustre efforts to adopt reforms.
Fears loom that such cut-throat rivalries could plunge Ukraine, a country where European banks hold a 40 per cent market share and where the west has jostled with Russia for influence, into a financial meltdown ahead of the elections.

 

On Friday, Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, warned that a repeat of last January's natural gas crisis could break out between both countries, once again cutting off supplies for Europe. Mr Putin, himself on friendly terms with Ms Tymoshenko, pointed the blame on Mr Yushchenko. He accused him of "blocking the transfer of funds" needed to pay for imported Russian gas.


RFE/RL


November 2, 2009


Putin Warns EU Of Possible Gas Disruption 


MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia has warned EU President Sweden of possible disruption to natural gas supplies to European consumers because of problems with main transit nation Ukraine over energy payments, Interfax news agency reported.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin raised the issue in a telephone conversation with his Swedish counterpart Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency, Interfax said.

"During the conversation, Putin drew the attention of the EU leadership to signals, including those received via official channels from Kyiv, of possible problems with payments for Russian gas supplies," it said, quoting Putin's press service.

"As Putin stressed, as a result of all this, 'problems with Russian gas transits across Ukraine's territory aimed for European consumers could arise'."

Russia cut gas supplies to western Europe via Ukraine in January 2006 and again in January this year during disputes with the former Soviet republic over gas prices and payments. Supplies to EU customers were disrupted in the middle of winter.

On October 30, in a telephone talk with Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko, Putin accused Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko of risking a new gas crisis in Europe.

Tymoshenko is Yushchenko's main political foe and a front-runner for a January 17 presidential election.

Diplomats have said Russia may be wary of entering a new gas dispute with Kyiv on the eve of the vote, which Moscow hopes will bring a more pro-Russian president to power.

Ukraine's deep economic crisis has raised fears about its ability to pay for Russian gas. 

 

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