EMBASSY OF UKRAINE TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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12 October 1998
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President Kuchma Meets With UNICEF Director

Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma on October 9 met with UNICEF director Carol Bellami who is presently on a visit to Ukraine. Mr. Kuchma praised the UNICEF for its broad humanitarian activity through which it assists millions of children in many regions of the world. According to the Ukrainian leader, Ukraine is doing everything in its power to improve the state of Ukrainian children in spite of the present economic situation in the country. The government assistance to Ukrainian children is divided into assistance to talented children and medical assistance to children, he said. Mr. Kuchma praised the agreement on cooperation between the Ukrainian government and UNICEF which was signed in September this year. He described the document as the basis for establishing and developing cooperation between the Ukrainian government and UNICEF. Ms. Bellami noted that UNICEF is currently implementing several joint projects with the Ukrainian government organs, including projects for iodizing salt, preventing drug abuse and AIDS among the youth, and overhauling the Ukrainian orphanage system.

UNICEF Executive Director Reiterates Children Fund's Intention To Closely Cooperate With Ukraine

UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellami has reiterated the UN Children Fund's intentions to continue its close cooperation with Ukraine and lend it financial assistance within its powers aimed at implementing concrete projects. Carol Bellami, who had arrived in Ukraine on an official visit, was speaking at a press conference at the Ministry for Family and Youth Affairs on October 9. According to Ms. Bellami, after meeting with high officials of Ukraine she could draw a conlcusion of the state's intention to intensify its activities aimed at resolving youth, children and women-related problems. The parties have signed the Protocol on Intentions, which, according to Minister for Family and Youth Affairs Valentyna Dovzhenko, logically proceeds from the Agreement on Cooperation signed by the government of Ukraine and the UNICEF last September. The Protocol has stated aspects of Ukrainian-UNICEF cooperation in four directions: youth policy, reformation of the state-supported boarding-school system, children's rights, and nutrition and health care. With a view of familiarizing herself with some projects already being implemented in Ukraine, the UNICEF Executive Director visited the family-type children's home in the village of Gogolev, Kiev Region, met with members of the "Cerebral" non-governmental organization, visited the Kiev Youth Club and the regional juvenile clinic.

On October 10, UN Under-Secretary-General, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellami arrived in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The distinguished visitor was accompanied by Lyudmyla Kuchma, the President's spouse. The visit's itinerary included the National Center for Rehabilitation of Chornobyl-affected children in Yevpatoria, where Carol Bellami delivered medical equipment purchased by the Children's Fund, and the juvenile studio-theater.

Sadako Ogata, UN High Commissioner For Refugees, Thanks President Kuchma For Aiding Crimean Tartars

On October 9, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk received a message from UN High Commissioner for Refugees issues Sadako Ogata expressing gratitude to the Ukrainian leader, Leonid Kuchma, for having facilitated an intergovernmental agreement between Ukraine and Uzbekistan which greatly simplifies citizenship-related procedures for Crimean Tartar returnees coming from Uzbekistan.

Margaret Thatcher To Visit Ukraine

Baroness Margaret Thatcher will be pleased to visit Ukraine. It was stated during her talk with Vyacheslav Chornovil, an honorary guest of the Congress of the Conservative Party of Great Britain in Bournemouth. As reported by DEINAU, Mr Chornovil, the leader of the People's Rukh of Ukraine, has invited the outstanding British politician, member of the Conservative Party, to deliver lectures on democracy at Ukrainian universities. The visit is likely to be paid in the current year. During her talk with Vaycheslav Chronovil, Margaret Thatcher showed a particular interest in the forthcoming presidential elections in Ukraine.

Slavutych Playing Host To International Conference On Shelter’s Upgrading

On October 13, a three-day international conference will open in the city of Slavutych, Kiev Region, under the auspices of the International Chornobyl Center/ The conference is to tackle the Shelter facility's upgrading plans aimed at converting the ill-fated nuclear reactor's concrete barrow into an environmentally safe and harmless entity. The conference's proceedings are supposed to be published as a special edition.

Donor-Nations Hold Deliberations In London To Appraise Availability Of Chornobyl Funds

On October 9, the British capital, London, played host to a meeting of G7 donor-nations with a view of appraising the amount of funds, currently available to implement the Chornobyl NPP’s decommissioning project. As the participants stated, some $ 396.6 million are now available instead of the necessary $ 758 million. This may seriously compromise Ukraine's effort to shut down the NPP converting it into an environmentally safe facility. Ukrainian First Deputy Minister for Power Engineering Mykhailo Umanets, who led the official delegation to the G7 meeting in London, urged the donor-nations to make greater effort toward replenishing the Chornobyl fund. The deliberations in London also involved a scrutiny of progress made in implementing resolutions which the G7 Summit in Denver, Colorado, endorsed last year, and which incorporate the G7 scheme for uprgading the Chornobyl nuclear power plant's "Sarcophagus" (Shelter Implementation Plan) facility to make it ecologically safe. The participants were offered as many as four Chornobyl-related projects which emerged winners of a tender and which were recommended for implementation. The participants were informed about Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Argentina shortly joining the Assembly.

Political Party "For A Beautiful Ukraine" Registered In Ukraine

Yet another political party has been officially registered by the Justice Ministry on October 9. "For a Beautiful Ukraine," which is the nascent political party's name, has two leaders and co-founders, MPs Hennadiy Balashov and Leonid Chernovetsky, who is known thanks to the "Praveks" concern's activity. Both Hennadiy Balashov and Leonid Chernovetsky spoke about their party at a presentation ceremony in Kiev as based on pragmatism stating the party's goal as making Ukrainian citizens affluent within the shortest possible time and earning at least $ 500 a month. In explaining their recipe for attaining such an economic miracle in Ukraine, the two parliamentarians boiled down its rationale to radically altered taxation policies with a single ten percent tax levied on both physical and legal entities.

"Transukraina-98" Expo To Be Held In Odessa

An international transport exposition dubbed "TransUkraina -98" will be held in Odessa on October 20-23. The expo's purpose is to promote Ukraine's integration into the European and global transport systems and its development as a large transit state. Ukraine will host such a large-scale transport forum for the first time ever. 220 foreign companies from 29 countries will present their displays, with Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, France, Russia, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia arranging national exhibition pavilions. Greeting messages to the expo participants have already been sent by Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, Ministers of Transport Algis Zhvaliauskas of Lithuania, Vilis Krishtopans of Latvia and Sergey Frank of Russia.

Lviv Poised To Celebrate 80th Anniversary Of West-Ukrainian Popular Republic

Lviv, West Ukraine's biggest city, is busily engaged in preparations for celebrating the 80th anniversary of the West-Ukrainian Popular Republic with numerous guests and local residents expected to converge on the scene. The event's focal part, a gathering in the Lviv Opera House, is expected to be attended by President Leonid Kuchma.

Ukrainian Pedagogical Institute In Prague Commemorates Its 75th Anniversary

The Ukrainian Pedagogical Institute in Prague recently held a scientific conference to commemorate its 75th anniversary. The conference was held with assistance from the Ukrainian Embassy in Prague and several Ukrainian and Czech public organizations. The conference was attended by representatives of scientific and educational institutions from Ukraine, the United States, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. A message from Ukraine's Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk was read to participants in the conference. In the message, Mr. Tarasyuk described the activities of the Ukrainian Pedagogical Institute in Prague as "one of the vivid examples of selfless labor of Ukrainian patriots and an example of warmth and openness in relations between the two European nations." In a message to Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma and Parliament Speaker Oleksandr Tkachenko, the conference stressed the importance of maintaining the legal status of the Ukrainian language and making its study compulsory in Ukrainian schools.

Ukrainian Women Embark On Humanitarian Tour Of Ukraine

A group of Ukrainian women has begun a humanitarian/educational tour of Ukraine that will take them to the Ternopil, Chernovtsy, Transcarpathian, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. According to the organizers of the train tour, it is aimed at consolidating the women's movement in the country and increasing the role of women in the Ukrainian society. Participants include representatives of various Ukrainian women's organizations.

Ukrainian-Language School Opens In Minsk

A Ukrainian-language Sunday school has opened for Ukrainian children living in the Belarussian capital. The school will provide Ukrainian children an opportunity to study the Ukrainian language, literature, history as well as English and French languages.


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