CDs Center of Criminal Interest

On January 17 the Ukrainian parliament passed the law On the Specifics of the State Regulation of Business Entities in Conjunction with the Production, Export and Import of Readable Laser Disks introduced by people’s deputies. Simultaneously, the cabinet bill on the production, export, and import of CDs was voted down. By failing to enact a law in this sphere, Ukraine will face US sanctions as of January 23 restricting Ukrainian metal and other imports in the amount of $75 million. This, in turn, would make Ukrainian enterprises lose at least $475 million a year. Interfax Ukraine reports that in the parliamentary bill the notion, production of disks, relates only to CDs with recordings. In other words, the bill relates only to CDs containing copyright and related rights. The cabinet bill envisages rigid government control over the manufacture, export, and import of readable laser disks by means of licensing.

That same day People’s Deputy Viktor Suslov noted in an interview with Interfax Ukraine that the bill passed by parliament had been prepared jointly with domestic CD manufacturers, and that it “does not conform to US requirements.” Thus, it envisions no rigid restrictions on the production of unlicensed CDs or tough sanctions with regard to their domestic producers. The SDPU(o) fraction in turn disseminated a statement pointing to the need to investigate the allegations about bribing lawmakers to vote down the government CD bill. “Ukrainian citizens must be aware of the cynical alliance between the Communists and the so-called Right, which has actually turned into a mechanism of lobbying for openly criminal interests,” reads the statement, adding that blocking the CD bill in Verkhovna Rada could deal a critical blow to the Ukrainian economy, leaving thousands jobless, with the state budget sustaining heavy losses; a situation will develop threatening inadequate financing of budget social items.