Harsh Words “Dictated by the World Situation“

Addressing a September 25 workshop for the regional media in Kyiv, President Leonid Kuchma made a number of crucial statements. In particular, he said the National Security and Defense Council had made “a fully correct” decision to open this country’s airspace to US military transport airplanes.

He reiterated that other countries had also allowed American planes to overfly their airspace, Interfax-Ukraine reports. Speaking of the domestic political situation, Mr. Kuchma said that, although he was satisfied that Verkhovna Rada had passed a new version of the election law, he still has a lot of concerns about it. “I’m glad that the parliament began to work and that even an imperfect parliament has passed the law and accepted the fifty-fifty option.” The president pointed out that the proportional-representation system is possible only if a party’s deputies will be elected according to their popularity among the voters, not according to party lists. Pres. Kuchma emphasized that there already are “too many complaints” about the law, one being the duration of the election campaign. According to him, the law is not only being studied by his staff but has also been offered “for detailed scrutiny” by Ukrainian and international experts. At the same time, he stressed that “the final decision will be made by him.”

Mr. Kuchma also announced that he “categorically” opposes proportional representation in local government bodies: “This is simply ridiculous.” As he emphasized, parties are “absent” in the overwhelming majority of settled areas. He also promised to sign “in the coming days” a decree on additional measures to ensure the transparency of Ukrainian elections. “I want to create an absolutely transparent election system,” he emphasized. He noted that he meant public access to television, including government outlets, as well as distribution of television time among the candidates.

The chief of state also commented on the tax reform. “There is no alternative to early adoption of the Tax Code, for this is the law of laws,” he said, pointing out that if the Tax Code is passed this year it will be possible to put it into effect in the second half of 2002. The chief executive added in this connection, “We must ask the current parliament what it has done for four years if it failed to pass this kind of law.” Pres. Kuchma stressed that his harsh words “have been dictated by the world situation.” In his opinion, the government also should have worked “persistently” with the parliament to convince it of the need to adopt this document. He noted that under current conditions “our tax system has in practice been reduced to absurdity.” To illustrate, Mr. Kuchma said that while industrial output rose by 17% in the first eight months of this year, budget revenues increased by a mere 7% over the same period. He thinks this was caused primarily by the “sheer inability” of economic entities “to pay taxes.” Mr. Kuchma emphasized that adopting the new Tax Code will encourage the growth of individual incomes because it will bring down some of the current taxes on individuals whose pay has not been increased. At present, the average wages are $60 in Ukraine and $115 in Russia. At the same time, taxes tied to income in Russia are four times lower than in Ukraine.

Pres. Kuchma also believes the current government is carried out its work satisfactorily and Prime Minister Anatoly Kinakh is doing a good job in office. Nevertheless, he noted, “No government will satisfy me even if I head it.” The president is worried that the head of the current Cabinet of Ministers might “take to politics,” for this would signal the end of this government. Yet, Mr. Kuchma pointed out there is no reason for such concern. Yet, he said, “What we need today is that this headquarters — for the government is the economy’s headquarters — should work day in and day out only on its main task, the economy.”

Mr. Kuchma also revealed that he had congratulated on Monday by telephone Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski on the results of his elections. “When the president, government, and parliament constitute one team, this is 99% of the solution to all the problems,” he observed. In this connection, Mr. Kuchma looked back to the situation in Ukraine last spring, when “interests in Verkhovna Rada parted company “ and a segment of the parliamentary majority “suddenly wanted a different president.” According to the chief of state, if Ukrainian law allowed him to do so, he would dissolve this parliament. “Let them be gone,” he said, adding that in other countries, including Poland, legislation does provide this kind of power. Pres. Kuchma said it was unexpected that the Right lost the parliamentary elections in Poland. “They didn’t even clear the barrier,” he said.