masthead



ALL BROADCASTS FOR SIX SERVICES LIVE ONLINE All programs of RFE/RL's Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, Kyrgyz, Russian and Ukrainian Services are online live in RealAudio. The Russian Service broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To tune in, go to: http://www.rferl.org/realaudio/

ALL BROADCASTS FOR SIX SERVICES LIVE ONLINE All programs of RFE/RL's Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, Kyrgyz, Russian and Ukrainian Services are online live in RealAudio. The Russian Service broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To tune in, go to: http://www.rferl.org/realaudio/

SOCIALISTS ATTACK KUCHMA'S ECONOMIC POLICY. Viktor Medvedchuk, the deputy leader of the United Social Democratic Party (SDPU) said on 18 March that his party would alter current economic policy if elected, the "Eastern Economist" reported. Former President and SDPU leader Leonid Kravchuk said President Leonid Kuchma's economic policy since coming to power has two major flaws: "the sacred belief in monetary policy" and the "abandonment of the state's regulatory role." Kravchuk said that Ukraine has a long history of government regulation and that it would be dangerous to cease such regulation. Ukrainian parliamentary elections are scheduled for 29 March. PB

UKRAINIAN AIRLINE TO PAY RELATIVES OF CRASH VICTIMS. The Ukrainian airline Aerosvit announced on 18 March that it will pay some $7 million to the families of Greek passengers who died in a crash last December near Thessaloniki, ITAR-TASS reported on 18 March. At least 69 people died in the crash, and relatives of the victims have demanded compensation, even though a report on the cause of the crash has not been completed. PB

POLAND, UKRAINE AGREE TO BOOST ECONOMIC TIES. Delegations to the Consultative Committee of the Presidents of Ukraine and Poland agreed on 17 March to increase economic relations, an RFE/RL correspondent in Warsaw reported. After a two-day meeting in Warsaw, the sides released a joint statement that revealed plans for the creation of a transport corridor between the Black and Baltic Seas. The talks were chaired by Ukrainian Defense Council Secretary Volodymyr Horbulin and Polish National Security Office head Marek Siwiek. PB