TURKMENISTAN RECEIVES CREDIT RATING. The London-based rating agency "Fitch Ibca" has given Turkmenistan a B credit rating for long- and short-term hard-currency loans, ITAR-TASS reported on 7 January. The rating was based on Turkmenistan's hard-currency reserves of $1 billion and the $1.5 billion owed to the country by CIS states, mainly Ukraine, Georgia, and Armenia. The rating is sufficient for further loans to Turkmenistan from international organizations to develop the nation's industries, notably the development and export of natural gas deposits. BP

UKRAINE PROHIBITS RUSSIAN FLIGHT TO
TRANSDNIESTER. The Ukrainian authorities prohibited on 8 January a military transport plane to overfly Ukrainian territory between the Russian Federation and Tiraspol because Moscow has not paid for the use of the air corridor, the Russian command in Moldova's Transdniester region told ITAR-TASS on 8 January. Russian military flights have been using this route on a daily basis for some time, but the Russian authorities have indicated they would use regular commercial flights in the future. PG

UKRAINIAN INFLATION FALLS. Inflation in Ukraine fell to 10.1 percent in 1997, the lowest level since that country became independent, the State Statistical Committee told ITAR-TASS on 8 January. That represents a steep decline from an inflation rate in 1993 of more than 10,000 percent. The government predicts that the economy will begin to grow by 0.5 percent this year, the first positive growth since independence. In another move with economic consequences, the cabinet said it will abolish value-added tax on Russian goods as of 1 February if the Russian government does the same on Ukrainian ones. PG

KYIV DENOUNCES PLANS TO "NEW UNION TREATY." Presidential administration chief Yevgenii Kushnarov has described plans by communist groups from former Soviet republics to sign a new union treaty in Kyiv on 7 February as a publicity stunt, Interfax reported on 8 January. He noted that no one can speak on behalf of countries except the duly constituted authorities. PG