xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx SPECIAL REPORT xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx CRISIS ON UKRAINIAN FARMS
The decline of Ukraine's agriculture sector has been continuous since Kyiv declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. This report includes articles and photos. http://www.rferl.org/nca/special/ukraine-farms/index.html

STRIKING MINERS MARCH TO KYIV. Some 1,000 miners have begun to march from Dnipropetrovsk to Kyiv to demand wage arrears for the last 10 months, ITAR-TASS reported on 24 May. Some 3,000 miners from the Pavlovhrad mining basin have remained in Dnipropetrovsk to picket the regional administration building. They threaten to travel by bus to Kyiv on 26 May unless the directors of Pavlovhrad mines resume hot food supplies to protesters. Those supplies were suspended following the directors' claim that they have no money for transportation expenses. Following a 100-kilometer march, some 1,000 miners from Pervomaysk arrived at Luhansk to demand back wages from the oblast administration. On 22 May, the government released a statement saying that the miners' strikes are a "planned political action" and accusing the miners of an "unwillingness to seek a reasonable compromise" with the government. JM

UKRAINIAN SUPREME COUNCIL FAILS TO ELECT SPEAKER. With only 214 out of 437 deputies taking part in the vote, the parliament on 22 May failed to elect a speaker, Ukrainian Television reported. The caucuses of the Popular Rukh, the Social Democrats, the Popular Democratic Parties, and the Greens refused to pick up ballots, and thus the necessary two-thirds majority of deputies present at the session was not achieved. Of the five candidates for the post, Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko obtained 191 votes. JM

ODESSA MAYOR WANTS REFERENDUM ON HIS MAYORALTY. Eduard Hurvits says he wants a referendum on his mayoralty after the Supreme Court upheld the decision of an Odessa district court annulling his election in March, Ukrainian Television reported. The district court ruled in favor of Hurvits's rival Ruslan Bodelan, saying that the city electoral commission, which is mostly made up of Hurvits appointees, violated the electoral law. Last week, a 200-strong commission, headed by Prime Minister Valeriy Pustovoytenko, was in Odessa to investigate Hurvits's election. Pustovoytenko sharply criticized Hurvits for the way he was running his office and called Odessa the most crime-infested city in Ukraine. Observers say President Leonid Kuchma may introduce direct presidential rule in Odessa to end the standoff. JM

POLISH, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTS APPEAL FOR HELP TO UKRAINE. Aleksander Kwasniewski and Leonid Kuchma on 24 May called for international institutions to urgently grant Kyiv help for vital economic reforms, Reuters reported. Together with Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus, Kwasniewski and Kuchma were taking part in a two-day Polish-Ukrainian business forum in Rzeszow, southeastern Poland. Kwasniewski rejected arguments put forward by the IMF and the World Bank that Ukraine should tackle reform before it receives assistance. "Each day of delay may be impossible to catch up," Kwasniewski commented. Kuchma voiced fears that Poland's intended membership in the EU may create a barrier between Poland and Ukraine. JM