UKRAINE TO JOIN CIS INTERPARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY. Following several failed attempts last year, the Ukrainian Supreme Council has voted to join the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, ITAR-TASS reported on 3 March. The decision was backed by 230 lawmakers; at least 226 votes were necessary for the motion to pass. JM

RUKH REGISTERS NEW PARLIAMENTARY CAUCUS. Following a split in the leadership of the right-wing Popular Rukh of Ukraine (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 March 1999), 16 parliamentary deputies have registered a "Popular Rukh of Ukraine-1" caucus in the Supreme Council, Ukrainian Radio reported on 2 March. The caucus, headed by Rukh former leader Vyacheslav Chornovil, is composed of 16 Rukh deputies, including Rukh presidential candidate Hennadiy Udovenko. The Rukh party has 47 seats in the parliament. JM

UKRAINIAN POWER PLANTS FREE OF MILLENNIUM BUG? Oleksandr Parkhomenko, head of the Enerhoatom state nuclear agency, has said the equipment at Ukraine's nuclear power plants is so obsolete that it cannot be affected by the so-called millennium bug. "Fortunately, our nuclear energy sector is not fully computerized, and problems existing in the West are not relevant for us," Reuters quoted Parkhomenko as saying. Meanwhile, nuclear plant workers have escalated their protests over unpaid wages (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 February 1999). Ukrainian law forbids them to strike, so they are spending most of their spare time in tent camps built around power plants. JM