WORLD BANK CALLS FOR UKRAINE TO PRIVATIZE, PAY OLD DEBTS. Gregory Jedrzejczak, World Bank representative in Ukraine, has urged Ukraine to accelerate privatization and use the proceeds to service its foreign debt. Ukraine has to repay $1.2 billion this year and an estimated $2.3 billion next year. World Bank Vice President Johannes Linn said in Kyiv on 9 June that Ukraine may receive $400 million in loans by next summer if the government moves to implement the bank's requirements, commenting that "the issue number one is to ensure that the privatization process is very transparent and clearly competitive," according to Reuters. Meanwhile, ITAR-TASS quoted Ukrainian officials as saying that the World Bank will "soon" extend to Ukraine two tranches worth $100 million each. The agency also reported that the IMF will release by late June an unspecified tranche under its loan program for Ukraine. JM

UKRAINE, BULGARIA TO SEEK COMPENSATION FOR LOSSES IN BALKAN CRISIS. Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and his Bulgarian counterpart, Petar Stoyanov, said after talks in Kyiv on 9 June that their countries will seek compensation for economic losses due to NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia. Kuchma said the Balkan crisis was the main topic of discussion, adding that the two countries, along with Romania, will coordinate their efforts in the post-war restoration of Yugoslavia and the Danube waterway. Both presidents also stressed the need to boost economic cooperation. Bilateral trade turnover totaled $325 million in 1998. JM