NEW NAGORNO-KARABAKH PREMIER NAMED. Arkadii Ghukasian, president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, has named a Ukrainian citizen of Armenian origin to head the enclave's next government, RF/RL's Stepanakert correspondent reported on 30 June. Anushavan Danielian, who is 43, was born in Stepanakert but worked for many years in Crimea, where he held the posts of chairman of the parliamentary committee for state and legal affairs and then deputy speaker of the parliament, according to Noyan Tapan. He was named director of a state-run factory in Yerevan earlier this year. Ghukasian noted Danielian's role in coordinating humanitarian relief to Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s. LF

KUCHMA, SYMONENKO PUT ON PRESIDENTIAL BALLOT. The Central Electoral Commission has approved the candidacy of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko in the October presidential elections. Kuchma's supporters collected 1.64 million signatures supporting his electoral bid, while Symonenko's gathered 1.2 million. The other 16 presidential hopefuls must present at least 1 million signatures to the commission by 13 July in order to take part in the ballot. JM

IMF APPROVES ANOTHER LOAN TRANCHE FOR UKRAINE. The IMF on 30 June approved the release of a $115 million tranche of its three-year $2.5 billion loan to Ukraine. IMF Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer praised Ukraine for meeting all economic objectives set by the fund last September. At the same time, Fischer noted that future payments will depend on successful debtrestructuring talks. The release of the tranche came
after Ukraine and ING Barings agreed to extend the deadline for the country's $163 million bond payment until 9 July, Bloomberg News reported. "[The IMF] urged the authorities and Ukraine's creditors to persevere in their efforts to reach an agreement on terms comparable to other recent agreements with other creditors," Fischer said. JM