UKRAINIAN CABINET SURVIVES CONFIDENCE VOTE. Prime Minister Valeriy Pustovoytenko's cabinet on 6 July survived a parliamentary confidence vote initiated by the Communists. Only 182 deputies backed the motion. A no-confidence vote requires 226 votes to pass. The Communists have long criticized Pustovoytenko's cabinet over the country's economic problems and falling living standards. "In implementing the IMF demands, the government has completely destroyed the economy of the country and its monetary and financial systems," Communist leader Petro Symonenko told deputies before the vote. "The [vote's] outcome was expected. Our policy has been right and we have been able to stabilize the economic situation in the country following last year's financial crisis," Economy Minister Vasyl Rohovyy told Reuters. In other news, the Supreme Council on 6 July adopted a statement urging the Turkish parliament to revoke Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan's death sentence. JM

UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT WARNS AGAINST DICTATORSHIP. The parliament on 2 July adopted a statement claiming that the Ukrainian government is illegally helping President Leonid Kuchma in his preparations for the 31 October presidential election. The statement warns against the threat of "replacing democratic principles with a government dictatorship" in Ukraine. It adds that the government has "usurped" the media and put pressure on other presidential candidates. All of Kuchma's main presidential rivals--Yevhen Marchuk, Oleksandr Moroz, Petro Symonenko, Oleksandr Tkachenko, and Natalya Vitrenko--are members of parliament. JM

MOLDOVA-TRANSDNIESTER SUMMIT POSTPONED AGAIN. The scheduled meeting between President Petru Lucinschi and separatist leader Igor Smirnov in Tiraspol has been postponed from 6 July to 13 July, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported on 5 July. Presidential spokesman Anatol Golea said the meeting was postponed to allow more time for preparation. Golea said the summit's importance has increased since it will now take place shortly before a scheduled 16-17 July meeting in Kyiv involving Lucinschi, Smirnov, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, and Russian Premier Sergei Stepashin. He said the four leaders are expected to "further accelerate" the negotiation process with the separatists. MS