UKRAINIAN CHIEF BANKER VOWS TO RETURN HRYVNYA TO EXCHANGE CORRIDOR. National Bank Chairman Viktor Yushchenko on 10 August pledged to reverse the recent fall of the hryvnya, which has slipped outside the trading band set for this year (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 August 1999). "The government and the National Bank see no reasons to revise our monetary policies for 1999," AP quoted Yushchenko as saying. Yushchenko added that the situation in the currency market will improve in the "coming days," the "Eastern Economic Daily" reported. However, Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Tyhypko said the same day that the bank must intervene on the currency market in order to stabilize the hryvnya. "The government has exhausted all possible measures as to stabilization of the oil products market and now this factor of influence on the hryvnya's devaluation has been weakened," Tyhypko added. JM

UKRAINE UPBEAT ON GRAIN HARVEST. Prime Minister Valeriy Pustovoytenko said on 10 August that Ukraine has so far harvested 21 million tons of grain. Pustovoytenko added that this year's crop will be "much better" than in 1998, Interfax reported. Last year's harvest totaled 28 million tons. JM

DOZEN CANDIDATES FOR UKRAINIAN PRESIDENCY. The Supreme Court on 10 August ordered the Central Electoral Commission to register Oleksandr Rzhavskyy as a presidential candidate. The commission had denied registration to Rzhavskyy, rejecting more than 700,000 signatures out of the 1.68 million he had submitted. The previous day, the Supreme Court ordered the commission to register Mykola Haber (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 August 1999). Reuters reported on 11 August that the commission has complied with the court's decisions and registered both Haber and Rzhavskyy, bringing the total number of presidential hopefuls to 12. The Supreme Court is now considering cases of another three aspirants. JM