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CIS SUMMIT SLATED FOR UKRAINE IN LATE JANUARY. CIS heads of state will meet at a government residence in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast in western Ukraine on 28-29 January, UNIAN reported on 14 January, quoting Foreign Ministry spokesman Serhiy Borodenkov. Borodenkov said the summit will focus on economic issues. "There will be virtually no politics at this summit -- [only] issues of interests for the entire CIS will be considered," Borodenkov added. Borodenkov said, in line with a ruling of the CIS Economic Court in 1994, Ukraine is a CIS founder and "participant" but not a member, since Kyiv has neither signed nor ratified the CIS Charter. JM

UKRAINE POSTS ECONOMIC GROWTH OF 4.1 PERCENT. Ukraine's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 4.1 percent in 2002, UNIAN reported on 15 January, quoting First Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Mykola Azarov. Azarov added that industrial production grew by 7 percent last year, while inflation was "virtually nil." JM

POLISH PARLIAMENT STARTS INQUIRY INTO 'RYWINGATE.' Deputy Sejm Speaker Tomasz Nalecz (Labor Union) was elected head of a special parliamentary commission set up to investigate corruption charges against film producer Lew Rywin, who reportedly solicited a bribe of $17.5 million from Agora, the publisher of "Gazeta Wyborcza." Reports have suggested Rywin was claiming to be acting on behalf of Premier Leszek Miller's Democratic Left Alliance (see "RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report," 14 January 2003). Nalecz said he expects to hold the commission's first sitting on 25 or 27 January. The commission's meetings are to be open. JM