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UKRAINIAN CONSUL URGES CZECH CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL EMPLOYMENT. Ukrainian consul Igor Krushnin said in Prague on 25 July that Czech laws do not allow for the strict enforcement of measures to counter illegal migration, CTK reported. He said one of the biggest problems is that the Czech state does not sufficiently punish firms that hire illegal Ukrainian labor. Zdenek Kral of the Czech Interior Ministry agreed that fines for employers are too low. "The punishments for them are insufficient to prevent the hiring of an illegal immigrant from being advantageous," Kral said. The Czech Republic and Ukraine signed a treaty last month that allows for the transfer of social-security payments for Ukrainians who are legally employed. "It is therefore much more advantageous to work legally," Krushnin said. "That is another way of fighting the illegal labor market." AM

INCIDENT AT MOLDOVAN-UKRAINIAN BORDER REPORTED. The Moldovan Supreme Security Council on 25 July denied a report in the Ukrainian media according to which Moldovan forces have forcefully occupied the Dnedstrovsk power station, which is located on a dam spanning the Dniester River, which runs along parts of the countries' border, Infotag and Flux reported. According to the Ukrainian reports cited by Flux, Moldovan border guards last week occupied parts of the station on the basis that they are situated on Moldovan territory, as the border runs along the middle of the river. The Ukrainian reports also said Ukrainian workers at the power station are being escorted to work by Moldovan border guards. Moldovan Supreme Security Council Secretary Valerii Gorbulea was quoted by Infotag as saying the move is "in strict accordance with the Moldovan-Ukrainian treaty of delimitation and demarcation of the border." He said only those parts of the power station that are on Moldovan territory were taken under the border guards' control, and not the station as a whole. "Our men did not set foot on the dam itself," Gorbulea said. RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported on 27 July that a special Moldovan-Ukrainian commission would meet in Chisinau on 28 July to examine the details of the incident. MS