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FORMER UKRAINIAN PREMIER OFFERS TO MAKE PEACE WITH PRESIDENT, FORM NEW CABINET. Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, who was dismissed by President Viktor Yushchenko on 8 September (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 September 2005), said at a news conference in Kyiv on 21 September that she is ready to work once again with Yushchenko and form a new cabinet if he makes peace with her, Channel 5 reported. "In this difficult time, when the political crisis is deepening, I want to declare that I am ready to give him a helping hand," Tymoshenko said. "I want to propose to [Yushchenko] simply to return [to the time we had] a year ago and unite our efforts once again." JM

COMMISSION SAYS FORMER UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT ORGANIZED GONGADZE'S ABDUCTION. Parliamentarian Hryhoriy Omelchenko, head of the ad hoc parliamentary commission investigating the kidnapping of Internet journalist Heorhiy Gongadze in 2000, reported to the Verkhovna Rada on 20 September that former President Leonid Kuchma jointly with former Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko organized the abduction of Gongadze, Ukrainian media reported. Omelchenko added that, according to the commission's findings, parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn and former Security Service chief Leonid Derkach instigated the kidnapping. Omelchenko criticized Prosecutor-General Svyatoslav Piskun's role in the Gongadze investigation and proposed a vote of no confidence in him which, if passed, would result in Piskun's dismissal. "I think that as long as Prosecutor-General Svyatoslav Piskun remains in his post, the organizers of this crime...and other participants in it will not be made accountable in court," Omelchenko said. The Verkhovna Rada did not heed Omelchenko's request and decided to terminate the activity of his commission. JM

UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT FORMS COMMISSIONS TO PROBE ELECTION FUNDS, CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS. The Verkhovna Rada on 20 September set up an ad hoc commission to investigate the recent allegations that President Yushchenko's election campaign in 2004 was financed by exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovskii (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 September 2005), Interfax-Ukraine reported. The commission is headed by Communist Party lawmaker Yuriy Solomatin. The parliament also created a temporary commission to investigate the corruption allegations against presidential aides that were voiced earlier this month by former head of the presidential staff Oleksandr Zinchenko (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 September 2005). This commission is headed by independent lawmaker Volodymyr Zaplatynskyy. JM

CRIMEAN PREMIER RESIGNS. Anatoliy Matviyenko, prime minister of the Crimean Autonomous Republic, tendered his resignation to President Yushchenko on 20 September, saying that the main reason behind his move was the refusal of his Sobor Party to support the candidacy of Yuriy Yekhanurov for the post of Ukrainian prime minister earlier the same day (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 September 2005), Ukrainian media reported. The Crimean Supreme Council on 21 voted overwhelmingly to accept Matviyenko's resignation. JM