The Sevastopol City Council has voted against partially financing the construction of the first Ukrainian-language school in this Black Sea port, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.
Of the more than 80 schools in Sevastopol -- which houses both the Ukrainian and the Russian Black Sea fleets -- only three schools are bilingual, where some classes are taught in Ukrainian but the majority in Russian.
There is no school in the city in which classes are only in Ukrainian.
The Ukrainian government supports the establishment of the Ukrainian-language school and has authorized 5 million hryvni (about $1 million) for its construction.
By law, the local government must contribute 20 percent of the costs, or 500,000 hryvni.
The Sevastopol City Council will vote on the issue again in December.
Posts tonen met het label Ukrain. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label Ukrain. Alle posts tonen
zondag 7 december 2008
zondag 23 november 2008
Russia threatening Ukrain to cut off gas.
Russian energy company Gazprom on Saturday threatened to cut off gas deliveries to Ukraine starting January 1 unless Ukraine pays $2.4 billion of debt and finalizes new contracts for future deliveries.
Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov, quoted by the Interfax News Agency, dismissed arguments from Kiev that payments had been delayed due to the ongoing financial crisis.
"If the Ukrainian economy were really in a crisis, they would need less energy from us. There has been no sign of that," he said, adding that Ukraine cannot expect to receive billion-dollar bail- outs from the International Monetary Fund on the one hand and refuse to pay its debts to Russia on the other.
"We assume the problem will be resolved by the end of the year," said Kupriyanov. "Without contracts, Gazprom cannot deliver."
However, the Russian state company cannot enter into a new contract for future deliveries until all outstanding payments, plus late fees, are paid.
Russia cut off gas shipments to Ukraine three years ago after a political dispute. The cut-off was felt across Europe, since much of the gas western Europe imports from Russia flows through Ukraine. Kupriyanov said the company hopes to avoid "radical measures like a delivery blockage."
Moscow has argued that the regular gas disputes with Ukraine only highlight how important it is for Russia and western Europe to build a gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine.
Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov, quoted by the Interfax News Agency, dismissed arguments from Kiev that payments had been delayed due to the ongoing financial crisis.
"If the Ukrainian economy were really in a crisis, they would need less energy from us. There has been no sign of that," he said, adding that Ukraine cannot expect to receive billion-dollar bail- outs from the International Monetary Fund on the one hand and refuse to pay its debts to Russia on the other.
"We assume the problem will be resolved by the end of the year," said Kupriyanov. "Without contracts, Gazprom cannot deliver."
However, the Russian state company cannot enter into a new contract for future deliveries until all outstanding payments, plus late fees, are paid.
Russia cut off gas shipments to Ukraine three years ago after a political dispute. The cut-off was felt across Europe, since much of the gas western Europe imports from Russia flows through Ukraine. Kupriyanov said the company hopes to avoid "radical measures like a delivery blockage."
Moscow has argued that the regular gas disputes with Ukraine only highlight how important it is for Russia and western Europe to build a gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine.
vrijdag 14 november 2008
Russia threatening Europe
Russia will pull out of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty if ex-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia are set on the path to NATO membership, Interfax news agency quoted a government official as saying on Friday.
"If Ukraine and Georgia are granted NATO Membership Action Plans (MAP), then the revised CFE treaty will be doomed," Interfax quoted the unnamed official, whom it described as a senior military diplomat.
"If MAP starts being implemented for Ukraine and Georgia, Russia will not only continue the moratorium it imposed on the CFE, but will ultimately pull out of it."
Georgia and Ukraine are seeking action plans, which are seen as road maps to eventual membership of NATO, at an alliance summit in December, though diplomats say it is unlikely either will be granted MAP.
Russia, which is fiercely opposed to NATO's expansion toward its borders, suspended its compliance with the CFE treaty last December but remains a signatory.
Moscow says the treaty, designed to limit battlefield weapons, such as tanks and armoured vehicles, on either side of the old Iron Curtain, is a Cold War relic which gives too much scope for an enlarged NATO to beef up its forces.
Russia's biggest grievance with the CFE pact is the limit on deployments west of the Ural mountains, while armaments are not capped in new NATO members in eastern Europe.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said at talks in the Estonian capital on Thursday that Ukraine should press ahead with defense and security reforms to gain membership to the alliance.
"If Ukraine and Georgia are granted NATO Membership Action Plans (MAP), then the revised CFE treaty will be doomed," Interfax quoted the unnamed official, whom it described as a senior military diplomat.
"If MAP starts being implemented for Ukraine and Georgia, Russia will not only continue the moratorium it imposed on the CFE, but will ultimately pull out of it."
Georgia and Ukraine are seeking action plans, which are seen as road maps to eventual membership of NATO, at an alliance summit in December, though diplomats say it is unlikely either will be granted MAP.
Russia, which is fiercely opposed to NATO's expansion toward its borders, suspended its compliance with the CFE treaty last December but remains a signatory.
Moscow says the treaty, designed to limit battlefield weapons, such as tanks and armoured vehicles, on either side of the old Iron Curtain, is a Cold War relic which gives too much scope for an enlarged NATO to beef up its forces.
Russia's biggest grievance with the CFE pact is the limit on deployments west of the Ural mountains, while armaments are not capped in new NATO members in eastern Europe.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said at talks in the Estonian capital on Thursday that Ukraine should press ahead with defense and security reforms to gain membership to the alliance.
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