Ukrainian official confirms contacts on radar use by US

.

KIEV, October 16 (Itar-Tass) -- A high-ranking official in the
Ukrainian presidential administration confirmed contacts with the United
States on the use of Ukrainian radars for the revised missile shield
architecture have taken place, but said negotiations will take a long time.
"The issue is far from its solution. But the very fact of the
necessity to use what we possess is an absolutely normal business," first
deputy head of the presidential secretariat Yuri Yekhanurov told Channel 5
TV on Thursday.
"As Russia rejected the radars, then someone else may pay," he said,
adding Ukraine would inform Russia on the outcome of the talks to play
down its concerns.
In February 2008 Russia stopped using two Ukrainian radars in
Sevastopol (Crimea) and Mukachevo (western Ukraine) and scrapped an
agreement on early warning and space monitoring, which stipulated that
Russia would cover all operating costs, totaling $4 million per year,
while Ukraine would be responsible for the maintenance of the facilities.
Now Russia expressed concern over possible US use of the radars. "We
feel concerned," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
"To say we are encouraged about the information we are getting about
contacts on this subject would be, to put it mildly, an exaggeration," he
added.
Yekhanurov said Russian concern is only natural "as we are neighbors."
"We shall definitely inform (Russia) about what we have agreed on," he
said.
On October 9 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Petr Poroshenko suggested the
deployment of missile elements of another country in Ukraine would be
unconstitutional. "It is a challenge. I believe it is unconstitutional,"
he said.
However three days later President Viktor Yushchenko said at a summit
of the Commonwealth of Independent States that Ukraine was ready to
contribute the two radars to a collective world and European security
system.

.US denies talks with Ukraine on radars.

WASHINGTON, October 16 (Itar-Tass) -- The United States is holding no
talks on the use of Ukrainian radars in the new missile defense
architecture, according to Mike Hammer, National Security Council
spokesman.
"We have not engaged in discussions with Ukraine to integrate the
assets into our missile defense architecture," he told Tass on Thursday,
adding Washington has no such plans at all.
"The United States has no plans to incorporate Ukrainian assets into
the newly announced Phased Adaptive Approach to European missile defense,
nor do we intend to station any missile defense elements on Ukrainian
territory," Hammer said.
He was responding to the statement of Ukrainian Ambassador to the
United States Oleg Shamshur who told a briefing on Wednesday "the question
is part of working discussion, but so far it is in a rather initial phase."
"We are talking about whether to use radars that are on Ukrainian
territory and that Russia declined using," he said, adding Ukraine's
leadership backs such a plan.
Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko said at a summit of the
Commonwealth of Independent States in October his country was ready to
contribute two radars to a collective world and European security system.
In February 2008 Russia stopped using two Ukrainian radars in
Sevastopol (Crimea) and Mukachevo (western Ukraine) and scrapped an
agreement on early warning and space monitoring, which stipulated that
Russia would cover all operating costs, totaling $4 million per year,
while Ukraine would be responsible for the maintenance of the facilities.
Now Russia expressed concern over possible US use of the radars. "We
feel concerned," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
"To say we are encouraged about the information we are getting about
contacts on this subject would be, to put it mildly, an exaggeration," he
added.

.Ukrainian minister expects no second crisis wave.

WASHINGTON, October 16 (Itar-Tass) -- Ukrainian Economy Minister
Bogdan Danilishin believes his country will avoid a second wave of the
economic crisis.
"Despite the deep and tragic economic crisis that we see today, I
believes there will be no second wave of the crisis in Ukraine," he told
Tass on Thursday.
Danilishin, who is participating in the first international forum on
Ukrainian economic development, listed two major Ukrainian problems.
"The first one is export orientation of the basic industries -
metallurgy, agriculture, chemical industry and machine-building" that were
affected by falling prices.
The second problem is "the crisis of the banking system" when banks do
not credit economy, but stick to consumer loans.
The minister said the government succeeded to improve the situation.
"We even see a growth of the main macroeconomic indicators," he said
adding agriculture reported a 3.3-percent growth in January-September
against the same period of 2008. The Gross Domestic Product is increasing
quarter by quarter.
Danilishin said the national economy will need at least two years to
reach pre-crisis development pace. "From the second half of 2010 we shall
have stable results of economic development in Ukraine and I believe we
shall reach the pre-crisis level in 2012," he said.
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