UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT WANTS TO CONTEST 3,000 PRIVATIZATIONS IN COURT

Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko said on 16 February that the government, jointly with the Prosecutor-General's Office, will challenge in court the privatization of nearly 3,000 businesses, Interfax reported. According to Tymoshenko, the Prosecutor-General's Office opened criminal investigations into each of these 3,000 privatizations in the past, but they were subsequently closed following telephone calls from the "top state leadership." "There will be a detailed plan of action concerning every enterprise [on this list of 3,000] in order to stop illegal actions with regard to state property via court, in an absolutely legitimate way," Tymoshenko added. "We will return to the state what was illegally transferred into private, but dishonest, hands." It is not clear how Tymoshenko's announcement is related to President Viktor Yushchenko's statement the previous day that a list of potential privatization reviews will be "limited" to 30 to 40 enterprises.