U.S., WORLD BANK AID COMMITMENTS TO UKRAINE FIRMING UP.

On a visit to Kiev, U.S. senators Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn assured Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma yesterday that the Nunn-Lugar program of financial assistance to Ukraine will continue for at least two to three years. The program, worth $390 million, is designed to offset the costs of Ukraine’s nuclear disarmament and also to finance technical assistance to Ukraine. Lugar and Nunn described the country’s nuclear disarmament program and the tempo of its execution as "exemplary." (Interfax-Ukraine, October 22)

Also yesterday, the World Bank’s Kiev office announced that the Bank’s Board of Directors has approved a $317 million credit for upgrading 14 power-generating plants in Ukraine. This credit forms part of a three-pronged program envisaging more than $900 million in World Bank credits to Ukraine in 1996-1998. The other two parts of the program concern the reform of Ukraine’s coal mining and agricultural sectors. (Interfax-Ukraine, October 22)

Russia Stands by Its Armenian Ally in Election Controversy.