UKRAINE SUSPENDS MILITARY CONSCRIPTION.

President Leonid Kuchma yesterday decreed a temporary suspension of the mandatory draft into Ukraine’s armed forces, National Guard and troops of the Security Service. Initial reports on the decree did not immediately clarify the duration of the suspension. The measure forms part of Ukraine’s program to reduce the size of the armed forces and other troops. Military manpower currently amounts to 350,000, down from more than 600,000 in 1992. The reduction is scheduled to continue, with a net cut of 17,000 planned for the remainder of 1998. (UNIAN, June 17)

BAKU-NOVOROSSIISK: PIPING THE OIL–OR JUST SWAPPING IT.