Yanukovich believes Ukraine constitution should be amended.

DONETSK, March 8 (Itar-Tass) -- Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovich
considers that it is necessary to introduce amendments in the Ukrainian
Constitution shortly. He stated about it in an interview with the Inter
television channel on Sunday.

"For the last five years we have been observing how the whole country
is going around the Constitution, which had been approved hastily at the
end of 2004. I believe that our future depends from whether we will have
enough political will to find an opportunity to amend the Constitution,
which brought the country to such a negative result," the president said.
According to him, this measure will also contribute to establishing order
in the country. Since currently it is even problematic to create a strong
team of managers, as the recruitment policy was brought down to naught in
Ukraine. "Therefore together with the parliament and a future government
we will begin working and looking for solutions under the effective
legislation already in March," Yanukovich pledged.
He named as another important task the restoration of justice towards
poor people. "I asked President Dmitry Medvedev how many times social
standards had changed in Russia for the last two years. I received the
answer - four times, and a fifth rise is expected in April. Meanwhile,
Timoshenko's government has 'frozen' pensions and salaries in 2008, as a
result currently the salaries in Ukraine by a third lower and the pensions
by 50% lower than in Russia," Viktor Yanukovich underlined.

.Social standards for war veterans must be raised in all CIS states.

DONETSK, March 8 (Itar-Tass) -- Social standards for the veterans of
the Great Patriotic War should be raised synchronically in all CIS states,
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich said in an interview with the Inter
television channel on Sunday.
Speaking on the celebrations of the 65th anniversary of the Great
Victory, the Ukrainian president called this issue crucial and dwelt on
the V-Day joint festive program in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. "We agreed
that we will make up the joint festive program for Belarus, Russia and
Ukraine. Festive parades will be held in all Hero Cities. We will meet at
a summit in Moscow, where we will welcome together the train with the war
veterans, which will run from Brest via Minsk, Kiev in Moscow."
Another important issue on the joint agenda Viktor Yanukovich called
an agreement, under which higher social standards for the veterans of the
Great Patriotic War will be set jointly. The Ukrainian president stressed
that it is necessary to do it synchronically, "so that the war veterans,
who won in the Great Patriotic War, were in equal conditions in all
countries."

.Int'l conference on peaceful atom access problem to open in Paris.

PARIS, March 8 (Itar-Tass) -- The civil nuclear power use as a tool of
confronting climate changes is in the focus of an international conference
that will open in Paris on Monday. The two-day forum in the headquarters
of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will
gather experts of the leading countries in the peaceful atom use,
including Russia.
The participants will discuss the responsible peaceful atom use in
view of a growing energy demand. French President Nicolas Sarkozy will
deliver a welcome speech at the opening of the conference. European
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and newly-appointed Director
General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano will
deliver speeches at the conference.
At the conference round-table meetings will be held involving
officials of the world captains of the nuclear power industry - AREVA, Gaz
de France Suez, General Electric and Rosatom. The meetings will highlight
such issues as nuclear fuel supplies, the long-term funding of nuclear
projects and guarantees of international institutions, the legal basis and
the dumping of radioactive waste.
Ahead of the OECD conference French officials stated that the access
to the peaceful atom should not turn into the privilege of a small number
of the countries, which possess corresponding technologies. Alongside, any
country, which has its nuclear program, should meet high international
standards in the non-proliferation, the safety of nuclear sites and
environmental protection.
-0-baz