FOREIGNERS ENTERING UKRAINE NO LONGER TO REGISTER WITH AUTHORITIES

KYIV, June 19 - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has abolished the requirement that foreigners register with local authorities upon arrival in Ukraine, a Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday.

As of July 1, foreigners will be obliged only to register at border check points and will be free to travel throughout Ukraine without further registration, said Viktor Kiryk, head of the ministry’s consular department.

Kuchma has also ordered the government to abolish the system that assigns Ukrainian citizens to specific addresses by 2005. That change would require parliamentary approval.

Both changes are intended to increase freedom of movement in Ukraine, which still has restrictive, Soviet-era laws on the books.

(05.01.1999)