Ukrainian authorities cut off Russian fleet's telephones
12/07/98 * SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine (AP-wire) -
A Ukrainian telephone company shut off lines to Russia's Black Sea fleet because of unpaid bills, fleet officials said Monday.
The state-owned Ukrtelecom company said the fleet owed more than $146,000 in unpaid telephone bills, and have cut lines for the fleet commander's deputies, top aides and senior staff, reported the UNIAN news agency.
Russia rents naval bases in Sevastopol, a predominately ethnic Russian city on the Crimean Peninsula, under a 1996 agreement dividing the former Soviet fleet. The city's status - which Russian nationalists argue should belong to Russia - has soured relations between the two countries since the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Russia can no longer finance the fleet, which has become the city's largest debtor, owing some $3 million for utilities, city authorities say.
The cash-poor city has already cut off electricity and heat to some of the bases, angering fleet commander Vladimir Komoedov.
Komoedov has warned the measures might lead to new tension, and pointed out that city residents also owe $1.28 million in back bills. |
