"UKRAINE REPORT"
In-Depth Ukrainian News and Analysis
"The Art of Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business, Religion,
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World"

RL/RFE President Thomas Dine said, "This is a political act against liberal
democracy, against free speech and press, against RFE/RL, and shows,
once again, that Ukraine's political leadership is unable to live in an open
society and is compelled to 'control' the media as if it were the good old
days of the Soviet Union." [article two]

"UKRAINE REPORT" Year 2004, Number 24
U.S.-UKRAINE FOUNDATION (USUF)
www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS)
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Kyiv, Ukraine and Washington, D.C., Friday, February 13, 2004

INDEX OF ARTICLES

1. UKRAINE OPPOSITION SAYS DECISION BY "RADIO DOVIRA" TO
DROP RADIO LIBERTY'S PROGRAMS PART OF ANTI-MEDIA WORK
Strong Kuchma Supporter Appointed New Boss of "Radio Dovira"
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 11-12 Feb 04
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 12 Feb 04
Ukrayinska Pravda web site, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 11 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring Service,UK, in English, Feb 12, 2004

2. RFE/RL PRESIDENT SAYS DECISION BY UKRAINIAN RADIO
STATION "DOVIRA" TO DROP RFE/RL BROADCASTS 'POLITICAL'
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Wash, D.C., Feb 11, 2004

3. MEMBER OF UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MYKOLA TOMENKO:
MASS MEDIA CLEANSING SEASON IS OFFICIALLY UNDERWAY
"Our Ukraine" Website, Kyiv, Ukraine, February 12, 2004

4. U.S. SENATOR STATES RADIO LIBERTY STIFLED IN UKRAINE
Statement by U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO)
Co-Chairman, Helsinki Commission, Washington, D.C., Feb 12, 2004

5. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT SLAMS OPPOSITION, DEFENDS
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS ON POLISH VISIT
Inter TV, Kiev, in Russian, 12 Feb 04, BBC Monitoring Service, UK

6. PROPORTIONAL SYSTEM FOR ELECTION OF ALL MEMBERS
OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT
COMMENTARY: By "INSIDE UKRAINE" (IU), Kyiv, Feb. 12, 2004

7. MOLDOVA RATIFIES FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH UKRAINE
Basapress news agency, Chisinau, Moldova, in Moldovan, 12 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Feb 12, 2004

8. POLAND AND UKRAINE TO HOLD OIL PIPELINE TALKS WITH
EUROPEAN UNION STATES AT THE MINISTERIAL LEVEL
Polish Radio 1, Warsaw, Poland, in Polish, 12 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Feb 12, 2004

9.KUCHMA'S POWERS LARGELY CEDED TO VIKTOR MEDVEDCHUK?
DAILY ANALYSIS: "INSIDE UKRAINE" (IU), Kyiv, Feb. 12, 2004

10. ARGUMENT FOR ERECTING A PATRIARCHATE FOR THE GREEK
CATHOLIC CHURCH IN UKRAINE
"Frankly, my advice to the Ukrainians has always been to do the same
thing. Just declare the patriarchate and get on with it. Do it,
of course, only if you've got the bishops unanimously behind it."
Interview with Jesuit Fr. Robert Taft of the Pontifical Oriental Institute
By John L. Allen, Jr, NCR Rome Correspondent, Feb 4, 2004
National Catholic Reporter (NCR), The Independent Newsweekly
Kansas City, Missouri, February 6, 2004

11. "A CHESTNUT REVOLUTION"
After Georgia's "Rose Revolution" we can only hope
Kiev will host the chestnut variety
REVIEW & OUTLOOK, The Wall Street Journal, NY, NY, 11 Feb 2004
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 24: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
=========================================================
1. UKRAINE OPPOSITION SAYS DECISION BY "RADIO DOVIRA" TO
DROP RADIO LIBERTY'S PROGRAMS PART OF ANTI-MEDIA WORK
Strong Kuchma Supporter Appointed New Boss of "Radio Dovira"

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 11-12 Feb 04
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian,12 Feb 04
Ukrayinska Pravda web site, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 11 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring Service,UK, in English, Feb 12, 2004

Ukrainian opposition parties have described the decision by Radio Liberty's
only FM rebroadcaster in Ukraine to drop the US-funded station's news
bulletins from its schedule as part of a campaign against the free media.

The announcement by the Kiev-based Radio Dovira station on 11 February that
Radio Liberty's news and current affairs programming was incompatible with
Dovira's new entertainment format was an excuse for yet another attack on
the freedom of speech, Ukrainian news agencies have quoted opposition
leaders as saying.

The decision to cease FM rebroadcasting of Radio Liberty "is undoubtedly a
political decision of the Ukrainian authorities made at the highest level",
according to Viktor Yushchenko, the reformist former prime minister who
leads opinion polls ahead of the October presidential election. "The exact
names of the people who implemented this decision are irrelevant,"
Yushchenko was quoted as saying by Oleh Rybachuk, a leading member
of Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc.

"The government describes itself as pro-European, but this ostensibly
pro-European government has closed two leading opposition media outlets
within the past few weeks," Rybachuk added, according to the
Interfax-Ukraine news agency. Earlier this month a court in Kiev ordered to
close the popular pro-opposition daily Silski Visti on the grounds that the
paper had published anti-Semitic articles.

Another opposition party, the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc, has described the
decision to end Radio Liberty's FM transmissions in Ukraine as an
"ill-disguised government order" and "another brutal attack on the freedom
of speech". "Persecutions against the free media, manipulation of the
pro-government media by the presidential administration, the decision to end
Radio Liberty broadcasts and the court ruling to close Silski Visti are part
of the government's efforts to `cleanse' the media ahead of the presidential
election," the UNIAN news agency quoted the party as saying in a statement.

Radio Dovira's decision to drop Radio Liberty's news bulletins from its
schedule follows the appointment of President Leonid Kuchma's supporter
Serhiy Kychyhyn as Dovira's new boss less than a month ago. Prior to his
latest appointment Kychyhyn had founded the leading pro-government
newspapers Kievskiye Vedomosti and 2000, according to the Ukrayinska
Pravda web site. Radio Liberty Ukrainian Service will now be available only
on short wave.

Radio Liberty says Dovira's decision was made in breach of contract and
describes the move as a clampdown on democracy and freedom of speech in
Ukraine. But Dovira said on 12 February it had dropped Radio Liberty news
bulletins for purely commercial reasons.

The Ukrainian opposition and Western governments have repeatedly voiced
concerns over the freedom of the media in Ukraine and the fairness of the
upcoming presidential election. (END) (ARTUIS)
========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 24: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
Daily News Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/newsgallery.htm
========================================================
2. RFE/RL PRESIDENT SAYS DECISION BY UKRAINIAN RADIO
STATION "DOVIRA" TO DROP RFE/RL BROADCASTS 'POLITICAL'

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Wash, D.C., Feb 11, 2004

Washington, DC--RFE/RL President Thomas A. Dine condemned as "a
political act" a decision today by the management of Ukrainian radio
broadcaster "Dovira" to remove RFE/RL Ukrainian Service programming
from its FM schedule, effective February 17, 2004.

Dine said, "This is a political act against liberal democracy,
against free speech and press, against RFE/RL, and shows, once again,
that Ukraine's political leadership is unable to live in an open society and
is compelled to "control" the media as if it were the good old days of the
Soviet Union."

In a letter from TV and Radio Company "Dovira" First Deputy Director
V. Reznychenko to RFE/RL Ukrainian Service Director Alexander Narodetsky,
the privately-held Ukrainian network said its decision to end radio
re-broadcasting of RFE/RL programming was motivated by a decision that the
RFE/RL programs "have to be changed in terms of format." Reznychenko
continues by stating that "Until such time as that takes place, we are
obliged to exclude" RFE/RL programming from Dovira's schedule.

The abrupt decision to end RFE/RL Ukrainian Service broadcasts
surprised service director Narodetsky, who noted that his service had
enjoyed a "very close and productive relationship with Dovira." Dovira
first began re-broadcasting RFE/RL programs in 1998, and was named
RFE/RL Affiliate of the Year in 2001. The Ukrainian Service worked closely
with "Dovira" radio management to adapt its programs to "Dovira" requests
for a more FM-friendly format.

In fact, Narodetsky said, "active and constructive discussions"
were, until receipt of today's letter, underway with "Dovira" on further
program changes to bring the Ukrainian Service's programs "even closer to
audience expectations and needs."

"Dovira" has been the focus of official Ukrainian pressure to drop
RFE/RL Ukrainian Service broadcasting since 2001, soon after the decapitated
body of Ukrainian journalist Georgy Gongadze was found in a forest near Kyiv
and after secretly-recorded conversations allegedly involving President
Leonid Kuchma and his senior advisors became public knowledge -- both
stories extensively covered by the Ukrainian Service in programs
re-broadcast by "Dovira".

"Dovira" has stood firmly against the use by Ukrainian authorities
of a variety of administrative levers, including allegations that it had
breached licensing regulations by re-broadcasting RFE/RL Ukrainian Service
programs. Until the receipt of today's letter, RFE/RL Ukrainian Service and
"Dovira" management had been working together to resolve the dispute with
the government and legislature.

TV and Radio Company "Dovira" was sold in late January to "Ukrainian
Media Holding," a newspaper and radio holding company owned by Boris
Lozhkin. The new owners installed a new management team at "Dovira," led
by the Editor-in-Chief of the Kyiv-based Russian-language newspaper "2000",
Sergei Kychygin. It is this new team, according to Reznychenko's letter,
that decided to pull RFE/RL programming off of "Dovira".

The agreement under which RFE/RL Ukrainian Service programs are
re-broadcast by "Dovira" states that notice to end re-broadcasting must be
given at least 30 days before the proposed date of cessation.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private, international
communications service to Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central and
Southwestern Asia funded by the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting
Board of Governors. (END) (ARTUIS)
========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 24: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
Travel and Tourism Gallery: http://www.ArtUkraine.com/tourgallery.htm
=========================================================
3. MEMBER OF UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MYKOLA TOMENKO:
MASS MEDIA CLEANSING SEASON IS OFFICIALLY UNDERWAY

"Our Ukraine" Website, Kyiv, Ukraine, February 12, 2004

KYIV......"It is a pity that active cleansing of the national mass media
started on the eve of presidential elections," declared the head of the
parliamentary freedom of speech and information committee Mykola Tomenko,
commenting on the fact that television and radio broadcasting organization
"Dovira" excluded Radio "Freedom" programmes from its schedule. "Dovira"
motivates its decision stating that the informational materials of "Freedom"
do not match the former's concept.

Te people's deputy noted that such actions were not hard to predict since
the highest state leadership had shown numerous times before its
unscrupulousness in reaching its goals. "Nowadays, [.] the government is
using primitive but effective approach to fighting opposing mass media. All
mass media that aim to provide truthful, objective, and critical information
are downsized and taken off the air by force," noted Tomenko.

He pointed out that sanitary-and-epidemiological institutions "pulled the
plug" on "Radio Rocks," which broadcasted the Verkhovna Rada sessions and
the "Public Radio" programmes. Then, a court ruled to shut down the most
widespread socio-political oppositional newspaper "Silski Visti;" now -
Radio "Freedom."

Tomenko also noted the selectiveness of the mass-media "filtering" process
since only those media sources that provide critical information about the
active administration and are popular among the people are being pressured
in one form or another. (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 24: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
Build Ukraine Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/index.htm
=========================================================
4. U.S. SENATOR STATES RADIO LIBERTY STIFLED IN UKRAINE

Statement by U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO)
Co-Chairman, Helsinki Commission
In the United.States Senate, Washington, D.C., February 12, 2004

Mr. President, several weeks ago I addressed the Senate, in my capacity as
Co-Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, on critical presidential elections
scheduled to be held later this year in Ukraine. In the latest twist in the
lead up to those elections, yesterday Radio Liberty was abruptly informed
that its Ukrainian Service programming would be removed from its major radio
re-broadcaster's FM schedule, beginning February 17.

In a press release, RFE/RL President Tom Dine said, "This is a political act
against liberal democracy, against free speech and press, against RFE/RL,
and shows, once again, that Ukraine's political leadership is unable to live
in an open society and is compelled to 'control' the media as if it were the
good old days of the Soviet Union."

This is not the first time that there has been official Ukrainian pressure
to drop RFE/RL broadcasting since September 2001, shortly after the murder
of independent journalist Heorhiy Gongadze and the release of
secretly-recorded tapes in Ukrainian President Kuchma's office implicating
him and other high-ranking officials in the disappearance, corruption, and
other dubious actions. Radio Liberty covers these and many issues about
life in Ukraine, serving as an objective source of information in a media
environment increasingly dominated by these authorities.

Mr. President, in the past I have spoken out about Ukraine's troubled
pre-election environment, including its media environment. This latest move,
together with repressive measures against the democratic opposition and
independent media over the course of the last few months, raise profound
questions as to whether the October presidential elections will be free,
fair, open, and transparent, in a manner consistent with Ukraine's freely
undertaken OSCE and other international commitments. Effectively unplugging
an important independent source of information does not bode well for
democracy in Ukraine. (END) (ARTUIS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Orest Deychakiwsky, U.S. Helsinki Commission, www.csce.gov
(a.k.a. Commission on Security and Cooperation and Europe)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 24: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
Ukrainian Culture Gallery: http://www.ArtUkraine.com/cultgallery.htm
=========================================================
5. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT SLAMS OPPOSITION, DEFENDS
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS ON POLISH VISIT

Inter TV, Kiev, in Russian, 12 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Feb 12, 2004

Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has accused the opposition of hampering
the development of Ukraine-Poland ties. Speaking at a joint news conference
with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski in Warsaw, Kuchma said that
Kwasniewski's scheduled visit to Ukraine in 2002 had to be cancelled because
of the centre-right opposition bloc Our Ukraine.

Kuchma also defended Ukrainian constitution reform proposals, saying they
are aimed at improving cooperation between the executive and the
legislature.

The following is the text of a report by Ukrainian Inter TV on 12 February:

[Presenter] The Ukrainian president [Leonid Kuchma] today paid a brief
working visit to Warsaw. The leaders of the states discussed energy
cooperation, the two countries' participation in the postwar reconstruction
of Iraq and prospects for European integration. Leonid Kuchma also told
[Polish President] Aleksander Kwasniewski about constitution reform in
Ukraine and the upcoming [presidential] election.

The head of the Ukrainian state had to debunk myths and shatter stereotypes
while answering questions from Polish journalists. In particular, Leonid
Kuchma stressed that after constitution reform is implemented, the Ukrainian
president will have more powers than the Polish president currently has. Our
special correspondent Oleksiy Ivanov reports from Warsaw.

[Correspondent] This time, Leonid Kuchma's visit to Poland was fairly brief.
He spent half a day in Warsaw. He had just enough time to meet eye-to-eye
with his Polish counterpart Aleksander Kwasniewski and talk to the press.

The presidents said that this meeting was a synchronization of watches ahead
of a more major event, namely the visit to Kiev by Aleksander Kwasniewski to
attend the ceremony of opening the year of Poland in Ukraine.

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM

The range of issues they discussed was nonetheless quite wide. In
particular, they discussed the domestic political situation in the two
states. A presidential election is due to be held in Ukraine in 2004.
Aleksander Kwasniewski said that Poland was interested in the next Ukrainian
leader also being a supporter of European integration, as well as in the
election being fair and democratic. However, Warsaw now believes that this
will be the case.

[Kwasniewski, in Polish, overlaid with Russian translation] President Leonid
Kuchma has assured me that the principles of holding the presidential
election in Ukraine will be fully in line with democratic standards,
transparent and open. Every candidate will be given equal access to the
media. I have no reason to doubt his words.

[Correspondent] Leonid Kuchma also told his Polish counterpart that he
would not take part in the 2004 presidential election campaign.

The Ukrainian president also described in detail amendments to the
constitution which the Ukrainian parliamentaries want to approve. Leonid
Kuchma stressed that the president would be elected by the whole of the
people, as before. He added that political reform was not about reviewing
the way of electing the head of state.

[Kuchma, in Ukrainian] The main motive and objective of the constitution
reform in Ukraine is forming a parliamentary coalition, which is the way it
is here [in Poland]. This coalition forms a government and bears
responsibility for the activity of this government. To put it simply, if
they are not able to work, the president has the right to dissolve this sort
of parliament.

[Correspondent] The presidents also discussed the prospects for joint
economic projects. Most attention was paid to the idea to transport Caspian
oil to Western Europe. In Leonid Kuchma's words, for it to be implemented,
only two issues need to be solved - reaching agreement with Azerbaijan on
buying its oil, which is not that easy, given that not much oil is extracted
there, and extending the Odessa-Brody pipeline to [the Polish port town of
Plock].

The presidents said that prime ministers of countries interested in
implementing the project would meet in the near future to discuss these
issues in detail.

KUCHMA SLAMS OPPOSITION

[Presenter] Answering questions from the press, the Ukrainian president
stressed several times that, quote, I do not understand politicians who go
abroad to smear their own state.

Upon Polish journalists' request, Leonid Kuchma also commented on [popular
opposition bloc Our Ukraine leader] Viktor Yushchenko's interview recently
published by [Polish newspaper] Gazeta Wyborcza. He recalled that political
forces' actions should be estimated according to specific deeds, not words.
The blocking by Our Ukraine of joint actions with Poland connected with
commemorating victims of the Volyn events [Ukrainian-Polish hostilities
during World War II], the president noted, did nothing to facilitate
understanding between Kiev and Warsaw.

[Kuchma, in Ukrainian] So tell me please, how can this political force be
assessed, as a democratic one or otherwise?

And the second problem - I call this a problem. Lviv. Together with the
Polish president, we were scheduled in 2002 - or was it in 2001? - in 2002,
I think, to open at the Lychakivske cemetery [in Lviv] the Orleta [Eaglets]
monument, which is known to the whole of Poland, [commemorating Polish
soldiers killed in combat with Ukrainian troops in 1918] as well as
Ukrainian soldiers who died there.

The Lviv city council, the majority of which represents this political
force, Our Ukraine, did everything it could to prevent the Polish
president's visit to Lviv from happening. And this event never happened.

I think that Poles are a proud nation. Therefore, responding to your
question, I will ask you a question. I would like you to analyse all that
was going on back then -I gave just two examples - and answer your own
question. This will also be an answer to the article published by Gazeta
Wyborcza. (END) (ARTUIS)
======================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2005, No. 24: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
Genocide Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/famineart/index.htm
=======================================================
6. PROPORTIONAL SYSTEM FOR ELECTION OF ALL MEMBERS
OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT

COMMENTARY: By "INSIDE UKRAINE" (IU), Feb. 12, 2004

Fourteen drafts have been introduced in the Verkhovna Rada in regard to the
issue of moving to a proportional system for election of all members of the
body. Rada observers believe that while there may be some perfunctory public
debate on a wide range of issues, it is the proportional system that will be
the main focus of Rada backroom debate and bargaining until sometime around
the end of March.

Notable among the bills is one by Oleksandr Zadorozhny, a member of the
People's Power faction but more importantly, the president's official
representative in the Rada. Zadorozhny's bill would lower the threshold for
any faction or party to receive one percent of the total national vote in
order to be assured of any part of the Rada membership. This contrasts with
the current threshold of four percent.

Usually well-informed Rada members told IU that the bill introduced by
Zadorozhny was primarily the brainchild of President Administration Head
Viktor Medvedchuk, who seems to be taking an even stronger hand in running
presidential affairs than he did before the president's lengthy vacation in
Germany.

Since it obviously has Administration backing, the Zadorozhny bill is a
likely starting point for protracted and heated negotiations that are
certain to make very great changes in the original draft.

In particular, the Communists faction, that holds the key votes necessary if
the final version is to see relatively easy passage, is bitterly opposed to
the one percent solution and would be certain to vote for anything close to
the lower barrier.

Heorhy Kryuchkov, a long-time Communist leader and chair of the Rada's
committee on national security and defense, told IU today that the Communist
faction would support a bill keeping the current four percent barrier or
even moving it up to five percent.

The reason for the Communists opposition to the one percent threshold was
pointed out by a number of members from different factions. They said that a
one percent threshold would be so low as to almost assure that any oblast
governor would be able to set up his own party or faction and, through local
pressure, gain enough votes to be included in the proportional disbursal of
Rada seats.

For the larger parties, particularly the Communists, the lower threshold
would dilute their voting strength and result in lower Rada membership for
their factions, thereby ceding greater power to an Administration that could
more easily manipulate smaller parties and factions. (END)(ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 24: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
Historical Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/histgallery.htm
=========================================================
7. MOLDOVA RATIFIES FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH UKRAINE

Basapress news agency, Chisinau, in Moldovan, 12 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Feb 12, 2004

Chisinau, 12 February: The Moldovan parliament today ratified a free trade
agreement between Moldova and Ukraine. The document was signed on 13
November 2003 in Chisinau [during Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma's visit
to Moldova].

In June 2002, the Moldovan government decided to start talks with the
Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers on signing a new free trade agreement in
accordance with requirements of the World Trade Organization.

Deputy Economics Minister Veaceslav Afanasiev told parliament that the goal
of the agreement is to create a free trade regime without any exceptions or
restrictions in either imports or exports. [Passage omitted: trade
conditions are to be improved]

According to official statistics, the Moldovan-Ukrainian trade totalled
327.9m dollars in the first 11 months of 2003. The Moldovan exports dropped
by 7.1 per cent over the period down to 51.2m dollars, while imports from
Ukraine increased by 50 per cent up to 276.7m dollars. (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 24: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
Arts Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/artgallery.htm
=========================================================
8. POLAND AND UKRAINE TO HOLD OIL PIPELINE TALKS WITH
EUROPEAN UNION STATES AT THE MINISTERIAL LEVEL

Polish Radio 1, Warsaw, in Polish, 12 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Feb 12, 2004

[Presenter] All sides interested in the oil pipeline from Ukraine, including
Poland and European Union states who were interested in this solution, are
to hold a meeting at governmental level, President Aleksander Kwasniewski
has said after several hours of talks with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma
in Warsaw.

[Kwasniewski] We believe that if an agreement is reached there, then, first,
there will be a possibility of forming a serious international consortium to
complete this investment and secondly, that, indeed, through Caspian oil and
large quantities of it, particularly in Kazakhstan we will achieve an
indispensable component of diversification of supplies which is important
both, for Poland and also for Europe.

[Presenter] Ukrainian president said that the Odessa-Brody pipeline was a
road to Europe for this country. At the beginning of February, after
several-month long hesitations, the Ukrainian government decided that oil
would be transported through the pipeline towards the Western direction and
not towards the East, from Brody to Odessa, as the Russians wanted.

[Kuchma in Ukrainian, fading into translation] This pipeline was built as a
path to Europe. Today, I and President Aleksander Kwasniewski said that
thanks to it transport of the Caspian oil is faster, and with the help of
the European Union, we could build the next stretch, to Plock [Poland].
There is an agreement but it has to be supplemented with concrete actions
which we will undertake.

[Reporter] Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma said:
As we have said before, at the beginning of February, the Ukrainian
government decided that the Odessa-Brody pipeline would not transport
Russian but Caspian oil, which means that there was no obstacle to set up
a Polish-Ukrainian company which will deal with transport of oil from
Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan to Poland. (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 24: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
Support Ukraine Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/uasupport/index.htm
=========================================================
9. KUCHMA'S POWERS LARGELY CEDED TO VIKTOR MEDVEDCHUK?

DAILY ANALYSIS: "INSIDE UKRAINE" (IU), Feb. 12, 2004

Many Rada members have told IU that President Leonid Kuchma's powers
have largely been ceded to his chief of staff, Viktor Medvedchuk, who is in
a more powerful position than ever before.

The impression of diminished presidential powers, both political and
physical, was bolstered today by the appearance of the president in his
rambling and unfocused remarks during his meeting with President Aleksandr
Kwasniewksi of Poland today.

There is a growing consensus in the Rada (Parliament) and among the public
at large that Kuchma is now mainly concerned with managing in his remaining
days as president to negotiate ironclad protections for himself and his
family so that when he does leave the main stage of the political scene, he
will be assured of a retirement unhampered by any civil or other court
actions to cloud the horizon. (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 24: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
Current Events Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/events/index.htm
=========================================================
10. ARGUMENT FOR ERECTING A PATRIARCHATE FOR THE GREEK
CATHOLIC CHURCH IN UKRAINE
"Frankly, my advice to the Ukrainians has always been to do the same
thing. Just declare the patriarchate and get on with it. Do it,
of course, only if you've got the bishops unanimously behind it."

Interview with Jesuit Fr. Robert Taft of the Pontifical Oriental Institute
By John L. Allen, Jr, NCR Rome Correspondent, Feb 4, 2004
National Catholic Reporter (NCR), The Independent Newsweekly
Kansas City, Missouri, February 6, 2004

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting
Christian Unity, is scheduled to travel to Moscow Feb. 16-20, 2004 for a
meeting with the Patriarch of Moscow, Alexy II.

In anticipation of Kasper's trip, NCR Rome correspondent, John L. Allen Jr.
sat down with Jesuit Fr.Robert Taft of the Pontifical Oriental Institute.
Taft, a pioneer in Eastern liturgical studies and a veteran of East/West
dialogues, is one of the leading experts on Orthodoxy in the Catholic
Church.

A transcript of the interview follows:

[Allen] What's the argument for erecting a patriarchate for the Greek
Catholic church in Ukraine?

The argument is that when an Eastern church reaches a certain consistency,
unity, size, consolidation and so forth, it's a normal step. Furthermore,
among the Orthodox it's often been a normal step taken illegally. For
example, the Bulgarians were under the Patriarchate of Constantinople, who
according to Orthodox practice, imposed upon them a Greek hierarchy, until
the Bulgarians had enough and declared their independence, erecting their
own patriarchate.

Constantinople refused to recognize it, until they finally realized that
nothing's going to change and so they recognized it. Frankly, my advice to
the Ukrainians has always been to do the same thing. Just declare the
patriarchate and get on with it. Do it, of course, only if you've got the
bishops unanimously behind it .

[Allen] Do they?

Yes, I think they do now. The danger is that if there are even two people
who say no, then Rome's going to say that the bishops are divided and we can
't recognize it. I told them, take two steps. First, publicly declare the
patriarchate. Second, request Roman recognition, but even if it doesn't
come, refuse all mail that doesn't come addressed to the patriarchate. Don't
just pretend, but really do it. The Secretary of State sends a letter
addressed to the archbishop? We don't have any archbishop, we've got a
patriarch. Send it back unopened, "addressee unknown."

[Allen] Why erect it in Kiev rather than L'viv, where the Greek Catholics in
the Ukraine are traditionally concentrated?

You have to understand, and this is something that anyone who knows any
history has to sympathize with, that Kiev, "Kievan Rus" as they call it, is
the heartland of all Orthodoxy among the East Slavs - Belorussians,
Ukrainians, and the Russians. To ask one of them to renounce Kiev is like
asking the Christians to give Jerusalem over to the Jews, to say we really
don't have any interest there anymore. It's ridiculous. .

Furthermore, there was a time when all of Ukraine west of the Dnepr River
was in union with Rome, and the presiding hierarch was in Kiev. It's not
like there's never been a Ukrainian Catholic bishop of Kiev, a metropolitan
of Kiev. But, you know, you don't resolve this on the basis of history.
History is instructive but not normative. .

Kiev in Ukraine is like Paris in France. L'viv, even though it's a lovely
town, is still a backwater. You're dealing with a church that has spread
beyond the old Galician boundaries, in other words the Western Ukrainian
boundaries of its existence. In the modern world people spread all over the
place. Even though this is still the heartland, there are Ukrainian Greek
Catholics not only throughout Eastern Ukraine but also across Russia,
Kazakhstan, you name it. These people have a right to be served.

Furthermore, one of the ugly secrets that no one talks about is that it's
quite possible that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church is the largest group
of practicing Christians in the country, East or West. I'm talking about
those who go to church. You ask the Orthodox in the Ukraine, "How big are
you?" and they say, "310 parishes." But ask them "Who goes to church?" and
they say, "We don't know." "Eastern" and "statistics" is an oxymoron.

One thing that characterizes Ukrainian Catholics is that they go to church,
and they practice. Why was the Russian Orthodox church so upset at losing
that area back to the Catholic church? That's where their vocations came
from, and that's where their money came from. Collect a statistic sometime
of how many priests who were ordained in the Russian Orthodox church from
the end of World War II until the day before yesterday came from Western
Ukraine. Certainly it would be an overwhelmingly unbalanced proportion with
respect to the size of the Orthodox population.

By the way, almost all the Ukrainian Orthodox today are Catholics who had
been forced into the Orthodox Church and for one reason or another remained
Orthodox.

[Allen] Aside from Orthodox sensitivities, is there any argument against
erecting a patriarchate in Ukraine?

Oh, good heavens, no. That is, unless you want to ask the question of what
right Rome has to erect an Eastern patriarchate anyway. Basically, the
scuttlebutt is that the pope said to the Ukrainians, if you can convince
Kasper, it's okay with me. Kasper of course is going to oppose it, and
should. Kasper has been given the job of building bridges with the Orthodox,
not to dynamite them. I perfectly sympathize. What Kasper's doing is not
following his own personal tastes and needs. He's doing his job.

[Allen] But there's no intra-Catholic reason to object to the patriarchate?

Are you kidding? We've got a patriarchate for the Copts whose total
membership would fit in this room, for God's sake. Give me a break. Maybe
there shouldn't be, that's another question, but there is.

[Allen] What it is that bothers the Orthodox so much about the idea of a
Ukrainian patriarchate?

What bothers them is the very existence of these churches. They look upon
all of these people as their property that has been won away, coaxed away,
forced away from them. And they're right. But what they don't realize is
that you just cannot collapse history the way they do. It's like going on a
visit to Greece to the beach because you want to get a suntan, and some jerk
points his finger at you as if you fought in the Fourth Crusade. Most
Westerners don't even know what the hell the Fourth Crusade was, and don't
need to know.
"----------------------------------------------------------"
EDITOR'S NOTE: To read the rest of the very informative, and interesting
interview with Jesuit Fr. Robert Taft of the Pontifical Oriental Institute
click on the following link: http://natcath.org/mainpage/taft.htm.
========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 24: ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
========================================================
11. "A CHESTNUT REVOLUTION"
After Georgia's "Rose Revolution" we can only hope
Kiev will host the chestnut variety

REVIEW & OUTLOOK, The Wall Street Journal
New York, New York, 11 February 2004

After Georgia's bloodless "rose revolution" in December, we can only hope
Kiev will host the chestnut (in full bloom each spring in the leafy capital)
variety. Ukraine offers the best chance to build on the Georgian success in
popular democracy -- as long as the West and the democratic opposition
play their cards right.

The reversal of the slide toward authoritarianism in the former Soviet Union
must be atop the West's agenda for the region. Only legitimate government
and lasting institutions ensure stability, not political systems built
around individuals or clans. Russia shares with most of its neighbors a
distaste for political pluralism and a vibrant. It turns out the Forbes
collection Faberge eggs just bought by a Russian tycoon, raising memories of
czarist opulence, are coming home in time for President Vladimir Putin's
coronation at next month's presidential polls.

Down south, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma can only look with envy
toward Moscow. In office a decade, Mr. Kuchma seems to want nothing more
than to hand over his job to a trusted friend in October's presidential
elections. Barring that, Mr. Kuchma and his cronies are ramming
constitutional changes to protect their business and political interests.

But Ukraine possesses two things that Russia and most other countries in
this region lack: A genuinely popular opposition leader and a generally
pro-Western, pro-reform electorate. Viktor Yushchenko, the former prime
minister and opposition leader, would probably win any direct, free
election, if held today. With approval ratings in the single digits, Mr.
Kuchma would almost definitely lose. Everyone agrees on these facts. Which
explains the recent shenanigans in the Ukrainian parliament, or Rada.

Late last year, Mr. Kuchma's allies in parliament proposed a constitutional
amendment to weaken the future president's power -- just in case their man
didn't win. And, just, just in case, they voted to call yet another
presidential election in 2006. Only this time the parliament, where the
Kuchma camp by a quirk of electoral law has greater leverage, would pick
the president, not the Ukrainian people. This clause was withdrawn last week
after a massive outcry in Ukraine and the West.

Bidding for further insurance, Mr. Kuchma got a Constitutional Court not
renowned for its independence to rule to let him run for a third term this
year -- even if the constitution explicitly forbids this. Considering his
paltry popularity, this must be the long-shot option.

In this crucial political year, there are plenty of reasons why the Georgian
model might not fit in Ukraine, starting with the media. While Georgia's
independent television turned popular opinion against sitting President
Eduard Shevardnadze after the rigged elections there, Ukraine's media is
mostly muzzled. According to the Ukrainian Press Academy, a Kiev NGO,
television news devoted 20% of its airtime to opposing points of view last
October, and 10% in December, during the showdown over the constitution.

But Mr. Kuchma need not be run out from office like Mr. Shevardnadze or
Slobodan Milosevic. The Ukrainian opposition and the U.S. and the EU must
give him the proper incentives to hold free elections and stop tinkering
with the rules. The fractious opposition can help him by showing it can call
the people into the streets. Mr. Yushchenko might then be in a position to
strike deals with Mr. Kuchma.

Judging by past form, the more likely scenario is that the Kuchma camp will
try to intimidate opponents and if need be, steal the vote. While the
opposition at home must do better at stirring up protest, the West could
more effectively pressure Kiev. The Council of Europe helpfully embarrassed
Mr. Kuchma by condemning his constitutional amendment. That now faces a
tight vote in parliament. The EU today lacks enough carrots or sticks to
make a real difference in Ukraine; tying a realistic prospect of membership
more clearly to domestic reform would help. After all, Ukraine will soon be
the EU's eastern neighbor.

Wielding more leverage, Washington has spent over $2 billion to prop up a
free and independent Ukraine. Since Mr. Kuchma doesn't seem to get the
"free" part, the U.S. might profitably devote more of those resources toward
supporting democratic opponents who do -- just like it did in Serbia and
Georgia. The autocrats of Belarus, the Caucasus and Central Asia will be
watching closely events in Kiev in the coming months. So should everyone
else. (END) (ARTUIS)
========================================================
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