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Action Ukraine Report

"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"

"Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma has said the decision by a private
company to end RFE/RL's Radio Svoboda broadcasts on the country's
FM radio waves has had a negative impact on Ukraine's image."
[article four]

"UKRAINE REPORT" Year 2004, Number 32
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 27, 2004

INDEX OF ARTICLES

1. UKRAINE PRESIDENT SAYS HE WILL RETIRE FROM POLITICS IN
FALL OF 2004 AND WILL NOT SEEK THE POST OF PRIME MINISTER
Presidential Press Conference Text
UT1, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 25 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Feb 25, 2004

2. "IT'S GETTING DARKER STILL IN UKRAINE:
NEW DISCOVERIES IN THE NATION'S POLITICAL CENSORSHIP"
By Volodymyr Semkiv and Dmytro Lykhoviy
Ukrayina Moloda, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian 18 Feb 04, p 4
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English; Feb 26, 2004

3. UKRAINIAN SOCIALIST LEADER MOROZ ASKS PRESIDENT
KUCHMA TO PREVENT CLOSURE OF NEWSPAPER SILSKI VISTI.
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, Ukraine, in Russian, 26 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Feb 26, 2004

4. KUCHMA: REMOVAL OF RFE/RL'S RADIO SVOBODA
HAS HAD NEGATIVE IMPACT ON UKRAINE'S IMAGE
RFE/RL, Prague, Czech Republic, February 26, 2004

5. UKRAINE'S PARLIAMENT LEADER SAYS A COMPROMISE
REACHED REGARDING PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
Inside Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 27, 2004

6. UKRAINE REMOVED FROM GLOBAL MONEY
LAUNDERING BLACKLIST
Associated Press Online; Kiev, Ukraine, Feb 25, 2004

7.UKRAINIAN-SWISS VENTURE BUYS HUNGARIAN STEELWORKS
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, Ukraine in Russian, 26 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Feb 26, 2004

8. KYIV TRANSPORT FEES TO ESCALATE
Inside Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, February 27, 2004

9. UKRAINIAN SPY WHISTLEBLOWER HANDS OVER
CONFIDENTIAL DOSSIER IN GERMANY FOR PROBE
"It is proof that Ukraine is not yet democratic but still a police state"
AFP, Berlin, Germany, Thu Feb 26, 2004

10. PEREIASLAV "TREATY"... ROAD TO SERFDOM
This year marks the 350th anniversary of the Pereiaslav Treaty
On behalf of the Executive Board of the UCCA
Michael Sawkiw, Jr., President, Marie Duplak, Executive Secretary
Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA)
Washington, D.C., February 23, 2004
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 32: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
=========================================================
1. UKRAINE PRESIDENT SAYS HE WILL RETIRE FROM POLITICS IN
FALL OF 2004 AND WILL NOT SEEK THE POST OF PRIME MINISTER
Presidential Press Conference Text

UT1, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 25 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Feb 25, 2004

KIEV - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has said that he will retire from
active politics after this autumn's presidential elections and not seek the
post of prime minister. In a news conference in Kiev on 25 February, a
partial recording of which was broadcast later that day, he said he was
confident the pro-government parties would put forward a single candidate at
the election.

Kuchma also praised the work of the cabinet and the economic growth figures,
reviewed trade relations with Germany, Russia and Poland, and denied
allegations by former intelligence service general Valeriy Kravchenko about
spying on opposition forces abroad. The following is the text of the report
by Ukrainian state-owned television UT1 on 25 February, subheadings added
editorially:

[Presenter] Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has held his first news
conference this year. He was answering questions from journalists for almost
90 minutes. The head of states spoke about political reform, economic
issues, praised the outcome of the Ukrainian-German consultations [in Berlin
on 19-20 February] as well as Ukraine's cooperation with Poland and Russia.
Our correspondent has the details.

[Correspondent] The first news conference this year has probably been the
longest and lasted over two hours [as received]. The head of state assured
journalists right away that he was prepared to answer any questions. Kuchma
was rather confident, joked and, in his own words, revealed even some
secrets and said what he had not planned to say. In keeping with tradition,
the president began the conference with the economy.

He is satisfied - positive trends are continuing, GDP is growing - 9 per
cent - and industrial output [posted a] 16-per-cent growth. On the eve of
the cabinet's summing- up meeting, the head of state touched on a few
problematic issues, but not from the standpoint of criticizing the cabinet
but from the standpoint of the economy.

ECONOMIC GROWTH

[Kuchma] It is becoming obvious to me that maintaining the high dynamics of
our economic growth is impossible without bringing the economy out of the
shadows and establishing at the least some elementary order. I am not
exaggerating, because order is the main thing we are lacking in this
country. To my mind, this is the number-one priority. I reached this
conclusion back at the nationwide conference on fighting organized crime and
corruption on 29 January. Let me give a few examples of what you know very
well, and you will not take offence if I repeat myself.

In 2000, Ukrzaliznytsya [Ukrainian railways] posted a 1bn-hryvnya loss.
Today, I mean last year, it reported a 1bn-hryvnya profit. There have been
no revolutionary changes. I am just saying that people came and began
establishing elementary order.

Enerhoatom [Ukrainian state nuclear power generator]. Four years ago, its
losses totalled 1.5bn hryvnyas, debts for nuclear fuel and so on and so
forth. To describe the efficiency of the work of the managers who were
sitting there, it is more than enough to say that Enerhoatom itself was left
without its own premises. Now they have resolved the problem with the major
creditors. Exclusively at their own expense, they have resumed the
construction of two more generating sets in Rivne and Khmelnytskyy, as you
know, and boosted income over 0.5bn hryvnyas.

In the near future, I am going to go to Rivne and I am inviting you. Let us
see the objective we set ourselves will definitely be achieved. I mean
launching two generating sets in Rivne and Khmelnytskyy this year with, and
most important, observing all safety requirements. Our delegation held talks
with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London and
they agreed with Ukraine's approach and agreed that they would grant us a
credit to enhance the safety of nuclear power engineering. Well, if you
recall 1995, the G7 talked about quite different things.

[Correspondent] Another example dealing with personnel. Two years ago, the
leadership of the State Customs Service was changed, and customs revenues
increased almost twofold, or to 14bn hryvnyas. The president is satisfied -
the customs have finally opened their eyes to what is happening on the
border. There are plenty of instances of activities by so-called
businessmen.

[Kuchma] I can understand everything, but when people lose the remnants of
their conscience, which they have probably never had [changes tack]. Ukraine
has become a large exporter of non-ferrous metals. If one looks at the
invoices or accompanying documents, we mostly export copper, brass products
and so on and so forth. So they open containers and what sort of products do
they see? It is sheer scrap which one can find laying around in the street.

But this is hundreds of millions in VAT which the state is forced to refund
to those guys. The customs started working and the result was not long to
follow. They stopped turning a blind eye and stopped becoming accomplices,
because I am confident that nothing is happening without good reason, and
here you see the result.

[Correspondent] Lowering the [income] tax rate from 40 to [a flat rate of]
13 per cent has already yielded fruit. In January this year alone, the
budget received 115m hryvnyas more than in January 2003.

[Kuchma] People have come to realize that to provide for one's old age, as
it were, you should think about how much you are earning because this is
directly influencing the amount of your pension.

[Correspondent] The president spoke at length about the problem of
poor-quality vodka, from consumption of which over 10,000 died and another
30,000 were hospitalized last year alone. The state budget suffered millions
if not billions in losses. Checks have found irregularities virtually in
every region.

[Kuchma] Did they really need an order from the president when they all
understood very well that this is everybody's business - the business of the
cabinet, law-enforcement bodies and the entire executive and legislature?
When we look into this issue, you will find so many flaws which make it
possible to do this, and, which is most important, to have no fear. Well,
you will be fined a few hryvnyas and that is it. So it takes a comprehensive
approach.

[Correspondent] VAT is another problem. In the president's words, VAT has
lost its role as a major supplier of budget revenues and is now working
anymore.

[Kuchma] It's share in the budget dropped from 29 per cent in 1997 to 17 per
cent last year. Among the taxes, VAT is the least efficient. A total of
12.6bn [hryvnyas] came in last year, or 8 per cent less than a year ago. It
is nonsense. The economy has grown considerably, while VAT has dropped.
Where is it? The answer is clear. Privileges are our disease. Privileges are
twice as much as the total of this tax collected. VAT is consuming itself.

ENERGY SECTOR

[Corespondent] The energy sector. The president supports reform in the fuel
and energy sector and the rational distribution of duties between the Fuel
and Energy Ministry and joint stock companies.

[Kuchma] We have stopped reforming the economy, including the fuel and
energy sector. I am positive about this and think we are losing out. I am
confident that the Fuel and Energy Ministry which we have today should not
have the functions it is busy with. It should be the ministry of
policy[-making], while all economic issues should be up to joint- stock
companies. You know that as soon as the nuclear industry was separated and
completely removed, it started working.

When I appointed that man, it used to belong to the ministry and was looted
by everyone who wanted to. Nuclear power-engineering is profitable by
definition, but it ran a 1.5bn-hryvnyas loss. Even cars used by managers
were rented from a well-known company.

We separated Naftohaz [Ukrainian oil and gas monopoly] and its operation is
stable, we have forgotten what problems with gas were like in Ukraine. So
the next step I took was power engineering, and the next move which should
be taken is also the coal-mining industry. I am confident that when [former
deputy prime] Oleh Dubyna [who was put in charge of the newly-created
national power-generating company] will make sense of what our power
engineering is like independently and without any influences from any party,
his mood will be much worse than when I signed the relevant decree
[appointing him].

Urgent measures should be taken because you know we quite often behave as
if it comes from our own [word indistinct]. Currently, the price of nuclear
power , at which Atomenerho [presumably Enerhoatom] is forced to sell energy
to the general market is cheaper than in Russia. But you understand that
nuclear fuel is the foundation on which power engineering rests, and that it
is produced in Russia, and you understand that domestic prices for their own
nuclear plants are lower.

POLISH STEELWORKS

[Correspondent] Kuchma also talked about foreign economic issues, in
particular, about how Kiev's relation with Warsaw would develop after Poland
joins the EU. The issue of the privatization of a Polish steelworks, when
the Industrial Union of Donbas [Ukraine's major financial and industrial
group] had always been in the lead but then all of a sudden a British
concern won, was also discussed.

[Kuchma] Perhaps, it is very positive that our business is making attempts
to take root in other countries, as it were, the more so that Poland is
becoming an EU member on 1 May. I can see here even the purely economic
calculations of the team which wanted to buy the steelworks in Poland. The
reason is very simple - the finished products will be produced in Poland
rather than Ukraine, which makes it possible to be present on the European
market. Because when we are sending unfinished products abroad, there are no
limitations. But [when it comes to] finished products - then excuse me.

When I was in Warsaw, the press wrote that the Industrial Union of Donbas
had won. Well, I was also glad. Look, there are our people with good money,
who have managed to beat a billionaire, because I know this man. He is an
Indian by origin, and I met him twice and I was convincing him and
encouraging him to take over our Kirovohrad-based or Kryvyy Rih-based
ore-enrichment plant, because the more [we delay] the worse it is for us.

I am interested because this is a very powerful company which will make our
steelworks competitive on domestic and foreign markets. Because now all
[Ukrainian steelworks] are more or less equal, but when a company with
modern technologies comes, it will take much effort, and the main thing it
will take money from off-shore zones to invest in upgrading plants. It is my
dream that this becomes an incentive for our businessmen.

Well, yesterday they told me that they [Industrial Union of Donbas] had sort
of lost, because the final decision was up to the [Polish] privatization
minister. So they have absolute democracy in privatization. So I though why
not do the same here? We have the State Property Fund. It will say you will
win and that is it, full stop.

But I have instructed the Foreign Ministry and members of the cabinet
[changes tack], if we really look at the way it was published in the press,
including the Polish press, we should protect them [Ukrainian businesses].

RELATIONS WITH GERMANY

[Correspondent] As to foreign policy, the president gave the best assessment
to the recent Ukrainian-German high-level talks. Leonid Kuchma is happy with
the level of economic and political ties.

[Kuchma] Today, Germany is our second-ranking economic partner, after the
Russian Federation. The level of trade turnover with Germany last year grew
by 50 per cent and totalled about 3.7bn dollars. I stress again, it grew by
50 per cent. Investment in the Ukrainian economy last year was about 400m
[dollars]. I held meetings with business circles and I can say, without
exaggeration, that I am very happy with the desire of German capital to have
a presence in Ukraine and to work in Ukraine.

The fact that German businessmen know the whole situation in Ukraine in
detail, including the political situation, that's not to mention the
economic [situation]. And so, to be honest, I felt a little uneasy, and to
be honest, and ashamed, when they mention such problems in their speeches,
that, and I apologize, are of little importance.

>From the point of view of absolute irresponsibility on the part of our
bureaucratic apparatus for their solution, we should be twice as interested
as the Germans in ensuring that there are no obstacles in the path to trade.

I made a promise when I was there, and tomorrow I will be in Stryy [Lviv
Region]. The largest German investment in modern technology, a modern plant,
built in a year from scratch. There are 1,500 people employed there, and it
will rise to 4,000. And the rest.

So, who else should be more interested in solving a couple of matters?

RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA

[Correspondent] Another strategic partner, Poland. The president is calling
on this year, The Year of Poland in Ukraine, to be used fully for
cooperation. The more so as it coincides with our neighbour joining the
European Union. Relations with the traditional partner Russia will continue
to develop.

[Kuchma] I give this task to our Foreign Ministry, diplomats and our trade
representatives, that the level of relations with any country and the level

of the assessment of their work will be judged by me not in terms of fancy
words about Ukraine but in terms of the level of trade between our
countries. Because this is what is important for our lives. As the level of
trade between Ukraine and Russia has risen by 36 per cent against the
background of the stagnation of the last few years and came to 12, close to
13bn dollars, then this is a positive development. But this does not mean
that we do not have problem areas today and we have discussed them. For
me, the issue of a free trade zone was and remains important.

PRAISES CABINET

[Correspondent] The president is convinced that the dismissal of the Russian
cabinet [on 24 February] will not have a negative effect on
Ukrainian-Russian ties. They will improve in future and the president says
there is no doubt about this. He also gave assurances that the fate of the
Ukrainian cabinet headed by Viktor Yanukovych will not be the same as that
of Mikhail Kasyanov.

[Kuchma] You know, and I apologize, sometimes I want to make someone's
head roll in the government, but I do not have the right to do so. I should
address the cabinet, the prime minister, hold talks with the faction. If the
faction which proposed this candidate agrees, only then does the process
begin. And, believe me, I stick to this. And I have no other views on having
another prime minister.

I want to repeat once again, the main thing for us is stability, and that
means a stable government too. As to the cabinet's report on its work in
parliament, I have absolutely no fear that the issue of dismissing the
Yanukovych cabinet will appear. First, the reasons. This is a government
which has attained the best results in all these years of independence. The
best. I have already said this and say this again today. So tell me, where
is the logic?That is the first point.

If we are talking about radical expediency then it does not apply in this
case. Second, they have just signed a political agreement on cooperation.
Today, the cabinet has a majority. Today, the cabinet has political support
in parliament. So, please tell me, why change for someone else, this is not
comprehensible. And now on to people's deputies, who are people too. And
they interested today in having stability in the country. We have had a
bellyful of other things, contrary things.

[Question from news correspondent in hall] And can you personally see
another [presidential] candidate?

[Kuchma] There are candidates wherever you go in parliament.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

[Correspondent] The head of state once again gave assurances that he will
not be taking part in the presidential election race this year despite the
fact that according to the latest opinion polls his popularity has risen
sharply. In Kuchma's words, the reason for this is stability in the country
and economic success.

[Kuchma] People recall what Ukraine was like 10 years ago. And certainly -
although I could be wrong I am most likely not - the nearer we get to the
election the more questions people will ask themselves and others, what
next? What awaits Ukraine in the future? Because the main thing for every
person and for every family, especially in our stormy world, and the more
so, if we look at what is happening in our neighbours, and not just in our
neighbours, they ask themselves such questions, like stability in the
country and sometimes, again, in my view, this even outweighs economic
problems, especially if the issue is families, children and their future,
and the like.

And the fact that in the last few years, four or five in a row, Ukraine's
economy has been growing consistently, [changes tack] this must have been
noticed. More and more people are beginning to understand that high-level
politics cannot be built on populism. And I would like to address those
politicians, especially those who will take part in the presidential
election, [to tell them] to act proceeding from this. I had a conversation
with Mrs [former US secretary of state Madeleine] Albright.

I said to her, Mrs Albright. let's compare. The presidential campaign has
begun in your country and the same is the case in Ukraine. Please read the
speeches made by our politicians, those who have already begun their
presidential campaign, and in your country, let's say your politicians,
let's say the Democrats, when they meet amongst themselves, compete in terms
of manifestos, convince people how they will resolve social and other
problems, global issues, and others.

Here in Ukraine everything is built solely on criticizing the authorities
and that I will come to power tomorrow and sort out everything. But how,
with what and with whom, only God knows. I am convinced that those people
who say these things do not know either how they will do these things.

[Correspondent] Kuchma does not see himself in the chair of the president or
the prime minister after the completion of political reform.

[Kuchma] I have stressed this many times, and once again, it will be totally
inadvisable. That is my stance and I have never had a different one and have
never expressed a different one. Let them try it so that they can see what
it is like. However, I still want this political reform to go ahead and so
that the president really is the head of state and did not answer questions
on why the cost of riding the underground railway in Kharkiv is rising. I
will tell you another secret. I have almost organized my own presidential
fund and will turn my hand to calm politics and there I will have the full
and free chance to say what I think and about everyone.

[Correspondent] The president regards the signing of a political agreement
on political reform between the parliamentary majority, Socialists and
Communists as more than positive.

[Kuchma] This is proof of the fact that national interests have today
overcome party interests. I have a high regard for those politicians who
agreed to such a compromise, although I understand that it cannot be easy to
do this.

KRAVCHENKO AFFAIR

[Correspondent] The president is convinced that there will definitely be a
single candidate from the authorities in the coming election. The president
also commented on the statements made by [intelligence service ex-general]
Valeriy Kravchenko in Berlin.

[Kuchma] I am quite sure that this is due to my decree on the deKGBification
[of the security service], which is doing 100 times more for democratization
of Ukraine than the shouting and the hurrying about of our pseudo-patriots
who have made a big deal of this in unison with their foreign teachers.

[Correspondent] Kuchma repeated again that the aims remain the same, namely
deKGBification of the security forces and civil control of the armed forces.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Audio and video available. Please send queries to kiev.bbcm@mon.bbc.co.uk]
========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 32: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
Daily News Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/newsgallery.htm
========================================================
2. "IT'S GETTING DARKER STILL IN UKRAINE:
NEW DISCOVERIES IN THE NATION'S POLITICAL CENSORSHIP"

By Volodymyr Semkiv and Dmytro Lykhoviy
Ukrayina Moloda, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian 18 Feb 04, p 4
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English; Feb 26, 2004

News coverage by the Ukrainian broadcast media largely remains dominated
by anti-opposition propaganda and praise for politicians from the
propresidential camp, an opposition newspaper has said. Detailing the rise
of the coverage instructions, the phenomenon in Ukraine of directions given
to television studios by the presidential administration on how to cover
news events, the authors say things will not get better until new people are
in power in the country.

Although the tone of the instructions has been somewhat softened, their
impact is growing ever stronger, now reaching not only the central but also
regional media.

The following is the text of the article by Volodymyr Semkiv and Dmytro
Lykhoviy, entitled "It's getting darker still in Ukraine: New discoveries in
the nation's political censorship", published in the Ukrayina Moloda
newspaper on 18 February; subheadings inserted editorially:

If you live for a while in a pigsty, it is not long before you stop paying
attention to its smell and contents. If you live in Ukraine, then the
behaviour of [Ukrainian President] Leonid Kuchma (who loves to bring up
pigsties in his stage-production interviews as an example of changes in
information policies) are less surprising. If you work at a pro-authorities
television station, you view the dictates of the president's office like
heaven's shenanigans, and your conscience resists the words coverage
instructions [Ukrainian: temnyk] ever less and less.

A person is a universal being, the thinkers of the Renaissance believed, and
to a degree they were right. But to get used to musty smells does not at all
mean overcoming them: the pigsty has to be cleaned. And if television
journalists have stopped talking about coverage instructions as they did in
the autumn of last year, and television viewers got used to the current
format of television news, this does not at all mean that coverage
instructions no longer arrive at the addresses of the television studios.
And it certainly does not mean that one need quietly accept this phenomenon.

COVERAGE INSTRUCTIONS NOW WORDED MORE SOFTLY

"Coverage instructions are still being sent out," Nataliya Lihachova
recounted in a comment to Ukrayina Moloda. She is the editor of the Internet
publication Telekrytyka, which specializes in bringing to light the problems
of the Ukrainian media space. "First, I am in constant contact with
journalists and they often give me copies of printed coverage instructions.
And second, this is evident in the unity of position, which is expressed by
the major television stations in covering political events."

Judging from this, the coverage instructions, as a phenomenon of the past
two years, have undergone certain changes. In the second half of 2002, for
example, the theses of these "analytical notes" usually ended with the
phrases "request to ignore", "request to cover in full" or "it is advisable
to show... [ellipsis as published]".

Now the coverage instructions are formulated somewhat softer. Nataliya
Lihachova said that the current fashion is to say something like "this topic
is important and timely" or "analysts believe...[ellipsis as published]".

That is, there is no "strong-arm" pressure on journalists - a note simply
came from an authoritative source, without any ultimatum, but with
commentary from an anonymous source. That is so incompetent journalists do
not make any mistakes in looking for the truth. And the authority of this
"analyst" is so high that it is difficult not to heed his intellectual
clear-sightedness. Especially when he sits in Bankova Street [presidential
administration] or is a giant of thought from this circle.

COVERAGE OF OPPOSITION

The meaning of these coverage instructions sent by modern-day censors of
such "nobility" and with such a "soft" gesture remains the same as before
and no less revolting. The television studios patronized by [presidential
administration chief Viktor] Medvedchuk and [Kuchma's son-in-law Viktor]
Pinchuk keep refraining from pointing their camera lenses at the face and
arguments of the opposition. Only now this is called the "list of persons
and political groups who try to raise their political ratings by making
statements that are not always thought through".

"In addition to the opposition, the list sometimes contains members of the
[propresidential parliamentary] majority and even Leonid Kravchuk, the
leader of the parliamentary faction of the United Social Democratic Party of
Ukraine [USDPU, headed by Medvedchuk]," [journalist] Volodymyr Aryev
said in one of the last issues of Zerkalo Nedeli [independent weekly]. He is
a
former journalist at [TV channel] Inter (he was fired just before
Medvedchuk's wedding to [TV presenter] Oksana Marchenko for pluralist
articles in Zerkalo Nedeli and variance with the policies of the studio
after deputy parliamentary speaker Oleksandr Zinchenko left Inter).

And it is not at all surprising that Kravchuk has complained against
journalists for not being shown enough on the pro-USDPU Inter. Although it
was worth seeing the report on his birthday, which was made out to be
nothing short of a national holiday and covered in event reports on all the
(again) central channels... [ellipsis as published]

But no, the opposition, of course, does sometimes make its way onto the
screens of pro-authorities television. In the last two months the most
popular speaker on the "Reporter", "Vikna" and "TSN" news shows [on Inter,
STB and One Plus One TV channels] has been that "super-oppositionist"
[Communist Party leader] Petro Symonenko. In general he is "crying out" over
the "ultra-right nashists" [a play on words with the name of the
centre-right opposition bloc Our Ukraine, which in Ukrainian is Nasha
Ukrayina, and the word fascist], whose colleagues welcomed Hitler in 1941,
etc.

And since the beginning of February, Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz
has had big popularity on television, his aims unexpectedly coinciding with
the interests of the majority on voting for political reform on 3 February
and in signing the political accord in the following format: the majority
plus the Communist Party plus the Socialist Party equals love and harmony.

MPs from the [opposition] Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine are shown
much less often. And one can identify three catching principles which show
how this part of the opposition is covered: first, Our Ukraine and Yuliya
Tymoshenko Bloc MPs are shown, using the terminology of [parliamentary
speaker] Volodymyr Lytvyn, "with the faces of beasts" screaming "Shame!",
flinging flowers at the speaker, throwing paper and so on.

Video shots with football fans' horns, into which the Our Ukraine MPs were
blowing during the blocking of work in parliament in the December 2003
session, have become as necessary an illustration during evening news
broadcasts on UT1 [state-run channel] as the news signature tune or the
presenter's pasted-on USDPU smile.

If the positions of faction leaders Viktor Yushchenko or Yuliya Tymoshenko
are shown, then it is done more so by taking individual phrases out of
context and in the short recount by the television host who has 10 words of
his own disdainful, pseudo-analytical commentary for each of the even unsaid
words by Yushchenko and company. Moreover, it is very popular on our
television front to collect commentary from Our Ukraine and Yuliya
Tymoshenko Bloc members who specialize in issues related, for example, to
culture and morals - that way one can say the quota for showing the
opposition has been filled.

Meanwhile, every evening, [propresidential presenters on One Plus One,
Dmytro] Korchynskyy and [Dmytro] Dzhanhirov pour out a whole day's worth
of poison drivel on rated oppositionists during their "Prote" television
show.

It gets comic here and absurd (One Plus One promised nearly a year ago to
clean out this unprofessional, un-aesthetic and poor-in-the-ratings show,
but the two Dmytro clowns are still on air, which is an absurdity in
itself).

The show, which so obviously serves the most vicious coverage instructions,
does not even cover it up. However, although Ukrayinska Pravda
[pro-opposition web site] brought to light the dull-as-a-Siberian-felt-boot
coverage instructions idea from Bankova Street - that of accusing Our
Ukraine of allegedly having no influence on the American and Canadian
diaspora while having influence on Ottawa to free the Ukrainian Ruslan
aircraft that was arrested in Canada, Dmytro Korchynskyy strangely made this
accusation against Viktor Yushchenko on live TV, and more than a month late.
Perhaps things were going poorly for the coverage instructions' creators
block, as they say...[ellipsis as published]

FOREIGN NEWS AFFECTED TOO

Along with the personae non grata who are "trying to raise their own rating"
there are a few more interesting sections in modernized coverage
instructions: "topics which do not meet the formats of television companies
in full" and "topics which do not meet the formats of television companies".
Telekrytyka editor Nataliya Lihachova told Ukrayina Moloda that these topics
are not just the press conferences of the opposition, but also interviews
with US ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, some round tables on the problems
of legislation, the interview in Zerkalo Nedeli with "criminal boss"
Volodymyr Kysil (who is thought to be linked to the disappearance of
[journalist] Heorhiy Gongadze, and a news conference about biological
weapons which Kiev allegedly possesses... [ellipsis as published]

Judging by certain metamorphoses on television, national coverage
instructions-making has grown by another bit of know-how: directions on how
to cover world events. This became observable during the "rose revolution"
in Georgia, when Mikheil Saakashvili and his partners in the opposition were
labelled on [Ukrainian] domestic television (led by UT1 and Inter) as
ultra-nationalists, while parallel reports were shown with discussion on
separatism and the possible break-up of Georgia - that's what you could get,
they said, when nationalist radicals come to power.

The aim was obviously to discredit Viktor Yushchenko as Saakashvili's
partner and the possible (from the point of view of the coverage
instructions) consequences of his coming to power. And the game went so far
that only the cold mind of one editor kept the label "Nazi" from being used
on air with regard to the soon-to-be new president of Georgia.

Presidential administration analysts have armed themselves with the
primitive technique of drawing parallels between the internal political
situation in Ukraine and other countries. This is their favourite
"dung-shooter". For example, when Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe rapporteurs Hanne Severinsen and Renate Wohlwend visited Ukraine,
television news (first of all, on UT1, in its typical material by its
typical journalist Olha Skotnykova) was unexpectedly shown about crises and
cataclysms in the Western world.

That was to give the impression that there was just as little order in
Europe, with its strivings for democracy, as there is in Ukraine and here
they were, coming to poke their noses into our affairs. We, they said, can
figure out things on our own: the Old World does not give us orders, and
especially not these "two old hags", as Korchynskyy called the rapporteurs.

Volodymyr Aryev tells about the news on Inter: [television programme]
"Podrobnosti" for three weeks featured reports on the parliamentary scandal
in Italy, linked to the bankruptcy of Parmalat (16 January), with an
attendant allusion to the Italian system of whips in parliament to stop
fights among MPs.

Another three "important and topical" events for the Ukrainian viewer,
covered in the information programme on Inter: the parliamentary crises in
Serbia (30 January) and Spain (20 January), the demarche of the
parliamentary opposition in Japan (2 February), the stand-off between the
government and parliament in Lithuania (29 January) and the dismissal of the
prime minister of Catalonia [region in northeast Spain] due to his ties with
ETA (28 January). Television analysts say that UT1 and Inter were simply
raving mad about this, One Plus One featured reports about this "every other
time", while Novyy Kanal, STB and ICTV showed far fewer pieces on foreign
crises.

SMALL DIFFERENCES, ONE IDEA

To put some of the above sentences in political terms, it turns out that the
television studios under the influence of the USDPU (Inter, UT1 and One Plus
One) have exploited the international "dirt". Studios controlled by the
presidential son-in-law and member of the Working Ukraine party, Viktor
Pinchuk (ICTV, Novyy Kanal and STB) have been much more moderate. It
appears that Pinchuk's TV channels use the recommendations from Bankova
Street without any real enthusiasm.

Many observers are talking about certain differences between Medvedchuk and
Pinchuk in how politics should be shown (Lihachova and parliamentary freedom
of speech committee head [and opposition MP] Mykola Tomenko made such
conclusions in commentary for Ukrayina Moloda). These differences have been
pinpointed by those who monitor domestic channels: normally [pro-opposition]
5 Kanal and the Pinchuk "television bouquet" are called the most balanced
(although everything is relative).

Such ignoring of coverage instructions by those sympathetic to the
authorities is good, of course, for society. But this should not idealized.
"They may have differences in positions, but on matters of principle, like
political reform, they are united," Lihachova says. Obviously, this means
the political expedience followed by [the party] Working Ukraine (to which
Pinchuk belongs).

Working Ukraine, like its leader [National Bank of Ukraine governor] Serhiy
Tyhypko, is very ambitious. Perhaps this is how they show their political
originality. Perhaps Working Ukraine lights candles to both the devil and
God, that is, support the authorities while not getting into fights with the
opposition, which could become the authority in three-quarters of a year.

COVERAGE INSTRUCTIONS SPREAD TO REGIONS

As for the escalation of coverage instructions in election year, things are
"to be continued". According to Mykola Tomenko, "the managing and directing"
television political propaganda is making its way to the regions, to
regional television companies. Ready-made news with various events and news
conferences is sent to the regions. The "distributor" is UT1 and the
pro-USDPU Alternatyva (the former manager of this television and radio
company is Serhiy Vasylyev who is now head of the information department of
the presidential administration, which, according to many, plays a central
role in making coverage instructions).

"Now there will be a regional `Prote'," Tomenko says. "A Russian group is
already working to make a zombie entertainment programme where leaders of
the opposition are to be silly and stupid. If the idea is supported, it will
go into the regions."

The coverage instructions, which are everywhere, have been on radio and in
print, too. Look at the news programmes on television and radio channels,
including [propresidential media mogul Andriy] Derkach's Era [sharing a
frequency with UT1] and the Internet site Tyzhden, patronized by USDPU and
with a pretty eloquent url, www.temnik.com.ua, and content that is open in
its anti-Yushchenko brutality. Media managers of all levels who do not
understand the finesse of the latest political collisions get their
"supplies" from here.

To make it simple: the authorities are good, the USDPU even better, and
Yushchenko and all of his opposition, good-for-nothings who can't even find
a common language. Here is the example of [MP Taras] Chornovil [who has quit
Our Ukraine], here is something about the Ukraine without Kuchma protests,
the Arise, Ukraine! protests and the "statement of the three" [made in 2001
by Kuchma, then speaker Ivan Plyushch and then Prime Minister Yushchenko,
condemning antipresidential street protests]... [ellipsis as published]

YANUKOVYCH "TEMNYKS"

However, the monopoly on journalistic thought, which is accumulated by
analysts on Bankova Street, apparently does not give [Prime Minister Viktor]
Yanukovych any peace in the cabinet. Mykola Tomenko tells the story:
"Yanukovych's team has come up with a rather blunt and primitive, but
workable campaign: a group of people sit in the cabinet and write material
about the government and the prime minister and send it out to regional
government administrations.

A special person puts this material in regional newspapers and then sends in
a report. Then these newspapers receive money from the cabinet - it's worth
700 dollars a month. This material is by-lined with one name and is printed
practically without changes. Sometimes it happens that in one region,
several papers come out with the very same headlines."

Tomenko said the funniest thing happened with regard to bread prices. "[It
was] while they were sending material to the regions, and then to regional
districts...[ellipsis as published] In short, the publication of the latest
articles on how Yanukovych would not allow prices for bread to rise,
coincided with the day prices rose."

IMPARTIAL JOURNALISM NEEDED BADLY

It is hard to think of a way for a journalists on a pro-authorities central
channel to flee the captivity of the coverage instructions. For although
they rail at Kuchma, Medvedchuk and both Vasylyevs [head of a presidential
administration directorate and a prosecutor-general] over coffee and beer,
they continue to use the directions from Bankova Street. Where else will
they make that kind of money or gain that kind of all-Ukrainian popularity?

The way out, as banal as it sounds, is in a change of power. The
personalities in power, not the system of power. Because, what difference
does it make from where the coverage instructions written by USDPU men come,
from today's presidential administration or from tomorrow's cabinet, which
is to become a new headquarters for the Kuchma supporters after political
reforms? The way out lies in sweeping away the "pig-sty" filth which has
been sprinkled on us for more than 10 years. Television should not be a
means in political fights but a business which brings big money. Perhaps
that will happen with a change in the political elite.

"For me, it is most important to save that segment of journalism which at
least in some small way looks like real journalism and has some clear
manifestation of impartiality," said Mykola Tomenko. "The important thing is
that these people simply live through the election. Because I think that
this is that part of journalism which will influence the reanimation of its
profession. Therefore, today, we have to fight for each media outlet that
they are trying to close, for every journalist that they are somehow trying
to pressure."

To charge journalists with what is going on in the country now (with certain
exceptions) would not be quite correct. They are hostages of circumstance.
As Ivanna Kobernyk, an anchor on [the news programme] "Fakty" (ICTV),
once said, "in choosing our work, we choose that dependence which is least
undesirable." So, let us agree, the important thing is waiting for the
moment of freedom, while keeping safe within us a flame of journalistic
freedom and dignity.

For journalists who are used to the methods of Korchynskyy, Dzhanhirov,
Pikhovshek or Kanishevskyy [propresidential TV presenters on One Plus One
and UT1] are not needed in Ukraine. And even if some of the above-mentioned
write as if nothing will be better in the media landscape than now, even
with a full-blooded President Yushchenko, it is not worth exaggerating.

One need not look far for an example: Our Ukraine's Kanal 5 television can
give objective information evaluated by both camps, inviting Katerynchuks
and Havryshes and Shufryches into the studio [Mykola Katerynchuk is an
opposition MP while Stepan Havrysh and Nestor Shufrych are propresidential
ones]. While for UT1, people from the other camp are taboo... [ellipsis as
published]

A note from Ukrayina Moloda: The term coverage instructions comes from the
complex word "tema dnya" [Russian: theme of the day]. It first appeared,
according to eyewitnesses, during the parliamentary election campaign in
2002 in the headquarters of the United Socialists Democratic Party of
Ukraine from the easy hand of Russian spin doctor Marat Gelman. The first
coverage instructions were sent to media outlets under the control of the
USDPU, explaining in what manner to cover events that had taken place that
day.

When Viktor Medvedchuk became the head of the presidential administration,
the number of coverage instructions addressees, according to many
journalists, grew significantly, as did the persistence of the "directives"
of the coverage instructions. In the autumn of 2002 the surge of coverage
instructions caused a wave of protest from many journalists and a hearing on
the matter was even held in parliament where a resolution was adopted which
classified coverage instructions as a phenomenon of political censorship and
a media union was set up. It didn't help... [ellipsis as published]
========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 32: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
Build Ukraine Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/index.htm
========================================================
3. UKRAINIAN SOCIALIST LEADER MOROZ ASKS PRESIDENT
KUCHMA TO PREVENT CLOSURE OF NEWSPAPER SILSKI VISTI.

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 26 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring Service., UK, in English, Feb 26, 2004

Ukrainian Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz has asked Ukrainian President
Leonid Kuchma to prevent the closure of the opposition newspaper Silski
Visti. On 28 January, a Kiev court ruled to close the newspaper for
anti-Semitic publications. In an open letter to Kuchma, Moroz described the
court decision as "legally illiterate" and warned against stirring up ethnic
strife in Ukraine. The following is the text of the report by
Interfax-Ukraine news agency:

Kiev, 26 February: The leader of the [opposition] Socialist Party of
Ukraine, Oleksandr Moroz, has sent an open letter to Ukrainian President
Leonid Kuchma on the closure of the Silski Visti newspaper. Moroz asked
Kuchma to use his authority to "prevent dangerous developments" and "stop
the persecution" of the newspaper.

"I am asking you to use your influence and authority under the constitution
to prevent dangerous developments and stop the persecution of a popular
newspaper. Such actions of yours would be positively taken by people and
help consolidate society," the letter said.

Moroz thinks that the Shevchenkivskyy district court in Kiev has taken "a
legally illiterate decision to close it [the paper] under far-fetched
accusations - for allegedly stirring up ethnic strife".

"I know that you read the newspaper that protects the interests of rural
residents. It seems that there is a misunderstanding in the assessment of
the pieces, which were actually reprints of two abstracts from a well-known
book by Professor Vasyl Yaremenko, which was paid for as advertising. I
agree that the assessments [of the book] are really different. There are
grounds for that. But, without taking the role of a defence lawyer, I would
like to recall that at issue is the book of a scientist who compiled the
largest four-volume book of Jewish poetry in Ukrainian," the letter said.

Moroz also emphasized that no proceedings were launched against the author.
"The court made several important violations of legislation, the main of
which was using the Criminal Code in a civil case," Moroz said.

He also noted that "the analysis of public opinion shows that the conflict
around Silski Visti, the court decision, one-sided comments in the media,
concealing the information about concerns of the international community
over this matter and proliferation of biased statements by our opponents
gives grounds to talk about a planned provocation, which was aimed to
achieve a conflict between ethnic groups in Ukraine, in particular, stirring
up anti-Semitism in day-to-day life."

"The consequences of the provocation could be tragic. We can see that if the
provocation is continued, it will create an explosive situation and innocent
people will suffer. Taking this into account, we have to resort to
preventive protests, which are supported by people," the letter said.

Moroz said that over 10,000 signatures had been collected over 36 hours in
Lviv, where Silski Visti is not distributed at all. "The total number of
people who signed against this provocation exceeds 1.5m," the letter said.
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 32: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
Travel and Tourism Gallery: http://www.ArtUkraine.com/tourgallery.htm
=========================================================
4. KUCHMA: REMOVAL OF RFE/RL'S RADIO SVOBODA
HAS HAD NEGATIVE IMPACT ON UKRAINE'S IMAGE

RFE/RL, Prague, Czech Republic, February 26, 2004

Kyiv -- Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma has said the decision by a private
company to end RFE/RL's Radio Svoboda broadcasts on the country's FM radio
waves has had a negative impact on Ukraine's image.

Kuchma made the remarks yesterday at a press conference in Kyiv. He said the
decision by the Dovira company to on February 17 to end transmissions of
Radio Svoboda was a "private business matter."

Dovira said its decision was based on economic reasons. But RFE/RL officials
say the decision was political and an infringement of freedom of speech.
Ukrainian opposition politicians have criticized it as an attempt to muzzle
the media ahead of a presidential election in October.

Kuchma invited RFE/RL to seek a collaboration with another commercial radio
channel in the country.

Listeners can hear the broadcasts on the much harder-to-access short-wave
band, as well as on the AM band in some parts of the country.
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 32: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
Ukrainian Culture Gallery: http://www.ArtUkraine.com/cultgallery.htm
=========================================================
5. UKRAINE'S PARLIAMENT LEADER SAYS A COMPROMISE
REACHED REGARDING PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Inside Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 27, 2004

KYIV- Volodymyr Lytvyn, chairman of Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna
Rada, said on Thursday in a news briefing at Chernihiv that a compromise
had been reached that would make it easier to get final passage of the
measure to change parliamentary elections to an all-proportional system.

Lytvyn said that he was certain that the threshold for any party or faction
to receive proportional representation would be dropped from 4 percent to
3 percent of the national vote total.

The compromise is designed to heal a breach between the parliament's
majority district members, who want the threshold decreased to 1 percent,
and the Communist and Socialist factions, that have been determined to hold
the line at the current 4 percent threshold and increase it if possible.

Communist and Socialist leaders believe that a higher threshold would
provide those parties with well-organized grassroots membership an advantage
in gaining parliament membership in the next national elections. (END)
=======================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2005, No. 32: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
Genocide Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/famineart/index.htm
=========================================================
6. UKRAINE REMOVED FROM GLOBAL MONEY
LAUNDERING BLACKLIST

Associated Press Online; Kiev, Ukraine, Feb 25, 2004

KIEV - President Leonid Kuchma praised Wednesday's decision by an
international watchdog agency to remove Ukraine from the group's blacklist
of countries failing to adequately fight money laundering.

The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force voted to remove Ukraine from
the list, agreeing that the former Soviet republic's efforts to combat dirty
money complied with international standards for fighting money laundering
and financial terrorism, said Stephen di Biasio, an FATF spokesman.

The long-awaited decision came after a team of experts inspected some 200
Ukrainian banks and financial institutions last month. The FATF lifted
sanctions against Ukraine last February after the government scrambled to
beat the group's deadline for enacting adequate safeguards to combat money
laundering.

Even though the FATF noted Ukraine's progress enforcing the tighter
regulations in September, all countries are required to wait one year to
prove they deserve to be fully removed from the blacklist. Other countries
on the blacklist were the Cook Islands, Egypt, Guatemala, Indonesia,
Myanmar, Nauru, Nigeria and the Philippines. (tv/jh) (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 32: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
Historical Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/histgallery.htm
=========================================================
7. UKRAINIAN-SWISS VENTURE BUYS HUNGARIAN STEELWORKS

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 26 Feb 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Feb 26, 2004

Kiev, 26 February: The [Ukrainian-Swiss] Industrial Union of Donbas-Duferco
consortium and representatives of the Hungarian privatization agency APV Rt
on 25 February signed an agreement on purchasing 79.48 per cent of shares in
the Dunaujvaros-based steelworks Dunaferr Rt (Hungary) and an appropriate
investment agreement.

Dunaferr Rt and the investment consortium also signed an agreement on the
reregistration of the shares, the Donetsk-based Industrial Union of Donbas
said in a press release. The passing of 79.48 per cent of shares to the
investment consortium, which will follow an agreement yet to be signed with
banks, should be the transaction's final act.

The press release said that the 79.48-per-cent stake was acquired for 444m
forints. [Passage omitted: a list of investment obligations] The
Industrial Union of Donbas has recently lost a tender to buy a steelworks in
Poland to a British-Indian company. (END)(ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 32: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
Arts Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/artgallery.htm
=========================================================
8. KYIV TRANSPORT FEES TO ESCALATE

Inside Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, February 27, 2004

KYIV - The Kyiv City State Administration confirmed on Thursday that
it plans on March 14 to implement fare increases that will come close to
doubling the cost of public transportation for many citizens.

Fares for trolleybus, trams and the Metro will all increase with the Metro
fare jumping from 50 kopeks to 1 hryvnia. The fare increase announcement
flies in the face of an Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine finding that
there were no grounds for such increases.

A similar announcement last year met with immediate negative responses
and large demonstrations outside the city administration building. The city
was eventually forced to back down.

With the new announcement, demonstrations have already begun and are
expected to escalate at the weekend.

Protestors seem to be concentrating their wrath on long-time Kyiv City Mayor
Oleksandr Omelchenko with calls for the parliament to pass legislation that
would allow Kyiv mayors only one term in office. Should such legislation
become law, it would have the effect of forcing Omelchenko from office and
triggering a new mayoral election. (END) (ARTUIS)
========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 32: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
Support Ukraine Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/uasupport/index.htm
=========================================================
9. UKRAINIAN SPY WHISTLEBLOWER HANDS OVER
CONFIDENTIAL DOSSIER IN GERMANY FOR PROBE
"It is proof that Ukraine is not yet democratic but still a police state"

AFP, Berlin, Germany, Thu Feb 26, 2004

BERLIN (AFP) - A Ukrainian intelligence whistleblower handed over a
confidential dossier which he claims incriminates the administration of
President Leonid Kuchma, saying he wanted it fully investigated.

Valeri Kravchenko, whose diplomatic status for his work in Berlin is being
revoked by Kiev, gave the file to Mykola Tomenko, an opposition member
of the Ukrainian parliament who had flown to the German capital.

Tomenko said the documents, which allegedly show the intelligence service
SBU ordering its members abroad to monitor Ukrainian government ministers
and opposition lawmakers in what would be a breach of the constitution,
appeared credible.

"It is proof that Ukraine is not yet democratic but still a police state,"
he told reporters. He said he would hand the documents to state prosecutors
and parliament but doubted the government would take any notice.
Kravchenko, who surfaced last week on the eve of Kuchma's visit to Berlin,
fears he will be arrested if he returns to Ukraine.

"I don't want political asylum," he told Germany's Deutsche Welle radio and
television network. "I want to return to Ukraine if there are security
guarantees. There are not enough now. I want them from the president."
Kuchma and the SBU have dismissed his claims as "absurd".

Kravchenko, a 58-year-old general, handed the documents to Tomenko in
the Berlin offices of Deutsche Welle where he had first aired his
allegations.

He met Tomenko in private for 30 minutes, discussing the documents, before
speaking on radio and to other journalists.

He said he was ordered notably to spy on members of the liberal opposition
"Our Ukraine" bloc, led by Viktor Yushchenko. The SBU leadership was
"playing politics", he charged. Yushchenko is a pro-Western former prime
minister who, according to opinion polls, is the popular choice to take over
when Kuchma's second mandate ends in October.

Speaking in Russian, Kravchenko said it had been "an easy decision" to go
public. "There were many things spurring me on... I think there are a
considerable number of people (in the SBU) of my opinion." Tomenko said
the documents bore "the markings of a systematic policy" and promised that
parliament would look into the allegations as well as giving the file over
to state prosecutors.

"Our opinion is that they are genuine and show the intelligence service has
been playing a political game." But he said he did not know of a single
allegation of this nature that had been investigated by prosecutors. "The
government will not be cowed. They're used to such claims."

The SBU said last week that its staff "cannot be asked to carry out any
tasks, including of a political nature, which contravene the law," the
agency said in a statement in Kiev. During his terms of office Kuchma has
been linked to many scandals, notably the 2000 killing of an opposition
journalist, but strenuously denies wrongdoing. International observers often
cite the unresolved murder case as an example of persecution of opposition
journalists and lack of media freedom. (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 32: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
Current Events Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/events/index.htm
=========================================================
10. PEREIASLAV "TREATY"... ROAD TO SERFDOM
This year marks the 350th anniversary of the Pereiaslav Treaty

On behalf of the Executive Board of the UCCA
Michael Sawkiw, Jr., President, Marie Duplak, Executive Secretary
Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA)
Washington, D.C., February 23, 2004

This year marks the 350th anniversary of the Pereiaslav Treaty. This treaty
was agreed upon with the hope that Muscovy would help protect Ukraine from
invaders and, in return, Ukraine remains a sovereign state and the Kozaks
would provide Muscovy with military assistance. Instead, Muscovy's Czar
Aleksei underhandedly deprived Ukraine and its entire people their rights:
the self-government system was abolished, the people were enslaved and even
the Ukrainian language was persecuted.

For over 300 years, Ukraine was unable to exist as a sovereign state and a
united cultural entity, it was tortured and every attempt was made to
dissolve it into Muscovy, to deprive it of its identity and originality.

The date of January 18, 1654 became a dark moment in Ukraine's history
and cost millions of Ukrainians their lives and centuries of devout struggle
in order to break the Russian and then Soviet yoke.

This year, the Government of independent Ukraine is commemorating this
anniversary and once again presenting this treaty as a "unification" of
Ukraine and Russia. We, as Ukrainian-Americans, are ashamed and appalled
that the Government of Ukraine will hold official events to mark this
anniversary on a state level.

The ungrounded legend about the "desire" of the Ukrainian people to unite
with the "older Russian brother", which was created by Russian historians,
must be denied and the true circumstances and consequences of the Pereiaslav
Treaty must be brought to light.

The tragic mistake of signing this Treaty resulted in over three hundred
years of serfdom and suppression of the Ukrainian nation. The task of the
Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) is to expose the truth
about this treaty and prove, that the Ukrainians, who are growing up in an
independent state, know that the Pereiaslav Treaty was the beginning of
enslavement for the Ukrainian nation and that this enslavement was not the
result of a war, but the cunning political methods of the Russian state.

The will of Ukrainians for independence was stronger than the aggression of
the Russian Empire occupants and in the end our nation prevailed. For the
past 12 years, the Ukrainian State has remained independent and sovereign.
We should continue working to safeguard Ukraine's political and economic
reforms.

However, this goal will be attained only when the Ukrainian nation
rediscovers its national pride and begins working for the benefit of their
state. National pride begins with knowing one's own history, language, and
culture.

The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) urges the Ukrainian
community in the United States to unite and jointly expose the truth of the
appalling Pereiaslav Treaty on this 350th anniversary so that such tragedies
never occur again. (END) (ARTUIS)
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ARTICLES ARE FOR PERSONAL AND ACADEMIC USE ONLY
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New Issue Just Published...Year 2003, Issue 3-4
FOLK ART MAGAZINE: NARODNE MYSTETSTVO
LINK: http://www.artukraine.com/primitive/artmagazine.htm
========================================================
NEW BOOK: Three Hundred Eleven Personal Interviews, Famine 32-33.
"UKRAINIANS ABOUT FAMINE 1932-1933," Prof. Sokil, Lviv, Ukraine
http://www.artukraine.com/famineart/sokil.htm
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INFORMATION ABOUT "UKRAINE REPORT" 2004
The "UKRAINE REPORT" 2004, is an in-depth news and analysis
newsletter, produced by the www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS)
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"UKRAINE REPORT" 2004 SPONSORS:
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President, Washington, D.C.
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Dr. Zenia Chernyk, President, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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McConnell, President; John A. Kun, VP/COO; Markian Bilynskyj,
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website: http://www.usukraine.org .
4. UKRAINIAN AMERICAN COORDINATING COUNCIL,
(UACC), Ihor Gawdiak, President, Washington, D.C.
5. ACTION UKRAINE COALITION, (AUC),Washington, D.C.
6. KIEV-ATLANTIC UKRAINE, David and Tamara Sweere,
Founders and Managers; Kyiv, Ukraine
7. VOLIA SOFTWARE, Software to Fit Your Business, Source your
IT work in Ukraine. Contact: Yuriy Sivitsky, Vice President, Marketing,
Kyiv, Ukraine, yuriy.sivitsky@softline.kiev.ua; Volia Software website
http://www.volia-software.com/.
8. POTENTIAL, the launching of a new business journal for Ukraine.
http://www.usukraine.org/potential.shtml#about
9. INDIVIDUAL, CORPORATE and FOUNDATION READERS
OF "UKRAINE REPORT-2004" who financially support the publication.
Additional financial support is needed to maintain and expand the
program to include the translation and distribution of important articles
in Ukrainian. Please contact us.

PUBLISHER AND EDITOR
E. Morgan Williams, Senior Advisor, Government Relations and
Foundation Development, U.S.-UKRAINE FOUNDATION (USUF)
Publisher and Editor: "UKRAINE REPORT" 2004
www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS).
http://www.ArtUkraine.com News and Information Website,
P.O. Box 2607, Washington, D.C. 20013
Tel: 202 437 4707, morganw@patriot.net
Office In Kyiv: 380 44 212 5586, Mobile in Kyiv: 380 50 689 2874
======================================================
KYIV vs. KIEV
The "UKRAINE REPORT" uses the spelling KYIV rather than KIEV,
for the capital of Ukraine, whenever the spelling decision is under our
control. We do NOT change the way journalists, authors, reporters,
writers, news media outlets and others in the news media spell this word or
the other words they use in their stories. If you do not like the use of
KIEV rather than KYIV it is appropriate for you to write to the original
source of the spelling decision and let them know, rather than writing to
us.
Almost all the major news services and publications in the world use the
KIEV spelling and so far have refused to change to the legal spelling for
the capital of Ukraine as found in Ukrainian law of KYIV.

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