"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT"
In-Depth Ukrainian News, Analysis, and Commentary
"The Art of Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business, Religion,
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World"
"On June 14, Ukraine's two largest oligarchic clans undertook what are
likely to be one of the first of many insider privatizations before this
year's elections in October. Ninety-three percent of shares in Ukraine's
largest steel producer Kryvorizhstal were purchased for a staggeringly low
sum of only US$800 million. In an article entitled 'Ukraine Gives Foreigners
the Finger,' the influential Economist magazine on June 11 described the
deal as, 'rigged so blatantly as to be a joke.'" [article one]
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" Year 04, Number 99
Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC), Washington, D.C.
Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA), Huntingdon Valley, PA
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Washington, D.C.; Kyiv, Ukraine, FRIDAY, June 18, 2004
-----INDEX OF ARTICLES-----
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1. "OLIGARCH'S PRIVATIZE UKRAINE BEFORE ELECTION"
COMMENTARY By Taras Kuzio, Eurasia Daily Monitor
The Jamestown Foundation, Washington, D.C.
Volume I, Issue 33, Thursday, 17 June 2004
2. U.S. STEEL, LNM APPEAL STEEL MILL RULING IN UKRAINE
Bid $1.5 billion plus another $1.2 billion for capital improvements
Bid was substantially higher than the bid by the winning Ukrainian firm
By Dave Copeland, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, Thursday, June 17, 2004
3. UKRAINE WILL NOT REVIEW STEEL MILL SALE
REUTERS, Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, June 17, 2004
4. KUCHMA UNDER FIRE FOR SALE OF UKRAINIAN STEELMAKER
The Moscow Times, Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, June 16, 2004
5.UKRAINE WILL BE A MAIN EQUIPMENT SUPPLIER TO IRAQI ARMY
Supplying troop carriers and other off-road vehicles from Ukraine
By Tom Warner in Kiev, Financial Times, London, UK, Friday, Jun 18, 2004
6. UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS U.S. JUNE 19-22
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 15 Jun 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Tuesday, Jun 15, 2004
7. DEPUTY CANDIDATE KOZACHENKO ACCUSES AUTHORITIES
OF INTIMIDATING VOTERS IN POLTAVA REGION
Bread denied to voters who refuse to sign statement to support authorities
By Nadia Druzhynina, Ukrainian News, Kiev, Friday, June 18, 2004
8. FREEDOM OF CHOICE CITES NUMEROUS ELECTION
VIOLATIONS IN POLTAVA REGION ELECTION CAMPAIGN
By Nadia Druzhynina, Ukrainian News, Kiev, Thursday, June 17, 2004
9. UKRAINE'S PRESIDENT ENDORSES NEW MILITARY DOCTRINE
By Aleksandar Vosocic, AP Online; Kiev, Thursday, Jun 17, 2004
10. POPULAR UKRAINIAN LEADER YUSHCHENKO DECIDES TO
JOIN UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE
By Aleksandar Vasovic, AP Online, Kiev, Ukraine, Tue, Jun 15, 2004
11.RUSSIAN NEWSPAPER PUBLISHES "OPEN LETTER" TO RUSSIANS
FROM UKRAINE'S PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE YUSHCHENKO
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Moscow, Russia, in Russian 11 Jun 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Monday, Jun 14, 2004
12. UKRAINIAN-ISRAELI BUSINESSMAN VADYM RABYNOVYCH
HITS AT ANTI-SEMITISM IN UKRAINE
Interview with Ukrainian-Israeli Businessman Vadym Rabynovych
By Viktor Shlynchak and Yuliya Lymar
Glavred, Kiev, Ukraine, in Russian, 26 May 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Jun 08, 2004
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 99: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
=========================================================
1. "OLIGARCH'S PRIVATIZE UKRAINE BEFORE ELECTION"
COMMENTARY By Taras Kuzio, Eurasia Daily Monitor
The Jamestown Foundation, Washington, D.C.
Volume I, Issue 33, Thursday, 17 June 2004
On June 14, Ukraine's two largest oligarchic clans undertook what are likely
to be one of the first of many insider privatizations before this year's
elections in October. Ninety-three percent of shares in Ukraine's largest
steel producer Kryvorizhstal were purchased for a staggeringly low sum of
only US$800 million. In an article entitled "Ukraine Gives Foreigners the
Finger," the influential Economist magazine on June 11 described the deal
as, "rigged so blatantly as to be a joke."
In on the deal were Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma's son-in-law Viktor
Pinchuk, who controls the Interpipe Group and is the power behind the
Donetsk clan, and Renat Akhmetov of Security Capital Management. Pinchuk
and Akhmetov teamed up to create the Industrial-Metallurgical Union (IMS)
as the clear favorite in the privatization of Kryvorizhstal.
The "tender" was announced on May 12 and potential investors were given
only one month to bid. The short tender and the stringent requirements were
aimed at blocking the entry of foreign investors into the privatization of
Kryvorizhstal. Only two of the six companies, both Ukrainian, which
submitted tenders could meet the requirement of having produced at least one
million tons of coke and two million tons of rolled steel for the last three
years, two of them profitably, inside Ukraine. Besides IMS, the other
Ukrainian tender came from the Industrial Group, linked to the Industrial
Union of the Donbas (ISD).
Foreign tenders came from the world leader Arcelor, the number two LNM
Holdings-US Steel, Russia's Severstal-Evrazkholding, and India's Tata Steel.
All offered bids in excess of $US1 million. Kryvorizhstal produces 20
percent of Ukraine's steel market in a full production cycle. Its annual
production includes 7 million tons of rolled steel and nearly 8 million tons
of cast iron. The speed with which it was privatized, just 16 days before
the official start of this election campaign, "has produced an impression
that the main thing for this country is to have everything sold by November"
(Zerkalo Nedeli, June 12-18). What will follow will be additional rapid
sales of Ukraine's major businesses to pro-Kuchma oligarchs at cut-rate
prices. Before the elections the telecommunications giant Ukrtelecom, the
Odesa Port Authority and 310 other entities will be privatized.
There are several reasons why the privatization of such lucrative state
properties is being rapidly launched. The first is to bribe oligarchs to
support Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Kuchma presidential
candidate. Second, some of the funds from the sale of privatized state
entities, such as Kryvorizhstal, would go to Yanukovych's election campaign.
One populist way would be in the paying of extensive wage and pension
arrears while another would be in creating an untraceable slush fund
(Ukrayinska Pravda, June 8). Other sources for the Yanukovych election slush
fund would come from tax revenues diverted from the budget. This is
especially the case with VAT refunds to exporters.
Last year, 5 billion hryvni ($US900 million) was stolen from the budget in
this manner, Our Ukraine member Petro Poroshenko, head of the
parliamentary budget committee, revealed (TV 5, June 13). A third reason
for rapid privatization is that Ukraine's oligarchs are threatened by a
Viktor Yushchenko election victory because they fear re-distribution of
their assets and being held accountable for illegal actions. Yushchenko has
ruled out re-opening non-transparently conducted privatizations undertaken
in the 1990s. Nevertheless, President Yushchenko would be under intense
pressure to reverse the privatization of Kryvorizhstal and then hold a
transparent tender.
Despite being sidelined, foreign tenders had two advantages over their two
Ukrainian competitors. Firstly, they were willing to pay over US$1 billion,
20 percent more than Ukrainian bids. Secondly, as pointed out by Severstal,
by excluding foreign companies, "Ukraine is missing a chance to attract
capital which it needs so badly and to develop its metallurgical industry"
(Financial Times, May 26). Only Western investment can modernize Ukraine's
Soviet-era industrial infrastructure. Yet, Ukraine's record on attracting
foreign direct investment is poor. This will be made worse by a rigged
privatization that has infringed Ukrainian and international law (Zerkalo
Nedeli, May 15-21). Such blatantly rigged privatizations seems to indicate
that, "Ukraine doesn't seem to care at all about how it is perceived",
believes Rob Edwards at Renaissance Capital, a Moscow investment bank
(Economist, June 11).
Pavel Ferdinand, a German adviser to the Ukrainian government, described
the privatization as a "scandal" because it was non-transparent, the price
of less than US$1 billion was too low and it was discriminatory against
foreign bidders (Ukrayinska Pravda, June 15). Protests at the speed with
which the non-transparent privatization of Kryvorizhstal was undertaken
reverberated throughout Ukraine's political system. Attempts to block the
privatization through the courts failed, showing the degree to which the
rule of law is absent. Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn called
for all privatizations to be suspended until after the elections. Lytvyn
argued against the continued "embezzlement of the state" by oligarchs
UNIAN, May 4).
Nevertheless, Lytvyn's duplicity could be seen when the People's Agrarian
Party, which he heads, did not vote in favor of an opposition resolution to
halt the privatization of Kryvorizhstal (Ukrayinska Pravda, June 3). The
resolution obtained 218 votes, eight short of a majority. The lack of
transparency in the privatization process extended to the inability of
parliamentary deputies to attend meetings held by the State Property Fund
which oversees tenders. It was unsurprising that the privatization was
described by the Socialists as similar to, "thieves entering the building
who began to steal the property" (Ukrayinska Pravda, June 14).
But, even Viktor Yushchenko's pro-economic reform Our Ukraine bloc
demanded that privatizations be suspended in election year. Ironically, on
May 25, just three weeks before Kryvorizhstal's rigged privatization, the
Industrial Union of Donbas (ISD) filed a lawsuit in Warsaw complaining about
the uneven treatment of the ISD when it submitted a bid for the Huta
Czestochowa steel plant in Poland (Polish News Bulletin, My 25). Touché?
LINK: http://www.jamestown.org
==========================================================
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 99: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
Current Events Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/events/index.htm
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2. U.S. STEEL, LNM APPEAL STEEL MILL RULING IN UKRAINE
Bid $1.5 billion plus another $1.2 billion for capital improvements
Bid was substantially higher than the bid by the winning Ukrainian firm
By Dave Copeland, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, Thursday, June 17, 2004
PITTSBURGH - U.S. Steel Corp. and London-based LNM Group have
asked Ukrainian government officials to investigate the tender process for
the privatization of Kriyviy Rih Mining and Smelting Plant, the country's
largest steel maker.
U.S. Steel and LNM, which formed a consortium to bid on the plant, said the
winning $800.1 million bid by the Investment and Metallurgical Union for the
plant was "substantially lower" than the LNM-U.S. Steel bid of $2.7 billion.
Kriyviv Rih produces for 20 percent of the Ukraine's annual steel
production.
The LNM-U.S. Steel bid for a 93 percent stake in the plant included $1.2
billion for a capital improvement program and guaranteed all existing jobs
at the plant.
Investment and Metallurgical Union is co-headed by Viktor Pinchuk, the
son-in-law of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, and Rinat Akhmetov, a steel
and coal tycoon. The tender offer received five bids, and the Investment and
Metallurgical Union bid was the highest among Ukrainian-based companies by
$50 million.
The tender offer also required bidding companies to have a record of coke
production in the Ukraine. U.S. Steel, headquartered in Pittsburgh, and LNM,
the world's second largest steel maker, struck a deal with a Ukrainian coal
company to meet the stipulation.
Almost all privatizations in the Ukraine since 1997 have been awarded to
Ukrainian companies.
"The consortium is disappointed that the State Property Fund chose to ignore
this opportunity and believes the Ukraine has missed a real opportunity by
effectively ruling out foreign bidders from the privatization of
Kryvorizhstal," LNM and U.S. Steel said in a joint statement.
"A successful privatization should be based on economics and by limiting the
privatization in this way the Ukrainian economy is being deprived of a
competitive tender which would provide substantial additional investment for
the country's development." (END)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dave Copeland can be reached at dcopeland@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7922.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/business/s_199176.html
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 99: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
Ukrainian Culture Gallery: http://www.ArtUkraine.com/cultgallery.htm
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3. UKRAINE WILL NOT REVIEW STEEL MILL SALE
REUTERS, Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, June 17, 2004
KIEV -- Ukraine will not review a tender in which its top steel mill was
sold to a firm controlled by President Leonid Kuchma's son-in-law, the State
Property Fund said on Wednesday, dismissing complaints from foreign bidders.
A consortium uniting Anglo-Dutch company LNM Group and U.S. Steel Corp.
as well as their rival, Russian bidder Severstal, have demanded the review
of the results of the tender to sell a 93.02 percent stake in Kryvorizhstal.
They both said they had been ready to offer more than the $801 million paid
by the winning company, Investment and Steel Union.
The fund's chief, Mykhailo Chechetov, said the decision on the sale of the
leading exporter, which accounts for about 20 percent of Ukraine's total
steel output, was final. "It is 100 percent certainty. There will be no
review," he told reporters. "I can proudly say that the national investor
won in an honest fight."
Foreign bidders have complained that the tender's conditions were
discriminatory and expressed doubts that the steel mill privatization
corresponded to Ukrainian and international laws. LNM and U.S. Steel said
they offered $1.5 billion for the stake and pledged another $1.2 billion for
modernization. Severstal was ready to pay up to $1.2 billion. The starting
price was about $715 million.
Foreign bidders were excluded from the final round of the tender as they
failed to meet conditions including a requirement that the winner must have
been a consumer of Ukrainian coking coal for the last three years, officials
have said.
Ukraine's opposition has denounced the sale as a theft of state property by
oligarchs.
Investment and Steel Union was set up by Viktor Pinchuk, Kuchma's
son-in-law and a businessman with interests in steel, energy and the media,
and by Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's richest man and head of Shakhtar Donetsk
soccer club.
Ukraine plans to increase budget spending by about 11 percent on the back
of higher tax receipts and revenues from a steel mill sale to raise wages
and pensions in an election year, a government official said Wednesday.
The ex-Soviet state is due to vote for a successor to President Leonid
Kuchma in October, with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich seen as one of the
main contenders in the poll. The government plans to raise spending by
about 7.4 billion hryvnas ($1.4 billion) to $13.5 billion, Labor Minister
Mykhailo Papiev said.
"We plan to channel 70 percent of these funds to increase social benefits
for citizens, to raise wages, pensions, student grants, to improve social
infrastructure in villages and work on social issues in the armed forces,"
he told reporters. The bulk of the funds will come from a controversial
privatization of the country's largest steel mill, Kryvorizhstal. (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 99: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
Current Events Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/events/index.htm
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4. KUCHMA UNDER FIRE FOR SALE OF UKRAINIAN STEELMAKER
The Moscow Times, from combined reports,
Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, June 16, 2004
KIEV -- Five Ukrainian lawmakers said they had filed a legal challenge to
Monday's sale of the country's biggest steelmaker to a company co-owned
by President Leonid Kuchma's son-in-law.
"The sale was illegal," Valentyna Semeniuk, the head of the parliamentary
committee for control of asset sales and one of the five lawmakers, said in
an interview with 5 Kanal television. "There was no tender, there was an
imitation of a tender. The privatization of this company was ordered by the
president's family."
A court in Kiev had twice ordered the government to postpone the sale of the
steel company, VAT Kryvorizhstal, after Ukrainian citizens, including two
lawmakers, challenged the June 14 tender. Another court canceled both orders
a day after each was issued.
The steelmaker was sold to Investment and Steel Union, a company run by
Viktor Pinchuk, Kuchma's son-in-law, and a Ukrainian businessman, Rinat
Akhmetov. They paid $800 million.
Ukraine rejected a joint bid from LNM Group, the world's second-largest
steelmaker, and U.S. Steel Corp., the largest in the United States, of $1.5
billion now and $1.2 billion in future investment in the company.
Severstal, Russia's third-largest steel producer, offered $1.2 billion.
Arcelor, the world's largest steelmaker, had said it might join Severstal as
a minority partner.
Ukraine said it rejected the bids from foreigners because they had not
produced at least 1 million tons of coke in the country in the past three
years, one of the conditions of the tender.
"Our national interest in selling this company wasn't only about financial
issues," said Mykhailo Chechetov, the head of the State Property Fund.
"There was a systemic approach that included the coke industry's future."
The fund banned foreign bidders and lawmakers, including the head of the
parliamentary committee for control over state assets sales, from entering
its office while choosing the winner of the tender, Semeniuk said.
"If it takes getting to European courts [to cancel the sale], I'm prepared
to do it," Semeniuk told 5 Kanal on Monday night. "We will submit more
cases to courts. I do believe that we will be able [to cancel the sale] by
November."
Severstal chairman and owner Alexei Mordashov called the tender conditions
"discriminatory -- both to non-residents and to Ukrainian citizens."
"We were ready to pay $1.2 billion to the Ukrainian government for the
stake, which is more than other participants of the tender had offered. Our
consortium has declared straight away to come to the smelter to work at it
and make its products more competitive," Mordashov said. (Bloomberg, MT)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 99: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
Current Events Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/events/index.htm
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5. UKRAINE WILL BE A MAIN EQUIPMENT SUPPLIER TO IRAQI ARMY
Supplying troop carriers and other off-road vehicles from Ukraine
By Tom Warner in Kiev, Financial Times, London, UK, Friday, Jun 18, 2004
KIEV - The soldiers of the new Iraqi army may get a feeling of déjà vu when
they see the equipment selected for them by the US Army. The main items will
be troop carriers and other off-road vehicles from Ukraine, looking very
much like the Soviet machines used by the old Iraqi army.
Anham Joint Venture, a US company formed by A. Huda Farouki, an Iraqi
expatriate businessman, with Saudi and Jordanian partners, said it would
make its first deliveries by July 15 on a $259m (?215m, £141m) Pentagon
contract to equip 28,000 Iraqi soldiers. The deliveries - from dust goggles
to kitchen trailers - are to continue through September 2006. Mr Farouki is
a former business partner of Ahmad Chalabi, the controversial politician and
former exile who served on Iraq's interim governing council.
The contract is a boon for Ukraine, which had a long history of supplying
Iraq in Soviet times and more recently under the UN's "oil- for-food"
programme.
Ukraine sent some 1,700 troops to Iraq last year, and the deal with Anham is
its first commercial contract in Iraq since the regime change. Ukrainian
companies will supply 65 per cent of the contracted equipment, including
some 1,500 16-soldier troop carriers and 2,000 six-soldier wagons, according
to documents posted
Iraqi forces have been equipped for decades with Soviet equipment and
vehicles, so the choice of a former eastern bloc supplier for the newly
reconstituted army seems natural. However, it is just as clear that a desire
to reduce costs and cut corners was a big factor in the Pentagon's choice of
Ukrainian gear.
Dozens of US military suppliers, including General Dynamics and Lockheed
Martin, took part in a pre-tender conference in April. Answers to
prospective bidders' questions, on a US Army internet site, reveal their
disappointment at the minimal requirements. One company official said: "I
could not find a requirement to provide ballistic protection for any of the
vehicles." The army replied: "There is no requirement."
Another prospective bidder wrote: "An open-air ambulance in Iraqi heat would
not support proper medical care. We suggest that air conditioning be a
mandatory requirement." The army replied: "The minimum requirements remain
unchanged."
Anham's prices for trucks start at $19,915, including delivery to a US base
in Iraq and a one-year, 36,000-mile service warranty. Anham's total bid came
in some 40 per cent cheaper than an offer from Poland's military supplier,
Bumar. An Anham spokesman declined to identify specific suppliers or models,
citing security concerns.
Mykola Syruk, a journalist who writes for Ukraine's Defence Express news
agency, said there were only a few models built in Ukraine that would meet
the contract's requirements. These included Kraz heavy trucks produced by
the Kremenchug Automobile Plant and the Hunter, a Russian light sports
utility vehicle produced in Ukraine under licence. Russia's Ulyanovsk
Automobile Plant sold 421 Hunters in February for use by the Iraqi police.
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 99: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
Check Out the News Media for the Latest News From and About Ukraine
Daily News Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/newsgallery.htm
=========================================================
6. UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS U.S. 18-22 JUNE
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 15 Jun 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Tuesday, Jun 15, 2004
KIEV - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko is to visit the
United States on 18-22 June, the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN reported
on 15 June, quoting the foreign ministry.
Hryshchenko is to discuss the Odessa-Brody pipeline, deepening strategic
partnership, the fight against terrorism, the situation in Iraq, Ukraine's
relations with the European Union and NATO, and chances for cooperation
in the energy field.
He is to have talks in Washington with US Secretary of State Colin Powell,
Under Secretary for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky, National Security
Advisor Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, as well
as a number of Congress members. Hryshchenko will also visit New York
for talks with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 99: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
The Genocidal Famine in Ukraine 1932-1933, HOLODOMOR
Genocide Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/famineart/index.htm
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7. DEPUTY CANDIDATE KOZACHENKO ACCUSES AUTHORITIES
OF INTIMIDATING VOTERS IN POLTAVA REGION
Bread denied to voters who refuse to sign statement to support authorities
By Nadia Druzhynina, Ukrainian News, Kiev, Friday, June 18, 2004
POLTAVA - Leonid Kozachenko, a former deputy prime minister, the
president of the Agricultural Confederation and a candidate in the
parliamentary by-election in constituency No.151 (Poltava region), has
accused the authorities of intimidating voters in Novi Sanzhary district of
the region. Kozachenko made this statement to journalists in Poltava.
He said voters in Novi Sanzhary district could not buy bread for three
days after they refused to sign a statement that confirms their intention to
vote for a single candidate from the authorities.
In this form the pressure was exerted on the inhabitants by heads of
agricultural enterprises located in the south of Novi Sanzhary district.
"Bread had not been delivered for three days and buses had been
cancelled," Kozachenko said. All buses to villages in Novi Sanzhary
district had been cancelled for three days.
"They forced people to give a written confirmation that they would
vote for a candidate from the authorities," Kozachenko said.
According to him, one-third of the electorate is passive, depressed by
the pressure of the administration and do not believe in honest election
and that they can vote for a candidate they like. "30% of the voters are
intimidated and do not believe in the possibility to elect," Kozachenko
said.
In addition, he reported on recent numerous attempt of the competitors
to disrupt his meetings with voters, while the authorities want to obstruct
meetings by threatening heads of institutions with dismissals.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Central Electoral Commission
has scheduled the parliamentary by-election in constituency No.151 for
Sunday, June 20, because of the death of parliamentary deputy Ivan
Chetverykov of the Regions of Ukraine fraction.
Constituency No.151 consists of 198 polling stations in Karlivka,
Kobeliaky, Mashivka, Novi Sanzhary, Poltava, and Chutove districts of
Poltava region. Karlivka is the center of the constituency. (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 99: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
Historical Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/histgallery.htm
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8. FREEDOM OF CHOICE CITES NUMEROUS ELECTION
VIOLATIONS IN POLTAVA REGION ELECTION CAMPAIGN
By Nadia Druzhynina, Ukrainian News, Kiev, Ukraine, June 17, 2004
KIEV - Freedom of Choice, coalition of public organizations observing the
preparation for the parliamentary by-election in Constituency No. 151
(Poltava region), has said that numerous election violations are being
committed in the constituency by members of the local election commission
and parliamentary candidates.
Freedom of Choice's representative Oleksandr Solontai disclosed this
to Ukrainian News. According to him, the most common election violations
are bribery of voters through provision of free goods and services to them.
Members of regional, district, and rural administrations participating
in training seminars directly exerted pressure on members of district
election commissions, according to Freedom of Choice.
In particular, Freedom of Choice noted violations involving voting
lists. According to Freedom of Choice, many voter lists contains the
names of a large number of "dead souls' and minors.
Members of the district election commission No. 4 refused to cooperate
with representatives of the coalition when they were asked to correct
inaccuracies uncovered during inspection of voter lists, according to
Freedom of Choice.
Moreover, Freedom of Choice said that voter lists at other district
election commission were merely amended with pencils instead of the
names of dead people actually being removed. Freedom of Choice
further said that the campaign products of many candidates did not
contain the required information.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Central Electoral Commission
has scheduled the parliamentary by-election in Constituency No. 151
(Poltava region) for Sunday, June 20.
The commission scheduled the by-election in the constituency because
of the death of Parliamentary Deputy Ivan Chetverykov of the Regions
of Ukraine fraction.
Constituency No. 151 consists of the Karlivka, Kobeliaky, Mashivka,
Novi Sanzhary, Poltava, and Chutove districts of the Poltava region.
Karlivka is the center of the constituency. (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 99: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/index.htm
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9. UKRAINE'S PRESIDENT ENDORSES NEW MILITARY DOCTRINE
By Aleksandar Vosocic, AP Online; Thursday, Jun 17, 2004
KIEV - Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma endorsed a new defensive military
doctrine that embraces Ukraine's goal to join NATO and the European Union
and identifies international terrorism as a key threat to the nation's
security.
"Ukraine doesn't consider any state as its enemy. At the same time, Ukraine
will consider its potential enemy any state, which would threaten vital
national interests by an unfriendly policy," says the document posted
Thursday on the Ukrainian parliament's Web site.
The document also identifies NATO and the EU as "guarantors of peace and
stability in Europe" and notes that it is this former Soviet republic's goal
to join them. However, Ukraine's membership in either organization is not
considered imminent.
NATO's secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Schefer warned recently that
Ukraine must improve democratic and human rights standards and complete
military reforms before it joins the alliance.
The doctrine lists international and domestic terrorist activities,
encroachment on Ukraine's constitutional system or territorial integrity,
and foreign interference in Ukrainian military activities as key threats to
national security. Although it acknowledges the low possibility of
aggression, the new doctrine calls for strict self-defense.
"To defend itself against an aggression, Ukraine will apply all forms, ways
and means of resistance ... (the) transfer of military activities to the
aggressor's territory with an aim of its total defeat is an option," the
doctrine says.
The document, which replaces Ukraine's 1993 military doctrine, is based
on the current assessment of the security situation and on Ukraine's limited
defense spending. Ukrainian defense experts and lawmakers began drafting
the new doctrine in 2001, shortly after Sept. 11 terror attacks in the
United States.
The new doctrine also reasserts Ukraine's readiness to participate in
international peacekeeping operations. Ukraine currently participates in
several UN peacekeeping missions and maintains a battalion within NATO's
contingent in Kosovo. It also deployed some 1,700 troops to Iraq as a part
of the U.S.-led coalition. (av/mb) (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 99: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
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10. POPULAR UKRAINIAN LEADER YUSHCHENKO DECIDES TO
JOIN UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE
By Aleksandar Vasovic, AP Online, Kiev, Ukraine, Tue, Jun 15, 2004
KIEV - Ukraine's most popular politician, opposition leader Viktor
Yushchenko, named a campaign manager on Tuesday _ acknowledging in
a low-key way that he will run in the October election to replace President
Leonid Kuchma.
Although he has yet to submit his nomination to the country's election
commission, the Western-leaning Yushchenko told reporters that he had
appointed another opposition politician, Oleksandr Zinchenko, to "be
responsible for the overall coordination of my campaign."
Zinchenko, a deputy parliamentary speaker, will serve as the liaison between
Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc and its potential partners from a group of
parties loyal to another pro-Western politician, Yulia Tymoshenko, and the
Socialist Party of Ukraine. "The coalition deal may be signed within the
next few days," Yushchenko said.
His main opponent in the Oct. 31 vote will be Prime Minister Viktor
Yanukovich, who last month received backing from Kuchma. The president has
said repeatedly he will not run, although the Constitutional Court ruled he
could seek re-election. Yushchenko claimed on Tuesday that Kuchma and his
allies could try to stage a coup in an attempt to prevent the opposition
from winning.
"A (key) opposition candidate might be removed .. the authorities could
stage a coup," he said in an interview with Kiev's Public Radio. He did not
elaborate.
Opposition politicians have repeatedly blamed Kuchma and his associates for
the decline of democracy and media freedoms over the last decade. Kuchma's
10-year tenure has been plagued by corruption scandals and shadowed by the
unsolved killings of independent journalists and politicians.
"If I don't win, it will be a 15-year setback for Ukraine," Yushchenko said.
Communist Party leader Petro Simonenko and the president of the Ukrainian
Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Anatoly Kinakh, have also hinted
they will run for the presidency but their chances are considered slim.
According to the latest opinion polls, 37 percent of Ukrainians would
support Yushchenko and 26 percent will vote for Yanukovich. (av/nl/ji)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 99: ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
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11. RUSSIAN NEWSPAPER PUBLISHES "OPEN LETTER" TO RUSSIANS
FROM UKRAINE'S PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Moscow, Russia, in Russian 11 Jun 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Monday, Jun 14, 2004
A Russian newspaper has published "an open letter" from Ukrainian opposition
leader and presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko. On the surface, it is a
message of congratulations to the Russian people on Independence Day, 12
June. In reality, the letter amounts to an appeal stressing the need for a
clear strategy in bilateral relations for the medium and long term,
especially economic, an appeal "for extreme honesty and openness" in
bilateral ties.
The following is the text of the open letter as published in the Russian
newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta on 11 June:
Esteemed Russian citizens!
Allow me to share with you my pride for the Russian people on this momentous
day [Russian Independence Day, Saturday 12 June], which many supporters of
Russian-Ukrainian friendship, among whose sincere adherents I rank myself,
are celebrating in Ukraine in conjunction with your country.
It is gratifying for us to see the successes that have been achieved by the
renewed Russia and we are convinced that this is the only way that real
friends should feel.
I think that such admissions are nothing new for Russia. There have been
many fine and correct words said of late about prospects for our relations.
There have been various opportunities for this, but it can be said on the
whole that assurances of friendship and affection for Russia have become a
sign of good form in Ukrainian political circles.
However, the success of our cooperation is determined not by the number of
hugs and kisses at the highest level or even by the number of agreements and
treaties signed. We need a clear-cut strategy for bilateral relations for
the medium and long term which presupposes a new algorithm for cooperation,
the development of a fundamentally new nature of economic relations. And
this strategy must be based on clear coordination of national interests and
analysis of our real potential, primarily economic potential.
We need an "open-handed" policy of frank and responsible partnership which
completely rules out innuendo, even couched in fine, meaningless diplomatic
terminology.
We have already had the Year of Ukraine in Russia. There has also been the
Year of Russia in Ukraine. Why should this year not be declared sincerity
year? That would be particularly important in a Ukrainian presidential
election year [election takes place this October]. It is at this time that
relations between our countries are in need of extreme honesty and openness.
First and foremost, it is necessary to stop misleading Russian citizens -
the upcoming elections in Ukraine are by no means a choice between Russia
and Europe, a battle between "pro-Western" and "pro-Russian" forces. The
crisis phenomena in Ukraine's national development can only be overcome by
means of a real change in the quality and style of domestic and foreign
policy, leaving aside clan or corporate interests and giving precedence
solely to the interests of our countries' peoples. Ukrainian society is
demonstrating an increasing readiness for this. The elections represent the
only possible chance for this.
Stability in Ukraine, in which representatives of the Russian political
elite have repeatedly declared an interest, is threatened not by the
elections per se or by the inevitable change of regime. The threat of
destabilization lies in the ruling regime's desire to maintain its power at
any price. We are worried by the incumbent Ukrainian authorities' obtrusive
attempts to involve Russia in resolving their personal problems and to make
up for the lack of public support by means of the "Putin resource" by taking
advantage of the kind feelings that Ukrainians traditionally harbour towards
Russia and Russian citizens.
We advocate continuity in politics. At the same time, what is equally
important for the state elite is an ability to leave in the past certain
habits and stereotypes that impede progress. The Russian regime has given us
an important lesson, having been able at a crucial stage in state
organizational development clearly to separate long-term interests and
current instruments, abandoning outdated notions of the world and itself.
Our peoples, acquiring in exchange forward-looking ideas and progressive
technologies, will take a far more confident view of the future if they join
hands and greet the challenges of the time together.
For this to happen it is necessary, in my view, to take several steps to
accommodate one another.
Step one is to close and put on the shelf the gripping, tragedy-filled
historic work entitled "The USSR is our homeland".
Step two is to evaluate all the pledges, debts, treaties, overtures and
complaints that have built up in our diplomatic services' baggage over the
past 10 years. Some of them may have already lost their significance and are
not worth the paper on which they are written. Let us dispose of ballast.
Step three is to clearly, without innuendo and ambiguity, to determine the
format for our cooperation in the political, economic and cultural spheres.
Needless to say, this may also serve as the foundation for organizing
lasting multilateral relations.
Step four is to move on to specific action and joint decisions in all
spheres of interstate relations. We include in this primarily the formation
of a free trade zone, mutual assistance for our countries' admission to the
WTO, the establishment of order on the borders and the abrogation and
prevention in the future of any discriminatory measures in respect of our
two countries' citizens.
Dear Russian citizens!
It is no coincidence that I have chosen this day for my appeal. In my view,
it is the ideals of freedom and independence that constitute a common
foundation which will help us to acquire mutual understanding and confidence
in one another. I am convinced that a real patriot of Russia will be able to
respect only a patriotic regime in Ukraine. And friendship without respect
is just a fraud. I am convinced of the sincerity of our friendship.
Sincerely yours,
[Signed] Viktor Yushchenko; [Dated] Kiev, 11 June 2004 (END)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 99: ARTICLE NUMBER TWELVE
Historical Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/histgallery.htm
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12. UKRAINIAN-ISRAELI BUSINESSMAN VADYM RABYNOVYCH
HITS AT ANTI-SEMITISM IN UKRAINE
Interview with Ukrainian-Israeli Businessman Vadym Rabynovych
By Viktor Shlynchak and Yuliya Lymar
Glavred, Kiev, Ukraine, in Russian, 26 May 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Jun 08, 2004
Ukrainian-Israeli businessman Vadym Rabynovych has said he no longer
pursues careers in either business or politics. Speaking in an interview, he
accused Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz and the Silski Visti
newspaper of stirring up anti-Semitism in the run-up to the presidential
elections.
Despite this, he believes that Ukraine has made huge advances in interethnic
relations although the country has a bad image abroad.
The following is an excerpt from the interview Rabynovych gave to Viktor
Shlynchak and Yuliya Lymar, published on the Ukrainian web site Glavred on
26 May; subheadings have been inserted editorially:
Some people are like off-road vehicles or steamers. Vadym Rabynovych is a
man for a scandal. Mr Rabynovych, who values tolerance above all else, often
finds himself at the epicentre of certain unpleasant things.
All this began back in the distant 1980s, when the young specialist, a
foreman at a construction and repair directorate in the town of Bohodukhiv
was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment. Nothing was heard of him for ages,
and then he suddenly re-emerged, this time, as a more than well provided-for
man, a citizen of Ukraine and Israel, a media magnate and a top man in
various Jewish organizations.
ANTI-SEMITISM
As far as the Jewish question is concerned, Vadym Rabynovych is a consistent
and resolute fighter against anti-Semitism in Ukraine. The surprising thing
is that the closer the elections get, the more people there are who want to
ignite the spark of the flame. And there is no knowing whether the fire
would flare up from it if Mr Rabynovych was not standing on guard of
international friendship. He warned about the increase in the number of
anti-Semitic publications in 1998, spoke about the attempts to drag the
Jewish community into politics in the summer of 2002, and is now distracted
by a fight against the anti-Semites of Silski Visti.
Apart from the anti-Semitism, Mr Rabynovych has more than once figured in
political scandals. Up to now, incidentally, no-one really knows why he was
at one time extradited out of Ukraine, or why he was allowed to return. It
is also not clear, how much truth, and how much shock-value there was in the
book Oligarch by the German journalist Jurgen Roth, and was it true that the
hero of the novel had anything to do with the real "tape scandal"? It is
also quite a mystery why there was a split between Vadym Rabynovych and
[media-magnate MP] Andriy Derkach: after all, were not previously these
names linked in one deputy's question about the illegal trade in weapons?
There are a number of other questions, too.
Setting off for our interview with Mr Rabynovych we knew in advance that we
could not expect answers to all our questions, and he feels no particular
need to reveal all his secrets today. But sooner or later we will find out
what he is really like and if he is a man for a scandal.
INTERVIEW
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Vadym Zynovyevych, one article about the last congress
of Ukrainian Jews, quoted you as saying that the longer [Ukrainian
President] Leonid Kuchma remains in his post, the more comfortable it will
be for all ethnic groups in Ukraine. Can you clarify this statement for us?
[Rabynovych] The point is that in the heat of a political struggle, that is
right now, it is better to be in one boat and throw stones at the other.
Objectivity goes out of the window and all that remains is a shell of
political persuasions, replacing people's conscience, morals and all the
rest.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Are you decoding or putting it into code? Are we are
talking about a conflict between the Jews and Silski Visti or a much deeper
problem?
[Rabynovych] Behind the article in Silski Visti, in my opinion, stands a
meaningless "need to vote". [Socialist Party leader Oleksandr] Moroz had
already discredited himself in the eyes of all when in one election, with
the Kaniv Four [opposition alliance at 1999 general elections], he received
how many, 3 per cent of the vote? Now, according to various polls, he is
trusted by 3 or 2 per cent of the electorate. At the same time he (the
leader of the socialists - Ed.) speaks on behalf of the whole people! And
with what?
INTERETHNIC RELATIONS NOT A PROBLEM IN UKRAINE
>From the point of view of international peace - and this is the standpoint
of our congress in assessing what is happening in Ukraine - there can be no
forgiving Moroz! Even we, only used to having a dig at someone of our own
country, for some reason are afraid to say that we have built a normal
inter-ethnic society. And you will scarcely find a country in Europe which
is more stable than Ukraine in its tolerance towards ethnic minorities and
in its absence of conflicts. So why do we keep silent about this? Just to
avoid a quarrel with opposition politicians do I have to say that the
economic situation is bad - Kuchma is to blame, the interethnic situation is
fine - again because of Kuchma? That's wrong! You will not expect this from
me! I will only speak objectively as I have always done. Since this
president has been in office, in matters of inter-ethnic relations, I
believe that Ukraine has become one of the most advanced countries in the
world.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Advanced, in what way?
[Rabynovych] Advanced in the sense that we do not have that problem as
such. We are not intolerant. It's only now, in the run-up to the elections,
that this gang is stirring it all up. Am I making myself clear?
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Perfectly.
[Rabynovych] There is no other way I can describe the people who are
stirring up a bonfire in their own home. God willing what we are seeing in
Azerbaijan or in Armenia will not happen here. If anyone thinks that this
fire only concerns other people, someone else's home - this is nonsense. It
can flare up anywhere.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] But for the time being, it seems, not everything is so
bad, is it? Could you be exaggerating the size of the problem?
[Rabynovych] On the contrary, I say this: "We have something good - let us
cherish and look after it." We have in our country one great achievement -
inter-ethnic peace. What hatred for their own people, what nihilism Silski
Visti must have to do what they are doing. I have not met a single
politician in Ukraine who has said to me that what Silski Visti writes is
honest and correct. Not one.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] What about Oleksandr Moroz?
[Rabynovych] First of all, I have never heard Moroz say that this is an
honest publication. After all has been said it would be very hard for him,
although everyone knows that he is behind this provocation.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Who are these "everyone"? And how, for example, do
you know about this?
[Rabynovych] I will stop there. Do you mind? I have already heard Moroz's
statement that he has nothing to do with Silski Visti, and I have heard
[Socialist MP] Ivan Bokyy's statement that the Socialist Party has nothing
to do with Silski Visti. I don't believe that.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Why?
[Rabynovych] For 70 years they had nothing to do with Pravda or Izvestiya.
They used to say that they were not theirs, not communist, but left-wing
papers. They lied for 70 years and they are still lying now. You journalists
are intelligent people, you tell me - does the Socialist Party have anything
to do with Silski Visti, well?
[Shlynchak, Lymar] We have not studied the founding documents of the paper.
[Rabynovych] You all know perfectly well. It's all too obvious. This paper
is the operational news sheet of the Socialist Party. And they knew exactly
what they were doing. I used to listen to deputies of the Socialist Party
who would laugh and say: "Yes, this is to our advantage, we need the
ratings." Every man-jack journalist I spoke to said the same. There were 20
people from [opposition right-wing] Our Ukraine I was chatting to and I
asked them: "Why haven't you spoken out?" They said: "We are all against."
What is this "against"? What are these political games? Are they afraid they
might frighten off Moroz in case he leaves the opposition bloc and moves to
the party of power? Okay, let all the ethnic minorities in the country talk
like that to boost Moroz's ratings.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Have you as leader of a Jewish organization met Oleksandr
Moroz?
[Rabynovych] I suggest that your respected publication organize a meeting
between me and Oleksandr Moroz at your editorial offices. We will answer
any questions you like. We have no objections against such a meeting. I am
prepared to say everything publicly. Why not go ahead and do it?
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Have you suggested such a meeting to Moroz?
[Rabynovych] I have spoken with his battle deputies, twice at Hromadske
Radio with Bokyy, I have been on 5 Kanal [TV]. I myself have heard stupid,
fascist statements from Bokyy. For example, on 5 Kanal he said that if there
were not 400,000 SS-Jews, then exactly 100,000 entered the country with the
German troops. It is a shame to me that he (Bokyy - ed) is an elderly man.
Had he been a bit younger, I would have punched him in the face for such
insults. He should come to our congress and look at these "SS-men" with all
their decorations.
JEWISH CONGRESS WELL REPRESENTED
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Going back to the congress of Jews, how true are reports
that you were given an ultimatum that either [Prime Minister Viktor]
Yanukovych or [Our Ukraine bloc leader Viktor] Yushchenko would come?
[Rabynovych, laughing] You know, that's the first time I've heard it. Let us
begin with the fact that during the time of the congress Viktor Yanukovych
was in Brussels, and even if he wanted to he could not have come to us. I
very much hope that if he had been in the country, Mr Yanukovych would
undoubtedly have attended our congress. This was felt from his letter and
from the fact that Volodymyr Rybak [from the Party of Regions] came to our
congress, the only one in the country which was attended by representatives
of all political parties. If you had noticed, we had greetings from the
president read out, Viktor Yushchenko, Volodymyr Rybak and other worthy
people spoke. At other congresses some people are allowed in, others aren't.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] In your view, will the Jewish issue be used as an
election technique?
[Rabynovych] I have said to everyone a hundred times, and I will repeat it
to you: no-one will succeed in dragging the Jewish community to support this
or that political force.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] And to oppose it?
[Rabynovych] That's quite possible. If any political force starts advocating
stirring up inter-ethnic discord, we will reply. Professor [Volodymyr]
Yaremenko writes that the Jews arrived in Ukraine to rape all the women and
kill the men. How can this be allowed?! How can an educated man say that?
And they are all now academics, corresponding-members. In our Inter-Regional
Academy of Personnel Management [IAPM] everyone who makes an
anti-Semitic statement is given a cloak, a diploma of an Honorary Doctor of
the academy and an order. They have nine orders, 20,000, 15,000 or 10,000
each. I believe that Bokyy - I can feel it in my bones - in the next few
days will become a corresponding-member.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Let's move away a little from the situation with Silski
Visti. You said that the Jews may be used to oppose.
[Rabynovych] No, not used. They can simply provoke us. Even my position -
which I believe is more moderate than most of the congress delegates - is
already becoming more radical. I believe that our opposition is
insufficient, that we are indulging and giving the opportunity to the Bokyys
and the Yaremenkos to speak. But what is offensive is that not many of our
journalist colleagues have supported us.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] As we understand it, the media should not fight, they
should be above fighting and simply inform.
[Rabynovych] A merry clash of our delusions. Name me a country in which
the media should not fight? We are still a long way from being informative,
because no-one is yet giving any information in a pure form. When people
have equal access to television, radio and the newspapers we will be
informing. At the moment, unfortunately, we are battling it out at the
front.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Today many people joke that Vadym Rabynovych
himself funded this scandal, just to be, as always, at the epicentre of
events.
[Rabynovych, becoming irritated] Yes, of course I funded Professor
Yaremenko to write a nasty article. What a great idea! Then, so I'm told,
I funded Silski Visti on behalf of the IAPM to put this article in their
paper and then I forced them to publish it. All for myself. I will try to
put it
to you nicely - I think that even you do not believe all this paranoia.
Although, judging from what you say, you are still interested in it.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Since we are joking, how much of a joke was it of your
deputy in the Jewish Organization, [Our Ukraine MP] Yevhen Chervonenko,
who said that he could never leave Our Ukraine, otherwise this would mean
that the Jews had given in to Yushchenko?
[Rabynovych] Nobody appointed Mr Chervonenko my deputy, in the first
place. Eight vice-presidents were elected, and one of them was Mr
Chervonenko.
I told him and I am telling you: I am not interested what political parties
the vice-presidents of our organization belong to. That's their right as
Ukrainian citizens. I don't even know where they all are, apart from
Chervonenko. I wouldn't even know what party he is in, and he is always
going on about it. Mr Chervonenko is an expressive man, and if I were you I
would treat his words accordingly. He cannot leave the Orlan [company] now,
otherwise people will think he has resigned. He's that sort of man,
impulsive, but honest.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] And yet, if we are not to speak about personalities, is
support for or opposition to the Jewish Organization at the elections enough
to interest you?
[Rabynovych] I repeat: participation in this or that political force has
nothing to do with participation in the Jewish Organization. I, for example,
three weeks ago was a member of the Rainbow party.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Pardon?
[Rabynovych] We have such an ecological party. Ecology is the one problem
which has interested me in the past eight years. I worked with the Greens
and with Rainbow. But this does not mean that I will go on the platform and
say: "Esteemed congress delegates, register now and vote for [Rainbow leader
Mykhaylo] Hutsol." These are my personal views. Some vice-presidents of the
organization, on the contrary, seem to want to politicize the situation, Mr
Chervonenko more than the others.
ECOLOGISTS SHOULD COME TO POWER
[Shlynchak, Lymar] What are your personal political convictions?
[Rabynovych] What is needed is not for the Communists, not the left and not
the right, but the romantics to come to power in the country. The
ecologists, for example. Everybody underestimates such problems! I would put
the ecologists at the head of the system and the rest in opposition. That's
what the country should be like! But this is not within my power. I think
that the country will still choose - whether it likes it or not - between
representatives of the opposition and the power. And when we approach the
elections, I will see how the candidates speak out on inter-ethnic issues. I
will vote for those who seem the most tolerant.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Vadym Zinovyevych, there seem to be a whole lot of myths
mixed in with the truth about the Jewish world community. Now [MP, magnate
and President Kuchma's son-in-law] Viktor Pinchuk, for example, is very busy
with international contacts: he is arranging meetings between the president
and [former US State Secretary] Henry Kissinger, [US financier] George
Soros, and [former US President] George Bush, senior. Who is more
influential worldwide today - your organization or Viktor Pinchuk?
[Rabynovych] You might as well ask who has more influence on the situation
on the grain markets - Yasir Arafat or Muamar Qadhafi? What's Viktor
Pinchuk got to do with it? He hasn't been active in our organizations for a
long time. His contacts, as far as I am aware, have been motivated more by
economic schemes. I don't deny, he might have had meetings with
representatives of Jewish organizations, he also could have met with
representatives of some Muslim organizations. I, for example, as president
of the Jewish community, together with the American Jewish Committee sat
down all night with Yasir Arafat in a bunker trying to persuade him to end
the war. But all these "Jewish plots" are such hackneyed things.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Nevertheless, various Jewish organizations do exist. In
your opinion, how strong is the influence of world Jewish organizations on
the politics of such a young and attractive state as Ukraine?
[Rabynovych] Do we simply want to believe that serious political and
economic world structures are sitting down and thinking what will happen in
Ukraine tomorrow? Unfortunately, the reality is much worse: 90 per cent of
them do not even know where Ukraine is. US senator [John] McCain told
me that "Ukraine is a small country in Siberia."
UKRAINE'S POOR IMAGE ABROAD
Don't delude yourself: Ukraine today is in the political backwoods. It is in
the backwoods of interests, because the stereotype of Ukraine - I don't want
to accuse anyone - is formed on the basis of the words of all those who
travel abroad, arrange press-conferences and talk about us. They don't say
that the people in power are bad, they say the country is bad. And so one
thing flows into another, a second to a third, and the third back to the
first, and as a result one thing is clear: they are all one great mysterious
package. I don't know if they realize it or not, but a Ukrainian passport
today is a black mark abroad.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Even your passport?
[Rabynovych] Of course, after all these scandals they look upon Ukrainians
as a group who will either pinch something or kill someone. And when they
take on Ukrainian workers in the Czech Republic or Portugal, they pay them
less than the Russians. But no-one thinks about this! I have said many
times: look at this parliament, no-one there is wearing a suit cheaper than
1,000 dollars. And everyone's declaration shows that they earn 50 dollars a
month. But who do they take us for, these left-wingers and right-wingers?
It's all simple: two financial-industrial groups are fighting among
themselves - one in power, and the other detached from power. Ninety per
cent of those in opposition used to be in power.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] So what, people's views can change?
[Rabynovych] They can, but one cannot abandon one's views. Moroz was the
head of the country's parliament, did that mean you had more meat on your
plate? No. Why? "Because I'm not the president," he says. If you could get
more meat when you were head of parliament, I would have believed that one
could get even more when you became president. It's a fight for a trough,
for a long spoon. And the people are being dragged into this war like sheep
for this or that.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] What's the way out? One or the other has to win.
[Rabynovych] For Ukraine as a state, where the problem was always with the
hetmans [Cossack leaders], the ideal method was the Cossack circle. If you
recall, in the Zaporizhzhya Host no methods of rule took root, apart from
one - the circle. When the hetman tried to become monarch with unlimited
powers, this always ended badly for Ukraine. I believe the ideal is
Switzerland, where a referendum is held twice a week on key issues. And the
people take part in running things. But in our country the people are either
shut off, or they get 20 hryvnyas to take part in a demonstration, either as
the opposition or as the power. In Stolichnyye Novosti we published a story
which in any other country would have been a sensation, but nobody even so
much as looked at us.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] What was it about?
[Rabynovych] We found a firm which offered services for organizing
demonstrations. We described everything and photographed it. Those on the
left had placards saying "Get Kuchma!", "Down with the criminal regime!",
and on the right they said "Yushchenko won't make it!" "Put Tymoshenko
behind bars!". All this can be rented. Is that normal?
TRUST AND MISTRUST OF THE MEDIA
[Shlynchak, Lymar] What politics will Mig-News and Stolichnyye Novosti be
conducting during the election campaign?
[Rabynovych] Mig-News and Stolichnyye Novosti, to my joy and profound
satisfaction, were the only independent media at the last elections. You
open ours and on the left there is an interview with [presidential
administration head Viktor] Medvedchuk, on the right - Yushchenko. On the
left (on the newspaper page -Ed) [Our Ukraine MP Yuriy] Kostenko, on the
right [Medvedchuk-lined MP Nestor] Shufrych. We had [populist leader
Yuliya] Tymoshenko and all the rest. I don't know any other such
publications. And, what's more, neither those nor any other politicians pay
me for this, believe me.
I think that in the future we will be able to stay tolerant. At the same
time, of course, some people don't like one thing, others something else.
But that paranoia which goes on today in the media, the hysteria of one
against another, won't help us. We will be the only ones in this country who
will stay outside the fight. That means we will be the most objective and
the most popular.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Do you think the media influence politics?
[Rabynovych] Yes, I believe they do. The simple fact is that some media are
trusted less, others more. But the general nihilism in relation to the
media, even to the more or less honest ones - after all, there is no such
thing as absolutely honest media - is not decreasing.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Why?
[Rabynovych] Because of the crudeness and bluntness of the media themselves.
But as for the people not trusting the media, you don't believe this either.
People are intelligent. They can see through the media. They allow for their
cliches but they accept the information. And it is not for nothing that an
information war is being waged.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Between whom?
[Rabynovych] It's a war of the politicians; the media is just a tool. It is
not by chance that nine groups of political experts of various countries and
peoples are sitting here. They swoop down like kites. They sense the smell
of battle. And it may be, just may be that something special comes out of
the clash of opinions. Then it will not be one of the groups - it is not
important whether it is Kuchma's, Yushchenko's or Yanukovych's - who will
tackle all the issues.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] And with what group do you think it would be easier to
tackle the issues?
[Rabynovych] For me it would be easiest to tackle issues with [Green leader
Vitaliy] Kononov, because these are my friends, the Greens. We speak the
same language. I believe that it would be a good thing if today deputies got
up and went to the Chernobyl sarcophagus and then took three specialists and
tried to tell them what would happen to all of them in parliament - with the
right, the left and the rest, if all this falls apart.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] And what, in your opinion, has happened to the former
oligarchs? Have they faded out?
[Rabynovych] They have split into separate pieces. About five to seven
super-oligarchs have emerged.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] In the lists before the presidential elections your name
was there among the oligarchs.
[Rabynovych] I am not arguing about that right now. You can say what you
like, but don't muddle up the names. You live in Ukraine, journalists are
reasonable people. What's you definition of an oligarch?
[Shlynchak, Lymar] A man who earns his money through politics.
[Rabynovych] Fine. In Russia oligarchs those who, by way of political
influence, illegal privatization and huge possibilities of their lobbying
became billionaires, were called oligarchs. In Ukraine you will scarcely
find a factory or a plant or a bank which I was able to privatize. Shall we
work on cliches or facts?
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Facts.
[Rabynovych] Can you name me one enterprise which I received when I was
in power, which I privatized thanks to my influence, my connections or
whatever?
[Shlynchak, Lymar] We don't have access to the information of the Ukraine
Security [and Defence] Council, for which you were expelled from the
country.
[Rabynovych] Let's come back to this question later. So, you don't know of a
single enterprise. So does the Security Council give any information about
the rest? Why write specific names, factories and plants about the rest?
Because you can't find a black cat in a dark room, if it isn't there.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] But you got the money somewhere.
[Rabynovych] Many Ukrainian services checked me many times. My businesses
are open and understood. We deal in big boards, outside advertising, we made
the first insurance company when no-one had dealt in this. I dealt in metal,
when it was not known in the country what this was, and then they started to
privatize desirable enterprises, but I just dealt in metal. We are a company
which operates properly on the market.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] In the last parliamentary convocation were there people
who lobbied your interests?
[Rabynovych] No. Unfortunately, I have a lot of friends in parliament but I
have nothing to lobby.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] It is well known that in Ukraine all businesses are
lobbied by someone.
[Rabynovych] That's business. But I haven't dealt in business for ages. I
gave it up a long time ago.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Why was that?
[Rabynovych] In our country they have never taken to people who don't like
to bow and scrape. I'm not the right person to be in power. [Passage
omitted: criticism of Green Party's performance at last elections]
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Let's go back to your business.
[Rabynovych] I really don't want to deal with business in Ukraine. I have
earned a bit of money - not a lot compared to our billionaires, but quite
enough for my media holding to exist. I don't want to get on the political
bus.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] But why don't you want to be in business?
[Rabynovych] I don't want to be in business because I don't need to bow and
scrape and crawl around on all fours.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] But for your media business to do well you will have to.
[Rabynovych] No. I don't need anything for my business to prosper. Nobody
gives me instructions what to do. And nobody forces me to withdraw the
article on Yushchenko or Tymoshenko. Not one person in this country has
phoned me and said: "Withdraw the article". Never, and they never will.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] What I mean is, for your business to prosper you need
contacts in the tax service.
[Rabynovych] I completely disagree with you. You say what you want to say:
if you want a most favoured regime and get subsidies for your newspaper, so
that at the end of the month they give you 20,000 to distribute to
journalists, probably you need to work for some party. It has already been
suggested to me from various quarters: get big-boys of one party interested,
bribe a newspaper before the end of the elections, and so on. But we get by
without subsidies. Often we upset some people by what we publish. So what?
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Is it possible that tomorrow the money will simply run
out?
[Rabynovych] Yes, that's possible.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] When might this "tomorrow" be - in a month, six months, a
year?
[Rabynovych] That's a good question. You know, I think, give me a year and I
'll get by. At least, until the elections. After that, I don't know. I can't
guess what fate has in store. I'm very satisfied with my lot. If there were
anything they could possibly hang on me, they would have pissed themselves
laughing. [Rabynovych grins - Ed] So what? We all have our friends. One
immediately rushes to rescue you, another to sell you out. That's life.
[Passage omitted: relations with Andriy Derkach; oligarchs should spend
money on restoring cathedrals]
[Shlynchak, Lymar] You mix with politicians a lot. Is there one man among
them you trust?
[Rabynovych] You want to ask if there is someone whom I would give my wallet
to look after? Probably there are many. Why would they want my small
savings? They have more. And is it possible to give someone a letter with a
request not to reveal something? I don't know. I certainly wouldn't to the
Socialist Party.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] What forecast would you make for the coming presidential
elections: who will triumph in the country and the main thing - what will
change from it?
[Rabynovych] I won't make any predictions. Moreover, I know for myself who
will win. But I won't say, because my words will be interpreted as political
engineering. I won't say whether it is good or bad. I have one hope since I
mix with business and in many countries with the most serious people: they
expect very serious things from Ukraine, and it could become such a rich
gold mine.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Are you an optimist?
[Rabynovych] You know what is the difference between an optimist and a
pessimist?
[Shlynchak, Lymar] A pessimist is a well-informed optimist.
[Rabynovych] That's one version. I know a lot of others. I am an optimist,
because I look at all this and I continue to talk to them. What is happening
in our politics? In what way are those in parliament better than one
another? They sat down together, agreed among themselves and during the
division they scattered. It strikes me - the socialists, the communists -
they're all birds of a feather. I am an optimist, because theoretically I
want to go to Hawaii, lie under a palm tree and do nothing.
[Shlynchak, Lymar] Could you last two days like that?
[Rabynovych] No, I am already getting on. I can stand a lot of things.
Because it is getting harder to get up and harder to fight. But I'll make
it! (END)
==========================================================
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