US-Ukraine Business Council

"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR"
An International Newsletter
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"

OPTING FOR TRUTH OVER 'TRIUMPH'
May 9, when the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II
is celebrated in Moscow.

"But if we are to avoid turning the anniversary of the end of World War
II into a celebration of the triumph of Stalinism, more should be done.
To begin with, Congress should vote on a resolution proposed this month
by Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.), which calls on Russia to condemn the
Nazi-Soviet pact as well as the illegal annexation of the Baltic states.
'The truth is a powerful weapon for healing, forgiving and reconciliation,"
the resolution states, in a burst of unusual congressional eloquence,
"but its absence breeds distrust, fear and hostility.'

"...a war anniversary is a purely symbolic event. Each commemoration
helps all of us remember what happened and why it happened, and each
commemoration helps us draw relevant lessons for the future. To falsify
the record -- to commemorate the triumph of totalitarianism rather than its
defeat -- sends the wrong message to new and would-be democracies in
Europe, the former Soviet Union and the rest of the world." [article one]

"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR" - Number 472
E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Washington, D.C. and Kyiv, Ukraine, THURSDAY, April 28, 2005

------INDEX OF ARTICLES------
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"

1. OPTING FOR TRUTH OVER 'TRIUMPH'
By Anne Applebaum, Columnist
The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005; Page A23

2. MR. PUTIN'S VERDICT
EDITORIAL: The Washington Post
Washington, D.C., Wednesday, April 27, 2005; Page A22

3. REBELLION IN THE BACKYARD PUTS PARANOID
MOSCOW ON THE DEFENSIVE
WORLD BRIEFING: by Simon Tisdall
The Guardian, London, United Kingdom, Tue, Apr 26, 2005

4. LEVKO LUKYANENKO: "HERO OF UKRAINE"
Fought long and hard against the Soviets
In 1961 he was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death.
The Day Weekly Digest in English, #14
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 26, 2005

5. POLISH PRESIDENT DISCUSSES POLISH, EU'S RELATIONS
WITH RUSSIA, UKRAINE, BELARUS
Ukraine is not a new problem for the EU, it is an opportunity.
Die Presse web site, Vienna, Austria, in German 23 Apr 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Mon, Apr 25, 2005

6. A RAW NERVE: MYROSLAVA GONGADZE'S NEW BOOK
By Volodymyr Soniuk, The Day
The Day Weekly Digest in English, #14
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 26, 2005

7. UKRAINE: WHO NEEDS A CHEAP DOLLAR?
The middle class loses its savings
COMMENTARY: By Vitaly Kniazhansky, The Day
The Day Weekly Digest In English, #14
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, 26 April 2005

8. UKRAINE CENTRAL BANK CHIEF DEFENDS HRYVNYA RISE
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 27 Apr 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Apr 27, 2005

9. PRES YUSHCHENKO CALLS ON NATIONAL BANK AND GOVERNMENT
TO CONCLUDE MEMO ON COORDINATION OF THEIR ACTIONS
UNIAN, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, April 27, 2005

10. PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO HAS COMMISSIONED GOVERNMENT
TO IMPLEMENT SEVENTEEN PROGRAMS
UNIAN, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, April 27, 2005

11. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT ORDERS CONSTRUCTION OF
NEW OIL REFINERY IN BRODY
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 27 Apr 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Apr 27, 2005

12. POLAND MAY HAVE ACCESS TO CASPIAN OIL AFTER ALL
Project to connect Poland to Odessa-Brody oil pipeline
Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Tue, Apr 26, 2005

13. UKRAINIAN MINISTER OF ECONOMY SAYS OWNERS TO
PAY EXTRA FOR PRIVATIZED COMPANIES
Restore economic fairness which was violated during privatization
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 27 Apr 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Apr 27, 2005

14. UKRAINE: YUSHCHENKO ORDERS GOVERNMENT TO SPEED
UP REVIEW OF PAST PRIVATISATIONS
By Tom Warner in Kiev and Isabel Gorst in Moscow
Financial Times, London, UK, Thu, April 28 2005

15. UNCERTAINTY ON PRIVATIZATION AND REGULATION OF
PRICES SCARES LARGE-SCALE INVESTMENT AWAY
Interfax-Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 25, 2005

16. FIRST VICE PREMIER ANATOLIY KINAKH URGES REVISION OF
DECISION ON SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES AND PRIORITY
DEVELOPMENT TERRITORIES
Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Mon, April 25, 2005

17. UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIAL BUTEYKO SAYS
NATO NO THREAT TO ARMS MANUFACTURERS
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 27 Apr 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Apr 27, 2005

18. PRESIDENT'S SPOUSE HOLDS TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH
SURGEON, WHO TREATS NASTIA OVCHAR AT BOSTON BURN CENTER
Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday , April 27, 2005

19. STATE SECRETARY OLEKSANDR ZINCHENKO CONVEYS MESSAGE
OF CONGRATULATIONS TO POPE BENEDICT XVI FROM
PRESIDENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO
Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 25, 2005

20. CHIEF RABBI OF ROME VISITS JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ZHITOMIR
The Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS
New York, NY & Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 21 2005

21. LETTER TO THE ORTHODOX PEOPLE OF UKRAINE
Letter sent to The Action Ukraine Report
By Svitland Tomson, CPA
Butler, Pennsylvania, Wed, April 27, 2005
=============================================================
1. OPTING FOR TRUTH OVER 'TRIUMPH'

By Anne Applebaum, Columnist
The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005; Page A23

Try, if you can, to picture the scene. A vast crowd in Red Square: Lenin's
tomb and Stalin's memorial in the background. Soldiers march in goose
step behind rolling tanks, and the air echoes with martial music,
occasionally drowned out by the whine of fighter jets. On the reviewing
stand, statesmen are gathered: Kim Jong Il, the dictator of North Korea,
Alexander Lukashenko, the dictator of Belarus, Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski,
the former dictator of Poland -- and President George W. Bush.

That description may sound fanciful or improbable. It is neither. On the
contrary, that is more or less what will appear on your television screen
May 9, when the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II is celebrated
in Moscow. I have exaggerated only one detail: Although Kim Jong Il has
been invited, his attendance has not yet been confirmed. But Jaruzelski is
definitely coming, as are Lukashenko, Bush and several dozen other heads
of state. President Vladimir Putin of Russia will preside.

Not every European country will be represented, however, because not
everybody feels quite the same way about this particular date. In the Baltic
states, for example, May 1945 marked the end of the war but also the
beginning of nearly a half-century of Soviet occupation, during which one
in 10 Balts were murdered or deported to concentration camps and exile
villages. The thought of applauding the same Red Army veterans who
helped "pacify" their countries after 1945 was too much for the Estonian
and Lithuanian presidents, who have refused to attend. Although the Latvian
president will attend the Moscow festivities, she's had to declare that she
will use her trip to talk about the Soviet occupation. The president of
Poland also has spent much of the past month justifying his decision to
celebrate this particular anniversary in Moscow. By May 1945, after all, the
leaders of what had been the Polish anti-Nazi resistance were already
imprisoned in the Lubyanka, the KGB's most notorious Moscow prison.

The Russian president hasn't made anyone's trip easier. Recently he told
a radio interviewer that the Soviet Union was justified in signing the
Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939, in which the two totalitarian powers agreed to
divide Poland and cede the Baltic states to the U.S.S.R. The Soviet Union,
Putin said, was within its rights to protect the "security of its western
borders," as if annexing other countries were a legitimate form of border
patrol. This week Putin went on to describe the collapse of the Soviet
Union -- which resulted in the liberation of Eastern Europe -- as the
"greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century, presumably ranking
it higher than the war itself. His countrymen, in symbolic agreement, have
commissioned a host of new Stalin statues around the country to
commemorate the end of the war.

To its credit, the White House is trying to mitigate the impact of what is,
at the very least, an extraordinarily bad photo opportunity and is nicely
blossoming into a full-fledged controversy as well. Bush will go to Latvia
before Moscow, to meet with the Baltic leaders -- all now members of NATO
and therefore U.S. allies -- and afterward will visit the Georgian Republic,
where a democratically elected president has recently taken power in the
teeth of Russian opposition. But if we are to avoid turning the anniversary
of the end of World War II into a celebration of the triumph of Stalinism,
more should be done. To begin with, Congress should vote on a resolution
proposed this month by Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.), which calls on Russia
to condemn the Nazi-Soviet pact as well as the illegal annexation of the
Baltic states. "The truth is a powerful weapon for healing, forgiving and
reconciliation," the resolution states, in a burst of unusual congressional
eloquence, "but its absence breeds distrust, fear and hostility."

Bush, too, should show that he understands what really happened in 1945.
Every recent U.S. president has visited Auschwitz, and many have visited
concentration camps in Germany, too. Perhaps it's time for American
presidents to start a new tradition and pay their respects to the victims of
Stalin. This is made difficult by the dearth of monuments in Moscow, but it
isn't impossible. The president could, for example, lay a wreath at the
stone that was brought from the Solovetsky Islands, the Soviet Union's first
political prison camp, and placed just across from the Lubyanka itself. Or
he could visit one of the mass-execution sites outside of town.

Of course these would be nothing more than purely symbolic gestures. But
a war anniversary is a purely symbolic event. Each commemoration helps all
of us remember what happened and why it happened, and each
commemoration helps us draw relevant lessons for the future. To falsify the
record -- to commemorate the triumph of totalitarianism rather than its
defeat -- sends the wrong message to new and would-be democracies in
Europe, the former Soviet Union and the rest of the world. -30-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: applebaumanne@yahoo.com
=============================================================
2. MR. PUTIN'S VERDICT

EDITORIAL: The Washington Post
Washington, D.C., Wednesday, April 27, 2005; Page A22

WHAT WAS "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century"? The rise
of Nazi Germany? The spread of genocide as a tool of state power? Some
might say it was the crushing of a host of nations by the totalitarian
Soviet Union, at the cost of millions of lives. But not Russian President
Vladimir Putin. For him, the greatest catastrophe was not the Soviet Union's
rise but its collapse -- an event that freed 14 of those nations, from
Latvia to Kyrgyzstan, from Moscow's domination. "The old ideals were
destroyed," Mr. Putin lamented during his annual state-of-Russia address
on Monday.

Most accounts of Mr. Putin's speech focused on the passages intended for
Western consumption: his claim that "the development of Russia as a free
and democratic state" is now his highest priority; his assurance to Russian
and foreign business executives that their investments will not be seized by
rapacious authorities, despite the state's recent confiscation of the
country's largest oil company; his announced plans to strengthen political
parties and make the state-controlled media more independent.

Yet the former KGB officer's nostalgia for the former Soviet empire seemed
as telling as any of his promises. So did his denunciation of the
"disintegration" of Russia before he came to power, which he defined as the
"capitulation" of granting autonomy to Chechnya and the "unrestricted
control over information flows" that allowed private business executives to
operate newspapers and television networks. Mr. Putin has reversed both of
those liberalizations -- in Chechnya's case, by means of an ongoing war that
has killed tens of thousands.

The Russian president has a short-term interest in burnishing what even he
must recognize as a tarnished image. Early next month he is due to host
numerous world leaders, including President Bush, in a celebration of the
Soviet victory in World War II. This summer Mr. Putin is due to take over
the rotating leadership of the Group of Eight, a club of industrial
democracies in which Russia, an increasingly autocratic state that ranks
97th in the world in per capita gross domestic product, is glaringly out of
place. As Mr. Putin acknowledged Monday, his strategy for restoring Russian
greatness depends heavily on his ability to attract Western capital and to
maintain partnerships with the European Union and the United States.

But Mr. Putin would like to achieve these goals while consolidating the
Kremlin's restored diktat and reviving what he called "the Russian nation's
civilizing mission in the Eurasian continent." That's why the best measures
of Mr. Putin are not speeches but actions. One important test will be his
handling of neighbors such as Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, which have
embraced democracy and rejected Mr. Putin's neo-imperialism. Will he
adjust his approach to those countries, and withdraw unwanted Russian
troops from Georgia and Moldova?

Another comes today at the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the entrepreneur
who built the Yukos oil conglomerate and used it to help finance Russia's
liberal democratic opposition. For daring to behave as if Russia were the
free and capitalist-friendly country that Mr. Putin describes, Mr.
Khodorkovsky was arrested and subjected to a show trial, even as his
company, Russia's most modern, was broken up. Today he will receive his
verdict; prosecutors have requested a prison sentence of 10 years. The
outcome ought to tell the Bush administration and other Western
governments something important about a leader who would set the
agenda for the world's advanced democracies. -30-
=============================================================
3. REBELLION IN THE BACKYARD PUTS PARANOID
MOSCOW ON THE DEFENSIVE

WORLD BRIEFING: by Simon Tisdall
The Guardian, London, United Kingdom, Tue, Apr 26, 2005

Russia's residual neighbourhood watch scheme in what was once the Soviet
Union's tightly policed backyard took another knock last week when Ukraine,
Georgia, Azerbaijan and Moldova joined forces in a new "union of democratic
states". Mikhail Saakashvili, the Georgian president who has been a thorn in
Moscow's side since Tbilisi's 2003 "rose revolution", said the grouping
would "not act as a counter-balance or a reproach to anyone". But then he
offered a reproach anyway. Friendship based on independence and freedom,
he said, was very different from belonging to "an alliance like the Warsaw
Pact or an empire like the Soviet Union".

The timing was probably not coincidental. Along with a host of world
leaders, the US president, George Bush, will be in Moscow on May 9 to mark
the 60th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat. Mr Bush, who backed Ukraine's
pro-democracy "orange revolution" last year, will also visit Georgia, where
the US launched a $50m military training programme at the weekend and
where it has become Mr Saakashvili's principal ally.

It is no accident, either, that the US leader will visit Latvia which, like
Lithuania and Estonia, escaped Moscow's clutches in the 1990s and joined
Nato and the EU. They are now viewed as role models by several post-Soviet
states.

Last week's fleeting Kremlin visit by the US secretary of state, Condoleezza
Rice, was meant to smooth the way for Mr Bush's meeting with President
Vladimir Putin. But her comments on regional issues, coupled with the latest
machinations of Moscow's unforgiving former satellites, exacerbated Russian
geopolitical paranoia.

Denouncing the Belarus government of President Alexander Lukashenko as
Europe's last dictatorship, Ms Rice said it was "time for a change". She
hinted that forthcoming elections there could be the next target for the US
"soft power" pro-democracy pressure tactics perfected in Serbia in 2000.

Unfortunately for Mr Putin, benighted Belarus is just about the only Russian
neighbour that still follows an unequivocal pro-Moscow line. Russia's
foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, told Ms Rice to mind her own business.
Russia's once unchallenged influence in central Asia is also slipping. The
US has established military bases in the area since September 11. And, as
recent upheavals in Kyrgyzstan suggest, regime change can be catching.

In this atmosphere, the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States'
summit in Moscow on May 8, which includes Ukraine and Georgia, could
prove a schismatic, even terminal meeting. In a country historically fearful
of encirclement and fragmentation, these accelerating neighbourhood
trends are seen by many Russians as externally threatening and
domestically destabilising.

In his Cold Peace: Russia's New Imperialism, Janusz Bugajski said that
Moscow's neighbourhood botch stems from internal weakness as much as
foreign policy bungling. Russia "gained an empire before it became a state
or a coherent nation", he wrote. Contrary to its vital interests and despite
reduced capabilities, Russia continued to brandish regional ambitions like
"phantom limbs", Bugajski argued.

But while the result has been repeated humiliations, rising hardline
nationalism, and falling confidence in an increasingly dictatorial Mr Putin,
Russia's leader retains several trump cards. Mr Rice admitted the US
needed a "strategic partnership" on nuclear proliferation, the Balkans
and the Middle East, and terrorism.

And then there are Russia's vast energy resources, on which the west
increasingly relies. As at their Bratislava tete-a-tete in February, Mr Bush
can be expected to balance "freedom's cause" with pragmatic calculations
when he meets Mr Putin. According to Anatol Lieven, an analyst, "Putin may
be an uncomfortable partner but the west is unlikely to get a better one."

Washington hopes the democratic revolutions in the "post-Soviet sphere"
will ultimately spread to Russia itself. But it knows such a transformation
runs the risk of a disastrous, post-Putin relapse into unrestrained
authoritarianism and an anti-western siege mentality. -30-
=============================================================
4. LEVKO LUKYANENKO: "HERO OF UKRAINE"
Fought long and hard against the Soviets
In 1961 he was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death.

The Day Weekly Digest in English, #14
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 26, 2005

President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine has conferred the title "Hero
of Ukraine" on parliamentarian Levko Lukyanenko. According to the
presidential press service, the award is in recognition of his civic valor,
selfless dedication in championing the ideals of freedom and
democracy, and meritorious contribution to the building and develop-
ment of the Ukrainian state.

Levko Lukyanenko was born in 1927, graduated from the Law Faculty
of Lomonosov University (Moscow), and after serving in the army,
worked in district party committees in Lviv oblast. In 1959 he organized
a party called the Ukrainian Workers' and Peasants' Union. In 1961 he
was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death. The sentence was later
commuted to 15 years in a maximum security prison camp.

In 1976 he became a founding member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Watch
Group. He was arrested again in 1977 and was sentenced to 10 years
in a maximum security camp and five years of exile. He was elected a
member of parliament in 1990, 1994, and 2004.

In the current Ukrainian parliament he is a member of the BYuT faction. In
1992-1993 he served as Ukraine's ambassador to Canada. He is the co-
author of the Declaration of Ukrainian National Sovereignty and the author
of the Act of the Proclamation of Ukrainian Independence. -30-
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.day.kiev.ua/136386
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTE: We had the opportunity to work with MP Levko
Lukyanenko while he served as Chairman of the Association of
Famine Researchers in Ukraine. We congratulate MP Lukyanenko
on this outstanding award which he richly deserves. [EDITOR]
=============================================================
5. POLISH PRESIDENT DISCUSSES POLISH, EU'S RELATIONS
WITH RUSSIA, UKRAINE, BELARUS
Ukraine is not a new problem for the EU, it is an opportunity.

[Kwasniewski] At the Maidan [square] in Kiev the people in late autumn
2004 did not call for more power, money or jobs. They simply fought for
their dignity. The hymn, a rapper song, repeatedly intoned there stated:
"We are many, you cannot defeat us." And: "We are not cattle, we are
not horses, we are proud sons and daughters of Ukraine." These lines
express the full message of this revolution. It is a matter of having a
political say, of free and fair elections. We are not cattle, but the salt
of democracy. That was the birth of civil society.

Die Presse web site, Vienna, Austria, in German 23 Apr 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Mon, Apr 25, 2005

President Aleksander Kwasniewski has told Die Presse daily about his
country's difficult relationship with Russia, about the EU Ostpolitik and
the triumphant march of civil society to freedom in Eastern Europe.

The following is the text of an exclusive interview with Polish President
Aleksander Kwasniewski entitled "'Russia must not split the EU'"
published by Austrian newspaper Die Presse web site on 23 April;
subheadings inserted editorially

WORLD WAR II CELEBRATIONS

[Die Presse] Mr President, there has been criticism in part of Polish
society of your decision to participate in the victory celebrations in
Moscow on the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
Why are you going there despite this?
[Kwasniewski] I am travelling to Moscow to remember and pay my respects
to all those who fought against fascism and gave their lives. World War II
began with the invasion of Poland. Poland had the fourth-largest army in
the fight against Hitler, it fought on all fronts: East, West, North Africa
and at Monte Casino [in Italy]. So we have the moral legitimacy to attend
this celebration.
The question of the consequences of the World War II for many European
countries is something different. After the war Europe was divided up by
the great powers. Austria was lucky enough to regain its freedom and
independence in 1955 after 10 years; Poland did not have this luck.
We ended up in the Soviet zone of influence and gained neither full freedom
and sovereignty, a democratic system, nor a healthy economy. For Poland,
World War II really did not end until 1989, meaning 44 years after the end
of the hostilities.
[Die Presse] But why the current Polish controversy over this anniversary?
[Kwasniewski] The date of 9 May 1945 is controversial because Poland's fate
during and after the war was tragic. There are Poles who had to remain in
exile after 1945, those whose relatives were murdered by the Soviet regime,
those who fought in the underground against Soviet rule. So there are a
variety of experiences, different dramatic fates. The 60th anniversary is a
good occasion to remember all these fates.

POLAND-RUSSIA

[Die Presse] On Polish-Russian relations: Russian President Vladimir Putin
seems to bear a personal grudge against you over your mediation role in
Ukraine in the late fall of 2004.
[Kwasniewski] There were differences, disputes in the Ukraine issue because
we, Poland, but also the entire EU assessed the crisis there differently
than Russia. The EU supported the democratic forces and stood up for free
elections. We were right. But there is no sense any longer in continuing the
argument. People should now consider how Ukraine can best be helped
by the EU, and how they can contribute to a positive development of
Ukrainian-Russian relations. If there were insults and anger then this
should be seen as an episode. There was no change of direction.
[Die Presse] But have not Polish-Russian relations reached a low point?
[Kwasniewski] I do not believe so. For example, economic relations are
developing quite well, our exports to Russia have risen by 30 per cent,
Polish industrial facilities are being created in Russia, we are investing
in the Russian market, and Russian oil and natural gas are flowing in the
opposite direction. Cultural and scientific cooperation is also functioning
better than it did years ago.
[Die Presse] So the problem is the political relationship.
[Kwasniewski] That has been difficult for years already. Russia has still
not found a clear answer to the question of how it should deal with those
countries that once belonged to the Soviet sphere of influence and have now
joined NATO and the EU. Russia today has better relations with the "old" EU
countries like Germany, France and the UK than with the new members. The
Baltic states also have a special status because Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania were once part of the Soviet Union.
[Die Presse] But why should Moscow's relations with Warsaw be worse than
those with, say, Spain?
[Kwasniewski] They do not have to be, but Spain has never had a common
border with Russia, whereas Poland has its geography and history. In my
opinion the problem of how to deal with history, how to overcome the past is
central. Poland already has a far-reaching, traumatic reckoning with history
behind it, summed up by the word Jedwabne [a village in Poland where
Germans, aided by Poles, rounded up Jews and burnt them alive in a barn]: in
World War II, Nazi Germany committed crimes against Jews. Unfortunately, it
happens that the persecutors and executioners also included Poles. There
have been vigorous discussions about whether there should be an apology.
I have apologized. Such sensitive historical matters in dispute also exist
in
the Polish-Ukrainian and Polish-German relations.
But the Russians still have this painful process of overcoming the past
before them. They must still come to terms with Stalinism, with the Soviet
empire, not due to pressure from outside but from an inner impulse. What
does this mean for those people of Europe who had to live under the Soviet
yoke? What about the military interventions in Hungary in 1956 and
Czechoslovakia in 1968?
It is not that the current leadership in Moscow must accept responsibility
for everything that happened in the decades of Soviet rule. But it must be
aware of the events and facts and cannot simply try to sweep them aside
with propaganda. It would be appropriate to reflect on and analyse the past
self-critically and develop sensitivity to historic questions.
[Die Presse] Moscow sees Poland and the Baltic states as Russophobic
troublemakers within the EU. Are the Poles Russophobic?
[Kwasniewski] There are in fact Russophobic elements in Poland, which
frequently express themselves towards Russia with a completely un-
necessary, intolerable arrogance. These voices are also heard in some
media. They are also part of the political spectrum, but they do not
comprise the majority. And Poland's policy is quite definitely not hostile
to Russia.

EU - RUSSIA

[Die Presse] What about the Polish influence on the EU's Russia policy?
[Kwasniewski] Here too we do not have a Russophobic attitude; on the
contrary, we are interested in the best possible relations between the EU
and Moscow. We want cooperation between the EU and Russia to function
as well as possible in economics, border questions and the fight against
terrorism. The fewer matters in dispute there are, the better it is for
Poland. But what we demand is that the Russian Federation treat all EU
member states equally and does not give preference to some countries and
cold-shoulder the others. In other words, that Moscow tries to split the EU.
Otherwise, all the old resentments resurface, and we do not need that.
[Die Presse] At present, it seems as if the very good personal relations of
four or five EU heads of state and government towards President Putin are
the driving force in EU policy towards Russia.
[Kwasniewski] I have nothing against leading politicians having very good
personal contacts. That is a perfect right of each of us. It is a natural
and entirely understandable fact that, for example, President Putin knows
Germany very well, values Germany and speaks German. Naturally, this
makes close relations with German politicians easier. But it is important
for the EU to establish a common policy towards Russia.
[Die Presse] So what would a realistic, sensible Russia policy of the EU
look like?
[Kwasniewski] The elements are positive political relations and good
economic contacts, plus an intensive dialogue on security issues is quite
important. I believe that strengthening the democratic processes and
institutions should be part of it as well. There must be no policy of double
standards in which we roughly correct some countries that have problems
with human rights and freedom of opinion and close one eye to others.
I am not referring here specifically to Russia, I mean that generally. But
at this time meeting certain standards is not so easy for the Russians
because they have only recently taken the path of democracy and still have
old habits from the Communist era, indeed from tsarist times.
As far as economics is concerned, Russia should be included in EU projects.
Europe needs Russian oil and natural gas and must have an interest in
positive economic development in Russia so that the standard of living there
rises, the people become more satisfied and society is less frustrated. So I
have the impression the definition of a joint Russia policy for the EU would
not be so complicated.
[Die Presse] So why does it not yet exist?
[Kwasniewski] One problem is that Russia treats the countries of the EU
differently. That creates the danger of manipulation and abuse. We Poles
cannot criticize the Germans if they sell the Russians modern trains for the
Moscow-St Petersburg line; we do not even compete in this market. But if
Germany and Russia agree on a new gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea that
bypasses Poland, then that very much concerns us and the entire EU, and
the project should be discussed within the EU. There is a risk when projects
that concern the entire EU are decided bilaterally somewhere in a quiet back
room.

RELATIONS WITH UKRAINE

[Die Presse] Since assuming the Polish presidency you have always
worked internationally for the Western integration of Ukraine. You are
leaving the office in a few months; how do you see your record in the
Ukraine issue?

[Kwasniewski] If I could do it all over I would indeed focus somewhat
differently on various political questions. But in the policy towards
Ukraine I have the impression I have done the right thing, that I have been
consistent so that misunderstandings have never arisen in other capitals.

To that extent, my record is very satisfactory. It made sense for me to
repeatedly note through the years that Ukraine is not some grey country
to Europe's east.

[Die Presse] What characterizes the Polish-Ukrainian relationship?

[Kwasniewski] Ukraine has always been very close to Poland, and Poland
was also the first country to recognize Ukraine's independence in 1991.
Ukraine is a country with a great culture and history. This country is not
an artificial entity, Ukraine's society has a deep-rooted identity.

Furthermore, the Orange Revolution meant the birth of a civil society. It
will promote the development of democratic institutions. So Ukraine is
on a good path.

[Die Presse] What can the EU offer Ukraine? After all, in the short run it
is not possible to gain acceptance within the EU for the country's
accession.

[Kwasniewski] But in the long run, a membership prospect must be offered.
That is not a question of the next couple of years, but perhaps one of the
next 10 years or even more. But Ukraine deserves a place in the EU. The
EU must accept the fact that Ukraine is a sovereign, independent country
with its own plans and priorities.

With the election of Viktor Yushchenko, the majority of Ukrainians showed
they wanted to become part of the EU and NATO, that they wanted to
belong to the West. Yushchenko repeatedly uses the emotional argument
that on a map of Europe from the extreme West to the Urals, Ukraine lies
exactly in the middle, to a certain extent forming the European heart.

The EU action plan is a step in the right direction; further practical
measures should now follow. For example, Ukraine's elimination of the visa
requirement for citizens of the EU and Switzerland as of 1 May should be
answered by, for example, introducing no-charge visas for Ukrainian
students, academics, cultural figures and clergymen. There are a number
of measures that would show that Ukraine is welcome in Europe.

Ukraine is not a new problem for the EU, it is an opportunity.

AUSTRIA AND EU "OSTPOLITIK"

[Die Presse] Do you then feel Austria could also play a role in formulating
a common EU "Ostpolitik"?
[Kwasniewski] During my mediation mission in Ukraine, I also established
contact with Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel. He was already familiar with
my attitude towards Ukraine from earlier conversations, and supported my
mission.
Austria could very definitely contribute its experience and expertise in
shaping the Eastern EU dimension, based on its geography and history. No
one disputes the competence of Spain, Italy or France in formulating EU's
southern dimension. So very definitely the answer is yes: Austria too should
make its intellectual and political contribution to formulating an EU
Ostpolitik.

RELATIONS WITH BELARUS

[Die Presse] Do you feel a similar development to that in Ukraine is
conceivable with your other difficult neighbour, Belarus under Alyaksandr
Lukashenka?

[Kwasniewski] Belarus is a very different country, but I am convinced that
there too people will sooner or later demand more freedom and democracy.

There is no alternative to civil society today. In the world of the 21st
century, the concept of centralized, dictatorial power is simply outmoded.
In Belarus too people are better informed today thanks to modern media and
communication technologies. Society can no longer be so easily convinced
that there is someone at the top of the government who decides everything
alone and everyone else must obey him.

History teaches us that every oppressed society wakes up one day and
demands its freedom. The only question is when, and I cannot predict that.
Could it happen in Belarus today, or in 2006, or even later? Unless it comes
to a disaster. But no one wants that. But in Belarus the fundamental factor
is Russia's policy. If Moscow encourages no changes in the political
landscape in Belarus then it can be a long-term process. Nonetheless, the
process will take place, since in the long run in a global world no one can
shut himself off from democratization.

[Die Presse] Why are you so certain?

These lines express the full message of this revolution. It is a matter of
having a political say, of free and fair elections. We are not cattle, but
the salt of democracy. That was the birth of civil society.

POLAND'S IMMEDIATE FUTURE

[Die Presse] There are reports that after leaving the Polish presidency
you have certain ambitions to seek the position of UN Secretary General
in New York.

[Kwasniewski] The situation in Poland requires that I concentrate fully on
domestic policy issues until the end of my term of office. We have
parliamentary and presidential elections in Poland these days. There are no
clear favourites; as so often before democratic elections the structures of
the political landscape are difficult to foresee. In addition, there may be
a referendum on the European Constitution. For us a great deal depends
on the outcome of the French referendum.

At the moment, therefore, I have no time to concern myself with my future.
But I am only 50 and want to do something more when I am no longer
president. I do not yet know what. But at this time there is no offer from
New York. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
6. A RAW NERVE: MYROSLAVA GONGADZE'S NEW BOOK

By Volodymyr Soniuk, The Day
The Day Weekly Digest in English, #14
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Last Friday Myroslava, widow of assassinated journalist Heorhiy Gongadze,
appeared before her fellow journalists in the new role of published author.
In collaboration with her Radio Liberty Washington-bureau colleague Serhiy
Kudelia, Ms. Gongadze has written a book called A Raw Nerve: The
Chronology of a Public Protest, which was launched at Kyiv Mohyla Academy.

The book examines the sociopolitical circumstances that prompted huge
masses of people to demonstrate in the streets. In Myroslava Gongadze's
view, her husband's assassination was the immediate cause of the protests,
when the populace began to distinguish between "us," i.e., the people, and
"them," i.e., the government.

One of the main conclusions in the book is that the protest movement of
2000-2001 brought about changes in the Ukrainian people's mentality, which
in turn triggered domestic transformations in Ukraine and forced President
Leonid Kuchma to bow out. Ms. Gongadze said that she and her co-author
used a large number of political science publications, especially Western
ones.

At the same time, she demurely confessed that she thinks it's too soon to
call herself a scholar. Ms. Gongadze also denied the allegation that this
research is the first step toward a career in politics. Responding to a
quotation from The Day, she said that her main goal is to gain a better
understanding of the political developments that occurred in that period,
as well as the attitudes of Ukrainian politicians at the time.

Ms. Gongadze's appearance before the media was not confined to her book,
although she displayed the greatest enthusiasm when answering questions
about her new publication. Myroslava also shared her impressions of her
meetings with top Ukrainian officials. She admitted that she had never had a
high opinion of the performance of Prosecutor-General Sviatoslav Piskun.

Be that as it may, the other day Mr. Piskun showed her some documents that
prove that his activities in investigating the Gongadze case were "at least
one of the factors that caused his first dismissal."

So she expects the prosecutor-general to achieve further results in the
investigation into her husband's murder. Ms. Gongadze was also reassured
by this country's highest-ranking officials, including President Viktor
Yushchenko, that not only the perpetrators but also the inspirers and
organizers of Heorhiy Gongadze's assassination will be found.

At the journalists' request, she also expressed her current view of why the
authorities targeted none other than her husband. Heorhiy was too outspoken
and self-confident and, unlike some of his opposition-minded colleagues, he
never sought protection by establishing personal ties with representatives
of the upper crust.

An interesting fact: in 1999 journalist Vyacheslav Pikhovshek tried to
persuade Gongadze to tone down his criticism of the government because
he was going to get into trouble. But Heorhiy ignored this advice. "He was
doing what he thought was correct, no matter what anybody thought,"
Myroslava added. She still has not ruled out the possibility that her
husband might have been liquidated because he had obtained some very
sensitive information. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.day.kiev.ua/136378
=============================================================
7. UKRAINE: WHO NEEDS A CHEAP DOLLAR?
The middle class loses its savings

COMMENTARY: By Vitaly Kniazhansky, The Day
The Day Weekly Digest In English, #14
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, 26 April 2005

If you had a thousand dollars tucked away for a rainy day, last week you
ran short of about 300 hryvnias. After the government dealt a series of
budgetary blows to small-scale business (ostensibly to "streamline" the
situation), the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) launched an attack on the
middle class.

The bitter irony is that the members of this class, who played a decisive
role in Viktor Yushchenko's victory, are now on the short end of the stick.
As for oligarchs, they are sure to ride out the exchange rate storm one
way or another.

On April 22 the debate on the hryvnia's dramatic rise, engineered by the
NBU in the twinkling of an eye, spilled over from kitchens, where defense-
less housewives were rolling their eyes, into parliament. To tell the truth,
opinions differ. Those who oppose the exchange rate jump are not only
the majority of the middle class, but almost all employed people who
usually keep their savings in dollars.

A farmer or a stallholder, who finds it difficult to swallow the macro-
economic pap he is being fed, is well aware that the NBU's hocus-pocus
is daylight robbery pure and simple. Topping the protest pyramid are
exporters, who believe that the policy of strengthening the hryvnia's rate
is aimed precisely against them. This step is only being backed by high-
brow economists who are thus forced to act against their own families.

The debate in parliament was extremely heated because the MPs brought
to book both NBU Governor Volodymyr Stelmakh and cabinet, which had
clearly prompted the central bank to adopt this drastic measure that caused
powerful ripples across our almost entirely "dollarized" country.

Naturally, Mr. Stelmakh reassured the MPs that the hryvnia's revaluation was
an economic boon that would promote higher living standards among the
population. In defending this overtly pro-importer step, Mr. Stelmakh also
announced that 20% to 60% of the fixed assets of Ukrainian enterprises are
old and require modernization, to which the strengthened hryvnia would also
contribute. At the same time, he pointed out that Ukrainian imports are
largely fuel-oriented, which can also boost inflation if the hryvnia rate
remains low. Isn't this the crux of the matter?

The Day's experts believe that the government prodded the NBU into
revaluating the hryvnia under pressure from Russian oil traders, who
demanded this concession in exchange for their consent to cut oil prices.
In other words, the story that a cheap dollar was "requested" by oil traders
looks to be the most plausible one.

The National Bank is not ignoring the criticism; it just seems to be
choosing a lesser evil. Besides, Mr. Stelmakh failed to mask his
dissatisfaction at having to explain things to the parliamentarians so
urgently. He said that the specific nature of the exchange-rate policy
leads to the conclusion that it is ineffective to discuss this issue in
parliament. His remark immediately triggered a strong reaction.

Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn proposed amending the law to
enable the Verkhovna Rada, which approves the appointment of the NBU's
governor and some members of the supervisory board, to have certain
levers of control. There is no doubt whatsoever that these amendments
will be adopted.

After all, every single fraction in parliament comprises the majority of
those who are dissatisfied with the NBU's measures. Incidentally, quite a
few people have condemned the revaluation process, and there is much
criticism of its fast pace, the rising expenses of ex-partners, and hence
the slower pace of GDP growth. -30-
=============================================================
8. UKRAINE CENTRAL BANK CHIEF DEFENDS HRYVNYA RISE

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 27 Apr 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Apr 27, 2005

KIEV - The chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine, Volodymyr Stelmakh,
believes that the poor sections of the population have benefitted from the
appreciation of the hryvnya. "It is the poor who have benefitted the most
from the strengthening of the hryvnya because they have no dollar savings,
and their purchasing power will be preserved through [the stronger hryvnya's
dampening effect on] inflation," Stelmakh told journalists in Kiev today.

"The Ukrainians haven't lost anything. They will simply pay 505 hryvnys
instead of 530 for 100 dollars if they go abroad, it will be cheaper to
travel. As to the domestic Ukrainian market, where exactly do you have to
use dollars there?"

Commenting on the president's criticism of the sharp appreciation of the
hryvnya, Stelmakh said that "if the president is presented with all the
calculations, he will understand that there is no tragedy here whatsoever."
"But I do understand of course that the president must be worried about
this, because there has been some psychological unease."

Asked for advice as to which currency Ukrainians should keep their savings
in, Stelmakh said that "if you are Ukrainian, if you work here in Ukraine
and if you are paid in hryvnyas, and all the prices are in hryvnyas, then
you should use the hryvnya, the national currency."

[President Yushchenko indicated earlier this week his concern over the rise
of the hryvnya by 2.7 per cent in one day, saying that many Ukrainians who
keep their savings in dollars have been hit.] -30-
=============================================================
9. PRES YUSHCHENKO CALLS ON NATIONAL BANK AND GOVERNMENT
TO CONCLUDE MEMO ON COORDATION OF THEIR ACTIONS

UNIAN, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, April 27, 2005

KYIV - The National Bank of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economics, and the
Ministry of Finance, must sign a public memorandum on the coordination
of their activities in implementing their policy. President of Ukraine
Victor Yushchenko has claimed this at a government session today.

According to an UNIAN correspondent, he has said that today the govern-
ment and NBU should coordinate their policy to preserve the level of
inflation within the forecasted bounds, with working out measures to bind
the money aggregates.

Victor Yushchenko has stressed that a negative attitude to the actions of
government may appear in the society, if the inflation processes are not
stopped. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.unian.net/eng
=============================================================
10. PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO HAS COMMISSIONED GOVERNMENT
TO IMPLEMENT SEVENTEEN PROGRAMS

UNIAN, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, April 27, 2005

KYIV - President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko has commissioned
the government to implement 17 programs. According to an UNIAN
correspondent, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has claimed this at a
session of the government today. She has noted that the government
has received the instruction of the President to fulfill this year 17 the
most essential programs for reforming the society.

Yulia Tymoshenko has added that the government will implement these
programs, and a draft resolution of the Ukrainian President has been
prepared and submitted to the government to officially register the
programs.

[1] The first program is called “Social Progress”, it is aimed at increasing
people’s incomes in all social positions.
[2] The second program, determined by the President as the most
important, is connected with support of children – from their birth to
finishing the education.
[3] The third program is that of de-shadowing the economics;
[4] The fourth is called “Property of Nation”, and includes everything –
beginning with an inventory of the whole state property and finishing
with lease and privatization of this property.
[5] The next program called “Territory of High-Quality Life” deals with
building dwellings for Ukrainian citizens, etc.
[6] The sixth program is aimed at the restoration of the
agricultural-industrial complex.
[7] The seventh program is ecology. According to Yulia Tymoshenko,
“in 2005 we want to show for the first time that ecology is also important
in our country”.
[8] The eighth program is the development of the aircraft building in
Ukraine. Yulia Tymoshenko has said: “We will set up a serious national
enterprise, corporation “Antonov”.
[9] The ninth program is called “Investment provision of all processes in
Ukraine”, and is aimed at attracting investments into the Ukrainian
economics.
[10] Within the networks of the tenth program, aimed at the renewal of
spirituality and culture, several serious projects will be implemented in
2005.
[11] The eleventh program is “European Home”, and includes four steps,
in particular, introducing Ukraine-EU Plan of Actions, obtaining a market
economics status, facilitating visa regime between Ukraine and EU, and
bringing the Ukrainian legislation into compliance with that of EU.
[12] The twelfth program, “Medicines of Ukraine”, is aimed at wiping out
falsified medicines from Ukrainian drugstores, etc.
[13] The thirteenth program is “New Quality of Education and Science”,
the task of which is, for example, to equip schools with computers, to
finance branches of science.
[14] The fourteenth program is “Development of Small and Middle-Scale
Business”. It includes de-regulating business activities, micro-crediting,
etc.
[15] The fifteenth program, “Trunks of Ukraine”, is aimed at the develop-
ment of international transport corridors.
[16] The sixteenth program is called “Energy Independence”. The main
task of this program is to develop oil and gas transport trunks.
[17] The last, seventeenth, program is aimed at the development of
local governments. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.unian.net/eng
=============================================================
11. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT ORDERS CONSTRUCTION OF
NEW OIL REFINERY IN BRODY

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 27 Apr 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Apr 27, 2005

KYIV - Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko has said that Ukraine will
build an oil refinery in Brody [Lviv Region]. At a cabinet meeting
attended by President Viktor Yushchenko on 27 April, Tymoshenko
said that the government received an instruction to this effect from
the head of state.

"We will start work on fulfilling your instruction on constructing an
up-to-date high-tech oil refinery in Brody," Tymoshenko said to
Yushchenko. Tymoshenko said that construction of the oil refinery
at Brody was a priority for the government's work in the fuel and
energy sector.

[An oil pipeline linking Brody to the Black Sea port of Odessa was
completed in 2002. The pipeline was originally intended to transport
Caspian oil to Europe. However, it stood idle for several years. In 2004,
it began to be used in the reverse direction to transport Russian oil to
Odessa for loading onto tankers.] -30-
=============================================================
12. POLAND MAY HAVE ACCESS TO CASPIAN OIL AFTER ALL
Project to connect Poland to Odessa-Brody oil pipeline

Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Tue, Apr 26, 2005

WARSAW - The project to connect Poland to the Odessa-Brody oil
pipeline in Ukraine took yet another turn on Friday as the European
Commission agreed to pay EUR2m to a consulting company that will
be willing to prepare all the documents necessary to launch the
stretching of the pipeline to Plock. The oil from the Caspian sea may
find its way to the Polish market in September.

The project was discussed in Warsaw by officials from Poland, Ukraine
and Faouzi Bensarsa of the EC's general directorate for energy transport.
After the meeting, Bensarsa said the work may be concluded within 18
months after the documents have been compiled and the funding raised.

The cost of the investment is estimated at EUR450m to EUR500m.
Bensarsa admitted that transporting the Caspian oil all the way to Gdansk
is crucial for ensuring the energy security of the European Union. He said
the project is being conducted for purely economic reasons and not for
political ends. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
13. UKRAINIAN MINISTER OF ECONOMY SAYS OWNERS TO
PAY EXTRA FOR PRIVATIZED COMPANIES
Restore economic fairness which was violated during privatization

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 27 Apr 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Apr 27, 2005

KIEV - Ukrainian Economics Minister Serhiy Teryokhin has said that
some companies, which were privatized untransparently, will be asked
to pay the difference between the sale price and the real value of their
assets. "We will approach some two dozen companies, which were
privatized untranparently, without competition, to make up the real value
of the company," Teryokhin told journalists in Kiev today.

He said that if the companies decide to pay, they will be given "lifetime
protection guarantees". "If they fail to do it, the Ukrainian Civil Code
contains a special procedure for resale, and the current owners, even if
they do not pay the difference, can participate in this procedure on equal
conditions, and if they win the tender they will get their company back,"
Teryokhin said. He said that the main thing for Ukraine is to "restore
economic fairness which was violated during privatization of certain
companies".

Speaking about the exact number of these companies, Teryokhin said
that "no-one is talking about any 3,000". Commenting on the statement
by Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, who had mentioned this number
earlier, Teryokhin stressed that Tymoshenko "was talking about those
companies whose privatization had already been checked or was in the
process of being checked". "This will be a few dozen companies," he
said.

Teryokhin said that compilation of this list is not within the Economics
Ministry's jurisdiction. "This will be a collective decision based on
proposals from the Prosecutor-General's Office or the State Property
Fund. The Economics Ministry develops the unified and legally correct
procedure for this valuation," Teryokhin said. "This year, I think, we will
finish with this issue and will never again return to it," he stressed. -30-
=============================================================
13. UKRAINE: YUSHCHENKO ORDERS GOVERNMENT TO SPEED
UP REVIEW OF PAST PRIVATISATIONS

By Tom Warner in Kiev and Isabel Gorst in Moscow
Financial Times, London, UK, Thu, April 28 2005

Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's president, yesterday ordered his government
to speed up and clarify a review of past privatisations believed to have
been undertaken in questionable circumstances.

Mr Yushchenko said the review had "dragged" since he announced in
February that his government would review up to 40 privatisations under-
taken by the preceding government of Leonid Kuchma. "Business is
paying heightened attention. You have 10 days to close this question and
lay the list on the table," Mr Yushchenko was quoted as telling his
ministers.

Later yesterday, the chairman of state oil and gas company Naftogaz said
he would insist on the return to state property of a large oil refinery in
Lysychansk sold to Russia's TNK in 1999.

That demand comes one day after Valentina Semenyuk, the newly
appointed chairwoman of the State Property Fund, said she would seek
the return of the Zaporizhya aluminum plant, which was sold to the Russian
company Avtovaz-Invest in 2001. The refinery has since become part of
TNK-BP and the plant has been taken over by Russia's Sual.

Although Naftogaz has no right to initiate a reversal of the Lysychansk
refinery's sale, its chairman's comments added to uncertainty over the
government's plans. TNK-BP said it was seeking to clarify the situation.
The State Property Fund, however, can ask the courts to reverse a
privatisation if it believes the investor hasn't lived up to the terms of
its privatisation contract.

Ms Semenyuk also said she wanted to restore and keep state ownership
over the country's largest steel mill, Kryvorizhstal. The government last
week won a ruling reversing last year's sale of the mill. Mr Yushchenko
yesterday insisted the review process would not return privatised property
to state hands. He has said the reviews should result in either the current
owners paying more or new auctions of the companies. -30-
=============================================================
15. UNCERTAINTY ON PRIVATIZATION AND REGULATION OF
PRICES SCARES LARGE-SCALE INVESTMENT AWAY

Interfax-Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 25, 2005

KYIV - Boris Nemtsov, a leader of the Russian Union of Rightist Forces
and advisor to Ukraine's president, says that the uncertain position of
Ukraine's new government on privatization and price regulation in the
non-monopoly sector is impeding large-scale investment in Ukraine.

He made this statement at a seminar on reforms in Ukraine, with the
participation of representatives of the Ukrainian government, in Kyiv on
Monday.

He said a number of representatives of foreign corporations willing to
make significant investment in Ukraine had contacted him as an advisor
of the Ukrainian president. He said the investments could be counted in
billions of dollars, however, "they are not prepared to come to Ukraine
for various reasons."

"The problem is that expectations of improvement in the investment
climate have not been borne out, at least for now," Nemtsov said.
Investors are stopped by the problem of uncertainty in property relations,
he said. The uncertainty of the authorities provokes speculation both in
the Ukrainian and foreign media.

"This creates uncertainty that obviously does not help economic
development," Nemtsov said. The regulation of prices in non-monopoly
sector, as he said, is also no less an important problem for investors. "In
the view of investors, any regulation of prices in non-monopoly sector is
a bad sign," he said.

At the same time, Nemtsov pointed out that he is personally interested in
success of Ukraine's new government. "If you fail, Russia has no chances
at all," he said. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
16. FIRST VICE PREMIER ANATOLIY KINAKH URGES REVISION OF
DECISION ON SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES AND PRIORITY
DEVELOPMENT TERRITORIES

Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Mon, April 25, 2005

KYIV - While on a working trip to Mykolaiv on Sunday, April 24, First
Vice Premier Anatoliy Kinakh urged to revise the Government's decision
on special economic zones and priority development territories. As he
said, Ukraine must rely on other nations' experience of using free
economic zones as the surest way to draw foreign capital investments.

Mr Kinakh aired his grave concern over Ukraine's unilateral decision to
nullify all franchises, which foreign businesses enjoy in Ukraine's special
economic zones and priority development territories. As a way to cushion
the impact of that decision on the foreign business' performance Mr Kinakh
suggested unhampered completion of all investment projects, which are
under way in the special economic zones and priority development
territories. Nevertheless, he said, this would be but a palliative decision.

As he disclosed, the Cabinet's upcoming session, which will be attended by
President Viktor Yushchenko, will discuss the problem of whether special
economic zone and priority development territories should exist in Ukraine.
This matter, Mr Kinakh stressed, admits of no delays. -30-
=============================================================
17. UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIAL BUTEYKO SAYS
NATO NO THREAT TO ARMS MANUFACTURERS

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 27 Apr 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Apr 27, 2005

KIEV - The first deputy foreign minister, Anton Buteyko, believes that
Ukraine's future accession to NATO will not lead to a destruction of the
country's military industrial complex. Addressing an expanded meeting
of the interparliamentary Ukraine-NATO council in Kiev today, Buteyko
spoke of significant prospects for [Ukraine's] military industrial complex
in the context of NATO membership and cooperation with the alliance's
member states.

Buteyko also spoke of the existing tight competition on the [arms] market,
among NATO member states, in particular. He said the Ukrainian arms
manufacturers would have to adjust to NATO standards.

Buteyko gave examples of cooperation between Ukraine's military industrial
complex and NATO countries. He said Ukraine is going to modernize
Ukrainian-made tanks in cooperation with French companies and mentioned
the sale of ammunition and defence equipment to Greece (which is a NATO
member state).

Buteyko said that cooperation between Ukrainian arms manufacturers and
NATO member states was not successful because of the previous political
regime's policy of double standards. -30-
=============================================================
18. PRESIDENT'S SPOUSE HOLDS TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH
SURGEON, WHO TREATS NASTIA OVCHAR AT BOSTON BURN CENTER

Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday , April 27, 2005

KYIV - The President's spouse had a telephone conversation with surgeon
Robert Sheridan, who is treating Nastia Ovchar at the burn center of the
Shriner's Children's Hospital in Boston (USA), Ukrinform reports with
reference to Kateryna Yushchenko's press service.

As Robert Sheridan said, on April 25 a current skin grafting operation was
performed to Nastia. On the whole, 85 percent of burns is covered with a
new skin. It is necessary to make one more operation and all burned parts
of girl's body will be renewed.

The medic's forecasts are optimistic. The girl is under an apparatus of
artificial respiration in the state of a medical sleep. As Robert Sheridan
reassured, after his patient is fully treated and regains consciousness,
Nastia will remember nothing about her being under anaesthetic. Doctors
are sure that treatment goes well.

Ms Kateryna conveyed her greetings via Doctor Sheridan to Olha Ovchar,
Nastia's mother, who stays with her daughter in the hospital. In March
Kateryna Yushchenko's office and she personally made many efforts
in order to send Nastia Ovchar to the USA for operative treatment of
burns in one of specialized clinics. -30-
=============================================================
19. STATE SECRETARY OLEKSANDR ZINCHENKO CONVEYS MESSAGE
OF CONGRATULATIONS TO POPE BENEDICT XVI FROM
PRESIDENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO

Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 25, 2005

KYIV - The President's special representative, State Secretary Oleksandr
Zinchenko, who attended the Pope's enthronement in the Vatican,
conveyed a message of congratulations to the Holy Pontiff from Ukrainian
President Viktor Yushchenko. In turn, Pope Benedict XVI conveyed his
blessing to the Ukrainian Head of State.

As State Secretariat sources told Ukrinform on Monday, during his stay in
the Vatican Oleksandr Zinchenko held meetings with President Aleksander
Kwasniewski of Poland, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, President
Edward Ferehc Adami of Malta. Russian Federation Council Chairman
Sergei Mironov, the heads of the US, Serbian and Moroccan delegations.

Mr Zinchenko visited the St Sergei and St Vakh Church in the Vatican, where
he met with Head of the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church Cardinal Liubomyr
Huzar, Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church bishops and heads of Ukrainian
religious organisations. -30-
=============================================================
20. CHIEF RABBI OF ROME VISITS JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ZHITOMIR

The Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS
New York, NY & Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 21 2005

ZHITOMIR, Ukraine – The Chief Rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Shmuel di Segni,
and the Head of the Jewish Community of Rome, Leone Paserman, paid a
visit this week to the Jewish Community of Zhitomir, Ukraine. The Chief
Rabbi made the trip at the invitation of Rabbi Shlomo Wilhelm, a Chabad
Lubavitch emissary who serves as the Chief Rabbi of Zhitomir, Central
and Western Ukraine.

The guests first visited the local Ohr Avner Chabad Day School, where they
met with its Director Anna Stepanskaya. The Director spoke to the visitors
about the school’s history, distinctive features of the educational process,
and the school’s plans for the future. The guests took a tour of the
school's comfortable classrooms, state-of-the-art facilities, and kosher
dining room, before enjoying a brief performance by the school’s dance
ensemble and the boys’ choir.

"Until recently, Jews couldn’t even imaging that there is such a strong
Jewish community here, in Ukraine," expressed Rabbi Shmuel Disney,
highly impressed by what he saw here. "As I see these Jewish embers
igniting here in Ukraine, I hope that these sparks should never fade," he
continued.

"These days, when we are all getting ready to celebrate Passover, it is
very important to preserve our national self-identity, for it is impossible
for the Jewish people to survive without retaining its national culture and
traditions," emphasized the Chief Rabbi of Rome.

The guests also visited the nearby Machon 'Chaya Mushka' women’s
academy, as well as the nearby 'Machon Menachem' College and Museum
of Astronautics. Before once again departing for Rome, they also enjoyed
a tour of Chassidic sites of religious importance in the communities of
Berdichev, Medzhibozh and Gadyach. -30-
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LINK: http://www.fjc.ru/news/newsArticle.asp?AID=275656
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21. LETTER TO THE ORTHODOX PEOPLE OF UKRAINE

Letter sent to The Action Ukraine Report
By Svitland Tomson, CPA
Butler, Pennsylvania, Wed, April 27, 2005

Dear Mr. Williams,

First of all, I would like to thank you for your excellent work in letting
people know what's going on in my motherland Ukraine via "THE ACTION
UKRAINE REPORT." Since I began subscribing to your newsletter, I don't
have to search the web anymore to find out about current events that are
taking place in Ukraine. Thank you for timeliness and extensiveness of
your news coverage.

Also, I would like to ask you to publish my attached article in your next
issue please. It is very important to me that it gets published before the
end of this week (I hope in Number 472) because the topic of it relates
to Orthodox Easter which is this coming Sunday, May 1st.

Again, thank you very much for your newsletters.

Best regards,
Svitlana Tomson, CPA
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LETTER TO THE ORTHODOX PEOPLE OF UKRAINE

April 27, 2005

Pascha (Orthodox Easter) is fast approaching - a time for us Orthodox
Christians to celebrate the life and resurrection of Christ. I was born in
Western Ukraine and still have many relatives there. Often times when I
read about current events in Ukraine, some of the articles state that people
in Western Ukraine are mostly Greek Catholics. However, this is far from
the truth.

In my region of Zakarpattia (Transcarpathia) as well as in other parts of
Western Ukraine there are millions of Orthodox Christians that never went
away, that did not submit themselves to the persecutions against them and
should not be forgotten. These are people who kept their Orthodox faith no
matter who was ruling the country and "did not change their colors" just to
please new rulers or to follow what was fashionable at certain times.

History is a complex and controversial matter. Every Ukrainian would agree
that our motherland accepted Orthodox Christianity in 988. When
Transcarpathia came under Hungarian control and after Poland annexed
Galicia (the southwestern Ukraine) in the 1300s, the 'Eastern rites'
Catholics were set up as vehicles to steal people and local churches from
the Orthodox and also with the long-term goal of making the converts
Roman Catholics, with the 'Eastern rite' tolerated as an interim measure.
This "uniate" church combined an Eastern Liturgy with subordination to
the Vatican.

In 1945, Stalin annexed western Ukraine from Poland, Czech and Hungary
and brought these territories into the Soviet Union. At this time, church
history reversed itself and now those churches that were once converted to
Greek Catholics under Polish and Hungarian rule reverted back to Orthodox.
It was a very difficult time for people. I felt that pain in my own family:
my grandparents (memory eternal) on my mother's side were joyous to
".finally come back to the Orthodox faith that was denied to us for so long"
as my grandfather once said.

However, my grandmother - may she rest in peace - on my father's side
would not accept Orthodoxy till the end of her life. Her reasoning -
".because her parents were Greek Catholics, she was Greek Catholic to
the end of her days."

When the Soviet Union collapsed, unfortunately new divisions among
Ukrainian people occurred: during that time, Greek Catholics as well as many
protestant believers emerged in Ukraine and many families and communities
were broken apart as the outcome of this. I remember meeting in 1993 on
the airplane (while traveling from the USA to Ukraine) one lady of some
protestant belief. She proudly told me that she is "taking the Gospel of
Christ to the people of Ukraine." When I informed her that people of Ukraine
are blessed to know the Gospel of Christ for over 1000 years (since 988),
she just looked at me in disbelieve.

It is true that the Orthodox Church in Ukraine (the only church that was
officially allowed to operate in the former Soviet Ukraine) had many faults
during the Soviet times. However, that time was difficult not just for the
church, but also for all humanity. I also know that in order to survive, the
church had to adapt to the new regime. When my parents could not openly
have my sister and me baptized, the church did what it had to do to make
sure that we were baptized in Jesus Christ.

Both times priest came to our home in the middle of the night and, after
making sure that all the windows in the house were tightly covered,
performed the baptism services right there. Also, when we could not openly
go to church in our home town because of the fear of loosing our jobs,
churches at locations far away from our home (where no one could recognize
us or knew who we were) were welcoming us and offered us place of worship.

Thus, it is now easy to sit back, judge, and blame the Orthodox Church for
many things that went wrong. However, I thank God for keeping our churches
alive during those difficult times if anything else.

Today, it hurts me a lot to know that many Orthodox churches in independent
and free Ukraine are still under a Russian Patriarchate. My dear brothers
and sisters in Christ! God blessed us with the new government that promises
hope, freedom, and prosperity to our nation. God blessed us with the
strength to behold our Orthodox faith through the centuries of turmoil.

It is now time for all the Orthodox people of Ukraine to forget our personal
differences and ambitions, and unite into one pious, caring, and a pastoral
Ukrainian Orthodox Church that is independent of any foreign influence and
that will offer much spiritual healing and peace to the suffering people of
Ukraine.

I also pray that based not on any political changes in the country, but
conscious of our roots and knowledge of where we came from, God may
give courage to those Ukrainians that somehow "got lost" and enamored
with something else to "come home" and joyously celebrate the
Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ this coming Sunday.

Christos Voskres!
Voestinno Voskres!!!

Sincerely, Svitlana Tomson, CPA
Butler, PA, USA, E-mail: tomsoncpa@aol.com
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