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Action Ukraine Report

"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"

"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR" - Number 478
E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Washington, D.C. and Kyiv, Ukraine, FRIDAY, May 6, 2005

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

1. "HOW TO HELP YUSHCHENKO"
OP-ED: By Jennifer Moroney and Taras Kuzio
Europe, International Herald Tribune (IHT)
Friday, May 6, 2005

2. USTR TO HOLD SPECIAL 301 OUT-OF-CYCLE REVIEW OF
POLICIES IN UKRAINE TO PROTECT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, May 5, 2005

3. US GRANTS UKRAINE CHANCE OF EARLY EXIT FROM CD PIRATE LIST
Interfax-Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, May 5, 2005

4. U.S. EMBASSY IN KYIV STARTS IMMIGRANT VISA PROCESSING
Public Affairs Section, U.S. Embassy
Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 4, 2005

5. USA TO GRANT ADDITIONAL $60 MILLION FOR UKRAINE PROGRAMS
US Senate and House Conferees Agree to FY 2005 Supplemental
Orest Deychakiwsky, US Helsinki Commission
U.S. Congress, Washington, D.C., Wednesday, May 4, 2005

6. KATERYNA YUSHCHENKO'S SPEECH AT NON-GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATION (NGO) LUNCHEON, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Speech by Kateryna Yushchenko, First Lady of Ukraine
NGO Luncheon in Honor of Kateryna Yushchenko
Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C. Wednesday, April 6, 2005

7. UKRAINE'S EMBATTLED TYCOON CALLS FOR A SETTLEMENT
AP Interview with Viktor Pinchuk
By Aleksandar Vasovic, AP Worldstream
Kiev, Ukraine, Friday, May 06, 2005

8. 'VELVET REVOLUTION' CRISIS BETWEEN UKRAINE AND BELARUS
By Mirza Cetinkaya, Zamon.com (Time)
First Turkish Newspaper on the Net
Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, April, 30, 2005

9. IMPERIALISTIC
The key player is Putin. He retains imperialistic ambitions
The Guardian, London, United Kingdom, Fri, May 06, 2005

10. OPPONENTS OF THE BELASRUSSIAN PRESIDENT LOOK TO
GEORGE BUSH TO STEP UP PRESSURE ON THE REGIME
Europe's 'last dictator' defies calls for change
Nick Patton Walsh in Minsk, The Guardian
London, United Kingdom, Friday, May 06, 2005

11. POLISH SOLIDARITY LEADER LECH WALESA CLAIMS HE PLAYED
KEY ROLE IN AVERTING UKRAINE CRACKDOWN
Daniel McLaughlin in Gdansk
Irish Times; Ireland, Saturday, Apr 30, 2005

12. MOSCOW CONTINUES TO UNDERMINE DEMOCRACY
IN INDEPENDENT UKRAINE
Putin's plans for summer retreat in Crimea dashed
By Taras Kuzio, The Eurasia Daily Monitor
Volume 2, Issue 89, The Jamestown Foundation
Washington, D.C., Friday, May 6, 2005

13. UKRAINE: USS CARNEY CELEBRATES V-E DAY IN SEVASTOPOL
U.S. SIXTH FLEET PRESS RELEASE
UNIT 50148, FPO AE 09501-6002
Gaeta, Italy, Friday, May 6, 2005

14. ORANGE COLOR UNDESIRED IN MOSCOW
After Kyiv last fall this color is considered 'politically incorrect'
Moskovsky Komsomolets, Moscow, Russia, Tue, May 3, 2005

15. LETTER-TO-THE EDITOR:
"Ripening Of The Orange Revolution" by Stanislav Kulchytsky
Letter from Walter Prochorenko, Paramus, New Jersey, USA
RE: Article by Stanislav Kulchtsky published in
The Action Ukraine Report #474, May 1, 2005
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT, #478
Washington, D.C., Friday, May 6, 2005

16. A VIRTUOSO OF THE BANDURA
Kostiantyn Novytsky is a bandura-player, or bandurist
The Day Weekly Digest In English, #5,
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, 10 March 1998
=============================================================
1. "HOW TO HELP YUSHCHENKO"

OP-ED: Jennifer Moroney and Taras Kuzio
Europe, International Herald Tribune (IHT)
Friday, May 6, 2005

WASHINGTON - The months leading up to the 2006 parliamentary election
in Ukraine give the United States the opportunity to pave the way for better
relations and integrate Ukraine into the community of democratic
market-oriented nations. Based on the substantial popularity of President
Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the Yushchenko
camp seems likely to control two-thirds of Parliament after the election
next March. So building stronger ties with the Yushchenko government in
the months ahead could lead to even greater improvements in U.S.-
Ukrainian relations next year.

Yushchenko's visit to the United States in early April ushered in a new
chapter in U.S.-Ukrainian relations. In sharp contrast to the past 10 years,
when Ukraine was led by Leonid Kuchma, today America is able to have a
constructive dialogue with a partner that shares its values.

But this is only the first step toward meeting goals outlined in the New
Century Agenda signed by Presidents Yushchenko and George W. Bush
on April 4. There are several roadblocks that need to be cleared in the
short term. Bush could do this with the following steps:

[1] Ask Congress to repeal the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, which requires
an annual review of most-favored-nation trading status. Passed in 1974, the
amendment limited trade with Communist-bloc nations because of their
restrictions on emigration, and is still applied to Russia, Ukraine and the
other states that replaced the Soviet Union.

[2] Coordinate with the European Union to grant Ukraine market-economy
status, which Russia obtained three years ago. Market-economy status
allows for trade in goods without quantitative restrictions. This is an
important steppingstone to World Trade Organization membership.

[3] Support Ukraine's bid to enter the WTO, which would provide new
markets for Ukrainian goods, increase the flow of foreign investment and
encourage economic reforms.

A medium-term objective after the election would be to consider full NATO
membership for Ukraine. While Yushchenko has been coy about member-
ship -joining NATO is not a popular notion in Ukraine - Bush has said he
supports the idea, and his administration backed an offer of intensified
dialogue on membership issues with Ukraine at the meeting of the alliance
this month in Vilnius.

The first step would be adding Ukraine to NATO's Membership Action
Plan. Ukraine would then need to make political, military and economic
reforms to qualify for membership, just as the other countries that have
recently joined NATO did.

A target for NATO membership could be 2009, when Yushchenko's term
in office expires.

A more long-term objective is to ensure that Ukraine is integrated into the
EU. Here, of course, America has less of a direct role to play since it is
not an EU member. Still, the enlargement of the Union to include Turkey
and Ukraine would support U.S. interests by bringing stability and
prosperity to the greater Eurasia region.

Many new post-Communist EU members back Ukraine's membership,
though the governing elites of "old Europe" are less inclined to support
Kiev's aspirations. The United States can lobby large EU members, like
Britain, to throw their weight behind Ukraine's membership. Britain, a
staunch supporter of EU expansion, played a crucial role in promoting
Turkey's membership.

It is in America's interests for the Bush administration and Congress to
strongly back Yushchenko in these areas. Fortunately, the goals outlined
above are linked, and are likely to produce a spillover effect once the
international trade issues are resolved. -30-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jennifer Moroney is a political scientist at the RAND Corporation. Taras
Kuzio, a visiting professor in international affairs at George Washington
University, is the author of "Ukraine: Perestroika to Independence."
=============================================================
2. USTR TO HOLD SPECIAL 301 OUT-OF-CYCLE REVIEW OF
POLICIES IN UKRAINE TO PROTECT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, May 5, 2005

KYIV - The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has announced
that a Special 301 out-of-cycle review (OCR) will be commenced in
2005 to monitor Ukraine's progress in observing intellectual property
rights. The USTR will analyze Ukraine's progress in passing amendments
to its optical media law, implementing the new law, and deterring optical
media piracy through adequate enforcement.

As the US Embassy to Ukraine sources told Ukrinform, the Special 301 review
occurs annually each April, but OCRs may be conducted at any time to
evaluate and respond to changes and developments in particular countries.

The United States withdrew Ukraine's benefits under the Generalized System
of Preferences (GSP) program in August 2001 and imposed $75 million worth
of sanctions on Ukrainian imports in January 2002. These sanctions remain
in effect, since they consider in the USA that optical disc media
legislation does not work in Ukraine in order to comply with the June 2000
U.S.-Ukraine Joint Action Plan to Combat Optical Media Piracy.

"The U. S. Embassy looks positively on recent efforts by the Supreme Rada to
pass legislative amendments to address inadequacies in the existing Optical
Disc Licensing Law", U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John E. Herbst stated. "A
Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review would take into account progress on this
front and would not have to wait until next April to do so".

The USTR, in its annual report issued on April 29, stated that Ukraine is
also a major transshipment point and storage location for illegal optical
media produced in Russia and elsewhere. Ukraine's border enforcement
efforts remain weak and criminal penalties for unauthorized production and
export of CDs and CD-ROMs are not significant enough to act as an effective
deterrent.

The United States urges the Ukrainian Government to pass needed amend-
ments to its optical media law in the near term and to enforce that law
aggressively. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
3. US GRANTS UKRAINE CHANCE OF EARLY EXIT FROM CD PIRATE LIST

Interfax-Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, May 5, 2005

KYIV - The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has singled
out Ukraine for a top-priority analysis regarding the protection of
intellectual property rights in the Special 301 report, which could allow
Ukraine to be taken off its piracy black list.

A positive result from the analysis could also allow the canceling of
sanctions imposed on the country ahead of the annual review in April 2006,
provided Kyiv takes corresponding steps to fight piracy.

The U.S. Embassy has welcomed the Verkhovna Rada's recent efforts to
introduce amendments in the legislation, which would eliminate shortcomings
in the existing legislation on optical media licensing, a Wednesday press
release cited U.S. Ambassador John Herbst as saying.

The analysis on the Special 301 list has taken into account progresses on
this front, instead of putting off the question until April 2006, Herbst
said.

According to the ambassador, until the amendments are passed by the
parliament, Ukrainian legislation has no adequate means to fight against
the illegal production and distribution of optical media.

Ukraine's being taken off the list and the cancellation of sanctions,
according to experts, are necessary conditions for the United States to
grant Kyiv market economy status and for the country to join the World
Trade Organization. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
4. U.S. EMBASSY IN KYIV STARTS IMMIGRANT VISA PROCESSING

Public Affairs Section, U.S. Embassy
Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, May 4, 2005

KIEV - On May 4, 2005, the U.S. Embassy begins issuing immigrant visas
for Ukrainian citizens in Kyiv. Previously, immigrant visa applicants had
to travel to the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw to complete the immigrant visa
process. Implementing immigrant visa processing in Kyiv saves significant
time and resources for Ukrainian citizens who no longer have to travel to
Poland.

The vast majority of immigrant visas for Ukrainians are issued on the basis
of existing family ties to the United States. Applications for the
Diversity Visa program (“visa lottery”) will continue to be processed in
Warsaw; refugee applications will continue to be processed in Moscow.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has received over 600 pending immigrant visa
cases in various stages of completion from the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw.
Applicants who were interviewed in Warsaw and were asked to present
additional documents will complete their immigrant visa cases in Warsaw.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv will soon send information packets with
instructions on how to schedule an immigrant visa interview to all
applicants on-file. Applicants who have notified the Embassy that they
have already collected all of the required documents and are ready to be
interviewed will then receive appointment packets containing an
appointment date, application forms, and additional instructions.

For the purposes of fairness and efficiency, immigrant visa interviews are
conducted by appointment only. For additional information, please contact
ivkiev@state.gov or visit
http://www.usembassy.kiev.ua/visa_immigrantvisas_eng.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Public Affairs Section, United States Embassy Kyiv
4 Hlybochytska St.. Kyiv 04050 Ukraine
(380 44) 490-4026, 490-4090. Fax (380 44) 490-4050
http://usembassy.kiev.ua. info@usembassy.kiev.ua
http://usembassy.kiev.ua/infocentral_eng.html
=============================================================
5. USA TO GRANT ADDITIONAL $60 MILLION FOR UKRAINE PROGRAMS
US Senate and House Conferees Agree to FY 2005 Supplemental

Orest Deychakiwsky, US Helsinki Commission
U.S. Congress, Washington, D.C., Wednesday, May 4, 2005

WASHINGTON - The Senate and House conferees agreed yesterday to
an FY 2005 Emergency Supplemental bill, including funding for defense-
related activities, the global war on terrorism, and tsunami relief. The
bill will be filed in the House of Representatives today. The Senate will
take up the measure early next week.

The bill includes the following:
ASSISTANCE FOR THE INDEPENDENT STATES OF THE
FORMER SOVIET UNION

The conference report includes $70,000,000 for ``Assistance for the
Independent States of the Former Soviet Union'', as proposed by the
Senate, instead of $33,700,000 as proposed by the House.

Funds in this account are allocated in the following table and, as
stipulated in section 2111, any change to these allocations is subject to
the regular reprogramming procedures of the Committees on
Appropriations:

Assistance for the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union [In
thousands of dollars] Ukraine $60,000; North Caucasus 5,000; Belarus
$5,000, Total $70,000

The conferees are encouraged by recent political developments in Ukraine
and recommend $60,000,000 for assistance for that country. This funding
should be used for programs to further political and economic reforms and
to strengthen democracy and the rule of law.

The conference agreement provides $5,000,000 for humanitarian, conflict
mitigation, and relief and recovery assistance for needy families and
communities in Chechnya, Ingushetia, and elsewhere in the North Caucasus.
The conferees intend these funds to be administered by USAID's Moscow
Mission and Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation, in consultation
with the Committees on Appropriations.

The conferees expect that of the funds made available for democracy
assistance for Belarus, $2,500,000 will be made available to the Bureau
of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Department of State, for political
party development activities. The conferees recommend that the balance
of funds be used to support independent media and civil society in Belarus.
=============================================================
6. KATERYNA YUSHCHENKO'S SPEECH AT NON-GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATION (NGO) LUNCHEON, WASHINGTON, D.C.

Speech by Kateryna Yushchenko, First Lady of Ukraine
NGO Luncheon in Honor of Kateryna Yushchenko
Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C. Wednesday, April 6, 2005

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Guests,

I am honored to be with you today and I would like to thank you all for
coming. My dear friends Melanne Verveer and Janet Howard arranged
this lunch together and I am very grateful for their efforts.

I bring you greetings from a new Ukraine. The Orange Revolution, now
known throughout the world, changed not only the history of my country,
but the history of mankind as well. Ukrainians proved once again that
democracy will always succeed.

When the people of Ukraine came to the streets in November, they were
not only protesting the brazen election fraud that stole their choice for
president. They were demanding a new form of society, a new future for
themselves and their children

The new Ukrainian leadership deeply understands what a challenge lies
ahead. They must reform the economy, administrative structures, gover-
mental institutions. They must eliminate corruption and create millions of
new jobs at decent wages. Business must become transparent and fair.
They are reducing taxes, but will make sure that everyone pays them.

They must work to establish a civil society based on tolerance to all
religious beliefs, nationalities and languages.

I would like to stress that among other issues my strong commitment lies
in the area of social and cultural transformations. Our country has a
long-standing history that we can be proud of. Ukrainians are hard working
decent people who respect family values and keep faith in their hearts. And
yet today Ukraine is among the most affected countries in the world with
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, drug abuse, alcoholism.

Orphans and homeless children continue a sad reality of Ukraine. The
medical system is outdated. I am deeply convinced that all these problems
can be and will be solved. And that is exactly where I hope your respective
organizations and foundations can help.

I am thrilled that so many of your are here today, that you are interested
in Ukraine and wish to become involved in helping solve our difficult
economic and cultural problems. There is a tremendous amount of work
to be done.

With your cooperation we can bring Ukrainian history and traditions back to
our country - through cultural and humanitarian projects. Help us to build a
state of the art hospital, treat cancer, stop the spread of HIV, integrate
the disabled into society, end the exploitation of women and children. Help
us to create and sustain NGOs that address these and other issues.

President Yushchenko raised tenfold governmental assistance for children
birth, his Government has adopted the most social-oriented budget in the
past decade. They will be spending every hryvnia in the nation's interests
and would like to see other countries and our large Ukrainian diaspora
involved.

We need your experience in helping us with strategies on how to deal with
these issues. We need your help in identifying potential partners. We need
your resources and advice and training.

What we can promise is that the President and his government will be
receptive to your proposals. That they will do all they can to facilitate
your projects.

I invite you all to Kyiv, let us work together. A prosperous and stable
Ukraine is definitely in the interest of the United States and we will be
building our new agenda of strategic partnership at all levels - govern-
ment to government, city-to-city, people-to-people, heart-to-heart.

Thank you again for coming. -30-
=============================================================
7. UKRAINE'S EMBATTLED TYCOON CALLS FOR A SETTLEMENT

AP Interview with Viktor Pinchuk
By Aleksandar Vasovic, AP Worldstream
Kiev, Ukraine, Friday, May 06, 2005

KIEV - The son in-law of former president Leonid Kuchma urged the
government Friday to reach a settlement with business magnates over
the dubious privatizations of the country's biggest steel producers.

Embattled tycoon Viktor Pinchuk appealed to President Viktor Yushchenko
to bargain, arguing that investors are rattled by the new leader's pledge to
undo deals that put state property in the hands of people close to the
previous regime. Pinchuk's valuable steel assets are among the businesses
being investigated.

"There have been some enterprises _ problematic or not _ and we should
finish with the re-privatization issue because it is unsettling, it reduces
investments, it causes economic damage to the country," Pinchuk said in
a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Pinchuk flew with his associates to the Nikopol Ferroalloy factory on
Thursday to stop what they said was a hostile takeover attempt by Privat
Bank and its alleged allies in the government's State Property Fund. The
move came during a shareholders' meeting to which he and the board of
directors had not been invited.

While hundreds of factory workers loyal to Pinchuk barricaded themselves in
the plant, Pinchuk met with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko for two hours.
"We discussed relations between the business and the government and about
the need to find compromise, to cooperate for the benefit of the country,"
Pinchuk said. He said they discussed "a possible bill, more precisely a law
that would solve this (privatization) problem once and for all."

Tymoshenko's aides declined to comment. Officials from the bank and the
State Property Fund were not available. The Nikopol Ferroalloy plant is
owned by Interpipe Corp., the largest steel corporation that produces pipes
for gas and oil pipelines in Ukraine. It was sold to Pinchuk during Kuchma's
term in office. Yushchenko's allies have suggested its privatization was
suspicious and prosecutors are investigating. -30-
=============================================================
8. 'VELVET REVOLUTION' CRISIS BETWEEN UKRAINE AND BELARUS

By Mirza Cetinkaya, Zamon.com (Time)
First Turkish Newspaper on the Net
Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, April, 30, 2005

Hundreds of Belarusian opposition activists and youth-movement activists
from Russia and Ukraine held a demonstration in downtown Minsk, Belarus
on 26 April, the 19th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, in
order to threaten Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. His
government has been described as "the last true dictatorship in Europe".
Riot police dispersed the demonstration and arrested some young
protestors and two journalists.

The incident in Minsk, which caused an international crisis, brought Ukraine
and Belarus "in the revolution list" face to face. While Ukraine wants
Belarus to release those arrested immediately, the Russian opposition
harshly criticized the Kremlin. Moscow has announced that it is closely
watching the developments. Liberal circles describe the arrest of youth
activists as "a warning to the Belarusian opposition, which wants a velvet
revolution". Belarusian velvet revolutionists, who are organized abroad
due to internal pressures, are also supported by Ukrainian youth.

Five Ukrainian, 14 Russian and 13 Belarusian youth activists, who were
arrested on April 28, were sentenced to jail for 8 and 15 days. Starting a
"hunger strike" at the prison, five Ukrainian demonstrators said that the
police subjected them to violence. Belarusian youth activists, who were
arrested, also started a strike.. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry requested
a medical check-up in order to determine whether or not the young
demonstrators had been subjected to violence or torture. Belarusian
officials accuse the youth activists, who organized a demonstration without
permission, of making "provocations".

Russian journalist Irina Halipova, who has been to Minsk, implied that
Moscow might have backed the incident. She claimed that the youth group
participating in the demonstrations in Belarus had returned to Moscow the
same day and planned to gather in front of a court, where a case against an
arrested Kremlin opponent businessman Mihail Hodorkovski; is taking place.
However, this was prevented in "far abroad". Among the youth activists, who
went to Belarus, there are members of the youth-movement activists of the
Russian liberal party SPS and a youth organization called "Walking without
Putin".

While it is wondered where the next Western-backed velvet revolution in
the former Soviet republics will be, the US Secretary of State Rice had
described Belarusian President Lukashenka's government as "the last true
dictatorship in Europe". Lukashenka, who has been in office since 1994,
rules with "an iron hand" in his country in order to prevent a "velvet
revolution". Through a referendum, he has guaranteed his stay in office
until 2012. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20050430&hn=18976
e-mail: e.editor@zaman.com.tr
=============================================================
9. IMPERIALISTIC
The key player is Putin. He retains imperialistic ambitions

The Guardian, London, United Kingdom, Fri, May 06, 2005

MINSK - A senior western diplomat in Minsk said: "The key player is Putin.
He retains imperialistic ambitions and still sees Belarus as part of his
backyard. For example, if Russia turned off the gas tap to Belarus in
winter, it would literally freeze within two days."

He added: "Moscow has apparently looked around for possible successors to
Lukashenko [to run in presidential elections expected before June next year]
but decided they would all be too pro-western.

"Putin has lost Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, so he is not going to rock
Lukashenko's boat. Some think Putin is trying things out here to see what
level of dictatorship would be acceptable for former Soviet citizens."

Minsk retains all the trappings of its Soviet past. There is little public
advertising on its well-swept streets. The state accounts for at least 80%
of GDP, according to diplomats, and is the only real employer in town,
keeping civil servants loyal through renewing their contracts each year.

One of two remaining independent opinion pollsters operating in the capital
was closed by the state last month, partly because it did not have the words
"social organisation" in its title. Demonstrations are swiftly swooped on by
riot police. The opposition had yet to unite around a single leader owing to
their "student" nature, said one western diplomat, adding: "They spend more
time fighting each other than Lukashenko."

Some key figures are in jail. One staunch opposition figure, Andrei Klimov,
has been charged with "slandering the president", which carries up to five
years in jail. His wife, Tatyana, described his closed court appearances as
being "like Kafka's Trial". She added that he had not used Mr Lukashenko's
surname when referring to "a maniac, a killer and a little Hitler" in a
satirical fable he wrote. She added: "I fear for his life. In my dreams, I
see [war crimes prosecutor] Carla del Ponti arrest Lukashenko."

Most of the media is under tight state control. Even rock music, which
buoyed opposition crowds during the uprising in Kiev, has faced a crackdown.
Lyavon Volski, a singer in the band NRM, who are barred from concerts and
the radio for their opposition support, said: "Banning us was a big mistake
by the authorities as they force [our fans] who were indifferent to politics
to join the opposition. We will go underground."

He said a new law requiring 75% of music on the radio to be Belarussian in
origin had taxed DJ playlists. "Now they are starting to look for
Belarussian roots among western singers. Apparently, Aerosmith's Steve
Tyler has some."

Opposition efforts are focused on the forthcoming presidential elections,
which western diplomats and critics of the regime say they fear will be
falsified. "Lukashenko plans the date of the election and we plan the
revolution," said Vlad, 33, from the youth protest movement Zubr. "People
can already smell future change. There has been an internationalisation of
[our] conflict. I hope Bush will say something."

Yet many fear that unrest in Belarus could result in the kind of bloodshed
that Ukraine somehow avoided. "Putin does not like Lukashenko, but he
dislikes Orange revolutions more," said the head of the opposition United
Civic party, Anatoli Lebedko. "Lukashenko sells himself as a 'Berlin Wall'
to protect Russia from revolutions. I really fear it could be like the fall
of Ceausescu in Romania. Lukashenko would not want to give up being
president, even for three hours." -30-
=============================================================
10. OPPONENTS OF THE BELASRUSSIAN PRESIDENT LOOK TO
GEORGE BUSH TO STEP UP PRESSURE ON THE REGIME
Europe's 'last dictator' defies calls for change

Nick Patton Walsh in Minsk, The Guardian
London, United Kingdom, Friday, May 06, 2005

MINSK, Belarus - 'Today Ukraine - tomorrow Belarus," cried Igor Guz as he
marched with hundreds of protesters in Minsk, the Belarussian capital, on
last month's 19th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. It wasn't
much of an outburst by the Ukrainian town councillor, but it led to his
arrest by riot police. Yesterday he was still in jail and on hunger strike
with 12 others, including four of his countrymen.

"They were not the first such arrests in Belarus, and they won't be the
last," said Artur Finkevich, 20, the organiser of the protesters, who
complained of the state's poor healthcare response to Chernobyl.

The arrests, for an "unsanctioned rally", have sparked furious protests from
Kiev and the Ukrainian president, Viktor Yushchenko. It has also fuelled
calls for a Belarussian version of the "Orange revolution" that led to the
electoral defeat of neighbouring Ukraine's authoritarian government last
December.

Such calls have been loudest in Washington. The US secretary of state,
Condoleezza Rice, recently gave Belarus's fragile opposition a boost by
meeting key members in neighbouring Lithuania. She called President
Alexander Lukashenko's administration the "last true dictatorship in
Europe", and said it was "time for change to come to Belarus".

President George Bush is also expected to increase the pressure for
"regime change" when he visits the capital of Latvia tonight. "I hope
Bush will say something in Riga," said Svetlana Zavadskaya, whose
husband, Dmitry Zavadsky, a television cameraman, was one of four
opposition figures allegedly murdered by Mr Lukashenko's regime in
2000.

Ms Zavadskaya, who met Ms Rice in Lithuania, added: "Lukashenko
deserves the same fate as [Serbia's Slobodan] Milosevic." However,
any White House effort to export democracy to Belarus would put an
extra strain on Mr Bush's fraught relationship with President Vladimir
Putin.

The Russian leader, who is still reeling over the recent fall of the former
Ukrainian administration that he supported, will meet Mr Bush on Monday
during Moscow's Victory Day celebrations. The encounter could be tense.
Sergei Yevtushenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian foreign minister, said he
was "sure" Mr Bush would speak about the detention of the Ukrainian
demonstrators in Belarus. But he said a Belarussian revolution "would be
disastrous for Putin", who retains a brittle alliance with Mr Lukashenko.

The Belarussian leader, a 50-year-old skiing fan who micromanages his
tight regime, will not give up power easily. He has described the recent
revolutions in parts of the former Soviet Union as "banditry", and has
scorned Ms Rice's remarks.

"It's good that she knows there is such a country as Belarus," he said. "She
was recently flying above us, and she must have seen that there are no
terrorists here." This "last European dictatorship" has become the final
battleground for Moscow in its attempts to retain what is left of its sphere
of influence in the former Soviet Union - as the Baltic states, Georgia,
Ukraine, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan have turned away from authoritarianism,
towards the west. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
11. POLISH SOLIDARITY LEADER LECH WALESA CLAIMS HE PLAYED
KEY ROLE IN AVERTING UKRAINE CRACKDOWN

Daniel McLaughlin in Gdansk
Irish Times; Ireland, Saturday, Apr 30, 2005

POLAND: Former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa said yesterday that
Ukraine's security forces were poised to crush last year's "orange
revolution" until he intervened.

Mr Walesa claimed that he convinced Viktor Yanukovich, who had declared
victory in recent presidential elections, to revoke an order for the police
and military to crack down on tens of thousands of people who had gathered
in Kiev's main square to protest against irregularities in the poll.

At the time, fears were rife that any violence could spark civil war in
Ukraine, where the mostly Russian-speaking east backed Mr Yanukovich,
while Kiev and the west hosted huge demonstrations in support of his
eventual usurper, Viktor Yushchenko.

"The president [ Yanukovich] said an order had already been given to the
security forces to restore order," Mr Walesa told The Irish Times in his
office in Gdansk, the Baltic port where he led Solidarity's opposition to
Poland's communist rulers in the 1980s.

"I told him: you say you have given orders to the police. I tell you now
that you will lose. You have no chance to win. The only choice you have is
between defeat with bloodshed and defeat without."

Events were on a knife-edge: Moscow and the West were backing different
candidates, Ukraine was paralysed and thousands of people were encamped
in central Kiev, waving the orange flags of Mr Yushchenko's party and
demanding a rerun of the elections.

The world was watching, wondering whether Ukraine would follow the path
taken by Georgia and its peaceful "rose revolution" of the previous winter,
or perhaps descend into violence reminiscent of the Romania revolution in
1989, when communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was ultimately captured
and executed with his wife on live television.

On November 23rd Mr Yushchenko invited the former dockyard electrician,
who was Poland's president from 1990 to 1995, to mediate with Mr
Yanukovich, who had been declared the winner of a November 21st
election that was widely denounced as a sham.

Mr Walesa arrived in Kiev for talks on November 25th, the same day Mr
Yushchenko's supporters were emboldened by the Ukrainian Supreme
Court's decision to postpone recognition of the disputed election results.

"It was very, very tense in there," the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize winner said
of his meeting with Mr Yanukovich, whom the Kremlin had openly supported
and even congratulated on his election "victory" before it was annulled.
"The orders to 'solve' the problem had been given."

Moscow denied this. A Ukrainian interior ministry officer was quoted as
saying 10,000 of his troops were on standby.

"If you don't withdraw your orders you will lose after bloodshed and perhaps
eventually be hanged from a lamp-post," Mr Walesa recalled warning Mr
Yanukovich. "I said: 'Here, with these witnesses in the office, will you
tell me that you will order those people in the streets to be beaten, or
not?'

"After this talk of bloodshed, he said he would withdraw the command. So I
said to those present: 'You have heard this and now I am going to tell this
to the people in the square.' "

Mr Walesa says he also won Mr Yanukovich's promise to start negotiations
with Mr Yushchenko and his supporters, a move he had previously resisted.

"For the sake of Ukraine, will you sit at the table to talk to the people
standing in the streets? Tell me and I will tell them," Mr Walesa remembers
saying. "So I went to the people in the square and told them: 'In this
situation, the real threat is provocation, so don't let yourselves be
provoked.

"'You have already won, Ukraine has won!' Negotiations had already started
by then." Mr Walesa left Kiev soon after. His job as a "problem-solver" was
done, he recalls, and it was time for politicians to devise a detailed route
out of crisis.

"[ They] joined in only after my talks with Yanukovich," he said of EU
foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Polish president Alexander
Kwasniewski.

On December 3rd the Supreme Court annulled the election results and
announced a rerun for December 26th. Mr Yushchenko won the vote and
was inaugurated as president a month later.

Mr Walesa (61), whose political star fell rapidly after an election defeat
in 1995, said that he had great sympathy for the huge reform task now facing
Mr Yushchenko, and said that he had warned him that he might not be the
people's favourite forever.

"When I ended the victorious Solidarity strike, I said: 'You have brought me
here on your shoulders, in euphoria, but there may be a day when you throw
stones at me.' "Well, they haven't thrown stones yet but there have been
snowballs, fruit, even manure. Real reform is a very tough thing." -30-
=============================================================
12. MOSCOW CONTINUES TO UNDERMINE DEMOCRACY
IN INDEPENDENT UKRAINE
Putin's plans for summer retreat in Crimea dashed

By Taras Kuzio, The Eurasia Daily Monitor
Volume 2, Issue 89, The Jamestown Foundation
Washington, D.C., Friday, May 6, 2005

Russian President Vladimir Putin's plans to purchase Leonid Brezhnev's
residence in the Crimea have collapsed. USSR Dacha No.1, "Hlitsyniya," is
among the Ukrainian properties excluded from privatization. Nevertheless,
Putin attempted to acquire it from Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma as a
token of gratitude for supporting Kuchma's designated successor, Viktor
Yanukovych, in the 2004 presidential elections. The dacha is an apt symbol
for Moscow's apparent need to maintain a presence in Ukraine.

Subsequently, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said that Kyiv is
considering an alternative residence for Putin. This comment is itself
unusual, as world leaders normally do not have official residences in
foreign countries. Yushchenko bluntly ruled out Hlitsyniya and warned
against constructing relations with Russia through shady privatization
deals, apparently a practice used under Kuchma (Ukrayinska pravda,
May 4).

On October 21, 2004, just 10 days before the first round of the 2004
presidential election, Ihor Bakay, then head of the Directorate on State
Affairs (DSA) attached to the executive branch, deeded Hlitsyniya to the
International Children's Center "Artek" in the Crimea. The director of Artek
then sold Hlitsyniya to Vneshtorgbank, which was acting on behalf of the
Russian Directorate for State Affairs attached to the Russian executive.
Russia had already paid 30% of the cost (estimated at 78 million hryvnia
or $15.5 million) to Artek.

The scandal surrounding Hlitsyniya follows another one in the Crimea.
Kuchma had lobbied for 350 hectares of prime land near Yalta to be given
to Russia to build a hunting lodge for Putin (Ukrayinska pravda, January
31).

Hlitsyniya was sold around the same time other prime Ukrainian assets were
transferred to Russia. Bakay transferred the Dnipro, one of Kyiv's premier
hotels, on December 28 (four days after he was dismissed as head of the
DSA) at the cost of 92 million hryvnia ($18 million). The Dnipro Hotel had
also appeared on a list of state properties unavailable for privatization.

The Dnipro-Elit company that "purchased" the Dnipro Hotel is headed by
Russian businessman Maxim Kurochkin. At the time he was deputy head of
the Russian Club, headquarters to the Russian "political advisors" brought
in to help Yanukovych win the presidential election. Kurochkin is reportedly
linked to organized crime and is wanted in Ukraine on numerous counts of
corruption and fraud. He now lives in Moscow.

Many Russian and Ukrainian citizens fleeing criminal charges in Ukraine have
moved to Moscow. Besides Kurochkin and Bakay, former Central Election
Commission chairman Serhiy Kivalov, former interior minister Mykola Bilokin,
former Sumy governor Volodymyr Shcherban, and former Odessa mayor
Ruslan Bodelan now live in the Russian capital (Ukrayinska pravda, May 4).
Bilokin is reportedly "often seen together with Kurochkin and with Bakay" in
Moscow (Ukrayinska pravda, May 5).

Russia has long provided citizenship to nationals living in separatist
enclaves such as Transnistria and Abkhazia. Now it is giving Russian
citizenship to individuals fleeing from criminal justice. Moscow regards
these people as a "persecuted opposition." Russia has even placed a draft
resolution condemning "repression" against the opposition in Ukraine,
Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe. According to the head of the State Duma's Committee on International
Affairs, Konstantin Kosachev, "We are concerned by the decisions of the
Ukrainian authorities directed towards pressuring the opposition that lost
the elections and their attempts at taking revenge upon them" (Ukrayinska
pravda, May 3).

Following this line of reasoning, Yanukovych recognizes the newly elected
authorities in Kyiv but does not accept his defeat in 2004. He believes that
the Ukrainian constitution and legislation were violated in December 2004,
when the run-off election was repeated and Yushchenko won. Despite
massive evidence to the contrary, Yanukovych denies that he himself was
involved in any election fraud (Ukrayinska pravda, April 26).

Russia's support for the "opposition" in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan is
no coincidence, as all three have experienced revolutions that removed
pro-Russia centrists. Russia, like the CIS Election Observation Missions
(EOM), supports and intervenes on behalf of fraudulent elections and
authoritarian regimes. In return, Moscow expects to be rewarded with
property rights.

In an interview in Strategiya Rosii Russian Security Council secretary Igor
Ivanov picks up Yanukovych's theme of not recognizing the defeat of
pro-Russia centrists through democratic revolutions. Nevertheless, he, like
Yanukovych, realizes that Moscow must deal with the newly elected
authorities. Ivanov describes all three revolutions from a legal viewpoint
as having been undertaken in an "unconstitutional and non-democratic
manner" (Ukrayinska pravda, May 4). He remains "skeptical" that these three
revolutions can be described as the "victory of democracy." Specifically, he
asks, "Please explain how is it possible that democracy has triumphed if the
basic principles of democracy have been infringed in the attainment of this
victory?" (Ukrayinska pravda, May 4).

Free elections, according to Yanukovych, Ivanov, and the CIS observer
missions, are evaluated on whether or not pro-Russian centrists or
neo-Soviet forces win, regardless of the means used to attain these ends.
Consequently, they believe that protests against electoral fraud are
illegitimate and should be dealt with by the use of force.

Former Polish President Lech Walesa recently revealed to The Observer
(May 1) that Yanukovych had ordered Interior Ministry troops to advance
against the Orange Revolution last November and December. Violence
and a civil war were only averted when the Ukrainian military intervened in
defense of protestors.

So long as Moscow insists that suspect elections were conducted in a
"free and fair manner," Russia and the West will remain at odds over this
fundamental issue. -30-
=============================================================
13. UKRAINE: USS CARNEY CELEBRATES V-E DAY IN SEVASTOPOL

U.S. SIXTH FLEET PRESS RELEASE
UNIT 50148, FPO AE 09501-6002
Gaeta, Italy, Friday, May 6, 2005

GAETA - Approximately 330 U.S. Sailors from the Mayport, Fla.-based
USS Carney (DDG 64) will participate in 60th Anniversary V-E Day
events in Sevastopol, Ukraine, starting May 7.

The celebration marking the end of World War II in Europe will provide
Sailors the opportunity to honor the sacrifices and service of all allied
personnel who defeated Nazi Germany, bringing to a close the biggest
and most significant armed conflict of the 20th Century.

“I am delighted that the people of Ukraine have invited the U.S. Navy to
participate in this historic event, honoring the bravery of those who fought
and won World War II in Europe,” said Vice Adm. Harry Ulrich, Commander
of the U.S. Sixth Fleet. “That war demonstrated to the world the enormous
power of freedom over tyranny. How fitting it is today, as we celebrate
that victory, that we stand shoulder to shoulder again in the fight against
freedom’s foes in this new century.”

As part of its participation in Victory Day events, USS Carney will embark
Ukrainian Sailors for cross training and cultural exchange opportunities to
better understand each other's capabilities and resources. The training
agenda will enhance interoperability and develop military-to-military
cooperation between the United States and the embarked countries.
These efforts build on the foundation laid with last year’s USS La Salle
(AGF 3) visit to Sevastopol where similar training was started.

USS Carney is the U.S. Navy’s 14th Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Sixth Fleet, Phone: (Italy 39) 0771-709-830 ext. 6052
DSN: 626-9000 ext. 6052, Email: c6fpao@mto.c6f.navy.mil
=============================================================
14. ORANGE COLOR UNDESIRED IN MOSCOW
After events last fall this color is considered 'politically incorrect'

Moskovsky Komsomolets,Moscow, Russia, Tue, May 3, 2005

MOSCOW - After the recent events in Ukraine, the orange color
acquired political meaning, and its presence on Moscow streets
apparently became undesired.

Private entrepreneurs the Fonaryov couple decided to open a wine
shop on one of the streets in the capital a year ago. They wanted to
decorate the windows in bright orange colors. However, the local
authorities did not allow them to do so.

"We understood from conversations with bureaucrats that they were
afraid," said Vladimir Fonaryov.

Officials from the press service of the Central administrative district
believe the Fonaryovs' allegations are pure provocation. However, they
have revealed in private conversations that the unofficial ban on orange
color does exist, "After the events in Kiev this color is considered
'politically incorrect' and we would not want its spread in the city to
cause 'unwanted reaction' on the part of Muscovites."

When protesters against the police brutality in Blagoveshchensk came to
Moscow, they were asked directly not to set up orange-colored tents and
not to wear orange ribbons. From now on, the same requirements will apply
to any organization willing to conduct mass meetings in Moscow, the
officials say.

Members of the Our Choice party, led by Irina Khakamada, are appalled by
the official demands. According to Our Choice spokesperson Konstantin
Lazarev, the orange color became the official color of the party before the
events in Kiev. Our Choice has no intention to abandon the use of orange
color, "No law in this country bans the use of orange color."

Nevertheless, Lazarev admitted that it had become more difficult to use
party symbols in Moscow. "In the beginning of 2005, authorities of several
Moscow districts dispersed several pickets set up by Our Choice under
orange flags to support entrepreneurs." [from RIA Novosti's digest of
the Russian press] -30-
=============================================================
15. LETTER-TO-THE EDITOR:
"Ripening Of The Orange Revolution" by Stanislav Kulchytsky

Letter from Walter Prochorenko
Paramus, New Jersey, USA
RE: Article by Stanislav Kulchtsky published in
The Action Ukraine Report #474, May 1, 2005
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT, #478
Washington, D.C., Friday, May 6, 2005

Following is my "letter to the editor" on the first chapter of Dr.
Kulchytsky's work:

I read with great interest Dr. Stanislav Kulchytsky's excerpts from his
upcoming book which were published in "The Action Ukraine Report - AUR" -
Number 474. It is an eye-opening analysis of Ukraine's transition period
which Dr. Kulchytsky accurately points out predated the actual start of the
independence movement by some 13 years.

Having lived and worked in Ukraine during most of the transition period and
having experienced first-hand the events about which Dr. Kulchytsky writes,
I can take issue with only one of Dr. Kulchytsky's 2 conclusions. My
concern is with the part of the second conclusion in which Dr. Kulchytsky
states: "... because the death of the Communist Party of the USSR marked
the end of communist dictatorship."

I don't think that such a statement is entirely accurate because of the fact
that after the breakup of the USSR and Ukraine's independence movement,
much of the Communist Party's nomenklatura simply changed their stripes,
and with great fervor became "capitalists" in name only. It should be noted
that this very "nomenklatura" was extremely adaptable and was the very
epitome of "foxiness" as was so brilliantly described in Ivan Franko's work
"Lys Mykyta".

This adaptability thus enabled the former Communist bosses to acquire much
of Ukraine's wealth and to continue their "dictatorship" under the banner of
capitalism. My observations show that they could have accomplished this
under any political banner of the people's choosing. Their control was and
remains as strong as ever.

After the "Orange revolution" many of the same federal and regional level
Communist bosses continue to control Ukraine's economic future by again
externally changing their stripes to "pro-Yushchenko-reformist" style
supporters of the new administration. Under the skin, however, beat the
hearts of true hard-core Soviet-made communists that care only about their
own ends.

Dr. Kulchytsky's assessment and analysis of revolutions in general however
disturbingly illustrates the fact that only a very few successful changes of
regimes and systems came about through peaceful means.

While it is laudable that Ukraine's "revolutions" were of the bloodless
variety, it saddens me to conclude that the transformations are not yet
complete and as long as many of the old Communist bosses are still in
control of much of the economy, it may still take many years for Ukraine
to achieve true democratic and market reforms.

Best Regards, Walter Prochorenko
Paramus, New Jersey, prowalt@yahoo.com
=============================================================
16. A VIRTUOSO OF THE BANDURA
Kostiantyn Novytsky is a bandura-player, or bandurist

The Day Weekly Digest In English, #5,
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, 10 March 1998 #

The bandura is not merely a musical instrument. It is one of the symbols of
Ukraine, and childhood is the best time to be shown such symbols and hear
stories about them.

I tried to hear a note of "provincialism" in the bandura and couldn't. The
instrument now sounded like a harpsichord, then like a harp, and sometimes
like a small orchestra. In skilled hands the bandura can handle the most
sophisticated modern and classical works.

Kostiantyn Novytsky is a bandura-player, or bandurist. If you picture a
blind kobzar minstrel portrayed in the duma Cossack ballads or in
Shevchenko's verse, you are wrong. This man is quite modern, with an
aristocratically courteous touch (Polish blood?) and unimaginably focused.
Suffice it to say that he is the only bandurist in Ukraine with a solo album
of classical music usually performed on the piano, violin, or cello.

He decided to show that the bandura, the Ukrainian national instrument, was
as good for classical music as any other instrument. This took countless
visits to bureaucrats at all levels, accompanied by numerous verbal attacks
from colleagues and listeners. Above all, this called for boundless devotion
to the bandura with which Kostiantyn Novytsky, now Meritorious Artist of
Ukraine, has not parted for 35 years. It all started with a childhood
insult.

"I was seven," the musician recalls, "my mother arranged for me to take
bandura classes with her friend's son. As often happens in such cases I had
no choice and obliged. Very quickly I developed an affection for the
instrument, but then it transpired that I knew nothing about it. Once, on my
way to the bandura teacher, I met a man and a boy about my age. The boy
asked his father what I was carrying. The man was at sea. He suggested it
was a gramophone, no, it looked like a balalaika, no, a concertina, no, a
cello. He never used the word bandura. He didn't know the instrument
existed, period.

That was in Kyiv. I'm a born Kyivite, you know. Later, I went to my aunt for
the holidays. She lived in a village. That was before I entered a music
school. I had to practice, so I took the bandura with me. Even as I
approached the house my uncle started thinking out loud what that thing
could be his nephew was lugging. A band saw? An extractor? What? Then
my aunt appeared. She greeted me and said, "All right, dear, you can put
that bandura over there, in the corner." I was happy. Here was someone
who knew. But then she asked, "So what did you bring this time?"

I was bewildered, "What do you mean? You just said bandura." She smiled,
"And so I did, I saw that you brought some bandura, so I wondered what was
inside." Then it dawned on me: bandura in the vernacular means anything
bulky or heavy, packed or wrapped. The realization hurt like hell. It was
there and then that I swore I would prove that the bandura was as good as
any other instrument, and deserved as much respect and recognition."

Easier said than done. Now, thinking back to his second year at the
conservatory, the man is amazed at his audacity. The year was 1968 and he,
together with Volodymyr Kushpet who was his friend and classmate from the
Glier School of Music (later they would serve together in the army),
organized a performing group and named it Kobza. It took boundless
dedication to make electric banduras and have them pass muster with an
ever-suspicious government high commission at a time when long hair and
electric guitars were officially frowned on). Even if the commission smelled
a rat, the young musicians' enthusiasm was overwhelming and their
professional skill too obvious. Approval was granted unanimously.

"We created Kobza to make propaganda for the bandura. The original idea
was a rock group. Hence electric banduras. Actually, there were only two.
Volodymyr's and mine. At first we just played, but a rock group needs
voices. So we got ourselves several singers. Bandura is unthinkable without
folk songs, so we performed folk arrangements. Remarkably, our first album
won first place at an unofficial hippie congress somewhere in Western
Europe. We knew nothing at the time, of course, and found out much later.
Why the popularity? Because we were the first to try folk music.

"Kobza played to packed audiences precisely because it played folk tunes.
Our success surpassed all our expectations. I remember posing with the rest
of the group for a commercial on the stairs leading to the newly built
Ukraine Palace of Culture . I also remember thinking, 'Oh God, let us
perform here soon!' Several years later we gave three concerts in succession
there with standing room only. Buses were chartered to bring people from
other cities.

Crowds gathered by the entrance hoping to get tickets despite the sold-out
notices. I was then Kobza's artistic director and planned concerts so that
folk numbers would be the finale, with preceding numbers to warm up the
audience. And most people would come specially to hear the finale."

Just as the Kobza reached its apex Kostiantyn, pressured by his wife, quit
the group to try a solo career. Liudmyla knew better than he himself how
much he cherished his dream and was determined to make it come true (a
gifted dancer, she had left Virsky's group to join Kobza). She knew that
what he did was just the beginning of the bandura's road to real acclaim.
She remembered his story about how he had been enchanted by
Bortniansky's music performed by a Moscow piano professor.

The Ukrainian composer had sounded like Bach or even Mozart! And yet
his music was far less popular than that by any of his West European
contemporaries. The idea was obvious: little known music should be
performed on a little known instrument. And that instrument, the bandura,
had to make a name for itself first. Previously, this had been the
Novytskys' family secret. Now the time was ripe and Kostiantyn set to
work out a solo repertoire.

"Do you remember your first solo concert?"

"Of course I do! That was on May 13, 1990, my son's birthday. The family
and guests were at the table and I had to leave for my first solo concert,
meaning a trip to Sloviansk in Donetsk Oblast. I came early and planned to
spend the day seeing the sights. It's so nice walking round a city where no
one knows you. I brought a bottle of cognac thinking I would sit in my hotel
room alone and silently toast to my son and the family. I went back to the
hotel and then a car drove up. It was time to go to the concert. I hadn't
noticed the time, and then everything happened so fast. The concert was a
great success.

The place was a summer resort where people came from all over the Soviet
Union. A crowd gathered after the concert. I got invitations from the Baltic
republics, Central Asia, and the Far East. My bandura was finally
recognized. That was how my concert career began. And it wasn't simple.
The hardest part was overcoming stereotypical attitudes toward the bandura.
Everybody expected me to play and sing.

Instead, they would watch and hear me play for two hours. Not a pianist or
violinist. A bandurist! So every concert was a challenge, a test of
strength. I knew that the way I played would determine people's attitude
toward the instrument. Several years passed, and I had in many concerts.
But now..."

Now is a transition period for Novytsky. He is no longer in a position to
give solo concerts after leaving the Kyiv Concert Association and joining
the National Bandurist Capella. He is very grateful to its artistic director
Mykola Hvozdev for support and understanding. He performs with the group
and teaches at the conservatory where he has three students. What he
misses most from the past is not his solo career (with musicians the
out-of-sight-out-of-mind adage is especially true), but the children's
audiences he loved so much.

"I even gave concerts for juvenile delinquents and they were excellent
listeners. Children are a very special audience that demands a special
approach by a performer. Children are very aggressive toward performers
who don't take them seriously, don't even bother to dress properly for a
concert and, give a pro forma performance. Children are extremely
sensitive and never forgive this.

Even worse, such musicians risk making them hate the piano or violin and
this hatred will stay with children long afterwards, perhaps for the rest of
their lives. One has to reach out to children, explain things to them. Too
bad that there are no funds for concerts in schools. The bandura is not
merely a musical instrument. It is one of the symbols of Ukraine, and
childhood is the best time to be shown such symbols and hear stories
about them."

"You are used to working with large audiences, aren't you?"
"Yes, precisely with everyday with large audiences."

In fact, Kostiantyn Novytsky can work one on one just as effectively. Three
conservatory students can hardly qualify as an audience, and yet there is
perfect rapprochement. Like most professional performers now, he moonlights
at the conservatory. Oleh Tymoshenko, Rector of the Musical Academy resisted
this arrangement as long as he could, but finally was pressured to permit
the Academy's student body to become larger than its faculty. Kostiantyn is
a strict taskmaster with his students. His right wrist is bound by red
cotton thread to keep the hand from over-tiring and going numb. And helping
students before exams is back-breaking toil.

"You see, they are all very busy young men. They have no time to practice
properly during the semester, and they have to take their exams and pass
them, so the heaviest strain is the period before the exams. That's why I
keep thread on my wrist."

I listened as he played Debussy's prelude, "A Flaxen-Haired Maiden."
Subconsciously I tried to hear a note of "provincialism" in the bandura and
couldn't. The instrument now sounded like a harpsichord, then like a harp,
and sometimes like a small orchestra. In skilled hands the bandura can
handle the most sophisticated modern and classical works. In Novytsky's
hands it is like a concert piano, capable of conveying the most subtle
variations and overtones. I was about to thank him for his time when I
remembered that I had not yet asked about his private life.

"I have two immediate relatives, my wife, and my bandura. It is alive and a
member of the family. I don't need any other sources of inspiration. I have
kept the bandura next to my heart since 1962, it has become a part of me. I
love it; it makes me happy." (Photo: Kostiantyn Novytsky) -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.day.kiev.ua/268763
=============================================================
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the CD contact Tamara Koszarny at tkoszarny@hotmail.com.
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7. UKRAINIAN AMERICAN COORDINATING COUNCIL,
(UACC), Ihor Gawdiak, President, Washington, D.C., New York, NY
8. U.S.-UKRAINE FOUNDATION (USUF), Nadia Komarnyckyj
McConnell, President; John Kun, Vice President/COO, Washington,
D.C.; Markian Bilynskyj, VP/Director of Field Operations; Kyiv,
Ukraine. Web: http://www.USUkraine.org
9. UKRAINE-U.S. BUSINESS COUNCIL, Washington, D.C., Van
Yeutter, Cargill Inc., Interim President; Jack Reed, ADM, Interim
Vice President; Morgan Williams, SigmaBleyzer, Interim Secretary-
Treasurer
10. VOLIA SOFTWARE, Software to Fit Your Business, Source your
IT work in Ukraine. Contact: Yuriy Sivitsky, Vice President, Marketing,
Kyiv, Ukraine, yuriy.sivitsky@softline.kiev.ua; Volia Software website:
http://www.volia-software.com/ or Bill Hunter, CEO Volia Software,
Houston, TX 77024; bill.hunter@volia-software.com.
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"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" is an in-depth, private, non-profit
news and analysis international newsletter, produced as a free public
service by the non-profit www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service
(ARTUIS) and The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service The
report is distributed in the public's interesting around the world FREE
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Additional readers are always welcome.

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PUBLISHER AND EDITOR
Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Director, Government Affairs
Washington Office, SigmaBleyzer Private Equity Investment Group
P.O. Box 2607, Washington, D.C. 20013, Tel: 202 437 4707
mwilliams@SigmaBleyzer.com; www.SigmaBleyzer.com
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Director, Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA)
Coordinator, Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC)
Senior Advisor, U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF)
Interim Secretary-Treasurer, Ukraine-U.S. Business Council
Publisher, Ukraine Information Website, www.ArtUkraine.com
& www.ArtUkraine Information Service (ARTUIS)
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