Search site
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"

UKRAINE MUST JOIN WTO THIS YEAR MINISTER TELLS PARLIAMENT
Ukrainian Economics Minister Serhiy Teryokhin
Will Ukraine Make It In 2005?

"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR" - Number 508
Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Washington, D.C. and Kyiv, Ukraine, THURSDAY, June 23, 2005

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

1. UKRAINE MUST JOIN WTO THIS YEAR MINISTER TELLS PARLIAMENT
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1354 gmt 22 Jun 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, June 22, 2005

2. FREE TRADE ZONE TALKS WITH EU IMPOSSIBLE BEFORE
UKRAINE OBTAINS FULL MEMBERSHIP IN THE WTO
Daria Hluschenko, Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri June 17, 2005

3. UKRAINE: RADA REFUSES TO BRING TECHNICAL REGULATIONS &
STANDARDIZATION IN CONFORMITY WITH WTO REGULATIONS
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, June 22, 2005

4. RADA DECLINES TO BRING NORMS FOR PLANT QUARANTINE,
VETERINARY MEDICINE AND FOOD SAFETY IN LINE
WITH WTO REQUIREMENTS
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, June 22, 2005

5. WHAT IS PREVENTING RUSSIA FROM JOINING
THE WTO BEFORE UKRAINE?
RIA Novosti, Moscow, Russia, Tue, June 21, 2005

6. RUSSIA'S WTO BID HANGS IN BALANCE
Experts are warning of difficulties if Ukraine gets in before Russia
By Greg Walters, Staff Writer, Moscow Times
Moscow, Russia, Thursday, June 23, 2005. Issue 3193. Page 1.

7. UKRAINE KEEPS EYE ON EUROPEAN UNION
France to support Ukraine's bid to join the WTO by the end of 2005
By Katrin Bennhold, International Herald Tribune (IHT)
Europe, Thursday, June 23, 2005

8. UKRAINE'S BLEAK PROSPECTS FOR EU MEMBERSHIP
The crisis seems to be a perfect tool for cooling off those who
still hold out some hope of the speedy and full-fledged EU membership
By Timofey Golovashkin, Pravda.Ru, Moscow, Russia, Wed, June 22, 2005

9. MINISTER TERIOKHIN FORECASTING THAT EU WILL GRANT UKRAINE
MARKET ECONOMY STATUES AT UKRAINE-EU SUMMIT IN OCT
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, June 22, 2005

10. UKRAINE TAKES TOUGH LINE AHEAD OF SINGLE ECONOMIC
SPACE (SES) TRADE BODY TALKS WITH RUSSIA
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 22 Jun 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Jun 22, 2005

11. WORLD BANK CONTINUES TO SUPPORT THE LONG-TERM ENERGY
SECTOR REFORM AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IN UKRAINE
Press Release - World Bank, Washington, D.C., Wed, June 22, 2005

12. UKRAINE ECONOMIC OUTPUT INDICATORS, JANUARY-APRIL 2005
Volodymyr Obolonsky, The Ukrainian Times, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, Jun 23, 2005

13. UNITED NATIONS TO INCREASE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO UKRAINE
Ross Business Consulting, Moscow, Russia, Tue, June 21, 2005

14. BUNGLE IN THE PRIVATIZATION JUNGLE
Vladimir V. Sytin, The Ukrainian Times, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, June 23, 2005

15. NEW EBRD COUNTRY STRATEGY FOR UKRAINE PUBLISHED
Global Trade Review News (GTR), London, UK, Wed, June 22, 2005

16. EBRD AND ING BANK LENDING TO UKRAINE'S OILSEED CRUSHING
PLANT ADM NEDERLAND AND RISOIL
Global Trade Review News (GTR), London, UK, Wed, June 22, 2005

17. MUNICIPAL FINANCE FIRST IN UKRAINE
EBRD project does not require a sovereign guarantee
Global Trade Review News (GTR), London, UK, Wed, June 22, 2005

18. EBRD FINANCES SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
IN UKRAINE THRU A CREDIT LINE TO KIEV-BASES BANK AGIO
Ukrainian Times, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, June 23, 2005

19. UKRAINE'S RATINGS RAISED BY STANDARD & POOR'S
Global Trade Review News (GTR), London, UK, Wed, June 22, 2005

20. UKRAINE IT OUTSOURCING MYTHS DISPERSED
i-Newswire.com Press Release Center
Amsterdam, Netherlands; Metasoft Ltd.,
Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 22, 2005

21. MILITARY EXPERTS SAY IT IS UNREALISTIC FOR UKRAINE TO DESIGN
AND MANUFACTURE A FIFTH-GENERATION WARPLANE ON ITS OWN
Both technically and financially Ukraine cannot compete
By Valentyn Badrak, Centre for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies
Defense-Express web site, Kiev, in Russian 13 Jun 06
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Jun 22, 2005

22. GERMAN W.E.T. AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS COMPANY OPENS NEW
MANUFACTURING PLANT IN ZAKARPATTYA REGION
Will emply 900 persons within one year
IntelliNews - Ukraine Today, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, June 22, 2005

23. UKRAINE PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO DISMISSED MYKHAILO REZNYK
FROM DUTIES AS AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, June 22, 2005

24. UKRAINE'S KLOCHKOVA IS BACK AFTER SEVEN MONTH BREAK
Winner of Olympic 200 and 400 medleys returns to
training during stay in Southern California
By Jonathan Abrams, Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA, Sun, June 19, 2005

25. KYIV ERECTS MONUMENT TO VICTIMS OF NAZISM NEAR BARYN YAR
"To the World Crippled By Nazism"
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, June 22, 2005

26. RADA ADVISES LVIV MUNICIPAL COUNCIL TO REVOKE ITS
DECISION TO OPEN MEMORIAL TO POLISH AND UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, June 22, 2005
===============================================================
1. UKRAINE MUST JOIN WTO THIS YEAR MINISTER TELLS PARLIAMENT

UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1354 gmt 22 Jun 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, June 22, 2005

KIEV - Ukrainian Economics Minister Serhiy Teryokhin has said that Ukraine
will not be accepted into the World Trade Organization at the December
session of member countries if it cannot resolve all the problematic issues
for entry by the end of July. UNIAN's correspondent reports that Teryokhin
said this today at a meeting of the agenda-setting council of faction
leaders and parliamentary groups.

He recalled that Ukraine had held talks with 60 WTO member countries. Of
these there remained 30 with whom agreements had yet to be signed. Of
those 30, four are key - the USA, Australia, China and Japan. Ukraine can
reach agreement with the rest without changing its legislation.

Teryokhin recalled that talks with Australia had been difficult because it
is insisting on access to the sugar market. "We cannot allow this to
happen," he said, remarking that Ukraine plans to resolve the problem with
Australia by seeking mechanisms to protect the Ukrainian goods market on
the basis of agreements with other countries.

He stressed that if the necessary laws are not passed by July, then a
decision will not be taken at the WTO working group's July session, at which
a report will be prepared on Ukraine. "Geneva will not have the documents
ready for the Hong Kong session for bureaucratic reasons," Teryokhin said.

He said that according to experts, Ukraine would gain 1.5bn dollars a year
from WTO entry because of an end to anti-dumping investigations,
compensation measures and abolition of quotas.

Another reason why Ukraine must join the WTO this year is that fact since
other countries want to join the WTO, our country will have to engage in new
talks talking into account the demands of new member countries. Currently
waiting to join are Vietnam, Russia and Kazakhstan, he said. He also said
that under WTO rules, if even one country rejects the entry of another, the
country will not be accepted into the organization. -30-
===============================================================
2. FREE TRADE ZONE TALKS WITH EU IMPOSSIBLE BEFORE
UKRAINE OBTAINS FULL MEMBERSHIP IN THE WTO

Daria Hluschenko, Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri June 17, 2005

KYIV - European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Joaquin
Almunia considers it impossible to enter talks on creation of a free trade
zone between Ukraine and the European Union before Ukraine joins the
World Trade Organization (WTO). He made the statement at a press
conference within the Extraordinary Roundtable on Ukraine, held by the
World Economic Forum.

"It will be impossible to open talks on free trade zone creation between
Ukraine and EU before Ukraine obtains full membership in the WTO," he said.
He voiced hope that Ukraine will be a success in joining the organization at
the WTO session late in 2005 and said that the free trade zone with the EU,
which may be created, will bring economic and other relations deepening
between the two partners.

He said that the EU can give its response on granting Ukraine a market
economy status yet in the near future. Almunia noted that the European
Commission received technical information from Ukraine, which will be
analyzed in the nearest time and he hopes that the EC will give a positive
answer.

As Ukrainian News reported earlier, Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk is
offering the European Union to enter negotiations on creation of a free
trade zone without waiting for Ukraine's accession to the WTO.

On February 21, Ukraine and the EU signed a joint Action Plan for 2005-
2007. The document is aimed at stepping up cooperation and does not
contain clear-cut European integration prospects for Ukraine, which was
an ambition of the Ukrainian authorities. Ukraine aspires to join the EU
by 2016. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
===============================================================
3. UKRAINE: RADA REFUSES TO BRING TECHNICAL REGULATIONS &
STANDARDIZATION IN CONFORMITY WITH WTO REGULATIONS

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, June 22, 2005

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada has refused to bring the guidelines for technical
regulation and standardization in line with the regulations and principles
of the World Trade Organization. Bill No. 7586 entitled "On Development and
Application of Standards, Technical Regulations and Procedures for
Assessing Compatibility" was supported by 203 lawmakers, given the
minimum of 226 votes for passage.

An explanatory note to the bill reads that the bill was designed in
accordance with the plan of activities on implementation of the Ukraine-EU
Action Plan in 2005, and also within the framework of the technical
assistance projects of the United State Agency for International Development
(USAID) called "Accession of Ukraine to WTO" with the participation of
experts of working groups that were set up to examine Ukraine's applications
to join the WTO.

The aim and objective for adopting this bill was to bring the national
legislation in the area of technical regulation and standardization in
conformity with the regulations of the WTO, particularly the organization's
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.

The bill defines the legal and organizational basis for developing and
applying national standards, technical regulations and procedures of
assessing compliance, it is envisaged giving business agents, agencies of
the executive branch and public organizations the right to use the signs of
conformance for all commodities, processes and services of domestic or
foreign-made goods, and it also stipulates supervision over the
implementation of this law.

According to the explanatory note, the adoption of this bill would allow to
ensure the necessary safety of products, processes and services, which
are being sold on the Ukrainian market, as well as to create conditions for
national commodity producers to manufacture competitive products and to
simplify the procedures of custom registration of goods that are being
imported into Ukraine, and also to reduce the level of interference in the
production activity of business agents by government controlling agencies.

As Ukrainian News reported previously, the Cabinet of Ministers had earlier
recommended to remove the B and C quotas from the mechanism of
domestic regulation of the sugar market due to its non-conformity to WTO
requirements, and to also harmonize the sanitary, veterinary and
phytosanitary regulation of the food market with the organization's
regulations. -30-
===============================================================
4. RADA DECLINES TO BRING NORMS FOR PLANT QUARANTINE,
VETERINARY MEDICINE AND FOOD SAFETY IN LINE
WITH WTO REQUIREMENTS
Parliamentary deputies decided to hold a repeat consideration of the
first reading of the draft law; this decision was approved by 244 votes.

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, June 22, 2005

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada has declined to bring Ukraine's legislation in
the areas of plant quarantine, veterinary medicine, and food safety in line
with international standards and the requirements of the World Trade
Organization (WTO).

The first reading of the relevant draft law, which is entitled "On
Introducing Amendments in Certain Ukrainian Laws" (on sanitary and
epidemiological norms for food products) and registered as No. 7595,
received only 208 votes while at least 226 votes were required for its
approval.

The aim of the draft law was to eliminate the internal contradictions in the
active legislation and bring the legislative base in line with international
standards and the requirements of the WTO, including the Agreement on
Application of Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Measures.

The draft law provides for making the relevant amendments to the
Administrative Violations Code, the laws "On State Regulation of Importation
of Agricultural Products," "On Ensuring Sanitary and Epidemiological
Well-Being of the Population," "On Foreign Economic Trade," "On Pesticides
and Agricultural Chemicals," "On Protecting the Population from Infectious
Diseases," "On Protection of Plants," and "On Licensing Certain Types of
Business Activities."

Parliamentary deputies decided to hold a repeat consideration of the first
reading of the draft law; this decision was approved by 244 votes.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Cabinet of Ministers recently
proposed that the parliament harmonize Ukraine's legislative base in the
area of plant quarantine, veterinary medicine, and safety of food products
with international standards and the requirements of the World Trade
Organization.

President Viktor Yuschenko recently criticized the Cabinet of Ministers for
going too slow on preparing Ukraine to join the WTO.

Ukraine is hoping that the European Union will grant it the full status of a
country with market economy before the meeting of the Ukraine-European
Union Cooperation Council that is planned for June 13. Ukraine is aiming
to join the WTO by the end of 2005. -30-
===============================================================
5. WHAT IS PREVENTING RUSSIA FROM JOINING
THE WTO BEFORE UKRAINE?

RIA Novosti, Moscow, Russia, Tue, June 21, 2005

MOSCOW - The decisive round of the talks on Russia's accession to the
World Trade Organization opened in the Swiss capital, Geneva, today.

Curiously, many people are not so much concerned about when Russia
will join the WTO, but whether it will do so before Ukraine.

Margarita Maximova, a professor at the Russian Academy of Sciences'
Institute of the World Economy and International Relations, picked up the
theme today in the government daily, Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

From now on, Russia and Ukraine will be rivals rather than partners in
Geneva, because the country that joins the WTO first will be able to make
demands on the other accession candidate. In addition, many problems
complicate Russian-Ukrainian relations.

The United States has the final say on when Russia and Ukraine join the
WTO. Although President Bush has repeatedly stated he intends to support
both countries' accession this year, in reality, the situation is much more
complicated.

The principled differences in the demands made by the U.S. and other WTO
member countries on Russia and Ukraine are obvious. They demand that
Russia apply WTO rules on state trade enterprises to all the other Russian
companies with state participation, whereas no such demands are made on
Ukraine.

Russia should raise domestic prices for natural gas and bring them closer
to world prices, but Ukraine does not need to do this. The list could go on.
This is a clear case of double standards, which clashes with the main
principle of the WTO: non- discrimination.

Economic reasons cannot explain this strange situation. On the contrary, the
key WTO member countries are trying to use the talks for political purposes.

America's readiness to support Russia's accession to the WTO is dependent
on Russia's position on the political resolution of international problems,
and the terms of accession are seen as part of political horse-trading in
general.

Meanwhile, the tactic of dragging out the talks with Russia and
simultaneously granting a carte blanche to Ukraine is not productive, to say
the least, above all for the U.S. In a bid to save sectors of its own
industrial base, Ukraine may take the most unpredictable and unpopular
measures. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
===============================================================
6. RUSSIA'S WTO BID HANGS IN BALANCE
Experts are warning of difficulties if Ukraine gets in before Russia

By Greg Walters, Staff Writer, Moscow Times
Moscow, Russia, Thursday, June 23, 2005. Issue 3193. Page 1.

If Russia fails in its current bid to join the World Trade Organization, the
entire accession process could be delayed by several years, a top trade
official said Wednesday.

Even as Moscow pushes hard to join the WTO by the end of the year, a
number of thorny issues threaten to snarl negotiations. And should Russia
stumble now, a growing chorus of experts warns, the quest will only get
more difficult, especially if fellow applicant Ukraine succeeds in joining.

"If we don't [join] before the end of the Doha Round, it will take two,
three, four more years," said Yury Afanasyev, referring to the WTO's
so-called Doha Round of negotiations on trade policy. "Much will have to
be reconsidered."

Afanasyev, Russia's top trade officer at WTO headquarters in Switzerland,
spoke by telephone as negotiators sat down in Geneva for their latest set of
accession talks this week. Russia is in the process of conducting bilateral
talks with a number of major trade partners, including the United States,
which must bless Moscow's bid if it is to join before a WTO summit in Hong
Kong in January.

Russia still has a distinct chance of joining the WTO this year, said the
country's top WTO negotiator, Maxim Medvedkov. But talks are hung up on
a number of issues, as Washington digs in its heels on disagreements over
Russia's closed banking sector and observance of intellectual property
rights. "There aren't many issues left, but they're difficult," Medvedkov
said.

Not getting the green light before the Hong Kong meeting could mean that
Russia will miss a chance to make a meaningful contribution to the Doha
Round, which is setting out new policies for member states on everything
from agricultural subsidies to financial services. It is unclear how long
the Doha Round talks will continue, but Afanasyev said they could easily
take two more years.

"We would like to participate constructively in [Doha Round] negotiations,
not jump on the last coach," he said.

Some experts are also warning of difficulties if Ukraine gets in before
Russia. Although the terms for WTO accession are officially kept secret
until negotiations are complete, Ukraine is widely believed to have agreed
to trade tariffs lower than Russia is ready to accept.

That would mean that if Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan finalize a
planned single economic space before WTO talks are over, Moscow could
be put at a competitive disadvantage. "I think that there are dangers if
Ukraine gets in before us," said former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov.

Russia could be "drowned" in cheap goods flowing through Ukraine, Primakov
said, speaking on the sidelines of a recent conference on Russia's WTO bid.
In theory, earlier accession would put Kiev in a position to make demands
for trade concessions as a condition of Moscow's entry.

Countries applying for membership to the WTO must complete bilateral trade
agreements with any current member state that requests them.
In the past, Russia and Ukraine have quarreled over trade issues like gas,
steel and sugar. Experts said the field was wide open for demands for
concessions that would likely depend on the political atmosphere between
the two countries.

"Such concessions would be a political question rather than an economic
one," said Oleksandr Rohozinsky, director of CASE Ukraine, a think tank
based in Kiev.

"I don't think anything really very dangerous can happen in this situation,"
said Ksenia Udayeva, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center. "But
Russia will probably have to negotiate on some issues, and may have to
give some concessions on [other] issues."

A WTO official in Geneva downplayed the possibility of conflict between
Russia and Ukraine, saying the trade body would likely try to finesse the
timing of both countries' accessions if they appear to be more or less on a
similar track.

"If the two countries finish almost at the same time, we would try to
arrange for both of them to become members at the same time, which I think
would be nice for everybody," said the official, who asked not to be named.

But Cato Adrian, the WTO's No. 2 official on accession, told Reuters earlier
this month that Russia's application "doesn't look good." "At the moment, I
would say Ukraine is ahead of Russia," he said.

Leaders of an economic association of former Soviet nations that links
Russia, Belarus and three Central Asian nations met in Moscow on
Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.

The Eurasian Economic Community, one of several overlapping regional
organizations composed of former Soviet states, agreed to set up a regional
financing bank with $1.5 billion in initial capital, Kazakh President
Nursultan Nazarbayev said. The participants also pledged to continue efforts
to form a free-trade zone and harmonize customs tariffs.

The community's three largest members, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan,
also belong to the Common Economic Space together with Ukraine. But the
future of that body is in doubt because the new pro-Western leadership in
Ukraine is reluctant to pursue an integration drive with other former Soviet
nations. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
===============================================================
7. UKRAINE KEEPS EYE ON EUROPEAN UNION
France to support Ukraine's bid to join the WTO by the end of 2005

By Katrin Bennhold, International Herald Tribune (IHT)
Europe, Thursday, June 23, 2005

PARIS - President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine used a visit here on
Wednesday to defend his country's ambition to be "part of Europe," even
as further expansion of the European Union is being called into question.
Visiting Paris less than a month after France's rejection of the European
constitution, he trod carefully, avoiding explicit mention of his country's
goal of one day joining the EU.

During his first official trip to Paris since being elected in December,
Yushchenko met with President Jacques Chirac for talks on an array of
subjects, including stability in the EU's eastern neighborhood and energy
security.

Ukraine's aim to foster closer ties with the EU dominated the talks, as
indeed it dominates the overall strategy of Yushchenko's administration:
Kiev has said it aims to start membership talks in 2007. "Nobody can deny
Ukraine the right to be part of Europe," Yushchenko said after meeting
Chirac. "Whatever our status - member of the European Union or not - we
are European."

Chirac expressed understanding for Ukraine's aspirations and pledged his
support for its bid to join the World Trade Organization by the end of the
year, according to the president's spokesman, Jérôme Bonnafont.

Neither leader explicitly brought up Ukraine's declared ambition to join the
EU, he said. After Yushchenko was swept to power in a democratic uprising
dubbed the Orange Revolution last year, the EU offered Ukraine a strategic
partnership but shied away from giving it any future prospect for
membership.

At the time the main reason for taking such a cautious stance was concern
that any hint of considering Ukraine for future accession would upset
relations with Russia, Ukraine's bigger neighbor and a key source of energy
for Europe.

But the current crisis in the EU has added a domestic dimension. Unease
about last year's expansion to 10 new mainly Eastern European countries
and widespread opposition to the prospect of Turkey joining the EU is
thought to have played a major role in fueling opposition to the
constitution.

Ukrainian officials have since sought to play down the impact on their
European ambitions, pledging to press ahead with the economic and political
reforms usually required by the EU to qualify for membership talks. In
Kiev's efforts to win investment and establish closer strategic and business
ties in Europe, France has received particular attention this month.

A string of Ukrainian defense officials flocked to Paris at the beginning of
June. Ten days ago, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko came for talks with the
new prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, and a visit to the airshow at Le
Bourget. She left two days later with 11 cooperation agreements in the
fields of aviation, infrastructure and energy.

On Wednesday, Chirac and Yushchenko decided to put their foreign ministers
in charge of drawing up a "road map" for cooperation in those areas. Chirac
accepted an invitation to Kiev, though no date was set.

A former Soviet republic, Ukraine wants to reduce its dependence on Russia
for energy, notably by building up its nuclear energy sector, an area where
France has much expertise. In a bid to join NATO in 2008, Kiev is also
seeking to bolster strategic ties with France, one of the EU's two main
defense powers.

France, too, has an interest in strengthening relations with Kiev. "There
has been a tendency in Paris to think about relations with Ukraine
exclusively through the prism of relations with Russia," said Thomas Go-
mart, head of the Russia CIS program at the French Institute for
International Relations in Paris. "But today there is a growing realization
that through its emancipation from Russia, Ukraine has itself become a
player in the region." -30-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/23/news/ukraine.php
===============================================================
8. UKRAINE'S BLEAK PROSPECTS FOR EU MEMBERSHIP
The crisis seems to be a perfect tool for cooling off those who still
hold out some hope of the speedy and full-fledged EU membership

Timofey Golovashkin, Pravda.Ru, Moscow, Russia, Wed, June 22, 2005

"Open up, Owl, the bear has arrived!" cried out Winnie-the-Pooh knocking
hard at the door. And the Owl opened the door just in case. Ukraine has been
knocking on the door of the European Union too. But the door is still shut.
The EU is far too busy at the moment tackling its own constitutional crisis
and therefore Ukraine is not on the agenda.

The Ukrainian Ambassador to Austria Vladimir Elchenko stated that Ukraine
was highly unlikely to join the EU in the next few years. According to the
diplomat, the situation largely stems from the crisis caused by the
rejection of the draft EU constitution in France and the Netherlands. "We
can appreciate that today is not the best time for our knocking on the EU
door," said Mr. Elchenko. Besides, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Boris
Tarasyuk has recently admitted that the EU did not regard Ukraine as a
possible member state of the Union.

"Today we have to face up to the fact that the EU does not regard Ukraine as
a good prospect for joining the organization," said Mr. Tarasyuk at an
international conference on the EU enlargement issues. He also cited the
aggravations caused by the constitutional crisis. Well, someone should have
conjured up the crisis if it was not in place already. The crisis seems to
be a perfect tool for cooling off those who still hold out some hope of the
speedy and full-fledged EU membership.

However, the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs
JoaquinAlmunia said earlier last week that the EU might reach an agreement
with Ukraine on associated membership in 2008. Mr. Almunia pointed out that
implementation of the EU-Ukraine bilateral plan did not depend on the
outcome of ratification process i.e. the negative results in the referendums
on the draft EU constitution in France and the Netherlands would not have an
impact on the implementation of the plan, free-zone trade talks, and the
agreement on associated EU membership.

A number of reasons could be cited for that matter. Meanwhile, Ukraine can
only wait and hope for the better. There is no point in knocking on the
closed door.

Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, said earlier this
year that "there are no new entries on the EU enlargement list apart from
those which have been recently agreed upon by the European Council." Paris
and Berlin expressed similar opinions. The situation looks quite clear: the
EU will not stand the test of taking Ukraine in. Chairman of the Committee
on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament Elmar Brok did not beat about
the bush while speaking out on the issue: "We will choke if we let Ukraine
in."

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, an official with foreign policy committee of the
commission, said that "the EU should carefully examine its potential in
terms of further enlargement." Making Ukraine a new EU member state
"would be a counterproductive move", the above official was quoted as
saying. The French foreign ministry believes that the EU should apply the
membership standards for new countries in a tougher manner.

Some French experts indicate that the failure of referendums on the draft EU
constitution in France and Holland was partly due to the voters' concerns
about possible integration of Turkey and Ukraine into the EU. (Translated
by: Guerman Grachev) -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/92/370/15683_Ukraine.html
===============================================================
9. MINISTER TERIOKHIN FORECASTING THAT EU WILL GRANT UKRAINE
MARKET ECONOMY STATUES AT UKRAINE-EU SUMMIT IN OCT

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, June 22, 2005

KYIV - Economy Minister Serhii Teriokhin is forecasting that the European
Union will grant Ukraine the status of a market economy during the
Ukraine-European Union summit that will take place in October. Teriokhin
announced this while addressing the parliament during parliamentary hearings
on Ukraine's integration into Europe and its participation in the creation
of the Common Economic Area.

"However, at the summit in the autumn... we are confident that we will be
guaranteed such a status," Teriokhin said. He also said that Ukraine has
answered all the European Union's questions that previously prevented the
granting of the market economy status to Ukraine.

According to him, the European Union was simply unable to respond before
the ninth meeting of the Ukraine-EU Cooperation Council that took place in
Luxembourg on June 13. "Only the well-known bureaucracy of Brussels did
not allow us to receive this status on the 13th [of June]," Teriokhin said.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Deputy Prime Minister for European
Integration Oleh Rybachuk and Javier Solana, the European Union's High
Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, recently discussed
the issue of granting Ukraine the full market economy status. Ukraine had
expected to be granted this status by June 13. -30-
===============================================================
10. UKRAINE TAKES TOUGH LINE AHEAD OF SINGLE ECONOMIC
SPACE (SES) TRADE BODY TALKS WITH RUSSIA

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 22 Jun 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Jun 22, 2005

KIEV - Ukrainian Economics Minister Serhiy Teryokhin has said that if, at
the next meeting of the high-level group on forming the Single Economic
Space [SES], the Russian side doesn't agree with Ukraine's position that
a free-trade zone without exceptions and restrictions is of paramount
importance, then the two countries' presidents will have to decide on the
further fate of the project.

He said this today in Kiev during a parliamentary hearing on the current
situation and prospects for Ukraine's Euro-integration and its participation
in forming the SES.

"The main player in this project, the Russian Federation, does agree with
the position that the creation of a free-trade zone without exceptions and
restrictions is of paramount importance and is demanding that the other
sides in the project (Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan) move to a greater
degree of integration than required by a classic free trade zone without
exceptions and restrictions," he said.

He said the group's next meeting will take place in two days in Kiev. "It
will be a watershed meeting. If we can't find mutual understanding with
regard to the order of integration under this project, then not economists
or politicians, but the presidents of our countries will have to get
involved and decide the SES project's fate at a political level," he said.

Ukrainian First Deputy Foreign Minister Anton Buteyko recalled Ukraine's
position that it would take part in the project only as far as it did not
contradict the constitution. He once again confirmed the ministry's
intention to send the SES agreement and the conception of its foundation
to the Constitutional Court for consideration of whether it is in line with
the constitution. [Passage omitted: Teryokhin says procedural work on
documents is under way.]

Teryokhin said reports that Ukraine could agree to further integration under
the project than a free trade zone and that it planned to hand over some of
its sovereignty to a supra-national SES body were speculation. "These
reports are unfounded," he said. -30-
===============================================================
11.WORLD BANK CONTINUES TO SUPPORT THE LONG-TERM ENERGY
SECTOR REFORM AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IN UKRAINE

Press Release - World Bank, Washington, D.C., Wed, June 22, 2005

WASHINGTON - The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors today
approved a US$106 million loan for the Hydropower Rehabilitation Project
in Ukraine. This is the first of a series of projects planned to support the
long-term Energy Sector Reform and Development Program.

The reform and sustainable development of the energy sector is one of the
highest priorities in restoring Ukraine's macroeconomic fundamentals,
improving the investment climate, and integrating the county into the global
economy.

"The objective of the overall Energy Program is to improve the security,
reliability, and quality of energy supply. This will facilitate smooth
operation of the energy market both domestically and internationally," says
Dejan Ostojic,Program Team Leader. "Also, the proposed Energy Program
will support Ukraine's aspirations with regard to legal, institutional,
regulatory and technical harmonization and increasing energy trade with the
EU Internal Energy Market."

Strengthening energy interconnections and opening access to the EU
electricity market will improve energy security and the reliability of
energy supply in the whole region and result in significant economic
benefits for all market participants. Furthermore, the proposed Energy
Program will help Ukraine benefit from its large surplus of Greenhouse Gas
emission reductions under the Kyoto Protocol.

The main objective of the Hydropower Rehabilitation Project is to improve
operational stability and reliability of power supply by increasing
regulating capacity, efficiency and safety of hydroelectric plants. The
project builds on the Hydropower Rehabilitation and System Control
Project, which was successfully completed in 2002.

The project will include rehabilitation of about 70 hydroelectric units at
nine hydropower plants built more than 30 years ago. This will help increase
production of hydroelectric energy by 360 GWh, increase hydropower
capacity by 250 MW, and reduce emissions from thermal power plants.

The loan will be at the Bank's standard interest rate for LIBOR-based,
single currency dollar loans, repayable in 18 years, including a 6-year
grace period. Since Ukraine joined the World Bank in 1992, commitments
to the country total over US$4.0 billion for 32 operations. -30-
===============================================================
12. UKRAINE ECONOMIC OUTPUT INDICATORS, JANUARY-APRIL 2005

Volodymyr Obolonsky The Ukrainian Times, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, Jun 23, 2005

The latest numbers from the State Committee for Statistics show that in
January-April industrial output grew by 6.7%, compared with the same period
last year. Mining industries increased output by 3.7%. The manufacturing
industry increased output by 7.1%, compared with January-April 2004.

Within the period under review food and agricultural produce processing
industries stepped up production by 16%, compared with January-April 2004.
In light industry growth of production accounted for 3.2%. Woodworking
enterprises increased output by 24%.

Pulp and paper, printing industries and publishing houses increased output
by 16.9%, compared with the year-earlier period. Growth in production of
nonmetallic minerals made up 12.7%. Metallurgical plants and metalworking
industry enterprises increased output by only 0.5% in January-April,
compared with the same period last year.

In the engineering industry growth of production accounted for 11.9%.
Chemical and petrochemical industries increased output by 14.3% as against
January-April 2004. The enterprises, which produce coke and petroleum
products, decreased output by 5% versus January-April 2004. Production and
the distribution of electric power increased by 4.1%, compared with
January-April 2004.

From January through March industrial enterprises sold products (work,
services) in the amount of 91.5 billion hryvnias including 0.3 billion hrn
(0.4%) on barter terms.

In the first quarter of this year 849 enterprises (9% of their total number)
engaged in innovation activity versus 646 enterprises (7%) in January-March
2004. More than 70% of them substantially improved their products, 38.2%
introduced new production processes, 3.3% bought new technologies, 17.9%
mechanized production processes and rendered them automatic. -30-
===============================================================
13. UNITED NATIONS TO INCREASE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO UKRAINE

Ross Business Consulting, Moscow, Russia, Tue, June 21, 2005

MOSCOW - On June 20, 2005, the Executive Board of the UN Development
Program and the UN Fund for Population Activities considered the draft
cooperation program with Ukraine for 2006 to 2010 with a budget worth
USD80m, Ukraine's foreign ministry has reported.

Compared with two prior programs, the document enlarges the interaction
sphere and increases the size of financial aid.

According to Viktor Kryzhanovsky, Ukraine's permanent representative
to the UN, the document meets the Ukrainian government's aims at integration
into Europe. Kryzhanovsky stressed the need to enhance cooperation with the
UNDP in the sphere of fighting AIDS and removing consequences of the
Chernobyl disaster.

The draft program has been prepared by the UN mission in Kiev in
cooperation with the Ukrainian government. The UNDP Executive Board is
expected to ratify it in the near future. The program's budget for 2002-2005
envisaged around USD15m. -30-
==============================================================
14. BUNGLE IN THE PRIVATIZATION JUNGLE

Vladimir V. Sytin, The Ukrainian Times, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, June 23, 2005

Ukrainian newspapers have doubts about the State Property Fund (SPF).
Valentina Semenyuk, head of the fund, told the press that she would appeal
against earlier privatization of 194 enterprises. Strange as it may sound,
Ms. Semenyuk refuted President Yuschenko's statement that only 29
enterprises would be subject to reprivatization.

Given that the SPF displayed an ordinance in terms of the intention to
appeal against privatization of 191 enterprises on its website in May 26,
fund arithmetic is poor and irrational. Even the recent decision to cancel
an agreement on the sale of state-owned stakes in the Kherson cotton mill
and the Vyshneve forging press plant does not correspond to the number
194.

However, it is unimportant in the circumstances of the return of privatized
assets to state property as this procedure is far from transparent and
correct, the more so because the SPF head herself said that there is no law
on reprivatization.

In addition, the program "Property of People" adopted by the government does
not establish criteria of the above procedure. Seemingly, the Supreme Rada,
Ukraine's parliament, refused to take political responsibility for the
officialization of reprivatization, which looks to many like the economics
of the madhouse.

In the meantime, the government is likely to pursue an aim to derive budget
dividends from its irrational arithmetic. Valentina Semenyuk alleged that
the renationalization did not have a negative influence on the investment
climate in Ukraine, whereas statistics show a decrease in investments over
the course of several months.

To make matters worse, the SPF is wrecking the plan of privatization whose
receipts might have been added to the national budget, and money does not
grow on Ukrainian trees. Ms. Semenyuk refuses obstinately to reach an
amicable agreement with the Investment Metallurgical Union (IMU), which
purchased the 93.02% stake in the steelworks KrivorozhStal for about $800
million. According to prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the government plans
to receive 10-12 billion hryvnias from reprivatization of KrivorozhStal.

At the same time, President Viktor Yuschenko deems it expedient to sign the
above pact. Also, experts believe a new re-division of property under
conditions of the unreformed system of judicature stirs suspicions that the
government is lenient towards a certain group of businessmen and cronies to
the detriment of other business circles.

It is worth remembering that KrivorozhStal was controversially sold off in
June 2004 to two businessmen of the IMU, namely Viktor Pinchuk, son-in-law
of then President Leonid Kuchma, and Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's richest man.
The bidding procedure was seen as discriminatory against foreign bidders
who had offered more than a billion dollars for the steel giant. That is
true, but only in part.

The opposition accuses the government of the planned renationalization as a
politically motivated move. -30-
===============================================================
15. NEW EBRD COUNTRY STRATEGY FOR UKRAINE PUBLISHED

Global Trade Review News (GTR), London, UK, Wed, June 22, 2005

LONDON - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
will support the new Ukrainian government's efforts to tackle major
challenges by providing finance to strengthen the country's banking system,
upgrade infrastructure and generally improve the climate for foreign and
domestic investors, says a new country strategy published during the bank's
recent annual meeting in Belgrade.

Having successfully come through a difficult political test, Ukraine is now
taking important steps towards integrating into the European and world
economy. The EBRD, a major investor in the country, having already invested
1.7bn through 67 projects, can play an important role in supporting Ukraine
in this process, as follows:

. Business climate and competitiveness: The bank will support the private
sector by encouraging and sharing risk with foreign direct investors and
increasing investment in large local manufacturing, service, property and
agribusiness projects. It will also take more equity and extend debt with
longer maturities, as well as promote syndications.

The EBRD will seek to enhance integrity and corporate governance in local
private-sector projects and support environmental and energy
efficiency-related projects. It will also look for ways to develop
local-currency financing instruments based on the approach used in other
countries in the region.

. Financial sector: The EBRD will actively support consolidation in the
banking sector by providing equity finance, particularly in the context of
mergers of domestic banks or market entry by foreign strategic investors.
Special attention will be paid to the provision of credit lines for micro
and SME finance, mortgage, leasing, energy efficiency and warehouse
receipts. The bank also plans to start working with insurance companies
and other non-bank financial institutions.

. Infrastructure: The bank will support the restructuring and modernisation
of Ukraine's roads, railways, harbours and airports, as well as the power
and oil and gas sectors so important for one of the fastest growing
economies in the region. It will be done through a combination of
sovereign-guaranteed projects that help promote commercialisation, as
well as non-sovereign guaranteed projects where appropriate.

The EBRD will work with the European Investment Bank (EIB) on certain
projects to ensure optimum efficiency and to support implementation by
Ukraine of the EU Action Plan. At the same time, the EBRD will seek to
extend its support of much-needed municipal infrastructure projects in
Ukrainian cities. -30-
===============================================================
16. EBRD, ING BANK LENDING TO UKRAINE'S OILSEED CRUSHING PLANT
ADM NEDERLAND AND RISOIL

Global Trade Review News (GTR), London, UK, Wed, June 22, 2005

LONDON - The EBRD and ING Bank are lending US$30mn to Ukraine's
newest oilseed crushing plant, near the Ukrainian port city of Odessa. It is
the EBRD's first project in the region.

The revolving credit is for Illichevskiy Maslo Extractionniy Zavod (IMEZ), a
50/50 joint venture between ADM Nederland, a subsidiary of US-based Archer
Daniels Midland, one of the world's largest oilseed processors, and Risoil,
a Swiss-registered agricultural trading company and port operator.

The EBRD will hold an 'A' loan of US$15mn and remain lender of record for
the whole facility, while ING takes the full 'B' loan of US$15mn, with ING
Ukraine acting as local security agent and payment bank. The IMEZ plant, in
the port of Illichevsk outside Odessa, will produce crude sunflower oil and
sunflower meal.

Hans Christian Jacobsen, director of agribusiness at the EBRD, says the loan
will help support investment in a sector - edible oil - where Ukraine has a
competitive advantage due to its typical surplus in sunflower seeds, low
costs of production and geographical position. The project is the latest of
an array agri-commodity finance provided by the bank throughout the region.

Director of Risoil SA Ukraine, Igor Yanchev, says: "Risoil has found a
partner for this project in ADM and the project represents a logical
extension to its trading and infrastructure activities in the region."

The EBRD is the largest investor in Ukraine, with 1.7bn in 67 projects.
Across its 27 countries of operations, the bank has invested 3.3bn in more
than 220 agribusiness projects. -30-
===============================================================
17. MUNICIPAL FINANCE FIRST IN UKRAINE
EBRD project does not require a sovereign guarantee

Global Trade Review News (GTR), London, UK, Wed, June 22, 2005

LONDON - A 20mn loan to the water and wastewater utility of the Ukrainian
city of Dnipropetrovsk marks the EBRD's first municipal infrastructure
project in Ukraine that does not require a sovereign guarantee.

The project will help improve the quality of the city's drinking water, make
the utility more efficient, and cut the flow of untreated effluent into the
Dnieper River and the Black Sea basin.

The project is in line with the EBRD's broad efforts to find ways to finance
local infrastructure projects without further burdening central government
budgets, and more specifically to help clean up the environment of one of
Ukraine's most industrialised regions. The project received crucial support
through technical cooperation funds worth 1.4mn provided by the governments
of France and Sweden, as well as the European Union.

Thomas Maier, Director of Municipal and Environmental Infrastructure at the
EBRD, said the project will demonstrate how the Bank can help municipalities
implement tariff reform, improve billing and apply better management
procedures.

The municipal and environmental infrastructure programme in Ukraine focuses
on local investments, working with local authorities and their utility
companies to enhance their creditworthiness by improving budgeting, debt
management and investment planning. The Bank's cumulative investments in
Ukraine stand at 1.7bn through 68 projects. -30-
==============================================================
18. EBRD FINANCES SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
IN UKRAINE THRU A CREDIT LINE TO KIEV-BASES BANK AGIO

Ukrainian Times, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, June 23, 2005

KYIV - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
has opened a credit line in the amount of $10 million for the Kiev-based
bank Agio.

Remarkably, Agio is the first Ukrainian bank, which has begun working within
the framework of the EBRD program designed to finance small and medium
enterprises (SME).

Valued at a total of $200 million, the program will be carried out through
credit lines opened for local commercial banks without sovereign guarantees
and participation of the National Bank of Ukraine. It must be noted that the
EBRD Board of Governors adopted this program in December 2004
==============================================================
19. UKRAINE'S RATINGS RAISED BY STANDARD & POOR'S

Global Trade Review News (GTR), London, UK, Wed, June 22, 2005

LONDON - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has raised its long-term
foreign currency sovereign credit rating on Ukraine to 'BB-' from 'B+'. At
the same time, the long-term local currency rating was raised to 'BB' from
'B+'. In addition, the 'B' short-term foreign and local currency ratings and
'uaAA' national scale rating were affirmed. The outlook is stable.

"Ukraine's improved creditworthiness reflects an enhanced political and
policy environment," says Standard & Poor's credit analyst Helena Hessel.

"The new president, Viktor Yushchenko, advocates transparency, the rule
of law, and democratic values, which should over time lead to the
implementation of political, institutional, and structural reforms that are
necessary to transform Ukraine into a country with an open, democratic
political system and a market-based economy."

Although the shift toward greater transparency and institutional reform
after years of pervasive corruption will not be easy, the current reformist
administration's political will is strong--even if its actual decisions are
somewhat constrained by the upcoming parliamentary elections in March
2006.

The improvements in Ukraine's external liquidity and government debt levels
in 2003-04 also support the upgrade, by providing the government with
necessary flexibility during the period of stress as it attempts to
implement difficult reform. The current administration inherited an
overheated economy with rising inflationary pressures and a growing fiscal
deficit. Consumer price inflation increased to an average of 9% in 2004, up
from 5.2% one year earlier. Standard & Poor's expects 2005 inflation to
increase to an average of 13%.

The general government deficit is estimated to have increased to almost 4.5%
of GDP in 2004 due to pre-election fiscal relaxation, up from 0.7% in 2003.
The government envisages a deficit of 1.5% of GDP in 2005. In Standard &
Poor's opinion, however, this target is very ambitious, and is unlikely to
be achieved.

Although better tax collection and a crackdown on contraband has helped
increase revenues in the first quarter of 2005 - a trend that is likely to
continue through the year, albeit not at the pace projected by the
government - spending pressures are enormous.

The two-notch upgrade of the long-term local currency rating on Ukraine is
underpinned by expected systemic improvement in the country's tax system,
in particular through the elimination of tax privileges and exemptions. As a
result, the government's ability to collect taxes is likely to improve in
coming years, reducing the default risk on hryvnia-denominated debt.

The stable outlook balances the new administration's commitment to advance
meaningful political and economic reform with an uphill struggle to fight
corruption and break apart the old political-business nexus remaining from
former president Leonid Kuchma's administration.

"We expect a gradual rehabilitation of state institutions after decades of
corruption and mismanagement, thereby increasing private sector confidence,
reducing tax evasion, and attracting foreign direct investment into the
economy," says Hessel.

"In the near future, reducing inflation, sustaining output growth, and
achieving a fiscal adjustment are the key economic challenges that must be
addressed to ensure that the improvement in Ukraine's creditworthiness will
not be jeopardised," she concluded. -30-
==============================================================
20. UKRAINE IT OUTSOURCING MYTHS DISPERSED

i-Newswire.com Press Release Center
Amsterdam, Netherlands; Metasoft Ltd.
Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 22, 2005

While Ukraine is becoming a new popular IT outsourcing destination,
there are still many myths about it and no clear understanding of the
opportunities outsourcing to Ukraine can present. Let us look closely at
some of those myths and find out whether there is any truth behind them.

MYTN No. 1 – Ukraine is politically unstable

This myth has seen its rise in November-December 2004 during the events
around the presidential elections that led to the Orange Revolution.
However, presently there are no grounds for concerns. During the Orange
Revolution, the Ukrainian people have shown their devotion to the
democratic ideals and prevented the worst scenario from happening,
bringing the legitimately elected president to the power.

The new Ukrainian government has clearly voiced its intentions to move
towards the goal of joining the EU and is making logical steps in that
direction. The overall political situation in the country is stable and
predictable. Unlike some popular Asian outsourcing destinations, there
have never been any threats of terrorist acts in Ukraine.

But even during the most critical events in November and December, no
threat existed for the clients of the Ukrainian outsourcing services
providers.

There were no power shortages, Internet and telephone lines functioned as
usual, and no danger was posed to the outsourced project. Many companies
did join the national strike that was going on, but the most urgent tasks
could still be done uninterrupted. Ukraine has proved that it is a civilized
21-century European nation.

MYTH NO. 2 – Ukraine’s IT infrastructure is poorly developed

Ukraine’s IT infrastructure is rapidly developing. As the recent research
conducted by the Ukrainian Democratic Initiatives Fund and Kiev
International Sociology Institute has shown, 13.1% of Ukrainians have a
computer. 14% use Internet and/or email either at home or at work. Internet
connectivity, being one of the primary concerns, is also developing rapidly.

Telecom is one of the fastest growing markets in Ukraine, and fibre optics
are continually being laid and new companies are continually opening new
connectivity services, which continually lowers cost.

For example, monthly fees for a DSL connection are lower in Ukraine than in
India. It is considered indispensable for an IT company to have a broadband
Internet connection and several telephone lines. Furthermore, there is no
shortage in high quality hardware, and IT companies provide their
development teams with powerful, modern computers and servers.

MYTH NO. 3 – Ukraine is software pirates’ paradise

WTO ascension is a top 2005 priority for Ukraine’s government. As Ukraine
moves towards this, its intellectual property laws are being revised to
comply with WTO standards. While a lot of private users may still be using
the cheap pirated copies of the most popular software products on their home
computers, companies specialized in software development are under severe
control, and to avoid problems with law, switching or have switched to
licensed products.

Those companies who can’t afford the price of more expensive software
products choose Open Source solutions, but the problem is being tackled in
one way or another anyway. Ukrainian companies are looking to work legally
and don’t want to risk their good reputation.

Moreover, a large part of professional software aimed specifically at
software developers has never been available as pirated copies in Ukraine,
hence it has always been used in its legal, licensed form ( take IBM
RationalTM products as an example, as well as many others ).

MYTH NO. 4 – Ukraine is not secure when it comes to sensitive information

Special measures must be taken to protect sensitive information no matter
where your project is developed. However, according to the recent reports,
India is much more dangerous than Ukraine when it comes to sensitive
information leaks or theft. While it is reported that it is difficult to run
background checks on employees in India, it is not that problematic in
Ukraine.

It has become a common practice in Ukraine for the outsourcing customers to
sign NDAs with every member of the development team. Additional security
policies can also be implemented to protect your sensitive data.

MYTH NO. 5 – Ukraine’s IT sector lacks support from the government

The new Ukrainian government is showing its extreme interest and support to
foreign investments into the country's economy and international
cooperation. While Ukraine moves towards joining the EU and WTO, the laws,
including those covering the IP issues, are being revised to create better
environment for the economy’s development and growth. This applies to the
software development as well, IT being the most rapidly developing sphere of
the Ukrainian economics.

According to the reports, the volume of export of Ukrainian IT services and
products rose by US$ 40 million or 57% to US$ 110 million in 2004. The
export of the IT sector of the Ukrainian economy is the most dynamically
developing. At the same time, the total number of IT specialists operating
on the market reached 15,000 toward the end of 2004. This was an increase
of 50%, compared with 2003.

MYTH NO. 6 – Ukraine’s IT workforce is cheap

Ukraine’s IT salaries level used to be low, but as the country’s economy
develops and integrates into the European and world market, it is growing,
even though it is still lower than the salaries of EU and US IT specialists.
The Ukrainian programmers possess high level of education and skills, as the
IT sphere of the Ukrainian economy develops the demand for them increases,
hence their highly intellectual labour cannot be cheap.

However, outsourcing customers need to realize that cheap workforce is not
a good reason to choose an outsourcing provider, as it is likely to cause
problems in the long run that will lead to an increase in expenses instead
of savings. The reason behind many outsourcing failures is actually the
customers going for cheap workforce and overseeing the quality and
efficiency issues.

Outsourcing is seen as a way to cut down the development costs, but this
should not be done at the expense of the developers’ salaries and therefore,
quality. There are better and more effective ways to save. If a company
employs methodology allowing for faster development, better quality source
code, automated code generation, less developers involved, etc., this
actually does reduce the development costs while still providing a
satisfactory software solution.

MYTH NO. 7 – The language and cultural barrier

It is certainly important to be able to communicate with your outsourcing
development team on a level allowing for a smooth development process,
and the language and culture differences can be an obstacle.

However, Ukraine is a European nation, and the mentality of people does not
differ greatly from that of your country, be it anywhere in Western Europe
or the US. There is no striking difference as you would encounter in some
Asian countries.

Besides, before outsourcing software development came to Ukraine on a
large scale, many Ukrainian IT specialists used to go to the Western Europe
and USA and work for IT companies there, which means they are familiar
with the approach traditional for Europe and America and the procedures
used for software development in those companies.

Moreover, different international agencies are now offering courses in
management providing necessary management skills to the Ukrainian
specialists. Thus, all the business processes in a development team can
be organized according to the international standards.

While English is not the native language to the Ukrainian developers, this
issue is also being actively dealt with. English is the language of choice
in the universities and in the schools it is now required from an early age.
Several universities are conducting their entire programs in English. Oral
and written comprehension is high among software engineers, given the
amount of text they have to read for their degree and work programs and
the amount of English language programming available in the country.

Communicating with the Ukrainian developers through online chats, instant
messaging and e-mail in English should not be a problem. While not all the
development team members might be completely fluent in English, those who
communicate directly with the international customers will speak, read and
write in English at the proper level.

Many companies conduct in-house English language training programs to
improve the language skills of their personnel. Specialists speaking other
languages, such as French or German, can also be found, though these
languages are not as popular as English. -30-
(info@metasoft.com.ua); http://www.metasoft.com.ua
==============================================================
21. MILITARY EXPERTS SAY IT IS UNREALISTIC FOR UKRAINE TO DESIGN
AND MANUFACTURE A FIFTH-GENERATION WARPLANE ON ITS OWN
Both technically and financially Ukraine cannot compete

By Valentyn Badrak, Centre for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies
Defense-Express web site, Kiev, in Russian 13 Jun 06
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Jun 22, 2005

KIEV - It is unrealistic for Ukraine to design and manufacture a
fifth-generation warplane on its own, according to Valentyn Badrak of the
Centre for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies (CACDS). Both
technically and financially, Ukraine cannot compete with the USA, the
Europeans and the Russians, and there is no point in trying to do so.

Badrak advocated a minor upgrading of Ukraine's existing Russian MiG-29s,
coupled with a start on the process for choosing a foreign warplane, to be
purchased after 2010. Ukraine could score in a more modest field, he argued,
such as producing a new air-to-air missile both for itself and for export.

The following is the text of the article, posted on the Defense Express web
site on 13 June under the title "The creation of its own warplane is
inexpedient and impossible for Ukraine - CACDS"; subheadings have been
inserted editorially:

Ukraine is to create its own warplane over the next three or four years.
This statement was made at the end of last week by Petro Poroshenko,
secretary of the National Security and Defence Council [NSDC], after a
conference on the progress being made with the Air Force of Ukraine, formed
six months ago from the Air Force and the Air Defence Force. The NSDC
secretary said that the matter had been discussed with producers, designers
and military personnel.

According to him, in addition to creating its own warplane, Ukraine may
resume the production of helicopters and modernize its aircraft, thus
improving their effectiveness. "The Air Force is the leading, basic arm of
the armed forces today," the head of the Ukrainian defence council rightly
commented. An expert assessment of the cost of this research and
development - about 200m dollars - has also appeared in the Ukrainian news
field.

Optimists ignore technical and financial realities --------

Petro Poroshenko is certainly not the first optimist regarding this way of
ensuring Ukraine's defence capability. Back in 1999, the then commander of
the Ukrainian Air Force, Col-Gen Viktor Strelnykov, declared, on behalf of
the Defence Ministry, that the development of a Ukrainian warplane was
starting.

At the same time, it was stated that Ukraine was embarking on the
modernization of its fleet of MiG-29 aircraft. Since then, six years have
now passed, and not a single MiG-29 fighter has been upgraded. Given this
situation, journalists thought it improper to recall the development of a
new aircraft.

The actual idea of creating a new warplane has two aspects - technical and
financial. In the opinion of experts at the Centre for Army, Conversion and
Disarmament Studies, it is beyond Ukraine's resources to handle either of
them.

The proper starting point is the fact that there are no specialists in
Ukraine who could undertake research and development work of this
complexity. The Antonov works [in Kiev] has not developed such an aircraft,
and, even if a new section were to be started up at the Ukrainian design
bureau in order to catch up with the leaders in warplane development, this
would take decades. With the reservation, that is, of course, that Ukraine
intends to create a really new aircraft, a fifth-generation plane (today's
new versions of the Su-30 are machines of the "4+" generation).

These developments are being carried out today by Russia with noticeable
setbacks at every step and clearly trailing behind the West. In Russia, test
flights of the prospective fifth-generation fighter will start in 2007,
after many years of project funding at the rate of at least 1-2bn roubles
and bearing in mind that the plane is not being created from scratch, but
from an existing plane of the previous generation. But, even given all this,
the aircraft will not actually make its appearance before 2010.

It is worth recalling that the Russian state defence order already exceeds
6bn dollars in the current year, whereas the Ukrainian order is worth only a
few hundred. For the sake of comparison, the USA plans to invest over 26bn
dollars in research and development for the programme to create the new
multifunctional F/A-22 Raptor fighter. The cost of developing the range of
F-35 strike warplanes for the JSF programme is expected to top 40bn dollars.

These figures show that there is no point in Ukraine's even entering the
race, given its hopelessness. The creation of a fourth-generation aircraft
from an existing model will simply be an upgrade, especially since it will
have been carried out without consultations with Russia.

This will, first, evoke a sharp reaction from developers in Russia, and,
secondly, it makes the investment of large sums of money impractical, since
Ukraine itself will need only a few dozen of the new aircraft, and it will
be possible to export them only to the most militarily backward countries of
the Third World (one can only embark on the production of new aircraft in
such a situation with a view to their export potential).

There is one further detail concerning new armaments that cannot be ignored.
Even if it meets the targets for financing the army (between 2010 and 2015,
it is planned to boost funding from 10.7bn to 16.4bn hryvnyas [1bn hryvnyas
is about 200m dollars]), Ukraine will be unable to allocate more than
500-750m dollars annually to purchases of new weapons. This resource
seems impressive only at first glance. After all, the Ukrainian army will be
on its last legs, and over 80 per cent of all the military hardware in
service will need replacing.

This means that the country will be capable of implementing only two or
three of its priority programmes before 2015. The situation may seem quite
funny, but, from the point of view of ensuring the country's defence
capability, the political leadership will have to opt mainly for the
purchasing programmes to replace its fleet of combat aviation (rotary and
fixed-wing aircraft), create a deterrent missile shield or renovate the air
defence system.

In fact, even by 2015, Ukraine's defence budget (at nearly 4bn dollars) is
planned to be less than Poland's military expenditure in 2004 (about 4.5bn
dollars). Poland already spends between 600m and 800m dollars every year
on new armaments. If Ukraine starts to implement its re-equipment strategy
without modifying it, the country will be unable to follow in Poland's
footsteps.

Today's dilemma is, thus, that Ukraine needs either to drastically increase
the state's defence allocations after 2010, or to sacrifice certain defence
criteria, or to turn a blind eye to the sectors of the defence industry that
will play no part in supplying the Ukrainian armed forces with new kinds of
weapons and military hardware.

Experts propose a more modest, but practical, plan --------

To return to the supplying of new aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force, the
experts suggest following two parallel paths. On the one hand, we should
carry out the most economic and, consequently, realistic so-called "minor"
modernization of the existing MiG-29s, which can be performed by the
national companies of the defence industry.

On the other hand, we must prepare the political choice of a new aircraft
for the Ukrainian Air Force, which will start to be purchased after 2010
(this date has been designated by the Ukrainian authorities as the start of
the re-equipping of the army).

This plane may be a new Russian machine, adapted to NATO standards (this
concerns mainly the communications systems, on-board radar and recognition
system) or any Western-made machine, e.g. an American or Swedish aircraft.
Incidentally, the Czech Republic and Hungary are leasing Swedish Gripen
fighters, while Poland will be getting 48 American F-16s.

What Ukraine really can do is to create a new air-to-air missile with an
active homing head. The appearance in the country of such a high-precision
weapon will certainly make it possible to drastically strengthen the skies
in the immediately foreseeable future (if research and design work is
started, specialists think that the air-to-air missile could appear in 16-18
months' time), and it would also be suitable for aircraft with NATO
specifications.

The most interesting thing is that the missile will then have very great
export potential, since it will easily compete with the Russian missiles in
this class and with the American AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range
Air-to-Air Missile), which are in huge demand in the market. So it would
be a good thing for us all to become realists. -30-
==============================================================
22. GERMAN W.E.T. AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS COMPANY OPENS NEW
MANUFACTURING PLANT IN ZAKARPATTYA REGION
Will employ 900 persons within one year

IntelliNews - Ukraine Today, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, June 22, 2005

KYIV - German W.E.T. Automotive Systems opened in Zakarpattya region a
new plant for production of heating spirals for car seats. The company
invested
EUR 1.2mn in production capacities, Zakarpattya region administration press
service informed on June 21. W.E.T. intends to invest extra EUR 1.8mn till
the year-end.

The new plant is built on the site of the Vinogradovo ceramic factory which
has stood idle the last 7 years. About 100 employees have started to work at
the plant. W.E.T. plans to increase the total number of employees to 900 in
1 year.

W.E.T. Automotive Systems specializes in development and production of
flexible flat heating spirals for car seats. Among its clients are such
world known car producers as Daimler Chrysler, BMW, Audi, VW, Jaguar,
Ferrari, Toyota, General Motors, Ford, Suzuki, Subaru and Mitsubishi.

W.E.T. subsidiaries operate in Canada , Mexico , China and Hungary . There
are now 577 enterprises with foreign capital operating in the Zakarpattya
region at present. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
==============================================================
22. UKRAINE PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO DISMISSED MYKHAILO REZNYK
FROM DUTIES AS AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, June 22, 2005

KYIV - President Viktor Yuschenko has dismissed Mykhailo Reznyk from his
duties of the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States and Antigua and
Barbuda pluralistically.

It is stated in the Presidential decree N986/2005, "On dismissal of Reznyk
from the post of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the United
States of America and ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to
Antigua and Barbuda," the text of which Ukrainian News obtain.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Reznyk was appointed as Ukrainian
ambassador to the USA in November 2003 and in July 2004 was appointed to
serve as Ukrainian ambassador to Antigua and Barbuda pluralistically. Before
that, Reznyk was an ambassador to China and Mongolia. -30-
===============================================================
23. UKRAINE'S KLOCHKOVA IS BACK AFTER SEVEN MONTH BREAK
Winner of Olympic 200 and 400 medleys returns to
training during stay in Southern California

By Jonathan Abrams, Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, CA, Sun, June 19, 2005

After more than a decade on the job, Ukrainian swimmer Yana Klochkova, the
2004 FINA swimmer of the year, felt the need to clock out and take a break.
Klochkova, 22, had spent most of her life preparing to become a top-echelon
swimmer. Since age 8, her training included five hours of daily workouts,
four in the pool and one lifting weights, 11 months a year.

"I've never really thought of doing anything else," Klochkova said Friday
through a translator. "I've trained for a long time, but you have to if you
want to be recognized as a top swimmer."

The results paid off at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, when she won the
200-meter individual medley and 400 individual medley, breaking the world
record with a 4:33.59 finish. She became the first female swimmer to win two
medleys in consecutive Olympics when she swept the events again at Athens
in 2004.

After the Olympics, Klochkova stepped away from the pool for the longest
period of time since she began swimming competitively. She has been in
Southern California for seven months, brushing up on her English and
visiting such tourist attractions as Disneyland, Universal Studios and Magic
Mountain.

For the last five weeks, Klochkova has trained with the Nadadores Swim Club
of Mission Viejo. "I think she just wanted to take a deep breath and enjoy
herself," said Nadadore Coach Bill Rose.

The 6-foot-2 Klochkova is competing with the host Nadadores this weekend
at the TYR Swim Meet of Champions. She finished eighth in the 200-meter
backstroke on Friday and participated in the 200 preliminaries on Saturday.
Klochkova will swim in the 100 backstroke and 200 IM today. "It's going to
take a while to get back into competing shape," she said. "I should be ready
in about six months."

Klochkova has been compared to a female Michael Phelps. Besides the
Olympic golds, she has won also 10 titles at the swimming world champion-
ships and was awarded the Hero of Ukraine, the country's highest award.
"She has strength and size," Rose said. "She also has a competitive spirit.
She's a true athlete."

After Athens, Klochkova's celebrity status skyrocketed in Ukraine, and she
was recognized virtually everywhere she went. Klochkova enjoys her relative
anonymity in Southern California. "I can go wherever I want without people
asking to take my picture," she said. "It's nice."

Klochkova will head back to Ukraine in August, reuniting with Nina Kozhukh,
her longtime coach, and preparing for the World University Games in Turkey.

"It's hard to take seven months off and come back in the shape you were in
before," said Rose, noting that Klochkova had to work herself into the
Nadadores' regular rotation. "When she came here, she blended in with
everyone else. I think she likes it that way."

Klochkova already has her eyes set on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. If she
medals there, she would become the third female swimmer to accomplish
the feat, joining Australia's Dawn Fraser and Hungary's Kristina Egerszegi.

"I think I can do it, but it gets more difficult every time," Klochkova
said. "It's easier for the younger swimmers because they're more powerful.
But the older swimmers have the experience." -30-
===============================================================
24. KYIV ERECTS MONUMENT TO VICTIMS OF NAZISM NEAR BARYN YAR
"To the World Crippled By Nazism"

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, June 22, 2005

KYIV - The Kyiv municipal administration has erected a monument to victims
of Nazism at the intersection between Dorohozhytska and Oranzhereina
streets near Babyn Yar. The monument was made at the Khudozhnyk creative
and production plant (Kyiv). The sculptors are Pavlo Botsvin and Tetiana
Davydova; the architect is Andrii Moroz.

The monument is made of gabbro (black granite) in the form of a slab with a
height of 4 meters and a width of 3.6 meters and erected on a granite
foundation. The slab symbolizes a wall of memory. A concentration camp is
depicted on the slab. The sculpture of a girl made of polished bronze near
the slab symbolizes the future.

The other side of the slab bears the image of Kyiv within the outlines of
the domes of the Sofia Cathedral and the Andriivskyi Uzviz as well as the
words "To the World Crippled by Nazism."

The monument weighs 10 tons. It was made from stone from the Korostyshiv
opencast mine. The competition for the design of the monument was organized
in October 2004.

About 200,000 Kyiv residents died in Kyiv during the Great Patriotic War
while about 100,000 were taken out of the city. Over 100,000 Kyiv residents
and war prisoners of various nationalities and religious denominations were
shot at Babyn Yar. -30-
===============================================================
25. RADA ADVISES LVIV MUNICIPAL COUNCIL TO REVOKE ITS
DECISION TO OPEN MEMORIAL TO POLISH AND UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, June 22, 2005

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada is recommending the Lviv municipal council to
revoke its June 13 decision to set June 24 as the date for opening a
memorial to soldiers of the Ukrainian Halychyna Army and Polish soldiers
buried in Lviv's Lychakivske cemetery during in 1918-1920. The
recommendation, initiated by Oleh Tiahnybok, was supported by 239 l
lawmakers, given the minimum of 226 required for passage.

The lawmakers maintain that the municipal council passed the decision
ignoring requirements of the law on protection of cultural heritage that
provides for a special procedure for making any changes in the elements,
inscriptions, or other signs of cultural objects of national importance.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Lviv municipal council decided to
install a slab bearing the words "Here Lies a Polish Soldier who Died for
the Fatherland" at the central section of the burial site.

The council also considers it unacceptable to erect sculptures,
architectural elements, and military symbols without its permission.
The council also decided to install a slab bearing the words "Here Lie the
Ukrainian and Polish Soldiers who Died during the Ukrainian-Polish War
of 1918-1919" at the entrance to the memorial.

Ukraine and Poland have agreed on the ceremonial solemn opening and
consecration of the Polish military memorial and graves of warriors of the
Ukrainian Halychyna Army at the Lychakivske cemetery in Lviv on June 24.

President Viktor Yuschenko promised to resolve the issue of opening a
memorial at the burial site of Polish soldiers in Lychakivske by May.
The cemetery where Polish participants in the Ukrainian-Polish war of
1918-1919 are buried was renovated in 1999, but was not officially opened
because of disagreements over how to describe those interred there.
==============================================================
UKRAINE INFORMATION WEBSITE: http://www.ArtUkraine.com
===============================================================
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR"
An Agent Of Change
A Free, Non-Profit, Public Service Newsletter
ARTICLES ARE FOR PERSONAL AND ACADEMIC USE ONLY
Articles are Distributed For Information, Research, Education
Discussion and Personal Purposes Only
===============================================================
----- SigmaBleyzer/SigmaBleyzer Foundation Economic Reports -----
UKRAINE WILL SUCCEED
The SigmaBleyzer Private Equity Investment Group offers a comprehensive
collection of documents, reports and presentations presented by its business
units and organizations. All downloads are grouped by categories:
Marketing; Economic Country Reports; Presentations; Ukrainian Equity Guide;
Monthly Macroeconomic Situation Reports (Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine).
LINK: http://www.sigmableyzer.com/index.php?action=downloads
===============================================================
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT- AUR" - SPONSORS
"Working to Secure & Enhance Ukraine's Democratic Future"

1. THE BLEYZER FOUNDATION, Dr. Edilberto Segura, Chairman;
Victor Gekker, Executive Director, Kyiv, Ukraine; Washington, D.C.,
http://www.bleyzerfoundation.com.
2. KIEV-ATLANTIC GROUP, David and Tamara Sweere, Daniel
Sweere, Kyiv and Myronivka, Ukraine, 380 44 298 7275 in Kyiv,
kau@ukrnet.net
3. ESTRON CORPORATION, Grain Export Terminal Facility &
Oilseed Crushing Plant, Ilvichevsk, Ukraine
4. Law firm UKRAINIAN LEGAL GROUP, Irina Paliashvili,
President; Kiev and Washington, general@rulg.com, www.rulg.com.
5. BAHRIANY FOUNDATION, INC., Dr. Anatol Lysyj, Chairman,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
6. 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.
7. ODUM- Association of American Youth of Ukrainian Descent,
Minnesota Chapter, Natalia Yarr, Chairperson
8. UKRAINIAN FEDERATION OF AMERICA (UFA),
Zenia Chernyk, Chairperson; Vera M. Andryczyk, President;
Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania
9. UKRAINE-U.S. BUSINESS COUNCIL, Washington, D.C.,
Chairman, Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, E. Morgan
Williams, SigmaBleyzer; Secretary/Treasurer, John Stephens, Cape
Point Capital
10. UKRAINIAN AMERICAN COORDINATING COUNCIL,
(UACC), Ihor Gawdiak, President, Washington, D.C., New York, NY
11. 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
===============================================================
--"WELCOME TO UKRAINE" & "NARODNE MYSTETSTVO" MAGAZINES
UKRAINIAN MAGAZINES: For information on how to subscribe to the
"Welcome to Ukraine" magazine in English, published four times a year
and/or to the Ukrainian Folk Art magazine "Narodne Mystetstvo" in
Ukrainian, published two times a year, please send an e-mail to:
ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net.
===============================================================
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR" 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
of charge using the e-mail address: ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net.
Additional readers are always welcome.

If you would like to read "THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT- AUR"
please send your name, country of residence, and e-mail contact
information to morganw@patriot.net. Additional names are welcome. If
you do not wish to read "THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" around five
times per week, let us know by e-mail to morganw@patriot.net. If you
are receiving more than one copy please contact us and again please
contact us immediately if you do not wish to receive this Report.
===============================================================
PUBLISHER AND EDITOR - AUR
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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Director, Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA)
Coordinator, Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC)
Senior Advisor, U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF)
Chairman, Executive Committee, Ukraine-U.S. Business Council
Publisher, Ukraine Information Website, www.ArtUkraine.com
& www.ArtUkraine Information Service (ARTUIS)
===============================================================
Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.
===============================================================