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Action Ukraine Report

                              "THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR"
                                            An International Newsletter
                                              The Latest, Up-To-Date
                     In-Depth Ukrainian News, Analysis, and Commentary

                      "Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business, Religion,
         Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World"

"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR" - Number 575
Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor
Washington, D.C., Kyiv, Ukraine, MONDAY, October 3, 2005

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

1.         NEW UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER YEKHANUROV SAYS MAIN
                          PRIORITY IS TO REVIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH
One Plus One TV, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1630 gmt 2 Oct 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sunday, Oct 02, 2005

2.   UKRAINE'S NEW PRIME MINISTER HOLD FIRST CABINET MEETING,
                                     PROMISES TRANSPARENCY
Mara D. Bellaby, AP Worldstream, Kiev, Ukraine, Sat, Oct 01, 2005

3.   NEW UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER INTERVIEWED ON RUSSIAN TV
            Met Pres Putin, PM Fradkov and Orthodox Patriarch Aleksiy II
                  Family was exiled in the 1930's, mother was Ukrainian
RTR Russia TV, Moscow, in Russian 1600 gmt 2 Oct 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sunday, Oct 02, 2005

4.                                      "ORANGE FLAMES OUT"
                   It's political soap opera as Ukraine's Viktor Yushchenko
                             splits with his passionate revolution partner
By Eric Margolis, Toronto Sun, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Sun, Oct 2, 2005

5.       UKRAINE'S YUSHCHENKO ORDERS HIGH-LEVEL PROBE INTO
                                    ATTACK ON TABLOID EDITOR'S CAR
AP Worldstream, Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct 02, 2005

6.             UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT MEETS PARLIAMENT LEADERS
                                       OF NORTHERN EUROPE
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian. 2 Oct 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sunday, Oct 02, 2005

7.     CHINA GOES ON A WEAPONS SHOPPING SPREE, TURNS TO
   RUSSIA, UKRAINE AND ISRAEL TO BEEF UP ITS MILITARY MACHINE
By Tim Johnson, Knight Ridder News Service
Beijing, China, Sunday, October 2, 2005

8.           HEWLETT-PACKARD ANNOUNCES PLANS OF DESKTOP
                           COMPUTER MANUFACTURING IN UKRAINE
Hewlett-Packard, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, Sep 28, 2005

9.  GERMAN NATURSAFTE TO BUILD NEW JUICE PRODUCTION PLANT
                                   IN KHARKIV REGION OF UKRAINE
IntelliNews-Ukraine Today, Kyiv, Ukraine, September 23, 2005

10.     AGRO-SOYUZ AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURING COMPLEX
           LAUNCHES NO-TILL PLANTER ASSEMBLY FACILITY IN RUSSIA
By Ihor Yatsenko, FirsTnews, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, September 24, 2005

11.   COMMENTARY: ROUNDTABLE VI: UKRAINE'S TRANSITION TO AN
                              ESTABLISHED NATIONAL IDENTITY
COMMENTARY: by Walter Prochorenko, PhD.
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 575, Article 11
Washington, D.C., Monday, October 3, 2005

12.          PROBLEM OF NATIONAL SELF-IDENTIFICATION IN UKRAINE
REMARKS: By Myroslav Popovych, Director of the Hryhoriy Skovoroda
Institute of Philosophy of the Shevchenko National Academy of Sciences
At Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood, Roundtable VI:
"Ukraine's Transition to an Established National Identity"
Washington DC, Tue-Wed, September 27-28, 2005
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 575, Article 12
Washington, D.C., Sunday, October 2, 2005

13.             PERSPECTIVES OF UKRAINE'S ACCESSION TO THE EU
                                               A VIEW FROM UKRAINE
REMARKS: by Oleh Zarubinskyi, MP, Acting Chairman, Parliamentary
Committee for European Integration, Member People's Party
At Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood Roundtable VI:
"Ukraine's Transition to an Established National Identity"
Washington, D.C., Tue-Wed, September 27-28, 2005
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 575, Article 13
Washington, D.C., Monday, October 3, 2005

14.                         "EASTERN UKRAINE: THE ULTIMATE PRIZE"
COMMENTARY: Alexei Makarkin, Deputy General Director,
Center of Political Technologies for RIA Novosti
RIA Novosti, Moscow, Russia, Wed, Sep 27, 2005

15.                          NO REASON FOR REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA
            We Russians do not have a Victor Yushchenko or a Leonid Kuchma
COMMENTARY: by Vyacheslav Nikonov
New Straits Times, Malaysia, Sunday, Oct 02, 2005

16.         YULIA TYMOSHENKO: I WILL BE THE NEXT PRIME MINISTER
INTERVIEW: with Yulia Tymoshenko, Former Prime Minister of Ukraine
By Yanina Sokolovskaya, Izvestia [Translated by What the Papers Say]
Moscow, Russia, Friday, 23 September 2005
The Ukraine List (UKL) #363, Article 4, Compiled by Dominique Arel
Chair of Ukrainian Studies, U of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
www.ukrainianstudies.uottawa.ca, 23 September 2005

17.      RUSSIA SHOULD CHOOSE YULIYA TIMOSHENKO AS BEST
                        CANDIDATE FOR UKRAINE GOVERNMENT
COMMENTARY: by Vitaliy Tretyakov: "Ukraine: Russia's Choice (3)"
Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Moscow, Russia, Friday, September 30, 2005

18.       BRITISH HEAVY METAL ROCKER MARRIES DAUGHTER OF
                            UKRAINE'S FORMER PRIME MINISTER
AP Worldstream, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct 02, 2005

19.     YUSHCHENKO INSTRUCTS CABINET TO BUILD ALLEY IN KYIV
                      COMMEMORATING OUTSTANDING UKRAINIANS
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, September 24, 2005

20.                  UKRAINE UNITED AS OLD SCORES SETTLED
By Jonathan Wilson, Financial Times
London, United Kingdom, Friday, September 16 2005

21.                    PUTIN AIDE SAYS IT'S TIME TO BURY LENIN
Associated Press, Moscow, Russia, Wed, September 28, 2005

22.              GRANDSONS DEBATE 1945 YALTA CONFERENCE
Yevgeny Dzhugashvili said he felt "honored" to be Stalin's grandson.
By Toby Sterling, Associated Press (AP)
Maastricht, Netherlands, Sunday, October 2, 2005

23.        USA: FORDHAM UNIVERSITY GRAD JOINS PEACE CORPS
                                SEEKING LIFE'S LESSONS IN UKRAINE
By John A. Gavin, Staff Writer, NorthJersey.com
New Jersey, Friday, September 30, 2005

24.       ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER HEADS TO UKRAINE TO TEACH
                ABOUT HOW LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORKS IN THE USA
                     Program of U.S.-Ukraine Foundation funded by USAID
By Michael LaFleur, Sun Staff, LowellSun.com
Lowell, Massachusetts, Saturday, October 1, 2005

25.    THE UKRAINIAN-BRITISH CITY CLUB (UBCC) INAUGURATIONAL
                  LAUNCH RECEPTION, LONDON, NOVEMBER 24, 2005
Ukrainian-British City Club (UBCC)
London, United Kingdom, Monday, October 3, 2005
=============================================================
1.      NEW UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER YEKHANUROV SAYS MAIN
                        PRIORITY IS TO REVIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH

One Plus One TV, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1630 gmt 2 Oct 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sunday, Oct 02, 2005

KIEV - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov has said that the main
priority for his cabinet will be to revive economic growth in the country.
Speaking in a studio interview on the One Plus One TV channel on 2 October,
Yekhanurov said he inherited a "difficult" economy from the previous cabinet
of Yuliya Tymoshenko but added that he would not criticize his predecessor.

"Over the next few days, we need to give clear signals to our small, medium
and big businesses. I am already doing that. The main issue is to stabilize
the situation in October and November and to prevent further slowdown of the
GDP growth. I am not satisfied with the forecast of only 2 per cent GDP
growth," Yekhanurov said.

He promised to ensure a safe business environment for companies of all
sizes. "We need to continue serious dialogue with businessmen of all levels,
to make sure that they feel safe and that they can work normally and to
invest into growth," he said.

Yekhanurov promised to combat corruption of state officials by publicizing
information about their work on the ministries' web sites and said that
large state industrial holdings will be audited.

"The only way out is to publish as many documents as possible on the web
site of the treasury. Every Ukrainian citizen has the right to know where
the budget funds are going," he said. "If we release data, the journalists
will dig everything out," he added.

"We are already analysing the work of state holdings. We have about 35 of
them, and only three are successful. Then why do the others exist? That is
the corrupt environment that you mentioned," Yekhanurov said.

Yekhanurov did not rule out that ownership conflicts around the Nikopol
ferroalloys plant and other disputed companies will be settled through
amicable agreements. He also promised to name the companies that
may go through this procedure.

"We will name the companies that we have problems with, where judicial
problems exist, and where officials of the State Property Fund will be held
responsible for failure to do their job properly," Yekhanurov said.

Yekhanurov also said that he was "not interested" in keeping his job after
the parliamentary election in March 2006 and that he is simply trying to
prove to the president and to the people that he is capable of doing his job
professionally.

He did not rule out that he may appear at the top of the election list of
the propresidential Our Ukraine party. "I don't know, it is up to the party
to decide," Yekhanurov said.   -30-
=============================================================
2. UKRAINE'S NEW PRIME MINISTER HOLD FIRST CABINET MEETING,
                                   PROMISES TRANSPARENCY

Mara D. Bellaby, AP Worldstream, Kiev, Ukraine, Sat, Oct 01, 2005

KIEV - The new prime minister, Yuriy Yekhanurov, presided Saturday over his
first Cabinet meeting, promising that his government's work would be less
high-profile but just as transparent.

Yekhanurov, who replaced the charismatic and media-savvy Yulia Tymoshenko,
signaled an end to the on-camera briefings that had marked his predecessor's
seven months in office.

"Transparency is not the appearance of ministers in front of the cameras,"
he said, adding that Cabinet sessions would be held as before behind closed
doors and then individual ministers would explain what decisions had been
taken.

President Viktor Yushchenko fired Tymoshenko on Sept. 8 and later accused
her of abuse of office. The president's allies complained that Tymoshenko,
one of the driving forces behind last year's Orange Revolution, was too
focused on her own public image.

Tymoshenko had regularly ended her twice-weekly Cabinet meetings with a
press briefing that she conducted herself, answering questions on almost any
topic.

After being fired, Tymoshenko said during a live talk-in on Ukraine's Inter
television that Yushchenko had complained that she spent too much time in
front of the cameras, making herself look more like the country's leader
than him.

"He said that there are other countries, Russia and Belarus. He said, 'Look
at (Russian President Vladimir) Putin or (Belarusian President Alexander)
Lukashenko: They have brilliant prime ministers; no one ever sees them on
TV," Tymoshenko said.

Yekhanurov, a longtime ally of Yushchenko and former governor of the eastern
Dnipropetrovsk region, is considered a low-key and competent manager with
few political ambitions of his own. He has given only one formal press
conference since coming to office, and that lasted just over 30 minutes and
was held in Dnipropetrovsk, 480 kilometers (300 miles) southeast of the
capital.

Yekhanurov insisted at the opening of Saturday's session - which television
cameras were allowed to shoot - that the media would be provided with
regular information about the work of his government and that of individual
ministers.

Yushchenko, who came to power after last year's mass protests, pledged to
guarantee media freedoms in this ex-Soviet republic, and opinion polls show
that most Ukrainians do credit him with ushering in a new atmosphere of
openness and accessibility.

Meanwhile, Yekhanurov told his Cabinet that scrutiny of the work conducted
by Ukraine's governors - all presidential appointees - would begin next
week. Yekhanurov said by Oct. 11, decisions would be made on which
governors "continue work and which say farewell," Ukraine's Interfax news
agency reported.

Yekhanurov, who spent Friday in Moscow meeting with Putin and Prime
Minister Mikhail Fradkov, also insisted that he didn't anticipate any
serious problems in Ukrainian and Russian relations over gas.

Ukraine is hugely dependent on Russia for supplies and in turn, Russia ships
its gas via Ukraine into western Europe. Fears have been growing in Ukraine
that Russia might end Ukraine's hugely discounted fees and make it begin
paying the prices charged to western European states.  -30-
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3.    NEW UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER INTERVIEWED ON RUSSIAN TV
               Met Pres Putin, PM Fradkov and Orthodox Patriarch Aleksiy II
                  Family was exiled in the 1930's, his mother was Ukrainian

RTR Russia TV, Moscow, in Russian 1600 gmt 2 Oct 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sunday, Oct 02, 2005

MOSCOW - Ukraine's Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov was shown being
interviewed on Russia TV's "Vesti Nedeli" programme on Sunday 2 October
on the results of his visit to Moscow, during which he had met both
President Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and Orthodox Church
Patriarch Aleksiy II.

Though clearly a recording, it was not stated when or where the interview
took place. During a preliminary exchange of pleasantries, Yekhanurov said
his mother was Ukrainian. It was she who had taught him Ukrainian.

He pointed out that he had lived in Kiev for 42 years and had studied
Ukrainian seriously at the beginning of the 1990s, so that he was at ease
in both the Russian and Ukrainian languages.

He said he felt "a Ukrainian of Buryat origin". He was actually born in
Yakutia - his grandfather, an educated man, was exiled out there with his
entire family in the 1930s.

Asked if his current appointment to the post of prime minister came as a
surprise to him, Yekhanurov noted that he had substantial experience in
government and administrative posts and knew Yushchenko well.

He listed the posts that he had held. He pointed out that back in February
he had spoken out against major re-privatizations in Ukraine.

He went on to talk about the importance of Dnipropetrovsk Region, a major
earner in terms of exports from Ukraine. Russian business interests there,
which were considerable, had not been damaged, he said. He stressed:
"We welcome Russian business on our soil."

He pointed out that there were currently no problems in business ties and
very much hoped that Russian businesses in Ukraine would feel good just
as Ukrainian ones would in Russia.

The conversation then turned to the subject of preparations for the
parliamentary election in 2006. In this context Yekhanurov said a main
element in his job was the de-politicization of state officials.

He hoped a common language would be found with parliament, which would
make the government's tasks easier in the future.

On Ukraine's economy, Yekhanurov said things were "complicated,
complicated". It was not a question of criticizing, he said. There were many
objective reasons.

Some key decisions had promoted a kind of "disorganization", he said,
adding that he felt sure that improvements would take place quickly.

He said the issue of a Ukrainian-Russian gas consortium had been discussed
in Moscow during his visit and the Ukrainian side's position had been
"absolutely constructive".

On the subject of a Single Economic Space, he said once the presidential
issue had been resolved in Ukraine, they had begun to work "actively" on all
the existing documents on this.

He stressed that they were all pragmatic people and urged that there should
be less sentimentality in relations, less talk about love. More normal
businesslike relations were needed, and everybody would benefit from this,
Yekhanurov said, voicing his conviction that this would happen.

Both Yekhanurov and the unnamed Russia TV journalist sat in ornate chairs
next to a fireplace throughout the interview conversing in Russian after a
few words in Ukrainian at the beginning of the interview.  -30-
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4.                                    "ORANGE FLAMES OUT"
                It's political soap opera as Ukraine's Viktor Yushchenko
                             splits with his passionate revolution partner

By Eric Margolis, Toronto Sun, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Sun, Oct 2, 2005

Only nine months ago, Ukraine appeared headed for a brilliant democratic
future. A democratic revolution had overthrown the old regime's corrupt,
pro-Russian politicians and their crooked business cronies.

But today, Ukraine is engulfed by political fratricide, a vicious feeding
frenzy over former state assets, and ferocious personal vendettas worthy
of bad Italian opera. The Orange Revolution is devouring its children.

President Viktor Yushchenko, who is still not recovered from a near-fatal
poisoning last year, sacked his fiery prime minister Yulia Timoshenko and
her entire cabinet for abuse of power and misuse of funds.

This palace coup came after the president's chief of staff resigned and
accused Petro Poroshenko, head of the powerful national security council,
and other high officials of corruption, graft, obstruction of justice, and
influence peddling.

Timoshenko and her allies had been bitterly feuding with Poroshenko's men
and billionaire Viktor Pinchuk over control of a rich former state property,
including Europe's second largest ferro-nickel complex. Pinchuk is a
son-in-law of former disgraced leader Leonid Kuchma.

President Yushchenko finally had enough. Unable to control or reconcile his
squabbling allies, he fired them all and cobbled together a shaky new
government.

This sordid carnival of rivalry and greed undermined Ukraine's
western-oriented democratic forces and gave a boost to pro-Russian
groups backed by Moscow.

Yushchenko was left looking weak and unable to control his own political
family. His popularity dropped to 19.8% and Timoshenko's to 21.4%. Like
Mikhail Gorbachev, Yushchenko is a hero abroad but increasingly disliked
at home.
                                              PARTY FRACTURE
Timoshenko will challenge him in upcoming elections, thus splitting their
former party.

It's hard to know what to make of the beautiful, brilliant and passionate
Timoshenko. I admit to finding it sometimes difficult to stay icily neutral
when dealing with beautiful female politicians. Critics in Pakistan accused
me of being "bewitched" by Benazir Bhutto. When I met Timoshenko in 2003,
sparks flew.

But then I began receiving letters from Moscow alleging that
multi-millionaire Timoshenko had been deeply involved in corruption when
she headed her own power company. She was purported to own four
aircraft and have 22 bodyguards.

More mail followed from Ukrainian prosecutors and police officials.
Timoshenko says these were fake charges cooked up by her many enemies.
A film made in Moscow, likely by ex-KGB people, shows a porn actress
playing  Timoshenko having sex on a private jet with a man playing the
president of Georgia.

Still lightly bewitched, I prefer to believe only the best of the exquisite
Yulia -- until proven wrong. But these charges do raise disturbing
questions.

This huge mess leaves Ukraine diminished in the world's eyes, which is
scaring away badly needed foreign investors. What a tragedy for a people
that suffered 6-8 million victims murdered by Stalin, and struggled so long
for independence from Soviet-Russian domination.

Hopefully, President Yushchenko will pull his nation though its current
crisis -- if scorned Yulia lets him, which I doubt.

Political and economic chaos in Ukraine only benefits Moscow. Russians
have long insisted Ukrainians were incapable of governing themselves.
Lately, Ukrainians have done much to support this nasty canard.

No wonder normally dour Vladimir Putin is looking rather cheerful.
Reclaiming Ukraine is his number one priority in building a new Soviet
Union.  -30-  [The Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.torontosun.ca/News/Columnists/Margolis_Eric/2005/10/02/1245086-sun.html
==============================================================
5.      UKRAINE'S YUSHCHENKO ORDERS HIGH-LEVEL PROBE INTO
                                    ATTACK ON TABLOID EDITOR'S CAR

AP Worldstream, Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct 02, 2005

KIEV - Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko ordered a high-level
investigation Sunday into the attack on a car owned by the editor of a
celebrity tabloid that allegedly was planning a photo expose on the
president's teenage son.

Yushchenko asked Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko to personally take control
of the investigation, saying it must be conducted as thoroughly and quickly
as possible "to make impossible any kind of speculation around it."

Walid Harfouch, managing editor of the magazine Paparazzi, said that his car
was damaged by a homemade fire bomb early Friday morning, according to
the media rights group Reporters Without Borders.

The group cited Harfouch, a Lebanese citizen, as saying he believed the
attack was linked to the planned publication of vacation photographs of
Yushchenko's son, Andriy, and his girlfriend. No one could be reached to
comment at Kiev's police department or the tabloid this weekend.

The magazine's forthcoming issue had been discussed in a story on tabloid
journalism in Kiev's English language weekly newspaper last month. Reporters
without Borders said that afterward Paparazzi's staff immediately began
receiving pressure to scrap the article.

"For the president, the principle of free speech in immutable," said the
president's spokeswoman Irina Gerashchenko. "He and his family would never
allow anyone to try to pressure journalists about any kind of material." She
said they had only learned about the planned article after Friday morning's
attack on the editor's car.

She urged the magazine's editor to make a formal complaint to police about
the alleged pressure, adding that it would also help remove any suspicions
that the magazine was trying "to lift its ratings at the expense of a
scandal around a well-known family."

"We very much hope that soon this next issue will appear exactly in such a
scope and format as was originally envisioned," Gerashchenko said.

Yushchenko's teenage son sparked a scandal earlier this summer when a
Ukrainian Internet site reported on his allegedly lavish lifestyle, sparking
an angry outburst from Yushchenko. The president later apologized.
==============================================================
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==============================================================
6.           UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT MEETS PARLIAMENT LEADERS
                                       OF NORTHERN EUROPE

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian. 2 Oct 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sunday, Oct 02, 2005

KIEV - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has met with parliament
leaders of Northern Europe and the Baltic countries. Chairman of
the Ukrainian Supreme Council [parliament] Volodymyr Lytvyn and the first
deputy head of the presidential secretariat, Ivan Vasyunyk, also attended
the meeting.

According to the presidential press service, the president briefed the
guests on the internal political situation in Ukraine and confirmed that the
country's course for integration into Europe remains unchanged.

He also urged to support the initiative to simplify visa regime for certain
categories of Ukrainians, including students, entrepreneurs, artists and
others. He recalled that Ukraine no longer requires visas for residents of
the European Union.

Speaking of the Dniester [Moldovan separatist region] issue, he noted that
this problem seized to be Moldova's internal matter long ago. Yushchenko
said he would like to see the common logic for resolution of this conflict
to be developed jointly with European countries. He noted that the Ukrainian
plan for Dniester settlement had been approved by the Moldovan parliament.

The sides also approved the dispatch of a foreign mission to observe the
parliamentary election in Ukraine.  -30-
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7.      CHINA GOES ON A WEAPONS SHOPPING SPREE, TURNS TO
   RUSSIA, UKRAINE AND ISRAEL TO BEEF UP ITS MILITARY MACHINE

By Tim Johnson, Knight Ridder News Service
Beijing, China, Sunday, October 2, 2005

BEIJING - Reaching into its deepening pockets, China has gone shopping for
new weapons in Russia -- and, to a lesser extent, in Israel and Ukraine.

Russia has been delivering an average of $2 billion a year worth of
equipment to China since 2000, handing over fighter jets, missile systems,
submarines and destroyers.

China accounts for 30 percent to 50 percent of Russia's weapons exports,
keeping its arms industry healthy, and it has attempted to leverage that
clout to extract new military technologies from Moscow.

''The Russians held the line at the beginning. But as they get deeper in
with the Chinese, they are finding the Chinese pressing for the good
stuff,'' said James Mulvenon, a specialist on the Chinese military at the
Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis, a Washington consultancy.

Two new Kilo-class fleet attack submarines are now piggy-backed on ships
sailing from a St. Petersburg shipyard to China, joining four already
delivered, Mulvenon said. The Kilo class is one of the most advanced and
quietest diesel-battery submarines in the world, likely equipped with
supersonic anti-ship missiles.

Like much of Russia's arms exports to China, ''nothing is dumbed down,''
Mulvenon said.

Russian collaboration has allowed China to amass a fleet of fighter aircraft
able to fly longer range in worse weather and carry more lethal weapons,
totaling about 200 Russian Su-27 and Su-30 jet fighters and bombers. China
is shopping now for Russian aerial refueling tankers and aircraft for
surveillance and target detection, as well as strategic bombers.
                                            LIVE DEMONSTRATIONS
Russia showed off the aircraft, as well as long-range TU-95MS and TU-23M3
bombers, during unprecedented joint Sino-Russian war games in late August
near the Yellow Sea. About 10,000 troops from both nations were deployed in
the exercises.

''There is no better advertisement for our arms and military hardware than a
real demonstration of their capabilities in the course of practical
exercises,'' Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said.

China's navy already is equipped with several Sovremenny-class guided
missile destroyers, which Russian defense firms outfitted with sophisticated
radar systems.

For its part, Ukraine has sold China gas turbine power plants used in
destroyers and is in talks on offering heavy-transport aircraft and
aerospace technology.

China's arms-buying relationship with Israel dates to the early 1980s.
Israel began selling arms to Beijing in a bid to limit Chinese assistance to
its foes in the Middle East.

''Israel does not sell any platforms, like aircraft or ships. It basically
sells avionics, upgrading, [and] electronic surveillance,'' said P.R.
Kumaraswamy, an expert on Israeli military industries at Jawaharlal Nehru
University in New Delhi.

The relationship has proved thorny, straining Israel's relationship with
Washington. U.S. officials first grew angry when Israel helped China develop
its F-10 fighter jet, almost identical to the Israeli Lavi fighter, which
was designed with more than $1 billion in U.S. aid.

                                              FRICTION WITH U.S.
In 2000, an angry White House thwarted Israel's plans to go through with a
potential $1 billion deal to equip China with the Phalcon radar system. A
new crisis erupted this year in April. Washington grew angry that Israel
appeared to be responding to a Chinese request to upgrade Israeli-made
Harpy attack drones.

The drones, first sold in 1997, can destroy enemy radar transmitters. The
Pentagon subsequently announced restrictions on sharing information with
Israel. After months of wrangling, the Pentagon said Aug. 16 that Israel had
pledged to consult more closely with Washington on military sales to China.
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8.            HEWLETT-PACKARD ANNOUNCES PLANS OF DESKTOP
                            COMPUTER MANUFACTURING IN UKRAINE

Hewlett-Packard, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, Sep 28, 2005

KIEV - Hewlett-Packard today announces about decision to start desktop
manufacturing in Ukraine. As announced by Hilmar Lorenz, General Manager
Hewlett-Packard CIS, HP, the worldwide leader of IT industry, holds the
first place among vendors of personal computers in EMEA region. HP proves
its leadership in Ukrainian IT market being the first international brand to
announce desktops manufacturing in Ukraine».

As it was announced earlier, Hewlett-Packard was considering plan on
starting computers manufacturing in Ukraine. Local PC market research,
feedback from customers and hp business partners gave Hewlett-Packard
assurance in high potential of domestic desktop market and take positive
decision on developing local manufacturing of personal computers.

Sergei Plaksin, Director of Personal Systems Group and Imaging and Printing
Group Hewlett-Packard CIS, comments: "Today we see confirmation of the fact
that combination of high quality of hp products, innovative technologies and
worldwide acceptance with flexibility, speed and total customer experience
with more attractable prices of products manufactured in Ukraine, are in
great demand of customers from all market segments."

"PC manufacturing in Ukraine will be fully compliant with company's
requirements for any factory or production elsewhere,"says Sergey Kadulin,
Director of Personal Systems Group and Solutions Partner Organization of
Hewlett-Packard Ukraine," - and all computers manufactured in Ukraine will
be of the same features and quality as produced in Europe, or, say, USA. "

To ensure required quality, Hewlett-Packard demands that all supplied
components come only  from certified and qualified vendors - leading
international companies. This is key element in guarantee that hp PC will be
excluded from unchecked, poor quality components from non-qualified
supplies.

One of the must conditions is successful implementation and completion of
pilot stage, with the following internal hp quality audit from EMEA
engineering team, which is responsible for quality audit at all hp computers
factories.

Software is one of important PC parts, and in manufacturing of
Hewlett-Packard desktops in Ukraine only genuine software will be used. HP
Desktops manufactured in Ukraine will be equipped with operating systems
from Microsoft - worldwide leader and leading international hp partner.

To comply with strict requirements for installation of genuine Microsoft
software, the factory is certified by hp and Microsoft. Microsoft Windows XP
operating system installed with hp desktops, ensures high quality of the
product and guarantees protection of end-user's investment.

To provide manufacturing of desktops in Ukraine under Hewlett-Packard's
trade mark, a newly created Ukrainian company "ALC-Factory" Ltd., will be
used. This managing company, situated in Kiev, will have rights to
manufacture hp personal computers and will comply with all hp requirements
for quality and manufacturing processes.

However, "ALC-Factory" Ltd. will not be involved in sales or marketing of hp
desktops, but instead, be only involved in manufacturing services.
Sales and support services of hp desktops manufactured in Ukraine, will be
conducted by the certified hp business partners, which will pass through
necessary training and preparation.  It is estimated that first hp desktops
manufactured in Ukraine will become available in Ukraine in October 2005.
==============================================================
        Send in names and e-mail addresses for the AUR distribution list.
==============================================================
9.    GERMAN NATURSAFTE TO BUILD NEW JUICE PRODUCTION PLANT
                                IN KHARKIV REGION OF UKRAINE

IntelliNews-Ukraine Today, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri, September 23, 2005

KYIV - According to Kharkiv region deputy governor Yaroslav Yuschenko
German company Natursafte will built a new juice production plant in
Kharkiv region.

The company plans to invest EUR 25mn in the new plant. Half of the funds
the company will attract as EU subventions and another half as credits
of German banks.

The main condition for receiving the funds from the EU is export to EU
countries 90% of production during the first 5 years of operations. The
plant will process 50,000 tons of raw fruits per annum. -30-
==============================================================
10.  AGRO-SOYUZ AGRICULTURE AND MANFACTURING COMPLEX
       LAUNCHES NO-TILL PLANTER ASSEMBLY FACILITY IN RUSSIA

By Ihor Yatsenko, FirsTnews, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, September 24, 2005

KYIV - Agro-Soyuz, a highly diversified agriculture-related corporation
headquartered in Dnipropetrovsk has launched assembly of no-till planters in
Russia in order to be able to better serve the Russian market.

The move will bring greater efficiency and lower costs to those products it
sells in Russia since the quite bulky and heavy planters are very expensive
to ship from the Dnipropetrovsk manufacturing site.

DNIPROPETROVSK - On September 19, Agro-Soyuz Corporation, with its
main manufacturing facility in Dnipropetrovsk, launched assembly of wide-cut
drills (seeders for no-till planting) in the city of Ramenskoye, Russia.

The company is planning to arrange full-range assembly of 12 and 18-meter
drills, cultivators, and other agricultural equipment for energy-saving
farming.

Currently, the seeders are being manufactured in Dnipropetrovsk under the
license of German-based HORSCH Maschinen GmbH. All equipment produced
by Agro-Soyuz meets the requirements of ISO 9001 International Organization
of Standardization.

The Ramenskoye assembly line, with productive capacity of about 80 seeders
per year, is located in a former warehouse for agricultural equipment parts.
All component parts for seeders are being exported from Ukraine and Germany.

In the future the company plans to decrease the number of exported parts and
switch to using more Russian made components. In order to lower the seeder
price for Russian customers, Agro-Soyuz is currently searching for Russian
suppliers of the required components.

"High demand for Horsch-Agro-Soyuz seeders was the motivation for our
company to launch the assembly line in Russia," said Svetlana Nikitina, the
company's PR manager. Currently, about seven seeders out of ten
manufactured in Dnipropetrovsk are exported to Russia.

"Since our seeders are so large, their transportation requires complete
disassembling prior to be loaded for rail shipment; this is one more reason
for opening the assembly line in Ramenskoye," said Oleksandr Lipatov,
deputy director.

Until the recently opened assembly line in Ramenskoye reaches full capacity
production, Agro-Soyuz's experts will be supervising and managing the
assembly of the drills and training Russian personnel.

Russian farmers, who operate in conditions of a short spring planting season
and lack of moisture, have already appreciated the advantages of the
wide-cut seeders with their multifunction and high speed planting
capabilities.

In the future Agro-Soyuz is also planning to establish a central warehouse
for spare parts in the outskirts of Moscow, and two more warehouses
including a service network in Russia. By the end of 2005 the company also
plans to launch manufacturing of energy saving agricultural equipment in
Kazakhstan.  -30-  [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://firstnews.com.ua/en/article.html?id=102656, with photos.
==============================================================
11.   COMMENTARY: ROUNDTABLE VI: UKRAINE'S TRANSITION TO AN
                                ESTABLISHED NATIONAL IDENTITY

COMMENTARY: by Walter Prochorenko, PhD.
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 575, Article 11
Washington, D.C., Monday, October 3, 2005

I attended the two-day conference, "Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation
Statehood - Roundtable VI: Ukraine's Transition to an Established National
Identity," held in Washington, D.C. last week.

One of the attendees, who happened to be new to such conferences,
described it to me as a "Cliff Note version of Ukraine today.  A distilled
forum for Ukrainians in the Diaspora to get a sense of the issues, and to
have an open dialogue with the new government.

An amazing opportunity for candor and problem solving.  I wish all events
which I have attended were so succinct.  Yes I definitely felt it was time
well invested!"

What more can one add to such an enthusiastic description?  It appears
that the organizers have done an outstanding job of putting together an
informative and interesting venue to digest the complexities of Ukraine's
present situation after the recent political upheavals.

This was probably particularly important to potential new investors who were
attending the conference with the intent of finding areas in which to
participate or invest.

I was particularly impressed with Dr. Brzezinski who was graciously
introduced by Adrian Karatnycky of the newly formed Orange Circle fund. If
we had a hundred such statesmen and diplomats, our US Foreign Policy
would be a beacon of light rather than the embarrassment it is today.

A full review of Dr. Brzezinski's speech can be found in The Action Ukraine
Report (AUR) - Number 572 of September 29th, 2005.

It was also interesting to hear Senator Lugar's reminiscences of the
election processes that he personally witnessed during the various Ukrainian
presidential administrations.  Senator Lugar's ability to recollect these
complex events without the aid of notes bears witness to his sincere
interest in the Ukrainian cause and in Ukraine's process toward a democratic
society.

Bringing to the conference diverse views from diplomats, politicians,
researchers, and leaders from Poland, Russia, Georgia, Latvia, Belarus,
Canada, and the EU, in addition to the many from the US and Ukraine, was
a brilliant idea as it provided the diversity of opinions that is often
lacking at similar events.

Conspicuous by his absence from this event, however, was Taras Kuzio
since "nationhood" and "national identity" are his forte and the subject of
his many works.  I only wish that the entire Ukrainian Parliament would have
been present to hear some of the ideas and suggestions presented by the
speakers.

It has always been my contention that Ukraine should learn from both its
neighbors to the west, and nations that have already undergone the
democratization and marketization processes, rather than going through the
difficult and time consuming "trial and error" alternative that Ukrainians
seem to be choosing at every junction.

One of my great disappointments was hearing the (most likely realistic)
opinion by historian Orest Subtelny of York University that Ukraine's
aspirations for a stronger GUAM (formerly GUUAM) union were probably
just hopes and dreams with little chance of succeeding.

 I have always felt that Ukraine's future could be better secured by
stronger (political, but especially economic) ties to the Caucasus and
Central Asian nations even at the expense to those of the EU.

Ukraine needs the energy sources that these nations can provide and Ukraine
has a better chance of selling its exports to these nations than competing
with nations that already do business with the EU.

If GUAM could be expanded to include Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and
Turkmenistan, and if it could be strengthened into a real economic union,
then Ukraine could breathe a little easier when Russia threatens to cut off
its energy sources or to bypass its existing pipelines.

Considering the myriad of difficulties associated with joining the EU as
succinctly presented by former Ambassador Steven Pifer and the natural
tendencies of Ukrainians to revert back to associations with Russia, Ukraine
should seriously look to other potential partnerships to be able to keep its
options open.

Although Ukraine must maintain a close relationship with Russia, it would
be a grave mistake if it allowed itself to fall back under the influence of
this giant that has not given up on its imperialistic ambitions.

Joining NATO is one important option which Latvian Ambassador Maris
Riekstins stressed but this will be vehemently opposed by Russia unless
Ukraine obtains EU support which at the present it seems somewhat
reluctant to give.

Even though these are issues are far beyond the scope of such a conference,
it is interesting to contemplate the "what ifs" that can be discussed as
future ones.

What was also interesting to see were the reactions of some Ukrainian
Parliamentarians attending the event to delicate issues such as Ukraine's
accedence to the WTO.  Their reactions, sometimes bordering on the
belligerent, can be viewed as small mirror images of what goes on during
the full Parliament sessions in Kyiv on this important but touchy subject.

The representatives of the Ukrainian media gave an interesting oversight
into the problems and issues affecting their activities.  The one common
characteristic that I derived from the representative's speeches was that
there was a definite improvement in the freedoms that the media enjoys.

However there were some definite personal feelings that emerged about
punishment of "criminals" that perpetrated electoral frauds, economic and
social transgressions and outright criminal actions during the previous
administrations.

One gets the feeling that although the media seeks complete "freedom of
the press" as we have in the West, they still have not learned that with
this comes the responsibility to be objective and non-judgmental.

One detrimental factor that affected my enjoyment of the conference was the
poor acoustics of the Pavilion Room at the Ronal Regan Building.  But this
was a small price to pay for the interesting and informative presentations
of the participants.

If there was anything that I would be so presumptuous as to suggest to the
organizers it would be that it would have been nice to have more "one on
 one" sessions with the Ukrainian Parliamentarians.  I think it would be
fruitful if they were able to have more "direct" contact with the attendees.

It also would be great if there were more opportunities for networking
between the Ukrainian attendees and those of the US and Canada. Since
there were only a few breaks between the various speeches, it made it
difficult for such networking to take place.

This could have been accomplished by reducing some of the time allotted to
such speeches as the presentations of the various political parties to which
the Parliamentarians belonged.

I'm a strong proponent of the "elevator speech".  If one cannot capture the
attention of the listener within 15-30 seconds, there is a strong chance
that they have lost their audience anyway.  This is particularly so when
introducing companies, entities such as political parties, or oneself.

I think that the Deputies would have made much more of an impact, and the
audience would have retained more of what the Deputies were saying, if those
particular speeches would have been short and to the point.  This would have
allowed more time for the Deputies to interact with the audience in other
fashions.

Apart from these final observations and suggestions, I believe that such
conferences are becoming an important part of the dialogue and interaction
between what I once termed as the "Two Ukraine's", namely those in
Ukraine and those in the diaspora.  -30-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walter Prochorenko, PhD., Parabus, New Jersey, prowalt@yahoo.com
==============================================================
12.      PROBLEM OF NATIONAL SELF-IDENTIFICATION IN UKRAINE

REMARKS: By Myroslav Popovych, Director of the Hryhoriy Skovoroda
Institute of Philosophy of the Shevchenko National Academy of Sciences
At Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood, Roundtable VI:
"Ukraine's Transition to an Established National Identity"
Washington DC, Tue-Wed, September 27-28, 2005
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 575, Article 12
Washington, D.C., Sunday, October 2, 2005

The national self-identification, which coincides with definitions of the
citizenship, is something new in the political and cultural life of Ukraine.
"Nationality" and "citizenship" were clearly distinguished in Soviet times.
The notion "political nation" was absent, and in mass consciousness "nation"
means the same as "ethnical origin". Sometimes it was a source of confusion.

In the rhetoric of Yushchenko during the first stage of his presidential
campaign he often used the words "nation", "my nation", "Ukrainians" and so
on without restrictions, and it was a cause of some misunderstandings, since
in a mass-consciousness "the nation" means "the ethnical group".

Here the usage returned to the European tradition (it was underlined many
times by president Yushchenko), and in political dictionary "to be a
Ukrainian" means "to be a citizen of Ukraine", but not something associated
with the Ukrainian "blood and earth".

In official documents the references to the ethnical birth of the person are
absent, but the origin and self-identification is taken into account in the
national census and sociological investigations. It is a more or less
significant factor in everyday life and in political activity of Ukrainians,
especially in a definition of Ukrainian-Russian relations (and,
respectively, the attitude to the West).

We'll discuss factors pertaining to national self-identification in our
political life and must define the influence of ethnical birth of a
Ukrainian citizen on his political choices.

Professor V. Khmelko in his report "Presidential elections 2004 in Ukraine:
Sociological Aspects" showed the dependence of the ratings of voters
during the last presidential campaign from their actions in national and
ethno-linguistic politics.

For example, the declaration of Yanukovich in September about his support
of a new official status of the Russian language, the double citizenship and
neutral international status of Ukraine immediately added him 10% of
potential voters, first of all in eastern and southern parts of Ukraine.

The aggravation of the political situation in Ukraine during the
presidential elections is to some degree connected with Russian-Ukrainian
interrelations inside Ukraine, while there were not any ethnic conflicts
between Russians and Ukrainians like the conflicts between Serbs and
Croats in Yugoslavia.

What were the real influences of ethnical factors on the development of the
political situation in Ukraine?

According to official statistics the Ukrainians constitute 77.8% of the
population of Ukraine, or 37.5 million from the 48.5 million of the whole
population (2001). The Russians constitute - 17.3% or 8.3 million. The
population of Ukraine between the censuses of 1989 and 2001 was reduced
by 3.3 million; in particular, the Russian population decreased by 26%, or
about 2.4 million.

We don't know how many Russians emigrated to Russia and how many people
simply changed their national self-identification, but we can suppose, the
emigration of Russians to their historical homeland is a demographically
significant fact and at the same time it never assumed mass flight
proportions.

The regions with the greatest part of Russian population are the industrial
South and East of Ukraine; especially in these regions the reduction of the
Russian population was large (from 20 to 33%) 1.   But even in these
industrial regions, where the Russian language prevails absolutely, ethnic
Russians constitute a minority (20%).

Usually the problem of the connection between political orientations and
national self-identification of Ukrainians was examined on the basis of
socio-linguistic data. The investigations of Ukrainian sociologists from the
common Ukrainian-American enterprise "Kyiv international institute of
sociology" discovered new sides to the problem.

Statistics do not doubt that every citizen belongs to one and only one
national (ethnic) community. But is it really so?

Sociologists in Kyiv assumed that people's identity was the result of a
determined consciousness of belonging to any nationality and a vague one.
The earlier mentioned case used three constructs - Ukrainians, Russians
and a new identity, which we call "biethnors."

Biethnors are people who attribute themselves membership at to both
nationalities at the same time. The choice of a language for everyday
communication doesn't immediately depend upon this national
self-identification.

The results of the investigations were sensational: according to results of
13 surveys of adults during a period from 1994 to 2003, only 60-63% of the
population identified themselves as Ukrainians, 11-10% - as Russians and
24.4% in the 1990s, 22.5% in our century - as biethnors.

Naturally, the part of biethnors in West and South of Ukraine were higher
than in East and Central Ukraine: in the western region of Ukraine, ethnic
Ukrainians made up 92.6% of the population while Russians consisted of only
1.4%. The Ukrainian-Russian biethnors comprised 6%. In the East ethnic
Ukrainians constitute 34% of the population, Russians made up 20.8% and
biethnors comprised 45% of the population!  2

Historically, the fact of "biethnority" corresponds to the politics of the
old Russian empire with respect to Ukrainians. The predominant ideology of
Russian power didn't deny that Ukrainians constitute some peculiar ethnical
group, but Russian power insisted that the Ukrainian cultural and political
characteristics remain local and provincial.

Officially this position was expressed in a formula "two (small) homelands,
one fatherland."

Nobody from Russian patriots insisted, that the Poles have her own
fatherland; from the Russian point of view Poland simply submitted to Russia
as a result of an ancient domestic struggle for the first position in the
great Slavic family.

But Ukrainian movements of national liberation were qualified as betrayals,
and traitors such as Hetman Mazepa were qualified as men "without
fatherland" (see an example of this tradition by the great Russian poet and
humanist thinker Pushkin in his patriotic poem "Poltava"). This ideology of
"one common Russian-Ukrainian fatherland" survived through different
historical ages.

But the historical roots of modern events doesn't explain their modern
political sources and political meaning in today's life.

From the point of view of the Ukrainian-Russian biethnor an essential
difference between Russians and Ukrainians doesn't exist; the cultural
characteristics accessible to him are the same in both cultures. For most of
the population of Ukraine (for 52% of the whole population, and for about
41% of ethnical Ukrainians 3 ) the Russian language is more convenient for
communication than the Ukrainian one.

Some correspondence with political sympathies is evident, but the assertion,
that the Ukrainian-speaking part of the population of Ukraine supported
Yushchenko and Russian-speaking supported Yanukovich, would be simply
wrong.

We can suppose, of course, there is a low level of culture among the
populations which identifies themselves as biethnors. Notably, the biethnor
deals only with the Russian and Ukrainian urban culture, where the
differences are weak or don't exist.

Of course, it means, that we must deal not only with a nation-state, but
take into account such reality, as a nation-culture (or, according to
Tonnies, remembering the difference between nation as society - die
Gesellschaft - and nation as community - die Gemeinschaft).

But in this case we deal with a mass political culture, and emotional
valuation such as "under-developed Ukrainians" only disturbs the
comprehension of the problem.

First of all it means that the difference in political positions of the
regions of Ukraine can't be explained simply by its population belonging to
different ethnic communities. The fact of different national (ethnic)
self-determination must be explained. The question is why the linguo-ethnic
distinctions are relevant in one case (for example, in the Centre of
Ukraine) and irrelevant in another (in the South or East).

We can suppose that the advancement of different regions of Ukraine to the
European standard of life and European institutions and values is uneven,
and that is a source of frictions between the regions.

The transition to the European world consists of the establishment of a
system of institutions of (1) parliamentary democracy, (2) market economy
and (3) national-state system ("nation-state"). In the Ukrainian political
reality different regions were in different manners and different degrees
oriented on these values.

The idea of national independence was widely distributed in Ukraine, but the
centre of this activity was and remains in West of Ukraine and especially in
Galicia.

The historical center of Ukraine with Kyiv is perceptible in different
trends, but as a centre of culture and education it has a maximal
sensibility to the ideas of political freedom.

Finally, the industrial South and East is a region with a trade-unionist
consciousness. Earlier there was a "red belt" of Ukraine, now this region
demonstrates some kind of solidarity - not "horizontal" solidarity (as in a
case of opposition "democracy-autocracy" or "our own national State - alien
national State"), but "vertical" one, immediately connected to the locality
in question.

It is not without reason that the party of Yanukovych called itself "The
party of regions". The enthusiasm of "donetskye" and so on fellow-countrymen
could withstand Ukrainian national-patriotic enthusiasm.

Returning to the problem of national identification, we can ask ourselves:
is the enthusiasm representative of a "horizontal" solidarity, a kind of
national-patriotic feeling?

 If we remember the days of "Orange Revolution", we can definitely say: no,
it wasn't simply an experience of national self-identification on ethnical
ground. The fundamental values, which defined the feelings and behavior of
thousands and thousands of men and woman, were values of freedom and
justice.

However at the same time, it was a very high and romantic experience of
a feeling of belonging to one political nation, one political and cultural
community. The people were proud because they defended not simply
Ukraine, but their homeland as a country of justice and democracy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Myroslav Popovych is the Director of the Hryhoriy Skovoroda Institute of
Philosophy of the Shevchenko National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Popovych
is the author of numerous articles and books about the Ukrainian national
identity and Ukraine's European character.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTES:
1  See Zinych V.T., Suchasni etnodemohrafichni protsesy v Ukrayini. K.,
2004., s. 15
2  Khmelko V. Ye. Dlinhvo-etnichna struktura Ukrayiny: rehionalni
osoblyvosti i tendentsiyi zminy za roky nezalezhnosty. // Natsionalnyi
universitet "Kyyevo-Mohylianska Akademia". Naukovi zapysky. Tom 32.
Sotsiolohichni nauky. 2004. s. 3-15
3  Ibidem. p.14
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE:  Our special thanks to Marko Suprun, Walter Zaryckyj and the
Ukrainian National Information Service (UNIS), Washington, DC,
unis@ucca.org, for providing information to The Action Ukraine Report
(AUR) from the conference, Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood
Roundtable VI, held in Washington last week.   EDITOR
==============================================================
                Send in a letter-to-the-editor today. Let us hear from you.
==============================================================
13.           PERSPECTIVES OF UKRAINE'S ACCESSION TO THE EU
                                           A VIEW FROM UKRAINE

REMARKS: by Oleh Zarubinskyi, MP, Acting Chairman, Parliamentary
Committee for European Integration, Member People's Party
At Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood Roundtable VI:
"Ukraine's Transition to an Established National Identity"
Washington, D.C., Tue-Wed, September 27-28, 2005
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 575, Article 13
Washington, D.C., Monday, October 3, 2005

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all I would like to thank the organizers for the invitation to
address the respected public, thank you - all the people present here - I am
convinced that only true friends of Ukraine have gathered here to discuss
the future of the country and, as real friends, to express their opinions
and give advice to Ukraine.

Today we have witnessed a new position on "The Grand Chessboard", to
borrow a phrase from Dr. Brzezinski. A new center of power has appeared;
a new influential actor - a United Europe.

The integration process in Western Europe that was just a dream some 50
years ago, has began to involve the eastern part of Europe after the
collapse of the socialist system. Ideologists of European integration
declare their goal to be "the construction of a United Europe without new
dividing lines".

Since May 2004 - when 10 new countries of Eastern Europe joined the
European Union - the total length of EU-Ukrainian border is now longer than
800 km. (Ukraine borders Poland, Slovak Republic and Hungary).

Ukraine sincerely welcomes this integration process and, moreover, regards
itself as an integral part of it. Ukraine adheres to the values of the
European Union; we aspire to incorporate the Union's political culture into
our own.

We are convinced that Europe is not simply 25 countries - EU member-states,
and not even 27 countries - anticipating the accession of Bulgaria and
Romania in 2007. Europe is 47 countries.

We cannot speak about the European Union as a pan-European association
without Ukraine being a member. Until that time, it is too early to state
that Europe has finally abolished all dividing lines.

In this regard I would like to remind you of one thing which is
self-evident. I can't stop repeating it, and I won't get tired of repeating
it.  That is: Ukraine is a European state.

First of all, Ukraine is geographically situated in Europe, and moreover,
the geographical centre of Europe is situated in Ukraine - in Zakarpattya
oblast, near the village of Rahiv.

The history of Ukraine is not a topic of conversation today, but one may
remember that Kyiv-Rus was one of the most developed countries in Europe
over 1000 years ago. One of the ancient trade routes crossed the territory
of Ukraine - 'z varyag v greky'.

Over time our links with Europe were cut off due to historical circumstances
beyond our control.

Therefore, one should admit that Ukraine has always been a European state in
terms of geography, history, and culture. Now it is time Ukraine regained
its place in Europe in terms of developed institutions of democracy and
political system.

It is high time Ukraine joined the family of well-developed democratic
European states.
                            THE HISTORY OF EU-UKRAINE RELATIONS
Fifteen years ago, after the collapse of the socialist system in Central and
Eastern Europe, the absolute majority of Eastern Europe states have declared
their commitment to European values and have defined EU membership as a
strategic goal of their foreign policy.

The European choice is conditioned by the perception that European
integration of necessity is an important factor of state independence,
security, political stability, economic development of Ukraine and social
harmony in Ukrainian society.

In 1993 the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the "Resolution on the Basic
Directions of Foreign Policy of Ukraine," where it was indicated that "a
perspective goal of Ukrainian foreign policy is participation in the
European Communities".

But the European choice of Ukraine was not emphasized, so it was lost in
this document. All Ukrainian foreign policy vectors were declared
priorities - from CIS to African and Latin American states.

On 14 June 1994 the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between
Ukraine and the EU was signed, which came into force in 1998. PCA concerns
the issues of political dialogue, enterprise founding, labour and capital
movements and cooperation in economic, financial and cultural spheres.

In this regard, PCA is similar to the European Agreements concluded between
the EU and Eastern European states, that have recently joined the European
Union (for example, the European Agreement with Bulgaria was concluded in
1993).

But at the same time, there are distinctions in these agreements, for
example, in trade issues as the European agreements are preferential
treaties directed towards the creation of free trade zones, and they
practically cover all trade issues between the Parties.

And the most important thing - as defined in the preambles of the European
agreements - the final aim of every country in this process is EU
membership, and that the Agreement of Association should facilitate
achieving this aim. Perspective EU membership is, precisely, the only
critical component, that is absent in the PCA.

So, in fact, Ukraine, unlike other European countries, was deprived of
European perspective from the very beginning.

One should realize that the PCA establishes only a basis for bilateral
cooperation. It leaves the way open for further determination and
intensification of interrelations in a wide range of questions.

On 21 February 2005 the EU-Ukraine Action Plan was approved. It outlines
possible development of relations in the direction of establishing a free
trade zone between the Parties, depending, of course, on whether Ukraine
successfully reaches its acknowledged goal of market reform.

It also provides some steps for visa regime facilitation. The EU-Ukraine
Action Plan is worked out for the period of 3 years, and in case of its
successful fulfillment, a new enhanced agreement may be concluded, an
agreement envisaging the provision for the EU accession.

Ukraine is trying to do its best to fulfill its obligations under the Action
Plan, to prove that the European choice Ukraine has made is final and
unchangeable, that it is a true and the only priority of our foreign and
domestic policy.

We want to prove our intentions to be serious enough to make the EU regard
us a potential candidate-country, not depriving us of the European
perspective.

On 16 March 2005 the Government approved a 'Road Map', an internal document
that would specify the Action Plan, providing special and concrete tasks and
obligations for Ministries and other bodies of state power, also putting the
deadlines for fulfillment of the above-mentioned tasks. The Government on
its regular meetings would check whether the tasks are done and whether they
are done in time.
                    WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS IN THE PROCESS OF
                          EUROPEAN INTEGRATION OF UKRAINE?
Speaking of the factors that impede the European integration of Ukraine, I
can think of those depending on the EU, and those depending on Ukraine.

Speaking of the factors depending on the EU, I would like to say that the EU
has neither regarded Ukraine a candidate-country since the very moment it
gained its independence unlike other European states, nor ever speaking of
any European perspective for Ukraine up to day.

There is a very complex political and economic situation within the European
Union. Only a year has passed since the last EU enlargement, another is on
the way. The EU is still 'digesting' the consequences of the accession of 10
new members last year.

Another political crisis is pulling apart the EU. The French and the
Dutchmen voted against the European Constitution at national referendums
that froze the process of its becoming effective.

Great problems are found in domestic sphere of finance: the last EU summit
proved to be a failure, the EU leaders failed to agree on the financial
perspectives and the common budget up to 2013.

Nowadays the EU faces the unemployment problems. Unemployment in 2005
may become record high since the end of the 90-ties, as it makes more than
9 percent.

Persistent unemployment makes pressure on the political leaders in European
countries, especially in Germany where unemployment index is higher than in
any other EU member-states reaching 11.7 percent, especially after the
recent elections.

All these factors make the EU concentrate on its own problems and leave
neither space nor time for EU to concentrate on the relations with Ukraine
and provide a European perspective to our country.

But this pause Ukraine may use in its favor, having more time to prepare its
homework more properly. We could use the time given to fulfill our
obligations under the Action Plan to prove the seriousness of our
intentions.

      THE SECOND PART OF THE FACTORS DEPEND ON UKRAINE
FIRST of all, up to the present moment among Ukrainian political elite and
in Ukrainian society there is no unity on the issue of Ukrainian membership
in the EU. Though the polls show that majority of experts speak in favor of
European integration, the antagonists' position is also rather strong.

Our opponents like to say that the EU is not waiting for us, what might be
true in some sense nobody will wait for us until we hurry up ourselves. In
this case my favorite answer is that there is Article 49 of Amsterdam Treaty
envisaging that any European state complying with Copenhagen criteria may
apply to gain the EU membership.

SECOND, Ukrainian population feels the lack of information on the European
Union: what it is, how it functions, and what the privileges of Ukraine's
accession thereto are. This is the information the Ukrainians need badly.

The information could popularize the idea of European integration and would
provide stronger support of the population of the necessary but rather
unpopular reforms conducted by the Government.

THIRD, there is no strict inter-coordinated system of bodies of state power
responsible for European integration. European integration is not foreign
policy, but it is rather domestic policy. Our successful way of integration
will depend on our successful fulfillment of the homework.

That is why it is so important to know who is responsible for what inside
the country. For now, I can't speak of the clear picture of division of
power between the existing state bodies, or to mention the specialized State
Body for European Integration, if such to be ever created, as there are many
talks about it.

As I've already mentioned before, the good homework makes the biggest part
of the job, that is real means for reaching success in the negotiations. We
have an Action Plan, which is not perfect, but rather good; the Government
elaborated the 'Road Map', which itself is also rather good.

But all these documents are nothing without proper fulfillment. It's
difficult to speak about all spheres the Action Plan concerns, but I can
characterize some aspects connected with legislative work.

The Action Plan provided tasks for different Ministries and State Bodies of
elaborating, submitting to the Parliament and supporting draft laws. The
deadlines were provided for all these stages.

But by the time the draft law should have been already passed by the
Parliament, it hasn't even worked out and submitted to the Parliament.

On the very last day the draft laws are submitted to the Parliament, and the
Government asks the Parliament to adopt them without even having the
possibility of reading the laws. In my opinion, such coordination of actions
is intolerable.

As I've said at the beginning, I believe that only the true friends of
Ukraine have gathered here, and our common efforts will help Ukraine to
become a prosperous democratic European state.   -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Oleh Zarubinskyi, MP, is Acting-Chairman of the Parliamentary
Committee for European Integration and a member of the People's Party.
He is the author of numerous historical and socio-political articles, most
recently about Ukraine's potential to develop the Baltic-Black Sea economic
zone.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE:  Our special thanks to Marko Suprun, Walter Zaryckyj and the
Ukrainian National Information Service (UNIS), Washington, DC,
unis@ucca.org, for providing information to The Action Ukraine Report
(AUR) from the conference, Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood
Roundtable VI, held in Washington last week.   EDITOR
==============================================================
        Send in names and e-mail addresses for the AUR distribution list.
==============================================================
14.                        "EASTERN UKRAINE: THE ULTIMATE PRIZE"

COMMENTARY: Alexei Makarkin, Deputy General Director,
Center of Political Technologies for RIA Novosti
RIA Novosti, Moscow, Russia, Wed, Sep 27, 2005

MOSCOW - Ukraine's three main political forces, namely, the supporters
of Viktor Yushchenko, Yulia Tymoshenko and Viktor Yanukovych, are now
courting voters in eastern Ukraine.

Yushchenko, for one, has nominated Dnepropetrovsk regional governor
Yury Yekhanurov as prime minister, concluding an agreement with
Yanukovych, also.

2004 presidential elections split Ukraine along geographic lines. The
country's central and western regions voted for Yushchenko, with southern
and eastern Ukraine supporting Yanukovych. The densely populated and
industrialized eastern areas decisively influenced all previous election
campaigns.

However, eastern Ukraine lost the 2004 elections for the first
time, failing to defeat the supporters of Yushchenko and Tymoshenko during
the protracted stand-off on Kiev's famous Independence Square. But this
does not necessarily mean that all major political forces have now given up
eastern Ukraine for good. They will continue to woo the local electorate
because it would otherwise be impossible to form a stable majority in the
Supreme Rada (Parliament).

Supporters of Viktor Yanukovych can expect to be backed by part of
south-eastern Ukraine's electorate. Latest events show that his Ukrainian
Regions party is more interested in guarantees for its leaders' personal
freedom and for sponsors' property. These are the main points of the
Yushchenko-Yanukovych agreement that was concluded on the eve of the
second, and successful, parliamentary vote concerning Yekhanurov's
candidacy.

The agreement's other provisions, such as fair parliamentary
elections and opposition rights guarantees are of a declarative nature and
have something to do with Yushchenko's previous promises. And it was
impossible to renounce political reform guarantees because this would have
wrecked the Ukrainian political situation. All voters and parties aspire
for change.

Yekhanurov's appointment means that Ukraine has received a pragmatic
rime Minister who is well-versed in economic matters. Yekhanurov also
maintains a good relationship with the President's inner circle, as well as
the economic and political elite that had ruled Ukraine under President
Leonid Kuchma.

Its representatives may be appointed to the new Cabinet of
Ministers, which can play the part of Yushchenko's future election
coalition. Yekhanurov held important posts under Kuchma; for instance, he
was Economics Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister.

However, Yekhanurov remained loyal to Yushchenko's Our Ukraine faction
in the last several years. He interacted with representatives of pro-Rukh
nationalist political organizations.

Yekhanurov's Russian policy will be more loyal and predictable than that
of Tymoshenko because he was not indicted by the Russian Prosecutor-
General's Office.

Tymoshenko and her closest supporters, including Economics Minister Sergei
Terekhin (who backed her in the conflict with Yushchenko) vehemently
opposed Ukrainian-Russian cooperation within the framework of the Common
Economic Space. But Yekhanurov said he liked the idea of such cooperation
from the very beginning. Moreover, eastern Ukrainian businessmen support
this project.

Still one should not exaggerate the consequences of Yekhanurov's
appointment for Russian-Ukrainian partnership because Ukrainian politicians
have always promised a lot. But their practical achievements are far more
modest.

Yushchenko's elite expansion to the east of the country and Tymoshenko's
courting the eastern Ukrainian electorate by circumventing the local power
players coincide in time. Tymoshenko, for one, wore an orange ribbon and a
blue ribbon on TV, as she apparently tried to reconcile revolutionary and
anti-revolution traditions. It seems that Tymoshenko has small chances
because she was one of the "orange revolution's" architects.

But one should not forget that Tymoshenko launched her business and
political career in Dnepropetrovsk, eastern Ukraine. Most importantly, she
implemented some populist measures during her tenure of office. For
instance, Tymoshenko paid overdue wage arrears to Donbass miners.
And her current opposition status implies that she has nothing do with
unpopular, albeit necessary,  measures.

Therefore one can say that the eastern Ukraine is not some outcast region,
home to political losers. Local elites and voters are becoming increasingly
popular with those who talked arrogantly about "bandit Donetsk" not so long
ago.

Such politically incorrect statements are now history. Consequently,
there is every reason to believe that the new Ukrainian Government, just as
that to emerge next year, will represent regions more adequately than the
first "post-revolutionary" Cabinet.  -30-
==============================================================
15.                       NO REASON FOR REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA
            We Russians do not have a Victor Yushchenko or a Leonid Kuchma

COMMENTARY: by Vyacheslav Nikonov
New Straits Times, Malaysia, Sunday, Oct 02, 2005

PUBLIC consciousness always uses stereotypes. But it is always far worse
when stereotypes take over the consciousness of a society's elites. Such is
the case regarding Russia nowadays.

Liberal Western and domestic circles commonly characterise Vladimir
Putin's Government as increasingly authoritarian and ineffective. Inasmuch
as illiberal - and especially personal - regimes are considered the least
stable, the logical conclusion is that the "colour revolution" scenario that
we observed in Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan is likely to repeat itself
in Russia.

Of course, anything is possible in today's Russia. But I think that there is
more wishful thinking than hardheaded logic among those calling for a
"colour revolution".

Consider, for example, that no one has ever developed a precise way to
measure whether and to what extent a government is effective. If the
criterion of effectiveness is the ability to achieve all of a society's
goals, we will probably never find such a thing.

The United States, with a Government that can hardly be described as weak,
bungled the war in Iraq and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Compared to
these failures, Putin's achievements in Chechnya look like the height of
success.

Similarly, the European Union's leadership is criticised for its inability
to secure economic growth rates of more than 1-2 per cent; by this
standard, any government of a country with seven per cent growth should
be called super-effective.

Indeed, today's administration is far more effective than Boris Yeltsin's
Government during the 1990s. Back then, most of the country was not
governed at all, half of the economy's productive capacity vanished, the
Kremlin could not get a single reform law through the Communist Duma,
and only lazy people were not talking about the country's disintegration.

To be sure, contemporary Russia can hardly be called an exemplary
democracy, and not all trends are encouraging. But to think that we are
moving from Yeltsin's "democracy" to Putin's "autocracy" is simply silly.

It is difficult today to imagine tanks firing on a legally elected
Parliament or privatisation of state assets to the head of state's family
and business cronies.

Similarly, it was not Putin who enacted a constitution with an enormously
powerful presidential government and a weak system of checks and
balances, nor did he start the slaughter in Chechnya. The Yeltsin regime
was not so much democratic as anarchic and oligarchic. Today, there is
less anarchy and less oligarchy.

The situation in Russia is far from identical to that which prevailed in,
say, Ukraine at the time of last year's "orange revolution".

We Russians have no Victor Yushchenko, who, from the start, was the
undisputed leader of the right-wing Opposition.

Nor do we have a Leonid Kuchma, an ineffective, weak-willed president
who was widely hated. With an approval rating that hovers around 70 per
cent, no one can accuse Putin of being unpopular.

In any case, it is not liberals who can get people into the streets in
Russia; it is the communists and nationalists. Their red and brown
revolution would certainly be colourful, but not exactly the sunny outcome
liberals profess to desire.

Liberals should face up to grim reality: Russia already had an "orange"
revolution in 1991, and the results were not particularly impressive.

Alexis de Toqueville claimed that unfulfilled hopes lie at the basis of
every revolution, that every revolution is engendered by disillusion caused
by exaggerated expectations. The high point of disillusion with Russia's top
leaders passed in 1999, when the level of trust in Yeltsin sank to around
three per cent.

In reality, the main trouble with the current Putin Government in the eyes
of its Western critics is that their friends and like-minded thinkers are no
longer in the loop. That can happen with anyone, but it is still no reason
for revolution.

Yet despite all this, I have no doubt that an attempt will be made to bring
down Russia's Government by means outside the voting booth when the
next presidential election is due in 2008.   -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The writer is a political scientist and president of the Politika
Foundation, Moscow. He is a grandson of Vyacheslav Molotov.
==============================================================
16.      YULIA TYMOSHENKO: I WILL BE THE NEXT PRIME MINISTER

INTERVIEW: with Yulia Tymoshenko, Former Prime Minister of Ukraine
By Yanina Sokolovskaya, Izvestia [Translated by What the Papers Say]
Moscow, Russia, Friday, 23 September 2005
The Ukraine List (UKL) #363, Article 4, Compiled by Dominique Arel
Chair of Ukrainian Studies, U of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
www.ukrainianstudies.uottawa.ca, 23 September 2005

                          INTERVIEW WITH YULIA TYMOSHENKO:
What will be the consequences of Ukraine's political crisis? Have the
former heroes of the Independence Square revolution quarreled
permanently?

These and other questions are answered by Yulia Timoshenko.

Question: Rumor has it that you expect to become prime minister again
following the parliamentary elections in March. Is that true?
Yulia Timoshenko: I do have such ambitions. After the political reforms,
Ukraine will be a purely parliamentary republic - so in elections everyone
will be fighting for the office of prime minister, not the presidency. I'm
sure we can win a majority in parliament - 226 seats. That means we will
form a government and choose a prime minister.

Question: In the event of election fraud, will you assemble people on
Independence Square again?
Yulia Timoshenko: No, I won't be holding protest rallies, since any election
fraud will not be substantial. The Orange Revolution has changed our
country. Politicians understand that the people won't accept fraud.
Vote-rigging is just as unrealistic now as anti-corruption investigations
were in the Kuchma era.

Question: The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office has not confirmed the
corruption allegations made against former National Security and Defense
Council secretary Petro Poroshenko and his associates. According to the
Prosecutor General's Office, President Yushchenko has the right to reinstate
them.
Yulia Timoshenko: Their resignations were purely a formality. Relations
between Yushchenko and his inner circle haven't changed. I'm slightly
alarmed by the fact that Yushchenko pronounced Poroshenko and his
associates innocent without waiting for the investigation's results.

Question: Ukraine's new administration promised to investigate abuses of
power by former president Leonid Kuchma and his entourage. You took the
lead in demanding that. All the same, Kuchma is touring Ukraine and
traveling abroad with no problems, and he still has the use of the
presidential dacha residence near Kiev. Is it true that Yushchenko has
issued orders for no action to be taken against his predecessor?
Yulia Timoshenko: Yushchenko has explained to everyone that Kuchma is not
to be touched. He said that Kuchma is a former head of state, so he's not to
be hunted like a rabbit. There are no allegations against Kuchma; he will be
allowed to keep all his property - even unlawfully acquired property. In
effect, Kuchma has been granted a pardon. A substantial proportion of the
Ukrainian people object to this. They believe in the need for an objective
assessment of Kuchma's actions while he was in power. If the former
president goes unpunished, many others will seek to repeat his "feats."

Question: Political analysts are saying that you deliberately provoked a
conflict with Yushchenko and your own dismissal, in order to avoid being
held accountable for the government's economic policy errors during the
elections.
Yulia Timoshenko: Yushchenko dismissed the government, but he hasn't
dismissed his inner circle, even though he knows it's corrupt. I spoke to
him several times on this topic. He said he'd deal with it. I didn't want to
leave office. But Yushchenko's inner circle was against me. Yushchenko asked
me to yield the office of prime minister to Petro Poroshenko. In exchange, I
was offered the post of National Security and Defense Council secretary.
During Yushchenko's inauguration, however, the public made it clear that
they wanted me as prime minister. So I was appointed.
Poroshenko considered that I had taken the post that should have been his,
and he sought to get rid of me by any available means. Until the very last
moment, I thought that Yushchenko and I would be able to preserve our
tandem. He and I met before the press conference at which he announced my
dismissal. I thought I could stop Yushchenko, so we could face the media
shoulder-to-shoulder and say: "We are together."

Question: Many believe that the underlying cause of the government dismissal
was reprivatization: attempts to take the Krivorozhstal steel plant and the
Nikopolsk ferrous alloys plant from Viktor Pinchuk, Kuchma's son-in-law. Now
that you're out, will reprivatization stop?
Yulia Timoshenko: The old oligarchs have easily reached agreement with the
new ones. Pinchuk promised Poroshenko's team three television channels.
Yushchenko was aware of this. If those factories are given back to Kuchma's
family, now that I have been dismissed, that will be a significant decision.

Question: Yushchenko has accused you of corruption - attempting to write
off $1.6 billion owed to the state by the Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine
corporation, where you used to be the chief executive. Do you intend to sue
Yushchenko for saying that?
Yulia Timoshenko: I really want to sue him, but I can't permit myself to
engage in a direct confrontation with the president. That would split
Ukraine - it's too dangerous. I'm forcing myself to keep silent. I worked
hard to bring about Yushchenko's victory, and I don't want that effort to be
wasted. Exactly half of the burden of responsibility to those who voted for
Yushchenko rests with me. Yushchenko is perfectly well aware that Unified
Energy Systems of Ukraine has no debts, and that I have no business
interests - they were destroyed by Kuchma.

Question: And do you think Yushchenko himself is corrupt?
Yulia Timoshenko: I'd like to believe he isn't, but I don't know for sure -
I'm neither a prosecutor nor a judge. Still, I must say this: the president
was aware of everything happening around him. In detail.

Question: If it is not confirmed that Yushchenko was poisoned, will you call
for his impeachment? After all, that would mean he deceived the people.
Yulia Timoshenko: I know that Yushchenko was gravely ill, and his health
remains impaired. The possibility of impeachment depends on the
president himself, and his ability to rebuild governance in Ukraine.

Question: You have said that you expect "strong harassment" from the
authorities during the election campaign. Are you the opposition to
Yushchenko's team?
Yulia Timoshenko: We're worse than that. We are their most serious
opponents.   -30-
==============================================================
17.      RUSSIA SHOULD CHOOSE YULIYA TIMOSHENKO AS BEST
                      CANDIDATE FOR UKRAINE GOVERNMENT

COMMENTARY: by Vitaliy Tretyakov: "Ukraine: Russia's Choice (3)"
Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Moscow, Russia, Friday, September 30, 2005

The main conclusion emerging from the two previous articles in this series
is one by which I stand firm and in the correctness of which I am confident
- Moscow should not place its basic stake in the upcoming Ukrainian
parliamentary elections on Viktor Yushchenko, and hence not on the parties
and politicians which will form a block around the current Ukrainian
president.

I would draw my readers' attention to this assertion once more because our
press has already published persistent proposals for us to orient ourselves
towards Yushchenko in so far as he is the nationally-elected president and
a large part of the Ukrainian elite will inevitably congregate around him,
and he will keep hold of the main levers of influence in Ukraine's politics
in so far as Yushchenko will be compelled to seek out (as he is already
seeking out) good relations with Moscow.

Absolutely nothing in all these theses corresponds with reality or
everything therein even contradicts reality. The last theory, concerning the
problem of Ukrainian policy, which is most a matter of principle for Russia,
especially scares me.

The fact that, as the "orange coalition" is in a state of the most bitter
crisis and collapse, Yushchenko has been forced to move to appoint a
"pro-Russian" prime minister, Yekhanurov, and even sign some political
agreement with Yanukovych, shows only one thing; namely that Viktor
Yushchenko is acting like Ukrainian leaders always act in such a situation,
not only so that after he has overcome the crisis he will make another 180
degrees turn round.

And the fact that Yushchenko's team still includes such personages
as Borys Tarasyuk and Oleg Rybachuk, confirms this with the inexorable
nature of a mathematical law. Indeed, as a result of the last staff
reshuffle in Kiev Mr. Rybachuk ended up, generally speaking, in a key post
within the Ukrainian presidential administration. Then he went off to
Moscow, where he virtually sang paeans in praise of Ukrainian-Russian
cooperation and how this was an inevitable boon for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, I can remember what sort of speeches Mr. Rybachuk made
in Moscow a year ago between the first and second rounds in the Ukrainian
elections. I am sure that a person who uttered words like that cannot by
definition be a reliable negotiating partner for Russia.

What I have just said does not mean that Moscow should plot specially
against Yushchenko or talk Yanukovych out of definite forms of cooperation
with him. But it is senseless and destructive to offer him electoral
support, taking into consideration the implementation of Russia's lawful
interests in Ukraine in particular and the former Soviet union as a whole.

Viktor Yanukovych, our former favorite in last year's battle for Ukraine, a
battle that he lost, also cannot become the main figure around whom
Moscow's political game in Ukraine today should concentrate. Of course, we
cannot reject him and he does need help, including help to consolidate the
success he has achieved in recent days.

However, Viktor Yanukovych is not suited for the role of Russia's main
hero in current Ukrainian politics; nor has he any prospects of becoming
suitable in the future.

Mme Timoshenko is the strongest and most motivated politician Ukraine
has. If the presidential elections in Ukraine were to be held today and all
the main real and hypothetical candidates for the post took part, then
Yuliya Timoshenko would come in first.

Mme Timoshenko, it goes without saying, is a very independent Ukrainian
politician, which is more than you can say about her main rivals. That is,
she is capable of formulating her policy by herself alone, and implementing
it herself too without reference to anyone else, including, if necessary,
any part of her electorate.

She is capable and this is a matter of principle importance - of
constructing a completely new Ukrainian policy, carrying it through without
the traditional unprincipled twisting between Washington (or Brussels) and
Moscow, and also free from the chains of anti-Russian rhetoric and anti-
Russian action. Yuliya Timoshenko is a clever politician.

Here I probably cannot confirm my assertion, but it seems to me that she
does understand what Viktor Yushchenko, who is hooked on the illusions
of having the role of a Ukrainian Vaclav Havel, cannotsee.

Most of the members of the EU are not ready to invite Ukraine to join
the European Union, and those who are enticing Kiev with the prospects for
such membership, are prepared to be not so much Ukraine's guides as its
elder brothers.

At last Yuliya Timoshenko, the revolution's romantic, where clothes,
gestures and theater are concerned, has never appeared to be a romantic
in Realpolitik and she does not appear to be so today. I think that she
gives full account of herself in the degree of the revolutionary heat of the
"orange revolution" and in the prospects awaiting Ukraine if the
Kravchuk-Kuchma-Yushchenko line continues.

In all this Yuliya Timoshenko is an extremely ambitious politician, not in
the sense that she dreams of becoming "Havel in a skirt", but in the direct
opposite: she wants to be the real main political figure in Ukraine and
beyond.

Yuliya Timoshenko needs the whole of Ukraine and something extra, but
this has to be concrete, not ephemeral and no European Union will never
give her that, nor will the Americans allow her to have it.

Yuliya Timoshenko does not need the territory of the former Soviet Union
as a reservoir of oil and gas supplies and a military training ground for
petty anti-Russian maneuvers, but as a place where her international career
(holding power in her own country) could take off rapidly. In effect today
Yuliya Timoshenko is in a political vacuum.

All Ukraine's other major political figures have gained their own part from
the "orange coup d'etat", whose driving force, ideologist, mouthpiece and
face was just Yuliya Vladimirovna, and now they do not wish to see her in
any position of authority. She is too strong and clear.

Western support will be extended mainly to President Yushchenko: it
is dangerous to make "revolutions" too often in a country like Ukraine and
the result of the next such "revolution" could turn out to be
unpredictable, that is, directly the opposite of what was desired.

In a word, In order to bring her personal and political desires into effect
Yuliya Timoshenko needs the sort of solid and stable internal and foreign
support that the electorate of Eastern Ukraine and the Crimea, and also
Russia can offer. Such support does not come for free. Objective
applications for it do not guarantee you get it.

Moscow needs to get the maximum and the firmest guarantees from Yuliya
Timoshenko as from any other Ukrainian politician. These should be not
be expressed in the way that is usual for our relations with Ukrainian
politicians: they promise, we help them, then they do what they have
promised. This "then" never happens.

The guarantees this time must be serious and expressed not in words
and promises, but in campaign slogans and deeds. But in return Yuliya
Timoshenko will receive not only a virtually guaranteed victory for her
supporters in the parliamentary elections, but also the post of prime
minister with that. She will receive the prospects for becoming one of the
leading figures in what will grow on the soil of the so-called YeEP - the
Single Economic Space.

In my opinion, I am expressing myself more than definitely. Some will
probably say that all this is castles in the air, based on geopolitical
fantasies rather than political reality.

And what is this political reality then? Is Ukraine's being in the EU and
NATO the be all and end all of Ukraine's independent policy over the past
fourteen years? Ukraine as a bridge between the European Union and
Russia?

Where are all these political chimeras? Today Russia has in its hands, also
thanks to last year's defeat, a full hand of trumps for implementing not
tactical, not operative, not egotistical interests (where separate
corporations are concerned) but strategic, general national interests and
these lie in the direction of Ukraine.

We must also act as our stake requires, boldly, with initiative, decisively,
flexibly and wisely. We must orientate ourselves towards the chiefest of
the chiefs, not second-rate figures.

In this sense, who could propose a person in Ukraine better than Yuliya
Timoshenko? Give us names! So you see, you find it funny too. The choice
is practically predetermined. What is important is that the right to choose
is in our hands. Can we lose?

We can, like we have been losing in Ukraine for the whole of the past
fourteen years, simply because we have never made the choice ourselves.
==============================================================
18.      BRITISH HEAVY METAL ROCKER MARRIES DAUGHTER OF
                            UKRAINE'S FORMER PRIME MINISTER

AP Worldstream, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct 02, 2005

KIEV - A British heavy metal singer married the daughter of Ukraine's ex-
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Sunday in a ceremony that attracted
a swarm of journalists and at least 100 well-wishers eager for a glimpse
of the famous mother-in-law.

Sean Carr, 36, lead singer of the Death Valley Screamers, and Evhenya
Tymoshenko, 25, emerged from the walled Vydubitskiy Monastery to a salute
of ringing bells and Scottish bagpipes - and the flash of dozens of cameras.

The well-wishers - mainly elderly Ukrainian women - shouted "Happiness" in
Ukrainian and English. The couple posed briefly for dozens of waiting
photographers, and sipped from tall champagne flutes.

Carr smashed his glass down on the pavement, prompting applause from his
new mother-in-law, Yulia Tymoshenko, who abandoned her traditional halo
braid and wore her long blonde hair loose over her bare shoulders.

"The sort of woman like Yulia Volodymyrovna comes around only once in
100 years," said Lyudmila Zaleskaya, 61, a pediatrician, referring to the
ex-prime minister. "Our government, our whole country should be proud of
a woman like her. I'm here because of Yulia."

Ukrainian media reported that the newlyweds had been reluctant to appear
before the media, but the charismatic and media-savvy Yulia Tymoshenko
persuaded them to pose for photographs.

The newlyweds were driven away in a white, Soviet-era luxury car bedecked
with flowers, while guests - many covered in tattoos and piercings -
watched.

Evhenya Tymoshenko, a student at the London School of Economics, met
her future husband in a bar at an Egyptian resort.

Tymoshenko lost her government post when President Viktor Yushchenko
dismissed her Cabinet last month, but she has vowed to reclaim her seat
after March's parliamentary elections.  -30-
==============================================================
19.   YUSHCHENKO INSTRUCTS CABINET TO BUILD ALLEY IN KYIV
                    COMMEMORATING OUTSTANDING UKRAINIANS

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, September 24, 2005

KYIV - President Viktor Yuschenko has instructed the Cabinet of Ministers
together with the Kyiv City Administration to design and build in Kyiv a
historical and architectural memorial complex called the Alley of
Outstanding People of Ukraine. Ukrainian News learned this from
presidential decree No. 1333/2005 of September 23.

Specifically, the Cabinet is tasked to set up a steering committee to
oversee measures related to the memorial construction, and appoint
officials from central and city executive bodies and self-government
agencies, public community representatives, and scientists to the
committee.

In addition, the Cabinet is to approve a plan of measures for building the
memorial complex and its functioning within two months.

As part of these, the government must call a nationwide competition to
select the best architectural design and make a list of remarkable people
in Ukraine's history in a join effort with the public community.

When drafting the 2006 national budget, the Cabinet must provide
financing for the memorial construction and maintenance. The move is
aimed at fostering European traditions in Ukraine and instilling patriotism
and national dignity in Ukrainians.   -30-
==============================================================
20.                UKRAINE UNITED AS OLD SCORES SETTLED

By Jonathan Wilson, Financial Times
London, United Kingdom, Friday, September 16 2005

Nobody would choose Tbilisi International Airport as a venue for a party,
but after a fraught Saturday, Ukraine's football team hardly cared.

Needing a win in Georgia to seal a first World Cup qualification this month,
they were denied by Georgi Gakhokidze's last-minute free-kick. But a few
hours later, Denmark stole an injury-time equaliser against Ukraine's
closest rivals, Turkey, to guarantee Ukraine's World Cup place.

"People will call me crazy," said coach Oleg Blokhin, "but I believe we can
win the World Cup."

Well, yes, people will call him crazy, but then people called him crazy when
he took the job two years ago and proclaimed he would lead Ukraine to the
finals in Germany despite a dire European Championships qualification
campaign last year, the retirement of several players from the great Dynamo
Kiev side of the late 1990s, and being drawn in what appeared to be the
toughest of the European qualifying groups.

"Maybe one in a hundred fans believed him," says the forward Andriy Voronin.
"The rest of us thought he was bluffing."

Unsurprisingly, Ukraine's unexpected success has been linked to the optimism
that has swept the country since the Orange Revolution, and it is certainly
true that in recent months the nation has experienced an unprecedented
upsurge of patriotic feeling. Never before, for instance, would anybody have
thought of weaving blue and yellow threads into their hair as Voronin,
Andriy Husyn and Anatoliy Tymoschuk have taken to doing in recent
qualifiers.

Matters, though, are not quite that simple. When Croatia took third place
in the 1998 World Cup, they rode a wave of popular nationalism, skilfully
manipulated by their coach Miroslav Blazevic. Blokhin could hardly have
done that.

For one thing, in his playing days, he was very much a Soviet hero; for
another he is a deputy in the Ukrainian parliament, representing the Social
Democrats, who opposed the revolution, backing Viktor Yanukovych against
Viktor Yushchenko, the eventual winner of December's elections.

This has caused problems. Deputies in Ukraine are not permitted to hold any
other paid position unless they are lecturers or work in science. But it was
a law that was generally overlooked, and for seven years, the first five of
them while living in Greece, Blokhin happily worked as a coach and voted
along party lines. Then, last February, legal proceedings were launched
against him by the parliamentary regulations committee.

The action may at first seem part of a concerted attack on the Surkis
brothers, who are business oligarchs, leading members of the Social
Democrats and important figures in Ukrainian football.

The elder, Hrihoriy, as president of the Ukrainian Football Federation
(FFU), had appointed Blokhin, while younger brother Ihor remains president
of Dynamo Kiev. But it has also been suggested that the Surkises
deliberately provoked the scandal to deflect an investigation into their own
affairs.

At the same time as Blokhin's position was questioned, Dynamo's shares
were frozen, pending inquiries into the means by which the Surkises took
control of the club in the early 1990s.

Blokhin, strengthened by a victory in Albania that left Ukraine top of their
qualifying group, played his hand masterfully, insisting he did not receive
a salary from the FFU. "Why are they doing this now?" he asked. "Why have
they waited until we are so close to qualifying for the World Cup? Millions
of fans believe in us, think we will raise the prestige of the nation, and
now they say we must stop because the coach is incorrect? It's madness."

Yanukovych supporters asked why football should be the victim of a political
witch hunt; President Yushchenko's supporters pondered the point of a deputy
who never gave a speech.

After several postponements that only heightened the hysteria, Blokhin's
case was finally scheduled to be heard on March 17. But on March 16, he
announced his resignation as national coach in parliament. His hearing was
put off again and, several days later, the Kiev Appeal Court issued a
statement designating coaching as a form of lecturing. Blokhin was rapidly
reinstated and on March 29 Denmark were beaten 1-0.

It was the game that really made Ukrainians believe that this was to be
their turn. Victory, significantly, was achieved even in the absence of
their greatest talent, the forward Andriy Shevchenko.

That demonstrated an encouraging depth to their squad and it also allowed
Shevchenko publicly to make his peace with Yushchenko. The forward,
presumably at the instigation of the Surkises, had joined the Social
Democrats with the rest of his Dynamo team-mates in 1998, and had spoken
out in favour of Yanukovych during the revolution. As Ukraine won with a
single Voronin goal, though, Shevchenko and Yushchenko watched together,
making a further point by eschewing the VIP sector for the public seats.

A coach restored and opponents reconciled, football became a useful
although - given the recent sacking of the government by Yushchenko -
perhaps illusory symbol of a new, united Ukraine, something Blokhin has
been keen to exploit.

"Motivation is the main component of the game," he says. "If the players are
not battling on the pitch, any skill or tactics has no meaning. A player
must come on to the pitch with his eyes burning and devote himself totally
for the national shirt. I know footballers earn big money these days but
another thing exists: the prestige of the nation."

In Ukraine there remain different conceptions of exactly what that nation
is, but amid the champagne-soaked halls of Tbilisi International two weeks
ago, nobody was examining his words too closely.  -30-
==============================================================
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==============================================================
21.                      PUTIN AIDE SAYS IT'S TIME TO BURY LENIN

Associated Press, Moscow, Russia, Wed, September 28, 2005

MOSCOW - A senior aide to President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday
the time has come to bury the embalmed body of Soviet founder Vladimir
Lenin - a statement that could be the Kremlin's attempt to gauge public
reaction to the divisive issue.

Georgy Poltavchenko, Putin's envoy to the Central Federal District, said
Lenin's body should be removed from its granite tomb on Red Square and
buried in a cemetery along with remains of other Bolshevik dignitaries.

Poltavchenko said he was voicing his private opinion on the matter and did
not elaborate. Putin has said in the past he was against burying Lenin's
body.

"Our country has been shaken by strife, but only few were held accountable
for that in their lifetime,'' Poltavchenko said at a news conference,
according to the Interfax news agency. "I don't think it's fair that those
who initiated that strife remain in the center of our state near the
Kremlin.''

Lenin died in 1924 at the age of 53 after a series of strokes, having said
he wanted to be buried in St. Petersburg.

About 400 Bolshevik leaders and other dignitaries also were buried along
the Kremlin wall during Soviet times. Some of their relatives have strongly
opposed plans to bury the remains elsewhere.

Former President Boris Yeltsin strongly pushed for removing Lenin's body,
but he was stopped by vigorous opposition from the Communist Party and
others. Putin said in 2001 he opposed removing Lenin's body from its Red
Square tomb so as not to disturb civil peace in the country.

"Many people connect their own lives with the name of Lenin,'' Putin said
at the time. "Burying Lenin would mean ... that they had lived in vain.''

At Putin's initiative, Russia resurrected the music of the old Soviet
anthem, albeit with new words, and brought back the Soviet-era red banner
as the military's flag. Putin has shrugged off criticism from liberals,
saying the use of the symbols will help overcome deep divisions in society
by paying tribute to the achievements of the Soviet past that older people
cherish.  -30-  [The Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
==============================================================
22.                GRANDSONS DEBATE 1945 YALTA CONFERENCE
Yevgeny Dzhugashvili said he felt "honored" to be Stalin's grandson.

By Toby Sterling, Associated Press (AP)
Maastricht, Netherlands, Sunday, October 2, 2005

MAASTRICHT - The grandsons of World War II leaders Franklin Roosevelt,
Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin debated the merits of the Yalta
conference Saturday, 60 years after the critical wartime summit that drew
borders for the division of Europe and the Cold War.

The three grandsons, now elderly themselves, laughed often during their
first meeting ever. And unlike their famous forebears, even the arguments
were good-humored.

"My grandfather had the highest regard for your grandfather as a wartime
leader," British author and politician Winston S. Churchill told Yevgeny
Dzhugashvili, Stalin's grandson, a retired colonel and military historian.

Dzhugashvili said he felt "honored" to be Stalin's grandson, despite
Stalin's reputation in the West as a murderous despot. "They say he did
this and that. But he did everything to develop Russia," the grandson said.

Dzhugashvili said the three grandfathers were friendly during the famous
wartime summit at the Ukrainian resort from Feb. 4-11, but he said Stalin
viewed the United States and Britain as implacable enemies.

"They didn't have allies, only colonial interests," he said. "Danger united
them. As soon as the war was over, Churchill wanted to start a war against
the Soviet Union."

But Churchill's grandson said his grandfather "was concerned what would
be the fate of Europe with the Red Army on its doorstep and at its throat."

The three grandsons differed sharply about the war and what happened
at Yalta.

Some historians have criticized the meeting of the "Big Three" at Yalta
that led to Soviet domination of eastern Europe for decades.

President Bush has also criticized the Yalta results, saying on May 7 in
Riga, Latvia, that the United States played a role in Europe's painful
division after World War II - "one of the greatest wrongs of history."

The Yalta conference took place as Stalin's army was poised for the final
attack on Berlin after occupying Poland. Stalin had the largest army in
Europe, 12 million soldiers in 300 divisions. Eisenhower's 4 million men
in 85 divisions were still west of the Rhine.

"Nobody got what they wanted from Yalta except the Russians, who were
in a position to get it," Curtis Roosevelt, an educator and former United
Nations diplomat, said during the meeting of the grandsons at the
University of Maastricht in the Netherlands.

Roosevelt's grandson said the decisions made at Yalta were mostly about
accepting reality after the United States' late entry into the war. Russia
entered the war in June 1941 after Nazi Germany invaded; the United
States began the fight in Europe after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on
Dec. 7, 1941.

"FDR had failed in his effort to get America behind the war effort until
Pearl Harbor, although he was convinced Hitler had to be confronted. What
he thought was: 'If Britain goes down, we're next,'" the Roosevelt grandson
said.

Churchill's grandson agreed that Russia got the most out of Yalta.
"Possession is nine-tenths of the law. Marshal Stalin possessed half of
Europe by the time of the meeting, and there was nothing (Churchill and
Roosevelt) could do about that."

Dzhugashvili said the divisions made at Yalta were fair because of the
sacrifices by the Soviet Union in defeating Germany. Russia's wartime
losses were in the millions. He added that not all the conference's
decisions were military.

"There were some very good things in Yalta. The United Nations was
created at Yalta," he said. -30- [Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
==============================================================
23.       USA: FORDHAM UNIVERSITY GRAD JOINS PEACE CORPS
                               SEEKING LIFE'S LESSONS IN UKRAINE

By John A. Gavin, Staff Writer, NorthJersey.com
New Jersey, Friday, September 30, 2005

RIDGEFIELD PARK - As a student at Fordham University in the Bronx,
Joseph Maggio often did volunteer work helping those who are less
fortunate.

He would leave his dorm after classes and head for POTS (Part of the
Solution), a storefront soup kitchen in a hardscrabble neighborhood a
few blocks away that feeds the poor and homeless.

After working in a food pantry, tutoring disadvantaged youngsters and
assisting elderly residents in a Jesuit convalescent home, it's not
surprising that the village resident is heading for a humanitarian mission
a world away.

After graduating from college last May, Maggio has joined the Peace
Corps. He leaves today for a two-year project in Ukraine.

For as long as he can remember, Maggio, 22, who majored in sociology,
has had a passion to help the underprivileged, but had trouble explaining
it to others because he has never experienced poverty.

Living in a developing country and learning how to survive with the bare
necessities will give him |a different perspective on life, he said.

"I've always been interested in poverty issues," said Maggio, a 2001
graduate of Ridgefield Park Junior-Senior High School. "When I would talk
to people about it, [my message] was kind of hollow. ... I thought [joining
the Peace Corps] might be a springboard to learning more about the
poverty."

In Ukraine, a former Soviet republic that received independence in 1991,
Maggio will have the opportunity to experience what it's like to struggle
financially.

He will live with a host family. Most households in Ukraine live in large
apartment buildings built during the Soviet era, dwellings that lack basic
plumbing and toilet conveniences of American homes.

"Sometimes [apartment dwellers] have to schedule a time to receive running
water or heat," said Melissa Garba, a recruiter in the Peace Corps office in
New York, a former volunteer in the country. "Although there's running
water, there are outhouses. Everyone has an outhouse."

Maggio, who's interested in a career in public service and wants to earn a
master's degree in public administration, will teach English, helping
Ukrainian students and teachers better grasp the language.

Although he comes from a middle-class home, growing up with his parents,
Rocco and Clare, and an older sister, he said he has developed respect for
those who overcame poverty and language barriers.

He said that understanding the struggles of his grandfather, who emigrated
from Italy in the 1920s, helped him gain a greater appreciation for people
of different backgrounds.

"I took real pride in trying to understand people that were different than
me," he said. "A lot of people, who are different, don't try to understand
other people."   -30-  [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: gavin@northjersey.com; http://www.northjersey.com
==============================================================
24.       ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER HEADS TO UKRAINE TO TEACH
                ABOUT HOW LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORKS IN THE USA
                   Program of U.S.-Ukraine Foundation funded by USAID

By Michael LaFleur, Sun Staff, LowellSun.com
Lowell, Massachusetts, Saturday, Oct 1, 2005

LOWELL - Assistant City Manager T.J. McCarthy is heading to the Ukraine
to teach a weeklong class on how local government operates in the United
States to municipal officials from the former Soviet-bloc nation.

McCarthy, who is making the trip on his own time, was scheduled to leave
today. He is returning next Saturday.  He said he will be teaching the class
in a regional training facility located in the city of Cherkasy, which is
about two hours east of the Kiev, that nation's capital.

This will be McCarthy's third trip to the Ukraine, all sponsored by the
U.S.-Ukraine Foundation, an effort funded by the U.S. Agency for
International Development. The first came in 2002 when he worked to
establish a sister city relationship with the Ukrainian city of Berdyansk.
He went again in 2003 to further that relationship.

McCarthy said he will be teaching four days of classes this time around.
Each day a officials from a half-dozen different communities will be coming
in for instruction.

"We are privileged to live in a Democracy where we have freedom of choice
and local government is the bedrock of that," McCarthy said. "Ten years ago,
Ukraine was a communist country, and that transition from communism to
Democracy, it's not easy. Anything to be able to help foundations of
Democracy and help people live a better life is one of the reasons why I
participate."

A delegation of Ukrainian officials visited Lowell and Middlesex
Community College earlier this year under a U.S.-Ukraine Foundation
exchange.

MCC administrators and instructors have been exchanging information and
visits with officials from Berdyansk and its Asov Regional Management
Institute for three years. -30- [http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_3078182]
==============================================================
25.      THE UKRAINIAN-BRITISH CITY CLUB (UBCC) INAUGURATIONAL
                  LAUNCH RECEPTION, LONDON, NOVEMBER 24, 2005

Ukrainian-British City Club (UBCC)
London, United Kingdom, Monday, October 3, 2005

LONDON - The Launch Reception and Dinner with the Guest of Honour
of the Ukrainian-British City Club (UBCC) will be held 24 November 2005,
in London, UK with Registration at 17:00, Reception at 17:30 and Dinner
at 19:00.

The cocktail reception will take place at the Jubilee Room, House of
Commons, Westminster, London SW1. The speakers at the launch
presentations will include the Ambassador of Ukraine in Great Britain,
John Grogan MP and the Guest of Honour who will be a top-ranking official
from the new Ukrainian government. The reception is free but admission is
by invitation only.

Please note that due to the limited capacity of the venue, the invitations
will only be guaranteed to Patrons and Sponsors of the UBCC. The
remaining invitations will be allocated to Members of the UBCC and then
to non-members on first come first served basis.

The dinner with the Guest of Honour will take place at 19:00 at a private
dining room at the House of Commons. Please note that only Patrons are
entitled to attend the dinner.

Please write to info@ubcc.co.uk or by post to the Ukrainian-British City
Club at Millennium Bridge House, 2 Lambeth Hill, London EC4V 4AJ, if
you would like to attend the launch event.
                                            ABOUT THE UBCC
The Ukrainian-British City Club is a non-profit organisation set out in the
United Kingdom for promotion of trade and business between Ukraine and
the United Kingdom.

The initiative to create such an entity belongs to a group of Ukrainian
professionals in the fields of investment banking, law, accounting,
marketing and the information technology who are settled in the United
Kingdom.

The initiative has support of the Ukrainian Embassy in London and John
Grogan, Member of Parliament with long-standing interest in Ukraine.

For the details of membership, sponsorship and patronship ! benefits, and
how to become a member of the UBCC, please see our website on
www.ubcc.co.uk. If you wish to become a sponsor or a patron of the UBCC,
please contact Taras Chaban on +44 207 584 0806, email
taras.chaban@ubcc.co.uk, or Irina Tymczyszyn on +44 207 429 6168, email
irina.tymczyszyn@ubcc.co.uk.  -30-  [Action Ukraine Report Monitoring]
==============================================================
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