"UKRAINE REPORT-2004"
In-Depth Ukrainian News and Analysis
"The Art of Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business, Religion,
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World"
"No friend of Ukraine wants to see this country, the history of which is so
marred with tragedy, suffer yet another. The people cannot be denied their
right to directly elect their president. If this move goes forward, I fear
for what might happen." [article one]
"UKRAINE REPORT-2004," Number 8
U.S.-UKRAINE FOUNDATION (USUF)
www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS)
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Kyiv, Ukraine and Washington, D.C., FRIDAY, January 16, 2004
INDEX OF TEN ARTICLES
1. "THE YEAR OF YUSHCHENKO"
COMMENTARY by Prof. James E. Mace
Published by "UKRAINE REPORT-2004," Number 8
www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS)
Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, January 16, 2004
2. UKRAINE'S PRIME MINISTER UPS THE STAKES IN DEBATE
ABOUT CONSTITUTION, ORDERS MINISTERS TO ENSURE CHANGE
Gateway2Russia.com, 14 January 2004 16:03
3. UKRAINIAN MAJORITY SAYS THEY HAVE CONTROL OF THE
300 VOTES NEEDED TO CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION
Inter TV, Kiev, in Russian, 15 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 15, 2004
4. UKRAINIAN COMMUNISTS OPPOSE ELECTION OF PRESIDENT
BY PARLIAMENT IN 2004 AND OPPOSE KUCHMA THIRD TERM
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian,15 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 15, 2004
5. YUSHCHENKO ALLEGES THE PLAN IS TO MAKE KUCHMA
A TRANSITIONAL PRESIDENT FOR TWO MORE YEARS
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 15 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service,UK, in English, Jan 15, 2004
6. UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT SESSION CLOSED UNTIL FEB 3
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 15 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 15, 2004
7. UKRAINE HAS RATIFIED AGREEMENT THAT ODESSA-BRODY
PIPELINE BE EXTENDED TO PLOCK, POLAND
Polish News Bulletin; Warsaw, Poland, Jan 15, 2004
8. OLENA FRANCHUK STARTS A PUBLIC CAREER?
[President Kuchma's Daughter and Wife of Oligarch Viktor Pinchuk]
By Leonid Amchuk, Ukrayinska Pravda, Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec.1, 2003
9. DIVISIONS WITHIN SOCIAL DEMOCRATS IN UKRAINE
CONTINUE TO CAUSE CONFLICT.
By Taras Kuzio, RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Vol. 6, No. 1,
Prague, Czech Republic, 13 January 2004
10. "FRIENDS OF UKRAINE" AD TAKES AIM AT MEDVEDCHUK
New York Times and International Herald Tribune Full-page Ad
By Roman Olearchyk, Kyiv Post Staff Writer
The Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan 8, 2004
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 8: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
=========================================================
1. "THE YEAR OF YUSHCHENKO"
COMMENTARY by James E. Mace
Professor, historian, journalist living in Kyiv, Ukraine
Published by "UKRAINE REPORT-2004," Number 8
www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS)
Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, January 16, 2004
The public opinion polls are unanimous that if presidential elections
were held today, Viktor Yushchenko would win over any conceivable opponent.
The official information boycott of anything good he does only augments his
popularity in a country that is so used to being lied to and so conscious of
its being lied to. In an orgy of vote buying difficult for a citizen of the
civilized world to imagine, Verkhovna Rada is passing a Constitutional
amendment to give Verkhovna Rada the power to elect the president and
basically keep power where it is, in the hands of the highest bidder.
So blatant is the bribery and this rigged attempt to take from the
people the right to choose their national leader, that the reservoir of
public resentment that everyday Ukrainians, long known for their passivity,
has brought them to the point that they have had enough. Anyone who has ever
studied the Ukrainian Revolution, which in some ways makes the Mexican
Revolution look tame and orderly, knows that Ukrainians are slow to anger,
but when they do, some very, very, very nasty things could happen.
Viktor Yushchenko has such a reservoir of public sympathy, if only for
having been treated so unfairly by a regime already so detested, that one
way or another, the outcome of 2004 will depend on what he will do. The
question is whether he will become Ukraine's Washington or Mexico's
ill-fated President Caranza. And, of course, they could simply decide to
have him killed, but with the firestorm that has already happened with the
decapitation of Gongadze, that would simply light the fuse to the powder
keg.
In 1994 in the journal "Political Thought" (No. 4), this writer put forward
the idea that Ukraine had already become a kleptocracy (for the uninitiated,
rule of the thieves who psychologically just cannot help themselves from
stealing), that this system was not viable, and that Ukraine had but two
options - the Polish (moving toward Europe) or the Belarus (moving toward
Russia). The buyers of the Constitution and those who sold their votes have
now opted for the latter without Batsko (Papa) Lukashenka.
Of course, Western states have always been willing to work with
authoritarian and corrupt regimes ("He may be a bastard, but he's our
bastard," as Roosevelt said of the elder Somoza), but they will never ever
be allowed into the club of Euro-Atlantic integration. Ukraine is a rich
country with a dysfunctional system of political and economic relations that
keeps its people poor.
When something as blatantly corrupt as these Constitutional changes - about
which the media has been relatively quiet except showing "the opposition's
obstructionist tactics" - it is only a pity that they have never read Henry
David Thoreau, who argued that when the government is wrong, conscience
dictates defying it, but that this must be done in a civilized nonviolent
way. They have not read Thoreau's disciple, a Mr. Ghandi from India, who was
once able to secure the independence of his nation by precisely such means.
If the Ukrainian people are pushed too far without responsible and
enlightened leadership, very ugly things could well happen. Recall the
pogroms of 1919. This time it is likely to be a different target, but
everybody knows where most of the people's deputies live, in a valley just
off Lesia Ukrayinka Square, and no hired defenders can defend against the
rage of the people itself.
I cannot say that Viktor Yushchenko is above reproach as a political
mastermind. He has a tendency to do things off the cuff without thinking
them through and then not following through to see that they are actually
done (although he did a wonderful thing with the "Candle in the Window"
campaign that the media downplayed outrageously). He also has a reputation
for inflexibility and not being aware that compromise is sometimes the soul
of governance. There are a number of people whom I know have either left
his campaign or are in despair because of these things.
But the people of Ukraine want him as opposed to those whose honor seems
too weak to make any compromise meaningful or durable. If he calls on those
who look to him, there is Ukraine's biggest national minority, about a
quarter of the population called here "shchyri" (literally "broad," but
perhaps
"real or authentic" would be as good as any translation in this case)
Ukrainians, who will follow. And as 1917 in Russia showed, a quarter of the
population is more than enough to make a revolution if the old rules begin
to break down.
This is something I pray does not happen. Ukraine's history is about as
bloody as one can image, and the chernozem black soil needs no further
fertilization with the bodies of those who would do better to till it.
Still, things could get out of control and nasty enough to make the former
Yugoslavia look like a walk in the park. It will demand wisdom from a figure
who has not yet demanded a surfeit of it.
To some extent the Kravchuk years (Kravchuk was and is a classical Great
Pacificator in the tradition of Henry Clay, and his current alignment with
the Social Democrats {oligarch} shows a bit more moral flexibility than I
would be comfortable with) and much more in the Kuchma years (the peak was
Lazarenko as premier but Yanukovych also has been convicted of two crimes
already and there is a prosecutor out there, who desires to charge him for
yet another), post-Soviet Ukraine evolved into a blatant kleptocracy that
every gypsy taxi driver can see and complain about to his passengers when
the conversation turns to such a topic. They are not pleased to have what
should be theirs (it IS their country after all) ladled out to a privileged
few, and should they decide to do something about it, all hell could truly
break loose.
Everything will depend on Viktor Yushchenko, long referred to as the Hamlet
of Ukrainian politics. Nobody knows what he will do, he will certainly
receive all sorts of bad advice, but he will have a chance few are offered
to right the wrongs and give people something they can live with, embrace as
their own, and be ready to defend to the death. There is an art of
compromise, with which I would do what I can to foster if asked, but there
is also a range of much worse alternatives that I fear those in power might
ineptly put into motion.
No friend of Ukraine wants to see this country, the history of which is so
marred with tragedy, suffer yet another. The people cannot be denied their
right to directly elect their president. If this move goes forward, I fear
for what might happen.
The moment demands statesmanship. Whether he acts as a statesman or a
simple politician, Viktor Yushchenko, the most popular and looked to figure
in the country, will largely determine what can and cannot be. In 2004, upon
his decisions and actions the fate of Ukraine will most depend. (END)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDITOR'S NOTE: Prof. James Mace, one of the first serious researchers of
the 1932-33 Holodomor (famine terror death), graduated from Oklahoma State
University in 1973 and earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in history at the University
of Michigan in 1981. His dissertation, "Communism and the Dilemmas of
National Liberation: National Communism in Soviet Ukraine, 1919-33," was
later published in book form (Harvard, 1983).
Dr. Mace was invited to join the famine project at the Harvard Ukrainian
Research Institute where he collected material for Robert Conquest's
"Harvest of Despair." In 1986-90, he served as executive director of the
Commission on the Ukraine Famine, an organization created by the U.S.
Congress. After 1990, he held fellowships at Columbia and Illinois
Universities.
In 1993, Prof. Mace moved to Ukraine, working as a research fellow at
the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences Institute of Ethnic and Political Studies,
then teaching politics at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy National University and
International Christian University. Since 1998, Prof. Mace has been
consultant to The Day's Weekly Digest of Ukrainian news in English.
Comments about the Mace article are welcome to morganw@patriot.net.
This article can be republished with credits to the author James E. Mace, to
"UKRAINE REPORT-2004" Number 8, and to the publisher,
www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS), Kyiv, Ukraine. The
entire article with a photograph can be seen at the following link:
http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/mace30.htm.
========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 8: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
=========================================================
2. UKRAINE'S PRIME MINISTER UPS THE STAKES IN DEBATE
ABOUT CONSTITUTION, ORDERS MINISTERS TO ENSURE CHANGE
Gateway2Russia.com, 14 January 2004 16:03
Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich upped the stakes in a fight with
the opposition on Wednesday, ordering ministers to ensure the constitution
was changed ahead of presidential polls in October.
The debate over constitutional change - initiated by President Leonid
Kuchma - has forced an unbreachable chasm between political forces in the
former Soviet republic with the opposition calling it a crude attempt by the
authorities to prolong their rule at an election due in October.
Kuchma, facing an opposition boycott in parliament, and the government say
reform of the constitution is essential for Ukraine to finally to shed its
Soviet skin, speed reform and develop a fully-fledged democracy to match
those of its neighbours which will soon enter the European Union.
Yanukovich, a man seen as a potential successor to Kuchma at the election,
called for a propaganda offensive by his recently-installed, and more loyal,
cabinet.
"Constitutional change is necessary," he told a meeting of his cabinet. "I
call on all ministers to persuade everyone from all political forces...to
actively take a position on this question and explain that the position of
the government is not something to be ignored."
Yanukovich also expressed concern that parliament had not convened since
late last year, when pro-presidential and communist deputies forced through
the constitutional reform bill in the first of the two votes needed.
The reform, if passed, would set a country-wide poll in October for a new
president with reduced powers and a reduced two-year term. Universal
suffrage would be replaced by the election of Ukraine's next president by
parliament in 2006.
The opposition says the reform was aimed at ensuring Kuchma's immunity from
prosecution even in the event of an opposition candidate winning as his or
her ability to control a pro-Kuchma parliament would be severely limited.
Kuchma, who must step down in October after serving two five-year terms, has
repeatedly said he would not run again. Yanukovich called on his ministers
to prepare for "democratic" elections and said the opposition's boycott of
parliament could jeopardize government policy.
"This year is not simple and we are already feeling this because this week
the work of the parliament has stopped," Yanukovich said. "A whole range of
laws which are necessary for the government are not being passed and there
is a threat that those plans...will be very hard to fulfill."
[http://gazeta.ru/] http://www.gateway2russia.com/st/art_191270.php
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 8: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
=========================================================
3. UKRAINIAN MAJORITY SAYS THEY HAVE CONTROL OF THE
300 VOTES NEEDED TO CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION
Inter TV, Kiev, in Russian, 15 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 15, 2004
[Presenter] We have decided to find out the parliamentary majority's view on
events in the legislature from the majority coordinator, Stepan Havrysh. He
is our guest on "Podrobnosti" [Inter news programme] today. [Passage
omitted: Havrysh's profile]
[Presenter] Good evening, Stepan Bohdanovych. [Havrysh, in Ukrainian
throughout] Greetings.
[Presenter] Today the speaker was forced to close the session. The majority
failed to find a common language with the opposition. You said: the
political reform will be conducted no matter what. So, no matter what?
[Havrysh] Regardless of the extremely radical stance of the opposition,
which is aimed at torpedoing any dialogue, we will certainly implement the
reform. I would like to state that any talk of parliament disbandment is
inappropriate. We currently have control of 300 votes in [the 450-strong]
parliament. We will work under any circumstances. And under any
circumstances will we succeed in carrying out the political reform in a
constitutional way, by personal ballot. The Ukrainian nation is currently
expecting this reform. I am absolutely convinced of this.
[Presenter] Nevertheless, parliament's work has been blocked since late last
year. What, in your view, could bring about a breakthrough?
[Havrysh] True, out of 40 plenary meetings, 10 were blocked. At 10 plenary
meetings, we could have adopted several hundred laws. Ukraine will certainly
feel this, and this is a great sacrifice on the altar of ambitions of that
part of the majority that currently fails to understand what national
interests require. I think the main thing now is to find a compromise, and
it is possible only on the basis of draft law No 4105, which is in the
Constitutional Court.
Moreover, this compromise can only be reached when we sit down at a round
table together with the president and agree that the political reform should
be carried out and that this political compromise should suit not separate
corporate groups, but the Ukrainian nation. If the opposition realizes this,
the issue will be settled, and [the constitution changes bill] will win 400
votes. What is at issue is not who will be the Ukrainian president, but what
the Ukrainian authorities will be like, and how they will serve everyone:
the small, medium and big Ukrainian.
[The Ukrainian opposition and majority have been at odds over constitution
amendments bill No 4105, which introduces a proportional election system and
the president's election by parliament. The bill has passed the first
reading in a vote by a show of hands, but the opposition has refused to
recognize the results of the vote.] (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 8: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
=========================================================
4. UKRAINIAN COMMUNISTS OPPOSE ELECTION OF PRESIDENT
BY PARLIAMENT IN 2004 AND OPPOSE KUCHMA THIRD TERM
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian,15 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 15, 2004
Kiev, 14 January: The parliamentary faction of the Communist Party of
Ukraine [CPU] is categorically against electing the president of Ukraine in
2004 by the current composition of the Supreme Council [parliament]. The
faction is also against prolonging the term of the current parliament
convocation to 2007 [it expires in 2006] and against the possibility of
incumbent president Leonid Kuchma's running for a third term in any format,
according to a statement by the CPU leader, Petro Symonenko, on the
constitution amendments process.
Symonenko stressed in the statement that this year's presidential election
has to be conducted by a universal suffrage.
Recalling that a preliminary voting on draft constitution amendments took
place on 24 December 2003, Symonenko "with all responsibility" stated that
the CPU faction would vote for the amendments only if parliament passed and
the president signed a law on the election of Ukrainian people's deputies on
a proportional basis, which has been drafted by the Communists.
Explaining the fact that the Communists' and the pro-government forces'
positions coincided in the voting on political reform, Symonenko said that
it would be "wrong" if the Communists in their struggle for changing the
system of government had not used "this situation, this real opportunity,
this historical chance as a prerequisite for further actions, for achieving
the strategic goal of the working people". [Passage omitted: rhetoric]
Symonenko explained the fact that the opposition blocked parliament work
when the Supreme Council majority and the Communists voted for Bill No 4105
the following way: "The far-right ultranationalist forces, which, with a
covert support from their Western sponsors, the USA first of all, are trying
to grab power and property" will not be happy if political reform developed
according to a positive scenario. [Passage omitted: rhetoric]
[On 24 December, parliament passed the first reading of Bill No 4105,
according to which the president should be elected by universal suffrage in
2004 and by parliament starting from 2006. The right-of-centre opposition
and the Socialists claimed that the vote was rigged. The amendments must be
supported by a two-thirds majority during the next session to be enacted.]
========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 8: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
========================================================
5. YUSHCHENKO ALLEGES THE PLAN IS TO MAKE KUCHMA
A TRANSITIONAL PRESIDENT FOR TWO MORE YEARS
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 15 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service,UK, in English, Jan 15, 2004
Kiev, 15 January: The [opposition] Our Ukraine bloc leader, Viktor
Yushchenko, has said that the parliamentary majority is going to make Leonid
Kuchma a "transitional president", Our Ukraine's press service told UNIAN.
Answering a question of what is the chance that parliament passes the
constitutional reform bill No 4180, which envisages presidential elections
by the current composition of parliament, Yushchenko said that the majority
would hardly vote in favour of it. "The aim of the majority is to make
Leonid Kuchma a transitional president, in other words, to add two more
years to his term of office. This is confirmed by the comments of the
parliamentary majority coordinator, Stepan Havrysh," Yushchenko said.
Nestor Shufrysh [MP from United Social Democratic Party] tried to persuade
the coordination council yesterday that the majority would adamantly support
the bill No 4105 (the so-called Symonenko-Medvedchuk bill, which envisages
direct presidential election in 2004 and presidential election in
parliament, elected on proportional basis, in 2006 - UNIAN), Yushchenko
added.
Shufrych said that the majority lacked 10 votes to pass the bill and
promised that it would get them from the Our Ukraine faction.
Yushchenko is confident that the "transitional president" will be in power
not two but the full five years because the Constitutional Court can any
time prolong the "transitional" period to five years. (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 8: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
=========================================================
6. UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT SESSION CLOSED UNTIL FEB 3
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 15 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 15, 2004
Kiev, 15 January: Ukrainian parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn has closed
the fourth parliamentary session ahead of schedule.
The leaders of parliamentary factions and groups held another round of talks
before the beginning of the sitting today. They discussed several agreements
aimed to unblock the work of parliament and ensure guarantees for political
reform. The speaker said that if opposition MPs did not allow him to open
the sitting and begin considering the agenda he would close the session
ahead of schedule.
After the consultations Lytvyn and his two deputies entered the session
hall. The speaker tried to open the sitting but MPs from the [opposition]
Our Ukraine faction blocked the parliamentary rostrum and did not allow
Lytvyn to announce the beginning of the sitting. As a result, the speaker
closed the session and left the chamber. The parliamentary schedule
envisages vacations [after the fourth session]. The fifth parliamentary
session is to start on 3 February. (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
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=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 8: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
=========================================================
7. UKRAINE HAS RATIFIED AGREEMENT THAT ODESSA-BRODY
PIPELINE BE EXTENDED TO PLOCK, POLAND
Polish News Bulletin; Warsaw, Poland, Jan 15, 2004
Ukraine has ratified the agreement to extend the Odessa-Brody pipeline to
Plock, announced the Deputy Prime Minister Andriej Klujew yesterday. The
official exchange of documents is to take place on Friday in Warsaw, while
the agreement will become effective 30 days later.
"The decision of the Ukrainian government is a good sign, although we expect
it to be linked with a decision on filling the pipeline with Caspian oil,"
said Cezary Filipowicz, a representative of Ukrtransnaft, an Ukrainian
company which is to operate the pipeline along with the Polish company PERN
"Przyjazn".
"We have not yet received the results of the expert report," explained the
Energy Minister, Serhiy Jermilow. For Poland it is an issue of strategic
importance whose oil will be pumped through the pipe, as the Polish
government wants to diversify its oil supplies and become less dependant on
its Russian partner. (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 8: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
=========================================================
8. OLENA FRANCHUK STARTS A PUBLIC CAREER?
[President Kuchma's Daughter and Wife of Oligarch Viktor Pinchuk]
By Leonid Amchuk, Ukrayinska Pravda Online
Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec.1, 2003
A year before the presidential elections in Ukraine, there appeared a new
public figure. Even though she herself denies that her public career has
begun, you will see yourselves there is no way out of it for her. Her name
is Olena Franchuk, she is the daughter of president Kuchma, and wife of
Viktor Pinchuk.
During the nine years of Kuchma's rule she has been remaining in the shadow.
The country knew nothing of her political influence, and very little of her
private life.
First, she was married to Ihor Franchuk, the son of the Crimean
Prime-Minister. They have a son Roman. Then, there was a divorce. Later, a
common law marriage of the president's daughter with the president of the
Interpipe Corporation Viktor Pinchuk who is the biggest Ukrainian oligarch.
They were married in 2002, and in one year they had a daughter. Besides,
Olena Franchuk is the marketing director of the Kyivstar company. This is
all.
Now, she is establishing a foundation named after herself which will fight
against the spread of AIDS. The first public event of The Olena Franchuk
Foundation is raising money for the Berizka orphanage where parentless
children with AIDS live. On December 12, there will be a charity concert by
the American performer Jessie Norman, and the violin player Volodymyr
Spivakov, an old friend and the best man at the Franchuk-Pinchuk wedding.
The campaign's success is guaranteed by the double status of Franchuk, the
president's daughter and wife of the person whose capital is estimated to be
USD 1.3-1.5 bln. (12th richest person in Eastern Europe according to the
Wprost magazine, and the 146th richest person in the Eurobusiness rating of
European capitalists).
She herself does not hide her intention to use family connections: the name
of Kuchma stimulates the acute desire to help the project. Besides, Pinchuk
himself has become the first donor of the Foundation. At the same time,
Franchuk promises not to trade lobbying in the country's most important
office for charity donations to the Foundation.
In addition, a project's promotion, is the main area of Olena Franchuk's
work. She is a professional in advertising , and the leadership of the
Kyivstar among the mobile operators is proof of that.
The real reasons for Olena Franchuk's start may be different, but at the
same time existing together with one another: the noble motifs and also the
desire for self-realization and to quit being just the "President's
daughter". Possibly, there is the influence of Kuchma's unavoidably leaving
his post. Nobody knows what will the country be like in one year, and how
peaceful will the transfer of power be. Yet, public status is the best
self-defense.
Franchuk promises to refute all assumptions that the Foundation might become
a player in political campaigns by the transparency of its operation.
And it was a complete surprise for Ukrayinska Pravda that Olena Franchuk was
ready to answer questions about her new project.
[Ukrayinska Pravda] - Why have you decided to make this step - to establish
the foundation dealing with the problems of curing AIDS? As it is known,
your previous work was related to mobile communications. Therefore, your new
project is in no way related to your previous experience...
[Olena Franchuk] - I just saw the statistics. It just happened, some
newspaper articles, meeting with people who work on this problem. I saw the
statistics of the epidemic's growth in Ukraine.
When I saw the statistics and realized that this is actually happening, I
got scared. Because nobody knows about it, nobody takes it as one's own
problem. Actually, I hadn't taken it is my own problem as well, until I saw
the figures. And it was by a pure accident that I saw them.
Then, I had the desire to help. I was scared of what might happen. If
nothing is done, by 2010 there will be 1.5 million people with AIDS. And at
that point the growth would be unstoppable, similar to what is happening in
Africa.
The European countries were at the same stage as we are now about 10 years
ago. They started all this, they had big informational campaigns,
propaganda. And they were able to stop the growth of the disease. So, we do
have a chance of doing this. Or, of failing to do this.
I realized that for certain I can put myself into this. That is because, as
you said correctly, I worked at Kyivstar, but my sphere was marketing.
Therefore, advertising and communications is what I can do. And what is
catastrophically lacking in the situation with AIDS is a public information
policy.
I realized that I can do an AIDS-focused advertising campaign. This is,
first of all, to attract the society's attention to this problem and then
give a detailed explanation of what, how, and why. Because until there is
some interest, people will not start asking the question "Why should I be
careful?"
In general, people have to understand the cost of the risk, when they act in
this or that way.
Such were the primary reasons. Then I simply started getting into this,
discovering some previously unknown things for myself. For instance, if
infected people take the medicines... For example, I found out there are
AIDS medicines. And if people with this disease take them, it reduces that
risk of infecting a healthy person. And so on. I started getting myself into
it.
My desire first was to start a big, powerful information campaign. I knew
that I had my personal resources of knowing marketing and being able to
launch a good campaign. I knew that I had my media-resource, so I knew who I
could count on. In other words, I would be able to place this advertising in
the media.
[Ukrayinska Pravda]- What resources are you mentioning here that you can
count on?
[Olena Franchuk] - I have good friendly relationships - up to the
matrimonial ones - with the stock-holders of various media assets.
First thing that will be done is the advertising campaign on television,
which will be continued in the press, and through outdoor advertising. Not
on the big billboards yet, just a small advertising campaign.
Now the primary target group is young people. Young people from 14 to 22
years old. This advertising campaign will be primarily targeting them. We
will be putting outdoor advertising in dormitories and schools of all
levels.
In December we are organizing a concert to attract the attention of the
society and of it's elite to this problem. All the revenues from the concert
will go to the Kyiv orphanage "Berizka". This is the only orphanage in Kyiv
where HIV-infected children live.
There are not many of them, since Kyiv is a relatively stable city compared
to the other cities of Ukraine. The worst situation is in Donetsk, then in
Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Mykolayiv, the Crimea.
Kyiv is far behind them, even though it is the largest city in Ukraine. Many
international organizations work here, that is why the situation here is
better. Obviously the level of the quality of life is higher, this is also
important.
But we are giving the funds to the Kyiv orphanage, one child there already
has AIDS, 8 children are HIV-infected, 30 children are from HIV-infected
parents. The signs are still very young, so it is not possible yet to give
a final diagnosis if they have the disease or not. But since the concert is
organized in Kyiv, we decided it would be more logical to give the funds to
a Kyiv orphanage.
[Ukrayinska Pravda]- As I have understood, it will be a foundation that
would redistribute funds for such purposes: orphanages, and AIDS fighting
campaigns?
[Olena Franchuk] - Yes. Look, the Foundation is my personal. I am the
founder. My husband Viktor is the co-founder. I will redistribute the funds
personally. So far, the funds that the foundation has are not ones that were
raised. The foundation was established with Viktor's support, and so far it
all has been private funds.
The funds from the concert will be the first funds raised. By the way, we
already started receiving them.
They will be given to this orphanage. But we won't be transferring them the
money. To avoid misunderstandings, we will be giving them whatever they
order, some specific things. They told us that currently they don't need any
medicines - the government is supplying them. The need other things, and so
we will be supplying them according to the list.
[Ukrayinska Pravda] - Do you have the feeling that many people will be
making donations out of consideration that you are the President's daughter?
[Olena Franchuk] - There is such a feeling. That is why I am doing this. I
understand that this is an additional resource. Yes, they will be making
donations because I am the President's daughter. But is that bad? I think it
is good to use your social status for noble purposes.
[Ukrayinska Pravda] - Is there the fear that many of them would expect
something from the President in return?
[Olena Franchuk] - You know I am not going to... Charity is a voluntary
thing. If you want to help children and feel that you have the ability, you
can do that, and I will give you such an opportunity. But I will not be
solving one's problems.
[Ukrayinska Pravda]- The first reaction to the news that you are starting
this project was that perhaps you are doing this having in mind some public,
or maybe even political career........
[Olena Franchuk] - Who said so?
[Ukrayinska Pravda] - Well, people thought about it.
[Olena Franchuk] And I will also become the single candidate from the
current government in the presidential elections? (Laughing) No, to be
honest, I am not going to be a public figure at all, not to mention a
political one.
Everything is fine in my family, thank God. I am endlessly grateful to God
for everything that I have got: the wonderful children, husband. I
appreciate my family a lot. My youngest daughter is 5 months old. That is
why I want to and I will spend the maximum possible time with them. So,
becoming a public figure is not on my plans for the nearest future.
You know, I don't even feel very comfortable, when at the presentations,
some people come up to get acquainted with me and invite me to some
AIDS-related events, such as conferences, or round tables. I apologize and
refuse. I explain that I have two children and both are sick. Such a
coincidence. On one hand, I do not want to insult anybody and have people
think that I am just ignoring their event. On the other hand, I am willing
to make a contribution to fighting AIDS, but not at the expense of my
family.
[Ukrayinska Pravda] - Have you consulted about this with your father, the
President?
[Olena Franchuk] - I made an independent decision that I will be doing this.
I just informed mom and dad about this, at the moment I began working on it.
Of course, I knew there should not be any negative response. In general, I
am trying not to do anything that would be wrong or bad.
[Ukrayinska Pravda] - What did they say to you in response?
[Olena Franchuk] - What did they say... Mom said, "Good girl, you will be
doing a nice thing" So did dad.
[Ukrayinska Pravda] - In the press release, distributed on your behalf, it
says that your husband Viktor Pinchuk is helping and supporting this
project. In what does it show?
[Olena Franchuk] - It shows in money.
[Ukrayinska Pravda] - If it is not a secret, what was the first donation?
[Olena Franchuk] - No, not a secret. We already put into it over 200
thousand hryvnias at the beginning stage, during a month and a half. We will
continue doing that until the end of the year. For the next year, we are
planning the budget of... approximately one million hryvnias. But the
project is just starting, so at the moment it is difficult to give an
appropriate estimate of its scale. But the approximate numbers are as such.
At the end of the year, I will probably publish a report, how much we put
into it, how much we raised, how did we spent.
[Ukrayinska Pravda] - You, see, already starting public work.
[Olena Franchuk] - This is not public work, this is transparent work. The
first and utmost thing that I want to avoid is rumors around the Foundation.
The Foundation and funds are very subtle matters, and I value my reputation
and name a lot. So, I just do not want people to say something. I want to
work in an open and transparent manner.
This is not a public activity this is just some information for reference.
If there are questions, "What did she do with the money?" Here is the
document. "Where you were from Thursday till Friday? - Here is the
document, " as Zhvanetsky [a popular satirists] says.
[Ukrayinska Pravda] - Are you quitting work at the Kyivstar because of this
project?
[Olena Franchuk] - At the moment I am on a maternity leave at Kyivstar.
And actually, I have the right to be on a leave for three years. I am in
touch
with them on the phone. I am not actually sitting at the office, but I
communicate with my top-managers on the phone.
I haven't thought about quitting Kyivstar yet. I mean, maybe, I do not
discard this possibility, because it is true that the Foundation is taking
up a lot of time. I realized that when I started this project. We will see.
[Ukrayinska Pravda] - You mentioned that you established the Foundation
together with your husband, Does this mean that you were putting in your
money, and is it true that you own some shares in Kyivstar?
[Olena Franchuk] - No, we were putting in the money that my husband earns
as a legal businessman.
I do not own any shares in Kyivstar, and there is no Kyivstar money here.
And the Kyivstar is not yet participating in this project in any way. I am
not sure it would be right to involve the company in this project in any
way. I am even afraid of being accused of some abuse.
[Ukrayinska Pravda] - You will see yourself, after this interview, the
Kyivstar will come and make you an offer themselves.
[Olena Franchuk] - Not a fact. A large number of shares of Kyivstar are
owned by the Norwegian company, and so the top-manager is a Norwegian.
So, it is not a fact. (END) (ARTUIS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDITOR'S NOTE: The article, "Olena Franchuk Starts a Public Career?" was
translated from Ukrainian into English for the "UKRAINE REPORT-2004" by
the www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS) in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The article in English can be republished but only with proper credits to
Ukrayinska Pravda, "UKRAINE REPORT-2004, Number 8" and the
www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS).
Link to the article in Ukrainian: http://pravda.com.ua/archive/?3121-2-new
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 8: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
=========================================================
9. DIVISIONS WITHIN SOCIAL DEMOCRATS IN UKRAINE
CONTINUE TO CAUSE CONFLICT.
By Taras Kuzio, RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Vol. 6, No. 1,
Prague, Czech Republic, 13 January 2004
The conflict that has been developing between Viktor Yushchenko's Our
Ukraine and Viktor Medvedchuk's Social Democratic Party-united
(SDPU-o) continues to snowball (see "RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and
Ukraine Report," 11 November 2003). It is difficult to see how the
SDPU-o could remain a political force in Ukraine if Yushchenko wins
the October presidential elections. The anger and frustration of
national democrats after a Yushchenko victory are likely to be
focused on Medvedchuk and the SDPU-o, rather than other oligarchic
clans.
Ironically, the wholesale deterioration of relations between
Our Ukraine and SDPU-o is not in the latter's interests. The
former president and head of the SDPU-o parliamentary faction, Leonid
Kravchuk, has always stood out as an example of moderation, recently
cautioning President Leonid Kuchma that he will only inherit a
positive historical legacy if a peaceful transfer of power takes
place (such as Kravchuk himself organized in July 1994). In an
interview published in the 10 January "Den," Kravchuk also criticizes
the manner in which the Constitutional Court's decision to allow
Kuchma to run for a third term is being used. In the same interview,
Kravchuk warns that if Kuchma runs again this will lead to
Ukraine's international isolation in the West. This would leave
Ukraine with only one path, to Russia, which Kravchuk would see as
the undoing of his work in facilitating Ukraine's drive to
independence in 1991-92.
Kravchuk's views are echoed by those of Defense Minister
Yevhen Marchuk, who has remained close to the SDPU-o and whose "Den"
newspaper is reportedly still financed by the party. "Den" has always
stood out as a patriotic, pro-Western publication that espouses
moderation compared to other rabidly anti-American SDPU-o newspapers,
such as "2000" and "Kievskie vedomosti." Kravchuk and Marchuk have
long been advocates of Ukraine's membership in NATO. Therefore,
this wing of the SDPU-o is in fundamental conflict with the
pro-Russian wing led by Medvedchuk, who said at last year's
SDPU-o congress that his party should become the leading advocate of
Russian interests in Ukraine.
The conflict of interests within the SDPU-o between its
pro-Western and pro-Russian wings is best seen in terms of
Ukraine's non-European domestic policies, which clash with its
declared goals of EU and NATO membership. In the case of the EU,
which is offering no membership prospects for Ukraine, there is no
"carrot" for Ukraine's leaders to follow.
In the case of NATO this is different, as Ukraine could be
invited to join later in the decade. The November 2002 NATO-Ukraine
Action Plan includes an entire section devoted to nonmilitary issues.
Yet, these are being systematically infringed by the pro-Russian wing
of Ukrainian politics, both by Viktor Medvedchuk, in his position as
head of the presidential administration, and his brother, Serhiy
Medvedchuk, as head of the Lviv Oblast State Tax Administration (now
appointed deputy head of the State Tax Administration). The Marchuk
wing, on the other hand, is serious about its intentions to fulfill
the military sections of the Action Plan. One wonders then how
Marchuk must feel knowing that Medvedchuk is undermining his work.
This is likely to lead to a postponement on upgrading Ukraine's
Action Plan to a Membership Action Plan at NATO's summit later
this year.
An example of the growing conflict between Our Ukraine and
the SDPU-o can be seen in recent developments in the Transcarpathian
town of Mukachevo. Speaking at this month's "Europe on the Path
to a New Era" conference in Berlin attended by high-ranking EU
officials and West European leaders, parliamentary Committee for
European Integration head Borys Tarasyuk described the Mukachevo
events as a "cynical rape of democracy and parliamentarism in
Ukraine."
In the 20 June 2003 mayoral elections, Our Ukraine candidate
Vasyl Petyovka won and defeated his nearest rival, SDPU-o member
Ernest Nuser, in a bitterly fought campaign. The SDPU-o had
considered Transcarpathia as one of "their" oblasts since the
mid-1990s and this loss was therefore seen as a slap in the face.
The SDPU-o turned to the courts, claiming that the outcome of
the vote had been rigged. A district court in Lviv agreed with the
SDPU-o complaint. Mukachevo's election commission ignored the
court decision and voted to confirm the election of Petyovka as
mayor, refusing to order fresh elections. The Mukachevo election
controversy was later reviewed by the Supreme Court, which confirmed
that Petyovka was elected in a legitimate way.
However, on 25 December a presidential decree described the
June election as illegitimate and installed as temporary mayor SDPU-o
member Myroslav Opachka. The following day the city council
reconfirmed Petyovka as its head. Berkut riot police and Sokil
special-task units were then flown in to prevent the council loyal to
Petyovka from entering the building. Last week, Mukachevo's
election commission voted to hold repeat mayoral elections on 18
April.
Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsman Nina Karpachova has sent an
urgent inquiry to the Constitutional Court about the legality of the
presidential decree. The Supreme Court is also investigating the
issue. Meanwhile, Our Ukraine has held daily demonstrations outside
Mukachevo City Hall and is planning to hold a parliamentary hearing
on the subject. An attempt to hold a demonstration in support of the
presidential decree failed to take place.
Our Ukraine believes the decree is illegal as the
constitution does not grant the president the right to appoint
temporary mayors. Our Ukraine also believe that the disbanding of the
election commission and the refusal to allow elected officials and
parliamentary deputies into the building violated Ukraine's
constitution and law on local self-government as well as the European
Charter on Local Government.
Medvedchuk's "managed democracy" is akin to that
practiced in Russia and Azerbaijan, which continue to remain
pro-Western. However, there is no room for a "managed democracy"
inside NATO or the EU. (END) (ARTUIS)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Taras Kuzio, resident fellow, Center for Russian and East European
Studies, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 8: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
=========================================================
10. "FRIENDS OF UKRAINE" AD TAKES AIM AT MEDVEDCHUK
New York Times and International Herald Tribune Full-page Ad
By Roman Olearchyk, Kyiv Post Staff Writer
The Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan 8, 2004
"They said they would take me to a forest and bury me alive," read the first
sentence in a full-page advertisement appearing in the New York Times on
Dec. 19. The ad, which also appeared in the International Herald Tribune on
Dec. 29, targets the head of Ukraine's Presidential Administration, Viktor
Medvedchuk.
Officials at the New York Times said that the ad cost its sponsor about
$125,000, but more startling than the price tag are the accusations the ad
lays out against one of Ukraine's top political leaders. The ad describes
Medvedchuk as a threat to Ukraine's democracy and a criminal whose
behavior resembles that of the leader of a rogue state.
The lobbying firm that organized the ad is not hiding the fact that their
clients intended to smear Medvedchuk in the eyes of U.S. powerbrokers.
Less clear, however, is who paid for the advertisement.
The ads appear to center on a business dispute between Ukrainian-born
Konstantin Grigorishin and his former partners, Medvedchuk and parliament
deputy Hryhory Surkis.
The ad quotes Grigorishin as saying that Medvedchuk and Surkis threatened to
take him into the forest and bury him alive. Grigorishin is a Russian
national who owns shares in about a dozen of Ukraine's power distribution
companies.
Insiders, including Grigorishin, maintain that Medvedchuk and Surkis,
despite denials, jointly control interests in Ukraine's power market.
"For nine months, Grigorishin said he endured repeated threats from
Medvedchuk and his close business associate Surkis. Konstantin remembered
them saying: 'We will not allow you to do business in Ukraine. We will take
everything and you will be imprisoned.' When Medvedchuk's demands were
refused, [Grigorishin's life was threatened]. In October 2002, Konstantin
was arrested and thrown in jail. Six months later he had nothing but
memories left of most of his business," the ad reads.
Grigorishin was arrested in 2002 for illegal possession of a firearm and
cocaine. At the time, he claimed the arrest was a setup and accused law
enforcement officials of planting the firearm and drugs on him as part of a
ploy orchestrated by Medvedchuk and Surkis. The arrest followed a series of
controversial management changes in companies jointly owned by firms close
to both business groups. Management loyal to Grigorishin was replaced with
management that allegedly reported to Medvedchuk and Surkis.
Grigorishin has maintained that the change of management occurred illegally,
citing numerous violations, including breaches in shareholder meeting
procedures.
The ad, however, has a more political nature.
"Medvedchuk, who denies the charges, is now seeking to be Ukraine's next
president. While things [in Ukraine] are not perfect, life is improving.
Scars are healing. Much is being accomplished. There is hope for a better
tomorrow. But all will be lost if Medvedchuk becomes president. The
harrowing tale above is but one reason Ukrainians must join together to
defeat Medvedchuk and his business cronies," the ad reads.
The ad alleges that Medvedchuk has a criminal past, citing a book written by
a political opponent that alleges Medvedchuk brutally pistol-whipped another
man decades ago while in law school. It alleges that Medvedchuk had ties to
the KGB, and suggested that his father might have collaborated with the
Nazis. All of the allegations were attributed to published reports.
Serhy Vasylyev, the Presidential Administration's communications director,
called the ads a "provocation" designed to stall ongoing political reforms
in Ukraine and damage Medvedchuk's image in the eyes of U.S. policymakers.
Vasylyev said that Medvedchuk and the Presidential Administration might
investigate the ads and file a lawsuit against its sponsor. He said that he
did not know who was funding the campaign.
INVISIBLE FOE
It is not clear whether Grigorishin paid for the advertisements. He did not
respond to inquiries.
An obscure non-profit organization, Friends of Ukraine, placed the ads, but
the group's source of funds is unclear.
Documents obtained by the Post from the U.S. Senate Office of Public Records
show that FOU has been a client of Barbour, Griffith & Rogers, a Washington
D.C. lobbying firm, since October 2002. The lobbying firm was co-founded by
Haley Barbour, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Insiders said that FOU was founded in September 2002 to defend Grigorishin's
interests, but that the organization has since found different funding.
Robert Greg Stevens, an employee of the lobbying firm and a representative
of FOU, told the Post on Jan. 5 that the ads were "absolutely" intended to
raise awareness in influential Washington circles, up to the level of
President George W. Bush, about the "dangers" that Medvedchuk poses. Stevens
said two groups in Ukraine and one group in the U.S. funded the ads. He
would not identify them, but promised that more ads and "investigations"
directed at Medvedchuk would follow.
"We are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to investigate his
business practices, firms, accounts, criminal activities and influence [on
Ukrainian policy-making]. These ads are only the beginning of a series of
activities to show the danger he poses to democracy in Ukraine. There is a
struggle today for the heart of President Leonid Kuchma. It is a struggle
between the criminal elements of Medvedchuk and pro-reform movements.
Friends of Ukraine was founded to resist the Medvedchuk faction," Stevens
said.
Stevens did not discuss Medvedchuk's alleged criminal activities in detail.
He also denied that Grigorishin had paid for the ads.
MEDVEDCHUK FOES
Grigorishin is not Medvedchuk's sole adversary.
If Grigorishin did pay for the ad, he would have likely needed approval from
Viktor Pinchuk, Kuchma's son-in-law. Grigorishin is believed to have merged
business interests with Pinchuk as a protective measure shortly after being
arrested in 2002. And last month, Anatoly Chubais, CEO of Russia's
state-owned United Energy Systems, announced his company's intention to
create a Ukrainian power holding in partnership with Grigorishin and
Pinchuk.
Such a business appears to conflict with the group headed, as Grigorishin
has alleged, by Medvedchuk, Surkis and Russian Duma deputy Alexander
Babakov. Babakov is a member of Russia's Rodina political party, which has
been leading the charge in the Duma to have Chubais removed as head of
Russia's UES. Media reports allege that Babakov owns controlling stakes in
at least four Ukrainian power distributors, and that he is aligned with
Medvedchuk and Surkis.
Pinchuk, a parliament deputy, and Medvedchuk are among Ukraine's most
influential and wealthiest individuals. Both are part of the
pro-presidential parliamentary majority, but insiders say distrust between
them has been on the rise for at least the past year. There is similar
mistrust brewing between Medvedchuk and Donetsk-based political forces,
leaving Kuchma sandwiched between them, insiders say.
Other political forces Ukraine could be motivated to fund the ads.
Medvedchuk and Surkis are leaders of the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine
(united), which is despised by oppositionist Ukrainian political groups
including Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc and
the Socialist Party. (END) (ARTUIS)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kyiv Post Link: http://www.kyivpost.com/nation/politics/20569/
EDITOR'S NOTE: To read the entire text of the advertisement that
appeared in The New York Times on December 19, 2003 please click
on the following link: http://www.artukraine.com/events/friends_ukraine.htm
=======================================================
"UKRAINE REPORT-2004," No. 8, FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2004
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