"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"

"The day of 22 January 1919 saw the realization of the centuries-long
desire of Ukrainians to live as one family on their land, in their sovereign
state, when a people divided by borders unified into a single Ukrainian
state, the statement said." [article three]

"If capitalism emerges, it will be oligarchic. If democracy sets in,
it will be steered - people will have the right to vote, but someone
else will decide who gets elected." [article ten]

"UKRAINE REPORT-2004," Number 12
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 23, 2004

INDEX OF ARTICLES

1. UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER YANUKOVYCH ORDERS
SOVIET STYLE PRICE CONTROLS IMPLEMENTED
Special State Body Will Control Price Formation in Ukraine
UT1, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 21 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 21, 2004

2. PRES. KUCHMA DEFIANT AT COUNCIL OF EUROPE CRITICISM
OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM PROPOSALS IN UKRAINE
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 21 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 21, 2004

3. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT STATES ON UNITY DAY THAT A
STRONG INDIVISIBLE UKRAINIAN STATE IS NEEDED
IN THE 21ST CENTURY
UT1, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1650 gmt 22 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 22, 2004

4. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT REPORTEDLY PROMISES ELECTION
BY POPULAR BALLOT IN MEETING WITH YUSHCHENKO
"It seems to me that Leonid Kuchma will not stand for a third term."
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 21 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 21, 2004

5. POLITICAL CRISIS IN UKRAINE IS NO OBSTACLE FOR PUTIN
Tamara Guzenkova, Doctor of History, leading researcher at the
Russian Institute of Strategic Research, RIA Novosti, Moscow, Jan 21, 2004

6. RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY CONCERNED ABOUT THE
FALLING NUMBER OF RUSSIAN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS IN UKRAINE
RIA news agency, Moscow, in Russian, 21 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 21, 2004

7. U.S. AMBASSADOR HERBST LOOKS INTO UKRAINE'S
COOPERATION WITH THE GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT
AIDS AND MALARIA IN UKRAINE
Eastern Economist Daily (EED), Kyiv, Ukraine, January 21, 2004

8. US EMBASSY STUDIES CONFLICT BETWEEN UKRAINIAN
JOURNALIST FROM LVIV AND CHIEF PROSECUTOR
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 21 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 21, 2004

9. U.S. OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION (OPIC)
ONCE AGAIN OPEN FOR BUSINES IN UKRAINE
OPIC Open for Ukraine After Being Closed to Ukraine for Several Years
Michael Considine, BISNIS, U.S. Department of Commerce
Washington, D.C., January 16, 2004

10. DOOMSDAY PREDICTIONS DOMINATE CONFERENCE ON
UKRAINE HELD BY BRITISH EMBASSY IN WARSAW
"If capitalism emerges, it will be oligarchic. If democracy sets
in, it will be steered - people will have the right to vote,
but someone else will decide who gets elected."
Gazeta Wyborcza, Warsaw, in Polish 20 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 20, 2004

11. ELEVEN YEAR OLD GIRL GIVES BIRTH IN UKRAINE
Ukraine's Youngest Ever Mother On Record
Associated Press Online, Kiev, Ukraine, Jan 22, 2004

12. PRESIDENT KUCHMA SHUFFLES CARDS FOR 2004
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL-ELECTION GAME
By Jan Maksymiuk, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Newsline
Vol. 8, No. 12, Part II, Prague, Czech Republic, January 21, 2004
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 12: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
=========================================================
1. UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER YANUKOVYCH ORDERS
SOVIET STYLE PRICE CONTROLS IMPLEMENTED
Special Body Will Control Price Formation in Ukraine

UT1, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 21 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 21, 2004

[Presenter] The government has promised to take price formation under strict
control to prevent their unjustified growth. First and foremost, public
utility rates and prices of consumer good will be controlled.

A special body will be created to do that, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor
Yanukovych said. Meanwhile, the prices of some goods for babies, in
particular nappies, are to go down soon. The Cabinet of Ministers decided to
cancel VAT on them to help young families. Yevhen Zolotukhyn has the details
on today's government sitting.

[Correspondent] A special body will control price formation in Ukraine. It
will be set up soon within the government, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor
Yanukovych told the government sitting today. The prime minister ordered
First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Azarov to prepare a report and inform the
public how the government will determine its policy on prices.

In addition, Yanukovych warned top officials in the executive about their
personal responsibility for an unjustified growth in the prices of services
and goods.

[Yanukovych] Dear colleagues, I am addressing the new economics minister, Mr
[Mykola] Derkach, too. That issue [pricing] must be under strict control. If
this is the level of responsibility of the regions, we must check the
grounds for increasing prices, if the maximum profitability level, [maximum]
trade margin and so on have been set for the goods we agreed upon. [Passage
omitted: VAT on nappies and medical photo film cancelled.]
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 12: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
=========================================================
2. PRESIDENT KUCHMA DEFIANT AT COUNCIL OF EUROPE CRITICISM
OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM PROPOSALS IN UKRAINE

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 21 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 21, 2004

Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has said Ukraine will not give in to any
"ultimatum" from the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) over
constitutional reform.

He was speaking in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on 21
January, after PACE rapporteurs had threatened to expel Ukraine from the
organization unless parliament recalls a draft law on constitutional reform
and puts it to the vote again.

"We realize that Ukraine needs the Council of Europe no less than the
Council of Europe needs us. This makes any ultimatum inappropriate," Kuchma
said.

Kuchma blamed the controversies over constitutional reform on the Ukrainian
opposition. "The entire state could see why it was not impossible to discuss
the draft constitutional reform law sensibly and adopt it through the usual
procedure. Everyone knows that the opposition's hooligan behaviour prevented
this," Kuchma said.

"Now the people from the Council of Europe have come and said: 'You need to
put it to a re-vote. Otherwise we will expel you from the Council of
Europe.' They do not want to know what happened, although the whole of
Ukraine saw and knows this," Kuchma said.

Kuchma's statement followed his meeting on the same day with Ukrainian
opposition leader and presidential frontrunner Viktor Yushchenko.

The draft law to amend the constitution passed its first reading in the
Ukrainian parliament in December, and proposes that the president should be
elected by parliament not the public in 2006, with the president due to be
elected this year serving a truncated term.

The pro-presidential majority voted the first reading through by show of
hands after the opposition had blocked the parliamentary tribune. The
opposition considers this vote to be unconstitutional.

Rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe visited
Ukraine on 18 January to study the parliamentary crisis.
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 12: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
=========================================================
3. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT STATES ON UNITY DAY THAT A
STRONG INDIVISIBLE UKRAINIAN STATE IS NEEDED
IN THE 21ST CENTURY

UT1, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1650 gmt 22 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 22, 2004

Ukraine is celebrating a national holiday - Unity Day - today. On 22 January
85 years ago, the leaders of two countries - the Ukrainian People's Republic
and the Western Ukrainian People's Republic - solemnly declared unification.
On this occasion, President Leonid Kuchma has addressed the compatriots:

The day of 22 January 1919 saw the realization of the centuries-long desire
of Ukrainians to live as one family on their land, in their sovereign state,
when a people divided by borders unified into a single Ukrainian state,
the statement said.

We have to put an end to the irresponsible attempts to spread schismatic
sentiments in society to the advantage of egoistic political interests and
stop spreading interparty and interfaction rivalries, as well as personal
enmities between politicians, to the national level. The new epoch means
new, stronger challenges. In order to face them properly, now, in the 21st
century, we need a strong indivisible Ukrainian state.

We have to overcome the historical and psychological barriers between
regions, harmonize relations between the government and the people and
achieve everything that Ukraine failed to achieve 85 years ago, the
statement said. Leonid Kuchma wished the compatriots piece, happiness and
prosperity.

On the holiday occasion, the leaders of the state laid wreaths at the
monuments to [19th century poet] Taras Shevchenko and [early 20th century
leading Ukrainian statesman] Mykhaylo Hrushevskyy in Kiev. President Leonid
Kuchma, Supreme Council [parliament] speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, Prime
Minister Viktor Yanukovych, government members and people's deputies took
part in the ceremony. [Passage omitted: history] (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 12: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
=========================================================
4. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT REPORTEDLY PROMISES ELECTION
BY POPULAR BALLOT IN MEETING WITH YUSHCHENKO
"It seems to me that Leonid Kuchma will not stand for a third term."

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 21 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 21, 2004

Kiev, 21 January: Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and [centre-right
opposition] Our Ukraine bloc leader Viktor Yushchenko discussed issues of
constitution reform on Tuesday [as received, should be Wednesday 21
January].

The presidential press service reported that the meeting was held at
Yushchenko's initiative. The main subject of the conversation, which lasted
for more than an hour, was constitutional reform in Ukraine, the Our Ukraine
bloc's press service reported, quoting Yushchenko.

"Our conversation went off in a constructive spirit," the bloc leader said.
"The next presidential election in Ukraine will be conducted in October
2004. The ballot will be direct and popular, the president said during our
talk," Yushchenko said. Now, in his words, it is necessary to formalize this
provision and stipulate it legislatively.

Answering a question on whether a third presidential term for Kuchma was
discussed during the meeting and whether the incumbent intended to stand in
the next election, Yushchenko remarked: "It seems to me that Leonid Kuchma
will not stand for a third term." (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 12: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
=========================================================
5. POLITICAL CRISIS IN UKRAINE IS NO OBSTACLE FOR PUTIN

Tamara Guzenkova, Doctor of History, leading researcher at the
Russian Institute of Strategic Research
RIA Novosti, Moscow, Russia, January 21, 2004

Russian President Vladimir Putin begins a working visit to Ukraine on
January 23.

The visit will take place against the backdrop of yet another political
crisis, as it is unclear who will come to power in Ukraine in the near
future. Nevertheless, in Kiev Putin will talk about prospects for long-term
co-operation, thereby letting it be understood that the dialogue will go
on, whatever the political situation in this country.

It goes without saying that the point at issue is contacts with
legitimately elected authorities.

It should be recalled that Ukraine's political crisis has become a chronic
one in recent years. If Russian leaders had not systematically held talks
with the Ukrainian side at various levels, co-operation between Kiev and
Moscow would have stalled.

At present, the most topical issues for both countries are those relating
to the creation of a single economic space and, in particular, discussions
about the further development of the gas consortium.

Moscow and Kiev are potential partners in issues related to laying
pipelines and organising the transit of energy resources, but they cannot
come to terms. Issues related to the joint exploitation of the pipeline
have not yet been settled, while terms to attract a third party to
participate in the consortium have not been specified.

The negotiating process may become protracted because the sides play
different roles. Russia is the main owner, producer and supplier of energy
resources, whereas Ukraine is the main transit route for them. However, the
sides will inevitably come to an agreement. In some cases, by force of
certain political calculations and ambitions, they want to find new
partners and cope without each other. But each time Russia and Ukraine
realise that economically, large-scale bilateral co-operation is more
advantageous for them. Although alternative routes for the transit of
energy resources are not ruled out.

In Kiev, an idea is widespread that it is Russia that is insistently urging
Ukraine to join the single economic environment and imposing partnership
within the framework of the gas consortium on it. The logic follows that
should a pro-western politician come to power in Kiev, all these programmes
will be curtailed or abandoned altogether. This is not true.

In Ukraine, there is considerable potential for maintaining the strategy of
co-operation with Russia. The business groups interested in this are
usually linked with the united Social-Democratic Party of Ukraine, the
Party of Regions, and the Working Ukraine Party. However, in reality, the
pro-Russian political and economic base is wider. The groups whose
business, production and economic interests are largely connected with
Russian territory and Russian partners favour dialogue with Moscow. First
of all, this concerns businessmen in eastern Ukraine, as well as those
working in the steel, chemicals, food and aerospace industries. They will
lobby their interests regardless of who is in power.

Ukraine is interested in Russia as a market even more than the other CIS
member-states. While other states propose that Russian businessmen act on
their territory as the main investors and economic agents, Ukraine would
like to conquer Russian sales markets, because western markets, considering
the current state of the Ukrainian economy, its technical equipment and
non-conformity to European standards, will remain inaccessible to it for a
long time to come.

However, it is a paradox that the Ukrainian business groups interested in
economic integration with Russia cannot provide, as a rule, a public
explanation for the need to draw closer with their eastern neighbour that
would be understandable to the masses and convincing for the elite. They
co-operate silently, so to speak. The interests of "pro-Russian" business
groups are expressed mainly by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma. This
produces the false impression that he alone advocates large-scale
co-operation with Russia and only in cases where he comes up against
certain political difficulties in his struggle with the opposition.

At the same time, the political groups orientated to integration with the
West quite often make bold public statements, explaining, for example, why
the idea of a single economic environment with Russia or co-ordinated
accession to the WTO is disadvantageous to Ukraine.

It is hard to predict what the political results of the year 2004 will be
for Russia. However, objectively, the situation is developing in a way that
any, even the most pro-Russian Ukrainian politician, if he or she comes to
power, will become more pro-Western then he/she declared during the
election campaign. The experience of Kuchma's presidency is proof of this.
And vice versa, the most pro-western politician, in the event of electoral
victory, will have to take account of the Russian factor, because it is
impossible to considerably limit political and economic contacts between
the two countries, to say nothing of breaking them off.

If the political situation changes in Ukraine, relations with Russia may be
in for change at the initial stage, but the existing projects will be
continued in one way or another regardless.

Accordingly, it is not worthwhile making Russo-Ukrainian relations, and
especially the strategy of Russo-Ukrainian economic co-operation,
completely dependent on the forthcoming elections and political changes in
Ukraine.

However, for the dialogue to be a success, the sides should not confine
themselves to summits. Broad sections of the Russian and Ukrainian
population should be interested in co-operation. Otherwise, political
agreements will only remain on paper. (END) (ARTUIS)
========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2005, No. 12: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
========================================================
6. RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY CONCERNED ABOUT THE
FALLING NUMBER OF RUSSIAN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS IN UKRAINE

RIA news agency, Moscow, in Russian, 21 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 21, 2004

Moscow, 21 January: Problems relating to the status of the Russian language
in Ukraine remain unresolved, an official spokesman for the Russian Foreign
Ministry, Aleksandr Yakovenko, has said in an interview with the RIA news
agency.

"Many controversial issues relating to the status of the Russian language in
Ukraine have not been resolved yet. For instance, the number of
Russian-language schools continues to fall in Ukraine," he said.

Yakovenko said: "We want Russians living in Ukraine and Ukrainians living in
Russia to feel increasingly comfortable and to have the opportunity to meet
their linguistic and cultural needs unimpeded, and we want our peoples to
live in friendship and accord." [Passage omitted] (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 12: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
=========================================================
7. U.S. AMBASSADOR HERBST LOOKS INTO UKRAINE'S
COOPERATION WITH THE GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT
AIDS AND MALARIA IN UKRAINE

Eastern Economist Daily (EED), Kyiv, Ukraine, January 21, 2004

KYIV. Vice Premier Dmytro Tabachnyk met with US Ambassador to
Ukraine John Herbst to discuss matters of Ukraine's cooperation with the
Global Fund for fighting AIDS and malaria.

Herbst, representing the Global Fund's biggest donor-nation, was chiefly
interested to learn how funds have been used by Ukraine under the agreement
between the Health Ministry of Ukraine and the Global Fund, which provides
for a US $16.9mn programmic grant to fight HIV/AIDS.

So far, Ukraine has received two tranches worth over US $6.5mn. Tabachnyk
noted eighteen different projects are being implemented in ten regions of
the country and state authorities are joining efforts with NGOs to render
relief and support to HIV/AIDS cases. Money is also being spent on
purchasing medicines, which the WTO has recommended for treatment of
HIV/AIDS cases, he said. (KMU, Jan. 20) (END)(ARTUIS)
=========================================================
"WELCOME TO UKRAINE" MAGAZINE
Just A Great, World Class Magazine about Ukraine, In English
http://www.artukraine.com/travel/wumagazine.htm
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 12: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
=========================================================
8. US EMBASSY STUDIES CONFLICT BETWEEN UKRAINIAN
JOURNALIST FROM LVIV AND CHIEF PROSECUTOR

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 21 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 21, 2004

Kiev, 21 January: The political officer of the US embassy in Ukraine,
Kathleen Kerr, has visited the Mass Information Institute to obtain detailed
information on the situation around the conflict between the
Prosecutor-General's Office and the Donetsk journalist Volodymyr Boyko.

Kerr talked to journalists and lawyers of the institute and received copies
of the Donetsk newspaper Ostrov, where the journalist's articles about
Prosecutor-General Henadiy Vasylyev had been published, the US embassy
reported.

Boyko described to Kerr his relations with the prosecutor's office in
connection with his articles. Boyko is the author of critical articles about
Vasylyev. Earlier, the British National Union of Journalists decided to
protect the journalist.

[Boyko accused Vasylyev of organizing a criminal group in Donetsk Region.
Later, Ostrov accused Vasylyev of forging a court ruling against Boyko, see
item "Ukrainian regional paper protests against chief prosecutor's
pressure", Ostrov web site, Donetsk, in Russian 1214 gmt 22 Dec 03.]
========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 12: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
=========================================================
9. U.S. OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION (OPIC)
ONCE AGAIN OPEN FOR BUSINESS IN UKRAINE
OPIC Open for Ukraine After Being Closed to Ukraine for Several Years

Michael Considine, BISNIS, U.S. Department of Commerce
Washington, D.C., January 16, 2004

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was established by the
US. government as a development agency to assist U.S. companies investing in
emerging markets such as Ukraine.

OPIC, one of the most experienced political risk insurers, has reserves
exceeding $4 billion and can insure up to $250 million per project, offers
political risk insurance coverage for equity investments, parent company
and third-party loans and loan guaranties, technical assistance agreements,
cross-border leases, capital markets transactions, contractors' and
exporters' exposures, and other forms of investment.

OPIC offers special insurance programs for small businesses, infrastructure
development, financial institutions, and natural resources and oil and gas
projects. OPIC also provides financing through direct loans and loan
guaranties that provide medium- to long- term funding to ventures involving
significant equity and/or management participation by U.S. businesses.

To date, OPIC has supported over $5 billion in US investment in the
countries comprising the Newly Independent States. OPIC welcomes the
opportunity to discuss its investment support programs with U.S. investors
currently active in Ukraine, or considering investing in Ukraine.

For more information on OPIC products and services contact Steve Johnston
at sjohn@opic.gov. or call 202-336-8778. Michael_Considine@ita.doc.gov
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 12: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
=========================================================
10. DOOMSDAY PREDICTIONS DOMINATE CONFERENCE ON
UKRAINE HELD BY BRITISH EMBASSY IN WARSAW

Gazeta Wyborcza, Warsaw, in Polish 20 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 20, 2004

WARSAW, Poland........Doomsday predictions regarding the autumn presidential
elections in Ukraine dominated a conference held by the British Embassy in
Warsaw.

[British] Ambassador Charles Crawford reminded that the elections and the
way in which they are held would decide about more than who will head the
state over the next few years to come.

"This will be an extremely important test that will determine the future of
the country for decades to come. It will show where Ukraine is heading as it
officially declares its will to integrate with Europe, while it is
simultaneously entering the sphere of Russia's influence," Mykola
Katerynchuk, a deputy of the opposition Our Ukraine party, explained.

In Katerynchuk's opinion, Ukraine stands a chance of integrating with Europe
if pro-West politicians start governing it. The Ukrainian authorities,
meanwhile, have engaged in what he calls a "constitutional reform" to ensure
that Viktor Yushchenko, the most popular opposition leader, fails in the
elections. Either Leonid Kuchma or an heir he appoints is to win. In line
with this plan, the status quo will remain unchanged.

"If capitalism emerges, it will be oligarchic. If democracy sets in, it will
be steered - people will have the right to vote, but someone else will
decide who gets elected," says Miroslaw Czech, a former deputy of
the [Polish] Freedom Union [UW].

Representatives of the Ukrainian opposition repeatedly stated that Europe
must not let the authorities manipulate the elections and abandon the road
toward democracy. "If a situation in a given country poses the threat of
instability in a neighbouring country - which we currently observe in the
case of Ukraine - then neighbouring countries have the right to intervene,"
Volodymyr Granovskiy, who was a high-ranking official of the Ukrainian
Economy and European Integration Ministry until recently, has told Gazeta
Wyborcza.

Europe, however, is not keen to get that involved. Gordan Adam, a
representative of the European Parliament, stated Europe will closely follow
the preparations leading up to the elections and their progress, but it is
not prepared to do anything more. The Ukrainian opposition responded by
saying that if Ukraine is left to fend for itself, it will inevitably drift
toward authoritarianism just like Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, or
Belarus.

Participants in the conference also discussed Belarus and the fight of the
authorities with independent non-governmental organizations. Maksim
Ryzhenko, counsel of the Belarusian Embassy in Warsaw, protested. In his
opinion, Belarusian representatives were invited to the conference only so
that they could be repeatedly told that human rights in their country were
being violated. He also criticized the hosts of the conference for failing
to invite representatives of the Belarusian authorities. In conversation
with the Gazeta Wyborcza reporter, he demanded that the Belarusian flag
be removed from the conference emblem. (END)(ARTUIS)
========================================================
. UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 12: ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
========================================================
11. ELEVEN YEAR OLD GIRL GIVES BIRTH IN UKRAINE
Ukraine's Youngest Ever Mother On Record

Associated Press Online, Kiev, Ukraine, Jan 22, 2004

KIEV.......Ukraine's youngest ever mother on record, an 11-year-old girl,
has given birth to a healthy baby boy weighing 3.8 kilograms (8.4 pounds),
a newspaper reported Thursday.

Surgeons at hospital No. 5 in the eastern city of Kharkiv delivered the
infant by Caesarean section on Tuesday, the Fakty daily said, citing the
unidentified mother's doctor, Valentyn Gryshchenko. Both mother and son
are in good health, but will remain in the hospital under observation for a
week.

The family of the sixth-grader refused to stop the pregnancy and "put
everything in the hands of fate," Gryshchenko was quoted as saying.
The boy is expected to live at home with his mother and grandmother.

The newborn's alleged father is a 26-year-old neighbor who fled fearing
criminal charges when he learned of the girl's pregnancy, Fakty said. If
convicted of having sexual relations with a minor, the father faces a
maximum prison sentence of three years. (tv/vi/ji) (END)(ARTUIS)
========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 12: ARTICLE NUMBER TWELVE
========================================================
12. PRESIDENT KUCHMA SHUFFLES CARDS FOR 2004
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL-ELECTION GAME

END NOTE, By Jan Maksymiuk
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Newsline
Vol. 8, No. 12, Part II, Prague, Czech Republic, January 21, 2004

When Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma meets with his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin in Kyiv later this week, they will surely
discuss the upcoming major political events in their countries:
presidential elections in Russia in March and in Ukraine in November.

While in the case of Russia nobody doubts that Putin will be easily
re-elected, it is anybody's guess what might happen in Ukraine. In
fact, it is not even certain how the Ukrainian president will be
elected -- by a universal ballot or by parliament. Both options,
according to Ukrainian observers, are possible. It is also not
certain who will be the main presidential contender from the party of
power in Ukraine -- the incumbent president or someone selected by
Kuchma to be his successor.

However, everybody seems to agree that the 2004 presidential
ballot in Ukraine will be a momentous event that could define the
country's geopolitical orientation for more than just one
presidential term. It is because the Ukrainian party of power --
which traditionally opts for Ukraine staying within the "Eurasian
fold" -- is being challenged for the first time by a politically
potent, pro-Western alternative embodied by Viktor Yushchenko
and his Our Ukraine bloc.

On 24 December, the Verkhovna Rada preliminarily approved
with 276 votes a constitutional-reform plan known as the
Medvedchuk-Symonenko bill (No. 4105). The bill stipulates a
redistribution of prerogatives among the parliament, the president,
and the government and provides for the election of the president in
2006 by the parliament. The bill was passed by a controversial
show-of-hands vote, since opposition deputies from Our Ukraine, the
Socialist Party, and the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc broke the
legislature's electronic voting system, primarily to protest the
change in the method of electing the president.

To become a law, the bill must receive at least 300 votes
during the parliamentary session that is expected to begin on 3
February. The opposition has called upon the Constitutional Court to
invalidate the 24 December vote, arguing that voting by a show of
hands is against parliamentary regulations. But in the general
opinion of Ukrainian analysts, the court is unlikely to heed this
call.

Moreover, on 30 December, the Constitutional Court ruled that
President Kuchma, who was first elected president in July 1994 and
then re-elected in November 1999, is formally serving his first full
presidential term, since in 1996 the Verkhovna Rada promulgated a new
constitution that redefined presidential prerogatives. Thus,
according to the Constitutional Court, the constitutional provision
limiting the presidential tenure to two consecutive terms for one
person did not apply to Kuchma until his 1999 election, and he
therefore may choose to seek another presidential term in 2004.

The ruling of the Constitutional Court is much more
controversial than the tumultuous vote on constitutional amendments
on 24 December 2003. U.S. Federal Judge Bohdan Futey, who served as
an adviser to the Working Group on the Ukrainian Constitution adopted
in 1996, concluded earlier this month that the ruling is
unsupportable and logically inconsistent with a 1997 court ruling
that said that parliamentarians elected after 8 June 1995 may not
simultaneously hold a position in the government, since a the
Constitutional Agreement banning that practice came into effect on
that date.

Futey argued that if similar reasoning was applied by the
Constitutional Court to Kuchma, he would not have been allowed to
seek a third term. The applicable constitutional norms and prior
legislation addressing presidential term limits, Futey noted,
consistently limited the president to two terms both when Kuchma was
elected in 1994 and when he was re-elected in 1999. "The court
applied a 'different standard' to national deputies in 1997 than it
is now applying to President Kuchma," Futey said in a commentary
published by "Ukraine Report-2004" (http://www.ArtUkraine.com).

Critics of the ruling in Ukraine say that the court's
decision actually allows a person to seek the presidency for an
unlimited number of terms. To achieve this, they argue, it is enough
for the parliament to amend the constitution in its part referring to
presidential prerogatives, thus making the current presidential term
"incomplete" and allowing the incumbent legitimately to seek another
term, which may also be made "incomplete" by further constitutional
amendments.

However, decisions of the Constitutional Court are final and
not subject to appeal. Therefore, it is now up only to Kuchma -- who
has stressed on several occasions that he will not run in 2004 -- to
decide whether he will make yet another presidential bid. Likewise,
he seems to be in control of the constitutional-reform drive in the
parliament and could, at his discretion, stop it or give it an extra
impetus. Kuchma, who returned last week from a month-long stay at a
German spa, has not yet disclosed his plans regarding the 2004
presidential ballot and the constitutional reform. It is not unlikely
that he wants to consult with Putin first.

Theoretically, several scenarios are possible. The Verkhovna
Rada might pass bill No. 4105 just as it was preliminarily approved
in December 2003. This would mean that Ukraine would hold a
nationwide presidential election in 2004, but in 2006 a new president
would be elected by a new legislature. However, the Verkhovna Rada
might also choose to vote on the Medvedchuk-Symonenko bill "article
by article" and drop its final part, which stipulates the election of
an "interim president" in 2004 for some 18 months.

Then, as many supporters of Our Ukraine fear, the Verkhovna Rada
would be entitled to elect a new president in 2004, and Viktor Yushchenko
-- who is currently supported by some 25 percent of Ukrainians and is the
country's most-popular politician -- would stand no chance of being
elected. A third possibility is that the Verkhovna Rada might fail to
muster the 300 votes needed to amend the constitution, and everything
would remain as it is now.

In each of these three scenarios, two "sub-scenarios" should
be taken into account -- one with Kuchma running himself and another
with Kuchma backing a successor. Some argue that Kuchma will not risk
the West's ire, which would predictably follow if he chooses to seek
a third term. Others say he might eventually decide on this, if the
party of power fails to agree on an acceptable successor and play as
one team in the election campaign.

"Politics in Russia has ended for a long time...[along with
political journalism]," Interfax-Ukraine Editor in Chief Oleksandr
Martynenko said in a recent press interview. "But we [in Ukraine]
still have them [politics and political journalism]. We are living in
interesting times." This might incidentally be true, even if a closer
look at Ukrainian affairs reveals that real politics, as well as real
political journalism, in Ukraine are practiced by very few. The
others simply appear to respond to the strings pulled by these very
few. (END) (ARTUIS)
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Jan Maksymiuk, Poland/Belarus/Ukraine, MaksymiukJ@rferl.org
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