"ACTION UKRAINE REPORT"
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"

"ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" Year 2004, Number 49
Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC), Washington, D.C.
www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS)
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Washington, D.C., MONDAY, March 29, 2004

INDEX OF ARTICLES

1. US TO UKRAINE: PUBLIC PRAISE AND PRIVATE CONDEMNATION
Inside Ukraine Newsletter, Kyiv, Ukraine, March 29, 2004

2. RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR LASHES AT US INVOLVEMENT IN UKRAINE
Agence France-Presse, Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 28, 2004

3. POLISH PRESIDENT SAYS UKRAINE BELONGS IN EUROPE
UT1, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 28 Mar 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Mar 28, 2004

4. MARCHUK MISSING MISSILE ACCOUNTING STATEMENTS
RAISE INTERNATIONAL STORM
Inside Ukraine Newsletter, Kyiv, Ukraine, March 29, 2004

5. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT WARNS NEW LAND SALE BAN
TO 2010 THREATENS LAND REFORM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Den, Kiev, in Russian 26 Mar 04; p 2
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Mar 27, 2004

6. PASSAGE OF PROPORTIONAL ELECTION LAW OPENS DOOR
FOR CONTROVERSIAL CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM AMENDMENTS
Inside Ukraine Newsletter, Kyiv, Ukraine, March 28, 2004

7. OUR UKRAINE BLOC LEADER VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO
HAS HIGHEST RATING AMONG POTENTIAL CANDIDATES
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Mar 28, 2004

8. REGIONAL NEWSPAPER MOLODYY BUKOVYNETS ATTACKED
IN CHERNIVTSI, WESTERN UKRAINE
Fakty i Kommentarii, Kiev, Ukraine in Russian 20 Mar 04, p 1
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Mar 27, 2004

9. LOOSE NUKES AND AL-QAEDA
By Taras Kuzio, Terrorism Monitor, In-Depth Analysis of the War on Terror
Volume II, Issue 6, Jamestown Foundation, Washington, D.C., Mar 25 2004
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 49: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
Politics and Governance, Building a Strong, Democratic Ukraine
http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/index.htm
==========================================================
1. US TO UKRAINE: PUBLIC PRAISE AND PRIVATE CONDEMNATION

Inside Ukraine Newsletter, Kyiv, Ukraine, March 29, 2004

KYIV - Since the Bush administration came into office with a view of Ukraine
and the Kuchma presidency in particular that was considerably different from
that of the Clinton administration, Kyiv has been a "non-destination" for
most top U.S. officials. Thus, the current visit of U.S. Deputy Secretary of
State Richard Armitage was a welcome change.

Even more welcome was Armitage's fulsome praise of Ukraine's "outstanding"
role in Iraq where about 1,700 Ukrainian troops under a Polish regional
command patrol an area south of Baghdad. Armitage publicly thanked President
Leonid Kuchma for his "courageous decision" to join the U.S. coalition in
Iraq and also praised Ukraine's provision of peacekeeping troops to UN
operations in the Balkans and Africa.

Armitage's primary goal appears to have been gaining assurances that Ukraine
will not follow the lead of the new Spanish government that has said it will
pull its troops out unless the United Nations takes over the occupation of
Iraq.

However, behind all of the praise for Ukraine's troop support and economic
progress, Armitage's statement about the U.S.' desire for "a fully
productive" relationship with Ukraine was thought to mask sharp private
criticism of the Kuchma regime.

Armitage delivered a letter from President Bush to Kuchma that is believed
to include harsh language in regard to the shutting down or threatening of
independent media outlets, particularly the targeting of radio stations that
rebroadcast the U.S.-funded Radio Liberty, and the use of Tax Police and
other administrative bodies to harass opposition leaders and their
supporters.

For many months the conventional wisdom among political observers in Ukraine
has been that the regime was relatively safe from U.S. criticism so long as
it supported the war on terror and provided troops for the Iraqi occupation.

However, Inside Ukraine interviews in both Kyiv and Washington in connection
with the Armitage visit have left the impression that, if Ukraine was ever
safe from U.S. criticism and negative actions on aid and cooperation, major
changes have now occurred in US policy.

Well-informed sources told IU that the Armitage visit is just the first of
what will be a stream of high-level visitors from both the United States and
the European Union during the presidential campaign.

Pressure on Ukraine to stop the repression of the news media and the use of
administrative bodies to attack its enemies is expected to be ratcheted up
and increasingly more public.

For Leonid Kuchma and top players in his regime, visits by U.S. and EU
government officials and members of the U.S. Congress and the European
Parliament are expected to become quite frequent. Visitors who want to
deliver unwelcome messages are nothing new for the president and it is
unclear just what effect the persistent in-person delivery of the pro-reform
messages may be.

The main difference may come in the Kuchma regime's understanding that,
unlike the previous Clinton administration, the Bush administration may be
willing to back up strong words with strong actions. Stay tuned. (END)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 49: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
Politics and Governance, Building a Strong, Democratic Ukraine
http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/index.htm
==========================================================
2. RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR LASHES AT US INVOLVEMENT IN UKRAINE

Agence France-Presse, Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 28, 2004

MOSCOW - Russia's ambassador to Ukraine, former prime minister
Viktor Chernomyrdin, Sunday blasted the United States for allegedly
increasing its presence in that former Soviet republic ahead of a
presidential election scheduled there next autumn.

Chernomyrdin said in an interview with Russia's Channel One television that
Washington had sent a "task force" to Ukraine to assist in organizing the
vote.

"An American task force has landed in Ukraine. They are traveling around
the regions to help prepare the elections," Interfax quoted Chernomyrdin as
telling Channel One.

"They are running all over Ukraine. I could not even have imagined anything
like this," Chernomyrdin added, warning that US involvement could have
dire consequences.

"Whatever can be of use to them, (the Americans) immediately take into
their sphere of interest, and there is inevitably either a mess or blood
there," he said.

US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage Thursday met with Ukrainian
President Leonid Kuchma in an effort to promote democratic reforms.

Armitage praised economic and security-related cooperation with Ukraine,
but said Kiev's political relations with Washington left a lot to be
desired. (END) (ARTUIS)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 49: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
Check Out the News Media for the Latest News From and About Ukraine
Daily News Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/newsgallery.htm
=========================================================
3. POLISH PRESIDENT SAYS UKRAINE BELONGS IN EUROPE

UT1, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 28 Mar 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Mar 28, 2004

Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski has said there would be a place for
Ukraine in the European Union as long as Kiev adhered to common European
standards. Speaking in an interview with a state-owned Ukrainian TV channel
ahead of his visit to Kiev, the president said he was opposed to the idea of
creating new buffer zones around the EU. He also praised Poland's relations
with Ukraine, describing them as strategic partnership.

The following is an excerpt from Kwasniewski's interview on Ukrainian
state-owned television UT1 on 28 March:

[Presenter] Mr President, first, let me thank you for talking to us. On 1
May Poland will become an EU member. You have repeatedly pledged support
for Ukraine's integration into Europe. But, unfortunately, not everyone
shares
your view. In his sensational book, "The Limits of Europe", EU commissioner
Fritz Bolkestein said that Ukraine would never become a member of the EU
because it must remain a buffer zone between Europe and Russia and the
Muslim world to the south. What do you think about this statement, and what
would Poland prefer to have beyond its eastern border - a continuation of
Europe or a neutral buffer zone?

[Aleksander Kwasniewski] We live in democratic countries, and everyone is
entitled to voice their opinion. The view you have mentioned is one of those
opinions. I disagree with it, because I believe that if we start to divide
the world into Christian and Muslim spheres, as well as buffers that should
separate the Muslims from Christians, we'll be heading towards a global
confrontation. I am absolutely opposed to this. Furthermore, the world
itself is mixed now - Muslims are now living in Europe, they live in France,
Germany and Italy. And Christians live in many Muslim countries.

The concept of defining the borders of the EU geographically, defining a
buffer zone geographically, and ultimately trying to protect ourselves from
other cultures and religions is a bad concept. It will cause conflicts.
[Passage omitted: Kwasniewski on international politics and on Ukraine
belonging to Europe, relations between Russia and the EU.]

I am confident that Ukraine has a place in Europe. It is really in your own
hands, but you must be prepared for it. It is hard to define Europe's
borders geographically. It is much easier to define these borders in terms
of adherence to certain standards. If we live under the same democratic,
legal and economic standards, geography doesn't really matter, as long as we
abide by the same principles.

If these standards are adhered to, I think Ukraine will have a place in
Europe. The enlarged Europe will soon have a population of 450m. Together
with Ukraine, it will have more than half a billion people. It will be one
of the biggest economic and civilization centres of the world. [Passage
omitted: Video report on Ukrainian-Polish relations]

[Kwasniewski] In my opinion, events like the Year of Poland in Ukraine must
enhance our political understanding with improved relations between our
people. Poland will join the EU but it will not turn away from its biggest
neighbour to the east. On the contrary, we want to step up cooperation even
further. This is our goal and our strategy.

It is also important that the next year will be the year of Ukraine in
Poland. During this year Ukraine will have a chance to demonstrate the
pro-European nature of its policies, and its [European] concept. [Passage
omitted: advertisement; video report about Poland; Kwasniewski on economic
ties with Ukraine, Polish politics, his family.] [Video available. Please
send queries to kiev.bbcm@mon.bbc.co.uk] (END) (ARTUIS)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 49: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
Major Articles About What is Going on in Ukraine
Current Events Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/events/index.htm
=========================================================
4. MARCHUK MISSING MISSILE ACCOUNTING STATEMENTS
RAISE INTERNATIONAL STORM

Inside Ukraine Newsletter, Kyiv, Ukraine, March 29, 2004

KYIV -A lengthy interview with Ukraine's Minister of Defense Yevhen Marchuk
in the Kyiv daily newspaper, The Day [widely believed to be at least
partially if not completely owned by Marchuk himself] has raised a major
furore in the United States, the UK and Canada. However, the article's
contents have hardly been mentioned in other Ukrainian news media,
particularly the television stations that closely follow the suggestions of
the Presidential Administration as put forth in the frequent written
recommendations that are notoriously known by the name, "temniki."

In the March 25 interview, Marchuk said in part: "In the Ministry of Defense
there was no unified system of accounting work. So far as there was no
unified system of accountancy, the inventories - which had been allegedly
carried out - presented nothing... And when we made two inventories
separated by a time interval of a half of a year - the first inventory
before my appointment, and the second one was carried out on the basis of
evaluated figures and evaluated assessments - the first and second
inventories showed a 900 billion UAH difference.

I did not make a slip in speaking, these were billions. The results did not
satisfy me so we strengthened the procedure, employed new people and - an
additional difference of more than 100 billion emerged... Unfortunately,
even such exotic things happen that today we are looking for several hundred
missiles. They were already removed from military service but we cannot find
them. They are said to have been utilized. But where are results of their
utilization?"

In a separate interview one day later, Marchuk told UNIAN that since
mid-March information regarding the state of affairs of very poor
accountancy had been passed to the Prosecutor General's Office and the
Ministry of Defense investigation continued.

Reaction of involved Ukrainian players was quick in coming. Former Minister
of Defense Olexander Kuzmuk, notorious for his impunity for two rocket
scandals when military missiles hit an apartment house and later an
international passenger airplane, claimed that "Marchuk is talking rubbish".

Further, on Sunday, March 28, supposedly in line with recommendations of the
presidential administration, two leading TV commentators failed to even
mention the Marchuk disclosures while appearing on the weekly TV news
surveys "Epicenter" and "Upshots". They were, however, extremely talkative
about the Ukrainian contribution to the battle against world terrorism.

Arms and military equipment were inherited from the Soviet Union in huge
amounts and could have been used for economic and military revival of the
country. These assets could have been legally sold to foreign states or
utilized as valuable scrap or spare parts for civil usage. Since the very
first days of the Ukrainian independence management of this national
property was farmed out to Ministry of Defense and several state
arms-selling organizations.

Financial results of activities of those empowered managers remain obscure.
The budget revenues collected from arms trading for the whole period since
Ukraine's independence reportedly were about $3 billion in total, something
less than 10 percent of the total value of the equipment as assessed by such
expert institutions as the "Jane Intelligence Review."

The second convocation of the Verkhovna Rada (1994 - 1998) established a
special commission to look into unanswered arms sales questions. However,
its final report was not presented to the parliament, and deputies of the
following convocations could not get access to the commission findings
because the records were either destroyed or hidden in some unknown place.

Attempts to re-establish such a commission in the third Rada convocation
were skillfully blocked by Viktor Medvedchuk, then the parliament's Deputy
Speaker. At present no parliamentary control over such important affairs has
been established and President Kuchma has vetoed all bills on the Rada
investigation and special commissions that might bring the facts about
Ukraine's arms sales to light. (END) (ARTUIS)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 498: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
Exciting Opportunities in Ukraine for Travel and Tourism
Travel and Tourism Gallery: http://www.ArtUkraine.com/tourgallery.htm
=========================================================
5. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT WARNS NEW LAND SALE BAN
TO 2010 THREATENS LAND REFORM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Den, Kiev, in Russian 26 Mar 04; p 2
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Mar 27, 2004

KYIV - The Ukrainian president's decree of 1999 on reforming agricultural
production prompted the present restructuring of land ownership and gave
fresh impetus to the state programme for demarcating land and issuing land
ownership certificates to country people, according to foreign experts. In
all, 40 per cent of people in rural areas have already received their state
land deeds.

The new Land Code, adopted in October 2001, marked a considerable
breakthrough in the process of land reform. It legitimized the private
ownership of land and, in principle, allowed it to be sold. At the same
time, however, a decision was taken to impose a five-year moratorium on land
sales.

But then, on 4 March [2004], the Supreme Council [parliament] gave
first-reading approval to the law "On amendments to Ukraine's Land Code",
extending the ban on the sale of agricultural land up to 2010. The Ukrainian
president's comments on the subject were passed on to Den by the head of
state's press service.

[Press service] What do you think of the decision, [preliminarily] adopted
by parliament in its first reading, to extend the ban on land sales?

[Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma] It is obvious that what we are talking
about is a radical curtailment of land reform, with all the ensuing
consequences. If land can be bought and sold in 2005, there is every reason
to suppose that the countryside will receive supplementary credit of at
least 8bn hryvnyas [almost 1.5bn dollars] a year.

That will mean a fundamental breakthrough not only in agriculture, but also
in the development of banking, the manufacturing of agricultural machinery
and other industries. The country's economy may change qualitatively within
quite a short period.

Leasing land, which currently predominates in the countryside, is a barbaric
way of running a farm, since it encourages the farmers to exhaust the soil -
by unjustifiably increasing the planting of sunflowers, for example.

Delaying land reform by a further six years may cause irreparable harm to
Ukraine's black earth, and the country really may lose one of its most
important assets for ensuring the international competitiveness of the whole
economy.

It must be remembered that we are talking about a decision of historic
importance that will determine the country's future for a decade. At the
moment, the overall value of Ukraine's arable land is put at 400bn hryvnyas
by some Western specialists. No one knows what the value will be after six
more years of the predatory exploitation of Ukrainian land.

As for parliament's decision, I would remind you that, from 1990 onwards, a
ban like this has been imposed three times in Ukraine. But, despite this,
there has always been a black market in land and illegal schemes for gaining
possession of it. The longer the introduction of a land market is delayed,
the more the "land bazaar" flourishes.

A simple ban does not resolve the problem of how to protect farmers' land
rights. On the contrary, it leads to breaches of the legislation, deception,
fraud and various abuses.

Scare stories about all the land being bought up are unfounded. In countries
with a long history of such sales, no more than 1-2 per cent of agricultural
land is sold every year. Between 1998 and 2000, once land certificates had
been issued in Ukraine, only 0.2 per cent of owners made use of their right
to sell them on. Clearly, what it is really all about is an attempt to
secure the votes of future voters.

[Press service] What are the economic losses from the ban on land sales?

[Kuchma] The ban distorts the essential feature of the private ownership of
land by not allowing landowners to make full use of the opportunities
provided by their property, especially as regards attracting investment and
credit.

In other countries, farmers obtain only 40 per cent of their credit on the
security of their output and 60 per cent on the security of their land. If
it had been possible to use their land as security, farmers last year could
have received an extra 8bn-12bn hryvnyas in credit. Without a market in land
and without the ability to use it as security, they will be unable to obtain
this credit. This is generally long-term credit, without which it will be
impossible to provide country areas with new equipment.
Only the possibility of pledging and selling plots of land will strengthen
the wish to invest in the economy and to introduce mortgage mechanisms.

I would point out once again that it will be a breakthrough not only in
agriculture, but in many other sectors too. Economic growth will gain its
second wind, and that is the aim of our policies. (END)(ARTUIS)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 49: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
The Story of Ukraine's Long and Rich Culture
Ukrainian Culture Gallery: http://www.ArtUkraine.com/cultgallery.htm
=========================================================
6. PASSAGE OF PROPORTIONAL ELECTION LAW OPENS DOOR
FOR CONTROVERSIAL CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM AMENDMENTS

Inside Ukraine Newsletter, Kyiv, Ukraine, March 28, 2004

KYIV - Passage of the bill that would lead to the entire membership of the
Verkhovna Rada being chosen based on a proportional formula related to the
overall national vote was an important step in preparations for the 2006
Rada elections.

However, it was even more important because failure to pass the proportional
measure would have meant loss of support by the Communist and Socialist
factions, thereby almost certainly dooming the chances for the
much-discussed constitutional reform amendments to achieve a qualified
constitutional majority of 300 or more votes in the parliament.

Thus, the passage of the proportional Rada elections bill by a vote of 255
in favor out of 305 who took part in the vote paves the way for the eventual

final passage of the constitutional reform amendments that would
substantially weaken the powers of the office of president while at the same
time strengthening both future governments and the Rada.

The 29-vote margin by which the election bill was passed was not reached
without considerable rancor and bad blood among some Rada factions that have
membership from current majority districts. The final vote came at about
11:30 p.m. on Thursday evening after passage of only 6 of the approximately
950 amendments that had been offered by Rada members.

The final passage was believed to have been eased substantially when all
efforts to stop deputy migration from faction to faction was dropped in the
final version. The continuation of the migration option is believed to
provide one of the richest opportunities that some members have for personal
gain.

Two relatively small but powerful factions - strong because of their
leadership more so than their numbers - suffered substantial losses in
membership because of unhappiness with parts of the election law that would
disadvantage members currently elected from majority districts. Bohdan
Hubskiy's People's Power faction lost four members and Democratic
Initiatives, the faction led by the chairman of the Rada's pro-presidential
majority, Stephan Havrysh, lost three members. While not great in number, it
is believed possible that the seven disgruntled majority district members
may become the nucleus of a new faction with Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn as
a possible faction leader.

In its final form, the bill was stripped of a number of it earlier
provisions but most major provisions were left intact.

Parliamentary deputies will be elected according to party lists of parties
and blocs that must be registered at least one year ahead of the
parliamentary elections. Rada campaigns will officially begin four months
before the date of the election. All of Ukraine will be divided into 225
election districts with each district having its own election committee to
be composed of representatives of those parties and blocs that are certified
by the Central Election Commission.

Party election funds are to be comprised of party membership fees and the
voluntary donations of party members. Any party member may contribute any
amount to his or her own party up to a maximum of 82,000 UAH.

The first major hurdle in the campaign process will be the posting of
election deposits. Each party or bloc requesting to be placed on the
parliamentary election ballot must post an election deposit of 512,500 UAH.
This substantial sum will be returned only to those parties and blocs that
gain at least 7 percent of the total parliamentary election vote nationally.
For some smaller parties, the possibility of forfeiting over a half-million
hryvnas to the state budget may be a strong disincentive to making a
campaign run.

It is interesting to note that under the provisions adopted in this bill
parties and blocs might gain a proportional share of the Rada deputy slots
after gaining only 3 percent of the vote. Therefore, it is entirely possible
that a party or bloc might win perhaps 15 to 30 seats in the Rada but still
could be subject to a forfeit by not passing the 7 percent barrier needed to
reclaim the deposit.

The bill would restrict official pre-election advertising to the 70 days
before the date of the election. The bill also would strictly prohibit
political advertising in public transport and would prohibit representatives
of the state executive power, e.g. the Presidential Administration, local
self-governance and law-enforcement bodies and members of the judiciary,
from taking part in the pre-election campaign. Of course, similar provisions
in previous election laws have been almost totally ignored and it is
expected that should this bill become law, this particular provision would
be equally well observed.

The bill requires that all ballot boxes should be constructed of transparent
materials, apparently on the premise that a transparent ballot box could not
be as easily stuffed with bogus ballots. Some Rada wags suggest that this
provision will be totally ineffective in some areas of Ukraine where ballot
box stuffing has reached the point of being a highly developed art.

In what may become one of the more controversial provisions of the bill,
there is a provision that prohibits civic public organizations from taking
part in the vote count. This appears to be a direct slap at the Committee of
Voters of Ukraine, an election-reform organization that has angered some
regional and national officials by becoming quite effective in its efforts.
(END)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 49: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
The Genocidal Famine in Ukraine 1932-1933, HOLODOMOR
Genocide Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/famineart/index.htm
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7. OUR UKRAINE BLOC LEADER VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO
HAS HIGHEST RATING AMONG POTENTIAL CANDIDATES

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Mar 28, 2004

The leader of the opposition Our Ukraine bloc, Viktor Yushchenko, has the
highest rating among potential candidates in the 31 October presidential
election according to opinion polls by leading Ukrainian polling agencies in
March.

The Democratic Initiatives Fund, the Socis centre, Kiev International
Sociology Institute, the Social Monitoring centre, the National Institute of
Strategic Studies and the Razumkov think tank put Yushchenko's rating at 22
to 24 per cent.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych comes second with 9 to 14.5 per
cent of the vote, followed by Communist leader Petro Symonenko (9 to 12.7
per cent), Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz (4 to 7.3 per cent) and the head
of the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc, Yuliya Tymoshenko, with 3 to 6 per cent.
All the polling agencies said Yushchenko would beat Yanukovych in the second
round with about 10 per cent margin.

Incumbent Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has no chance of winning the
election should he decide to run for a third term, the Razumkov think tank
said. Kuchma would get about 7.4 per cent of the vote.

About 53 per cent of Ukrainians would like to see Kuchma resign and would
support an early presidential election, the Social Monitoring centre said.
According to the Socis research centre, about 61 per cent of Ukrainians
expect to see violations during the presidential election, with 23 per cent
saying they are sure that the election results will be fabricated and only 4
per cent expecting a fair election.

Among the future president's most important personal qualities, the
Ukrainians named honesty (72 per cent), intelligence (56 per cent),
professionalism (40 per cent) and decisiveness (35 per cent), the National
Institute of Strategic Studies said. The institute forecast a turnout of
about 78.5 per cent, which is the highest figure since 1991 when Ukraine
gained independence. (END) (ARTUIS)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 49: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
Ukraine's History and the Long Struggle for Independence
Historical Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/histgallery.htm
==========================================================
8. REGIONAL NEWSPAPER MOLODYY BUKOVYNETS ATTACKED
IN CHERNIVTSI, WESTERN UKRAINE

Fakty i Kommentarii, Kiev, Ukraine in Russian 20 Mar 04, p 1
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Mar 27, 2004

KIEV - Reports of attacks on journalists and illegal actions against mass
media staff have unfortunately long ceased to grab the headlines in Ukraine.
It is not just individual journalists but whole editorial offices who now
suffer harassment at the hands of offenders of the law.

Yet another regional publication has recently fallen victim to an attack by
malefactors: unidentified people have raided the printing house of the
Chernivtsi newspaper Molodyy Bukovynets, trying to burn it down.

Fakty [i Kommentarii] has learnt from that newspaper that at about midnight
a car pulled up by the printing house. The driver produced documents for the
delivery of material to the security guard. After the material was carried
off into the building, the driver attacked the guard. Simultaneously, five
or six malefactors entered the building after smashing the windows. They
tied up the watchman and set fire to paint and paper in the printing
workshop. A fire was avoided thanks to the guard, who managed to free
himself and call the firefighters. He was admitted to hospital with a
concussion and other injuries.

The Molodyy Bukovynets chief editor, Bohdan Zahayskyy, has filed a request
with the police for an impartial and full investigation to establish who
ordered and committed the crime. "Because an attack has been carried out on
a publishing housing that belongs to a newspaper, this unequivocally
indicates the malefactors' intention to put the printing house and the
newspaper out of order and to intimidate the staff," the statement reads.
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 49: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
The Rich History of Ukrainian Art, Music, Pysanka, Folk-Art
Arts Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/artgallery.htm
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9. LOOSE NUKES AND AL-QAEDA

By Taras Kuzio, Terrorism Monitor, In-Depth Analysis of the War on Terror
Volume II, Issue 6, Jamestown Foundation,
Washington, D.C., March 25 2004

In an article in the January-February issue of Foreign Affairs, Graham
Allison, director of the Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs
at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, pointed out that
nearly each month someone is "apprehended trying to smuggle or steal nuclear
materials or weapons."

The last incident, in February, involved a former Soviet intelligence
officer attempting to smuggle plutonium-239, cesium-137 and uranium across
the Ukrainian-Hungarian border. The current U.S. Ambassador to Japan warned
"there could be 40,000 nuclear weapons, or maybe 80,000 in the former Soviet
Union, poorly controlled and poorly stored." Half of the Soviet arsenal,
Allison argues, "remains inadequately secured."

Potential "loose nukes" suppliers include Russia, Ukraine, Belarus (led by
Europe's last dictator, Alyaksandr Lukashenka) and the Transdniester enclave
of Moldova. Of these potential sources, Belarus and Transdniester are
aligned with Russia and are propped up financially by Moscow.

UKRAINE'S MILITARY LINKS TO PAKISTAN AND THE TALIBAN

>From 1996 to 2000, Pakistan spent US$800 million on Ukrainian arms and
military equipment, making it one of the largest purchasers of Ukrainian
armaments. The bulk of this expenditure went to the purchase of 300 T-80YD
tanks. In June 2002, a Pakistani delegation visited Ukraine, seeking to
modernize its T-69 and T-72 tanks as well as its U.S. F16 and Russian SU-27
aircraft. A US$100 million deal was signed for Ukraine to deliver 285
engines for tanks. Close military links between Ukraine and Pakistan have
inevitably raised the question of whether there were also Ukrainian military
links with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which was backed by Saudi
funds and Pakistani personnel and political support.

In January of 2002 reports surfaced in a number of Western media, including
Der Spiegel, that Ukrainian T-55 tanks had ended up in Afghanistan via
Pakistan. Der Spiegel pointed to Leonid and Andrei Derkach as being behind
the military shipments to Afghanistan. Leonid Derkach headed the Security
Service of Ukraine (SBU) from 1997-2002, during which time the SBU was
heavily involved in such illegal arms transactions. His son, Andrei, is
implicated in many other arms scandals that involve such notorious
gunrunners as Leonid Minin.

In July 2000, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma authorized the sale of
Kolchuga radars to Iraq. Presidential security service officer Mykola
Melnychenko, disgusted at high-level corruption, illicitly taped Kuchma's
office. Melnychenko fled from Ukraine in November of 2000 and received
political asylum in the United States in April of the following year. He now
lives in Washington, DC.

In addition to the Derkachs, another highly compromised Ukrainian oligarch
involved in illegal arms trafficking was Vadym Rabinovych. Despite his
status as persona non grata in the United States since 1995, links between
Kuchma and Rabinovych continue to remain close. During Kuchma's stay in a
private hospital at Baden-Baden, Germany, in late December-early January,
Rabinovych was one of his select visitors. Natalia Ligachova, editor of the
Ukrainian Telekritika, described Rabinovych as someone who can be "used by
the presidential administration, thanks to his not-quite-transparent
businesses, arms sales and former links with the KGB in the Soviet era".

A Rabinovych proxy organization brought charges of anti-Semitism against
Silski Visti, Ukraine's only large opposition newspaper, forcing the
publication to close and thereby denying opposition access to media outlets
during this year's presidential elections. Interpol police files obtained by
PBS Frontline/World prove Rabinovych's ties to organized crime and his
involvement in money laundering and arms trafficking. His ties to Victor
Bout and Minin are well documented.

Der Spiegel mentions Rabinovych as a middle man working with the Derkachs
between the Ukrainian arms exporter (Ukrspetseksport) and the SBU (then run
by L. Derkach) to the Pakistanis and the Taliban. A former Russian border
troop officer and a Pakistani ISI defector have confirmed this network. In
June 1999, Rabinovych became persona non grata in Ukraine at the urging of
then National Security and Defence Council (NRBO) Secretary Volodymyr
Horbulin. SBU Chairman Derkach intervened on Rabinovych's behalf and
succeeded in having his pariah status rescinded. Rabinovych in the meantime
took up Israeli citizenship.

The NRBO under Horbulin's successor, Yevhen Marchuk (defence minister since
2003), continues to publicly wrangle with the Derkachs over their
involvement in illegal arms trafficking.

But, as has always been the case in Ukraine under Kuchma, no oligarch has
ever been brought to trial for arms trafficking, let alone corruption. The
only occasion when oligarchs have been targeted is when they have gone into
opposition to Kuchma (e.g., Pavlo Lazarenko and Yulia Tymoshenko).

UKRAINE'S LINKS TO THE TALIBAN AND AL-QAEDA

With Ukraine closely involved in supplying arms to Pakistan beginning in
1996, and possibly the Taliban regime as well, it is not surprising that
further allegations have surfaced concerning links to al-Qaeda. The most
recent were reports of nuclear materials supplied to al-Qaeda by Ukraine.

The Financial Times reported that a Taliban-al-Qaeda delegation visited
Ukraine in September 1999, headed by Taliban deputy foreign minister
Abdul-Rahman Zahed. The ties established in 1999, a year before UN sanctions
were imposed on Afghanistan, continued at least until Sept 11, 2001.

A former Soviet air force officer and notorious illegal arms trafficker,
Victor Bout runs most of his business operations from the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), operating between forty and sixty aircraft (including the
largest Antonov cargo fleet in the world) and employing 300. One of Bout's
airfreight companies air-lifted Rabinovych's weaponry from the UAE. Sheikh
Abdullah bin Zayed bin Saqr al Nayhan, former UAE Ambassador to the United
States and a member of the UAE ruling family, remains a close business
associate of Bout.

Bout's links to the Taliban go back to the mid 1990s, when a transport plane
intended for the Northern Alliance government of Burhanuddin Rabbani landed
in Taliban-controlled territory. Bout immediately began selling Rabinovych's
arms to the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and continued right up to 9/11. British
intelligence (MI6/SIS) had been monitoring Bout since 1999. A British
official said, "The evidence assembled is persuasive. He has a go-anywhere,
supply-anything outfit that fuels war and terrorism". British Foreign Office
Minister Peter Hain claimed Bout "was also supplying the Taliban and
al-Qaeda. He must be put out of business."

More serious charges concern possible nuclear trafficking. Although tactical
and strategic nuclear weapons were removed from Ukraine in 1992 and 1996,
respectively, not all nuclear materials have been accounted for. In 1994 a
Ukrainian nuclear scientist offered U.S. officials the opportunity to
purchase 165 pounds of weapons-grade uranium, sufficient for three nuclear
bombs. The United States declined.

The scientist, then working at the obscure Kharkiv Institute of Physics and
Technology, admitted at the time that, "It's lightly guarded". Two-thirds of
the staff had been laid off and the remainder were paid poor salaries.
Formerly a major scientific research arm of the Soviet Union's nuclear
weapons industry, the Kharkiv Institute used to employ some 6,000. So where
has all of this nuclear material gone to in the time since the Soviet
collapse? In 2002 the Washington Post quoted William Potter, director of the
Monterey Center for Nonproliferation Studies, as believing "It represents a
major terrorist and proliferation target."

These concerns should be borne in mind when two February reports appeared in
the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper alleging that al-Qaeda obtained tactical
nuclear weapons or "suitcase bombs" from Ukraine. The reports claimed that
Ukrainian scientists visited Kandahar in 1998 and met senior al-Qaeda
figures. U.S. intelligence agents "learned about the affair and were able to
immediately track the deal all the way to Ukraine," according to Al-Hayat.

Publicly at least, U.S. officials have remained skeptical about the new
claims. Not surprisingly, Russia has come to the rescue of its ally,
President Kuchma, backing the official claim that all nuclear weapons were
transferred to Russia in 1992-1996. As usual, the Ukrainian authorities also
dismissed these reports as "Totally groundless and surprising".

Nevertheless, we should not rush to dismiss these claims, however
sensational they may be. Two years earlier, in September 2002, Ukrainian
Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko alleged that only 2,200 of the 2,400
tactical nuclear warheads that Ukraine inherited from the USSR were
transferred to Russia in 1992, while 200 remained unaccounted for. Nor did
Ukrainian Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Adam Martyniuk, also a Communist,
rule out the Al-Hayat reports completely.

CONCLUSION

The new claims made in Al-Hayat about al-Qaeda obtaining nuclear materials
from Ukraine seem at first glance to be unlikely and the two stories seem,
therefore, to have been planted by an unknown group or country.
Nevertheless, three factors should be kept in mind.

Firstly, Ukraine has a very poor record in illegal arms trafficking. Not a
single Ukrainian arms trafficker has been prosecuted domestically. These
arms traffickers had, and continue to have, close ties to President Kuchma,
as evidenced by his recent meeting with Rabinovych.

Secondly, the international commission that visited Ukraine in October 2002
to investigate charges that it supplied Kolchugas to Iraq concluded that
Ukraine's arms export controls were poor. During L. Derkach's chairmanship
of the SBU from 1997-2002, Ukraine developed close military ties with
Pakistan.

Thirdly, the chronology of events shows that during this same period Ukraine

broadened these military ties. Bout had ties to the Taliban from 1995-1996.
Ukrainian scientists may have visited the Taliban and al-Qaeda in 1998, and
a Taliban-al-Qaeda delegation reportedly visited Ukraine in 1999. The
Bout-Rabinovych arms export business alliance is known to have supplied
military equipment to the Taliban from 1999-2001. All this should raise
concerns for those monitoring al-Qaeda attempts at obtaining nuclear
capabilities.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Taras Kuzio is a resident fellow at the Centre for Russian and East
European studies and adjunct professor of the Department of Political
Science at the University of Toronto (www.taraskuzio.net).
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Major Articles About What is Going on in Ukraine
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