"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT"
In-Depth Ukrainian News, Analysis, and Commentary
"The Art of Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business, Religion,
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World"
UKRAINE, UKRAINE!
Millions and millions of your children want to come home.
The name of the game is creating jobs and more jobs.
When will you create enough good jobs for them?
When can the millions come home?
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" Year 04, Number 77
Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC), Washington, D.C.
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Washington, D.C.; Kyiv, Ukraine, WEDNESDAY, May 12, 2004
INDEX OF ARTICLES
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1. MIGRANT WORKER'S TRAGEDY HITS HOME IN UKRAINE
By Alan Quartly, BBC correspondent in Cherniyiv, Ukraine
BBC WORLDWIDE NEWS, UK, Monday, May 10, 2004
2. IRAQ: UKRAINIAN SAILORS CONTINUE TO LANGUISH
IN ABU GHURAYB PRISON
Abu Ghurayb is at the heart of a new controversy involving
systematic abuse of Iraqi detainees by U.S. forces.
Feature Article by Askold Krushelnycky
Belarus and Ukraine Report
RFE/RL, Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, May 11, 2004
3. UKRAINE DEMANDS RETURN OF PRISONERS FROM IRAQ
US soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners arouse indignation and aversion
One Plus One TV, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 10 May 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Monday, May 10, 2004
4. SMOKING SOLDIERS IGNITED UKRAINE AMMO DISASTER
REUTERS, Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 11, 2004
5. UKRAINE BEGINS TO BUILD CONTROVERSIAL
DANUBE-BLACK SEA NAVIGABLE CANAL
ITAR-TASS, Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 11, 2004
6. UKRAINE OPPOSITION SAYS MUKACHEVE ELECTION
VOTE-RIGGING PROBE STALLED
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 11 May 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Tuesday, May 11, 2004
7. PROFILE OF UKRAINIAN FIRST DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
AND FINANCE MINISTER MYKOLA AZAROV
BBC Monitoring Service Research, UK, Thursday, Apr 29, 2004
8. UKRAINIAN BUSINESS INVESTMENT ISSUE THAT
INVOLVES U.S. TAXPAYER FUNDS
U.S. Congressional Ukrainian Caucus
Hon. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio in the U. S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C., Friday, April 30, 2004
9. 3RD ANNUAL LONDON UKRAINIAN FESTIVAL!
London, Ontario, Canada, Saturday, June 5th, 2004
Barvinok Ukrainian Dance Ensemble
London, Ontario, Canada, Tuesday, May 11, 2004
10. UKRAINIAN MUSEUM WILL STAY IN CLEVELAND, OHIO
New two-story building to be built behind current structure
Nazis maps, photos used to invade Ukraine in World War II will be displayed
By Angela Townsend, Plain Dealer Reporter
The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, Saturday, April 17, 2004
11. UKRAINIAN AMERICAN STUDIES FUND
Ensuring the Future of the IHRC's Ukrainian American History Collection
Immigration History Research Center (IHRC)
College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN, May, 2004
12. UKRAINE TO SHOW OFF ITS RUSLAN CARGO JET
RIA Novosti-Ukraine wire service
Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 11, 2004
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 77 ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
Politics and Governance, Building a Strong, Democratic Ukraine
http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/index.htm
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1 JOBS: MIGRANT WORKER'S TRAGEDY HITS HOME IN UKRAINE
By Alan Quartly, BBC correspondent in Cherniyiv, Ukraine
BBC WORLDWIDE NEWS, UK, Monday, May 10, 2004
CHERNIYIV, Ukraine - Svetlana met Roman Kopitovich at a party
when her brother was leaving home to join the army. They married.
He worked as an engineer and she got a job in the district post office.
Western Ukraine in the late 1970s and early 1980s seemed as good a
place as any in the USSR to bring up a family. Roman and Svetlana
had two daughters - first Natalia, then Zoryana.
Then history intervened.
With the social and economic upheaval brought by the end of the
Soviet Union, living standards plummeted in Ukraine.
Roman found himself earning the equivalent of $50 a month with two
teenage daughters heading for higher education - an expensive
privilege in the post-communist era.
Sitting in her small house in the village of Cherniyiv, surrounded
by traditional Ukrainian embroidery, Svetlana said: "The girls had
to study. Therefore we decided that one of us had to go abroad. And
so it turned out that my husband went."
ILLEGAL TRAVEL
That was in September 2002. Roman made the journey thousands of
eastern Europeans have made - travelling illegally through western
Europe until he found himself in Britain.
For the family back in Ukraine, life got tough. But Roman was soon
sending back nearly $1,000 a month for his daughters' studies.
Then earlier this year disaster struck.
Roman, 47, was found dead in the basement of the Cafe Royal in
London where he had been working as a kitchen porter.
An inquest in the British capital last week recorded a verdict of
accidental death, saying the Ukrainian had slipped after taking a
shower, adding he had just finished two consecutive 12-hour shifts.
There were claims that Roman - unknown to his employers - had
actually been living in the basement to save money.
FAMILY SNAPSHOTS
"It was a tragedy for the girls," confided Svetlana at home in
Ukraine. "He was a caring father to the children. They were the most
important thing to him. He went abroad to work to give them an
education, to give them happiness in future life."
Natalia, 20, has one year to go to finish her economics degree at a
college in the town of Ivano-Frankivsk. Her sister Zoryana, 18, is
in the second year of a six-year course at medical school.
When we went to see the family they were wondering where they would
find the money to bring Roman's body back to Ukraine - although this
has since happened.
All they had to remember their father were some family snapshots and
a faxed copy of a London coroner's death certificate saying Roman
died due to a "fractured cervical spine" and describing the
qualified engineer as a "cleaner".
The two girls pressed on with their studies. Trying to hold back the
tears, Zoryana said: "He didn't tell us much about what he was
doing. He just said you study and I'll pay for it."
Natalia and Zoryana spoke to their father on the phone nearly every
week. He always sounded cheerful.
"Of course if we had known what could happen, we wouldn't have
wanted him to go," said Natalia. "But if he hadn't been working in
the kitchen then we wouldn't have got our education."
LARGER PHENOMENON
But now the family is left without a father and without the means to
finance the daughters' studies. Svetlana does not know how they will
cope.
She realises that what her family has gone through is part of a much
larger phenomenon.
Western Ukraine with its huge collective farms and specialist
factories in Soviet times now has little to offer to the working-age
population.
"People go abroad because they can't find highly paid work in their
home countries," said Svetlana. "The money they get abroad might not
be much, but in their home countries it goes a long way. It's not
just Britain people go to. There's Italy, Spain, Portugal - wherever
people can get to."
The story of the life and death of Roman Kopitovich sent shockwaves
through the dilapidated villages of western Ukraine.
Official statistics in the country say millions of Ukrainians travel
abroad to work every year. But Roman is unlikely to the last of his
countrymen to take a similar chance while the motivation to do so
remains.
"Everybody who goes to work abroad has an aim - he needs to buy
something, repair something, maybe to buy a flat. Far be it from me
to offer advice on whether someone should go - everybody has to act
according to their own circumstances," said Svetlana.
"How long can you be unemployed? You have to live." (END)
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LINK with photos: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3701867.stm
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 77: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
The Genocidal Famine in Ukraine 1932-1933, HOLODOMOR
Genocide Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/famineart/index.htm
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2. IRAQ: UKRAINIAN SAILORS CONTINUE TO LANGUISH
IN ABU GHURAYB PRISON
Abu Ghurayb is at the heart of a new controversy involving
systematic abuse of Iraqi detainees by U.S. forces.
Feature Article by Askold Krushelnycky
Belarus and Ukraine Report
RFE/RL, Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Two Ukrainian citizens -- the captain and second in command of a
Dubai-based oil tanker -- have been held captive for eight months in
Iraq's notorious Abu Ghurayb prison. That prison is at the heart of
a mounting scandal involving the abuse of detainees by their U.S.
captors. With evidence mounting about the scale of the abuse, Kyiv
is renewing efforts to free the two sailors, who it says are
suffering in harsh conditions.
PRAGUE - - Last summer, the "Navstar-1," a Panamanian-flagged
vessel belonging a United Arab Emirates company, was detained off
the southern coast of Iraq. Its Ukrainian crew was arrested and changed
with smuggling Iraqi oil from the port of Umm Qasr.
Most of the crew was eventually released. But the ship's captain and
second in command, Mykola Mazurenko and Ivan Soschenko,
respectively, were brought to trial. The two men denied knowing that
the 1,100 tons of oil on board the "Navstar-1" were banned for
export. But in October, an Iraqi court sentenced the men to seven
years in jail, and fined $1.2 million each.
Since then, Mazurenko and Soschenko -- both in their sixties and
suffering from poor health -- have been languishing in Baghdad's Abu
Ghurayb prison complex. Infamous under Saddam Hussein as a place
where opponents of the regime were routinely tortured and murdered,
Abu Ghurayb is at the heart of a new controversy involving
systematic abuse of Iraqi detainees by U.S. forces.
"The state of their health in these conditions and the
understandable stress they are undergoing causes us concern." --
Ukrainian spokesman.The recent publication of photographs detailing
the abuse has outraged the Arab world and put the United States on
the defensive. It has also alarmed the families of the two Ukrainian
detainees, and raised questions in Kyiv about how the men are being
treated.
Mazurenko and Soschenko's wives told RFE/RL they have been unable
to speak to their husbands by phone since February. Mazurenko's wife
said her husband had complained of a sinister atmosphere at Abu
Ghurayb, saying he was being held in cramped conditions and that
prison guards had attacked some detainees.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said diplomats had
not been able to visit the two men in some time because of continued
fighting between coalition forces and Iraqi insurgents.
At the end of April, the Ukrainian ombudsman for human rights, Nina
Karpachova, asked the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, John Herbst, for
his country's diplomatic support to enable Ukrainian diplomats to
visit the two sailors and assess their conditions. Karpachova
reiterated her call last week, after the Abu Ghurayb abuse
photographs had been aired. She said she "could not exclude
absolutely" that the two Ukrainians were not being subjected to
similar treatment.
Patricia Guy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, said
embassy officials were looking into the matter. "We have seen the
letter from ombudsman Karpachova about the 'Navstar' crewmen and
we are inquiring into the situation of the Ukrainian seamen," Guy said.
Guy said the U.S. government condemned the way some of its soldiers
had treated the Iraqi prisoners, but she said the situation of the
two sailors was different. "We have no information suggesting that
the crewmen are not receiving proper care. If we were to receive
such information, we would address these concerns with the
appropriate authorities," she said.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Markiyan Lubkivskiy said the
U.S. military allowed Ukrainian diplomats on 2 May to visit
Mazurenko and Soschenko, who were deemed to be in satisfactory
condition. "According to the information that our diplomats got
directly from the Ukrainian sailors, there are no complaints about
the behavior towards them of other prisoners or the guards,"
Lubkivskiy said.
He said the two sailors had been transferred to slightly better
conditions than the ones they were initially held in. However, he
said the conditions were still extremely grim. "Mazurenko and
Soschenko have been transferred to a cell for older people,"
Lubkivskiy said. "There are 56 people in that cell -- you can
imagine they all sleep on mattresses on the floor next to one
another. Therefore, conditions are not straightforward even from the
point of view of their accommodation. Even though from the point of
view of food, the information we get is that they receive food
regularly and there are no complaints on that count."
Lubkivskiy said that the health of the two men is poor. The ministry
spokesman said Captain Mazurenko, who is 66, is at particular risk,
because he suffers from diabetes but reportedly is only able to
receive medicine when his symptoms become acute. "The state of their
health in these conditions and the understandable stress they are
undergoing causes us concern," he said. "They do not have regular
contact with doctors. Doctors have restricted access to the prison.
Therefore, we are troubled by this situation and we have called the
attention of both the Iraqi transitional government and the
effective [U.S.] authorities to the situation of our sailors."
Lubkivskiy said the two men, who are awaiting a second appeal of
their sentence, have become a top priority for the Foreign Ministry.
He said Ukraine, which is contributing 1,650 troops in Iraq, hopes
the United States will lend its weight to help the two sailors in
their forthcoming appeal.
"The Iraqi courts will have the last word. But at the same time we
rely on the support of the Americans as our partners in the
coalition. I think that they are listened to and their role and
their influence will not be the least important factor in the
resolution of this issue," he said. Lubkivskiy hopes that even if
the appeal is unsuccessful, a deal can be worked out to allow the
two sailors to serve their prison sentences in Ukraine. (END)
LINK: http://www.rferl.org
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 77: 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
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3. UKRAINE DEMANDS RETURN OF PRISONERS FROM IRAQ
US soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners arouse indignation and aversion
One Plus One TV, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 10 May 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Monday, May 10, 2004
KIEV - [Presenter] US soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners arouse indignation
and aversion, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko said today
after talks with an Estonian government delegation [led by Foreign Minister
Kristiina Ojuland].
Ukraine believes that all those responsible for the mistreatment of
prisoners should be severely punished in accordance with the laws of the
country which has jurisdiction over the issue, the minister said.
But official Kiev insists that Ukrainians who are being kept in Iraqi
prisons should be returned to their homeland.
[Hryshchenko] For our part, we believe that under these conditions Ukrainian
prisoners who have been arrested and who are being kept in Iraqi prisons
should not be kept there. They should be returned to Ukraine to serve their
punishment. This is our position which we have stated in an official note.
I have personally passed it to US Ambassador [John Herbst]. We will insist
on resolving the issue in that particular way. [Audio and video available.
Please send queries to kiev.bbcm@mon.bbc.co.uk] (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 77: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
Major Articles About What is Going on in Ukraine
Current Events Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/events/index.htm
Become a financial sponsor of The Action Ukraine Program Fund
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4. SMOKING SOLDIERS IGNITED UKRAINE AMMO DISASTER
REUTERS, Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 11, 2004
KIEV - Two smoking soldiers set off tonnes of ammunition that killed five
people, caused $725 million in damage and sent debris showering across
southern Ukraine last week, the emergencies minister said on Tuesday.
A series of blasts hurled debris as far as 40 km (25 miles) after fire broke
out last Thursday at a warehouse complex where 92,000 tonnes of artillery
ammunition was stored. Blasts were still heard on Tuesday, emergencies
minister Hryhory Reva told parliament.
"At about 12 o'clock on Thursday, two servicemen, who were stocking military
ammunition, began smoking at their working site. It caused the fire and set
off the explosions," he said.
The blasts caused some $725 million in damage to the defence ministry and
population in the Zaporizhya region, he said. They destroyed buildings in a
three km (two mile) radius, including a local railway station. A minor gas
pipeline was also damaged. Metal fragments and other debris were thrown 40
km, causing fires in nearby towns.
Authorities evacuated some 7,000 people from the surrounding area. People
started to return home on Tuesday, five days after the initial blasts.
Some parliamentary deputies have demanded Defence Minister Evhen Marchuk
resign because of his inability to turn around the ex-Soviet state's
struggling armed forces. The Ukrainian army has seen its reputation
battered in recent years following a series of disasters. (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 77: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
Exciting Opportunities in Ukraine: Travel and Tourism Gallery
http://www.ArtUkraine.com/tourgallery.htm
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5. UKRAINE BEGINS TO BUILD CONTROVERSIAL
DANUBE-BLACK SEA NAVIGABLE CANAL
ITAR-TASS, Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 11, 2004
KIEV - In the Odessa Region of Ukraine, the construction of a deepwater
navigable canal, Danube - Black Sea, begins on Tuesday on a Bystraya (swift)
River branch. The canal can ensure a switchover of up to 60 percent of the
Danube cargo traffic from the Romanian delta to the Ukrainian one.
The government approved a canal building project in the autumn of last year.
The canal will be 162.6 km long and 8.1-8.4 metres deep. The building work,
estimated at about 27 million US dollars, is to be competed in 2007-'08.
Ecological organisations oppose the construction of the canal for fear that
the Danube biosphere reserve (DBR) would be ruined. The DBR is part of the
International Network of Biosphere Reserves of the UNESCO's Man and
Biosphere programme and of the global network of wetlands that are of
importance for the conservation of birds.
The Ministry of Transport, which actively supports the project, regards
those apprehensions as unfounded. (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 77: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
The Story of Ukraine's Long and Rich Culture
Ukrainian Culture Gallery: http://www.ArtUkraine.com/cultgallery.htm
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6. UKRAINE OPPOSITION SAYS MUKACHEVE ELECTION
VOTE-RIGGING PROBE STALLED
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 11 May 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Tuesday, May 11, 2004
KIEV - The [opposition] Our Ukraine faction and the Yuliya Tymoshenko
Bloc insist that the law-enforcement agencies should immediately report to
parliament on the situation around the mayoral election in Mukacheve, MP
Anatoliy Matviyenko told parliament today. [A parliamentary commission sent
to investigate the situation after the 18 April election reported widespread
violations, attacks on polling stations and apparent vote-rigging. Our
Ukraine says victory was stolen from its candidate.]
Matviyenko asked for a half-hour break for consultations with the
law-enforcement ministers. After the consultations, parliament speaker
Volodymyr Lytvyn should tell parliament when a report about Mukacheve
will be heard, the MP said.
Our Ukraine and the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc express their protest against
the "bias and inaction of the law-enforcement agencies charged with
investigating crimes committed during the election", Matviyenko told
parliament. The two factions are also worried "by the inconsistency on the
part of the president, who ordered the prosecutor-general to launch an
investigation and report his findings by 1 May". "It is already 11 May, but
the Ukrainian public and the international community are still in the dark,"
Matviyenko said.
Parliament speaker Lytvyn replied that he intended to ask the
law-enforcement chiefs whether they are ready to report about the situation
in Mukacheve on Wednesday [12 May]. (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 77: 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. PROFILE OF UKRAINIAN FIRST DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
AND FINANCE MINISTER MYKOLA AZAROV
BBC Monitoring Service Research, UK, Thursday, Apr 29, 2004
Mykola Azarov, who combines the posts of Ukrainian first deputy prime
minister and finance minister, is a long-standing ally of President Leonid
Kuchma. Azarov is also understood to be equally close to the Donetsk
business and political group.
The Russian-born politician only recently started making key speeches in
Ukrainian and has been accused by the right-wing opposition of failing to
embrace Ukraine's national identity.
Born in Kaluga in 1947 as Nikolay Pakhlo, he later assumed the family
name of his wife, Lyudmyla Azarova.
He earned a geology degree from the prestigious Moscow State University
and worked at a coal mine in Tula, Russia, and then at a mining institute
outside Moscow. Upon moving to Ukraine in 1984, he became deputy
head and then head of a geology and mining institute in Donetsk.
Azarov became involved in politics in the early 1990s. In 1994, he joined
the political council and presidium of the progovernment Regional Revival
party. It was later renamed Party of the Regions and is believed to
represent the Donetsk group's interests.
Azarov was elected an MP in 1994, and in 1995-97 he headed parliament's
crucial budget committee.
In 1996-2002, he headed the State Tax Administration. Azarov's tenure as tax
chief was marked by accusations of using the office to clamp down on the
opposition. In particular, during the parliamentary election campaign in
2002 an antigovernment web site called Obkom was closed down after the tax
authorities seized its computers and documents. Azarov denied there was any
politics behind the tax inspections.
He was elected to the post of leader of the Party of Regions in March 2001
only to resign from it in December. Azarov said he wanted to forestall
accusations of supporting the party as tax chief in the run-up to the 2002
parliamentary elections. Currently, he heads the party's political council,
which is believed to be the second most important post in the party after
that of its leader, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.
When Yanukovych's cabinet was formed in November 2002, Azarov was
appointed to the posts of both first deputy prime minister and finance
minister.
However, many doubted whether the two positions should be combined, saying
this gives Azarov too much control over Ukraine's finances.
Azarov's style of management has often been criticized as authoritarian and
high-handed. In January 2004, Economics Minister Valeriy Khoroshkovskyy and
Inna Bohoslovska, who headed the Ukrainian State Committee for Regulatory
Policy and Enterprise, resigned, saying they were pressurized by Azarov.
Analysts suggested that the move signalled a split in the progovernment
camp, as it would have been impossible without the blessing of Viktor
Pinchuk. He is President Kuchma's son-in-law, a major businessman and,
reputedly, a backer of Khoroshkovskyy and Bohoslovska.
As deputy prime minister, Azarov has shown himself to be one on the main
lobbyists for the Single Economic Space, an economic union of Russia,
Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Despite fears that EU and WTO integration
prospects may suffer, the Single Economic Space treaty was ratified in April
by the Ukrainian parliament, as well as by the parliaments of the other
three member states.
In numerous press interviews, Azarov has pledged allegiance to President
Kuchma, denying ambitions to become president or prime minister. Little is
known about Azarov's hobbies or interests, as he avoids talking about
personal matters. (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 77: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
Ukraine's History and the Long Struggle for Independence
Historical Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/histgallery.htm
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8. INVESTMENT ISSUE THAT INVOLVES U.S. TAXPAYER FUNDS
U.S. CONGRESSIONAL UKRAINIAN CAUCUS
HON. MARCY KAPTUR of Ohio in the U. S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C., Friday, April 30, 2004
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to request that the following
letter be inserted in the Record.
Congressional Ukrainian Caucus,
Washington, DC, March 26, 2004.
Hon. Viktor Yanukovych,
Prime Minister of Ukraine.
Dear Prime Minister Yanukovych:
As members of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus and long time
supporters of Ukraine's independence and economic growth, we are
writing to express our concern regarding an investment issue that
involves U.S. taxpayer funds.
The Congress established the Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF)
as a private equity fund to invest in small- and medium-sized private
enterprises in Ukraine (Moldova and Belarus) in 1994. WNISEF was
capitalized initially with $150 million by the U.S. Government, with the
key aspect of spurring foreign investment in Ukraine. Since its foundation,
the Fund has fulfilled its mission as envisioned by Congress, making
cumulative investment commitments of more than $73 million in 22
companies in Ukraine, as well as $3.8 small business loans to 67
Ukrainian small businesses. The Fund has attracted additional capital
to these businesses of well over the amount it has invested itself.
However, these accomplishments are now at risk of being overshadowed
by an investment dispute that threatens Ukraine's foreign investment
reputation and U.S.-Ukrainian economic relations.
WNISEF recently filed an arbitration case against Ukraine arising out
of Ukraine's violation of the Fund's rights under the U.S.-Ukraine
Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). it is a disturbing investment issue
implicating the fundamental value of rule of law, contract and treaty
obligation enforcement.
The case involves a WNISEF loan to the Ukrainian company, Sonola
JSC (Kirovohrad). After Sonola defaulted on payments of the loan,
WNISEF sought to collect the loan and, as in accordance with the
dispute settlement language of the loan agreement, filed a claim for
arbitration with the American Arbitration Association, New York,
USA. The arbitrator, and subsequently the New York courts, upheld
WNISEF's claim against Sonola of $3.8 million.
Unfortunately, WNISEF has been unable to enforce the international
arbitration award in Ukraine's courts--twice filing a petition for
recognition and enforcement of the award to the Kirovohrad Oblast
Court of Appeal during 2001-2002. The Supreme Court of Ukraine
has refused the Fund's appeal, casting doubts as to the fulfillment by
Ukraine of its obligations under international agreements.
WNISEF has now been forced to file an action against Ukraine to
the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
(Washington, D.C.), alleging that the actions of the Ukrainian judiciary
have violated international law, including Ukraine's obligations under
two important international agreements to which Ukraine is party.
We would like to ensure that the Fund is treated fairly under the terms
of the U.S.-Ukraine Bilateral Investment Treaty. If WNISEF is not
provided basic protection under Ukrainian law, how can other potential
foreign investors have any confidence in Ukraine's foreign investment
climate?
The Fund has repeatedly expressed its willingness to resolve the dispute
by way of negotiations and reaching an amicable agreement. In order to
prevent the potential negative effects for Ukraine due to a hearing of this
case at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes,
we urge you to facilitate a prompt resolution of this dispute.
Reducing investor risk and increasing investor confidence are the keys to
attracting additional foreign capital to Ukraine, which will in turn create
jobs, modernize factories and bring numerous other benefits to the
Ukrainian people.
It is our hope that American companies doing business in Ukraine maintain
full confidence in the Ukrainian system and continue to contribute to its
economic development. A prompt resolution of the WNISEF investment
dispute will enhance U.S. confidence in Ukraine's commitment to foreign
investment protection.
Sincerely, [Cong.] Marcy Kaptur, Co-Chair; [Cong.] Curt Weldon, Co-Chair.
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 77: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
The Rich History of Ukrainian Art, Music, Pysanka, Folk-Art
Arts Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/artgallery.htm
Support "The Action Ukraine Report"...Send A Check Today
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9. 3RD ANNUAL LONDON UKRAINIAN FESTIVAL!
London, Ontario, Canada, Saturday, June 5th, 2004
Barvinok Ukrainian Dance Ensemble
London, Ontario, Canada, Tuesday, May 11, 2004
LONDON - WELCOME, or as we say in Ukrainian, Vitayemo!! to
our 3rd Annual London Ukrainian Festival!!
Once again this exciting event will take place in the city of London,
Ontario, [northeast of Detroit, Michigan] on Saturday, June 5th from
12:30 am until after midnight. Last year the Festival was sold out 3
weeks in advance.
We had planned on approximately 300 people last year but over 400
people arrived. Add in the almost 100 dancers and musicians and the
Festival was filled with enthusiastic, standing ovations, hand-clapping,
and cheering people.
The Festival will provide an eating area, a spacious boutique area with
traditional Ukrainian handcrafts, and the Ukrainian Centre that will seat
up to 400 people.
This is an opportunity to bring together a large number of youth to showcase
Ukrainian culture through the performances at the Festival of traditional
dances, with costumes and music. It is also an opportunity for our youth to
make new friends, showcase their talents, but most of all have a good time.
What a better way than this to spend a day! Come out and be part of the
fun and celebration. The Ukrainian Festival is open to everyone and, as we
say, you don't have to be Ukrainian to have fun at the Festival. So bring
the family, the whole family, join your friends and neighbors at the London
Ukrainian Centre for a day you will long remember.
--This will be a Full Licensed Event...with New Ukraine Vodka's, Beer's, &
Wine's for your convenience
--Zabava / Dance for all from 8:30pm to 1:00am
--Full Day Pass (Festival & Dance).$15, Festival.$10, Dance (Zabava)..$10
--Special Performances by Oshawa, Guelph, Windson, & London
--E-mail for event info: london_barvinok@rogers.com
--Website: http://www.barvinok.20m.com (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 77: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
Politics and Governance, Building a Strong, Democratic Ukraine
http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/index.htm
If The Action Ukraine Report is beneficial to you support it.
=========================================================
10. UKRAINIAN MUSEUM WILL STAY IN CLEVELAND, OHIO
New two-story building to be built behind current structure
Nazis maps, photos used to invade Ukraine in World War II will be displayed
By Angela Townsend, Plain Dealer Reporter
The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio, April 17, 2004
CLEVELAND - The embroidered pillows, ornately designed Easter eggs and
traditional pluck-string musical instrument give only a taste of what is
tucked beyond the front rooms of the Ukrainian Museum-Archives.
Much more thousands of books, magazines and rare artifacts is cramped into a
modest two-story house in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood. Museum officials
hope a long-awaited expansion will better preserve the artifacts that have
been collected for more than 50 years and make them more visible.
The Cleveland Landmarks Commission recently approved the museum's plans for
a two-story, 2,800-square-foot building behind the current structure on
Kenilworth Avenue. The two buildings will eventually be linked by a gallery
hall, said museum director Andrew Fedynsky.
Congress in 2001 gave the museum a $200,000 renovation and expansion grant.
With $20,000 from the Cleveland Foundation and more than $100,000 in pledges
from members, the museum is more than halfway to its goal of raising
$450,000, Fedynsky said. Construction will start in late summer or fall.
Immigrant scholars founded the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in 1952. The museum
moved into its current location in 1977 and quickly outgrew the house but
continued to collect Ukrainian and Ukrainian-American artifacts.
Museum officials will move a large chunk of the collection, including items
that would have been destroyed under the regime of Josef Stalin, into the
new space.
Photographs, artwork and military maps used by the Nazis to invade the
Ukraine in World War II will finally come out of ceiling-high stacks of
boxes and into public view.
The museum's board members will then decide what to do with the current
location. Among ideas being considered are a gift shop or extensive
renovations to allow for more displays, such as one now dedicated to Taras
Shevchenko , a poet, artist and national hero. The museum has asked for
suggestions from its members. "We just sent out 700 questionnaires to our
mailing list, and we already have 200 responses," Fedynsky said.
More than 47,000 people of Ukrainian ancestry live in Ohio, according to the
2000 census. Of those, nearly 18,000 live in Cuyahoga County, with 3,200 in
Cleveland.
Descendants of the Ukrainians who had emigrated to the Tremont neighborhood
since the 1880s began moving to the suburbs, primarily Parma, just as
Ukraine became independent of the Soviet Union in 1991, said Fedynsky, who
came to the United States with his parents in 1948.
Some of those Parma residents tried to persuade officials to move the museum
there. But they aren't the only ones who coveted the facility.
Because of the museum's international reputation, Harvard University, the
New York Public Library system and other institutions expressed interest in
taking over the collection. But the museum will stay in Cleveland, Fedynsky
said.
Tremont "was the start of the immigration experience," said Taras Szmagala,
a museum board member whose parents moved to the neighborhood in 1913.
Councilman Joe Cimperman, whose ward includes Tremont, said he's relieved
the museum will stay put.
"It's one of the best-kept secrets, showcasing the incredible contributions
the Ukrainian community has made to this city," he said. "What's the soul of
Cleveland? We're an immigrant city." (END)
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Ukrainian Museum-Archives, 1202 Kenilworth Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44113, 216 781 4329
http://www.umacleveland.org/home.html
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 77: ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
The Rich History of Ukrainian Art, Music, Pysanka, Folk-Art
Arts Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/artgallery.htm
Support "The Action Ukraine Report"...Send A Check Today
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11. UKRAINIAN AMERICAN STUDIES FUND
Ensuring the Future of the IHRC's Ukrainian American History Collection
Immigration History Research Center (IHRC)
College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN, May, 2004
The Immigration History Research Center holds the richest and most extensive
collection of materials for Ukrainian American history in the world. The
foundation of this collection is the personal library and extensive body of
personal and professional papers compiled by the well-known entomologist,
publicist, community activist, and poet Alexander A. Granovsky.
Also included are the papers and records of scholars, political and social
activists, publishers and writers, among others; and organizations, such as
fraternals (for example, Ukrainian National Association, Ukrainian Fraternal
Association, Providence Association of Ukrainian Catholics in America) and
war relief, religious, and cultural associations.
In addition to these records and papers, the IHRC holds over 4,500 books and
pamphlets and over 700 newspaper and serial titles written by, for, and
about Ukrainian Americans. They emanate from various parts of North America
and reflect a full range of Ukrainian American perspectives and interests.
Because of the unique value of this resource, used by researchers from
around the world, the IHRC is establishing the Ukrainian American Studies
Fund, an endowment to provide staff support, research assistance, and
outreach services to the Ukrainian American community. Care and development
of this precious resource require the ongoing commitment of professional
staff.
Therefore, the first goal is to provide additional staff for the Ukrainian
collection. Equipped with Ukrainian language skills, cultural knowledge,
and archival experience, staff will not only process materials and provide
reference service to researchers, but also actively work with Ukrainian
American institutions, organizations, and individuals to preserve precious
records that still languish in basements and attics.
The target amount for this fund is an endowment of $500,000. A prestigious
Challenge Grant awarded by the federal government will aid in achieving this
total. For every $4 raised between now and July 2005, the National
Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) will provide an additional $1. Thus, if
donors contribute $400,000 for the position, NEH will add $100,000. The
fund may be named after the primary, or "lead," donor.
As part of the University's Campaign Minnesota, the creation of the
Ukrainian American Studies Fund will both raise public consciousness of
Ukrainian American history and make a significant investment in preserving
the story of the Ukrainian experience in the United States.
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Founded in 1965, the Immigration History Research Center enriches society
by preserving and promoting understanding of the history of the American
immigrant experience. In doing so, it acts in partnership with various
ethnic communities, historical agencies, research specialists, educators,
and many others.
The IHRC develops and maintains a library and archival collection, provides
research assistance, produces publications, and sponsors academic and
public programs. Its work supports the tripartite mission-teaching,
research, and service-of its parent institution, the University of
Minnesota.
Immigration History Research Center
University of Minnesota, College of Liberal Arts
311 Anderson Library, 222-21st Avenue S.
Minneapolis, MN 55455-0439
Tel: 612 625 4800, Fax: 612 626 0018
http://www.ihrc.umn.edu/stories/endw-cukr.htm
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 77: ARTICLE NUMBER TWELVE
The Genocidal Famine in Ukraine 1932-1933, HOLODOMOR
Genocide Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/famineart/index.htm
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12. UKRAINE TO SHOW OFF ITS RUSLAN CARGO JET
RIA Novosti-Ukraine wire service, Kiev, Ukraine, Tue, May 11, 2004
KIEV - Ukraine's Antonov aircraft design bureau is to show off its
An-124 Ruslan heavy-duty cargo jet, which helps airlift NATO troops
in Afghanistan, before NATO representatives and those of the German
Defense Ministry.
Talking to the Novosti-Ukraine wire service, Andrei Sovenko, who
heads the Antonov design bureau's press center, noted that the An-124
and Antonov Airlines will be unveiled during yet another stage of
talks as regards the use of heavy-duty Ukrainian planes.
The NATO leadership will learn more about the An-124 aircraft and
Antonov Airlines May 11-12 during the ILA-2004 international
aerospace show at Schonefeld airport near Berlin, Sovenko noted.
In his words, the presentation ceremony mostly aims to acquaint all
concerned NATO and EU (European Union) structures with the potential
of Ruslan planes, as well as that of Antonov Airlines.
As of today, Ukraine and Russia are the only countries in the world
to operate An-124-100 aircraft. Each Ruslan's load-carrying capacity
totals 120 tons; meanwhile revamped Ruslan versions can carry 150
tons of freight.
In 2004 the Government of Ukraine and NATO signed a memorandum on
using Ukraine's long-range transport aircraft during NATO operations
and exercises. In 2003 NATO countries inked a document stipulating
the use of Ukraine's An-124-100 cargo jets for long-range missions in
the interests of NATO prior to the adoption of the new European A-400-
M transport aircraft.
According to preliminary reports, six Ruslan planes are to start
operating in line with lease contracts already next year. (END)
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