"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"
SALE OF KRYVORIZHSTAL STEEL MILL IN UKRAINE
"The tender was written in such a way as to exclude foreign investors,
and we think that excluding foreign investors is handicapping Ukraine as it
seeks to develop.
The other problem is the price paid for the enterprise. A joint bid by LNM
Steel and the United States Steel Corporation would have paid the Ukrainian
government $1.5 billion, almost double the bid accepted from the Ukrainian
firms.
In addition, the LNM-U.S. Steel bid would have included $1.2 billion of
investment in Kryvorizhstal. In total, this bid was 2.5 times higher than
the successful Ukrainian bid.
This means that the government of Ukraine is much poorer, and so are the
workers of Kryvorizhstal and the people who live in that area, because an
additional $1.2 billion wasn't invested into the firm. This is a serious
problem." [U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, article nine]
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" Year 04, Number 108
Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC), Washington, D.C.
Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA), Huntingdon Valley, PA
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Washington, D.C.; Kyiv, Ukraine, FRIDAY, July 2, 2004
-----INDEX OF ARTICLES-----
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1. "KUCHMA FOR A THIRD TERM?"
New Gongadze documents may influence Kuchma's decision this year
Leaked police documents provide full picture of what happened to Gongadze
JANE'S INTELLIGENCE DIGEST
Jane's Information Group, Coulsdon, Surrey, UK, Friday, July 2, 2004
2. NEWS ANALYSIS: IN POLTAVA, ANOTHER SHADY ELECTION
Use of "mobile voting" rose to a stunning 30 percent of the vote
Paul Miazga, Kyiv Post Staff Writer, Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Thursday, Jul 1, 2004
3.MORE CAMPAIGN DIRTY TRICKS: LIGHTS GO OUT ON VIKTOR
YUSHCHENKO DURING REGIONAL POLITICAL TOUR
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 29 Jun 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004
4. "UKRAINE: IN AND OUT OF THE COLD"
Ukraine's President Kuchma has been glad-handing once more with the
West's leaders. The West needs to find a better way of stopping Kuchma
and his colleagues from stealing the upcoming presidential elections.
By Taras Kuzio, Transitions Online, Prague, Czech, Republic, 30 June 2004
5. PACE CO-RAPPORTEURS HANNE SEVERINSEN AND RENATE
WOHLWEND TO VISIT UKRAINE AGAIN IN AUGUST
Election Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe
By Andrii Derkach, Ukrainian News, Kiev, Ukraine, Wed, June 30, 2004
6. NEW POLL INDICATES 24% OF UKRAINIANS ARE PREPARED TO
BACK YUSHCHENKO IN 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
Daria Hluschenko, Ukrainian News, Kiev, Ukraine, Wed, June 30, 2004
7. UKRAINIAN STATE TV STARTS PRO-GOVERNMENT ECONOMIC
CHARM OFFENSIVE AS PRESIDENTIAL RACE LOOMS
UT1, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 29 Jun 04;
One Plus One TV, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 29 Jun 04;
Inter TV, Kiev, in Russian, 29 Jun 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jun 30, 2004
8. BORYS TARASYUK SEES NO PROSPECT OF NATO OFFERING
UKRAINE A PLAN OF GAINING FULL MEMBERSHIP
"Our Ukraine" Press-Service, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 25, 2004
9. "THE AMERICAN WAY"
Interview with John Herbst, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine
Vlad Lavrov, Kyiv Post Staff Writer, Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Thursday, Jul 1, 2004
10. UKRAINIAN DONETSK-BASED TYCOON RINAT AKHMETOV
NABS UKRAINIAN COAL HOLDING
By Roman Olearchyk, Kyiv Post Staff Writer, Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Jul 1, 2004
11. "HELPING CHILDREN'S DREAMS BECOME A REALITY"
Enabling Ukrainian Kids To Attend Summer Camp in the Carpathians
By Paul Miazga, Kyiv Post Staff Writer, Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Jun 10, 2004
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 108: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
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1. "KUCHMA FOR A THIRD TERM?"
New Gongadze documents may influence Kuchma's decision this year
Leaked police documents provide the full picture of what happened
JANE'S INTELLIGENCE DIGEST
Jane's Information Group, Coulsdon, Surrey, UK, Friday, July 2, 2004
A dark cloud has overshadowed what was to have been Ukrainian President
Leonid Kuchma's success in obtaining his first meeting with US President
George W Bush at Monday's NATO summit in Istanbul. In the week prior to the
NATO summit over 200 pages of confidential documents, highlighting official
collusion in the murder of opposition journalist Georhiy Gongadze in Autumn
2000, were leaked by police insiders.
These documents have created fresh difficulties for Kuchma and may influence
what decision he makes this year. Last December the Constitutional Court -
which he controls - ruled that he could stand for a third presidential term.
The court decided that his first term in 1994-1999 did not count as it began
before the present constitution was adopted in 1996. The constitution
prohibits more than two successive terms.
Ukraine's election campaign begins officially on 3 July and candidates have
to submit registration documents by the 1 August deadline. The recently
leaked documents are forcing Kuchma to consider whether he should risk
standing for a third term. Our sources indicate that this decision will be
made during the course of July based on an assessment of whether Kuchma's
chosen candidate, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, has any realistic chance
of defeating his main opponent, Viktor Yushchenko, who is currently ahead in
opinion polls.
CAN YANUKOVYCH WIN?
Yanukovych's own electoral prospects are being hampered by his juvenile
criminal record when he was imprisoned, not once but twice. Polls indicate
that 69 per cent of Ukrainians questioned will not vote for a candidate with
a criminal record. In addition, the high unpopularity of Kuchma is expected
to have a negative impact on Yanukovych's ratings.
Given that he is carrying such negative baggage, it is unsurprising that the
USA does not believe that Yanukovych could win the elections if they are
held in a free and fair manner. This will tempt the authorities to rig the
elections. However, even here this would only be possible to a limited
extent due to the high number of domestic and international observers who
are expected to be present during voting.
Western governments and international organisations have been warning
Kuchma to ensure that the elections will be free and fair. In the USA, the
Democrats have been pushing for tougher measures (including the denial of
visas for Ukrainian officials and the investigation of their foreign bank
accounts) if the forthcoming elections are not judged to be fair.
Meanwhile, Kuchma will spend July considering his options. Only victory for
Yanukovych will guarantee Kuchma immunity from prosecution in the Gongadze
case. If Kuchma decides that a Yanukovych victory would require election
rigging of a magnitude that would be impossible to conceal, he will have
little choice but to stand for election - a move that would lead to
Ukraine's international isolation.
Former US ambassador, Steven Pifer, has said that this would mean Kuchma
would be only able to travel to Moscow and Minsk. The Council of Europe
could be expected to go ahead with its threat to suspend Ukraine's
membership. A Kuchma win could require massive electoral fraud, but this
might be a price that the embattled president would be willing to pay to
obtain immunity. Such an outcome would be fraught with danger. Both Serbia
and Georgia have had revolutions triggered by alleged election fraud.
The leaking of documents by police indicate that Kuchma cannot be completely
confident that his security forces would support him. Ukraine's Interior
Ministry has insufficient personnel to deal with a Georgian-style
revolution. During violent disturbances in Kiev in March 2001, Interior
Ministry special forces were nearly overwhelmed by the opposition.
The military is led by defence minister Yevhen Marchuk who has long been
suspected of knowing about the bugging of Kuchma's office in 1999-2000. The
Ministry of Defence, like the security service, might prove to be unreliable
allies in any repressive action following a rigged election.
WHY IS KUCHMA SCARED?
The leaked police documents provide the full picture of what happened to
Gongadze. In July 2000, two teams of Interior Ministry personnel began
round-the-clock surveillance of the opposition journalist. On 5 September
2000, the internet opposition newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda, which Gongadze
edited, published a detailed expose of Oleksandr Volkov, a high-ranking
adviser to Kuchma who is wanted for money laundering in Belgium. The
Ukrayinska Pravda expose drew upon leaked confidential documents. Volkov
complained about these materials on 14 September. Kuchma allegedly ordered
interior minister, Yuriy Kravchenko, to "deal with" Gongadze.
Two days after Volkov's complaint, Gongadze was kidnapped by Sokil special
forces attached to Kiev's department to Combat Organised Crime. He was
handed over to members of a criminal gang who took him to a warehouse in the
Moskovskiy district of Kiev where he was tortured by slow strangulation. His
interrogators demanded to know who had leaked the documents for the expose
in Ukrayinska Pravda.
During the torture session Gongadze fought back and in the ensuing scuffle
he was killed by a bullet to the head. As the bullet stayed inside his head
and could be possibly traced, his corpse was beheaded and his decapitated
body was then buried. The body, which was never meant to be found, was
discovered accidently by a farmer on 2 November.
In fact, a second team of security service officers loyal to Marchuk and
hostile to Kuchma had been trailing the police. They re-buried the body in
the constituency of Socialist Party opposition leader Oleksandr Moroz, not
far from Kiev.
Kuchma's 15 September 2000 order to "deal with" Gongadze had been taped
secretly by presidential guard Mykola Melnychenko. In mid-November, after
news of Gongadze's murder became publicly known, Melnychenko fled to the
Czech Republic. The tape recording of Kuchma's order was then played to
parliament by Moroz on 28 November, leading to the so-called 'Kuchmagate'
crisis.
So far, only two of the recently leaked documents have been made public.
Further revelations are set to increase the pressure on Kuchma in July to
decide whether to stand for election or risk everything on the hope of
Yanukovych defeating Yushchenko. Ukraine's international standing rests on
Kuchma's decision. (END)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 108: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
=========================================================
2. NEWS ANALYSIS: IN POLTAVA, ANOTHER SHADY ELECTION
Use of "mobile voting" rose to a stunning 30 percent of the vote
By Paul Miazga, Kyiv Post Staff Writer
Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Jul 1, 2004
On the face of it, the June 20 parliamentary by-election in Poltava's
constituency #151 wasn't an outright whitewash like April's mayoral election
in Mukachevo, which saw shameless ballot-stealing, voter intimidation and
fraud. But that's hardly to say that it was free and fair. As U.S.
Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst put it recently, Poltava was "an
improvement over Mukachevo, but that's not a very high standard."
Actually, if Ukraine isn't lucky, Poltava is a good indication of where
the country's headed in the presidential elections this October 31. The
incumbent in the district, Ivan Chetverykov, was a Regions of Ukraine
member; so is the newly elected deputy, Oleksy Lelyuk, in addition to being
the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the regional energy supplier
Poltavagaz. As well Lelyuk, who's uncle was Chetverykov, heads the Regions
oblast organization. The current prime minister of Ukraine, Viktor
Yanukovych, also happens to be a member of the RUP.
The official results indicate that Lelyuk won with 29,267 votes (32.9
percent of the total vote), approximately 10,000 votes more than were
received by his nearest rival, Oleksandr Kulyk of the Ukrainian People's
Party, who received 19,799 votes (or 22.2 percent). In distant third was an
unknown candidate named Mykhailo Goncharov, who received 5,938 votes
(putting him at just shy of 9 percent). The election saw 60.3 percent of
Poltava's 147,000 registered voters turn out to cast ballots.
What makes the difference between Lelyuk's and Kulyk's vote counts so
significant is this: the use of mobile voting. Mobile voting is when ballots
are brought straight to the homes of the elderly, the sick, the disabled,
and other people who can't physically get to polling places. The Committee
of Voters in Ukraine says that mobile votes typically represent only one to
two percent of the votes cast in an election.
In Poltava, the Committee of Voters of Ukraine reports, mobile votes
accounted for a stunning 30 percent of the roughly 10,000 votes cast. The
CVU went so far as to say in their official report - made public the day
after the election - that the "peculiar feature" of mobile voting in
constituency #151 "had signs of an organized process." A high-ranking
diplomatic source in Kyiv, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that at
some polling stations the percentage of mobile votes cast was as high as 67
percent. Representatives of the Japanese election observation mission noted
that many of the people who submitted mobile ballots were "seemingly
absolutely able-bodied individuals." And according to a statement released
by Kulyk's UPP, unofficial tallies show that the government candidate
[Lelyuk] won almost 100 percent of the mobile ballots cast.
Sources contacted by the Post said that the mobile vote requests were in the
majority of cases computer-generated or photocopied. Most were also signed
in the same handwriting, regardless of the name affixed to them. There were
cases reported in which the people whose names were written on mobile voting
forms had no idea they were on the lists. All this, when coupled with
inadequate voters' lists, the CVU stated, made it "almost impossible to
control the domiciliary [mobile] voting."
ADMINISTRATIVE RESOURCES
In a statement released on the eve of the election, Poltava's Regional
Election Commissioner, Mykola Suprunenko, announced that Hr 876,000
($165,000) had been allocated from Ukraine's state budget for financing the
organization of the by-election in his constituency. That money was
earmarked, ostensibly, to help compile adequate voter lists, provide the
necessary material at polling stations and train local election commission
members so that the vote could be conducted properly. The money was also,
among other things, supposed to ensure that all candidates got equal TV and
radio time in the run-up to the election. Whoever was responsible for making
sure the money was properly spent, and what exactly happened to it, is
unknown.
What is known, thanks to international observers and the CVU, is that some
polling stations, such as one in the Karlivka region of the constituency,
operated without electricity. In several regions, entire apartment blocks
were left off voters' lists, with local electoral commissions understaffed
or without the necessary resources to place potential voters on proper
lists in time for the vote; in some cases names had been duplicated or
simply made up. Copies of the Law on Elections were absent from some
polling stations. Some local election commissioners even impeded the
activity of Ukrainian election observers.
"According to the CVU's assessment, only 70 percent of the polling
stations were ready for the election," reads the CVU's June 21 public
statement.
VOTE FOR SALE
The inadequate preparation of Poltava election officials is cause for
concern on its own, but it's only the beginning.
While bribery is hardly surprising in Ukraine - it's infamously rated one of
the most corrupt places to do business in Europe, if not the world - the
ability of election candidates in Poltava to influence the vote is nothing
short of scandalous. Worse still is that nothing was done about it.
Poltava, while not among Ukraine's poorest regions, lacks major industry
and foreign investment. Many local residents outside the oblast capital (as
elsewhere in Ukraine) live spartan existences, in some cases without
adequate heating, electricity or water, let alone hard cash.
Lelyuk, as the head of Poltavagaz, was in a prime position to help influence
the election's outcome beyond the mobile voting irregularities and the
unaccounted-for state funding.
The CVU and anonymous diplomatic sources independently corroborated
allegations of Lelyuk campaigners offering free installation of gas meters
to families that would otherwise have gone another winter without heating.
Lelyuk was also allegedly tied to incidents in which free insurance was
offered to children and medicine was distributed to pensioners in exchange
for their support.
Also, despite a random draw determining which candidates would receive local
airtime and when they would receive it, Poltava oblast media and other local
sources are said to have provided a big boost to Lelyuk. In addition, a
local paper sympathetic to the opposition Communist Party and Our Ukraine
parties - Zhyttya i Slovo (Life and Word) - was shut down by unknown forces.
Protests about these and other disturbing developments fell on deaf ears.
Poltava's election commissioner Suprunenko and his commission were
slammed by the CVU in their report: "It seems that the DEC fulfills its
duties as to technical provisions of the election... but demonstrates gross
negligence as to control of adherence to the law during [the campaign]."
NEXT TO COME
What took place in Poltava June 20 has happened time and again in Ukraine.
Major international bodies, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe in particular, have begun to take notice and go beyond merely warning
complacent or self-interested officials in Kyiv.
In a surprise move, PACE on June 22 declassified the report on the state of
election preparedness and democracy in Ukraine drafted by co-rapporteurs
Hanna Severinsen and Renate Wohlwend during their visit here in May. The
report severely criticizes Ukrainian officials, calling the pre-election
environment here "cause for great concern."
Among other things the report notes "blatant violations of election
standards" and a need to update voters' lists, and advocates giving
Ukrainians living abroad (15 percent of Ukraine's total population of 48
million) the chance to vote. There has even been talk of kicking Ukraine out
of PACE, given Ukrainian officials' seemingly outright disregard for that
body's principles of transparency and democracy. It would be a major blow
to Ukraine internationally and likely quash any desire on the part of the
WTO, NATO or the EU to accept Ukraine. (http://www.kpnews.com)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 108: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
==========================================================
3. MORE CAMPAIGN DIRTY TRICKS: LIGHTS GO OUT ON VIKTOR
YUSHCHENKO DURING REGIONAL POLITICAL TOUR
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 29 Jun 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jun 30, 2004
KIROVOHRAD - A power outage has prevented the leader of the [centre-
right opposition] parliamentary faction Our Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, from
speaking live to Kirovohrad Region residents in a programme broadcast by a
local private radio station. As planned, the programme started at 1830 [1530
gmt] on 28 June, a UNIAN correspondent reports.
After Yushchenko answered only one question, lights went out in the studio.
The director of the Kirovohrad Region radio and TV relay centre, Yuriy
Purysh, said that the power outage occurred because a substation had shut
down. TV and radio broadcasting in the city was interrupted for several
minutes. After power was restored, it turned out that the radio station's
transmitter still remained without electricity. Broadcasts resumed only
after 2000.
[Several hours before Yushchenko was due to speak at Kirov Square in central
Kirovohrad, it was strewn with stacks of bricks, UNIAN reported at 1607 gmt
on 29 Jun 04. Access to the square was hampered by several parked rubbish
disposal lorries, the agency added. Yushchenko says the authorities are
using various pretexts to disrupt his meetings with the voters and media
appearances.] (END)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 108: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
=========================================================
4. "UKRAINE: IN AND OUT OF THE COLD"
Ukraine's President Kuchma has been glad-handing once more with the
West's leaders. The West needs to find a better way of stopping Kuchma
and his colleagues from stealing the upcoming presidential elections.
By Taras Kuzio, Transitions Online, Prague, Czech, Republic, 30 June 2004
WASHINGTON--On 28 June, Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma, a man
unwelcome at the last large NATO summit, met U.S. President George W.
Bush in Istanbul at another major NATO gathering. On 3 July, Ukraine's
presidential election campaign officially begins. Inevitably, the message
that Kuchma's media is relaying back to Ukrainians is that the West is
a friend of Kuchma's.
Kuchma's return to relative respectability might also be seen as indication
that the West's suspicions of his complicity in murder and illegal arms
dealing have been allayed. But they have not. Kuchma's alleged role in the
killing of journalist Georgy Gongadze in 2000 remains murky, and nothing has
emerged to disabuse Washington of its belief that Kuchma sanctioned the sale
of radar systems to Iraq.
Bush is stretching out his hand to Kuchma at the same time that the U.S.
State Department and Congress are pledging support for free and fair
elections. This is a part of a carrot-and-stick policy. But the United
States waves its stick according to no clear rules, and the stick is too
weak, the carrot too distant, for them to have much role in promoting
democracy.
These flaws also mar the EU's policy. In October 2002, Javier Solana, one of
the two chiefs of EU foreign policy, told Kuchma that he was "not playing by
the rules." But an April commentary in Zerkalo Nedeli, hit upon the problem
when it wrote: "The president does not know how far the West is prepared to
go in punishing [him] for the total use of administrative force during the
election."
THE USES OF DOUBLE STANDARDS
Ukrainians' confusion is easy to understand. In November, Washington swiftly
accepted the validity of deeply fraudulent elections in Azerbaijan.
Uzbekistan continues to receive U.S. assistance despite its poor record on
human rights and its roughly 7,000 political prisoners. U.S. complaints at
new restrictions on international nongovernmental organizations managed to
persuade Tashkent to register most U.S.-based organizations, thereby
allowing them to operate. However, the Bush administration offered no angry
condemnation when Uzbek authorities denied registration to the Open Society
Institute headed by George Soros (who, in passing, has said his chief goal
this year is to convince U.S. voters to remove Bush from office).
By contrast, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's decision to throw
out the Soros Foundation and essentially close the OSCE mission drew angry
condemnations. For this and other reasons, Lukashenka was punished by not
being granted a visa to attend the 2002 NATO summit in Prague. (Uzbek
President Islam Karimov was allowed to attend.)
Back in 2002, when Kuchma, like Lukashenka, was barred from the NATO
summit, it seemed that Belarus and Ukraine were being put in same loose bag.
Now, though, Ukraine seems to have managed to place itself in a different
category. What category that is remains unclear, but the Ukrainian
administration would, of course, like to be treated with the same
understanding disapproval that Washington reserves for Azerbaijan when it
bends the rules of "democratic" governance. (Indeed, Azerbaijan's
economically "liberal" and politically authoritarian state is something of a
model for Kuchma and his men.)
Kiev therefore seizes at examples of U.S. double standards whenever
convenient. When, in April, the Social Democratic Party-United (SDPU-o)
won a grossly flawed election in Mukacheve, one of its leading lights,
Nestor Shufrych, shrugged off his party's infringements, saying, "I am happy
that U.S. representatives were content with the results of the presidential
elections in Azerbaijan."
At the same time, it has seized on opportunities to come on-side with
Washington. For instance, Ukraine has the fourth-largest military contingent
in Iraq. It is a sensible move: what unites Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, among
other things, is geopolitical significance and support for the U.S. war on
terrorism. The result in Ukraine is a paradox: those who have traditionally
been suspicious of the United States support Ukraine's presence in Iraq,
while the pro-Western opposition is calling for the withdrawal of Ukrainian
troops.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT STICKS AND CARROTS
Kiev's efforts to ingratiate itself to the United States suggests that
sticks and carrots are important. And the potential carrots are big: Ukraine
is the only former Soviet state seeking membership in NATO and the EU.
However, the EU seems unable to decide whether to offer a carrot. Solana has
indicated that the EU's door is still open. The other chief of EU foreign
policy, Chris Patten, disagrees and, like most EU officials, believes the EU
should close the door on Ukraine.
Moreover, Ukraine's leaders see the carrots as distant objects on the
horizon. Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk has ruled out NATO membership
until 2015, and Kuchma has stated that it is time to be realistic, that EU
membership is a long-term objective.
For that reason and another fundamental one now is survival
It has sticks that it could wield, but it seems reluctant to do so. The
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in January issued a
resolution sharply critical of Ukraine. It was, though, unwilling to expel
Ukraine, or even suspend it. Perhaps this is not surprising, however, since
Russia's well-documented abuses in Chechnya have also gone unpunished.
What promoters of democracy need to do is to hit Ukraine's leaders where it
hurts. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright may have pinpointed
how. In an article published in March in The New York Times, Albright
condemned the United States for being "strangely and sadly silent" about
continuing election violations in Ukraine and suggested that, if October's
presidential elections are fraudulent, the bank accounts and visa privileges
of Ukraine's elites be "jeopardized."
Removing visas has been shown to have some effect. Even Lukashenka bent to
the West's will by allowing the OSCE to return to Minsk after he and his
ministers were denied visas to Western Europe and North America.
In the United States, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavel Lazarenko was
found guilty of huge money laundering, the most important of 26 charges of
which he was convicted. But that relates to a former government; the West
should target current leaders. The British authorities could make arguably
the most effective move. Most of the funds of the SDPU-o are held offshore
in the British Virgin Islands. The opposition has sought unsuccessfully to
persuade Ukrainian prosecutors to open a criminal case against the head of
Kuchma's presidential administration, Viktor Medvedchuk, for the alleged
transfer of billions of dollars to the Virgin Islands. British authorities,
under whose jurisdiction the islands fall, may have greater options.
Ultimately such threats to visas and accounts will be more influential than
other measures. For Kuchma and his supporters, what matters is what affects
them personally; EU and NATO--matters of state steps should not, though,
wait until after the elections: the funding that fuels the pro-Kuchma
parties almost certainly comes from these accounts. The West should start
investigating the bank accounts of Ukraine's leaders immediately.
But they should also offer Ukraine's voters something. NATO says its doors
are open; the EU should follow suit and say its doors are also open--but to
a different government. (END)
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Taras Kuzio is a visiting professor at the George Washington University's
Elliot School of International Affairs, Washington, D.C.
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http://www.tol.cz/look/TOL/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=
71&NrSection=2&NrArticle=12310 (paste link together)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 108: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
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5. PACE CO-RAPPORTEURS HANNE SEVERINSEN AND RENATE
WOHLWEND TO VISIT UKRAINE AGAIN IN AUGUST
Election Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe
By Andrii Derkach, Ukrainian News, Kiev, Ukraine, June 30, 2004
KIEV - The co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe, Hanne Severinsen and Renate Wohlwend,
plan to visit Ukraine in August. The head of the Verkhovna Rada permanent
delegation to PACE, Borys Oliinyk, stated this to journalists.
In Oliinyk's words, Severinsen and Wohlwend informed him in Strasbourg about
their intentions to visit Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk in late August.
Serhii Holovatyi, who is a deputy from the Yulia Tymoshenko Coalition and a
member of Rada's delegation to the Council of Europe, told journalists that
Severinsen and Wohlwend are going to visit Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk so as
to fully examine the political situation in Ukraine in all the regions.
As Ukrainian News reported previously, the co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring
Committee of PACE for Ukraine, Wohlwend and Severinsen, visited the country
on May 27 to June 3. They visited Mukacheve, Uzhhorod, Odesa, Simferopol,
Yalta and Kyiv. (END)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 108: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
=========================================================
6.NEW POLL INDICATES 24% OF UKRAINIANS ARE PREPARED TO
BACK YUSHCHENKO IN 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
Daria Hluschenko, Ukrainian News, Kiev, Ukraine, Wed, June 30, 2004
KIEV - 24% of Ukrainians are prepared to vote for the Our Ukraine
coalition's leader Viktor Yuschenko in this year's presidential elections.
This is indicated by the results of a poll conducted by the Ukrainian
Institute of Social Research, a text of which Ukrainian News obtained.
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych came second in the poll, with 16% of
respondents saying they would vote for him if the presidential elections
were held next Sunday. The Communist Party's leader Petro Symonenko is
third with 14% while the Socialist Party's leader Oleksandr Moroz is fourth
with 6%.
The Yulia Tymoshenko Coalition's leader Yulia Tymoshenko and the Ukrainian
Presidential Administration's head Viktor Medvedchuk follow with 3% each.
At the same time, 6% of the respondents in the poll said they would vote
against all candidates while 6% of respondents said they would not vote in
the elections.
According to the poll, Yuschenko would win the second round of the
presidential elections with 36% of the votes to Yanukovych's 28%. In the
second round, 16% of respondents said they would vote against Yuschenko
and Yanukovych.
The Ukrainian Institute of Social Research's head Oleksandr Yaremenko
believes that Yuschenko and Yanukovych are unlikely to be challenged by a
third major candidate.
49% of respondents in the poll said that they made up their minds about the
candidate they would back in the presidential elections more than six months
ago. 11% said they made up their minds 4-6 months ago, 11% said they
made up their minds about 2-3 months ago, 3% said they made up their minds
in the past 20 days, while 5% said they made up their minds in the past
month.
Among the respondents who said that they had already made up their minds,
59% said their choices were based on their approval and belief in their
chose politicians while 37% said that they selected the least evil
candidate. (END)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 108: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
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7. UKRAINIAN STATE TV STARTS PRO-GOVERNMENT ECONOMIC
CHARM OFFENSIVE AS PRESIDENTIAL RACE LOOMS
UT1, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 29 Jun 04;
One Plus One TV, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 29 Jun 04;
Inter TV, Kiev, in Russian, 29 Jun 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jun 30, 2004
KIEV - Ukrainian state UT1 TV on 29 June moved to cheer voters in the run-up
to the presidential campaign with a series of reports on the government's
efforts to improve their finances. Four separate reports in the same evening
news bulletin at 1550 gmt said pensions, wages and transport subsidies would
rise, miners would get their back pay and oil prices would drop.
UT1 started the broadcast with a report from the cabinet meeting, at which
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych announced an 8bn-hryvnya (1.5bn-dollar)
increase in government spending just approved by President Leonid Kuchma.
Part of it will go towards increasing state pensions, the report said.
"Eleven and a half million pensioners who are now paid less than 285
hryvnyas [per month, just over 50 dollars] will get another 30," the TV said
over video of Yanukovych addressing the meeting. The minimum wage would
rise to 237 hryvnyas per month, most likely from 1 September and student
allowances would double, UT1 said.
The government is also increasing payments to road transport companies to
subsidize low-income passengers. The TV quoted Deputy Minister of Finance
Serhiy Makatsaryan as saying the increase would be "substantial".
Later in the bulletin UT1 reported the cabinet would pay all of its wage
debt to coal miners "as a matter of urgency". The government has allocated
extra 217m hryvnyas for this purpose, the TV said. Another 450m hryvnyas
would come to miners from reshuffling budget spending and some more- through
privatization proceeds. "Payments will begin any day now," Fuel and Energy
Minister Serhiy Tulub was shown as saying.
UT1 finished by showing First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Azarov expressing
confidence that Russia would cancel VAT on oil deliveries to Ukraine from
the new year. This would bring about a 10-per-cent drop in fuel prices, the
TV said.
"Russia will do it, there is no doubt about it," Azarov said. "The political
and economic decision has been taken. After the latest negotiations, I have
the impression that the Russians are prepared to meet the time frame we
proposed, that is, January 2005 for lifting export VAT on oil and January
2006 for gas."
UT1's economic good news contrasted with a report carried simultaneously by
the two other pro-government TV channels, One Plus One and Inter, berating a
company owned by an opposition politician for failing to pay its wage debt.
They said a far-right organization, Bratstvo (known for supporting the
government), has mounted a protest in Kiev on behalf of staff at a Crimean
shipyard owned by Davyd Zhvania MP of the Our Ukraine opposition bloc.
Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko is expected to be the main rival of
Prime Minister Yanukovych in the presidential election on 31 October.
The election campaign is due to begin on 3 July. (END)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 108: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
========================================================
8. BORYS TARASYUK SEES NO PROSPECT OF NATO OFFERING
UKRAINE A PLAN OF GAINING FULL MEMBERSHIP
"Our Ukraine" Press-Service, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 25, 2004
KYIV - "If we talk about the government's NATO expectations and, especially,
those of the president, it is clear that they pin them on NATO's agreeing to
a new form of relations with Ukraine at the summit in Istanbul; the kind of
relations that all new NATO member-states have gone through, i.e. the plan
of gaining full membership," stated the head of the Verkhovna Rada committee
on European Integration Borys Tarasyuk in an interview on "Vechirnya
Svoboda" ("Evening Freedom") radio station.
"As far as I know, however, NATO has no such intentions and the reason for
that is quite apparent: the fact is that Ukraine, with its actions, not only
does not conform to the political criteria needed for becoming a member but
also fails to fulfill its obligations in accordance with "Ukraine-NATO
Action Plan" or the "2003 Target Plan," reported Tarasyuk.
According to him, "what is happening in Ukraine does not correspond with the
standards needed for gaining NATO membership; therefore, I do not anticipate
any significant changes in relations between Ukraine and NATO and, moreover,
see no prospects for the President of Ukraine to participate in the Istanbul
summit."
"Perhaps, there might be a meeting at the highest level of the Ukraine-NATO
Committee at which the heads of the NATO member-states would express their
attitude and their opinion on the internal political processes in Ukraine,
an opinion which will certainly be a critical one," noted Borys Tarasyuk.
(END) LINK : http://www.razom.org.ua/viewnews/news/13988.
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 108: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
========================================================
9. "THE AMERICAN WAY"
Interview with John Herbst, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine
By Vlad Lavrov, Kyiv Post Staff Writer
Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Jul 1, 2004
John Herbst, U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, assumed his current post on Sept.
20, 2003. Prior to that, he was ambassador to Uzbekistan. The Post met with
Ambassador Herbst at his office on June 22.
KP: How would you describe the investment climate in Ukraine?
JH: I would say it is mixed. On one hand, the growth of the Ukrainian
economy over the past four years is tremendous, and the macroeconomic
policies of the government are excellent. The budget and fiscal policies
have been realistic, and I think the economy has benefited greatly. You also
have a large population with talented, well-educated people with good
technical skills, and [the country has] substantial natural resources. That
is the good news.
The bad news is that the microeconomic policies and environment are not very
healthy. You need to have clear laws that protect foreign investments, a
legal system that interprets those laws in a fair way and is not vulnerable
to the influence of powerful people.
You need to have government policy and institutions encouraging and
protecting foreign investments. I am afraid that in these areas, the
circumstances are not positive.
One problem for many of our firms is getting back VAT receipts for exports.
It is to the advantage of the Ukrainian economy that foreign firms come here
to produce goods, which are then sold internationally. But sometimes our
firms [with production facilities in Ukraine] have trouble receiving VAT
refunds. A serious problem. Equally serious is the fact that some firms,
especially smaller firms, don't receive protection.
There are a fair number of American firms in Ukraine, including some very
large ones. They are here because of the positive things I have referred to.
And they stay despite those negative things that I have also mentioned.
KP: The U.S. is the largest foreign investor in Ukraine's economy, with 16
percent, or over $1 billion, of total foreign investments. Do you see this
trend continuing?
JH: I think American investments will increase, given the growth tendencies
in the economy. Growth will attract more American investors. I do not think
Ukraine will attract a great deal of investment, though, unless the
microeconomic situation changes. You have to establish the legal basis,
rules of fair play in the judicial system, before the situation changes.
KP: You've said the tender conditions for the privatization of
Kryvorizhstal, Ukraine's largest steel mill, which required bidders to have
produced more than one million tons of Ukrainian coke annually for the last
three years, was not in Ukraine's best interest. Now, after the sale has
taken place, what is your reaction?
JH: The tender was written in such a way as to exclude foreign investors,
and we think that excluding foreign investors is handicapping Ukraine as it
seeks to develop.
The other problem is the price paid for the enterprise. A joint bid by LNM
Steel and the United States Steel Corporation would have paid the Ukrainian
government $1.5 billion, almost double the bid accepted from the Ukrainian
firms.
In addition, the LNM-U.S. Steel bid would have included $1.2 billion of
investment in Kryvorizhstal. In total, this bid was 2.5 times higher than
the successful Ukrainian bid.
This means that the government of Ukraine is much poorer, and so are the
workers of Kryvorizhstal and the people who live in that area, because an
additional $1.2 billion wasn't invested into the firm. This is a serious
problem.
KP: Will the U.S. take any specific actions to protect the interests of
American investors working in Ukraine?
JH: We express our support for the bid by the U.S. firm and we believe
strongly that an open economy that permits foreign investment on equal terms
is important for the development of any country, including Ukraine.
KP: But what specific steps will the U.S. government undertake in this case?
JH: We, generally speaking, would like to do all our work discreetly.
KP: How will the upcoming elections influence relations between the U.S. and
Ukraine, particularly in terms of business?
JH: We think it is very important for the people of Ukraine that they choose
their next president, and that the elections are not manipulated and stolen
the way they were in Mukachevo.
We know that President Kuchma has said that the elections will be free and
fair, but we are disturbed with what has been happening in recent months.
Administrative methods have been used to make it more difficult for the
opposition to conduct their political activities, especially in areas where
they could not have a great deal of support, and there have been
restrictions on the media, which are troublesome.
The abuse by the tax authorities to go after oppositionist politicians is
another problem. I had a good meeting with the new head of the Tax
Administration [Fedir Yaroshenko]. He expressed the need for the tax
authorities to act in a proper way. And we look forward to seeing that.
If elections are free and fair, U.S.-Ukraine relations will prosper and
Ukraine's interests in integration into Euro-Atlantic structures will be
enhanced. And we will embrace the winner, whoever it is. We know we
can work with whoever wins free and fair elections.
I am also certain that free and fair elections will encourage investments by
American firms. I also think that free and fair elections here will limit
so many abuses that we have seen within Ukraine on economic questions,
including the area of privatization.
KP: What do you think of recent statements by Ukrainian top officials that
the use of the Odessa-Brody pipeline from Odessa to Brody would be
economically unprofitable?
JH: That is simply false.
KP: But President Kuchma has said that.
JH: I think we should simply look at the facts. Ukraine is a country that
produces only a small percentage of its oil and gas. It is extremely
important for Ukraine to maximize its energy independence; not only
consumption, but also in terms of the energy it is sending to Europe. So,
Ukraine has a natural interest in sending oil from the Caspian basin to
Europe.
Secondly, Ukraine wants its way into Europe, and the country will facilitate
its integration by providing energy to Europe from the Caspian basin. The
misconception is to think that through reversal of the pipeline, more oil
will flow through Ukraine to Europe. The Turkish straits are heavily
congested: In wintertime there was a waiting list of over a week.
Senior officials from the companies that applied to ship oil from Brody to
Odessa have said to me that no additional oil would flow from their
companies to Ukraine, in case of reversal. It means that the oil traveling
by railcars or through Prydniprovsky pipeline would instead go from Brody to
Odessa. So no more money would come to Ukraine if the pipeline is reversed.
So there is zero advantage, even in the short term.
I know that American firms are very interested and are preparing contracts
on this. It would be helpful if the experts involved in this project on the
Ukrainian side would still be involved instead of being dismissed. I think
there are interests in the country that are not looking for the long-term
good of Ukraine, but see personal advantages in reversing the pipeline. But
the advantage for the country is clearly in the westward flow.
KP: When will Caspian oil flow from Odessa to Brody?
JH: I know there is great interest in its happening rather quick. It is not
up to me to provide any details, but I think it is quite doable yet this
year.
KP: Ukraine won 65 percent of the work in a recent Iraqi contract, but the
winning firm was actually an American-Jordanian-Saudi Arabian joint venture.
Why can't Ukrainian companies bid by themselves?
JH: They certainly can. I don't know all the details. I just know that the
bidding process is competitive and some people are more successful at it
that others. I think the important thing is that Ukrainian firms have won 65
percent of a $120-million contract. That is a substantial contract for those
firms.
I am not in the position to answer why they did it through an intermediary.
KP: Was that by some regulation that they couldn't be direct contractors?
JH: The answer is no.
KP: If you were asked privately whether you would advise people and
companies to invest money into Ukraine, what would you answer?
JH: I am asked that by American businesses every week. I tell them that this
is a country with extraordinary potential, talented people, substantial
natural resources, albeit unfortunately not enough energy, and I believe
that 20 years from now it will be much more prosperous than it is today.
Therefore, it makes sense to look carefully at the opportunities that exist
here.
At the same time, the business environment is treacherous and the legal
environment is not positive, so investors need to look carefully at the
dangers. Businessmen are used to assessing risks. In some cases they say
yes. I am certain that if the dangers in the country were reduced, you would
see a flood of American investments.
KP: Approximately what percentage of potential investors with whom you
speak say yes to investing in Ukraine?
JH: At this point, I would say that it's not a very large percentage. The
United States may be the largest foreign investor into Ukraine - though I
wonder if the official statistics have actually captured the full amount of
our investments - yet the amount of American investment in the country is
small compared to other countries.
I can tell you, without discussing the details, that I know of an American
company that is deeply impressed with Ukraine's high technological skills.
The company would like to invest more in Ukraine, [but it hasn't decided
between Ukraine and one other country] because of the specific problems here
related to some of the general issues that we discussed earlier. If they
had some assurances about these problems, they would invest here, without
question. (END) (http://www.kpnews.com)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 108: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
========================================================
10. UKRAINIAN DONETSK-BASED TYCOON RINAT AKHMETOV
NABS UKRAINIAN COAL HOLDING
By Roman Olearchyk, Kyiv Post Staff Writer
Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Jul 1, 2004
A company controlled by Donetsk-based business mogul Rinat Akhmetov has
won 92.11 percent of shares in Ukraine's Pavlohradvuhilya coalmine holding
through a privatization tender, making this the second time in recent weeks
that influential Ukrainian bidders have beat out large foreign steel groups
in what analysts have described as rushed privatization tenders.
On June 30, the State Property Fund awarded the share in Pavlohradvuhilya to
Avdiyivsky Coke Plant, Europe's largest producer of coke, a steel-making raw
material produced from coal. Avdiyivsky Coke Plant is 57.9 percent owned by
System Capital Management, a holding company 90 percent owned by Akhmetov.
Avdiyivsky Coke Plant bid Hr 1.401 billion ($265 million) for the shares,
significantly more than the Hr 898.9 million starting price, but only
slightly higher than the Hr 1.335 billion offered by the second bidder,
ISPAT Vuhilya.
ISPAT Vuhilya is backed by United Kingdom-headquartered LNM Group, the
world's second-largest producer of steel, and United States Steel
Corporation, ranked 6th in production. "This occurred practically without
scandal," SPF chief Mykhailo Chechetov said. "There was colossal pressure
during the Kryvorizhstal sale from the Russians, and from other sides."
The Pavlohradvuhilya sale comes two weeks after the SPF auctioned off the
nation's largest steel mill, Kryvorizhstal, for $800 million to a consortium
backed by companies affiliated with Akhmetov and President Leonid Kuchma's
son-in-law Viktor Pinchuk.
LNM Group bid $1.5 billion for the mill but was disqualified, along with
other large foreign steel groups, by a technicality that required bidders to
produce at least one million tons of Ukrainian coke for the past three
years.
Chechetov said the ISPAT Vuhilya bid was more than 95 percent backed
by LNM Group companies, owned by Indian-born Lakshmi Mittal and his
wife; meanwhile, U.S. Steel backed the other five percent.
LNM Group spokesperson Paul Weigh said that his company was planning on
using coal produced by Pavlohradvuhilya to produce coke for its steel mills.
Avdiyivsky Coke Plant has produced more than 2,000 tons of coke since the
beginning of the year, equivalent to about 22 percent of all production in
the country during that time. It remains unclear how the coke plant plans on
paying for Pavlohradvuhilya, as it generated profits of only Hr 7 million in
2003.
The SPF first launched a tender to sell Pavlohradvuhilya last year with a
starting price of about $200 million. The sale collapsed on a technicality
and was relaunched March 17. (http://www.kpnews.com)
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 108: ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
=========================================================
11. "HELPING CHILDREN'S DREAMS BECOME A REALITY"
Enabling Ukrainian Kids To Attend Summer Camp in the Carpathians
By Paul Miazga, Kyiv Post Staff Writer
Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Jun 10, 2004
Donations enable Ukrainian kids, including the disabled Valentyn, to attend
the Help Us Help the Children summer camp, held every year in the
Carpathians.
Maryna Krysa has little time, and hardly any space to turn around in her
office. Her tiny three-room space on the grounds of Kyiv's Pechersk Lavra is
filled to capacity: One room is cluttered with boxes of chocolate bars and
diapers from North American corporate donors, while another is crammed with
shrink-wrapped bottles of water and baby formula.
Occupying her thoughts are her concerns as president of the charity Help Us
Help the Children (HUHTC): How to deal, for example, with the latest delay
caused by Ukraine's new laws on humanitarian aid shipments, which keep
relief supplies intended for HUHTC sitting in government warehouses instead
of being delivered to the 39 state-run orphanages she works with.
"Sometimes it makes me cry," she says of the red tape and bureaucracy. "It
makes me think that I will die at the doors of the customs authorities,
waiting for clearance" - for goods like stethoscopes, bandages and gauze,
feeding tubes for underweight preemies, blankets and medicines.
Krysa has plenty of other things to think about, too, like where to find
donors to help send her charity's children to summer camp, letting them get
out of their orphanages for a while; or organizing her next trip to
Mikolaiv, Kherson, Sumy, or any other Ukrainian oblast in which she
regularly visits orphans too sick or young to attend HUHTC camps.
And always in the back of her mind is where to store this growing mountain
of relief supplies. But she does have time to sit and talk about the
children.
Krysa always has time for her children.
A PERSONAL CALLING
She begins with the year 1993, a big one in her life. Krysa, herself a
mother, decided to start working two full-time jobs.
Already head of the education department at the Ukrainian Museum of Theater,
Music and Cinema Arts in the Pechersk Lavra, she began helping orphans,
first out of her home in Kyiv, then working through Kyiv-based and
provincial orphanages. Around that time she met Ruslana Zhyvnevsky, the
director of a branch of the U.S.-based charity Children of Chornobyl.
Zhyvnevsky, a caring and gregarious woman, soon taught Krysa how much work
could be done - how much work needed to be done - to help orphaned children
in Ukraine. Krysa wanted more of a challenge in her life than her other job
provided. Also, as it happened, Zhyvnevsky's office was also located on the
Lavra grounds, which enabled Krysa to involve herself more and more -
"little by little, step by step," she says - in Children of Chornobyl, until
the point came three years later when she had to take a leap.
"Children believe in you," she says emphatically. "They trust in you and
wait for you to become a part of their lives. You can't ignore that."
Krysa founded HUHTC with the help of several Ukrainian banks, including the
National Bank of Ukraine (then headed by Viktor Yushchenko), tendered her
resignation at the museum and began her life's work: helping children.
Photographs of the children she and her organization have helped over the
years fill dozens of photo albums in her office. Going over them, her face
lights up.
Many of the photos are of children abandoned to orphanages by parents
overwhelmed by the burden of caring for children born with severe physical
deformities or neurological problems. Some of the children may not live
beyond a few years, but Krysa makes sure they have everything that her
organization can provide, whatever the logistical nightmares or toll on her.
VERY SPECIAL INDEED
Two of the orphans Krysa talks about with genuine admiration and love are
Viktor Sautin, 23, and Valentyn Skrypnichenko, 21. Both were once
abandoned to orphanages that offered them little hope. Then they met Krysa,
and things started to change.
At the age of four, Viktor was taken from his parents and placed in a
state-run orphanage. He worked hard all through his school years and grew up
to become a smart, well-mannered young man. He attended summer camps
thanks to HUHTC and became known to Krysa and many other HUHTC
workers.
With the support of HUHTC and others, Viktor became, in 1998,
the first student of the new Pre-University Training Department of the
National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Now Viktor is a student of
history at Charles University in Prague, and building a bright future for
himself.
Valentyn, from Mykolaiv region, was born with physical disabilities that
left his legs severely stunted. Though he learned to walk, Valentyn was
abandoned by his mother, and taken in by the Tsyurupinsk Children's House
for the Disabled. The boy soon evinced a penchant for things mechanical,
which earned him the nickname "the little professor" with the director of
the home.
With an inquisitive mind and strong will, Valentyn entered the
Zhytomyr Technical School, graduating as a service engineer for small
appliances. Throughout his studies Valentyn has remained an active and eager
participant in HUHTC summer camps, and at the age of 17, despite his
physical limitations, climbed Ukraine's highest peak, Hoverla. Valentyn has
never forgotten HUHTC's help.
"My fate as an orphan, as well as my physical condition, really could have
posed a kind of chain of never-ending problems, but luckily [HUHTC]'s
support and attention has made me believe in my future, and still inspires
me," Valentyn says.
Help Us Help the Children needs children's slippers, shoes and sandals (for
wear by children between one and 18 years of age); winter boots; shirts and
sweaters; boy's and girl's underwear; sportswear; winter clothing, including
coats and jackets; socks and other hosiery; belts and jumpers; and lots
else.
HUHTC is also in desperate need of donated warehousing/storage space in
which to store clothing, food and medical supplies once they pass customs
inspection. Furthermore, they are looking for a sponsor - corporate or
otherwise - to help them with the logistics of moving supplies to their
network of orphanages across the country.
Finally, cash donations are always accepted.
HUHTC has a long and proud history of working with the corporate world.
Past corporate sponsors have included Nokia, Coca-Cola and others.
They look forward to working with them and with other corporate sponsors.
Make all donations payable to: Pryjateli ditej (Help Us Help the Children)
(In UAH): Blagodyoyny Fond
"Tovaristvo Pryjateli ditej", 01015 Kyiv, Ukraine
20 Peremohy Prospect, #206, Tel./fax: 290-2926, 290-8162
(In $USD): Beneficiary: "Pryjateli ditej" Kyiv, Ukraine
Acct. 26002135; Bank of Beneficiary: Aval Bank
(JS Postal Pensionery bank); Kyiv, Ukraine.
S.W.I.F.T.: AVAL UA UK
Correspondent bank: acct. N890-0260-688
Bank of New York, New York, New York
S.W.I.F.T.: IRVT US 3N
(In $CDN): Beneficiary: "Pryjateli ditej" Kyiv, Ukraine
Acct. 26002135; Bank of Beneficiary: Aval Bank
(JS Postal Pensionery bank); Kyiv, Ukraine.
S.W.I.F.T.: AVAL UA UK
Correspondent bank: acct. N6107565000
Centro Internationale Handelsbank AG
S.W.I.F.T.: CENB AT WW (http://www.kpnews.com)
==========================================================
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