"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT"
An International Newsletter
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"
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" Year 04, Number 135
The Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC), Washington, D.C.
Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA), Huntingdon Valley, PA
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net (ARTUIS)
Washington, D.C.; Kyiv, Ukraine, MONDAY, August 9, 2004
-----INDEX OF ARTICLES-----
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1. UKRAINE IS DYING
COMMENTARY: by Glen Willard, Editor-In-Chief
The Ukrainian Observer, Issue 198/4, Kyiv, Ukraine, July 31, 2004
2. TREATING TUBERCULOSIS (TB) IN UKRAINE
Ukraine has the capacity to rapidly scale up and modernize
TB control....But for this to happen, the political will must be in place."
World Health Organization (WHO) Report
Medical News Today, East Sussex, UK, 24 May 2004
3. "RACE TO HELP ORPHANS"
Set up the charity SOUL--Supporting Orphans in Ukraine to Live
By Angela Knight, St. Albans Observer
St. Albans, Herts, UK, Monday, July 19, 2004
4. FAMILY FINDS ITS PURPOSE
Help as many of the poor and orphaned Ukrainian children as they could.
By Shira Kantor, Star Tribune
Minneapolis, Minnesota, Wednesday, July 14, 2004
5. UKRAINE ADDS SECOND NUCLEAR POWER SOURCE
ITAR-TASS, Moscow, Russia, Sunday, August 8, 2004
6. "JUST A LITTLE ATOMIC BLACKMAIL"
Convince Russia to lower prices for reactor fuel to Ukrainian nuclear plants
GATEWAY TO RUSSIA, News from Russia
Expert Group, The Financial Times, 06 August 2004
7. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT SAYS WEST FAILED TO MEET
FINANCING PLEDGES TO BUILD NEW NUCLEAR CAPACITY
Inter TV, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 8 Aug 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sunday, Aug 08, 2004
8. 5 KANAL TV FACES NEW OBSTACLES IN UKRAINE
Harder to watch now in Kryvyy Rih and Kirovohrad in
addition to Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk
TV 5 Kanal, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 6 Aug 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Friday, Aug 06, 2004
9.UKRAINE: NTN TV: HONEST EXPANSION OR PROPAGANDA?
A Donetsk-backed TV channel is aggressively expanding its coverage
By Vlad Lavrov, Kyiv Post Staff Writer
Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thur, Jul 29, 2004
10. . OPPOSITION LEADER AND CAMPAIGNER MP PETRO
POROSHENKO SAYS UKRAINIAN MEDIA UNDER PRESSURE
5 KANAL TV STATION PERSECUTED
Interview with MP Petro Poroshenko by Serhiy Lesnchenko
Ukrayinska Pravda web site, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian 30 July 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Aug 05, 2004
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.135 ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
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1. UKRAINE IS DYING
COMMENTARY: by Glen Willard, Editor-In-Chief
The Ukrainian Observer, Issue 198/4, Kyiv, Ukraine, July 31, 2004
If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Ukraine is dying. So is Russia. So too, in varying but generally lesser
degrees, are other countries in Eastern Europe, primarily those once a
part of the Soviet Union.
The dying is literal, painful and a cause of major concern to those charged
with the responsibility of governing. That is, a least it should be a major
worry for responsible leaders. And one leader, Russia's Vladimir Putin,
has identified it as such. As early as July 2000 in his first state of the
union address, he put population decline at the top of a list of urgent
problems facing his nation.
Demographers anticipate a 33 percent to 40 percent loss in population
for Ukraine and Russia by mid-century.
Ukraine's 2001 census, reported in late 2003, indicated a 6.1 percent
decline in population (about 3 million, from 51.72 million to 48.46
million). Such declines occurred only twice during the some 70 years of
Soviet rule: during the 1933 artificial famine and during World War II.
The causes of these anticipated declines in population fall into three
categories: low fertility rates (rates below that necessary to maintain
population replacement stability); high national mortality rates; and
negative migration rates (Immediately after the demise of the Soviet Union,
migration rates were positive in Russia and to a lesser extent in Ukraine,
but now trend negative).
What are the potential consequences of this predicted decline in population?
Russia stands to lose its influence on the world stage and its status as a
powerful nation. Ukraine may suffer even more dire consequences. The
Ukraine that was reborn during the late 20th century is composed of an
ancient people with a tragic history. In a worst-case scenario, Ukraine's
instability could lead to war and its re-conquest or re-submission to the
authority of others. Ukraine could let its status as an independent nation
slip away, and subsequently lose its place on the map of Europe. In any
event, its instability will likely lead to great suffering for a
much-suffered people.
One of the problems related to the decline in population, one not included
specifically in the categories cited above, is that the cycle of aging in
which Ukraine finds itself is structural. But in the long view of history
and the nature of demographics, this aging cycle will be cured by time.
What of the problem of low fertility rates? It is said that from somewhere
between a 2.05 to 2.14 percent fertility rate is needed to maintain
population stability. One estimate of Ukraine's fertility rate is 1.37 (most
recent U.S. CIA World Factbook). But much of Western Europe also
faces such problems (France rate 1.85, Germany 1.38, same source and
years). More affluent Western Europe has the means to attract and perhaps
control population by immigration. Presently, Ukraine must end emigration.
Psychological factors affect Ukraine's low rate. In short, the people are
pessimistic. They fear their owned economic landscape and circumstances.
This must be cured.
Mortality and life expectancy are problems. Diseases including alcoholism,
tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS conspire with more normal life diseases (and
others not so normal; e.g. work-related deaths, suicides, environmental
causes - in short, those related to poverty and reflective of less developed
or developing countries rather than of more advanced and developed
countries) to magnify and enlarge the mortality totals and decreasing life
expectancy. The combination of the pandemic in AIDS/HIV and the
growing tuberculosis epidemic feeding on each other alone will lead to
staggering death tolls unless addressed and solved.
Compounding all health related problems in Ukraine is the breakdown in
medical delivery services. Frankly, the Soviet system provided better
resources. The breakup of the Soviet system with all its other initial
downward economic effects resulted in an almost wholesale malfunction of
Ukraine's healthcare system. While economic progress has been made in
many areas, Ukraine's medical care delivery system has disintegrated and
atrophied. This is a failure of the government and leadership, and this
failure is killing people in large numbers.
What can be done to prevent Ukraine from dying? The answer, simple to
state, but difficult to foresee happening is that Ukraine needs leadership.
We hear our politicians promising transparency, economic reforms, judicial
reforms, justice, the rule of law, land reform and much more. And we know
this is mostly just talk - at least at present.
But where is the leader who will address the suffering, the dying, the
poverty, the needs of the people? Those basics can lead to longer, healthier
lives and a more stable family situation with opportunity. Where is that
person, that party, that leader?
We don't hear from them. Because no one speaks.
There are no leaders.
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Glen Willard is editor-in-chief of The Ukrainian Observer, a knowledge
based monthly magazine from the Willard Group, Kyiv, Ukraine.
LINK: http://www.ukraine-observer.com
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.135: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
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2. TREATING TUBERCULOSIS (TB) IN UKRAINE
"Ukraine has the capacity to rapidly scale up and modernize TB
control. But for this to happen, the political will must be in place."
World Health Organization (WHO) Report
Medical News Today, East Sussex, UK, 24 May 2004
A man in a green training suit shuffles down an empty hallway. The
smell of cleaning products and food leftovers hangs in the air. He
is tired. Walking is difficult. He has pain in his chest. He turns
into his small hospital room and, relieved of the effort, sits down
on his narrow bed.
The man, Nikolai, is a patient at the tuberculosis (TB) treatment
centre in Donetsk, Ukraine. Formerly a Soviet centre for steel
production and coal dismantling, life in Donetsk has steadily become
more difficult over the last fifteen years. Today, poverty levels
are rising and many people have lost their jobs.
Nikolai has been hospitalized for two months now. He is likely to
stay in hospital for a long time because he is infected with a
strain of TB that is resistant to most of the available first line
anti-TB drugs. Treating this so called multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-
TB) is much more difficult and expensive than curing `normal' TB.
Even then, a cure of MDR-TB, and Nikolai's survival, is not
guaranteed.
MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS (MDR-TB)
Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) is the disease caused by TB bacilli
that are resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampicin - the two
most powerful anti-TB drugs. It results from inconsistent or partial
treatment of TB, and develops when public health programmes fail to
deliver regular and reliable treatment to TB patients. The end of
the Soviet state left the people in the newly independent states in
Eastern Europe and the Russian Federation with uneven access to
health care. According to a recent Who Report TB patients in parts
of Eastern Europe and Central Asia are now ten times more likely to
have MDR-TB than those in the rest of the world.
"We have some second line drugs for our MDR-TB patients, but we
don't know which of them work. There are few data on MDR-TB in
Ukraine," says Dr Swetlana Lebschiva, Assistant Professor for TB
and Pneumology at the University of Donetsk, who works at the TB
hospital. She adds that some of the TB patients leave the hospital
before the end of their treatment, only to return in poor condition
and resistant to drugs.
TUBERCULOSIS CONTROL: DOTS
Until the year 2000, TB prevalence in Ukraine grew annually by 15%
to 20% as a result of the more and more difficult economic and
social situation. This year, for the first time, the trend was
reversed. "The main reason of this success lies in the introduction
of an internationally recommended TB treatment strategy, called
DOTS," says Dr Oleg Karatajev, Chief Health Administrator for
Donetsk and the surrounding region.
In Ukraine, DOTS was implemented as a pilot project in Donetsk at
the end of 2001. "Before DOTS, only TB specialists were able to
detect cases, by using expensive x-rays. Only a few cases could be
detected and treated, and the patients had to stay at the hospital
for at least one year," explains Dr Maja Goroschko, Deputy Director
of the Donetsk hospital. "With DOTS, general practitioners are
trained to detect TB using a simple sputum test. If a patient is
infected, he is transferred to a TB dispensary. This is a huge
difference: now everyone who develops infectious TB can be
detected and treated."
The major challenge for implementing DOTS widely across Ukraine
is the fact that DOTS has two phases. During the first phase, when
patients are still contagious, they stay at the hospital. On
average, this period lasts two months. After that, when they can no
longer transmit the disease, they continue with their treatment from
home. Trained workers or volunteers in local clinics provide them
with medicines.
Although the changes needed to apply DOTS across Ukraine will be
a long process, DOTS is already having a positive impact in the
country. "Since we started DOTS our success rate in treating TB has
risen from 57% to 81%. This is a major step up that will also help
to get the development of MDR-TB under control," says Dr Goroschko.
Dr Kestutis Miskinis, Medical Officer at the WHO TB Control Office
in Ukraine, agrees. "In order to control TB and MDR-TB in the long
term we need to move forward with DOTS systematically. In regions
where DOTS is not implemented, doctors do not have to follow any
protocol with regard to the use of first and second line drugs.
Drugs that are prescribed to MDR-TB patients often have not even
been tested before and there are no regulations for a recommended
dosage. If we do not expand DOTS, these factors will contribute to
mounting levels of drug resistance in the country."
HIV AND TB
Ukraine and other countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia where
MDR-TB prevalence is high, also experience the world's fastest
growing HIV infection rates. This rapidly expanding combined
epidemic presents an enormous public health challenge. People living
with HIV/AIDS are many times more susceptible to developing all
forms of TB. "With people's immune systems compromised, MDR-TB
has a perfect opportunity to spread rapidly and kill," explains WHO
Assistant Director-General of HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, Dr Jack
Chow, "We cannot control one without controlling the other, and we
must begin to scale up TB/HIV collaborative activities to provide a
synergy of prevention, treatment and care for co-infected patients."
At the beginning of April, WHO and the Ukrainian Ministry of Health
held a workshop in Donetsk to explore ways of ensuring an effective
joint HIV/TB response. The gathering is the latest in a line of WHO
initiatives aimed at assisting countries scale-up TB control
programmes. Already, preparations for the formation of a high level
working group, made up of international and national TB specialists,
are gaining pace. Ukraine could be the test bed that sees innovative
and modern TB control practices put in place.
"Ukraine has the capacity to rapidly scale up and modernize TB
control," says Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of WHO's Stop TB
Department. "If Ukraine can do this, we will see the threat from the
TB/HIV co-infection and MDR-TB reduce. But for this to happen,
the political will must be in place."
Nikolai, at the Donetsk TB dispensary, might not be aware of the
complex public health issues behind the seven pills he takes three
times each week. The pain in his chest is still there. It is simply
a matter of living, or dying. (END) (ARTUIS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/index.php?newsid=8613
WHO LINK: http://www.who.int/features/2004/tb_ukraine/en/
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.135: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
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3. "RACE TO HELP ORPHANS"
Set up the charity SOUL--Supporting Orphans in Ukraine to Live
By Angela Knight, St. Albans Observer
St. Albans, Herts, UK, Monday, July 19, 2004
ST. ALBANS - A TOILET block may not be the most appealing present,
but for the hundreds of orphans living in the fall-out area of Chernobyl
it's something they've always wanted.
Bruce Burton was part of a 50-strong team of walkers who completed the
Three Peaks Challenge to raise £53,000 to build toilet and shower blocks in
two orphanages in Ukraine. The St Albans father-of-two climbed the tallest
mountains in Scotland, England and Wales earlier this year and helped raise
more than £8,000 towards the ambitious toilet project.
In 2002, the Chestnut Drive resident and five friends set up the charity
SOUL (Supporting Orphans in Ukraine to Live) which supports orphanages
and poverty-stricken communities in the region. In April the Soul trustees
who include Matt Jones, of Birchwood Way, St Albans set off on their
fourth trip to Chernihiv to deliver humanitarian aid and carry out essential
work at children's orphanages.
Bruce said: "We took 21,500kg of aid on this trip consisting of clothes,
blankets, shoes, soft toys, games, stationery, bicycles, household goods
and prams.
"Once we've built all these new toilets, showers and washing facilities we
will desperately need toiletries to make it all come together properly."
Borzna, an orphanage for more than 300 children, has no working toilets and
children are forced to use an open pit outside. There is one shower, which
is used by both boys and girls aged six to 18.
Ground works have already started in Borzna, where Soul hopes to install 16
washbasins, 12 toilets, 12 showers, three bidets and four leg-washing areas.
Soul expected to see the first toilet and shower suite installed in one of
the girls' dormitories by this week.
Bruce was part of a two-lorry convoy, provided by Gist haulage operators,
that set off to the Ukraine earlier this year. He was joined on the
2,000-mile round trip by his friends John Bushby and Graham Wardley from
Gist's Hemel Hempstead and Crewe depots.
Bruce said: "We spent the night at Borzna for the first time and really got
to know the kids. We chatted a lot and they even put on a concert for us."
Next on Soul's wish list is to start work at Komapobka Orphanage, where the
toilets are in a similar state of disrepair. The orphanage houses around 160
children aged from five to 15.
SOUL is holding another collection day at Westminster Lodge swimming
pool car park on Sunday, July 25, from 9am to 3.30pm. It needs clothes
and shoes for children aged six to 18, cuddly toys, stationery, new
toiletries and sports equipment. The group is also looking for volunteers to
help out with fundraising activities. To find out you can support SOUL,
contact Bruce Burton on 01727 766847 or e-mail soul2003@supanet.com
for more information. (END) (ARTUIS)
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http://www.stalbansobserver.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.510774.0.race_t
o_help_orphans.php (paste link together)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.135: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
Send "The Action Ukraine Report" around the World
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4. FAMILY FINDS ITS PURPOSE
Help as many of the poor and orphaned Ukrainian children as they could.
By Shira Kantor, Star Tribune
Minneapolis, Minnesota, Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Hannah sometimes talks about her old home, recalling a pet dog and ducks.
She's right about the dog, Hannah's adoptive parents said, but the ducks
their 4-year-old daughter remembers really were chickens. Chickens that,
like the cockroaches, roamed freely about the cold Ukrainian orphanage that
Hannah called home for her first two years.
"Hannah was in one of the better orphanages," said Robin Chance, Hannah's
mother. The children, known as inmates, were confined to three rooms, often
unheated, littered with broken glass and nails. Hannah, or inmate No. 8, was
born Luidmila. At 24 months old, she was the mother figure to a group of
toddlers.
Robin and her husband, Bob, sickened by the conditions they saw in the poor
cities of Kiev, Simferopol and Yalta, where Hannah was living, decided not
just to adopt Hannah, but to try to help as many of the poor and orphaned
Ukrainian children as they could.
About a year after bringing Hannah home in early 2002, the Shakopee couple
launched the nonprofit RMH Children's Foundation. The foundation is named
for their children: Robbie, 9, Michael, 7 and Hannah.
The foundation aims to improve the lives of homeless children and orphans
worldwide through humanitarian relief, community donations and projects,
and international adoption programs. Through the foundation's programs,
including Adopt an Orphanage, under which donors can sponsor individual
children or send supplies to poor orphanages, needy children receive
clothes, books and other supplies. The Chances personally sponsor more
than a dozen children in Russia, Ukraine and Moldova.
The Chances' sons wanted to get involved too. Robbie began collecting
backpacks under a program he calls Everybody Needs A Backpack! and has
so far shipped more than 600 bags to kids worldwide. Michael started up
Operation: Kid Gloves, collecting more than 900 items of winter clothing for
children.
The Chances worked with Minnesota-based European Children Adoption
Services to initiate Journey of Hope, a one-month summer program that places
orphaned children with host families in Minnesota with the goal of finding
the children adoptive parents. Last year, the first year of the program, 28
children were adopted through Journey of Hope. This year, Chance said,
she hopes to see more than 30 come through the program and find adoptive
families.
The Chances work on their foundation projects daily, sending letters to
businesses and churches, reaching out among their network of friends,
dropping off fliers and collecting donations. In the basement of the Chance
house sit several boxes of clothing and supplies waiting to be shipped
overseas. Often, Chance said, the family pays the postage for RMH packages.
"We try and ship something every week, so there's always something going
out," Chance said.
BIG ADJUSTMENT
Hannah, now a spritely girl happy to make a game of kissing her mother's
face ad nauseum and steely enough to take on two older brothers in a rowdy
session of amateur karate, was a sickly portrait of poverty just two years
ago.
Like many at her orphanage, Hannah was what's known as a social orphan,
meaning her parents were alive, but were too poor to take care of her.
Hannah's biological mother retained custody, though she never cared for her,
sending her to live in the orphanage where Hannah would at least be fed.
Hannah's orphanage received between 60 cents and $2 per child per week
from the state for food and clothes, Chance estimates. About five caregivers
traded shifts taking care of 60 to 65 children in Hannah's orphanage. Hannah
didn't have any clothes of her own; rather she shared in the community
clothing all the children at the orphanage wore.
Riddled with amoebic dysentery, anemia and eczema from the poor health care
she received in Ukraine, Hannah took a while to adjust to American life. She
was terrified of bathing, remembering the weekly cold water hose down that
sufficed at her orphanage. She rocked herself to sleep at night, staring
straight ahead in her crib, unable to look at her mother.
Hannah had grown used to caring for other children in Ukraine, however,
wiping other kids after their bathroom breaks and cleaning up after them.
"We'd wonder: Why is she washing our socks and underwear in the toilet?"
Bob Chance said. Apparently, he said, it was a practice she was used to from
life in the orphanage.
"She'll still talk about things" from the orphanage, Robin Chance said. But
for the most part, Hannah has adjusted well to her new life, enjoying
preschool and playing with her brothers.
Hannah's brothers dote on her, too. Michael, shy with new people, is
gregarious with his sister, recently playfully chasing her around the
basement wearing swimming goggles shaped like a shark head. Robbie said
all three like swimming together and said Hannah was immediately a good
swimmer. He said he nicknamed Hannah 'Cookie-dough Piranha,' "because
she likes cookie dough and she used to like to bite me."
Chance said she'd let Hannah decide if she wants to contact her birth mother
when she's older. For now, the family has no plans to return to Ukraine,
though Chance said she'd like to go on a humanitarian aid trip. "I really do
lose sleep at night," Chance said. "I just couldn't live with myself if we
didn't do anything for these kids."
AT A GLANCE
The Shakopee-based RMH Children's Foundation, a project of the National
Heritage Foundation, helps improve the lives of homeless or orphaned
children worldwide. TO DONATE to the RMH Children's Foundation, or to
learn more, visit the Web site at www.nhffoundations.net/rmhchildren, or
call founders Robin and Bob Chance at 952-496-0344. (END)(ARTUIS)
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Shira Kantor is at skantor@startribune.com.
LINK: http://www.startribune.com/stories/332/4870712.html
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 135: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
Join the free distribution list of The Action Ukraine Report
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5. UKRAINE ADDS SECOND NUCLEAR POWER SOURCE
ITAR-TASS, Moscow, Russia, Sunday, August 8, 2004
NETESHIN, Khmelnitsky Region - Ukraine on Sunday received an
additional reliable power source. On an instruction from Ukrainian President
Leonid Kuchma who flew to Neteshin, the city of Ukrainian nuclear power
specialists, they put into commercial operation the second power unit of the
Khmelnitsky nuclear station. From now on, the unit started supplying
electricity to the Ukrainian energy system.
On giving the order of "raising the capacity of the second power set up to
the commercial load", Kuchma said that "Ukraine has confirmed once again
its high technological potential by putting into operation the new power
block at the Khmelnitsky nuclear station".
The commissioning of the second power unit at the Khmelnitsky station gives
a possibility to generate annually 6-6.5 billion kilowatt-hours of safe and
cheap electricity. According to managing director of the Khmelnitsky power
station, "the state of security of power unit No. 2 was confirmed by
implementation of measures on raising security and modernization".
The second power block of the station will run on improved fuel TVS-A and
will be a pioneer among Ukrainian reactors VVER-1000 with the first full
load of a new fuel. Ukraine purchased improved assemblies from the Russian
TVEL company, supplying nuclear fuel to 13 countries, including Western
Europe, the CIS and the Baltics. Around 17 percent of the world nuclear fuel
market belongs to this Russian company, a monopoly in production of
advanced nuclear fuel for power stations. (END) (ARTUIS)
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LINK: http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=1109848&PageNum=0
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.134: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
Ukrainian Information Website: http://www.ArtUkraine.com
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6. "JUST A LITTLE ATOMIC BLACKMAIL"
Convince Russia to lower prices for reactor fuel to Ukrainian nuclear plants
GATEWAY TO RUSSIA, News from Russia
Expert Group, The Financial Times, 06 August 2004
The money it saves will go toward a program promoting the country's atomic
energy independence.
Though Russian and Ukrainian officials recently announced their willingness
to form a single economic zone, economic problems between the two
countries are multiplying. Along with disputes over pipes, sweets and
pastries, cars, and cement chronicled on the pages of Expert, a new issue
has recently emerged, the supply of Russian fuel to Ukrainian nuclear
power plants.
Atomic energy is one of the most important sectors of the Ukrainian economy.
The 14 reactor blocks at various Ukrainian plants generate around 45% of all
Ukraine's electricity at half the price of coal-powered plants. The
equipment at these coal plants is obsolete and worn out and cannot produce
any additional electricity. In many ways, the future development of the
Ukrainian economy depends on the expansion of atomic energy.
All fuel for Ukrainian reactors is imported from Russia, which costs Ukraine
$300 million a year. This figure has become the subject of a new scandal.
This spring, many in the Ukrainian media argued that Ukraine was buying
Russian fuel at artificially high prices. Deputies to the upper house of
parliament followed fast on the journalists' heels and at present the atomic
issue is the concern of the highest levels of the Ukrainian establishment.
FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH
"For historical reasons, reactor fuel for the entire former Soviet Union is
only produced in Russia by the TVEL Company," Nikolai Shteinberg, former
Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Fuel and Energy, explained to Expert. "This
monopoly has led to the current situation, when according to our estimates
Russian fuel already cost 10-15% more than on world market prices but is
of lower quality." Other Ukrainian specialists give even higher figures. "I
think that the price of fuel should be calculated according to pure uranium
content," argues Mikhail Vatagin, head of the Kiev consulting firm
Effektivnaya Energetika. "Then, as the world market price for uranium is
around $980 a kilogram, Russia should sell us reactor fuel for $1200-1250."
Ukrainian nuclear experts are particular angered by TVEL's policies toward
Russian customers. "TVEL sells fuel to Russian plants at half the price it
offers Ukrainian ones," complains Shteinberg. "And as we give TVEL around
60% of our export earnings, we are in effect compensating their losses for
supplying Russian plants."
Not surprisingly, those in the Russian atomic industry have their own
opinions. "In 1997 TVEL won a contract to supply fuel to Ukrainian nuclear
power plants. We were competing against the American company Westing-
house," TVEL Vice-President Anton Badenkov recounts. "We are now
supplying Ukrainian plants based on that contract. All of its conditions are
being fulfilled and no changes have been made. Supply prices are
confidential and I am not at liberty to discuss them, but since 1997, when
the contract was awarded, the world markets for both uranium and reactor
fuel have changed dramatically. Thus, one could say that we are supplying
Ukraine at 25% less than market price, not 25% more."
There are some in Ukraine who confirm this. In the summer of 2002, Vitaly
Gaiduk, who was the Ukrainian minister of fuel and energy at the time, noted
in an interview: "According to our contract with the Russian company TVEL,
the price of atomic fuel supplied to Ukraine is 25% below market for the
third year in a row. This discount will continue for another four years, but
will decline gradually." In other words, until 2006 Ukraine will get Russian
fuel for its nuclear power stations for less than world market price.
In addition to the alleged inflated prices for Russian fuel, the Ukrainians
are also complaining about its low quality compared to Western products.
"Western fuel generates around 50,000 megawatts a day per ton of uranium,
while Russian fuel at best generates 40,000," claims Shteinberg. "This means
a loss of 10-15%. Moreover, Russian fuel assemblies have to be changed
every two-three years, while Western ones last four. Changing the assembly
means stopping the reactor for several months. Thus, if Ukrainian nuclear
plants were using American fuel right now, it would cost 25% less."
Here, Russian atomic specialists also do not see eye to eye with their
Ukrainian colleagues. "The fact of the matter is that Ukraine only began
this year to move to a new type of fuel," says Badenkov. "For many years, it
used the old type that naturally was of lower quality than the fuel we
produce today. The quality of our new fuel is exactly the same as that of
American products and this is proven by its record at plants in Eastern
Europe. Just take a look at their reports and it's clear as day. We are
familiar with the specifications of both American and French fuel and for
this reason we can boldly bid in any tender because we will win in terms of
both quality and price. We have proven this in Eastern Europe, Finland, and
Asia."
Yet the Ukrainians refuse to relent. "If TVEL does not revise its pricing
policies, we will be forced to change to American fuel," says Shteinberg.
"This will be a great loss for both countries and losing the Ukrainian
market will mean bankruptcy for TVEL. The Russian parties should resolve
this matter quickly because Westinghouse is ready to supply the first six
assemblies for the South Ukrainian Nuclear Plant by as early as the end of
the year. We will need to evaluate the fuel for two or three years, but by
2009 we will be able to completely change over to American fuel."
The Russian parties involved remain undaunted. "I am very sorry that Ukraine
wants to use American fuel and waste tens of millions of dollars, as we are
very familiar with Westinghouse's prices. They are much higher than ours,"
says Badenkov. "The proof of this fact is the contracts we won recently in
Eastern Europe. Even in countries that are now joining the EU, plants prefer
to conclude contracts with TVEL until they close, thanks to the price and
quality of our products."
CHAIN REACTION
The main goal of this recent campaign in Ukraine is obvious: to convince
Russia to lower prices for reactor fuel. Those in the Ukrainian atomic
industry are not just interested in saving money for its own sake. The
country's authorities see its dependence on other nations for reactor fuel
as a direct threat to national security. For this reason, one of the most
important positions in the policy document, Ukraine's Energy Strategy until
2030, is a program to develop a Ukrainian domestic nuclear fuel cycle, or in
other words, the entire atomic fuel production chain.
This includes uranium ore mining and dressing, uranium hexafluoride
production and enrichment, zirconium ore mining and dressing, zirconium
alloy production, fuel assembly production, and finally fuel storage.
Ukraine already has the capacity to do much of this and ranks sixth in the
world and first in Europe in confirmed uranium deposits. Ukraine also has
significant amounts of zirconium and facilities for dressing uranium and
zirconium ores, as well as factories to produce zirconium rolled products.
A fuel storage facility is currently under construction in the Zaporozhye
region.
However, money for implementing this ambitious project is constantly short.
Ukrainian experts estimate that the total cost of creating a full production
cycle could come to almost a billion dollars. The program is supposed to be
financed from Energoatom's profits. Due to the low rates charged for
electricity generated by nuclear plants, as of June 1st 2003 the program
lacked around $200 million in funding. Attempts to raise rates met strong
opposition from Ukrainian manufacturers. It turns out that the only way to
increase profitability in the industry and free up money to finance the new
production cycle is to squeeze fuel and parts suppliers. Ukraine hopes to
get Russia to back down today in order to be independent tomorrow.
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.135: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
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7. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT SAYS WEST FAILED TO MEET
FINANCING PLEDGES TO BUILD NEW NUCLEAR CAPACITY
Inter TV, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 8 Aug 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sunday, Aug 08, 2004
KIEV - President Leonid Kuchma has blamed the West for failing to provide
promised financing for construction of new generating capacities at the
country's nuclear power plants. Speaking at the ceremonial launch of a new
reactor at the Khmelnytskyy nuclear power plant, Kuchma said it was thanks
to the government of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych that Ukraine had
been able to complete the construction on its own.
The new reactors are intended to compensate for the capacity lost from the
closure in 2000 of the Chernobyl plant, which was decommissioned under
pressure from the EU and international organizations. The following is the
text of a report by Ukrainian Inter TV on 8 August:
[Presenter] Ukraine's energy capacity has grown by 1m kW, President Leonid
Kuchma announced at the ceremonial launch of the second reactor at the
Khmelnytskyy nuclear power plant. He said: Today we have seen the event
that we have been waiting for for so long. The second generating set at the
Khmelnytskyy nuclear power plant has been connected to Ukraine's national
grid. The first kilowatt hour generated there has already gone to consumers.
Our correspondent, Oleksiy Ivanov, has details from the scene.
[Correspondent] After the launch of the second generating set at the
Khmelnytskyy nuclear power station, more than half of the country's
electricity will be generated at nuclear stations. Ukraine has become the
eighth country in the world according to the number of nuclear reactors and
their net capacity. Kuchma described the launch of the new reactor as a
notable event. Mainly because Ukrainians were able to build it on their own.
It is well known that the G-8 countries once promised to lend Ukraine the
money to finish the construction of the two generating sets in Rivne and
Khmelnytskyy, which were to compensate the loss of capacity after the
closure of the Chernobyl nuclear power station. In the end, the West failed
to fulfil these promises and did not give the loans.
[Kuchma] Ukraine met its obligations 100 per cent. On 15 December [2000],
the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was shut down. What did we get in
exchange? We waited five years. But under various pretexts, the West
avoided meeting its obligations, presenting Ukraine with more and more
new demands. Once it had secured the closure of Chernobyl, it forget its
obligations altogether.
This makes today's event look all the more significant. It clearly
demonstrates that Ukraine is standing on its own feet and is gaining the
energy to resolve on its own, with its own capacities problems that earlier
seemed intractable. We have to thank the current government and its head,
Viktor Yanukovych, for the successful completion of the job. In the last 18
months, almost as much capital was invested as in the first 15 years of the
construction.
[Correspondent] Today, the new generating set was connected to the national
grid. The energy generated here is already being used by consumers. The
maximum capacity of the reactor is 1m MW, but for some time it will not be
working at full strength. The power output will be raised gradually. Soon
there will be more energy being generated than Ukrainian consumers need, so
they want to export some of it.
[Kuchma] The launch of the generating set is one more big step to
strengthening the energy security of the state and expanding its export
potential. Ukraine is consistently implementing its strategic goal of
creating an energy bridge between east and west.
[Correspondent] Domestic specialists consider that the new generating set
is absolutely safe. The reactor construction is the most up-to-date. All
systems have been checked and are working normally. The radioactive
background in the area of the nuclear station has not changed after the
launch of the generating set.
[Kuchma] I think that for all of us, including me, there can be few more
happy moments than today. Look at the happy faces we saw everywhere.
What more happiness do we need than that? What does this mean? It means
that people have work, that people have good wages. It means they see
prospects. God grant all of you, with or without awards, good health. The
main thing is you have faith and conviction that Ukraine's future is in our
hands and nobody else's. So let's go on working with faith in the future.
Thank you (END) (ARTUIS)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.135: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
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8. 5 KANAL TV FACES NEW OBSTACLES IN UKRAINE
Harder to watch now in Kryvyy Rih and Kirovohrad in
addition to Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk
TV 5 Kanal, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 6 Aug 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Friday, Aug 06, 2004
KIEV - There are more problems for the honest news channel [5 Kanal's
slogan]. In addition to Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk, it has become harder
to watch us in Kryvyy Rih [a city in Dnipropetrovsk Region with more than
500,000 inhabitants] and Kirovohrad [a regional capital in central Ukraine].
In Kryvyy Rih, the local cable network has moved our channel from the social
package to the so-called economic one - for money. There is disturbing news
from Kirovohrad.
Oleksandr Horban, the director of the Stymul TV company, which broadcasts
us in the town, has said 5 Kanal's signal has been intermittently jammed in
Kirovohrad since Monday [2 August].
[5 Kanal reported on 4 August that a Dnipropetrovsk cable-operator had
switched off 5 Kanal starting on 3 August. It also said that 5 Kanal had not
been seen in Donetsk for more than a month.] (END) (ARTUIS)
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9. UKRAINE: NTN TV: HONEST EXPANSION OR PROPAGANDA?
A Donetsk-backed TV channel is aggressively expanding its coverage
By Vlad Lavrov, Kyiv Post Staff Writer
Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thur, Jul 29, 2004
KYIV - A Donetsk-backed television channel is aggressively expanding its
coverage, prompting media watchdogs to suspect it's gearing up to influence
this fall's presidential elections. The NTN channel in June paid more than
Hr 165,000 to Ukrchastotnahlyad, an airwave regulator, for 75 broadcasting
frequencies. The channel is currently waiting to receive a license from the
National Council for Television.
Until the channel obtains a license to broadcast on the frequencies it hopes
to use, NTN will be broadcast in Kyiv oblast only. Media watchdog
Telekritika.kiev.ua said that if the license is granted, it will be the
single largest media expansion in independent Ukraine.
Oleksandr Ilyashenko, NTN's general director, is downplaying his channel's
expansion plans, saying there's no rush to expand coverage before elections.
"Yes, we're working on our expansion, but we're taking it easy," he said.
Even if NTN gets licensed in the fall, it would be nearly impossible for the
channel to become an influential media tool in the near future.
"The owners tell us [the channel] should expand as soon as possible, but
even if it happens in September, how can a regional Kyiv channel make any
significant impact before presidential elections?" Like Ilyashenko, the
channel's editor Natalya Katerynchuk says that politics are not motivating
NTN to expand. "We aim to offer viewers broad and unbiased news
coverage, quality movies and entertaining programs," she said.
Not everyone is convinced, however, that NTN's motives are not politically
motivated. "It's nearly impossible for any media owned by a Donetsk-based
company to be unbiased," said Serhy Taran, director of the Institute of Mass
Information. NTN's expansion is planned to coincide with the second round
of elections, which would take place in November if one of the presidential
candidates does not win a majority of votes in the first round, he added.
"Any media resource, popular or not, will be handy when it comes to
influencing voters," Taran said. NTN, a Kyiv-based channel formerly known
as TV-Tabachuk, was purchased in January by the Donetsk-based company
Vostok Investprom. Ilyashenko would not reveal who owns Vostok Invest-
prom or exactly how much the company invested in the business. Ilyashenko
and Katerynchuk say that NTN is not guaranteed the license.
"We should prove that the content we can offer our viewers makes us worthy
of winning the license," Katerynchuk said. Mykola Hrytsenko, spokesman for
the National Council, said the NTN license decision would be made in the
fall.
Ilyashenko said that investments would enable the channel, which currently
produces no programming of its own, to purchase television equipment on par
with what the nation's most technically advanced channels use. The channel
currently broadcasts under the name TVT, but Ilyashenko says that in the
next few months it will take the name NTN.
Telekritika reported earlier this month that NTN planned to hire Sergey
Dorenko, a controversial Russian television figure known as a "television
killer" for smearing Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov on Russian television.
Katerynchuk said that no NTN employee confirmed this information, but
added that Dorenko visited the channel in July as a guest.
Last week Interfax reported that Dorenko planned to campaign on behalf of
Communist leader Petro Symonenko in the months leading up to the
presidential election. Symonenko said he has no plans to work with Dorenko.
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10. OPPOSITION LEADER AND CAMPAIGNER MP PETRO
POROSHENKO SAYS UKRAINIAN MEDIA UNDER PRESSURE
5 KANAL TV STATION PERSECUTED
"I can tell you that one of the reasons the prosecutor-general is pressuring
Volia Kabel TV network in Kiev. This is because Volia Kabel includes
5 Kanal in its offers."
Interview with MP Petro Poroshenko by Serhiy Lesnchenko
Ukrayinska Pravda web site, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian 30 July 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Aug 05, 2004
MP Petro Poroshenko, a presidential election campaign manager for the
Ukrainian opposition leader, Viktor Yushchenko, has said Yushchenko's
campaign would begin in earnest in August. Poroshenko, who is the owner
of 5 Kanal TV, said media outlets seen as sympathetic to the opposition are
being harassed. Speaking in an interview, he brushed away recent charges of
anti-Semitism against Yushchenko's bloc, Our Ukraine. Poroshenko also said
he knows nothing regarding rumours that he could become the prime minister
should Yushchenko win the election in the autumn.
The following is the text of an interview with Poroshenko by Serhiy
Leshchenko, entitled "Poroshenko: "Party of Prisoners' backing Yanukovych
has not improved his image", published on the Ukrainian web site Ukrayinska
Pravda on 30 July; the subheadings have been inserted editorially:
Before the coalition was formed between Our Ukraine and the Bloc of Yuliya
Tymoshenko [BYT], Petro Poroshenko was [Our Ukraine leader Viktor]
Yushchenko's first assistant in the highest body for adopting decisions -
the coordination council. Now he is simply an assistant - Yuliya Tymoshenko
has taken his place. To tell the truth, this does not seem to bother
Poroshenko and when asked about it he just smiles.
Poroshenko is now in Odessa preparing for Yushchenko's visit. He is the
supervisor of this region, and it is from here that the leader of Our
Ukraine is beginning his election campaign tour. Before leaving, Poroshenko
gave an interview to Ukrayinska Pravda. The first question interests many of
those sympathizing with the opposition - why is Yushchenko's election
campaign not visible?
CAMPAIGNING COMPARISONS
[Leshchenko] One gets an impression that Yushchenko has ceded the
initiative to [fellow presidential candidate, Prime Minister Viktor]
Yanukovych in the election campaign. We are seeing the active collection
of signatures for Yanukovych and consistent campaigning and not a single
initiative from Yushchenko's side. What is going on?
[Poroshenko] I would categorically disagree with you. Parallel acts are
going on. Yushchenko's presenting himself on 4 July [as a candidate for
president] was met with great enthusiasm by thousands of people who have
united around the need for a new power in Ukraine. And [compare this to]
the drum and laser show for Yanukovych's coming out in the style of
"party-authority-action" in Zaporizhzhya. I think today people themselves
can score how the new power should be different from the old, and on
whom the new power rests.
[Leshchenko] But after Yushchenko came out on Spivoche Pole [in Kiev],
his activities have not been seen.
[Poroshenko] After that Yanukovych had a very strong event in Kharkiv.
Where, under threat of being expelled from institute or other pressure,
people were dragged together, [as the authorities] tried to demonstrate
mass [attendance]. Then there was Yanukovych's wonderful song on
Metal Workers' Day... [ellipsis as published]
On our side, we are now getting ready to organize a mass event or show
during vacation time. The headquarters are working, there is enough
promotional material and a programme to collect signatures has been
worked out.
In contrast to Yanukovych, out collection of signatures is a promotional
campaign, not the buying of votes. And there are several stages, we are
checking potential members of our precinct commissions, who are being
taught in the relevant manner.
We are forming an institute of trusted persons, we are working out several
stages of promotional material. I can assure you that the end of July to the
beginning of August is the least public part of the campaign. Although the
promotional part commences on 1 August.
Today it is not a principle matter who starts first, or who finishes
collecting signatures first. The key is how he comes through. And you can
be certain that Yushchenko's team is capable of doing this more effectively.
[Leshchenko] So you haven't started collecting signatures yet?
[Poroshenko] No, that will begin on 1 August. And it is still unknown what
will be better: to be the first one to go out and collect signatures or to
follow behind and "clean up".
[Leshchenko] What is the difference?
[Poroshenko] Our team will go to the people when Yanukovych's
promoters have already gone through. And we know how the authorities
show us on the television. The authorities are simply afraid of Yushchenko.
5 KANAL TV STATION PERSECUTED
This is backed up by the behaviour of those from Donetsk with regard to the
5 Kanal television station in their region. They claim they have an absolute
majority of votes there. And in terror call on cable operators with threats
[telling them] to turn off 5 Kanal. What kind of freedom is this, of what
kind of democracy can we speak, if, God forbid, the development of their
scenario is carried out?
[Leshchenko] The situation with 5 Kanal is not changing in Donetsk?
[Poroshenko] The situation is only getting worse. I can tell you that one of
the reasons the prosecutor-general is pressuring Volia Kabel TV network in
Kiev. This is because Volia Kabel includes 5 Kanal in its offers. Today law
enforcement agencies have started cleaning out cable operators. There are
plans to "take on" another three cable operators.
[Leshchenko] Operators in Kiev?
[Poroshenko] No. You will see. They are in cities in eastern Ukraine.
[Leshchenko] Is 5 Kanal shown at all anywhere in Donetsk Region?
[Poroshenko] They have left it with a small audience, which numbers only
several hundred subscribers. And they have forced cable operators to stop
rebroadcasting 5 Kanal in the entire region.
[Leshchenko] Have you, as one of the leaders of Our Ukraine, had talks with
people who are responsible for political decisions in Yanukovych's circle?
[Poroshenko] This was done by Donetsk authorities, not by [Yanukovych's
campaign managers, Serhiy] Tyhypko or [Andriy] Klyuyev. While the
speaker of parliament [Volodymyr Lytvyn] was in Donetsk Region, there
was the possibility to converse and I told the governor, the head of the
regional administration and the mayor of Donetsk that such things were not
admissible. Back then, when 5 Kanal was still not turned off. I knew they
had such plans. Of course, they told us: "Well, hmm...[ellipsis as
published]", "See, we...[ellipsis as published]"
[Leshchenko] They are saying the private networks are refusing to broadcast
5 Kanal and that the authorities are not to blame...[ellipsis as published]
[Poroshenko] That's all lies, because representatives of the authorities
threatened cable network operators with opening criminal cases. To give an
example there is Volia Kabel. Volia Kabel is an example of how to scare
cable operators.
[Leshchenko] After this there can be no illusion of an honest election. What
will Our Ukraine's countermeasures be under such a situation in the state?
[Poroshenko] [They will be] effective. Today we already have examples of
the illegal collection of information by the authorities in the campaign
process. There are examples of them forcing the leaders of housing boards
[ZhEK] and enterprises to carry out certain steps. For every step by the
authorities, there is an effective counter step.
[Leshchenko] What exactly?
[Poroshenko] It depends of the scenario. My dear fellow, if I told you now
what answers we have to the authorities' steps, they would be ready for
them. We will use the surprise factor to the full extent. We have already
taught our regional headquarters... [ellipsis as published] The main thing
is we have what they don't - the support of the people.
STRICT DISCIPLINE
[Leshchenko] How do you evaluate the readiness of political structures in
supporting Yushchenko? There is the coalition between Our Ukraine and
BYT. No other political forces have been attracted to the campaign...
[ellipsis as published]
[Poroshenko] First, forming the coalition has not been completed yet. It
will be completed after signatures are collected. There are several parties
which will support Yushchenko, which do not belong to Our Ukraine or
BYT.
But we have a completely different position. Yanukovych's being supported
by the "Party of Prisoners" or some other people, has not raised his
authority or his influence in society. This simply means the machine of the
administration has broken yet another leader of a so-called party.
We believe people see everything, they learned in Soviet times to read
between the lines very well. For example, Ivan Chyzh, the chairman of the
National Television and Radio Broadcasting Committee, in light of his
position should have a neutral stand on procedures. And his party Justice
has taken the position of supporting Yanukovych! How does he plan to
provide objective coverage of the election as a representative of the state?
We do not want to repeat the infamous path that is being trod by the
authorities in this election. We are certain that putting forward Viktor
Yushchenko and the support he has cannot be provided by any pro-
authority force.
[Leshchenko] How do you evaluate the division of responsibilities between
the members of the Yushchenko coalition? For example, [Oleksandr]
Turchynov is responsible for Donetsk Region - how well is BYT received
in the region?
[Poroshenko] It is not Turchynov's responsibility, it is supervision. I mean
the coordination of headquarters. Each member of the coordination committee
answers for a certain number of regions. I think the management skills of
Yuliya Volodymyrivna (Tymoshenko) and Oleksandr Valentynovych
(Turchynov) allow for the effective provision of coordination in
headquarters work.
In no way does this ruin the vertical [chain of command] of carrying out the
campaign, the military discipline during the campaign at the levels of the
leader of the campaign, who is Oleksandr Zinchenko, and the central
headquarters and regional headquarters.
[Leshchenko] What do you answer for?
[Poroshenko] I am responsible for the decisions of the coordinating
committee in the Vinnytsya, Chernivsti, Zhytomyr and Odessa regions.
[Leshchenko] What are the tasks in your territories?
[Poroshenko] To provide for the effective coordination of actions.
[Leshchenko] And in the election: 50 per cent? Thirty per cent?
[Poroshenko] We will provide a big percentage. And it will enable us to
win.
[Leshchenko] The appearance of Oleksandr Zinchenko in the election
campaign was received with a certain measure of caution in the leadership
of the Yushchenko headquarters - for example by Roman Bezsmertnyy.
What is the situation now?
[Poroshenko] I am unaware that Zinchenko's arrival was met with caution
and I do not feel that now. Zinchenko is a sufficiently effective manager
and a politician with great experience for being able to find compromises.
Today I do not know any reason for conflict.
[Leshchenko] How is the fact that he was Yushchenko's enemy for three
years received inside Our Ukraine? He aided in his dismissal [as prime
minister] and was one of his biggest critics. And Zinchenko's [television]
channel [then Inter TV] destroyed Yushchenko then as prime minister.
[Poroshenko] First, it was not his channel. And subsequent events
demonstrated this.
[Leshchenko] Was it really not his channel?
[Poroshenko] If it was his channel, they why did it get rid of him? Second,
I am absolutely convinced Zinchenko's next steps will show: the position he
has is not a position "of the minute". He is not a person who is searching
for tactical solutions.
It is a strategic choice. He showed that a year ago. He consciously, clearly
and consistently moved to provide for the victory of democracy in the
country. And read the Bible: let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
PARTY MATTERS
[Leshchenko] Zinchenko practically followed your path. You came from the
USDPU [United Social Democratic Party of Ukraine] to Yushchenko a few
years earlier... [ellipsis as published]
[Poroshenko] I was not in the USDPU. In 1998 I won in a first-past-the-post
district and as a young politician joined the faction which I associated
with such respected people as [current Defence Minister Yevhen] Marchuk
and [former President Leonid] Kravchuk. And after I learned what really is
in the USDPU faction, I made a rather swift decision to go. Together with
me, a strong team made the decision to form the group Solidarity in the
parliament of the last convocation.
[Leshchenko] Was Zinchenko the person who brought you to the USDPU?
[Poroshenko] I had normal relations with Zinchenko, and they are now very
normal. No one led me anywhere. I have always made decisions myself. And I
do not need a communicator. I speak with people myself, personally.
I do not confer with many people when I make a decision on my fate. That
concerned both my joining the USDPU party list and it also explains my being
in the faction.
In the same way, I made the decision on the impossibility of my working in
the USDPU. And subsequent events proved me right. Then I was the first.
Then no one could allow themselves to fight publicly with the USDPU. After
me, there were the Kiev mayoral elections, after me was Zinchenko...
[ellipsis as published]
[Leshchenko] As far as I can tell, your Solidarity party is positioned as a
left-of-centre force?
[Poroshenko] You are right.
[Leshchenko] Does the idea of creating a single party based on Our Ukraine
remain in force for you?
[Poroshenko] I stress that a single party will be created for support of the
victorious president ahead of the 2006 parliamentary elections. Whether this
will be one or two parties, or another structure, that will be decided by
the winning president and the Our Ukraine bloc.
Today the key task of the Solidarity party is to activate all structures and
ensure the victory of Viktor Yushchenko. We support the agreed actions
leading to the creation of a single party, but that is a task in the next
stage.
[Leshchenko] Will Solidarity join the single party?
[Poroshenko] That depends on its make-up and the circumstances then.
We will consider this scenario also.
[Leshchenko] How did the leaders of Our Ukraine react to the Reforms
and Order party [RP] making a decision to change its name to Our Ukraine?
[Poroshenko] Fine. As [RP leader] Viktor Pynzenyk told us, the RP
decision is a proposal to participants in the bloc on making a single party
and the possibility of renaming it after the presidential election.
[Leshchenko] But there was the impression everyone was upset he took
such a well-known name.
[Poroshenko] I think political forces not in the bloc tried to give it that
impression.
[Leshchenko] Who thought up the name Our Ukraine?
[Poroshenko] Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko. Together with the emblem.
In the headquarters we simply brought it about.
[Leshchenko] There are at least several scenarios for creating a single
party and one of them is based on building a liberal party, while other say
a right-wing, national-democratic party.
[Poroshenko] Today there will not be a single party before the presidential
election.
CHERNOVETSKYY'S RUNNING WILL NOT HURT OUR UKRAINE
[Leshchenko] Leonid Chernovetskyy is another problematic topic of the past
week of the election campaign. How did it happen that a member of the Our
Ukraine faction decided to run separately in the election?
[Poroshenko] That is not a problem. Nothing happened. He is the head of a
party, he is an old partner. I am convinced and assure you that no intrigues
are going on here. Leonid Mykhaylovych (Chernovetskyy) takes a
coordinated position in parliament on every vote - which he confirmed
during his nomination for president.
Leonid Mykhaylovych, in light of those and other circumstances, decided to
register as a candidate for president. And in registering he said he was
working for Yushchenko - that is Leonid Mykhaylovych's choice. It is worth
asking him about his motives, reasons and the basis of his emerging [as a
candidate].
[Leshchenko] But they say you lobbied for his joining Our Ukraine.
[Poroshenko] No, that is not correct. I did not lobby. Leonid Maykhaylovych
is an independent politician who is in no need of lobbying. The position he
takes on professional issues is supported by the Our Ukraine faction.
Our views coincide, he is sincere in fighting the authorities, he is sincere
in defending the interests of entrepreneurs. And these political views are
acceptable to Our Ukraine.
[Leshchenko] But he broke cornerstone principle: the single candidate is
Yushchenko, and no one else.
[Poroshenko] Chernovetskyy's party is not a member of the Our Ukraine
bloc. It made a decision to nominate its own candidate. What his next
desire will be, how he will run his campaign - that we will see. I assure
you that it will not hurt Our Ukraine.
MP EXPELLED FOR XENOPHOBIC STATEMENTS
[Leshchenko] And a third topic of conflict: [radical right-wing MP, a former
member of Our Ukraine] Oleh Tyahnybok and his [xenophobic] statements.
In your opinion, what happened?
[Poroshenko] I have known Oleh Tyahnybok for many years. He is a
completely predictable, sincere, educated person. But sometimes in speaking
he gets out of control... [ellipsis as published] The emotional charge he
gets from the audience gives him reason, [while almost as if in a] trance to
say things which are categorically not shared by Our Ukraine or Yushchenko,
or in the end, even by himself.
And in a sort of a trance a person really can say things which later taken
out of context can certainly be misinterpreted. He says he had not intent to
lower the honour, dignity or national consciousness of anyone. At the same
time, we consider such behaviour unacceptable.
We most strictly stick to carrying out the national policy worked out by the
Our Ukraine bloc. It lies in categorically not accepting anti-Semitism, or
any form of national chauvinism. And because of just this the leader made a
decision in connection with Tyahnybok's statements, in connection with the
fact that Tyahnybok could not defend his position, I stress, "not refused",
but "could not", to expel him.
[Leshchenko] Yabluko leader Mykhaylo Brodskyy called him an agent sent
by Yushchenko's enemies.
[Poroshenko] I would not go so far as to say that. I know Tyahnybok. But I
think that here we need not so much analyse what he did, as much as what
Yushchenko did.
Name for me, please, an example of someone being kicked out of a faction for
some similar thing. Was Nechyporuk expelled from Hubskyy's faction? Does
that mean Hubskyy's party [People's Power], which supports Yanukovych, is
anti-Semitic? The presence of such members as Nechyporuk - why does no
one speak of his statements and not associate him with Yanukovych?
ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM
[Leshchenko] The topic of political reform: representatives of the
authorities say, "nothing terrible"; in September Yushchenko himself will
come and ask for changes to the constitution, because he will feel that he
is losing the election...[ellipsis as published]
[Poroshenko] In September, representatives of the authorities will come
themselves and ask Yushchenko to search for a compromise to keep calm
in the country. I think political reform will not pass, it has no chance.
Because it is not political reform.
It is an instrument to find seats for those close to the president,
beginning with [presidential chief-of-staff] Viktor Volodymyrovych
(Medvedchuk), who is left in a broken carriage should there not be
political reform, and ending with his whole clique.
[Leshchenko] You have good relations with [parliamentary] speaker
[Volodymyr] Lytvyn. What will his position be in September or October,
when there will be a vote in general for changes to the constitution?
[Poroshenko] He is a fairly independent calculating person. I do not know
his position, I say that openly myself. But I have hope and am convinced it
will be a pro-Ukrainian position.
[Leshchenko] But Our Ukraine, as far as is known from the statements of its
various representatives, is ready to vote for political reform if changes to
the constitution are not brought into force before 1 April 2005... [ellipsis
as published]
[Poroshenko] The only spokesman on political reform, who can express the
position of Our Ukraine is Viktor Andriyivych Yushchenko.
[Leshchenko] So statements by [MP] Katerynchuk do not take the position
of the faction into account?
[Poroshenko] I will not comment on that. I will comment that with respect to
the decision of the coordinating committee of the Our Ukraine bloc, the
single spokesman on issues of political reform is Yushchenko.
As far as I know, Viktor Yushchenko has not confirmed a readiness to
support bill number 4180 in any of his interviews. This document, instead of
changing power envisages its being kept safe. At the same time, Yushchenko
has clearly marked that under any circumstances our political force in union
with other pro-Ukrainian honest forces will carry out political reform. And
it will.
But this will include reform of local self-government, and it will not
influence the will of citizens in presidential elections. Reform will be
carried out only by those forces, which are trusted by the people. And it
will not follow the goal of some kind of "immediate" things - like looking
for posts.
A PRIME MINISTER UNDER YUSHCHENKO?
[Leshchenko] You mentioned posts. What will happen to you if Yushchenko
wins?
[Poroshenko] You know, I respect you and do not want to disappoint you...
[ellipsis as published] But sometimes it happens that people are in a
political fight with the goal of honest power, building effective prospects
for developing the state and not just power, or in general, having the goal
of attaining a personal position of power.
I can categorically state that Viktor Yushchenko has made no promises in
relation to any post for himself or for anyone. I do not rule out that after
finishing the formation of a coalition in support of Yushchenko, certain
principles, guiding the winning candidate in personnel issues, will be
written down and made public. And Ukrayinska Pravda will be among the
first to know about it.
[Leshchenko] What principles are included in the coalition agreement?
[Poroshenko] "An earring for every sister". What you come with, is what
you will leave with. That is, there is authority and influence and there are
organizational resources. The main key factor is authority in society, the
support of the people, professionalism and honour.
[Leshchenko] They say that in Yushchenko's coalition there are two prime
ministers ready - Poroshenko and Tymoshenko. Which of them, in your
opinion, has better chances of leading the government?
[Poroshenko] Poroshenko does not know anything about his being prime
minister.
[Leshchenko] But they are talking about it... [ellipsis as published]
[Poroshenko] Neither Poroshenko, nor anyone from his team nor Viktor
Yushchenko nor the coordinating council ever said the prime minister is
Poroshenko or the prime minister is Tymoshenko.
I think the Our Ukraine bloc has enough specialists, honest, prepared
people who are able to demonstrate effective actions in essentially
improving the standard of living of people, overcoming poverty, introducing
civilized standards, getting rid of the corruption and banditry which reigns
today in the economy.
[Leshchenko] Not long ago, Tyhypko said he did not rule out Yushchenko
becoming prime minister under a President Yanukovych. What do you think,
could he ever become prime minister under a President Yushchenko?
[Poroshenko] [In English] Never say never -[back to Ukrainian] Never say
never. That is a decision to be made by the president who wins. (END)
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