"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"
"Ukrainian electronics professor whose private firm transferred missile
engines and motors to Iraqi companies was rewarded with vouchers and
credits for more than 7.5 million barrels of Iraqi oil from 1998 to 2000,
the report found. The professor, identified as Yuri Orshansky, made about
$1.85 million in profits under the U.N. oil-for-food program, which was
designed to generate revenue for the Iraqi people under economic
sanctions. [The Washington Post, article one]
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" Year 04, Number 186
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, FRIDAY, October 8, 2004
-----INDEX OF ARTICLES-----
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1. "MANY HELPED IRAQ EVADE U.N. SANCTIONS ON WEAPONS"
Arm dealers and military suppliers from the former Eastern Bloc --
Russia, Poland, Romania, Belarus and Ukraine --
provided critical assistance to Iraq
Craig Whitlock and Glenn Frankel
Washington Post Foreign Service
The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., Fri, Oct 08, 2004
2. "PASSAGE OF U.S. HOUSE RESOLUTION 415 ON UKRAINE'S
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IS A VICTORY FOR ALL WHO HAVE
SUPPORTED DEMOCRACY AND RULE OF LAW IN UKRAINE"
By Ihor Gawdiak, President
Ukrainian American Coordinating Council (UACC)
Washington, D.C., Friday, October 8, 2004
3. RUDOLFINERHAUS" DOCTORS IN VIENNA SUSPECT USE OF
"BIOLOGIC WEAPON" AGAINST YUSHCHENKO
Our Ukraine Website, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 7, 2004
4. UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT INVESTIGATING COMMISSION
REGARDING YUSHCHENKO'S ILLNESS MAKES A REPORT
Following is a digest of what the ad hoc commission has announced
UNIAN, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, October 7, 2004
5 . SPEECH BY YUSHCHENKO ILLNESS COMMISSION
CHAIRMAN MP SIVKOVYCH CALLED A FALSIFICATION
UNIAN, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 7, 2004
6. "THIS IS SHAMEFUL FOR UKRAINE!"
OP-ED, Inside Ukraine Newsletter, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri, Oct 8, 2004
.
7. "RUSSIA PAYS FAWNING TRIBUTE TO BIRTHDAY BOY
'PUTIN THE FIRST'"
Yesterday he was thought to have had informal meetings in Moscow
with the president and prime minister of Ukraine.
Andrew Osborn in Moscow, The Independent, UK, Fri, Oct 08, 2004
8. KUCHMA CONGRATULATES PUTIN ON HIS BIRTHDAY
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 7, 2004
9. VIKTOR YANUKOVYCH TO VISIT MOSCOW OCTOBER 8-9
"Russian Ukrainians For Yanukovych"
Ukrainian News Service, Kyiv,Ukraine, Thu, October 7, 2004
10. UKRAINE, IRAQ SIGN MILITARY COOPERATION ACCORD
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 7 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Oct 07, 2004
11.USAID TO OPEN 13 MORE CENTERS OF LEGAL AID TO FARMERS
UNDER LAND PRIVATIZATION SUPPORT BY JULY 2005
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 7, 2004
12. FINLAND IS NOT AMONG THOSE SAYING NO OR NEVER TO
UKRAINE'S MEMBERSHIP IN THE EUROPEAN UNIAN
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 7, 2004
13. "VIRSKY UKRAINIAN NATIONAL DANCE COMPANY
PERFORMS AT IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY IN AMES, IOWA"
COMMENTARY: by Linda Hodges, Ames, Iowa
Published by The Action Ukraine Report
Washington, D.C., Friday, October 8, 2004
14. "DANCERS DELIGHT WITH COLORFUL CHOREOGRAPHY"
Internationally renowned Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company
By Marcia Fulmer, Entertainment Editor
The Truth, E-Truth.com, Elkart, Indiana, Thursday, October 07, 2004
15. PAMIAT COMPANY BUILDS TWO SUPERMARKETS IN LVIV
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 7, 2004
16. UKRAINIAN FUGITIVE GENERAL REPORTEDLY BROUGHT
DOCUMENTS ON JOURNALIST MURDER
Being kept at the Lviv directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine
Source: Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 7 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Oct 07, 2004
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
========================================================
1. "MANY HELPED IRAQ EVADE U.N. SANCTIONS ON WEAPONS"
Arm dealers and military suppliers from the former Eastern Bloc --
Russia, Poland, Romania, Belarus and Ukraine --
provided critical assistance to Iraq
Craig Whitlock and Glenn Frankel
Washington Post Foreign Service
The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., Fri, Oct 08, 2004
BERLIN, Oct. 7 -- As part of its stealth effort to evade U.N. sanctions and
rebuild its military, the Iraqi government under President Saddam Hussein
found that it had no shortage of people around the world who were willing to
help. Among them: a French arms dealer known only as "Mr. Claude," who
made a surreptitious visit to Iraq four years ago to provide technical
expertise and training.
Mr. Claude worked for Lura, a French company that sold tank carriers to
Iraq, according to documents recovered by the top U.S. weapons inspector in
Iraq. The mysterious Frenchman may have also helped the Iraqis attempt to
acquire military-related radar and microwave technology, despite a U.N. ban
on such trade with Iraq since the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Other French military contractors came to Baghdad with offers to supply the
Iraqi government with helicopters, spare parts for fighter aircraft and air
defense systems after 1998, when U.N. weapons inspectors withdrew under
pressure, according to a report issued this week by Charles A. Duelfer, the
chief U.S. weapons inspector. The report cites evidence that contacts
between the French suppliers and Hussein's government continued until last
year, less than one month before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
While not denying that the transfers took place, a spokesman for the French
Foreign Ministry, Herve Ladsous, said the accusations "were not verified
either with the people themselves or with the authorities of the countries
concerned," according to the Associated Press.
The French were hardly alone in helping Hussein to reinvigorate his military
forces during the 12 years that Iraq was under strict U.N. sanctions. Arm
dealers and military suppliers from the former Eastern Bloc -- Russia,
Poland, Romania, Belarus and Ukraine -- provided critical assistance to Iraq
as it tried to build a long-range missile program and other systems that
weapons inspectors feared could have been used someday to launch chemical,
biological or even nuclear attacks.
"It was well known within the U.S. government that individuals and companies
were selling Iraq various kinds of prohibited items," said Gary Samore, a
nonproliferation specialist in the Clinton administration who now works as
an analyst for the London-based International Institute for Strategic
Studies.
While the United States sought to shut down suppliers through diplomatic and
other means, Samore said, it was common knowledge that Iraq was able to
bypass sanctions by buying in small quantities and paying high prices, using
a network of front companies in Jordan, Syria and other countries in the
Middle East.
"The world is awash in conventional arms, and every time there's been an
arms embargo on a country they've been able to circumvent it," he said.
"It's much more difficult to buy more exotic technologies like nuclear
weapons, but there are so many private dealers and corrupt state entities,
especially in the former Soviet Union. The best you can do is slow down
sales, obstruct them or make it more expensive."
Numerous other nations bought and sold on the Iraqi military shopping
network, including such dictatorships as North Korea and the former
Yugoslavia before the downfall of President Slobodan Milosevic. While
some of the countries were politically friendly with or sympathetic to Iraq,
the biggest motivation was usually money, according to Duelfer's report to
the CIA.
"As long as the regime had enough cash to pay for these items, it really
wouldn't have been too much of a problem to obtain these things and
smuggle them in," said Jeremy Binnie, Middle East editor for Jane's Sentinel
Security Assessments, a London-based magazine. "It just takes people with
enough money and the ability to find the right contacts to get their hands
on this stuff."
The Iraqi pipeline extended to four countries -- Bulgaria, Poland, Romania
and Ukraine -- that later sent troops to Iraq to join the U.S.-led military
coalition.
In Poland, Iraqi intelligence officers helped set up a front company called
Ewex, which obtained engines and guidance components for surface-to-air
missiles from Polish scrap dealers and middlemen who scoured military
surplus stockpiles for the parts, the report said.
U.S. inspectors estimated that Iraq bought about 280 engines from Poland
from 2001 to 2003 with the intent of using them to equip a new missile that
violated U.N. range limits. The engines had been removed from Polish
missiles decommissioned after the Cold War.
Polish authorities arrested some Ewex executives in 2003 on charges of
making illegal arms deliveries to Iraq. Purchasing documents confiscated
later showed that many of the engines were funneled through Syria.
In Bulgaria, a firm called the JEFF Co. exported more than $7 million worth
of warheads, missiles and launcher units to Baghdad in 2002 in violation of
U.N. sanctions, the report found. Other Bulgarian traders sold chemicals and
machine tools to Iraq that could be used for civilian purposes but were
really intended for missile components and other military purposes.
In Romania, Iraqi intelligence agents used diplomatic pouches to send photos
of tanks and other military equipment available for sale in that nation back
to Baghdad. Although weapons inspectors said it was unclear how much
equipment was purchased by the Iraqi government, they did uncover documents
after the war showing that a Romanian firm, Uzinexport SA, signed a contract
in October 2001 to sell magnets to Iraq that "could have been suitable" for
a uranium enrichment program.
In most cases, U.S. weapons inspectors found no clear evidence that
officials in those countries were involved in the arms deals. One exception
was Ukraine, where leaders gave their blessing to military sales to Iraq.
The Duelfer report calls Ukraine "one of the countries involved in illicit
military-related procurement with Iraq" after the 1991 Gulf War, noting that
President Leonid Kuchma personally approved the sale of a $100 million
antiaircraft radar system to Iraq via a Jordanian intermediary in 2000.
Ukrainian officials have since said the sale was never completed, and
weapons inspectors said they had not found any evidence that the radar
system was shipped to Iraq.
In 2001, Iraqi intelligence agents also bought five motors from a Ukrainian
company as part of a project to develop unmanned spy planes. The motors
were shipped to Iraq from Ukraine in diplomatic pouches to avoid the
attention of international inspectors, the report said.
A Ukrainian electronics professor whose private firm transferred missile
engines and motors to Iraqi companies was rewarded with vouchers and
credits for more than 7.5 million barrels of Iraqi oil from 1998 to 2000,
the report found. The professor, identified as Yuri Orshansky, made about
$1.85 million in profits under the U.N. oil-for-food program, which was
designed to generate revenue for the Iraqi people under economic sanctions.
Some of the clearest evidence of government corruption, according to the
report, involved Russia, a country that has vast storehouses of military
technology.
Although the Russian government has denied past accusations that it played
a role in supplying arms and military equipment to Hussein's government,
U.S. weapons inspectors reported finding "a significant amount of captured
documentation showing contracts between Iraq and Russian companies."
In one case, a Russian general, Anatoly Makros, formed a joint company with
Iraqi partners in 1998 "just to handle the large volume of Russian
business," according to the report, which also cited a former Iraqi diplomat
as saying that Russian customs officials ignored the illegal commerce in
exchange for bribes.
Trade with Russia was so brisk that Iraqi Embassy officials smuggled
military supplies on weekly charter flights from Moscow to Baghdad,
according to the former Iraqi diplomat, who was not named in the report.
The equipment included radar jammers, night-vision goggles and small missile
components.
One Russian company signed contracts valued at about $20 million to provide
material for Iraq's missile systems. Another Russian firm, Uliss, negotiated
a deal to support a tank project dubbed "Saddam the Lion," according to the
report. (Frankel reported from London.) -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
=======================================================
2. "PASSAGE OF U.S. HOUSE RESOLUTION 415 ON UKRAINE'S
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IS A VICTORY FOR ALL WHO HAVE
SUPPORTED DEMOCRACY AND RULE OF LAW IN UKRAINE"
By Ihor Gawdiak, President, Ukrainian American Coordinating Council
Washington, D.C., Friday, October 8, 2004
WASHINGTON - On October 4, 2004, the House of Representatives
under the leadership of Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), Chairman of the
International Relations Committee (HIRC) unanimously passed a Concurrent
Resolution (H. CON. RES. 415) “Urging the Government of Ukraine to
ensure a democratic, transparent, and fair election process for the
presidential election on October 31, 2004.” The resolution was introduced
in the House by Rep. Henry Hyde, together with Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ),
Chairman of the Helsinki Commission and Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), HIRC
Ranking Member.
The resolution sets a high bar for the Government of Ukraine and its leaders
to guarantee freedom of association, assembly, political expression, freedom
of the press, and free and fair elections. The resolution further sets out
clearly a list of conditions that must be met to ensure that free and fair
elections are held in Ukraine. It calls on the Government of Ukraine to
guarantee all election monitors unimpeded access throughout the campaign
and election cycle.
Furthermore, the U.S. Congress has conditioned its support for Ukraine’s
membership in NATO on the “establishment of a genuinely democratic
political system” in Ukraine. The Congress also calls on the President of
the United States to use all the resources of his office to ensure that the
Government of Ukraine and its leaders guarantee that the elections laws
and procedures are faithfully adhered to by all local and national officials
and by others acting at their behest.
The Congress also asks the President to explain to the Government of
Ukraine, its leaders and the Ukrainian people the high importance attached
by the U.S. Government to this presidential campaign and election and,
further declares that the conduct of this election will be a central factor
in determining the relationship between Ukraine and the United States.
The passage of this resolution is a victory for all those who have supported
democracy and the rule of law in Ukraine. It shows the strength of the
Ukrainian American community and the successful results its diverse
segments can achieve when they work together on a common goal. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
=======================================================
3. "RUDOLFINERHAUS" DOCTORS IN VIENNA SUSPECT USE OF
"BIOLOGIC WEAPON" AGAINST YUSHCHENKO
Our Ukraine Website, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 7, 2004
KYIV - The head of Victor Yushchenko's election campaign Oleksandr
Zinchenko made public at the Verkhovna Rada [parliament in Kyiv] a
request from the doctors of "Rudolfinerhaus" clinic to be permitted to test
for the use of biologic weapon against Victor Yushchenko.
Here is the full text of the letter, read by Oleksandr Zinchenko:
Dear Mr. Yushchenko! We, the undersigned doctors, ask for permission
to turn to certain international organizations in order to receive help
since we had come to a conclusion that the apparent symptoms and the
passing of a number of diseases does not correspond with the course of
diseases, known to civil medicine. We have come to a definite conclusion
that Your illness is atypical, which gives reason to suspect the use of
biologic weapon.
Taking the circumstances mentioned above into consideration, we need
exigently the help of a specialist in the field of military operations and
biologic weapons. The apparent course of the disease at the moment gives
reason to suspect the use of specific agents that are usually used in making
biologic weapons. We ask for your permission to seek immediate help.
SIGNED:
Professor Dr. Zimpfer, doctor of anesthesiology and intensive care,
president of "Rudolfinerhaus" clinic Dr. Wicke, and doctor of general
surgery professor Korpan. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
========================================================
4. UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT INVESTIGATING COMMISSION
REGARDING YUSHCHENKO'S ILLNESS MAKES A REPORT
Following is a digest of what the ad hoc commission has announced
UNIAN, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, October 7, 2004
KYIV - Chief of the ad hoc parliament investigating commission, MP
Volodymyr Sivkovych has informed the parliament on the work of the
commission, claiming that, as of today, the commission has no grounds
to state that Yushchenko's life was attempted, though it cannot exclude
an external influence exerted on the Our Ukraine front-runner.
He has stressed that all the statement that were publicized by Reuters
were really made by Rudolfinerhaus clinic.
According to an UNIAN correspondent, speaking in the parliament, he
has said that the clinic has appeared to have recalled the statement,
disseminated by Reuters 28 September.
Sivkovych has also stated that the commission must be dissolved if suffered
presidential candidate Victor Yushchenko evades collaborating with the
commission. V.Sivkovych claimed that "if the victim prohibits to collect and
work with the information, the further activity of the commission has no
prospects". Saying that, V.Sivkovych meant the letter, which he personally
received from V.Yushchenko today. Yushchenko reminded him in the letter
about his criminal responsibility in case of publicizing the diagnoses of
his illness and other medical data, Sivkovych said.
Sivkovych has cast doubt on the professionalism of Vienna doctors,
proposing to carry out an expertise in Ukraine.
Speaking from the parliamentary tribune, V.Sivkovych has unveiled that,
in line with Austrian laws, if doctors suspect that their patient could have
been poisoned with chemical substances, not normally contained in food,
they must turn to a forensic expertise. V.Sivkovych has claimed that they
did not.
He has emphasized that, therefore, the professionalism of the Austrian
doctors is open to a doubt, giving cause for appointing a forensic expertise
in Ukraine with assistance of foreign experts.
Summarizing his speech, V.Sivkovych has claimed that the commission's
report gives no grounds to state that V.Yushchenko was poisoned, but, at
the same time, they cannot assert that there was no external influence of
some chemical substances on the organism of V.Yushchenko. -30-
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTE: Reports from Kyiv indicate the report given by MP
Volodymyr Sivkovych was not written by the Parlimentary Commission
but by the staff of top Ukrainian authorities and given to Sivkovych to
read in the Parliament. (EDITOR)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
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5. SPEECH BY YUSHCHENKO ILLNESS COMMISSION
CHAIRMAN MP SIVKOVYCH CALLED A MAJOR FALSIFICATION
UNIAN, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 7, 2004
KYIV - The doctors - members of the Temporary ad hoc investigating
commission of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) probing into
circumstances of poisoning presidential candidate Victor Yushchenko,
have called a falsification the speech of the commission chief Volodymyr
Sivkovych.
According to an UNIAN correspondent, commission member Serhiy
Shevchuk has delivered a co-report on behalf of professors and
academicians of medicine, MPs Mykhailo Loboda, Mykhailo Syatynia,
and Mykola Polishchuk, dismissing almost all statements of Sivkovych.
First, he has said that the diagnosis of Ukrainian doctors was written "with
question", second, S.Shevchuk has announced that after his personal
studying the blood and urinal tests of Yushchenko, held in Ukraine, he
personally, being a doctor, found 15 abnormalities. Thus, the MP claims,
one cannot speak about absence of abnormalities.
S.Shevchuk has added that the Sivkovych's statement about Rudolfinerhaus
is not true, as MPs - members of the parliament commission - received an
official document of the clinic reading that the 28 September press-release
was not prepared by the clinic, and was falsified. In addition, S.Shevchuk
has claimed that none of the commission members authorized Sivkovych to
"justify Reuters".
He has also blamed as "cynical lie" the statement that as if the Vienna
clinic obstructed the work of parliament deputies. He has added that the
work was conducted normally, saying that "it is the problem of Prosecutor
General" that he was not allowed in the clinic. S.Shevchuk has emphasized
that MPs, visiting the clinic, received all the necessary documents and
information, of which an audio-recording was made.
He has also thanked Rudolfinerhaus, reminding that many famous people,
including Ukrainian parliament deputies, turned to this clinic. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
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6. "THIS IS SHAMEFUL FOR UKRAINE!"
OP-ED, Inside Ukraine Newsletter, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri, Oct 8, 2004
KYIV- It's clear Ukraine is not really a democratic country at all!!!
Yesterday none of the country's major TV-channels - Inter, 1+1, ICTV,
none of them showed the speech of MP Serhiy Shevchuk, dismissing and
refuting the information of MP Volodymyr Sivkovych, chairman of the
ad hoc Parliamentary Commission looking into the illness of presidential
candidate Viktor Yushchenko.
No, they broadcast MP Sivkovych in different poses, claiming that Yushchenko
was a liar, and producing different defamatory and smear comments. It was
a smear campaign, and legislation cannot help it. The majority of Ukrainians
watch those channels. How can their broadcasts be so biased, so one-sided?
Its horrendous!
These journalists even do not know what is freedom of speech, all of them
are sold and bought. More than that, it has turned out that MP Sivkovych
just read the information he was handed by the top authorities just before
his speech, and he did not give the information that had been agreed upon
by the special commmission to be announced in the parliament.
MP Sivkovych merely produced perfect PR frames for our TV-channels.
Ukrainians know nothing about statements of the Rudolfinerhaus hospital
in Vienna concerning the possible use of a biologic weapon against Viktor
Yushchenko, or about any other views. This is shameful for Ukraine! -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
=======================================================
7. "RUSSIA PAYS FAWNING TRIBUTE TO BIRTHDAY BOY
'PUTIN THE FIRST'"
Yesterday he was thought to have had informal meetings in Moscow
with the president and prime minister of Ukraine.
Andrew Osborn in Moscow, The Independent, UK, Fri, Oct 08, 2004
MOSCOW - PRESIDENT VLADIMIR Putin celebrated his 52nd birthday
yesterday basking in the warm afterglow of a Soviet-style cult of
personality. Although he and his officials insist they have no desire to
engender such a cult, his supporters and the largely state-controlled TV
networks have ensured one has grown up.
After more than four years as Russia's President, his approval ratings
remain astonishingly high and the evening news is not complete without a
long report showing Mr Putin talking to his ministers or inspecting a
factory. Yesterday he was thought to have had informal meetings in
Moscow with the president and prime minister of Ukraine.
The daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, which enjoys privileged access to the
Kremlin, published a sentimental account of his school years in St
Petersburg as recounted by his then German teacher Vera Dmitrievna
Gurevich. Under the headline "A Hero of Our Time", the paper pictured
a smiling Mr Putin being hugged by his former teacher.
The paper told readers Ms Gurevich had just published a book about her
famous former pupil entitled Vladimir Putin: Parents, Friends and Teachers.
It also carried sentimental anecdotes about how young "Volodya" used to try
to copy the work of fellow pupils' work, and how incredibly energetic he
was. "During the break, he was so active he was seen on all floors," Ms
Gurevich says. Mr Putin, who formerly headed the FSB security service and
served as a KGB officer in what was then East Germany, apparently had a
few qualms about learning German.
His father had been badly wounded and his grandmother and two uncles
killed during the Second World War so Ms Gurevich says that she had a lot
of persuading to do.
Other papers dealt with his birthday with more humour. Nezavisimaya Gazeta
pointed out that the Mariinsky Theatre in Mr Putin's native St Petersburg
opened its season yesterday with a Mikhail Glinka opera called Life for the
Tsar, suggesting strongly that it had been arranged in his honour. The opera
charts the rise in the 17th century of Mikhail Romanov, later to become
Tsar.
Moskovsky Komsomolets was more daring; it published a cartoon of Mr
Putin dressed as a king, drinking champagne on a throne surrounded by
court jesters and generals. The Putin figure says: "A rightful government is
when the sovereign is always right."
Much of the paraphernalia glorifying Mr Putin that was produced after his
first election in 2000 has disappeared, though cast-iron busts of him are
still on sale in Moscow's kiosks. Tourist firms in St Petersburg now
organise special tours of "Putin's Petersburg". The President's fans are
shown the apartment block where he and his parents lived, his school, his
university, and even the KGB office where he began his career.
Mr Putin and his radical, centralising reforms may raise eyebrows in the
West but he is popular among ordinary Russians. Even after the Beslan
school massacre, which the authorities were widely perceived to have
handled badly, his approval rating stood at 66 per cent.
That may be a far cry from the 80 per cent-plus figures he was polling at
the beginning of the year but it is a rating for which many a Western
politician would give their eye teeth.
Mr Putin has said he wants elections for regional governors scrapped in
favour of appointments (by him) and for the Kremlin to have a much greater
say in the appointment of judges. He has also packed his administration with
former spies and loyal people from his home city. Opposition parties have
accused him of mounting a constitutional coup and worry that he is
determined to undo Russia's democratic progress.
But his birthday did not pass without blemish. Andrei Illarionov, one of his
most senior advisers, made an unusually scathing critique of the Kremlin's
economic policy and savaged the way it had handled the Yukos affair and
the trial of the billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
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8. KUCHMA CONGRATULATES PUTIN ON HIS BIRTHDAY
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 7, 2004
KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has congratulated Russia's President
Vladimir Putin on his birthday. The presidential press service disclosed
this to Ukrainian News, citing a telegram that Kuchma sent to Putin.
"Accept my warmest congratulations on your birthday," the press service
quoted Kuchma as saying in the telegram.
Kuchma also said in the telegram that he highly valued Putin's personal
contribution to the development of friendship between Russia and Ukraine
and expressed confidence that Ukrainian-Russian relations would continue
to develop in the spirit of good neighborliness and mutual respect.
"I am confident that realization of all your intentions and agreements will
facilitate practical implementation of the constructive political dialogue
both at the bilateral level and within international and regional
organizations," Kuchma said in the telegram.
He wished Putin good health, happiness, prosperity in his family and among
his relatives, and success in ensuring the prosperity of the Russian people.
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
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9. VIKTOR YANUKOVYCH TO VISIT MOSCOW OCTOBER 8-9
"Russian Ukrainians For Yanukovych"
Ukrainian News Service, Kyiv,Ukraine, Thu, October 7, 2004
KYIV -- Ukrainian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Viktor
Yanukovych is to visit Moscow on Friday-Saturday, October 8-9.
Ukrainian News learned this from the Premier's press secretary Hanna
Herman.
She noted that during this visit Yanukovych will take part in the congress
of representatives of Ukrainian public organizations in Russia. Herman said
that the program of the visit is being specified.
As expected, the congress of representatives of Ukrainian public
organizations called Russian Ukrainians For Yanukovych is to be held in
Moscow on Friday, October 8. Taking part in it are expected well-known
and popular politicians, Russian culture and art figures.
As Ukrainian News reported, Ukraine launched its October 31 presidential
election campaign on July 3. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
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10. UKRAINE, IRAQ SIGN MILITARY COOPERATION ACCORD
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 7 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Oct 07, 2004
KIEV - The Ukrainian and Iraqi defence ministries signed a cooperation
agreement on Thursday [7 October]. The accord was signed at the Ukrainian
National Defence Academy during a visit to Ukraine by an Iraqi military
delegation headed by the secretary-general of the Iraqi Defence Ministry,
Nuri Shaways.
Shaways and Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Ihor Tymofeyev signed
the agreement, the press service of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry said.
"The agreement marks the beginning of full-fledged cooperation between the
two countries," Tymofeyev said after the signing.
For his part, Shaways said that cooperation between the two countries had
really begun when the Ukrainian peacekeepers started taking part in the
process to establish peace and bring stability to Iraq. "The agreement
deepens our cooperation and I hope that the document will become the first
big step towards a cooperation agreement between the governments of our
countries," Shaways said.
Shaways told a briefing that the agreement envisages that Iraqi officers
will be trained in Ukrainian academies (which will be paid for from Iraq's
budget).
Talking about the plans of his country, Shaways said that his government is
going to form its armed forces of 95,000 servicemen by the end of 2005. He
also called on Ukraine to leave its peacekeepers in Iraq until the Iraqi
army is formed.
Shaways emphasized that Iraq was interested in Ukraine's defence industry.
Iraq "will buy weapons for its army only to protect its people", he said.
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
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11. USAID TO OPEN 13 MORE CENTERS OF LEGAL AID TO FARMERS
UNDER LAND PRIVATIZATION SUPPORT BY JULY 2005
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 7, 2004
KYIV - The US international development agency intends to open
13 more centers for providing free legal assistance to people in the
countryside within the framework of the project in support of land
privatization in Ukraine in 13 regions before the end of the first half
of 2005.
USAID mission director Christopher Crowley announced this at a
press conference. For peasants to know their rights better, Crowley
said. He said that the Agency had already opened 12 law centers in
12 regions: Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Lviv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy,
Ternopil, Kharkiv, Kherson, Chernivtsi and Chernihiv regions.
Crowley noted that the activity of these centers has already yielded
results: peasants better know their rights and much less frequently get
defrauded from different structures making profit out of the issue of
government acts.
The new 13 centers will open in 2004 - first half of 2005. The law
centers will also deal with providing to new landowners free legal
aid and consultations. Crowley added that the term of the USAID
project, which was to close in January 2005, has been recently
prolonged to March 206.
According to the USAID, by October 1, 2004, over 835,000
government acts for the right of ownership of farming land were
granted with the support of the USAID project.
The owners of over 204,000 land certificates are awaiting
redistribution of land lots, and over 600,000 government acts to be
given to the appropriate bodies of state power have been prepared.
As Ukrainian News reported, on October 6, the Verkhovna Rada
extended the moratorium on the sale of land until January 1, 2008.
In June, Rada extended the moratorium on the sale of land until 2007,
but President Leonid Kuchma vetoed this law.
In July 2003, the USAID opened a legal center in Kherson for rendering
assistance to the rural population within the framework of a project for
supporting land privatization in Ukraine. The project of support for
privatization of land in Ukraine is the largest project of the USAID.
Ukraine's 41.8 million hectares of area (69.3% of territory) is farmlands,
including 33 million hectares of plough-land. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER TWELVE
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12. FINLAND IS NOT AMONG THOSE SAYING NO OR NEVER TO
UKRAINE'S MEMBERSHIP IN THE EUROPEAN UNIAN
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 7, 2004
KYIV - Finland supports Ukraine's intention to become a European Union
member. Ukrainian News learned this from Ukrainian Foreign Ministry press
service chief Markian Lubkivskyi, who referred to the meeting of Ukrainian
Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko with Foreign Minister of Finland
Erkki Tuomioja that took place in Helsinki.
"My country is not among those saying NO or NEVER to Ukraine's
membership in the EU," Tuomioja said. He emphasized that Ukraine must
gradually express her wish to become a European Union member.
The Finnish Minister also said that his country supports the European
policy of neighborhood with respect to Ukraine.
Hryschenko and Tuomioja discussed Ukrainian-Finnish cooperation in the
context of Finland's presidency in the European Union in the latter half of
2006. The parties also discussed restoration by Ukraine of the Danube-
Black Sea navigation canal.
Apart from this, the Ministers discussed the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan,
South Caucasus and the settlement of conflict between Moldova and the
self-proclaimed Moldovan Republic of Transdniestria.
After the meeting Hryschenko told reporters that Ukraine wishes a full
integration in the European Union. He believes that the opportunities
opening before the European Union with Ukraine's integration overweight
all problems involved. "We do not wish to be neighbors forever,"
Hryschenko said. "Neighborhood is not the idea inspiring us," he added.
Hryschenko said that Ukraine intends to raise the question of its
integration in the EU after ratification of the European Constitution and
settlement of the situation after adoption to the European Union of new
members on May 1. In the meantime, Ukraine will focus on its economic
growth and approaching to European standards.
Yet, Hryschenko stressed that, without a clear signal from the European
Union, Ukraine cannot mobilize all of its resources to become a EU
member. Hryschenko believes that in the future the European Union will
need Ukraine to compete with China, India and Brazil.
Hryschenko also met with Liisa Jaakonsaari, chairman of the Finnish
Parliament's foreign affairs committee. Jaakonsaari noted that Ukraine
may use legal basis of the European Union. According to EU norms, any
country sharing European values may join the European Union.
Hryschenko confirmed that Ukraine shares European values.
As Ukrainian News reported, Hryschenko arrived on an official visit to
Finland from Latvia October 6. Earlier, Ukraine and Finland concluded
the agreement on cooperation in boosting and mutual protection of
investments. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER THIRTEEN
=========================================================
13. "VIRSKY UKRAINIAN NATIONAL DANCE COMPANY
PERFORMS AT IOWA STATE UNIVERISTY IN AMES, IOWA"
COMMENTARY: by Linda Hodges, Ames, Iowa
Published by The Action Ukraine Report
Washington, D.C., Friday, October 8, 2004
The performance of the Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company on
October 2 in Ames, Iowa was magnificent and thoroughly enjoyable.
Coming near the beginning of the group's 70-day U.S.-Canada tour,
the high energy level of the dancers, combining elements of ballet and
athletics, dance and rhythm gymnastics in flawless precision, was
breathtaking.
However, their female dancers need to retire at age 35 and the males at
40, according to Myroslav Vantukh, Jr. the son of the Virsky general
director. Vantukh also told those attending a pre performance talk that
the dances aren't folk dance per se but are based on folk dance elements.
Among the numbers that were more choreographic art than folk dance
steps was Tsygansky (Gypsy Dance), in which female dancers representing
Bessarabian Gypsies extended their elegant flowing dresses to either side
while behind each woman a male dancer leapt up five feet high, resulting in
a colorful kaleidoscopic effect.
Oi, Pid Vishnyu (Oh, Under a Cherry Tree), based on an old folk song, has
the three dancers as marionettes acting out the song's love triangle. This
was charming and very engaging. Another use of effective staging was the
Vyshyvalnytsi (Embroideresses), in which female dancers each hold a huge
strand of colorful yarn, and imitating the rocking movement of the loom,
interweave their threads to make a large floral tapestry.
The highest energy dances are the male Kozak (Cossack) themed dances.
Five of the dances were almost entirely based on male acrobatics, showing
an assortment of squats and leaps. Even in Moriaky (Sailors), the Black Sea
Fleet sailors in their white and navy blue suits are performing Kozak-like
acrobatic feats. Perhaps Ukrainian sailors' training includes those
exercises.
The Kozak movements may have been a bit over-represented in the program.
While it's always fun to watch their awesome feats, and no matter how many
colors you vary their sharovary (wide, roomy trousers), the footwork and
stage movement of the male-female dances are more intricate and interesting
than that of the all-male or all-female dances.
Actually, much of the program hasn't changed over the years. A short video
from the last Virsky U.S. tour about six years ago shows some of the same
dances I saw the other night: for example, the opener is still "Ukraine, my
Ukraine," introducing costumes and dances from about eight different
regions. That's followed by Povzunets (Crawler), created by Pavlo Virsky,
who founded the company in 1937.
Povzunets is a real crowd pleaser, in which the Kozaks try to outdo one
another in their calisthenics. The evening culminates with Virsky's
arrangement of the quintessential Ukrainian dance, Hopak, that brings the
audience to its feet with a more spontaneous and enthusiastic ovation than
I've seen in a long time. Really, they don't need anything new, it can't get
better than this.
If you are lucky enough to have the Virsky Ukrainian National Dance
Company come to your area, watch for extra opportunities to meet them.
Besides the very brief pre-performance talk by Myroslav Vantukh, a male
and a female dancer accompanied by an accordion player presented a
"master class" several hours before the concert to participants of Ames'
annual cultural diversity festival.
The hour of competent, good-humored instruction began with a demonstration
of several dances followed by an invitation to audience members to come
onstage and learn a few of the dances. And after the evening's performance,
about eight members of the company met with admiring fans from the Iowa
State University Ukrainian Club. The dancers spoke about the rigors of
their training and the frustration of their whirlwind bus trip across
America that didn't allow time to get out and see the cities. -30-
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Linda Hodges, a second generation Ukrainian, is a freelance food
and travel writer in Ames, Iowa. She has written articles on Ukrainian
subjects for the "Des Moines Register" and "Ukrainian Weekly," and
is active in Ukrainian causes on the Internet and in Iowa--among others,
the Cherkasy Committee of Iowa Sister Cities.
She is the Co-author of "Language and Travel Guide to Ukraine,"
Hodges & Chumak, Hippocrene Books, Inc, fourth edition, 2004.
We appreciate Linda writing this special report on the Virsky Concert
she recently attended in Ames, Iowa for The Action Ukraine Report.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The only published version of the entire Virsky schedule has been
developed by www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS) for
The Action Ukraine Report and can been seen at the following link:
http://www.ArtUkraine.com in the News-Current Events Gallery.
The Virsky schedule for the coming week is: October 8, Friday,
St. Louis, Missouri; October 9, Saturday, Wheaton, Illinois; October
10, Sunday, Chicago, Illinois; October 11, Monday, No Concert, Day
Off; October 12, Tuesday, Lexington, Kentucky; October 13, Wed-
nesday, Greenwood, South Carolina; October 14, Thursday, Concert,
Florence, Alabama. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER FOURTEEN
========================================================
14. "DANCERS DELIGHT WITH COLORFUL CHOREOGRAPHY"
Internationally renowned Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company
By Marcia Fulmer, Entertainment Editor
The Truth, E-Truth.com, Elkhart, Indiana, Thursday, October 07, 2004
ELKHART -- The Elkhart Concert Club opened its fall 2004 season
Wednesday evening at the Elco Theatre with a dazzling performance by
the internationally renowned Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company
[from Kyiv, Ukraine].
No translator was needed at any point as the company of more than 75
dancers -- plus full orchestra -- amazed the enthusiastic audience not only
with its grace and skill but with its rainbow of costumes.
As one patron said, "It's like looking at a live kaleidoscope." And indeed
it was. The visual show was impressive enough, but when the amazing
choreography was added -- and performed with immense attention to detail
-- it was an evening difficult to duplicate.
Now in its 67th year, the Virsky dance company was formed in 1937 when
Ukrainian ballet masters Pavlo Virsky and Mykola Bolotov brought some of
the country's finest folk dancers together. It was under the guidance of
Virsky, who headed the ensemble from 1955 until his death in 1975, that the
group became a highly professional company. It was named after him in 1977.
Myroslav Vantukh, a former Virsky student, became artistic director in 1980.
His primary goal has been the preservation and development of folk dancing
as choreographic art. In this production, it would seem his goal has been
reached.
The opening number, "Ukraine, My Ukraine," was a blaze of colors, especially
blue, red, white, green and yellow, which were used throughout the evening
in various shades and combinations. The choreography, executed by the entire
company (although not all together since it was obvious even the large Elco
stage could not hold the whole group), depicted the various regions of the
Ukraine by local dances.
Among the most beautiful of the evening were the "Gypsy Dance" with
flirtatious females in flowing long skirts, bare midriffs and jeweled tops,
all in shimmering colors; "Crawler," a men-only number that 10 dancers
performed without ever standing upright (it made my legs hurt just to
watch!); and "Embroideresses," aptly named for the ladies of the ensemble
who, unrolling ropes of purple, blue, orange and yellow from their waists,
created a Maypole effect and then became a loom on which woven patterns
were created. And the lines were never tangled.
Difficult to find the words to describe the performances by the stalwart men
of the ensemble, many of whom -- especially in the "Dance of the Cossacks"
and "Sailors" -- seemed to spend more time in the air via splits, leaps,
flips and spins in a wide variety of conformations. Individually, they were
awesome. Together, as precise as any military unit.
In the second half, in addition to the serene and lovely "Years of Youth,"
which focused on love, life and marriage, a trio interpreted the tale of a
young girl pursued by an old man who refused his advances in spite of his
wealth and chose instead a young man. "Oh, Under a Cherry Tree" was in
a style reminiscent of marionettes and a delightful change of pace.
In the finale, the entire company returned to end the evening in a riot of
color and dazzling dance. -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Marcia Fulmer at mfulmer@etruth.com.
http://www.etruth.com/news/story/332288/index.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The only published version of the entire Virsky schedule has been
developed by the www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS)
for The Action Ukraine Report and can been seen at the following link:
http://www.ArtUkraine.com in the News-Current Events Gallery.
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER FIFTEEN
========================================================
15. PAMIAT COMPANY BUILDS TWO SUPERMARKETS IN LVIV
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv,Ukrane, October 7, 2004
KYIV - The Pamiat company (Lviv) has built two VAM supermarkets in
Lviv at the cost of USD 4 million. Taras Khrusch, the director of the VAM
supermarket chain, announced this to journalists. "It is the second and
third stores of the supermarket chain," he said.
Khrusch said that there was only one VAM supermarket in Lviv until now.
According to him, the ceremonial opening of one of the new supermarkets,
which has an area of 3,000 square meters, took place on October 6.
The second, which has an area of 2,000 square meters, will be opened in
November.
The Comfort Service company (Lviv) was the general contractor for the
construction project. Pamiat intends to start construction of another VAM
supermarket soon. Lviv has a population of 0.8 million. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.186: ARTICLE NUMBER SIXTEEN
=======================================================
16. UKRAINIAN FUGITIVE GENERAL REPORTEDLY BROUGHT
DOCUMENTS ON JOURNALIST MURDER
Being kept at the Lviv directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine
Source: Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 7 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Oct 07, 2004
LVIV - October: General Volodymyr Kravchenko is being kept at the Lviv
directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine. The copies of documents on
the "tape scandal" [President Leonid Kuchma's conversations recorded by
presidential guard Mykola Melnychenko] have been handed to Kravchenko's
relatives in Ukraine, who were waiting for him at the border, businessman
Volodymyr Tsvil, who accompanied Kravchenko from Germany to Ukraine,
told a news conference in Lviv.
The general was detained and had a two-hour conversation with a security
service investigator, he said. But he does not know what they discussed
because they were talking behind closed doors.
Tsvil suggested that the Security Service of Ukraine had detained Kravchenko
only because he was carrying the copies of documents on the security
service's work and the copies of documents on the "tape scandal".
The general's luggage was not searched, and all his belongings and documents
were handed to Kravchenko's relatives, Tsvil said. His wife left for Lviv
and the businessman lost contact with her. The general told him that the
documents about the "tape scandal" could shed light on the death of
[opposition] journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, Tsvil said. Tsvil believes that
Kravchenko will be released soon because he has not committed any
serious offence against the Ukrainian law.
Kravchenko decided to return to Ukraine before the presidential election
because he thought he could preserve his name as an honest officer, so that
nobody could reproach him that he stayed abroad waiting for "better times",
Tsvil said. He also noted that the general had predicted various scenarios
of what would happen after his arrival to Ukraine. In particular, he did not
rule out his arrest by the law-enforcement agencies. Most of all Kravchenko
feared that their car would be hit and then President Kuchma would be
accused of this. -30-
========================================================
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