"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR"
An International Newsletter
The Latest, Up-To-Date
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 - AUR" - Number 534
Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Washington, D.C. and Kyiv, Ukraine, MONDAY, August 1, 2005
------INDEX OF ARTICLES------
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1. RUSSIA TELLS UKRAINE GAS PRICES COULD TRIPLE
By Judy Dempsey, International Herald Tribune (IHT)
Paris, France, Monday, August 1, 2005
2. POLAND SHOULD ESCAPE RUSSIA'S GAS STRANGLEHOLD
Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Aug 01, 2005
3. TURKEY 'IS BEST ROUTE FOR IRAN GAS TO WEST'
A pipeline through Ukraine is unrealistic
Gulf Daily News, The Voice of Bahrain
Manama, Bahrain, Sat, July 30, 2005
4. BUSINESS PLAN FOR ODESSA-BRODY READY IN SIX MONTHS
Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Aug 01, 2005
5. TORN BETWEEN TWO NEIGHBOURS: OBSERVATIONS ON UKRAINE
Russia and the European Union
By Ed Owen, New Statesman, London, UK, Sat, August 1, 2005
6. UKRAINIAN REVOLUTION LIVES ON - IN PUP TENTS
Many are calling it "revolutionary chaos."
By Kim Murphy, Times Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles, California, Monday, August 1, 2005
7. U.S. EMBASSY IN KYIV WORKS TO FACILITATE VISA APPLICATION
PROCESS, BUT WARNS AGAINST UNSCRUPULOUS INTERMEDIARIES
By MaryKay Carlson, Consul General, U.S. Embassy
Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, August 1, 2005
8. USAID SUPPORTS CHERKASY TO ISSUE UAH 5 MILLION IN BONDS
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri, July 29, 2005
9. USA OFFERS UKRAINE TO SIGN A FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT
ON MISSILE DEFENSE
By Natalya Pechorina, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, July 29, 2005
10. ISRAEL ASKS UKRAINE TO DEMAND IRAN RETURN
ILLEGALLY-SOLD CRUISE MISSILES
By Ze'ev Schiff, Haaretz Correspondent
Haaretz.com, Israel, Monday, Aug 1, 2005
11. KAZAKHSTAN OFFERS SPACE COOPERATION TO RUSSIA, UKRAINE
"Ukraine is ready to go to outer space with us"
Izvestiya-Kazakhstan, Almaty, in Russian 19 Jul 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sun, July 31, 2005
12. UKRAINE FORCED TO SET UP JOINT VENTURE WITH RUSSIANS
FOR NATO CARGO DEAL
Defense-Express web site, Kiev, in Russian 29 Jul 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sat, Jul 30, 2005
13. RUSSIANS IN UKRAINE'S SEVASTOPOL DREAD THEIR NAVY'S
DEPARTURE 12 YEARS FROM NOW
NTV Mir, Moscow, in Russian 1500 gmt 31 Jul 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sun, Jul 31, 2005
14. SPIES INTERESTED IN UKRAINE'S MILITARY TECHNOLOGY
New Europe, Athens, Greece, Mon, August 1, 2005
15. UKRAINIAN PM URGES CREATION OF STATE-OWNED TITANIUM CO
Ukrainian-German JV worries its investment is in danger
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1630 gmt 30 Jul 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sat, Jul 30, 2005
16. UKRAINE'S DONOR BLOOD SERVICE NEEDS REFORM
AND DEVELOPMENT
Number of blood donors now only half of what there were in 1991
By Lyudmila Valuyeva, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, July 29, 2005
17. FREEDOM STARTS IN GDANSK, 25TH BIRTHDAY OF SOLIDARITY
"From Solitary to Freedom", President of Ukraine Yushchenko to attend
Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Fri, Jul 29, 2005
18. 5,000 UKRAINIANS SERVING SENTENCES IN RUSSIAN PRISONS
Over 25,000 foreigners held in Russian jails
Interfax news agency, Moscow, in Russian, 30 Jul 05
BBC Monitoring Service,UK, in English, Sat, Jul 30, 2005
19. MOLDOVA'S GOVERNMENT LIFTS ECONOMIC SANCTIONS
AGAINST BREAKAWAY REGION
Three official languages: Romanian, Russian and Ukrainian
AP Worldstream, Moldova, Sunday, Jul 31, 2005
20. TWO CENTURIES LATER RUSSIAN TROOPS BEGIN LEAVING GEORGIA
Agence France Presse (AFP), Georgia, Sat, July 30, 2005
21. THE TYRANT OF BELARUS
EDITORIAL: International Herald Tribune (IHT)
Paris, France, Monday, August 1, 2005
22. POLAND URGES EU ACTION OVER 'CRISIS' WITH BELARUS
By Jan Cienski in Warsaw, Financial Times
London, UK, Friday, July 29 2005
23. US JUDGE UPHOLDS LAUNDERING AND EXTORTION CONVICTIONS
AGAINST FORMER UKRAINIAN PM PAVEL LAZARENKO
December sentencing date set
Agence France Presse (AFP), San Francisco, CA, Wed, July 27, 2005
24. KYIV TO HOST 2ND INTERNATIONAL GRAIN CONFERENCE IN SEPT
By Svetlana Alfimova, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, July 30, 2005.
25. THE JOURNEY HOME FROM UKRAINE TO CALIFORNIA
Adopting two Ukrainian orphan boys
By Janet Enquist, The Porterville Recorder
Porterville, California, Sat, July 30, 2005
26. "WHERE LADY LIBERTY HAD BECOME THE 'CHICK ON A STICK'"
OP-ED: By Lubomyr Luciuk, The Whig-Standard
Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Saturday, July 30, 2005
27. UKRAINIAN MEDIA TESTS FREEDOM BOUNDARIES
By Mara D. Bellaby, Associated Press Writer
AP, Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Jul 28, 2005
=============================================================
1. RUSSIA TELLS UKRAINE GAS PRICES COULD TRIPLE
By Judy Dempsey, International Herald Tribune (IHT)
Paris, France, Monday, August 1, 2005
BERLIN - Russia is planning to triple its gas prices to Ukraine, prompting
fears that the measures could influence Ukraine's parliamentary election
campaign, according to officials in both countries.
Alexiy Miller, chairman of Russia's state-owned gas monopoly, Gazprom,
has told his Ukrainian counterparts that the price could rise threefold. The
increases would match world market prices and provide Gazprom with
more revenue to finance its ambitious investment plans.
Russia charges Ukraine around $80 for 1,000 cubic meters of gas, which
is well below world market prices.
"Russia intends to raise prices threefold. I hope both sides can find a
compromise before the winter," said Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime
minister of Russia and now adviser to the Ukrainian president, Viktor
Yushchenko. "It could be a very difficult time for Ukraine in the coming
months," Nemtsov said in an interview.
Elections in Ukraine are due next March, but already the political parties
have begun campaigning for a Parliament that for the first time will have
genuine powers based on the Western Europe parliamentary system. The
powerful role of president will be sharply reduced.
These changes were agreed to during last December's peaceful Orange
Revolution, which swept Yushchenko to power after he promised to end
corruption, introduce economic changes and implement a more open and
democratic political system that could eventually allow Ukraine to join the
World Trade Organization, the European Union and NATO.
But a jump in energy costs could immediately lead to higher domestic and
industrial prices, which analysts said could erode the popularity of the
parties led by Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Party.
Those prices could also be exploited by the nationalist and socialist
parties, whose candidate for president, the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovich,
was defeated by Yushchenko.
Agata Loskot, an energy expert at the Center for Eastern Studies in Warsaw,
said Russia had often used energy as a means of political pressure on
neighbors that depend on Russia for their energy needs. Ukraine imports a
third of its energy from Russia. Another third comes from Turkmenistan and
the remainder is produced from Ukraine's own resources.
But what may harm Yushchenko's campaign in the short term may eventually
help the Ukrainian economy become more effective and put relations with
Russia on a more transparent and accountable basis.
Loskot confirmed that Russia's decision to increase its energy prices to
Ukraine could lead to a more transparent system between both countries.
She said that "higher energy prices could really push forward much-needed
reforms in Ukraine's energy sector."
The Ukrainian government heavily subsidizes energy prices for home and
industrial use. The domestic consumer pays $27 per 1,000 cubic meters,
while industry pays $60 to $80 per 1,000 cubic meters.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said such low
prices encouraged waste and inefficiency. The bank published a report on
the matter last May in which it said: "Improving energy efficiency remains a
key issue in Ukraine. Energy intensity in 2002 is estimated to have been
approximately three times higher than the average of the 25 European
Union members."
Ivan Poltevets, an energy expert at the independent Institute for Economic
Research and Policy Consulting in Kiev, said that for many years Russia's
energy supplies to Ukraine were "paid in kind, not cash. Payments were
usually offset by transit costs charged by Ukraine."
Over 90 percent of Russian gas destined for Europe is sent via Ukraine's
transit route. If Russia raises its energy exports to Ukraine, Ukraine said
it would also increase its transit fees.
Poltevets said costs for energy imports and transit charges "were never
transparent. There was never a strong system of accountability." Last month,
Ukraine admitted to hoarding 8 billion cubic meters of Russian gas that was
supposed to be exported to Europe.
After Yushchenko was sworn in as president last January, he announced
plans to "monetarize" the relationship between Gazprom and the Ukrainian
side that would end the system of offsetting Russian energy imports against
transit costs. So far, however, both countries have stuck with the old,
opaque trading system.
Russia has in the past used its vast energy resources as one of its prime
foreign policy instruments to exert pressure on neighboring countries.
Three years ago, it stopped gas supplies to Belarus as a means of putting
pressure on Belarus to sell an important stake of its energy sector to
Russia.
Russia earlier this year also threatened to cut off energy supplies to the
government of Moldova in a bid to influence the outcome of parliamentary and
presidential elections. The government in Moldova has for the past decade
been trying to prevent the pro-Russian region of Transnistria from breaking
away. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/31/news/russia.php
=============================================================
2. POLAND SHOULD ESCAPE RUSSIA'S GAS STRANGLEHOLD
Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Aug 01, 2005
WARSAW - Inoperative gas cookers in 6m households, 1.2m families left
without heating, thousands of trade and services companies closed, work
toppages at steelworks, refineries and chemical companies - this is what
Poland would look like, were it cut off from Russian gas supplies, write the
authors of an article in the Wprost weekly. According to them, a grim gas
scenario is beginning to emerge.
At the beginning of July, Gazexport, a company owned by Russia's Gazprom,
announced that it would soon increase gas prices for European states,
including Poland. Gas from Russia will cost some $170-185 per 1,000 cubic
metres, one-third more than at present. According to Wprost, the price rise
is part of a political game by Russia, which controls 51 percent of Gazprom.
After last year's lesson in humility given to Belarus, Russia refused to
deliver 7.8bn cubic metres of gas to Ukraine in June, and in July it
triumphantly announced a plan to construct a northern pipeline from Russia
to Germany, omitting certain states in the region. As a result of
disadvantageous agreements with Russia signed by former Infrastructure
Minister Marek Pol, it became increasingly difficult for Poland to free
itself from a vicious circle.
For the last 15 years, Poland has considered only two ways of making itself
independent of Russian gas supplies: the Norway pipeline; and the
construction of a Bernau-Szczecin section, which was supposed to link
Poland's pipeline system with the European one. The first idea, the Norway
pipeline, was promoted by Jerzy Buzek's government. The former PM
signed an agreement, from which Leszek Miller's government later withdrew.
The other idea was promoted by a Polish businessman linked to the left of
Poland's political scene, Aleksander Gudzowaty. Unfortunately, political
clashes in Poland left the country with no choice but to purchase gas in the
East. Buzek's government did not let Gudzowaty build the Bernau-Szczecin
section, while Miller torpedoed Buzek's agreement with Norway. It turned out
that only Russia benefited from the exchange of courtesies.
According to Witold Michalowski, the editor-in-chief of Rurociagi
(pipelines) magazine, the inability to anticipate is characteristic of
Poland's energy policy. "In the 1990s we contracted twice as much gas as
we needed, based on completely erroneous forecasts according to which
the utilisation of gas in Poland was to amount to 27-35bn cubic metres in
2010," says Michalowski.
In his view, it is scandalous that Poland agreed to sign a provision that it
would not be allowed to re-export unutilised gas. Original agreements with
Russia assume the construction of two lines of the Yamal pipeline. However,
though only one of the lines was constructed, a number of lawyers claimed
that Poland was obliged to purchase less gas (2.88bn cubic metres) than it
had been previously.
In 2003, Marek Pol chose to accept the interpretation of the Russians for
fear that otherwise Russia could sell Poland only 2.88bn cubic metres of
gas - in that case, Poland would be short of it. Pol announced his great
success: Poland would not be flooded by Russian gas.
However, the price for this success was a drastic decrease in transit
prices. Transit price reduction is beneficial to Russia, to which belongs 85
percent of the transited gas. To the Polish Gas and Oil company (PGNiG) -
a shareholder in EuRoPolGaz, a Polish-Russian firm responsible for
constructing the Yamal pipeline - this means some ZL1bn losses in 2006.
Zbigniew Tatys, head of the Polish unit of America's FX Energy, which is
searching for gas deposits in Poland, his firm will start gas extraction
outside Warsaw. The increase in Polish gas extraction should mark the
beginning of the end of dependence on Russian gas.
PGNiG President Marek Kossowski said at the end of June that his
company would increase domestic gas extraction to 5.5bn cubic metres,
from the current 4.3bn. At present, gas extracted in Poland covers 32
percent of annual demand. -30-
=============================================================
3. TURKEY 'IS BEST ROUTE FOR IRAN GAS TO WEST'
A pipeline through Ukraine is unrealistic
Gulf Daily News, The Voice of Bahrain
Manama, Bahrain, Sat, July 30, 2005
ANKARA: Turkey is the only viable option for Iran to export its gas to
Western markets and a pipeline through Ukraine is unrealistic, Turkish
energy officials said yesterday.Iran, which has the world's second largest
gas reserves after Russia, said this week it had reached a preliminary
agreement with Ukraine for exporting 20-30 billion cubic metres a year.
"This is not very realistic. First of all, there is no such line and neither
Russia nor Turkey would allow their territorial waters to be used for such a
line," an official said .
Turkey has pressed Iran unsuccessfully for upgrading of its gas deliveries,
and end to interruptions in gas flow, and price cuts as well as a deal for
re-exporting gas to third countries.
Turkish officials said they had been aware that Iran was talking to Ukraine,
and said this was aimed at putting pressure on Turkey.
Despite a lack of progress, officials said the talks with Iran would not
stop. "Turkey is still the only option for the sale of Iranian gas to
Europe," an official said.
"Pumping natural gas through Ukraine will serve no purpose. Iran will
anyway be in a position to use the Nabucco line when it starts operating in
2006," said the official. -30-
=============================================================
4. BUSINESS PLAN FOR ODESSA-BRODY READY IN SIX MONTHS
Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Aug 01, 2005
WARSAW - Construction of the Odessa-Brody pipeline, which will transit
Caspian oil from Ukraine to Poland, is drawing closer. A business plan for
the venture is due to be ready in six months. The business plan and analyses
for the investment will be financed by the European Commission, which will
allot EUR2m.
Its representative in Ukraine, Ian Boage, announced on Friday that the
business plan and the analyses will be carried out by a consortium of
Finland-registered SWECO, Germany's Ilf and Greece's Kantor.
Globally-renowned Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Ernst & Young lost the
tender. The pipeline construction will be conducted by Polish-Ukrainian
company Sarmatia.
Its owners, PERN Przyjazn and UkrTransNafta, do not have money for the
investment, whose total cost is estimated at EUR450-500m. According to
unofficial information, the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) will finance part of the deal. -30-
=============================================================
5. TORN BETWEEN TWO NEIGHBOURS: OBSERVATIONS ON UKRAINE
Russia and the European Union
By Ed Owen, New Statesman, London, UK, Sat, August 1, 2005
One of the hottest attractions for the thousands of Ukrainians who stroll
along the busy promenade of the Crimean Black Sea resort of Yalta is the
chance to be photographed acting out their favourite fantasy. Some choose
to sit astride an enormous Harley-Davidson motorcycle wearing leathers
emblazoned with the American flag, while others prefer sitting atop a
gilded throne, dressed from head to foot in the outlandish aristocratic
costumes of pre-revolutionary France.
It is anyone's guess what Lenin, whose statue still stands at the far end
of town, would have made of all this. But for these Ukrainians, eight
months after people power triumphed over Soviet-style ballot-rigging, it is
a welcome relief in a country struggling to make a life outside the
influence of its Russian neighbour.
The bright glow of the orange revolution that swept President Viktor
Yushchenko to power last year has dimmed in recent months as Ukraine
has confronted the reality of what it needs to do to become a prosperous,
democratic European country. Fundamental economic change is vital, but it
will be painful, and already Ukraine's parliament has refused to agree even
to the preliminary reforms needed to join the World Trade Organisation.
Political and legal reforms are needed, too. Corruption is endemic in a
system hamstrung by the instincts and practices of its Soviet past. Things
are so bad that in July Yushchenko proposed sacking all 20,000 of
Ukraine's traffic police, claiming they went on patrol only to extract
bribes from innocent motorists.
For reformers, the key to maintaining the momentum and popular support
for this long and difficult process is the prospect of eventual membership
of the European Union. They point to the experience of Poland, Hungary and
the Baltic states as examples of how the EU can be a powerful lever for
domestic change. What is more, many reformers say, Europe has a moral
obligation to sustain what was born on the streets of Kiev last November.
Yet all this comes at a time when Euro referendums in France and the
Netherlands have severely weakened enthusiasm within the EU for expansion.
Much of the French debate in May centred on the perceived dangers of the
"Polish plumber" and the prospect of Turkish membership. In these
circumstances many governments are calling for a halt to enlargement for
the foreseeable future.
So a recent conference in Yalta of Ukrainian reformers and EU
representatives was timely - and that it met in the palace where 60 years
ago Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill discussed the division of Europe was
a neat reminder of how the people of eastern Europe suffered as a result
of forces outside their control.
For Ukraine, the historic relationship with Russia has not been simply
about subjugation but also about an almost involuntary desire for
protection. Roughly 50 per cent of Ukrainians are Russian-speaking; the
southern Russian naval fleet is still based up the coast at Sebastopol;
Russia continues to meet most of Ukraine's energy demands. Without
encouragement from the west, through the EU and Nato, this former Soviet
republic might well turn its face eastward again.
The threat hung over discussions at the conference, where the delegates
included the former British minister Stephen Byers. All agreed that the
EU should offer greater incentives to Ukraine to support reform, although
Byers was realistic about the chances of actual membership - "We all know
that it is not going to happen soon," he said. Most observers believe that,
even with EU support, Ukraine is at least a decade away from completing
the necessary economic and political reforms needed to join.
For now, the Ukrainians themselves must make the running. In so doing, they
may well wish to heed the call issued by the speaker of their parliament,
Volodymyr Lytvyn, who told the conference: "Before we can feel European,
we Ukrainians need to begin by finding out how to feel Ukrainian." That
would be a start, although it may not please the seaside photographers of
Yalta. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
6. UKRAINIAN REVOLUTION LIVES ON - IN PUP TENTS
Many are calling it "revolutionary chaos."
By Kim Murphy, Times Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles, California, Monday, August 1, 2005
KIEV, Ukraine - Anna Savina, a 76-year-old pensioner, used to live in an
apartment near the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Now she lives in a tent
outside parliament.
"When I got thrown out of my apartment, I fled with nothing but what I had
on me, and six months now, I am here. I'm waiting for the president to help
me," said Savina, whose neat bun and smooth, flowered dress belie the fact
that her home is a green canvas pup tent, one of dozens sprawled out like a
gathering military assault force in a leafy downtown park.
In the tents next to her and elsewhere in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, are
ethnic Tatars whose families were unjustly deported from the Crimea in
1944. Students protesting the closure of a shoe factory in central Kiev.
Human rights activists demanding the imprisonment of Ukraine's former
president.
Here in Ukraine, where tens of thousands of protesters encamped in the
capital's main square last winter helped bring down one of the most
entrenched authoritarian governments of the post-Soviet era, democracy
lives in tent camps.
There's a small village of tents on the sidewalk outside the Kiev mayor's
office, another one near the presidential offices and assorted bivouacs
outside municipal offices across Ukraine.
Pedestrians downtown thread their way gingerly through a gauntlet of
mattresses and tents labeled with signs saying "Shame on the Old Regime"
and "New Generation: Defense for the Defenseless." Lawmakers going to
work are greeted by the scent of sizzling meat and onions wafting out of
pots on portable gas stoves that serve the three dozen or so protesters
encamped outside.
Across Ukraine, dozens of these ad hoc protest sites have sprouted over the
last few months, thrived briefly and disappeared. They have been erected by
citizens who learned during the winter's Orange Revolution that the surest
way to get a response from their government is to establish an annoying
presence directly in its face.
"Yesterday, I sent a telegram to President [Viktor] Yushchenko, telling him
if he doesn't meet with us, I will personally set myself on fire," said
Nikolai Gubenko, a stern, self-styled corruption buster from the town of
Simferopol in the Crimea, who has been arrested 15 times in the last three
years. He is protesting the plethora of judges and police that he says are
crooked.
"We must understand who tricked us, who deceived us. Was it Yushchenko
personally? Or his entourage?" he asked.
It went without saying that Yushchenko, the charismatic opposition leader
who became Ukraine's new head of state in January, had his work cut out for
him when he swept into power on the myriad, long-suppressed hopes of
millions of Ukrainians who created the Orange Revolution.
What he perhaps didn't count on was the ferocity of the domestic political
battles still facing him and the extent to which the revolution itself would
inspire citizens of all stripes to take a direct role in their own corner of
the fray.
Many are calling it "revolutionary chaos."
The status of up to 3,000 formerly state-owned companies is in limbo as the
new government considers deprivatizing them. A pricing crisis sparked lines
at gas stations and an open confrontation between Yushchenko and his prime
minister, Yulia Tymoshenko. An estimated 18,000 new government officials
have moved in, not all of them sure how to do their jobs. Thousands of small
and medium-sized businesses filed for closure this spring in the wake of a
tax reform scheme that was haphazardly imposed, then withdrawn.
Last week, Yushchenko, clearly exasperated at the persistent top-to-bottom
corruption in the government, simply disbanded the bribe-happy traffic
police, leaving motorists, to say nothing of law enforcement authorities, in
a state of confusion.
"What we're seeing is a time of uninstitutionalized freedom. We're seeing a
time of purely popular politics," said Vadim Karasyov, director of the
Institute for Global Strategies in Kiev.
"Although Yushchenko and the new elite have come to power, they have not
yet gotten a hold of it," he said. "And when people's expectations are as
inflated as they are, whatever follows is inevitably going to fall short."
The new government has also been criticized for failing to hold leftovers of
the former regime accountable for past corruption. Hundreds of court cases
have been filed, and a number of regional leaders and federal officials have
been dismissed, but very few have gone to jail - certainly none of the top
officials and businessmen in former President Leonid D. Kuchma's
entourage.
Some of the protests around Kiev center on allegations that wealthy
politicians close to Yushchenko may be behind the move to force an old shoe
factory employing 1,500 workers out of its prime real estate location in the
city's Pechorsky district.
"There is a clear lobbying of their own business interests ... and at this
point, it's hard to make an argument that [some of the former Kuchma
officials are] worse than any of them," said Sergei Yevrushenko, director of
international affairs for the Pora youth movement, which marshaled thousands
of youths into the streets to help bring down Kuchma.
Three weeks ago, Pora was registered as a political party, and it is moving
swiftly to hold the Yushchenko government accountable for its pledges.
"In areas we consider crucial," Yevrushenko said, "they're spinning their
wheels."
Oleg Garyaga, a 28-year-old lawyer and businessman who helped organize
food, shelter and warm clothing for the street protesters over the winter,
said his family's garden tool business in the central Cherkasy region was
one of 17,000 small and medium enterprises that filed for closure this year.
The move came after the government adopted a sweeping, middle-of-the-
year amendment to the tax laws that in effect would have raised taxes on
Garyaga's company from $480 to nearly $12,000 annually. The government
rescinded the measure after protests by businesspeople, but it had earned
a measure of distrust.
"Under the old system, if you wanted to develop your store or buy property,
you had to pay bribes. You had to go to a multitude of bureaucrats to get
anything done. Now, it's starting to change," Garyaga said. "But keeping in
mind the revolution was fueled by high expectations, when the government
makes these kinds of mistakes, it's a big disappointment."
Unlike the huge, well-organized tent encampment over the winter that brought
down the Kuchma government, the new tent camps are decidedly ad hoc -
and some of the inhabitants already inclined toward the bohemian.At the
parliament encampment, drinking water comes from nearby fountains and
food is brought in by a small political party supporting the protesters'
causes. The nearby public toilet is open from 8 in the morning until 8 at
night.
"After 8 p.m., this beautiful city park gets covered with 'land mines,' "
said Gubenko, the anti-corruption activist. "There are places where it is
impossible to breathe."
Sometimes, sympathetic citizens invite residents to their homes to shower.
Other times, campers bathe in the Dnieper River, or at least, the men do.
"What the women do, I don't know," Gubenko said.
Savina, a retired nurse, said she moved into the camp partly for lack of
options and partly to protest against housing authorities in her home
region, who she said seemed impervious to her pleas for help in finding a
home. She had been thrown out of her apartment by her son, she said.
"My son had remarried and kicked me out of my apartment so as to sell it,"
she said, acknowledging that there had been long-running conflicts in the
family over the issue.
"It happened at 3 a.m. I decided to get up and make myself some tea, and
my son runs out of the bedroom in his underwear. He says, 'Mother, mother,
get out of the apartment or I'll kill you! I'll throw you out the window!'
"And my daughter-in-law came in and said, 'We'll give you an eternal
apartment. We'll bury you in a garbage heap where they will never find you,'
" she added. Savina left the flat immediately, she said, but could not
persuade city officials to give her another place to live.
Since moving to the tent camp, she said, she has intercepted the new
president to tell him about her plight. "When he was about to set out for
Brussels, I caught him, and he told his subordinates to prepare documents
within five minutes to help me," she said. "I have the documents, on
presidential letterhead. It is a request to the mayor of my town to resolve
my housing issue. But they have done me no good."
Yuri Lyashenko was also frustrated with bureaucracy when he doused himself
with gasoline on the edge of the parliament camp on July 7 and set himself
momentarily on fire. The 50-year-old lawyer and business owner from the
southern Kherson region said he was protesting the seizure of his business
by corrupt local government officials.
Sitting in a small pup tent, his arm wrapped in a bloody bandage and his
face and hands covered with oozing burns, Lyashenko said he set himself
on fire in a moment of unbridled emotion after months of traveling from one
government office to another in an attempt to recover his business.
The small shopping complex he built was seized by rival businessmen, he
said, acting on the authority of a corrupt local official who had not been
fired by the new government. When he traveled to Kiev to file a complaint,
he said, the paperwork was forwarded to the official he had criticized.
"If the authorities don't immediately clamp down on this corruption, it will
be too late - it's already getting to be too late," Lyashenko said. "What
we're seeing is the dawn of neo-corruption. And this is not only my tragedy.
This is the tragedy of the entire Ukrainian people."
Some camp residents said the authorities were beginning to listen. Inna
Hlyva, a 19-year-old philology student sporting black nail polish, large
hoop earrings and an Egyptian ankh necklace, said administrators and
professors at the university no longer demanded bribes for admission or
grades.
"Honesty has begun to awaken in people," she said.
But Olga Yeryomenko, the coordinator of a small human rights organization
who daily carries pickets outside the Kiev mayor's office, is not so sure.
She said the police have tried to disband her group's camp at the
presidential offices.
"There's a second revolution coming," Yeryomenko said. "The first revolution
was paid for from the outside, but in the end it was only a dress rehearsal
for what's coming, a true popular revolution." -30-
==============================================================
7. U.S. EMBASSY IN KYIV WORKS TO FACILITATE VISA APPLICATION
PROCESS, BUT WARNS AGAINST UNSCRUPULOUS INTERMEDIARIES
By MaryKay Carlson, Consul General, U.S. Embassy
Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, August 1, 2005
A great spirit of cooperation marks today's U.S.-Ukrainian relations, and I
feel privileged to be working at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv during such a
time. The enhanced cooperation between the U.S. and Ukrainian governments
on consular issues in particular has already benefited the traveling public,
both Americans traveling to Ukraine and Ukrainians traveling to the United
States.
Facilitating bona fide travel to the United States has long been a U.S.
government priority, and the consular section in Kyiv has also taken some
independent steps to facilitate the visa application process.
Improvements in Consular Services at the Embassy
Recent joint action by the U.S. and Ukrainian governments has facilitated
travel between our two countries. On July 1, the Ukrainian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs eliminated the visa requirement for U.S. citizens traveling
to Ukraine for short-term family, tourist, or business visits.
Correspondingly, the U.S. State Department has eliminated the $65 issuance
fee for successful Ukrainian applicants for U.S. nonimmigrant visas.
Currently, we charge only the $100 visa application fee, which is a
congressionally mandated fee for every nonimmigrant visa applicant
worldwide.
Second, the U.S. government has invested over $180,000 in renovating our
consular building in Kyiv, which has allowed us to add consular services and
create a more comfortable environment for our clients. Specifically,
immigrant visa processing for Ukrainian citizens has been moved to Kyiv
from Warsaw, Poland.
Now, Ukrainians who are immigrating to the United States to join family
members no longer have to travel to Warsaw to apply for their visas. The
savings of time and money for these applicants is significant.
Third, the consular section has a free-of-charge, transparent, and fair
appointment system, accessible either online or by e-mail. Applicants are
able to select the date of their interview, either the next available
appointment date, or a later appointment date of their own choosing.
Demand for short-term U.S. visas is extremely high -- up 30 percent for the
first six months of this year, as compared to 2004 -- and as a result, the
waiting period for a visa appointment is currently between six and eight
weeks. The online appointment system, however, lessens the challenge of the
waiting period by allowing applicants to see when the next appointment slot
is available and plan travel accordingly.
There are also expedited appointments available to students, business
travelers, those with family or medical emergencies, and those who are able
to complete the Electronic Visa Application Form (EVAF). Detailed
information about scheduling an interview is available on the consular
section website at http://www.usembassy.kiev.ua/visa_appointment_eng.html.
This information is also available in Ukrainian at
http://www.usembassy.kiev.ua/visa_appointment_ukr.html.
Finally, I would like to point out that while the visa issuance fee for
Ukrainian citizens has been eliminated, U.S. law regarding the issuance or
refusal of visas has not changed. In the consular section in Kyiv, visa
decisions are made as they are in every U.S. consular operation all over the
world: according to the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act.
For applicants seeking tourist or business visas to the United States, this
law requires that the consular officer presume that the applicant's
intention is to immigrate to the United States. The burden of proof is on
the applicants to show that they have ties to their home country that will
compel them to return after a temporary, lawful stay in the United States.
Adequate financial solvency and the purpose of the applicant's travel are
the two other legs of the "three-legged stool" that makes up a qualified
visa application. Our goal in the consular section is to issue nonimmigrant
visas to 100 percent of qualified applicants. At the same time, however,
U.S. law requires that we refuse 100 percent of those applicants who are
not qualified.
Combating Misinformation and Fraud: Identifying Fraud
Unfortunately, a great deal of misinformation about American visas is in the
public realm, both in Ukraine and in the United States. Also unfortunately,
despite our efforts to make the process transparent and accessible,
unscrupulous people falsely claim that they have links to the consular
section or U.S. Government and can "help" Ukrainians obtain U.S. visas.
These people cheat Ukrainian visa applicants by promising to get people
visas quickly, or for a fee, or both. These people are lying. Please don't
use these unscrupulous people and their so-called services, and please
counsel your friends and family in Ukraine to avoid them.
The usual pattern of fraud is typically for these individuals to sell an
applicant a package of documents, including a phony or exaggerated
invitation letter, false bank statement, forged letter of employment, and
other fraudulent information. Consular officers are extremely familiar with
these packages and can identify them immediately -- we see them every day.
The particularly unfortunate angle is that these applicants are then
refused, and their refusal records remain in the worldwide consular computer
systems forever. While the applicant's circumstances might change in the
future and they may become qualified for a U.S. visa, the hurdle of once
having presented fraudulent documents is a difficult one to overcome.
One more point on fraud, and that is that only American consular officers
make visa decisions. There is no consular office of the U.S. Embassy
outside of our facility at 6 Pymonenko Street in Kyiv. So if a Ukrainian
citizen operating out of an office somewhere near -- or far -- from our
office promises to obtain a visa for a friend or family member, that is
undoubtedly fraud.
This kind of fraud hurts legitimate travelers as well, because it causes
consular officers to question and scrutinize all the documents they receive.
We would like to combat this fraud as much as we can, and we appreciate
your support in keeping Ukrainian citizens, and their families and loved
ones living in the United States, from being cheated.
The United States government is committed to facilitating legitimate travel
to the United States, and welcomes bona fide Ukrainian citizen travelers to
the U.S. The consular section in Kyiv is working every day to build on the
improvements already mentioned, so that the application process becomes
ever quicker and easier.
Avoiding unscrupulous intermediaries, and counseling your friends and family
to do the same, will significantly aid our ongoing efforts to provide higher
levels of customer service. -30-
=============================================================
8. USAID SUPPORTS CHERKASY TO ISSUE UAH 5 MILLION IN BONDS
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri, July 29, 2005
KYIV - The executive committee of the Cherkasy city council has made a
decision to issue UAH 5 million in municipal bonds this year under the
Access to Credit Initiative project funded by USAID/Ukraine and implemented
by the Pragma Corporation. Cherkasy mayor Anatolii Voloshyn disclosed this
to Ukrainian News.
"This week we signed an agreement with Pragma stipulating that we issue
bonds worth UAH 5 million," he said. Voloshyn added that these bonds will
help attract funds for construction of public facilities in the city. He did
not elaborate on the date of issuance, the number of the bonds and their
face value.
According to the mayor, the municipal bonds will be put on an open sale
through brokers. Some major banks have already indicated their readiness
to buy them for their investment needs. If the first issue proves to be
successfully, another UAH 20 million in bonds are further on the plan.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Cherkasy municipality announced
in mid-June its plan to issue municipal bonds in 2005. The United States
Agency for International Development (USAID) said in early July that it
would disburse USD 14 million for the Access to Credit Initiative project
aimed at facilitating issuance of municipal bonds in five cities of Ukraine.
=============================================================
9. USA OFFERS UKRAINE TO SIGN A FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT
ON MISSILE DEFENSE
By Natalya Pechorina, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, July 29, 2005
KYIV - According to Yevhen Makhonin, chief of the National Space Agency's
defense program division, the USA has offered Ukraine to sign a framework
agreement on missile defense.
Mr Makhonin thus commented on the first Ukrainian - American workshop,
which Kyiv hosted and which was meant for acquainting Ukrainian government
officials, experts and industrialists with the Missile Defense Concept.
According to Yevhen Makhonin, the workshop was an early step toward
establishing Ukraine - US cooperation in missile defense-related matters and
will be followed by a similar seminar in Colorado Springs, Colo, slated for
October 2005.
The Kyiv workshop dealt with two hypothetical scenarios of repulsing hostile
ballistic missile attacks, using anti-missile missiles.
About a score of Ukrainian experts and officials will represent Ukraine at
the Colorado Springs seminar. They will be recruited from among staffers of
the NSA, the Southern Design Office, other organizations and bodies of state
authority. -30- [Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
Send in names and e-mail addresses for the AUR distribution list.
=============================================================
10. ISRAEL ASKS UKRAINE TO DEMAND IRAN RETURN
ILLEGALLY-SOLD CRUISE MISSILES
By Ze'ev Schiff, Haaretz Correspondent
Haaretz.com, Israel, Monday, Aug 1, 2005
Israel has asked the government of Ukraine to demand that Iran return 12
long-range cruise missiles purchased during the tenure of the previous
Ukrainian government via arms dealers whom the current government
claims were acting illegally.
The issue was raised during Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoliy
Hrytsenko's visit to Israel last week. However, Ukraine has not yet
responded to Israel's request, and it seems doubtful that Iran would agree
to return the missiles in any case.
The missiles in question, known as the Kh-55 in their Russian/Ukrainian
version and as AS-15 Kent in the NATO version, have a range of 2,000 to
3,000 kilometers, depending on the weight of the warhead (lighter warheads
enable a longer range). That is far longer than the 1,300-kilometer range of
Iran's surface-to-surface Shihab-3 missiles.
In addition, a cruise missile can strike its target from any direction,
since the ship that launches it is mobile. The Shihab-3, in contrast, could
only be launched at Israel from the northeast, where Iran's territory lies.
On the flip side, cruise missiles are slower than ground-based missiles,
and therefore easier for a fighter jet to down in flight.
The Kh-55 was developed in the 1980s by Russian experts, but the Soviet
Union decided to have it in manufactured in Ukraine. Later, however, a
U.S.-Soviet arms control agreement dictated the destruction of all
medium-range missiles on both sides, which should have included the
Kh-55.
Thus the missiles' very existence constitutes a major treaty violation, and
when the Americans learned several months ago about the sale to Iran,
they consequently began an investigation. It later emerged that eight of the
missiles were also sold to China.
A parallel Ukrainian investigation, which was first reported a few months
ago by Britain's Financial Times, found that the sale was arranged via a
fictitious company established for that purpose on Cyprus, and that the
export papers falsely declared the missiles' destination to be the Russian
defense ministry. The Ukrainian prosecution also said that a Russian
company had promised to supply spare parts for the Iranian missiles.
The Ukrainians told Israel that the warheads had been dismantled before
the missiles were sold to Iran, but that is cold comfort, since Iran can
easily make new warheads.
The real concern is the guidance system, which enables the missile to
strike its target with great accuracy. Moreover, NATO believed that the
Soviets were able to arm the Kh-55 with nuclear warheads.
The sub rosa purchase of cruise missiles from Ukraine demonstrates the
enormous effort that Iran is investing in improving its missile
capabilities. Iran is also working on the Shihab-4 surface-to-surface
missile, which would have a range of over 2,000 kilometers. In addition, it
made a major breakthrough on the Shihab-3 several weeks ago when it
succeeded in making a solid fuel engine for the missile. Earlier versions
had used liquid fuel, which requires a much longer launch time and there-
fore leaves the missile more vulnerable to preventive air strikes. -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/606908.html
=============================================================
11. KAZAKHSTAN OFFERS SPACE COOPERATION TO RUSSIA, UKRAINE
"Ukraine is ready to go to outer space with
us"
Izvestiya-Kazakhstan, Almaty, in Russian 19 Jul 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sun, July 31, 2005
Kazakhstan has embarked on developing its own space programme in
cooperation with Ukraine and Russia, Kazakh newspaper Izvestiya-
Kazakhstan has reported. Kazakh Education and Science Minister
Byrganym Aytimova briefed a recent government meeting about what is
being done in cooperation with Russia's leading organizations involved in
national space exploration programme.
The following is the text of report entitled "Ukraine is ready to go to
outer space with us" published in Izvestiya-Kazakhstan on 19 July;
subheadings inserted editorially:
Kazakhstan is ready to cooperate in the space sector not only with one of
the world's leading space powers - Russia - but virtually with all countries
which are interesting from the point of view of science and business space
projects. This idea has been voiced more than once by those attending a
government meeting on the development Kazakhstan's space sector.
UKRAINE'S SPACE COOPERATION PROPOSALS
Specifically, that meeting heard information by the director- general of the
Yuzhnoye [Pivdenne] state design bureau, Oleksandr Degtyarev, with
proposals to cooperate in space exploration programmes.
Incidentally, this time the Ukrainian side was not very much independent on
Russia: In his report Degtyarev put the main emphasis on "stepping up joint
efforts and uniting the opportunities of Kazakhstan, Ukraine and the Russian
Federation in the area of space", which, as he assesses, will enable them
"to not only successfully implement national space programmes, but also
take a dignified place in multilateral international space projects".
If one is to speak specifically about Ukraine's possible participation in
space projects, then, in the opinion of the Yuzhnoye state design bureau, it
might be involved in using the Baykonur space launch site for launching
Zenit booster-rockets of various modifications, creating the Clipper space
shuttle, launching small space vehicles and in a number of other areas. A
working group set up on the instructions of the Kazakh prime minister
[Daniyal Akhmetov] will study these proposals in detail.
KAZAKHSTAN'S SPACE PROGRESS
It is noteworthy that our country's cooperation with other powers in the
space sector is developing successfully so far, as was said in a report made
by Education and Science Minister Byrganym Aytimova. Specifically,
considerable work has been done in Kazakhstan on legal regulation of issues
related to the implementation of space projects: by decisions of the
government, the Bayterek joint venture and the Kazkosmos national company
were set up.
On the part of Kazakhstan, all issues of financing the project on setting up
the Bayterek space rocket complex has been solved; the process of creating
another space project on developing and launching Kazakhstan's KazSat
communications and broadcasting satellite has made progress.
By 1 July this year, the [Moscow-based] Khrunichev state space research and
development centre, the subcontractor of the project, had done work worth
about 44.2m dollars, which is 68 per cent of the total cost of the contract
for creating and launching the satellite to geostationary orbit. Apart from
that, the equipment of concomitant land complex for controlling space
vehicles and communications monitoring system is being assembled.
Another project which is being implemented as part of the national space
programme is the creation of the Ishim aviation rocket and space complex.
Its implementation will enable the country to take small civilian satellites
to low near-earth orbits. Talks have already been held with leading foreign
centers which specialize in developing and launching small space vehicles.
TRAINING SPACE PERSONNEL
The issue of training Kazakh personnel in the space sector is also being
solved: the minister of education and science says talks are now being held
with Russia's [Roskosmos] federal space agency on training specialists for
the design and technology bureau of the Kazkosmos national company.
An agreement has been reached on retraining 50 Kazakh specialists in
leading Russian organizations in the space sector - at the Bauman Higher
Technical School in Moscow, the Moscow Aviation Institute, the Khrunichev
space research and development centre and the Reshetnikov Scientific-
Production Association of Applied Mechanics. There is also an agreement
that two Kazakh cosmonauts who are now undergoing training in Russia will
continue education on a special programme at the Gagarin Cosmonaut
Training Centre. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
==============================================================
12. UKRAINE FORCED TO SET UP JOINT VENTURE WITH RUSSIANS
FOR NATO CARGO DEAL
Defense-Express web site, Kiev, in Russian 29 Jul 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sat, Jul 30, 2005
KIEV - Ukraine is being forced to set up a joint venture with Russia in
order to supply its Russlan planes to NATO for cargo deliveries, since
Ukrainian Antonov planes are subject to arrest in many countries following a
Swedish court ruling.
This has emerged from interview comments made by the Antonov acting
chief designer, Dmytro Kiva, and quoted in an unattributed Defense Express
report.
The following is an excerpt from the article, posted on the Ukrainian web
site Defense Express on 29 July under the title "Antonov Works and
Volga-Dnepr group of companies are setting up joint venture to carry out
NATO cargo flights in 2005-12":
The Antonov scientific and technical aviation works [Kiev] and a major
Russian air carrier, the Volga-Dnepr group of companies, are setting up a
joint venture [JV] to carry out NATO cargo flights in 2005-12. This was
announced on 28 July by the Antonov Works' acting chief designer, Dmytro
Kiva. He said that the Ukrainian participant in the Ukrainian-Russian JV
would actually be Antonov Airlines [an Antonov subsidiary].
The Antonov Works chief admitted that the Ukrainian company had been
obliged to take part in the JV. "We were forced to come to an arrangement
with Volga-Dnepr," Kommersant-Ukraina quotes Kiva as saying. He added:
"NATO told us that, unless the Antonov Works settled the question of the
arrest of our planes, we would not be able to take part in the tender."
It should be pointed out that the Ukrainian company had every chance of
independently winning the NAMSA [NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency]
tender for the contract, worth a total of some 1bn euros, to carry NATO
cargo in 2005-12 - until the new A400M aircraft goes into service in the
European countries.
Anatoliy Vovnyako, the leading Antonov designer for the An-124 aircraft,
made the point that Ukraine had actually won the tender, since the NATO
countries chose the An-124-100. He added that that had been recorded in the
memorandum on strategic air conveyance for NATO that was signed between
Ukraine and the alliance on 13 June 2004.
However, these plans had been disrupted by the subsequent arrests of
Ukrainian aircraft first by the authorities in Canada and then by Belgium
owing to a ruling by the Stockholm court of arbitration (Sweden), which
upheld a claim for 42.3m-dollars by TMR Energy Limited (Cyprus) against
Ukraine's State Property Fund (SPF) in 2002. Antonov planes cannot fly to
countries that recognize the Stockholm arbitration decision.
NAMSA, which requires the guaranteed presence of six An-124s on permanent
standby, announced a new tender and invited the participation of Russian
companies that have Ruslan aircraft in their fleets. These are the Russian
company Polet [Flight], which has a fleet of six Ruslans, and Volga-Dnepr,
which has 10.
The more active of these was the Volga-Dnepr group. In February this year,
it organized the Ruslan Salis limited-liability company in Leipzig. It is
with this company that the JV will be set up, Kiva said. Each company will
hold 50 per cent of the shares in the JV and will provide three An-124
(Ruslan) aircraft. At the moment, Antonov is preparing the documents for the
SPF so as to obtain permission for the aircraft from its airline to take
part in the company.
The comment made by the Antonov Works chief effectively mean that the
Russian company was unable unilaterally to conclude the NAMSA contract
to carry NATO cargo. [Passage omitted: background to the deal and the
companies] -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
13. RUSSIANS IN UKRAINE'S SEVASTOPOL DREAD THEIR NAVY'S
DEPARTURE 12 YEARS FROM NOW
NTV Mir, Moscow, in Russian 1500 gmt 31 Jul 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sun, Jul 31, 2005
MOSCOW - [Presenter] There was a [Navy Day] parade in Sevastopol today.
Ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the Ukrainian navy lined up in
formation in the city bay. Onlookers watched an impressive naval battle, a
procession of ships, and an assault landing.
This professional holiday helped Russian sailors and the people of
Sevastopol to forget about their problems. There has been an increasing
amount of talk recently about the withdrawal of Russian bases from the
Crimea. This is worrying people in Sevastopol - the Black Sea Fleet
provides a livelihood for many of them.
But the Ukrainian authorities are in a hurry to convert Sevastopol from a
naval town into a resort. NTV special correspondent Petr Lyubimov reports
from Crimea. [Passage omitted]
[Aleksey Kalshuk, staff member, Black Sea TV Centre] I'm out and about in
town and attending various events. Wherever there's a crowd of people, you
can always get a feel for what they're talking about. And what they're
talking about most is how they're against the fleet leaving.
The fleet is their life.
[Correspondent] During an inspection visit by the Russian defence minister,
Sergey Ivanov, a little while back, it was announced that the construction
of a new base for the Black Sea Fleet in Novorossiysk would continue. And
that this did not mean the end of talks about the Russian navy remaining in
Ukraine beyond 2017. In Sevastopol, it was immediately suspected that with
two bases for one fleet was overkill. So someone on high had already made
the decision and the fleet would be pulled out. [Passage omitted]
The new Ukrainian authorities have made it clear that the presence of the
Russian navy on their territory is temporary, and that extending the lease
is out of the question. Until recently, in Sevastopol people thought it
would all blow over.
[Raisa Telyatnikova, chairwoman of Russian Community Association,
Sevastopol] It provides 35,000 jobs. It's the Black Sea Fleet that feeds all
of Sevastopol. If it goes, Sevastopol will be left without any means of
support.
[Correspondent] The Black Sea Fleet's sailors are saying nothing. The
subject of moving base is almost banned. They show massive restraint even
when asked about their current problems.
[Aleksandr Tatarinov, commanding officer of Black Sea Fleet] The fleet does
not have problems. The fleet has a job to do.
[Correspondent] Meanwhile, a priest is giving a sermon at the church of St
Nicholas, on how Sevastopol as a town is all about the glory of the Russian
military. The fleet appears on the agenda here with increasing frequency,
and increasing volume.
[Priest, unnamed] Politicians decide, but politicians come and go. But this
land is sacred, and our children live here. And we do not intend to leave.
This is our land.
[Correspondent] It is probably hardest of all for Dmitriy Stogniy, an
electrician at artillery battery No 30, a mothballed but still fully
combat-capable part of the Black Sea Fleet. Ships and aircraft can move
to another base, but who will need tonnes of old gun?
[Dmitriy Stogniy, civilian staff member at Black Sea Fleet artillery battery
No 30] If the fleet leaves Sevastopol, then that will mean the decline of
the fleet and the end of this battery as well. As a small part of the fleet.
[Correspondent] They want to turn Sevastopol into a tourist resort. In
reality, the town has lost its naval status. The number of tourists is quite
simply going off the scale. For many of these tourists, the Russian navy is
an attraction. Few of them are aware that the memorial to lost ships, the
town's symbol, is 100 years old any day now.
Gennadiy, a former Russian naval man, has long been part of the town's
tourist business. He takes visitors round the bay for a few hryvnyas and
tells them about the warships. It looks like I'll soon be telling them about
NATO ships, he says.
[Gennadiy, pleasure boat captain] There used to be a kind of succession
through the generations. That is, I was in the navy, my father was in the
navy, and now my son is in the navy too. If NATO ships come here, what
good will that be to us? Will they have a place for my son? [Passage
omitted]
[Correspondent] The Black Sea Fleet usually wins the prize for the best show
in the unspoken competition between all the fleets. The whole town turns out
on the promenade during Navy Day. The lease expires in 12 parades' time.
=============================================================
14. SPIES INTERESTED IN UKRAINE'S MILITARY TECHNOLOGY
New Europe, Athens, Greece, Mon, August 1, 2005
KIEV - Ukrainian Security Council chief Alexander Turchynov last week said
foreign spies active in the country are primarily interested in technologies
being developed by the defence sector. With its unique geopolitical
location, Ukraine interests many foreign nations as a country that lies
between "Europe and Asia, East and West," Turchynov said last Monday.
"That is why there are countries that would like to influence Ukraine's
policy. They are gathering information about political processes that have
not been made public," he said. Foreign special services want to know more
about Ukraine's "spacecraft building, weapons technologies, nuclear power
and sophisticated industrial technologies," Turchynov said.
"Believe me, these technologies are a matter of great interest in many
countries that are trying to create similar facilities on their own
territory in violation of decisions made by the UN and the (International
Atomic Energy Agency). It is much easier to steal a secret than develop
technologies using one's own scientific base.
That is why the Ukrainian defence sector and our industrial secrets have
been a matter of great interest," he said.
Two weeks ago, Turchynov said that in the first half of the year, Ukraine
"made seven protests to foreign countries" whose spies were working in the
country, eight intelligence agents "who were working under diplomatic cover"
were expelled, and another 41 "who refused to admit their involvement in
intelligence services" were banned from entering Ukraine. -30-
=============================================================
Send in a letter-to-the-editor today. Let us hear from you.
=============================================================
15. UKRAINIAN PM URGES CREATION OF STATE-OWNED TITANIUM CO
Ukrainian-German JV worries its investment is in danger
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1630 gmt 30 Jul 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sat, Jul 30, 2005
SIMFEROPOL - The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is going to take all the
necessary steps to set up the state corporation Ukrayinskyy Tytan [Ukrainian
Titanium], Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko has said. Tymoshenko was
speaking at a news conference in Simferopol today.
Tymoshenko said the cabinet discussed at its meetings plans to create
such a corporation, which would comprise all enterprises that in one way
or another are linked to "this big strategic theme".
"We are going to take all the necessary steps to create the state
corporation Ukrayinskyy Tytan," Tymoshenko said. She added that
Ukraine holds "a leading position in titanium production in the world".
[Passage omitted: the Ukrainian-German joint venture Krymskyy Tytan
(Crimean Titanium) worries that its investment is in danger because of the
Ukrainian government's decision to form a state-owned corporation; see
ICTV television, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 1545 gmt, 23 Jul 05.] -30-
============================================================
16. UKRAINE'S DONOR BLOOD SERVICE NEEDS REFORM
AND DEVELOPMENT
Number of blood donors now only half of what there were in 1991
By Lyudmila Valuyeva, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, July 29, 2005
KYIV - According to Anatoli Chugriyev, president of the Association Blood
Service of Ukraine, stockpiling donor blood, blood processing, control over
the quality of donor blood and its infection safety are maters of the
nation's development strategies as involving every citizen's vital
interests. So, reforming and developing the Donor Blood Service is very
important.
According to Anatoli Chugriyev, the Health Ministry specifies the Blood
Service's paramount task as securing guarantees of donor blood's safety
along European standards. Standardization of blood processing must meet
the WHO's two basic principles, that is, quality and safety, Mr Chugriyev
noted. In his opinion, the Blood Service of Ukraine is capable of meeting
these demands.
To this end, he said, manufacture has been launched of test kits, which
allow to avoid infecting donor blood with hepatitis, HIV, other diseases,
including STDs. Ukraine's test kits have been certified by the WHO
Independent Center as meeting ISO 9000 standards.
As Anatoli Chugriyev admitted, Ukraine's supply of donor blood is 8.8 ml.
per capita, which is 58 percent of the WHO's norm (15 ml).
This necessitates beefing up the ranks of trained donors. The major braking
factor, Mr Chugriyev noted, is too low donor remuneration, 44 UAH per liter
of donor blood, while ram blood, which is necessary for some medical
experiments, costs 500 UAH to 800 UAH per liter.
Anatoli Chugriyev stated registration of blood preparations as another
problem because of exorbitant registration charges, up to 25 euros per
preparation. Because of too miserable remuneration 98 percent of
Ukrainian donors are relatives of those who need blood transfusion.
\
According to Mr Chugriyev, in 2004 there were 62 blood transfusion stations
in Ukraine, 500 minor stations, and 50 hospitals were engaged in collecting
blood. The number of blood donors has diminished two times as compared
with 1991 (1,464,000 in 1991, 773,000 in 2004).
According to Health Minister Mykola Polishchuk, modern medicine
possesses hundreds and even thousands of medical preparations, but there
are no alternatives to donor blood. In this connection Mykola Polishchuk
urged to recruit more young healthy people as blood donors, speaking at a
press conference on the occasion of Day of Blood Donor.
As Deputy Health Minister Viktor Rybchuk told the press conference, the
State Blood Center will be shortly established as an integral state
institution, which will rely on a ramified network of regional
agencies. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
17. FREEDOM STARTS IN GDANSK, 25TH BIRTHDAY OF SOLIDARITY
"From Solitary to Freedom", President of Ukraine Yushchenko to attend
Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Fri, Jul 29, 2005
WARSAW - The schedule for the celebrations of the 25th birthday of the
Solidarity trade union is ready, and will feature many events of truly
international caliber. Almost every Polish embassy will commemorate the
1980 shipyard strike by holding conferences, organising concerts and
showing films.
The celebrations will start on 27 August with Jean Michel Jarre's concert in
the Gdansk shipyard, which could be attended by 100,000 people.
But the key event will be the "From Solitary to Freedom" three-day
conference, held 29-31 August in Gdansk and Warsaw. So far, confirmations
of attendance have come from Vaclav Havel, the presidents of Germany and
Ukraine, as well as the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel
Barroso. "This is the first time a Solidarity anniversary will be celebrated
on a European level.
This is a fight for the awareness and memory of Europeans," said the Mayor
of Gdansk, Pawel Adamowicz. Foreign Minster Adam Rotfeld said it is often
forgotten that it was Solidarity that made possible the peaceful dismantling
of the Berlin wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union that followed. -30-
=============================================================
18. 5,000 UKRAINIANS SERVING SENTENCES IN RUSSIAN PRISONS
Over 25,000 foreigners held in Russian jails
Interfax news agency, Moscow, in Russian, 30 Jul 05
BBC Monitoring Service,UK, in English, Sat, Jul 30, 2005
MOSCOW - More than 25,000 foreigners are serving sentences in Russian
prisons. The majority of them are citizens of the CIS and the Baltic States.
The Federal Service for the Administration of Punishments (FSAP) told
Interfax that there are 24,758 CIS citizens in Russian jails, and 325 from
outside the former Soviet Union.
Among the former Soviet states, Ukraine has the largest number of prisoners
in Russian jails, almost 5,000, the FSAP noted. Ukraine is followed by
Tajikistan (4820), Azerbaijan (3836) and Georgia (2580). At the lower end of
the statistical table for former Soviet states are Lithuania (87), Latvia
(54) and Estonia (26).
China leads the field of countries from outside the former Soviet Union with
82 people serving sentences in Russia. It is followed by Vietnam (42) and
Nigeria (29). "In all, there are citizens from 61 states serving sentences
in Russian prisons. Fourteen of these are former Soviet states, and 47 are
other countries", an FSAP official said. -30-
=============================================================
Send in names and e-mail addresses for the AUR distribution list.
=============================================================
19. MOLDOVA'S GOVERNMENT LIFTS ECONOMIC SANCTIONS
AGAINST BREAKAWAY REGION
Three official languages: Romanian, Russian and Ukrainian
AP Worldstream, Moldova, Sunday, Jul 31, 2005
Moldova's government has lifted trade sanctions it imposed last year on the
rebel province of Trans-Dniester, the president said in comments aired on
Sunday. Moldova stopped issuing export certificates to Trans-Dniester-
based companies in 2004 after separatist authorities forcibly closed two
Moldovan-language schools operating in their region. The schools have
since been reopened.
Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin said the trade sanctions were also
because of a lack of controls on the border between Trans-Dniester and
Ukraine, but that the new administration in Ukraine has made progress on
controlling its border. "The situation has changed for the better since last
year," Voronin told national radio.
Trans-Dniester authorities have said the sanctions caused the region losses
of about US$65 million (A54 million). The leaders of the breakaway province
did not comment on the decision to lift the sanctions.
The lifting of sanctions comes a week after Moldova's parliament passed
legislation offering broad autonomy to Trans-Dniester in exchange for
dropping independence ambitions and agreeing to disarm.
According to the new law setting guidelines for negotiations with the
separatists, Trans-Dniester would have its own legislative body. The mostly
Russian-speaking region would also have three official languages:
Romanian - as in Moldova - as well as Russian and Ukrainian.
It also calls for demilitarizing Trans-Dniester, where some 1,500 Russian
troops are based.
The plan was criticized as too unilateral by Russia, which has refused to
withdraw its troops, citing the need to guard large stockpiles of Soviet-era
weapons and ammunition stored in the region.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the plan was an attempt to impose
Moldova's authority on Trans-Dniester. The region declared independence
from Moldova in 1992 after a short war that left more than 1,500 people
dead. No country recognizes Trans-Dniester, but the region receives strong
support from Russia. -30- [Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
==============================================================
20. TWO CENTURIES LATER RUSSIAN TROOPS BEGIN LEAVING GEORGIA
Agence France Presse (AFP), Georgia, Sat, July 30, 2005
After more than two centuries of sustained presence in Georgia, the last
Russian troops still there began leaving the country, when a first column
of military vehicles pulled out of a base and headed back to Russia as
agreed last spring, officials said.
The column of nine-wheeled vehicles and accompanying soldiers departed
from a Soviet-era base at Georgia's southwest Black Sea port city of Batumi
on Saturday under the terms of an accord calling for the closure of that and
the other remaining Russian base at Akhalkalaki by the end of 2008, they
said.
The convoy, escorted by Georgian police, was bound for a military
installation in the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz and the removal of
Russian military hardware and personnel would continue in the weeks
ahead, the officials said.
The start of the historic final pullout had been scheduled to begin on
Friday but was delayed by a day because of what Russian officials said
was a failure by Georgian authorities to deliver visas and permits for the
removal of military hardward from the country on time.
Both sides however said the problem was quickly resolved and the start of
the withdrawal was witnessed by senior military officials from both
countries.
"The Georgian side promised to provide us with all the necessary documents
for the withdrawal of our armored vehicles" so the departure from the bases
could begin, Vladimir Kuparadze, the deputy commander of Russian forces in
Georgia, said.
Russia's military presence in Georgia dates back to the last decades of the
18th century, when the Georgian leader Herekle requested Russian protection
from Turkish and Persian invaders and the country was gradually subsumed
into the expanding Russian empire.
The Russian presence in Georgia and elsewhere in the Caucasus remains
an important facet of modern Russian culture and has been the subject of
numerous works of Russian art and literature epitomized by Mikhail
Lermontov's Romantic novel "A Hero of Our Time."
That presence however was always uneasy and became increasingly
controversial following the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. After years
of bitter argument the two sides finalized an agreement on May 30 this year
on the closure of the last two Russian bases in Georgia by the end of 2008.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili described the agreement as
"historic" at the time, "as it puts an end to Russia's 200-year military
presence in Georgia."
The pullout is scheduled to continue in August when two Russian cargo ships
are to transport 40 pieces of Russian heavy military equipment, including
20 battle tanks, from the Batumi base to Russia, according to ITAR-TASS
news agency.
Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili stressed that the departure
of the Russian forces on schedule according to the agreed timetable was in
Georgia's interest and promised that Tbilisi would complete all necessary
administrative procedures in in a way to facilite the pullout.
Under the pullout accord, withdrawal of heavy weapons will begin later this
year, with September 1 the deadline for removing the first hardware,
including up to 20 tanks.
The last heavy weaponry must be gone from Akhalkalaki by the end of next
year, and from all Russian installations by the end of 2007, with the final
pullout of the last men and materiel by the end of the following year.
The agreement also says that "part of the personnel and technical means
and infrastructure" from the Batumi base will be used to set up a
Georgian-Russian anti-terrorist centre, a caveat that seemed to leave the
door open for some kind of continued Russian security presence in Georgia.
=============================================================
21. THE TYRANT OF BELARUS
EDITORIAL: International Herald Tribune (IHT)
Paris, France, Monday, August 1, 2005
'Europe's last dictator," as the Bush administration has aptly tagged him,
is up to it again. This time, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has
gone after ethnic Poles living in western Belarus, accusing them of
"fomenting revolution." On Wednesday, Lukashenko sent riot police to seize
the headquarters of an association that represents the 400,000 Poles and
hauled in several leaders for questioning.
Poland then pulled out its ambassador in Minsk, charging Lukashenko with
trampling on human rights. The state-run news media in Belarus have often
accused Poland of using the Polish minority in Belarus to stir up a
revolution like the "orange revolution" in Ukraine a year ago, something
Lukashenko has vowed to block. When dictators of his kind start identifying
minorities as enemies, there is every reason to be alarmed.
Lukashenko, a former state farm manager, was first elected president of
Belarus in 1994, at the age of 40, on a wave of popular resentment against
the madcap privatization and massive corruption that characterized the first
post-Soviet years. Indeed, Belarus has no oligarchs, and has not suffered
the massive dislocations of Russia and other former republics. But
Lukashenko achieved this essentially by freezing Belarus in time - Soviet
time.
Hardly anything has been privatized, television programs focus largely on
agricultural exhortations, and Lukashenko even brought back the Soviet
republican flag, minus only the hammer and sickle. Above all, Lukashenko
has established himself as the complete Soviet-style dictator.
When his Parliament rose up against him in 1996, he chucked it out and set
up a rubber-stamp Parliament next door, while strengthening the reach of the
KGB (as it is still called). Since then, he has ruthlessly clamped down on
any opposition, and any foreign organizations he suspects of working against
him. Even Russia, with which he longs to reunite, is wary of Lukashenko.
But the pressures on Lukashenko have been steadily growing from the West,
first of all Poland, Lithuania and Latvia - now all members of NATO and the
European Union - and Ukraine. In the United States, the Belarus Democracy
Act passed by Congress last year authorized payments to nongovernmental
groups.
Like Yugoslavia's Slobodan Milosevic, one of Lukashenko's heroes, the
Belarus dictator is likely to become ever more dangerous as the pressures
grow on him to exit. Nonetheless, out he must go, and the sooner the better.
=============================================================
22. POLAND URGES EU ACTION OVER 'CRISIS' WITH BELARUS
By Jan Cienski in Warsaw, Financial Times
London, UK, Friday, July 29 2005
WARSAW - Warsaw on Friday appealed to European Union leaders over
an increasingly bitter diplomatic row with Belarus after the former Soviet
state's authoritarian government sought to wrest control of an organisation
representing the country's large ethnic Polish population.
The Polish government on Wednesday wrote to Javier Solana, the EU's
foreign policy chief, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the external relations
commissioner and Jack Straw, Britain's foreign secretary urging action
against Belarus.
Adam Rotfeld, Poland's foreign minister, on Thursday declared relations
with its authoritarian neighbour to be in "serious crisis" after Belarusan
police on Wednesday stormed the headquarters of the Union of Poles in
the western town of Grodno.
The Belarus authorities replaced the current president of the Union,
Andzelika Borys, with her more pliable predecessor, at the same time
briefly detaining several members of the organisation.
About half a million Poles live in Belarus, roughly 5 per cent of the
population. Most live in the west of the country, which belonged to Poland
before the second world war though the country's Poles have not been
strongly engaged in politics.
However, there is no significant opposition to Mr Lukashenko's rule, and the
Union of Poles is the largest organisation in the country free of government
control.
"It's the only organisation in Belarus with any degree of autonomy," said
Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz, an analyst of Poland's relationships with the former
Soviet Union. "The state created by Lukashenko has no room for that. The
structure of the Polish organisation is so different from everything else in
Belarus that it has to be eliminated. Lukashenko also needs an external
enemy."
Poland, which joined the EU last year, has been viewed with increasing
suspicion by Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus's president, following
Warsaw's active intervention during last December's Orange Revolution in
Ukraine.
Mr Lukashenko's increasingly heavy-handed rule has earned him
condemnation from the EU and Washington, which branded Belarus an
"outpost of tyranny".
But Polish officials have been particularly unsparing in their criticism and
in their calls for the rest of the world to do something about ending
Europe's last dictatorship.
Mr Lukashenko, in power since 1994, may be feeling vulnerable because
he plans to run for office for a third time next year, and the recent
example of post-election turmoil that swept authoritarian rules from power
in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan cannot be heartening.
Treating local Poles as a potential fifth column has provoked a strong
reaction in Poland.
Parliamentary deputies from all parties have protested at Minsk's actions,
and television and newspapers are filled with events from the former Soviet
republic. Clamping down on local Poles is not doing anything to quieten
Warsaw's criticism of Mr Lukashenko's government.
Mr Rotfeld said that Poland would consider setting up an independent radio
for Belarus. Poland and Lithuania have also sent the EU expanded lists of
senior Belarus officials who should not be allowed to enter the Union. -30-
=============================================================
23. US JUDGE UPHOLDS LAUNDERING AND EXTORTION CONVICTIONS
AGAINST FORMER UKRAINIAN PM PAVEL LAZARENKO
December sentencing date set
Agence France Presse (AFP), San Francisco, CA, Wed, July 27, 2005
SAN FRANCISCO - A US judge upheld money laundering and extortion
convictions against former Ukrainian prime minister Pavel Lazarenko and
set a December sentencing date, prosecutors said. Lazarenko was
convicted in San Francisco in June, 2004 of laundering millions of dollars
in cash that he allegedly extorted while in power through US banks.
US District Court Judge Martin Jenkins rejected a renewed request to
reconsider the convictions and grant Lazarenko a new trial, according to
Luke Macauley of the US attorney's office in San Francisco.
Jenkins chose December 2 as the day he would sentence Lazarenko and
consider a request by prosecutors to seize the former Ukrainian politician's
assets, Macauley told AFP.
The disgraced former leader, 52, was convicted on 29 charges including
charges wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property on June
3, 2004 in San Francisco after a trial presided over by Jenkins.
Lazarenko was the first former foreign leader to be tried and convicted in
the United States since Panama's deposed president Manuel Noriega was
found guilty of drug trafficking in 1992. But his lawyers subsequently
convinced Jenkins to toss out all but 14 of the convictions on legal
grounds.
Lazarenko's attorneys have argued that he is an entrepreneur who honestly
earned a fortune in the economic free-for-all that followed the fall of the
Soviet Union. Defense lawyer Dan Horowitz has repeatedly maintained that
Lazarenko was framed by the Ukraine's former president Leonid Kuchma
who they claimed saw his prime minister as a political threat.
Lazarenko, who served as prime minister from 1996 to 1997, was arrested
after arriving in the United States to seek political asylum in February
1999, on suspicion of funnelling dirty money through US banks. A Swiss
court sentenced him in 2000 to an 18-month suspended prison sentence in
absentia for laundering 6.6 million dollars.
Lazarenko has also been accused by Ukrainian authorities of ordering two
murders and of embezzling public funds as premier and as governor of the
region of Dnepropetrovsk between 1992 and 1995.
The US government is seeking forfeiture of Lazarenko's "ill-gotten gains,"
which they contend includes 21.6 million dollars. At trial, prosecutors
maintained that while Lazarenko was a Ukrainian public official he used
his position to bilk 60 million dollars, including 30 million dollars from a
Ukrainian businessman and 12 million from Naukovy State Farm.
Lazarenko was accused of concealing his illicit profits and transferring
millions of dollars to the United States through coded bank accounts in
Switzerland and Antigua. Lazarenko created a refuge in the western United
States by buying a posh home from actor-comedian Eddie Murphy in
California, according to prosecutors. -30-
=============================================================
24. KYIV TO HOST 2ND INTERNATIONAL GRAIN CONFERENCE IN SEPT
By Svetlana Alfimova, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, July 30, 2005.
KYIV - On September 7 and 8 Kyiv will host the 2nd International Grain
Conference, Anna Golodova, chief of the GAFTA Representation to
Ukraine, told Ukrinform's metropolitan correspondent.
As Ms Golodova disclosed, the conference will focus on matters of food
security. Agrarian Policy Minister Oleksandr Baranivskiy, presidential
adviser Leonid Kazachenko will be among key speakers. The conference
is supposed to be attended by senior execs of leading grain companies.
=============================================================
25. THE JOURNEY HOME FROM UKRAINE TO CALIFORNIA
Adopting two Ukrainian orphan boys
By Janet Enquist, The Porterville Recorder
Porterville, California, Sat, July 30, 2005
Instead of waiting nine-and-a-half months for a baby, two Lindsay residents
traveled half-way around the world where they worked for nine-and-a-half
weeks to bring two Ukrainian orphans home.
It was worth the wait.
Frank and Kaycie Swenson were married in 1999 and were unable to get
pregnant. Last summer, they spotted in their church's bulletin an
announcement requesting host homes for children who were visiting from
Ukraine for the purpose of being adopted by American families.
"We knew we were interested," said Kaycie, 31. "But we did not follow
through."
Kaycie said the couple had discussed the possibility of hosting a child, but
meanwhile she had gone to a infertility specialist to see what could be
done. Kaycie was asked to assist with the Vacation Bible School. That was
the plan until the day the children arrived and the couple were told that
one of the orphan's families had backed out and the couple were asked to
take him in for a couple of days, but they decided to keep him for the
entire three-week visit.
"It was super easy," Kaycie said of hosting Sasha, 8, who has a younger
brother, Zachary, 6, who couldn't visit America last year because of
Ukrainian law which requires children to be 6 to leave the country.
The couple decided to adopt the children. They had financial assistance from
family, friends, community members, church members and one Lindsay
resident, Virginia Loya, who hosted a dinner and casino night that raised
$7,000 for the couple. Frank said the couple began the paperwork process
of having their fingerprints taken and background checked.
"All [this you] have to pay for, nothing's free," Frank said. "We can easily
say we spent $25,000."
Then it was time for the adoption and the children weren't available for
adoption until March. But the couple had to wait for an invitation from
Ukraine to get to the National Adoption Center in Kiev. Their appointment
was made for May 25.
The adventure had just begun.
The couple left Los Angeles International Airport on May 22 and arrived in
Ukraine on May 24 at 12:30 a.m. with no luggage, Kaycie said. Their
luggage was in Paris, and was brought to them the next evening at 10 p.m.
Fortunately the couple had an extra set of clothes in their backpacks.
Kaycie said on May 25 the couple went to the NAC and received records
with information about the children's medical history, the reason as to why
they were in the orphanage and the length of time they were in the
orphanage, which was about 20 months.
According to Kaycie, the couple then went to Pryluky to visit Zachary in the
orphanage since the brothers had been separated into two orphanages
because of their ages. The couple then visited Sasha in Krasnii Hunter.
"The only thing out there is mosquitos and orphans," Frank said. "There's
no indoor plumbing, no hot water, the nearest town was 90 kilometers."
The couple appeared before a judge who "hounded" Frank about their
annual income, Kaycie said. So, Frank explained that they had 30 years to
pay off their home.
Kaycie works as an office assistant in the J.J. Cairns Continuation High
School in Lindsay, while Frank works at Faggart Buick Pontiac-GMC in
Porterville as a master automobile technician. He also has a smog license.
"It's tight," Kaycie said. "But there's no reason we couldn't raise them."
The judge ruled in favor of the couple adopting the children, but then
Zachary got sick with Hepatitis A, so the couple had to wait 30 days before
taking him out of the country, Frank said. The paperwork to get out of the
country took a week, so the next three weeks the couple spent waiting.
According to Kaycie, finally, on July 15, the couple went to pick up Zachary
when they met his biological grandmother, who they had met the week before,
and exchanged addresses. She wanted them to take her to see Sasha, but
the couple said no because Kaycie was sick and they were traveling in a
small car with their luggage.
The couple found out later that the grandmother had appeared before a
judge and told him she wanted the children, but he talked her out of it.
"The 30-day waiting period is for that opportunity," Frank said.
Once they arrived in Kiev, they had to get the children's medical clearance
and visas, Kaycie said. Since the children had to have X-rays, they missed
their appointment at the American Embassy for the visas.
Once this issue was worked out, the couple learned that a particular airline
had a six-week waiting list to fly out of the country, so they had to find
another airline and ended up waiting an additional week. Finally, the family
was on its way to America.
The family's first stop was in Prague, where Kaycie lost the couple's
digital camera, video cards and video tape, Frank said. They got to John F.
Kennedy International Airport in New York and because of a storm they were
forced to sit for two hours.
They arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday night and drove to their home in
Lindsay on Thursday night. Since Interstate 5 was closed in both directions,
they took a different route and they got home a couple of hours later than
they had expected, Frank said. They arrived home to a new playground set in
their front yard that family and friends had assembled, and to a group of
family and friends.
On Friday, Sasha and Zachary ran around the Swenson's home like they'd
lived there their entire lives. They spoke to each other in Ukrainian and
laughed and played with toys. The children will attend Strathmore Elementary
School this fall.
"The trip is over," Frank said. "But the adventure has just begun." -30-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://myopr.com/articles/2005/07/30/news/local_state/news1.txt
PHOTO: Even though the Swensons had a long trip home with newly adopted
Zachary, 6, and Sasha, 8, it was play time with friends and family Thursday
night. Kaycie and Frank Swenson were in Ukraine for nine weeks during the
adoption process. (Recorder photo by Chieko Hara)
Janet Enquist at 784-5000, Ext. 1050, or jenquist@portervillerecorder.com.
=============================================================
26. "WHERE LADY LIBERTY HAD BECOME THE 'CHICK ON A STICK'"
OP-ED: By Lubomyr Luciuk, The Whig-Standard
Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Saturday, July 30, 2005
Kyiv is a city of cupcakes. Not the baked kind. These morsels jiggle about
like the eye candy that contaminates trashy music videos, the probable
source of the floozies’ sense of what is in vogue.
Now I’m no prude. At first blush all these promenading pseudo-strumpets
are titillating. They are particularly evident in Kyiv’s Independence
Square, the Maidan, lurching about on stilettos in the shadow of a 64 meter
granite column, atop which stands a gilded female figure holding a guelder
rose, a kalyna.
With much fanfare Ukraine’s Lady Liberty was unveiled in 2001, on the 10th
anniversary of the country’s independence. Now the thrill is gone. The
locals call her “Chick On A Stick.” Likewise their libertine pageant soon
becomes pedestrian, if you’re not on the prowl. I wasn’t. Others were.
You find them wherever you detect desperation. Just as I started lunch in a
café off Khreshchatyk Street, the city’s grand boulevard, the next table
over filled up. I immediately recognized the type. They all look like me:
middle-aged, pot-bellied white men Two locals fluttered over, not
particularly pretty but compensating by being pretty revealing. Even so
stimulated, their table talk was stilted, more barter than banter, which
happens when flab finds flesh, as Rogainers negotiate with those who give
it up for gain.
I ate quickly and moved on, seeking sanctuary in the 11th century St Sophia
Sobor, the legacy of a Kyivan prince, Yaroslav the Wise. Ahead in line stood
a mother and daughter. Just as they reached the Cathedral’s entrance, their
escort butted in, brusquely ordering them not to “waste” too much time
inside - “thirty minutes, ‘kay!”
Thinking he might not know what he was missing I suggested this balding Brit
join them, mentioning the Virgin Orans — her pensive face and outstretched
arms reflecting her role as an intercessor between humanity and Christ — an
icon crafted by masters working in malto, an alloy of glass, salts and
oxidized metals, one of the most remarkable Byzantine mosaics of its kind,
at least in this world.
He laughed in my face. He couldn’t care less. This man came to Ukraine to
find a woman, and not a Virgin Mary, being the kind of bloke who would not
have much chance of finding either back home. As for a mother’s desire to
teach her child something about her culture that was of no account.
So I watched over them as they moved through the Sobor, witnessed careful
explanations of the history of this holy place, overheard how intent this
good woman was on ensuring her daughter would, at least this once, connect
with their ancestors. Of course, I could not divine how she felt about the
man she was giving herself away to but I admit to being pleased when I
realized she had taken more than a half hour before exiting. Much more.
Not every man arriving in Ukraine from the West is trawling for a tart, and
most Ukrainian women, thankfully, aren’t interested in those who are. But
arriving at Borispil Airport you might think otherwise. Being a geographer I
look at maps. You can get a free one of Kyiv, just past Customs and
Immigration. It’s a good map too, save for being festooned with
advertisements flogging “dream wives,” “beautiful and real women,” “fantasy
socials” and strip clubs.
I saw no public health service announcements warning that Ukraine suffers
from the highest rate of HIV / AIDS in Europe, with at least 1.4% of the
adult population aged 15-49 infected, compared to 0.1% rates in
neighbouring Poland and Turkey.
While, in 1997, 11% of Ukraine’s afflicted were women that had increased to
42% by 2004. So this plague has moved well beyond a drug-addled under-
class and into the mainstream, meaning that some sex-starved sex tourists
are going home with more than they bargained for.
Given that chain smoking seems to be the second most passionately pursued
indulgence over there, venture capitalists should consider opening a chain
of funeral parlours across Ukraine. Business will be good. They can bank on
it. Perhaps they already are.
The Orange Revolution generated lots of chaff, and still does. Perhaps that’s
why Ukraine’s government seems more intent on preening than performing. I
went over thinking I would find a freer Ukraine. And, most certainly, I did.
It’s also fouler.
Too many post-Soviet Ukrainians - and here to my shame I will steal a line
from Stalin - are dizzy with success. Purblind to how they were once victims
of genocide they are being victimized again, catastrophically, as they will
soon find out. Ukraine’s orange blossoms have started to wilt. -30-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OP-ED by Lubomyr Luciuk: luciuk-l@rmc.ca
=============================================================
27. UKRAINIAN MEDIA TESTS FREEDOM BOUNDARIES
By Mara D. Bellaby, Associated Press Writer
AP, Kiev, Ukraine, Thusday, Jul 28, 2005
KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine's media are testing the boundaries of their newly
won freedoms with hard-hitting exposes on the allegedly extravagant
lifestyle of President Viktor Yushchenko's son, sparking a feud with the
president over what is fair game in this former Soviet republic.
Yushchenko claims the press went too far in attacking his teenage son, while
journalists are now questioning Yushchenko's commitment to true freedom of
the press.
"This is a test of what kind of relationship we are going to have in Ukraine
between the government and the press, and it is difficult to say how it is
going to develop," said Dmytro Krikun, development director at Internews,
a nonprofit group that aids the formation of a free press.
The muckraking Web site Ukrainskaya Pravda last week ran stories alleging
that Yushchenko's 19-year-old son Andriy drives a $160,000 BMW and
frequently slaps down rolls of $100 bills at trendy restaurants.
The reports were picked up by newspapers and have riveted readers in the
impoverished nation, where the average monthly salary is $152.
Asked about them at a news conference this week, Yushchenko lashed out
at the Web site's reporter, calling him a "hit-man" and saying that he'd
advised his son to "find that restaurant check ... shove this check under
that journalist's snout and then sue."
Some 200 journalists responded by signing an open letter, reminding
Yushchenko that he had vowed not only to end the intimidation and pressure
that had plagued them during the previous decade under Leonid Kuchma,
but also that he - and his family - would be accountable for their actions.
They accused him of "showing disdain for free speech."
"The president's words show that the president himself misunderstands
free speech in general," said Ihor Kulia, an independent media expert.
"The president has no right to offend a journalist and point out to the
journalist what to write about and what not to write about." Yushchenko
sent a letter to the Web site, insisting that he highly values free speech.
"It is very good that we live in a country where there are no taboo themes
and persons," wrote Yushchenko, who won a court-ordered presidential
repeat vote last year after mass protests over fraud dubbed the "Orange
Revolution." He took office in January on a reformist, pro-Western platform.
"It is correct that the president's family lives under big media attention,
but that isn't cause to remove his natural right to a private life," he
said.
He also said at the news conference that his son, a university student,
works at an unspecified consulting firm and earns enough to be able to rent
such a costly car. Andriy Yushchenko could not be reached for comment by
The Associated Press and calls to his father's spokeswoman, Irina
Gerashchenko, went unanswered Wednesday.
Ukrainskaya Pravda, where the report on Yushchenko's son first appeared,
once was run by Heorhiy Gongadze, who was abducted in 2000 and killed,
reportedly in connection with his investigations into high-level corruption.
A Kuchma bodyguard later released secretly made tape recordings in which
the former president appeared to be ordering action against Gongadze.
Kuchma has not been charged in Gongadze's death and has denied
involvement. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
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