"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR"
An International Newsletter
The Latest, Up-To-Date
In-Depth Ukrainian News, Analysis, and Commentary

"Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business, Religion,
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World"

"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR" - Number 543
Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor
Washington, D.C. and Kyiv, Ukraine, FRIDAY, August 19, 2005

--------INDEX OF ARTICLES--------
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"

1. PRESIDENTS OF FOUR FORMER SOVIET STATES DISCUSS
RUSSIA'S REGIONAL DOMINANCE
Associated Press, Kiev, Ukraine, Thu, August 18, 2005 5:29 p.m.

2. NEW ISSUES: UKRAINE PLANS EURO DEAL
By Ivar Simensen, Financial Times, London, UK, Wed, August 17 2005

3. UKRAINE'S WTO ACCESSION TALKS WITH CHINA ARE SUCCESSFUL
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, Russia, Thu, 18 Aug 05

4. UKRAINE LIFTS LAST CURBS ON VISA-FREE TRAVEL FOR
UNITED STATES NATIONALS
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1817 gmt 18 Aug 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Aug 18, 2005

5. VOLUME OF DIRECT INVESTMENTS TO UKRAINIAN ECONOMY GROWS
Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, August 18, 2005

6. GOVT PLANS TO PRIVATIZE KRYVYI RIH MINING-DRESSING WORKS
FOR OXIDIZED ORES IN DECEMBER OF 2005
Oleksandr Khorolskiy, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, August 18, 2005

7. UKRAINE STRUGGLES WHILE RUSSIA PROSPERS
By Andrew Hurst, Reuters, Moscow, Russia, Wed Aug 17, 2005

8. UKRAINE MILITARY: STOLEN ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILES RECOVERED
Associated Press, Kiev, Ukraine, Thu, August 18, 2005

9. PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: DECREE N 1087/2005, ON ADDITIONAL
ACTIONS ON PERPETUATION REMEMBRANCE OF VICTIMS OF
POLITICAL REPRESSIONS AND FAMINE IN UKRAINE
President of Ukraine Decree N 1087/2005
Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 11, 2005
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 543, Article 9
Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, August 19, 2005

10. # 1445 ON MEASURES TO MEMORIALIZE THE VICTIMS OF FAMINE
AND POLITICAL REPRESSIONS IN UKRAINE
Kyiv Municipal State Administration, Regulation # 1445
Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, August 8, 2005
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 543, Article 10
Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, August 18, 2005

11. KIEV MOVE ANGERS RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
By Daniel McLaughlin, The Irish Times, Ireland, Thu, Aug 18, 2005

12. PRESIDENT OF BELARUS HOLDS FAST TO SOVIET WAY OF LIFE
Those opposing Lukashenko's rule get the message
By Anna Badkhen, Chronicle Staff Writer, San Francisco Chronicle,
San Francisco, California, Thursday, August 18, 2005

13. RISQUÉ BILLBOARDS IN UKRAINE SPARK GIGGLES, OUTRAGE
Agence France Presse (AFP), Kiev, Ukraine, Wed Aug 17, 2005

14. UKRAINIAN PRES TALKS OF" NEW SPIRIT" IN SOVIET-ERA CAMP
President of Georgia stayed in Artek 24 years ago
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1828 gmt 18 Aug 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Aug 18, 2005

15. UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER YULIYA TYMOSHENKO SAYS SHE
IS RICH ENOUGH TO AFFORD EXPENSIVE CLOTHES
Era, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1100 gmt 18 Aug 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Aug 18, 2005

16. POLLSTER MAPS OUT POSTREVOLUTIONARY MOODS IN UKRAINE
By Jan Maksymiuk, RFE/RL Newsline, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Prague, Czech Republic, Tue, August 16, 2005

17. UKRAINIAN PARTIES SCRAMBLE FOR MEDIA, FOREIGN ALLIES,
AHEAD OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
Yanukovych losing media support ahead of parliamentary elections
ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY: By Taras Kuzio
Eurasia Daily Monitor, Vol 2, Issue 161
Jamestown Foundation, Washington, D.C., Wed, Aug 17, 2005

18. UKRAINIAN FIRST DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ANATOLIY KINAKH
ADMITS CABINET MADE MISTAKES IN FIRST SIX MONTHS
INTERVIEW: With First Deputy Prime Minister Anatoliy Kinakh
By Olha Dmytrycheva, Zerkalo Nedeli, Kiev, in Russian 13 Aug 05, p 4
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Aug 17, 2005
=============================================================
1. PRESIDENTS OF FOUR FORMER SOVIET STATES DISCUSS
RUSSIA'S REGIONAL DOMINANCE

Associated Press, Kiev, Ukraine, Thu, August 18, 2005 5:29 p.m.

KIEV, Ukraine -- The presidents of four former Soviet bloc countries held
meetings on Ukraine's Crimea peninsula Thursday as part of efforts by
President Viktor Yushchenko and other leaders to forge a counterbalance
to Russia's regional dominance.

Mr. Yushchenko and his Polish counterpart, Aleksander Kwasniewski, were
the first two leaders to sit down for talks in the Black Sea region
Thursday, Mr. Yushchenko's press office said in a statement.

The two discussed developments in neighboring Belarus, which is locked in
dispute with Poland over the status of ethnic Poles there and which has also
crossed swords with Ukraine and Georgia.

The dispute with Belarus "doesn't have a positive impact on bilateral
relations," Mr. Yushchenko was quoted as saying by his press office.
On Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka said he wants to set up
a working group with Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia to coordinate their
policy toward Minsk. He also discussed with Polish political leaders the
idea of opening a radio station to broadcast into Belarus in support of
pro-democracy groups.

Mr. Yushchenko later met with Lithuania's Valdas Adamkus for discussions
on boosting trade and cooperation in the Baltic and Black Sea regions, Mr.
Yushchenko's office said. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili joined the
three presidents later.

Relations with Russia were expected to dominate talks at a joint meeting of
the four leaders scheduled for Friday.

Moscow has strong influence over political, economic and military affairs in
the former Soviet states, a region it considers part of its sphere of
influence. Since mass uprisings in Ukraine and Georgia brought
Western-leaning leadership to power, those two former Soviet states have
increasingly looked for ways to move out from under Russia's shadow.
Poland and Lithuania, meanwhile, are European Union members.

Last Friday, Western-leaning Messrs. Yushchenko and Saakashvili called
for an alliance that would unite democracies of the Baltic, Black Sea and
Caspian regions, in a move likely to anger the Kremlin. The alliance's name,
the Commonwealth of Democratic Choice, is similar to the Russian-led
Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose alliance of 12 ex-Soviet
nations that includes both Georgia and Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk said Thursday that the new
alliance is not an "alternative for the CIS." He said the new alliance had
no administrative staff or official structure and was essentially just a
concept for now. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
2. NEW ISSUES: UKRAINE PLANS EURO DEAL

By Ivar Simensen, Financial Times, London, UK, Wed, August 17 2005

Ukraine broke the silence in the European bond market on Wednesday by
announcing plans to sell Euro 600m of 10-year bonds in its first deal in
more than a year.

The European market has not seen many sizeable deals in the last few
weeks due to the summer holidays, but Ukraine's finance ministry said it had
hired Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and UBS to lead-manage a new deal.The
bond will have a maturity of 10 years and an expected size of about Euro
600m, according to the ministry.

The deal is expected to come to the market some time in September. The
country last accessed the public bond market in July last year.
Ukraine is rated B1 by Moody's Investors Service, four levels below
investment grade, and one notch higher at BB- by Standard & Poor's and
Fitch Ratings. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
3. UKRAINE'S WTO ACCESSION TALKS WITH CHINA ARE SUCCESSFUL

ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, Russia, Thu, 18 Aug 05

KIEV - Ukraine has ended talks with China within its accession to the World
Trade Organization (WTO), Economics Minister Serhiy Teryokhin said.
Summing up the results of his talks with Chinese Vice-Minister of Commerce
Yu Guangzhou on Thursday [18 August], Teryokhin said both sides would sign a
protocol on the access of goods and services to the market in mid-September.

In his words, the sides succeeded in reaching a compromise - to recognize
China's status of market economy, Kiev pledged to do this after the European
Commission adopts a similar decision on Ukraine's economy, he said. The
minister recalled that the EU intends to decide on this issue by the
Ukraine-EU summit slated for September.

Teryokhin noted that, during the accession talks, Ukraine faced problems
with such countries as Australia, China, the United States and Japan.
Ukraine signed the protocol with China. "Then we should hold talks with the
US and Australia," the minister added.

Ukraine's admission to the WTO depends on the results of these talks, the
minister said. The working group includes 42 countries. Ukraine completed
talks with 38 states. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
4. UKRAINE LIFTS LAST CURBS ON VISA-FREE TRAVEL FOR
UNITED STATES NATIONALS

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1817 gmt 18 Aug 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Aug 18, 2005

KIEV - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has amended his decree
dated 30 June 2005 "On visa-free travel for US citizens".

Now Article 1 of the decree reads as follows: starting from 1 July 2005,
US citizens shall require no visas for entry into, or transit across,
Ukraine if their stay in Ukraine does not exceed 90 days.

Under the previous version of the decree, visa-free travel could only be
enjoyed by those US citizens who paid a repeat visit to Ukraine, which
could not exceed 90 days, within six months of their previous visit. -30-
=============================================================
5. VOLUME OF DIRECT INVESTMENTS TO UKRAINIAN ECONOMY GROWS

Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, August 18, 2005

KYIV - According to data of the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine for
the first half of 2005 volume of direct investments to Ukraine grew by 5.7
percent or by 491.3 M. USD and made up 9,061,000,000 USD. In other
words, 192 USD is per one citizen in the country.

Over January-June 2005 foreign investors made direct investments to the tune
of 810.9 M., including from the CIS countries 53.2 M. USD, or 6.6 percent of
the total volume. From other countries of the world 757.7 M. USD came.
Nonresidents withdrew capital to the tune of 176.3 M. USD.

Investments from Cypriot nonresidents considerably grew by 178.7 M., from
Virgin Islands 128.8 M. USD, from the USA by 49.6 M. USD, from Russia by
49.3 M. USD, from the Netherlands by 39.2 M. USD, from Belize by 28.5 M.,
from UK by 26.7 M., from Poland by 15 M. USD and from Hungary by 14.8 M.
USD.

Money investments are the main form of attracting capital, which made up
51.6 percent of the invested volume. -30-
=============================================================
6. GOVT PLANS TO PRIVATIZE KRYVYI RIH MINING-DRESSING WORKS
FOR OXIDIZED ORES IN DECEMBER OF 2005

Oleksandr Khorolskiy, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, August 18, 2005

KYIV - The Cabinet of ministers passed a resolution at its Wednesday
session on preparations for privatization of the Kryvyi Rih Mining -Dressing
Works for Oxidized Ores, Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko told a Thursday
press conference in Kyiv. According to the plan of organizational events, a
tender for privatization of this facility must be held by December 12, the
Premier said.

According to Premier Tymoshenko's forecast, the tender is to be rather
serious and billion-volume investments are likely to be directed there. Ms
Tymoshenko called the works "the most powerful construction site, which
construction has been started by member-states of the Council for Mutual
Economic Assistance back in the Soviet time. Investors show their huge
interestedness in it.

Together with the KryvorizhStal it will be another powerful subject for
privatization in 2005", Yuliya Tymoshenko stressed. -30-
=============================================================
7. UKRAINE STRUGGLES WHILE RUSSIA PROSPERS

By Andrew Hurst, Reuters, Moscow, Russia, Wed Aug 17, 2005

MOSCOW - Eight months after an "Orange Revolution" installed a new
reform-minded government in Ukraine, some investors believe the country
is floundering while neighbouring Russia is making hay.

The bloodless revolution which helped sweep the pro-western Viktor
Yushchenko to victory in presidential elections last December was a
stunning reversal for the Kremlin, which pulled out all the stops to back
his opponent Viktor Yanukovich.

Yushchenko's government, with its promise to modernise Ukraine and lead it
into the European Union, fired the imagination of foreign investors, upset
by the Kremlin-inspired destruction of Russia's private oil company YUKOS.

But perceptions have changed fast. And reforms may have been put on hold
pending a parliamentary election next March on which virtually all the
country's political forces are focused.

"Six months ago, everyone thought the Orange Revolution would be a disaster
for Russia," said Tim Ash, Managing Director for Emerging Markets at Bear
Stearns in London. "Russia has moved on and the Ukrainians seem to have
messed things up," he added.

Portfolio investors, who bought up Ukraine securities in the aftermath of
the revolution, have taken fright after months of government infighting and
what they see as policy paralysis, made worse by a corrupt and unresponsive
civil service.

"The Cinderella has not turned into a princess," said Katia Malofeeva, an
analyst at Renaissance capital, a Moscow investment bank. "It was a case of
excessive expectations."

A muddled review of controversial privatisations made under Yushchenko's
predecessor, Leonid Kuchma, and divisions in the government over how to
conduct exchange rate policy have added to the sense of disarray.

"The new government is divided and does not have a coherent plan," said
Vlad Sobell, senior economist at the Daiwa Institute of Research in London.

Meanwhile in Russia, where memories of the YUKOS affair have started to
fade, equity markets are enjoying a resurgence and a string of big Russian
companies have floated shares on the London stock exchange.

SCRAPPY POLITICS

But appearances may prove deceptive. Ukraine is simply learning to engage
in the scrappy politics of a proper democracy where cabinet rivalries are
highlighted by a boisterous press and politicians are not scared to speak
their mind, say some analysts.

"The political situation is very competitive in Ukraine. There is no single
centre of power which dominates the whole of political life and this is much
healthier," Malofeeva said.

That is a stark contrast with Russia where President Vladimir Putin has
presided over a centralisation of power in the hands of the Kremlin and
growing state control over broadcast media, a development which some find
alarming. "Ukraine's situation is more volatile and harder to predict than
Russia," said Malofeeva.

Ukraine's policy drift may be more apparent than real as key politicians,
led by Yushchenko and his ambitious Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko,
position themselves ahead of the March 2006 election.

"The government which emerges next March will determine Ukraine's future,"
said a fund manager based in Kiev who asked not to be identified. "The
entire public administration needs to be reformed and the real reforms will
not start until April."

"This government is not stupid. They know that to go ahead with a
root-and-branch reform of the civil service now would have a very high
political cost and could lead to defeat in the election," he added.

And a slump in gross domestic product growth, which fell to 3.7 percent
between January and July from 13.5 percent in the first seven months of
2004, has more to do with falling prices of steel, Ukraine's main industrial
export, than any mishandling of government policy, say economists. -30-
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8. UKRAINE MILITARY: STOLEN ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILES RECOVERED

Associated Press, Kiev, Ukraine, Thu, August 18, 2005

KIEV - Military investigators have recovered two anti-aircraft missiles
stolen six months ago from a military depot in southern Ukraine, an official
said Thursday. Defense Ministry spokesman Ihor Halivinskiy refused to give
more detail except to say an investigation was under way.

"Our investigators seized the missiles, now they represent no danger for
society. The investigation is underway," he said.

Two SA-7 Grail missile systems - also known as Strela-3M, or Arrow - went
missing in February from a military depot in southern Ukraine after an
apparent break-in.

Officials feared the heat-seeking missiles, which are produced in Russia,
China and other places, could have fallen into the hands of terrorists who
could use them to down commercial airliners.

Ukraine's new government has stepped up efforts to clamp down on illicit
weapons deals that flourished under former President Leonid Kuchma. In
February, the chief of the Defense and Security Council ordered officials to
take an inventory of all military weaponry and equipment in the country.
=============================================================
9. PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: DECREE N 1087/2005, ON ADDITIONAL
ACTIONS ON PERPETUATION REMEMBRANCE OF VICTIMS OF
POLITICAL REPRESSIONS AND FAMINE IN UKRAINE

President of Ukraine Decree N 1087/2005
Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 11, 2005
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 543, Article 9
Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, August 19, 2005

On additional actions on perpetuation remembrance
of victims of political repressions and famine in Ukraine

To perpetuate memories of victims of political repressions and famine in
Ukraine, to provide a complete understanding a historical past of Ukrainian
nation, its longstanding fight for renewal of its nationhood, and also to
make a society and especially youth pay closer attention on tragic pages in
country's history

I d e c r e e:

1. To Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine:

a) to decide a question on creating Ukrainian National Memory
Institute. This should be implemented till Day of remembrance of victims of
political repressions and famine that in year 2005 will be held on November
26.

For this purpose in particular: till August 15, 2005, create an
interdepartmental work group on creating Ukrainian National Memory
Institute, preparing propositions on its structure and main directions in
its activity. This work group should be created taking into consideration
propositions of Ukrainian National Academy of Science, Ukrainian volunteer
cultural educating human rights charitable organization "Memorial" named in
behalf of V.Stus, Association of researchers on famines in Ukraine,
All-Ukrainian Organization of political prisoners and repressed people.

This group should include top scientists, authoritative experts,
representatives of non-governmental organizations those who directly do
a research on political repressions and famines; in accordance with
established order, provide a solution of settlement of Ukrainian National
Memory Institute in the center of Kyiv;

b) in accordance with established order, make a propositions on
getting by State historical memorial conservancy "Brykivski Mohyly"
national status till August 1, 2005;

c) in accordance with established order, prepare and take under
consideration of Verkhovna Rada a bill on political-juridical appraisal of
famines in a history of Ukrainian nation.

2. To Security Service of Ukraine, State Archive Committee of Ukraine -

to provide everyway assistance to the representatives of non-governmental
organizations, scientific institutes and organizations, scientists in
accessing appropriate archives concerning issues on political repressions
and famines in Ukraine and in publishing such documents.

3. To Council of Ministers of Autonomous Republic of Crimea, regional,
Kyiv and Sevastopil municipal state administrations in assistance of non-
governmental organizations those who directly do a research on political
repressions and famines:

in 2005-2006 take measures on appropriate burying of victims of
political repressions, building monuments and memorial signs;

in assistance of schoolchildren and students organize work on
searching mass grave sites of victims of political repressions and
famines;

support establishing museums, forming museum collections,
organizing permanent expositions of historical events connected
with political repressions and famines in Ukraine.

4. To Ministry of Foreign Affaires of Ukraine in assistance of
non-governmental organizations directly doing a research on political
repressions and famines, also in assistance of representatives of
Ukrainian community abroad -

in accordance with established order arrange the measures on activation
the search and investigation of mass grave sites of Ukrainians died
because of political repressions that are situated on the territory of
foreign countries

V. Yushchenko, President of Ukraine
Kyiv, July 11, 2005; N 1087/2005
=============================================================
10. # 1445 ON MEASURES TO MEMORIALIZE THE VICTIMS OF FAMINE
AND POLITICAL REPRESSIONS IN UKRAINE

Kyiv Municipal State Administration, Regulation # 1445
Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, August 8, 2005
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 543, Article 10
Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, August 18, 2005

On measures to memorialize the victims of famine and political repressions
in Ukraine

To implement the Decree of the President of Ukraine of July 11, 2005 #
1087/2005 "On additional measures to memorialize the victims of famine and
political repressions in Ukraine" and in order to build in Kyiv the memorial
complex to the memory of the victims of famine and political repressions in
Ukraine:

1. In 2005-2006, construct in Kyiv the memorial complex to the memory of the
victims of famine and political repressions in Ukraine, which is to include
monument, museum, and Kalynovy Hai park (further referred to as "memorial
complex").

2. Create a Task Force for developing the concept of the memorial complex
to the victims of famine and political repressions in Ukraine and approve
the attached list of members.

3. The Task Force for developing the concept of the memorial complex to the
victims of famine and political repressions in Ukraine is to:
3.1. Build up the concept of the memorial complex in Kyiv until September
30, 2005.

3.2. Develop architecture plans for implementing the memorial concept
until December 31, 2005.

4. Define the Restoration Board as the customer, which requested the
development of the concept of the construction.

5. The Restoration Board is to:

5.1. Obtain from the General Board for Culture, Arts and Cultural Heritage
Protection of the Kyiv municipal state administration the requirements to
the project, agreed with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine.

5.2. Receive the planning task from the Head Board for City Construction,
Architecture, and Design of the Kyiv municipal state administration.

5.3. Request the development of the memorial construction concept and
architecture solution and in cooperation with the Task Force ensure its
approval according to the applicable procedure.

5.4. Engage the History School of the National Academy of Sciences of
Ukraine and other relevant institutions in developing the draft concept.

5.5. Define general designer and general contractor based on results of a
tender.

5.6. Conduct a broad public discussion of the memorial draft concept.

6. The Task Force is to submit proposals to the Cabinet of Ministers of
Ukraine and to the President of Ukraine concerning the implementation of the
memorial concept.

7. The Central office of the Kyiv community property (by the Kyiv municipal
state administration) is to submit according to the applicable procedure
investment proposals to the Central Board for Economics and Investments (by
the Kyiv municipal state administration). The investment proposals are to be
made to ensure taking into account financing of works listed in clause 1 of
the present regulation, while compiling the draft development program of
Kyiv for 2006.

8. The first deputy head of the Kyiv municipal state administration, Fomenko
I.A., is to control the implementation of the present regulation.

Mayor, O. Omelchenko

Approved by the regulation of the Kyiv municipal state administration
of August 04, 2005 #1445

MEMBERS of the Task Force for developing the concept of the memorial
complex to the victims of famine and political repressions in Ukraine

Omelchenko Oleksandr Oleksandrovych, Mayor of Kyiv, Head of the Task
Force

Borysov Valery Dmytrovych, First deputy head of the Kyiv municipal state
administration, head of the Central Board for Economics and Investments,
Task Force deputy head

Lysov Ihor Volodymyrovych, Deputy head of the Kyiv municipal state
administration, head of the Central office of the Kyiv community property,
Task Force deputy head

MEMBERS OF THE TASK FORCE:

1.Antonyk Anatoly Yevdokymovych, Director of UkrNDIProekt-Restoration
Institute (by consent)
2.Bystrushkin Oleksandr Pavlovych, Head of the General Board for
Culture, Arts and Cultural Heritage Protection
3.Biryukov Viktor Petrovych, First deputy head of Pechersk district state
administration (Kyiv)
4.Haidamaka Anatoly Vasyliovych,People's artist of Ukraine, Associate
of the Ukrainian Arts Academy (by consent)
5.Dzhun Oksana Olegivna, Member of the Ukrainian National Architects
Union, President of the Kyiv Landscaping Club (by consent)
6.Didukh Yakiv Petrovych, Director of the Botanical Institute of the
Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, Associate of the Ukrainian
National Academy of Sciences (by consent)
7.Drach Ivan Fedorovych, Ukrainian people's deputy (by consent)
8.Yezhov Valentyn Ivanovych, People's architect of Ukraine (by consent)
9.Kapustyan Vasyl Vasyliovych, Director of the Botanical garden named
after O. Fomin
10.Karabajev Daniel Tairovych, Head of the Environment protection
commission by the Kyiv Council (by consent)
11.Kulinich Vyacheslav Yakovych, Director of Kyiv fortress museum
12.Kunakh Volodymyr Andrijovych, Head of Coordination Board for Design
and Construction Companies of the Kyiv municipal state administration
13.Kukharenko Ruslan Ivanovych, Deputy head of the General Board for
Culture, Arts and Cultural Heritage Protection - head of the Cultural
heritage
protection department
14.Matiko-Bubnova Hanna Vasylivna, Head of the Humanitarian policy
commission by the Kyiv Council (by consent)
15.Melnychuk Dmytro Oleksijovych, Rector of the National Agrarian University
(by consent)
16.Movchan Mykola Mykhailovych, Head of the Kyiv state board for ecology
and natural resources (by consent)
17.Movchan Pavlo Mykhailovych, Ukrainian people's deputy (by consent)
18.Olijnyk Borys Illich,Ukrainian people's deputy (by consent)
19.Orlenko Mykola Ivanovych, President of Ukrrestoration Corporation (by
consent)
20.Padalka Viktor Mykhailovych, Deputy head of the Kyiv municipal state
administration - head of the Central financial office
21.Prysiazhniuk Vasyl Fedorovych, Deputy head of the Kyiv municipal state
administration - head of the Central board of city planning, architecture,
and design
22.Rubliov Oleg Vasyliovych, Head of the Specialized board for anti-sliding
underground works
23.Sydorenko Viktor Dmytrovych, People's artist of Ukraine, director of the
Fine Arts Institute (by consent)
24.Smoliy Valery Andrijovych, Director of the History School of the National
Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (by consent)
25.Taniuk Les Stepanovych, Head of the Commission for cultural and spiritual
issues in Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (by consent)
26.Tronko Petro Tymofijovych, Member of the National Academy of Sciences
of Ukraine, honoured expert of science and technology of Ukraine (by
consent)
27.Denysenko Dmytro Leonidovych, Director of the Restoration Board
28.Sharko Iryna Mykolajivna,Deputy head of the Central office of the Kyiv
community property
29.Chekmariov Volodymyr Hnatovych, Deputy head of Kyivproekt - director
of Kyivgenplan Institute (by consent)
30.Sharapov Vadym Mykhailovych, architect (by consent)
31.Shumyk Mykola Ivanovych, Deputy director for amenity planting of the
National Hryshko botanical garden (by consent)
32.Yukhnovsky Vasyl Yurijovych, Doctor of Agriculture, professor of the
National Agrarian University (by consent)
33.Yavorovsky Petro Petrovych, Director general of Kyivzelenbud

Deputy Head the Kyiv municipal state administration B. Stychynsky
-30- The Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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11. KIEV MOVE ANGERS RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

By Daniel McLaughlin, The Irish Times, Ireland, Thu, Aug 18, 2005

UKRAINE: As Ukraine's Catholics prepare to open their headquarters in
the national capital, Kiev, the Russian Orthodox Church has denounced
the move as an act of aggression by the Vatican.

On Sunday, Ukraine's five million-strong Catholic Church - which for 400
years has performed Orthodox rites while recognising the authority of the
Pope - will mark the transfer of their see to Kiev from the western city of
Lviv.

But the decision has enraged Moscow Patriarch Alexiy II, who has called
it proof of the Vatican's determination to convert Orthodox believers in
Ukraine and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union.

"Without doubt these are unfriendly steps, which will cause even more
tension in our relations with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic and Roman
churches," Alexiy said.

"These activities cannot be justified from a historical point of view, or
from the point of view of church rules and canons. The Kievan pulpit has
from the first years of its existence been one of the capitals of the
Russian Orthodox Church."

The latest row deals a blow to Pope Benedict's avowed intention to improve
relations between the Catholic and Orthodox churches, which split in 1054.

The Ukrainian Uniate or Greek Catholic Church was established in 1596,
when much of modern-day Ukraine was ruled from Poland, and allowed
Orthodox priests to continue performing Byzantine rites while giving
allegiance to the Vatican.

Under the Soviet regime, Uniate churches were razed or handed over to the
Orthodox Church, while clergy were imprisoned or exiled, and services were
performed secretly.

Only in the late 1980s was the Uniate Church again legalised, but its
resurgence has irked the Orthodox Church, which counts the vast majority of
Ukraine's 47 million people among its congregation.

"Persistent attempts by the Ukrainian Greek Catholics to move their see to
Kiev . . . show who is the aggressor in Orthodox-Catholic relations," said
Father Vsevolod Chaplin, a spokesman for the Moscow Patriarchate.
=============================================================
12. PRESIDENT OF BELARUS HOLDS FAST TO SOVIET WAY OF LIFE
Those opposing Lukashenko's rule get the message

By Anna Badkhen, Chronicle Staff Writer, San Francisco Chronicle,
San Francisco, California, Thursday, August 18, 2005

GRODNO, Belarus - The prosecutors did not tell Andzelika Borys which
laws she had violated, or what her punishment might be. They just told her
that if she broke "Belarusian law" again, she "would be punished."

In Belarus, a Kansas-size nation on Russia's western border, everyone
knows what that means. In this last outpost of Soviet-style dictatorship in
Europe, such warnings are reserved for politicians, journalists,
businessmen or anybody else who has irked the regime.

For Borys, who is a leader of the country's small Polish minority, it means
she is a supporter of the opposition -- small as it is -- to President
Alexander Lukashenko. The authorities want her to stop, or face arrest --
or worse. Dozens of Lukashenko critics have simply disappeared in recent
years, including an opposition leader and his business associate, and a
television journalist. Some have been found dead.

"They want us to shut up," Borys said after her meeting with the
prosecutors in Grodno, a Belarusian town on the border with Poland, two
weeks ago. The prosecutors refused to comment.

Belarus, with a population of 10 million people, is a country that the 21st
century seems to have forgotten. Once part of Russia's Slavic core, which
included Ukraine as well as Russia, Belarus remains a miniature model of
the old Soviet Union.

A walk down Independence Street, the main road in Belarus' capital Minsk,
is like time travel back to the Soviet Union: A few cars drive slowly along
the wide, clean but largely deserted avenue lined with huge, Stalin-era
apartment buildings. The occasional pedestrian saunters in and out of the
enormous, state-run GUM mall that sells crudely made, shapeless Belarusian
clothes and souvenirs made of straw and amber. The only billboards on the
street extol the heroism of Soviet soldiers in World War II.

Outside the capital, dilapidated wooden houses with caved-in roofs stand in
the dying villages amidst golden and purple fields of wheat and buckwheat
and emerald pastures, empty except for storks.

Most companies remain state-owned. Soviet-style collective farms, which
constitute the majority of Belarus' agriculture, are rewarded by gifts of
television sets. All students and state employees are forced to attend
weekly "ideology classes," which hammer home the benefits of
Lukashenko's "market socialism" and the dangers of Western-style
democracy and capitalism.

Newspaper kiosks sell the Soviet Belarus and Respublika newspapers,
which these days are dominated by two topics: the continuing wheat harvest
and the alleged Western conspiracy to overthrow the 50-year-old
Lukashenko.

"You will not succeed with the color revolution" -- a reference to
Ukraine's Orange Revolution of 2004 -- "nor with the revision of state
borders," the Respublika warned the regime's opponents in an editorial this
month.

Alarmed by the popular uprisings that have toppled authoritarian regimes in
three other former Soviet republics since 2003, Lukashenko -- a former head
of a collective farm who has ruled Belarus by decree since he was elected
president in 1994 -- is stepping up efforts to prevent what he sees as
attempts by the United States and other Western countries to remove him
from power.

"The Americans, the West" are preparing to "create certain groups that will
head for Minsk ... and will make a revolution in the main square,"
Lukashenko said this month on Belarus' only, state-run television channel.
"I want to warn you that ... we know how to stop the intervention."

The Russian government of President Vladimir Putin, which fears that
Belarus, Russia's satellite for centuries, will go the way of another
former ally, Ukraine, supports Lukashenko and helps keep the feeble
Belarusian economy afloat by purchasing Belarusian wheat, corn and
tractors and selling it oil and natural gas at subsidized prices.

To ensure that Belarus' nascent opposition does not gain steam the way the
opposition had in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan or Belarus' southern neighbor,
Ukraine, Lukashenko has silenced nearly all nongovernment news media
and jailed, killed or "disappeared" his critics, international human rights
groups say.

Lukashenko has even dug up Independence Square, the main Minsk plaza,
which held up to 200,000 protesters during political unrest of the early
1990s -- so that "even if someone decides to protest, they will have no
place to congregate," said Alexander Feduta, a former Lukashenko
spokesman who is now an independent political analyst.

Over the last month, police in Grodno arrested six of Borys' colleagues
from the Union of Poles for their ties to the Belarusian opposition,
turning this tattered city of 322,000 people into the latest arena of
Lukashenko's political repression. Police stormed the group's headquarters
and reinstalled Borys' predecessor, who keeps the organization away from
political activity. Borys was arrested during the raid but later released.

Belarus also has expelled three Polish diplomats, severely damaging crucial
economic ties with its western neighbor. Lukashenko has accused Poland of
trying to help the United States try to topple his regime with the help of
20,000 members of the Polish association Borys once led in Grodno.

To be sure, the Bush administration has made it clear it would like to see
a different government in Minsk. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has
called Belarus "an outpost of tyranny" and "the last true dictatorship in
the center of Europe," and Congress wants to add $5 million to Washington's
annual $7 million aid package to Belarus to increase U.S. assistance to the
country's independent media, human rights groups and programs that
promote civil society.

Some opposition leaders hope that such aid, combined with the popular
frustration over Lukashenko's dictatorial regime and the sense of
stagnation in Belarus, will bring about what they expectantly call a
"Cornflower Revolution" that would end the country's political and economic
isolation.

"What happened in Ukraine -- that's our only hope," said Lyudmila
Gryaznova, deputy chairwoman of the United Civil Party, one of the leading
opposition groups. But many observers say Lukashenko's machinery of
repression will be hard to overcome, in part because it has so successfully
intimidated much of the population.

Lukashenko is eligible to run for a third term in next year's presidential
election. In October, he won a referendum that scrapped a constitutional
two-term limit. Western governments have refused to recognize the
legitimacy of the referendum, but a Gallup poll last month showed that 48
percent of Belarusians believed Lukashenko should be re-elected.

Even some of Lukashenko's formerly most fierce critics admit they are
often afraid to speak out.

Olga Zavadskaya, mother of television journalist Dmitry Zavadsky, who
vanished five years ago, blames Lukashenko for the disappearance of her
son. But Zavadskaya, who works as a dentist at a state-run clinic in Minsk,
says she never talks about her son's disappearance at work because she is
afraid to lose her job.

"There is a great sense of Lukashenko fatigue -- more and more people are
becoming more frustrated," said a Western diplomat, who spoke on condition
of anonymity. "But you don't get a sense that there's a great will of the
public to protest. There's a lot of fear, a lot of levers the government
can use to stop people from being politically active." -30-
=============================================================
13. RISQUÉ BILLBOARDS IN UKRAINE SPARK GIGGLES, OUTRAGE

Agence France Presse (AFP), Kiev, Ukraine, Wed Aug 17, 2005

KIEV - The talk of the town in Kiev during the sleepy summer weeks
this year has centered on hundreds of billboards in the city that, with
their dash of sexual innuendo, have outraged some, amused others, and
are quickly entering the national lexicon.

"There should be 52 million of us! Kokhaimosya!" declares one version
plastered throughout the capital of a country that's currently 48 million
souls strong.

Roughly translated, the key last word in the ad means "let's love one
another," but its undertone connotation of "let's make love" has set off a
storm of discussion here, including in the highest offices of the ex-Soviet
land.

"What is that supposed to mean? That we should all f..(expletive)?" an
indignant Kiev Mayor Olexander Omelchenko railed recently at a top
government meeting, as Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko giggled, according
to an official who attended the gathering and recounted its contents to AFP
on condition of anonymity.

The simple billboards began appearing in Kiev by the hundreds in mid-July --
"The country doesn't have enough Oscars!... The country doesn't have enough
cosmonauts!... The country doesn't have enough Nobel laureats!... The
country doesn't have enough football players!" they appealed to passersby.
"Kokhaimosya!"

The risqué ads have quickly become a hot topic of conversation on everything
from the subtleties of the Ukrainian language to morals and the nation's
falling birth rate in kitchens, Internet chatrooms, newspapers, magazines
and conversations on the street.

"A stupid, idiotic ad," a late 40-something couple said in chorus as they
waited for a bus under one of the signs on the outskirts of Kiev.
"Rare vulgarity!" said 28-year-old Tanya, in a comment in to an Internet
chatroom.

"And with what dough are we supposed to raise these Oscar winners,"
grumbled 25-year-old Olya. "Prices keep rising and rising." "How this ad
can elicit anger is beyond me," said Natalya, a 31-year-old biophysicist.
"It makes me smile." "I like it," said 25-year-old engineer Mykola, in
central Kiev. "It's original and funny."

The people behind the ads -- the Outdoor Advertising Association of
Ukraine -- couldn't be more delighted with the fuss.

"We not only wanted to advertise our abilities but... elicit dialogue,"
Artem Bidenko, director of the association, told AFP. "Dialogue is always
easier to get when there is a provocation of some sort."

The idea behind the campaign was to draw attention to the association and
its ability to carry out successful social-themed ads, and have some fun
during a normally slow season for outdoor advertising.

"It's a provocation aimed at solving the problems of social advertising,"
Bidenko wrote in the popular Ukrainska Pravda Internet newspaper when
the campaign started.

With that in mind, association members picked one of their own to create the
campaign and pooled resources between 150,000 and 180,000 dollars to
produce and plaster more than 800 billboards in Kiev and Ukraine regions.

Their efforts have already paid off -- the government has asked it to come
up with ideas for ads for Ukraine's upcoming Independence Day on August
24, Bidenko said.

Perhaps in the clearest signal of success, the ads have spawned numerous
knock-offs. "Europe doesn't have enough cheap labor! Kokhaimosya!" said
one posted on an Internet advertising forum.

References to the slogans have begun creeping up in the unlikeliest of
places -- a Kiev newspaper recently ended a story on Georgians' laid-back
attitude to extra-marital affairs with the following: "With such Caucasian
temperament, before you know it, there'll be 52 million of them instead of
us." -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
14. UKRAINIAN PRES TALKS OF" NEW SPIRIT" IN SOVIET-ERA CAMP
President of Georgia stayed in Artek 24 years ago

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1828 gmt 18 Aug 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Aug 18, 2005

ARTEK, Crimea - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko congratulated
the Artek children's centre on its 80th anniversary.

Speaking this evening before the beginning of a festive concert, the head of
state said that it was a great pleasure and honour for him to congratulate
the Artek people on their holiday because "Artek is a city of childhood
which many dozens of young people in every generation aspired to visit".

"I am convinced that in every corner of the world the word Artek has a
clear, long-standing meaning - that it is a city of young people where
friendship, patriotism and high spirits are greatly valued," Yushchenko
said.

However, "now we are talking about a new Artek, where a new spirit reigns.
Perhaps for the first time we are talking about living in the great
Ukrainian land where democracy reigns," the president said.

He said that children spending their holidays in Artek go away with the most
important thing - the ability to love their homelands - Poland, Lithuania,
Georgia, Ukraine, Greece or Russia. "We are of interest to each other when
we are different, when each of us brings our own culture and traditions and
when each of us treasures the history of our ancestors," Yushchenko said.

The presidents of Lithuania, Georgia and Poland, Valdas Adamkus, Mikheil
Saakashvili and Aleksander Kwasniewski, also congratulated the Artek
people.

All the presidents were given Ukrainian national toys as presents. The
Georgian president told journalists that he stayed in Artek 24 years ago. A
concert is currently under way in Artek, to be followed by fireworks. -30-
=============================================================
15. UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER YULIYA TYMOSHENKO SAYS SHE
IS RICH ENOUGH TO AFFORD EXPENSIVE CLOTHES

Era, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1100 gmt 18 Aug 05
BBC Monitoring Service<UK, in English, Thu, Aug 18, 2005

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko has said her family made
significant savings when she ran a large gas company in the 1990s, which
can explain her expensive wardrobe. Asked about her income declaration,
according to which she made only around 12,000 dollars in 2004,
Tymoshenko said it only reflected the money she made as an MP in that
specific year.

The following is the text of the report by Ukrainian private radio Era on 18
August:

[Presenter] Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko believes things are
not that bad for the new administration if the only thing the prime minister
can be criticized for is her clothing. Tymoshenko was responding to a
question from journalists about the funds to pay for her expensive clothing.

One of the journalists said that the cost of her wardrobe does not
correspond to her declared income. Tymoshenko said she has been working
for years and has earned enough money to afford the fancy dresses when
running the United Energy Systems of Ukraine company.

[Tymoshenko] I would like to recall that before 1997, I created and ran one
the most powerful private companies in Ukraine. I would like to say that my
family has certainly made some reasonable savings and I can afford a dress.
On the other hand, I like the direction of your inquiries.

Why? Because as you remember, in the past the country's top leadership
used to present their children with a [nationwide] cell-phone operator [a
hint to former President Kuchma's daughter Olena Franchuk, who was
reportedly linked to the Kyivstar cell-phone operator], plants worth
billions of dollars, including metallurgic ones, and hundreds of thousands
of hectares of land in Crimean national reserves [a hint about Kuchma's
son-in-law and steel magnate Viktor Pinchuk].

I believe these gifts worth billions of dollars were given on a regular
basis quarterly, just like our social policy reports.

And if the only thing the prime minister can be criticized for now is the
dresses, then things are not that bad for the new administration. I have
been working for years. The [income] declaration you have seen covers
the last year only. I am well off and I made my savings legally. -30-
=============================================================
16. POLLSTER MAPS OUT POSTREVOLUTIONARY MOODS IN UKRAINE

By Jan Maksymiuk, RFE/RL Newsline
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
Prague, Czech Republic, Tue, August 16, 2005

The Washington-based International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES)
recently published its conclusions from a survey of 1,265 Ukrainians in
late February that was devoted to perceptions of the Orange Revolution and
its consequences. Pollsters explored perceptions of last year's
presidential election, attitudes toward the mass antigovernment
demonstrations that followed the second round of voting on 21 November,
and postelection expectations for Ukraine.

Three of the clear findings that emerge from the IFES survey are that the
Orange Revolution marked a zenith in the public's attention to politics,
that a partisan rift has emerged over the country's democratic credentials,
and that the events of November and December boosted citizens' faith in
the ballot box and its outlook for the future. But while the polling agency
stressed that the events of late 2004 mark a defining moment in Ukrainian
history and public opinion, it also noted significant sociopolitical
cleavages that persist in the country.

The survey was the IFES's 13th nationwide survey in Ukraine since 1994 and
was sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

IFES found that more Ukrainians believe the 31 October and 21 November
presidential vote was unfair than think it was mostly or completely fair,
with distrust of the 21 November balloting more than double the level of
trust. Meanwhile, a majority of Ukrainians (57 percent) believe the repeat
vote in late December was fair, according to IFES.

Nearly two of three respondents support the replacement of the Central
Election Commission after the 21 November vote. More than half say the new
commission performed better, but there is a sharp divide depending on
political loyalties: The overwhelming majority of Viktor Yushchenko
supporters (82 percent) say the new commission was nonpartisan, while just
8 percent of those who report voting for Viktor Yanukovych express such an
opinion -- unsurprising perhaps, given Yanukovych's subsequent failure in
the vote.

The IFES drew a number of broad conclusions from its survey that suggest
Ukrainians are following political events more carefully in hopes of
seizing on a more participatory system.

The IFES noted that the Orange Revolution marked a sea change in the
public interest in politics in Ukraine. The survey found that after the
elections, 72 percent of Ukrainians claim to possess at least a moderate
level of interest in politics, while that level was 59 percent shortly prior
to the presidential election.

But there is a partisan divide over whether Ukraine is a democracy,
according to IFES. Those who live in oblasts where Yushchenko won an
especially high number of votes are more likely to say that Ukraine is a
democracy than those who live in regions with a strong preference for
Yanukovych (77 percent versus 28 percent). Curiously, a pre-election survey
showed the opposite results: In October, those living in areas that
supported Yushchenko were much less likely to describe Ukraine as a
democracy than oblasts with strong preferences for Yanukovych (14 percent
versus 34 percent).

The Orange Revolution has also strengthened Ukrainians' faith in the power
of the ballot box. A majority of Ukrainians (53 percent) now say that
voting gives them a chance to influence decision-making in the country. In
October 2004, the same proportion of people said voting can make a
difference as disagreed with that view (47 percent each).

Regarding expectations for the future, IFES concluded that 43 percent of
Ukrainians believe the 2004 presidential election placed Ukraine on a path
toward stability and prosperity, while 12 percent believe that Ukraine is
headed toward instability. Economically speaking, 57 percent of Ukrainians
describe the situation as bad or very bad, while just 9 percent perceive it
as good or very good. In the 2003 survey, 86 percent described the economy
as bad.

The Orange Revolution also appears to have ushered in widespread optimism,
IFES found. Majorities expect to see at least some improvements in
relations with Western countries (70 percent), the economy (65 percent),
the fight against corruption (63 percent), respect for human rights (59
percent), and political stability (54 percent) over the next two years.

Institutions that played key roles in the Orange Revolution have seen an
improvement in their public standing since the Yushchenko victory. More
Ukrainians now express positive impressions of the Verkhovna Rada, the
judicial system, the media, and nongovernmental organizations than before
the presidential election in October.

Four in 10 Ukrainians now have a
better impression of the media than they did at the start of the election
process, versus 11 percent who view the media more negatively and 38
percent whose views have not changed substantially. Impressions of the
legislature, Verkhovna Rada, have improved among 42 percent of Ukrainians
versus just 15 percent whose opinions have worsened and 33 percent who
say their perceptions are unchanged.

IFES found in February that 65 percent of Ukrainians have confidence in
President Yushchenko, while 25 percent say they have little or no
confidence in him. (Among those who voted for Yanukovych, just 17 percent
say they have confidence in the new president.) Prime Minister Yuliya
Tymoshenko enjoys the confidence of 57 percent of Ukrainians.

While the IFES concluded that the Orange Revolution marks a defining
moment in Ukrainian history and Ukrainian public opinion through a major
shift in social attitudes toward democracy and a more active participation
of citizens in politics, the pollster also noted important sociopolitical
cleavages in Ukraine's public opinion regarding the events of
November-December 2004.

In its analysis of these cleavages, IFES chooses the self-explanatory terms
"Revolutionary Enthusiasts" (48 percent of the population), "Revolutionary
Opponents" (23 percent), and "Revolutionary Agnostics" (for those holding
the middle ground between the previous two groups and characterized by a
wait-and-see attitude; 29 percent of the population). According to IFES,
there are no major differences based on gender or education among those
three groups.

In terms of ethnicity, the Revolutionary Enthusiasts tend to
identify themselves as ethnic Ukrainians, while the majority of the
country's ethnic Russians falls into the Revolutionary Opponents group. The
Revolutionary Agnostics are an ethnically diverse group. Pensioners and
the elderly are overrepresented among the Opponents, while the Agnostics
include a larger proportion of students than is found among the general
population.

In terms of political geography, Revolutionary Enthusiasts live mainly in
oblasts with moderate or strong support for Yushchenko and in the western
regions of Ukraine. Revolutionary Agnostics tend to live in oblasts with
moderate support for both candidates, fall nearly equally on the side of
Yushchenko or Yanukovych, and a plurality lives in the eastern part of the
country. Revolutionary Opponents tend to live nearly exclusively in the
east, in oblasts with strong or moderate support for Yanukovych. -30-
=============================================================
17. UKRAINIAN PARTIES SCRAMBLE FOR MEDIA, FOREIGN ALLIES,
AHEAD OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Yanukovych losing media support ahead of parliamentary elections

ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY: By Taras Kuzio
Eurasia Daily Monitor, Vol 2, Issue 161
Jamestown Foundation, Washington, D.C., Wed, Aug 17, 2005

When the Ukrainian parliament reconvenes in early September, the March 2006
parliamentary election campaign will officially begin. Over the summer
Ukrainian political parties have been energetically seeking media resources
(especially television) and foreign support.

Since Viktor Yushchenko became president, several television channels have
changed hands. The big losers have been the three oligarchic clans who were
the bedrock of support for ex-president Leonid Kuchma's regime and their
related political parties.

The Social Democratic Party-United (SDPUo) had directly controlled directly
State Television Channel One, Inter, and, indirectly, 1+1. The last two
channels are the largest in Ukraine.

Channel 1 is now under Yushchenko's control. Inter's president died in June
and the new CEO is likely to be Valeriy Khoroshkovskiy (Ukrayinska pravda,
June 30). Khoroshkovskiy is a protégé of oligarch Viktor Pinchuk (Kuchma's
son-in-law) who financed the Winter Crop Generation party that
Khoroshkovskiy jointly led in the 2002 election.

Under Khoroshkovskiy Inter TV will be far less confrontational toward
Yushchenko than it was in the Kuchma era, when it became the main
anti-Yushchenko television channel.

TV 1+1 declared its neutrality and objectivity in the Orange Revolution, but
now Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is seeking to obtain influence over the
channel through the Dnipropetrovsk-based Privat oligarch group.

The Privat group is hostile toward Pinchuk's Interpipe, which is also from
the same city. Privat reportedly provided financial assistance to the
Yushchenko campaign and the Pora radical youth group in the 2004 election.
Interpipe backed Viktor Yanukovych for the presidency.

Changes are coming at the three channels controlled by Pinchuk: ICTV, STB,
and Novyi Kanal. New CEOs at all three channels are likely to move toward a
far less confrontational stance towards the new authorities. ICTV has
publicly apologized to Yushchenko for its involvement in anti-Yushchenko
attacks during the 2004 election (Ukrayinska pravda, August 12).

The only channel still available for Yanukovych's Regions of Ukraine, the
main opposition to Yushchenko, will be the Donetsk-based Ukrayina
television.

Pinchuk is lobbying members of the Yushchenko team, such as National
Security and Defense Council Secretary Petro Poroshenko, that he sees as
allies in his battle with the populists in the Yushchenko coalition (the
Socialists and Tymoshenko bloc) who want to take away as many of his
companies as they can.

As part of his campaign, Pinchuk has turned to the European Union, Council
of Europe, and European Court of Human Rights through his "Yalta European
Strategy" unveiled in July (Die Presse, August 3). Pinchuk has filed a case
before the European Court surrounding the Kryvorizhstal steel works that he
jointly privatized in June 2004. The Yushchenko government re-privatized
Kryvorizhstal and will put it up for tender in late 2005.

While Yushchenko and Poroshenko cannot forgive Pinchuk for getting
Kryvorizhstal for only $800 million, they, unlike Prime Minister Tymoshenko
and the Socialist-led State Property Fund, would be willing to "let bygones
be bygones" and not investigate other privatization scams that involved
Pinchuk. In return, Pinchuk would provide television resources to the
Yushchenko coalition in the 2006 election.

Ukrainian political parties have also sought support in Moscow. First,
Yushchenko signed up former Union of Right Forces leader Boris Nemtsov as
his "adviser." Nemtsov's group and Yabloko were the only two Russian parties
that sympathized with the Orange Revolution. Socialist Party leader
Oleksandr Moroz traveled to Russia in May and, surprisingly, signed a
cooperation agreement with the national-Bolshevik Rodina party, allied to
President Vladimir Putin.

In June, Putin's United Russia signed a cooperation agreement with
Yanukovych's Regions of Ukraine (Interfax-Ukraine, June 30). The agreement
continued Putin's interference in Ukrainian politics, following the 2004
election campaign, when the Russian president twice visited Kyiv and openly
endorsed Yanukovych. (Ukrayinska pravda, July 2).

Ukrainian Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn went to Moscow in late
July to seek support. Lytvyn confided that his People's Party of Ukraine
(NPU) had also negotiated a cooperation agreement with United Russia,
but Regions of Ukraine beat them to it.

There are few influential Russian parties remaining that have not yet signed
a cooperation agreement with a Ukrainian party. In the State Duma the only
parties available are the xenophobic Liberal Democrats, with whom a
cooperation agreement is not possible, and the Agrarians. While Lytvyn's NPU
is Ukraine's former Agrarian Party, Russia's Agrarians remain allied to the
Communists.

Lytvyn's attempt to seek support in Moscow has weakened his dwindling
position in the Yushchenko coalition. First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola
Tomenko publicly warned Lytvyn against seeking Russian support (Ukrayinska
pravda, August 1). Lytvyn's alleged support for Yushchenko's Euro-Atlantic
integration seems hollow, given his efforts to seek support from United
Russia, the main party seeking to bloc such integration. -30-
=============================================================
18. UKRAINIAN FIRST DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ANATOLIY KINAKH
ADMITS CABINET MADE MISTAKES IN FIRST SIX MONTHS

INTERVIEW: With First Deputy Prime Minister Anatoliy Kinakh
By Olha Dmytrycheva, Zerkalo Nedeli, Kiev, in Russian 13 Aug 05, p 4
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Aug 17, 2005

The Ukrainian government made several mistakes during the first six months
of its work, First Deputy Prime Minister Anatoliy Kinakh has said in an
interview with an analytical weekly. He admitted that the authorities had
failed to get investment flowing into the country and ruined the operations
of investors in so-called special economic zones.

Kinakh also regretted that the country's economic management is focused too
much on consumption and not enough on future economic development.
Speaking about the prospect of being part of the progovernment electoral
bloc for next year's parliamentary election, he said his party's stance is
to
cooperate with like-minded people who are united by common goals and not
to discuss the carving up of potential posts.

The following is the text of the interview with Kinakh conducted by Olha
Dmytrycheva entitled "I am personally dissatisfied with the assessment made
by the executive authorities of themselves", published in the Ukrainian
weekly Zerkalo Nedeli on 13 August; subheadings have been inserted
editorially:

If the tradition of assessing the first 100 days of this or that state
authority's activity is more likely to have a formal nature, summing up the
results of a six-month is an occasion for a much more profound analysis.

From this point of view, the recent government report on the work carried
out by the Cabinet of Ministers during the six month of its existence should
have become a picture presented in a strict realistic style. It is in the
interests of the government itself, as it needs at least the ability of
clear orientation on a terrain for its successful work in the future.

But in the opinion of the first deputy prime minister of Ukraine, Anatoliy
Kinakh, the executive authorities did not fully succeed in it. However, he
thinks that the potential of the Cabinet of Ministers is still so immense
that much more hopeful figures and facts can become the result of its work
after a year.

It also has special importance for the new authorities because the first
anniversary of the incumbent government's activity will be marked exactly
on the peak of the [parliamentary] election campaign. We began our
conversation with Anatoliy Kinakh with a question about it.

Unity needed for parliamentary election

[Dmytrycheva] Mr Kinakh, while speaking about the political forces
[President] Viktor Yushchenko would like to see in a single electoral bloc
with his party [Our Ukraine People's Union OUPU], he did not mention the
Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs headed by you. Did it offend you?

[Kinakh] I am convinced that formation of the configuration of electoral
alliances should not begin with a discussion on quotas and a list, the same
way as it should not be enforced from above.

Coordinated actions and implementation of the basic principles of democracy
became the pledge of the Power of People coalition [headed by Yushchenko].
All these principles were announced in the Maydan [Kiev's central square,
venue of the Orange Revolution] many times.

They concern the supremacy of law, everyone being equal in the eyes of the
law, transparency of the authorities, fair dialogue between the state and
the society and overcoming confrontation in the country. These ideas are the
ones that should become a foundation for our active electoral construction
in the future.

Our objective at the forthcoming parliamentary election is to achieve the
result which would harmonize with the results of the 2004 [presidential]
election in its spirit, goals, tasks and people's requirements to contenders
for power. The controlling interest in the future parliament should not be
just a figure which determines the number of MPs elected from the lists of
the propresidential coalition.

These should be the people united with common goals. The controlling
interest should be of high quality to exclude the further stay of those who
proved their unscrupulousness, incapacity, inability to work for the sake of
public interests in power and in politics. We should begin with the
following: the things which unite us, our vision of the country's future,
the things we are fighting for and the methods we shall use to achieve our
goals.

As for the present-day discussion on three or two elements of the bloc, on
whether an agreement on division of quotas has been signed or has not been
signed, it is quite primitive, as it does not reflect the high level of
moral, professional and political principles which should unite people
running in the poll in a single bloc or coalition.

I shall never allow myself or my allies in the political force to beg and
ask for us to be admitted into this or that electoral bloc or to give a
certain number of places on a list. It is not our method.

Government's mistakes

[Dmytrycheva] The incumbent government recently summed up the results of its
work for six months. Can you name the three most regretful mistakes made by
the Cabinet of Ministers during this period?

[Kinakh] One can assess the results of the government's activities
differently. I am personally dissatisfied with the assessment made by the
executive authorities of themselves. In my opinion, this assessment is not
objective enough. Conclusions on many trends which influence qualitative
parameters of the country's development have not been made. It is very
difficult to formulate efficient polity for the second half of the year
without it.

As to mistakes\ [ellipsis as published] Unfortunately, we did not manage to
make a breakthrough in attracting investments. This is despite the fact that
we had a unique opportunity to convert sympathies to and confidence in our
country which emerged after the Orange Revolution into substantial growth of
attracted investments.

We initiated a discussion on re-privatization and destroyed the existing
method for investors work in special economic zones and technoparks by
making a number of amendments to the taxation system actually in the middle
of the fiscal year.

The revaluation of the hryvnya became one of the factors which influenced
the deterioration by two-and-a-half-times of the commodity trade balance.
The trade balance in goods was positive to the tune of about 2.1bn dollars
last year, but it is only 800m dollars for the same period this year.

An increase in imports in comparison with exports is noticeable. Imports
growth was about 26 per cent, while exports some 10 or 12 per cent. It might
also have quite a painful impact on the economic situation, especially
facing monetization of our payments for energy sources. The chaos which
emerged in the sphere of medium and small business because of its detachment
from a simplified taxation system can also be described as a serious
mistake.

We managed to renew access to simplified system only due to the president's
tough position and to our work. Meanwhile, we have lost much, including a
certain level of confidence in the authorities.

It is time for us to pass to systematic and strategic work and to abandon
the regime which was objectively necessary at the beginning of the year when
we faced a very serious legacy and were forced to improve the situation by
using emergency methods. We should now turn to more complex and professional
activities.

It should be a subject of discussion when the results of the government's
activities are summed up, the same way as the level of adequacy of the
balance between development strategy and consumption tactics. Regretfully,
consumption prevails now. But we should pass to the stage of economic
modernization and strengthening investment policy. We should not admit
growth of the populist element either.

[Dmytrycheva] How can it be avoided on the eve of the parliamentary
election?
[Kinakh] It is difficult, but it should be done. I am convinced that it is
in line with the sentiments of the greater majority of people. If we begin
orienting ourselves at sentiments of the impoverished part of population, we
shall have to sacrifice quality of our development, along with a chance to
modernize the economy and its adequacy to the level of competition which now
exists in the world.

Duplication of authorities' functions

[Dmytrycheva] Many people, including you, said during the previous election
campaign that there should not be several centres of executive authorities
with duplicating functions in the country. Did you manage to eliminate this
vicious practice?

[Kinakh] Unfortunately, we did not succeed in this in full measure. This is
because the work on formation of efficient authorities' structure with a
clear definition of functions, responsibilities and mutual coordination
between the presidential secretariat, NSDCU [National Security and Defence
Council of Ukraine] and the Cabinet of Ministers has not been completed yet.

In this context, I am greatly alarmed by the fact that we are again
repeating the negative experience of the previous years when the authorities
do not fulfil their state functions, but are transformed into means of
confrontation between these or those representatives of the authorities in
different entities. But I think that the president should outline a very
tough stance with regard to this.

All of us remember the way the previous authorities used, let us say, the
NSDCU, for getting rid of undesirable officials. One should not admit
transformation of the authorities at this level into a system providing
services to somebody's political, service or private ambitions or being a
factor of competition which is not appropriate to the country's basic
interests.

We need a law on the Cabinet of Ministers, we need strict division of
functions between the government, NSDCU and the presidential secretariat.
Everyone should fulfil his functions and bear responsibility for the final
result of his work.

[Dmytrycheva] Do you often meet Viktor Yushchenko?
[Kinakh] I have no problems doing so.

[Dmytrycheva] Do you manage to express your opinion to the president?
[Kinakh] Of course, and I would like to say than many of our moral and
professional assessments either coincide or are very close. This is one of
the major grounds for joint work.

Shift to opposition unlikely

[Dmytrycheva] Nevertheless, your position often differs from the point of
view of some other government members. Do you see yourself moving into
opposition? On what conditions could this happen?
[Kinakh] The principles proclaimed on the Maydan are the highest priority
for me. I shall work as long as I see that my efforts are necessary for
defending these principles and as long as there is a hope that the promises
can be fulfilled in full measure. In this respect, the potential is far from
exhausted.

[Dmytrycheva] What will you choose if you face an option: either to take
part in the presidential election as a candidate or to remain in executive
authorities?
[Kinakh] If the socioeconomic situation in the country deteriorates (alas,
it is quite likely), I shall obviously make my choice from the point of view
of maximum positive influence on this situation, i.e. in favour of work in
the executive authorities. I consider defection from the government in this
complicated situation to be treason. Jumping down from a footboard is not my
method. The factor of responsibility to my allies will also influence my
final decision.

Constitutional reform

[Dmytrycheva] Do you believe that constitutional reform will be implemented?
[Kinakh] If we speak about legal techniques, the chances of implementing
political reform are approaching 90 per cent. This is the factor which
drastically increases the importance of the results of the parliamentary
election and which will influence the situation in the country for at least
five or six years to come.

This is because constitutional reform substantially reduces the possibility
of consolidating political will around a single pivot the head of state. It
increases our responsibility for quality of the parliament, its
democratization and understanding responsibility for our country.

This is why it is especially important to take care of formation of the
efficient system of the authorities and quality of personnel policy: in
order to balance the risks brought by the constitutional reform with the
help of consolidation of the state authorities, their morality,
professionalism and understanding of priorities.

The major risk lies in the following: we can get amorphous authorities with
domination of the principle of collective irresponsibility, while the
country still faces a lot of the most complicated problems and tasks which
require concentration of political will, personnel and resources in order
for them to be resolved.

[Dmytrycheva] Do you support the dubious (from the point of view of
legitimacy) idea of holding a referendum on constitutional reform?
[Kinakh] I would support this referendum, and I think that constitutional
reform is untimely, while its quality is not quite perfect. Of course, it is
necessary. But it should be implemented not as a result of bargaining powers
during the period of an aggravated political crisis [during the Orange
Revolution], but in conditions of consolidation between society and the
authorities and them realizing that constitutional changes are necessary.

Reforms in armed forces and law-enforcement authorities

[Dmytrycheva] If I am not mistaken, you, Mr Kinakh, supervise the armed
forces and law-enforcement authorities in the government.
[Kinakh] To a certain extent.

[Dmytrycheva] I think this extent is sufficient to make an assessment of the
idea of establishing a national bureau of investigation to which some
functions of the SBU [Security Service of Ukraine], MIA [Ministry of
Internal Affairs] and Prosecutor-General's Office are planned to be passed.
[Kinakh] I support this idea. We developed it back in 1995-1996, and I
always accepted it positively.

[Dmytrycheva] What is your opinion of the concept of exempting the Ministry
of Defence from logistics and economic functions?
[Kinakh] It is positive. The armed forces should be consistently transformed
into a serious professional army, properly prepared and equipped with
up-to-date armaments and special technologies. The defence authority should
gradually delegate economic functions to other entities which should deal
just with supplying resources to our army.

But I emphasize that this should happen very consistently and gradually, in
order not to decrease the level of supplying resources to and social
provisions for the armed forces. I flatly oppose abrupt and radical steps
while another alternative system has not been created.

I was forced to reject one of the proposals on formation of a joint-stock
company with relevantly delegated powers (which the Ministry of Defence now
has with regard to paying into the special fund, etc.), in particular, on
the basis of Ukrspetseksport [state-owned arms trade company]. This is in
order to ensure a gradual process and link it with reforms in the armed
forces.

[Dmytrycheva] Do you share the opinion of the NSDCU Secretary Petro
Poroshenko who is dissatisfied with the process of reforms in the entities
of armed forces?
[Kinakh] No, I think that the problems exist, indeed, but they should not be
resolved by way of making statements. For resolving them, one needs vigorous
intellectual and highly professional work of all entities in charge of
reforms in the armed forces and law-enforcement authorities. This work
should also be based on the positive achievements accomplished in previous
years.

It concerns both the military doctrine and the state programme of
manufacturing new kinds of equipment and armaments. We should not put it
aside. Problems of this kind are not resolved through statements made by
some officials, even if they are high-ranking. I flatly reject this method
because our people and the surrounding world get an impression that there is
no single team in the authorities, the same way as common strategy and
coordinated actions.

Ethics of human relations

[Dmytrycheva] Did [former President Leonid] Kuchma congratulate you on your
birthday, and did you congratulate him this year?
[Kinakh] Of course. In this respect, I think that we should learn business
and moral ethics and treat a person regardless of his position and status.
The meaning of 15 years is 15 years. This is the exact time of our
acquaintance. We worked together with Leonid Kuchma in the first parliament
of independent Ukraine.
This is why I congratulated him and wished him happiness, goodness, wisdom
and devoted friends, but not so-called ones. I also congratulated the mayor
of Kiev, Oleksandr Omelchenko. In my opinion, it is also a factor which
determines the level of civilization in society and ethics of relations
between people.

[Dmytrycheva] Are you ready to assume the prime minister's position in the
event of Yuliya Tymoshenko resigning?
[Kinakh] I have worked in many posts in the executive authorities and in
parliament. Believe me when I say that I am not seeking portfolios. The
possibility of efficient work which enables me to openly look into people's
eyes, but not a position, is of primary importance for me.
It is crucially important for the government to be formed as a single
professional team, to ensure implementation of the programme of President
Viktor Yushchenko to whom people entrusted their country. This is the
essence of the problem. Everything else is just details. -30-
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