"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 564
Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor
Washington, D.C., Kyiv, Ukraine, MONDAY, September 19, 2005

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

1. UKRAINE FACES REAL CHANGE, AT LAST
The investor climate has been bleak so far
By Eugen Theise, Deutsche-Welle
Bonn, Germany, Sunday, September 18, 2005

2. UKRAINE: THE ORANGE HAS BEEN SLICED
ANALYSIS: by Zoltán Dujisin
Inter Press Services News Agency
Rome, Italy, Thursday, Sep 15, 2005

3. UKRAINE'S POLITICAL CRISIS: AND THEN THEY WOKE UP
The dream of a democratic, non-corrupt Ukraine may die
The Economist, London, UK, Thursday, September 15th 2005

4. RADA SPEAKER OUTLINES VIEWS OF UKRAINE'S POLITICAL CRISIS
Channel One TV, Moscow, in Russian 1700 gmt 18 Sep 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sun, Sep 18, 2005

5. UKRAINE WOULD BACK POLISH LEADER FOR U.N. POST
By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer
AP, New York, NY, Sunday, September 18, 2005

6. STATE SECRETARY RYBACHUK TO DISMISS SOME
EMPLOYEES OF SECRETARIAT
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri, September 16, 2005

7. BILL CLINTON WHEELS AND DEALS AT HIS SUMMIT
Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko drop by the Summit
By Larry Finem, Reuters, New York, NY, Fri, 16 Sep 2005

8. CHADBOURNE & PARKE HOSTS RECEPTION AND Q&A HONORING
UKRAINE PRESIDENT IN NEW YORK
PRESS RELEASE - IN THE NEWS
Law Firm News, New York, NY, Sat, September 17, 2005

9. PHILADELPHIA PAINTS ITSELF ORANGE FOR A DAY IN
HONOR OF YUSHCHENKO
By FirsTnews, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sun, September 18, 2005 08:07 AM

10. PHILADELPHIA LIBERTY MEDAL AWARDED TO VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO
COMMENTARY: By E. Morgan Williams, Publisher & Editor
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), No. 563, Article 1
Washington, D.C., Sunday, September 18, 2005

11. UKRAINE'S QUEST FOR MATURE NATION STATEHOOD: ROUNDTABLE VI:
UKRAINE'S TRANSITION TO AN ESTABLISHED NATIONAL IDENTITY
AGENDA: September 27/28, 2005 - Washington, DC
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 564, Article 9
Washington, D.C., Monday, September 19, 2005

12. CANADA: FIRST ANNUAL DANYLIW RESEARCH SEMINAR
IN CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN STUDIES
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Thursday, 29 September-Saturday, 1 October
Dominique Arel, Chair of Ukrainian Studies, University of Ottawa
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Monday, September 19, 2005

13. UKRAINE AND THE COLORS OF CHANGE
RP's Weekly Experts' Panel: Ukraine and the Colors of Change
By Peter Lavelle, written for Russia Profile
Moscow, Russia, Fri, September 16, 2005
=============================================================
1. UKRAINE FACES REAL CHANGE, AT LAST
The investor climate has been bleak so far

By Eugen Theise, Deutsche-Welle
Bonn, Germany, Sunday, September 18, 2005

The high expectations following Ukraine's "Orange Revolution" have turned to
deep disappointment. But businesses are relieved as President Yuschenko
signals he wants to improve conditions for much-needed investors.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko last week dismissed the government
of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko amid infighting and accusations of
corruption.

A crucial ally of Yushchenko during last year's street protests that helped
him to defeat a pro-Moscow rival and win power in a presidential election,
Tymoschenko's (photo) departure appears to have triggered relief in business
circles in Ukraine largely because of her restrictive economic policies and
populist social measures.

Tymoschenko's firing may restore Yushchenko's image as "investor-friendly."
But he doesn't have much time, because Ukrainian parliamentary elections are
scheduled for next March.

Improving investment climate crucial

The new cabinet led by Yury Yekhanurov, a regional governor and a pragmatic
economist, will thus only be a temporary one, according to Ricardo Giucci, a
financial expert who's part of the German consultancy group that advises the
Ukrainian government.

"This government ... has no big political ambitions and thus has a
possibilility to take the right economic decisions," Giucci said, adding
that the government faced two big challenges: "On the one hand, it has to
restore macroeconomic stability, and, on the other, improve the investment
climate."

Several large foreign companies looked eagerly towards Ukraine following the
"Orange Revolution" last year that saw the pro-EU and pro-European
Yushchenko replace the pro-Moscow Leonid Kuchma.

From a business point of view, Ukraine is indeed an interesting and large
market. Its economic attraction is enhanced by its proximity to the European
Union, well-qualified workers and low wages.

No investment boom

Michael Kraud, head of the Ukrainian branch of Odw-Elektrik, a German
producer of electronic systems which has been operating in the country for
the past two years, said he had hoped for better conditions for foreign
investors when Yushchenko came to power.

"There was so much euphoria in the beginning. One had hoped that everything
would become simpler and that investing would be smoother," Kraud said.
"That didn't prove to be the case." The result has been that the much-hoped
for investment boom hasn't taken place.

Ricardo Giucci said that one of the reasons was the government's
reprivatization campaign. Tymoshenko had sent jitters through companies
and investors by saying that she wanted to roll back dodgy privatizations of
companies carried out during the Kuchma era without stating any clear
criteria.

Giucci said the new government needed to do all it could to win back the
trust of Ukrainian and foreign investors. Towards that end, the long-running
and damaging discussion on the nationalization or reprivatization of large
companies should stop immediately, Giucci added.

"There has to be a clean cut. The state has to unambiguously say that the
discussion is over."

Populism is damaging

The government is also up against stubborn inflation and sharply reduced
economic growth.

Giucci pointed out that in the last year, state pensions and minimum wages
for employees in the state sector had been increased several times for
political reasons -- indicating the continuation of a populist line followed
by Tymoschenko's government, for which her predecessor's cabinet had been
sharply criticized by financial experts.

Giucci too warned of the damaging consequences of populist policies. "We
believe that a further increase in pensions beyond the inflation rate would
endanger not just the financial situation but also the stability of the
country."

Inflation has indeed caused nervousness among foreign producers in Ukraine,
who have long cited low wages as one of the country's attractive features.

ODW-Elektrik, for instance, pays its Ukrainian workers 80 euros ($98) a
month -- just about a third of what a worker in neighboring EU country
Poland earns.

But, at the end of the day, low wages are precisely the reason why
ODW-Elektrik still employs 140 local workers in Ukraine -- despite the
difficulties. It even plans to expand its workforce by 50 next year.

Ukraine has to stick to reform path

But Ukrainian politics would have to continue on the reform path, said
Michael Traud of ODW-Elektrik. "Laws are made very fast here -- almost
overnight. The next day you'll read about it in the papers if you get one.

They're mostly out of print. And then in three or four days you'll find out
that there's some new legal clause that then repeals the law," Traud said.
"You have to be very, very careful in Ukraine." -30-
=============================================================
2. UKRAINE: THE ORANGE HAS BEEN SLICED

Analysis by Zoltán Dujisin
Inter Press Services News Agency
Rome, Italy, Thursday, Sep 15, 2005

BUDAPEST, Sep 15 (IPS) - The latest upheaval in Ukrainian politics has
produced mixed feelings. Some are concerned that last year's 'orange
revolution' brought in a government as corrupt and incompetent as the one it
replaced; others see the dismissal of the entire cabinet by President Viktor
Yushchenko as a healthy sign of democratic accountability.

The disputed presidential election in December 2004 eventually ended in
Yushchenko's favour, after his vote rigging accusations led to a repeat of
the elections. The new government enjoyed considerable support mostly
because it appeared as the only alternative to a corrupt regime in this
post-Soviet republic of 50 million.

After eight months of few tangible achievements, a handful of scandals and
increasing social disappointment, Yushchenko decided last week to sack the
government, including one of the symbols of the 'orange revolution', Prime
Minister Yulia Timoshenko.

Timoshenko's role throughout the 'revolution', termed orange for its western
leanings against the blue of the more Russian supporters, has been
unanimously recognised. She was a leader in mobilising and maintaining
people in the streets during the protests that forced a new vote. She is the
only figure in Ukrainian politics capable of rivaling Yushchenko in
popularity.

The scandals were quick to come in the new government. The first broke out
this summer over the suspiciously extravagant lifestyle of Yushchenko's son.
The president's reaction was clumsy, aggressive and came too late, and
culminated in a public apology.

But last week's events were simply too much for the government to handle.
Various officials made insinuations of widespread corruption and
illegitimate links to private interests within the cabinet. The accusations
led to several resignations.

Yushchenko held an emergency meeting with his ministers, and after divisions
were seen as unbridgeable, he fired the entire cabinet, claiming it had lost
"team spirit". Few were surprised by his decision.

The main divisions were over the two most powerful leaders under the
president, Timoshenko and national security secretary Petro Poroshenko.
Their rivalry had begun over the post of prime minister, which Timoshenko
won due to her popularity. They have frequently disagreed ever since, giving
the impression that two parallel governments were at work.

Timoshenko's perceived rashness, short-term policies and populism were
known to annoy the president, who often cautioned her. Yushchenko also
favours a more liberal approach against the state-oriented economic policy
propelled by Timoshenko.

The prime minister and the president first clashed over the issue of
re-privatisation. Timoshenko hinted at the possibility of reviewing about
3,000 privatisation deals. Yushchenko halted her under fears this would harm
foreign investments. They later disagreed over oil price caps and currency
strengthening measures taken by Timoshenko.

Average Ukrainians have not remained indifferent to governmental
instability. Inflation is rampant, oil prices have doubled, poverty remains
widespread, and for those who had supported the revolution, there is a
feeling of disenchantment with the leaders who had promised accountability
and an end to the corruption and incompetence symptomatic of the previous
government.

These were perceived as the core values of the 'orange revolution' that
never carried a coherent ideology within it. The coalition that overthrew
the previous government was united mostly by its rejection of the practices
of former president Leonid Kuchma..

"The corruption didn't come as a surprise," says Olena, a Ukrainian student.
"Everyone is corrupt in Ukraine. Those of us who voted for Yushchenko didn't
think he was the best option: he was the only option."

Nonetheless, there is optimism in some of the press, which feels such
radical steps would never have been taken before last year's elections. "The
periodic overthrow of power, which is being painted here as such a
frightening phenomenon, is nothing more than democracy," the Russian daily
Kommersant commented.

Ukrainian daily Holos Ukrayiny saw the developments as "a logical finale for
the former cabinet". The opposition-minded Kiyevskiye Vedomosti took a more
hostile stance, claiming that the president's entourage which "often boasted
its high moral standards, has become morally bankrupt."

The sacking of Timoshenko may have opened a new gap in Ukrainian society
before the parliamentary elections due 2006 that will bring in a new premier
with increased power. Speaking on television, a "betrayed" Timoshenko
declared she would "not run for election with those people who have
discredited Ukraine today", hinting at an independent candidacy.

Orange supporters will have to decide who better symbolises the
'revolution', moderate Yushchenko or charismatic Timoshenko. Meanwhile
the pro-Moscow opposition will attempt to regain power by exploiting these
disagreements, and might seek a convenient alliance with the ousted prime
minister.

Yushchenko's move gives him a fresh start and could put him above petty
political quarrels in the eyes of public opinion. On the other hand,
Timoshenko will be able to claim she was not allowed to finish her job.

The premiership will become the most coveted post in Ukraine after
constitutional reform early next year, and the president might be tempted to
halt the reform. Nevertheless, another fierce electoral battle should not
come as a surprise. (END/2005)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30275
=============================================================
Send in names and e-mail addresses for the AUR distribution list.
=============================================================
3. UKRAINE'S POLITICAL CRISIS: AND THEN THEY WOKE UP
The dream of a democratic, non-corrupt Ukraine may die

The Economist, London, UK, Thursday, September 15th 2005

KIEV - LIKE many separating lovers, they were at first civil-but they soon
gave up. President Viktor Yushchenko now accuses Yulia Timoshenko, the
other leading light of the orange revolution and Ukraine's prime minister
until he sacked her last week, of abusing her position and misusing
government funds. A sign of his weakness, says Mrs Timoshenko, piously:
"I am ashamed for him."

Ukraine's government imploded after the president's chief of staff resigned,
accusing (among others) Petro Poroshenko, the head of the national security
council, of corruption. The charges involve familiar sorts of graft:
pressuring judges, auctioning access to the president and so on.

Mr Poroshenko, a wealthy businessman-and, according to Mrs Timoshenko,
the man who ruined her relationship with the president-insisted that his
office had not enriched him by a single kopeck, but he still quit. Mr
Yushchenko says he tried to broker a trade-off of other resignations between
warring factions; in the end, he fired them all.

Mrs Timoshenko says she was punished for obstructing the looting of the
country, and to distract attention from a corruption scandal. This is "a
very stupid theory", says Mr Poroshenko.

Beneath the slung mud lies a complex confection of greed and rivalry. Mr
Yushchenko says the last straw was a recent, near-violent stand-off at a big
factory, part-owned by Viktor Pinchuk, the son-in-law of Ukraine's previous
president.

Mrs Timoshenko wanted the state to take back Mr Pinchuk's stake: for her
own self-interested reasons, says the president; because its privatisation
had been illegal, says Mrs Timoshenko; out of vengefulness against his
family, says Mr Pinchuk.

Mrs Timoshenko says, not incredibly, that Mr Poroshenko was brokering a
deal (he denies it), whereby Mr Pinchuk could sell his stake to Russian
businessmen, if he divested himself of some television stations.

The political event that has divided the government, which Mr Poroshenko
says is the root cause of the debacle, is the parliamentary election next
March. Under a constitutional reform agreed last year, some powers are to be
transferred from the presidency to a prime minister nominated by parliament.

The Yushchenko and Timoshenko factions were supposed to stand together;
Mrs Timoshenko, who never met a rabble she didn't try to rouse, will now be
a formidable opposition leader. In a turnaround startling even by the
standards of Ukrainian politics, Mr Yushchenko is flirting with supporters
of his opponent in last year's presidential vote, Viktor Yanukovich.

Mrs Timoshenko has taken to sporting a blue ribbon alongside her orange one.
Previously opposed to the constitutional reform, she now says it may be a
lesser evil than an over-mighty presidency.

Who will benefit from this farce? Mrs Timoshenko says she never wanted to
break from the president, and that an 11th-hour meeting with him was
interrupted by Mr Poroshenko, "covered in tears and snot". Her integrity has
been questioned (again). But she leaves government before her demagogic
inflationary policies inflict more pain.

She is popular, and she now has victim status: like some spouses, it may
have been more congenial for her to be thrown out by Mr Yushchenko than to
have to walk out.

The best that can be said for him is that, like other revolutionary
coalitions, his was destined to fall apart. Perhaps, indeed, the sackings
mark the end of revolution and the beginning of government-and maybe a new
determination to take on corruption. Unfortunately, a forlorn Mr Yushchenko
has been less than even-handed. He blames Mrs Timoshenko and her allies
exclusively.

He has set up a commission to look into the allegations against Mr
Poroshenko, but says he has seen no facts to support them (though he offered
none in support of his own charges against Mrs Timoshenko). Naive loyalty to
his allies is the kindest interpretation of this.

The big loser is Ukraine. Subject to confirmation by parliament, the new
prime minister will be Yuri Yekhanurov, a technocrat who has signalled a
less aggressive attitude to past privatisations and a more conciliatory one
to Russia-sensible, given that a rise in Russian gas prices could be
disastrous. But it will be hard for him to achieve much before March.

Meanwhile, disillusioned Ukrainians fear that the new government will be as
preoccupied with nest-feathering and back-stabbing as the old one. It may
be too soon to conclude that the revolution was simply the victory of one
corrupt elite over another. But, as Mr Yushchenko said last week, "the
government obtained many new faces, yet the paradox is that the face of
the government itself did not change." -30-
=============================================================
Send in names and e-mail addresses for the AUR distribution list.
=============================================================
4. RADA SPEAKER OUTLINES VIEWS OF UKRAINE'S POLITICAL CRISIS

Channel One TV, Moscow, in Russian 1700 gmt 18 Sep 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sun, Sep 18, 2005

The political crisis in Ukraine is weakening the country and bleeding it
dry, and relations with Russia need improvement, believes the head of
Ukrainian parliament. Ukraine should finally decide where its national
interests are and carry our a relevant policy, Volodymyr Lytvyn has said in
an interview with Russian television.

He said this policy should be a "policy of opportunities and not a policy of
aggression". The following is the text of his interview with Russian Channel
One TV on 18 September; subheadings have been inserted editorially:

[Presenter] All three fundamental issues of young Ukrainian statehood:
impeachment of the president, political reform and approval of the new prime
minister will be resolved in one place, the Supreme Rada, or Council,
Ukraine's parliament. We discussed how these issues may be resolved with
its chairman, Volodymyr Lytvyn.

[Interviewer] Vladimir Mikhaylovich [Volodymyr Lytvyn], the Rada has already
played a serious role in the history of Ukraine, and now again it is
becoming a point of reference for those in power. What is your view of the
political situation in Ukraine at present?
[Lytvyn] I'd say we have a government crisis caused by the resignation of
the government, a political crisis, and yet another round of very tough
fighting for power, for a re-division of remits, for political influence
ahead of the parliamentary elections.
In fact the parliamentary election can already be seen as the dress
rehearsal for the forthcoming presidential elections, which are quite some
time away in the future, at the end of 2009 and early 2010.

President, premier fighting for power

[Interviewer] What are the causes that have brought about the resignation of
the government and a showdown between the two closest allies - President
Yushchenko and ex-Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko?
[Lytvyn] I think the cause is in these processes happening in society. I
said this at the opening of the session. My points boil down to the
following: the country is weak after the presidential elections. Instead of
strengthening the country, politicians are doing their utmost to denigrate
it, to humiliate it.
As a result we are faced with an extremely complicated economic situation.
It is enough to go to a market or shops or to petrol stations, and you will
get a clear picture. As a result of this, the moral and psychological
climate in the country is uninspired and complicated.

[Interviewer] You are being diplomatic. But looking from aside, it seems
that Ukrainian politicians are trying to divide wealth as soon as they come
to power. Various groups presenting various interests are trying to get hold
of various major industrial companies and facilities, is this not right?
[Lytvyn] In principle this is right. I'd like to note that this is being
done under very attractive slogans: to return illegally taken property to
the people. I must say that people like this.
At the same time we see that games are going on behind the scene, with one
group trying to rob another group, one clan fighting against another one. If
we are to think that today it is possible to gain people's support by
profiteering on certain themes or to win by generating a crisis, I think it
is possible to reach such a point when the people will sweep everyone away.

Berezovskiy

[Interviewer] Vladimir Mikhaylovich, about profiteering. It has been widely
discussed widely what Rada MP and ex-president of Ukraine Mr [United Social
Democratic MP and former President Leonid] Kravchuk said about Boris
Berezovskiy having financed President Yushchenko's election campaign.
[Lytvyn] I think all these speculations and all this scandal has one basis -
to begin and to move forward the process, and not to get results. Everyone
understands that there will be no result. No-one is interested in the result
anyway. They are interested in moving forward, interested in accusations.

[Interviewer] Will there be 226 votes in the Rada if it is proposed to begin
the procedure?
[Lytvyn] I think that there is no such reality, I can say this
unambiguously. I think that those who talk about impeachment proceed again
from the position that it is the process itself that is important. It is
important to keep talking about it, but not to establish the truth. I don't
think it is possible to establish the truth.

Current balance of forces

[Interviewer] About another important vote, that to approve Mr Yekhanurov as
prime minister. Is it true that the recent meeting between President
Yushchenko and various forces in the Rada means that the president has got
the Rada's go-ahead? This declaration of unity - does it mean such
agreement?
[Lytvyn] I have already said that there are political forces that are
working to back the president's proposal and there are forces that are
working to ensure this positive decision is not made by the parliament?

[Interviewer] But what is the balance of forces today?
[Lytvyn] I think that today the balance of forces is fifty fifty. There is a
slight prevalence in favour of Yekhanurov but processes are changing
dynamically and I think that a lot will depend, and decisively depend, on
how Yuriy Yekhanurov is going to assess the situation in the country.

[Interviewer] Fresh elections are due in March, and everyone is following
the Ukrainian elections. What is your forecast for the elections? What will
the balance of forces be between the two former allies? They have already
decided to go separately - Yushchenko and Tymoshenko?
[Lytvyn] I think this will be a fight to mutually exterminate each other.
The one with stronger nerves will win. The one more cynical about
implementing their campaign, will win. That is, the one who is more
aggressive, who will be exerting more pressure.

[Interviewer] Do I understand correctly that the exchange of blows which has
already taken place between Tymoshenko and Yushchenko means in fact that
their campaigning has begun ahead of the March elections?
[Lytvyn] This is not the beginning of the campaign, the campaign has never
ended. The presidential campaign has smoothly evolved into a parliamentary
campaign. This is just a splash, simply politicians are showing how far they
can go in blackmailing each other.

This reminds me of a person who is smearing others with his own filth and
spreading it liberally because Ukrainian politics and politicians remind me
of a small jar filled with spiders. The jar is small and the spiders are
hungry, they are eating each other with no mercy, killing each other and not
noticing that the country and society are deteriorating and the people are
losing their faith.

[Interviewer] Are you just watching this?
[Lytvyn] No, I am not watching, I am trying -

[Interviewer, interrupting] To take them out of that jar?
[Lytvyn] - to take them out and at the same time I am trying to talk about
the policy of opportunities and not a policy of aggression.

East and West divide

[Interviewer] What is your vision of the political map of Ukraine ahead of
the elections? What regional preference will there be? In the West, they
will primarily support the president, and in the East - whom will they
support in the East?
[Lytvyn] I think in the West people will be torn apart, not knowing whether
to support the president or Tymoshenko because they like both. This is why
there may be other forces who will get results.

[Interviewer] Do you mean that the Russian-speaking East may play a
different role in these elections than in the past, during the presidential
elections?
[Lytvyn] I can tell you that a number of regions, and this is my personal
impression, have been lost by the incumbent authorities as their electorate.
At first there were no clear signals, and there were no practical steps
towards consolidation.
Relations with Russia

[Interviewer] What do you think about recent relations between Ukraine and
Russia and what should they be like?
[Lytvyn] They should not be how they are at present. At the opening session
I said this, stressing that against the backdrop of relations between Russia
and Ukraine we do not look really good in Europe because we have not
become closer to Europe but we have lost what we had with Russia.
Russia has clearly declared its national interests and is waiting for
Ukraine to say where its national interests are, after all.

[Interviewer] Vladimir Mikhaylovich, many thanks to you for the interview.
[Lytvyn] Thank you -30-
=============================================================
5. UKRAINE WOULD BACK POLISH LEADER FOR U.N. POST

By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer
AP, New York, NY, Sunday, September 18, 2005

UNITED NATIONS - Ukraine will back Polish President Alexander
Kwasniewski to succeed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan next year,
the Ukrainian foreign minister said Sunday.

"Should he agree to be a candidate, Ukraine will undoubtedly support him,"
Boris Tarasyuk said in an interview with The Associated Press on the
sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly debate.

Ukraine has led diplomatic resistance by Central and Eastern European
nations against strong Asian demands that the next secretary-general come
from that region. Kwasniewski has repeatedly been mentioned as a possible
candidate.

Earlier this week, Kwasniewski acknowledged having informal discussions
about the idea during the U.N. summit. Kwasniewski leaves office in
December, while Annan's second and last five-year term ends a year later.

One stumbling block: Russia would be almost certain to oppose such a
nomination and has the power to block candidates as a veto-wielding
member of the U.N. Security Council.

In the interview, Tarasyuk said he wasn't worried about his own future after
Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko dismissed the government of his
Orange Revolution ally Yulia Tymoshenko last week. He reaffirmed Ukraine's
determination to seek closer ties with both NATO and the European Union,
though it may cause uneasiness in Russia.

Tarasyuk said Ukraine's relationship with Russia affected the rest of Europe
because of their geographical size and population. But he said that Russia
needed to understand the two do not always share the same priorities.
"Russia has to recognize Ukraine's right, like any other nation, to pursue
its own foreign policy ends," he said.

"Sadly, we have to be cautious. Sadly, we have to explain to Russia that by
joining NATO or the European Union, Ukraine is not going to convert them
into institutions hostile to Russia."

Tarasyuk also said that Ukraine wants to keep its peacekeepers in Lebanon
despite a U.N. demand last month for their withdrawal over allegations of
financial abuse. He said Ukrainian investigators had found evidence of
"illegal acts" by some of its 500-strong battalion, saying those guilty
would be punished. -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Ukraine's acting Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk will speak at
a breakfast meeting of the Ukraine-U.S. Business Council on Monday
morning, September 19, 2005 in Washington, D.C. EDITOR
=============================================================
Send in a letter-to-the-editor today. Let us hear from you.
=============================================================
6. STATE SECRETARY RYBACHUK TO DISMISS SOME
EMPLOYEES OF SECRETARIAT

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri, September 16, 2005

KYIV - State Secretary Oleh Rybachuk is going to dismiss several staff
members of the Secretariat. He made the statement at a briefing.

Rybachuk said he met with several employees and offered them to resign. He
did not specify whom he wants to dismiss.

"Here are some persons, who have been working at the Secretariat "since the
time of November 1917." Neither prayers nor radiation will make them go
away. They have immunity, even stronger than of cockroaches," Rybachuk said.

When asked by Ukrainian News, Rybachuk said that these are about 50-60
persons from the Secretariat leadership, including one deputy state
secretary. "We have here about 50-60 generals... and one deputy rendered
resignation," Rybachuk said.

He said that in reply to these acts by Rybachuk, the Secretariat created a
trade union, which wrote an open address to the President.
According to the state secretary, the message reads that Rybachuk offered
all Secretariat officials to resign.

"[Rybachuk] offered every employee to resign. This is lie. I only offered
that to generals," Rybachuk said. He read out the letter's fragment, where
the Secretariat officials said that they were appointed to the Secretariat
basing on their professional skills and this excluded any family ties.

In their letter the employees also asked the President to order Rybachuk to
reform the Secretariat publicly and transparently.

Rybachuk offered only 70 staff members to resign, among whom were heads
of departments, subdivisions and sub-units, a top source at the Presidential
Secretariat told Ukrainian News. According to the source, up to 15 chiefs
have already filed the letters of resignation.

He also noted that nobody of deputy state secretaries filed resignation
letters to him, as only the President has powers to resign them.
The source added that the structure of the Secretariat was formed from a
blank sheet on a tender basis by reorganization of the Presidential
Administration, and around two thirds of the Secretariat employees came
from other state institutions, thus they are not old-timers.

The source said that Rybachuk totally turned the situation upside down: the
Secretariat employees are not the political figures, as many of them are
carrier clerks and gave the oath of the state servant.

The source also noted that in connection with their dismissal from posts of
state servants, they will lose all benefits, break the length of service and
social support. According to him, it is Rybachuk to be the political figure,
but not the state servants of the Secretariat.

As Ukrainian News reported earlier, on June 10, President Viktor Yuschenko
increased the limit level of the Presidential Secretariat staff members from
565 to 619. On September 7, Yuschenko appointed Rybachuk state secretary.
==============================================================
7. BILL CLINTON WHEELS AND DEALS AT HIS SUMMIT
Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko drop by the Summit

By Larry Finem, Reuters, New York, NY, Fri, 16 Sep 2005

NEW YORK - Former President Bill Clinton wheeled and dealed on Friday
at his folksy and chaotic Clinton Global Initiative summit, winning pledges
of water for Africa and seeking business investments in the Middle East.

Created by Clinton, the three-day confab was in full swing on Friday.
Thursday's opening day of the summit -- where attending leaders are pressed
for pledges to do something good for the world -- brought promises of $200
million for African economic development and to fight HIV/AIDS.

Friday's events were kicked off with a session between Israel's Vice Premier
Shimon Peres and Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa, where the
pair discussed the future of relations in the Middle East.

"We had a very good session on the Middle East and I've had several more
people tell me they want to invest there," said Clinton, in his element in
the political art of making a deal.

Clinton said he also secured a much-appreciated pledge on Friday from
charity organization World Vision to spend $20 million over five years to
bring clean water to half a million people in Ghana, Mali, Niger and
Ethiopia.

"There are at least 1 billion people in the world, most of them children,
who never get a clear glass of water," said Clinton. "That was something
that really touched me."

A four-ring circus of activity swirled through four floors of a midtown
Manhattan hotel as each focus area -- poverty, religious conflict, global
warming and stamping out corruption -- held concurrent workshops with
political leaders and other world figures weighing in.

With 800 participants attending, Clinton held a flurry of behind-the-scenes
meetings. In the basement, the hotel's "Business Floor," Clinton dipped in
and out of private rooms for bilateral talks aimed at investment in
poverty-stricken areas and in social action.

After a friendly embrace from Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko,
Clinton introduced him to a Canadian businessman who was apparently
keen to invest in the former Soviet state.

In another room, Clinton huddled with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe
who was deep in talks about possible oil exploration deals and how best
to curb drug trafficking.

Clinton, as ever, was as comfortable around celebrities. Late on Thursday,
Clinton held court with singer-songwriter Elvis Costello and his wife, jazz
sensation Diana Krall, at a chic party featuring sushi and champagne.

In keeping with a reputation he built during his 1993-2001 presidency,
Clinton arrived at his own party late but stayed to revel past midnight.
(Additional reporting by Samira Nanda and Chip East) -30-
==============================================================
Send in names and e-mail addresses for the AUR distribution list.
==============================================================
8. CHADBOURNE & PARKE HOSTS RECEPTION AND Q&A HONORING
UKRAINE PRESIDENT IN NEW YORK
Guests Included Firm Clients and Madeleine Albright, Zbigniew
Brzezinski, Carla Hills, former Canadian Prime Minister, and
ex-NYC Police Commissioner Howard Safir

PRESS RELEASE - IN THE NEWS
Law Firm News, New York, NY, Sat, September 17, 2005

NEW YORK - Sep 16, 2005 - LAWFUEL - Chadbourne & Parke LLP
hosted a reception on September 15 in honor of Ukraine President Viktor
Yushchenko during his visit to New York to address the United Nations
General Assembly.

The Firm held a small VIP reception and question and answer session for the
President at Chadbourne's offices immediately prior to a gala dinner to be
held by supporters of the Orange Circle in the Rainbow Room at 30
Rockefeller Plaza.

The 75 guests at the reception included Chadbourne attorneys and Firm
clients as well as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former
Carter administration advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. Trade
Representative Carla Hills, former Canadian Prime Minister John Turner and
ex-New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir. Also attending were
the president's wife, Kateryna, and Orange Circle representatives.

The president's election gained international attention during last fall's
Orange Revolution, and the new political situation in Ukraine has presented
growing economic opportunities there.

Rallies supporting the Orange Revolution took place in Kyiv's main square,
Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), just down the street from
Chadbourne's Kyiv offices.

Chadbourne opened its Kyiv office in January 2004 at the same time it
opened its Warsaw office, and recently added an Almaty office to boost
its presence in the CIS region. -30-
==============================================================
9. PHILADELPHIA PAINTS ITSELF ORANGE FOR A DAY IN
HONOR OF YUSHCHENKO

By FirsTnews, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sun, September 18, 2005 08:07 AM

President Viktor Yushchenko may be embroiled in political problems at home,
but for the large Ukrainian-American community in the northeastern United
States - and for many other Americans - Yushchenko represents the victory of
new blood over the holdovers of the Soviet past in Ukraine. His visit to
Philadelphia was proof that for many the spirit of the Orange Revolution is
still very much alive.

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 17 (FirsTnews) - President Viktor Yushchenko may
have his problems on his home turf, but in Philadelphia the city literally
painted itself orange to celebrate his arrival to receive a major national
award. The large Ukrainian-American community in Pennsylvania and nearby
New Jersey appeared to have turned out en masse to greet Yushchenko.

Yushchenko, after participating in the opening session of the United Nation
60th general assembly, was in Philadelphia to receive the 2005 Philadelphia
Liberty Medal, chosen by its distinguished International Selection
Commission. Yushchenko accepted the Medal and its accompanying $100,000
at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on September 17,
America's Constitution Day.

In making the presentation, Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street said, "Viktor
Yushchenko is an inspiration to people all over the world because of his
brave and powerful reform movement in Ukraine, leading to his election as
President in 2004. I salute the Liberty Medal Commission on his selection
as the winner of the Liberty Medal for 2005."

Philadelphia did more than just present Yushchenko a very prestigious award;
it also turned the city orange for the day. Orange streamers were seen
throughout the city and even the water in the city's famous fountains had
been dyed orange.

A FirsTnews special correspondent, reporting by mobile telephone from the
line outside the site of a gala Ukrainian-American dinner on Saturday
evening said that there appeared to be over 1,000 people in line waiting to
enter.

The Ukrainian Congressional Committee of America, a major Ukrainian-
American political group, had been very active in supporting the Orange
Revolution and many in the throngs at Philadelphia events considered
Yushchenko's victory in the presidential race the most important event
since independencefrom the Soviet Union.

The Philadelphia Liberty Medal, established in 1988 to heighten recognition
of the principles that founded the United States and to serve as a lasting
legacy to the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution, honors an
individual or an organization from anywhere in the world that has
"demonstrated leadership and vision in the pursuit of liberty of conscience
or freedom from oppression, ignorance, or deprivation." It is administered
by the non-profit, non-political, Philadelphia Foundation, the region's
foremost community foundation.

Professor Martin Meyerson, Chairman since the Medal's inception, of its
International Selection Commission and President Emeritus of the University
of Pennsylvania, said, "President Yushchenko's courageous leadership in
guiding the "Orange Revolution" is reminiscent of the heroism of Vaclav
Havel in Czechoslovakia and is likely to inspire other freedom-seeking,
democracy-loving people.

Now, as a charismatic political leader, he is transforming his country into
a modern civil society. As a shaper of a new nation, he merits being seen
as the Ukraine's George Washington."

H. Craig Lewis, Chairman of The Philadelphia Foundation, commented, "We are
delighted to have made the announcement of President Yushchenko's selection
on June 28, Ukraine's Constitution Day, and welcome him to Philadelphia on
our national Constitution Day, September 17. The National Constitution
Center is an ideal venue and partner for this year's presentation because it
so ably teaches the same values of freedom and democracy that President
Yushchenko stands for."

Past recipients of the Philadelphia Liberty Medal are: Polish Solidarity
founder--and then President--Lech Walesa in 1989; former U.S. President
Jimmy Carter in 1990; former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and the
French medical and human rights organization Médecins Sans Frontières
(Doctors Without Borders) in 1991; the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall in 1992, South African Presidents F.W. de Klerk and
Nelson Mandela in 1993; Czech President Václav Havel in 1994; the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, in 1995; former
Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and the late King Hussein of Jordan in
1996; the global news network CNN International in 1997; Irish Peace
Negotiator Senator George Mitchell in 1998; South Korean President Kim
Dae-jung in 1999; Doctors James Watson and Francis Crick, co-discoverers of
the structure of DNA, in 2000; United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan
in 2001; United States Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2002; U.S.
Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in 2003; and, in 2004, Afghan
President, Hamid Karzai.

Six former recipients of the Liberty Medal have subsequently won the Nobel
Peace Prize.

[Editor's Note: We expect to present more detailed reports of the events in
Philadelphia in our Monday, September 19 edition.] -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.firstnews.com.ua/en/article.html?id=99470
==============================================================
Send in names and e-mail addresses for the AUR distribution list.
==============================================================
10. PHILADELPHIA LIBERTY MEDAL AWARDED TO VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO

COMMENTARY: By E. Morgan Williams, Publisher & Editor
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), No. 563, Article 1
Washington, D.C., Sunday, September 18, 2005

The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, awarded its prestigious Liberty
Medal to the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko in an outstanding
awards ceremony marked by eloquence, passion, color, song, patriotism,
tears, cheers, fervor, professionalism, a sense of history and strong
support for the concept of liberty for all on Constitution Day in the United
States.

Philadelphia did itself up proud in the way the Philadelphia Liberty Medal
organization and the Philadelphia Ukrainian-American Welcoming
Committee handled the historic awards ceremony and the large, eloquent,
uplifting, well-organized banquet held in The National Constitution Center
in honor and celebration of Viktor Yushchenko and the citizens of Ukraine.

The people of the United States and the people of Ukraine both stood
tall and together as Philadelphia, one of the major cradles of liberty in
the history of the world, recognized the hero of liberty in Ukraine and the
Orange Revolution.

The several speakers at the awards ceremony ended up taking a rather
long time but the speeches were important in what was said and in the
sincerity in which they were given. The governor of Pennsylvania, Edward
G. Rendell, spoke about the fires of liberty that burn in his state and
John Street, the Mayor of Philadelphia spoke of his strong belief in liberty
and the values of those who met so many years ago in Philadelphia as
he gave the Liberty Medal to President Yushchenko with the First Lady,
Kateryna, standing next to the President with a few tears showing as
the Liberty Medal was presented. There were many tears of joy in
the crowd in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Pennsylvania Congressman Curt Weldon gave an impassioned talk
and outlined the long struggle for freedom undertaken by Ukrainians
around the world. He said he remembers when, before 1991, when
Ukrainians in the Philadelphia area gathered each January to express
their opposition to the Soviet Union, to communism and to the
oppressions which took place in Ukraine.

Congressman Weldon is known by some as 'Mr. Ukraine' in the halls
of the U.S. Congress and has co-chaired the Ukrainian- U.S.
Congressional Caucus for many years.

President Yushchenko also, in accepting the award, gave remarks
which outlined his beliefs and values and thanked the United States
for the support given to Ukraine in its struggle for independence and
true liberty.

The combined Ukraina Choir of Philadelphia, conducted by Nestor
Kyzymyshyn, sang at the awards ceremony and at the banquet. Their
music stirred the souls of those who were there with their special
patriotic Ukrainian music and God Bless America. The Valoshky Dance
Troupe gave the traditional bread and salt to the President of Ukraine
at the awards presentation.

The "Citation for Viktor Yushchenko" from The Philadelphia Foundation,
which sponsors the Philadelphia Liberty Medal said:

"Across the centuries we have learned, and often painfully re-learned,
a fundamental truth: the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.

We have learned that this vigilance must be anchored in moral courage
and in strength of spirit. We have learned that it must proceed from
an unswerving commitment to recognize and root out abuse of power
and privilege, and to elevate and revere human rights and freedoms.

Viktor Yushchenko has demonstrated this courage, this spirit, and this
commitment in challenging corruption and election fraud, and winning
his nation's mandate to lead after the Orange Revolution.

Today, his continuing vigilance in the service of liberty is guiding
Ukraine's transformation to become a truly free and democratic society,
and a prosperous nation.

In recognition of his personal courage, his vision, and his vigilance
in leading Ukraine, The Philadelphia Foundation is proud to award the
2005 Philadelphia Liberty Medal to Viktor Yushchenko, President of
Ukraine."

The Philadelphia Liberty Medal honors an individual or organization from
anywhere in the world that has demonstrated "leadership and vision in the
pursuit of liberty and conscience or freedom from oppression, ignorance,
or deprivation."

The Liberty Medal was established in 1988 to heighten recognition of the
nation's founding principles, to commemorate the bicentennial of the
United States Constitution, and to salute champions of liberty across
the globe.

It is historic to know that two of the previous winners of this award, Lech
Walesa of Poland (1989) and Vaclav Havel (1994) of the Czech Republic
came to Kyiv, stood on the stage at the Maidan, and spoke in support
of what the people of Ukraine were doing during the Orange Revolution.

Another winner, Colin L. Powell (2002), as U.S. Secretary of State in the
fall of 2004, while at an international meeting in Bulgaria, spoke up
strongly and forcefully just at the right time, immediately after round two
of the election process, to say the United States believed the election
process was faded and would not accept the outcome as announced by
the government authorities in Ukraine. Powell's statement helped turn the
tide and soon most of the key nations of the world, except Russia, also
joined in to say the election was a fraud.

Those who participated in and those who attended the events in
Philadelphia on Saturday, September 17th, will long remember this most
historic moment with pride, with joy, and with celebration in their hearts
that the 'spirit' of those who signed the Constitution of the United States
and those who have supported and defended it ever since came together
with the 'spirit' of those who fought for liberty in Ukraine for hundreds of
years and those who finally brought about the Orange Revolution in
Ukraine.

May the 'spirit' of these two groups of people and these two nations
continue to support and spread 'liberty for all' around the world for all
the years to come. -30-
================================================================
11. UKRAINE'S QUEST FOR MATURE NATION STATEHOOD: ROUNDTABLE VI:
UKRAINE'S TRANSITION TO AN ESTABLISHED NATIONAL IDENTITY
AGENDA: September 27/28, 2005 - Washington, DC

The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 564, Article 9
Washington, D.C., Monday, September 19, 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The sixth conference in the Ukraine's Quest for
Mature Nation Statehood Roundtable Series will be held in Washington,
D.C., September 27-29, 2005, under the title 'Ukraine's Transition To An
Established National Identity.'

The two-day conference, during the course of four regular sessions, will
feature twelve topical panels, four focus sessions, two working lunches and
a Conference reception. The conference will be held at Washington's
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in the Pavilion
Room.

According to the program coordinator for the Roundtable series, Walter
Zaryckyj (waz1@nyu.edu), Executive Director/Center for US-Ukrainian
Relations/Associate Professor of Social Sciences/New York University,
the following is the most recent draft of the conference agenda:

DRAFT OF THE AGENDA AS OF MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2005

DAY I - TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2005 ---------------
VENUE: RONALD REAGAN INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTER

9:00 AM - 9:30 AM: Opening Remarks -----
Michael Sawkiw Jr. (Chairman/UA Quest RT Series);
Nita Lowey (Member/Congressional Ukrainian Caucus)

9:30 AM - 10:00 AM: Roundtable Focus Session I -----
Theme: Divining Ukraine's Contemporary "Sense of Self"
Chair: Serhiy Korsunsky (Acting UA Ambassador to the United States)
Keynote Speaker: Anton Buteiko (1st Dep. Minister of Foreign
Affairs/UA, former Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. and to Romania)

10:00 AM -12:30 PM [I] In Search of Ukraine's "Center of Gravity" -
Physical Factors, Two Panels -----

(1) Contemplating the "Political" Dimension -----
Moderator: Nadia Diuk (NED)
Panelists: Stephen Nix (Intl. Republican Institute)
Nelson Ledsky (Nat. Democratic Institute)
Hryhoriy Nemyria (CEIS/KNU)
Oleksandr Derhachov (IPES/PD)
Topics: National Democratic, Liberal Democratic, Social Democratic,
Red/Brown

(2) Contemplating the "Economic" Dimension -----
Moderator: Andrew Bihun (US Dept. of Commerce)
Panelists: Valeriy Asadchev (VR Budget Committee)
Liudmila Musina (ED/UA State Secretariat)
Anthony Wayne (Asst. Secretary of State/BEA)
Brian Cox (OEE/US Dept. of Treasury)
Ariel Cohen (Heritage Foundation)
Topics: Agricultural, Heavy Industrial, Light Industrial Hi Tech/Services

12:30 PM-1:00 PM: Roundtable Focus Session II -----
Theme: "Surviving Stalin and Hitler": Pondering Ukraine's Identity
Construct in the 20th Century

Chair: Richard Shriver (European College)
Featured Speaker: Myroslav Popovych (UA National Academy of
Sciences)

1:00 PM-3:00 PM: Working Lunch -----
2006 Rada Elections - UA Political Spectrum Speaks Out}
Chair: Bohdan Futey (US Court of Federal Claims)
Discussants: Viewpoint from BUTy: Serhiy Shevchuk
Viewpoint from Ukrainska Narodna Partiya: Yuri Kostenko
Viewpoint from Nasha Ukrajina: Serhiy Sobolev
Viewpoint from the Agrarians: Ihor Yeremeyev
Viewpoint from the Partija Regioniv: Raissa Bohatryova
Viewpoint from the Narodni Demokraty: Valeriy Pustovoytenko
Viewpoint from the Socialists: Vitaly Shibko

3:00 PM-5:30 PM: II] In Search of Ukraine's "Center of Gravity" -
Psychological Factors, Two Panels -----

(1) Contemplating the "Cultural" Dimension -----
Moderator: John van Oudenaren (US LOC)
Panelists: Mykola Zhulinsky (UA NA of Sciences)
Orest Subtelny (York University)
Mark von Hagen (Columbia University)
Valeriy Khmelko (ISI/UKMA)
Topics: Slavic Heritage; Germanic Influences
Islamic Influences; Judaic Influences

(2) Contemplating the "Geopolitical" Dimension -----
Moderator: William Miller (Kennan Institute)
Panelists: Kostyantyn Hryshchenko (Frm. MFA/UA)
Daniel Fried (Asst. Secretary of State/EEA)
F. Steven Larrabee (RAND Corp.)
Bruce Jackson (Proj./Transitional Democracies)
Piotr Nowina-Konopka (R. Shuman Foundation/PL)
Topics: Euro-Atlantic Orientation; Eurasian Orientation
The Multi-Vector Approach, Go Alone Approach

5:30 PM-6:00 PM: Roundtable Focus Session III -----
Theme: Ukrainian-Polish Relations
Chair: John Micgiel (Columbia University)
Keynote Speaker: Andrzej Towpik (PL Ambassador to the United Nations)

7:00 PM-9:00 PM: Conference Reception -----
Hosted by the Ukraine Embassy to the United States

DAY II, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2005 ---------------
VENUE: RONALD REAGAN INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTER

9:00 AM-9:30 AM: Roundtable Focus Session IV -----
Theme: Ukrainian-Baltic Relations
Chair: Richard Murphy (CSIS)
Keynote Speaker: Maris Riekstins (Latvian Ambassador/US)

9:30 AM-12:00 PM: [III] Ukraine in a Regional Context, Two Panels --

(1) UA-GUAM Relations -----
Moderator: William Courtney (CSC/Dyncorp)
Panelists: Ihor Ostash (VR Foreign Relations Comm.)
Levan Mikeladze (Georgian Ambassador/US)
Steven Mann (US State Dept.)
Daniel Burghart (National Defense University)
Topics: Political, Economic, Cultural, Security

(2) UA-CIS Relations -----
Moderator: Vitaly Shelest (ATR/RU)
Panelists: Vitaly Shibko (VR Foreign Relations Comm.)
Vladimir Lukin (RU HR Commissioner)
Anders Aslund (Carnegie Endowment)
Marcus Micheli (UBM/State Dept.)
Vitaly Silitski (Int'l Forum/Democratic Studies)
Topics: Political, Economic, Cultural, Security

12:00 PM-12:30 PM: Roundtable Focus Session V -----
Suggested Theme: "The Orange Revolution": Divining
Ukraine's Identity Construct in the 21st Century
Chair: Adrian Karatnycky (Freedom House)
Featured Speaker: Zbigniew Brzezinski (CSIS)

12:30 PM-2:30 PM: Working Lunch -----
Theme: 2006 Rada Elections - UA Fourth Estate Speaks Out
Chair: Kyle Parker (American Foreign Policy Council)
Discussants: Viewpoint from Zaporizha: Halyna Sticzyna "MIG"
Viewpoint from Lviv: Stepan Kypil' "Vysokyj Zamok"
Viewpoint from Sumy: Ihor Danylenko "Dankop"
Viewpoint from Kherson: Mykhajlo Novyckyj "Hryvna"
Viewpoint from Donetsk: Serhiy Hrechanyuk "Ostrov"
Viewpoint from Kyiv: Volodymyr Mostovyj"Dzerkalo Tyzhnya" UA
(Polls): Iryna Bekeshkina "Demokratychni Initiatyvy"

2:30 PM-5:00 PM: [IV] Ukraine in a Broader Context, Two Panels -----

(1) Assessing Ukraine's Prospects for Joining the EU -----
Moderator: Morgan Williams (UA-US Business Council, SigmaBleyzer)
Panelists: Oleh Zarubinsky (VR E/Integration Comm.)
John Bruton (EU Delegation to the US)
Steven Pifer (Former US Ambassador/UA)
Celeste Wallander (CSIS)
Topics: EU/Old Members' Viewpoint, EU/New Members' Viewpoint
Ukraine Viewpoint, US Viewpoint

(2) Assessing Ukraine's Prospects for Joining NATO -----
Moderator: Nick Krawciw (Dupuy Institute)
Panelists: Serhiy Pyrizhkov (Asst. Secretary/UA NSDC)
Cong. Curt Weldon (VChair/HR Armed Services Comm.)
James Sherr (UK Defense Academy)
Jennifer Moroney (RAND Corp.)
Yevhen Kaminsky (IWEIR/UA NAS)
Suggested Topics: NATO/Old Members' Viewpoint
NATO/New Members' Viewpoint, Ukraine Viewpoint, US Viewpoint

5:00 PM-5:30 PM: Roundtable Focus Session VI -----
Ukrainian-US Relations
Chair: Bob Schaffer (Frm. Co-Chair/Congressional Ukrainian Caucus
Keynote Speaker: Steven Hadley (US National Security Advisor)
[INVITED]

5:30 PM-6:00 PM: Concluding Remarks -----
Herman Pirchner (American Foreign Policy Council)
Senator Richard Lugar (Chair/Senate FRC)

7:00 PM-9:00 PM: Patrons' Reception -----
[Hosted by the UA Quest RT Series Steering Committee]

CONFERENCE FEES AND PATRONSHIPS
Conference executive coordinator, Tamara Gallo, UCCA executive
director, in information received by The Action Ukraine Report (AUR) said
the fee for the entire two-day conference, including lunches and the
reception is $250. The fee for attending the first day only is $125 and for
attending the second day only is $150.

Gallo explained such a modest fee is possible because over the past half
decade, the financial support of leading Fortune 500 companies and
prominent US foundations, as well as the patronage of Ukrainian American
financial institutions [including Credit Unions] and, increasingly,
businesses in Ukraine, has been an essential element in assuring the
financial success of the Roundtable Series.

Executive coordinator Gallo said Conference Patronship's are still available
and needed for the upcoming event, "Becoming a patron will identify a
company or organization as a key contributor to the general reform efforts
in Ukraine, a worthy cause given Ukraine's critical role in ensuring the
stability and security of an expanding Euro Atlantic community.

All Patron contributions are fully tax deductible under the 501(c)(3)
provisions of the U.S. tax code. For more information on becoming a
Roundtable Patron, please contact Tamara Gallo, Executive Coordinator,
(212) 228-6840, fax: (212) 254-4721, or e-mail: ucca@ucca.org.

HOTEL RESERVATIONS
Information sent by the executive coordinator to The Action Ukraine Report
stated a block of rooms have been reserved for the conference at The
Churchill Hotel, 1914 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, at a
discounted rate. For information about hotel reservations please contact
Ms. Daria Tomashosky, Hamalia Travel at: hamaliasouth@aol.com or
(941) 426 2542.

CONFERENCE STEERING COMMITTEE
CHAIRMAN: Michael Sawkiw, Jr,
VICE CHAIRS: William Miller, Bob Schaffer

COORDINATORS: Tamara Gallo, Mykola Hryckowian,
Mark Olexy, Vika Hubska, Marko Suprun, Walter Zaryckyj

MEMBERS: Vera Andrushkiw, Nadia Diuk, Katie Fox, Adrian
Karatnycky, Tom Keaney, Nadia Komarnycky McConnell, Serhiy
Konoplyov, John Micgiel, Richard Murphy, Steven Nix, Kyle Parker,
Herman Pirchner, John Van Oudenaren, Morgan Williams.

SPONSORS: Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, US Library of
Congress, Embassy of Ukraine to the United States, American
Foreign Policy Council, Center For US-Ukrainian Relations,
International Republican Institute (IRI), National Democratic Institute
(NDI), Freedom House, Johns Hopkins University/SAIS, Columbia
University/ISE, Harvard University/BSSP, New York University/
LAP, Ukraine-United States Business Council, U.S.-Ukraine
Foundation (USUF), Ukrainian Congress Committee of America,
(UCCA), UKR American Civil Liberties Association.

For more information about participating in the Ukraine's Quest
for Mature Nation Statehood Roundtable VI conference please contact
the UCCA National Office, 203 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10003,
Tel: (212) 228-6840, fax: (212) 254-4721 or email ucca@ucca.org. In
Ukraine contact: Vika Hubska, area coordinator, ucca@i.kiev.ua.
[The Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
=============================================================
11. CANADA: FIRST ANNUAL DANYLIW RESEARCH SEMINAR
IN CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN STUDIES
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Thursday, 29 September-Saturday, 1 October

Dominique Arel, Chair of Ukrainian Studies, University of Ottawa
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Monday, September 19, 2005

OTTAWA - The Chair of Ukrainian Studies, at the University of Ottawa, is
holding its First Annual Danyliw Research Seminar in Contemporary
Studies on 29 September-1 October 2005, at the The Lounge, New
Residence, 90 University St.

The seminar is sponsored by the Wolodymyr George Danyliw Foundation
The Chair also thanks the School of Political Studies, the Faculty of
Graduate Studies and the Faculty of Social Sciences for their support

The Seminar will bring together 28 international scholars from the fields of
political science, anthropology, sociology, and geography, and will feature
ten papers-with topics ranging from the Orange Revolution, to Citizenship,
Industrial Reforms, the Transition to Democracy and many others-and a
special afternoon session, with four additional papers, on Regionalism in
Ukraine.

A presentation by Taras Kuzio on the events surrounding the Tymoshenko
Dismissal is also on the program.

In offering this privileged platform to scholars and graduate students to
present and discuss their research, the Chair of Ukrainian Studies aims to
highlight the vitality of the field of contemporary Ukrainian Studies-in
Canada, the United States, Western Europe and Ukraine, to promote the
publication of research papers, and stimulate projects for collaborative
research on issues most relevant to our understanding of Ukraine.

The Seminar is open to the public. While attendance is free, seating is
limited and those interested in attending are invited to reserve in advance
by contacting the Chair at 613 562 5800 ext. 1713 or at ukrain@uottawa.ca.

For information about the Program, please contact the Chairholder, and
Seminar organizer, Dominique Arel, at darel@uottawa.ca. For more
info on the Seminar, log on to http://www.ukrainianstudies.uottawa.ca/.

FINAL PROGRAM ----------

THURSDAY, 29 SEPTEMBER, Session I, 4-6 PM -----

Anna Fournier (John Hopkins U, US, anna_fournier@hotmail.com)
Educational Practice and the Building of Democratic Citizenship among
Ukrainian High School Students Before and After the Orange Revolution
Discussant: Natalka Patsiurko (McGill U, Canada, npatsu@po-box.mcgill.ca)

Sarah Phillips (U of Indiana, US, sadphill@indiana.edu)
Disability and Citizenship in Post-Soviet Ukraine: An Anthropological
Critique
Discussant: Alexandra Hrycak (Reed College, US,
Alexandra.Hrycak@directory.reed.edu)

Opening Reception, 6-8 PM, Friday 30 September --

Session II, 9 AM-Noon -----

Oxana Shevel (Purdue U, US, oshevel@post.harvard.edu)
Citizenship Policies in Post-Soviet States: Towards a Dynamic Model?
Discussant: Blair Ruble (Kennan Institute, US, blairrub@wwic.si.edu)

Tatiana Zhurzhenko (Karazin Kharkiv National U, Ukraine,
tzhurzh@postmaster.co.uk)
Becoming Ukrainians in a "Russian" Village: Social Change and Identity
Formation in Udy (Kharkiv oblast', Ukraine)
Discussant: Tanya Richardson (Harriman Institute, Columbia U, US,
pryvit99@yahoo.com)

Olga Filippova (Fulbright Scholar, Indiana U, US, ofilippo@indiana.edu)
Anti-Orange Discourses in Ukraine: A Cyber-Ethnography of Political
Opposition
Discussant: Cathy Wanner (Penn State U, US, cew10@email.psu.edu)

Session III, 2-5 PM ----- Special Roundtable on Regionalism in Ukraine

Svitlana Oksamytna (University Kyiv Mohyla Academy,
oksamyt@ukma.kiev.ua)
Regional Cleavages in the Ukrainian 2004 Presidential Election

Dominique Arel (Chair of Ukrainian Studies, U of Ottawa, darel@uottawa.ca)
and Valeri Khmelko (Kyiv International Institute of Sociology,
khmelko@kiis-1.kiev.ua)
Making Sense of Regional Polarization, 1994-2004
Discussant: Al Stepan (Columbia U, US, as48@columbia.edu)
[10 minute break]
Ihor Stebelsky (U of Windsor, Canada, stebels@uwindsor.ca)
The Nature of Regions and the Utility of Regional Analysis in the
Explanation of Political Geography in Ukraine

Jessica Allina-Pisano (Colgate U, US, JAllinaPisano@mail.colgate.edu)
Regionalism and the Informal Politics of Social Control in Kuchma's Ukraine
Discussant: Peter Rutland (Wesleyan University, US,
prutland@wesleyan.edu)

SATURDAY, 1 OCTOBER -----

Session IV, 9 AM-Noon -----

Adam Swain (U of Nottingham, UK, Adam.Swain@nottingham.ac.uk)
Regional "Lock-In" or Local Hegemonic Bloc Industrial Restructuring in the
Ukrainian Donbass
Discussant: Paul d'Anieri (U of Kansas, US, p-danieri@ku.edu)

Maria Popova (Harvard U, US, popova@fas.harvard.edu)
The Role of Ukrainian and Russian Courts in the Provision of Press
Freedom: Evidence from Defamation Lawsuits, 1998-2004
Discussant: Peter Solomon (U of Toronto, Canada)
peter.solomon@utoronto.ca

Bohdan Harasymiw (U of Calgary, Canada, bharasym@ucalgary.ca)
Soviet Bureaucratic Survivors in Post-Soviet Ukraine, 1992-2004
Discussant: Wsewolod Isajiw (U of Toronto, Canada) isajiw@hotmail.com

Session V, 1.30-2.30 PM -----

"Orange Revolution Crisis: Contradictions, Personalities, and Ideologies"
Talk by Taras Kuzio (George Washington U, US, tkuzio@gwu.edu)

Session V, 2.45-4.45 PM -----

Henry Hale (Georgetown U, US, hhale@indiana.edu)
Democracy and Revolution in the Postcommunist World: From Chasing
Events to Building Theory
Discussant: Lucan Way (Temple U, US, lucan.way@temple.edu)

Joshua Tucker (Princeton U, US, jtucker@princeton.edu)
Enough! Electoral Fraud, Collective Action Problems, and the "Second
Wave" of Post-Communist Democratic Revolutions
Discussant: Jerry Hough (Duke U, US, jhough@duke.edu)
[The Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
============================================================
13. UKRAINE AND THE COLORS OF CHANGE

RP's Weekly Experts' Panel: Ukraine and the Colors of Change
By Peter Lavelle, written for Russia Profile
Moscow, Russia, Fri, September 16, 2005

Contributors: Vlad Sobell, Andrei Tsygankov, Donald Jensen, Ira Straus, Eric
Kraus, and Patrick Armstrong

Peter Lavelle: Ukraine again is experiencing political upheaval. The
government of Yulia Tymoshenko has been dismissed, what was the "orange
coalition" is in disarray and its members have moved into competing camps.

Many explanations have been suggested for this latest round of upheaval.
Among them are: 1. The coalition that brought Viktor Yushchenko to the
presidency was unstable from the start. 2. Yushchenko and Tymoshenko failed
to agree on how to address corruption and the economic-political power of
the oligarchs. 3. There was never really an "Orange Revolution" - just a
change of elites.

There may be truth to all of these, but should we be surprised? Is Ukraine's
transition to democracy and a market economy radically different from some
of its post-communist peers?

Poland had and sacked six governments in the first two years of its
transition (1990-1992). A united Czechoslovakia split because of the
inability of Czech and Slovak politicians to agree on a formula for shared
leadership. Under Vladimir Meciar, Slovakia's reputation was tarnished
because of his populism and was not much different from Ukraine's reputation
under Leonid Kuchma.

During this past summer, Bulgarian politicians took over two months to form
a cabinet. Romania started the 1990s with governments lead by former
communists, and then shifted to market reformers - only to return to
reformist communists by 2000. The Baltic republics have had their fair share
of corruption scandals. Russia, under Boris Yeltsin, changed governments on
a regular basis.

There are, of course, those loudly proclaiming the "Orange Revolution" has
been betrayed and others laughing up their sleeve at Ukraine's political
difficulties, but both groups fail to explain what is in play. Thus, from a
larger perspective, shouldn't we expect the occasional "two steps forward,
one step back" during a country's transition process?

[1] Vlad Sobell, senior economist, Daiwa Research, UK:

While all three explanations of what happened in Ukraine may be equally
valid, the first and second are the closest to the truth. Yes, the "orange
coalition" was unstable from its inception, and its main movers did fail to
agree on post-revolutionary strategy, as well as the tactics.

On the other hand, the revolution was not a mere change of elites, but has
marked an irreversible shift to a less corrupt and more transparent
government - the current ruckus is precisely the result of the need to
safeguard this achievement.

We should not at all be surprised at Ukraine's difficult post-election
development. As Peter Lavelle rightly points out, all transition countries
have experienced similar convulsions. In fact, I would go further, by
providing a reminder that a significant and meaningful change cannot come
about without these birth pangs.

This applies to all democracies, regardless of their maturity, as we
currently witness in countries such as Germany or Japan.

Having referred to the big picture, we need to note that Ukraine obviously
has its specific problems and circumstances, which make its evolution to a
stable democratic system and prosperous market economy especially difficult.

Here I would cite the absence of a tradition of independent statehood, the
ethnic/regional divisions, its sensitive geo-political position between
Russia and Western Europe, and the presence of a Russia-like powerful
oligarchic class.

Unlike the transition countries of Central Europe, and very much like
Russia, Ukraine is simply too large and complex to fit into the standard EU
mold. It has to plough its own furrow, both in terms of its democratic
architecture and geo-politics.

Although Yushchenko has sometimes been too hesitant and his leadership
flawed, to my mind he remains the right person to lead Ukraine. He clearly
is motivated by the desire to establish his country as an integral part of
modern Europe, and not by personal enrichment and aggrandizement (although
such benefits may unavoidably accrue).

Despite the obvious differences in professional background and personal
style, Yushchenko actually is very much a Putin-like leader, with Putin-like
objectives and problems. Again, as Peter Lavelle pointed out in his RIA
report on Sept. 14, Putin and Yushchenko have strong incentives to closely
co-operate.

[2] Andrei Tsygankov, professor of international relations, San Francisco
State University:

We might expect the occasional "two steps forward, one step back," as you
suggest, but the change of government in Ukraine seems to be of a different
nature than government's reshuffling under Yeltsin or political changes in
Eastern European nations. It isn't merely reshuffling - Yushchenko has never
been in control in the way Yeltsin was.

And it doesn't seem to reflect a principal change in political orientation,
as Yushchenko, Tymoshenko, and many other former Maidan leaders were of
similar pro-Western, pro-capitalist beliefs, although with some differences
with regard to the state role in the economy.

The struggle for power in Kyiv indicates that the revolution may not be over
in Ukraine. The "orange" part of it is definitely in the past with the
collapse of the initial Maidan coalition and Tymoshenko's rapidly
positioning herself as a non-corrupt opposition to the ruling regime. But a
revolutionary dynamic where the opposition is willing to move beyond the
existing political rules and appeal directly to the population for justice
may still be potent in Ukrainian politics.

The stakes are very high: This is the first post-Kuchma Rada, which will
also be selecting the prime minister, the most powerful position if the
political reform takes effect in January 2006. Tymoshenko is currently the
most popular politician in the country, and her popularity is likely to
increase as she continues to distance herself from the "corrupt" regime.

Yushchenko's team will do everything in its power to control Tymoshenko and
her votes, but will hardly succeed as, the further she moves from the
increasingly unpopular regime, the stronger her cards are.

She may even have the option of teaming up with Yanukovych at some point -
an alliance that is not entirely unfeasible if we look at attempts by
Russian communists and right wing politicians to join forces on the
anti-Kremlin platform. The difference is that Putin's regime is popular,
while Yushchenko's is in decline.

Neither Leonid Kravchuk nor Leonid Kuchma were willing to play the street
politics game to boast their support. Tymoshenko is different. She has the
boldness and the recklessness to call her supporters to attack and overthrow
the regime, as she demonstrated during the Orange Revolution. To gain
absolute control, she is willing to risk everything, and that indicates that
the revolution may not yet be over.

The Yushchenko team needs a major success, and before it is too late. The
alternative is a largely ceremonial role for Yushchenko, with Tymoshenko
controlling both the Rada and the executive branch. Russia may be in a
position to improve Yushchenko's standing, and the latter has already
signaled his interest. Putin's scheduled trip to Kiev in October may bring
some important surprises.

Tymoshenko, on the other hand, is playing the old East-West game, and is
trying to secure support from the U.S. Embassy by presenting Yushchenko as
selling out the ideals of Maidan to the Kremlin. It is critical that Russia
and the West find common ground to prevent a new highly destabilizing turn
of events.

[3] Donald Jensen, director of communications, Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty:

Last fall's Orange Revolution has so far been more promise than reality.
Whether it was to signal a truly new period in Ukraine's history depended in
part on how the coalition that came to power used the momentum generated by
those events - and popular participation was critical to their success - to
consolidate and institutionalize the country's move toward democracy, free
markets, and integration into Europe.

As Peter Lavelle pointed out, all post-Soviet countries starting his path
have experienced zigzags, so we should also not exaggerate the damage caused
by this recent government shakeup. Important progress has been made, most
notably on political reform and press freedom. But there are unique factors
in Ukraine's case that will make continued progress especially complicated.

There are three major differences here compared to the examples you
describe.

FIRST, government changes in Poland, the Baltics and even Slovakia took
place within relatively healthy democracies that already, to a significant
extent, possessed functioning, accountable institutions and the rule of law.
Those things are much weaker in Ukraine, where the political system is far
from healthy.

SECOND, the changes in those countries took place after the implementation
of economic reform. When former Communist Aleksander Kwasniewski took power
in Poland, he was as committed to the basic course of economic reform as his
predecessor. In Ukraine there is little elite consensus on reform.

The Orange Revolution's promise to return dishonestly privatized properties
to the people has been increasingly perceived as a slogan covering the
redistribution of those properties among oligarchic clans.

THIRD, Russia plays a much larger role in Ukraine - its economy, security,
and self-identity - than in the country you mentioned. The Kremlin tried to
stop the Orange Revolution and reacted calmly to the government dismissal,
which may keep key businesses in the hands of pro-Moscow oligarchs.

Since the dismissal, Tymoshenko, whose popularity has dropped in recent
months, has pledged to lead a rival political force against Yushchenko in
next year's parliamentary elections. Because of constitutional changes, the
prime minister will be chosen by parliament next year and not by the
president, thereby making the victor a much more powerful figure.

Tymoshenko's prospects are good, especially if, as is likely, Yushchenko and
his new government are slow with reforms and the lives of ordinary people
are slow to improve (New Prime Minister Yekhanurov has already promised a
"softer" approach towards business).

But if she falls short, the unpredictable Tymoshenko could compromise her
commitment to reform, and try to forge an alliance with someone like former
Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych, who lost to Yushchenko in December. The
result would be three steps back for Ukraine's transition, if it were to
take place at all.

[4] Ira Straus, U.S. coordinator of the Committee on Eastern Europe and
Russia on NATO:

Much of the disarray in thinking about Ukraine comes from an inability to
keep two contradictory realities in mind simultaneously.

REALITY 1. Ukraine remains a country that went through a political
revolution. It was no mere coup; the candidate of the popular majority came
to power after an intense struggle of nerves, producing a sense of a new or
renewed social contract in which the people felt empowered and something
like "democracy" was something like "established."

The crucial words are put in quotation marks not out of sarcasm, but because
in each case it was only "something like" them; they could each benefit from
elaboration of the sense and degree in which they pertain. After all
clarification - which will not be attempted here - the fact of a deep
psychological transformation remains.

This has been confirmed in polls that show a strong upsurge in belief by
Ukrainians in their democracy and the legitimacy of their government on each
of a number of relevant questions, and that show this conviction to extend
beyond the supporters of the revolution to a large number of those who voted
against the new government.

This has inevitably suffered from post-revolutionary letdown, exacerbated by
the break-up of the Orange coalition, but it has not been reversed.

Both sides of the split appeal to the legacy of the revolution, including
the legacy of Maidan, where the sense of a social contract was most strongly
forged. A reversal or counter-revolution is still possible if the losers in
the last elections become winners through the fracturing of the Orange
coalition, but this seems unlikely. What is more probable is that the
moderates from the losing side will be reconciled to the revolution through
conciliation with the sober presidential wing of the winning side.

REALITY 2. Ukraine remains a country in the post-Soviet space. Geography is
part of its destiny. So is history. It is not going to float out into the
Mediterranean or Atlantic. No earthquake is going to turn its legal border
with Russia into an ethnic or social border, or rupture its organic
intercourse with its larger neighbor.

It is also impossible to eliminate the underlying gradualism of
socio-economic development, or the multiple complexities of reform and its
contradictory requirements. Revolutionary overturns do not change the fact
of social evolution; rather, they clear the way for it to continue and put
it in a more hopeful context.

We could add a few more realities to this picture.

REALITY 3. Ukraine is not going to make it into the EU in any timeframe
relevant to consolidating its revolution; the EU has come to the realization
that it has already bitten off a bit more than it can safely digest, and
does not want Ukraine. It may make it into NATO, but that would raise
questions about its relations with Russia and the continued acceptance of
the revolutionary regime's legitimacy by the eastern 40 percent that voted
against it.

Only a remedial effort at pulling Russia closer into NATO at the same time
could make this a sound approach. Ukraine would not want to be drawn into
the West in a form that separates it sharply from Russia.

REALITY 4. Ukraine must look both ways, east and west. It can balance these
relations cynically, playing one off against the other, as Kuchma often did,
or it can balance them constructively, integrating in both directions and
acting as a bridge that speeds Russia's integration with the West.

But it cannot avoid balancing them one way or the other. If it tries to, it
will lose its own domestic political balance, as happened when Kuchma leaned
too far to Russia's side, and suffer some destabilization as a consequence,
bringing a pendulum swing in the opposite direction.

Ultimately, the pendulum swings should soften and bring the country back to
a balance. This is what seems to be happening at present. The new state
secretary has rushed to Moscow for consultations, and the new prime minister
is one who has spoken favorably of the Joint Economic Space project with
Russia, while the president and foreign minister have both reaffirmed that
the Western integration orientation remains unchanged. It is a hopeful
indicator for Ukrainian stabilization.

What remains unstable in this mix is that the Western integration
orientation is too heavily dependent on hopes and strivings for entry into
the EU, which is a non-starter in this era and a recipe for disillusionment.
This could be corrected by shifting the hopes upward to the level of NATO
and OECD, but that, in turn, requires an intensified effort at bringing
Russia along into the Atlantic as well.

There is reason to doubt that either of these two corrections will be made,
and thus reason to expect some further pendulum swings and instability in
the Ukrainian identity.

These reasons for concern could dissolve, however, if Russia and the West
learn to cooperate in Ukraine instead of pulling it in opposite directions.
The Kremlin has in recent months been calling for cooperation with the West
in the post-Soviet space, rather than competition for who dominates in that
space. The changes in Ukraine position it to become a place where this
incipient doctrine can be carried into practice.

This would do much to stabilize Ukraine in its moderate democratic-Western
orientation. For this purpose, to be sure, specific cooperative programs
will be needed, such as a joint NATO-Russia base in Sevastopol, or
reconciliation of the EU and Russia's projects for a common Economic Space.

The main trend is toward a centrist stabilization within and on the basis of
the Orange Revolution. Ukraine can reinforce this trend if it finds the way
to act as a bridge between the West and Russia.

[5] Eric Kraus, chief strategist, Sovlink Securities, Moscow:

What is interesting about the current situation in Ukraine is NOT what it
tells us about the post-Communist transformation of Eastern Europe, but
rather, about how totally manipulated and hollow is most Western opinion
when it comes to the post-Soviet world.

The famed "Orange Revolution" resulted primarily in the substitution of one
gang of thieves for another; as a previously excluded oligarchic clan began
to seize the assets that had been misappropriated by its predecessors.

Although Ukraine offered rich pickings, these were not unlimited -
inevitably, sooner or later there would no longer be enough on the table,
and the various warring factions with this new, clean government would begin
trying to carve pieces out of each other.

Hilariously, the new government has been hailed in the Western media as
clean, transparent and modern - i.e. pro-US, anti-Russian. How a country, 40
percent of whose population considers itself as much as Russian and
Ukrainian, was to be governed by a vehemently anti-Russian administration
without fracturing was never addressed.

In fact, the first Yushchenko government was in many ways reminiscent of the
Yeltsin-Chernomyrdin regime of sad memory: an honest, well-intentioned but
ineffectual president, with the country's biggest and most profoundly
corrupt oligarch as prime pinister. Certainly, Putin's superb sense of irony
was given free reign when Victor Chernomyrdin was sent as Russian ambassador
to Kiev - certainly, he knew all there was to be known about how Tymoshenko
accumulated her billions.

There can be no doubt that the Kremlin disastrously mishandled the Ukraine
election, attempting to impose a badly compromised candidate totally
unacceptable to the Western moiety - thus playing into the hands of an
unholy alliance between U.S. and Polish interests that employed the best
political market techniques money could buy in order to score a geopolitical
victory over Russia.

History has, for once, been kind - Putin has been afforded a second chance.
The Orange reformist party has been cleaved in two, leaving Yushchenko
desperately in need on an ally who can deliver Eastern Ukraine.

The Kremlin has two choices: It can either field a more acceptable candidate
from Russian Ukraine, counting on Tymoshenko splitting the pro-Western
ticket, or, perhaps more productively, can come to an accommodation with
Yushchenko, supporting him in his bid to become the president of a unified
Ukraine, independent but closely aligned with Russia.

One can imagine the gnashing of teeth in Washington with some delectation.
Although the spinmeiters will no doubt do whatever possible to resurrect the
coalition, it appears to be irretrievably damaged. They will thus be forced
to choose between a hopelessly compromised, but strongly anti-Russian
ex-prime minister, and a president who will be strongly tempted to cut a
deal with the Kremlin.

Putin has a history of learning from his mistakes - in the interests of
Ukrainian national unity, it is to be hoped that the upcoming parliamentary
elections will be handled with more sensitivity and dexterity than was the
presidential vote.

[6] Patrick Armstrong, defense analyst for the Canadian government:

I think that what is happening in Ukraine (and in Georgia as well, although
differently) is what some of us wrote about within the context of the
"staglution" question a couple of weeks ago. In short, it's one thing to
have a quick and exciting change of leadership, but it's another to expect
an equally quick solution of the deep underlying problems of the
post-Communist countries. One of the most powerful of the dissatisfactions
that brought out the crowds in Kiev and Tbilisi was the juxtaposition of
stagnant economies against well-connected people acquiring fortunes.

The stagnant economies are a by-product of communism and what succeeded
it, and the corruption is well-rooted in the communist past: "blat"
(influence) and "na levo" (literally "to the left," meaning the
misappropriation
of funds) were, after all, just small scale versions of the favoritism and
insider connections that made some people so rich in the 1990s. Changing the
man in the front office will not magically do away with either of these.

Expectations were further inflated by the customary concentration on the
personalities of the two leaders. They may indeed be all that was said about
them by their partisans but, as was said by a Russian historian about Peter
the Great: "The tsar pushes uphill with the strength of ten, but a million
push back."

Nonetheless, the two "velvet revolutions" did advance things by showing that
there is a limit to the patience of a disappointed and betrayed population
and by making it a little harder for insiders to ignore the big problems
while stuffing their wallets. So I believe that it is two steps forward and
one (or maybe one-and-a-half) back. It will be a long process; communism
left a lot of damage behind. -30-
==============================================================
Send in a letter-to-the-editor today. Let us hear from you.
=============================================================
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR"
An Agent Of Change
A Free, Not-for-profit, Independent, Public Service Newsletter
ARTICLES ARE FOR PERSONAL AND ACADEMIC USE ONLY
Articles are Distributed For Information, Research, Education
Discussion and Personal Purposes Only
=============================================================
UKRAINE INFORMATION WEBSITE: http://www.ArtUkraine.com
=============================================================
SigmaBleyzer/Bleyzer Foundation Economic Reports
"SigmaBleyzer - Where Opportunities Emerge"
The SigmaBleyzer Private Equity Investment Group offers a comprehensive
collection of documents, reports and presentations presented by its business
units and organizations. All downloads are grouped by categories:
Marketing; Economic Country Reports; Presentations; Ukrainian Equity Guide;
Monthly Macroeconomic Situation Reports (Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine).
LINK: http://www.sigmableyzer.com/index.php?action=downloads
"UKRAINE - A COUNTY OF NEW OPPORTUNITIES"
=============================================================
"WELCOME TO UKRAINE" & "NARODNE MYSTETSTVO" MAGAZINES
UKRAINIAN MAGAZINES: For information on how to subscribe to the
"Welcome to Ukraine" magazine in English, published four times a year
and/or to the Ukrainian Folk Art magazine "Narodne Mystetstvo" in
Ukrainian, published two times a year, please send an e-mail to:
ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net.
=============================================================
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT- AUR" - SPONSORS
"Working to Secure & Enhance Ukraine's Democratic Future"

1. THE BLEYZER FOUNDATION, Dr. Edilberto Segura, Chairman;
Victor Gekker, Executive Director, Kyiv, Ukraine; Washington, D.C.,
http://www.bleyzerfoundation.com.
2. KIEV-ATLANTIC GROUP, David and Tamara Sweere, Daniel
Sweere, Kyiv and Myronivka, Ukraine, 380 44 298 7275 in Kyiv,
kau@ukrnet.net
3. ESTRON CORPORATION, Grain Export Terminal Facility &
Oilseed Crushing Plant, Ilvichevsk, Ukraine
4. Law firm UKRAINIAN LEGAL GROUP, Irina Paliashvili, President;
Kiev and Washington, general@rulg.com, www.rulg.com.
5. BAHRIANY FOUNDATION, INC., Dr. Anatol Lysyj, Chairman,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
6. VOLIA SOFTWARE, Software to Fit Your Business, Source your
IT work in Ukraine. Contact: Yuriy Sivitsky, Vice President, Marketing,
Kyiv, Ukraine, yuriy.sivitsky@softline.kiev.ua; Volia Software website:
http://www.volia-software.com/ or Bill Hunter, CEO Volia Software,
Houston, TX 77024; bill.hunter@volia-software.com.
7. ODUM- Association of American Youth of Ukrainian Descent,
Minnesota Chapter, Natalia Yarr, Chairperson
8. UKRAINIAN FEDERATION OF AMERICA (UFA), Zenia Chernyk,
Chairperson; Vera M. Andryczyk, President; Huntingdon Valley,
Pennsylvania
9. UKRAINE-U.S. BUSINESS COUNCIL, Washington, D.C.,
Dr. Susanne Lotarski, President/CEO; E. Morgan Williams,
SigmaBleyzer, Chairman, Executive Committee, Board of Directors;
John Stephens, Cape Point Capital, Secretary/Treasurer
10. UKRAINIAN AMERICAN COORDINATING COUNCIL (UACC),
Ihor Gawdiak, President, Washington, D.C., New York, New York
11. U.S.-UKRAINE FOUNDATION (USUF), Nadia Komarnyckyj
McConnell, President; John Kun, Vice President/COO; Vera
Andruskiw, CPP Wash Project Director, Washington, D.C.; Markian
Bilynskyj, VP/Director of Field Operations; Marta Kolomayets, CPP
Kyiv Project Director, Kyiv, Ukraine. Web: http://www.USUkraine.org
12. WJ Grain, Kyiv, Ukraine, David Holpert, Chief Financial Officer,
Chicago, Illinois.
==============================================================
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR" is an in-depth, private,
independentm, not-for- profit news and analysis international newsletter,
produced as a free public service by the non-profit www.ArtUkraine.com
Information Service (ARTUIS) and The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring
Service The report is distributed in the public's interesting around the
world FREE of charge. Additional readers are always welcome.

If you would like to read "THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT- AUR"
please send your name, country of residence, and e-mail contact
information to morganw@patriot.net. Additional names are welcome. If
you do not wish to read "THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" around five
times per week, let us know by e-mail to morganw@patriot.net. If you
are receiving more than one copy please contact us and again please
contact us immediately if you do not wish to receive this Report.
==============================================================
PUBLISHER AND EDITOR - AUR
Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Director, Government Affairs
Washington Office, SigmaBleyzer Private Equity Investment Group
P.O. Box 2607, Washington, D.C. 20013, Tel: 202 437 4707
Mobile in Kyiv: 8 050 689 2874
mwilliams@SigmaBleyzer.com; www.SigmaBleyzer.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Director, Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA)
Coordinator, Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC)
Senior Advisor, U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF)
Chairman, Executive Committee, Ukraine-U.S. Business Council
Publisher, Ukraine Information Website, www.ArtUkraine.com
==============================================================
Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.
==============================================================