"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"
"BATTLE FOR THE WTO"
Ukrainian parliament sabotaging WTO entry [article 6]
UKRAINE AND NATO:
TODAY REALISM, TOMORROW MEMBERSHIP? [article 20]
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR" - Number 593
Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor
Washington, D.C., Kyiv, Ukraine, MONDAY, October 31, 2005
--------INDEX OF ARTICLES--------
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1. WASHINGTON HOSTS UKRAINE'S NEW PRIME MINISTER
YURIY YEKHANUROV, TUE & WED, NOV 1 & 2ND
E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR)
Washington, D.C, Monday, October 31, 2005
2. UKRAINIAN NUCLEAR FUEL QUALIFICATION PROGRAM
Letter from U.S. Senator Arlen Specter to Dep Sec of State Zoellick
Termination by U.S. of the alternative nuclear fuel program for Ukraine
LETTER: Office of U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)
TO: Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick
U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., Monday, September 12, 2005
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 593, Article Two
Washington, D.C., Monday, October 31, 2005
3. UKRAINE NUCLEAR FUEL QUALIFICATION PROJECT
Letter from Petro Poroshenko to Condoleezza Rice
Assistance in resolution of the problem of U.S. funding
LETTER: From Petro Poroshenko, Secretary of the National
Security and Defense Council, Government of Ukraine
TO: Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State
Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, August 5, 2005
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 593, Article Three
Washington, D.C., Monday, October 31, 2005
4. ADDITIONAL FUNDING WILL NOT BE MADE AVAILABLE
FROM THE U.S. TO COMPLETE THE UKRAINE NUCLEAR
FUEL QUANTIFICATION PROJECT
Project was developing an alternative nuclear fuel source for Ukraine
Letter from U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman
to Mr. Ivan Plachkov, Minister, Ukraine Ministry of Fuel & Energy
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 593, Article Four
Washington, D.C., Monday, October 31, 2005
5. UKRAINE NUCLEAR FUEL QUALIFICATION PROGRAM (UNFQP)
Ensure a competitive marketplace for nuclear fuel in Ukraine
BACKGROUND PAPER: UNFQP
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 593, Article Five
Washington, D. C., Monday, October 31, 2005
6. "BATTLE FOR THE WTO"
Ukrainian parliament sabotaging WTO entry
ANALYSIS: By Oleksiy Smyrnov
Delovaya Stolitsa, Kiev, in Russian 24 Oct 05; p 4
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sat, Oct 29, 2005
7.ONCE AGAIN PRES YUSHCHENKO DIRECTS GOVERNMENT
TO DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO ENSURE UKRAINE
JOINS WTO BY END OF 2005
Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, October 28, 2005
8. PRESIDENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO TO MEET WITH LEADERS
OF PARLIAMENTARY FACTIONS AND DEPUTY GROUPS
ON OCTOBER 31 ABOUT NEED TO JOIN THE WTO
Olena Kryvenko, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, October 29, 2005
9. PRES SECRETARIAT CHIEF OLEH RYBACHUK NOTES
SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON UKRAINE'S WAY TO WTO
Hennadiy Chernenko, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri, Oct 28, 2005
10. SPEAKER LYTVYN PROPOSES MEETING OF YUSCHENKO,
GOVERNMENT AND PARLIAMENT LEADERS ON MONDAY TO
DETERMINE LAWS REQUIRED FOR WTO ADMISSION
Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, October 28, 2005
11. DNIPROPETROVSK HOSTS "MADE IN UKRAINE"
FURNITURE-HOME FURNISHINGS FAIR
By Ihor Yatsenko, FirsTnews, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, October 29, 2005
12. UKRAINE DUMPS NUCLEAR WASTES AND CHEMICAL
POISONS AT RUSSIA'S BORDERS
Ukraine's activities with poisonous and radioactive activities
may result in another Chernobyl
PRAVDA.RU, Moscow, Russia, Fri, Oct 28, 200510/28/2005
13. U.S. BAN ON BELUGA CAVIAR IMPORTS GROWS TO
INCLUDE BLACK SEA BASIN INCLUDING UKRAINE
John Heilprin, AP Worldstream, Washington, D.C., Fri, Oct 28, 2005
14. UKRAINE PROPERTY FIRM SET TO FLOAT ON THE LONDON
STOCK EXCHANGE BY THE END OF THIS YEAR
By Richard Orange, The Business Line
London, United Kingdom, Sunday, October 30, 2005
15. LARGE SCALE PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN
JORDANIAN-UKRAINIAN INVESTMENT FORUM IN NOVEMBER
Petra, Jordan News Agency, Amman, Jordan, Sat, Oct 29, 2005
16. DUTCH TBIH FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP TO BUY
50% OF UKRAINE'S VABANK
IntelliNews-Ukraine Today, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri, October 28, 2005
16. LIVING WITH UKRAINIAN TV
She has special reason to hate commercial breaks
Letter-to-the-Editor: by Joanna McMenamin
BBC News Magazine, United Kingdom, Friday, Oct 28, 2005
17. AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV LAUGHS AT WORDS
"ORANGE REVOLUTION" WHICH APPEAR ON POSTERS
Turks.US website, Florida, Sunday, October 30 2005
18. HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS SHARE THEIR NIGHTMARE STORIES
When Dodik was 15, he and his family lived in town of Bar, Ukraine
By Jennifer Cathey, The Daily News Journal
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Sunday, October 30, 2005
19. "SUMMONING SPIRITS"
Ukrainian folk culture "The Rusalka Cycle: Songs Between the Worlds"
Acclaimed Ukrainian-born vocalist and composer Mariana Sadovska
By Andrew Gilbert, Freelance Writer, SFGate, San Francisco Chronicle,
San Francisco, California, Sunday, October 30, 2005
20. UKRAINE AND NATO:
TODAY REALISM, TOMORROW MEMBERSHIP?
ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY: By James Sherr (1)
Zerkalo Nedeli, Mirror-Weekly, No. 42 (570)
International Social Political Weekly
Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat Oct 29-Nov 5, 2005
21. WHERE HAVE ALL THE REVOLUTIONS GONE?
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS: By Anatol Lieven
International Herald Tribune, Europe, Friday, October 28, 2005
====================================================
1. WASHINGTON HOSTS UKRAINE'S NEW PRIME MINISTER
YURIY YEKHANUROV, TUE & WED, NOV 1 & 2ND
E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR)
Washington, D.C, Monday, October 31, 2005
WASHINGTON - Washington will host Ukraine's new Prime Minister,
Yuriy Yekhanurov, on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 1 and
2nd. This is the first official visit to Washington by Prime Minister
Yekhanurov who arrives in Washington late on Monday.
The Prime Minister will hold a series of meetings with top U.S.
government officials, Congressional leaders, business executives,
private voluntary organization officials, representative of the mass
media, leaders of the Ukrainian-American community and lay flowers
at the monument in Washington of Ukraine's national hero and most
famous person, Taras Shevchenko.
According to government sources in Ukraine Prime Minister
Yekhanurov plans to discuss the bilateral agreement Ukraine needs
with the U.S. related to admission to the World Trade Organization
(WTO) and granting it the status of a market economy country by
the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Yekhanurov also intends to discuss Ukraine's graduation from the
Jackson-Vanik amendment, the lifting of certain trade sanctions against
Ukraine, and U.S. assistance for the country's further integration into
the Euro-Atlantic communmity and the world economy.
Ukraine's energy independence will also be a major issue in Washington.
Such topics as the Odesa-Brody pipeline, potential alternative sources
of energy for Ukraine, and the U.S. government's decision to terminate
funding for the Ukrainian Nuclear Fuel Qualification Program, which
was designed to assist Ukraine in developing an alternative source for
its nuclear fuel needs.
Ukraine now buys all of its nuclear fuel from Russia. Russian fuel runs
Ukraine' nuclear power stations which provide over half of the
electricity in the country.
On October 24, at a meeting with representatives of the diplomatic
corps accredited in Ukraine, Yekhanurov said that Ukraine "is counting
on broad U.S. participation in the Black and Caspian Sea regional
cooperation, especially in the economic and energy spheres."
The United States intends to bring up with the PM the very high tariff
imposed by Ukraine on the import of poultry which at the present time
has shut down the export of poultry from the U.S. to Ukraine. Poultry
has been the largest U.S. export to Ukraine.
The U.S. has also been concerned about the slow rate of progress
being made in Ukraine regarding the implementation of reforms needed
to improve the business and investment climate and also the lack of
reforms in commercial law and improvements needed in the courts.
While in Washington Prime Minister Yekhanurov is reported to be
meeting with such top U.S. government officials as Vice President
Richard Cheney; U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Secretary
of Agriculture Mike Johanns (former Governor of Nebraska),
Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman; and U.S. Trade Representative
Rob Portman.
Plans indicate the Prime Minister will meet with Senator Richard
Lugar, Chairman of the U.S. Foreign Relations Committee, and other
Senators at a meeting on the Hill and also meet then with members
of the Ukrainian Congressional Caucus.
Yekhanurov will meet the leaders of U.S. businesses who are active
in Ukraine in a meeting at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Members
of non-governmental organizations and others will meet the Prime
Minister at a meeting sponsored jointly by the National Democratic
Institute (NDI) and the International Republic Institute (IRI).
A presentation will also be made by the Prime Minister at the
US-Ukraine Energy Dialogue conference in Washington. -30-
====================================================
2. UKRAINIAN NUCLEAR FUEL QUALIFICATION PROGRAM
Letter from U.S. Senator Arlen Specter to Dep Sec of State Zoellick
Termination by U.S. of the alternative nuclear fuel program for Ukraine
Office of U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)
U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., Monday, September 12, 2005
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 593, Article Two
Washington, D.C., Monday, October 31, 2005
September 12, 2005
The Honorable Robert B. Zoellick
Deputy Secretary of State
Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC, 20520
Dear Secretary Zoellick,
I am writing on a matter of concern over our long-term commitments
to the security and prosperity of Ukraine. I have been alerted to the
imminent termination of a bilateral intergovernmental agreement
between the United States and Ukraine for the qualification of an
alternative nuclear fuel for its civilian nuclear power plants.
As you know, the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and
Related Programs has supported the Ukrainian Nuclear Fuel
Qualification Program since its inception in 2000. To date, significant
investments have been made to bring a critical energy alternative to
Ukraine's nuclear dependent power sector.
I also note that this program originated as a result of actions taken by
the Ukrainian Government to delay the construction of the Bushehr
Nuclear Power Plant in the Republic of Iran at the request of the
United States.
As recently as June 2005, the United States reaffirmed its commitment
to finish this program. However, I understand that the Administration
has since indicated through the Department of Energy that the final
phase of the program will not be initiated.
While I have significant concerns from a policy standpoint of
prematurely terminating a commitment to an ally which took action at
the request of our government in order to advance security in that
region, I am additionally concerned over what appears to be substantial
expenditures resulting in no final useful product.
As I understand that this decision to discontinue the program will be
communicated to the Ukrainian government shortly, I would appreciate
your earliest possible response to these concerns.
Sincerely,
[signed]
Arlen Specter
====================================================
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====================================================
3. UKRAINE NUCLEAR FUEL QUALIFICATION PROJECT
Letter from Petro Poroshenko to Condoleezza Rice
Assistance in resolution of the problem of U.S. funding
LETTER: From Petro Poroshenko, Secretary of the National
Security and Defense Council, Government of Ukraine
Ukraine Nuclear Fuel Qualification Project
TO: Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State
Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, August 5, 2005
August 5, 2005, Kiev
Attention of Condoleezza Rice
State Secretary of the United States of America
Washington DC
Your Excellency,
President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko and President of the United States
of America George Bush have reached an agreement during their meeting
in April earlier this year about continued cooperation in the energy sphere.
The Joint Statement signed by the Presidents at the result of discussions
contains priorities of cooperation between Ukraine and USA aimed at
speeding-up restructuring and reforms in the Ukrainian energy sector in
order to attract investments, diversification of the energy sources for
Ukraine, reducing energy dependence and nuclear safety improvement.
Practical implementation of these agreements started with the visit of S.
Bodman, US Secretary of Energy, to Ukraine at the end of May this year,
during which the parties discussed specific projects of cooperation in the
energy sector.
Ukraine Nuclear Fuel Qualification Project which is being implemented
at South Ukraine NPP under the Implementing Agreement between the
governments of Ukraine and USA dated June 05 2000 is of special
importance for energy and economic safety of Ukraine. This project
provides for the following:
Transfer to Ukraine of technologies, documentation and computer
codes for reactor core design, safety analysis, licensing and use of
nuclear fuel;
Training of Ukrainian experts in methodology of reactor core
design, safety analysis and licensing;
Manufacture, delivery and use of fuel assemblies designed by
Westinghouse.
The Project is being successfully implemented due to the joint efforts of
American and Ukrainian experts. The first six lead test assemblies
manufactured by Westinghouse have been already installed into the core
of Unit 3 of South Ukraine NPP, which will be connected to the grid on
August 06 this year.
The Implementing Agreement provides for the manufacture of 42 fuel
assemblies more, which are supposed to be delivered in 2007. However,
based on the information from the US the issue on allocating funds for
manufacture of this batch of fuel is not yet resolved.
In connection with this I would like to emphasize that Ukraine is extremely
interested in the implementation of this Project in its full scope.
Successful finalization of this Project will allow to resolve problem of
diversification of nuclear fuel supplies for Ukrainian Nuclear power Plants
which generate half of all electricity in Ukraine. On the other hand this
will open additional opportunities for the US companies.
Ukraine is prepared to meet its obligations in delivery of enriched Uranium
hexafluoride for 42 assemblies of reload. Hopefully, US side as well will be
able to find resources of funding manufacture of this reload batch as
stipulated by the Implementing Agreement.
I would appreciate very much your personal assistance in resolution of the
problem of funding Ukraine Nuclear Fuel Qualification project, which will
create pre-conditions for the utilization of the US fuel at the Ukrainian
NPPs and will open new perspectives for cooperation between Ukraine
and US in the sphere of nuclear energy.
I would like to use this opportunity to assure you in my greatest respect
and express hope for successful cooperation in the future.
Respectfully,
Petro Poroshenko
[Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council,
Cabinet of Ministers, Government of Ukraine, August 5, 2005]
====================================================
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====================================================
4. ADDITIONAL FUNDING WILL NOT BE MADE AVAILABLE FROM
THE U.S. TO COMPLETE THE UKRAINE NUCLEAR FUEL
QUANTIFICATION PROJECT
Project was developing an alternative nuclear fuel source for Ukraine
Letter from U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman
to Mr. Ivan Plachkov, Minister, Ukraine Ministry of Fuel & Energy
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 593, Article Four
Washington, D.C., Monday, October 31, 2005
The Secretary of Energy
Washington, D.C., 20585
July 21, 2005
Mr. Ivan Plachkov, Minister
Ukraine Ministry of Fuel & Energy
30 Kreschatick Street
Kiev, Ukraine, 01611
Dear Minister Plachkov,
Thank you for your letter regarding our cooperative efforts on the Ukraine
Nuclear Fuel Quantification Projects. The collaboration that has taken
place over the past several years between the government of Ukraine
and the United States Department of Energy on this project has been
noteworthy.
Up to the present, the United States has invested more than $50 million
in assistance funds for Ukraine. However, reduced levels of funding to
the International Nuclear Safety Program recently forced the Department
of Energy to reduce the scope of its assistance work. The reduction
impacted the Ukraine Nuclear Fuel Quantification Project and funding
for the core reload is not currently available.
Due to the great strides made by Ukraine's nuclear energy sector in
recent years, both financially and technically, we are confident that
Ukraine now possesses the ability to independently pursue a
commercial agreement with Westinghouse to supply the core reload
batch of 42 nuclear fuel assemblies.
We look forward to our continued cooperation and to the enhanced
energy security and independence of Ukraine.
Sincerely,
Samuel W. Bodman [U.S. Secretary of Energy] -30-
=====================================================
5. UKRAINE NUCLEAR FUEL QUALIFICATION PROGRAM (UNFQP)
Ensure a competitive marketplace for nuclear fuel in Ukraine
BACKGROUND PAPER: UNFQP
The Action Ukraine Report (AUR), Number 593, Article Five
Washington, D. C., Monday, October 31, 2005
Ukraine currently uses nuclear power for approximately 50 percent of its
electricity needs but must purchase 100 percent of its fuel from the Russian
Federation. This has led to sharp price swings and intermittent cutoffs of
fuel shipments reflecting the volatility of the bilateral relations of these
two countries.
Within the FY 1996 Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, Congress
specified that the US Agency for International Development spend “no less
than $30 million” for the design, technology transfer and testing of an
alternative source of nuclear fuel.
The intent is to ensure a competitive marketplace for nuclear fuel in
Ukraine, lowering costs to energy consumers and improving the safety and
efficiency of nuclear fuel products offered.
This program was initiated after a Nuclear Cooperation Agreement was
signed by Secretary of State Albright in Kiev on March 7 1998 following the
Ukrainian Government’s termination of a contract for the supply of a turbine
generator to the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran at the request of the
US Government.
Although the non-nuclear sale to Iran was considered to be legal under
international law, the US Government pledged the Ukrainian Nuclear Fuel
Qualification Project (UNFQP) as compensation for the loss in revenue and
employment by the voluntary termination of Ukrainian Government support
for the project.
In December 1999, the US/Ukrainian Binational Committee issued a
statement in strong support and full commitment to the program resulting in
a US/Ukrainian Intergovernmental Agreement signed June 2000 between
then-Secretary of Energy Richardson and Ukrainian Energy Minister Tulub
during the visit of former President Clinton to Kyiv.
A contract was awarded to Westinghouse Electric Company in July 2000
to work with Ukrainian authorities in fulfilling the program goals and
immediately confronted strong Russian opposition to the project as it
threatened their monopoly supply status, illustrating the program’s
strategic need for Ukraine.
The Intergovernmental Agreement called for the development, testing and
production of fuel through both “lead test assemblies” and a “full test
reload.” The agreement also called for extensive training to allow
Ukrainian engineers to monitor nuclear fuel for the first time. These
activities are currently being conducted at the Westinghouse fuel facility
in Columbia, South Carolina.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION AND TERMINATION
While opposition by Russia has continued, the UNFQP has progressed also
well with approximately $50 million expended to date and an additional $15
million required for program completion. The U.S. government announced in
July a termination of the program before its completion that will ultimately
not yield to Ukraine an alternative fuel supply unless other funding sources
can be found to continue the program.
The Department of Energy has decided not to provide funding to provide the
“full test reload” as was originally called for by the Intergovernmental
Agreement which was resigned June 5, 2005. Without the testing, licensing
and examination of a reload of fuel, experts feel it will be impossible to
determine whether the first of a kind process of mixing both western and
Russian fuel together in a Soviet built reactor will result in a safe and
reliable alternative to Russian suppliers.
The decision by the U.S. government brings to an end an important
cooperative relationships between US commercial firms and Ukrainian
weapons scientists that effectively prevented Ukrainian nuclear aid to Iran.
The UNFQP provided the creation of the Center for Reactor Core Design
(CRDC) which for the first time in Ukraine’s civilian nuclear power history
will provide it with its own ability to analyze Russian-made fuel before
insertion into its own reactors to ensure safety.
Approximately 40 weapons scientists previously employed in WMD work at
the Kharkiv Institute for Physics and Technology have been trained and
reemployed to comprise an expert group with advanced western technologies
and practices that can be expanded upon through Ukrainian resources to
advance fuel safety and independence.
The Kharkiv Institute has become a focus of US non-proliferation efforts
recently has it houses one of the largest stocks of bomb-grade Highly
Enriched Uranium in the Former Soviet Union.
PROJECT CONTINUATION?
It has been reported the Ukrainian government has expressed its regret
and concern over the letter from Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman stating
that the United States' share of the program costs will not now be made
available and that the final part of the joint efforts between the United
States and Ukraine would be subsequently stopped.
The government of Ukraine still hopes that funds will be made available
by the U.S. government to meet the continued needs of this important
program as significant efforts are still required before an alternative
nuclear fuel provider can be qualified in Ukraine. Many experts do not feel
the present program was far enough along to be commercially viable and
still needs further financial support from governments.
It is very clear to experts that Ukraine critically needs to develop the
domestic ability, or a clear alternative supplier from the west for nuclear
fuels. It will not matter much what they do in other areas if they are not
going to become more independent regarding the critical supply of nuclear
fuel they need. -30- [By The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
====================================================
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====================================================
6. "BATTLE FOR THE WTO"
Ukrainian parliament sabotaging WTO entry
ANALYSIS: By Oleksiy Smyrnov
Delovaya Stolitsa, Kiev, in Russian 24 Oct 05; p 4
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sat, Oct 29, 2005
Ukraine's hopes of joining the WTO in December are under threat from the
parliament's refusal to pass the necessary laws, an economic weekly has
said. The country has still to sign protocols with eight countries.
The most difficult negotiations are with Kyrgyzstan, because of old debts,
and with the USA and Australia largely because of agricultural subsidies and
import restrictions.
The following is the text of the article by Oleksiy Smyrnov entitled "Battle
for the WTO" published in the Ukrainian newspaper Delovaya Stolitsa on 24
October; subheadings have been inserted editorially:
There is less than two months for Kiev to fulfill all the obligations for
joining the WTO. Moreover, the most painful questions have been left "for
desert": passing laws in the area of the agro-industrial complex and the
signing of bilateral protocols with the most influential members of the
international trade club.
Nevertheless, the government is full of optimism - cabinet ministers are
already intending to go to Hong Kong for the December conference of
ministers of WTO member countries in order to hear the cherished "yes" in
response to the Ukrainian application to join the organization.
The main task for us now is to prepare all the necessary material for the
sitting of the working group on joining the WTO (the sitting was originally
set for 29 October and was postponed at Kiev's request, and a new date has
not yet been set).
The working group is due to give a positive conclusion in the part regarding
the unification of Ukraine's trade system to the norms and rules of the WTO.
In turn, it would allow the organization's headquarters in Geneva to include
our application on the agenda of the conference of ministers of WTO member
countries starting in Hong Kong on 13 December.
Today of the 42 necessary bilateral protocols it remains for Ukraine to sign
another eight. "We have virtually worked out all the issues with Croatia and
the relevant document will be signed in the immediate future. As far as the
other countries are concerned, there is also agreement with them at expert
level," Economics Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told this paper.
At the present time negotiations are continuing with the USA, Australia,
Columbia, Panama and Kyrgyzstan on access to markets, and with Honduras
and the Dominican Republic concerning reciprocal access to services markets.
Columbia and Panama are raising demands on cutting import duties on cocoa
beans, tropical fruits and palm oil.
A considerable part of these demands has already been fulfilled - on 15
March parliament passed changes to the customs tariff, in accordance with
which duties on exotic fruits (bananas, dates, figs, pineapples, avocados,
guavas, mangos and citrus fruits) were cut on average by half.
The basic bargaining with those countries now surrounds further cuts in
duties on individual goods, but there are no fundamental disagreements
between the negotiators.
PROBLEMS WITH KYRGYZSTAN
The negotiating process with Kyrgyzstan is somewhat more complicated. In
exchange for agreeing to Ukraine's accession to the WTO, it has demanded a
review of the anti-dumping duty in relation to imports of electric light
bulbs of Kyrgyz manufacture.
But the main reason for the as yet unsigned protocol is financial. Bishkek
wants Kiev to recognize and settle an old debt of Ukrainian enterprises. In
1992 Kyrgyzstan supplied us with goods worth about 25m dollars, true, under
a scheme of commodity mutual relations (payments went in the framework of
inter-republican relations within the USSR).
In the Moscow Central Bank at the time the fact of the delivery was
established and it was confirmed that the money was not transferred. Kiev at
one time, while admitting the existence of the debt, did not sign the
relevant documents, and obviously does not intend to do so now.
"The state is not obliged to pay the debts of individual companies. What is
more, if Ukraine agrees to pay back that money, the same will have to be
done with regard to Belarus," former Economics Minister Serhiy Teryokhin
explained.
Again in 1992 Belarusian enterprises transferred funds for buying our goods
(mainly metallurgical and machine-building), but they were not delivered.
And now Minsk is demanding 140m dollars from Kiev.
Experts say that we will be able to reach agreement with Kyrgyzstan even
without creating a precedent for settling old debts. Bishkek can be
persuaded to reconsider its financial demands by its biggest Asian trade
partners with which Ukraine has already signed bilateral protocols on
reciprocal access to markets of goods and services and stipulated the
possibility of such help in the negotiation process.
As for Honduras and the Dominican Republic, with which we are negotiating
on the possibility of free access to the services market, their demands are
entirely resolvable - lifting restrictions for non-residents on taking
management posts (it is a matter of granting foreigners the possibility to
head our educational establishments, financial and other companies). Ukraine
has already promised to agree to this indulgence.
HARD REQUIREMENTS FROM USA AND AUSTRALIA
And yet the main stumbling block is still accords with two countries -
Australia and the USA. They have been asking too high a price for their
consent to our entry to the WTO.
Their demands basically affect cuts in subsidies to the agro-industrial
complex, import duties for motor vehicles and export duties on scrap metal.
The government managed to find a way out of some disputatious questions
with the Americans. "I think that the option that we proposed for resolving
the problem regarding the imports of vehicles is completely acceptable.
They are demanding (formally this condition is being raised by the USA) that
our country accept all vehicles without exception, including ones older than
eight years. We agreed to this, but on condition that the engines in
imported vehicles have to comply with the Euro-3 standard (it establishes
additional requirements including the volume of emissions).
This cuts off completely ancient foreign cars that could have poured on to
our market and offered competition to inexpensive domestic vehicles," our
paper was told by the minister of industrial policy, Volodymyr Shandra.
Another no less problematic question is the export duty on scrap metal. The
Americans are insisting on a substantial cut (by 2010 the duty should
smoothly be cut from 30 euros to 5 euros per tonne). Up to now parliament
has not wanted even to listen to any concessions in this sector.
"Draft laws on the import of foreign cars and duties on scrap metal should
have been tabled for consideration by the Supreme Council [parliament] at
the last session week," Mr Shandra specified. However, the documents were
not even put on the agenda.
In general the US position in the negotiations boils down to this: a
protocol with Ukraine will be signed when we have resolved as a whole all
the questions on joining the WTO.
In other words, in order to get US consent, parliament has to pass all the
government's proposed WTO bills (14 such bills have now been submitted to
the Supreme Council, according to the Economics Ministry), at least the six
basic ones. Apart from the two already mentioned, there is the question of
agricultural laws.
AGRICULTURE COMPLICATIONS
But the deputies, it seems, do not intend to pass them out of principle.
Clear confirmation of that is the situation with the draft law "On export
duty on live cattle and raw leather material" (it proposed setting a zero
export duty on live cattle and halving the duty on raw leather material).
Its approval is a pure formality, since, according to official data, 95.8
per cent of the export of raw leather material is carried out via Moldova
without payment of any export duty at all in the framework of the
agreement on free trade. However, last Tuesday [18 October] the bill
once again failed.
The fate of the other documents so essential for our negotiators is even
vaguer. In summer parliament killed the bills regarding the abolition of
quotas for exports of sugar produced from imported raw material, the
establishment of tariff quotas for imports into Ukraine of raw cane sugar
and the abolition of export subsidies on dairy products.
These laws would have allowed us to fulfill the demands of Australia. Last
week parliament also ostentatiously ignored the bills proposed by the
government "On veterinary medicine" (establishing requirements for the
quality of products of animal origin and the powers of a control body) and
"On protecting rights to plant varieties" (ensuring protection of
intellectual property rights to varieties in accordance with EU standards).
What is more, by approving the draft law on a six-month moratorium on the
import of meat and sub-products of domestic poultry, the deputies even
further complicated the negotiations with WTO favourites: chicken imports
are one of the most painful topics in negotiations with the USA.
All of this is prompting officials of that organization to voice forecasts
depressing for us. Last week the world media reported a statement by the WTO
general director, Pascal Lamy, that Ukraine will not manage to complete
negotiations on joining its ranks by the time of the December conference in
Hong Kong.
However, the government is still hoping. "We are expecting a serious
breakthrough in negotiations with the USA and Australia. An agreement with
America may be signed in a few weeks, during the visit by [Prime Minister]
Yuriy Yekhanurov to Washington," Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk said.
====================================================
7. ONCE AGAIN PRES YUSHCHENKO DIRECTS GOVERNMENT
TO DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO ENSURE UKRAINE
JOINS WTO BY END OF 2005
Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, October 28, 2005
KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko has ordered the Cabinet of Ministers
to do everything possible to ensure that Ukraine joins the World Trade
Organization by the end of 2005. Mr. Yushchenko issued this order during
a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council.
"The authorities is doing everything possible to fulfill the promise on
joining the WTO by the end of 2005. Now, it is very important to complete
the negotiating process," Mr. Yushchenko said. Ukraine has been holding
negotiations on admission into the World Trade Organization for 10 years.
Mr. Yushchenko directed the government to intensify all the negotiation
processes so that the technical procedures on admission of Ukraine into the
WTO can start in early December.
Mr. Yushchenko said that Ukraine's laws are presently being brought in line
with the requirements of the WTO and that a mechanism is being drafted to
protect the interests of domestic manufacturers.
According to experts with the Economics Ministry, Ukraine has met 80%
of the tariff requirements for admission into the WTO. -30-
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8. PRESIDENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO TO MEET WITH LEADERS
OF PARLIAMENTARY FACTIONS AND DEPUTY GROUPS
ON OCTOBER 31 ABOUT NEED TO JOIN THE WTO
Olena Kryvenko, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, October 29, 2005
KYIV - On October 31 President Viktor Yushchenko is expected to hold
a meeting with leaders of parliamentary factions and deputy groups, with a
view of persuading them into passing bills, which Ukraine needs to join the
WTO, NSDC Secretary Anatoliy Kinakh tipped off to journalists in Kyiv
on Saturday.
According to Mr Kinakh, President Viktor Yushchenko has instructed
leading researchers and experts to analyse likely risks of Ukraine's
accedence to the WTO and develop schemes to offset these.
Improvements in Ukraine's custom and investment policies necessitate
well-coordinated Govt-Parliament interactions, Anatoliy Kinakh stressed.
As Anatoliy Kinakh predicted, the bill on boosting state support for the
agroindustrial complex will most certainly trigger a heated debate. The bill
provides for allocating 1.4 bn. UAH to finance the agrarian sector's
development.
If the bill fails to be passed, Ukraine may lose almost 40 percent of its
agricultural production capacity through joining the WTO, Mr Kinakh
contended. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
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9. PRES SECRETARIAT CHIEF OLEH RYBACHUK NOTES
SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON UKRAINE'S WAY TO WTO
Hennadiy Chernenko, Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri, Oct 28, 2005
KYIV - Presidential Secretariat Chief of Staff Oleh Rybachuk noted
significant progress in Ukraine's movement toward the World Trade
Organization at a Friday news briefing.
"We've reached a significant progress in the process of signing a bipartite
agreement with America", Mr Rybachuk noted, having stressed that it
"will surely promote our membership in the WTO".
A Ukrainian delegation are going to visit the USA for continuing
negotiations to this end in the near days. As Oleh Rybachuk stressed,
Ukraine is not negotiating with Russia on synchronization of its accession
to the WTO, as it is technically impossible.
He said that he expects much of the December 1 Yushchenko - Blair Summit,
on which Ukraine's gaining the market economy status and simplification of
the visa regime depend. -30- [Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=====================================================
10. SPEAKER LYTVYN PROPOSES MEETING OF YUSCHENKO,
GOVERNMENT AND PARLIAMENT LEADERS ON MONDAY TO
DETERMINE LAWS REQUIRED FOR WTO ADMISSION
Ukrinform, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Oct 28, 2005
KYIV - Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn has proposed convening
a meeting of President Viktor Yushchenko, government representatives,
and representatives of parliamentary fractions and groups on Monday
to determine a list of the laws that the parliament needs to approve in
order to ensure Ukraine's admission into the World Trade
Organization.
Mr. Lytvyn made the proposal at a meeting of the National Security and
Defense Council on Friday. Mr. Lytvyn stressed that his own position is
that there is no alternative to membership of the WTO.
He also stressed the need to clearly outline the advantages of membership
of the WTO as well as the risks involved. -30-
=====================================================
11. DNIPROPETROVSK HOSTS "MADE IN UKRAINE"
FURNITURE-HOME FURNISHINGS FAIR
By Ihor Yatsenko, FirsTnews, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat, October 29, 2005
With its large forests and tracts of timberland, Ukraine should be a natural
as a major supplier of furniture and other wood-base furnishings. However,
the domestic industry has suffered from a lack of investment and a
reputation as failing to meet necessary standards of quality and style to
attract export buyers.
Finally, there are signs that at least some of the problems have been
overcome and better quality wood products may begin to realize their
potential as part of the country's exports.
DNIPROPETROVSK, Oct. 28 (FirsTnews) -- Dnipropetrovsk is hosting
"Made in Ukraine" - from Oct. 27-29, the first event in a series emphasizing
the quality and variety of products made in the country.
The joint project, organized by USAID/BIZPRO in cooperation with the
American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, is to demonstrate furniture and
home furnishings made by Ukrainian manufacturers and promote them to
potential overseas and domestic wholesale buyers.
During the opening ceremony, Patrick Raider, director of USAID/BIZPRO for
Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus said that Ukrainian furniture and furnishing is
made with high quality and competitive by its price. "Through the "Made in
Ukraine" series, we think there is going to be an increasing trading and
investment in the sector," Raider said.
This is the first mission in the sphere of trade and investment that is
targeted to promote sectors of Ukrainian economy and attract foreign
investment and partners to Ukrainian enterprises, Tetyana Dudka said.
During the last one and a half years USAID/BIZPRO has been developing
several economic sectors including furniture and furnishing, construction
materials, fruit and vegetable processing, tourism in Crimea and
information-communications.
"There are about 37 Ukrainian furniture and furnishing manufacturers from 16
oblasts are exhibiting their goods while so far businessmen from about 17
foreign countries including EU, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Russia,
U.S. Scandinavian countries have confirmed their attendance at the fair,"
Dudka said.
The fair, the first of its kind, seems to have been met with enthusiasm by
domestic participants. "This is the first time when we cooperated with the
American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine; however we are planning to
continue cooperation in the future.
This is just the first step and if we will not sign worthwhile agreement on
selling our products in terms of this fair, at least we will learn the
principles of dealing with Western companies and in the future we will be
able to participate in similar events on more advanced level," said Andriy
Otkidach, manager of export department for Enran company from Kyiv.
Courtney Zukoski, a trade an investment promotion specialist, added, "It's
believed that Ukrainians do not have good production of furniture and home
furnishings. We want to show here that there is a very good quality stuff
that made locally.
Secondly, [we want] to promote it to foreign markets as well as
domestically, to show, for instance, Metro Cash and Carry and other
furniture stores things that could be sourced locally."
In order to attract potential buyers and investors from Western Europe and
businessmen from CIS countries, the event was promoted through numerous
organizations including the Chamber and its partners abroad.
Also, the Embassy of Ukraine, foreign embassies in Ukraine, consulting
firms, and international magazines played a role in the promotion. Prior to
the fair all registered potential buyers received list of participants and
the description of their products.
USAID/BIZPRO has been working with furnishing and furniture
manufacturers and also cooperated with the Ukrainian Association of
Furniture Manufacturers for the past year and a half.
"Although there were no special conditions to select participants for the
fair, we have here the most reliable Ukrainian manufacturers of furniture or
furnishing, those who are interested in expanding sales or exports - or
looking for partnership - both in Ukraine and abroad," Dudka said.
The USAID/BIZPRO project provided the participants with an area in the
Dnipropetrovsk exposition center on a free-of-charge basis. Participants
were required to cover transportation of their goods and their own expenses
during the fair.
The event is being held simultaneously with Uyut (comfort), an alternative
furniture exhibition in Dnipropetrovsk, so potential buyers are able to
visit both events.
"While chemicals and steel have been important drivers of Ukraine's
economy, as Ukraine is interested in WTO, the diversification of Ukraine's
economy will be extremely important." Raider said.
In addition to highlighting a certain economic sector the fair also
showcased Dnipropetrovsk region, long a center of Ukraine's major
industrial operations.
Commenting on quality of the goods exhibited, Raider said: "The quality is
very high and design is good. That is what we are trying to highlight."
Ukrainian manufacturers are not very well familiar with the requirements of
the modern market where they try to sell their products, Raider said. In
order to fill the gap, USAID/BIZPRO have been trying to help companies to
get the design and other criteria correct to meet, for instance, standards
of the U.S. market, he added.
"We found that some Ukrainian producers feel that since something is
selling well in Kyiv that it would also sell well in Los Angeles, but it
doesn't. Better knowledge of the market is one thing that we are trying
to emphasize." Raider said.
"The main strategy is to position "Made in Ukraine" as a brand that stands
for high quality of goods and signifies that Ukraine can compete and win in
the global economy," Raider said.
"We expect that "Made in Ukraine" will attract foreign investment to
Ukraine, introduce high quality Ukrainian goods on international markets
and also increase sales of companies that are exhibiting here," he added.
"But the government should break down barriers in terms of over-regulation
and regulatory policy. One of the main things is to implement quick
deregulation and the permit system law in order to promote Ukrainian
business," Raider said.
In February USAID/BIZPRO is planning to hold a similar event on
construction materials in Kyiv while in April it will focus on tourism in
Crimea, Raider said. -30- [Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.firstnews.com.ua/en/article.html?id=118092
=====================================================
12. UKRAINE DUMPS NUCLEAR WASTES AND CHEMICAL
POISONS AT RUSSIA'S BORDERS
Ukraine's activities with poisonous and radioactive activities
may result in another Chernobyl
PRAVDA.RU, Moscow, Russia, Fri, Oct 28, 200510/28/2005
When the notorious orange revolution finally ended in Ukraine and Viktor
Yushchenko took the office of the Ukrainian President, the official Kiev
gave a secret promise to several Western states.
Ukrainian politicians said that the state was ready to accept spent nuclear
fuel and chemical wastes from the West. Strangely enough, Yushchenko
did not have enough money to build up-to-date burial facilities for it.
Ukraine had to abide by its obligation, though, taking into consideration
the fact that it was receiving adequate financial assistance from the West.
The solution was found quickly: the Ukrainian administration decided to
dump the radioactive and toxic garbage very close to Russia's borders.
There are a lot of desolate mines in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of
Ukraine, so it was decided to use the mines as storage facilities.
Nuclear and chemical wastes were buried in several mines and quarries very
close to settlements. It is worthy of note that the abandoned coal mines are
not equipped to house such dangerous cargoes. Therefore, Ukraine may
experience another Chernobyl in the event a state of emergency occurs there.
Russia's territory is situated very close to the mines. Nuclear dust may
cover six Russian regions. To crown it all, such a perspective does not seem
to be exciting for Europeans either, who still shudder at the sound of the
word "Chernobyl."
The Taiwanese newspaper Independent Morning Post has recently published
a sensational material. Ukraine, the newspaper wrote, sold over 500 tons of
warfare agent, sarine, to China several years ago. This poisonous gas had
been stored in Ukraine for years, during the existence of the Soviet Union.
Ukraine decided to get rid of the dangerous substance before international
inspectors could find it: sarine was sold to China. It goes without saying
that Kiev has been rejecting any accusations of illegal sales, nor has it
acknowledged the fact of storing other internationally banned poisonous
substances.
Ukraine's then-commander of radioactive and chemical defense, Viktor
Litvak, told reporters several years ago that there were practically no
warfare agents in Ukraine. The official acknowledged the presence of a
meager quantity of mustard gas and a kilo of phosgene.
Viktor Yushchenko is certain, though, that the real state of affairs is
different: the now-resigned Secretary of the Ukrainian Security Council,
Peter Poroshenko, informed Yushchenko of the opposite quite a while ago.
However, the Ukrainian government does not seem to be willing to inform
neighbors of its commercial "chemical" activities.
Ukrainian media outlets report about numerous occurrences of poisoning
among the population living in various parts of the country. Children living
in the settlement of Khomutets, the Poltava region of Ukraine, have been
suffering from a whole bouquet of diseases for almost seven years: the loss
of eyesight and memory, pancreatitis, etc.
The territory of the settlement has been contaminated as a result of leakage
of an unknown poisonous substance.
There are over 50 military chemical objects in Ukraine. However, there is
absolutely no information about them whatsoever. Specialists of ecology
have never succeeded to obtain comprehensive data about the state of
affairs on those warehouses and test grounds.
Agents of the Ukrainian security service have recently detained three
officers, who tried to sell 80 kilos of strong poison, chloropicrin, which
they had stolen from a warehouse. This fact proves that Ukraine does not
hurry to bid farewell to its Soviet past. (Translated by: Dmitry Sudakov)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/88/354/16381_nuclear.html
=====================================================
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=====================================================
13. U.S. BAN ON BELUGA CAVIAR IMPORTS GROWS TO
INCLUDE BLACK SEA BASIN INCLUDING UKRAINE
John Heilprin, AP Worldstream, Washington, D.C., Fri, Oct 28, 2005
WASHINGTON - The U.S. government on Friday banned imports of
beluga caviar and the sturgeon that produces the expensive eggs
originating from the Black Sea basin.
Imports of beluga sturgeon, both its meat and eggs, will no longer be
allowed from Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, the Russian Federation, Serbia
and Montenegro, Turkey, and Ukraine, the Interior Department's Fish and
Wildlife Service said.
The ban is in addition to the agency's announcement on Sept. 30 that it
was suspending all trade in the beluga sturgeon's caviar and meat from the
Caspian Sea.
Interior Secretary Gale Norton said the bans would continue "until there is
significant progress" with conservation programs in the Caspian and Black
Sea regions.
"That's the key to the ultimate recovery of this threatened species," she
said. "We're hopeful that this action will bring renewed attention to the
plight of the beluga sturgeon, and that it will encourage the range
countries to work to ensure its conservation."
A year ago, Fish and Wildlife officials listed all beluga sturgeon
populations as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act, a lesser
category than "endangered." The decisions came in response to a
December 2000 petition from a U.S.-based environmental coalition,
Caviar Emptor.
Most of the world's beluga caviar is imported by the United States, usually
originating from the Caspian and Black seas. Trade in beluga caviar is
overseen by the United Nations' Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, based in
Geneva, Switzerland. -30- [Action Ukraine Report Monitoring]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the Net: Fish and Wildlife: http://endangered.fws.gov; CITES:
http://www.cites.org; Caviar Emptor: http://www.caviaremptor.org
=====================================================
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14. UKRAINE PROPERTY FIRM SET TO FLOAT ON THE LONDON
STOCK EXCHANGE BY THE END OF THIS YEAR
By Richard Orange, The Business Line
London, United Kingdom, Sunday, October 30, 2005
ONE of the Ukraine's largest property developers, XXI Century, is set to
float on the London Stock Exchange by the end of this year, in a move that
will value the company at as much as £300m (E440m, $530m).
The company, the second ever Ukrainian firm to seek a London listing, has
hired Dutch bank ING to prepare it for the float, The Business has learnt.
XXI Century is expected to be the first in a series of Ukrainian
entrepreneurial firms the bank will bring to market over the next year.
XXI Century, founded by Ukrainian-born Georgian Lev Partskhaladze, has
seen the value of its portfolio expand eightfold in five years, and floating
it on the London exchange will allow it to raise its international profile.
It develops shopping centres, high-end apartment blocks, business centres,
and fast food restaurants, predominantly in Ukraine's capital Kiev.
"They've been looking at raising capital on western financial markets for a
while," said a Kiev-based corporate financier.
"It's like Ukrproduct. They're just a small dairy company, but now they are
in London, they are serious. That's probably worth the hundred thousand
dollars it cost," added the financier.
Ukrproduct, which makes processed cheese and butter, raised £6m on
London's Aim growth market in February, drawing in 18 investment funds
and 33 private investors.
ING has been targeting Ukrainian businesses built from scratch by their
owners. It argues that the country's industrial conglomerates, which would
generate far larger fees, pose too many problems, because of the
complicated way many of them gained the assets from the state. -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have your say e-mail: letters@thebusiness.press.net
LINK: http://www.thebusinessonline.com/
=====================================================
15. LARGE SCALE PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN
JORDANIAN-UKRAINIAN INVESTMENT FORUM IN NOVEMBER
Petra, Jordan News Agency, Amman, Jordan, Sat, Oct 29, 2005
AMMAN - A large number of Jordanian investors and business leaders will
be taking a part in the Jordanian-Ukrainian investment forum to be organized
by Ukraine Chamber of Commerce and Industry next month, said Amman
Chamber of Commerce Chairman Haider Murad.
During his meeting with Ukrainian Ambassador in Amman Victor Nagaychuk,
Murad discussed ways to further boost economic and trade ties between the
two countries.
The two sides discussed the ongoing preparations for the joint
Jordanian-Ukrainian economic committee meeting to held late next month.
They also discussed preparation for the investment forum that will be
attended by a delegation representing the Jordanian chambers of
commerce and industry.
Murad attributed development of relations between the two countries to
His Majesty King Abdullah II's continued efforts to strengthen Jordan's
economic relations with all friendly countries around the world.
During the economic committee meeting a number of agreements will be
reached covering a wide range of economic activities, Murad told Petra.
Trade balance in strongly in favor of Ukraine and Jordan's exports to
Ukraine stood at JD5.8 million last year whereas imports reached a total
of JD243.6 million. -30- [Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
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LINK: http://www.petra.gov.jo/nepras/2005/Oct/29/28452100.htm
=====================================================
Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.
=====================================================
16. DUTCH TBIH FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP TO BUY
50% OF UKRAINE'S VABANK
IntelliNews-Ukraine Today, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri, October 28, 2005
Dutch TBIH Financial Services Group concluded an agreement with major
shareholders of VABank on purchasing 50% stake of the bank. According to
representatives of Kardan N.V., that includes TBIH, at the first stage of
the deal company will buy 9.55% stake in VABank for USD 8.75mn.
At the same time Kardan N.V will give USD 16.25mn credit to VABank. At
the second stage after receiving necessary permission from the state and
the NBU TBIH will enlarge its stake in the bank to 27.3% by converting
the given credit into bank's own capital.
Dutch company also agreed with VABank's shareholders about USD 50mn
investment in the bank during H1/06. In future TBIN plans to own 98% of
the bank together with the current shareholders of VABank.
In case TBIN does not receive permission to buy the 50% stake in the bank
until June 2006 it will sells 9.55% stake in VABank. -30-
=====================================================
17. LIVING WITH UKRAINIAN TV
She has special reason to hate commercial breaks
Letter-to-the-Editor: by Joanna McMenamin
BBC News Magazine, United Kingdom, Friday, Oct 28, 2005
With the demise of Pete Clifton's "Editor's Column", we are launching a
column written by you, the readers and users of this site. If there's a
subject you are passionate about - whether you love it or hate it - let us
know using the form below.
Today, Magazine reader Joanna McMenamin explains why she has special
reason to hate commercial breaks.
Where I live, the advert breaks in programmes are so long I once walked away
from the TV, had a shower, washed my hair, made a cup of tea and still made
it back to the couch before the show started again. Welcome to commercial
breaks, Ukraine-style.
I met my boyfriend Vlad in Berlin, where we worked in the ballet. When the
season finished he returned to Ukraine and we did the long distance thing
for a year, until he convinced me to try working on an act with him. As it's
quite difficult for east Europeans to travel freely, I moved to Kiev.
It's been exceedingly difficult for me not to judge Ukrainian culture by its
advertising. If nothing else, I think it reflects the culture's stage of
development in regard to gender equality. For example, I have yet to see a
single advert where a man does any kind of domestic activity.
DISBELIEF
There's one commercial for a stove where a husband in a suit, complete with
brief case, arrives home and says the classic line: "Honey, I'm home." His
small son hurls himself at his father's legs and shouts: "Papa!". The trophy
wife in a frilly pinny looks on fondly.
With a game-show flourish of her hand over the stove top, she proudly lists
the 12 things she cooked for dinner that night. The husband shakes his head
in disbelief and says: "Wow." The whole thing ends with the three of them
gathered around the amazing appliance.
Beer commercials are more reminiscent of early 80s advertising. They
consist mostly of men on fishing or camping trips, doing manly things
that are rewarded with a cold beer.
I just love it at the end where they take a long swig, smack their chops in
satisfaction and inevitably wipe their mouths on the back of their hands.
Classic.
I've never seen so many adverts for toothpaste, shampoo, fridges and, of
course, vodka. Surprisingly, car and computer ads are relatively few and far
between. There are of course the mobile phone company wars and, as in
other countries, an unnatural obsession with ring tones.
VOMIT
Once again, we see a middle-aged wifey tidying in the kitchen, with her
frilled apron and 50s-style hair. From another room her husband shouts
imperiously: "Coffee!".
Frowning slightly at the tone, she never the less begins preparations for
making coffee. "Vodka!" yells her husband. Alarmed now, she scurries
around the kitchen looking for vodka and a glass. I don't understand the
Russian here, but the husband shouts another order, whereupon she
frantically starts making something to eat.
"Angelina Jolie!" screams the voice from the other room. This time he's gone
too far. She slams down the knife she was using and marches into the living
room to investigate. On stepping into the room, the husband punches the air
in triumph as he answers yet another question correctly from the game show
on TV.
Wifey plops down next to him on the sofa heaving a big sigh of relief. She
then laughs at herself for ever having doubted him. I could honestly vomit
every time I see this ad. It's making me gag just writing about it.
Between the adverts, you will find interesting documentaries and films,
Ukrainian TV is very international.
As well as the latest from America, you can see soaps from Brazil, Spain,
Greece and Russia, drama series from Germany and Denmark, classic
comedies from France, and Soviet films that touched me even though I
couldn't understand a single word of them. -30-
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LINK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4384624.stm
=====================================================
17. AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV LAUGHS AT WORDS
"ORANGE REVOLUTION" WHICH APPEAR ON POSTERS
After Aliyev was reminded that the opposition, which is claimed
to be supported by the US and western countries, used the colors
reminding the orange revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia in their
posters he said: "I laugh at them.
Turks.US website, Florida, Sunday, October 30 2005
Azerbaijan will not experience the kind of civil revolutions Ukraine,
Georgia and Kyrgyzstan suffered, he told a group of Turkish journalists.
"I can only laugh [at such remarks]," said Aliyev in connection to the
words "orange revolution," which appear on the posters of the opposition.
"Rings no longer make sense to the Azerbaijanis," said Aliyev after he
stressed that Azerbaijan will not mimic the events took place in other
countries. The President set the integration with the West and the
improvement of the democratic way of life as the two basic goals Azerbaijan
should pursue; the latest regulations will leave no room for doubt about the
election, he argued.
He invited the opposition leader, Resul Guliyev, to go to court and to be
acquitted. Azerbaijan's official relations with Turkey cannot possibly be
compared with those among other countries, Aliyev said at the Presidential
House.
Calling sister countries and the member countries of the Organization of the
Islamic Conference (OIC), among other countries, to take action for saving
Cyprus from the unfair situation it desperately remains in. Aliyev recalled
their request for the removal of the sanctions on Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
As for the question of Karabagh, he focused on their $600 million share
budget that will be spent for military purposes. This issue will be solved
through the Azerbaijani administration's own efforts he messaged.
"There are not and will not be foreign military troops in Azerbaijan. We
closed that chapter with the Washington administration," the Azerbaijani
leader said in respect to the foreign demands for the military bases.
The Azerbaijani president also touched upon the subject of dismissal of two
ministers and one manager of the administrative affairs. "It is hard to give
a resolute answer to this question. Only the legal process will determine
whether or not to go on.
Any ordinary man is considered to have the same rights as any ministers by
law," Aliyev replied to the question of whether there will be further cases
of arrest. If the statements that the detainees confessed were put into
action, Azerbaijan would face major difficulties right now, feared Aliyev:
"[But] this has been stopped from taking place, and such situations will
never happen."
Worries and concerns about the election have ended, he assured, reminding
that two sets of decrees were released in the subject matter. "1,500
international observers are watching over the election.
The government allowed poll surveys to be conducted for the first time.
There is not any imposition on propagandas. The voters will have to mark
their finger with a pint of dye.
There were 400 candidates last year, now there are two thousand
candidacies. There is not an atmosphere to shadow the legitimacy of
the elections."
After Aliyev was reminded that the opposition, which is claimed to be
supported by the US and western countries, used the colors reminding the
orange revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia in their posters he said: "I laugh
at them.
Everything should be solved on legal bases in Azerbaijan. I call them to
leave stones and sticks. Because the period of gathering people at streets
finished in Azerbaijan and will never be repeated again." Azerbaijan is a
powerful country, he further said, and foreign influences will never be the
determining authority of the country.
The foreign support for the opposition does not reflect the facts and the
luckiest party in the elections is ruling New Azerbaijan Party, he deemed
confidently.
The Azeri Leader made a call to one of the opposition leaders Guliyev, who
is on exile in the US, and said: "Guliyev is member of an international
mafia. He stole more than $100 million from Azerbaijan. I call him to come
and to be cleared in the court."
According to the Azeri president, Guliyev entered politics in order to
blanket his robbery. Aliyev replied to the question "How can somebody,
who is searched with red bulletin, live in the US, is there a cooperation?"
with "Ask this question to the Americans."
Turkish Journalists also brought to the agenda the claims that the Americans
will establish a military base in Azerbaijan. "There is no soldier of any
foreign country in Azerbaijan," he eluded, "we do not have the intention to
bring foreign soldiers here. The powers who do not want us release these
kinds of gossips.
We have good relations with NATO. We evaluate these topics realistically.
We take steps considering our facilities and the balances in the region."
President Aliyev noted that they think positive about the Central Asia Union
offer of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev as a part of relations
with the Turkish World.
Aliyev expressed his sorrow for not organizing the Turkish Republics summit
in recent years and offered Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and
Nazarbayev to organize a tripartite meeting if necessary during the opening
ceremony of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. -30-
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LINK: http://www.turks.us/article.php?story=20051030043329663
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18. HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS SHARE THEIR NIGHTMARE STORIES
When Dodik was 15, he and his family lived in town of Bar, Ukraine
Sixty years later, Semen Dodik is still working to educate people
about the Holocaust and liberation.
By Jennifer Cathey, The Daily News Journal
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Sunday, October 30, 2005
MURFREESBORO, Tennessee - Judy Cohen was hiding in a dirty,
cramped barn when she found out about liberation and the end of
World War II.
She knew because the mayor to the town addressed her as "fraulein"
instead of a derogatory term used during the war to address Jewish
people. Outside the barn, all the flags bearing swastikas has been
replaced.
The mayor of the town told the then 16-year-old Cohen and her friends
that the U.S. Army was six kilometers away and Russian liberators were
10 kilometers away. Since they were tried and worn already, they went
to the Americans.
Sixty years later, she's still sharing her story. Cohen along with other
Holocaust survivors and liberators told their tales to an audience in
MTSU's [Middle Tennessee State University] James Union Building
Friday afternoon.
Those gathered for the free Honoring Survivors and Liberators of the
Holocaust session heard first-hand tales of the horrors and how the
oppressed people eventually continued living. The session was part of
the biannual Holocaust Conference on campus [Middle Tennessee
State University].
After beginning to recover from her ordeal, Cohen returned to her native
Hungary in search of family and friends. "Then and only then came the
anguish of my heart in finding out if I was still anybody's sister," she
said.
Cohen was eventually reunited with one sister and one brother, but Cohen
discovered that out of 91 relatives, only 16 survived. Cohen and her
siblings moved to Canada in 1948.
Cohen learned new skills, a new language and a new zest for life. She
traveled often and liked to see as much of her new home as she could.
"I tended to be a little bit of a hippie," she said.
Eventually, Cohen did marry and raise two children. Now, in her retirement,
she speaks to people about her survival. Survivors like Cohen, said
University of Alabama professor Steven Jacobs, are the people who inspire
him most. Jacobs' father was a Holocaust survivor.
"I am the son of a survivor escapee of the nightmare," Jacobs said. Jacobs
explained that during the Holocaust 150 members of his family were
murdered. Only seven survived. One of the survivors was his father.
The Jewish community Jacobs grew up in was close-knit. Many of the people
he was close to as a child were Holocaust survivors. He learned to pray in
synagogues alongside survivors. "I grew up in the world of survivors," he
said. "I knew as a child the numbers on the arm."
Semen Dodik, a Russian Jew who flew to Tennessee from Moscow, spoke
to the conference through a translator about his experience of being a
Holocaust survivor.
When Dodik was 15, he lived with his family in the town of Bar, Ukraine.
Within weeks of war breaking out, Bar was occupied by the Germans.
The local Jewish population was quickly rounded up and placed in a ghetto,
where they remained, Dodik said, cold and starving under the threat of
execution for a little more than a year.
"On Aug. 19, we were all driven out to a stadium and three German
Sonderkommandos began sorting people. Those who were able to work
were taken to one side. Those who could not work, which included
children, the elderly, women with children and the disabled, on the other.
The group consisting of about 3,000 who could not work were taken to
execution to the ditches that were dug in advance. They were brutally
murdered," he said. "On that day, my mother was executed."
Sixty years later, Dodik is still working to educate people about the
Holocaust and liberation.
James Dorris, a 20-year-old American soldier during World War II, helped
liberate the concentration camp at Dachau. He was marching toward
Munich when his orders changed. He was going to Dachau.
"About a mile off from the camp, there was a terrible, terrible odor from
the crematory," Dorris said. "As we got closer to the camp, we found 40
box cars full of bodies."
After the unit shot dogs guarding the gates of Dachau, Dorris was given
orders to walk in the area between a fence and a tall wall. It was there the
soldier first encountered the prisoners held in the camp.
"I'd been through the Battle of the Bulge ... Nothing was as bad as this,"
he said. "I looked up at the sky and said, 'God, get me out of this place.'"
Since helping liberate the grateful people of the concentration camp, Dorris
has returned to Europe. He went back to Dachau on the 50th anniversary
of liberation in 1995.
Art Pais survived the Holocaust. "I was born and raised in Lithuania," he
said. When the Germans came, Pais was away at summer camp. His family
was in the capital, where his brother and sister were studying at
university.
Pais said that he believes luck did play a role in surviving the Holocaust.
Those slaving at the factory where Pais worked died of starvation at the
rate of 30 or 35 people per day.
Just ahead of the American liberators, Pais and those with him were taken
on a five day death march. Any who dropped or fell behind were shot.
Eventually, the survivors of the march were liberated by the American
army.
Pais' skills in English eventually helped him gain jobs as a translator and
finally brought his family to the United States. Pais finished school and
then finished his college education. He started a successful business and
raised four well-educated children with his wife.
"You let go," he said of the memories. -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Jennifer Cathey, jcathey@dnj.com, http://www.dnj.com/
=====================================================
Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.
=====================================================
19. "SUMMONING SPIRITS"
Ukrainian folk culture "The Rusalka Cycle: Songs Between the Worlds"
Acclaimed Ukrainian-born vocalist and composer Mariana Sadovska
By Andrew Gilbert, Freelance Writer, SFGate, San Francisco Chronicle,
San Francisco, California, Sunday, October 30, 2005
In the shadow of Chernobyl, the naked female spirits known as Rusalki rest
uneasily in the earth, emerging from the brackish waters and dark woods to
lure hapless wanderers with their enthralling songs.
It may sound like the plot of a Ukrainian horror film, but the ancient
Slavic myths are grist for Kitka's ambitious new production, "The Rusalka
Cycle: Songs Between the Worlds," which premieres over two consecutive
weekends at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts in Oakland starting
Nov. 12.
Working with stage director Ellen Sebastian Chang and the acclaimed
Ukrainian-born vocalist and composer Mariana Sadovska, the eight-woman
Bay Area a cappella ensemble has created an evening-length work that draws
upon age-old songs used to summon, appease and commune with the
Rusalki.
The spirits of women who have died untimely or unjust deaths, the Rusalki
are thought to mediate between the human world and the natural realms of
animals, weather and seasonal cycles.
Though the folk opera was years in the making, its numerous references to
drowned women and nature in upheaval give the project an undeniably
topical frisson.
"In so much of Rusalki imagery, these women are naked and wet, coming up
through the earth," Chang says during a post-rehearsal round-table interview
at Lake Merritt Church with Sadovska, Kitka Artistic Director Shira Cion and
co-director Juliana Graffagna.
"When Mariana arrived here, the bodies were literally floating in the water
in New Orleans. And here's this music talking about the waves, and this
daughter calling to her dead mother, 'Can you come to me, can you come to
me?' And the mother is saying, 'I cannot cross. There's earth in my lungs.'
We've had a couple of rehearsals where everyone just stops in wonder."
Even before Katrina hit, Kitka saw the project through an environmental
lens, conscious of the fact that many of the songs hail from villages
stricken by the world's worst nuclear accident.
"The region where Rusalki are still alive in the Ukraine is still affected
by Chernobyl," says Sadovska. "Kitka and Ellen's intuition that the project
had to be connected somehow to the environment was right. The oldest
pre-Christian rituals are from this place that neither fascism nor communism
managed to destroy, but was devastated by ecological disaster."
Rather than devise a linear narrative, Chang felt that "The Rusalka Cycle"
could be carried by the emotional force of the music. With lighting by Jack
Carpenter, spare sets and evocative costumes, the production is designed to
travel light, so that Kitka can take it on the road. The women's voices will
be accompanied by minimal instrumentation of cello and percussion.
The ensemble, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last month with a gala
concert featuring some 30 former Kitka members, established its
international reputation by bringing a contemporary perspective to the
sumptuous harmonies, striking dissonances and angular rhythms of songs
from Slavic, Balkan, Baltic and other Eastern European lands.
"Part of the impulse of this project was to make a piece about Kitka, who we
are as American artists doing music from the other side of the world, that
isn't necessarily our native folk music, but speaks to us really strongly,"
says Cion.
Seeds for the "Rusalka" project were planted when Cion heard a 1997 Cal
Performances program "A Russian Village Festival" that included one song
about the Rusalki. The powerful imagery and music stuck with her, and after
years of grant writing and several false starts, an international search for
a composer led to Sadovska.
Now living in Cologne, Germany, Sadovska spent a dozen years doing field
research in Ukraine, gathering songs and rituals in rural villages.
Once she signed on with Kitka, Sadovska insisted that Chang and the group
travel with her to Ukraine to experience the music and rituals firsthand.
There's been a revival of interest in Ukraine's dwindling folk culture since
the nation gained independence with the Soviet Union's breakup.
When the Kitka entourage arrived in the village of Havronshchyna for
Provedu Rusalok, a ritual in which the old women of the village lead the
Rusalki back to their underworld homes, they joined a throng of observers,
including a TV crew from Kiev and several ornery ethnomusicologists.
"There were a couple of times where I thought about Zora Neale Hurston
saying that when the anthropologists arrive, the spirit departs," Chang
says. "I kept having the feeling that now that we're here, the Rusalki have
gone back under the earth. But as the evening went on and the eight
grandmothers started singing, it was magic."
Thousands of women across the region used to participate in the Provedu
Rusalok ritual, but the passing of the old generation and the evacuations
forced by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster meant that the Rusalka songs were
on the verge of fading into memory.
Kitka's arrival seemed to bolster the grandmothers, as Sadovska had taught
the ensemble several of the Rusalka songs.
"That was part of the miracle which makes Kitka different from all the
tourists," Sadovska says. "Even though Kitka came from far away, from
America, they knew the songs. As the grandmothers were ending a verse, they
were so thankful and happy their voices were supported with these young
voices."
KITKA performs "The Rusalka Cycle" in a preview at 8 p.m. Nov. 11, then
at 8 p.m. Nov. 12, 2 p.m. Nov. 13 and 8 p.m. Nov. 19-20 at Malonga
Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. $23-$26.
(925) 798-1300, www.kitka.org. -30-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew Gilbert is a freelance writer. http://www.sfgate.com/
=====================================================
20. UKRAINE AND NATO:
TODAY REALISM, TOMORROW MEMBERSHIP?
ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY: By James Sherr (1)
Zerkalo Nedeli, Mirror-Weekly, No. 42 (570)
International Social Political Weekly
Kyiv, Ukraine, Sat Oct 29-Nov 5, 2005
When NATO's Secretary General visited Kyiv last week, he left ? clear
impression: NATO membership is a realistic possibility for Ukraine. He
discussed this possibility with the usual 'performance related' conditions,
but without any irony.
Yet eleven months after crowds began to converge on the Maidan, the irony
should be obvious. The Maidan is what created this 'realistic possibility'.
Yet the crowds on the Maidan had nothing further from their minds. They
did not risk their livelihoods and lives in order that Ukraine should join
NATO.
They put themselves at risk in order that Ukraine, finally, would have
leaders who governed for the benefit of the country, rather than themselves.
It is no secret that, nine months after President Yushchenko's inauguration,
many Ukrainians believe their expectations have not been met, and some even
believe that they have been betrayed.
It is also no secret that public discussion of NATO takes place in an
atmosphere of ignorance and, even within some Orange bastions, suspicion.
NATO is acutely aware of these facts, and the Secretary General demonstrated
this awareness both in what he said and in the very public forums in which
he chose to say it. Ukraine's Minister of Defence, Anatoliy Grytsenko, is
equally aware of these facts.
When he told the Vilnius meeting of NATO defence ministers that the
perceptions of ordinary Ukrainians were a greater obstacle to membership
than the perceptions of Russia, he knew he was strengthening the conclusion
they had already reached.
When he stated that democratic transformations mattered more to Ukraine's
membership prospects than defence reform, he reaffirmed NATO orthodoxy
(and the connection between public trust and national security); but he also
demonstrated his awareness that in a democracy it is up to Ukraine's
government, not NATO, to convince Ukraine's citizens that membership is in
their interests.
To judge from his recent statements, President Yushchenko has finally got
this message himself.
For all this sobriety and wisdom, the NATO visit to Kyiv and the
NATO-Ukraine meeting in Vilnius took place in a spirit of optimism as well
as realism. Why the optimism? Not all is well in the Orange kingdom, and it
is no longer impolite to say so.
[FIRST] Despite this all too glaring fact, most NATO governments are
confident that Ukraine's difficulties are now being addressed in an
authentically democratic framework and, despite concerns about the recent
political crisis, they are reasonably confident that the March elections
will neither damage this framework nor dismantle it.
SECOND, nearly every professional involved in the practical business of
NATO-Ukraine cooperation detects a psychological change. Whereas only
recently the relationship reflected a frustrating balance between
substantive and 'virtual' elements (and a large dose of chicanery), today
the relationship unfolds in a context of joint work, plain speaking and a
refreshing absence of manipulation and guile.
THIRD, NATO governments recall that, as the accession process got under
way, Hungarian, Slovak and Romanian perceptions of NATO changed
markedly for the better.
Naively or otherwise, they ask why it should be significantly more difficult
to persuade Ukrainians that:
[1] If Ukraine wishes to belong to the Euro-Atlantic community of commerce,
values and freedoms, it makes sense to belong to its security arrangements;
[2] It is better to be a decision maker than a bystander, particularly when
one is talking about what even President Kuchma called 'the most effective
structure of collective security in Europe'. And although formal equality
and actual equality are two different things, the blunt fact is that if
Ukraine opposes a future NATO operation in the Balkans or a further
expansion of activity in Afghanistan, then NATO will not be doing these
things, and Ukraine will not be doing them either;
[3]It is best to recognise that a country cannot reinvent its geography. To
quote Kuchma again, 'Ukraine is not Switzerland'. Neither is it China, and
it is difficult to see how Ukraine can, on its own, overcome its security
vulnerabilities without impoverishing itself and creating new ones.
The point of NATO is that burdens are shared. The essence of NATO is
that no country confronting a threat should be left to confront it alone.
[4] Tradeoffs matter as well as costs. No doubt, it will cost Ukraine more
to be secure inside NATO than insecure outside it. But it will cost even
more to be secure outside it.
Is it too optimistic for NATO to hope that these points can be presented to
the Ukrainian public with conviction and accepted with confidence? Possibly
it is, but as every NATO member understands, all the subordinate clauses
depend upon the first: 'if Ukraine wishes to belong to the Euro-Atlantic
community'.
After all, there is another model of 'firm good neighbourliness' on offer:
more Slavic but also more Eurasian, more 'managed' and less democratic,
collusive and often conspiratorial in its style of politics and business,
less interventionist than NATO but vastly more prone to internal conflict.
And whilst this second community is in some respects less intrusive than
NATO (not to say the EU), its members are fundamentally indifferent as to
whether Ukraine's reforms succeed or fail. In sum, Ukraine has choices to
make.
They might not be 'civilisational choices', but they are choices. They are
made more attractive by the fact that, whatever Russians think of NATO,
NATO obstinately refuses to regard Russia as an enemy.
Hence, Russophilia and the Russian language are not obstacles to NATO
membership, reliance on Russian energy is not an obstacle to membership
(as Poland well knows), Russian trade and investment are not obstacles to
membership, and so long as Ukraine is happy with the terms, the deployment
of the Black Sea Fleet is not an obstacle to NATO membership either.
Nevertheless, a firm body of Ukrainian opinion regards the Russian dominated
security space as familiar and NATO as foreign-and a larger body of opinion
does not want to make a choice between them at all.
Just to what extent these views are founded upon ignorance and amenable to
change remains to be seen, because serious discussion between the government
and the country has only begun. What has begun, to NATO's obvious
satisfaction, is an in-depth transformation of the defence sector under
Grytsenko's stewardship.
If it were the Army, rather than the country that joined NATO, an invitation
to submit a Membership Action Plan would be readily forthcoming: not
because the dire deficiencies of the Armed Forces have been overcome, but
because they are finally being addressed.
But other issues have yet to be addressed It is tribute to the pace of
defence reform-and the realism of Ukraine's membership prospects-that the
terms of discussion between NATO and Ukraine are shifting to these other
issues: to the wider security sector and the economic and administrative
system that underpins it.
SECURITY AND THE SECURITY SECTOR
In any country, the security sector is the arm of law enforcement and the
guardian of the political order. It therefore plays a pivotal role in
establishing what the legal and political orders mean in practice.
Until recently, Ukraine's political order has not been a civic order, and
its legal order has been the tool of powers-some of them public and
official, some covert and concealed-who governed the political order and
benefited from it.
In that context, a 'divide and rule' ethos prevailed across the security
sector, and the proliferation of security structures stood to reason. So
did their intimate relationship with crime. The growth of 'grey' and
'black' transactions in Ukraine's economy fostered criminality and
stimulated the growth of illicit structures of power, protection and
enforcement.
By the time of the Orange Revolution, the resulting synergy between
politics, business and crime had become one of the defining features of
the state and its greatest liability.
Ukraine has experienced a revolution on the Maidan and in Bankova, but it
has not yet experienced a revolution in the MVS, the SBU, the State Border
Service, the State Customs Service or the Tax Police. Until it does, most
Ukrainians will not perceive that their relationship with the state has
changed. Three principles still apply.
FIRST, if the militsioner is paid a wage inconsistent with life, he will
cheat rather than die.
SECOND, if the state cannot afford to fund these services, somebody else
will fund them, and the forces themselves will become entrepreneurial with
the skills and resources they have at their disposal.
THIRD, if the armed forces, security services or police are focused on the
wrong goals, if they are commanded by the wrong people, if they work in the
wrong way, then more money will simply produce more problems.
Is it any wonder that 'Security Sector Review' is the term of the moment in
NATO Headquarters and that de Hoop Scheffer chose to underscore the
importance of the sector's transformation during his visit?
The good news is that ? critical mass of security and law enforcement
professionals know that the status quo endangers their own professionalism,
damages national security and is unworthy of a democratic, European state.
The bad news is that the measures underway seem unsystematic and
uncoordinated-seem, because they are also largely unpublicised. And
instead of transformation-in conditions, training, career structures and
working cultures-what we see is 'reform', i.e. restructuring.
One would like to be confident that something more substantial is happening
inside the MVS, but so far, the evidence to support such confidence is
sparse. Despite all the disappointments of the past nine months, Ukraine's
Minister of Internal Affairs, Yuriy Lutsenko, still has a reputation as a
committed democrat, determined to end the reign of corruption in the
Ministry of Interior (MVS). Well and good.
But three questions need to be posed:
FIRST, are his goals realistic? If it has not proved possible to eliminate
corruption in American, British or Belgian police forces, is there any
reason to believe it will be possible to eliminate such corruption in
Ukraine?
Is there not a more realistic and urgent goal: creating a state of affairs
where corruption is a matter of choice rather than a necessity of life?
So long as conditions make corruption unavoidable, the corruption
eliminated today is bound to return tomorrow.
SECOND, does the Minister know how to escape from this cycle? According
to his own testimony, he has secured 5,000 resignations, he has dismissed
2,000 other officers and servicemen, and 400 are under judicial
investigation.
But does the Minister have a programme in place to bring roles, structures,
capabilities, training and resources of the MVS and its numerous armed
formations into balance? Until he does, it would be prudent to suppose that
the MVS will remain an incubator of corruption.
THIRD, if he has devised such a programme, does anybody know about it?
Until a programme exists, until it is put before the Verkhovna Rada and the
public, until it is scrutinised by experts and openly discussed, systematic
change will remain an aspiration-and Euro-Atlantic standards of
civil-democratic control will remain unfulfilled.
Equally complex difficulties beset the Security Services of Ukraine, the
SBU. The difficulties can be summed up in one word: KGB. An impressively
large number of professionals in the service have no experience of the KGB.
But given the fact that the KGB USSR and KGB UkrSSR ceased to exist in
1991, how could it be otherwise?
The question is who recruits these new professionals, who trains them and
who establishes the internal norms that guide their work? The issue, then,
is the culture of the KGB. Before he was relieved of his post as Chairman,
Ihor Smehsko, the product of a very different intelligence culture,
estimated that it would take five years of work to uproot it.
Was Smeshko's successor, Alexander Turchinov, interested in rooting it out,
or was his real concern that the Kuchma regime and the country's shadow
structures had corrupted it? In ? remarkably forthright interview for this
newspaper (18-24 June), he observed that 'the tasks of defending the
country's security have always stood before the Service.
And I believe that inside it there are specialists who are capable of
implementing them; they worked on these tasks before and wish to do so
now'. But how did they do that exactly?
Should it be the case in 2005 that the SBU should bar individuals from state
service because they, as private citizens, criticised Ukraine's government
abroad? Should Ukrainians be any less free to air their thoughts abroad
than Danes or Hungarians?
Should the security service of a democracy be concerned about such things,
and can a country with real security problems afford to be concerned about
them? Moreover, should people who use kompromat, pressure and blackmail
against 'problematic persons', or as a primary means of agenturnaya rabota,
continue to play a role in that service?
Should Ukraine continue to be a blackmail state, and should the SBU continue
to be the instrument of those who wish it to remain one? And finally,
should Ukraine continue to employ intelligence and security professionals
who view NATO intelligence services and defence ministries not as future
allies, but as entities seeking to weaken and damage Ukraine?
What can Ukraine's 'strategic course' towards NATO membership mean under
these circumstances? Fortunately, inside the SBU there are many who ask the
same questions, and there are quite a few more who want the SBU to become a
very different service from what it has been.
Fortunately, then, there is hope. What would impress NATO enough to
transform today's hopes into an invitation to MAP?
FIRST, it would be impressed by the establishment of a proper scheme of
coordination under judicious, competent and politically unambitious RNBO
management.
SECOND, it would be impressed by a long range plan for steady, staged, and
financeable increases in the defence budget.
THIRD, it would be impressed by a Security Sector Review which presented
a programme for in-depth institutional change. That journey cannot possibly
be completed before MAP or even before membership, but it has to start.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTE: (1) The views expressed are those of the author and not
necessarily of NATO or the British Ministry of Defence.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James Sherr is a Fellow at the Conflict Studies Research Centre
Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. Contact James Sherr:
e-mail: james.sherr@lincoln.oxford.ac.uk)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTE: The English version of the article above was obtained
directly from the author. Format editing by The Action Ukraine
Report (AUR). We appreciate James Sherr sending us his writings
on a regular basis. EDITOR
=====================================================
21. WHERE HAVE ALL THE REVOLUTIONS GONE?
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS: By Anatol Lieven
International Herald Tribune, Europe, Friday, October 28, 2005
WASHINGTON - A pattern has established itself in Western coverage of
so-called "people power" revolutions. The revolutions themselves are
reported on television and on the front page of newspapers, and extensively
praised and analyzed on the editorial pages. Distinguished staff
correspondents fly in to cover the story.
The revolution is described as part of a growing wave of democracy sweeping
the region or the world. The latest examples of this treatment have been the
Western responses to the "colored" revolutions in Georgia, Ukraine and
Kyrgyzstan.
In all too many cases, a few years or even months later, things have gone
very sour indeed. The victorious opposition turns out to have been united by
nothing more than hatred of the regime in power and desire for the spoils of
office.
Corruption, poverty and brutal misrule continue unabated. The "revolution"
turns out to have produced either a reshuffle of the ruling clique or
populist authoritarianism, or both.
At the roots of this failure generally lie old social and cultural
weaknesses, including the lack of solid economic and political institutions;
of educated, law-abiding, politically committed and economically dynamic
middle classes, and of mass political parties capable of mobilizing popular
support behind painful reforms.
These stories, however, are not covered on Western television, and if they
are covered in Western papers, it is usually on page 20 or so.
As a result, when democracy collapses again, Western publics are bewildered.
Wasn't the country in question part of an inevitable march toward democracy
and the free market?
Out of this comes a tendency not to analyze deeper causes but to explain
things by the supposed wickedness of easily demonizable individuals, like
President Vladimir Putin in Russia or General Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan.
Pakistan is where I first observed this process at work, as a reporter for
the Times (London) in the late 1980s. When Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan
People's Party (PPP) replaced the former military dictatorship in 1988,
through elections backed by large street demonstrations, Western papers
carried headlines like "People Power in Pakistan" and "Benazir's Tender
Democracy."
They quoted Bhutto as declaring that her party represented
"Scandinavian-style social democracy."
Those of us who had lived in Pakistan knew that if this so, it was the kind
of Scandinavian social democracy that Vikings might have produced in
the 9th century: fair division of their plunder.
At the time, it was very difficult to make this argument heard. Later, after
the PPP's record in government had made it obvious, it was impossible to
write about Pakistan at all, because no one was interested any more.
There is a good journalistic reason for this. Most Western audiences are
fundamentally uninterested in foreign news, except of the melodramatic
variety. Most dramatic foreign stories, however, are tragic and disastrous.
Ostensibly democratic revolutions are among the few that combine high
drama with cheerful and positive emotions. By contrast, the slow unraveling
of impoverished pseudo-democracies is both undramatic and highly
depressing.
But there is also an ideological reason. This pattern allows Western
audiences and journalists to retain their pure faith that, in the Soviet
phrase, "the wind of history is in our sails."
It allows them to avert their eyes from the way in which the West continues
to rig the terms of the international economy against developing countries,
and to turn their backs on Western responsibility for providing the kind of
substantial, long-term economic aid that the new democracies need.
Instead of looking at the record of the Philippines or Pakistan, Western
thinking has taken as the norm the example of Eastern Europe after the
popular revolutions that overthrew Communist rule and Soviet hegemony.
These have indeed led to successful economic reform and stable democracy.
But there are very special reasons for this. Fear of renewed Russian
domination provided a tremendous mass push to Westernizing reform. And
a tremendous pull was provided by the promise of membership in the
European Union.
This is not a combination that can be duplicated elsewhere.
Most developing countries seem closer to the melancholy pattern of most of
Latin America over the past century, of a cyclical movement between flawed
democracies and ineffective dictatorships and back again - a process
interspersed with numerous "people-power revolutions" that turn out to have
made no real difference whatsoever.
But then, Latin America is barely covered even in the serious U.S. media.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anatol Lieven is a senior research fellow at the New America
Foundation in Washington.
=====================================================
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A Free, Not-for-profit, Independent, Public Service Newsletter
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=====================================================
NOTE: The new book, " Day and Eternity of James Mace"
published by The Day in Kyiv, in English or in Ukrainian, is available
from the www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service. If you are
interesting in finding out how to order the new book please send an
e-mail to ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net. EDITOR
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: The Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA) will be assisting
in the famine/holodomor/genocide commemorations in Kyiv during
November of this year. The Federation needs to raise several thousand
dollars for expenses related to the Holodomor Exhibition to be held in
the Ukrainian House. Donations can be made out to the Ukrainian
Federation of America and sent to the Federation at 930 Henrietta
Avenue, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006. Please designate your donation
for the Dr. James Mace Memorial Holodomor Fund. EDITOR
=======================================================
UKRAINE INFORMATION WEBSITE: http://www.ArtUkraine.com
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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"
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"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.
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"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.
Additional supporting sponsors for the Action Ukraine Report (AUR) are:
2. UKRAINIAN FEDERATION OF AMERICA (UFA), Zenia Chernyk,
Chairperson; Vera M. Andryczyk, President; Huntingdon Valley,
Pennsylvania
3. KIEV-ATLANTIC GROUP, David and Tamara Sweere, Daniel
Sweere, Kyiv and Myronivka, Ukraine, 380 44 298 7275 in Kyiv,
kau@ukrnet.net
4. ESTRON CORPORATION, Grain Export Terminal Facility &
Oilseed Crushing Plant, Ilvichevsk, Ukraine
5. Law firm UKRAINIAN LEGAL GROUP, Irina Paliashvili, President;
Kiev and Washington, general@rulg.com, www.rulg.com.
6. BAHRIANY FOUNDATION, INC., Dr. Anatol Lysyj, Chairman,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
7. 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.
8. ODUM- Association of American Youth of Ukrainian Descent,
Minnesota Chapter, Natalia Yarr, Chairperson
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.
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"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR" is an in-depth, private,
independent, 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.
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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
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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
Member, International Ukrainian Holodomor Committee
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Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.
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