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
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR - NUMBER 755
Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor
PUBLISHED IN WASHINGTON, D.C., TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2006
Help Build the Worldwide Action Ukraine Network
Send the AUR to your colleagues and friends, urge them to sign up.
-------- INDEX OF ARTICLES --------
Clicking on the title of any article takes you directly to the article.
Return to the Index by clicking on Return to Index at the end of each article
1. UKRAINE PRESIDENT COURTS CASPIAN OIL IN AZERBAIJAN
Aida Sultanova, AP Worldstream, Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
2. UKRAINE'S CASPIAN CRUDE CONDUIT STILL IN TALKING STAGE
Turkish Daily News, Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Sep 11, 2006
3. AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION LEADER MUSAVAT SCEPTICAL
ABOUT AZERI-UKRAINE ENERGY COOPERATION
Unfortunately Azerbaijani leadership is rather strongly influenced by Russia.
TV 5 Kanal, Kiev, in Russian 1800 gmt 8 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Saturday, Sep 09, 2006
4. AZERBAIJAN, UKRAINE SIGN SEVEN AGREEMENTS
Turan news agency, Baku, Azerbaijan, in Russian 1604 gmt 7 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
5. UKRAINE CALLS ON AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT TO RECOGNIZE
INDUCED STARVATION OF 1932-1933 AS A GENOCIDE ACT
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, September 8, 2006
6. UKRAINE HOPES FINLAND WILL SUPPORT RECOGNITION OF
1932-1933 FAMINE AS GENOCIDE ACT AGAINST UKRAINIANS
Olha Volkovetska, Ukrainian News Agency
Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, August 30, 2006
7. STALIN AND THE UKRAINIAN MASSACRE
COMMENTARY: By Eric Margolis, LewRockwell.com
Burlingame, California, Monday, August 28, 2006
8. LIFTING OF EMBARGO ON POLISH FOOD EXPORTS TO UKRAINE
One of main discussion points at the Krynica Economic Forum
Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
9. POLAND: FSO CAR MANUFACTURER HOPING FOR EU FUNDING
Loans guaranteed by the state for FSO's new Ukrainian investor
Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
10. JCDECAUX ENTERS UKRAINE/RUSSIAN OUTDOOR AD MARKETS
AFX Europe (Focus), Paris, France, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
11. DANONE BUYS MAJOR UKRAINE DAIRY PRODUCTS COMPANY
AFX Europe (Focus), Paris, France, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
12. UKRAINIAN OXFORD GRAD WINS BATTLE TO STAY IN BRITAIN
Ian Herbert, The Independent, London, United Kingdom, Sep 09, 2006
13. WORLD BANK SAYS CONDITIONS FOR DOING BUSINESS IN
UKRAINE IMPROVED IN 2006, REFORMS MUST CONTINUE
Ukraine's taxation system is the most burdensome in the world
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1105 gmt 7 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
14. UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER: NO RESALE OF STEELWORKS
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1621 gmt 11 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Monday, Sep 11, 2006
15. FIVE REGIONAL TAX CHIEFS REPLACED IN UKRAINE
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1439 gmt 8 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Friday, Sep 08, 2006
16. UKRAINE HAS TO PASS 11 LAWS TO JOIN WTO IN 2006
TV 5 Kanal, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1200 gmt 7 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Thursday, Sept 7, 2006
17. UKRAINE: WTO LAWS WILL NOT BE PASSED IN SEPTEMBER
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1509 gmt 7 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
18. PARLIAMENT SEATS FOR CABINET MEMBERS CANCELLED
Ukrainian cabinet ministers relinquish parliament seats
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 0822 gmt 12 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Tuesday, Sep 12, 2006
19. UKRAINIAN PRES APPOINTS SECURITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1826 gmt 11 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Monday, Sep 11, 2006
20. COALITION FORMAT TO BE DETERMINED BY COMMUNISTS"
Ukrainian president to reinforce security and defence council
ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY: By Serhiy Burlachenko
Newspaper 2000, Kiev, Ukraine, in Russian 8 Sep 06; p A7
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Saturday, Sep 09, 2006
21. 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF UKRAINE'S INDEPENDENCE
Congressional Record statement by Rep. Christopher H. Smith
Co-Chairman, U.S. Helsinki Commission,
Vice-Chairman, House International Relations Committee
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C., Wednesday, September 6, 2006
22. OLEH RYBACHUK MEETS WITH FORMER US AMB STEVEN PIFER
Ukraine should intensify NATO membership dialogue, WTO by end of 2006
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1554 gmt 11 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Monday, Sep 11, 2006
23. U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH GOING TO VISIT UKRAINE
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, September 11, 2006
24. U.S. AMBASSADOR TAYLOR SPEAKS ABOUT UKRAINE & NATO
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, September 11, 2006
25. U.S. AMBASSADOR TAYLOR SAYS UKRAINE IS EXAMPLE OF
DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT FOR MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, September 11, 2006
26. EVERY 7TH FAMILY IS INCOMPLETE, NO BASIS FOR ALIMONY
Centre TV, Moscow, in Russian 1645 gmt 8 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Monday Sep 11, 2006
27. BLACK SEA DOCUMENTARY: "FROM ODESSA TO ODESSA"
Film aims to capture the way people live around the Black Sea
Turkish Daily News, Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, Sep 09, 2006
28. FORUM FOR 65TH ANNIVERSARY OF BABYN YAR TRAGEDY
President Of Israel, President Of Croatia, And President Of Montenegro
To Visit Ukraine On September 26 And September 27
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, September 12, 2006
29. REMAINS OF BRONZE AGE PYRAMID FOUND IN UKRAINE
Tom Parfitt, Moscow, The Guardian, London, UK, Fri, Sep 08, 2006
30. OSTASH APPOINTED UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO CANADA
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1545 gmt 11 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Wednesday, Sep 11, 2006
========================================================
1. UKRAINE PRESIDENT COURTS CASPIAN OIL IN AZERBAIJAN
Aida Sultanova, AP Worldstream, Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
BAKU - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Thursday urged oil-rich
Azerbaijan to send Caspian Sea crude for delivery through a Ukrainian
pipeline that has been the subject of geopolitical jostling in the former
Soviet Union.
Following talks with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliev, Yushchenko said
Ukraine's state oil company has proposed that Azerbaijan commit to sending
4.5 million to 5 million tons of oil a year that would be pumped through the
pipeline leading from the Black Sea port of Odessa to Brody, near the Polish
border.
Azerbaijani oil could be refined and sold in Ukraine, Yushchenko suggested,
and could eventually be pumped further into Europe through an existing
pipeline into Slovakia and later through a proposed extension of the
Odessa-Brody pipeline into Poland.
Ukraine has been debating how to use the pipeline for years, amid Russia's
strong lobbying for it to pump Russian oil in the
opposite direction - to Odessa for further transport to western markets
trough Turkey's Bosporus.
The Western-leaning Yushchenko, and the United States, have favored using it
to pump Caspian oil. Aliev made no commitments but welcomed the proposal,
saying that by 2008 he expects a new U.S.-backed pipeline from the Caspian
to the Turkish Mediterranean shore to be filled to capacity.
"In the coming years the volume of production and export will rise, and so
it is very interesting for us to consider the question of alternative
routes," he said.
The two leaders spoke after meeting for two hours and signing a joint
declaration that Aliev said "bears witness to the high level of political
relations and the desire to strengthen them."
Yushchenko is seeking to lessen Russia's influence on Ukraine, in part by
seeking other sources of energy. Russia cut off natural gas deliveries
briefly in January during a price dispute that ended with nearly twofold
hike in the rate Ukraine pays for the gas it relies upon.
Separately, Russia's gas giant OAO Gazprom its chief, Alexei Miller, and
Ukrainian Fuel and Energy Minister Yuriy Boyko had met Thursday and
agreed on additional supplies for Ukraine in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Gazprom had warned earlier that Ukraine wasn't injecting enough gas into
storage facilities to guarantee stable supplies of gas westward to the
European Union.
It had said this risked a repeat of supply shortages that Gazprom's EU
customers suffered last winter, when Russia says Ukraine illegally siphoned
gas from transit pipelines to meet a temporary surge in its domestic demand.
The price for the additional gas will be determined "in a constructive
basis, taking into account the strategic perspectives for cooperation in the
gas sphere of Ukraine," a Gazprom statement said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
2. UKRAINE'S CASPIAN CRUDE CONDUIT STILL IN TALKING STAGE
Turkish Daily News, Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Sep 11, 2006
A pipeline project that would create a new route for Caspian oil to reach
Western markets and loosen Ukraine's dependence on Russian energy has
yet to find approval from former Soviet oil states, analysts said.
Ukraine's president Viktor Yushchenko, who was promoting an ambitious
pipeline project, came away from a two-day visit to oil-rich Azerbaijan this
week with little more than promises to improve bilateral ties.
"Today Azerbaijan doesn't have enough free oil and gas for it to make any
promises or deliveries," Inglab Akhmedov, director of Baku's Public Finance
Monitoring Center, told AFP.
Yushchenko was pushing the idea of using the existing Odessa-Brody oil
pipeline for deliveries of crude from the Caspian Sea to Ukraine and beyond
to international markets as it grapples with higher energy costs for Russian
supplies.
The Ukrainian pipeline was originally built in 2002 to loosen Russia's grip
on Ukraine's energy market, which imports 90 percent of its oil supplies
from its giant northern neighbor, but it was filled with Russian oil when
Ukraine was unable to find alternate suppliers in 2004.
The Odessa-Brody project would entail shipping Azerbaijani hydrocarbons
from the Caspian to the Black Sea, across Ukraine and eventually north to
Poland's Baltic Sea coast for resale onto world markets.
But Ukraine's leader warned that indecision from Azerbaijan's leadership
could stall the project at a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham
Aliyev on Friday.
"The risks are in how effectively and quickly we will be able to engage the
mechanisms of power, structures of the state, to realize projects,"
Azerbaijan's state news agency Azertaj quoted Yushchenko as saying.
"Azerbaijan in combination with Kazakhstan, are essential for the completion
of this project, but neither country has ever taken concrete steps to
forward its creation," said Volodymyr Saprykin, an economist with the
Razumkov Center for Economic and Political Research in a telephone
interview from Kiev.
"This is not the first visit of a Ukrainian president to Azerbaijan,"
Saprykin added.
The project, which is essential for Yushchenko to fulfill his policy of
energy diversification, has been dogged by both geopolitics, with Russia
opposing the proposal, and economics, as Azerbaijan opened an alternate
route for its oil earlier this year.
Analysts said the launch of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline which ships
Azerbaijani oil to the Turkish Mediterranean coast meant Azerbaijan would
not have excess oil until the BTC reached full capacity in a few years time.
"If Azerbaijan starts servicing oil from Central Asia then we can start
talking about serious shipments to Odessa-Brody," Akhmedov said, suggesting
Kazakhstan needed to agree to ship oil westwards through Azerbaijan for
Odessa-Brody to take off.
Kazakhstan, a growing oil exporter located on the east side of the Caspian
Sea, has also expressed interest in the Odessa-Brody idea.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said in May that Kazakh oil could be
routed into the pipeline, but the nation has yet to formalize shipments to
Azerbaijan.
Meanwhile opposition to the project has grown in Ukraine itself, where the
West-oriented Yushchenko has seen his pro-Russian arch rival Viktor
Yanukovich take economic decision-making power when he became prime
minister in August.
"There are both supporters and opponents of this project in Ukraine,"
Saprykin said, adding that a study funded by the European Commission would
show whether the project was economically feasible in the coming months.
The pipeline, which could eventually ship 40 million tonnes of oil per year,
would be a boon for both Ukraine and Western Europe, which have increasingly
grown wary of their dependence on Russia for both oil and gas.
It has the support of the United States, which has backed integration among
ex-Soviet states south of Russia's borders through GUAM, a grouping of
nations that includes Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova.
Through a number of projects and programs, the United States and the
European Union have fought to link the Caucasus and Central Asia via
pipelines and transport corridors.
The effect is that ties with Moscow, cemented with infrastructure built up
over the Soviet period, are loosened, to the Kremlin's chagrin.
Aliyev echoed the geopolitical changes in the region during his meetings
with Yushchenko and suggested that the Odessa-Brody proposal could interest
Azerbaijan in the next few years, as oil output increases.
"The regions of the Black Sea and the Caspian are integrating with each
other more and more. To some extent this region can already be viewed as a
unified whole considering relations in transport, energy, politics and other
relations," Aliyev said. "Looking at new export routes interests us."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
3. AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION LEADER MUSAVAT SCEPTICAL
ABOUT AZERI-UKRAINE ENERGY COOPERATION
Unfortunately Azerbaijani leadership is rather strongly influenced by Russia.
TV 5 Kanal, Kiev, in Russian 1800 gmt 8 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Saturday, Sep 09, 2006
KIEV - Azerbaijani opposition party leader Musavat has voiced his doubts
about "sincere and fruitful" energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and
Ukraine.
In an interview with Ukraine's 5 Kanal TV, Isa Qambar said that the two
countries have difficulties in establishing partnership ties because
Azerbaijan takes into account Russia's views which are not friendly towards
Ukraine.
The following is the text of the report by Ukrainian television TV 5 Kanal
on 8 September:
[Correspondent] Mr Qambar, why didn't the Azerbaijani opposition believe in
official Baku's sincerity in its negotiations with Ukraine?
[Qambar] In principle, we have a high opinion of Mr Yushchenko's visit to
Azerbaijan because we do believe that relations between Ukraine and
Azerbaijan should develop irrespective of who is in power in the two
countries.
Unfortunately democratic Ukraine and authoritarian Azerbaijan have very
serious difficulties in establishing serious strategic partnership ties.
Unfortunately, the Azerbaijani leadership is rather strongly influenced by
Russia. We were able to lay the [Baku-Ceyhan] oil pipeline from Azerbaijan
through Georgia to Turkey only thanks to the principled position of the
Western countries, Turkey and Georgia.
I think that the authoritarian regime in Azerbaijan is unlikely to be able
to cooperate sincerely and fruitfully with the Ukrainian leadership. But we
would like to very much although we are basically opposed to the current
authorities in Azerbaijan.
[Correspondent] Do you think that there will be speedy cooperation in the
energy sphere? Will Azerbaijani oil be transported via the Odessa-Brody
pipeline?
[Qambar] It is difficult to say anything specific about this. I think that
Azerbaijan will agree to cooperate with Ukraine in the energy sphere as far
as the Kremlin will allow this cooperation to happen.
Unfortunately, Russia is putting pressure on democratic states in energy
matters and unfortunately the Azerbaijani leadership takes a serious view of
the Kremlin's position.
And, unfortunately, at the current stage much will depend on to what degree
the Azerbaijani leadership listens to the Kremlin's position, and for its
part the Kremlin is not very amicably disposed towards the energy security
of Ukraine and other democratic countries.
[Correspondent] As far as I know your party, the opposition party [Musavat],
was very much relying on Viktor Yushchenko's visit and was expecting that he
would probably discuss with the Azerbaijani president the development of
freedom in the country. To what extent have your expectations been
justified? Did you have an opportunity to talk to Viktor Yushchenko?
[Qambar] The programme, formalities and sometimes the tone of a visit depend
not only on the visiting side but also on the host country. It is unlikely
that the Azerbaijani side would be ready to listen to Mr Yushchenko's ideas
about democracy or even any wishes for democratization in Azerbaijan.
We understand the Ukrainian leadership and, to be honest, we do not expect
that they will speak openly about this subject and create extra problems in
relations with Azerbaijan.
[Correspondent] So, you did not manage to meet the Ukrainian president or
the Ukrainian delegation?
[Qambar] We did not try to. We have rather good relations with Ukrainian
politicians. We were not insisting on having any official contacts in Baku
because we are interested in good relations between Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
[Correspondent] Thank you. -30-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
4. AZERBAIJAN, UKRAINE SIGN SEVEN AGREEMENTS
Turan news agency, Baku, Azerbaijan, in Russian 1604 gmt 7 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
BAKU - Seven documents have been signed as a result of the high-level
Azerbaijani-Ukrainian talks. These documents are:
[1] A joint declaration between the presidents, Ilham Aliyev and Viktor
Yushchenko;
[2] An intergovernment agreement on cooperation in the environmental sphere;
[3] An intergovernment agreement on international combined cargo
transportation;
[4] An agreement between the Foreign Ministries on the training of
diplomatic staff;
[5] An agreement between the Azerbaijani Emergencies Ministry and the
Ukrainian Ministry of Ecology on scientific-technical cooperation in the
sphere of radiological monitoring;
[6] An agreement on cooperation between the State Oil Company of the
Azerbaijani Republic and the Naftohaz Ukrayiny national joint-stock company;
[7] An agreement on cooperation in the sphere of protecting sorts of plants.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
Send in names and e-mail addresses for the AUR distribution list.
========================================================
5. UKRAINE CALLS ON AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT TO RECOGNIZE
INDUCED STARVATION OF 1932-1933 AS A GENOCIDE ACT
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, September 8, 2006
KYIV - Ukraine is calling on the parliament of Azerbaijan to recognize the
famine [induced starvation] of 1932-1933 as a genocide act against the
Ukrainian people. This follows from a statement by the presidential press
service, a copy of which was made available to Ukrainian News.
President Viktor Yuschenko discussed the issue during a meeting with
Chairman of Azerbaijan's parliament Oktai Asadov and members of the
Ukraine-Azerbaijan parliamentary group in Baku.
During the meeting, the Ukrainian side was represented by Foreign Affairs
Minister Borys Tarasiuk, Deputy Premier Andrii Kliuev, MPs Anatolii Kinakh,
Eduard Zeinalov and Petro Yuschenko. They also talked over
inter-parliamentary cooperation and interaction in the humanitarian field.
Yuschenko positively assessed opportunities for cultural development of
30,000 Ukrainians in Azerbaijan and 250,000 Azerbaijanis in Ukraine.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Yuschenko started his official visit to
Azerbaijan on September 7-8. According to various estimates, between 3 and
7 million people died in the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine. -30-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
6. UKRAINE HOPES FINLAND WILL SUPPORT RECOGNITION OF
1932-1933 FAMINE AS GENOCIDE ACT AGAINST UKRAINIANS
Olha Volkovetska, Ukrainian News Agency
Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, August 30, 2006
KYIV - Ukraine hopes that Finland will support Ukraine's aspirations for
recognition of the famine [induced starvation] of 1932-1933 as an act of
genocide against the Ukrainian people.
Ukrainian News has learned this from spokesman of the Foreign Ministry
Andrii Deschytsia with references to a meeting between Ukraine's Foreign
Minister Borys Tarasiuk and Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of
Finland's parliament Liisa Jaakonsaari.
According to the message, Tarasiuk briefed Jaakonsaari on measures being
held in Ukraine aimed at making the world community recognize the famine of
1932-1933 as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people and expressed
hope that Finland will support Ukraine's positions on the issue at the
international scene.
During the meeting, Tarasiuk also confirmed that Ukraine's integration with
European structures and NATO, as well as constructive relations with Russia
together with regional security and stability, will remain key directions in
Ukraine's foreign policy.
Tarasiuk and Jaakonsaari talked over the future of inter-parliamentary
cooperation and development of national minorities in Ukraine and Finland.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, on August 29, Foreign Minister Borys
Tarasiuk left Poland for paying an official visit to Finland.
The Security Service of Ukraine declassified documents of the State
Political Department also known as GPU of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist
Republic concerning the Great Famine of 1932-1933 that were deposited in the
state archive of the SBU.
In March, the Polish Senate (the upper house of parliament) called on the
international community to recognize the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine as an
act of genocide against the Ukrainian people.
By 2007, Ukraine intends to draft a document on recognition of the 1932-1933
famine in Ukraine as an act of genocide so that the United Nations
Organization could pass it.
President Viktor Yuschenko recently called on the leaders of all countries
to recognize the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine as an act of genocide against
Ukrainians. The parliaments of several countries have recognized the famine
as an act of genocide.
In November 2003, 25 member-countries of the United Nations Organization
drafted a joint statement that described the famine in Ukraine as the result
of the policies of a totalitarian regime. Other states later aligned
themselves with this statement.
In 2003, the Verkhovna Rada passed an address to the Ukrainian people
declaring the famine of 1932-1933 as an act of genocide.
According to various estimates, between 3 million and 7 million people died
in the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine. -30-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
7. STALIN AND THE UKRAINIAN MASSACRE
COMMENTARY: By Eric Margolis, LewRockwell.com
Burlingame, California, Monday, August 28, 2006
Five years ago, I wrote a column about the unknown Holocaust in Ukraine. I
was shocked to receive a flood of mail from young Americans and Canadians
of Ukrainian descent telling me that until they read my article, they knew
nothing of the 1932-33 genocide in which Stalin's regime murdered 7 million
Ukrainians and sent 2 million to concentration camps.
How, I wondered, could such historical amnesia afflict so many young
North-American Ukrainians? For Jews and Armenians, the genocides their
people suffered are vivid, living memories that influence their daily lives.
Yet today, on the 70th anniversary of the destruction of a quarter of
Ukraine's population, this titanic crime has almost vanished into history's
black hole.
So has the extermination of the Don Cossacks by the Soviets in the 1920's,
and Volga Germans, in 1941; and mass executions and deportations to
concentration camps of Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, and Poles. At the
end of World War II, Stalin's gulag held 5.5 million prisoners, 23%
Ukrainians and 6% Baltic peoples.
Almost unknown is the genocide of 2 million of the USSR's Muslim peoples:
Chechen, Ingush, Crimean Tatars, Tajiks, Bashkir, Kazaks. The Chechen
independence fighters today branded "terrorists" by the US and Russia are
the grandchildren of survivors of Soviet concentration camps.
Add to this list of forgotten atrocities the murder in Eastern Europe from
1945-47 of at least 2 million ethnic Germans, mostly women and children, and
the violent expulsion of 15 million more Germans, during which 2 million
German girls and women were raped.
Among these monstrous crimes, Ukraine stands out as the worst in terms of
numbers. Stalin declared war on his own people. In 1932 he sent Commissars
V. Molotov and Lazar Kaganovitch, and NKVD secret police chief G. Yagoda
to crush the resistance of Ukrainian farmers to forced collectivization
Ukraine was sealed off. All food supplies and livestock were confiscated.
NKVD death squads executed "anti-party elements." Furious that insufficient
Ukrainians were being shot, Kaganovitch "the Soviet Adolf Eichmann" set a
quota of 10,000 executions a week. Eighty percent of Ukrainian intellectuals
were shot.
During the bitter winter of 1932-33, 25,000 Ukrainians per day were being
shot or dying of starvation and cold. Cannibalism became common. Ukraine,
writes historian Robert Conquest, looked like a giant version of the future
Bergan-Belsen death camp.
The mass murder of 7 million Ukrainians, 3 million of them children, and
deportation to the gulag of 2 million (where most died) was hidden by Soviet
propaganda.
Pro-communist westerners, like the New York Times' Walter Duranty, Sidney
and Beatrice Webb, and French Prime Minister Edouard Herriot, toured
Ukraine, denied reports of genocide, and applauded what they called Soviet
"agrarian reform." Those who spoke out against the genocide were branded
"fascist agents."
The US, British, and Canadian governments, however, were well aware of the
genocide, but closed their eyes, even blocking aid groups from going to
Ukraine. The only European leaders to raise a cry over Soviet industrialized
murder were, ironically, Hitler and Mussolini.
Because Kaganovitch, Yagoda and many senior communist party and NKVD
officials were Jewish, Hitler's absurd claim that communism was a Jewish
plot to destroy Christian civilization became widely believed across fearful
Europe.
When war came, Roosevelt and Churchill allied themselves closely to Stalin,
though they were well aware his regime had murdered at least 30 million
people long before Hitler's extermination of Jews and gypsies began. Yet in
the strange moral calculus of mass murder, only Germans were guilty.
Though Stalin murdered 3 times more people than Hitler, to the doting
Roosevelt he remained "Uncle Joe." At Yalta, Stalin even boasted to
Churchill he had killed over 10 million peasants. The British-US alliance
with Stalin made them his partners in crime. Roosevelt and Churchill helped
preserve history's most murderous regime, to which they handed over half of
Europe.
After the war, the Left tried to cover up Soviet genocide. Jean-Paul Sartre
denied the gulag even existed. For the Allies, Nazism was the only evil;
they could not admit being allied to mass murders. For the Soviets,
promoting the Jewish Holocaust perpetuated anti-fascism and masked their
own crimes.
The Jewish people saw their Holocaust as a unique event. It was Israel's
raison d'être. Raising other genocides would, they feared, diminish their
own.
While academia, media and Hollywood rightly keep attention on the Jewish
Holocaust, they ignore Ukraine. We still hunt Nazi killers but not communist
killers. There are few photos of the Ukraine genocide or Stalin's gulag, and
fewer living survivors. Dead men tell no tales.
Russia never prosecuted any of its mass murderers, as Germany did.
We know all about crimes of Nazis Adolf Eichmann and Heinrich Himmler;
about Babi Yar and Auschwitz.
But who remembers Soviet mass murderers Dzerzhinsky, Kaganovitch, Yagoda,
Yezhov, and Beria? Were it not for Alexander Solzhenitsyn, we might never
know of Soviet death camps like Magadan, Kolyma, and Vorkuta. Movie after
movie appears about Nazi evil, while the evil of the Soviet era vanishes
from view or dissolves into nostalgia.
The souls of Stalin's millions of victims still cry out for justice. -30-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Eric Margolis, margolia@foreigncorrespondent.com, contributing
foreign editor for Sun National Media Canada, is the author of War at the
Top of the World.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis45.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
NOTE: Send in a letter-to-the-editor today. Let us hear from you.
========================================================
8. LIFTING OF EMBARGO ON POLISH FOOD EXPORTS TO UKRAINE
One of main discussion points at the Krynica Economic Forum
Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
WARSAW - The main discussion points at the International Economic Forum
in Krynica-Zdroj have been consolidation of the Polish and Lithuanian power
sectors, the lifting of the embargo on Polish food exports to Ukraine and
Polish-Georgian economic co-operation.
After meeting with Lithuanian government representatives, Economy Minister
Pawel Wozniak declared that the two countries were ready to return to the
project of launching a power link. The decision was prompted by changes to
the European power supply market.
As far as lifting the food the embargo is concerned, Ukrainian PM Viktor
Yanukovych said he was willing to "deal with it shortly."
A separate panel discussion was devoted to business activity in Georgia.
Wozniak was trying to encourage Polish entrepreneurs to invest in Georgia,
which he said was experiencing dynamic economic growth. He added that
Poland had already started to support Georgia as a developing country.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
9. POLAND: FSO CAR MANUFACTURER HOPING FOR EU FUNDING
Loans guaranteed by the state for FSO's new Ukrainian investor
Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
WARSAW - The FSO car manufacturer has an enormous opportunity. The
launch of production of a new car model would allow the company to pull
itself from the hole in which it found itself following the bankruptcy of its
previous owner - South Korea's Daewoo Motors.
In order to commence production, the European Commission (EC) must
approve public aid for the company in the form of loans guaranteed by the
state for FSO's new Ukrainian investor.
AwtoZAZ would like the state to guarantee 60 percent of an investment loan
worth $100m. The EC has put forward some demands. It wants to know the
stance of Poland's authorities regarding public support and wants to receive
documentation on the whole FSO capital group.
It is still uncertain when the EC could make a decision on the issue. In
order to launch the production of one of Chevrolet's models, AwtoZAZ still
needs to sign a licence agreement with General Motors. -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
10. JCDECAUX ENTERS UKRAINE/RUSSIAN OUTDOOR AD MARKETS
AFX Europe (Focus), Paris, France, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
PARIS - JCDecaux said it has entered the Ukraine and Russian outdoor
advertising markets by setting up a joint venture with Ukranian ad hoarding
group BigBoard Group SA.
Under the deal, JCDecxaux will contribute an unspecified cash injection and
Bigboard its existing outdoor advertising network in Ukraine and Russia to
create BigBoard BV.
The aim of the new group, 40-pct owned by JCDecaux and 60 pct by BigBoard
Group SA, is to participate in the consolidation of the outdoor advertising
market in both countries.
JCDecaux said BigBoard Group is the leading outdoor advertising company in
Ukraine, with a market share of about 20 pct and in Russia, is present in 8
out of 12 cities with more than 1 mln inhabitants.
In 2005, the company had sales of 30 mln usd. JCDecaux said in Russia and
Ukraine, 10 pct annual growth is currently possible. (mrg/ra) -30-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFX NEWS: paris@afxnews.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
11. DANONE BUYS MAJOR UKRAINE DAIRY PRODUCTS COMPANY
AFX Europe (Focus), Paris, France, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
PARIS - Groupe Danone said it has acquired a major Ukrainian dairy
products company, Molochnyi Zavod 'Rodich', for an undisclosed sum.
The move gives Danone, which already has other operations in Ukraine,
substantial new distribution capacity in a market that has had more than 15
pct annual growth in the last three years. (mjs/hjp) -30-
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFX NEWS: paris@afxnews.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
If you are receiving more than one copy of the AUR please contact us.
========================================================
12. UKRAINIAN OXFORD GRAD WINS BATTLE TO STAY IN BRITAIN
Ian Herbert, The Independent, London, United Kingdom, Sep 09, 2006
An Oxford graduate who was threatened with deportation has won her fight to
stay in Britain.
When Eleonora Suhoviy arrived in Lincolnshire from Ukraine in 1994 at the
age of 13, she was unable to speak a word of English. But she went on to
become a talented scholar, concert pianist and dancer and worked for the
NHS after graduating from Oxford University.
Ms Suhoviy was in line for deportation from Britain until successfully
arguing five months ago at an asylum and immigration appeal tribunal appeal
panel that she should be allowed to stay.
The broadcaster Jeremy Pax-man, the former Conservative leader Michael
Howard and the former Tory foreign secretary Lord Carrington are among
The Home Office's Immigration and Nationality Directorate was forced to
reconsider the case and has now granted the 25-year-old three years' leave
to remain in the UK.
"I'm extremely happy, very elated," Ms Suhoviy said yesterday. "It gives me
the freedom to pursue what I want to do." If her leave to remain is renewed
for a subsequent period, Ms Suhoviy may be eligible for British citizenship
five years from now, when she could apply to join the Navy. It is her
ambition to serve as an intelligence officer.
Ms Suhoviy was brought to England by her mother, Svetlana, after her
parents' divorce. She and her mother only had temporary leave to remain in
the UK and the Home Office decided in 1999 to remove them both.
Her mother appealed, but her remarriage was ruled to be one of convenience
and so the decision was upheld. Ms Suhoviy continued working although she
was not officially entitled to do so.
She taught herself English by reading Sherlock Holmes novels, which she
already knew by heart in Russian translation.
Her modern languages degree at Exeter College, Oxford, was funded by an
anonymous benefactor and an annual pounds 3,500 grant from Lincoln
Cathedral.
She became a leading light of the Conservative Association at Oxford and
graduated with a 2:1. Ms Suhoviy now runs the administration office at the
John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
Her barrister, Jonathon Goldberg QC said yesterday: "This is magnificent
news. I am delighted the Home Office have seen the light and recognised
Eleonora's special qualities." -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
Send in a letter-to-the-editor today. Let us hear from you.
========================================================
13. WORLD BANK SAYS CONDITIONS FOR DOING BUSINESS IN
UKRAINE IMPROVED IN 2006, REFORMS MUST CONTINUE
Ukraine's taxation system is the most burdensome in the world
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1105 gmt 7 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
KIEV - Conditions for doing business in Ukraine improved in 2006, World
Bankand International Finance Corporation experts believe.
"Ukraine's general rating in terms of ease of doing business has improved.
In the 2005 study, it ranked 132nd out of 175 countries, but now it is
128th," World Bank Country Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova Paul
Bermingham has said.
He was speaking at a news conference today presenting a joint report by the
World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, "Doing Business 2007:
How to Reform".
In particular, Ukraine has created a "one-stop-shop" system for registering
new businesses, which combines state registration and registration with the
Pension Fund, the Employment Fund, the Social Security Fund, the Workplace
Injury Fund and the tax authorities. The government has also simplified the
procedure for licensing business activities.
Bermingham said that the rather frequent change of government in Ukraine did
not affect economic growth in the country, because all governments pursued a
consistent policy.
"Governments changed in Ukraine in a fairly short period of time: a
Yanukovych government, a Tymoshenko government, a Yekhanurov
government and then a Yanukovych government again. These cabinets'
actions were consistently aimed at economic growth," he said.
In this connection, Bermingham noted the stability of the securities and
financial markets. "Eurobonds and syndicated credits - no significant change
there. There has been a consistency (of actions - Interfax-Ukraine) by the
successive governments," he said.
At the same time, he stressed that investors would like to see economic
reform stepped up in Ukraine.
In their report, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation
note that reforms must continue in Ukraine so that its economy becomes
competitive in the region as well as in Europe, particularly in terms of
taxation and international trade.
"Ukraine's taxation system is the most burdensome in the world. There are 98
kinds of taxes in Ukraine... [ellipsis as received] Ukrainian companies have
to pay 60 per cent of their incomes in taxes, while the world average is 40
per cent," the experts say. -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
14. UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER: NO RESALE OF STEELWORKS
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1621 gmt 11 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Monday, Sep 11, 2006
KIEV - Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has said that the
Ukrainian authorities will not consider the resale of Kryvorizhstal
[steelworks], and that all controversial property issues should be settled
in court. Yanukovych said this in Kiev on Monday [11 September].
Asked by journalists to comment on Communist Party leader Petro
Symonenko's statement about plans to resell Kryvorizhstal, Yanukovych
said: "An answer to this question can only be given in court. The
government will never intervene in such issues."
Yanukovych said that the Ukrainian government would never administratively
intervene in privatization issues. He called for an end to talk about
administrative intervention in the economy.
Yanukovych said that, as far as he was aware, the Kryvorizhstal issue "is
being raised with the European Union, the process is not over yet". "It
seems to me that parliament will in no circumstances discuss the issue," he
added.
At the same time, he noted that the state actually deprived itself of a very
serious metallurgy plant, and that the sale proceeds were consumed.
Yanukovych also said that the new government favours the signing of the
amicable agreements with owners of plants that the previous government had
proposed.
"We want amicable agreements to be signed so that we close the issue once
and for ever. If additional payment for the plants is at issue, let them pay
into the budget, and that's all," Yanukovych said. [Passage omitted:
background to Kryvorizhstal's privatization]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
15. FIVE REGIONAL TAX CHIEFS REPLACED IN UKRAINE
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1439 gmt 8 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Friday, Sep 08, 2006
KIEV/ODESSA - The State Tax Administration has appointed
[1] Andriy Lavreshov as head of the State Tax Administration in Odessa
Region, replacing Anatoliy Kosolapov,
[2] in Dnipropetrovsk Region Serhiy Shynkarenko replaced Vasyl Andrukhiv,
[3] in Poltava Region Andriy Sokol replaced Vasyl Verteletskyy,
[4] in Rivne Region Viktor Bashuk replaced Bohdan Zoriy,
[5] in Chernihiv Region Valentyn Osypenko replaced Vitaliy Vedmid.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
16. UKRAINE HAS TO PASS 11 LAWS TO JOIN WTO IN 2006
TV 5 Kanal, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1200 gmt 7 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Thursday, Sept 7, 2006
KIEV - [Presenter] Ukraine will have to approve yet another 11 laws in order
to join the World Trade Organization, Deputy Economics Minister Valeriy
Pyatnytskyy has said.
He also said that the Economics Ministry has stepped up talks regarding the
adaptation of legislation with companies working in various industries.
Pyatnytskyy said that all draft laws would be sent to the Supreme Council
[parliament] shortly. He also expressed a hope that Ukraine will join the
WTO by the end of 2006.
[Pyatnytskyy] We expect close cooperation and detailed discussion of various
documents, rather than problems with the passage of bills. It often happens
that the documents we come up with present only part of the whole picture.
And very often the discussions that arise regard wider areas. Obviously, new
draft laws will appear during discussion. -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
17. UKRAINE: WTO LAWS WILL NOT BE PASSED IN SEPTEMBER
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1509 gmt 7 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Thursday, Sep 07, 2006
KIEV - The bills adapting Ukrainian legislation to WTO entry requirements
will not be passed in September, the chairman of the Supreme Council of
Ukraine [parliament], Oleksandr Moroz, has said during his meeting with
journalists of the Holos Ukrayiny newspaper.
Moroz said this will hardly happen [in September] because the bills in
question are still being re-drafted by the cabinet and have not been
submitted to parliament.
Moroz forecast that the bills on the export of scrap non-ferrous and ferrous
metals and on the import of old cars will be most controversial.
He said that he personally is in favour of a ban on the export of
non-ferrous scrap and in favour of restricting ferrous scrap exports. Moroz
also said that it would not be expedient to import cars more than five years
old. There is no need "to import trash", he believes. -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
You are welcome to send us names for the AUR distribution list.
========================================================
18. PARLIAMENT SEATS FOR CABINET MEMBERS CANCELLED
Ukrainian cabinet ministers relinquish parliament seats
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 0822 gmt 12 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Tuesday, Sep 12, 2006
KIEV - Ukraine's parliament today cancelled ahead of schedule parliament
membership of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, 10 members of the
Cabinet of Ministers and two representatives of the central executive.
These included First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Azarov (385 votes in
favour), Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Klyuyev (385), Deputy Prime Minister
Volodymyr Rybak (406), Environment Minister Vasyl Dzharty (394), Education
and Science Minister Stanislav Nikolayenko (396), Family, Youth and Sports
Minister Yuriy Pavlenko (402), Transport and Communications Minister Mykola
Rudkovskyy (413), Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk (391) and Coal Industry
Minister Serhiy Tulub (394).
Parliament also cancelled parliament membership of the director-general of
the Ukrzaliznytsya state railways administration, Volodymyr Kozak (403),
and of the State Property Fund head, Valentyna Semenyuk (397).
[The Ukrainian constitution forbids combining work in parliament with
ministerial positions. The 13 individuals listed above asked parliament to
cancel their parliament membership in August.]
[Parliament speaker Oleksandr Moroz has said that he would turn to the Kiev
court of appeal in order to strip Justice Minister Roman Zvarych of his seat
in parliament, as Zvarych failed to apply for the cancellation of his deputy
mandate, Interfax-Ukraine, Kiev, reported in Russian at 0813 gmt on 12 Sep
06.] -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
19. UKRAINIAN PRES APPOINTS SECURITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1826 gmt 11 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Monday, Sep 11, 2006
KIEV - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has signed a decree appointing
National Security and Defence Council [NSDC] members, the president's press
service reported on Monday [11 September].
According to the decree, the NSDC consists of Prime Minister Viktor
Yanukovych, First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, the head of the
presidential secretariat, Oleh Rybachuk, Economics Minister Volodymyr
Makukha, Emergencies Minister Viktor Baloha, Defence Minister Anatoliy
Hrytsenko, Security Service of Ukraine Chairman Ihor Drizhchanyy, Justice
Minister Roman Zvarych, Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, Foreign Minister
Borys Tarasyuk, Health Minister Yuriy Polyachenko, and the head of the
Foreign Intelligence Service, Mykola Malomuzh.
Furthermore, in line with agreements, parliament speaker Oleksandr Moroz,
Prosecutor-General Oleksandr Medvedko and National Bank of Ukraine Chairman
Volodymyr Stelmakh were also included. Volodymyr Horbulin remains the acting
secretary of the NSDC. The NSDC is headed by Yushchenko.
[Horbulin was also appointed co-chairman of the working group analysing
compliance with the constitution and Ukrainian laws in Crimea, replacing
former NSDC secretary Anatoliy Kinakh in the post, according to
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1910 gmt 11 Sep 06.]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
20. COALITION FORMAT TO BE DETERMINED BY COMMUNISTS"
Ukrainian president to reinforce security and defence council
ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY: By Serhiy Burlachenko
Newspaper 2000, Kiev, Ukraine, in Russian 8 Sep 06; p A7
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Saturday, Sep 09, 2006
President Yushchenko will try to balance the Cabinet of Ministers, which is
formed mainly by the Party of Regions, with a strong National Security and
Defence Council, a pro-government weekly has said.
He reportedly plans to appoint former Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov as
council secretary and former Finance Minister Viktor Pynzenyk as his deputy,
the paper wrote.
The transformation of parliament's role will depend on interpretation of the
constitution, it added. The following is an excerpt from the article by
Serhiy Burlachenko entitled "Coalition format to be determined by
Communists" published in the Ukrainian newspaper 2000 on 8 September;
subheadings have been inserted editorially:
Having just commenced its work, the second session of the fifth convocation
of the Supreme Council [parliament] moved to the lobby for a week, till 12
September.
Despite official explanations on the necessity of work on drafting bills in
committees and factions, everyone clearly understands: the main reason is
determination of the ultimate coalition format, in particular, whether Our
Ukraine [propresidential faction] will join it, along with its role and
conditions for joining.
Negotiations are under way in full swing, first of all, the ones between the
[ruling] Party of Regions and Our Ukraine. [Passage omitted: statements on
new coalition made by Our Ukraine and Party of Regions representatives]
SOME PRESIDENTIAL POWERS RETAINED
As we earlier indicated on many occasions, under the reformed constitution
and with reduction of president's powers, especially those related to his
influence on the formation and activity of the Cabinet of Ministers, the
role and significance of the body of the kind of the National Security and
Defence Council [NSDC] is growing for [President Viktor] Yushchenko and
company who are using all available means to stick to power and retain as
much influence as possible.
It should be noted that the authors of the political reform admitted some
imperfections in this respect: I mean that they have retained fairly
powerful levers of influence through the NSDC for the president (exactly for
the president!).
Therefore, they to some extent smoothed over the spirit of the political
reform having transition to the parliamentary-presidential model as the main
essence.
Taking into account the increased role of the Cabinet of Ministers and
parliament, it would have been more logical to increase the role of the
prime minister and the government (probably, the one of the Supreme Council
as well) in the NSDC. Something has been done (see below), but it was
obviously insufficient.
We have seen the way the NSDC can "hobble" the government and the prime
minister by the examples of relations between [former NSDC Secretary Yevhen]
Marchuk and Yushchenko's cabinet, the same way as between [former NSDC
Secretary Petro] Poroshenko and [former Prime Minister Yuliya] Tymoshenko's
cabinet... [ellipsis as published]
ADDITIONAL NSDC POWERS IN 2005
Of course, Yushchenko is unlikely to confer to the NSDC secretary the
excessive powers which Poroshenko had in 2005. Let us remind you that it was
the time when the president's "dear friend" was granted the right not only
to be present at government meetings with the consultative voting right, but
also to influence the agenda, give instructions to ministries and government
agencies and to demand reports on their fulfilment.
Poroshenko could seriously influence law-enforcement authorities and even
courts (under the guise of "reforming judicial system").
Moreover, in addition to the aforementioned powers which were far beyond the
constitutional framework, Yushchenko conferred to him the right to sign NSDC
decisions, and even (in violation of Article 106 of the constitution) passed
him presidential functions to preside at NSDC meetings during his
(Yushchenko's) absence.
Let us reiterate: something of this kind is unlikely to be expected now, as
the president will not wish to be subject to the same portion of criticism
in relation to observance of the constitution as in 2005, and time is
different: politicians will revolt.
LAW ON CABINET OF MINISTERS
Nevertheless, Yushchenko is interested in stepping up NSDC role as a
counter-balance to the "alien' government [headed by his former presidential
rival Viktor Yanukovych].
For example, presidential levers of influencing law-enforcers and foreign
policy have been retained, and they are weighty enough, while the NSDC is
his last hope in influencing the economic situation in Ukraine.
The head of state is particularly interested in increasing NSDC role in the
light of the recent developments. The rules of procedure of the Cabinet of
Ministers were amended on 30 August.
The provision according to which the president of Ukraine had powers to
cancel government's regulatory acts has been excluded, and he is currently
authorized just to suspend the acts of the Cabinet of Ministers and to
appeal to the Constitutional Court at the same time.
It means that previously he had powers to cancel whatever he wanted, while
now he will have to substantiate his actions at the Constitutional Court,
and no-one can say for granted that the verdict will be in the president's
favour. The provision saying that the Cabinet must fulfil president's
directives has also disappeared from the rules of procedure: now it must not
do it.
VERBAL CONFRONTATION OVER BUDGET
The second alarming issue for Yushchenko is the draft law on the Cabinet of
Ministers of Ukraine. The presidential secretariat hastened to draft its own
wording. The Cabinet of Ministers objected to this.
The press service of the Party of Regions reported on 4 September that First
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mykola Azarov sharply criticized
the work "initiated" by the presidential secretariat.
They allegedly interfered in someone else's business. "Statements made by
the head of the presidential secretariat [Oleh Rybachuk] saying that they
are drafting a certain wording of the bill on the government of their own
rouse certain bewilderment.
In my opinion, taking into account the amendments to the constitutions which
have entered into force, it would have been more logical to authorize the
government itself to draft this bill."
He has promised that the government will finalize its draft of the bill on
the Cabinet of Ministers within a week and will submit it to parliament: "I
think we shall finalize it in a week, and then submit it to the Supreme
Council... [ellipsis as published]" Let me add on my own behalf: parliament
is more likely to adopt namely the government's wording (taking into account
disposition of forces).
At the same time, Azarov also gave the presidential secretariat a "flick on
the nose" on the budget issue: he rejected statements made by the
secretariat concerning the possibility that the president would not sign the
2007 budget, currently being drafted by the government, after its adoption.
"We are surprised with the tone of the statements that the secretariat is
reportedly preparing to examine the budget if it does not satisfy the
secretariat. There were a number of discourteous statements, and with regard
to this, certain questions have emerged; I think we shall discuss them with
the president after his return from leave."
PRESIDENTIAL POWERS "FLOWING AWAY"
Obviously, Azarov is right. But surely, the presidential camp has made a
judgment that the government's wording of the Law on the Cabinet of
Ministers will differ in principle from the one drafted by the presidential
secretariat ("for the president") both in its letter and spirit.
It means that the president's influence on the economic situation in the
country is "flowing away". In addition, the Party of Regions have taken the
government's economic bloc under its control, and therefore, neither joining
the coalition by Our Ukraine nor its failure to join it will change the
disposition of forces in this sphere in principle.
SPECULATIONS OVER NSDC APPOINTMENTS
Therefore, this exactly is likely to be the reason why speculation began
circulating about [former Prime Minister] Yuriy Yekhanurov's appointment as
the NSDC secretary and [former Finance Minister] Viktor Pynzenyk's as his
deputy. It will mean the NSDC focused on the economy.
It will be an absolutely clear "economic juncture": a kind of an alternative
Cabinet of Ministers; not the Cabinet of Ministers but a parallel
"government's economic bloc".
By the way, Yekhanurov said on 5 September that he knew nothing about his
appointment. He either might have been pretending, or it might have been a
proof that the president had not taken his final decision yet (or he might
appoint someone of the kind of [Interior Minister Yuriy] Lutsenko to this
post in the NSDC).
NSDC LEGAL STATUS
According to Article 107 of the constitution, Ukrainian NSDC is a
coordinating body on national security and defence issues supervised by the
president of Ukraine. The Council "coordinates and controls activity of
executive authorities in national security and defence spheres"... [ellipsis
as published] As the notion of national security is very broad, the NSDC may
actually coordinate and control everything.
The president is the NSDC head, and he is the one who forms NSDC personal
composition: he may include there anyone at his own discretion.
However, the constitution stipulates that the prime minister, the defence
minister, the SBU [Security Service of Ukraine] head, the interior minister
and the foreign minister are NSDC members (according to their positions).
The Supreme Council speaker "may take part" in its meetings.
NSDC decisions are enforced by presidential decrees. Its competence and
functions are determined by law. Let us not enumerate them, but there is an
extremely broad scope of issues ascribed to NSDC functions and competence
(according to the Law on the National Security and Defence Council of
Ukraine): they comprise practically all spheres of life.
The president may interfere into anything he wants through this instrument.
His interference may be formalized in the form of decrees (propresidential
circles are currently making emphasis on this, following exclusion of the
provision on "instructions" from the rules of procedure of the Cabinet of
Ministers).
SPECULATIONS ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Staff grows from 400 to 800 people
The fact that, according to well-informed sources, the number of NSDC staff
members has grown from 400 to 800 people, and that the best analytical
forces have been gathered there, is likely not to be a mere coincidence.
Moreover, according to well-informed people from Bankova Street [where
presidential secretariat is located], Yuliya Tymoshenko, being fully aware
that she had "no prospects" of assuming prime minister's office during the
present tenure of the Supreme Council, while persuading Viktor Yushchenko to
dissolve parliament, proposed him to appoint her NSDC chief as a way of
resolving the "problem", and she promised him to "eliminate" people from
Donetsk within three months using Security Council's mechanisms.
INTERPRETATION OF CONSTITUTION
There is another important point. Clause 18 of Article 106 of the
constitution stipulates that the president "is the head of the National
Security and Defence Council of Ukraine".
However, the following text emerged in the same Article 106 after amending
the constitution (i.e. political reform): "Acts of the president of Ukraine
issued within limits of his powers envisaged by Clauses 5, 18, 21, 23 of
this Article, shall be signed by the prime minister of Ukraine and the
minister in charge of the act and its fulfilment."
It means that a presidential decree issued for implementation of a NSDC
decision should also be signed by the prime minister and the minister in
charge! This constitutional provision obviously "undermines" the president's
capacity to interfere into the work of the Cabinet of Ministers through the
NSDC.
However, it is a subject of much controversy. For example, in the opinion
of Roman Zvarych (not only "the president's man", but also the justice
minister), all decrees issued by the head of state and mandatory for
fulfilment in any case: "According to the constitutional amendments, the
Cabinet of Ministers is obliged to fulfil presidential decrees (acts), and
that's it... [ellipsis as published]
Let me note that it is applicable to four clauses of Article 106 of the
constitution: 5, 18, 21 and 23." (Zerkalo Nedeli [Ukrainian analytical
weekly], 2 September 2006)
Then it is impossible to understand: what is the sense of the aforementioned
remark in the constitution with regard to signing presidential decrees by
the prime minister and the minister in charge? We have quoted the passage
introduced into Article 106 during constitutional changes.
But the full wording of the final part of this article is as follows: "The
president of Ukraine, based on the constitution and laws of Ukraine, issues
decrees and directives which are mandatory for fulfilment in the territory
of Ukraine."
"Acts of the president of Ukraine issued within the limits of his powers
envisaged by Clauses 5, 18, 21, 23 of this Article, shall be signed by the
prime minister of Ukraine and the minister in charge of the act and its
fulfilment."
Logically, it means that presidential acts listed in all clauses (there are
31 of them altogether), except the mentioned ones (5, 18, 21 and 23) and
unconditionally mandatory for fulfilment. As for the latter, presidential
decrees should gain legal force only if they have been signed by the prime
minister and the minister in charge.
However, others (including aforementioned Zvarych) stick to the opinion that
signatures of the prime minister and the minister in charge are nothing more
than a formality and a kind of a proof that the prime minister and the
minister in charge are aware of the decree and began fulfilling it.
From this point of view, the situation is similar with the one which
happened at the moment when the president nominated the prime minister: is
it mandatory for him to make this nomination, or has he got the right to
refuse (as his signature was also necessary)?
It means that the fight of interpretations of this theme will continue;
probably, in the Constitutional Court, following the direction of the
problem raised by us back on 11 August ("Political reform: polishing
mechanisms and work on mistakes"): on the necessity of forming a clear and
comprehensible model of relationship within the triangle Cabinet of
Ministers - parliament - president... [ellipsis as published]
This body's transformation into an alternative (to the government) centre of
decision-making and a lever of the president's influence on economic
situation will depend on the ones in whose favour (the president or the
prime minister and the Cabinet of Ministers) the provisions of Article 106
related to presidential decrees on implementation of NSDC decisions will be
interpreted. -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
Please contact us if you no longer wish to receive the AUR
========================================================
21. 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF UKRAINE'S INDEPENDENCE
Congressional Record statement by Rep. Christopher H. Smith
Co-Chairman, U.S. Helsinki Commission,
Vice-Chairman, House International Relations Committee
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C., Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Mr. Speaker, August 24th marked the fifteenth anniversary of Ukraine's
rebirth as an independent state, finally being freed from the shackles of
Soviet misrule that included a reign of terror, cultural suppression and a
genocidal famine.
The last fifteen years have witnessed peaks and valleys as the Ukrainian
people have struggled to overcome the legacy of communism and Moscow's
imperialism. While the process of Ukraine's restoration is still a work in
progress, great strides have been made to consolidate that nation as an
independent, free and democratic state.
The December 1, 1991 referendum on independence, the 1996 Constitution and
especially the 2004 Orange Revolution stand as highlights, demonstrating
Ukrainian resolve for independence, rule of law, democracy and freedom, and
the continuing promise of a better life.
In contrast to the first 13 years of independence, Ukraine is now "free",
and not merely "partly free." The March 26 parliamentary election was one
of the freest and fairest ever held among post-Soviet states.
The Ukrainian economy is on the road to recovery and development after the
initial post-Soviet decline of the 1990s. Ukraine is a responsible neighbor
and has shown its mettle as a partner for peace and security in the world.
Of course, challenges remain despite the real progress that has been made.
There have been missed opportunities. Many of the promises of the Orange
Revolution are only partially fulfilled. The rule of law, including a truly
independent judiciary, remains to be consolidated. Corruption, although not
as egregious as before the Orange Revolution, still rears its ugly head.
Many Ukrainians believe all too many among the political elites look first
toward their personal interests rather than to the good of the people and of
the nation they are supposed to serve. As the last months have
demonstrated, political stability can be elusive, and it remains to be seen
what direction the new government will take.
Nevertheless, Ukraine continues to show tremendous potential, and I am
firmly convinced that this still relatively young 15-year-old independent
state will fulfill its potential.
Mr. Speaker, in looking over the last fifteen years, we must not forget the
sacrifices of millions who fought for Ukraine's liberty over the course of
the last century, often against great odds and at great personal risk.
Whether in the struggle for Ukraine's short-lived independence in 1918-21,
or the insurgent armies that fought against both Nazi and Soviet rule during
and after World War II, many Ukrainians made the ultimate sacrifice.
More recently, in the final decades of Soviet domination, Ukrainian Helsinki
Monitors and other human rights activists challenged the system, calling
upon the Kremlin to live up to commitments voluntarily undertaken when
Leonid Brezhnev signed the 1975 Helsinki Final Act.
One such renowned activist, Ukrainian Helsinki Monitor Nadia Svitlychna, who
served three years in a Soviet labor camp for her tireless defense of human
rights and freedom, died last month.
We honor the memory of Mrs. Svitlychna, recalling that it was courageous and
dedicated individuals like her who, as much as anyone, paved the way for an
independent, democratic Ukraine.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the role that the Helsinki Commission, which I
Co-Chair, has played throughout its 30-year existence in firmly supporting
human rights and freedom for Ukraine.
I am pleased that the Congress has stood firm in support of Ukraine and am
confident that the United States will continue to extend the hand of
friendship as Ukraine moves toward its rightful place as a fully integrated
member of the Euro-Atlantic community of nations. -30-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
22. OLEH RYBACHUK MEETS WITH FORMER US AMB STEVEN PIFER
Ukraine should intensify NATO membership dialogue, WTO by end of 2006
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1554 gmt 11 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Monday, Sep 11, 2006
KIEV - The head of the presidential secretariat, Oleh Rybachuk, believes
that the dialogue on issues of Ukraine's NATO membership should be
intensified.
The president's press service reported on Tuesday [11 September] that
Rybachuk said this during a meeting with the former US ambassador to
Ukraine, Steven Pifer.
The two discussed the development of the political situation in Ukraine and
devoted some attention to issues of international cooperation. Rybachuk said
that Ukraine's strategic goal is also to join the WTO by the end of 2006.
"On this depend the prospects for forming a free-trade zone with the
European Union, and in broader terms - the speed of integration in the world
economic system, the country's general investment attractiveness," the
president's press service quoted Rybachuk as saying. -30-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
23. U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH GOING TO VISIT UKRAINE
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, September 11, 2006
KYIV - President Viktor Yuschenko's press service informed the press
about a meeting between Yuschenko and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine
William Taylor where this announcement was made.
'George Bush has a huge desire to visit Ukraine,' the report reads. The
diplomat said that the American authorities are trying to fix the date of
the visit.
During their meeting, Yuschenko and Taylor discussed bilateral cooperation
in energy and fight against corruption.
Taylor said that his country is ready to actively cooperate with the new
Cabinet of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.
During the meting Yuschenko expressed condolences in connection with the
fifth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks and gave Taylor a
letter to the U.S. president. As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Yuschenko
invited Bush to visit Ukraine this year. -30-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
24. U.S. AMBASSADOR TAYLOR SPEAKS ABOUT UKRAINE & NATO
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, September 11, 2006
KYIV - United States Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor wants Ukraine to
be united when adopting a decision on the country's membership of NATO.
Taylor announced this to journalists while laying flowers at a monument
marking the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attack on New York that took
place on September 11, 2001.
Taylor stressed that the decision on Ukraine's membership of NATO should
be made by Ukraine and its citizens and stressed that the United States would
like Ukrainians to be conscious of what NATO membership would bring them
when they are making such a decision.
'Time is less important than the unity of the country during adoption of
this decision,' Taylor said. He stressed that the best time will be the time
when Ukraine finally makes a determination on the need to join NATO.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said in
August that the Cabinet of Ministers was temporarily postponing approval of
a final decision on the Action Plan on NATO Membership until the Ukrainian
public is sufficiently informed about NATO.
Ukraine expects to be invited to join the Action Plan on NATO Membership at
the NATO summit scheduled for Riga (Latvia) in November. -30-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
25. U.S. AMBASSADOR TAYLOR SAYS UKRAINE IS EXAMPLE OF
DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT FOR MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, September 11, 2006
KYIV - U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor has said that Ukraine
is an example of democratic development for Middle East countries.
He made this statement to the press when laying flowers at the Monument to
the Victims of Terrorism in Kyiv to commemorate the fifth year since the
September 11 terrorist attacks in New York. Taylor said that terrorist
attacks take place in many parts of the world.
'You cannot say where a terrorist attack may happen next time, but it is
important to know how you should act then,' he stated.
Taylor noted that joint efforts of the world community are needed to
overcome terrorist attacks and people should be let decide for themselves
what government they want to have in their country.
'Ukraine is a good example where Ukrainians themselves took responsibility
to select those who will govern them. Ukraine could be a good example of the
way to use democratic development and democratic principles and it could be
a good model in other parts of the world, in Middle East for example,'
Taylor said.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, a series of terrorist attacks occurred
in the United States on September 5, 2001. International and U.S. experts
blame the attacks on Osama bin Laden, the Al Qaeda organization and the
Taliban movement. -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
26. EVERY 7TH FAMILY IS INCOMPLETE, NO BASIS FOR ALIMONY
Centre TV, Moscow, in Russian 1645 gmt 8 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Monday Sep 11, 2006
MOSCOW - [Presenter] The Ukrainian public is also concerned about the birth
rate, but the country of the victorious Orange Revolution has no money for
demographic revolution. Russian hydrocarbon export incomes are growing,
while the Ukrainian government has to spend more and more money on buying
fuel.
Rodion Tunetskiy reports on how Kiev is tightening the belts on pregnant
women and single mothers.
[Correspondent] Your daddy is a polar explorer. Your daddy works in a secret
laboratory. This is what more than one million Ukrainian kids who have never
seen their fathers hear in response to their questions.
Every seventh family in Ukraine is incomplete, and the number of divorces is
30 per cent bigger than the number of marriages. There is no legal base for
obtaining alimony. Until recently, single parents received state aid, but
the government has suspended the payments.
[Vitaliy Mushchinov, captioned as head of department of social protection of
the population, interviewed in his office] Some 400-410m hryvnyas of
additional budget money needs to be allocated. This is a rather significant
sum for Ukraine, so sources of financing must be found.
[Correspondent] Vita Savelyeva lives with her mother and two daughters.
Their family income is 1,000 hryvnyas, or about 200 dollars per month. Vita
earns about 100 dollars [a month], her mother's pension is 80 dollars and
child benefits stand at 20 dollars. She hoped that the benefits would be
increased from 1 January [2006]. Instead of this, they were cut.
[Savelyeva, captioned, speaking to camera in her flat] It is impossible to
bring up a child on this money. Footwear, clothes, pencil-cases, pens and
other school equipment - nothing is free.
[Correspondent] The [Ukrainian] Ministry of Trade [and Social Policy]
insists that the number of single parents is falling, but the statistics
prove the opposite. The number of fatherless children has grown by 44,000
in 2006.
In general, the Trade Ministry officials sometimes do surprising things. For
example, the minister today proposed a bill on the status of former cabinet
members, providing them with lucrative pensions. There is apparently enough
money for this in the budget.
There are a lot of sculptures in Kiev parks. This one portrays a single
mother with a child. Ukraine, which presents itself as a Western nation and
aspires to EU membership, probably does not know how highly family values
are rated in Europe. -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
27. BLACK SEA DOCUMENTARY: "FROM ODESSA TO ODESSA"
Film aims to capture the way people live around the Black Sea
Turkish Daily News, Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, Sep 09, 2006
ANKARA - German TV channel ARD is currently filming a Black Sea
documentary titled "From Odessa to Odessa" and has now reached Turkey
The documentary, directed by Jens Stubenrauch with cameramen Michael Oschl,
Fabian Werba and Segei Alekseyen, started filming in Odessa, Ukraine, and
moved eastwards from there. They are now at Turkey's customs gate with
Georgia at Sarp.
Yasemin Oymen, who is responsible for pre-filming arrangements, said they
had a 26-day schedule. The documentary aims to capture the way people live
around the Black Sea rather than concentrating on history or nature. "We are
trying to concentrate on culture, tradition, handicraft and local arts," she
explained
Filming has already taken place around the Hopa region for three days. "We
recorded a funeral at Baskoy in Hopa. We will film the influence of tea,
hazelnuts and fishing on the lives of people on the Black Sea coast. We will
continue on to Bulgaria and then complete our documentary where we started,"
said Oymen, -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
28. FORUM FOR 65TH ANNIVERSARY OF BABYN YAR TRAGEDY
President Of Israel, President Of Croatia, And President Of Montenegro
To Visit Ukraine On September 26 And September 27
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, September 12, 2006
KYIV - The president of Israel, the president of Croatia, and the president
of Montenegro will be on visit to Ukraine on September 26 and September 27
to take part in the forum entitled "Life to My People" dedicated to the 65th
anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy.
Andrii Deschytsia, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's press
service, announced the visits to the press. He said ministers from
Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Georgia, and Slovakia would come to the forum also. He
said the Foreign Ministry expects confirmations to come from other countries
also.
The sponsors of the forum are the Cabinet of Ministers and the international
foundation World Holocaust Forum, he said.
According to Deschytsia, the goal of the forum is to inform the world
community on the tragedy in the Babyn Yar and to attract the attention of
the humankind to the necessity to prevent from the spreading of xenophobia
and intolerance.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, in July, President Viktor Yuschenko
invited world leaders (heads of over 50 states and international
organizations) to visit Ukraine in September to take part in the
international forum in Kyiv dedicated to the remembrance of the Babyn Yar
victims.
During the World War II, about 200,000 Kyivans were killed and 100,000 were
removed from the city. Over 100,000 Kyivans and prisoners of war of various
nationalities were shot in the Babyn Yar. -30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
29. REMAINS OF BRONZE AGE PYRAMID FOUND IN UKRAINE
Tom Parfitt, Moscow, The Guardian, London, UK, Fri, Sep 08, 2006
MOSCOW - Archaeologists in Ukraine have unearthed the remains of an
ancient pyramidal structure that pre-dates those in Egypt by at least 300 years.
The stone foundations of the structure, which probably resembled Aztec and
Mayan ziggurats in South America, were discovered near the eastern city of
Lugansk.
It is thought they were laid about five millennia ago during the early
Bronze Age by animists who worshipped a sun god. The "pyramid" is in fact
a complex of temples and sacrificial altars topping a sculpted hillside with
steps on its sides.
Viktor Klochko, head of the excavation, said the discovery was of
international significance. "This is the first monument of its age and kind
found in eastern Europe," he told the Guardian.
"It changes our whole conception of the social structure and the level of
development of the cattle breeders and farmers who were the direct ancestors
of most European peoples."
There are about 100 pyramids in Egypt, and the remains of Mesopotamian
pyramids are preserved in Iraq and Iran. Ziggurats are also found in Mexico,
and the Nubians built pyramids as burial sites for monarchs in the Nile
valley.
But pyramid structures are rare in Europe. One of the few is a Roman-era
pyramid near Nice, France, that may have been built by legionnaires involved
in an Egyptian cult.
Although graves have been found at the Lugansk site, archaeologists think it
was used for sacrifice by burning, rather than as a burial ground. "People
lived in the surrounding valleys and climbed up it to carry out their
ceremonies," said Mr Klochko. "They had a pagan cult that bowed down to
the sun, as did the ancestors of the Slavs."
Remains of sacrifice victims, ashes and ceramics have been found at the
site, but no jewellery or treasure. The complex, which covered
three-quarters of a square mile and was around 60 metres (192ft) high, was
probably used for 2,000 years.
"What surprised me most is the scale of this enormous complex," Stanislav
Mogilny, a student working on the excavation, told Russian television. It's
just incredible - a titanic feat." -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
30. OSTASH APPOINTED UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO CANADA
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1545 gmt 11 Sep 06
BBC Monitoring Service, United Kingdom, Wednesday, Sep 11, 2006
KIEV - President Viktor Yushchenko has issued a decree appointing Ihor
Ostash ambassador to Canada, the president's press service has announced.
Ostash was a member of the three previous parliaments. In the previous
parliament, Ostash was deputy head of the parliament's foreign affairs
committee. [Ostash ran in the March 2006 parliamentary election on the list
of the Pora-Reforms and Order bloc, which failed to overcome the 3-percent
barrier.]
Ostash is 47 years old. He speaks English, Polish, Slovakian, Serbian,
Croatian and Bulgarian. Until now, Ukraine's interests in Canada have been
represented by charge d'affaires ad interim Vadym Prystayko.
The ambassador's post has been vacant since February 2006, when Mykola
Maymeskul was appointed deputy foreign minister. Maymeskul had headed
Ukraine's diplomatic mission in Canada since March 2003. In the post,
Maymeskul also represented Ukraine in the International Civil Aviation
Organization. -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
If you are receiving more than one copy of the AUR please contact us.
Please contact us if you no longer wish to receive the AUR.
You are welcome to send us names for the AUR distribution list.
If you are missing some issues of the AUR please let us know.
========================================================
"ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR"
A Free, Not-For-Profit, Independent, Public Service Newsletter
With major support from The Bleyzer Foundation
Articles are Distributed For Information, Research, Education
Academic, Discussion and Personal Purposes Only
Additional readers are welcome.
========================================================
SigmaBleyzer/The Bleyzer Foundation Economic Reports
"SigmaBleyzer - Where Opportunities Emerge"
The SigmaBleyzer Emerging Markets Private Equity Investment Group
and The Bleyzer Foundation offers a comprehensive collection of documents,
reports and presentations published by its business units and organizations.
All publications 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=publications
You can be on an e-mail distribution list to receive automatically, on a
monthly basis, any or all of the Macroeconomic Situation Reports (Romania,
Bulgaria, Ukraine) by sending an e-mail to mwilliams@SigmaBleyzer.com.
"UKRAINE - A COUNTRY OF NEW OPPORTUNITIES"
========================================================
UKRAINE INFORMATION WEBSITE: http://www.ArtUkraine.com
========================================================
"WELCOME TO UKRAINE"- "NARODNE MYSTETSTVO"
(Folk Art) MAGAZINES
For information on how to subscribe to the "Welcome to Ukraine" magazine
in English, or the Ukrainian Folk Art magazine "Narodne Mystetstvo" in
Ukrainian, write to ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net. Complete information is
available at the website: http://www.artukraine.com/availbooks/index.htm.
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE PROGRAM - SPONSORS
Action Ukraine Report (AUR)
"Working to Secure & Enhance Ukraine's Democratic Future"
Holodomor Education and Exhibition Collection
"Telling the World About the Holodomor Through the Eyes of Ukrainian Artists"
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 Program are:
2. UKRAINIAN FEDERATION OF AMERICA (UFA), Zenia Chernyk,
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 ORTHODOX CHURCH OF THE USA, South
Brown Brook, New Jersey, http://www.uocofusa.org
11. UKRAINIAN AMERICAN COORDINATING COUNCIL (UACC),
Ihor Gawdiak, President, Washington, D.C., New York, New York
12. 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
13. WJ GROUP of Ag Companies, Kyiv, Ukraine, David Holpert, Chief
Financial Officer, Chicago, IL; http://www.wjgrain.com/en/links/index.html
14. EUGENIA SAKEVYCH DALLAS, Author, "One Woman, Five
Lives, Five Countries," 'Her life's journey begins with the 1932-1933
genocidal famine in Ukraine.' Hollywood, CA, www.eugeniadallas.com.
15. ALEX AND HELEN WOSKOB, College Station, Pennsylvania
16. SWIFT FOUNDATION, San Luis Obispo, California
17. TRAVEL TO UKRAINE website, http://www.TravelToUkraine.org,
A program of the U.S-Ukraine Foundation, Washington, D.C.
========================================================
TO BE ON OR OFF THE FREE AUR DISTRIBUTION LIST
If you would like to read the ACTION UKRAINE REPORT- AUR,
around five times a week, please send your name, country of residence,
and e-mail contact information to morganw@patriot.net. Information about
your occupation and your interest in Ukraine is also appreciated.
If you do not wish to read the ACTION UKRAINE REPORT please
contact us immediately by e-mail to morganw@patriot.net. If you are
receiving more than one copy please let us know so this can be corrected.
SPAM BLOCKERS ARE A REAL PROBLEM
If you do not receive a copy of the AUR it is probably because of a
SPAM BLOCKER maintained by your server or by yourself on your
computer. Spam blockers are set in very arbitrary and impersonal ways
and block out e-mails because of words found in many news stories.
Spam blockers also sometimes reject the AUR for other arbitrary reasons
we have not been able to identify. If you do not receive some of the AUR
numbers please let us know and we will send you the missing issues. Please
make sure the spam blocker used by your server and also the one on your
personal computer, if you use a spam blocker, is set properly to receive
the Action Ukraine Report (AUR).
========================================================
PUBLISHER AND EDITOR - AUR
Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Director, Government Affairs
Washington Office, SigmaBleyzer
Emerging Markets Private Equity Investment Group
P.O. Box 2607, Washington, D.C. 20013, Tel: 202 437 4707
mwilliams@SigmaBleyzer.com; www.SigmaBleyzer.com
========================================================
Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.
========================================================
return to index [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================