American Accuses Kyiv Politicians, Ex-Wife Of Keeping Him From His Child

KIEV, Ukraine -- An American citizen who says his Ukrainian ex-wife is denying him access to their nine-year-old son has accused her new husband, a Kyiv city councilman, of trying to intimidate him into giving up his visitation rights.

Yury Starodubsky with his son Michael.
Yury Starodubsky, a naturalized American citizen of Ukrainian origin, told a news conference in Kyiv on Aug. 27 that Kyiv City Councilman Oleksandr Rybak has threatened and harassed him.

Starodubsky’s ex-wife Irina Fidenthal denied the accusations, which she said might be tied to the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Rybak and his father Volodymr, a deputy prime minister, are both members of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych’s Regions party.

“I am not seeking custody. I only want to see my boy, to be a part of his life,” Starodubsky told the Post.

Starodubsky, who also goes by the surname Star, said he has seen his son, Michael, less than a dozen times since the couple was estranged in 2002.

Some of these meetings consisted of Starodubsky’s waiting for the nine-year-old in front of his house or catching him on the beach with his grandmother in Crimea, according to the US citizen.

Starodubsky, 38, began litigation in July at Kyiv’s Pechersky Court to enforce his visitation rights.

He has also sent several letters to top Cabinet officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Rybak.

“A man identifying himself as Volodymyr Vasylevych [Deputy Prime Minister Rybak] called me and said he had nothing to do with the affair, that it was between me and his son and my wife’s family,” Starodubsky said.

Relations with 38-year-old Oleksandr Rybak, the deputy prime minister’s son, started out civilly but have deteriorated in recent months, according to Starodubsky.

Starodubsky accused the city councilman of sending him threatening SMS messages and having him followed and accosted by strangers during his visits to Kyiv.

“I am afraid for my life,” the American citizen said.

Starodubsky said his former wife and her husband are both from wealthy Donetsk families and thus capable of making him disappear.

“If they were a normal, run-of-the-mill family, we would have sat down and settled this.”

Starodubsky, who is Jewish, said his former wife and her new husband also had his son baptized as a Christian without his permission.

“We agreed before he was born that he would be raised as a Jew, so that he wouldn’t have any identity problems.”

The other side

Irina Fridenthal told the Post that Starodubsky has never been prevented from visiting his son.

“I have nothing against him seeing our child. I only found out that he was unable to when I learned about the lawsuit this year.”

According to her, Starodubsky shows up and disappears as he pleases.

She said her ex-husband was supposed to come to the US Consulate in Kyiv last September to renew Michael’s US passport but failed to appear.

“I find it strange that he suddenly shows up a year later with these accusations against my husband and his father, just before the elections. My husband, much less his father, has nothing to do with this matter.”

Fridenthal, who identifies herself as an ethnic Russian, acknowledged having the nine-year-old baptized, adding that it was done according to the boy’s wishes.

She dismissed Starodubsky’s accusations that her current husband had threatened or pressured him.

Starodubsky said his son was a US citizen and that his wife held two passports.

An insider’s spat?

Starodubsky drove up in an expensive Mercedes with a muscle-bound driver for an interview with the Post.

He said he moved to the US with his family in 1979 when he was nine years old. He now says he works as an electrician in Chicago.

A 2004 announcement by Patch Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Praxis Pharmaceuticals Inc, states that Starodubsky was appointed the company’s director of business development for Ukraine and Russia.

The announcement refers to Starodubsky as “an international businessman with very strong political and business contacts in both Ukraine and Russia.”

Starodubsky said he was employed by Patch as a consultant, but currently has no business interests in Ukraine.

Starodubsky and Fridenthal, 31, met and married in the US in the mid-1990s.

“It was true love, a real marriage,” Starodubsky said.

By 2002, the couple had separated, and in 2004 Starodubsky filed for divorce.

“I only found out about the divorce after the fact,” Fridenthal said, adding that she remarried in 2005.

Fridenthal took her son Michael to Ukraine in 2002 together with Starodubsky, then returned alone to collect her things from Starodubsky a few months later.

Starodubsky said he hadn’t been able to bring legal action against Irina in the US because she left before being served a subpoena.

“They apparently planned the whole thing from the start,” Starodubsky said, referring to Fridenthal and Rybak.

Fridenthal denied this accusation.

Source: Kyiv Post

Voters Say Poll Won't Fix Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine -- With just a month to go before voters elect a new parliament, Ukraine's election campaign is in full swing.

Same players, Yanukovych (L) and Yushchenko (R) - another election
And while some Ukrainians still believe in the romance of the Orange Revolution, many others say its leaders have failed to keep their promises.

Voters in Ukraine are facing the same choice they had at the time of the Orange Revolution and the parliamentary vote last year.

It's either the orange team headed by Viktor Yushchenko and the flamboyant Yulia Timoshenko or the Regions Party led by their bitter rival, the Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich.

After endless power struggles and stand-offs, many voters are disillusioned, yet are likely to vote for what they think is the lesser of two evils.

The Vasiliyevs from Kiev used to have bitter spats over politics. Maryanna kept telling her parents that orange leaders abused people’s trust to win power.

But mom and dad thought they knew better and supported the revolution. Sometimes they didn't talk for weeks, but that's changed now.

Maryanna’s father, a historian, hoped his wages would go up enough to afford a holiday abroad.

But his family is still renting holiday houses build by the Soviets two hours from Kiev. It's no wonder the parents are far less enthusiastic about the revolution and its slogans this time.

The Orange Revolution is satirised in a new museum in the city of Lugansk.

A puppet of President Yushchenko has a sign that reads, “I do what I like with the constitution”.

Cartoons and photos of the orange uprising mock the election promises of a better life.

Ten toy soldiers in NATO uniforms are shown crossing a map of Ukraine, indicating what could happen if orange leaders are returned to power.

“I was at university during the election last year. And we were told who to vote for. Is that the freedom promised to us by the orange team? I said ok but voted the way I wanted,” says Galina Ananieva, organiser of the Anti-Orange Museum.

The pro-presidential Our Ukraine party does not think they have done so badly, saying it was impossible to make everything smell of roses after 70 years of communism.

“What we needed to do - shake up the system, We were not going to satisfy hyperinflated expectations of the Ukrainian people. But I don’t criticise them for this. One of the reasons the “Orange Revolution” was successful is that it shook the foundations of the system,” believes Roman Zvarych, an advisor to President Yushchenko.

And for some the romance of the revolution is still strong.

Supporters of the orange team credit the president for the freedom of the press and the growty of civic activity in Ukraine.

Yet more than half of the population say they failed to keep the promises made three years ago.

Power struggles in Ukraine are far from over. Next month ballot-weary voters will tramp to polling stations for the fourth time in less than three years.

However, the election is unlikely to shift the balance of power.

Advisers to the President and the Prime Minister are already preparing to dispute the results, and to bring their supporters to Independence Square yet again.

Source: RussiaToday

Igor Kolomoisky Invests US$ 110 Million To Acquire An Interest In CME

HAMILTON, Bermuda -- Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. ("CME") announced today that Igor Kolomoisky, a prominent Ukrainian businessman, has acquired 1,275,227 shares of CME's Class A Common Stock for cash consideration of US$ 110 million.

Igor Kolomoisky
The price per share has been determined on the basis of a weighted average trading price.

This share purchase represents approximately 3.0% of CME's total outstanding Common Stock.

In connection with this investment, Igor Kolomoisky has been invited to join the Board of Directors of CME.

Ronald S. Lauder, Non-Executive Chairman of CME, commented on the transaction: "I've known Igor Kolomoisky for some time and admire him as an extremely knowledgeable businessman with in-depth knowledge of Ukraine. Igor understands the importance of independent television not only in Ukraine, but throughout Eastern Europe. I'm delighted to welcome him as our newest Director, and I am confident he will help CME enormously."

Michael Garin, CME's Chief Executive Officer, said: "Investors should welcome this step as a major vote of confidence. The Apax investment last year underscored their view of the growth potential of CME as a company. Similarly, this investment by Mr. Kolomoisky should confirm CME's view that Ukraine will be a powerful growth engine for the Company in the future. As I said a few weeks ago when we released our second quarter earnings, 'We are convinced that in the next few years Ukraine will become the largest market in which we operate. We remain completely committed to Ukraine and will continue to aggressively but prudently pursue opportunities to further strengthen our presence there.' Today's announcement is a major indicator of that commitment."

Igor Kolomoisky said: "CME is one of the fastest growing and best managed media companies in the world and represents an exceptional investment opportunity for me. I am impressed with the company's management team, vision and disciplined financial approach. I look forward to working with my new Board colleagues and the CME management team to build upon the CME success story at a time when prospects are so bright both in Ukraine and in the other markets in which the company operates. Ronald Lauder has been a pioneer in helping the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to establish the independent media outlets so critical to the development of their economies and political systems. I've known Ronald for a number of years, and I'm delighted to now join him on the Board of CME."

CME is a TV broadcasting company operating leading networks in six Central and Eastern European countries with an aggregate population of approximately 90 million people.

The Company's television stations are located in Croatia (Nova TV), Czech Republic (TV Nova, Galaxie Sport), Romania (PRO TV, PRO TV International, Acasa, PRO Cinema and Sport.ro), Slovakia (Markiza, Galaxie Sport), Slovenia (POP TV, Kanal A) and Ukraine (Studio 1+1, Studio 1+1 International, Kino, Citi). CME is traded on the NASDAQ and the Prague Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CETV".

Source: CNN Money

Ukraine Holds Firm As A Top World Arms Exporter, But Lags Far Behind Russia

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine, one of the world’s top 10 arms exporting countries, earned some $750 million through weaponry sales to 19 countries in 2006, with exports to Azerbaijan and China leading the way, according to the country’s annual report to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms.

Ukrainian T-72 tank is popular with third world countries.
Azerbaijan received 17 battle tanks, while 20 were bought by the Congo and one was purchased by the United States.

Ukraine has reported the transfer of more than 720 tanks to 11 different countries since the country joined the voluntary reporting mechanism established by the UN nearly 15 years ago.

Azerbaijan and the Congo also purchased 23 armored combat vehicles, while 50 armored combat vehicles (ACV) were delivered to Iraq and 10 to Nigeria.

Earlier this month, Ukraine won a contract to supply 96 ACVs for $117 million to Thailand, which will take two years to complete.

In addition, Azerbaijan acquired 13 units of large-caliber artillery, according to the report published this month.

Ukraine also exported 17 combat aircraft to Azerbaijan, 12 to Yemen, six to Belarus, five to Vietnam, four to Sri Lanka, three to the US, two to Great Britain, and one airplane each to Estonia, Lithuania, New Zealand, South Africa, the Czech Republic and Uganda, for a total of 55 aircraft in 2006.

Algiers imported 32 missiles and mobile missile launch systems from Ukraine, while Kazakhstan received 12.

The most Ukrainian missile systems were acquired by China – 590 in 2006. The US increased its purchases of parts of Ukrainian “mobile zenith rocket complexes” to 295 units, which include rockets and mobile launch systems.

In 2005, Ukraine shipped only six launch mechanisms and 29 rockets for the Holka zenith launch system to the US. In 2003, the US acquired 10 launch mechanisms and 29 rockets.

In the past five years, Ukraine has increased its world arms market share from 4 percent to 10 percent, earning the country $750 million annually, according to Serhiy Zhurets of the Center for Army Conversion and Disarmament Studies.

By way of comparison, Russia, earns $5-7 billion annually. Zhurets pointed out that the UN registry does not cover all military exports, like radar equipment and firearms.

“The arms export business will never be fully transparent and open in any country,” said Zhurets.

He said that in addition to the UN registry, efforts to tabulate data on exports are conducted by the US Congress and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which pegged Ukraine’s arms exports for last year at only $118 million.

He said that the US Congress six-year estimate for Ukraine’s weapons exports stood at more than $2 billion.

Like Ukraine, Russia reported no conventional arms imports for last year. For 2006, Russia reported selling 30 battle tanks to Algeria, a total of 114 ACVs to Bangladesh, Colombia, Kazakhstan and Uruguay and 100 large-caliber artillery systems to Myanmar.

In terms of the sea, Russia sold two warships to China, which was also the destination for 944 missiles and missile launchers.

By contrast, Ukraine has reported shipping more than 1,000 missile and launch systems to China since 2000.

Export data from Ukraine and Russia are among the few open sources available to the international community regarding Chinese military imports and exports.

China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, stopped participating in the voluntary reporting program more than 10 years ago, after the US included arms exports to Taiwan in its 1995 and 1996 reports.

Meanwhile, Russia’s South American ally Venezuela was empowered with four combat aircraft and 14 attack helicopters in 2006, according to the UN’s disarmament website.

Ukraine delivered 320 T-80UD tanks to Pakistan during 1996-1999 in a deal that was reportedly worth $550 million.

The UN’s Register of Conventional Arms is a voluntary reporting mechanism established in 1992 aimed at promoting transparency in the international arms trade.

On average, more than 115 of 192 UN member states have reported each year since 2000.

In the late 1990s, a governmental investigation found that the military equipment inherited by Ukraine after the demise of the Soviet Union was worth nearly $90 billion.

Source: Kyiv Post

Akhmetov Snaps Up Energo Stake

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine’s richest man has significantly increased his stake in a major electricity generating company as the result of a controversial share emission deal that calls into question the state’s sell-off of lucrative assets.

Billionaire Rinat Akhmetov
Shareholders at Dniproenergo, Ukraine’s largest thermoelectric generator, agreed on Aug. 27 to increase the company’s share capital by 52 percent, watering down the state’s 76 percent stake to 50 percent plus one share.

The only company effectively allowed to purchase the new shares was Donbass Fuel-Energy (DTEK), the energy arm of Donetsk billionaire Rinat Akhmetov’s System Capital Management holding company.

DTEK increased its holding in Dniproenergo as a result of the share emission from 8.7 percent to 40 percent, paying a total of $208 million.

The current market value of the shares received by DTEK, however, amounts to around $700 million, with the share price expected to continue rising.

Proponents of the emission, including the government, point to the need to pay off Dniproenergo’s debts.

The Zaporizhya-based company has been debt-ridden since 2003, but it’s unclear exactly how much it currently owes and to whom.

A Zaporizhya court appointed a financial restructuring manager for Dniproenergo, a position that is currently occupied by a former board member of a coal mine owned by DTEK.

“We don’t know the exact debt distribution, though we do know that DTEK’s coal mines are not the largest Dniproenergo debtors. As far as I know, the State Reserve along with Gas Ukraine are the largest,” Dennis Sakva, an energy sector analyst at Kyiv-based investment bank Dragon Capital, told the Post.

Almost 99 percent of shareholders approved the emission during the meeting on Aug. 27, which was attended by a representative of the state.

The government of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, whose Regions parliamentary faction includes Akhmetov as a deputy, approved the emission in June.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko issued a decree on Aug. 6 ordering the government to prevent asset stripping of state-controlled energy companies by imposing a ban on share capital dilutions.

However, the only politician to have questioned the emission publicly and aggressively is Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of the opposition Byut faction.

In a statement released by her party’s press service, Tymoshenko asked why the state’s representative had voted in favor of the emission.

“The question is why, on what basis? Why Akhmetov? I have a lot of questions,” she said.

Some analysts say that Dniproenergo will gain from the emission, which will bring the company fresh cash.

If the state had auctioned off the shares in an open tender, the money earned would have gone into the state budget rather than to the company.

In addition, the arrival of DTEK as a strategic shareholder will likely benefit Dniproenergo providing it with access to thermal coal and improving management, analysts said.

Dragon’s Savka, however, believes that DTEK will try to take full control of Dniproenergo, thus reducing the likelihood of a strategic Western investor coming in.

“We don’t expect it to happen soon, maybe closer to 2009. But I would say that DTEK is currently controlling Dniproenergo’s management, as people loyal to it are controlling the company’s supervisory board and can hire or fire almost anyone in the company,” he said.

Dragon estimates the electricity generator to be worth about $2.2 billion, based on the current share price.

Dniproenergo, one of five electricity generating companies in Ukraine, had a net income of $20 million in the first half of this year.

The State Antimonopoly Committee has yet to give final approval to the emission, but no one expects it to be blocked.

In addition to the $208 million it is paying for its increased stake, DTEK has also agreed to invest another $200 million into Dniproenergo.

But the pledge doesn’t appear to be legally binding.

“We didn’t see any legal documents (like contracts) that prove that DTEK will invest another $200 million. The copy of amendments to Dniproenergo’s financial rehabilitation plan state that they need to invest at least $20 million. The financial restructuring manager showed us two copies of letters from DTEK where they agree to invest another $200 million but their legal status is unknown,” Sakva said.

Dniproenergo minority shareholders, whose stakes have been reduced from 15 percent to 10 percent as a result of the emission, could also appeal.

But most are expected to take advantage of a share buyback scheme on offer or hold on to their reduced stakes in anticipation of the share price continuing to increase.

Akhmetov has led the transparency campaign in Ukraine since the country’s Orange Revolution in the hopes of encouraging continuing investment in his aging industrial assets.

Protection of minority shareholders’ rights has also been shown more attention in Ukraine recently.

But shady privatizations in which the state comes out short continue apace in the country.

Earlier this year, the State Property Fund auctioned off a lucrative locomotive plant, LuhanskTeplovoz, for at least half its market value to Russian investors during a highly questionable tender.

Other assets privatized during questionable tenders in years past, such as the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant, look likely to remain in the hands of their well-connected owners.

In the meantime, tenders for state fixed-line monopoly Ukrtelecom were cancelled several times this summer.

Tymoshenko and Yushchenko touted the transparent privatization of Ukraine’s biggest steel mill, Kryvorizhstal, in late 2005, the same year the two Orange politicians came to power.

After a court decision overturning an earlier privatization of the plant, it fetched $4 billion more in a sale to international steel giant Mittal Steel (now Mittal-Arcelor).

Since then, Ukraine’s privatization record has been less gleaming.

By boosting his stake in Dniproenergo through the bargain emission, Akhmetov could significantly increase the value of DTEK, yielding him the strongest position in the power-generation market in Ukraine’s highly industrialized eastern regions.

At the same time, the commitment of Ukraine’s government to ensure transparent privatization of state assets to the highest bidder to finance the country’s cash-strapped public sector continues to remain in doubt.

Source: Kyiv Post

Prochnik Focuses On Ukraine

LODZ, Poland -- Prochnik, the clothes producer from Lodz, wants to have sixty shops in Poland and 15 abroad. It also dreams about its first income in many years.


Prochnik, the producer and distributor of men’s clothes, raised the capital in its Ukrainian subsidiary by USD 150,000.

The funds will be spent to develop the shop network.

Today, there is only one Prochnik shop in Ukraine but within two years, the company wants to increase the number to five, and then to 15.

The company wants to develop quickly in Poland.

“We will launch 10 new shops annually”, Krzysztof Okonski, Prochnik deputy CEO said.

Today, the network consists of 21 shops. There are planned to be 60.

Prochnik will develop its Polish network from the funds raised in the previous issue.

It cannot count on bank credits because it has had no income recently.

Last year, the company and PLN 10.9m (EUR 2.8m) of sales and PLN 3.7m of net loss.

There are no forecasts for this year but the management hopes that the company will get out of the red.

In the first half, the company had a loss of PLN 621,000 against PLN 12.2m of sales.

“The fourth quarter is usually the best for us. Up to 40 percent of sales are generated then”, the CEO said.

Investors did not react enthusiastically to Prochnik’s plans. Yesterday, the stock closed at PLN 1.25, or 1.6 percent lower.

Source: Portal Biznesowu

Lessons In Democracy For Ukraine

PARIS, France -- The International Centre for Policy Studies (ICPS) paper remarks that political competition now exists in Ukraine, with a system for dividing powers currently under development.

The Orange revolutionaries who gave democracy a start in Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko and Viktor Yushchenko
However, the author claims that Ukraine's transformation is "spontaneous" and "disorganised" as a result of the country having to go through in a short space of time what other countries experienced over hundreds of years.

Thus, Ukraine should proceed with caution, warns ICPS – drawing on the experiences of western democracies not to "copy certain models or practices", but instead "to avoid the typical mistakes other countries have made" in order to deduce what political principles and practices make a country a real democracy.

ICPS examine the precedents set by the evolution of other democracies, concluding that a political system can be described as successful if it is focused "on the needs of the country and learns from its past mistakes" – citing the eventual adoption of a "semi-presidential" model in France and the reluctance of Romania to centralise power in the hands of one person as examples of this.

The author claims that although western democracies employ different systems, the principles that underpin them are identical – leading to the development of similar institutions on which democracy is based, including a professional civil service and robust parliamentary opposition.

Finally, the article adds that in the western tradition, parliamentary opposition generally guarantees rights for participation in governing the country, and that legislation is "not mandatory" in order for democracies to function, with many countries establishing the rights of the opposition only informally.

Source: EurActiv

Finnish Fish, Mushrooms Still Toxic From Chernobyl

HELSINKI, Finland -- Twenty-one years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, fish and mushrooms in parts of Finland are still toxic due to radioactive fallout, Finnish authorities said on Monday.

Lakes in the Vammala, Finland area
The concentration of cesium-137 exceeded the EU maximum recommended level in 20 percent of fish and more than half of the mushrooms tested in 2005 by the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority and Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira.

The tests were conducted in the lakes and region around Vammala, 230 kilometers (145 miles) northwest of Helsinki in southwestern Finland -- the Finnish area most affected by the fallout from the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986.

Radioactivity levels reached nearly three and a half times the maximum recommended level in fish and up to nine times the maximum in mushrooms, with significant variations depending on where the tests were carried out and other factors.

Seventeen percent of fish also had elevated levels of mercury.

Finnish authorities recommend consumers eat lake fish no more than once or twice a month -- expectant mothers are advised to stay away from pike entirely during their pregnancy -- and to wash mushrooms well before eating.

Source: AFP

Fraud Fear For Ukraine Elections

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko has said she believes that the early parliamentary ballot due to be held in September will be rigged. Election officials have already tried to bar her party from running.

Yulia Tymoshenko has fears over electoral legislation
Mrs Tymoshenko, along with President Viktor Yushchenko, helped to lead the country's 2004 Orange Revolution, which was sparked because of vote-rigging.

This election was called after a power struggle between the president and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

The start of her campaign was delayed because election officials appointed by the Prime Minister refused to allow her party to take part in the ballot, until they were ordered to do so by a court.

Mrs Tymoshenko said that she was worried that the election would not be free and fair because laws which were introduced to try to stop vote rigging were recently reversed by election officials.

She said: "It seems to me that the country has started moving backwards in respect to its election legislation."

International observers have already expressed concern that next month's vote could be open to fraud.

She added: "After the changes that the prime minister's team made to the election rules, Ukraine is again facing the threat of massive falsification."

But Mr Yanukovych has denied that his party has tried to rig the ballot.

It is running a high profile campaign and the opinion polls all predict that the prime minister's party will win the largest share of the vote.

Source: BBC News

Ukraine's President Seeks To Revise Constitution

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Ukraine's president, Viktor Yushchenko, says he wants to change the constitution in a bid to restore his presidential powers.

Ukraine's President, Viktor Yushchenko, watches soldiers parade during Ukraine's Independence Day celebrations in front of St. Sofia Cathedral in Kiev, Friday, Aug. 24, 2007.
The announcement comes as the country prepares for elections in September aimed at ending a power struggle between him and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich. Stefan Bos reports for VOA from Budapest.

President Yushchenko announced plans to revise the constitution at a ceremony marking the 16th anniversary of Ukraine's declaration of independence from the former Soviet Union.

Speaking in front of Kyiv's Saint Sofia Cathedral, he said the changes could be introduced after an election on September 30.

Parliament three years ago adopted legislation transferring significant powers from the president to the prime minister. This led to a stalemate between Mr. Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

The two sides agreed to hold the September 30 election in a bid to resolve the impasse.

Mr. Yushchenko says changes are needed in the constitution to restore his presidential powers and end the deadlock with Mr. Yanukovich, who favors closer ties with Russia.

The president says he hopes his actions will boost efforts to introduce Western-style reforms, including closer ties with NATO and the European Union, as well as bring an end to what he sees as high-level corruption.

"Political experiments led to an avalanche of corruption and the destruction of the minds of this and much younger generations," said Mr. Yushchenko. "This year's early election is my very straight forward reaction on a plot against Ukraine launched by corrupt politicians. I know how to make order in our Ukrainian house. We are starting the renewal of the constitution, and I am calling for the convening of a constitutional council that will start to write down the draft of a new constitution."

The president said the revisions will be presented to citizens for approval in a nationwide referendum.

The September 30 elections for parliament mark the fourth time in less than three years that Ukrainians will be voting in a national election. Polls show Prime Minister Yanukovich's Regions Party slightly ahead of parties allied with President Yushchenko.

Source: Voice of America News

Tymoshenko Bloc Gains Support In Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine -- Public backing for Ukraine’s opposition Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc has increased as the Party of Regions (PR) has lost momentum, according to a poll by FOM-Ukraine.

Yulia Tymoshenko signing autographs in Kiev on Independence Day
29.5 per cent of respondents would back the PR of prime minister Viktor Yanukovych in September’s legislative election, down 1.5 points since June.

The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc is second with 18.3 per cent—up 3.3 points in two months—followed by the coalition of president Viktor Yushchenko’s People’s Union-Our Ukraine (NS-NU) and the People’s Self-Defence Bloc with 14 per cent.

Support is lower for the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU), the Volodymyr Lytvyn Bloc, and the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU).

Ukrainian voters renewed the Supreme Council in March 2006.

The PR won 186 seats in the legislative branch, followed by the Tymoshenko Bloc with 129, the NS-NU with 81, the SPU with 33, and the KPU with 21 mandates.

Parties require at least three per cent of the vote to qualify for proportional representation seats in the Supreme Council.

In July, the "anti-crisis" coalition—which includes Yanukovych’s PR, Oleksandr Moroz’s SPU and the KPU—was formally announced.

In August, Yanukovych was confirmed as prime minister, while Yushchenko remained as president.

On Apr. 2, Yushchenko dissolved the Supreme Council and called an early ballot.

On May 27, Yushchenko and Yanukovych agreed to hold the election on Sept. 30.

On Aug. 24, Yushchenko called for a new constitution in order to resolve disputes over the powers of the different branches of government.

The president said he would call for a constitutional council to begin the revision process, and then call for a public vote to ratify the changes to the charter.

Yushchenko declared: "I know how to restore order in our Ukrainian house. (...) This process will take longer than a day but nobody will be able to make it too long. It also cannot be a hostage of the election, as it is very important for each of us. I firmly repeat what I said two months ago on Constitution Day: our constitution will be adopted at a nationwide Ukrainian referendum."

Polling Data

Which of these parties would you vote for in the legislative election?

Party of Regions - 29.5%(Aug) 31.0%(Jun)

Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc - 18.3%(Aug) 15.0%(Jun)

People’s Union-Our Ukraine - 14.0%(Aug) 14.3%(Jun)

Communist Party of Ukraine - 3.6%(Aug) 4.1%(Jun)

Volodymyr Lytvyn Bloc - 2.1%(Aug) n.a.(Jun)

Socialist Party of Ukraine - 0.9%(Aug) 1.7%(Jun)

Methodology: Interviews with 2,000 Ukrainian adults, conducted from Aug. 9 to Aug. 19, 2007. Margin of error is 2.2 per cent.

Source: Angus Reid

Ukraine's Delicate Balance

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian Finance Minister Mykola Azarov says people want a fairy tale, but real economic change will take a long-term united effort. Ukraine has been lurching from one political crisis to another since the so-called Orange Revolution of late 2004.

Mykola Azarov
On Sept. 30, voters will head to the polls yet again in an attempt to resolve a protracted power struggle between President Viktor Yushchenko and his former presidential rival Viktor Yanukovych, who has been Prime Minister for a year.

Yet despite the political standoff, Ukraine's economy is doing surprisingly well.

BusinessWeek's Moscow bureau chief Jason Bush asked Ukrainian Finance Minister Mykola Azarov, a close ally of Yanukovych, to explain the disconnect between his country's unstable political situation and its impressive economic performance. Here are edited excerpts.

How is the economic situation in Ukraine? Should foreign investors be interested in this country?

Our government has worked for about a year. In that time we've been able to restore the growth rate of the economy. GDP [gross domestic product] has risen by 8% over the first six months [of 2007]. Inflation was about 4%. Investment has increased by 30%. Exports have risen by around 34%. So I think the economy is developing quite well. Of course, it could probably work even more effectively if it weren't for the political crisis that was provoked by the President's decision to dissolve parliament [earlier this year]. It was an absolutely unprovoked decision, which has effectively brought structural reforms to a standstill. It puts future rapid economic growth in doubt.

Why is the economy developing so well despite the political situation?

You know, the economy is operating under inertia. It has developed a certain momentum, and political instability doesn't particularly affect it. But maybe without the political crisis we'd have growth of 12% or 13%. The main thing is that the political crisis has interrupted structural reforms: pension reform, tax reform, judicial reform, which Ukraine badly needs as a post-Soviet state.

What are the general principles of this government's economic policy?

Our principles are, first of all, the creation of an innovative economic model. The global economy is based more and more on services, and high technology. We have to restructure our typical industrial economy into a post-industrial economy, a knowledge economy. We have to speed up economic growth because Ukraine is significantly behind in economic development. Our annual GDP per capita is only $3,000. It's very low. We have to reach $30,000. So we have to increase GDP by 10 times. And you can't produce 10 times more steel, or 10 times more wheat. So we have to change the structure of the economy.

What is the external economic policy? How important are relations with the West or with Russia?

Our government has taken very serious steps to enter the World Trade Organization. We are supporters of a liberal and open economy. We haven't just made declarations, we have taken real steps. We're in favor of very good relations with both the East and the West. We don't see any contradictions here. It's strategically important for us to have good relations with both Russia and the European Union.

How do people of this government regard the Orange Revolution?

It's a kind of paradox that the people who were opposed to Yushchenko are now back in government. The events known as the Orange Revolution were an entirely natural attempt by people to achieve justice. It reflected the people's aspirations for a more honest and more just government, capable of fulfilling the promises that were generously offered by the leaders of the so-called Orange Revolution. [But] there wasn't a revolution because nothing changed. There were no reforms carried out by the leaders who came to power, and people were very quickly disillusioned. Of course, you can't say there hasn't been progress. If you compare the situation today to 10 years ago, the progress is absolutely obvious. But it isn't fast enough to satisfy people. People want rapid results. The economy doesn't work like that.

What will be the way out of this political situation? Will a compromise be found?

No, I don't think the elections will solve anything. The same configuration of political forces will be repeated. The last elections were only a year ago. How much can change in one year? It means the confrontation will continue, because I don't see any constructive forces that will work with us to carry out reforms. We have a Ukrainian fairy tale: If you lay out the table cloth, all the food will appear on it [by magic]. It reflects the mentality of our people. If we want to catch up with Europe, we have to understand that it's a very long and difficult path, requiring the united efforts of our society and of our political elite. If someday we manage that, Ukraine is [destined] to succeed.

Source: Business Week

Ukraine Marks Independence Day

KIEV, Ukraine -- Honor guards marched across a main Kiev square, bells tolled and religious leaders led prayers for the country Friday as Ukraine marked the 16th anniversary of its independence from the Soviet Union.


Scenes from Kiev's Independence Square
President Viktor Yushchenko called for unity ahead of next month's parliamentary elections, which come as the country faces continuing political turmoil and sparring among major parties.

"Tens and hundreds of years will pass but this day will always be a triumph of our freedom," Yushchenko said in his speech, as several hundred people _ some clad in traditional peasant-style shirts and skirts _ waved blue-and-yellow flags in front of Kiev's landmark St. Sofia Cathedral.

Yushchenko also signaled he would seek to push new constitutional amendments on the distribution of political power.

Constitutional changes that went into effect last year watered down presidential powers in favor of the prime minister and Yushchenko has sought to reverse that.

Ukrainian lawmakers declared independence on Aug. 24, 1991, days after the hard-line Communist coup against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev failed.

More than 90 percent of Ukrainians approved the decision in a referendum that December, when the Soviet Union officially ceased to exist.

Source: Washington Post

Deja Vu For Ukraine Voters, Who Face Fourth National Election In 3 Years

KIEV, Ukraine -- In some countries, the joke here goes, the national spectator sport is soccer or tennis. In Ukraine it is elections.

Ballots from one of the last Ukraine elections. The September 30 election ballot will be about one meter (3.3 feet) long.
Ballot-weary Ukrainians trudge to voting booths yet again next month, this time to vote for parliamentary candidates, the nation's fourth national ballot in less than three years.

But judging by the polls, the vote may do little to resolve the nation's seemingly permanent political crisis.

All that is new, perhaps, is that candidates are focusing on everyday issues — poverty, corruption, and potholes — rather than in previous elections, where the main issues were culture wars over whether Ukraine should strengthen historic ties to Russia or build new ones with the West.

The Western-leaning president Viktor Yushchenko called for the Sept. 30 early election, hoping to end a marathon power struggle with his archrival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, seen as more sympathetic to Russia.

But the vote seems unlikely to shift the balance of power and resolve the key issue of who is in charge in this former Soviet republic of 47 million people.

"These elections are an extension of the battle for power between the president and the prime minister and the various groups they represent," said Ivan Lozowy, president of the Kiev-based Institute of Statehood and Democracy. "I don't see these elections settling the disputes for the simple reason that the results won't be terribly different from what they were a year and a half ago."

The coalition government consists of Yanukovych's big business party, the communists and the socialists.

Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister and leader of the opposition, has compared it to a male rabbit trying to mate with a male squirrel in hopes of having a baby.

Polls suggest all three major parties could win about the same number of seats as in March 2006. If so, the main question will be what a new coalition government might look like.

The Party of Regions, led by Yanukovych, seems poised to repeat its 2006 victory.

Then, the prime minister staged a remarkable comeback after his defeat in the 2004, when he saw the mass protests of the Orange Revolution overturn his earlier disputed election victory.

The bloc chaired by Tymoshenko, an important leader of the Orange Revolution, is expected to finish second.

Polls predict the Yushchenko bloc, Our Ukraine-People's Self Defense, will finish third.

If Yushchenko's and Tymoshenko's parties try to form a government, their coalition seems likely to be riven by the same disputes that caused Yushchenko to accuse Tymoshenko of corruption and incompetence and fire her as prime Minster in 2005.

A cabinet made up of Prime Minister Yanukovych's and Yushchenko's supporters, meanwhile, could erupt into the same tug of war between the two leaders that led to this early vote in the first place.

If minor parties win few seats in the new parliament, Yanukovych could win a majority in the 450-member Verkhovna Rada.

But even that would be unlikely to resolve the deadlock, since President Yushchenko could still thwart Yanukovych through presidential decrees and his right to appoint several key ministers and regional leaders.

During the Orange Revolution, Ukrainians were obsessed with the political drama being played out on the streets of Kiev.

Today, many are disillusioned with politics.

Many say they would prefer that their leaders settle their differences and start to try solving some of the country's problems.

Despite a booming economy — seven percent growth is forecast for this year — many Ukrainians are struggling to make ends meet.

The average monthly wage of $258 (€190) is four times lower than in neighboring Poland and up to 10 times lower than in western European countries.

Corruption is endemic.

Traffic police often take bribes instead of issuing tickets.

Members of parliament and senior judges have been accused of selling their votes on key bills and cases.

Meanwhile, the country's highways, railroads and gas pipelines are decrepit, leading to frequent pipeline explosions and train derailments.

Hospital buildings, treasured churches and museums are crumbling.

In previous campaigns, voters split mainly over Ukraine's foreign policy — should it look to the West or Russia?

This time, the candidates are focusing on bread-and-butter issues.

All three parties are offering to raise child support payments to reverse the country's population decline.

This has turned into a virtual auction for votes.

President Yushchenko's party has come out with the highest offer of 12,000 hryvna ($2380 or $1760) for the family's first child.

But Yanukovych has offered more for the second.

With so many politicians making similar promises, voters are, naturally, confused — and uninspired.

"I don't believe anyone; all they do is lie," said Stanyslav Oryshchenko, 19, a management student in Kiev who is undecided whether he will vote at all. "All they care about is stealing as much money as possible for themselves. What happens to ordinary people doesn't interest them."

Mikhail Mishchenko, a sociologist with the Razumkov Center, said that although many voters sound disillusioned, the turnout next month is expected to be large.

A June poll based on answers of 10,956 respondents with a margin of error of 1 percentage point found that 62 percent of voters said they would cast ballots — yet again.

But there are signs of eroding interest in politics.

In March 2006, about 70 percent of voters turned out. In 2004, the turnout was 77 percent.

Those voters who do go to the polls will do so with lowered expectations.

"A significant part of society has become disillusioned with politics," Mishchenko said. "The choice won't be about which political force will best solve my problems, but it will be based on the fact that another political force will be even worse."

Source: International Herald Tribune

Pre-Election Polls Produce Mixed Results, Yulia Could Be Inching Up On Regions

KIEV, Ukraine -- Recent polls show that four parties and blocs are poised to win seats in parliament, with the Party of Regions leading the way.

The charismatic Yulia Tymoshenko on the campaign trail in the Chernivtsi region.
According to results released by FOM-Ukraine on Aug. 22, the Donetsk-heavy Regions would have 203 seats in the 450-member parliament, followed by the oppositionist Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (Byut) with 126, the pro-presidential Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense (OUPSD) with 96 and the Communists with 25.

Combined, Byut and OUPSD would just fall short of creating a majority in the next Rada with 222 seats, according to FOM-Ukraine. The pollsters conceded, however, that at this stage of the election game, the “orange” and “blue” forces have equal chances of forming the next government.

Meanwhile, Kyiv-based investment bank Concorde Capital reported that in recent polls, “the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc appeared to have closed the gap with the leading Regions Party.” The election update cites findings from three firms that show Regions’ support in the 26-28 percent range and Byut with 20-26 percent of the potential vote. The polls gave OUPSD between 11-15 percent.

In the past three parliamentary elections, Byut has performed better on election day than pre-election polls indicated.

Regions want Rada session

Regions leader Raisa Bohatyriova flexed her party’s political muscle on Aug. 22, saying that she is ready to initiate an extraordinary session of parliament next month. Bohatyriova was the coordinator of the Rada majority comprised of the Regions, Communists and Socialists.

She called upon President Viktor Yushchenko and Our Ukraine to attend the Sept. 4 session and vote on canceling blanket immunity from prosecution for legislators. Opposition political forces have made cancellation of that immunity an election issue.

If Byut and OUPSD refuse to show up in parliament, that will “show to the nation that they are not open and they are manipulating societal moods and ready for everything to be in power,” Bohatyriova said.

Earlier this month, the Regions ignored two orders by Rada chairman and Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz on convening the Rada. Meanwhile, nearly 120 opposition MPs have already resigned their seats in parliament.

Yushchenko has repeatedly expressed his view that the parliament he dissolved earlier this year had no right to convene for session. If Regions pursue such plans, it would set the stage for a tense standoff with the president and opposition groups just weeks ahead of the Sept. 30 vote.

Voting at home

The Kyiv district administrative court ruled that the Central Election Commission (CEC) must specify procedures for voting at home.

On Aug. 13, the CEC decided that a simple declaration from anyone physically disabled is enough to arrange a mobile voting stop. Opposition forces OUPSD and Byut challenged the CEC decision and won on Aug. 20.

The court ruled that the CEC must standardize declarations for voting at home and procedures for verifying information therein. In past elections, votes cast outside of polling stations have been a source of massive fraud. In round two of the 2004 presidential elections, more than a quarter of votes in the entire region of Mykolayiv were home-cast ballots.

Regions’ CEC representative Vladyslav Zabarsky promptly criticized the court’s decision.

“Really, there can be no reason to use voting at home for falsification,” he said, adding that as many as 2 million voters (around 8 percent) may be deprived of their democratic right as a result of the stricter measures.

Meanwhile, OUPSD candidate Mykola Onishchuk said the court decision would prevent 2 million falsified votes.

Meter-long ballots

By Aug. 21, the CEC had registered more than 3,000 candidates from nine parties and blocs for the snap election. But voters may have to choose from as many as 35 parties and blocs when they show up to vote.

CEC member Mykhailo Okhendovsky said that 35 parties and blocs had formally informed the CEC about their conventions. However, only 10 parties and blocs paid the deposit required to run in the race. Okhendovsky said that Aug. 25 would be the last day for the commission to register election participants. In the March 2006 elections, 45 parties and blocs ran for seats in the Rada.

Administrative resource

The Committee of Voters of Ukraine’s (CVU) monitoring report for Aug. 10-20 reiterated its concern over the number of government officials actively involved in the campaign, who have not taken leaves of absence despite having promised to do so.

“Odessa Oblast (Region) state administration head Ivan Plachkov was appointed regional campaign chief for Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense and said he has no intention of taking a vacation,” said the report, which mentions similar cases for other political parties.

“We are disturbed by the fact that more than half of regional election headquarters for OUPSD are headed by oblast governors,” said Elena Bondarenko, a candidate for Regions.

“This is administrative resource to the maximum,” she said, adding that governors can influence local law-enforcement officials.

Meanwhile, practically all cabinet ministers are running on various party lists, 18 of whom are candidates for the Party of Regions.

Tymoshenko targeted

The report noted separate incidents of campaign vandalism and “black PR, but these incidents were isolated and were not systemic in nature.”

Election watchdogs in Zaporizhya Region found copies of a 26-page brochure called “Yuliada” that portrays Tymoshenko in a “negative and insulting form.”

The CVU noted that Kyiv city officials showed bias in their decision to take down Byut billboards lining the Paton Bridge in the capital on Aug. 16.

The NGO also said that certain CEC members showed bias in their treatment of electoral law in the issue of Byut’s candidate registration, but pointed out that Byut itself “escalated a conflict that could have been quickly resolved.”

The CVU also said that Byut’s call to hold a simultaneous referendum on Sept. 30 is “impossible according to existing law.” The CEC rejected Byut’s referendum application, which Tymoshenko appears intent on pursuing.

The left

The Communists, who some polls show crossing the 3 percent qualifying barrier, are building their campaign around the premise that the Leninists will form a majority together with the Regions in the next Rada. They’re claiming the next speaker of parliament will be a Marxist and are demanding a referendum of their own – on making Russian the second state language and on NATO membership.

Those two issues are also being championed by ultra-radical leftist Nataliya Vitrenko in the eastern regions. Regions’ Bondarenko said Vitrenko is actively campaigning and accusing Bondarenko’s party of being “traitors” on both issues.

The Regions clearly address both issues in their electoral program, saying that the language issue is subject to approval by the Rada, while NATO membership should be decided via referendum.

Televised debates and hotlines

The NGO encouraged parties and blocs to focus on expert discussions of policy programs and said that “live television debates should be held between the leaders of the four main political forces: Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, Tymoshenko, Yushchenko and [Communist Party leader Petro] Symonenko.”

Meanwhile, the SBU state security service has created a special hotline for Kyiv residents to report any violations of electoral rights they may encounter. The phone number provided by the Ukrainian News information agency is (044) 253-1656.

Source: Kyiv Post

Ukrainian Independence: Easy Come, Easy Go

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine marks 16 years of independence on August 24th. Although the Cossacks had managed to fight off encroachments on their freedom from Poland, Russia and Turkey for a couple of hundred years, the closest thing Ukrainians had to a modern state before 1991 was a brief, three-year stint following the Bolshevik Revolution.

Fireworks on Independence Day 2006
It took the collapse of the Soviet Union, just as it had taken the downfall of Czarist Russia, for Kyiv to reassert its authority over the lands of Kyivan Rus.

The medieval kingdom on the Dnipro River, which Ukrainians look to as their beginning, was itself on the verge of disintegration before the Mongols leveled it in the 13th century.

For the past 16 years, the country has been given a new lease on life, with connections to European Christendom stronger than ever.

European concepts of freedom, however, differ significantly from the Cossack ideal.

The ability of Ukraine's leaders and people to embrace the former rather than the latter will ultimately be the greatest assurance of their continued independence. So far, the record has been mixed.

One measure of freedom long cherished in the West is freedom of speech.

In the modern world, this primarily equates to an independent media and the ability of private citizens to organize public protests.

Since Viktor Yushchenko became president in 2005, Ukraine has scored high marks in this area.

Promising his people European integration, Yushchenko was swept into power by throngs of street protesters during the country's Orange Revolution.

Not only did Ukrainians express their will in the purest democratic form, but their revolution was more peaceful than many less fateful demonstrations recently held in Europe, such as anti-global rallies.

Ukrainians, in fact, were so proud of their Orange spectacle, that they have taken every opportunity to repeat it ever since.

The lines between the Orange and blue have become blurred, but that doesn't stop politicians of all persuasions from continually trying to re-ignite revolutionary fervor among the masses in their incessant battles with one another.

The result has been record public apathy and the transformation of the capital's public squares into permanent political tent camps.

Ironically, public apathy and obfuscation of issues was a key weapon of Yushchenko's predecessor and Ukraine's second president, Leonid Kuchma.

Controlling the nation's television stations, Kuchma and his supporters could make the most passionate of protests in the capital look like a three-ring circus of malcontents to the majority of the country's citizens sitting in their living rooms in the provinces.

Media that refused to tow the official line were shut down over trumped up violations, while journalists were subject to violence.

Before the Orange Revolution, the rallying cry of the opposition was murdered Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Gongadze, who had published articles critical of Kuchma and his cronies before being found beheaded in late 2000.

Now, Ukraine's media is a lot freer.

Yushchenko himself had his family dragged through the mud by homegrown paparazzi soon after taking office, but reporting remained unfettered.

In fact, as with the street protests, many feel that Ukraine’s better-than-ever media freedom is being abused.

Gone are the days, when television stations received their stories from the presidential administration.

Instead, many journalists still take orders from the highest bidder.

The Cossacks also enjoyed the freedom to serve as mercenaries for one, then another of the great powers that surrounded them.

As a result, they ended up losing all their freedoms.

Already there are signs that the rich and powerful are reining in rambunctious writers. Ukrainian tycoon Rinat Akhmetov has put his money where his mouth is, threatening lawsuits in European courts.

The few Ukrainian media not already owned by an oligarchic clan can barely afford to defend themselves in court.

An independent judiciary, another major pillar of true freedom, is also sorely lacking in Ukraine.

It was the Supreme Court that ensured Yushchenko got a fair chance during his struggle for the presidency in 2004.

Earlier this year, the country’s Constitutional Court showed itself too divided by partisan politics to resolve a legal crisis rooted in that same struggle for power during the Orange Revolution.

It was as if the democratic gains of the street protesters were being slowly eroded.

In fact, rule of law has never existed in Ukraine.

And it’s not just a matter of poorly written legislation and even more poorly paid judges.

The average Ukrainian scoffs at the obligation to pay taxes or even cross the street in the right place.

Call it a legacy of the Cossacks if you like. The net result is the same.

If Ukrainians – its leaders or its people – cannot rule themselves, then someone else will do it for them. Laws are for everyone, and free speech is a responsibility as much as a right.

In the 16th century, Ukraine was surrounded by Muscovy, Poland and the Turkish empire.

There was no place to hide and few allies to depend on for mutual security.

Today, the country is largely sandwiched between the European Union and the remnants of the Soviet Union.

Being strong and thus independent is as important as ever if Kyiv wants to preserve its medieval inheritance.

In addition to a responsible media and working legal system, Ukraine has to equally ensure a free market.

Recent moves by the government of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych to restrict grain and gas sales hurt the country’s food and energy security.

Just like the squabbling sons of Yaroslav the Wise, Ukraine’s so-called oligarchs are endangering their own interests and the independence of their country while seeking short-term, selfish goals.

According to a recent poll, only just over 50 percent of Ukrainians consider August 24th a real holiday, while around 42 percent think it's just a day off.

With that kind of attitude, one wonders whether Soviet apologists who accuse the West of engineering the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian independence, were right.

According to the same poll, over 67 percent of Ukrainians are proud of being Ukrainian, with only 13 percent saying they would like to emigrate to another country.

This is more encouraging. But patriotism is not enough.

A poll taken in 1600 would have likely produced similar results.

If Ukrainians really value their independence, they would do well to ponder from whence it springs.

The Cossacks were nothing if not fighters, but that didn’t give them a state.

Instead, independence for Ukraine has been the product of external circumstances, a gift without a giver.

Easy come, easy go.

Source: Eurasian Home

Yulia Tymoshenko: Democracy Is Beginning In Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine -- In a Deutsche Welle interview, Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko said the current political crisis in Ukraine shows democracy is developing there.

The always beautiful Yulia Tymoshenko
Deutsche Welle: What are Russia's aims when it comes to Ukraine?

Yulia Tymoshenko: Russia is trying to keep Ukraine within its sphere of influence. It's taking advantage of all of Ukraine's historical dependencies to do so, energy dependency among others. And it's using the quarrelling of Ukraine's elites. The longer Russia intends to maintain this system of dependency, the longer our relations won't be able to normalize.

Do you think Russia deals too harshly with its former satellite countries?

All the countries of the former Soviet Union are independent today. They have the right to formulate and to realize their own national interests. I believe it's the wrong tactic if Russia tries, with the help of various instruments, to restrict the freedom of these states.

At the same time, Russia is not alone responsible for how relations develop. Above all, the political leaders and elites in the post-Soviet countries -- who, despite their dependency, still haven't shed the role of vassals and politically and economically subordinate themselves to Russia -- are guilty. I cannot respect such politicians, and I believe that they should leave the political arena. Ukraine needs politicians who strengthen the independence of the country and, at the same time, are in the position to build harmonious, fair and honest relations with neighboring countries.

You say there's a tendency in Russian politics to rekindle expansionism. What role should Ukraine take in the fight against Russian expansionism?

Ukraine's role is important in the field of energy above all. Ukraine is the bridge between the countries that possess lots of resources and the European Union, countries that need those resources. Ukraine is a transit country, and that's why we see our role in the development of numerous transport routes that allow diversification of the supply of energy resources to Europe and to Ukraine. We know that Ukraine can build the necessary transit pipelines for gas -- in addition to the necessary oil pipelines that already exist. We know that we can supply the EU with a large amount of electricity at affordable prices. And Ukraine should be able to carry out this function freely.

Why does your political platform include integration into the European Union and not integration with Russia in the framework of a uniform economic area?

The European countries, especially those of the old Europe, don't want to see Ukraine in the EU soon. At the same time, two-thirds of our country is not prepared to see themselves as part of the authoritarian entities that currently surround Russia. That's why, in the short or mid-term, Ukraine will put things in order and introduce European standards at home, and only then discuss all the possible processes of integration.

Russia is pursuing a tougher foreign policy at the same time as Ukraine is sinking under the weight of internal crises and possesses no consolidated foreign policy line. Aren't you jealous of Russia in this respect?

No, on the contrary, I think that order can come to Ukraine much sooner than to Russia. We are in the midst of a certain amount of chaos, but this chaos is the beginning of a genuine democracy. Sometimes strict order -- which our neighbors have -- is an impediment on the route to harmony within one's own society. And that's why I think many post-Soviet states will soon envy Ukraine. I reckon we need another two or three years to develop our own strategic line and to choose the right direction.

What do you think of Ukraine joining NATO?

Ukraine is quite divided on this question. You can't overlook that when you make policy. That's why the political powers in Ukraine should start a broad discussion about all the world's security systems. Not all politicians are familiar with the work of this or that security system -- let alone the people. That's why all discussion of joining NATO is very speculative. Our parties will take up this discussion, and we are sure that Ukraine can only approach this or that collective security system through a referendum. Whether politicians like it or not, in such strategic questions they should rely on the opinion of the people. Personally, I think Ukraine fits with the European collective security system.

Do you see yourself as president of Ukraine in 2009?

To be honest, I don't see it so narrowly. Not because it would be too small a goal for me, but rather because my thoughts are only directed towards far-reaching changes in Ukraine. From which position I can best bring about these changes depends on the political situation: whether in power as president, prime minister or at the head of the opposition. But the main goal for us is a Ukrainian breakthrough.

Source: Deutsche Welle

Ukrainian Court Rules Investigators Failed To Prove Missile Downed Russian Passenger Jet

KIEV, Ukraine -- Russian investigators failed to prove a Ukrainian missile brought down a Russian passenger jet plane in October 2001, a Ukrainian court said Tuesday in upholding an earlier court ruling.

Ukrainian court rules investigators failed to prove SA-5 missile downed Russian passenger jet.
Four Israeli families had filed the lawsuit seeking compensation after the crash of the Tu-154 jet belonging to Sibir airlines, now called S7, while it was flying from Tel Aviv to the Siberian city of Novosibirsk.

The plane went down in the Black Sea, killing all 66 passengers and 12 crew members aboard.

Investigators from the Interstate Aviation Committee, or IAC, a Moscow-led air safety group linking 12 ex-Soviet republics, later determined that the plane had been unintentionally shot down by a missile fired by Ukrainian forces during military exercises on the Crimean Peninsula, which juts into the sea.

But Kiev's Appeals Court rejected the Israeli families' appeal, upholding a lower court's January ruling that the agency's findings did not support its determination.

The plane was carrying mostly Russian-born Israeli immigrants headed back to Russia to visit relatives. The four Israeli families were seeking US$1.1 million (¤820,000) each from the Ukrainian government.

The court decision challenges the account of the crash widely accepted in Russia, and could anger Moscow, which dominates the IAC.

The group investigated the accident on Russia's behalf.

The court, which did not consider what caused the crash, has several days to release an explanation for its ruling.

But a lawyer representing the Ukrainian government asserted that the plane was not downed by a missile.

«It couldn't have been that missile,» Andriy Kozlov told The Associated Press.

Kozlov said the IAC's conclusions were rife with errors, contradictions and severe procedural violations.

He said its documents contain discrepancies ranging from several seconds to one minute about the exact time the missile was fired and about its subsequent movement.

In court, he also said that Russian investigators miscalculated the distance the missile would have covered based on the average speed of such missiles.

The IAC report also contradicted itself with some documents saying the plane was destroyed in the air, while others said the plane broke apart after hitting the water, Kozlov told AP.

Some materials indicated that «control over the missile had been lost,» while elsewhere the report said «surveillance of the plane was performed by radar until the moment the missile initiated its explosive mechanism,» according to the lawyer.

«We don't know what brought the plane down,» he said. «It was the job of the investigators and special services to find out what really exactly happened.

Unfortunately, they failed.

Kozlov said some victims' bodies contained small metal balls that resemble those of the missile payload, but no floating components or other traces of the missile were found at the crash site.

He said the balls could have been taken from other sources and used in any explosive device.

Ukrainian investigators determined that the metal balls used in such missile payloads are usually identical to one another, while the balls found at the crash site were varied, suggesting no such missile was involved, Kozlov said.

An S-200, also known as SA-5, a large surface-to-air missile built to shoot down aerial targets, in particular heavy bombers and AVACS planes flying at high altitudes, was fired during the exercise just minutes before the plane went down.

Such missiles work by exploding near the target and riddling it with shrapnel.

The IAC investigators had concluded that an explosion took place about 50 feet (15 meters) above the plane and 5 feet (1.5 meters) to the left of its tail, but some fragments of the plane indicated the blast rocked the jet from within, while the bodies of passengers sitting in the back of the plane had wounds going from right to left as well as frontal wounds, Kozlov said.

Ukraine first denied that its missile was involved, and Russian officials initially said they trusted their Ukrainian colleagues, while investigators focused on the possibility of a terrorist attack.

But then Moscow shifted tack, with Russian President Vladimir Putin saying he considered the proof offered by Ukrainian officials inadequate.

Ukraine later conceded that its military was involved in the accident, and paid families US $200,000 for each victim.

Some Israeli families, however, did not accept the compensation and filed the suit.

Representatives of the families did not attend Tuesday's hearing.

A separate lawsuit against the Ukrainian government, filed by S7 airlines, is still being considered.

Source: PR Inside

Ukraine's Communists Open Museum For U.S. Imperialism Victims

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine -- Ukraine's Communists opened Tuesday a makeshift museum to victims of U.S. imperialism in the central square of Simferopol in the Crimea, as a riposte to anti-Soviet memorials in Kiev and Washington.

A Communist museum to US Imperialism - must be a joke.
Communist Party leader Leonid Grach said the new museum, housed in a marquee, "Is our response to George Bush, who opened the Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington, and to [pro-Western Ukrainian President] Viktor Yushchenko, who initiated the construction of the Museum of Soviet occupation in Kiev."

The new exhibition features photographs, maps, and copies of documents showing crimes against humanity in the United States, from massacres of Native Americans to slavery, racism and lynch law.

The museum also highlights U.S. military interventions in foreign countries, including Vietnam, Cuba, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq, and displays photographs showing U.S. violence in the countries, and documents illustrating the large numbers of fatalities.

Grach earlier said he hoped the initiative to set up the museum in the Russian-speaking Crimea, where support for the country's pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko is low, would be backed by other regional Communist branches.

Plans to set up the museum in the ex-Soviet country were announced after the Victims of Communism Memorial was opened in Washington on July 12.

The dedication ceremony, at which U.S. President George W. Bush compared Communists to terrorists and blamed the ideology for the deaths of 100 million innocent people, also provoked the ire of China.

The Crimean museum is open 24 hours, and a mobile exhibition will later tour the peninsula's main cities.

Source: RIA Novosti

EBRD Supports Municipal Transport In Ukraine

LONDON, England -- In its first long-term financing for municipal transport in Ukraine, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing €100 million ($135 million) to municipal transport companies Kyiv Metropolitan (metro) and Kyiv Pastrans (buses and trolleybuses).

Kiev Metro station "Zoloti Vorota"
A €40 million loan to Kyiv Metropolitan will finance up to 15 new metro trains, which will operate on the Syretsko-Pecherska Line, while a €60 million loan to Kyiv Pastrans will finance up to 225 new trolley-buses and up to 125 diesel buses and associated infrastructure.

40 per cent of each loan will be syndicated to commercial banks DEPFA Investment Bank Ltd, Dexia Crédit Local Dublin Branch and HYPO Investmentbank AG.

In the rapidly growing Ukrainian capital with 2.7 million residents, the financing should significantly improve efficiency and overall quality of local transport, stressed Kamen Zahariev, EBRD Director for Ukraine.

According to him, with this transaction EBRD continues to support environmentally clean and sustainable public transport alternatives to increased private car usage.

“The project builds on the EBRD’s expertise in structuring new infrastructure projects in partnership with municipalities, providing an example that other financially sound transport companies and municipalities in Ukraine and the region can follow”, said Oxana Selska, EBRD Senior Banker.

Technical co-operation funds, provided by the governments of France and Italy, have been used to help the companies to prepare technical feasibility studies, develop long-term business plans, conduct financial audits and develop pilot public service contracts between the city and the companies.

Such contracts will be instrumental in helping to establish a transparent structure and in fostering the development of new standards for the provision of public transport.

Additional technical co-operation advice will be provided to the City on electronic ticketing system.

Leonid Chernovetsky, Mayor of Kyiv, said the city’s strong economy is a result of good local businesses and growing foreign investment, and to boost this further, the City needs to improve local transport infrastructure.

“The EBRD has a good reputation for working with local municipalities in Central and Eastern Europe, and we want to build on that to achieve our objectives”, he added.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is the biggest financial investor in Ukraine.

As of the end June 2007 it had committed over €2.9 billion through more than 140 projects.

Source: Infrasite News

PepsiAmericas and PepsiCo Complete Joint Acquisition Of Leading Juice Company In Ukraine

PURCHASE, NY -- PepsiAmericas, Inc. and PepsiCo today announced that they have completed the joint purchase of 80 percent of Sandora, LLC, the leading juice company in Ukraine.


The joint venture expects to acquire the remaining 20 percent interest in Sandora in November 2007.

“We’re excited to extend our strong partnership with PepsiCo and begin working with the Sandora team and its market-leading brands to capture the growth opportunity in Ukraine,” said Robert C. Pohlad, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiAmericas. “We have a clear strategy to grow and expand our international business and Sandora is a great fit, providing immediate scale in a high growth market.”

“We now serve consumers in over 10 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, in both developing and emerging markets. Combined with our scale and profitability in the U.S., we have a balanced portfolio of markets that position us well for long term sustainable growth.”

As previously announced, PepsiAmericas expects the acquisition to be $0.02 to $0.03 dilutive in 2007. This is included in its previously announced full year earnings per share outlook. The Sandora transaction is expected to add approximately 4 percentage points to volume, lower net pricing by 2 points and cost of goods sold per unit by 1 point, while adding a point to selling, delivery and administrative expenses.

The company forecasts that Sandora will add an estimated 1 percentage point to operating profits, driving estimated reported operating profit growth to 15 to 18 percent.

This operating income contribution in 2007 will be offset by higher related interest expense and the minority interest recorded primarily for PepsiCo’s 40 percent interest in the joint venture.

PepsiAmericas will consolidate the joint venture into its financial results.

The transaction is not expected to have an impact on PepsiCo's previously announced earnings per share guidance for 2007.

Sandora has established itself as the leader in the high growth juice category with a range of distinctly positioned brands that represent approximately half of the total juice volume consumed in Ukraine.

With over 3,500 employees, Sandora has a powerful sales and distribution organization and two modern production facilities located in Nikolaev.

PepsiAmericas is the world’s second-largest anchor bottler in the Pepsi system and in the U.S. serves a significant portion of a 19 state region, primarily in the Midwest.

Outside the U.S., the company has operations in Europe and Caribbean, specifically in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The company also has distribution rights in Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Barbados.

The company serves areas with a total population of more than 150 million people.

PepsiAmericas manufactures, distributes and markets a broad portfolio of PepsiCo and other national and regional beverage brands.

PepsiCo is one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies, with 2006 annual revenues of more than $35 billion.

The Company employs approximately 168,000 people worldwide, and its products are sold in approximately 200 countries.

Its principal businesses include: Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices and Quaker foods.

The PepsiCo portfolio includes 17 brands that generate $1 billion or more each in annual retail sales.

PepsiCo’s commitment to sustainable growth, defined as Performance with Purpose, is focused on generating healthy financial returns while giving back to communities the company serves.

This includes meeting consumer needs for a spectrum of convenient foods and beverages, reducing the company’s impact on the environment through water, energy and packaging initiatives, and supporting its employees through a diverse and inclusive culture that recruits and retains world-class talent.

Source: Business Wire

UKRAINE: Election Set to Bring Another Crisis

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- The political crisis that has ravaged Ukraine since President Viktor Yushchenko decided to dissolve parliament is not likely to end with the early elections scheduled for Sep. 30.

Viktor Yushchenko
On Apr. 2 President Yushchenko issued a decree dissolving parliament and calling for fresh parliamentary elections, which was disobeyed by the pro-governmental majority.

The President claimed the government was usurping power after some opposition parliamentarians moved to the ruling coalition.

The number of pro-government deputies was getting dangerously close to 300, and that would be enough to make constitutional changes that could weaken the President's power and set aside any presidential veto.

With both sides feeling that the slightest concession to the opponent meant a public admission of guilt, finding a compromise became a daunting task.

Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich and the President bickered for weeks over the legality of their actions, and even over the loyalty of Ukraine's uniformed agencies, creating widespread fears of a violent escalation of events.

Unlike on previous occasions, both the West and Russia refrained from intervening in Ukraine's domestic affairs, opting to adopt the stance that the post-Soviet republic should sort out its own problems.

Yushchenko's decree raised many eyebrows among legal experts, and the country's Supreme Court was expected to rule against him.

Repeated dismissals of judges by the President, and what the head of the Ukrainian Supreme Court Vasyl Onopenko termed as "unprecedented pressure", presumably from both sides of the conflict, contributed to paralysing the court's procedures.

Nevertheless, Yanukovich was likely to accept the early election anyway, using it as an extra trump card in negotiations with the opposition.

While the May 27 agreement to hold an early election in September is a victory for the national-liberal opposition, the date of the election is to the ruling Party of the Regions' liking.

The government will have time to increase its support ratings by raising pensions and the minimum wage.

"The Party of the Regions agreed to the election because they think they can play this game and win even more votes," Ivan Presniakov, political analyst at the Kiev-based International Centre for Policy Studies told IPS.

On Jun. 27 Yushchenko temporarily agreed to suspend his decree dissolving parliament to allow deputies to approve amendments to the election law which are needed to conduct the elections.

After the session one-third of the members of parliament gave up their mandate, giving Yushchenko legal grounds to sign a fourth decree dissolving parliament on Aug. 1 and legitimising the upcoming election.

Experts have, however, warned that inconsistencies in the law will provide fertile ground for any losing force to contest the election result, something which populist opposition leader Yuliya Tymoshenko, leader of the bloc named after her, has already begun to suggest.

Ukrainian politics remains shady and closed, and the multitude of behind-the-stage deals and possible alliances are the subject of constant and often contradictory speculation by Ukrainian journalists and pundits.

The uncertainty over the election outcome and the similar support rates of both sides gives strength to the idea that more important than a few more votes will be the coalition-forming negotiations.

The Party of the Regions will run on its own, but leaving open the possibility of re-enacting the coalition if communists, socialists or both make it into parliament.

Much of the Ukrainian media has speculated on dissension within the ruling Party of the Regions, but the recent publication of the Party's list did not indicate any significant power loss for Yanukovich, who was also confirmed as the Prime Minister candidate for the party.

A grand coalition has also not been excluded by Yanukovich's party, which is striving to be seen as a mainstream pro-European force, and has to cope with the socialists loss of popularity and the communists' radical demand of eliminating the presidency altogether.

But so far opposition forces are dismissing a joint cabinet with elements of the current government. The question in the 'orange' liberal camp backed by Yushchenko remains which party will put forward the Prime Minister candidate in case of victory.

Yuliya Tymoshenko's bloc is expected to take the biggest chunk of opposition votes, but Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Party has strengthened its support base by joining forces with the People's Self-Defence bloc, a popular movement set up by former interior minister Yuriy Lutsenko.

Moreover, pro-presidential forces are hoping that thanks to the President's recent bold steps, Tymoshenko can be outplayed by presenting an "image of a strong President who is struggling against Yanukovich, which is also a good start for his presidential campaign in 2009," Presniakov told IPS.

In the meantime, the public continues to grow cynical as the idealism of past years fades away. Ukrainian media speculates that television channels might refuse to allow key political figures to debate on television, and instead expose their populist tendencies.

Some claim that behind the ideological battle lie purely economic interests. Kost Bondarenko, a Ukrainian political analyst, wrote in the local media that "it is precisely the economic factor that was definitive in sparking the crisis" after the government prevented the 'orange' side from benefiting from privatisation deals.

Still, in Presniakov's view, "there is no single reason for the conflict; on all sides there are different people with different goals and incentives. The structural conflict between the Prime Minister and the President is more important."

The existence of a structural political problem has been admitted by all main sides in the political conflict, and there is relative consensus on the need for a new constitution.

The opposition and the pro-presidential forces want to introduce a binding mandate in parliament to avoid future desertions, whereas the Party of the Regions would like to see the new constitution envisaging that only parliament, and not the President can initiate the legislative branch's dissolution.

Both sides have also suggested that high-ranking officials should be stripped of immunity.

There is no unanimity on how and when to approve a new document, but Tymoshenko is demanding a referendum on the same day as the elections, and is collecting signatures in support of the idea.

Nobody will be surprised if Ukrainian politicians fail to agree once again.

Source: Inter Press Service

Magazines Turn To Ukrainian

KIEV, Ukraine -- Responding to growing public demand for Ukrainian-language publications, KP Media, a major player on the Ukrainian print media market, has been forging ahead with plans to introduce Ukrainian-language magazines into a market long dominated by Russian-language publications.

Olga Kryzhanovska, the chief editor of the soon-to-be-launched Ukrainian-language news magazine Novynar.
KP Media, which publishes the Kyiv Post, currently boasts a portfolio of more than a dozen print titles and around the same number of top-rated websites, giving it around a 15 percent share of the print market and an estimated 50 percent share of the Internet market in Ukraine, according to an April equity research report by Kyiv-based investment bank Dragon Capital.

KP Media’s Pani, Ukraine’s first weekly Ukrainian-language women’s magazine, has enjoyed considerable success since its launch earlier this year, particularly in the Ukrainian-speaking western regions of the country, according to the company.

KP Media invested more than $1 million into the launch of Pani and plans to introduce to the market a total of four more Ukrainian-language print and Internet projects this year.

“For September, we plan to launch Novynar, a Ukrainian-language news weekly, and Vona, a women’s monthly. We believe that these will be top 20 magazines in Ukraine,” said KP Media director Jed Sunden.

Plans also call for the launch of the first instant messenger with a Ukrainian interface, BigmirICQ, and Novynar.com.ua, the Ukrainian-language web version of the new news magazine.

“This is a huge market which has been traditionally underrepresented in terms of publications and Internet projects focused on them,” said Sunden.

“We believe Ukraine is a bilingual country. Whether it is 60-40 [percent] Russian or 50-50 Ukrainian, we notice there is a huge untapped market at present,” he added.

According to the Dragon Capital report, KP Media plans to boost its 2007 sales 70 percent year-on-year to $24.7 million through the expansion of its print-title portfolio, the launch of new revenue-generating websites and continued strong organic growth.

New print projects are expected to generate $5 million of total sales revenues this year.

Advertising revenues accounted for 74 percent of KP Media’s sales in 2006 and are set to remain a vital revenue source for the company in the coming years, the Dragon report said.

The company’s core market segment, print publications, attracted $169 million from advertisers in 2006, or 23 percent of the Ukrainian advertising market for that year.

The Dragon report forecast $217 million in advertising revenues for KP Media in 2007, an annual increase of 28 percent.

Concorde Capital, another Kyiv-based investment bank, reported in its daily newsletter Aug. 7 that KP Media saw 46 percent year-on-year growth in second quarter revenues this year to nearly $4.7 million.

“While revenues from publishing grew by around 40 percent, those from Internet projects surged by 115 percent to $750,000. KP hopes for further growth in revenues from the Internet segment in the third quarter of this year, as its Bigmir.net website has reached a strategic agreement with Google to upgrade its email, search and AdSense advertising placement program,” the Concorde Capital report said.

Quality counts

Merely churning out new titles, however, may not satisfy the growing demand for Ukrainian-language publications on the market if the quality of the language itself is poor, according to Viktor Luhovyk, one of the analysts who carried out market research for Dragon’s April KP Media report.

“A lot will depend on the quality of such titles in terms of both editorial and language,” Luhovyk said.

“At present, a number of local Russian-language newspapers and magazines produce Ukrainian duplicates, but the quality of translated text in these publications is low and therefore discourages people who would prefer to read in Ukrainian, such as myself,” he said.

“Therefore, an original, creative and clever Ukrainian-language publication can be successful, but its success will be limited as long as a majority of the population in large cities prefers to use Russian and the distribution network outside large urban areas remains underdeveloped.”

Olga Kryzhanovska, the chief editor of the soon-to-be-launched Novynar, said that the publication of such titles as Novynar represents an important development for Ukraine.

“For years KP Media has been getting letters from readers who were asking it to launch a Ukrainian-language news publication. Really, isn’t it strange that 16 years after [Ukraine] declaring independence, there are so few Ukrainian-language publications on a national scale in Ukraine,” Kryzhanovska asked rhetorically.

Kryzhanovska said that while around 67 percent of Ukrainians consider Ukrainian their native language, newspapers and magazines in Ukraine have largely ignored the needs of this segment of the population.

She said that the Ukrainian-language media market is characterized by a considerable lack of quality publications.

“We hope that with the launch of new magazines we can somewhat fix this unbalance. Novynar will continue the tradition of impartial, balanced reporting that had been started by other publications of KP Media,” said Kryzhanovska, who worked as a journalist at KP Media’s anchor publication, the Kyiv Post, before moving on to an editing position with the company’s highly popular Russian-language news magazine Korrespondent.

Kryzhanovska said she hoped other publishing companies would follow suit, launching Ukrainian-language publications of their own, which “should put an end to the [feeling of] inferiority of Ukrainian-speaking readers to Russian-speaking readers.”

More market growth expected

Inna Kovtun, the chief editor of one of Ukraine’s most popular Russian-language business publications, Delovaya Stolitsa, said that Delovaya Stolitsa has considered publishing a Ukrainian-language version of the magazine, but added that the possible payback for such a publication would not be immediate.

Kovtun said that with the economic standing of Ukrainian speakers improving in the western and central regions of the country, advertisers were becoming more interested in those segments of the population.

“Besides, the western Ukrainian audience has always read more, which is why new [Ukrainian-language] projects have a future, especially in the social, political and entertainment segments,” she said.

Currently leading the print segment by advertising revenues are women’s magazines, general news and business publications, as well as entertainment titles, “which together account for more than half of total print adspend,” according to Dragon Capital.

Dragon said that the Ukrainian newspaper and magazine market would benefit from continued regional growth, as local consumer-oriented companies, such as banks, cellular operators and retail chains expand their networks nationwide, “which should be reflected in their advertising budgets.”

According to Dragon Capital, KP Media is Ukraine’s only stock-listed media company and the only Ukrainian publisher to date to have successfully integrated Internet-based products in its portfolio.

KP Media is a holding company that owns a 100 percent interest in KP Advertising, KP Publications, BigMir Internet, and Omega, and is a 49 percent partner in Formax Publications.

Source: Kyiv Post

Poland Gives Up On Ukraine

WARSAW, Poland -- Poland has stopped its fight for the future of Ukrainian membership in the European Union, claims the Polish newspaper Dziennik.

Poland’s President Lech Kaczyński (R) and the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko (L).
'We had no choice but to quit because no one in the EU, except for Poland, supports integration with Ukraine’, says the newspaper.

Europe has already forgotten its enthusiasm about the Orange Revolution.

In Ukraine a constant crisis makes implementing reforms impossible.

Officially, according to the Foreign Ministry in Warsaw, nothing has changed from the Polish position. ‘We still support admitting Ukraine as soon as possible’, says the spokesman.

But, according to the newspaper, Polish diplomats haven’t continued any kind of activity in this field for months.

France, Germany, Italy and Spain, four of five biggest EU member states, are particularly afraid of close co-operation with Ukraine and Turkey is one of the main reasons.

‘We’ve got a problem with Turkey. 40 years ago we promised membership to that country. So here we are: no one really wants Turkey in the EU but no one can simply reject it’, says a French diplomat.

Old Europe doesn’t want to have similar trouble with Ukraine, claims Dziennik.

When Wladimir Putin, Russian President, appears to bully Western partners, Polish columnists needn’t worry too much, says Professor Ryszard Terlecki, a historian of the Polish Academy of Science, in his article published by Rzeczpospolita.

Without such attributes of the Soviet system as censorship and compulsory consensus, Russia cannot really follow the Soviet Union.

During last 15 years Moscow lost all its political battles.

It had to accept the NATO enlargement including not only Poland but also the Baltic states.

It had to give up its influence in the Middle East, former Yugoslavia and Iraq.

Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova are breaking Russian dreams about reuniting former Soviet republics.

The Kremlin is also to lose its battle against the American anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Placing the system in Central Europe means that Moscow will no longer be able to dream about re-establishing its zone of influence in that region but also in Ukraine, the Balkans and, in the near future, Belarus, assures Professor Terlecki.

Source: Polish Radio

Yushchenko Is Authoritarian For Many Ukrainians

VANCOUVER, BC -- Many people in Ukraine hold a negative view of their president, according to a poll by the Sophia Social Research Center.

President Viktor Yushchenko has lost much of his popularity.
42.2 per cent of respondents think Viktor Yushchenko of the People’s Union-Our Ukraine (NS-NU) is an authoritarian politician who neglects the rule of law for his personal benefit.

Conversely, 32.2 per cent of respondents consider Yushchenko as a democratic leader working to protect the country’s Constitution, while 25.4 per cent are undecided.

A series of public demonstrations took place in Kiev after the November 2004 presidential run-off. The Ukrainian Supreme Court eventually invalidated the results of the second round, and ordered a special re-vote.

Opposition candidate Yushchenko—whose supporters wore orange-coloured clothing at events and rallies—received 51.99 per cent of all cast ballots, defeating Viktor Yanukovych.

During his term in office, Yushchenko has had to deal with sagging approval for his administration, which has been dogged by allegations of corruption.

He dismissed his entire cabinet in September 2005 to appoint a new roster of senior staff in an attempt to make the government more effective.

Ukrainian voters renewed the Supreme Council in March 2006. In July, the "anti-crisis" coalition—which includes Yanukovych’s Party of Regions (PR), the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU), and the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU)—was formally announced.

In August, Yanukovych was confirmed as prime minister, while Yushchenko remained as president.

On Apr. 2, Yushchenko dissolved the Supreme Council and called an early ballot. On May 27, Yushchenko and Yanukovych agreed to hold a legislative election on Sept. 30.

In early August, opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko—who supported Yushchenko in the last presidential election and briefly served as prime minister—accused the Central Election Commission (CEC) of acting as Yanukovych’s "puppet" after it denied registration to candidates belonging to the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc for failing to provide their full addresses in their applications.

Tymoshenko vowed to denounce the CEC before the European Union (EU), saying, "We will inform them that the part of the CEC that is controlled by the ("anti-crisis") coalition is against the fundamentals of democracy. (...) The world will never recognize elections in which the biggest political force will not take part."

On Aug. 15, the CEC finally registered the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc’s candidates for the upcoming election, following a unanimous vote.

Polling Data

How would you describe Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko?

An authoritarian politician, neglecting laws for the sake of ensuring personal power - 42.2%

A democratic leader, and the guarantor of the constitution - 32.2%

Undecided - 25.4%

Methodology: Interviews with 2,017 Ukrainian adults, conducted from Jul. 27 to Aug. 7, 2007. Margin of error is 2.2 per cent.

Source: Angus Reid Global Monitor

Official Immunity Turns Into Campaign Issue In Ukraine

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- In an apparent attempt to upstage his political rivals ahead of elections, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has proposed that all of the country's officials be stripped of their immunity from prosecution.

Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych is proposing that all of the country's officials no longer enjoy immunity from prosecution.
"Let's abolish all privileges -- privileges and immunity [from prosecution] for the president, the prime minister, members of the government, the Verkhovna Rada (parliament), people's deputies, and judges -- all of them," Yanukovych said at a cabinet meeting in Kyiv on August 15. "[Let's make them] equal before the law. I will talk today with the president, [and] I will propose to him to take such an action in the Verkhovna Rada in the beginning of September -- to abolish all privileges and immunity for all the officials."

It wasn't the first time the issue of immunity from prosecution and other perks officials enjoy has come up in recent weeks.

Ukraine is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections on September 30 and Yanukovych's Party of Regions is currently leading in the polls.

RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports that the prime minister's main rivals -- President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc -- have been trying to turn immunity into a campaign issue.

But thus far, they have only focused on eliminating such legal protection for members of parliament.

In a televised address on August 9, Yushchenko said Ukraine needs a parliament that "will draft just and fair laws" and that stripping lawmakers' immunity would "hit political corruption in Ukraine's bodies of power."

Yanukovych took that initiative one step further by proposing that Ukraine's parliament hold a special session in September, before elections, to pass a resolution stripping officials of their immunity.

Such a move would be largely symbolic. Actually making such changes would be more complicated than Yanukovych and other politicians are suggesting.

Speaking on August 15, Ukrainian Justice Minister Oleksandr Lavrynovych said immunity for the president, prime minister, and members of parliament is enshrined in the country's constitution and, therefore, cannot be changed by a mere resolution.

It would require amending the constitution, a process that could take several months.

Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Ukraine: New Elections For Old Contenders

KIEV, Ukraine -- There are hardly any new ideas in election programs for upcoming 30 September polls, and hardly any new names on election lists compared with those during the 2006 elections.

Viktor Yanukovych (L) used a well-know Washington spin doctor, Paul Manafort (R), who managed the campaigns of Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr., to come up with a new image for Yanukovych and the Party of Regions.
On 2 August, Ukraine officially entered its campaign for early parliamentary elections to be held on September 30.

The major political parties have already held conventions to approve their manifestos and candidates for the polls.

However, those hoping for a new political opening in Ukraine in the fall may be deeply disappointed.

There are hardly any new ideas in election programs and hardly any new names on election lists compared with those during the 2006 elections.

And public-opinion surveys in Ukraine suggest that the alignment of forces in a future legislature may be very similar to that in the current one.

The main contenders in this year's preterm elections are the same as those in the regular parliamentary elections in March 2006: the Party of Regions, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc, the Socialist Party, and the Communist Party.

The only difference is that the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc was just Our Ukraine last year, without the People's Self-Defense component later created by former Interior Minister Yury Lutsenko.

Party of Regions

The Party of Regions led by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych - which held its showy, Western-style election convention in Kyiv on 4 August - declared that it will focus on economic and social issues in the ongoing campaign, thus hushing up its former concerns about giving the Russian language official status and fostering the electorate's anti-NATO sentiments in Ukraine.

Yanukovych has apparently decided to capitalize on a fairly strong economic performance of his two cabinets, the current one and that in 2002-04.

Warding off President Viktor Yushchenko's recent criticism of the economic situation, Yanukovych's press service reminded Ukrainians that the economy grew by 9.6 percent in 2003 and by 12 percent in 2004, adding that in 2005, when the Orange Revolution government took over, economic growth fell to 2.7 percent.

Since August 2006, when Yanukovych became prime minister for the second time, average economic growth has stood at 8 percent, the press service stressed.

Moreover, Yanukovych has outstripped Yushchenko in pledges to overcome Ukraine's protracted demographic crisis, in which the number of Ukrainians shrank from 52 million in 1992 to 46.5 million in 2007.

In June, Yushchenko promised to increase a state allowance for the second and every subsequent child born to families from the current 8,000 hryvnyas (US$1,600) to 15,000 hryvnyas.

Yanukovych promised at the August 4 convention that if he wins the elections, his government will increase this payment to 25,000 hryvnyas for the second child and to 50,000 hryvnyas for every additional child.

Yanukovych surprised his adherents and opponents with two more election devices.

He used a teleprompter to read his speech at the election convention, a hitherto unheard-of practice in Ukrainian politics.

And he referred to God in his concluding words, which was also a first for him: "We are heading straight for the victory with firm steps! The Lord God help us!"

The top 10 candidates of the Party of Regions are exclusively former lawmakers.

The Party of Regions election ticket includes five current deputy prime ministers and 11 ministers.

Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc

A convention of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc on 5 August, even if less pompous and less technologically advanced than that of the Party of Regions, was also eye-catching.

The bloc's leader, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, had all delegates to the convention put on white T-shirts with a red heart and the inscription "Yulya" on them.

In general, the initial letter of her first name - the Cyrillic "Yu" - has seemingly become a new graphic symbol of the bloc, since it was utilized in many slogans and inscriptions visible at the convention, including the phrase "I love Yu."

Tymoshenko, who in the past frequently appeared in trendy and costly outfits from Europe's top fashion designers, this time donned a Ukrainian folk-style dress.

The convention adopted an election manifesto called "Ukrainian Breakthrough," which has so far not been revealed to the public, including the bloc's ordinary members and supporters.

But Tymoshenko provided a glimpse into the program at the convention when she proposed that corrupt officials be punished with imprisonment for life and that judges be elected by popular vote.

The top 10 candidates of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc are exclusively former legislators.

Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense

The Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc held its election convention on August 7.

The forum was attended by President Yushchenko, who blessed what he described as the unification of Ukrainian democratic forces into a single bloc for the early polls.

And he seemed to indicate a spiritual direction for the bloc when he stated that, "Our ideal is a powerful state, a single people, a single official language, a single Christian Orthodox Church, and a single nation."

The pro-presidential bloc adopted an election manifest titled "For People, Not For Politicians," which calls for abolishing parliamentary immunity, canceling privileges for lawmakers, setting up a national anticorruption bureau, and forming an independent body to vet all judges.

Yury Lutsenko, one of the leaders of the bloc, claimed in a passionate speech at the August 7 convention that the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense election list does not include people who "went whoring" in the past or betrayed the 2004 Orange Revolution.

He specifically mentioned Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs leader Anatoliy Kinakh and Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz in this regard, branding them "Judases" for their alliance with the Party of Regions.

The top 10 candidates of the bloc include only one new name, that of television journalist Volodymyr Aryev.

The remaining nine are either former lawmakers or people already known in politics, such as Foreign Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk and Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko.

Socialist Party

The least conspicuous of recent election gatherings in Ukraine was that of the Socialist Party on 4 August.

According to all opinion surveys, the Socialist Party will be fighting for survival in this election.

Its popularity rating is currently well below the 3 percent threshold that qualifies for parliamentary representation.

Moroz on 4 August condemned the upcoming elections as an "adventurous" and "illegitimate" event, claiming that their main objectives are to remove the Socialists from parliament, "draw" Ukraine into NATO, and "cause a quarrel" between Ukraine and Russia.

Public-opinion polls conducted in Ukraine in June and July suggest that the elections will be won by the Party of Regions with 30-33 percent of the vote, while second place will be contested by the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (14-17 percent) and Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense (13-15 percent).

The Communist Party should gain 3-5 percent of the vote.

The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc has definitely ruled out any post-election coalition with the Party of Regions.

Yanukovych at the 4 August convention expressed his preference for a "grand" coalition, but mentioned no specific forces.

Lutsenko on 7 August admitted that it is possible for his bloc to cooperate with Yanukovych's people in parliament but excluded any governing alliance with them.

In short, the starting political preferences of Ukraine's key political players before the September 2007 elections are almost the same as those before the March 2006 polls.

Source: ISN Security Watch

Ukrainian Court Backs Tymoshenko In Election Registration Dispute

KIEV, Ukraine -- A Kiev court ruled Tuesday that Ukraine's election authorities must decide by Friday whether the opposition Yulia Tymoshenko bloc can be registered for early parliamentary polls.


Last Friday, the Central Election Commission failed to decide within a three-day deadline on whether to register Tymoshenko bloc members, citing non-compliance with election laws.

Among other things, Tymoshenko's candidates failed to provide their addresses.

Volodymyr Pylypenko, a lawyer for the bloc, cited the Kiev District Administrative Court as saying it "deems the actions of the Central Election Commission in relation to the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc's registration to be illegal, and instructs the commission to consider the bloc's registration for the 2007 early parliamentary elections within two days."

Early elections were set on June 4 as part of a deal between the Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and his arch-rival Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, amid a crisis that broke out after the president accused the premier-controlled majority coalition of usurping power in early April, and ordered the legislature's dissolution.

The election campaign officially began in Ukraine August 2, 60 days before the elections.

Tymoshenko, a former prime minister, earlier accused parliamentary coalition parties of colluding to eliminate her bloc from the election campaign.

Supporters of her faction started rallying Saturday in front of the Election Commission building.

The president has asked the election authorities to reconsider registering Yulia Tymoshenko's faction for the campaign.

Members of parliamentary majority parties returned the allegation, saying the Tymoshenko bloc had been exerting pressure on election commission officials.

According to opinion polls, the bloc led by Tymoshenko, Yushchenko's outspoken ally in the 2004 "orange revolution" that swept him to power, which has consistently opposed the current premier, is the third most popular political faction in Ukraine, backed by 11.6%-14.3% of the electorate.

Source: RIA Novosti

Democracy Is Once Again Under Threat In Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine -- The campaign for Ukraine's parliamentary election of September 30th is scarcely under way and yet Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich is already trying to steal it.

Yanukovych is up to his dirty tricks again!
Yanukovich was the man who sought to falsify the result of the presidential election of 2004, inciting the Orange Revolution.

Back then, a peaceful and honest result was reached in the end because Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma refused to heed Yanukovich's call to use violence to defend his rigged election.

This time it appears that Yanukovich is prepared to do anything to remain in power.

The dirty tricks began in the midnight hours of August 11th, when Ukraine's Central Election Commission (which is packed with Yanukovich placemen) refused to certify the largest opposition party, the bloc of former Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, to participate in the election.

The technicality the commission cited would be absurdly funny if its potential results were not so incendiary: the CEC objected to the fact that the Tymoshenko bloc candidates listed only their home towns on the party list, not their precise street address.

But Tymoshenko's party successfully submitted its list in the very same format at the March 2006 election, which demonstrates the glaringly partisan nature of the election commission's ruling.

By seeking to cling to power by hook or by crook, Yanukovich is likely to bring on the deluge.

In Ukraine that means not only violent unrest, but economic decline and renewed repression.

At the end of the day it could lead to the sort of huge street protests that marked the Orange Revolution, and their attempted violent suppression.

Recent history is replete with alarming examples of dictators and would-be dictators who refuse to recognize when their time has run out.

But for the past 20 years their blatant political chicanery has been met with a potent new force: the massed voices of ordinary people who refuse to be cowed.

From the "People Power" revolution that toppled Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines in 1986 to Boris Yeltsin's defiance of the attempted coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991, to the Rose, Orange, and Cedar Revolutions of recent years, dictators have been forced to admit defeat when enough people stand up to them.

Will it really be necessary for Ukrainians to repeat the Orange Revolution by again gathering in their millions to shame Yanukovich (a twice convicted violent felon before he entered politics) to change course?

There is a person who might compel Yanukovich to retreat to democratic norms and thus hold off such protests: Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

It is certainly in Russia's national interest to prevent chaos in the country's big next door neighbor.

But Putin's idea of what constitutes Russia's national interest makes that type of intervention unlikely.

Weak neighbors are states that the Kremlin can control, so why not expand Russian power by letting Ukraine slide into protest and anarchy if by doing so it brings that country back under Putin's thumb?

Moreover, Putin himself is in the business of sterilizing Russia's democratic processes by handpicking his successor and having his courts and electoral commissions block his opponents from political participation, often tarring them as traitors.

Someone with such contempt for the democratic rights of his own people is unlikely to champion them abroad.

As is usual with this ex-KGB man, Putin is being cunning about Ukraine, but he is deluding himself if he thinks that siding with Yanukovich will bring back effective Russian overlordship of Ukraine.

The days of empire are over, no matter how much wealth oil and gas is bringing to Russia.

Only if Ukraine maintains its independence will the imperial nostalgia of Russia's elites be shattered.

So other pressure will need to be applied, primarily by the European Union and the United States.

In 2004, both the EU and the US were tardy in speaking in defense of Ukraine's democrats.

Only when the courage of millions of ordinary Ukrainians gathered in central Kiev galvanized world opinion did the US and EU marshal the courage to stand up for an honest election result.

And the one state that did stand with Ukraine from the start back then, Poland, has now antagonized much of EU opinion, particularly in Germany, because of the paranoid behavior of its current leaders.

So Polish influence in EU councils is at rock bottom.

Luckily, the leaders of Europe's three biggest states are different people than in 2004.

Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Gordon Brown appear to have a clearer appreciation of the union's security problems to its east, and so may find the will to act decisively now, rather than dither as their predecessors did when Ukraine moved into crisis in 2004.

Unless Ukraine's democratic opposition is allowed to take part in the election, a new crisis is certain.

Tymoshenko, who has survived three assassination attempts, is not the type of woman to surrender her campaign on a technicality.

While the Orange Revolution made ordinary Ukrainians more conscious of their rights than ever before, this alone cannot guarantee that they are certain to see those rights vindicated in the coming weeks.

However, it will make the job of repressing them much harder.

And isn't that what the battle for democracy is all about?

Source: Daily Star - Lebanon

Ukraine's Road To Europe Needs More Traffic Rules

KIEV, Ukraine -- The city of Kyiv is planning to expand its Metropolitan, or system of underground and surface trains, before the year 2012, when Ukraine will host the European football championship together with Poland.

A typical traffic jam on a downtown Kiev street. The 'nouveaux riche' Kiev motorists are some of the most obnoxious drivers in the world.
What a relief for pedestrians and motorists alike!

The estimated cost has been set at 3 billion dollars. This is a lot of money for a country that can barely afford to pay its soldiers and teachers, but the capital wants to be ready for all the football fans expected to arrive with their pockets full of money.

As it stands now, traffic jams and road rage are the number one turn-off for foreign visitors.

Along with the significantly expanded public transportation, there are also plans to launch lots of brand new hotels across the country.

Private investors should get a nice return, as a lack of hotel space is one of the main obstacles to the country’s great tourist potential.

But first and foremost, the hosting of the European championship is Ukraine’s chance to show the world that it’s not a post-Soviet backwater.

The Orange Revolution put the country on the map a few years back.

The positive PR continued when Ukraine hosted the Eurovision song contest in 2005. Canceling visa requirements for wealthy countries has also helped.

All this is good news for a country that increasingly wants to be known as a full-fledged part of Europe, rather than the site of the world’s nuclear accident.

Accidents, however, are still a very grim part of the Ukrainian reality, and the most serious are related to transportation.

For example, the country has been plagued most recently by a series of high-profile train wrecks, but thankfully the casualties have been small.

A much higher death toll is attributable to car accidents, which is why expanded public transportation in the capital is highly welcome.

Car crashes claims thousands of lives every year in Kyiv Region alone.

Most Westerners are used to frightening figures on auto-related deaths, but the situation in Ukraine merits closer study.

There aren’t many places in Europe or North America where you can be hit by a speeding sedan while strolling down a central street.

These aren’t bank robbers or rambunctious teenagers but everyday citizens who believe that pedestrians should move or be hit.

The Ukrainian capital is not only plagued by traffic jams on the roads but double parking on the sidewalk.

Sure, more parking structures need to be built, but it’s far from certain that people won’t continue to park where they feel like anyway.

And the police, who are otherwise infamous for finding a reason to fine law-abiding motorists, do nothing to maintain order.

It’s as if they prey on the innocent and fear anyone in an expensive car.

It used to be that people would complain about the obnoxious drivers of luxury vehicles with special license plates or blue sirens on their roofs.

But as the number of cars on Ukrainian roads increases exponentially along with disposable wealth, so does the number of negligent drivers.

It’s nice to see Ukrainians enjoying a little freedom.

Freedom, however, comes with responsibility.

One of the biggest surprises for analysts of the eastern bloc was how quickly people here seemed to go from being Communist robots to cut-throat capitalists.

Clearly, the cold war created some pretty inaccurate stereotypes.

Society in Ukraine and other East-bloc countries is indeed changing, but cultural values are more persistent than one might think.

Judging from the last 15 odd years of independence, it appears that many people in former Communist societies don’t want to make the rules of the game more fair, but rather to enjoy the unbridled privileges of the elite.

The shifting scene of Ukraine’s roads nicely reflects transformations in the nation as a whole.

Ukrainians appear to see car ownership as a release from all the rules of public transportation without considering the new obligations involved.

Public transportation is for pensioners, alcoholics and those who are still trying to find a way to finance a Western lifestyle.

Private cars are for those intent on expressing their identities long suppressed by Soviet society.

Not all drivers in Kyiv are obnoxious, but road bullies are the single negative impression that almost every visitor complains about.

The same analogy of unleashed individualism could be made about housing in Kyiv as well – the rich snatch up pristine reserves to build their mansions, the poor remain in slumping blocs of flats, and the slowly emerging middle class takes out bank loans to afford new apartments.

It’s precisely this rising middle class that offers the most hope.

They work hard and raise families, whom they don’t want to see run down at an intersection.

Once someone owns property he is more likely to respect the property of others.

Insurance companies will also become more common, offering compensation for loss and lobbying better legislation.

But this transformation in ownership and attitude is going to take time.

More importantly, it’s going to have to be anchored in law.

As it stands now, Ukraine’s lawmakers are often the biggest offenders.

The absence of respect for the law, or rules in general, is in fact the heart of the problem.

The way people drive is just a reflection of their overall attitudes toward rules.

Sure, there are plenty of obnoxious drivers in America, and the country’s love affair with the car is symptomatic of questionable individualism and consumerism in itself, but violators are caught and punished.

As Ukrainians buy and use more cars, the laws in the country are going to have to change and be enforced. In the mean time, what a great idea to develop more public transportation.

Besides the environmental concerns, Kyiv’s infrastructure was just not designed for so many autos.

Many European countries have already started investing in more trains and trolleys.

As Ukrainians continue to embrace greater integration with Europe, they might reflect on how important civil society and legislators were in creating modern European society.

My feeling is that many younger Ukrainians are already beginning to change their attitudes.

On the other hand, some features of Soviet society, such as reliance on public transportation, are proving to be more progressive than many still believe.

If Kyiv really wants to show off in 2012, a good start would be more decent public transportation and a little more courtesy on the part of drivers of private cars.

Source: Eurasian Home

Euro 2012 Sets Ukraine Tough Test

KIEV, Ukraine -- The industrial heart of eastern Ukraine was glowing in a beautiful sunset as local heroes Shakhtar Donetsk took on their arch-rivals Dinamo Kiev.

Communist-era stadiums need to be upgraded for Euro 2012
Yet the Soviet-era stadium looked small and a bit too old-fashioned for Shakhtar Donetsk, one of the country's top teams.

There are concerns that Ukraine may not be ready in time for the Uefa European Football Championships in 2012, which it will co-host with Poland.

It will be the most prestigious project that Ukraine has ever co-hosted, and it is expected to attract thousands of fans.

But there are fears that the politicians here do not have their eye on the ball.

Donetsk is one of four host cities in Ukraine. All of the venues were built by the communists, and they are well past their best, needing to be replaced or renovated.

Ukraine has faced one political crisis after another and now the country is preparing for a general election.

"The most difficult thing will be to change the attitude, to make the authorities look in the direction of football and start paying attention to the country's infrastructure," says Dmitriy Chigrinsky, a player for Shakhtar Donetsk and Ukraine.

"It's no secret that our country needs serious modernisation," Dmitriy adds.

Infrastructure woes

Ukraine is one of the poorest places in Europe. Now it has to spend billions of dollars preparing for the championships.

With vast distances between the Euro 2012 venues, transport is a top priority. Ukraine's trains are cheap but not exactly fast, as the network has not changed much since Soviet times.

A journey from Gdansk, one of the Polish venues, to Donetsk can take more than 40 hours.

And the alternatives are not much better. Ukraine only has one motorway and many roads are in desperate need of repair.

The country's airports are all due to be modernised, and there is also a real shortage of hotels.

As if all that was not bad enough, there is a row over the venue for the final.

It is supposed to be held in the centre of Kiev, but a half-built shopping centre looms right next to the stadium gates - and the developers are refusing to knock it down. If it stays, the final will have to be played elsewhere.

Optimism

Despite all these problems there is a confident mood at the headquarters of Ukraine's Football Federation in the capital.

"If I wasn't an optimist I would never have dared to start such a project.

"Some people called it naive, they were sure it would be impossible for us to win the right to co-host the event. But we did win," says Hryhoriy Surkis, the president of Ukraine's Football Federation.

"We are now working hard to turn the fairy tale into reality," he says.

There are some positive signs. Two brand-new stadiums are starting to take shape in eastern Ukraine.

One of the venues is being funded by Ukraine's richest man, the football-mad billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, for his team Shakhtar Donetsk.

Designed by a British architect, it will have a glass roof and promises to be one of the best stadiums in Europe.

The Ukrainian President, Viktor Yushchenko, has said that a co-ordination council will be set up with Poland.

It is due to meet in September to discuss a range of issues including joint infrastructure projects, and it will apply for support from the European Union.

Even so this former Soviet republic still faces a massive task to prepare for Euro 2012. It will be a race against time to complete all the work needed.

"Ukrainians are very proud to be co-hosting the championships. I am certain we can do it and we can do it well.

"This is about more than just football. If the tournament goes well then it could well boost our chances of becoming part of the EU," says a Ukrainian football fan, Maxim Simoroz.

With so much at stake the country cannot afford to fail

Source: BBC News

Opposition Erects Tents In Ukrainian Capital To Protest Denial Of Election Registration

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's main opposition force erected a tent camp in the center of the capital Sunday, protesting authorities' refusal to register its candidates for next month's parliamentary elections.

Activists of the Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko group, Ukraine's main opposition force led by former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, seen in poster at right, rally in front of the Central Election Commission office in downtown Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2007.
The Central Election Commission on Saturday declined to register candidates from the Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko group because the party had failed to state its members' exact addresses, raising new tensions ahead of the vote.

About 1,000 activists from Tymoshenko's bloc clad in white T-shirts displaying the bloc's logo — a red heart — rallied outside the commission building in downtown Kiev.

They put up more than 100 tents and said they would stay until they obtain the reversal of the decision, which they called politically driven.

The early parliamentary elections set for Sept. 30 defused a monthslong confrontation between President Viktor Yushchenko and his foe Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych that broke out after Yushchenko ordered the parliament dissolved.

But the refusal to register Tymoshenko's bloc — the leading opposition force — is likely to raise questions about the legitimacy of the vote.

Ukraine's stability is of interest both to the Kremlin and to the West, with Yushchenko pushing for Ukraine to join NATO and the European Union while Yanukovych is more oriented toward Russia.

About half of the Central Election Commission Members are loyal to Yanukovych, and Tymoshenko has accused him of being behind the decision.

She vowed to contest it in the courts.

Yanukovych's Party of Regions has rejected Tymoshenko's allegations and alleged that she was stirring up tensions in order to boost her popularity.

Tymoshenko's supporters vowed to maintain their vigil outside the election commission's office until it agrees to register the bloc's candidates.

"Bandits ... have denied half of Ukraine the right to vote," said Yuriy Klimovits, a 70-year-old retiree from western Ukraine wearing a white baseball hat emblazoned with the party's logo.

"Until they reverse their decision we will stand here, we will stand till victory," said Olha Zhurba, a 68-old Kiev pensioner.

Tymoshenko's bloc got support Sunday from Yushchenko's Our Ukraine-Our Self-defense party, which protested the denial of registration and urged the election commission to reverse its move.

Source: International Herald Tribune

Ukrainian Election Commission Refuses To Register Opposition Bloc's Candidates

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's elections commission on Saturday refused to register a main opposition grouping's candidates for next month's parliamentary elections, raising new tensions in the country's crisis-prone politics.

The fiery Yulia Tymoshenko
The early parliamentary elections called for Sept. 30 defused a months long confrontation between President Viktor Yushchenko and his foe Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych that broke out after Yushchenko ordered the parliament dissolved.

Ukraine's stability is of interest both to the Kremlin and the West, with Yushchenko pushing for Ukraine to join NATO and the European Union while Yanukovych is more oriented toward Russia.

But the rejection of candidates from the Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko group would likely raise questions about the election's legitimacy.

The bloc's leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, is highly popular; recent polls have shown the bloc attracting about the same level of support as Yushchenko's Our Ukraine-Our Self-defense.

A Central Elections Commission spokesman, who declined to give his name, confirmed the rejection, but did not give details, saying he was not authorized to speak to the news media.

Tymoshenko, in a statement, called the move illegal, saying the candidates were refused registration because they had failed to provide their full addresses.

She said the bloc's registration was stalled by commission members loyal to Yanukovych.

"These marionettes have just fulfilled Yanukovych's direct order," Tymoshenko said.

Tymoshenko said she would contest the decision in courts and appeal to the European Union and other international institutions.

Yanukovych's supporters rejected Tymoshenko's allegations and accused her of deliberately creating a scandal around her political force to boost its popularity.

"Who is interested in a scandal around documents filled out the wrong way? ... Who is building its ratings on scandals? I think the answer is obvious," said Olena Lukash, a senior member of Yanukovych's Party of Regions.

Ukraine's politics have been beset by an array of troubles since the 2004 Orange Revolution — the massive protests that broke out after fraud-plagued presidential elections in which Yanukovych was declared to have won the most votes.

Yushchenko won a court-ordered repeat vote.

However, Yushchenko's presidency quickly became plagued by internal squabbling and he dismissed Tymoshenko as prime minister in the fall of 2005.

Yanukovych's party won the largest share of votes in 2006 parliamentary elections and he became prime minister after the Socialists, who had been allied with Yushchenko, broke ranks to form a majority coalition with Party of Regions.

Yuschenko accused Yanukovych this year of trying to usurp power and ordered parliament dissolved. Yanukovych rejected the call, but eventually agreed to early elections after tensions escalated to the point that some observers feared an armed confrontation was imminent.

Source: International Herald Tribune

World's Tallest Man Lives Isolated Life In Ukraine - Interview

KIEV, Ukraine -- Leonid Stadnik, the world's tallest man, lives an isolated life, has trouble finding clothes and shoes that fit and no longer expects any help from bureaucrats, the 37-year-old Ukrainian said in an interview.

Viktor Yushchenko with Ukraine's 'Gentle Giant' Leonid Stadnik
Measuring 2 meters 53 centimeters (8 feet 3 inches), Stadnik will be included in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2008, displacing Chinese Bao Xishun, who stands at 2 meters 36 centimeters (7 feet 7 inches).

"I'm not looking for fame or to set any records," he said in an interview with RIA Novosti. "For me, it was a lot more pleasant when for my birthday the local utility company built me a bathroom with a shower that took my height into account."

The village of Podolyantsi where Stadnik lives, in the Zhitomyr Region in western Ukraine, has a single street, no school, no shops and no church. And although it is only three kilometers (two miles) from the local center of Chudnov, he almost never goes there.

"My life goes by quietly here," he said. "I love nature, I love going places, but because of my height I try to go where there are fewer people. I don't like attracting attention."

He said that doctors discovered a brain tumor when he was 12, and that soon after being operated on, he began growing so quickly his parents had trouble buying him enough clothes and shoes.

Despite graduating from the local agriculture institute with honors, Stadnik said he was unable to work as a veterinarian for long because the lack of shoes and gloves that fit meant he suffered frequent frostbite while on the job.

The world learned of the giant's existence thanks to journalists, and the first to try and help him were not local officials, but German businessmen who presented him with size 62 shoes. Stadnik said he thinks of that day as his second birthday.

He later received a visit from Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who promised him a presidential stipend. However, when he wrote local officials with a request, it was returned to him with the explanation that he did not qualify.

"How many things I was promised," he said. "They promised me a tractor, a car, but I would be happy with any kind of transportation now."

As for his private life, Stadnik remains circumspect.

"I don't have any plans to marry yet," he said.

"Maybe in time. Life has been so complicated I wouldn't want to burden anyone with those problems. I've fallen in love before, but I always tried to keep myself in line."

Source: RIA Novosti

Yushchenko's Party Is Third In Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine -- The People’s Union-Our Ukraine (NS-NU) of Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko is lagging behind two other parties, according to a poll by the Kiev Gorshenin Institute of Management Issues.

President Viktor Yushchenko addressing his party
28.72 per cent of respondents would back prime minister Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions (PR) in next month’s legislative election.

The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc is second with 16.54 per cent, followed by Yushchenko’s NS-NU with 9.27 per cent, the People’s Self-Defence of Yury Lutsenko with 5.16 per cent, and the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU) also with 5.16 per cent.

Support is lower for Volodymyr Lytvyn’s People’s Party, the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU), the Nataliya Vitrenko "People’s Opposition", and the "Veche" Party.

Ukrainian voters renewed the Supreme Council in March 2006.

The PR won 186 seats in the legislative branch, followed by the Tymoshenko Bloc with 129, the NS-NU with 81, the SPU with 33, and the KPU with 21 mandates.

Parties require at least three per cent of the vote to qualify for proportional representation seats in the Supreme Council.

In July, the "anti-crisis" coalition—which includes Yanukovych’s PR, Oleksandr Moroz’s SPU and the KPU—was formally announced.

In August, Yanukovych was confirmed as prime minister, while Yushchenko remained as president.

On Apr. 2, Yushchenko dissolved the Supreme Council and called an early ballot.

On May 27, Yushchenko and Yanukovych agreed to hold the election on Sept. 30.

On Jun. 28, NS-NU chairman Vyacheslav Kyrylenko and Lutsenko signed an agreement to create an alliance.

The deal, called the Declaration of the Unification of Democratic Forces, was made public on Jul. 5.

On Aug. 7, Yushchenko told a party caucus meeting that his bitter dispute with the prime minister is over and said his party is reunited with the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, declaring, "The battle of the mediaeval chiefs has ended. This is what all the Ukrainian people have been waiting for. (...) Tymoshenko’s bloc is advancing alongside us, shoulder to shoulder. Our common victory depends on how we help each other and how we coordinate our work."

Polling Data

If the new elections to the Supreme Council took place today, what party or block of parties would you vote for?

Party of Regions (PR) - 28.72%

Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc - 16.54%

People’s Union-Our Ukraine (NS-NU) - 9.27%

People’s Self-Defence - 5.16%

Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU) - 5.16%

Volodymyr Lytvyn’s People’s Party - 3.81%

Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) - 2.81%

Nataliya Vitrenko "People’s Opposition" - 2.31%

"Veche" Party - 1.90%

Other Party - 0.80%

Would Not Vote - 10.48%

Would Vote Against All - 6.52%

Difficult To Answer - 6.52%

Methodology: Interviews with 2,006 Ukrainian adults, conducted from Jun. 20 to Jul. 4, 2007. Margin of error is 2.2 per cent.

Source: Angus Reid

WWII Mine Discovered In Ukraine's Black Sea Port As U.S. Navy Ship Visits

SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine -- A World War II mine was discovered August 9 in Ukraine's Black Sea port of Sevastopol as a U.S. Navy ship called for a visit, and efforts were under way to safely dispose of it, officials said.

Guided missile destroyer USS Forrest Sherman (DDG 98)
The mine, weighing up to 500 kilograms (1100 pounds) and containing up to 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of TNT, was found drifting in the water August 8 near a local navy hospital on the shore, said Valery Strelets, spokesman for the local branch of Ukraine's Emergencies Ministry.

The report came as USS Forrest Sherman, called at the port to conduct drills with the Ukrainian navy.

The U.S. destroyer was at a distance of some 500 meters from the mine at the time when it was discovered, Strelets said.

He said the mine had been fixated to prevent it from floating, and would be transported to a distance about 1 mile (2 kilometers) away from the shore where it would be destroyed.

Nearby streets have been cordoned off, and all shipping will be ordered halted when the mine is destroyed, Strelets said.

Ukraine was the site of heavy fighting during World War II and numerous unexploded shells, grenades and mines are discovered each year.

Source: Kyiv Post

Ukraine’s Soviet Schism Narrowing

KIEV, Ukraine -- The Soviet epoch was a kind of civil war for Ukraine. It was a war waged against those who remembered. The official history was edited. People were afraid, even privately, to talk about themselves or their relatives.

1917-1991 Ukrainian SSR flag (L) and coat of arms (R)
The victors get to write history, not the defeated. But is a new 'victor' now rising from the ashes?

During Soviet times, family photos were burned. People were reluctant to reveal the names of their relatives, so that nobody would find out.

A whole generation of people grew up under severe censorship of memory. They knew nothing of the past and knew only of the present.

One old saying goes: If you want to defeat your enemy, then bring up his children. The Ukrainian nation occupied itself, having surrendered to the Russian empire. A new kind of society was formed.

The fact that the Ukrainian language is not the mother tongue of half of Ukrainian citizens, and that Ukrainian culture is foreign for many of the people here is the result of Soviet occupation.

Mea culpa

The hopelessness and provincialism of life in Ukraine forced the ambitious and talented to migrate to big cities. Their talents served the empire.

For instance, the international community does not know that the baroquecomposers Berezovsky and Bortnyansky were Ukrainian. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, they were Russians, like all people living in the USSR.

All athletes who represented the Soviet Union in international competitions were also considered to be Russians. The price of collaboration for Ukrainians was the impossibility of breaking ranks from the empire.

This was true of Ukrainians from Bezborodko and Gogol to Khrushchev and Ivashko. The empire became the flesh and blood of many Ukrainians. To deny the empire meant to denounce one’s self.

It's an interesting fact that millions of Ukrainians were born in the USSR.

They had no other choice as to their place of birth at the time, as there was no independent Ukraine. They knew nothing of their past. They had no alternative reality.

The daily routine swallowed them up. Of course, the Soviet system had its positive moments: a more or less happy childhood, slowly improving living conditions, one's own cultural and social life.

People could not live in a totally artificial environment, after all, so there had to be some positive things, for which the empire, of course, took all the credit.

There were some other advantages, too, such as being able to travel acros the entire breadth of the Soviet Union without crossing any border, or being able to enjoy certain perks if you served in the army.

Indeed, there were honestly deserved awards boldly engraved with communist symbols. In this way, normal human achievements were merged inextricably with the propaganda. In this way, the USSR made every citizen's life a mere profile.

Quo vadis?

So what is the conclusion here? We need to separate the honor, industry and talent of ordinary people living in the Soviet Union from the evil of the Soviet empire, because these people would have acted equally honorably, industriously and with talent under any system.

They simply fulfilled their duties as parents, friends, professionals and citizens.

But their good deeds must not stand alongside the Holodomor of the 1930s, the mass repressions of the 1930s and 1950s, the war in Afghanistan and the Chornobyl disaster of the 1980s.

On the other hand, for those ardent supporters of the USSR, for those who believed the Soviet propaganda or who used to work in the Soviet bureaucratic machine, with all its privileges, the memories are different.

They will die thinking of the empire. Soviet patriotism is nevertheless as doomed as the Nazi ideology, which is now only history.

A viable system cannot be half-criminal. However, we must not forget about all the decent people when criticizing the Soviet system. For instance, Germany cannot be a synonym for Nazism.

Many decent people lived in Nazi Germany, who were opposed to Nazism.

These people baked bread, tilled the ground, made clothes, conducted business, wrote books and taught children. These honest people were not taken in by Hitler. The system they lived in is not the final judgment for them.

We ordinary Ukrainians did not have much of an effect on the decision-makingprocess of the Soviet imperial monster. We did not choose its negative communist ideas.

These ideas were imposed on us. We had no choice. That is why I call the Soviet Union a spiritual occupation of my country.

The participation of Ukrainians in the management of the local governments and some branches of the central executive is no reason to refer to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialistic Republic of Ukraine.

Everything that was Ukrainian in the system was rather incidental to it. But, thankfully, nobody calls Ukraine the Ukrainian SSR anymore. This name is now seen as even more fictitious than other Soviet myths.

It only exists in post-Soviet memory. There is only the former USSR, without much mention of Ukraine as a distinct part of it.

We must recognize the Ukrainian Soviet Socialistic Republic as a false otherland, which replaced and served as a substitute for our true Motherland – an Independent Ukraine.

The half-true Soviet Ukraine is an absolute lie in fact. By rebuilding our consciousness, we can rebuild our nation.

Now, we have a Ukrainian state. Despite its Soviet era, which has not yet been fully digested by Ukrainian history, Ukraine will be an independent country free of its colonial past.

Source: Kyiv Post

Yushchenko, Yanukovych, Timoshenko Contesting Election Again

KIEV, Ukraine -- The campaign for the September 30th parliamentary elections officially kicked off in Ukraine on Thursday, August 2nd.

Viktor Yanukovych (L), Viktor Yushchenko (C) and Yulia Timoshenko (R)
This campaign will see the same contenders as in the March 2006 election: President Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense bloc (NUNS), except last year it was just Our Ukraine, without Yuriy Lutsenko’s Self-Defense; the Party of Regions (PRU) of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, which represents Eastern Ukraine’s big businesses; and the populists from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT).

The Communists and the Socialists, which barely made it into parliament in 2006, again will be fighting for their survival.

The Communists have better chances than the Socialists, who apparently lost much of their electorate because of their largely unexpected coalition with the PRU.

Both are set to enter a coalition with the PRU again, once in parliament.

So far, the campaign is focused on domestic problems, such as corruption, the cancellation of the deputy immunity from prosecution (a top issue with both NUNS and BYuT), amending the constitution, the demographic problem (all three main players promise more money for one-time payments for childbirth) and, to a lesser extent, the official language issue.

Foreign political issues are not high on the agenda, and none of the main players have positioned themselves as pro-Russian or decidedly pro-Western.

NUNS is pro-NATO; the PRU reluctantly concedes that NATO membership may be on the agenda in the future; and this issue is not among BYuT’s top priorities.

Rumors persist about PRU infighting.

Several newspapers have speculated that Yanukovych may be replaced as prime minister by either Ukraine’s richest man, Renat Akhmetov, who is viewed as the PRU’s main financier, or Akhmetov’s right-hand man, Borys Kolesnikov.

Both have denied this. Akhmetov said he is not planning to work in the executive at all, and Kolesnikov repeated in several interviews that there is no need to replace Yanukovych as head of the cabinet.

The PRU, confident of its strength, has been the only force among the three main players to not form a bloc.

Instead, several small parties ceased to exist to enable their leaders to join the PRU’s list for the election.

The list, adopted at the party’s pre-election convention on August 4, includes a record number of government officials: five deputy prime ministers and 11 cabinet ministers.

The head of Yushchenko’s office, Viktor Baloha, has suggested that the PRU will not resist the temptation of using “administrative resources,” meaning the government’s illegal participation in the campaign in favor of one party, a frequent charge against former president Leonid Kuchma.

NUNS has ostentatiously crossed Yushchenko’s aides, including Baloha, from its list, in order to preclude accusations against Yushchenko of interference in the election process.

Furthermore, Yushchenko in August 6 dismissed six advisers who had decided to run for parliament on the NUNS list.

There are, however, two key ministers among the top 10 on the NUNS list: Foreign Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk and Defense Minister Anatoly Hrytsenko.

The PRU has already accused Hrytsenko of having recourse to administrative resource, claiming that military servicemen were spotted distributing NUNS campaign materials.

One of the main questions that the election should resolve is whether the current opposition will remain united.

Tymoshenko and Our Ukraine (NU) leader Vyacheslav Kyrylenko have pledged that their parties would be together, and never form a coalition with the PRU.

Lutsenko, who tops the NUNS list, however, has not ruled out his party’s cooperation with the PRU in a new parliament on specific issues like constitutional amendments or new electoral legislation.

“We have to take into account that about one in three Ukrainians backs the PRU,” he told Inter TV, urging “dialogue” with the PRU.

Yanukovych, addressing the PRU convention on August 4, urged a broad coalition, but he did not mention either NUNS or BYuT specifically.

Tymoshenko, addressing her convention on August 5, said that corrupt officials should be imprisoned for life, and that judges should be elected by popular vote.

BYuT also seeks a new constitution in order to strengthen the presidency. Tymoshenko also promised to do her utmost to revise gas agreements with Russia.

She wants to remove intermediaries in the natural gas trade, and she also pledged to return to cheaper gas prices for Ukraine.

Recent opinion polls show that not much should change in parliament after the election, so Yushchenko and Tymoshenko’s hopes for a parliament dominated by their coalition will hardly come true.

The PRU is the confident leader of popular sympathies.

Some 30-33% of Ukrainians are ready to vote for it, according to the polls conducted independently by SOCIS and the Public Opinion Foundation in June and July.

NUNS and BYuT will contest the second position. They should score respectively 13-15% and 14-17.5%, according to the pollsters.

The Communists should score 3.5-5%. The Socialists may fail to clear the 3% barrier, as public support for them hovers around 1.1-2.5%.

Source: Eurasia Daily Monitor

ING To Open Retail Bank In Ukraine

AMSTERDAM, Holland -- ING Groep NV said it plans to open a retail bank in Ukraine next year as the Dutch bancassurer continues its expansion in Eastern Europe.

ING Bank Romania
ING chief executive officer Michel Tilmant said on a conference call that the bank would be comparable to the retail bank ING launched in Romania two years ago.

Tilmant did not reveal how many branches will be opened in Ukraine but said the Romanian model involves 'opening branches manned by agents'.

He said the Ukrainian bank will initially start with offering savings and mortgages products.

Tilmant added that ING invested 50 million euro in setting up the Romanian retail operations, stressing that it is 'a very powerful model to build a good business at a low cost'.

ING already has a wholesale bank in Ukraine.

Source: Forbes

French Novarka To Repair Shelter At Ukraine's Chernobyl

KIEV, Ukraine -- The French construction company Novarka will repair an ageing protective shelter built over the radioactive remains of Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power station, a senior Ukrainian official said on Tuesday.

A legacy of Communism - Chernobyl reactor #4
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will fund the project for a planned 472 million dollars, said Nestor Shufrich, head of Ukraine's Ministry of Emergency Situations, at a Kiev press conference.

The EBRD awarded Novarka the contract after a competitive tender, Shufrich said. A construction contract between Novarka and the Ukrainian government will be signed 'within a week after September 17...if everything goes to schedule,' he added.

The EBRD opened the tender in 2004. A competing joint bid from US CH2M Hill and Ukrainian Interbudmontazh lost out as its offer to to the job cost 584 million dollars, according to the report.

An end date for the construction project was not made public. Liquid radioactive materials inside the sarcophagus would be removed to a safer location during 2009, predicted Volodymyr Holosh, a Chernobyl station spokesman.

Site of the world's worst-ever nuclear power accident in 1986, the remains of an exploded reactor at the Chernobyl station are enclosed in a reinforced concrete structure almost always referred to, in Ukraine, as 'The Sarcophagus'.

Exposure to weather and poor construction standards used during the sarcophagus' erection 21 years ago have left the structure weak, and in places open to the environment.

Novarka has proposed building a new shelter around the existing sarcophagus, and possibly removing the most dangerous contents to a newly-constructed, modern containment structure, guaranteed to stand for at least a century.

In a related development, the EBRD on Tuesday announced that US Holtec had been contracted for 41 million dollars as the construction firm for the separate radioacative material containment and processing facility, in cooperation with the Ukrainian government.

The site will contain technology to process dangerous radioactive materials to a safer form, with the construction contract scheduled to be signed in September, Shufrich said.

Belgian Belgatom, Italian Ansaldo, and French SGN will participate in building the processing plant, along with Ukrainian construction companies, Interfax reported.

A multi-national assembly of donor nations and agencies including the EBRD in 2000 pledged more than 1 billion dollars to the project. Novarka could receive up to 671 million dollars (490 million Euros) from the EBRD for the shelter construction project, together with associated jobs, a bank official said.

Besides construction and dealing with the still-hot radioactive materials at the station, fund money also will go towards environmental protection and local economic assistance, according to the report.

At least 8 million dollars according to Shufrich will be spent on closing down and neutralising the radioactive contents a single functional reactor at the Chernobyl station, turned off by Ukraine in 2000 in exchange for promises of assistance money from the international community.

Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Boeing Wins $523 Million Ukrainian Airline Contract

SEATTLE, Washington -- Boeing Co., the world's second biggest commercial airplane maker, won an order from AeroSvit Ukrainian Airlines valued at $523 million for seven 737 aircraft.


Boeing 737-800 aircraft
The airline has also purchased rights for seven more of the 737-800s and will use the new jetliners to replace aging planes in its all-Boeing fleet, the Chicago-based planemaker said today in a statement.

Boeing Chief Executive Officer James McNerney boosted production last quarter to hasten delivery on a 737 order backlog of about 1,500 planes valued at more that $100 billion.

The 737, Boeing's top seller, is popular with low-fare airlines and carries a list price of $50 million to $85 million.

Kiev, Ukraine-based AeroSvit plans to replace its entire 737 fleet of 13 planes with the order, its first purchase directly from Boeing.

Prior to the announcement, Boeing's Web site said the order came from an identified customer.

Shares of Boeing, which booked orders for 688 airliners through July 31, rose $1.40, or 1.3 percent, to $105.93 at 4:02 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Separately, Copa Holdings SA, parent company of Panama City-based Copa Airlines, said today it received loan-guarantee commitments from the U.S. Export-Import Bank for the purchase of six 737s.

Only one of the commitments is final. The remaining five are preliminary, Copa said in a statement. The carrier has 14 of the aircraft on backorder.

The Ex-Im Bank is an independent U.S. government agency that encourages American exports by providing government guarantees to commercial banks to finance trade.

The Washington- based lender authorized $12.1 billion in transactions last year.

Boeing on Tuesday won a 737 order for 20 planes valued at as much as $1.4 billion from Canada's second-biggest carrier, WestJet Airlines Ltd.

The contract amounts are based on list prices, which don't include discounts traditionally given to airlines.

Source: Bloomberg

Thailand To Purchase 96 Armoured Vehicles From Ukraine

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand has decided to order 96 armoured personnel carriers at the cost of 4 billion baht (118.7 million dollars) from the Ukraine, Thai media reports said Monday.

BTR-3U armoured personnel carrier
Thai army commander-in-chief General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin confirmed the choice over the weekend, reported the Bangkok Post newspaper.

Thailand opted for the Ukraine's BTR-3EI model over eight other bids because it was within the army budget and spare parts were available, Sonthi said.

Defence Minister Boonrawd Somtas last week said the army favoured the Ukrainian APCs over rival bids from Canada, China and Russia, primarily because of cost factors.

'It's like buying Japanese cars over European cars,' said Boonrawd. The purchase will be government-to-government.

Most of the APCs will be sent to Thailand's majority Muslim deep South, where a separatist struggle has already claimed more than 2,200 lives since January 2004.

Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Tymoshenko's Party To Join European People's Party

KIEV, Ukraine -- The Batkivshchyna Party founded and led by Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's Leader of the Opposition, has announced that it will become an observer member of the European People's Party (EPP) - Europe's largest pan-national centre-right party.

EPP President Wilfried Martens
The move recognises Batkivshchyna's commitment to furthering modern European democratic principles and values, and places Ms Tymoshenko alongside other EPP leaders who include the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The announcement to join the EPP will be made by Ms Tymoshenko during the convention of the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT) being held in Kyiv today, ahead of Ukraine's parliamentary elections on 30 September, 2007.

EPP President Wilfried Martens, who will speak at the convention, said, "We welcome your efforts in building a democratic party with European values and principles, which will bring Ukraine and all her citizens a prosperous and peaceful future for all."

"Joining the EPP demonstrates our commitment to deliver political stability and economic growth for Ukraine, enshrined by the rule of law and best principles of European democracy. We will uphold these values," said Ms Tymoshenko.

The EPP is the largest European party on the continent with 69 members from 37 countries, 18 heads of state and government (12 EU and 6 non-EU), 9 European Commissioners and the largest Group in the European Parliament with 278 members.

EPP members lead all the major institutions of the European Union in the first half of 2007 - the European Council led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Commission led by President José Manuel Barroso, and the Parliament led by President Hans-Gert Pöttering.

Source: PR Newswire

Campaigning Begins In Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian politicians officially began campaigning Thursday for the upcoming parliamentary elections called to resolve a political struggle between the country's two feuding leaders.

Yulia Tymoshenko speaking during a presentation of her bloc's platform for the parliamentary elections.
The agreement to hold the early vote Sept. 30 was seen as a compromise between President Viktor Yushchenko, the pro-Western leader whose supporters staged Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution, and his nemesis, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, after the president ordered the parliament dissolved in April.

Yushchenko had accused Yanukovych's majority coalition in the parliament of trying to usurp power. The president's decision to disband the Verkhovna Rada resulted in weeks of street rallies and political skirmishes that virtually paralyzed the country.

For months, Ukrainian politics have been mired in a power struggle between Yushchenko and Yanukovych, who is considered to be closer to Russia, Ukraine's larger and more powerful neighbor.

Both men were bitter rivals during the 2004 mass protests, which erupted following a fraudulent presidential contest in which Yanukovych claimed victory. The courts ordered a revote, which Yushchenko won.

But before his election, Yushchenko agreed to a series of measures that watered down presidential powers and increased the clout of the parliament.

That led to repeated conflicts with legislators, culminating in Yushchenko's decision this year to dissolve the parliament and call an early vote.

The election campaign officially kicked off Thursday as political parties held congresses and presented their election programs, a Central Election Commission spokesman said.

If the election were held last Sunday, Yanukovych's Party of Regions would have won with 30.2 percent of the vote, according to the latest opinion poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation.

The Our Ukraine-Our Self-defense bloc, loyal to Yushchenko, would have come in second with 15.5 percent, while the political party led by Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister, would have received 14.3 percent.

The nationwide survey polled 2,000 Ukrainians last month and had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.

Source: Moscow Times

Russian Navy Chief Calls For Permanent Presence In Mediterranean

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia's navy chief on Friday called for restoring the country's permanent presence in the Mediterranean Sea, news agency reports said.

Russian Admiral Vladimir Masorin
"The Mediterranean is a strategically important zone for Russia's Black Sea Fleet," Admiral Vladimir Masorin said while visiting the fleet's base in the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol, RIA-Novosti and Interfax-AVN reported.

"The objective is the permanent presence of the Russian navy in the Mediterranean," Masorin said.

Soviet navy ships used to be based at Syria's Mediterranean port of Tartus, and Russia still maintains a technical base there to serve its military vessels that regularly go into the Mediterranean.

Independent military analyst Alexander Golts said that from a military point of view it did not make "any sense" for Russia to be present in the Mediterranean.

Commentators have suggested in the past that Russia might seek to relocate part of its Black Sea Fleet to the Mediterranean if it fails to get an extension of its agreement with Western-leaning Ukraine on leasing the Sevastopol port when it expires in 2017.

Source: Pravda

Turkey Detains Ukraine, Israel Hackers Suspected Of Al-Qaeda Ties

ANKARA, Turkey -- Two computer hackers from Ukraine and Israel have been detained in the Turkish resort town of Kemer on suspicion of selling confidential information about the United States to al-Qaeda, the Sabah newspaper reported.

Al Qaeda's leader and most wanted terrorist in the world
According to Sabah, Ukrainian Maxim Yastremsky and Israeli Maxim Turchak were placed on the international wanted list by U.S. authorities following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks for selling information about U.S. airports and the Pentagon to followers of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader.

Turkish authorities identified Yastremsky and Turchak when they arrived in Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast, from Ukraine, and immediately notified U.S. intelligence.

Acting on a U.S. request, Turkish police detained the two three days later in a Kemer discotheque.

In addition to two false passports, authorities seized two personal computers containing the personal information of 5,000 U.S. and European credit card holders.

An investigation revealed that the hackers worked in collusion with Turkish cyber-criminals, selling them personal credit card data obtained by breaking into computer databases.

The U.S. has requested their extradition, and the two are being held in a pre-trial detention center pending a decision.

Source: RIA Novosti

New Bloc Backs Ukraine President

KIEV, Ukraine -- Nine Ukrainian parties have formed a new bloc to shore up support for President Viktor Yushchenko as an election campaign gets under way.

The political rivalry was played out on the streets of Kiev
Mr Yushchenko, a liberal reformer, has been engaged in a long-running feud with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, whose supporters are more pro-Russian.

An early parliamentary election was called for 30 September, in a bid to end the political deadlock.

Mr Yushchenko's new bloc is called Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defence.

The BBC's Helen Fawkes in Kiev says the election is expected to result in another coalition and many people are likely to feel apathetic about it.

It was only a year ago that Ukrainians last went to the polls.

Mr Yushchenko dissolved parliament in April and ordered a fresh ballot, claiming his power was being usurped.

That sparked mass protests with thousands of the president's supporters and his opponents taking to the streets.

It was eventually agreed that the vote would be held on 30 September.

Mr Yushchenko became president in January 2005 following the pro-democracy Orange Revolution, which overturned a rigged victory for Mr Yanukovych.

But Mr Yushchenko accepted his rival as prime minister after the president's allies failed to win a majority in the March 2006 election, and the two men have repeatedly clashed.

Source: BBC News

Telenor Declares Victory In US Kyivstar Case Against Alfa

OSLO, Norway -- Telenor, the Norwegian telecoms company, has claimed a victory in its long-running battle with Alfa, its Russian business partner, after a US court ruled in Telenor's favour in a dispute over their joint-ownership of Kyivstar, Ukraine's largest mobile phone company.

Telenor headquarters in Oslo, Norway
An arbitration tribunal in New York on Thursday gave Alfa 120 days to abide by an agreement that forces Alfa either to sell its stake in Kyivstar or reduce its holdings in two Ukrainian competitors to below 5 per cent.

Telenor owns 56.5 per cent of Kyivstar with Alfa owning 3.5 per cent, but this business relationship has degenerated into a public slanging match fuelled by lawsuits in the US and Ukraine over who controls the company.

There was little to indicate that this unhealthy situation would be resolved following Thursday's ruling; although further signs emerged that relations were set to deteriorate further.

Altimo, the telecoms investment arm of Alfa, immediately rejected the US ruling, saying it was unenforceable in Ukraine and vowing that it would never sell its stakes and that it would instead continue its fight over Kyivstar in Ukrainian courts.

"We are not going to sell – we won't do it," said Kirill Babaev, vice-president of Altimo.

He added that Telenor had been banned by a Ukrainian court from taking any legal action over Kyivstar outside of Ukraine and as such the New York ruling was irrelevant.

Lawyers representing Altimo in Ukraine said on Thursday: "Legal precedent in Ukraine definitely favours non-enforcement."

Telenor responded by pointing out that as Ukraine is a signatory to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, the ruling is applicable.

With the gulf between the two sides as wide as ever, people close to the situation indicated that the real benefit of the US ruling might be to speed up an eventual separation of the shared business interests of Telenor and Alfa, as both sides have said they want.

"This is not going to be resolved in court," said Mr Babaev. "We should sit down with each other."

Telenor shares were up 4.3 per cent at NKr109.

Source: MSNBC

Hyatt Makes Quiet Entrance Into Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine -- The long-awaited grand opening of the five-star Hyatt Regency Kiev – St. Sophia is slated for the first week of September, making it the second international hotel brand to enter the capital after 2005’s arrival of the Radisson SAS.

Hyatt Regency Kiev – St. Sophia
The hotel is located in the city center, steps away from St. Sophia Square and Cathedral and near many of Kyiv’s most popular tourist attractions.

Stephen Ansell, general manager, said the new hotel is in a “soft opening phase.” The Hyatt Regency Kiev has started taking a minimal amount of guests, but is expecting the next two months to be quiet, a period for management to work out all the “bits and pieces.”

An official grand opening party is slated to be held in the first week of September, he added.

The new hotel, which boasts 234 luxury rooms, including 25 suites, with a mid-range price of 300 Euros per night, features conference and banquet halls, ballrooms, a luxury spa, swimming pool and workout facilities, as well as shopping, an Asian and Western grill restaurant, an 8th floor bar with an outdoor terrace, and a wine bar.

The Hyatt’s Regency brand hotels are designed to accommodate international business travelers.

The Hyatt is the third five-star hotel to open in Kyiv, following the Premier Palace, run by a Moscow-based business group, and the Opera Hotel, owned by Ukraine’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, through his Systems Capital Management holding.

Several other international hotel companies have announced intentions to expand onto Ukraine’s hotel market, including the Hilton and InterContinental brands.

But so far only the Radisson SAS and the new Hyatt have managed to open their doors.

On Feb. 22, InterContinental Hotels Group announced plans to open a five-star hotel in the center of Kyiv within the first quarter of 2008.

The InterContinental, currently in the construction phase, is located down the street from the Hyatt near the city’s picturesque St. Michael’s Cathedral.

Hilton also announced plans to open a hotel in the city center near Zoloti Vorota (Golden Gate) metro station. Doors at the Hilton are expected to open in 2009.

In terms of the investment, Ansell said that it is “in line with what other five-star hotels cost in the region.” He could not provide exact figures.

Construction of the hotel had been in the works for several years. The project has faced repeated delays, however.

The hotel’s investors are the Ukraine-based company CJSC Sofia Kyiv.

One of Ukraine’s largest industrial holdings, Industrial Union of Donbas, became the primary investor in the hotel years ago. Reports indicate that they pumped more than $50 million into the project.

In August of 2005 the International Finance Corporation, the private-sector arm of the World Bank, granted the Sofia Kyiv company a credit of $29.5 million to complete the hotel.

The Global Hyatt corporation, based in Chicago, Illinois, is the largest privately-owned five-star hotel management company in the world, with over 735 hotels and resorts in more than 44 countries around the world.

While Hyatt is interested in expanding its presence in Ukraine, it is focusing for the time being on the Hyatt Regency Kiev.

“Our first priority is to make sure [the Hyatt Regency Kiev] gets off the ground and becomes successful,” Ansell said.

Ansell said that Ukraine is very appealing to international hotel companies due to its location in the center of Europe, its large population and enormous tourism potential – especially in Crimea.

“There are no concrete plans right now for any precise expansion … however, we hope to use this as a starting point for our growth,” Ansell said.

He said the Hyatt has a long history in CIS countries and that the Hyatt’s next two confirmed openings are in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

Ansell said that Hyatt already has properties in Moscow, Almaty, Bishkek, and Baku in the CIS.

Ansell said that most of the Hyatt’s clientele are expected to be business travelers, but he believes the number of tourists is sure to rise, since Ukraine got rid of its visa regime and will host a major European soccer championship in 2012.

Ukraine is a “tremendous growth area,” particularly for the weekend and short-break markets for tourists coming from Western Europe.

“People are increasingly going away for the weekend and discovering new places … and I think that Ukraine can take its share of this,” Ansell added.

Source: Kyiv Post

Ukraine Wants Schedule For Russian Fleet Pullout

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine proposed during the latest round of talks on the Black Sea Fleet that the issue of a withdrawal schedule be entered on the agenda, First Deputy Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko said.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet
"The fleet's withdrawal is no easy task. There are 14,000 Russian servicemen currently based in Ukraine, plus a large amount of military hardware, weapons and ammunition. All this must be prepared and removed. Ukraine must then take over all facilities and property in proper order. So, there's a great deal to be done and this work must be started on time," the Ukrainian diplomat said in an interview with the newspaper Delo, published on Wednesday.

Ohryzko confirmed that extending the agreement on the temporary presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea beyond 2017 would be at odds with the Ukrainian constitution.

"Prolongation of the temporary agreement is impossible because this would go against the Ukrainian constitution. Russia must prepare itself for withdrawing the Black Sea Fleet on time. The location of a large foreign military base in Ukraine is a problem for the country's national security. But the meaning of this is missed for some reason," he said.

Ohryzko said that extension of the agreement was not being discussed and was not likely to be discussed in the future.

Source: Interfax

Ukraine: At The Center Of The East-West Drug Trade

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) agents this month netted 174 kilograms of heroin in a raid conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Turkish law-enforcement organizations.

Bags of poppy straw, used to make heroin, confiscated along the Ukraine-Russia border.
The haul was the latest sign that Ukraine is increasingly being used as a transit country for illegal drugs -- both for synthetic drugs making their way from Europe, and for Afghan heroin heading west.

The problem recently led the SBU to issue a statement in which it expressed its concern about Ukraine's rising role in the world of drug trafficking, including the production of drugs and "the more intensive involvement of Ukrainian nationals."

Record Hauls

The 174-kilo stash was seized on July 23 in Illichevsk, where it was discovered in the false bottom of a truck that had arrived at a southwestern Ukrainian port by ferry from Georgia.

Investigators believe the heroin was being smuggled from Iran to Western Europe via Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, and Poland.

A Turkish national who was driving the truck was arrested following the seizure, which was described by a spokesman for the SBU as "one of the largest hauls this year," according to RIA Novosti.

That catch came just two months another major heroin shipment was appropriated -- this time 114 kilograms netted in central Kyiv as a Turkish national was loading the drugs into an automobile.

An SBU official said in announcing the action on May 23 that it was the third and final phase of an international operation to destroy a criminal group that was transporting heroin to Europe.

That raid followed the announcement in April by the SBU that an international ring trafficking drugs from Western Europe to Ukraine had been broken up.

Four people from different parts of Ukraine were detained in that operation, which yielded $200,000 worth of ecstasy, cocaine, and amphetamines and led to the interception of a larger haul of 4,000 ecstasy tabs and 1 kilogram of amphetamines in Western Europe, according to Unian.

And in February, SBU, DEA, and Turkish police officials raided a house in a small village in southern Ukraine's Kherson region, where they discovered a laboratory for refining opium into heroin, along with precursor chemicals used in the process.

At the scene they arrested the driver of a minibus carrying 124 kilos of heroin destined for markets in the European Union, as well as a Turkish citizen who was charged with drug smuggling.

All in all, Ukraine's Security Service this year has confiscated more than 460 kilograms of heroin worth $32 million -- more than the total amount of heroin seized in Ukraine in the past 15 years.

By comparison, according to statistics released by the Ukrainian government just 3.7 kilograms of heroin were confiscated by Ukrainian law-enforcement agencies in 1997; in 1999, 6 kilograms were seized; and in 2001, 12 kilograms.

And while the SBU boasts of having closed nine channels for drug smuggling via Ukraine already in 2007, it is widely believed that the amount of heroin captured represents only a fraction of the amount that reaches its final destination.

According to a report prepared for the U.S. Justice Department, for instance, the estimated amount of heroin trafficked via Ukraine in 2001 was 9 to 20 metric tons.

Why Ukraine?

A number of factors appear to dictate why drug smugglers have chosen Ukraine as a popular trafficking route.

One can be found in the vast stretches of unguarded borders between Ukraine and Russia, from which illegal drugs deriving from Central and South Asia and trafficked via the Caucasus can enter the country.

Another is the largely unprotected Black Sea coastline, which provides a safe haven for boats laden with illegal drugs to dock undetected.

And the high level of corruption among Ukraine's Customs Service also plays a vital role in Ukraine's east-west drug-trafficking trade.

Smugglers, taking advantage of border crossings known to be "safe" as a result of lax security, or arrangements with corrupt inspectors, focus on those entry and exit points.

Lastly, increased vigilance by law-enforcement along the traditional "Balkan route" has led traffickers to find new routes -- making Ukraine a natural choice owing to its borders with Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Moldova to the West, and Russia on the east.

Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty