Differences Within Ukrainian Coalition Escalate

KIEV, Ukraine -- A coalition consisting of President Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense bloc (NUNS) and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) is showing cracks long before the newly elected parliament even has its first meeting, which is expected in late November.

Yushchenko (L) and Tymoshenko may be all smiles for the media, but all is not well in their coalition.
There is no unity of opinion among the NUNS ranks on the coalition agreement, which was initialed on October 15. Yushchenko also has rejected several provisions in the accord, mostly those contributed by the BYuT.

This means that the chances that the majority in parliament will support Tymoshenko’s nomination for prime minister are dwindling by the day.

On October 17, NUNS and BYuT made the conditions of the October 15 accord public. It provides for passing a package of 12 bills after the new parliament convenes and before it approves Tymoshenko as prime minister. The proposed bills include:

- abolishing MP immunity from prosecution;
- canceling MP privileges;
- increasing the president’s control over the Cabinet;
- banning MPs from switching parliamentary caucuses;
- an early election for Kyiv mayor;
- boosting the authority of local governments;
- outlawing the use of the interior troops for political purposes;
- streamlining state procurement;
- approving the statute of GUAM, a regional alliance of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova; and
- clarifying the rights of the opposition.

If the laws are not passed, Yushchenko’s team does not guarantee that the prime minister’s chair will go to Tymoshenko. At this point, however, parliament seems unlikely to pass this package.

Volodymyr Lytvyn, who was parliament speaker before 2006, told Korrespondent magazine that passing those laws simultaneously would be tantamount to violating the constitution and parliamentary procedures.

Several of them provide for amending the constitution, which cannot be done by a simple majority. Also, the Party of Regions (PRU), which will control the biggest caucus in parliament, has made it clear that it would block the bills until parliament approves a new prime minister and the Cabinet.

Apart from procedural difficulties, there are serious differences among the factions inside NUNS. It has emerged that several of the smaller parties comprising NUNS did not give their consent to provisions of the October 15 accord.

Several of them hinted that they had not been even asked for consent. “A dictatorship is being established in our bloc,” Maksym Strykha, a deputy chairman of the Sobor party, complained to Kommersant. “Three people who conduct talks with Tymoshenko sign everything that she offers to them.”

Sobor issued a statement warning against attempts to push “a huge package of poorly drafted laws” through parliament. Sobor is unhappy, in particular, with the bill providing for increasing the powers of the regional authorities.

Yuriy Kostenko, the leader of the Popular Party, another member of NUNS, said that he would not vote for the ban on switching parliamentary caucuses. Vladyslav Kaskiv, the leader of the Pora party, shares Kostenko’s point of view.

Kaskiv also opposes several key points of the program Tymoshenko that she has pledged to implement if she becomes prime minister. These include extending the moratorium on agricultural land privatization beyond 2008, dropping the military draft next year, and paying back to the population within two years the value of the deposits lost in the defunct Soviet Union’s Savings Bank.

Kaskiv is not the only one to have reservations about the deal. President Yushchenko has made it clear that the transition of the Ukrainian army to a professional basis will be completed no earlier than 2010, so Ukrainian youths will definitely be called up to the army in 2008.

Yushchenko also opposes the land privatization moratorium, which was backed by Tymoshenko and the PRU.

As to the lost deposits, Yuriy Lutsenko, one of the leaders of NUNS, confessed to Channel 5 that he does not know how to return that money. He said that he wants to trust Tymoshenko that her calculations were correct.

Viktor Baloha, the chief of Yushchenko’s secretariat, was less diplomatic in his statement released on October 18. He said that it would be impossible to pay back the Savings Bank’s $23 billion debt without unleashing inflation. Baloha joked that Tymoshenko’s team may need “to recruit magician [David] Copperfield” for that.

On October 22 Yuriy Yekhanurov, a former prime minister, threatened to quit NUNS if the bloc and BYuT fail to discuss their differences over land privatization, state procurement, and changes to the law on the Cabinet before parliament convenes.

It is widely believed that Yekhanurov is not alone, and that he speaks on behalf of a large group of NUNS members who are unhappy with Tymoshenko’s leadership in the alliance.

Yekhanurov was a critic of Tymoshenko’s economic policies when she was prime minister, and he replaced her in that position in 2005; Viktor Yanukovych replaced him in 2006.

Source: Eurasian Daily Monitor

Russian Nationalists Claim Responsibility For Attack On Yushchenko's Web Site

KIEV, Ukraine -- Hackers from several countries launched a massive attack and temporarily disabled the Web site of Ukraine's Western-leaning President Viktor Yushchenko, his office said Tuesday. A Russian nationalist group claimed responsibility.

Alexander Dugin, leader of Russian Eurasian Youth Movement
The attacks from servers in Russia, Britain, Kazakhstan, the United States, Israel and Ukraine began Sunday night and continued through Tuesday afternoon, the presidential press service told The Associated Press.

Over 18,000 attacks have been carried out, temporarily blocking access to the site. The Web page could not be accessed Tuesday night.

A radical Russian nationalist youth group, the Eurasian Youth Movement, claimed responsibility for the attacks in their blog, saying it was their retaliation for Yushchenko's office's alleged attack of their on Web site, which had been disabled.

The group called Yushchenko's government a "fascist regime" and accused it of attacking the organization's Moscow office. Yushchenko's office denied the claims.

The Eurasian Youth Movement is strongly critical of the West and opposes what it calls a U.S. encroachment on Russia's traditional sphere of influence.

The group has opposed Yushchenko's campaign to bring Ukraine into the European Union and NATO, considering the former Soviet republic part of Russia's area of influence. Its leader, Alexander Dugin, has been barred from entering Ukraine.

Earlier this month, the group claimed responsibility for desecrating a monument to Ukraine's independence erected on top of the country's highest mountain — an act that drew condemnation from Ukrainians.

Source: International Herald Tribune

Ukraine's Yushchenko Strips 2 Key Figures In His Poisoning Case Of Honorary Rank

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko stripped two key figures in his nearly lethal dioxin poisoning of honorary rank Monday, taking way away their benefits and prestigious titles, the presidential office said.

Ihor Smeshko (L) and Volodymyr Satsyuk
Yushchenko, who was an opposition leader at the time, fell severely ill during the fiercely contested 2004 presidential election campaign after having dinner with top security officials Ihor Smeshko and Volodymyr Satsyuk.

The illness left his face pockmarked and discolored and he was later diagnosed as having suffered massive dioxin poisoning.

No arrests have been made and the probe is still under way. But many observers point the finger at Russia — both because Yushchenko was running against a Kremlin-backed candidate and because Russia is one of four countries that produces the specific formula of dioxin used to poison him.

On Monday, Yushchenko annulled a January 2004 decree issued by his predecessor Leonid Kuchma which elevated Smeshko, then Ukraine's Security Service chief, to the rank of an extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador.

He also canceled Kuchma's August 2004 decree which gave Satsyuk, Smeshko's deputy at the time, a general's rank, dismissing both decrees as "groundless," according to the presidential Web site.

Yushchenko has complained that Russia was hampering the investigation by refusing to provide dioxin samples and hand over key suspects.

Ukrainian authorities have not named any suspects, but Yushchenko has said several of them are hiding out in Russia.

The Kremlin backed Yushchenko's rival, Viktor Yanukovych, in the 2004 presidential election, which deepened rifts between Moscow and the West.

Yanukovych was initially declared the winner. Massive street protests — dubbed the Orange Revolution — broke out, and the Supreme Court threw out the results on grounds of fraud. Yushchenko won a court-ordered repeat vote.

Yushchenko has hinted that he knows those responsible for the poisoning. While refraining from naming the alleged culprits until the investigation is over, he has intimated that the poisoning could have been masterminded from outside the country.

Source: International Herald Tribune

NATO Chief Says Ukrainians Will Rule On Membership

BUCHAREST, Romania -- Ukraine's decision on whether to join NATO and the European Union rests with its people, the military alliance's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, said Monday during a trip to Bucharest.

NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
"The Ukrainian people will decide what course Ukraine will follow vis-a-vis NATO and vis-a-vis the EU," the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) said during a press conference.

Ukranian President Viktor Yushchenko, who will visit Bucharest on Tuesday, suggested last week that the question of NATO membership would be put to a national referendum.

Yushchenko, whose rule has been bolstered by the victory of a pro-Western coalition in last month's parliamentary election, has regularly advocated joining the NATO alliance.

Scheffer said that no decision had been made on the issue of inviting new members during the next military alliance summit next April in Bucharest, but that applications made by Albania, Croatia and Macedonia would be examined.

"No tickets are punched as we speak, there's no certainty about invitations, because the nations aspiring to become a NATO member will have to perform properly before invitations can be issued," he said.

In responding to a question on Romania's fears of being left unprotected by a planned US anti-missile radar programme, Scheffer said: "Romania is a member of NATO. In NATO we do not have class A and class B members. All members of NATO, all allies are equal."

"If we discuss missile defence, this means that every single NATO ally will have to enjoy the same protection as every other ally," he added.

Source: EU Business

Legendary Soviet Spy Feklisov Is Dead At 93

MOSCOW, Russia -- A KGB master agent who oversaw some of Moscow's most damaging Cold War spies in the West -- Klaus Fuchs and the Rosenbergs -- died Friday after a lifetime of espionage that helped the Soviet Union acquire the nuclear bomb.

Feklisov (L) and the Rosenbergs (R)
Alexander Feklisov, who also played a key role as a mediator in the Cuban missile crisis, was 93.

Feklisov arrived in New York in 1941 and began overseeing Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a married couple who supplied the Soviet Union with top secret information on the U.S. Manhattan project to develop the nuclear bomb.

Feklisov later called the Rosenberg network one of the greatest in the history of Soviet espionage. The Rosenbergs were executed in 1953. "Feklisov made an important contribution to the activity of Russia's foreign intelligence network in New York on nuclear issues," said a spokesman for the Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR. "He conducted serious missions related to the procurement of secret scientific and technical information, including in the area of electronics, radiolocation and jet aircraft technology," he said, Interfax reported.

In his autobiography, "The Man Behind the Rosenbergs," Feklisov recounted how he had played Le Carre-style espionage games to throw off U.S. minders in New York. He said he oversaw a total of 17 foreign agents.

After working with the Rosenbergs, Feklisov returned as a silent hero to Moscow. But he was quickly dispatched to London in 1947 as deputy chief of intelligence operations for science and technology. He soon made contact -- in a London pub -- with Fuchs, a German-born scientist who worked at the U.S. nuclear bomb project in Los Alamos and at Britain's Harwell nuclear research laboratory.

Fuchs passed on secrets that helped speed Moscow's race for the nuclear bomb by at least 18 months, intelligence officials said later when the extent of Fuchs' treason was examined.

"Feklisov was in contact with Klaus Fuchs, who provided important nuclear information, including on the structure of the hydrogen bomb," the SVR spokesman said.

Fuchs served a 14-year sentence for treason after admitting to passing nuclear secrets to Moscow.

Feklisov later called him the most important spy the Soviet Union ever had in its race for the bomb and said the information he gleaned from Fuchs was translated specially for Stalin.

The Soviet Union exploded its first nuclear bomb in 1949, striking fear into the world and surprising Western intelligence, who believed they were at least five years away.

Feklisov returned to the United States to head Soviet intelligence operations in Washington from 1960 to 1964.

As the KGB resident, Feklisov played a key role as a behind-the-scenes intermediary between the Kremlin and Washington in the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, widely seen as the closest the world ever came to nuclear war.

Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.

Source: The Moscow Times

Eight Miners Trapped In Coalmine In East Ukraine

DONETSK, Ukraine -- Eight miners are believed to be trapped beneath the rock that collapsed in a coalmine in eastern Ukraine, the regional rescue service said on Sunday.

Ukraine is among the deadliest places in the world to be a coal-miner, with 75% of its pits being officially classified as dangerous. Outdated equipment, high concentrations of methane gas and lax safety rules make them a death trap, and many miners are so poverty-stricken they disable their methane gas detectors so they will not have to stop work for safety checks.
The incident at the mine named after 50 years of the USSR in the Lugansk Region occurred late on October 28.

There has been no information about the miners' fate, the Donetsk rescue service said.

In another incident on October 28, 555 miners were urgently evacuated from a mine, also in the Lugansk Region, which had caught fire.

There were no victims in the incident, the rescue service said.

Source: RIA Novosti

Russian Statue Sparks Clashes In Ukraine

ODESSA, Ukraine -- Ukrainian nationalists and police have clashed in the city of Odessa at the unveiling of a monument to the city's founder - Russian Empress Catherine the Great.

Catherine the Great monument, Odessa (L) and police cordon off area around the statue (R).
Hundreds of supporters of patriotic groups across Ukraine descended on the city to protest against the re-erection of a statue that was removed eighty years ago.

The nationalists describe themselves as heirs of Cossacks. They accuse Catherine the Great of colonising Ukraine, and say her monument is an affront and a threat to Urkainian independence.

Nationalist leader Ihor Vardanets says "honouring a woman who enslaved Ukrainian people" isn't right.

"She made our country a minor part of Russia, and turned Ukrainians into serfs," he said.

Many residents of Odessa, however, have welcomed the statue as a step towards reviving the city’s historic past.

Lieutenant General Sergey Elistratov, the leader of another group describing itself as Cossack, described the protests as hooliganism.

“They broke fences, washed their shoes in the fountain at the Pushkin monument. They are vandals," he said.

"Today we are here to defend law and order, to defend our city”.

Odessa was officially founded in 1794 as a Russian naval fortress.

The first monument to Catherine was removed from the city by Soviet authorities in the 1920s.

As part of a project to revamp the city centre, Odessa Council returned the statue of the Russian Empress back to the square that bears her name.

Source: RussiaToday

Ukraine Reburies Stalin's Victims

BYKOVNYA, Ukraine -- Ukrainian authorities have reburied near the capital, Kiev, the bodies of some 2,000 people killed by the Soviet secret police more than 60 years ago.

Soldiers carry coffins during a reburial ceremony outside the small village of Bykovnya near the capital Kiev October 27, 2007. The remains of 1998 people, including 474 Poles, were reburied today in a forest where more than 30 thousand Ukrainians were shot and buried between 1937 and 1941, during the period of late Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's repressions.
Relatives of the victims watched as red coffins were lowered into graves and blessed by a priest at the ceremony.

The bodies, including 474 Poles, were dug up this year in Bykovnya, where tens of thousands are thought to have been dumped during the 1930s and 1940s.

Under Communist rule, the existence of the mass graves in Ukraine was denied.

It was only in the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union, that the mass graves were acknowledged and memorials built.

Memories

About 100 people including relatives of the victims attended the sombre ceremony in a forest outside of Kiev on Saturday.

One of those attending, Maria Marzhetska, said her father had been seized in 1937. She only discovered his fate 60 years later.

"I was eight years old. There were just three of us - father, mother and me - and they took him," Ms Marzhetska told the Reuters news agency.

"Every morning, every evening we were at the police station," she said.

Andrzej Przewoznik, the general secretary of Poland's Council for the Protection of Monuments to Struggle and Martyrdom, said the site was a very important place for Poles.

"This is a place where we would like the Polish [Catholic] cross and Polish memories of those people resting in the Bykovnya forest to be," he said.

Those buried on Saturday were tortured and later killed by the much-feared Soviet secret police, the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs or NKVD.

According to various estimates, more than 100,000 people were killed by the NKVD between 1936 and 1941 during Joseph Stalin's rule.

Source: BBC News

Official Parliamentary Election Results Published In Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine -- The official results of Ukraine's snap parliamentary elections were published in government media Saturday, the final formality before a new legislature can convene.

Yulia Tymoshenko is slated to become the next PM of Ukraine
According to the results, the pro-West Orange Revolution parties of President Viktor Yushchenko and the charismatic Yulia Tymoshenko together mustered a slim majority of 228 seats in the 450-member Verkhovna Rada.

The two parties have pledged to form a government with Tymoshenko returning as prime minister.

The rival Party of Regions, led by the more Moscow-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, finished first in the Sept. 30 ballot and will control 175 seats.

Publication of the results became possible after the High Administrative Court on Thursday threw out a suit filed by five parties seeking to contest the results based on alleged violations.

The legislature now has about a month to convene after the official publication of the election results, though no date has yet been set for the first Rada session.

In an interview with the Weekly Mirror newspaper published Saturday, Yanukovych called for forming a broad coalition that would encompass three parties and bridge the divide in Ukrainian society.

"I want everyone to understand that, irrespective of distribution of forces in Verkhovna Rada, not a single important decision as for domestic and foreign policy will be taken without considering the Party of Regions," Yanukovych said.

Source: International Herald Tribune

Fashion Model Anna Sinkovska: Ukraine, Czech Republic, Paris Top Model

PARIS, France -- Almost everybody who visited Ukraine and particularly Kiev can easily confirm that Ukrainian women are beautiful, but even on this background Anna Sinkovska, now a Fashion Model based in Paris, is far from being just average looking.

Young Fashion Model Anna Sinkovska
Anna Sinkovska is a beautiful young fashion model from the Czech Republic, now living and working in Paris. Originally from Ukraine, her family emigrated to the Czech Republic during Anna's early teenage years.

It was there, in Prague, that she signed her first contract with a modeling agency at the age of nineteen. Shortly after that, she was sent to Paris to begin her career.

This is an exciting experience to study the developments of the career of a wonderful, beautiful young woman whom is destined to be a great star and one of the most successful young models in the fashion world.

Born in Ukraine on 22 August, 1983, she currently makes Paris, France her home.

Source: FashionGates

Ukrainian Court Validates Election Results, Opens Way For Government Formation

KIEV, Ukraine -- A Ukrainian court on Thursday validated the results of parliamentary elections, opening the way for the formation of a government in this ex-Soviet republic that is struggling to emerge from prolonged political turmoil.

Team Orange, Yushchenko (L) and Tymoshenko (R), has been given a second chance to fix what ails Ukraine.
The move was likely to be welcomed by the two pro-Western Orange Revolution parties led by President Viktor Yushchenko and the charismatic opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

The two forces have garnered enough seats in the Sep. 30 election to form a parliamentary majority and have pledged to jointly form the Cabinet with Tymoshenko returning as prime minister.

Their main rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych emerged as the top vote winner, but fell short of their combined total.

Ukraine's High Administrative Court threw out a law suit filed by five parties seeking to contest the vote based on alleged violations, allowing the official publication of the election results and enabling the new parliament to convene. A judge was shown reading out a statement on Channel 5 television.

Court officials could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

Yushchenko's and Tymoshenko's parties won 228 seats in the 450-member Verkhovna Rada, two seats more than a bare majority.

The Party of Regions, led by the more Moscow-friendly Yanukovych, had only 175 seats.

An informal agreement concluded by Yushchenko's and Tymoshenko's parties last week and endorsed by the president stipulates that Tymoshenko would be prime minister while Yushchenko's bloc would pick the parliament speaker.

A majority coalition can be officially formed once parliament convenes. The legislature has about a month to convene after the official publication of the election results.

The Interfax news agency quoted Central Election Commission member Zhanna Usenko-Chernaya as saying that the final results will be published Saturday.

No date has been set yet for the first Rada session.

Tymoshenko's return as premier would resurrect the Orange Revolution alliance that was the driving force of the peaceful 2004 protests that ushered Yushchenko into the presidency but which collapsed when Yushchenko fired Tymoshenko after just seven months as his premier.

This time around, Yushchenko and Tymoshenko have promised to work closely together to bring the country on a solid pro-Western course, conduct anti-corruption reform and raise living standards.

Ukrainian politics have been riven by a bitter power struggle between Yushchenko and Yanukovych since the tumultuous 2004 presidential race.

Yanukovych was initially declared the winner, but courts later judged that vote fraudulent and Yushchenko won a repeat election. Their standoff reached its peak earlier this year, when Yushchenko ordered parliament dissolved and called a new vote.

Source: International Herald Tribune

Kyiv’s Central Bank Mulls Currency Appreciation To Curb High Inflation

KIEV, Ukraine -- As the US Dollar continues its slide, Ukraine’s central bank is likely to strengthen the country’s national currency, a move that would boost the purchasing power of average Ukrainians while taking a bite out of the margins of export-oriented big business tycoons.

Currently $10.00 = 50 Hryvnia
On Oct. 18, National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Volodymyr Stelmakh gave every indication that the Hryvnia would soon be liberalized by giving the national currency more breadth within its current tight corridor. The NBU is likely to appreciate the national currency, a move that would help curb the pinch of high inflationary pressures.

Should Stelmakh’s announcement bear fruit, the average consumer paid in hryvnias would benefit from having slightly better purchasing power, and people receiving state pensions or salaries, like teachers and doctors, would feel pressure on their pocket books ease a bit.

But Ukrainians still receiving envelop salaries in dollars under the table would take a hit, depending on how much the US currency falls. Those paid in euros or other strong foreign currencies, such as the British pound, will not be noticeably affected.

Ukraine’s large financial industrial groups, the country’s largest source of foreign currency thanks to steel, chemical and grain exports, would feel the brunt of currency appreciation. Meanwhile, small and medium-sized businesses would benefit, since they target domestic consumers or import goods.

The official Hr 5.05/US$1 exchange rate could appreciate to 4.90, according to Stelmakh. The national currency has been trading consistently in a band of Hr 5.00-5.06 to the US Dollar, but could loosen up at a more reasonable range of Hr 4.90-5.1, predicted Oleksandr Klymchuk, an analyst at Kyiv-based investment bank Concorde Capital.

Other analysts predicted the Hryvnia could strengthen further, to a rate of Hr 4.5-4.8 to the dollar.

For example, Oleksandr Zholud, of the International Center for Policy Studies think tank, said that should the Hryvnia appreciate to Hr 4.5 to the dollar, exporting companies that make resource-intensive products with low profitability percentages, such as in the machine building sector, would suffer the most.

Domestic consumers, on the other hand, would benefit directly, but only somewhat, as finished goods in Ukraine have too many middlemen and durable goods that are imported only make up a fraction (10 percent) of the Consumer Price Index, Zholud said. Consumers would mostly benefit indirectly, as the cost of transportation, prices on gas and other factors would eventually translate into more affordable prices.

The IMF has for years urged the Ukrainian government to liberalize its regulation of the Hryvnia.

Currency appreciation is one of the few tools at a national bank’s disposal to bite at inflation, which is expected to finish the year at 12.8 percent year-on-year, according to official statistics, and even higher when examining other indicators, such as the Producer Price Index, which is up to 19 percent year-on-year since October 2006.

However, the NBU won’t intervene by buying currency unless it has to, allowing the market to take its course instead.

“There have been several months in the last year where the NBU has not intervened in the [foreign exchange] market at all. These prices are set by normal market mechanisms,” Stelmakh said back in May. In the last four months, the NBU purchased $5 billion on the forex market to keep the Hryvnia at its present level.

Still, Klymchuk believes the Hryvnia is significantly undervalued, especially when looking at the purchasing power parity between Ukraine and other countries.

“Many locally produced goods are [still] unjustifiably cheap because the government heavily regulates prices, and because of state monopolies that should instead be privatized,” Klymchuk said.

Macroeconomic indicators paint a conflicting picture, said Balazs Horvath, an IMF representative in Ukraine. According to Horvath, Ukraine’s current account has deteriorated – which in itself would signal a need for real exchange rate depreciation – whereas very strong capital inflows into the country have supported real appreciation. More foreign money flowing into the country is also increasing the money supply.

“Over time, the capital and current accounts should rebalance. The labor and capital markets should be flexible to achieve smooth resource allocation, which would raise overall efficiency. In addition, the NBU should use all available instruments to help the process, which calls for exchange rate flexibility,” Horvath added.

Oleksandr Shkurpat of Foyil Securities believes the main issue is inflation, largely due to immense pressure from cash inflows into the country.

“Ukrainian companies are taking on foreign debt, FDI continues to pour in and repatriated money is flooding the currency market,” Shkurpat said.

This is creating lots of demand, especially for non-tradable goods, such as housing, which can’t be satisfied overnight by supply, or other things, like infrastructure, roads, even a simple haircut. This, coupled with monetary aggregates and energy import prices (originating in Central Asia), are other factors fueling inflation.

The upside, said Horvath, is that more investment is coming to Ukraine. Investors can diversify, share risk, and there is increased competition, all of which are good for the continued strengthening of the economy. Indeed, the IMF recently readjusted Ukraine’s 2007 GDP forecast to 6.7 percent.

“The NBU cannot stop massive capital inflows. As any other central bank, it can only manage it, aiming to lower vulnerabilities and establish buffers by tightening macro-policies,” Horvath said.

“The private sector’s dis-saving should in part be offset by increased public sector saving by minimizing the fiscal deficit.”

“Expect gradual revaluation. Stelmakh won’t make any moves without conducting a thorough economic forecast,” Shkurpat predicted.

“It’s difficult to say at present what to do [whether to buy Hryvnia or make investments in the Hryvnia]. Timing is important, but expect appreciation in 2008.”

Source: Kyiv Post

Leftists, Pro-Russia Extremists Defy Yushchenko Over History

KIEV, Ukraine -- President Viktor Yushchenko’s recent efforts to commemorate World War II nationalist fighters have provoked a wave of pro-Russian and leftist extremism in Ukraine.

Roman Shukhevych (L) and Stepan Bandera
Radical leftists disrupted commemorations of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) across Ukraine on October 14, and the Russian radical nationalist organization Eurasian Youth Union (ESM) claimed responsibility for vandalizing national symbols on Ukraine’s highest mountain.

On October 12 Yushchenko posthumously proclaimed Roman Shukhevych, the UPA commander in the 1940s, a Hero of Ukraine, and two days later he decreed that the 65th anniversary of the UPA should be commemorated.

On October 14, a monument was unveiled in the western town of Lviv to one of the main ideologists of 20th century Ukrainian nationalism, Stepan Bandera.

The leftist and pro-Russian forces have made it clear that they will not put up with “the president’s attempts to impose pro-fascist, neo-Nazi policy on society,” as one of the leaders of the Communist Party (CPU), Oleksandr Holub, put it.

The CPU issued a statement saying that Yushchenko had “voiced support at the state level for an ideology that was condemned internationally and by the Nuremberg trial.”

The UPA has always been respected in western Ukraine, which the Soviet Union annexed from Poland in 1939, as freedom fighters. Official historiography maintains that the UPA fought both the Nazis and the Red Army.

Most right-of-center parties, the far-right groups, and President Yushchenko share this point of view. Pro-Russian parties and leftists, most of whom are nostalgic for the Soviet past, say that the UPA collaborated with the Nazis, so it does not deserve commemoration.

This negative view of the UPA dominates in the Russian-speaking regions, and it is apparently shared by the majority of the Party of Regions of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

UPA veterans and several thousand supporters of the far-right parties Freedom, the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, and the Ukrainian National Assembly organized a march in Kyiv on October 14 to commemorate the UPA.

They were confronted by supporters of the CPU and the radical left Progressive Socialist Party, who behaved aggressively. Police prevented scuffles between supporters of the rival camps, briefly detaining 24 of them.

Similar events happened in several other cities across Ukraine, including the second biggest city, Kharkiv. In the Crimean capital of Simferopol, where pro-Russian and leftist radicals by far outnumber the nationalists, police had to work especially hard to prevent serious confrontations.

Yushchenko’s calls for UPA commemoration were largely ignored by the local authorities beyond western Ukraine. “Not everybody would understand this. We have to first conduct serious explanatory work,” said the governor of the central Ukrainian Poltava Region, Valery Asadchev, who is a member of Yushchenko’s team.

The council of Ukraine’s easternmost region, Luhansk, voted 73–2 to approve an appeal for Yushchenko to revoke his decree on proclaiming Shukhevych a hero. Luhansk voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Party of Regions in the September 30 parliamentary election.

On October 18, the ESM, a Russian radical youth group, said that its activists had demolished Ukrainian national symbols that had been erected on Ukraine’s highest mountain, the Hoverla.

The mountain, located in western Ukraine, is a symbol by itself. Yushchenko, when he was opposition leader, would ascend it ceremoniously each year accompanied by crowds of his political supporters.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) confirmed that the ESM’s activists had vandalized the symbols but said that the ESM had exaggerated the damage. The SBU said that this was committed by three young men, two of whom had arrived from Russia for the purpose.

One of the leaders of the ESM, Pavel Zarifullin, commenting on the SBU’s statement, said the three young men in question reside in western Ukraine, rather than Russia.

Zarifullin mocked the SBU, saying that it only pretended to have full information on the ESM activists in question. The Ukrainian version of the Russian daily Kommersant quoted the ESM’s main ideologist, Aleksandr Dugin, as saying that the “action on the Hoverla” had been prompted by Yushchenko’s commemoration of Shukhevych. Dugin and Zarifullin were declared personae non gratae in Ukraine in 2006 for their participation in anti-NATO and anti-U.S. protests in Crimea.

Ukraine’s main parties displayed very different reactions to the incident on the Hoverla. Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine–People’s Self-Defense condemned it as “a criminal act committed by anti-Ukrainian forces.” Yushchenko’s allies from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc urged immediate reaction from the Prosecutor-General’s Office.

The Party of Regions kept silent. The CPU’s Holub said that the Hoverla incident was Ukrainian society’s “emotional” reaction to Yushchenko’s “neo-Nazi policy.”

Source: Eurasia Daily Monitor

Ukraine Deputy PM Says Kremenchug Head Illegal

KIEV, Ukraine -- The current management of Ukraine's largest refiner, Kremenchug, acted illegally last week when it ousted the head of the company running the plant and took over, a deputy prime minister said on Wednesday.

Kremenchug refiner
Russian company Tatneft cut oil supplies to Kremenchug after a former manager of Ukrtatnafta, Pavel Ovcharenko, used armed police to expel the head of the company last Friday. The refinery is now running on reduced capacity.

"This was a raider's hit. A man who has not worked there for three years tried to capture the plant with an illegal court decision and return illegally to work," Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Klyuev, in charge of energy, told Reuters.

Ovcharenko had fought against his own dismissal in several courts for three years and said a Kremenchug court had finally ruled in August to reinstate him. He accuses the management he expelled of incurring debts of some $500 million.

The ousted company chief, Sergei Glushko, is appealing against the court decision, Ovcharenko's lawyer told Reuters.

Interfax Ukraine news agency reported on Wednesday that "unknown people in camouflage" had blocked Ukrtatnafta headquarters in Kremenchug and that Glushko had appeared at the scene.

Ukrtatnafta was not available for comment.

TATNEFT WANTS CLARITY

Tatneft, Kremenchug's chief supplier, has said it wants the management situation clarified before resuming deliveries.

A Kremenchug official said on Wednesday the refinery had bought 170,390 tonnes of oil for October-November. Ovcharenko said on Tuesday it had enough stocks to run for 12 days on reduced capacity.

The official did not say how much Kremenchug paid for the oil. Local media reported that the average price at an auction on Tuesday jumped 10 percent to 3,012 hryvnias per tonne against the last auction a month ago.

Tatneft, controlled by Tatarstan, owns 8.6 percent of Ukrtatnafta, while the Russian republic itself owns a further 28.8 percent. Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogas owns another 43.1 percent, while two western companies own the rest.

Tatneft has accused Ukraine of diluting its stake in Ukrtatnafta, while Ukrainian officials have questioned the way the refiner was sold. Tatneft backed Glushko as the legitimate head, via a statement on the Tatarstan government Web site.

Russia and Ukraine have had repeated disputes over energy supplies in recent years. These included a halt in Russian gas supplies in January 2006, which led to disruptions in gas deliveries to Europe via Ukraine.

The government of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, who has had good relations with Moscow over energy issues, is likely to be replaced after ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko and her allies gained a slim majority in parliamentary elections on Sept. 30.

Tymoshenko was appointed premier by President Viktor Yushchenko, who defeated the Moscow-backed Yanukovich in the 2004 "Orange Revolution" that followed a rigged poll. Relations with Russia plunged during her eight-month tenure.

Source: Singapore News

UKRAINE: Westwards, But Not Much More

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Ukraine's opposition forces have reached a coalition agreement that will give the populist Yuliya Timoshenko the post of Prime Minister. Foreign policy might change, but realism will prevail.

Yulia Tymoshenko at the European People's Party Summit in Portugal.
The Party of the Regions won the Sep. 30 election with 34 percent of the vote but the 'orange' opposition -- the Yuliya Timoshenko bloc with 31 percent and the pro-presidential Our Ukraine-People's Self Defence bloc with 14 percent -- reached an agreement last week to form a new cabinet.

Ideas of a grand coalition have been rejected, and the governing Party of the Regions, often described as favourable to close ties with Russia, is headed for four years in opposition.

There are concerns over what implications the complete exclusion from governance of the Party of the Regions led by Viktor Yanukovich could have. Ukraine's most powerful business circles back Yanukovich's party, as does the overwhelming majority of the population in the South and East, Ukraine's industrial heartland.

President Viktor Yushchenko, albeit somewhat ambiguously, had tried to show initiative in forming a grand coalition. "Both the forces that represent western Ukraine and those that stand for the eastern part of our country must be wise and far-sighted -- and they must communicate," he had recently told the German press. But his calls were not entirely heeded.

The first steps of the fresh and purely 'orange' alliance will be to abolish MPs' immunity and privileges, to work on a new constitution, and to ban deputies from changing factions, which was at the root of the controversy that spurred the early election.

Yushchenko issued a decree calling for early elections Apr. 2 after a group of parliamentarians switched to the governing coalition in what the President termed as a "usurpation of power."

Yet even the relationship between the two pro-Western leaders, Yushchenko and Timoshenko, has been nothing short of turbulent: President Yushchenko fired Timoshenko from the post of prime minister in 2005 after a period of power infighting that culminated in mutual accusations of corruption.

But supporters of the 'orange' forces hope the fear instilled by the powerful and well-organised opposition will hold the coalition together.

Orange supporters also expect the state to function more smoothly with both President and Prime Minister belonging to the same 'camp', though small disagreements could cause the cabinet's collapse as the orange forces have collected only a thin majority in parliament.

No one in Ukraine doubts that the alliance is fragile, and personal ambitions strong. Only a few days after the coalition agreement was announced, pro-presidential forces were accusing Timoshenko's bloc of unrealistic goals and of interfering with the exclusive prerogatives of the president.

Timoshenko demands the end of conscription from 2008, but the proposal is opposed by men loyal to the president.

Moreover, Yushchenko's loyal men fear that Timoshenko will cause disarray in the country's budget, as she has vowed to strengthen the state's hand in the economy, increase social spending and even revise past privatisation deals which in her opinion were unfair.

Yushchenko leans towards a liberal approach to economics -- with the state interfering only when absolutely necessary.

Some of the policies expected from Timoshenko could have repercussions beyond borders, as the orange leader has made the revision of gas price deals with Russia's giant gas monopoly Gazprom one of her main campaign mottos.

The repercussion could be felt immediately after the elections. In a clinically timed statement, Gazprom warned Kiev it owed 1.3 billion dollars in gas. The gas giant later corrected the statement, and clarified that the debt had been incurred by intermediary companies based in Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials recognised that an intermediary Ukrainian gas company had accumulated gas in its storage facilities without paying Gazprom. An agreement has been reached, and gas is being returned to Russian territory from Ukrainian storage facilities.

The new coalition, which is suspicious of the existing gas scheme and the men behind it, has announced it will strive for a transparent gas market without intermediaries. But the government's concrete measures and their possible implications will have to be well measured.

"Gas deals might be revised, but once this happens it will be the result of a mutual compromise," Natalya Shapovalova, foreign policy analyst at the Kiev-based International Centre for Policy Studies told IPS.

The analyst believes the controversy is more of an economic than political nature. "Russia tries to put pressure through energy issues but it's mostly a question of business," she says. "Tensions with Russia don't depend on the composition of the Ukrainian government."

On the opposite front, the new coalition announced it intends to bring Ukraine closer to membership in the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) based on the results of referenda.

But the shift should not be overestimated, as even the nominally pro-Russian Party of the Regions had made membership of the EU, and cooperation with NATO its goals.

Analysts have pointed out that it is precisely the party's recent shift to a more pro-Western approach, abandoning the anti-NATO stances of their electorate, that cost them an election they expected to win.

"The previous cabinet was more careful with expressing such wishes due to coalition partners," Shapovalova says. "But now nothing will happen quickly, integration with NATO will continue, and maybe Ukraine could join the NATO membership action plan. But public opinion is negative and more consensus will be needed."

Source: IPS

Yushchenko Reaffirms Ukraine’s NATO Stance

KIEV, Ukraine -- President Viktor Yushchenko reaffirmed yesterday his stance that Ukraine should join NATO, despite divisions in the ex-Soviet country over the issue and a mute stance from the probable post-election government.

Viktor Yushchenko at a NATO Summit
Ukraine has grown cooler to NATO membership under Moscow-leaning Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich while ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko, poised to form a government after parliamentary polls, has not made her view on the issue clear.

“Ukraine confirms and fixes its strategic direction towards the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,” Yushchenko told defense ministers of several east European countries and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Yushchenko, swept to power by the 2004 “Orange Revolution”, made NATO and European Union membership a key long-term priority and Ukraine moved towards closer co-operation with NATO.

But that trend has been put on hold since Yanukovich, long at odds with Yushchenko, said in September 2006 that Ukraine’s public was opposed to the defense alliance.

But the president appeared to revive such ambitions yesterday.

“I ask all European partners to help us in our intention to join this Membership Action Plan,” he told the ministers, referring to a NATO programme that entails closer co-operation with the alliance but not automatic membership.

He hoped a NATO summit in April would look into the issue.

Gates was in Kiev attending the Southeastern Europe Defense Ministerial (SEDM) group, a US initiative aiming to encourage non-NATO countries to integrate into Euro-Atlantic partnerships.

In Brussels, where NATO is based, officials have said the alliance is waiting for a clear line from Kiev before any significant moves could be made.

Tymoshenko, whose party and the pro-presidential Our Ukraine Party scored a slight majority over Yanukovich allies, has never said whether she is for or against NATO membership.

Russia is strongly opposed to any such moves by Kiev, as are many Ukrainians living in the Russian-speaking east and south.

Source: Gulf Times

Tymoshenko The Real Winner Of Ukraine's 2007 Election

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine officially announced its parliamentary election results on October 15. Unlike the 2006 elections, no political force has contested the results.

The always popular Yulia Tymoshenko
The Party of Regions closed its makeshift camp in downtown Kyiv on October 18 after declaring that they would take their 175 seats, despite rumors to the contrary. Had they refused, they would have triggered another political crisis, as the constitutions requires dissolution if 150 deputies or more resign.

The elections again showed that Ukraine’s regional diversity, which is routinely disparaged as a source of instability by Russian and Western commentators, is in reality a source of its democratic strength. Regional diversity thwarted former President Leonid Kuchma’s attempts to establish autocratic parties of power in the 1998 and 2002 elections.

Since the Kuchma era, regional diversity has prevented any political force from establishing a monopoly of power, which makes it impossible to establish a one-party autocracy.

The major victor of the elections is unquestionably the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT), which finished second overall. BYuT is on a steady trajectory upward from 7% in 2002, to 23% in 2006, and 31% in September. BYuT received 1.5 million votes more than in 2006 and increased its seats from 129 to 156. Three-quarters of the new votes were from western-central Ukraine and the remaining quarter in eastern-southern Ukraine.

Of the additional 302,000 votes for BYuT in eastern-southern Ukraine, only one-sixth were from Party of Regions strongholds in the two Donbas oblasts, the Crimean autonomous republic, and the port of Sevastopol.

BYuT has proven itself capable of winning votes in eastern and southern Ukraine for seven reasons.

First, BYuT is by far Ukraine’s best-organized election campaign machine. As the BBC wrote, BYuT is “one of the slickest image-making machines in Europe.”

Second, Our Ukraine personnel on the ground in eastern Ukraine campaigned for BYuT rather than their own political force, because they had little hope that eastern Ukrainian voters would back Our Ukraine

Third, disillusioned Our Ukraine and some Party of Regions voters defected to BYuT.

Fourth, alone among the three original orange political forces, BYuT has a consistent position that attracts voters. President Viktor Yushchenko and Our Ukraine have wavered constantly between aligning with BYuT or with pro-Kuchma centrists (prior to 2004) or with the Party of Regions.

Fifth, BYuT’s voters like its anti-elitist campaign rhetoric.

Sixth, BYuT’s territorial nationalism can win votes in Russophone eastern Ukraine, unlike the ethno-cultural nationalism of Yushchenko and Our Ukraine. BYuT is not associated with promoting the Ukrainian language.

Seventh, BYuT is not associated with promoting NATO membership. BYuT has shied away from discussing NATO, which is unpopular in eastern Ukraine. Tymoshenko’s May-June Foreign Affairs article “Containing Russia,” on Ukraine’s place in European security, never mentions NATO.

The only other political force that gained votes in this year’s elections was the Communist Party (KPU), which jumped from 3.5% to 5.3%. Other left-wing forces collapsed in their support, notably the national Bolshevik Progressive Socialist Party and the Socialist Party.

The newly elected parliament will be the least left wing of any Ukrainian parliament since the disintegration of the USSR. During the 1990s the left controlled upwards of 40% of parliamentary seats and chairmanships.

Our Ukraine’s vote decreased by 250,000 and its results were similar to 2006. A 14% result is only 4% less than Rukh obtained in 1998 and 10% less than Our Ukraine obtained in 2002.

Since the elections, senior Our Ukraine-People’s Self Defense (NUNS) officials have declared that the president was mistaken in openly campaigning for Our Ukraine, unlike in 2006 when he remained neutral. Our Ukraine’s poor results suggest that voter disillusionment with Yushchenko transferred to low voter support for his political force.

As the Economist wrote after the 2007 elections, “That Mr. Yushchenko’s support is now relatively weak reflects not a change of mood but his failure to live up to the orange revolution’s promise.”

NUNS’s poor showing means it cannot act alone as party machine in Yushchenko’s upcoming presidential campaign. NUNS needs to become a more united force.

Compared to 2006, NUNS lost the three Galician oblasts to BYuT. NUNS only won Trans-Carpathia oblast (in contrast to four oblasts in 2006).

The 2007 elections also showed a return to “normality,” following two years of mass mobilization by orange and anti-orange political forces in 2004-2006. Turnout traditionally is lower in Ukraine’s elections in eastern Ukraine, where civil society is weaker. The 2007 elections showed higher turnout in western than eastern Ukraine, which worked in favor of BYuT but against the Party of Regions.

The Party of Regions increased its vote by 2% but it lost eleven seats and obtained fewer votes overall. The Party of Regions was stunned by its near loss of first place in the election, as BYuT closed the gap from 10% last year to only 2% this year.

The subsequent panic that struck Party of Regions could be seen in two ways. First, rumors circulated that the U.S. public relations company Paul Manafort was sacked because of disagreements over how to run the Party of Regions campaign.

Second, during times of political panic the Party of Regions has traditionally resorted to raising the status of the Russian language and NATO membership in an attempt to mobilize eastern Ukrainian voters.

The 2007 elections showed that Ukraine has two political machines: BYuT and the Party of Regions. Yushchenko can only win a second term in 2009 in an alliance with one of these machines.

The 2007 elections will be seen as a democratic watershed for Ukraine, returning to power an orange coalition and a Tymoshenko government. Democratic backsliding is unlikely, but the question remains will Ukraine now walk or run with reform.

Source: Eurasia Daily Monitor

Ukraine Set For Gas Hikes And Inflation

NEW YORK, NY -- Ukraine is bracing for a larger-than-expected increase in the price of natural gas charged by Russia, which is likely to fuel inflation and curb economic growth, Ukrainian Economy Minister Anatoly Kinakh said Friday.

Ukrainian Economy Minister Anatoly Kinakh
Russia may increase the price of natural gas next year by 15 percent, Kinakh said in an interview in Washington.

That’s more than Ukraine’s initial estimate of a 10 percent increase to $143 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Higher gas prices will make it harder for Ukraine to hold its inflation rate to the 6.8 percent government forecast for next year, he said. Ukrainian industries, including chemicals, need time to adjust to increases in gas prices, which remain far below European levels of $270 per 1,000 cubic meters, he said.

“At a gas price of $180 per 1,000 cubic meters, our chemicals-making industry, one of the major exporters, would become loss-making,” he said. “We need time to modernize our economy, to implement new technologies and cut energy consumption.”

Gazprom cut supplies to Ukraine in January 2006 in a dispute over prices that interrupted shipments to Europe. Russia later doubled what it charged Ukraine for gas, and it raised the price by another 37 percent in 2007.

The European Union depends on Russia for about a quarter of its oil and gas imports. The incident cast doubt over Russia’s reliability as a supplier of energy.

“There is a very serious political component here,” Kinakh said of Russia’s gas-pricing policies.

“It’s very important for us not only to agree on the price for next year but also to have a medium-term strategy,” he said. “It won’t be possible to keep the price” below the average European level “longer than two or three more years.”

“We managed to withstand these prices because of high prices for our major exports, such as metals and chemicals,” Kinakh said. Metals and chemicals, such as fertilizers, make up 52 percent of Ukraine’s exports, he said.

Ukraine’s economy will probably grow about 7 percent this year, compared with the government’s initial forecast of 6.5 percent and the central bank’s estimate of 7.5 percent, Kinakh said. Next year, growth may slow to less than 6.5 percent, he said.

“Ukraine’s consumer prices may rise as much as 13 percent by some estimates, but the government must make every effort to restrict it to 11 percent” this year, Kinakh said. It initially planned to cut inflation to 7.5 percent in 2007.

Ukraine will attract at least $5 billion in foreign direct investment this year, Kinakh said. “This is still not much, given Ukraine’s economic potential.”

Foreign direct investment rose 50 percent in the first half of the year from the same period a year earlier, to $2.55 billion, he said.

Source: St. Petersburg Times

Ukraine Weighs Up Afghanistan Role

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine is among several countries under pressure from the U.S to send troops to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban. American Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked 10 countries in south-east Europe to provide 3,000 troops.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates speaks during a meeting in Kiev October 21, 2007.
Robert Gates made the appeal during a meeting of South-East European Defence Ministers in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev:

“I am not satisfied that an alliance whose members have over 2 million soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen cannot find the modest additional resources that have been committed for Afghanistan”.

NATO Membership

Ukraine is keen to join NATO, and helping America in Afghanistan would bolster its standing among Washington’s elites.

Some experts say Ukraine will keep its army on stand-by unless it gets some political and economic incentives.

”This defence council is like an incubator for NATO members. But it doesn’t require sending troops anywhere. Before doing so, Ukraine will consider political and human risks. A very small percent of Ukrainians support their membership in NATO,” said Nikolay Syngyrovsky, Director of Military Programmes of the Razumkov Center.

Bitter Memories

As a part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine lost more than 3,000 people in the war in Afghanistan in the 1980s. So any indication that its men will go to war there again opens up old wounds.

If Ukraine commits troops to the conflict, for some people this could seem a repeat of the Soviet-Afghan war, but now on the side of the enemy.

To refute this theory, Ukraine’s Defence Minister promised that member states are not obliged to fight and will only do so after consulting the President and parliament.

Source: Russia Today

Pentagon Chief In Ukraine, Seeks Help In Afghanistan

KIEV, Ukraine -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will ask Ukraine and other eastern European countries this week to send troops to Afghanistan to cover a shortfall in trainers for the Afghan army, a senior U.S. defence official said.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (R) and Ukraine's Defence Minister Anatoly Hrytsenko shake hands before talks in Kiev October 21, 2007.
Gates, who landed in Kiev on Sunday to meet Ukraine's government and attend the Southeast Europe Defence Ministerial, has grown increasingly frustrated by the failure of NATO allies to fulfil promises made to Afghanistan, his aides say.

He is particularly worried about a shortfall of more than 3,000 trainers for Afghan security forces -- a need that military commanders voiced a year ago.

A senior defence official travelling with the Pentagon chief said one of Gates's main goals was to press members of the Southeast Europe Defense Ministerial to send troops to Afghanistan to fill the gap.

The 11-member group sent a 100-troop brigade, called Southeast Europe Brigade or SEEBRIG, to the war zone in 2006.

"It's to have a discussion about SEEBRIG and how SEEBRIG can potentially help in Afghanistan again possibly by undertaking a training mission," the official said when asked about Gates's priorities in Kiev.

"Given the need for trainers in Afghanistan, could SEEBRIG undertake or consider doing such a mission there?" the official said.

The six-year-old war in Afghanistan, overshadowed in the United States by Iraq, tops Gates's agenda this week. After meetings in Kiev, the secretary stops in Prague on his way to a meeting of NATO defence ministers in the Netherlands.

There, he will argue yet again that progress in Afghanistan could be lost if NATO members do not dedicate more combat troops, trainers and equipment to the fight. Already, violence has soared in 2007 and military officers say the Taliban is trying to import the deadly roadside bomb technology that has been used in Iraq.

While in Kiev, Gates will meet with Ukraine's president, prime minister and defence minister and ask about their security priorities and defence reforms. Ukraine is considered a strong U.S. partner in Iraq and the Pentagon thinks Kiev might send troops to Afghanistan as well.

Ukraine receives U.S. military assistance with equipment and training. In 2007, it received $10 million in U.S. military equipment and $1.7 million in training funds.

Gates also will discuss the pace of defence reforms among members of the Southeast Europe Defence Ministerial and what more is needed for NATO integration, U.S. officials said.

Source: AlertNet

US Defense Chief Heads For Europe

WASHINGTON, DC -- US Defense Secretary Robert Gates left for Europe late Saturday for a series of high-stakes meetings on sensitive issues such as Washington's planned anti-missile installations and US ties to Turkey, AFP reported.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates
Gates is to spend Sunday and Monday in Ukraine, a senior Pentagon official said. He will meet its Western-leaning President Viktor Yushchenko and seek his backing for the missile shield plans in the face of fierce opposition from neighboring Russia.

Yushchenko, who has struggled with challenges from political rivals more sympathetic to Moscow than to his pro-Western stance, has ruled out allowing parts of the US missile shield in Ukraine, but has not condemned the plan.

On Tuesday Gates will visit the Czech Republic, where the United States aims to put a radar station as part of its Europe-based shield against possible missile attacks from countries such as Iran and North Korea.

On Wednesday and Thursday Gates will be in the Netherlands for an informal meeting of NATO defense ministers. He is expected to ask countries to send more troops to patrol Afghanistan, where international forces are battling an insurgency by extremists of the ousted Taliban regime.

Gates' tour wraps up on Friday with a visit to Heidelberg in Germany, where the US Army has its European headquarters.

Source: FOCUS Information

Russia's Tatneft Suspends Oil To Ukraine Refinery

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russian oil firm Tatneft has suspended oil supplies to Ukraine's Kremenchug refinery pending a resolution of a dispute between different management groups, sources close to the firm said on Friday.

Russian Tatneft oil well
"The conflict around the plant's ownership has been going on for some years. As of today we are suspending supplies and will wait until the situation with the plant's management becomes more clear," the source said.

Ukraine has a total of seven refineries, but only three of them are getting regular supplies of Russian crude and one from Kazakhstan.

The plant processes 180,000 barrels per day of Russian crude which is supplied by different Russian companies. But all supplies are coordinated by Tatneft, a 500,000 barrels per day producer.

"No one from Russia is supplying crude to Kremenchug without a clearance from Tatneft. So if they suspend supplies, I assume all other companies will have to do the same," said a trading source with a major Russian oil firm.

Tatneft bought a stake of over 30 percent in the refiner in the 1990s and agreed to jointly manage the firm with Ukraine's state company Naftogas.

Tatneft has since then repeatedly accused Ukraine of diluting its stake in the plant's managing company, UkrTatNafta, while Ukraine's officials have questionned the way the refiner was privatised.

On Friday, Interfax news agency reported that UkrTatNafta's former managers led by ex-chief executive Pavel Ovcharenko ousted the current management team, led by chief executive Sergei Glushko, from the refinery with the help of police.

The refinery was not immediately available for comment.

Source: Singapore News

Gazprom Might Eject Middlemen

KIEV, Ukraine -- Gas giant Gazprom announced that it might agree to direct natural gas sales to Ukraine in the near future, doing away with the chain of controversial middleman companies that currently make hundreds of millions of dollars a year supplying Kyiv and exporting gas to Europe.

Chairman of Gazprom’s Board of Directors, Dmitry Medvedev
The Chairman of Gazprom’s Board of Directors Dmitry Medvedev told the German ARD television channel on Oct. 15, “We will probably revise the scheme of our relations and give up any intermediary structures that are not clearly understandable, at least those structures whose existence is not quite clear to us and which were proposed by our partners in a certain historical context.”

Kremlin-controlled Gazprom directs the flow of Central Asian gas to Ukrainian consumers and a portion of its Russian gas for European consumers through Swiss-registered RosUkrEnergo, in which it owns a 50 percent stake. The other 50 percent of the RosUkrEnergo middleman-company is controlled by Ukrainian billionaire Dmytro Firtash. Ukraine-registered UkrGaz-Energo, half-owned by RosUkrEnergo and half by Ukraine’s state oil and gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy, supplies gas to Ukrainian industry.

These intermediaries have reaped huge profits, with RosUkrEnergo making around $70 million in profits in the first quarter of this year, Gazprom reported earlier this month. UkrGaz-Energo’s profits for the first half of 2007 were about $100 million, according to the Ukrainian newspaper Delo.

Over the years, Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other for the existence of intermediary companies such as RosUkrEnergo, the monopoly supplier of gas to Ukraine, and UkrGaz-Energo. Each side has said the private owners represent the interests of the other party.

Medvedev’s statement comes as a surprise and in the wake of Gazprom’s latest threat to shut off gas supplies to Ukraine over disagreements about payments by these very intermediaries. Faced with what Gazprom called a $1.3-billion overdue bill, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Boyko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych flew to Moscow last week to settle accounts.

“Perhaps, this will simplify our relations and help them [Ukrainians] make payments on time and not accumulate such big debts,” Medvedev said.

The fact that the state-owned gas giant announced the payment glitch during Ukrainian coalition talks raised accusations that Moscow was using its control over gas supplies as a tool of foreign policy.

Medvedev repeated denials made numerous times by representatives of his company and Russian officials that Gazprom uses pricing to put pressure on neighboring countries insensitive to the Kremlin’s needs.

In January 2006, Gazprom shut off gas supplies to Ukraine, and thus partly to Europe, until a pricing agreement was signed making RosUkrEnergo the monopoly importer of Russian and Central Asian gas to Ukraine. As part of the same deal, Ukraine’s gas import bill doubled. This year the price was raised by another third.

The Tymoshenko factor

Yulia Tymoshenko, who is set to take over the government in Ukraine, has consistently criticized the current gas agreements with Russia, particularly the use of middleman companies. Her repeated pledges to oust the allegedly opaque intermediaries have raised fears that Moscow could retaliate with stiff price hikes once again.

During the 2006 gas price crisis, Gazprom offered Kyiv direct gas sales with a price of more than $200 per 1,000 cubic meters while enticing Ukraine to accept a more competitive rate of $95 through RosUkrEnergo.

In response to Medvedev’s recent statement, Tymoshenko said her government would work to establish direct gas sales between Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukrainy at an affordable price.

“I am convinced that the price of gas will be absolutely balanced and reasonable. We will reach a compromise with the Russian Federation regarding gas deliveries next year.”

Outgoing First Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Azarov warned the same day that changes to the current middleman system, namely the prospect of radical reshuffling by Tymoshenko, could jeopardize Ukraine’s energy security.

“If one raises the issue of canceling the existing scheme and buying gas at any price, then we will end up in the same serious situation we were in back in 2006,” he told journalists.

“For our government, the most important thing is stable supplies and the price,” he added.

Shadowy intermediaries

Both Moscow and Kyiv have been unable to clearly explain the role intermediaries such as RosUkrEnergo play in the gas trade between their countries and Central Asian producers. Tymoshenko and other high-ranking officials have claimed these intermediaries act as parasites, feeding on state-owned enterprises and fueling corruption at the highest echelons.

Volodymyr Saprykin, an energy analyst at Ukraine’s Razumkov Center, said the prices set by Gazprom for gas deliveries to Ukraine have nothing to do with economics.

“There are no economic laws at work here, only political ones,” he said.

Saprykin called Medvedev’s recent statement to the German media “soothing words” meant to allay Western fears of further disruptions and a continuing lack of transparency in the supply of Russian and Central Asia gas to Europe.

Russia supplies the EU with about a quarter of its gas needs with the lion’s share passing through Ukraine’s vast gas transit system. Insiders said Ukraine could once again try to raise transit fees if gas import prices are raised.

EU policymakers have recently sought to decrease the bloc’s dependence on Russian energy imports, while simultaneously restricting Russian investment in Europe’s energy sector. Brussels and Moscow are currently in the midst of negotiations on reforming the EU energy market, including a controversial set of restrictions on foreign energy bidders known as the “Gazprom clause.”

Source: Kyiv Post

Ukraine Gas Explosion Toll Rises

DNIPROPETROVSK, Ukraine -- Authorities in Ukraine have said 23 people were killed by a gas explosion in a block of flats in the eastern city of Dnipropetrovsk last Saturday.

President Viktor Yushchenko (C) inspects gas explosion site in Dnipropetrovsk.
Deputy PM Andriy Klyuyev said the initial toll had risen after rescue workers found a further six bodies in the remains of the 10-storey building.

Seven children died in the blast, while another 16 people were hospitalised.

Prosecutors believe the explosion happened because valves regulating pressure in the gas pipes had worn out.

Three employees of the local Dniprohaz gas company have been detained by the authorities pending potential negligence charges.

However, Gazex, a Russian company which controls Dniprohaz, has protested its employees' innocence.

"The guilty party should be determined once the results of the expert assessment have been released," a representative told the Russian Itar-Tass news agency.

Correspondents say domestic gas explosions occur regularly in Ukraine, often caused by improper use or poorly maintained infrastructure.

Source: BBC News

Utahns Open Arms To Ukraine Orphans

SALT LAKE CITY, USA -- Like the dozens of other Utahns standing in the baggage claim area of the Delta terminal at Salt Lake City International Airport Thursday night — with their banners and balloons and eager smiles — Williams was waiting the arrival of 45 orphans from Ukraine.

Andre Garrett (C), who was a Ukrainian orphan adopted by a family in Salt Lake City, waves to 45 orphans Thursday at airport.
The children, from three orphanages, are the latest guests of Utah-based Save A Child Foundation, started three years ago by Vern and Nannette Garrett of Salt Lake City. The purpose of the foundation, Vern explained amid the chaos of arriving passengers, is to be advocates for orphans ages 6 to 15, the children who are "largely overlooked," he says. The children will be in Utah until Nov. 5, staying with volunteer families.

"You want to see something really sad?" asked Save a Child Foundation vice president Craig Sorensen. "Come back here in three weeks."

The Ukrainian government allows the children to come to Utah, but the agreement is that they can't stay. On the other hand, most of the families end up adopting the children they host. In the fall of 2005, the first year of the program, Sorensen says he figured maybe one of the children would be adopted, two tops; in the end 24 of the 26 eligible children were eventually adopted by the Utah families.

The families must find their own adoption agency, come up with the $20,000 to $25,000 in adoption fees and generally wait about eight months for the adoption to be final. The Garretts have now adopted two girls and a boy, who have joined their own eight children.
The next three weeks will be a whirlwind of trips and parties and family time. In an odd twist of fate and logistics, however, most of the orphans will wake up tomorrow and be immediately whisked to the dentist for a donated teeth cleaning.

"We're going to explain it to them," Vern told the parents, "so they don't think they're coming to America to be tortured."

Margery and Kent Jorgensen of Provo, and their four children plan to take Misha, 15, and Maxim, 9, to a high school football game, as an antidote to the dentist trip. That may or may not be successful; according to Sorensen, other Ukrainian orphans in the past have been bored by American football.

All 45 orphans will go to a Halloween party, the zoo, a ranch, a swimming pool and Bouncin' Off the Walls while they're here.

Among the families waiting at the bottom of the arrivals escalator were Ukrainian orphans who came on a similar three-week trip either in 2005 or 2006. Inna Morgan came last October and was adopted in June by Lorraine and Alan Morgan of Sandy. Hannah and Abbie Olsen — who asked for American names — also arrived last summer.

Their new mother, Carla, went to Ukraine last March to help the Garretts choose the 45 children for this year's program.

"If you ask them what their one wish is," Olsen said about all the orphans she met, "they say 'to come to America."'

The 45 orphans finally arrived a little after 8:30 p.m. For a few minutes they just stood in a clump at the top of the escalator. Then, two by two, here they came, dressed in winter coats, each carrying a backpack. A big cheer went up in the crowd, and then there was the chaos of families trying to find Misha and Maxim, Artem and Roman.

Pretty soon they'd all be going home, to strange beds and refrigerators full of odd food.

Source: Deseret Morning News

Ukraine: The Power Of A Second Chance

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Now that President Viktor Yushchenko has confirmed that he wants the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) and the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense (NUNS) bloc to form a ruling coalition, the two Orange Revolution allies may have a second chance to deliver on the promises they solemnly made in 2004 and disappointingly failed to meet.

Party leaders Yulia Tymoshenko and Vyacheslav Kyrylenko are set to form a ruling coalition.
But while Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko have already shown some public signs of unity -- most recently in Lisbon on October 18, where each espoused the virtues of European values during a congress of the European People's Party -- the question remains as to whether they have overcome their past differences sufficiently to run a new government.

After Yushchenko backed the pairing on October 17, Tymoshenko and Vyacheslav Kyrylenko, a leader of the pro-Yushchenko NUNS, presented the coalition deal they initialed on October 15. The entire 105-page document was subsequently published on the Internet.

The most important provisions of the deal state that Tymoshenko is to be proposed as prime minister, while the NUNS bloc will nominate a candidate for the post of parliamentary speaker. Cabinet portfolios are to be distributed on a 50-50 basis between the two blocs.

The deal makes room for a third "democratically oriented" participant in the coalition, although it does not mention it by name. It does, however, clearly stipulate that neither the Party of Regions nor the Communist Party can be considered as a potential coalition partner, thus narrowing the field to only the Lytvyn Bloc, which has 20 lawmakers in the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada.

Orange Sequel

The overwhelming feeling of deja vu that Ukraine observers may experience upon hearing such news is quite understandable.

A similar, if somewhat shorter, coalition document was preliminarily signed by the BYuT and Our Ukraine immediately after the March 2006 elections. At that time, the desired third coalition partner was the Socialist Party, which failed to win parliamentary seats this year.

After four months of futile coalition talks in 2006, the Socialists switched sides and formed a ruling majority with the Party of Regions and the Communists. President Yushchenko had no choice in August 2006 but to designate Viktor Yanukovych, his bitter political rival, as prime minister.

Could such a situation repeat itself this year? Could the NUNS bloc eventually abandon Tymoshenko and form a "broad" coalition with the Party of Regions, thus uniting the west and the east of Ukraine politically, if not ideologically or emotionally? Such a turn of events cannot be ruled out.

Tymoshenko, for whom the regained post of prime minister could be a much-coveted springboard for launching a presidential bid in 2009, has already made many compromises in order to ensure President Yushchenko's support for her attempt to lead the government once again.

To begin with, she agreed to give the NUNS bloc half of the cabinet portfolios, although her party won 156 parliamentary mandates versus NUNS's 72.

Furthermore, she agreed to endorse a package of 12 bills ahead of the expected vote on her approval as prime minister in the newly elected parliament. Some of the proposed bills, including one on the Cabinet of Ministers, significantly reinforce presidential powers at the expense of those of the prime minister.

An Uncertain Majority

But not even such concessions can guarantee that Tymoshenko will be vested with the powers she craves. BYuT and NUNS together have 228 votes, just two more than the majority required to pass most legislation in the Verkhovna Rada, including the approval of a new cabinet.

Tymoshenko can expect voting discipline within the BYuT ranks, but the NUNS bloc is a motley collection of nine political groups. What if the interests of one of these groups are not duly taken into account in the distribution of post-election spoils? In such a situation, it would not appear to be difficult to persuade just three lawmakers from a dissatisfied NUNS component to skip or abstain from a crucial vote.

It also seems unlikely that the Party of Regions will allow the Orange Revolution allies to adopt the 12 bills Tymoshenko has promised to endorse, which are sine qua non for starting the new government.

The Party of Regions will almost certainly demand separate votes on each of the proposed bills in order to exhaust the combat spirit of the Orange allies and nip their coalition-building effort in the bud. Attempts to block the parliamentary rostrum and even fistfights among lawmakers are not out of the question -- and are even likely -- at the inauguration of a new Verkhovna Rada.

But even if the Orange coalition manages to pass the 12 bills to please Yushchenko, approves Tymoshenko as prime minister, and appeases the hunger of all the NUNS constituents for political jobs, the problem of how to mobilize 226 votes for each individual piece of legislation in the future will remain an issue.

The Lytvyn Bloc, which could stabilize the slim Orange majority, is not eager to reveal its political preferences or appetites. Perhaps it is just waiting for a worthy piece of post-election pie in exchange for its role of kingmaker. But what if the Lytvyn Bloc has decided not to meddle in what seems to be an unavoidable exchange of blows between the BYuT and the Party of Regions, and has chosen an observer role? In that case, the Orange allies will need a political miracle or two to get their ruling partnership going.

On the other hand, a restored Orange coalition appears to be the only way for Yushchenko to perpetuate hopes for launching his presidential bid in 2009. If the president were to again nominate Yanukovych as prime minister, he would stand to lose even the dramatically dwindled support he currently enjoys in western Ukraine.

Eyes On The Next Goal

Tymoshenko has unequivocally declared that she will immediately starts working on her presidential bid if she fails to get the post of prime minister.

It is easy to predict that, given the current distribution of political sympathies in Ukraine, Yushchenko has no chance of qualifying for the second round in the next presidential polls. But keeping Tymoshenko in the government would provide Yushchenko a glimmer of hope -- either by satisfying her political appetite, or by tarnishing her image as a competent and efficient politician who can deliver on her promises.

Tymoshenko has made a lot of unworkable election promises during the campaign, including one on returning lost Soviet-era savings to Ukrainians within the next two years-- an endeavor that would require a sum equal to Ukraine's annual budget.

Another apparently unrealistic pledge, which was written down in the coalition deal, is to abolish the military draft in Ukraine as of the beginning of 2008 and switch to a fully professional army in 2009.

When asked about the plan on the sidelines of the October 18 congress in Lisbon, President Yushchenko told reporters that "I'd like to tell my political friends and colleagues: They may develop certain visions at their level or they may not, but today I'd advise them to follow the National Program for the Development of the Ukrainian Armed Forces."

And Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko, bewildered after reading the coalition-deal passage pertaining to the military draft, compared it with abolishing Newton's three laws of motion.

Thus, the birth of a new government in Ukraine is taking place on shaky ground and amid heightened expectations of economic and political wonders. Ukraine already has its fairy-tale heroine with a fetching blonde braid -- now comes the time for her to work her magic.

Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Court Delays Validation Of Ukraine Vote

KIEV, Ukraine -- A court has postponed the validation of parliamentary election results, officials said Wednesday, threatening to delay the formation of a government in Ukraine, which is struggling to emerge from prolonged political turmoil.

The Communists are delaying Yulia Tymoshenko's appointment as Prime Minister
The move came as President Viktor Yushchenko endorsed a parliamentary coalition made up of two pro-Western parties that were allies in the peaceful 2004 upheaval that ushered him to power. He vowed to support their choice for premier, bringing the charismatic Orange Revolution heroine Yulia Tymoshenko closer to returning to the job.

Ukraine's High Administrative Court has postponed the official publication of the results of the Sep. 30 vote pending a lawsuit filed by the Communist Party, said spokesman Zoya Sharikova. The Communists are seeking to contest the election results due to alleged violations concerning voting abroad.

The final tallies were to be published in government media Thursday, officially validating the vote. Sharikova said the results would be published as soon as the court rules on the Communists' appeal.

Court officials were not available for comment late Wednesday.

The decision could lead to a protracted battle over the validity of the parliamentary election results, causing new turmoil in the ex-Soviet republic.

Yushchenko's and Tymoshenko's parties won 228 seats in the 450-member Verkhovna Rada, two seats more than a bare majority. The rival Party of Regions, led by their main opponent, the more Moscow-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, won more votes than any other party but only 175 seats.

An informal agreement concluded by the two parties earlier this week stipulates that Tymoshenko would be prime minister while Yushchenko's bloc would pick the parliament speaker.

A majority coalition can be officially formed once parliament convenes. The legislature has about a month to convene after publication of the results.

But while Yushchenko's statement moved the two parties closer to restoring their alliance and forming a government, Tymoshenko's victory was still not a done deal, given past friction in the Orange camp, the razor-thin majority in parliament, and the unclear position of Yanukovych.

Tymoshenko's return to the premiership would resurrect the Orange Revolution alliance that ushered Yushchenko into the presidency. Yushchenko and Tymoshenko have campaigned on promises to follow a solid pro-Western course, conduct anti-corruption reform and raise living standards.

While Yushchenko's statement was a clear sign that his party would support Tymoshenko's candidacy, there were concerns that it could take only three dissenting votes to block her from the post.

Tymoshenko vowed Wednesday that that would not happen. "We are absolutely ready to work as one strong team," she told reporters.

Yushchenko has urged his party and Tymoshenko's party to share power with the opposition as a way to unite the polarized country. Many have interpreted this an attempt to weaken Tymoshenko, his potential rival in the 2009 presidential race.

Tymoshenko's and Yushchenko's parties have offered to grant Yanukovych's party deputy ministerial posts, as well as the position of deputy prime minister and chairs of some key parliamentary committees. Yanukovych has not yet given a firm answer to that proposal.

"What the coalition will be like we will see at the first session of the Verkhovna Rada," he said Wednesday in televised comments.

Yushchenko has been locked in a power struggle with Yanukovych since the tumultuous 2004 presidential race. Yanukovych was initially declared the winner, but courts later judged that vote fraudulent, and Yushchenko won a repeat election. Their standoff reached its peak earlier this year, when Yushchenko ordered parliament dissolved and called a new vote.

Source: AP

Our APCs Are Modern And Good: Ukraine Embassy

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Ukraine Embassy in Bangkok has finally broke its silence and hit back at critics over a procurement plan of Thai army's armored personnel carrier (APC), saying the vehicles are absolutely new and up-to-date.

Ukrainian armored personnel carrier
It accused the media of "distorted facts and groundless allegations".

"There is strong feeling that those publications have been inspired by those companies from some countries, which participated in the bidding but did not succeed, with the aim to hamper the progress in collaboration between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and mislead the public opinion," the embassy said through a statement dated October 18, 2007.

The embassy said the 96 BTR3E1 model to be delivered to Thailand are "absolutely new and uptodate" and has already become "wellknown as one of the world's most well equipped APC"

"Only latest technological solutions have been used for design and production of this APC that do not yield to any world's analogues, and, in some aspects, like dynamic and fire characteristics, as well as armor strength and tire bulletproof capacity, even exceed them," the statement said.

The embassy said from the Thai Army and the Thai Defence Ministry have verified "the quality of the Ukrainian production line and APCs during their recent visits to the manufacturing facilities and viewing of the live demonstrations in Ukraine last May."

Dispute over the planned procurement surfaced weeks ago when the then deputy permanent secretary at the Defence Ministry, Admiral Banawit Kengrien, created a drift among the defence circle when he refused to endorse the plan and delayed the approval process.

Leading security expert Chulalongkorn University's Associated Professor Panitan Wattanayagorn also voiced his opinion against the deal, saying the armed forces would be better off purchasing a higher quality APC that has proven record.

The Office of Auditor General also raised several questions over this procurement project, especially over the aftersale agreements, as well as the bidding procedures.

Source: Bangkok's The Nation

Russia Plans New Nuclear Weapons

MOSCOW, Russia -- President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia was working on new types of nuclear weapons as part of a "grandiose" plan to boost the country's defenses.

Russian Topol-M intercontinental ballistics missile
Putin, widely popular as his second four-year term draws to an end amid strong economic growth and rising incomes, has been trying to reassert Moscow's role on the international stage by reviving its armed forces, shattered by the tumultuous 1990s.

"We will develop missile technology including completely new strategic (nuclear) complexes, completely new." Putin said in an annual televised question-and-answer session with Russian citizens. "Work is continuing and continuing successfully."

"We have plans that are not only big, but grandiose, they are fully realistic. Our armed forces will be more compact but more effective and better ensure Russia defense," Putin said.

In a striking contrast to the chaotic 1990s with its piecemeal financing of the demoralized army, Putin has overseen the roll-out of new jets, tactical and anti-aircraft missiles and even what Moscow says is the world's biggest vacuum bomb.

A few hours earlier, Russia successfully test-fired its newest Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northwestern Russia. State television said it hit a target in the Pacific, thousands of miles away.

"We serve our fatherland!" the officers who fired the missile replied in chorus after Putin congratulated them on the successful launch during the live broadcast.

Putin did not specify what kind of "completely new strategic weapons" Russia was developing.

NUCLEAR TRIAD

But he stressed that apart from its land-based ballistic missiles, Russia would also develop other segments of its "nuclear triad" -- nuclear submarines and strategic bombers.

Putin said Russia would modernize its turbo-prop Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bombers, codenamed "Bear" by NATO, and the formidable "Blackjack" Tupolev-160 jet bomber, the world's largest combat aircraft.

In August Putin ordered "Blackjacks" and "Bears" to resume round-the-clock patrols across the world, bringing back memories of Cold War-era muscle-flexing.

Putin said a recently launched nuclear submarine would soon be commissioned after naval tests. Another two are being built, and the construction of another would start next year.

"We will pay attention not only to developing the nuclear triad but other weapons as well," Putin said. "I hope that by 2012-15 we will see a new generation of jet fighters completed and sent into active duty."

Earlier this year Russia rolled out its advanced Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber and strike aircraft, whose program -- like other Russian military projects -- had been stalled by severe underfunding after the Soviet Union's demise.

"These Sukhoi planes have started coming to the army. They are of extremely good quality," Putin said. "As a matter of fact, they are the best in the world."

Source: USA Today

Details Of Kyiv Land Grab Revealed

KYIV, Ukraine -- Reports that the Kyiv City Council gave away massive amounts of land worth around $200 million through rushed votes and under mysterious circumstances on Oct. 1 were greatly understated.

Kyiv’s eccentric and controversial mayor, Leonid Chernovetsky, has been accused by oppositionist political groups in the city council of orchestrating massive shadowy land handouts a day after the Sept. 30 snap parliamentary election.
According to new information uncovered by Korrespondent magazine, a sister publication of the Kyiv Post, and published in that magazine’s Oct. 13 issue, the scale of the so-called land grab was far larger than the original estimate of $200 million.

And the schemes used were various and elaborate. New information also revealed that the scandal involved many individuals, including the relatives of Kyiv officials, businessmen and well-known politicians, both on the local and national levels.

The most conservative estimates of the land plots that were given away through allegedly non-transparent city council votes on Oct. 1 put their total value at $10 billion, which is one-third the annual national budget, four times greater than the annual budget of Kyiv, and double the amount paid for Kryvorizhstal.

Ukraine’s flagship steel mill auctioned off in a showcase tender to Mittal Steel in 2005 for a whopping $4.8 billion in what is highly regarded as the Kyiv’s only crystal clean privatization deal.

It took but five hours for Kyiv City Council deputies from President Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine faction and the bloc of Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky to give away what Korrespondent calculated to be more than 300 plots of land totaling between 2,000 and 3,000 hectares – the equivalent of around 3 percent of the capital’s territory.

According to Kyiv council opposition deputies, voting on the marathon land grab took place with breaches of protocol and in great secrecy.

Representatives of the Yulia Tymoshenko’s Byut faction, the Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions and the bloc of boxer Vitaliy Klitschko, who did not take part in the voting, described the event as an “unprecedented giveaway,” adding that those deputies who did take part either received a slice of the land pie or bribes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“They simply very cynically robbed all Kyivans, although I understand that the Kyiv authorities tried to include all political forces [in the scheme], said Oleksiy Kucherenko, a member of the Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense parliamentary faction.

Korrespondent’s investigation revealed that the votes against the land grab were few and far between, inasmuch as those politicians who did not vote were also rewarded.

Who got what

Tetyana Melikhova of the Kyiv council’s Byut faction said that the minimum value of 1 hectare of land in Kyiv is $4.5 million, making the Oct. 1 land give away worth at least $9 billion.

Kyiv developers, however, said that this figure only applies to land in the outlying residential districts of Kyiv. One hectare of land in the city center is worth tens of millions of dollars, and the city council gave away many plots in the center, thus easily tipping the value of the land grab above the $10-billion mark.

Dmitriy Andriyevsky, a city council member from Our Ukraine, said that the factions of Our Ukraine and the Chernovetsky bloc, which supported the vote, “obtained their interests.”

“Those who were not interested personally were interested materially. They took bribes, were corrupted. I can’t name names. Everyone is talking about it in the corridors. The sums were huge – hundreds of thousands of dollars for everyone,” Andriyevsky said.

According to information the Klitschko bloc made available to Korrespondent, plots were given away to more than 20 companies, with each company having a direct relation to a city council deputy, and each deputy being either a company founder or director. The information shows that 12 companies on the list are connected with Chernovetsky bloc deputies.

According to the Klitschko bloc, Chernovetsky family member Viktor Hrynyuk received several precious plots through different companies, including in the quickly-developing Obolon district and the popular recreational zone on Trukhaniv Island. Hrynyuk’s and Chernovetsky’s wives are sisters.

Volodymyr Bondarenko, deputy council head from the Klitschko bloc, said that a little-known medical and health center, Cecil, received 7.57 hectares of land on Zhukiv Island, is directly linked to Oles Dovhy, deputy mayor and deputy city council head, and Oleksandr Prohnimak, a council member from the Regions.

A 2.38-hectare plot of land along the Dnipro River went to a company called D.I.A. Development, a part of the Brinkford holding, which has been linked to Our Ukraine member David Zhvania.

Vasyl Horbal, the head of the Regions party organization in Kyiv, said that a few plots of land were received by businessmen from the non-voting opposition in the city council.

For example, Kyivrybhost, which received a 64.5-hectare plot of land in the capital, is connected to Bohdan Hubsky, No. 27 on the Byut parliamentary list, according to Horbal.

Hubsky’s press service said that he knows nothing about the land.

The fate of the largest land plots remains a mystery.

According to Our Ukraine council member Andriyevsky, more than 20 hitherto unknown companies received more than 1,700 hectares of land. Many of these plots are located in the elite settlement of Koncha Zaspa near Kyiv and along the 21st kilometer of the Stolichny Highway, which is popular among developers for building cottage neighborhoods.

“This was all residential construction. This was a significant redistribution of Kyiv land,” Andriyevsky said.

Each of these plots is between 75 and 142 hectares. For an idea of their true value, one investor laid out $200 million for a similarly-situated 113-hectare land plot in one of Kyiv’s rare land auctions that took place earlier this year.

Individual gains

The Kyiv council gave away hundreds of plots to private citizens: Klitschko bloc members found copies of documents showing that more than 40 hectares were given away to individuals.

Dovhy, who also serves as city council secretary, said on the Inter television channel Oct. 5 that those plots were given to people, who had not been able to exercise their legal rights to land plots since the times of Kyiv’s previous mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko.

However, based on the documents that came into Korrespondent’s possession, many individuals submitted their applications for land plots during the term of Kyiv’s current mayor, Chernovetsky. Many were submitted on one day: Nov. 17, 2006. And all received approval from the Kyiv land resource administration to draw up development plans on the very same day.

A similar one-day application and approval scenario took place on March 22 of this year.

During that session, 450 such applications were submitted. According to law, every Kyivan has the right to privatize 0.10 hectares of land.

“Kyivans should just go ahead and try to get 0.10 hectares,” Andriyevsky said ironically.

According to Korrespondent, Kyiv authorities took great pains to hide the evidence of the Oct. 1 session, including taking the municipal television channel, TRK Kyiv under their control, thus preventing the broadcast of the Kyiv council session.

In addition, Horbal said that all council decisions are supposed to be posted in all their detail on the city’s website. The website was last updated on May 22, 2007.

Council members who did not support the Oct. 1 votes said that fewer than the 61 deputies necessary for a quorum were present in the session hall. Those who were present voted for their absentee counterparts – a direct violation of the law.

“We started going among the rows taking out voting cards where there were no deputies. The whole thing ended with members of the Chernovetsky bloc attacking us,” said Byut’s Melikhova.

As a result, dozens of absent deputies voted for the distribution of several thousand hectares of land in the capital.

Source: Kyiv Post

Lure In Lytvyn

KYIV, Ukraine -- After the announcement of official parliamentary election returns, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense (OUPSD) wasted no time in announcing the conclusion of a coalition agreement to form a majority in the next parliament and, consequently, the new Cabinet of Ministers.

Volodymyr Lytvyn
The new Orange majority, however, has been described as paper-thin, because it has only two more votes than the minimum required in the 450-member legislature.

By contrast, the governing coalition in the previous parliament comprised of the Party of Regions, Socialists and Communists was initially formed with 239 legislators – a 13-seat cushion in the Rada.

The democratic coalition should try to bring the Volodymyr Lytvyn Bloc on board, which would provide an additional 20-seat cushion.

This will require concessions. OUPSD, which already has the presidency, should give up its claim to the parliamentary speaker post by offering it to Lytvyn.

In this respect, the Lytvyn Bloc must be prepared to make concessions as well.

To become a player on the national scene, the Lytvyn Bloc should join its would-be coalition members in demanding change in the capital city.

Source: Kyiv Post

Ukraine Gas Firms Responsible For Safety: Tymoshenko

KIEV, Ukraine -- Yulia Tymoshenko, tipped to be Ukraine's next prime minister, said on Tuesday gas company owners must be held accountable for safety as the country mourned victims of a blast that shattered an apartment building.

Yulia Tymoshenko at press conference
Tymoshenko, a former premier and key figure in an "orange" post-election parliamentary coalition, said companies failing to meet standards could face being turned over to the state sector.

On Monday, she initialled an accord to form a coalition with the Our Ukraine party backed by President Viktor Yushchenko -- under which she is all but certain to get her old job back.

She said the detention of two gas company officials after the weekend blast was insufficient in tackling the problem.

"We have a tradition of finding some middle-ranking employee and offering him up as a sacrifice. In theory, it is the owners of this gas distribution system who must assume responsibility," Tymoshenko told a news conference.

"Either we introduce tough conditions and, if the owner fails to comply, it must be returned to the state. Or we simply pass a law returning to the state sites vital to people's lives and involving an element of danger. I do not rule out that we will have to do this."

Yushchenko declared Tuesday a day of public mourning for victims of the blast. Flags on public buildings flew at half mast or with black trim or ribbons.

The Emergencies Ministry raised to 17 the death toll in the series of blasts that reduced to rubble part of an apartment building and hit nearby homes in Dnipropetrovsk, central Ukraine. Ten people were missing and 16 were in hospital.

Media reported two more deaths in a central Ukrainian village on Monday while trying to bring a gas boiler on stream.

Tymoshenko called for a national audit of safety standards in gas and power distribution systems and proposed calling into session the powerful National Security Council, even before the new government is formed, to take emergency decisions.

Tymoshenko was Yushchenko's first prime minister after weeks of mass "Orange Revolution" rallies in 2004 swept him to power.

She was sacked eight months later after her government split into two factions, ties with Russia soured and investors took fright at her calls for a review of "dubious" privatisations.

Tymoshenko and Yushchenko reconciled during the campaign for the election, which produced a wafer-thin "orange" majority of 228 seats -- two more than needed for most votes in parliament.

In Brussels, the European Union's Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, said the new coalition faced challenges in introducing political and economic reforms.

"The European Commission stands side-by-side with Ukraine as it continues along this path of reform," she said.

Source: AlertNet

EU Welcomes Ukraine's New 'Orange' Coalition

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Commission has welcomed the formation of a coalition between the two major pro-western parties in Ukraine after the September elections, hoping that the country will continue to choose the path of reform.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner
"I welcome the announcement of the formation of a coalition following the September [30] early parliamentary elections in Ukraine," external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said on Tuesday (16 October).

"The future government has important challenges ahead as Ukraine continues down the path of constitutional, political, and economic reforms. The European Commission stands side-by-side with Ukraine as it continues along this path of reform," she added.

On Monday (15 October), Ukraine's two major pro-western parties - the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Party-People's Self-Defense - signed a draft coalition deal.

Under the deal, Ms Tymoshenko's party will have the right to nominate a candidate prime minister, while Our Ukraine will have the same right for the candidate parliamentary speaker.

Together, these so-called 'orange parties', a reference to the role they played in the country's Orange Revolution in 2004 - have a small majority in parliament, 228 seats out of 450, 156 of which belong to Tymoshenko's bloc.

The coalition partners have already stressed on several occasions that pushing through reforms is a key priority for the new government.

"The parliament is new, those in power are new, and the democratic team has all the grounds to reform all sectors of life so that people feel tangible changes in the country," Ms Tymoshenko was quoted as saying by Radio Free Europe.

Ms Tymoshenko also hopes to include the centrist Lytvin party, with 20 seats, in the coalition in order to give the government a more comfortable position.

Furthermore, she has said she would grant some governmental positions to politicians of the rivalling pro-Russian Party of the Regions, which, with 175 seats, is the largest party of the country.

Source: EU Observer

Orange Revolution Parties Will Share Power In Ukraine

MOSCOW, Russia -- The two pro-Western political parties in Ukraine that united in triumph in the Orange Revolution of 2004, but then quarreled and lost control of Parliament, reached a coalition agreement on Monday to retake power.

Can TEAM Orange survive this time around?
Hours after the official results of last month’s parliamentary balloting were announced, the two parties declared they had enough votes to ensure that Yulia V. Tymoshenko, a former prime minister, would again assume the post with the backing of her sometime ally and rival, President Viktor A. Yushchenko.

Ms. Tymoshenko, who has vowed to move Ukraine closer to the European Union and further from Moscow’s orbit, seemed to acknowledge on Monday that her earlier, brief tenure as prime minister had been troubled.

“We have drawn conclusions about what happened in previous years,” she said. “We firmly know what to do, we firmly know how to do it and with which team.”

Mr. Yushchenko, the hero of the Orange Revolution who has suffered a stark decline in popularity because of political instability, issued a statement calling on all the major political parties to work together.

“This will give the country an opportunity to get out of the bewitched circle of crises and conflicts in the power structures, and open a path for progress,” he said.

The agreement is tentative, because Ms. Tymoshenko will not formally become prime minister until the new Parliament meets in coming weeks. The two leaders have a history of reaching deals that quickly collapse, but their aides insisted that this one would last.

For now, the pact represents a political resurrection for Ms. Tymoshenko, whose spirited speeches made her a symbol of the Orange Revolution and one of the best-known politicians in Eastern Europe.

The revolution erupted after Mr. Yushchenko lost a presidential election that was deemed to have been stolen by supporters of his opponent, Viktor F. Yanukovich, who was strongly backed by the Kremlin.

Last year, Mr. Yanukovich took advantage of feuding between the president and Ms. Tymoshenko to mount a strong showing in elections and return to power as prime minister.

He was still overtaken this year, though, despite his efforts to moderate his apparatchik image with the help of an American political consultant.

While the president sought reconciliation, Mr. Yanukovich issued a statement in which he did not mention Ms. Tymoshenko by name but attacked how the campaign had been conducted and criticized politicians “who put their ambitions and interests over the national interests.”

Mr. Yanukovich notwithstanding, it is the prickly relationship between Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko that will now once again take center stage. Their coalition has only a small edge in Parliament, and defections could cause more political disorder.

Final election tallies released Monday showed that Mr. Yanukovich’s Party of Regions won the most seats in Parliament, with 175, followed by Ms. Tymoshenko’s party, Bloc Tymoshenko, with 156, and Mr. Yushchenko’s party, Our Ukraine, with 72.

Parliament has 450 seats, and the two pro-Western parties will have 228 seats. The coalition could still attract 20 more seats from one of the smaller parties.

Source: The New York Times

Ukraine Parties Reach Coalition Deal: Report

KIEV, Ukraine -- The pro-Western parties in Ukraine who narrowly won last month's parliamentary elections have reached an agreement to form a coalition, Interfax reported on Monday.

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko (L) and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko meet at the presidential office in Kiev, October 15, 2007.
Yulia Tymoshenko, the leader of her eponymous party and leaders of the Our Ukraine-People's Self Defence bloc struck the deal following a meeting with President Viktor Yuschenko.

Tymoshenko is due to return as prime minister under the terms of the agreement, which was due to be formally signed on Tuesday, Interfax said.

She was previously prime minister in 2005 before falling out with Yushchenko.

The two pro-Western parties took back control of the parliament in the September 30 elections, taking 228 of the 450 seats, according to the final results tally confirmed Monday.

Yushchenko dissolved the parliament earlier this year after constant in-fighting with the pro-Russian coalition government led by his rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

Yanukovych's pro-Moscow Party of the Regions now appears destined for opposition, despite a respectable tally of 175 seats.

The president said Monday that he hoped a stable administration in the new parliament "would now allow the country to leave behind it the vicious circle of crises and conflicts."

Yuschenko and Tymoshenko, allies in the pro-Western "Orange Revolution" at the end of 2004, held talks prior to the vote aimed at securing an alliance in the eventuality of winning the election.

However the president sowed created confusion at the start of October, appearing on TV to call for a grand coalition which would include the Party of the Regions.

He later moderated that position, suggesting that the pro-Russian bloc could be given posts within government.

Tymoshenko's bloc and the presidential grouping rejected any possibility of an alliance with the pro-Russian side but declared themselves ready to grant the opposition certain important portfolios -- a deputy prime minister and some assistant ministers -- so long as her coalition gained power.

Source: AFP

A Glimmer Of Hope In The Rubble

KIEV, Ukraine -- On Saturday morning, a gas explosion rocked a block of flats in eastern Dnipropetrovsk Region, claiming at least 13 lives as of Sunday evening. Many more were injured or left homeless, while rescuers continue to search the rubble for survivors.

Rescue workers looking at the remnants of an apartment building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk, where thirteen people were killed in the natural gas explosion.
Ukrainian political leaders responded immediately with the usual public promises to punish the guilty and help the victims. And although the election season has already ended, the president, prime minister and top opposition candidate are jostling with each other to show everyone that they really are doing something.

Ukraine is no stranger to man-made catastrophes, holding world records to date in at least two categories - nuclear energy and air shows. Some scholars have argued that independent Ukraine was born of tragedy - the 1986 Chornobyl disaster. By revealing the Soviet authorities' technical incompetence and disregard for individual lives, the world's worst atomic accident set into motion the centrifugal forces of national determination.

It was only after the country’s 2004 Orange Revolution, that the country took on another reputation as a colorful arena for east-west political mud wrestling. In between, Chornobyl and the Orange Revolution, there were other tragedies, such as the grisly murder of journalists who dared to report on official corruption, and a string of military accidents that caused well over a hundred civilian deaths. But when tens of thousands of peaceful protesters filled the streets of Kyiv in the Orange Revolution to oppose abusive authority, the world saw a happy ending to all Ukraine's former tragedies. The country's Orange politicians, President Viktor Yushchenko and his first prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, represented a chance that something would be done to break the cynical cycle of corruption and disaster.

The democratic euphoria, however, soon wore off, as the Orange team fell prey to infighting. As the anti-Orange faction led by Viktor Yanukovych returned to power, together with its leftist allies, some saw this as the country’s latest tragedy. The fact that the resulting power struggle between Ukraine’s politicians sometimes looked more comical than tragic was not a complete break with the country's dark recent past. One could almost laugh recalling the time back in 2000, under former President Leonid Kuchma, when the Ukrainian military let a training missile level a block of flats outside Kyiv - if it hadn't been for the three people killed.

Saturday’s gas blast in Dnipropetrovsk was more mundane. It was a tragedy, nonetheless, albeit with a possible glimmer of hope.

In a clear break with Soviet tradition, the authorities have not played down the damage or withheld the details. Emergency Minister Nestor Shufrych rushed to the scene of the blast to provide meaningful information to the public on what had actually happened. Only months earlier, when a cargo train carrying yellow phosphorus derailed in Lviv Region, emitting a cloud of noxious gas over the surrounding countryside, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk appeared on television to first invoke the Chornobyl disaster and then, a day later, tell locals that they could feel free to graze their livestock in the affected area. The result was confusion and fear.

Under Leonid Kuchma, the typical response of the authorities to disaster was immediately to announce threatening criminal cases and promise generous compensation to victims. Unfortunately, no one, at least at the top of the food chain, was ever charged, much less punished. If someone was fired, he was reappointed; while the average Ukrainian has enough trouble trying to get his state salary or pension, much less disaster compensation.

This time, Shufrych promised to determine the cause of the blast within a specific time frame and offered victims realistic temporary relief - Hr 500 ($100) in cash for food, shelter, etc. The sum is pathetic by Western standards, considering that many victims lost everything they had in the explosion, but its small size increases the likelihood that it will be paid and soon.

Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has additionally promised Hr 9 million in disaster relief. Considering that Yanukovych is not expected to be a part of the next coalition government, his arrival on the scene of the accident was also encouraging.

Ukrainian politicians appear to be getting the message that their electorate is increasingly demanding accountability. The last elections were a good example of a protest vote, which cost Yanukovych's coalition its majority, while suggesting that Yushchenko may not be re-elected in 2009.

President Yushchenko picked up on the political value of disasters in the summer, when he used a forest fire in southern Kherson Region as a pretext to play the hands-on hero. Diverting his aircraft to the scene of the blaze, Yushchenko took shovel in hand to show the people that he wasn't as indecisive and passive as they might think. Afterwards, the president blamed Shufrych for mishandling the firefighting and tried to pressure him into resigning in the run up to the snap elections.

The political benefits of this stunt for the president, however, were mixed, with the media suggesting that he should have shown more management skills than his ability to shovel dirt. So this time around, Yushchenko limited himself to ordering Yanukovych to determine the cause of the Dnipropetrovsk blast and come up with a relief plan.

As with the recent elections, in which she came out on top, opposition leader Tymoshenko seems to have measured the pulse of the nation the most accurately. Always the populist, she also came to meet with the victims of Ukraine’s latest tragedy in her home region of Dnipropetrovsk. Outdoing a pretty good performance by the outgoing Yanukovych government, Tymoshenko offered victims an even clearer solution: The homeless would be put up in new blocs of flats, either immediately or after temporary residence somewhere else. Around 400 people live in the house that was most directly affected by the blast. Tymoshenko’s ByuT faction has already set up an aid center in Dnipropetrovsk.

Election season or not, Ukrainian politicians appear keener than ever to win the hearts of their voters. With four general elections having been held in the country in the last three years, and at least one major one – the presidential elections – less than two years away, the country’s leaders cannot afford to ignore their increasingly demanding electorates. The Orange Revolution raised public hopes, and every election since then has been decided on just a few percentage points.

The people have grown tired of the usual campaign promises – all the more since the frequency of elections has increased. Besides real policy issues, on which most of the country’s politicians already agree – European integration, higher social benefits and end to lawmakers’ privileges – disasters are an excellent way for politicians to strut their stuff, as well as criticize their opponents.

Ukrainians already enjoy more freedoms and wealth than at any other time of their nation’s independence. But the country is a long way from the European ideal put to voters during the Orange Revolution. As political leaders continue to jostle for power in the legal nihilism that has emerged since 2004, public support becomes more important than ever, giving the average Ukrainian more leverage over the authorities.

Compelling reforms of the country’s tax system, judiciary and constitution may still be a long way off, but apparently so are the days of official indifference to public suffering. Justice and real compensation still have to be achieved, for example, in the 2002 Sknyliv air show disaster, the world’s worst ever; and Ukrainian coal miners continue to live a precarious existence. But at least now, Ukrainian politicians jump to their feet to show concern, when tragedy strikes. Even if the concern is temporary and for show, it represents a glimmer of hope amidst another tragedy.

Source: John Marone for Eurasia Home

Ex-Ukrainian Partisans Mark Anniversary

KIEV, Ukraine -- For the first time since World War II, Ukrainian partisans celebrated their nationalist army's creation Sunday with the full approval of the Ukrainian government, despite efforts by angry socialists and communists to break up their gathering.

Elderly Ukrainians, who fought against the Red Army with the anti-Soviet Ukrainian Insurgent Army during and after World War II, march to mark the 65th anniversary of the army's establishment, Kiev, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007.
The Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA, battled both Soviet and Nazi forces during the war, and for several years after the war continued to carry out raids against the Soviets and to disrupt efforts to collectivize farms.

Since the 1991 Soviet collapse, the former partisans have sought financial and moral recognition similar to what Red Army veterans have long enjoyed.

"We needed our government to recognize us and nothing else," said UPA veteran Stepan Babii, 83, who came to commemorate the anniversary of the army's creation in 1942. The crowd of several thousand included uniformed veterans, their relatives and many young Ukrainians.

Hostility toward the partisans runs deep in Ukraine because they initially sought support from the Nazis, believing the Germans would grant Ukraine independence. The country was overrun by Nazis before the Soviets drove them out in 1944. An estimated 7 million Ukrainians died in the fighting, and 2.4 million people were sent to Nazi concentration camps.

During Soviet times, schoolchildren were taught that members of the insurgent army were enemies of the people and that they committed atrocities alongside Nazi troops.

Western-leaning Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree Thursday on celebrating the 65th anniversary and ordered the government to improve medical care and other social benefits for the former partisans.

The president — whose father was a Red Army soldier who spent four years in a Nazi camp — called for further study of the historical role played by the 100,000 partisans.

Yushchenko has long been trying to win recognition for the partisans, but his efforts have met resistance from communists and Red Army veterans.

The question of how to treat the nationalists in Ukrainian history — as freedom fighters or traitors — has polarized Ukraine. The west of the country supports them, while in the Russian-speaking east, support for the Soviet fighters is stronger.

Members of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine tried Sunday to prevent the former partisans and their supporters from reaching the central square, and a few were detained while trying to push through police barriers. Communist Party members stood along the approaches to the square with posters reading "Fascism will not come."

Source: AP

Blokhin Unsure Of Ukraine Future

LONDON, UK -- Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin's future is in the balance after Saturday's 3-1 defeat by Scotland ended his side's hopes of Euro 2008 qualification. Blokhin had vowed to resign should his side fail to make it out of Group B.

Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin
But, after the Hampden defeat, he said: "We can't make it now and I do want to quit my post as manager.

"But I'm not sure if the Ukraine national association will accept my resignation. We will wait and see what happens in the near future."

Blokhin was critical of his side after Scotland avenged last year's 2-0 defeat in Kiev to remain top of the group.

"My players lacked motivation and fight," he said.

"Our tactics were right, but my players didn't do well enough.

"Some of my players played well - but others played badly.

"Scotland deserved to win, because they wanted it more.

"However, I'm not sure if this result guarantees them qualification for the Euro finals next summer."

Ukraine midfielder Anatoliy Tymoschuk is fully aware that his side can help Scotland's cause in their three-way battle for qualification with France and Italy.

His side play host to the French in their final game on 21 November.

"Maybe we can help Scotland and close the door on France," he said.

"They are one game closer to the finals and it is important for Scotland that they win one of the games they have left against Georgia and Italy.

"They have every chance of qualifying for the European Championships."

The Scots have surprised many by leading the group, but the 27-year-old Zenit St Petersburg midfielder had expected a difficult game at Hampden.

"This is a difficult place for other teams to come and Scotland made a very good start by scoring two goals," said Tymoschuk.

"I thought Ukraine were the best team in possession of the ball, but Scotland made lots of hard and fast attacks and scored three goals."

Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko also praised Alex McLeish's side.

"Scotland are a good team and this is a big success for the country and their national side," said the Chelsea forward.

"They are first in the table and have a great chance of qualifying from a very tough group.

"Everything is still in Scotland's hands.

"They still have two very important games, but they are good enough to qualify."

Source: BBC Sports

Thirteen Dead In Ukraine Gas Blast: Report

DNIPROPETROVSK, Ukraine -- Thirteen people were killed and 23 others injured in a natural gas explosion at an apartment building in eastern Ukraine, said Emergency Situations Ministry Sunday, Interfax reported.

This handout photo released by the Ukranian Emergencies Ministry shows rescue workers carrying a body from the exploded apartment building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk.
The ministry earlier told AFP that 11 people had died in Saturday's incident in the city of Dnipropetrovsk.

One more body was later discovered under the rubble and another person died in hospital, according to a revised toll from the ministry, Interfax reported.

A total of 23 people, including six children, had been hospitalised, the ministry said.

Interfax reported that rescuers were still seeking at least 21 people who could have been caught inside the 10-storey building, home to about 400 people.

A team of around 100 rescue workers with sniffer dogs searched for survivors after emergency services evacuated residents from the remaining part of the block.

One woman tried to break through the police cordon around the block, sobbing: "Let me through! My daughter is in there!"

Local inhabitants later brought food, warm clothes and blankets to victims who found shelter at a nearby school.

The local gas company said that a sudden and still unexplained surge in gas pressure had triggered the explosion, without giving further information.

The explosion at 11:00 am (0800 GMT) destroyed part of the block and broke the windows of neighbouring buildings.

Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said at the scene that the explosion was "probably" caused by a "breakdown" in the gas distribution system, Interfax reported.

Several people said they had smelled gas before the blast, while some residents reported suspicious behaviour by three men near the building's gas supply earlier in the day. This was not immediately confirmed.

The local prosecutor's office has opened an inquiry into the incident.

Source: Agence France Presse

Inflow Of Cash Has Squeezed Out Ukraine’s Young Talent

LONDON, UK -- Life has changed a lot since Oleg Blokhin and Sergei Baltacha became the first Ukrainian footballers to be given the chance to sell their talents to the highest bidder.

Oleg Blokhin (L) and Andriy Shevchenko (R)
The two men from the golden generation of Dynamo Kiev, which doubled as the Soviet Union side, hardly had riches laid at their feet.

The pair came to the west in 1988 when they were granted their freedom after years of service to Dynamo, a favour unheard of in the Soviet state. Blokhin, the record scorer with 42 goals in that famous red shirt of the USSR and European Footballer of the Year in 1975, could do no better at the age of 34 than Vorwarts Steyr, a mediocre Austrian side, while Baltacha, at 30, joined Ipswich Town before moving to St Johnstone.

Neither man could have predicted that two decades later, one of their compatriots would be among the richest people in Britain. Andriy Shevchenko is paid £120,000 ($244,000) a week by Chelsea - over £6 million ($12 million) a season – while Andriy Voronin has seen his earnings soar since his move to Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen.

The pair will be in Blokhin’s Ukraine side today facing Scotland at Hampden Park. Shevchenko and Voronin are very much in the minority. The bulk of Ukraine’s squad are drawn from domestic football – only five play their football abroad, and two of those are in Russia – and if that seems an anomaly in the modern football world without borders, then it pleases Blokhin.

The man who spent 15 years working abroad – 13 as a manager in Greece, where Craig Brewster played for Blokhin at Ionikos – has a deep-rooted mistrust of players who are mercenaries. He had a furious row last month with Voronin, accusing the Liverpool striker of being fat, and if the golden child, Shevchenko, is held up as a role model, Blokhin is still keen for his players not to stray too far from home.

That is no longer a problem in the new cash-rich Ukrainian league. Shakhtar Donetsk were paying Matuzalem £25,000 a week until the Brazilian defected to Real Zaragoza in Spain during the summer. Ukraine’s new emerging talent, Olexandr Gladkiy, the striker, has a more modest salary of £350,000 ($712,000) but the pay packet of the player dubbed the new Shevchenko has to be set against average monthly wages among ordinary working Ukrainians of £30 ($61).

The issue of whether Ukraine – and in particular, its two major clubs, Shakhtar and Dynamo Kiev – are using their new wealth responsibly is under scrutiny. Dynamo’s squad for the current Champions League campaign is made up of 13 foreign players, including five Brazilians. Shakhtar, who have now eclipsed Dynamo thanks to the limitless money being spent by the owner, Rinat Akhemtov, have 14 foreign players in the 30-man squad including six Brazilians, as well as the Italy striker Cristiano Lucarelli – who scored against Celtic in the Champions League last month – and the Mexico forward, Nery Castillo.

Blokhin provoked international outrage in February 2006 when he made racist remarks as he analysed the changes in the Ukranian league. “The more Ukrainians that play in the national league, the more examples for the young generation,” he said. “Let them learn from Shevchenko or Blokhin and not from some Zumba-Bumba whom they took off a tree, gave him two bananas and now he plays in the Ukrainian League.”

Blokhin’s appalling racism underlines that attitudes take longer to change than maps. Indeed, Scotland supporters were the victims of neo-Nazi thugs in Kiev last October. Ukraine is part of a new world, where money can now talk, unlike in Baltacha’s day.

Shakthar’s Brazilians may take great pleasure in sorting out Dynamo Kiev when Blokhin goes back there soon to manage. However, the fact that Gladkiy was able to make an impact at Shakhtar this season, underlines what a talent he is. The club spent £14 million to bring Lucarelli from Serie A (Livorono) and Castillo from Olympiakos. The fee for Gladkiy, on the other hand, was just £3.5 million to FC Karkiv. With so many Brazilians, mostly midfield players and forwards, being lured to Ukraine by huge salaries, it is hard for any home-grown striking talent to make an impact.

Dnipro, who were knocked out of the Uefa Cup by Aberdeen last week, have split the Donetsk and Kiev giants in the title race by using a team built almost solely on Ukrainian players. Oleg Protasov, a teammate of Blokhim and Baltacha, feels that is the only way his more modest club can compete. However, there is little doubt that Ukraine is following Scotland’s example of the Scottish Premier League seven years ago – when Rangers paid out £12.4 million ($25.2 million) for Tore Andre Flo – when teams were top-heavy on imported players.

Barry Ferguson this week recalled being the only Scot in the Rangers side that played in the Champions League while Paul Lambert was, for a while, the only Celtic player in the Scotland side. The decline of the national team here had a direct link to the misuse of money at club level.

Gladkiy could start at Hampden after hitting 12 goals in 12 league games for Shakhtar Donetsk this season. He scored on his international debut against in a friendly with Uzbekistan in August, when he partnered Shevchenko, and has since made two brief appearances in the qualifying campaign.

“Who was I yesterday? Just a humble Kharkiv player. Now people expect me to score goals at every level,” Gladkiy said. “It would be nice to score my first competitive goal for my country tomorrow. But we will see. I have set myself a goal – to improve as a player and to play at the highest level possible. Shakhtar have given me a great chance to do so. Not so long ago I was looking at stars like Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho shine in the Champions League, now I have the opportunity to play against them.”

- The superstitious among the France team may be a little worried after fog prevented their plane from landing in the Faeroe Isles last night ahead of their crucial Euro 2008 qualifier today. The plane carrying Les Blues had to head to Bergen in Norway from where it was planning to make another attempt to land at the islands, between Scotland and Iceland in the north Atlantic.

UEFA rules stipulate that a team must arrive in the location of the match the day before it is due to be played. The France team, if their plane cannot land until today, can ask for the match to be moved to tomorrow. The Ukraine players train at Hampden Park before the meeting with Scotland.

Source: The Times

Ukraine's PM Hopeful Tymoshenko Vows To Cede Some Powers To President If Appointed

KIEV, Ukraine -- Yulia Tymoshenko, the top contender for the post of prime minister in Ukraine after parliamentary elections, vowed Friday to cede some Cabinet powers to President Viktor Yushchenko if she gets the job.

Yulia Tymoshenko at press conference
The pro-Western parties of Tymoshenko and Yushchenko, the central figures in the 2004 Orange Revolution that ushered Yushchenko to power, together received a slim majority in the Sept. 30 vote and have enough parliament seats to form a governing coalition.

Tymoshenko said the two groups have agreed to let Yushchenko name the interior minister, Ukraine's top police official - a power now held by the Cabinet - and give him more leverage over other Cabinet and regional appointments.

"I think what we need now is not to engage in a fight for portfolios but to firmly show the capability of the democratic coalition to be formed and formed quickly," Tymoshenko told reporters.

She also warned her rival, the more Russia-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who garnered the biggest share of votes, against seeking to have the election results invalidated and boycotting parliament sessions, as representatives of his party have said they might.

Tymoshenko's and Yushchenko's forces have offered to grant Yanukovych's party deputy ministerial posts in all Cabinet ministries as well as the position of deputy prime minister and chairs of some key committees in parliament.

Yanukovych's party has given mixed signals about whether it would accept the offer and threatened to render the legislature illegitimate by having one-third of parliament members stay away from sessions.

Tymoshenko vowed the parliament would be able to operate even with Yanukovych's seats empty.

"The Party of Regions' demarche to ruin stability in Ukraine ... today won't be in line with the Constitution," Tymoshenko said.

"The Verkhovna Rada will work as it is," she said, referring to the 450-seat parliament.

Ukrainian politics have been driven by a power struggle between Yushchenko and Yanukovych since the tumultuous 2004 presidential race.

Yanukovych was initially declared the winner, but the results were later overturned by courts and Yushchenko won a revote.

Yanukovych capitalized on widespread disillusionment in the slow pace of reform and returned as premier in 2006.

The two leaders' bitter political standoff earlier this year led Yushchenko to call an early vote.

Source: Kyiv Post

Ukraine: The Mysterious Gas Debt To Gazprom

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Ukraine has reached an agreement on its outstanding debt to Gazprom, clearing the air ahead of negotiations on gas supplies for 2008 and mollifying wary European consumers.


But behind the turbid deal stands one outstanding question -- how was such a large debt accrued in the first place?

After the Russian energy giant Gazprom threatened earlier this month to cut off natural gas to Ukraine unless it received $1.3 billion for past supplies, Russian President Putin remarked that "the large debt was totally unexpected."

An astonished Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Azarov told reporters in Kyiv, "It can't be true that the debt is as high as [Gazprom] says it is."

And Ukrainian Deputy Energy Minister Vadym Chuprun did did his best to describe a complicated situation in which Ukraine is not responsible for the debts, saying that the many suppliers, owners, and operators involved in supplying Russian-controlled gas to Ukraine had to "settle their accounts first, and when the amount drops we'll see whose debt it is and whose fault it is."

The lack of awareness was difficult to fathom, considering that one of the companies deemed responsible for accruing the debt, the Swiss company RosUkrEnergo, has three powerful members of Gazprom's management committee on its board.

Even more befuddling was the fact that when the smoke cleared and the numbers of the debt-payment agreement were crunched, the combined debt by all debtors was $2.2 billion.

Examining The Debt

The debt was purportedly incurred by two companies -- RosUkrEnergo and UkrGasEnergo (UGE), a Ukrainian-registered joint venture between RosUkrEnergo and Ukraine's state-owned Naftohaz Ukrayiny.

Much of the disagreement centered on ownership of natural gas stored in underground facilities in Ukraine.

When Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Boyko on October 9 signed an agreement with Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller to pay off the debt by November 1, it was decided that 8.5 billion cubic meters of gas belonging to RosUkrEnergo, worth $1.2 billion, would be turned over to GazpromEksport.

The remainder of the debt, $929 million, would be paid by UkrGazEnergo and Naftohaz Ukrayiny from their own funds, in cash.

The full text of the signed agreement has not been published and has yet even to be seen by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, raising fears that it will forever remain hidden from public scrutiny.

Perhaps this should not be surprising, considering the opaqueness of the system under which Ukraine receives Russian-controlled gas.

The middleman Swiss company RosUkrEnergo was created in July 2004 by Russian President Putin along with former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.

Other key players in the deal were Yuriy Boyko, the current Ukrainian energy minister who in 2004 headed Naftohaz Ukrayiny; Dmytro Firtash, a Ukrainian businessman with no affiliation to the Ukrainian government; and Gazprom CEO Miller.

RosUkrEnergo was essentially formed to replace the discredited Budapest-based EuralTransGas, which was later exposed in the Western press as being a creation of Gazprom and Firtash.

Gazprom presently owns 50 percent of RosUkrEnergo while Firtash and his partner, Ivan Fursin, a banker from Odessa, own the rest through a company called Centragas, which in turn is owned by the secretive Mabofi Holdings in Cyprus.

Medvedev, the deputy head of Gazprom's management committee, sits on RosUkrEnergo's board, as does Valeriy Golubev, who is in charge of Gazprom's sales to CIS countries. And Konstantin Chuichenko, the head of Gazprom's legal division, serves as co-director of RosUkrEnergo.

Trail Of Numbers

According to the January 2006 agreement signed between Ukraine and Russia, RosUkrEnergo -- at Gazprom's insistence -- was brought in to be the monopoly supplier of Central Asian and Russian gas to Ukraine.

The agreement stipulated that RosUkrEnergo would purchase a "basket" of Central Asian and Russian gas from GazpromEksport at $95 per 1,000 cubic meters.

The total volume of gas purchased by RosUkrEnergo, according to the agreement, was 73 billion cubic meters (bcm) -- about 20 bcm more than Ukraine consumed when Ukrainian production of 20 bcm is taken into account.

The extra 20 bcm was the commission Naftohaz Ukrayiny paid to RosUkrEnergo for its services. RosUkrEnergo in turn sold this gas in Europe to, among others, Emfesz KFT, a Hungarian-based company controlled by Firtash.

Emfesz then resold part of the gas to Poland -- undercutting Gazprom's price -- and sold the rest on the Hungarian domestic market.

However, in mid 2007, sources in the Russian gas industry reported that Firtash's companies had accrued a debt to RosUkrEnergo of more than $2 billion.

It appears Gazprom become wary of Firtash's ability to repay the debt and decided to rein him in, but had little leverage over the maverick businessman who seemingly maintained a close working relationship with Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's administration in Kyiv and, above all, with Boyko and Yanukovych's chief of staff, Serhiy Levochkin.

Considering the complexity of the gas-transit arrangement and the internal dealings, it appears that the October 9 debt deal is just a temporary solution to a recurring problem.

And one can expect that the 8 bcm of gas returned to GazpromEksport will be used as leverage over the new Ukrainian government as negotiations for Gazprom supplies to Ukraine in 2008 kick off this month.

Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Ukraine Accuses Russia Of Applying Political Pressure In Gas Dispute

KIEV, Ukraine -- President Viktor Yushchenko's administration accused Russia on Thursday of seeking to use a recent dispute over natural gas to influence Ukrainian politics following parliamentary elections.


Russia's state-controlled natural gas monopoly, OAO Gazprom, said last week Ukraine owed more than US$1.3 billion (€920 million) for gas and threatened to decrease supplies if it was not paid this month.

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov later put the figure at US$2 billion (€1.4 billion).

The move raised concerns of decreased deliveries to Europe and added to political uncertainty in Ukraine, where parties were in tense talks on forming a coalition and Cabinet following the Sep. 30 parliamentary elections.

"We regard it as a certain political pressure on Ukraine in this complicated moment of forming a new government in our state," said deputy presidential administration chief Oleksandr Shlapak, according to the president's Web site.

Gazprom made the announcement shortly after it became clear that opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, who has tense relations with Moscow, could become prime minister.

Tymoshenko has criticized the use of an intermediary in supplying gas to Ukraine and has promised to get rid of it.

This week Ukraine agreed to settle the debt, partly by paying cash and partly by handing some of its gas reserves back to Gazprom.

Shlapak suggested Moscow was also eager to weaken Ukraine's position before talks on the gas price for next year, which Ukrainians fear could rise from the current US$130 (€92) per 1,000 cubic meters.

"In my view, the very timing and tone of the statement shows that Gazprom wants to see something more behind these negotiations than simply problems between companies," Shlapak said.

Source: International Herald Tribune

Wounded Ukraine Heads For Hampden

HAMPDEN, Scotland -- Scotland's victory in Paris has kept the nation's hope of playing in a major finals for the first time in 10 years very much alive.

Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko
But Alex McLeish and his side need not look far for a warning that these Euro 2008 dreams are going to be tested to the full when Ukraine visits Hampden on Saturday.

The joy of victory over France last October did not last more than four days as the Scots went down 2-0 in Kiev.

Some of those who played that night have acknowledged the match in the former Soviet state has been the toughest in the group so far.

Scottish Football teams have been getting to know their Ukrainian counterparts pretty well recently.

A year on from the national sides clashing in the Ukrainian capital, Celtic and Aberdeen have both tackled club sides from the eastern European country.

The SPL champions went down by the same 2-0 scoreline suffered by then-manager Walter Smith's men, as Ukranian league leaders Shakhtar Donetsk picked up three Champions League points.

The Dons on the other hand, knocked Dnipro - with six potential Ukraine starters in their side - out of the Uefa Cup.

The Ukrainians' 2-1 defeat at the hands of World Champions Italy last month has left them with only a slim chance of qualifying for the finals in Austria and Switzerland next summer.

Football journalist and author of Behind the Curtain: Football in Eastern Europe, Jonathan Wilson, thinks the Scots are facing Oleg Blokhin's men at the right time.

"To be honest, they were undone by two breakaways against the Italians," he told BBC Sport.

"They won't admit it, but realistically, I think they will have given up on qualifying after that as it's now a long way back for them.

"Morale will be quite low so this is probably the best time to be facing them.

"I think they will now be looking to the future and may choose to try out some of the younger players."

Wilson also believes there is a different mentality in the Ukraine side from the one that convincingly beat the Scots a year ago.

"Ukraine was well up for it last time in Kiev," he added.

"They had just reached the last eight of the World Cup finals and had it all to play for in the group back then after a good start.

"The current squad surprised everyone because it was viewed as a bridge between a golden generation and a generation that promises much.

"So there was a feelgood factor that night that isn't there just now."

Oleg Blokhin's own future in charge of the Ukrainian national side is shrouded in doubt, with a move to take charge of his first love, Dinamo Kiev, an increasing possibility.

The outspoken 112-time-capped former USSR striker has hinted that his time with the World Cup quarter-finalists will end should Scotland defeat his men at Hampden.

And Blokhin's views regarding foreign imports flooding the Ukranian league have outraged many.

Fall-outs with players such as Liverpool's Andriy Voronin have also hit the headlines.

"I think it's certain he will go to Dinamo Kiev," Wilson went on.

"He and a lot of others are not happy with the number of Brazilians and others taking places in the top sides."

Scotland are likely to face Voronin and misfiring strike-partner and captain, Andriy Shevchenko.

But Wilson believes there are others who could deliver a severe blow to the Scots' Euro 2008 hopes.

"Oleksandr Gladky, who plays for Shakhtar and came off the bench against Celtic, is one of the reasons they are top of the league," he said.

"He has just turned 20 but played against Georgia and Italy last month.

"Dnipro showed against Aberdeen what they can do and they will be well represented in the squad too.

"Even if Ukraine wins, it will still be a massive task for them to qualify."

Source: BBC Sport

Ukraine Leader Says Knows Name Of Post

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- President Viktor Yushchenko said on Thursday he knew the identity of the prime minister to be appointed after parties form a viable post-election parliamentary coalition, but gave no details.

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko inspects the guard of honor at the Presidential Palace in Bratislava, Slovakia, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007.
Groups linked to the "Orange Revolution" that swept the president to power in 2004 won a tiny majority in the poll, aimed at ending months of deadlock. But the party of his rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, is the largest single group.

Yushchenko backed an "orange" government in the campaign, to be led by ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko, his newly reconciled ally. But he has since said she could become prime minister only if a political deal was reached with Yanukovich's Regions Party.

Speaking during a visit to Slovakia, the president said he hoped a coalition agreement could be signed sometime next week.

"I already know the name of the future prime minister," he told a news conference alongside Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic.

He said the combined tally of two "orange" groups -- Tymoshenko's bloc and the pro-presidential Our Ukraine party "is the winner of the election, it has a majority, and obviously it has the right to nominate its prime minister." But he repeated that creating a coalition required "a constructive dialogue" between its parties and the opposition."

Yushchenko on Monday summoned all parties that won seats in the Sept. 30 election and gave them until the end of the week to produce a blueprint for a working coalition.

Leaders have since made few statements.

Tymoshenko said she would be willing to offer some of the current prime minister's allies top government jobs. And Yanukovich said his party was prepared to go into opposition if, after the talks, he was not kept on as premier.

Yanukovich backs the creation of a "broad coalition" bringing together his Regions Party and Our Ukraine, touted by some analysts as a way of bridging the longstanding gap between Ukraine's Russian-speaking east and the nationalist west.

Yushchenko has never called for such a pairing, but says his rivals must get some top jobs to build trust. Tymoshenko says she will go into opposition if a "broad coalition" takes shape.

Yushchenko defeated Yanukovich in the re-run of a rigged election in the aftermath of weeks of "orange" rallies.

But Yanukovich made a comeback last year and became prime minister after "orange" groups proved unable to form a government. He has since chipped away at Yushchenko's powers.

Source: Javno

Election Winners, Losers, And Who Will Come To Rule Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine -- Two days before the Sept. 30 parliamentary election, Russia’s Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin stated that energy prices to Ukraine this winter will depend on who wins the election.

Russia’s Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin
Two days after the Orange forces won the election, Russia’s Gazprom declared that Ukraine has a $1.3 billion energy debt.

Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and the Minister of Energy, the incompetent Yuriy Boyko — both from the losing Party of Regions – headed off to Moscow.

Equally bad, the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, is at it again. He has muddied the political waters by calling for a united government comprising the top three parties, a ploy that prevented the Orange forces from forming the government following the March 2006 parliamentary elections.

What to make of this?

It is strange that Russia’s ambassador was neither reprimanded by President Yushchenko nor asked to withdraw his remarks. Nor were there any calls for the ambassador to leave the country as persona non grata.

Russia is very much at home in Ukraine and continues to behave like a colonial power. The behavior of the prime minister and his energy minister is inappropriate.

The ministers failed to assure the Ukrainian people that they would put up a fight in their defense; instead, the obsequious duo went off to Moscow to hear its bidding. The president’s call for a united government are strange.

So, who are the winners and losers of the Sept. 30 elections?

At first glance the results appear similar to those prior to the election, with the Orange forces and the Party of Regions and its allies each receiving about half of the county’s support.

In fact, the political scene has altered dramatically, as Russia’s pressure on energy prices, the president’s call for unity in view of the Orange win, and the ministers’ trip to Russia demonstrate. There are big winners and losers.

Despite attaining the highest number of votes, the biggest loser is the ruling Party of Regions. It failed to hold power. Only 34 percent of Ukrainian voters backed it.

The other big loser is Olezander Moroz. His Socialists failed to pass the 3 percent barrier required to sit in Ukraine’s parliament. This is not a surprise. After the March 2006 elections, Moroz abandoned the Orange forces to join Yanukovych. Now, he is being punished. One attractive Kyiv voter summed up the prevailing attitude: “Anyone but Moroz.”

The under-performance of the two key pro-Russia parties is bad news for them. It prevents them from taking power in parliament. And, it is bad news for Russian President Vladimir Putin. His wish to control Ukraine as part of his re-emerging new Russian empire is well known.

In secret discussions with Yanukovych, just weeks before the election, he promised that he [Putin] would continue as prime minister regardless of the will of the people. What will be his moves to protect Russia’s interests in view of the Orange victory?

Undeniably the big winner is Byut, Yulia Tymoshenko’s bloc, pulling in over 30 percent of the votes. Her political staying power and momentum are impressive.

Dismissed by President Yushchenko as prime minister, she has put personal animosities aside to cobble, again and again, an Orange coalition, knowing full well that without a united presence the pro-West forces are doomed.

The voters have rewarded her with growing support in the last three elections. Moreover, in this election, she made inroads beyond the historically pro-West regions of Ukraine, winning handsomely in central and parts of southeastern Ukraine. She is poised to form the new Orange government. But why is the president stalling?

There are two other winners. Although small in percentage of votes taken, the Communist Party, dismissed by some as yesterday’s phenomenon prior to the election, has nearly doubled its electoral support from the last election to almost 5 percent.

Its gain is a testimonial to the poverty in the rural areas, national high unemployment, and the low pensions – all big issues in Ukraine. It is said that the Communists are funded by Ukraine’s richest oligarch, Rinat Akhmetov. He funds the Party of Regions as well. In parliament, the Communists will join the Regions to form the opposition.

A big winner and someone to watch is the Phoenix-like resurrection of Volodymyr Lytvyn. Parliament’s speaker under President Leonid Kuchma, he returns after a two-year political absence. His bloc obtained nearly 4 percent.

It is expected that he will support the Regions, although his greater ambitions will dictate a winning strategy that may lend support to issues with popular appeal, regardless of party affiliation.

What about Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense (OUPSD), whose honorary head is President Yushchenko? Are they winners or losers?

Although they placed third after Byut and the Regions, receiving nearly 15 percent of the vote, they – in particular the Our Ukraine faction – cannot be counted as a winner. The force that brought millions to contest and win the fraudulent presidential elections in 2004 has been loosing ground steadily.

Its former supporters are disappointed in the president’s inability to deal with Russia’s meddling in Ukraine’s affairs, in particular, his capitulation to Russia’s grab of the energy sector, and his failure to deal with corruption.

Forming a loose union in time for the elections, OUPSD is seen as splintered and quarrelsome. Unless it forms into one strong party, the descendants of the formerly mighty Rukh and Republican parties will disintegrate even further.

One positive move has been to bring young Yuriy Lutsenko, a high-profile freedom fighter and Orange Revolution figure, into its team. His PSD gave Our Ukraine a boost. Immediately after the election results, he made a public statement of supporting Tymoshenko.

Our Ukraine did not, illustrating once again why many of its former supporters have moved over to Byut. And if the president does not call for the formation of an Orange government very soon, he might be left without a party altogether: Our Ukraine will disappear, because the people will lose faith in it altogether.

And the people know what they want and how to make their vote count. The people were the greatest winners in these elections. They switched loyalties to reward those who espouse their values and protect their well-being. They created winners and losers and made a choice for a new government. But will they get it?

The alliance between Tymoshenko and OUPSD entitles them to form the government. The opposition will comprise the Regions’ Yanukovych together with the Communists.

The big question is, which side will Lytvyn support. Even without him, the Orange power has the numbers. But, they also had them in March 2006.

At that time, the president uttered phrases about a three-way unity, went as far as signing a meaningless unity treaty, and basically stalled, stalled, stalled.

This gave the Regions — read Russia – time to buy over some of the elected deputies at a rumored price of up to $1 million, get a majority and form a government.

Will the president do this again? Hopefully not, but stay tuned.

Source: Kyiv Post

Putin Vows To Further Ties With Ukraine

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday pledged to further develop relations with Ukraine, saying he will discuss with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko strategic bilateral relations between the neighboring states.

Yushchenko (L) with 'Big Brother' Putin.
"I would like to repeat that Russia is interested in the closest relations in all spheres, especially economy, with the fraternal Ukraine," Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying at a meeting with visiting Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich.

"President Yushchenko and I agreed that we will hold a meeting of the (Putin-Yushchenko) Commission, co-chaired by us, and discuss strategic relations between Russia and Ukraine when Ukraine forms a new government," Putin said.

Yanukovich said relations between Kiev and Moscow were stable despite the current political situation in Ukraine.

"We think that we will retain stable relations with Russia. We will ensure the stability of authorities and our relations with the strategic partner, Russia, and the fraternal people," he said.

Yushchenko has asked parties in the new parliament, including the Regions Party, led by his rival Yanukovych, to offer proposals for a coalition government and a new prime minister, following last week's parliamentary election in which his orange ally parties won a slim majority.

Source: Xinhua

Ukraine PM Signs Gas Debt Deal With Russia

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia signed a deal on Tuesday with Ukraine over unpaid gas supplies after a week-long dispute revived fears of potential disruptions in gas deliveries to Europe later this year.

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov
The dispute erupted shortly after Ukraine's parliamentary elections and was interpreted by many analysts as an attempt by Moscow to put pressure on Kiev to form a government with a pro-Kremlin bent.

On Tuesday, Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said it had reached a deal with Ukraine setting a repayment schedule.

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said the amount of debt had been reduced to $1.2 billion from the initial $1.3 billion claimed by Gazprom.

He also told the state television Ukraine would partly redeem its debt by transfering some of its abundant gas stockpiles to Gazprom.

The breakthrough was reached at talks in Moscow with Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, whose party rivals the pro-Western camp led by ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko for control in parliament and future government.

Moscow's relations with Kiev plunged to their low during Tymoshenko's brief term as premier in 2005 and analysts say the Kremlin renewed the gas dispute to indicate it wanted Yanukovich to retain a major role in a new government.

A similar pricing dispute between Gazprom and Ukraine led to gas cuts in Russian supplies to Europe in January 2006. Gazprom, the world's largest gas producer, covers one quarter of Europe's gas needs and sends 80 percent of these volumes via Ukraine.

The two sides have yet to agree on gas prices for 2008, when they are expected to rise from the current $130 per 1,000 cubic metres.

Gazprom does not sell gas directly to Ukraine and operates via a Russian-Ukrainian gas venture called RosUkrEnergo.

Analysts have repeatedly criticised the scheme for lack of transparency as RosUkrEnergo has never disclosed its full list of owners.

RosUkrEnergo's executive director Konstantin Chyuchenko said on Tuesday Ukraine will pay the first $200 million to RosUkrEnergo before Oct. 22.

Zubkov said Ukraine will transfer gas to Gazprom from RosUkrEnergo's stockpiles, but gave no details.

Source: Reuters

Cuban-Americans Help Ukrainian Children

MIAMI, USA -- Sometimes large-scale international diplomacy is about small-scale gestures. On Monday, it was nine Ukrainian children playing with dolphins at the Miami Seaquarium while waiting to be fitted with free prosthetic limbs.

Ukrainian first lady Kateryna Yushchenko
Their visit and treatment are courtesy of Ukrainian first lady Kateryna Yushchenko, members of South Florida's Cuban-American community and others.

The nonprofit Cuba Democracy Advocates wants to build solidarity with Ukraine's fledgling democratic government by helping to pay for prosthetics for about 30 low-income children from the former communist nation and by increasing medical exchanges.

Many Cuban-Americans see Ukraine as a model for peaceful political change and want to support its government and recent criticism of political repression on the communist island.

U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., has worked with the State Department to send doctors to Ukraine and most recently to bring the children to Florida.

"The countries that most understand the Cuban people — besides the U.S. — are the countries of Central and Eastern Europe," said Diaz-Balart, who is Cuban-American. "When I go there, I feel so well. The people there get it."

The Cuban-American community and the U.S. government are keenly aware of the decades of medical treatment that Cuba provided for Ukrainians before pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko became president two years ago. Cuba treated thousands of Ukrainian children after the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

Since 2005, much of that aid has dried up, and relations between the two countries have cooled.

"The U.S. was concerned that Cuba would cut out medical support for the Ukraine, and there was a push to say, `If you take a stronger stance on Cuba, there are still ways to get that support,'" said Carlos Pascual, vice president and head of foreign policy for the Brookings Institution in Washington. Pascual served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2000 to 2003 and is also Cuban-American.

He called the treatment for the children a good gesture but symbolic, considering Ukraine has a population of about 47 million people.

Yushchenko won his country's 2004 election after more than a million Ukrainians took to the streets to protest voter fraud in favor of the Russian-backed presidential candidate. Not surprisingly, he has been critical of Cuba's repression of political dissidents.

Politics were far from the minds of the Ukrainian children who arrived last week. They looked alternately thrilled and terrified as the dolphins leapt out of the water for kisses and high-fives.

When asked what he knew about Cuba or Cuban-Americans before he came to the U.S., Paul Satsuk, 17, of Polonne, Ukraine, grinned.

He mimed smoking a cigar and drinking coffee.

Satsuk couldn't explain why Cuban-Americans would feel a special connection with his country.

"These are very good people, with big hearts," said Satsuk, who lost half his right arm in an industrial accident when he was 6.

Vladimir Hynedka, 49, accompanied his young son Stepha on the trip. He asked his Cuban-American host family if they were Christians because he couldn't think of another reason why they would try so hard to help his son.

The connection between Ukrainians and Cuban-Americans is understandable, said Taras Tkachuk, 30, a Ukrainian doctor who works with Kateryna Yushchenko's charity, Ukraine 3000 Fund, which helped sponsor the group along with Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics in Orlando.

"It's difficult to have a democracy after totalitarianism. Our parents were born under that system. But these kids, they look forward. They feel life in a different way. They are able to use choices," Tkachuk said. "The same will one day be in Cuba."

Source: AP

In Ukraine, Fiery Tymoshenko Revives Orange Hopes

MOSCOW, Russia -- With her trademark peasant braids and fiery talk of radical change, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has come roaring back from the political wilderness.

Yulia Tymoshenko
After producing a stunning upset in Ukraine's emergency parliamentary polls last week, she is poised to retake the prime ministry as head of a fresh Western-leaning Orange coalition.

Her momentum gives the flagging pro-democracy Orange Revolution a new lease on life after more than a year of political stalemate. But despite this, many Ukrainian political players are wary of Ms. Tymoshenko's return – even her recently reconciled ally, President Viktor Yushchenko.

"There is a rational basis for Yushchenko and Tymoshenko to cooperate in the long term, to revive the stalled Orange agenda" of making sweeping market reforms and bringing Ukraine closer to the European Union and NATO, says Oleksandr Sushko, an analyst with the independent Institute for Euro-Atlantic Integration in Kiev. "This is a moment in which many things that have been on hold might become possible again."

Yet as coalition talks in Kiev drag into their second week, there is an unmistakable note of worry over the imminent return of Tymoshenko to government.

"Tymoshenko constantly demands full and total power," says Viktor Nebozhenko, director of Ukrainian Barometer, an independent Kiev think tank, and a former member of Tymoshenko's campaign team. "She has a high level of personal charisma, but she also tends to be a demagogue. She can't make compromises, she can't manage a partnership. Her personality is too strong."

Over the weekend, Mr. Yushchenko, who fired Tymoshenko a few months into her prime ministerial term in 2005, seemed to be already seeking to curb her authority, perhaps by stacking any future government with members of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich's pro-Moscow Party of Regions.

"We have to involve the opposition in forming [the government]," he told the German magazine Focus. To a French TV station he said: "One must take into account that [Yanukovich] received one-third of the votes in the election."

Indeed, Mr. Yanukovich came first with 34 percent – almost equal to his support in 2006 polls – in final results announced Friday. Yushchenko's Our Ukraine movement also remained flat with 14.2 percent.

By contrast, Tymoshenko's electoral bloc, BYuT (Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko), struck a chord with politically exhausted Ukrainians. It increased its popular vote by nearly 10 percent, to 31 percent, creating an unprecedented opening for BYuT and Our Ukraine to form a stand-alone Orange coalition, albeit with a razor-thin majority of just 228 seats in the 450-seat Supreme Rada.

Raised in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, Tymoshenko reportedly made a fortune as head of the country's biggest fuel trader in the 1990s, earning the nickname of "Gas Princess."

After going into politics in the late '90s, Tymoshenko cast herself as a staunch liberal reformer, corruption fighter, and Ukrainian patriot.

One of her former imagemakers, Mr. Nebozhenko, says she studied Ukrainian for 12 hours a day for months, until she was fit to carry on parliamentary debates in a language she had never previously spoken on a daily basis.

While serving as deputy prime minister in 2001, Tymoshenko was imprisoned for several weeks on accusations of forgery and smuggling during her earlier business career.

Those charges, which she described as fabrications of her political enemies, were later dropped, as was a Russian warrant for her arrest.

Tymoshenko rocketed to prominence as Yushchenko's chief ally in the "Orange Revolution," three weeks of non-stop demonstrations in Kiev's freezing central square that led to Yanukovich's fradulent presidential victory being overturned.

A powerful orator, she would warm up crowds and then hand the stage over to the more lackluster Yushchenko. The formula worked: Yushchenko became president with Tymoshenko as his prime minister.

But their postrevolutionary honeymoon collapsed amid squabbling over the pace of privatization and faltering economic growth, which plummeted under her stewardship from 12 percent in 2004 to just 2 percent the next year.

Alexander Dergachov, an expert with the independent Institute of Political and Ethno-Social Studies in Kiev, says it's hard to judge Tymoshenko's performance as premier, "since she had little freedom to act." Still, he adds, "She has yet to prove that she can leave the streets and work effectively in government."

Many experts predict that a fresh Tymoshenko prime ministership could result in moving forward presidential elections now slated for 2009. If Yushchenko remains unpopular, Tymoshenko would probably be up against Yanukovich, the pro-Russia champion who has – with the help of US consultants – overhauled his image into that of a Western-style politician.

Tymoshenko – who, ahead of last week's polls, held over 300 election meetings and visited every region of Ukraine in little more than a month – is likely to give him a run for his money.

"Every election campaign involving Tymoshenko resembles a military operation," says Nikolai Zhupylo, a social psychologist with the independent Socionika Center in Lvov, Ukraine. "She can't live without struggle."

Source: Christian Science Monitor

French President To Visit Ukraine In First Half Of 2008

KIEV, Ukraine -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy will pay an official visit to Ukraine in the first half of 2008, a Ukrainian presidential representative said Monday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy
"There is a preliminary agreement that President Sarkozy will arrive in Ukraine on a state visit before July 1, 2008," Olexandr Chaly, deputy chief of the Ukrainian president's secretariat told journalists. France's presidency of the European Union will begin on that date.

An agreement on the visit was reached during President Viktor Yushchenko's trip to France on October 5, he said.

Chaly said Yushchenko had pulled out of last week's summit of ex-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) members in Tajikistan, in favor of his trip to France.

"The meeting with President Sarkozy was planned long ago, and the two events [Yushchenko's visit to France and the CIS summit] coincided. A decision was made that president would take part in a working meeting with Sarkozy, and that Ukraine would be represented at the summit by Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk," Chaly said.

Chaly said Yushchenko would also visit Lithuania, Slovakia and Romania in October.

Source: RIA Novosti

There Is A New War, Says Analyst

KIEV, Ukraine -- With his pro-Western allies confirmed winners of a bruising election battle against their Russia-backed rivals, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is struggling to win the peace.


Ukraine's most popular politician - Yulia Tymoshenko
Parliamentary election results released on Friday marked a clear defeat for Yushchenko's arch-rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, after a years-long power struggle that has mired the country in political turmoil.

But with most of the pro-West camp's gains in the September 30, elections coming from fiery populist Yulia Tymoshenko, Yushchenko faces domination at the hands of an ally he cannot control, analysts said.

"There is a new war, but this time it is behind the scenes," said Volodymyr Malinkovych, a Kiev-based political analyst. "Yushchenko won the war against Yanukovych, but, in the new battle, Tymoshenko is clearly stronger."

At stake is political stability in this former Soviet republic of 47 million on the European Union's eastern edge that has been riven by political infighting since the 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution.

That struggle saw mass protests led by Tymoshenko and Yushchenko overturn a rigged presidential election victory by Yanukovych in what many saw as a decisive turn West by a country with traditional ties to Russia.

The effect of the latest shake-up on Yushchenko's aspirations to wrest the country from Russia's orbit and into the European Union and the Nato military alliance remain to be seen.

But some observers see the likely return to prime minister's office of Tymoshenko, widely loathed in Moscow political circles, as the cause of Russian gas company Gazprom's threat last week to cut gas supplies to Ukraine over unpaid bills.

According to election results released on Friday, an alliance of Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc won a slim majority of 228 of 450 seats in Ukraine's Rada, or parliament.

But instead of basking in a clear victory, Yushchenko greeted the results with repeated calls for cooperation with the opposition. Analysts said this masked a desire to play the two dominant parties against each other.

Yanukovych's Regions Party secured 175 seats against the Tymoshenko Bloc's 156, both more than double the 72 secured by Yushchenko's Our Ukraine, results indicated.

"Yushchenko is trying to position himself as an honest broker who is not dependent on either of the two major forces," said Ivan Presnyakov of the International Centre for Policy Studies in Kiev.

"He wants to be close to the opposition to build support against Tymoshenko," Presnyakov said. Tymoshenko or Yanukovych could use the prime minister's office to boost their presidential ambitions, analysts said.

"The coalition process is being dragged out... for Yushchenko's strategic goal, to avoid either Yanukovych or Tymoshenko coming to power as prime minister," said Volodymyr Fesenko, from Kiev's Penta analytical centre.

While a coalition agreement between the the Tymoshenko Bloc and Yushchenko's Our Ukraine could be achieved quickly, negotiating peace with Yanukovych's Regions Party could take longer, Fesenko said.

Under Ukrainian law, a government has to be formed within 60 days of a parliamentary election.

But even before the coalition talks, some observers saw Yushchenko as already having lost in his struggle for dominance with Tymoshenko.

"Yushchenko is already totally dependent on Tymoshenko, if he tries to control her she will slam the door in his face, go into opposition and win the presidential elections from there," said Malinkovych.

"The strongest politician in the country now is clearly Tymoshenko."

Source: AFP

Ukraine's Leader Says Had 24 Operations Since Poison

PARIS, France -- President Viktor Yushchenko, his face disfigured by dioxin poisoning in the run-up to Ukraine's "Orange Revolution", has since had 24 secret operations to regain his health, he said in an interview on Friday.

Viktor Yushchenko in Paris.
Yushchenko, 53, was poisoned during the campaign for the 2004 presidential election in which he stood on a pro-western ticket against the current Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, strongly backed at the time by Moscow.

He said he knew who had poisoned him, but gave no names.

Images of the youthful former central banker and contrasting photos of his rapidly deteriorating condition, with an aged face heavily pockmarked, were flashed around the world as orange-clad protesters denouncing election fraud poured into central Kiev.

Yushchenko won the presidency in a re-run of the vote struck down by the Supreme Court after hundreds of thousands of his supporters thronged Kiev's snow-covered Independence Square for three weeks.

"Two years ago, I was very weak. It took titanic efforts just to lift my hand. In the past two years I have had 24 operations," Yushchenko told French television in an interview.

"This is the first time that I am saying this. I was always operated on during my time off."

Yushchenko, who now looks at his fittest and healthiest since the poisoning, has always said that he knew exactly where and when he was poisoned -- while having dinner outside of Kiev with officials from the Ukrainian security services.

He now says he knows who poisoned him and on whose orders, but refused to disclose names as the investigation proceeds.

"All the people are in Russia. It is that which is slowing the investigation down," he said.

Last month, Yushchenko said Russia was hindering the investigation by failing to provide samples of dioxin to compare with the poison used on him. Russian media reported the authorities as saying they would cooperate.

Source: Reuters

Ukraine: Full Results In - But Still No Government

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's pro-Western "Orange Revolution" parties narrowly won last Sunday's legislative elections, confirmed a full tally of results finally published by the electoral commission Friday.

Graphic showing makeup of parliament after September 2007 legislative elections in Ukraine, if Lytvyn Bloc joins Pro-Russia coalition.
With all the results in President Viktor Yushchenko asked the pro-Western grouping, comprising his own party plus the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, to negotiate "an outline for a majority parliamentary coalition."

The Kiev negotiations, taking place behind close doors, began Friday and are expected to stretch into Saturday, according to a source in Yushchenko's party quoted by Interfax news agency.

Speaking in Paris, Yushchenko said it was "possible" Tymoshenko would become prime minister once those negotiations were complete. But he added that "no one force must dominate."

Interviewed on the France 24 TV channel, he said: "But I would add that this can only happen after an accord has been reached between the democratic majority and the opposition."

He warned: "This is a unique chance given to us by God to put to one side the political infighting and pull together around one table. This has not happened in the past 16 years."

Yushchenko said: "Are the negotiations going to bear fruit or not? It's difficult to say at the moment." He said he hoped that "no one force must dominate."

According to the final results released by the electoral commission Friday -- which are only legally confirmed in 15 days time - Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party won 14.15 percent of the vote and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc won 30.71 percent, giving them a combined 44.86 percent compared to 43.72 percent for their opponents.

The Regions party of pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich garnered 34.37 percent of the votes, while his communist allies took 5.39 percent.

The Litvin Bloc, with undefined loyalties, won 3.96 percent of the vote. They had been strongly courted by both parties, notably by the pro-westerners, who tried to keep their small lead against the pro-Russians.

The results from Sunday's legislative elections were based on a 100 percent return on all voting centres throughout the country.

According to Ukranian law, the total vote count, done electronically, must still be confirmed by each voting centre before being officially being recognised as the final result.

Yushchenko confounded pundits on Wednesday when he had called for talks on the formation of a new coalition, apparently involving his pro-Russian opponents, rather than forging ahead with plans to revive a pro-Western government.

Some analysts said that Yushchenko hoped to build a broad coalition to avoid having either current his current prime minister and arch-rival Viktor Yanukovych or Tymoshenko as prime minister.

Both are seen as potential rivals for presidential elections due by 2010.

One point of discussion at Friday's talks was likely to be Yushchenko's proposal to give the Regions party posts in parliament -- and possibly in the government.

Such an olive branch might help prevent the paralysis seen in parliament in recent months and prevent a possible walk-out of Regions party deputies, which could trigger new elections.

But the Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine have played down the prospect of cooperation with the Regions party. Yury Lutsenko, a leading member of Our Ukraine, said such cooperation would be "against the nature of democracy."

Source: AFP

Preliminary Results Indicate Slim Majority For Pro-Western Parties In Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine: The parties loyal to President Viktor Yushchenko and his main Orange Revolution ally have won enough parliamentary seats to muster a majority and unseat Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, complete preliminary election results released Friday indicated.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton (R) shares a light moment with Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko at the Elysee Palace in Paris October 5, 2007.
But uncertainty loomed over the composition of the government in the ex-Soviet republic, as Yushchenko suggested he and his main partner in the peaceful 2004 upheaval, Yulia Tymoshenko, faced painstaking negotiations with their main opponents.

The early election was called to end a months-long political struggle between the president and premier. But the close vote left plenty of room for further turmoil in the divided nation as key political figures — with a history of bad blood and bickering — jockey for position.

Yushchenko had been expected to tap Tymoshenko as premier based on the two parties' majority, which looked increasingly certain as the preliminary vote count crawled toward completion in recent days.

But he said during a visit to France that the issue of the prime minister is "a question for the negotiations" — refusing to show firm support for Tymoshenko or publicly rule out a premier from Yanukovych's camp.

Since the vote, Yushchenko has urged all three major parties to launch coalition talks and look for ways to work together. He has also suggested that if his party and Tymoshenko's forge a majority coalition, the opposition should be given spots in the Cabinet.

But Yushchenko made it clear Friday that he was not advocating a broad coalition involving Yanukovych's force, only calling for giving his party Cabinet posts — a gesture apparently aimed to avoid angering millions of people in a nation polarized by regional, historical and linguistic divisions. Being formally part of the coalition would give his party the right to claim posts and dictate rules.

"I am not talking about a broad coalition, a grand coalition, but I am talking about dialogue between the three political forces, which will provide a spark to start parliament sessions," Yushchenko said in an interview with France 24 television.

He warned that with Yanukovych's force taking more than a third of the Verkhovna Rada's 450 seats, his party's failure to attend sessions would render the legislature illegitimate and prompt further turmoil.

"I propose a peaceful coexistence in a constructive mode," Yushchenko said.

Yushchenko said the makeup of the government would emerge only after negotiations.

Asked whether Tymoshenko could become premier, Yushchenko said: "Yes, it is possible. But I would like to say that this will take place after understanding is found first of all between the democratic majority and the opposition."

Analysts said Yushchenko may be reluctant to give carte blanche to Tymoshenko, a potential rival for the presidency in 2009. He may also be seeking to shore up the Orange parties' strength in parliament. The vote results indicated the two parties would have just two seats more than a majority of 226 in parliament, making for a shaky alliance in a sometimes-fickle parliament.

Oleksandr Turchinov, a senior member of Tymoshenko's party, said it was prepared to grant the opposition some influential parliamentary committee positions and perhaps some Cabinet posts, but firmly stated that it would not forge a coalition with Yanukovych.

The complete preliminary election results showed that the bloc led by Tymoshenko garnered 30.71 percent of the vote in Sunday's election and Yushchenko's party followed with 14.15 percent, according to the Central Election Commission. Yanukovych's Party of Regions received 34.37 percent, but fell short of the Orange forces' combined total.

The Communist Party received 5.39 percent and the force led by former parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn trailed behind with 3.96. No other parties cleared the 3 percent threshold needed to gain seats.

Full results had been slow in coming, with election officials taking three days to tally less than half a percent of the districts. Tymoshenko's party accused the Party of Regions of delaying the vote count in several polling stations in the south, one of its strongholds, in a bid to invalidate the election results.

Yanukovych's party denied the accusations.

Yushchenko and Tymoshenko were the linchpins of the Orange Revolution, when hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets of Kiev claiming fraud in the 2004 presidential election. Yanukovych was initially declared the winner, but Yushchenko won a new vote after a court threw out the initial results, and named Tymoshenko his prime minister.

He fired her after seven months, and their bickering helped bring Yanukovych back to power as prime minister last year.

Yanukovych, who was backed by Moscow in 2004, has taken a more neutral stance since then, pledging to integrate with the rest of Europe, but is still seen as more Russia-friendly.

Source: International Herald Tribune

The Queen Of Ukraine's Image Machine

LONDON, UK -- Three years after Ukraine's Orange Revolution, Yulia Tymoshenko is being tipped for high office again after dominating an election campaign with the help of one of the slickest image-making machines in Europe.

The one and only Yulia Tymoshenko
Her ability to stand out among all the men in the country's power struggles is one that she and her team have honed to perfection.

"Orange princess", "gas princess", "goddess of the Revolution", the "Princess Leia of Ukrainian politics", "a Slavic Joan of Arc" - her nicknames over the years have acquired mythological proportions.

She has cast herself as a fighter for justice, the conscience of the nation, the saviour of Ukraine, and succeeding in looking the part as well as talking the talk.

World-wide recognition

She has become instantly recognisable the world over for that hair: the artful arrangement of traditional braids - sometimes dubbed "the Yulia".

The style has been replicated on the catwalks of Milan, in an international perfume ad and, as Ms Tymoshenko proudly boasts on her website, by Kylie Minogue in a recent calendar.

All of this has a serious political message. The style evoking an idealised Ukrainian peasant girl chimes with her uncompromising nationalist views.

Her former image consultant Oleh Pokalchuk - who says he came up with the idea in the early 2000s - explains that the idea was to project Ms Tymoshenko as a Ukrainian archetype.

"It was necessary to work out and implement an image that would block out the image formed by Kuchma propagandists, one of wealth, of envy, hatred," the social psychologist told the BBC News website.

Ms Tymoshenko's stinging attacks on the oligarchs who prospered under the former administration of president Leonid Kuchma has boosted her popularity among many Ukrainians frustrated by years of economic stagnation and corruption.

"I created an image of a modest village teacher. A visual type, clothes and haircut, a retro image evoking memories of childhood and schooldays... simple clothes, simple haircut, a Ukrainian archetype," he says.

Ms Tymoshenko, 46, was born in the industrial city of Dnipropetrivsk, in the mainly Russian-speaking east.

"She didn't speak Ukrainian so well then and it was necessary for parts of the country, where nationalism is a powerful force, that she should appear one of us," says Mr Pokalchuk.

"It was the image of the poetess Lesya Ukrainka, who had a similar haircut and who is a positive image for all Ukrainians. I was looking at a monument of Lesya every day, from my office window, so I didn't have to go far to find the image"

He says her image is constantly being reworked.

Originally, he says, the hair was brunette and the image modest. Now, the hair is lighter - almost the colour of corn - and the clothes "far more sumptuous".

At one point, such was the national interest in her hair that she was provoked into letting it down on national television, in front of millions of viewers.

"Kuchma's people were putting it about that her hair was not genuine," says Mr Pokalchuk.

In an interview with the Jersualem Post earlier this year, Ms Tymoshenko referred to the amount of interest her hair has attracted:

"Let me state for the record that I invented this hairstyle. And I do it by myself every day. It has been the subject of endless attention in my country. Everybody has something to say about it. But I've noticed that it's catching on in all kinds of fashion circles in Europe. That makes me happy - at least my hair is calling attention to Ukraine."

She has also revealed that it only takes her seven minutes to do.

Slick campaign

The look was key to the former prime minister's slick campaign in the latest election.

The campaign for the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYT) took white as its colour of choice, a red heart as its symbol.

"Her image-making is very interesting and delicately balanced," says Andrew Wilson an expert on Ukraine at London's School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).

"She comes across as feminine but forceful, glamorous but national - and instantly recognisable.

"The heart is a political message - hers is the politics of moral principle as opposed to grubby compromise. In a way, she is the heart - the conscience of the nation. It follows on from the way that she campaigned last year," he says.

Some say her peasant look is somewhat misleading. Critics say she made a billion-dollar fortune in the privatisation of Ukraine's oil and gas industry in the 1990s.

"There is certainly a contradiction," says Mr Wilson. "She is a kind of Eva Peron figure - on the side of the poor but in a fur coat."

Ms Tymoshenko's love of expensive, French designer clothes is legendary. But, in the latest campaign, she had incorporated traditional Ukrainian designs into her mainly white wardrobe.

"Image is very important in Ukraine," says Mr Wilson. "It's a very TV-based society, and television was the primary medium of the campaign."

Detractors have scathingly described her metamorphosis as pretentious: a near biblical transformation, her hair wrapped on top of her head like a halo, complemented by flowing white angelic dresses.

But it seems to have worked magic on Ukrainian voters.

BYT's share of the vote - at nearly 31% according to incomplete results - was entirely unexpected, and gives her every chance of forming the next government.

Source: BBC News

Yushchenko Supporters In Ukraine Reject Coalition With Opposition

KIEV, Ukraine -- Leaders of pro-presidential parties in Ukraine have rejected a coalition that would include the rival party of outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

Yury Lutsenko
Yury Lutsenko, the leader of the Self Defense Bloc, which is cooperating with President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Party, says the groups favor a coalition with supporters of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

But both he and Ms. Tymoshenko Thursday dismissed the possibility of forming a broad coalition with Mr. Yanukovych's Party of Regions.

Their statements came a day after President Yushchenko urged all leading parties to strike a deal on a ruling coalition to end months of political impasse.

Speaking on national television Wednesday, the president said Ukraine will not have political stability until major parties make compromises. His arch-rival Mr. Yanukovych has welcomed the proposal.

Mr. Yushchenko's supporters together won about 45 percent of Sunday's vote. Backers of Mr. Yanukovych, who favors closer ties with Russia, won about 34 percent.

The political stand-off has all but paralyzed the Kyiv government for nearly a year.

Source: Voice of America

Ukrainian Leader's Party Shuns Pro-Russian Rivals

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's political parties got down to tough coalition talks on Thursday, with President Viktor Yushchenko's supporters saying they would not welcome a tie-up with pro-Russian rivals.

The fiery and beautiful Yulia Tymoshenko
At a news conference the leader of Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party quickly moved to dispel expectations raised earlier of a broad coalition that would take in both wings of the political spectrum following last Sunday's elections.

"A broad coalition" including the pro-Russian Regions Party "is against the nature of democracy," said Yury Lutsenko, who topped Our Ukraine's list of election candidates.

The rejection came after Yushchenko on Wednesday called for pro-Western forces to use their slim win at the parliamentary elections to team up with their rivals to form a unity government and end months of infighting.

Near final results from Sunday's poll gave a narrow lead to an alliance of Our Ukraine and the opposition Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, raising the possibility of a reunion of the team that led the 2004 pro-democracy protests known as the Orange Revolution.

But on Wednesday the president said that coalition talks should also include the Regions Party led by his bitter rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

"The three political forces need to take a step forward... to put a full stop to this scandal," Yushchenko said in his comments in Berlin on Wednesday, referring to the bickering that has paralyzed government in recent months.

But Lutsenko said Yushchenko had underlined his commitment to the creation of a pro-Western majority with the Regions Party in opposition at a meeting earlier in the day.

Responding to Yushchenko's proposal that the opposition be given senior posts in parliament, and possibly the government, Lutsenko said negotiations were possible "on the rights of the opposition, which should be protected."

He also said Our Ukraine supported the candidacy of firebrand pro-Western politician Yulia Tymoshenko for prime minister.

Yushchenko has not said whom he favours as premier but aides, including a senior official in the presidential administration, have made clear that he aims to put Tymoshenko in the prime minister's post.

She is popular among more nationalist-inclined Ukrainians and those supporting efforts to wrest Ukraine from Russia's centuries-old dominance.

However her possible prime ministership raised fears of difficult relations with Moscow -- an issue highlighted by threats of a new gas dispute this week between Russian giant Gazprom and Ukraine.

Yushchenko and Tymoshenko shot to worldwide fame when they led the 2004 Orange Revolution to overturn a rigged presidential election victory by Yanukovych.

The revolution led to Yushchenko taking the helm and setting a pro-Western course that includes joining the NATO military alliance -- a moved fiercely opposed by Moscow.

For the last 11 months, however, Yushchenko was forced to deal with his bitter rival Yanukovych as prime minister, a chaotic period that forced the calling of Sunday's early election -- the third national poll in as many years.

The strong performance of Yulia Tymoshenko's Bloc in Sunday's poll allowed a revival of her on-off alliance with Yushchenko.

With 99.93 percent of ballots counted, the former Orange coalition had won just under 45 percent of the vote, giving it a narrow majority with 228 seats of the 450 seat parliament.

The Regions Party had 34.3 percent, or 174 seats, on its own.

Source: AFP

Appalling Kyiv City Council Land Grab

KIEV, Ukraine -- Rarely have so many stolen so much so quickly. As the country was preoccupied by parliamentary elections, Kyiv city council thought nobody would notice and pushed through hundreds of land transfers on Oct. 1.

Kiev Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky
Actually, the $200 million robbery of Kyiv land is equal to about 20 percent of what Rinat Akhmetov’s System Capital Management stole during the rigged share auction of the Dnipropenergo thermoelectric generator earlier this year. And it represents less than 5 percent of the amount Viktor Pinchuk and Akhmetov tried to steal though a rigged auction of the Kryvorizhstal steel mill.

But the gall of Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky and President Viktor Yushchenko’s own Our Ukraine faction in Kyiv city council in attempting to steal thousands of hectares of land in the capital city is shocking.

While the councilors from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, the Vitaly Klitschko Bloc and the Party of Regions were looking the other way, city council speaker and deputy mayor Oles Dovhy rushed through some 400 land grants to unknown companies and individuals.

Sadly, it is unfair to say that the greedy council members actually stole anything. In fact, they simply manipulated the law to allow the doling out of land parcels for their pet projects.

In much the same way, Akhmetov and Pinchuk lobbied to change the rules for the privatization of Kryvrorizhstal so that foreign bidders were excluded from the auction.

In economics there is a simple rule: In order to reduce prices, supply needs to grow or demand needs to be reduced. It is difficult to increase the supply of multi-billion-dollar steel factories or the number of regional energy companies to be privatized, or of land in Kyiv, for that matter.

Instead, bureaucratic obstacles are erected: The city architect must approve plans before anything can be built, or a company must have three years of very specific coal-processing experience before it can bid on a steel mill.

Similar obstacles simply reduce the amount of participants in tenders and the price the government receives from the sale of state assets.

Transparent and open auctions are the simple solution. Anyone, be it a foreign or Ukrainian entity, a private individual or major company, should be allowed to take part. There should be no restrictions on what an entity can do with a parcel of land, a steel mill or telecommunications company.

Every new barrier that is put up – whether it is a city architect who decides that a building’s facade must match Kyiv’s “historical face,” or coal-smelting requirements, or promises not to fire employees, is simply a legal fig leaf for corruption that artificially pushes down demand.

If authorities are actually worried about the plights of workers at Kryvorizhstal or Ukrtelecom, then they should state outright: 10 percent of the purchase price must be spent on employee compensation and retraining, for example.

One could argue that a chunk of those funds will ultimately be stolen as well, but the losses incurred will be substantially less than those resulting from losses due to rigged auctions.

It is rare to see economic theory proven so clearly in real world practice. But thanks to the re-privatization of Kryvorizhstal, the true costs of falsified participations, land grants and other corrupt measures are now known to every Ukrainian: Pinchuk and Akhmetov paid $800 million for Kryvorizhstal, while Mittal paid $4.8 billion.

Billions upon billions of hryvnias are stolen every day. Kyiv city council stole $200 million in one day. One can only shudder to think: What’s next?

Source: Kyiv Post

Ukraine Leader Wants Feuding Parties To Talk On Govt

KIEV, Ukraine -- President Viktor Yushchenko, in a move likely to increase political confusion in Ukraine and further stall economic reform, on Wednesday ordered feuding parties to work out what coalition should run the country.

Viktor Yushchenko
Yushchenko, who before Sunday's election had said he wanted a coalition only of pro-Western allies from the "Orange Revolution," said stability could be achieved only by a political understanding that included the party of his chief rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich.

His comments ran counter to an agreement he appeared to strike with former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, his ally from the "Orange Revolution" with whom he subsequently fell out for a time.

"We can achieve political stability from a political understanding between the three key political players -- the Regions Party, the Tymoshenko bloc and Our Ukraine," the President told reporters outside his office.

Yanukovich, Yushchenko's old rival from the 2004 "Orange Revolution," heads the Regions Party.

The President himself is backed by Our Ukraine while the Tymoshenko bloc is led by his fiery former prime minister with whom he might now find himself once more at odds.

Yushchenko's call seemed certain to increase the rivalry with Yanukovich too.

Yushchenko said it was up to the three groups to end the bickering that has characterized Ukrainian politics for more than a year and to decide who would form the government and who would go into opposition.

"My main message to these political forces is to start political talks in order to form the basis of a majority in the Ukrainian parliament and the government and determine the relations between forces in government and opposition."

With the count nearly complete, groups linked to the "Orange Revolution" -- Tymoshenko's bloc followed by the pro-presidential Our Ukraine, lead Yanukovich's Regions Party and its Communist allies.

Both sides have claimed victory and the right to form a government.

"The President has decided to show that he is above the fray, that the formation of a coalition is a matter strictly for parliament with his as supreme arbiter.

"This is Yushchenko wanting to distance himself from the political fight -- and dissociate himself from coalition talks," said Oleksander Lytvynenko, an analyst at the Razumkov think tank.

Source: Reuters Canada

Ukraine's Pro-West Parties On Brink Of Victory

KIEV, Ukraine -- Pro-Western parties on Wednesday looked certain to win Ukraine's parliamentary election, with firebrand leader Yulia Tymoshenko likely to become prime minister amid fears of new tensions with neighbouring Russia.

President Viktor Yushchenko
President Viktor Yushchenko was to announce the formation of a coalition with Tymoshenko, his partner in the 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution, the presidential administration said.

With 99.24 percent of ballots counted, their Orange coalition had won 45 percent of the vote.

The Regions Party, headed by their bitter rival, pro-Moscow Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, had 34.21 percent.

Yanukovych could in theory assemble a rival coalition with 43.5 percent of the vote, just 1.5 percentage points behind the Orange team.

Russia accuses democracy movements in the ex-Soviet Union of serving the interests of Western governments and the return of the Orange team was likely to irritate increasingly powerful President Vladimir Putin.

The first sign of trouble came Tuesday, just as early results indicated possible victory for the Orange team, when Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom warned it would cut gas supplies next month if Ukraine failed to pay debts of more than one billion dollars.

Ukraine rushed its energy minister to Moscow for talks as the political tensions remained high in Kiev.

Sunday's election was held to end months of political chaos in this ex-Soviet republic of 47 million people, but the slender margin of victory for the pro-Western camp meant further wrangling was inevitable.

The results indicated that the 450-seat Rada, or parliament, was likely to be heavily divided, with the Orange coalition's majority numbering only a few seats.

Amid accusations of fraud, there was also the possibility of a court challenge by the small Socialist Party, which appeared to have narrowly failed to cross the three percent threshold for entry to parliament, robbing Yanukovych of a crucial coalition ally.

Victory in Sunday's snap parliamentary poll would mark a stunning comeback for the Tymoshenko-Yushchenko duo, who shot to worldwide fame when they led the 2004 Orange Revolution to overturn a rigged presidential election victory by Yanukovych.

Yushchenko won the rerun and has pushed to take Ukraine into NATO and the European Union, breaking Moscow's centuries-old stranglehold over the country.

However, for the last 11 months he has been forced to deal with his bitter rival Yanukovych as prime minister, a chaotic period that forced the calling of Sunday's election -- the third national poll in as many years.

The dispute with Russia over payments for gas sparked alarm in the European Union, which heavily depends on Ukraine for the transit of Russian energy. The the EU Commission calling for a "swift settlement" to the dispute.

Although Gazprom insists that its policies are based entirely on business needs, critics accuse the giant exporter of bullying former Soviet republics that get too close to the West.

"It could be Russia's way of saying that if Tymoshenko doesn't give up her prime ministerial ambitions she could have very big problems," a source closely connected to the government told AFP.

Russia's Kommersant newspaper said the link was clear.

"Gazprom, which held off discussing gas deliveries to Ukraine before the elections, was not slow to react to their results. Victory by the Oranges cannot suit either Russia or Gazprom," the daily wrote Wednesday.

Source: AFP

Ukraine's Pro-West Parties Poised For Victory

KIEV, Ukraine -- Pro-Western parties in Ukraine were poised for a small but landmark victory Wednesday after a cliffhanger parliamentary vote, with their Moscow-backed opponents scratching for the final few seats.

The pro-Moscow Viktor Yanukovych does not appear to be a "happy camper" as the pro-Western coalition maintains a slim lead with over 99% of the votes counted.
With less than one percent of ballots left to count after Sunday's snap election, the Orange Revolution alliance of President Viktor Yushchenko and firebrand reformist Yulia Tymoshenko held an almost unassailable lead.

Timoshenko's party garnered 30.80 percent of the votes and Yushchenko's Our Ukraine/People's Self Defence came in third with 14.24 percent, the figures showed.

Their arch rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, had not yet conceded defeat.

But his Regions Party, while the biggest in parliament with more than 34.24 percent of the vote, lagged well behind the combined tally of 45.03 percent for the Orange coalition.

Yanukovych's hopes of assembling a ruling coalition with smaller parties appeared dashed by the almost certain failure of the Socialists -- key allies -- to clear the three percent mark for entering parliament.

With 99.02 percent of all votes counted, the Socialists had only 2.88 percent of the vote. Zhanna Usenko-Chorna, a member of the Central Election Commission, said that was unlikely to change.

"The Socialists' results have fallen through the day and we do not have evidence to say that their percentage can rise," Usenko-Chorna said on Channel Five television.

Without the Socialists, the biggest alliance Yanukovych could form would still trail behind its pro-Western rivals.

The communists won 5.37 percent and another small party, the unaligned Lytvyn Bloc, 3.95 percent.

A senior official at the president's office said there would not be much of a difference in size between the pro-Western and pro-Russia bloc but added he was "85 to 90 percent sure" the Orange alliance would have a majority.

"Maybe not a huge majority but an edge of two or three seats to be able to form a coalition," he said.

He told journalists that a formal coalition, under which Tymoshenko would become prime minister, should be announced "by the end of the week."

This would mark a stunning comeback for the glamorous figurehead of the pro-democracy 2004 Orange Revolution -- and a likely source of new friction with Ukraine's Soviet-era ruler Russia.

The Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom issued a warning Tuesday that gas supplies would be cut next month if Ukraine failed to pay debts, a threat that worried EU customers depending on the former Soviet republic for transit.

The EU Commission called for a "swift settlement" to the dispute.

Although Gazprom insists that its policies are based entirely on business needs, critics accuse the giant exporter of bullying former Soviet republics that get too close to the West.

The timing of the warning, just as results pointed to a possible victory by pro-Western parties in Ukraine, was suspicious, a source closely connected to the government told AFP.

"It could be Russia's way of saying that if Tymoshenko doesn't give up her prime ministerial ambitions she could have very big problems," said the source, who did not want to be identified.

Meanwhile, accusations of fraud mounted as rival parties watched the tense final vote count.

Tymoshenko told journalists her opponents were "using fraud, bribery" to give the Socialists the necessary last few votes needed to win seats.

Earlier, Yushchenko ordered a police investigation into possible ballot fraud in the east of the country, Yanukovych's stronghold.

A Regions Party official in the Kiev district claimed Tymoshenko supporters had added 30,000 votes to her score in one district.

The Communist Party leader, Petro Symonenko, described the election as "the dirtiest ever" and demanded a "complete recount," Interfax reported.

However, the main Western monitoring group, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, earlier gave Sunday's election a generally clean bill of health.

Washington, the European Union and an increasingly assertive Kremlin are all vying for influence in this strategic country, which has expressed interest in joining the European Union and NATO.

But Moscow has been at odds with Yushchenko and Tymoshenko ever since the Orange Revolution, a major defeat for Russian foreign policy, when Yanukovych was forced to rerun his rigged presidential election win.

Yushchenko won the rerun and Tymoshenko became prime minister, before internal fighting led to her dismissal and opened the door to Yanukovych.

Source: AFP

Ukraine's Pro-West Parties Hold Fragile Lead In Poll

KIEV, Ukraine -- Pro-Western parties maintained a fragile lead Tuesday over their Moscow-backed rivals in Ukraine's cliffhanger parliamentary election, but both sides declared victory amid claims of fraud.

Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine's opposition leader, speaks to the press in Kiev, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007. Tymoshenko and Yushchenko's parties have declared themselves the winners of Sunday's vote and put forward plans for forming a new Cabinet. But Yanukovych has also claimed victory.
The outcome of Sunday's snap election remained in question even as final votes were counted, with the Orange Revolution alliance of President Viktor Yushchenko and firebrand reformist Yulia Tymoshenko just ahead.

Their arch rival, Moscow-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, also claimed victory.

His Regions Party was on track to be the biggest single force in the ex-Soviet republic's parliament, although well behind the combined Orange coalition.

Even if Yanukovych formed his own alliance with smaller parties, he would be 1.65 percentage points behind his rivals, according to figures based on 97.5 percent of ballots counted.

Tymoshenko would likely replace Yanukovych as prime minister if the Orange coalition came to power, a stunning comeback for Ukraine's most flamboyant politician and figurehead of the pro-democracy 2004 Orange Revolution.

Reflecting tensions, the Regions Party bolstered its presence on Kiev's central square, the scene of countless demonstrations over the last three years in this country of 47 million people lying between Russia and the European Union.

Their blue tents were dotted across the historic plaza known as the Maidan, apparently in a bid to control the territory for future protests.

Yushchenko ordered a police investigation into possible ballot fraud in the east of the country, Yanukovych's stronghold.

"We are anxious about possible fraud," Yulia Yershova, a spokeswoman for Yushchenko's Our Ukraine/People's Self Defence bloc, told AFP.

Meanwhile, in a reminder of Ukraine's -- and the neighbouring European Union's -- reliance on Russian energy imports, natural gas giant Gazprom warned that it would cut supplies next month if Ukraine failed to meet debts of 1.3 billion dollars (900 million euros.)

The threat recalled the 2006 "gas war" when Moscow slashed supplies to Ukraine, with a serious knock-on effect for EU customers relying on Ukraine for transit.

Moscow has been at odds with Yushchenko and Tymoshenko ever since the Orange Revolution, a major defeat for Russian foreign policy, when Yanukovych was forced to rerun his rigged presidential election win.

Yushchenko won the rerun and Tymoshenko became prime minister, before internal fighting led to her dismissal and opened the door to Yanukovych.

With 97.5 percent of ballots counted Yushchenko's Our Ukraine/People's Self-Defence party and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc combined had 45.13 percent of the vote, Central Election Commission figures showed.

The Regions Party had 34.17 and could also count on support from the Communists at 5.36 percent.

However, even if Yanukovych secured support from the small Lytyvn party, which had 3.95 percent, his coalition's total vote count would be no more than 43.48 percent -- 1.65 percent short of the Orange total.

That meant the entire election could hang on the fate of the small Socialist party, which supports Yanukovych.

At last count, the Socialists had 2.90 percent of the vote, just under the minimum barrier of three percent for being awarded seats. If the Socialists get into parliament they could play the role of kingmaker.

Denying any nerves over the vote count, a source in Tymoshenko's party told AFP: "We've done our work. We're not worried. We are preparing to form a coalition."

But Yanukovych was also defiant, saying: "We won and I am sure that we will form the government."

The main Western monitoring group, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, gave Sunday's election a clean bill of health.

"The elections met levels of well-accepted European standards," said Adrian Severin, a European Parliament member in the observer team.

Washington, the European Union and an increasingly assertive Kremlin are all vying for influence in this strategic country, which has expressed interest in joining the European Union and NATO.

Tom Casey, a US State Department spokesman, said Washington hopes "that this election will result in a government in Ukraine that can be effective and can serve the needs of the people."

Source: AFP

Ukraine Holds Breath In Election Cliffhanger

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine held its breath Tuesday as the last ballots were counted in a cliffhanger parliamentary election, with the focus turning to small parties that could hold the key to power in forming a ruling coalition.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich greets his supporters from a stage at Independence square in Kiev. Ukraine's elections hung on a knife-edge Tuesday as preliminary results threatened a dead heat and pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko ordered a probe into possible ballot fraud.
Final results were expected Tuesday, but even this was not certain as the country of 47 million people slid toward a new round of political bickering and instability -- exactly what Sunday's snap election was meant to end.

In a sign of rising nerves, Moscow-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's Regions Party bolstered its presence on Kiev's central square, the scene of countless demonstrations over the last three years in this ex-Soviet republic.

Few party activists were visible, but their blue tents were dotted across the historic plaza known as the Maidan, apparently in a bid to control the territory.

With 94 percent of ballots counted President Viktor Yushchenko and his pro-Western Orange Revolution partner Yulia Tymoshenko saw their combined parties gather 45 percent of the vote.

That put them a hair ahead of their arch rival, Yanukovych.

His Regions Party was set to be the biggest in parliament with 34.2 percent of the vote, but even if Yanukovych managed to link up with two smaller parties his coalition would only control 43.5 percent of the vote -- still 1.5 percentage points behind the Orange coalition.

The tightness of the results meant that every vote counted, with the outcome potentially depending on whether one more small party, the Socialists, managed to enter parliament.

At the latest count they had only 2.94 percent of the vote, just under the legal three percent bar for being awarded seats. If the Socialists do get in, then they could be kingmakers for either side.

Yushchenko on Monday ordered police to investigate possible ballot fraud in the east of the country, a Yanukovych stronghold, saying that "those who commit fraud will be punished."

But Yanukovych was defiant in the face of what had been a day of early results indicating narrow victory for the Orange alliance, which hopes to oust Yanukovych and replace him with the fiery reformer Tymoshenko.

"We won and I am sure that we will form the government," he said. "Nothing confirms the Orange forces' victory."

About 3,000 flag-waving supporters gathered Monday on Kiev's main Independence Square for what was billed as a victory rally.

The election was called early to put an end to a debilitating power struggle between Yushchenko and Yanukovych, who secured the premier's post after a strong performance in parliamentary elections 18 months ago.

Yushchenko and Tymoshenko were at the heart of the Orange Revolution alliance, which overturned a rigged presidential election win by Yanukovych. Yushchenko triumphed in the rerun but the alliance was swiftly undone by infighting.

An Orange return would mark a sensational comeback based on better than expected showings by Tymoshenko's bloc in Sunday's vote, when she said she wanted to form a new government with Yushchenko within 48 hours.

But they had yet to set up a formal coalition and analysts cautioned that almost any twist was possible given Ukraine's infamously complex and rancorous political scene.

The main Western monitoring group, the OSCE, gave Sunday's election a clean bill of health.

"The elections met levels of well-accepted European standards," said Adrian Severin, a European Parliament member in the observer team.

Washington, the European Union and an increasingly assertive Kremlin are all vying for influence in this strategic country, which has expressed interest in joining both the European Union and NATO.

Tom Casey, a US State Department spokesman, said Washington hopes "that this election will result in a government in Ukraine that can be effective and can serve the needs of the people."

"And we stand ready to work with whatever government results from these elections," he said.

Ukraine straddles key Russian gas export routes to energy-hungry EU clients and is also a testing ground for Western-style economic and political reforms in the former Soviet Union, where many countries are now led by authoritarian governments.

Source: AFP

Ukraine's Yushchenko Warns Of Vote Fraud As Winning Margin Ebbs

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko warned against vote fraud as late results from a Sept. 30 parliamentary election showed the winning margin of his Orange coalition disappearing.

Viktor Yushchenko must be having "deja vu" of 2004
The Orange alliance of former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko's bloc and Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party had 45.33 percent of the vote with 93 percent counted by midnight in Kiev, the Central Election Commission said on its Web site.

All the other parties with a chance of reaching the 3 percent threshold needed to enter parliament had a combined 46.25 percent, giving them an overall majority should they agree to combine forces.

The late swing toward the Party of the Regions of pro- Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and his allies contradicted exit polls after voting closed.

The move also reversed a trend earlier yesterday that had the pro-western Orange team, which seeks closer ties with the European Union and NATO, winning.

Yushchenko demanded an investigation into why returns from regions loyal to Yanukovych were coming in late.

``I demand that the Central Election Commission and the Prosecutor General's Office give comprehensive explanations,'' Yushchenko said in a translated speech posted yesterday on his Web site. ``I would like to say clearly to those political forces that hope to get into parliament through manipulations: Words and actions will not be at variance and falsifiers will be punished. Do not challenge the law and your own fate.''

Echo of 2004

Yushchenko's claim echoed the presidential election in 2004, when Yanukovych was declared the winner in a poll, which the Constitutional Court said was rigged after tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets.

Yushchenko was swept to power in the ensuing ``Orange Revolution,'' and the two men have been at odds ever since.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the continent's main human-rights watchdog, said in a statement yesterday that the latest election largely met international standards for a free and fair vote.

The election was ``mostly in line with international commitments and standards for democratic elections'' and confirmed ``an open and competitive environment'' for holding such votes, the statement said. The OSCE deployed about 710 observers to monitor the election.

Urdur Gunnarsdottir, spokeswoman for the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, wouldn't comment directly on Yushchenko's remarks.

``We will be following the complaints process, but we will not be commenting on every single move,'' she said by telephone from Kiev.

Election Monitors

Evhen Poberezhnyi, deputy director of the Ukrainian Voter's Committee, a non-governmental organization, said election monitors had not operated everywhere.

``There are some polling stations in eastern and southern regions of Ukraine where there are no observers from opposition parties,'' he said in a telephone interview.

Timoshenko, 46, earlier had been confident enough of victory to say she would meet Yushchenko to discuss a new Cabinet, reuniting the victors of the 2004 Orange Revolution. They didn't meet yesterday.

Central Election Commission member Mykhaylo Okhendovskiy said the final vote tallies won't be announced until today and possibly tomorrow, according to television channel TV 5.

Key Figure

Former parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn could emerge as a key figure after the elections, analysts said. At midnight in Kiev, his bloc had 4 percent of the vote.

If he backs Yanukovych, he could put the latter's Party of the Regions, with allies the Communist Party and the Socialist Party of Ukraine, just ahead of the Orange group.

If he backs the Yushchenko- Timoshenko alliance, they should still have a clear majority.

``The Lytvyn bloc could again be the spoiler this year,'' said Taras Kuzio, research associate at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University. Lytvyn ``maintained good relations with Yushchenko and Yanukovych'' and so ``could be courted by both.''

The Socialist Party had 2.96 percent of the vote at midnight, just short of the threshold. With 7 percent of votes uncounted, its total could rise to give it seats in parliament.

Yanukovych, 57, won elections last year and his administration blocked many of the president's policies and stripped him of some powers.

Yanukovych said after polls closed Sept. 30 that his party had been given ``carte blanche'' to form the next government.

``We will ask all parties that entered the parliament to start talks with us,'' he said in a television interview. ``We will unite all pragmatic forces that will be able to unite Ukraine and stimulate economic development.''

Still, the president's party will vote with Timoshenko, said Yuriy Lutsenko, leader of Our Ukraine. ``We reiterate that we are going to team up only with Timoshenko's alliance,'' he said at a televised press conference.

Source: Bloomberg

Ukraine Poll On Knife-Edge In Tense Ballot Count

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's election hung on a knife-edge late Monday as preliminary results threatened a dead heat and pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko ordered a probe into possible ballot fraud.

Members of the elections commission count ballot papers after the vote in Kiev.
Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko, his partner in the 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution, saw their slim lead diminish rapidly as late results came in, while their arch rival, Moscow-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, scored steady gains.

The development threatened the Orange alliance's plans to remove Yanukovych from power and replace him with the fiery reformer Tymoshenko, setting this ex-Soviet republic of 47 million people on a firmer Western course.

Yushchenko ordered a police probe into the vote count in eastern and southern Ukraine, traditionally pro-Russian strongholds of Yanukovych.

He said that results were being released too slowly and ordered "law-enforcement agencies immediately to begin an investigation."

The deputy chairman of the Central Election Commission, Andrei Magera, said the commission was "not satisfied with the current situation."

Official results based on 90.2 percent of ballots cast showed Yanukovych's Regions Party ahead with 33.49 of the vote.

Together with three smaller parties, he could theoretically form a coalition with 45.8 percent -- matching the combined total reached so far by Yushchenko's Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc.

That potential dead heat meant that the ultimate fate of Ukraine's parliamentary election, the third national poll in as many years, could depend on tiny parties cast in the role of kingmaker.

However it was unsure whether one of these parties, the Socialists, would even pass the three percent barrier to be allotted parliament seats, while the slightly bigger Lytvyn Bloc has not yet promised to deal with Yanukovych.

Yanukovych, who is seen as close to the ex-Soviet republic's former ruler Russia, warned his opponents not to celebrate too soon.

"We won and I am sure that we will form the government," he said, Interfax reported.

"Nothing confirms the Orange forces' victory," he said on Channel Five television.

About 3,000 flag-waving supporters of Yanukovych's Regions Party gathered on Kiev's main Independence Square for what was billed as a victory rally.

The election was called early to put an end to a debilitating power struggle between Yushchenko and Yanukovych, who secured the premier's post after a strong performance in parliamentary elections staged just 18 months ago.

Yushchenko and Tymoshenko were at the heart of the Orange Revolution alliance, which overturned a rigged presidential election win by Yanukovych. Yushchenko triumphed in the rerun but the alliance was swiftly undone by infighting.

Its return would mark a sensational comeback based on better than expected showing by the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc on Sunday. Tymoshenko said she wanted to form a new government with Yushchenko within 48 hours.

But they had yet to set up a formal coalition and analysts cautioned that almost any twist is possible in Ukraine and that the losing parties would likely challenge the results.

The main Western monitoring group, the OSCE, gave Sunday's election a clean bill of health.

"The elections met levels of well-accepted European standards," said Adrian Severin, a European Parliament member in the observer team.

Washington, the European Union and an increasingly assertive Kremlin are all vying for influence in this strategically placed country, which has expressed interest in joining both the European Union and NATO.

Ukraine straddles key Russian gas export routes to energy-hungry EU clients.

It is also a testing ground for Western-style economic and political reforms in the former Soviet Union, where many countries are now headed by authoritarian governments.

Russia had strongly backed Yanukovych and saw the pro-Western Orange Revolution as a crushing foreign policy defeat.

Source: AFP

Ukraine President Calls Probe, PM Declares Victory

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko ordered an investigation into vote counting on Monday but his rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, said his party had won the parliamentary poll and was entitled to govern.

A somber Viktor Yushchenko speaks during a televised address to the nation in Kiev, October 1, 2007.
The ex-Soviet state's "orange" opposition, allied to Yushchenko, earlier claimed victory in Sunday's election on the basis of exit polls and early returns.

Yanukovich's Regions Party crept past the bloc of "orange" ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko as vote counting passed the three-quarters mark counted in the country of 47 million.

The poll was designed to end months of conflict between the country's two top officials that had stalled vital economic reforms. A close result would again mean long talks to form a coalition government, as occurred after last year's poll.

Yushchenko, at odds with the prime minister from the time of the "Orange Revolution" protests that propelled him into power in 2004, ordered an investigation into delays in vote counting in the prime minister's strongholds.

"I am concerned by the delayed vote count in eastern and southern Ukraine," a somber Yushchenko said in a televised address to the nation.

"I order law enforcement bodies to start an immediate investigation into the causes and circumstances of delayed vote count reports from polling stations."

Yushchenko did not mention any political adversaries by name, but said that "those who commit fraud will be punished. Do not call into question the law and your own fate."

PROTESTS IN 2004

Rigging led to widespread protests in 2004 which overwhelmed Kiev for weeks in the aftermath of a presidential election, initially won by Yanukovich. The supreme court annulled the vote and ordered a new one which was won by Yushchenko.

Yanukovich, addressing a few thousand supporters in Independence Square, focal point of the 2004 protests, said it was time to declare "that we are ready to defend our choice and that we will accept no revision of the election results."

"We have won and I am confident that yet again we will be forming a government of people's trust, a government of national unity...un line with all international standards the Regions Party has every right to form a government," he said.

"Orange" groups led by Tymoshenko's bloc and the pro-presidential Our Ukraine party took the lead in exit polls and in the early stages of the count.

With 85 percent of votes counted, the Regions Party had 32.8 percent, boosted by a further 5.3 percent for its Communist allies.

The Tymoshenko bloc stood at 31.7 percent, with a further 14.8 percent for Our Ukraine. Leading Tymoshenko supporters had already accused the prime minister's allies of cheating.

Yanukovich earlier accused his adversaries of drawing premature conclusions with the aim of creating further divisions between Ukraine's nationalist west and its Russian-speaking industrial east.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation praised the poll for offering voters "a diverse choice of 20 political parties and electoral blocs." It said freedom of assembly and expression had been respected and election day had been calm.

Source: The Boston Globe

Tymoshenko Heads Towards Victory In Ukraine Poll

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's orange leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, looked likely today to become the country's prime minister with her party winning the largest share of the votes so far counted from parliamentary elections.

Ukrainian "Orange" leader Yulia Tymoshenko
With 62% of the results of yesterday's election in, Ms Tymoshenko's party had won 33.15% of the vote, ahead of the current prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, whose Party of the Regions had 31.02%, Ukraine's central election commission said.

Two exit polls predicted that Mr Yanukovich's party would gain the largest share of the vote and he insisted today it would still form the next government.

However, Ms Tymoshenko is likely to return to power at the head of an orange coalition with Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's pro-western president, whose Our Ukraine bloc had won 15.54% of the votes counted.

The interim results suggest a remarkable comeback for the charismatic Ms Tymoshenko, who was sacked as prime minister in 2005 by President Yushchenko.

The two former allies, who led Ukraine's 2004 orange revolution, were reconciled before yesterday's election.

Last night Ms Tymoshenko called the result a "wonderful victory". During a party at the Hyatt hotel in the capital, Kiev, she said: "The victory for democratic forces is final. We will work to carry on the ideas of the orange revolution."

Ms Tymoshenko said she would approach the president today to discuss forming a new government.

"In one or two days we will announce the coalition," she said. "In a matter of weeks we will hold our first government news conference."

Its priorities would include reforming Ukraine's visa regime, joining the World Trade Organisation and maintaining good relations with Russia, she said.

Yuriy Lutsenko, the leader of Mr Yushchenko's party, said it was ready to back Ms Tymoshenko as prime minister.

Mr Yanukovich dismissed the orange declaration of victory as groundless. He said his party would be declared the winner when votes from eastern Ukraine, where it traditionally scores well, were counted.

In a statement issued as the count proceeded, he said: "Orange supporters have made premature conclusions and are striving to divide the country and its people even further."

Electoral officials said the count was proceeding slowly in the industrial, pro-Russian eastern region.

A senior ally of Ms Tymoshenko said the prime minister's team was conspiring to cheat in its eastern strongholds.

"We will challenge the results in areas where there will be an attempt at vote-rigging," said Oleksander Turchinov. A presidential aide also expressed concern at the count.

Despite all sides hinting at electoral fraud, there seems little doubt that Ukraine is back in the hands of progressive pro-western parties.

This is unlikely to please Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, who last year turned off Ukraine's gas supply. Ms Tymoshenko is likely to have irked the Kremlin further by taking a congratulatory telephone call last night from Georgia's pro-western president, Mikheil Saakashvili.

Ms Tymoshenko said that under her leadership Ukraine would have "well-balanced and friendly relations" with Russia. It would also ensure the proper supply of natural gas to Ukraine and Europe, she said.

The Russian ambassador to Ukraine, Viktor Chernomyrdin, said today that Moscow would work with any coalition.

"We have worked with Yanukovich's party, with Our Ukraine, with Tymoshenko when she was a premier. All characters are well known to us and we know pretty well what they want," he told the Itar-Tass news agency.

Natalya Shapovalova, a researcher at Kiev's International Centre for Policy Studies, warned that disagreements were likely between the coalition allies over policy.

About 63% of Ukraine's 37.5 million eligible voters cast ballots, according to the official results. The Communists have won 5% of the votes counted so far, followed by the party led by former parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn with just over 4%.

The latest results suggest the Socialists could miss out on any seats, just falling below the 3% threshold.

Oleg Kileiko, a 46-year-old businessman who voted for the president's bloc, said: "I'm sure that Yushchenko and Yulia [Tymoshenko] won't repeat their mistakes. I want to live in Europe, and only the Orange forces can take us there."

But some voters expressed frustration at the hyperactive pace of the country's election cycle. Ukrainians went to the polls last year. "I'm fed up with constant elections," said Valentina Kirpichenko, 80.

She described all politicians as crooks. "They take all the good bits of meat out of the borsch," she said.

Ukraine has been paralysed by a power struggle between President Viktor Yushchenko and the prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich.

In April Mr Yanukovich persuaded 11 deputies from the pro-presidential Our Ukraine party to join his ruling coalition. Critics claim the MPs were bribed.

The manoeuvre brought Mr Yanukovich close to the two-thirds majority needed to veto any presidential decree. The president responded by dissolving parliament.

Source: Guardian Unlimited

Ukraine's Pro-West Alliance Eyes Victory

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's pro-Western alliance appeared poised Monday for victory in parliamentary elections, but intense horse-trading and the spectre of protests lay ahead.


Preliminary official results in the ex-Soviet republic's snap election Sunday pointed to a dramatic win for President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party and the allied Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc.

Their combined tally was 48.6 percent, based on an official count of 60.5 percent of ballots cast across the country of 47 million people, which lies between Russia and the European Union.

Arch-rival Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's Regions Party, plus all smaller parties that might agree to join him, gathered a potential total of only 43 percent.

Regions Party, which had been the largest in the parliament, known as the Rada, slipped to second place behind Tymoshenko's party, according to preliminary results.

If confirmed, this would be a sensational comeback for the masterminds of the 2004 Orange Revolution, which overturned a rigged presidential election win by the Moscow-backed Yanukovych and led to Yushchenko's triumph in the rerun.

"The Orange Revolution has been saved by Tymoshenko's election results. She saved it from oblivion," said Taras Kuzio, a Ukraine specialist at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Yushchenko and Tymoshenko had yet to set up a formal coalition, as promised on the eve of elections, and analysts cautioned that almost any twist is possible in Ukraine's turbulent politics -- including a collapse of the Orange team even before it was formed.

Yanukovych did not concede defeat and the Regions Party was due to hold a rally on Kiev's Independence Square.

"Nothing confirms the Orange forces' victory," Yanukovych said on Channel Five television. "There aren't official results yet and to draw conclusions on exit polls is irresponsible."

The glamorous Tymoshenko is clearly gunning to replace Yanukovych as prime minister, returning to a post she held in the aftermath of the Orange Revolution before falling out with Yushchenko and opening the door to Yanukovych.

Tymoshenko, famous for her firebrand speeches and braided golden hairdo, said she wanted to form a new government with Yushchenko within 48 hours.

Ukraine, which has held three national polls in as many years and suffered months of constitutional paralysis, is notorious for the complexity and rancour of political deal-making.

Nico Lange, at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Kiev, warned that Yanukovych's Regions Party might challenge the results.

"They will go to court and they will try to mobilise protests against the election," said

However, the main Western monitoring group, the OSCE, gave Sunday's election a clean bill of health.

"The elections met levels of well-accepted European standards," said Adrian Severin, a European Parliament member in the observer team.

The election was called early after the attempt at cohabitation between a weakened Yushchenko and the ambitious Yanukovych turned to chaos.

Yanukovych had become head of the government after the Regions Party came out on top of parliamentary elections in March 2006.

Russia had strongly backed Yanukovych and saw the pro-Western Orange Revolution as a crushing foreign policy defeat and has had strained relations with both Yushchenko and Tymoshenko.

In Moscow's first reaction, Russian Ambassador Viktor Chernomyrdin told AFP late Sunday that "we will work with any government."

But Russia's state newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta cast doubt on the viability of an Orange victory.

"Serious political battles are only beginning," the newspaper wrote, prediciting "a flood of information about violations."

Washington, the European Union and an increasingly assertive Kremlin are all vying for influence in this strategically placed country, which has expressed interest in joining both the European Union and NATO.

Ukraine straddles key Russian gas export routes to energy-hungry EU clients.

It is also a testing ground for Western-style economic and political reforms in the former Soviet Union, where many countries are now headed by authoritarian governments.

But the country is deeply divided between the Russian-speaking east and Ukrainian-speaking west.

Source: AFP

Ukraine's Reborn Orange Alliance Poised For Victory

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's reborn Orange alliance of former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and President Viktor Yushchenko is poised for victory after yesterday's parliamentary election, the latest results showed.

With 40% of the vote counted, Yulia Tymoshenko is a clear winner of Sunday's snap elections.
Timoshenko's bloc and Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party had 49 percent of the vote with 40 percent counted by 9:50 a.m., the Central Election Commission said on its Web site.

Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's party and his Communist and Socialist allies had 38.9 percent.

Timoshenko, 46, said on television she will meet Yushchenko today to discuss the formation of a Cabinet, reuniting the victors of the 2004 Orange Revolution that overturned a rigged presidential ballot.

The two leaders, who seek closer ties to the European Union and NATO, agreed on Sept. 27 to work together, two years after Yushchenko, 53, fired Timoshenko in a dispute over asset sales.

``We will be able to form a coalition in one or two days,'' Timoshenko said. ``It was a victory for the democratic forces, our common victory with the president.''

The pro-Russian Yanukovych, 57, won elections last year and his administration blocked many of the president's policies and stripped him of some powers.

Two exit polls predicted an Orange victory. The alliance may end up with 46.5 percent of the vote, according to an exit poll of 40,000 voters conducted by research agency TNS Ukraine and the U.S. companies PSB and Public Strategies Inc. for Ukrainian TV channel ICTV.

Yanukovych and his allies may get 38.7 percent, the poll showed. No margin of error was given.

`Carte Blanche'

Yanukovych was defiant. He said his party had been given ``carte blanche'' to form the next government.

``We will ask all parties that entered the parliament to start talks with us,'' he said in a television interview. ``We will unite all pragmatic forces that will be able to unite Ukraine and stimulate economic development.''

Still, the president's party will vote with Timoshenko, said Yuriy Lutsenko, leader of Our Ukraine. ``We reiterate that we are going to team up only with Timoshenko's alliance,'' he said at a televised press conference.

Analysts agreed the Orange allies appeared to have won the day.

Timoshenko ``has saved the Orange Revolution,'' said Taras Kuzio, research associate at the Institute for European, Russia and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University in Washington, after the polls were published. ``This is an amazing continuation of the meteoric rise of the Timoshenko bloc'' if the poll results are confirmed.

`Reassume Control'

Final results are due later today. Turnout was about 63 percent, the Central Election Committee said last night. A party must win more than 3 percent of the vote to enter the parliament.

Timoshenko's bloc and Yushchenko's party may ``reassume control of the government if they command 43-45 percent of the vote,'' said Robert Legvold, professor of political science at Columbia University in New York, before the results. ``Timoshenko will choose the prime minister and most of the government.''

A group of candidates led by former Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, has 4.2 percent of the vote, possibly giving it a say in the formation of a government, the latest results showed. No other parties are expected to pass the 3 percent threshold.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the continent's main human rights watchdog, has deployed 710 election monitors across Ukraine, said Urdur Gunnarsdottir, spokeswoman for the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The OSCE has expressed concern about possible irregularities, she said.

``There has been a lot of discussion and complaints about voter lists,'' said Gunnarsdottir, adding that the complaints include suggestions lists are inaccurate and people living abroad may be registered to vote.

The OSCE will hold a press conference at 1:30 p.m. today to give its assessment on whether the vote was free and fair.

Source: Bloomberg