The Hollowing Of A Hero

MOSCOW, Russia -- Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko never fails to disappoint. Of course, most successful revolutionaries are later regarded as disappointments, even failures, in one way or another. That's the nature of revolutionary euphoria once it deflates. Yet even in such company, Yushchenko stands out.

Viktor Yushchenko
America, despairing of Yushchenko's endless dithering and willingness to compromise Ukraine's independence from Russia, abandoned its support for him over a year ago. Recently, the European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, in a brutal session with Yushchenko in Brussels, let him know that the EU, too, had had enough of his temporizing and political machinations.

Neither message, however, appears to have had any effect on Yushchenko, whose only concern nowadays is his own political survival. Thus, he is focused on reaching a deal with his former, pro-Russian opponents to secure a second term as Ukraine's president in 2010 rather than on opinion in the West or among his supporters.

Indeed, it now seems clear that Yushchenko was only a reluctant leader of a democratic revolution. From the moment of his victory in 2005, he sought to distance himself from those who supported him and, instead, to forge an alliance with those who opposed Ukraine's democratic and free-market transformation, preferring the crony capitalism that had developed since Ukraine gained its independence. Now he wants to formalize that alliance.

Yushchenko's plan is breathtakingly cynical. With his popularity ratings having plummeted to around 10 percent, he can no longer command the allegiance of the bulk of Our Ukraine, the party that he created but which now (thanks to his unpopularity) is reduced to junior partner status in the coalition government led by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Instead of trying to recover support, Yushchenko and his coterie of advisers want to link the rump of Our Ukraine that they still control with the Orange Revolution's opponents, the Party of the Regions, which would then dump the unelectable Viktor Yanukovich, Ukraine's erstwhile prime minister and Yushchenko's one-time nemesis, as its standard bearer.

Of course, there are problems with Yushchenko's plan. One big hurdle is his support for Ukraine's NATO membership, which he is hoping to push at the alliance's summit meeting in Bucharest next week.

Understanding that NATO is not popular in eastern Ukraine, the seat of support for the Party of the Regions, Yushchenko has been trying to force Tymoshenko, who has been more cautious about NATO because of its current unpopularity, to embrace NATO membership publicly.

Even in a normal democracy, politicians who switch parties are regarded with suspicion. Winston Churchill, for example, found "crossing the aisle" a hard act to shake off. Moreover, Yushchenko is no Churchill, and Ukraine is a very young democracy. To be sure, unlike Russia or other parts of the ex-Soviet Union, Ukraine has shown itself capable of handling the tumult of free and fair democratic elections. But is it really ready for the type of political summersault Yushchenko is preparing.

Moreover, Yushchenko's survival instinct will do nothing to restore his reputation; indeed, it will likely bury it once and for all. Years of unfulfilled promises have undermined any faith in Yushchenko's word among most Ukrainians. Openly mocked for his dithering, he recently issued a decree requiring his cabinet to see him off at the airport whenever he travels. Tymoshenko acidly remarked that she is always happy to say farewell to the president.

It is Yushchenko's rivalry with Tymoshenko that is goading him on. Her vote total more than doubled after Yushchenko dropped her as prime minister in 2005, and now she is leading in the polls for the presidential election. With much of Our Ukraine now backing her, Tymoshenko stands out as the only proven vote winner in the government coalition.

In contrast, Yushchenko's lack of commitment to the political struggle against the Party of the Regions gives scant credence to his belief that the best way to defeat this party's efforts to turn back the clock in Ukraine is to cut political deals with it.

All of this would be comic if it were not so tragic. Yushchenko regards Tymoshenko's activism as an insult to his instinctive caution, which goes so far as to back the continuing existence of the shadowy gas intermediaries that have made energy security Ukraine's biggest problem.

The only question now is whether Yushchenko sees himself as politically strong enough to sack Tymoshenko and seek to govern with the support of his historic rivals. America and the European Union should make it clear that so naked a political betrayal will push him permanently out of favor in the West.

Source: International Herald Tribune

Streets Of Kiev Swamped With Vehicles, Empty Of Law

KIEV, Ukraine -- Road rage spread to top levels of Ukrainian government recently with the number two cop in the former Soviet republic cutting off the head of parliament in heavy traffic, and then giving him the finger.

Speaker of Parliament Arseny Yatseniuk.
The SUV duel pitted Oleksy Kozha, vice commander of an elite traffic police unit called "Kobra" against Arseny Yatseniuk, the speaker of Ukraine's national legislature.

Yatseniuk, a pro-Europe politician and at 37 Ukraine's youngest- ever parliament speaker, had been picking his way down Kiev's Prospekt Pobedy (Victory Prospect), an eight-lane, tree-shaded esplanade through one of Kiev's best neighbourhoods.

In the Soviet era, Victory Prospect was popular for lovers' walks, but now the thoroughfare is jammed at most hours, and polluted 24/7, as the road is the main automotive link between the booming Kiev centre and its burgeoning Western bedroom communities.

Kozha, behind the wheel of late-model red Porsche Cayenne, was reportedly zig-zagging through heavy traffic at high speed. Such driving by the wealthy is common in Kiev, where unwritten traffic law permits violation of road regulations, provided one drives a particularly expensive automobile.

Unfortunately for Captain Kozha's up-to-that-point-successful police career, one of the vehicles cut off by the weaving Porsche was Yatseniuk's black Toyota Landcruiser.

By both car value and government post, and according to the same unofficial but scrupulously enforced rules, Yatseniuk is a Ukrainian driver that other drivers offend at their peril.

What followed is embarassing for Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko's campaign to bring his country's roads up to European standards, and at the same time a fine example of how traffic law is not enforced on Ukrainian roads nowadays.

Yatseniuk accelerated, attempted to flag Kozha down, and received for his trouble Kozha's middle finger in the Cayenne's rear view mirror. The police officer stepped on the gas, and the Porsche rocketed into anonymity among the common automobiles.

The MP then, according to his account, reported Kozha's license plate to the national police force who, again according to Yatseniuk, failed for a full week to locate a late model, red Porsche Cayenne cruising about in Kiev at high speed.

"They (the police) were protecting one of their own," Yatseniuk alleged. "And so it was very lucky I happened to find the Porche by accident myself."

Yasteniuk's claim he stumbled onto the Cayenne has been widely questioned by Ukrainian media and government watchers, some even lampooning the idea of a vigilante Yatseniuk prowling the streets of Kiev in his Toyota, like a TV detective.

Most likely Yatseniuk did what most Ukrainian drivers do when they want to track down a vehicle - they get a friend in the police to run a check on the license or they just buy the police automotive data base illegally for 10 dollars, at one of the city's thriving bootleg CD markets, observers said.

Kozha, his cover blown, initially claimed he was innocent.

"I am a calm driver. I don't use rude gestures, and in any case I don't know how to insult someone using my finger," Kozha told reporters in late February. "I didn't do it."

The stand-off ended dramatically and unpleasantly for Kozha when President Yushchenko, Yatseniuk's political patron, threw Kozha and his boss out of a nationally-televised meeting of police bosses with the words: "You are sacked ... a shame to your uniforms ... leave immediately!"

In early March, Yushchenko declared his intention to dissolve the Kobra special police unit - a tacit admission of defeat in his campaign to reform the police, as Kobra had been formed, and Kozha hired, to root out corrupt traffic cops.

Yatseniuk has said he wants Kozha to explain to a judge, how on a $400 (€256) monthly salary, a policeman can afford a $110,000 (€71,000) Porsche. Kozha claimed he is the victim of a political vendetta, and that he will sue to clear his "name and honour."

But the problems on Kiev's increasingly crowded roads remain. Thousands of new cars are registered each month, car sales were up 50 per cent just over last year, and automobiles routinely drive on the sidewalks.

And now, cars may no longer be towed in Kiev because of a court challenge to the proposition a tow truck operator may legally touch a citizen's personal transport, no matter how illegally parked.

Source: DPA

Roadblocks In Ukraine For Hosting Euro2012 Football

KIEV, Ukraine -- The boss of Ukraine's preparation programme to co-host the 2012 European football championship accused the government of dragging its feet on overhauling the country's shoddy roadways, the Interfax news agency reports.

Evhen Chervonenko, Director of the national agency for Euro2012.
Evhen Chervonenko, director of the national agency for Euro2012, at a meeting in the Black Sea resort city Livadia Tuesday accused officials in Ukraine's Ministry of Transport of ignoring foreign investment offers to upgrade the former Soviet republic's roads.

'We have an offer in hand from American investors, and if we get approval from the Ministry of Transport work could begin,' Chervonenko said.

'But they seem to have their own plans...and nothing is being done.'

Ukraine and Poland in April won rights from UEFA to host the prestige tournament.

Since then, Ukraine particularly has done practically nothing to get ready for the event -- a massive undertaking requiring the repair of thousands of kilometres of roads, the construction of dozens of hotels, and a top-to-bottom overhaul of the country's weak service industry.

UEFA officials have increasingly expressed worry at the slow pace of Ukrainian preparations, and even hinted if the Ukrainians fail to speed up work, they could have the tournament taken away from them.

Ukrainian government estimates place the cost of preparation for Euro2012 as high as $4 billion - roughly 20 percent of a year's annual budget for the East European nation. The lion's share of the money would go towards bringing Ukraine's currently weak road network to a European standard.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko this week put brakes on hopes the government would nonetheless fund the preparation effort, saying 'we must get funding from private industry...the government does not have it'.

'The biggest threat to getting ready is the loss of support from the ministry of transport,' Chervonenko said.

'If we don't solve the road problem we can't host the tournament.'

Ukraine's government has attempted to repair roads using foreign investment in the past, with varying results. An EU-financed stretch from Kiev to the Hungarian border was completed on time and under budget, and is comparable in quality to an average European trunk road.

A privately financed road involving Turkish and Italian developers, connecting Kiev to the Black Sea port city Odessa, has however been widely criticised for cost overruns, and shoddy workmanship.

UEFA general secretary David Taylor in late January criticised the speed of Poland and Ukraine's preparations, saying, 'There has been progress, but it needs to be accelerated.'

Source: DPA

World's Tallest Man Struggles To Fit In

PODOLYANTSI, Ukraine -- Leonid Stadnik's phenomenal height has forced him to quit a job he loved and to stoop as he moves around his house.

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko talks to Leonid Stadnik, 2.59 meter (8,5 feet) tall, a Ukrainian veterinarian and the world's tallest living man according to the Guinness World Records, outside the Presidential office, Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, March 24, 2008.
But Stadnik, who Guinness World Records says is the world's tallest human, says his condition has also taught him that there are many kindhearted strangers.

Since his recognition by Ukrainian record keepers four years ago, and by Guinness last year, people from all over Ukraine and the world have sent him outsized clothing, provided his home with running water and recently presented him with a giant bicycle. And on Monday, he got a new car, courtesy of President Viktor Yushchenko.

"Thanks to good people I have shoes and clothes," said the 37-year-old former veterinarian, who still lives with his 66-year-old mother.

In 2006, Stadnik was officially measured at 8 feet 5 inches tall, surpassing a 7-foot-9-inch Chinese man to claim the title of the world's tallest person.

His growth spurt began at age 14 after a brain operation that apparently stimulated the overproduction of growth hormone. Doctors say he has been growing ever since.

While his size is intimidating, Stadnik charms visitors with a broad grin and childlike laugh. He seems at times like a lonely boy trapped in a giant's body, even keeping stuffed toys on his pillow.

Stadnik's stature has brought attention, but he struggles to lead a normal life.

All the doorways in his one-story brick house are too short for him to pass through without stooping. His 440 pounds cause constant knee pain and often force him to use crutches.

Stadnik loves animals, but had to quit his job as a veterinarian at a cattle farm after suffering frostbite when he walked to work in his socks in winter. He could not afford custom made shoes for his 17-inch feet.

But his fame has taught him not to despair.

A German who said he was his distant relative asked Stadnik for a visit several years ago. On the trip, Stadnik got to sample frog legs in an elegant restaurant and saw a roller coaster at an amusement park — both for the first time.

Shortly afterward, Stadnik came home one day and saw a new computer connected to the Web sitting on his desk — a gift from a local Internet provider. Company workers "sneaked into the house like little spies" to install the equipment, Stadnik joked.

Since then he has made many online friends, including several in the United States, Australia and Russia. Stadnik hopes to learn English so he can communicate better with his Anglophone contacts; currently, he relies on computer translations, which he says are often inadequate.

On Sunday, an organization for the disabled in his home village of Podolyantsi, 125 miles west of Kiev, gave Stadnik a giant bike so he can ride to the grocery store in a nearby village. The group also presented Stadnik with a fitness machine.

"I have always dreamt that my life and the life of my loved ones ... would become more comfortable," Stadnik said. "My dream is coming true."

On Monday, he traveled to Kiev to get a new, shiny-blue van. Stadnik struggled to squeeze himself into the passenger's seat, his knees nearly reaching up to his face. Yushchenko then briefly took the beaming Stadnik for a drive.

Village authorities have promised to supply gas.

His neighbors joke that they may also benefit from Stadnik's success. "Of course we are proud of him — we may have gas here soon thanks to him," said the 75-year-old Nila Kravchuk.

Since he quit his job, Stadnik has concentrated on managing the family garden and caring for his three cows, his horse and assorted pigs and chickens. He lives with his mother, Halyna, and his 42-year-old sister Larysa.

Stadnik says his dream is finding a soul mate, just like the former titleholder, China's Bao Xishun, who was married last year.

"I think the future holds that for me," he said.

Source: AP

Russia's Threats To Ukraine, Georgia Are Challenges to U.S., NATO

WASHINGTON, DC -- Representatives of the Russian government and the Kremlin are multiplying their threats to Ukraine (as well as to Georgia) ahead of next week’s NATO summit, where Membership Action Plans (MAPs) for the two countries will be considered.

Putin continues to exert pressure on Ukraine, Georgia not to join NATO.
Moscow realizes more clearly than some NATO governments that this issue is a defining one for the Alliance at its April 2-4 summit in Bucharest.

Government-run Rossiya Television aired a quintessence of such threats against Ukraine in its “National Interest” flagship political roundtable on March 22. The participants, who were until recently positioned as hardliners in the Russian spectrum, are nowadays in the policy mainstream.

Kremlin political consultant Gleb Pavlovsky warned on the program that Ukraine shall be “destroyed, divided” if it pursues a MAP leading to NATO membership.

To deter Kyiv from pursuing a MAP, Pavlovsky recommended that Russia should raise the full range of complaints regarding the Russian language and rights of ethnic minorities in Ukraine and present Ukraine with a “yes-or-no choice.” Should Kyiv choose the “no,” Russia should “reconsider the [1997] framework treaty” with Ukraine.

This clearly implies de-recognizing Ukraine’s territorial integrity, which is a centerpiece of that treaty. With this, Pavlovsky is replaying the themes he used during Ukraine’s 2004 presidential election campaign, which his team of political consultants based on threats to split eastern Ukraine from the rest of the country.

On the same program Konstantin Simonov, general director of the National Energy Security Foundation, warned that Ukraine’s economy would collapse without Russian gas.

Consequently, “If they do not see Russia as a political partner, they will not be getting any money from us” -- that is, Russia would abruptly raise the price of gas for avowedly political reasons.

In a link-up from Brussels, the Russian envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin threatened that granting MAPs to Ukraine and Georgia “would signify the breakup of their national states.”

He also warned the Alliance that it cannot tell Russia that it has no right to veto NATO decisions while at the same time requesting Russian assistance in Afghanistan, where the NATO operation faces a “fiasco for the entire alliance.”

Granting the MAPs would be “madness” and a matter for “adventurers” at NATO, Rogozin warned. In using such epithets Rogozin must be aware of NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer’s indirect public signals that he supports the MAPs and opposes any indirect Russian veto.

Rogozin and other Russian government officials have in recent weeks multiplied threats to deprive Georgia of Abkhazia and South Ossetia permanently, if NATO approves a MAP for Georgia.

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to target missiles at Ukraine if it joins NATO. Now the threats to Ukraine’s territorial integrity signify an escalation of this campaign.

Visiting Israel, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov warned that putting Ukraine and Georgia on a track to NATO through MAPs would result in the “gravest consequences” to U.S.-Russia relations.

This phrasing seems tailored for the Israeli audience by raising the prospect that Russia might not cooperate with the United States on anti-Iran sanctions. It seems to indicate that Moscow is trying to induce Israel to use its influence in Washington for not giving cause to such grave consequences in U.S.-Russia relations.

While some NATO governments blink, Ukraine’s leaders are standing up to these pressures. On March 17 President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko co-signed a set of letters to de Hoop Scheffer, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The German government is the principal opponent to the MAPs while the French government is tacitly resistant, although Sarkozy’s personal stance remains unclear.

The Yushchenko-Tymoshenko letters express the hope that MAP approval at the upcoming NATO summit would confirm the irreversibility of Ukraine’s Western orientation.

The Ukrainian leaders “respectfully” address the view of those NATO governments that note a lack of consensus in Ukrainian society about NATO membership prospects for the country.

However, they note, the MAP goal is enshrined in the coalition agreement (of Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc) and the coalition government’s program. Their letters pledge to launch public education activities regarding NATO and allocate sufficient funding for this.

Yushchenko and Tymoshenko write that the authorities’ pursuit of MAP is not a political tactic, but a strategic course of independent and free Ukraine.

While the opposition in a democratic society has the right to dispute this strategy, Yushchenko and Tymoshenko express confidence that the moderate opposition (i.e., the Party of Regions) would revert to the pursuit of national interests and support a NATO MAP.

This latter expectation is not misplaced, considering that the first Yanukovych government in 2003-2004 during Leonid Kuchma’s presidency had supported the goal of Ukraine’s integration with NATO.

The March 17 set of letters is a follow-up to the Ukrainian top leaders’ mid-January request to de Hoop Scheffer for MAP approval at the upcoming Bucharest summit.

On March 21, a special session of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) adopted a decision on coordination among all branches of the authorities to implement MAP goals, if a MAP program is approved at the NATO summit.

As part of that decision, the authorities are to prepare a more effective effort through the mass media to inform the public about NATO. The NSDC announced that obtaining a MAP at the Bucharest summit is the joint goal of the entire state leadership.

The United States publicly backs that goal. On March 19 U.S. Ambassador William Taylor declared to a news conference in Kyiv that no country outside NATO can veto the approval of a MAP. Taylor suggested that this issue needs to be resolved this year, ahead of Ukraine’s 2009 presidential election campaign.

U.S. President George W. Bush is scheduled to visit Kyiv on March 31-April 1, en route to the Bucharest summit. Many expect Bush to express full support in Kyiv for a Ukrainian MAP.

However, it also seems possible that a Bush visit would become merely a consolation prize for postponing the MAP in deference to Russia, with Berlin perhaps earning in the process a title to Moscow’s appreciation.

By resorting to threats in order to derail the Ukrainian and Georgian MAPs, Russia is targeting not only these aspirant countries.

Through such threats and the accompanying wedge-drawing among European NATO countries, Russia is, in fact, targeting the Alliance itself, its policies, and the integrity of NATO’s decision-making processes.

Source: Eurasia Daily Monitor

Hopes Fade For Sailors Trapped Underwater

HONG KONG, China -- Eighteen Ukrainian sailors were feared dead Monday after they were trapped underwater in their capsized tugboat in Hong Kong for nearly two full days amid strong currents, rescue officials said.

Hong Kong's Director of Marine, Roger Tupper, speaks at a media briefing about the rescue operation of 18 Ukrainians who are missing in a ship collision.
The sailors would have survived 12 hours since the accident late Saturday based on the current water temperature of 17 degrees Celsius (63 Fahrenheit) at the 37-meter (120-feet) depth of the wreck, Roger Tupper, director of Hong Kong's Marine Department, told reporters Monday.

He said rescue divers have continuously knocked on the hull of the ship but the sailors have not signaled back.

"Their chances for survival are very slim," said spokeswoman Zhang Jianwen of China's Guangzhou Salvage Bureau, which is assisting Hong Kong rescue officials.

Tupper said, however, rescuers will continue their efforts until the Ukrainian vessel is retrieved and the bodies are located.

He said bad conditions and the upside down position of the wreck hindered rescue efforts.

"The current is very strong. The visibility is very, very short. It's completely dark. Even in daylight, it's absolutely black down 37 meters (120 feet)," Tupper said.

Zhang said the Guangzhou Salvage Bureau's divers were tying up the Ukrainian tugboat and preparing it for a move from to shallower waters to ease rescue efforts, he said.

Preparation for the move was expected to take several days and a large Chinese salvage ship will be dispatched to Hong Kong from nearby waters Friday, Zhang said. He said the salvage ship would arrive Friday or Saturday.

The tugboat Neftegaz 67 -- which had been detained in Hong Kong in 2003 with safety problems -- sank late Saturday when it collided with Chinese cargo ship Yao Hai in waters northwest of Hong Kong's outlying Lantau island.

The 80-meter-long (264-foot-long) Ukrainian vessel sank quickly but the Chinese ship suffered only bow damage and stayed afloat, officials said. Only seven of the 25 on the Ukrainian ship were found.

The Neftegaz 67 was detained in Hong Kong in September 2003 for safety problems, according to documents from Hong Kong's Marine Department.

The documents said that the ship did not provide "means of escape" or "escape breathing apparatus," and that vessel personnel were not familiar with safety procedures.

It was not immediately clear if those problems were addressed during the detention. Government spokeswoman Heidi Liu said she could not immediately comment.

People who answered the phone at Chernomorneftegaz, the Ukrainian oil and gas exploration company that operates Neftegaz 67, hung up on several calls from The Associated Press.

"We are hoping for the best," Chernomorneftegaz chairman Anatoly Prisyazhnyuk said in comments televised Monday.

Ukraine's ambassador to China, Serhiy Kamyshev, visited the site of the accident Monday. He told reporters afterward that 20 marine experts from Ukraine will arrive in Hong Kong on Tuesday, including some from Chernomorneftegaz, to assist with rescue efforts.

The cause of the Saturday's accident was not immediately clear. Officials say weather conditions were reasonable at the time of the accident and neither ship was overloaded.

Source: CNN

National Bolshevik Bolts For Ukraine

MOSCOW, Russia -- The fiancee of opposition activist Yury Chervochkin, who died last year of injuries suffered in a murky beating, has fled Russia and requested political asylum in Ukraine.

Murdered Russian opposition activist Yury Chervochkin.
Anna Ploskonosova, a 20-year-old activist with the banned National Bolshevik Party from Tula, submitted her asylum application to immigration officials in the central Ukrainian city of Vinnitsa on March 9, she said from the city by telephone Friday.

Yelena Mamentova, a spokeswoman for Ukraine's State Committee for Nationalities and Religion, which deals with asylum requests, confirmed that Ploskonosova's application had been received.

Ploskonosova is the latest of the organization's activists to flee to Ukraine to escape what they call fabricated criminal cases against them.

Her fiance, Chervochkin, was an National Bolshevik activist in the Moscow region city of Serpukhov. On Nov. 22, he called a reporter from opposition leader Garry Kasparov's web site, Kasparov.ru, to say he was being followed by local police officers.

Hours later Chervochkin, 22, was discovered unconscious outside his apartment building after apparently having been savagely beaten. He died on Dec. 10 after spending three weeks in a coma.

His fellow activists say he had been promoting an opposition rally to be held on Nov. 24. The opposition coalition The Other Russia has accused officers from the anti-organized crime department of the Serpukhov police of assaulting Chervochkin.

No suspects have been identified or detained in connection with the attack on Chervochkin, "despite very intensive efforts" by investigators, Yelena Zhukova, a spokeswoman for the Moscow region branch of the Investigative Committee, said Friday.

The opposition coalition The Other Russia has accused investigators of dragging their feet in the case.

Ploskonosova, meanwhile, had been facing charges of assaulting a police officer in Tula before she fled the country -- allegations she said were trumped up.

"They are saying that I punched a policeman in the eye," Ploskonosova said. "It was made clear that if I deny it in court, the punishment would be a long prison sentence."

Tula prosecutors say Ploskonosova attacked the officer during a Nov. 7 opposition rally in Tula. The crime she is charged with is punishable by up to five years in prison.

"It later became clear to me that authorities are trying by any means possible to put me in prison, so I decided to leave," she said.

Calls to the prosecutor's office in Tula's central district, which is handling Ploskonosova's case, went unanswered Friday. Calls to Tula's Central District Court, which is hearing the ongoing case, went unanswered as well.

National Bolshevik Party leader Eduard Limonov said Ploskonosova's case was "just one example of the mass repressions that are continuing in our country."

"What choice do these people have?" Limonov said. "It's either leave the country or go to jail."

Ploskonosova said she traveled by train to Ukraine on March 9 and had no problems crossing the border, as Russians do not require visas to enter the country. She then traveled to Vinnitsa, where she met with Dmitry Groisman, a local rights activist who has helped numerous Russian citizens -- including National Bolshevik activists -- seeking asylum.

Last month, Ukraine granted asylum to organization member Olga Kudrina, who was facing prison time for a 2005 political stunt in which she hung an anti-Putin banner from the since demolished Rossiya Hotel, near the Kremlin.

Another National Bolshevik activist, Mikhail Gangan, is currently awaiting a decision on his asylum petition to Ukrainian authorities.

Source: The Moscow Times

Where Europe Draws The Line

WASHINGTON, DC -- Mikheil Saakashvili kicked off the second wave of freedom movements in formerly Communist Europe in 2003 when he strode into the Georgian Parliament, rose in hand. Now he's president, and his country and his revolution are in danger of being stranded between a weakening West and a surging Russia.

President Bush meets with Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili, Wednesday, March 19, 2008, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.
Last week he came to Washington in the somewhat desperate hope that President Bush would spend some of his last diplomatic capital to defend the two European democracies born on his watch.

Georgia's was the first of the "color revolutions"; the second was in Ukraine, which in 2004 shook off an attempt by Vladimir Putin to install a satellite autocracy.

Now, like the first wave of post-Communist democracies in Central Europe, Georgia and Ukraine are trying to consolidate their liberal regimes, and their independence, by joining NATO.

Both have formally asked NATO to choose them for a "membership action plan" at a summit two weeks from now in Bucharest. That would inaugurate a process of monitored reforms that could lead to full membership in a few years.

It's a logical step that already has allowed 10 European countries, from Poland to Romania, to adopt the institutions and receive the protection of the democratic West -- arguably the greatest achievement in NATO's history.

But the alliance and its leaders are weaker than they were a decade ago -- and more susceptible to intimidation by Putin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in Soviet-dominated East Germany, has taken a public stand against membership plans for Georgia and Ukraine.

The French government of Nicolas Sarkozy is also resistant. Even the U.S. bureaucracy has been lukewarm; support for Georgia and Ukraine has ranked below missile defense and Kosovo's independence in Washington's dealings with both Europe and Russia.

That leaves Bush, who has called himself a "dissident president" in part because his sympathy for democratic underdogs is often greater than that of his own administration.

At the White House last Wednesday, Bush was "very motivated" and "very focused" about Georgia's cause, Saakashvili said the next day. The president held a news conference endorsing NATO membership for Georgia and made a telephone call to Merkel the same day.

The danger is that Bush's mobilization on behalf of the two democracies will be too late and too underpowered. Administration officials already have a fallback position: that Georgia and Ukraine be given some kind of temporizing assurance by NATO but not a membership plan.

"It's rubbish," the incorrigibly outspoken Saakashvili said in a meeting at The Post. "We can't fool ourselves. We can't fool our own people."

Most of all, NATO's face-saving formulas won't fool Russia. However it goes, the decision in Bucharest will send a powerful signal to Putin about the degree to which Western governments are prepared to tolerate his attempts to bully Ukraine and Georgia out of democracy and back into subservience to the Kremlin.

Already he's been far from subtle. Russia has banned trade with Georgia, has dropped bombs on its territory and recently shot down one of its unmanned aircraft.

Putin threatened to target Ukraine with nuclear missiles if it moved toward NATO and cut off gas supplies to Kiev just before a planned trip by its prime minister to alliance headquarters in Brussels.

"By refusing us, [NATO] will be sending a signal to Russia of, 'Go and get them. We are not going to mind too much,' " Saakashvili said. "Russia will be emboldened. They will conclude that they are on the right track when they stir up trouble with us."

The Germans argue, weakly, that it is trouble that they are trying to avoid -- that Putin has been pushed enough by NATO's support for Kosovo's independence and U.S. missile defense bases in Europe.

The trouble with that logic is that, by insisting on those Western priorities over Moscow's vehement objections while conceding on Georgia and Ukraine, NATO governments are effectively drawing a line in a still-unsettled post-Cold War European order.

On one side are Kosovo and the missile bases in Poland and the Czech Republic, which Putin is powerless to tamper with; on the other are the only legitimate democracies between Poland and Turkey, where the response to aggressive Russian meddling would be de facto acquiescence.

The Georgians are told that if they are put off at Bucharest they will have another chance in just a year, when a NATO summit celebrating the alliance's 60th anniversary is held in . . . Berlin.

Saakashvili is doubtful. "If we don't get it now, the window of opportunity could be closing, for a number of reasons," he said.

Though he didn't say so, one of them is that the "dissident" U.S. president on whose watch democratic Georgia was born -- not to mention his "freedom agenda" -- will no longer occupy the White House.

Source: Washington Post

18 Ukrainians Missing After HK Ship Collision: Official

HONG KONG, China -- Marine divers were racing Sunday to try to save 18 Ukrainian crew believed to be trapped on the ocean floor in their overturned ship after two vessels collided off Hong Kong, officials said.

Workers on a boat conduct rescue operation at the water where the 80-meter-long (264-foot-long) Ukrainian boat, currently lying upside down at a depth of 35 meters (115 feet) in Hong Kong Sunday, March 23, 2008. Eighteen Ukrainian sailors were trapped underwater in their capsized tugboat after it collided with a cargo ship in Hong Kong waters, a marine official said Sunday.
"The top priority of the ongoing rescue operation is to locate the missing persons, both inside the vessel and on the sea surface," the director of the city's marine department, Roger Tupper, told reporters.

The missing were thought to be trapped in the engine room and cabins of a Ukrainian tug, the Naftogaz-67, which collided with a China-registered cargo ship, the Yao-Hai, late Saturday.

The Ukrainian vessel, which was carrying 24 Ukrainian crew and one Chinese sailor, sank quickly after the collision and came to rest on the seabed at a depth of 37 metres (120 feet), Hong Kong officials said.

Six Ukrainians and the Chinese sailor were rescued shortly afterwards, they said.

At Simferopol in Ukraine, the president of the energy company Chornomornaftegaz which owns the ship expressed hopes that the missing sailors would be found alive.

"We have not lost hope of finding the other sailors alive, as long as they are in the interior (of the ship) where there are still pockets of air," said Anatoly Prisiazhnyuk, who said he spoke by telephone with the ship's captain who was one of those who had escaped.

According to the captain, the collision happened because the Chinese vessel refused to give his ship the right of way.

"He had received from the controller permission to pass. The Chinese cargo ship should have let it pass, but it did not do that," said Prisiazhnyuk.

He added that the Naftogaz-67 had been operating since 2002 for the Swiss company Fortranse Ltd in the South China sea between China, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

It took divers six hours to locate the sunken vessel, which was found several hundred metres (yards) from the location initially given by maritime police, probably because it was moved by a strong current, officials said.

Nine attempts by divers to reach the wreck on Sunday were unsuccessful due to the current, poor visibility and the depth of its position, the government said.

A salvage vessel was dispatched to move the wreck to more shallow water, in the hopes of finding survivors on board.

Ukraine said it would send investigators to the scene on Sunday, Interfax reported from Kiev.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko called on his government to support the Chinese rescuers and "provide medical aide and all that is needed for the Ukrainian sailors who have been rescued," said his spokeswoman Irina Vannikova in Kiev.

Source: AFP

Tymoshenko Wants Kiev Mayor Out

KIEV, Ukraine -- This week, the Ukrainian parliament called an early election for the post of mayor of Kiev. This is a victory for Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s bloc (BYuT), which spearheaded a campaign to oust Kiev Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky, accusing him of corruption.

Yulia Tymoshenko (R) wants to oust Kiev Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky (L).
However, there is no unity in the Orange camp, so Chernovetsky may win if he runs for re-election. He can also appeal against parliament’s decision, which apparently was not legally sound.

Chernovetsky came to politics from the business world. He founded Pravex Bank in the early 1990s and he was elected to parliament. Chernovetsky sided with future President Viktor Yushchenko during the 2004 Orange Revolution.

In March 2006, he surprisingly won the mayoral election in Kiev. His opponents alleged that Chernovetsky won the hearts and minds of the poorest residents by distributing foodstuffs free of charge ahead of the election.

Having no big party behind him, Chernovetsky has had to walk a fine line between the main players in the city council, trying to be on good terms with both Yushchenko’s team and the Party of Regions (PRU) of former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych.

Chernovetsky’s opponents on several occasions have accused him of bribing city council deputies by illegally allotting them choice plots in Kiev for construction projects. Chernovetsky always denied those accusations.

Early this year, Chernovetsky had a quarrel with Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko. The two accused each other of corruption, and Lutsenko punched him in the face.

Relations between the mayor and Lutsenko’s People’s Self-Defense group – the junior partner in Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense bloc (NUNS) – were seriously damaged.

Chernovetsky also failed to find a common language with Tymoshenko, who at some point was rumored to harbor mayoral ambitions herself.

Tymoshenko was prompted into action by a mass defection of city council deputies from BYuT to Chernovetsky’s team. When Tymoshenko tried to replace the defectors with other BYuT members, appealing to the law on binding mandates that forbids deputies to change caucuses, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) refused to back her.

A furious Tymoshenko demanded the dismissal of both Chernovetsky and CEC chairman Volodymyr Shapoval, a Yushchenko appointee.

On March 7, the BYuT pushed through parliament a resolution to set up an ad-hoc commission to investigate “violations of the constitution and laws” by Chernovetsky.

On March 12, the Cabinet voted to approach Yushchenko with a request to dismiss Chernovetsky over alleged illegal land deals. All BYuT representatives in the Cabinet backed the motion, but five NUNS ministers abstained, arguing that Yushchenko has no legal power to dismiss the mayor.

The head of Yushchenko’s secretariat, Viktor Baloha, said that the Cabinet had failed to come up with any documents to substantiate their charges.

Chernovetsky helped Yushchenko save face. On March 13, he sent a letter to Yushchenko suggesting a temporary absence. Yushchenko then suspended Chernovetsky for 15 days and set up a government commission to probe Chernovetsky.

Tymoshenko, however, was not satisfied. On March 16, she threatened a BYuT walk-out of parliament if lawmakers failed to call an early mayoral election.

This is necessary, she said, because the “Kiev mayor and his entourage created colossal corruption schemes in selling and distributing land and other property.”

Baloha and the PRU dismissed Tymoshenko’s demand as too radical, arguing that the commission set up by Yushchenko should first report on its findings and accusing Tymoshenko of undermining political stability.

However, on March 18 parliament voted in favor of conducting early elections for mayor and city council in Kiev. The motion was backed by 246 votes in the 450-seat body, including the votes of BYuT, NUNS, and the Communists.

Commenting on the motion, politicians from different camps agreed that Chernovetsky will likely appeal in court. Anatoly Matvienko, one of the leaders of NUNS, said that parliament had acted illegally, as the law allows the calling of an early mayoral election only if the illegal activities of a mayor were proved in court, which is not the case.

It is possible that Chernovetsky will win re-election, which will most probably be held in June, in line with legislation that gives 70 days to conduct a campaign in case of an early mayoral election.

The PRU and the Communists have weak positions in Kiev and will hardly field strong candidates, while the situation in the Orange camp is the opposite: too many hopefuls and no unity. BYuT reportedly rejected NUNS’s proposals on coming up with a single candidate.

There are at least five popular politicians among the Orange camp who do not conceal mayoral ambitions.

These are Lutsenko (NUNS); Kiev Council deputy Vitaly Klichko, who is a former world boxing champion (unaffiliated); former deputy prime minister and former deputy speaker of parliament Mykola Tomenko (BYuT); former mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko (NUNS); and former vice-mayor Mykhaylo Pozhyvanov (BYuT), who chairs the state committee for material reserves.

Source: Eurasia Daily Monitor

Kotelnik Too Strong For Brave Rees At WBA Cardiff

CARDIFF, Wales -- Hard-hitting Ukrainian Andreas Kotelnik dethroned Gavin Rees as the World Boxing Association (WBA) light-welterweight world champion with a last round stoppage of the Welshman here Saturday.

Ukraine's Andreas Kotelnik, right, and Britain's world champion Gavin Rees in action during the WBA Light Welterweight bout at Cardiff International Arena, Cardiff Saturday March 22, 2008.
Rees produced one of the boxing upsets of 2007 when he took the title from Soulyemane M'Baye.

But from the third round on, when his nose started to bleed, Rees - whose trainer is Enzo Calzaghe, the father and coach of undisputed super-middleweight champion Joe, started to be picked off by Kotelnik.

And the challenger finished the bout 30 seconds from the end of the last round, and what would otherwise most likely have been a crushing points victory, when he dropped Rees with a powerful right hand.

Defeat was the Welshman's first in 28 bouts as professional and it also meant Enzo Calzaghe had seen another of his fighters lose a world title this month after Enzo Maccarinelli, the former World Boxing Organisation (WBO) cruiserweight champion, was knocked out by fellow Briton David Haye.

"He hits so hard," the 27-year-old Rees told Setanta Sports after his defeat. "I didn't think he was going to hit that hard.

"He caught me on my right ear in the third round.

"I didn't know what was happening then to be honest.

He added: "I'll be back. It's my first career loss - I'm only 27."

Enzo Calzaghe praised Rees's bravery, saying: "Sometimes you can lose and still be champion. That's tremendous, tremendous heart."

Kotelnik said he'd always been prepared to go 12 rounds. "I expected Rees to be that strong because he's the world champion and I expected to go the distance with him."

Source: AFP

Ukraine Opposition Halts Parliament Over Kosovo Issue

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's Party of Regions blocked the country's parliamentary rostrum Friday demanding the withdrawal of Ukrainian peacekeepers from Kosovo and the Interior Minister's resignation.

Pro-Russia Viktor Yanukovych is at again.
Over 20 Ukrainian peacekeepers were wounded and one later died in hospital following clashes in the Serb-dominated area of Mitrovica on March 17, when UN police and NATO-led KFOR troops launched an operation to regain control of a UN court building seized last week by ethnic Serbs.

As the Supreme Rada began its work on Friday morning, the Party of Regions proposed a bill on the withdrawal of Ukrainian peacekeepers from Kosovo, which was unanimously rejected by the parliamentary coalition.

The Party of Regions, led by former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych, also demanded that Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko resign for giving misleading information on the Kosovo incident.

"He [Lutsenko] said NATO had no connection to this operation. But the operation was commanded by KFOR, which has a direct link to NATO," Nestor Shufrych, one of the party's leaders, said.

The Interior Minister earlier called on parliament not to make any decision on the issue of the withdrawal of troops from Kosovo and asked the Party of Regions to avoid speculation regarding NATO, adding that the operation was conducted under the command of the UN mission in Kosovo.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko told journalists after a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council on Friday that Ukraine is not planning to end its peacekeeping operation in Kosovo.

"The question of withdrawing Ukrainian peacekeepers is not on the agenda," Ohryzko said.

The Foreign Minister added that the government will demand that the UN establish a two-party committee to investigate the incident with the Ukrainian peacekeepers.

Yanukovych's party blamed the death of the Ukrainian peacekeeper on the country's authorities, which are seeking NATO membership, saying they were putting political interests before the lives of Ukrainians.

Lutsenko blamed the UN for the incident and called for an investigation to find and bring those responsible for the soldier's death to justice.

Serb rioters attacked UN forces with rocks, grenades and Molotov cocktails as they tried to remove protesters from inside the courthouse.

In all, more than 60 UN police and KFOR troops, and over 70 Serb protesters were wounded in the worst outbreak of violence in the region since Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on February 17.

Work by the Supreme Rada was blocked for a few weeks last month by the Party of Regions and the Communist Party, who demanded a referendum on the country's accession to the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP).

The NATO-Ukraine commission is due to hold a meeting during the alliance's summit in Bucharest, Romania, on April 2-4, 2008.

Source: RIA Novosti

Pentagon: Georgia, Ukraine May Not Join NATO for Years

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Pentagon says U.S. support for efforts by Georgia and Ukraine to join NATO does not necessarily mean the countries will join the alliance anytime soon.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates
But a spokesman says Defense Secretary Robert Gates agrees it is time to start what could be a long process.

A spokesman says Secretary Gates discussed Georgia's effort to begin the NATO membership process during a meeting with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili at the Pentagon on Thursday.

That was the day after President Bush met with the Georgian president and said he will urge NATO leaders at their summit in Bucharest next month to approve Georgia's Membership Action Plan.

Russia opposes the plan for the former Soviet Republics to join the western alliance. But Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell says even with Membership Action Plans that will likely not happen for a long time.

"I think it's important not to confuse MAP with membership," he noted. "It is what its name implies it is. It's a Membership Action Plan. You know that three of the countries that are up for membership in Bucharest, Croatia, Albania and Macedonia have been going through MAP for the past decade. So this can be a long process. And it's designed to encourage democratic and military reforms, and along the way to, sort of, recognize the progress they've made."

Morrell notes that countries with a NATO Membership Action Plan do not come under the alliance's protection unless and until they actually join, which must be approved by all the other members.

NATO leaders are expected to issue formal invitations to Croatia, Albania and Macedonia at their summit in April.

Albania and Macedonia have been working on their membership plans for nine years, and Croatia has been working on its plan for six years.

Source: Voice of America

Tymoshenko Most Popular Political Force In Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine -- Parliament’s March 18 vote to call pre-term elections for Kyiv’s city mayor was a second major victory for Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko this month, following the new gas contract with Russia signed on March 6.

Yulia Tymoshenko
The vote is symbolically important because Ukraine’s legislation requires that the president appoint the elected mayor to also be the city’s governor (head of the city’s State Administration).

The Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) is by far the most popular force in Kyiv, and therefore its candidate will presumably win the snap election.

Both victories will likely increase Tymoshenko’s already high popularity and give BYuT control over the capital city ahead of the 2009 presidential elections.

Tymoshenko and BYuT have now enhanced their credentials as anti-corruption crusaders. Meanwhile, President Viktor Yushchenko and the Party of Regions have been harmed by their continued support for a gas intermediary company and the corrupt and unpopular Kyiv mayor.

The normally cautious former Kyiv mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko and Kyiv city councilor and boxer Vitaly Klichko both suggested that the mayor had been under the protection of the presidential secretariat.

Yushchenko’s already damaged reputation will take yet another hit, because his chief of staff, Viktor Baloha, has publicly supported Chernovetsky.

This alliance has further widened the gulf between Yushchenko and Our Ukraine–People’s Self Defense (NUNS), as the latter had refused to send representatives to the presidential commission established to investigate Chernovetsky following his fistfight with NUNS leader and Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko on January 18.

The popularly held view is that the commission, controlled by Baloha, was set up merely to whitewash Chernovetsky. An alternative government commission, backed by BYuT and NUNS ministers, estimated that the cost of Chernovetsky’s abuse of office was $250 million, largely from land distribution deals.

Even before these two victories this month, Tymoshenko and BYuT had become the most popular politician and party in Ukraine. Her program to begin repaying lost Soviet-era savings only partially explains the growing popularity.

Other factors include poor policies undertaken by the opposition, such as boycotting parliament – which has been very unpopular among Ukrainians. Tymoshenko is seen as a reformer and anti-corruption crusader obstructed from undertaking popular policies.

If presidential elections were held now, Tymoshenko would win by a large margin. A recent poll gave a more modest level of support for Tymoshenko (25%) over Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych’s 23%, with Yushchenko badly trailing at 9%.

BYuT’s ratings have grown for the first time since the elections and if elections were held now it would probably take 40% of the vote, giving it more than 200 parliamentary seats, up from its current 156. Unlike NUNS and Regions, BYuT did not fear early elections if the blockade of parliament had led to its dissolution.

This year is turning into a triumphant one for Tymoshenko and BYuT, especially with presidential elections only one year away. Tymoshenko and BYuT’s support is growing throughout Ukraine, including in Regions’ traditional eastern Ukrainian strongholds.

Tymoshenko is catching up even faster to Yanukovych in southern Ukraine, also a potential swing region. Central Ukraine traditionally decides Ukraine’s presidential elections, and the region is now dominated by Tymoshenko.

Both Regions and Yanukovych have experienced a slump in popularity since the 2007 elections, falling from 34% to 21%. If parliamentary elections were held now they would obtain far fewer seats than BYuT.

Yanukovych’s personal popularity also slumped, from 30% to 20%, while the number of Ukrainians who hold a negative view of his activities rose from 37% to 50%.

NUNS received 14% in both the 2006 and 2007 elections, a 10% drop on 2002 when Our Ukraine first ran in an election. Since the 2007 elections, NUNS’s popularity has nearly halved to only 8%, due to the public airing of the bloc’s internal divisions and its retreat from an election promise to merge the nine member parties in NUNS.

A catastrophic decline in Yushchenko’s popularity has, according to a survey conducted by Ukrainian political consultant Volodymyr Fesenko, stabilized at only 10%. The president’s popularity rating temporarily rose to 20% after he disbanded parliament on April 2, 2007, but has since halved.

Yushchenko’s poor showing is primarily due to his inability to implement the anti-corruption and rule of law pledges that mobilized the Orange Revolution more than three years ago.

As Fesenko convincingly argues, the president’s future will be heavily dependent on his personal relationship with Tymoshenko.

However, presidential strategy in this regard seems to be the opposite of what is needed, as it is undermining the president’s ratings and also damaging the popularity of NUNS, whose honorary chairman is Yushchenko. It is no coincidence that the president and NUNS both have ratings in the 10% range.

Recent polls indicate that Ukrainian voters have proven to be far more sophisticated than Ukraine’s elites have ever given them credit.

As a young democracy, Ukraine’s free media and open political competition and discourse provides sufficient information for Ukrainians to pass judgment on their leaders, whether in polls or elections.

Source: Eurasia Daily Monitor

Open Door To Ukraine, Georgia, Say Eastern NATO States, Canada

VILNIUS, Lithuania -- Nine ex-communist NATO members, plus Canada, have urged the rest of the Atlantic alliance to overcome splits and open the door to former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia at its April summit, Lithuania said Thursday.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Violeta Gaizauskaite told AFP that Lithuania was among the 10 signatories of a letter addressed to NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and copied to other member states.

She refused to give details of the content, but confirmed reports that it argued in favour of instigating a process that might lead to Georgia and Ukraine joining the alliance.

Gaizauskaite said the letter was also signed by Lithuania's fellow 2004 NATO ex-communist entrants Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania, plus Poland and the Czech Republic, which joined in 1999, and Canada, a founder member in 1949.

"We indeed got the letter on Wednesday," a member state diplomat at NATO's Brussels headquarters told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Russia vehemently opposes the NATO ambitions of neighbours and Soviet-era vassals Ukraine and Georgia, and has accused the Western alliance of trying to encircle it.

The Baltic News Service (BNS) agency reported that the letter said NATO's April 2-4 summit in Romania must offer Ukraine and Georgia a "Membership Action Plan" (MAP).

Such accords have been used in the past to help other former communist bloc countries meet NATO standards and steer them into the Western military club, and both Kiev and Tbilisi have been lobbying hard for one.

BNS said the letter argued that giving Ukraine and Georgia a MAP would increase stability and security in Europe, and stressed that a failure to act at the Bucharest summit would dent NATO's "open door" policy.

Gaizauskaite confirmed the BNS report was accurate.

Poland's PAP news agency, meanwhile, reported that the letter warned that turning down Ukraine and Georgia would mean "losing a chance to anchor these countries" in the Western defence camp.

In the face of Russian opposition, the issue of ties between the 26-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and Ukraine and Georgia is expected to be one of the highest-profile subjects on the table at the summit.

Scheffer has himself said the summit should give a clear signal the alliance's door is open to both countries.

NATO works by consensus, so the unanimous approval of all members is required.

Despite support from NATO's powerhouse the United States, plus Canada and most of the alliance's ex-communist members, there is reticence among many other states.

The doubters include Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain, as well as ex-communist Hungary, which joined NATO in 1999, according to officials in several of the countries and NATO diplomats.

They are wary of provoking a further row with Moscow on top of a dispute over US plans to deploy an anti-missile system in the Czech Republic and Poland.

They are also worried that granting Ukraine and Georgia a MAP could be counter-productive, worsening Moscow's already strained relations with Kiev and Tbilisi.

The sceptics also point to a lack of public backing in Ukraine for the NATO policy of the country's pro-Western leaders.

While Georgians are mostly in favour, a concern there focuses on "frozen conflicts" with the potential to create problems for the entire alliance if Tbilisi is given a green light.

Separatists have controlled a swathe of northern Georgia since it broke free from the crumbling Soviet Union in the 1990s

Source: AFP

Premier Rejects Unity Calls For Kiev Vote

KIEV, Ukraine -- Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Wednesday her party will soon nominate its own candidate for Kiev mayor, rejecting calls for her to back a single candidate on behalf of Ukraine’s governing coalition.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
The remark puts Tymoshenko on a collision course against President Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense group, which will probably be forced to nominate its own candidate for the election in early June.

“Our political force has the greatest level of support and it would be irresponsible to back a person that we are not completely responsible for,” Tymoshenko said at a press conference.

Oleksandr Turchynov, the first deputy prime minister and Tymoshenko’s closest ally, may be nominated as the candidate, Kommersant daily reported Wednesday citing sources. Tymoshenko refused to comment on the report.

The upcoming election, which has been pushed through by Tymoshenko, is seen by many analysts an important test-run ahead of the presidential election due late 2009.

Tymoshenko and Yushchenko are seen rivals at the next presidential election and the secret rivalry has been eroding the strength of the pro-Western government coalition currently in place.

Tymoshenko’s pledge to nominate her own candidate for the top post in Kiev, Ukraine’s biggest and the wealthiest city, is a further sign that she might be drifting towards the clash with Yushchenko.

“The democratic coalition has no chances of nominating a single candidate at the mayor election,” Vladislav Kaskiv, a member of the Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense group, said. “The reason is simple: politicians view the city as the goldmine.”

Tymoshenko has been seeking to remove Kiev Mayor Leonid Chernovetskiy, a wealthy businessman, accusing him of controversial privatization of land plots in the city.

She seeks to reverse Chernovetskiy’s push over the past six months to give away about 1,700 hectares of land plots worth about $3 billion to dozens of controversial cooperatives whose ownership is not transparent.

Chernovetskiy denied the charges and pledged on Wednesday to run for office again, and to win.

Tymoshenko’s pledge to nominate the candidate denies speculations that she might try to strike a deal with Vitaly Klichko, a former world heavyweight boxing champion, and currently the most popular candidate.

Source: Ukrainian Journal

A Drop Of Justice

KIEV, Ukraine -- More than seven years after the murder of crusading journalist Georgiy Gongadze, a drop of justice has fallen.

The theory that Yushchenko (R) cut a deal during the Orange Revolution with Kuchma (L) to protect him from prosecution appears increasingly plausible.
On March 15, the Kyiv Appellate Court handed out prison sentences of 12 to 13 years each to three police officers convicted for their role in the killing.

While the convictions are a step towards justice in Ukraine, particularly for journalists, they fall far short of bringing closure to a case that Viktor Yushchenko described as a matter of honor for his presidency.

None of those who ordered the slaying have been brought to justice.

Those convicted claim to be unaware of who ordered the murder, saying they were merely following police surveillance chief Oleksiy Pukach’s orders.

Years ago, Pukach was held in custody for his alleged involvement, but vanished after being controversially released.

The Melnychenko tapes reveal the possible direct involvement of top officials, including former President Leonid Kuchma.

Meanwhile, the theory that Yushchenko cut a deal during the Orange Revolution with Kuchma to protect him from prosecution appears increasingly plausible.

Many doubt the prosecutor’s office's ability and desire to crack the case.

Ukraine’s leaders should launch an independent truth commission composed of apolitical legal experts and investigators to bring closure.

With the case so domestically divisive, it makes sense to appoint international experts of impeccable integrity.

Truth commissions have a mixed record (those ordering the murder of US President John F. Kennedy were never revealed), but proved effective in post-Apartheid South Africa.

Source: Kyiv Post

Yushchenko, Davis Discuss Ukraine’s Constitutional Reforming

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis met on Wednesday to discuss Ukraine’s constitutional reform, the press service of the Ukrainian president told Itar-Tass.

Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis
Terry Davis is on a visit in Ukraine.

Yushchenko informed the Secretary General of the Council of Europe about the activity of the National Constitutional Council and the drafting of a new Ukrainian constitution.

The president confirmed that the constitutional reform is a keystone of political stabilisation in Ukraine.

“All political forces understand that the constitutional reform is direct response to the stabilisation of the political situation in the country,” Yushchenko said.

He also called on the Council of Europe to recognize the Holodomor (famine) of 1932-1933 in Ukraine as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people.

The president thinks that it is necessary to work out a European educational program that will tell the historical truth about that tragedy, Yushchenko said.

Davis accepted an invitation to attend an international forum devoted to the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor in Ukraine that will be held in Kiev this November.

The parties discussed prospects for the adoption by the Council of Europe’s Cabinet of Ministers the cooperation plant between the organisation and Ukraine for 2008-2011.

Source: ITAR-TASS

Russia, Ukraine: New Scandal Impending

KIEV, Ukraine -- Russia and Ukraine will clash anew very soon, this time on issues of environmental protection. Kiev intends to demand from Moscow the compensation of billion dollars for polluting the Kerch Strait by petroleum.

An oil covered bird lies in front of Ukrainian soldiers removing oil pollution from the Black Sea shore at the Ukraines "Kosa Tuzla" island near Black Sea port Kerch November 15, 2007.
Past November, the storm broke up Russian tanker Volgoneft-139, sank freighters Kovel, Volnogorsk, Nakhichevan and damaged a few other vessels in the Kerch Strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

The fuel oil spilled from the tanker, killing dolphins in the Black Sea and heavily polluting the nearby Sea of Azov.

Ukraine has finally calculated the damage, estimating at $1.457 billion the losses caused by the fuel oil pollution.

First Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Turchinov made the respective statement on Tuesday, during the sitting of the State Commission for Technogenic and Ecological Safety.

In the next move, Kiev is likely to attempt to enforce the payment on Moscow.

Source: Kommersant

Ukraine President Yushchenko To Attend Bucharest NATO Summit

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko will attend a NATO summit in Bucharest expected to discuss expansion of the alliance eastward, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday.

Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko
Yushchenko, a supporter of Ukraine's early membership in NATO, had delayed announcement on his plans to attend the April 2-4 meetings in Bucharest because of domestic opposition.

An acrimonious dispute over whether or not even to discuss NATO membership, pitting pro-Europe and pro-Russia political factions in Ukraine's national legislature, has stalled the country's parliament for more than a month.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel added fuel to the fire last week, speaking against Ukraine's and Georgia's joining NATO any time soon on grounds the countries lack widespread public support for the idea.

Merkel's remarks and Ukrainian domestic opposition notwithstanding, Yushchenko will during the Bucharest conference sign an agreement with NATO setting forth a precise step-by-step plan for Ukraine's membership in the Atlantic Alliance, said Oleksander Chaly, a Yushchenko spokesman.

Ukraine's population opposes membership in NATO by a 2 to 1 margin, largely because of NATO air strikes against Serbia, and deployments in Afghanistan, that are generally seen in the former Soviet republic as Western military aggression against a weaker Eastern nation.

The pro-Europe wing of Ukraine's political elite are much more supportive of the idea, in no small part because they see the alliance as a counterweight to pressure from Ukraine's giant northern neighbour Russia.

The pro-Russia wing of Ukraine's political elite for its part argues Ukraine's security would be best protected by friendly relations with Russia, and distance from NATO.

Source: DPA

Parliament Votes For Ouster Of Kiev Mayor

KIEV, Ukraine -- Parliament approved a resolution on Tuesday ordering early mayoral and local elections in Ukraine’s capital city, setting an important precedent that can be used to reshape local governments across Ukraine.

Kiev Mayor Chernovetskiy has been given a no-confidence vote by Ukraine's Parliament.
The resolution, which de-facto ousts controversial Kiev Mayor Leonid Chernovetskiy, is a major victory for Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, whose group is expected to perform strongly at the elections.

“I thought that no powers are worth much if we keep corruption intact in the capital,” Tymoshenko said before the resolution was approved.

Tymoshenko accused Chernovetskiy of holding controversial privatization of land in Kiev that had given away almost $3 billion worth of land plots over the past six months.

Chernovetskiy denied the charges, and a special commission set by President Viktor Yushchenko is probing the accusations.

The resolution, approved by a 246-5 vote, was supported by the governing coalition and by an independent group led by former Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn.

This is the first time ever that Parliament has effectively voted to oust a local government in Ukraine and to set an early election in a particular region, a practice that now can be used elsewhere.

The Kharkiv region, dominated by opposition Regions Party, was mentioned as the possible next region that may face early election later this year, analysts said.

The Kiev elections are due to take place 70 days after the resolution takes effect, and will probably be held in early June.

The Tymoshenko group enjoys the strongest support in Kiev, but analysts said cooperation with other pro-Western groups, such as Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense and the Vitaliy Klichko Bloc, would be needed to win the elections.

“The problem of nominating the single candidate still persists,” Viacheslav Kyrylenko, the leader of Our Ukraine, said after the vote. “Unfortunately, our partners in the coalition and other political groups are not yet ready for the single candidate.”

Chernovetskiy, a wealthy businessman, won the election on March 26, 2006, by narrowly beating Vitaliy Klichko, a world heavyweight boxing champion, and an incumbent mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko.

Although Chernovetskiy was repeatedly elected to Parliament on the ticket of Our Ukraine, Yushchenko’s party, he had switched sides shortly after election to the mayor post, creating a coalition in the Kiev council with Yushchenko’s foes, the Regions Party.

The Kiev mayor gets automatically appointed by the president as the head of the Kiev State Administration.

Chernovetskiy is the owner of Pravex Bank he had created in 1990s. Last month Intesa Sunpaolo, an Italian banking group, agreed to pay 504 million euros, or $705 million, for 100% of Pravex, and the deal is expected to close within the next several months.

Source: Ukrainian Journal

HN: Avia Ashok Leyland To Build Plant In Ukraine

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Czech lorry maker Avia Ashok Leyland plans to build a plant in Ukraine, the daily 'Hospodarske Noviny' (HN) wrote Tuesday referring to a well-informed source.


The plant construction is being prepared but no more details will be published for now, the source said, adding that a more detailed information could possibly raise the price of land at a potential construction site.

A location is yet to be picked and no decision has been made on the parameters of the facility, according to the source.

Avia head Anders Spare refused to comment on the company's plans, HN said.

In the autumn of 2006, when Ashok Leyland bought into Avia, the then head of Ashok indirectly announced that a plant could be built abroad, the paper writes.

Avia entered the market in Ukraine last year by means of the US company Procter&Gamble that ordered 60 vehicles for the distribution of its products on the local market. Avia supplied 30 lorries last year, HN said.

Avia sales soared 75 percent to 713 cars last year.

This year, the company wants to increase production to 2,000 units, Spare said.

Avia produces more than 55 combinations of models weighing from 6.5 to 11.990 tonnes. These vehicles do not pay toll that is collected from lorries weighing 12 tonnes and more, the paper said.

In March 2005, Odien Capital Partners took over Avia from the collapsing South Korean car maker Daewoo and sold it to Ashok Leyland Motors of India in 2006.

Avia has been in the red since 1999, its losses in recent years caused primarily by high write offs.

Avia's loss in 2006 rose by a third to Kc965m on sales worth Kc430m.

Sales doubled and loss went down last year, according to preliminary results.

Source: Prague Daily Monitor

Bush To Meet With Ukraine Leaders, Opposition March 31-April 1

KIEV, Ukraine -- President George W. Bush will meet with Ukrainian leaders and the opposition when he arrives in the ex-Soviet state for a two-day visit on March 31, Ukraine's presidential press office said on Tuesday.

U.S. President George W. Bush (R) shakes hands with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko at NATO headquarters in Brussels, in this file photo from February 22, 2005.
"As part of his visit, the United States president plans to hold meetings with Ukraine's top officials and opposition leaders," the statement said.

Bush will meet with President Viktor Yushchenko for closed-door talks on April 1, after which extended talks will be held, the statement said.

Yushchenko said last week that his country's moves toward membership of NATO would be discussed with Bush in Kiev.

He also said he was sure the NATO summit in early April would back Ukrainian leaders' request to allow the country to join the Membership Action Plan, which paves the way to jointing the alliance.

On leaving Kiev, Bush will travel to the summit in Bucharest, Romania.

Ukraine's drive toward NATO triggered parliamentary opposition protests and threats from Russia that it might target its nuclear missiles on Ukraine if it joined the military bloc.

Source: RIA Novosti

Ukraine Sends Senior Officials To Kosovo After Peacekeeper Dies, Others Wounded In Violence

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine is sending senior officials to Kosovo where one of its peacekeepers was killed and 20 were wounded in clashes with Serb demonstrators.

Peacekeeping forces came under fire in Serb riots in northern Kosovo where the Albanian majority declared independence a month ago.
Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko and a deputy foreign minister will visit Kosovo on Wednesday to assess the safety situation for the 370 or so Ukrainian peacekeepers there.

The Interior Ministry says decisions about Ukraine's future in the U.N. peacekeeping mission will be made after the visit.

The comment suggests Ukraine may consider pulling its forces out.

The Ukrainian policeman died of injuries from a hand grenade thrown during Monday's clashes in the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica.

The violence wounded more than 60 U.N. and NATO forces, as well as 70 protesters.

Source: International Herald Tribune

Morgan Stanley To Open Office In Ukraine

TBILISI, Georgia -- In line with its strategy of building market-leading businesses in developing markets, Morgan Stanley on March 17 announced its intention to seek appropriate regulatory approvals to establish an office in Kiev , Ukraine .


The Firm also announced the appointment of Mr. Ihor Mitiukov as Managing Director and Head of Morgan Stanley’s Office in Kiev, reporting to Rair Simonyan, Head of Morgan Stanley in the region, and Franck Petitgas, Global co-Head of Investment Banking.

Mitiukov, who previously served as a Minister of Finance and Deputy Chairman of National Bank of Ukraine , will work closely with Pavel Fedorov, Head of Investment Banking in the region, to develop Morgan Stanley’s business in the country into the leading investment banking franchise.

“As we continue to develop our business in Eastern Europe, Ukraine with its growth potential is a strategically important market for Morgan Stanley,” commented Walid Chammah, co-President of Morgan Stanley and Chairman of Morgan Stanley International. “We believe that this is the right time to enhance Morgan Stanley’s on-the-ground presence.”

“We are very pleased that Ihor Mitiukov is joining the Firm to lead our business in Ukraine ,” added Rair Simonyan. “He is a talented executive with an extensive range of experience, and he will play a critical role in building our business in Ukraine .”

“I am delighted to be joining Morgan Stanley,” said Ihor Mitiukov. “As Ukraine is starting to open up to global capital markets, there is considerable demand from Ukrainian clients for investment banking and capital markets solutions and Morgan Stanley, with its global franchise, network and capabilities, is uniquely placed to deliver such solutions. This is a great opportunity to build a market-leading business and one to which I am very much looking forward.”

Source: The Financial News

Ukraine Turns To Germany, France To Back NATO Bid

KIEV, Ukraine -- In a letter addressed to the leaders of Germany and France, Ukraine has requested support for it bid to join NATO. But some European countries are concerned about alienating Russia.

Ukraine's leaders want to join NATO, but wonder what it would mean for ties with Russia.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko signed the letter, published on Monday, March 17, which promised a referendum would be held on NATO membership and that a pro-NATO campaign would bring around opponents within Ukraine.

The trans-Atlantic organization is expected to discuss Ukraine's request for membership at its two-day summit in Bucharest, which begins on April 2.

Germany and France are among the western European countries that have spoken out against granting Ukraine a so-called Membership Action Plan (MAP), a key step toward potential membership.

Fear of irking Russia

There is concern that supporting Ukrainian membership could disrupt relations with Russia, which sees the former Soviet republic part of its sphere of influence and strongly opposes eastward NATO expansion.

In an address over the weekend, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the alliance needed to develop a new long-term strategy including improved dialogue and cooperation with Russia.

Opposition within Ukraine

According to opinion polls, the Ukrainian population is also opposed to the plan. During the Cold War, Soviet propaganda portrayed NATO as the enemy.

"The issue of the opposition political forces was not Ukraine's NATO membership, but the mechanism of making the final correct decision," read the government's letter.

During a visit to Moscow, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were expected on Tuesday to talk with their Russian counterparts, among other things, about the possibility of NATO taking in both Ukraine and Georgia.

Washington backs membership for the two states.

Source: Deutsche Welle

Shaktar Donetsk Boss Apologises To Photographer

LOS ANGELES, CA -- Rinat Akhmetov, the multi-billionaire owner of the Ukraine's Shakhtar football side, has apologised to a photographer for a beating received by the newsman at a recent home game, reports Korrespondent magazine.

Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov
'He (Akhmetov) called me twice and apologised personally...and said that what happened to me was a 'shocking incident',' said Ihor Tkachenko, a Unian news agency cameraman. 'He even offered to pay for any expensive medicines I might need.'

Rated by Forbes magazine as Ukraine's first or second richest man, the reclusive Akhmetov generally avoids contact with the press.

He only appears in public regularly as a serving MP, and during Shakhtar home matches.

Source: DPA

Blackberry Chic

KIEV, Ukraine -- While there are plenty of high-class (at least in terms of prices) restaurants in Kyiv, few of them match the polished chic and near-royal luxury of the newly opened restaurant Blackberry.

One of several Blackberry elegant halls.
The fact that this top-notch place is located on Khreschatyk near European Square, with its inner space visible to anyone walking down the street, adds a bit of kitsch and irony to its glamorous image.

Inside, the place is divided into several zones: the white hall, black hall and a golden gallery on a balcony, plus a fancy pink V.I.P. room with a separate entrance.

With its glossy interior with polished granite on the floor, chairs with golden colored upholstery, shiny big chandeliers and giant mirrors, Blackberry has already gained a reputation of a place to come and show off your new dress if you’re a woman or your new model girlfriend if you’re a man.

Even though there is no official dress code, the over-the-top design and the wait staff – who are extremely gallant, but don’t hesitate to pay close attention to what you’re wearing – imply you should dress your best.

It’s worth noting that the cuisine was created with as much care and attention to detail as the exterior of the restaurant.

The kitchen is managed by a young chef who used to work at Imperia restaurant and a female art-chef with loads of experience.

Together they came up with a culinary specialty menu that can be called “creative fusion.”

Lobster soup served with black pasta with trout; tuna tartar with soy sauce and seaweed; fresh spinach salad seasoned with a mix of lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce with duck fillet and raspberries are among the menu offerings at Blackberry.

Source: Kyiv Post

Mountain Pride

SYDNEY, Australia -- Adventurer Tim Cope makes an unforgettable journey through the Ukrainian Carpathians on horseback.

Adventurer Tim Cope making his way through the Carpathian Mountains.
There came a scraping of hoof on rock then the clapping of stones tumbling down the gully behind me. I dismounted, the horses regained balance and my surroundings rushed into clarity. The slope above angled into curling mist that poured over unseen mountain tops and decapitated thick forest of pine and spruce.

Below, the mountainside fell away into space hovering over the village from where we had risen. As if painted on a vertical canvas there were colourful wooden cottages perched on the opposing side of the valley bordered by greying timber fences, haystacks and glistening spring pastures.

After three years on horseback with my three mounts and dog Tigon from Mongolia to Hungary, I had finally arrived in the Carpathians among the hardy mountain people known as the Hutsuls.

Arcing from Yugoslavia to Poland, the Carpathian Mountains hold some of the last vestiges of wilderness and traditional communities in Europe. They are home to diverse tracts of boreal and deciduous forests and lofty alpine environments where dwarf rhododendrons bloom in early summer and mountain lynx track prey through virgin snow in winter.

Bear and wolf sightings are not uncommon, and in the shadow of the Chorna Gora ridge in Ukraine there are timeless hamlets reachable only by horse and foot.

The Hutsuls who claim that their ancestors have lived in the Carpathians for thousands of years, are renowned for their independence, grit, and creativity.

They survived the many empires that washed over their land from Ghengis Khan and the Mongols, to the world wars of the 20th century when they fought both the Nazis and the Russians.

The bitterness and soul-destroyed feeling that one gets from much of the former Soviet Union is absent, and what's more commercialism hasn't affected the heart and integrity of society either.

The Hutsuls are ardently proud of their skills and traditions and, even now as Ukraine opens more to tourism, show few signs of straying in the face of a changing modern world.

The exposure and raw beauty of the high slopes had been electrifying, but one has to be immersed in the culture to really sense the heart of the Hutsuls. I descended to the village of Krivorivnya which is spread along the narrow winding valley of the Chornyi Cheremosh river.

Waiting for me in a long black robe with a striking beard and youthful face was Ivan Rebruk, the local mountaineer turned priest. He explained that during winter he used his mountaineering skills to bless every river, stream, well and house in the parish. Wearing traditional dress it took him two weeks of trekking to visit around 600 family homes. "This is important work because I can also gauge the community very well, who is in need and who is not. Among Hutsuls the church is still the heart of village life," he says.

Ivan would accommodate me for a week, and his unending energy to share his culture and home spoke volumes of the Hutsuls's pride.

There is a local legend that when God was giving out land, he forgot about the Hutsuls. All that was left were the inhospitable Carpathians, so to compensate he blessed the people with extraordinary creativity and a hardworking soul.

With Ivan it was easy to be convinced that this was true. We hiked up to the mountain hamlet of Berezhnitsa where he was due to direct a special celebratory church service. Young and old came streaming down from mountain abodes, many of whom were on walking sticks and well into their eighties.

Their colourfully woven vests, embroidered shirts and hats sparkled under a blue sky, and as the chapel filled and overflowed, many sat around talking, singing and drinking beer that was delivered by horse and cart.

A stiff 20-minute walk up the hillside Ivan introduced me to Vasil Yusipchuk, an 84-year-old who had been living in the mountains all his life and making traditional hats since the age of 16.

In his rickety top attic he hand-wove all the decorations with wool, and explained that for the Hutsuls, traditional dress carries the soul and spirit of their ancestors. In another corner of the attic was his coffin. "It is even older than you are!" he joked.

Most Hutsuls handcraft their own coffins, and are sure to do so with a light wood to make the job of carrying them down the mountainside easier.

Inside the coffin lay a complete outfit and pre-made inscription plates for the headstone. "We reserve our very best clothes for the most important meeting of our lives when we die and meet with God," he said.

Back in Krivorivnya, even the everyday was laced with the Hutsul love of art. Paintings, wood carvings, ornate well covers and countless roadside chapels abounded, and firewood was stacked in pretty haystack-like mounds.

Misha, a rough-looking, work-hardened man forged my horseshoes in his blacksmith workshop before shoeing all three of my horses, and then also turned his hands to playing the violin over dinner.

His wife proudly showed how she spun wool by hand and made traditional blankets called lizhniki on her loom. Ivan pointed out that they were not alone with their range of skills in the village.

Throughout my time in the Carpathians, babushkas would commonly greet me with clenched hands in the air and shout: "So you are off to the polonino? You are brave! May God be with you!"

It took me some time to realise that they were mistaking me for a local herder who had begun the annual migration up to high mountains. "Polonino" refers to the alpine pastures where Hutsuls live in the summer with their cattle, sheep, horses and goats.

In a meadow not far from Krivorivnya, Ivan took me to Poloninske Lito, the festival celebrating those who are about to brave the hostile slopes. There was a dazzling array of musicians in traditional dress carrying instruments from big double bass violins to the duda which is a local variety of the bagpipes, and the three-metre pipes called the trembita.

One could wander from stall to stall sampling local meals, watching live performances and of course trying a diverse array of locally made gorilka - homemade vodka. At one end hundreds suddenly gathered when young men in underpants began climbing up a 15-metre-high pole to claim prizes that were hanging from the top.

With a slightly sore and sorry head, I later began my own ascent to the high pastures of the Chorna Gora, a ridge that runs 30 kilometres, averaging heights of around 2000 metres. Along the way I passed herders struggling with overloaded carts up impossibly steep tracks pulled by hardy little horses.

The Hutsul horse is believed to be the descendant of the tough mounts left behind from the Mongolians in the Carpathians when they retreated from Europe.

A hard day of riding took us up onto a rocky ridge where snowdrifts were still scattered on the northern faces. With local mountaineers Grisha and Yuri leading the way, we camped by an alpine lake in which ice floes still drifted in the breeze.

The real attraction, however, could be found a little lower where families had already set up their summer homes. Long before you could see these grey, weathered grazing stations, you could hear the jingle of sheep, horse and cow bells drifting across the mountains.

At one station alone three young men were responsible for 400 sheep. Apart from protecting them from wolves and grazing, their job was to milk them three times a day for the making of brinza.

Brinza is a highly prized matured sheep cheese which is often eaten with the Hutsul maize meal dish of banush. When the sun set on a still night, I felt that life on the polonino had the freedom and enchantment of the stars.

Saying goodbye to the Hutsuls was the hardest of all my experiences in the Ukrainian Carpathians. I felt spoilt by a people who go to creative extremes to highlight the beauty of life in an environment where just surviving is hard enough.

Of course in the main valleys well-engineered roads make these places less isolated than they once were, and downhill ski resorts and mineral health spas can seem at times incongruent with Hutsul life.

However, at a closer glance, the Hutsuls have always co-existed and survived with the changing face of the world. As Ivan assured me "Hutsuls don't wear their costumes and save their traditions for the sake of tourism and profit.

They do so primarily for themselves, but are also more than happy to share their culture proudly with foreigners."

Tim Cope recently finished travelling by horse, foot and camel from Mongolia to Hungary on the trail of Ghengis Khan.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Surgeon Uses DIY Drill To Perform Brain Operations

LONDON, England -- A British surgeon has been carrying out brain operations in the Ukraine using a drill designed for do-it-yourself (DIY) tasks.

British surgeon Henry Marsh
Henry Marsh, a consultant at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, South London, has been visiting Kiev twice a year to assist a colleague, Igor Petrovich, at a neurology clinic.

In Britain Mr Marsh would use a £30,000 medical drill driven by compressed air.

But equipment in the Ukrainian capital is so scarce that the men have been using a £30 Bosch RSR960 to drill holes through patients’ skulls.

Many of the operations, such as those to remove tumours, are done without general anaesthetic – a common practice in this type of surgery.

By talking to the patient, surgeons can gauge precisely how far they can go without damaging vulnerable parts of the brain.

Mr Marsh has now taken a drill designed for medical use to Kiev. “I’m not recommending that we should all use Bosch do-it-yourself drills in England,” Mr Marsh said. “But it shows how with improvisation you can achieve a lot. I’ve taught [Mr Petrovich] everything I know. Now he’s able to do things that I can’t.”

Mr Marsh appears in a documentary, The English Surgeon, to be shown on BBC Two on March 30.

Source: Time Online

The Glorious Return Of A Sullen Muse

TORONTO, Canada -- If you were to look closely at an enormous, teeming painting by Natalka Husar from 1993 called Pandora's Parcel to Ukraine, (a painting she once described as stemming from the "theme-park Ukraine of her Canadian mind"), you would find, centrally located amid the 15 or so other characters depicted there, a shy girl of about 5.

Pandora's Parcel to Ukraine, 1993 by Natalka Husar - National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
She sits with her head cast down, and gnaws nervously at her right hand, her eyes raised shyly and warily to the painter. "She's the same girl as the one in Seed Spitter," Husar tells me over tea at her home near Paul Petro Contemporary Art, where the strangely titled new painting is the highlight of a group exhibition called Not a One Night Stand.

She's clearly the same girl, but now she's 15 years older. She inhabits more or less the same pose, too, with her right hand to her mouth. (Husar says she's eating sunflower seeds and spitting out the husks.)

This time, though, she gazes not at the painter but into the middle distance. Husar sees her as "innocent, hunted and sort of compromised."

She appeared in another painting from 2000 called Horseshoes and Waves, Husar adds, where she was licking her fingertips in a way the painter calls "sexual, but out of it."

So, for Husar, the girl has grown up in her paintings - "at the same rate," she notes, "as the independent Ukraine."

And she is clearly an emblem, in Husar's paintings, for the changing history of her ancestral country and its culture.

Husar, who was born in New Jersey to Ukrainian-immigrant parents (she moved to Toronto in 1973), travels often to Ukraine.

Her work - which is simultaneously virtuoso and epically painstaking (Seed Spitter took her two years to paint) - is largely devoted to her ongoing exploration of the culture and meaning of Ukraine "as a post-Soviet state."

Earlier exhibitions bore such titles as Behind the Irony Curtain (1986) and Black Sea Blues (1994).

She talks passionately and often enigmatically about the country's "glorious independence" since the break-up of the Soviet Union, and how that independence nevertheless has a "soaked, sodden" quality - which you can see in the overcast palette of Seed Spitter, and is symbolized, for Husar, by the girl's not sewing seeds but, rather, scattering empty husks "which cannot grow."

The girl's touchingly failed attempts at sartorial coolness - her lumpen sweater, her silly leather miniskirt, her absurd boots - also seem not so much a matter of sociological accuracy on Husar's part as a meditation on failed, or misunderstood, aspiration.

Too searching and earnest for a satirist, Husar, like Byron, laughs so that she may not weep.

Husar draws frequently, in her art, upon Ukraine's folkloric culture.

Mounted beside Seed Spitter at the gallery is a rather endearingly frayed and battered old painting she picked up on her travels.

It shows an old peasant woman in traditional dress sitting by a well. ("It's my well," says Husar, "and also the girl's well.")

The subject gazes impassively at the viewer, most of her expression (and therefore her identity) worn away by time and travail.

Seed Spitter itself is full of Ukrainian colour and allusion. The brilliantly painted hollyhocks, Husar notes, "are common in folk paintings."

Husar tells me that Seed Spitter was painted entirely with old paints - by which she means with oil pigments that date from before the First World War.

She hunted them down in Ukraine, asking other artists she met in galleries, talking to picture restorers, gradually amassing enough colours to work the painting when she got back home.

"So for me," Husar says, "Seed Spitter is my continuation of the story of painting. I'm collaborating with the dead."

Source: Globe and Mail

Government Hikes Cognac Tax For WTO

KIEV, Ukraine -- Among the industries already affected by Ukraine’s World Trade Organization (WTO) entry are cognac producers, who were dealt a 43 percent excise tax hike as the new government led by Yulia Tymoshenko strove to conform with WTO and EU tax rates. Now cognac producers pay Hr 10 per liter of spirit produced.

'Jean-Jack' one of the many fine Ukrainian cognacs
“With the changes going into effect, we demonstrated conformity to the norms of EU directives,” said Hryhoriy Synytsia, chair of the excise tax department at the State Tax Administration, pointing out that taxes are still lower than those in the EU.

Ukraine’s cognac producers fear the new taxes will threaten their industry, stifle investment and innovation, and rejuvenate a black market, said Volodymyr Demchak, director of the Association of Wholesalers and Producers of Alcohol and Tobacco (SOVAT).

Prior to the increase, Ukraine’s cognac industry doubled its production in the last two years, according to SOVAT, and exports increased 37 percent.

The tax hike has already led to boosted retail prices, declining sales and accumulating bottles on store shelves, Demchak said.

“A month’s production stock was left in warehouses, since the consumer is not ready to buy products at the new price,” he said. “This happened for the first time in many years.”

The higher taxes coincide with across-the-board inflation, specifically higher prices for raw materials, industry leaders said.

“In recent years, enterprises invested into modernizing their equipment, technologies and expanding production sites,” said Andriy Okhlopkov, the chief manager of Soyuz-Viktan, adding that investment won’t be possible with the new challenges.

Part of the problem is the tax hike happened abruptly and without warning, decided on Dec. 27 and instituted on Jan. 1, leaving companies unable to change already-signed trade deals.

“A producer had to change his prices to include the tax’s expenses, but he could do that only after the tax law went into effect and all the contracts were already signed,” Demchak said.

Another problem is a fierce black market for cognac that industry players must constantly fend off. Higher retail prices for cognac gives illegal producers an opportunity to take advantage.

“This will be a disaster, as everything that can be cognac-colored will be,” said Inna Gunchuk, chief accountant of the Symferopol Wine Enterprise. “This stuff will be bottled underground and get to the market, of course.”

Cognac producers won’t be able to absorb the tax hikes through higher retail prices and some will simply stop producing, she said.

The Administration doesn’t anticipate further tax hikes, but cognac producers claim as soon as the parliament ratifies the WTO membership protocol, the tax will increase by an additional 215 percent.

“According to the bill to amend the budget, excise tax increases are planned to double, related to the talks to create the EU free trade zone,” Okhlopkov said.

The government is instituting reforms to provide clear mechanisms to administer the excise tax, to lower the tax pressures on producers and to reduce the black market, Synytsia claimed.

”With the aim of becoming a WTO member and getting ready for EU membership, it is necessary to establish excise taxes on tobacco, spirits and alcoholic beverages while taking national interests into account,” he said.

A successful government policy will raise the excise tax gradually, not ruining the industry’s investment ability nor cutting legal production levels, he said.

In Demchak’s view, “above all it is important to change the legislation to protect cognac producers and make it impossible for the industry’s black market to grow. Only after that can we begin to approach the tax issue.”

Source: Kyiv Post

Ukraine Journalist Killers Jailed

KIEV, Ukraine -- A court in Ukraine has sentenced three former police officers to prison for the murder of investigative journalist Georgiy Gongadze.

The masterminds behind the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze will never be brought to justice in Ukraine.
Mykola Protasov was given a sentence of 13 years, while Valeriy Kostenko and Oleksandr Popovych were each handed 12-year terms.

Gongadze's death, in 2000, sparked widespread protests in the Ukraine.

His family said the high-profile trial had failed to bring the masterminds behind the killing to justice.

Gongadze was an outspoken critic of the former regime led by Leonid Kuchma.

Gongadze was abducted and his head was later found buried in a forest.

The protests that followed culminated in the popular uprising known as the Orange Revolution, which brought the current president, Viktor Yushchenko, to power.

Source: BBC News

Ukraine's Leader Points Out Drawback In Deal With Gazprom

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's president criticized on Friday a new natural gas deal with Russia, saying it gave Russian state gas giant Gazprom too high a quota for direct gas sales in Ukraine, his spokeswoman said.

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko (L), speaks with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko as he returns from a visit to Poland at Kiev's airport, Ukraine, on Friday, March 14, 2008. Russia's state-controlled natural gas monopoly OAO Gazprom and Ukraine's natural gas company Naftogaz on Thursday announced an agreement on prices for gas imported by Ukraine and on payment of Ukraine's gas debt.
At a meeting with his prime minister and the head of state oil and gas company Naftogaz, President Viktor Yushchenko said that although he broadly supported the deal, it had altered a key instruction he earlier issued.

The agreement guarantees Gazprom minimum annual gas sales in Ukraine of 7.5 billion cubic meters, rather than setting this figure as an upper limit, as Yushchenko had ordered, press secretary Irina Vannikova said.

"This detail needs to be clarified," she said.

Premier Yulia Tymoshenko and Naftogaz CEO Oleh Dubyna met with the president to discuss details of the agreement reached on Thursday between Gazprom and Naftogaz to end their long-running gas dispute.

Under the deal, Gazprom committed itself to supplying Ukraine with at least 49.8 billion cu m of Central Asian gas at $179.5 per 1,000 cu m from March until December 2008.

Gazprom and Naftogaz also axed intermediaries from the natural gas supply chain.

Source: RIA Novosti

Ukraine Optimistic On NATO Bid Ahead Of Bush Visit

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- U.S. President George W. Bush will visit Ukraine on the eve of next month's NATO summit, which will decide whether the former Soviet republic can move toward membership, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said Thursday.

Both Ukraine's President Yushchenko (L) and Georgia's President Saakashvili want their nations to be members of NATO.
After talks with European leaders in Brussels, Yushchenko said he was optimistic Ukraine would be offered a path to NATO membership at the April 2-4 summit, despite Russia's opposition.

"We have a number of friendly states that support Ukraine's aspirations," he told reporters.

Yushchenko said Bush would travel to Ukraine March 31 and April 1 to discuss Ukraine's request to for a "Membership Action Plan" that would prepare it for joining NATO.

Georgia has made a similar request for a program to attain NATO membership, but Russia has warned such a move would further harm relations with both its neighbors and with the NATO alliance.

President Vladimir Putin has threatened to target Ukraine with nuclear missiles if the former Soviet republic joins NATO and accepts the deployment of anti-missile defenses on its territory.

Even if they are given the membership plans at the summit in Bucharest, Romania, Ukraine and Georgia are both expected to take several years before they join NATO, because they will have bring their military and political systems up to alliance standards.

NATO nations are divided on the issue.

Eastern European members like Poland and Romania are calling for Ukraine and George to be brought into the membership process. Germany, France and others in western Europe have warned against further alienating Russia, especially since they see the election of Dmitry Medvedev as Putin's successor as an opportunity to improve relations strained over Kosovo and missile defenses.

The United States has been publicly cautions, but diplomats say Washington has been working behind the scenes in support of Ukraine and Georgia.

Yushchenko said Ukraine's neighbors had nothing to fear from the country drawing closer to NATO.

"There will be no extra threats to neighboring states," he said, adding that NATO membership would not lead to foreign powers stationing military forces on Ukraine's territory.

Moscow has opposed previous NATO enlargements in former Warsaw Pact nations, but it is particularly sensitive about Ukraine.

With 47 million people, Ukraine is the biggest former Soviet republic after Russia. It holds a strategic position on the Black Sea and Russia's southwestern flank, and sits astride vital east-west oil and gas routes. Russia's Black Sea naval fleet shares a home port with the Ukrainian fleet.

Yushchenko rejected the concerns of some European diplomats about the lack of public support for NATO in Ukraine, where opinion polls show that over half of the country opposes it. Opposition parties have been angered by the pro-Western government's decision to apply for the membership plan.

"This is a sovereign right of our nation," Yushchenko said. "This decision lies with the Ukrainian government."

He insisted Ukraine would only join NATO after its membership was approved in a referendum.

Yushchenko said he planned to meet with "key" allied leaders in the weeks leading to the Bucharest summit to win them over to Ukraine's position.

Macedonia, Albania and Croatia are hoping the summit will formally invite them to join the alliance.

Putin and Medvedev are both expected to attend the Bucharest meeting. Putin is due to take over as Russia's prime minister after Medvedev is appointed president May 7.

Source: Ledger Dispatcher

NATO Secretary General: Clear Signal To Ukraine And Georgia To Be Sent

WARSAW, Poland -- At the conference on 'NATO’s Bucharest Summit – transformation of the Alliance and Polish and regional perspectives', held in Warsaw, the NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has delivered a keynote speech.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Scheffer said that 'I have mentioned NATO’s open door in connection with the Balkans, but I want to emphasise it again. Because there are other countries, too, that wish to join NATO – like Ukraine and Georgia.'

'As long as there is a gap between where countries are and where they want to be, the unification of Europe will not be complete'.

'And as long as some countries feel that they are not entirely masters of their own future, not least because others try to deny them their free choice, Europe is not the common space that we want it to be.'

'And so I believe our Bucharest Summit should also send a clear signal to Ukraine and Georgia that NATO’s door remains open'.

Source: The Georgian Times

Bush To Visit Ukraine Ahead Of NATO Summit

KIEV, Ukraine -- US President George W. Bush will visit NATO aspirant Ukraine on March 31 on his way to a NATO summit, the Ukrainian president's office said Thursday, in a move that could heighten tensions with Russia.

US President George W. Bush, seen here at the White House, will visit NATO aspirant Ukraine on March 31 on his way to a NATO summit, the Ukrainian president's office said Thursday, in a move that could heighten tensions with Russia.
"US President George Bush... will visit Ukraine between March 31 and April 1. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be part of the delegation," an official from the president's office told AFP.

Ukraine is hoping to get approval from the Western military alliance for its membership action plan (MAP), seen as signalling that a country is a formal applicant, at NATO's summit in Bucharest on April 2-4.

Ukraine's bid to join the NATO has angered Russia, while President Vladimir Putin last month warned Russia might be forced to aim missiles at Ukraine if it hosted Western military facilities

Source: AFP

Austrian Steel Giant Considers Building Massive Odessa Mill

KIEV, Ukraine -- Austria’s leading metallurgical company, Voestalpine AG, is considering Ukraine as the site for its upcoming project to build one of Europe's biggest steel-producing mills.

Rail switch manufacturing at Voestalpine AG
If Ukraine is selected over other countries in the Black Sea region, experts said the multi-billion-dollar proposal would represent the nation’s single-largest "Greenfield" investment, or a project built from scratch.

The mill, planned to produce as much as 5 million tons of steel annually, would rank among the four largest steel mills in Ukraine, which is one of the world’s ten biggest steel­exporting countries.

Earlier this month, Ukraine’s Deputy Industrial Policy Minister Serhiy Hryschenko announced Voestalpine submitted a proposal to possibly acquire a land plot for the project near the Black Sea port city of Odesa.

Claus Geiger, a spokesperson at Voestalpine’s headquarters in Austria, said his company would spend much of this year deciding whether to build the plant at 10 possible sites in Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria or Turkey.

“No decisions whatsoever have been made,” Geiger said. “We want to gain a complete view, particularly on the investment costs and profitability of such a project."

A final choice could be made late this year, Geiger said.

If built in Ukraine, the new plant would account for between 12 and 14.5 percent of domestic production, said Andriy Gerus, an analyst at Kyiv investment bank Concorde Capital.

If the plant is constructed, competition on the domestic market largely controlled by domestic and Russian business groups will increase, Gerus added.

The new plant’s capacity will mirror that of Azovstal and Illich Metallurgical Plant, both of which trail Arcelor Mittal Kryviy Rih, Ukraine’s leading steel producer.

Blessed with large deposits of coal and ore used in steelmaking, and situated close to key markets such as Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Ukraine is an attractive location for the construction of new steel mills, experts said.

“Neither Romania nor Bulgaria can offer such excellent conditions,” said Stepan Selyverstov, an analyst at the Prometal steel portal.

“It will be much more expensive to produce steel in Bulgaria or Romania. The prices for electricity, gas, and raw materials would be between one­and­half to twice as expensive,” he added.

Besides Ukraine’s relatively low cost, its abundant steel workforce also offers big advantages, Gerus said.

Voestalpine’s interest in building a new steel mill in the Black Sea region lies in the group’s overall expansion plans into new markets beyond its native Austria, Selyverstov said.

Voestalpine employs almost 40,000 workers at production and sales locations in 60 countries. In contrast, Ukraine’s leading steel mills employ between 30,000 and 50,000 workers.

Voestalpine posted about 7 billion euro in revenues last year, similar to leading steel firms in Ukraine.

Source: Kyiv Post

Russian Duo Become Joke Fodder

MOSCOW, Russia -- A joke circulating among Russians these days has Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev waking up in the Kremlin in 2023 with a vicious hangover.

Dmitry Medvedev (L) and Vladimir Putin.
Putin says to Medvedev: “Which of us is president and which of us is prime minister today?”

“I don’t remember,” Medvedev replies. “I could be prime minister today.”

“Then go fetch some beer,” Putin says.

It tidily sums up the ambiguities of Russia’s new power­sharing agreement whereby the baby­faced Medvedev will serve as president with the stern Putin serving below him as prime minister — tapping into widespread speculation that it’s really Putin who will be the boss.

This new odd couple at the pinnacle of power has become ideal fodder for the cherished and once dangerous Russian tradition of poking fun at leaders through satirical jokes called anekdoty.

Anekdoty have long been a litmus test of public opinion — and individual liberties — in a country where in the past people faced exile, prison or worse for expressing their opinions directly.

Despite the danger, Soviet citizens told stories lampooning Josef Stalin’s heavy Georgian accent. The last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was ridiculed for his reputedly domineering wife and for his short­lived campaign to eradicate alcoholism.

Anekdoty remained mostly an oral tradition until the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the first printed anthologies often outsold serious novels.

Even after the end of the Soviet Union, the anekdoty tradition survived.

Russians told tall tales built around President Boris Yeltsin’s heavy drinking, and even the popular Putin could not escape barbed jokes about his KGB history and his use of salty slang.

Over the years, the Kremlin has tightened controls on the mass media, and that, perhaps, has led to a modest revival of anekdoty.

Puns are crucial in many Medvedev jokes. His last name stems from medved, the word for bear. The name recalls the Western stereotype of Russia as a country of brutal and drunken bear­men — not quite the pup­like figure cut by the president­elect.

It is unclear how long the Putin­Medvedev duo will last — but the longer it does, the more anekdoty it is likely to inspire.

In an online poll at anekdot.ru, one of the most popular Medvedev jokes is one that clearly pinpoints the puppeteer in Russia’s politics.

In the joke, Putin takes Medvedev to a restaurant and orders a steak. “What about the vegetable?” the waiter asks. Putin looks at Medvedev and says, “The vegetable will have steak, too.”

Source: Kyiv Post

Helen Marlen Group To Open Seventh Shop In Pursuit Of Luxury Street

KIEV, Ukraine -- Michael and Oksana Kavitzki are devoted to Kyiv’s downtown Pasazh, not for the shopping, but as its biggest investors.

Gucci boutique in Kiev's Pasazh
Their company, Helen Marlen Group, brings the world’s most luxurious brands to the street, where they own half a dozen luxury clothing shops, with their latest addition, a men’s clothing boutique, to open this year.

The Kavitzkis operate six of the 29 businesses on Pasazh, Michael Kavitzki said, and are leading a campaign to turn Kyiv’s famous downtown passageway into a mirror image of upscale alleys in Paris and Milan.

“The ‘Luxury Street’ project will of course increase the street’s rental value,” Michael Kavitzki said, referring to his vision of Pasazh. “I would say it is a turning point (for the street).”

Pasazh features a handful of outdoor restaurants and cafes, but the Kavitzkis want to bring more upscale retailers to the street, on the same level as the Gucci and Burberry outlets they now operate.

An American architect, who designed similar shops in New York and Milan, is planning the new 350­square­meter boutique, which is the Kavitzkis’ seventh store after opening their first shop, Pasazh 15, a multi­brand outlet, just two years ago.

In their campaign, the Kavitzkis offered other retailers the option to rent their spaces and were declined, but “we don’t stop making offers,” Michael Kaviztki said.

More than expanding their business, the Kavitzkis made it their mission to polish up Pasazh and have already met with city officials, including Assistant City Council Chair Irena Kilchytska.

“We’ll do our best to turn Pasazh into what it should be,” Michael Kavitzki said. “We’ll do our best, we’ll cooperate with any authority necessary to implement the project, but I don’t think this is just my mission. There are others interested in it.”

Specifically, they want to renovate facades, replace cobblestones, collect garbage, and, perhaps the most popular idea, ban vehicles from traveling down the narrow alley, located off Kyiv’s main boulevard, Khreschatyk.

“We negotiated with the City Administration and feel they got interested,” Michael Kavitzki said. “Something must be done so that stones don’t fall from balconies.”

A plan to reconstruct facades was developed in 2005, and the Kavitzkis even employed refurbishing specialists who soon hoisted themselves onto scaffolds, but local residents demanded a stop to the efforts.

“It’s proven difficult to get the consent of people living on the street,” he added.

City officials support the renovation because it will be based on historical knowledge and the architectural style of the facades will be preserved, said Maryna Shapoval, head of the press service of the city’s Main Administration of City Planning, Architecture and Design.

“I don’t see anything wrong in turning Pasazh into a fashion street, as the street’s function will remain the same,” she said. “It is a retail street, as planned.”

Ultimately, the Kavitzkis’ plans will accomplish a third goal of boosting the passageway’s attractiveness and value even further.

“Nothing enhances real estate as much as the luxury fashion market,” Michael Kavitzki said.

Pasazh boasts some of Kyiv’s highest rents, or $220 per square meter, compared with the city average of $130 per square meter, said Olena Duliba, chief editor of Real Estate magazine.

“The Pasazh was and will always be popular among brands or franchise companies for whom location does matter and that are prepared to pay for it,” Duliba said.

Founded in 1994, the Helen Marlen Group manages 13 shops in Kyiv and the franchising rights for 70 top fashion brands. Their stores offer top of the line brands such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Roberto Cavalli and Louis Vuitton, the brand favored by Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Source: Kyiv Post

Lawmaker Questions Putin's NATO Invite

WASHINGTON, DC -- A senior Republican senator who has worked with Russia on disposing nuclear materials questioned Tuesday whether NATO was right to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to its summit meeting next month.

US Senator Richard Lugar
Speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on NATO, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., pointed to a recent threat by Putin to target Ukraine with nuclear missiles if the former Soviet republic joins NATO and accepts the deployment of anti-missile defenses on its territory.

At its summit in Bucharest, the alliance will consider whether to invite Ukraine and Georgia to join a program to prepare them for eventual membership.

"To invite President Putin into this situation, I suspect, is to give him a meeting in which he intimidates them further," Lugar said. "In this context this seems to be very dubious."

Lugar championed legislation that has helped former Soviet states destroy, dismantle and secure thousands of nuclear warheads and other weapons of mass destruction.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Fried, who testified at the hearing, called Putin's attendance an opportunity to find new ways to cooperate with Russia.

"The challenge, however, is to make sure that NATO takes decisions on issues on their own merits_ based on what is good for the alliance and good for the issues at hand — without undue pressure from any outside actors," Fried said.

Putin made the comments last month at a news conference in Moscow after four hours of talks with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who has said joining the Western alliance is a priority for his country.

In January, Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Ukraine's parliament speaker signed a formal request asking NATO to consider Ukraine's bid for a Membership Action Plan at its meeting in Romania in early April.

The Foreign Relations Committee's chairman, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., also raised concerns that the disagreements over expanding the membership rolls and how to strengthen operations in Afghanistan were exposing dangerous cracks in the alliance.

Source: AP

Ukraine's Antonov, France's Thales In Talks On Cargo Plane Project

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's aviation conglomerate Antonov was in talks with the French high-tech giant Thales Group on the joint development of a cargo plane, the Interfax news agency reported Tuesday.

Antonov An-72 military transport
The firms were discussing the "radical overhaul ... and modernization of the An-72," a company official was quoted as saying.

Antonov's An-72/4 is a twin-engine plane, initially built in the 1970s, with its jets distinctively mounted on a high wing. The aircraft is designed primarily for military use, and operations from unimproved airstrips.

Thales and Antonov engineers were developing plans for an updated version of the plane, with increased cockpit visibility, improved engines, modernized control systems, and advanced communications and avionics.

The changes would make the An-74 suitable for operations in Europe and North America, where the aircraft currently cannot fly because it exceeds the noise level permitted by law.

The plane as jointly produced by the two companies would expand its capacity from pure military cargo transport, to civilian cargo transport and maritime patrol, according to the report.

Were the project to go forward, it would be a substantial marketing advance for Antonov, which has failed to break into Europe's lucrative twin-engine market, and sells its airplanes only in Africa and the Middle East.

Main competitors of the An-72/4 on the international market are Italy's Alenia C-27J and Spain's CASA-295. Both aircraft are twin turboprops, and are widely used in European militaries

Source: DPA

NATO Should Protect Ukraine And Georgia

WASHINGTON, DC -- The April NATO summit meeting in Bucharest, Romania, could well be dominated by debate over how the alliance can succeed in Afghanistan.

President George W. Bush, who oversaw NATO's last expansion eastward, should reinforce that legacy by insisting that the alliance reach out to Ukraine and Georgia.
But another topic, barely discussed so far, may be almost as important: whether NATO can extend its last major mission of expanding Europe's zone of security to former communist countries.

Since NATO was created to defend the West against the Soviet Union, its greatest accomplishment may have been its role in consolidating democracy in Romania and nine other former Eastern Bloc states, then admitting them to its ranks in two successive waves in 1999 and 2004.

The process paved the way for the expansion of the European Union, ended the continent's Cold War division, and ensured that liberal values would define its future.

But it left out some critical places: most of the former Yugoslavia as well as the former Soviet republics of southeastern Europe.

The Bucharest summit is set to decide whether two of the former parts of Yugoslavia -- Croatia and Macedonia -- as well as nearby Albania should be offered full membership.

At the same time, the alliance owes answers to Ukraine and Georgia, both of which have formally asked NATO for a Membership Action Plan, the bureaucratic vehicle used to guide countries through military and democratic reforms.

The decisions are harder than those of the past because of the greater instability of those two countries and the greater resistance of Russia to further NATO expansion.

At a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels last week, Germany and France spoke up against Ukraine and Georgia, largely out of fear of offending Moscow.

For just those reasons, the United States should push the alliance to move forward.

Russia's repeated and heavy-handed maneuvers against Ukraine and Georgia in the past several years have dramatically demonstrated Moscow's ambition to destroy those countries' freedom and independence.

President Vladimir Putin's recent threat to target Ukraine with nuclear weapons should have been a wake-up call for any Western government that doubted whether Ukraine needed defending.

While the U.S. administration is clearly sympathetic to the two states, it has held back from pressing its case with the reluctant Europeans.

Yet Putin surely will regard a failure by the Bucharest summit to act on Ukraine and Georgia as an admission that they are outside its sphere and an invitation to escalate his bullying.

President George W. Bush, who oversaw NATO's last expansion eastward, should reinforce that legacy by insisting that the alliance reach out to these threatened democracies.

Source: The Moscow Times

ArcelorMittal Investment In Ukraine To Exceed $3 Billion - VP

LONDON, England -- ArcelorMittal (MT) might be forced to spend more than it had planned on the development of its Ukraine assets, said executive vice president Narendra Chaudhary Monday.

Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman and CEO of Mittal Steel
Speaking at the Adam Smith conference, Chaudhary said that due to difficult global financial conditions, the company will spend more than $3 billion to achieve its aim of producing 12 million metric tons a year by 2012.

He said the company is satisfied with its Kryvyi Rih steel mill, but cited lack of infrastructure, human resources and cumbersome bureaucratic procedures, notably when it comes to buying land and its future usage, as the main challenges to the company in Ukraine.

He said he doesn't see Ukraine joining the World Trade Organization as a risk to greater competition in steel production but urged the country's government to abandon indicative export prices, which make Ukraine's production less competitive.

Source: Dowjones Business News

Canadian Oil Firm Big On Ukraine

CALGARY, Canada -- Junior oil-and-gas explorer Shelton Canada Corp. has a self-serving solution that might free Western Europe from its dependence on Russian gas.

Shelton Canada Corp. exploration in Ukraine.
Richard Edgar, the Calgary-based chairman of the only Canadian oil company with production in Ukraine, says the former Soviet bloc country has the political will and enough potential oil and natural gas of its own to become energy self-sufficient, or even a net exporter.

That might tip the energy supply balance in Europe away from Russia, which over the last two days has cut gas supplies moving west through Ukraine in yet another dispute between the two countries.

"Ukraine would become a more dependable supplier to Western Europe (than Russia) and the monopoly Gazprom ... would be broken," Edgar, a veteran Calgary oilman, said in an interview.

"You wouldn't need to construct the Nabucco pipeline (a $6-billion US project to move gas from Turkey to Austria via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary) nor some of the other lines from Central Asia now being contemplated. You'd use a lot of Ukraine's existing infrastructure."

Shelton, a small firm with offices in Calgary and Toronto, is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and its executive team spent last week selling the firm's story to Calgary-based investment banks, with an aim to begin raising cash to fund growing operations onshore in the Dnieper-Donets oil basin in east-central Ukraine, and offshore in the Azov and Black seas.

Within days of the road show ending, most of Western Europe was watching a standoff between Ukraine and Russia's OAO Gazprom threaten a quarter of the continent's gas supply, potentially sending prices for the fuel through the roof in places such as Germany and France.

The pricing disagreement, in which Gazprom says Ukraine owes it $600 million US, led to the Russian gas giant cutting supply to Ukraine by 50 per cent Tuesday, with Ukraine's state-owned energy company Naftogaz saying it might have to tap into those supplies for its own domestic use if Russia cuts back any more.

The same scene played out two years ago and there is sure to be a new round of calls within Europe for reliable alternatives.

"Europe's energy supply now depends on how much gas Ukraine has in storage and if they can find a solution before it runs out," said James Beadle, portfolio manager at Pilgrim Asset Management in Moscow.

Edgar admitted both Ukraine and Shelton Canada have relatively colossal tasks ahead if Ukraine is ever to cut into Russia's dominant position as an energy supplier to Western Europe.

Shelton's production today from its joint-venture Lelyaki oil project alongside partner Ukrnafta, a division of Naftogaz, is only about 350 barrels a day, before the government takes a 45 per cent royalty share. The company is also an even partner with Naftogaz in an offshore gas project called North Kerchenskaya in the Azov Sea, but production of the field's estimated 170 billion cubic feet of recoverable gas isn't slated to begin until 2010.

Meanwhile, Ukraine, whose onshore fields were quickly tapped and then abandoned in the late 1970s when the former Soviet Union found even larger reserves in Siberia, consumes far more fuel than it produces, roughly 126 million barrels of oil and 2.7 trillion cubic feet of gas annually.

The country now produces 37.8 million barrels of oil a year and a little more than one trillion cubic feet of gas. Exploration and field development work is done mostly with old Soviet equipment and drilling rigs that in some cases date back to the 1940's.

The country has a proven reserve base of some 387 million barrels of oil and 39 trillion cubic feet of gas, and majors such as Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Marathon Oil Corp., recently arrived to pursue onshore shale gas and potentially large oil reservoirs in the deepest parts of the Black Sea.

"I don't think there are huge onshore fields left to find but offshore Black Sea is new frontier," Edgar said.

"Onshore, these pools went into decline and kept going but never had the benefit of technologies seen in the West to try to rehabilitate or exploit them fully. We hope the service industry will follow us in, but it won't before the producers are in there doing the kind of work we are today."

Source: The Leader-Post

Russia-Ukraine Gas War Rumbles On: Analysts

KIEV, Ukraine -- Russia's decision to back down and restore gas deliveries to its western neighbour Ukraine last week may not have ended the threat to reliable European energy supplies, analysts say.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
A deal was hastily brokered in which Moscow cancelled a 50 percent cut in supplies after Kiev warned that the shortfall could impact on supplies transiting through Ukraine to EU customers.

This was seen as a victory for Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. It also avoided deepening an embarrassing row for Russia's president-elect, Dmitry Medvedev, who chairs Gazprom.

But most of the incendiary issues remain unresolved, analysts said.

"The conflict will continue," said Mykhailo Gonchar, an analyst with the Ukraine's NOMOS centre for geopolitical studies. "Ukraine has achieved an important interim psychological victory, but nothing more," he said.

"Nothing is clear yet," said Vadim Karasyov, director of the Institute of Global Strategies in Kiev. "It was a purely psychological victory."

Gazprom on Wednesday said the immediate cause of the dispute was resolved when Ukraine agreed to pay a 600 million (395 million euros) gas debt.

But many observers see the debt as a side issue to the real dispute between Moscow and Kiev over control of the lucrative gas transit and distribution markets in the region.

"At any moment the debt situation could be recreated artificially," said Gonchar. The focus of the dispute is rather the "colossal resources" of intermediary firms who buy and sell the transiting gas, Karasyov said.

Some believe Russia capitulated.

"Tymoshenko won the gas war," said the popular Ukrainian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda. Russia's Kommersant business daily described it as "the first failure of Gazprom's foreign policy."

"It was a game of brinkmanship and the Kremlin blinked first," said Christopher Weafer, an analyst with Moscow's Uralsib investment bank.

However, Russia still controls production and is moving quickly to build alternative export routes to Europe that bypass Ukraine.

That means Gazprom remains the heavyweight in the conflict, said Geoffrey Smith, head of research at the Renaissance Capital investment bank in Ukraine.

"If the Ukrainian side tries to cut out Gazprom completely, it would have to expect retaliatory measures and a steep increase in the price of gas at the Ukrainian border," Smith said.

"Gazprom hasn't even been knocked down, let alone knocked out," said Smith.

The dispute has also exposed sharp differences between the positions of Tymoshenko and President Viktor Yushchenko.

After Gazprom threatened to cut off supplies to Ukraine over unpaid debts, Yushchenko responded by agreeing a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on February 12.

Tymoshenko then refused to accept the terms of the agreement, sparking last week's stand-off.

"Yushchenko is clearly on Gazprom's side, and Tymosheko is on the other," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the Moscow-based journal Russia in Global Affairs.

"Tymoshenko believes that no intermediary should profit and no profit should go to Gazprom at all. Yushchenko is more flexible and understands that to achieve a lower gas price, Ukraine should offer something to Gazprom."

But as the two tussle to get ahead in the race for a presidential election expected in 2010, Tymoshenko has clearly got the upper hand, said Karasyov.

"The president said his piece, but the final word came from Tymoshenko," he said.

Source: France 24 International

Vitaly Fedorchuk, 89, Of K.G.B. Dies

MOSCOW, Russia -- Vitaly V. Fedorchuk, who rose through the Soviet intelligence and police services to become the leader of the K.G.B. and then the country’s hard-nosed chief law enforcement officer, died Feb. 29 in Moscow. He was 89.

Vitaly V. Fedorchuk
The Federal Security Service, the main K.G.B. successor agency, announced the death.

From late 1982 to early 1986, General Fedorchuk was Interior minister, making him the Soviet Union’s top police officer, in charge of uniformed officers from detectives to game wardens. The job’s high visibility contrasted with his covert past.

The barrel-chested, blunt-speaking minister arrested corrupt officials and thieves in fields ranging from trucking to finance, attacked chronic drunkenness as a cause of crime with puritanical relish and purged his forces of “dull” chiefs, ideological laggards and “strange people.”

He sought more death sentences and increased the pay of law enforcement officers by 70 percent. He immediately exposed the corruption of his powerful predecessor, Gen. Nikolai A. Shchelokov.

This enforcement blitz was a precursor of Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s vast reform effort in the second half of the 1980s, perestroika. At the time, Western analysts said General Fedorchuk’s tactics exemplified the “neo-Stalinism” of his boss, the Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov.

Before being named Interior minister in December 1982, General Fedorchuk was for seven months chairman of the Committee for State Security, the vast, shadowy security agency usually known by its Russian initials, K.G.B. In that post, he intensified crackdowns on dissidents; sharply curbed international telephone calls; and reduced contacts between Soviets and foreigners.

In the agency, he cut weekly days off to one from two and required agents to wear uniforms, banning jeans and other Western clothes.

Before becoming K.G.B. chairman, General Fedorchuk led the K.G.B. in Ukraine. He gained a reputation for ruthless suppression of Ukrainian nationalists. In 1982, Business Week called him “a real thug,” citing a “knowledgeable source.”

Vitaly Vasilyevich Fedorchuk was born to a family of farmers in Ukraine in 1918. By the mid-1930s he was a journalist at local newspapers, then studied at a military school, according to “Who’s Who in Russia Since 1900.”

From 1943 to 1947, he served in Ukraine with Smersh, a military counterintelligence service whose name was contracted from Russian words for “death to spies.” He continued in intelligence in Soviet-occupied East Germany and in the Soviet Embassy in Vienna.

Business Week, citing Western intelligence sources, said he had been associated with numerous kidnappings and “accidents” that befell Russian expatriates in Vienna. Later, there were periods when he may have worked in Asia, the magazine said. From 1967 to 1970, he headed the K.G.B.’s military counterintelligence section.

In 1970, Leonid I. Brezhnev, the Soviet Union’s top leader before Mr. Andropov, appointed General Fedorchuk chairman of the K.G.B. in Ukraine.

He became known as “the butcher of the Ukraine,” according to Vladimir Solovyov and Elena Klepikova in “Yuri Andropov: A Secret Passage Into the Kremlin” (1983). They described hangings, throat-slittings and apparent torture of dissidents starting soon after the general’s arrival.

In “Gorbachev: The Man and the System” (1989), Ilya Zemtsov and John Farrar wrote: “Thanks to his diligence, the Ukrainian opposition was broken with a ferocity hitherto unknown even in the Soviet system.”

In May 1982, Mr. Andropov resigned as leader of the K.G.B. to join the party secretariat. He appointed General Fedorchuk as his successor at the K.G.B. Kremlinologists speculated that Mr. Andropov had been confident of soon coming to power, as he did, and had begun planning to move General Fedorchuk to the Interior post.

Others suggest that General Fedorchuk’s brutal style in Kiev was too unsubtle for others at K.G.B. headquarters. Still others suspect that he fell prey to military brass resentful of his years of investigating intelligence leaks in the armed services.

When named Interior minister in December 1982, General Fedorchuk was promoted to the army rank of full general from colonel general. It was the first time the civilian police force had been controlled by a career K.G.B. officer since 1958. He continued in the job under Mr. Andropov’s successor, Konstantin U. Chernenko.

General Fedorchuk brought an undercover mind-set to the work of the uniformed police. Books and newspaper reports tell of how he once showed up at a police station, disguised in shabby clothes, to see how an average citizen was treated. He asked to see the department head but left after being kept waiting for two hours. What happened to the preoccupied chief went unstated.

In 1986, the next leader, Mr. Gorbachev, replaced General Fedorchuk with an old political ally. At the time, some speculated that General Fedorchuk would be promoted to the ruling politburo, while others guessed he had been sidelined. He finished his career as an inspector at the Defense Ministry.

The Federal Security Service made no mention of survivors.

Source: The New York Times

'Sappho' Spurs Protests In Ukraine

MOSCOW, Russia -- It may well prove the biggest local release ever in Ukraine, but British helmer Robert Crombie's "Sappho," which opens on almost 90 prints March 5 around the country, has attracted local scandal already.

Sappho movie poster.
Set on the Greek island of Lesbos in the 1920s, its story is a love triangle between a young visiting American couple and a Russian emigre woman.

Subtitled "Love Without Limits," its gay themes have certainly caused a stir. "I made it as a pro-love movie, not pro-gay. It feels like the sky has fallen in," says Crombie.

Chief opposition has come from protestant church the Embassy of God, whose leader, Nigerian-born Sunday Adelaja, denounced the work -- which he admitted he hadn't seen -- as "the worst kind of appearance of Western freedom."

Crombie managed to get into Adelja's tightly controlled press conference and tried to explain his point of view, but was forcibly ejected. Most journos followed him out onto the street.

For now, he's concerned as to whether opposition will go into the streets to disrupt screenings. "After that, we'll be looking for international distribution. If we can make $1 million in Ukraine, that's double previous results for anything here to date, and we'll aim to break into the international market."

Source: Variety International

Yushchenko Looks To Grand Coalition To Replace Tymoshenko

KIEV, Ukraine -- On March 15 the government of Yulia Tymoshenko will mark its first 100 days in office, a period that has been a baptism by fire.

Yulia Tymoshenko and Viktor Baloga
Not only has the government faced relentless attacks from the opposition Party of Regions (PRU), it has also faced a parliamentary lockout and an antagonistic Russia.

As former National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) secretary Volodymyr Horbulin noted, each time Tymoshenko heads the government, Russia deploys energy pressure against Ukraine.

But this period has also been plagued by blatant attempts to undermine the government from its own coalition partners and ostensible allies.

Six days after Tymoshenko was confirmed as prime minister on December 18, President Viktor Yushchenko appointed Raisa Bohatyryova as NSDC secretary.

Bohatyryova was head of the Regions parliamentary faction and shared a parliamentary office with Regions campaign manager Borys Kolesnikov.

The six-day gap between Tymoshenko’s confirmation and Bohatyryova’s appointment was no coincidence, but part of what Kyiv insiders have dubbed “Operation Baloga.”

The alleged mastermind, presidential chief of staff Viktor Baloga, is more ruthless than his predecessors, Oleksandr Zinchenko (both were members of the hard-line, anti-Yushchenko Social Democratic Party-United) and Oleh Rybachuk.

Operation Baloga grew out of the spring 2007 constitutional crisis, which collapsed when the PRU agreed to pre-term elections on September 30. Yushchenko’s side of the bargain was a promise to Regions to support a grand coalition with his Our Ukraine party after the elections.

During the elections Yushchenko actively campaigned for a “democratic” (i.e. Orange) coalition.” But when his Orange Revolution ally, the Tymoshenko bloc (BYuT) drew to within 3% of Regions, Yushchenko could not follow through on his grand coalition promise.

BYuT’s improved election results, coupled with the static performance Our Ukraine-People’s Self Defense (NUNS) bloc, was further complicated by increased hostility within NUNS to such a grand coalition. Leading NUNS members had suffered under the Viktor Yanukovych government in fall 2006.

Yushchenko therefore decided to continue his multi-vector policies of supporting both Orange and grand coalitions, a position that he has espoused since Our Ukraine’s foundation in 2001.

Following the 2006 parliamentary elections Yushchenko negotiated a grand coalition through Yuriy Yekhanurov and an Orange coalition through Roman Bezsmertny.

The result of Yushchenko’s post-2007 maneuvering has been an Orange coalition inside parliament and a grand coalition ensconced in the NSDC and presidential administration.

Since Yushchenko came to power in 2005 the NSDC has been continually used as a counter-weight to governments seen by Yushchenko as hostile,” whether headed by Tymoshenko (2005 and 2007–) or Yanukovych (2006-2007).

Baloga and seven allies from NUNS resigned from Yushchenko’s bloc as part of a larger strategy to undermine the Tymoshenko government.

This five-point strategy was drawn up during a secret February meeting between Yushchenko and Yanukovych and is planned to be completed by April 1. The Russian leadership endorsed the plan when Yushchenko visited Moscow in January.

The basic steps are:

1. NUNS withdraws from the Orange coalition. Baloga reportedly has 22 allies within NUNS’s 72 deputies, seven of whom have already resigned. For a faction to withdraw from a coalition requires a majority vote which, in the case of NUNS, is a minimum of 37 deputies. An additional 15 deputies will to be pressured to defect.

2. A vote of no confidence in the Tymoshenko government. The parliamentary blockade has prevented a vote on the government’s program, which would have legally prevented a vote of no confidence for 12 months.

3. The acting government will be sidelined by a new government headed by Baloga and with Yanukovych as parliamentary speaker. The Baloga government would be backed by a re-organized grand coalition that includes a wing of NUNS.

4. The Baloga government and grand coalition would support Yushchenko’s version of constitutional reforms that give back powers to the president.

5. The Baloga government and grand coalition would ensure Yushchenko’s re-election for a second term and Yanukovych would agree to not stand.

These five components are inherently unstable, irrational, and incompatible. However, Yushchenko is dominated completely by his chief of staff, who has convinced him of two key factors:

First Tymoshenko is disloyal and has decided to stand as a presidential candidate.

Second, Baloga can “guarantee” Yushchenko’s re-election through an alliance with Regions, whose political machine can ensure his win in eastern Ukraine.

But with a public approval rating of 6-10%, Yushchenko could not win an election even through fraud.

Tymoshenko’s personal and BYuT’s ratings are three times as high as those of Yushchenko and NUNS. If pre-term parliamentary elections were held today, BYuT would place first with an increase of 50 seats, bringing it to over 200.

NUNS and Regions would secure fewer seats than in 2007. The only way Yushchenko can be re-elected in a free election is through an alliance with Tymoshenko as his prime minister, repeating their successful 2004 alliance.

A wide-ranging discussion in the respected weekly Zerkalo nedeli showed that Yushchenko’s campaign to re-take presidential powers through further constitutional reforms is backed by only one out of the five factions in parliament, NUNS, which is also the most unstable faction.

In the meantime, Yushchenko’s continued inability to choose between grand and Orange coalitions or to reconcile himself with a Tymoshenko government, combined with his desperation to get himself re-elected is undermining his own policies, including his goal of receiving a NATO Membership Action Plan at next month’s summit in Bucharest.

Source: Eurasia Daily Monitor

The Ukrainian Woman

KIEV, Ukraine -- On March 8, Ukraine celebrates International Women’s Day. Days before the official holiday are marked in the capital Kyiv, one can see men rushing to and from with bouquets of flowers bought from the ubiquitous street vendor.

A Ukrainian woman - bombshell Olga Kurylenko has been cast as Daniel Craig's new Bond girl. The 28-year-old model-turned-actress will play the British spy's emotional confidante Camille in the tentatively-titled 'Bond 22' to be released Nov 7, 2008.
Although March 8 is a day off for all Ukrainians, men are under obligation to spoil their wives, mothers, sisters, coworkers and lovers by all means.

A casual glance at Ukraine’s work force will explain why. Not only do women comprise the majority of Ukraine’s waitresses, secretaries, shop clerks, administrators and telephone operators, as is the case in most countries, they also do most of the dirt work.

You don’t have to go to a poor rural area of Ukraine to see women performing backbreaking physical labor. There are plenty of examples in bustling Kyiv, where middle-aged matrons with leather faces and strong hands sweep the streets and scrub the floors, while their male counterparts watch idly from a truck or in the capacity of a security guard.

There’s something very Socialist, if not Soviet, about all this. Not surprisingly, Women’s Day is celebrated primarily in the former eastern bloc – from Vietnam and Mongolia to Belarus and Bosnia.

But ironically, Women’s Day was first observed in the United States, on February 28, 1909, albeit on an initiative by the American Socialist Party.

The idea emerged from recognition of the poor working conditions experienced by women caught up in the industrial revolution. It soon developed into the full-fledged feminism that we know today in the West.

The emancipation of Ukrainian and other east-bloc women, however, was derailed by World War Two, which left eastern Europe war torn and short of men.

Women perhaps bear a diproportionate amount of the hardship in any poor country, but what strikes one about the former Soviet Union is how they seem to have gotten the worst of both worlds: all the demands put on women of developed countries without any of the socio-economic parity.

Only in recent years have Ukrainian women’s domestic responsibilities been lightened by an increasing variety of affordable consumer goods that allow them to cook, clean and rear children with greater ease. At the same time, the influx of Western business practices has opened more doors for career-minded females.

After work, a woman living in Kyiv with a disposable income can enjoy a wide variety of leisure activities outside of the home. They are driving cars, going to gyms, shopping with their own credit cards and reading a wider than ever variety of publications dedicated exclusively to women.

No field of activity seems closed off anymore.

Ukraine’s 148,000 strong armed forces, for example, boasts 18,000 uniformed women. A total of 6.4 percent are officers and 12.6 percent of warrant officers.

Ukrainian women are not only matching their men but outmatching them.

Of the five gold medals that Ukraine received during the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, Greece, four were won by women: two went to the star of the games, swimmer Yana Klochkova, one to weightlifter Natalia Skakun and another to sharpshooter Olena Kostevych.

In business, Ukraine’s ultimate mud wrestling arena, the picture is less clear. On the one hand, women are more prominent as company spokespeople and even directors; on the other, many wield power as proxies for Ukrainian men.

But with equalizing skills such as fluency in English and an M.B.A becoming more accessible, Ukrainian women are increasingly able to compete on a level playing field for lucrative positions with multinational corporations.

In politics, the picture is even brighter. Arguably Ukraine’s toughest politician is fiery femme fatale Yulia Tymoshenko. And she looks set to be her country’s next president – whether the big boys like it or not.

In a jungle where lions are far more rare than weasels, snakes and pigs, Ms. Tymoshenko paved her path to the top through strength of character. First she made her money, no less honestly than anyone else; then she made a name for herself as an uncompromising politician.

In a country where lawmakers kiss up and then kiss off, Tymoshenko challenged the corrupt administration of former President Leonid Kuchma until it fell. In the interim, she was jailed for her feistiness.

Having helped sweep Viktor Yushchenko into the presidency during the Orange Revolution, she was fired shortly thereafter as premier, only to return again to head the government on her own terms.

Number two among Ukraine’s political amazons would have to be Kateryna Yushchenko, a first lady on the level of Hillary Clinton. US born to Ukrainian immigrants who survived a WWII labor camp, she got a Georgetown education and then went beyond the American dream to help democratize the country of her parents.

Although Ms. Yushchenko is publicly known for her charity and cultural work, she is considered by analysts to be an active partner in the Yushchenko administration.

The number three position among powerful Ukrainian women goes to Raisa Bogartyeva, head of the National Security and Defense Council. A relative newcomer in Ukraine’s premier political league, Ms. Bogatyreva is currently one of its fastest rising stars. Previously head of the powerful Regions faction in opposition to Yushchenko and Tymoshenko, she has bridged the partisan divide between the Orange presidency and Regions money bags Rinat Akhmetov.

It remains to be seen whether she can stand on her own to do battle with the likes of Ms. Tymoshenko – woman to woman.

But aside from all these success stories, Ukrainian women still have a long way to go before they can really celebrate something.

According to Human Rights Watch, lady Cossacks are still among the main contributors to the international sex trade. Some enter it freely to escape widespread domestic abuse or a life of low paying dead-end employment.

Unlike their country’s most famous historical women – Roksolana, the 16th century slave girl who rose to the pinnacle of power in Istanbul, or 11th Century Anna Yaroslavna, who became queen of France – many Ukrainian girls who try to make it abroad end up caught in a cycle of exploitation.

So while those still at home work and wait for a better deal, they might as well enjoy the extra attention that they get on March 8.

Source: Eurasian Home

NATO Divided On Ukraine, Georgia Entry Bids

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Efforts by ex-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia to start early talks on NATO membership took a knock on Thursday as allies disagreed on whether to embark on moves that would risk antagonising Russia.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer addresses the media at the NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels, Thursday March 6, 2008.
Separately, NATO foreign ministers agreed in principle to invite Croatia and Albania to join the bloc at an alliance summit in April, but a cloud remained over Macedonia's bid as Greece threatened to block it in a row over its name.

Diplomats said Germany and France led resistance by half a dozen western European nations to a push by eastern ex-communist countries to offer Ukraine and Georgia a "membership action plan" (MAP) at an April 2-4 summit in Bucharest.

"We are continuing our consultations. The decision will not be taken until Bucharest," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a news conference.

Membership for Ukraine and Georgia is still several years away. Even backers such as Washington are wavering on whether to offer MAP status in April in Bucharest -- which outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to attend -- or wait until later, perhaps at a summit to be held next year.

Both aspirant countries have recently suffered bouts of political instability. Polls show strong public opposition to NATO membership in Ukraine, while Georgia's democratic credentials were called into question last year by a state of emergency it imposed to choke off opposition protests.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters before the talks that Berlin was sceptical of their bids, while Luxembourg's Jean Asselborn noted NATO decisions had a bearing on neighbours such as Russia.

"We think that EU-Russia relations are absolutely important," said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, noting his country takes over the rotating presidency of the EU in July and wanted to talk with Russia about energy ties.

FROSTY

Russia cannot block NATO membership steps but allies know that deepening ties with Ukraine and Georgia would strain relations with Moscow, which are already frosty over Kosovo's independence from Serbia last month and the possible deployment of a U.S. missile shield.

Aspiring NATO states can only enhance their ties with the alliance if all 26 members agree, meaning Kiev and Tbilisi have an uphill task to persuade the doubters in coming weeks.

"Nobody questions their right for membership. There are doubts about the level of preparedness," said Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, whose country alongside Baltic states has been a strong backer of Ukrainian and Georgian hopes.

Foreign ministers broadly backed the aspirations of a trio of Western Balkan countries -- Croatia, Albania and Macedonia -- to receive invitations to join at the Bucharest summit.

But Greece reaffirmed it could not support Macedonia's entry into NATO for now, accusing Skopje of nationalist intransigence in a dispute over the former Yugoslav republic's name.

Greece rejects the name Macedonia because it says it implies territorial ambitions towards Greece's own northern province of Macedonia, birthplace of Alexander the Great.

Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyanni said she told fellow ministers Macedonia's attitude could leave Athens no alternative but to use its veto.

"As far as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is concerned, I stressed that the policy of our neighbour country does not allow us to take the same positive view as regarding Albania and Croatia," Bakoyanni told a news conference.

Diplomats said there was a general consensus that NATO should go ahead and issue invitations to Croatia and Albania even if Macedonia's request was blocked.

Source: SwissInfo

Ukraine PM Rejects Gas Supply Deal With Russia

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Thursday rejected part of a gas supply deal with Russia, a day after Gazprom ended a three-day cut in supplies that raised concerns in Europe.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
The deal would "preserve corrupt schemes and abuses, lead to the bankruptcy of (state gas firm) Naftogaz and contradict national interests," Tymoshenko said in an open letter to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko released by the government.

Yushchenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin struck an agreement in Moscow on February 12 intended to end a dispute over Ukraine’s unpaid debts for Russian gas and to reorganise the gas supply relationship.

The terms of the deal were never made public but Tymoshenko made it clear that she did not agree with Russian demands, prompting Russian state gas monopoly Gazprom to cut supplies by 50 percent over Monday and Tuesday.

Gazprom restored the supplies on Wednesday but the substance of the dispute did not appear to have been resolved.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, Gazprom and Naftogaz said negotiations would continue.

Gazprom has demanded that Ukraine settle a debt of 600 million dollars.

"I will fulfil the agreements between the presidents of February 12 as far as the necessity of an urgent normalisation in relations in the gas sphere is concerned," Tymoshenko said in her letter.

But, she added: "The cabinet of ministers cannot agree with several terms of these agreements," such as the gas price for 2008, the use of an intermediary company and moves to limit Naftogaz access to Ukraine’s domestic market.

Source: Hürriyet

Gazprom 'Failure' In Ukraine Gas Row: Russian Newspapers

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russian gas giant Gazprom suffered a "failure" when it was forced to restore gas supplies to Ukraine after a "threat" from Kiev to disrupt exports to Europe, Russian newspapers said on Thursday.

A worker turns a valve at a Ukrainian gas compressor station in the village of Boyarka near Kiev, March 5, 2008.
"Gazprom could not stand up to the threat... and restored supplies of gas to Ukraine without any conditions" amid an ongoing row over unpaid debts between Gazprom and Ukraine, the Kommersant daily said.

The crisis was "the first failure of Gazprom's foreign policy," it added.

Russia cut gas supplies to Ukraine by 25 percent on Monday and by an additional 25 percent on Tuesday as part of a dispute over unpaid debts.

Ukraine's oil and gas monopoly Naftogaz warned on Tuesday it could be forced to divert Russian gas earmarked for Europe transiting through its territory.

Russia restored gas supplies to Ukraine on Wednesday.

The Gazeta daily echoed Kommersant, saying: "Ukraine's threat of reducing the transit of Russian gas through its territory proved efficient" because Gazprom was afraid the European Union would seek alternative sources of energy.

The European Union depends on Russian gas transiting through Ukraine for around a fifth of its supplies. Gazprom is equally dependent, with almost all of the company's exports going to EU states.

Gazprom "gave in to a Ukrainian ultimatum," the RBK business daily said.

Source: AFP

Ukrainians Shrug Off Corruption Despite Damaging Effects

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian households spent $700 million in bribes in the last 12 months and the judicial system is perceived as the most corrupt government branch, according to two recent surveys.

Juhani Grossman is Chief of Party of the ACTION Project.
Drivers and traffic police said they derive mutual benefit from corruption, a third survey said.

“Corruption in Ukraine is so widespread that many Ukrainians cannot imagine themselves without it,” said Juhani Grossman, Chief of Party of the ACTION project.

“This is not unlike an addiction – when the addict cannot even imagine living without his drug and talks up the positive aspects of it. While more than half the population thinks giving bribes is justified in some cases, like bribing the traffic police, the mid- and long-term consequences for society are alarming.”

While only 13 percent of households reported giving bribes to public officials in 2007, the survey reported the amount is enough to build six ultra-modern ‘Children’s Hospitals of the Future,’ or purchase 8,270 new, modern ambulances.

The Children’s Hospital for the Future is a fund­-raising initiative run by the Ukraine 3000 Fund which is chaired by First Lady of Ukraine Kateryna Yushchenko, envisioning a state-­of-­the-­art 250-­bed hospital.

The two nationwide surveys, “Cost of Corruption for Ukrainian Households,” and “Public Trust of the Judicial System,” each had a sample size of more than 2,000 Ukrainian adults and were conducted in late 2007.

They revealed a stark difference between perceived and actual corruption.

For example, about 5 percent of respondents reported giving bribes within the judicial branch, yet 85 percent surveyed are convinced the system is corrupt.

In contrast, bribes to traffic police are more common, yet the corruption perception is lower and 58 percent said they believe the amount of bribes remained unchanged.

People feel giving bribes is justified in many cases because of short-­term necessities such as visiting the hospital, speeding up registering a new car or obtaining a driver’s license.

But this only fuels the problem and results in hidden costs, Grossman said.

“Medicine is a striking example,” he said. “If a person will undergo surgery, he will bribe the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and nurse, but the scalpel will still be rusty, or the chemotherapy will be shoddy, and the money lines their pockets and doesn’t go into the system.”

Public trust in government also erodes, and cynicism increases.

“If people don’t trust the government, then the whole governing process is undermined, which in my opinion, is one of the reasons why we’ve had a protracted crisis for months,” Grossman said.

Simply raising salaries is only part of the solution. Grossman said stronger enforcement of the law is needed and more clearly defined legislation, especially regulations concerning land.

Currently, the Ukrainian government is working with US consultants under the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s Threshold Country Program to systematically introduce income declaration forms, resolve conflict of interest issues in government, initiate internal investigation units, and implement mandatory testing for higher education institution admissions.

As for the judicial system, “we need to ensure transparency throughout the whole legal process in the courts,” said Valentyn Voloshyn, head of Solidarity, a Poltava­-based organization that monitors 35 courts in the region.

“We need to monitor when the judges come to work, to have people present at court hearings instead of allowing closed doors, to make the process of doling out court cases to judges random so that people don’t know in advance who will try their case.”

The surveys are part of a bi-­monthly publication issued by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, commissioned by the ACTION Project implemented by Management Systems International and funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Millennium Challenge Corp.

The third survey, “Corruption in Traffic Patrol” was conducted by the Kharkiv Institute of Social Research and sampled 500 Ukrainian adults in the Kharkiv Oblast in December.

Source: Kyiv Post

US Cautious About Ukraine, Georgia NATO Aspirations

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed caution Wednesday on the hopes of Georgia and Ukraine moving closer towards membership of NATO, ahead of alliance talks on their aspiration.

A man holds a placard, reading: "No NATO," during an anti-NATO protest in Odessa.
Speaking to reporters travelling with her to Brussels, Rice underlined that NATO "is a consensus organisation", and that its 26 member nations must decide unanimously when it comes to admitting new partners.

"I am obviously going to have extensive discussions with my colleagues about each of these issues," she said, on the eve of an informal meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) foreign ministers here.

"The US in principle has always said that NATO is a performance based organisation and therefore when countries are not ready for these various stages, that NATO has to have an open door to them," she said.

A senior NATO official said Wednesday that the transatlantic military alliance had still not reached a consensus on whether to invite Georgia and Ukraine to join a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at a summit next month.

The plans are designed to help aspiring countries meet NATO standards and prepare them for possible membership.

"I would say right now in all fairness there is no consensus on that," Robert Simmons, NATO's special envoy for the Caucasus and Central Asia, said at a press conference in Moscow, referring to Georgia's bid to join.

Talking about Ukraine's plans to join, Simmons said: "This requires a consensus in the alliance, and for the moment I would say that consensus doesn't exist."

Expectations are high among the leaders of Georgia and Ukraine, two former Soviet republics neighbouring Russia, that their bids will get a boost at a NATO summit on April 2-4 in Bucharest, Romania.

Russia has reacted angrily to the NATO ambitions of its ex-Soviet allies, with Russian officials saying their country is being surrounded. NATO has said Russia will have no veto on membership for Georgia and Ukraine.

Ukraine's leaders have requested MAP status at NATO, but public opinion is largely against the move.

Source: AFP

Ukrainian Speaker Confirms Parliamentary Crisis

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk confirmed Wednesday that there is a parliamentary crisis in the country.

Speaker of Ukrainian Parliament Arseniy Yatsenyuk
"The parliament has been blocked since mid-January, therefore Ukraine is in a parliamentary crisis now," Yatsenyuk told a news conference.

He said the situation in the parliament "is destroying the foundation of Ukraine's democracy."

When asked whether President Viktor Yushchenko should begin the procedure of dissolving parliament after a 30-day period of inactivity, he said, "I would not make such forecasts so far."

The speaker said he was firmly opposed to dissolving the parliament, arguing that a new parliamentary election would not change the political structure.

However, the Regions Party's lawmaker Vasyl Hrytsak said Wednesday that an early parliamentary election is the only way out of the current crisis.

The biggest opposition party also declared on Wednesday that it has quit work in the National Constitutional Council, delivering a big blow to Yushchenko's bid to revise the Constitution through parliament.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said her government's work will not be affected by the parliamentary crisis.

"The blockage of the parliament's work is artificial and is supported by those dreaming about a reformatted coalition ... This will not prevent the government from working confidently and persistently," she told a news conference Wednesday.

On Jan. 18, Yushchenko, Yatsenyuk and Tymoshenko sent a letter to NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, expressing their hope that Ukraine could join the NATO membership action plan at a NATO summit scheduled for early April in Bucharest, Romania.

Since then, the opposition, which is calling on Ukrainian leaders to reverse the decision to request further NATO integration, has been blocking parliamentary work.

The Regions Party's leader Viktor Yanukovych released a statement on Wednesday that his party plans to call on the people to resolve the thorny issue of Ukraine's relations with NATO.

"Let the Ukrainian people say whether they support the policy of the leaders on NATO that threaten the good neighborly relations and strategic partnership with our biggest neighbor Russia," Yanukovych said.

This means the beginning of mass protests, said the Regions Party's lawmaker Anna German.

Source: Xinhua

Gazprom Says It Ends Ukraine Gas Cuts

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia's state gas monopoly announced Wednesday that it was ending a reduction in natural gas supplies to Ukraine.

Russian President-elect Dmitry Medvedev, had demanded Ukraine sign documents resolving a $600 million debt.
Gazprom said that the restrictions were being lifted after the two countries' presidents and gas company chiefs reached an agreement aimed at ending a debt and contract dispute.

Gazprom earlier said that Ukraine had threatened to tap pipelines that carry Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine.

Ukraine's premier denied that the country was reducing the flow of gas to Europe.

Gazprom, whose chairman is Russian President-elect Dmitry Medvedev, had demanded Ukraine sign documents resolving a $600 million debt dispute and enabling further gas deliveries.

On Monday, it cut shipments by 25 percent and then announced a further 25 percent cut Tuesday.

A three-day Gazprom cutoff to Ukraine in 2006 during a pricing dispute resulted in a reduction of deliveries downstream.

Ukraine consumes about a quarter of the Russian gas flowing through its territory.

Gazprom's cuts were related to the portion of the supplies intended for Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials have said that Gazprom had failed to pay transit fees, but Kupriyanov said Wednesday the company had fully paid them.

Gazprom portrayed the cutoffs as a straightforward commercial dispute, but it has considerable political resonance.

Critics accuse the Kremlin of using Gazprom as an instrument of pressure.

Russia has watched with irritation as Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko pushes for membership in NATO and the EU.

Source: AP

Russia, Ukraine Remain Locked In Gas Dispute

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia and Ukraine were locked in a gas dispute on Wednesday after Moscow cut 50 percent of supplies to the neighbouring state, leading Kiev to warn of possible disruption for the European Union.

Yulia Tymoshenko
Late on Tuesday the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said that if Kiev did not return to the negotiating table Moscow could make a further reduction in gas supplies to the ex-Soviet neighbour, in addition to a 50 percent cut already implemented over Monday and Tuesday.

The dispute centres on a $600 million (395 million euro) debt that Gazprom claims from the western neighbour.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been insisting on the abolition of a murky intermediary company that has been handling Ukrainian payments for gas from both Russia and ex-Soviet Turkmenistan, RosUkrEnergo.

She has also regularly insisted on a review of prices paid by Russia for transit of gas across Ukrainian territory to EU nations to the west.

Tymoshenko was to give a news conference later on Wednesday. Ukraine is the main transit route for Russian supplies to the EU. Ukraine's state energy monopoly Naftogaz has said it is ready for further talks but also warned on Tuesday that it may have to divert some Russian gas earmarked for Europe.

On Wednesday Yushchenko was to visit the energy-rich Central Asian state of Kazakhstan, with which Kiev is keen to build ties in order to reduce its dependence on Russian energy.

Ukraine's warning of disruption to European supplies prompted concern in the EU, echoing as it did a 2006 dispute that led to disruption in several EU countries.

The European Commission, which has urged the two sides to resolve the dispute, called a special meeting of its gas coordination group for March 11 "to ensure a fully coordinated EU response to the situation."

While Naftogaz earlier said it had sufficient reserves to hold out for a month, Russia's Vremya Novostei newspaper predicted a further cut by Gazprom would threaten Ukrainian industry and force Kiev "to steal fuel from the transit flow to Europe."

The Gazeta newspaper said the EU might put pressure on Ukraine to seek a compromise, Brussels having more "levers" of influence on the Westward-leaning Ukrainian leadership.

The paper also quoted energy expert Tamara Kasyanova as predicting that the row would help stimulate the EU to develop alternative pipeline routes bypassing Ukraine.

This might mean pushing forward the Nabucco pipeline project intended to bypass Russia and bring gas from the Caspian Sea area.

But the more likely result was greater EU support for two Russian pipeline projects, South Stream and Nord Stream, which are seen by Moscow as a way of bypassing east European transit states, the paper said.

The conflict "should again demonstrate the unreliability of the gas route through Ukraine and increase pressure for alternative routes," Gazeta said.

Source: The Economic Times

Gazprom Increases Cutoff To Ukraine

MOSCOW, Russia -- The gas standoff between Russia and Ukraine worsened Tuesday as Gazprom reduced supplies to Ukraine by another quarter, bringing its cutoff to 50 percent.

Naftogaz spokesman Valentyn Zemlyansky speaks during a briefing near the central office in Kiev March 4, 2008. Ukraine is able to cope with even a 50 percent cut in gas supplies from Russia, the country's state gas company Naftogaz said on Tuesday.

Gazprom cited a "lack of progress" in debt talks as the reason for the cut, which started at 8 p.m. Tuesday's reduction followed a 25 percent cut Monday.

Ukraine's state energy company, Naftogaz Ukrainy, slammed Gazprom's actions, saying the cuts could undermine the flow of gas to Europe in two weeks.

Naftogaz said that thanks to its reserves, its ability to raise domestic production and the warm weather, it would not feel the pinch for two weeks.

After that, the Ukrainian firm said it could tap into the deliveries that Gazprom sends through Ukraine to Europe.

"Naftogaz states that it can guarantee uninterrupted transit to European consumers so long as it doesn't threaten Ukraine's energy security," the company said in a statement.

President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Viktor Yushchenko, agreed last month to settle the debts and move toward replacing the two intermediaries in the countries' gas trade with two new companies.

President-elect and Gazprom chairman Dmitry Medvedev told Yushchenko by telephone Tuesday that Russia expected Ukraine to meet all the commitments that Yushchenko made to Putin in Moscow last month, RIA-Novosti reported, citing an unidentified official in Medvedev's office.

Speaking on Vesti-24 state television after Naftogaz warned of possible transit disruptions, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov urged Ukraine to fulfill its transit contracts regardless of its own supply problems.

Gazprom said it was cutting Ukrainian supplies further because of a "lack of progress" in the talks, which have focused on payment by Naftogaz for the deliveries so far this year and the rearrangement of relations between the companies.

Under last month's deal, Gazprom would increase its access to end-consumers in Ukraine through one of the new intermediary companies and keep the current selling price for Ukraine at $179.50.

But Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has resisted having any intermediaries in the gas trade between the countries, a step that may have stalled the talks.

Gazprom and Naftogaz have declined to specify their disagreements. Adding uncertainty to the situation, neither firm has specified the exact amount of outstanding debt.

Gazprom said Ukraine had not paid for any of the gas it imported this year. Naftogaz admitted that it owed money but said intermediary gas traders had not supplied the company with proper contracts.

The intermediaries, RosUkrEnergo -- owned equally by Gazprom and two Ukrainian businessmen -- and UkrGazEnergo, owned equally by RosUkrEnergo and Naftogaz, have denied acting improperly.

Vitaly Kisel, a spokesman for UkrGazEnergo, the gas trader that sells gas to Ukrainian industrial consumers, said the bigger cutoff would not affect its business.

Geoffrey Smith, deputy head of Ukrainian research at Renaissance Capital in Kiev, said the falling-out between Gazprom and Naftogaz was over the division of profits from supplying the Ukrainian market once the current gas traders are gone, rather than the purported nonpayment.

Shutting some of the valves Monday, Gazprom probably didn't expect much further resistance from Ukraine, Smith said. "It may be that Gazprom was surprised by the intransigence on the Ukrainian side," he said. "On past experience Gazprom probably expected the pressure to result in a positive solution almost immediately."

Instead, Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchinov accused Gazprom of not paying for the transit of its gas to Europe on Ukrainian television last night. Naftogaz said Monday it had enough resources to hold out for a month despite the reduced imports.

"Generally, when you have two sides playing that [kind of] brinkmanship, both have a very good idea where the brink is and both know when it's time to step away from it," Smith said. "And I still believe that's what will be the most likely outcome."

Source: The Moscow Times

Ukraine Says Gazprom Not Paying For Gas Transit To Europe

KIEV, Ukraine -- Tempers flared in the gas row between Ukraine and Gazprom Monday when Kiev accused Russia's energy giant of not paying gas transit fees, while Gazprom blamed Ukraine for failing to send any invoices.


"Since December Russia's Gazprom has not paid [Ukraine's state oil and gas company] Naftogaz a kopeck for the transit of Russian gas," Ukraine's first deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Turchinov, told local TV on Monday.

Meanwhile, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told RIA Novosti: "Naftogaz creates the situation itself by not signing the gas transit documents for December and January and for not drawing up the invoices."

"Gazprom cannot pay until the invoices are sent," Kupriyanov added.

The gas standoff between the two countries deepened when Gazprom cut supplies to Ukraine by 25% over the country's unpaid debt Monday.

Ukraine's Naftogaz said, however, that gas had been cut by a further 10% to 35% or 46 million cubic meters. The country receives 135 million cu m of gas a day from Russia.

Russia's energy giant pledged shipments to Europe would not be affected.

In late February, Russia's gas monopoly threatened to cut shipments on March 3 if Ukraine, a major transit country for Russian gas to Europe, failed to pay off its debt and approve a new scheme for future supplies.

"Gazprom is a reliable supplier, but it cannot deliver gas without payment," Kupriyanov said. "The debt for gas supplied to Ukraine has not been repaid as of today. Ukraine is continuing unregulated gas consumption. New contracts have not been signed."

Kupriyanov said around 1.9 billion cu m of gas worth some $600 million had been illegally consumed by the ex-Soviet state.

Ukraine said earlier it had paid over $1 billion to Gazprom to clear its debts for Russian supplies in 2007.

Kiev owed Russia a total of $1.5 billion in 2007 and 2008, according to the Russian giant.

Kupriyanov said the monopoly was prepared to continue talks with Ukraine to resolve the dispute.

Source: RIA Novosti

Russia Announces Further Natural Gas Reduction To Ukraine

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russian energy giant Gazprom cut gas supplies 35 per cent to Ukraine on Monday over a payment dispute. The Russian natural gas monopolist informed the Ukrainian natural gas distribution company Ukrtranzgaz by telephone that the taps would be turned down 25 per cent as of 0930 GMT.


Gazprom in an afternoon telegramme to Ukraine's government said it was reducing flow another 10 per cent, making the overall volume fall 35 per cent, the Interfax news agency reported.

The delivery reduction to Ukraine potentially could pare down gas supplies to European consumers, as Ukraine in previous conflicts with Gazprom has siphoned off gas destined to Europe for its own needs.

"We are doing this for the protection of our interests," said Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kuprianov at a press conference in Moscow.

The Kremlin-controlled energy conglomerate has argued Ukraine owes as much as 1.5 billion dollars.

Ukrainian officials said the reduction would have no effect on Ukrainians consumers, as gas reserves in country would make up the shortfall.

"Even if (Gazprom makes a full 30 per cent reduction) our consumers will not feel it," said Valentin Zemliansky, spokesman for the Ukrainian gas company Naftohazy Ukrainy. "We as planned will make up the difference from our own reserves."

Gas volumes at two transit points designated by Gazprom for reduced flow registered reduced flow not at the moment of the Gazprom announcment, but by late afternoon, Zemliansky said.

Some 80 per cent of Gazprom gas travels to the European Union via Ukrainian pipelines, providing Europe some 25 per cent of its gas needs.

Gas supplies for Europe were continuing "in full volume," Kuprianov said.

Executives at the Gazprom's downstream wholesale customers Geman Wingas GMBH, Slovakia's SPP, Czech RWE Transgas, and Poland's PGNiG all said Russian gas supplies were continuing at normal volumes, according to a Channel 5 television report.

Gazprom and the Ukrainian government are at odds over an outstanding debt for natural gas used by Kiev from November.

The gas conflict comes in spite of the declaration by presidents Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yushchenko on February 12 that the dispute had been resolved.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Sunday, only hours before the Gazprom volume reduction, claimed the debt had actually been paid in full.

Gazprom on Monday sent Naftohaz Ukrainy "a new proposal of cooperation," Zemliansky said, without making public details of the new offer.

Resolution of the dispute is complicated by a Tymoshenko effort to remove from the payment loop a pair of middleman companies holding distribution rights for delivery of Russian gas to Ukraine.

Tymoshenko has claimed both firms artificially inflate the price of gas sold to Ukraine. Talks between the two firms and the Ukrainian government on payments, particularly over what money has and has not been forwarded to Gazprom, have been bogged down for months.

Kuprianov cited as critical for resumption of supplies a Ukrainian signature of an agreement billing for 1.9 billion cubic metres of Russian gas deliveries worth about 600 million dollars consumed over the last four months.

Tymoshenko last week rejected the terms, arguing Moscow figured out the bill using an artificially high price for Russian gas, when Ukraine in fact was consuming cheaper Central Asian gas delivered by Gazprom.

A late 2005 row between Gazprom and Ukraine over gas pricing led to a 48-hour reduction in gas volumes to Europe, causing retail price spikes as far away as France.

Source: Trend News

Medvedev To Take Russian Presidency

MOSCOW, Russia -- Hours after Russia elected a new president, riot police on Monday detained opposition protesters, pro-government youth rallied outside the U.S. Embassy and Russia reduced gas supplies to Western-looking Ukraine.

Members of the media are seen during a press conference by the head of the Central Elections Commission Vladimir Churov, while election results are displayed on a screen in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 3, 2008.
The moves may signal that the president-elect, Dmitry Medvedev, intends to continue the course set by Vladimir Putin, who during his presidency reasserted his country's power abroad while keeping a tight grip on society at home.

Putin asked Medvedev to take charge of meetings of the presidential State Council, fast-tracking a transfer of power to his protege. Putin, set to retain power as Medvedev's prime minister, also suggested they work together on a Cabinet reshuffle.

Results from 99.45 percent of precincts showed that Medvedev, Russia's first deputy prime minister, received more than 70 percent of Sunday's vote, the elections commission said Monday.

With nearly all votes counted, hundreds of young people marched through Moscow toward the U.S. Embassy to criticize American policies in Kosovo, Iraq and the Muslim world. After rallying briefly across the street from the embassy and unfurling a banner, police told them to leave and they dispersed.

A short time later, hundreds of riot police detained dozens of youths near a downtown Moscow square where opposition groups had planned an unauthorized protest against the presidential elections.

As some chanted "We Need Another Russia!" police stormed through the crowd, tackling people and dragging them away, their arms wrenched behind their backs or their shirts half-torn off.

The crushing display of police force was sign that authorities would allow no critical mass of dissent or independent opposition as the Kremlin celebrates Medvedev's victory.

"Fifteen years ago I wouldn't have thought that my children would be growing up in a country that reminds me so much of the Soviet Union," said Alexander Ivanov, 48.

In St. Petersburg, Garry Kasparov — the former chess champion who is now an ardent Kremlin foe — and his co-leader in the Other Russia opposition coalition appeared at a simultaneous protest. Unlike in Moscow, the group had permission for the rally in St. Petersburg.

A crowd estimated by police at up to 3,000 gathered in a square and marched toward the heart of the city, shouting "Down with the Police State!" and "This City is Ours!" Police did not intervene.

Election observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said Monday that Russia's presidential election was neither free nor fair, although it reflected the will of the people in a country with little faith in democracy.

Andreas Gross, who led the 22-member mission, described Sunday's vote as a "reflection of the will of the electorate whose democratic potential unfortunately has not been tapped."

The influential Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe had refused to send observers, citing restrictions imposed by Russian authorities.

The election ratified Putin's choice of a successor but did not settle the question of who will be calling the shots once Medvedev takes over in May and names Putin prime ministers as widely expected.

The outside world will watch closely to see how the new leadership in Russia, with its immense oil and gas reserves, engages with global rivals and partners at a time of rising commodities prices.

The Bush administration said it looks forward to working with Medvedev.

"It's in our mutual interest for Russia and the United States to work together on areas of common interest such as nonproliferation, counterterrorism and combating transnational crime," Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said Monday.

Medvedev, who also serves as chairman of the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, reduced gas supplies to Ukraine on Monday. Russia says the dispute over natural gas with Ukraine is strictly a financial one, a result of the alleged nonpayment by Ukraine for $600 million in past gas deliveries.

But the timing suggested a possible deeper motive: a signal that despite his purported liberal leanings, Medvedev plans to rule with a firm hand — one perhaps guided by Putin.

The last time Russia cut gas supplies to Ukraine was in January 2006 in a move widely seen as punishment for the opposition-led Orange Revolution, which blocked a Kremlin-backed candidate from becoming Ukraine's president.

Since then, Russia has expressed continuing anger over Ukraine's attempts to join NATO and forge stronger links with the European Union.

Medvedev may have been motivated by the need to appear tough in the face of Russia's dispute with Ukraine over gas payments, said Chris Weafer, chief strategist for the UralSib investment bank.

"He didn't want to be seen as backing down," he said.

Gazprom's reduction of gas to Ukraine could be an early signal of Medvedev's foreign policy. Another early sign could come in July at the summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations: If Putin goes alone or accompanies Medvedev, that could signal his reluctance to relinquish control.

In Russia, the premier wields significantly less power than the president, and Putin may find his new chair confining. Some officials who know the quiet, unassuming Medvedev have said privately that he is tougher than his appearance and demeanor suggest.

Medvedev's election was not a wide-open contest. His three rivals apparently were permitted on the ballot because of their loyalty to the Kremlin line. But after the election, Communist Party candidate Gennady Zyuganov and ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky alleged elections violations.

Zyuganov, Medvedev's nearest challenger with almost 18 percent in near-complete results, said he would dispute the outcome. Zhirinovsky, with 9 percent, threatened to do so as well.

Liberal opposition leaders Kasparov and Mikhail Kasyanov were barred from running after authorities said they did not meet the strict requirements for gaining a spot on the ballot.

Source: AP

Russia Announces Natural Gas Reduction To Ukraine - Update

MOSCOW, Russia -- The Russian energy giant Gazprom said it reduced gas supplies to Ukraine on Monday because of a payment dispute. The Russian natural gas monopolist informed the Ukrainian natural gas distribution company Ukrtranzgaz by telephone that the taps were turned down as of 0930 GMT.


The delivery reduction to Ukraine by 25 per cent potentially could cut down gas supplies to European consumers, as Ukraine in previous conflicts with Gazprom has siphoned off gas destined to Europe for its own needs.

"We are doing this for the protection of our interests," said Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kuprianov at a Moscow press conference. "

There were no early reports of changes in flow volumes at Ukraine's western border. Some 80 per cent of Gazprom gas travels to the European Union via Ukrainian pipelines.

Gas supplies for Europe were continuing "in full volume," Kuprianov said.

Gazprom and the Ukrainian government are at odds over an outstanding debt for natural gas used by Kiev from November through to the present.

The Kremlin-controlled energy conglomerate has argued Ukraine owes as much as 1.5 billion dollars.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Sunday, only hours before the Gazprom volume reduction, claimed the debt had actually been paid in full.

Resolution of the dispute is complicated by a Tymoshenko effort to remove from the payment loop a pair of middleman companies holding distribution rights for delivery of Russian gas to Ukraine.

Tymoshenko has claimed both firms artificially inflate the price of gas sold to Ukraine.

Talks between the two firms and the Ukrainian government on payments, particularly over what money has and has not been forwarded to Gazprom, have been bogged down for months.

Kuprianov cited as critical for resumption of supplies a Ukrainian signature of an agreement billing Ukraine 600 million dollars for Russian gas consumed over the last four months.

Tymoshenko last week rejected the terms, arguing Moscow figured out the bill using an artificially high price for Russian gas, when Ukraine in fact was consuming cheaper Central Asian gas delivered by Gazprom.

A late 2005 row between Gazprom and Ukraine over gas pricing led to a 48-hour reduction in gas volumes to Europe, causing retail price spikes as far away as France.

Source: DPA

Why Russia Holds 'Elections'

WASHINGTON, DC -- Last Wednesday, Dmitry Medvedev took a break from his job as deputy prime minister of Russia and held a public meeting. Dressed in shirtsleeves, he talked about pension reform, promised to improve education, shook a few hands.

Russia's new president Medvedev (L) pledged to uphold Putin's policies on Monday after a big election win that critics said was stage-managed to let the outgoing Kremlin leader keep his grip on power.
As public meetings go, it was an ordinary one -- except for the fact that it was the first and last public meeting of Medvedev's presidential campaign. If you wanted to see the candidate before yesterday's vote, that was your one and only chance.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, spending millions and wearing themselves thin, must be green with envy.

But Medvedev was certainly right to save his strength. Exit polls and early returns showed him winning with 70 percent of the vote, which is a relief to some; anything higher, one of his campaign staff conceded, might have been "embarrassing."

As predicted, this was a farcical election, a battle between Medvedev, the Kremlin's candidate, and three officially sanctioned opponents: a clapped-out "Communist"; a complete nonentity; and the ludicrous anti-Semite and vulgarian Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who is genially tolerated by the Russian media.

Mikhail Kasyanov, the candidate from what passes for the only genuine opposition party, was not allowed to stand.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, along with various other European election observers not usually known for their bravery, refused to monitor the campaign at all; even the head of the electoral commission conceded that media coverage has been, well, biased in Medvedev's favor.

Only one question remains unanswered: Why did anyone bother holding an election at all?

Given that the inner circle of ex-KGB officers who control the Kremlin also control the country's media, its legal system, its parliament and its major companies, why do they need elections?

Why didn't Vladimir Putin just appoint Medvedev or keep the presidency himself?

The answer, I think, can lie only in the ruling clique's fundamental insecurity, odd as that sounds. Though the denizens of the Kremlin do not, cannot, seriously fear Western military attack, they do still seem to fear Western-inspired popular discontent: public questioning of their personal wealth, public opposition to their power, political demonstrations of the sort that created the Orange Revolution in Ukraine.

To stave off these things, they maintain the democratic rituals that give them a semblance of legitimacy.

The need for legitimacy also helps explain the string of vitriolic, aggressive attacks on Western democracies that presaged yesterday's election.

In the past couple of years, Putin has openly compared America to Nazi Germany, set up an institution designed to monitor America's supposedly dubious democracy and frequently accused both Americans and Western Europeans, especially the British, of hypocrisy and human rights violations.

This rhetoric serves several purposes, but above all it is designed to inoculate the Russian public against the example of more open societies. The message is simple: Russia is not merely a democracy, it is a better democracy than Western democracies.

Indeed, much of Putin's rhetoric in recent years makes sense in this light. Take his hostility toward his neighbors Georgia and Ukraine, countries where post-Soviet regimes dramatically lost their legitimacy in recent years and are evolving in a different direction.

Though Putin cannot possibly be militarily intimidated by any potential NATO relationship with Georgia or Ukraine, he may well be afraid of the example set by those countries' Western orientation, since their geopolitical choices challenge his own.

Even some of the shockingly Soviet interpretations of history promulgated in Russia in recent years -- famously, Putin described the breakup of the Soviet Union as "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century" -- make sense in this context.

Surely a part of their purpose was to create an alternate version of post-Soviet history, one that supports the Kremlin's current rule. According to the Putinist explanation of history, the fall of the Soviet Union was not a moment of liberation but the beginning of collapse.

The hardships and deprivations of the 1990s were not the result of decades of communist neglect and widespread thievery but of capitalism and democracy.

In other words, communism was stable and safe, post-communism has been a disaster, and Putin's regime has set the country on the right track again. The more Russians believe this, the less likely they are to want a truly open, genuinely entrepreneurial, authentically democratic society -- at least until the oil runs out.

Asked about the unnatural dullness of this election campaign, which even the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass described as " a bore," Putin's reply was straightforward: "We have had a 16 percent rise in wages this year. . . . This answers your question."

But everyone needs a backup plan: In case oil prices drop again, the democratic rituals must go on.

Source: Washington Post

No Resolution In Ukraine-Russia Gas Dispute: Gazprom

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia and Ukraine have not managed to resolve their gas payment conflict, a spokesman for Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Sunday, as a deadline approached after which Moscow has threatened supply cuts.

A pressure gauge is seen on a gas pipeline in the vicinity of the town of Boyarka, near Kiev.
"There has been no agreement yet. We expect to reduce supplies. We are keeping up contacts," Sergei Kupriyanov told AFP.

On Friday Gazprom said it would reduce supplies to the ex-Soviet neighbour by 25 percent at 10:00 am Moscow time (0700 GMT) on Monday if their dispute was not settled.

The dispute is over 1.9 billion cubic metres of gas deliveries worth around 600 million dollars (395 million euros) that Ukraine has not paid, Kupriyanov said on Friday.

The dispute has persisted despite an announcement on February 12 by the two countries' presidents, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yushchenko, that the differences had been resolved.

The dispute echoes an earlier one in 2006 in which Russia briefly cut supplies to Ukraine, leading to knock-on disruption in several European countries.

Ukraine is the main transit route for Russian gas supplies to the European Union.

Kiev claims to have settled its debts to Gazprom for 2007, but disagreements remain over a debt Moscow claims Ukraine accumulated in recent months when Russia used its own gas to make up for a shortfall in less expensive Central Asian gas.

Russian natural gas accounts for around a quarter of Ukraine's gas imports, with the rest coming from former Soviet republics in Central Asia via pipelines that go through Russia.

The dispute partly reflects wrangling between Yushchenko and Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who has been pushing for an end to the murky system of intermediaries by which Ukraine pays for gas imported from Russia and Central Asia.

Source: AFP

Stakhovsky Becomes First "Lucky Loser" To Win ATP Crown In 17 Years

ZAGREB, Croatia - Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine won his initial ATP title with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic on Saturday, becoming the first "lucky loser" to win a tour crown in 17 years.

Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine returns the ball to Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia during their Zagreb Indoors ATP Tour final tennis match, Saturday, March 1, 2008.
The 22-year-old, 209th-ranked Stakhovsky faced only one break point, converted two of five of his own break opportunities, and prevailed in one hour 49 minutes.

He improved to 5-0 this season and became the first player to win a tour event after advancing from qualifying as a lucky loser since Argentine Christian Miniussi won Sao Paulo in 1991.

Stakhovsky, who came into the tournament with a career 6-13 match record, is only the fourth man in the history of the tour to achieve the feat.

He had not played on the main tour since San Jose more than a year ago and his previous best showing in eight attempts was a quarter-final appearance in Milan in 2005.

Ljubicic was his third seeded victim, having also beaten No. 2 Ivo Karlovic and No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic.

Source: AP

Only Naftogaz Can Supply Gas To Ukraine Starting March 1 - Tymoshenko

KIEV, Ukraine -- Starting from March 1, 2008, only Naftogaz Ukraina, the Ukrainian national energy provider, will be authorized to supply natural gas to the country, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said at a press conference on Saturday.

Ukraine's PM Yulia Tymoshenko
"We made a clear decision that, starting from March 1, not a single bit of gas will be supplied to anyone but Naftogaz Ukraina. There will be no UkrGazEnergo," Tymoshenko said.

UkrGazEnergo's registration as a business company will be annulled and the company will be stripped of the license to sell gas on March 1, she said.

"This company will cease to exist on March 1," Tymoshenko said.

Tymoshenko also said she was sure that there will be no restriction of gas supply to Ukraine on March 3rd. "I am sure there will be no gas supply suspension," she said.

Source: Interfax

Gazprom Unhappy With Ukraine's Gas Debt 'Settlement'

MOSCOW, Russia -- Gazprom's CEO Aleksey Miller says there's still no resolution in the issue of Ukraine's gas debt. While Ukraine announced mid-week it had settled the bill for gas supplied in 2007 - it's still not paying for this year's gas. And several other issues remain outstanding.

Aleksey Miller was handpicked by Russia's Putin to run as Gazprom's CEO.

The tussle between Russia and Ukraine over gas and related debts rumbles on with no end in sight.

Gazprom upped its threat saying it would axe natural gas deliveries to Ukraine by 25 per cent next week unless outstanding disputes are settled.

The company's spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov played down Ukraine's announcement on Wednesday that it had paid its bill for 2007.

"Until now we haven't had an official reply and the documents have not been signed. Meanwhile Ukraine continues to consume Russian gas - at the moment almost two billion cubic meters of Russian gas have been sent to Ukraine - obviously things shouldn't continue like that," he stressed.

Payment has been held up by a debt dispute between two companies UkrGasEnergo and NaftogasUkraine.

And as of 2008, Russia's been supplying gas without any signed contract in place.

Gazprom plans to start dealing with a different middleman.

Two joint ventures between Gazprom and NaftoGaz were planned recently. One company will transport gas to the Ukraine border.

The other will sell it domestically.

But no documents have been signed and the project appears to have been stalled by politics.

Ukraine has left itself increasingly vulnerable. No contracts have been signed so far for deliveries of Russian or Central Asian gas which means Ukraine is increasingly dependent on non-contracted gas.

Meanwhile the war of words continues.

Source: Russia Today

Ukraine Film Bosses Call For Simpson

KIEV, Ukraine -- Actress/pop star Jessica Simpson is in demand in Ukraine following the success of her latest film in theaters there.


"Blonde Ambition" was a flop in the U.S., where it made just over $1,000 at the box office during its opening weekend in December.

The movie, which also stars Luke Wilson, was pulled from theaters, but it has been reborn in Ukraine, where it's become a surprise hit.

And now local film bosses want Simpson to consider a trip to the country, where she has become an overnight sensation.

Film producer Alex Shpiluk, a member of the Ukrainian Film Commission, tells In Touch magazine, "She is really the ideal of American beauty and style, like Barbie. She would be useful to us and our image."

Arama Gevorcyan, another leading Ukrainian film producer, has gone so far as to invite Simpson to be the guest of honor at a September movie celebration in the Eastern European country.

He says, "I'm the organizer of the big 80th anniversary celebration of the largest Ukrainian film studio, Dovzhenko.

"We would love for Jessica Simpson to come to this celebration. ... We will pay for it!"

Source: San Francisco Gate