1992: A LOOK BACK: The task of nation-building (12/27/92)

1992: A LOOK BACK

The task of nation-building

After the euphoria of independence subsided, in 1992, Ukraine was faced with the arduous task of building a democratic, independent nation. Throughout the year, it asserted its de jure status by adopting attributes of a sovereign state.

On the first day of the fifth session of its 12th convocation the Parliament adopted the blue-and-yellow flag as the state flag of Ukraine; during the winter months the Supreme Council went on to approve the trident as the state emblem (February 19), and to adopt a national anthem for Ukraine. August 24 was designated a state holiday, "Ukrainian Independence Day," marking the date in 1991 that the Supreme Council of Ukraine adopted the Act of Declaration of Independence, voting in the aftermath of the attempted coup in Moscow.

In May, Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that new passports would be issued to every citizen of Ukraine over a five-year period between 1993 and 1998. The new Ukrainian passport will be based on international standards and will be valid both for internal identification and for foreign travel, unlike the case during the Soviet era when separate passports were issued for domestic and external use.

Although Ukraine began issuing its own stamps in March 1992, it slowed the process of producing stamps soon afterward. Because of various technical difficulties, Ukrainian postal authorities were forced to utilize remaining Soviet supplies before attempting to produce more of their own stamps.

Two debut 15-kopek stamps which did manage to come into circulation on Sunday, March 1, depict two historic eras in Ukraine's glorious past. The first stamp celebrated 500 years of Kozak history, while the second marked 100 years of Ukrainian emigration to Canada.

In 1992, Ukraine also hoped to introduce its own monetary unit, the hryvnia, but due to the inconvertibility of the ruble, and subsequently the coupon, economic experts advised that Ukraine hold off until it could back its money with reserves. Thus, throughout 1992, the coupon, a flimsy piece of paper in various colors and in various denominations - described by Westerners as "Monopoly money" - circulated throughout Ukraine. By the end of the year, Ukraine became a ruble-free zone.

Although the coupon was intended as a "transitional currency," according to Ukrainian officials "the unscheduled transformation of the coupon appears to be an irreversible shove toward the separation of the Russian and Ukrainian economies." By the end of the year, President Leonid Kravchuk issued a decree officially removing the ruble from circulation in Ukraine, and making the karbovanets (basically, a renamed coupon) legal tender. It is not yet clear when the hryvnia will be introduced.

Ukraine also began to seriously concentrate on the establishment of its own army. Taking the oath of allegiance became a regular event, as pledges were administered in military schools, at army bases, naval fleets and national guard headquarters.

According to a recent report in the Financial Times, in Ukraine, there are reckoned to be about 700,000 troops, including forces withdrawn by Moscow from Germany, Hungary and Czecho-Slovakia. Under agreed manpower ceilings, these are due to be reduced to 450,000 in 1995. The official aim is a strength, by the end of the decade, of 250,000, roughly equivalent to the United Kingdom's. Most members of the military have signed oaths of allegiance to Ukraine. Experts say some 10,000 officers have refused and are due to leave. But, there may be up to 200,000 Ukrainian officers currently serving in other republics who are eligible to return.

Ukraine's troops arrived in Sarajevo, on July 29, as part of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in Yugoslavia, along with French, Egyptian and Canadian servicemen. By the end of the year, three Ukrainian soldiers had lost their lives defending the citizens of this war-torn region of eastern Europe.

By year's end, the United Nations established an interim office in Kiev, in accordance with an agreement signed by U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Anatoliy Zlenko on October 6.

As Ukraine further established itself as a European state and a full-fledged member of the global community, it was admitted as a member of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, at a January meeting in Prague of foreign ministers. In late February, Mr. Kravchuk signed the Helsinki Accords.

Also in late February, Ukraine was asked to join NATO's Cooperation Council by Secretary General Manfred Woerner during his visit to Ukraine.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in September announced a major program of aid for Ukrainian privatization, pledging assistance in drafting privatization legislation as well as promising to implement two or three pilot privatization transactions in Ukraine.

Just two months later, the World Bank extended a $40 million loan to the beleaguered nation. Although the World Bank's representative acknowledged the amount was small and "earmarked for strengthening institutions involved in economic reform," he offered encouragement, saying that it would be followed by "vast support" from the international community, once Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma's reform program was implemented.

At the beginning of the year, Ukraine said it would take on 16.37 percent of the foreign debt owed by the Soviet Union, but by the end of the year, it had reached a temporary agreement with Russia, agreeing to give Moscow the right to manage its $70 billion debt. In doing so, Ukraine took a big step toward resolving an issue that has been a roadblock in Ukrainian-Russian relations. The agreement, reached by the end of November, allows the Paris Club to reschedule the debt payments to Western nations.

1992 was also a year of firsts for Ukraine, as citizens jubilantly celebrated the first anniversary of Ukrainian independence on August 24 and later, perhaps without much fanfare, the first anniversary of the historic referendum confirming Ukraine's independence on December 1.

However, the August 24 holiday was dampened for members of the diaspora who gathered in Kiev at the World Forum of Ukrainians. A statement issued by President Kravchuk threatened to expel any foreigner openly critical of the Ukrainian government, Supreme Council and the president's policies.

In late October, the first Jewish Congress of Ukraine was held in Kiev. Awards were presented to World War II heroes who had rescued Jews during the Nazi occupation. Jews form the second largest ethnic minority in Ukraine after Russians.

Former Soviet political prisoners held a meeting in the fall to seek rehabilitation, and vowed to draw the attention of government and civic associations to the need for a system of aid and protection for victims of punitive Soviet psychiatry. They appealed to the Supreme Council of Ukraine to introduce legislation bringing about the full rehabilitation of former political prisoners.

Also, veterans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army were given their day of glory, 50 years after their valiant struggle to achieve a free Ukraine. Thousands of veterans marched through the streets of Kiev on August 9 and called on Ukraine's Parliament to recognize their defense of Ukraine during World War II.

The Crimea continued to be a hotbed of problems for Ukraine, as the Supreme Council adopted a new constitution which foresees the Crimea as an autonomous region within Ukraine. Throughout the year the Crimea passed various resolutions including demands for dual citizenship, but ultimately backed away from a direct confrontation with Kiev and put its independent status on a back burner.

Confrontations between the Crimean Tatars and Russian nationalists continued as the Tatars attempted to storm the Crimean Parliament building in October, when that Parliament outlawed the Mezhlis and the Organization of the Crimean Tatar National Movement, labeling them unconstitutional.

Another restless area, to the south of Ukraine, the Trans-Dnister Moldovan Republic, continued to witness skirmishes and sniper fire, as ceasefires were often ignored. Although the residents of the area, many of them Ukrainians, prayed for peace, Moldovan forces, encouraged by Romanian nationalists and Trans-Dnistrian powers, fueled by Moscow's money and weapons, continued to ravage the once-tranquil region.

Ukraine continues to live with the consequences of the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident. In February, it was announced that a second sarcophagus would have to be built over the one presently encasing the crippled fourth reactor at the power station. The work is to be done by a French firm and is to be completed within three years.

The sixth anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chornobyl was marked rather quietly as Green World and Rukh proclaimed a day of mourning on April 24 - Good Friday according to the Julian calendar.

Most Ukrainians, however, would echo the sentiments of one Kievite who told The Weekly: "We live with the effects of Chornobyl every day of our lives."

At an April 22 press conference, the Ukrainian Minister for the Chornobyl Clean-Up said that between 6,000 and 8,000 deaths had resulted from the Chornobyl accident and appealed for more international aid to overcome the disaster's consequences.

On May 4, a massive outbreak of wildfires was reported in areas contaminated by radioactive fallout from the Chornobyl disaster, spreading radiation to previously "clean" areas. Some 100 fires were extinguished in the Gomel Oblast of Belarus on May 2-3 alone. Fire was the problem again in early August as forest, brush and peat bog fires raged in northeastern Ukraine and in the evacuated zone near the Chornobyl plant. Warnings were issued to the populace, and some villagers were evacuated.

Meanwhile, the incidence of thyroid and other cancers continued to grow, especially among children, as had been predicted with the passage of time since the accident. There were new revelations as well regarding the danger of exposure to low-level radiation over prolonged periods of time.

At the United Nations, representatives from Europe, Asia and North America commemorated the sixth anniversary of the accident, and activists of the Zhytomyr Fund to Resettle the Victims of Chornobyl appealed to the U.N. to establish a new concept, that of "radiation refugees" and to form an assistance committee to help individuals irradiated by nuclear accidents or emissions.

In August, the Chornobyl Ministry of Ukraine signed a contract with Los Alamos Technical Associates Inc., to develop remedies for the Chornobyl clean-up.

Then, on October 16, faced with a dire shortage of energy, reactor No. 3 of the Chornobyl plant was restarted in contravention of requests by the European Community. In December, the No. 1 reactor was restarted, also due to the shortage of energy supplies, particularly following the reduction in supplies of cheap oil and gas from Russia. The Ukrainian Parliament, it will be recalled, had voted in October 1991 to close down the entire Chornobyl complex by the end of 1993.

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