Ukrainian World Congress Presidium meets (02/11/96)

Ukrainian World Congress Presidium meets

by Andrij Wynnyckyj

TORONTO - The Ukrainian World Congress declared 1996 "The Year of Chornobyl" at a meeting of its Secretariat's presidium here on January 26-27, and adopted a series of resolutions concerning commemorations of the world's worst civilian nuclear accident.

Among the resolutions was a decision to prepare a formal memorandum to the governments of the G-7 industrial states, calling on them to ratify the so-called Vienna protocol, which guaranteed assistance to Ukraine in its effort to close the crippled nuclear power plant at Chornobyl.

Another resolution stated that the UWC and the World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations, acting in concert with Ukraine's Mission to the U.N., ensure that the United Nations appropriately mark the April 26 anniversary of the disaster, underlining it as an event that affected and continues to affect not only Ukraine and its immediate neighbors, but the entire world.

The UWC's continuing financial difficulties and ongoing frustration with the Kyiv-based Ukrainian World Coordinating Council (UWCC) were the principal themes of discussion at the two-day meeting.

Financial woes

William Sametz, the UWC's chief financial officer, expressed frustration at the seeming unwillingness of 23 members of the umbrella body, particularly U.S.-based organizations, to pay their dues.

Mr. Sametz, supported by Treasurer Vasyl Veryha, said ongoing shortfalls are crippling the UWC's ability to publish its newsletter (Visnyk), revive the Human Rights Commission, and keep its offices in Toronto adequately staffed and supplied.

Mr. Sametz also complained that annual dues were being paid at the latest possible date in December, forcing the UWC to borrow from its foundation in order to keep operating.

Mr. Sametz reported that the UWC had recently landed in hot water because of an inappropriate use of monies by the previous executive. According to his report, in the late 1980s about $25,000 (Canadian) was bequeathed to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, earmarked for the translation of Mykhailo Hrushevsky's "Istoria Ukrainy-Rusy" (History of Ukraine-Rus').

As confirmed by current UCC President Oleh Romaniw and Mr. Veryha, in 1990 these funds were transferred to the World Congress of Free Ukrainians (as the UWC was then known), which subsequently spent them.

Mr. Sametz reported that the Petro Jacyk Center for Studies in Ukrainian History, which is engaged in a project to translate the 10-volume work, learned of the bequest and is taking steps to recover the money. The UWC presidium decided unanimously to ensure the funds would be handed over, with several members condemning the previous executive for its actions.

Cooperative pledge?

Petro Mykuliak represented the World Council of Ukrainian Cooperatives at this meeting, and in his report repeated the oft-made statement that 30 percent of Australia's Ukrainian community belongs to Ukrainian credit unions. However, Mr. Mykuliak made no mention of the undertaking to "pay for everything" if the UWC assisted in its credit-union membership drives - an offer made by Dr. Dmytro Hryhorczuk at the September 29-30, 1995, presidium meeting.

By the time this matter was raised by UWC Vice- President Dr. Oleh Romanyshyn, Mr. Mykuliak had left. Mr. Sametz said he hadn't heard of any follow-up, but told The Weekly the offer was made "cleverly contingent" on a marked increase in credit union memberships.

UWCC debates

Reports given by UWC President Dr. Dmytro Cipywnyk and General Secretary Yaroslaw Sokolyk regarding their attendance in Kyiv of the Ukrainian World Coordinating Council's plenary session on December 8-10, 1995, provoked yet another round of debates concerning the council.

The latest hubbub concerned a December 10, 1995, meeting with Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma from which representatives of the "Eastern diaspora" were excluded at the urging of UWCC Vice-President Mykhailo Slaboshpytsky. Mr. Slaboshpytsky had allegedly said their presence would constitute a diplomatic faux pas, given that formal agreements on Ukrainian-Russian relations have yet to be signed.

Dr. Cipywnyk said the delegation to see Mr. Kuchma was assembled by Ivan Drach, UWCC president, and the Western diaspora's insistence that their Eastern counterparts be included were ignored. The UWC president later told The Weekly there was nothing in Mr. Kuchma's responses to questions about the Eastern diaspora to suggest that Mr. Slaboshpytsky's concerns were justified.

Dr. Cipywnyk said Mr. Kuchma was quite responsive to suggestions that the rights of Ukrainians in other republics of the former Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe needed championing.

Ulana Diachuk, president of the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council, said she had written a formal protest to Mr. Drach concerning the matter, and read a reply from the UWCC leader disclaiming any role in putting the delegation together.

Dr. Romanyshyn said it was "inexcusable" that Eastern diasporans were excluded. "This is a sensitive period of formulation of policy and setting of precedent," the UWC vice-president said. "We can't allow Drach and Slaboshpytsky to determine our approach to the East or the Ukrainian government's approach."

Evhen Czolij of the Conference of Ukrainian Youth Organizations (CUYC) and the UCC's Oleh Romaniw continued to voice their displeasure with the UWCC, as they had at previous meetings. Mr. Czolij suggested that there is no need for an umbrella body based in Ukraine, only a mechanism ensuring international Ukrainian congresses take place every four years or so.

Monetary questions, too, plague the UWCC's membership structure. Mr. Romaniw rejected suggestions made by Mr. Drach and other UWCC officials that the UCC is "in arrears" for dues. The UCC president said his organization was represented as a constituent of the UWC and had decided not to seek direct membership in the UWCC, unlike a number of U.S. umbrella organizations.

Mr. Veryha and Mr. Sametz pointed out the UWCC's disproportionate reliance on the West for its budget and its lack of fiscal accountability as sources of friction.

Mr. Veryha also pointed out that it is unrealistic to suggest Ukrainian organizations in the West were going to contribute the $3,000 (U.S.) the UWCC is demanding as dues when the UWC is having difficulty collecting dues of $350 from them.

Sports Commission

At this session, the UWC's Presidium also declared July 1996 "Ukrainian Olympic Month". Vsevolod Sokolyk, head of the UWC's Sports Commission, delivered his report on the past year's activities and on those foreseen in the months leading up to the Atlanta Games.

Mr. Sokolyk said the Ukrainian community in North America deserves special praise as it afforded Ukraine's athletes a chance to train on site, in Atlanta, in the summer of 1995. He said this is an opportunity not even shared by competitors from such countries as Canada and Germany. Mr. Sokolyk singled out Buffalo's community for particular accolades.

He mentioned that the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM-A) will be holding its official jamboree, or Zlet, to coincide with the Olympic Games, and that Valeriy Borzov, president of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee, will be coming to the U.S. for a final fund-raising tour in the coming months.

On a down note, Mr. Sokolyk said communications with Ukrainian sports authorities at the intermediate to lower levels continue to be poor. The sports commissioner said the Ukrainian junior team that fared so poorly at the recent hockey world championships in the Boston area could have done much better had they taken up an offer made by Canada's Ukrainian community. Apparently, the team could have played a series of games in Thunder Bay, Sault-Ste. Marie and London, which had been tentatively scheduled in the fall of 1995.

Mr. Sokolyk said an "Olympic year" calendar had been prepared, with full-color photographs and facts about Ukrainian sports, but at the last minute support had been withdrawn by the credit unions that were to have sponsored and disseminated it.

Mr. Sokolyk also reported that the exodus of trainers from Ukraine is continuing. "If this trend goes unchecked," he said, "there could be a collapse of the country's sports system."

Youth questions

As representative of the Conference of Ukrainian Youth Organizations, Mr. Czolij spoke about the need for the UWC to seriously consider how it will address questions facing Ukrainian youth in the diaspora and how it will include them in community life. He wryly pointed out that it is no longer sufficient simply to refer the 30- to 50-year-olds involved in the UWC as "molodi."

Dr. Cipywnyk seized upon two areas of potential interest for youth - the Chervona Ruta music festival and the Olympic Games - which the community should capitalize on to attract involvement.

Things look bleak, however, as Mr. Czolij cited statistics from the 1990 census indicating that 10 percent of professionals and only 5 percent of the general population of Ukrainian background speaks Ukrainian fluently.

Mr. Romaniw pointed out that perhaps it is time to introduce the principle of English-Ukrainian bilingualism into the UWC in order to attract those who might be deterred from participating because they haven't mastered Ukrainian. The UCC president read a resolution adopted by his organization's 18th triennial congress in October 1995 as a possible guideline in this area.

Mrs. Diachuk concurred, saying, "We need to demand that Ukrainian be learned, but we can't reject the majority of the community because they have difficulty in expressing themselves." She also said the community needs to follow the example of the Scandinavian and Jewish communities, who send their children on immersion excursions. "We need to send our kids to Ukraine, so they see the culture, hear the language and see the high level of education people have attained there," she said.

St. Volodymyr Medal

Following the meetings, a reception was held to honor Stefania Szafraniuk on her 91st birthday. The owner of the Ukrainian Canadian Art Foundation and long-time patron of the UWC was presented the umbrella body's highest award, the St. Volodymyr Medal, by Dr. Cipywnyk and Mr. Sokolyk.

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