The Washington Group considers Ukraine "At the Threshold" (07/11/99)

Joint Conferences of Ukrainian American Organizations

The Washington Group considers Ukraine "At the Threshold"

by Yaro Bihun
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

ARLINGTON, Va. - The Washington Group's annual Leadership Conference, which this year was part of the Joint Conferences of Ukrainian American Organizations, looked at Ukraine as it stands on the threshold of the new millennium, facing numerous political, economic, military and social challenges.

As the country's largest Ukrainian American professionals' association, with a membership exceeding 400, The Washington Group (TWG) has been sponsoring annual conferences in Washington dealing with U.S.-Ukrainian and Ukrainian diaspora issues over the past 15 years.

The year's conference on June 26, which attracted a record turnout of more than 300 participants, focused on five areas: Ukraine's military cooperation with the United States, its role in international space programs, the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine, U.S.-Ukraine business cooperation and the problem of trafficking of women from Ukraine.

Military cooperation

In the first conference session, dealing with U.S.-Ukrainian cooperation, Col. Askold D. Mosijczuk of the U.S. Army Medical Corps traced the history of U.S.-Ukrainian military medical cooperation and presented an overview of the close to a dozen specific areas of U.S. cooperation in helping Ukraine cope with many of its military medical problems.

Yurij Holowinsky, a major in the U.S. Air Force Reserve who has worked with the Ukrainian military on nuclear disarmament, focused on Ukraine's participation in the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. Among the problems Ukraine is encountering now, he said, is how to safely store the highly toxic liquid fuel from the SS-19s missiles it dismantled.

Ukraine's defense attaché in Washington, Col. Olexander Galaka, stressed that more attention needs to be paid to the education and training of commissioned and non-commissioned officers in Ukraine and to changing the mindset of some officers from the old Soviet way of looking at the United States, which is now Ukraine's strategic partner.

Ihor O.E. Kotlarchuk, a retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel who now works at the Department of Justice, reported on some of the legal projects he has worked on with the Ukrainian military, including the publication of a new Code of Military Conduct.

Ukraine in space

Three of the five TWG Leadership Conference panel discussions were organized jointly with other Ukrainian American organizations. Of these, "Ukraine's Role in International Space Programs," was co-organized with the Ukrainian Engineers Society of America.

Chaired by Theodor Kostiuk, a chief scientist for exploration programs at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the panel included Angela Phillips Diaz, director of the NASA Human Space Flight External Relations Office; Yaroslav Yatskiv, director of the National Space Agency of Ukraine; Michael Yarymovych, president of the International Academy of Aeronautics; and Roald Sagdeev, director of the Maryland University East-West Space Science Center.

Ms. Diaz gave an overview of U.S.-Ukraine cooperation in the area of human space flight, while Dr. Yatskiv reported on some of his agency's many space-related projects. Ukraine has a good team and good plans, he said, but the main obstacle remains a lack of funds.

Dr. Yarymovych focused on the commercialization of space in the area of telecommunications. The successful launch of the Ukrainian Zenit rocket from the international SeaLaunch project platform in the Pacific Ocean bodes well for Ukraine's future in this field, where the secret to success is "reliability," he said.

Dr. Sagdeev suggested that what the Ukrainian scientific community needs is a boost in morale, which, he said, could be achieved with a program of popularizing and honoring the many truly great Ukrainian scientists of the past.

Presidential elections in Ukraine

The panel discussing the situation in Ukraine on the eve of the presidential elections there, featured two prominent commentators on Ukraine: the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, William Greene Miller, who is now writing a book about Ukraine as a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and Sherman W. Garnett, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who two years ago authored "A Keystone in the Arch: Ukraine in the New Political Geography of Central and Eastern Europe."

Presenting the U.S. government viewpoint was John E. Tedstrom, director of Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian affairs at the National Security Council. The panel's moderator was Nadia M. Diuk, regional director for Central and Eastern Europe and the new independent states at the National Endowment for Democracy.

Ambassador Miller, who had just returned from a visit to Ukraine, said that, as the front-runner, incumbent President Leonid Kuchma has all of the necessary elements to win the election. "But the discontent must not be underestimated," he added, noting that the numerous economic problems, a lack of reform and corruption scandals could dissipate his popularity. Ambassador Miller surprised some in the audience by saying that the democrats will not vote for Mr. Kuchma, and, in a runoff, some of them would opt for the socialist candidate, Oleksander Moroz, whose integrity is widely respected.

Dr. Garnett said Ukraine is still being run by oligarchic elites, and major decisions are made behind closed doors. He said Ukraine "belongs" to neither East nor West. It is a key country, wedged between important neighbors, and it will always be an issue for Europe whether or not it is considered to be within its borders.

The NSC's Mr. Tedstrom commended Ukraine on its "European choice." But he pointed out that this policy has yet to be resolved at the grassroots level.

He said the Ukrainian government now faces two important short-term challenges if it is to retain Western support: it must maintain its macro-economic stability and ensure that the presidential election is conducted in a free and fair manner.

Asked about the seemingly insurmountable problems Ukrainians have in trying to obtain a visa to visit the United States, Mr. Tedstrom said that changes are being made. "We've heard your message and have taken steps to fix the problem," he said, without getting into specifics.

U.S.-Ukraine business cooperation

The U.S.-Ukraine business cooperation panel was organized jointly with the Ukrainian American Bar Association, and UABA President Bohdanna Pochoday was the moderator.

The chief of the Trade and Economic Mission at the Ukrainian Embassy, Yaroslav Voitko, said that Ukraine's foreign investment needs are "immense," requiring an estimated $40 billion over the next few years.

Of the thousand U.S. companies doing business in Ukraine, less than 1 percent have problems, and these, Dr. Voitko said, have received "too much attention" in the United States.

Volodymyr Chornodolsky of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council focused his remarks on recent positive developments in Ukraine, including the privatization of 50 percent of Ukraine's grain silos, some tax reforms, the acceptance of Western accounting standards and auditing methods, and new investments by some large U.S. firms.

Dr. Bohdan Budzan, the director general of the International Management Institute in Kyiv, underscored the importance of business education in building a stronger economy in Ukraine. More attention should be paid to manpower development and training in trying to accelerate economic growth and reform, he said.

Markian Silecky, whose law firm assists Western businesses in Ukraine, said that, for the near future, Ukraine, unfortunately, will remain a "paper-pushing, seal-and-stamp society." What takes a regulatory office in the United States 24 hours to accomplish, he said, takes five to six weeks in Ukraine. To succeed, he said, a businessman must always expect the unexpected and have a high degree of dedication and perseverance.

The fourth panelist, Kyiv attorney Danylo Kourdelchouk, described his firm's efforts to obtain reparations for Ukrainians who did forced labor for German firms during World War II.

Trafficking in women

The most riveting session of the conference "Trafficking of Women from Ukraine," came at the very end. It was organized jointly with the Washington/Baltimore Chapter of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America (UNWLA).

The issue was addressed by Irene Kurowyckyj, newly elected president of the UNWLA; Hanya Krill of LaStrada-Ukraine and Brama Gateway; Anita Botti, who heads the President's Interagency Task Force dealing with that issue; Natalia Zarudna of the Embassy of Ukraine; and Walter Zalisko of the Jersey City Police Department. Xenia Jowyk of the UNWLA Washington/Baltimore chapter was the moderator.

The first panelist, Mrs. Kurowyckyj presented some of the facts and figures regarding this "modern form of slavery" and sexual exploitation in Western Europe, the Middle East and North America. The root cause is economic, she said, citing the fact that more than 70 percent of the unemployed in Ukraine are women.

Ms. Krill recalled receiving an advertisement request at the Brama website seeking pretty Ukrainian women to do "secretarial work" in Bahrain. And one could hear a pin drop in the hall when Ms. Krill closed her presentation by reading an article by a young woman from Donetsk, named Nadia, describing in detail how she was lured by a job offer in Germany and forced into a life of prostitution.

Ms. Botti pointed out that the trafficking problem is worldwide; and it is divided equally between forced labor and sexual exploitation. At its source it is an economic problem, she said. "Unless the economy is dealt with, you will not solve the issue," she stressed.

Ms. Zarudna enumerated some of the steps taken by the Ukrainian government in trying to stem the tide of trafficking, including the passage of a law against it and cooperation with other governments and organizations internationally. She said that Ukrainian Americans could help by lobbying for, among other things, the passage of anti-trafficking laws in the United States, providing legitimate employment opportunities for these women, and the establishment of hotlines and shelters, where these victims could find assistance and refuge.

Mr. Zalisko, a Jersey City detective, recounted his undercover experiences in investigating the trafficking and sexual exploitation problem in New Jersey, where he visited numerous "go-go" bars featuring many women from Ukraine, Russia and other East European countries illegally brought to the United States and forced into prostitution. He, too, stressed that there is a need for shelters for these women, who now have nowhere to turn for help.

| Home Page |