National Deputy Yurii Kostenko speaks about developments in Ukraine (05/13/01)

National Deputy Yurii Kostenko speaks about developments in Ukraine

by Michael Komanowsky

JENKINTOWN, Pa. - The Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA) on March 30 hosted a meeting with Dr. Yuriy Kostenko, national deputy of the Parliament of Ukraine and head of the Narodnyi Rukh Ukrainy.

This meeting at the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center near Philadelphia was rather timely. Concerned about the current political situation in Ukraine and disturbed by gloomy news from and about Ukraine (such as the publication of audiotapes by President Leonid Kuchma's former bodyguard, Maj. Mykola Melnychenko, that implicate the president in corrupt business deals as well as in the disappearance and apparent murder of journalist Heorhii Gongadze), members of the community welcomed an opportunity to have these distressing events explained by someone who not only has an intimate knowledge about these events, but is also perceived to be a trustworthy, genuinely democratic and reformist leader.

Ivan Danylenko introduced Mr. Kostenko and familiarized the audience with his life history. Mr. Kostenko holds a doctoral degree from the Engineering Institute of Zaporizhia. He is the author of over 35 scientific papers dealing with ecology, energy and national safety. As one of the founders of Rukh, he was elected a national deputy to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in 1990, where he acted as head of the parliamentary Committee on Ecology from 1990 to 1994. From 1992 to 1998 he was minister of protection of the environment and nuclear safety, and in 1999 he was a presidential candidate from Rukh.

In his address Mr. Kostenko dwelled on the reasons which brought on the present political crisis in Ukraine; contrasted the widespread corruption and stagnating economy of the first nine years of independence with the accelerated improvements in political and economic conditions during the 10th year, when Viktor Yuschenko became prime minister; and spoke about the endeavors of the national-democratic forces to retain Mr. Yuschenko in that post.

By the end of the 1980s, the despotic Soviet Union had evolved into a corrupt system in which Communist factions fought for control and brought about its demise. In countries like Czecho-Slovakia or Estonia, the Communists were excluded outright from all government positions; consequently, privatization and other economic reforms were quickly introduced and successfully carried out. Because in Ukraine independence was acquired by more peaceful means from 1990 to 1991 with little opposition from the communists, a fundamental mistake was made by allowing them to retain their government posts.

Mr. Kostenko explained that following their innate instincts, the morally deprived former Communists, like a cancer, rapidly spawned numerous corrupt business clans and oligarchs that soon spread into all branches of government; stalled political and economic development; plundered the land of its many valuable resources; and brought about abuse of power, and limits on the freedom of expression. The sad events that Ukraine is now experiencing are to a large extent a consequence of a struggle among the corrupt business clans in their efforts to acquire government positions and to legalize the status quo through complete control of government, said Mr. Kostenko.

The appointment of Mr. Yuschenko as prime minister was a concession by President Kuchma to the demands of the national-democratic forces among whom Mr. Yuschenko enjoys a rare reputation for honesty and intelligence. With Mr. Yuschenko as prime minister, the economy quickly showed obvious signs of revival, Mr. Kostenko continued. Because of the soundness and transparency of his approach to the solution of complex economic problems, Mr. Yuschenko succeeded in establishing a working relationship not only with the president but also with the Parliament where a parliamentary majority caucus supportive of his policies was formed.

Striving to steer the country toward reform and to create a more democratic society, Mr. Yuschenko quickly proposed improvements in the budget, tax and criminal codes, as well as in the equally important land reform code (that passed in the first reading), Mr. Kostenko related. Despite the fact that the West refused to give Ukraine financial assistance, the government under the leadership of Mr. Yuschenko was able to pay out within a short time long overdue pensions and wages by making inaccessible to the oligarchs some of the channels they use for their own enrichment. Whereas in past years oligarchs of the fuel and energy sector paid about 70 million hrv in taxes, last year they contributed as much as 700 million hrv.

There are valid reasons to consider the recent crisis in the country to be a manifestation of dissatisfaction with the Yuschenko reforms by Communists, Socialists, as well as the establishment (a coalition of former Communist Party elites, law enforcement agencies, persons closely connected to the shadow economy, some leading politicians, and even members of the administration including the president himself).

Mr. Kostenko offered his opinion that we will never find out why Maj. Melnychuk published the secret tapes, or who killed Mr. Gongadze, just as it has never been determined with complete certainty who killed President John F. Kennedy. Mr. Kostenko said he also doubts that negotiations between President Kuchma and such opposition organizations as the Forum for National Salvation or Ukraine Without Kuchma will bring about any positive results.

Mr. Kostenko's said, Ukraine now has an irreplaceable prime minister - Mr. Yuschenko. He said the recently created social-political coalition of national-democratic forces Ukrainska Pravytsia (Ukrainian Right) will apply all its powers to prevent the recent attempts by Parliament and the president to oust Mr. Yuschenko. According to the speaker, Mr. Yuschenko's "Reforms for the Sake of Prosperity" will ensure democratization and successful reform of Ukrainian society and its integration with Europe. For example, his plans for land privatization would give people the right to own land and derive profits from it, and would instantly revitalize agricultural production, a key component of Ukraine's economy.

During discussions with representatives of the U. S. government, Mr. Kostenko pointed out the illogical reasoning behind the decision to stop financial support for Ukraine for the first time when a real reformer became prime minister. Mr. Kostenko expressed the hope that the West will not refuse financial support in the near future; the consequences would be very serious if Mr. Yuschenko were unable to pay wages and pensions on the eve of the next parliamentary elections.

When questioned about freedom of expression, Mr. Kostenko informed the audience that of the three television networks in Ukraine one belongs to the government and is under the control of oligarch Oleksander Volkov, while major shareholders of the other two are the Russian companies Lukoil and Alfa Group. These and similar facts demonstrate that Ukraine indeed has no independent news media. Highly placed government officials and oligarchs exercise a dominant influence over means of communication and often use them for the purpose of deceiving the public.

To the criticism that Ukraine has close to 100 parties, Mr. Kostenko replied that only eight of them play a significant role because only those parties that gain more than 4 percent of the votes are entitled to send representatives to the Parliament elected on party lists. He conceded that as many as three of those parties were created by commercial oligarchs and that, in addition, half of the 450 seats in the Parliament are filled not by party candidates but on an individual basis either via appointment by local government bodies or during elections with financial support from influential, often criminal, private individuals. Consequently, he said, legislation has been introduced lately by reform-minded deputies to change the parliamentary election law.

Those present at the meeting asked many more questions. Some complained about bureaucracy and injustices they experienced during visits to Ukraine, others about the unsatisfactory treatment by the government of both the Western and the Far Eastern diaspora.

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