Yushchenko and Poroshenko come out in defense of Zvarych

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko firmly defended the record of Justice Minister Roman Zvarych last week, stating that he is an honest man who has the necessary education and experience for his position.

"Let's leave the justice minister alone, and it's not necessary to carry out (political) intrigues against him," Mr. Yushchenko said. "This is a person who's been through colossal political trials in Parliament, who expertly wields his subject, and who was with you on the maidan [Independence Square].

Ukrainian reporters forced a comment from Mr. Yushchenko at a May 13 press conference, three days after Mr. Zvarych held his own press conference in which he admitted that he did not have a master's degree from Columbia University, despite claiming so for eight years.

Mr. Yushchenko's confidence in Mr. Zvarych put to rest the widespread speculation that the justice minister would have to resign after several media organizations, including The Weekly, confirmed that Mr. Zvarych had lied and exaggerated in three profile forms that he had submitted to Who's Who in Ukraine, starting in 1994.

Mr. Zvarych has middle, beginning and higher education, Mr. Yushchenko said. (Mr. Zvarych said he graduated from Sacred Heart High School in Yonkers, N.Y. in 1971.)

Mr. Zvarych graduated from Manhattan College in Riverdale, N.Y. in 1976 with a bachelor's degree, The Weekly confirmed, and studied at Columbia University between the fall of 1976 and spring of 1978.

"What the justice minister is supposed to be, and with what kind of education, I can't discuss this at the moment, because for me the position of minister is a political position," Mr. Yushchenko said.

In Europe, there are ministers of foreign affairs without any higher education, Mr. Yushchenko pointed out, and European nations accept that because the position is political and the minister does fantastic, skilled work.

Mr. Yushchenko then said he knew very well what's behind the controversy and rumors surrounding Mr. Zvarych.

"The bright, young members of Pora" are behind the attacks and are gaining from them, Mr. Yushchenko said. He vowed to meet with Yellow Pora's leaders and resolve the matter.

For several weeks, a handful of Zhovta Pora youngsters have been banging on large metal drums in front of the Justice Ministry building, protesting Mr. Zvarych's decision to deny them status as a political party.

Mr. Zvarych said Zhovta Pora fabricated names of individuals and even cities on its applications.

President Yuschenko said on May 13: "And today, when these internal political conflicts have arisen, I don't want them to be handled by way of specific, immoral methods in relation to any particular minister."

It was the news website Ukrayinska Pravda that first broke the Zvarych scandal on April 14, reporting that Mr. Zvarych had no master's degree from Columbia University or anywhere else.

In the following weeks, The Weekly confirmed with Mr. Zvarych himself that he was not an assistant professor at Columbia. Instead, he said he delivered lectures in a position that was not paid.

The Weekly confirmed with New York University that Mr. Zvarych was a part-time lecturer there, not a professor as he had been claiming for at least eight years. In his interview with The Weekly, Mr. Zvarych said he had full rights to the title of professor, even though he did not occupy that position or hold that academic rank.

After his press conference, Mr. Yushchenko denied that Mr. Zvarych's résumé contained any lies.

"This is a professional person and, I'm convinced, an honest person," Mr. Yushchenko said. "These actions, related to the defense of private interests, don't take into account the essence of his activities. All these matters are tied to one another by the political persecution of his (political) stance and activities."

Reporters then asked Mr. Yushchenko what political stances Mr. Zvarych is under attack for.

"You're forcing me to speak about matters that I'd wouldn't want to discuss," Mr. Yushchenko said. "Let's agree to discuss this later."

Also coming to Mr. Zvarych's defense was Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Secretary Petro Poroshenko, who appeared on a 1+1 television news program that examined Mr. Zvarych's deceit.

After the news report, Mr. Poroshenko staunchly defended Mr. Zvarych's record.

Rather than blaming Pora for instigating the scandal, as suggested by Mr. Yushchenko, or warring factions within the diaspora, as Mr. Zvarych had done, Mr. Poroshenko selected another target for blame.

"The organizers and executors are those same people and structures who carried out the campaign when Prime Minister Yushchenko resigned in 2001," Mr. Poroshenko said. "These same people, who worked against us in 2001 and in the beginning of 2002, are using the same technologies now."

The scandal arose only after Mr. Zvarych halted a stream of crime in certain oblasts where perpetrators were evading value-added taxes, Mr. Poroshenko said.

He then made the suggestion that if someone believes Mr. Zvarych lied, they should bring the matter to court. However, in Ukraine, as in most countries, it is not illegal to lie on a résumé.

"They say a mistake has been proven, or a lie has been proven," Mr. Poroshenko said. "How was it proven? If someone believes it's necessary to prove it, bring it to court."

In fact, Mr. Zvarych has repeatedly altered his claims on his education and experience, sometimes contradicting himself though never directly admitting that he told a lie.

In his Who's Who submissions since 1994, Mr. Zvarych has claimed that he wrote a candidate's dissertation related to Plato.

However, when the scandal broke, he told one Ukrainian reporter that it was actually a colloquium work, while he told The Weekly that it was preparatory work that was supposed to be the basis for a doctoral thesis.

Mr. Poroshenko said Mr. Zvarych never made the claim that he earned a doctoral degree.

In May 1998, when he was first elected as a national deputy in the Verkhovna Rada, Mr. Zvarych gave an interview to Roman Woronowycz of The Ukrainian Weekly's Kyiv Press Bureau. He informed The Weekly that he had earned a Ph.D. in philosophy.

Mr. Zvarych said he has never claimed to have a doctorate, and he apologized to The Weekly if he said anything that would have led the reporter to believe that he completed doctoral studies.

At his May 10 press conference, Mr. Zvarych suggested that Mr. Woronowycz confused his Ukrainian, resulting in the error.

When asked about Mr. Zvarych's claim to be a New York University professor, Mr. Poroshenko employed the defense constructed by his ally and pointed out that there is a distinction between the position of professor and the title of professor.

Mr. Zvarych has claimed since at least 1998 that he was a New York University professor between 1983 and 1991.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 22, 2005, No. 21, Vol. LXXIII

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