NEWSBRIEFS

Is Yushchenko for reversing reforms?

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko told journalists in Rivne on November 7 that the constitutional commission he created last month does not aim at reversing the constitutional reform adopted by the Ukrainian Parliament in December 2004, the Ukrayinska Pravda website reported. Mr. Yushchenko was commenting on the announcement by National Deputy Petro Poroshenko the previous day that the pro-presidential Our Ukraine party will most likely initiate a reversal of the constitutional reform at its congress later this week. National Deputy Yurii Klochkovskyi, Mr. Yushchenko's representative in the Verkhovna Rada, said on November 8 that the need to annul the constitutional reform is the direct result of "authoritarian tendencies" manifested by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. "For a long time, the president thought that there is no sense in moving backward - it is necessary to go forward and improve the Constitution," Mr. Klochkovskyi said. "But let us be frank, under the current political line-up no constructive change in the Constitution will be supported. This means that there is only one way to salvage the situation; to acknowledge that the changes to the Constitution were made [in December 2004] unconstitutionally." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Scherban deported from U.S.

KYIV - Volodymyr Scherban, former chairman of the Sumy Oblast Administration, was deported from the United States to Ukraine on November 4, Ukrainian news agencies reported. Ukrainian prosecutors issued an international arrest warrant for Mr. Scherban in 2005, charging him with vote fraud, extortion and abuse of office. Mr. Scherban was detained in Florida in October 2005 on charges of being in the United States illegally. He was not taken into custody after returning to Kyiv because several deputies from the ruling coalition signed a pledge that he will show for interrogation whenever prosecutors summon him. Mr. Scherban has vowed to return to politics. "I think I will not disappear because my colleagues and friends are in power now. Therefore, I think that they will find a place for me as well," he said in a television interview on November 4. Among his friends Mr. Scherban named Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and financial mogul Rynat Akhmetov from the ruling Party of the Regions. (RFE/RL Newsline)

October Revolution anniversary marked

KYIV - Some 2,000 mostly older people took part in a march and a rally organized by the Communist Party in Kyiv on November 7 to commemorate the 89th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, Ukrainian news agencies reported. Demonstrators held placards reading "My fatherland is the Soviet Union," "We will not surrender to NATO" and "The Russian-Ukrainian-Belarusian union will come to pass." "The form of the government proposed by the Bolsheviks and practically implemented by them during the Soviet era is the most acceptable," Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko told the UNIAN news service. Simultaneously, some 300 representatives of Ukrainian nationalistic organizations gathered on Independence Square in Kyiv to honor the memory of the victims of Soviet-era repressions. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv against death penalty for Saddam

KYIV - Ukraine is against the death penalty handed down to Saddam Hussein, former leader of Iraq, said the director of the Foreign Affairs Ministry's press service, Andrii Deschytsia, on November 6. He explained that Ukraine agrees the death sentence handed down by an Iraqi court is legal, but noted that, in keeping with its commitments to the Council of Europe, Ukraine supports European and human values and, thus, is against the death penalty. Ukraine supports efforts to normalize the internal situation in Iraq, as well as strengthening its social-economic stability and working toward interconfessional harmony, Mr. Deschytsia added. (Ukrayinski Novyny)

Liberty Day is planned

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada and Our Ukraine have initiated the establishment of an organizing committee for the celebration of Liberty Day on November 22. Ihor Zhdanov, first vice-chairman of the Our Ukraine People's Union told the press that the committee is to be co-chaired by the leaders of the Our Ukraine and Yulia Tymoshenko blocs and that it is to include representatives of all political groups that participated in the Orange Revolution of 2004. The celebration is to be planned by Taras Hrymaliuk, director of the agency ART-Veles. It is envisioned as honoring all those who fought for freedom in Ukraine, including dissidents and rights activists. (Ukrayinski Novyny)

Japan to honor Ivan Dzyuba

KYIV - The Japanese government conferred the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, upon Ivan Dzyuba, a member of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine, for his significant contribution to the popularization of Japanese culture. Mr. Dzyuba is an outstanding translator of Japanese literature into Ukrainian, the Japanese Embassy in Ukraine told Ukrinform. Mr. Dzyuba translated "Aghwee the Sky Monster" by Kenzaburo Oe, the "Snow Country"" by Yasunari Kawabata, the "Woman in Dunes" by Kobo Abe and the "A Wild Sheep Chase" by Haruki Murakami. The official awards ceremony is slated for November 22 at a residence of Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Mutsuo Mabuchi. (Ukrinform)

Yanukovych for Tarasyuk's dismissal

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said on November 2 that he feels Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk, who declared his opposition to the government, cannot remain in his post. Mr. Yanukovych told the news media, that a principled person could not remain a member of the Cabinet of Ministers at the same time that he is the leader of a party that has declared opposition to the government. He added, "I don't know what Tarasyuk's decision will be. We will learn about this decision in the near future." (Ukrayinski Novyny)

Rada demands reports from two ministers

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on November 3 passed a resolution demanding that Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk and Defense Minister Anatolii Hrytsenko deliver reports on November 15 on their performance, the Ukrainian media reported. Messrs. Tarasyuk and Hrytsenko were appointed to their posts in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych by President Viktor Yushchenko. National Deputy Yevhen Kushnariov from the Party of the Regions told journalists that Messrs. Tarasyuk and Hrytsenko may be sacked on November 15, suggesting that the two ministers form "a fifth column" in the Cabinet and do not implement the policies of the ruling coalition led by the Party of the Regions. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine closer to WTO membership

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on November 2 passed a package of seven bills paving the way for membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ukrainian media reported. The package, which was supported by no fewer than 390 deputies from all caucuses apart from the Communist Party, included bills on banking and foreign investment. Presidential aide Arsenii Yatseniuk predicted that the legislature will also endorse the remaining 15 WTO-related bills "in the same constructive atmosphere." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Lutsenko shrugs off suspension vote

KYIV - Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Lutsenko said in a television interview on November 2 that the parliamentary vote earlier the same day recommending that Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych suspend him for two months will have no consequences, the Ukrayinska Pravda website reported. According to Mr. Lutsenko, Ukraine's legislation does not provide for suspension of a Cabinet minister. "They [lawmakers] can sack me but cannot suspend me. If my opponents want to obey the law, they will have to submit a motion to dismiss me and to pass it. But as long as such an act is non-existent, I will work as a full-fledged minister," Mr. Lutsenko said. "From a political point of view, [the suspension vote] was an act of revenge from those who cannot sleep peacefully at night because of their pricks of conscience and problems with the law," he added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Transportation minister hails gas deal

KYIV - Ukrainian Transportation Minister Mykola Rudkovskyi has said that the agreement with Russia on gas supplies at $130 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2007 is a big victory of Ukrainian diplomacy, Interfax reported on October 25. "We should acknowledge that the price of $130 is a big victory for Ukraine and Ukrainian diplomacy," Mr. Rudkovskyi said. He also mentioned that Russia offers gas for Belarus at $200 per 1,000 cubic meters and for Poland at $280, adding that the Ukrainian price opens the way for Ukraine's economy to grow by 7 percent or higher. Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary welcomed the Ukrainian-Russian agreement. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Putin promises repatriation project...

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin told the Congress of Compatriots in St. Petersburg on October 24 that he is determined to protect the rights of "compatriots" living abroad as a "moral duty" and "national priority," Russian media reported. The congress, which first met in 2001, brought together 600 representatives of the diaspora from 80 countries. Mr. Putin called specifically on the Latvian and Estonian governments to uphold "European standards" with regard to the rights of Russian-speakers in their countries, whose number he put at about 600,000. He called them "non-citizens, who are permanent residents" of their respective Baltic homelands. Mr. Putin also appealed to all countries in the "Russian-speaking expanse" to retain the Russian language as a common bond. Some commentators noted that this remark is bound to irritate many in former Soviet republics, whose national emancipation was often closely linked to promoting use of their native languages at the expense of Russian. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... as does the bureaucracy

MOSCOW - Also on October 24, Federal Migration Service Director Konstantin Romodanovsky told the state-run daily newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta that the authorities plan to "repatriate" 300,000 ethnic Russians in the next three years in a plan that was unveiled in the summer. He said again that a pilot project will be set up in at least 12 regions in 2007 to help determine the total costs involved. He noted that the Federal Migration Service will set up several bureaus abroad to implement the program. The plan is aimed at offsetting the ongoing decline in population, about which Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken out repeatedly. He recently set up another interagency group to deal with the "repatriation" of ethnic Russian "compatriots" living abroad. Some nationalist critics have charged that repatriation will not do much to offset the decline and that Mr. Putin is undermining any possible Russian claim to or role in former Soviet republics by encouraging ethnic Russians there to leave. Other critics say that the government should do more for illegal immigrants already in Russia before it brings in additional people. The daily Viedomosti reported on October 24 that a recent poll by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) showed that immigration is 25th among concerns of Russian citizens, with housing costs, alcohol abuse and medical care topping the list. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ambassador Shamshur visits Nebraska

WASHINGTON - On October 30-31, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States Oleh Shamshur visited Omaha, Neb. During the visit the ambassador met with Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey, international business leaders at the Chamber of Commerce, representatives of the financial, industrial and investment groups, and also the leaders of the Omaha Ukrainian American Association. Dr. Shamshur discussed development of the Ukrainian-American bilateral relations on the interregional level. In this context, the successful interaction of Artemivsk and Omaha local authorities within the framework of the Community Partnerships Program initiated by the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation in 1998 was cited. The ambassador pointed out the need to upgrade the status of the relationship by concluding a sister-cities agreement between Artemivsk and Omaha. The focus of the envoy's visit to Nebraska was on promoting investment opportunities in Ukraine, as well as its industrial, scientific, technological and human potential. Ambassador Shamshur participated in the diplomatic conference "Nebraska: America's International Heartland." (Embassy of Ukraine in the United States)

Ternopil-Zboriv has new Catholic bishop

TERNOPIL, Ukraine - On October 19, during a pontifical liturgy at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Holy Mother of God, Patriarch Lubomyr Husar, head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC), read a document about the appointment of Bishop Vasyl Semeniuk, administrator of the Ternopil-Zboriv Eparchy in western Ukraine, as the ruling hierarch of the eparchy. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Bishops promote sobriety

KYIV - A project to encourage a sober way of life was among the issues discussed at the 32nd Session of the Synod of Bishops of the Kyiv-Halych Metropolitanate of the Ukrainian Greek- Catholic Church (UGCC). Thirteen UGCC bishops who serve in Ukraine took part at the meeting held on October 20-21 in Zarvanytsia, in western Ukraine's Ternopil region. Patriarch Lubomyr Husar, head of the UGCC, presided. During the work of the synod, much attention was given to consideration of a project to "fight for a sober way of life," as ugcc.org.ua put it. The main emphasis is not given to the Church's fight against alcoholism, but instead to "a sober way of life." By November 20 appointments will be made in each eparchy of those who will be responsible for the project's realization. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Belarusian, Ukrainian NGOs get grants

MIENSK - Four Belarusian and 18 Ukrainian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have received grants over $420,000 in total from Poland's Stefan Batory Foundation, Belapan reported on October 25. The foundation, implementing since 2003 its program of support of democratic changes and the development of civil society, intends to support NGOs' operation and activities aimed at establishing partner relations between NGOs and authorities. The foundation also noted that due to the political situation in Belarus it will not disclose the Belarusian recipients of grants. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, November 12, 2006, No. 46, Vol. LXXIV

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