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Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 4:35 AM
Subject: Ukraine Report 2003, No. 3, Tuesday, February 11, 2003
=================================================
"UKRAINE REPORT 2003"
"The Art of Building A Strong, Democratic, Independent Ukraine"
"Ukraine Report 2003," Number 3
Market Economy Group Information Service
www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service
Kyiv, Ukraine and Washington, D.C.
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
INDEX OF STORIES:
1. VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO SAYS ITS PREMATURE FOR
U.S. TO CUT BACK VOICE OF AMERICA (VOA) BROADCASTS
IN UKRAINE, UNIAN News, Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb.10, 2003
2. STATEMENT BY KENNETH Y. TOMLINSON, CHAIRMAN,
BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS (BBG) ON
PRESIDENT BUSH'S 2004 BUDGET REQUEST, Fact Sheet,
Washington, D.C., February 7, 2003
3. WORLD BANK TO ALLOCATE USD 250 MILLION TO
UKRAINE, For Economic Infrastructure and Social Safety Net
RosbaltNews.Com, St. Petersburg, Russia, February 10, 2003
4. EU SEEKS TO DEVELOP RELATIONS WITH UKRAINE
ACCORDING TO EU OFFICIAL JAVIER SOLANA,
RosbaltNews.Com, St. Petersburg, Russia, February 10, 2003
5. CANADIAN OFFICIAL URGES COUNTRIES TO HELP
UKRAINE DESTROY ITS MILLIONS OF AGING SOVIET-
ERA LAND MINES, A/P, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Feb.10, 2003
6. UKRAINE MEETS ALL ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING
REQUIREMENTS ACCORDING TO U.S. AMBASSADOR
AP World Politics, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, February 10, 2003
7. NATIONAL BANK OF UKRAINE INTENDS TO LOWER
CREDIT RATES BY 5-6% IN 2003, Eastern Economist Daily
(EED) Kyiv, Ukraine, February 11, 2003
8. UKRAINE OFFICIALS MEET IN SWEDEN WITH REPS
FROM SEVERAL COUNTRIES ABOUT KEEPING CHILDREN
SAFE, Sweden urging more cross-border help in caring for unaccompanied
children in Baltics, By Tommy Grandell, Associated Press Writer, AP World
Politics, Stockholm, Sweden, Monday, February 10, 2003
9. THE UNITED STATES ELITE SEEKING WAYS OUT OF THE
CRISIS IN THE RELATIONS WITH UKRAINE ACCORDING TO
VIKTOR YUSCHENKO, ForUm Website, Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 10, 2003
10. TREASURE TROVE OF UKRAINIAN HISTORICAL ARCHIVES
DISCOVERED IN POLAND, By Dr. Orest Popuvych, The Ukrainian
Weekly newspaper, Parsippany, New Jersey, USA, January 26, 2003
11. CIS STATISTICS COMMITTEE REPORTS ON INFLATION 2002
Belarus Has Highest Inflation in CIS at 34.8 Percent, Ukraine has 4 Percent,
RosBusinessConsulting (RBC), February 7, 2003
12. CLOTHING NEEDY A WORLD AWAY IN UKRAINE, Gordon
Brosseau was touched by the need of people in the former Soviet bloc.
He found a way to make a difference. By Candace Rondezux, Times Staff
Writer St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg, Florida, February 10, 2003
13. UKRAINIAN FIRM TO LAY LEBANON-SYRIA GAS PIPELINE
MENAREPORT.COM, Al-Bawaba Group, Amman, Jordan, Feb. 09, 2003
=======================================================
=======================================================
UKRAINE REPORT 2003, No.3: STORY NUMBER ONE
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1. VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO SAYS ITS PREMATURE FOR THE U.S. TO
CUT BACK VOICE OF AMERICA (VOA) BROADCASTS IN UKRAINE
UNIAN Independent News
Kyiv, Ukraine
February 10, 2003
Washington........Nasha Ukraina ("Our Ukraine") leader, former prime
minister and member of the Verkhovna Rada Viktor Yushchenko said the
U.S. cutting the broadcasting time of the Voice of America and Svoboda
on Ukrainian radio stations was premature, because their audience totaled
6 million people.
He said the radio stations had independent editorial policies and created
equal possibilities for all political forces, often inviting representatives
of officials and the opposition on interviews.
On Feb. 7, the stations announced they would have to trim funding for
Ukrainian programs in favor of Asian and Middle Eastern broadcasts
according to the new fy 2004 budget proposed by President Bush. (END)
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UKRAINE REPORT 2003, No. 3: STORY NUMBER TWO
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2. STATEMENT BY KENNETH Y. TOMLINSON
CHAIRMAN, BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS (BBG)
ON PRESIDENT BUSH'S 2004 BUDGET REQUEST
Washington, D.C.
February 7, 2003
The budget process forces us to establish priorities--and clearly
President Bush's FY' 04 budget to Congress places the war on terrorism
as international broadcasting's top priority.
Thirty million dollars in start-up funds for an Arabic-language
satellite television network represents an important step toward
reaching the people in the Arab world with accurate news and the message
of freedom and democracy.
Communicating directly with the world's most populous Muslim state,
Indonesia, makes the same good strategic sense. The budget will also
allow us to expand audience development there, and in strategically
placed countries where we will be placing programs on local stations and
broadcasts on the channels our audiences use and move beyond shortwave
technology.
Considering the economic climate of the times, international
broadcasting fared well in terms of the FY' 04 budget request. The
President is asking for an appropriation of $563.5 million-a 9.5 percent
increase over our FY' 03 request.
The landscape of U.S. international broadcasting was not left unchanged
by the budget process. The budget means an end to most Voice of
America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
broadcasting to the democracies of Eastern Europe where free speech
is practiced and where the process of joining the NATO alliance is under
way.
The closing of these services, whose employees have so gallantly served
the cause of freedom, will bring a moment of sadness to many of us who
saw victory in the Cold War as a direct result of these radios.
But we should remember at the same time that the goal these services
struggled and sacrificed for has been achieved, and they should take great
pride in the role they played in this historic mission.
The budget will also require that we reduce spending in non-broadcasting
areas. A 5 percent, or $3.9 million, reduction in management will
result in administrative streamlining and cost reductions throughout the
agency.
The total loss of 36 positions for VOA and 46 positions for RFE/RL, as
well as 16 positions in IBB and administrative positions in RFE/RL, will
be accomplished, where possible, by retirements, reassignments, and
abolishing vacant positions. Unfortunately, it appears we also will
face reduction-in-force to achieve these budget goals.
It is always difficult to accept significant change. September 11,
2001, changed the way we must approach international broadcasting-and
the President's budget reflects that change. This institution's task
now is to draw upon our previous success in the Cold War, to go forward
with the new war of ideas as we offer democracy, tolerance, and
self-government as the positive alternative to tyranny, fanaticism, and
terror.
An extraordinary challenge lies ahead. (END)
=====================================================
THE PRESIDENT'S FY 2004 BUDGET REQUEST TO CONGRESS
Fact Sheet from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG)
Washington, D.C.
February 7, 2003
The FY 2004 budget request to Congress includes $563.5 million for the
Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees all nonmilitary
U.S. international broadcasting.
Programming increases are targeted at the Middle East and Southeast Asia
to bolster efforts in the War on Terrorism.
- $30 million to initiate the Middle East Television Network - a new
Arabic-language satellite television network that, once operational and
fully funded, will have the potential to reach vast audiences in the
region.
- $3.4 million to double Voice of America's (VOA) Indonesian radio
programming (from 2.5 hours to five hours daily), and increase
television programming to five hours a week.
- $2.9 million to expand BBG audience development and placement efforts
critical in our redirection to local media markets.
Programming reductions are focused on Eastern and Central Europe as well
as administrative and management costs.
- A reduction of $8.8 million from the FY 2003 request level would
eliminate BBG broadcasting in nine languages and make cuts in others.
Staff reductions associated with these cuts would affect 36 positions at
VOA and 46 staff positions at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
- VOA would no longer broadcast in Bulgarian, Czech, Estonian,
Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovene, Slovak, Romanian.
- RFE/RL would no longer broadcast in Bulgarian, Croatian, Estonian,
Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovak.
- VOA Ukrainian radio will be reduced from two to one hour per day. A
total of three positions will be eliminated.
- VOA's Armenian service will be reduced from six to two positions. VOA
will provide content to RFE/RL's Armenian broadcasts.
- RFE/RL Romanian broadcasting to Romania will be eliminated; however
RFE/RL Romanian broadcasting targeted to Moldova will continue.
- RFE/RL's South Slavic Service will be reduced through the elimination
of all Croatian broadcasting.
- RFE/RL will reduce operational costs of its Armenian, Georgian,
Serbian, and Ukrainian services.
Management and administrative streamlining would result in a base
reduction of $3.9 million.
- The International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) will reduce costs by $2.6
million and eliminate 16 positions.
- RFE/RL will reduce operational costs by $1.1 million and eliminate six
positions.
- Radio Free Asia (RFA) will reduce operational costs by $230,000. (END)
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UKRAINE REPORT 2003, No. 3: STORY NUMBER THREE
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3. WORLD BANK TO ALLOCATE USD 250 MILLION TO UKRAINE
For Economic Infrastructure and Social Safety Net
RosbaltNews.Com
St. Petersburg, Russia
February 10, 2003
KIEV, February 10. The World Bank is planning to allocate USD 250 million
to Ukraine in the near future. This was announced on Saturday, February 8,
at a press conference in Kiev by Luca Barbone, the World Bank's director for
Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.
According to Barbone, the money will be used to develop Ukraine's economic
infrastructure and help the most needy sections of Ukrainian society.
The World Bank opened an official representative office for Ukraine, Belarus
and Moldova in Kiev on Friday. The office is expected to offer support to
humanitarian programmes in these countries. (END)
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UKRAINE REPORT 2003, No. 3: STORY NUMBER FOUR
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4. EU SEEKS TO DEVELOP RELATIONS WITH UKRAINE
RosbaltNews.Com
St. Petersburg, Russia
February 10, 2003
KIEV, February 10. The European Union is interested in developing its
relations with Ukraine and hopes for long and fruitful collaboration with
Kiev.
This was announced by Javier Solana, the EU's High Representative for
Foreign Policy and Security, during a visit to the Ukrainian capital.
According to Solana, a new Ukraine-EU summit is planned for the end of 2003,
at which representatives of EU countries will discuss a range of 'promising
bilateral programmes in the economic and political spheres.'
Solana was in Kiev from February 7 to 9 on a working visit. He took part in
a sitting of the Ukraine - EU Troika commission. (END)
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UKRAINE REPORT 2003, No. 3: STORY NUMBER FIVE
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5. CANADIAN OFFICIAL URGES COUNTRIES TO HELP UKRAINE
DESTROY ITS MILLIONS OF AGING SOVIET-ERA LAND MINES
Associated Press
Kyiv, Ukraine
Monday, February 10, 2002
KYIV, Ukraine - A top Canadian official on Monday urged the international
community to help Ukraine meet its commitment to destroy millions of aging
Soviet-era land mines.
Lieutenant Colonel John MacBride, of the Mine Action Team in Canada's
Department of Foreign Affairs, said Ukraine agreed to destroy its stockpile
of some six million anti-personnel land mines in 1999, but its cash-strapped
government needs financial and technical assistance to do it.
"Canada cannot on its own provide funds to carry out this project so we are
continually encouraging other donors to contribute," MacBride told
reporters.
The Canadian government has spent US$680,000 to help Ukraine dispose of
400,000 "relatively easy-to-destroy" mines, but an additional US$4 million
is needed to destroy the bulk of Ukraine's arsenal, he said.
Experts must develop a special system to destroy Ukraine's mines because
only Russia, Belarus, and Turkmenistan have similar mines and those
countries have not begun destroying them.
The mines are particularly dangerous because they cannot be disarmed and
contain liquid explosives that can cause environmental damage if they leak.
Tests to develop an environmentally friendly system to destroy the mines are
expected to be complete in three months, MacBride said.
Ukraine is one of 131 nations to have signed the Ottawa Treaty banning land
mines, but has not ratified it because the former Soviet republic has lacked
the resources to destroy its mines.
MacBride predicted Ukraine would ratify the treaty by the end of 2004.
Ukraine's has the fourth largest arsenal of anti-personnel mines in the
world after China, Russia and the United States - none of which has agreed
to destroy its mines. (tv/jh) (END)
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UKRAINE REPORT 2003, No. 3: STORY NUMBER SIX
======================================================
6. UKRAINE MEETS ALL ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING
REQUIREMENTS ACCORDING TO U.S. AMBASSADOR PASCUAL
AP World Politics
Kyiv, Ukraine
Monday, February 10, 2003
KYIV, Ukraine - U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual praised the Ukrainian
government for taking all necessary steps to raise its anti-money laundering
regulations to international standards and pledged U.S. support to lift
sanctions against Ukraine's banks, the embassy said Monday.
"I am pleased to say that all (the) key steps were taken," Pascual said in
an interview broadcast on the One-plus-One television channel Sunday.
He noted, however, that Ukraine could have made the legislative and
regulatory changes earlier, before sanctions were imposed in December.
Pascual vowed, however, to support removing the sanctions against the former
Soviet republic's banks at a meeting of the Financial Action Task Force, or
FATF, in Paris on Wednesday.
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma signed the final amendments to his
country's banking regulations Friday to prevent financial institutions from
laundering money and to reduce the threshold for monitoring suspicious
transactions.
The Ukrainian government also adopted changes to the criminal and civil
codes calling for stiff fines and prison terms of up to 15 years for people
found guilty of laundering.
Last week, Ukraine's National Bank moved to impose tough new requirements
on financial transactions with offshore companies which totaled US$2.2
billion last year.
The Ukrainian government scrambled to enact the safeguards before FATF
meets to consider whether to recommend that the sanctions be lifted.
The United States, Great Britain and Germany are among nine industrialized
countries whose banks have begun scrutinizing transactions, closing accounts
and blocking transfers with Ukrainian financial institutions and individuals
to avoid shady deals.
However, FATF requires that all countries wait one year to prove that they
enforce their new laws before FATF can recommend full normalization. Ukraine
has been on FATF's blacklist since 2001.
A delegation led by Vice Prime Minister Mykola Azarov left for Paris Monday
for working meetings with FATF representatives ahead of Wednesday's session,
the Interfax news agency reported. (tv/mb) (END)
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UKRAINE REPORT 2003, No. 3: STORY NUMBER SEVEN
======================================================
7. NATIONAL BANK OF UKRAINE INTENDS TO LOWER CREDIT
RATES BY 5-6% IN 2003
Eastern Economist Daily (EED)
Kyiv, Ukraine
February 11, 2003
KYIV. The National Bank intends to lower credit rates in 2003
by 5-6% from the 19.6% in place at the beginning of the year, said NBU
Governor Tyhipko. He stressed the NBU would support excessive liquidity in
the banking system and expand the re-financing mechanism for this purpose.
He pointed out the average interest rate for credits in hryvnia had fallen
from 27.4% to 19.5% in 2002, while noting President Kuchma and the
government continued to criticize the NBU and commercial banks for inflated
rates.
Tyhipko pointed out the credit rate had been cut to 18.6% in
January. Tyhipko also noted bank reserves had grown 17.3% to Hr 5.13bn
in January, while growth totaled 21.8% in 2002.
Furthermore, Tyhipko said the NBU planned to increase
credits to private individuals, lower rates on such credits and extend
deadlines for them. He said a working group headed by Deputy NBU Chair
Oleksandr Shlapak and including representatives from commercial banks and
the NBU had been set up. He said the group would identify the major problems
in developing consumer crediting in the country.
Tyhipko mentioned the share of consumer credits in the
credit portfolios of Ukrainian banks was 7.9%, while in the indicator
totaled 15% in countries neighboring Ukraine and about 50% in the EU.
At the same time, Tyhipko said the country should avoid
deflation this year. He said deflation would hamper economic development. He
stated inflation should reach European standards of 5-7%. Inflation of 1.5%
in January was a positive change, he said. He pointed out this type of
inflation had been the case in 2001, when final GDP growth reached 9%.
(EED)(FinPort/Inter, Feb. 10)
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UKRAINE REPORT No. 3, 2003: STORY NUMBER EIGHT
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8. UKRAINE OFFICIALS MEET IN SWEDEN WITH REPS FROM
SEVERAL COUNTRIES ABOUT KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE
Sweden urging more cross-border help in caring for unaccompanied
children in Baltic's
By Tommy Grandell, A/P Writer
AP World Politics
Stockholm, Sweden
Monday, February 10, 2003
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Sweden, concerned about children crossing national
borders alone, is urging more regional cooperation in stopping the flow.
Several representatives from the Baltic Sea region countries, including
Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, along with Belarus, Ukraine
and Moldova met in Stockholm Monday to boost their cooperation in keeping
children safe.
"It is a matter of cross-border responsibility to help them," Lars Loof,
senior adviser for children's unit of the Baltic Sea States Advisory
Secretariat, said Monday.
The unaccompanied children are often in an extremely vulnerable situation,
he said.
"It is often a question of children who have fallen victim to trafficking in
human beings or who have been exploited because they are in such an exposed
situation," Loof said.
In order to organize such cooperation, Sweden's migration minister, Jan O.
Karlsson, and the Council of the Baltic Sea States began a two-day
conference to address those issues.
Berit Andnor, Sweden's minister for children and families, said the problem
of unaccompanied children exists in all countries in the region. She said
there are large numbers of lone Russian-speaking children in Poland and a
special camp was opened in Lithuania for Chechen children who arrived there
via Belarus.
Andnor said a majority of the countries in the region are both the origin
and destination of unaccompanied children.
"There are the same problems in all countries around the Baltic Sea. It is a
matter of knowledge-building, it is a matter of shaping a decent life for
these children," she said.
Representatives of 14 countries are taking part in the conference, or the
Unaccompanied Children from Countries in the Region of the Baltic Sea
States - Interministerial and Interagency Cooperation for Improved
Assessment, Care and Reintegration. (END)
=====================================================
UKRAINE REPORT 2003, No. 3: STORY NUMBER NINE
=====================================================
9. THE UNITED STATES ELITE SEEKING WAYS OUT OF THE
CRISIS IN THE RELATIONS WITH UKRAINE ACCORDING TO
VIKTOR YUSCHENKO
ForUm Website
Kyiv, Ukraine
Monday, February 10, 2003
The world community's attitude towards Ukraine remains very mixed, and the
US political elite is seeking ways of overcoming the current crisis in the
bilateral relations between two countries, according to Our Ukraine's leader
Viktor Yuschenko, who paid a visit to the United States last week.
Commenting on the strained relations between the Ukraine and the US
governments at the moment, Yuschenko said it is "the Ukrainian government's
problem," Our Ukraine's press service reported.
"The ruling authorities should have enough courage to resume the dialogue,
and Our Ukraine will make efforts to widen the political and
inter-parliamentary links between two countries," said Yuschenko.
He reminded that during the negotiations the US side repeatedly said it
needs impartial information about Ukraine, in particular about its
parliament's work, measures against dirty money laundering, and the
directions of cooperation. "We should also talk about Our Ukraine's
current activities. No doubt, this will make us closer," said Yuschenko.
Asked if this visit could be regarded as a preparation for the forthcoming
presidential elections in Ukraine, Yuschenko said, "Electing the Ukrainian
president is an exclusive right of the Ukrainian nation. Posing a question
like that seriously would be humiliating for Ukraine and for me personally."
Touching upon the problem of overcoming the current political and economic
crisis, Yuschenko said resolving this problem "is Ukraine's home
assignment."
According to him, Ukraine's strategic partners, such as the EU, Russia and
the US, are interested in Ukraine being stable and democratic. "After these
dialogues I became more optimistic about this country's prospects," said
Yuschenko.
In his turn, MP Roman Bessmertny, who was part of the Ukrainian delegation
to the US, said, "Visiting the US, Yuschenko is rescuing Ukraine's image in
the world. The politician backed by one third of the electors is entrusted
with representing the country on the international arena. So Yuschenko's
position as far as promoting Our Ukraine's international cooperation with
its colleagues from other countries is justified and right."
According to him, the Ukrainian authorities "will do their best to discredit
the political forces aiming at building a democratic state." "The
authorities are likely to employ any mechanisms to bring Yuschenko's visit
to the US into disrepute, in particular the pro-presidential media will
deliberately give false information on this visit," said Bessmertny, and
added that the delegation's meetings with US high-ranking officials are
evident of this visit being of great importance.
"None of the countries of the world, except for Ukraine, can solve our
problems. Our future depends solely on us," said the deputy. "I was
surprised that the circle of people concerned about Ukraine is expanding.
Ukraine's problems have more and more impact on the international politics.
So serious politicians from all over the world are interested in Ukraine
turning into a democratic state and are ready to speed up this process,"
Bessmertny said. (http://for-ua.com)(END)
=====================================================
UKRAINE REPORT 2003, No. 3, STORY NUMBER TEN
=====================================================
10. TREASURE TROVE OF UKRAINIAN HISTORICAL ARCHIVES
DISCOVERED IN POLAND
By Dr. Orest Popuvych
The Ukrainian Weekly newspaper
Ukrainian National Association
Parsippany, New Jersey, USA
January 26, 2003
A treasure trove of Ukrainian historical archive was recently discovered in
Poland by Yevhen Misilo, director of the Ukrainian Archive Center of
Documentation and Studies in Warsaw. On December 7, 2002, Mr. Misilo
related his sensational findings to a packed house at the Shevchenko
Scientific Society (NTSh) in New York City.
Among the material found in Warsaw were the archives of the NTSh, Prosvita
and Ridna Shkola societies in Lviv, those of the Legion of Ukrainian Sich
Riflemen, the Galician Army, the army of the Ukrainian National Republic,
the Western Ukrainian National Republic, the Ukrainian Representation to the
Polish Parliament, to name just the major ones, as well as the personal
archives of a number of prominent Ukrainians, among them Dmytro Dontsov.
All of these archives were removed from Lviv in 1944 by the retreating
Nazis, who brought them to Silesia, now part of western Poland. From there
most of the materials were transferred to the National Library in Warsaw.
In 1992 Mr. Misilo found these treasures in Warsaw, discarded in a dumpster.
It took seven years of his efforts to get the Polish authorities to
acknowledge the existence of these archives and then to make them available
for study.
Since then, Mr. Misilo has been researching and cataloging this chunk of
Ukrainian history with the part-time help of Halyna Svarnyk, a prominent
archivist from Lviv.
Equally bizarre has been the fate of the smaller portion of the Lviv
archive, which remained in Silesia and is now stored in the Ossolineum
building in Wroclaw. To this day, the Poles deny its possession and won't
allow anyone to research it.
Very disappointing, said Mr. Misilo, has been the attitude of Ukrainian
government officials, who, despite his numerous appeals, have refused to get
involved in trying to gain access to or retrieving these archives that
rightfully should be returned to Ukraine.
Another major project on Mr. Misilo's agenda has been the study of Ukrainian
martyrology on the territory of Poland during and immediately after World
War II.
Prominent within this genre are his three documentary works dealing with the
expulsion of ethnic Ukrainians from the territory of Poland in the years
1944-1947, an example of "ethnic cleansing" before that term was in vogue.
The first two volumes deal with the deportation of some 500,000 Ukrainians
to Soviet Ukraine in the years 1944-1946. The third documents the so-called
"Akcja Wisla" of 1947," which refers to the forcible, often violent, removal
of some 150,000 Ukrainians from their ancestral lands, which were
incorporated into Poland, and there resettlement elsewhere in Poland.
That volume was published in 1993 in Polish, but was subsequently translated
into Ukrainian and published in Lviv by the NTSh.
As soon as Mr. Misilo had published his book on "Akcja Wisla," he said he
was dismissed from his job at the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Decades of persistent efforts enable Mr. Misilo to access the original
records of the Polish concentration camp at Jaworzno (a branch of the
Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp, which Polish authorities utilized after
World War II), where in the years 1947-1949 some 4,000 Ukrainians were
imprisoned.
Mr. Misilo has compiled a reference volume with complete biographical data
on each of the Jaworzno prisoners, including the dates of their arrest,
conviction and sentencing.
Furthermore, Mr. Misilo has been preparing a file on the Ukrainian Insurgent
Army (WPA) soldiers who died on the territory of Poland, and has been
assisting in the efforts to locate their burial sites.
In 2003 Polish authorities are planning to make the anniversary of what they
refer to as the "Slaughter in Volyn" --the alleged killings of a large
number of ethnic Poles by the Ukrainian underground in the Volyn region of
Ukraine in 1943.
The committee charged with the documentation and commemoration of these
alleged crimes includes a number of high government officials and is chaired
by Poland's President Aleksander Kwasniewski. It has already received
$ 100,000 in funding.
Mr. Misilo feels that Ukrainians must launch a counter-project that would
demonstrate and document the fact that during and after WWII Ukrainians
were no less victimized by the Poles.
This would require a thorough search of the pertinent archives, as well as
interviews with survivors, which in turn requires considerable funding. Mr.
Misilo said his goal is not to exacerbate Ukrainian-Polish relations, but
only to set the historical record straight. (END)
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UKRAINE REPORT 2003, No. 3, STORY NUMBER ELEVEN
====================================================
11. CIS STATISTICS COMMITTEE REPORTS ON INFLATION 2002
Belarus Has Highest Inflation in CIS at 34.8 Percent
Prices advanced by 4 percent in Ukraine
RosBusinessConsulting (RBC)
February 7, 2003
Minsk, Belarus....According to the CIS Statistics Committee, prices
advanced by 4 percent in Ukraine, 10 percent in Moldova and 15 percent
in Russia and 34.8 percent in Belarus during 2002.
Inflation was 34.8 percent in Belarus last year, although the
Belarusian government earlier forecasted a 20-27 percent growth in prices.
The inflation pace has remained the same this year, the Belarusian
Statistics Ministry reported.
In the first three weeks of 2003 prices grew by 2.6 percent, compared
to 4.2 percent in the corresponding period of last year. According to the
forecast of the social and economic development for 2003, inflation is to be
from 18 to 24 percent, which is 1.4-1.8 per month. (END)
====================================================
UKRAINE REPORT 2003, No. 3: STORY NUMBER TWELVE
====================================================
12. CLOTHING NEEDY A WORLD AWAY IN UKRAINE
Gordon Brosseau was touched by the need of people in the former Soviet bloc.
He found a way to make a difference.
By Candace Rondezux, Times Staff Writer
St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg, Florida
February 10, 2003
PALM HARBOR -- Gordon Brosseau's bags are packed, but he's not going
anywhere.
One night last week, about a dozen people helped Brosseau with the packing
on a grassy lot on Illinois Avenue. A night fog settled in as a pyramid of
overstuffed plastic bags grew inside a 40-foot shipping container. From the
middle of that pile, the retired Coast Guard petty officer called for more.
"Come on, give me another one in here," Brosseau said as he rammed a
shoulder into one of the 95-pound bags stuffed with clothes.
"Coming your way," came the reply from down the chain of volunteers he has
marshaled to help him with his task.
All told, Brosseau has helped collect 36,000 pounds of shirts, shoes, jeans,
jackets and sundry stitchery to pack into the container. The clothing is
part of a six-month drive to send aid to impoverished post-Soviet Ukraine
through the sponsorship of several churches in the Tampa Bay area.
In five weeks, some 20,000 pieces of clothing will arrive in the southern
Ukrainian city of Simferopol. Every seam and button will put shirts on the
backs of thousands and give hundreds of desperately poor people jobs.
Brosseau, 39, first put his muscle behind the project after returning from
one of his many mission trips with Harborside Christian Church in July 2002.
The trip to build a house for a family living in the mostly Muslim town near
the Black Sea changed Brosseau's life forever.
During his 20 years in the military, the retired Coast Guard helicopter
mechanic and former Marine stared down all kinds of challenges. He chased
down drug runners, plucked stranded people from frigid waters and waded
through the worst kind of poverty.
"In the Philippines I saw whole cities made of cardboard boxes, and it
didn't even touch me," he said.
He also had been on dozens of other church missions before, fixing cars in
Honduras and building houses in Mexico. But it was Simferopol's homeless
children who finally made him blink.
Emaciated runaway teens wandered the streets there in torn clothes. Orphaned
toddlers wandered the town's alleys alone without shoes. Mothers sold their
young daughters into prostitution.
"I couldn't understand why either someone would kick their kid out or let
their kid be out on the streets like that," Brosseau said.
But in a country where a person's average monthly income is about $35 to
$40, the reasons soon became apparent.
Brosseau wanted to help; and he found a way when he teamed up with Master
Provisions, an American Christian mission working in the area.
The charity has collected nearly 3-million pounds of clothes since starting
its numerous missions to former Soviet-bloc countries in 1994. Collecting,
packing, sorting and shipping the clothes has created nearly 300 jobs and
clothed thousands in the region, say Master Provisions officials. And much
of that help has come from people such as Brosseau, whose community service
has been a boon for the people a world away.
"Gordon has done a great job, and he was the key to success down there,"
said Master Provisions president Roger Babik said in an interview from the
mission's offices in Kentucky. "He models out what Christianity is supposed
to be. He lives the life that other people just talk about."
Brosseau shrugs his shoulders when asked what motivated him to devote months
of around-the-clock sorting, packing and sifting through the veritable
mountain of clothes he's packing into the container.
"I just got so sick of hearing people say somebody ought to do something
about this, somebody ought to do something about that," he said. "I mean,
I'm somebody, aren't I? So if I'm somebody, I've got to do something about
it, right?"
Brosseau managed to rally an army of somebodies to help him with his
mission.
About 100 people pitched in during the six-month clothes drive, many of them
from Harborside Christian Church.
Wednesday evening, as he rested on the back of a big truck that arrived from
Atlanta with a load of clothes, Doug Bizjack paused for a minute to wipe his
brow. The 43-year-old Palm Harbor resident, a fellow church member, worked a
full day at his sales job in Tampa but said he didn't think twice about
putting in a few hours of personal overtime.
"I'm tired, but it's for a good cause; and I realize there are people less
fortunate than us that really need these clothes," Bizjack said as he
reached for another bag of clothes.
Two hours later, the container dripped with condensation from Brosseau's
sweat equity brigade. The packing was done. Asked what he plans to do next,
Brosseau just laughed.
"I'm going to pat this thing on its big iron behind and wave goodbye." (END)
======================================================
UKRAINE REPORT 2003, No. 3: STORY NUMBER THIRTEEN
======================================================
13. UKRAINIAN FIRM TO LAY LEBANON-SYRIA GAS PIPELINE
MENAREPORT.COM
Al-Bawaba Group
Amman, Jordan
February 09, 2003
Lebanon finalized a $12.9-million deal with the Ukrainian State Corporation
Ukrbudmaterialy for the construction of a 33-kilometer pipeline that would
transport pump 1.5 million cubic-meters of Syrian natural gas per day to the
Baddawi power plant in northern Lebanon, reported the Daily Star.
The pipeline is expected to go on stream by 2004. Seeking to cut production
costs at the 450-megawatt plant, the Lebanese government has decided to
switch from costly diesel fuel to natural gas. To that end, a gas purchase
agreement was signed with Syria in December 200. The Syrian LNG will
reduce Lebanon's electricity production costs by half, from $0.07 per
kilowatt to approximately $0.032.
The Baddawi plant is expected to undergo renovations in the near future
under a contract signed in mid-2002 with an Italian-German consortium
Ansaldo-Siemens. Baddawi will receive a second gas unit to produce an
additional 150 megawatts of power. (END)
=====================================================
"UKRAINE REPORT 2003," No. 3, Tuesday, February 11 , 2003 (END)
For personal and academic use only.
=====================================================
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