Opposition Grows to Land Reform Promoted by Party of Regions
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INSIDE: l Cold-weather death toll rises in Ukraine – page 2 l Paul Plishka wraps up opera career – page 9 l Five books shortlisted for Kobzar Award – page 10 THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXX No. 7 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2012 $1/$2 in Ukraine Opposition grows to land reform promoted by Party of Regions by Zenon Zawada Ukrainian acronym as UKAB), the leading lobbyist for Ukraine’s biggest agriculture Kyiv Press Bureau companies. KYIV – Opposition is mounting to legis- “In all normal countries, such legislation lation that will create Ukraine’s first agri- is an instrument of achieving goals. In cultural land market, which is being shep- Ukraine, the legislation’s passage in and of herded through Parliament by the oligarch- itself was the goal, without any under- oriented Party of Regions of Ukraine. standing of where Ukraine’s agrarian sec- The parliamentary coalition on tor will be moving in the next five years,” he December 9, 2011, approved the first read- added. ing of the law “On the Land Market,” ignit- Coalition deputies were expected to vote ing outrage from groups as diverse as both on the bill’s second reading during the New Year’s holiday, just as stealthily as they left- and right-wing socialists, who are passed the first reading during a night ses- opposed to farmland privatization, to sion. Instead they’ve postponed the review, Ukraine’s biggest agricultural holding com- claiming the legislation will be amended to panies, which were banned from buying satisfy some critics, who nevertheless land. remain highly skeptical. “This legislation absolutely doesn’t Observers reported in recent weeks that address the realities of the Ukrainian agri- Party of Regions oligarchs have created a cultural sector and isn’t supported by land market law that monopolizes the UKAB UNIAN/Andrey Skakodub small, medium or large farms,” said Alex trade of land, limits its entry to politically Among those who oppose the land market reform as now proposed are Alex Lissitsa Lissitsa, president of the Ukrainian (left), president of the Ukrainian Agrarian Business Club, and Oleksander Paliy, a Agrarian Business Club (known by its (Continued on page 5) leading expert on politics and history. New Ukrainian regime uninviting Former KGB agent from Russia to foreign investment, says expert heads Security Service of Ukraine by Zenon Zawada state leaders and the protection of the Special to The Ukrainian Weekly Presidential Administration, the Cabinet of Ministers and Parliament. KYIV – What initially drew the attention Before that, he chaired the private secu- of Ukraine’s pro-Western community about rity company Alfa-Shchyt that trained Mr. Igor Kalinin, the newly appointed chair of Yanukovych’s bodyguard-drivers, news the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), was reports said. that he’s a former KGB agent from the It was during the 2010 presidential cam- Moscow Oblast. paign that Mr. Kalinin’s work impressed His appointment swells the list of native Oleksander Yanukovych, who was respon- Russians who serve in the high ranks of the sible for his father’s security, reported the administration of President Viktor Liga news service, citing anonymous sourc- Yanukovych, including Prime Minister es in the SBU and the Internal Affairs Mykola Azarov, presidential media advisor Ministry. Igor Shuvalov and Viacheslav Zanevsky, the Upon his election, President Yanukovych head of the president’s personal security. chose Mr. Kalinin to lead the official state (The latter two remain Russian citizens.) security. He introduced such unprecedented What’s become of equal concern is that measures as closing Kyiv streets daily for Slava Zelinsky Johnson (center) discussed the current international investment Mr. Kalinin is the latest appointment to market in Ukraine at a program sponsored by the Chicago Business and the presidential motorcade, causing Professional Group, of which Anna Mostovych (left) is president and Maria have personal ties to the Yanukovych fami- immense traffic jams, and sanctioning secu- Kulczycky (right) is vice-president. ly and its business clan. His work at the rity officers to use force against journalists. SBU will be devoted to protecting their On the positive side, experts pointed out business and security, political experts said. by Maria Kulczycky Speaking at a presentation sponsored that Mr. Kalinin has 13 years’ experience by the Chicago Business and Professional “All the key enforcement structures serving in the SBU. Recent SBU chairs, such CHICAGO – While Ukraine, under Group in late December, Ms. Johnson, today are under the direct control of the as Mr. Kalinin’s immediate predecessor, President Viktor Yanukovych, appears who is a veteran of two decades of facili- president and led by people close to either mega-millionaire oligarch Valerii “stable,” the business climate has not tating foreign investment in Ukraine, the president, or his elder son [Oleksander],” Khoroshkovskyi, also were tapped by Mr. improved, according to Jaroslawa noted that political autocracy, corruption said Volodymyr Fesenko, board chairman Yanukovych. Zelinsky Johnson, Kyiv office managing and disintegration of civil rights are key of the Penta Center for Applied Political Former President Viktor Yushchenko’s partner of the Chadbourne & Parke LLP factors in the dwindling interest of for- Research in Kyiv. “We’re seeing the presi- SBU chair, Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, had no eign investors. law firm. The apparent stability is largely dent forming his enforcement chain of experience in Ukraine’s security sector. In building autocracy, Mr. Yankovych a byproduct of President Yanukovych’s command.” “The tradition of appointing outsiders to has ensured that opposition to his move in the direction of autocracy by As his most recent post, Mr. Kalinin chair the SBU emerged during the presi- administration has evaporated quickly. establishing vertical control of all three served for two years as chair of the State dency of Leonid Kuchma,” said Taras branches of government. (Continued on page 17) Defense Administration, which is responsi- ble for the official security of the highest (Continued on page 2) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2012 No. 7 ANALYSIS Deputies disrupt Yanukovych speech improve Ukraine’s image and reputation.” Cold-weather deaths shed light (U.S. Department of State) KYIV – About a dozen national deputies on plight of Ukraine’s homeless from the party of jailed former Prime Eugenia Tymoshenko’s high-level meetings Minister Yulia Tymoshenko interrupted a MUNICH – On February 3, at a back- RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service Death toll likely to rise speech to the Verkhovna Rada by President Authorities have set up more than 3,000 Viktor Yanukovych, unfurling a banner with ground briefing en route to the Munich KYIV – Ivan Brilyuk is 45, but he looks heating stations across the country and Ms. Tymoshenko’s portrait and chanting for Security Conference, a State Department much older. provided food and warm tea for visitors. her to be freed from prison. The deputies official answered a question about the visit With his white beard and swollen, But social workers and other experts say continued chanting for a full 30 minutes of Eugenia (Yevhenia) Tymoshenko, the chapped face and fingers, Mr. Brilyuk is one that without full-time shelters, which pro- while the president continued speaking at former prime minister’s daughter, to of the hundreds of thousands of homeless vide a heated place to sleep, and an effort the opening of the Verkhovna Rada’s new Washington. The official said: “… at the people that Ukrainian social workers say to direct homeless people to warm spots, legislative session on February 7. Ms. State Department she met with Special are suffering the worst of the recent cold the current death toll of 135 is only set to Tymoshenko, 51, was jailed in October on Envoy Melanne Verveer, and Deputy weather. rise as the cold weather continues. abuse of office charges that her followers say Secretary [William] Burns dropped by to Mr. Brilyuk is relatively lucky. Most of the deaths have been reported were politically motivated. She is reportedly see her at the White House. She met with He has made his way to one of the hun- in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and in poor health and has asked for an indepen- Tony Blinken [national security advisor to dreds of heated tents set up by the authorities Dnipropetrovsk regions. dent medical examination. (RFE/RL) Vice-President Joe Biden] and Liz in response to a cold wave that’s seen tem- Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine’s former Sherwood-Randall [of the National Security peratures dip to minus 30 degrees Celsius. minister of labor and social policy, main- Clinton and Yanukovych meet Council]. So she was seen at very high levels Mr. Brilyuk, who’s been homeless since tains that many homeless people are throughout the government in Washington, being thrown out by his wife several years MUNICH – According to the U.S. State and we listened carefully to what she had to unaware of the shelters or simply unable to Department, Secretary of State Hillary ago, insists he’s grateful for even the most make it to them. say about her mother’s situation. And we’ve basic of comforts. Rodham Clinton met on February 4 with expressed our very serious concerns, called “The authorities should go and collect President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine. “Like in the gulag, give us at least a hut,” people,” she says. “These people are freezing.” for her release from prison, and the secre- he says. “Give us warmth, some comfort, a The meeting took place during the Munich tary has been engaged on this issue and place to wash, to shave, to clean ourselves Soviet-Era Stigmas Security Conference. According to the feels strongly. We are concerned about up.