INSIDE: • Ukraine’s nuclear power dilemmas — page 2. • Orthodox Bishop Vsevolod to be elevated to archbishop — page 4. • “Perspectives,” a new column — page 7. HE KRAINI A N EEKLY T PublishedU by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profitW association Vol. LXV No. 8 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1997 $1.25/$2 in Ukraine Historian publishes Kuchma declares war on corruption in government by Roman Woronowycz hard on everybody and accused all parts committee before which he spoke. “The new findings about Kyiv Press Bureau of the government for the growth of cor- media is uncovering more corruption than ruption in government. His speech impli- the committees that are supposed to fight KYIV — President Leonid Kuchma cated the Verkhovna Rada, district and it,” he declared. “Corruption has infected a 1947 “Akcja Wi s l a ” fired the first salvo in his war on corrup- city officials, heavy industry and health significant part of the state apparatus.” tion by releasing two high-level govern- care, and his own prime minister, Petro He said too many public officials had by Marta Dyczok ment officials and dismissing the head of Lazarenko, whom Mr. Kuchma accused “dirty hands” and that it was time for a Special to The Ukrainian Weekly the committee on corruption and orga- of being soft on anti-corruption efforts. clean up effort, which he likened to the nized crime in Ukraine on February 14. It TORONTO — While many talk about President Kuchma’s words were strong “clean hands” program in Poland, where was the president’s version of a the need to re-examine Soviet-era history and clear: corruption at the highest levels an in-depth review has taken place to fer- Valentine’s Day massacre. of government would not be tolerated. ret out government administrators linked and fill in the blank spots, some are actual- Gone are Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister He specifically criticized several gov- ly doing it. Historian Yevhen Misylo, who Anatolii Khorishko and First Vice Minister to corruption and crime. ernment ministries. “The situation in published a collection of documents on of Transportation Leonid Zhelezniak, as The problem, however, as he explained t r a n s p o r t a t i o n is abysmal. The cost of “Operation Vistula” (known in Polish as well as the chairman of the Coordinating it, is that “no sooner does the president “Akcja Wisla”) was in North America in Committee on Corruption and Organized train travel has risen 40 percent, while mention the phrase ‘clean hands’ than he is November-December 1996 to gather Crime of the Cabinet of Ministers. The the floor has dropped out of the quality,” confronted with a slew of insinuations, and funds for continuing research and to touch committee chairmanship was given to Vice he explained. He accused managers of what is most noteworthy is that it comes base with supporters in the scholarly com- Prime Minister Vasyl Durdynets. the transporta t i o n industry of building from those whose hands are not altogether munity and the community at large. Maybe President Kuchma finally had “three- and four-story dachas” at a time c l e a n . ” Dr. Misylo’s book, titled “Akcja his fill of the government’s stalled efforts when there are no longer enough trains The president did not absolve himself of Wisla” (Warsaw: Archiwum Ukrainskie, at rescucitating Ukraine’s stuporous on the tracks to accommodate travelers. blame for the spread of corruption, 1993), was the result of 10 years of economy, which he in part blamed on In agriculture, he implicated oblast lead- although he brought everybody else into archival research in his native Poland. Its regional-and ministerial-level leaders ers in hoarding grain and thus preventing the picture with him. “I have not and will 524 pages tell a harrowing tale about an who pursue their personal agendas. government contracts from being filled. not cleanse myself of the responsibility — event in the history of Ukrainians that Or perhaps his resolute action was a He backed up his words after his pre- the president is answerable for all that has received little attention to date. result of his meeting with World Bank sentation by signing decrees relieving takes place in the country. But all parts of Document 42, a top secret memorandum Chairman James Wolfensohn in Davos, Messrs. Khorishko and Zhelezniak of the government must shoulder their of the Polish Internal Affairs Ministry dated Switzerland, at the International Economic their portfolios. responsibility — the government, central April 16, 1946, demonstrates that Forum, where the banker noted the President Kuchma also upbraided and local administrations of government,” “Operation Vistula” was designed as increase in corruption in Ukraine. enforcement agencies for being lax in deal- he stated. They are to blame, first of all, for Poland’s “final solution” to its troublesome According to Interfax-Ukraine, Mr. ing with corruption in the energy and alco- the failure to establish market reforms and “Ukrainian problem.” (Zadanie: Rozwiazac Wolfensohn called corruption a “threat to hol industries, “for whom certain partici- a competitive market in Ukraine. Ostatecznie Problem Ukrainski w Polsce). the growth of investments and the resolu- pants in the domestic markets for natural “The drawn-out transitional stage of Dr. Misylo has labeled these events tion of economic problems.” gas, petroleum products, electricity, sugar society and the associated atmosphere of the ethnic cleansing of over 150,000 What is known is that at the February and alcohol remain sacred cows,” he said. uncertainty and rudderlessness is a breed- Ukrainians from Poland’s eastern bor- 14 meeting of the Coordinating The president further lashed out at the ing ground, not only for social cynicism derlands in 1947. Some 20,000 Polish Committee on Corruption and Organized government committees organized to fight and apathy, but also for criminality and military personnel were used to deport Crime President Kuchma came down corruption, a not-so-veiled criticism of the corruption,” said President Kuchma. all ethnic Ukrainians, including members of mixed Ukrainian-Polish families, from their ancestral homes, ostensibly in retal- iation against the operations of the Ukraine’s court system: the Constitutional Court Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). by Roman Woronowycz the last two judges by the Verkhovna from public office in an impeachment Ukrainians were forcibly resettled in Kyiv Press Bureau Rada, which has been stalled by political process, as delineated in articles 111 western territories newly acquired by m a n e u v e r i n g s . and 151 of the Constitution; on the Poland from Germany, known as the Today Ukraine’s jurisprudence system This edited interview was conducted legality of draft laws on changing the Zemie Odzyskanie, and ethnic Poles, is organized into three major courts: the with Ivan Tymchenko, chairman of the Constitution of Ukraine as delineated in many of whom had been expelled west- Constitutional Court, which is responsi - Constitutional Court, who was appointed its statutes; on the disregard for the ble for issues involving the Constitution; ward out of Ukraine by Stalin immedi- by President Leonid Kuchma and took his Constitution and laws of Ukraine by the the General Court of Competence, which ately after the second world war, were oath on October 18, 1996. The conclusion Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous deals with civil and criminal matters, settled in the formerly Ukrainian areas. of the interview will apper next week. Republic of Crimea in the instance that The documents of the Polish Ministry of and at the top of which stands the the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine begins Internal Affairs now show that Akcja Supreme Court of Ukraine; and the What are the responsibilities of the proceedings to halt the authority of the Wisla was a Polish initiative, supported Court of Specialization (commonly Constitutional Court of Ukraine? autonomous republic; on official inter- by, but not launched, in Moscow. known as the arbitration court), which, (Reading from his notes) The pretations of the Constitution and laws “We need to speak about the full truth basically, handles contractual conflicts of Ukraine. now, but based on documentary evi- and is overseen by the High Court of Constitutional Court draws conclusions and renders decisions in matters regard- Its authority does not include ques- dence,” said Dr. Misylo during his visit A r b i t r a t i o n . tions on the legal aspect of acts of gov- to Toronto. Talking about the situation of This is the second in a series designed ing: the constitutional legality of laws and legal acts passed by the Verkhovna ernment organs, government organs of Ukrainians in Poland today, he added, to give our readers a closer look at how Crimea, organs of city government or “Pseudo historians and politicians con- the three separate courts of Ukraine func - Rada, acts of the president, acts of the Cabinet of Ministers and acts of the the competence of judges of the tinue to play a role in shaping public tion. Last week we described the arbitra - General Court of Competence. opinion, and Ukrainians cannot feel like tion court system. In this installment we Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous full-fledged Polish citizens while they look at the Constitutional Court. Republic of Crimea; on the relationship Does the Constitutional Court have continue to be stigmatized and targeted The court consists of 18 judges, 16 of of the Constitution of Ukraine to inter- the authority to set precedents with its as the enemy of the Polish people.” whom already have been appointed. The national treaties signed by Ukraine or interpretation of the Constitution? All discussion of the Vistula deporta- judges are appointed by various sectors international treaties that are submitted We do not, as you know, have the law tions was officially silenced until 1990, of the Ukrainian government.