INSIDE: • “2005: THE YEAR IN REVIEW” – pages 5-45. Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association Vol. LXXIV HE KRAINIANNo. 3 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2006 EEKLY$1/$2 in Ukraine CelebritiesT andU big names top Verkhovna RadaW votes to dismiss Cabinet; political parties’ election lists administration calls move unconstitutional by Zenon Zawada Tomenko is ranked third in the Yulia by Zenon Zawada January 1. Kyiv Press Bureau Tymoshenko Bloc. Kyiv Press Bureau Though the vote dismissed the govern- On the Party of the Regions list, pro- ment, the Verkhovna Rada also required KYIV – When Ukrainians choose their Russian businessman Viacheslav KYIV – Ukraine’s new year began that the government keep working until a Parliament this March, they will recog- Bohuslav is ranked fifth. with the government once again destabi- new Parliament is in place after the nize the name of pop singer Ruslana But next to the names of wealthy busi- lized as the Verkhovna Rada voted to dis- March 26 elections. under the Our Ukraine bloc. nessmen and professional politicians, miss Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov Addressing a special session of the The Reforms and Order-Pora bloc also some parties and blocs have mixed in a and his Cabinet of Ministers, charging Cabinet of Ministers on January 12, after scored a top celebrity when it placed for- celebrity or two – a trend that is much that they seriously mishandled the natural he returned from Kazakhstan, President mer heavyweight champion Vitalii more apparent in 2006 than in previous gas crisis with the Russian Federation. Viktor Yushchenko said the Verkhovna Klitschko in its No. 1 slot. years. Pro-Russian parties claimed President Rada’s resolution on the government’s The campaign for the March 26 parlia- Our Ukraine’s leadership decided that, Viktor Yushchenko erred by further dam- dismissal is not constitutional. mentary election was officially under in addition to Ruslana Lyzhychko, who has aging relations with Ukraine’s vital “I would like to make it clear to the way in December when the competing the fifth slot in Our Ukraine’s list, a second neighbor, while the Yulia Tymoshenko people, the Parliament and political political blocs began revealing their elec- celebrity will also help their campaign. Bloc claimed the government gave up too forces that there is a full-fledged govern- toral lists, those crucial ledgers that They gave their fourth slot to Olha much when signing the deal with Russia. ment in Ukraine, both in the center and determine who will get priority for a par- Herasymiuk, Ukraine’s version of The result was a 250-50 no-confidence locally. And it is working without any liamentary seat. Barbara Walters. Ms. Herasymiuk is gen- vote on January 10 in which the ‘acting’ prefix.” For the major parties and blocs such as eral producer for the 1+1 television net- Tymoshenko Bloc, once considered pro- The president emphasized that the Western, found itself aligned with the Our Ukraine and Party of Regions, typi- work, co-host of the political show “Idu Yekhanurov government will legally con- pro-Russian Party of the Regions, cally the first 100 to 150 people on the na Vy” and host of her own talk show, duct state policies until a new govern- Volodymyr Lytvyn’s People’s Party of lists will get a seat in the Verkhovna Rada. “Bez Tabu,” which typically explores ment is formed after the parliamentary Ukraine and the Communist Party. However, it’s the top five names on emotional topics that appeal to women. elections in Ukraine. Mr. Yushchenko “Tymoshenko’s policies are not pro- the electoral lists that appear next to the The People’s Party of Ukraine also also reported that he had signed a petition Western, nor are they pro-Russian: they bloc name in the voting booths. decided to take on a celebrity. Just after to the Verkhovna Rada with a request to are pro-Tymoshenko,” said Dr. Taras Most of the top five are names voters Volodymyr Lytvyn’s top placing on its cancel the resolution on the government’s Kuzio, a visiting professor at George would expect to see: Prime Minister Yurii electoral list is the name of Sofia Rotaru, dismissal. Washington University. Yekhanurov is ranked first for the Our a popular Ukrainian singer during the last Ukraine bloc; former vice prime minister The Verkhovna Rada’s vote came as A question of image for humanitarian affairs Mykola (Continued on page 4) President Yushchenko arrived in Astana, With no one leaving their government capital of Kazakhstan, where he attended desks, the only possible damage done the inauguration of re-elected President was to the image of Mr. Yushchenko and Five years and one revolution later, Nursultan Nazarbayev. his Our Ukraine coalition. Pro-Yushchenko forces said the vote Domestically, “Yushchenko has been was unconstitutional, while opposition made to look weak, as though he screwed the Gongadze case goes to court forces said the vote was within the up,” said Ivan Lozowy, president of the Parliament’s power because of the consti- RFE/RL Ukrainian Service was Gongadze’s widow, Myroslava, tutional changes that went into effect on (Continued on page 3) and RFE/RL Newsroom who arrived on January 8 from the United States. The trial of three former Internal Addressing reporters outside the Ministry officers for their alleged roles courtroom, she said those truly respon- in the 2000 killing of journalist Heorhii sible for her husband’s killing have not Gongadze opened briefly in a packed yet been arrested. courtroom in the Ukrainian capital on “I don’t think this [trial] is enough, January 9 before the presiding judge because these [three] people [defen- adjourned the proceedings until dants Valeriy Kostenko, Mr. Protasov January 23. and Oleksander Popovych] had no per- Relatives of the slain journalist and sonal motives for killing Heorhii,” Ms. their lawyers said they were “sur- Gongadze said. “They were carrying prised” by Kyiv Appeals Court Judge out a criminal order. They had the Iryna Grygorieva’s decision to adjourn option of not carrying it out. They the trial for so long – a move she could have saved their honor and they announced after one of the defendants, could have refused to follow the order, former Internal Ministry officer but they killed Heorhii and they must Mykola Protasov, reportedly felt faint be punished. The next step will be in the courtroom. when the organizers of this crime are Reports from Kyiv said dozens of brought to justice. Their identities are relatives, lawyers and prosecutors were known and they must be punished packing the tiny courtroom, which was along with the people sitting in the too small to hold the crowd of dock today.” reporters covering the event. In comments made later to Journalists tried to force their way RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, Ms. into the room during the recess, argu- Gongadze accused Oleksii Pukach, for- ing that the hearings were open to the merly of the Internal Affairs Ministry, public and that all media should be of being one of the main organizers allowed to attend the trial. But guards behind her husband’s killing. AP/Mykola Lazarenko, Presidential Press Service drove them back. Among those who attended the trial (Continued on page 4) President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin of Russia during a meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, on January 11. 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2006 No. 3 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFS Yushchenko’s government NEWSBRIEFS Trial of Gongadze suspects opens ters – was set until 2011. “Ukraine and its energy diplomacy made a strategic gets vote of no confidence KYIV – The Kyiv Appellate Court on mistake; the night of January 3-4 [when January 9 opened hearings in the case the gas deal was worked out] was a Pearl by Taras Kuzio criminal case against Ms. Tymoshenko involving the murder of Internet journal- Harbor for the Ukrainian diplomatic Eurasia Daily Monitor closed on December 26, 2005, in the mid- ist Heorhii Gongadze in 2000, Ukrainian service,” former Ukrainian Foreign January 11 dle of the gas war. The case related to a news agencies reported. Journalists have Minister Oleksander Chalyi told the BBC bribe that Ms. Tymoshenko allegedly paid been barred from the proceedings, which Yesterday, the Ukrainian Parliament on January 6. “The consequences [of the to an officer in the Russian Defense concern three former police officers – deal] will be disastrous, particularly in voted no confidence in the government Ministry while she headed United Energy Mykola Protasov, Valerii Kostenko and of Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov, the second half of the year,” he added. Systems in the mid-1990s. Oleksander Popovych – suspected of (RFE/RL Newsline) which has only been in place since late After the new gas contract was signed on killing the journalist. “I’ve spent a lot of September 2005, when he replaced Yulia January 4, the Tymoshenko Bloc and the time in the Procurator General’s Office Vitrenko wants heads to roll Tymoshenko (rada.gov.ua). Party of the Regions of Ukraine called for reading files of the case and I think that President Viktor Yushchenko seems Parliament to return from its holiday break these people are guilty of perpetrating the KYIV – Natalia Vitrenko, leader of oblivious to the building furor over the early, but Parliament did not reconvene murder,” Myroslava Gongadze, the opposition Progressive Socialist new gas contract with Russia, suggesting until its scheduled session on January 10. Gongadze’s widow, told journalists Party, has called on the Verkhovna Rada that he is out of touch with reality and The hard-line opposition’s criticism of before the hearings.