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INSIDE: • Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay in Kyiv — page 4. • Interview: Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.N. — page 6. • Ukrainian folk dance in Brazil and at Soyuzivka — centerfold. HE KRAINIAN EEKLY T PublishedU by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profitW association Vol. LXXV No. 32 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 $1/$2 in Ukraine Famine survivor Party congresses launch political campaigns says she will not rest until the story is told by Zenon Zawada Kyiv Press Bureau KYIV – Eugenia Sakevych Dallas is 82 years old, but she’s not resting until she finds $5 million. That’s how much it would cost to pro- duce a film on her life story as a starving girl who survived the Ukrainian Holodomor to become a European fashion model, as documented in her autobiogra- phy, “One Woman, Five Lives, Five Countries.” Perhaps the world’s most recognized survivor of the Famine-Genocide of 1932- 1933, Ms. Dallas spent the last month in Ukraine trying to make film and television contacts, and even recruit financers. Ivan Dadiverin “I won’t stop until I die,” Ms. Dallas said. On the left, Yulia Tymoshenko greets the August 5 congress of her “I am like a bulldog that grabs onto you. bloc at Kyiv’s International Exhibition Center. Above, Prime The world has to know about this tragedy.” Minister Viktor Yanukovych approaches the Ukraina National Palace She said she’s puzzled as to why Ivan Dadiverin of Arts, where the Party of the Regions held its congress on August 4. there’s a relative lack of interest in her remarkable story. by Zenon Zawada The grand showmanship – replete with National Palace of Arts and the latter por- Growing up in a rural village in the Kyiv Press Bureau pop stars, fireworks and mindless sloga- tion in the Sports Palace. Odesa Oblast, Ms. Dallas’ family was neering – showed Ukrainian politics have Stability and wealth were the main KYIV – Fireworks erupted from the come of age in the television era, while slogans of the Regions’ campaign launch terrorized, robbed and destroyed by stage with each step that a confident the widespread consolidation of parties in contrast to the Orange forces, which Soviet collectivization in the years prior Viktor Yanukovych took. testified to a new epoch monopolized by chose reform, justice and fighting corrup- to the Holodomor. Yulia Tymoshenko wore a traditional As early as the spring of 1931, Ms. three political giants with unparalleled tion as their causes. Ukrainian shirt embroidered in white access to resources. Dallas and her family were starving, topped by red beads when addressing her To buttress stability and wealth, Prime gathering weeds for food and making Minister Yanukovych declared in his followers – almost all of whom wore Party of the Regions soup from nettles. Communist authorities white “Yulia” shirts. opening address an unprecedented, ambi- deemed her parents enemies of the state Meanwhile, Yurii Lutsenko stirred the tious government-spending program No party congress matched the extrav- for owning property and resisting collec- thousands gathered for the Our Ukraine aimed at students, young families and agance demonstrated by the Party of the tivization, deporting both to Central – People’s Self-Defense congress with newborn children. Regions on August 4, when it held the Asia, never to be seen again. his fiery, revolution-style rhetoric. first half of its meeting in the Ukraina (Continued on page 3) Ms. Dallas and her siblings fled to “May the holy fathers forgive me, but Kyiv to join their older brother in the sometimes it seems to me the Holy Gospel winter of 1931. is mistaken. Judas didn’t hang himself. He During the years of the Holodomor, simply changed his surname and went to Verkhovyna, sold at foreclosure auction, (Continued on page 11) work as the Ukrainian Parliament’s speak- er,” he said, referring to former Socialist ally Oleksander Moroz. now under new ownership/management Well-versed in the imagery and pageantry of modern politics, Ukraine’s by Danusia Lukiw and were married at Verkhovyna. three major political forces launched Special to The Ukrainian Weekly The board of managers includes Jerry their parliamentary election campaigns Kindrachuk and Boris Tatunchak, home- as pre-rehearsed, grandiose shows pass- GLEN SPEY, N.Y. – After a six-year owners in Glen Spey, Mr. and Mrs. ing for party congresses. struggle, Verkhovyna MountainView Blanarovich, and Mr. Piddoubny. Tailored to amuse television news view- Resort in Glen Spey, N.Y., was bought by Before last month’s Verkhovyna sale, the ers and excite the party rank-and-file to the Anna Nazarkewycz Trust on July 3, UACF, a non-profit corporation, owned the swing votes their way, the meetings were at a foreclosure auction sale. resort from 2001 to 2007 but lost it after six heavy on slogans and promises, without Under new ownership and manage- years of mismanagement and failure to pay any discussion or debate, which nowadays ment, a board of managers and a its debts. According to Mr. Piddoubny, the is reserved for backroom discussion. Ukrainian investor group have already resort lost its camp business due to many All parties promised to fight corrup- started planning the future of Verkhovyna, factors, including damage to the facilities by tion, improve investment conditions and including the traditional Ukrainian a non-Ukrainian group using the resort in increase wages, pensions and govern- Festival. The investors currently include 2001, a lack of continuing donations and ment payments for each newborn. Peter Piddoubny, a lawyer from New York some poor management decisions. Each had its own emphasis – the Party City who spent many summers at Mr. Blanarovich said the UACF also of the Regions on economic growth and Verkhovyna; Philip Schepel, a tax consult- repeatedly failed to pay the taxes, mort- cooperation with the Russian Federation, ant with family ties in Glen Spey; and gage and insurance, forcing them to go the Tymoshenko Bloc on sweeping Yuri and Sonya (née Nazarkewycz) Zenon Zawada into foreclosure. He said even though the reform, and Our Ukraine – People’s Self- Blanarovich, who were initially involved Nazarkewycz Trust had asked the UACF Famine survivor Eugenia Sakevych Defense on cancelling deputies’ immuni- with the Ukrainian American Cultural Dallas holds a copy of her memoirs. ty as part of its anti-corruption message. Foundation (UACF) as vice-presidents (Continued on page 11) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 No. 32 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFSNEWSBRIEFS Ukraine’s elites remain above the law Nine parties band together tion of democratic forces in Ukraine into a single election bloc. “You have made a real by Taras Kuzio business and politics, saying, “People in KYIV – Nine parties signed an agree- step into the future. ... I am with you. We ment in Kyiv on August 2 to form a bloc of Eurasia Daily Monitor big business should be separate from the are an indivisible team. A single force. The political life of the country,” due to democratic forces called Our Ukraine – Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc is going forward Ukraine’s Orange elites are facing a potential conflicts of interest. People’s Self-Defense, Interfax-Ukraine with us,” Mr. Yushchenko said. “Our ideal growing scandal surrounding Yurii Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko reported. The bloc, with the pro-presidential is a powerful state, a single people, a single Lutsenko, head of the pro-presidential Bloc have both stated their readiness to Our Ukraine People’s Union at its core, was official language, a single Christian Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense bloc voluntarily forfeit their immunity. The joined by the Forward Ukraine party, the Orthodox Church and a single nation,” he (OU-PSD). Mr. Lutsenko allegedly lob- OU-PSD is collecting signatures to hold a People’s Rukh of Ukraine, the Ukrainian said. Mr. Yushchenko also approved of the bied on behalf of Ukrainian New referendum on ending immunity, claiming Republican Party Sobor, the Ukrainian bloc’s announced intention to form a new Telecommunications (UNTC) when he that corrupt businessmen run for People’s Party, the Christian Democratic party after the elections. “The new party was interior minister. Mr. Lutsenko’s Parliament to hide from the law. Union Party, the Pora Party, the Party of will not be seeking cushy jobs. It will work wife is UNTC’s financial director, and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych Motherland Defenders and the European for the benefit of the nation, the individual; the company was established in 2005 by criticized these calls for action and Party of Ukraine. The bloc is led by Yurii it will operate effectively in power and in members of Mr. Lutsenko’s extended accused the president of “populism.” He Lutsenko, one of the leaders of the Orange the opposition,” he said. The election pro- family from Rivne Oblast. Mr. Lutsenko also pointed out that calls to revoke par- Revolution in 2004 and internal affairs min- gram of the bloc, titled “For People, Not ister in the Cabinets of Yulia Tymoshenko, allegedly supported instructions to shift liamentary immunity are regularly heard For Politicians,” calls for abolishing parlia- Yurii Yekhanurov and Viktor Yanukovych Internal Affairs Ministry cellphone con- during election campaigns but quietly mentary immunity, canceling privileges for in 2005-2006. (RFE/RL Newsline) tracts to UNTC. forgotten afterward. lawmakers, setting up a national anti-cor- The Lutsenko scandal suggests that As media restrictions have eased, the Parties’ youth organizations unite ruption bureau and forming an independent Ukraine’s ruling elites remain above the press has leveled accusations of abuse of body to vet all judges. (RFE/RL Newsline) law. office and corruption against the presi- KYIV – The youth organizations of the Since Ukraine became an independent dent’s son and some Orange leaders. political parties in the Our Ukraine – Baloha wary of ‘administrative resources’ state in 1992, only three senior Ukrainian People’s Self-Defense bloc have united Consequently, the Orange camp has KYIV – The head of the Presidential officials have been charged and sentenced into a coalition of democratic forces, it adopted a two-pronged standard response Secretariat, Viktor Baloha, alleged on – two in Germany (Viktor Zherdytskyi was reported on August 7. A declaration of denying the media’s right to make such August 6 that the Cabinet of Prime and Ihor Didenko) and one in the United announcing the coalition was signed by investigations and claiming that the accu- Minister Viktor Yanukovych is going to States (Pavlo Lazarenko). No senior leaders of several nationwide youth organ- sations are part of a political conspiracy. use administrative levers – or “administra- Ukrainian officials have ever been izations, most notably the Our Ukraine OU-PSD member Volodymyr tive resources,” as such levers are popular- charged inside Ukraine, in part because Stretovych, head of the parliamentary Youth Union, the Young Movement, the ly called in Ukraine – in promoting candi- they possess parliamentary immunity. Committee to Combat Organized Crime, Young People’s Movement, the Ukrainian dates of the ruling Party of the Regions in In a June 20 address to the country, has claimed that the latest allegations Youth Meeting, the Zarevo Union, the the early parliamentary elections set for President Viktor Yushchenko called upon against Mr. Lutsenko are an orchestrated Christian-Democratic Union of Youth and September 30, Interfax-Ukraine reported. the Verkhovna Rada to revoke its right to conspiracy against “one of the most pop- the Ukrainian People’s Youth. The leader “Following the will and the blessing of the immunity as a step toward “overcoming ular leaders of the democratic camp.” of the Our Ukraine Youth Union, Stepan head of government, the first hundred can- parliamentary corruption.” He claimed that According to him, the accusations Barna, said the political forces have united didates on the election list of the Party of Ukraine’s Parliament was the world’s most against Mr. Lutsenko are the criminal on the basis of spiritual values, supporting the Regions, apart from himself, includes corrupt, a factor that negatively influenced world’s response to the prospect of losing the Ukrainian language and developing some 20 vice prime ministers, ministers the national interest and rule of law. parliamentary immunity. Euro-Atlantic cooperation. (Ukrinform) and deputy ministers. Nothing has been Mr. Yushchenko called for separating However, ending parliamentary immu- nity is unlikely to remove Ukrainian elites’ Pro-Yushchenko bloc holds convention said about their going on leave, which Dr. Taras Kuzio is visiting professor at legal privileges for several reasons. First, prompts the conclusion that the party the Elliot School of International Affairs, KYIV – The Our Ukraine – People’s counts on an unlimited use of administra- Ukraine inherited this political culture of Self-Defense bloc gathered for a conven- George Washington University. The article elites being above the law from the Soviet tive resources [in the election campaign],” above, which originally appeared in The tion in Kyiv on August 7 to approve its Mr. Baloha said. Mr. Baloha recalled that era. Second, there is also a close link, par- election manifesto and candidates for the Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily ticularly evident among the Orange nation- Party of the Regions leader Viktor Monitor, is reprinted here with permission early parliamentary elections on September Yanukovych demanded that the govern- from the foundation (www.jamestown.org). (Continued on page 16) 30, Ukrainian media reported. The top five ment of former Prime Minister Yurii on the bloc’s candidate list are People’s Yekhanurov resign during last year’s par- Self-Defense leader Yurii Lutsenko, Our liamentary election campaign. Party of the Donetsk prosecutors, courts strike back Ukraine People’s Union leader Viacheslav Regions lawmaker Hanna Herman replied Kyrylenko, Foreign Affairs Minister to Mr. Baloha’s allegation by stating: Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Defense Minister by Pavel Korduban On July 19 the Supreme Court upheld a “Instead [of admonishing the Cabinet of Anatolii Hrytsenko and European Platform PGO appeal against the closure of a crimi- Ministers], Mr. Baloha, for instance, could Eurasia Daily Monitor for Ukraine leader Mykola Katerynchuk. nal case against Oleksii Ivchenko, the dissuade the president from participating The convention was attended by President Several prosecutors and courts recent- leader of the Congress of Ukrainian Viktor Yushchenko, who hailed the unifica- (Continued on page 14) ly decided high-profile cases in favor of Nationalists (KUN) and a long time ally of individuals who were prosecuted when Mr. Yushchenko. The PGO suspects that President Viktor Yushchenko came to Mr. Ivchenko embezzled state funds when power in 2005. At the same time, the he chaired the state-controlled oil and gas HE KRAINIAN EEKLY FOUNDED 1933 Donetsk Regional Procurator’s Office company Naftohaz Ukrainy in 2005-2006. T U W and the Procurator General’s Office The PGO opened the criminal case An English-language newspaper published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., (PGO), which is controlled by individu- against Mr. Ivchenko last February. At a non-profit association, at 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054. als hailing from Donetsk, are threatening that time Deputy Procurator General Yearly subscription rate: $55; for UNA members — $45. prominent members of the Yushchenko Tetiana Korniakova told the media that Periodicals postage paid at Parsippany, NJ 07054 and additional mailing offices. team with imprisonment. They have re- top Naftohaz managers had illegally (ISSN — 0273-9348) opened closed criminal cases involving at received bonuses and used charter flights least two of Mr. Yushchenko’s allies. for private needs. A district court in Kyiv The Weekly: UNA: Yesterday’s plaintiffs are becoming closed the case, but now the PGO has re- Tel: (973) 292-9800; Fax: (973) 644-9510 Tel: (973) 292-9800; Fax: (973) 292-0900 today’s defendants and vice versa. launched it. KUN has described this deci- President Yushchenko’s allies say this sion as a “provocation.” A political ana- Postmaster, send address changes to: Editor-in-chief: Roma Hadzewycz is political score-settling. Their oppo- lyst close to the Yushchenko team, Vadym The Ukrainian Weekly Editors: 2200 Route 10 Zenon Zawada (Kyiv) nents, however, maintain that justice is Karasiov, suggested that this move was in being restored. They are using to their P.O. Box 280 Matthew Dubas line with the PRU election strategy of Parsippany, NJ 07054 advantage the fact that many of Mr. portraying Mr. Yushchenko’s people as Yushchenko’s allies lost their immunity poor managers. Mr. Ivchenko was elected The Ukrainian Weekly Archive: www.ukrweekly.com; e-mail: [email protected] from prosecution by resigning from to Parliament in 2006, so he only recently Parliament in order to make it possible acquired immunity from prosecution. The Ukrainian Weekly, July 29, 2007 No. 32, Vol. LXXV for the president to call an early parlia- Simultaneously, the PGO has resumed Copyright © 2007 The Ukrainian Weekly mentary election. Ironically, a call for the investigating a criminal case involving full cancellation of the deputies’ immuni- Andry Shkil, a former national deputy from ty is one of the main slogans of the pro- the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc. Segodnya, a ADMINISTRATION OF THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY AND SVOBODA Yushchenko Our Ukraine-People’s Self- newspaper linked to the PRU, reported this Defense bloc and of their allies, the Yulia case under the headline “Andry Shkil May Walter Honcharyk, administrator (973) 292-9800, ext. 3041 Tymoshenko Bloc. Their opponents, the Face 12 Years in Prison.” Mr. Shkil is sus- e-mail: [email protected] Donetsk-based Party of the Regions pected of having masterminded a clash Maria Oscislawski, advertising manager (973) 292-9800, ext. 3040 (PRU), have only grudgingly obeyed Mr. with police near the office of then- e-mail: [email protected] Yushchenko’s early election decree, and President Leonid Kuchma in March 2001, Mariyka Pendzola, subscriptions (973) 292-9800, ext. 3042 they are in favor of preserving parlia- e-mail: [email protected] mentary immunity. (Continued on page 16) No. 32 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 3 Party congresses... (Continued from page 1) Mr. Yanukovych promised $5,000 for every family’s second child and $10,000 for a family’s third child, along with $20 monthly payments for each child until age 13 and $40 monthly payments through adolescence. University students will receive stipends between $40 and $60 every month starting January 1 and between $80 and $106 starting September 1, the prime minister said, while orphaned students will receive monthly stipends of $212. Young families will be able to rent government-built apartments for 10 years, after which they will be able to qualify for credit to purchase their own apartments. Mr. Yanukovych promised every gov- ernment employee his own apartment after fulfilling a 20-year employment contract, with the option to buy the prop- erty for 50 percent of its value after 10 years of employment or for 25 percent of its value after 15 years. Close relations and cooperation with the Russian Federation became a rallying cry when Russian State Duma Deputy Konstantin Kosachev took the podium, representing the pro-presidential Unified Russia party with which the Party of the Regions signed a cooperation pact in August 2005. Receiving loud, affirming applause, Mr. Kosachev offered his view of true Zenon Zawada democracy, which includes equal rights Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko addresses the August 7 congress of the Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense bloc at for Russian-speaking Ukrainians. the KyivExpoPlaza Exhibition Center. In an indirect reference to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Mr. Kosachev Mr. Yanukovych’s use of a high-tech, which is popular in eastern Ukraine’s cameraman in July 2006 outside the called for a Europe without a dividing line clear teleprompter to deliver his remarks metropolises. Verkhovna Rada, in which he succeeded along Ukraine’s western or eastern border, drew amusement and some ridicule from Mr. Shufrych is expected to help in capturing and destroying a videotape. stating that both Ukraine and the Russian the Ukrainian media, which cited the role of secure votes in the Zakarpattia Oblast, Federation are part of Europe. American political consultants. The consult- which has a significant Russian Orthodox Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc The congress invited Communist Party ants were not present at the event, according population, while Ms. Bohoslovska is Chair Petro Symonenko to speak as well, to Maria Gorr, a party spokeswoman. expected to help mobilize support in the Having been in the parliamentary even offering him a standing ovation. Regions’ faithful led a procession cities of Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk, opposition ever since the Anti-Crisis Though differing in their economic from the Arts Palace to the Sports Palace political observers said. Coalition came to power, the Yulia approaches, the Party of the Regions and for the fireworks and musical festivities. Other defectors to the Party of the Tymoshenko Bloc continues to position the Communists are allied in their political Super Bowl-style introductions were Regions include former Socialist Andrii itself as the political outsider fighting orientation toward the Russian Federation. given to the top five candidates on the Derkach, former Tymoshenko ally Vasyl against corruption and the status quo. party’s electoral list, – Nestor Shufrych, Mr. Symonenko accused President Khmelnytskyi and Anatolii Kinakh, Part of the bloc’s imagery involves Inna Bohoslovska, Mr. Chornovil, Raisa Viktor Yushchenko of attempting a usurpa- leader of the Party of Industrialists and embracing the color white as its symbolic Bohatyriova and Mr. Yanukovych, who tion of government, establishing a “nation- Entrepreneurs, which last year that commitment to ideals of honesty and jus- had fireworks explode with every foot- alist dictatorship” and selling the nation’s belonged to the Our Ukraine bloc. tice, and its thousands of delegates were interests to foreign counties, thereby turn- step as he walked across the stage. In response to the outrage and protests each given white polo shirts and t-shirts ing Ukraine into an object of manipulation. Ukrainian and Russian artists sang and from journalists, the Party of the Regions to wear at the August 5 congress. Though receiving help from American danced in both traditional and contempo- excluded National Deputy Oleh Similar to how Mr. Yanukovych political spin doctors Paul Manafort and rary performances, ranging from Vasyl Kalashnikov from its electoral list. Mr. approached the National Palace of Arts Richard Davis in re-tooling its image and Lazarovych singing the Ukrainian classic Kalashnikov was accused of leading an adapting to modern electioneering, the “Pisnia pro Rushnyk” to scantily clad mod- assault against a television journalist and (Continued on page 5) Party of the Regions demonstrated that els prancing about the stage to Russian pop old habits die hard. melodies. Back-up dancers in see-through National Deputy Hanna Herman com- lace body stockings slithered as Iryna pared the Orange forces to “dogs that Bilyk sang her Russian-language hits. fight for seats,” while Mr. Symonenko The concert’s highlight involved Crackdown on human rights defenders is referred to them as “lunatics.” Russian-singing pop star Natalia That language was reminiscent of Mr. Mohylevska slinking off the stage in her ‘dangerous development,’ says OSCE official Yanukovych’s reference to the Orange skimpy white dress to share a dance with Revolution supporters as “goats,” which a delighted Mr. Yanukovych. Organization for Security OSCE’s Spanish chairman and the inspired one of the pop anthems that later After the congress, delegates swarmed and Cooperation in Europe ODIHR, focused on responsibilities and Donbas industrial king Rynat Akhmetov in remedies in protecting human rights. emerged, “Together We Are Many.” VIENNA – Participating states of hopes of obtaining his autograph or getting “If individuals and groups start Multiculturalism and tolerance of the Organization for Security and photographed with the nation’s wealthiest viewing the state system as incapable Ukraine’s linguistic and ethnic diversity Cooperation in Europe should work to was another theme stressed by the Party and most powerful businessman. of dealing with their complaints, they ensure that crackdowns on human of the Regions, which continues to advo- Mr. Akhmetov flatly denied reporters’ will try to find other ways,” Mr. rights defenders come to an end, partic- cate Russian becoming an official lan- questions surrounding a widely believed Strohal said. “Ignoring legitimate ipants agreed at an OSCE conference guage of Ukraine. split within the party between a European- human rights concerns will not make While speakers called for laws against oriented faction, led by him and Ms. concluded on July 13. them go away. The consequences of a ethnic chauvinism, xenophobia and Bohatyriova, and a Russian-oriented fac- “Governments must open their eyes failure to listen to, and act on, human defending minority languages, the party tion led by Mr. Yanukovych and First to human rights violations, deal with rights violations can be devastating, as is attempting to simultaneously spread its Vice Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. them and learn from past mistakes,” history has shown again and again.” appeal beyond the industrial, multi-eth- The most widely supported political said Ambassador Christian Strohal, Some 300 experts, human rights nic eastern oblasts. party in Ukraine, the Party of the director of the OSCE Office for defenders and government officials In striving to gain votes in central Regions revealed its goal of further Democratic Institutions and Human attended the meeting. They made sev- Ukrainian oblasts, the Party of the extending its domination when announc- Rights (ODIHR). “The growing trend eral recommendations calling on Regions has tried to incorporate ing the new members of its party ranks. in some parts of the OSCE region not states to stop interfering in trials and Ukrainian culture and language into its Among the top five of its electoral list to offer proper mechanisms for in the work of non-governmental platform and performance. were two new faces – Mr. Shufrych, redress to victims of those violations organizations. They also stressed that Though most speeches were in Russian, minister of emergency situations and for- is not only unjust and unfair and a OSCE participating states should Mr. Yanukovych and Parliamentary Faction mer member of the Social Democratic violation of OSCE commitments – it allow diplomats, magistrates and Chair Raisa Bohatyriova delivered their Party of Ukraine (United) member is also a dangerous development.” other interested parties to freely remarks in Ukrainian, as did Halychyna Nestor Shufrych and Inna Bohoslovska, The conference was organized by the observe trials. recruits Taras Chornovil and Ms. Herman. former leader of the Viche political party, 4 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 No. 32 Canada’s foreign affairs minister visits Canadian Parliamentary Center in Kyiv KYIV – Canada’s Minister of Foreign Kozhara (Party of the Regions, former Affairs, Peter MacKay on July 18 visited ambassador to Sweden), Ivan Krulko Our the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Ukraine). Also in attendance was the chair- Center at the National Parliamentary man of the Union of Military Officers of Library of Ukraine in Kyiv. Ukraine, Col. Viacheslav Bilous. The center was established by Canadian Minister’s MacKay’s visit to the Friends of Ukraine to provide unique leg- Parliamentary Centre received extensive islative and information support services coverage by Ukraine’s print and televi- for Ukraine’s parliamentarians. The event sion media. took place during Minister MacKay’s offi- Canadian Friends of Ukraine (CFU) is a cial three-day visit to Ukraine. non-profit organization founded in 1989 to Welcoming the minister at the National strengthen Canada-Ukraine relations and Parliamentary Library of Ukraine were promote democracy and reform in Ukraine. the acting director general of the library, Since its inception in 1989, Canadian Zoya Savina, as well as representatives of Friends of Ukraine have provided technical Canadian Friends of Ukraine, Margareta assistance and institutional support for hos- Shpir and Lisa Shymko. pitals, educational institutions, libraries, The minister was joined by Canada’s government agencies and non-governmen- ambassador to Ukraine, Abina Dann, and tal organizations in Ukraine. During a meeting with Canada’s foreign minister (from left) are: Leonid Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, Ihor In addition to its technical assistance Kozhara (member of Ukraine’s Parliament and former Ambassador to Sweden), Ostash. programs, CFU’s activities have included Viacheslav Bilous (president of Ukraine’s Union of Military Officers), Margareta During his remarks, Minister MacKay public forums and parliamentary round- Shpir (vice-president, Canadian Friends of Ukraine), Oleh Bilorus (member of congratulated Canadian Friends of tables, focusing on issues such as media Ukraine’s Parliament and Ukraine’s first ambassador to the U.S.A.), Lisa Ukraine on their outstanding contribution censorship, Euro-Atlantic integration, Shymko (director, Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Centre), Candian Foreign to democracy-building in Ukraine, as electoral and judicial reform, and institu- Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, Abina Dann (Canada’s ambassador to Ukraine), well as their ongoing efforts to strengthen tional transparency. The CFU regularly Ihor Ostash (Ukraine’s Ambassador to Canada). Canada-Ukraine relations. The minister conducts media-monitoring during elec- noted the valuable impact that the tions in Ukraine to scrutinize press trans- were invited to attend an exclusive round- comed Minister MacKay’s announce- Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Center parency. table with the Minister to discuss recent ment that Canada has allocated $16 mil- has made on Ukraine’s legislative In 2004, the CFU produced the only political developments in Ukraine. The lion to promote democratic reform in process. “Your organization’s wonderful full-length documentary featuring one-on- forum also discussed issues such as elec- Ukraine. Canada will also send a contin- work is a true bridge between our coun- one interviews with presidential candidates toral reform, NATO and WTO expansion. gent of observers through the OSCE for tries and an example of how we can build Viktor Yanukovych, Viktor Yushchenko, Canadian Friends of Ukraine wel- the upcoming parliamentary election. a more democratic and peaceful world Oleksander Moroz and others. through cooperation,” he said. Canadian Friends of Ukraine has the Among the guests in attendance, were honorary patronage of Canada’s prime deputies from a cross-section of political minister as well as senators and parlia- USUF welcomes 20 Ukrainian leaders parties, including Oleh Bilorus (Yulia mentarians. Tymoshenko bloc and Ukraine’s first Following the Minister MacKay’s visit through the Open World program ambassador to the U.S.A.), Leonid to the center, Canadian Friends of Ukraine WASHIINGTON – The Open World understanding. Many of the issues faced Leadership Center has awarded the U.S.- by local government officials in Ukraine, Ukraine Foundation a grant to host 20 such as economic development, trans- 49th observance held in D.C. local government leaders from Ukraine. parency, accountability of governance, city Mayors, local government officials, and promotion and interaction with the media NGO representatives spent July 25- are shared by their American colleagues. of annual Captive Nations Week August 4, in Des Moines, Iowa, These opportunities at the local level help by Serhiy Zhykharev laying ceremony at the Victims of Louisville, Ky., Little Rock, Ark., and broaden the strategic partnership between Ukrainian National Information Service Communism Memorial, which was recent- Omaha, Neb., examining the issue of the United States and Ukraine at the grass- ly unveiled by President George W. Bush. accountable governance. roots level,” stated Ms. Vera Andrushkiw, WASHINGTON – The 49th obser- Representatives of various ethnic commu- The U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and its U.S.-Ukraine Foundation’s vice president vance of Captive Nations Week, which nities of the former and current Captive partners – Iowa Sister States of Des for external relations. was instituted in 1959, took place in Nations took part at the ceremony. Moines; World Affairs Council of Ambassador Steven Pifer, co-chair of Washington on July 18. Dr. Lee Edwards, chairman of the Kentucky and Southern Indiana in the Coalition for a Secure and The observance began with a wreath- Victims of Communism Memorial Louisville; the Arkansas International Democratic Ukraine, as well as Ms. Foundation (VOCMF), stated in his Center at the University in Arkansas, and Andrushkiw, gave presentations during opening remarks that this monument is Applied Information Management Institute the Open World orientation session. quickly becoming an important site for of Omaha – hosted the delegations. Homestays allowed the Open World dignitaries of the former communist Managed by the independent Open delegates to experience American family nations and those who are still struggling World Leadership Center at the Library of life. They also took part in several cultur- to liberate their nations from the claws of Congress, Open World is designed to al and community activities, including Communist ideology. enhance understanding and capabilities for visits to museums, galleries and various He also noted that the Foreign Affairs cooperation between the United States and summer festivals. Ministry of China and the chairman of the countries of Eastern Europe, Eurasia The Open World Leadership Center the Communist Party of Russia, Gennadi and the Baltic States by developing a net- has awarded a grant to the U.S.-Ukraine Zyuganov had denounced the opening of work of leaders in the region who have Foundation to administer this and similar the monument. “When one is being gained significant, firsthand exposure to exchanges in 2007. denounced by both the Russian and the America’s democratic, accountable gov- The U.S. Congress established Open Chinese communists, one knows one did ernment and free-market system. World in 1999 to enhance understanding something right,” Dr. Edwards added. Participants of the program were local and capabilities for cooperation between the The participants placed a wreath in leaders from the Ivano-Frankivsk, United States and Russia. In 2003 Congress memory of the innocent victims of Donetsk, Sumy, Kherson, Kyiv, made all post-Soviet states eligible for the oppressive regimes and honored them Cherkasy, and Luhansk oblasts. program. Thanks to Open World, some with a moment of silence. While in the United States, the dele- 12,000 current and future East European The Ukrainian American community gates met with various city officials, eco- and Eurasian leaders have experienced was represented by Michael Sawkiw Jr., nomic development agencies, state repre- American civil society and have been president of the Ukrainian Congress sentatives and neighborhood associations, exposed to new ideas and practices that they Committee of America; Tamara Gallo and attended city council meetings. can adapt for use in their own work. Olexy, the UCCA National Office execu- During their meetings participants had the Open World also promotes partner- tive director; and Serhiy Zhykharev, opportunity to learn about services provid- ships and continued communications director of congressional relations for the ed by local and state governments, the between delegates and their American At the Victims of Communism Ukrainian National Information Service. budget process, transparent financial hosts and professional counterparts. Memorial in Washington (from left) Following the wreath laying-ceremo- accountability, the allocation of tax dollars Open World currently operates are: Michael Sawkiw Jr., UCCA presi- ny, the National Captive Nations and the effectiveness of government pro- exchanges for political and civic leaders dent; Dr. Lee Edwards, chairman, Committee (NCNC) and the Heritage grams. They also learned about regional from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation hosted a luncheon. At the economic development and cooperation. Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Foundation; Tamara Olexy, UCCA opening of the event, UCCA President “This program provided an opportunity For more information, readers may executive director; and Serhiy Sawkiw, Jr., and executive secretary of for the Ukrainian local government leaders contact Ms. Andrushkiw at 202-223-2228 Zhykharev, director of congressional the NCNC, read a proclamation issued to interact with their American counter- or George Felcyn at 202-466-6210. More affairs at the Ukrainian National on the occasion by President Bush. parts to exchange experiences and to have information on Open World is available Information Service. (Continued on page 17) a meaningful dialogue for better mutual at http://www.openworld.gov. No. 32 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 5
second state language,” Ms. Tymoshenko Tymoshenko Bloc’s highest order for Ukraine bloc earlier this year. Party congresses... said to resounding applause. “If someone Dedicated Service to Ukraine. Also gone is Petro Poroshenko, the for- (Continued from page 3) urgently needs bilingualism in Ukraine, With the exception of Mr. mer close advisor to President Yushchenko on a teal carpet rolled out for him, Ms. then let’s advise them to learn the Lukianenko, the Tymoshenko Bloc was largely credited with contributing to the Tymoshenko gallantly strode down a red Ukrainian language for a start.” retaining almost all the other candidates Orange coalition’s collapse last year when carpet when approaching the podium Not to be outdone by the Party of the in the top 10 of the bloc’s electoral list. he fought with Mr. Moroz to become the inside Kyiv’s International Exhibition Regions, she offered the same benefits The top 10 include Ms. Tymoshenko’s Verkhovna Rada chair. Center to commence the congress. for newborns offered by her rivals the longtime confidantes of Oleksander Mr. Poroshenko is also blamed for day before. The perception of the Tymoshenko Turchynov, Mykola Tomenko, Socialist fiercely fighting with Ms. Tymoshenko, Unlike the Party of the Regions con- Bloc as a political force gathered around Party defector Yosyp Vinskyi, former a conflict that led the Orange govern- gress, much of Ms. Tymoshenko’s a single, charismatic leader was rein- journalist Andrii Shevchenko, Reforms ment’s dismissal by Mr. Yushchenko in remarks addressed Ukraine’s cultural and forced as she became the center of atten- and Order Party Chair Viktor Pynzenyk, September 2005. spiritual needs, calling for an end to tion throughout the congress, serving as making profit at any cost and overall longtime ally Hryhorii Omelchenko, Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense its emcee, main speaker and ideological selfishness. Luhansk National Teaching University also excluded Roman Bezsmertnyi, the leader. Always conscious of her fashion Performances at the Tymoshenko Rector Vitalii Kurylo, Orange Revolution politician who teamed up with Mr. statements, Ms. Tymoshenko wore a Bloc’s congress were far more spiritual beige toned Ukrainian-style skirt with and modest than the performances at the her embroidered shirt and trademark rival party’s congress the prior day. Nina heels, which were white. Matviyenko opened the proceedings with Though she has been accused of lead- Ukraine’s spiritual anthem “Single God,” ing her organization in a dictatorial man- while Oleksander Ponomariov sang the ner, other political forces have come to Ukrainian national anthem. imitate the Tymoshenko Bloc’s style of In her effort to keep the political dis- conducting unanimous votes and deci- course in the context of good versus evil, sions in the public eye, demonstrating Ms. Tymoshenko promised her delegates party unity and discipline. and supporters she would never form a The church-like setting, with follow- coalition or unite with the Party of the ers dressed in white obediently listening Regions, which she repeatedly vilified in to Ms. Tymoshenko as she preached her remarks as a threat to national sover- from a pulpit, drew a comparison to eignty. White Brotherhood cult leader Maria “We excellently know the price of an Devi Khrystos from the NTN television anti-Ukrainian criminal mafia which is in network, which is owned by Party of the government today,” she said to applause. Regions candidate Eduard Prutnik. “We don’t need any positions – not the Such comparisons revealed a grain of prime ministership, not the presidency – if Ivan Dadiverin truth once Ms. Tymoshenko demonstrat- we are led to seek compromises with peo- Party of Regions financier Rynat Akhmetov chats with former Procurator ed her captivating rhetorical skills, deliv- ple who don’t see Ukraine as independent.” General Sviatoslav Piskun (left) at the PRU congress. ering the 12-point message of her bloc’s Just as the Party of the Regions cele- “Ukrainian Breakthrough” strategy. brated its partnership with Unified hero Mykola Petruk and Social Poroshenko in stringing along Ms. Reciting statistics and citing specific Russia, Ms. Tymoshenko announced at Democratic Party of Ukraine leader Tymoshenko and Mr. Moroz during proposals, Ms. Tymoshenko outlined the the party congress that her force would Yevhen Korniichuk. coalition negotiations last year, resulting strident reforms needed to take place in begin cooperating with the European The two dozen deputies who defected in the failure to form an Orange coalition 12 aspects of Ukrainian society, includ- People’s Party, the leading center-right to the coalition government were excluded in Parliament. ing the spheres of investment, demo- alliance of the European Union of which from the bloc’s list, including mega-mil- In leading the electoral list, Mr. graphics, transit, business, energy, con- Our Ukraine is already a member. lionaire Vasyl Khmelnytskyi and former Lutsenko is an integral part of Our struction, education, the courts, agricul- In his English-language remarks, Rukh activist Oleksander Kovtunenko. Ukraine’s makeover attempt after success- ture and corruption. European People’s Party Preident Billionaire Kostiantyn Zhevago was fully building up the image and appeal of The Tymoshenko Bloc advocates Wilfred Martens joined Ms. Tymoshenko also noticeably absent from the electoral the People’s Self-Defense bloc in only reform and change more than the coun- is attacking the Party of the Regions, list, but Ms. Tymoshenko succeeded in seven months after it was launched. try’s top political forces, calling for a stating that “Ukraine needs a stable gov- retaining her biggest financers and sup- Mr. Lutsenko was among the few constitutional referendum simultaneous ernment, not a mafia, capable of acting porters, including mega-millionaire leaders to emerge from those scandalous with the September 30 elections to allow in a quick, efficient way,” – a comment bankers Serhii and Oleksander Buriak, months with a positive, untainted image. Ukrainians to decide whether they want that drew loud applause. auto-manufacturing executive Tariel The former Socialist and activist is also a presidential, parliamentary or hybrid In fact, the congress audience Vasadze, Kharkiv business magnate highly valued for his rhetorical skills and government structure. applauded many of Mr. Martens’ remarks Oleksander Feldman, millionaire natural ability to motivate voters, which few peo- The bloc will launch a petition drive without waiting for the Ukrainian trans- gas trader Oleksander Abdullin and agri- ple in the Our Ukraine – People’s Self to gather the 3 million signatures neces- lation, demonstrating how widespread cultural mega-millionaire Yevhen Sigal. Defense Bloc possess. As a result, Mr. sary to hold for the referendum, which the knowledge of English is among Ms. Lutsenko will spend much time on the Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense campaign trail throughout the country. The Our Ukraine – People’s Self- The Our Ukraine Bloc was the first Defene bloc also sees the return of political force to bring show business into numerous veterans of the national demo- Ukrainian politics on a grand scale during cratic movement who were excluded the 2004 presidential campaign and sub- from Parliament in 2006 because they sequent Orange Revolution with the help campaigned separately, namely Yurii of rock stars and pop culture icons. Kostenko and Stepan Khmara of the The bloc stuck to its tried and tested Ukrainian People’s Party. formula, recruiting the most popular It was among nine political organiza- tions that signed an August 2 agreement to Ukrainian-language rock stars to perform merge into a single Our Ukraine – People’s at its August 7 congress held at the Self-Defense party after the elections. KyivExpoPlaza Exhibition Center, a Their willingness to consolidate earned presentation that also included a fair them a high-ranking place on the bloc’s share of pyrotechnics and flying confetti. electoral list, virtually ensuring them a In order to demonstrate to the disen- seat in Parliament – European Party of chanted Ukrainian electorate that it has Ukraine Chair Mykola Katernychuk is cleaned its ranks and mended its ways, fifth, People’s Rukh of Ukraine Chair visible changes had to be apparent in the Borys Tarasyuk is 11th, Ukrainian Ivan Dadiverin party’s platform, presentation and imagery. People’s Party Chair Mr. Kostenko is 16th Party of the Regions National Deputy Serhii Kivalov (left) chats with Communist A clenched fist is the main logo of the and Christian-Democratic Union Chair Party of Ukraine Chair Petro Symonenko at the PRU congress. newly formed Our Ukraine – People’s Volodymyr Stretovych is 25th. Self-Defense bloc. The well-recognized would also allow voters to decide Tymoshenko’s supporters. Among the new, young faces to join Our Ukraine horseshoe remains a party whether to eliminate deputies immunity The congress program also included the top 10 were Minister of Foreign symbol, though on a secondary level. special praise for the 103 national Affairs Arseniy Yatsenyuk (third place) and benefits and transfer authority to More significantly, the leadership of local governments. deputies who remained loyal to the and investigative journalist Volodymyr Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense has Ariev (10th place). Though eager to attract more votes in Tymoshenko Bloc and withstood tempta- changed radically since last year. eastern and southern Ukrainian oblasts, tions to join the coalition government. Mr. Vakarchuk, lead singer of Okean Only four candidates among the Elzy, was given 15th place on the list, where her bloc often finished second to Ms. Tymoshenko personally praised party’s top 10 electoral list last year the Party of the Regions in the 2006 Lev Lukianenko for his selfless dedica- apparently to replace Ruslana as the remained among this year’s 10, while two bloc’s token rock star. elections, Ms. Tymoshenko did not mod- tion to Ukraine and service to the bloc, were excluded from the list altogether – “People demanded from Our Ukraine erate her strong support for the announcing the legendary Soviet dissi- pop music star Ruslana and Mr. Kinakh, and its allied parties a cleansing and Ukrainian language and culture. dent has retired from politics to further who led the Party of Industrialists and “We need to stop the discussion of a pursue writing and awarding him the Entrepreneurs in abandoning the Our (Continued on page 10) 6 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 No. 32
NEWS AND VIEWS THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY How long must we wait? Energy sector transparency “What was done to us was wrong. And, because no one bothered to remember and U.S. energy security or learn about the wrong that was done to us, it was done to others again, and by Roman Kupchinsky yet again. Maybe there’s an even greater wrong in that.” gate the activities of UkrHazEnergo, a joint venture between Ukraine’s state- – Mary Manko Haskett, writing in The Ukrainian Weekly, January 30, 1994, The member-states of the owned oil and gas monopoly, Naftohaz about her experience in a Canadian internment camp during World War I. Organization for Security and Ukraine, and RosUkrEnergo, the con- Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are not troversial middleman company regis- The last known survivor of Canada’s first national internment operations of only the largest consumers of energy in tered in Zug, Switzerland, which has the 1914-1920, Mary Manko Haskett, passed away on July 14 at the age of 98. the world, and some of its members, for- monopoly for overseeing Central Asian She was just 6 years old when the Mankos – parents, one son and three daugh- mer republics of the Soviet Union, are gas deliveries to Ukraine. ters – were sent in a boxcar along with other “enemy aliens” rounded up during among the world’s largest producers of RosUkrEnergo (RUE) is half owned by the first world war, from Montreal to Spirit Lake in northern Ontario, to a con- oil and natural gas, in addition to having Russia’s Gazprom and half by a centration camp where the prisoners were forced to do hard labor. The youngest the world’s largest proven reserves of Ukrainian citizen, Dmytro Firtash. Manko sister, Nellie, died at Spirit Lake. She was all of 2 1/2. natural gas. These member-states also According to press reports and RUE For years, Mrs. Haskett said, her own children and grandchildren had trouble own and control unique pipeline sys- officials, Mr. Firtash was paid $364 mil- believing that she had been interned in Canada. Canadian historians, you see, did tems that transport these essential fuels lion in 2006 as his share of RUE’s prof- not write about the country’s internment operations. “It’s as if it all didn’t hap- throughout the world. its for 2005. The company, RUE, owns pen,” Ms. Manko wrote in 1994. However, in the chain connecting the no assets – no gas fields, pipelines or In recent years, Mrs. Haskett was hopeful that, finally, the Canadian govern- producer, transporter and consumer there compressor stations. ment would recognize and provide redress for the unjust internment and disen- is another link – one that has shrouded • Turkmenistan’s new president, franchisement of some 5,000 Ukrainian Canadians who were the majority of the the energy sector in murkiness and Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, 8,579 immigrants from territories under control of the Austro-Hungarian empire threatened the energy security of con- ordered an investigation into a bank branded as enemy aliens. suming states. That link is the lack of account set up by his predecessor, She had reason to be hopeful because in 2005, after two decades of lobbying, transparency. Saparmurat Niyazov, in a German bank. the Ukrainian Canadian community secured an “agreement in principle” with the Barely a day goes by without the According to published reports, Mr. Canadian government aimed at resolving the matter. However, Mrs. Haskett did media reporting on some suspicious and Niyazov placed over $1 billion in rev- not live to see a redress settlement. opaque deal concerning energy in an enue from the country’s gas industry into The Canadian government should be ashamed. OSCE member-state – be it Russia, this account, over which he had sole After all, it was Stephen Harper, today the prime minister of Canada, who in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan or such a vital signing rights. March 2005 spoke in the House of Commons in support of Bill C 331 – The Ukrainian Canadian Restitution Act. “Mary Haskett is still alive,” he said. “I sin- cerely hope that she will live to see an official reconciliation of this past injustice.” If U.S. oil and gas companies believe that What stood in the way of the Canadian government? Bill C 331, introduced back in 2001 by Conservative MP Inky Mark, was their Russian partners are not playing by passed back in 2005. An agreement in principle was reached between the the rules of the game and use non-transpar- Canadian government and Ukrainian community representatives in August of 2005. And, the bill received royal assent in November of that year. And yet, the ent schemes to gain an advantage – then the new government headed by Mr. Harper has done nothing to resolve the matter. Provisions of the agreement in principle included: an initial contribution of $2.5 U.S. consumer is the loser and U.S. energy million to the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko through the security is threatened. Acknowledgement, Commemoration and Education (ACE) Program; coordination by the Shevchenko Foundation, in consultation with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the implementation of com- transit country like Ukraine. Reports similar to these have inundat- memorative projects over the next three years on behalf of the Ukrainian Canadian Let me list just a few recent examples: ed the Internet and the press for the past community; and commencement of work by the community on proposals to help • Russia’s state-owned Rosneft oil 15 years – yet little has changed. If any- commemorate their historical experience and educate Canadians about those experi- company announced on July 2 that it had thing, the scams and opaque schemes ences and the contributions the Ukrainian Canadian community has made to Canada. bought the remaining assets of Yukos oil have gotten bolder, and nobody has been To Mr. Harper we say: Mr. Prime Minister, it’s time to take charge, to act on company from a murky Russian compa- charged or prosecuted. your own words. Ukrainian Canadians have lived with this wrong for more than ny called Prana, which purchased these As a matter of fact, the only ones to nine decades. Isn’t that long enough? assets in May for nearly $4 billion – five suffer are those who have attempted to times the starting price. The owners of draw attention to these schemes, such as Prana are unknown, and the price U.S. citizen William Browder, the CEO Rosneft paid for the Yukos assets was not of Hermitage Capital Management, the August reported. The chairman of Rosneft is largest private investment fund in Russia. Igor Sechin, one of Russian President In November 2006 Mr. Browder was Turning the pages back... Vladimir Putin’s closest advisors. banned from entering Russia because the • Austrian police are investigating a government claimed he was a “threat to 16 huge money-laundering scandal involv- Russian national security.” Mr. Browder Twenty years ago, between 6,000 and 10,000 people gathered ing Russian banks that worked with had been a vocal critic of Russia’s 1987 at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s headquarters in South Austria’s Raiffeisen Zentral Bank in Gazprom for many years, charging that Bound Brook, N.J., on August 16, 1987, to witness the dedi- laundering hundreds of millions of dol- the state-owned gas monopoly was using cation and blessing of a monument to St. Olha, grand princess lars. The Austrian police suspect that opaque schemes to transport gas from of Kyivan Rus’, the forerunner of modern-day Ukraine. high-level Russian officials, connected to Central Asia to Ukraine. Archbishop-Metropolitan Mstyslav, primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, state-owned oil companies, are involved Efforts to encourage OSCE members presided over the day’s events, assisted by Archbishop Constantine of Chicago, in this scam and are laundering funds for to voluntarily force their national energy Bishop Antony of New York, Bishop John of Edmonton and numerous clergy. themselves into off-shore bank accounts. companies to adhere to international The ceremonies that day consisted of a liturgy celebrated inside St. Andrew the And while the Russian police have stated norms of transparency have met with First-Called Apostle Memorial Church, an outdoor moleben commemorating the 45th that no officials are involved, many only limited success in the states of the anniversary of the rebirth of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church celebrated Russian experts believe that the police former Soviet Union. on the steps of the church, and the blessing of the monument sculpted by Peter and prosecutor’s office are under orders For example, the Extractive Industries Kapshuchenko of Philadelphia, followed by a banquet at the Ukrainian Cultural Center. from the Kremlin to avoid investigating Transparency Initiative has been adopted Two additional observances were celebrated that day, including the Millennium bap- these officials. by only three states in the region: tism of Kyivan Rus’ by grand prince St. Volodymyr the Great, grandson of St. Olha and • Ukrainian President Viktor Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. the 45th anniversary of the episcopacy of Metropolitan Mstyslav, the sole surviving mem- Yushchenko recently asked Prime However, it is questionable if even ber of the group of 12 bishops consecrated in 1942 at the time the Church was reborn. Minister Viktor Yanukovych to investi- this has made a difference in The monument was made possible by the work of the United Sisterhoods of the Kazakhstan, the largest oil producing country in the region. Persistent reports Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. with the blessing of Metropolitan Mstyslav. Roman Kupchinsky is regional analyst During the banquet, statements were read by Archbishop Constantine, Bishops indicate that President Nursultan for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The Nazarbaev and his family continue to Antony and John, Peter Savaryn, president of the World Congress of Free Ukrainians, text above was delivered by Mr. George Soltys, member of the National Committee to Commemorate the Millennium receive kickbacks from Russian and Kupchinsky on July 23 before the U.S. other oil companies. of Christianity in Ukraine, and Ukrainian National Association President John O. Flis, Commission on Security and Cooperation who presented a contribution from the UNA to Metropolitan Mstyslav. In Azerbaijan the initiative seems to in Europe (Helsinki Commision) during a have been more effective, but evidence The banquet concluded with the faithful presenting donations to a fund intended to hearing titled “Energy and Democracy: cover the cost of the monument and its upkeep. of this is hard to come by and Western Oil and Water?” that examined the ques- monitors rely more on hearsay then on tion of whether the development of democ- hard facts. Source: “Thousands attend unveiling of monument to St. Olha at Orthodox Church racy is incompatible with the development Center,” The Ukrainian Weekly, August 23, 1987. of a country’s energy resources. (Continued on page 17) No. 32 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 7
COMMENTARY Burying Mary Manko Haskett and continuing the crusade by Andrew Sorokowski We buried her under a maple. Seeing invoked the War Measures Act to detain When they get to the letter “U” Mary’s grave sheltered by a tree whose 8,579 ‘enemy aliens’ including Poles, leaf symbolizes our country was com- Italians, Bulgarians, Croats, Turks, Serbs, “How will they treat the matter when religious history eschews such happy end- forting. Nearby stands a spruce. That Hungarians, Russians, Jews and Romanians they come to Ukraine, a fascinating theme ings. It recognizes no “good guys” or “bad evergreen would have reminded her of – but the majority (perhaps as many as for church history?” Thus writes Owen guys,” no totally good or totally evil socio- the boreal forest she knew as a young 5,000) were of Ukrainian origin. Many Chadwick, the most eminent living church economic or political system. It focuses on girl. Even though she was born in were unwilling subjects of the Austro- historian in the English-speaking world, in a people’s continuing efforts to live as a Montreal. Mary was branded an “enemy Hungarian Empire and thus not ‘enemy a review of the first four volumes of the Christian or Jewish or Muslim society, alien” and transported north to the Spirit aliens’ at all. For years Mrs. Haskett and Encyclopedia of Christianity published by amidst competing social-religious systems, Lake concentration camp, along with the others argued that ‘Canada's first internment Eerdmans (Catholic Historical Review, and more recently among competing sys- rest of the Manko family. Thousands of operations’ herded together individuals October 2006). Volume 5 should include tems of secular values and beliefs. While Ukrainians and other Europeans like based on nationality – many of them entries beginning with the letter “U.” some religious historians believe in Heaven, them were jailed not because of anything Canadian-born – and compelled them into It seems that in at least this nook of they do not predict a heaven on Earth; they had done but only because of where forced labor. Despite the original wartime scholarship, Ukraine has arrived. Or has indeed, like all true historians, they make no they had come from, who they were. justification for these measures, many were it? Standard reference works, including predictions whatsoever. By offering an What little wealth they had was taken kept in custody for two years after the the above-mentioned encyclopedia, still alternative and more realistic vision of the and they were forced to do hard labor for Armistice of 1918. We are all grateful for treat the Baptism of Rus’ as the birth of past, however, they invite us to consider an the profit of their jailers. Mrs. Manko Haskett’s dedication to the the Russian Orthodox Church. Popular alternative and no less realistic vision of the The Mankos lost something even more cause of remembering and commemorating works follow suit. And who will write that future. Couldn’t Ukraine choose a path, for precious, their youngest daughter, Nellie, this important event in Canada’s history.” entry on Ukraine? Where are the succes- example, that rejects the materialism of both who died there. Official condolences for those recently sors to Nicholas Chubatyj, Bohdan socialist and capitalist utopias? Mary Manko Haskett passed away July deceased, for example Bluma Appel and Bociurkiw, Wasyl Lencyk? You can count But before we embark on an exploration 14, the last known survivor of Canada’s Ed Mirvish, can be found on the on the fingers of one hand the active of Ukraine’s spiritual past, we should jetti- first national internment operations. She Canadian Heritage website. The innocu- Ukrainian church historians in the son some ideological baggage. This was 98. For years she leant her support to ous text cited above wasn’t included, English-speaking world. And in our three includes such tired dogmas as the sup- the Ukrainian Canadian community’s cam- however, being deemed “too political.” Ukrainian Catholic seminaries – where posed incompatibility of religion and sci- paign to secure a timely and honourable And so yet another indignity was heaped you’d expect to find such individuals ence (a problem only for the fundamental- redress settlement. Disappointingly, she did upon Mary, posthumously. Remembering employed – not one professional ists on either side), or of faith and reason (a not live to see that happen, despite the her means recalling what was done to her Ukrainian church historian is teaching. problem only for those with an unreason- Honourable Stephen Harper’s own words. and by whom. That’s a no-no. While this It is therefore gratifying that the latest able faith in reason). The common notion On March 24, 2005, he rose in the House gaffe may be corrected, even if Mary issue of Harvard Ukrainian Studies is that religion is a strictly private matter, of Commons to support fellow wasn’t rich or a patron of the arts, it’s too devoted to church history. (Ethical disclo- while perhaps true for Buddhists, doesn’t Conservative Inky Mark’s Bill C 331 – The late. We got the message. sure: your columnist contributed to this hold for Christianity, Islam, or Judaism – Ukrainian Canadian Restitution Act, say- Years ago Mary provided a prescrip- volume. That should not deter you from ing: “Mary Haskett, is still alive…. I sin- tion for the redress campaign. She insist- reading the other articles.) Moreover, the all essentially social religions. cerely hope that she will live to see an offi- ed we should never demand an apology new Worldmark Encyclopedia of We can also cast overboard some com- cial reconciliation of this past injustice.” or compensation for survivors, or their Religious Practices has a substantial entry monplaces and clichés. These include the The prime minister might now ask the descendants. Instead we should ask, for Ukraine, tracing it to Kyivan Rus’. It pop saga of man’s liberation from dark- bureaucracy why his wish was ignored. politely, for recognition and the restitu- was written by Andrij Yurash of Lviv ness, fear, superstition and, of course, reli- The government did, at least, send a rep- tion of what was taken under duress. University. Perhaps such English-speak- gion. Then there’s the view of Christian resentative to Mary’s funeral, Conservative Those funds, to be held in a community- ing scholars in Ukraine will pick up history shared by vulgar Marxists and MP Mike Wallace (Burlington), who read a based endowment, would underwrite where the diaspora left off. semi-educated popularizers, which prepared statement, subsequently added to commemorative and educational projects Although you have read this far, you reduces it to a sorry chronicle of crusades, the website of the secretary of state for mul- that, hopefully, will ensure no other eth- may be wondering why any of this mat- witch-hunts and inquisitions. And there’s ticulturalism, Jason Kenney: “We were sad- nic, religious or racial minority suffers as ters. Church history is, after all, an the standard indictment of structures of dened to hear of the death of Mrs. Mary Ukrainian Canadians once did. obscure specialty. hierarchy and authority – as if you could Manko Haskett, the last known survivor of While no survivors remain, and even We needn’t dwell on the customary organize so much as a softball team with- Canadian internment camps during the first their descendants are senior citizens, a new arguments: that Christianity was dominant out some hierarchy and authority. world war and the post-war period. On generation of Canadians of Ukrainian her- in Ukrainian culture until the 18th century, It is a common intellectual notion that behalf of Canada’s new government, I itage took up Mary’s cause nearly two and remained influential through the in studying religious history only a secular would like to extend my condolences to decades ago, even though none of us had Soviet period and beyond; that the Church viewpoint can be objective. But adopting Mrs. Haskett’s family, as well as the any ties to the victims. That changed on the often served as a national institution – the a particular philosophical position – espe- Ukrainian Canadian community. Born and day of Mary’s funeral, when my mother ersatz state of a stateless people. cially an implicitly hostile one – is hardly raised in Montreal, Mary was 6 years old and sister returned from western Ukraine. Ukrainian church history – and more a guarantee of objectivity. A secularist when she and her family were detained in They knew about Mary but, being away, broadly, religious history – is important approach is no more certain to lead to the the Spirit Lake internment camp. Despite did not know she had died. They brought for at least three other reasons. First, it truth than a religious one. What matters is advice from British officials that ‘friendly the news that my cousin, Lesia, had mar- provides a perspective on Ukraine’s cur- the skill and integrity of the scholar. aliens,’ should not be interned, Ottawa ried Ivan Manko, himself distantly related rent problems. These include the lack of In fact, the history of such prejudices to Mary’s parents, Katherine and Andrew, ethics in politics and society; myriad merits study. As George Grabowicz seems Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk is director of whose graves are found in Mississsauga’s social pathologies; church-state tensions; to suggest in his thoughtful introduction to research for the Ukrainian Canadian St. Christopher’s Catholic Cemetery, not the troubled relationship between reli- the Harvard volume, much of Ukraine’s Civil Liberties Association (www.uc- far from Mary’s mound. gion and nationalism; and the challenges intellectual backwardness stems from cla.ca). The article above was published This crusade was always about right- of democracy and modernity. reciprocal, mutually reinforcing patholo- also in the August 1 issue of The ing a historical injustice and, in that Second, religious history helps us to gies of clericalism and anti-clericalism, Kingston (Ontario) Whig-Standard. sense, is political. It just got personal too. understand our people – that is, our- which have divided the intelligentsia and selves. For most of our past, religious distorted cultural life. Perhaps it was not consciousness has been paramount for Soviet occupation alone that separated us most Ukrainians. Our current secular from the Christian revival of 20th century To The Weekly Contributors: mentality is anomalous – not only in the England, France, and yes, Russia. Today, We greatly appreciate the materials – feature articles, news stories, press clippings, letters to the history of Ukraine, but in that of humani- Ukraine does have religiously committed editor, etc. – we receive from our readers. In order to facilitate preparation of The Ukrainian ty, and not only in the historical dimen- public intellectuals like the Orthodox Weekly, we ask that the guidelines listed below be followed. sion, but also in today’s world. Ievhen Sverstiuk and the Catholic ® News stories should be sent in not later than 10 days after the occurrence of a given event. Third, religious history questions the Myroslav Marynovych. But have we ever ® Photographs (originals only, no photocopies or computer printouts) submitted for publica- standard accounts: the Marxist class had a modern lay Christian intelligentsia? tion must be accompanied by captions. Photos will be returned only when so requested and struggle leading to revolution; the nation- Ukraine’s spiritual history helps us to accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. al liberation struggle culminating in an understand the voyage we have made, and ® Full names (i.e., no initials) and their correct English spellings must be provided. independent state; the people’s struggle thus who we are. It also hints at who we ® Newspaper and magazine clippings must be accompanied by the name of the publication and against feudalism, monarchy, empire and might yet become. What will we discover the date of the edition. communism, capped by the triumph of when the encyclopedia gets to “U”? ® Information about upcoming events must be received one week before the date of The Weekly free-market democracy; even the edition in which the information is to be published. Ukrainian Church struggle against Polish *** ® Persons who submit any materials must provide a daytime phone number where they may Catholicism and Russian Orthodoxy, Further reading: Harvard Ukrainian be reached if any additional information is required. crowned with a national patriarchate. Studies, Vol. 26, No. 1-4 (2002-2003). ® Unsolicited materials submitted for publication will be returned only when so requested and The trouble with these narratives is that accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. they interpret history as directed toward Andrew Sorokowski can be reached at some kind of ideal consummation. Serious [email protected]. 8 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 No. 32 INTERVIEW: Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.N. on remembering the Holodomor On July 24 members of the Ukrainian did, including the Russian Federation and to screen a documentary film and host an Congress Committee of America had the the United States, and recognized this exhibit of archival materials recently opportunity to conduct an interview with Famine as a Holodomor. There is a differ- declassified by the former Ukrainian KGB. Ukraine’s recently appointed, permanent ence between the words "holod" and So all of these approaches, combined representative to the United Nations, "holodomor" [holodomor is based on two with our openness, will hopefully help us Ambassador Yuriy A. Sergeyev, a career Ukrainian words: holod – hunger, starva- persuade enough member states to pass a diplomat, who previously served as tion, famine and moryty – to induce suffer- special resolution next year. Keep in Ukraine’s ambassador to France, ing, to kill], and Holodomor did indeed mind that next year is a special one in the Greece, and Albania. take place in Ukraine. This fact is indis- history of the United Nations, as it is the The UCCA was interested in finding out putable. Although this is a small step for- 60th anniversary of the Convention on how Ukraine’s diplomatic corps and ward, the [2003] statement does provide a Genocide, which falls simultaneously specifically its Mission to the U.N., were legal basis from which to proceed. with the 75th anniversary of our geno- planning to honor the victims of Ukraine’s For this joint statement to become a cide. And that’s why at this time we Holodomor in light of the upcoming 75th resolution recognizing the Holodomor in would like to make all nations aware of anniversary. In addition, the ambassador Ukraine as an act of genocide, we need to the problems that totalitarian regimes can shared his views on how the Ukrainian do several things. First, we, the Ukrainian create within a society. American community can assist the efforts world community, must continue to unite Ukraine is not accusing any country of Ukraine’s Mission to the United States. around this tragedy. Second, together we today, we are accusing a Communist must understand that the question of the regime, the totalitarian regime of the for- Famine was so politicized in Soviet In 2003 the Permanent Mission of mer Soviet Union. Therefore, by attract- Ukraine that it wasn’t until last year that Ukraine to the United Nations issued a Tamara Gallo Olexy ing attention to our own tragedy, we can the official government of Ukraine recog- joint statement in commemoration of better demonstrate the terrible deeds of nized the Holodomor as an act of geno- Ambassador Yuriy A. Sergeyev the 70th anniversary of the Famine. In totalitarian regimes and condemn them. cide. We must also continue working this statement, the Famine was not rec- the group conditions of life calculated to The world is so complicated. The towards achieving international recogni- ognized as an act of genocide. Will the bring about its physical destruction in the countries that have suffered throughout tion of this tragedy as genocide. Mission issue a similar statement for whole or in part.”]. In other words, the situ- history ... they are all problems, they are Most recently Spain and Peru recognized the upcoming 75th anniversary or will ation created such conditions for the people all tragedies. And that’s why sometimes the Famine as such because they felt the you work to include the Famine as an that it was impossible for them to survive. it’s easier in some cases to persuade a present arguments for recognition were suf- act of genocide? And this means that, unlike the famine certain country to accept our problem. So ficient. However, there are other countries in the Kuban and Volga regions of Russia, when you are speaking about contempo- that seek further proof and, as a result, this people in Ukraine could not escape or rary conflicts, contemporary problems Yes, of course the Mission will continue year, we will dedicate much time to present- leave in search of better living conditions. and other tragedies around the world, working so that an appropriate resolution is ing to the U.N. and various other countries, The army, the NKVD and other govern- other member-states should understand put before the United Nations recognizing documentation which has recently become mental structures did not allow people to that Ukrainians, who have a tremendous, Ukraine’s Famine, our tragedy, as an act of available to us from former KGB archives. leave their villages, regions or the country tragic history, are experts. genocide. With regard to the 2003 joint In these recently declassified documents as a whole, and forcibly confiscated their We lost millions during the first world statement, I would like to emphasize that of the Ukrainian Security Service, the suc- last food supplies, so that people had to war, during the second world war, during many countries recognized that in the for- cessor to the KGB, there is plenty of docu- resort to eating anything they could find – the Holodomor, during all of Stalin’s mer Soviet Union, millions of men, women mented evidence to prove that the anything underfoot. repressions. That’s why Ukraine is one of and children became victims of the vicious Ukrainian tragedy falls under Article II of Thus, this year we are going to present the most active members of peacekeeping policies of the totalitarian regime. the U.N. convention that deals with the these archives to prove the genocidal operations. We are respected because of The Great Famine of 1932-1933 in recognition of genocide [ed: Article II, nature of Ukraine’s Holodomor. our tolerance and our knowledge. That’s Ukraine claimed the lives of 7 to 10 million clause (c) of the 1948 Convention on the why we were invited to keep peace in people. Although not all member-states of Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of some of the most tragic parts of the world the U.N. signed on to the statement, many Genocide reads: “Deliberately inflicting on Has the Mission been able to exam- including: Darfur, the Congo, Liberia, East ine Russian archives in order to com- Timor and Afghanistan. Ukrainian peace- pile even more evidence to persuade keepers can be found operating throughout member-states of the U.N. who are still the world; not because we are big, global opposed to recognizing Ukraine’s players, but because we understand the famine as genocide? problems. We’ve suffered ourselves, and we’ve also helped others to avoid the con- No, we did not have any success in sequences of our own tragedy. accessing Russian archives on the Famine. However, there is an even worse situation. Does the Mission intend to reach I have received word from many educa- out to Ukrainians living here in New tional institutions in Canada and in the U.S. York City and across the United States that there is a possibility that in the future in order to spread awareness about scholars will not be allowed further access Ukraine’s Famine-Genocide? to Ukraine’s archives; now that a member of the Communist Party is officially responsible for the archives, they may not Yes, of course. The Ukrainian American be allowing further access to them. communities, particularly in the U.S. and I have personally turned to govern- Canada, understand the problems that totalitarian regimes pose. These communi- ment officials in this regard, as this is ties started speaking out against totalitari- undemocratic. The disclosure of archival anism so that the world would understand materials began in the 1990s, under the the crimes of authoritarian regimes. In the Kuchma regime. If the archives are ever 1930s there were waves of protesters here closed, this policy must be reversed as it in New York City who stood in defense of brings up questions as to the motives of Ukraine and informed local government the government. officials about the situation there. But against these groups stood a great obstacle, We understand that there were sever- the Soviet Union. Despite this, everything al member-states opposed to recogniz- that the Ukrainian American community ing Ukraine’s Holodomor as an act of did during the 50 years before Ukraine’s Genocide in 2003. Why do you feel they independence was so significant that it has were opposed or hesitant to recognize it now led to many of these same countries as such? And how does the Mission plan building memorials to Ukrainian tragedies, to work with such countries in order to particularly the Holodomor. These coun- obtain greater support now? tries recognized the Holodomor before other countries did. We will continue this work on the Holodomor problem. This year, we are More broadly speaking, how can the planning to organize a big conference with- greater Ukrainian American commu- in the United Nations dedicated to the nity assist the Mission in its work? Holodomor problem with the broad involvement of experts from different The Ukrainian community all around countries including top representatives of the world has already done so much. The the United States, to inform other member- strength of these communities creates an states of our proposals with respect to the Holodomor problem. We are also planning (Continued on page 10) No. 32 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 9 BOOK REVIEW: Globe and Mail correspondent on the new cold war “The New Cold War: Revolutions, chosen candidates, and while the According to Mr. MacKinnon’s statistics, Rigged Elections and Pipeline Politics Kremlin’s methods are certainly less sub- from 2001 to 2006 the U.S. spent more than in the Former Soviet Union,” by Mark tle than those of the United States, Mr. $75 million funding opposition and trying MacKinnon. Toronto: Random House MacKinnon argues that both sides spent to topple Lukashenka’s regime in Belarus. Canada, 2007. 313 pp. $34.95. vast amounts of money in these states for These efforts, however, came to naught. In the same reason: to protect and further contrast, the U.S. spent $2.4 million on the by Orest Zakydalsky their geopolitical interests and ambitions. 2003 election in Georgia, where the popular Many of Mr. MacKinnon’s contentions revolution succeeded. If the role of Western After the collapse of the Berlin Wall, are well-argued and well-documented. His money and training were as decisive as Mr. most of the former socialist countries of book is made all the richer by the numer- the Eastern bloc undertook a successful MacKinnon suggests, surely a popular ous interviews he conducted with the lead- uprising would have toppled the regime of transition to market economics and dem- ers of NGOs, political strategists and offi- ocratic governance. With the latest wave Alyaksandr Lukashenka long ago. cials on both sides. Perhaps the most inter- In the end, it was economics that of enlargement, most joined the esting part of the book is Mr. MacKinnon’s European Union. The progress that the played the decisive role in the popular devastating denunciation of the Kremlin, revolutions of the early 21st centuries. socialist bloc countries experienced, and President Putin in particular. Mr. however, was lacking in the former Serbia and Georgia were essentially MacKinnon shows with convincing clarity failed states, mired by such corruption Soviet Union. There, the 1990s were how Mr. Putin has managed to effectively largely a time of continued corruption, that their economies had virtually stopped marginalize opposition to his authoritarian working. The resulting poverty irrepara- half-implemented reforms and a return to rule, and how he has cynically used the quasi- or consolidated authoritarian rule. bly undermined the authority of the Chechen war and the tragedy at Beslan to Milosevic and Shevardnadze regimes. In the first years of the 21st century consolidate his power. Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan In the case of Ukraine, economic popular revolutions took place in Serbia There is one central argument that Mr. became the battlegrounds for the United growth in the late 1990s and early 2000s in 2000, Georgia in 2003, Ukraine in MacKinnon makes that is unconvincing. In States on one side and Russia on the other. led to the development of a growing mid- 2004 and Kyrgyzstan in 2005. All four the picture he paints, the United States Russia, under the increasingly despot- dle class that grew tired of the graft and revolutions happened in response to fal- looks as if it were manipulating and guid- ic rule of President Vladimir Putin, used patronage of the regime of Leonid sified elections and they either removed any and all means – and relied especially ing events before and during the revolu- incumbent despots – Slobodan Milosevic Kuchma. This, coupled with the defec- on the economic muscle it had due to the tions in Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine and in Serbia, Eduard Shevardnadze in tion of wealthy businessmen like Petro region’s dependence on Russian energy – Kyrgyzstan. By funding civil society Georgia – or defeated the incumbent Poroshenko to the opposition, provided to ensure that Kremlin-friendly regimes organizations, non-biased or even opposi- leader’s chosen successor – Viktor tion-friendly media and the revolutionary the bulk of funding for campaigns and Yanukovych in Ukraine. This wave of stayed in power in these countries. media. It was the rise of a Ukrainian mid- The United States, through non-gov- youth groups (Otpor in Serbia, Khmara in “people power” gave new hopes for Georgia, and Pora in Ukraine), and training dle class, more than the role of American ernmental organizations and the State democratic development in the states of opposition activity, the U.S., he implies, money, that signaled the death knell of Department, funded and supported oppo- the former Soviet Union. was steering and directing these countries the Kuchma regime. As Moscow Bureau Chief for The Globe sition candidates, parties, media and to a victory for the pro-Western opposition. That being said, Mr. MacKinnon’s and Mail from 2002 until 2005, Mark organizations that it saw as pro-Western It is certainly true that the U.S. and its book is an engrossing and riveting MacKinnon was uniquely placed to and pro-democratic. proxy organizations, such as the National account of the events of the first years of observe and analyze the events taking place Thus, what emerges in Mr. Endowment for Democracy, International the 21st century in the former Soviet in the region. His new book, “The New MacKinnon’s account of the events in the Democratic Institute or International Union. The book will be useful and inter- Cold War: Revolutions, Rigged Elections former Soviet Union is as the title of his Republican Institute, were influential in esting both for those with extensive and Pipeline Politics in the Former Soviet book suggests, a new cold war between ensuring the success of the popular revo- knowledge of the region, as it offers new Union” offers an interesting and riveting Washington and Moscow, in which both lutions. The argument that the U.S. evidence and arguments, and for those account of these events and the complex sides seek to gain influence and power in played the decisive or even most impor- with a limited knowledge of the former dynamics that led to successful regime states of the former Soviet Union. tant role is more dubious. Soviet Union, as there is sufficient back- change in three post-Soviet republics that Mr. MacKinnon’s description is as The fact is that the revolutions in these ground provided so that it is relatively were mired in authoritarianism. interesting as it is complex – both sides countries were successful because the peo- easy to follow the complex developments Mr. MacKinnon’s basic premise is that use schemes and tricks to support their ple of those countries demanded change. that Mr. MacKinnon describes so well. IN HIS OWN WORDS: Mark MacKinnon of the Globe and Mail Nasha Doroha, the quarterly magazine bers once the tents were on the streets and Ukraine), the Kremlin has made it clear that fundamentally different from people of of the Ukrainian Catholic Women’s League the Orange Revolution had captured the it won’t allow the other former republics of another, though you could say that their of Canada, published an exclusive inter- imagination of the world. the USSR to gracefully go their own ways. history as the center of an empire has left view with The Globe and Mail’s Mark The book flowed out of that interest Russians with a pride, and perhaps a cer- MacKinnon, one of Canada’s best journal- and experience. I was initially approached Why are Canadians passive to tain belief in their country’s superiority, ists and author of the newly released book by several publisers about the idea of developments in places like Ukraine, that you also find today in Americans. “The New Cold War.” Mr. MacKinnon doing a book on [Vladimir] Putin’s Russia, Georgia and what needs to be Ukrainians are more down-to-earth on reported on Ukraine’s Orange Revolution Russia. That was something that, on its done to capture their attention? that count, and thereby more like the in stories carried on the front page of The own, didn’t interest me, largely because I average Canadian in their temperament. Globe and Mail. The interview, which thought several such books had already Perhaps that’s why I always loved my appears in the Nasha Doroha’s summer been written. To make it different, and to This was one of my great frustrations visits to Kyiv. 2007 issue, is reprinted here with the per- capitalize on the parts of the story that I while I was working in the region – I mission of Editor Oksana Bashuk Hepburn. knew better than others, it had to be think many Canadians, and Canadian What awards have you received for about how Putin’s Russia was affecting newspaper editors, thought that the fall of journalism? the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the How did a young – 30 – something – the entire region, with several chapters Soviet Union meant that the struggle in man from Ontario become involved in devoted solely to Ukraine. Eastern Europe was over, that it was time I’ve won the National Newspaper Ukraine and in writing your new book to turn our attention to other places, like Award, Canada’s top reporting prize, The New Cold War? What, in your view, is Russia’s my current base, the Middle East. twice and been a finalist another time. I geopolitical strategy? That’s one of the reasons I gave my also received the 2005 John Syrnick I became involved in Ukraine after being book “The New Cold War” as a title. It Award for Journalism from the Taras posted by The Globe and Mail to Moscow Russia’s, or at least the current resonates with people who remember a Shevchenko Foundation for my coverage in 2002. My first visit to Kyiv later that Kremlin’s, main geopolitical goal is sim- time when developments in Moscow of the Orange Revolution. year entranced me – it was all the best bits ple: to re-establish, using all the means at threatened us all, and suggests that it’s of Moscow, without the things that often its disposal, its old dominance over the not wise to stop paying attention. Anything else you’d like to mention? made Moscow intolerable. I remember countries that once made up the Soviet Of course, part of the problem is also standing on Khreschatyk one snowy night Union. Unfortunately for its neighbors, the insularity of Canadians. Whenever I after an evening of watching live music at Russia isn’t content being just another return home, I’m often appalled at how Only that I hope The Globe and Mail the 44 club and asking my editor why we country on the international scene. Putin, insular and disconnected Canadians are and other Canadian media gets another couldn’t move the bureau to Kyiv. like the Communist leaders and tsars when it comes to what’s happening in the correspondent established in the region He said no, but I kept going back as before him, dreams of empire, and thinks rest of the world. soon so that we don’t let what’s happen- often as I could, which led me to under- it’s Russia’s historical mission to lead one. ing there slip back below the radar. stand the importance of the 2004 presi- What’s different, of course, is that Putin How are Russians different from dential elections, and to start writing understands the West won’t allow him to * * * Ukrainians? And Ukrainians different about them, before most of the rest of the use the Red Army anymore. But through from Canadians? international press. I remember other economic levers (read Gazprom) and politi- “The New Cold War” by Mark members of the Moscow press corps cal meddling (candidates like Viktor MacKinnon, published by Random scoffing at my interest in Ukrainian poli- Yanukovych and stirring up troubles in This is a tough one. I don’t really House Canada, is available in bookstores tics, only to come begging for contact num- “separatist” parts of Georgia, Moldova and believe that people of one nationality are or www.randomhouse.ca. 10 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 No. 32
Yushchenko (39th place) and nephew rivals in promising more social benefits, “I want to turn to Yanukovych in his Party congresses... Yaroslav Yushchenko (87th place) quali- including a 60 percent wage increase for familiar language,” Mr. Lutsenko said, (Continued from page 5) fied, along with Serhii Lutsenko (85th government workers, tripled pensions and switching to Russian. “Viktor Fyodorovych, renewal of lists,” Mr. Lutsenko said. place), the brother of Yurii Lutsenko. $3,000 for the birth of a second child. it’s time to answer for the bazaar. There has- “Today Our Ukraine formed a list that is In his address to the congress, Mr. The Our Ukraine bloc guarantees an n’t been an improvement in our lives. Off to increase in the minimum wage to $120 a the Donbas for retirement.” evidence of a serious cleansing.” Yushchenko repeated the same values month and an average wage of $420, said Mr. Lutsenko joined the president and Despite such claims, Mr. Lutsenko was that his Our Ukraine bloc has defended for years – a single language, a united Viacheslav Kyrylenko, choir of the bloc’s Mr. Kyrylenko in singing the Ukrainian peppered by questions from reporters Ukrainian Church and a united nation. Political Council. Insurgent Army (UPA) fighting song, who noticed former Kuchmists on the He pointed out that the Yanukovych Amidst the afternoon’s speeches, Mr. “Vzhe Vechir Vechoriye” (Already the electoral list, such as former Kyiv Mayor government had financed only 2.4 percent Lutsenko’s fiery words drew the loudest evening approaches) sung by Taras Chubai. Oleksander Omelchenko (13th place). of the program to support the Ukrainian applause. Incidentally, Mr. Lutsenko stipulated Also appearing were some of Mr. language, and completely withheld Mr. Yanukovych had betrayed the that the Our Ukraine –People’s Self- Yushchenko’s so-called “liubi druzi” financing for publishing Ukrainian books. national interest in accepting increases in Defense not make UPA recognition a cam- (dear friends), the circle of businessmen “For which country is this govern- Russian natural gas prices while main- paign issue because of its divisive nature. who had caused strife in the Orange gov- ment?” the president asked rhetorically. taining the same price for transit through The Rivne native has also expressed his ernment in pursuit of self-interest, includ- “For whose interests does it work?” Ukraine, he said. personal opposition to UPA recognition. ing Mykola Martynenko (48th place) and While Ms. Tymoshenko outlined a 12- Oleksander Tretiakov (59th place). tier strategy, Mr. Yushschenko referred to Yonkers, N.Y.-native and former a three-point plan, beginning with the Ukraine’s ambassador... nation, while we are blaming a regime Minister of Justice Roman Zvarych bloc’s main campaign theme, which is and system that is long gone, thank God. received 36th place. eliminating deputies immunity from (Continued from page 8) We want to turn the attention of the Our Ukraine’s notorious patronage prosecution as part of an overall anti-cor- emotional response, enabling certain world to the dangers created by authori- system of “kumy” (parents of godchil- ruption drive. “Parliament is a place to governments to understand the experi- tarian or totalitarian regimes. We feel sol- dren) remained intact as well. make laws, not hide from them,” Mr. ences that so many people have endured. idarity with any nation in which human Among Mr. Yushchenko’s “kumy” to Yushchenko said. Additionally, in the Ukrainian communi- rights have been abused or denied, where secure high-ranking places on the elec- Secondly, national deputies must be ties of various countries, there is a large people have suffered and where there toral list were Yurii Pavlenko (seventh denied extravagant benefits, the intellectual interest in the Famine, and as have been acts of terror and genocide. place), Liliya Hryhorovych (12th place), Ukrainian president said, including free a result there are many scholars who deal Ivan Pliusch (23rd place), Oksana Bilozir apartments, transportation and medical specifically with this issue. Mr. Ambassador, will you and the (44th place) and Stanislav Arzhevitin care. Such benefits cost the Ukrainian Here within the tri-state area and in Mission be participating in the planned (63rd place). government $80 million to maintain Washington, D.C., there are already so events of the community’s “National Nepotism also played a role in forming annually, he said. many scholars who organize seminars and Committee to Commemorate the the list as the president’s brother Petro Mr. Yushchenko joined his political conferences which take place around the Ukrainian Genocide of 1932-1933,”, in world. And so, the intellectual potential of particular the March of Remembrance the Ukrainian community to tackle this and Solemn Requiem Serive? issue is great. Also, there is cooperation Notice to publishers and authors with other countries that continue to suf- It is The Ukrainian Weekly’s policy to run news items and/or reviews of newly pub- fer from the effects of former totalitarian I feel that as Ukrainian diplomats rep- resenting Ukraine in the United Nations, lished books, booklets and reprints, as well as records and premiere issues of periodi- regimes. For example, in France where I our U.N. Mission, by its very definition, cals only after receipt by the editorial offices of a copy of the material in question. worked as the consul, we had a very vocal Armenian population. They have similar makes us members of the Ukrainian News items sent without a copy of the new release will not be published. issues to our own. They have a different community. So, I feel that it is our obli- Send new releases and information (where publication may be purchased, cost, etc.) concept than we do, but similar prob- gation and responsibility to take part in to: Editorial Staff, The Ukrainian Weekly, 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ lems…they want recognition for their all commemorative activities taking 07054. Genocide. But they are different because place within the Ukrainian community in they are blaming a particular modern order to show our solidarity. No. 32 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 11
During her current monthlong trip to raphy in 1998, Hollywood Trident young secretary told Ms. Dallas that Ms. Famine survivor... Ukraine, Ms. Dallas approached the Foundation President Peter Borisow was Yushchenko wasn’t interested. (Continued from page 1) Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Moscow among the first to begin working with “They didn’t bother writing me,” Ms. Ms. Dallas lived with her siblings in the Patriarchate and the Yulia Tymoshenko Ms. Dallas, but “nothing happened and Dallas said. “That’s very impolite. historic Kyivan Caves Monastery, which Bloc, who have declined involvement, as he never followed-up,” she said. Spielberg’s and Gibson’s people was stripped of its religious symbols by well as the Victor Pinchuk Fund, which In 2005 a group of Ukrainian American answered me in a letter.” the Communists and allowed to function promises to respond in August. businessmen in Chicago collected funds to Although the Ukraine 3000 as a shelter for homeless migrants. Mr. Pinchuk, Ukraine’s second wealthi- take the first steps toward film production, Foundation has preserved the testimonies Fighting daily battles with hunger, Ms. est man, joined legendary U.S. film director first investigating whether anyone had any of hundreds of Holodomor survivors on Dallas observed how Russian-speaking Steven Spielberg in jointly financing and liens or rights to Ms. Dallas’ story. video, it neglected to record Ms. Dallas’ Communists were well-fed in Ukraine’s producing “Spell Your Name,” a documen- “It was a business venture, and it was remarkable account. capital and discriminated against ethnic tary film about the Holocaust in Ukraine the only story we saw about the Ms. Yushchenko said any information that was produced on a $1 million budget. Holodomor that really had some sizzle to that she is devoting most of her work to Ukrainian peasants and farmers, denying Mr. Pinchuk said he would invest an it,” said Oleh John Skubiak, one of the the Children’s Hospital of the Future is them food and medical attention. additional $1 million into distributing interested Chicago investors. “It really incorrect, telling The Weekly it occupies As a result, Ms. Dallas’ sister died of “Spell Your Name” to Ukraine’s televi- could have been a movie.” only 10 percent of her time. malaria and a brother died of tuberculo- sion networks, universities and schools. But Ms. Dallas reneged on the project, When asked by The Weekly what she sis, after doctors refused to treat them. The Weekly approached Mr. Pinchuk now stating the funds they raised weren’t thinks of Ms. Dallas’ idea, Ms. Yushchenko Years later, a second brother died of on July 15, 2006, asking him whether he enough. said she hopes Ms. Dallas is successful on disease and Nazi soldiers sent Ms. Dallas would be interested in financing a film on On her own, she recruited two her own. “She has an extremely important to work in an Austrian labor camp. When the Holodomor. Hollywood producers whom she trusts, story that has to be told,” the first lady said. the Allied forces freed her camp, she fled “I thought about it many times,” Mr. Jeff Peyton and Alex Ryan. They are “I would very much like to see her find pri- to Italy, where she began her career as a Pinchuk said. “I’m planning to finance a ready to start production in Ukraine vate sponsors.” fashion model. project that is connected with gathering immediately, she said. Ms. Dallas still hasn’t given up on find- Decades after her misery, Ms. Dallas the stories of eyewitnesses who had gone “My producers know how to make a ing a sponsor in America either. Though returned to the city where she once through it. Maybe some films will be film,” Ms. Dallas said. “They are not she’s grateful that a group of Polish begged for food to give whatever she has made from these materials, but I want to very famous, but they know what to do investors in Los Angeles offered $1 million, left to fellow Ukrainians in need. She vis- take part in gathering those testimonies with this kind of story.” it’s not enough, she said. There are still sev- ited the Chernihiv Oblast city of Baturyn, because there are fewer survivors every Ms. Dallas has met several times with eral Ukrainian American millionaires with where she gave donations to a local year. And then it might be some docu- Ukraine’s First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko, whom she is in contact Ms. Dallas said. orphanage, museum and hospital. mentary. I think that is very, very impor- who has made preserving the memory of “The Jewish people worked hard to “I will never forget the face of the first tant for the Ukrainian people.” the Holodomor among the top priorities of inform the world about the Holocaust,” woman who gave me a piece of bread At a joint press conference with Mr. the Ukraine 3000 Foundation she founded. said Ms. Dallas, whose first marriage was during the genocide,” Ms. Dallas said. Spielberg three months later, Mr. Pinchuk Ms. Yushchenko said she would help to an ethnic Jew from Kyiv. “Why can’t “With a smile, she gave a piece of bread acknowledged the Holodomor as one of find financial sponsors for producing the we Ukrainians do it? Are we still slaves? to a begging child. I never forgot what I Ukraine’s three tragedies (along with the film, said Ms. Dallas, who had her pro- We have no right to forget what hap- went through, that’s why I keep on helping Holocaust and Chornobyl), but said “I am ducers fulfill the first lady’s request to pened, for the sake of future generations. continuously. I needed help, and I really not sure that I should take part in the real- have everything translated into Ukrainian. It has to be acknowledged. Los Angeles appreciated the people who helped, whether ization of this trilogy, but I believe such Two months after the verbal assurance, will have its second Holocaust museum, it was a simple sandwich or anything.” films should be made.” Ms. Yushchenko lost interest in the proj- and we have nothing.” But while she has enough money to help Ms. Dallas’ story has sparked interest ect for some unknown reason, Ms. Dallas Information on “One Woman, Five others, she doesn’t have the necessary in the past. said. When calling the Ukraine 3000 Lives, Five Countries” can be found at funds to produce the film of her life story. After she self-published her autobiog- Foundation’s offices to follow up, a http://eugeniadallas.com.
it must emerge from its crisis manage- ing on restoration plans and strategic plans planning on holding the festival, a 30- Verkhovyna... ment mode and evolve into a successful for future expansion and developments. year tradition on July 18-20, 2008. (Continued from page 1) business model. “It would be a shame to have this For the near future, plans to develop many times to pay its obligations, they Mr. Piddoubny said the first priority is to potential jewel of Ukrainians in the dias- high-end sports and cultural camps, sup- never did. “When the trust asked them to rebuild the income-producing aspects of the pora not flourish and be a center where port modern hotel accommodations with do something, they didn’t do anything,” resort that are the most cost-effective, we can be educated, entertained and see an Olympic-size pool, and build condo Mr. Blanarovich said in reference to the including regular summer camps, camp- our children grow up in their forefather’s units, an assisted-living facility for sen- grounds around the lake, Ardmore mansion, heritage,” he added. iors and a nursing home for the Ukrainian failed payments. He said last-ditch the dance hall and bar, the swimming pool, The LLC is hoping to bring back the American elderly are being discussed. efforts to negotiate the sale of and a year-round grounds keeper’s home. original Verkhovyna camps like Roma Mr. Piddoubny said the LLC is cur- Verkhovyna between the UACF and an Mr. Blanarovich said construction of Pryma-Bohachevska’s dance camp and rently raising investment capital and after Investor group failed, and the only an amphitheater is planned. the Sitch Sports Camp by the summer of only three weeks, were at over 60 percent option left was the foreclosure sale. Currently, Mr. Blanarovich and his 2008. For the main house, which has of the goal, which is $1 million. On July 3, the resort was sold at a group are focusing on fixing the roof of been under construction for the past six “We are looking for vendors, contrac- mortgage foreclosure auction; the mort- the main house, main house rooms, dance years under the UACF’s management, tors and business partners in the gage was held by the Anna Nazarkewycz hall and bar, swimming pool and camp there are plans to renovate the first floor, American and Ukrainian communities,” Irrevocable Trust. barracks. set up catering and dining halls with Mr. Piddoubny added. “We want ideas Mr. Piddoubny said the Nazarkewych “We want to serve the Ukrainian and indoor and outdoor service, as well as a from the youth in the community. They Trust will hold a mortgage for $1.4 million. local community with modern facilities bar and a German style “beer garden.” are the future of this business.” Since the trust was the only bidder at and are looking forward to year-round And as the resort embarks on its trans- For more information readers may the auction, the resort fell into Ukrainian operation and being open for business,” formation, Ukrainian Festival prepara- visit www.MVresort.com or www. hands. A new limited liability company, explained Mr. Blanarovich, who is work- tions are already in the works. The LLC is Verkhovyna.com. MountainView Resorts, LLC, was formed to take over the operations and manage- ment of the resort and is in the process of setting up the business structure. “The LLC resort is currently raising capital for the renaissance of Verkhovyna as a profit-making, top-of-the-line vaca- tion resort area,” Mr. Piddoubny said. “Verkhovyna’s new management does not want to burn any bridges. In light of the past, we must now be cautious not to make commitments which are disadvantageous.” Mr. Piddoubny said the LLC will be happy to work with any organization, group or person. “We are ready to work with anyone but they must be willing to work on a good faith basis,” Mr. Piddoubny said. “That has not been our experience in the past with UACF. Rather than looking to the past and asking: ‘Who did what?’ We are looking to the future and ask ‘What can we do to make it better?’ ” “We firmly acknowledge that a great many people sacrificed money, time and labor in the past and that the UACF kept Verkhovyna Ukrainian at a time of cri- sis,” he said. “However, for Verkhovyna to continue and become self-sustaining, 12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 No. 32 TRAVELS: A trip to Curitiba, Brazil, to teach Ukrainian dance by Andrij Cybyk us closer together. It is a wonderful feel- ing experiencing this bond all over the Earlier this year I was very lucky to world as well. spend time in Curitiba, Brazil. I was hon- ored to be the guest of the Barvinok * * * ensemble, one of two large Ukrainian dance companies in Curitiba, from Barvinok of Curitiba, Brazil, which February 20 to March 5. will be touring the United States in the If you had asked me on February 19 I fall, will team up with Iskra of could never have told you about the Whippany, N.J., to present a joint per- extent of our Ukrainian culture in Brazil. formance on Saturday, September 29 at Ukrainian is actually one of the larger the Ukrainian American Cultural Center ethnic communities in Curitiba, a city of New Jersey in Whippany. Further that is about a one-hour flight from Sao details will be announced as they Paulo. It is so prominent that there is become available. even a Ukrainian Park, one of six ethni- cally themed parks, featuring a real wooden Ukrainian church and many large pysanka sculptures all over the beautiful grounds. The wooden church at the Ukrainian Museum in Curitiba, Brazil.
I was brought to Brazil to teach a school and a deep history. They are dance workshop for two weekends. The proud of the work they do, and I was first weekend was open to dancers from proud to have the opportunity to work all over Brazil. I was in shock when I with them. learned that my 50 students represented Barvinok will be performing in 13 different dance companies from all Middletown, Ohio, on October 5-7 at a over the country. The Ukrainian consul festival called Midfest. They will also be from Sao Paulo, Jorge Rybka, and his performing in Whippany, N.J. on wife attended the first weekend, as did September 29. I cannot wait to see them two dancers who traveled from the mid- again, as I feel like I have been accepted dle of the Amazon – about 13 hours into a wonderful new family. away. The response was overwhelming. I was always amazed that, when I Besides teaching the dancers there a traveled the United States with the classical character barre and class, I Duquesne University Tamburitzans, shared with them the stylized folk styles everywhere I went, I was greeted by the I have studied under Roma Pryma Ukrainians of that community. Just shar- A pysanka monument at the Bohachevsky and at the Virsky school. ing a common bond of heritage brought Ukrainian Museum. The students were like sponges, trying to absorb everything I had to teach them. It was a very intense weekend – made more so because, in our two days togeth- er, I was also asked to choreograph a Hopak to be performed on that Sunday night. I was so proud watching the stu- dents dance. Though they represented many different companies of many dif- ferent levels, they danced as one ensem- Andrij Cybyk with the Barvinok ble after only two days together. It was dance ensemble. so heartening that, through a common love, people could overcome differences Andrij Cybyk is a professional dancer and work together. and teacher based in New York City. He The following week I spent working has taught and choreographed for the just with Barvinok. For a group that had Duquesne University Tamburitzans, never had a professional artist work with Syzokryli and his school, Iskra, in them, they are a very strong company. Whippany, N.J., as well as colleges and Their repertoire is a mix of Virsky chore- schools across the United States and ographies and some dances created by around the world. He continues to dance senior dancers throughout the years. Oh, as a freelance artist for professional folk, did I mention that they have been around modern and ballet companies and is the for 77 years? artistic director of Ethnocentricity. Yes, this is a solid group with a strong Andrij Cybyk teaches during a dance workshop in Brazil.
Participants of the dance workshop in Brazil taught by Ukrainian American Andrij Cybyk. No. 32 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 13 Ukrainian Dance Workshop captivates audiences at Soyuzivka by Chryzanta Hentisz KERHONKSON, N.Y. – From the “Pryvit” to the “Hopak,” the audience at the first Ukrainian Film and Cultural Festival at Soyuzivka was enthralled and energized by the colorful dancers of the Roma Pryma Bohachevsky Ukrainian Dance Workshop. The workshop is one of the summer programs run by the Roma Pryma Bohachevsky Ukrainian Dance Foundation, led by Ania Bohachevsky Lonkevych, Ms. Bohachevsky’s daugh- ter. Ms. Lonkevych has ably undertaken her mother’s legacy, not only assuring that the tradition of Ukrainian dance is preserved but that it evolves and grows. Ms. Lonkevych is aided in this under- taking by individuals trained by Ms. Bohachevsky to carry on her work. Kristine Izak, artistic director, attended her first workshop in 1988 and was soon Dianna Shmerykowsky working alongside Mrs. Bohachevsky. Orlando Pagan, teacher and choreogra- Participants of the Roma Pryma Bohachevsky Ukrainian Dance Workshop, held for the first time at Soyuzivka.
from Brazil, Amanda Scupinari, had her New works created by the staff had stay at the workshop equally funded by the their premiers – Mr. Pagan’s powerful foundation and the Ukrainian National “Kozak Dance” at the Zaporizhian Sich Association, which owns and operates the and Ms. Izak’s contemporary choreogra- Soyuzivka estate. phy set to Ruslana’s “Wild Energy.” In less than two weeks, these young Guest instructor Volodymyr Dvorovenko dancers – often working late into the night, presented a crowd-pleasing comic dance prepared a varied program with which to “Polissian Quadrille.” captivate the guests of Soyuzivka’s first The finale of every program was the
Russ Chelak A girls’ Hutsul dance. pher, began dancing with Mrs. renowned dance program at Indiana Bohachevsky in 1987 and is presently the University, where he studied with leg- artistic director of the Syzokryli Dance endary teachers such as Violette Verdy, ensemble founded by Mrs. Bohachevsky Angel Corella and Jose Manuel Carreno. in 1978. In 2003 he assisted in staging the works This year, the experienced staff was of George Balanchine for the Bolshoi and joined by another Bohachevsky, Stefan Kirov ballets. As a choreographer he has Russ Chelak Calka. Mr. Calka, presently a principal created numerous works for the dancer with the Sacramento Ballet, Sacramento Ballet. The “Kozaks’Attack.” became an instant favorite with the work- Held for the first time at Soyuzivka, the shop’s dancers, teaching them as Mrs. Roma Pryma Bohachevsky Dance Bohachevsky had once taught him. Mr. Workshop welcomed 48 advanced dancers, Calka began his dance training with who came not only to improve their skills Roma Pryma Bohachevsky with the but to mingle with others who share their Zorepad Ukrainian Dance Ensemble in passion. The dancers came not only from Watervliet, N.Y. and then as a member of the tri-state area but from as far away as the Syzokryli ensemble. Canada, California, Oregon and even Mr. Calka continued his studies with Brazil. The Roma Pryma Bohachevsky David Otto, a former New York City Ukrainian Dance Foundation granted a full Ballet soloist. He also attended the scholarship to Vitaliy Simonian; the student
Russ Chelak Scene from a Hutsul suite. Ukrainian Film and Cultural Festival. rousing “Hopak,” choreographed by Ms. Each festival program opened with the Bohachevsky, which had the crowd clap- traditional Pryvit, choreographed by Ms. ping and whistling, and finally brought Bohachevsky. Dancers also performed them to their feet. other works choreographed by Mrs. Leaving Soyuzivka on such a high note, Bohachevsky and restaged by Ms. the workshop students expressed their Lonkevych, Ms. Izak and Mr. Pagan – the desire to return next year to continue learn- Russ Chelak “Wedding Hutsul,” “Zhnyva” (Harvest) ing about Ukrainian dance with their The “Hopak” finale. and the comical “Z Syrom Pyrohy.” friends and to dazzle the crowds once more. 14 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2007 No. 32
The bloc’s list of 450 candidates has Ms. NEWSBRIEFS Tymoshenko, Oleksander Turchynov, CLACLASSSSIFIEDIFIEDSS (Continued from page 2) Mykola Tomenko, Yosyp Vinskyi and Andrii Shevchenko in the top five posi- in the convention of a particular political TO PLACE YOUR AD CALL MARIA OSCISLAWSKI, (973) 292-9800 x 3040 tions. (RFE/RL Newsline) force, let alone from making a speech or e-mail: [email protected] there, if the president is a democrat and a Moroz cites “criminal adventure” president of the entire country.” The presi- KYIV – Verkhovna Rada Chairman SERVICES dential press service reported on August 6 www.Buyukraine.org Oleksander Moroz said on August 2 that he Ukrainian online store. Perfect for gift that President Viktor Yushchenko was to deliver a speech at the election convention does not expect any major changes in the and family shopping. Books, children’s of the Our Ukraine – People’s Self- alignment of parliamentary forces follow- literature, souvenirs, art, clothes, travel Defense bloc. (RFE/RL Newsline) ing the September 30 elections, Interfax- maps, CDs and DVDs. Ukraine reported. “If the elections are held, Three parties hold conventions the Parliament’s make-up will change by 10 percent, not more,” he told journalists in PROFESSIONALS KYIV – The ruling Party of the Kyiv. Mr. Moroz also noted that the early Regions led by Prime Minister Viktor polls are a “criminal adventure initiated by Yanukovych held a convention in Kyiv LAW OFFICES OF the president,” adding, “I regret giving sup- on August 4 to approve a manifesto and a port to this man in the presidential elec- ZENON B. MASNYJ, ESQ. list of candidates for the early parliamen- tions. In fact, he abandoned his promises tary elections on September 30, Ukrainian after having won the elections.” Mr. Moroz news agencies reported. The list of 450 said he would not object if the new WEB DESIGN SERVICES In the East Village since 1983 candidates is topped by Mr. Yanukovych, A Ukrainian offers web development, Parliament initiated impeachment of the Raisa Bohatyriova, Taras Chornovil, Inna president. (RFE/RL Newsline) graphic design, photo and video services. Serious personal injury, real estate Bohoslovska and Nestor Shufrych. Mr. Years of experience, 30+ projects. for personal and business use, rep- Yanukovych told the forum that the Party Parties join Tymoshenko bloc Portfolio: www.Artdriver.com resentation of small and mid-size of the Regions favors a broad governing [email protected] (202) 657-7105 coalition after the elections, which could KYIV – Representatives of the businesses, securities arbitration, Batkivschyna, Reforms and Order and divorce, wills and probate. include the pro-presidential Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense bloc. The same Ukrainian Social Democratic parties signed an agreement on the establishment WEST ARKA (By Appointment Only) day, an election convention was also held 2282 Bloor St. W., Toronto, Ont., Canada M6S 1N9 by the Socialist Party led by Parliament of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc during a session of the Batkivschyna Party’s eighth Chairman Oleksander Moroz, who said Fine Gifts 157 SECOND AVENUE Congress on August 2. The agreement was Authentic Ukrainian Handicrafts that the early elections are “adventurous” inked by Yulia Tymoshenko, Viktor Art, Books, CDs, Ceramics Andrew R. CHORNY NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10003 and “illegitimate,” adding that their main Pynzenyk and Yevhen Korniychuk. The Embroidered Goods and Supplies Manager (212) 477-3002 objectives are to remove the Socialists three party leaders stated that the decision Gold Jewelery, Icons, Magazines from Parliament, “draw” Ukraine into to join the bloc was unanimously approved Newspapers, Pysankas and Supplies NATO and “cause a quarrel” between All Services to Ukraine, Mail-orders éäëÄçÄ íêàíüä by their parties’ congresses. Ms. Ukraine and Russia. The top five on the è ÓÙÂÒ¥ÈÌËÈ Ô Ó‰‡‚ˆ¸ Tymoshenko emphasized that her bloc’s Socialist’s Party’s list of 316 candidates Tel.: (416) 762-8751 Fax: (416) 767-6839 Á‡·ÂÁÔ˜ÂÌÌfl ìçë team is a time-tested one, so there was no are: Mr. Moroz, Vasyl Tsushko, e-mail: [email protected] www.westarka.com OKSANA TRYTJAK point in reconsidering it. “We engage in no Volodymyr Boiko, Valentyna Semeniuk Licensed Agent intrigues, squabbles or behind-the scenes and Stanislav Nikolayenko. On August 5 Ukrainian National Ass’n, Inc. negotiations. We are absolutely transparent 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280 Parsippany, NJ 07054 an election convention was held by the and I think we are ready to win a majority Tel.: (973) 292-9800 (Ext. 3071) • Fax: (973) 292-0900 Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc. Yulia in Parliament,” she said. (Ukrinform) e-mail: [email protected] Tymoshenko ruled out a post-election coalition with the Party of the Regions. (Continued on page 15) FOR SALE
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Church, which experts recently said is in Journal in Europe of July 26 that anyone August 2 reduced the number of polling NEWSBRIEFS danger of collapse. However, experts said who wants to know how President stations abroad in preparing for the (Continued from page 14) the sum will not cover necessary costs. Vladimir Putin’s Russia works should September 30 pre-term parliamentary elec- read Mario Puzo’s “The Godfather,” tions. The number of polling stations was CPU against deputies’ immunity Consequently, representatives of the responsible agency have requested that “Omerta,” and other books on the Mafia. reduced from 116 to 115. Thirteen out of KYIV – The Communist Party of Ukraine’s Ministry of Regional Mr. Kasparov argues that “Putin’s govern- the 14 CEC members present at the session Ukraine (CPU) promises to back an ini- Development allot additional money from ment is unique in history. This Kremlin is voted in favor, with one abstention. Thus tiative on abolishing deputies’ immunity. the reserve fund of the state budget. part oligarchy, with a small, tightly con- the CEC amended its Resolution 370 of “The CPU will vote for amendments to (Religious Information Service of Ukraine) nected gang of wealthy rulers. It is partly February 2, 2006, “On the Establishment of the Constitution concerning abolition of a feudal system, broken down into semi- Polling Stations in Other Countries for Ukrainians prefer Russia to EU, NATO unlimited deputies’ immunity,” the CPU’s autonomous fiefdoms in which payments Election of People’s Deputies on March 26, press service reported. Verkhovna Rada KYIV – A survey conducted by the are collected from the serfs, who have no 2006.” The CEC disbanded the election First Vice-Chairman Adam Martyniuk, Yaremenko Ukrainian Institute for Social rights. Over this there is a democratic coat commission in Lebanon in view of the fact one of CPU’s leaders, said that “rule of Studies and the Social Monitoring Center of paint, just thick enough to gain entry that Ukrainian peacekeepers have been law should be set for all in order to ensure found that 57 percent of respondents are into the G-8 and keep the oligarchy’s withdrawn from that country. (Ukrinform) money safe in Western banks.” Mr. a social fair in Ukraine.” (Ukrinform) against Ukraine’s accession to NATO, Black Sea maneuvers begin while 19.9 percent support the country’s Kasparov wrote that “the web of betray- UOC-MP bless controversial chapel membership in the alliance, Interfax- als, the secrecy, the blurred lines between KYIV – The multinational battle exer- what is business, what is government, and KYIV – Metropolitan Volodymyr Ukraine reported. The survey, answered by cise of the Black Sea Naval Cooperation what is criminal – it’s all there in ... (Sabodan), head of the Ukrainian Orthodox 2,014 Ukrainians between July 10 and 18, Task Group (Blackseafor) with the par- Puzo’s books. ... [One notes] the strict Church – Moscow Patriarchate (UOC- also found that 24.7 percent of Ukrainians ticipation of Ukraine’s naval command hierarchy, the extortion, the intimidation, MP), blessed a wooden chapel built near believe Ukraine should join the European ship Slavutych has begun in the Black the code of secrecy and, above all, the the foundations of Kyiv’s historic Church Union, while 43.4 percent support a Sea area, it was reported on August 3. Ukrainian union with Russia and Belarus, mandate to keep the revenue flowing. In According to the Defense Ministry press of the Tithes. The Ukrainian Orthodox other words, a mafia.” Mr. Kasparov Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) had and 27 percent believe Ukraine should office, the exercise aims to achieve inter- build balanced relations with the EU and argued that “the Yukos case has become a operability of Black Sea states’ units in protested the construction, for which the model. Private companies are absorbed Russia. (RFE/RL Newsline) controlling civil vessel traffic and air local government said permission was into the state, while at the same time the never granted. The Church of the Tithes service, intercepting and controlling Atlantic Council briefed on corruption assets of the state companies move into was the first stone church of Kyivan Rus'. raider ships, tactical maneuvering, pro- private accounts. [Aleksandr] Litvinenko viding aid to emergency ship, anti-air- It was constructed in 988-996 and KYIV – The corruption level in Ukraine was a KGB agent who broke the loyalty craft, anti-missile and anti-ship formation destroyed in 1240 during the Mongol inva- remains high, but law enforcement bodies code by fleeing to Britain. Worse, he vio- defense, and participating in anti-terror sion. According to Vasyl Prysiazhniuk, are in full control of the situation, acting lated the law of ‘Omerta’ by going to the operations. A total of some 1,200 soldiers head of Kyiv’s Main Department of City Minister of the Internal Affairs Mykhailo press and even publishing books about the will be employed in the drills. Ukraine Planning, Architecture and Design, the Korniyenko said at a meeting with a dele- dirty deeds of ... Putin and his foot sol- will be represented by the Slavutych with department did not issue a permit for use of gation of the Atlantic Council of the diers. Instead of being taken fishing in the some 200 marines and three officers of a lot near the foundations of the historic United States in Kyiv on July 24. On the old-fashioned Godfather style, he was the multinational exercise staff. The church. “The appearance of the chapel request of the American side, Mr. killed in London in the first recorded case maneuvers will also involve the large means that the Moscow Patriarchate claims Korniyenko cited statistical data on com- of nuclear terrorism.” Mr. Kasparov added assault ship Azov from Russia, the frigate the renewal of the Tithes Church. We are bating such crime. He noted that 5,000 that “now the Kremlin is refusing to hand Salihrei from Turkey, the Romanian not going to let this happen. This church cases of corruption were uncovered in over the main suspect in the murder,” corvette Machelario and the Bulgarian was the center of the Kyivan state when the 2006, which he described as “not a small Andrei Lugovoi. (RFE/RL Newsline) corvette Smeli. The multinational exer- Muscovite state did not exist,” said Father figure for Ukraine.” Mr. Korniyenko cise will take place at battle training Yevstratii Zoria, press-secretary of the Reduction in polling stations abroad briefed the American delegation about the grounds of Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania UOC-KP. He added that the UOC-KP upcoming reform of Ukraine’s law KYIV – The Central Electoral and Georgia, and will continue to August asserted its right to the historic monument enforcement bodies, which is sure to bol- Commission (CEC) at its session on 30. (Ukrinform) in 2004, when it dedicated a cross, so it is ster the battle against corruption. The dele- not going to watch the “seizure” of the gation of the U.S. Atlantic Council was led shrine by the UOC-MP. Father Oleksander, by former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine press-secretary of the UOC-MP, said that William Green Miller. The Atlantic the chapel is a temporary structure that may Council was established in 1961 with the evolve into a permanent one only after a goal of spreading information about NATO decision by officials, historians and other and strengthening public support for the experts about the future of the foundations alliance. Presently, the Atlantic Council is of the Church of the Tithes. (Religious conducting a series of programs studying Information Service of Ukraine) political and economic issues, as well as security, in several countries. (Ukrinform) St. Andrew’s to be restored Kasparov: Putin’s Russia like Mafia KYIV – The city government of Kyiv has allotted more than 4 million hrv PRAGUE – Opposition leader and for- (approximately $800,000 U.S.) for the mer world chess champion Garry restoration of the historic St. Andrew’s Kasparov wrote in The Wall Street