www.ukrweekly.com InsIde: • Interview: former head of NATO Liaison Office in Ukraine – page 3. • “Ukraine and Sweden: At the Crossroads of History” – page 19. • Ukrainian Kozaks, Devils Alumni face-off for a cause – page 20. THEPublished U by theKRA Ukrainian NationalIN AssociationIAN Inc., a fraternal Wnon-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXVIII No.13 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 28, 2010 $1/$2 in Ukraine Ukraine’s NATO experts present Cabinet of Ministers is packed proposals for New Strategic Concept with questionable appointees by Zenon Zawada isters isn’t the only cause for controversy. Cite need for clearer Kyiv Press Bureau With 29 members, Ukraine’s Cabinet is the largest in Europe. The average age of security guarantees KYIV – KGB agents, Ukrainophobes its ministers is 53. It includes not a single and leaders of business clans have packed by Zenon Zawada female appointee. the Cabinet of Ministers led by Prime The far-from-eloquent Mr. Azarov Kyiv Press Bureau Minister Mykola Azarov, which was sparked an international hubbub when KYIV – Ukraine’s NATO experts and approved by Ukraine’s Parliament on commenting that “it’s not a female matter supporters of the alliance on March 15 pre- March 11. to conduct reforms,” just several weeks sented their proposals for its New Strategic Many of the 29 ministers served in the after Mr. Yanukovych suggested former Concept, which is currently being devel- authoritarian regime of former President Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko go to oped by NATO member-states and part- Leonid Kuchma, and the majority are the kitchen to demonstrate her talents. ners. members of the Party of Regions of Both drew a sharp rebuke from the Among the priorities suggested by Ukraine. Almost a third of the ministers leader of the Green faction in the German Ukraine’s experts are developing a system are Donetsk Oblast natives, while several Bundestag. Yet, Ukraine experts expect a of confidence-building measures in the others built their careers in the Donbas, female appointment to Mr. Azarov’s post-Soviet sphere, as well as obtaining Ukraine’s industrial hub. Cabinet far sooner than any meaningful certain dividends in return for the active The appointments failed to fulfill Party reforms. participation of Ukrainian soldiers in of Regions promises of uniting the country The Weekly examined some of the more and selecting only the most professional NATO military operations. Zenon Zawada scandalous government appointments. candidates, which political observers said “Ukraine is the single partner of the alli- Mykola Azarov: A geologist-turned- Ukraine ought to receive dividends from were campaign lies. Instead, the ance that participates in all its current oper- politician, Ukraine’s new prime minister is NATO as the single partner of the alli- Yanukovych government will consist of ations,” said Oleksii Melnyk, the military also the father of the nation’s first tax code, ance that participates in all its current the same old faces, pursuing the same old programs expert at the Razumkov Center which was drafted in 1996 as a bureaucrat- operations, said Oleksii Melnyk, the agendas. in Kyiv, who coordinated the work and ic labyrinth intended to serve as an effec- military programs expert at the “We’ve got a large, avaricious group authored the proposal. “We propose and tive trap for businesses and media opera- Razumkov Center for Economic and spreading its hold over the levers of put forward our right – as a country that is tions that got in the way of the authoritari- Political Research in Kyiv. power,” said Ivan Lozowy, president of the a partner and active participant in the alli- an government of President Kuchma. He Institute of Statehood and Democracy in ance’s operations – to expect dividends stands accused, but never convicted, of a a decade by the North Atlantic Treaty Kyiv. “The second stage is grabbing assets from the system of collective security.” multitude of crimes while serving in the Organization (NATO) to revise the strategy and illegal enrichment, and the third is The New Strategic Concept, planned for Kuchma administration, some of which conflict with this relatively, semi-open completion by May 1, is the first attempt in (Continued on page 16) were described on the Melnychenko tapes. society.” Among them: Dr. Azarov abused “admin- Numerous ministers have been the tar- resurs” (access to government resources) gets of criminal prosecutions and investi- to ensure Mr. Kuchma’s presidential victo- Senate recognizes Ukraine’s progress gations into corrupt business dealings. ry in 1999. In 2002, Dr. Azarov allegedly Many have little professional experience dispatched the tax police to brutally attack in establishment of democratic institutions in the ministries they’ve been appointed to the Obkom Internet publication for expos- lead and received their posts as recogni- ing the corrupt business dealings of his WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate national election norms.” tion of their support for the Yanukovych son, Oleksii. recognized “the important progress made The resolution also cited the United presidential campaign. by the people of Ukraine in the establish- States-Ukraine Strategic Partnership Yet the shady background of many min- (Continued on page 10) ment of democratic institutions following Commission “inaugurated by Secretary of the presidential run-off election on State Hillary Clinton and Ukrainian February 7, 2010,” in Senate Resolution Foreign [Affairs] Minister Petro 422 introduced by Sen. Richard Lugar Poroshenko on December 9, 2009.” (R-Ind.) and co-sponsored by Sen. John Through the resolution, the Senate Kerry (D-Mass.), ranking member and stated that it “supports ongoing prog- chairman, respectively, of the Committee ress by Ukraine in addressing remain- on Foreign Relations. ing challenges in the electoral processes The resolution, which also pledged as identified by the Organization for continued U.S. support for Ukraine, was Security and Cooperation in Europe introduced on February 25 and referred to and other international election moni- the Committee on Foreign Relations. It toring entities; encourages all parties to received unanimous consent in the com- respect the independence and territorial mittee and in the full Senate on March 4. sovereignty of Ukraine, as well as the S. Res. 422 noted Ukraine’s adherence full integration of Ukraine into the “to democratic, transparent and fair elec- international democratic community; tion standards,” its “reform of election pledges further support for the develop- laws and regulations, the development of ment of a fully free and open democrat- a pluralistic and independent press, and ic system, as well as a transparent free the establishment of public institutions market economy, in Ukraine; and reaf- Zenon Zawada that respect human rights and the rule of firms its commitment to engage the Zenon Zawada law,” and the conclusion of international government of Ukraine in further devel- Minister of Emergency Situations Nestor monitoring groups that elections held in opment of bilateral cooperation through Borys Kolesnikov, the right-hand man Shufrych has been involved in numerous Ukraine in 2010, 2007, 2006 and 2004 the United States-Ukraine Strategic of Donbas industrial kingpin Rinat brawls, both personal and political, and is were “generally in accordance with inter- Partnership Commission.” Akhmetov, is vice prime minister for the target of more than a dozen criminal the Euro 2012 soccer championship. investigations of his business dealings. 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 28, 2010 No. 13 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFS Gas lobby assumes control Tigipko on cooperation with IMF Ukraine John Tefft discussed the organiza- tion of working contacts between govern- of Ukraine’s Security Service KYIV – Vice Prime Minister Sergey ment officials of the two countries and inten- Tigipko said on March 24 that it is necessary sification of bilateral relations, the Media by Taras Kuzio ery of the separation of business and poli- to draft a new program of cooperation Liaison Department of the Cabinet’s Eurasia Daily Monitor tics. The head of the parliamentary between Ukraine and the International Secretariat reported on March 19. Next Committee on National Security and Monetary Fund (IMF). Mr. Tigipko said that week, the U.S. assistant secretary for the On March 11 the Ukrainian parliament Defense, former Defense Minister Anatoliy the IMF mission had arrived in Ukraine and treasury, whose agency is responsible for appointed Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, Grytsenko, said that Mr. Yanukovych’s gov- that the first round of talks had already been cooperation with the IMF, will visit Ukraine. and a new Security Service of Ukraine ernment appointments showed that he was held that morning. “We’re currently begin- “We want our Treasury to arrange produc- (SBU) Chairman, Valerii Khoroshkovskyi. not interested in separating business and ning to resolve fundamentally other issues,” tive relations with the Ukrainian govern- As Ukrayinska Pravda (February 24) politics (Radio Liberty, March 11). he said, adding that the previous program of ment,” Mr. Tefft said. (Ukrinform) warned: “An additional bonus for the It is doubtful, Mr. Grytsenko believes, cooperation with the IMF had resolved the Liovochkin-Firtash group could be the that these billionaires would first and fore- problem of stabilization amid the crisis. Yanukovych to visit U.S. in April appointment of Khoroshkovskyi as the head most defend state interests and undertake “Now we need to talk about medium-term of the SBU or internal affairs minister, for growth, and here we need to apply some- KYIV – President Viktor Yanukovych reforms. Ukrayinska Pravda (March 12, 13) intends to pay an official visit to the United which they are actively lobbying.” The head ran two lengthy articles on the large number what different mechanisms and have a States in April. Foreign Affairs Minister of the Presidential Administration, Serhiy of oligarchs appointed to the Azarov gov- medium-term program for around two Kostyantyn Gryshchenko announced this Liovochkin, has close ties to the gas lobby, ernment, Presidential Administration and years,” Mr.