www.ukrweekly.com INSIDE: • N.J. governor promises Eastern European Heritage Commission – page 4. • USCAK national tennis championships held at Soyuzivka – page 11. • Ilona Sochynsky’s works on exhibit at Ukrainian Institute – page 12. THEPublished U byKRAINIAN the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profitW associationEEKLY Vol. LXXVII No.39 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2009 $1/$2 in Ukraine U.S. assistant surgeon general Tymoshenko and Yushchenko spar visits Ukraine to speak on H1N1 over sale of state-owned strategic asset by Zenon Zawada issued a decree forbidding the sale of the Kyiv Press Bureau economically strategic factory, which he said doesn’t adhere to national security inter- KYIV – In a desperate bid to raise gov- ests. ernment revenue, Prime Minister Yulia During his three-day visit to the United Tymoshenko will try on September 29 to Nations, he accused Ms. Tymoshenko of auction off a state-owned, nationally strate- preparing a fixed auction and called on gic asset, ignoring at least two court rulings investors to avoid the “show,” vowing any and a presidential decree issued by Viktor sale would be canceled by the courts. Yushchenko forbidding the sale. “These backroom deals surrounding the The Odesa Portside Plant is among the portside plant are my serious complaint that world’s biggest producers of ammonia and the government has prepared a non-compet- carbamide, and the State Property Fund has itive, non-market privatization of this site,” set a starting price of $500 million. he told a September 22 press conference in However, it’s doubtful a promising buyer New York. Zenon Zawada will emerge, experts said, given Ukraine’s A September 29 auction will result in a U.S. Assistant Surgeon General Boris Lushniak (left) with Academy of Medical political instability and depressed market highly dubious and disputable title to the Sciences President Dr. Oleksander Vozianov (center) and First Deputy Health conditions. property and repel legitimate investors as a Minister Oleksander Bilovol, addressed a September 16 conference in Kyiv dis- result, said Ivan Lozowy, president of the cussing international approaches to the H1N1 pandemic. “The price is not as attractive as it was in 2008,” said Tamara Levchenko, a senior Institute of Statehood and Democracy in Kyiv. by Zenon Zawada A working group of epidemiologists was analyst at Dragon Capital in Kyiv, Ukraine’s top investment bank. With his threats of blocking the sale, the Kyiv Press Bureau assembled within 30 minutes, Dr. Bilovol “Fertilizer is selling at between $230 and president significantly reduced the potential said. They confirmed the H1N1 virus within price for which the plant could sell, which $250 a ton, compared to prices as high as KYIV – U.S. Assistant Surgeon General 11 hours, using Russian and American diag- Dragon Capital estimated at only $200 to $800 a ton last year. Sales and profits have Boris Lushniak, a top authority on the H1N1 nostic equipment, as well as with the help of $250 million. In July, State Property Fund declined along with dropping demand relat- virus, presented the latest U.S. government diagnostic tests performed at the Acting Chair Dmytro Parfenenko estimated information on the growing pandemic to a Hromoshevskyi Institute of Epidemiology ed to the financial crisis. But I’m not sure the sale could earn as much as $1 billion. September 16 international conference in it’s worth delaying the sale,” she said. Kyiv. (Continued on page 10) President Yushchenko on September 17 (Continued on page 10) Dr. Daniel Hryhorczuk, a professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago School of Public Health, and Ulana Mazurkevich, president of the Ukrainian Human Rights Ukrainians recall glory days of Rukh Committee, organized the conference, which by Marta Kolomayets was Dr. Lushniak’s first visit to Ukraine Special to The Ukrainian Weekly after he took the oath of office as assistant surgeon general and was promoted to rear KYIV – Many came to reminisce admiral on August 31, 2006. He is the high- about days of glory past, to see old est ranking active-duty Ukrainian American friends and exchange “war stories,” officer in the U.S. uniformed services. while others came to see President The conference, which addressed inter- Viktor Yushchenko and offer their sup- national approaches to coping with the port for his 2010 presidential bid. Still H1N1 pandemic, was attended by nearly others were curious to see if Rukh, the 100 participants, including public health Popular Movement of Ukraine for professionals from Georgia, Belarus and the Perebudova, has any relevance in Russian Federation. today’s Ukraine and if there is a place “Conferences like this are key to us hav- for it amidst the realities of today’s pol- ing contact internationally on a very impor- itics. tant public health matter, which is the begin- Such was the gathering at the nings of a pandemic influenza,” Dr. Ukraina Palace on Saturday, September Lushniak said. 12, celebrating the 20th anniversary of “Without having international coopera- Rukh, which was the precursor to tion and the ability for nations to talk with Ukraine’s grassroots movement for each other and describe experiences and independence in the early 1990s. It was planning efforts, then the pandemic will be the movement that encouraged mass a much more difficult process to undergo,” demonstrations against the Communist The jubilant scene at the inaugural congress of Rukh, the Popular Movement he added. regime, raised hopes for an independent of Ukraine for Perebudova, held on September 8-10, 1989, in Kyiv. Most post-Soviet nations have avoided Ukraine and later gave birth to numer- the H1N1 virus thus far, with only one ous democratic parties that today make realize independence, to achieve and real- the fall of the Berlin Wall, the heyday of recorded case in Ukraine – a laborer who up the country’s political landscape. ize our statehood,” President Yushchenko Poland’s Solidarity movement, the birth contacted the virus through his job selling “I greet you, the people of Ukraine told the more than 3,000 gathered at the of national democratic campaigns in the vegetables in Detroit, First Deputy Health and the state of Ukraine on this 20th anniversary meeting. Many in the audi- Baltic states, such as Sajudis in Lithuania Minister Dr. Oleksander Bilovol told a press anniversary of the creation of the ence chanted his name enthusiastically, and the Latvian and Estonian National conference. People’s Movement of Ukraine. This while some shouted out despondently, Fronts, Rukh stands out as a symbol of The Ukrainian citizen fell ill upon event changed our lives, changed us “Tell us what to do now,” referring to the democratic rebirth in the region. returning to his homeland in April and and defined the fate of Ukraine. Rukh impending start of the presidential cam- “Without this Ukrainian movement, sought treatment in a Kyiv hospital after was the first to specifically and clearly paign. feeling weakness, a high temperature and shape our main goal: to achieve and In a year that celebrates 20 years since (Continued on page 8) pain in his joints. 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2009 No. 39 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFS Presidential election campaign New start for NATO-Russia relations has a total of some 16,000 tons, the remain- der of which will be disposed of in later, BRUSSELS – Anders Fogh Rasmussen, planned stages. “This event has been pre- paralyzes Ukrainian Parliament the new secretary general of NATO, on ceded by four years of hard work by the September 18 gave his first major public by Pavel Korduban September 11). Mr. Yanukovych claims Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the speech, titled “NATO and Russia: A New that there are enough funds in the state OSCE. Every step of the way was well Eurasia Daily Monitor Beginning.” Mr. Rasmussen presented his coffers for the increase, and that Ms. worth it – for the sake of the human and vision of a strategic partnership with Russia, Ukrainian lawmaking has fallen victim Tymoshenko only wants to use the issue in environmental security of this country. This outlining concrete proposals aimed at to the presidential election campaign. her election campaign (Inter TV, project is vital for Ukraine and it is impor- improving and energizing this relationship. Parliament has failed to resume its work September 6). tant for the security of the OSCE area,” said after the summer vacation as the opposi- Ms. Tymoshenko’s team argues that the Specifically, the secretary general suggested Mr. de Brichambaut. A 400-page tion Party of Regions of Ukraine (PRU) PRU’s demands are purely populist and focusing on the reinforcement of practical Environmental Impact Assessment Report physically blocks the rostrum making it that inflation would spiral if they were cooperation, rejuvenating the NATO-Russia found that the deteriorating containers that impossible to vote. The party is protesting met. “We flatly object to an insufficiently Council (NRC) and conducting a joint hold the noxious substance in Ukraine pose against the refusal by the pro-government motivated increase of social standards review of new security challenges. He a risk that is “unacceptably high.” Mr. majority to increase minimum wages and [which would] only add 10 hrv ($1.10) to argued that, “A time-out may have been use- Ivaschenko said: “The problem, the solution pensions. pensions and later 100 hrv will be lost ful to rethink our relationship. But the inter- for which starts today, is a part of the Soviet It is likely that the present crisis will because of inflation and devaluation,” said national security environment does not wait legacy inherited by Ukraine. Unfortunately, persist for some time to come. The two YTB caucus leader Ivan Kyrylenko for NATO and Russia to sort out their act.