The Ukrainian Weekly 2010, No.14
www.ukrweekly.com ïêàëíéë ÇéëäêÖë! CHRIST IS RISEN! THEPublished U by theKRA Ukrainian NationalIN AssociationIAN Inc., a fraternal Wnon-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXVIII No.14 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, APRIL 4, 2010 $1/$2 in Ukraine Prime Minister Mykola Azarov Ukraine’s capital is battleground returns empty-handed from Moscow between residents and developers by Zenon Zawada projects that they say are ruining residen- Kyiv Press Bureau tial areas, parks and historic structures throughout the capital city. KYIV – Among the biggest challenges Save Old Kyiv has gathered momentum facing the new administration of President and spawned similar organizations, as Viktor Yanukovych will be coping with the more residents have become directly escalating conflicts, sometimes violent, affected by aggressive construction of sky- between Kyiv’s real estate developers, the scrapers, shopping malls and entertain- police and the city’s residents. ment centers in their neighborhoods. Battles raged daily during the Orange The peaceful protest on March 20 era, as a result of a construction boom that turned into a brawl when police officers emerged amidst inadequate laws, courts attempted to stop the activists from acti- and policing to regulate building. vating a megaphone and speakers to enable Developers are widely believed to pay their protests to be heard within the bribes to secure many of the required Cabinet building. Activists said they had building permits, architectural reviews and no choice but to fight the police in order to court rulings. defend their right to free speech. The lack of regulation in the industry “The police can’t forbid us to play has led civic activists to launch both legal music or not play music, to speak into a and illegal avenues of protests to combat microphone or megaphone,” said Web-Portal of Ukraine’s Government what they view as unrestrained illegal con- Oleksander Buntusov, an activist with the struction.
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