www.ukrweekly.com INSIDE:• Bush nominates new ambassador to Ukraine — page 3. • Karmazyn named chief of VOA Ukrainian Service — page 4. • “A Ukrainian Summer” — special 12-page pullout section. Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association Vol. LXXIV HE KRAINIANNo. 19 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MAY 7, 2006 EEKLY$1/$2 in Ukraine T U InternationalW conference in Kyiv U.N. commemorative meeting marks reviews Chornobyl’s consequences 20th byanniversaryMatthew Dubas of Chornobyltion when latent medical disaster conditions later by Zenon Zawada now famous report, “Chernobyl’s arise. Kyiv Press Bureau Legacy: Health, Environmental and UNITED NATIONS – The General The executive director of the United Socio-Economic Impacts.” Assembly of the United Nations held a Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Ann KYIV – “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.” At the April 24 ceremony, Mikhail commemorative meeting on the morning Veneman, focused her words on the pre- With these words penned by Irish poet Balonov of the International Atomic of April 28 to mark the 20th anniversary ventable medical conditions that have John Yeats, First Lady of Ukraine Energy Agency (IAEA) reviewed the of the Chonobyl catastrophe. It was an sharply increased since the Chornobyl Kateryna Yushchenko began her April 24 forum’s carefully phrased conclusions, expression of international solidarity and disaster. Just as iodine deficiency remarks at the international conference which were initially announced in a sign of the commitment of the interna- allowed for thyroid cancers in children to on Chornobyl organized by the Ukrainian September 2005: tional community to prevent an event skyrocket, it has also been a leading government. “... among the 600,000 persons receiv- like Chornobyl from happening again. cause of mental retardation in children As much as the truth about the cata- ing more significant exposures (liquida- A statement issued by the spokesman and pregnant women. The simple and strophe’s effects on human health is tors working in 1986-1987, evacuees and for Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the low-cost solution to this, presented by sought, the conference proved that find- residents of the most ‘contaminated’ U.N., said many hard lessons had been Ms. Veneman, is to increase the con- ing it will demand a struggle, as it will be areas), the possible increase in cancer learned from Chornobyl, including the sumption of iodized salt. Currently only contested for decades to come, if not mortality due to this radiation exposure importance of providing the public with 55 percent of households in Belarus, for remain elusive altogether. might be up to a few percent.” transparent, timely and credible informa- example, consume iodized salt, meaning “Twenty years after the largest man- “This might eventually represent up to tion in the event of a catastrophe. Mr. that every year an estimated 41,000 chil- made disaster in the history of mankind, 4,000 fatal cancers in addition to the Annan recalled the heroic acts of the liq- dren are born iodine-deficient. we Ukrainians don’t know enough, and approximately 100,000 fatal cancers to uidators, the sacrifices of the populations In 2002, the UNDP and UNICEF we haven’t properly grasped the reasons, be expected due to all other causes in this that were relocated, and the measures commissioned a report on the humanitar- scope and consequences of this event,” population.” that have already been taken to limit the ian consequences of the Chornobyl dis- President Viktor Yushchenko himself This conclusion sharply contrasts with impact on health and the natural environ- aster, recommending that the U.N. shift acknowledged at the April 24 opening. those made by a coalition of scientists ment. Further on, Mr. Annan urged the its support from direct humanitarian aid Depending on one’s view, a window and medical experts commissioned by international community to pay homage to sustainable development for the long- into the truth either creaked opened or European parliamentary groups and to the victims of Chornobyl by providing slammed shut when the United Nations - generous support to programs for the (Continued on page 8) affiliated Chernobyl Forum issued its (Continued on page 9) affected regions to regain self-sufficien- cy. The acting president of the General Assembly, Hamidon Ali of Malaysia, opened the meeting by recalling the Villagers in Chornobyl zone reflect on their lives by Zenon Zawada Chornobyl zone, just 27.5 kilometers (17 $75 or $80 a month. events of April 26, 1986, when the fourth Kyiv Press Bureau miles) from the power plant that released With no store in the village, they can reactor of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power almost 300 times the nuclear radiation Plant exploded and released radioactive spend their money only when a food ILLINTSI, Ukraine – They plant their unleashed upon Hiroshima. elements into the atmosphere, poisoning truck swings into town once or twice a own potatoes in radiation-contaminated “I don’t want to move to a two-room the surrounding lands indefinitely. Mr. week. soil. Their only source of income is a apartment in the city,” said Hanna They mostly feed themselves with the Ali also recognized the important contri- government check. Symonenko, 81. “I was born here, and I food they grow in the local soil. butions of the Chernobyl Forum, a col- They have children in Kyiv, and one lective effort by eight organizations with- will die here.” Maria Shaparenko, 82, said she does- fellow even has a son in Oklahoma. in the U.N. system and the governments No one living in Illintsi is younger n’t see why her village has become such Yet, the 30 or so residents of the vil- of Belarus, the Russian Federation and than 45. a spectacle. “I eat the potatoes, beets and Ukraine, to analyze the health, environ- lage of Illintsi wouldn’t want to live any- Its residents rely on pension checks mental and socio-economic impact of the where other than their hamlet in the from the Ukrainian government of about (Continued on page 14) nuclear accident. Mr. Ali also said that the international community must remain attentive to the continuing needs of the affected regions, adding, “May today’s event also serve to remind us of the need for international solidarity, whenever or wherever interna- tional disasters occur. In today’s world, the crucial challenges are borderless.” Kemal Dervis, administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) stated that findings by the U.N. Chernobyl Forum indicate that the 5 mil- lion people who lived in the Chornobyl- affected areas did not need to live in fear of radiation, with many of the areas pre- viously designated as contaminated now suitable for habitation. In many places where levels are con- sidered safe, such as in Belarus, it has been reported by groups such as the Chernobyl Children’s Project International that the “safe” level was simply raised by the government so that His son lives in Oklahoma, but Oleksander Tkachenko, 62, Zenon Zawada people will live there and will not prefers to make his home in the village of Illintsi in the Maria Shaparenko, 81, lived through the Holodomor, receive any state-sponsored compensa- Chornobyl zone. World War II and the Chornobyl catastrophe. 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MAY 7, 2006 No. 19 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFSNEWSBRIEFS Press freedom under assault May Day rally held in Kyiv President Viktor Yushchenko wants to obtain the official documents an April 26 in the former Soviet Union KYIV – Addressing a May 1 rally in Izvestia article cited in listing two downtown Kyiv, Communist Party Ukrainian businessmen as the stakeholders by Christopher Walker close their operations in the country. Chairman Petro Symonenko called upon of RosUkrEnergo, a company that controls RFE/RL Newsline Manipulation of television news con- his supporters to form a new left-wing Ukraine’s gas imports, Interfax-Ukraine tent in Uzbekistan, as in a number of political force capable of countering oli- reported on April 26. Izvestia on April 26 Independent media in the countries of neighboring repressive countries, reached garchs in the newly elected Verkhovna cited an audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers the former Soviet Union, already operat- new heights over the last year. The tele- Rada. Commenting on the March 26 elec- in reporting that Kyiv basketball club ing under extreme duress, came under vision medium was a favored tool in tions’ outcome, Mr. Symonenko said that owner Dmytro Firtash and Ivan Fursin, further assault over the course of the last regime security efforts. The report on the people of Ukraine had once against owner of a Ukrainian bank, own 90 per- year. The political, legal and economic Uzbekistan in this year’s press-freedom lost the battle to big capital. He maintained cent and 10 percent, respectively, of a environments in most of the non-Baltic survey cites the September trial of 15 that the big political forces in the company called Centragas Holding AG. former Soviet countries remain distinctly men accused of involvement in the Parliament do not intend to keep their pre- Centragas in turn owns a 50 percent stake inhospitable to independent journalism. Andijon unrest, where “prosecutors election commitments, rather they mean to in RosUkrEnergo, which is the monopolist This reality is reflected in “Freedom charged that the BBC, IWPR and increase their influence on the Ukrainian of gas supplies to Ukraine according to a of the Press 2006,” the latest edition of RFE/RL had advance knowledge that economy and recoup the money they spent deal concluded between Kyiv and Freedom House’s annual global survey violence would break out in the city. on canvassing. He expressed his opinion Moscow in January. The other half of of media independence.