www.ukrweekly.com INSIDE:• Demjanjuk’s Israeli defense attorney speaks on the record — page 3. • Harvard’s Ukrainian summer school holds 25th anniversary reunion — page 7. • North America’s Olympians of Ukrainian descent — centerfold. Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association Vol. LXIV HE KRAINIANNo. 28 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JULY 14, 1996 EEKLY$1.25/$2 in Ukraine More than 70 mines shut down T U Parliament approvesW Lazarenko as PM; by workers demanding back pay president names six “power” ministers by Marta Kolomayets miners in Luhanske and Krasnodon were by Marta Kolomayets defense minister and foreign affairs minis- Kyiv Press Bureau planning similar strike measures and a Kyiv Press Bureau ter, who are directly appointed by the presi- blockade of the railway. dent. Others who are directly appointed by KYIV — With thousands of miners According to Serhiy Raspopov, a KYIV — Ukraine’s Parliament voted the president include the commander of the throughout Ukraine striking to demand member of the Donetske miner’s com- 344-22 to approve President Leonid border guards, and the chairman of the unpaid wages — in some cases from as far mittee, the decision to block the railway Kuchma’s candidate for prime minister, State Customs Committee. The prime min- back as February — and more than 70 was made after the strikers received Pavlo Lazarenko — a first step by both ister also is a member of the NSC, which is mines at a standstill, government officials news on July 10 that they would be paid branches of power to abide by the state’s headed by the president.] scrambled to find funds to repay them. for June, but no solution was reached on newly adopted Constitution. As The Weekly was going to press on Although the first installments of the back wages, which for some miners According to Ukraine’s fundamental Thursday evening, July 11, President backlogged wages were trickling into includes four to five months of salary. law, the president has three months to Kuchma issued decrees appointing the western Ukraine’s Ukrzakhidvuhil in The leader of the United Independent name a prime minister, who then has to following power ministers: security ser- Chervonohrad on July 10, miners in the Railroad Workers’ Union, Semen Karikov, be approved by a constitutional majority vice — Volodymyr Radchenko; defense Donetske region began blocking the rail- sent a telegram to the Donetske miners in Parliament. Only after this procedure — Olexander Kuzmuk; interior — Yuriy roads leading into this industrial city, expressing support for their demands. can the prime minister begin forming a Kravchenko; foreign — Hennadiy demanding the millions of dollars of The miners’ strike committee in government. Udovenko; border guards — Viktor wages owed them. Donetske calls meetings every night to [Power ministers do not need parliamen- Bannykh; state customs — Leonid President Leonid Kuchma on July 10 decide on the type and duration of protest. tary approval. These include four who Derkach. Of these six ministers, only the told Volodymyr Shcherban, the head of make up the National Security Council: the the Donetske Regional Administration (Continued on page 4) security services minister, interior minister, (Continued on page 16) and a deputy in Parliament, that there could be no special government emission of funds to pay the miners. He said that everything possible was being done to Ukraine’s Olympians off to Atlanta Games settle the problem, but did not disclose any details. by Marta Kolomayets mo-ha” (victory), and clapping to the four busloads of athletes, trainers and Presidential press secretary Dmytro Kyiv Press Bureau beat, the enthusiastic spectators were support staff to the festive send-off entertained by some of Ukraine’s most event, organized by Coca-Cola in Markov told Interfax-Ukraine that KYIV — Several thousand Kyivans President Kuchma has addressed a popular rock groups — Plach Yeremiyi, Ukraine, one of the Olympic team’s top gathered on the capital city’s Indepen- request to U.S. President Bill Clinton, Ani Lorak and Pikardiyska Tercia — sponsors. As the cheering crowd greeted dence Square on Friday evening, July 5, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and while waiting for the Olympic hopefuls the athletes, decked out in blue-and-yel- leaders of international financial organi- to send off Ukraine’s 237-member team to arrive at the city center, brightly deco- low Adidas sports outfits, the Olympics- zations to urgently grant credits to help to the XXVI Summer Olympic Games in rated with Olympic banners and Coca- Atlanta. Cola slogans. improve the situation in the coal indus- (Continued on page 4) try, including payment of back wages. Chanting “U-kra-yi-na” and “Pe-re- Policemen on motorcycles escorted That same day President Kuchma’s chief of staff, Dmytro Tabachnyk, and National Security Adviser Volodymyr Horbulin met with ambassadors of the G-7 countries to Ukraine to inform the diplomats not only of the positive trends in Ukraine’s economy, but also to express their concern over the growing volume of wage arrears. In the course of the meeting, reported Interfax-Ukraine, it was noted that the president and the government are taking a number of preventive measures to ease social tensions; these measures were not defined, however. One source close to the presidential administration noted that Ukrainian offi- cials will seek aid from international financial organizations and governments of the G-7 countries to overcome the payments crisis in Ukraine. But it may take days, if not weeks, for these problems to be resolved. In the meantime, miners from the Donetske region, where 42 coal enterprises are striking, since July 3 have been blocking main thoroughfares into the city. On July 11 they began staging sit-ins and felling trees from the nearby forests to block railroad tracks leading into this industrial city. Interfax-Ukraine reported that thousands of people were stranded at the railway station, sweltering in the Marta Kolomayets scorching sun. Ukraine’s Olympic athletes bid farewell to fans gathered in Kyiv’s central square for a send-off ceremony. As The Weekly was going to press, 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JULY 14, 1996 No. 28 Ukrainian reforms: a sociological analysis by Volodymyr Zviglyanich would better serve national interests. NEWSBRIEFSNEWSBRIEFS Support for confederation with Russia CONCLUSION and other former Soviet republics is high- Ukraine, Iraq draw up oil deal Belarusian and English, and sold abroad to Parties and statehood est among ethnic Russians (80 percent), end an “information blockade” about the over-50 generation (62 percent), in KYIV — Under the terms of an agree- Belarus. Mr. Belsky said the measures So far political parties have limited the Crimea (88 percent), and in the east- ment signed here on July 6, Ukraine will would save the state 70 billion Belarusian appeal in Ukraine. Popular support is ern (87 percent), northeastern (67 per- purchase 500,000 barrels of oil a day rubles ($4.5 million) a year. (OMRI Daily distributed among 30 or more parties, cent) and southern (66 percent) regions of from Iraq. The deal will be implemented Digest) with the Communist Party getting the Ukraine. once the United Nations clears the way most backing. Support for national- The lack of popular confidence in the for Iraq to resume exporting petroleum. Rights monitor Kovalev hospitalized democratic and centrist parties has national government and political parties, (The Wall Street Journal) declined somewhat since 1992. MOSCOW — Russia’s best-known which are supposed to represent people’s Russian money in Ukraine human rights activist, Sergei Kovalev, has However, this fact does necessarily interests, reinforced with the vision of mean that the Communists would suc- been hospitalized after suffering a major themselves as “Slavs” rather than MOSCOW — Russian investors sent heart attack, Russian and Western agencies ceed in parliamentary and presidential “Europeans,” brings about positive senti- about $2 billion to Ukraine during the elections. Trust in the Parliament (where reported on July 8. Mr. Kovalev, 66, spent ments toward a possible “Slavs plus Russian election campaign, Radio Mayak 10 years in Soviet prisons and exile. He was the Ukrainian left parties occupy near Kazakhstan” confederation and a reported on July 5. Most of the money Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s senior half of the seats) is the lowest of all gov- decrease of support for an independent was invested in bonds. Since Russian human rights advisor before breaking with ernmental institutions (70 percent say state. President Boris Yeltsin’s re-election, the the president over the military intervention they lack confidence in Parliament). Taking into account the rise of the ten- National Bank of Ukraine expects much in Chechnya. (OMRI Daily Digest) At the same time the public prefers dency toward “real” integration in of that money to be reinvested in Russia. pro-reform (47 percent) over anti- Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and (OMRI Daily Digest) Ukrainian-Kazakh talks focus on trade reform (4 percent) parties. Support for Kyrgyzstan as well as the almost com- Pakistan to buy Ukrainian tanks KYIV — Ukrainian President Leonid pro-reform groups is greatest among the plete energy dependence of Ukraine on younger generation (age 18-29) and the Kuchma met with Kazakh First Deputy Russia, one should consider these two ISLAMABAD — Pakistani Defense better educated, reaching a majority Prime Minister Nigmatzhan Isingarin on factors combined as the biggest possible Minister Aftab Shahban Mirani said his among the latter. This means that July 9, Ukrainian Radio reported. Talks threat to Ukrainian independence. country is close to an agreement with national-democratic pro-reform parties, focused on economic relations and the In assessing Russian policy toward the Ukraine to purchase 330 T-80 tanks, which somehow lost popular standing, work of a Ukrainian-Kazakh commission Ukrainian state, 53 percent believe ITAR-TASS reported on July 10.