www.ukrweekly.com INSIDE: • Ottawa Chair of Ukrainian Studies is inaugurated — page 4. • Ukrainians in Rochester celebrate their community’s centennial — page 5. • Special section on the Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 — pages 8-12. Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association Vol. LXXI HE No.KRAINIAN 49 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2003 EEKLY$1/$2 in Ukraine “FocusT Teamwork” is themeU at annual session Amid uproar,W Verkhovna Rada of Ukrainian National Association General Assembly passes controversial budget by Roman Woronowycz exchange for its support of the budget bill. Kyiv Press Bureau Verkhovna Rada Chairman Lytvyn abruptly aborted the day’s stormy pro- KYIV – After tussling in the morning ceedings by adjourning the afternoon ses- to gain control of the chairman’s dais and sion prematurely, after the budget’s pas- the day’s events as well it seemed, sage led to renewed chaos on the parlia- Ukraine’s lawmakers passed a controver- mentary floor over what the Agrarians sial 2004 budget on November 27 that believed they had been promised. temporarily reduced the minimum wage. Afterwards, the head of the The budget bill was approved — with Parliament’s Budget Committee, Petro 234 votes in support — after only the Poroshenko, a member of the opposition second reading of the draft law, marking Our Ukraine faction, said the lawmakers the first time a budget was passed in such had essentially approved a government short shrift. In past years a third and final budget without legislative input because reading was required before the needed few of the Parliament’s recommendations changes had been incorporated and law- had been incorporated. makers reached a majority consensus. Mr. Poroshenko indicated that he Speaking in Kirovohrad on December would try to have the budget revisited in 2, the same day that President Leonid response to the way in which the govern- Kuchma signed the bill into law, ment of Prime Minister Viktor Members of the UNA General Assembly during the opening ceremony before the Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Yanukovych seemed to have railroaded Shevchenko monument at Soyuzivka. Lytvyn admitted that some short cuts had the Agrarian faction and its leader, taken place in the budget procedure, Kateryna Vaschuk. by the UNA Executive Committee opportunity the board of advisors had to which was not the best way to have come together to assess the company’s per- The problem was rectified the next KERHONKSON, N.Y. – The Ukrainian approved Ukraine’s basic financial docu- day, however – with the Agrarian faction formance after this, the first full completed ment. National Association’s General Assembly year of operation by the new administration presumably assuaged – when lawmakers met on November 21-23 at the UNA resort, “We passed the budget a bit unexpect- voted to support a zero tax rate on value- elected in May 2002. edly. This year the budget procedure was Soyuzivka, for its annual meeting. The The annual meeting’s sessions were added taxes for agricultural producers weekend sessions, held under the banner of not fully open and transparent,” admitted through 2005. chaired by UNA President Stefan Kaczaraj. Mr. Lytvyn, according to Interfax- “Focus Teamwork: Planning for the Future,” Participating members of the General Thousands of demonstrators from both concentrated on setting a strategy for the Ukraine. sides of the political dialectic stood out- Assembly included: First Vice-President He explained that the endorsement of future growth and development of the UNA Martha Lysko, National Secretary Christine side the Parliament Building in the morn- organization. the 2004 budget came quickly due to a ing – some having arrived before the sun Kozak, Treasurer Roma Lisovich, Director series of agreements made between the The meeting served as a historic mile- for Canada Al Kachkowski, Auditor rose – chanting either support for the stone with the General Assembly voting to government and pro-presidential fac- budget put forth by Prime Minister Alexander Serafyn and Advisors Myron tions. Mr.Lytvyn did not present restore its decades-long membership in the Groch, Joseph Hawryluk, Stefan Hawrysz, Yanukovych or opposition to it. Ukrainian Congress Committee of America specifics. Meanwhile, inside the building, lawmak- Michael Kuropas, Vasyl Luchkiw, Eugene The 2004 budget was passed without (UCCA). Oscislawski, Pawlo Prinko and Andrij ers physically pushed and shoved one Back in 1980 a serious schism developed the support of the opposition factions and another to gain control of the leadership Skyba. after a last-minute protest by the pro-pres- at the UCCA’s 13th Congress which led Also attending were two honorary mem- dais, as Mr. Lytvyn and his two vice- two fraternal associations – the UNA and idential Agrarian faction, which claimed chairman were readying to enter the ses- bers of the General Assembly, Myron that the government had not followed Ukrainian Fraternal Association (UFA) – Kuropas and Tekla Moroz, who take part in sion hall from their side offices. and 25 other national organizations to walk through on an agreement to extend tax an advisory capacity, but have no vote at abatements to the agricultural sector in (Continued on page 27) out of the convention. This left diaspora General Assembly meetings. Ukrainian Americans without one central Not present were: Second Vice-President representative umbrella organization. Eugene Iwanciw, Auditor Zenon Holubec, As regards financial matters, the UNA (excused for medical reasons), Auditor reported progress on two fronts: Yaroslav Zaviysky and Advisors Barbara • the UNA’s surplus increased by Bachynsky (excused due to medical rea- $1,289,000 for the nine months ending sons), Wasyl Liscynesky and Myron September 30, 2003, a 22 percent increase Pylypiak. over the balance of $5,835,000 as of In keeping with tradition, the annual December 31, 2002, for a total surplus of meeting opened with a wreath-laying cere- $7,124,000 as of September 30, 2003; mony at Soyuzivka’s monument to Taras • Soyuzivka’s operating deficit of Shevchenko, patron of the UNA. The $721,000 for the year ending December 31, American, Canadian and Ukrainian national 2002, has improved due to the combined anthems were played, and Mrs. Moroz read efforts of restructuring, successful imple- a text about Taras Shevchenko. The brief mented management and operating changes, ceremony concluded with the General and a successful donor drive. The deficit for Assembly members’ singing of his the nine months ending September 30, 2003, “Testament” (Zapovit). was $227,000 – less than half the amount Once inside the Main House Library, recorded during the same period in 2002. members observed a moment of silence in Participants of the three-day meeting – memory of the UNA officers, on both the the UNA’s executive officers, advisors, audi- national and local levels, who had died dur- tors and honorary members of the General ing the past year: UNA Honorary Members Assembly – heard and discussed reports on Anna Haras and Wasyl Didiuk, UNA secre- the UNA’s business operations and fraternal AP/Viktor Pobedinsky activities for the past year. This was the first (Continued on page 24) A view of the turmoil in the Verkhovna Rada as the 2004 budget was passed. 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2003 No. 49 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFSNEWSBRIEFS Could Georgia’s ‘velvet revolution’ Tyhypko offers to run for president Palacio commented that the accord will increase Poland’s energy security. KYIV – National Bank of Ukraine (RFE/RL Newsline) be mirrored in Ukraine? Chairman Serhii Tyhypko said on by Taras Kuzio support vis-à-vis a perceived Russian November 28 that he is ready to run for Two parliamentary groups merge RFE/RL Newsline threat. They were also founding members the post of president in 2004 if “center parties” fail to agree on a single presi- KYIV – Verkhovna Rada Chairman of the GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Volodymyr Lytvyn announced on What is the likelihood that Georgia’s Azerbaijan, Moldova) regional group, dential candidate, Interfax reported. Mr. “velvet revolution,” precipitated by pop- Tyhypko made his announcement at a November 20 that two parliamentary created in 1997, that represented an caucuses, Ukraine’s Regions and ular outrage at the falsification of the effort by its members to distance them- Labor Ukraine party congress in Kyiv, at November 2 parliamentary elections, which he was re-elected party chairman. European Choice, have united under the selves from Russian integration projects name Ukraine’s Regions, UNIAN report- might be repeated in Ukraine? Could under the aegis of the CIS. He said he opposes the idea of indirectly analogous events occur in Kyiv if an electing the country’s president through ed. The new caucus, which is co-chaired But Mr. Shevardnadze’s pro-Western by Raisa Bohatyriova and Volodymyr attempt is made to predetermine the out- orientation did not deter Washington the Verkhovna Rada. (RFE/RL come of the presidential ballot scheduled Newsline) Pekhota, becomes the second-largest from tacitly supporting his ouster by a deputies’ group in the Ukrainian for October 2004? younger generation of leaders untainted Ousted Georgian President Eduard Ukraine opens border post on Tuzla Parliament. The current array of forces in by corruption. the Verkhovna Rada is as follows: Our Shevardnadze and Ukrainian President There is, however, more that differen- TUZLA ISLAND – State Border Leonid Kuchma became national leaders Ukraine (103 deputies), Ukraine’s tiates Georgia from Ukraine. Mr. Service head Mykola Lytvyn and Regions (64), the Communist Party (60), in the same era (1992-1994), and each Shevardnadze is arguably more akin to Transport Minister Heorhii Kyrpa took claimed to have saved his country from the Party of Industrialists and former Ukrainian President Leonid part in an official ceremony on Entrepreneurs-Labor Ukraine (42), the “nationalists.” Each has also claimed that Kravchuk than to Mr.