THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXXV No. 16 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 2017 $2.00 Ukrainian-led design team awaits decision Gontareva, fearless head of NBU, resigns on Ottawa’s Victims of Communism memorial after tackling ‘zombie’ banks, oligarchs by Mark Raczkiewycz tative level in its development today.” Her efforts to clean up the banking sys- KYIV – As the outgoing central bank gov- tem weighed down by massive related-party ernor, Valeria Gontareva will be a hard act lending and non-performing loans, and what to follow. she called in an April 5 Wall Street Journal Her resignation on April 10 expectedly column, “zombie banks,” were praised by the came after the International Monetary IMF and broader financial community. Fund released an additional $1 billion as When President Poroshenko asked the part of its $17.5 billion country support former investment banker to chair the NBU program, and after three years as head of in June 2014, most owners of financial the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU). institutions were using them for their own Under her watch, 87 out of some 180 personal benefit, rather than as vehicles to banks lost their licenses because they stimulate economic growth and keep the couldn’t meet the stricter regulations she economy turning. put in place in one of Europe’s most cor- The Dnipro (formerly Dnipropetrovsk) rupt and shaky banking systems. As a native and former head of Investment result, total banking sector assets shrank to Capital Ukraine, which counted Mr. $53.8 billion by year-end 2016 from more Poroshenko as a client, identified three cat- than $120 billion three years earlier. egories of toxic banks that eventually failed. Put another way, if the ratio of corporate Twenty of these banks were pure “mon- The design team (from left): Larysa Kurylas, Wiktor Moskaliuk and Claire Bedat. loans to gross domestic product was ey-laundering machines” with “no assets or Larysa Kurylas and Washington, D.C.-based around 50 percent before Ms. Gontareva’s liabilities” that were used entirely to stash by Christopher Guly tenure, and the household loans to GDP ill-gotten gains, usually abroad. A second Special to The Ukrainian Weekly landscape architect Claire Bedat is one of five in competition and has emerged as the ratio was 13 percent, then today they are group was “zombie banks” that had “only OTTAWA – An architectural team led by a public favorite in an online poll run by the 35 and 7 percent, respectively. liabilities and no assets,” she told the Ukrainian Canadian is expecting a decision Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC). “I came here to implement reforms. My Financial Times on March 26. by month’s end as to whether its design has Team Moskaliuk’s concept focuses on mission is fulfilled – the reforms are imple- A third group comprised the “oligarch been selected to bring life to a long-awaited the four principles of democracy – equality, mented,” Ms. Gontareva told journalists on banks” that “collected money from all pos- Victims of Communism memorial in the freedom, justice and representation – the day of her resignation. “I know that if all sible sources – mostly from private individ- Canadian capital in the spring of 2019. depicted in four spire-like pillars made of government institutions conducted their ual deposits – and invested all this money The design by Ontario architect Wiktor reforms in the same way as the NBU, our Moskaliuk, Ukrainian American architect (Continued on page 4) country would be at a very different quali- (Continued on page 5) Charitable Ukraine honors UNWLA as best provider of ‘Aid from Abroad’ NEW YORK – The Ukrainian National Women’s League of ing ideals, goals, faith and work done by our organization and America (UNWLA) was honored on March 29 by the previous generations of the Ukrainian diaspora did not go Association of Charities of Ukraine with its top award in the unrecognized.” category Aid from Abroad. Many special guests were present at the awards ceremony, The annual awards recognizing groups and individuals active including representatives of five religious denominations active in charitable endeavors have been held since 2012, although the in Ukraine; First Lady of Ukraine Maryna Poroshenko; the Charitable Ukraine competition was founded in 2007. chairman of the Supervisory Board of Ukraine 3000 This year’s Charitable Ukraine competition had a record Foundation Kateryna Yushchenko; Minister of Culture Yevhen number of applicants – 744. It was divided into 15 main, three Nyschuk; Minister of Education and Science Liliia Hrynevych; individual and four special categories, one of which was Aid poet and publisher Ivan Malkovych; the leader of the band from Abroad. The statuette presented to honorees is an angel Mandry, Serhiy Fomenko; and other public figures. decorated with folk designs and amber called the Angel of A summary of the UNWLA’s humanitarian aid and cultural Goodness. work for the year 2016 was listed on the reporting form for the The goal of the annual competition is to spur development Charitable Ukraine competition. Among the information pro- of charitable activities in Ukraine by popularizing charitable vided was the following. work, patronage of such activity and volunteerism, as well as by informing the public of such good works and their results. were held in Yaremche and in Lviv for families of soldiers serv- The UNWLA was presented its award by Ukraine’s Vice ing• in In the January anti-terrorist of 2016 operation two camps (ATO). sponsored by the UNWLA Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration Ivanna Klympush Tsintsadze in a ceremony held at the Kyiv City Patriot Defense and now Ukraine’s acting minister of health), Administration. Also vying for the top award in the Aid from Julia Demus the• UNWLA In cooperation financially with supported Dr. Ulana training Suprun courses (the organizer held in pub- of Abroad category were organizations from Poland and Turkey. At the Charitable Ukraine competition’s awards lic hospitals related to the assessment and treatment of trau- Representing the UNWLA at the ceremony were Dr. Maria ceremony in Kyiv, representing the Ukrainian matic injuries. Furtak, UNWLA representative for social welfare in Ukraine, National Women’s League of America were Dr. and Olena Vlasenko, president of the Zhytomyr branch of the Maria Furtak, UNWLA representative for social py Center of Hope at the Institute of Psychiatric Health at the Ukrainian Women’s League of Ukraine. welfare in Ukraine, and Olena Vlasenko, presi- Ukrainian• The UNWLA Catholic became University the inmajor Lviv. donor to the trauma thera- UNWLA President Marianna Zajac commented: “This rec- dent of the Zhytomyr branch of the Ukrainian ognition is a great honor for us, confirming that the longstand- Women’s League of Ukraine. (Continued on page 10) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 2017 No. 16 ANALYSIS Russian agitprop pervades Groysman pledges more reforms on territory beyond the line of contact. As Secretary Tillerson said at NATO, Russia’s KYIV – Ukrainian Prime Minister aggression against Ukraine has shaken the Volodymyr Groysman says his government Central and Eastern Europe very foundations of security and stability in will continue to implement reforms in the attack on the Polish Consulate in Lutsk Europe, and compromises our shared by Sergey Sukhankin 2017. Addressing a press conference in and the blockade of the international high- vision of a Europe that is whole, free and at Eurasia Daily Monitor Kyiv on April 11, five days before the first way connecting Poland and western peace.” Ms. Byrnes also told the anniversary since his appointment to the The outbreak of the mass Euro-Maidan Ukraine by local paid radicals have further Organization for Security and Cooperation post, Mr. Groysman said he and his team street protests in Kyiv (2013) and Russia’s embittered bilateral relations (Espreso.tv, in Europe: “The United States affirms its were now focused on reforms in the pen- subsequent aggression against Ukraine con- March 29, 2017). staunch support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, sions system, education and medical-ser- vinced the Kremlin of the need to project The roots of these “mysterious” develop- independence, and territorial integrity vices sector. In the field of energy security, Russian “soft power” to blunt any response ments are much easier to understand within its internationally-recognized bor- he said Kyiv was seeking opportunities to from Europe. However, Western countries thanks to the materials published by the ders. We do not, and will not, accept buy coal from different countries to get rid ostracized Russia, particularly after it ille- “hacktivist” group Ukrainian Cyber Alliance Russian efforts to change the borders or of Ukraine’s dependence on Russian coal. gally and forcibly annexed Crimea. (UCA). In particular, the UCA has released territory of Ukraine. …U.S. sanctions will Kyiv is also looking at ways to increase pro- Consequently, Russia could no longer easily the private e-mail correspondence of the remain in place until Russia reverses the duction of electricity by the country’s rely on large Russian corporations to influ- “Grey Cardinal” of the Russian World in actions that triggered them.” (U.S. Mission nuclear plants and hydropower stations, ence mainstream European politicians and Central and Eastern Europe, Alexander to the OSCE) Mr. Groysman said. Calling Russia “an members of civil society “to see things from Usowskii (Informnapalm.org, February 22, aggressor country,” the prime minister Moscow’s point of view,” as used to be the 2017). Mr. Usowskii is a Belarusian activist Poroshenko: secure Ukraine, secure Europe noted that Ukraine was no longer depen- case. Instead, European extremists and radi- suspected of organizing anti-Ukraine rallies dent on Russian natural gas. Mr.