year in review (by the ukrainian weekly) 1997

7/29/2019 Year in review (by The Ukrainian Weekly) 1997

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THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1997 3No. 52

1997: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Ukraine: instability

in economy, politics

For Ukraine, 1997 was another year marked byeconomic and political instability. There wereshake-ups in the government, foreign investors

leaving the country, problems getting foreign aid, a planto fight corruption that may have failed before it waseven implemented, and preparations for elections that attimes seemed would not be held.

Politicians from the political center began criticizingthe programs of the president and distancing themselvesfrom him as elections to Parliament drew near, whileleftists in the Verkhovna Rada continued their battlewith the president and his policies, which made the pas-sage of every law a highly political contest.

Foreign policy

President Leonid Kuchma can, however, claim somesuccesses. In 1997 foreign policy became his strong suit.His biggest accomplishment occurred in May with the sign-ing of accords with all of Ukraines major neighbors, thehighlight of which was the signing of the big treaty onfriendship and cooperation with Russias President BorisYeltsin on May 31 in Kyiv. Most notably, the documentrecognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity ofUkraine. The two sides also signed a series of economicand cultural cooperation agreements.

The long-awaited visit by the Russian president finallytook place after the two countries had agreed on the divi-sion of the Black Sea Fleet based in the city of Sevastopolon Ukraines Crimean Peninsula. That event occurredthree days earlier with the initialing of the Black Sea Fleetpact between the prime ministers of Ukraine and Russia,Pavlo Lazarenko and Viktor Chernomyrdin, respectively.

The BSF pact gives Russia a 20-year lease on three ofthe four bays of Sevastopol with a five-year option forrenewal by permission of Ukraine. Ukraine receivesmore than $500 million for the portion of its fleet that hadbeen given to Russia in 1994. Neither side would divulgethe value of the actual lease agreement, other than to say

that payment would be made through debt relief ofmoney owed to Russia and on future oil and gas purchas-es by Ukraine.

The BSF pact was strongly criticized by nationaldemocratic leaders, led by the leader of Rukh, NationalDeputy Vyacheslav Chornovil, who said a day after thesigning: Given Russias imperialistic and aggressive ten-dencies vis--vis Crimea in general and Sevastopol in par-ticular, which is reflected in the several declarations of the[Russian] State Duma to leave the Russian Black SeaFleet [in Sevastopol] for 20 years is to force a pervasiveand permanent atmosphere of agitation and strain, notonly in Crimea, but in Ukraine.

Mr. Chornovil was referring to statements by MoscowMayor Yurii Luzhkov and Chairman of the NizhnyiNovgorod region Boris Nemtsov (today a vice prime min-ister of Russia) in January 1997 that Sevastopol belongs toRussia. Mr. Luzhkov went so far as to visit Sevastopol

illegally on January 17 for the opening of an apartmentbuilding for military servicemen of Russias Black SeaFleet based in the citys port. While there he reiterated thatthe city has been, and will continue to be, Russian.

Another event that exacerbated Ukraine-Russia relationsbefore the big treaty was finally signed occurred four daysbefore Mr. Luzhkovs visit. Vseukrainskie Viedomosti, aRussian-language newspaper published in Ukraine,received and published a report allegedly prepared byRussias Vice Foreign Minister for Foreign Affairs SergeiKrylov for an aide to Russian President Yeltsin that out-lined a plan to cause the impeachment of UkrainesPresident Kuchma. The letter called for a coordinated effortto have President Kuchma made out to look like a puppet ofRussia and to use pro-Russian contacts in UkrainesVerkhovna Rada to move to impeach the president for serv-ing the wishes of Ukraines eastern neighbor.

During his two-day May visit to Ukraine to sign the

Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation, Mr. Yeltsin tried toshow that Russias 350-year colonial domination overUkraine is history. At a ceremony before the monument tothe Liberator Soldier in Kyiv, he told the assembled,Ukraine is an independent country, and we hold thispromise sacred. He added that Russia does not lay claimon any part of Ukraine or any of its cities.

President Kuchma had begun his busy month of May bymeeting in Kyiv with Belarus controversial president,Alyasander Lukashenka, on May 12. The two sides formal-ly delineated their 1,200-mile common border and workedto develop a repayment schedule for a $217 million debt

Belarus owes Ukraine. Mr. Lukashenka was greeted bythousands of demonstrators upon his arrival in Kyiv, wholined the highway into the city from Boryspil Airport toprotest the Belarusian presidents strong-arm tactics in sti-fling domestic opposition and freedom of the press.

Then on May 20 Polands President AlexanderKwasniewski arrived in Kyiv, where he and PresidentKuchma agreed to formally set aside historical animositiesand conflicts between the two neighboring countries. OnMay 21 they signed the Declaration on Concord andUnity, which addressed two major points of contentionbetween the two countries in the 20th century: AkcjaWisla, in which 150,000 ethnic Ukrainians in Poland weredisplaced by Polish government decree, and those resist-

ing killed; and the killing of Poles in the Volyn region ofUkraine during World War II.The presidents busy month concluded on June 2, when

he traveled to Bucharest and signed a general treaty withRomania that settled territorial disputes over Serpent(Zmiinyi) Island and the Bukovyna region along the south-western border of Ukraine.

May also provided another jewel for PresidentKuchmas foreign policy crown. On May 29 Ukraine andNATO achieved preliminary agreement on a special part-nership charter at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers inSintra, Portugal. The special agreement was formalized onJuly 9 when President Kuchma and the leaders of the 16NATO countries signed the Charter on a DistinctivePartnership between NATO and Ukraine. The charter re-emphasized the obligation and commitments undertaken bythe NATO countries and Ukraine in the U.N. Charter, theHelsinki Final Act and the Budapest Accord, in which theU.S., France, Great Britain and Russia gave Ukraine securi-ty assurances against nuclear attack. Arriving in Madrid,Spain, for the signing, President Kuchma said, Ukrainehas obtained what it wanted.

During 1997 President Kuchma also met success inMexico, where he traveled for the first time on September24-26. He met with Mexican President Ernesto ZedilloPonce de Leon to discuss expanding bilateral trade andfacilitating cooperation between Ukrainian and Mexicancorporations. The two signed several agreements and dec-larations on diplomatic and economic relations.

President Kuchma was not the only one making foreignpolicy news in Ukraine in 1997. Minister of Foreign AffairsHennadii Udovenko, well-known in United Nations circlesbecause of a lengthy stay there as the Ukraines ambassadorto the U.N. before the fall of the Soviet Union and afterUkraine became independent, was elected president of the52nd session of the General Assembly on September 16.On hand was President Kuchma, who addressed the sessiona week later, on September 22, asking the world not to for-get about Chornobyl.

Ukraine-U.S. relations

As Ukraine and the U.S. developed the strategic partner-ship to which they have committed, visits between leadinggovernment figures occurred more often.

On May 16 President Kuchma traveled to Washingtonfor the first formal gathering of the U.S.-Ukraine BinationalCommission, commonly known as the Kuchma-GoreCommission. The daylong meeting, which was co-chaired

by President Kuchma and U.S. Vice-President Al Gore,culminated in the two men signing a joint initiative on gassector reform for Ukraine and a far-reaching statement onthe work of the commission in the areas of foreign policy,security, trade and investment, and sustainable economiccooperation.

Five weeks later he was back, this time in New York, fora special session of the United Nations on the environmentcalled Earth Summit+5. There he met with several worldleaders, including Russian Prime Minister Chernomyrdinand Vice-President Gore.

President Kuchma was in the U.S. a fourth time onNovember 19 to witness the liftoff of the space shuttleColumbia at Cape Canaveral, Fla., in Ukraines first collab-

orative space mission with the U.S. Aboard the flight wasUkrainian cosmonaut Col. Leonid Kadenyuk.Afterwards, President Kuchma traveled to New York,

where on November 20 he took part in a ChornobylPledging Conference organized by the United States as thisyears chairman of the G-7 industrialized countries. Theconference was attended also by Vice-President Gore, whoseemed to be everywhere President Kuchma went in theU.S. in 1997. Thirteen countries pledged $36.25 million forthe rebuilding of the sarcophagus encasing reactor No. 4 atthe Chornobyl nuclear complex.

That sum was in addition to the $300 million that the G-7 pledged at its annual summit, this year held in Denver.Although President Kuchma did not attend the talks,Ukraine figured prominently. In a strongly worded state-ment, the seven member-countries called on Ukraine totackle the challenges of economic reform and make itselfmore investor-friendly.

Meanwhile at the United Nations, Ukraines ForeignAffairs Minister Udovenko criticized the pace at which theG-7 was disbursing promised aid for the closure of theChornobyl complex.

U.S. officials also traveled to Ukraine in 1997. Two daysafter the signing of the special charter between NATO andUkraine, U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen visitedthe western region of Ukraine where he took part in theclosing ceremonies of joint military exercises held withinthe framework of the NATO Partnership for Peace pro-gram. The exercises, called Cooperative Neighbor 97,involved 1,200 troops from eight countries.

More controversial was a second series of Partnershipfor Peace exercises held in Ukraine on August 23-31. SeaBreeze 97, a mock sea-landing exercise by PFP countriesthat border the Black Sea and the U.S., whose aim was tobring humanitarian relief to the Crimean Peninsula afteran earthquake in a fictitious country dubbed the OrangeRepublic, elicited a strong protest from Russia, whichrefused to take part in them. Russia did not like the con-cept that the troops fictitious mission was to quell anuprising of separatists sponsored by a neighboring state.

Special Ambassador to the CIS Richard Morningstar vis-ited Ukraine several times. On October 22 he led the U.S.delegation in the latest round of the Kuchma-GoreCommission meetings and praised Ukraines progress inreforms.

Less than a month later he was back, this time withHillary Clinton, who visited Lviv during a whirlwind tourof countries of the former Soviet Union.

Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Leonid Kuchma sign the Treaty on Cooperation, Friendship and Partnership.

Efrem Lukatsky


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corruption fight and economic reform. He said that eventhough the president had initially supported the campaign,support had become increasingly hard to find. In June anorder came from Bankivska Street (the presidential admin-istration offices) that I should be muzzled, explained Mr.Holovatyi. He also said the president had repeatedly refusedto meet with him after the program was met with resistance.

Criticism of the presidents half-hearted anti-corruptioneffort was heard also from the international community. OnDecember 3 a World Bank representative said the organiza-tion was not pleased with the results of a symposium oncorruption it co-sponsored with Ukraines Ministry ofJustice in Kyiv on November 28-29, and would review itscommitment to Ukraines anti-corruption program.

Ukraine must do more than express a desire to work, itmust follow the action plan, said VolodymyrOmelianenko, economic development representative for theWorld Bank. It depends on who is leading the effort. Thecommittee (on the fight against organized crime and cor-ruption headed by Mr. Durdynets) is currently workingpoorly; it is not serious.

Two killings of journalists in Ukraine in 1997 alsoappeared to be connected to the fight against corruption.Petro Shevchenko, a reporter stationed in Luhansk for thelarge daily newspaper Kievskie Viedomosti, was foundhanged in an abandoned building near the Kyiv train stationon March 14. Although Ukraines Security Service said itwas a suicide, friends and relatives said that in his last daysMr. Shevchenko had not acted like a person preparing tokill himself. Mr. Shevchenko, who was in Kyiv to collectmoney owed him by the newspaper, had been investigatingSecret Service corruption in Luhansk.

Then, on August 11, the founding editor of Odesasleading newspaper, Vechernaya Odesa, was shot fourtimes during his morning walk. The procurator general ofOdesa explained that critical statements in the paperabout the situation in Odesa and Odesa Oblast may haveprompted the killing. Odesa has several very active orga-nized crime syndicates.

Economy

This was the year in that President Kuchma hoped thefree fall of the economy would cease and stabilizationwould take place. About all that stabilized was the curren-cy, which held its ground against the dollar until the lastquarter of the year, when the currency quakes of Asiacaused the hryvnia to drop some. But inflation was keptunder control and remained much lower than the 25 percentrate that had been predicted. At years end it looked as if therate would not exceed 14 percent.

The major economic problems centered on theVerkhovna Rada, which took half the fiscal year to approvea budget chiefly because it resisted tax reform.

Vice Prime Minister for Economic Reform ViktorPynzenyk undertook an ambitious effort in late 1996 toreform the tax structure of Ukraine. Dubbed EconomicGrowth 97, the tax package consisted of a series of bills,including a value-added tax of 20 percent and the reductionof corporate and personal income taxes, reform of unem-ployment and disability compensation, and a debt write-offfor state-owned enterprises. The effort was met by resis-tance in the Communist-Socialist-controlled Verkhovna

In Lviv, U.S. President Bill Clintons spouse spent abusy day and a half on November 17-18 visiting historic,cultural and religious landmarks.

Politics and corruption

The year in Ukrainian domestic politics was much moreturbulent than on the foreign affairs front, and much of it

centered on corruption and how to clean it up. In 1997Prime Minister Lazarenko came under strong criticismfrom President Kuchma and resigned after a convenient ill-ness, only to reappear as a major critic of the presidentialadministration.

As problems associated with corrupt government offi-cials, including the decision by Motorola to cancel a largecontract to build a mobile phone system, became more pub-lic, President Kuchma tried damage control by coming outforcefully for an anti-corruption campaign.

On February 14, days after a meeting with World BankChairman James Wolfensohn, during which the bankernoted the increase in corruption in Ukraine, PresidentKuchma fired his vice minister of transportation and minis-ter of agriculture, and replaced the chairman of the com-mittee on corruption and organized crime with First VicePrime Minister Durdynets. He also hurled the first dart athis prime minister, Mr. Lazarenko, stating that he had been

soft on corruption.Then, on April 11, just after the Foreign OperationsSubcommittee of the House Appropriations Committeewas holding hearings on corruption in Ukraine and how ithas affected foreign investment in a review of its support offoreign aid for Ukraine, Kyiv announced a Clean Handsanti-corruption effort.

Justice Minister Serhii Holovatyi, whom the presidenthad charged with developing the plan, said his programwould target not only the individual corrupt bureaucrats butalso the heavily bureaucratized system. How many levelsof bureaucracy must a business go through to receive all thepermits and licenses it requires? asked Mr. Holovatyiwhen announcing the campaign.

Even then it was clear that the effort would take an extra-ordinary effort against a well-entrenched bureaucracy. AsMr. Holovatyi announced his ambitious program to revampgovernment structures and set stringent guidelines foraccountability and oversight, he acknowledged that certain

Cabinet ministers had done their utmost to resist changes.Many simply do not want a battle against corruption. Itdoes not further their own interest, said Mr. Holovatyi.

Meanwhile, after returning from a trip to Canada on June18, Mr. Lazarenko is said to have taken ill and was hospi-talized. But most political observers believe the prime min-ister used the cover of illness for a face-saving resignationfrom the government. He and his longtime ally, PresidentKuchma, had been at odds for several months. The presi-dent had criticized Mr. Lazarenko several times for notleading the fight against corruption more forcefully and forfailing to put together a passable 1997 budget, which at thetime of his resignation still had not been approved.

The president appointed First Vice Prime Minister VasylDurdynets the acting prime minister during Mr.Lazarenkos illness, which doctors said was throm-bophlebitis. The prime minister officially resigned twoweeks later, on July 1.

The impediments to the anti-corruption campaignbecame larger and larger, and on July 8 Mr. Holovatyicalled a press conference to accuse factions of the Cabinetof Ministers of sabotaging the effort. He said he could notpublicly reveal who was derailing the process, but didaccuse Acting Prime Minister Durdynets for threateninghim after he had criticized certain ministries for resisting theanti-corruption program during the introduction of theClean Hands campaign. He also said government fundswere not being allocated, the executive branch was notcooperating and the implementation of many measures hadbeen delayed.

Mr. Durdynets remained acting head of governmentuntil July 16, when Valerii Pustovoitenko, formerly theminister of the Cabinet of Ministers, was named to head thegovernment. Mr. Pustovoitenko, like his predecessor, isfrom Dnipropetrovsk and a confidante of the president.

Mr. Lazarenko, around whom accusations of corruption

continued to swirl, quickly moved back into politics, join-ing the Yednist faction of the Verkhovna Rada and takingover the leadership of the Hromada Party.

On August 21 newly confirmed Prime MinisterPustovoitenko, who as minister of the Cabinet of Ministershad headed the bureaucratic organization that Mr.Holovatyi was trying to reform, replaced the justice minis-ter with Suzanna Stanik, previously the minister of familiesand youth in the Lazarenko Cabinet.

But Mr. Holovatyi did not go out quietly. At a pressconference on September 17 he blasted President Kuchmafor saying one thing and doing another when it came to the


Rada, which took its time reviewing the bills, a situation nothelped by Prime Minister Lazarenkos tepid support for Mr.Pynzenyks tax package, particularly his stand against taxbreaks for foreign investors.

But the government did stand firm on its refusal toresubmit the budget, which had been approved in its firstreading in December 1996, until the Parliament had actedon the tax bills. By March there still was no budget.

To shake-up the process and to give impetus to an eco-nomic reform program that had bogged down in fights withthe Verkhovna Rada over its pace and purpose, PresidentKuchma replaced his ministers of finance and the economywith Ihor Mitiukov and Yuri Yekhanurov, respectively.The two had been part of a team of young, reform-oriented

economists that had pushed through initial reforms in 1995.On March 21, still with no budget and with the econo-my continuing its downslide, President Kuchma gave hisstate of the state speech, coming down hard on PrimeMinister Lazarenko and on the Verkhovna Rada. He calledthe budget that Mr. Lazarenkos government submittedunrealistic and the work of the ministers unsatisfacto-ry. He termed the failure to pay wages and pensions aneconomic crime.

He also accused the Verkhovna Rada of doing all in itspower to upset the budgetary process, and said he wouldconsider dismissing the legislative body.

The presidents speech did not have the intended effectof breaking the budget logjam, and on April 2 the chiefarchitect of economic reform, Vice Prime MinisterPynzenyk, resigned, stating that he did not feel economicreform could proceed further in the current political envi-ronment. After trying to bring his young reformer back into

the government, President Kuchma accepted his resignationseveral days later. His replacement was Serhii Tyhypko, ayoung banker who is president of PryvatBank, headquar-tered in Dnipropetrovsk.

With only the VAT tax bill of the tax package approvedby the legislature and no end in sight to the budgetary bat-tle, President Kuchma asked the Verkhovna Rada toapprove a second emergency budget based on 1996 expen-ditures for the term of April 1- July 1. An initial emergencybudget had been approved for the January-April period.

The paralysis held until June 27. Then, with the prospectof the government shutting down after the second emer-gency budget expired on July 1 and with a pronouncementby the IMF that it might cancel $3 billion in promised loansif no budget was approved soon, the Cabinet of Ministersdecided to resubmit the budget, even though only the VATportion of the tax reform package had been passed, and theVerkhovna Rada quickly approved it.

Two weeks later, as many had predicted, the IMFrefused to release the next tranche of its extended loan ofapproximately $2.8 billion, citing the Verkhovna Radasfailure to implement tax reform and to approve a budgetalong the guidelines that the IMF had directed, including adeficit under 5.7 percent.

The budget deficit was in part exacerbated by the gov-ernments inability to find a way to bring Ukraines shadoweconomy out into the open, which meant that about half ofthe taxes owed by Ukrainian businessmen in 1997 were notcollected.

The government also had problems bringing foreign

THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 19974 No. 52

First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks in Lviv at the memorial to victims of Soviet repression.

Official White House Photograph


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investment dollars into Ukraine. Even with the allure ofUkraines large market, and inexpensive and trained work-force, international firms were hesitant to enter theUkrainian marketplace because of widespread graft and theinstability of business legislation, including the withdrawalof tax subsidies to foreign investors.

On April 14 President Kuchma initiated a foreign invest-

ment council to engage government officials and leaders ofmajor multinational corporations in an open exchange ofideas and proposals to make doing business in Ukraine eas-ier. The council officially met for the first time on October3, with 21 business leaders, representing the largest corpo-rations in the world, present.

Even though economic reforms had slowed considerablyfrom the initial push of 1995, incremental gains were stillbeing made. Towards the end of the year, VolodymyrLanovyi, the acting chairman of the State Property Fund,announced that the SPF would revamp its privatization pro-gram for 1998, to move away from the sale of government-owned enterprises via share vouchers (whose outcome wasdeemed unsatisfactory by the government), to one of directcash payment, and would allow foreign banks to market thesale of individual enterprises. By the end of 1997, 6,500medium- and large-scale government enterprises had beenprivatized, with another 2,500 slated for privatization in1998.

Then, on December 4, the deputy chairman of theUkrainian State Committee on Land Resources,Volodymyr Kulinych, said the liquidation of collectivefarms from the Soviet era was virtually complete. He saidthat 8 million hectares of government land had been handedto workers collectives and individual farmers. But he alsostated that infrastructures and markets, and the legislationthat would support them, had to be fully developed.

Elections

Although elections to the Verkhovna Rada will not takeplace until March 1998, the election pre-season began dur-ing the budgetary process, when President Kuchma repeat-edly accused the Verkhovna Rada of election-year politicalposturing in the way it handled the tax package and thebudget.

The Verkhovna Rada had haggled since the beginning ofthe year over a new election law to supplant the old system

still in place from the Soviet era. It took 13 attempts oversix months six votes alone at the September 24 parlia-mentary session during which the bill was finally approved before a new mixed electoral system was introduced.The new system partially replaces the old majoritarian sys-tem where individuals were elected from 450 electoral dis-tricts on a first-past-the-post basis. It redivides Ukraine into225 electoral districts that will elect half the VerkhovnaRada national deputies based on the majority system andleave 225 seats to be chosen through a popular vote for par-ties. Parties that gain at least 4 percent of the electoral votewill divide up the seats proportionally to the percentage ofthe vote they get.

The push for a law, any law, was spurred by a fear thatas elections neared the old law could have been rejected bythe Constitutional Court as unconstitutional, which wouldhave left too little time to pass a new law cancelling nextyears elections as a result.

President Kuchma, who had said that he supported thenew mixed electoral system, did an about-face. On October14, after holding the bill for two weeks, the president sent itback to the Parliament with suggested changes attached,without which he said he would be compelled to veto thebill. Although the president said he wanted to make sure thelaw passed constitutional muster, political pundits suggest-ed the president wanted to sink the law because a mixedelectoral system favors political parties. The presidentspolitical base does not lie within any political party butwithin the local political structures that he has developed inthe regions. But the Parliament quickly removed the threatof veto by approving 13 of the 15 changes.

President Kuchma went on national television a weeklater to sign the bill, after which he openly admitted that hehad just signed a bill he didnt like. He also spent 10 min-utes explaining to the nation the dangers of a UkrainianParliament up for election, among them the passing of cer-

tain laws that are unworkable but popular in an election sea-son, which he called psychotic acts.The September 24 passage of the electoral bill for all

practical purposes marked the opening bell of the electionseason. Political parties and organizations held conventionsand picked their candidate lists in the following weeks. ByNovember 28, 32 political parties had held conventions andreceived official petitions to gather the 200,000 signaturesto officially qualify for the March elections. That processwas completed on December 19, with 30 parties fulfillingall the requirements to field candidates in the March 1998elections.

bishops, occupied the chancery premises and confiscatedfinancial records. Patriarch Dymytriis dismissal had beenpredicated on accusations of financial impropriety, but inturn, Patriarch Dymytrii has denied the charges and insteadhas accused Patriarch Filaret of plotting the entire processin order to take over the UAOC.

Tensions between Russian and Ukrainian Churches

While tensions increased between the OrthodoxChurches in Ukraine, tensions were evident also betweenthe Russian and Ukrainian Churches. In January the lead-ers of the Ukrainian Republican Party issued a protest toPresident Kuchma over the quiet transfer to theUkrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate of arti-facts, books and buildings located on the property of theKyiv-Pecherska Lavra (Monastery of the Caves).

On February 20 the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC)High Clerical Council, meeting in Moscow, formallyexcommunicated Mykhailo Denysenko, former ROC met-ropolitan and now Patriarch Filaret of the UOC-KP. Alsoexcommunicated was the Rev. Gleb Yakunin, a humanrights activist and member of the Russian Duma. The Rev.Yakunin believes he was excommunicated for stating thatsenior Russian Orthodox clergy had collaborated andcooperated with the KGB during the Soviet era. Patriarch

Filaret claims he was excommunicated because he is tryingto create one unified Ukrainian Orthodox Church outsidethe jurisdiction of Moscow. In his statement reacting to hisexcommunication by the ROC, Patriarch Filaret claimedthat he was in good company because Hetman IvanMazepa also was excommunicated by the Russian Church.

A controversy between the Ukrainian and RussianChurches that affected the Orthodox Church in the diaspo-ra as well began on September 24, when EcumenicalPatriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople responded to aninvitation from Patriarch Aleksii of the ROC to meet in theBlack Sea port city of Odesa, a meeting that excluded rep-resentatives of the UAOC and UOC-KP. The ecumenicalpatriarch was on a multi-city tour of Black Sea ports topromote ecological awareness in the region.

Subsequent press reports stated that the ecumenicalpatriarch, as a result of the meeting, had called for unity ofall Ukrainian Orthodox Churches under Moscow. In his

statement the ecumenical patriarch did call upon PatriarchAleksii to do his utmost for a successful resolution of theissues of Orthodox Church unity in Ukraine. The ecu-menical patriarch also restated a historic reality: that theonly canonical jurisdiction (authority that is recognized bythe other Orthodox Churches as legitimate) of anOrthodox Church on the territory of Ukraine is that of theMoscow Patriarchate. Patriarch Aleksiis press officeinterpreted these remarks and issued a statement thatPatriarch Bartholomew had called upon the patriarch ofMoscow to unite all the Orthodox in Ukraine underMoscows jurisdiction.

These statements, as well as the subsequent pressreports, caused great consternation among UkrainianOrthodox faithful worldwide. Strong statements of protestabout the meeting itself and about both statements wereissued by the UOC-KP and the UAOC.


Our Churches: strides

toward reconciliation

Strides towards inter-confessional and intra-confes-sional unity and reconcilation influenced many of thereligious events this year, continuing a trend evident

in both Ukraine and the diaspora in recent years. The vio-lent nature of many of the battles over church property,personal harassment, threats and beatings that were thesorrow of Ukraines religious life several years ago havedecreased markedly. Nonetheless, tensions developed,most notably within the Orthodox confession, as well ascertain tensions that carried over from 1996.

Tensions from previous year

The issue of a visit by Pope John Paul II to Ukraine,raised in 1996, continued to meet resistance in Ukrainefrom Orthodox hierarchs as well as many government offi-cials. President Leonid Kuchma met with the papal nuncio,Archbishop Antonio Franco, in Kyiv on January 22. Thepapal nuncio reiterated the popes desire to visit Ukraine,and though President Kuchma praised the pope, he alsospoke of the need to create appropriate conditions for a

papal state visit.Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainain Orthodox Church-

Kyiv Patriarchate, after at first denouncing such a visit, inan interview on February 22, modified his stance andclaimed that we would welcome [such a visit] since itwould benefit Ukraine and all Churches, but added thatthe issue of a visit is a complex question.

President Kuchma, along with presidents fromGermany, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia andHungary, met with Pope John Paul II on June 3 during thepopes visit to Poland, yet no invitation for a state visit toUkraine was extended.

The meeting between a delegation from the Holy Seeand the patriarch of Moscow held in Moscow onDecember 17-18, 1996, during which issues concerningthe Orthodox Church and Greek-Catholic Church inUkraine, including the topics of expansion and evangeliza-tion, were discussed without representatives from either

Ukrainian Church present, also exacerbated tensions on allsides.

A conflict in the Ukrainian Autocephalous OrthodoxChurch (UAOC) in Ukraine over issues of financial impro-priety came to a head on November 19, 1996, and PatriarchDymytrii was dismissed by the UAOC synod of bishops.This resulted in a split in the UAOC, and now fourOrthodox Churches operate in Ukraine: two factions of theUAOC, as well as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church KyivPatriarchate (UOC-KP) headed by Patriarch Filaret, and theUkrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), headed by Metropolitan Volodymyr Sabodan.

The tension within the UAOC that resulted from thesplit was further exacerbated when on March 2 BishopIoan Boichuk quietly left the UAOC for the UOC-KP.Seminarians from the UOC-KP entered UAOC premisesin Kyiv, physically evicted Patriarch Dymytrii and several

Mourners outside St. George Cathedral in Lviv during the funeral of Archbishop Volodymyr Sterniuk.

Roman Woronowycz


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Rather than rely on press reports, Archbishop Antony ofthe Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. and Diasporaheaded a delegation that traveled to Constantinople onOctober 7. The ecumenical patriarch met with the delega-tion and, while he reaffirmed that we recognize the juris-diction of the Patriarch of Moscow as canonical here [inUkraine], he added, we believe that this is not enough,

that this does not solve the concrete problem which exists.Tension between the Ukrainian and Russian Churches

turned into conflict when on September 29 buildings thatbelonged to the UOC-KP were seized in Noginsk, a townon the outskirts of Moscow. In reaction to the seizure oftheir property, UOC-KP hierarchs faulted a new Russianlaw signed by President Boris Yeltsin on September 26that severely limits activities of all religions that have notbeen registered with Moscow authorities for at least 15years. For all intents and purposes, the new law curtails theactivities of all religious faiths and denominations exceptfor those of the Russian Orthodox Church, and of certainMuslim and Jewish organizations.

Close to 100 worshippers and clergy were seized, beat-en and arrested in Noginsk, and buildings were occupiedby the militia on order of the Moscow regional arbitrationcourt. The Foreign Affairs Ministry of Ukraine issued aformal protest on October 7.

Emphasis on unity

In November of 1996, in a move to bring unity to theOrthodox Church outside of Ukraine, various OrthodoxChurches united under the omophor of the ecumenicalpatriarch of Constantinople. On March 2 Bishop Vsevolod(Majdansky), former primate of the Ukrainian OrthodoxChurch of America (UOCA), was installed in Chicago byMetropolitan Constantine of the UOC-U.S.A. as archbish-op of the Western Eparchy of the UOC-U.S.A.

In his remarks after his enthronement, ArchbishopVsevolod spoke of unifying the Ukrainian Catholic andUkrainian Orthodox into one Church, citing UkrainianGreek-Catholic Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky andUkrainian Orthodox saint Petro Mohyla (Petro Mohylawas canonized by the UOC-KP at a special Sobor onDecember 12, 1996). Hierarchs of the Orthodox Churchesin the diaspora stated that the unification of Orthodox

Churches outside Ukraine is intended to serve as an exam-ple for the Churches in Ukraine.Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew made a pastoral visit

to Ukrainian Orthodox faithful with a visit to St. AndrewArchdiocesan Center of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church ofthe U.S.A. in South Bound Brook, N.J., on October 27. Hewas greeted by more than 1,200 faithful. He made no refer-ences to earlier press reports that alleged he had stated thatall Orthodox Churches in Ukraine should unite underMoscow. He did stress reconciliation among all Orthodoxfaithful in Ukraine. His hosts, hierarchs of the UOC fromthe U.S. and Canada, stressed that unity in Ukraine mustoccur, and a canonical Ukrainian Church be recognized.These statements reiterated the position taken by the UOC-U.S.A. hierarchs in a statement released on October 14 thatthe leadership of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church seekscanonical autocephaly for Orthodoxy in Ukraine, but willnot wait idly while the Church in Ukraine refuses to seek

unity, and puts the spiritual life of the Church at risk.Other steps towards reconciliation

Throughout the year, there were small, often symbolic,steps taken to encourage intra- and inter-confessional har-mony. During the first week of January, a group of nation-al deputies of the Verkhovna Rada held a press conferencein which they issued a call for Orthodox unity for the sakeof Ukraine and her people.

On April 16 a decision was made by Patriarch Filaret,Patriarch Dymytrii and the Rev. Serhii Prudko of theUkrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC), while meetingin Kyiv, to hold a joint ecumenical service in St. SophiaCathedral in Kyiv on Ukraines Independence Day inAugust. They issued a statement that one faith is key to astrong Ukrainian nation and that the formation of apomisna (particular) Orthodox Church would be histori-cally proper.

In the Mariyinskyi Palace on July 21, with PresidentKuchma present, 15 representatives from Ukraines vari-ous confessions signed a memorandum in which theypromised to peacefully resolve inter-confessional disputes.The Memorandum of Christian Confessions in Ukraine onthe Unacceptability of Using Force in Inter-confessionalRelations was signed by representatives of the UOC-MP,the UOC-KP, the UGCC, both factions of the UAOC, theRoman Catholic Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church,Seventh Day Adventists, the Evangelical Baptist Churchand the Lutheran Church.

Members of the Permanent Conference of Ukrainian

Orthodox Bishops outside Ukraine held their annual con-vocation in Genk, Belgium, on July 1-2 during which theydecided to dispatch a delegation to the World Forum ofUkrainians to be held in late August in Kyiv. On August23 President Kuchma received a delegation of Orthodoxbishops from the diaspora, which included ArchbishopVsevolod of the UOC-U.S.A., Bishop Yuriy of UOC-

Canada, Bishop Jeremiah of UOC-South America, andAnatole Lysyj and Michael Heretz of the U.S. as advisors.The delegation also met with Patriarch Filaret, PatriarchDymytrii and Bishop Ioann of the UOC-MP.

The delegation attended the World Forum of Ukrainiansand participated in a roundtable discussion on spiritual uni-fication. During his opening remarks at the World Forum,President Kuchma called for unity among the OrthodoxChurches.

In reaction to statements made during the World Forumrountable, Bishop Lubomyr Husar, auxiliary to the arch-bishop major of the UGCC, said on September 3 in Kyivthat unifying all the various Christian confessions inUkraine is an impossible task and that the Churches shouldlook for spiritual unification. If we mean one confes-sion, he stated, that will be almost impossible. If wemean one Orthodox tradition, I think that is doable. Headded that he hoped celebrations of the year 2000 would

be the vehicle by which spiritual union could be achieved.UAOC Metropolitan Petro Petrus of Lviv announced onOctober 29 that he is joining the UOC-KP, citing as hisreason the desire to seek one unifed Church in Ukraine. OnOctober 28, 150 parishes in the Lviv Metropolia of theUAOC joined the UOC-KP for the same reason.

In print

On January 30 the U.S. State Department issued itsannual human rights report in which it praised Ukraine forsignificant progress towards building a law-based civilsociety, at the same time focusing on several shortcom-ings. In the area of religious rights, Ukraine received gen-erally high marks, though incidents of religious discrimi-nation are evident, as well as some government controlof non-native religious groups. According to the report,Jews have expanded opportunities to pursue their reli-gious and cultural activities, but anti-Semitic incidents

continue to occur and the government is not prosecutingmany violations of the law forbidding the sowing of inter-ethnic hatred.

In the April edition of the Kyiv-based journal Lyudyna iSvit (Man and the World), an article appeared concerningthe religious situation in Ukraine. Among the informationcited was that, whereas in Poland 83 percent of those sur-veyed claim to attend divine liturgy or prayer services atleast once a month, only 20 percent in Ukraine, and 7 per-cent in Russia claim to do so. Nonetheless, 63.4 percent inUkraine consider themselves to be religious believers,while 29.5 percent consider themselves to be non-believ-ers, and 7.1 percent cannot decide.

Of the religious organizations registered in Ukraine, 52percent are Orthodox, 24 percent are Protestant, 17 percentare Greek-Catholic, 4 percent are Roman Catholic, 1 per-cent are Muslim and 0.5 percent are Jewish. This differsfrom the results obtained from individual respondents. Of

those who claim any religious identity, 71.8 percent claimto be Orthodox, 17.5 percent to be Greek-Catholic, 5.3 per-cent to be Muslim, only 2.2 percent to be Protestant, 1.6percent to be Roman Catholic, 1.2 percent simply believ-ers and 0.4 percent Jewish. The UOC-MP continues toclaim the largest number of believers.

The American Jewish Committee released Anti-Semitism World Report, 1996 on July 22. The report isissued annually, and this years report listed the Jewishpopulation in Ukraine at 450,000. The report assessed anti-Semitism in Ukraine as a marginal phenomenon, thougheconomic instability and an underdeveloped civic andpolitical culture allow for acts of anti-Semitism to occurwith little public reaction.

Religious leaders pass away

Within days of each other, two renowned religious lead-ers passed away this fall. Archbishop Volodymyr Sterniuk

of the UGCC died on September 29 in Lviv. He was 90. Aformer Soviet political prisoner who had been imprisonedin the late 1940s and early 1950s following the Soviet liqui-dation of the UGCC, he served as bishop in the under-ground Church for several decades and became locumtenens of Lviv in 1972. On August 19, 1990, after spendingalmost his entire life clandestinely ministering to UkrainianCatholic faithful, he openly celebrated a divine liturgy in St.George Cathedral, the first Ukrainian Catholic liturgy to becelebrated in the cathedral since the takeover by theRussian Orthodox Church in 1946. His funeral was attend-ed by more than 13,000 people on October 2.

On October 4 the Rev. Olexa R. Harbuziuk, worldleader of Ukrainian Evangelical Baptists, died in Chicago.He was 77. The Rev. Harbuziuk was a devoted religiousleader who headed the All-Ukrainian Evangelical BaptistFellowship for 18 years, and was general secretary of theUkrainian Evangelical Baptist Convention for 28 years. Hewas buried on October 10.

Other notables

On January 12 Bishop Basil Losten of the UkrainianCatholic Diocese of Stamford celebrated 25 years of hisepiscopal ordination and 40 years of his priestly ordination.

On January 14 the Rev. Laurence Daniel Huculak, a45-year-old member of the Order of St. Basil, was appoint-ed by the Vatican to head the Edmonton Eparchy of theUkrainian Catholic Church.

On May 11 the cornerstone was blessed for the newCathedral of the Mother of God in Zarvanytsia in TernopilOblast, an event attended by 15,000 people. For severalhundred years, Zarvanytsia has been considered to be aplace of religious pilgrimage, and is associated with theprotection of the Ukrainian people.

As part of Akcja Wisla commemorations, the(Ukrainian) Basilian complex in Peremyshl, Poland, isundergoing renovation.

The 50th anniversary of the Ukrainian OrthodoxLeague was held in Carneige, Pa., on July 16-20.

The Muslim Party was formed on September 28 inDonetsk. It is headed by Rashit Bragin and founded by 50delegates from 15 oblasts of Ukraine.


U.S.-Ukraine: agenda

dominated by corruption

Topics on the U.S.-Ukraine agenda in 1997 rangedfrom NATO expansion to joint space flight.Relations between the two countries were domi-

nated, however, by allegations of government corrup-tion at the highest level, including Prime Minister PavloLazarenko. Congress responded swiftly and brutally

it threatened to cut off U.S. aid to Ukraine and devotedmuch of the year to holding hearings to that effect.President Leonid Kuchma traveled to the United Statesseveral times to reassure Congress and the U.S. govern-ment that fighting corruption and resolving Americaninvestor disputes were his top priority. In July theSenate voted to earmark $225 million in aid to Ukraine,with the caveat that half of the aid would be held untilthe secretary of state determined that economic reform,the resolution of investor disputes and the campaign tocombat corruption were moving forward.

On January 8 Madeleine Albright, then U.S. perma-nent representative to the United Nations, made a suc-cessful appearance before the Senate Foreign RelationsCommittee to explain her vision of U.S. foreign policyas President Clintons second-term nominee for secre-tary of state. A proponent of NATO expansion,Ambassador Albright proposed increasing funding for

foreign affairs and noted that assistance to countries ofthe former Soviet Union is in the United States nationalsecurity interest. She acknowledged the special relation-ship between the United States and Ukraine, and pro-posed continued U.S. support to the country. She wasconfirmed as the first woman secretary of state in U.S.history on January 22.

The Senate also confirmed Republican Sen. WilliamCohen of Maine as secretary of defense on January 22.Also a proponent of NATO expansion, Mr. Cohen tolda Senate confirmation hearing that he would like toexpand the military alliance over the next several yearsto include countries of the former Warsaw Pact, but notwithout first consulting with Russia.

On January 30 the State Department released itsannual human rights report for 1996 in which it praisedUkraine for significant progress toward building a law-based civil society. The report lauded Ukraines adop-tion of a Constitution but pointed to several shortcom-ings in the unreformed legal and prison systems. Italso noted that in 1996 there were government attemptsto control the media in Ukraine; there were limits on thefreedom of association and the work of non-native reli-gious organizations; and there was evidence of signifi-cant societal anti-Semitism, discrimination and vio-lence against women, and incidents of discriminationagainst ethnic and religious minorities. The StateDepartment report is compiled on the 194 countries thateither receive U.S. foreign assistance or are member-countries of the United Nations.


5/18


Applications for the 1998 Diversity Visa Lottery,which made 55,000 permanent resident visas availableto people from countries with low rates of immigrationto the United States, were accepted on February 3-March 5. In September close to 100,000 applicants outof 4.7 million entries were registered and notified toapply for immigrant visas. The federal government

moved up its application process for the 1999 DiversityVisa Lottery by four months, and accepted applicationsfor permanent resident visas on October 24-November24.

On February 6 President Bill Clinton presented hisbudget for Fiscal Year 1998, in which he requested$19.45 billion in international affairs spending anincrease of $800 million from 1997 levels. The presi-dents request included the following programs thatdirectly or indirectly benefit Ukraine: $900 million forassistance to the new independent states (40 percentover the FY 1997 request of $640 million); $70 millionfor the Partnership for Peace program; $1.1 billion forUnited States Information Agency (USIA) programs;and $50 million for the International Military Educationand Training program. The presidents direct request forUkraine, which falls under his general request for theNIS, was $225.5 million an increase of only

$500,000 over the 1997 level. The request for Russiawas $241.5 million, a 150 percent increase from the FY1997 level of $95.4 million.

On March 7 Ukraines Foreign Affairs MinisterHennadii Udovenko met with newly confirmedSecretary of State Albright in Washington. Talks cen-tered on NATO expansion and a proposed NATO-Ukraine charter delineating Ukraines relationship withthe military alliance as it expands into Eastern Europe.Secretary Albright underscored U.S. commitment toelevate relations with Ukraine to a level of strategicpartnership several times during their 90-minute meet-ing.

On March 11 the International Relations Committeeof the House of Representatives heard testimony on thepresidents request for $900 million in aid to the NIS.

On March 12 Sen. Alfonse DAmato, chairman ofthe Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

(Helsinki Commission), and Rep. Christopher Smith,co-chair, sent a letter to President Clinton on the eve ofhis March 20-21 summit with Russian President BorisYeltsin. The letter requested that, in discussing the pro-posed NATO-Russia charter, it be made clear to Russiathat Russia will not be given a veto, or an implied veto,over the timing of admission of new Eastern Europeanmembers; that the charter will firmly oppose any movesby Moscow to create spheres of influence in Centraland Eastern Europe; and that the NATO-Russia charterwill in no way impede the development of enhancedrelations between NATO and non-members. The legis-lators also urged the president to underscore unwaver-ing U.S. support for Ukraines sovereignty and territori-al integrity within internationally recognized borders.

On March 13 the Immigration and NaturalizationService granted 12-year-old Vova Malofienko and hisparents, Olga and Alexander, a last-minute extension on

their visas to the United States on humanitarian grounds.Vova, a victim of the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear powerplant explosion, has been treated for leukemia in the U.S.since 1990. His leukemia is in remission, and despite hisfathers efforts to obtain a permit to work in the UnitedStates, the INS insisted that the family return to Ukraineon April 10. New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg andVovas classmates and teachers at the Millburn MiddleSchool in New Jersey lobbied on his behalf. TheMalofienkos are permitted to remain in the United Statesfor one more year. In December Sen. Lautenberg andNew Jersey Reps. Steven Rothman (D) and Bob Franks(R) introduced a special resolution in the House ofRepresentatives and the Senate to admit Vova and hisparents for permanent residence in the United States.

On April 9 the Subcommittee on Foreign Operationsof the House Appropriations Committee heard govern-ment testimony on U.S. assistance to the NIS for FY1998. Chairman Sonny Callahan (R-Ala.) voiced hisreservations on funding assistance programs to Ukraine,referring to an April 8 New York Times article on gov-ernment corruption titled Ukraine Staggers on Path toFree Market. Ambassador Richard L. Morningstar,special advisor to the president and secretary of state onassistance to the NIS, testified on the successes in theNIS and in Ukraine specifically, and outlined thePartnership for Freedom (PFF) program, a new presi-dential initiative that refocuses the U.S. approach toassistance to the NIS. The PFF will target investmentand capital mobilization, and expanded law enforce-

ment and criminal justice reform.On April 16 the Ukrainian Blakytna Stezha (Azure

Observer Squad) landed at Dulles International Airportnear Washington to begin openly spying on theUnited States. The Ukrainian military observation air-craft is the first plane of the former Warsaw Pact to flyover the U.S., as permitted by the Open Skies Treatysigned in 1992. Blakytna Stezha flew over 13American states in the Midwest and South, photograph-ing sites in Ohio, Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida.

On April 24 the Subcommittee on Foreign Operationsof the House Appropriations Committee heard testimony

from congressional and public witnesses on U.S. assis-tance to the NIS for FY 1998. Testimony centered oncorruption in Ukraine. Joseph Lemire, president of GalaRadio in Ukraine, and Marta Fedoriw, partner of theGrand Hotel in Lviv, detailed their difficulties in tryingto conduct business in Ukraine. Ms. Fedoriw proposedthat a part of U.S. assistance should be allocated to amechanism which will address and resolve immediatelythe more than 20 American investor problems inUkraine. During the hearing Chairman Callahan stated:Until Ukraine gets its act straight, Ukraine will receivezero money from my committee ... unless they makesome serious, drastic changes.

On April 28 Ukraines minister of defense, Col. Gen.Oleksander Kuzmuk, arrived in Washington for a four-day visit his first to the United States. MinisterKuzmuk toured U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force andMarine Corps bases in the southeastern United States;

met with Secretary of Defense Cohen at the Pentagon,officials at the National Security Council and the StateDepartment, and members of Congress; and visited theNational Defense College for discussion with militarystrategists and historians. During their meeting MinisterKuzmuk and Secretary Cohen signed three bilateralagreements: the Amendment to the Strategic NuclearArms Elimination Agreement, which gives Ukraine anadditional $47 million to destroy its remaining strategicdelivery vehicles and silos; the Reciprocal Health CareAgreement, which gives Ukrainian military personneland their dependents access to U.S. military medicalfacilities and U.S. military personnel reciprocal rights inUkraine; and the Statement of Intent for Future MilitaryMedical Cooperation.

On April 30 the Central and East European Coalition(CEEC) held a conference titled Security and Stabilityin Central and Eastern Europe: A Vital U.S. Interest inWashington. The conference addressed NATO expan-sion, U.S. assistance to the NIS for FY 1998 and theefficacy of United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) programs in the region. TheCEEC comprises 19 ethnic grassroots organizations,including the Ukrainian National Association and theUkrainian Congress Committee of America, represent-ing more than 22 million Americans who trace theirheritage to Central and Eastern Europe.

On May 6-7 two separate Senate subcommitteesheard testimony on U.S. assistance to the NIS for FY1998. Witnesses testified that U.S. aid should be linked

to Ukraines effort to combat corruption and resolvebusiness disputes with American investors. AmbassadorMorningstar told the Foreign Operations Subcommitteeof the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 6 thatcutting aid to Ukraine as pure punishment was not inthe U.S. interest. Thomas Dine, assistant administratorof the U.S. Agency for International Development forEurope and the NIS, told the Subcommittee onEuropean Affairs of the Senate Foreign RelationsCommittee on May 7 that Ukraine faces excruciatingproblems, including political stalemate, budget prob-lems, failed investments, among other problems, but we

must work with our friends.On May 14 the American Friends for Ukraine (AFU),a cultural and educational non-profit foundation incor-porated in April, launched its activities with a receptionat Washingtons chic Carlton Hotel. The goal of AFU isto introduce Ukraine into Americas consciousnessthrough education, exchanges and cultural exhibitions.In December AFU sponsored the U.S. tour of the KyivChamber Choir.

On May 16 President Kuchma and Vice-President AlGore presided over the first full session of the U.S.-Ukraine Binational Commission at the White House.The daylong session culminated in the signing of a jointinitiative on gas sector reform and a far-reaching jointstatement on the work of the commission in the areas offoreign policy, security, trade and investment, and sus-tainable economic growth.

The Ukrainian president and his delegation of senior

Cabinet ministers had arrived in the nations capital fora two-day working visit on May 14. On May 15President Kuchma devoted a large block of time to reas-suring lawmakers on Capitol Hill that he was focusedon combating corruption in Ukraine and determined tosettle disputes with American investors.

In a meeting with Rep. Callahan, the chairman of theForeign Operations Subcommittee warned PresidentKuchma that if American businesses continue to suf-fer, Congress will find it difficult to justify furtherstrong support to Ukraine. The Ukrainian presidentasked for American tolerance as Ukraine struggles toachieve a free market and cited progress in resolvingseveral high-profile investment disputes. PresidentKuchma also met with Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.),William Roth (R-Del.), chairman of the Senates NATOObserver Group and president of the North AtlanticAssembly, and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.); Speaker of theHouse Newt Gingrich; and Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Committee onInternational Relations,

In addition to his meetings on Capitol Hill, PresidentKuchma met with President Clinton, Michel Cam-dessus, managing director of the International MonetaryFund; James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank;philanthropist George Soros; and heads of largeAmerican corporations.

On May 15 President Kuchma recognized theachievements of American friends to Ukraine by pre-senting former Secretary of Defense William Perry and


Presidents Leonid Kuchma and Bill Clinton meet at the White House on May 16.

Khristina Lew


6/18


Canada-Ukraine:

good news and bad

Canadas relationship with Ukraine this year beganon a sour note, after Canadas Foreign AffairsMinistry sent Ukraines vice-consul in Toronto,

Oleksander Yushko, home on December 24, 1996.The 32-year-old diplomat was declared persona non

grata after he was charged with impaired driving, pos-session of stolen property, offering a bribe to a policeofficer, and allegedly trying to lure two teenage girlsinto his car with the intent of administering a noxioussubstance (a handkerchief soaked with the anaestheticsolvent, xylene). Compounding Mr. Yushkos troubleswas the fact he had no official diplomatic identificationwhen Metropolitan Toronto Police arrested him.

On a brighter note, a group of Ukrainian Canadianbands from Toronto released a CD titled I Am Alivein mid-January, with proceeds from the discs salegoing to the Help Us Help the Children fund.

Fortunately, things appeared rosier on the aid front,when Canadas International Cooperation Minister DonBoudria told The Weekly in mid-February that Ukrainecould benefit from more Canadian financial assistancein the future. That would depend on the EuropeanUnions admission of Hungary and the Czech Republic,both of which would have to relinquish their claim toCanadian foreign aid. But the reassurance didnt stopsome Canadian groups working in Ukraine from won-dering how that would be possible, given statementsmade by Mr. Boudrias boss, Foreign Affairs MinisterLloyd Axworthy, who said that Canada would re-focus

Zbigniew Brzezinski, chairman of the American-Ukrainian Advisory Committee, with the State Awardof Ukraine. In turn, he was presented the 1997 IFESDemocracy Award by the International Foundations forElection Systems at a banquet at the State Department.

On June 23, five weeks after co-chairing the inaugur-al session of the U.S.-Ukraine Binational Commission,President Kuchma returned to the United States to meetwith Vice-President Gore at the U.N. GeneralAssemblys special session on the environment anddevelopment. President Kuchma addressed the session,called Earth Summit + 5, on June 24. Vice-PresidentGore requested the 45-minute meeting in New York todiscuss progress made in Ukraines business climateand anti-corruption measures since the May 16 commis-sion meeting. Mr. Gore told Mr. Kuchma that U.S. law-makers had noted visible progress in Ukraines invest-ment climate since the Ukrainian presidents visit toWashington. During his June 22-24 visit to New York,President Kuchma toured The Glory of Byzantiumexhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; met withHenry Kissinger, President Richard Nixons secretaryof state, and heads of commercial and investmentbanks; and was hosted at a dinner at the Harvard Clubby representatives of Ukrainian American communityorganizations.

On June 26 the creation of the CongressionalUkrainian Caucus was announced at a reception mark-ing the first anniversary of the adoption of theUkrainian Constitution held at Ukraines Embassy tothe United States. The purpose of the caucus is to orga-nize an association of members of Congress who sharethe common goal of building stronger bilateral relationsbetween Ukraine and the United States. TheCongressional Ukrainian Caucus was initiated by Rep.Sander Levin (D-Mich.) and co-sponsored by Jon Fox(R-Pa.), Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) and Bob Schaffer(R-Colo.).

Rep. Fox, a member of the House InternationalRelations Committee, offered an amendment to theState Department Authorization Bill in June that calledfor sustained assistance to Ukraine for FY 1998 and FY1999 at levels equal to what was allocated for FY 1997.The amendment also indicated the mood of Congressregarding problems associated with foreign investmentin Ukraine and requested that U.S. government agenciessupport the implementation of anti-corruption measuresthere. Four hundred and fifteen representatives voted topass the amendment, including Rep. Callahan.

In a letter to Secretary of State Albright dated July10, the Central and East European Coalition protestedthe nomination of Stephen Sestanovich, vice-chairmanof the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, asambassador at large to the NIS because of his standagainst NATO expansion. The letter also noted theCEECs concern about his views that the United Statesshould not oppose Russian efforts to turn the area of theformer Soviet Union into its own exclusive sphere ofinfluence by non-violent means. On July 15 Dr.Sestanovich appeared before the Senate Foreign

Relations Committee to explain his views on U.S. for-eign policy in the former Soviet Union. On October 10he was sworn in as ambassador at large for the NIS.

On July 11, two days after President Kuchma signedthe NATO-Ukraine Charter in Madrid, Secretary ofDefense Cohen traveled to Yavoriv, Ukraine, toaddress the closing ceremonies of the CooperativeNeighbor 97 peacekeeping exercise held within theframework of the NATO Partnership for Peace pro-gram. Secretary Cohen met Defense Minister Kuzmukand American soldiers in the field, and toured the 181stTank Regiment. In Kyiv the secretary of defense metwith President Kuchma and Volodymyr Horbulin, sec-retary of the National Security and Defense Council, toreaffirm the United States strong relationship withUkraine; visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,and addressed an audience of 500 at the Armed ForcesAcademy.

On July 17 the Senate passed President Clintons for-eign aid bill that included $800 million to the NIS. TheSenates version of the bill retains a $225 million ear-mark for Ukraine in FY 1998, and includes subearmarksfor programs focusing on Chornobyl-related safetyassistance, commercial law and legal reform, democrat-ic initiatives, and law enforcement procedures. The billalso states that half of the earmarked funds will beheld until the secretary of state certifies that economicprogress is continuing in Ukraine, corruption is beingdealt with appropriately and American investor disputesare resolved.

On August 4 the office of Vice-President Gore held abriefing at the Old Executive Office Building forUkrainian community representatives. Leon Fuerth,Vice-President Gores national security advisor, andAmbassador Morningstar reassured representatives ofthe Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, theUkrainian American Coordinating Council, theUkrainian National Womens League of America,Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine, the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and The Washington Group thatwhile the U.S. has every intention of maintaining closerelations with Ukraine, it is not always clear whetherUkraine is capable of putting through the neededreforms, particularly in the areas of the nations econo-my, energy and agriculture.

On August 14-15 Sen. Mitch McConnell visitedCrimea and Kyiv to access Ukraines progress in domes-tic economic reform. Sen. McConnell met with a vaca-tioning President Kuchma in Sevastopol and newly con-firmed Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko in Kyiv. Healso participated in a signing ceremony of two grantagreements between the Ukrainian Ministry of the CoalIndustry and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.

On August 24 the sixth anniversary of Ukrainesindependence was celebrated throughout Ukraine andcommunities in the West. In Ukraine President Kuchmareceived a telegram of congratulations from PresidentClinton. In Washington Ukraines Ambassador to theU.S. Yuri Shcherbak participated in a ceremony at theTaras Shevchenko Monument and hosted a reception at

the Ukrainian Embassy. On September 17 a congres-sional Ukrainian Independence Day reception was heldat the Rayburn House Office Building. An estimated150 members of Congress and their staff, diplomats,military officers and Ukrainian Americans attended theevent sponsored by the Congressional UkrainianCaucus, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America

and the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council.On September 17 U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine

William Green Miller announced the start of open com-petition for 10 U.S. government, academic exchangeprograms at a press conference held in Kyiv. The pro-grams, including the Freedom Support Act FutureLeaders Exchange, sends hundreds of Ukrainian admin-istrators, teachers and students to the U.S. to developrelations and contacts on a grassroots level.

On October 2 President Clinton announced his nomi-nation of Steven Karl Pifer as U.S. ambassador toUkraine. Mr. Pifer, a career Senior Foreign Service offi-cer, in August completed an assignment as special assis-tant to the president and senior director on the NationalSecurity Council staff for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasianaffairs. On October 29 Mr. Pifer testified before theSenate Foreign Relations Committee at a confirmationhearing that Ukraines development as an independent,

democratic, market-oriented and prosperous state is ofcritical importance to the United States. Such a Ukrainewill be a key partner as we tackle todays internationalchallenges, expand trade and investment, and shape amore stable and secure Europe. He was confirmedambassador to Ukraine on November 6.

On October 14 the Commercial Service of the UnitedStates Embassy in Ukraine celebrated its fifth anniver-sary at a reception held at the American BusinessCenter in Kyiv. The Commercial Service, which is partof the U.S. Department of Commerce, coordinates andpromotes U.S. business activity in Ukraine.

On October 21-22 members of the U.S.-UkraineBinational Commission met in Kyiv to discuss macro-economic targets for the Ukrainian economy, and dereg-ulation of the energy and agricultural industries inUkraine. Meetings were led by AmbassadorMorningstar and Ukraines Minister for Economic

Reform Serhii Tyhypko.On November 12 the House of Representativespassed President Clintons foreign aid bill with a $225million earmark for Ukraine.

On November 19 Col. Leonid Kadenyuk became thefirst Ukrainian cosmonaut to fly on a U.S. spacecraft.The 46-year-old Col. Kadenyuk, who traveled aboardthe Columbia space shuttle for 15 days as a payloadspecialist and conducted a series of science experimentscalled the Collaborative Ukrainian Experiments, is alsothe first Ukrainian to fly into space since Ukrainedeclared its independence in 1991.


President Leonid Kuchma and Vice-President Al Gore sign a joint statement of the U.S.-Ukraine BinationalCommission at the White House on May 16.

Khristina Lew


7/18


Ukrainian diaspora:

forums and contacts

Six hundred and fifty delegates of organizations repre-senting the scattered Ukrainians of the diaspora weregathered with their compatriots in Kyiv on August 20-

24 for the second World Forum of Ukrainians, the first hav-ing been held in 1992. Although those who attended wereunanimous about the great opportunity this presented tomingle and attend concerts and parades with individuals ofthe same ethnic background, most also deemed it a funda-mentally flawed exercise. Khristina Lews report from ourKyiv Press Bureau described the organizational chaos andSoviet-style voting irregularities in plenary sessions.

The resolutions, more akin to a thematic essay on the useof the Ukrainian language, and vague calls on the diasporato help improve the mother countrys image worldwide,were later deemed unusable by officers of the Western-based Ukrainian World Congress.

However, the Forum did serve as a platform for a states-man-like address delivered by President Leonid Kuchma, inwhich he sought to make Ukrainians all over the worldpartners in an international effort to shore up Ukrainian cul-

ture and his countrys economy. It also promptedVerkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Moroz to commentpositively on the Ukrainian National Association, which is100 years old, and for UWCC President re-elect IvanDrach to criticize Ukraine for being an untransformedremnant of the Soviet Union.

The last 12 months brought varied tidings to theUkrainian World Congress, as it marked its 30th anniver-sary with a banquet and a symposium. The fiscal austerityprogram conducted by the world diaspora bodys chieffinancial officer, William Sametz, began to pay off, in theform of a revived Human Rights Commission (now knownas the Commission on Human and Civil Rights) and thehiring of Christina Isajiw as UWC headquarters executivedirector. Stronger links of communication were establishedwith the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian commu-nity in Russia, thanks in part to the recent arrival in Torontoof Volodymyr Kolomatskyi, a young and energetic

Ukrainian-Russian expatriate.However, the trench between the UWC and the Kyiv-

based Ukrainian World Coordinating Council continued towiden, as participants in the UWCCs convention held inKyiv immediately prior to the World Forum of Ukrainiansreturned home bedeviled by a variety of frustrations.

Issues of concern such as UWCC officers funda-mental inability to communicate effectively, difficultieswith accountability and reporting, and a failure to grasp thenecessity of weaning a non-governmental organization offdirect state involvement were highlighted in an inter-view with UWC President Dr. Dmytro Cipywnyk prior tothe forum and reports in the fall on the Western diasporabodys meetings. Prompted by Mr. Sametz, the UWCdecided at a November Presidium meeting to suspend pay-ment of dues until a report card on the UWCC isreceived.

While on duty at the Kyiv Press Bureau, Ms. Lew also

its attention from developing countries to internationalsecurity issues.

Around the same time, Mr. Boudria announced a newCanadian project to support notarial reform in Ukraine.The Canadian International Development Agency,which he headed, gave the Order of Notaries in Quebec$1.2 million ($870,000 U.S.) to develop the two-and-a-

half-year program with Ukraines Justice Ministry.In the meantime, Mr. Axworthys Ukrainian counter-

part, Foreign Affairs Minister Hennadii Udovenko, paidhis second official visit to Canada, arriving in Ottawaon March 4 and meeting with Prime Minister JeanChrtien and Mr. Axworthy the following day.

Mr. Udovenko also met with Governor GeneralRomo LeBlanc before visiting Winnipeg on March 6,where he met with Manitoba Premier Gary Filmon andaddressed a joint meeting of the Ukrainian CanadianCongress and the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

Spring found officials from the Canadian Departmentof Justice setting up court in the Ukrainian coal-miningtown, Selydove, where they spent the period from May26 to June 2 gathering testimony about Vasily Bogutin,an 88-year-old retired Canadian construction worker.Mr. Bogutin is accused of being a member of theSelydove auxiliary police, and the Canadian govern-

ment wants to strip him of his Canadian citizenship anddeport him on the grounds that he lied about his Naziconnection when he applied to enter Canada in 1951.

In June now-former Ukrainian Prime Minister PavloLazarenko arrived in Canada, where he spent five daystouring the country with 150 business and governmentleaders from Ukraine.

During his visit, Mr. Lazarenko attended theCanada-Ukraine Business Initiative 97 Conference inCalgary, where several bilateral agreements weresigned and where the ex-PM met with premiers RalphKlein (Alberta), Roy Romanow (Saskatchewan) andFilmon of Manitoba. Mr. Lazarenko also stopped inOttawa, where he huddled with Prime MinisterChrtien, just days before Ukrainian President LeonidKuchma sacked him. If his first official trip to Canadaproved to be his last, Mr. Lazarenko managed to findsome family here, including Winnipeg City Councillor

Harry Lazarenko.Tragedy befell Ukraines diplomatic community onAugust 6 when Borys Poliachenko, first secretary forscience and technology at the Embassy in Ottawa, fellto his death from a 19th-story balcony. Ottawa-Carletonpolice considered the incident a suicide. Mr.Poliachenko was scheduled to return to Ukraine threedays later as part of a normal rotation.

The community mood was more buoyant later in themonth when Ukrainian Canadians celebrated indepen-dent Ukraines sixth birthday. A new festival to markUkraines independence, the Bloor West VillageUkrainian Festival, was launched on August 23 with acrowd of 3,000 watching a colorful parade. FormerUkrainian President Leonid Kravchuk was also in thearea, addressing another group of about that size at theSt. Volodymr Cultural Center in Oakville, Ontario,about 30 miles from Toronto. Recalling December 1,

1991, the happiest day of his life and not because hewas elected president Mr. Kravchuk said he and for-mer Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev were wrong inguessing the outcome of Ukraines sovereignty referen-dum.

Mikhail said we would not even get 50 percent,while I said the yes side would poll about 75 percent.The result was over 90 percent supporting indepen-dence, said Mr. Kravchuk.

Anniversary celebrations were more somber inOttawa where Canadas former consul general toUkraine, Nestor Gayowsky, gave Ukraine a failinggrade in its reforms.

Accusing Ukraines decision-makers of doing little tochange the countrys image as a backwater to Russia,Mr. Gayowsky admitted part of the reason behindUkraines sluggish economic performance had to dowith the aftereffects of Chornobyl, pollution, energyinefficiency, as well as an ineffective police force andweak judiciary.

There was good news for Radio CanadaInternational, which has had its share of financial woes.On August 18, Foreign Affairs Minister Axworthy andCanadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps announcedthat the countrys foreign radio service would receiveannual funding beginning in 1998. RCI, which broad-casts programming in Ukrainian, Russian, Spanish,Mandarin and Arabic, operates on a $16 million ($12million U.S.) annual budget. Previously, Ottawa hadguaranteed money for RCI only until March 31, 1998.


Ukrainian and diaspora leaders at the second World Forum of Ukrainians held in Kyiv.

provided a sketch of Ukrainian community life in Polandjust prior to the World Forum and, via the words of JurijRejt and Miroslaw Czech, related the dim view theAssociation of Ukrainians in Poland also had of theUWCC, and of Ukrainian efforts to raise their status as aminority above that created during Soviet times. Also high-lighted were commemorations of the 50th anniversary of

Akcja Wisla, the ethnic-cleansing operation conducted bythe Polish army and security forces begun in 1947.Thanks to his attendance at the second congress of the

Association of Ukrainians of Russia on October 24-25,Roman Woronowycz provided readers of The Weekly anin-depth look at community politics in the Eurasian coun-try, as well as the Russian Federation governments nation-alities policy (based on the concept of national culturalautonomy), which AUR President re-elect OleksanderRudenko-Desniak described as a social-political experi-ment on a grand scale that should show whether the gov-ernment is able to deal with the new realities that exist innational life in the process of the restructuring of society ondemocratic principles. Mr. Rudenko-Desniak, a recentappointee to President Boris Yeltsins government,expressed a hesitancy to politicize Ukrainian organizationsin the federation.

The AUR also appealed to Mr. Yeltsin regarding theseizure of the Ukrainian Orthodox Epiphany Cathedral inNoginsk, as well as the landmark resumption of Days ofUkrainian Culture in Moscow sponsored jointly by theUkrainian and Russian governments.

Other notes

1997 was another busy year for the World Federationof Ukrainian Womens Organizations (WFUWO). On June15-22 its delegates participated in the triennial InternationalCouncil of Women (including representatives from Kyiv),relating concerns about health in Ukraine to their fellows,particularly as these were affected by the Chornobyl disas-ter of 1986. In its July 13 issue The Weekly reported thatthe Toronto-based coordinating body gained consultativestatus with the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF)in order to provide coordination for assistance to Ukrainesneedy children. On October 22-26 the confederation of 22Ukrainian womens organizations from nine countries heldits seventh congress, re-electing Oksana Bryzhun-Sokolyk

as its president for another five-year term. The Ukrainian Medical Association of North America

(UMANA) held its convention at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, onJune 18-22, awarding Lifetime Achievement awards to Drs.Bohdan Shebunchak and Oleh Wolansky, and electing Dr.Maria Hrycelak as president for a two-year term.

On August 23 the Australian Federation of UkrainianOrganizations (AFUO) convened a special meeting ofUkrainian professional and businesspeoples organizationsin Sydney to map out a strategy for their future role in theUkrainian Australian community.

Ihor Lysyj took members of the DP (displaced per-sons) generation down memory lane with reports on the50th anniversary of the first graduating class of theUkrainian Gymnasium in Berchtesgaden which, Mr. Lysyjwrote, provides a snapshot of [an] immigrant group, andof the reunion held at Soyuzivka in Kerhonkson, N.Y., onOctober 3-4.

Khristina Lew


8/18


At the end of the second world war, Europe and

the Soviet Union were patchwork quilts of newborders, administrative zones and occupied ter-

ritories, among which were scattered millions ofrefugees. Millions of people who had not fled theirhomes were then subjected to involuntary deportationand forcible resettlement. Among those to be deportedand resettled were Ukrainians who were living withinthe new borders of Communist Poland after the war.

The forcible resettlement, involuntary deportationand massacre by the Polish government of more than650,000 Ukrainians from their native ethnic territorytook place in two phases: from 1944 to 1947 the Polishgovernment deported 500,000 Ukrainians to theU.S.S.R. (many of whom were subsequently sent tolabor camps in Siberia, imprisoned or killed); andthroughout the spring, summer and fall of 1947 thePolish government conducted an operation of planneddestruction code named Akcja Wisla (Operation

Vistula) that forcibly resettled 150,000 ethnicUkrainians, as well as those of mixed Polish-Ukrainianmarriages, from their homes in eastern Poland to terri-tories in northern and western Poland.

Throughout the United States and Canada, eventswere held to commemorate the 50th anniversary ofAkcja Wisla and to honor the victims of this cam-paign. Commemorations included memorial servicesand concerts, conferences, lectures, photo exhibits andthe publication of new material.

One of the groups targeted during Akcja Wisla wasUkrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) supporters and lead-ers, and since this year was also the 55th anniversaryof the founding of the UPA, many commemorativeevents jointly acknowledged the anniversaries ofAkcja Wisla and the UPA.

The Pittsburgh community, where numerous sur-vivors of Akcja Wisla and descendants of expatriated

Ukrainians live, honored the memory of victims ofAkjca Wisla on September 14. The New York com-munitys commemorations spanned a week of eventsfrom October 17-26 that included a conference, a con-cert and an exhibit of photos and archival documents.The Toronto community organized an ongoing exhibit,which opened on March 26, of more than 200 photos

from the period of deportation and detention in theJaworzno concentration camp.

Among the new information to surface in recentyears is evidence that contradicts earlier Polish gov-ernment claims that Akcja Wisla was not planned inadvance. Documents from the archives of the PolishInternal Affairs Ministry prove that plans to eliminatePolands Ukrainian problem (as one of the docu-ments stated), to selectively arrest, imprison and killleaders of the community, to destroy homes andchurches, and to confiscate property had been devel-oped for at least a year prior to the beginning of the

operation. Approximately 20,000 Polish military andinternal security troops were mobilized to carry outAkcja Wisla, primarily in the Lemko, Sian and Kholmregions. Other archival materials show that though theplans originated with, and were carried out by, thePolish government, the campaign was done withapproval and support in Moscow.

On the occasion of this solemn 50th anniversary, theUkrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA)sent an appeal in January to Polands PresidentAleksander Kwasniewski and to the Polish Sejm, ask-ing that Polands leadership condemn Akcja Wisla inaccordance the U.N. Convention on the Prevention andPunishment of the Crime of Genocide, as well as con-sider compensatory actions such as the restoration ofcommunity property and financial measures to assistsurvivors. The UCCA received a response letter severalweeks later in which Polands Secretary of State MarekSiwets acknowledged the criminality and tragedy of

Akcja Wisla and condemned it as a black chapter inthe history of the 20th century.

During the final week of May, in Kyiv, PresidentKwasniewski and President Leonid Kuchma signedthe Declaration on Concord and Unity in which Polandand Ukraine agreed to put aside historical animosities,including Akcja Wisla.

50th anniversary

of Akcja Wisla


Ukrainians in the U.S.:

looking to the future

The year got off to a promising start as far as the sig-nificance of our community in the United States isconcerned. The second inauguration of President

Bill Clinton featured an ethnic perspective as the theme ofthe weekend celebration was An American Journey.

A Sunday afternoon brunch on January 19, ACelebration of the American Mosaic, was hosted by theNational Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee(NDECC), a subcommittee of the Democratic NationalCommittee (DNC), one of the main organizers behindmany inaugural events. A celebration of the strength ofAmericas ethnic diversity, the brunch was entirely pro-duced by ethnic leaders and communities throughoutAmerica. Planned as an ethnic salute to the victory ofPresident Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore, the brunchwas held in the elegant ballroom of the National PressClub in Washington where leaders and ethnic coordinatorsfrom the Democratic Party and more than 500 guests cametogether to reflect on the role of ethnic diversity inAmerican culture and life.

Yuri Shcherbak, Ukraines ambassador to the U.S., aswell as ambassadors and dignitaries from more than adozen embassies were also present to salute the accom-plishments of ethnic Americans. Numerous representativesof Ukrainian American organizations also were present.

Among the exhibits in the parade, which was held afterthe presidents oath and the traditional luncheon hosted byCongress for the new president, current and former volun-teers of the Peace Corps carried the flags of over 130 coun-tries, including Ukraine, where Peace Corps programshave been, and are, active.

The year was marked by several new initiatives withinthe Ukrainian American community, as well as renewal

and consolidation, plus the commemoration of several sig-nificant milestones.

Early in 1997, in an effort to make itself more accessibleto the community at large, the Ukrainian American BarAssociation instituted a toll-free number available to any-one calling from the United States and Canada. The toll-free number, 1-888-UABA-LAW or 1-888-822-2529, pro-vides pre-recorded information about the association in theEnglish and Ukrainian languages, and permits the caller to

leave messages for UABA officers and governors. Thenumbers pre-recorded message also contains referrals ofUABA attorneys by state. The Ukrainian American BarAssociation commenced its third decade by electing a newpresident, Bohdanna (Donna) T. Pochoday, the first womanto serve in this capacity. The election of the new slate ofUABA officers and board of governors took place at theUABA spring meeting held in Toronto on May 30 - June 1.

During the weekend of November 14-15, the UABAcelebrated its 20th anniversary at its fall meeting. The kick-off to the event was a reception at the Embassy of Ukraine.A full-day conference the next day focused on internal andexternal issues affecting the organization, as well as a spe-cial portion titled UABA: Quo Vadis? that examined theUABAs past and looked at where the organization isheading.

The largest association of Ukrainian American busi-nesspersons and professionals in the United States, The

Washington Group (TWG), elected George Masiuk to anunprecedented third term as president. Mr. Masiuk, atelecommunications engineer, and his slate of board mem-bers were elected unanimously during TWGs annualmeeting, held on February 15.

TWG, which has 366 members in more than half of theUnited States, in Canada, Ukraine and France, is widelyknown for the annual Leadership Conference it sponsors inWashington, featuring prominent government, businessand academic leaders from the United States and Ukraine.This years conference, held on October 10-12, was uniquebecause it took on a tone of introspection to focus on our

communitys needs under the theme We Can do Better:Expanding Horizons for Ukrainian Americans. Panel dis-cussions were held on how Ukrainian American and otherethnic groups organize their efforts, the best ways of influ-encing the U.S. government and society, working andbuilding connections with Ukraine, and winning and exe-cuting government grants.

Individual communities and local institutions also gotinvolved in projects aimed at improving our community

life here in the United States.In April the Ukrainian Heritage School in thePhiladelphia area announced Project Renaissance.According to its mission statement, the project, whose ben-efits will be available to Ukrainian studies schools nation-wide, aims to develop new materials, methods and stra