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U.S. Helsinki Commission

September 17, 2009 || For Immediate Release

Contact: Neil Simon

+1 (202) 225-1901

Neil.Simon at mail.house.gov

www.csce.gov

 

US Helsinki Commission Statement

upon Administration Decision on Missile Defense

 

WASHINGTON--U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission), and Co-Chairman Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) released the following statement today regarding the Obama Administration's decision to abandon plans for missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic. 

"The Administration has been carefully reviewing missile defense options and announced a phased, adaptive approach for missile defense in Europe. This strategy is based on numerous factors, including consideration of the effectiveness of various military security options, costs, threat assessments and support from our NATO allies. This new approach has major significance not only for Poland and the Czech Republic and their neighbors, but for the wider relationship of the United States to all of Europe. I continue to support strong U.S. engagement with all the countries that have a vested interest in regional security and reaffirm our strong commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia's neighbors," Chairman Cardin said. 

"The decision having been made, I trust the Administration offered strong assurances to our NATO allies regarding America's commitment to their security as provided for in the North Atlantic Treaty and will back up its words with actions. The U.S. Helsinki Commission, with our long-standing commitment to Central and Eastern Europe spanning more than three decades, looks forward to further information about this particular decision. The Commission is committed to see human rights and democracy at the core of U.S. policy. We are equally committed to a strong and vibrant relationship between the United States and other OSCE participating States," Co-Chairman Hastings said.

 

###

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, is an independent agency of the Federal Government charged with monitoring compliance with the Helsinki Accords and advancing comprehensive security through promotion of human rights, democracy, and economic, environmental and military cooperation in 56 countries. The Commission consists of nine members from the U.S. Senate, nine from the House of Representatives, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce. 

 

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

September 17, 2009 


Ukrainian Journalists Mark Anniversary Of Gongadze's Murder 


KYIV -- Journalists and rights activists in Kyiv have marked the ninth anniversary of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze's abduction and killing, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.

Gongadze was kidnapped on September 16, 2000. His decapitated body was found two months later.

The circumstances of his death became a national scandal and a focus for protests against the government of President Leonid Kuchma.

Last year, three former officials from the Interior Ministry's Foreign Surveillance Department and the Criminal Intelligence Unit were found guilty of Gongadze's murder and sentenced to long terms in jail.

Then, on July 22, former Ukrainian police official General Oleksiy Pukach was detained and allegedly confessed that he was directly involved in killing Gongadze.

Gongadze's relatives and their lawyers think he was killed because of his work as an investigative journalist.

The activists gathered near the main post office in Kyiv and read the names of all jouranlists in Ukraine who have been killed or are still missing.

Gongadze and the other colleagues were commemorated with nine minutes of silence, one for every year since Gongadze's death.

It was decided that no symbol or sign propagating or defining any political party should be present at the gathering.

Last week, Gongadze's mother, Lesya Gongadze, accused Ukrainian politicians of using her son's name in their political intrigues.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko told journalists that an investigation into Gongadze's murder and its results could affect the presidential election scheduled for January, implying that those who had ordered the killing were in high offices. 


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Press release


OSCE project to safely dispose of toxic rocket fuel component in Ukraine kicks off with signing of contract


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KYIV, 16 September 2009 - The OSCE Secretary General, Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, and Acting Ukrainian Defense Minister Valeriy Volodymyrovych Ivashchenko signed a contract today with a Russian consortium that allows for the safe disposal of more than 3,000 metric tonnes of toxic rocket fuel component stored in rusting containers at two storage depots in Ukraine. 

Starting in early November, the rocket fuel component, which is known as Mélange, will be loaded on to trains that will be transported to specialized chemical plants in Russia, where it will be disposed of. In a process that will last a total of 12 months, the noxious substance will be transported by six trains in total and converted into chemical products with industrial uses.

The contract signed today provides for the disposal of 3,168 tonnes. According to the Memorandum of Understanding between the OSCE and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the Mélange project, Ukraine has a total of some 16,000 tonnes, the remainder of which will be disposed of in later, planned stages.

"This event has been preceded by four years of hard work by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the OSCE. Every step of the way was well worth it - for the sake of the human and environmental security of this country. This project is vital for Ukraine and it is important for the security of the OSCE area," said de Brichambaut.

A 400-page Environmental Impact Assessment Report found that the deteriorating containers that hold the noxious substance in Ukraine pose a risk that is "unacceptably high."

Ivaschenko said: "The problem, the solution for which starts today, is a part of the Soviet legacy inherited by Ukraine. Unfortunately, Ukraine was not able to eliminate the Mélange on its own due to technical and financial constraints. Thanks to the co-operation with the OSCE Secretariat we can say that it will be solved in the near future."

Several OSCE participating States are paying for the project through voluntary contributions, and fund-raising continues. Donors so far include Sweden/SIDA, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Germany, Finland, the Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine itself.

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Financial Times (website only)

www.ft.com

Yushchenko hits at Moscow ahead of poll

By Roman Olearchyk in Kiev 

Published: September 14 2009 

Viktor Yushchenko, the embattled Ukrainian president, complained of Russian meddling in Kiev's domestic affairs ahead of a high-stakes presidential election, which the pro-western leader is expected to lose to a more Kremlin-friendly candidate.

In a Financial Times interview, Mr Yushchenko said Moscow had waged a smear campaign against Kiev and could try to manipulate Ukraine's electorate - claims that were also made in 2004 when Mr Yushchenko was propelled to power against a Kremlin-backed candidate. Voters remain split in an east-west axis between Russian and Ukrainian speakers.

The issue of Russian interference in Ukraine's election emerged last month when Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's president, accused Mr Yushchenko of waging "anti-Russian" policies by seeking membership in the Nato military alliance, and urged the country's future president to be more friendly.

Mr Yushchenko said he expects Russia to stir up separatist sentiment on Ukraine's Russian-leaning Crimean peninsula. But he ruled out escalation into a military conflict of the kind seen last summer in Georgia, another pro-western ally on post-Soviet turf. Moscow continues to firmly back the independence aspirations of two Georgian breakaway enclaves, one of which, South Ossetia, was at the centre of the war. Many in Kiev fear a similar scenario in Crimea.

"They will try to exploit the 'Crimean Card'. But, I don't see a risk that the situation in Georgia would repeat," said Mr Yushchenko when asked if separatism or military clashes could erupt. "Ukraine is not Georgia," he said, referring to the country's larger population, military and geopolitical significance.

"Strength today is not in a military position. Employing it would be complete stupidity," he added.

Referring to last January's natural gas stand-off between Kiev and Moscow, which disrupted European supplies, and relentless Russian warnings that recession-battered Ukraine was unable to pay its gas bill, Mr Yushchenko said: "There are a lot of hidden and cynical schemes being played through information airwaves, aimed at discrediting Ukraine" in the eyes of Europe and the world.

Mr Yushchenko said: "We are witnesses of how the politics of totalitarianism is reaching its apogee against the principles of democracy, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Georgia is a sign of how, unfortunately, the Pan-European community did not stand up to defend these fundamental principles. It was a setback," he said.

The Ukrainian president said he hoped soon to meet US President Barack Obama to discuss these and other issues and expressed solidarity with a plea to Western leaders made last week by members of Ukraine's intelligentsia. In an open letter, politicians, artists and experts had called for western leaders to provide Ukraine with stronger security guarantees against an increasing threat from Russia.

Mr Yushchenko trails three frontrunners in the election who are actively seeking to harmonise relations with Russia. They include Yulia Tymoshenko, prime minister and erstwhile Orange Revolution partner, and ex-prime minister Viktor Yanukovich, the Moscow-backed candidate in 2004. Mr Yushchenko accused them of pandering to Moscow, selling out Ukrainian interests as "trading cards" to get Russia's support for their candidacies.

Eurasia Daily Monitor

http://www.jamestown.org/programs/edm/ <http://www.jamestown.org/programs/edm/> 

September 16, 2009

 Presidential Election Campaign Paralyzes Ukrainian Parliament

Ukrainian lawmaking has fallen victim to the presidential election campaign. Parliament has failed to resume its work after the summer vacation as the opposition Party of Regions (PRU) physically blocks the rostrum making it impossible to vote. The party is protesting against the refusal by the pro-government majority to increase minimum wages and pensions. It is likely that the present crisis will persist for some time to come. The two main players, the PRU and the Bloc of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko (BYT) are apparently both satisfied with the status quo. PRU leader Viktor Yanukovych has attempted to win the hearts and minds of voters by his populist demands, while Tymoshenko hoped that the uncivilized behavior of her main opponents might increase her own chances for victory in the January 2010 presidential poll.

On September 1, at its first sitting after the vacation, parliament rejected the PRU's proposal to increase the minimum wage. The bill was backed by 200 votes, 26 short of the required number. The PRU reacted by blocking the rostrum, saying that it was determined to continue the blockade until the majority agreed to more than double minimum monthly wages to the equivalent of $190 and raise pensions by a similar amount (Ukrainska Pravda, September 1). Yanukovych signaled that he would not stop short of organizing street protests to increase wages and pensions (UT1 TV, September 11). Yanukovych claims that there are enough funds in the state coffers for the increase, and that Tymoshenko only wants to use the issue in her election campaign (Inter TV, September 6).

Tymoshenko's team argues that the PRU's demands are purely populist and that inflation would spiral if they were met. "We flatly object to an insufficiently motivated increase of social standards [which would] only add 10 hryvnias ($1.1) to pensions and later 100 hryvnias will be lost because of inflation and devaluation," said BYT caucus leader Ivan Kyrylenko (Channel 5, August 31). If the BYT agreed to the increase, the state finances would be unbalanced and relations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be seriously damaged. Tymoshenko promised the IMF to keep the budget deficit under 6 percent in 2009 and under 4 percent in 2010. This was among the conditions for the IMF's $16.4 billion loan -Ukraine has already received three tranches totaling over $10 billion.

It is an open secret that the PRU is attempting to fool its potential voters. One Ukrainian weekly noted that PRU members are not interested in increasing pensions and wages, as most of them are businessmen who are not ready to pay their employees more (Zerkalo Nedeli, September 12). However, by advocating this policy the PRU is not risking anything, understanding that its demands will not be met by Tymoshenko because of the economic crisis. The BYT is not willing to accept the PRU's conditions not only due to the economic situation, but also since Tymoshenko apparently believes that the blockade of parliament works against her main rival in the election campaign. According to her team's findings, Yanukovych is losing potential voters because of the blockade, while Tymoshenko may use the blockade to her advantage by claiming that the PRU actually makes the approval of higher social standards impossible by disrupting the legislative process (Segodnya, September 15).

The blockade of parliament makes impossible both the appointment of the new ministers of finance, foreign affairs, defense and transportation (several of these positions have been vacant since as early as February) and the timely adoption of the state budget for 2010. However, election campaign considerations apparently come first for both the PRU and BYT, and neither of the two parties is interested in resuming the normal work of parliament.

It is unclear what can be done practically to reboot parliament. According to the constitution, President Viktor Yushchenko has lost the right to disband it and call snap elections six months before the January 17 presidential poll. He suggested instead that parliament should disband itself, and blamed Tymoshenko and Yanukovych for the current impasse. "The intrigues of two political forces are behind this. These are essentially intrigues by two individuals," he said (Ukrainska Pravda, September 2).

Tymoshenko's party indirectly confirmed that it is happy with the status quo by suggesting that parliament should not gather until after the election, and that deputies should work in their constituencies instead (Ukrainski Novyny, September 9). Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, an ally of Tymoshenko's, grudgingly accepted this proposal and blamed the PRU for the situation.

Many PRU senior members apparently want the dissolution of parliament, in particular unofficial party spokeswoman Hanna Herman and the Shadow Finance Minister Mykola Azarov, who holds pro-government deputies responsible of rubber stamping laws to fit Tymoshenko's election promises (Channel 5, September 2). However, Yanukovych spoke vehemently against parliament's dissolution in one of his most recent television appearances (Inter TV, September 6). It appears that parliament will be unblocked only if either Yanukovych or Tymoshenko, or both, find that the stalemate spoils their chances in the presidential election campaign.

--Pavel Korduban

 

September 14, 2009

The Ukrainian Coal Mining Industry: Problem Child or Savior?

Coal mining, and especially coking coal, has been a very problematic industry in Ukraine -it is highly inefficient due to outdated machinery and the depth of its mines. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), "The average mine depth is more than 700 meters; in approximately 20 percent of mines it is 1,000-1,400 meters." It is dangerous for miners and has depended for years on large state subsidies. Despite the dangerous working conditions (Ukraine has the world's second largest fatality rate in coal mining accidents after China) and outmoded production methods, coal is the only domestically available alternative fuel Ukraine has to keep its demand for Russian gas from mushrooming out of control.

Latest figures show that coal accounts for 40 percent of fuels used in Ukrainian power plants, 10 percent in district heating plants and 45 percent in industry. Estimates of Ukrainian coal reserves vary. The World Energy Council estimates total coal reserves in Ukraine at 52 billion tons, the 8th largest in the world. The U.S. Energy Information Administration claims that:

"Ukraine has 37.6 billion short tons in proven coal reserves, 17.9 billion short tons of which is anthracite and bituminous coal, and 19.7 billion short tons of which is lignite and sub-bituminous, accounting for about 15 percent of the former Soviet Union's total reserves. Production and consumption of coal in Ukraine have been relatively flat since 1996, after a precipitous fall off in production after gaining independence. In 2004, the country produced 69.3 million short tons of hard and brown coal, while consuming roughly 77.5 million short tons, making Ukraine a net coal importer, despite its sizeable resources" (www.eia.doe.gov).

The Ukrainian coal mining industry has also been a controversial political issue for the country's leadership. Located in the heavily industrialized and populous Eastern region of the Donbas, where the Party of Regions has its main support base, Western-oriented politicians, try as they may, have been unable to establish any significant following in this critical region. In September, the Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko decided to strengthen her hand in the coal industry by seeking to begin in 2010 a large scale effort aimed at the modernization and reconstruction of the country's coal mines.

In 2008 and 2009 Tymoshenko increased wages and pensions for coal miners and is now looking to get to the core of the industry's problem. Tymoshenko announced on September 10 that she intended to pay for the technical modernization of the mines from the state budget for 2010 and from the government's stabilization fund. 1 billion hryvnia ($110 million) will be earmarked for construction costs and 250 million hryvnia ($27.7 million) for renovation (UNIAN, September 10). This, according to the prime minister, will increase coal production in 2010 by 1.5 million metric tons which would gradually rise to 7.8 million tons.

How realistic are Tymoshenko's plans and projections? With the drastic fall of the Ukrainian hryvnia in 2009 (from 4 hryvnia to the dollar in 2007, reaching 9 to the dollar this year), the investment figures cited by Tymoshenko seem to be too little, too late.

This was not the first time that Tymoshenko has attempted to reform the coal industry. She tried to reform the industry while she was deputy prime minister from 1999 to 2001. She was abruptly removed from office in January 2001 by former President Leonid Kuchma, charged with fraud and money laundering, and jailed for several weeks. The charges against her were eventually dismissed. The coal industry's losses have been growing rapidly and when the Ukrainian steel making industry collapsed earlier this year, the coal industry saw catastrophic losses. The coking coal industry is a case in point.

For the past decade, successive Ukrainian governments have provided massive subsidies to the coking-coal industry. This policy has been, in fact, a subsidy to the metallurgical industry by providing it with low-cost coke. These subsidies, in turn, led to accusations of Ukrainian manufacturers dumping steel onto world markets. On her website, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow stated that, "from 1997 through 2000, carbon steel slab imports [into the United States] from key producers have risen dramatically: Brazil up 25 percent; Mexico 13 percent; Russia 106 percent, and Ukraine 542 percent."

However, the troubles in Ukraine's coal industry far surpass those of its other energy sectors:

1. Restructuring the coal industry would mean the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in a politically sensitive region.

2. Retraining programs for coal miners are not in place; the prospects for miners performing other jobs are bleak.

3. Entire municipalities in the Donbas Basin rely on the coal industry to pay for medical care, schools, public transportation, and other vital infrastructure.

How the Ukrainian government intends to handle this problem is difficult to forecast. Any coal reforms are sure to provoke angry reactions from vested interests in the Donbas Basin and from members of parliament involved in the metallurgical and energy-generation sectors of the economy. The Donbas has shown itself willing to raise the specter of territorial separatism in order to maintain existing coal subsidy policies and schemes. The country's eastern regions had also threatened to secede as a possible response to the Orange Revolution demonstrations in Kyiv. The reality of the threat of separatism remains questionable, but few have any doubts that the owners and managers of the coking coal-coke-metallurgical industries in Ukraine will lobby to prevent the implementation of far-reaching reforms and will continue to use coal as a political weapon.

--Roman Kupchinsky


 Jamestown Foundation Blog


Wednesday, September 16, 2009


Ukrainian President in Turkmenistan - A Futile Journey?

Roman Kupchinsky 

http://jamestownfoundation.blogspot.com/

 

The New York Times

ARTS, BRIEFLY

Elton John Is Too Old To Adopt In Ukraine 

Compiled by Dave Itzkoff 

15 September 2009

NYTF

Late Edition - Final

3

The Ukrainian government said Monday that Elton John, below, cannot adopt a child from that country because he is too old and is not married, The Associated Press reported. On a tour Saturday of a Ukrainian orphanage, Mr. John, 62, said he and his partner, David Furnish, who made their relationship official in 2005 under Britain's civil partnership law, wanted to adopt a child named Lev, who is 14 months old and H.I.V. positive. ''I don't know how we do that, but he has stolen my heart,'' Mr. John said, according to The A.P. ''And he has stolen David's heart, and it would be wonderful if we can have a home.'' But Yuriy Pavlenko, Ukraine's minister for family, youth and sports, said that could not be allowed. ''Elton John will not be able to adopt a Ukrainian child, and if he files that request, we will unfortunately deny it,'' Mr. Pavlenko told The A.P. ''The law is the same for everybody.''

 

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