[Ohio UZO News] Ukraine - FT, Econ., OSCE, EDM

[Deychak, Orest]

Financial Times

www.ft.com <http://www.ft.com> 

 

January 28, 2010

Ukraine's presidential rivals tussle over minister

 

By Roman Olearchyk in Kiev 

 

Supporters of Viktor Yanukovich, the front-runner in Ukraine's hotly contested presidential election, on Thursday voted in parliament to oust the country's top law enforcement officer, in an escalating struggle to control state institutions that could influence the outcome of the poll. 

 

Should the February 7 runoff between Mr Yanukovich and his rival, Yulia Tymoshenko, the prime minister, fail to produce a clear winner, control of the courts, law enforcement and the central election office could give be decisive.

 

"Without a doubt, the escalating political struggle underway suggests that both sides expect the election to be very close, and so they are seeking leverage to influence a final outcome," said Oleksandr Chernenko, head of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, the main election watchdog.

 

On Thursday, Yuriy Lutsenko, an ally of Ms Tymoshenko was ousted as interior minister by MPs in Mr Yanukovich's opposition Regions Party supported by allies including the Communists and some lawmakers from Our Ukraine, the party of president Viktor Yushchenko.

 

Minutes later, Ms Tymoshenko exploited a technicality to keep Mr Lutsenko in de facto control, appointing him the ministry's first deputy head. She said the attempted dismissal of Mr Lutsenko, was meant to prevent law enforcement agencies from cracking down on vote-rigging probably planned by Mr Yanukovich.

 

Mr Yanukovich lost the disputed 2004 presidential election that led to the Orange Revolution after his campaign was accused of widespread electoral fraud. Ms Tymoshenko, who co-led the revolution with Mr Yushchenko, now accuses her opponents of trying to steal an election again. 

 

But Mr Yanukovich's backers claim that it is she who is plotting fraud and insist their leader has no reason to cheat, after having secured a 10 per cent lead over her in a first round election held on January 17.

 

Both sides have clashed this week for control over a court that is to rule on election fraud complaints if the result is disputed, as well as a printing house that is producing election ballots.

 

Law enforcement troops on Monday stormed into the printing house after a group of lawmakers backing Mr Yanukovich forcefully seized it. Allies of both candidates have accused each other of conspiring to print extra election ballots, allegedly for ballot stuffing. On Wednesday, lawmakers backing Mr Yanukovich criticised a judge from Kiev High Administrative Court of Appeals, which would consider a disputed election result. On Thursday, Mr Yanukovich's camp filed a draft law in parliament to replace the judge.

 

More than 3,000 foreign election monitors present for the first round vote, in which 16 other candidates were eliminated, called it generally democratic. Foreign observers will again be out in force in the run-off.

 

Mr Chernenko said "it's looking almost certain that results of the run-off will be challenged, and will be clouded amidst a sea of voter fraud allegations."

 

While such a scenario resembles the Orange Revolution, voter fatigue amongst most of Ukraine's 46 million citizens is widespread and huge protests are not expected. Any dispute is more likely to be followed by court claims and counter claims leading, possibly, to a recount or a political compromise, Chernenko said.

 

Economist

Europe.view 

Say not the struggle naught availeth

Jan 28th 2010 
>From Economist.com



Roman Kupchinsky, a scourge of communists and post-communist kleptocrats alike

IN THEIR freedom they had no homeland. And in their homeland they had no freedom. Roman Kupchinsky, a warrior in and out of uniform, who died on January 19th aged 65, was one of the most remarkable of those who fought a seemingly hopeless but ultimately triumphant struggle against the Soviet seizure of power in the eastern half of Europe.

Much of what he did in the cold war is still secret. The son of Ukrainian émigrés to the United States, he served as a marine in Vietnam. Then he worked "for the government". He campaigned for political prisoners and fought hard in the information war against Soviet rule in Ukraine. 

RFE/RL

 

	

 

But unlike many of his fellow cold-warriors, he did not declare victory and retire in 1991. He turned his fire on a new, more insidious enemy: the overlap between organised crime and ex-Soviet intelligence services, and in particular the staggering corruption of the oil and gas industry. He edited a gripping fortnightly digest on crime and corruption in the ex-Soviet region for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org/> . (For readers who know that outfit only in its pale modern incarnation, a trip into the archives is recommended.)

Those who read his reports there, and later for the Jamestown Foundation, a think-tank, found them eye-poppingly well-informed and insightful. Yet they were only dilute versions of what he really knew. Western energy companies and governments took him into their confidence, using him as a consultant to explain the monstrous menagerie of cronyism, spookery and greed that they encountered in the wild east. He kept their secrets.

Many people enjoy the title of a "walking encyclopedia". Mr Kupchinsky deserved it. But that was only part of it. His companionship was uproarious; his determination to outwit the bad guys inspirational. Your columnist once needed urgent help against a seemingly unbeatable enemy from that world. "Romko's" salty humour calmed my nerves; his deep knowledge helped win the battle.

Mr Kupchinsky was emblematic of a generation that had escaped totalitarianism and found new homes in the west. Others of the same ilk can be found all over the region: Valdas Adamkus and Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the former presidents of Lithuania and Latvia respectively, or Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Estonia's serving head of state. >From the past 20 years you could find plenty more, of all ages, in and around public life in the ex-captive nations. 

Their great asset was binocular vision. Having lived in the west, they understood far better than most of their compatriots at home how life in the rich, free world, for good or for ill, really works. But they also enjoyed a deep knowledge of their own countries' history and traditions-more so, in some cases, than those who lived under Soviet rule. It didn't always work: after 1991 some returning émigrés proved to be patronising, bombastic and outright flaky. Some of them died too early: Stasys Lozoraitis, Lithuania's top diplomat in the West, was struck down by liver cancer in 1994, aged 70, robbing his country of his integrity, charm and vision. But the best and luckiest of them have played a huge role in securing their countries' future after the collapse of communism. 

Mr Kupchinsky was one of the most formidable: equally at home in dealing with troubled bureaucracies such as the FBI and CIA or with Ukraine's also ill-run intelligence bureaucracies, as well as the private sector, the media and think-tanks. He continued reading, writing and talking-fuelled by a prodigious intake of nicotine and alcohol-right up to his death.

What will we do without him?


OSCE


Press release


OSCE removes threat posed by toxic rocket fuel component from south-west Ukrainian town, starts work at second site


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KALYNIVKA, Ukraine, 26 January 2010 - The last train removing a highly toxic and volatile rocket fuel component from a storage site near the south-western Ukrainian town Kalynivka left today as part of an OSCE project that is set to remove the threat posed by the substance from all of Ukraine.

The train carrying the last of the 1,000 tonnes stored at the site will travel to specialized chemical plants in the Russian Federation, where the fuel component known as melange will be safely disposed of in a process that results in chemical products for civilian use, such as paint components.

The deteriorating containers holding melange posed a threat not only to Kalynivka, a town of 20,000, but also the nearby regional capital Vinnytsya, which has a population of 365,600 residents. Work has begun to clear a second site located just one kilometre from the village of Tsenzhiv and a few kilometres from the regional capital of the Ivano-Frankivsk region. Work at that site, which holds about 2,200 tonnes, is expected to take until late summer 2010.

"Now that the last trainload of melange has left Kalynivka, this toxic hazard is no longer a threat to local residents. From this moment on, nearby communities can enjoy a safer environment," said Mathew Geertsen, the manager of the project.

Melange was widely used in the armies of the Soviet Union, the Warsaw Pact and some other countries to propel short- and medium-range rockets.

Later stages of the project are envisioned to dispose of Ukraine's entire stock of melange, which comprises some 16,000 tonnes. The project, implemented by the OSCE Secretariat, is set to become the OSCE's largest donor-financed project so far.

A single major leak or accident involving melange can have a severe impact on biological life within a two-kilometre radius, and create a contaminated, high-risk zone within a 25-kilometre radius. If the substance comes into contact with anything organic, it causes spontaneous combustion.

The Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Spain, Poland, the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency and Ukraine itself are financing the first phase of the project. Some of the donors for the first phase, as well as the United States, have pledged funds for later phases. Fund-raising for the project is under way among OSCE participating States.

 Eurasia Daily Monitor

January 27, 2010

Yanukovych, Tymoshenko Hold Opposite Views on Russian Gas

Both Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her opponent in the February 7 presidential election runoff, the former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, have sought Moscow's support for their campaigns. Both are expected to be rather pro-Russian compared to the outgoing pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko, who is perceived in Moscow as a Russophobe. However, Tymoshenko and Yanukovych hold opposite views on the gas trade with Russia. Yanukovych wants to revise the January 2009 gas contracts with Russia and to set up an international consortium to manage Ukraine's pipelines. Tymoshenko defends the contracts and rejects the consortium.

Yanukovych who, as opinion polls predict, is more likely to be elected as the next president than Tymoshenko, called the gas contracts "enslaving," addressing his potential voters in Dnipropetrovsk which is part of Ukraine's industrial heartland. He said the price for Ukraine should be "just" (Ukrainska Pravda, January 12). Speaking in western Chernivtsi, Yanukovych said he would be ready to negotiate a revision of the contracts with Moscow immediately after his election as president (Interfax-Ukraine, January 19). Kommersant-Ukraine daily reported on January 13 that Gazprom took Yanukovych's threat seriously, so it was preparing to go to court to defend the contracts.

Parts of southeastern Europe were left to freeze in early January 2009 because of the gas price dispute between Ukraine and Russia. There were fears of a repetition of this, as the debt-ridden Naftohaz Ukrainy, the state-owned oil and gas behemoth, has no cash to pay Gazprom. However, Ukraine's central bank came to the rescue, lending to Naftohaz from its reserves. Fears about Naftohaz's ability to pay for gas will only grow as its financial condition is unlikely to improve anytime soon. Meanwhile, the Russian gas price for Ukraine will increase by the end of 2010. The average annual price for Ukraine is expected to grow to $280 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2010 from $228 per 1,000 last year.

The metal and chemical industries in Yanukovych's strongholds of east and south Ukraine will suffer most from the price increase, hence Yanukovych's determination to revise the contracts. Tymoshenko's electorate in the predominantly rural central and western Ukraine is less dependent on Russian gas. Similarly, Tymoshenko does not want to spoil her good relations with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, so she defends the contracts according to which Ukraine pays a higher price for gas than most of its neighbors. However, while the contracts brokered by Tymoshenko and Putin were based on market principles, Yanukovych essentially suggests returning to the era of former President Leonid Kuchma (1994-2004), when Russia sold cheap gas to Ukraine in exchange for political and other concessions.

One concession Yanukovych is ready to make is establishing a consortium with Russia to run Ukraine's gas transit network. Yanukovych announced that if he won the election he would initiate setting up an international consortium to manage Ukraine's gas pipelines. He said this should help increase their throughput capacity. In exchange for the consortium, Ukraine should receive a "just" price for its gas from Russia, Yanukovych said. Gazprom reportedly hailed Yanukovych's initiative, saying that the "Belarusian option" may be applied to Ukraine. Belarus sold 50 percent of its gas transit network to Gazprom in 2006 in exchange for cheap gas. However, discounts for Belarus are only temporary (Kommersant-Ukraine, January 22).

Tymoshenko lambasted Yanukovych for his statements on the consortium. Addressing local officials in Kyiv Region, which is her stronghold, she said that the consortium creation would be tantamount to "stealing the gas pipeline from Ukraine and full liquidation of the transit network." Tymoshenko said that she would not allow such a consortium, adding that the gas transit network would remain state-owned. She estimated the value of the network at "hundreds of billions of dollars," which was probably an exaggeration. Tymoshenko said that when she replaced Yanukovych as prime minister in 2007, she thwarted his plans to lease Ukraine's gas transit network to Russia (UNIAN, January 23).

Yanukovych also suggested that Ukraine should participate in the Russian Nord Stream and South Stream gas pipeline projects, which are aimed at decreasing Russia's dependence on the Ukrainian transit route. Yanukovych suggested this could compensate Ukraine for losses from a decrease in gas transit due to the imminent launch of the two pipelines (Ukrainski Novyny, January 20). In this case, Yanukovych apparently lobbies for the interests of his crony, the steel tycoon Rinat Akhmetov whose Khartsyzk Pipe Plant could supply large-diameter pipes for the Russian projects.

It is interesting that the former central bank governor, Serhy Tyhypko, to whom Tymoshenko promised the post of prime minister if she were elected president, is on Yanukovych's side as far as the gas trade is concerned. Tyhypko, like Yanukovych and Yushchenko, believes that the gas contracts should be revised and that Russia should obtain a share in Ukraine's gas pipelines (Ukraina TV, January 13). Speaking after the first round of the presidential election in which he came third with 13 percent after Yanukovych and Tymoshenko, Tyhypko suggested that 25 percent of the shares in a consortium to manage the pipelines should belong to Gazprom, 25 percent to investors from the European Union, and the rest to Ukraine (1+1 TV, January 17).

--Pavel Korduban

 

 

 

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