FACES AND PLACES: Letter from Ostroh (06/22/97)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Letter from Ostroh

I just returned from Ostroh, Ukraine - my third trip in four years.

There were many changes, even from last year when Lesia and I spent a week surveying the attitudes of some 200 teachers in Ostroh and Rivne regarding the future of democracy in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian language is heard everywhere, which should not be surprising. Ostroh, after all, is in Volyn, a region, like Halychyna, with a long Ukrainian history. After the fall of Kyiv in 1240, the Galician-Volynian Kingdom was the center of Ukrainian culture.

Ukrainian television has improved considerably. Practically everyone, it seemed, was watching "Roxolana," a mini-series about the famed Ukrainian wife of the Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. I was told that some 15 million people in Ukraine watch the program, starring the gorgeous Olha Sumska, every night.

Today, Ukrainian TV advertising is on a par with U.S. advertising, and there are interesting talk shows as well. An outstanding program is called "Aktsenty." It features a gadfly host who sits on a park bench and interviews interesting people. He minces no words, especially when discussing the Communists and Socialists in the Verkhovna Rada. He was been so critical that some parliamentarians of the left have demanded that his program be censored. "Let's talk about it," he told them one evening. "Come and spend some time with me on this bench. Defend your position. Tell us what you believe."

One "Aktsenty" guest was a young activist associated with the Democratic Party in Ukraine. Asked why Ukrainian youth are so politically indifferent, the young man replied that Ukraine's youth would vote only when they believed it was in their personal interest to do so. Right now, they don't believe their votes could make a difference.

During a meeting I had with some Rukh supporters in Ostroh, I was informed that the organization had lost ground recently and that, unless it is regained soon, it will be difficult to make any gains during the spring elections. Another problem is vote fraud. The opposition stole votes during the last election and they will steal them again next year. More poll watchers from the West are needed, I was told.

There is quite a bit of remodeling going on in the city. New restaurants have opened and the food is excellent. Young entrepreneurs are involved in the local economy. How they manage, I don't know. Taxes are a ridiculously high 80 to 90 percent and, as one person told me, "an honest man can't run a business in Ukraine." That same man wanted to open an auto parts store but gave up on the idea because of the confiscatory taxes and various pay-offs that were required. The shadow economy in Ukraine is estimated to be at 40 percent and growing.

Listening to the radio every morning, one has the impression that Ukraine is booming. John Deere is producing combines in Kherson and new joint ventures are announced every morning. Much was made of the recent meeting of the Canadian-Ukrainian Intergovernmental Economic Commission in Calgary. Addressing journalists, Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko emphasized that the inflation rate could not top 12 percent this year, the Ukrainian currency is stable, the GNP is expected to grow 1 percent, and privatization would be completed in the first half of 1998.

Thanks to the stability of the hryvnia, currently valued at 1.83 to the dollar, one need not deal with wads of bills worth millions of "kupony." Sanity has returned to Ukraine's legal tender.

Another indication of changing economic conditions are the automobiles and houses. I saw more BMWs, Audis and Mercedes Benzes in Ostroh, a town of some 13,000 people, than I ever see in DeKalb, a town of 40,000. Having to endure years of substandard vehicles, affluent Ukrainians are anxious to make up for lost time, it seems.

The roads are improving with new road signs and a vigilant militia that watches for drunk drivers and speeders.

Ukraine's nouveau riche (the so-called "new Ukrainians") are building mansions in the suburbs that border on the obscene. Some are constructed in the form of castles with turrets, towers and the like. You've got to see them to believe them.

There are also new churches everywhere in western Ukraine: Pentecostal, Orthodox and Catholic.

All of these developments suggest greater initiative among the people. Many Ukrainians are no longer waiting for the government, or "someone" to do something.

Positive changes notwithstanding, Ukraine still is not out of the woods. Although there is widespread resentment of the Verkhovna Rada and disillusionment with the democrats, who are finding it difficult to unite their forces, these attitudes don't translate into outrage. Instead of a "throw the rascals out" attitude, the mind-set among Ukrainians of all ages seems to be: "They're all the same, so why vote." The more the deputies in the Verkhovna Rada makes clowns of themselves, the less interested are Ukraine's people in their antics.

One constantly hears comparisons between life in independent Ukraine and Soviet Ukraine, even among patriots. The refrain goes something like this: "During Soviet times, I had a steady job, a steady pay check, an apartment, a television set, refrigerator and other appliances. There was food on the table. I was able to think of buying a car. I could even save some money for the future. Today, my job is uncertain, I haven't been paid in months, without my garden I wouldn't have enough food for the winter, and I fear that what few possessions I have may be stolen. Even if I could afford a car, I wouldn't want one because it, too, would be stolen."

As in the former Soviet Union, politics are not high on the daily agenda. People are scrambling to make it from day to day, and have little time to think about their political future. When one is worried about satisfying such basic needs as food, shelter, security and belonging, one can't be expected to devote much time to such issues as truth, equality, liberty and the like. On weekends the roads are filled with people with hoes headed for their gardens. They're worried about weeds, not justice.

Is Ostroh a microcosm of what's happening throughout western Ukraine? Perhaps. If so, then Ukrainians in the west have plenty to think about.

Myron Kuropas' e-mail address is: [email protected]

| Home Page |