Seven years after: frustrated dreams (08/23/98)

Seven years after: frustrated dreams

by Roman Woronowych
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Seven years after Ukraine's declaration of independence, this county of more than 50 million people feels as though it has seen few results. Seven Ukrainians strolling the Khreshchatyk, Kyiv's main thoroughfare, expressed their feelings as Ukrainian independence day approaches.

"What do you want from me? I am a photographer," said Kostiatyn Verbetskii, "I don't see it as Ukraine. I used to be an electrical engineer, now I have become a photographer. Now I have more variety, but less money, so they tell me that is good."

"Get out of here, America," he added.

A visitor from Ivano-Frankivsk, Taras Barachuk, said, "Look at it this way, when you give a dog freedom, that dog eats less but barks and bites more."

His friend, slightly built with an aggressive attitude, shared her feelings on the Ukrainian economy, which is in transition: "Seventy years of communism - as a philosophy student, I understand that," said Oleksandra Fokseli. "But I don't understand why Ukraine still does not have a middle class."

Yulia Hulieva, 21, an accountant, commented: "Independence started not badly. All of our dreams were fulfilled. ... Independence in Ukraine came and we were all optimists. Everybody dreamed that as the years progressed, we would better understand." Then she added, "But with every year the dream becomes less understandable."

Liuda Onyshchenko was critical of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada: It is like a stable, "you cannot enter without getting dirty."

Anatolii Stoliar, 51, once worked for the KGB. "I could not have admitted this to anybody seven years ago," said Mr. Stoliar. "I look at Ukraine's independence with happiness. We are now sovereign and free. The problem is that we cannot trust our leadership. Do you understand?" he added.

Svitlana Storozhuk, 40, stated, "I don't look at Ukraine at this moment as an independent country. The Communists maintain power in government. Towards what are we striving?"

Unscientific though it may be, this short survey of public attitudes seems to indicate that the roll of the dice has not yet given Ukraine its lucky sevens.

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