VOA Ukrainian Service's chief Bilajiw retires (01/10/99)

VOA Ukrainian Service's chief Bilajiw retires

WASHINGTON - Wolodymyr Bilajiw, chief of Voice of America's Ukrainian Service since 1991, retired on December 31. Mr. Bilajiw joined VOA in 1984 and witnessed many of the events during and after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.

"I was fortunate to manage the Ukrainian Service during a historically unprecedented time for our audience," said Mr. Bilajiw noting that on August 24, 1991, the Parliament of the then Soviet Ukrainian Republic proclaimed the independence of Ukraine subject to a referendum to be held on December 1, 1991." Mr. Bilajiw was on the scene in Kyiv to cover the referendum in December of that year, the dissolution of USSR, as well as the first free election of the president of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk.

A new chapter opened for VOA's Ukrainian Service on July 15, 1992, when Ukrainian State Radio began to carry the service's programming on its network. An estimated 5 million Ukrainians tuned in to VOA Ukrainian-language broadcasts either on shortwave or on Ukrainian State Radio. A correspondent's office was also opened in Kyiv and is now staffed on a rotating basis by broadcasters from the service. In addition to regular correspondents reports, on-the-scene reports from four stringers in Ukraine are carried regularly on VOA broadcasts.

Before joining VOA, Mr. Bilajiw worked as a correspondent and contributing editor for many Ukrainian-language publications in the U.S., Australia, Canada and Western Europe. He writes poetry in his spare time and had two books of poems published in the 1970s.

On December 11, 1998, Voice of America's Ukrainian Service observed the 49th anniversary of its establishment, combining it with a tribute to its retiring chief.

During a reception held at VOA headquarters in Washington, D.C., Mr. Bilajiw was honored for his years of dedicated service by International Broadcasting Bureau and VOA Director Evelyn S. Lieberman who presented him with a Career Achievement Award on the occasion. The International Broadcasting Bureau oversees all of the U.S. government's non-military radio and television broadcasting outlets, of which VOA is a part.

Among VOA staffers and guests at the reception were VOA Program Director Myrna Whitworth and former Ukrainian Service chiefs Mykola Francuzenko, Oksana Dragan and Michael Terpak. Also in attendance were the Second Secretary of the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington Hennadiy Nadolenko and Ukrainian National Information Service Director Michael Sawkiw.

Mr. Bilajiw, a resident of Chevy Chase, Md., is married to Dorothy M. Strom. He has two daughters, Alla Rogers and Gina D. Bilajiw.

VOA's Ukrainian Service went on the air on December 12, 1949. Seventeen staff members, in addition to the director of the service work in two shifts to produce morning and evening programs. The service broadcasts programs on shortwave and on AM and FM on 10 local stations throughout Ukraine. VOA Ukrainian programs can be heard also on Ukrainian State Radio nationwide.

The Voice of America broadcasts world, regional and U.S. news in 52 languages, including English, to an estimated weekly audience of 83 million listeners. VOA Ukrainian is on the air two hours a day.

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