LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (05/30/04)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Chicago crisis: sour grapes?

Dear Editor:

Enough already, with this latest tempest in the Ukrainian American community - this time in Chicago. It's beginning to sound like sour grapes.

I read the Ukrainian press and enjoy the letters to the editor; it is obvious that a small group in Chicago is perpetuating and projecting this crisis on the U.S. community. I strongly doubt that this crisis as projected by the few is as newsworthy as they want us to think. From reading our press it has become evident that four or five individuals who have in some way been connected with 1st Security Bank in Chicago think or feel that the board should have consulted with them as to its planed merger. It is obvious that these community-minded individuals are unfamiliar with Securities and Exchange Commission rules on mergers and acquisitions, not to mention insider-trading rules.

But, gentleman, all is not lost; you most certainly know that in order for a merger to take place the stockholders must vote on accepting or rejecting this merger. Now, if the community is as outraged by this merger as you want us to believe, then the shareholders will most certainly reject the merger. I don't recall if I read this in Svoboda or The Weekly, but one writer noted that "we don't need the Heritage Foundation and its millions, the community will pick up the donations." Does that mean that we can start sending our requests for donations to the writer?

My fellow Ukrainians of Chicago, stop beating yourself, do not follow a false prophet. Do these gentlemen offer a better solution, do they have a vision for the future? No, but in the Ukrainian tradition they yell very loud. Today it's Julian Kulas and tomorrow it'll be someone else.

Mr. Kulas, above all, is an outstanding Ukrainian patriot - one who had a vision of our future financial needs. He was instrumental in forming the Heritage Foundation, whose mission is to financially assist our Ukrainian organizations, projects, schools, youth organizations, women's organizations as well as the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, the Ukrainian National Information Service and many other institutions.

We face so many problems this year in America and in Ukraine so what do we do, why we do what we do best, we beat up Julian Kulas. Gentleman, will you dedicate this much energy to work toward a democratic election in Ukraine? Will you say: "I was instrumental in the election of October 31. I organized new Ukrainian immigrants and helped them to the Ukrainian Consulate to vote." Or will you look back and say: Boy, we got Julian Kulas but good.

Zenko Halkowycz
Teaneck, N.J.

Was 1st Security sold or merged?

Dear Editor:

Was the Ukrainian-managed bank 1st Security Federal Savings Bank sold or merged? It was sold, of course, and President and CEO Julian E. Kulas could pocket several million dollars for his personal gain as a result of this pending sale. The acquiring bank has promised to retain branch personnel, but for the most part the current Ukrainian executive leadership will no longer exist in the next few months, if the sale is approved by a majority of the shareholders.

One can research online who the majority shareholders are, especially, banks and other foundations. I consulted several financial analysts who all said that the bank's balance sheet and income statement were outstanding, and saw no reason to sell such a profitable fnancial institution. Furthermore, there is a trend in America today showing that such community-oriented banks are prospering and play a vital role in the development of the American economy.

It now appears evident that the bank converted to a stock-owned organization in 1998 from a depositor-owned one, in order to successfully complete a sale to another acquiring bank. 1st Security Federal Savings Bank's executives said at many annual meetings held here in Philadelphia that the bank would have a majority control of the shares by buying back shares from stockholders in order to prevent such a takeover and maintain ownership in Ukrainian hands. What a pathetic and misleading lie. It reminds one of the current oligarch-style of business transactions pervasive today in Ukraine.

Ukrainians in the diaspora, specifically in Chicago and Philadelphia, are outraged that Mr. Kulas and his board of directors agreed to sell out for personal profit, rather than continue the legacy of this financially sound and prospering bank. Mr. Kulas repeatedly stated in his prior year community meetings in Philadelphia that we should make sure that the bank would be run by the next generation of young Ukrainian professionals. Mr. Kulas also stated that it is very encouraging to see non-Ukrainian depositors and borrowers utilize lst Security's services and products, which ultimately allows 1st Security Bank to use the income proceeds to help Ukrainian and other organizations in the form of monetary donations. It appears evident now that those young Ukrainian bankers will never have that opportunity that Mr. Kulas was afforded by Lew Bodnar et al.

Perhaps one of the most betrayed and disappointed is Lew Bodnar, who many years ago was instrumental in organizing 1st Security Federal Savings Bank as a Ukrainian-managed bank. As a young student at Chortkiw's Ukrainian Gymnasium, Mr. Bodnar was known to many Ukrainians in town as a young activist and leader among Ukrainian students. Mr. Bodnar now realizes that hiring Mr. Kulas as a young manager to guide this bank was a grave mistake.

They say, "The love of money is the root of all evil." The million-dollar (or perhaps more) price tag to sellout one of the Ukrainian diaspora's best run and financially sound banks was nothing less than an evil, self-serving act of betrayal to 1st Security's customers, Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian alike.

Jaroslaw Kaczaj
Cheltenham, Pa.

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