Fourth Congress of Ukrainians in Russia outlines future direction for diaspora (05/22/05)

Fourth Congress of Ukrainians in Russia outlines future direction for diaspora

by Maryna Makhnonos
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

MOSCOW - Leaders of the Ukrainian diaspora in Russia held their fourth Congress of the Association of Ukrainians in Russia to discuss achievements since their meeting last spring and the diaspora's development plans.

The annual meeting, held on April 9-10, was supported by high-ranking Russian and Ukrainian government officials, as well Ukrainian diplomats and national deputies. It was attended by approximately 100 delegates representing 80 organizations from 46 Russian regions.

The congress pointed to some progress in the informational and cultural development of the Ukrainian diaspora in Russia, but noted the need for support from professionals in its activities in order to become a stronger and more professional public association.

"Amateur time is over, and that's noticeable even from today's speeches," a co-chairman of the Ukrainian national cultural center in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Vasyl Babenko, told The Ukrainian Weekly. He added that more professionals should be engaged in diaspora events to make Ukrainian public life more contemporary and effective for its cultural and business development and to bolster the strength of ethnic traditions.

Mr. Babenko proposed that the congress establish separate committees to deal with legal issues, education and language, mass media, religion, science, support of families and women, and business ties between Russian and Ukrainian entrepreneurs. His suggestion elicited generous applause.

The topic was key, especially in terms of business engagement in the Ukrainian diaspora, whose budget is normally supported by occasional donations and minimal membership fees, and most of whose events are organized on a volunteer basis. For instance, the annual financial activity of the diaspora's council was limited to 3,500 rubles ($126), comprised only of membership fees.

Other regional diaspora leaders spoke about their local events and problems. However, all their speeches generally referred to the lack of legal grounds for their activities in Russia. The problem is that there is no such term as "national minority" in Russian legislation, which would support the efforts of Ukrainians and other minorities to better promote ethnic culture and traditions in the Russian Federation.

In addition, congress delegates criticized Ukraine's state authorities for their paltry support of the diaspora, saying that the government had failed to realize the national program "Foreign Ukrainians of 2005."

Ukraine's ambassador to Russia, Mykola Biloblotskyi, said that newly elected President Victor Yushchenko had outlined humanitarian cooperation between Russia and Ukraine as one of the priority issues in bilateral relations. In this sphere, Mr. Biloblotskyi added that his office will properly reflect the new humanitarian vector of Ukraine's new administration and will demonstrate better support of diaspora activities in Russia in particular.

Among achievements, diaspora leader Oleksander Rudenko-Desniak listed successful cultural festivals, seminars and the unveiling of diaspora websites. He noted that the number of Ukrainian public organizations rose from 76 organizations in 2002 to 105 in 58 Russian regions in 2005. However, few Ukrainian press publications, and radio and TV programs reach the public, and the poor state of the national language doesn't reflect the diaspora's size, his deputy, Yuriy Kononenko, continued.

There are only seven secondary schools in Russia that offer Ukrainian language courses in the framework of a basic educational program. They are located in Moscow, the Republic of Bashkortostan and the northern Tomsk region. Another five secondary schools offer Ukrainian as an optional course. The figure is inadequate in a multinational country that counts some 4 million ethnic Ukrainians, according to unofficial estimates. Official results of the 2002 census show there are 2.9 million Ukrainians in Russia, whose total population is 145.2 million. Of the total population, 104.1 million people are ethnic Russians. The Ukrainian diaspora is the second largest after the Tatars.

The Congress of the Association of Ukrainians in Russia adopted a resolution that outlined new directions for the diaspora. These include, first of all, promotion of its national-cultural program to Russian government level. Another important step is a plan to create several committees in charge of cultural activity, informational support, education, freedom of conscience, migration and legal issues, youth and sports events, business and veterans' issues.

Among guest delegates at the congress were the deputy head of Russian Ministry of Regional Development, Mikhail Ponomaryov; the chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights and former Foreign Affairs Minister Hennadii Udovenko, Ukraine's Vice Minister of Culture Olha Kostenko; and National Deputy Ivan Drach.

Greetings to the gathering were sent by: Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn, Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk, Russian Minister of Regional Development Vladimir Yakovlev, and the chairman of the Russian parliamentary Committee on Nationalities, Yevgeniy Trofimov.

| Home Page |