NEWSBRIEFS

Greenpeace on Chornobyl's toll

KYIV - The global environmental group Greenpeace said in a report unveiled on April 18 that the health effects of the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident have been "grossly" underestimated, international news agencies reported. According to Greenpeace, more than 93,000 people - mostly in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia - are likely to die from cancers caused by radiation connected with the accident. Last year's report by an expert panel comprising the International Atomic Energy Agency and several other United Nations groups said fewer than 50 deaths could be confirmed as being connected to Chornobyl, while the number of radiation-related deaths among the 600,000 people who participated in fighting the consequences of the accident would ultimately be around 4,000. The U.N. report also estimated that the increase in cancer deaths among the 5 million people exposed to lower levels of radiation would be around 5,000. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Exhibit is dedicated to Chornobyl

KYIV - The Ukrainian National Museum of History is hosting the exhibition "Requiem to Memory" dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the catastrophe at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The exposition includes over 300 works, part of which were granted by the Central State Archive and the Pshenychnyi Central State Photo Archive. The exhibition includes some secret documents containing information quite contrary to that made public before. Maps of radioactive pollution, letters, diaries and memories of witnesses are also part of the exhibit. According to the president of the Chornobyl Union of Ukraine, Yurii Andriyev, who spoke at the exhibition, on April 26, 1986, the fourth reactor was operating in a dangerous mode, which was supposed to be halted. It's now obvious, he added, that the reactor was designed and constructed with various flaws. (Ukrinform)

Many events to mark 20th anniversary

KYIV - The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry will convene some 700 events on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, the director of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's Economic Cooperation Department, Viktor Mashtabei, told a press club briefing on April 13. He said that various foreign international organizations are to send medicines, medical equipment and other humanitarian gifts to Ukrainian children who suffer from Chornobyl's effects. Many children are supposed to undergo rehabilitation abroad, in such countries as the United States, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovakia. According to the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry official, on April 21 one of the papal universities in Rome will host an international conference on Chornobyl, and the pontiff is supposed to address the conference. On April 23 an annual charitable marathon will be held in London, the proceeds of which will be conveyed to the Chornobyl Aid Foundation. Mr. Mashtabei also noted other events related to the accident anniversary. (Ukrinform)

Belarus to spend $1.5 B on relief

MIENSK - Belarusian Prime Minister Syarhey Sidorski said on April 12 in the Chamber of Representatives, Belarus's lower house, that the government is planning to spend 3.3 trillion rubles ($1.5 billion U.S.) in 2006-2010 for its Chornobyl relief program, Belapan reported. Mr. Sidorski noted that the main objective of the program is to achieve "real economic revival and sustainable development" of the contaminated areas. Sixty-three percent of the planned funds are to go toward allowances for Chornobyl victims. Mr. Sidorski said that 11,242 persons disabled by the disaster and some 115,000 veterans of Chornobyl clean-up operations are entitled to these allowances. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Chornobyl director comments on accident

KYIV - The former director of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Mykhailo Umanets, said he never suspected that the plant's reactors, the same as those at the Leningradskaya plant, were dual-purpose designs that could be used to make uranium and plutonium for nuclear weapons. Mr. Umanets noted that such top secret information was available to a very limited circle of specialists, including deputy chief engineers, chiefs of nuclear safety and security departments, and senior engineers in charge of operating reactors. Speaking with an Ukrinform correspondent on April 14, Mr. Umanets explained that decisions on operating reactors in the dual mode were made only by the Central Committee Political Bureau of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Today it would be very hard to either confirm or deny that the Chornobyl plant's reactor No. 4 was used to enrich plutonium and uranium, he added. According to Mr. Umanets, after the accident over 400 technical steps were made at the plant's other reactors to rule out any similar accidents due to human error. Mr. Umanets noted that immediately after the accident two versions of its likely causes were circulated: inherent design flaws and personnel error. Eventually blame was placed on the latter. The design version was rejected after Aleksander Mashkov, first deputy minister for medium engineering, clashed with Mikhail Gorbachev. Mr. Mashkov said, "you know quite well why this happened." Mr. Umanets interpreted this as indirect proof of a number of reactors' dual-purpose design. With the aim of concealing that fact, mention of faulty design was expurgated from official documents about the Chornobyl nuclear accident, Mr. Umanets said. (Ukrinform)

Demonstration organizer jailed in Belarus

MIENSK - Uladzimir Katsora, head of the regional campaign office in Homiel of opposition candidate Alyaksandr Milinkevich in the March 19 presidential election, was sentenced to 10 days in jail on April 18, Belapan reported. Mr. Katsora was reportedly arrested earlier that same day and found guilty of organizing an unsanctioned demonstration. "Katsora has filed an application with the Homiel City Executive Committee for permission to stage a demonstration in the city on April 25 on the 20th anniversary of the Chornobyl accident," Yury Zakharanka, Mr. Katsora's colleague, told the agency. "Although the demonstration is yet to be staged and the city authorities have not yet announced their decision on the application, he has already been convicted." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko greets Jews on Passover

KYIV - "Today the Jewish Community of Ukraine is undergoing a period of true revival and is a full and honored participant in social life," said Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in his Passover greeting. He said the Jewish community was able to achieve this due to active humanitarian, educational and charity work. President Yushchenko expressed his conviction that the fruitful work of Jewish religious organizations will continue to promote the development of spirituality and the strengthening of interethnic and interreligious peace. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

President meets with U.S. senators

KYIV - On Thursday, April 13, President Viktor Yushchenko met with a group of U.S. senators to discuss bilateral relations, and economic cooperation. The president said that relations between Ukraine and the United States have been developing dynamically over the past year, adding that important issues have been resolved, such as recognizing Ukraine as a market economy, signing a bipartite protocol on access to markets of commodities and services within the framework of Ukraine's drive to join the WTO, and the revocation of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), leader of the Senate Majority, congratulated the people of Ukraine on having held fair, transparent, democratic elections, which will facilitate Ukraine's further reforms. The meeting was attended also by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst. (Ukrinform)

Yushchenko: no need to review gas deal

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko told journalists in Kyiv on April 12 that he sees no need to review the recent gas-supply deal with Russia, Reuters reported. The deal has been the source of considerable controversy since it was signed in January. "In the framework of a difficult negotiation process, which often seemed complicated to Ukraine, we have achieved what is most important for securing our strategic national interests," Mr. Yushchenko said. "We have a price of $95 [per 1,000 cubic meters] for Russian gas at the Ukrainian border. This is the cheapest price in countries bordering Russia." Yulia Tymoshenko has announced that if she regains the post of prime minister, she will immediately annul the gas deal. Under the January 4 gas accord between Ukraine's gas company Naftohaz Ukrayiny, Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom and a Swiss-based intermediary, Ukraine is to obtain 34 billion cubic meters of gas in 2006 from Russia at $95 per 1,000 cubic meters. Critics of the gas deal say it is valid for only the first six months of the year and that the price will be revised upward after that. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Patriarch Mstyslav Medal is awarded

KHARKIV - In accordance with a decree by Archbishop Ihor Isichenko of Kharkiv and Poltava of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), National Deputy Mykhailo Kosiv, a member of the parliamentary Committee on Issues of Spirituality and Freedom of Conscience and a layman of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, will be awarded the Patriarch Mstyslav Medal, the highest honor of the UAOC. Mr. Kosiv has become the fourth Knight of the Medal of Patriarch Mstyslav, it was reported on April 10. "Mykhailo Kosiv's firm and discreet position as to Church policy and his numerous interpellations and addresses to state officials and his mission as mediator in relations between church communities and the government have made a great contribution to resolving interdenominational conflicts and conflicts between Church and state, in particular regarding the revival of the constitutional rights of eastern Ukraine's community of the UAOC," reads the citation of the UAOC Eparchy of Kharkiv and Poltava. "Kosiv's political activity demonstrates his own active evangelical service, deep Christian faith and subtle feeling of the common Ukrainian-Byzantine tradition as a basis for a partnership between the divided branches of the Kyivan Church. Therefore, the initiative to award Mykhailo Kosiv the Medal of Patriarch Mstyslav received the general approval and support of the clergy and laity of the Kharkiv-Poltava Eparchy of the UAOC." To mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Patriarch Mstyslav (1898-1993), the Patriarchal Council of the UAOC established the Patriarch Mstyslav Medal, the highest award for secular politicians. This award is given annually on April 10, Patriarch Mstyslav's birthday, to the politician who has distinguished himself for spreading Christian values and defending the social rights of Ukraine's religious community. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Relics of Greek-Catholic martyr venerated

LVIV - The relics of Blessed Mykola Charnetskyi were placed for veneration at the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church of St. Josaphat in Lviv on April 1-2. Laypeople were able to touch the relics of the saint, to express personal gratitude and to ask for his blessing, the Lviv Gazette reported. The solemn transfer of the relics of Blessed Mykola Charnetskyi to St. Josaphat's took place on July 4, 2002. Since that time, the sanctuary has been a place of pilgrimage for thousands of faithful from all over Ukraine and abroad. Prior to that time, the relics were in Lviv's Lychakiv Cemetery. During his visit to Lviv on June 27, 2001, Pope John Paul II beatified 28 Ukrainian martyrs and confessors, Bishop Charnetskyi among them. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Models of Famine memorials on display

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko toured an exhibition of 13 models of a future memorial complex honoring Ukraine's Famine-Genocide victims. The exhibit was under way at the Kyiv House of Artists. Speaking to journalists about his impressions of the exhibit, the president said: "Today, the nation is learning to appreciate the profoundness of that tragedy. We are becoming increasingly aware of our responsibility to honor those who perished." Mr. Yushchenko also opined that the 1932-1933 Holodomor was a tragedy for all the people of the world. The memorial complex will be built on the Dnipro River bank, where the president last year planted a grove of snowball trees. The president has tasked politicians to defend Ukraine's historical memory and to exert every effort to make the world recognize the Ukrainian Famine as a genocidal act in the chain of genocides of the 20th century. (Ukrinform)

Pora-PRO bloc is disbanded

KYIV - The chairman of the Pora Political Council, Vladyslav Kaskiv, said on April 17 that with the completion of the election campaign, the election bloc PORA-Party of Reforms and Order has ceased its existence. As Ukrinform reported, the bloc gained merely 1.47 percent in the parliamentary vote, thus failing to cross the barrier for representation in the Verkhovna Rada. (Ukrinform)

Yekhanurov comments on Regions

KYIV - The leader of the Our Ukraine election bloc, Yurii Yekhanurov, said in an April 17 interview with Expert magazine that the economic programs of Our Ukraine and the Party of the Regions "coincide up to 75 percent." The economic programs have no significant contradictions that could prevent a constructive dialogue on many issues in the future Parliament, Mr. Yekhanurov said. The prime minister sounded confident that the Party of the Regions won't stand in opposition to the president as, objectively, the president's policies are beneficial to them. (Ukrinform)

Yanukovych speaks on coalition

KYIV - The leader of the Party of the Regions, Viktor Yanukovych, said on April 17 that he believes the parliamentary coalition of democratic forces in its current composition has no long-term prospects. Mr. Yanukovych was commenting on the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, Socialist Party and Our Ukraine signing a protocol of principles on forming a coalition in the newly elected Verkhovna Rada. According to Mr. Yanukovych, "these are only protocols of intent, and they will be signed numerous times in different configurations. There is nothing unusual in that." Mr. Yanukovych stressed that he believes there is only one efficient variant of a parliamentary coalition: "creating a coalition with the Party of the Regions, which won the parliamentary elections and united the southeast of Ukraine, residents of the biggest industrial regions of Ukraine." (Ukrinform)

Japanese soldier turns up in Ukraine

KYIV - A former Japanese soldier who disappeared after World War II and was officially declared dead in 2000 has turned up alive in Ukraine. Ishinosuke Uwano, now 83, served with the Japanese Imperial Army in Russia's Sakhalin Island. He lost contact with his family in 1958. He has now reappeared in Ukraine, where he is married and has a family. This week he is due to visit Japan for the first time in six decades. According to an April 17 report by the BBC, he was one of thousands of Japanese soldiers and civilians who were left stranded across the Pacific and in parts of China and Russia after the war ended. Some were kept as prisoners and forced to work as slave laborers, while others remained of their own accord. It has not been revealed why Mr. Uwano remained in Russia or how he ended up in Ukraine. (BBC)

World Forum of Ukrainians slated

KYIV - The fourth World Forum of Ukrainians will be held in Kyiv on August 18-20 this year, on the eve of Ukrainian Independence Day. Members of the organizing committee discussed the program during their maiden session, presided over by Viacheslav Kyrylenko, vice prime minister in charge of humanitarian and social matters. Mr. Kyrylenko said the gathering of Ukrainians from all over the world will have a number of peculiarities. The most significant of these is that the diaspora will be represented by its eastern wing, that is, those Ukrainians who live on the territory of the former USSR. Public organizations also are cooperating with the forum, he noted. Top officials of Ukraine, including political figures, are going to take part in the work of the forum, which will be organized and held at the expense of the Ukrainian government. Taking part in the meeting were: Mykhailo Horyn, chairman of the Ukrainian World Coordinating Council; Dmytro Dovhovych, president of the European Congress of Ukrainians; members of the Cabinet of Ministers, national deputies and representatives of NGOs. (Ukrinform)

Putin aide: Russia does not belong in G-8

MOSCOW - Andrei Illarionov, who recently served as economic adviser to President Vladimir Putin, told reporters in connection with the recent Moscow meeting of energy ministers from the Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized countries that the Western democracies are "appeasing" Russia by accepting it as a member of that group, The Moscow Times reported on March 20. Mr. Illarionov stressed that the other seven countries will be endorsing Mr. Putin's policies of "nationalization of private property, destruction of the rule of law, violation of human rights and liquidation of democracy" if they attend his July summit in St. Petersburg. The former aide added that Russia does not qualify for G-8 membership on either political or economic grounds. "The St. Petersburg summit will be a triumph for dictators around the world and a signal to them that what they do to their people and neighbors does not matter," he added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Adoption law is changed

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko on March 21 signed the law "On Amending the Family Code of Ukraine," which the Verkhovna Rada passed on February 23. Under the law, a married woman who gave birth to a child has the right to challenge the paternity of her husband, bringing an action to exclude an entry about him, as the father, from the birth certificate. The law also allows the adoption of children who were abandoned. The law specifies provisions concerning the registration of orphaned children and children deprived of parents' care, who may be adopted or given to foster care by a family. Over the past six years, 11,000 children from Ukraine were adopted. In 2005 alone foreigners adopted more than 2,000 children. (Ukrinform)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, April 23, 2006, No. 17, Vol. LXXIV

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