The Ukrainian Weekly 1994

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8 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JUNE 26,1994 No. 26 Historian lectures on developments internment survivor attends on the political scene in Ukraine premiere of documentary by Хеша Ponomarenko UNA Washington Office WASHINGTON - oieksander Pavliuk, a senior history lecturer at the Kyyiv-Mohyla Academy and a regional exchange scholar at the Kennan institute, presented a lecture on "Contemporary Politics in Ukraine" at the Woodrow Wilson Center of the Kennan institute on June 9. Although Mr. Pavliuk's area of expertise is in the history of Eastern Galicia during 1917-1918, he has been studying the current Ukrainian political events during his residence with the Kennan institute. Mr. Pavliuk observed that, unlike the post-independence period, Ukraine has recently been receiving much more attention in the news media. Moreover, the euphoria that existed after Ukraine declared independence has given way to the realization that Ukraine has problems beyond those arising because of a lack of independence. Today, according to Mr. Pavliuk, many fundamental issues, such as what type of political system is. best for Ukraine - a parliamentary or presi– dential-parliamentary system - are still being debated in Ukraine. At the same time, the West is examin– ing causes for the collapse of Ukraine's economy, exemplified by the scathing arti– cle which appeared in The Economist in mid-May. The West blames Ukraine's problems on Ukraine's lack of experience due to international isolation, and on Russia's external pressures on Ukraine. But, according to Mr. Pavliuk, these caus– es merely justify the present situation in Ukraine, they do not explain it in totality. instead, observed Mr. Pavliuk, one major obstacle for Ukraine has been its transformation as a part of an empire into a democratic state. This has been harder for Ukraine than for any other former republic of the Soviet Union, including Russia. He pointed out that while noth– ing constantly challenges the existence of Russia's statehood this is not the case for Ukraine. As a result, Ukraine and Ukrainian politicians have had to con– stantly focus on statehood without focus– ing on other issues such as the economy. The Ukrainian historian placed most of the blame on President Leonid Kravchuk, who failed to take advantage of his early popularity to attack econom– ic problems at the outset of indepen– dence. Mr. Pavliuk likened President Kravchuk to Mikhail Gorbachev of three years ago - more popular internationally than domestically. He also noted one problem President Kravchuk shares with other former Communists: he does not take personal responsibility for the fail– ure of any of his programs. Another obstacle to Ukraine's possibili– ty for success is the lack of organization on the part of Ukrainian democratic forces. Mr. Pavliuk said the Ukrainian democrats made a mistake in not being organized and unified at the onset of Ukraine's indepen– dence. Democratic forces in other post- Soviet countries split into factions after they came to power, not before, as in Ukraine. Furthermore, according to Mr. Pavliuk, "Ukraine became independent before it was ready...the goal (indepen– dence) was realized before any priorities were established." Mr. Pavliuk said politicians in Ukraine's government at the time of independence, took advantage of their existing positions to remain in contraol of the new Ukrainian government. These politicans included those who went abroad as representations of Ukraine, as well as President Kravchuk. Meanwhile, said Mr. Pavliuk, the "renovated Communists and Socialists," unlike the democrats, formed a unified opposition which has led to the current situation in which Oieksander Moroz, a Socialist, is now the elected chairman of the new Ukrainian Parliament. This demonstrates that left-wing parties in Ukraine are aggressive and disciplined. According to Mr. Pavliuk, it is incorrect to compare these Ukrainian left-wing parties with those in Poland or Lithuania, which lost and regained control, while in Ukraine they never lost control. Mr. Pavliuk hypothesized that many of these problems in organizing a viable Ukrainian state arise out of the "Ukrainian persona." Due to historic events, the Ukrainian persona developed a culture and a language without a state and was able to endure any authority as long as these basic rights were protected, in fact, some believe that the nationalist movement in 1917-1918 arose out of simple economic motives, not human rights issues, in which the Ukrainian nationalists, wanting to gain control of the rich black soil of Ukraine, moved for Ukrainian independence. Ukraine's current problems arise out of a combination of factors, claimed Mr. Pavliuk. in eastern and southern Ukraine, the vote for Ukraine's independence was motivated by the belief that economic (Continued on page 14) Luhanske maternity hospi SHORT H1LLS, N.J. - The Luhanske Center for Women's and Children's Health has reported significant gains following a shipment of medicines and ultrasounds from the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund last March. in recent letters and photographs sent through Kyyiv, the hospital's director, Prof. Petro T. Lishchinsky, documented some of the progress the center has made in diagnosing and treating young mothers and their newborns. A particularly Dr. Ludmylla Tereshchenko and Hospital Director Dr. Petro Lishchinsky pose with the Siemens ultrasound that the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund delivered to the Luhanske Center for Maternal and Children's Health in March. The ultrasound was a donation in memory of Muriel Mikalson. by Oksana Zakydalsky TORONTO - Mary Manko was only 6 years old in 1914 when she and her fami– ly - her sister, brother and parents - were rounded up in Montreal and taken to an internment camp in northern Quebec, vic– tims of Canada's Wartime Emergency Act. Nearly 80 years later, Mary Manko– Haskett was the guest of honor at the pre– miere of "Freedom Had a Price: Canada's First internment Operation 1914-1920," Yurij Luhovy's documentary film about the internment of Ukrainian-Canadians during World War 1 (see The Ukrainian Weekly, May 15). The premiere was organized by the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Center and was held on May 27 at the St. Lawrence Center for the Arts. Mrs. Manko-Haskett is the only known survivor of the internment camps. Her family was sent to Spirit Lake Camp in the Quebec bush where, in 1915, Mrs. Manko-Haskett's 2-year-old sister fell ill and died. At the end of the war, the Mankos moved to Toronto where the parents operated a grocery store. After she married, Mrs. Haskett tried to tell her young children about her camp experience but they wouldn't believe her. They assumed that it was some story their mother had heard from the old country, it was only in 1988, after Frances Haskett, Mrs. Haskett's daugh– ter, read a booklet written by Prof. Lubomyr Luciuk on the internment oper– ation, that the family finally accepted the fact that the story their mother had told them had actually happened in Canada. Other members of Mrs. Manko- Haskett's family - daughters Frances Haskett and Dianne Wise with her son Michael, and sons John Haskett and Paul Haskett with his wife Nancy - were also guests at the premiere, which attracted an appreciative audience. Elaine Ziemba, Ontario minister of cit– izenship, announced at the premiere that the ministry would support and partially fund a traveling exhibit, being organized by the UCRDC, about the internment of Ukrainian Canadians. The exhibit is scheduled for the autumn of 1994 and will be shown at some 14 centers throughout Ontario, it will feature audio-visual presentations, a document and artifact display, informa– tion pamphlets for the general public and educational materials suitable for school groups. The film, "Freedom Had a Price," will be an integral part of the exhibit. A special screening of the film for both provincial and federal members of Parliament is planned. The exhibit will end its one-year tour in Toronto, where a three -day symposium on internment will be held. al benefits from shipment revealing set of photographs was forwarded to the CCRF by E. Steven Potts, a Washington businessman and a member of the CCRF's Leadership Committee, who recently traveled to Ukraine on a fact-finding mission for the Department of Energy and Brookhaven National Laboratories. The photos, which arrived at the CCRF offices on June 13, show the hospital staff posing with stacks of medicine and diag– nostic equipment donated by the CCRF. in another photo, Dr. Lishchinsky and another physician are shown using an ultrasound manufactured by the Siemens Quantum Corp. to examine a pregnant patient. Dr. Lishchinsky reported that representatives of the Kyyiv office of the Siemens Corp. have completed their training ses– sions for the hospital staff and technicians, teaching them how to properly use their new equipment. The Siemens ultrasounds were donated in memory of Muriel Mikalson, through the efforts of Dr. Mona Mikalson of Basking Ridge, N.J. in a letter sent to Ukrainian American benefactors who supported the Luhanske project, Dr. Lishchinsky emphasized that the medicines delivered by the CCRF were "beneficial and essential in the extreme." The letters were sent to the Rev. George Halycia, pastor of the Holy Ascension Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Clifton, N.J., the parishioners of St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Baltimore and the Ukrainian National Home in Willimantic, Conn., all of which held fund-raisers in support of the CCRF's winter shipment to Luhanske. Through the further efforts of the CCRF, the chief of the Neonatal Division of the Luhanske Center, Dr. Ludmylla Nikolayivna Tereshchenko, has received an invitation to come to the United States to attend a special strategy conference on women's and children's health sponsored by the Peace Links Foundation in July. The conference, co-hosted by Peace Links founder Betty Bumpers (wife of former U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers) and Carol Williams (wife of Rep. Pat Williams of Montana), will take place in Washington on July 24, followed by medical seminars in Pittsburgh that will conclude on August 5. The CCRF selected the Luhanske Center for Maternal and Children's Health as one of its partner hospitals following on– site inspections last summer by CCRF staffer irene Kytasty Kuzma. Mrs. Kuzma toured a number of hospitals in the Donbas region seeking appropriate institutions for the fund's expansion campaign in eastern Ukraine. Luhanske is widely considered one of the most polluted and environmentally damaged regions of the country. The Luhanske Center was established to combat the rise in infant and maternal (Continued on page 16)
No. 26 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JUNE 26,1994 9 A1D grant supports project aimed at assisting Ukraine's Parliament Ukrainian Economic Association holds second congress in Odessa WASHINGTON - The u.s.-ukraine Foundation and indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs will launch a cooperative initia– tive this month to provide reform assis– tance to the Ukrainian Parliament. Through a three-year S3.45 million grant from the Agency for international Development, the project will promote the expansion of democratic institutions and assist Ukrainian policymakers guid– ing the transition to a market economy. The U.S. Agency for international Development administers the U.S. for– eign assistance program providing eco– nomic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide. initial technical assistance to the Supreme Council will be provided to five priority areas: legislative and execu– tive relations, committee structure and operations, staffing, budget and appro– priations activities, and citizen relations. "The critical task confronting the Rada (Council! today is establishing itself as an authoritative democratic institution, capa– ble of developing and implementing poli– cies that re-define Ukraine's economic system and further enhance its citizens' economic and political liberty," noted Nadia Komarnyckyj McConnell, presi– dent of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation. "Our role is to help the Rada broaden its expertise in analyzing policy problems and developing realistic policy solutions." An initial request for project support was made by ivan Pliushch, then chairman of the Supreme Council, who asked that technical assistance be provided to support a task force on parliamentary reform. Part of this assistance will be in the form of parliamentary working groups that will focus on the five priority issues defined by members of Ukraine's legislature. Strengthening the institutional capaci– ty of the legislature is tied to strengthen– ing the skills base and functional capa– bi!ities of its personnel, as well as insti– tuting reforms in its structure and man– agement systems. Project activities will emphasize the development of critical analytical capacities among deputies and staff of the Parliament in areas such as legislative reform, program development and implementation, policy analysis, and budgetary and fiscal administration. Policymakers will have the option of using the project to develop and imple– ment an orientation program for new deputies and staff. Secondary activities by project staff and advisors will offer citizens and other policymakers opportu– nities to participate in policy develop– ment projects. Economic reform and privatization of government-owned enterprises will be among the issues facing the Supreme Council, in developing initial action plans with the project management team, task force members will focus on how privatization frames the context for the parliamentary working groups and the advisory teams. An advisory panel of Western democ– ratic government officials and experts will be formed to provide direct and long-term assistance to working groups of parliamentarians and project staff members in Ukraine as they formulate options for reforming the Parliament. The U.S.-Ukraine Foundation has had staff in Ukraine since 1991 and deter– mined that successful delivery of techni– cal assistance could only be accom– plished through a permanent interactive approach, in 1991 the U.S.-Ukraine Biblioteka Resource Center was estab– lished, followed by the Pylyp Orlyk institute for Democracy, a public policy research organization based in Kyyiv to provide critical materials directly to Ukrainian policymakers, in addition, USUF maintains an e-mail hotline, send– ing Washington-related information, tes– timony and press materials to Kyyiv daily. indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs has a strong record of working in close collaboration with government leaders to adopt and implement new managerial and technical systems. This practitioner focus con– tributed to establishing indiana University's public administration program among the elite in the country. "Citizens of indiana and the United States as a whole have an interest in see– ing the nations of the former Soviet Union succeed as democracies with functioning market economies," said Charles Wise, associate dean and profes– sor of public and environmental affairs at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. "The defense cuts that lead to lower taxes in America are directly tied to the stability, democratization and development of market economies in the major independent states." (Continued on page 14) ODESSA — The second congress of the international Ukrainian Economic Association, a professional organization of economic scholars, took place on May 23-27 in Odessa. About 70 scholars participated, 30 of whom were from the West. Approximately 50 papers related to the economics of Ukraine were presented at seven sessions. The number of participants was some– what smaller than at the first congress in Kyyiv in 1992, most likely because of the critical economic and social situation in present-day Ukraine. This congress, just like the previous one, was generous– ly subsidized by the Ukrainian Studies Fund. Most of the outgoing officers and members of the executive committee for the years 1992-1994, headed by Prof. 1.S. Koropeckyj, were re-elected for the next two years. The ШЕА decided to hold its third congress in 1996 in Kharkiv. Anatoliy Zolotarev, director of the Kharkiv institute of Economics, will organize the congress, and Prof. v.N. Bandera of Temple University will serve as a liai– sion in the West. The work of the ШЕА was hampered by unstable conditions of the past two years in Ukraine, which were not con– TWG Cultural Fund kicks off WASHINGTON - The newly cre– ated Cultural Fund of The Washington Group held its inaugural event on Sunday, June 5. Under the patronage of the Embassy of Ukraine, The Cultural Fund hosted an afternoon of poetry of Bohdan ihor Antonych performed by the Les Kurbas Young Theater of Lviv. The program, under the collective title of "A Drunken Kid with the Sun in his Pocket," consisted of a number of poems of the renowned poet from the Lemko region of Ukraine as well as several pop– ular Lemko songs. They were performed by Oleh Drach, Tetiana Kaspruk, volodymyr Kuchinsky, Natalka Polovynka and Andrei vodichev. Laryssa Lapychak Chopivsky, direc– tor of the TWG Cultural Fund, intro– duced Уаіегіу Kuchinsky, the deputy chief of mission of the Ukrainian Embassy, who - in the absence of Ambassador Oleh Bilorus, who is in Kyyiv - welcomed everyone to the well-attended event and pledged the Embassy's continued support and coop– eration for the fund's activities. The event was held in the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington's Georgetown area; a lovely courtyard reception fol– lowed the poetry performance. Among those who attended the event were numerous donors to the Cultural Fund who were very special guests that afternoon. Ms. Chopivsky expressed her gratitude to these very first financial supporters of the fund who through their generosity exhibited an understanding of the importance of the Cultural Fund's undertaking. The Les Kurbas Young Theater of Lviv, a recipient of the vasyl Stus Award, was founded in 1988. Most of the theater's productions are original compositions or premieres of longignored works, such as "The Grateful Erody" by Hryhoriy Skovoroda and "Between Two Powers" by volodymyr vynnychenko. in the process of devel– oping its own theatrical method, the troupe has been researching theatrical techniques from throughout the world. Under the directorship of volodymyr Kuchinsky, who is also the founder of the group, the Les Kurbas Young Theater has taken part in a num– ber of international theatrical events in Russia, Poland and the United States. Members of the theater have taken part in projects created by the Yara Arts Group from New York (artistic director virlana Tkacz), including "in the Light" (1991), "Blind Sight" (1993) and "Yarn's Forest Song" (1994). The Washington Group Cultural Fund Committee, the brainchild of its director, Ms. Chopivsky, is planning many events to bring Ukrainian art, music, dance, film and literature, as well as Ukrainian performers into the cultural mainstream. Events planned for the coming season include, among ducive to scholarly activity. Nevertheless, some progress has been made: the ШЕА was legally registered by Ukraine's Ministry of Justice; it pub– lished the proceedings of its first con– gress, titled "The Economy,of Ukraine: Past, Present and Future," edited by George Chuchman, University of Manitoba, and Mykola Herasymchuk, Kyyiv institute of Economics; it was involved in preparations for the publica– tion of the basic economics textbook by Paul A. Samuelson in the Ukrainian lan– guage; and it organized, jointly with the U.S. Department of State, a conference on the Ukrainian economy that was held in Washington. in addition to continuing such activi– ty, the newly elected officers and execu– tive committee have decided to concen– trate their work during the coming two years on the following projects: to include in the association lecturers of economics in higher education establish– ments scattered throughout Ukraine, whose participation in organized research activity until now was negligi– ble; to launch an English-language scholarly journal on Ukrainian econom– ics; and to begin the publication of fun– damental economic works in the Ukrainian language. activities others, a music recital series and a film festival. The Cultural Fund hopes to capital– ize on its unique location to attract to its events members of the international and diplomatic communities, as well as political and cultural leaders, in order to achieve those goals, the Cultural Fund plans to feature events in a variety of venues, including the Embassy of Ukraine, the Kennedy Center and local universities, theaters and churches. Members of the Les Kurbas Young Theater of Lviv may be seen in perfor– mances of "Yarn's Forest Song" at the La Mama Theater in New York City through June 26. For more information on these performances please call (212) 475-7710. For more information on the TWG Cultural Fund, or to become a donor, please contact Ms. Chopivsky, (202) 363-3964. Members of the Les Kurbas Young Theater of Lviv: (from left) volodymyr Kuchinsky, Tetiana Kaspruk, Oleh Drach, Natalka Polovynka and Andrei vodichev.
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The Ukrainian Weekly 1994

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