1_January 6, 2002 - The Ukrainian Weekly

40 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2002
No. 1
2001: THE YEAR IN REVIEW
and that it would concentrate too much power in too
few hands as it would take only six votes (out of the 11member
board) to control the entire organization.
Finally, there were also those who urged a “no” vote
on the mail-in ballot for the simple reason that they
believed such a monumental change should be discussed
openly at a full-scale UNA convention, where all
the delegates have the advantage of hearing each other’s
opinions – pro and con – on issues of critical importance
to the UNA’s future. Advisor Alexander Chudolij
wrote: “An exchange of ideas among convention delegates
is, in my opinion, the best, fairest and most democratic
way for any or all of the delegates to be heard –
both leading up to and during the actual vote. Every delegate
is in attendance and already sitting in the same
convention hall. It is the perfect setting for an exchange
of views, opinions and understanding of the issue at
hand. In fact, it’s exactly what conventions are for!”
“Furthermore,” he argued, “I have always believed that
it does not matter as much what type of system we use
to elect our UNA leaders, but that it matters whom we
elect and what resources they have to get the job done.
Does anyone really think that all of our problems will
turn around if we elect a board of directors?”
The ballots were to be returned by May 1, whereupon
they were tabulated by members of the UNA Auditing
Committee on May 8.
A report signed for the Auditing Committee by
William Pastuszek, chairman; Stefan Hawrysz, vicechairman;
Dr. Alexander J. Serafyn, secretary; Myron
Groch and Yaroslav Zaviysky, members; noted that a
total of 179 ballots was received, which represented
76.8 percent of the 233 eligible votes. The results of the
vote was: for adopting the by-laws changes, 106;
against, 70. Three ballots were ruled invalid (two were
returned empty and one was damaged). In order for the
by-laws proposal to pass 155 “yes” votes – two-thirds
of the eligible votes – were required. Fifty-four eligible
voters, or 23.2 percent of the total eligible, did not register
a vote. Thus the proposal to alter the UNA’s governance
structure to a corporate model failed to pass.
On the financial front, 2001 was a turnaround year. At
the March 24 meeting of the UNA Executive Committee
– the first of 2001, it was reported by Mr. Kaczaraj that
the UNA had ended the year 2000 with the lowest deficit
in over 10 years. The greatly improved financial status of
the UNA was mainly due to the reduction in the deficits
of its publications and a reduction in operating expenses.
The publications had an overall deficit of $175,000 for
the year 2000, while the deficit in 1999 was $246,000.
The Ukrainian National Urban Renewal Corp. showed a
profit for the year 2000 in the amount of $107,000. The
UNA had unrealized losses of $383,000 due to the weakness
in the Canadian dollar. Soyuzivka remains the
UNA’s biggest financial burden; the deficit from
Soyuzivka was $579,000 for the year 2000. Mr. Kaczaraj
concluded by reporting that the overall decrease in surplus
for 2000 was $188,000.
In December at the annual meeting of the UNA
General Assembly, Treasurer Kaczaraj reported good
news about growth in the UNA’s surplus: during the
first nine months of 2001 the surplus increased by $1
million to $7,791,225. Other positives included the
UNA’s very strong solvency ratio of 114 percent (that
is, $114 to cover each $100 of liabilities, as compared
with the $105 average for the top 25 insurance companies);
the expectation that the net profit of the UNA’s
building corporation, the Ukrainian National Urban
Renewal Corp., would be $350,000 in the year 2002;
and the reduction of the UNA publications’ deficit to the
“manageable level” of $86,455 for the first nine months
of this year.
Mr. Kaczaraj tempered his optimism, however, as he
spoke of Soyuzivka, which recorded a deficit of nearly
$462,000 during the first three quarters of 2001. He
concluded his report by underscoring that “we have to
solve Soyuzivka’s problems and increase sales of insurance.”
At the first executive committee meeting for 2001,
National Secretary Lysko reported that total UNA membership
for the year 2000 stood at 50,689 members:
25,685 premium-paying members and 25,004 paid-up
members. At the yearend annual meeting of the UNA
General Assembly, Mrs. Lysko reported a total UNA
membership of 48,536, with a net loss of 2,170 members
as of the end of the third quarter. She noted that the
UNA now has no professional sales forces and that
branch secretaries are aging and are no longer as active
as they once were in enrolling new members.
The fate of Soyuzivka was very much on the minds
of UNAers and on the agenda of its leadership.
During its annual meeting held in December 2000,
the General Assembly of the Ukrainian National
Association had commissioned a standing committee to
prepare a comprehensive analysis of the state of affairs
of the Ukrainian National Association’s resort,
Soyuzivka. The committee analyzed the situation facing
the resort, and reached a number of conclusions regarding
its future that were set forth in a 12-page report
delivered to the Executive Committee in late April of
this year, and in an enhanced report submitted in early
July. (The work of several committee members, foremost
among them Stefko Kuropas, Taras Szmagala,
Alexander Chudolij, Wasyl Szeremeta. The report was
divided into four sections: physical plant (summarizing
necessary building renovations and reconstruction),
financing alternatives (including charitable and forprofit
capitalization options), operating analysis (including
profit and loss projections) and future actions needed
to be taken by the Executive Committee. The committee
made a number of recommendations on improvements,
including both renovations and additions to the
resort that would cost $4.2 million to complete, but
which it considered “absolutely necessary for
Soyuzivka to attract guests at a rate to enable it to operate
at a break-even basis or better.”
The committee also examined several options,
including for-profit and non-profit structures, with the
latter seen as preferable. Under the non-profit approach,
the UNA would transfer Soyuzivka into a not-for-profit
foundation organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code. Such an entity would conceivably
be able to both accept charitable contributions and
attract strategic capital. Indeed, the UNA General
Assembly’s annual meeting in December concurred
with the non-profit approach.
The report concluded: “On a going forward basis, the
committee noted the need to follow-up on four areas:
(a) identifying professional assistance in attracting charitable
donations, (b) identifying interested institutional
donors, (c) identifying candidates for third party management,
and (d) finalizing the position of the state
insurance commission on the committee’s recommendations.”
At its December 2001 annual meeting the General
Assembly authorized the Executive Committee, together
with the Standing Committee on Soyuzivka, to obtain
legal counsel and engage a resort consultant regarding
options for the future of Soyuzivka, and to report back
to the General Assembly by mid-January.
The UNA recorded several sad losses during 2001:
the deaths of three honorary members of the General
Assembly with a total of 93 years of active service to
the UNA among them. Walter Sochan, supreme secretary
and an executive officer (vice-president and recording
secretary, 1966-1974 and later supreme secretary
1974-1994) for 28 years, plus another 17 years as an
employee of the Home Office, and honorary member
since 1994 died on May 23 at age 77. John O. Flis, former
three-term supreme president (1978-1990) and oneterm
vice-president (1974-1978) and honorary member
since 1990, died on June 8 at age 78. Stephen Kuropas,
supreme auditor for 25 years (1937-1961) then supreme
vice-president for eight years, (1961-1970) and honorary
member since 1970, died on August 11 at age 100.
In February we reported on one of the UNA’s most
promising programs. To help Ukraine’s disadvantaged
rural youths, the UNA decided to give 10 such youths a
chance at a college education at one of Ukraine’s most
prestigious academic institutions. After discussions with
the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, the
UNA, through its Ukrainian National Foundation,
agreed to pay the $1,000 tuition for each of five boys
and five girls from villages in central and eastern
Ukraine to take part in college preparatory courses at
the university – rated for the last several years as one of
the top two centers of academic study in Ukraine. The
semester-long college preparatory course puts prospective
students on the university’s campus and in its dormitories
as they take part in a pre-college level curriculum
that teaches required subjects, in the physical sciences
as well as the humanities, and is aimed at helping
them pass the school’s entrance examination.
The UNA programs continued its Scholarship
Program in 2001. In September it was announced that
more than $16,000 in scholarships was awarded to 129
college students throughout the United States and
Canada for the 2001-2002 academic year.
This year’s UNA scholarships add to the more than
$1.78 million awarded by the UNA since 1946, continuing
its tradition of supporting the education and development
of today’s Ukrainian American and Ukrainian
Canadian youth.
The Scholarship Committee awarded $100 to each of
36 incoming freshmen, $125 to each of 30 sophomores,
$150 to each of 25 juniors and $175 to each of 29 sen-
Three stalwarts of the Ukrainian National Association who passed away in 2001: executive officers Walter Sochan, John O. Flis and Stephen Kuropas.