International Association of Ukrainian Studies seeks reform in ...

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But steps takenrecently to combat corruption there meanUkraine could receive funding in thefuture, Mr. Hewko said.“Ukraine did very well on 14 of the 16indicators,” Mr. Hewko said.“Now, even if Ukraine, or a country,doesn’t formally pass the indicators, theboard can still use its discretion and makea country eligible because there’s data lagon the indicators,” Mr. Hewko said.“Very often the indicator results come outin the summer and they may not accuratelyreflect the latest trends in the country.”The indicators used are not created ormaintained by the U.S., but by the WorldBank, Freedom House and TransparencyInternational.Mr. Hewko explained that countriesare ranked among their peer group.“You have to be above the median onhalf of the indicators, and you have to beabove on the corruption indicator,” hesaid, noting that new rankings areexpected to come out this summer andwill be used to make decisions for 2006.“Based on those, our board will meet inthe fall to determine which countries willbecome eligible in 2006, so Ukraine may ormay not become eligible,” Mr. Hewko said.“If a country got its act together, we couldsign something in eight or nine months.”The Ukrainian government has showninterest in presenting a proposal to theMCC. “Mr. Yushchenko mentioned it severaltimes when he was in Washington duringhis visit and their government has beeninterested in finding out how they canbecome eligible,” Mr. Hewko said. “Andthe answer is quite simple, do well on theindicators and have a great story to tell.”The corporation, created on January23, 2004, is managed by a chief executiveofficer appointed by the presidentand confirmed by the Senate and overseenby a board of directors. The secretaryof state is the chairman of the board.The board meets once a year anddetermines what countries are eligible toprovide proposals. The board will likelymeet again in the fall and evaluate whichcountries, including Ukraine, will be eligiblein 2006 to provide proposals.“The beauty of the MCC is that if acountry is chosen as an eligible country itgets to come to us with its proposal, andwe’ll fund anything,” Mr. Hewko said. “Itcould be health, education, infrastructure.The only thing we ask is that, first of all, theproposal reflects a consultative process, sothat the proposal is not so much the government’sproposal but a country’s proposal.And, second, we will fund in any area, butit has to lead to poverty reduction throughsustainable economic growth.” The corporationmust also foresee measurable results.The corporation has recently undergonecriticism from members of Congresswho say the fund has not acted quicklyenough to disperse funds. To date, the corporationhas signed compacts withHonduras, Madagascar, Cape Verde andNicaragua. On June 15, CEO PaulApplegarth announced that he was resigning“at a time of mutual convenience inorder to ensure a smooth transition.”A nominee for Mr. Applegarth’s spot hasnot yet been named and Mr. Hewko said hehad no indication of who would be nominatedfor the position, though his placementas a vice-president at the corporation wouldappear to make him a candidate.Prior to joining the MCC, Mr. Hewkowas an international partner with the lawfirm Baker & McKenzie, specializing ininternational corporate transactions inemerging markets.An adjunct professor at GeorgetownLaw School, he most recently workedwith Baker & McKenzie in the CzechRepublic and previously in Ukraine andRussia. He also served as an advisor tothe Ukrainian Parliament.While working in Prague, Mr. Hewkowas responsible for overseeing 13 attorneysand over 500 multinational andCzech clients. He established Baker &McKenzie’s office in Ukraine andworked on mergers and acquisitions,joint venture negotiations, technologytransfer, privatization and other issues.Mr. Hewko’s international experienceincludes assignments with U.S. and foreignlaw firms in Washington, Brazil,Argentina, Mexico and Ecuador. Hereceived his law degree from Harvard LawSchool, his master’s degree from OxfordUniversity in England, and his bachelor’sdegree in government and Soviet studiesfrom Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.Mr. Hewko is a member of UkrainianNational Association Branch 174 and inhis youth was active in the PlastUkrainian Scouting Organization. Hespeaks Ukrainian, Spanish, Portuguese,Russian and Czech.