WEEKLYDIG

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APRIL 5, 2011 ISSUE No. 20 (589)

Tel.: +38 (044) 414-5946, fax 414-4920;е-mail: time@day.kiev.ua; http://www.day.kiev.ua

1917:AUkrainianMilitaryCongress convenes inKyiv to support theCentralRada’s claim toUkraine’s autonomyandelect theGeneralMilitaryCommittee, presided over bySymonPetliu-ra.1925:Aplenarymeeting of theCCof theCP(b)U is called to order inKharkiv to deliberate theUkrainization of the republic.1931:Afoundrymolders’ teamsignsUkraine’s first cost-accounting contract at theHammer andSickleWorks inKharkiv.1947:TheCCof theCP(b)Uadopts a decree onharshermeasures to combat theUkrainiannationalist undergroundmove-ment in the western regions. 1992: President Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine signs an edict establishing the Ukrainian status of the Black Sea Fleet. 1995: The first certificate auction isheld at theUkrainianCertificateAuctionsCenter inKyiv.2001:TheVerkhovnaRada ofUkraine enacts a newCriminalCode andnewversion of theLaw“OnPoliticalParties inUkraine.”

This day in history

Vasyl SHKLIAR:We know less aboutthe 1920s thanabout Kyivan Rus’

Pages 6, 8 Page 8

Master ofconcordismVolodymyr Vynnychenkosought a formula toimprove humanity

By Marek SIWIEC,Member of the European Parliament

L eonid Kuchma was supposed to bemy guest in Poznan, for a confer-ence which a local outside govern-

ment organization puts together forUkraine. Previously it was LeonidKravchukwho took part in such event.Unfortunately, it seems that presidentKuchma will not come to Poland at all.The Court inKyiv has forbidden him toleave the city and started an investiga-tion and legal conduct concerning hisalleged input into Heorhii Gongadze’sdeath. I remember the beginning ofthis century very well. Ukraine start-ed to change. Dramatic presentationsof the recorded tapes by security offi-cer Melnychenko, which had takenplace in the Ukrainian parliament,have consolidated the opposition inUkraine. Yulia Tymoshenko as well asViktor Yushchenko, even though po-litically they were “Kuchma’s babies,”have begun a fight with the entire thencurrent establishment and everythingthat had to do withKuchma, includinghim. They’d been very effective.

After the spectacular win of theOrangeRevolution, a lot had been doneto find out who is responsible for thejournalist’s death, even more so, theguilty parties were found, prosecutedand sent to in prison. No legal actionwas taken regarding president Kuch-ma. Today, Kuchma is sitting in courtas one of the accused ones.

I’m very curiouswhat new facts, orwhich new circumstances, have servedas the foundation of such drastic deci-sion. TheUkrainianAdministration ofJustice is getting involved in politics,and I’m sure it’s not the first or the lasttime it happens. This time it decided toparticipate in politics that had takenplace seven years ago inUkraine’smainopen city field. It was then, when mil-lions of people fromUkraine, andmanypeople who were simply visiting forsupport,made a decision regarding cer-tain way of conducting government.Then, it was something the nation de-sired and was respected by the currentleader of the nation.

Now it’s history. Not much of anold one, but still history. The worldwas full of admiration for the deter-mination and effectiveness of the op-position, but also for the way the au-thorities behaved. The Orange Revo-lution was peaceful and bloodlesseven though there were winners andlosers.

The transfer of authority occurredwith agreement and help of LeonidKuchma. In that past moment ofUkrainian history he was without adoubt a positive figure. There shouldbe a solid, credible book written aboutKuchma’s input into buildingUkraine’s sovereignty in those firstcouple of years after the country re-gained its independence.

I’m not the one to judge for thecourts or for anyone, especially since Idon’t mean to question their decisionsand findings. However the case iswidely commented in Europe and thereare questions being asked regardingthe political context of such actions.

It is crucial for the court, ifmaking such drastic accusations, toquickly and credibly make a deci-sion and make a good, fair judg-ment. Maintaining a public personin state of accusation, especiallywhen it’s not an anonymous inhabi-tant of the country nearby Dnipro,is not serving well for the authorityand Ukraine itself.

“Winds of change”in the ArabworldYevhen MYKYTENKO: Ukraineis actively using its softpower in the Middle East

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Responsibility verticalBy Vitalii KNIAZHANSKY, The Day

T hough their progress may beunsteady, Ukraine’s judicialand criminal justice reforms

are underway. President ViktorYanukovych says these reformscan’t be delayed, for this wouldmean “not only protracting Ukra-ine’s commitments toward theCouncil of Europe, but also — andmost importantly— failing to pro-tect all Ukrainian citizens againstthe arbitrary rule on the part ofenforcement and criminal justiceauthorities, making it impossiblefor the man in the street to defendhis constitutional rights.”

The following is an exclusiveinterview with His Honor Leonid

FESENKO, head of the HigherSpecialized Court of Ukraine forCivil and Criminal Cases.

What does being a judgemean? Is this a vocation or justanother job?Whatmade you takeup this career?

“I made this choice when I wasa kid. I happened to spend eightyears at a [Soviet] boarding school.The relationships between thepupils and the teaching staff va-ried, but one was constantly awareof the pressing shortage of justice.It was then I made up my mind tobecome a judge, to help law andorder reign supreme, to wardoff anyone trying to encroach oneither.”

Continued on page 4 »

The United Nations announceda competition of printed socialadvertisements against violenceLeonid FESENKO: Courts of law aren’t made for judges

Leonid Kuchma. Some reflections

By Mykola KHRIIENKO,special to The Day

F inally,mydreamhas come true……It’s a frosty and clear morn-ing. The Ataman of the stanitsa

Cossack community “Susuman”Mykola Matviienko and I go to theformer gold-mine “Maldyak” (whichmeans “a place to go for wood” inthe Even language). This was wherethe future “Chief Designer” of theSoviet aerospace program SergeiKorolev, born on January 12, 1907in Zhytomyr and raised in whatis now Ukraine, began servinghis term. He was sentenced to tenyears in a labor camp and deprivedof voting rights for a furtherfive by the Military Board ofthe USSR Supreme Court for

“wrecking” the Soviet state on Sep-tember 27, 1938.

He was in Kolyma from July 20to December 23, 1939. This periodof time can be assessed from differ-ent perspectives: he only spent fivemonths there, or he held out forfive months.

The reason for such controversialassessments is the following. Duringthe time of Stalin’s repressions theterritory of Kolyma was used forthree main tasks, three strategicgoals: firstly, to produce gold for thedevelopment of socialismand commu-nism; secondly, to destroy the “publicenemies” and finally, to intimidatepeople throughout the USSR with ahorrible place from whence nobodyever returns.

The “Maldyak” in Korolev’s lifeThe author of the project “Ukrainians beyond the Urals”recounts his travels in Kolyma, following in the footstepsof the illustrious Zhytomyr-born spacecraft designer

Continued on page 5 »

Photo provided by the UN regional information center for Western Europe

Photo by the author

Say “NO”!

By Viktoria SKUBA, The Day

T hroughout their lives, up to 70 per-cent of women around the worldfall victim to violence. Therefore,

the UN Regional Information CenterforWestern Europe encourages profes-sionals and amateurs, citizens and resi-dents of the region to take part in acompetition of social advertisement andcreate a poster “Say ‘NO’ to violenceagainst women.”

This is not the first UN actionagainst violence. “In February 2008,the UNSecretary General BanKi-moonannounced the beginning of a campaignto eliminate violence against womenand girls, and called upon the govern-ments of all countries to join and startnational campaigns. Ukraine was firstto support the UN initiative and an-nounced a national campaign Stop Vio-

lence! which will last until 2015,” anEqual Opportunities and Women’sRights in Ukraine (EU-UNDP) experton preventing violence SvitlanaPavlysh told The Day.

The UN will hold a competition ofprinted social advertisement for a secondtime. Last year, its participants, repre-senting 34 European countries, directedtheir creativity against poverty.

“In order to fight against such phe-nomena as poverty or violence, it is ne-cessary that society becomes aware oftheir extent. And we can educate peoplethrough such information campaigns,”says Pavlysh, “Half the population ofUkraine has at least once during theirlives suffered from different types ofviolence—psychological, sexual, physi-cal or economic.”

By the way, the organizers of theUkrainian campaign “StopViolence!” al-

so used printed social advertisement,placing billboards with hotline numbersfor victims on the streets of major citiesthroughout the country.

This year’s winner of the “Say ‘NO’to violence against women” competi-tion will be chosen by an expert jury,consisting of the vice-president ofHavas and chairman of the 2010 juryJacques Seguela, creative director ofthe visual communications departmentat the Fabrica center and vice-presi-dent of international union of profes-sional designers “ICOGRADA” OmarVulpinari, the director of MultimediaArt Museum in Moscow Olga Sviblova,chief of the UN Exhibits Unit Jan Ar-nesen, designer and director of theGraphic Design Museum in BredaMieke Gerritzen, the creative directorof Hvita Husid, last year’s winner Ste-fan Einarsson, and the manager of

United Nations Secretary General’scampaign “Unite To End ViolenceAgainst Women” Aldiana Sisic.

The best work chosen by the expertjury will be awarded a money prize inamount of 5,000 euros. Besides, one ofthe participants’ works that wins ac-cording to the results of the open pub-lic vote will be awarded a prize from thegovernment of Portugal. A specialaward for the youngest participants(aged to 25 years) will be granted by theresearch center Fabrica.

The deadline for submitting worksis midnight on May 31, 2011. Thenames of the winners will be announcedon November 25, 2011, on the Interna-tional Day for the Elimination of Vio-lence against Women.

Details about the contest can befound at the website www.create4the-un.eu/ua/.

THE WORK OF LAST YEAR’S WINNER OF SOCIAL PRINTED ADVERTISMENT COMPETITION “UNLEASH YOUR CREATIVITY AGAINST POVERTY”, A GRAPHICDESIGNER FROM REYKJAVIK STEFAN EINARSSON – “WE ARE STILL WAITING”

MAGADAN. A FRAGMENT OF ERNST NEIZVESTNY’S MASK OF SORROWMEMORIAL. PHOTO FROM THE CHAPTER “STALIN’S KOLYMA,” MYKOLAKHRIIENKO’S PROJECT “UKRAINIANS BEYOND THE URALS”

By Vitalii KHNIAZHANSKY, The Day

“I’d like to assess the progress wehave made concerning the complextreaty on the free trade area betweenUkraine and the EU,” MEP, vicechair of the Committee on Interna-tional Trade, and member of the Se-curity and Defense SubcommitteePawel Zalewski told journalists. “Mycolleagues and I hope that the negoti-ations will finish by the end of thecurrent year.”TheMEP emphasized that Poland

will preside over the EU in the secondhalf of the year, providing our coun-try “with the most profitable termsthat may be included in the treaty.”Zalewski emphasized that today bothparties are willing to finish the nego-tiations, and the treatywhich is beingworked out is considered in Europenot only as a tool to increase bilateraltrade, but also as a possibility forUkraine’s further integration withthe EU and the spread of Europeanstandards in our country. Zalewskihighlights that it’s not only the Eu-ropean position, but “the desire andthe goodwill of theUkrainian govern-ment.” According to him, the govern-ment is not only talking about re-

forms, but is also planning them andmaking steps for their realization.Such opinions, expressed by the

politician from friendly Poland, andsimilar ones from other EU represen-tatives, are reassuring. However,should we count our chickens beforethey hatch, expecting to quickly over-come the distance from associationtalks and a free trade area to EUmembership? Our government seemsto have forgotten this well-knownproverb and makes far-reachingplans, assuring the country that weare on the verge of joining the union.In particular, the Ukrainian PrimeMinister Mykola Azarov is sure thatour country will enter the EU “in 10years maximum.” He even suggesteda bet on it with former Polish Presi-dent Aleksander Kwasniewski.

Do our European partners shareour optimism?Asked this question byThe Day, Zalewski reminded that inthe middle of the 1990s the Frenchpresident predicted that Polandwould become a full EU member in2000. However, after the countrycarried out deep structural reformsand met the requirements that hadbeen set during the negotiations,Poland entered the EU only in 2004.1992 became a starting point for EUmembership acquisition — whenPoland signed the AssociationAgree-ment and a free trade area treatywiththe EU, he remarked, stressing thatPoland needed “12 years and reformsin all spheres” to enter the EU. Za-lewski says that it’s difficult for himto predict how this process will deve-lop in Ukraine, “it might happen

faster as Ukraine has a possibility touse both the positive and negativePolish experience.” He also empha-sized that the EU will have to conso-lidate to be able to accept new mem-bers. Zalewski is “almost sure” that itwill happen in the nearest future andUkraine will carry out the reformsneeded to meet EU standards.Another participant of that press-

conference, the MP and co-chairmanof the interfactional association Eu-ropean Choice Anatolii Kinakh, toldThe Day: “I’m quite skeptical whentheUkrainian government announcesthe dates of our EU membership as ithas happened several times.” “We’resure,” continued the MP, “that thedate is not an end in itself. It’s essen-tial for us to create the correspondingEuropean standards in all spheres inUkraine.” He also remarked: “Whenwe announce this or that date, our EUfriends and supporters get into an un-comfortable position as these datesaren’t agreed upon with them.”

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By Inna LYKHOVYD, The Day

T hey say it’s impolite to ask awoman about her age. But incase of Yevhenia Tebenchuk one

can and should do so, as she is con-sidered to be the oldest person inUkraine. OnMarch 30 experts of theNational Records Register regis-tered her age — 109 years and 74days — as a longevity record. Herbiggest concern is whether it is nottoo much of a hassle for her family.She was born in 1902 in the Vin-

nytsia region, in the village of Chor-niavka, Lypovets raion. She cur-rently lives in Kyiv with her family,which is made up of her daughter,two grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild. According toTebenchuk, the Holodomor of 1932-33 deprived her of four young chil-dren. Only her daughter, ValentynaZabolotna, survived (she’s now 75).In 1935, when the family moved to

Siberia, Altai region, one moredaughter was born. Sadly, she alsodied. Tebenchuk’s married life wasnot long either: after the war herhusband died, and the power of thatfirst love kept her from any furtherengagements.At present the family members

protect their grandmother andgreat-grandmother from extra workand excessive emotions. They wantthe keeper of their family hearth tolive many more years, thoughTebenchuk herself says she’ll live aslong as God’s will allows. Regardingher longevity secret, in her opinion,it’s very simple: “One should alwayswork. I survived so many famines,and I had children, so I always triedto think about what I should do tofeed them,” says the long-livedwoman. “When my daughter orgrandchildren tell me ‘let us helpyou do something as it’s hard foryou,’ I never agree.What will I do ifI don’t work? I’ll die without it.”

By Pavlo KOVALIOV, political scientist

ODESA – By commencing an ac-tion against his predecessor and the“father” of the entire current politicalsystem, President Yanukovych mademore than a resolute step, the result ofwhich cannot be predetermined. Thiscase provoked a big wave in Ukrainianpolitics. First of all because it showedthat there are no untouchables in thesystem anymore. It looks like one partof the system is ready to devour theother one to look cleaner and more le-gitimate in the eyes of its voters. Anyof themotivations of theKuchma case— from “dekulakization” of oligarchsconnected to him, to the “Russiantrace” and referring to the struggle fortheKremlin’s chair betweenMedvedevand Putin, may be true. Furthermore,most of thesemotivations complementeach other and make up one picture:the show of demonstrative clean-upconnected with the Ukrainian govern-ment since 2000 as a kind of “originalsin.” So far it looked that the Gongad-ze case informally linked all the elite,even if it was not engaged in it direct-ly. The closed corporation into whichour political beau monde irresistiblytransforms could and would be verywilling to go without washing theirdirty linen in public if it didn’t “itch”in the eyes of the society and theWest,and didn’t cast a shadow of corruptionand impunity on all governments andpresidents regardless of their political“coloring.”Representatives of the current go-

vernment, not so much involved in thehidden struggle, decided to destroy andcancel the informal consensus insidethe political elite, and start everythingfromanew leaf, if not fromscratch.Forthis they opposed the “old” part of theelite, takingas abasis themost resonantcase in Ukraine’s history. Having le-galized “Melnychenko’s tapes,” theyac-tually hinted explicitly that the dis-creditingevidence for thebigpartof rep-resentatives of theKuchma’s time thatis now in their possession.If one looks at the version of the

resolution on instituting proceedingsagainst Kuchma which appeared inmass media, we will see that there areno other symbolic figures connectedwith the Gongadze case. First of all,there is no SpeakerVolodymyr Lytvyn.Thus, from the viewpoint of the judi-ciary, the entire story of the murderof Gongazde developed along the lineKuchma-Kravchenko-Fere-Pukach,though two persons involved in thischain are already dead. The prospect ofa criminal process is evenmore doubt-ful. Lawyers of the second Ukrainianpresidentwill do everything possible tovoice two statements. First, the proofsof Kuchma’s potential guilt were ac-quired in an illegalway, and second, thestatute of limitation period has ex-

pired. Generally, the probable trial ofKuchma itself will become a test of theUkrainian judicial system. As a re-sult, the court found itself before a le-gal and political choice. For example,to answer the pernickety question:Does the status of the accused influencethe period of limitation?If the process ends inKuchma’s ac-

quittal or a conditional sentence, onecan consider it to be a failure of the cur-rent government. There is nowayback.But any other decision without maxi-mally objective consideration of all con-ditions of getting “Melnychenko’stapes” cannot be considered legally cor-rect. Thus, no result can be regarded asjust without involving new figures inthe process.The understanding of the obvious

conjuncture of the initiated perform-ance inevitably raises another question:can the country clean itself from“kuch-mism,” from the system the secondpresident built for ten years, the chil-dren of which represent a considerablepart of the present political beaumonde. Certainly, bringing such an ac-tion is a decisive and correct step. Butthe following steps are much more dif-ficult. The organization of the veryprocess, its course, and the character ofthe decision made — all will become atest of the government.The current government, which is

accused of spreading corruption andmanipulating the judiciary, can answerthe question “Whoare the judges?” on-ly by means of maximal resolve insearching and punishing all those in-volved not only in the Gongadze casebut also in other crimes, the traces ofwhich are recorded on “Melnychenko’stapes.”This is the only possible way. Oth-

erwise it will be impossible to speakabout any purification, renewal andchange in the ruling leadership’sworld-view. One can speak only about “dis-cardingnegative ballast” and “coveringone’s tracks,” aboutmomentarymachi-nations and private motives, but notabout a global tendency and frankchange of political philosophy. In thissense the question of whether Kuchmawill be jailed becomes private. The ba-sic question is whether the current go-vernment is readynot to repeat themis-takes of his rule, and not to make newones. Whether it is ready to bring ac-tions against “fat cats” andprosecutorswho run into people with their cars,ready to resolutely put raiding to anend, ready to stop adopting dubiouscodes and increasing an unbearable taxburden. Is it ready to stop manipula-tions with freedom of speech and stoppressing the mass media? Are the cur-rent authorities ready to reveal theircards regarding their property, at leastthatwhich is an open secret?Otherwiseno purification from negative thingswill take place.

By Kost HARBARCHUK

RIVNE – Since independence manyUkrainian scientists went abroad andnow advance science at leading universi-ties around the world. But there are oth-er examples where scientists remain inUkraine, and still their work is recog-nized worldwide. Rivne professorLeonid Dvorkin also received many in-teresting proposals and invitations, buthe is still working in Ukraine. He au-thored 35 monographs and textbooks,and registered more than 70 patents andinventions in the field of constructionmaterial technology. Recently, his homecity witnessed the presentation of atextbook Construction Materials, whichwas published by a major American pub-lishing house Nova Science Publishers inNew York. The book’s authors are headof Construction Materials TechnologyandMaterials Science Department in theNational University of Water Manage-ment and Natural Resources, Sc.D. in

Technology, Professor Leonid Dvorkinand professor of the same departmentOleg Dvorkin. The textbook Construc-tion Materials is based on modern inter-national scientific achievements, andcomplements and develops them. Theauthors translated it into English them-selves. The American publisher notedtheir efficiency and professionalism.The father and son duo are leading sci-entists in the study of construction ma-terials and concrete technology, knownnot only in Ukraine but also far beyondits borders. Their works have been pub-lished in many countries. The textbookis designed for the use of a wide range ofEnglish-speaking professionals. Profes-sor Dvorkin explains: “It will be a guidefor American foremen and constructionworkers.” It can be used by thoseUkrainian experts and students whowish to learn modern international ter-minology and acquaint themselves withthe requirements of the US and Euro-pean regulations.

By Viktoria SKUBA, The Day

O n March 27 The Day’s correspon-dent chanced to visit a filming siteof a documentary about theUkrai-

nianrevolutionof1917-18 (The Day cov-ered this in theUkrainian- andRussian-language editions; issue No. 42, March11,2011).The shootingwas takingplaceat the Kyiv fortress. The soldiers of theUkrainianNational Republic armywereplayed by reenactors from the militaryhistory clubsPovstanets (Insurgent) andInfantry Intelligence Platoon of the 3rdIron Division of the Active Army of theUNR, who are engaged in a detailedstudy of that period.During the filming of the as-

sault of the Kyiv fortress, when the“UNR” and the “Red Army”clashed, The Day’s reporter wit-nessed a curious scene.

The reenactors had been tryingtheir best to avoid playing the in-vaders. Andwhen one of themwas fi-nally made to wear the Red Armyuniform, he yelled to his comrades,“Come on, finish this Muscovite,quick!” Nevertheless, he duly ful-filled his obligations.After this curious incident, The

Day’s journalist asked one of thereenactors about what he thoughtof the soldiers of the Ukrainian Na-tional Republic.

Yurii KUDRIASHOV, historical recon-structor, “soldier of the Infantry Intelli-gence Platoon of the 3rd Division ofthe Iron Army of the UNR”:

“As a child I read a book aboutUkraine’s struggle for independenceand statehood. It described the libera-tionwar of 1917-19. I reflected onwhatI had read a lot. Later I took up histori-cal reenactment and became a “soldierof the Infantry Intelligence Platoon ofthe 3rdDivision of the IronArmy of theUkrainian National Republic.” We

study and reenact this period up to themostminute details, even everyday life.I understand that the leadership of theUNRmade a lot of errors in their strug-gle for independence. Yet let us leavepolitics to the politicians. Ordinary sol-diers carried out their duty with devo-tion.When theUNRArmygot orders toretreat and cross the Zbruch to move toPoland, many soldiers submitted re-ports to their commanders to tell themthey wanted to go back to Ukraine andcontinue fighting there. Though a partof the UNR men were fighting “fortheir homes and gardens,” or out of re-venge (their families had been killed orhurt, houses burnt, or wives raped),there still were quite a few men whoeven then, in those troubled times of thecollapse of the empire, were aware oftheirUkrainian identity, and fought fortheir state and freedom.”

“I, a soldier of the UNR”A film about the Ukrainian revolution

of 1917-18 is being shot at Kyiv fortress

NOT ONLY PROFESSIONAL ACTORS PLAY UNR SOLDIERS IN IVAN KANIVETS’S FILM, BUT ALSO THE REENACTORS FROM THE MILITARY HISTORY CLUBSPOVSTANETS AND INFANTRY INTELLIGENCE PLATOON OF THE 3rd IRON DIVISION OF THE ACTIVE ARMY OF THE UNR

Azarov itching for a gambleA chance for purification

Longevity lessonsFrom Ukraine’s oldest woman,

109-year old Yevhenia Tebenchuk

LIFESTYLE

PHOTO FACT Photo by Yaroslav MIZERNY

Rivne researchers’ textbookpublished in the US

Next round of talks on the creation of a freetrade area between Ukraine and the EU opens

Photo by Kostiantyn HRYSHYN, The Day

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EVENT

A new transit complex to be built in KanivA new complex, which will include a newly-built bus station and fully reno-

vated passenger moorage, will be built in Kaniv for the Euro-2012, the press ser-vice of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine reports. The agency responsiblefor the preparation and holding of the final stage of the European soccer cham-pionship and the State Service of Sea and River Transportation (Ukrmorrichflot)started joint work on erecting the complex. At present the state enterprise IceArenas works on building the surface of the complex, and the state enterpriseAdministration of River Ports determines the conditions of reconstruction of theunderwater part in the moorage’s hydraulic facilities. The capital renovation andreconstruction of the passenger moorage will be realized within the fulfillment ofthe project “reconstruction and building of objects of the National ShevchenkoPreserve and infrastructure of the city of Kaniv,” which is one of constituents ofthe state program on preparing and holding the Euro-2012. Ukrmorrichflot is al-ready elaborating a list of passenger vessels of state enterprises which can beused for transporting passengers down the Dnipro.

French company buys agriculturalfirms in Ukraine

The agricultural company AgroGeneration (Paris), specialized in producinggrain and oil-bearing crops in Ukraine, concluded preliminary agreements on pur-chasing several Ukrainian agricultural enterprises. According to the exchange re-port of the company, respective agreements can be signed in the near months,after a final audit of the agricultural firms they are going to buy. As AgroGenera-tion specifies, each of these enterprises controls agricultural lands in the amountof 15-30 percent of the area the company cultivates, which in 2010 increased by20 percent — to 48,000 hectares.

Chemical plant finishes constructionof object for solid propellant removalThe state enterprise “Scientific production association Pavlohrad Chemical

Plant” (PCP) finished the construction of an industrial object for the removal ofthe solid propellant of intercontinental ballistic missiles (IBM) PC-22, YevhenUstymenko, the enterprise’s technical director, informed. He pointed out that therealization of such a project will increase the efficiency of removing propellantfrom missile engines by five times, as compared to the test unit. The object isscheduled to begin operations on April 5, 2011. The cost of its construction was29million hryvnias. Funds from the state budget were allotted in determined por-tions in 2007-08 and 2010. According to Ustymenko, at present, out of the 11 ob-jects for the industrial utilization of solid propellant, four objects function at PCP,which processes rocket fuel into emulsion explosives. The emulsion explosiveswere certified and admitted for permanent use in mining enterprises. “The exactamount necessary to complete the construction of the entire technological chainis yet to be specified, due to a change in terms of realization of the solid propel-lants utilization program. If the required financing is provided, the remaining in-dustrial objects can be set into operation by the end of 2011,” Ustymenko said.

The whole world is watching the eventsin North Africa and the Middle East. In twocountries of this region, Tunisia and Egypt,the people’s anger brought down their re-spective dictators. Now it seems that thecurrent president of Yemen, who has beenruling the country for 33 years, will face thesame fate. Conversely, events in Syria andLibya are following a different path. In theformer the government controls the situa-tion and is dealing with the demonstratorsharshly. In the latter Gaddafi’s forces are inan all-out civil war against the inexperiencedrebels, who count on theWest to help them,notably through the imposition of a no-flyzone. How will the events in this importantregion develop, particularly in Libya, wheremany Ukrainians work? Can Ukraine use its“soft power” to promote its interests inNorth Africa and the Middle East? YevhenMYKYTENKO, deputyminister of foreign af-fairs and former ambassador to the UnitedArab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, andSyria spoke about these questions in anexclusive interview to The Day.

“If you happened to visit the regionof the Middle East or North Africa inspring, you would know that in this pe-riod strongwinds blow there, the kham-sins, which bring sand from the SaharaandArabian deserts. This year powerfulpolitical storms started in the region asearly as January.

“I would like to point out that wegenerally predicted the events now tak-ing place in the Middle East and NorthAfrica.

“However, the terms of their deve-lopmentwere difficult to predict. By theway, not only for us. Let’s remember, forexample, what a controversial reactionour European and overseas partners hadto the early revolutionary events in theregion. Arabian countries also vary intheir take on the situation: there ischaos in the region, everyone feels dis-trust to one another.

“In my opinion, the processes nowtaking place in the countries of the Ara-bian world are generally of an unpre-dictable character and don’t allow forprecise forecasts. NoArabian country isimmune to internal turmoil of the kindwe saw in Tunisia, Egypt or Libya. Or-dinary people are tired of hegemony, au-tocracy, and social inequality, of shinyMercedes cars cruising past a fellah(peasant) with a donkey. As an Arabianleader said, now some cannot ‘tightentheir belts anymore, and the belt won’tbuckle on others.’

“Today it is obvious that the deve-lopment of protest sentiments inTunisia,Egypt, Libya and other countries of theregion is caused by the fact that the lea-ders of these countries considerably de-layed delivering political, social andeconomic reforms.

“It is noteworthy that themajormo-tor of the opposition is the educatedyouth,which grewup in an age of new in-formation technologies and is geared upfor the necessity of political and social-economic changes in their countries.

“The peculiarity of all the countriesof the region that are experiencingprotests is that the leadership of thesestates repeats one and the samemistake:first they use force, then offer dialog,hold negotiations, or initiate reforms.This approach bears a confrontationalcharacter from the very onset and ag-gravates the internal political situa-tion, with events developing in an un-predictable direction.”

That is the leaders of those Arabcountries don’t learn from themistakesof others.What lessons canwe take backfrom these events?

“I think that today, in the sense of de-velopment of cooperationwith the statesofNorthAfrica and theMiddle East, thequestion ofwhether the region’s leaderswill be able to come to corresponding con-clusions in order to make similar ac-tions impossible in the future andwhether they have the time needed forthis remain topical for both our state andthe international community. Besides,another important question is who canhead the ‘protestwave’ andunite the dif-ferent groups on the national level.

“Recently the governments of Jor-dan, Syria andKuwait resigned. At pre-sent the leadership of those countries ismaking efforts to stabilize the situation,increase social standards and liberalizepolitical life. Extraordinary parliamen-tary elections were announced in Egyptin September this year, and in two

months the election of a new presidentwill take place there. The king of Jordanis quick and flexible in his reaction to thesituation in the country and commandsconsiderable authority and respectamong his subordinates. President ofSyria Bashar al-Assad announced 30percent salary increases for state offi-cials, and created a commission thatwill determine the expediency of liftingthe country’s emergency state [in placesince 1963 – Ed.]. In Kuwait a peacefulpolitical dialog on modernization is be-ing held. So, one can say that the ‘windsof change’ touched almost all the Arabcountries.

“It should also be pointed out thatthat the tension, lasting since early thisyear in the Arab world, has had a nega-tive impact on trade between our coun-tries. There is no doubt that themarketsof theMiddle East andNorthAfrica areextremely interesting and promising forus. One can simply look at the statistics,which show that our total export to thisregion in 2010 constituted about six bil-lion US dollars. Ukraine’s main exports

to the Arab countries are ferrousmetal,grain and other agricultural products.”

Can Ukraine’s decision to send thelarge Kostiantyn Olshansky assaultlanding ship to Libya be interpreted asparticipation in the coalition’s enforce-ment of the UN resolution on estab-lishing a no-fly zone over the country?

“I would like to explain this rightaway, so as not to have any ambiguity.Asa responsible UNmember, our state willinevitably fulfill the provisions of theLibyan resolutions of the UN SecurityCouncil No. 1970 and No. 1973.We be-lieve that the efforts of all parties in-volved in the situation in Libya mustfirst of all be focused on protecting andensuring security for civilians.

“Thus, as a concrete contribution ful-filling the provisions of these docu-ments, the big landing shipKostiantynOlshansky was sent to carry out hu-manitarian work, notably evacuatingUkrainian citizens and other foreignersfrom the ports of Libya.

“We intend to focus on this aspect ofdealing with the Libyan crisis, thoughwe’re ready to consider other proposalson a later stage. We also expect com-prehensive assistance in ensuring secu-rity for our ship within the frameworkof the realization of its humanitarianevacuation operation.”

How long, in your opinion, will theconflict in Libya last? Is a landmilitaryaction possible?

“The coalition’s operation OdysseyDawn has continued for two weeks al-ready. They say that the protagonist ofthe ancient Greek poem traveled for 10years. Today, in fact, in Libya a civil warbetween the west and east has been on-

going, and the coalition supports one ofthe parties. As history shows, there areno winners in civil wars. In any case, ifmembers of the coalitionmake the deci-sion to deploy ground forces, Libyanswillnot meet the ‘guests’ with flowers andwon’t give them sweets, following East-ern tradition.”

Has Ukraine established contactswith theNational Transitional Councilbased in Benghazi?

“No, it has not. So far we do notknow with whom to deal. In addition,I’m sure that Tripoli won’t like the ne-gotiations or the de facto recognition ofthe transitional government. This couldalso spell a risk to those Ukrainianswho continue towork in Libyan hospitalsin cities controlled by forces of Muam-mar Gaddafi.

“So far we don’t know the programof theNational Transitional Council. To-day the main requirement of the oppo-sition is to deprive the leader ofJamahiriya Muammar Gaddafi of hispower. What’s next? Its next steps arestill unknown.

“Heterogeneity of the opposition’scomposition and the absence of infor-mation on the political views of itsleaders substantially complicate anyforecasts on further development inthis country.

“My strong opinion is that the futureLibyan government needs to clearly out-line for its peoplewhat itwants andwhatkind of Libya it sees without MuammarGaddafi, since one of the problems is thatthe country is markedly heterogeneousand consists of tribes that arewell armedandwant access to resources, thus desta-bilizing the state.”

How do you assess the fact thatFrance and Great Britain took the ini-tiative to remove Muammar Gaddafifrompower?Has the center of Europeanpolitics moved from Paris-Berlin toParis-London?

“I wouldn’t talk about the formationof some new stable ‘axis’ inside theEuropean Union. France has a historicinterest in North Africa, as seen in thecurrent President Nicolas Sarkozy’sinitiative on establishing aUnion for theMediterranean. Besides, Paris is con-cerned about the issue of uncontrolledmigrant flows from Africa. Similarly,the Middle East and North Africa al-ways interested Great Britain. There-fore the current ‘Paris-London’ axisseems temporary.”

CanUkraine use its “soft power” topromote its own interests in the re-gion?What is beingdone in this respect?

“Not simply can, it actively uses it.Thosewho follow events inUkrainian fo-reign policy couldn’t help noticing thatrecently there has been a considerable in-tensification of Ukraine’s political con-tacts with the states of the Middle EastandNorthAfrica. At the same time, theorganization and holding of the visits ofthe Israeli and Syrian presidents, theUkrainian foreignminister’s upcomingvisit to Egypt, andMinister KostiantynHryshchenko’s visit toQatar andKuwaitshowed the world that our state is inte-rested in strengthening political andtrade relationswith the countries of thisregion, and that Ukraine has a balancedposition on theArab-Israeli conflict andthe peace process in general.

“I would also like to stress that cur-rent trends require that Ukraine realizeits own policy in North Africa and theMiddle East by means of keeping a ba-lance in the formation of a close part-nership relationwith themajor actors ofworld politics. First of all, from the rec-tangle EU-US-China-Russia.

“One should take into account thefact that at present, due to an increasedinterest from leadingworld actors in theinvestment, industrial and energy pos-sibilities in the region, all the states ofthat region are adjusting their foreignpolicy vectors.

“Therefore in today’s indefinite si-tuation we try to actively use the factorofUkraine’s equal proximity in politicaland economic aspects to the main par-ticipants of regional processes, whatwill allow us to be more actively in-volved in international efforts to solveregional problems and promote our eco-nomic interests.”

By Mykola SIRUK, The Day

The Chancellor of Germany AngelaMerkel continues to astonish. In spite of herrecent defeat in the local elections, she didnot lose spirit and continues to exhibit a“manly” character. On March 31 she under-went surgery on a meniscus and three dayslater, on Sunday, she took part in the open-ing of the Hanover Fair on crutches, togetherwith French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.Fillon was taking part in the event becauseFrance is this year’s official partner of the fair.The chancellor stated in her opening speechthat in spite of the “task to refuse from usingnuclear energy,” she cannot sacrifice the in-terests of German industry for this aim, re-ports DAPD. Merkel stated that it is impos-sible to “move to the epoch of renewableenergy sources by mere protests,” becausea “corresponding infrastructure should bedeveloped.” She underlined that “energy andindustry” can not be set at loggerheads.Meanwhile, the French prime minister notedthat “the German-French duo is Europe’smotor, and has proved that all differencescan be settled.” Nearly 6,500 companiesfrom 65 countries are going to take part in theworld’s biggest industrial fair. The organizersexpect over 200,000 visitors to come. “Re-newable energy sources, environment-friendly technologies, designing the city ofthe future, and innovative materials are themain topics of the fair. However, neither theexhibitors, nor the visitors can ignore the af-termaths of the earthquake in Japan and theaccident on the Fukushima Nuclear Plant,”the report states.

“Winds of change” in the Arab worldYevhen MYKYTENKO: Ukraine is actively using its soft power in the Middle East

REUTERS photo

By Masha LIPMAN

MOSCOW – The Russian govern-ment, with its solid hold on power, hasinvariably gotten away with poor per-formance, inefficiency, corruption,and widespread violation of politicalrights and civil liberties. Polls consis-tently demonstrate that the Russianpeople are not deluded: they routinelyrespond in surveys that government of-ficials are corrupt and self-serving.More than 80 percent of Russians, ac-cording to a poll conducted last sum-mer, believe that “many civil servantspractically defy the law.”

And yet Prime Minister VladimirPutin, who still remainsRussia’smostpowerful person despite his not hold-ing the presidency, has enjoyed highand steady approval ratings for years.Amild drop in early 2011 probably re-flected frustration over social injus-tice and a growing sense of insecurityand uncertainty about the future.Even so, roughly 70 percent of respon-dents in a February poll said that theyapproved of Putin’s performance Pre-sident Dmitry Medvedev’s approvalratings are only slightly lower.

Russian leaders’ high ratings donot, however, indicate a rational pre-ference for the incumbents over poten-tial contenders; with political compe-tition in Russia eviscerated, compari-son and choice are not part of the po-litical left. Rather, these poll numbersare a “vote” for the status quo; theyconvey a broadly shared sense that po-litical change is not desired, notwith-standing terrorist attacks, technologi-cal catastrophes, lawless police, orrigged elections.

During the years of Putin’s leader-ship, theKremlinhas steadilypushedci-tizens fartherandfarther fromdecision-making byvirtually dismantling repre-sentative institutions. Gubernatorialelections were abolished six years ago,and even elected city mayors have beenprogressively replaced by appointed of-ficials. Polls routinely indicate thatmore than80percentofRussiansbelievethat they canmake no difference in na-tional or even regional affairs.

This system of political alienationis accepted by an overwhelming majo-rity of Russians. The “masses” and the“best and the brightest” alike show nointerest in political participation. Po-litical opposition groups do not attractpublic support, whichmakes it easy forthe government to suppress them.

Indeed, in the absence of politicalparticipation, the government enjoyseasy dominance over society. TheperennialRussian order– thedominantstate and a powerless, fragmented so-ciety – remains largely in place.

Twice in the 20th century, the om-nipotentRussian statewas dramatical-ly weakened: at the beginning, whenthe Russian Empire collapsed, and atthe end, when the USSR ceased to ex-ist. Both times, however, the tradi-tional pattern of state dominance wasquickly reestablished.

Although state-society relations inRussia hue to a traditional pattern, dif-ferent leaderships have shaped them indifferentways. Stalin’s regime could becompared to a cruel, sadistic fatherwhokeeps his children in a state of fear andsubmission. Brezhnev’s model resem-bled a bad marriage, exhausted of loveor respect, in which the spouses con-

stantly cheat, take advantage of eachother, and grab each other’s property,though the powerful husband occasion-ally reminds his wife that he is bossand demands at least a formal pledge ofloyalty – or else.

Compared to these two models,Putin’smodel of state-society relationslooks like a divorce, or at least a sepa-ration: each side minds its own busi-ness and doesn’t interferewith the oth-er’s sphere. It is amodel best describedas a no-participation pact. The Krem-lin may have monopolized decision-making, but it is largely non-intrusiveand enables citizens to live their ownlives and pursue their own interests –as long as they do not encroach on thegovernment realm.

Unlike in the USSR, which mas-sively infringed on citizens’ privatespace, today’s Russians enjoy virtuallyunlimited individual freedoms. Thenon-intrusive nature of the govern-ment is appreciated: people eagerly en-gage in their private affairs–with littleregard for the political realm, whichthey have willingly abandoned.

Nevertheless, the last 20 years ofbroad individual freedom and limitedcivil liberties have generated shifts inRussian society – if not across theboard, then certainly among certaingroups. In particular, Russians haveacquired some organizational andcommunity-building skills. The useof online social networks, for exam-ple, has grown faster than in any oth-er country in Europe, and has helpedcreate some semblance of a publicsphere, with the Russian blogosphereoften a venue for angry public ex-pression about social injustice, un-deserved privileges, lawlessness, andpolice impunity.

Socioeconomic protests have alsobecome a feature of Russian life, espe-cially during the economic crisis. Un-like political groups,which attract verylimited public support, socioeconomicdemands have repeatedly brought to-gether thousands of people in variousparts of the country.

In big cities,moreover, anewurbanclass is emerging – advanced and mo-dernized Russians with good profes-sional skills who feel at ease in the glo-balized world. It is mostly due to thisgroup that private charity has deve-loped in recent years.

But, despite opportunities for self-expression, community building andactivism remain marginal and do notalter or weaken the state’s dominanceover society. Despite the recent rise innegative public sentiment, protest ac-tivity remains fragmented and inva-riably local in scope and demands.

For now, at least, provincial Rus-sians and thenewurban class alikehaveacceptedPutin’s no-participation pact.In fact, should events turn out badly,critically-mindedandwell-informedur-ban achievers would be most likely toembrace the ultimate form of non-par-ticipation: emigration. In the currentpolitical climate, the more enlightenedRussians would rather use their skillsand talents for self-fulfillment abroadthan be the driving force of Russia’smodernization.

Masha Lipman is the editor ofPro et Contra, a policy journal pub-lished by the Carnegie MoscowCenter

© Project Syndicate, 2011

Russia’s no-participation pact“Current trends require that Ukraine realize its own policyin North Africa and the Middle East by means of keepinga ba-lance in the formation of a close partnership relationwith the major actors of world politics. First of all, fromthe rectangle EU-US-China-Russia.”

PHOTO FACT

A chancellor witha strong character

4 WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA

No.20 APRIL 5, 2011

CLOSEUP Day

WEEK

LYDIG

ESTThe

You didn’t want to become a copor prosecutor, you wanted to becomea judge, is that right?“That’s right. After graduating

from the Institute (i.e., Kharkiv’s In-stitute of Law — Author) I was firstan intern at the court of law inKamia-ny Brid court, then at the Leninskiyraion prosecutor’s office, bothLuhansk oblast, where the district at-torney was Hryhorii Vorsynov — aprominent lawyer who would eventu-ally become Prosecutor General ofUkraine. Theman saw that I liked thejob. He told me: ‘I’d yet make a realprosecutor out of you.’ He kept say-ing I should stay in my position, un-der his guidance. Yet I was stubbornand I wasn’t afraid to reply in thenegative. I told him I wanted to be ajudge. I did become one. In April,while still a [law school] student, Iwas elected judge, before I took myexams at the Institute in July. I spentsix years in that rank and position,considering that I had a great tea-cher, His Honor Dmytro Prokopo-vych Antonets, WW II veteran (Godrest his soul!). His was an outstand-ing personality and he was the one tomold me into my judicial shape. Lat-er, I worked for other organizations,at higher-instance courts. I’ve dedi-cated five years to the VerkhovnaRada (VR). Now I’m once again ajudge.”

The way I see it, you feel morelike a judge than amember of Parlia-ment. Is that right?Also, what aboutthat moonlighting scandal?“There was nothing I could do

about the situation. I acted in strictaccordance with the law. I had ten-deredmy resignation [asMP], as soon

as I had been elected judge of theHigher Court, and had it duly regis-tered at that same date. I thought I’dmade my choice formally known, yetthe Verkhovna Rada kept stalling,never passing a resolution. In theend, I asked Speaker VolodymyrLytvyn to help resolve this issue dur-ing a VR session. I knew only too wellthat running with the hare and hunt-ing with the hounds was against thelaw.He responded by tellingme aboutthe VR bursting at the seams withtop-priority bills, but promised tohelp me. But then the press camethundering in. I mean, there wasnothing I could do. I couldn’t resignfrom my post because I’d been as-signed to it by the Verkhovna Rada,just as I couldn’tmiss VR sessions be-cause I was sill formally a member.There were heaps of case files at thecourt. Youmust know that we startedforming the Higher [Civil and Crimi-nal Cases] Court from scratch. Thencame the scandal.”

Could you endorse an unjustifi-ably severe verdict?“Before passing judgment, I care-

fully study each case, to make surethe proceedings were started on a le-gitimate basis. After that I check thelegitimacy of every procedure. Aboveall, I look for valid evidence. In theend, I have no reasonable doubt inpassing my judgment. If I have anydoubts, there will be no judgment, on-

ly a statement indicating thesedoubts, and then I submit the case forfurther investigation. Afterward,when the case is returned for hearing,most of such doubts are dispelled. Le-gal punishment is anothermatter. Al-most every article of the CriminalCode allows a range of, for example,8 to 15 years. Howmany does a givencriminal actually deserve? I’ve hand-led cases that spelled capital punish-ment [during Soviet times]. Just tryto picture the burden of my responsi-bility. Well, I have passed judgmentseverely, without remorse in cases in-volving extreme cruelty, first degreemurders, child rapes. I have nevershown any clemency for such scum,yet every time I read the verdict, af-ter years in office, I couldn’t keepmyvoice steady. Scum as they were, theywere human beings. Who was I tosend them to their death?”

There is a bill registered withthe Verkhovna Rada. It reinstatescapital punishment.Would you votefor it?“I think that capital punishment

should be reinstated in Ukraine.Frankly speaking, I’ve always sup-ported the idea, because monsters inhuman formdeserve it.We often hearaboutman being created in the Lord’simage, that this precious creationshouldn’t be encroached in any way.What about such images murderingothers, with inhuman methods? Wegive them 20-30, up to 40 years, andkeep themat the taxpayers’ expense. Imight as well tell you that quite a fewof those sentenced to life would prefercapital punishment.”

There have been cases when inno-cents were killed.“Errare humanum est— to err is

human. Unfortunately, mistakes are

made in every field of human en-deavor. Although no such errorsshould be allowed in the field of jus-tice, they happen. I rememberKharkiv’s district court sentencingtwo Malyshev Works engineers todeath. Later, both were proved inno-cent. Horrible. Still, I am all out forcapital punishment.”

Have you passed any judgmentswhich would later make you feelashamed of yourself?“No, God be praised. As I’ve said,

I started as a judge with the court oflaw in Kamiany Brid. None of myjudgments were overridden in the sixyears of my office there. When I wasrecommended for the post of head ofthe regional justice department,Volodymyr Zaichuk, the then minis-ter of justice of Ukraine, simplycouldn’t believe it. But that was true.At this point I should once again payhomage to my teacher who taught methese simple secrets of our profession:stay honest, stay just, act by the law.”

Ukraine is accused of persecut-ing certain prominent figures fromthe previous regime, and that thecurrent court proceedings are “se-lective.”Would you care to commenton this?“There is no ‘selective’ adjudica-

tion in this country, simply becausethe cases you apparently have inmindhave never been legally submitted. Ifandwhen they are, each such case will

be dealt with in keeping with set pro-cedures — and these procedures ap-ply to all Ukrainian nationals, with-out exception. I personally believethere is no political persecution inUkraine. After the end of pretrial in-vestigations, the courts of law willduly assess the resultant evidenceand pass rulings. At this stage, con-trary to certain political-persecutionallegations, the [Ukrainian] judicialsystem has nothing whatsoever to dowith any of these cases.”

Has the recent reform madeUkraine’s judicial system any better?Is there anything still to be done, inyour opinion? Should Kyiv listencloser to what the Venice Commis-sion has to say?“I would say that our judicial sys-

tem has become more accessible to ci-tizens who want to have their rightsprotected. Previously, there were alsospecialized courts, such as the Econo-my Court, Administrative Court, andSupreme Court. This systemmade or-dinary people’s lives difficult, as theman in the street had greater prob-lems filing a complaint with a givencourt of law. Now they have thisHigher Specialized Court of Ukrainefor Civil and Criminal Cases, a resultof the judicial reform. Apart frombetter public access, this court allowsto correct previous judicial mistakes.As for various judges interpretingcertain legal rules their way, there isthe Supreme Court. Its rulings re-solve such issues and can influencethe outcome of lawsuits and criminaltrials.”

How would you describe today’sunderworld, the way you see it fromthe courtroom?“Evolution has its effect on the

underworld, with criminal offenses

changing their structure, and somebecoming legit. Today, there is no le-gal punishment for vagrancy, gam-bling. However, the key distinction isthat the current underworld is ope-rating on a higher professional level;they have the latest cell phones andcomputer models. It has become verydifficult to investigate various finan-cial fraud cases. Back in the 1990s,when [formerUSSR] propertywas be-ing redistributed, Ukraine gained na-tional independence, yet it never be-came independent of the post-Sovietunderworld which had then actuallytaken over Ukraine’s politics.Heinous crimes were committed,killing hundreds of young people.Later, crimes became less violent,with business fraud topping the list.Technological progress had produceda new kind of criminals, people versedin computer soft- and hardware.”

Is it true that Ukraine’s jails anddetention cells currently have moreinmates than back in the ill-fatedyear of 1937?“I wouldn’t say yes, but it is true

that we’re having big problems there.Especially in terms of detention cells;there are far more inmates than al-lowed under regulations. There areseveral reasons. First, the cases takelonger to be investigated than re-quired under the law. Some inmatesspend long terms without being in-dicted. They suffer imprisonment for

no legal reason. Ukraine’s Ombuds-person Nina Korpachova broachedthe subject recently, saying the situ-ation appears very complicated, es-pecially in regard to the inmates ofthe Kyiv detention cells. Therefore,the Ukrainian courts of law are facedwith the task of stepping up such in-vestigations— above all by replacingthe good old Soviet arrest proceduresby preventive alternativemeans, likebail. Our courts are reluctant toadopt this approach, but the HigherSpecialized Court of Ukraine for Ci-vil and Criminal Cases is duly au-thorized to introduce precisely thispractice. I have emphasized the factat all professional briefings, includ-ing those in the regions. I think thesituation will eventually improve.”

The sad fact remains that theUkrainian in the street keeps hold-ing all our judges in very low es-teem, very much in contrast to thepublic attitude in the United States.What do you think should be done tomake our people respect our judgesnot only for the powers vested inthem, but also for their wisdom andincorruptibility?“We have to work on this. Unfor-

tunately, our judicial system hadbeen practically destroyed during thefive years before the current admi-nistration came to power. Back thenevery judge acted the way he pleased,including with the rulings on hostiletakeovers or land allotments in theCrimea. All this ended in chaos. As aresult, Ukrainian judges have publicratings that best be forgotten. Wemust start by improving the pubicimage of our courts of law. This callsfirst for a higher individual profes-sional standard and a sense of person-al responsibility. This can be accomp-lished only in the presence of a trulyeffective, sufficiently centralizedgovernment, when genuinely effi-cient judges can be appointed to theirrespective posts. I am sure that pre-cisely this system will be implement-ed in Ukraine, and that it will proveeffective. Amonth ago, the presidentof Ukraine signed a law that upgrad-ed the procedures of assignment ofjudges to their first posts. This lawalso has clauses relating to profes-sional training. I also intend to pro-pose amendments to the legislativeacts providing for administrative ap-pointments within the judicial sys-tem. Thus, the head of a regionalcourt of appeals has first-hand infor-mation about the performance of alljudges. Who would be a better choicefor appointing heads of oblast, raionand city courts? Being head of theHigher Specialized Court of Ukrainefor Civil and Criminal Cases, I keepanalyzing and know all about the per-formance of the courts of appeal, sowho can now better than I handlesuch personnel? This is the way a re-sponsibility vertical should be built inthe judicial realm. Should I recom-mend the wrong man, I will sufferfrom my irresponsibility. Courts oflaw aren’t made for judges; they aremeant to keep their doors open forcitizens who come to file their com-plaints and expect fair judgment.”

What about logistics in theUkrainian judicial sphere? Do ourjudges have enough computers andother technologies?“The government’s attitude to

the judicial authorities dates back tothe Soviet period, with the courtsmore often than not being allottedsome kinds of barracks, premises ab-solutely unfit for judicial proceed-ings.Regrettably, the situation hasn’tchanged much since then. Our courtsof law remain in a very complicatedsituation, in terms of equipment andmaterial supplies, although the lawcurrently in effect sets a high tech-nology standard for courtrooms andjudges, notably with record-process-ing software. The latter could consi-derably lower the level of corruption.As it is, current legislation is gettingway ahead of the actual capacities.Whereas this law is in effect, none ofthe judges have access to such tech-nologies, with some of the judges be-ing reduced to living in barracks…We’re getting none of the budget ap-propriations that we should. Peoplewho want justice come to us, butwhen they see a pigsty instead of amodern-equipped prosecutor’s office,they figure out the worth of our jus-tice and what the court ruling willread. I believe that this judicial re-form will also help solve these prob-lems, considering that it is being im-plemented in conjunction with otherreforms, including the economic, aslaid down in the action program ofthe current president.”

By Vitalii KNIAZHANSKY, The Day

By Inna LYKHOVYD, The Day

S tarting fromnext year, theMinistryof Education, Science, Youth andSports, in cooperation with the Mi-

nistry of Defense, is establishing an all-Ukrainian military-patriotic sport game“Summer Lightning” for fifth to ninthgrade students. As the ministry’s reportreads, its main goals are preparation forservice in the armed forces, masteringmilitary professions, preparing for ex-treme situations and patriotic educationand propaganda of a healthy lifestyle.What is worrying is that this was a popu-largame inSoviet times, and the ideaof re-turning it to the schools was prompted bytheOrganizationofVeteransofUkraine. Itsrepresentatives became members of thecommittee for preparation and realizationof “Summer Lightning.”

Ifwewant to educate our youth in thespirit of patriotismand love to the father-land, thenwhynotdevelop the scoutmove-ment,whichhas a century-old history andisnowverypopular amongUkrainian chil-dren? Or the “Trumpets of Victory” festi-val,which is somewhatyounger (ithasbeenheld for 12 years at the initiative of publicorganizations from Lviv region), but stillhas the same patriotic and educationalspirit. However, taking into account thepolitics of education ministry, the organ-izers are not sure if their festivalwill con-tinue to exist. As the director of the festi-val Volodymyr Stepanyshyn told RadioFreedom, children from all regions ofUkraine sing praises to the Ukrainian na-tional struggle for liberation during thecontest, especially to the UPA.

In the opinion of the famous profes-sor, doctor of historical sciences StanislavKulchytsky, there should be a patrioticgame in schools. Another question iswhich name andmeaning it should be giv-en. “One (scouts) comes from Austro-Hungarian times, and other (‘SummerLightning’) from the Soviet ones. Theprevalence of the second is a return to So-viet times, though a little one,” explainsKulchytsky, “The patriotic education ofstudents should be based on the Consti-tution of Ukraine. It gives some founda-tions based on which you can design any-thing that concerns both content and formof such patriotic education. For example,the scouts are an organization that hasexisted since the 19th century. It wasn’tpopular in Soviet times, because it wasconsidered a bourgeois organization. Ifwemove toward communism, then it shouldbe ‘SummerLightning,’ but ifwemove to-ward capitalism, then why should weavoid the word ‘bourgeois?’

These petty facts demonstrate a ten-dency that brings us back to the past. Theresistance should be very careful, becauseduring the last years of independence wehave been driven forward, saying that wehad to catch up with theWest, borrowingthatwhichwasofferedbytheUkrainianDi-aspora.Thenitworked.Andnowitdoesn’t.”

The reason for the return of the activ-ity is easy to guess: it is totally in keepingwith the slow offensive on everythingUkrainian, with Ukrainian-languageschools being closed, new history school-books beingwritten, thePetro Jacyk com-petition on Ukrainian language expertisebeingabolished. Instead, theministry is in-troducing a contest of Russian languageand literature,whichhasalready started inschools.What next?

� COMMENTARIESAndrii KURKOV, writer:

“Idon’t think there shouldbemilitary-patriotic education in school. It is appro-priate for North Korea, not Ukraine. Forexample, those scouts were much morewidespread inEuropeandAmerica,butnowthismovement is practically gone, a thingof the past. We should occupy ourselvesmorewithmaking childrenbelieve in theirownstrength rather than engaging in suchpatriotic education. When Petro Symo-nenko suggests in the parliament thatYakutia join Ukraine, that is when politi-cians are occupied with such nonsensewithout producing anything new, it turnsout that all they cando is to get somethingfromthe trunkof the past and try to bringit back to Ukraine. Now we need to em-phasize parental education, as it is muchmore important than school education, be-cause the school, with itsmiserable finan-cing, is unable to raise children.”

Vasyl HALIABAR,child psychiatrist, Rivne:

“There are organizations all aroundthe world which are engaged in, for ex-ample, the protection of animals. This isquite normal—it appeals tomorality, notto shooting.Childrenwill be definitely in-terested inplayingwar.After all, they aredoing it anyway. Another question iswhich stars are hooked to the cockade. Itis also important which purpose is beingfollowed. One can compete in who is thefirst to plant a tree onHoverla, not inwhois the first to kill a person. Conductingsuch measures requires common sense,and, moreover, the knowledge of childpsychology.”

Interviewed byTetiana ILNYTSKA, Rivne

Responsibility verticalLeonid FESENKO: Courts of law aren’t made for judges

The patriots of which country are we supposed to raise?

Ministry of Education brings Soviet“Summer Lightning” back to schools

G erman experts from theRuhr regionof Germany propose to convertDonbas slagheaps anddefunctmines

intomonumentsof industrial culture,whichthey believe would contribute to thedevelopment of international tourism inthe Donbas. “Cities are usually trying toadvertise their beautiful places. However,the concept of theRuhr region is to presentourpeculiarities,” thedirectorof theproject“Ruhr-2010 European Capital of Culture”Hans Schmidt noted in an interview withDeutsche Welle.

According to the German expert, Do-netsk should not try to competewithKyiv,Odesa, or Lviv bydistributing photographsof its churches or luxury hotels. It mustpresent what is unique to the city, saysSchmidt. “The municipal authorities arenow in position to adopt an important de-cision – not destroy the slagheaps, butrathermake theminto culturalgrounds.Theslagheaps are the feature that distinguish-

esDonetsk fromother cities ofUkraine, andthey could become an extraordinary sight,which would attract visitors and foreigntourists. This feature should be exploited,”says the German expert.

In the Ruhr, which is very similar totheUkrainianDonbas regarding its infra-structure, slagheaps are used for art ex-hibitions, while local residents spend theirfree time there, organizing picnics, ridingbikes or just strolling about. However,the German slagheaps look different fromtheDonbas ones. In theRuhr, they are flat,while in the Donbas they resemble hills.“That’s why we call them ‘The DonetskAlps,’” says Susanne Skipiol.

Of course, such projects require a lotof money, the German experts say. How-ever, the most important thing is for themunicipal authorities “to adopt a coura-geous decision” first, on the need to convertindustrial zones, as it had once happenedin Germany.

Should defunct Donbas minesbe turned into museums?

Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day

Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day

A SCOUT OF THE 21st CENTURY

Continued from page 1 »

By Mykola SEMENA

SIMFEROPOL – On March 29 theCrimean Council of Ministers ap-proved the project of the historical andarcheological preserve “Scythian Nea-polis.” In the opinion of Serhii Tur, thehead of the Crimean Republican Com-mittee for Cultural Heritage Protec-tion, its creation will improve the us-age of the peninsula’s archeologicalheritage andwill encourage the develop-ment of tourism.

Simferopol has long been looking fora symbol. Thus, the Scythian Neapolis(New City in Greek), one of the Scythianruler’s fortresses in the Crimea, the capi-tal of the lateScythian state of the3rdcen-turyBC-3rd centuryAD, cannowbecomethis symbol.

As Tur told The Day, the project ofthe archeological preserve “ScythianNeapolis. Return fromOblivion” presup-poses creating a “history park” on the ba-sis of the remaining Scythian buildings.“A history park is a system of function-

ing objects with models of loopholes andcranes. The time of a scholastic presenta-tion of old objects has passed. Now Eu-rope dares to experiment. Themonumentshould be filled with living history. Noonepreventsus fromusingmodels of bat-tering rams and cranes,” Tur says.

Unfortunately, this objecthasarathersad history. Though there were manystudies at this site, all excavated plots ofancient settlementwere filledupagain forpreservation because of lack of money totake proper care of the ruins. In 1989-93

therewas an attempt to turn theScythianNeapolis into a museum, but this projectnever came to be.

“TheScythianNeapolis is interestingas an archeological object because theremnants of the rulerArgot’smausoleumwere preserved on its territory; in 1999 abroken eight-line inscription was found,which today is the only inscription on atomb of an ancient Scythian chieftain inthenorthernBlackSea region,” saidYuriiZaitsev, senior researcher at theCrimeanbranch of the Archeology Institute. “Theinscription inGreek, in verse form, statesthat this is the tomb of glorious Argot,powerful rulerofScythia, rich inhorsepas-tures. Thus, we can name the first ‘Sim-feropol resident,’ and head of the Neapo-lis. He died in the 2nd century BC.”

Theproject documentation for settingout the territory and the monument’sprotection zones is ready.TheSimferopolcity council agreed toallot30.5hectares ofland, togetherwith theprotectedarea.Theobject itself received 14.5 hectares. Overthreemillionhryvniaswere allotted fromthe national budget, including 500,000hryvnias for the project documentation.Besides, 2.6millionhryvniaswereallottedfor the restorationof theAcademicianPal-las’House,where theadministrativebuild-ing of the preserve will be located. Some310,000 hryvnias more went for archeo-logical works on the territory of the pre-serve.Renewingand restoring theScythi-an Neapolis will not only give the city ofSimferopol a symbol that will attracttourists, butwill also enrich its historicalnarrative.

5WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA

No.20 APRIL 5, 2011

SOCIE T YDayWE

EKLY

DIGES

TThe

TRADITIONS

To achieve these goals they intro-duceda12- to16-hourworkingdaywith-out days off, with extremely high ratesofmandatoryoutput, awful foodand theabsence of any medical services. In ad-dition to this thereweremosquitoes andother blood-sucking insects there, aswell as an exhausting summer heat anddevastatingwinter frost. In such condi-tions, 30 prisoners died every day in“Maldyak”alone,despite the“Welcome!”sign above the iron gate to the campzone. In his five months there, Korolevpaid the followingprice: he lost fourteenteeth, his jaw was broken, he received adeep scar on his head and suffered fromprogressing scurvy and pellagra… Ko-rolev almost died several times duringthose months, in particular, when hehit a foreman because the latter hadpushed a sickly old man with his wheel-barrow from a high overpass. Insteadof killing Korolev for his reckless act,the foreman, impressedbyhis strongcha-racter, took care of theman.

The winter of 1939 could have beenthe last for an exhausted Korolev if hehadn’t been included in a list of 150 de-velopers of technical equipment for theTupolevConstructionDepartment, cho-sen according toStalin’s personal ordersfrom different GULAG concentrationcampsandbrought toMoscowfor futureconstruction work. The war was ap-proaching and Stalin realized that hewouldneednot just the latest planes, butrockets as well.

Somewhere, in the depths of spacewasKorolev’s luckystar: for somereasonthedocuments for the former“Maldyak”prisoner were delayed in Magadan andKorolevdidn’tmanage to get on themo-tor ship “Indigirka” that left for Vladi-vostokfromNagaevBayonDecember13,1939. During a storm in the La PerouseStrait theshipstrayedfromitscourse,hitunderwater rocks and got stuck neartheJapanese islandofHokkaido.Thewa-ter rushed into the brokenholds, but theheadof theprisoners’ convoyorderednotto open thehatches and ina couple ofmi-nutes the floating prison “Indigirka”turned into amass grave for all its 1,064prisoners. “Maldyak” prisoner SergeiKorolev was supposed to be the 1,065thin this list of the dead…

Later, recalling “Maldyak” as one ofthe “death factories” of the remoteKoly-ma, the chief designerwrote the follow-ing: “Our main principle is protectingpeople. LetGodgiveus the strength andability to always do it…”

I took the occasion to ask the formerdirector of thegoldmine, andpresentdi-rector of the gold-mining cooperative“Maldyak”VasilyRidozubov, a fewques-tions:

Is there any thing that survivedfrom the time when Sergei Korolevserved here its term?

“Only the frost, the sky and theearth…Thethingis thatat theplaceoftheformervillageofMaldyak (theprisoners’barracks, houses, utility premises, etc.)a goldfield was found and the villagewas demolished. Everything you can seeis the rest of the buildings from the1950sand1960s.Previously, ourvillagenumbered about 2,000 people, we had awhole infrastructure, includingapostof-fice, a branch of a savings bank, a con-sumer services center, a club, a boilerhouse, akindergartenanda ten-year sec-ondary school…However, thedeposits ofgold were steadily exhausted and ourvillage slowly depopulated, too. Nowthere are only two gold-mining coopera-tives operating here: ours numbers 120people, and the other onehas90people.”

Could you please share some statis-tics concerning the gold?

“Thegoldmine ‘Maldyak’wasopenedin 1937, and 120 tons of gold have beenextracted since then. In Korolev’s time

they sometimes produced up to 40 kilosof gold a day, and now the two coopera-tives, with modern equipment, produce1.5 to 2 kilos a day.Wework 12 hours aday. Inwinterwe have two-month vaca-tions.We earn 20 to 35 thousand rublesa month. (5,500 to 9,500 hryvians. –Author).Our cooperative’s plan for2004[the year this interviewwas conducted–Ed.]was220kilos.Wehave alreadypro-duced416kilos for today,October12.Onegram of gold costs 380.9 rubles. That’swhatwehave.By theway, in1991SergeiKorolev’s daughter Natalia Korolevacame to Maldyak. She lives in Moscow:she’s a professor, Ph.D. in medicine…Thenwewentupto thehillwhere in1939the prisoners spent their nights in tar-paulin tents despite temperatures of50degrees belowzero.NataliaKorolevatookahandful of soil fromthat place forthe museum in Moscow. We’ll make anexcursion for you as well…”

Therests of theabandonedvillage re-mind one of an open-air museum. Theemptyhouseshadredslogans like“Work-ers ofMaldyak! Increase the strength ofourMotherlandbyyour intensivework!”or “Kolyma is the currency departmentof the country!” written on them.

We also walked along the so-calledGagarin path.Theprisoners condemnedto deathwere taken from their barracksand brought to the ravine, where thecolonel Gagarin, head of the NortheastLaborCampsDirection,wouldpersonal-ly shoot them.

The author of the famous bookKoly-maStories, a former prisoner of Stalin’sconcentration camps Varlam Shalamovwrote: “I sawGagarinnearly fifty times.He was about forty-five, broad-shoul-dered, potbellied,with big dark eyes; heraced on the northern goldfields dayand night in his black car ZIS-110.

Gagarinwas theheadof the trio that shottheprisoners.He read the ordersdayandnight and put the closing formula: “Theorder was executed, the head of theNortheast Labor Camps Direction, theColonel Gagarin.”

Shooting the prisoners personally,Colonel Gagarin boasted that he also in-creasedthestrengthof theMotherlandbyhis “intensivework,” “ridding it of pub-lic enemies…”

“In 1993, if I’m notmistaken,” saidRidozubov during our excursion, “wewere working on a new goldfield andfoundaprisoners’graveatadepthof fivemeters next to the first source. Therewere about20people there.Their clothesand even their features were well pre-served as they were in the permafrost.They had been shot. It was a trace of theColonelGagarin.Weburied thosepeopleat our cemetery and erected a monu-ment on their grave with the sign ‘ToKolyma prisoners.’”

We visited that mass grave and Ithought, standingnext to it: “Maybe theworld-knownmathematician, the scholarMykhailoKravchuk,whosestudentswerethe general constructor of rocket andspace systems Sergei Korolev and theauthor of the first domestic turbojet en-gine, thescholarArkhypLiulka, isamongtheseprisoners.MykhailoKravchukwasarrested on February 28, 1938, inKyiv,charged with supporting ‘fascisthirelings,’ and sentenced to 20 years ofimprisonment and five years of votingrights deprivation. Here, in Maldyak,where theEvensonceharvestedwood, themember of theFrench,Germanand Ital-ian Mathematical societies Kravchukhadtohack throughhalf a tonofgoldoreeveryday inanundergroundmine. Itwasthen the required rate per prisoner, butnone of them could hold out for long…”

Having finished my research in theChukchiPeninsulaatCapeDezhnev Iwascomingback toKyivviaMoscow. I calledNatalia Koroleva, and when she heardthat Ihad just cameform“Maldyak,” shereadily invitedme tovisit her. I gaveherthepresents fromKolyma, fromVasylRi-dozubov: a bottle of expensive cognac, aboxof chocolates andamugwith twoyel-low sunflowers on thewhite enamel.Themodern “Maldyak” miners drink theirstrong tea from suchmugs.

Later, in Kyiv, I gave her my bestphotographs from Kolyma. During ourfirstmeeting inMoscow,aftera longcon-versation and tea drinking from theKolymamugs, Koroleva gave me a tourof theSergeiKorolevMuseumandwroteanentrydedicated toUkrainians ina spe-cial notebook:

“The history of our family is closelyrelated to Ukraine. Starting from the17th century, several generations of ourancestors lived in the town of Nizhyn inChernihivdistrict.Myfather, born inZhy-tomyr on January 12, 1907, spent hischildhood in thehouseofhisgrandparentsMoskalenkos. His grandfather MykolaMoskalenko was a merchant and hisgrandmotherbecamefamous forgrowing,picklingandselling the famedNizhyncor-nichons…

“InAugust1914, thegrandparentsofthe future chief designer of rocket andspace systems left Nizhyn andmoved toKyiv, bringing their grandson Sergeiwith them.

“MyparentsSergeiKorolevandKse-nia Vinzentini studied at the profession-al building school in Odesa, then my fa-ther spent twoyears studyingat theKyivPolytechnic Institute, andmymom stu-died at the Kharkiv Medical Institute.Both of them loved Crimea. My fatherwent paragliding in Koktebel when hemoved toMoscow fromKyivandbecamea student of the high technical school.

“Later, when he lived in Moscow,Sergei Korolev several times visitedKharkiv, theDonbasand theCrimea, andcame to Kyiv in the last years of his life.He always loved Ukraine. He liked themelodicUkrainian languageand sincereUkrainian songs. My father always re-membered that part of his life which helived there fondly.Therehemadehis firststeps and flew his first kilometers in thesky,his first lovewasbornthere, andtherehe decided on his future way to Space…

“All of our family, my children andgrandchildren loveUkraine and the peo-ple living there. Everything there is closetous. I havea special attitude toUkraine.On the one hand, the life of all our fami-ly is linked to it and, probably, I hear thevoice ofmyblood.On the other hand, thislanddeserves the loveof everyonewhohasever visited it, regardless of their origin.That iswhy every visit toUkraine is aho-liday for me…

“Ibelieve thatdespiteall theartificialborders,RussiansandUkrainianshaveal-ways been together and, I think, will al-ways be.

“I’d like to wish my compatriotshealth, happiness and peace.”

The daughter of the scholarSergei KOROLEV, State Prize winner,Ph.D. in medicine, professor surgeon,

Natalia KOROLEVAMoscow, February 8, 2005

The dramatic history of one per-son is the tragedy of a whole country,the history of maimed destinies anddestroyed lives. Certainly, the intelli-gent Russian and Ukrainian peoplewill always be together, as NataliaKoroleva wrote. However, unfortu-nately, they are still separated by theterrible phenomenon of “Stalinism”that tried to mercilessly destroy aperson who, undoubtedly, was thepride of both nations.

By Mykola KHRIIENKO,special to The Day

INITIATIVE

Continued frompage1 »Photo by the author

Scythian “history park”

Tracks in the Red BookEcologists from Dnipropetrovsk demand thatmotor races through Samara Forest be banned

THE REMAINS OF THE SCYTHIAN FORTRESS, WHICH HAVE BEEN PRESERVED IN THE SCYTHIAN NEAPOLIS

Photo by Leniara ABIBULAIEVA

By Vadym RYZHKOV, The Day

DNIPROPETROVSK — Ukraine’ssouthernmost natural forestmassif, whichis more than 10,000 years old, recently be-came the favorite venue for ATV racingamateurs. Each year they hold their ralliesthere, with around 100 vehicles takingpart in the event. After a 10-hour cross-country race through the forests along theRiver Samara, they leave upturned turf,trampled underbrush, and felled trees.Ecologists and residents of the two affect-ed rural raions have long been complainingto the authorities, to no avail.

“According to the president’s decree of2005, the territory of Samara Forest hasbeen reserved for a national park,” VadymManiuk, associate professor, physical ge-ography department at theDnipropetrovskNationalUniversity, told a press conference.“A strict admittance regime is currently en-forced, along with strict requirements forvisitors.Moreover, a part of the territory isalready a nature reserve. Yet it doesn’tstop them from holding ATV races, whichharm nature.”

According to the scholar, SamaraForestis the toppriority constituentof theProgramof Formation and Development of the Na-tional Environmental Network in Dnipro-petrovsk oblast. It is home to numerous en-dangered species of plants and animals. TheSamaraForest complex is a true ornitholog-ical paradise.Virtually all year round, in therushes and shallow waters, one can hearsandpipers, wild ducks, cranes, swans, andherons calling. Such endangered species asthe Eastern Imperial Eagle and the White-tailed Eagle also live here.

No less unique is the landscape of theSamara valley, with its picturesque lakesand dry riverbeds, sphagnum swamps, wa-ter meadows, salt marshes, and sandydunes. Yet this is exactly what lures crosscountry motor race enthusiasts and ama-teurs of extreme sports.

“Proceeding from the premises thatmotor races in a nature reserve are an ex-plicit violation of law, we have appealed tothemasterminds of the contest with the de-mand that the rally be canceled, but all invain,” says Maniuk. “The Dnipropetrovsk

oblast attorney’s office replied that the casewas not in their jurisdiction, and is the di-rect responsibility of the raion attorney’soffice. The oblast ecological administrationhasn’t done anything either. Each year,ATV races cause irreparable damage to theplant and animal worlds of Samara Forest.The roaring engines drive birds away fromtheir nests, the wheels destroy soil, crushprimroses, contestants tie age-old oak treeswith towlines. Someonemust put and end toall this lawlessness someday.”

Olena Voloshchenko, biology teacherfrom the village of Vasylkivka, shares thescholar’s view. “It’s the fifth time that therace has been held in our forests, and theyare getting larger and larger with eachyear,” she relates. “Consequently, the da-mage to nature is also growing.”

Obviously, foresters should stop theseraces in Samara Forest, but the locals sus-pect that it is actually the other way round.Young environment enthusiasts tried tostop thevehicles, but the “racers” just drovearound them. Moreover, the local govern-ment andpolice officers openly enjoywatch-ing ATV races.

“Now birds are flying back from thesouth to Samara Forest,” says the teacher.“What a beautiful sight it is, and thesound of cranes crying overhead! The birdsare starting their mating season, but theirnesting places are shaken by roaring en-gines, smothered in clouds of exhaustfumes, and these picturesque spots areturning into a mess.”

Samara Forest still has hundreds of oldtreeswhoseageexceeds300years.Ecologistsmaintain that the unique properties of thisareawerewell knowntoourancestors. In thepast, Samara Forest was themain source oftimber for theZaporizhianSich. Localwoodwas used to build Cossack huts, boats, andchurches. The dense forest hid the SamaraSt. Nicholas Hermitage Monastery. TheSamaravalleywas called “HolyPalestine”byCossacks for its fertility and primordialbeauty. “If we fail to preserve this piece ofUkraine’s nature, very soon we will havenothing to show our children, and our de-scendants will only have pictures in theRed Book [Ukraine’s list of endangeredspecies.–Ed.] to lookat,” saidVoloshchenko.

By Pavlo MATKOVSKY

A fair-township will emerge on Kyiv’sCathedral Square. From April 21 toMay 2, the National Kyivan Cave

Historical-Cultural Preserve will host acharitable Eastertide fair called Easter DayBasket.The festivities are being organizedbythepreserve and theSynodal InformationandEducation Department of the UkrainianOrthodoxChurch. The event is chiefly aimedat popularizing the traditions of Christ’sResurrection celebration and making anationwide fund-raising effort to save thechildren inbadneedof expensive surgery.Thefairwill be setuponCathedral Square in frontof the Assumption Cathedral. It will becomposedof littlewoodenhouses inwhichonewill be able to buy Easter-related items.However, according to the organizers of this,

second in number, charitable fair, EasterDayBasket is supposed, first of all, to informall thosewhowill be visiting the Lavra aboutthe importance of Easter and to conducteducational work among both believers andnon-believers. The star attraction of theEasterDayBasket fairwill be baking a huge,almost 2 meters high, paska (Easter bread)weighingabout500kilograms.Thepaskawillbe made by the best bakers of the privatecompanyLiveBreadBakery.When theEasterbread is ready, it will be blessed by HisBeatitudeVolodymyr,Metropolitan ofKyivand All Ukraine. The fair’s program willalso include master classes in Easter eggdyeing and planting theEasterDayTree.Allthose who wish to do so will be able to feasttheir eyes on an inimitable Easter egginstallation displayed by the Kyiv-basedTetianaMyronova Gallery.

Easter breads, eggs, and installations

The “Maldyak”in Korolev’s life

A project for a further archeologicalpreserve in the Crimea has been elaborated

PROFESSOR NATALIA KOROLEVA, THE DAUGHTER OF THE FORMER INMATEOF THE KOLYMA, ACADEMICIAN SERGEI KOROLEV. A PHOTO FROMTHE CHAPTER “STALIN’S KOLYMA,” MYKOLA KHRIIENKO’S PROJECT“UKRAINIANS BEYOND THE URALS”

By Maria TOMAK, Nadia TYSIACHNA,The Day, Oleh KOTSAREV

Working on your novel BlackRaven you researched the events ofthe 1920s. Why do you think theUkrainianNational Republic was de-feated?“There were many reasons for

this. At that time the Ukrainian na-tion had just woken up from itslethargy and wasn’t ready to fight adangerous enemy. Besides, Ukraini-ans didn’t have any reliable allies,just as now. The leaders appeared‘on the run,’ showing weakness atcrucial moments and making ir-reparable mistakes. The top was con-taminated with socialist ideas andwholeheartedly believed in Russiandemocracy. There’s an indicativefact: at the end of August 1919 theUkrainian army occupied Kyiv andhung the blue and yellow flag abovethe municipal council. WhenDenikin’s army advanced from theleft bank, there was an absolutelycriminal order, probably given byPetliura: not to shoot and start ne-gotiations. Their hope to come to anagreement with Denikin’s army andto jointly fight against the Bolshe-viks was vain, as the Russians,White or Red, regarded Ukraine astheir colony. Finally, Denikin’sarmy disarmed the Ukrainians,robbed them, and our army inglori-ously retreated. In my opinion, itwas one of the fatal mistakes madeby the Ukrainian leaders, and therewere many. The Ukrainian army wasmore courageous and decisive thanits chiefs. At the beginning of 1920our army entered the ‘death trian-gle.’ Petliura relieved the army ofits oath and allowed them to do whatthey wanted: to go home or abroad.However, this army, barefoot, star-ved and almost disarmed, headed byMykhailo Pavlenko, decided to go ona partisan raid in the First WinterCampaign that would last from De-cember till May. Meanwhile, Petliu-ra went to Warsaw. Petliura’s armyturned out to be more decisive thanPetliura himself.”

It looks like these mistakes arebeing repeated. Can you draw anyanalogies between the 1920s and to-day’s situation?“This is a complicated question.

In similar situations I say unpopularthings and I turn out to be guilty.For example, I was blamed for thepromotion of separatist ideas. Infact, they took separate phrases outof the context. At the beginning ofthe 1990s I was the spokesman of theUkrainian Republican Party. Then Isaid: If Ukrainians want to build anethnic state, not to have problemswith the occupation of the media andcultural space, and avoid the threatsto the native language, it’s possibleto create such a state in DniproUkraine, Halychyna, Volyn and Slo-bozhanshchyna [around present-dayKharkhiv oblast. — Ed.]. If we wanta state with a political nation, we’llmanage to build it in many decades,and if we get back to this in 20 years,we’ll see that we haven’t done a sin-gle step. That’s what I said then. Itturned to be a bitter prediction, thetruth, as it’s extremely difficult torestore national justice within thepresent Ukrainian borders and ourrachitic democracy. The wise fathersof Ukrainian nationalism saw thisthreat. In particular, Mykola Mikh-novsky said: ‘a nation that won’t lib-erate itself before democracy comes,doesn’t have any chances.’ Now wefeel his wise words on our own backs.“As for the analogies with the

1920s, I see them in the fact thatUkraine is separated, it’s still divid-ed into Ukrainians, Malorussians

and Khokhols [ethnic slur mockingUkrainian Cossacks. – Ed.], and notinto the west and the east. That iswhy we can’t chose the leaders wewould need now. The nation is veryweak, it’s crushed, genetically-mod-ified, and it has a correspondingleadership. That is why now we areso often humiliated and dishonored.”

Our present government’s policyis rather pro-Russian. However, itseems that Ukrainians are movingfaster in this direction than even theleadership. Those who transformedfrom Khokhols into Ukrainians un-der Yushchenko, are now movingback. There are many warning signs:nationalism has become a dirtyword, and the local inhabitantshardly commemorate the heroes ofKholodny Yar republic. Are we stilldealing with some mutated form ofthe Soviet Union?“By the way, you use the banned

word ‘khokhol,’ just as I do… I’m ac-cused of xenophobia, in particularfor using in my novel the words ‘ka-tsap,’ ‘moskal,’ ‘yid,’ and ‘khokhol.’I found out that these words werebanned in 1929 by the Popular Edu-cation Commissariat, whose modernanalog is Tabachnyk’s ministry.”“Modern Ukrainians are still

afraid of the word ‘nationalism.’Weunderstand the word ‘nationalist’ asmeaning ‘extremist’ or even worse.Regarding our criteria of national-ism, all European countries are na-tionalist. Sarkozy is a nationalist,Merkel is a nationalist, too, as shesays things that the Ukrainian presi-dent would never say, like: everyperson in Germany that doesn’tspeak the German language is unde-sirable for us. In our country herwords would be classified as natio-nalism, or even fascism. The Ukrai-nians are afraid of this word and thecorresponding thinking. The processof recalling basic things is very slow.“Youmentioned the people living

in Kholodny Yar. I can say that, firstof all, not all of themare the rebels’ de-scendants, as the direct relatives of thefighters were repressed or killed.

Those who survivedwere the heads ofvillage councils, members of poorpeasants committees, various activistsand their descendants, correspond-ingly. When we organized the firstcommemorative soirees for KholodnyYars atamans, they were attended bysix to eight peoplemaximumand theywere very cautious. When we holdthe similar events now, they attractmanymore locals. I believe that the re-vival process is irreversible, but itprogresses very slowly.”

Obviously, literature shouldplay a significant role in this pro-cess. Your novel is the first fictionbook about the dramatic events inKholodny Yar. There are not manydocumentaries either. This maymean that we do not fully under-stand the 1920s. Do you thinkUkrainian literature played itsproper role over the last 20 years?“Our literature is only approach-

ing historical topics. When Ukrainegained independence, many writersjust got lost, as they were used towriting within certain limits. Free-dom was a serious challenge forthem, and they weren’t ready to ac-cept it. Many simply had a break-down; others started working farfrom historical topics. I think thatanother reason is that the genre ofhistorical novel is very complicated.Writers, especially Ukrainian writ-ers, often have to move by touch. Thehistorical novel requires that thewriter be aware of more than just thechronicle of those events, the writerhas to know a lot of details, evenabout women’s underwear in those

times. Even if I don’t write about it,it has to be in my imagination.“Ukrainian writers took up his-

torical topics, but their worksweren’t resonant. Roman Kovalwrote a solid documentary aboutKholodny Yar. He consulted mewhen I was writing Black Raven andhe edited the novel. Those documen-taries influenced society, but not asmuch as they could have.“Probably, it will sound immod-

est, but Black Raven is the first nov-el that drew a wide response even be-fore I was attacked. I think thatBlack Raven was unexpected evenfor many Ukrainian writers. It’s pa-radoxical that despite the fact thatthis novel has become a bestsellerlong ago and is read from the Crimeato Uzhhorod, nobody has written aserious review. Meanwhile, I gettons of letters from Donetsk,Berdiansk, Kirovohrad, Odesa, Imean, from the east and the south…”

What do the people write?

“They thank me for havingopened their eyes and changing theirideas. By the way, they write inRussian. They send money for thefilming of the novel. By the way,the first money for the film camefrom Alchevsk. Recently, a manfrom Novosibirsk sent 8,000 rubles,saying that he ‘originates from theDonbas.’“Probably, one of the merits of

my novel is that I was the first to callthe things by their proper names,without any hinting or euphemisms.Some writers understood that theyhave to either destroy Black Raven,or burn down everything they havewritten before.”

Do you consider Black Ravenyourmagnum opus because of its ex-treme honesty?“The thing is that I come from

Kholodny Yar, so to say, from thisterritory of courage, as Zvenihorodataman Ivan Liutenko-Liuty said.This courage has been living in ourpeople, even though they wereafraid of talking about it for a longtime, and many people didn’t knowanything about it. However, I re-member when I was a little boy, theadults would say when playingcards: ‘Ace!,’ ‘Holy!’ (naked),‘Bosy!’ (barefooted). They called thecards by the names of the atamans,as in Kholodny Yar these were Ace,Holy and Bosy. I could also hearfrom a distance an old man telling toanother: do you remember TrokhymHoly coming to our village? He sawthe telegraph wires on the poles,took out his revolver, bang-bang,

and the wires hung. I recalled simi-lar details. Even when the peoplecalled the rebels bandits, it stirredup my imagination. Later I readHorlis-Horsky’s bookKholodny Yar,which impressed me a lot. Horlis-Horsky’s story finished in thespring of 1921, it was still the ro-mantic period of our struggle, whenhope for freedom remained, whenthe peasants supported partisans’courage, gave them horses and food,and what was essential, their sons.Later hard times came. The NewEconomic Policy was introduced, thepeasants started growing rich andsaid: ‘Guys, stop wandering in thewoods! Come back! Get to work! Wecan live!’ Then some received amnes-ty, others used fake documents, no-tably those of dead Red Army sol-diers, and went to the Donbas orsomewhere else. Others managed togo abroad. However, there was aband of the most persistent thatfought against the occupants till the

end. My novel is about those people.About those who remained faithfulto their slogan ‘Freedom of Ukraineor death’ during a time of despairand incredible fatigue. They foughtfor their idea— that the longer theyhold out in the woods, the more hopethere will be that their goal willgrow from their graves.”

You worked a great deal in thearchives. Did you manage to talk toanyone who could recall somethingelse?“I went to Kholodny Yar several

times a year. For example, I went tothe village of Dementsi to search fortraces of the master of KholodnyYar’s Haidamaks regiment ProkipPonomarenko. I heard that he diednot long time ago, somewherearound 1996. I thought: I could havemet this man and he could have toldme so much! In the villages border-ing to the village of Zhabotyn Ifound people who told me a dramat-ic story: after Kholodny Yar repub-lic had been liquidated, he went tothe region of Kryvy Rih. However,he was so homesick that he cameback to Dementsi. He started livingwith a woman he loved when he wasyoung, but they didn’t stay togeth-er as they were very different. Onthe other hand, he had two friends,his sworn brothers from those hero-ic times. The three Cossacks didn’twork in a kolkhoz a single day, theyworked in the forestry or as guards.For some reason the Soviet govern-ment didn’t disturb them anymore.In the 1970s Prokip Ponomarenkocommitted suicide, as he couldn’t in-tegrate into the society. I was told amoving story: the two friends satdown with dead Prokip, hugged himand started singing.“I heard a lot of similar stories.

Certainly, not all of them are inBlack Raven but all of them gave thenovel its spirit. Starting a novel, oneshould know well the details of thetime, muchmore than one writes. Forexample, when I wrote that the ata-man was shooting a ‘Luis’ machine-gun, I had to know the number of bul-lets it carried, its weight and othertechnical characteristics. I was soobstinate in my research that I waseven offered to buy this rare ma-chinegun.“I can tell you one more story.

The head ataman of Kholodny Yarrebels Vasyl Chuchupak organizedhis headquarters in Motrona monas-tery. By the way, now it’s subordi-nated to the Moscow Patriarchate,just as in those times. So, I read inone of the sources that in Chuchu-pak’s room an American Underwoodtypewriter was heard and expensi-ve cigarettes were smelled. Wherecould they have gotten expensivecigarettes in the woods? Of course,they raided Denikin’s army. It’s in-teresting that Camel and Marlborowere expensive brands at that time.”

It looks like the novel influ-enced you a lot. You’ve even becomemore serious…

“I don’t think so. I’m just moretired than I was. My brother saysnearly the same, that I still can’tleave the image of the Black Raven.I’m still fighting and making unex-pected statements. Obviously, thenovel influenced me. It took me along time to get the feeling of mycharacters and it couldn’t havepassed unnoticed.”

You mentioned that one of theatamans of Kholodny Yar’s republiccommitted suicide. This is somehowconnected to the discussion aroundLina Kostenko, about the clash be-tween the times and a person livingin them. Obviously, we cannot em-brace the methods used by theKholodny Yar fighters.What do youthink is the best form of resistancetoday?“It’s true that those methods are

in the past. I discussed this with thefamous soldier of the Ukrainian In-surgent Army Myroslav Symchych.‘Father,’ said I, ‘aren’t we wastingour time? Maybe we should go to thewoods?’ His reply was: ‘No!’ It’sclear that the world is absolutely dif-ferent now, and the technical equip-ment is different as well. One heli-copter can burn down the whole ofKholodny Yar. As for the methods ofstruggle, it’s a personal thing foreverybody.“The Cossacks of that time had a

strong motivation for revenge. Va-lentyn Symiantsiv, a member of theBlack Cossacks third squadron [mi-litary formation of the UkrainianInsurgent Army. – Ed.] told me aninteresting story about the CossackTereshko. The Reds killed all hisfamily, and in those times familieswere large. By the way, they killedhis baby brother with a bayonet inhis cradle. Later, when Tereshkokilled an enemy he put a mark on hisbutt. Ladym, one of Black Ravencharacters embroidered crosseson his hat corresponding to the num-ber of enemies he killed. Those guysdidn’t fear death. They only fearedto die without accomplishing theirplan, to make their enemies pay infull. A comparison with the samuraiinevitably comes to mind: whenJapan lost they said that they werefighting a personal war.“Everyone has to fight their own

war! According to their possibilities,profession, vocation, conscience,and, finally, conceit. I did it with mynovel. I made a statement demand-ing to fire the minister of educationbecause Black Raven drew the atten-tion of not only my supporters, butof my enemies, too. When you’re inthe center of attention you shouldsay your decisive word, as there’s achance to be heard.”

In one of the interviews you saidthat you had received a commentfrom the producer of the RussianChannel 5 (St. Petersburg). It’squite significant. Did you get anycomments from Ukrainian mediaworkers? And how would you assesthe reaction of the Ukrainian mediaspace to your novel?“I got very many positive com-

ments from Ukrainian media work-ers. I have a lot of admirers amongtelevision journalists, especially inthe Channel 5 and TVi.When I recallthe channels that have themost of mysupporters, the opposition mediacomes tomind. However, they are notalone: in fact, I have my gratefulreaders in all the channels, which isclear from their programs.”

How’s the film going? By theway, why did you choose a foreign di-rector?“When we created the committee

to raise money for the film, I saidduring a press conference that Iwanted to have a Ukrainian director.We organized a creative competition,a certain non-governmental tender.To be honest, there were a lot of ap-plicants, mostly with experience inmaking short and documentary filmsat the end of the 1980s and beginningof the 1990s… Domestic cinema hasdegraded so much that it’s very dif-ficult to choose. I addressed theyoung film directors. I thought: let itbe someone unknownwho would onlyget enthusiastic about this idea andwant to make the film of his life,just as I did! I haven’t found suchperson so far. That is why I thoughtabout Hoffman. My friends, the Po-lish writers Marek Wawrzkieviczand Ryszard Ulicki were in Kyiv.I told them about my idea andthey discussed it with Hoffman. Hebecame interested in this offer, butthey needed a scenario. I wasn’tready for this.

6 WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA

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»Continued on page 8

Photo by Kostiantyn HRYSHYN, The Day

Vasyl SHKLIAR: We know less about the 1920s than about Kyivan Rus’

Photo from the website ISTPRAVDA.COM.UA

KHOLODNY YAR’S REBELS, 1922

“Everyone has to fight their own war! According to their possibilities,profession, vocation, conscience, and, finally, conceit. I did it withmynovel. Imadea statement demanding to fire theminister of educationbecause Black Raven drew the attention of not only my supporters,but of my enemies, too. When you’re in the center of attention youshould say your decisive word, as there’s a chance to be heard.”

In the often disingenuous Ukrai-nian media space people who stickto their positions and systematical-ly defend them are almost heroes.Some even call them radicals. VasylSHKLIAR is one of those “radicals.”He gives off an “unformatted” im-pression, earnest to the point ofrudeness, and prides himself in“calling things by their propernames.” This is probably because

he spent most of the last 20 yearsbrowsing through archives, travel-ing to Kholodny Yar, communicatingwith the witnesses of the time, andwriting his novel Black Raven,whose characters are versatile and“unformatted,” too.

Those “things called by theirproper names” provoked a sympto-matic explosive reaction in theUkrai-nian media space (though they are

almost a hundred years old) and anevident nervousness among cer-tain groups of people. But there wasalso a positive social reaction, withtons of letters from eastern Ukraine,a three-hour queue for the author’sautographs next to the Kyiv book-shop Ye, and awhole “maidan” of Va-syl Shkliar’s admirers near IvanFranko National University in Lviv.Meanwhile, Ukrainians have only

started recalling the events inKholodny Yar of the 1920s. Actually,Black Raven is the first fiction novelabout them. It may encourage a lotof people to start learning aboutearly 20th-century Ukrainian histo-ry and all the inaccuracies and ir-reparable mistakes tied to it. Tolearnmore about the book and thoseevents The Daypresents an interviewwith the author of Black Raven.

7WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA

No.20 APRIL 5, 2011

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WHAT’S HAPPENING

A GIRL WITH A HORSE

April 5-22

PHOTOSBY NATALIA SHULTEVisual Culture Center

By Tetiana POLISHCHUK, The Day

T hough itmaybehard to believe,Kyivoperaartistsperformed inLviv for thelast time in 1940, with a great and

versatile repertoire. The tour started onMarch 26, 1940, with the patrioticproduction Ivan Susanin (the primarytitle of this work is Living in the Tsar’sTime; it tells about the Polish nobility’scampaign against Muscovy), followed bythe then classical Ukrainian operas,specifically Natalka Poltavka by MykolaLysenko, and ended with the operaShevchenko by the contemporary Volo-dymyr Yorysh (Poet’s Destiny, 1940),based on the plot of the Sava Holo-vanovsky’s play. Galicians also saw suchoperas as The Queen of Spades by PyotrTchaikovsky, Madama Butterfly byGiacomoPuccini, aswell as thepropagandaplayDuringaStormwithquite interestingmusic by Tikhon Khrennikov (the operatells about establishingBolshevikpower invillages and how peasant petitioners FrolandAndriiwent to theMoscowKremlinonfoot, seeking truth). The Kyiv theateralso showed its ballets, the classicalSwanLake by Tchaikovsky and the heroic pro-ductionLaurencia (themusicwascomposedby theSoviet composerAleksandrKrein in1939, the ballet uses the plot of Lope deVega’s playFuenteovejuna, depicting thestruggle of Spanish peasants against feu-dal lords). The theater’s archives keepreviews from that tour, which say that itwas an immense success and symbolizedfraternal unity of east andwest. The tourcanalsobecalledapropagandaactionof thethenSovietgovernment,becauseweshouldkeep in mind the fact that repressionsalready started at the time, and not allGalicians met “Red occupants” withflowers.

What has been keeping theKyiv The-ater from going on a tour to Lviv for solong, though the company has performedin other corners of theworld?Didn’t theyreceive any invitations? Did they haveany other priorities?

“Our singers, dancers, andmusicianshave takenpart inconcertsandproductionsof the Lviv Opera House as premieres,but itwill be indeed for the first time in se-vendecades that the entire companyof ourtheater will go there,” head of the infor-mation-publishing agency of theNationalOpera Vasyl Turkevych toldTheDay. “InSoviet times and at the beginning of inde-pendence theaters had other priorities.For us and our fellow artists from Lviv itwas important to present Ukrainian artabroad. Incidentally, they have had full-fledged tours only twice in the capital (in1993 there was a grand tour, when theLeopolitans staged the opera Moses byMyroslav Skoryk, marking the 100th an-niversary of their theater; the premieretook place during Pope John Paul II’s vi-sit toUkraine). It should be admitted thatthere were technical problems for a longtime. Before the reconstruction works,the Lviv Opera House had a small stage,which had too little space for our the-ater’s decorations. Today, after the re-vamp, the stagehasbeenreconstructedandenlarged, so there is enough room for ourmonumental decorations to Norma andLord of Borysfen. For our theater thistour will be a creative exam before the re-fined Lviv audience.”

OnApril 8 theKyiv theater will showits latest premiere, the ballet Lord of Bo-rysfenbyYevhenStankovych.Theplaywill

bring the audience back to the 5th centu-ryADand tell aboutPrinceKyi, one of thefounders ofKyiv.The librettowaswrittenby Anatolii Tolstoukhov, VolodymyrZubanov, and Vasyl Turkevych. The cho-reographer isViktorYaremenko, the con-ductorOleksii Baklan, productiondesign-ers are Oleksii Chebykin and OleksandrTzuhorka, and the main parts are per-formed by Olena Filipieva (Zoreslava),Kateryna Kukhar (Oktavia), Yan Vania(Kyi), MaksymMotkov (Irnek) et al.

On April 9 the Lviv audience will seethe masterly lyrical tragedy Norma byVincenzoBellini.Theoperaappearedonthebills of the National Opera House in De-

cember2007, and this year theproductionwon the ShevchenkoPrize (director:Ana-tolii Solovianenko; conductor: MykolaDiadiura; Serhii Mahera plays Orovesoand Oksana Kramarieva plays Norma).Theproduction shows the cruel timewhentheGaulswereconqueredbytheRomanRe-public. Passions — love, treachery, re-venge, insight, sacrifice—arewhirling inthisopera, andthe lyrical scenes intertwinewith patrioticmotives. The role of seeressNormawill be performed by the young ta-lented singerViktoriaChenska (the Shev-chenko Prize winner Kramarieva is onmaternity leave), whereas Serhii Maherawill play the chief of theDruids, Oroveso.

Lvivmusic loverswill appreciatehis splen-didbassandthedramaticpartheplays.Theperformance will also include the soloistsOleksandrHurets (Pollione),NataliaNyko-laishyn (Adalgisa), Oleksandr Diachenko(Flavio) andTetianaKharuzova (Clotilde)et al.Norma’s cavatina, calledbymusic ex-perts “an exemplar of melodiousness andclassics of bel canto” (the maestro Bellinirewrote it eight times, and created a realmasterpiece in the end), makes the operaparticularly worth listening to.

The organizers of the tour of the Na-tional Opera say that these performanceswill becomea creative breakthroughandabridge betweenKyiv and Lviv.

By Iryna HORDIICHUK, special to The Day

I n November 2010 Liudmila Gur-chenko, a brilliant, universal perfor-mer, admired by the audience,marked

her 75th birthday. However, as herfriends aptly admitted, “Liusia willalways remain 28 years old.” Gurchenkotried to look accordingly: she was slim,even fragile, and as always elegant andfull of energy. Unlike some of hercolleagues, she did not lose her headduring the crisis, and continued to workin theater, record CDs, and improve thescripts she came up with long ago. Shealsomade her debut as a director: she shotthe film The Motley Twilight, where sheperformed the leading role, wrote thescript, and composed the soundtrack.

The artistic career of Kharkiv-bornGurchenko started in 1956with her debutin Yan Frid’s film Road of Truth. Thesame year Eldar Ryazanov, a young filmdirector then, offeredher a part in amusi-cal comedyCarnivalNight,which broughtfame to the formerly poor young student.This was followed by years of oblivion anddespair, until Gurchenko was offered therole of a plant director inOldWalls.

On the whole, the actress’s filmogra-phy includes nearly 100 cinema roles. Thebest known and admired by the audienceare such films as 20 Days without War,Five Evenings, Mechanic Gavrilov’s Be-loved Woman, Station for Two, Love andPigeons,The StrawHat.

Gurchenko’s character in her debutfilm Road of Truth says the followingphrase: “I came here not to keep silence.”The statementwas crucial forGurchenko,whobecameagreatRussian actress. Proofof thiswill be theapplause, bywhich theau-dience traditionally bids adieu to its idols.

Roman BALAIAN, film director, Kyiv:“I somuch love and appreciate Liusia

that I cannot understand what has hap-pened. Last timewemetwas inNovemberin Kyiv; we had supper, talked for somethree hours, and laughed. What can Isay? A truly great actress left us, and weall are widowers now.

“I remember when I started to shootthe filmFlying inDreams and in Reality,the script writer Vitia Merezhko recom-mended Gurchenko for one of the roles.Liusia read the script, came for ameeting

with me, and started to play in a mannertypical of her. Itwas sharp, grotesque, andinteresting. But it was not the way I sawthe role. And I have a theory. If you un-derstand that the actor is more talentedthanyou, you should convincehim that thedirector is cleverer. If you see that the ac-tor is cleverer, you need to convince himthat you’re more talented. I madeGurchenko understand that a director ismore knowledgeable about the film thanthe actor. I said, ‘Wonderful! Inconceiv-able!But if Iwas shooting inFrance Iwouldhave invitedAnoukAimee.’ ‘I see,’ Liusiareplied, ‘I will stay in the focus and keepsilence.’ During the shooting I could comeup to her and say, for example, ‘Raise yourhand,wipe your nose,’ and she performedeverything in a most obedient manner. Itis not important for great actors fromwhere the hint comes, their own observa-tions, or someone else’s, they don’t care.

“We did not see each other often.There might have been 10 meetings or so.But this never spoiled the very warm atti-tude to eachother thatwehad.When I sawher, I would approach her from the backand kiss in the back of her head. Liusiawould saywithout turningher head, ‘Thismust be Balaian.’”

Oleh FIALKO, film director, Kyiv:“I will tell you frankly, it is hard to

speak about Liudmila Gurchenko, espe-cially ondays ofmourning. Shewas a star,in the most direct sense of this word, notspoiled with banalities.When I decided toshoot the film Imitator, I offered Gur-chenko a very small role in the film.Tomysurprise, she agreed.Moreover, before go-ing toKyiv fromMoscow she saidwith ad-miration,ononeof theTVshowsontheCen-tral channel (it was the USSR), how sheliked the script and theprospect towork inUkraine, her homeland. We thoroughlypreparedforherarrival.Wewereattentive,but the shooting process cannever be fore-seen, so thegreatactressoftenhadtositandwait for several hours until she was calledtoplay.But Ihaveneverheardanyscandalsor whims fromGurchenko.

“She is unique. She belongs to thehistory of cinema. She is an entire epoch,a continent. The loss of such an actress istruly irremediable. I don’t know whenanyone like her will be born. I don’t thinkit will happen soon.”

LVIV’S MUSIC BUFFSWHO COME TO SEE NORMA WILL APPRECIATE THEMAGNIFICENT BASS OF SERHII MAHERAAND HIS DRAMATIC PART AS THE CHIEF OF THE DRUIDS OROVESO

Western breakthroughThe National Opera House of Ukraine tours in Lviv for the first time in 71 years

R.I.P.

Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day

NOVEMBER 2010WAS THE LAST TIME THAT LIUDMILA GURCHENKO CAMETO KYIV. SHE PRESENTED THE MOTLEY TWILIGHT, HER DEBUT AS A FILMDIRECTOR. SHE COMPOSED THEMUSIC FOR THE FILM, PLAYED THEMAINPART, AND SANG. THE ACTRESS THEN SAID, “I WILL DIE ON STAGE, ORAPPROACHING THE STAGE”

Drama and ComedyAcademic Theateron the Left Bank

EVENTS

April 9

FOUR REASONS FORGETTING MARRIED

(based on RichardBaer’s story)

Photo by Yevhen CHEKALIN

SVITLANA ZOLOTKO AND OLEKSANDRHANNOCHENKO

PREMIERE

April 6-12Curtain at 7 p.m. unless otherwisenoted

TheaterNational Opera of Ukraine(vul. Volodymyrska 50, tel. 279-1169)6 – Eugene Onegin, operaby Tchaikovsky7 – Giselle, ballet by Adam8 – The Barber of Seville, operaby Rossini9 – Carmen-Suite, ballet by Bizet-Shchedrin; Scheherazade, balletby Rimsky-Korsakov10–AZaporozhianCossackbeyond theDanube, opera by Hulak-Artemovsky12 – Zorba the Greek, balletby TheodorakisIvanFrankoNationalDramaTheater(pl. Franka 3, tel. 279-5921)6 – Premiere. Urus Shaitanby Afanasiev7 – The Taming of the Shrewby Shakespeare8 – Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare9 (at 4 p.m.) – The Old Lady SitsWaiting by Rozewicz9 – Solo-Mia by Bilozub10 – The Brothers Karamazovby Dostoevsky12 – Edith Piaf. Life on Creditby Rybchynsky and VasalatiiLesia Ukrainka National RussianDrama Theater(vul. Khmelnytskoho 5, tel. 234-4223)6 – Don’t Dress for Dinner by Camoletti7 – The Uncle’s Dream by Dostoevsky8 – Cemetery Club by Menchell8 (at 8 p.m.) – The Tower of Pisaby Ptushkina9 (at noon), 11 (at 4 p.m.) – Back YardGames by Mazia9 (at 6 p.m.) – The Last Loveby Mukhariamov9 – No. 13 (Out of Order) by Cooney9 (at 8 p.m.) – Edith Piaf: La Vie EnRose by Havryliuk10 (at noon) – Run for Your Wifeby Cooney10 (at 6 p.m.) – A Real Man on theThreshold of the Millennium by Dorstand Eler10 – A Profitable Position by Ostrovsky10 (at 8 p.m.) – Romeo@Julia.com(Norway.Today) by Bauersima11 – Don Quixote. 1938 by Bulgakov12 – MyMocking Happinessby MaliuginDrama and Comedy AcademicTheater on the Left Bank(Brovarsky prosp. 25, tel. 517-8980)6 – Playing Chonkin by Voinovich7 – Mein Kampf or Socks in theCoffee Pot by Tabori8 – 26 Rooms by Chekhov9 (at 3 p.m.) – Premiere. FourReasons for Getting Married(based on Richard Baer’s story)9 – The Dangerous Liaisons by Laclos10 (at 3 p.m.) – Sea…Night…Candles… by Bar-Joseph10 – Cyrano de Bergerac by Rostand12 – Three Sisters by Chekhov

MusicNational Philharmonic Society ofUkraine(Volodymyrsky uzviz 2, tel. 278-1697)6-8 – 21st International Festival“Music Premieres of the Season”10 – Yulii Galperin’s soiree (France)11 – Ukrainian vocal music concert12 – Vocal music concertNational House of Organand ChamberMusic of Ukraine(vul. Velyka Vasylkivska 75,tel. 528-3186)(Curtain at 7:30 p.m.)

6 – Liatoshynsky ClassicalMusic Ensemble conductedby Ihor Andriievsky7 – Valeria Balakhovska (organ),Oleksandr Hosachynsky (cello)9 – Ivan Kucher (cello),Viktor Tymets (clarinet),Volodymyr Koshuba (organ)11 – Natalia Hrebeniuk (soprano),Larysa Reutova (piano), MaksymSydorenko (organ)12 – Mykola Lysenko Quartet,Maria Lipinska (mezzo-soprano),Ihor Ishchak (countertenor),Kateryna Bazhenova (harpsichord)

CircusNational Circus(pl. Peremohy 2, tel. 486-3856)April 6-May 15 – Circus on the WaterBeginning on Fri. at 7 p.m., on Sat.and Sun. at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

MuseumsKyiv Sophia National Museum(vul. Volodymyrska 24)5-10 – Exhibit commemoratingthe 10th anniversary of Prykarpattia’sUniversityApril 5-May 5 – Anatolia during theepoch of Ala al-Din Kaykubad IIIOpen 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.National Museum of Scienceand Natural History(vul. Bohdana Khmelnytskoho 15)Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m.Closed Mon.,Tues.National Art Museum(vul. Hrushevskoho 6)April 5-May 1 – Liubomyr Medvid(paintings)April 8-May 9 – Havrylo Pustoviit(1900-47) (graphics)Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m., on Fri. — noon-8 p.m., on Sat. — 11 a.m.-7 p.m.Closed Mon., Tues.Museum of the Hetman State(vul. Spaska 16b)April 6-May 1 – Yehor and MykytaZihury (sculptures)Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Fri.Lesia Ukrainka LiteraryandMemorial Museum(vul. Saksahanskoho 97)Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Tues.Mykola LysenkoMemorial Museum(vul. Saksahanskoho 95)Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Mon.

GalleriesBottega(vul. Mykhailivska 22b)5-20 – Mykola Ridnii (paintings)Open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Closed Sun.,Mon.Yevhenia Hapchynska Gallery(vul. Mykhailivska 16, kv.1)Yevhenia Hapchynska’s standingart exhibitOpen 10 a.m.-9 p.m., on Sat.and Sun. — noon-4 p.m.Nebo(vul. Drahomyrova 14)5-25 – Andrii Petryk (paintings)Open noon-6 p.m. Closed Mon.Olena Zamostian Art Gallery(vul. Illinska 9)5-19 – Oleksii Boldin (photos),Ihor Tsykuta (graphics)Open 11 a.m.-7 p.m.Closed Sun., Mon.Visual Culture Centre(NaUKMA, vul. Skovorody 2)5-22 – Natalia Shulte (photos)(photo exhibit proceeds to betransferred to children’s homesin Odesa and Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky)Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m.Closed Sat., Sun.

Photo courtesy of the Visual Culture Center

Applauding LiusiaThe unique Liudmila Gurchenko died onMarch 30, 2011

Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day

8 WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA

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By Anna SLIESARIEVAPhoto replicas provided by theMykhailo Hrushevskyhistorical-memorial museum

V olodymyr Vynnychenko died alittle over 60 years ago. Analyz-ing his artistic and epistolary

oeuvre, reading his diaries, we areable to see Vynnychenko from an ab-solutely different angle. During hislife he painted over 100 paintings.Last year marked the third stage oftransferring the canvases from theUS to Ukraine. Thus, all the paint-ings of the author of The Sunny Ma-chine have returned to our state andare kept at the Shevchenko Instituteof Literature. The pictures have beenon display in a number of museums,notably in Vynnychenko’s homeland,Kirovohrad, and are currently exhi-bited at Kyiv’s Hrushevsky Museum(till April 3).“It is known that as a youth

VolodymyrVynnychenko had a talentfor painting,” head of the Shev-chenko Institute of Literature at theNational Academy of Sciences ofUkraine, doctor of philology MykolaZhulynsky said, “His inner passionmay have been somewhat quelledwhen he became an active politicalfigure and litterateur.”Says Volodymyr Panchenko, pro-

fessor at the National University ofKyiv-Mohyla Academy, doctor ofphilology, expert in history of litera-ture and renowned connoisseur ofVynnychenko’s life and creativework:“Kirovohrad local ethnographers,Vynnychenko’s fellow townsmen, saythat he could attend a drawing courseat the Zemstvo Real College, while hewas studying in another institution,the Elizavetgrad Male Gymnasium.But this is a mere hypothesis.”In the 1920s he started to create

the works that are now on display,and continued to do so until he died.He painted for several reasons: hemixed in with the French artistic mi-lieu, communicated with manyartists, and remained in political andliterary isolation. Roughly in this pe-riod he painted The Portrait of theAuthor’s Wife, Self-Portrait, anddrew several sketches. Close commu-nication with the outstanding artistMykolaHlushchenko had a crucial ef-fect on the development of his artis-tic talent. In the period between 1927and 1934 Vynnychenko was part ofthe Paris school, Ecole de Paris,which was famous for its high paint-ing culture and was represented bysuchUkrainian artists asHordynsky,Khmeliuk, Hryshchenko, Butovych,and Andriienko (in addition toHlushchenko). In Paris, in 1929,Vynnychenko co-founded theArtisticSection in theUkrainian Community.His interest for painting graduallyincreased, and his diaries carry inte-resting reviews of some artists’ pic-tures and various exhibits, which isproof of his specific vision of art.“Vynnychenko’s achievements in

painting were astonishing from thevery onset,” Hlushchenko said.At first Vynnychenko worked in

the genre of landscape painting, lat-er hemoved to painting portraits andstandstills, not only in oils, but wa-tercolors too, as well as pencils andink. But landscapesmake up the larg-er part of Vynnychenko’s paintings.The author’s memories of Ukrainianlandscapes are reflected in VelykaBastyda Farmstead, UkrainianLandscape. Vynnychenko also depict-ed French landscapes.“As an artist, Vynnychenko is an

important character that was deleted

from the history of Ukrainian art,”Oleksandr Fedoruk, an academicianof Ukraine’s Academy ofArts, writesin his article “Volodymyr Vynny-chenko as an artist.”As for the specifics of Vynny-

chenko’s paintings, they are quitedistinct from his literary or politicalactivity.“He was not promoting his lite-

rary or political views through paint-ing,” said the artist Stanislav Hor-dynsky, who thought that Vynny-

chenko was “far from being an ama-teur artist.”It was no accident that Vynny-

chenko’s works were preserved in theUS for a long time.“Clearly, the question arises of

why Vynnychenko’s paintings werekept in the US, though he lived inFrance.We can find the answer in hisdiaries and correspondence. Thething is that Vynnychenko had manyadmirers in the US, he planned tosend his works there (and hemanaged

to do so) and then go there to organizean exhibit of his works and professconcordism,” Panchenko explained,“Concordism was his philosophical-ethical doctrine, on which he workedfor the last 25 years of his life. Thisis Vynnychenko’s theory of happi-ness, which referred to aspects ofpeople’s self-perfection and themoralside of interpersonal relationships.So, Vynnychenko did send his works,but never followed them.”It should be admitted that Vynny-

chenko worked on the development ofhis philosophical theorywith the sameinspiration as on his pictures. Likepainting, creation of his own “recipeof happiness” took up a great part ofhis life after he moved toMougins.“The idea of concordism is a re-

sult of long contemplations, re-search, study of different religions,and moral principles and founda-tions that formed humanity formany centuries,” Zhulynsky toldThe Day. “Vynnychenko came upwith this idea as he was seeking aformula to improve people and life,and form a ‘moral’ world. This mayseem naive and unreal to some peo-ple. Indisputably, it is hard to be-lieve that it would be possible to re-alize this idea. Humanity’s entirewill is needed for this. But con-cordism as Vynnychenko’s system ofbeliefs and views is extremely inte-resting. I am sure that sooner or lat-er humankind will have to pay atten-tion to guidelines for lifestyle, in-terpersonal relations, treatment ofnature, of people, and whether theylive in harmony with themselves andtheir surroundings. Vynnychenkofelt the need for harmonization ofthe people’s inner world with thesurrounding world. He wrote hiswork Concordism for many yearswith this particular aim. I think to-day it is time to turn to it.”

FLOWERS. OIL ON CARDBOARD

THE PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR’S WIFE. OIL ON CANVAS

“Thinking that I will have aUkrainian film director I decidedthat the book would be enough tostart with. So, we’ll sit down to-gether and will decide on the con-cept of the scenario…Meanwhile, alot of reputable people say: ‘Youshouldn’t be so skeptical about theHollywood.’ We’re used to think-ing that it’s something inacces-sible. They say that Mel Gibsonwould love to take up this topic ashe readily makes films on materialfrom exotic countries…”

Have you raised enough moneyfor the film?“Of course we haven’t. We

haven’t initiated any large actionlike auctions, etc… I know thatthere are many businesspeopleready to invest into this film: I re-ceived the ‘signals’ from people whocould contribute to its realization.However, first of all we should havea working group and decide on thedirector, as people are used to giv-ing money to reputable people.Whenwe decide on everybody, we’llstart raising money.”

By the way, have you thoughtabout who could play the role of thetitular Black Raven?“The director has to decide on

this himself, as he’s the author ofthe film. I think, we should go tothe provincial theaters, as ourstars Ivan Havryliuk, NataliaSumska, Bohdan Beniuk, AnatoliiKhostikoiev are older, and we need20 to 30-year-old guys, though allthe rebels looked older than theyreally were. The officials of Chekawrote: “Denys Hupalo, aged about35,” but in reality he was 24. Theywere marked by the load of a rebel-lious life.”

How many copies of the bookhave been printed for now, are youplanning additional editions? It’simpossible to find the book in Kyivor Cherkasy today…“See, even such a powerful pub-

lishing house as the Family LeisureClub, working with the German in-vestments and technologies wasn’tready for such demand. They haveprinted about 50,000 copies for to-day, but it’s only the beginning… Ifind it difficult to give you the ex-act number, themore that the novelhas been published by two publish-ing houses.”

What’s next, after you finishedthe “novel of your life”?“Now I’m running out of time. I

will definitely participate in the sce-nario for Black Raven. I also havethe obligation to write a scenarioabout the Parisian period of SymonPetliura’s life and assassination tillMay. Oles Yanchuk will be the di-rector of the film. It will be a full-length feature film inwhich the sto-ry will be told by Lesia Petliura, thedaughter of the Head Ataman.However,my essential creative goalis a novel about the woman-atamanMarusia. I have previously said thatI had already exhausted the themeof the rebel movement that I wouldrepeat myself. But I learnt aboutthis personality and thought thatsuch a heroine, the UkrainianJeanne d’Arc would give me a freshlook at the events and a new style.We imagined the woman-ataman asa severe anarchist, but in fact shewas a young 16-year-old girl, calledSasha Sokolovska from the villageof Horbuliv in Zhytomyr raion. TheSokolovsky brothers lived there, allof themwere very famous atamans,and this location is still called Soko-livshchyna. Oleksa, Dmytro andVa-syl Sokolovsky were killed one byone. The last one was substituted bytheir sister who adopted the pseu-donym Marusia. She directed athousand of Cossacks, 700 in-fantrymen and 300 horsemen. Sheobviously had some ‘witch’s’ abili-ties. Legends about her live on.Some say that she died, others saythat she escaped. All the women inthe Sokolovsky family were sorcer-esses, and now in the village of Hor-buliv lives Liza Sokolovska, hergranddaughter, a sorceress as well.She’s very wise and intelligent. Shesays: ‘Marusia didn’t die. She couldhave immigrated to Canada andadopt another name in order not tocast aspersions on relatives inUkraine.’ I’ll have to look for theend of this novel, too, though sheprobably died.”

All those interesting thingsyou’re talking about are poorly rep-resented in Ukrainian intellectuallife. Which fragments do you thinkneed to be restored? Which issues

should be studied in the archives,who should be interrogated?“Unfortunately, we’ve lost the

possibility to talk to thewitnesses oreven their children. All we have islegends. When people find out thatI’m working on a novel about Maru-sia, they call me and ask: ‘Do youknow how she died? My father toldme that she died near Berdychiv.’Another one writes in the letter: ‘Iknow how Marusia died. She was onthe machinegun cart, she was at-tacked and shot back, but they killedher.’ This proves that Marusia be-came a legend and lives on in the na-tional psyche.“Personally, I’m most interest-

ed in the 1920s. It turns out that weknow less about them than aboutKyivan Rus’. Information aboutthem was hidden; they even bannedto curse the atamans in order not tomention them at all.”

Oksana Zabuzhko and MariaMatios have written prominent andglorious books about the UkrainianInsurgent Army, you wrote a bookabout Kholodny Yar. In any othercountry such a success would giverise to a lot of followers, to a cer-tain competition between authors.Do you think our writers will takeup this topic?“Yes, any success provokes a de-

sire to follow it. Quality is anotherthing. The theme of Kholodny Yaris gaining popularity. Every yearmore and more people come to com-memorate its heroes. NGOs namedafter Kholodny Yar appear. As forliterature, it can’t have severalstrong books on one and the sametopic.”

Who are your guides, the au-thors you have mental conversa-tions with?“I wouldn’t say that I always

talk to somebody. Probably, I most-ly think over something onmy own.However, if we talk aboutmy teach-ers, it’s definitely Hryhir Tiutiun-nyk, who I was lucky to talk to andlearn a lot of things from, whichwere important for me.”

By the way, I heard an opinionthat your Key is similar to Tiutiun-nyk’s works…“I think that it’s not true for

Key. At the very beginning of mycreative work I was influenced a lotbyHryhir Tiutiunnyk. I wrote shortstories then. I don’t think it wasbad, as imitation can be different.Tiutiunnyk still remains a modelwriter for me.”

Are you going to publish thosestories that aren’t in the book?“Of course. For example, the

one I told about Ponomarenko hasalready been published in the ap-pendix of the new edition ofKholod-ny Yar by Yurii Horlis-Horsky…”

How in your opinion did thoseevents reflect in the Ukrainian lite-rature of the time, both Westernand Soviet?“I respect the literature of the

rozstriliane vidrodzhennia (theExe-cuted Renassaince), but I have aspecial piety for Malaniuk andCherkasenko… It’s weird that dur-ing the 20 years when the rebelsfought, writers gathered in Khar-kiv and created VAPLITE, Pluh andHart.”

Ukrainian literature also rep-resents Ukraine abroad. Werethere any offers to translate BlackRaven into other languages?“There were, even several of

them. But I have my own approachto foreign publishers. I’m skepticalabout the number of translationsand I’ve never speeded it up. There’sa special situation with Russia,there they have bought the rights tothe translation several times, paidme and the translators, but thebooks haven’t been published theresince 1990. Yet they have publishedmy selected works, so I don’t worryabout it, I let them pay.”

Will Russia ever become acountry where Black Raven will beread without convulsions?“It’s hard to say. In my case the

publisher has to take a risk. ViktorYerofeiev wanted to publish my no-vel in his publishing house Zebra,but, unfortunately, it went bank-rupt. One wealthy man suggested:‘Let’s publish it in Russian and peltthe Crimea and theDonbas.’ I’m notready for this expansion so far.”

Which compliment concerningBlack Raven did you like the most?“One nice girl told me: ‘You did

a very crafty and unpleasant thingto me. After I read your novel, Ican’t read anything else.’”By Maria TOMAK, Nadia TYSIACHNA,

The Day, Oleh KOTSAREV

Vasyl SHKLIAR: We know less aboutthe 1920s than about Kyivan Rus’

FICTION

Continued frompage 6 »

Master of concordismVolodymyr Vynnychenko sought a formula to improve humanity

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