#44_1-8

AUGUST 30, 2018 ISSUE No. 44 (1176) 

Tel.: +38(044) 303-96-19, 

fax: +38(044) 303-94-20 

е-mail: time@day.kiev.ua; 

http://www.day.kiev.ua 

Dear readers, our next issue will be published on September 6, 2018 

Photo by Mykola TYMCHENKO, The Day 

Ukrainian Navy: what do we have? 

What we need is a strengthened maritime defense capability, not publicity stunts 

Continued on page 2 

Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day 

Nord Stream 2 will bring 

corruption and... war to Europe 

Mykhailo HONCHAR: 

“German politicians 

are increasingly holding 

pro-Russian and 

anti-American views, 

and it is destroying 

transatlantic solidarity” 

UKRINFORM photo 

A man 

of principles 

and honor 

The world bids 

farewell to Senator 

John McCain 

Continued 

5 

3 

on page Continued 

on page

2 

No.44 AUGUST 30, 2018 

DAY AFTER DAY 

WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA 

By Serhii HRABOVSKYI, Ihor LOSIEV 

Valerii Chalyi, Ukraine’s 

Ambassador to the US, has 

announced that an agreement 

is being drawn up to hand 

over two US Island-class 

patrol boats to Ukraine. According to 

Chalyi, Ukraine can receive the boats 

this year and start to deploy them in 

the Black Sea in 2019. The diplomat 

said it is a pilot project that will make 

it possible to launch a scheme of direct 

purchases from the US. “If we carry 

out this project, we will be able to 

purchase more advanced weapons in 

the United States,” he said. 

At first glance, this statement 

should be followed by thunderous 

applause. But will it be appropriate if 

we recall that the free transfer of the 

two boats to Ukraine has been a matter 

of talks since 2014, but it is the 

Ukrainian authorities that have been 

standing in the way all this time because, 

you see, the current law forbids 

the Ministry of Defense to purchase 

weapons abroad directly, without gobetweens, 

even at a symbolic price of 

$1? It can be also recalled that the US 

media dropped a broad hint a few 

years ago that producers of the similar 

equipment in Ukraine are not exactly 

happy about the purchase of 

these boats. There is only one enterprise 

that produces combat sea boats 

now – Kuznia na Rybalskomu (former 

Leninska Kuznia) in Kyiv, whose 

beneficiaries are, according to the 

Skhema program, Petro Poroshenko 

and his MP friend Ihor Kononenko. 

The go-ahead from these persons 

would be enough to make parliament 

alter the relevant laws in a day on a 

fast-track basis. 

Meanwhile, with due account of an 

extremely unfavorable situation in the 

Black Sea and the Sea of Azov and 

Russia’s seizure of almost all the 

Ukrainian warships in the Crimea, the 

only way out is creation of the socalled 

“mosquito fleet.” This means a 

large number of small but superfast 

boats equipped with powerful missile 

and artillery weaponry. Indeed, a 

corvette-class ship costs at least $200 

million, whereas “mosquito ships” 

are far cheaper, given a comparable 

firepower. They could create big problems 

for the aggressor country’s fleet 

if it attacked the Ukrainian coast, by 

assaulting its ships in the “packs” of 

several boats under the cover of aviation, 

which essentially complicates 

surveillance and counterattack. Zaporozhian 

Cossacks used to attack 

big Turkish sailing ships and galleys 

in the similar groups of small “seagulls” 

[boats. – Ed.]. Historical sources 

prove that this tactic let the Ukrainian 

Cossack fleet win a lot of brilliant 

victories over the overwhelming enemy 

forces. 

Some may say: how can one berate 

Kuznia which supplies the Ukrainian 

Navy with Project 58155 Giurza M armored 

artillery boats? But let us recall 

that this product was first presented 

in 2003, when the then president of 

Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, ordered 

two Giurzas for guarding and patrolling 

the Amu Darya River. The 

Giurzas were ideally suited for accomplishing 

this kind of missions. In 

Ukraine, too, they could come in handy 

somewhere on the Danube or the Dniester. 

But at sea? The Giurza can 

withstand two-to- three-point sea 

waves at most. If the wave is higher, 

it is better for this boat to stay in port, 

for it will be sinking in the sea due to 

inadequate seaworthiness and be unable 

to fire. The Giurza M’s speed is 

25 knots. For comparison, a destroyer-class 

ship has a speed of 32 knots, 

Ukrainian Navy: what do we have? 

SERHII HRABOVSKYI 

In general, the Ukrainian Navy’s 

destiny has been very sad in the last 

while because the state was run either 

by irresponsible persons or by outright 

traitors and those who combined these 

features. So, it is little wonder that after 

the Soviet Black Sea Fleet was 

partitioned between Russia and 

Ukraine, when the latter received 

about 70 warships of various classes, 

three out of the four frigates (Sevawhile 

a standard NATO torpedo boat 

could achieve 50 knots as many as 

40 years ago. The Giurza M has a 30- 

mm automatic gun with a limited 

shooting range and two mounts of 

Barrier antitank missiles with a 5-kilometer 

firing distance. Which of the 

Russian Black Sea Fleet ships, armed 

with missiles that have an operational 

range of 70-100 kilometers or even 

more, will allow a Giurza to approach 

AUGUST 24, 2018. INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE 

at the firing distance of its little gun 

or antitank missiles? Ukrainian seamen 

will be doomed to mindless losses 

without inflicting any harm on the 

enemy. These boats are only good for 

disembarking commandos – in the 

fair weather at that. On the contrary, 

the American boats are much better in 

terms of seaworthiness, for they are 

ocean-going. This means they can be 

used within and off the limits of the 

Black Sea (up to 3,000 miles). An Island 

is one and half times as large as 

a Ukrainian Giurza, has a three times 

larger crew, and can fire effectively on 

three- and four-point waves – just 

when Giurzas have to run away to 

ports. The Ukrainian Navy command 

cannot help but know this, but it will 

hardly dare under the current conditions 

say the truth to the topmost 

leadership which cashes in on the production 

of Giurzas. 

The Ukrainian Navy has a total of 

six Giurza M boats, as well as another 

five artillery boats of other projects. 

Two more Giurzas are under construction, 

and 18 are planned to be 

built. But this is a situation when 

quantity does not turn into a new 

What we need is 

a strengthened 

maritime defense 

capability, not 

publicity stunts 

quality, for these boats cannot effectively 

resist the Russians even in the 

Sea of Azov, to which place they recently 

transferred about 10 warships 

from the Caspian Sea. 

Meanwhile, Ukraine is planning to 

build three more Lan-class high-speed 

missile boats, which are comparable to 

Islands in terms of seaworthiness, in 

the next few years. According to Ihor 

Voronchenko, the Ukrainian Navy 

Commander-in-Chief, the Lan-type 

missile boat must “form the basis of 

combat potential and be a deterring 

factor for the aggressor in the Black 

Sea.” Very nice! But… Although they 

were designed in Mykolaiv, the media 

report that they will be manufactured 

at the abovementioned Kuznia. There 

are enough shipyards in Mykolaiv, 

which in fact stay idle. These facilities 

used to build heavy guided-missile 

cruisers and aircraft carriers, and 

they have (so far) an experienced 

workforce. However, the government 

cannot (or does not want to) put things 

right at these factories. Moreover, 

the Black Sea Shipyard, which is slowly 

building a Project 58250 multipurpose 

corvette laid down as far back 

as 2011 and named “Volodymyr the 

Great,” belongs to the well-known 

pro-Russian oligarch and Opposition 

Bloc MP Vadym Novynskyi. Hence, we 

strongly doubt that this corvette will 

be launched in 2020 and that all the 

four planned ships will be built on 

time. And, in general, what new and 

secret weaponry can we speak of, 

when this corvette is being built (if it 

really is) at a factory of the oligarch 

who talks profusely about a “civil 

war” in Ukraine? But Ukraine’s current 

top leadership is unable (or unwilling) 

to put things right at the 

city’s shipyards (the abovementioned 

Voronchenko himself said that things 

IHOR LOSIEV 

were out of order), place governmental 

orders there, and hold back the still 

remaining specialists. 

Besides, there is another interesting 

thing about Lan-project boats. 

This project was adapted in Mykolaiv 

at the request of Vietnam as an artillery 

boat of the Island type – one 

that is capable of operating in the 

ocean. Vietnam has already built four 

boats of this kind (speed – 32 knots, 

Photo by Mykola TYMCHENKO, The Day 

operational range – 2,500 miles, endurance 

– 30 days, armament – two 

guns and a heavy machinegun) and 

three coast guard boats with lighter 

armament (two twinned automatic 

guns). Meanwhile, one of the missions 

of artillery boats is to destroy enemy 

landing vessels and corvettes (it 

will be recalled that Vietnam’s main 

potential adversary is China) and support 

operations of the main naval 

forces – which Ukraine needs in the 

Black Sea. But, for some reason, nobody 

speaks about this version of Lan 

boats, although artillery and missile 

boats of this type should have already 

been part of the Ukrainian 

“mosquito fleet.” 

stopol, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk), 

four corvettes (Uzhhorod, Sumy, 

Kherson, Iziaslav), one of the three 

large landing vessels (Rivne), and 

three small landing vessels were 

scrapped during Leonid Kuchma’s 

presidency. In the heat of the Orange 

Revolution, the Yanukovych Cabinet 

(in which parliament had already carried 

a vote of no confidence) decided, 

very dubiously in legal terms, to write 

off 30 warships and auxiliary vessels, 

including the abovementioned 

frigate Sevastopol and corvette 

Iziaslav, as well as the missile boat 

Uman. The new Supreme Commander-in-Chief 

Viktor Yushchenko did 

not overrule that decision. Moreover, 

the corvette Izmail and the small 

landing ship Donetsk adopted for service 

in June 1993 were written off 

during his “hetmanship.” The media 

also reported that, when Yushchenko 

was in power, Poland offered us two 

serviceable submarines, as it was going 

to replace them with newer ones. 

It was allegedly planned to hand over 

three discarded US Navy frigates of 

the Oliver H. Perry type (Poland received 

two such ships) to the Ukrainian 

Navy, but these projects remained 

on paper only. During the Yanukovych 

presidency, corvettes Kremenchuk 

and Uzhhorod and missile boat 

Kakhovka were scrapped. This was 

done, as if in an attempt to slight 

Ukraine, on November 7, 2012 [anniversary 

of the Bolshevik revolution. 

– Ed.]. And the destiny of the 

frigate Baida Vyshnevetsky, of the 

same type as the Hetman Sahaidachny, 

is really sad. When it was 

37-percent ready, it was scrapped 

during Kuchma’s presidency. Still 

sadder is the destiny of the guidedmissile 

cruiser Ukraina which has 

been rusting at the Mykolaiv wharf for 

20 years, though it is 96-percent 

ready. A ship of this class can destroy 

sea and land targets at a distance of 

over 600 kilometers. But it is hardly 

possible to finish its construction, 

and President Poroshenko decreed 

last year to demilitarize the ship. The 

further step is obvious – either to 

sell it abroad for a song (as it happened 

to the 67-percent ready aircraft carrier 

Variag officially bought for $20 million 

and finished by China) or to scrap 

it. To scrap the whole will bring a good 

profit to both bureaucrats and oligarchs, 

won’t? And no problems! 

And those who have been destroying 

the Ukrainian Navy ought to 

have problems. A special tribunal 

should examine all the circumstances 

of scrapping the warships that could 

sail for another 15-20 years after repairs 

(it is not a naked assertion – one 

of us was on the editorial board of the 

newspaper Flot Ukrainy, the other 

used to repeatedly give lectures to 

Ukrainian naval officers in Sevastopol 

and Donuzlav, so we had and still 

have firsthand information). This 

court should also look into the outright 

surrender of 80 percent of vessels to 

the Russians in 2014, including the 

95-percent ready corvette Lviv and 

the 60-percent ready Luhansk, which 

were not finished, oddly enough, during 

the presidencies of Kuchma, 

Yushchenko, and Yanukovych. There 

should also be problems for those who 

care not so much for the future of the 

Ukrainian Navy and its ability to defend 

Ukraine at sea as for their own financial 

benefit. 

What we need is real work to 

strengthen Ukraine’s maritime defense 

capability, rather than publicity 

stunts. The time is running out, while 

the Kremlin’s temptation to resolve 

everything with one powerful blow is 

increasing. It will go on increasing if 

Ukraine tends to weaken at sea.


DAY AFTER DAY No.44 AUGUST 30, 2018 3 

By Nataliia PUSHKARUK, 

Mykola SIRUK, The Day 

The American Republican 

Senator John McCain died 

aged 81 last weekend; he was 

well-known not only in the US 

but throughout the world, 

and enjoyed great respect because 

he always defended his principled 

positions without any fear of calling 

a spade a spade. 

It became known last July that 

McCain had been diagnosed with 

glioblastoma, an aggressive form of 

brain cancer, and on August 24 this 

year, the politician’s family reported 

that he had chosen to discontinue 

medical treatment “with his usual 

strength of will.” The next day, Senator 

McCain departed for eternity. 

“He passed the way he lived, on his 

own terms, surrounded by the people 

he loved, in the place he loved 

best,” his wife Cindy posted on 

Twitter. 

John McCain was the son and 

grandson of US Navy admirals, he 

followed in his ancestors footsteps 

and graduated from the military 

academy in Annapolis, becoming a 

naval aviation officer. He went on 

to participate in the Vietnam War, 

and after his plane was shot down, 

he was captured and spent more 

than five years in captivity where he 

was subjected to torture which had 

lifelong consequences (due to the injuries 

sustained he could not raise 

arms above his shoulders). With his 

military achievements, McCain 

earned Silver and Bronze Stars as 

well as Purple Heart, Legion of Merit, 

and Distinguished Flying Cross 

medals. After completing his military 

career, McCain decided to try it 

in politics. In 1986, he was elected a 

senator from Arizona, and then reelected 

for this position five times, 

representing this state in the US 

Congress for more than 30 years. 

McCain also ran twice for US president, 

but lost to George W. Bush in 

the primaries in 2000, and to 

Barack Obama in 2008. 

McCain was known as a true 

friend of Ukraine, visited Kyiv during 

the Euromaidan, actively promoted 

military assistance to this nation, 

advocated for increased sanctions 

against the Kremlin, and criticized 

Russia’s actions. It should be 

noted that in March 2015, McCain 

gave an interview to Den’s correspondent 

Mykola Siruk (“Ukraine 

must definitely be free of Russian 

domination”) and accepted our gift 

of books from our Library series. 

US President Donald Trump did 

not escape McCain’s straightforward 

criticism either. In particular, 

the senator, despite being 

gravely ill, arrived in Congress and 

cast the decisive vote against the 

repeal of the Obamacare medical insurance 

program, criticized Trump 

for congratulating Vladimir Putin 

on his election victory, and called 

Trump’s personal meeting with the 

Kremlin leader “one of the most 

disgraceful performances by an 

American president in memory” 

and “a tragic mistake.” 

● “A PATRIOT OF THE HIGHEST 

ORDER” 

“John McCain was a man of 

honor, a true patriot in the best 

sense of the word. Americans will 

be forever grateful for his heroic 

military service and for his steadfast 

integrity as a member of the 

US Senate,” stressed ex-president 

Jimmy Carter. 

“He frequently put partisanship 

aside to do what he thought was best 

for the country, and was never 

afraid to break the mold if it was the 

The world bids farewell to Senator John McCain 

right thing to do,” ex-president Bill 

Clinton’s statement reads. 

“John McCain was a man of deep 

conviction and a patriot of the highest 

order. He was a public servant in 

the finest traditions of our country. 

And to me, he was a friend whom I’ll 

deeply miss,” said former US President 

George W. Bush. 

Another former president, 

Barack Obama, noted: “Few of us 

have been tested the way John once 

was, or required to show the kind of 

courage that he did. But all of us can 

aspire to the courage to put the 

greater good above our own. At 

John’s best, he showed us what that 

means.” 

Meanwhile, the current US President, 

Donald Trump, limited himself 

to a brief message on Twitter, in 

which he only expressed his condolences 

to the McCain family. According 

to The Washington Post, 

the resident of the White House 

banned the release of an official 

statement regarding the senator’s 

death which paid tribute to his heroism. 

“John McCain was a man with a 

big heart. He was a great friend of 

Ukraine and devoted part of his 

life to protecting Ukraine and 

Ukrainians,” President of Ukraine 

Petro Poroshenko posted on Facebook. 

Statements of sympathy and 

recognition of McCain’s important 

role have come from many American 

and foreign politicians, including 

French President Emmanuel 

Macron and German Chancellor 

Angela Merkel. 

People will bid farewell to the 

senator for five days this week, in 

particular in the US Capitol Rotunda 

(such honor is only accorded to 

the most prominent citizens, and 

only 12 senators have been honored 

with it, writes The New York Times) 

and the Capitol of Arizona. McCain 

himself planned his funeral. Expresidents 

George W. Bush and 

Barack Obama were invited to attend 

the ceremony, but the current 

resident of the White House, Donald 

Trump, was not, and Vice President 

Mike Pence will take his place 

at the funeral. McCain will be buried 

on September 2 in a private ceremony 

at a military cemetery in the city 

of Annapolis. 

The Day asked American and 

Ukrainian experts to comment on 

the significance of McCain for 

American and Ukrainian politics. 

● “STAYING THE COURSE ON 

REFORM AND FIGHTING 

FOR A STRONG UKRAINE 

WOULD BE A FITTING 

TRIBUTE AND EXPRESSION 

OF GRATITUDE TO 

SENATOR MCCAIN” 

Hanna HOPKO, MP, Chairperson 

of the Verkhovna Rada Committee 

on Foreign Affairs: 

Photo by Mykola SIRUK 

A man of principles and honor 

“John McCain personified the 

ideals of the free world, the principled 

position of fighting for dignity 

and freedom of other peoples. For 

this, he was greatly appreciated in 

the Baltic States, Ukraine, and 

Georgia. He clearly understood 

what the Soviet Union was and made 

every effort to bring the ‘empire of 

evil’ to an end. He boldly spoke of 

Putin’s aggression against Ukraine 

and correctly determined what was 

happening here. 

“The senator helped Ukraine in 

the difficult post-Maidan period, 

and then worked to get defensive 

weapons provided to the Ukrainian 

military, in particular the Javelin 

missiles. He favored more severe 

sanctions which would target Nord 

Stream 2 as well. That is, he clearly 

understood geopolitics and acted on 

his values. The US and the world 

will miss a policy maker of such a 

scale, who did not play by others’ 

rules, but imposed his own valuebased 

rules. 

“For Ukraine, McCain was a real 

friend. It would be nice to rename 

a street to honor him. In addition, 

staying the course on reform 

and fighting for a strong 

Ukraine that can stop the Kremlin 

(which attacks the entire Western 

world by meddling in elections, 

bribing politicians, and imposing 

its ideology) would be a fitting tribute 

and expression of gratitude to 

Senator McCain for all the efforts 

he made.” 

● “HE WAS A POWERFUL 

VOICE FOR UKRAINE IN 

WASHINGTON” 

John HERBST, Director of the US 

Atlantic Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia 

Center, former US Ambassador 

to Ukraine, Washington: 

“John McCain was a fearless defender 

of the freedom of oppressed 

peoples against their authoritarian 

governments and of smaller nations 

against their larger, aggressive 

neighbors. In both roles, he was a 

powerful voice for Ukraine in 

Washington. He endorsed both the 

Orange Revolution against a falsified 

election and the Revolution of 

Dignity against the increasingly authoritarian 

Yanukovych regime. He 

advocated strong support for 

Ukraine (and Georgia) in the face of 

Kremlin aggression.” 

● “IT WAS HIS WORLDVIEW 

THAT DROVE HIM TO 

SUPPORT UKRAINE’S 

EUROPEAN ASPIRATIONS 

AND ITS RESISTANCE TO 

RUSSIAN HEGEMONY” 

Adrian KARATNYCKY, senior research 

fellow at the US Atlantic Council; 

Myrmidon Group LLC: 

“Senator McCain was a unique 

figure in the Senate, a morally 

principled leader, whose world 

view was shaped by the Vietnam 

war and his military service. Mc- 

Cain knew that foreign policy, security 

treaties, and diplomacy all 

were a matter of flesh and blood. 

His sacrifices and the sacrifices of 

the warriors with whom he fought, 

shaped his tough-minded approach 

to foreign policy. He knew that it 

was all about real people, real suffering, 

and not about abstract concepts. 

In this sense, the lessons he 

learned are some of the lessons absorbed 

by Ukraine and Ukrainians 

in the midst of Russia’s unrelenting 

war of the last four years. His 

support of people’s fighting for 

democracy was also an outgrowth 

of his wartime sacrifices. He saw 

his country as a force for good and 

an ally of those who shared its democratic 

values. It was this worldview 

that drove him to support 

Ukraine’s European aspirations 

and its resistance to Russian hegemony.” 

● “MY COUNTRY NEEDS MORE 

POLITICIANS LIKE HIM” 

Steve PIFER, a senior fellow at the 

Brookings Institution: 

“John McCain displayed his 

character as a young naval officer 

when, as a prisoner in North Vietnam, 

he refused to accept early release, 

saying that those American 

personnel who had been held longer 

than him should first be freed. As a 

Senator, he spoke out for what he 

believed was right, even if it crossed 

his own party’s line. He held strong 

views – some of which I disagreed 

with – but he saw politics ultimately 

as a collaborative process and understood 

that those on the other side 

of the Senate aisle might disagree 

with him but could still love America 

every bit as much as he did. My 

country needs more politicians like 

him. Senator McCain believed that 

the United States could be a force 

for good in the world. He led on 

Capitol Hill in shaping a US policy 

of support for Ukraine. He did so because 

it was the right thing to do, 

and it was the right thing for America 

to do. With Senator McCain’s 

passing the US Senate will be a diminished 

place.” 

● “HE BECAME ONE OF 

THE MOST IMPORTANT 

ALLIES OF UKRAINE...” 

Peter ZALMAYEV, Director 

of the Eurasia Democratic Initiative: 

“Senator McCain was a controversial 

political star in the Washington 

firmament: a Reaganite Republican 

who survived the brutal 

five-year Vietnamese captivity, he 

consistently tried to reach the summit 

of American politics, having 

made a bad choice of the vice presidential 

candidate (Sarah Palin) in 

the 2008 election and often playing 

along with the notorious elements 

of the Tea Party and throwing up 

roadblocks in the path of the Obama 

administration. On the other 

hand, as a hawk, as a steadfast foe 

of all the dictators of the world, he 

advocated the pro-active, if not invasive, 

US foreign policy role: that 

is, he advocated spreading the 

American vision of democracy and 

freedom with ‘fire and sword.’ In 

McCain’s view, the post-Maidan 

Ukraine had a similar freedom-loving 

halo, and he became one of that 

nation’s most important Washington 

allies in its fight against Russian 

aggression. The greatest irony 

of McCain’s life was the fact that 

for many Americans, he became almost 

the mainstay of the Senate resistance 

to his fellow Republican, 

the incumbent US president. When 

already preparing to depart for 

eternal peace, this tireless fighter 

against tyranny urged his party 

fellows to stay awake on guard of 

democracy at home and not allow 

an alien element, which he undoubtedly 

saw this White House 

resident as, to mock and distort it 

beyond all recognition.”

4 

No.44 AUGUST 30, 2018 

TOPIC OF THE DAY 


By Ivan KAPSAMUN, Alla DUBROVYK-ROKHOVA, 

photos by Mykola TYMCHENKO, The Day 

Almost 80 percent of Ukrainians would 

support the proclamation of Ukraine’s 

independence today, as compared to 

62 percent in 2012. Only 13 percent 

would express the opposite opinion, and 

another 7 percent could not make up their minds. 

At the same time, 82 percent of Ukrainian citizens 

consider themselves patriots of their country, 

which is as many as in 2017. Only 13 percent held 

the opposite view, while another 5 percent were 

unable to answer that question. These are the 

results of a poll conducted by the Rating Sociological 

Group in August 2018. 

On the eve of the 27th anniversary of the 

restoration of Ukraine’s independence, Den held a 

roundtable attended by both guests of our previous 

roundtables – chairperson of the political council 

of the Power of People party Oleksandr Solontai and 

chairperson of the board of the Joint Efforts 

Agency for Strategic Communication and Development 

NGO Ruslan Rokhov – and a new participant, 

namely Andrii Shcherbyna, who co-founded 

the AvtoYevroSyla NGO. The last-named organization 

has already managed to make quite a splash 

nationwide, because, as Shcherbyna himself says, 

people no longer look at them just as a movement 

opposing taxes on used European cars, but call on 

them to enter... politics. 

This is the sixth roundtable of the kind which 

we in Den consider, without excessive modesty, to 

be a “pretext for holding a nationwide discussion.” 

The first one, entitled “Trying to Hold a Grown-Up 

Conversation,” was held before bloodshed engulfed 

the Euromaidan protest (see Den’s issue of December 

20, 2013). The second one occurred after casualties 

started and before Viktor Yanukovych fled the 

country, it was named “An Alternative Dialog” and 

covered by Den on January 23, 2014. The third such 

event was held in early March 2014, its theme being 

“Maidan as a Purification Is Still Ongoing.” The 

fourth roundtable was held on the eve of a legislative 

election, that is, on September 26, 2014, and entitled 

“An Opportunity: for Evolution or ‘Conservation’?” 

Lastly, the fifth one, entitled “The Reasons 

for the People of the Maidan Getting Defeated 

and the People of the Maidan Scene Winning,” 

took place last November. 

“We organize these roundtables because we see 

shaping the right discourse and presenting it to the 

public as part of our not only journalistic, but also 

civic duty. Meanwhile, the duty of the public is 

to listen to people who send them signals,” explained 

the editor-in-chief of Den newspaper Larysa Ivshyna 

before the meeting started. 

This time, the signal came as an analysis of the 

state in which the country found itself after 

27 years of independence, and the outlook for the 

future elections (presidential and legislative, both 

to be held next year). And most importantly, the experts 

shared the recipe of how the society could 

change the situation, because, according to the opinion 

survey quoted above, Ukrainians are patriots 

of their country. 

New forces have failed to unite, even though 

we appealed for unity at our roundtables both during 

and after Euromaidan. “New faces” have entered 

parliament separately, assisted by various political 

projects. But even there, they still have not 

succeeded in combining their efforts and achieving 

some significant results. Why is it so? 

Oleksandr SOLONTAI: “Despite the fact that 

some ‘new people’ have sold out to one oligarch for 

the sake of getting a few seats, and others have sold 

out to another one for the same purpose (they get 

angry when I tell them this), intra-generational dialog 

between us has survived still. Everyone understands 

that when it comes to some common problems 

and actions, we find ourselves on the same side 

of the barricades. For example, on September 6, we 

will all come to the streets and press for a change 

in electoral rules, which is embodied in the new Electoral 

Code. And this is despite the fact that everyone 

has their own idea of who does the right thing 

and who does not.” 

Keeping communication and dialog alive is 

well and good. The real issue is your ability to create 

a real party, not another artificial project. 

O.S.: “Ideology should be a party’s basis. Then 

it will be clear how it will then vote in parliament. 

Also, a party needs procedures and rules. That is, 

even if it comes to expelling someone, this should 

take place in the form of public dialog. Power of People 

has been working on building a real party for 

four years now. We also continue to engage in dialog 

with others. If they have already realized that 

together we will be stronger and we can succeed on 

a single platform, then it is time for this generation 

to enter this election. I think that people who 

went to help the oligarchic projects after 2014 have 

only legitimized them by appearing in them, without 

actually becoming stakeholders. They have got 

a negative experience.” 

What are the chances of new 

forces making an impact? 

On the eve of the 27th anniversary of the restoration 

of independence, Den held a roundtable to shape 

the right discourse for a nationwide discussion 

DEVELOPMENT 

In this regard, the examples of Serhii 

Leshchenko, Mustafa Nayyem and, possibly, Svitlana 

Zalishchuk will enter textbooks. So, you can 

have a wonderful dialog with those who went to join 

other projects, but we see that opinion polls do not 

even notice, in fact, either Power of People or other 

alternative forces. The main battle is fought between 

the “old” forces – both the current ones, who 

are in power now, and remnants of the former 

regime, who have lost it. Therefore, people are saying 

that there is no real choice for them once again. 

How to disrupt this situation? 

Ruslan ROKHOV: “A politician differs from 

a pollster in that the former shapes a policy, while 

the latter then assesses the outcomes of the former’s 

activities. Today’s opinion poll figures come as the 

result of politicians’ activities. And the fact that 

small political forces have low support levels suggests 

that they have a low level of ability to influence 

the outcome that people would be able to appreciate. 

Social capital does not increase in political 

debate, it increases when a politician obtains a 

result which they then accumulate in an election. 

The problem facing voters is their atomization. As 

long as there is no self-organized body with appropriate 

membership fees, as it happened with the 

AvtoYevroSyla movement, we will see no progress. 

In that case, this organization has its own interest, 

which its members were able to articulate, then 

unite and force the political class to respond to their 

demands.” 

One can articulate something only when some 

work was done beforehand, I mean common values, 

a shared platform, and a dialog, which society 

should conduct within itself through the media. It 

is easier to unite around specific interests, while 

staying principled and consistent when there is a 

political interest involved is more difficult. What 

is the agenda for the alternative? 

R.R.: “There are policy designers, and then 

there are hired representatives of a particular 

group. Their motives must be fundamentally different. 

If one is a politician, then they should think 

in terms of the public good. The Magna Carta Libertatum 

in the UK was not made for the sake of the 

public good of all, at first they simply did not want 

to surrender more gold than was the norm and send 

their men to the war. And then they agreed what 

rules they would employ from that point on to avoid 

conflicts. Quite naturally, when a group will appear 

Photo by Viacheslav RATYNSKYI 

that will say ‘we want to live according to certain 

parameters,’ then such parties as Power of People 

will be able to say: ‘We have a vision of how to 

achieve it.’ 

“In my opinion, such understandings can 

evolve into the social contract, and this is not what 

Yuliia Tymoshenko offers. The social contract 

emerges when different groups with differing private 

and corporate interests agree with each other 

that ‘we help you in getting what you are interested 

in, and you help us in getting what we are interested 

in,’ that is, when civic interaction and solidarity 

appears. Going forward, these groups will 

be able to form a common concept of what they want 

to see in the future. Precisely this will be the demand 

that genuine parties will have to meet. As long as 

there is no demand for it, even parties such as Power 

of People will not have high support levels. 

“Today, the political demand is formed by oligarchs 

who have monopolized this space and it is 

they who call the tune. As soon as an alternative appears, 

the situation will start to change. We hope 

greatly that, say, AvtoYevroSyla will not stop at 

market liberalization, but will be ready to work together 

with other groups to form a vision of the 

country in which they want to live.” 

Andrii SHCHERBYNA: “We have behind us 

a colossal experience of ‘breaking through’ the 

iron information curtain. AvtoYevroSyla or the 

movement of used European car drivers, as we are 

known otherwise, has become a kind of bogeyman 

which has forced our citizens to act. But thanks 

to this, we have recruited reliable people, kind of 

selected the best individuals who have an iron will 

and want to go forward. There are hundreds of 

various NGOs in Ukraine now, but most of them 

are inactive. We traveled across different regions 

of our country, communicated with different 

people. There is great disappointment in politicians, 

in their promises that are not fulfilled. At 

first, people also told us: ‘You are just regular 

politicians who want to get to the trough.’ But 

over time, the situation has changed. Why? Because 

politicians talk and we act. And when a community 

sees the result, it starts perceiving us in 

a completely different way. People come and say 

without prompting: ‘Enter politics.’” 

But politics needs to be learned. 

A.Shch.: “Whether we want it or not, we have 

already entered politics. I understand it perfectly. 

Our entry is not officially registered, however. People 

look at us as politicians, wait for us to take appropriate 

steps. And of course, we still have a lot 

to learn. We will do it.” 

How old is AvtoYevroSyla? 

A.Shch.: “It will turn two on September 6.” 

Mr. Solontai, how many members has Power 

of People party acquired over four years? 

O.S.: “We have already processed about 3,000 

applications, and we have set a Ukrainian record 

for the number of people who contribute money 

for our political activities. The total number of 

Power of People’s donors exceeds the aggregate 

number of donors of all parliamentary parties taken 

together.” 

So how many of them are there? 

O.S.: “We have counted about 1,700 people who 

donate regularly.” 

Power of People has 3,000 members, AvtoYevroSyla 

– 12,000 members. Combined, it is 

15,000 people who are ready to support a different 

kind of politics in their country, including from 

their own pocket. It is a meager figure. 

O.S.: “This thinking is not entirely correct. 

The demand for an alternative politics comes from 

10 to 15 percent of those voters who actually come 

to cast their votes. Moreover, if there were a real 

political party on offer, and not just another 

project, then this percentage would be even 

greater.” 

R.R.: “People who want change are much 

more numerous than we would think at first 

glance. To avoid relying on ‘maybes,’ one needs to 

build relationships. It should not be a one-time 

transaction along the lines of ‘I promised, and you 

voted.’ There must be a relationship. AvtoYevro- 

Syla provides a good example of one. For instance, 

membership fees make for a relationship. 

When a person pays a membership fee, they demand 

certain things in return and want to have a 

feedback. As long as political parties do not build 

such relationships with voters, ‘one-time transactions’ 

will prevail in Ukraine. 

“As long as the society will follow the paradigm 

‘maybe this time we will be lucky, and we will elect 

those who promise and do what they promise,’ there 

will be no progress. We need to grow up. The first 

priority is to clearly decide what we want and to 

agree how we will get to it. 

“It was critical for people who created AvtoYevroSyla 

to maintain their right to use their cars 

in that legal way which we have now, or, if the government 

insists on registration, get the import du-


TOPIC OF THE DAY No.44 AUGUST 30, 2018 5 

“ 

Oleksandr SOLONTAI: 

Ideology should be a party’s basis. Then it will be 

clear how it will then vote in parliament. Also, a party needs 

procedures and rules. That is, even if it comes to expelling 

someone, this should take place in the form of 

public dialog. Power of People has been working on building 

a real party for four years now. We also continue to 

engage in dialog with others. 

” 

ty decreased, and they got organized, contributed 

700 hryvnias each, and began to fight for that.” 

O.S.: “I see the unmet public demand for solving 

key problems. So, the goal I set myself and the 

people whom I pick for the next parliamentary election 

is to meet this demand. 

“The first problem was nicely outlined by some 

of my activist friends as ‘leaving or staying.’ It is 

about one’s ability or inability to earn some money 

in Ukraine. The economy is an issue that concerns 

Ukrainians. They make this clear in every opinion 

poll. The typical answers sound like this: inflation, 

low wages, and ‘unemployment,’ meaning not the 

absolute lack of jobs, but the lack of decently-paying 

jobs. All these are economic issues that can be 

concisely formulated as ‘will I ever have a prospect 

to earn some money in Ukraine?’ 

“The second problem is corruption. Despite the 

fact that I am recruiting the most honest people for 

my team, I do not believe that people will trust us 

to be really opposed to corruption. Rather, they will 

say that ‘you just have not got to the trough yet.’ 

And having iconic mayors, public figures, MPs on 

our roll is not a proof either. Therefore, I will offer 

the public digitalization. People take it well. 

Electronic procedures that replace a human official 

will get support. 

“The third part of the overall problem, or as I 

call it, the third ‘E,’ is real European integration. 

I plan to work with these key messages during the 

election campaign.” 

What are we approaching the 27th anniversary 

of Independence with? And what are the chances 

of alternative healthy forces getting into power? 

“ 

Ruslan ROKHOV: 

Today’s opinion poll figures come as the result of politicians’ 

activities. And the fact that small political forces 

have low support levels suggests that they have a low level 

of ability to influence the outcome that people would be 

able to appreciate. Social capital does not increase in political 

debate, it increases when a politician obtains a result 

which they then accumulate in an election. 

” 

O.S.: “Power of People is under tremendous 

pressure. We are being pressured from all sides as 

they demand that we establish cooperation with 

‘healthy, right, constructive, good’ forces. We are 

being attacked by intelligentsia, analysts, journalists. 

Prospective sponsors are attacking as well. 

But no one ultimately answers the question of who 

these ‘healthy’ forces are. How to make a distinction 

at all between those healthy and those ‘unhealthy’? 

This is a huge problem.” 

But you have set some criteria for yourselves. 

Do they disagree with them? 

O.S.: “We have not set any criteria. We analyze, 

ask, openly appeal. We collect information, call for 

discussion. So far, it is completely unclear to us 

whether this or that force is healthy or not. The public 

that attacks us, on the one hand, give us a compliment, 

because they say that we are normal and 

they have to cooperate with us. On the other hand, 

they denounce us as feckless, because they convey 

the imperative that ‘you cannot do anything by 

yourselves, and therefore you need to unite with 

someone.’ And everyone who speaks about it always 

means someone different. We need national authority 

figures who must provide the criteria, 

principles, and program foundations.” 

R.R.: “We do not have a political nation yet, because 

a political nation exists when there is a vision 

of the future and what needs to be done to make it 

happen. And most importantly, it is when people 

do not expect that someone else will do it, but make 

efforts to achieve the goal themselves, and moreover, 

when there is a long-term interaction with 

each other, that is, the social contract is in force. 

In 27 years of independence, we have not succeeded 

in this yet. And when they say today that we will 

not repeat the fate of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, 

it is too optimistic. If we enable the ‘fifth 

column’ to emerge and return to power, then it is 

quite possible that we will return to the embrace 

of Russia. To stop this happening, a political nation 

must be formed. That is, people should realize 

that they are not subjects. They are not merely 

inhabitants of some territory. Then they will consciously 

begin to think of themselves as citizens and 

understand what kind of country they are building. 

We are pushed in that direction by certain circumstances. 

If everyone sees that a judge is unfair 

and should be convicted themselves, but it does not 

really happen, then this evidently causes indignation. 

It also affects the police and other institutions. 

A politician is a professional, just like an 

architect.” 

With the election approaching, we are effectively 

stuck with the old system. That what you 

speak about is unlikely to happen in the next six 

months. Mr. Shcherbyna, does your group plan to 

become a political force? What are the chances of 

new forces making an impact? 

A.Shch.: “Regarding creating a political force, 

I think that there is no other way at this point. And 

we have to achieve some understanding and vision 

together, because everyone has to take part in building 

up one’s country. Regarding the chances, we will 

not make forecasts, to avoid stooping to the level 

of politicians who promise something, but fail to 

make it happen. I think that chances are there, and 

they are not that low.” 

Are forces such as Power of People and AvtoYevroSyla 

capable of uniting their efforts today? 

“ 

Andrii SHCHERBYNA: 

There are hundreds of various NGOs in Ukraine now, 

but most of them are inactive. We traveled across different 

regions of our country, communicated with different people. 

There is great disappointment in politicians, in their 

promises that are not fulfilled. At first, people also told 

us: ‘You are just regular politicians who want to get to the 

trough.’ But over time, the situation has changed. 

” 

A.Shch.: “We thought out this idea something 

like a year ago. The goal is to bring together a large 

number of political and civic organizations and 

move together towards a common goal of changing 

how things are done in this country. It should be 

such a huge ‘trade union’ which would be able to influence 

processes in the country.” 

Mr. Solontai, even when you talked about the 

ability of different negotiating parties to unite, I 

thought that historically, leaders played a major 

role in this process. How visible are such leaders 

in Ukraine? 

O.S.: “We need a specific presidential candidate, 

and key figures and leaders should unite around 

one. But I still do not see a presidential candidate 

around whom everyone will unite. And this applies 

to both the coming presidential election and the next 

one. Therefore, I would like to see Ukraine transitioning 

to a nation of communities and a parliamentary 

government. We need to move towards 

eliminating the presidential, Soviet-modeled vertical 

power structure formed by Leonid Kuchma on 

the basis of the old Soviet regime. All these powers 

must be transferred to businesses and communities. 

Economic powers should also be transferred to the 

Cabinet. That is, we must lower the stakes on the 

national level and increase the role of the public. The 

public is ready for this.” 

R.R.: “In my opinion, we are not ready for making 

genuine deals yet. And we run the risk of creating 

a parliamentary dictatorship. Therefore, I disagree 

with Mr. Solontai. We suffer from a leadership 

deficit. That is, we lack people who are capable 

of taking responsibility. Are there such people? 

There are enough of them. But we lack favorable 

conditions for them to fulfill themselves in politics.” 

Nord Stream 2 will bring corruption and... war to Europe 

Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day 

Mykhailo HONCHAR: “German politicians are 

increasingly holding pro-Russian and anti-American 

views, and it is destroying transatlantic solidarity” 

By Alla DUBROVYK-ROKHOVA, The Day 

Russia began an undeclared war against 

Ukraine in 2014, and economic warfare 

is part of it. It involves Gazprom’s 

lawsuits against Naftohaz before the 

Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm 

Chamber of Commerce. Commercial director of 

Naftohaz Yurii Vitrenko stated it at the “Stop 

Nord Stream 2: Ukraine’s Mission” roundtable, 

held at the Verkhovna Rada recently. 

“Nord Stream 2 is another action in this economic 

warfare. Russia seeks to ensure that 

Ukraine simply does not receive transit revenues, 

which would cut three percent from the 

Ukrainian GDP. This is approximately the same 

as Ukraine spends on its military. This would effectively 

deprive Ukraine of the ability to finance 

its defense needs, even as it is defending 

not only itself, but also Europe, since we are at 

the forefront of this war,” said the commercial 

director of Naftohaz. 

Also, according to Vitrenko, Ukraine’s 

prospective losses from stopping transit, which 

stand at three percent of the GDP, are even 

greater than Russia’s losses from the Western 

sanctions. 

“I do not understand how, for example, responsible 

politicians in Europe would look into 

their voters’ and other international partners’ 

eyes when the latter will understand that the 

former simply helped to strangle Ukraine and 

Ukraine’s desire to become part of the European 

free world with their own hands,” Vitrenko 

believes. 

He noted that now the friends of Ukraine 

in the European Commission were insisting on 

making Nord Stream 2 compliant with the 

terms of the Third Energy Package. However, 

according to experts, the chances that the European 

Commission will block the construction 

of Nord Stream’s second line are almost nonexistent. 

According to the deputy chairperson 

of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs 

Volodymyr Ariev, Ukraine now has two 

options. “Either the US actually imposes sanctions 

against those who take part in this project, 

and I very much hope that in the near future 

legislative acts which provide for appropriate 

sanctions will be introduced in the Congress, 

or we will have to live with the second 

option, where everything remains as it is. We 

also need to take into account this ‘plan B,’ I 

mean the possibility that one way or another, 

Nord Stream 2 will be completed. In this case, 

I believe that Ukraine should demand a serious 

multilateral negotiation regarding guarantees 

for transit through the Ukrainian territory. 

They should be better than the guarantees received 

under the Budapest Memorandum,” the 

legislator summed up. 

Continued on page 6 ➤

6 

No.44 AUGUST 30, 2018 

CLOSE UP 


Nord Stream 2 will bring 

corruption and... war to Europe 

Continued from page 5 ➤ 

As is known, the Nord Stream 2 

gas pipeline is to cross the Baltic, connecting 

suppliers in Russia with consumers 

in Europe, and its length will 

reach over 1,200 kilometers. It is envisaged 

that the throughput capacity 

of the gas pipeline will be 55 billion cubic 

meters of gas per year. The cost of 

the project is estimated at almost 

10 billion euros. 

At the same time, the Nord 

Stream 2 company has selected a 

pipeline route bypassing Denmark, 

since Denmark has remained the only 

country that has not yet issued a permit 

for the construction of Nord 

Stream 2, while such permits have already 

been issued by Germany, Sweden, 

and Finland. Ukraine opposes 

this construction project and calls it politically 

motivated. As an alternative, 

it proposes that the EU create a consortium 

with the involvement of European 

companies to manage the existing 

efficient transportation route 

through Ukraine. However, this idea 

is rejected in Germany, and the Nord 

Stream 2 project is regarded as purely 

economic there. 

Meanwhile, five bills have already 

been submitted to the US Congress that 

would impose sanctions against Russia 

because of Nord Stream 2. Companies 

that are involved in the construction of 

the pipeline run the risk of falling 

foul of US sanctions. “The US opposes 

Nord Stream 2 because of it being a 

threat to Ukrainian sovereignty, European 

energy security, the security of 

the Baltic and its potential for spreading 

Russian influence and corrupt 

practices to the very heart of the EU,” 

comments European energy security 

advisor at the US Department of State 

Benjamin Schmitt. According to him, 

it is quite obvious that Nord Stream 2 

is a political project. 

“Nord Stream 2 is part of Russia’s 

hybrid aggression,” said Mykhailo 

HONCHAR, president of Strategy XXI 

Centre for Global Studies, at the “Stop 

Nord Stream 2: Ukraine’s Mission” 

roundtable. In an interview with The 

Day, the expert explained that Russia 

actually exported through its “gas 

pipes” political corruption, strife and... 

war. 

M.H.: “Ukraine and the US will 

stick to their position. Nord Stream 2 

is not just unprofitable and unneeded 

for the EU, but is also harmful and dangerous. 

“One of the key things to have 

been said at the roundtable in the 

Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine was that 

this project should be viewed in a security 

coordinate system, and not only 

in the context of energy security. 

“While the Americans put forward 

a suspicion that Russia could 

use the pipeline for military purposes, 

my colleagues and I have proven in our 

study ‘Dual-Use Gas Flows: How Russia 

Wants To Gain an Advantage over 

NATO’ that it is not merely a possibility, 

but a certainty. We think so because 

Russia is doing so already on the 

Black Sea, where it is using civil infrastructure 

for military purposes. 

“As for the German embassy official 

who was present at the roundtable, 

he merely cited standard arguments 

that the German side has been 

repeating time and again. Their essence 

is known: they claim it is exclusively a 

business project, and there is no such 

law in Germany which would make it 

possible to prohibit its implementation. 

For this, he was subjected to crushing 

criticism from Vitrenko and Ariev. But 

it is clear that the German side has remained 

unconvinced.” 

What is the logic behind all this? 

You say that it has been proven by you 

and your fellow experts that Russia 

undoubtedly uses civilian infrastructure 

for military purposes. Why Germany 

is making such a blunder? 

“Why do the Germans fall into 

the Russian trap? They look at it as a 

business project. You can cite every argument 

there is, but they do not listen 

to them. Of course, this is a wily position 

to have.” 

● “RUSSIA USES 

NON-MILITARY FACILITIES 

AS WEAPONS” 

So, are they actually just pretending 

to be naive? 

“For most of them, including European 

politicians, this logic is a natural 

‘German approach.’ If you have a 

bread knife on the table, the Germans 

do not think this knife is intended for 

anything else. And the fact that this 

knife can kill a person gets rejected by 

them, because it is not a dagger. 

“The Russians’ hybrid strategy is 

exactly about using for military purposes 

something that has no military 

purpose. 

“The Germans can naively think 

that Russia could afford such behavior 

with the former republics of the Soviet 

Union, like Ukraine, Georgia, or Belarus, 

but it can not do it to them, who 

are civilized and rich, ‘because we pay 

good money, and the Russians like 

money and need it.’ 

“We are telling the Germans that 

it is only a matter of time before Russia 

gets them gutted. In parallel with 

the increase in gas exports to Germany, 

the export of corruption to the 

local high-level politics will increase. 

Nord Stream 2 is not only a military 

threat to Europe, but also a factor of a 

significant rise in corruption.” 

● RUSSIA IS SPLITTING 

EUROPE THROUGH 

EUROPEANS’ OWN 

EFFORTS 

At the roundtable which we are 

talking about, we managed to establish 

who is who at this stage of the confrontation. 

In your opinion, is the 

Ukraine-US alliance strong enough to 

withstand the Russian-German gas 

friendship, which, as you and your colleagues 

predict, threatens Europe 

with a strife and even military aggression? 

“First, I would like to note that the 

front of resistance is broader than we 

imagine. After the Skripal case, Britain 

has joined the opponents of Nord 

Stream 2. Poland opposes this project 

no less actively than Ukraine. In general, 

we can talk about 16 EU member 

states that stand against the Nord 

Stream 2 gas pipeline. Most of them, of 

course, are passively opposed. 

“Are we strong enough to win? It 

is a hard question to answer. After all, 

we see that even the potential of European 

institutions has not been 

enough to stop this project. While the 

European Parliament is the only European 

institution that has always 

taken a negative stance on the Nord 

Stream 2 project, and the European 

Commission has also stated that they 

do not support it, they have been unable 

to do anything, and ultimately surrendered 

under German pressure.” 

This is an alarm signal for the EU. 

“While having not actually built 

Nord Stream 2 yet, Russia has already 

achieved another important goal, that 

of deepening the split in both the Euro-Atlantic 

format and the EU. Moreover, 

this split has been made by the 

Europeans themselves. 

“The ‘German factor’ has worked. 

Germany and Austria have played a key 

role in this spectacle. After all, the 

reader may notice that these two European 

countries are currently even 

more active in promoting Nord 

Stream 2 than Russia itself.” 

By Alla DUBROVYK-ROKHOVA, The Day 

By Mykola SIRUK, The Day 

Mr. Arif Virani, member of the Canadian 

Parliament, Parliamentary Secretary 

to the Minister of Canadian Heritage (Multiculturalism), 

recently visited Ukraine for 

the first time. He had talks with the Ombudsman, 

Minister of Defense, and met 

with Crimean Tatar leaders Mustafa Jemilev 

and Refat Chubarov. He watched the military 

parade on Independence Day. Mr. Virani 

is known to have addressed parliament, 

sporting a Ukrainian vyshyvanka 

embroidered shirt. There is a Ukrainian flag 

in his Toronto office, so my first question 

was when he had installed it. 

“I put it there shortly after being elected 

because I believe in supporting Ukraine, I 

advocate this country, and I have about nine 

thousand Ukrainian constituents. They often 

visit my office in Toronto. Among my guests 

was your Minister of Culture Yevhen 

Nyshchuk during his visit to Canada.” 

When did you learn about Ukraine and 

understand what it is all about? 

“Over the past five years. I had good tutors, 

among them [Foreign Minister] Chrystia 

Freeland. She taught me the difference between 

varenyky and pyrohy, and it was very 

important for me (laughing). 

“I think that the work I do in Canada, promoting 

multiculturalism, is very important. 

This means supporting our diversity, our religious, 

cultural, and ethnic relationships here 

in Canada. I think that when you have some 

language facility, it helps break the ice, to 

know the relationships between various communities. 

I try to speak some Tibetan with my 

Tibetan constituents, some Polish with my 

Polish constituents, some Hindi with my 

South Asian constituents.” 

How many languages do you speak? 

“I speak English and French fluently, 

practice some Hindi, Swahili, and I know a few 

words in Polish, Ukrainian, and Tibetan.” 

● “WHAT WE DO CAN BE 

APPLIED BY UKRAINIANS” 

How did you succeed in integrating into 

the Canadian cultural environment? From 

what I know, you were born in Uganda and 

then emigrated to Canada. 

“That’s right. Like many Canadians, I 

came from somewhere else – as was the case 

with the first Ukrainians who came there 

170 years ago. Canada continues to settle 

refugees. I was exiled when I was a baby and 

we were forced out of Uganda, and Canada 

opened its arms to me and my family, also to 

thousands of other Ugandan South Asians. 

My ancestry is in India. There were many Indians 

living in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda 

when they were expelled in 1972 by the government. 

Some went to India, others to Pakistan, 

England, America. Seven thousand 

went to Canada. I was among them. 

“I think the beauty of Canada is that it’s 

very much a land of opportunity. Yes, I’m a 

brown-skin Muslim South Asian refugee, 

but I also went to public schools, I went to two 

universities and became a human rights 

lawyer when I got elected [to the Canadian 

Parliament] in 2015. That wasn’t uncommon 

as four refugees were elected at the same time. 

There were 41 members of parliament of 

whom not one was born in Canada. They 

were born all over the world. This is a great 

testimony to Canada. It’s a land of opportunity 

where you can prove what you want. 

“I had some meetings here and it’s interesting 

to see how Ukrainians are evolving 

and modernizing, becoming more integrated 

to Euro-Atlantic Region. With that comes 

openness, which is good, but it also comes with 

some nuances. I had a good meeting with 

Mustafa Jemilev and some [Crimean] Tatar 

leaders. We talked about Canadian approaches 

to cultural diversity, how what we do can be 

applied by Ukrainians now in the process of 

doing it. I see it as a great possibility.” 

Canadian multiculturalism 

● DIVERSITY AND OPENNESS 

Mr. Virani, I came across your discussion 

with Mr. Bernier on Twitter. What was it 

about? 

“You’re very attentive to Canadian policy. 

That is good. I think the issue with 

Mr. Bernier is that he left the Conservative 

Party of Canada a few days ago. But over the 

last three weeks he was making a lot of criticism 

about what he called extreme multiculturalism. 

The government of Justin Trudeau 

is fostering cultural diversity in a free society. 

He [Bernier] doesn’t share that view. I believe 

that our diversity and multiculturalism 

don’t constitute a partisan issue and certainly 

not a political one. This is a national issue. 

It’s existed since the 1960s when the Ukrainian 

Canadian MP, Paul Yuzyk, said Canada isn’t 

just about indigenous people, it is not to select 

English or French; it’s about multiple cultures 

all over the world – the Polish people, 

German people, Ukrainian people, and so on. 

They have contributed so much to the development 

of our economy over the hundred 

years. That’s the policy all Canadians still believe 

in. Because Canada is about diversity, 

openness, and a possibility for people like me 

to take advantage of opportunity to contribute 

to the nation.” 

● ENCOURAGED BY MOTHER 

TO READ NEWSPAPERS 

FROM PAGE ONE 

In your tweet marking the 75th anniversary 

of your mother Sul you said she 

wanted you to read newspaper starting from 

page one, not just sports columns and that 

you had started doing just that. Any comment? 

“(Laughing) I see you did a research. Like 

most people, I think your mother has a special 

place in your heart. I think that’s a privilege 

of everyone. My mother is an incredible 

woman. She always wanted me to read. At 

some point – I was in Grade 4 or 5, nine or ten 

years old – she said, ‘All you’re reading 

about is ice hockey, tennis, and soccer. Maybe 

you should try reading the front page.’ She exposed 

me to things like politics, government, 

current issues, and current affairs. This 

was an eye-opener. After that I started reading 

a lot, I started reading books about Pierre 

Trudeau, the former Prime Minister. I started 

studying politics at McGill University 

and 20 years later I ran for office. Running 

for office in Canada, you must have a strong 

campaign. You have to talk to a lot of people 

and knock on a lot of doors. Even then my 

mother was by my side, knocking on people’s 

doors. Today, when I see Ukrainian Canadians, 

they ask not how I’m doing, but how my 

mother is doing (laughing). She left the constituents 

impressed.” 

The relations between your country and 

Saudi Arabia have been strained of late. Did 

you discuss the subject here in Ukraine to ascertain 

our stand in the matter? 

“Not directly, but I think you don’t 

doubt our foreign policy and our diplomacy. 

Three or four weeks after the incident with 

the Saudis and the strong statements made by 

the Prime Minister and Minister Freeland 

there was an equally strong statement on Oleh 

Sentsov and his unjustified detention by the 

Russians. I think this shows that we’re being 

consistent, strong and sticking to our principles. 

Obviously, what happened to the 

Saudis – there were repercussions for us, but 

we wouldn’t back down in our principled position 

with respect to the Badawi family that 

we have shown for many years. We discussed 

this with [Ombudsman] Ms. Denysova 

during my first visit. I came from the airport 

and we spent several hours in her office, 

discussing Oleh Sentsov and Volodymyr 

Balukh. The next day we met with [Crimean] 

Tatar leaders Jemilev and Chubarov, we 

talked about their struggle for basic freedoms 

and civil rights for dissidents.” 

● JOINT AUDIO-VISUAL 

PRODUCTION 

What about practical cooperation between 

our countries? Were any new agreements 

discussed in Kyiv? 

“As Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister 

of Cultural Heritage, I discussed an 

agreement on audio-visual production that 

would enable television production in both 

countries, providing for preferential treatment 

for economic and tax purposes. Thus, 

Arif VIRANI: 

“I believe in supporting 

Ukraine and 

I advocate Ukraine” 

Ukrainians working in Canada would be 

treated like a domestic production and Canadians 

in Ukraine would be treated likewise. 

We have more than 50 such agreements 

around the world. We’re pursuing one just 

now. I just met with [the Minister of Culture] 

Mr. Nyshchuk, the Ukrainian side is apparently 

interested. 

“I want to emphasize that we are proud to 

be here with troops on the ground and Operation 

UNIFIER. I think it’s the second largest 

number of troops in any country. There are 

many ways for Ukraine to develop, ways to 

support civil society, governance, rule of 

law, training. There is also just basic economic 

development and telling Ukrainian stories. 

“There is something that came up in the 

discussion between Americans and Ukrainians 

yesterday [this interview took place on August 

25. – Author]. It is the issue of the 2019 

federal and national elections in your country 

and my country and the specter of influence, 

cyber attacks, digital interference in the elections 

is very, very scary, particularly here – 

Ukraine is a kind of a laboratory. People I’ve 

met explained to me that the Russians would 

test their cyber techniques in Ukraine before 

using those techniques in the West. You 

know that interferences have already happened 

in Western countries, so I think it’s important 

to ensure that the elections in Ukraine 

are fair because that helps Ukraine, but it also 

helps Western nations and Canada. I’m 

preparing for potential interferences that 

might occur here and this is what’ve been talking 

about for the last two days.” 

Did you discuss the possibility of Canadian 

weapons supplies to Ukraine or joint 

arms manufacture? You met with Defense 

Minister Poltorak on August 23 in the 

evening, didn’t you? 

“Yes, I met with Minister Poltorak and also 

Lieutenant General Petrenko. What we discussed 

was support and appreciation of what 

Canada’s doing. It is important what we’ve 

done. In December of last year we changed the 

status of Ukraine, in terms of its classification 

for arms exports, which allows now Canadian 

manufacturers to export arms to Ukraine. 

The supply of sniper rifles is in process, we renewed 

Operation UNIFIER...” 

● UKRAINE AND CANADA 

“LIKE A FAMILY 

RELATIONSHIP” 

Summing up, what do you think the 

West, the United States, and the European 

Union should do to make Putin withdraw 

from Crimea and Donbas, as envisaged by 

Western sanctions which President Barack 

Obama initiated in 2014? 

“I think it’s going to be done on many levels. 

We have to keep insuring that Mr. Putin 

knows that the West is watching, the West 

hasn’t forgotten him, the West is going to pass 

the decision that allows it to apply tougher 

sanctions; that the West is going to support 

Ukraine and defend its solidarity; and that the 

West will speak out for the political prisoners. 

This is something I’m worried about. In a conversation 

with Ms. Denysova and Mr. Jemilev 

I said that if we don’t keep that focus when a 

strong man believes that the world is watching, 

there would be even more evil things. Naturally, 

we should be watching, the entire 

world. And also we need to assure other allies 

they are also protected; that the British, Germans, 

and Americans will ensure the freedom 

of the Baltic States and protect Ukraine.” 

Do you think that the Trump Administration 

will persuade Putin to change his conduct, 

considering the increasingly tougher 

sanctions against Russia, the sale of Javelin 

anti-tank missiles and increased military aid 

to Ukraine? 

“I can’t comment much on the US administration, 

but the Americans I’ve met the 

last two days are engaged, their troops are 

here, they believe in supporting Ukraine together 

with other Western allies. This is a 

very good, very strong sign. It’s a beauty that 

Canada is supporting Ukraine and ours are 

like a family relationship.”


CULT URE No.44 AUGUST 30, 2018 7 

By Mariia PROKOPENKO, The Day 

Photos by Borys KORPUSENKO 

project is meant to 

show a lifestyle ordinary 

people have no 

access to,” says photographer 

Oleksii ZIN- “This 

CHENKO, describing his series of 

pictures dedicated to the Romani. 

He took the pictures in 2016, in 

Volovets raion, Transcarpathia. He 

had been visiting with a friend when 

he first spotted the Romani and 

thought that taking pictures of 

them was a good idea. 

The result, a series of photos, 

was displayed during the annual international 

festival Krakow Photo 

Fringe in Poland. At present, these 

pictures are at the Kyiv History Museum, 

along with other exhibits relating 

to the Romani. “We Are Romani” 

is the name of the project. Its 

curators are Kostiantyn Doroshenko 

and Kateryna Lypa. 

● MEETING THE BARON 

Says Oleksii Zinchenko: “My 

friend introduced me to the mayor, 

we made friends and I explained 

what I needed the pictures of Romani 

for. The problem was that Romani 

aren’t friendly toward journalists, 

expecting all kinds of 

provocations. Later, I met the Gypsy 

Baron and visited the camp and 

then we walked around like chum 

buddies and I could take pictures at 

will. You can see the Baron with his 

family on the porch of his home in 

one of the pictures. He turned out 

to be a good fellow and we talked 

about many things. He spoke about 

what worried him the most. By the 

way, he doesn’t live on separate 

plush premises. Being head of 

camp, he lives like the rest, in a 

small neat cottage. At some point I 

wanted to go take pictures alone, 

but his no was adamant. He said it 

would be really dangerous. It was a 

small cap with 317 inhabitants, of 

whom 65 percent were kids. We 

tried to visit bigger Gypsy camps, 

like the one in Mukachevo with 

some 7,000 residents, but were denied 

access. They had been visited 

by a group of British journalists 

who later produced a voluminous 

report on poverty, insanitary conditions, 

and so on. The Romani felt 

offended and decided not to let any 

stranger in.” 

● MOTLEY EUROPE 

The photo exhibit attracted considerable 

public interest, among 

other things because many Gypsy 

camps in various localities had suffered 

pogroms, including the murder 

of a young Rom near Lviv this 

year. 

Kostiantyn DOROSHENKO, curator 

of the exhibit: “These series of 

photos aren’t meant to embrace a 

high-profile social subject. This 

photographer took an interest in the 

Romani from a purely humane point 

of view. He wanted to demonstrate 

their lifestyle. Here you become 

aware of absolutely different sentiments, 

but they don’t leave you in 

the dark. We can see that these people 

don’t have to get rich to be happy; 

that they don’t have to buy expensive 

clothes and attend beauty 

parlors to look beautiful. 

“Milan Kundera, a Czech-born 

French writer, once marked a 

boundary between Europe and the 

Romani people here and in Europe 

A new photo exhibit in Kyiv 

Great Steppe, also between Europe 

and Russia, saying that Central 

Europe is a small territory with a 

great many cultures, ethnic 

groups, and religions; that the further 

one moves in the direction of 

the Great Steppe, the bigger the 

number of large territories that are 

not as densely inhabited and that 

have a uniform culture. In other 

words, Ukraine is doubtlessly part 

of Europe. As in any country with 

the people and the nation being at 

issue, one is to understand that a 

nation is made up of all people who 

inhabit this or that territory. They 

assimilate in terms of culture, traditions, 

and so on. This is also a European 

approach.” 

Kostiantyn Doroshenko sums up 

by saying that we all of us are composed 

of all those who live in 

Ukraine and love this country. 

● SURVIVING ROMANI 

HERITAGE POINTS 

TO DRAMA SHOWS 

The Romani people have inhabited 

the lands currently constituting 

Ukraine for more than 600 years. 

According to project curator Kateryna 

Lypa, they started settling en 

masse in the mid-17th century, 

during the national liberation war 

led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky: “The 

reason is simple. Big armies were 

crossing the territory. They needed 

lots of blacksmiths and Romani 

were there, with all the required 

tools and skills; they could shoe 

horses and repair the gear en 

route. Among the family names in 

Cossack registers are Tsyhan [Ukr. 

for Gypsy/Rom. – Ed.] and Tsyhanchuk 

[Lit., son of a Gypsy. – 

Ed.]. This is proof that some Romani 

preferred to be warriors. 

There is scarce material evidence 

to shed light on Gypsy culture, and 

what is available points to drama 

shows, as demonstrated by some 

items on display at the Kyiv History 

Museum, including Anatolii 

Petrytsky’s sketches of costumes 

for [Emmerich Kalman’s] The 

Czardas Princess and [Georges 

Bizet’s] Carmen. 

Kateryna Lypa compares the 

strong Romani tradition and culture 

with water, when something 

floats quietly down the stream and 

out of sight. She says that in the 

20th and early 21st centuries, public 

attitude differentiated between 

watching drama renditions with 

attractive Romani as personae and 

seeing actual individuals with 

their traits and innate traditions: 

“I’m not going to say that there 

should be either reality or show. I 

guess both should be there, considering 

that every nation must have 

an effective myth of its own.” 

Oleksii Zinchenko project appears 

to be adding to our scarce knowledge 

about the Romani people. 

● PROBLEMS NOT SEEN 

AT FIRST 

Julian KONDUR, Chiricli Foundation 

Project Coordinator that has 

everything to do with Romani, tries 

to figure out the relationships with 

Gypsy communities: “We say that 

Romani form closed communities. 

Today, this is explained by our socioeconomic 

situation that’s actually 

different, compared to that of the 

people who’re living next door to 

Romani. I believe that our government 

should be proactive and help 

these people establish a dialog. For 

quite a number of years, the Romani 

issue has been kept on a cultural level, 

that of ethnic self-identification, 

while ignoring their social [status] 

and human rights. Now all we have 

is drama shows with Gypsy characters. 

The Romani community at 

large and the state should help build 

this dialog. Then these people would 

feel themselves as its part. I don’t 

mean the social service only. I also 

mean a democratic police force, other 

institutions, daycare centers, you 

name it.” 

Olha VESNIANKA collaborates 

with a Romani human rights watchdog 

group and represents Romani 

Radio Chiriklo. She wants everyone 

to show more interest in Romani social 

problems, including education 

and healthcare, not just pogroms 

that make headlines: “Local authorities 

often speak about ethnic communities, 

particularly about the 

Romani, during public meetings, 

but that’s mostly about festivals, 

ballet shows, things like that. They 

believe this can solve most problems. 

They should discuss social issues 

that are really hard to resolve, 

including making daily efforts to 

ensure that children from Romani 

families have access to education, 

can receive passports, birth certificates, 

and so on. This also includes 

employment discrimination and 

other problems that are kept away 

from the public eye.” 

Important: You can learn more 

about Romani history, culture, and 

young activists by attending lectures 

that are organized within the 

exhibit’s framework. For further information 

visit https://www.facebook.com/RomaAreUs/ 

● FEELING REASONABLY 

HAPPY 

Oleksii Zinchenko says most of 

his photos are kept in a news report 

format, without any stage-setting 

stuff. They are black and white, yet 

they look more like paintings, each 

revealing further details as you look 

at it. For example, a street scene 

with several sets of clothes hanging, 

left to dry in the sun, including 

blouses, shorts, and sweaters, but 

then something catches your eye in 

the background, an icon with a folk 

painting of the Mother of God and 

the Child – and you realize that 

these images constitute a single 

whole in the picture. 

Oleksii Zinchenko wants to 

stress his point: “I didn’t mean to 

defend the Romani or try to moralize 

about anything. Yes, I know 

that there are thieves among them, 

but we often tend to associate them 

only with railroad stations, dirt, 

and crime. Yes, all this is there, 

but the Romani are also known for 

taking jealous care of their traditions, 

keeping their code of ethics 

and continuity that dates back centuries. 

We’ve been talking much 

about Europe and civilized societies 

of late. We should keep in 

mind that a civilized society is 

markedly tolerant, moral, and empathic.” 

He says Romani are a happy people. 

I only wish I could say that we 

[Ukrainians] are also Romani. 

■ The exhibit at the Kyiv 

History Museum will close on 

September 3.

8 

No.44 AUGUST 30, 2018 

TIMEO U T 


By Dmytro DESIATERYK, The Day 

Twenty seven years is too short a 

time for the formation of fullfledged 

national cinema, all the 

more so that our film industry 

began to be funded on a systemic 

basis as recently as five years ago. But 

this turned out to be enough to make a 

sufficient number of films that deserve 

being shown to both national and 

foreign audiences. 

The films I chose are very different in 

terms of genre and style, so I will name 

them in alphabetical order. 

● CLOSE RELATIONS 

Vitalii MANSKYI, Germany-Latvia- 

Estonia-Ukraine, 2016, best documentary 

film at the Karlovy Vary Festival 

(Czech Republic) 

It is a very personal film about the director’s 

relatives who react in different 

ways to Russian aggression against 

Ukraine. Making the film, Manskyi visited 

Lviv, Odesa, Kyiv, Sevastopol, and 

Donetsk from the spring of 2014 to the 

fall of 2015. His mother, aunts, nephews, 

MAIDAN 

and cousins live in Ukraine. They have 

different professions, attitudes, and political 

persuasions. The author gives 

everybody a chance to speak and often appears 

in person on the screen (quite a 

risky step for a documentarian) but 

avoids making direct appraisals. His story 

is not about searching for the guilty 

but about the tragedy of his own family, 

where people have become totally alien 

due to the events in the past few years. 

● DELTA 

Oleksandr TECHYNSKYI, Ukraine- 

Germany, 2017, honorary mention at 

DOK Leipzig Festival (Germany) 

Documentary film director Oleksandr 

Techynskyi (b. 1979, Dnipropetrovsk) 

debuted in 2013 with a witty short, Sirs 

and Misters, shot in Uman during a Chasidic 

pilgrimage. 

Ten reasons to be proud 

While there were certain grounds to claim in the early 

2010s that “there’s no such thing as Ukrainian cinema,” 

now this kind of statements are a sign of ignorance 

In 2014 Techynskyi coauthored, together 

with Oleksii SOLODUNOV and 

Dmytro STOIKOV, the full-length picture 

All Things Ablaze about the Revolution 

of Dignity, which won the MD- 

Filmpreis award for best Eastern European 

film in Leipzig. Techynskyi’s new 

film, Delta, which has already won an 

honorary mention at the DOK Leipzig 

Festival in Germany, premiered in Kyiv 

during the Docudays UA festival. The 

shooting was held at the town of 

Vylkove in the Danube delta. The characters 

live, work, and die in water. 

Techynskyi’s camera seems to hypnotize 

you, as it hovers over the river through 

the fog and watches Vylkove men doing 

The principal artistic event of the Velvet Season 

Photo courtesy of DEL ARTE 

By Viktoriia SHYTYK, The Day 

Anew production of Yevhen 

Stankovych’s folk opera ballet 

When the Fern Blooms is 

shown as an entry in the 

program of the 4th Festival of 

Arts “Velvet Season in the Odesa Opera.” 

This work is a unique artistic 

phenomenon which was created on the 

basis of folk rituals, folklore, works by 

Nikolai Gogol and heroic epics. 

Since 1977, when the folk opera 

was created, it has been unable to find 

a complete realization on the grand 

stage. However, thanks to the efforts 

of the Lviv National Opera team, led 

by the stage director, People’s Artist 

of Ukraine Vasyl Vovkun, we will fi- 

their daily routine. The narration is simultaneously 

on three levels: bright and 

somewhat tough characters; a picturesque 

plastique of images – it is sometimes 

a true on-screen Brueghel; as well 

as metaphysical and religious motifs. 

The combination of visual perfection 

and meaningful content allows us to call 

Delta an outstanding event in Ukrainian 

cinema. 

● FALLING 

Maryna STEPANSKA, Ukraine, 

2017, Best Actress Prize to Daria 

PLAKHTII at the Rabat International 

Auteur Film Festival (Morocco); Audience 

Award at the Premiers Plans 

d’Angers Festival (France) 

Falling is a story of three people 

with very different destinies – drug-dependent 

musician Anton (Andrii SE- 

LETSKYI), his strong-willed grandfather 

(Oleh MOSIICHUK), and former 

artist Kateryna (Daria PLAKHTII). 

Above all, the film shows an excellent 

team of actors. Kudos to Plakhtii – 

Daria manages to express the heroine’s 

changing moods with just an eye’s motion, 

without a single extra word. On 

the whole, Stepanska unmistakably 

portrays contemporary urban heroes – 

vulnerable and unpredictable neurotics. 

Her Kyiv, a city of dark streets, 

solid highrises, morning buses, and 

eternal autumn, is skillfully and subtly 

photographed by the well-known Austrian 

cinematographer Sebastian 

THALER. 

● MAIDAN 

Serhii LOZNYTSIA, Ukraine- 

Netherlands, 2014, Grand Prix at the Astra 

film festival (Romania), a prize in 

Best Documentary Film nomination at 

the Jerusalem and London festivals and 

at the Nuremberg International Human 

Rights Festival 

At first Loznytsia focuses on describing 

the situation for almost an 

hour. Long and medium shots are changing; 

almost nothing happens in the long 

up-to-five-minutes scenes shot with a 

stationary camera – people move all over 

the scene, doing their everyday chores. 

Passionate speeches, the calls of leaders 

remain on the fringe, with the focus being 

on this precious routine, into which 

you get immersed as if it were a meditation. 

We can see almost a Brownian motion, 

an element for which no shape has 

been invented so far. 

What Loznytsia shows in the 

scenes of confrontation is a melting pot 

in which a nation is being born – not 

just an ethnos but a conscientious community, 

the political nation on which 

modern civilization rests. The director 

allows the plaintive song ‘A Duck 

Swims’ to sound twice, bringing down 

the verve of the scene and, instead, 

looking at people again – they are entirely 

different than at the beginning 

of the film. 

Every nation has made a film about 

its birth. Loznytsia managed to take a 

giant step in this direction. 

UKRAINIAN SHERIFFS 

● SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS 

Kira MURATOVA, Ukraine, 2001, 

Golden Lily prize at Go East 2001 festival 

in Wiesbaden, Germany 

In this black comedy, infernal depth is 

combined with the masterly lightness of 

direction. Witnessing the accidental 

death of a twin brother, spectators confuse 

the living and the dead, oddballs and 

madmen. Confusion goes side by side with 

the comic madness that spreads, one way 

or another, to all the characters: the protagonist 

postwoman, an embarrassed district 

doctor, a literature teacher turned 

Mafioso, his kindhearted bodyguard, a romantic 

mental hospital patient, and sluggish 

policemen. Of special mention is the 

flawless play of actors Nataliia BUZKO, 

Serhii CHETVERTKOV, Jean DANIEL, 

Philip PANOV. Their characters are 

touching in their sham decisiveness and 

helplessness. They are naive and ‘secondclass’ 

people incapable of real cruelty. 

● SPELL YOUR NAME 

Serhii BUKOVSKYI, Ukraine-USA, 

2006 

The executive producer of this documentary 

film was Steven SPIELBERG 

whose two grandfathers had emigrated 

from Ukraine. Bukovskyi managed to 

speak about indescribably horrible things 

in a refined visual film language. The 

film is based on the videoed evidence of 

those who survived the Holocaust. Volunteers 

of the Shoah foundation founded by 

Spielberg worked on the recordings. The 

eyewitnesses of World War Two events 

had to recall their childhood, when they 

were eight to ten. Spell Your Name still 

remains the worthiest, from the artistic 

angle, Ukrainian film about the Babyn 

Yar tragedy and other Holocaust-related 

events in Ukraine in 1941-42. 

● THE TRIBE 

Myroslav SLABOSHPYTSKYI, Ukraine-Netherlands, 

2014, three awards, 

including the Grand Prix, at the Cannes 

Film Festival’s International Critics’ 

Yevhen Stankovych’s 

legendary folk 

opera ballet When 

the Fern Blooms comes 

to the Odesa stage! 

nally see this unique work of art realized 

in full. 

The audience can expect unforgettable 

impressions from a combination 

of ancient Ukrainian folklore and contemporary 

music. Authentic folk choir 

songs and addition of folk instruments 

to the orchestral score make When the 

Fern Blooms into a vivid example of the 

neo-folklore turn in the opera art. 

The production involves opera 

soloists, ballet and orchestra of the 

Solomiia Krushelnytska Lviv National 

Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. 

Week section; European Film Award for 

European Discovery of the Year; over 

40 international awards on the whole 

This criminal drama is the director’s 

full-length film debut. The protagonist is 

a youth who ends up in a boarding school 

for hearing-impaired teenagers and 

quickly finds a place in the inmates’ rigid 

criminal hierarchy. But, feeling affection 

for a girl classmate, he comes into a deadly 

conflict with the ‘tribe’ of wild adolescents. 

There are no dialogs or subtitles – 

the spectator finds himself in a world of 

gestures and shocking silent scenes. Instead 

of words, the author used the language 

of expressive choreography. As a 

result, this picture is sort of a plastic poem, 

a film-dance. Critics believe there are 

no analogues to The Tribe in modern-day 

world cinema. 

● UKRAINIAN SHERIFFS 

Roman BONDARCHUK, Ukraine- 

Latvia-Germany, 2016 

Viktor MARUNIAK, the mayor of 

Stara Zburiivka (a village in the Kherson 

region) and a history teacher by education, 

once told director Roman Bondarchuk 

about the unique experience of hiring 

sheriffs by the community to enforce law 

and order. This is how this story began. 

The village elected sheriffs because 

the community support officer was responsible 

for a large territory and disregarded 

Stara Zburiivka. The sheriffs’ 

names were Viktor and Volodymyr. Quite 

different and even somewhat opposite by 

nature, they always behave confidently, 

playing the chosen role of ‘true men.’ In 

the line of duty, they drive a gorgeous 

camera-friendly canary-yellow Zhiguli. 

They and Mayor Maruniak have to deal 

with extremely quaint folks. This kaleidoscope 

of Zburiivka faces enchants you. 

As a matter of fact, this film is not 

only and not so much about sheriffs as 

about this somewhat typical and somewhat 

unique village with all of its typical, 

as well as inimitable, problems. What we 

see is extraordinary naturalness of all the 

characters, and this makes events look 

convincing, which is worthy of the best 

fictional film. 

● WAYFARERS 

Ihor STREMBITSKYI, Ukraine, 

2005, Short Film Palme d’Or at the 

Cannes Film Festival 

This short black-and-white visual poem 

was shot at an elderly actors’ home and 

a mental hospital. This picture is a personal 

exploit of the director, for Strembitskyi, 

who was to make a graduation project, 

received only some fragments of an 

old film strip from the university’s cinema 

department. This was barely sufficient, 

so he shot almost all scenes on the 

first take. There are some very poignant 

scenes here (a blind actor reads out love 

poems, mental hospital patients smile joyfully 

at the camera), as well as light and 

warm scenes of fireside comfort, poetic 

images of springtime gardens, and soulful 

folk songs. Wayfarers is our first film to 

have won a Cannes award. 

*** 

In conclusion, it remains to be 

added that this list can be much longer. 

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