UKRAINIAN REGIONAL
REPORT
Newsletter-2002
June 27th 2002
Issue
#1(11)
The project "Ukrainian Regional Report" was supported by the International Renaissance Foundation and the Democracy Fund of the U.S. Embassy, Kyiv
URR
Editor:
Laryssa
Mudrak
URR Deputy
editor:
Iryna Solonenko
English
translation:
Natalia
Nemylivska
The bulletin was prepared
by:
Viktor Borysov, Ivan Kostiuk, Andriy Khryshtalsky, Vitaliy
Zeliuk, Yevhen Nesterenko, Volodymyr Poshvy, Yuriy Borodai. Oleskiy
Kraynuk.Tthe UNIAN agency materials were uset too.
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Zhytomyr Oblast (Region)The first two months of Heorhiy Buravkov’s tenure as mayor have revolved around declarations about being decisive and uncompromising in taking new decisions on the one hand, while on the other -the fact that he does not have a team behind him.
The Mayor’s attempts to push through decisions regarding appointing the future Council Secretary, increasing tariffs on municipal utilities, and restoring street names to those that existed during the USSR, did not evoke enthusiasm among Zhytomtor’s MPs and inhabitants.
However, a real scandal erupted with respect to the third plenary session. For a two-month period the only question on the agenda was a “no confidence vote” facing the city council Secretary. At a closed meeting On June 12, the City Council removed Valeriy Fedorenko from his post, and by a margin of 2/3 appointed Vasyl’ Kuchnyk. He had held the post of Deputy City Council Head during the tenure of the previous mayor.
Zaporizhzhya Oblast
“Zaporizhzhya will become the best city in Ukraine”-the re-elected mayor Oleksandr Polyak (former police chief) declares. He has held this post over the last two years. This was his election slogan. However, it did not play a definitive role in his election. The inhabitants of the city while electing Polyak voted mostly not in favor of him, but against his opponent-Volodymytr Kal’tsev, a business man millionaire, and owner of a number of media outlets.
Polyak, like in his previous term, intends to dedicate his tenure as mayor to the restoration of the city, turning it into a modern metropolis. In the last two years, the central part of the city has undergone positive changes, and so the electorate of today has placed high hopes on the mayor.
At the same time the other candidate for the mayor’s post, V. Kal’tsev, (he received almost 20% of the votes, while Polyak received 68%) who lost his bid for mayor began a campaign against some media outlets. As of today, the Khortytsya channel, the first non-governmental television channel in Zaporizhzhya has been shut down (its license was revoked). The Meidaconcern “New Word”, and the newspaper “Spros” (Demand), and the radio station “Zarya FM” have also had a similar fate, while the future of the newspaper “Industrialne Zaporizhzhya” (Industrial Zaporizhzhya) which has been in print for several years is still being determined. With regards to the “Industrialne Zaporizhzhya” newspaper, a number of court proceedings have been launched against it.
The Governor of Zaporizhzhya Oblast (Region), Yevhen Kartashov, awarded Zaporizhzhya Mayor, Oleksandr Polyak, with “For the development of the Zaporizhzhya region” medal for his” Particular contribution in strengthening municipal self-government, and securing the social and economic development of Zaporizhzhya”.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
The Mayor of Dnipropetrovsk launched his tenure from a confident note-international recognition. On June 14th, Ivan Kulichenko, Mayor of Dnipropetrovsk was appointed the President of the Euro-Parliament’s Palace for City Councils. This announcement was made by the Mayor’s press service. Kulichenko received congratulatory greetings from the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Anatoliy Kinakh, who expressed certainty that Dniprotpetrovsk Mayor will accelerate harmonizing Ukraine’s national legislation with the laws of a united Europe.
Poltava Oblast
At the elections that took place in March 2002, five of the largest cities in Poltava region (Poltava, Kremenchuk, Konsomolsk, Myrhorod, and Lubni) decided to cast their votes in favor of their current mayors. Hence, these cities did not experience any dramatic changes. The Mayor of Poltava, Anatoliy Kukoba decided to concentrate his efforts on his activity within the Verkhovna Rada (Supreme Council). He has also been elected as a national deputy (MP). And now the city’s media regularly reports that the Mayor begins and ends his days with high-level meetings in Kyiv, lobbying the interests of his territorial community.
And Komsomolsk has confirmed its innovational image. With the support of the Mayor, Oleksandr Popov, the Centre for Municipal Management (NGO) began its rather ambitious project, “School of Democracy”. This project is also supported by the National Institute for Democracy in the United States. Thus, this city is decisively moving in the direction of adopting European standards for local democracy. And this is markedly different from other cities of the region, which maintain a tradition hierarchical system.
Volyn Oblast
After the exhaustive pre-election campaign, the mayor of Lutsk, Anton Kryvystsky, has begun to implement his promises-to bring order. Two circumstances have facilitated this development. First of all, the head of the city who is simultaneously the leader of the SDPU(o) regional organization, had complete backing from the newly-appointed head of the Presidential Administration, Viktor Medvedchuk. Second, Lutsk has been ranked first by a decree from the Cabinet of Ministers at the all-Ukrainian competition “The Most Well-functioning city”. At the same time, Kryvytsky took a radical step-the city’s administration declared war on Lutsk inhabitants with outstanding municipal utilities debts. Today their total debt is equal to UAH 34 million.
Kyiv Oblast
The city of Skvyr has elected the youngest mayor in Ukrainian history. The newly elected mayor, Yevhen Suslov, is only 20 years old. He was born in 1981. He is also a fourth year university student at the Kyiv National Economics University. Suslov defeated another three competitors by a margin of 164 votes. According to Suslov, the pre-election campaign was very modest. It was launched two weeks before the elections were to take place and was composed of a series of meetings with labor organizations of the city. According to Suslov, “ he has already delivered 50% of his 1.5 year program”. Among the achievements: re-directing the responsibility for the city’s electric delivery from Bila Tserkva to Skvyrka-another 27 streets have become illuminated. Also, asphalt has been laid on the city’s central streets, the cemetery has been cleaned, and the movie theatre has been brought under the authority of this city (the mayor believes one of his tasks to include rejuvenating culture in the city). In the nearest future, the mayor’s plans include reorganizing and developing the light industry (there are over 100 sites of light industry in the city). Suslov is convinced that his plans will be realized successfully. “I want to work for the city and totally change the situation here. I can dedicate myself completely to solving a city problem since I have no need to satisfy my own personal needs”, Suslov said during an interview with URR.
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
The Mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk, Zinoviy Shkutyak won at the elections thanks to the weighty support he was given by Viktor Yushchenko’s pr-election bloc-Nasha Ukraina (Our Ukraine). Shkutnyak was elected to the post of mayor for a second term in a row. The re-elected mayor , as was promised the Ivano-Frankivsk population during his pre-election campaign, has continued with the reconstruction of the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast center. For the time being the reconstruction, re-building, and restoration of the central part of the city is still underway. His elections campaign promise regarding the reconstruction of remote suburbs is far from becoming a reality. The mayor lays the blame for this on the city’s lack of funds. During the first few weeks after becoming Mayor, Shktutyak replaced a number of his deputies. The most important change came with appointing 31-year-old Oleh Syniuk as the new Deputy for Economic Issues. He is a businessman and head of the regional Reforms and Order party organization, and the former head of the city’s headquarters for the bloc “Nasha Ukraina”.
Lviv Oblast
The first deputy mayor of Lviv, Vasyl Kravtsiv, announced that the newly elected mayor, Lyubomyr Bunyak would begin to implement his pre-election project, “Water in two years”. Two of the city’s engineering sub-divisions are working towards this goal. Their current task- to monitor the water received and used. The city council has also begun working on securing municipal economy with uninterrupted electrical energy. In order to realize this goal, two energy plants will begin running as soon as possible. Turning on two generators at one of plants will cost Lviv UAH 6 million, while the reconstruction of the other plants will cost another UAH 100 million. The administration hopes to realize this project through investors and creditors. If the project is a success, the municipal economy will have ½ of the needed electrical energy “of its own making”, and it will be twice as cheap as the energy from “Lvivoblenergo”.
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