International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
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Transcript of International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
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Ukrainian civil society needs European legislation
Political news covers government activities most
Economy is the main concern of Ukrainian protesters
Ukraine lost to Moldova and Georgia in the pace of European integration
Ukraine has fully implemented only 2 out of 78 EU priorities
More than 200 events took place due to the Day of Europe in Ukraine
Consulates of Belgium, Netherlands, and Spain are most "demanding" when issuing visas
The perception of Russia in Ukraine, Romania, and Moldova
Experts deny advantages of Ukraine’s accession to the Custom Union
Legal Empowerment of the poor: promoting justice, developing communities, reducing poverty
NGOs will monitor public procurement in Ukraine
Work of university admission committees was not transparent
"StopPain" campaign launched in Ukraine
Ukrainian Roma to be provided help building homes
Roma in Ukraine don’t have passports due to lack of awareness and funds and distrust of the authorities
Ukraine's museum community unites for the sake of reforms
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
TTHHEE EEUU WWIILLLL CCOOOOPPEERRAATTEE WWIITTHH UUKKRRAAIINNIIAANN CCIIVVIILL SSOOCCIIEETTYY
On December 19 Kyiv hosted the Civil
Society Forum “EU-Ukraine Summit
2011: Civil Society Dimension”. It was
organized by the Ukrainian National
Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civ-
il Society Forum, the Laboratory of Leg-
islative Initiatives, the Civic Expert
Council, and the European Program of
the International Renaissance Founda-
tion.
President of the European Commission
José Manuel Barroso and President of the
European Council Herman Van Rompuy
participated in the Forum.
The forum statement, presented to the EU
leaders, emphasided that Ukraine still
faces a number of unresolved problems
that impede the EU-Ukraine dialog.
Some of the problems are:
· a low level of public dialog on the coun-
try’s modernization and Europeanization,
discussion of the reform policy, and inad-
equate explanation of the expected results
and possible risks of the reforms by the
government;
· absence of mechanisms for implementa-
tion of political, legal, social and econom-
ic reforms in the process of Ukraine’s Eu-
ropean integration;
· lack of an effective top-level mechanism
to coordinate European integration poli-
cies with a view to carry out domestic re-
forms according to the European Union
standards;
· failure to comply with principles of
good governance at various levels and
imitation of public engagement in gov-
ernment decision-making;
· an inferior new law on parliamentary
election that only partially reflects rec-
ommendations of the Venice Commission
and whose certain provisions contradict
decisions of the Constitutional Court of
Ukraine; this, as well as the absence of
proper political competition, jeopardizes
free and fair parliamentary election in
2012;
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
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· persecution of civil society leaders, hu-
man rights activists and political opposi-
tion, selective use of criminal laws that
require significant changes;
· restrictions of the right to peaceful as-
sembly;
· failure to implement counter-corruption
measures, and lack of transparency in
various government functions, particular-
ly in public procurement;
· pressure upon the media coming from
the financial and industrial groups close
to the current administration; no progress
with establishment of public broadcast-
ing;
· slow progress and controversial devel-
opment of legislative regulation of non-
governmental organizations that would
reflect recommendations of the Council of
Europe and civil society needs;
· shrinking education reforms, rejection of
university autonomy and equal access to
higher education;
· absence of fair competition in small and
medium business markets, and absence
of most favored treatment for invest-
ments in the sector;
· lack of transparent rules in the energy
market.
“Ukrainian civil society is trying to build
Europe in Ukraine, and it sees the Euro-
pean Union as its partner. Civil society
institutions will continue their monitor-
ing efforts, advocacy and educational
work to promote democracy, rule of law,
basic human rights and freedoms, media
freedom, and good governance. At the
same time, we are ready to provide ex-
pert assistance to the President, Govern-
ment, and Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine,
should there be political will to accept
open dialog and public engagement, to
effectively implement European integra-
tion policies”, stated Ihor Kohut, the
Ukrainian National Platform of the East-
ern Partnership Civil Society Forum Co-
ordinator.
Remarks of Herman Van Rompuy follow-
ing the 15th EU-Ukraine Summit
Statement by Herman Van Rompuy after
his meeting with Ukrainian Civil Society
representatives
Laboratory of Legislative Initiatives
Ihor Kohut
GGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTT WWAARRNNEEDD AAGGAAIINNSSTT MMOODDEERRNNIIZZAATTIIOONN
AATT TTHHEE EEXXPPEENNSSEE OOFF HHUUMMAANN RRIIGGHHTTSS
The Ukrainian government talks about
modernization solely as technological or
economic change, disregarding such
fundamental elements of modernization
as human rights, equality under the law
and rule of law. Ineffective cooperation
with civil society, analytical institutions
and experts stands in the way of the
modernization reforms proclaimed by
the government. This was the emphasis
of the analytical report “The new gov-
ernment: the challenges of moderniza-
tion” presented in Kyiv. It was prepared
by the Institute for Economic Research
and Policy Consulting, the Center of Po-
litical and Legal Reforms, the Institute
for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, the
Razumkov Centre, and the Laboratory of
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
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Legislative Initiatives with the support
of the International Renaissance Foun-
dation. The authors include more than
40 experts from leading non-
governmental think tanks in the fields
of political science, law, economics, so-
cial policy, environmental policy, educa-
tion, culture, etc.
Head of the Center for Political and Legal Re-
forms Ihor Koliushko noted in the report:
“Since coming to power, President Viktor
Yanukovych, the Government and par-
liamentary majority of the Party of Re-
gions have accomplished only one thing:
concentrating power and responsibility in
the hands of the President and his Ad-
ministration. And this was achieved not
just through numerous departures from
the letter and spirit of the Constitution of
Ukraine, but also with total disregard for
the doctrine of rule of law.” Thus, accord-
ing to the expert, the established system
of power has not become effective or ca-
pable or implementing vital social re-
forms.
"Out of the many priorities, practical
steps have been taken only in two direc-
tions: the new tax law and pension re-
form. But since these laws were passed
hastily, they will require adjustments in
the future," said Head of the Board the Insti-
tute for Economic Research and Consulting
Ihor Burakovsky, commenting on the eco-
nomic section of the report. He drew par-
ticular attention to the fact that the busi-
ness climate and conditions for doing
business in Ukraine remain difficult,
which in his opinion does not contribute
to the implementation of the ambitious
goals of modernization.
In the humanitarian field, experts raised
the question of how to overcome the ir-
reconcilable dispute between two public
policies in the humanitarian sphere: na-
tional-democratic and “post-soviet”. “The
only hope is the activity of an independ-
ent civil society – non-governmental or-
ganizations, various public organizations
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
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that defend rights, trade unions,” noted
Yevhen Bystrytsky, Executive Director of the
International Renaissance Foundation.
Research Director at the Institute for Euro-
Atlantic Cooperation Oleksandr Sushko not-
ed the dissonance between the govern-
ment’s declared policy of European inte-
gration and authoritarian trends in do-
mestic policy. In his opinion, the deterio-
rating domestic political situation may
also create problems for Ukraine’s foreign
policy. “The authoritarian model contra-
dicts even the theoretical possibility of
Ukraine’s integration into the European
Community,” he said.
The International Renaissance Foundation
Stanislav Lyachinsky
+38 044 486 24 74
SSOOUUNNDDIINNGG TTHHEE AALLAARRMM:: PPRROOTTEECCTTIINNGG DDEEMMOOCCRRAACCYY IINN UUKKRRAAIINNEE
Readiness to ensure conducting the next
parliamentary elections in Ukraine ac-
cording to OSCE standards will be the
litmus test on democracy of Ukraine’s
public authorities, David Kramer, Exec-
utive Director of the Independent
watchdog organization Freedom House,
stated during a presentation of the re-
port “Sounding the Alarm: Protecting
Democracy in Ukraine” in Kyiv on June
14, 2011. Preparation of the report was
supported by the International Renais-
sance Foundation.
Experts say that concerns arise over the
influence of the public authorities on elec-
toral environment by means of such
methods that damage political prospects
of independent and opposition forces and
help to concentrate power in the hands of
the ruling party both in Kyiv and regions.
The report expresses a concern due to the
parliamentary elections, scheduled for
November 2012. Representatives of Free-
dom House consider that the key issue
here is how specifically the electoral sys-
tem will be. Freedom House appeals to
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
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Ukraine’s public authorities to cooperate
with the Venice Commission during
preparation of amendments to the elec-
toral legislation.
Experts also warn the Ukrainian authori-
ties of the attempts to limit freedom of
activity of non-governmental organiza-
tions. Damon Wilson, one of the authors of
the report and Executive Vice President at the
Atlantic Council, emphasized that in order
to meet international democratic stand-
ards, Ukraine has to create favorable legal
framework for activity of non-
governmental organizations (NGOs). At
the same time he expressed the position
against the intentions of the public au-
thorities to limit foreign financing of
NGOs and emphasized that approval of
such a norm will put Ukraine outside of
the democratic world. Free activity of
NGOs is a guarantee of democratization
of the society, Wilson said.
Yevhen Bystrytsky, Executive Director of the
International Renaissance Foundation, not-
ed: “Supporting the research by a group
of independent experts under the auspi-
ces of Freedom House, our goal was to
obtain an unbiased assessment of the
state and dynamics of democracy in
Ukraine. The researchers gave significant
attention to what opportunities and posi-
tive ways exist for avoiding a negative
scenario of development of events. We
plan further to support conducting such
assessments in the future, both with in-
volvement of foreign and domestic ex-
perts, by organizing a constant public
control.”
International Renaissance Foundation
Stanislav Liachinsky
+38 044 486 24 74
UUKKRRAAIINNIIAANN CCIIVVIILL SSOOCCIIEETTYY NNEEEEDDSS EEUURROOPPEEAANN LLEEGGIISSLLAATTIIOONN
There are no political obstacles to the
adoption of a new law on non-
governmental organizations. Such was
the conclusion of an expert discussion
held between people’s deputies of
Ukraine, representatives of the presi-
dential administration and experts from
leading think tanks, on the initiative of
the Civil Society Impact Enchancement
Program of the International Renais-
sance Foundation.
Executive Director of the Network of Europe-
an Law Centers Oleksandr Vinnikov stressed
that a new law must be adopted because
current Ukrainian legislation does not
meet the standards of the Council of Eu-
rope. According to the expert, the biggest
difference between European standards
and current Ukrainian law is that non-
governmental organization can only de-
fend the rights and interests of their
members. In addition, the existing law
limits the activities of non-governmental
organizations based on territory. The
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
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draft law “On non-governmental organi-
zations” (№7262-1), which was adopted
by the Verkhovna Rada in the first read-
ing, aims to remove these and other in-
consistencies with European standards.
“There have been no major political dif-
ferences during the work on the bill,”
said Ihor Koliushko, head of the board of the
Centre for Political and Legal Reforms. “In
preparing the bill on non-governmental
organizations, complex professional dis-
cussions revolved more around terminol-
ogy and technical and legal issues ex-
pressed by members of the working
group.”
Executive Director of the International Re-
naissance Foundation Yevhen Bystrytsky
said: “Given the strategic importance of
this bill for the development of civil socie-
ty in Ukraine, the Foundation will sup-
port the effective operation of the work-
ing group. Leading experts in this field,
no doubt, will have the opportunity to
express their professional position during
the revision of the bill.”
The International Renaissance Foundation
Stanislav Lyachinsky
+38 044 486 24 74
PPOOLLIITTIICCAALL NNEEWWSS CCOOVVEERRSS GGOOVVEERRNNMMEENNTT AACCTTIIVVIITTIIEESS MMOOSSTT
In October, more than two-thirds of
news coverage of political events by
leading Ukrainian television channels
was dedicated to the government. This
according to a study conducted by the
Academy of Ukrainian Press with the
participation of researchers from the In-
stitute of Sociology of the National
Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and
support of the Mass Media Program of
the International Renaissance Founda-
tion. The results were presented in Kyiv
on November 7.
On all the channels, the majority of cov-
erage was one-sided and favored the
government. The least balanced coverage
was on the First National Channel. In
September and October, TRK Ukraina
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
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gave the most air time to opposition
views.
Overall, 69% of sound bites were from
representatives of the government, 24%
from the opposition, and 7% from other
politicians (76%, 14% and 10%, respec-
tively, in September). TRK Ukraina (41%)
and Novy Kanal (32%) allocated the most
time to sound bites from representatives
of the opposition.
According to the experts, only one in eve-
ry five political news stories on the First
National Channel included opinions of
the government’s political opponents,
while on Novy Kanal this figure was two
out of three.
As the experts noted, leading channels
are nowadays less interested in political
news and have increased reporting about
crimes, accidents and disasters. On aver-
age, 75% of all news stories in 2011 con-
cerned Ukraine and only 20% were politi-
cal.
The study was conducted by analyzing
the content of prime times news pro-
grams on leading Ukrainian channels: In-
ter, 1+1, Novy Kanal, Ukraina, STB, ICTV
and First National.
The Academy of Ukrainian Press
Valeriy Ivanov
+38 044 440 95 35
EECCOONNOOMMYY IISS TTHHEE MMAAIINN CCOONNCCEERRNN OOFF UUKKRRAAIINNIIAANN PPRROOTTEESSTTEERRSS
Most protest actions (56 per cent) that
took place in Ukraine from October 2009
till December 2010 concerned social,
economic issues, experts of the Center
for Society Research say. The project
was supported by the Civil Society Im-
pact Enhancement Program of the Inter-
national Renaissance Foundation.
According to experts, the following cir-
cumstances and situations most often led
to protests: delays in payment of salaries
and violations of employees' rights; cases
of infill construction; violations of the
right to housing (first of all, eviction from
dormitories); problems of ecology, hous-
ing and community amenities and public
transportation.
3,600 protest actions were registered in
total for the indicated period in Ukraine,
that is, on the average eight ones were
registered every day. At the same time
only 26 per cent of the protests took place
with participation of political parties and
the latter participated only in 10 per cent
of the social-economic protests.
During the period from the last presiden-
tial elections in Ukraine till September
2010 frequency of repressive actions in-
creased almost by one and a half times
(from 10.8 repressions per 100 protest ac-
tions before the elections to 15.2 after the
elections). During the last three months of
2010 frequency of repressions increased
even more – to 16.6:100. One started to
apply preventive repressions more often
and those are such: court ban to conduct
actions; prevention of conducting; intimi-
dation of protesters or their carriers.
The complete text of the research (in
Ukrainian) can be found here
Center for Society Research
Inna Sovsun
+38 067 502 57 27
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
9
UUKKRRAAIINNEE LLOOSSTT TTOO MMOOLLDDOOVVAA AANNDD GGEEOORRGGIIAA
IINN TTHHEE PPAACCEE OOFF EEUURROOPPEEAANN IINNTTEEGGRRAATTIIOONN
Ukraine, once seen as the flagship coun-
try of the Eastern Partnership (EaP), to-
day lags behind Moldova and Georgia
in many aspects. This was highlighted
in the pilot edition of the European In-
tegration Index for Eastern Partnership
Countries that was presented on De-
cember 12 in Kyiv and before that on
November 30 in Poznan during the East-
ern Partnership Civil Society Forum.
The study was initiated and prepared by
the International Renaissance Founda-
tion’s European Program and East-East:
Partnership Beyond Borders Program in
cooperation with Open Society Founda-
tions.
Iryna Solonenko, the editor of the report and
Director of IRF’s European Program, noted
that compared with other Eastern Part-
nership countries, Ukraine shows the
greatest gap between intensity and depth
of ties with the EU (Linkage dimension),
on one hand, and the degree of approxi-
mation with EU standards and require-
ments (Approximation dimension), on
the other.
Commenting on the section of the Index
dealing with Freedom, Security and Jus-
tice, Research Director of the Institute for
Euro-Atlantic Cooperation Oleksandr Sushko
said: “Ukraine took the right steps, a
number of necessary laws were passed -
on refugees, foreigners and stateless per-
sons, and the Concept on Migration Poli-
cy was created. It’s now a matter of im-
plementing these progressive laws.”
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
10
In turn, Ihor Burakovsky, Director of the In-
stitute for Economic Research and Policy
Consulting, stressed that one of the key
European integration problems in
Ukraine is unequal business conditions.
“If there are unequal conditions for
Ukrainian businessmen, then it’s obvious
that there can be problems for European
business in Ukraine,” said the expert.
Another serious problem, in his opinion,
is the quality of use of budget funds in
Ukraine, which also doesn’t meet Euro-
pean standards.
Executive Director of the International Re-
naissance Foundation Yevhen Bystrytsky re-
called that before the EU-Ukraine Summit
scheduled for December 19, leading
Ukrainian NGOs appealed to the Europe-
an Union to initial the Association
Agreement with Ukraine, and urged the
Ukrainian government to recognize and
guarantee the principles of rule of law
and judicial independence. This appeal
was supported by the Eastern Partnership
Civil Society Forum. “If the Agreement is
not initialed, then it will be very difficult
for civil society to find leverages in order
to demand that the government support a
European course of development and re-
forms in Ukraine,” he said.
The European Integration Index for East-
ern Partnership Countries will track the
progress of Eastern Partnership countries
— Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia,
Moldova, and Ukraine — on an annual
basis. It provides a nuanced cross-country
and cross-sector picture that is compara-
tive. More than 30 experts from the EU
and the EaP countries are involved in the
project.
More information on Index
European Program
Iryna Solonenko
+38 044 461 95 00
UUKKRRAAIINNEE HHAASS FFUULLLLYY IIMMPPLLEEMMEENNTTEEDD
OONNLLYY 22 OOUUTT OOFF 7788 EEUU PPRRIIOORRIITTIIEESS
Ukraine has reached substantial ad-
vance in putting into practice 20 AA pri-
orities of the EU-Ukraine Association
Agenda (AA) identified for 2011-2012,
primarily in security, economic, trade
and visa liberalization sectors. These are
the major conclusions of a monitoring
report, prepared by a consortium of
Ukrainian think tanks, including The
Ukrainian Centre for Independent Polit-
ical Research, The Institute for Econom-
ic Research and Policy Consulting, and
The Centre for Political and Legal Re-
forms. The media support is provided
by the international NGO "Internews
Ukraine". The monitoring is supported
by the European Program of the Interna-
tional Renaissance Foundation. The re-
port was presented on November 3rd,
2011 at a press conference in Kyiv.
Implementation of most priorities (70 out
of 78) of the EU-Ukraine Association
Agenda (AA) identified for 2011-2012 is
still in progress, experts say. Ukraine has
fully implemented only 2 out of 78 ana-
lyzed priorities and fell short to imple-
ment 6 priorities. In general, however,
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
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Ukraine’s implementation of the AA pri-
orities stays uneven.
Yulia Tyshchenko, the director of the project,
the head of the board of the Ukrainian Centre
for Independent Political Research, said: “If
Ukraine considers itself as a democratic,
free country, respecting principles of the
rule of law and human dignity, it has no
other alternative. If Ukraine loses this his-
toric chance, the country will be thrown
back to uncertainty”.
However, between January and October
2011 Ukraine showed symptoms of re-
form stagnation in the fields of political
dialogue, rule of law and independence
of the judiciary, experts say. Despite op-
timistic declarations of the Ukrainian au-
thorities, today’s situation can lead to the
slowdown of Ukraine’s EU integration
progress.
Generally, slow pace of AA priorities im-
plementation shows that EU-modeled in-
stitutional and modernization reforms
face serious obstacles in Ukraine, accord-
ing to the monitoring. This state of affairs
can lead to stagnation of the Ukrainian
EU progress. This stagnation, however,
will have a direct impact on life of ordi-
nary Ukraine’s citizens, depriving them
of an opportunity to live, in the near fu-
ture, in a country ensuring human rights,
democratic values and the rule of law,
experts say.
More information
http://www.es-ukraina.blogspot.com
http://eu-pda.livejournal.com
Ukrainian Centre
for Independent Political Research
Yulia Tyshchenko
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
12
MMOORREE TTHHAANN 220000 EEVVEENNTTSS TTOOOOKK PPLLAACCEE
DDUUEE TTOO TTHHEE DDAAYY OOFF EEUURROOPPEE IINN UUKKRRAAIINNEE
More than 200 festive events took place
in Ukraine due to the celebration of the
Day of Europe in 2011. The celebration
was also supported by the European
Program of the International Renais-
sance Foundation.
Residents of 40 localities – from oblast
centers to villages – joined the celebra-
tion. They participated in educational and
entertainment events and for the first
time, during celebration of the Day of Eu-
rope they found out more not only about
the countries of Europe, their culture and
traditions, but about European values
too.
300,000 people participated in the na-
tionwide campaigns called “I share Euro-
pean values”, “European Parades”,
“Youth – for European values!”, “Euro-
bus-4: Youth of Europe – for Ukrainian
communities” and in events of regional
scale in Vinnytsia and Rivne Oblasts,
Uzhhorod and Kyiv.
The nationwide campaign “I share Euro-
pean values” united residents of Vinny-
tsia, village of Hannivka in Dobropilsky
Region of Donetsk Oblast, Dniprope-
trovsk, Zaporizhia, Ivano-Frankivsk,
Kaniv, Kremenchuk, Luhansk, Lviv, My-
kolaiv, Rovenki in Luhansk Oblast,
Okhtyrka of Sumy Oblast, Sambir of Lviv
Oblast, Simferopol, Sumy, Kherson,
Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi and
Chernihiv around European values that
include respect to human dignity, free-
dom, democracy, equality, rule of law,
respect to human rights, in particular, re-
spect to the rights of minorities.
Within the project “Youth – for European
values!”, students of senior classes from
secondary schools and students from col-
leges and universities of Lviv, Khmelny-
tsky, Kirovohrad, Chernivtsi, Vinnytsia
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
13
and Cherkassy saw three theater perfor-
mances on the topic of European values
and also participated in the discussion
regarding the proclaimed values.
“European parades” took place in Myko-
laiv, Kyiv, Cherkassy and Zaporizhia.
This type of activity represented a range
of entertainment events in the format of
walking procession of the participants.
Youth of small towns and villages had an
opportunity to communicate with their
peers from the countries of European Un-
ion, find out more about the EU and the
opportunities that it offers and also about
the opportunities to implement interest-
ing public initiatives. Young people from
13 populated places had such communi-
cation during the stops of the Eurobus in
their area (the project “Eurobus-4: Youth
of Europe – for Ukrainian communities”).
Also public debates took place in Kyiv,
such as event “No to visa regime! Europe
is our home!” and event “Smile, Eu-
rope!”.
European Program
Daryna Nakonecha
+38 044 461 95 00
CCOONNSSUULLAATTEESS OOFF BBEELLGGIIUUMM,, NNEETTHHEERRLLAANNDDSS,, AANNDD SSPPAAIINN
AARREE MMOOSSTT ""DDEEMMAANNDDIINNGG"" WWHHEENN IISSSSUUIINNGG VVIISSAASS
The Consulates of Belgium, Nether-
lands, and Spain in Ukraine require the
largest number of additional documents
when issuing visas. The group of “de-
manding” Consulates includes Italian,
Portugal, and French Consulates. These
are the results of the fifth wave of inde-
pendent monitoring on issuing visas by
the EU Consular offices to Ukrainian cit-
izens. The monitoring was organized by
the Europe Without Barriers Public Ini-
tiative with the support of the European
Program of the International Renais-
sance Foundation.
Consulates started to use the practice of
return report to the Consulate after appli-
cant return from the EU and Schengen
area. The diplomatic missions of Spain
and Germany have mainly used such
practice.
For more than a half of respondents the
visa application procedure took from 7 to
10 days. The most precise in meeting of
deadlines in visa application procedure
are the Lithuanian and Swedish Consu-
lates.
There was marginal decrease in the num-
ber of free of charge visas: from 31% in
the last year to 28% in this year. The vast
majority of applicants paid for a visa –
71%. The smallest amount of free visas
was issued by the Consulates of the
Netherlands (3,3%), Spain (6,7%) and
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
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Denmark (1,7%). The largest amount was
issued by the Austrian (43,3%), Slovak
(42,5%), CzechRepublic (41,7%) and
German (40%) Consulates.
There was a slow increase in the share of
long-term multiple visas valid for three to
six months – about 11,6% (last year - 9%).
The total share of visas, valid for over 6
months to one year, has increased from
13% to 17,3%, the lion's share of which
are the "one year" visas.
The vast majority of applicants receive
short-term visas (category "C") for a sin-
gle visit. The greatest number of visas of
category “D” is the national visas for long
term stay and they are issued by the con-
sular offices of Poland and Estonia, while
the proportion of visas is about 7% and it
is slightly decreased in comparison to the
year 2010.
The consulates of Hungary, Poland and
Slovakia issued the largest amount of
multiple-entry visas. The first place on
issuing the long-term visas is occupied by
the Hungarian consular service primarily
due to liberal politics of the consulates
located in Transcarpathia (total - 64%),
followed by - Poland (54%) and Slovakia
(48%). The smallest amount of multiple-
entry visas was detected in the consulates
of Lithuania (6,7%) and Greece (12,2%)
However, the half of multiple-entry visas
still has a short validity: to three months,
which indicates a failure of the EU Visa
Code provisions by the consulates (Arti-
cle 24, paragraph 2). This Article provides
the issuance of long-term visa for 6
months or more. The visas valid for more
than a year are still unavailable for
Ukrainian citizens. The amount of such
visas is less than one percent - 0,4%.
Europe Without Barriers Public Initiative
Iryna Sushko, [email protected]
Oksana Hyrych, [email protected]
+38 044 238 68 43
TTHHEE PPEERRCCEEPPTTIIOONN OOFF RRUUSSSSIIAA
IINN UUKKRRAAIINNEE,, RROOMMAANNIIAA,, AANNDD MMOOLLDDOOVVAA
A study "Perception of Russia in
Ukraine, Romania, and the Republic of
Moldova" was presented in Kyiv. It was
prepared by an international analytical
group that included representatives of
the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Coopera-
tion (IEAC, Ukraine), Center for Conflict
Prevention and Early Warning (Roma-
nia) and Institute for Public Policy (Re-
public of Moldova) under the support of
the East East: Partnership Beyond Bor-
ders Program of the International Re-
naissance Foundation.
The following specialists participated in
the event: Borys Tarasyuk, IEAC Director,
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Com-
mittee on European Integration;
Oleksandr Sushko, IEAC Scientific Direc-
tor; Iulian Chifu, Director of the Center
for Conflict Prevention and Early Warn-
ing; Oazu Nantoi, Program Director of
the Institute for Public Policy; Nataliya
Belitser, Researcher of the Pylyp Orlyk
Institute for Democracy; and Volodymyr
Horbach, IEAC Political Analyst.
Iulian Chifu noted that Russian impact on
Romania is primarily of economic nature
and its society already developed a suffi-
cient immunity against the influence on
basic values of the country's citizens. At
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
15
the same time he emphasized that it does
not mean there is alienation between the
people, xenophobia and negative attitude
to Russia and Russians.
On the other hand, Oazu Nantoi empha-
sized that not only does the Republic of
Moldova feel the very strong Russia's
economic impact but a humanitarian one
too. He also drew attention to the issue of
Moldova's energy dependence on the
Russian Federation. Mr. Nantoi noted
that 40 per cent of Moldova's residents
are ready to vote in favor of unification
with Russia. Therewith, according to the
expert's information, three fourths of the
republic's residents would vote for Mol-
dova's entry to the European Union
though half of the respondents further
consider Russia as Moldova's strategic
partner.
Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation
Nataliya Sad
+38 044 230 83 76
EEXXPPEERRTTSS DDEENNYY AADDVVAANNTTAAGGEESS OOFF UUKKRRAAIINNEE’’SS AACCCCEESSSSIIOONN
TTOO TTHHEE CCUUSSTTOOMM UUNNIIOONN
Membership of Ukraine in the Custom
Union (CU) with Russia, Belarus and
Kazakhstan will not improve the life
quality of Ukrainians even in a short-
term period. Experts drew these conclu-
sions during the round-table discussion
“How will Ukraine European cooperate
with the Custom Union countries?”,
which took place in Kyiv on April, 21st.
the event was organized by the Civic
Expert Council within the Ukrainian
Part of the EU-Ukraine cooperation
Committee and “Centre-UA” NGO and
supported by the European Programme
of the International Renaissance Foun-
dation.
According to participants, in order to
provide the economic growth for the sake
of Ukrainian people, the government of
Ukraine should enhance the economic
integration and limit its effort on territo-
rial-targeted measures, which proved to
be inefficient in a long-run period, as the
international experience demonstrates.
Dmytro Liapin, Chairman of the Property
and Freedom Institute, mentioned: “One
possible scenario for the development of
relationships between Ukraine and the
CU countries is to implement the compet-
itive advantages of Ukraine in order to
sustain economic cooperation between
more developed countries and the CU.
For today Ukraine has such advantages,
moreover, with the FTA+ between
Ukraine and the EU Ukraine’s competi-
tive capacity at the world level will be
stronger than with the CU”.
According to the experts’ opinions, there
are enough arguments to consider the in-
ternational agreements of Ukraine’s par-
ticipation in the CU not to be in compli-
ance with the Constitution of Ukraine.
“Only the Constitutional Court of
Ukraine can define the constitutionality
of the decision about Ukraine’s participa-
tion in the CU. However, the Court does
not provide the answers to some abstract
questions, no matter how interesting or
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
16
important they are. Thus, the Constitu-
tional Court of Ukraine cannot define the
constitutionality of the decision about
Ukraine’s participation in the CU unless
the appropriate international agreements
are signed. In case the agreements are
non-constitutional, it will be necessary to
change the Constitution of Ukraine,” –
Robert Khorolskyy, legal expert of Ukrainian-
European Policy and Legal Advice Centre
(UEPLAC), has underlined.
The experts also paid attention to a num-
ber of problems, which might arise in
case Ukraine joins the CU, being a WTO
member. “The reconsideration of
Ukraine’s obligations to WTO countries is
theoretically possible, though is very dif-
ficult and expensive. If Ukraine accepts
current import duties of the CU, these
changes are to be approved by all WTO
member countries (they are more than
150) and the compensations are to be
paid, because the CU’s import duties are
higher than those in Ukraine”, – Veronika
Movchan, Research director of the Institute
for Economic Research and Policy Consult-
ing, is reporting.
Experts warn the long-term risks of
Ukraine’s participation in the CU essen-
tially exceed all possible short-term ad-
vantages, communicated by the repre-
sentatives of Russia.
Video can be found here
Civic Expert Council
Victoria Gumeniuk
+38 067 448 02 67
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
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LLEEGGAALL EEMMPPOOWWEERRMMEENNTT OOFF TTHHEE PPOOOORR::
PPRROOMMOOTTIINNGG JJUUSSTTIICCEE,,
DDEEVVEELLOOPPIINNGG CCOOMMMMUUNNIITTIIEESS,,
RREEDDUUCCIINNGG PPOOVVEERRTTYY
Since 2009 the International Renaissance
Foundation based on the Rule of Law
Program and with support of the Open
Society Justice Initiative (Budapest) has
been implementing the Legal Empow-
erment of the Poor Initiative.
The Legal Empowerment of the Poor Ini-
tiative is realized through a network of
Centers of Legal Information and Coun-
seling, which operate in small town, vil-
lage and settlement communities. The
Centers are created on account of Interna-
tional Renaissance Foundation and local
governments resources. In 2011 28 Cen-
ters have been working in Ukraine.
At the present moment the Centers are
the foci of legal and public activity, where
people can receive qualified legal consul-
tation, address for clarification of current
legislation, receive aid in drawing up of
service documents.
Different forms of work with citizens are
implemented in the Centers - these are
mediation, teaching volunteers the fun-
damentals of human rights education and
awareness work, providing Pro Bono at-
tor-neys-at-law support in court, remote
sessions to rural areas. Employees of the
Centers find out and analyze systematic
legal problems of communities, initiate
public campaigns, and in cooperation
with the state and local government bod-
ies elaborate ways of satisfying legal
needs.
24.000 Ukrainians received legal aid in
the Centers during 2011.
Rule of Law Program
Olga Zhmurko
+38 044 482 03 63
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
18
NNGGOOss WWIILLLL MMOONNIITTOORR PPUUBBLLIICC PPRROOCCUURREEMMEENNTT IINN UUKKRRAAIINNEE
A large-scale discussion with participa-
tion of diplomats and experts on re-
forms in public procurement system in
Ukraine and the other countries took
place on April 19 in Kyiv. The event
“Transparency of Government: Public
Procurement Legislation as a Key Ele-
ment” was organized by Arseniy
Yatseniuk Foundation “Open Ukraine”
in cooperation with the East-East: Part-
nership Beyond Borders Program and
the European Program of the Interna-
tional Renaissance Foundation.
Mr. Paolo Belli, Acting Country Director of
the World Bank for Ukraine, Belarus and
Moldova, noted that the World Bank for a
long time has been engaged in public
procurement issues in Ukraine. “This is a
long and unfinished process. Establishing
sound procurement will take more then
just a law, it will take sound monitoring
mechanisms” – he said. At the same time
Mr. Belli noted that “We are at the midst
of the process”.
Head of Operations Section 2 of the European
Union Delegation to Ukraine Jose Roman Le-
on Lora reminded to the participants that
saving state budget finances will result in
additional finances for creation of jobs,
support of innovations and development
of infrastructure - this is the reason why
control of effective public procurement is
important.
To his mind good public procurement
increases confidence between citizens and
administration in political dimension. Le-
on Lora also admitted that the EU finan-
cial assistance to Ukraine depends on
sound functioning of public procurement
system. He summed up that public pro-
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
19
curement issue is not a subject to com-
promises.
Head of NGO “Center UA” Oleh Rybachuk
mentioned that system of public pro-
curement in Ukraine is a litmus test for
maturity of the society and government
in Ukraine.
According to his words those persons
who are used to misuse public procure-
ments are eager to develop such legisla-
tion that would simultaneously include
the requirements of international observ-
ers and leave the gaps for further corrup-
tion actions. Mr. Rybachuk also under-
lined that adoption of new public pro-
curement legislation in Ukraine depends
only on the President of Ukraine.
Guest experts from Romania, Czech Re-
public and Kazakhstan shared with the
participants the experience of reforms in
public procurement sphere conducted in
their countries.
Anticorruption Coordinator of Romanian Ac-
ademic Society Laura Stefan noted that it is
difficult to expect from citizens actions
against misuses in public procurement
sphere. So, the main monitoring burden
is on the shoulders of NGOs and media.
“NGOs also need assistance from interna-
tional donor organizations” – underlined
Ms. Stefan. She said that even ideal legis-
lation will not prevent corruption, if no-
body monitors the law implementation.
“Corruption Less” Program Coordinator of
NGO “Oziveni” (Czech Republic) Martin
Kamenik underlined in his presentation
that civil servants sometimes ignore re-
quests for public information in his coun-
try and even ignore court decisions. To
his mind a key issue in public procure-
ment reforms is transparency of decision-
making process.
“Czech public procurement system is not
transparent enough” - said Mr. Kamenik.
At the same time he stressed that infor-
mation on tenders is not always pub-
lished in cases when the size/sum of the
procurement is lower than the one de-
fined in legislation as obligatory for pub-
lication. “It is impossible to combat cor-
ruption in public procurement sphere if
other problems in public policy will re-
main intact” - he summed up.
Executive Director of Transparency Interna-
tional – Kazakhstan Sergei Zlotnikov noted
that it is impossible to defeat corruption
in the sphere only by adopting one public
procurement law. He mentioned that
among the problems Kazakhstan is facing
are following: low access of citizens to
legislation database and constant legisla-
tion changes.
Director of Institute of Economic Research
and Policy Consulting Ihor Burakovsky,
while commenting foreign presentations,
noted that the process of public procure-
ment system improvement is first of all “a
process”.
Mr. Burakovsky said that he is upset by
the fact that all key reforms in Ukraine
are implemented as a result of external
pressure only and not due to pressure by
actors from within the country. He also
expressed hopes for more active civil so-
ciety engagement in putting into life
“strategic court decisions”.
Policy Report
Arseniy Yatseniuk Foundation
“Open Ukraine”
Ruslan Kyrylenko, [email protected]
The East-East:
Partnership Beyond Borders Program
Tetyana Kukharenko, [email protected]
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
20
WWOORRKK OOFF UUNNIIVVEERRSSIITTYY AADDMMIISSSSIIOONN CCOOMMMMIITTTTEEEESS
WWAASS NNOOTT TTRRAANNSSPPAARREENNTT
The Opora Civil Network has released
its report on the results of public moni-
toring of the 2011 university admission
campaign. The activities were supported
by the Education Program of the Inter-
national Renaissance Foundation.
According to experts, despite the lack of
serious widespread violations, the work
of admission committees of higher educa-
tion institutions was generally not trans-
parent, resulting in a number of negative
effects: students did not have proper in-
formation about the admission campaign,
which prevented them from exercising
their right to education; students were
wrongly given extra points towards ad-
mission; students were given unjustified
preferential admission; universities used
inappropriate methods to attract stu-
dents.
The experts also identified the following
negative trends in the work of the Minis-
try of Education and Science, Youth and
Sports during the admission campaign:
‘manual’ control over the number of gov-
ernment subsidized places; de facto re-
fusal to disclose the order establishing the
number of such government subsidized
places; monologic way of holding discus-
sions.
Opora Civil Network
+38 044 286 26 70
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
21
""SSTTOOPPPPAAIINN"" CCAAMMPPAAIIGGNN LLAAUUNNCCHHEEDD IINN UUKKRRAAIINNEE
“StopPain”, a campaign aimed at pro-
moting access to pain relief for patients
with incurable diseases, has been
launched in Ukraine.
The activists behind the campaign say the
registration of oral morphine in Ukraine
will ease the suffering of people stricken
with cancer. This pain killer is currently
available in Ukraine only by injection.
The tablet form hasn’t been registered in
Ukraine, forcing patients to endure pain
caused by the disease as well as by the
injections.
The initiative was supported by the In-
ternational Renaissance Foundation’s
Public Health Program. “We were
shocked by the number of testimonies
from patients and their families about the
pain they must endure during their ill-
ness. By getting proper medical care, the
terminally ill can feel that they’re not
humiliated by the pain and can live as
full a life as possible under such circum-
stances. We will help organizations and
activists promote this issue so that it is
resolved," program director Victoria
Tymoshevska explained.
Every year nearly 428,000 people in
Ukraine require pain relief and palliative
care to relieve pain associated with ter-
minal illnesses. The registration of oral
morphine will significantly improve their
life. For decades, oral morphine has been
a key method of cancer-related pain man-
agement. It is on the World Health Or-
ganization’s list of essential medicines,
meaning it is effective, safe and compara-
tively cost-effective.
Public Health Program
Nadia Kolesnykova
+38 044 461 97 09
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
22
UUKKRRAAIINNIIAANN RROOMMAA TTOO BBEE PPRROOVVIIDDEEDD HHEELLPP BBUUIILLDDIINNGG HHOOMMEESS
Pilot housing construction projects for
Roma in the Zakarpattia oblast will
begin next spring. The initiative is sup-
ported by Habitat for Humanity and the
International Renaissance Foundation’s
Roma of Ukraine and East-East: Partner-
ship Beyond Borders programs. The an-
nouncement was made at a November 8
press conference in Kyiv by representa-
tives of IRF’s Roma of Ukraine Program
and Roma organizations.
Part of the cost of building the homes will
be paid directly by Roma families, with
co-financing and organizational support
to be provided by charitable organiza-
tions and local government. The project
will build on Habitat’s experience in oth-
er EU countries.
“According to estimates, Ukraine is home
to nearly 300,000 Roma, and they are one
of the most vulnerable social groups. The
lack of housing leads to health, education
and employment problems,” said Natali-
ya Kyyak, the manager of the IRF Roma
of Ukraine Program.
“The first Habitat projects in Zakarpattia
will help those families that need to reno-
vate their homes and already have
sources of income,” said Eleanora Cul-
cear, director of the charitable organiza-
tion Blago.
In Romania Habitat has helped hundreds
of Roma families obtain housing. In order
to participate in the program, families
must pay at least 30-50% of the full cost of
the work - 15,000 euros. This has enabled
Roma families to live in normal condi-
tions, children can regularly attend
school, and in the future will be able ob-
tain a minimal level of education and
employment.
Roma of Ukraine Program
Natalia Kyyak
+38 044 461 95 00
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
23
RROOMMAA IINN UUKKRRAAIINNEE DDOONN’’TT HHAAVVEE PPAASSSSPPOORRTTSS
DDUUEE TTOO LLAACCKK OOFF AAWWAARREENNEESSSS AANNDD FFUUNNDDSS
AANNDD DDIISSTTRRUUSSTT OOFF TTHHEE AAUUTTHHOORRIITTIIEESS
The roundtable “Identification Docu-
ments for Roma in Ukraine: problems
and solutions” was held in Kyiv on Sep-
tember 20-21 with the support of the
Human Rights and Governance Program
of the Open Society Institute (Budapest)
and the Roma of Ukraine Program of the
International Renaissance Foundation.
285 Roma obtained passports, 1313
sought consultations and 20,000 members
of Roma communities in 6 regions were
reached within the framework of the pro-
ject.
Experts identified the following problems
as to why Roma do not have identifica-
tion documents:
1. Legal unawareness of the need to apply
for identification documents within the
period stipulated by law.
2. Inability to obtain professional assis-
tance on how to apply for new or lost
identification documents.
3. Constant moving around due to the
lack of documents.
4. Lack of money to pay for identification
documents.
5. Distrust of the police and authorities in
general.
Roma of Ukraine Program
Natalia Kyyak
+38 044 461 95 00
International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011
24
UUKKRRAAIINNEE''SS MMUUSSEEUUMM CCOOMMMMUUNNIITTYY
UUNNIITTEESS FFOORR TTHHEE SSAAKKEE OOFF RREEFFOORRMMSS
March 14-16, 2011, an international con-
ference “Civic Reform of Museum Man-
agement and Marketing” took place. It
was organized by the Anti-crisis Hu-
manitarian Program of the International
Renaissance Foundation jointly with the
Ukrainian Center for Museum Devel-
opment and "Development of Ukraine"
Charitable Foundation.
Almost 250 museum representatives from
all over Ukraine became familiar with the
best museum reform projects implement-
ed in Belarus, Lithuania, Poland and Rus-
sia, as well as Kazakhstan and the U.S.A.
Museum specialists drew government’s
attention to the fact that museums get
almost zero attention from the authori-
ties. In times of economic recession they
receive limited funding, particularly in
such areas as conservation. Museums
lack professionals, information, suffer
due to inadequate funding and imperfect
legislation regulating entrepreneurial and
charity work for the benefit of museums.
Representatives of the international or-
ganizations and diplomatic institutions
came forward with an initiative to assist
with organization of additional seminars
and internships for museum specialists to
increase their professional qualification
level.
Anti-crisis Humanitarian Program
Kateryna Smagliy
+38 044 205 39 26