IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall

RReennaaiissssaannccee

FFoouunnddaattiioonn

DDiiggeesstt

22001111 wwwwww..iirrff..uuaa

TThhee EEUU wwiillll ccooooppeerraattee wwiitthh UUkkrraaiinniiaann cciivviill ssoocciieettyy

GGoovveerrnnmmeenntt wwaarrnneedd aaggaaiinnsstt mmooddeerrnniizzaattiioonn aatt tthhee eexxppeennssee ooff hhuummaann rriigghhttss

SSoouunnddiinngg tthhee AAllaarrmm:: PPrrootteeccttiinngg DDeemmooccrraaccyy iinn UUkkrraaiinnee

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

3

· 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

kohut@laboratory.kiev.ua

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

4

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

5

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

liachinskiy@irf.kiev.ua

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

6

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

liachinskiy@irf.kiev.ua

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

7

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

pr@irf.ua

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

8

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

ivanov@aup.com.ua

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

solonenko@irf.ua

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

11

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

tyjulia@gmail.com

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

nakonechna@irf.kiev.ua

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

14

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, iryna_sushko@ukr.net

Oksana Hyrych, oksana.ewb@gmail.com

+38 044 238 68 43

office_ewb@novisa.com.ua

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

nataliya.sad@ieac.org.ua

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

vita.gumeniuk@gmail.com

International Renaissance Foundation Digest 2011

17

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, rk@openukraine.org

The East-East:

Partnership Beyond Borders Program

Tetyana Kukharenko, kukharenko@irf.kiev.ua

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

info@opora.org.ua

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

kolesnykova@irf.ua

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

kyyak@irf.ua

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

kyyak@irf.kiev.ua

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

smagliy@irf.kiev.ua