This report reviews a journey to Ukraine from September 3 to September
20, 2001. The author was in Kyiv from September 3 to September 13.
On September 13, the author traveled to Dnipropetrovsk in eastern
Ukraine; side trips were made from Dnipropetrovsk to Krivyy Rih
(Krivoi Rog) and Dniprodzerzhinsk. With the exception of visits
to medical institutions in Kyiv, the focus of the trip was on Jewish
communal life in the various cities.
Ukraine commemorated ten years of independence
on August 24, 2001. It is comparable in territorial
size to France. Its population, currently about 49.5 million, has
declined about five percent since the collapse of the Soviet Union,
a phenomenon that it shares with its Russian neighbor. Kyiv, the
capital of Ukraine, is its largest city, with a population of approximately
2.6 million. Three cities in eastern Ukraine, the industrial heartland
of the country, boast populations of one million or more: Kharkiv
(1.5 million), Dnipropetrovsk (1.1 million), and Donetsk (1 million).
Odesa, the famed Black Sea port in southern Ukraine, also has a
population of about one million.
According to an August 2001 report of the International
Labor Organization, a United Nations agency, more than 90 percent
of the Ukrainian population lives in poverty. The average monthly
income is about $17 and the average monthly pension is about $13.1
Although some Ukrainians earn unreported additional income through
entrepreneurial activity and benefits extended to certain population
groups, the economic situation of most Ukrainians is dire. Official
unemployment among young adults between the ages of 20 and 29 is
17 percent. Hundreds of thousands of officially employed Ukrainians
are on “unpaid leave,” a designation that deflates unemployment
figures and, concurrently, deprives individuals of both wages and
unemployment benefits. Eighty percent of job openings are for unskilled
laborers.2
Neglected for decades, the Ukrainian national infrastructure
is eroding and will require an infusion of capital that will impose
massive debt on future governments. Water and electricity supply,
sewage systems, transportation, communications, health care, and
education are far below Western standards. Ecological degradation
is severe, creating incalculable health hazards for residents of
the country.
In the midst of such adversity, the gross national
product of Ukraine increased by six percent in 2000 and household
income grew seven percent after inflation. The statistics for 2001
may surpass those of 2000. Actions by the Ukrainian government to
curb the role of barter in the economy have been successful. As
more and more cash is injected into the financial system, consumer
demand has risen, thus encouraging the development of small businesses.
However, much of this growth emanated from policies encouraged by
former Prime Minister Victor Yushchenko,
who was fired earlier this year because of his insistence on transparency
in key sectors of the economy, his efforts to improve tax collection,
and his undertakings aimed at reducing cronyism and patronage in
privatization and the issuance of licenses and contracts.
A small group of oligarchs continues to control
the distribution of energy, major media outlets, and other key segments
of the economy. Annual capital flight is estimated to be at least
$3 billion. Ukraine is ranked among the ten most corrupt countries
in the world by Transparency International, an independent organization
that includes 90 countries in its calculations. Relations between
the United States and Ukraine are tense due to rampant Ukrainian
electronic piracy, copyright infringements, and related problems
with other proprietary information. The United States also is concerned
about the absence of press freedom and the disinclination of Ukrainian
leaders to encourage the development of a system of law.
Ukraine remains dependent upon Russia for 70 percent
of its energy, primarily oil and gas that comes into Ukraine through
a complex pipe infrastructure. The electricity grids of the two
countries are being integrated. Many Ukrainian oligarchs have close
ties to their counterparts in Russia, and many Russian oligarchs
have significant investments in Ukraine. Earlier this year, Russia
appointed Victor Chernomyrdin
as its ambassador to Ukraine. A former Prime Minister of Russia,
Mr. Chernomyrdin is a skilled negotiator and very well-informed
about Ukraine. |
The popularity
ratings of Ukrainian President
Leonid Kuchma are in the single digits, but his opposition
is fragmented and the public is apathetic. The next Presidential
elections are scheduled for 2004; Mr. Kuchma has indicated that
he will not seek re-election. The Communist party of Ukraine retains
the loyalty of about 25 percent of the population, the overwhelming
majority of whom are older workers and pensioners.
1. The writer arrived in Kyiv two days prior to
the arrival of a medical delegation, which she was to lead on a
site visit of hospitals and other medical institutions. The early
arrival was intended to provide time for (a) confirming arrangements
for the group, and (b) pursuing some matters of special interest.
2. Rabbi Yaakov
Dov Bleich is Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine. A Karlin-Stolin
hasid, he was born in Brooklyn and has been in Kyiv with his family
since 1990. His synagogue is located on Shekavitskaya Street in
the Podil area of the city, which was a heavily Jewish district
before the Holocaust. Rabbi Bleich discussed several topics concerning
the Jewish community.
Plans were in place, said Rabbi Bleich, for commemoration
of the 60th anniversary of the slaughter of more than 33,000 Jews
at Babi Yar during the Holocaust.
A large number of international Jewish figures would attend ceremonies
at the site on Sunday, September 30; however, he continued, the
reality that Yom Kippur falls on September 27 and Shabbat on September
29 is creating travel problems for many would-be attendees. Thus,
participation in the commemorative events would be lower than he
had hoped.3
Completion of a residential
facility for elderly Jews is being delayed, said Rabbi Bleich,
until he is able to raise the last $150,000 necessary for this project.4
After initially expressing hostility toward the undertaking, the
Joint Distribution Committee
has indicated interest in operating an adult day care center in
the building, he noted.
Although the organization has made no firm commitment
to this endeavor, JDC has loaned the Jewish community $50,000 to
be used in meeting construction costs. A commercial health care
corporation in the United States had promised to provide medical
equipment for the facility free of charge; however, this company
recently reneged on its pledge.
Whereas Rabbi Bleich seemed somewhat uncertain
when asked by the writer in May about criteria for admission to
the residence, events in the Ukrainian capital since then seem to
have forced a decision about priority cases. The number of homeless
Jewish elderly has increased significantly, said Rabbi Bleich,
many of them swindled out of their apartments by crooks eager to
acquire currently occupied flats, especially those in coveted downtown
areas.5
Some dispossessed elderly may be living on the street, but most
seem to have moved in with relatives, staying with one family for
a few weeks, then moving on to other relatives for another short
period, and so on. Several are living in a few apartments owned
by the Jewish community near the synagogue, and others have managed
to find short-term rental space, although the latter is very expensive.
Rabbi Bleich is considering the possibility of
purchasing about 15 apartments
in buildings now under construction in Podil. These apartments would
then be sold or rented to young observant
families who would like to live near the synagogue, thus
beginning to restore the Jewish character of the Podil neighborhood.6
Discussions are being held with a developer, he said.
Aish Hatorah,
the international Jewish outreach organization, may be forced to
close its large program in Kyiv within the next two to three months,
said Rabbi Bleich.7 Its major sponsor, an Israeli who has lived in
the United States for many years, has suffered severe financial
reverses and has been forced to reduce his support substantially.
It is likely, continued Rabbi Bleich, that several Aish Hatorah
yeshiva students will “transfer” to Rabbi Bleich’s
yeshiva, but other programs offered by Aish Hatorah probably will
not be replaced. |

1. Quoted
in The Kyiv Post, 6:36 (September
6, 2001). The poverty level is thought to be about $30.
2. See
The Kyiv Post, 6:32 (August
2, 2001). Conversations with students and recent graduates of post-secondary
institutes and universities yield substantial anecdotal information
supporting official documentation of employment problems for this
age group.
3. The
actual slaughter occurred over two days, September 29 and 30, 1941.
Additional Jews were murdered at Babi Yar, a ravine in an outlying
area of Kyiv, on later dates as well.
Attendance at the anniversary ceremonies and coverage of these events
in the press also was affected by the terrorist attacks on targets
in New York and Washington, D.C., on September 11.
See also page 12.
4. The
cost of the building is estimated at $1.6 million, of which $700,000
is provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food for Progress
program. This program remits funds for social welfare projects to
non-profit organizations in foreign countries in return for the
sale by these organizations of excess U.S. agricultural commodities
to other non-profit organizations. Rabbi Bleich established a dedicated
office in Kyiv to sell such commodities as rice and powdered milk
at discount prices to various Ukrainian welfare organizations.
5. In
some instances, shady individuals arrange with corrupt local officials
to declare a building uninhabitable, thus forcing residents to evacuate
their units. The individuals then assume control of the building
and sell its units or the entire building. In other cases, new owners
of adjacent apartments remodel these apartments in such a manner
that neighbors can no longer live in their own units. Still other
apartment owners have been subjected to five or more years of persistent
telephone calls or unwanted visits from individuals who suggest
that they sell their residences at below-market prices.
6. Although
more than half of the graduates of Rabbi Bleich’s day school
move to Israel or to the United States, some remain in Kyiv and
lead observant lives.
7. For
information about the Aish Hatorah program in Kyiv, see the writer’s
Notes on Jewish Community Life in
Ukraine, May 2001, pp. 70-71.
|