Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce

By Olena Wawryshyn

 Annual meeting

On April 12, the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce (CUCC) held its annual general meeting at the UNF community centre in Toronto.

The meeting began with the introduction of special guests, by CUCC President and meeting chairman John Znaczko. Dr. Ihor Lossovksyj, Consul General of Ukraine in Canada, delivered greetings from the government of Ukraine.  Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby conveyed greetings from the City of Toronto and Mayor David Miller. 

At the meeting, CUCC President John Znaczko was re-elected for a second term.

Keynote speakers were the Honourable Consiglio Di Nino, Senator for Ontario and Lubomyr Kwasnycia,  the President of Romyr Consultants Corporation and the CUCC’s Vice President of Public Affairs.

Senator Di Nino has served as a Director in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and was an observer in both the 2004 presidential and 2006 parliamentary elections in Ukraine. “Ukraine has reached a time where probably you don’t need us [observing] unlike Belarus,” he said, as the parliamentary elections were “absolutely were free.”

“I think Ukraine could teach us (Canada) something about elections,” he added, referring to the controls that were in place to prevent cheating and falsifications during the 2006 election in Ukraine.

Lubomyr Kwasnycia, whose company does business in Ukraine, also spoke about the recent elections, offering an analysis and predictions on the formation of a parliamentary coalition. 

At the meeting, Bohdan Myndiuk read minutes from the last general meeting and Znaczko gave an overview of the work of the chamber since early 2005, when the chamber, which had been dormant, was re-activated by a group of Canadian businessmen.

Since then, chamber’s accomplishments have been many.  The trade mission to Kyiv was one successful venture. Other achievements and areas of involvement highlighted by Znaczko include: working to change the philosophy of the business community in Ukraine so that it operates more like Western businesses in terms of turn-around times, response times, keeping to arranged timetables, etc.; networking; joining the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Toronto; launching a website; introducing members to companies in Ukraine; working cooperatively with the Ukrainian Canadian Professional Business Federation (UCPBF), the organization that initiated the chamber in 1993; and applying for a CIDA grant.

Future plans include: organizing another trade mission to Ukraine; organizing a Ukrainian delegation to Canada; developing a working relationship with the Washington Group, the CUCC’s American counterpart; expanding to other Canadian cities; creating committees in various business sectors, e.g. agriculture, manufacturing, etc.;  involving Canadian politicians; working on a membership campaign; developing ties with the Polish business chamber in Canada; establishing a presence in Ukraine; lobbying to have trade tariffs lowered on the Canadian and Ukrainian sides; working to increase the quota of Ukrainian trades people and professionals coming to Canada; establishing a trade house in Canada to showcase Ukrainian products; encouraging proposals and suggestions from members.

Election analysis

The following is an abridged version of the speech of Lubomyr Kwasnycia, President, Romyr Consultants Corporation, delivered at the CUCC’s annual general meeting.

We can truly now say that Ukraine is democratic country. This was attested during the 2006 parliamentary election, not only by the international community but also Ukraine’s citizens. In this election, Ukrainians discovered the right to vote and that their vote counts.

The second positive outcome of this election is that whereas before there were 45 parties, now there are 5.  Finally, the political process is being streamlined.  The third positive outcome is that 61 per cent of parliament today is new faces, and that is historic. No one had anticipated that Leonid Kravchuk, Victor Medvedchuk and Natalia Vitrenko would not be sitting in this parliament. Fourthly, people have sent a powerful signal to the current President and the government that they want the reunification of the Orange coalition.

I would, however, like to stop calling it the Orange Revolution and start calling it the Orange Evolution. When Yushchenko and the Our Ukraine Party became the largest parliamentary faction in 2002, that was the beginning of the evolutionary process. The process was also witnessed during the 2004/2005 Presidential election and the March parliamentary election of 2006. This process has given Ukraine maturity and status in the international community.

In the past 18 months, it was impossible to make the changes that were required to respond to some of the slogans and platform decisions of the Orange forces. Whether you are in Canada or Ukraine, when you are the opposition and come to power, you suddenly discover a lot of issues and situations for which you were not prepared. So, while I am no apologist for President Yushchenko, I think, in fairness one has to look at that reality.

What did the message delivered by the population in the election mean? First of all, that Our Ukraine made several mistakes during the campaign. One was using the slogan: “For Yushchenko, For Our Ukraine.” It marginalizes the President. Our Ukraine tried to ride on Yushchenko’s coattails, but the people were smarter.  Their other slogan “Do not Betray Maidan” was ineffective as it did not lead people to vote for Our Ukraine.

The people listened to the party and person who spoke plainly, fairly and from the heart. That person was Julia Tymoshenko. Some call her an opportunist because she uses the slogans of the Maidan. Others call her a shrewd politician, while still others look to her as a woman who is not afraid to stand up to the issues [that define] the kind of Ukraine Ukrainians want it to be. She re-constructed the terminology, spirit, and will of the people. That’s why Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko picked up 29.6 per cent of the vote, while Our Ukraine picked up only 13.9 per cent.

Another [message] of the election is evident when analyzing percentiles. Victor Yanukhovych had 44 per cent of the vote in 2004/2005.  Now, his party got 32 per cent. That is another strong indication that peoples’ thinking is changing.

What are my predictions for the coalition?  Yushchenko is going to take a pragmatic approach in coalition-building. They will have to lay down principles and rules by which the coalition will work and by which it will support the direction that Ukraine and the president will undertake. This constructive approach is different compared with the way in which governments were formed and cabinets chosen previously.

Regarding the prime minister’s chair, Julia Tymoshenko shrewdly made this into a political issue. She said that for the first time, Ukrainians voted for the prime minister. She was partially right because as of January 2006, Ukraine switched from a presidential to a parliamentary republic. This is a question to be fruther discussed by political analysts. However, the people did demonstrate that they want a strong voice to represent their interests.

Julia Tymoshenko is many things: the Ukrainian Joan of Arc, a populist, socialist and control freak. In some things, she does not necessarily have an ideology or a philosophy, but she knows what she wants.  She wants power. She was the prime minister, and now she wants to return to that position.

The Party of Regions, is made primarily of three groups. Firstly, there is Yanukovych, who is the image. Secondly, the business community, which is the economic engine that drives eastern Ukraine and more specifically, Ukraine. Within this second group there is Rinat Akhmetov, and others, who make up the oligarchic or business clans of the party. Then you have the wannabes and the has-beens.

Our Ukraine is group of coalitions, including business people, some of who are more inclined to do business, not with Tymoshenko, but with the Blues.

Ukraine is now in the final stage of the evolutionary process.  In the next parliamentary election you will not have the Communist Party in parliament. From being the largest faction; they have now been reduced to 21 seats.  Oleksandr Moroz, head of the Socialists, will hang on because he is viewed as part of the Orange Revolution.

In conclusion, I predict that there will be an Orange coalition. Whether it will survive will depend on a variety of things, one of which is personality. There is too much emotion between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko. I hope that the more intelligent and less emotional element of the political process will win. I believe it will. Finally, I believe that the Party of Regions will get some crumbs; one or two individuals of prominence from the Blues will be in government, on a deputy minister or different level, though not on a Cabinet level. Thus, the coalition will probably be Orange, with a sprinkling of Blue.