Marchuk Back at Work

Last Thursday, Yevhen Marchuk, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (SNBO), had his first working day after a serious automobile accident last February. It will be recalled that Mr. Marchuk suffered heavy pelvic bones fractures. However, thanks to the efforts of Security Service Hospital physicians and Mr. Marchuk himself, he was literally “put on his feet” in record time.

Mr. Marchuk told The Day’s correspondent by phone that only the first several seconds of his comeback to office, when he was greeted by his colleagues, seemed unusual. Then it was back to business as usual. The first call came from Volodymyr Lytvyn, chief of the Presidential Administration and the second from the President himself who inquired about the execution of his decree based on the recent Security Council resolution on the state of affairs in power engineering. After a brief report to Leonid Kuchma in person, Mr. Marchuk then took part in a session of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People. According to Mr. Marchuk, in spite of a few serious demands, Mejlis representatives hardly have any grounds to take protest actions on May 18, the anniversary of their deportation.

Immediate SNBO plans include preparation of a session on the problems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the movement of out-of-bank funds and shadow capital. Although Mr. Marchuk began his first working day, formally still being a hospital patient, doctors have already finally decided to discharge him.

“The doctors have noted genuine progress in our patient’s recovery,” Professor Mykhailo ZAKHARASH, chief of the military medical department of the Security Service of Ukraine, told The Day. “Naturally, allowing Mr. Marchuk to resume work, we still advise that he refrain from full- scale work in the first two or three weeks. Remembering the tight daily schedule our patient kept in the hospital, we recommend taking short breaks (for an hour or two) throughout the day. Mr. Marchuk had such compulsory procedures prescribed, as rehabilitative gymnastics and massage. We can also allow him to do some swimming, for this promotes renewal of all the body’s functions after a long period of inactivity.” But, as our correspondents could see, Mr. Marchuk has almost resumed the full workload on his own. We hope everything will be fine.