“Nothing Personal”
Issues connected with international affairs, in particular, the Iraq war, were center stage at President Leonid Kuchma’s March 27 press conference. “We meet in a complicated period,” the president told the audience. “The war is going on, and people are dying.” Pres. Kuchma recalled that from the very beginning of the Iraq conflict Ukraine has taken a consistent stand against war, doing everything possible to foster a solution of the existing problems by peaceful diplomatic means. However, in his view, one should keep in mind that the war has come to Iraq not least because of the policy of its leader, Saddam Hussein. This war has jeopardized the whole system of global security created after World War II, he believes. Thus, in his opinion, now issues connected with the whole postwar security system come to the fore. The president of Ukraine stated that sending the Ukrainian military unit to the Gulf region is in no way connected with the question of improving Ukrainian-American relations. “Caring about good relations with a country like US is my duty as head of our state. However, this issue isn’t connected to our relationship with the United States in any way,” he said, adding that he has voiced his preparedness to give assistance to any of the Gulf countries in case of a threat of using weapons of mass destruction long before the war began during his latest visit to the region. In the president’s opinion, in the course of the military operation the Americans will have an opportunity to finally make certain that the allegations of Ukraine’s involvement in the Kolchuga sales are groundless. “This war will provide answers to many questions. All I know is that Ukraine did not supply the Kolchuhas to Iraq,” he said, adding that Ukraine will take part in rebuilding Iraq after the war.
Speaking about the political reform, the head of state expressed his gratitude to all his compatriots who have already taken part in discussing it, including representatives of the opposition. “I happen to hear harsh criticism sometimes, but I take it quite normally. The only thing I’d like to stress is that one shouldn’t confuse their attitude toward the political reform and personal attitude toward the president,” President Kuchma remarked about his political opponents. In his view, one should not view the essence of the political reform in simply taking powers from the president and transferring them to Verkhovna Rada. “The problem in question is that the parliament has started to act in a responsible way. Take [the powers] but take the responsibilities, too,” the president said. If the reform is not completed before the next presidential elections, this would be a huge step back for our country, he believes. Leonid Kuchma expressed his satisfaction with Ukraine’s economic situation in general. According to his information, the rate of economic growth, slightly down last year, now is in fact restored. The situation in many spheres, including machine building, has improved, the president said. Simultaneously, he believes that there are many causes for criticism. Only 50% of enterprises show increased production, while 15% are idle. Despite the current economic growth, enterprise debts are not falling, and fiscal discipline in the energy sector leaves much to be desired. The president touched on the need to find the money to raise the increasing minimum wage as the biggest budget problem, which had not yet been solved by the government and parliament. Pres. Kuchma also made some critical remarks on the government’s program. However, the head of state stressed that the government has the right to its own point of view. Simultaneously he is positive that the program will be approved by the parliament.
