Ukraine’s First Diaspora Department Created in Odesa

Ukraine’s first Department for the Ukrainian Diaspora has been established in Odesa oblast. Ivan Suprunovsky, Head of the Regional Directorate for Ethnic Affairs and Migration, says the newly formed department is part of a national program called “Ukrainians Abroad.” The department is collecting data on ethnic Ukrainian communities throughout the world. Its current database indicates that nearly 20 million of our countrymen are living outside the borders of Ukraine. Agreements on cooperation are being drawn up with some of them, particularly the Trans-Dniester and Moldovan diaspora. Plans are underway to bring several groups of Ukrainian children from the Trans-Dniester region, Romania, and Bashkortostan for health treatments. At present, Odesa oblast numbers 133 ethnic groups, of which about a hundred already have their own ethnic cultural societies and associations. There are three national ethnic associations — Bulgarian, Moldovan, and Korean — in Odesa. The regional budget will allocate UAH 215,000 to support such ethnic communities in 2004 alone, reports The Day’s Olena ASTRAKHOVYCH.