Ukraine Seek To Better Beijing Performance, Says Bubka

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine’s Olympic team is heading to the London Games seeking to improve on its performance in Beijing of 27 medals, which included seven golds, said legendary pole vaulter Sergei Bubka, its Olympic Committee chief. Bubka also said that in London 245 Ukrainian athletes would be competing in 28 sports, ranging from athletics and gymnastics to weightlifting and judo. “Our government assigned more means for the team’s successful performance at the Games,” he said. “President Viktor Yanukovych has promised to personally attend the competitions in London to support our athletes there. I believe that our squad will perform at the Games even better than they did four years ago.” Bubka said that two-time Olympic medal winner judoka Roman Hontyuk will be the country’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony on July 27. “It’s a great honour for me to carry the country’s flag at the Games opening,” said Hontyuk, who won silver at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and bronze in Beijing four years ago. “I believe I will be able to win a third Olympic medal in London,” he added. “Of course I’m dreaming about a gold but I’ll be also happy to win any medal there.” Bubka meanwhile said the track and field athletics, wrestling, gymnastics, boxing, fencing, rowing, shooting and archery to be his team’s main priorities at the Olympics. “We did our best to prepare our athletes for the Games the best possible way,” Bubka said. “I’d like to avoid any direct predictions ahead of the Olympics but we have certain medal hopes.” Bubka also backed heptathlete Natalia Dobrynskaya, who won gold medal in Beijing, to perform at her best to honour her husband, who died recently. Ukraine’s Olympic chief announced also cash incentives for the country’s medal winners.

Reports: Pistons Officially Sign Ukraine Center Vyacheslav Kravtsov

The Detroit Pistons have officially signed 7-foot Ukrainian center Vyacheslav Kravtsov to a multi-year contract, according to a report from Ukrainian website segodnya.ua. Terms of the contract have not been disclosed, per team policy. The Pistons had reached a verbal agreement with Kravtsov despite his Ukrainian team saying he had one year remaining on his contract. Kravtsov, 24, averaged 10.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in 22 minutes per game last season for BC Donetsk. Kravtsov’s agent told ESPN that his client would sign with the Pistons, and Pistons president Joe Dumars released a statement acknowledging the verbal agreement. Neither side would be so public if there were the possibility of a hitch. Don't expect a lot of offense, since all Kravtsov did overseas was overpower smaller defenders and dunk. Jonathan Givony, president of DraftExpress.com who has scouted Kravtsov, doesn't expect him to show much when it comes to range and post moves. He has good hands, so he should be a good finisher with his length and athleticism.

Ukraine Insists On Russian Gas Import Cuts

KIEV, Ukraine -- After failing to persuade Russia to change the current gas contract, Ukraine is threatening to break it. The state-owned oil and gas company Naftohaz Ukrainy will cut Russian gas imports from the 40 billion cubic meters (bcm) bought last year to 27 bcm this year, according to the national gas balance, which Ukraine’s government approved on June 20. The contract, which was signed by the government of then Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in January 2009, sets annual gas purchases by Naftohaz from Gazprom at 52 bcm, but no less than 42 bcm. A take-or-pay clause in the contract obliges Naftohaz to pay for no less than that amount even if it imports less. The government that replaced Tymoshenko’s in 2010 has been arguing that the contract needs revision as, on the one hand, it set too high a price and, on the other hand, Ukraine does not need so much gas. The contract suits Russia, so Gazprom has been deaf to Ukraine’s arguments. In April 2010, Russia agreed to a discount of $100 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas in exchange for extending the lease of its Black Sea Fleet at the base in Ukraine’s Sevastopol from 2017 to 2042. However, the discount has been dwarfed by the growth of the Russian gas price for Ukraine from $230 per 1,000 cubic meters in 2010 to $425 now, the discount included. Russia would agree to cut the price if Ukraine passed control of its gas transit pipelines to Russia and joined the Russia-dominated customs union. However, Kiev is not willing to make such concessions. Unable to persuade Russia to cut prices, Ukraine wants to reduce import volumes. The National Energy Strategy sets out to cut annual gas imports to as little as 5 bcm by 2030, an improbably optimistic goal. The government’s highly ambitious intention to cut imports to 27 bcm this year is part of the plan. This does not suit Gazprom, which claims that lower imports will mean that Ukraine will not have enough gas in its underground storage facilities to live through the winter, so it will siphon gas intended for Gazprom’s customers in the European Union. On May 18, Naftohaz officially warned Gazprom that it would store gas in the underground facilities only for Ukraine’s own needs this year. This prompted Gazprom to agree to pay Naftohaz $2 billion for transit services in advance, whereby Naftohaz will use the money to fill the underground reservoirs. The deal was signed in Moscow on June 7. But Kiev keeps insisting on Russian gas import cuts. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said on June 21 that Ukraine asked for only 27 bcm of gas for not just this year but also for 2013. Energy Minister Yury Boyko said recently that Naftohaz might buy even less. Boyko spoke while Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was discussing gas with his Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Azarov in Kiev. Medvedev’s visit was apparently fruitless. Ahead of the talks, Ukrainian officials had said the gas contract revision would be discussed. However, Miller said after the talks that a revision was not discussed and that Ukraine was expected to continue adhering to the current contract. Miller also said that Gazprom’s gas for Ukraine was cheaper than for many other clients in Europe. He admitted that certain EU clients enjoyed discounts, which he explained were because of joint projects – likely alluding to Germany and Belarus. Ukraine, he noted, has had no such projects with Gazprom. Speaking after the visit to Kiev, Miller echoed Gazprom’s earlier warning that Ukraine’s failure to store enough gas would result in gas shortages in either Ukraine or the EU next winter. He added that Gazprom was ready to issue further financial assistance to Naftohaz for buying more gas. Meanwhile, Ukraine reduced its gas imports by 50 percent year-on-year in January-May 2012 to 13 bcm. The daily Kommersant reported on June 21, citing a source from Gazprom, that the Russian energy giant considered suing Ukraine for contractual violations. The threat to sue Ukraine left Boyko unfazed. “This is their right,” he said. It is up to the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Institute to resolve disputes between Gazprom and Naftohaz, according to the 2009 contract. The Ukrainian government apparently believes that it will not be easy to enforce the contract as far as import volumes are concerned. The Ukrainian weekly Zerkalo Nedeli on June 23 published an article in which the President of the Ukrainian Bar Association for Foreign Affairs, Danylo Kurdelchuk, argued that it would not be easy for Gazprom to prove that Naftohaz broke the contract and that the contract contains no clauses on how much Naftohaz would have to compensate Gazprom for buying less gas. What is more, if Gazprom loses the suit, Ukraine could try and use that to revise the contract. In the face of punishingly high Russian gas prices, Ukraine is attempting to play hard ball with its large eastern neighbor. Yet, Ukraine will need to carry out immense structural improvements of its energy, gas transit, and industrial sectors to make its threats of significant Russian gas import reductions credible in negotiations. At the very least, however, Kiev has gotten Gazprom’s attention.

Ukraine Postpones Tymoshenko Appeal For Third Time

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's high court on Thursday postponed the appeal of jailed ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko against her seven-year sentence for abuse of power for a third time at the request of the prosecution. udge Stanislav Mishchenko said the next hearing would be held on August 16 and demanded to see records of the hospitalised opposition leader's condition before proceeding with the case. Two previous court delays in the hearing disappointed Tymoshenko attorneys who want the case to go before the European Court of Human Rights once all legal avenues are exhausted in Ukraine. Tymoshenko did not attend the hearing because she is being treated in a Ukrainian state hospital for debilitating back pains she began experiencing shortly after her October conviction over a disputed gas deal with Russia. But about a thousand of her supporters rallied outside the court building in central Kiev -- host city of the Euro 2012 football tournament final that was played on July 1 under of fears of an EU diplomatic boycott. Many European leaders ended up attending the matches played in Ukraine after the ex-Soviet country postponed all court proceedings involving the flamboyant political rival of President Viktor Yanukovych. But EU officials have also backed Tymoshenko's claims that her case was politically motivated and have demanded her quick release. The defence team -- expecting the judge to uphold the sentence -- had asked the court to review the appeal without Tymoshenko so it could then file papers with the Strasbourg court. The 51-year-old former Orange Revolution leader has refused to be either treated or touched by Ukrainian doctors as both a form of protests and alleged fears of being contaminated with a fatal disease. The face of her one time ally and former president Viktor Yushchenko was disfigured by a mysterious poisoning that blamed on shadowy forces linked to Moscow. The incident was never solved. Another a former top Tymoshenko cabinet member, ex-interior minister Yuriy Lutsenko, developed hepatitis in jail. The back pains have also kept Tymoshenko from attending a new tax case launched by prosecutors since her conviction that could almost double her time in jail. Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka has also raised the possibility of charging Tymoshenko with involvement in the deadly November 1996 airport shooting of lawmaker and businessman Yevhen Shcherban. Pshonka has alleged that Tymoshenko's business interests conflicted with those of the slain billionaire and claimed to hold enough evidence to go to court. He suggested on Wednesday that Tymoshenko was only feigning illness so that she could push back her new trial and possibly avoid other charges hanging against her. "Someone really wants Tymoshenko to be sick," Ukrainian media quoted Pshonka as saying. "Is this right -- to drag a court case out like this? Should the hearings begin or not? Will this treatment last indefinitely?" Tymoshenko's medical care is being overseen by a team of German doctors who visit her in the eastern city of Kharkiv where she has been hospitalised outside of prison. Local media said one doctor who returned to Germany on Wednesday was seen off by a rowdy group of anti-Tymoshenko protesters who alleged that he was only proclaiming the opposition leader sick to get paid for his time. "No money -- no illness!" the Interfax news agency quoted one protest poster as saying.

Ukraine’s Biggest Opposition Group Launches Campaign To Impeach President Yanukovych

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine’s biggest opposition group has launched a campaign to impeach President Viktor Yanukovych over suspected violations of the constitution and persecution of opposition leaders.
Yanukovych is under fire from the West over the politically tainted jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the country’s top opposition leader.

European Union leaders boycotted Euro 2012 football championship games in Ukraine last month over her imprisonment.

With the Oct. 28 parliamentary election three months away, Tymoshenko’s party announced a campaign Monday to sue Yanukovych for his alleged crimes and then impeach him.

The “Ukraine against Yanukovych” project will involve the collection of signatures in support of a lawsuit against Yanukovych, and then launching the impeachment process in parliament.

There was no immediate comment from Yanukovych’s office.

WBC Heavyweight Champ Vitali Klitschko Hit By Teargas During Ukrainian Parliment Protest

KIEV, Ukraine -- Floyd Mayweather could learn a thing or two from Vitali Klitschko. The Ukrainian heavyweight boxer has never avoided an opponent, is the only world champion to hold a Ph.D., and has never been knocked down in a fight, or lost a decision (his two losses came on a torn rotator cuff and a cut above his eye, and he was leading on all scorecards at the time of both TKOs). He’s also the leader of Ukrainian political party UDAR (he’s running for the mayor of Kiev), and as such has found another avenue in which to get into some pretty tough brawls. One of those occurred on Wednesday, as Ukrainians staged a rally in Kiev to protest a Russian language bill passed by parliament, making Russian, not Ukrainian, the official language in some formal settings in the former Soviet republic. For his efforts Klitschko and several other protestors got a dose of tear gas courtesy of riot police. The protest quickly turned violent, with police using batons and tear gas to subdue the crowd. Photographs show blood streaming from Klitschko’s left hand and him appearing to protect the hand as he is rushed out of the mob. However, Boente said that aside from the effects of the tear gas, Klitschko, who will defend his title on September 8th in Moscow against Manuel Charr, was “totally fine.” Klitschko has said that after his fight with Charr he will turn his focus to the October Ukrainian elections, where his party will attempt to secure more seats in Parliament. “I have spent a lot of time in Germany, in western Europe, in the U.S.,” Klitschko told SI.com in February. “I want the western life standards for my country. Ukraine is a young democracy with huge potential, but it doesn’t have those standards. I don’t want to wait for changes in my country. I know what has to change.” The language controversy is a sensitive issue here, as the Ukrainian language was banned from schools in the Russian Empire from 1804 until the Russian Revolution in the early 20th Century. It lived on in secrecy through folklore and storytelling, somewhat similar to the way that the U.S. government tried to stamp out some Native American languages in the 19th Century. Klitschko’s younger brother, Wladimir Klitschko, is the WBA Super, IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring heavyweight champion.

Ukraine Warned By Rights Groups, European Union

KIEV, Ukraine -- Freedom House released a report on Thursday reviewing the gradual loss of political freedoms in Ukraine. The report comes on the heels of a condemnation of the country by the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday, saying that the arrest of former Ukrainian interior minister, Yuri Lutsenko, was a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. Here's a closer look at the recent accusations and complaints against Ukrainian government policies. The report from Freedom House, entitled "Sounding the Alarm Round 2: Protecting Democracy in Ukraine," indicated that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was becoming intrusive, that the executive branch was consolidating its power, and that corruption, opposition to freedom of assembly, and the repression of free speech were worrying trends in Ukraine. David J. Kramer, president of Freedom House, noted that "In the coming weeks and months, Ukraine's leadership must make a choice between consolidating power through undemocratic means and advancing its nation's European aspirations." Freedom House warned that while they don't feel sanctions are needed yet, they are hopeful that even the threat of sanctions from the U.S. might change the course of Ukranian government. On June 8, Transparency International noted that Poland and Ukraine, as co-hosts of the UEFA Euro 2012 football championship, could see problems due to the Ukraine's poor standing on the Corruption Perceptions Index, the threat of boycott by European officials, construction delays, and accusations of xenophobia could all be problems. Ukraine had only a score of 2.3 out of 10, 10 being the best perception, and ranked at 152 of 182 countries. The German Foreign Ministry reported comments from Minister of State Cornelia Pieper on July 3, in which she said the judgement from the European Court of Human Rights "confirms our concerns about the rule of law and democracy in Ukraine." She warned that Ukraine was not allowing due process for the opposition. According to the Associated Press, opposition student activists took to the streets of Kiev on Thursday, angry about a change in law that will permit Russian to be used in courts, education, and government in the Russian-speaking area of Ukraine. The day before, another report from the AP indicated that protesters were angry that the bill might be responsible for keeping the country in the Russian sphere, and that the use of Russian could suppress the use of Ukrainian. Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn resigned, while riot police stopped protesters from blocking a government building in Kiev.