VZCZCXRO1811
RR RUEHIK RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHKV #2188/01 3081506
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031506Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY KYIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6667
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KYIV 002188 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/UMB 
USDOC FOR 4231/ITA/OEENIS/NISD/CLUCYK 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR ECON UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: U.S. AMBASSADOR VISITS SUMY IN 
NORTHEASTERN UKRAINE 
 
TREAT AS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Ambassador Taylor on September 25 became 
the first U.S. Ambassador to officially visit the Sumy Oblast 
(region) in northeastern Ukraine.  The Ambassador met with 
the Governor and the Mayor of the city of Sumy before 
attending Sumy's International Economic Forum.  He also spoke 
with young politicians representing four different political 
parties to discuss Ukraine's current political uncertainty. 
One theme heard repeatedly during the visit was that despite 
political unrest in Kyiv, Sumy leaders have learned to work 
together regardless of party loyalties to make the Sumy 
oblast a better place for its residents.  Sumy's large heavy 
industry sector and increased industrial growth have recently 
made Sumy more attractive to foreign investment.  In 
addition, Sumy shares a border with Russia and seems to be 
able to balance good relations with its northern neighbor 
without sacrificing opportunities to develop commercial ties 
with the West.  End summary. 
 
Political Background 
------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Sumy oblast, with a population of about 1.2 
million, borders Russia and has supported the Orange 
political forces since 2004.  Given its geographic proximity 
to Russia and to Kharkiv oblast, a Party of Regions 
stronghold, one might expect that Sumy would also lean in 
support of the Party of Regions, but it currently does not. 
Sumy Governor Mykola Lavryk told the Ambassador that one of 
the main reasons Sumy remains "Orange" is because Ukrainian 
President Viktor Yushchenko is a native son of Sumy, born in 
the town of Khoruzhivka.  (Note: in the September 2007 snap 
parliamentary elections the majority of Sumy residents voted 
"Orange" but Sumy residents preferred the block of Yuliya 
Tymoshenko (BYuT) over the President's party with 41% of 
voters supporting BYuT, 20.7% supporting the Party of Regions 
and only 14.9% supporting the pro-Presidential Our 
Ukraine-National Self-Defense block.  End note.) 
 
Sumy's Annual Economic Forum 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) On September 26, the Ambassador traveled 90 km 
outside of the oblast center Sumy to the resort "Bujmerivka" 
for the Sumy Fourth Annual International Economic Forum.  The 
Ambassador met with the Indian-born developers of the resort 
town, who were quite positive about commercial possibilities 
in Sumy.  The developers had created an outdoor retreat with 
swimming pools, tennis courts, and restaurants deep in the 
woods of Sumy.  Developers told the Ambassador that the Sumy 
oblast had been particularly supportive of foreign 
investment, which was evident during the course of the forum. 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to Sumy officials, its chemical and 
agricultural machinery industries have accelerated Sumy's 
economic growth.  In addition, Sumy's mining and iron ore 
production and oil and gas processing sectors have attracted 
additional interest in this "sleeper" oblast.  Sumy boasts a 
doubled industrial growth rate in 2007 and a production 
growth rate two times the national average. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Ambassador was joined at the forum by the 
Argentine Ambassador and several diplomats from neighboring 
countries, as well as a host of business representatives 
interested in doing business in Sumy.  Polish, Lithuanian, 
Russian, and German investors said Sumy openly welcomed 
foreign investment and were upbeat about Sumy's business 
potential. 
 
Meeting with Governor Lavryk 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Ambassador discussed the following points with 
Sumy Oblast Governor Mykola Lavryk on September 26: 
 
--Governor Lavryk was particularly pleased to be the first 
Sumy Governor to host a U.S. Ambassador, and considered it a 
positive sign of continued U.S. support for Sumy and Ukraine. 
 
--Lavryk was outspoken in support of Georgia during its 
crisis with Russia, and appreciated the U.S. support for 
Georgia. The Ambassador noted that President's Bush's visit 
and Vice President Cheney's visit were also signs of the 
 
KYIV 00002188  002 OF 003 
 
 
United States' continued support for Ukraine. 
 
--Discussing the common border with Russia, Lavryk noted that 
a recent Ukrainian survey revealed that Russia was using 
hundreds of hectares of land on the Ukrainian side of the 
border.   He said the GOU was currently taking back the land, 
but was not specific. 
 
--Lavryk conceded that he was not popular in Russia, 
recounting struggles  with Russia over transferring control 
of an Orthodox church from the Moscow Patriarchate to the 
Kyiv Patriarchate, and the dismantling of a prominent Lenin 
statue.  Nonetheless, Russia and Sumy maintained good 
commercial relations, Lavryk said.  He believed the overall 
quality of life on both sides of the border was about equal, 
and expressed confidence that Sumy could improve the quality 
of life by boosting economic growth and maintaining good 
commercial relations with Russia. 
 
--Lavryk expressed strong support for President Yushchenko. 
He said most of Sumy supports the President, since the 
President was born in Sumy oblast in the town of Khoruzhivka. 
 Governor Lavryk was previously the Governor of neighboring 
Chernihiv oblast from 2005-2007 and was appointed Governor of 
Sumy in April 2008 by President Yushchenko.  Lavryk asserted 
that only Yushchenko has the political ability and fortitude 
to keep Ukraine's democracy intact. 
 
--When asked how Ukraine should solve the ongoing political 
crisis,  Lavryk was adamant that only new elections could 
resolve the political crisis in Kyiv. He did not feel any 
coalition could be formed in lieu of elections. 
 
Meeting with Mayor Minayev 
-------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Ambassador discussed the following with Sumy 
Mayor Hennadiy Minayev: 
 
--Mayor Minayev (member of the Sumy-specific party Night 
Watch) told us he survived what he called  impeachment 
proceedings by a single vote in 2007.  He subsequently 
established an executive committee in which members of 
different parties are represented. The Mayor claimed that the 
committee helped him overcome party differences in the City 
Council.  All parties were now working together.  Separately, 
four members of the City Council, each representing different 
parties, reaffirmed that the Sumy City Council is now moving 
important projects forward and is not stymied by political 
unrest.  (Note: Party of Regions (POR) City Council Member 
Oleksiy Movchan told us that he had been instructed by POR 
leaders to vote against Minayev's impeachment, as POR leaders 
were afraid his impeachment would result in a BYuT member 
becoming Mayor.  End note.) 
 
--The Mayor told us he appointed successful Sumy businessmen 
Mykola Trofymenko, head of Sumy's largest chemical plant, and 
Volodymyr Pavchenko, a successful construction company owner, 
as his deputies to provide the economic leadership the City 
was in need of.  Trofymenko and Pavchenko alluded to the 
Ukrainian expression "Ukrainians unite one minute before the 
execution" to describe the Mayor,s impeachment proceedings. 
They explained that Minayev was able to assemble a powerful 
team of managers throughout the city who knew business and 
could implement best business practices as soon as possible. 
Minayev asserted that his decision to assemble such a 
business-minded team has resulted in great economic success 
for the city of Sumy and the oblast as well. 
 
--Minayev stressed Sumy,s chemical industry which mainly 
produces fertilizer as a means to further improve Sumy; he 
noted that Sumy-produced fertilizer cost four times less than 
U.S. fertilizer, adding that investment in Sumy,s chemical 
sector is a key city priority. 
 
--Minayev believed that all current deputies in the 
parliament should step down and new, younger politicians are 
needed. He called for Yushchenko, Tymoshenko, and Yanukovych 
to sit in a locked room together and hammer out all their 
differences, before being allowed to leave the room. He also 
viewed another election as the only probable way to resolve 
the political strife in Kyiv. 
 
Meeting with Young Politicians 
------------------------------ 
 
 
KYIV 00002188  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Ambassador had dinner with four young and 
engaging politicians from Sumy: Volodymyr Voitenko from BYuT, 
Vitaliy Moiseyenk from Our Ukraine, Oleksiy Movchan from 
Party of Regions, and Rodion Kochubei from the Night Watch 
party. (Note: Night watch is a political party founded in 
2004 by Sumy students who protested 2004 presidential 
election fraud; several Ukrainian historians believe the 
Orange Revolution was started when these students were 
arrested and beaten by police in Sumy.  End note.) These 
politicians discussed the following: 
 
--Although Kyiv seems unable to overcome party differences 
for the good of the country, Sumy City Council members have 
been able to do it.  All four politicians agreed there is a 
political will in Sumy that puts the needs of Sumy residents 
first, adding that they did not see that kind of 
multipartisanship in Kyiv. 
 
--All four politicians agreed that constant political 
instability in Kyiv did affect the oblast, especially since 
budget funds come from Kyiv.  They noted that Kyiv's 
inability to properly fund roads nationally is noticed by 
anyone who travels to Sumy by car.  They added that many 
citizens of Sumy had grown tired of political unrest, and 
commented that voter turn out in another election would 
probably be much lower than turnout for the September 2007 
snap elections. 
 
--Three of the four politicians believed Ukraine should join 
NATO, while Mr. Movchan from the Party of Regions (Party of 
Regions is a minority in both the oblast and city 
governments) was clearly against NATO membership.  Movchan 
expected that a national referendum would prove that the 
majority of Ukrainians do not support Ukraine's membership in 
NATO. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment.  The visit to Sumy underscored the notion 
that Kyiv's political uncertainty does not necessarily extend 
to other regions in Ukraine.  In fact, Sumy leadership 
asserted that parties can overcome their differences for the 
greater good and work reasonably well with each other.  Sumy 
officials have attributed economic growth to a willingness by 
Sumy officials to attract much-needed foreign investment, 
which they added is not the case in Kyiv at present.  The 
annual economic forum in Sumy showcased Sumy,s potential and 
its willingness to attract much-needed foreign investment to 
all of its business sectors to this largely unknown oblast. 
End comment. 
TAYLOR