Senior Democrat on House Oversight Panel Demands Accounting

for U.S. Government Funds Funneled to Back Yushchenko-Led 'Orange Revolution' in Ukraine, Despite Official White House Denials

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/12-16-2004/0002636908&EDATE

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Rising concerns over an estimated $65
million in U.S. taxpayer money used to influence the outcome of the Ukrainian
presidential election, despite denial from the White House, have prompted
United States Representative Edolphus Towns (D-NY) to request an
investigation. Specifically, evidence is mounting that U.S. official funds
were funneled to the support of organizations with a known preference for
candidate Viktor Yushchenko, and that these organizations were key elements in
mobilizing Ukraine's "orange revolution" that sprung up election eve with
tents, equipment and huge plasma screens "spontaneously."
"Information in the public domain indicates that a significant portion of
the reportedly $65 million spent during the past two years, for such programs
in Ukraine, may have been given to organizations with a known partisan agenda
in support of one of the presidential candidates," wrote Representative Towns,
Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Government Efficiency and
Financial Management, in a Dec. 14, 2004 letter to Andrew Natsios,
Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID), believed to be the agency responsible for most of the funding for
pro-Yushchenko forces. "Such a bias would be inconsistent with public claims
by the Administration that the United States is impartial in the Ukrainian
election, and this would contribute to a negative image of the United States
for unwarranted interference in that country's domestic affairs."
In his letter to Administrator Natsios, Representative Towns asks for 1)
the total amount of funds provided by USAID to nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs) for fiscal years 2003, 2004, and 2005 to support ostensible "democracy"
and "civil society" programs in Ukraine; 2) the names of organizations
receiving these funds and the amounts received by each; 3) the programs for
which the funds were intended for use and how they actually were used; and 4)
an accounting of how much of the funds were used to support or oppose a
particular Ukrainian political party or candidate. Representative Towns
notes, as an example, that USAID funds the Poland-America-Ukraine Cooperation
Initiative (PAUCI), which in turn distributed sub-grants to numerous NGOs that
clearly display their partisan support for Viktor Yushchenko on their Web
sites -- and which some have sought to conceal when such funding became a
matter for official scrutiny. Numerous other PAUCI sub-grantees are also
believed to have such an agenda but do so covertly.
Representative Towns specifically asked about the "questionable
expenditure" of U.S. taxpayer funds by USAID to fund an organization with a
known pro-Yushchenko agenda, the US-Ukraine Foundation (USUF). USUF, co-
founded by Viktor Yushchenko's wife Kateryna Chumacheko (who also served on
USUF's board in the past), co-sponsored several election observation missions
to Ukraine in 2004 with the Association of Former Members of Congress. The
observations of supposedly "objective" monitors sponsored by transparently
biased organizations like USUF were a major factor in setting into motion the
Yushchenko camp's efforts to seize power based on one-sided claims of
electoral fraud. "The funding of this or any biased organization, for
sponsoring election observers from the United States, appears particularly
ill-advised give the decisive impact reports from such observers have had on
perceptions of Ukraine's electoral process," wrote Representative Towns.
For example, one of the delegates serving as on USUF's election
observation missions was former U.S. Representative John Conlan, who on at
least two separate occasions offered Viktor Yushchenko political support in a
March 18, 2004 Kyiv Post oped "Viktor Yushchenko: Victor or Vanquished? Help
is Needed, and Fast," and at a February 7, 2003 Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace symposium, "Current Political Situation in Ukraine." In
the Kyiv Post oped, Conlan offers a list of "steps" that Mr. Yushchenko should
take in order to turn his campaign around including recommending that "winners
get a professional audit done of their campaign organizations. An audit would
include preparation and plans by a highly experienced western campaign
manager, preferably one who knows Ukraine." At the end of the oped, Conlan
states that he has managed 25 political campaigns and lives in Kyiv. At the
February 7, 2003 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace symposium,
Representative Conlan tells Mr. Yushchenko, "I have [an offer] of help for
him, if he and [Yushchenko for President Chief of Staff] Mr. [Oleh] Rybachuk
are interested ... I can show you how to get one of the top TV networks and
one of the top radio networks on your side." But because Mr. Conlan's
preferences coincided with those of USUF, that foundation evidently saw no
obstacle to his serving on their USAID-funded observer mission.

This material is distributed by DBC Public Relations Experts on behalf of
Viktor F. Yanukovych, candidate for the office of President of Ukraine.
Additional information is on file with the Department of Justice, Washington,
District of Columbia.

SOURCE Viktor F. Yanukovych, candidate for the office of
President of Ukraine