Information on the Chernobyl Fund in 1992, including its financial contributors, on whether the Ukrainian government supported the fund, and on whether the Ukrainian government was involved in the selection of children who benefited from the Chernobyl Fund [UKR21593.E]

In telephone interviews on 3 and 4 October 1995, a research analyst who specializes in Ukrainian domestic issues at Prague's Open Media Research Institute (OMRI), a research enterprise dedicated to the study of the former Soviet Union and east-central and south-eastern Europe, provided the following information; the data is valid from 1992 to the present. Several funds have been established to aid the victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The United Nations Trust Fund for Chernobyl relies on United Nations members to provide funding. The Children of Chernobyl Relief Fund based in Short Hills, New Jersey, is administered by Ukrainian Americans and receives money from individuals, corporations and other organizations.

The research analyst stated that the Kiev-based Chernobyl Fund, although not a government body, utilizes government staff and services to carry out its functions. The government allots the Chernobyl Fund between four and five per cent of the annual government budget, and this amount is financed by a twelve per cent payroll surcharge that is borne by employers. State enterprises, whose industrial output continues to exceed that of the private sector, contribute the major portion. The research analyst did not know if there are other financial contributors to the fund.

The research analyst could not provide information on whether the Ukrainian government was involved in the selection of children who benefited from the Chernobyl Fund in 1992, nor could this information be found among the other sources consulted by the DIRB.

For additional information on the Chernobyl Relief Fund and other organizations established to aid the Chernobyl victims, please consult Response to Information Request UKR16162.E of 21 January 1994.

For information on business payments to the Chernobyl Fund, please consult the first two paragraphs on the second page of The Washington Times article. For a reference to the Ukraine-Chernobyl Fund raising money internationally, please consult the Defense Cleanup attachment. For information on funding of the UN Chernobyl Fund, please consult the Pravda attachment. For information on North American families contributing to a "Chernobyl fund," please consult the News Tribune attachment.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References


Open Media Research Institute (OMRI), Prague. 4 October 1995. Telephone interview with research analyst.

_____. 3 October 1995. Telephone interview with research analyst.

Attachments

Defense Cleanup []. 4 September 1992. "LATA GETS Chernobyl Cleanup." (NEXIS)

News Tribune [Woodbridge, NJ]. 9 September 1994. South King County Edition. Marc Powell. "Children of Chernobyl Get Holiday From Poison." (NEXIS)

Pravda [Moscow, in Russian]. 27 September 1991. V. Linnik. "Money Was Given, But 100 Times Less Than Expected." (Russian Press Digest 27 Sept. 1991/NEXIS)

The Washington Times. 20 June 1994. Final Edition. Lesia Rudakewych. "Ukraine Inflation, Taxes Suffocate Firms at Birth." (NEXIS)

Other Sources Consulted

DIRB country file on Ukraine.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Reports. Daily.

News from Helsinki Watch [New York]. Monthly.

Other oral sources.

RFE/RL Research Reports [Munich]. Weekly.