UKRAINE/GUAM: NEW MFA TEAM IN CHARGE, TIMING OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 000131

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/18/2017
TAGS: PREL KDEM MARR RS AZ GG MD UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE/GUAM: NEW MFA TEAM IN CHARGE, TIMING OF
CHARTER RATIFICATION REMAINS UNCERTAIN

REF: KYIV 4229

Classified By: Acting DCM Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4(b,d)


1. (SBU) Summary. The Ukrainian MFA team overseeing GUAM
issues told us they anticipate approval of the GUAM Charter
bill in the Rada session that starts February 6. However
Rada Foreign Policy Committee Chairman Vitaliy Shybko, a
Socialist Party member, was more pessimistic. He noted the
opposition to GUAM by the Communist Party, a member of the
governing coalition, and was noncommittal when asked when the
vote on the Charter might occur. The MFA team said that the
law on privileges and immunities for GUAM Secretariat
personnel should be approved at the next GUAM Summit in June
and that the Secretariat premises should be ready for
occupancy in November. They envision a strong Secretariat as
key to energizing GUAM, particularly the eight substantive
working groups. The MFA also felt that GUAM would be more
effective if it focused at the outset only on a few issues,
among them energy security, trade and transportation
facilitation, and a movement towards European standards. End
Summary.


2. (SBU) We met with Acting Head of the MFA's Political
Department Oleksandr Tsvietkov, Executive Director of the
GUAM Information Office Heorhiy Nazarov, who recently
replaced Yevhen Koziy, and Political Department GUAM desk
officer Victor Ponomariov January 10 to discuss recent GUAM
developments, including Ukraine's plans for making the
organization more effective and prospects for getting the
Secretariat up and running. Tsvietkov noted that the

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Political Department oversaw GUAM issues at the MFA because
most decisions on GUAM-related issues at this stage were
political ones requiring coordination with a number of other
MFA offices. Once GUAM was fully stood up as a regional
organization, responsibilities for GUAM would probably be
transferred to the MFA's International Organizations
department.

Current Problems
--------------


3. (SBU) The Rada bill to approve the GUAM Charter is
scheduled to be considered in the next session which starts
on February 6. Tsvietkov said he anticipated approval but
noted the issue is "sensitive." When we spoke with the Rada
Foreign Policy Committee Chairman Vitaliy Shybko (Socialist)
January 12, he sounded more pessimistic. He highlighted the
continuing opposition to GUAM by coalition member the
Communist Party, which views GUAM as an anti-Russian
organization. Shybko was noncommittal when asked when there
might be a vote on the Charter. (Note: The Charter bill was
submitted to the Rada on September 2 but has not been brought
to a vote, despite President Yushchenko's December 8 call to
do so.)


4. (C) Tsvietkov opined that Moldova was waiting for
Ukrainian parliamentary action before its own parliament
passed the Charter, as a way of political cover and avoiding
complication of Moldova's relations with Russia. In addition
to the Charter, Nazarov said there needed to be a separate
agreement defining the relationship between the GUAM
Secretariat as an international organization and the host

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nation, i.e., Ukraine. He had reviewed the law on privileges
and immunities for Secretariat personnel when he assumed his
duties as head of the Information Office and suggested
several changes, which he expected to be finalized at the
upcoming National Coordinator's meeting and approved at the
Baku GUAM Summit in June. The approved agreement on
privileges and immunities would then be submitted to the Rada.


5. (U) Nazarov said renovation work for the Secretariat
building would not be completed until November, at the
earliest. He noted that money for the renovation work was in
the 2007 budget, but time would be needed to develop the
project, announce a tender, and complete the work. The MFA
was also negotiating with Kyiv city authorities to extend the
one-year lease to ten years.


6. (C) Nazarov said all countries except Moldova had
designated a Secretariat staff member (each member state
seconds an official to work on the four-person GUAM
international staff) and approved in principle an annual
$120,000 contribution per member to GUAM. Moldova had wanted
to save money by having a diplomat at its Embassy in Kyiv
also serve part-time as Moldova's contribution to the GUAM
Secretariat's full-time international staff. The other GUAM

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members rejected this approach. Nazarov explained Moldova
had not understood that GUAM members were obligated not only
to pay dues but also to pay the salary and other costs of
providing an international staff member to the Secretariat.

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As always, financial questions were problematic for Moldova.
The Ukrainian MFA expected Moldova would be slow to pay its
annual contribution but it understood Moldova's financial
constraints and would be flexible if, for example, Moldova
wanted to make its contributions on a quarterly basis instead
of in one lump sum.

And Some Small Reforms
--------------


7. (SBU) Nazarov envisioned a strong Secretariat as key to
energizing GUAM, but, in the meantime, was working as
director of the GUAM Information Office to make operational
improvements. He said his efforts focused on improving GUAM
member coordination within international organizations and
strengthening GUAM's eight working groups. He hoped the
Ukrainian government, for its part, could develop an
"enforcement mechanism" to require lead ministries to take
their role in the GUAM working groups more seriously. The
Energy Working Group, for example, rarely met under the
leadership of the Ukrainian Ministry of Fuels and Energy even
though it should be meeting twice yearly. Tsvietkov said
that GUAM would be more effective if it focused on a few
strategic areas, such as energy security, trade and
transportation facilitation, and compliance with EU
standards. Nazarov also said the chairmanships of the
working groups should be made permanent, rather than rotating
with the GUAM presidencies, as is the case now.

Comment: Nazarov Eager, but Four Countries Must Deliver
-------------- --------------


8. (C) During the course of our conversation, we were
impressed that Nazarov was anxious to make an impact as
Executive Director. He did not refrain from pointing out
weaknesses in the work of his predecessors or his
dissatisfaction with the accomplishments of the working
groups. He provided clear timelines for renovation of the
Secretariat premises. We are hopeful that he can work

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aggressively to operationlize GUAM and make it more
effective.


9. (SBU) We share the view that the Secretariat will be the
key to operationalizing GUAM as a regional organization. It
would provide a concrete contact point for GUAM as opposed to
the current four disparate MFA POCs, and it would greatly
improve the internal coordination and decision making process
within GUAM. Once the Secretariat is operational, the USG
GUAM-Framework assistance program will help the Secretariat
establish an accounting system for its budget in line with
international norms. In the months ahead, Post will continue
to look for ways to help the GOU move forward on the steps it
must complete for the Secretariat to become operational in

2007. However, other members states will also have to follow
through on their deliverables if the GUAM Secretariat is to
be a reality in 2007.


10. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
Taylor