According to Ambassador Morningstar's own report to Congress, Ukraine is receiving the third lowest per capita assistance among the 12 new independent states (NIS) of the former Soviet Union. In addition, of the funds allocated for the nations of the NIS, the rate of expenditure for Ukraine is [also] the third lowest. In other words, the Clinton administration has decided to spend the mandated level of assistance to Ukraine as slowly as possible. If the delay was due to the slow pace of economic reform in Ukraine, ... then how does one explain the high rate of expenditure for countries such as Turkmenistan, Tajikistan (a Communist country) and other NIS nations that are light years behind Ukraine in economic reform. ... Credits and insurance ... to Russia (three times the size of Ukraine) has been 10 times the amount provided to Ukraine. ... Russia received over five times the amount of benefit from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs that Ukraine received. (Eugene M. Iwanciw, Letter to the editor, The Ukrainian Weekly, October 27, 1996, p. 7) |