06 - Jan - 2000

Ukraine hits 2000 without a hitch

By PETER BYRNE, Post Staff Writer

Computer experts insist the Y2K computer glitch was more than just a product of someone's imagination. It will be hard to convince Ukrainians of that.

As the clock struck midnight across Ukraine's territory on the night of Dec. 31, lights remained on, trains functioned normally and planes flew in the right direction. No glitches were reported at Ukraine's 14 non-nuclear power plants, nor at hospitals, where some feared life-sustaining equipment might fail. In short, none of the disruptions many expected the Y2K problem to bring to Ukraine took place as the calendar turned on 2000.

"The situation at enterprises and organizations throughout Ukraine remains unchanged," Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Oleh Bykov told the Post Jan. 4.

Fears that the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, whose computers many experts thought would misread the 2000 date and halt the facility's operation during the rollover from Dec. 31, also proved unfounded.

"Everything is fine, and the plant is operating normally," Chernobyl's duty manager Oleksandr Oleseyuk said Jan. 1.

Ukraine's smooth transition into the year 2000 sharply contrasted with strong warnings from the West that Ukraine's outdated technology, especially at its Soviet-era nuclear power plants, would fall prey to the Y2K bug. A U.S. Central Intelligence Agency report to Congress on Oct. 31 said that Ukraine was "especially vulnerable" to Y2K disruptions, and Y2K concerns drove the U.S. government to offer selected personnel in Ukraine, Russia and Moldova paid leave over the New Year's holiday.

Ukrainian officials steadfastly defended their preparation efforts all along, some even going as far as accusing the United States and other foreign governments of trying to undermine the country by blowing the problem out of proportion.

"It was very offensive for us," said Vasyl Durdynets, head of Ukraine's Emergency Situations Ministry, which ran a special crisis center on New Year's night.

Officials were gushing when the year 2000 arrived without a hitch. "We are continuing a normal life of a normal state regardless of the fact that many foreigners fled the country out of fear of disruption," Durdynets said.

It remained unclear whether Ukraine's smooth ride into 2000 was a testament to Ukraine's strong preparation efforts, or if it was a simple indicatation that the problem had been blown out of proportion.

The Ukrainian government elected to complement its own preparation efforts. "What we see today is the outcome of nearly two years of work," said Oleksandr Baranov of the government's Y2K commission. Yet Ukraine openly admitted throughout early 1999 that it had done little to address the Y2K problem, appealing to the United States for millions of dollars in financial assistance, which it eventually received. Meanwhile, Ukrainian and American Y2K prevention teams have been silent all along about the nature of their efforts. That makes it even harder to determine the real reason Ukraine passed the Y2K test with flying colors. For instance, the U.S. Department of Energy, which was behind one multi-million dollar Y2K-prevention project in Ukraine, gave out precious few details as to the nature of its project. The unclear nature of Ukraine's U.S.-assisted preparation efforts did not [prevent] the U.S. Embassy's energy section from applauding those efforts.

"We dealt with it quietly, but effectively," said Sally Cornfeld, the U.S. Department of Energy liaison in Kyiv. Meanwhile, U.S. Embassy officials said the employees who had left the country were set to come back soon.

"The [U.S.] Embassy in Moscow has sent a cable authorizing the return of embassy employees, and we expect to follow suit shortly," said Roxanne Cabral of the embassy's economic section said Jan. 4.

Source: KYIV Post, Issue #001; Ukraine, Russia

http://www.thepost.kiev.ua/

-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), February 12, 2000