Nah ae te ahem gee Eh ae!

} Nion

z Wor]
iY, q,

E es

» rent

ee | | or We pt! HbA i oho in ll La! Hl) Wy Ll | ae

| | as 75 years ago the first

Ukrainian immigrants came
bi to Canada, and played a ma-
it Tole In Opening up the prairie
ec The contribution they
i € in the agricultural deve-
parent of their adopted land
fis become a part of Canada’s
ory,
Soilay the sons and daughters,
andsons and grand-daughters
for these Ukrainian pioneers
Ge & goodly percentage of
Nadian tourists to the Soviet
eae and it is only natural
the they first visit the land of
st forefathers, the Ukraine.
€n I was in Kiev recently
€ several Ukrainian Can-
tourists, including 83-
es d William Pylypiv, son of
tive Tst Ukrainian to emigrate
@nada in 1891. He told me,

Proudly, that he had received a

I me
adian
Year-o]

™M welcome in his father’s -

Sass of Nebeliv, where the
fie turned out to greet him
ae traditional offerings of
an and salt. William must
father eet, Only eight when his
€r took him to Canada.
a at can one say about Kiev
se has not already been said?
fc Bie 400 years, from 862
ae 40, before the Mongols
ier Into Russia from’ Asia,
the | Was the foremost city in
oie Today it is one of the
pel Cities of the Soviet
» loved by its people as
Probably no other citysis,
ompletely destroyed by nazi
aders during the second
built : War, Kiev has been re-
More rom the ground up. and is
city beautiful than ever —.a
seq, Parks and playgrounds, a
Of green, named one of the

Six’ :
x “Hero Cities” of the USSR.

sop ating the war the city’s
by oo Population was reduced

- Who, anywhere in the
x. hasn’t heard of Babiy
le’ Where some 200,000 peo-
eostly Jews, were slaugh-
bY the nazis.
* Visited the Babiy Yar. Here
Soi] © spot, underneath this very
; Where Hitler’s troops ‘ma-
€gunned old men and wo-
j n, children, babes in arms:
8, Gypsies, Ukrainians.
very grass grows green, so
green, at Babiy Yar. And
Fgreen .is the memory of
Who perished. A monu-
Wea! be erected on this hal-
anniy 8round before the 50th
Voli ‘€tsary of the October Re-
inp .0" Next year. But the liv-
Monument to these victims

- By BERT WHYTE

Tribune Staff Correspondent

of fascism will be the complete
reconstruction of the whole dis-
trict surrounding. the’ ravine,
with parks and sports grounds,

new. apartments and modern

shopping centres.

Sergei Ostrovsky, vice-chair-
man of the state planning com-
mittee of the Ukrainian Soviet
Socialist Republic, told me some-
thing about the progress being
made.

“The Ukraine produces more
steel and pig iron than any state

- in Europe,” he said. “Our con-

tribution: to the overall produc-
tion of the Soviet Union is very
great — 50 percent of its pig
iron, 30 percent of its coal, over
30 percent of its natural gas,
about 30 percent of all chemical
products, 48 percent of the ma-
chinery for the steel industry, 34
percent of tractors and agricul-
tural machinery, about 25 per-
cent of its meat and 30 percent
of its butter.” :
And this, he reminded me, in
spite of the fact that the Ukra-

ine was overrun and destroyed

Ukraine today is

plant in Kharkov, p
left. The Donetsk Metallurgica
of the largest in the world.

for example, produces 500,000

twice since 1917 — first during
the Civil War and intervention
period, and again by the nazis
in World War II.

Hitler’s armies destroyed 714
Ukrainian cities and towns,
razed 16,000 industrial plants,
left 10 million people homeless.
After the war the Ukraine had
to start again from scratch.

In the past 20 years the visible

scars of war have disappeared.

Kiev and other cities have been
completely rebuilt. Industry is
flourishing and great progress

‘has been made in. agriculture,

despite several years of bad
weather.

“But much still remains to be
done,” said Ostrovsky. “We
haven’t yet solved our housing
problem; although 50 percent of
the people moved into new flats
during the last seven years. Con-

struction of new housing is one.

of the main. points in the Five
Wearsblany ee

“Progress has been registered
in the fieid of public health. Life
expectancy is now 75 ycars, as

Among Kiev's many beautiful buildings of the past
Is St. Vladimir's cathedral.

against only 47 years in 1926.
We have 5,000 hospitals and
polyclinics, and 23 doctors for
every 10,000 people. We have
built 445 sanatoria. Almost all

our ‘children go to summer.
camps. According to United Na-:

tions figures, our death rate is
the lowest in the world.”

' The vice-chairman of the state

planning committee: went on to
tell me about the new economic
system. By 1970 workers’ wages
will go up 20 percent and farm-
ers’ income will increase by 35
to 40 percent. Introduction of
the new system has just begun,
and it is too early to draw de-
finite conclusions, but some
good results can already be
seen. In the first six months of
this year the productivity of
labor increased by more than
seven percent, the plan was
overfulfilled by 12 percent and
bonus payments were more than
20 percent above the plan. In

- other words, living conditions of
the workers and farmers are im-

proving.
-

one the leading industrial nations of Europe. The Heavy Electrical Machinery
-watt turbogenerators such as those shown above and

I plant (right) boasts a continuous steel pouring installation that is one

-I would advise all foréign:
tourists visiting the Ukraine to
put Poltava on their itinerary.
Not only is it.a beautiful city,
with historic landmarks —. it
was founded ‘back in the 12th
century — but it boasts some of
the’ best hotels and best dining
Tooms. to be found :anywhere in
the state. : Pe
'I won’t say any more about:
Poltava itself, but would like to
mention a visit to a nearby state
farm, called Chutova, which
specializes in breeding quality
pigs and cows.

This state farm, with its 860
workers and about 5,500 acres
of land, is probably one of the
wealthiest in the area. It had
made good profits for 10 straight
years. Last year its planned pro-
fit was 85,500 roubles, but its”
actual profit turned out to be
190,764 roubles. Profits are used
for future development and. for
raising living standards..

The members of the state farm
live well. Pig farmers are paid
145 roubles a month, cattlemen
113 roubles, and combine driv-
ers 112 roubles. All families own
radios and many have TV sets,
fridges. and washing machines.
A good percentage build their
own homes, with the farm sup-

. plying a large free plot.

Semyon Pasetchnik, recently
awarded the Order of Lenin, has
been director of the farm since
-1955. “Our main aim is not to
produce meat, but pigs of high
quality for breeding purposes,”
he told me. “These pigs are sold
not only in the Ukraine, but all
over the USSR.” The average
pig weighs some 250 kilos and
the prize boars in the neighbor-
hood of 400 kilos.

Cows are next in importance
to pigs and the farm has 17 top
quality bulls, which serve (by
artificial insemination) all the
farms: in: the Poltava district.

' Last year 17,000 cows were ser-

viced.

The farm also raises quality
sheep, has 8,000 chickens and
ducks, and grows corn and other
crops.

What made the farm interest-
ing to me was its emphasis on
raising the quality of livestock.
Under the new Five Year Plan
the’ Soviet Union is striving to
improve the quality of industrial
and agricultural products, and it
is obvious that the Chutova
state farm is playing its part in
this battle. ; :

December 2, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 9