cheap caviar

oleksandr tkachenko, a lawmaker and former parliament speaker from the communist party, once wanted to be president of ukraine. he ran for the office 10 years ago and got the political drubbing of his life. his career has now degenerated into grabbing a microphone from a television journalist and throwing it down the stairs.

the altercation took place sept. 1 on the second floor of the parliament building after stb tv parliament correspondent olga chervakova asked tkachenko to clarify remarks he made a day earlier about banning journalists from the parliament cafeteria.

tkachenko told chervakova that reporters should spend less time making the rounds of the verkhovna rada cafeteria and the parliament foyer and more time talking with agricultural and industrial workers. he slapped the microphone and walked off, pursued by chervakova. tkachenko then grabbed the stb microphone and hurled it down the stairs. security guards stopped the film crew from pursuing the lawmaker into an area restricted to the press.

television footage of the incident posted to the youtube website became an instant hit, registering more than 20,000 views as of sept. 3.

parliament deputies are often sensitive about their lavish lifestyles; they drive fancy cars, live in posh apartments and wear expensive clothes.

but there is one perk that lawmakers enjoy that few constituents even know about: they get to eat in exclusive cafeterias – one in the verkhovna rada building and another across the street.

rada leaders over the years have kept the dining halls open to the press for interviews and gossip, but briefly withdrew the privilege in may 2002.

the temporary restriction upset card-carrying members of the press, prompting one irreverent flak to tape a note near the cafeteria’s entrance that read: “stop feeding the fat deputies.”

when the dust settled, the ban was lifted and the journalists were back in line at the stolovaya eating alongside the lawmakers, tkachenko among them. journalists are forbidden to photograph deputies in the cafeterias and the menu.

in addition to lifting morale, the cafeterias help an important aspect of the legislative process: they allow deputies to hold informal and open discussions with colleagues about sensitive topics, ranging from tax evasion to presidential impeachment. deputies are not allowed by law to receive free food, but the books don’t say anything about cheap food, which is what the exclusive stolovayas offer.

the rada dining hall, located in the basement of the rada on hrushevskoho street, is a long and windowless corridor containing about two dozen formica tables. lined with plexiglass food cases, deputies can choose from an array of salads and sweets, rolls and pies, and cheap canapes with caviar. new walls and tiled floors were installed in the eatery during late 2006.

a canteen in one corner offers a wide variety of goodies that can be purchased for immediate consumption or doled out later to folks back home. at both ends of the room, a closed-circuit television broadcasts live proceedings from the legislative floor.

two other cafeterias, located across the street on sadovaya, sandwiched between office buildings belonging to the rada administration, are more modest. these places are less plush. dingy carpet on the floor and dull fluorescent lighting give them a rather charmless atmosphere.

but it is not ambiance that the lawmakers, staffers and journalists who frequent the cafeterias are looking for. they come to fill their stomachs – many of them quite large – with good, cheap food in a hurry before the bell is rung, sending them lumbering up two flights of stairs or across the street into the legislative chamber.