The presentation of the new governor of Volyn – until yesterday the region's leading opposition figure Volodymyr Bondar – began with a slight delay. Ukraine's chief European integrator Oleh Rybachuk, who was to officially present the head of the regional state administration to the public, diplomatically held a pause and entered the session hall of the regional council, where the "inauguration" of the newly appointed head of the region was taking place, together with its old and new masters – Vasyl Dmytruk and Volodymyr Bondar – 15 minutes later than the appointed time. Long before the cherished 1:00 p.m. on Valentine's Day, for which the public's rendezvous with the new authorities had been scheduled, the session hall of the Volyn Regional Council was filled with deputies, journalists, clergy, officials, staff members of the now-people's President, public figures and simply curious people. And the people kept coming and coming… Then the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration entered the hall, accompanied by the new-old leaders of the region. The audience greeted this trio with almost an ovation. Naturally, Oleh Borysovych was the first to speak. He congratulated those present on the new, people's, European, world-recognized President, and noted that Yushchenko had asked him to convey that he highly values the support of Volyn residents. Mr. Rybachuk noted that, presenting his fellow party members for the positions of heads of regional state administrations, he increasingly realizes that the government is "ours." "It's hard to believe that both the police and the government are 'ours,'" Oleh Borysovych shared his delight. And accordingly, "a policeman is a friend, and a tax official is a protector." Or, at least, should be. Oleh Rybachuk also expressed his conviction that the new authorities have no right to disappoint Ukrainians. Therefore, they must be "holier than the Pope." And Volodymyr Bondar fully meets these requirements. That is, in the person of Mr. Bondar, we will have honest government in Volyn. Next according to the script, Volodymyr Nalkovych himself was to speak. He was noticeably nervous. For the first time in the past few years, Bondar read from a piece of paper, stumbling over words and worrying. From his "oath" of loyalty to Volyn residents, it became clear that: a) Mr. Bondar is aware of his responsibility for the actions of the new authorities; b) the authorities in Volyn will not steal and will be open; c) bandits go to prison, or at least lawbreakers get fired. Volodymyr Bondar also set out his vision for activity at the head of the region. In particular, the new governor sees the region's prospects in deepening the cross-border cooperation program and using the region's transit potential. To this end, Volyn's transport network will be developed, and the quality of international border crossings will be brought up to the standards of old Mother Europe. In the short term, extensive agriculture in the region will be changed to intensive. "Green tourism" will not lag behind either. In a word, relying on the will of the people, Mr. Bondar plans to transform the "rural outskirts" into a "highly developed, intellectually rich, industrially powerful region." Next to speak was the head of the Volyn Regional Council, Vasyl Dmytruk, who asked Mr. Rybachuk to convey to the President that "Volyn residents know how to vote and know how to work." He wanted to ingratiate himself with Oleh Borysovych in every way (this was noticeable from Dmytruk's facial expression), so he decided to continue Rybachuk's thesis that "if Ukraine joins Europe in stages, then Volyn – first of all." However, Vasyl Pavlovych failed to do this effectively: "We will be the rearguard… (the hall made noise) …or whatever??? The vanguard!.. see how you know everything… We will be the vanguard of integration into Europe," Vasyl Dmytruk finally finished his study of foreign words. As it turned out 13.5 years ago, "we walked ahead of everyone, but ended up behind everyone. And no wonder: after all, we were going the wrong way… (c)" So Vasyl Pavlovych apparently decided to play it safe… At the end of his brief speech, Mr. Dmytruk expressed hope that from the existing positive and bitter experience of cooperation between the representative and executive branches of power in Volyn, the bitter experience would not be repeated. After these words, he asked permission to present flowers to the new head of the regional state administration. The hall granted permission. Huge armfuls of orange roses, which matched the Deputy Prime Minister's bright orange tie, were presented to Bondar by Regional Council head Dmytruk and Oleh Rybachuk himself. As a bonus from the hall, Volodymyr Nalkovych received a bouquet from Alla Opeida. Also of roses. Orange ones…