[People describing themselves as Rusyny represent a social and political movement and claim the status of an ethnic group for themselves. However, the official Kyiv, citing the opinion of scholars and historians, questions credibility of such claims – Ed.]

Preparing a document on foreign trade between Lviv oblast and the United States, local officials made a Lviv pottery-making company No. 2 earner of American currency in the Lviv oblast!

Is this important information a fair compensation for a most uncommon interpretation of the term Rusyny Mr. Taylor has offered? No way. It’s rather a manifestation of our utter ingratitude – since the pottery-making company has been bankrupt for a number of years now!

Intrestingly, head of Lviv oblast administration foreign links department Taras Vozniak would not comment on the breath-taking commercial success of the deadbeat Lviv pottery plant. Meanwhile, deputy Lviv mayor Vasyl Kosiv has reasonably suggested that the information about the pottery company sales in America might be outdated.

There’s the rub: the official info released by the oblast state administration about the pottery plant’s profits will send tax inspectors rushing to the ill-fated company.

This way or another, Lviv officials have fed false information to the US ambassador, sending waves in the Ukrainian diplomatic pond.