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vol. 16, issue 33

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2 News

AUGUST 19, 2011

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August 19, 2011

Vol. 16, Issue 33 Copyright © 2011

publisher. All material in the Kyiv Post is protected

Ukraine’s top 10 achievements

by Ukrainian and international laws. The views

BY KATERYNA PANOVA

expressed in the Kyiv Post are not necessarily

PANOVA@KYIVPOST.COM

by Kyiv Post The material published in the Kyiv Post may not be reproduced without the written consent of the

the views of the publisher nor does the publisher carry any responsibility for those views. Газета “Kyiv Post” видається ТОВ “ПаблікМедіа”.

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прим. Ціна за домовленістю. Матерiали, надрукованi в газетi “Kyiv Post” є власнiстю видавництва, захищенi мiжнародним та українським законодавством i не можуть бути вiдтворенi у будь(якiй формi без письмового дозволу Видавця. Думки, висловленi у дописах не завжди збiгаються з поглядами видавця, який не бере на себе вiдповiдальнiсть за наслiдки публiкацiй. Засновник ТОВ “Паблік-Медіа” Головний редактор Брайан Боннер Адреса видавця та засновника співпадають: Україна, м. Київ, 01034, вул. Прорізна, 22Б Реєстрацiйне свiдоцтво Кв № 15261(3833ПР від 19.06.09. Передплатний індекс ДП Преса 40528 Надруковано ТОВ «Новий друк», 02660, Київ, вулиця Магнітогорська, 1, тел.: 559-9147 Замовлення № 11-5440 Аудиторське обслуговування ТОВ АФ “ОЛГА Аудит” З приводу розміщення реклами звертайтесь: +380 44 234-65-03. Відповідальність за зміст реклами несе замовник.

Mailing address: Kyiv Post, Prorizna Street 22B, Kyiv, Ukraine, 01034 Advertising tel. +380 44 234-65-03 fax +380 44 234-63-30 advertising@kyivpost.com Editorial staff tel. +380 44 234-65-00 fax +380 44 234-30-62 news@kyivpost.com Subscriptions Nataliia Protasova tel. +380 44 234-64-09 fax +380 44 234-63-30 subscribe@kyivpost.com Distribution Serhiy Kuprin tel. +380 44 234-64-09 fax +380 44 234-63-30 distribution@kyivpost.com Marketing Iuliia Panchuk tel. +380 44 234-30-40 fax +380 44 234-63-30 marketing@kyivpost.com

As Ukraine reaches its 20th birthday, it can look back on its youth as a time of trials and difficulties, but also of successes. Not only did Ukraine avoid a bloody war for its independence, it preserved some good Soviet things – for example the space and aviation industries.

Compared to other former Soviet countries, Ukrainians enjoy a vast amount of freedom – from democratic liberties to religion – and seem to be now heading toward deeper relations with the Europe.

With the help of international experts, the Kyiv Post has put together a list of Ukraine’s 10 greatest achievements.

Without bloodshed Ukraine not only achieved its independence without a bloody conflict, it also kept the peace for 20 years – a long time given the country’s often bloody past. “It has maintained peace with all its neighbors and avoided civil strife and armed conflicts within its borders, whether social or ethnic or religious – for a full 20 years. This is an accomplishment without precedent in all of Ukrainian history,” said Roman Szporluk, a professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard University.

Szporluk also points out that those who compare the performance of independent Ukraine with Baltic nations or Central European countries overlook the fact that Ukraine had no interwar period of independence between 1918 and 1939: instead it experienced the Holodomor famine and Stalin’s Great Terror.

Space, aviation and arms Ukraine is one of the world’s few countries with a space industry. The world’s most ecologically-friendly carrier rocket Zenith 3SL, made in Ukraine by the Pivdenmash company, is part of the Sea Launch program, along with firms from the United States, Russia and Norway. This service launches commercial payloads into space from the sea. Ukraine has also created Mriya and Ruslan, the largest cargo aircrafts in the world.

“Ukraine managed to preserve its space and military industries better than Russia. This is quite an achievement, and it is actually due to your exPresident Leonid Kuchma, who used to

be Pivdenmash director,” said Stanislav Belkovsky, a Russian political expert.

The long-range radar system Kolchuga, manufactured in Donetsk and worth approximately $24 million, is one of the world’s best and most in demand, said Valetyn Badrak, a Ukrainian military expert. Moreover, Ukrainian tank and helicopter engines are highly valued on the world market.

“We can be proud that Ukraine is still there as a major global armament player, and even able to compete with NATO countries,” Badrak added.

A young woman celebrates in the rain at the 2010 Kraina Mriy festival in Kyiv.

(Alexey Furman)

Democracy Ukraine is still a “partly free” country, unlike neighbors Russia and Belarus, according to U.S.-based democracy watchdog Freedom House. “The relatively pro-democratic development of Ukraine has been a major success,” said Andreas Umland, an associate professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

Russian analyst Belkovsky forecast that, despite some policy changes made

by President Viktor Yanukovych since 2010, Ukraine will never see a Russianstyle authoritarian regime because Ukrainian elites are more democracyfriendly.

Orange Revolution During the 2004 Orange Revolution, Ukrainians stood up for their rights and succeeded in forcing a re-run of fraud-tainted elections – an important step for a maturing society.

“The Orange Revolution – a peaceful one – showed the world that Ukrainians can keep together. And that is what Ukraine is mainly remembered for now in the world,” said Hanne Severinsen, co-rapporteur of the monitoring committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Religion, free speech Ukrainians enjoy a vast amount of freedom when it comes to religion and press – and that is drastically different from the Soviet times.

“By looking at some of the neighboring countries who gained their freedom and independence at the same time as Ukraine, we can learn to appreciate some of the accomplishments of Ukraine. Not only religious freedom and tolerance, but in general the level of national and ethnic tolerance and respect are quite an accomplish- Æ13

2011

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3

August 19, 2011 Advertisement

3BX .JML 1SJDF $PNQSPNJTF )PX UP SFBDI

T

he prices for raw milk have skyrocketed in the past months and soared 27 percent in January-June 2011 in comparison to those of finished dairy products (10%).

As farmgate milk prices go up, the customer risks to end up paying for it. Dairy producers are forced to iron out the difference at costs of their own profits and become squeezed up in terms of margin which is already insufficient today.

Raw milk price hike has become the main agendasetting point of the meeting of EBA Dairy Committee with the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine held on August 5, 2011. EBA Dairy Committee unites major milk-processing companies that supply over 30% of milk collection and employ over 20 000 people in Ukraine.

Taking into account the dairy prices fuctuation, EBA Dairy Committee members took the first step to establish active cooperation between AMCU and milk processors to help the dairy industry get back on track and curb the milk price volatility. The business voiced the necessity to outline a raft of policy measures sustaining predictable and effective business environment within the local dairy market.

p&#" %BJSZ $PNNJUUFF NFNCFST QSPDVSF PWFS PG NJML DPMMFDUJPO BOE FNQMPZ PWFS QFPQMF JO 6LSBJOFq In the course of the meeting the parties hammered out that in order to prevent big ups and downs in raw milk pricing, the most important is to establish state mechanisms to coordinate farmgate price. In case the Government does not anchor raw milk price formula, price jump could exert upward pressure on the end consumers of dairy products and trigger weaker consumption.

The government should mediate wisely between all sides of the procurement process – farmers, manufacturers and consumers. However, state interference into milk processing companies’ activities should be minimised to secure level playing field and fair play on

p5IF QSJDFT GPS SBX NJML IBWF TLZ SPDLFUFE JO UIF QBTU NPOUIT BOE TPBSFE QFSDFOU JO +BOVBSZ +VOF JO DPNQBSJTPO UP UIPTF PG GJOJTIFE EBJSZ QSPEVDUT q

We have been a buffer between the farmers, the consumers and huge seasonal price swings. Despite this fact, the media, the government and a large number of consumers perceive that the prices of dairy products are rising for no good reason!? So we need to explain more on behalf of the industry and to ask the authorities to look at the price movements in the whole value change.

the dairy market. Price analysis carried out by government on a long-term basis should mirror all stages of manufacturing process and ensure that all participants of the supply chain benefit. Milk has always been a staple in the nutrition, hence stable and reasonable prices are vital.

DARIO MARCHETTI General Director, Danone & Unimilk Ukraine EBA Dairy Committee Chairman

E

ach year Ukraine undergoes a period of milk surplus followed by a period of milk shortage.

Milk surplus is usually monitored at the market in summer when the individuals (widely-known as “milk babushkas”) sell off their excess milk, while the shortage is detected in winter respectively. But as the milk production continues to decline, the period of excess gets shorter and shorter and the period of deficit becomes longer and more acute.

Today we can see that the quality of milk throughout Ukraine is much lower than in Europe, while the prices are much higher. The fact is that today dairy farmers are enjoying record margins. In the long term this state should encourage investments flow into the dairy farm sector. EBA Dairy committee cooperates with business and the government to accelerate this phenomenon.

However, in the short term we see massive raw material price increase (by more than 30% in the last 18 months). Dairy and cheese companies have managed not to transfer this price increase to the end consumer.

In fact, margins of dairy processing companies have been cut in order to maintain the demand.

NATALIA FESYUN External Relations Director, Bel Shostka Ukraine Fromageries Bel

W

e have been stunned by abnormal growth of raw milk prices which occurred this summer. Prices jumped critically in June, when milk production is historically at its highest level. Unstable farmgate prices, continuous raw milk market downturn and consequent milk deficit caused a critical instability of the dairy market in Ukraine.

Milk prices in Ukraine are now higher than in EU, which makes local finished goods uncompetitive.

*O +VOF +VMZ SBX NJML QSJDFT IBWF SJTFO TIBSQMZ CZ XIJMF NJML QSPDFTTJOH DPNQBOJFT LFQU UIF SFUBJMT QSJDFT JODSFBTFE POMZ CZ q Milk processing companies and cheese producers in particular totally depend on raw milk price, as the latter constitutes for more than 70% of the final product cost. Trying to minimise negative impact on consumers and sustain reasonable retail prices, cheese manufacturers are absorbing partly the milk price increase at their own cost.

To prove the abovesaid, the price of raw milk dramatically increased in June-July 2011 by 30-35%, while the wholesale prices for finished good increased only by 5-10% within the same time limit.

*O'PDVT

A versus A+++

U

k raine’s new energy labelling for household appliances stays outside the EU Directive line and sets barriers to mutual trade.

In February 2011 Ukraine has adopted new standards of energy efficiency labelling for household refrigerators, freezers and washing machines - a rainbow of coloured bars ranging from A to G where ‘A’ stands for the most energy efficient and 'G' for the least energy efficient appliance respectively. Too little too late, the experts say. The standards are based on outdated European legislation and do not comply with the new EU Directive on energy labelling adopted in 2010.

Such nonconformity may not only impede consumers’ awareness and trigger public misunderstanding of energy consumption levels, but also lead to double energy labelling of household electronic appliances and hinder trade ties between EU and Ukraine.

EBA Consumer Electronics Committee which unites

premier European and international manufacturers of electronic appliances, will advocate the harmonisation of Ukrainian energy labelling standards to toe the line of EU canons.

MARIA LITSMAN PM Fabric care & Approbation Specialist, Whirlpool Ukraine

I

nitially the decision of Ukrainian government on energy labelling of all household appliances seemed to be logical and beneficial for end-users. But during the lengthy process of Technical Regulations drafting and adopting the norms became nonconforming to EU legislation. EU legislation an may cause problems for home appliances producers.

Since January 6, 2010 Ukrainian energy labelling process is regulated by the Resolution of Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No.5, which defines that the requirements for each category of products are established by the corresponding Technical Regulations. At the moment in Ukraine there are two Technical Regulations, namely:

Please note that EBA BOAT CRUISE 2011 will be held on September 2, 2011.

Technical Regulation on energy labelling of household refrigerators, freezers and their combinations and Technical Regulation on energy labelling of household washing machines. Both are developed on the basis of the European Commission Directives of 1992. However the latter became invalid after the European Parliament adopted new Directive 2010/30/EU on 19 May 2010, which determines new forms of energy label, new indicators (annual energy consumption, new energy classes etc.). In my opinion, these novelties are more obvious, accurate and recognizable for end-users. Thus Ukrainian Technical Regulations are based on the outdated and already invalid requirements of the EU and do not conform with the latest amendments of EU legislation. In future this incompliance can lead to double labelling of products, confusion among the consumers and increased expenses for producers.

Both Technical Regulations enter into force in 2014, while the norms regulating other categories of household appliances are still being developed. That’s why I think that the negative influence of the abovementioned Regulations can be ironed out if Ukraine’s regulatory requirements are harmonised and adjusted to the European ones during transition period or by the revision of the current norms.

4 Opinion

August 19, 2011

www.kyivpost.com

Editorial

A brighter future First, the good news. Ukraine turns 20 years old as an independent state on Aug. 24, and there is no reason to think there won’t be more milestones ahead.

The nation faces no serious external or credible internal threats to sovereignty, a centuries-old desire. Most of the 46 million citizens seem happy – or at least accepting of – the new boundaries. Few would go back to the Soviet Union, even if they could.

Clearly, most people are better off materially and at least have the basics – a place to live and enough money to eat decently. There are also very positive signs that the nation has the will to make even greater progress in the years ahead.

Unfortunately, however, the overwhelming emotions as the nation marks its 20th year on Aug. 24 are of disappointment and discontent.

The disappointment comes because the nation is sliding back toward authoritarianism, where it was 10 years ago under ex-President Leonid Kuchma, and 20 years ago during the dying days of the Soviet Union.

That’s because the governing team of President Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov don’t have new ideas, only Soviet reactionary impulses with post-Soviet aims: to stay in power and keep the ill-gotten wealth of their most influential supporters intact. The Yanukovych-Azarov return to power is truly an unfortunate circumstance for this nation, owing to two sad factors: a broken judicial system that never unearthed the crimes of the Kuchma era that still haunt the nation today, and ex-President Viktor Yushchenko’s betrayals and incessant undermining of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. When 95 percent of the nation turned on Yushchenko at the ballot box in 2010, he decided to drag Tymoshenko down with him, letting Yanukovych eke to victory.

The best news about the current state of affairs is that democracy appears to be firmly rooted in the souls of enough Ukrainians – especially a new generation of leaders – to frustrate the Yanukovych administration’s attempts to re-impose a Kuchma-style system of governance.

The question now is if these emerging leaders can mobilize Ukrainians to reverse the sadder aspects of the post-Soviet legacy, namely economic injustice, as well as the fresh attempts at economic and political monopolization under way now.

Ukraine’s democratic institutions are precariously weak – from courts, to parliament to the news media. Still, in the long sweep of history, Ukraine is living its finest hours – certainly in comparison to czarist-era serfdom, Soviet savagery, World War II atrocities, the Holodomor and the inhumane poverty of the 1990s gangster capitalist era.

As long as the democratic will exists, hope does too. And in that spirit, we want to believe that Ukraine’s best days are still ahead.

Who‘s lying?

The show trial of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has brought enlightening moments. The world can now more clearly see that ex-President Viktor Yushchenko precipitated the January 2009 gas crisis with Russia by defending the private interests of gas trader RosUkrEnergo. Far from being the democratic and honest politician who became an international hero for leading the 2004 Orange Revolution, Yushchenko has lost his credibility.

As more comes out about his five-year presidency, we expect people will conclude what we reluctantly and tardily did a few years ago: That Yushchenko is not a truthful man and that he is a major reason for the public’s lack of trust in politicians and disappointment. Nobody expected anything more or better from President Viktor Yanukovych, or from ex-President Leonid Kuchma, for that matter.

But from Yushchenko, we all did.

Ex-President Leonid Kravchuk said that all four of the nation’s presidents “intervened and are intervening in the energy sector, even when they did not and do not have any grounds to do so.” About Yushchenko, Kravchuk said: “He’s one of the guilty ones, and he should sit in the dock next to Tymoshenko.”

First Oleh Dubyna, the former head of the state gas monopoly Naftogaz, said that Yushchenko appeared to be interfering in gas talks with Russia to keep RosUkrEnergo in the mix as an intermediary – despite questions about the transparency, beneficiaries and necessity of the gas trader in the bilateral trade. Dubyna also said that Yushchenko obstructed in late 2008 a chance for Tymoshenko to clinch a better deal with the Kremlin. Ex-Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko also corroborated this account, despite Yushchenko’s denials.

The testimony is consistent with what transpired in the winter of 2008-2009, when Russia cut off gas to Ukraine in a price dispute. While Tymoshenko may be no prize as a politician, she doesn’t deserve to be on trial or in jail for this issue. If anybody should be investigated on the gas trade, Kravchuk is right: Let's begin with the nation's four presidents, including Yushchenko and Yanukovych.

Published by Public Media LLC J. Michael Willard, Chief Executive Officer Brian Bonner, Senior Editor Editors: Kostya Dovgan, Katya Gorchinskaya, Roman Olearchyk, James Marson, Yuliya Popova Staff Writers: Alexey Bondarev, Tetyana Boychenko, Oksana Faryna, Natalia A. Feduschak, Anastasia Forina, Oksana Grytsenko, Kateryna Grushenko, Vlad Lavrov, Yura Onyshkiv, Kateryna Panova, Mark Rachkevych, Denis Rafalsky, Yuliya Raskevich Olga Rudenko, Nataliya Solovonyuk, Maria Shamota, Daryna Shevchenko, Svitlana Tuchynska, Nataliya Vasyutyn, Alyona Zhuk Photographers: Alex Furman, Joseph Sywenkyj. Photo Editor: Yaroslav Debelyi Chief Designer: Vladyslav Zakharenko. Designer: Anna Belyakovskaya Marketing: Iuliia Panchuk Web Project: Yuri Voronkov Sales department: Maria Kozachenko, Alisa Kyryliuk, Elena Symonenko, Yuriy Timonin Subscription Manager: Nataliia Protasova Newsroom Manager: Svitlana Kolesnykova Office Manager: Elena Pashkovskaya

IT: Oleksiy Bondarchuk Color Corrector: Dima Burdiga Transport Manager: Igor Mitko Chief Accountant: Elena Korosteleva Accountant: Tanya Berezhnaya

To inquire about distribution of the Kyiv Post, please contact Serhiy Kuprin at kuprin@kyivpost.com or by phone at 234-6409

“Any revolution left?”

“None. Just stuff for stability.”

n” sitio o p “Op

NEWS ITEM: Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Ukraine’s potential for revolution has been exhausted because everyone who calls for revolution wants to get back into power. “Revolution for them is just a means. But that won’t happen. There will be no revolution. We’re fed up with the revolution,” Azarov said on Aug. 16. He said the country needs “stability” and cited the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as international agencies who agree with him.

Back Story: Without ads, newspapers die MICH A EL WIL L A RD

A few years ago, the then-popular Yahoo web portal began selling protection against the very pop-up ads that it sold. I didn’t understand: It was like selling deer rifles to consumers and flak jackets to the deer.

Likewise, one has to wonder about the invention of various devices meant to circumvent watching a television commercial. The commercials, of course, pay for the programming that consumers so like to watch.

There are also those who get overly exorcized – become red-faced and apoplectic – when confronted with unwanted email. I figure one man’s spam is another’s advertising and, to the skilled, the mass massacre of emails is a five-second job.

At some point folks, someone has to sell something to make money.

This is particularly true for the Kyiv Post, a free newspaper that exists only through advertising and a few special events but which maintains a world-class editorial staff to bring the reader quality reporting.

I have been told by various business leaders that the Kyiv Post is on their “must-read” list each week. Though some have expressed that it was too negative at times – certainly a judgment call – the newspaper is faithfully read by the expat, diplomatic and business communities, both foreign and local.

While I personally question the business model of a free newspaper, I have come on the scene as CEO rather late, and the Kyiv Post was launched as a give-away 15 years ago by then-publisher Jed Sunden. I don’t see that aspect of the newspaper changing.

ÆAt some point, somebody's got to sell something in this world to make money One of the strengths of the newspaper is that it is available during the week at about 200 distribution points. Certainly with its target audiences, it has high name recognition and is a stellar brand. I say that as a long-time reader and not because of a sudden epiphany.

The Kyiv Post’s printed edition is also, in the narrowest sense of the word, a monopoly (There are two other editions of the Kyiv Post, both online, with one being in Russian and Ukrainian). There is nothing like the Kyiv Post among the city’s English-language newspapers. Some merely are bad translations of Russian- or Ukrainian-language publications; another ranks fairly low on the respectability scale. There is, of course, What’s On, but they don’t do what we do.

I’ve been given the charge to turn the Kyiv Post into a profitable organization. There are two tried-and-true ways to do this: Build revenue or cut expenses – the same tools that many of our readers have in their businesses. There’s no magic here.

However, cutting expenses doesn’t light up the scoreboard; to diminish the product would be a shame. That doesn’t mean some tinkering for efficiency cannot be achieved, and we are pursuing such adjustments, particularly as they relate to the online Russian/Ukrainian edition.

I don’t want to cut to the bone, and I don’t believe the publisher and owner, Mohammad Zahoor – who has Æ14

Feel strongly about an issue? Agree or disagree with editorial positions in this newspaper?

The Kyiv Post welcomes letters to the editors and opinion pieces, usually 800 to 1,000 words in length. Please e-mail all correspondence to Brian Bonner, senior editor, at bonner@kyivpost.com or letters@kyivpost.com. All correspondence must include an e-mail address and contact phone number for verification.

www.kyivpost.com

Opinion 5

August 19, 2011

Letters to the editor

Today’s debate: Should people boycott Ukrainian embassy events abroad?

Yes/Time to show solidarity with political prisoners with protest

Taras Kuzio

Dear Editor, In the light of recent developments in Ukraine, specifically the imprisonment of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and ex-Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, as well as up to 50 other political prisoners, I call upon Ukrainians in the United States, Canada and elsewhere

to boycott official events and celebrations at Ukrainian embassies.

It would be inappropriate and contradictory for us to attend these celebrations after firstly condemning arrests in Ukraine and, secondly, protesting outside Ukrainian diplomatic premises. If we attend these celebrations we would be indirectly giving our support to the authoritarian regime under President Viktor Yanukovych administration.

This is a time for solidarity with Ukrainian political prisoners and not with the Yanukovych regime that has already proven it is seeking to eradicate the Ukrainian national identity that has been cultivated by all three previous Ukrainian presidents.

First Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk has already expressed his condemnation of the imprisonment of Tymoshenko. Now it is time for us to do the same.

Taras Kuzio Editor, Ukraine Analyst Washington, D.C.

ÆCriminal charges against ex-Tymoshenko officials trigger conflict over how to respond

No/Diplomats represent nation; isolation is counterproductive

Myroslaw Smorodsky

Dear Editor, Taras Kuzio has called for a Ukrainian diaspora boycott of Ukrainian Embassy events in protest of the trial of exPrime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her Aug. 5 arrest. Although I wholeheartedly share his deep concern with the regression of the rule of law in Ukraine, I most respectfully do not concur in the notion that boycotts of Ukrainian diplomatic events are the appropriate response.

Diplomatic outposts are not merely envoys of a country’s political regime. They are ambassadors of an entire nation and its people as well.

Diplomats are also charged with the duty of protecting the interests of their county’s citizens abroad and

advancing the national interests of their home country’s populace as a whole – in cultural, educational, economic and humanitarian fields.

Further, diplomats are a communicational bridge between the societies of host and home country. A boycott will needlessly create a chilling effect and a disruption of the cooperative programs between Ukraine and its diaspora that benefit all Ukrainians – including Tymoshenko supporters.

History has shown that isolation of any regime is counterproductive and only further entrenches opposite sides into a Gordian Knot-like stalemate of non-communication ultimately ending in a deafening silence.

There is an ancient adage: “Don’t kill the messenger!” Rather, it would be ultimately more productive to send -- in a persistent and ever more vociferous barge -- clear and unequivocal messages through the Ukrainian diplomatic emissaries that the present erosion of the rule of law in Ukraine is unacceptable, not merely to the Ukrainian diaspora, but more importantly to Western countries. What better way to express these deep concerns than face to face in a frank but appropriate manner at Ukrainian diplomatic events.

Myroslaw Smorodsky American attorney and governor of the Ukrainian American Bar Association Mahwah, New Jersey, U.S.

Happy birthday, Ukraine?

AN D R E W W I L S ON

I always thought Ukraine’s real birthday was on Dec. 1, not Aug 24. I was in Kyiv in August 1991, learning Ukrainian at “MAU” (pronounced like Chairman Mao), the International Association of Ukrainian Studies.

We were all fearful on the morning of Aug. 19, precisely because Ukraine was largely a bystander to events unfolding elsewhere (unless you count the fact that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s longerthan-expected holiday was on Ukrainian territory in Crimea).

After two days of Ukrainian Communist Party leader Leonid Kravchuk’s prevarication, Rukh nationalists and others deserve credit for making sure the Verkhovna Rada seized the initiative and declared independence on Saturday, Aug. 24, before all Soviet institutions swung back into action on Monday, Aug. 26. Small margins matter. But in truth the opportunity to act was created by the collapse of central power elsewhere.

In December 1991, on the other hand, the Ukrainians were active players: The decisive vote in the Ukrainian independence referendum defined the Soviet end game.

Moreover, despite the rapid succession of events at Belovezhskaya Pushcha [in Belarus, where on Dec. 8, 1991, the leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine decided to dissolve the Soviet Union] and Almaty [Kazakhstan, which declared independence on Dec. 16, 1991] that left many people confused, the Ukrainian position that the Commonwealth of

Independent States meant precisely that prevailed.

The new independent states had certain common interests, but the CIS was not a sovereign replacement for the USSR. Still, either date makes Ukraine 20 years old, between rival definitions of maturity at 18 or 21.

There is no doubt that Ukraine has not developed as far as we hoped it would back in 1991.

The Baltic States are smaller and their national movements were stronger and more united in purpose. But starting conditions were not that different.

There have been moments of hope and several false dawns for Ukraine since 1991, most obviously after the 2004 Orange Revolution. But Ukraine has never had the incentive to make difficult changes provided by the early promise of European Union and NATO membership for the Baltic States.

But finally Ukraine is within sight of a partial equivalent. The DCFTA. Yes, really. Its dull bureaucratic acronym masks the fact that a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the EU could provide the long-missing transformative power that anchored states like Estonia and Poland back in the West after 1989.

The total volume of EU-Ukraine trade in 2010 was 28.7 billion euros; 31.4 percent of Ukraine’s trade was with the EU; foreign direct investment inflows in 2010 were estimated at a low 2.9 billion euros.

Trade at least was up on the recession year of 2009, though FDI was down; but all these figures are way below potential and could easily multiply overnight.

Ukraine‘s exports to the rest of the world will also surge once they are certificated by the EU. Most importantly of all, the DCFTA offers macroeconomic benefits to Ukrainian society as a whole, consumers and producers alike.

Agreement is, of course, not implementation, which would no doubt be slow and partial.

Implementation costs would also be high, particularly the building of new institutions to ensure that commitments made on paper are implemented in practice. But, given the chance, the DCFTA would introduce a large proportion of EU commercial law and restructure large parts of the country’s still Soviet state bureaucracy along modern, market-friendly lines. An accumulation of small steps would transform the way Ukraine does business, the way the state is run, the lives of ordinary citizens, workers and consumers, and the way business and politics interact.

Russia’s rival customs union proposal mainly offers selective benefits to favored oligarchs (cheap energy once again) and lumps together unrelated issues like natural gas prices, export tariffs and even border disputes. Despite Russian rhetoric, the DCFTA is not incompatible with maintaining and even expanding the obvious benefits of trade with Russia, particularly because the Russian project is based on copying much of the EU rule book, the acquis communautaire, so that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s dream of a Eurasian Economic Union can one day be a partner of the EU. But this is not where we are in August 2011. By all accounts the EU-Ukraine negotiating team are making progress, but the putative “agreement” (whether an actual signing or not) at the EU-Ukraine summit in December is under threat for political reasons. And we all know what these are.

Ukraine under President Viktor Yanukovych is in danger of becoming what academics call a “competitive authoritarian” state; that is, one where there is apparent competition for power but the rules of the contests are fixed. So far, the new authorities have concentrated on fixing the rules, but there is no meaningful competition at all if your main opponent is taken out the game. With no disrespect to minor opponents and no assumption that ex-Prime Æ14

VOX populi WITH OKSANA MARKINA

Which Ukrainians do you admire most and least?

Victor Bensa employer “I’m really proud of the Klitschko brothers [Vitali and Wladimir] and [soccer player] Andriy Shevchenko. They’ve raised the image of Ukraine all over the world. I’m ashamed of exPresident Viktor Yushchenko because he betrayed us. Because of him, we have returned to the past.”

Halyna Paseka pensioner “I take pride in [ex-Prime Minister Yulia] Tymoshenko because she has done a lot for our nation. And how is it possible that this man [President Viktor Yanukovych] is leading Ukraine? Now an innocent person is being convicted with no evidence. And what will happen next? We can’t take it anymore!”

Lyubov Golovach painter “I’m proud of singers such as Ruslana, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk and Oleh Skrypka.

They believe in a national idea and their art is built on it. I can say proudly that they are true Ukrainians! The people I least admire are politicians.”

Olha Popova student “I admire the Shakhtar Donetsk soccer club.

I’m also really proud of young people who organize various festivals and, in this way, are giving us at least some progress. Our authorities have completely forgotten about us."

Vasyl Pokrysh horse breeder “I admire our nation because it is patient, friendly and rich ... rich in fate. And this fate we carry from ancient times. But our politics is always dirty and unfair.”

Vox Populi is not only in print, but also online at kyivpost.com with different questions. If you have a question that you want answered, e-mail the idea to kyivpost@kyivpost.com.

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Real gross domestic product growth in Ukraine (year-on-year) 5.5

August 19, 2011

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Ukraine’s grain harvest and exports, million tons Harvest

5.3

53.3

Export

4.8

51.0 46.0 39.3

3.6

3.8 3.3

34.3

24.9 29.3

23.0

20.6

11.5

9.5 4.4 1Q

2Q

2010

3Q

4Q

1Q

2011

2Q

Q = quarter of year Source: Erste Group, State Statistics Committee

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011*

* Forecast Source: Erste Group, Ukrainian State Statistics Committee

Economy showing strong growth?

Big grain harvest expected this season

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Ukraine’s economy grew by 5 percent from the same period a year ago in the first seven months of the year, thanks to a strong performance in July. “In July, we have (growth) of almost 8 percent,” Azarov said on Aug. 16. The figures, which would represent a strong rebound from a 15 percent gross domestic product plunge during the 2009 recession, could not immediately be verified with the State Statistics Committee, which reports GDP figures quarterly. “Domestic consumption likely remained the key driver of economic growth, while investments stagnated,” Erste Bank said in a note to investors. Analysts from Erste added: “Overall, the Ukrainian economy remains at a stable growth pace, although real GDP still remains far from its pre-crisis peak. Full economic recovery to pre-crisis levels is expected by the end of 2012. Currently, we leave our real GDP growth forecast of 4.5 percent for 2011 unchanged.” Ukraine’s ailing economy has been crawling out of the deep economic plunge it experienced during the global recession. After rebounding by 4.2 percent in year-on-year terms during 2010, Ukrainian officials forecast that GDP would increase by another 5 percent this year. But much depends on the global economic situation. Recent reports of slowing growth in the United States and Europe have sparked fresh fears about a repeat global slowdown. If it happens, demand for steel and other top Ukrainian exports could plunge yet again, eating into GDP.

Ukraine is expected to reap a bumper harvest of more than 47 million metric tons this season, nearly 12 percent higher than gathered last year, according to a forecast made public this month by the United States Department of Agriculture. According to the USDA, Ukraine – one of the world’s top 10 grain-producing nations in recent years – will likely export more than 21 million tons of grain this season, up from an earlier estimate of 17.9 million tons.

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov was more optimistic, predicting on Aug. 10 that the nation could export up to 24 million tons. The boost in grain exports is expected to have a positive impact on the nation’s trade balance. It should bring additional hard currency into the country at a time when prices and demand for steel, Ukraine’s top export, could fall amid slowing global growth. But concerns continue to loom with some international agribusinesses that the country’s leadership could restrict exports again to keep domestic food prices low ahead of a 2012 parliamentary election. With export restrictions in place since last autumn, Ukraine exported a mere 12 million tons of grain from last season’s 39 million ton harvest. The restrictions drew harsh criticism from experts and business advocates. A quota system introduced last autumn was widely criticized for being non-transparent, unjustified and favorable only to a select group of companies. The quota system was replaced this July by export duties of 9-14 percent.

Report: Pinchuk could get $1.5 billion from sale of ferroalloy interests to Vekselberg K Y I V P O S T S TA F F

Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk is in talks to sell his domestic ferroalloy business assets to Russian businessman Viktor Vekselberg, Kommersant business daily reported on Aug. 17 citing informed sources.

Citing analysts, the newspaper said Pinchuk could raise as much as $1.5 billion from the sale of minority stakes in three ferroalloy plants (Nikopol, Zaporizhya and Stakhanov ferroalloy plants), as well as interests in two associated ore-mining companies (Marhanets and Ordzonikidze Ore Mining).

Officials at Pinchuk’s London-based EastOne asset management company and Vekselberg’s Renova Group were

Victor Pinchuk

Viktor Vekselberg

not immediately able to confirm or deny the reports.

Sources close to Pinchuk this year said that he lost control in recent years over management and operations at the ferroalloy assets.

The businesses and cash flow are now, according to the sources, under control of a business rival, the socalled Privat group led by billionaires Ihor Kolomoisky and Gennady Bogolubov.

Should the sale to Vekselberg proceed, it remains unclear if he has already or would be able to find common ground with the Privat group.

Born in Drohobych, western Ukraine, Vekselberg is one of the richest businessmen operating in Russia and other

former Soviet republics. He and Lvivborn Mikhail Fridman (owner of Alfa Group) are partners of BP in hydrocarbon exploration and production company TNK-BP. Along with other partners, Vekselberg co-owns lucrative aluminum and energy companies in the CIS region.

Pinchuk established himself as one of Ukraine’s top five richest individuals while his father-in-law, Leonid Kuchma, ruled Ukraine as president from 1994 through 2005.

Should he sell the ferroalloy assets to Vekselberg, Pinchuk would remain owner of billions of dollars worth of other assets in Ukraine, including a handful of steel pipe factories and television channels.

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August 19, 2011

Ivan Fursin (tabloID)

Robert Shetler-Jones

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Firtash pledges to turn rescued Nadra Bank into market leader K Y I V P O S T S TA F F

Ukrainian billionaire Dmytro Firtash has pledged to turn Ukraine’s notoriously troubled Nadra Bank, in which he this spring acquired a controlling 89 percent stake for about $400 million, into a market leader.

The announcement, made via an Aug. 15 statement, came days after the National Bank of Ukraine removed the bank from under receivership, allowing Firtash to install a trusted team of managers.

“This is the only bank which singlehandily lifted itself up from temporary administrative” control under the National Bank of Ukraine, Firtash said in the statement. Nadra is one of a handful of banks put under administrative control in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis.

The bank’s turnaround, according to Firtash, “is the result of the work of a team of professionals, which will be strengthened significantly with new appointments to the supervisory and management boards.”

On Aug. 10, Nadra announced that Ivan Fursin has been named supervisory board chairman of Nadra. Others appointed to the supervisory board include Vyacheslav Yakimuk, formerly head of Raiffeisen Investment in Ukraine, Anna Bezludna, a spokesperson for Firtash, British nationals Robert Shetler-Jones (CEO of Firtash’s holding company Group DF) and David Anthony Howard Brown (head of merger and acquisitions at the group).

Valentyna Zhukovska, who has managed the bank while it was under central bank receivership, retained her job.

Firtash first laid claim to Nadra in late 2008 during the global financial crisis, when the bank was on the verge of financial collapse and received hundreds of millions of dollars in central bank bailout funds.

To this day, investigations into how the bank’s funds were mismanaged and allegedly robbed by the bank’s former owners, top management and, reportedly, clients associated with influential businessmen, have not reached a full conclusion. Ukrainian law enforcement in 2009 launched an investigation into the bank’s former head, Ihor Gilenko.

But he fled Ukraine. His whereabouts remain unclear to this day.

Earlier this year, Ukrainian officials said Nadra needed some Hr 10 billion (more than $1 billion) in additional financial support to stay afloat, despite still having Hr 6.9 billion ($863 million) in outstanding obligations to the central bank for bailouts received since 2008, news agency UNIAN reported this month citing central bank information.

“A proper investigation is still needed to find out what happened at Nadra,” what went wrong going into the crisis, and how central bank money was used, said Oleksandr Zholud, a senior analyst at the Kyiv-based International Centre for Policy Studies.

Firtash acquired a controlling stake in Nadra this year via a share emission that was approved by the central bank.

Zholud said the $400 million price tag

ÆOn the move KEN LEAVER was appointed chief executive officer of Groupon Ukraine, a local division of the popular American website that sells discounts on various goods and services.

Leaver will provide general management of Groupon in Ukraine. Prior to this he headed a project for VISA International in 18 countries in the CIS and South Eastern Europe. He also worked as senior manager of Strategy Partners, the Russian strategy consulting firm owned by Sberbank, and as a consultant at the London office of Boston Consulting Group.

Leaver earned his bachelor’s degree in economics in the United States at Cornell University. He earned a Master of Business Administration at Spain’s IESE Business School in 2005.

Æ Ex-bank head Ihor Gilenko still a fugitive from justice Firtash paid for a controlling stake in the bank was a big “discount,” according to some estimates.

Nadra was one of the top 20 of 150plus banks in Ukraine ahead of the 2008 crisis. As of April 2011, it had one of the largest bank branch networks (535) in Ukraine and was the 12th largest national bank with Hr 22.5 billion in net assets.

The bank’s statutory capital currently stands at just under Hr 4 billion ($500 million). It has 1,057 ATM machines scattered throughout Ukraine.

Firtash pledged to turn Nadra into one of the “top five” banks in Ukraine by 2013 and claims to have the will and sufficiently deep pockets to accomplish the task. He also has tremendous influence in Ukraine.

Firtash is close to the inner circle of President Viktor Yanukovych.

He earned a fortune as co-owner along with Russia’s Gazprom of Swiss-registered RosUkrEnergo, a trading company that years ago supplied Ukraine with natural gas from Russia and Central Asia. Firtash owns

Nadra Bank's central office is located in downtown Kyiv on 15 Artema Street. (Anastasia Vlasova)

a 45 percent stake in RosUkrEnergo through offshore company Centragas Holding, the same company which this year became the controlling stakeholder in Nadra, taking over a 90 percent ownership stake.

Centragas is 90 percent owned by Firtash. A 10 percent stake in Centragas belongs to Nadra supervisory chairman Fursin. Serhiy Lyovochkin, head of Yanukovych’s presidential administration, has admitted to being a close friend of both Fursin and Firtash.

In recent weeks, Nadra Bank, which struggled to pay depositors money due in prior years, was chosen to

handle banking operations for numerous assets controlled by Firtash, one of the largest employers in Ukraine. The banking needs of his chemical companies, for instance, will be handled by Nadra, sources said. The bank was also chosen to handle banking operations for Ukrtransgaz, the state gas transportation company.

“When the shareholder [of a bank] becomes a large corporation and transfers its assets to be serviced under it, this is a strong stimulus for development of the bank and guarantee of its stability,” Firtash said in the Aug. 15 statement.

Send On the Move news to otm@kyivpost.com or contact Oksana Faryna at 234-6500. Items should include a photograph of the individual who has recently been appointed to a new position, a description of their duties and responsibilities, prior experience as well as education. Note: The Kyiv Post does not charge for publishing these notices or any news material.

OLEKSANDR SMIRNOV was promoted to director of Winner Automotive, one of the leaders of the automotive market in Ukraine. His new position includes responsibility for all dimensions of the company’s activity in the country.

Smirnov has 10 years of sales experience in the automotive market. Before his promotion he served as sales director at Winner Automotive. Most recently he managed sales of Ford, Volvo, Land Rover and Jaguar automobiles.

Smirnov joined the Winner team in 2002 as a Ford sales consultant.

Smirnov is a graduate of Kyiv’s National Aviation University, where he completed an engineering degree.

MAX PANFILOV was appointed director of Mosaic Investments, an investment banking boutique that specializes in mergers and acquisitions, raising capital and providing corporate advisory services.

Prior to joining Mosaic Investments, Panfilov worked for different large-scale companies in the U.S. and Ukraine. He has more than 20 years of experience in the technology and financial sectors at various levels, from project management to managing partner.

Panfilov has degrees in engineering and management. He completed a science degree at Ukraine’s Telecommunications Academy and a master’s degree in management at Syracuse University in the United States.

ALEXANDER BALAKIN was appointed chief executive officer of KEMA Ukraine, one of the country’s largest producers of construction materials.

The group is owned

by Slovenia’s KEMA Puconci. Before joining KEMA, Balakin was a top manager at MSA Safety Ukraine, a regional division of the world’s leading innovator and provider of quality safety products that protect and improve health.

Balakin has almost 20 years of experience in sales with different companies such as MSA, Ivik and Nords Hydro.

He completed an engineering degree at Odessa Marine University.

8 News

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August 19, 2011

Ukrainian Voices From Abroad: Violeta Dubau

Read more Ukrainian Voices From Abroad online at www.kyivpost.com & www.kyivpost.ua

Editor’s Note: Up to six million Ukrainians are living abroad, some to study, some for work; others found love. In honor of the nation's 20th anniversary, the Kyiv Post asked Ukrainians abroad for reflections on their lives and their homeland.

Here is one of the stories received. Go online and search for “Ukrainian Voices From Abroad” to read all of them.

V IOL E TA D U B AU

Kyiv Post: Where are you from in Ukraine?

Violeta Dubau: I’m from Terebleche (Chernivtsi Oblast), a small village south of Ukraine, at the border with Romania.

KP: When did you leave; why did you leave?

VD: I left in 1997 to Romania, to study at the university. By the time when I left there was too much corruption at public universities and I didn’t have the $2,500 to bribe to get admitted at the foreign languages faculty. I wish I didn’t have to leave my home and homeland so early. I was 16 years old. After finishing the university in Romania, I didn’t wan’t to go back home. I hated the corruption, the miserable situation that people lived in my country and even though Romania isn’t better, for me it was, because I had a scholarship there, while in Ukraine I had to bribe to study. I never paid anybody in Romania for something that was supposed to be free.

KP: How did you end up where you are now?

VD: I ended up in Buenos Aires because I had the chance to open a visa, being a student (in Romania at that moment). In 2005 when I came to Argentina, I had a sister living illegally in Italy and my ex-husband in France and I didn’t want to live illegally anywhere. That’s why I am in Argentina.

KP: Do you ever regret that you are not in Ukraine - why or why not?

VD: I’m not a communist, but there are some differences that I regret

ÆLeaving hardship at home for a fresh start between the “democratic Ukraine” and the communist Ukraine. University was for everybody. Hospital was for everybody. There was a cultural life in my small village. We had a cinema! There were music and dance festivals, national and international. There’s nothing now. The so-called House of Culture is in a lame situation and has two private markets inside!

KP: What do you miss most about Ukraine?

VD: What I miss about Ukraine is sometimes being understood without speaking. But I think this is something that most immigrants feel.

KP: What do you miss least about Ukraine?

VD: Least of all I miss the lack of opportunities for a better future.

KP: Does Argentina have more opportunities for you than in Ukraine?

VD: Yes, Argentina has more opportunities than Ukraine does.

KP: What relatives/friends are left back in Ukraine? Do they visit you or do you visit them?

How often?

VD: I have my little sister in Ukraine, my mom, one nephew and two grand-

Irina Korzh of Lubny now lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Tetyna Bovkun of Zhytomyr is now in Athens, Ohio, USA. Violeta Dubau, 30, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and her son. She left western Ukraine in 1997 because of corruption in public universities. (Courtesy)

parents. I also have one sister in Italy and another one in [another European country]. I have visited with them three times since I started living in Argentina.

I was legalized here a couple of months after arriving. My sister in Italy got her “green card” after five years of living and working there. My sister in [another European country] has been living there with her two sons for two and a half years and they’re still illegal.

My little sister in Ukraine finished high school last year and got married because my mom, who is a widow, can’t afford to pay a bribe for her to study at university. She’s having a baby in a couple of weeks... Unfortunately, none of the three sisters that live abroad can afford to pay for her studies.

KP: With Ukraine coming up to its 20th anniversary of national independence, how do you feel about your homeland? Is it making progress as a nation? Or not

so much? What would it take for you to return?

VD: You can easily see what I think about nowadays Ukraine. I wish Ukraine was like Norway, where people say: if one person had so much hate and anger to kill 86 people, imagine what could an entire country do answering with back with love. It’s a shame to think that the person who was accused of [so much wrongdoing] is now president.

Ivan Batiouk of Kyiv is now in the Republic of Nauru.

KP: What do you wish for your country?

VD: What I wish for my country?

Civilization. Education.

KP: What would it take for you to return?

VD: I like living in Argentina but I am looking forward to the possibility of moving to the U.S. or Canada. It’s more impossible than possible, as I am already an immigrant here, but hope never dies.

Olga Dvirna of Kyiv now lives in France.

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Iryna Kepych of Kyiv is now in the United Kingdom.

Daryna Ariamnova of Kharkiv is now in Frauenfeld, Switzerland.

Olga Vesela of Ternopil is now in Slovakia.

Olena Surdi of Berdychiv now lives in Paris.

Mariya Kosinova of Krasnodon now lives in Seoul, South Korea.

Julia Ikonnikova of Kyiv is now in Los Angeles.

News 9

August 19, 2011

Maryna Kumeda of Sumy is now in Lyon, France.

Anastasia Haydulina of Kyiv is now in London.

Oleg Yuzych of Lviv is now in Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA.

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August 19, 2011

Ukrainians debate identity as nation marks 20th year

BY S V I T L A N A T U C H YN S KA TUCHYNSKA@KYIVPOST.COM

One of the main challenges for a newly independent state is to foster a sense of what it means to be a citizen of that country. Twenty years after Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union, its 46 million inhabitants remain deeply divided on many issues, unclear about who they are and where they are heading as the nation, filled with mixed feelings about the past and pessimism about the future.

Few, however, question the fact that they are Ukrainian.

In a poll conducted by the Research & Branding Group in August, 93 percent of respondents said they consider Ukraine as their homeland.

The territory of modern Ukraine is formed from parts of two empires that clashed in World War I – the Russian and the Austro-Hungarian.

Parts of what is today Ukraine, such as Zakarpattya, came under Soviet rule in 1945 after the Red Army pushed out the Nazis in World War II. The Crimean peninsula was made part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1954, the final piece in the jigsaw of the country that gained independence in 1991.

That territory brought together ethnic Ukrainians with Russians, Crimean Tatars, Bulgarians and Hungarians, among others.

The diversity of the population and the process of forming the state have led to years of debate, often controversially intertwined with politics, about what it means to be Ukrainian.

The complicated ethnic and geographical mix of Ukraine, topped off with a controversial history of wars, repressions and occupation by its neighbors, has provided rich fodder for politicians to try to mobilize citizens to vote in elections, often exacerbating rifts.

Former President Viktor Yushchenko, who held office from 2005 to 2010, was the most vocal leader to call for the country to consolidate around events and causes in Ukrainian history. His

Men proudly hoist a 75-meter long flag during a National Flag Day celebration at Mamaeva Sloboda Open-Air Folk Museum in Kyiv on Aug. 23, 2010. (AFP Photo)

views often set him on a collision course with supporters of the Soviet version of the country’s history. Yushchenko raised the issue of Holodomor, the famine in Ukraine in 1932-3 seen by many domestic historians as genocide carried out on orders from Moscow; he also awarded Stepan Bandera, a nationalist leader whose Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists fought Nazis and Soviets during and after World War II, the title of Hero of Ukraine.

Since President Viktor Yanukovych took office, the award has been removed by a court in Donetsk, where Bandera is largely seen as a fascist collaborator.

Reflecting these differences, Ukrainians are split almost in half over where the nation should be heading politically. According to a recent survey by the Research & Branding pollster that has worked closely over the years with Yanukovych’s Moscow-friendly Party of Regions, 51 percent of Ukrainians favor

joining the European Union, as much as 47 percent want closer relations with Russia and Belarus, while 37 percent want both.

Other polls show different results, such as stronger support for European integration, less for closer relations with Russia. However, some experts say that, perhaps paradoxically, the constant debate about where the country’s past and future might be is what brings people together as a nation.

“Ukrainians are united much more then they realize. Bilingualism unites us, as every Ukrainian knows both Ukrainian and Russian. The constant discussion about history, Bandera, languages and where we should be going is what brings us together. So do common problems – economic, political and social troubles,” said Oles Buzyna, a controversial historian and author whose views are often criticized by Ukrainian nationalists.

The oppression narrative runs thick through Ukraine’s history – from Polish overlords to Soviet masters in Moscow.

It continues today, with more than 80 percent of respondents in a Research & Branding Group poll saying their life has got worse since independence, and other polls blaming politicians, businessmen and criminals for their negative influence over citizens’ lives.

If common problems unite the nation, there seems a lot to be united over in Ukraine, as polls show how many Ukrainians are disappointed about the present and pessimistic about the future. According to a recent Institute of Sociology poll, the majority of Ukrainians (57 percent) think that things in Ukraine are moving in the wrong direction. Thirteen percent say that things are not moving at all and only 13 percent were optimistic.

With around half of countries economy in shadow, Ukraine is also one

of the most corrupt countries in the world, occupying 134rd place of 178 countries, according to Transparency International in 2010.

With corruption, collapsing infrastructure, poor social benefits, substandard healthcare and so much more in desperate need of fixing, experts say that only pragmatism can now become a new national idea for Ukraine, rather than the mantras of a glorious past and rich culture promoted by Yushchenko.

“Ukrainians were always united by ideas: the idea of resisting foreign attacks, uniting left and right banks of Dnipro River. Now it seems that the idea uniting most of the nation is to survive and provide for one’s family,” said religion expert Ludmyla Filipovych.

Apart from much needed economic reforms, Ukrainians, as a young nation of only 20 years, also have a lot of learn, experts say.

“Because virtually all parts of Ukraine were under empires, a permanent lack of freedoms, including personal freedom, is rooted deeply in people consciousness,” said Lubomyr Husar, archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. He added that history of oppression made Ukrainians afraid of freedom because it brings responsibility for their own future which they never had.

“We are the people who are still leaning to be free, to have pride and to respect other people’s dignity,” Huzar said.

Historian Buzyna added that growing must result in the formation of a new national elite.

“As parts of empires, all modern parts of Ukraine were providing leaders and elites for centers of empires.

Most educated people from Ukraine went to Moscow, Vienna, Bucharest and elsewhere. Brought together as a country now, we lack a national elite and lack Ukrainian ideology which they should have created,” he said.

Kyiv Post staff writer Svitlana Tuchynska can be reached at tuchynska@kyivpost.com.

For many in world, knowledge of Ukraine still weak: Sports, hot women, Chornobyl and Orange Revolution

BY K AT E RY N A PA N OVA, ALE X A N D R A D I M I T RIYEVYC H AN D R I N A S OL OV E IT C HIK

Despite 20 years as a state, the world still doesn’t seem to know much about Ukraine, judging from its image abroad.

Have the world’s stereotypes and superficial understanding advanced beyond the label of vodka-drinking, exSoviet farmland where the Chornobyl nuclear power plant exploded in 1986?

Unfortunately, not much, although Ukraine commands a lot of new attention in the following areas: Orange Revolution, sports icons, Euro 2012 soccer championship and girls, girls, girls – either ideal femmes or money-grubbing Internet brides and prostitutes.

The Kyiv Post compiled its unscientific top 10 list of things the world knows about Ukraine:

Nothing That’s right. Most of the world knows nothing. Vasyl Myroshnychenko, part-

ner at CFC Consulting Group, said his company conducted a poll on Ukraine’s image abroad at the government’s request. The results: 64 percent of people questioned are not familiar with Ukraine or could recite only a few facts from the news.

As Kim Oksanen, a 41-year old Finnish civil engineer said: “People know only that Ukraine is close to Russia.”

Nuclear disaster “I associate Ukraine with Eastern Europe, nuclear power and the Chornobyl thing of course,” said Anna Antoniou, a Ph.D. student from Cyprus, born a year after the 1986 catastrophe. It’s not all bad, however, especially when nations such as Japan want Ukraine’s expertise in responding to such disasters.

Soviet past, present The communist past is still with Ukraine.

Kenneth Wong, 29, a civil servant from Hong Kong who has never been

to Ukraine, has the image of “an exCommunist state with a Communist landscape in architecture and culture.”

Finish citizen Fabio Ferrari notes a Soviet hangover in the people: “I’m associating Ukraine with the Soviet Union. I saw it a lot, too, in the customer service. The waitresses and people working at stores might not smile and be so nice. I have seen the same kind of behavior in other ex-communist countries.”

Is it part of Russia?

“After 20 years in the region, I am still confronted with surprise, in the United Kingdom, when it is announced ‘are you still working in Russia… Kyiv isn’t it?” says David Payne, director of a Kyiv marketing agency, adding that even original Ukrainian borsch and Cossacks are considered Russian for many people.

Vodka diet When asked about Ukrainian cuisine, most foreigners are likely to say: Æ24

An elderly couple in a village near Chornobyl enjoy a meal and homemade vodka, wine and beer during a dinner. Unfortunately, the international image of Ukraine is still dominated by unpleasant facts of life: the high-rate of alcoholism and the 1986 nuclear power plant explosion that contaminated much of Europe with radiation. (AFP PHOTO/ Sergei SUPINSKY)

www.kyivpost.com

News 11

August 19, 2011

How Ukrainian society changed in 20 years

BY O K S A N A G RY T SEN KO GRYTSENKO@KYIVPOST.COM

Twenty years after independence, Ukraine is a society torn apart by the huge gap between the rich and the poor, a byproduct of the greed and selfishness fostered by the wild capitalism of the 1990s. There is, moreover, a sense that criminality rules the country, polls and sociologists said.

This lack of social cohesion fuels nostalgia for the mutual aid, state support and more predictable future of Soviet times.

But just as in Soviet times, Ukrainians’ top priorities remain the same: good health, a strong family and happy children, just as surveys in 1991 show.

These are, after all, universal values.

Unlike during the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union, however, young people are increasingly looking to themselves to achieve their goals – not the state or anybody else.

“Most Ukrainians in the 1990s [still] saw the state as responsible for their lives. But now the number of people who accept responsibility for their own lives has increased by 5-7 percent,” said Yevhen Holovaha, deputy head of the Institute of Sociology.

Holovaha hails those slow changes, calling them as essential steps for Ukrainian society on the way from

feudal and Soviet to modern and European stages of development.

Self-reliance has been fostered by the fading away of the state as a pillar of support in the 1990s.

“Everything you need you have to get by yourself,” said Serhiy Pidhayevsky, a 24-year-old advertising executive who was only four years old when Ukraine gained independence.

Competition has brought greater selfishness as people jostle for advantage, particularly in the workplace. “We lack the feeling of community, we are too egocentric, oriented to our own interests,” said Pidhayevsky.

Kateryna Hanushevych, a 58-yearold pensioner, agrees.

“When I came to work at the [Kyiv marine engineering] plant in 1970, I knew nothing about this job. The people taught me how to work,” she said. “But now nobody wants to help, as they fear the newcomers could get their jobs and the old workers be cast out into the street.”

This egocentric approach was encouraged by the social and economic collapse of the 1990s, where citizens had to fend for themselves in a dog-eat-dog environment.

Hanushevych had to leave her job at the marine engineering plant and began running a market stall with her husband. “Those times were terrible,” she said, recalling her 10 years of work-

How nation got its independence

BY S V I T L A N A T U C H YN S KA AN D MA R I A S H A M OTA TUCHYNSKA@KYIVPOST.COM AND SHAMOTA@KYIVPOST.COM

Painter Mykola Danchenko was standing in a tiny voting booth reading his ballot nervously. He was one of the 31 million people who on the winter morning of Dec.1, 1991, were asked to answer one simple question: “Do you support the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine?”

It all started on July 16, 1990, when, following the parliament of the Russian Soviet Republic, which proclaimed sovereignty, the Ukrainian Soviet Parliament passed the Declaration of Sovereignty. This move carefully opened Independence.

Many already were speaking of democratic reforms. On the morning of Oct. 2, 1990, about 100 students gathered on Maidan Nezalezhnosti in the heart of Kyiv. They put up tents and started a hunger strike, demanding the resignation of the government and new democratic elections. Weeks later, the government resigned.

Further developments in Ukraine were spurred by events in Moscow, where on Aug. 19 a “gang of eight” high-level officials attempted a coup against Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.

Turmoil in Russia allowed the Ukrainian parliament on Aug. 24, 1991, to pass the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, followed by the Dec. 1 national referendum. Many were surprised that 90.3 percent of the Ukrainian population supported the

Ex-President Leonid Kravchuk

declaration. In some regions, such as Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblasts, more than 98 percent of voters voted yes.

Opinion was much more divided in Crimea, where 54.1 percent supported independence and 42.2 percent voted against it.

Apart from the declaration, voters were asked to elect their first president. Leonid Kravchuk, the former Communist Party member and speaker of parliament, won with more than 61 percent of votes.

“As these were the first democratic elections in my life, and in many people’s lives, the atmosphere was rather nervous. We were both exited and uneasy about the results,” Danchenko recalled. “When we heard the results, we were startled by how many people voted for independence.”

ing seven days a week at the market.

The increasing ruthlessness of society is evident in a comparison among three polls, one that was carried out in 1982 and two that were published earlier this year.

While in 1982 almost 87 percent of respondents told Soviet researchers that they believed it’s possible to earn money honestly, now only 24 percent think so, according to a survey by the Sofia Institute of Social Research in spring this year (see table).

While 83 percent said they were ready to help strangers in 1982, only 33 percent would help an unknown person today.

In the recent poll by the Institute of Sociology, Ukrainians depicted the current period as a time of criminals, politicians and beggars, not of workers, talented people or the morally scrupulous.

Pidhayevsky lamented that Ukrainian society had become so self-centered, but admitted that he is not ready to try to change the world around him. “I’m also a passive, average man and care only about myself,” he said.

Attention to individual needs has led to a boom in consumerism, unthinkable in Soviet times, snapping up the latest cars, cell phones and clothes.

“Since independence, Ukrainians have become more materialistic. That’s because in Soviet times people couldn’t

buy lots of goods even when they had money,” said Iryna Bekeshkina, the head of Democratic Initiatives Foundation. “If you wanted a car you would have to stay in line for 10 years to buy it.”

Social upheaval and moral degradation have left some feeling nostalgic for the social security – or collective poverty -- that existed in the Soviet Union.

Hanushevych, however, who voted in favor of independence in 1991, said she would not like to return to Soviet ways, even though life in a post-Soviet

country turned out harder than she expected.

“The Soviet Union was bad. We were standing in lines for sausages, for butter. We had neither clothes, nor shoes,” she said.

Nor would Hanushevych like to move abroad: “How could I leave my village? When I enter the garden, it’s such a joy: There are ripe raspberries, fresh cucumbers. What would I do abroad?” she said.

Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at grytsenko@ kyivpost.com

Material growth, moral decline Percentage of respondents who think that most people have these qualities Believe that it’s possible to achieve success by honest work

2011 1982

Interested mainly in purchasing goods Concerned only by their personal well-being Condemn bribery Considerate, always ready to help others Take initiative in work and public life

Source: Sofia Institute of Social Research

0

20

40

60

80

100

20th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence - Greeting from DHL Ukraine

D

HL sincerely would like to greet you with the 20th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence, a very special holiday for each of you. The young country has achieved a significant success in its development during the last two decades. On this occasion, we wish you health and happiness, and continued success in building of the Ukrainian state.

The year of 2011 is also very special for DHL since it marks 20 years of the company’s successful business operations in Ukraine. You and we have been together all this time, building the independent country for the present and future generations. The company, Ukraine and its people have gone through many developments during this period of time, characterized by a considerable growth in the economy and overall progress of the country.

DHL was one of the first international companies that started their operations in the newly independent country.

We opened our first office in Odessa in the distant year of 1991. Like the state of Ukraine, we have experienced a rapid growth ever since. The company has greatly expanded its operations and currently our 29 service centers across the country allow us to serve customers in its 130 cities and towns. Today, DHL Ukraine covers more than 50 per cent of Ukraine’s market of international express deliveries and we also serve the needs of our customers in warehouse logistics, air road and sea freight, and customs services.

DHL Company has achieved such a success thanks to you, the people of independent and free Ukraine. Thank you for being with us all these years. We will continue to provide our services to achieve the best customer satisfaction of Ukraine’s people and for the benefit of the society. We wish each of you prosperity and well-being and let your country enjoy robust economic growth and free independent development in the future. Let’s continue to build Ukraine together, a beautiful country with hospitable people in the heart of Eastern Europe.

With warmest and deepest greetings, DHL Ukraine

років DHL в Україні

12 News

www.kyivpost.com

August 19, 2011

Ukraine by the numbers Editor’s Note: The following graphs, tables and other figures illustrate how Ukraine has changed since it gained independence in 1991, how citizens feel the change and where they see the country heading.

2001

Do you regret the breakup of the USSR? Survey conducted in 2011

2002 2003

160

Number of hryvnia millionaires in Ukraine

337 837 3,057

2004

12.5%

5,708

2005

Nuclear weapons

6,200

2006

10.4% Upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal of 176 strategic ballistic missiles, about 50 long-range strategic bombers, 1,300 nuclear warheads and 2,500 nuclear tactical units.

By comparison, this is more than China, Great Britain and France had in total at that time.

Ukraine made a historical decision to surrender all highly-enriched uranium by 2012. As of today most of the stock has already been removed from Ukrainian territory.

Yes, I regret it No, I don’t regret it I’m indifferent Difficult to say

47.4%

2007

7,444

2008

7,423 6,155

2009

6,661

2010

Source: State Tax Administration

29.7%

Breaking the law 1990

104,199

1991

108,553

1992

115,260

Number of convicted criminals Number of registered crimes

369,809 405,516

Source: Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Foreign Direct Investment to Ukraine

Source: Olexander Motsyk, Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S.

1993

11

1994

$, billion Annual inflows

1995 6.5

Pension Age

5.6

If the government's pension reform legislation takes effect this year, the retirement age will increase from 55 to 60 years for women and from 60 to 63 for men.

1.7 0.9

0.7

0.6

0.7

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2011

Source: National Bank of Ukraine

Consumer Price Index (1991-2011)

210.33

The consumer price index reflects the change in prices for the average consumer of a constant basket of consumer goods.

Data is not seasonally adjusted.

178.65

76.21

80.79

53.1 39.14 18.72 0.40

1993

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

2007

2009

2011

Population 52 million

1991

1998

232,598

1999

222,239

2000

230,903

2001

201,627

2002

194,212

2003

201,081

2004

204,794

2011

55.8%

1999 2006

62.3%

2010

62.2%

Families with children: 1999

60%

2006

65,9%

29,1%

2010

73,5%

23,5%

0.8 0.4

2006

589,208 575,982 558,716 567,795 514,597 460,389 566,350 527,812

176,934

491,754

160,865

2007

152,772

2008

146,858

2009

146,383

428,149 408,170 390,162

168,774

439,459 505,371

Computerization of Ukraine and population’s Internet access

45.7 million

Families without children (up to 18 years old):

Source: World Bank

617,262

5.8 5.3

2004

237,790

641,860

Source: State Statistics Committee

Source: World Bank

Remittances Inward flow $, billion

572,147

212,915

1997

2010

1995

539,299

174,959

242,124

2006

100

152,878

1996

2005

123.1

480,478

2008

2010 Source: State Statistics Committee

34.3%

3%

5%

5.7%

37.7% 37.8%

44.2%

According to Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences, 55 percent of Ukrainians didn’t know how to use a computer as of 2010. In 2002, 80 percent reported not knowing how to use a computer. In the same year 4 percent reported using a computer at work whereas in 2010, 15 percent said they constantly use a computer.

Four percent of Ukraine’s population used the Internet in 2002, in 2010 35.6 percent were using the Internet.

Access to Internet services in 2011 is expected to reach 37-40 percent of Ukraine’s population. This forecast was given in late June by the CEO of the Internet Association of Ukraine, Tetiana Popova. Ukraine’s Internet audience is estimated to be 17 million.

www.kyivpost.com

News 13

August 19, 2011

Oligarchs strengthen grip over TV K Y I V P O S T S TA F F

Ukraine’s state television and radio regulatory body on Aug. 18 doled out 28 nationwide licenses for digital broadcasting, mostly to companies controlled by oligarchs who are seen as being on good terms with President Viktor Yanukovych.

The licenses were distributed ahead of the switchover from analog planned for this autumn.

Critics said it represented a big step toward further monopolization of Ukraine’s media by domestic oligarchs that are loyal or friendly in their coverage of Yanukovych’s administration.

“This as one of the final steps towards establishment of an authori-

tarian regime backed by loyal oligarchs,” said Mykola Kniazhytsky, general director of TVi. TVi did not get a license. “We applied, but didn’t get any license, without any explanation,” Kniazhytsky added.

According to media watchdogs in Ukraine, TVi is one of the nation’s few channels that dares to scratch below the surface in its coverage of Yanukovych’s administration.

Asked why he thinks TVi was turned down, Kniazhytsky said: “We adhere to honest and investigative journalism.

So, it seems that this got in the way, as it did for many regional channels that also try to report objectively. We got no licenses. Instead, the channels

of oligarchs loyal to the presidential administration got nearly all the licenses.”

Without a digital license, TVi will through existing cable and satellite networks have access to about 45 percent of Ukraine’s population, while the selected channels will have more than 90 percent nationwide coverage.

Licenses were granted to eight channels within Ukraine’s largest television holding, U.A. Inter Media Group.

It is owned by billionaire Valery Khoroshkovsky. He currently heads Ukraine’s SBU state security service.

Four licenses went to channels owned

by Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man and a longtime Yanukovych backer.

Three licenses were granted to the channels of Viktor Pinchuk, the billionaire son-in-law of former President Leonid Kuchma.

Channels 1+1 and TET, owned by billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky, were also handed licenses.

Petro Poroshenko’s channel 5, whose reporting is known to be balanced but less aggressive than TVi, got a license.

Even the National Bank of Ukraine got a license for a newly launched banking television project, as did an ice hockey channel reportedly owned

by Deputy Prime Minister Borys Kolesnikov.

Left out is TVi, a channel whose news coverage stands out for digging deep and hitting hard in times when

much of domestic news coverage has been either dumbed down or spun in favor of Yanukovych.

TVi was set up by two exiled Russian businessman: Vladimir Gusinsky and Konstantin Kagalovsky. They split due to a business dispute.

Today, Kagalovsky controls and continues to fund TVi. The channel pledges to fight and report on, despite recent attempts to muzzle its reporting by pulling licenses handed out in prior years, and not granting fresh ones.

Kniazhytsky said TVi plans to appeal the fairness of the license handouts.

But, he added: “We all know that there is no independent judiciary in the country left anymore.”

Herman: Tymoshenko wants to discredit president

BY RIN A S OLOV EITCH IK SOLOVEITCHIK@KYIVPOST.COM

Hanna Herman

Presidential adviser Hanna Herman accused supporters of embattled former Prime Minister and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko of playing into the hands of opponents of Ukraine’s deeper integration into the European Union by trying to discredit her political rival, President Viktor Yanukovych.

Herman, a longtime ally of the president, was responding to the sharp reaction from Western capitals to the arrest of Tymoshenko on Aug. 5 for contempt of court during her abuse of office trial.

“Yulia is a Kolchuga,” Herman told

Kyiv Post in an interview on Aug. 15, referring to the weapons system allegedly sold to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq by Ukraine, which led to then-President Leonid Kuchma being frozen out by the West after 2002.

Yanukovych’s government and the European Union are negotiating a deep-free trade deal and an association agreement, which both sides had said should be concluded this year.

But criticism by European officials of the trial of Tymoshenko on charges of exceeding her authority when concluding a natural gas contract with Russia in 2009 has led some analysts to speculate that negotiations could be delayed.

Nation can take pride in many achievements during 20 years ment,” said Ukraine’s chief rabbi Yakov D. Bleich.

Journalists are now much freer of censorship than in neighboring countries and generally can easily write what they think is right.

It’s another question, experts said, whether religious leaders and society as a whole are mature enough to use that freedom properly and take Æ2 some responsibility and action in response.

Sports stars Given the little financing and attention most sports got in Ukraine over the last 20 years, we have some significant achievements.

Ukraine wins at football. Andriy Shevchenko was recognized as the best football player in Europe in 2004, the Ukraine national team made the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2006 and Shakhtar Donetsk football club won the UEFA Cup in 2009.

We are also set to co-host the Euro 2012 soccer tournament next year.

Ukrainian swimmer Yana Klochkova won four Olympic gold medals; the Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitali, now hold all major heavyweight world boxing titles; and Ukraine is also good in smart sports – Ukraine’s men team won the Chess Olympiad in 2010.

European integration By joining the World Trade Organization in 2008, and this year reaching the final stages of negotiations on an association agreement with the European

Union, Ukraine has made significant progress toward European integration, said Vasyl Myroshnichenko, partner at CFC Consulting company.

If the free-trade deal with the EU – part of the association agreement – is agreed, it will be Ukraine’s and the EU’s largest foreign treaty, according to Kyiv-Mohyla professor Umland.

“All recent governments have confirmed this basic choice and anchored it in Ukraine’s clear European orientation,” said Martin Raiser, World Bank country director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.

Chornobyl recovery The Chornobyl nuclear accident in 1986 presented Ukraine with tremendous challenges and a unique experience. Under pressure, the nation built a shelter around the stricken unit and shut down the plant’s last generating unit in 2000.

The nation also raised hundreds of millions from international donors to secure the site’s long-term safety by building a new shelter.

Ukraine still has nuclear power and is now using it safely, avoiding any repeats of Chornobyl, which is a major achievement, according to Viktor Poyarkov, director of the European Center of Technological Safety.

Porarkov said Ukraine's experience is now being used by Japan, which is now dealing with the aftermath of the nuclear incident at the Fukushima reactor earlier this year.

“I talked to the Japanese for 2 1/2

hours the other day, and they were asking about the radiation protection measures we used. They are now learning from us how to protect people and agriculture,” Poyarkov said.

Winning at Cannes The world knows very little about Ukrainian art and culture. The Eurovision song contest victory of Ukrainian singer Ruslana was the only achievement before, in 2005, Ukrainian director Igor Strembitsky won the Cannes Film Festival main prize, the Palme d’Or, for his short film “Podorozhni.” This year we achieved more success when Maryna Vroda received the Palme d’Or for the best short film for her “Kross.”

No nuclear weapons Ukraine became the world’s first country to voluntarily give up nuclear weapons, inherited from the Soviet Union. The world showed its appreciation by giving financing and security guarantees.

“We actually had no other choice because were not able to service it [the nuclear arsenal],” said Poyarkov.

“However, there was still a big temptation to keep it and quietly sell it on the black market, where bomb-grade plutonium and enriched uranium are in great demand," Poryakov said.

Then we would have had several other Ukrainians in the Forbes’ richest list,” he added.

Kyiv Post staff writer Kateryna Panova can be reached at panova@kyivpost.com

“There are a lot of different forces that do not like [Ukraine’s steps toward deeper European integration], that are prepared to find any possible ‘Kolchuga’ in order to weaken the current president and push him away from the West, to push him in the other direction,” Herman said.

Herman did not specifying which “forces” she was referring to in the comments.

“Yulia Tymoshenko is a very good mechanism to achieve that aim,” she added.

Other government officials have said Russia is putting Yanukovych under great pressure to reject the European deals in favor of a Moscow-led cus-

toms union that also includes Belarus and Kazakhstan. Relations between Russia and Ukraine have deteriorated in recent months amid Yanukovych’s refusal to join the union, or to agree to further economic integration, including a proposed merger of the two countries’ state gas firms, Gazprom and Naftogaz.

Tymoshenko has encouraged the EU to push forward with negotiations on closer ties with Ukraine, but Herman accused her of provoking the judge in her trial into ordering her arrest by refusing to cooperate with the court.

Kyiv Post staff writer Rina Soloveitchik can be reached at soloveitchik@kyivpost. com

14 Opinion

www.kyivpost.com

August 19, 2011

“They all got an acute attack of fear. Stop calling them to court, take them fishing instead.”

Witnes ses' w ard

Wilson: Politicians should not miss big opportunities

Pr os ec ut or

Æ5 Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has

NEWS ITEM: Witnesses in ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s abuse-of-office trial got ill after being summoned to court to testify. Former Finance Minister Viktor Pynzenyk said he had a heart attack, while a former presidential energy adviser, Bogdan Sokolovsky, cited illness in asking not be disturbed until Sept. 1. However, Judge Rodion Kireyev ordered Sokolovsky to court on Aug. 17.

a divine right to remain leader of the opposition, at the moment she still is.

European leaders like Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt have therefore rightly made the Tymoshenko trial a red line. The 2012 Rada elections will be rendered meaningless if Tymoshenko is in jail or if an “administrative” sentence prohibits her from participating.

The problems with the trial itself are well-known. The impression of political selectivity was guaranteed by the scatter-gun approach of the prosecution to select any charge that might stick. The attempt to avoid the trial turning into political theater by cramming it into a tiny courtroom with a youthful judge has obviously backfired.

Regardless of any accusation of contempt, imprisonment, to my recollection, normally takes place after a guilty verdict at the end of a trial, not halfway through. A steady stream

of prejudicial comments from the powers-that-be has broken principles of judicial deliberation. The idea that the trial is only one of a broad spectrum of prosecutions, including exPresident Leonid Kuchma (charged in connection with the Sept. 16, 2000, murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze) and the odd Party of Regions bureaucrat, is just PR. So are birthday celebrations in order? What will Ukraine be remembered for in August 2011? For taking another wrong step? Or for growing beyond political adolescence and grasping the opportunities within reach?

Andrew Wilson is reader in Ukrainian Studies at University College in London. His latest book, Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship, will be published by Yale University Press in October.

How nation‘s media has changed MA R TA DY C Z O K

As I walked through Kyiv’s main square, Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), with Efrem Lukatsky, a friend from 20 years ago and one of Ukraine’s top photojournalists, his cell phone rang. Then mine rang. We finished our conversations, looked at each other, and both said the same thing: “How did we work without cell phones? Or the Internet?”

When I landed in Kyiv in the spring of 1991, an Oxford Ph.D. student coming to Ukraine to do research, I quickly decided that the best vantage point to see history unfolding was to become a journalist. So I got myself a job with The Guardian of London.

Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union, its media system was stateowned and centrally controlled.

Most Ukrainian journalists had never encountered non-Soviet media, or met someone from the West. There were four other Westerners working as journalists in Kyiv when I began stringing for The Guardian that spring. The entire foreign press corps could fit into one car. Stories had to be dictated over the phone, and international calls had to go through an operator.

We were befriended by Ukrainian journalists who were revolutionizing the media, and Rukh [nationalists] who were revolutionizing the coun-

try. Information was shared in a way that rarely happens among journalists, who are always looking for the scoop, or politicians, who are always spinning the story. When someone learned something, immediately others were told. Someone heard that [Soviet-era political prisoner] Stepan Khmara was going to be arrested, so we set up a rotation of journalists in his hotel room to witness and report on the story.

Lukatsky, the photographer, managed to slip past the OMON riot police and the dramatic photos of the violent arrest made it into the news the next morning.

By the summer, more foreigners began arriving in Ukraine. So when then-U.S. President George Bush Sr. visited in July 1991 and told Ukrainians that freedom is not the same as independence, this quote was widely reported and dubbed the “Chicken Kyiv” speech. August is a slow news month, and many journalists went on vacation.

I convinced those who remained to go to the Chervona Ruta music festival in Zaporizhya, Ukraine’s industrial heartland.

And that’s when the coup happened.

Fortunately, Rukh leader Viacheslav Chornovil also liked music and was there, so we got an instant quote, but the media blackout made things difficult. Susan Viets, of The Independent in London, had a short wave radio, so like Mikhail Gorbachev, we followed the BBC News bulletins and hired a taxi to take us back to the capital.

Within days we were in parliament when independence was declared. As soon as it was over, we had to rush home, order our phone lines through

the operator and dictate our stories down the line.

Much has changed over 20 years.

These days, phone camera videos of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko’s arrest get posted on the Internet and make it into the Ukrainian and global information space almost instantaneously.

In the early chaotic freedom of the [first Ukrainian President] Leonid Kravchuk years, restrictions were lifted.

Yet there was no money and little expertise to build a healthy, democratic media system. After his election in 1994, President Leonid Kuchma introduced a massive privatization drive that extended to the media sector. But privatization did not lead to free speech.

In less than a decade most of Ukraine’s media ended up in the hands of powerful businessmen, popularly known as oligarchs, who have close relations with political elites. These private media outlets worked handin-hand with the state, censoring the news during the late Kuchma era. The 2004 Orange Revolution [overturning a rigged presidential election that year] blew the lid off state censorship, and President Viktor Yushchenko’s presidency is remembered as a period of renewed free speech. Yet media watchers pointed to the fact that economic pressures presented a new kind of threat to free speech.

In many ways, Ukraine’s media system has followed global patterns: concentration of media ownership, close links between political and economic elites, market factors dominating media content with infotainment being the norm, the Internet revolution and an

explosion of new, social media.

Concerns over censorship continue, but the picture is not black and white.

For a while the Tymoshenko trial was broadcast on live television, but any journalist will tell you about subtle pressures. Audiences and readers have also noticed that certain subjects no longer appear in the public sphere as often as they used to.

When TV journalist Mykhailo Tkach asked Russian Orthodox Church leader Mytropolyt Pavlo about his expensive Mercedes, his private driver and plans to build a restaurant on the Monastery of the Caves’ grounds, he was insulted and threatened. The story did not run in full on the evening news but was posted online: www.telekritika.ua/ news/2011-07-26/64611.

Some journalists continue to take the head-on approach, criticizing Yanukovych and his government. Others, like TV journalist Andriy Kulykov, accept invitations to view the president’s residence and use the occasion to pose questions about censorship. www. ictv.ua/wasp/ua/facts/214/1419482/; http://www.pravda.com.ua/photo-video/2011/06/24/6328941/. The weather added a comic note to the interview – part way through, the skies opened and all the participants got drenched: www. youtube.com/watch?v=uZnvkOjeigo&f eature=related (see 1:30) Anyone who remembers what mass media was like in Soviet Ukraine cannot help but admit how much has changed. Now the country is run by post-Soviet elite who have to deal with Russia’s neo-imperialist behavior. Russian media products continue to have a heavy presence. Ukraine’s

media system, like the rest of the country, is a work in progress.

Now, as in 1991, there are a handful of talented, hard-working journalists with integrity, who understand the ideal of independent journalism and free speech, and strive towards it as good journalists do. Yet these goals are elusive everywhere.

I no longer work as a journalist, but come to Ukraine regularly and conduct interviews for my research. It’s hard to find much optimism in Kyiv these days leading up to the country’s 20th birthday. Even the weather does not seem to be cooperating – there has been as much rain as sunshine this summer.

It is perhaps a good reflection of Ukraine’s recent history: some bad, some good. Given that the US came to the brink of default this month, London was rocked with violent riots, many European economies are teetering, violence continues in the Middle East, and Russia long ago lost any semblance of democracy, things in Ukraine may start looking a bit less bleak.

For me, Ukraine remains continually interesting, but for those living and working here, it can’t be easy, despite the fact that everyone has a cell phone now.

Marta Dyczok, is an associate professor of history and political science at the University of Western Ontario, a fellow in the Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine at the University of Toronto and an adjunct professor at the National University of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy.

She also participated in the Oral History of Independent Ukraine project: http:// oralhistory.org.ua.

Willard: Prosperous newspaper can better serve community Æ4 put considerable money into the publication – wants to do that, either.

His investments have resulted in quality coverage and enhanced readability.

So, what do we do? We must operate on the plus side. This is where I need your help.

For the last month, I have visited business leaders in the community.

Their thoughts have been enlightening, and they have been varied in their criti-

cism and praise. However, one thing is clear: Kyiv would be less of a community without a vibrant Kyiv Post.

The leader of a top accountancy firm even suggested that businesses would support the Kyiv Post as a corporate social responsibility project. It was a nice thought, but they won’t. My years in business suggest that a company needs a reason – self-interest – to buy an ad.

It is our job at the newspaper to give them that reason. It is not as though we have been asked to find the Holy Grail.

The answers are out there.

The reasons for advertising must go beyond a readership of 25,000 and what I consider a dream target audience: banks, professional firms, employment agencies, tourism companies, some consumer products, real estate firms, health facilities – I could go on and on.

When the Kyiv Post does special business focus issues – about once a month – it pays for itself. If the newspaper is a good buy for special editions – and it is – why wouldn’t it be just as good a buy in non-business focus issues, where the ad would stand out even more?

Additionally, let’s think in terms of a six-month or year-long investment that builds consistency. This allows

the newspaper’s commercial side to come up with extra-value add-ons while, at the same time, offering steep discounts.

We’re just full of ideas about how to give advertisers real value.

In other words, if you believe in the Kyiv Post, come on down! We’re ready to make a deal.

Michael Willard is the CEO of the Kyiv Post.

Lifestyle

Kyiv has plenty of horse riding clubs that provide not only lessons but also good accommodations in the countryside.

August 19, 2011

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From Soviet gray to Western chic: The evolution of fashion

A model from a Soviet 1960s magazine (L) contrasts with a model from the 2008 Ukrainian Fashion Week. (i065.radikal.ru, AFP)

BY Y U L I YA R A S K E VIC H RASKEVICH@KYIVPOST.COM

If on opening your wardrobe you still think you’ve got nothing to wear, think how it was for the Soviet women.

Only 20 years ago, being a fashionista was a heroic act requiring connections and tailors rather than fashion blogs, boutiques and a wallet.

Necessity was the mother of invention. No other saying, perhaps, better

describes the strict fashion diet in the USSR. The market deficit for just about anything from sausage to books ravaged the closets, where lavender bags, needed to fight moths, were hanging lonely without any fur coats to protect.

Black and brown were the colors of the time, with red only available on the hammer-and-sickle flag. But women were ingenious enough to find solutions.

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“We tried to get by in many ways by sewing our own clothes, buying on the black market, or snatching fabric for crazy amounts of money from tourists,� said fashion-lover Olga Basetskaya, recalling the 1980s. “It was impossible to buy anything in Soviet shops. Even if something had been imported into the country, it would have been gray, uniform, boring.

Sometimes we even altered our mother‘s old clothes. The highest form of art

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$PNJOH 4PPO (FSNBOZ September 23, Oktoberfest

was to buy a man’s shirt and tailor it for a woman. The fabric of male shirts was for some reason better.�

Those who didn’t know how to sew had to use atelier, or tailor’s shops. But even that wasn’t easy – Soviet dressmakers used to open for new orders only once a week. “People would arrive at 5 a.m., forming a long queue,â€? said Irina Ivahnin, a former master tailor at Zaporozhye atelier. “If someone wanted to order 10 things at once, Æ19

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I Inside O Out

BY YULIYA POPOVA POPOVA@KYIVPOST.COM

Vacation stays in Crimea, Odesa still reminscent of Soviet Union As a 9-year-old, all that you really dream about during a school year is a summer holiday. I was exactly that age in 1991, when the Soviet Union fell apart.

Like most other families in Ukraine, we neither dreamed of, nor could afford, travelling abroad.

I used to spend three glorious summer months either skipping over the rope in our backyard or at the camping site sunbathing with grandparents. Very rarely did we manage to escape to the seaside as a family. One holiday in Crimea stuck in my memory very well.

Twin featureless Soviet-built hotels were slowly taking over the beaches near the green rolling hills of the Crimea's mountains.

Shedding paint and bricks today, they looked modern and stylish in the '90s.

We didn’t have the money to stay in any of them and booked a trip to a sanatorium instead through my mother’s work. As a nurse, she was entitled to spend two weeks at the seaside – nearly all paid for by the state – to improve her health.

My dad is not a doctor and he wasn’t ill, so to go together, my mother had to ask her hospital to forge some documents and send him along as one of their former patients. They took me, of course.

My stay, however, was completely illegal in that lovely mansion, converted from the early 20thcentury grand aristocratic home in the Crimean town of Simeyiz.

So whenever somebody entered our room, I had to jump out of the window (luckily it was on the first floor).

That was in the 1990s.

Twenty years on, the options for summer travel changed tremendously. Most of the beautiful decadent villas went back into the private hands of Ukrainian millionaires. Ritzy international hotels slowly make their way in. The coastline in Crimea and Odesa is just as good as in any Western resort, but that’s if you stay in central towns and don’t sidetrack.

A few weeks ago, we decided to leave the comfort of Odesa’s lovely wicker chairs in a cafÊ across the opera house and headed for the suburbs.

Some 50 kilometers from the famous Arkadia beaches, we ended up in a small resort town of Zatoka. Hundreds of holiday-makers strolled along entertainment strips, which somewhat reminded us of Cancun in Mexico. The sandy strip by the sea was peppered with hotels, private dachas, small hectic markets and slews of cafes. Æ18

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August 19, 2011

August – September (Alex Furman)

Wednesday, Aug. 24

(odessa-life.od.ua)

16 Entertainment Guide

Celebrate Independence Celebratory Day at Maidan on Aug.24 exhibitions

Even though this year’s traditional Independence Day parade has been cancelled, there are plenty of events planned to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Ukraine’s rebirth as a state. Those who love music and prefer the downtown vibe can enjoy a full day of events on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, where celebratory activities will begin in the morning and last all day. A series of concerts will begin at 10 a.m. with a traditional folk ensemble performance, followed by a youth performance fittingly called “Generation U 20.” At 4:30 p.m., the concert will continue with Ukraine’s best military brass bands. Throughout the day the competitive spirit of the crowd will be stirred by several contests including graffiti, street football and basketball contests.

The highlight of Maidan’s celebration will be the performance of some of Ukraine’s top music stars at 6:00 p.m. But be warned, it’s likely to draw a large crowd. In the evening, you can enjoy Sophia Rotaru, Potap and Nastya, Tina Karol, Ruslana, Druga Rika, TNMK and others. The official festivities will conclude with fireworks.

Wednesday, Aug. 24 from 10:00 a.m., Maidan Nezalezhnosti.

Art pavilion Mystetsky Arsenal will feature the works of more than 100 artists reflecting on questions of Ukrainian identity, independence, current problems and the future. The exhibition titled “The Independent” includes modern art pieces of creative styles and mediums, including installations and audio and video technology. This introspective show talks about Ukraine’s journey as a new democracy through art.

From Monday, Aug. 22 – Sept. 11, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., Mystecky Arsenal, 12-14 Lavrska St., 288-5226, artarsenal.in.ua/en. Tickets: Hr. 10-30. Free entrance on Aug. 24.

A stunning flower show will open on Spivoche Field. Each of nine flower compositions presented is made of about 50,000 thousand flowers. Floral designers have been growing the plants, buying materials and designing compositions since winter. To see smaller-scale floral creations, stop by the fair where amateur and professional florists display and sell their pieces.

From Saturday, Aug. 20 – Sept. 4, Spivoche Pole, metro Arsenalna.

Free admission.

(24ukr.com)

If you want to escape the hustle and bustle of the city celebrations, join a folk celebration in Mamaeva Sloboda Park. Whether you are Ukrainian or a visitor, you are invited to participate in the annual unfolding of the largest Ukrainian flag on the sprawling grounds of this open-air museum. At 1 p.m. teams from Ukraine and Russia will face each other in a tournament of Ukrainian national martial arts, which looks like wrestling. Adventurous kozaks on horses, folk singing, and kobza (traditional music instrument) players will draw you into a recreation of 17thcentury Ukraine.

Wednesday, Aug. 24, Mamaeva Sloboda, 2 Myhayla Doncya St., metro Shyulyavska, 361-9848, tickets: Hr. 10-40.

Wednesday, Aug. 24

Or head to Kyivska Rus Park, the cultural open-air center just outside Kyiv. Experience rich Slavic cultural heritage by wandering around the massive territory filled with Kyivan

Rus palaces and churches, museums, folk and art centers, a library, and even a horse riding center.

Aug. 24, Park Kyivska Rus, village Kopachiv, Obuhiv region (34 km from Kyiv), 461-99-37, tickets: Hr. 10-40.

Nature and art lovers will enjoy the organic art show “Young Ukraine – Independent and Magical” held in Kyiv’s House of Nature. The exhibition will include landscapes, still-lifes and portraits made of petals, banana peels, poplar and other unexpected materials.

Aug. 18 – Sept. 18, open Tuesday through Saturday, 12 p.m. – 6 p.m., House of Nature, metro Ploshcha Lva Tolstogo, 3 Rognedinskaya St., 234-4547, tickets: Hr. 5-10.

The new Museum of Embroidery opens its doors to the public on Aug. 19. Its collection features traditional Ukrainian embroidered textiles and icons, some of which, believe it or not, even glow in the dark. Due to special techniques, the fabrics play tricks with your vision. In celebration of Independence Day, the museum will exhibit an embroidered flag of Ukraine, which is visible with your eyes closed.

Friday, Aug. 19, opening at 2:00 p.m., Museum of Embroidery, 23 A Kurchatova St., metro Lisova, 097-315-1691, tickets: Hr. 10-20.

(odessa-life.od.ua )

until Sunday, Aug. 21

Shopping in Sorochyntsi An annual colorful fair held in Sorochyntsi village has become Ukraine’s landmark cultural event. And if you still haven’t bought your honey or a sheepskin rug at this sprawling shopping affair in the countryside, head for Poltava Oblast on August 16 – 21. Brought to light by famous writer Nikolai Gogol in his famous novel of the same name, Sorochyntsi fair has a wealth of entertainment options apart from shopping. On August 17, many Ukrainian and foreign folk and pop bands will perform at the Festival of Folk Art, including “Ukrainian Male Chorus” (Canada), dance groups “Rozmai” (Canada) and “Barvinok” (Russia), and a capella group “Azerbaijan,” among others. In ethnographic farmstead “Hivrya,” master classes on glass painting, body art and hand-made toys will be held. If you like horses, visit theater “Kosh” for an acrobatic show. Food tastings and cooking classes of famous borscht and kulish (Kozak porridge) are bound to impress your significant other.

Tuesday – Sunday, Aug. 16-21, village Velyki Sorochyntsi, Myrhorod district, Poltava Oblast.

Open from 10 a.m. till 12 p.m., www.yarmarok.poltava.ua. Free entrance.

(photoradar.com)

Ethnic escape

Aug. 24 – 28

Touch the sky in a hot air balloon You have a chance to marvel at the spectacular site of hot air balloons as part of the second International Festival “Adventures in the Air-2011.” Festival participants will demonstrate their mastery with “Air soccer” when sportsmen will attempt playing soccer in the air and “Tournament of Air Knights,” in which pilots will do tricks in the air worthy of the Quidditch game in “Harry Potter.” If the weather allows, the festival’s hosts promised some lucky visitors free rides.

Wednesday – Sunday, Aug 24-28, town Vasylkiv, Kyiv Oblast, www.airadventures.org.

Compiled by Mariya Manzhos and Julia Klimova

www.kyivpost.com

August 19, 2011

Entertainment Guide 17 Live Music

Movies

ART CLUB 44 44B Khreshchatyk St., 279-4137, www.club44.com.ua Concerts traditionally start at 8 – 10 p.m.

Aug. 19 Tropikalia Brazilian Carnaval, Hr 50 Aug. 20 Angie Nears, Hr 50 Aug. 21 Soiuz 44 Jam Session, free admission Aug. 22 Lela Project, free admission Aug. 23 Katya Chilly, free admission Aug. 24 Checkpoint Aug. 25 C-men, free admission

Actress Kirsten Dunst (R) finds a bad time to get married in 'Melancholia.'(odessa-life.od.ua)

BEST OF NEW VISION A collection of short films Language: Original with Ukrainian subtitles Nine short movies that won prizes at miscellaneous film festivals will provide for an hour and a half of visually stunning cinema that might stay in your memories forever. But only if you are truly addicted to genuine art. Tales about first love and true devotion, a musical comedy without a single word, a drama about loneliness, a family thriller. Films from Norway, Finland, ZHOVTEN 26 Kostyantynivska St., 205-5951 Aug. 18 – Aug. 25 at 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m.

Austria and Germany, among other countries will be broadcast in their original language with Ukrainian subtitles. .

MELANCHOLIA US 2011 Language: English with English subtitles Directed by Lars von Trier Starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg A girl has always dreamt of an incredible wedding, but the celebration is in danger when planet Melancholia suddenly threatens to collide with Earth. Director Lars Von Trier is endowed with the art of provoking.

But don't expect him going deep into exploring human nature in "Melancholia"

the way he did in “Breaking the Waves,” “Europe” and “Epidemic” back in the 19801990s. In this fantasy, he seems interested only in shocking with tense emotions. And the audience loves him for that event more. The only sad thing though is that if you want to be a master of frame-ups, you can’t afford repeating yourself. Sadly, Von Trier can't help being predictable.

“Melancholia” has no new ideas and it’s not nearly as good as his previous film “Antichrist.” But it’s still worth watching.

KYIV CINEMA 19 Chervonoarmiyska (Velyka Vasylkivska) St., 234-7381.

Aug. 20 – Aug. 25 at 4:30 p.m.

DOCKER’S ABC 15 Khreshchatyk St., 278-1717, www.docker.com.ua Concerts traditionally start at 9:30-10 p.m.

Aug. 19 Mad Heads XL, Tres Deseos, Hr 70 Aug. 20 Antytila, Red Rocks, Hr 70 Aug. 21 Foxtrot Music Band, free admission Aug. 22 Angie Nears, free admission Aug. 23 More Huana, Hr 20 Aug. 24 The Magma, Hr 50 Aug. 25 Mr. Och, Hr 30 DOCKER PUB 25 Bohatyrska St., metro Heroyiv Dnipra, www.docker.com.ua Concerts traditionally start at 9:30-10 p.m.

Aug. 19 Tabula Rasa, Red Rocks, Hr 70 Aug. 20 Mad Heads UkrainSKA, Tex-Mex Company, Hr 70 Aug. 21 Chill Out, free admission Aug. 22 Crazy Train, free admission Aug. 23 Docker Pub 9th Birthday: Tantsy Minus, Motorolla, More Huana Aug. 24 Rockin’ Wolves, free admission Aug. 25 Partizanskie Vytivky, free admission BOCHKA PYVNA ON KHMELNYTSKOHO 4B-1 Khmelnytskoho St, metro Teatralna, 390-6106,

www.bochka.com.ua Concerts traditionally start at 9-10 p.m.

Aug. 19 Raznie Liudi Band (Russia), Hr 80 Aug. 20 Foxtrot Music Band, free admission Aug. 24 Hot Guys, free admission Aug. 25 Barely Ice, Hr 30 PORTER PUB 3 Sichnevogo Povstannya St., 280-1996, www.porter.com.ua Concerts traditionally start at 7:30 p.m.

Aug. 19 Shubin Band Aug. 20 Horoshyi, Plohoy, Zloy Aug. 24 Ivan Bliuz Aug. 25 Maks Tavricheski JAZZ DO IT 76A Velyka Vasylkivska St., 289-56-06, http://jazz-doit.com.ua Concerts traditionally start at 8:30 p.m.

Aug. 19 Jam Duo Aug. 20 Elena Nikolskaya Other live music clubs: GOLDEN GATE IRISH PUB, 15 Zolotovoritska St., 235-5188, http:// goldengatepubkiev.com/ TO DUBLIN IRISH PUB, 4 Raisy Okipnoi St., 569-5531, http://www.to-dublin.com.ua/ PIVNA NO.1 ON BASEYNA, 15 Baseyna St., 287-44-34, www.pivna1.com.ua DRAFT 1/2 Khoryva St., metro Kontraktova Ploshcha, 463-7330 KHLIB CLUB 12 Frunze St., www.myspace. com/xlibclub CHESHIRE CAT 9 Sklyarenko St., 428-2717 O’BRIEN’S 17A Mykhaylivska St., 279-1584 DAKOTA 14G Heroyiv Stalinhrada St., 4687410 U KRUZHKI 12/37 Dekabrystiv St., 5626262.

Best classical picks • Friday, August 19: “Classics on Friday” will feature Valeria Shulga on piano and Olga Akolyshnova on violin at 8 p.m. Cultural center Master-Klass, 34 Mazepy St., metro Arsenalna, www.masterklass.org/eng, 594-1063. Tickets: Hr 30.

• Monday, August 22: The music of Vivaldi, Hendel, Saint-Saëns and Shostakovych will be played as part of the festival “Summer Music Rays.” 7 p.m. The National Philharmonic of Ukraine, 2 Volodymyrsky uzviz, metro Maydan Nezalezhnosti, www.filarmonia. com.ua, 278- 1697. Tickets: Hr 20-70.

• Tuesday, August 23: Ukraine’s National Academic Brass Orchestra with tenor Vitaliy Kostenko will give a jazz concert commemorating the births of Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra. Enjoy music of Gouilleme, Manchini, Gershwin, Herman at 7 p.m. The National Philarmonic of Ukraine, 2 Volodymyrsky uzviz, metro Maydan Nezalezhnosti, www.filarmonia.com.ua, 278- 1697.

Tickets: Hr 20-70.

• Wednesday, August 24: Oleksiy Saranchyn’s quartet, which consists of grand piano, saxaphone, double bass, and drums at 8 p.m.

Cultural center Master-Klass, 34 Mazepy St., metro Arsenalna, www.masterklass.org/eng, 594-1063. Tickets: Hr 40.

• Thursday, August 25: Kyiv Chamber Orchestra will play Hendel, Bach, Telemann, von Biber with violin and flute solos at 7 p.m.

The National Philarmonic of Ukraine, 2 Volodymyrsky uzviz, metro Maydan Nezalezhnosti, www.filarmonia.com.ua, 278- 1697.

Tickets: Hr 20-70.

• Friday, August 26: Well-known Kyiv musician and composer Andriy Bondarenko will perform piano music of the 20th century at 8 p.m. Cultural center Master-Klass, 34 Mazepy St., metro Arsenalna, www.masterklass.org/eng, 594-1063. Tickets: Hr 30.

Compiled by Maria Manzhos

Singer Katya Chilli will sing for free on Aug. 23 in Art Club 44. (ua.photoclub.com.ua)

Compiled by Svitlana Kolesnykova

Don't miss the finals of Kyiv Cricket League 2011!

2011 iv Ky Cr

et ick

CRICKET

e

Leagu

The finals of Kyiv Cricket League 2011 will take place on Saturday, Sept. 3, at 2 p.m.

Seniors and Friends will fight for the first place in the tournament.

25%

Results of Kyiv Cricket League held on Aug. 13-14, 2011: Aug. 13 Saturday Aug. 14 Sunday

KCC vs EverGreen

KCC won by 19 runs

Kagarlyk vs BUCC

BUCC won by 3 runs

Kagarlyk vs EverGreen

Kagarlyk won by 35 runs

Man of the Match: Sailesh Rajendraprasad Man of the Match: Hanif Man of the Match: Wayne Zschch

KCC: 116 runs/8 wickets EverGreen: 97 runs/All out

discount for embassies

Kagarlyk:145 runs/7 wickets BUCC: 148 runs/6 wickets Kagarlyk:176 runs/7 wickets EverGreen: 141 runs/8 wickets

Thanks to the volunteers, organizing committee, team captains & players for the successful completion of league matches.

Thanks to the sponsors involved in the Kyiv Cricket League!

Exclusive Media Partner

If you need more information about the tournament please contact Mr. Wayne, KCC, at +380 50 358-88-49 or Mr. Shailesh, KCC, at +380 50 355-61-16 For more information please visit kyivpost.com/projects/cricket2011/

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18 Lifestyle

www.kyivpost.com

August 19, 2011

Sports stars struggle to clear hurdles to success

BY O L G A R U D E N KO RUDENKO@KYIVPOST.COM

Ukraine has achieved some noting sporting success during its 20 years of independence, but has failed to fully capitalize on its Soviet inheritance.

In 40 years of Winter and Summer Olympic competition from 1952 to the last time a Soviet team took part in1992, Ukrainian athletes collected 193 medals. Since Ukraine began competing separately, the country has bagged a meager 29 medals in four Summer Olympics and five Winter Olympics.

Sports insiders and experts blame a sharp reduction in funding for sport at all levels for the performance drop.

In the Soviet period, sport was lavishly funded in a search for champions in the propaganda Cold War with the West, as well as to promote an active lifestyle. But funding dried up after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as economic turmoil swept Ukraine.

“The only difference is funding,” said Valeriy Borzov, Ukraine’s first sports minister and an Olympic champion.

Irina Deriugina, an Olympic champion and famous Soviet-Ukrainian gymnast and coach, said the primary reason for the drop in sporting achievements is the lack of sports facilities.

“Those existing are mainly in a poor condition and were built in Soviet times,” she said.

Borzov added, however, that conditions are starting to improve as the state boosted money for the National Olympic Committee (NOC).

There have been some notable successes at the Olympics for the Ukrainian team, particularly in gymnastics and track and field – two sports the Soviet team was especially good in.

Gymnastics brought six gold medals, more than any other sport. Track and field has contributed 15 medals, three of them gold.

Yana Klochkova, known in Ukrainian by her nickname “Goldfish,” became a swimming legend after winning four gold medals in Olympics in 2000 and 2004. Ukraine’s gymnastic school keeps

Gymnast Lilia Podkopaeva performs in the women's individual floor event winning the first gold for Ukraine in 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, the U.S. (AFP)

producing great athletes, such as Lilia Podkopayeva, Kateryna Serebrianska and Anna Bessonova, who fill world championships tables with Ukrainian names.

Still, the general picture is not bright.

Sport in Independent Ukraine had a hard start. From its very beginning the work of NOC, the heart of the state’s sport, has been full of obstacles, to put it mildly.

“Immediately after independence, it became clear that we needed to create our own Olympic committee,” Borzov explained. “But it wasn’t an easy thing to do. To be officially approved by the International Olympic Committee we had to endure a one-year probationary period and get our five national sports federations approved by the committee.”

In 1993, when the NOC took up preparations for the 1994 Winter Games in Norway and 1996 Summer Games in the U.S., Ukrainian Olympians were in dire financial straits.

But help came from abroad. Borzov, as a president of NOC, appealed to the Ukrainian diaspora in the U.S. Larissa Barabash Temple of Atlanta, whose

parents had left Ukraine many years earlier, was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of Ukrainian Olympians abroad.

“We had to organize a training camp for Ukrainians,” said Barabash Temple.

“My husband is a lawyer, and there are some well-known American athletes among his clients. That helped me in the search. One of the most difficult tasks was finding a base for kayakers team training.”

Barabash Temple, together with other members of the diaspora launched a campaign to raise money for the National Olympic Committee. Sports clubs agreed to provide training facilities in America at a minimal cost – $25 per day – for the opportunity to work with Olympic athletes. The biggest sponsor fee of $1.3 million was donated

by Harry Bowman, a Ukrainian by birth and owner of Bowman’s Sports Betting.

This help allowed Ukrainian athletes to take part in their first Olympics as part of an independent Olympics.

Now, even though the Ukrainian national team no longer needs help from abroad, the way financial support for sport is organized remains ques-

tionable. Sponsors are hard to find and state support is hard to secure.

One sport that has brought success to Ukraine – and certainly doesn’t lack money at the top level – is soccer. The national team reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup in 2006; Shakhtar Donetsk won the UEFA Cup in 2009 and Dynamo Kyiv made the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League in 1999.

Another successful sport for independent Ukraine has been boxing – most notably Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, heavyweight brothers who hold all the major world titles in that division.

Sporting success can bring financial reward, or lead to other spin-off careers. Soccer star Andriy Shevchenko earned $2 million for a beer commercial, according to media reports, and the Klitschkos also advertized a beer brand. The choice of product to promote received criticism as many fans said alcohol and sport don’t mix.

Olympic champion swimmer Klochkova chose another field in which to take advantage of her success and popularity in sports – politics. Before

the end of career Klochkova (now 29) joined the pro-presidential Party of Regions and used to be a deputy in the Kharkiv city council. Legendary athlete Sergei Bubka is also engaged in politics. He is president of the NOC and was president of Rodovid Bank until it collapsed in 2009.

Bubka said the increasing commercialization of sport offers Ukrainian athletes the chance to earn money from sporting activities. “Now it is possible for athletes to participate in commercial competitions and thus get worthy payment for their hard labor,” he said.

Ukraine is preparing to take another large leap in its sporting life next year, when it will host the Euro 2012 soccer championship. In 2013, Ukraine will host the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championship for the first time.

“With all these events, we can say that now is that very moment when the world gives Ukraine the opportunity to intensify sports development,” said Olympic gymnast Deriugina.

Kyiv Post staff writer Olga Rudenko can be reached at rudenko@kyivpost. com

Sports highlights from the first 20 years of Ukrainian Independence 1994 – At the Winter Olympics in Norway, figure skater Oksana Baiul won for independent Ukraine its first (and so far only) “winter” gold medal.

1996 – Performing at the Summer Olympics for the first time, the independent Ukrainian team took home 23 medals, nine of them gold.

1999 – Vitali Klitschko, the eldest of the two boxing brothers, knocked out Britain’s Herbie Hide in the second round to win the WBO heavyweight title.

2002 – Eighteen-year-old chess player Ruslan Ponomaryov became the youngest world chess champion. Three years earlier, Ponomaryov had already surprised the chess community, when he became the youngest international grandmaster ever.

2004 – At the Olympics in Athens, Yana Klochkova won her fourth Olympic gold medal for swimming in her final Games.

2006 – Ukraine’s national football team reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time.

2008 – The Beijing Olympics was the most successful for an independent Ukraine, which scored 27 medals, seven of them gold, and was the 11th most successful country. This was also the year that Ukraine was awarded the right to co-host with Poland the Euro 2012 soccer tournament.

2009 – Shakhtar Donetsk won the UEFA Cup after beating Germany’s Werder Bremen in the final.

2011 – Wladimir Klitschko defeated Britain’s David Haye, meaning the brothers now hold all four major world heavyweight titles.

Popova: For reality check, go to Zatoka Æ15 People traffic was huge and it

A family spends a summer evening in their rented wooden shack in Zatoka, Odesa Oblast.

(Petrut Calinescu)

was very noisy. Souvenir stalls with sea shells and sailors’ shirts, local wines sold in plastic bottles, darts, music stores – there was no end to this fun fair.

Yet, this illusion of a Western resort lasted only until we checked into our hotel, which charged $50 per night for their best room (in Odesa, they don’t take less than a $100, by the way.)

When I walked in, I realized that the spirit of the Soviet Union was still alive and kicking. Some 30-year old furniture, absence of any curtains and a fridge making sounds like an old train were a sight all too familiar.

We wandered out. The wooden houses on the hotel territory looked like prison cells with little windows, spring beds and facilities outside. They were crowded with families. I couldn’t believe people not only stayed in this decrepit accommodation but also looked quite happy about it.

We stayed in Zatoka for two nights.

Suddenly, our regular needs of philosophical self-fulfillment, as in the top tier of Maslow’s pyramid, were no longer relevant. We lacked safety and physiological comfort. There was a lot of greasy junk food sold everywhere but not a decent salad without mayo in sight.

I might have felt what my parents experienced when they were hiding me from the staff in the sanatorium.

Luckily, I was only an observer. But for many people in Ukraine, Zatoka and other beach resorts in Crimea and Odesa are still luxury destinations. And if they manage to afford a shack by the sea, it would make them happy.

But they deserve more. And hopefully, in another 20 years, they will be able to afford a room with a shower in it.

Kyiv Post lifestyle editor Yuliya Popova can be reached at popova@kyivpost.com

www.kyivpost.com

Lifestyle 19

August 19, 2011

Where to go horseback riding

BY A L I S S A A MB R OS E

For Kyivans looking for a new sport or a little adventure, horseback riding may fit the bill. There are several options in and around the city for people who want to give the equestrian life a try.

Rancho Bolivar If you are looking for a total getaway, Rancho Bolivar is your place. Located 35 kilometers from Kyiv, the sprawling complex offers a variety of outdoor activities including paintball, pingpong, hiking trails and a swimming pool. But the real draw is the horses.

For Hr 150-200 an hour you can walk, or gallop, through the fields and forest surrounding the stables. Trainers are on hand if you want lessons, but you should book in advance.

It is also possible to book carriage (Hr 500 per hour) or winter sleigh rides (Hr 200 per 30 minutes). The décor in Bolivar’s bar and restaurant – dark wood paneling, white tablecloths and chandeliers – resembles an upscale hunting lodge. You can dine here or choose a spot on the large wood and stone patio that surrounds and extends over a small lake. The restaurant boasts an extensive menu, but for a simple lunch the borscht (Hr 30-60) is excellent and the vegetable salad (Hr 30) is very fresh. If you prefer something fancier, everything from shashlik and grilled sausage to blini with caviar and foie gras is available. If you would like to make a weekend of it, Bolivar’s hotel has rooms for Hr 400-600 per night.

Dergachov The Dergachov Family Club is more rustic than Bolivar and, surrounded by

acres and acres of green farmland, it is the best place for nature lovers.

Some 40 horses are available to ride by the hour or for monthly lease.

A trail ride in the forest costs Hr 300 for one person plus a trainer and Hr 150 for each additional person. A lesson in the ring is Hr 170 per hour or you can purchase 10 lessons for Hr 1,500.

The club opened just last month and also offers a hotel and restaurant. For lunch or dinner, your best bet is the fish from a lake on the property. The carp – lightly fried and served on a wooden plank – is excellent for Hr 69.

If you would rather cook your own, you can purchase a day pass and catch up to three kilos for Hr 150.

For fishermen or riders too tired to make the trek home, a 14-room hotel is located above the stables. Each room has a private bath, shower and air conditioning for Hr 300 per night.

Argamak The most basic of the three, and also the easiest to get to for Kyivans, Argamak is located on Trukhaniv Island in central Kyiv. You won’t find any fancy extras here – just horses.

A lesson with a trainer is Hr 200 per hour or you can pay Hr 800 a month for eight lessons. They require that you are trained before going on trail rides, so you must take lessons in their outdoor riding ring first. Be sure to call in advance if you want to book a lesson.

There is no restaurant on the premises but a slew of cafes and kiosks are steps away on Trukhaniv’s beach area where you can relax and take a dip in the Dnipro after a hard ride.

A young woman takes a lesson in Ranch Bolivar. (Courtesy)

Bolivar 114 Schorsa St., village Zdorovka Vasylkiv region, Kyiv Oblast Tel: 451-54-54, www.ranchobolivar.com. ua To get there: Take the #303 shuttle bus from Lybidsky Metro station to Vasylkiv (the last stop). From here, take a 10-minute cab ride to Bolivar or catch the #1 bus to Kalinka and get off at Petrivka.

Bolivar is a one-kilometer walk from the bus stop. Ask the driver to let you know where to get off.

Dergachov Family Club 15 Kashtanova St., village Veremya Obukhiv region, Kyiv Oblast Tel: 067 547 18 80, www.hs-club.com.ua

Argamak 1 Trukhaniv ostriv Tel: 428 8638

To get there: Driving is the easiest way, but if you need to take public transport, catch #313 marshrutka from the Vydubychi metro station headed to village Ukrainka. In Ukrainka your best bet is to hire a taxi for the 10 minute ride to the stables.

To get there: From Poshtova Metro Station, walk over the footbridge and past the entrance to the beach. You will see some small cafes on your right and just after, a narrow dirt road leading into the forest. Follow this for a few minutes and the stable will be on your left.

20 Lifestyle

www.kyivpost.com

August 19, 2011

My Independence Day story: House on Shovkovychna Street

BY OKS AN A FA RYNA FARYNA@KYIVPOST.COM

Olga Rudenko: Butter lines and better times

Nataliya Solovonyuk: The meaning of patriotism

Mark Rachkevych: A Chicago awakening

Svitlana Tuchynska: A citizen of the world

Vlad Lavrov: Bombs, language gangs and cool badges

Back in August 1991, everyone in our family was in a good mood. At the end of summer we finally moved from the outskirts of the city to a new apartment building in downtown Kyiv. Our new home on Shovkovychna Street was not finished yet. But we moved right in.

There would be no reason to write about this private event in the life of our family if this house, situated in the very heart of an emerging state, was not such a good witness and an example of what we have lived through during the last 20 years. And I had a view of it all from my street-side balcony in this six-story, 28-unit house.

Symbolically, the street we moved to had been given back its original name, Shovkovychna. However, street addresses with the old title – in honor of German communist Karl Liebknecht – still could be seen on some buildings. Almost the same as our new state, our house had a new sign and a freshly painted front wall.

The house was built in 1916 by General Mavrin’s wife, who rented it out. Soon after the 1917 October Revolution, the house was nationalized and converted into a block of communal flats, a truly Soviet solution.

After Mikhail Gorbachev’s perestroika campaign in 1986, the battered building finally got a long-awaited overhaul. In 1989, the Youth Residential Complex was founded to reconstruct the building. All the repairs were done by the hands of young scientists who later received housing there as their rewards.

These construction workers with higher education did their jobs pretty fast. Some of them were even able to find some free time during lunch to go to demonstrations, which started mushrooming in the capital.

So, in August 1991, wallpaper in our apartment was not hung, parquet and tiles were not yet placed, and the gas and even water were not turned on.

But we had to suddenly move in.

My mom hated the dust and mess made by the reconstruction, which went on for about 13 years. This chaos in our home resembled the general climate in our new country.

My mom used to say she would be very happy if we lived until the time when we would not have to count every kopeck. Nevertheless, I had a happy childhood.

I remember as if it was today what a beautiful turquoise jacket I used to wear at that time. It was made from the fancy imported raincoat my mom used to wear when she was a student. As for the lining, we took a diaper from my younger brother. Our neighbor, Aunt Halya, sewed this jacket at home and ironed a label with the Tom & Jerry cartoon characters on the back. I was thrilled.

My brother wore this marvelous jacket after me, then several of our cousins did. Now my brother dresses very fancy. Some of my girlfriends look him over and say: He is a metrosexual! He says he is the only one in our family who knows how to dress

Read more My Independence Day stories online at www.kyivpost.com & www.kyivpost.ua Natalia A. Feduschak: Kravchuk brilliance and a Pentel pen

Workers participate in the reconstruction of an apartment building on Shovkovychna Street in Kyiv. In return for their labors, they received apartments. The father of Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Faryna is fifth from left, standing. (Courtesy)

well. Nowadays many young people of his generation dress very chic, taking revenge on childhood spent in the poor 1990s.

Despite difficulties, our family always had enough to eat. However, my mom used to tell me that I was not allowed to eat sour cream with a spoon because it was only for borsch, and mayonnaise could not be opened because there was only enough to make Olivier salad. Eggs could not be eaten either, because they were for cutlets.

We had all the basic goods because my dad had to do several jobs which had nothing in common with his professional background as a physicist. My dad did repairs for other people and other odd jobs.

Those families who did not adjust faced poverty in newly independent Ukraine. A friend of mine, a native Kyivan, told me recently that as a child in the early 1990s he did not see meat for months. They ate from the cheapest cans and found toys among the trash.

A favorite game played by his classmates at the time was called locust.

The main aim was to eat everything in the refrigerator as fast as possible.

They liked to play this game at home of one of their classmates whose fridge was always full.

Each spring my friend picked lilacs growing near his house and sold them at Demiyivskiy market. Now, everything is fine with my friend. After a successful real estate deal, he got two apartments and two cars. He still does not like to recall the hardships of his childhood right after Ukraine proclaimed its independence.

I don’t remember what my family did during the historical day of Aug. 24, 1991, .

When we moved to a new apartment on Shovkovychna Street, I was six years old, and my brother was two. The only thing I know is that we were not able to go for a walk to Mariyinskiy Park near Verkhovna Rada and feed ducks in the fountains as usual with my brother and mom, because that day this territory was occupied by a cheerful crowd waving yellow-and-blue flags.

Since then, many other protesters have passed by our house.

First were coal miners in helmets who in the mid-1990s protested against huge debts in salary payments. In the early 2000s, we witnessed participants of the Ukraine Without Kuchma

Residents of 16A Shovkovychna St. not only mark the 20th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, but also 20 years in the renovated building. (Oksana Faryna)

movement, followed by supporters of the 2004 Orange Revolution, to name a few. During the events of autumn 2004 – winter 2005, special military forces were hidden in our yard while an orange flag “Pechersk – for Yushchenko” was unfurled from our balcony on the fifth floor.

Thanks to its location, our house saw the motorcades of all four Ukrainian presidents who passed by on the way to the presidential administration.

Leonid Kravchuk drove; I don’t already remember how.

Leonid Kuchma, an early bird, arrived before everyone went to work.

Viktor Yushchenko drove late as he usually was late, while Viktor Yanukovych is seen now moving extremely fast.

To provide comfort for our presidents, asphalt on our smooth street was changed twice.

As often happened in the age of wild capitalism, our house even survived a raider attack. A firm which used to sell vodka and rent an apartment on the first floor for use as an office put its own lock on the door and decided not to let owners in.

If the residents of our house, including a parliamentary member, were not united in their actions, the bandits would not have given the apartments back to their legal owners.

In two decades, one young woman has died in our house, and two girls were born. Only one bride wearing a white wedding dress went out of the building, leaving the staircase splashed with coins and candies. It was a daugh-

ter of the lawmaker who helped to kick out the raiders.

Over the last 20 years, many neighbors undertook European-style renovations in their apartments and installed plastic windows. Many bought cars, and plenty of them occupy our yard now. Someone got a thoroughbred dog.

Someone took advantage of high real estate prices before the 2008 financial crisis and sold an apartment. Many in our house have broadband Internet and wi-fi service. Fewer people use landline phones, and the Ukrtelecom monopoly cut those from time to time for non-payment of the bills, no matter how small the overdue sum.

Not long ago, containers to separate garbage collecting, for dry and organic wastes, appeared in our yard. That’s an environmental step that should have taken place years ago. One of the announcements near the entrance door informed recently that meters for hot and cold water would be installed in our apartments soon. That’s something that also should have happened earlier.

Another announcement on the building says that each resident should come to Khreshchatyk, a housing and utilities enterprise, and sign new agreements to receive utility services despite the fact we had been receiving them for the last 20 years. It looks like a beginning of a housing war.

But let’s think about it tomorrow, after having a housewarming party and celebrating the 20th anniversary of our life in a new place.

Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Faryna can be reached at faryna@kyivpost.com

www.kyivpost.com

Lifestyle 21

August 19, 2011

Fall of Soviet Union unleashes latent desires for better fashion Æ15 it would mean that there were only 40 orders left for other customers because we couldn’t make more.�

Those who couldn’t afford tailors were resigned to grey pullovers and black skirts from central malls, called TSUMs. “They used to make clothes as if they were for the dead,� recalled fashion expert and historian Zoya Zvinyatkovska.

Soviet fashion served ideology, not people. Of course, there were magazines and fashion houses, but they were printed only for visual consumption and exhibitions. And so a Soviet woman had to discover the black market and rely on a friend of a friend who miraculously brought more than one skirt from her educational visit abroad.

When the first Hollywood films sneaked into the Soviet Union, they brought the spirit of change and a cult of the human body. At the same time in the late 1980s, Soviet cinema surprised its citizens by showing half-naked, loose women onscreen in “Malenkaya Vera� (Little Vera) and “Interdevochka� (A Foreign Girl). “People always compared themselves to who they saw onscreen. In this way, the era of the mini skirt, the see-through blouse and skin-tight, very short dresses entered Ukraine,� recalled Peter Mamchich, a designer and teacher at the Kyiv National University of Technology and Design.

In a way, it seems that the same style of “the shorter, the better� still rules the streets. But luckily, Ukrainians seem to

ÆWhen the first Hollywood films sneaked into the USSR, they brought a cult of the human body with them. Jeans, miniskirts and colorful leggings from China flooded street markets. have done away with crimson jackets.

Men who managed to scramble up the social ladder had to demonstrate their wealth with raspberry-colored jackets over black t-shirts and golden chains.

China was to blame for this fashion crime.

Huge batches of Alaska coats and colorful leggings (footless tights) flooded the street markets. The colors were gaudy, the quality was poor but what amazing change did these strips of clothes achieve for the women. Sexy, confident, beautiful – meet a new Ukrainian woman.

In 1993, United Colors of Benetton opened its first store on Khreshchatyk Street. Queuing up for hours sometimes, people waited to get in just to browse if they couldn’t afford to buy. In 1997, Ukrainian Fashion Week unrolled its first catwalk in Kyiv, which lasted only three days and showcased 13 collections. By March 2011, the show lasted well over a week and presented 50 collections. Among the first design-

ers to sweep Ukrainian fashionistas were Victor Anisimov, Alain Vorozhbit, Victoria Gres, Lily Pustovit and Sergei Byzov. All of them are still in fashion today.

They, however, owe much of their popularity to the Internet, when people could finally learn about fashion from numerous sources and express themselves freely in blogs. “The Internet changed everything.

There is no longer ‘fashion’ per se, there is style,� said Alessandra Daynelli, an Italian fashion consultant and buyer.

Ukrainians who wear international Zara, Desigual and H&M brands are no exception. But if you feel nostalgic for Soviet head scarves and knitted jackets, you can still find them in your grandmother’s closets or flea markets.

They are, however, the type of history that most people would rather forget about.

Kyiv Post staff writer Yuliya Raskevich can be reached at raskevich@kyivpost. com

Soviet prostitutes in the 1989 film 'Interdevochka' showcase how Soviet women dressed when they had money and connections. (all-stars.su)

Actress Elena Yakovleva played a nurse by daytime and a prostitute by night in "Interdevochka," a cult movie about Soviet women who were ready for anything to live a decent life. (all-stars.su)

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August 19, 2011

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UNICEF UKRAINE is looking for a qualified candidate to fill the position of

Administrative and Supply Assistant

TERMS OF REFERENCE PURPOSE OF THE POST: Under the direct supervision of the Operations Manager, the Administrative and Supply Assistant is accountable for supporting the supply, logistics and administrative functions in the office as well as assist in the procurement, distribution and monitoring of UNICEF’s supplies, in support of the Country Programme.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: • Assist in the implementation of the supply component of the Country Programme, including a system for the procurement, storage distribution of supplies to all project sites. • Undertake filed visits to project sites to monitor the supply inputs. Propose corrective actions to improve the logistical and supply procedures. • Undertake market research, compile list of local sources of procurement, liaise with local vendors, follow up with the bidding process, including the price information and conditions of offer, • Assist supervisor in preparing estimates on office premises, supplies and equipment requirements for budget preparation purposes. Assist the Operations Manager in the establishment and maintenance of security arrangements and related administrative services. • Support the management of administrative supplies, office equipment and vehicles, updating inventory of items. • Ensure that all administrative transactions and arrangements of contracts are in compliance with the applicable policies, procedures, rules and regulations. Contribute to the reviews of contractual arrangements related to administrative support.

QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES REQUIRED: • EDUCATION Completion of Secondary School, University level courses in administration, finance or any other related field of discipline relevant to the job. • WORK EXPERIENCE Five years of progressively responsible experience in office management, administration, finance, accounting, supply or any other relevant function. • LANGUAGES Fluency in English, Ukrainian and Russian is required. • COMPETENCIES Competency Profile Ι) Core Values (Required) ΙΙ) Functional Competencies (Required) • Commitment • Diversity and Inclusion • Integrity

ΙΙΙ) Technical Knowledge a) Common Technical Knowledge

• Analyzing • Applying Technical Expertise • Planning and Organizing • Following Instructions and Procedures

b) Specific Technical Knowledge Required

• Principles of office management, management’s policies, procedures and operations management, programme guidelines in the manual as relevant, in management and administration the context of the country situations and • IT Skills and working knowledge of UNICEF conditions of work.

SAP/HR, MICROSOFT – Excel,PowerPoint and Word software. • Administrative service management's goals, visions, positions, policies, and strategies Supply operations, logistics and purchasing administration • UNICEF administrative service c) Technical Knowledge to be Acquired/ Enhanced • UN policies and strategy to address issues in harmonization of administrative service management and operations in the common system.. • UNICEF positions about UN common approaches to administrative service management and operations issues. • UN security guidelines. • Government regulations and laws in the locality pertinent to administrative service

The deadline for submission of applications is 06 September, 2011.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Applicants that fulfil the above requirements are requested to complete a United Nations Personal History Form (P. 11) which is available at a web-site www.unicef.org/employ and submit it together with a resume/CV and a cover letter describing your professional interests in working for UNICEF. Applications should be sent to: UNICEF Office, 1, Klovskiy Uzviz, Kyiv, Ukraine Fax No. 380-44-230-2506 E-mail: recruitment_kiev@unicef.org

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August 19, 2011

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JO 6LSBJOF Is seeking a consultant to develop a “Methodology on Appraising Effectiveness of PPP Projects�.

Interested candidates should send inquiries for a “Request for Application� to p3dp@fhi360.org Due date of Applications:

September 12, 2011 by 15:00 Kyiv time

The Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s leading English-language newspaper.

INTERNET SALES (RUSSIAN/ ENGLISH LANGUAGE SITE) DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Sell Russian and English banners to advertisers Development, presentation and building effective relations with agencies/networks existing and prospective clients Monitoring and analysis of margins and service quality for clients Realization of set individual goals according to budget plan Ensure knowledge of direct competitors and situation on the market Propose new products REQUIREMENTS Proven sales experience in internet agencies/successful story of sales on sites Experience in media planning Knowledge of English Able to meet deadlines Proactive person Positive, communicative Punctual Knowledge of AdRiver system JOB TYPE Full-time job, full-time schedule, probation: 3 months.

Location: Prorizna Street 22B, courtyard Please send your CV and cover letter in English to hr@kyivpost.com including salary requirements and the subject “Internet sales manager�.

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Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is looking for a

TECHNICAL COORDINATOR

Swiss Cooperation Office Ukraine The Swiss Cooperation Office at the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine, which coordinates the official Swiss technical cooperation program with Ukraine is announcing the vacancy of a position of

who will work as an individual consultant in Kiev (with occasional business trip to Moldova) DUTIES: • Assistance to development projects formulation in Ukraine and Moldova • Monitoring of on going JICA projects in Ukraine and Moldova • Data collection for economic cooperation of other donors in Ukraine and Moldova • Translation of collected data and information into English • Other arrangements and supports for JICA activities upon the instruction of JICA QUALIFICATIONS: • Ukrainian national or person who can work in Ukraine • Proficiency in English, Russian and Ukrainian, desirable in Moldovan and Japanese. • Ability to work both independently and in a team. • Good communication skills, computer literacy.

APPLICATION: • Please send CV and motivation letter to 7rtm3@jica.go.jp by September 2, 2011. • Applicants who have not been contacted by September 16, 2011 should consider there will be no follow up to their application. • The successful candidate is expected to start work around December 2011 or January 2012. (However subject to change, according to the situation) The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is a Japan’s governmental organisation which extends technical cooperation, grant aid, and concessional loans to mainly developing countries and transitional countries for the purpose of assisting their economic and social development URL: http://www.jica.go.jp/english/index.html

NATIONAL PROGRAM OFFICER (80-100%) for Local Governance and Public Services Main tasks of the position include Project Cycle Management of interventions related to Local Governance and Public Service provision Support the design of new interventions in the field of Local Governance and Public Service provision Liaise with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders as well as with international donor agencies active in the field of Local Governance and Public Service provision Participate in the internal interdisciplinary team and contribute to the further development of the Swiss Cooperation Program in Ukraine Requirements for the position include Higher education relevant to Local Governance and Public Services, preferably in Public Administration with a strong link to public service management, economic development planning and management Substantial professional work experience with international development agencies or relevant governmental and private sector organizations in the fields of public administration reform, local governance, public service provision, decentralization Excellent analytical, communications and networking skills Fluent Ukrainian and English, German or French is an asset Very good computer literacy For more information on the Swiss Cooperation Office and Program with Ukraine please visit the website www.swiss-cooperation.admin.ch/ukraine The deadline for submission of applications is September 9, 2011. Please send your detailed CV and motivation letter in English to the Swiss Cooperation Office’s e-mail address: kyiv@sdc.net

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24 Photo Story

www.kyivpost.com

August 19, 2011

Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Ukraine’s central square, changed its face several times throughout history.

The square survived through World War II, unlike many buildings (2). In 1981, a new, much larger fountain, 30 meters in diameter, called “The Friendship of Nations,” replaced the 1935 fountain (1). By 1986, people were growing weary of communism and covered the statue of Lenin in front of former Hotel Moscow, now Ukraina, with graffiti (3). After the last reconstruction of Maidan in 2001-2003, the fountain was torn down and replaced with glass cupolas covering the underground shopping mall Globus, as well as a large column with a golden lady on top (4). The Lenin statue was toppled in 1991. Many new statues, including kissing lamp posts (5), were put up on the square since then to the irritation of many residents who remember it lined by huge chestnut trees and flower beds.

Photos AFP, www.io.ua.

How Maidan changed through the years

1

3

2

4

5

Ukraine off world's radar screen Æ10 vodka and meat. They may have a point. According to the recent World Health Organization report, Ukrainians are the world’s fifth heaviest drinkers.

“My image of Ukrainian/Russian trains is that everybody is drinking vodka.

Ukrainians have a reputation as hard vodka drinkers,” says Fabio Ferrari from Finland.

Beautiful women An Internet search for Ukraine will bring up tons of dating agencies and sex-tour advertisements. Every man seems to be charmed by the image of incredibly beautiful, feminine and good-tempered Ukrainian women.

They are thought to be always overdressed, wearing high heels and exotic hairstyles.

“Ukrainian brides” are also known to be money-seeking and illogically attracted to men from abroad. Some foreigners, like Aina Adebayo, a student from Nigeria, add that they are “easy to get,” unlike women from back

home. In fact, “a Ukrainian girl in some countries is a pseudonym for call girl,” said Paula Walker of Texas.

At least people aren’t indifferent about Ukrainian women.

Sports: Boxing, soccer The most famous Ukrainians in the world are not politicians or artists, but athletes. According to the CFC poll, the top Ukrainian celebrity is football player Andrey Shevchenko (26 percent know him), closely followed by the Klitschko boxing brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, with 24 percent and Olympic champion Sergey Bubka (7 percent). Ukrainian-born Hollywood actress Mila Jovovich, ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and President Viktor Yanukovych are lesser-known.

The association with sports is even more likely to grow as the Euro 2012 football championship nears.

Orange Revolution Whatever else the 2004-2005 Orange

Revolution gave Ukrainians, it gave the country its first 15 minutes of fame on the world stage. Ukrainians stood up for freedom, honest elections and democracy – that is what the world remembers, even if the details are fuzzy.

The world did not take much notice when, in 2010, voters elected the same guy they protested against during the Orange Revolution.

The breadbasket Ukraine is viewed as a traditional agricultural economy, stuck somewhere in the early 20th century. Not so many people know about the large steel production or its impressive aviation, weapons and space industries.

“Ukraine produces wheat, potatoes, wine (grapes) ... especially in Yalta,” said Michael Sturgeon, 53, a professor of education in the American state of Tennessee.

Tymoshenko and hair

Femen activists, known for their topless protests, dress as football fans on Independence Square in Kyiv during a "EuroWash-2012" protest on July 14 to protest hot water shutoffs.

The group has become internationally known. (Ukrainian Photo)

Yulia Tymoshenko, the two-time prime minister now facing criminal charges, is a strong icon – for her leadership of the Orange Revolution, her shady past with another ex-Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko (now serving a prison

sentence in California on a money laundering conviction in U.S. federal court). There are more reasons: her glamorous good looks, her ability to give fiery speeches and, of course, her braided hair.