#34/Aug26/2011

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vol. 16, issue 34

August 26, 2011

Clash Of Wills

After breaking through one police line, protesters fail to get past the steel barricades erected to keep them from marching to Kyiv’s center, where an all-day Aug. 24 Independence Day celebration featured games, concerts, huge crowds – and little politics. About 5,000 people attended a rally by opposition political parties in Shevchenko Park. Demonstrators criticized the arrest and trial of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and protested what they call President Viktor Yanukovych’s authoritarianism. A Kyiv court banned demonstrations in the center on Aug. 24, the 20th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. City authorities backed up the ruling with a heavy police presence. No serious incidents or arrests were reported. Six police officers were reportedly injured, none seriously. (AP)

See Photo Story on Page 24

BY S V I T L A N A T U C HYN S KA an d Y U R I Y O N YS H KIV TUCHYNSKA@KYIVPOST.COM, ONYSHKIV@KYIVPOST.COM

The 20th anniversary of Ukrainian independence on Aug. 24 was marked by clashes and a brief standoff between riot police and protesters as tensions are running higher over the prolonged detention of several opposition figures.

Inside:

ÆPolice block a few thousand protesters from reaching center Leaders from 12 opposition parties gathered at the monument to Taras Shevchenko in downtown Kyiv. They

News Æ 1, 2, 14 Opinion Æ 4, 5, 12, 13

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tore into President Viktor Yanukovych’s administration in passionate speeches to a crowd of roughly 5,000 supporters.

They slammed his rule as authoritarian and decried the ongoing imprisonment of opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, as well as former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko.

The united front of the opposition – the first time that the myriad of party leaders have appeared together in public – was reflected in the rainbow of flags that colored the protest. Æ2

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Employment/Real Estate/ Lifestyle Æ 15 – 21, 24 Classifieds Æ 22, 23

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SPECIAL BUSINESS FOCUS ON EDUCATION INSIDE: See stories on pages 8-11.

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August 26, 2011

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Lots to sing about

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Girls dressed in traditional embroidered outfits (at left) sing folk songs while celebrating Independence Day in Kyiv on Aug.24. Ukrainian singer Tina Karol (top) performs with other stars during a concert capped by a spectacular fireworks display on Independence Square. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

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Big festivities, small clashes on holiday Æ1 As flag-wavers jostled for posi-

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tion in the crowd, Oleh Tiahnybok, leader of the right-wing Svoboda Party, and Arseniy Yatseniuk, head of the Front Zmin political bloc, stood separately from Tymoshenko’s right-hand man, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov, as he spoke.

The protest raised questions of how Ukraine’s opposition will stand up to what it sees as Yanukovych’s attempts to seize authoritarian control. Despite the show of unity on Independence Day, analysts said the competing aims and personal ambitions of opposition leaders could undermine attempts to form a solid opposition force.

Activists began to flood Shevchenko Park from around 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 24, replacing supporters of Yanukovych who had gathered early in the morning for his ceremonial placing of a bouquet of flowers at the statue of Ukraine’s national poet.

The opposition leaders didn’t arrive until around 11:30 a.m., a

half-hour behind schedule, claiming that loudspeakers had been delayed by police.

Turchynov read out a letter from the imprisoned Tymoshenko. She is on trial on charges of abuse of power relating to a 2009 natural gas deal with Russia. The U.S. and European Union have expressed concerns that the case against Tymoshenko is a politically motivated attempt to sideline Yanukovych’s main opponent.

Turchynov also gave a speech, followed by a plethora of opposition figures, including Anatoliy Hrytsenko, who heads Civic Position, and Oleksandr Martynenko, deputy leader of Our Ukraine, and others.

The speakers roused the crowd with slashing rhetoric against the administration, accusing the pro-presidential Party of Regions of authoritarianism, persecution of the opposition, disrespecting Ukrainian culture, chumminess with Russia and large-scale corruption and theft from the country. Thousands of supporters responded with cries of “Shame!” and “Free Tymoshenko!”

The Yanukovych administration has repeatedly denied claims it is squeezing the opposition and says it is clamping down on corruption.

One opposition figure who has been vocal in defending Tymoshenko and attacking the authorities – world champion boxer Vitali Klitschko – was conspicuous by his absence. A handful of flags for his UDAR party were visible before the speeches began, but a witness told the Kyiv Post that these were rapidly taken down just before Turchynov began to speak. Klitschko is currently in training for a world championship bout in September.

As one opposition leader followed another with similar speeches, some in the crowd became fidgety.

After one hour, Turchynov called on the protesters to march to the presidential administration, and the crowd moved slowly along Volodymyrska Street. There, the demonstrators met lines of police enforcing a courtordered ban on protests away from Shevchenko Park. The Interior Ministry said 4,000 police officers were on duty in Kyiv, part of the 18,000 deployed nationwide to keep the holiday peace.

Headed by Turchynov, the lead group burst through a soft line of uniformed

police, before reaching the main line of riot police standing firm behind metal barriers. There were minor scuffles before opposition lawmakers, including Turchynov and Yatseniuk, called on supporters to remain peaceful.

A tense standoff followed as blackhelmeted riot officers reinforced police lines, and large trucks created a second barrier. The crowd chanted “Revolution!” and “Out with the bandits!” The latter was a clear-cut reference to concerns by many that Yanukovych and his oligarch backers are turning Ukraine into a kleptocracy.

One hour after the first clashes, Yatseniuk led his activists away from the frontlines. Turchynov then called on protestors to head for Independence Square, the symbolic heart of the 2004 Orange Revolution, which thwarted Yanukovych’s first, fraud-tainted attempt to claim the presidency.

“Don’t give Yanukovych’s regime the gift of clashes on the national holiday,” Turchynov cried out to the crowed via speakers mounted on a car.

A small group of 300 activists eventually managed to reach the square, despite a police cordon manned by hundreds of officers. Drowned out by concert music, they eventually dispersed in early evening.

On Aug. 25, the Interior Ministry said a criminal case could be opened against Turchynov for alleged legal violations during the protest, raising the prospect of further arrests of opposition leaders.

Even without additional pressure, the opposition is already struggling to form a united force capable of garnering sufficient support to challenge Yanukovych.

Tymoshenko, the most popular opposition figure, could face up to 10 years in jail if convicted, and banned on taking part in elections. With about 13-17 percent public support, according to recent polls by the Razumkov think tank and TNS pollster, her Batkivshyna party closely trails the pro-presidential Party of Regions, which has about 15-20 percent backing.

Whether she can stand in elections or not, she is a divisive figure who has been unable to unite the opposition around her since Yanukovych defeated her in the February 2010 presidential election.

The diverse crowd on Independence

Day, many of whom said they were not supporters of Tymoshenko, clearly outnumbered the smaller crowds who rallied on Aug. 8 against her arrest.

Yatseniuk, whose Front Zmin polled at 7 percent, as well as Svoboda leader Tiahnybok (3.6 percent) and UDAR head Klitschko (3.1 percent) are developing independent political forces.

Analysts said smaller parties, such as Rukh and Our Ukraine, could seek to merge with one of the larger parties in order to surmount the 3 percent threshold to enter parliament in elections scheduled for Oct. 2012. Some observers expect new electoral legislation, which would likely pass easily through to raise the threshold to 5 percent in order to keep out smaller parties.

The process of merging has already begun in the pro-presidential camp.

Sergiy Tigipko, deputy prime minister and leader of the Strong Ukraine party, which has 5.3 percent support, is set to join the Party of Regions. Analysts suggest that parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn’s party could be next to merge.

The draft electoral law could also stipulate that half of the 450-seat parliament is filled through voting for candidates in single-mandate districts.

Currently, all deputies are elected from party lists according to a party’s share of the national vote.

There is so far no sign of a common opposition plan of action for the elections, but Yatseniuk suggested some coordination.

“In single-mandate districts opposition parties should not compete with each other and decide on one candidate. After we get to parliament, we shall unite and win the majority of seats,” he told the Kyiv Post.

Analysts said this would prove a challenge. “They will have to overcome their personal ambitions, because this is the only way they can get into parliament,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Penta Center think tank.

“While events of Independence Day demonstrated a lack of unity, it also showed a clear step forward. The very fact that they could hold a joint protest and press common demands should not be underestimated,” he added.

Kyiv Post staff writers Svitlana Tuchynska and Yuriy Onyshkiv can be reached at tuchynska@kyivpost.com and onyshkiv@kyivpost.com.

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4 Opinion

August 26, 2011

Editorials

Turncoat Tigipko In the run-up to the 2010 presidential election, Sergiy Tigipko presented himself as a modern reformer, a tough decision-maker and a member of a young generation of politicians untainted by past corruption and scandals. He was rewarded with third place in the first round of voting, scoring 13 percent. This newspaper also supported him as the best candidate.

Since that time, however, he has let down his supporters.

First, after Viktor Yanukovych became president, Tigipko took the post of deputy prime minister in the new government, taking responsibility for a number of reforms – including tax and pension legislation – that were heavily criticized and hurt his support, which polls now place at around 5 percent. He may have blindly walked into a trap where he was set up as the fall guy; he may have had less control over the drafting process than he wanted; or he may simply have penned reforms that favored entrenched power holders over average citizens.

Now, he is set to merge his Strong Ukraine party with the pro-presidential Party of Regions. In doing so, he is openly throwing in his lot with the party and president who have trampled over Ukraine’s constitution to monopolize power, muzzle media and backslide on democracy. This oligarch-backed grouping is widely seen as being the main block on liberal, European-style governance in the country.

Perhaps, as some analysts suggest, Tigipko fancies a shot at replacing Prime Minister Mykola Azarov if he is made the scapegoat. Perhaps he’s being pushed forward as Yanukovych-lite for the 2015 presidential election, if the top man’s popularity continues to fall. Or perhaps the Party of Regions made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Whatever the reason, he is deserting, for personal gain, the very platform he stood on in 2010. This is not the first time a seemingly promising politician let down his or her electorate by proving hungrier for the comfortable seats of power than the hard course of fighting for what's right. It will certainly not be the last time.

“This is all yours now.

We haven’t found drugs yet, but it’s OK, we will.”

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TERRORIST OFFICE Vasylkiv

Wrong side The upheavals in Libya and Syria show that the Kremlin still practises a malevolent and morally bankrupt foreign policy. Ukraine should pay heed so that the nation doesn’t wind up trapped with no friends in the democratic world while being forced, like Belarus, to make one concession after another to Russia’s leaders.

Never missing many opportunities to criticize the United States, the European Union or the very tenets of democracy, Russia has been steadfastly against the NATO-led intervention in Libya to topple the 40-year-rule of strongman Muammar Gadhafi. We don’t know what kind of government the Libyan rebels will produce, but it is clear that Gadhafi should be tried in an international court for crimes against humanity during his despotic rule.

In Syria, the 40-year dynasty of the Assad family is coming under strong attack.

Bashar al-Assad has shown his ruthless disregard for human life and his own people by killing 2,000 unarmed protesters and trying to kill the democratic hopes of his nation. Russia, again, sided with the tyrant in this case.

As a consequence, Russian leaders yet again find themselves on the wrong side of history – a familiar place for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who mourns the Soviet Union’s demise. Putin has the same contempt for his people, cloaked in Russian chauvinism. His disdain for democratic elections makes revolution the only path to changing government there.

This is not Ukraine’s path, nor should it be. President Viktor Yanukovych’s mouth moves in the right direction when he extols the virtues of European Union integration, the importance of democracy, rule of law and economic justice, as well as the need for good relations with the world’s economic leader, the United States.

But Yanukovych’s actions, and those of his administration, move the wrong way. Minus the megalomania, they resemble the authoritarian governance style of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Belarus’ Alexander Lukashenko and, yes, Russia’s Putin.

Mercifully, Yanukovych is not capable of the barbarianism of Assad and Gadhafi.

He prefers that his clique of oligarchs, special police services and bureaucrats do the dirty work while he postures unpersuasively as a democrat. (Note to Security Services of Ukraine head Valeriy Khoroshkovsky: When your agency announces that you’ve broken up a terrorist ring on the eve of the Aug. 24 Independence Day holiday, and the public responds with laughter, you’ve got a credibility problem.)

We hope that Yanukovych and his administration are smart enough – and care enough about this nation’s future – to tiptoe quickly away from Russia’s embrace, both politically and economically. Belarus’ economic subservience to Russia is all Yanukovych needs to know about the perils of subservience to the Kremlin.

If Yanukovych doesn’t reverse direction soon and adopt a democratic course, he will find himself on the wrong side of history – and may drag the aspirations of a great but suffering nation down with him.

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NEWS ITEM: The Security Service of Ukraine, successor to the Soviet-era KGB, triumphantly announced on Aug. 22 that investigators detained several people suspected of planning a terrorist attack during the Aug. 24 Independence Day celebrations. The SBU said it found a homemade bomb and a letter with threats addressed to President Viktor Yanukovych during the first search, as well as a rubber-bullet gun during a later search. However, many immediately scoffed at the claims, which struck some as dodgy and designed to instill fear and justify a police crackdown. The seven suspects were released on Aug. 22, but later detained again. All of them are members of the Social Nationalist Assembly, a right-wing party with a faction in the small Kyiv Oblast city of Vasylkiv. (Drawing by Anatoliy Petrovich Vasilenko)

Yanukovych: Our path as a nation is only beginning VIKTOR YA NUKOVY CH

Editor’s Note: The following is an English-language translation of President Viktor Yanukovych’s remarks on Ukraine’s 20th anniversary, taken from his official website at http://www. president.gov.ua/en/news/20963.html

Twenty years is enough time for a human to develop. But in the growth of a state, they are only the first steps. Our main achievement at this moment in history is clear understanding of our common goal. We know what to do and understand how to achieve it. We have defined a development strategy and we have enough political will to realize it. Our goal is a European, democratic and prosperous Ukraine, a free state where people feel secure, and it will be achieved. And we hope for the support of all Europeans on the way.

On Aug. 24, 1991, Ukraine was reborn as an independent state, as an integral part of the European family of free nations. The dream of many generations came true. The spirit of unity, willpower of the nation, faith in a better future were realized. The Act of Declaration of Independence became an important step on our country’s historical path. Since then and forever, the future of Ukraine has been in the hands of its nation. By supporting the Verkhovna Rada's decision in a referendum on Dec. 1, 1991, Ukrainian society made a final choice in favor of sovereignty and responsibility for its own actions. The Ukrainian idea of independence has become a unifying force, the pillars of which were and are fundamen-

ÆWe understand importance of relations with the world’s leading country – the US tal values: freedom, humanism, democracy, tolerance, justice, and social cohesion.

The 20 years that have passed since then were not easy. Harsh reality has destroyed hopes for a rapid improvement of life, building a prosperous free society and democratic state governed by the rule of law in a short time.

Romantic admiration of the fact of independence has grown into a need for real action. The need now is for a pragmatic, informed and responsible approach to every decision.

It is not the first decade that society has been struggling to overcome the Soviet legacy. No matter how painful it is to recognize, the state has often been behind its neighbors in development. Through all these years, corruption has been eroding the management system, making it difficult for Ukrainians to breathe freely. But despite the difficulties, the main step has already been taken: We have finally decided our future. Our European choice has become the basis of Ukraine's foreign political identity. European values have become the foundation of our development.

Ukraine not only wishes to be a European country. This geographical fact does not require extra proof. We Æ12

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August 26, 2011

Those who go abroad should return home

A lighter moment among students at the USA/USA seminar in 2009. The US-based program helps talented students from Ukraine earn full four-year college scholarships. (http://on.fb.met/jiWGAg.)

ÆAn education abroad should not be part of an exit strategy certain that they would be willing to advise Ukraine or its businesses in economic matters.

A woman cinematographer won a full grant to attend New York University Film School, then a Cannes Film Festival residency fellowship in Paris to write a full-length film script, and will begin shooting her first US-Ukrainian full length movie production next year.

One of our USA/USA Program alumnae has won the same Tech Review Thirty Five under Thirty Five award in computer science as Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook has. She is a tenured professor at Brown University, funded by a Sloan Fellowship and has been invited to lecture throughout the Ivy League.

She attended School NO. 57 in Kyiv. Yet, no one has invited her back to Ukraine to lecture.

No one has written about Kirill Dmitriev from Kyiv who went to community college in California thanks to an American host family; then went on to Stanford, McKinsey, Harvard Business School, IBS, Delta Capital in Moscow, founded www.iconpe. com and returned to Ukraine. Successive presidents Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych squandered his presence in Ukraine. His increasing frustration on the Savik Shuster talk show was painful to watch. He began looking for opportunities elsewhere. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev of the Russian Federation has recently named Æ13

Ukrainian diaspora should love Ukraine, not politics V I AC H E S L AV P I K H OV S H E K

The Ukrainian diaspora in the United States and Canada has always positioned itself separately from other Ukrainians living abroad. In fact, the two million diaspora in Russia should have the same influence and opportunities as the diaspora in North America. But the U.S. and Canadian diaspora tries to position itself as the collective moral authority of Ukrainians abroad.

Among the North American diaspora are a number of successful people of whom we are proud: Nadia Diuk, vice president of the National Endowment for Democracy; Adrian Karatnycky, a fellow at the Atlantic Council and former director of Freedom House; Chrystia Freeland, a former U.S. editor of the Financial Times and now a senior figure at Thomson

VOX populi WITH OKSANA MARKINA

What do you wish for Ukraine in its next 20 years of independence?

Tetyana Goncharko assistant auditor “I want our country to develop an educational system and a system of public health. We should have a well-developed infrastructure as well. We also need to establish good relations with the European Union so that we will be considered as a democratic state.”

BOH DA N A. O RYS H K E V I C H

I have been reading the recent Kyiv Post series, “Ukrainian Voices From Abroad,” with some interest. All the profiles seem to have the same message.

As an ordinary person, one has more opportunities abroad so almost everyone should leave Ukraine.

I would agree that Ukraine is not doing well and that a corrupt country run for the benefit of its newly moneyed elite is driving out hundreds of thousands if not multiple millions of its citizens to live abroad.

One could publish hundreds of thousands of such stories and we would not be more informed, know more or understand more about Ukraine. More importantly, we would not be solving any of its problems. Not one of the people profiled in the series has shown himself to be a genuine observer of the big picture let alone of his own life. Not one is likely to make a contribution to Ukraine other than to send money back to poorer relatives back home.

There are many other kinds of people who have gone abroad. There are people who have gone away to study and bring back their newfound expertise and insights to Ukraine. There are people who have gone to perform abroad and represent Ukraine. There are others who have gone to explore the world and bring some of that back to Ukraine.

Not surprisingly, there are even women who go abroad to get an education and not just to get married.

There are even Ukrainians who have gone abroad to become writers in their adopted countries. One, in America, has actually won a MacArthur “genius” grant. He has written often for the New Yorker, a leading leading literary magazine. Another, an assistant professor at Columbia University, has worked on and been cited for Nobel Prize winning biomedical research.

We in the USA/USA Program have a student this year that has been accepted to Harvard, Yale and Princeton. He has the talent and the character to become the president of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, or the Finance Ministry of Ukraine.

Two of the more promising young economics professors at Princeton University are from Ukraine. One even did part of his higher education at home. I am

Opinion 5

Reuters; Natalie Jaresko, co-founder of the Horizon Capital investment bank. The list goes on.

But the actions of the North American diaspora as a whole are sometimes tinged with party politics.

On June 18, the World Congress of Ukrainians came out in defense of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is on trial for alleged abuse of office in concluding a gas deal with Russia in January 2009. On Aug. 10, a demonstration in support of Tymoshenko took place in Chicago and on Aug. 13 in New York. There was also a demonstration in Toronto.

This is all defined along party lines. Let’s not forget that on Sept. 23 last year, Askold Lozynskyj, former head of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, organized a picket for the arrival of President Viktor Yanukovych at the UN General Assembly.

Political activists of this kind lack patience and consistency.

They lack the patience to wait for events to take their course and only then to draw conclusions. In September 2010, Lozynskyj accused Yanukovych of betraying Ukraine’s national interests to Russia.

A year has since past, and that theme has disappeared completely, as the president moves Ukraine toward the European Union, despite complaints from Moscow. He also accused Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko of not supporting the Ukrainian library in Moscow. But Gryshchenko saved the library, which had been closed under former President Viktor Yushchenko.

Of course, members of the diaspora have the right to support Tymoshenko. But it’s not they who pay natural gas bills according to the prices agreed in the contract that she agreed with Russia in 2009. It’s not they who suffered due to the mysterious swine-flu epidemic she announced in 2009 when people here and perhaps even relatives abroad, forked out their last few kopecks to buy drugs in sheer panic.

What is more, why didn’t these representatives of the diaspora picket Ukrainian institutions in New York, Chicago and Toronto in 2005, when leading Party of Regions member Borys Kolesnikov was arrested? When Yushchenko fired 18,000 government officials? Why was Yushchenko considered “one Æ13 of them”?

Vyacheslav Yushchenko auditor “I want my country to achieve its aims. We are a young state, with a lot of purpose. But we should also crave well-being. I also wish to reach some higher standards so that the European Union accepts us as equals. I want our people to live no worse than other European people.”

Oksana Sklyarenko pensioner “I wish for many things, but the most important is to have upstanding persons as heads of state.”

Serhiy Hryniv student “I want to see my country successful: without corruption, with a normal government and with a better educational system.”

Albina Volodarska student “I want Ukraine to flourish and to live very well.

I want our people to respect our country and treat it politely. And also we should not forget about our culture. I wish a little more positive emotions and health as well. And if we have it, everything will be just perfect.”

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.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TNK-BP IN UKRAINE

6 Business

August 26, 2011

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Director of Akhmetov’s coal mine fired in aftermath of accident that killed 28

BY V L A D L AV R OV LAVROV@KYIVPOST.COM

The July 29 accident at SukhodilskaSkhidna coal mine, which claimed 28 lives, prompted coal mine owners to fire the director and other top officials they blame for the accident.

In addition, the mine’s parent company Krasnodonugol, owned by Ukraine’s richest individual Rinat Akhmetov, pledged to invest $1.75 million this year into safety at Sukhodilska-Skhidna in Luhansk Oblast. The company also pledged to introduce a new system of bonuses in which miners will be paid more for abiding by safety rules.

According to Krasnodonugol's Aug. 22 statement, coal mine director Pavlo Moiseenko was terminated by mutual consent. Serhiy Melnyk, the new director, must ensure “the strictest abidance to the labor safety rules by every coal miner,” said Oleksandr Potapenko, Krasnodonugol’s general director.

Responding to Kyiv Post inquiries, the press service of Krasnodonugol said

that six employees in total have been fired from the Sukhodilske-Skhidna mine in connection with the accident.

They include the main engineer and deputy director of safety.

Ukraine’s coal mines are notorious for their outdated equipment, dire working conditions, low pay and mortality rates among the world’s highest.

Experts note the situation at Akhmetovowned mines is generally better than at the rest of the more than 100 mines in the nation. But, they say, opaque dealings – such as the sale of coal at below-market prices through murky intermediaries – mean that state and private mines alike rarely receive the capital investments needed to improve safety and increase wages of miners.

The decision to fire top managers at Sukhodilske-Skhidna comes in the aftermath of a deadly accident on July 29 that claimed 28 lives. Experts, coal miners and trade union leaders alike blamed the tragedy on pressure from the owners and managers to increase production. As the result, miners would

ÆOn the move SERGEY MIROSHNICHENKO was

Æ Owner pledges to invest $1.75 million into safety at Luhansk Oblast mine often work in the pit, ignoring the safety precautions as their relatively low wages are tied to output.

Surprisingly, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Mykola Azarov joined the critics, blaming the accident on the greed of mine owners and managers. His version of the accident at Sukhodilska-Skhidna somewhat corresponds with the conclusion made by the government com-

ing discipline,” and recommended that six of his subordinates are fired.

The firings and investigative results failed to impress Mykhailo Volynets, head of the Independent Trade Union of Coal Miners and a parliament member in opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko’s bloc. In his view, the commission didn’t go far enough to investigate the reasons behind the accident – a pay system which encourages miners to ignore safety.

Volynets wants the court to revoke the commission. He is appealing the government’s decision not to let representatives of the trade union take part. “The government didn’t want an objective investigation,” he said.

Volynets is unimpressed with the Krasnodonugol decision to replace the coal mine director by “mutual consent.”

It smacks of collusion, he said, adding: “You find a person to blame, let him rest for a month, and then employ him at some other place.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Vlad Lavrov can be reached at lavrov@kyivpost.com

Editor’s Note: On The Move, a regular news feature of the Kyiv Post, will change its format in September. Rather than freeof-charge listings, the items will become paid announcements and will be labeled as such to distinguish them from news stories for which the newspaper does not accept payment. Until then, please continue to send items to otm@kyivpost.com.

OLEKSIY KAPLATYY was

appointed as a consultant at Pedersen & Partners, a leading international executive search firm.

In his new position, Miroshnichenko will be responsible for accomplishing recruitment projects and developing business partnership in Ukraine and CIS countries.

Miroshnichenko has significant experience in recruiting, retail, industry and manufacturing. Prior to joining Pedersen & Partners, he headed the human resources department at a Ukrainian retail chain. Miroshnichenko has significant experience in attracting international executives to various positions in Ukraine.

Miroshnichenko graduated with a computer science and IT degree at the National Mining University in Dnipropetrovsk.

mission which investigated causes of the accident. In a recently published report, Derzhhirpromnahliad, a state agency overseeing the mining industry, stated that safety violations during the blast works at Sukhodilska-Skhidna led to the accident.

After conducting a series of blasts in the shaft, air wasn’t sufficiently cleared of coal dust due to the malfunction of ventilation equipment, according to the report. Work resumed without checking the methane level, thus causing the methane explosion.

The government report named 13 people responsible for the accident, including five supervisors who died in the accident. The report also names nine mid-level and top managers of Sukhodilska-Skhidna and Krasnodonugol, including the mine’s director and the parent company’s chief power engineer and mechanic.

Specifically, the commission found the now dismissed director Moiseenko responsible for “lessening the demands from the officials to abide to the work-

promoted to sales manager of Land Rover brand automobiles by Winner Automotive Company, a leading importer and retailer of automobiles in Ukraine.

Kaplatyy has been with the Winner Automotive group in Kyiv for six years. He joined in 2006, starting as a Sales Consultant for Land Rover brand automobiles. Due to excellent work, he was promoted in 2008 to the position of deputy sales manager for Land Rover automobiles.

Oleksiy graduated from National Transport University in 2006. He majored in transport technology.

SERGII KOROLYOV has been appointed director of sales for Porsche brand automobiles at Winner Imports Ukraine, an official importer of Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and Porsche cars into Ukraine.

Korolyov joined Winner Kyiv in 2003 as a sales consultant. He has since proved to be a proactive and strong leader. He has over the years been rewarded for his hard work by being promoted to Porsche Sales Manager, then to Deputy Porsche Brand Director. In his new position, Korolyov will manage sales, public relations and after sales activities for Porsche throughout Ukraine, developing and implementing Porsche strategy nationwide.

Korolyov is a graduate of Kyiv National Economic University, where he completed a Master’s degree in International Economics.

OLEKSANDR SALOV has joined Winner Imports Ukraine, the official importer of Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo and Porsche cars into Ukraine, as a Construction Project Manager.

To Winner Imports Ukraine, Salov brings his vast construction and development experience. He was previously involved in projects for Alfa Bank, Amstar Europe and McDonald’s Ukraine.

As Construction Project Manager, Salov will be responsible for managing and tracking Winner Imports Ukraine’s construction projects.

Salov is a graduate of Kyiv Civil Engineering Institute and Kyiv National University of Technical Progress.

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Business 7

August 26, 2011

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TNK-BP IN UKRAINE

Consumer confidence index falls in July 120 110 100 90

+ –

80 70 60 50 40 2009

2010

2011

Source: GfK Ukraine The Consumer Confidence Index fell in July by 2.5 parity points to 73.6, according to a survey of 1,000 Ukrainians made public in August by market research firm GfK Ukraine. “Trust in the government is at an extremely low level,” GfK said in analyzing the results. “It seems that the source for negative attitudes was low growth rate of real incomes of people, and lack of confidence in the ability of the government to improve the situation.” GfK started the index in 2000 with quarterly surveys but switched to monthly ones in January 2009.

An index result of 200 would indicate that all respondents positively access the economic situation. An index of 100 occurs when the share of positive and negative assessments are equal. Indices less than 100 indicate the prevalence of negative assessments.

Ukraine’s $1.5 billion LNG plans inch forward Ukraine has closed bidding for a feasibility study on plans to build a $1.5 billion liquefied natural gas terminal. The bold project aims to diversify away from increasingly costly Russian gas imports. Officials on Aug. 22 formally opened nine bids (above) submitted by companies from as far away as Illinois in the United States, to Denmark, Finland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. After one of the firms is chosen and develops a feasibility study, a follow up tender will take place to pick an investor to build the LNG plant. (Alexey Furman)

Vodka price up, but not tax

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

In Ukraine, vodka is traditionally not mixed with anything – apart from politics. With owners of leading vodka producers sitting in parliament and one even having the ear of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov as an adviser, the spirits lobby holds strong policymaking clout.

It appears to have exercised it again this month.

Effective Aug. 6, the Cabinet of Ministers issued changes to an earlier resolution, increasing the minimum retail price of a half-liter bottle of vodka by almost 50 percent to Hr 26.10 ($3.25). The price hike comes despite the fact that taxes on alcohol remain far lower than in the European Union, contributing to the nation's high alcohol consumption.

The government apparently acted on the price hike in response to an appeal in April by vodka producers.

Experts said it was another victory for the powerful vodka lobby, as it fixes a

higher profit margin with no competition. The minimum vodka price has been set by the government for the past 10 years.

“The vodka lobby has always been very strong and not particularly shy,” said Kostyantyn Krasovsky, director of the Ukrainian Information Center for Alcohol and Drugs Problems.

Krasovsky said the recent lobbying efforts could be linked with a drop in vodka production from 195 million liters in the first six months of 2010 to 136 million liters in the same period this year.

Azarov said price changes are needed to protect consumers from counterfeit vodka. His deputy, Vadym Kopylov, issued a statement justifying the price increase as a way to discourage production of moonshine vodka.

A spokesperson for Global Spirits, which produces the Khortytsa brand, said counterfeit vodka currently accounted for up to 25 percent of the market. The price hike could get that share down to 10 percent, the industry representative said.

Oleksandr Glus, president of the supervisory board at Nemiroff, said the increase in price is necessary because components of the production process have risen in price.

The industry-sought price hike was followed up by government with another gift to vodka producers – lighter local regulations.

The Economy Ministry on Aug. 2 posted on its website a draft cabinet resolution that would remove the right of local authorities to regulate the sale of alcohol. It said the step was necessary to eliminate conflicts among legal acts.

However, such a step could eliminate strong local initiatives to ban late-night and early-morning alcohol sales. In Uzhgorod, Lviv and IvanoFrankivsk, for example, selling spirits at night was an offense punishable by a fine. In Dnipropetrovsk, local authorities approved a resolution forbidding the sale of spirits within 300 meters of schools and kindergartens.

Kyiv City Council deputies have also taken action against unrestricted alco-

hol sales, banning such transactions in small kiosks (although later reversed in court) and suggesting that spirits sales be banned completely during the Euro 2012 soccer tournament.

“Local authorities, on the contrary, should have powers in such matters, but their authority is being removed,” said public health advocate Krasovsky.

“If representatives of the authorities see anti-social behavior caused by intoxication, why shouldn’t they restrict the sale of alcohol?”

If the rules on vodka sales are decided on a national level, experts said tough restrictions are unlikely because of the industriy's lobbying strength and high-level connections.

Mykola Petrenko, co-founder of Petrus, which owns almost 20 alcohol brands including Gorilochka, Zlatogor, and Status, is an adviser to Azarov.

Pavlo Klimets, co-owner of Olimp, which produces Prime and 5 Kapel brands, is a deputy from the propresidential Party of Regions. The brother of Nemiroff’s Glus, Stepan, is

a deputy from the opposition Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko. Andriy Okhlopov, owner of Soyuz-Viktan, is a parliamentarian with the the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

These companies account for 30 percent of vodka sales in Ukraine.

“The same people who were in favor of the Cabinet of Ministers raising the minimum price could well be behind the initiative to cancel the ban on sales,” Krasovsky said. “And, in that case, of course, it is more than likely that the resolution restricting the rights of local authorities will be adopted.”

Meanwhile, Krasovsky said that, in contrast to the European Union's minimum tax of Hr 60 per liter of pure alcohol, Ukraine's tax is only Hr 42.

The new price for a half-liter of vodka is Hr 26, of which Hr 8.4 is tax, or 32 percent of the price.

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

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8 Business Focus

August 26, 2011

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Special news coverage ahead on the following topics in Business Focus: September 9 Top Law firms

September 23 Top companies

October 7 Accounting firms

November 4 IT business solutions

November 18 Corporate law

What do employers want?

Get ahead with these tips

BY W I L L F I T Z G I B B ON FITZGIBBON@KYIVPOST.COM

In a time of economic uncertainty, choosing where and what to study takes on added importance.

Picking the right course at the right university is crucial to making sure you secure the job you want after graduation.

And just studying your subject won’t be enough, experts warn, as you’ll need something extra to make you stand out from the crowd – such as fluency in a foreign language or well-developed team skills.

Picking the right degree, be it bachelor’s or master’s, is an important first step towards a rewarding and lucrative career. But it’s not always an easy decision.

“You have to pick what to study carefully,” said George Logush a UkrainianAmerican business executive who for years headed food giant Kraft Group’s Ukraine operations, and recently moved to become vice president at London-listed MHP, Ukraine’s top poultry producer.

To increase your chances of employment and solid remuneration, Logush suggested avoiding sectors that are demographically related.

“The birth rate is dropping, so being a school teacher isn’t a great idea,” he said.

Logush said he also sees a glut of

lawyers, so his advice is to avoid law school.

“We have periodic overproduction of lawyers who end up being employed in other kinds of jobs,” he said. “I’ve seen highly qualified lawyers working as secretaries and super-junior brand managers.”

Logush tipped expanding branches of the economy, especially agriculture and business. Students should arm themselves with a master of business administration (MBA) if they want to land a job in a top firm.

Joop Allers, founding partner of Clarus Eastern Europe, a recruitment agency specializing in filling middle management and executive positions in Ukrainianbased foreign companies, agrees.

“Marketing, consulting and human resources are the star industries of today,” he said.

It seems that more young Ukrainians are listening.

MBA Strategy, an agency with offices in Kyiv and Moscow that specializes in preparing students for entry into the world’s top MBA programs, has seen the number of applicants for its services grow by 10-15 percent over the past three years.

The next question for students is where to study. Experts agree that reputation is the key factor.

For those hoping to study abroad, well-respected annual publications

Ukrainian-American George Logush, vice president of top Ukrainian poultry producer MHP, says students should think hard before choosing what to study.

Kyiv Mohyla Academy graduate Andrii Kiril says building up a resume of extracurricular experience is crucial to impressing employers.

include QS World University Rankings and The Times Higher Education World University Rankings. For Ukraine, there is the Compass ranking, established in 2008 by System Capital Management, the holding company of Ukraine’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov.

The ranking gathered assessments of universities by graduates and employers to show which institutions lead to the best employment prospects.

The top five universities on Compass

list are in Kyiv: National Technical University of Ukraine, Kyiv Polytechnic Institute; Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko; Kyiv National Economics University Vadim Hetman; National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”; and Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture.

It is also possible to combine a foreign program with studying in Ukraine, for example with the University of Sheffield’s Executive MBA program

and the Edinburgh Business School, both in Kyiv.

“It’s a possiblity to study at a topranked British university while being in Ukraine,” said Vasyl Buzhak, Sheffield's country administrator for Ukraine.

While the lure of paid employment may be great, students should also be willing to stay at university longer or return to study after a few years in the workforce.

Valeriyia Radko, project manager at MBA Strategy, points out that one of the common factors among those who are offered an MBA place at prestigious overseas universities is having more than a bachelor’s degree.

Logush said education beyond a bachelor’s degree is more important than ever.

“Knowledge has developed so rapidly that a bachelor’s degree isn’t enough,” he said. “In the old days, high school was thought to be all you needed. But every subject you learn in a bachelor’s needs to be gone over again, mastered in depth.”

Mastery of English is also another crucial component of a modern resume.

Anders Ostlund, director of recruitment agency Stella100, said candidates’ English is constantly improving. “We are seeing more candidates with fine English than four years ago,” he said.

“If you want to work in management or communication then you will Æ9

www.kyivpost.com

August 26, 2011

Business Focus 9

Making a Western degree pay dividends in Ukraine B Y K AT YA G R U S H E N KO

Alina Radionova, 24, received a degree in marketing in the Netherlands and two years later is flying high as business development manager at Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, the French luxury goods giant.

Ivan Verlan scored two foreign degrees by the age of 25, one of them a master of business administration from the prestigious INSEAD business school in Paris. He is now employed at Boston Consulting Group.

After an MBA at Hult International Business School in Boston, Olena Achkasova, 31, resumed her work in middle management at a fast-moving consumer goods company in Ukraine with no difference in salary or responsibility to her pre-MBA job.

While many Ukrainians universities lost their credibility with employers because of easily purchased grades and programs lagging behind market demands, more Ukrainians see Western educations as their ticket to higher paying jobs and quicker careers at home. Carefully and thoroughly chosen foreign degrees do help, many recruiters and employers say, but they shouldn’t be taken as a guaranteed ticket to success.

“Hoping that you will receive a job in Ukraine just because you have a foreign degree is stupid,” said Tatiana Kucheruk, project manager at CareerGuide recruiting agency. “You should not expect an employer to pay you more just for a foreign diploma.”

But, of course, there are advantages.

“A master’s abroad usually helps to prepare you for a job in a specific, narrow field – something that would be hard to do in Ukraine where the education system is very generic,” said Alexandre De Raemaker, director of Diamond Recruiters.

“If combined with hard work, it could bring you to a better position

Ivan Verlan

Alina Radionova

quicker,” he added.

Radionova, who graduated from Rotterdam School of Management in 2009, is a case in point.

“We didn’t waste time on general courses like philosophy or cultural studies. Our classes were very practical. In the brand management course, for example, we had 10 classes and 10 cases that we had to solve as a team.

It was very much like what I did later on in my first job in L’Oreal luxury brands department,” she said.

One year on, Radionova has changed her job at L’Oreal as junior brand manager for business development manager at Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy “earning better than others considering my work experience,” she said. While her masters in marketing was financed by a grant from the Dutch government, she said she wanted to receive an MBA later on in her career and was ready to pay for it out of her own pocket.

“An MBA is a different story,” explained CareerGuide’s Kucheruk.

Graduates throw their caps in the air after the official ceremony at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv on July 1. (Yaroslav Debelyi)

While MBAs are becoming more and more popular, there are a number of factors apart from high costs that a candidate should consider before deciding to embark on a course,

Employers look for relevant degree, extra skills; look for professions in high demand Æ8 need to speak English at a high level.”

Ostlund suggests that anyone who can should head overseas to improve their English either through study or work. “International experience is important,” he added, “and these people do well in Ukraine.” He mentions, by way of example, the U.S. State Department’s Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program, which offers students from ex-Soviet republics, ages 15 to 17, the chance to live with an American family and attend a U.S. high school for a year.

Someone reaping the rewards of polished English is recent graduate Andrii Kril. Having just graduated with a bachelor of laws from Kyiv Mohyla Academy, he is about to start a master of laws at the University of Pittsburgh in the U.S. with the help of a World Wide Studies scholarship funded by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

Æ‘English is a must for any young professional’ – Andrii Kril “From my perspective, English is a must for any young professional in Ukraine at the moment,” Kril said.

Experts said it’s important for students to find a way to gain skills beyond their studies, such as by getting relevant work experience while studying. Ostlund pointed out that, unlike students in countries such as the U.S., most Ukrainian students do not work during their university studies.

“This leads to a situation at gradua-

Alexandre De Raemaker

tion where they have no international mindset or experience, no group skills or multitasking. Employers don’t like that,” he said.

Vasilij Savin, a Stockholm-based IT consultant and part-time university lecturer, also stressed that the challenge for Ukrainian students is to improve their “soft skills.” While Ukrainians often have very strong technical skills, Savin said, students should also focus on skills and demonstrable experience like teamwork and project management, which are attractive to employers.

For recent law graduate Andrii Kril, it’s all about standing out from the crowd. “You have to have something in your resume that distinguishes you from hundreds of other applicants,” he said. “Relevant work experience or participation in extracurricular activities such as moot courts or international competitions will definitely make your resume look better.”

such as time and energy spent, as well as uncollected salary and lost connections.

“In order to turn all those inputs into investments, one should clearly

understand where one plans to work after an MBA and whether an employer needs a person with the skills that MBA gives,” said Kucheruk.

For Achkasova with an MBA in consulting this has become a problem.

“My employer doesn’t care about my MBA,” she said.

Having won a scholarship that covered half of her $50,000 tuition fee for studying in Boston and Dubai she still had $25,000 of her school loan to pay back.

“Every month I pay $500 out of my salary to repay my loan and I can’t save anything. My biggest fear is that I’ll get sick and won’t be able to work,” she said, assessing her MBA experience as generally negative. Achkasova is disappointed in Ukraine and looking forward to finding a job abroad.

“If you decide to go for a full time MBA, choose top-10 in the U.S. or INSEAD. These established schools are always worth the effort,” said De Raemaker.

Verlan, who has recently started with Boston Consulting Group, said that in order to get into the top-notch companies one needs a top-notch degree, like from INSEAD. For Verlan both of his foreign degrees worked to his advantage. After graduating with a bachelor’s in international business from Saint Joseph University in the U.S. and spending one year at J.P. Morgan, he became senior consultant at PwC, one of the world’s so-called Big Four accounting and auditing firms, skipping a couple of years as an auditor that are usually required before taking up this post.

“Foreign degrees and working abroad allowed me to get ahead of the game. For my former colleagues in the U.S. it would take more years to be where I am now in Ukraine. Compared to my Ukrainian colleagues, I have the international experience advantage,” Verlan said.

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August 26, 2011

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Universities: Tabachnyk shifts nation from European norms of academic independence

BY R I N A S O L OV E I T CHIK SOLOVEITCHIK@KYIVPOST.COM

Leading academics warn that Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk’s attempts to centralize control over universities is hindering their work and dragging Ukraine away from European standards in higher education.

Educators and officials from Kyiv Mohyla Academy and Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, two of the country’s leading institutions, said that reducing their independence by introducing greater control over financing and curriculums would damage the quality of teaching and research. Experts said such moves contradicted the Bologna Process, an attempt to align European education systems which emphasizes university autonomy.

A parliament committee in February rejected Tabachnyk’s draft legislation for further central control following protests by academics and students.

But the minister, seen by many as pro-Russian in his views, appears to be pushing ahead with his plans despite protest.

Hanna Herman, a senior adviser to President Viktor Yanukovych, told the Kyiv Post that a redrafted bill will give universities the right to selfdetermination and will be in line with Yanukovych’s often-stated European

ÆCritics say minister punishing educators who raise objections Union integration objective. The draft bill that she referred to is to appear on the education ministry's website soon.

Even before Tabachnyk’s controversial bill was turned back by lawmakers, leading academics were complaining that the Education Ministry was tightening its control over university jobs and courses.

“Universities have had to document the curriculum much more precisely than before,” said Serhiy Kvit, director of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy “There has been much tighter control of what we are teaching,” said Mykhailo Zgurovsky, rector of KPI. Mychailo Wynnyckyj, an associate professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, said academic staff could now only receive

Numerous protests have been held by students against the policies and reform plans of Dmytro Tabachnyk, appointed Education Minister in 2010 by President Viktor Yanukovych. On April 20, for example, about 5,000 students in Lviv (above) demanded the dismissal of Tabachnyk, accusing him of “Ukrainophobia” and of pursuing reforms that take Ukraine’s education system away from European standards. (AFP)

additional payments for jobs that are officially recognized by the Education Ministry, even if funded from private sources.

“We are not allowed to have, for instance, the position of director of the doctoral school. Therefore, even from private sources, the doctoral school director can’t be paid extra money for doing this job,” he said.

Wynnyckyj and Zgurovsky also said it was more difficult to get permission from the ministry to run courses that had previously received approval.

The ministry, they said, has also set which subjects students need to pass in their final university entrance exams in order to take a particular course at university. Universities themselves used to set the requirement. For example, Kyiv-Mohyla required English, but now it cannot enforce that rule.

Both KPI and Kyiv-Mohyla Academy said they have had their state funding cut. Kvit indicated these cuts could have been punishment for speaking out and not implementing demands of the ministry. KPI ranked second and KyivMohyla ninth in the Compass ranking of Ukraine’s universities.

Wynnyckyj alleged that by regimenting teaching, the Education Ministry was preventing universities from training critical thinkers, which is seen as the aim of a modern European education system.

A spokeswoman for Tabachnyk had not responded by late Aug. 25 to a detailed set of questions from the Kyiv Post sent by email on Aug. 12. He has frequently insisted that any reforms are aimed at providing universities with greater autonomy and integrating the education system with Europe.

Student activists and academics warn that further negative changes could be ahead, even if Tabachnyk’s draft legislation is watered down. The original bill proposed that the Education Ministry will set the content of courses, set a strict list of which courses can be offered, and take greater control over staffing and financial issues.

“Implementation of any of the stated articles will mean a permanent establishment of ministry control and stagnation in the process of achieving greater autonomy,” said Yegor Stadny, a student who is actively involved in the

Ukrainian Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk

Hanna Herman, senior adviser to President Viktor Yanukovych.

protests against the draft law.

Increased central control over the country’s educational establishments – whether a revised draft of the law is passed or not – could threaten the integration of Ukraine’s education system into Europe.

Rolph Gollob, a Swiss education expert to the Council of Europe, said that university autonomy, “in the sense of universities determining the nature of their courses, the content of their teaching and the management of their resources, is the very basis for Bologna.”

Ukraine joined the Bologna process, intended to harmonize European countries’ education systems, in 2005.

“Autonomy is a precondition for quality science, innovation and good education. The first and most essential element of Bologna is a comparability of quality. But quality is only guaranteed when there is autonomy,” he added.

This could have negative effects for Ukraine’s students, Gollob said, as they could find it harder to get job or a place on a higher degree course abroad.

Tabachnyk’s actions and proposals have also received criticism from within the authorities. Herman, the presidential adviser, said the decision that Kyiv Mohyla should not be allowed to require a high level of English or teach in English was a mistake.

“If we are integrating into the European Union, if we want world-class

experts, then we should be teaching in English,” she said.

Experts said the Education Ministry is trying to improve quality across the board by taking greater control of the country’s notoriously corrupt universities.

This could, however, lead to a situation where “the worst universities might even get better, but the better universities get worse when controlled,” said a top official from one leading university, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Wynnyckyj argued that Tabachnyk’s predecessors had already failed to implement major changes to harmonize Ukraine’s education system with Europe’s. He said, for instance, that degrees had been renamed to match European guidelines, but the content of the courses hadn’t changed.

Herman said that any financial pressure being placed on universities was possible only in a system where state funding is given and taken away, depending on what and whom the ministry likes.

Christina Penzola-Vitovych, an education expert at the American Council, a U.S.-funded organization that promotes education in Ukraine, said the system needs a fundamental overhaul if it is to conform to European standards.

“To change the way in which the system of education works in Ukraine you have to change the system itself,” she said.

www.kyivpost.com

Business Focus 11

August 26, 2011

Nation suffers from lack of research, innovation

BY W I L L F I T Z G I B B ON FITZGIBBON@KYIVPOST.COM

Ukraine is struggling to take advantage of its Soviet scientific heritage and halt the decline of its research and innovation industries. One of the problems is that businesses remain reluctant to fill the void of government funds that have all but dried up.

The country’s older generation of scientists report difficulties in commercializing their more promising inventions in the face of dwindling state support and lukewarm responses from the business sector. Meanwhile, science students readily admit that low salaries and dim employment prospects make the profession unattractive for many.

“Unfortunately, our country still prefers any kind of raw material and the low-tech industry,” said Mikhail Zgurovsky, rector of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, referring to the country’s reliance on steel exports. “In terms of large-scale engineering education, we have a growing gap between the global level and the level in Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s slide imperils the country’s economic potential in an age when economists see business-driven research and development as key.

While Ukraine boasts links to six Nobel Prize winners and has a bevy of world-famous engineers, today’s top scientists who lived and worked in the Soviet era are quick to point out the

source of today’s ills –insufficient government investment and weak private support.

“Under the old system, scientists innovated products and government institutes helped to produce them,” said Pavlo Tsybulov, a science professor and member of Ukraine’s Academy of Sciences, who authored a 2010 report on barriers to commercializing research in Ukraine. “Since the market economy [was introduced], the government has stopped funding these kinds of innovation enablers.”

Volodmyr Sosnytskyy, head of Magnetocardiography Research Laboratory at the Glushkov Institute of Cybernetics, leads a team that makes the magnetocardiograph, a non-invasive, early detection system for heart disease. “The government can only support us by words,” said Sosnytskyy.

His system has been labeled “the future of cardiology,” by Viktor Korsun, deputy executive director of the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine, which helps to promote the research of Ukrainian scientists.

The United Nations Scientific, Education and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 2010 Science Report reveals that Ukraine’s total private and public expenditures on research and development as a percentage of gross domestic product fell from 0.96 percent in 2000 to 0.85 percent in 2008, putting Ukraine behind the U.S. (2.72 percent),

Russia (1.12 percent) and Belarus (0.96 percent).

A report published this year by the World Economic Forum ranks Ukraine 89th out of 139 countries in global competitiveness, a measure based on the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country. This score represents a drop of seven places from the previous year. When it comes to capacity for innovation, Ukraine fell by five places from 32nd to 37th. In fact, in one year Ukraine regressed on every measure of innovation but one.

“There’s no cooperation among companies,” said Ukrainian-American businessman George Logush, vice president of leading poultry producer MHP. “Science could help industry and industry could help science. But that’s not happening. And that’s a shame because Ukraine is losing its edge.”

Despite interest from European and Chinese businesses, Sosnytskyy said Ukrainian entrepreneurs have been less enthusiastic about his medical system. “They are only interested in very short-term projects,” he said.

Hope may be found in the prospect of Ukraine’s richest citizens paying more attention to the new generation of scientists.

In May, Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk said he considered attracting private sector investment into education as a priority for his ministry.

Some of Ukraine’s biggest companies have in recent years begun supporting universities.

Ferrexpo ore mining company, majority-owned by parliamentarian and billionaire Kostyantyn Zhevago, “has a range of business-education programs, including the allocation of about Hr 5 million each year to vocational, grant and scholarship projects and the employment of some graduates of the Mining Lyceum of Komsomolsk,” said company spokesman Maxim Prasolov.

Zhevago’s ship-building company, Zaliv Shipyard, also works with the National University of Shipbuilding in Mykolayiv and its students, Prasolov said.

Kyiv Polytechnic Institute reports recently having signed memorandums on strategic cooperation with companies owned by billionaires Rinat Akhmetov and Dmytro Firtash.

“We try to establish direct links with companies to organize jobs for our students,” said KPI’s Zgurovsky. While this is proving possible in engineering fields, he said that students in other fields of science such as chemistry and biology have a more difficult employment challenge.

The World Economic Forum writes that Ukraine’s “competitive strengths in the past years [remain] a well-educated population, flexible and efficient labor markets, and a large market

size continue.” The World Economic Forum considers Ukraine’s math and science education to be a comparative advantage.

Yet the working conditions and the popular image of scientists means that Ukrainian science students continue to be a courageous bunch.

Alexei Orlov, soon to begin a masters in computer science at Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, said that “the image of scientists is not pretty” in Ukraine today. It’s not difficult to see why. According to the Academy of Sciences in Kyiv, senior scientists earn on average $600 per month and doctoral students researching at Ukrainian institutes earn as little as $200 per month.

Dmytro Demerskyi, a recent doctoral graduate in material science, works at the Institute for Problems in Material Science on microwave processing of ceramics and metals. He admits that a scientist has to be primarily motivated by science, not money.

“It’s not the salary you get from the state you rely on. You get research grants and get more money from other sources,” Demerskyi said. And while his path to employment was relatively straight forward, only two out of 40 students he knows have found work in fields related to their science studies.

Kyiv Post staff writer Will Fitzgibbon can be reached at fitzgibbon@kyivpost. com.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING Listing is arranged in alphabetical order TEL./FAX.

TOP EXECUTIVE

OWNERSHIP, UKRAINIAN / FOREIGN (%)

HEADQUARTERS

NUMBER OF TEACHING STAFF

NUMBER OF STUDENTS, 2010 -2011

SPECIALIZATION

LANGUAGES OF INSTRUCTION

COST OF EDUCATION PER YEAR, $

PARTNERS

Cambridge Centre Ltd, (in Ukraine since 2002), www.cambridgecentre.kiev.ua, cucentre@i.kiev.ua, 8 Kopernika Str., Kyiv 04116, Ukraine; 7/18 Bastionna Str. Kyiv, Ukraine (44) 587-81-97 (44) 229-86-66 (44) 486-17-77 (44) 489-34-44

Galina Kashko

100/0

Kyiv, Ukraine

10

240

Languages: Russian for Foreigners English, German French, Spanish Translating/Interpreting, English in England

Russian, Ukrainian, English

WND

WND

Depending on program and country

Queen Mary, University of London, University of Exeter, University of Glasgow, University of Manchester, Munich Business School (more than 500 educational institutions all over the world)

DEC Education, (in Ukraine since 2003), www.dec-edu.com, ukr@dec-edu.com, 16 Podvysotskogo Str., Kyiv 01014, Ukraine (44) 390-76-24 (44) 392-73-30

Natalia Tarchenko, Director

100/0

Kyiv, Ukraine

WND

750

Consulting on educational programs abroad: language and pre-university courses, under/post graduate, professional diplomas

Depending on country, mostly - English

DOOR Ukraine, (in Ukraine since 2007), www.doortaining.com.ua, a.beliakova@doortraining.com, 17-21 Baggovutivska Str., Kyiv 04107, Ukraine (44) 537-74-43 (44) 537-74-44

Areta Beliakova

0/100

Wiesbaden, Germany

3000

1500 (in Ukraine only)

Softskills (communication, sales, management, project management)

Russian, English, Ukrainian

WND

Clients: UEFA, McD, PepsiCo, Dragon Capital, Volia, etc.

Partners: ACC, Franklin Covey, PULSE

Education Center Concept, (in Ukraine since 2010), www.iecc.com.ua, info@iecc.com.ua,14B Sagaidachnogo Str., off. #5, Kyiv 04070, Ukraine (44) 362-32-62 (44) 362-38-68

Svetlana Timoshenko

100/0

Kyiv, Ukraine

WND

WND

Bachelor and master programmes at UK universities, business education

English

From 5000 GBP per year (tuition only)

The UK universities and business schools

EducationUSA Advising Center, Kyiv (American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS), (in Ukraine since 1992), www.americancouncils.org.ua, www.educationusa.info/Ukraine, edusa@americancouncils.org.ua, 20 Esplanadna Str., 6th floor, Kyiv 01001, Ukraine (44) 289-39-52 (44) 289-39-53

Christina Pendzola-Vitovych

0/100

Washington, DC, USA

WND

WND

Study in the USA

All

WND

US Department of State, American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS

Ernst & Young Academy of Business, (in Ukraine since 1998), www.ey.com/cis/academy, academy@ua.ey.com, 19A Khreschatyk Str., Kyiv 01001, Ukraine (44) 490-30-34 (44) 490-30-25 (44) 490-30-30

Alexei Kredisov, Country Managing Partner, Nataliya Kopylenko, Leader of Academy of Business

WND

London, UK

30

2600

Financial accounting, Company management, financial management, risk management, internal control and internal audit, industry training, open and/or corporate trainings, DipIFR (Rus), qualification ACCA, qualification CFA, qualification CIA

Russian, English

110-330 / a day

ACCA, CFA Institute, CIA Institute

IBR Institute of International Business Relations, (in Ukraine since 2000), www.ibr-network.com, mba.kyiv@ibr-network.com, 4 Grynchenko Str., Kyiv 03038, Ukraine (50) 441-41-51 (44) 240-96-90

Dr. Andreas Kelling

0/100

Berlin, Germany

17 MBA faculty

300 MBA students

Strategic management, marketing, leadership

English

9,250 – 10,500 (for Kyiv)

Professors in European, Asian and African countries, in the US and Australia

From 990 UAH for 6 weeks

MSI, SimCorp, VISA, ACTI

14,500 (EMBA), 10,250 (MBAs), 4,000 (CBA), 21,800 (EMBA of the University of Sheffield)

The University of Sheffield, Spider Project Ukraine, Ukrainian Logistics Association, BDO Ukraine, Ukrainian Franchise Association

Depends on the program

St. Petersburg CREF, Moscow Ptit CREF, ELC Ltd., N. Novgorod PTIT CREF

International House Kyiv, (in Ukraine since 1992), www.ih.kiev.ua, info@ih.kiev.ua, 7 Vandy Vasilevskoy Str., Kyiv 03055, Ukraine (44) 238-98-70 (44) 238-97-96

Tetyana Oratovska

100/0

Kyiv, Ukraine

30

WND

Courses of English, Russian and Ukrainian, language courses abroad

English

Kyiv Business School, (in Ukraine since 2000), www.kbs.kiev.ua, office@kbs.kiev.ua, 34 Lesi Ukrainki Blvd., off. #406, Kyiv 01133, Ukraine (44) 591-10-93 (44) 591-11-66

Yaroslav Golovko

100/0

Kyiv, Ukraine

24

76

Project management, logistics, finance&investments, general management

Russian, Ukrainian, English

PTIT CREF, Trilingual Preschool, (in Ukraine since 2011), www.ptitcref.com, kiev@ptitcref.com, 5/24 Irynynska Str., Kyiv 01034, Ukraine (44) 221-44-22 (50) 448-46-46

Elena Petrenko

0/100

Kyiv, Ukraine

8

45

Preschool education

English, Ukrainian, French, Russian

Business Focus is the Kyiv Post’s spotlight on companies, industries and services in Ukraine.

The stories on the news pages of Business Focus are written by Kyiv Post editorial staff members, but the lists of companies are paid advertisements. Listing is arranged in alphabetical order. For more information about publishing your company's information in our list, please contact the advertising department at advertising@kyivpost.com. Key to abbreviations: WND – would not disclose.

12 Opinion

www.kyivpost.com

August 26, 2011

Nation barely gets passing grade at 20 MAKSYM BOR O DA

On Aug. 24, Ukraine reached 20 years of age. That’s not very old for a person, and even less for a state.

However, it’s long enough to draw a few conclusions. At the age of 20, a young person is usually moving across the border toward independence – finishing his or her professional studies, taking examinations, receiving a degree.

Has the Ukrainian state crossed a similar border? Was it able to confirm its own independence by passing examinations?

During his or her studies, every student masters a number of disciplines.

Among them are a few that are the basis for further academic work, the so-called “minimum grades.” There is a similar list for a modern state – the Copenhagen criteria, which the European Union places before every country that is a candidate for mem-

bership. The criteria can be summed up as democratic governance, a market economy and statehood and the ability to govern.

It’s no exaggeration to state that Ukraine shows startling results in terms of statehood and the ability to govern.

They are startling insofar as Ukraine by some miracle has managed to achieve quite a high level of statehood with a frankly low ability to govern.

Ukraine’s territorial integrity is the first piece of evidence of statehood.

This is an unprecedented success in the post-Soviet world for the largest European country with a population consisting of many nationalities and a society that is culturally divided.

Further evidence of statehood is the national and linguistic identity. The majority of the population that identifies itself as Ukrainian communicates in the national language. Not every European nation can boast this, and no one doubts these countries’ statehood.

However, the ability of the Ukrainian state to govern has hardly reached the basic level and almost doesn’t extend beyond the borders of manual control and putting out fires in all areas of state politics.

The unsatisfactory implementation of President Viktor Yanukovych’s economic reforms once again confirms this disappointing thesis.

Ukraine formally fulfills the second Copenhagen criterion – its status as a market economy was conferred in 2006 and confirmed by its entry into the World Trade Organization.

However, the Ukrainian economy, around half of which exists in the shadows, can hardly be considered a fully-fledged market economy. The country comes in 145th place in the World Bank’s ranking for ease of doing business, the worst of any European state. This shows the large amount of work that lies before the government in order to fill out the formal status of Ukraine with real market content.

The latest events surrounding the prosecution of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko raise doubts about Ukraine’s success in terms of democratic governance, where its performance until not so long ago had looked much stronger. Symptoms of the rolling back of democracy are felt in Ukraine, but so far they don’t give real grounds to diagnose an authoritarian regime. The very fact that I can

Demonstrators protest against a new tax code in Kyiv on Dec. 2. While the government revised tax legislation in response to the protests, critics say that rich industrial barons are still too lightly taxed. (Alexey Furman)

write that, and readers can agree with me or not, without worrying about consequences, testifies more in favor of democracy in the country than against it.

So, for the three Copenhagen criteria, Ukraine doesn’t pass the test with flying colors, but just about manages a pass. This means that Ukraine is lean and poor, put has got the “minimum grades” for further study.

This conclusion is not grounds for excessive optimism, but a jolt to move-

ment forward.

It’s the same for a state as for a person: going from minimum grades to a doctorate takes several years of persistent and hard work.

Precisely work is the guarantee that the day will come when the formerly sick student will wake up as a respected doctor of philosophy and all of us, as citizens of the European Union.

Maksym Boroda is deputy director of the International Centre for Policy Studies in Kyiv.

Yanukovych: Progress Æ4 wish to join the great European project – building a united Europe based on the values of freedom, democracy and law. We wish to join it at a difficult time, seeking not subsidies or indulgences, but opportunities and rights ... to join it, despite the hard pressure and conscious hindering, as equal partners ... to join it for our common future.

We believe that the association agreement and establishing a deep and comprehensive free-trade area is what Ukraine and the European Union need now. We hope our partners understand that, too. Ukraine is difficult to call opportunistic or inconsistent. For centuries, even in the toughest conditions, our society has remained European.

Our best representatives have put much into the cultural treasury of Europe. Evidence of our heritage are the golden-domed Kyiv, the medieval Lviv, the diverse Odesa, the modern-constructivist Kharkiv. We cannot imagine the Ukrainian land without the ancient Greek Olbia, Genoese Sudak and Feodosia, Jewish shtetls and Polish palaces. Our history is rich and multicolored. Our people are multinational and it is our common world heritage.

We are united not only by the past, but also by the present, and, I am sure, by the future. Examples are many, as are possibilities.

Next year, together with our strategic partner Poland, Ukraine will be hosting the UEFA European Football Championship finals – Euro 2012. This event will give European Union citizens another chance to see today’s Ukraine, and to Ukrainians – the

chance to communicate with tourists and fans from the EU. Ukraine needs not only economic cooperation, but, first of all, the radical expansion of human contacts with the European Union. Not government, but society, every citizen needs that. The Ukrainian government will do everything to implement the national plan to introduce visa-free travel. We hope the EU will understand our capabilities and limitations, and help Ukrainian citizens to exercise their right to freedom of movement.

Ukraine realizes that our European progress is impossible without good relations with Russia. Years of independence have irrefutably proven that such relations are possible only in strict compliance with bilateral balance of national interests and mutual respect. The state and its government will do everything in their power to construct such a balance.

We understand the importance of relations with the leading country of the world – the United States, and hope these relations will be developing further in the coming years. Realizing the enormous potential available here is our main goal.

It is absurd to neglect relations with the People’s Republic of China in the world of today. Over the last year, much has been done for the development of these relations, and this is only the beginning of a promising cooperation.

National pragmatism, based on the interests of Ukrainian citizens, is our roadmap to building relations with other states.

The world respects the strong. Ukraine will continue reforming the armed forces, other security sector agencies, introducing European principles and standards, developing cooperation with NATO and other security institutions in Europe.

We contribute to international stability and security, resolution of conflicts on the basis of strict compliance with international law, and not only in Europe. Ukrainian peacekeepers perform the complex tasks of maintaining peace in Asia and Africa.

We realize that the road to Europe runs through every village and town of our country. This road will be paved not only by diplomats, but by all of us – citizens of Ukraine of all nationalities, those for whom statehood is not just a word, but a common cause.

Ukraine urgently needs modernization of all areas of public life. Further delay threatens not stagnation, but a slow suicide of the state. In order to avoid tragedy we have stepped on the path of reform. This decision was not easy. Although we may not always succeed, the direction is correct and there is no doubt about it.

We set ambitious goals for the state. We target the heights Ukraine really deserves. We should enter the club of world leaders. We should give Ukrainian business an opportunity to breathe freely. We will remove administrative barriers preventing citizens from feeling comfortable in their own land.

After decades of empty talk and attempts to avoid responsibility, drastic changes occur in Ukraine for the sec-

ond consecutive year. Tax and budget legislation was changed, administrative and pension reforms are pending, a large experiment in healthcare is being realized. There is discussion of a new criminal procedure code and electoral legislation. New serious action is being prepared. Ukraine has already changed. The transformations in the interests of the Ukrainian people will continue regardless of whether advocates of the old system and irresponsible populism want it or not.

The success of reforms will be guaranteed by overcoming corruption – the priority threat to national security of Ukraine. For the first time in many years we are taking real steps, not decorative ones, as it has often been. But corruption cannot be crushed without ensuring the full equality of all citizens before the law.

An important step was made. There is no more caste of untouchables now in Ukraine, and I am sure, there will never be in the future. If anyone believes this is a separately taken campaign, he is deeply mistaken. No position, no wealth, past or present, will protect criminals. The basic principle of justice has been restored – the inevitability of punishment. The Ukrainian Themis’s eyes will be closed.

Her focus will be only justice and her scales will be calibrated in accordance with European standards.

Not everyone likes that. Our actions often encounter strong resistance. But we are confident that the chosen course is right, and the results will help all citizens of Ukraine to get rid of the corruption tax and protect their

own dignity in the face of today’s and tomorrow’s officials.

I will not deny that the government has made mistakes, and more than once. Unfortunately, we are not immune to them in the future. But we learn. Time has proven conclusively that the current leadership of Ukraine is able to do its homework.

Ukraine's government strictly complies with provisions of the Constitution regarding the rights and freedoms of citizens and does everything necessary to fill these provisions with real content. And here we count on the support and assistance of Ukrainian civil society and the general public of all European countries.

We are open to dialogue, but will not give up our principles, the main one of which is serving the interests of Ukrainian society and democratic state.

All these factors give me full confidence that today, in the days of the 20th anniversary of independence, Ukraine has broad consensus. Each of us is fully aware what country we are building together. This is a modern, democratic, legal, high-tech, and advanced country that is an integral part of European cultural space. And this goal unites all Ukrainians, regardless of their political affiliation or belief. The way to achieve it has no alternatives to a deep modernization of the country. Time will come and in 10 years Ukraine will be in the European Union, will enter the circle of developed countries. I am convinced of this.

Viktor Yanukovych is president of Ukraine.

www.kyivpost.com

Opinion 13

August 26, 2011

Pikhovshek: Wrong priorities Æ5

In the same way that Ukraine needs a new form of cooperation with the diaspora, so the diaspora should look to cooperate with Ukraine.

Political analyst Kostyantyn Bondarenko was correct when he wrote that an example to follow would be the Israeli diaspora. “Jews who live

Oryshkevich: Nation will not move ahead if brightest minds live elsewhere Æ5 Dmitriev to found and head the Russia Direct Investment Fund.

This fund will comprise at least $50 billion of international investment tied to Russian government seed money.

It has, as its ambition, nothing less than the modernization of the Russian Federation, something that Dmitriev advocated for Ukraine numerous times on Ukrainian television! Ukraine’s inattention to this talented individual has led to Russia’s gain.

There are others like Kirill who have yet to return. There are even cadres of talented Ukrainian bankers in London, New York, Hong Kong and elsewhere.

There are others who are persisting often against the odds within Ukraine.

Ukraine needs more such educated people. It needs to educate even more such people. It needs an active effort to re-engage those who are lost.

There are Harvard-trained political scientists who could write about events and policies in Ukraine if only they were invited to do so. Interest and respect for this talent could not only enhance its prestige in Ukraine, but even make it even more interested and relevant to Ukraine.

Not least of all, our program has created a veritable brain trust for Ukraine.

We have other talented students and alumni of Harvard, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Penn/Wharton, Dartmouth, Brown and elsewhere whose knowledge and expertise, if respected and tapped, might just make Ukraine a viable country.

Ukraine (I include the Kyiv Post in that) must respect its talent. Value it or lose it. It must also respect the transformative power of education abroad.

So, please think of writing something more enlightening and helpful that could actually make Ukrainians aspire to achieve rather than to emigrate for menial but regularly paying jobs abroad.

Ukraine as, perhaps, the most insular country in Europe, has no choice but to learn from abroad. How else will it modernize its industries, update its science, and bring genuine democracy and civil society back home?

By creating the impression that education abroad functions only as an exit strategy for average people does a great disservice to the future of Ukraine and of its citizens; the vast majority of whom cannot or will not emigrate.

The Kyiv Post should nurture a better vision for Ukraine. As an Americanfounded newspaper, it should understand that America was built by people who brought their dreams with them from abroad.

Talented people can bring their dreams back to Ukraine. We should help them to do so. Good ideas can take root anywhere.

Bohdan A. Oryshkevich is the cofounder of the USA/USA Program found at www.ukrainianscholarships.org and on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/jiWGAg.

in the U.S. would never allow the State Department to take any steps in the Middle East that were not friendly toward Israel. They consider it their duty to improve the image of their historical homeland in the U.S., regardless of what passport they carry in their pocket,” he wrote.

The diaspora expects help from Ukraine, and Ukraine therefore has the right to demand help from the diaspora. What sort of help?

Perhaps Askold Lozynskyj could organize a picket outside the White House in Washington, D.C. demanding the cancelation of

visas for Ukrainians? Or he could pressure the European Union to hand Ukraine a clear perspective of future membership, or to increase technical assistance to Ukraine?

Or, finally, lobby for reciprocal social support, such as pensions, for Ukrainians who have worked in

the U.S.?

If they really wanted this, then they probably would have organized it a long time ago.

Viacheslav Pikhovshek is a former news editor at 1+1 channel and a former speechwriter for ex-President Leonid Kuchma.

14 News

www.kyivpost.com

August 26, 2011

Many still nostalgic for Soviet Union A protest at the Zhovtneva Revolution Square (now Independence Square) in support of Ukraine’s independence in Kyiv on Aug. 24, 1991. The sign says “Ukraine leaves the USSR.” (UNIAN)

BY A LYO N A Z H U K ZHUK@KYIVPOST.COM

Not every Ukrainian celebrated the 20th anniversary of Ukrainian statehood on Aug 24. There are still plenty of people nostalgic for the hammerand-sickle times, and wish the Soviet Union had stayed intact, according to one survey.

According to the agency Rating poll conducted earlier this year, nearly half of Ukrainians (46 percent) regret the Soviet Union’s dissolution

in 1991. Most of them are pensioners whose life had been “objectively better in the Soviet Union,” said Lyudmyla Cherenko from the Kyiv-based Institute of Demography.

“The pensions were not very high, but pensioners could afford food, clothes and even save some money to help their children or go on vacations somewhere,” explained Cherenko.

“Healthcare was free of charge in the Soviet Union, and medicine was cheap.”

There are 14 million pensioners

Advertisement

First Russian Orthodox Church opened in UAE

N

ext to the Mar Thoma church in Al Yamook, the five blue domes of the Saint Philip the Apostle Russian Orthodox Church Complex rise tall, reminiscent of a little piece of Moscow in a sandy Sharjah site.

The first Russian Orthodox Church in the Arabian Peninsula held its first service and opening ceremony on Saturday, August 13.

It is the biggest Russian Orthodox Church Complex outside the former Soviet Union that also includes a cultural centre, and was named after Saint Philip, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ.

With the first stone laid in 2007, the church was financed by Ukrainian businessman Yuri Sidorenko, 50, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the EDAPS Consortium which produces identification documents, such as electronic passports, and information systems. He is also the adviser for International and Corporative Development of the Specialised Enterprise HOLOGRAPHY. Wall of icons The church has a capacity of 900. Inside, one of the walls is adorned with images of religious icons hanging in ornate golden frames. Called the Wall of Icons, it separates the church from the altar.

The wall is made of Indian teak wood, carved and plated with gold leaf in the UAE. All the icons were painted in Moscow and brought to Sharjah.

Above, a painted fresco adorns the high domed ceiling with four smaller frescoes of Jesus Christ's apostles representing Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

"One cannot over estimate the importance this church has for the 200,000 Russians in the UAE. It is the first Russian Orthodox Church in this part of the world, and people have been anticipating it for a long time," said Sidorenko, who was awarded with the Order of Glory and Honour First Degree (the highest award for the Russian Orthodox Church) by the Holy Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

"It was not hard getting it built thanks to the support of Sharjah leadership, who expressed a sincere desire for a cultural monument to be located here," he added. "We are grateful to the UAE government."

Father Alexander Zarkeshev, 46, said he was overjoyed the coming of this day.

Saint Philip the Apostle Russian Orthodox Church Complex will start regular services in September, and will be opened for church members of all religions.

Arnold Savin

in Ukraine, and 90 percent of them receive less then Hr 1,000, according to the institute’s figures. This money barely covers food and utilities for people like Kylyna Soroka, 90.

When Independence Day comes, there’s nothing for her to celebrate.

The World War II veteran can now hardly walk and talk.

“I’ve been calling on the authorities asking for some help [to assign a nurse], but they just ignore me,” Soroka said on her way to the store. It takes her about an hour to buy bread and milk, though the shop is only some 300 meters from her house.

“I’m lonely and need someone to care for me, but it doesn’t matter to anyone here,” she said.

According to Semen Gluzman, the head of the Association of Psychiatrists of Ukraine, old people are the most likely to feel nostalgic about the Soviet Union. “Some of them just miss their youth, times when they were healthy and their whole life was ahead of them,” Gluzman said. “Others just feel lost in this new reality; they can’t get used to this new pace of life.”

Petro, 74, is another pensioner reminiscing about the good old days. He refuses to give his last name, being afraid of publicity. He lives with his wife and two sons, and one of them can’t find a job.

“It wasn’t a problem for anyone in the Soviet Union. You got a job the very moment you graduated from the university,” Petro recalled. “And what do we have now? There are no jobs, factories have been closed down, and young healthy people drink in the backyard near my house from dawn till dusk every day.”

Petro is also outraged by his small pension (around Hr 900) saying that most of it goes to cover utility bills.

He worked as an ambulance driver for more than 30 years.

“The store shelves are filled with products, but what do they matter?

Who can afford all that stuff? The average pension in the Soviet Union was about 120-130 rubles; a retiree could afford buying meat, clothes and save some money to go to the seaside.

I can only dream about such life,” Petro added.

Cherenko from the Institute of Demography said many pensioners share Petro’s feelings. If they don’t have support from a working family member, they have to rely on food grown in their own gardens.

There are, however, even young people who praise the Soviet times judging from their parents’ memories.

Æ Birth of Ukrainian nation an unhappy event for fans of Soviet Union

Children play during a summer camp in this 1937 file photo.

People gather to celebrate an opening of a new blast furnace for making steel in the Donetsk-Yurevskom plant in this 1986 file photo.

Oleksandr Smychnikov, 26, says his mother’s career as a teacher was a lot more stable and successful before independence.

“Today a teacher is nobody. They are not paid enough, so education gets worse and worse each year,” he said, adding that that there is also a lack of hobby and sports clubs for the youth in Ukraine. “We need more camps and activity groups affordable for all children, not only for those who can afford

to pay Hr 3,000-5,000 for two weeks in a summer camp.”

Nevertheless, unlike the old people, Smychnikov wouldn’t want to turn the time back.

“I am just against the critical denial of everything Soviet. We need to borrow all the good, leaving all the mistakes behind. The Soviet Union is never coming back.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Alyona Zhuk can be reached at zhuk@kyivpost.com

Lifestyle

Before Hallmark and e-cards arrived, Ukrainians used to greet each other with intricate paper cuttings. One Kyiv artist devoted his life to them.

August 26, 2011

Play | Food | Entertainment | Sports | Culture | Music | Movies | Art | Community Events

Vinnytsia to showcase Hitler’s war bunker

A tour guide dressed as a Soviet soldier stands near a kiosk, not far from a small exhibition of Wolrd War II artifacts at Wehrwolf bunker near Vinnytsia. (Alexey Furman)

BY K AT E RY N A PA N OVA PANOVA@KYIVPOST.COM

STRIZHAVKA, Vinnytsia Oblast – Amid grazing cows and colorful butterflies in a quiet forest in central Ukraine lie a set of nondescript concrete ruins that are stirring up bitter debate.

Above ground, there are few signs of the deep underground bunker where Adolf Hitler stayed three times from 1942 to 1943, when the Germans were advancing during World War II. The place was later blown up by the retreating German army.

But the regional government in Vinnytsia Oblast has decided to cast some light on the secrets of the Wehrwolf bunker – the name is

a compound of the German words for “werewolf” and “defense” – by developing the site to attract tourists.

Communists and some locals have criticized the move that they say could turn the place into a pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis.

The reaction to the decision shows how sensitive Ukrainians remain to a dark part of their country’s history, when the territory of modern-day Ukraine was the battleground between Nazi and Soviet forces.

Even President Viktor Yanukovych has weighed in, saying on a visit to the region in June that a decision on the future of the site should be taken by the local community, adding that Ukrainians “should know their history.”

The Wehrwolf site is, at present, a

Advertising: +380 44 234-65-03 advertising@kyivpost.com

set of concrete and steel ruins jutting out from underground in a forest near the village of Strizhavka. It already draws visitors from all over who are intrigued by its historical significance.

Some of the structures are covered with neo-Nazi slogans.

By October, local authorities have promised to install informational stands, provide guided tours and build a memorial complex to commemorate World War II victims. However, the idea has provoked a storm in the local branch of the Communist Party, which said that trying to attract tourists to the site would be akin to promoting Nazism and could lead to a rise in fascist activity in Ukraine. “Instead of solving the social problems of war veterans … somebody is crazy about restoring

Editorial staff: +380 44 234-65-00 news@kyivpost.com

monuments to Third Reich leaders,” said Petro Symonenko, leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

But Lubov Spiridonova, deputy governor of Vinnytsia Oblast, said the aim of the memorial complex will be to tell about people’s suffering under Nazi rule. “Actually, it will even be called the Victims of Fascism memorial,” she said.

The Nazis ruled over large swathes of what is now Ukraine from 1941, when they attacked the Soviet Union, until their retreat in 1944.

The Wehrwolf bunker was one of several of Hitler’s headquarters throughout Europe. According to Pavlo Melnyk, a local historian, Hitler lived in a small house with a bunker underneath. Its ruins can still be easily found next to a concrete water tank, Æ18

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Æ19 www.kyivpost.com www.k

Night N O Owl WITH MARIYA M MANZHOS

Dancing salsa in Chameleon club turns out good, clean fun During the 10 years I lived in the United States, one of my favorite pastimes was salsa dancing.

Since America is about 15 percent Hispanic, every big city (I lived in Washington, D.C.) has a handful of amazing Latin clubs packed with incredible dancers. Having recently moved back to Kyiv, I quickly went through withdrawal and started craving the Latin rhythms I had grown addicted to. So, when I heard about Chameleon’s weekly salsa night party Cubano Boom, I dived right in.

Just as its name suggests, Chameleon blends in almost completely with its surroundings.

Located in the Ukraine shopping center near the circus, it was a bit hard to find. The door leading to the club on the third floor was at the back of the mall, near the parking lot. It was a Friday night, but luckily there were no thronging crowds to brave or impenetrable bouncers. However, I wasn’t prepared for the seemingly endless climb of stairs to get to the entrance of the club.

Still wheezing from the stairs, I walked in and stood at the back of the bar to get a scope of the scene. A pretty sizeable group was enthusiastically, if sometimes awkwardly, dancing to a standard salsa mix with bachata, regaetton, merenge, latin pop and even good old Macarena.

Some couples were unfamiliar with even basic salsa moves and made up for it by simply reverting to aggressive grinding. Over at the bar, there was significantly less energy: tired businessmen swigging beers, a couple of frazzled middle-age women likely wondering where it all went wrong, and what looked like a creepy Asian man smirking at Kyiv’s young beauties.

I was losing hope for a good evening; however, I suddenly became overjoyed as I spotted a pack of live authentic Latinos lounging on the couches around the table. I went up to introduce myself and was soon whisked off to dance by a tall, mustachioed Cuban, who moved as effortlessly as a balmy summer night in Havana. I was ecstatic.

After a few songs I was ready for a stroll around the interior. The dancing floor neighbors with the bowling club Chameleon, which conveniently combines 10 bowling alleys, a lounge area, and a full-service restaurant bathed in subdued red neon lights.

The décor is full of disco balls, colorful circular patterns on the floor and lamps in the Æ18

16 Entertainment Guide

www.kyivpost.com

(obowsem.net)

Motorbike races

Saturday – Sunday, Aug. 27-28

Pump up your adrenaline by watching the exhilarating motorcycle races at Chaika Stadium. The birth of this risky sport dates back to 1898. Originally motorbike races were held on the straight racetrack, which made it impossible for everyone in the audience to see them finish. But eventually, the straight track evolved into a circuit, which allowed everyone to observe anticipated results. A thrilling race might be exactly what you need to break out of your regular weekend routine. There will be conveniences for everyone — for children, there’s a supervised playground, and for adults a free buffet, a large screen to watch the race and a lounge zone. Save your entrance ticket for a prize drawing at the end.

Saturday – Sunday, Aug. 27-28, Sport complex Chaika, Sviatoshynskiy region, tel. 247-0667.

(ecidonchafotosdejazz.blogspot.com)

August 26, 2011

Monday, Aug. 29

Historic adventures Park Kyivska Rus will host a large festival recreating the Kyivan Rus culture and history from the 19th century titled the “Epics of Ancient Kyiv.”

Historical clubs from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Poland, France, Sweden and other parts of Europe will perform theatrical reenactments, ethnic dancing, quests and games. For a brief time men can try an image of fearless knights and warriors, while women can transform into charming princesses by renting old-fashioned costumes.

Master classes in sword and spear fighting, bow shooting, fencing, knife and axe throwing will take you back in time. Arts and crafts fans will get a chance to try their hands in pottery making, wreath weaving, toy making as well as Slavic calligraphy. The festival’s hosts promise a great night party in addition to a day program, which includes ethno disco, night battles of the warriors, bonfires and a romantic sunset. A cherry on top will be a fire show with fireworks.

Friday-Sunday, Aug. 26-28, Park Kyivska Rus, village Kopachiv, Obuhiv region (34 km from Kyiv), buses available from metro Vydubychi, 461-99-37, tickets: Hr. 10

Friday-Sunday, Aug. 26-28

Plan ahead Prem Joshua synthesizes sounds, borrowing from both East and West. To perform in the genre of World Fusion Music, which Joshua has pioneered, he incorporates such Indian instruments as sitar and tabla. Joshua’s main source of inspiration are ancient Indian traditions, however, he is also in touch with the novelties in western music.

Born in Germany to a family of musicians, Ferry learned to play the flute at the age of five. A variety of sounds fuse together in extraordinary organic compositions, which sound authentic and modern at the same time.

Saturday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m., Crystal Hall, 1 Dniprovskiy Spusk, www. crystalhall.com.ua/en/, tel. 538-0100. Tickets: Hr 200-500.

Rock fans should mark their calendars for the metal rock party “Global East Rock Festival.” The festival will bring together hard-core Ukrainian bands, including Apostate and W.H.I.T.E, as well as foreign groups, such as Cemetary (DJ Set) from Switzerland, Cemetery of Scream from Poland and other groups from Switzerland, Estonia and Germany. If you want to rock out with the crowd, hurry and get in line – the tickets are going fast.

Sunday, Sept. 11, http://www.globaleastfan.com, place to be confirmed.

Tickets: Hr 300-550.

Jazz lovers should start preparing for annual “Jazz Koktebel” festival, which will take place in the small Crimean village at the feet of the mountain Karadag. In its ninth year, the festival will be held on three main stages. The program is not only limited to the best jazz and alternative music performed by the hottest Ukrainian and international artists, but you can also enjoy movie showings all night long. The list of international jazz guests includes Kitchen Grooves from Germany, DoMa Ensemble from the Czech Republic, Anna Kristoffersson from Sweden, The State Of Monc from the Netherlands and many others. Some of the Ukrainian groups will be That Crased Girl, Krapka, Pushkin Klezmer Band and others.

Sept. 15-18, village of Koktebel, Crimea, http://koktebel.info/, tickets: Hr 75-465.

Legendary English gentleman and Grammy winner Bryan Ferry will visit Ukraine with the grand concert “Olympia Tour 2011.” Ferry was the front man of Roxy Music formed in the 70’s and sang with them for 12 years. When the group disbanded, Ferry’s popularity as a solo singer continued to grow. He's primarily known for unique vocals and mixed genres ranging from retro to avant garde. Ferry has 13 solo albums. Whether you are nostalgic for the tunes of the past or simply appreciate excellent music, join Ferry on Sept. 13, Palats Ukraina at 7:00 p.m. 103 Chervonoarmiyska (Velyka Vasylkivska) St., metro Palats Ukraina. Tickets: Hr 300-3,000.

It looks like Britney Spears is not only back, but is continuing to win over international fans. You will have a chance to see for yourself whether Britney has changed from her prep school past to a full fledged Femme Fatale, which happens to be the name of her concert tour.

Tuesday, Sept. 27, Palats Sporty, 19 Basseyna St., 246-7406. Tickets: Hr 590 – 9,990.

Exquisite jazz by Joel Holmes In his 28 years, Joel Holmes has released two albums, become a Grammy nominee three times, taken over the jazz department at the Baltimore School for the Performing Arts and has performed with world jazz stars like Gerald Hayes and Marlon Jordan. A brilliant pianist combines traditional and modern jazz, gospel, R&B, soul, hip-hop, funk, classical and pop music. In Kyiv, Holmes will perform with the band of Ukrainian saxophonist Andriy Aleksandrov, whose name is well-known in jazz circles. Holmes’ African heritage helps him to infuse jazz with new sound.

Monday, Aug. 29, Art Club 44 at 7 p.m., 44 B Kreshchatyk St., tel. 279-41-37.

Tickets: Hr 20.

Best gallery picks French artist Andre Laban took landscape painting much deeper than anyone before. Living for a month in an underwater home, Laban took the canvas underwater and pioneered a creative genre of painting aqua surroundings. Laban’s first exhibition in Kyiv was a thriving success, so gallery Mystetska Zbirka decided to treat Kyiv’s art lovers to another show of Laban’s water images. The world in Laban’s art exudes freshness and mystery of the unknown.

Opening Friday, Aug. 26, Mystetska Zbirka, 13 Tereshchenkivska St. (enter through an archway), 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. every day apart from Monday and Tuesday, artzbirka.com, tel. 136-47-37. Free admission.

The exhibition “20 Years of Presence” is a tribute to the best achievements in Ukrainian modern art. It features the cream of the crop of modern Ukrainian art with painters Igor Gusiev, Oleksandr Zhivotkov, Anatoliy Klimenko, Pavlo Makov, Oleksandr Zhivotkov, Mykola Matsenko, Oleg Tistol and Vasyl Tsagalov topping the list. Many of them have exhibited in the world- class galleries and museums and sold at prestigious art auctions.

Tuesday, Aug. 23 – Sept. 25, Art Agent Gallery, http://www.art-agent.com.ua/, 18 D Shchorsa St., tel. 050 44 35036, Free admission.

In the multimedia project “Technogenesis” artist Oksana Chepelyk tackles the complex topic of life and death.

In her abstract paintings you can make out objects resembling spacesuits, space vehicles, air supply tubes, electronic scoreboards and an incubator. Concepts of gender, time, space, information, new technologies and science art shape the content of the show. The name of the exhibition originates from the Bible’s Genesis and embodies the idea of creation and an ultimate beginning of morality, history and culture. The description of the show, albeit a bit serious, may end up being a thought provoking outing. Friday, Aug. 26 – Tuesday, Sept. 13., Karas Gallery, 22 A Andriyivsky Uzviz, www.karasgallery.com/en/, tel. 238-6531. Free admission.

Compiled by Mariya Manzhos

www.kyivpost.com

Entertainment Guide 17

August 26, 2011

Live Music

Movies

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

Aug. 26 Angie Nears, Hr 50 Aug. 27 Bangladesh Orkestr, Hr 50 Aug. 28 Happy Birthday Michael Jackson Aug. 29 Joel Holmes (USA) & Dmitriy Alexandrov’s Quintet Aug. 30 Vzrozlyi Band, free admission Aug. 31 Pollock & Yellow Dog, Hr 30

Lars von Trier delivers an unusual take on a wedding in apocalyptic ‘Melancholia.’ (australianfilmreview.com)

MELANCHOLIA US 2011 Language: English with Ukrainian 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 even more. The only sad thing though is that if you want to be a master of frame-ups, you can’t afford to repeat 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. 26 – Sept. 1 at 4 p.m.

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

• Monday, Aug. 29: National chamber ensemble “Kyiv Soloists” will perform the music of Astor Piazzolla. The program includes guitar, accordion and violin. The National Philarmonic of Ukraine, 2, Volodymyrsky uzviz, metro Maydan Nezalezhnosti, www. filarmonia.com.ua, 278- 1697. Tickets: Hr 20-70.

• Wednesday, Aug. 31: “Master Klass” and “Jazz in Kiev” will present the band Organizzmo at 8:00 p.m. Cultural center MasterKlass, 34 Mazepy St., metro Arsenalna, www.masterklass.org/eng, 594-1063. Tickets: Hr 40.

BOCHKA PYVNA ON KHMELNYTSKOHO 4B-1 Khmelnytskoho St, metro Teatralna, 3906106, www.bochka.com.ua Concerts traditionally start at 9-10 p.m.

Aug. 26 Zemfira Happy Birthday Party: PLB, Nana, DJ 47, Hr 50 Aug. 27 Lucky Band, free admission Aug. 28 FUNK-U Freestyle Show, Hr 30 PORTER PUB 3 Sichnevogo Povstannya St., 280-1996, www.porter.com.ua Concerts traditionally start at 7:30 p.m.

Aug. 26 Yuhym Dym, Aug. 27 Dikie Liudi Aug. 31 Ivan Bliuz

Michael Jackson would have DOCKER’S ABC 15 Khreshchatyk St., 278- been 53 on Aug. 29. Celebrate his birthday on Aug. 28 in Art 1717, Club 44. (retro.in.ua) www.docker.com.ua Concerts traditionally start at 9:30-10 p.m.

Aug. 26 Motor’ Rolla, Hot Guys, Hr 70 Aug. 27 Mad Heads UkrainSKA, Partizanskie Other live music clubs: Vytivky, Hr 70 JAZZ DO IT, 76A Velyka Vasylkivska St., 289Aug. 28 Chill Out, free admission 56-06, http://jazz-doit.com.ua Aug. 29 Gera and Second Breath, free GOLDEN GATE IRISH PUB, 15 admission Zolotovoritska St., 235-5188, http:// Aug. 30 Animals Session, Hr 20 Aug. 31 Rockin’ Wolves, Hr 30 goldengatepubkiev.com/ Sept. 1 Foxtrot Music Band, Hr 30 TO DUBLIN IRISH PUB, 4 Raisy Okipnoi St., 569-5531, http://www.to-dublin.com.ua/ DOCKER PUB PIVNA NO.1 ON BASEYNA, 15 Baseyna 25 Bohatyrska St., metro Heroyiv Dnipra, St., 287-44-34, www.pivna1.com.ua www.docker.com.ua DRAFT 1/2 Khoryva St., metro Kontraktova Concerts traditionally start at 9:30-10 p.m.

Ploshcha, 463-7330 Aug. 26 Lampasy, Tres Deseos, Hr 70 KHLIB CLUB 12 Frunze St., www.myspace.

Aug. 27 Motor’ Rolla, More Huana, Hr 70 com/xlibclub Aug. 28 Inshyi Svit, Hr 50 CHESHIRE CAT 9 Sklyarenko St., 428-2717 Aug. 29 Angie Nears, free admission O’BRIEN’S 17A Mykhaylivska St., 279-1584 Aug. 30 Tres Deseos, free admission DAKOTA 14G Heroyiv Stalinhrada St., 468Aug. 31 The Magma, free admission 7410 Sept. 1 Ruki v Briuki Rockabilly Party, free U KRUZHKI 12/37 Dekabrystiv St., 562-6262 admission

Compiled by Mariya Manzhos and Alexey Bondarev

Compiled by Svitlana Kolesnykova

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18 Lifestyle

www.kyivpost.com

August 26, 2011

Hitler’s war command slated to become next area tourist attraction Æ15 which was also used as a swim-

A couple enjoys a Latin evening in Chameleon. (xameleon.club300.com.ua)

Night Owl: Salsa, bowling, movies all under one roof the fact that Chameleon doubles as a bowling alley, which is right behind the dance floor separated by a few tables.

The combination is not a bad idea, but if you are dancing towards the back, be careful, because you might have a bowling ball fall on your foot.

For an energy boost, try Chameleon’s decently priced restaurant, but only if you don’t mind listening to the crash of bowling pins and blasting base as you eat your Caesar salad or pizza.

Kyiv Post staff writer Mariya Manzhos can be reached at manzhos@kyivpost. com

Ten bowling alleys are available at Chameleon club. (xameleon.club300. com.ua)

Æ15 shape of tubes propelling from the ceiling. It made me feel like I was in a Soviet spaceship crossed with a bag of Skittles. The bar stretches out and curves around, partially dividing the dance-floor and bowling areas.

Overall, Chameleon is a pretty casual place, and I liked that. There’s no dress code or face control, and it was a welcome atmosphere setting it apart from the more snooty clubs in Kyiv.

Part of the relaxed feel comes from

Chameleon Bowling Club 3 Peremohy Square, metro Universytet Shopping mall Ukraine Tel.496-1717 http://xameleon.club300.com.ua Tickets to dance parties: Hr 40 Bowling ranges from Hr 99 – 198 At the bar there is Mohito, Lambordhini, Green Mexican and other drinks starting from Hr 35-50.

Restaurant offers an array of snacks and meals ranging from fried cheese sticks and potatoes in a jar to hamburgers and pizza. Prices Hr 20 -100.

ming pool.

The whole complex consisted of 81 wooden houses for Nazi officers and support staff. There was also a vegetable garden, two water wells, a tea house, a barber’s shop, a bathhouse, a sauna and a cinema. The whole territory was surrounded by barbed wire with defense positions and observation points.

Leonid Kopetsky, head of the Vinnytsia War Veterans Association, said he supports the plan to create a memorial at the site to increase people’s awareness of what happened here. When Wehrwolf was built, he was a 14-year old boy, living in the nearby village of Kalinovka, the site of a Luftwaffe airbase.

Kopetsky said he realized Wehrwolf’s importance when he saw prisoners of war – mostly Soviet soldiers – building a road from the airport to the bunker complex in top secret. “They were guarded by German soldiers and exhausted. Sometimes the Germans allowed the villagers to feed the prisoners,” he recalled.

Historians say that numerous bunkers and tunnels lie underground unexplored, but the budget for the memorial complex is not enough for a wide-ranging excavation and study.

The tourist places are being built thanks to anonymous sponsors, who already finished a parking lot, a playground for kids and a small booth.

The Vinnytsia budget will only cover small salaries for 10 employees, who will earn an average of Hr 2,644 per month (about $300).

Researching the bunker’s past remains a task for independent historians. Belgium native Martin Bogaert and his Kyiv colleague Andriy Shvachko were at the site recently taking photographs from high in the trees, trying to detect traces of buildings that used to be there.

Bogaert, who has explored various World War II sites in Ukraine, has gathered hundreds of archive pictures and documents from German

Only concrete ruins remain of Adolf Hitler’s bunker in a forest near Vinnytsya. (Alexey Furman)

Bundesarchiv and Organization Todt, the Nazi engineering group, to try to find out more about the complex.

Bogaert and Shvachko plan to publish a book on the true history on Wehrwolf and promise some surprises. “There were no underground

bunkers and tunnels,” he said, contradicting other historians. “Wait until we create a 3D model of the site and publish it.”

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

How to get there: • By car: Eight kilometers from Vinnytsya on the Kyiv–Vinnitsya highway, turn off at at Stryzhavka following the “Wehrwolf” road sign.

• From Vinnytsya: take a mini-bus, heading from the railway station to Stryzhavka.

Get off at the “Camping” stop and walk 20 minutes until you see the road sign.

Worth noting: Near a parking lot at Wehrwolf, there is a private World War II exhibition worth visiting. It is located in the building of an old Soviet Lastochka resort. There you can find weapons, clothing, silver and other items on display, including a gas-mask for horses. Check out the café outside the building, designed in the style of a war field kitchen. The cook, dressed in an old navy uniform, will make you a soldier's kasha (porridge) and salo (lard) in honey for Hr 12 and Hr 10 respectively.

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www.kyivpost.com

Lifestyle 19

August 26, 2011

Paper swoon: Korchynsky preserves ‘vytynanka’ art

BY A LYO N A Z H U K ZHUK@KYIVPOST.COM

For artist Vasyl Korchynsky, cutting traditional paper decorations is much more than a hobby or a business – it’s a passion for keeping alive the Ukrainian tradition of vytynanky.

Korchynsky’s lifelong interest in vytynanka started in childhood. He remembers that Vinnytska Oblast village where he lived, every woman could cut beautiful paper art.

“We called it paper decoration,” said Korchynsky, 56. “These special decorations were cut for all occasions: The tree of life could be cut for the wedding. If a child was born, we put vytynanka above the baby’s bed.”

Vytynanky comes from the verb vytynaty, meaning to cut. To create the right paper cutting, you need to fold paper and cut out a symmetrical shape. Traditionally, Ukrainian vytynanka tells a story or refers to a national festival.

The Chinese, who invented paper in the second century A.D., were the first to try cutting. Europe picked up the technique in the early 14th century; it caught on in Ukraine only in the 16th century.

“A hetman’s or colonel’s documents and correspondence were rolled up and tied up with a red string. Then, before stamping it with a seal, a protective element was glued on the string.

That element was usually a vytynanka of some symbolic shape,” Korchynsky said.

The technique became less popular in daily use from the 1960s, but artists liked it so much they transformed it into art.

The walls of Korchynsky’s studio are covered with his paintings and ones he got from his friends. Ancient pots, jars and plates on the shelves add a homely feel. There are more paintings on the second floor, where there is also an easel and a bed, where Korchynsky sleeps if he stays in the studio overnight. This is a man in love with his art.

Korchynsky has been cutting

vytynanky for 33 years now, producing almost 1,000 works.

Nevertheless, the artist has managed to sell only about 10 items.

"The price totally depends on the client,” he said, whose cheapest vytynanka cost $50 and whose most expensive sold for $500.

This year he has earned nothing.

“My wife, who works as a translator, feeds me. Any other family would have already kicked me out, but mine is in love with my art,” Korchynsky said.

He says he works a lot, sometimes for 12 hours per day, but to arrange an exhibition is still a challenge. An artist needs to pay for everything, from gallery rent to transportation.

Every exhibition costs about Hr 6,0007,000. Nevertheless, Korchynsky managed to show his vytynanky in the United States and Poland in the last two years.

Olena Shostakova, an art expert at the Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art Museum, has a lot of admiration for Korchinsky.

“There are few artists who care about vytynanka and Ukrainian art

Artist Vasyl Korchynsky in his studio in central Kyiv. (Alexey Furman)

Before Hallmark came about, people used to give each other colorful paper cuttings or vytynanky. (Alexey Furman)

Kyiv Post Soccer League Saturday - Sunday, Aug. 27-28

The Kyiv Post Soccer League match on June 6, 2010. (Serhiy Zavalnyuk)

The Kyiv Post’s first story appeared nearly 16 years ago.

A decade ago, the newspaper’s amateur soccer tournament known as the Kyiv Post Soccer League got its start. This season representatives from Ernst & Young, Horizon Capital, AlcatelLucent Ukraine, 3M Ukraine, PwC and other corporations will compete against each other in matches held in mini-football format, which requires only five players and one goalie in a team. If you’d like to watch the tournament, bring a chair and some lunch with you, because the game will be held outside Kyiv. Even if you’re no Leo Messi, what can be a better way to build up excitement for Euro 2012?

Saturday - Sunday, Aug. 2728, KIDEV Sport Stadium, Chubinske village, 5 Kyiv St., along the Boryspil highway.

in general as much as he does,” she said. “His has a great talent, and when you see his vytynanky you recognize his hand, which is truly important for artists.”

According to both Shostakova and Korchynsky, there are more and more artists who cut vytynanky – around 200, and the number is increasing every year. Still, vytynanka isn’t widely represented in museums.

“There is only one museum completely dedicated to this type of art,” Korchynsky said. “It is in MohylivPodilsky, and it is the place where symposiums on vytynanka are held every two or three years. Masters and artists from all over the world meet there to share their experience and to learn from each other.”

This September another international symposium is set to take place there. Korchynsky is one of

the invited artists.

“Even kids in schools are taught to cut vytynanky,” Korchynsky said. “It gives the rhythm of thinking. Those engaged in this art form see everything differently: painting, sculpture, and graphics.”

Korchynsky doensn’t sketch patterns before cutting, because vytynanka dies if the details are traced.

“Let your scissors sing. You never know what you’ll get in the end – this is what the magic of vytynanka is all about,” he said.

Kyiv Post staff writer Alyona Zhuk can be reached at zhuk@kyivpost.com First International Festival of Vytynanka Masters, Sept. 7-12, Museum of Ukrainian Vytynanka and Etnographic Museum of Folk Art , Mohyliv Podilsky, Vinnytska Oblast.

20 Lifestyle

www.kyivpost.com

August 26, 2011

One-man orchestra: Meet conductor Volodymyr Sheiko

BY W I L L F I T Z G I B B ON FITZGIBBON@KYIVPOST.COM

Striding purposefully through the office, his whisps of gray hair floating behind him, Volodymyr Sheiko exudes the energy of a man on a mission.

As the artistic director and chief conductor of Ukraine’s leading recording orchestra – the National Radio Company of Ukraine Symphony Orchestra – as well as a Ukrainian folk orchestra, a philharmonic choir and a youth choir, Sheiko has developed a reputation as a hard worker and a hard taskmaster. He was also granted the title of “Honored Personality of the Arts of Ukraine” in 2003.

“Vladimir Sheiko makes his orchestra play perfectly,” said classical music journalist Viktoria Muratova. “His musicians have no right to make mistakes.”

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But Sheiko insists that he’s no tyrant.

Instead, he focuses on balancing a busy schedule of government-programmed recordings for radio and CD as well as for commemorative events with private requests from local and international clients.

His day-to-day work is at the National Radio Company of Ukraine Recording House, a 1972 combination of faded marble grandeur and squat brick facades.

Not that you’ll find him complaining about the austere but functional recording studio that is his professional home. With enough space for his 88-membership orchestra, philharmonic choir, 500 enraptured audience members and the mechanical equipment necessary for a quality CD or radio recording, Sheiko said it’s one of the largest recording studios in Europe, although “not very picturesque.”

Under Sheiko’s tenure alone, the room has proved its value. Orff’s Carmina Burana, Verdi’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony have all recently been given an airing in this space in south Kyiv to positive reviews.

The sound must also have international appeal given the regular requests Sheiko fields from Hollywood as well as Spanish and Italian television and cartoon programs.

Sheiko took up his position with the Radio Orchestra in August 2005 after five successful years as the chief conductor at the Kyiv Academic Operetta Theatre as well as directing his own creation, Ukraine’s first non-state symphony orchestra from 1991 to 2002.

Despite the current economic climate, the Radio Orchestra benefits from Sheiko’s international renown as he taps into his impressive contact book to call on artists to grace the Recording House’s massive stage. Recent guests have included the Swiss conductor Silvio Weiler and Deep Purple’s John Floyd in June 2010.

Sheiko’s work has been positively received in Ukraine. According to music expert Victoria Muratova, “there is enormous interest by the Ukrainian public in classical music. Of course,

Volodymyr Sheiko, chief conductor of the Ukrainian Radio Symphony Orchestra, plans a busy 2011-2012 season of music at home and abroad. (vladimirsheiko.com)

the Radio Orchestra is a part of that.

The orchestra usually plays in many festivals and always meets with great success.”

International touring is a part of Sheiko’s new narrative for the Radio Orchestra. The orchestra has travelled widely since the beginning of Sheiko’s tenure to some of Europe’s greatest concert houses across Europe.

“We’ve spent over eight months in

total traveling in Spain alone,” he said.

“I love it there. And I think they love us, too. Once we had 5,000 spectators come to see us perform Verdi’s Requiem in a massive hall in Zaragosa – at 11 a.m.”

They have moved further afield, too, performing in Tehran and spending a long stint in South Korea.

For the immediate future, Sheiko has two grand plans.

“The first is to use the Radio Orchestra for a ‘conducting master class,’ in which young, professional conductors are given their big break,” he explained.

Selected conductors will come to Kyiv at an impressive rate of eight every two months to work and study with the orchestra. With the benefit of its sound and visual recording facilities, the orchestra will film the conductors over a series of weeks culminating in a gala concert during which each conductor will have 15 minutes to show their skills. Like the classical music world’s version of the X-Factor, the orchestra members will vote for the best conductor of the series, who will then have the opportunity to make a professional recording with the Radio Orchestra.

The second grand plan sees Kyiv host a recording competition organized by the European Broadcasting Union. Contact has already been made with talented conductors, soloists and sound recorders from across Europe who will be invited to Kyiv and will put their talents on display with the Radio Orchestra before a jury comprising famous recording houses such as Sony.

All of this is a lot to organize before the end of the year. Last month, Sheiko and his musical team recorded works for the Independence Day celebrations.

In September, the troupe regroups for the Kyiv Music Fest and moves quickly on to a series of concerts in October around Kyiv before hitting the road again in late November through to January 2012.

And for all of these missions, he’ll need every ounce of his energy and single-mindedness.

Kyiv Post staff writer Will Fitzgibbon can be reached at fitzgibbon@kyivpost. com CDs on the Radio Orchestra's own "Music Universe" label are available from Media Club at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the second line of shopping mall Globus for Hr 60.

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Welcome to the group stage games on August 27 – August 28!

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August 26, 2011

Summer spectacle of Kazantip

Thousands of revelers from Ukraine and abroad flocked to Crimea for a month-long Kazantip festival to listen to the best electronic DJs and indulge in complete revelry in August. For some, the festival is a dreamland with no curfews, prohibitions and social manners. It proudly claims to be its own republic, where the only rule is that there aren’t any. (1) - At Kazantip, everyone is equal. (2) - On Aug. 20 everyone celebrated the grand finale of frivolous fun in a massive DJ session on the main dance floor. Blasting beats of house, punk and rave music made even some hardened clubgoers reach for earplugs.

(3) - Kazantip kept with tradition and ended with a large carnival party with balloons, glow-sticks and wigs. (4) - In this liberated atmosphere some partiers were brave enough to impress others with their bare essentials. (5) - After a wild night, attendees relax on the beach. (Photos by Alexander Chernavskiy, story by Mariya Manzhos)

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22 Employment

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August 26, 2011

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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

A nice day for scuffles and celebrations

1 (1) – Supporters of opposition political parties burst through a police line during protests in Kyiv on the Aug. 24 20th anniversary of the nation's independence. A Kyiv court banned peaceful protests in the center during the holiday, but a few thousand people who gathered for a demonstration in Shevchenko Park attempted to reach the city center. First, a group broke past uniformed police officers. But they got stopped by heavily fortified riot police who erected steel barriers. Demonstractors criticized a rollback in democracy under President Viktor Yanukovych and the arrest and trial of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on abuse of office charges. (2) – The European Association of Ukrainians dressed “The Peeing Boy” sculpture as Prince Yaroslav the Wise, a leader of the ancient Kyivan Rus empire, in Brussels. (3) – Singer Oleh Skrypka attends the Parade of Vyshyvanka (embroidered Ukrainian clothes) in Kyiv. About 350 people gather for a photograph by Ihor Gaidai. (4) – Ukrainians sing during a celebration on Maidan Nezalezhnosti. (5) – An activist from Femen, the women’s rights organization, cuts grass near the Cabinet of Ministers during a protest. Activists and organizers said cutting the grass symbolized how Ukrainian authorities have cut off help to long-suffering citizens since 1991. (6) - A fireworks show ends the gala concert on Independence Square. (Photos by Yaroslav Debelyi, Alexey Furman, AFP, Courtesy)

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