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vol. 15, issue 44

October 29, 2010

Is The Fix In? Local elections are notoriously difficult to monitor for honesty and fairness. Ukraine, with a spotty history of democratic elections, will have 15,000 such contests across the nation on Oct. 31. Political opponents are crying foul as the propresidential Party of Regions appears poised to strengthen its near-monopolistic grip on political power.

BY PETER BYRNE BYRNE@KYIVPOST.COM

Some 15,000 local elections will take place on Oct. 31, as voters throughout the nation choose mayors of big cities and members of councils who govern people living everywhere from heavily populated oblasts to sparsely settled villages.

While the sheer volume of contests means that the winners may not be known for days, key election watchers are confident of two outcomes: the pro-presidential Party of Regions will triumph; democracy will not. Æ12

Dozens of people hold an “open your eyes” demonstration in Odesa on Oct. 17 to protest the poor choice of political candidates facing Ukrainian voters nationwide in the Oct. 31 local elections. (UNIAN)

Odesa’s mayoral election may be In Lviv, popular incumbent squares off against Party of the nation's dirtiest campaign

BY OL E S I A O L E S H KO OLESHKO@KYIVPOST.COM

In the usually cheerful Black Sea port city of Odesa, the mayoral election is shaping up as one of the dirtiest campaigns in the upcoming Oct. 31 vote.

The current mayor, Eduard Hurvitz, is considered to be the front-runner.

But his opponent, Party of Regions’ nominee Oleksiy Kostusev, has a big trump card in his pocket – the endorsement of President Viktor Yanukovych

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and Odesa Oblast Governor Eduard Matviychuk.

Hurvitz is a long-time fixture in city and national politics. In 1994, he was elected mayor of Odesa. In 2002, during a re-election bid, massive falsifications prevented him from taking office.

In 2005, after his political ally President Viktor Yushchenko took office, Hurvitz was reinstated as mayor.

Hurvitz’s candidacy in the Oct. 31 race is supported by the Front for Change leader Arseniy Yatseniuk, the

former Verkhovna Rada speaker who finished in fourth place in this year’s presidential elections. Hurvitz’s alliance with Yatseniuk is new.

Opponents are attacking Hurvitz as a right-wing supporter of Ukrainian nationalists, a new line of attack against the political heavyweight who is Jewish and proud of his heritage.

Even though anti-Semitism remains strong in parts of Ukraine, Hurvitz’s Jewish roots have never been seen as a negative by most residents Æ13

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Regions-backed candidate

BY N ATA LI A A . FE D U SC H A K FEDUSCHAK@KYIVPOST.COM

LVIV, Ukraine – The impressive gathering of church, political and civic leaders that took place here on a glorious fall day underscored the trepidation many western Ukrainians feel about Ukraine’s Oct. 31 local elections.

“Today’s considerable challenges have only one result: unity,” Mayor Andriy Sadovy told several thousand

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people who gathered in downtown Lviv on Oct. 24 to pray for free and fair elections.

The mayor, who is running for reelection, said he hoped candidates for local office would “carry themselves with dignity” and remember that “in November, life will continue.”

Of the 21 registered mayoral candidates, numerous polls indicate the contest is really between two men – Sadovy, the current mayor, and Æ13

2 News

OCTOBER 29, 2010

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October 29, 2010

Vol. 15, Issue 44 Copyright © 2010

by Kyiv Post The material published in the Kyiv Post may not be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. All material in the Kyiv Post is protected by Ukrainian and international laws.

The views expressed in the Kyiv Post are not necessarily the views of the publisher nor does the publisher carry any responsibility for those views. Газета “Kyiv Post” видається ТОВ “ПаблікМедіа”.

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прим. Ціна за домовленістю. Матерiали, надрукованi в газетi “Kyiv Post” є власнiстю видавництва, захищенi мiжнародним та українським законодавством i не можуть бути вiдтворенi у будь(якiй формi без письмового дозволу Видавця. Думки, висловленi у дописах не завжди збiгаються з поглядами видавця, який не бере на себе вiдповiдальнiсть за наслiдки публiкацiй. Засновник ТОВ “Паблік-Медіа” Адреса видавця та засновника співпадають: Україна, м. Київ, 01034, вул. Прорізна, 22Б Реєстрацiйне свiдоцтво Кв № 15261(3833ПР від 19.06.09.

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Two exit polls commissioned for election Two private companies will conduct exit polls in the Oct. 31 local elections in which an estimated 28 million people will cast their votes across the nation to elect their town and city mayors as well as oblast, city, town and village council members.

Gfk Ukraine, a subsidiary of a global market research company, will conduct a nationwide poll of 29,000 voters in 550 polling stations to gauge the rating of political parties and to predict separate oblast council election results in nine regions: Kyiv, Volyn, Zakarpattya, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kirovohrad, Rivne, Khmelnytsky, Cherkassy and Chernihiv.

The company will also provide exit poll results for five mayoral races in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Uzhgorod, Chernivtsi and Khmelnytsky.

The voter survey is being commissioned by Yedyniy Tsentr (United Center), a political party run by Viktor Baloha, who was former President Viktor Yushchenko’s chief-of-staff. It’s costing Baloha more than $100,000,

according to Ihor Popov, a high-ranking member of the party and former official in Yushchenko’s presidential administration. “Although Yedyniy Tsentr is commissioning the exit poll, the party is ordering the poll to protect the [election] results of all political parties and candidates, and to promote fair elections in Ukraine. The results will be made public immediately after polling stations close,” Popov said.

Independent Channel 5 TV station will broadcast the exit poll results 10 p.m. on election night as part of its televised election marathon that started on Oct. 22.

Meanwhile Sociological Rating Group, a Lviv-based market research and polling firm, will poll voters in Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Ternopil . It will provide results for the city council and mayoral races of the three western Ukrainian cities.

Exit polls are used as a tool to predict the outcome of an election. In developing democracies they’re used as a check against and indicator of the degree of election fraud.

Top four political party ratings for oblast councils*

Oct. 31 16.5% Otherr parties

3.8% Against all

27.8% Difficult to say

4.5% Strong Ukraine 5.0% Communist Party 12.2% 2% Batkivshchyna yna

30.1% Party of Regions Region

*The order of the top four political parties in city and local council elections remains the same.

Source: A nationwide public opinion poll commissioned by OPORA and Democratic Initiatives Foundation and conducted by Ukrainian Sociology Service. The survey was conducted Oct. 3-15 and polled 2,011 people aged 18 and over; the margin of error doesn’t exceed 2.1 percent.

Надруковано ТОВ «Новий друк», 02660, Київ, вулиця Магнітогорська, 1, тел.: 559-9147 Замовлення № 10-6396 Аудиторське обслуговування ТОВ АФ “ОЛГА Аудит” Mailing address: 01034, Kyiv, 22B Prorizna Street Kyiv Post main number: 234-6500 Advertising: 234-6503 Subscriptions: 234-6503 Newsroom: 234-6300, 234-6310 Fax/Tel.: 234-3062 http://www.kyivpost.com Editorial queries: news@kyivpost.com letters@kyivpost.com Subscription queries: subscribe@kyivpost.com Advertising queries: advertising@kyivpost.com З приводу розмiщення реклами звертайтесь 234-6503 Відповідальність за зміст реклами несе замовник

Lawmakers to vote on opening up public IMF coming to Ukraine; information essential to democracy future lending at stake Ukraine’s parliament is scheduled to vote A mission from the International and Cooperation in Europe that he would for a public access to information bill Nov. 2 sign and ensure the bill passes.

Monetary Fund (IMF) will visit Nov. 3-15 that has failed to pass twice this year.

The legislation will require all government agencies and institutions on a local and national level to fully disclose their organizational structure, missions, functions, authority, main tasks, working and financial resources, including budget funds and spending procedures.

It stipulates what can and cannot be considered a state secret or confidential and foresees a body that will monitor and have violations in place for not disclosing information. It simplifies the procedures for obtaining public information and allows for telephone, e-mail, faxed and mailed requests.

Requests for information must be answered within five instead of the 30 days now in place. It also provides protection to informers and whistleblowers who disclose information whose public interest outweighs that of the state.

The bill, which the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has urged Ukraine to pass in accordance with its 2005 signed obligations to that institution, would be a key democratic milestone for Ukraine.

President Viktor Yanukovych has repeatedly promised PACE and the Organization for Security

The Yanukovych-aligned Party of Regions postponed a reading of the right to information bill earlier this month in parliament.

If the Nov. 2 parliamentary vote fails, this initiative will be shelved for the immediate future.

Ukraine has already postponed to Jan. 1 the date when a package of European-sponsored anticorruption laws was supposed to enter force. The anti-corruption bill is part of Ukraine’s obligation before the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), which it joined in 2006.

Earlier this month, Drago Kos, the president of GRECO said that his organization sees no improvement in Ukraine’s efforts to fight corruption.

“Any real fight against corruption is not noticeable. Some institutions are created and that’s it. It looks as though something is being done, but in fact nothing is happening,” he said.

More than half the countries of the world have not yet adopted so called “right to information” laws and many that have done so have failed to implement them adequately, according to Article 19, a British freedom of expression and information organization.

Caring for your future Corporate investigations to ensure compliance with international anti-corruption legislation Drafting and assisting with implementation and enforcement of internal compliance policy and procedures

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Ukraine on Nov. 3-15 to hold discussions as part of the first review of a $15.5 stand-by loan agreed late in July 2010, Interfax reported.

“An IMF mission headed by Thanos Arvanitis will visit Ukraine on Nov. 3-15 to conduct discussions on the first review of the [loan program],” said Max Alier, the IMF representative in Ukraine.

The loan was approved on July 29, with the first installment of $1 billion already received and the next one of $1.5 billion expected in November.

Ukraine needs billions of dollars in loans to stay financially afloat because of the lingering effects of the global economic crisis, in which gross domestic product dropped 15 percent last year. Government finances are still precarious. As a condition for the loan, the IMF is demanding that Ukraine raise its eligible pension age, which now stands at 55 for women and 60 for men. The lender also wants greater transparency in the operation of the nation’s notoriously opaque state-run energy monopolies, such as an end to natural gas subsidies to households.

The Ukrainian government is Eastern Europe’s number one recipient of financial aid since the global financial meltdown started to emerge in late 2007.

Compiled by Mark Rachkevych

www.kyivpost.com

3

October 29, 2010 Advertisement

European Business Association News

,EADERS 4ALK

*O 'PDVT

Leaders Talk: This week we interview Viktor Subbotin, CEO, OJSC Turboatom

Ukraine to cancel mandatory certification of food products

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EVELOPMENT OF THE 5KRAINIAN ENERGY SECTOR HAS ALWAYS BEEN CRUCIAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ECONOMY AS A WHOLE 7E HAVE TALKED TO THE #%/ OF 4URBOATOM TO LEARN HOW THE INDUSTRY OPERATES IN 5KRAINE

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CONDITIONS CONCERN FOR EMPLOYEESl HEALTH AND LIFE 7E RENOVATED POLYCLINICS AND HYDROPATHICAL CLIN ICS /UR CONCERN FOR THE EMPLOYEES HAS RESULTED IN THE DECREASE OF LOSES DUE TO ILLNESS FOR THE LAST YEAR ILLNESS RATE WAS DECREASED BY 4HERE IS A BIG BLOCK OF DORMITORY WHERE MORE THAN PER SONS LIVE HALF OF THEM ARE MARRIED PEOPLE 7ElVE RENOVATED EVERYTHING NECESSARY IN DORMITORIES ELEVATORS FUNCTIONAL PREMISES ETC

VIKTOR Subbotin,

)F YOU COULD MAKE THREE REFORMS TO YOUR INDUSTRY IN 5KRAINE WHAT WOULD THEY BE

#%/ /*3# 4URBOATOM

9OUR ENTERPRISE EVEN UNDER THE SO CALLED ECONOMIC TURBULENCE CONDITIONS OPERATES STA BLY AND IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST TAX PAYERS IN +HARKIV OBLAST AND 5KRAINE AS A WHOLE 7HAT IS THE SUCCESS SECRET OF 4URBOATOM /*3#

/N THE ENTERPRISE WE HAVE ALREADY IMPLEMENT ED THREE REFORMS 4ECHNICAL MODERNIZATION OF THE ENTERPRISE EQUIPMENT AND COMMUNICATION +EEPING DESIGN AND SCIENTIFIC DECISION ON THE APPRO PRIATE LEVEL /UR PRODUCTION IS HIGHLY TECHNOLOGICAL 4HERE ARE TWO DESIGN OFFICES IN THE PLANT STRUCTURE !MONG EMPLOYEES ARE EXPERIENCED ENGINEERS FROM DESIGN OFFICES )NTRODUCTION OF A NEW COMPENSATION SYSTEM PAYMENT BY TIME PLUS BONUSES WHICH COMBINES MANAGEMENT VERTICAL AND EMPLOYEElS PERSONAL INTEREST !N EMPLOYEE ON THE ONE HAND GOT AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK BEING CER TAIN THAT HIS HER WORK WILL BE WELL PAID AND ON THE OTHER HAND TO BE INTERESTED IN HIGH OUTCOMES OF THE WHOLE ENTERPRISE /UR REFORMS COULD BE EXTRAPO LATED TO THE WHOLE MACHINE BUILDING INDUSTRY )T HAS TO BE THE COMMON ALGORITHM TO MODERNIZE EQUIPMENT DEVELOP SCIENTIFIC BASIS AND TO CREATE A SYSTEM PROVIDING A CHANCE TO AN EMPLOYEE TO EARN MONEY AND FEEL GOOD

4URBOATOM HAS BEEN VERY ACCURATE ON THE ISSUE OF FORMATION OF PRODUCT PRICE !ND CUR RENTLY ACCORDING TO PRICE p QUALITY RATIO WE OFFER VERY COMPETITIVE PRODUCTS "ESIDES DURING THE LAST THREE YEARS WE HAVE COMPLETED DEEP MOD ERNIZATION OF MANUFACTURE p RENOVATED EQUIP MENT MACHINERY AND WELDING COMPLEXES !LL THIS HAS BEEN DONE WITHOUT ATTRACTING ANY CRED ITS 7E DID NOT BUY ANY NEW EXPENSIVE IMPORTED EQUIPMENT BUT RENOVATED AVAILABLE PARK OF MACHINERY EQUIPPED IT WITH MODERN DIGITAL PROGRAMME CONTROL AS A RESULT WE GOT MODERN 7HAT LEGAL BARRIERS IMPEDE OPERATION OF MANUFACTURING CENTRES !LSO WElVE PURCHASED YOUR AND SIMILAR ENTERPRISES MODERN CUTTING TOOLS AND AS A CONSEQUENCE ) WOULD STRESS TWO MAIN PROBLEMS 4HE FIRST ONE RAISED WORK PRODUCTIVITY ON MACHINE TOOLS IS TENDER AND PURCHASE PROCEDURE /UR ENTERPRISES !RE THE TURBINES MANUFACTURED BY IS AN OPEN JOINT STOCK COMPANY STOCKS IS YOUR ENTERPRISE COMPETITIVE ON THE WORLD IN STATE OWNERSHIP SO WE MUST HAVE TENDERS MARKET !CCORDING TO THE ,AW OF 5KRAINE /N !RRANGEMENT 9ES OUR ENTERPRISE IS COMPETITIVE COMPARA OF 3TATE 0URCHASES THE TENDER PROCEDURE LASTS TIVELY TO %UROPEAN PRODUCERS /FTEN WE PAR FOR THREE MONTHS FROM THE MOMENT OF DECISION TICIPATE IN OPEN TENDERS TOGETHER WITH %UROPEAN MAKING 4HE DECISION IS APPROVED AFTER CONTRACT COMPANIES AND IN .)3 COUNTRIES WE QUITE OFTEN WAS SIGNED 7E SIGN A CONTRACT ON MANUFACTURE WIN BECAUSE THE QUALITY OF OUR COMMODITIES OF TURBINE WITH A MONTH PRODUCTION CYCLE AND TECHNICAL DECISIONS MEET THE WORLD STAND AND WASTE MONTHS ON PURCHASE OF RAW MATERI ARDS BUT THE PRICES ARE LOWER 4ODAY MORE THAN ALS AND COMPONENTS SO WE DONlT KEEP UP TO THE OF OUR PRODUCTS ARE CREATED FOR EXPORT THE WORKING SCHEDULE 4HIS REGULATION DECREASES OUR HALF p FOR 2USSIA p ALMOST IN ALL THEIR NUCLEAR ENTERPRISElS COMPETITIVENESS /BVIOUSLY THE STATE POWER STATIONS OUR TURBINES ARE USED -OREOVER CONTROL ON EXPENSES SHOULD EXIST BUT ON THE OTHER WE DELIVER PRODUCTS TO +AZAKHSTAN 4AJIKISTAN HAND WE DONlT HAVE ANY MONEY FROM THE STATE #HINA )NDIA AND -EXICO SIGNED A CONTRACT WITH BUDGET ALL OUR WORKING CAPITAL IS THE JOINT STOCK )RAN SHIPPED TURBINES TO !FGHANISTAN 7E ALSO COMPANYlS CAPITAL 4HE SECOND PROBLEM IS THE 6!4 HAVE PARTNERS IN %UROPE &INLAND "ULGARIA AND REIMBURSEMENT 7E SHIP ABROAD MORE THAN (UNGARY THE EQUIPMENT WAS INSTALLED THERE OF THE PRODUCTION 6!4 FOR US IS A GREAT AMOUNT UNDER 3OVIET TIME AND WE CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN OF WORKING CAPITAL 7E UNDERSTAND THAT THE STATE IT MODERNIZE SEPARATE BLOCS AND HOPE TO WIDEN IS IN HARD FINANCIAL SITUATION AND 6!4 CONTROL IS A COOPERATION IN THE FUTURE SERIOUS QUESTION BUT THE STATE SHOULD PUT AN ORDER #ORPORATE 3OCIAL 2ESPONSIBILITY #32 IS IN THE SPHERE TO REIMBURSE 6!4 TO THE COMPANIES AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF MODERN %UROPEAN SHIPPING PRODUCTS ABROAD AND NEUTRALIZE THOSE BUSINESS $OES YOUR COMPANY HAVE A #32 PARASITIZING ON 6!4 PROGRAMME 4HERE IS A VERY AMBITIOUS TASK IN THE 4ALKING ABOUT SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF OUR 0ROGRAMME OF %CONOMIC 2EFORM OF 0RESIDENT ENTERPRISE ) WOULD FOCUS ON THE TWO MAIN COM OF 5KRAINE p TO JOINT TWENTY THE MOST DEVEL PONENTS THE RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS OPED COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD 7HAT SECTORS ENVIRONMENT AND CONCERN FOR PERSONNEL WHICH FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW COULD BE DRIVERS OF IS REFLECTED IN A SOCIAL PROGRAMME OF ENTERPRISE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT %VERY YEAR WE DIRECT MONEY TO 5KRAINE HAS TO CHANGE ITS IMAGE OF A COUNTRY MODERNIZE CAPITAL ASSETS 4HIS YEAR INVEST SUPPLYING RAW MATERIALS AND DEVELOP PROCESSING MENT TO MANUFACTURE DEVELOPMENT EQUALS TO USING MODERN TECHNOLOGIES !S FOR ME THIS IS MORE THAN 5!( MLN 7E HAVE COMPLETELY MACHINERY BUILDING WHICH CAN BE THE INDUSTRY MODERNIZED THE FOUNDING SECTION p INTRODUCED DRIVING 5KRAINIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 4HIS )TALIAN FORMING LINES INSTALLED SYSTEMS OF AIR SECTOR KEEPS AND DEVELOPS ECONOMIC TECHNICAL AND PURIFICATION AND FILTRATION )TlS IMPORTANT TO US SCIENTIFIC POTENTIAL OF THE COUNTRY &OR EXAMPLE

NOT JUST TO PRODUCE QUALITY PRODUCTS BUT ALSO THERE IS A FULL CYCLE ON OUR PLANT FROM TURBINE TO MEET ECOLOGICAL STANDARDS 4HE ENTERPRISE DESIGN DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURING TO PUTTING SPENDS APPROXIMATELY 5!( MLN ANNUALLY IT INTO OPERATION 4HE MORE SUCH ENTERPRISE EXISTS FOR SOCIAL PROGRAMMES &IRST OF ALL THEY RELATE TO IN 5KRAINE THE HIGHER INTELLECTUAL TECHNICAL POTEN RAISING WORK SECURITY CREATING CONVENIENT WORK TIAL WILL BE DEVELOPED

www.eba.com.ua

ollowing Ukraine’s commitment to reform the system of state control over foodstuffs and the system of mandatory certification in general which is stipulated by ratification of WTO agreements, a number of complex and far-reaching changes have to be made to bring Ukraine’s legislative base in accordance with European acquis communautaire. The innovation of paramount importance is the obligation to switch from mandatory to voluntary certification system the way it exists in most EU countries supported by powerful market surveillance tools.

Evgeniy Kas’kun, Chairman of the EBA Food Committee, Quality and certification manager Kraft Foods

“In reality, considering the enhanced veterinary and sanitary control which will remain in place, endconsumers will not experience dramatic ANNA Derevyanko results of such cancellation. Still, for food manufacturers this will come as a relief, since they have had a way too complicated procedure of repeated overlapping state laboratory control with several supervising authorities�.

“The EBA Food Committee has been involved in this process so far as we and our members are very experienced in EVGENIY Kas’kun food control and food manufacturing. We organized a lot of meetings with management of different authorities and legal consultants. What’s important is that we’ve heard both parties to the argument, those who support the idea of cancelation and the opponents. Presumably, these efforts have been a success. On 12 October the court has accepted all the arguments on the issue and we suppose that in a few weeks all food importers and food manufactures as well as end-consumers will experience the change for the better, since more products at a lower price will be available on the market.

Once the mandatory certification of a number of food products is cancelled (the Order of Derzhspozhyvstandart # 426 of 22 October, 2010 stipulates cancellation obligatory certificates for juices, meat, oil, cheese, tea etc.) sceptics say Ukrainian market may be flooded by low quality dangerous goods from abroad. This argument is shed by the fact that the certification which was executed by the State Committee for technical regulation and consumer policy was just one of at least three control types which food products have to undergo including the control of state sanitary and veterinary services.

In addition to that, the latter types of control have always been the major ones according to the Law of Ukraine “On safety and quality of food products�.

Looking back at the turbulent history of this important question, in March this year obligatory certification of foodstuffs was cancelled by the Order of the Cabinet of Ministers, which unfortunately haven’t resulted in its immediate implementation. The reason behind it was that Public Prosecutor’s office questioned the legitimacy of the Order of CMU “on cancelation of foodstuffs certification� in court.

After cancellation of mandatory certification of a number of product types, Ukraine has fulfilled its obligations it took while entering the World Trade Organization, which meant cancellation of mandatory certification of food products as of the date of Ukraine ’s accession to WTO, 16 May 2008, and transfer of controlling instruments to the state sanitary and veterinary services.

According to existing Ukrainian legislation, the Veterinary Authority and the Ministry of Health are state institutions responsible for safety control of foodstuffs in Ukraine . Until last week, food producers in Ukraine had had additional double control from the state side supervised by Ukrainian State Authority Certification Committee.

Anna Derevyanko, EBA executive director

2%')/.!,.EWS Electronic Record-keeping System of Passenger Transportation in Dnipropetrovsk Region By the end of 2011 electronic record-keeping system of passenger transportation will be created in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. This system works effectively in the world. With the use of GPS and tachograph it will allow to track on-line time of passengers transportation, monitor their location and respond quickly in case of accidents or breakdowns.

This is a pilot project of electronic record-keeping system of passenger transportation. The project will significantly increase the quality of passenger transportation and will allow to control implementation of agreements with the carriers.

Creation of Donbass Euroregion During the X International Business Forum in Rostovna-Donu representatives of the Donetsk Regional State Administration participated in the meeting of the joint Russian-Ukrainian working groups in cooperation between Rostov Oblast of the Russian Federation and Luganks Oblast of Ukraine, Rostov and Donetsk Oblasts, Rostov and Kharkiv Oblasts. Participants of the meeting considered activating the common work on resolution of ecological problems and decided to sign authorized documents on the 29th of October 2010 concerning creation of Donbass Euroregion.

This idea is based on necessity to combine efforts of two bordered regions (Rostov and Lugansk) with the aim to

implement projects in following areas: communication and transportation; science and education; environment improvement; youth politics implementation; contacts establishment; liquidation of emergency situations; life quality of citizens improvement; infrastructure development.

In the first stage the analytical and information materials preparation, working out of offers concerning new projects and calculation of costs will be the main function of the working bodies of the Euroregion – Regional Branches in Rostov and Lugansk Oblasts.

The Polish Culture Days in Zhytomyr On the 22-24th of October 2010 the Polish Culture Days took place in Zhytomyr. The Deputy Head of Zhytomyr Oblast State Administration Volodymyr Deboy held the meeting with the members of Polish delegation Zigmunt Vilkom and Karol Venglezhy who visited Zhytomyr within the framework of this event.

During the meeting the possibility of further collaboration and establishment of friendly relations between regions was discussed. Also, during this event the XVI Festival of Polish culture “The Rainbow of Polissya� took place.

Yuriy Bogutskiy, the Head of the State Committee in Nationality and Religion Issues congratulated the participants, the organizers and the guests of the Polish Culture Days. In his speech Mr. Bogutskiy underlined that such events provided the new bright cultural development of the gifted people. It will become the life-giving source which fills up the spiritual treasury of Ukrainian and Polish cultures.

7E LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR FEEDBACK AT

PGGJDF!FCB DPN VB

4 Opinion

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October 29, 2010

Editorials

Honeymoon over The honeymoon for President Viktor Yanukovych is over. The international community needs to stop turning a blind eye to the sinister and anti-democratic character of this constitution-trampling politician.

When Yanukovych took over as president on Feb. 25, we shared the hopes of investors and Ukraine’s partners abroad that Yanukovych would bring political stability in a fair and democratic way, as well as economic prosperity by fixing Ukraine’s ailing economy. But our expectations were sober-minded, given Yanukovych’s history. We remembered his record well, starting with two stints behind bars as a youth, his tenure as prime minister in 2004 when Ukraine’s largest steel mill was non-transparently auctioned off to allied oligarchs, not to mention the 2004 presidential election which was nearly stolen in his favor by massive vote rigging.

Unfortunately, Yanukovych has, in his first eight months in power, proven that our caution and fears about him were on target. By far, the focus in his first eight months in power has been on strengthening his long-term hold on power by bending and outright violating any rational interpretation of Ukraine’s constitution – not on delivering economic reforms. Despite holding a monopoly on power and the backing Ukraine’s richest oligarchs, Yanukovych has failed to clean up Ukraine’s sick economy. It remains dominated by his close billionaire backers, shady inside dealings and corruption.

There is still no sign of a progressive tax code that would lift Ukraine’s struggling small- and medium-sized business out of the black market, and put average Ukrainians and investors on equal footing with oligarchs. Without this, Ukraine lacks another pillar of growth, leaving its economy vulnerable, unbalanced and dependent on oligarch-controlled industry that milk the nation of its natural resources, sharing little wealth with common citizens.

Squashing of opposition candidates and media in the run-up to the Oct. 31 vote – and growing signs that vote fraud could be at play – show that competition in politics and government is also not welcome. What is welcome for Yanukovych and his oligarch backers who see Ukraine as a corporation of their own is closer relations with an authoritarian Russia, one which could soon join them as a major shareholder in the nation. To top it off, Yanukovych's judicial reforms offer citizens and oppositionists no independent courts to appeal to.

The scorecard is in. It’s undeniable. Ignoring Yanukovych’s anti-democratic actions with the false hope that he would respond by delivering changes that stabilize Ukraine economically and bring it closer to European Union standards has proved naive. Brussels, Washington and others who care for Ukraine should honestly assess his actions thus far and his handling of the Oct. 31 election. It’s time to call a spade a spade.

Under wraps Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s trip to Ukraine this week was accompanied by the usual fanfare. Talk was of how bilateral trade was up and it was all because of the correct policies toward Russia of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

But at the press conference at the end of a day of meetings, the elephant in the room was once again natural gas. Since Putin on an earlier visit suggested merging Russian state energy company Gazprom with its Ukrainian counterpart Naftogaz, negotiations have been going on behind closed doors about what form cooperation will take. Each side has made statements in public, but only as a part of negotiating tactics, rather than to keep people informed. Analysts, journalists and the public have been left Kremlin-watching, trying to figure out what’s going on in this critical area that could affect Ukraine’s energy security for many years to come.

It seems that, as in the past, deals are being brokered in the background, and citizens will not know anything about them, or be able to influence them in any way.

Then, when the leaders see fit, the deal will be revealed as a fait accompli. An agreement, of course, could already have been reached, but the authorities may not want to harm their chances in the upcoming local elections. A deal to give Russia a stake in Ukraine’s crown jewel – the gas pipeline – would surely not be a vote winner.

The same is true of the much-maligned draft tax code. The final version is not set to be revealed until after the Oct. 31 elections. No surprises there – it has turned from a potential public relations coup to a disaster, with criticism that it does nothing to ease the tax burden on small- and medium-sized businesses.

When the government feels the need to conceal what it is doing and what it is discussing from the public, it creates a climate of suspicion. What are they hiding? Even worse, it suggests that they know the public would not be pleased with what they are doing. In that case, the more pertinent question is: Who are they ruling for?

Mohammad Zahoor, Publisher Jim Phillipoff, Chief Executive Officer Brian Bonner, Chief Editor Deputy Chief Editors: Katya Gorchinskaya, Roman Olearchyk Editors: Alexey Bondarev, Valeriya Kolisnyk, James Marson, Yuliya Popova Staff Writers: Tetyana Boychenko, Peter Byrne, Oksana Faryna, Natalia A. Feduschak, Olga Gnativ, Kateryna Grushenko, Nataliya Horban, John Marone, Olesia Oleshko, Yura Onyshkiv, Iryna Prymachyk, Mark Rachkevych, Nataliya Solovonyuk, Maria Shamota, Svitlana Tuchynska Photographer: Oleksiy Boyko. Photo Editor: Yaroslav Debelyi Chief Designer: Vladyslav Zakharenko. Designer: Angela Palchevskaya Marketing: Iuliia Lysa Web Project: Nikolay Polovinkin, Yuri Voronkov Sales department: Yuriy Timonin, Yulia Kovalenko, Maria Kozachenko, Ilya Lvov, Elena Symonenko, Olga Ryazanova, Sergiy Volobayev Nataliia Protasova, Subscription Manager Svitlana Kolesnykova, Newsroom Manager Anastasia Forina, Office Manager

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Valeriy Khoroshkovsky

Shoo that fairy away from our Halloween party!

We will give you no peace whether you are awake or asleep

Serhiy Lyovochkin

Yulia Tymoshenko Viktor Yanukovych

Oppositio n Fairy

NEWS ITEM: Opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister defeated in this year’s presidential vote, has accused President Viktor Yanukovych and his aides of doing everything to ensure the pro-presidential Party of Regions does well in local elections on Oct. 31, including tinkering with the election law, ensuring that opposition candidates are not registered and the printing of extra ballots. Tymoshenko recently announced her Batkivshchyna party would boycott elections in Kyiv, Lviv and Ternopil oblasts in protest of what she says is the administration’s plans to prevent free and fair elections. (Drawing by Anatoliy Petrovich Vasilenko)

Europe will soon find a new dictatorship right on its doorstep YUL IA TYMOSH ENKO

Local elections rarely arouse international interest. But in Ukraine this weekend, the Oct. 31 vote warrants close scrutiny as there is mounting evidence to suggest that they will be neither free nor fair. For Europe this situation is dangerous.

A falsified ballot will not only complete Ukraine’s slide into authoritarianism but, once the election is stolen, Europe will awake to a dictatorship on its doorstep, one with its hands on the taps through which natural gas flows to millions of European Union households. Grains supplies, too, in this time of rising food prices will also be imperiled, as the Viktor Yanukovych regime’s recent embargo demonstrates.

Europe’s largest political group, the European People’s Party and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, have already expressed alarm at state interference in the election process. Their worries are justified.

Candidates from the Batkivshchyna (Motherland) party, of which I am the leader, have been refused registration in a number of Ukraine’s electoral territories, including Kyiv, Lviv, and Ternopil. In these places the authorities recognized bogus party branches, complete with fake candidates, who will run for election in the party’s name.

Æ ‘We have had one election recognized as stolen. All signs indicate we will have another.’

– Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko

The composition of the central and territorial election commissions – the bodies that oversee vote counting and verification – is biased in favor of President Viktor Yanukovych’s ruling Party of Regions, while we see relaxed rules on home voting, a trick employed in the fraudulent presidential election of 2004.

Reports of election law violations from around the country range from threats and dismissals of opposition activists who are state employees, to offering cash bribes to students to vote for candidates loyal to the govern- Æ14

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

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

www.kyivpost.com

October 29, 2010

Free trade is win-win for Ukraine, Europe Editor’s Note: It appears that free trade talks between the European Union and Ukraine have bogged down, with Bloomberg news service reporting on Oct. 26 that Ukraine wants to delay the elimination of duties on imported cars and increase grain-export quotas to the European Union as part of its free-trade agreement with the 27-member bloc. The former Soviet state “needs to have a timeline for adapting industries that provide jobs for hundreds of thousands of people so we would not have catastrophic results” because of the elimination of tariffs, the country’s Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko said in an interview in Brussels. So the Kyiv Post decided to ask the EU's top diplomat in Kyiv to explain the issues at stake.

Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko (L) and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Baroness Catherine Ashton (R) give a joint press after their bilateral meeting on the eve of EU-Ukraine Summit next month at the EU headquarters in Brussels on Oct. 26. (AFP)

An important part of such an enhanced agreement is the section on free trade, called the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, DCFTA in our Brussels jargon. What does the label “Deep and Comprehensive” mean?

A classic free trade agreement would not have a serious positive impact in terms of an increase in trade. Nor would it become the driver for integration with the EU. Deep free trade, or FTA+, which is being offered to Ukraine, would not only cancel customs duties. It goes further and eliminates all tradedistorting elements including Ukraine’s harmonizing its rules, regulations and norms with those of the EU and further liberalizing its service sector. Although an enhanced version of the agreement will require significant financial and human resources, as well as institutional and legislative changes, it could realistically remodel the country’s economy and reinforce Ukraine’s integration with the EU. But there’s no such thing as a free lunch. There will, of course, be costs. Adjusting to new standards and rules won’t be always easy for Ukrainian producers in the short term. Reform could force some industries to downsize or to close, although more industries will expand and many new ones will be created. The adjustment will also bring social costs; For some people and some communities, the transition would be difficult.

So there are short-term adjustment costs, but do not exaggerate. In Ukraine, there are a number of misconceptions concerning the price of the deep

trade agreement being offered by the EU. One of the biggest myths is the negative impact on the state budget revenue. Currently the revenue from customs duties collected at the border makes up 4.4 percent of the total state budget of Ukraine. With regards to removal of customs duties, experience has shown that this short-term loss of import charges will be more than compensated for by the increased revenue received by the state from indirect taxes (for example value-added tax) paid by companies seizing new market opportunities and by the general boost to the economy.

In addition to the sustainable revenue which we hope trade-related growth will bring, the EU will continue to provide assistance to Ukraine in order to accelerate modernization. It is important, because trade and investment are all about confidence and perceptions matter, so for Ukraine to fulfill its economic potential it has to develop transparent and efficient state institutions. The budget spending on legal and institutional reforms in trade-related areas is or will be supported by the EU through the comprehensive institution building program along with funds from international financial institutions. The total EU technical assistance to Ukraine over the period 20112013 will add up to 552 million euros.

Many businesses in Ukraine also fear that all the EU free “deep” trade agreement will do is open the door to a flood of European imports. No so. The agreement is reciprocal. Closer EU integration will provide Ukrainian products with open access Æ15

Plenty of blame to go around as democracy erodes in nation AS KOL D S. LO Z Y N S K Y J

Ukraine is about to take another major step backward. On Oct. 31, the citizens of Ukraine will go to the polls to elect their local officials.

Unless all men are inherently good with no political or personal ulterior motives, the elections may be marred by pervasive fraud resulting in an overwhelming consolidation of power unknown to democracies. More disconcerting is that this fraud may be perpetrated with international complicity.

VOX populi WITH SVITLANA KOLESNYKOVA

Who or what is the biggest threat to fair elections on Oct. 31?

Vasylyna Vrublevska, photographer.

“I guess it’s not about ‘who’ can be a threat, but more likely ‘what.’

Who has more money? You must be good at competent bribing. But I think a party or a person also matters. Those in power may provide maximum assistance in this issue.”

J O S E MA N U E L PI N TO T E I X E I R A

Writing about free trade talks between the European Union and Ukraine is like explaining molecular physics. It’s simply not a sexy issue. For most people, this subject is too technical to understand. And, of course, you will not find Kyiv’s Femen activists drawing attention to it, like they do for other issues by going topless.

It’s a shame. Fear and a lack of understanding about free trade may cause us to miss out on the extraordinary benefits it offers. Free trade is not only good for big corporations. It is just plain good for everybody. It’s a win-win situation both for Ukraine and the EU. But the real winner will be Ukraine.

The EU is its largest trading partner, while Ukraine amounts to a little bit more than 1 percent of EU trade.

Centuries ago, it was believed that trade was a zero-sum game. That one nation could gain from an exchange only at the expense of another. Yet, then came some great minds like Adam Smith, or David Ricardo, who revolutionized economics the same way as Newton transformed physics. They emphasized, that in any voluntary exchange both parties must gain (or at least expect to gain) something. And indeed, the experiences of successful reformers like Poland, the Czech Republic or South Korea suggest that trade liberalization immediately boosts annual economic growth rates by several percentage points.

The EU is interested in expanding the zone of stability and prosperity towards its neighbors. Even before free trade negotiations began with Ukraine, the EU indicated that it was ready to offer Ukraine an enhanced agreement. This means that, even without any recognized prospects for membership, Ukraine will gain access to the EU’s internal market and opportunities for more active political co-operation and economic integration.

Opinion 5

The height of political irresponsibility regarding democracy in Ukraine by the international community came on Feb. 8, 2010 following the previous day’s presidential election. A press conference was held by representatives of various institutions from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Election Observation Mission which included in addition the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and European Parliament. Their consensus was that the elections had been conducted in accord with democratic norms.

What was unsaid at the press conference was that this conclusion was reached and enunciated despite the fact that the various international observers from the OSCE visited a scant 7.7 percent of the polling

places and that the majority of their observers spoke neither Ukrainian nor Russian relying instead on translators.

So President Viktor Yanukovych took office and proceeded to consolidate his power in several ways, one of which was, calling for local elections on Oct. 31 and securing victory simply by stuffing initially the various commissions monitoring the elections with his people which would lead to stuffing the ballot box with votes for his people.

Yanukovych has been derided by many as being intellectually too weak to serve as president. Suddenly, the object of both home and international lampoon is becoming quite dangerous, still ill-suited to be president but de facto becoming very much – a dictator.

The international community has played a major role Æ15 in his rise. Hopefully, it’s not too late.

Raisa Nalicheva, Engineer “My opinion is the elections will be unfair.

The experience of all previous elections proves it.

The biggest threat is the pursuit of power by any means. Irrespective of those who desire it, I don’t believe any party.”

Genadiy Petrov, Psychologist “I think local elections will be fair, of course, 100 percent democracy.

Do you want me to say they will be unfair?”

Ruslan Guluev, Electrical engineer “I have a very general idea about the situation in Ukraine.

I am a Canadian, just sightseeing in Kyiv. However, I hope the elections will be more honest than in Russia.”

Svitlana Kavitska, Retired “Everything is so tightly seized by one political power, in one hand, that it’s difficult to imagine someone can break through this wall.

Now only capital reigns. And the capital may be clever, and it may be dull, so to say. Very often, I want to do the opposite just because someone is imposing something else on me. Being a Russian speaker I will speak Ukrainian now, just because they oppress Ukrainian.”

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 news@kyivpost.com

6 Business

www.kyivpost.com

October 29, 2010

Ukrainian bank association challenges NBU policies in court

Ukrainian workers rally for second-hand clothes

Olexander Suhonyako (L), president of the Association of Ukraine Banks, speaks to journalists outside Kyiv’s Regional Administrative Court on Oct. 26. Representing the interests of most domestic commercial banks, the Kyiv-based advocacy group is challenging a set of regulatory policies adopted by the National Bank of Ukraine this year, arguing that they are illegal and damage the interests of banks. The court held hearings on the case but has not ruled yet. The association claims that the policies set capital restrictions on banks in a manner, which violates Ukrainian legislation and hurts their business. (UNIAN)

Hundreds of people gather outside Ukraine’s parliament on Oct. 20 to protest a government plan to ban the import of second-hand clothes and shoes. “I am against the closure of second-hand,� reads one of the banners. The government wants to introduce the ban as it says second-hand clothing imports can serve as cover for contraband goods. It also wants to boost the country’s textile manufacturing sector. But the plans have angered the around 300,000 people employed in the second-hand clothing business. Ordinary Ukrainians, who visit cheap flea markets in search of bargains, joined the protest. (Ukrinform)

ÆOn the move SVITLANA BOVKUN was

Send On the Move news to gnativ@kyivpost.com, or contact Olga Gnativ at 234-6500.

Send business photos and press releases to: news@kyivpost.com, or contact the newsroom at 234-6310.

VOLODYMYR GAIDASH has

appointed international public relations manager at Phoenix Capital, a Kyiv-based investment bank.

In her new post, Bovkun will lead cooperation with international media and develop business-to-business communications.

Prior to joining Phoenix Capital, Bovkun worked as a public relations and marketing manager at iLand, an authorized retailer of Apple computer products in Ukraine.

She has also worked as an account manager at Starget, a public relations agency, and as a project manager for social corporate responsibility programs at Brandnew, a public relations and event agency.

Bovkun has degrees from the U.K.-based Chartered Institute of Public Relations and Kyiv International University.

OLEKSIY SEREDA has

been appointed public relations director at KM Core, a Kyiv-based IT company that until being rebranded this year was for many years called KvazarMicro. In his new post, Gaidash will be responsible for managing the reputation of the company and providing public relations support to a portfolio of high-tech companies operating in Russia, North America and Europe. Before joining KM-Core, Gaidash led the public relations department at AeroSvit, a major Ukrainian passenger airline. He also managed the public relations department at Ukrainian pharmaceutical corporation Arterium. Gaidash is a graduate of Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University. He also holds a degree in finance from Grant MacEwan College and a degree from the U.K.-based Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

joined the commodity dispute resolution practice of Kyiv-based law firm Orlov, Mikhailenko & Partners.

In his new position as a counsel at the firm, Sereda will provide legal support for commodities contracts as well as consulting on mediation and arbitration stages in international arbitration institutions.

Prior to joining Orlov, Mikhailenko & Partners, Sereda worked as an associate in the international arbitration and litigation practice of Kyiv-based AstapovLawyers.

Sereda obtained a master’s degree in international law at Kyiv International University.

HUIB KRAAIJEVELD has been appointed operations director in Ukraine for METRO Cash & Carry, the German retail-wholesale giant. In his new post, Kraaijeveld will be responsible for managing the company’s store operations, improving efficiency and profitability. Prior to joining METRO in Ukraine, Kraaijeveld worked as the operations director and vice president of METRO Cash & Carry China. Kraaijeveld started his career 25 years ago within the METRO Group as a department manager in Holland, eventually growing to top management positions. Kraaijeveld has also worked in Czech Republic where he occupied the position of MAKRO store manager and later was promoted to the position of district manager, in charge of nine stores throughout the country. In 2003 Kraaijeveld started his work for METRO in China as business unit manager and in 2007 he entered the board of directors.

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Business 7

October 29, 2010

Citibank’s new chief in Ukraine World currency wars put sees stability, upside ahead dollar-linked hryvnia in vulnerable economic spot Business Sense

Editor’s Note: Business Sense is a feature in which experts explain Ukraine’s place in the world economy and provide insight into doing business in the country. To contribute, contact chief editor Brian Bonner at bonner@kyivpost.com

WITH ALEXANDER VALCHYSHEN

B Y JA M E S M A R SO N MARSON@KYIVPOST.COM

Over the last couple of weeks, the rather strange phrase “currency war” has made headlines across the globe and got government officials and economists sweating over the progress of global economic recovery.

What’s all the fuss about, and what does it mean for Ukraine?

Almost every country is currently grappling with the consequences of the most recent economic and financial crisis – such as high unemployment and anemic economic growth – and trying to spur job creation.

The global economic crisis and subsequent recession itself, which began back in 2008, could be blamed on easy access to credit, especially for households, which overspent beyond their tangible income. But the very foundation of the recent crisis was the phenomenon of global imbalances, where some nations were consuming more than they were producing – buying more from abroad then selling to overseas – and some nations doing the opposite at unprecedented levels.

The most vivid and opposing examples of this are the United States and China. The former has quite an open economy and an exchange rate fluctuating freely. The latter is rather closed to large-scale capital flows and keeps its currency basically pegged to the U.S. dollar. In other words, China keeps its currency undervalued against major currencies to allow its manufacturing sector to stay competitive selling to foreign customers.

In short, the U.S. economy used to grow thanks to consumption and the Chinese economy used to grow thanks to exports. Naturally, other countries either resemble these two economies or are somewhere in the middle in their economic growth bias. Ukraine’s economy managed to be in every camp, relying on exports from 2000-04 while growing like an Asian tiger economy, and then becoming a consumer-driven economy in 2005-08 by becoming more open, especially to international banking flows.

The growth pattern of the last few years is now coming to an end as overindebted consumers in the U.S. and other countries are to deal with their debt, while export-addicted nations are

Æ Ukraine’s economy would be among worst hit if a full-scale global trade war breaks out; luckily, it’s not likely. facing a new reality as few customers are willing to buy their produce.

Advanced countries are injecting fresh money to reignite their economies to employ more people. This money is occasionally used by banks and funds in emerging market economies buying local and higher-yielding assets, causing undesired appreciation of those domestic currencies.

Policymakers in emerging markets don’t like to see their currencies appreciate, as every country is looking to grow economically via exports. But there is a risk that the phenomenon of countries keeping their currencies artificially weak will turn a currency war into a trade war – with bans on the import of cheaper foreign products – which would have much more disruptive effects.

It’s not a new problem, but no one has yet done anything about it. But it is set to be the cornerstone of next month G20 meeting in Seoul.

In Ukraine, policymaking resembles China, with the hryvnia de facto pegged to the U.S. dollar. This makes our economy a little more competitive at the moment as the U.S. dollar is sliding and expected to continue downward for the near future.

The earlier currency devaluation of 2008-09, where the hryvnia lost around 40 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar, gained external competitiveness for the export-oriented sectors of the economy from steel-making to agriculture to heavy machinery.

Due to the small size of our economy, we have escaped large-scale international criticism about this for the time being, but our largest trading partner Russia is keeping an eye on this, and different kind of trade protections they

are employing against our producers is partially explained by Ukrainian producers’ increased competitiveness against Russian counterparts. The threat of trade retaliation from Russia is strong, and other countries such as Kazakhstan could follow suit.

Since the hryvnia is firmly pegged to the greenback, consumers are exposed to the higher prices of commodities that are priced in U.S. dollars. This could cause a further spike in inflation, as happened in September, which means higher lending costs in the local currency for businesses.

Instead of local currency lending, Ukrainian firms are rushing to foreign markets for lower interest rates and a larger pool of available capital to be lent. This is quite a dangerous development. Non-bank businesses are again accumulating exchange rate risk on their balance sheet – part of the cocktail of problems that made Ukraine’s crisis so severe in the first place.

If the hryvnia weakens due to some external shock as in late 2008, these businesses will suffer, as it will make loan repayments tougher, especially as such a shock may come with lower demand for their products. The consequence of that would be more unemployment.

The worst-case scenario would be if a full-scale trade war broke out, as Ukraine’s economy would be among the first and hardest to suffer as it depends heavily on exports.

Thankfully, however, this outcome seems unlikely, as it is in no one’s interests.

Alexander Valchyshen is head of research at Investment Capital Ukraine, a Kyiv-based investment bank. He can be reached at alexander.valchyshen@icu.ua.

In case you missed them, read the last five Business Sense columns by experts online at kyivpost.com Oct. 22 with Dario Marchetti, chief executive officer of Danone Ukraine: “Helping milk-producing ‘babushkas’ organize”

Oct. 15 with Nataliya Mykolska, senior associate at Kyiv-based law firm Vasil Kisil and Partners: “Businesses should be more proactive to benefit from WTO”

Oct. 1 with Leonid Antonenko and Nikolai Sorochinskiy, senior associate and an associate with Asters: “Judicial overhaul: Good news for investors or not?”

Oct. 8 with Michael Willard, chairman of Willard, a public relations and advertising company: “Paying for news only feeds corruption”

Sept. 17 with Natalia Pakhomovska, senior associate at the Kyiv office of DLA Piper: “Revised permit law could help business, but needs more work”

Ukraine’s banking sector remains in a holding pattern following a crisis that saw depositors rush to withdraw deposits in late 2008 and borrowers struggle to pay back U.S. dollar loans as the hryvnia plummeted against the greenback in the wake of the global financial crisis.

The Kyiv Post sat down with Steven Fisher, who recently arrived from Moscow to head Citibank Ukraine, to discuss what the Ukrainian authorities need to do to spur the banking sector out of its continuing malaise, how China could soon become a big player in Ukraine, and how Citi – which currently offers corporate and commercial banking services – is actively looking at starting a consumer banking arm.

KP: How would you compare working in Russia and Ukraine?

SF: When you’re doing banking, the same rules still apply. The Ukrainian market offers some advantages. It’s a smaller country so you can get to know your clients a lot faster. You can visit their operations faster. This allows you to quickly form a more holistic view of their overall needs and future directions. In general, I believe Ukrainian corporations are more open to working with foreign banks, especially since the crisis when lending significantly decreased.

KP: What will kick start lending?

SF: It’s starting to pick up. Most of the large banks have a lot of liquidity they’d like to employ. It’s a question of lenders finding the right opportunities. Now, we are seeing previously postponed expansion or capital equipment replacement plans being reinvigorated. Or, look at the agricultural sector. The key players are acquiring more productive land, and are seeking funding for acquisitions, and construction of silos and elevators for storage and transportation. That’s a good story.

The other story which isn’t good, but could be good, is that the steel sector is in deep morass. All of the restructurings need to be finished.

There are competitive pressures mounting. There has recently been a significant amount of progress in corporate restructurings which make me believe that in 2011, most of the key players would be able to return to some form of normalcy in operations.

With the recent upturn in the steel markets and progress in restructurings I refer to, 2011 should certainly be a better year for this sector. And accordingly, banks will again become more active.

KP: What should the National Bank of Ukraine be doing?

SF: The NBU should continue certain reforms. The remaining troubled banks have to be either recapitalized or liquidated. We would like to see the NBU support certain changes to the current legal procedures and methodology regarding bankruptcy and on provision of security to come closer to international best practices. This would support an increase in lending activity. At the minute it’s inhibiting making loans. Banks are just not acting as banks right now.

Steven Fisher, head of Citibank Ukraine

The NBU’s independence also needs to be addressed. I’m not sure we have that yet.

The deposit guarantee fund system should be reformed. This would introduce greater confidence into deposit making activity as well as reduce the costs the government incurs in providing the guarantee insurance.

Developing local capital markets infrastructure is also crucial.

Currently, we can’t say there is any long-term borrowing market. This is important for project finance, for infrastructure projects and in general, for financing any intensive capital expenditure program with a longer payback period. The insurance and pension sector and the investment fund sector have to be improved to become a more integral part of the long term capital market infrastructure in the country.

KP: What can the government and the NBU do to support lending?

SF: First, they need to look at consumer lending. They have to revise how credit bureaus work. Banks aren’t required to submit certain information to credit bureaus, and credit bureaus aren’t allowed to share their information. Banks are requested to provide information only if it is negative, but why not also positive information? Greater and more complete flow of information can increase lending confidence.

Second, the basic rules concerning the provision of security need updating. If a bank wishes to lend to someone who wants to set up a new factory, the regulations don’t allow the lender to take security on an unfinished facility. This reduces the ability and flexibility of the potential lender interested in supporting such a project.

Third, the rules on bankruptcy have to be changed because creditor protection rights are not perfect. There are a lot of loopholes in the system which borrowers can use to delay procedures, or assets can be sold without having creditors involved.

KP: What’s your take on

Æ8

8 Business

October 29, 2010

Citibank’s Fisher: Government should meet IMF demands Æ7 the current authorities and

Hi-tech tank rollout Kharkiv-based Malyshev tank factory announced on Oct. 28 that it has completed 10 new hi-tech military tanks of the BM Bulat modification for Ukraine’s armed forces and was close to handing them (above) over. The army currently has 47 such tanks. Officials said that 29 additional armored vehicles will be prepared for the military next year, including 19 BM Bulat tanks and 10 BM Oplot modifications. A total of 110 BM Oplots are to be added to the military’s arsenal by 2015. (PHL)

Russia may offer Kyiv gas price cut Reuters – Russia may cut the price of natural gas it sells to Ukraine to $230-235 per 1,000 cubic metres in the first quarter of 2011 from the current $252, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov was quoted as saying on Oct. 28.

Azarov said the small discount was agreed during his meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Kyiv on Oct. 27, the Interfax news agency reported, saying Azarov spoke at the recording of a TV show.

Ukraine is seeking a complete overhaul of its gas deal with Russia, which it has called unacceptable.

But Russia has indicated that would require giving its gas giant Gazprom a stake in Ukraine’s transit pipeline system.

Gazprom could not immediately comment. Russian officials said after the Oct. 27 meeting that talks on a new agreement would continue.

Subsidies on sales of imported gas to households and heating companies are a burden on Ukraine’s budget and the government has promised to trim them under its $15 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund.

(Writing by Olzhas Auyezov, editing

by Anthony Barker)

the much-trumpeted stability?

SF: Stability is a fact because enormous progress has been made in the past seven months. Ukrainian sovereign bond rates have rallied impressively in the last three months in particular although compared to other emerging market countries, they are still high.

The newly approved International Monetary Fund program for Ukraine continues to be backed up by consistent Ukrainian government statements and actions.

There remain definite economic pressures though. Inflation and the pressure for the government to raise more money are two areas of continuing concern. It’s a tough act, but the IMF program approval was a key in maintaining international financial market confidence. For that to not have happened would have been a serious issue. It would have really set everyone back.

KP: What are the risks that threaten this stability? Do you see any on the horizon?

SF: The main threat is the government bowing to various political, sectional, regional pressures to water down their commitment on IMF reforms. Second – spending needs to be cut. One of the risks is tax receipts.

The government did well collecting revenues in the first half of the year, and there were some big one offs.

The second half of the year is more challenging.

This country still has a lot of challenges both in terms of its current macroeconomic situation, the state of industry, the need for various reforms and very low level of foreign direct investment. Ukraine has achieved a period of stability right now, but no one should get too comfortable with that as its the initial stage out of a crisis and there’s a lot more that needs to be done and keeping the course is going to be tough.

Lavrov: Polish-Russian economic ties grow, include new gas deal WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Russia’s foreign minister on Thursday praised the “new positive atmosphere” between his nation and Poland that has resulted in rapidly growing economic exchange, including a major gas deal.

Sergey Lavrov was on an official visit to Warsaw, where he met his Polish counterpart, Radek Sikorski. Officials said the gas deal, wihch has taken almost two years to finalize, is to be signed in Warsaw on Friday.

Lavrov also met with President Bronislaw Komorowski, who was elected in June, after his predecessor was killed in a plane crash in Russia in April. That tragedy brought an outpouring of sympathy from Russians and led to more intense bilateral contacts over an ongoing investigation.

At the same time the two countries have been forging closer economic, trade and cultural ties as Russia seeks out partners.

“The potential for developing our bilateral ties is huge,” Lavrov said.

He said that the volume of economic exchange between the two nations grew by 40 percent in the first half of 2010 and was reaching almost $14 billion (€10 billion).

The much-awaited gas deal is an important element of that and will “assure our cooperation in the area for years to come,” Lavrov said.

Under the deal, Poland’s annual imports of Russian gas will rise from 265 billion cubic feet (7.5 billion cubic meters) to 318 billion cubic feet (9 billion cubic meters) through 2022.

Some two thirds of Poland’s gas supplies come from Russia and the need for a new contract arose after Moscow eliminated Ukraine as the middleman in a price dispute that resulted in temporary gas delivery cuts to Poland and some other EU nations early in 2009.

The shortages have spurred the European Commission to take a closer look at Poland’s new deal with Russia to ensure it complies with the bloc’s rules

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski (R) welcomes his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at the Palace on the Water in Lazienki Park in Warsaw, Poland, on Oct. 28. (AP)

of accessibility to other members.

Polish-Russian relations have been marked by years of tensions, particularly when the nationalist Law and Justice party led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, twin brother of the late, President Lech Kaczynski, held office from 2005-2007.

Æ China is a big player; Russian money is good, but it comes with strings attached KP: What do you think about Russia and China seeming to want to get more involved in Ukraine?

SF: We’re very excited about this.

China’s a big player, doing a lot of investing. Russian money is good, but it comes tied. It’s a different game than the Chinese money. The Chinese money is larger, it’s cheaper, and it’s tied only economically, not politically.

The Russian money is a little more complex and a little more focused. You can understand why, because they’re neighbors and they have a much larger agenda. The Chinese are looking to build business and I think they’ve been underrepresented in Ukraine, so think of the growth opportunities.

KP: What sort of projects will the Chinese be looking for?

SF: Oil development, rigs, telecom equipment, automotive. Agriculture could be very interesting. The steel sector, once it emerges from restructuring.

KP: What about foreign banks in Ukraine? There was a huge jump before the crisis, and many seem to have overstretched.

What’s the future?

SF: I don’t believe we’ll see any new

foreign bank acquisitions in the near future. Looking back, those that came in paid far too high premiums and found themselves saddled by a lot of problems and complexities that they didn’t expect. They are still in a stage of indigestion. If Citi wanted to expand, we’d do it organically rather than by making an acquisition.

KP: What are your aims at Citi?

What do you want to change or do differently?

SF: I think we’re good at choosing our customers and procedures. We want to continue to be even more proactive members of the community.

I would like to continue the growth of our local client base and increase our lending activity. We’ll do it in a measured way, but we’re definitely looking upward. We’re evaluating starting our own consumer retail bank here. No final decisions have been taken, but we’re actively looking at that. We’d do that from scratch, not purchase, and we’d bring in the latest in technology.

Our consumer banking arm in Russia is large, and it’s a model we could use.

KP: Who are Citi’s main clients in Ukraine?

SF: Citi is the banking partner for most international companies doing business in Ukraine. If you look at the top 100 Ukrainian corporations, we’re very heavy in there. We’re working with 50 percent of them. That’s a conscious decision: We want to be working with the best firms in each sector.

KP: Is there any moment where will be more interested in smalland medium-sized enterprises?

SF: It’s a natural progression. We first work with the big multinationals.

Then very quickly we expand into the key industrial sectors. We like to work with the top names. The next logical step is moving down to the SMEs. In some countries we work on the microfinance level. Finally, there is consumer lending, which is totally different.

UEFA to start proceedings over Euro 2012 claims ZURICH, Switzerland (Reuters) – The Union of European Football Associations is taking legal action against a Cypriot official who said he had evidence of corruption relating to the decision to award Poland and Ukraine the Euro 2012 championship.

“We are in the process of opening legal proceedings against him to protect the corporate image of UEFA and also to force his hand to show us what evidence he has,” UEFA spokesman Rob Faulkner said.

UEFA had set Spyros Marangos, a former board member of the Cypriot FA, a deadline of Oct. 27 to provide evidence to back up his claims and Faulkner confirmed he had failed to do so.

“He said it was too short notice for

him to travel to Switzerland and he wanted us to go there (Cyprus).”

Germany’s Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that Marangos had said he had evidence that certain UEFA representatives were corrupted in the bidding process in 2007, when Italy and a joint Croatia and Hungary bid missed out.

Bid processes for soccer tournaments have recently come under scrutiny with world governing body FIFA provisionally suspending two members of its executive committee on suspicion of selling their votes to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Polish and Ukrainian officials have dismissed the allegations, the former describing Marangos’ accusations as slander.

www.kyivpost.com

Business 9

October 29, 2010

Law on lobbying: Will it clean up political life or just deepen corruption?

BY OL GA GNATIV GNATIV@KYIVPOST.COM

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (L) and Turkmenistan President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov talk on Oct. 21 at the embankment of the Avaza resort in Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan. (AP)

Turkmenistan, Russia embroiled in tense row over natural gas ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Turkmenistan on Thursday accused Russia of meddling in its efforts to build energy ties with Europe, the latest flare-up in tensions over gas trade between the two former Soviet nations.

The Turkmen foreign ministry rejected suggestions by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin that the country was unlikely to ever be able to sell its gas without crossing Russian territory.

“Turkmenistan has sealed deals with large European companies — including in the energy sector — that have shown themselves to be trustworthy, honorable and reliable partners,” the ministry said in a statement.

The war of words, which comes just days after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited the natural gas-rich state, signals a renewed frostiness in relations. It may also be greeted in Europe, which is seeking ways of reducing its dependency on Moscow’s gas exports by creating a separate pipeline.

Russia has traditionally bought cheaper Central Asian gas while selling its own gas to European customers at much higher prices.

But Russia last year abruptly suspended its imports from Turkmenistan amid mutual accusations over responsibility for a pipeline blast in April.

Deliveries resumed in January 2010, but at much smaller quantities.

State-owned Turkmengaz says that Russian gas imports are expected to reach about 10 billion cubic meters this year, down from the annual 40 billion cubic meters it bought previously.

Analysts say Moscow unilaterally decided to reduce its gas imports in reaction to a price hike by Turkmenistan.

The European Union has lobbied actively for Turkmenistan to supply the planned Nabucco pipeline, a major project that would bring Caspian and Central Asian gas to Europe, bypassing Russia.

Turkmen officials said signs of waning Russian engagement have made consolidating ties with Europe a pressing necessity.

“This is even more relevant now, at a time when Russia has reduced the volume of Turkmen natural gas purchases,” the Turkmen Foreign Ministry statement said.

Russia has steadily lost its grip over gas supplies from this isolated nation, as Turkmenistan has increasingly sought out other clients.

Deliveries to China began through a new pipeline completed late last year and are expected to hit 40 billion cubic meters in 2015.

Iran has also increased its imports of Turkmen gas, and Turkmenistan is now actively backing the construction of a 1,000-mile (1,680-kilometer) pipeline to India, which would cross Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A new kind of business may soon officially appear in Ukraine: Lobbying services. But whether such a move will clean up the nation’s notoriously corrupt politics or make it even dirtier – if that’s possible – is actively being debated.

Billions of dollars gets spent the world over to influence decision-making in parliament, government and among local authorities.

Legislation to regulate the practice was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on Oct. 19 by Party of Regions lawmaker Valeriy Konovalyuk.

Authors say the law is aimed at fighting corruption and giving stakeholders’ influence on law- and decision-making in Ukraine a legal basis. But some experts say the draft concept is more likely to legalize corruption than create the opportunity to establish civilized lobbying in the country.

In countries with developed democracies, lobbying gives the public not only instruments to influence state decision-making but also tools to control such influence.

“This draft law can be called the law on the lawmaker’s release from the responsibility for taking money in exchange for laws,” said Serhiy Teryokhin, an opposition lawmaker allied with former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

The draft law allows any private individual or legal entity to become a lobbyist. A lobbyist needs to open a business, then register on the state lobbyists’ list and obtain accreditation from the government body to be influenced. Accreditation is valid for a year.

“The fact that this law doesn’t prohibit government workers or lawmakers from becoming lobbyists gives them the opportunity to provide such services and take money for it,” Teryokhin said. “This, in fact, legalizes the corruption.”

Denys Bazylevych, director for the Institute of Professional Lobbying and Advocacy, said lobbying is an essential part of democracy.

“Lobbying is an option for various

Æ Draft law allows any person or legal entity to officially become a lobbyist groups of interests – business and public – to form and implement state policy on a legal basis,” Bazylevych said. “Lobbying doesn’t imply any encouragement to public officials for their support of somebody’s interests.

Otherwise, it is corruption.”

But according to lawmaker Teryokhin, the draft law has loopholes that allow corruption to flourish because many terms are defined incorrectly.

“This law suggests that the lobbyist has the right to contact government officials and deputies in person or in written form, while abroad it is completely forbidden for them to have any kind of direct contact with decision makers,” Teryokhin said.

Konovalyuk’s draft law suggests that lobbying means “fulfillment of legal influence on government bodies and local authorities during the development and approval of legislative acts” in return for payment from the customer. “Legal influence” means contacting government officials and lawmakers for information, organizing and holding public meetings and taking part in the development of legislation.

The law forbids lobbying on questions of state authority and the basis of public service, national security and defense, judicial system and territorial system.

Lobbyists also are prohibited from influencing the National Bank of Ukraine, the State Tax Administration, State Customs Service, judicial authorities and police and Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Anyone can pay for assistance from

Party of Regions parliamentarian Valeriy Konovalyuk

lobbyists, except government and local authorities, state institutions and organizations that are financed from state or local budgets or companies where the state share exceeds 20 percent.

Foreigners are not allowed to use lobbyists in relation to land questions.

Lobbyists can’t receive money or any other rewards from state of local budgets, from unregistered unions or organizations and anonymous sources.

Bazylevych, from the Institute of Professional Lobbying and Advocacy, explains that with the proper work of lobbyists, the public can actually benefit. Lobbyists help pry open information – such as which organizations are influencing politicians and state authorities, which lobbyists they are using and how much it costs.

Lobbying is big business in many nations. For instance, in the United States, the lobbying industry almost reached $4 billion in 2009 and it employed 13,000 people.

If this law is approved in Ukraine, the first to register themselves as lobbyists should be organizations involved with government relations, in particular, representatives of commercial organizations, consulting companies, business associations and unions, think tanks and non-governmental organizations.

Kyiv Post staff writer Olga Gnativ can be reached at gnativ@kyivpost.com

10 News/Opinion

www.kyivpost.com

October 29, 2010

Large crowds turn out to protest proposed tax code

BY K AT E RY N A G R U S HEN KO GRUSHENKO@KYIVPOST.COM

The largest crowds gathering ahead of the Oct. 31 local elections are not in support of any political party, but rather they are protesting against the government’s proposed tax code.

The demonstrations, which are still gaining steam, come from politically non-aligned small- and medium-sized companies, whose representatives say the draft code could squeeze them out of business.

What’s more, some of the biggest protests have broken out in regions which strongly supported President Viktor Yanukovych in this year’s presidential contest.

About 5,000 citizens gathered in the southern shipyard city of Mykolayiv on Oct. 13 to protest the proposed tax code, which Yanukovych’s government hopes to adopt in November. Further protests have sprung up in other cities since then, including western Ukraine’s largest city Lviv and the eastern outpost of Lugansk. More than 1,000 gathered last week for a protest in Kyiv despite rain.

Momentum is growing ahead of what is anticipated to be the biggest protest yet, to be held in Kyiv on Oct. 30, one day ahead of regional elections.

More protests are scheduled by the loosely held group of small businesses and their advocates in November, and could build upon or merge with crowds organized by the political opposition, which fears the election could be rigged.

“This tax code could force small businesses into the ghetto,” said Oleksandr Danylyuk, one of the protest organizers and head of the All-Ukrainian Center for Business Support.

Warning that a wave of protests

Private entrepreneurs take to the streets to protest against the increase in taxes and payments to the pension fund on Oct. 19 in Sevastopol, Crimea. (UNIAN)

and civil unrest could break out as happened in France in recent weeks against government plans to raise the pension age, Danylyuk said citizens have little choice but to take to the streets.

After a first botched attempt at tax reform early this summer which was strongly opposed by foreign investors for making businesses powerless against tax authorities, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov’s government produced a second draft tax reform plan this summer. Azarov has dubbed the proposed tax system as “the best in

Europe,” while other top officials call it among the most “liberal” in the region.

But the protests point to growing and nationwide voter anger at a tax reform plan that experts say threatens to cut taxes sharply for big business, while increasing the burden on smaller firms and individual entrepreneurs.

Political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko, a political analyst, described the recent wave of protests against the proposed tax changes as an obvious sign “of rising dissatisfaction with government and its economic decisions.”

“But it hasn’t turned into a single, consolidated social protest yet,” he added.

Danylyuk said consolidation and larger crowds will start on Oct. 30, and will be followed up by more protests in November.

“Businesses did not choose Oct. 30 by chance as the date to commence radical action,” he added.

Employing six million people, two million Ukrainians are small businessmen that operate on a single flax tax.

A single private entrepreneur generally pays a set monthly fee of around Hr

200, in addition to social taxes in the order of Hr 210.

The proposed tax code would push many of them out of this privileged haven, forcing them to pay higher profit and income taxes, buy cashier equipment, pay accountants and charge value added tax upon the sale of their goods or services.

Kostyantyn Poddubny, 29, who earns about Hr 50,000 annually running an internet-based tire sale service, says such changes will put him out of business.

“I lose all the advantages I used to have relative to big companies – lower prices, free delivery. … I just don’t understand why I have to be equated with a big company when, really, my shop is no different from a shack at a street market,” he added.

Natalia Korolevska, an opposition lawmaker allied with opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, said: “If the tax code is adopted in its current version, many people will lose jobs and become a burden for society – the government is just oblivious to this.”

Vitaly Khomutynnyk, a pro-presidential lawmaker who chairs the committee in parliament overseeing tax reform, said he feels the pain of small businesses. But he insisted that the changes were needed to “prevent tax evasion.” Many businesses, he said, abuse the current system by “hiding revenues on the pretense of ordering services from private entrepreneurs.”

Separately, Khomutynnyk said sharp tax cuts envisions for big business may need to be adjusted upon request from Ukraine’s main lender, the International Monetary Fund. The IMF fears that the reduced tax rates could widen Ukraine’s budget deficit.

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

Middle class ready to revolt over onerous, unfair tax code O L E K S A N D R DA N YLYUK

Social tensions are growing in Ukraine. Thousands of small businesses across the country have come together in recent weeks, in various cities across the country, to protest the government’s proposed tax code.

The situation is highly explosive.

The International Labor Organization, a body of the United Nations, put Ukraine on the list of the countries with a high risk of social instability.

In contrast, France and Greece, where direct confrontations with police are taking place, are now rated as moderately instable.

The same can happen in Ukraine. But how has Ukraine’s government responded to our protests?

The government shut their eyes to it, insisting the protests were politically motivated. To see the truth, all they need to do is open their eyes and see who is taking part in the protests.

People flocking to the protest also come from the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine which have been traditionally loyal to Viktor Yanukovych, his Party of Regions and helped elect him as presi-

dent this year. In fact, the largest protests have materialized in Yanukovych territory.

It comes as no surprise, because voters in these regions truly believed Yanukovych’s promises as a presidential candidate to deliver on “tax-free holidays” for small and medium-sized business for five years. He promised it. He is failing to deliver it. And as you know, it’s just one small step from love to hatred.

This step has already been made by many financially struggling voters who see their personal well-being at risk.

It’s hard to list all of the Yanukovych’s mistakes during his first eight months as president. Here are a few: • Attempting to adopt the tax code now, so late in the year, is illegal. According to Ukraine’s tax legislation, any changes to the size of taxes and the order of their collection have to be made at least six months prior to the beginning of the budget year. But laws like this didn’t prevent Yanukovych’s government from introducing payments to the pension fund, angering many private entrepreneurs who are already pensioners and promising to adopt the new tax code two months prior to the new year.

Dubious moves like this plunge Ukraine to the lows in international ratings in terms of the ease of doing business in a country. Such action strengthens the perception that Ukraine is a

country with unforeseen regulatory policies.

• The government’s policy on businesses with private entrepreneur status is bad and will backfire. About 80 percent of private entrepreneurs that paid taxes within the flat tax system were not, until the recent Oct. 20 deadline, required to make payments to the pension fund. For the majority of small private entrepreneurs who operate in the small town or rural areas, the extra Hr 300-400 payment that they will now need to make to the pension fund on monthly basis eats up one third of their monthly income.

With such action, the government is simply pushing them into the shadows.

• The government doesn’t understand the consequences of their policies to Ukraine’s economy.

That’s the only way to explain tax changes they plan which would freeze cooperation between small businesses that operate on a flat tax system and businesses that operate on the general taxation system. The function of the small business is to create the work places and to quickly meet market demands. But the government does not seem to understand or care. The proposed tax changes will severely hit small businesses. All the small cleaning and catering companies, self-employed lawyers, human resources specialists, auditors and marketing specialists that didn’t ask anything from the government will be brutally squeezed out of the market.

The biggest absurdity is that the proposed new tax code won’t bring more money to state coffers.

What they will “achieve” is to destroy six million workplaces created by small businessmen that operate on the flat tax system.

Does Ukraine need this huge army of unemployed? Will people just sit idle when they see how their well-being is destroyed? I doubt it.

Small business has made many attempts to express its opinion in a less radical way. Since the draft of the Tax Code was made public, thousands of amendments have been proposed. But most of them fell on deaf years.

The president and the government have very little time to stop their flywheel. Otherwise, on the eve of the regional elections, Ukraine will face a wave of the mass protests. A victory of the Party of Regions would look very strange on the background of such events.

And all of this would occur on the backdrop of the 6th anniversary of the Orange Revolution, which was empowered and motivated by the same middle class that the government now ignores.

If Ukraine’s government is not feeling the d?j? vu already, they will soon face it.

Oleksandr Danylyuk is one of the organizers of a recent wave of protests by small businesses against the government’s proposed tax code. He is also head of the All-Ukrainian Center for Business Support.

www.kyivpost.com

Many see light side to Oct. 31 local elections

BY O K S A N A FA RY N A FARYNA@KYIVPOST.COM

Local elections in Ukraine scheduled on Halloween have inspired a wave of political humor. The nation’s creativity found its way in political collages spreading across the Internet, in printed fliers and on billboards. As with folk art, the authorship of these masterpieces most often remains unknown.

Here are a few of the best examples pre-election creativity: “October 31. If you don’t vote, evil spirits win,” says the picture designed in Halloween style and posted on the website www.ukraine2.eu. The web page has an elevated goal – to build a civilized and democratic European state in Ukraine. For that, it proposes to support several candidates from Odesa.

This week, citizens of Bucha, 15 kilometers west of Kyiv, enjoyed unusual billboards located on the way from their town to the capital. Posters depicted not Ukrainian politicians, but carried portraits of U.S. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nikolas Sarkozy.

On the poster, the U.S. president reminds citizens that Oct. 31 “is the election to local authorities, not the end of the world.”

The chancellor of Germany asks people to remember that “on Oct. 31… life doesn’t end”.

The French president exhorts Ukrainians to head to the ballot boxes.

Some of the posters were slapped up in violation of election laws and came down on Oct. 28.

The Internet has no such restrictions.

One collage online depicts

News 11

October 29, 2010

Ukrainian politicians as circus artists.

Parliamentarian Inna Bohoslovska, ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, President Viktor Yanukovych, ex-President Viktor Yuschenko and former Verkhovna Rada speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk are dressed in the bright costumes of clowns. The inscription: “Election 2010 – the circus begins.”

One picture from the www.zabor. zp.ua website shows politicians competing to lasso Ukraine in different directions.

Tymoshenko pulls the rope to the West, while pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych pulls it to the East as Tigipko tries to keep them in the center. Tigipko is tanned with a muscular body, probably due his appearance on the cover of Men’s Heath glossy magazine during the last presidential election earlier this year. In the first round on Jan. 17, Tigipko finished in third place – gaining 13 percent of votes – but missing the head-to-head runoff of the final round.

The news website www.ostro. org reported about printed fliers which allegedly appeared in eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk and instructed voters how to make right choice.

“In order not to get confused on the ballot paper, find the box for the Party of Regions or a candidate from Party of Regions,” the blue and white flier explains. “On the ballot paper for city mayor, find candidate Lukyanchenko Olexander Olexiyovych.”

The wave of political creativity will likely subside after local elections on Oct. 31. Before that there is still some time to enjoy examples of political humor while not taking it too seriously.

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

U.S. President Barack Obama is shown on bilboards in Bucha near Kyiv on Oct. 26, reminding Ukrainians that Oct. 31 is election day, “not the end of the world.” (Courtesy)

Activists of the Ukrainian womens’ organization Femen hold placards protesting Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit to Kyiv on Oct. 27. (Yaroslav Debelyi)

Putin triggers topless protest, speculation over his appearance

BY K Y IV POST STA F F

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was greeted to Kyiv on Oct. 27 by topless protesters campaigning against what they said is Russia’s growing influence in Ukraine.

While Putin Vladimir Putin was discussing gas deals with his Ukrainian counterpart, Mykola Azarov, two blocks away, members of the women’s rights group Femen decided to take off most of their clothes and ridicule the Kremlin leader.

“We won’t sleep with Kremlin midgets” and “You can’t make us bend over that easily,” read two placards held by five women with nothing to hide as they stood in downtown Kyiv on the square facing Bessarabsky Market in front of the Vladimir Lenin monument.

The name of their protest, “Ukrayina ne Alina” (Ukraine is not Alina), refers to Putin’s reputed longtime romantic relationship with the pro-Kremlin Russian lawmaker Alina Kabayeva, a former world champion gymnast.

Femen activists said Putin has a negative influence on his Ukrainian colleagues.

“We are protesting against the interference of Russia in Ukraine’s internal affairs. After these visits, restrictions are placed on media and the right to demonstrate, just like in Russia,” Femen leader Anna Hutsol said.

While Femen members bared their chests, Putin and Azarov negotiated final details for a joint venture to process uranium and discussed Russian natural gas supplies for which Ukraine is seeking a discount. No new gas deal came out of the meeting.

Russia in April agreed to provide cheaper gas supplies in return for the stationing of its Black Sea Fleet on Ukraine’s territory until 2042.

The prime ministers did manage to agree on a joint venture between the two countries’ state aircraft-building companies and a joint venture to produce nuclear fuel in Ukraine.

But with no major gas deals announced, more attention was focused on the tired-looking Putin’s face. Photos appeared to show dark bruises under the eyes of the Russian leader, who is famed for his macho man image and love of judo. Even

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is shown during his meeting with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in Kyiv on Oct. 27 (top) and with Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov (bottom) during their meeting in Kyiv on Oct. 27. (AP)

heavy make-up could not cover the blemishes, and Russian and Ukrainian media speculated that it was a judo injury, or perhaps even a facelift.

Putin’s spokesman told the Associated Press that it was simply caused by tiredness from a busy schedule or bad lighting in the room.

Despite his apparent fatigue, Putin spent three hours at Yanukovych’s suburban mansion following his meeting with Azarov, before flying off to Moscow around 1:30 p.m., a Kyivbased Russian diplomat told the Kyiv Post. He didn’t say what the presidents discussed.

Æ No big deals were announced during Putin’s Oct. 27 visit

12 News

www.kyivpost.com

October 29, 2010

Complaints, confusion ahead of Oct. 31 vote Æ1

“These local elections represent a step backwards in terms of holding democratic elections in Ukraine,” said Oleksandr Chernenko, executive director of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, a non-profit election monitoring group that receives Western financial backing. “Public trust that the election process will be free and fair is waning.”

The fairness of the contest is being closely watched, internationally and nationally, for a couple of key reasons.

One reason is growing alarm over President Viktor Yanukovych’s monopolization of political power – through heavy-handed and legally suspect methods – since taking office on Feb. 25. Moreover, few have forgotten that Yanukovych has a dismal track record in support of democratic elections, dating back to his tenure as Donetsk Oblast governor and through his two stints as prime minister and as a presidential candidate in 2004 before finally winning the top office on Feb. 7.

The second reason is that local elections have historically been held at the same time as parliamentary elections and have been overshadowed by the national contests. Given that local contests are generally considered to be less honest than the presidential and parliamentarian ones, the shortcomings of the Oct. 31 races could become much clearer to the public.

Already, the pre-election process has been riddled with scandal and problems.

These contests were, in fact, supposed to be held in May. But they were postponed by parliament, ostensibly for budget reasons, with the acquiescence even of opposition political factions. The Party of Regions-dominated parliament then ramrodded passage of a new, undemocratic election law that curtailed eligible opposition in the contests. The Yanukovych-led party backed down to intense criticism and adopted another version of the election law seen as more democratic, but still riddled with problems.

Olga Aivazovska, head of OPORA, one of the largest groups of election monitors, also said the Oct. 31 local elections represent “a big step backwards” for Ukrainian democracy.

“The polls are being conducted according to a flawed law adopted by a pro-presidential parliamentary majority with the aim of consolidating political power. The organization of the campaign, compared to previous local elections, has been poor and is likely to get worse after ballots are cast on Oct. 31,” Aivazovska said on Oct. 26, after meeting with Yanukovych in Kyiv along with other election observers.

Even if the elections are clean, confusion still could prevail because of the new law. Among the changes is a shift away from a pure, first-past-the-post plurality system to a mixed system that includes election of officials from political party lists.

During the election campaign, numerous allegations of dirty campaign tactics, heavy-handed government political interference and the mysterious printing of “extra” ballots have surfaced. The allegations are only likely to intensify in the final weekend of the campaign and after the Oct. 31 vote.

“There have been a number of scandals during the campaign, including the decision not to register certain candidates to run in some races,

Campaigning started early for the Oct. 31 election. On Kyiv’s main street of Khreshchatyk on Aug. 27, people pass by billboards for Deputy Prime Minister Sergiy Tigipko’s Strong Ukraine party. (Yaroslav Debelyi)

despite court orders to the contrary,” Chernenko of Committee of Voters of Ukraine said.

Large numbers of extra ballots are reported to have been printed in at least two oblasts, Kharkiv and Ivano Frankivsk, raising fears of ballot stuffing. In the Kharkiv case, officials fueled suspicions by offering contradictory explanations. The Interior Ministry said the disputed 13,000 ballots were printed to test the quality of the print run and would be destroyed, while a prosecutor in Kharkiv said the supply was part of a ballot reserve. In IvanoFrankivsk, the number of false or suspicious ballots numbered 200,000, authorities said.

“The lack of transparency has been the biggest problem with this campaign,” according to Viktoriya Shevchuk, who coordinates eight election monitors for the Opora election in Kharkiv Oblast,

Oleksandr Chernenko, head of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine

noting the reluctance of territorial election officials to say which firm they hired to print ballots.

Opposition leader and ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, defeated

by Yanukovych in the presidential race on Feb. 7, said that her forces will not recognize the results in Kyiv, Lviv or

Ternopil oblasts because her party members have been unfairly shut out of those contests.

Tymoshenko also hastened to remind voters of Yanukovych’s history of disdain for democratic elections, including the 2004 presidential election rigged for Yanukovych but overturned by the street protests of the democratic Orange Revolution.

“Throughout his long political career, which began with his appointment as governor of Donetsk in 1997, he hasn’t run a single honest campaign and has consistently rigged all the elections in his life – the 2004 presidential elections, the local elections, the 2010 presidential elections, and he’s finishing with these 2010 local elections,” Tymoshenko said. “I believe that Viktor Yanukovych is politically and criminally responsible for plans under way to falsify the elections. He commissioned the fraud and is the main controller of how these elections are run – properly or improperly.”

Representatives from other nations say they are watching.

“We are paying very close attention to the situation around the local elections in Ukraine,” U.S. Ambassador John F. Tefft told journalists on Oct. 26.

Tefft said U.S. President Joseph Biden called President Viktor Yanukovych on Oct. 14. “During the conversation both leaders underlined the importance of freedom of choice for each Ukrainian and the necessity of holding a clean election campaign,” Tefft said.

However, Yanukovych said neither he nor his administration would be an impediment to an honest vote.

During his meeting with election monitoring groups in Kyiv on Oct. 26, Yanukovych suggested the political opposition may be to blame if anything goes wrong.

“The only thing that worries me with these elections are provocations … There won’t be any problems if there are no squads of specially trained provocateurs. I am sure there will be no biased conclusions made by international election observers,” the president said.

Days earlier, the president called gov-

ernment interference by public officials unacceptable. “It is in fact violation of the electoral legislation,” Yanukovych said on Oct. 22. “Whatever the law, it must be observed. This applies to all the participants of the electoral process.”

According to Ukraine’s Central Election Commission, 490 foreign observers will monitor this election along with 1,913 domestic ones.

This is the assessment of Chernenko of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine on different aspects of the pre-election campaign and voting process: Voter registration/Voter lists: “There could be problems on Oct. 31, partly because voter lists on Election Day can only be changed by means of a court decision.”

Organization: “There have been problems because of changes to the election law, the short campaign and the numerous ballots which need to be printed."

Biased election commissions: “Before the election law was adopted, we warned that the proportional system for forming territorial election commissions would result in pro-presidential parties having more commissioners than opposition parties. Territorial election commissions, biased in favor of pro-presidential candidates, in turn, created biased municipal and village election commissions.”

Government pressure: “Authorities from the executive branch have meddled in the election process more in some regions than in others, but we have not seen any concerted effort nationwide to influence voters en masse. If we talk about mayoral candidates, many of them are from Party of the Regions, but there are plenty of candidates from other parties. So we see competition.”

Buying votes: “There are always attempts to win votes by providing food or buying votes, and this election is no exception. The prices for votes vary, depending on the region and race, ranging from Hr 50-150. ” Turnout: “I expect 60 percent.”

Falsification: “I don’t know what the level of falsification will be until

after Election Day. These are local elections, and will vary from locality to locality. There will certainly be attempts to falsify some of the races.”

Expected winners: “In the eastern and southern regions, the Party of Regions will hold their own or maybe lose some ground. The party will probably improve its position in western regions of the country. The most competitive and contentious races will take place in Ukraine’s central regions, including Kyiv region, where the Party of Regions will probably take the majority of seats in some city councils.

As for political competition on the local level, these elections will be a small step backwards, but not a permanent setback.”

Exit polls: “Political parties themselves will conduct their own exit polls.

Some will be accurate, others will not be. Exit polls will probably be conducted in the most contested races.”

Polls close at 10 p.m.: “According to the new law, polling stations will be open until 10 p.m. It will probably take most commissions until Nov. 1 to count the ballots. Results may not be known or posted until Nov. 4-5."

Post-election appeals: “The country’s administrative court system will have their hands full sorting out election campaign complaints. The lower the court, the more biased the verdict.

Appealing lower court decisions to regional administrative courts remains a bureaucratic and time-consuming process.”

Races to watch: “Kyiv Oblast is one of them for a number of reasons: Lots of money; closer to the capital, where many politicians live; many politicians are running for office in the Kyiv Oblast and Kyiv city council; the number of candidates is greater in Kyiv region than in other Ukrainian regions. The defection of previous leaders of the Kyiv [and Lviv] branches of Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna Party prevented scores of loyal members from running for seats on the oblast and local councils.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Peter Byrne can be reached at byrne@kyivpost.com

What powers do local elected officials have in Ukraine?

Deputies elected to oblast councils decide issues in their regions, including how to spend state budget money on construction of new schools, roads, health and cultural programs, etc. They also decide who gets what building permits in their regions and have tremendous powers over the leasing and sale of land.

Deputies elected to town and village councils are in charge of administering utilities and other communal services, such as the ZHEK agency and setting fees. They also provide street lights and public transportation. Depending on the village, municipality and oblast, assets belonging to the locality can be considerable. Especially valuable are land resources in cities and towns close to Kyiv and oblast capital cities.

Elected mayors exercise considerable control over city property and development. Elected for four-year terms, their authority extends to setting the agenda for local councils. Mayors are in charge of managing communal property and providing social services.

They are prohibited from engaging in commercial activities.

www.kyivpost.com

News 13

October 29, 2010

In Lviv mayoral race, a tough test ahead for Yanukovych candidate Æ1 Petro Pysarchuk, a prominent

Eduard Hurvitz

Oleksiy Kostusev

Hurvitz vs. Kostusev square off in nasty Odesa mayoral race Æ1 of this city, which has a large Jewish population.

Posters of Hurvitz have been scattered throughout Odesa depicting him and an ally as fugitive criminals and supporters of Ukraine’s nationalist movement from World War II: the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and its military arm, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

“They support OUN-UPA, they support nationalist marches and “banderovtsy” (followers of OUN-UPA leader Stepan Bandera, who lived from 1909-1959). Don’t vote for them!” the posters read.

But the dirt is flying in other directions as well.

Matviychuk, the oblast governor who is No. 1 on the list of the pro-presidential Party of Regions for the Odesa City Council, has also been smeared, according to Yaroslav Katolyk, the Odesabased representative of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine. Posters depict him like an Adolf Hitler-styled fascist, with his right hand up. The back side of this poster shows Prime Minister Mykola Azarov dressed as a Nazi.

The prevalence of smear campaigns and black PR is at odds with Odesa’s reputation as one of Ukraine’s most multiethnic and tolerant cities.

Oleksandr Chernenko, chairman of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, a domestic election watchdog, said that candidates have smeared each other on the basis of nationality, sexual orientation or just “make up insulting things about their opponents.” These attacks

A poster depicts Odesa Mayor Eduard Hurvitz, who is running for re-election, and city council member Volodymyr Rondin as hard-core supporters of a controversial Ukrainian nationalist movement, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists.

have come in addition to the usual complaints about slanted media and an unfair campaign.

But there is always a bright side in Odesa, even during a cold and wet autumn.

Andriy Yusov, a former Orange Revolution activist who is running for city council, campaigned in a banya, or Russian sauna. The pictures made their way into the media of Yusov drinking tea and talking with a group of men, also sweaty but wrapped in towels, perhaps a welcome shot of publicity that will help him come Oct. 31.

Kyiv Post staff writer Olesia Oleshko can be reached at oleshko@kyivpost.com

businessman who represents the propresidential Party of Regions.

Numerous polls put Sadovy ahead of Pysarchuk by several points.

Although the two candidates have not met face-to-face in a debate, each has used formidable media resources to sling mud and downgrade the other.

Sadovy has remained largely out of the public eye, except for the Oct. 24 meeting and those occasions when protocol dictates, such as when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Lviv on Oct. 26.

Pysarchuk, on the other hand, has been widely visible in the media.

Casting himself as an underdog – and even a Party of Regions outsider although he heads the local grouping – Pysarchuk told journalists on Oct. 27 that “the level of faith” in authorities “is catastrophic.”

“The terrible misfortune we live by is the Stalinist principle that it’s not how we vote, but how we count,” he said in addressing questions over how honest the current election will be. “But the problem is not in the Party of Regions, but in our culture and abiding by the law. There is corruption in district commissions…We have corruption.”

Numerous media outlets have reported that Vasyl Horbal, the Lviv Oblast governor appointed by President Viktor Yanukovych, prefers Sadovy for mayor. Numerous local media have reported that Sadovy has already had contact with members of the president’s administration about his candidacy.

Pysarchuk responded “oy, oy, oy” when asked about his relationship with Horbal. Still, Pysarchuk admitted Yanukovych himself hasn’t done enough in embracing western Ukrainians.

Although he hoped that message would be heard in Kyiv, he said the current political reality was such that if the Party of Regions focused on the “desires of Halychany (western Ukrainians)” it would lose backing in eastern Ukraine, which supports the “party’s rhetoric.”

Andriy Sadovy

Petro Pysarchuk

“The Party of Regions is different, made of up different people,” he said.

There are serious concerns about whether the local contests, of which the race for Lviv mayor is simply the most conspicuous one, can be honest.

The stakes are high.

“Lvivites are known to vote their conscience,” added Stepan Kubiv, the Front of Change’s mayoral candidate.

“We don’t have a right to give up Lviv.”

Ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who heads the opposition Batkivshyna party, said on Oct. 26 that the party would not recognize the election results in Lviv and Kyiv oblasts, as well as the city of Ternopil, because it had been removed from the electoral process.

“We already do not recognize the results in the Lviv and Kyiv oblasts and city of Ternopil because candidate lists from fraudulent Batkivshchyna party organizations were registered on orders from Yanukovych,” she said.

For his part, Vitaliy Klitschko, who heads the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reforms (UDAR), told journalists on Oct. 24 that his group would closely monitor votes as they were being counted.

“There are concerns that the elections will be falsified,” he said. Two exit polls by independent groups are planned in Lviv for the Oct. 31 vote.

Kyiv Post staff writer Natalia A. Feduschak can be reached at feduschak@ kyivpost.com.

Æ In Lviv, western Ukraine’s largest city, president is highly disliked “Lviv is extraordinarily important,” Arseniy Yatseniuk, head of Front for Change, told reporters on Oct. 26, noting that national politics are playing themselves out on the local level in Lviv.

14 Opinion

October 29, 2010

www.kyivpost.com

Tymoshenko: Europe needs to stand up for democracy Æ4 ment. Just last week we found evidence that thousands of ballot papers had been printed illegally in Kharkiv. A similar situation happened this week in Ivano-Frankivsk. Had these infringements occurred in a democratic Western nation, the government would have been forced to resign.

Fair elections along with media freedoms are the two most tangible gains that arose from the mass protests by millions of Ukrainians in the winter of 2004, in what became known as the Orange Revolution. In the following five years, President Viktor Yushchenko presided over a somewhat chaotic and fractious administration, but to his credit he never intervened in elections and upheld media freedoms.

Today both democratic gains are under threat.

Harrowing reports of journalists being beaten and disappearing evoke a sense of deja-vu of authoritarian times we thought had passed.

The authorities’ grip on the media is strong.

Several TV stations perceived as a threat have had their broadcast licenses revoked, while all but the bravest editors have complied with unwritten rules not to offer airtime to the opposition and not to cover anti-government rallies.

Unusually, the head of the secret police is now the country’s dominant media baron and – at the same time – a member of the Higher Council of Justice.

Thankfully, this assault on media freedom has not gone unnoticed by the international community. Both the United States and EU have voiced concern, while last week the Paris-based watchdog Reporters Without Borders downgraded Ukraine by 42 places to 131st in its annual Press Freedom Index.

Elsewhere, democratic freedoms are being rolled back in a systematic fashion. The Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, is being used to harass opponents of the regime. Journalists, civil rights activities, domestic and even foreign NGOs have all come under its watchful eye. In June, the head of the Ukraine office of the Konrad

Members of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s security service prevent journalist Serhiy Andrushko from covering a June 15 event in Kyiv. Interference with peaceful protests and the work of journalists has become a serious problem under Yanukovych's administration (UNIAN)

Adenauer Foundation had to resort to direct intervention from German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office to avoid being expelled from the country on “national security” grounds.

The right to freedom of assembly is being curtailed. Peaceful rallies are heavily guarded by camouflaged units and bus companies in the provinces are threatened with having their operating licenses revoked if they transport protesters to regional cities or to the capital.

The opposition and my party in particular have

borne the brunt of politically motivated smear and intimidation campaigns. Half a dozen former senior officials from my government have been arrested and are under investigation. Some have languished in detention since the summer.

No slide into authoritarianism can be achieved without bending constitutional rules and seizing control of the country’s judicial system.

Nowhere was this more evident than the Oct. 1 Constitutional Court ruling that invested more power in the president by declaring constitutional

amendments made during the Orange Revolution as “unconstitutional.”

Another glaring instance came in April when Yanukovych negotiated reduced gas prices from Moscow in return for extending the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s lease on its naval base in Sevastopol.

This deal ignored the Constitution, which forbids foreign military bases on Ukrainian territory.

Understandably, Russia is merely pursuing its national interests; however the Ukrainian government’s willingness to merge major industries and national energy assets with Russian holdings are at best myopic and at worst puts Ukraine’s sovereignty at risk.

The threat of authoritarianism to Ukraine is real and it is against this backdrop that policy makers across Europe and in the U.S. should scrutinize the fairness of the Oct. 31 elections.

The consequences of a new authoritarian regime on Europe’s borders with enhanced potential for corruption and criminality should give cause for alarm; for history has proven that authoritarian regimes neither endure nor are they inherently stable.

Europe has due cause for concern given that 80 percent of its Russian natural gas imports are pumped via Ukraine, which is also one of the world’s largest grain exporters and the fifth most populous country in Europe – a country negotiating with the EU an Association Agreement and visa free travel for its citizens.

A populous remaining poor and powerless, a system of governance corrupt and inefficient, opposition and the media harassed and a civil society subdued, is this the kind of “stability” Europe wants on its eastern border?

We trust not and appeal to the international community to be vigilant in safeguarding the European values we hold so strongly. We have had one election officially recognized as stolen.

All the signs indicate we will have another. The time has come to stand up for democracy.

Yulia Tymoshenko is a leading opposition figure in Ukraine and two-time former prime minister

Yanukovych disavows national identity, deepens divisions TA R A S K U Z I O

The election of Viktor Yanukovych brought into power in Ukraine the country’s first truly pro-Russian president, one backed with a power base in Donetsk and Crimea, the two Ukrainian regions with the least ethnic Ukrainian national identity.

Ukrainian surveys have shown that Donetsk and Crimea hold a stronger allegiance to Soviet than even to Russian, let alone Ukrainian, culture.

What this translates into is five policy changes that are revolutionary not only compared to the Viktor Yushchenko presidency, but also to the Leonid Kuchma era of 1994-2005. Yanukovych is more of a revolutionary than Viktor Yushchenko, who ruled from 2005 to Feb. 25 of this year, ever proved to be.

The first huge policy shift is that the Yanukovych administration is more willing to listen to Russian demands, such as were laid out in the August 2009 open letter by President Dmitry Medvedev to Yushchenko, and has therefore acquiesced in Russian influence over the appointment of cabinet ministers to the security forces and education fields. Russia, therefore, has direct influence over a large area of the Ukrainian government, particularly Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk and Security Service of Ukraine head Valeriy Khoroshkovsky.

Æ President departs from predecessors in many ways, becoming a counterrevolutionary Second, Yanukovych is the first president who is openly dismantling the Ukrainophile national identity that was promoted over the last two decades and has always been closely associated with Ukraine’s independence. A recent poll asked which culture the authorities are promoting and the majority response was Soviet and Russian. The ideological basis for the educational and national identity policy that this administration promotes consists of a mix of neo-Soviet, Russophile, and Eastern Slavic worldviews that are alien to the majority of Ukrainians. This is coupled with a strong view on the supremacy of Russian over the Ukrainian language.

Third, the Yanukovych administration is the first to not perceive Russia as a threat to Ukrainian sovereignty and the country’s territorial integrity.

Thus, counter-intelligence activity by the SBU in Odesa and Crimea against Russian subversion and support for separatism, which led to the expulsion of two Russian diplomats and 14 FSB intelligence officers last year, has been reversed.

No longer viewing Russia as a potential threat – even after its de facto annexation of Georgian territory – Yanukovych agreed last April to extend the stay of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet at Ukraine’s Sevastopol port by an additional 25 years, until 2042-47. It would have been difficult to remove Russia under the 1997 treaty by 2017 – it will now be near impossible without violence to remove Russia even if the opposition wins the 2012 elections and annuls the treaty.

Fourth, this is the first president to not seek membership in the NATO military alliance, a step that arises out of the third policy factor. Thus, Ukraine is theoretically the first post-communist country to only seek EU membership – rather than following Eastern European and Baltic states who first sought NATO membership and then took up EU membership. But, Ukraine is not Austria, Ireland, Sweden or Finland. Ukraine’s image in Brussels and Strasbourg of a country where democratic regression is underway is not one that is seen as seeking to introduce European values.

Speaking at Harvard University, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, said: “Ukraine does not see itself in the EU but sees itself as part of Europe’s identity” (www.pravda. com.ua, Sept. 28).

Fifth, these four policy factors translate into the inevitable failure of the administration to fulfill its claimed objectives of domestic reforms and EU integration. Western academic studies have long pointed out that Eastern European and Baltic states who have adopted parliamentary constitutions have been the most successful in undertaking democratization and European integration. But in Yanukovych’s favor, Ukraine’s Constitutional Court overturned the 2006 parliamentary constitution on Oct. 1 and returned the country to the 1996 presidential system.

Western studies have also pointed to the impossibility of a country conducting deep reforms without first undertaking national integration and yet, the Yanukovych administration’s four policies highlighted above are only serving to deepen Ukraine’s regional divisions.

Finally, Western studies have shown that national identity was, and remains, crucial in post-communist states in providing support for reforms and promoting integration into Europe. Of Ukraine’s two national identities, ethnic Ukrainian and Eastern Slavic, as exemplified by Yushchenko and Yanukovych respectively, the former is more supportive of reforms and European integration and the latter far less so.

Taras Kuzio is an Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation visiting fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. He edits Ukraine Analyst.

This article draws upon his work in progress, A Contemporary History of Ukraine.

www.kyivpost.com

Opinion 15

October 29, 2010

Lozynskyj: World remains too silent as intellectually weak Yanukovych strengthens power Æ5

The electoral monitoring structure in Ukraine has three levels: the Central Elections Commission (CEC), territorial commissions and local commissions. The first consists of fifteen members, nine of whom are affiliated with the ruling Party of Regions. This commission has the duty to appoint the second in accordance with the new law of Ukraine on the election of peoples’ deputies to the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the local councils and village, township and city mayors.

The local contingents of the three parties within the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) who formed the majority coalition may each constitute up to three members of a 15-member territorial commission with the remaining six members chosen from the remaining political parties. Finally the second (the territorial commissions) choose the local commissions.

There is no provision in the law for an equitable distribution of executive positions between the ruling parties and the opposition parties. Thus the chair and secretary of both the territorial and local commission may both come from the majority coalition parties.

Finally, the law does not prescribe a quorum for commissions meetings.

As a result commissions can rule and even count ballots by a simple majority of those present, irrespective of any quorum.

What followed from this election law and subsequent rulings by the CEC, according to statistics made public by the opposition, is that the current composition of all territorial commissions consists of the following: 2,009 representatives from Yanukovych’s Party of Regions, 1,954 representatives from the People’s Party headed by his coalition ally, parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, 1,943 representa-

tives from another coalition ally, the Communist Party, and only 1,380 from opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko’s Batkivschyna, and 1,708 from the rest.

Thus the majority coalition totals 66 percent and the opposition has 34 percent. As to executives in the territorial commissions the pro-presidential allies control 1,028 positions (68 percent) and the opposition controls only 476 positions (32 percent), an even greater disparity.

An interesting component of this newest attempt to consolidate power

by Yanukovych and his people is that during the last parliamentary elections on Sept. 30, 2007, the three election fractions making up today’s majority coalition totaled 43.72 percent of the total vote while those constituting today’s opposition totaled 44.86 percent with the remaining percentages distributed among election fractions which failed to break the required 3 percent barrier.

The percentages reflected in today’s election commission are not even close to those results. Yanukovych managed to secure new numbers by “inspiring� members of Ukraine’s parliament to switch sides and persuading the courts to rubber stamp approval, despite the fact that all members of Ukraine’s parliament were elected pursuant to electoral fraction lists. No one was elected individually.

Yanukovych has been derided by many as being intellectually too weak to serve as president. Suddenly, the object of both home and international lampoon is becoming quite dangerous, still ill-suited to be president but de facto becoming very much a dictator. The international community has played a major role in his rise. Hopefully, it’s not too late.

Askold S. Lozynskyj is immediate past president of the Ukrainian World Congress and its current main representative at the United Nations.

How’s the water?

Mezhyhiry a

NEWS ITEM: Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has for months been asked by journalists about how he acquired his palatial Mezhyhirya estate north of Kyiv along the banks of the Dnipro River. Yanukovych recently told the BBC that he plans to stop clogging up roads in rush hours to get from his home to work, and instead plans to commute from Mezhyhirya by helicopter. It spurred jokes on the Internet that should the weather turn bad, he may have to take a submarine down the river. (Drawing by Anatoliy Petrovich Vasilenko)

Teixeira: EU willing to help Ukraine open up gradually Æ5 to a market 13 times greater than its own, with 500 million consumers. Secondly, EU products are already getting into Ukraine with few de facto barriers. The average applied tariffs on imports from EU are low, so the impact of liberalization will be limited. Thirdly Ukraine is not a key target market.

Fourthly, the EU is willing to open its product market immediately while giving transitional periods to Ukraine.

As a matter of fact, the Ukrainian market cannot be completely opened right away after the signing of this agreement, given that domestic manufacturers are mostly not ready for serious outside competition. This is why the EU is ready to discuss transitional periods for specific areas.

The so-called deep and comprehensive free trade agreement will be implemented progressively and gradually by Ukraine. The EU is willing to envisage a decade if need be.

Ukrainian businesses will have time to adjust, to harmonize legislation, to adopt standards and norms, and to build the necessary institutions with external support.

All in all, benefits are likely to far outweigh the costs. In the long term, it should help make domestic products more competitive and, as a result, increase Ukrainian exports globally as the quality of Ukrainian products improves. A free trade agreement with the EU should also raise confidence in the Ukrainian economy among foreign investors and spur foreign direct

investment. In the long run, it has been estimated that Ukraine-EU free trade agreement will result in an increase in welfare and wages in Ukraine.

The deep and comprehensive free trade agreement being offered is by far the smartest answer to Ukraine’s recent challenges. Eliminating subsidies and trade barriers would mean that resources could be used more efficiently, in turn reducing inequality, poverty, social tensions and environmental degradation. It could realistically become the basis for a new economic strategy for Ukraine.

It is definitely an exciting perspective. I would dare to even call it sexy.

Ambassador Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira is the European Union representative to Ukraine.

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16 Regional News

www.kyivpost.com

October 29, 2010

Spectacular Slovakia The 2010 edition of The Slovak Spectator's annual travel guide provides a detailed look at Slovakia, its regions and its attractions through the eyes of a foreigner and also includes several new features such as sections on history, ice hockey as well as a

A ethnic Turkish boy in Bulgaria strings tobacco leaves to dry near the village of Gorna Krepost in the Rhodope Mountains in this 2003 file photo. Bulgaria is a big producer of tobacco and tobacco products, especially in the poor regions of southern Bulgaria populated mainly with ethnic Turks. Bulgartabac is one of the leading cigarettes manufacturers in Europe and covers 85 percent of the domestic cigarette market.(AFP)

Survey: Fewer smokers in Bulgaria, most favor public smoking ban

The Bulgarian newspaper writes: The number of people in Bulgaria who smoke regularly has declined by five percent on annual basis, according to a poll by the Health Ministry. The poll says that "56 percent of the interviewed have not smoked for 30 days or more,"indicating a five percent drop since October 2009.

About 77 percent of those polled

said that they were well educated on the matter and had sufficient information about the danger of smoking, but as many as 72 percent of people who identified themselves as members of the "minorities" in Bulgaria said they were not well informed on the topic.

Additionally, more than 60 percent of those polled said that they would support a ban on smoking in public places. The Oct. 25 story can be found at: http://sofiaecho. com/2010/10/25/981778_regularsmokers-in-bulgaria-decline-by-fiveper-cent-health-ministry-poll

Hungarian Roma treated as slaves in Canada case Szabolcs Szûcs writes: Hungarian Roma had been treated as slaves by a Hungarian family in Hamilton, Ontario, and warrants alleging human trafficking had been issued against 10 members of the family by city authorities, Canadian newspapers reported.

The wanted suspects allegedly lured more than 16 people from Pápa to Canada with the promise of a better life and job opportunities. On arrival they had been forced to work for free and their social benefits were taken.

The suspects allegedly took the victims’ documents, locked them in a basement and fed them scraps of food. All the known victims are male.

It is the biggest trafficking offense uncovered in Canada and the accused may be the first to be convicted of such a crime in the country. Ferenc Dömötör, Ferenc Dömötör Jr., Gyöngyi Kolompár, Gizella Kolompár, Lajos Dömötör, Editor’s Note: The Kyiv Post is a founding member of the New Europe News Network, along with other English-language newspapers.

Members include the Krakow Post in Poland, The Budapest Times in Hungary, The Slovak Spectator in Bratislava, Slovakia, The Sofia Echo in Bulgaria and The Prague Post in the Czech Republic. Under an informal agreement, the newspapers share stories in print and online with other network members.

Ferenc Kolompár, Gizella Dömötör, Attila Kolompár, Gyula Dömötör and Zsanett Kolompár are sought by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.Nine of them are accused of trafficking.

The case came to attention last December when one of the Roma managed to complain publicly about the way they were treated. Previously the victims were unable to turn to the authorities because they had been under heavy surveillance and did not speak English well.

Canada launched an investigation and after 10 months the arrest warrants were issued. The charges faced by both the Ferenc Dömötörs include one that they taught the immigrants to deceive Canadian authorities. Two other family members face the same charge. The head of the group is said to be Ferenc Dömötör Sr., described

by Crown Attorney Sandra Antoniani as the leader of a Hungarian Roma crime group, consisting of relatives of various degrees. Ferenc Dömötör told a bail hearing that he denied the allegations and was being harassed by the Canadian police and authorities because of his Roma descent.

Most of the victims have returned to Hungary.

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said organised criminals brought such people to Canada to steal their social benefits. He said many Hungarian citizens migrate to the country but of the 2,500 who sought asylum in Canada in 2009 only three had been successful.

The Oct. 18. story can be found w w w. b u d a p e s t t i m e s . h u / i n d e x . php?option=com_content&task=view &id=15632&Itemid=219

brief guide to Slovakia’s weather.

As in past issues, the attractions of each region of Slovakia are described in this year’s guide but Spectacular Slovakia 2010 also takes you to places that rarely appear in other publications such as Kraskovo, Hervartov, Borža and Oponice, among others.

Spectacular Slovakia provides contact details for hotels, spas, thermal and aqua parks, ski resorts, castles,

caves and many other attractions. In short, it offers all the information a traveler needs to explore Slovakia. It will be your trusted guide to many new adventures.

Copies of Spectacular Slovakia 2010 can be purchased from the newspaper’s online shop at http://spectator. sme.sk/products/addtocart/56.

The story can be found at http:// spectator.sme.sk/info_pages/view/7.

Poland opts for growth with privatizations, not austerity Claire Compton of the Prague Post writes: Poland had the unique distinction of being the only European Union country to stay out of recession the past two years, a lure for ever-important foreign investors. Now on the outer reaches of a global recession, as economies begin to pick up, Poland's large-scale privatization push, which was launched in 2008, is providing even more reason for investors to swoop in and snatch assets or stakes in formerly state-owned companies, and the energy sector in particular.

But the country's strategy of promoting growth at the expense of stable public finances could cost it in the long term, analysts say.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk campaigned in 2007 on expediting privatization, even before the crisis hit, and the revenues from the sales, which were planned to be held from 2008 to 2011, are now helping the country cover a budget deficit that could grow to 8 percent of GDP this year, Tusk admitted this month.

Growth in the country has unfortunately not meant stable public finances, then, as the government has, for the moment, relied on the privatization of more than 800 companies to cover costs. Compared with countries like the Czech Republic and Germany, Poland has not adopted austerity measures, preferring instead to continue feeding growth.

"It's a big question mark for me how Poland will handle it," said András Szalkai, portfolio manager at East Capital. "They could just delay these decisions, but the economy is growing quite fast, and maybe they will be lucky and just grow out of the problems. The Czechs, Slovaks and Hungarians have started cutting deficits, and I'm sure that's why their growth figures are much

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (L). Poland plans to generate $8.9 billion in the privatization of state assets by next year.

lower. Maybe Poland will be the lucky one that didn't cut too much, that didn't cool down the economy too much to save some money. It's hard to tell."

STATE SALE What: The government is selling state assets to private investors to boost revenues and stimulate the economy. Under the privatization plan, 802 companies in more than 40 sectors will be privatized, including large utility companies like Enea and the Warsaw Stock Exchange Who: Prime Minister Donald Tusk drafted the plan in 2007 When: In April 2008, the Council of Ministers approved the plan, which was to be implemented from 2008 to 2011.

As of September 2009, the public sector constituted 20 percent of the economy How: The government has been privatizing through public offerings on the stock exchange, public tenders and publicly announced auctions

The privatization plan is expected to generate $8.9 billion over four years. Privatization has been a big building block of economies that came out from behind the Iron Curtain in 1989 and began to sell off stateowned assets in the industrial, financial and energy sectors. The method by which each country sold assets has come to shape their economies today, said Marcin Piatkowski, head economist at the World Bank's Poland office. For Poland's Treasury Ministry, the preferred method of privatization has been through the Warsaw Stock Exchange, allowing the government to sell off shares to private investors rather than a single 100 percent sale.

"Over the past 20 years, no one has really had the stomach for wholesale privatization for the power sector," he said.

The Oct. 20 story can be read at: www.praguepost.com/ business/6085-poland-fuels-growthwith-privatization.html

Polish minority in Lithuania complains of discrimination Giuseppe Sedia writes: Polish European Deputy Boguslaw Sonik has urged the European Union to prepare a report on the conditions of the 250,000 Poles living in Lithuania, who represent the largest ethnic group in the country along with the Russian community. The latter represents 6.31 percent of the total population of the country, according to the latest census conducted by Vilnius.

Sonik is convinced that the Polish

minority is facing linguistic discrimination in Lithuania, reflected in the refusal to use bilingual road signs in the outskirts of Vilnius, which are densely inhabited by Poles.

According to Sonik, Lithuanian authorities keep refusing to use standard Polish orthography in the transcriptions of the names of Polish residents in the Baltic country. This situation has also been denounced by the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania, a minority Christian-conservative party headed by Euro-Deputy

Wa l d e m a r To m a s z e w s k i ("Valdemar Tomaševski" according to Lithuanian orthography).

Moreover, the Polish community has also expressed its concern about the Lithuanian land policy following the post-Soviet country's "reprivatisation." The Polish minority has objected to bureaucratic delays in the reassignment of Lithuanian lands annexed by Poland in 1922 before the German invasion of both countries.

The Oct. 25 story can be found at: www.krakowpost.com/article/2407

Lifestyle

Save pumpkin flesh this Halloween and start cooking

October 29, 2010

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

The fall and rise of jazz in Ukraine

Æ22 www.kyivpost.com

Food Critic WITH YULIYA POPOVA POPOVA@KYIVPOST.COM

Editor’s note: Eating out in Ukraine is a gamble. To bring you honest food reviews, Kyiv Post writers go to restaurants unannounced, pay for their own meals and never accept favors from restaurateurs.

Yellow Sea stands out in sea of sushi restaurants

B Y PAU L M I A ZGA SPECIAL TO THE KYIV POST

It’s around 100 years since the Jazz Age hit the United States with its spirit of freedom and improvisation. But the movement has hardly touched down in Ukraine, after years of Soviet repression and, sadly, a lack of widespread interest.

Some Ukrainian jazz-lovers, however, including legendary musician Oleh Skrypka, are trying to push it into the spotlight by making records.

Radio host Oleksiy Kohan is famous for organizing concerts and Æ22

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Pawel Panta from Poland during the festival Days of Jazz Music in Vinnitsa on Sept. 26. (Ukrinform)

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It’s probably easier to find a sushi restaurant in Kyiv than a venue serving Ukrainian borscht. With hundreds of them spread out across the city, Ukrainians have developed a taste for Japanese food. Yellow Sea restaurant stands out from the rest with its quality service and attention to detail.

There are two restaurants in the family: one in a nice residential neighborhood (Obolon) and the other not far from the Bessarabsky market in the center of town.

Both serve Japanese, Chinese and Korean dishes. The Kyiv Post craved sushi both times we visited the restaurants, so we won’t mention spring rolls, even though they were on the menu.

The Obolon venue one Sunday afternoon was busy with families.

Children felt pretty comfortable roaming the second floor studying bamboo plants. It was nice to see a large non-smoking hall with big windows used by families for a change. There were still plenty of child-free seats on the first floor that we occupied, eating bowls of Miso soup for Hr 18.

Ambience in the central Yellow Sea was good in a different way.

Catering to business people at lunch and after work, the waiters’ knowledgeable and non-intrusive service is impressive. We started with salmon Carpaccio for Hr 52 and seaweed salad for Hr 45.

Fresh salmon was still served with a bit of icy frost on it, but in five minutes it was ready to eat. The menu description of the seaweed mentioned a celery stick served on the side. Allergic to even the slightest smell of celery, I begged a waitress to leave it out but was sure she would forget. After all bad experiences with Ukrainian restaurants which often refuse tailoring orders, I was surprised to find a plate with not a hint of that pungent vegetable.

The main course was just as delightful. Golden Dragon roll with smoked eel, omelet, tobiko (flying fish roe) and cucumber for Hr 60 contained a generous serving of eel. With eight pieces, it’s probably enough for a light dinner. But we opted for the house specialty as well – the Yellow Sea roll with salmon and cucumber.

The menu description claimed it was an ancient Japanese recipe.

Unexpectedly, the five-piece Æ21

18 Seven Days

www.kyivpost.com

October 29, 2010

Oct. 29-31 (phl)

Jazz in Kyiv

Nov. 4

Last a-ha concert Nov. 3

Best Halloween party picks

After more than 25 years on stage, Norwegian pop-rock band a-ha is about to round it up. To bid farewell, the band started a tour around the world that will finish in their native Oslo, Norway, at the end of the year. Those Vikings surely have something to be proud of.

They released nine albums and grabbed eight MTV awards to date.

The name “a-ha” is spelled in the lowercase because of its unusual origin. While writing a song, guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy kept repeating “a-ha.” It occurred to the band that this could work as a cool title – short, unusual and easy to remember. Just to make sure, the guys checked a couple of dictionaries to see that in many languages “a-ha” stood for an exclamation of approval.

Nov. 4, 7 p.m., Mizhnarodny Vystavkovy Tsentr, 15 Brovarsky Prospekt. Tickets: Hr 390-3990

(Konstantin Sergeyev)

We bet that most Ukrainian celebrities were infected by the Beatles virus when they were young. To pay their dues to music history and legends that helped to shape it, they’ll hit the stage with some of the Beatles’ songs.

Gaitana, Oleh Skrypka, Jamala, Alyosha, and Skryabin – among others – will try to add something fresh to popular old hits. Hard to imagine they can improve anything, but let’s give them the benefit of a doubt. Perhaps a Ukrainian twist to Beatles music will prove original.

Nov. 3, 7 p.m., Zhovtnevy Palats, 1 Instytutska St. Tickets: Hr 100-500

(images2.fanpop.com)

Beatles tribute

(pub.tv2.no)

The cream of Ukrainian and world jazz will play in Kyiv during the third Jazz in Kiev festival.

On the first day, enjoy a joint performance of Argentinean Dino and Felix Saluzzi, German Anja Lechner and Ukrainian New Era Orchestra. After that, famous American jazzfusion band Yellowjackets will hit the stage.

The second day will start with American folk-jazz band Oregon and finish with American guitarist Lee Ritenour. On day three, legendary American jazzman Herbie Hancock will woo the audience. Hancock has always been a wonder.

A child-prodigy, he played Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.5 with the Chicago Orchestra at the age of 11.

Oct.29-31, 7 p.m., Zhovtnevy Palats, 1 Instytutska St., www.jazzinkiev.com. Tickets: Hr 180-1000

To pick the hottest witch, go to the Miss Halloween pageant at Art Club 44. Film “Halloween Town” will be shown at 7 p.m. to get the ball rolling. For beginning witches and wizards, an arts and crafts master class will be held. Band Dazzle Dreams will sing world hits by artists dead and alive. To fuel the fun, get some pumpkin drinks, take part in different contests and try to out dance the evil.

Oct. 30, 7 p.m., 44 Khreshchatyk St., 279-4137. Entrance fee: Hr 50 Crystal Hall has enough space for many evil spirits to misbehave.

Those dressed up as spooky creatures will enter for free and even receive a free potion. For more authenticity, a hair stylist with a thousand years of experience will bring your hair up to date with witch fashion.

Oct. 30, 11 p.m., 1 Dniprovsky uzviz, 288-5069.

Entrance fee: Hr 100 Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe will rise from the dead to sing a couple of their hits in the Italian restaurant Ciro’s Pomodoro. In this upscale-casual venue owned by the daughter and British son-in-law of former Prime Minsiter Yulia Tymoshenko, the atmosphere and food are always pretty amazing. On the Halloween night though, the chef will conjure up a special menu from the Sicilian mafia. Charlie Chaplin will greet you by the door.

Oct. 30, 9 p.m., 12 Shota Rustaveli St., 221-4545 Buddha-Bar is going to turn into a meeting point for vampires and witches. DJ Ravin turned magician, will drive the party wild, not without help from some evil spirits, of course. He released 12 albums to date, and his music certainly makes people forget worries of the past. A bloody good menu from the Asian-oriented cuisine will spice up the night.

Oct. 31, 8 p.m., 14 Khreshchatyk St., 270-7676. Entrance is free but seats are not. Tables: Hr 500 in the lounge bar, Hr 1,000 - 5,000 in the restaurant.

Shopping mall Dream Town hopes to woo more visitors on the Halloween day with an unusual – mostly for Ukrainians, program.

You’ll get to learn how to carve a pumpkin, drink some potion and hear what a fortune-teller has to say about your future. Take a break from shopping to watch break-dancers, acrobatics from the Kobzov circus and music bands Hollywood and ARMIYA. The highlight of the evening will be Tina Karol’s concert and Andriy Dzhedzhula’s tricks.

Oct. 31, 3 p.m.-10 p.m., Dream Town, 1B Obolonsky Prospekt.

Free admission

Oct. 30

Anti-Social Music New York band Anti-Social Music plays chamber music with a twist. They turn it around into some punk-chamber. A 13-member band of composers and performers comes to Ukraine on the occasion of their 10th anniversary.

They say they aren’t called anti-social for nothing and suggest an experiment. When you have a party, put their music on and see how long it takes for people to start leaning towards the exit. What they are trying to say is that they’ve got something that flips the concept of chamber music upside down. Interested? Check the band out.

Oct. 30, 9 p.m., Kurbas Center, 23 Volodymyrska St., tel. 279-1289. www. antisocialmusic.org. Tickets: Hr 50

Compiled by Nataliya Horban

www.kyivpost.com

Lifestyle 19

October 29, 2010

Movies

Live Music

A scene from ‘Soul Kitchen’ (www.gijonfilmfestival.com)

SOUL KITCHEN Language: German with Ukrainian subtitles Comedy. Germany (2009) Directed by Fatih Akin Starring Adam Bousdoukos, Moritz Bleibtreu, Birol Unel Greek chef Zinos Kazantsakis runs a dilapidated restaurant on the outskirts of Hamburg.

A couple of regulars help keep it afloat, but it's not enough to survive. Kazantsakis’ personal life also lacks excitement. His free spirited brother is released from prison. His friend tries to steal his eatery by setting the Greek up with sanitary and tax inspections.

His girlfriend breaks up with him to make things even worse. Feeling his lowest low, he thinks that the only way out of it is to hire a new chef.

The movie won Best Film Prize and Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

OLIVER TWIST Language: English with English subtitles Adventure/Crime/Drama (1948) Directed by David Lean Starring Robert Newton, Alec Guinness, Kay Walsh, Francis L. Sullivan If you don’t know Charles Dickens’ novel “Oliver Twist,� you probably have to go back to school. Alternatively, go to the cinema.

It’s a British classic about a little boy Oliver, living on the streets in the 19th century London. After meeting pickpocket Fagin, he joints a team of little crooks. But when Mr. Brownlow catches Oliver stealing, he takes him off the streets instead of handing over to police. Filmdirector David Lean’s adaptation of the Dickens’ novel is considered one of the best.

EVERYONE OFF TO JAIL Language: Spanish with Ukrainian or Russian subtitles Comedy. Spain (1993)

Directed by Luis GarcĂ­a Berlanga Starring JosĂŠ Sazatornil, JosĂŠ SacristĂĄn, AgustĂ­n GonzĂĄlez, Manuel Alexandre Welcome to 1940s Spain: Francisco Franco turns the state into a dictatorship. Several victims of his repressions meet in the Valencia prison to mark what they call “a day of political prisoners.â€? Among them are parvenus, mafia, bankers, and a communist priest. See what they get up to in "Everyone, Off to Jail," which won Best Film, Best Director and Best Sound Awards at the Goya Awards film festival.

OCEANS Language: French with Ukrainian subtitles Documentary/Drama.

France/Spain/ Switzerland (2009) Directed by Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud A breathless and unrivalled documentary about oceanic life is a must-see work of the year. The film crew shot “Oceans� in 54 locations across the world over four years.

Menacing sharks, odd-looking schools of fish, and cute turtles, among other sea creatures may look suspiciously graphic and too real onscreen. But believe it or not, the underwater kingdom is authentic without any image enhancement. The film makers have been tailoring the work for years and not just for a stunning picture.

Half way through the film you may start wondering how you can help preserve the ocean. And by the way, the film is so visually stunning that you don’t need to know French or Ukrainian to enjoy it.

I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND Language: Czech with Ukrainian subtitles Comedy/Drama/Romance/War. Czech Republic/Slovakia (2006) Directed by JirĂ­ Menzel Starring Ivan Barnev, Oldrich Kaiser, Julia

Moldovan band Zdob si Zdub (www. projekt-relations.de)

ZHOVTEN 26 Konstyantynivska St., 205-5951 www.zhovten-kino.kiev.ua Soul Kitchen Nov. 1-3 at 2:10 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 5:50 p.m., 7:50 p.m., 9:40 p.m.

Oceans Oct. 29 at 12:05 p.m.

Oct. 29-31 at 12 p.m., 1:55 p.m., 3:50 p.m., 5:45 p.m., 7:40 p.m., 9:35 p.m.

Nov. 1-3 at 12 p.m., 1;50 p.m., 3:45 p.m., 5:40 p.m., 7:35 p.m., 9:30 p.m.

I Served the King of England Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 30 at 12:30 p.m.

Oct. 31 at 9:40 p.m.

Nov. 1-3 at 9;25 p.m.

Chatroom Oct. 29-30 at 9:30 p.m.

Oct. 31 at 9:40 p.m.

Nov. 1-3 at 5:55 p.m.

THE MASTER CLASS CLUB 34 Mazepy St., 594-1063 www.masterklass.org/eng Oliver Twist Nov. 4 at 7 p.m.

Everyone Off to Jail Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.

CINEMA

Jentsch, Marian Labuda Starting out in a small suburban hotel, Jan Dite is an ambitious young waiter. Soon hired by a big hotel in the heart of Prague, he discovers the taste of wealth and women. Right before the city is captured by the German forces, he falls for a German lady called Lisa. The story is told by old Dite himself, as he’s trying to rebuild his life after 15 years in prison. The film was nominated for an Oscar as the Best Foreign Film in 2008.

CHATROOM Language: English with Ukrainian subtitles Drama/Thriller. Great Britain (2010) Directed by Hideo Nakata Starring Aaron Johnson, Imogen Poots, Matthew Beard, Hannah Murray Teenage friends Eve, Jim, Emily and Moe befriend William – a mysterious guy they met in a chat room on the Internet. They soon become completely fascinated with his character, but William is playing a game of his own. Helping Jim to get off the antidepressants, he’s really on a mission to bring him down. The Internet in this movie is like a cheap motel, where every site is like a room full of vice. “Chatroom� is filmed in English by Hideo Nakata, the world-famous Japanese master of horror films and the author of the creepy “Ring,� which is considered one of the best in its genre.

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

Oct. 29 Zdob si Zdub, Hr 150-200 Oct. 30 Halloween party with Dazzle dreams, Hr 50 Oct. 31 Souiz 44 Jam Session, free admission Nov. 1 Seni Bekirov Jazz Kvintet Nov. 2 Autumn Jazz Nights Workshop: Anton Davidiants (Russia), Hr 50 Nov. 3 Punk Rock party, Hr 30 Nov. 4 Balkan Party, Hr 20 DOCKER’S ABC 15 Khreshchatyk St., 278-1717, www.docker.com.ua Concerts traditionally start at 9:30-10 p.m.

Oct. 29 Hush, Second Breath, Hr 50 Oct. 30 UkrayinSKA, Tex-Mex Company, Hr 70 Oct. 31 Halloween with Red Rocks, Hr 30 Nov. 2 Tres Deseos Latino Party, Hr 20 Nov. 3 Rocking Wolves, Hr 30 Nov. 4 Angie Nears, Hr 30 DOCKER PUB 25 Bohatyrska St., metro Heroyiv Dnipra, www.docker.com.ua Concerts traditionally start at 9:30-10 p.m.

Oct. 29 Rura, Vostochny Express, Hr 70 Oct. 30 Ot Vinta, Red Rocks, Hr 70 Oct. 31 Highway To Hell Party: Easy Dizzy (Russia), Chill Out Nov. 1 Second Breath, free admission Nov. 2 Crazy Train, free admission Nov. 3 The Magma, free admission Nov. 4 Ruki V Briuki, free admission

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Ukrainian/Russian accent reduction training All levels of English available Available in every city via Skype

Call Inna to join us:

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PIVNA NO.1 ON BASEYNA 15 Baseyna St., 287-4434, www.pivna1.com.ua Concerts traditionally start at 9 p.m.

Oct. 29 Zavodnoi Apelsin Oct. 30 Halloween Party Nov. 3 Yevgenia Saharova Nov. 4 Yuhym Bliuz Other live music clubs: PORTER PUB, 3 Sichnevoho Povstannya St., 280-1996, www.porter.com.ua JAZZ DO IT 76A Velyka Vasylkivska St., 599-7617, http://jazz-doit.com.ua DRAFT 1/2 Khoryva St., metro Kontraktova Ploshcha, 463-7330.

KHLIB CLUB 12 Frunze St, www.myspace.com/xlibclub CHESHIRE CAT 9 Sklyarenko St., 428-2717.

O’BRIEN’S 17A Mykhaylivska St., 279-1584.

DAKOTA 14G Heroyiv Stalinhrada St., 468-7410.

U KRUZHKI 12/37 Dekabrystiv, 562-6262.

Compiled by Alexandra Romanovskaya and Svitlana Kolesnykova

English School

The only FREE language school throughout Ukraine

BOCHKA PYVNA ON KHMELNYTSKOHO 4B-1 Khmelnytskoho St, metro Teatralna, 390-6106, www.bochka.com.ua Concerts traditionally start at 9-10 p.m.

Oct. 29 Stelth (Italy), Hr 50 Oct. 30 Halloween Thriller Party: Tres Deseos, Hot Guys; CoMaha, Hr 30 Nov. 2 Bochka Jack Pot 1/8: Extra!Extra!

Vs. People Like Lemmings, Hr 30 Nov. 3 Beefeaters Nov. 4 Red Rocks

– No smoking zone – Wi fi

Kiev • Metro Station "Politekhnicheskaya" 3 Gali Timofeyevoy Str. ("TMM" building) 5693766 • 0630779999 • 0970779999

20 Lifestyle

www.kyivpost.com

October 29, 2010

Tasty, not scary, recipes

BY K AT YA G O R C H I N S KAYA GORCHINSKAYA@KYIVPOST.COM

If you’re making a jack-o-lantern this Halloween, don’t rush to throw out his guts. You wouldn’t believe how many tasty things you can make with the stuff you thought was no good. The bright and succulent flesh of a pumpkin is amazingly versatile, dead easy to cook, and is packed with autumn colors and goodness.

The simplest lovely recipe made out of pumpkin has got to be the Honey baked pumpkin.

Carving pumpkins for Halloween is a family tradition. (flickr.com)

Honey baked pumpkin All you need is to take as many pumpkin pieces as you like and of any shapes you like, and arrange them on a baking tray. Sprinkle each piece with a mixture of, or one of the following spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground allspice. Then top up each piece with half a teaspoon of honey (or more, if you have a sweet tooth).

Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Then pop the baking tray into the oven and bake for about half an

hour, or until tender, in the middle of the oven, uncovered. Serve it hot or cold, with ice cream or on its own. It goes well with roasted nuts sprinkled all over. The main thing is that it’s tasty and easy.

Pumpkin and roast corn soup Ingredients: • 3 ¼ cups pumpkin flesh • 2 ½ cups corn kernels, fresh or canned • 1 onion, chopped small • 1 cup of milk • 3 cups of vegetable stock or water • Salt, pepper to taste Butter to saute the vegetables

Melt a spoonful of butter in a thick pot, then add pumpkin bits. Stir for some 5 -10 minutes, toss in half of the corn. After another 10 minutes of stirring, pour in the milk and stock or water.

Cover with a lid, leaving a gap and simmer for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to your soup closer to the end.

In the meantime, roast the rest of the corn. You can over-roast it after buttering the kernels, or pan-roast, if you prefer. If you’re using the first option, heat the grill in your oven until sizzling hot (220 degrees Celsius), butter the corn kernels and roast for 10 minutes at the most, remembering to shake them about half-way through.

The pan-roasting is probably slightly

quicker, but you need to watch the corn closely.

When the soup is ready, puree it in a blender or food processor. Some prefer it slightly lumpy, but I like to make it totally smooth, as it provides a greater contrast of flavors and textures with roasted corn. Spoon a little roasted corn onto each plate right before serving. This recipe yields enough for about six portions.

All muffins are made in the same way, and the pumpkin ones are no exception.

First, the oven needs to be heated to 200 degrees Celsius. Then, in two separate bowls wet and dry ingredients are measured out and mixed. In step three, the dry ingredients are poured into the wet ones, and the mixture is quickly combined. It’s important to leave the dough lumpy, because over-stirring it will affect the texture of the muffins. The basic guidelines are to count to 20 when you’re stirring, and stop at that.

The easiest way to cook pumpkin flesh is to microwave it for a couple of minutes. I am a lazy cook, so I do it in the very cup that I use for measuring. Then I melt butter in the same microwave and the same cup, and at the end I wash it out with milk. All of those ingredients are mixed in the same bowl. The alternative way to cook pumpkin is to boil it in some water, but it loses a bit of flavor that way.

Once the pumpkin is cooked, and all the ingredients are measured out and mixed, you can spoon the dough into muffin cups, about 2/3 full. This recipe yields about 12 regular size muffins, or about 20-22 mini-muffins

Graffiti artists ready to decorate Kyiv’s dull buildings

Spiced pumpkin muffins: Dry ingredients: • 1 ½ cups flour • ½ teaspoon nutmeg • ½ teaspoon cinnamon • ½ teaspoon salt • 3 teaspoons baking powder Wet ingredients: • 1 egg • ¾ cups milk • ¾ cup cooked pumpkin • ¼ cup melted butter

– which I prefer. Bake your muffins for 20 minutes, or until they’re springy in the middle.

This recipe produces amazing flavorful muffins where spices really come out prominently. Over years I have tried to experiment with the amount of spices, sweetness and variation of ingredients, but discovered that nothing beats the original recipe.

Amazingly, they can be served with butter, jams or marmalade, as well as with savory accompaniments.

Kyiv Post deputy chief editor Katya Gorchinskaya can be reached at gorchinskaya@kyivpost.com

Artist from Interesni Kazki group finishes up his work on Lavra gallery walls. (Courtesy)

BY N ATA L I YA H OR B AN HORBAN@KYIVPOST.COM

Almost everyone wants to be involved in preparations for the Euro 2012 soccer championship. Graffiti artists are no different – they have started a two-year project called “Muralissimo” to decorate the walls of 13 Kyiv buildings.

For many Ukrainians, street artists are the last people who Kyiv should turn to to make the city look better, given their association with the ugly scrawl on buildings. But the Lavra gallery, which is responsible for the event, promises to change people’s attitudes. The organizers negotiated with city authorities for permission to carry out the project to make sure that their art was legal. This was far from an easy task, and they don’t want to name the exact addresses of the buildings to be decorated for fear of hindering the course of the festival.

The work has already begun on the inside yard walls of the Lavra gallery.

Artists Volodymyr Manzhos and Oleksiy Bordusov from the group Interesni Kazki, or Interesting Tales, decided to be the pioneers of “Muralissimo.” Even though the festival is dedicated to Euro 2012, soccer is almost beside the point.

“To tell you the truth, we are not fond of soccer. Also, the championship will end but the drawings will remain,” Manzhos said.

A two-year project called “Muralissimo” will involve Kyiv and foreign artists in painting murals on the sides of eyesore buildings in the capital. The impetus for the project is to spruce up the ancient city ahead of the Euro 2012 football championship. French artist 2Shy is seen working on a residential house in Kyiv. (Yelyzaveta Gamsheyeva)

The Interesni Kazki group has just returned from the street art festival in Seville, Spain. The first thing they noticed was how much the public appreciates street artists. “All the citizens passing by really liked our work. The level of organization was also superb,” Bordusov said.

Interesni Kazki split the gallery's wall with another Kyiv artist Vova Vorotnyov, a member of the organizing

committee of “Muralissimo.” He will get to work on his part of the painting shortly.

As for the foreign artists, Frenchman Olivier, who instead of a surname uses a nickname 2Shy, has already started working on a wall on 32A Hoholivska Street. Olivier started drawing 20 years ago. He got his nickname from the television series X-files “for no particu-

lar reason.” Unsurprisingly for someone who paints huge pictures for public display, it’s not a nickname that matches up with his character.

City officials are not involved in sketches of the drawings; all the creative ideas come the artists themselves.

At the end of the festival, Ukraine’s first catalogue of “muralism” will be released as a guide for the open air works

of street art.

Muralissimo is organized by the Lavra gallery with help from the Kyiv City Administration, German and French embassies and French cultural center. The artists receive small stipends from the sponsors and financial backers.

Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Horban can be reached at horban@kyivpost.com

www.kyivpost.com

Lifestyle 21

October 29, 2010

Best gallery picks PinchukArtCentre presents the works of 21 young artists shortlisted for the international Future Generation Art Prize founded by billionaire Victor Pinchuk. From painting and photography to installation and film making, the exhibition is a feast of contemporary art from all over the world. Only one Ukrainian painter, Artem Volokitin, made it onto the list. The winner will be picked by an international jury in December and awarded $100,000 for his work. Aside from young talent, the gallery opens Japanese Takashi Murakami’s personal exhibition “Emperor’s New Clothes.�

PinchukArtCentre, 1/3-2 Chervonoarmiyska/Baseyna, Block A, 590-0858, pinchukartcentre.org, until Jan.9 (closed Monday) Painter Tiberiy Silvashi summarizes four years of his work in the Ya Gallery Art Center. In Voloska gallery, his work analyzes reality with the help of three giant cubes named “Reality. Black. White. Green.� Behind colorful avant-garde forms, there’s a message: Silvashi considers a human body to be the meeting place of the world, while conscience represents reality. In Ya Gallery on Horyva, Silvashi presents his latest paintings in oil, enamel, ink and watercolors in exhibition “Water and Oil.� On Oct. 30, the artist will hold a master class to explain the element of space in his work and debate the concept of reality, reading aloud his own essay and showing a couple of movies. “Reality. Black. White. Green.� Ya Gallery on Voloska, 55/57 Voloska, 5373351, www.yagallery.com.ua, until Nov. 23 “Water and Oil.� Ya Gallery on Horyva, 49B Horyva, 492-9203, www.yagallery.com.ua, until Nov. 30 (closed Sundays) Bottega Gallery shows 10 works of Marta Tkachik, a 23-year-old Lviv native who’s bound to a wheelchair. Her paintings make her spirit fly and become an outlet to a world full of bright flowers, wild animals and motley shapes. She wants people to see her soul, not the disability, through the “Inner World� exhibition. Famous Ukrainian female artists, including Masha Shubina, Zhanna Kadyrova, and Oleksandra Chichkan and others created one painting each especially for this show.

Bottega gallery, 22B Mykhaylivska, 279-5353, www.bottega-gallery.com until Nov. 6 (closed Sundays and Mondays) Step inside the “Ideal World� of Ihor Karpenko in the Karas Gallery. His version of utopia includes bright photographs of smiling people having time of their life out of town and out of work. Escape the autumn blues with these summer shots and coffee in one of many nearby cafes.

Karas Gallery, 22A Andriyevsky Uzviz, 238-6531, www.karasgallery.com, Oct. 28-Nov. 16

Yellow Sea restaurants offer assured service and natural interiors Æ17 roll for Hr 68 had parsley lurking inside. I forked it all out as I think it works better with Ukrainian dishes than Japanese.

For a bit of summer on a chilly Friday evening, we ordered green tea

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with apple flavor. Those who like their hot drinks straight, beware that a teapot comes already sweetened with honey.

Overall, the food was incredibly fresh and served promptly. The restaurant is proud of its Hong Kong and Londontrained chef, Aleksey Arbuzov. The decor’s emphasis on earthy colors with plenty of green plants, wooden ceilings and stone-like floors helps to relax and unwind.

Given the usual standard of Kyiv’s restaurant bathrooms, it’s important to mention that in Yellow Sea they are spotless clean and play sounds of nature as background music. The restaurant clearly takes its details pretty seriously.

Kyiv Post Lifestyle Editor Yuliya Popova can be reached at popova@ kyivpost.com

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Michel Comte’s personal photo exhibition at Brucie Collections presents portraits, action shots and nudes of world-famous celebrities, including Mickey Rourke, Naomi Campbell, and Robert Downey Jr., among others. Comte learned photography all by himself while studying to be an arts restorer in Switzerland. He made his name taking pictures of actors, models, artists and sports stars for various glossy magazines.

Working for the International Red Cross, Comte shot in war zones around the world.

Photographs featured are available for sale.

Brucie Collections, 55B Artema St., 353-1234, www.bruciecollections.com, Oct. 20-Dec.13

Mate Zalky Street

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The Small Gallery of Mystetsky Arsenal displays Zoya Orlova’s vision of kindergartens in Ukraine. The artist takes a hard look inside brick gazeboes – a permanent feature of children’s playgrounds. Their walls, covered with naive and creepy paintings copied from cartoons and children’s books, bring no calm to those crossing the threshold. Teenagers hang in them at night drinking, swearing and sometimes taking drugs. In the morning, they leave for children from the kindergarten to come in and play. Orlova sees the gazeboes as a stage for the absurd theatre of life.

The Small Gallery of Mystetsky Arsenal, Lavrska 12, 288-5140, www.artarsenal.in.ua, Oct. 21-Nov. 15

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“Lightness� art project in the Tsekh Gallery is dedicated to Juliette Binoche. Painter Mykola Bilous met the famous French actor in April and decided to put his emotions on canvas. Check out his impressions of Binoche inspired by the film “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,� an adapation of Milan Kundera’s novel.

Tsekh Gallery, 69 Frunze St., 068-118-5157, www.zeh.com.ua, Until Nov. 20 (closed Sunday, Monday)

Natural interiors in the Yellow Sea restaurants make for a good break from often opulent decors in many Kyiv joints. (Olexiy Boyko)

Yellow Sea restaurant 8 Geroyiv Stalingrada, tel. 224-5820, 224-5821 22A Shota Rustaveli, tel. 235-6101 www.zheltoemore.com

22 Lifestyle

www.kyivpost.com

October 29, 2010

Jazz in Kiev festival keeps the beat alive Æ17 inviting top performers to Kyiv for the festival at the end of October.

The story of jazz in Ukraine began in the 1920s with composer Bohdan Wesolowsky of Stryi in Lviv oblast and Russian-language crooner Pyotr Leschenko from Kherson. Their music became popular enough that people recognized them on the street. But the onset of World War II eventually sent Wesolowsky and his music to Canada.

Leschenko fell victim to the ban on jazz imposed during Stalin's Terror, when anything considered free or decadent immediately invited suspicion.

“Jazz is open-minded music for openminded people,” said Kyiv-based historian Daniel Porcedda. “You can’t put a wild animal into a small cage.”

In Canada, Wesolowsky continued to write tango, rumba, foxtrot and waltzinspired jazz music with Ukrainian lyrics until his death in 1971. Leschenko, despite experiencing a brief revival of his music in Odesa in the mid-1940s, eventually faded into oblivion. For a quarter of a century, jazz all but ceased to exist in the Soviet Union.

It began to reemerge in Ukraine and across the Soviet Union during the 1960s owing to the more relaxed policies of then-Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. The famous Duke Ellington Orchestra played to large crowds in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv and Tbilisi in 1971. According to influential Ukrainian jazz figure Leonard Feather, the tour represented “the greatest coup in the history of musical diplomacy.”

Ukrainian modern jazz godfather, Kohan, then a 14-year old boy, attended one concert and still keeps a poster signed by every member of the band.

Kohan has been hosting a jazz program on 105FM radio for more than 20 years. He also founded the Jazz in Kiev promotional agency, which organizes hundreds of jazz events in Ukraine. At the interview, his phone never stopped ringing - Kohan no longer belongs to himself - jazz took over his life.

“I want to help jazz in this country,” Kohan said. “[Its] development since independence has been as it should: step by step.”

Though Kohan’s jazz shows might give local audiences some choice in music, in general Ukrainians have virtually none: on the radio, on television, in nightclubs or in bars. “It’s like a box of spaghetti,” Kohan said of the Ukrainian music scene. “It’s all the same.”

Historian Porcedda agreed, saying that a large part of this is due to American jazz legend Herbie Hancock will close out the Jazz in Kiev festival, which runs from Oct. 29-31.

Oleh Skrypka presents his jazz program in Kyiv on March 26. (Oleksiy Boyko)

jazz musicians lacking the financing or focus needed to produce an album.

The capital has few erstwhile jazz hotspots and most of them are either no longer dedicated jazz venues, such as Art Club 44 and Baraban (“The Drum”), or have closed altogether.

ÆPolitical thaw under Nikita Krushchev led to a jazz revival in Soviet Union Jazz festivals and special projects, however, help spread the vibe. Skrypka, the iconic VV front man, is another big name in the modern history of jazz. He himself only discovered the music of

Wesolowsky in 2005 thanks to a friend who gave him a CD in Lviv.

Skrypka felt overwhelmed and called it “quality music with cool melodies and lyrics.” Two days later he started recording music for the jazz music project he named “I have a sensitive heart.”

Wearing a black dinner jacket and matching trousers with a collared, white-cotton dress shirt, Skrypka fits the bill of someone well-suited to help Ukrainians cultivate their taste for the finer things in life. After living for seven years in Paris, he says that “Ukrainians are starving for good music.” He expects to release his album of 15 well-known Wesolowsky compositions later this fall. Skrypka believes he can reach new listeners because the music has “a sophisticated feel that appeals to them.”

Providing further evidence of the historical paucity of Ukraine’s jazz history, Kohan recently released a discography of Ukrainian jazz on vinyl, cassette and CD. He said he was being able to find only a handful of jazz music recordings made in Ukraine from 1970 until 2000. Most of the approximately 200 Ukrainian jazz albums in existence have been recorded and released since 2005.

Those that do exist represent the genre well: more classical approaches to jazz appear in “Medium Cool” and “Music First,” according to Kohan. The country’s unique ethnic roots come to light with the folksy Mlada and her “Oy, Vesna, Vesna” release and Enver Izmailov’s in “Traveling by Crimea.”

Despite the fall of the Iron Curtain, recording new albums and educating public remains difficult, according to historian Porcedda. “Here [music company executives] want to make jazz a business, but even in Germany and other countries it’s typically not

Oleksiy Kohan during “Jazz in Kiev” festival on Oct. 10, 2009. (UNIAN)

possible to make money on a concert or an album. Generally you throw concerts for pleasure, not for money”.

But Kohan, Skrypka and some others fight on. Kohan will once again host their Jazz in Kiev festival (www.jazzinkiev.com) on Oct.29-31. Now in its

third year, it will feature American funk jazz legend Herbie Hancock closing out the three-day event. By trying to bring some of the world’s best jazz musicians to Kyiv, Kohan – like Skrypka with his new jazz project – hopes to spur interest in the music he loves.

www.kyivpost.com

Lifestyle 23

October 29, 2010

Gadget Guru

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 unlikely to top Apple’s iPhone AL E X E Y B O N DA R E V BONDAREV@KYIVPOST.COM

Microsoft has severely criticized Apple for its latest iPhone model since the moment it hit the market in June this year. But the device’s overwhelming success has forced Microsoft to reshuffle its own strategy for mobile telecommunication devices.

Microsoft’s Windows Mobile platform proved too obsolete to compete with the iPhone, and was abandoned in favor of the new Windows Phone 7. The phones have just recently hit the shelves of stores in Europe and the United States, and might appear in Ukraine before the end of the year.

I’ve had the chance to put my hands on two Windows Phone 7 devices, one from HTC and one from Samsung – both are good, but they are by no means a threat to Apple’s domination in this niche.

The first thing I noticed was the unique interface. It looks nothing like

an iPhone, Android or Blackberry. You don’t have to open any menus or click icons. The whole interface looks like a website, with the screen like a lens you’re moving above it.

The titles of the sections are written with huge letters, a nice attempt to reduce eye strain but they often don’t fit onto the screen. For example, you see PICT not PICTURES. It takes a while to get used to this interface, but it looks good, feels good and runs really fast.

The main screen consists of socalled tiles. You can rearrange them in the way you like, and then see the status updates of your friends in social networks, new e-mails and so on, all directly from your main screen.

You can see the your contacts’ latest social network statuses inside the phone book without clicking the applications, a feature iPhone users can only dream of.

It’s convenient, for example, if you want to call your friend, but when you enter the phone book you immediately see his latest Facebook status shows he’s busy.

Windows Phone 7 also inherits the corporate features of its predecessor, the old Windows Mobile. You can eas-

ily access the corporate Exchange servers for e-mail, use the built-in Microsoft Office and view and edit Word and Excel documents.

According to Dmytro Shymkiv, general director of Microsoft Ukraine, Windows Phone 7 is targeted at businesspeople who are active in social networking. He says the aim is to change the way you use your phone in everyday life.

I won’t argue with that. There are obvious advantages over the iPhone and other platforms. But there are also a number of flaws – serious ones.

Ironically, Windows Phone 7 has the same problems the iPhone had when it hit the market. It lacks two core functions that could be found in any Nokia Smartphone or old Windows Mobile communicator five years ago: copypaste and multitasking.

The first function is essential when working with any kind of information in your phone. It allows you to easily copy text from a website that you are currently browsing on or e-mail that you have just received, and paste it, for example, into the SMS being sent to your friend.

It took Apple two years to imple-

iPhone 4G

The Windows Phone 7. (AP)

ment this function on the iPhone. Now Microsoft is making the same mistake.

The absence of this option on any hi-tech telecommunications device – portable or not – in this age is simply absurd.

It’s almost the same story with multitasking. Apple’s iPhone was heavily criticized for not being able to run several programs simultaneously. Apple added multitasking to the iPhone last year.

Again, Windows Phone 7 is behind, but still repeating mistakes made by its main rival: It has no strong multitasking except for the basic feature of checking e-mails or listening to music while doing something else with the phone.

With the iPhone you can run Skype in the background and receive chats and calls from your buddies while, for example, playing a game. You can’t do that with Windows Phone 7. You also can’t simply copy a file to a Windows Phone 7 device and then do something with it. You can’t play unconverted video, you can’t easily upload your own ringtone; the list goes on.

At the moment, there are about 1,000 apps available for Windows Phone 7, far below the 300,000 in the Apple App Store for the iPhone. I believe Microsoft will be able to attract

software developers to its new platform, but it will take time.

Microsoft Ukraine’s Shymkiv hopes the first Windows Phone 7 devices will be available for Ukrainian customers in December. It’s not yet known how much they’ll cost, but they’re sure to be pricey.

The first Windows Phone 7 devices in the U.S. cost almost as much as the iPhone 4 in the U.S. and European markets – around $150-300 with a two-year contract, or in the $600-700 range without a contract.

In Ukraine, the iPhone 4 costs as much as $1,000, but it’s not sold officially, hence the big markup. Microsoft promises to sell its newest device legally, insisting that the domestic price will be more affordable for Ukrainians.

But to be honest, there’s no need to start saving money for one unless you’re a hardcore Microsoft fan or a nerd who can’t miss an opportunity to test a new gadget.

Nice try, Microsoft. But Apple’s iPhone and Android offer more for the nerds as well as ordinary users.

Kyiv Post news editor Alexey Bondarev can be reached at bondarev@kyvipost. com

24 Paparazzi

Light, camera, action at Molodist film festival

www.kyivpost.com

October 29, 2010

Former President Viktor Yushchenko with his wife Kateryna

Iconic French actors Gérard Depardieu and Fanny Ardant (R)

French actor Christopher Lambert

Æ

Russian filmmaker and festival host Renata Litvinova

Ukraine's most famous film festival, Molodist, opened at the National Opera House in Kyiv on Oct. 23. For its 40th anniversary, organizers showed archive footage of cinema making in Ukraine. Yet the ceremony itself looked more like a Russian-French collaboration. Russian filmmaker Renata Litvinova hosted the event in Russian. The speech of her co-host, French icon Gerard Depardieu, was interpreted into Russian.

Some French guests on stage tried to remember what they know about Russia. The festival's homeland only became clear when Ukraine's popular music band VV hit the stage halfway through the show. (Yaroslav Debelyi, Olexiy Boyko, Dmytro Larin) Celebrity reporter Katya Osadcha (C) awaits guests in front of Kyiv’s National Opera House

Russian flmmaker Ihor Kopylov (L) with singer-actress Kamaliya before their film premiere ‘Million to the Sky,’ a part of the Molodist program on Oct.27

Gérard Depardieu (L) greets Sophie Marceau (C) and Christopher Lambert.

All three actors received the festival's award ‘Scythian Deer’ for their contribution to cinema.

www.kyivpost.com

October 29, 2010

Lifestyle 25

Popular comedian no longer finds Yanukovych a laughing matter

BY I RY N A P RY MAC H YK PRYMACHYK@KYIVPOST.COM

Meeting comedian Andriy Molochny in person is a rather disheartening experience. The larger-than-life character, whose humor and quick wit have made him one of Ukraine’s most popular comedians, turns out to be serious, prickly and unwilling to joke.

Molochny, 32, gave a polite welcome to the Kyiv Post in his simple, white-walled office. But when questions turned to his timidity in joking about politicians – some of whom he calls friends – he began to snap. Even English humor – famed for its darkness and complexity – didn’t escape his sharp tongue.

Molochny, one half of the popular comedy pair Chekhov’s Duo, is a regular fixture on Ukrainian and Russian television. His start came in KVN, a popular Russian TV show where student teams compete in making jokes.

In 2006 he launched “Comedy Club UA,” a Ukrainian version of Russian popular stand-up comedy show.

“More than 10 years spent in KVN gave me almost no money. I did have a pair of pants, shoes and a white starched shirt, but nothing more,” Molochniy said. “I thought it would be good to do something similar, but in another format.” A performance

by Chekhov’s Duo now commands a $10,000 fee.

“Comedy Club UA,” which is now known as “Real Comedy,” is a raucous weekly show where comedians joke with each other in front of a starstudded audience at Kyiv’s Arena City.

Molochny and his comedy partner Anton Lirnyk began by doing parodies of top Ukrainian officials, such as President Viktor Yanukovych, former President Viktor Yushchenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. His mocking of Yanukovych is now an old joke.

But now, political humor finds no place in the shows.

Many think that the comic’s friendship with politicians, such as Yanukovych and Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky, may have something to do with this self-censorship.

Molochny performed at Yanukovych’s 59th birthday party last year, before the presidential election. He is clearly an admirer.

“I’ve done many numbers about him, imitated his voice, made some parodies, and he was laughing at it all with the rest of his guests,” Molochny said. “After that evening I changed my mind about him and said to myself I wanted this man to become country’s president. I was not paid for that, it’s my personal point of view.”

Molochny became friends with Chernovetsky three years ago. He insisted that the eccentric former banker wears a mask in public.

“If I didn’t know Leonid Mykhailovych [Chernovetsky] in person, I’d think he is a space cadet and has probably used some drugs. But he understands all our jokes about him, can stand up and joke himself in his turn. He is absolutely different from what we can see him on TV,” Molochny insisted.

Molochny denied that his friendships

Stand-up comedians Andriy Molochny (L) and Anton Lirnyk perform at ‘Real Comedy’ show in Kyiv’s Arena City on Aug.17. (Courtesy)

have affected his comedy routines. He said that politically neutral jokes in Ukraine are part of a general apathy toward politics.

“More everyday life jokes are welcome today. Ukrainians are fed up with politics. I don’t find it funny myself either. Moreover, it’s been a year since I have watched any news. I’m done with it,” Molochny snapped.

He also appears once per month in Russia on the original “Comedy Club” show. Politics is certainly off the menu there.

“Politics in Russia is not laughed at. Not because it is forbidden, as many may think,” Molochny said. “The Russians just respect their government rather than make fun of it. Really important things are being done there, and there is nothing funny either in [Russian Prime Minister Vladimir] Putin’s or [Russian President Dmitry] Medvedev’s speeches.”

Dmytro Chekalkin, the founder of the comedy website “Merry Eggs” after Yanukovych was comically felled by a single egg in an incident in 2004, thinks differently.

“There is a renaissance of political jokes in Russia now, which could not be imagined a year ago,” Chekalkin said. “What we had in Ukraine in 2004-2005 is in Moscow today. Every second joke is on politics. Not on major TV channels, of course, but the majority of Internet sites has rather sharp content regarding the Russian government.”

But whatever his comic material and political views, Molochny is succeeding with audiences.

Apart from the Russian and Ukrainian Comedy Clubs, Molochny launched another television comedy series called “Faina Ukraina” in 2008.

Since mid-September, a new season of the “Real Comedy” show has been showing at Arena City.

He is clearly in his element in the Slavic world. Western humor remains a mystery to him. Speaking of the humor in England, where he once worked as a manual laborer, Molochny said: “Their jokes are poor and narrow. They read too little, are interested in too little and are too serious about everything. If something is out of their control, they immediately call the police.”

For more information on “Real

Comedy” comedy shows, see: http:// realcomedyua.com.

The show can be viewed on ICTV television channel (http://www.ictv.ua) each Friday at 11:22 p.m.

Kyiv Post staff writer Iryna Prymachyk can be reached at prymachyk@kyivspot. com.

Andriy Molochny dressed as a cleaner working in Ukrainian parliament in television comedy series “Faina Ukraina” on Oct. 19, 2008 (Courtesy)

26 Lifestyle

www.kyivpost.com

October 29, 2010

A demonstrator holds a Playboy magazine during a protest against the appointment of Walid Arfush, who has a Playboy image, as deputy head of First National Channel in Kyiv on April 14. (UNIAN)

Arfush sees mostly blue skies under Yanukovych

BY J O H N M A R ON E MARONE@KYIVPOST.COM

Few foreigners who bet early on independent Ukraine can match the colorful career of Walid Arfush, who now serves as deputy head of national television channel UT-1. Arfush, 39, has done everything from international beauty contests to Ukrainian radio and paparazzi, with razzle-dazzle PR skills serving as the connecting thread. Hailing from sunny Lebanon via France, Arfush first came to Ukraine during the country’s gray Soviet days to study, but stayed on to do business. In an Oct. 25 interview with the Kyiv Post, he denies providing a cosmetic makeover for the administration of President Viktor Yanukovych, instead emphasizing positive change and action he says are already under way on Ukrainian state TV. Kyiv Post: You were recently quoted in a media interview as saying that you believe that First National should be supportive of the current authorities. You are familiar with Western media standards. Don’t you think that media should be objective and critical of officialdom when such criticism is due?

Walid Arfush: I have been in this country for 20 years and I know Russian quite well. But sometimes I notice that I want to say one thing but end up saying quite another. So I’m glad you asked me this question. When I said this, I meant that in the charter of our channel we are obliged to cover the different activities of the government.

There are lots of private channels in the country that can criticize what the government is doing. But what I meant is that we are obliged to just show what they do, and let the people decide if it is good or bad.

KP: So what you are saying is that First National should have no controversy but just be matter of fact?

WA: Well, if you have time to watch the news at 9 p.m., you will see that our news is very balanced. For example, we recently did one thing in the news to show how well the police are prepared for the Euro 2012 [football tournament]. We asked one American guy with a hidden camera to go and speak English to a police officer right on Maidan. He asked where the Philharmonic was. But the only answer the policeman gave was: 'Show me your documents?' So we do show also the other reality that things aren’t good enough in Ukraine.

KP: In another recent interview, a human-rights spokesperson called First National 'a Potemkin village.' What’s your response to someone who says you are a PR guy working for the authorities?

WA: I do understand that there is this stereotype about the channel: It’s not interesting to watch, always saying good things about the government and far from reality. But if you watch what we are doing, you would see that we are bringing in lots of changes, for example, like every day more than five hours of live shows from the studio.

The best thing for freedom of speech is live programs without any control. And we have lots of this. Things are changing. Some people criticize it, but when I ask them when the last time was that they watched the channel, nobody can give me a concrete answer.

KP: OK, but if opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko were to show up and say: I want to do an interview on First National, would you give her the opportunity?

WA: We don’t just give her the opportunity, we ask her almost twice a week or something to come and be our guest. But Tymoshenko is the kind of guest who has to know all the questions in advance. Tymoshenko, for a TV station, is always a good thing. But she is not giving us a positive answer.

KP: Do you think that First National criticizes the current administration at all? Does it ever say: ‘You are doing this right or this wrong’?

WA: We are doing lots of this, especially in the social area. We have done lots of experiments, like the police one. We have done other ones on, for example: how long it takes to get all the official stamps for your flat.

Walid Arfush

KP: How about more serious things like natural gas dealings with Russia? Or would you, for example, do something about the SBU (successor to KGB) being controlled by someone like [media owner Valery] Khoroshkovsky?

WA: Well maybe we’ll do things like that, but I do not deal with the political content of the news. It’s not my job. I do mainly international entertainment and music on the channel.

KP: Are you telling me: ‘It’s not my fault’?

WA: No, there’s no fault. We have to improve our work and there are lots of things that we are doing. For example, we are getting training from French journalists. There is a lot to do. You have seen for yourself the state of this building we’re in – it’s like a museum.

President Viktor Yanukovych (L) and Walid Arfush attend the Savik Shuster live television show on Dec. 25, 2009. (UNIAN)

And also you know that we are going to do Euronews in Ukrainian. This is something for the critics. The [Viktor] Yushchenko-Tymoshenko regime promised this for ages but never even paid the yearly license fee. So there is a big difference between what Yushchenko and Tymoshenko said and what the new authorities are doing.

KP: You know, when I look at you, I see a pretty colorful career.

You have done all kinds of things: Radio stations, beauty pageants, PR, a paparazzi magazine. Why were you brought in here?

WA: You know, I turn 40 years old next year. I have had time to analyze what I can really do well. There are three things that I know I am good at. The first is PR. For example, I had my Super Nova radio station, which was known all over the country but was not number one as a radio station. And I have worked in PR with President Yanukovych and other political personalities.

KP: So you don’t hide this? You did PR for Yanukovych?

WA: Of course. I was responsible during the election campaign for all his foreign press. The second thing that I am very good at doing is new projects, you know, taking a big thing and bringing it to life. And my latest big thing is the Euronews contract.

KP: So what do you say to someone who says: ‘This guy is now PRing Yanukovych and he’s doing it with state money’?

WA: Well, I don’t agree with you, because Yanukovych doesn’t need the First National channel to PR himself.

This is the last channel that he would use for his own PR. KP: What does he need the channel for, then?

WA: I have done a small analysis and I came to the conclusion that Yushchenko & Co speak very good

Ukrainian – beautiful. They can tell you fairytales in a great language, Ukrainian. But they did a terrible job. They just destroyed things. The Yanukovych guys speak bad Ukrainian and are not very smooth in telling things, but they are doing a great job.

KP: So this is why they need a smooth guy like you, yeah?

WA: Oh, I don’t know. But there are always people who aren’t happy.

And regarding this lady who called First National channel a Potemkin village, I would like to work with her on a TV project, to help improve things.

To criticize is easy, but to do the job is difficult.

KP: OK, two more questions: Are you a Ukrainian citizen?

WA: Yes, since 2005.

KP: Are you a French citizen, too [dual citizenship is prohibited by Ukrainian law]?

WA: No. KP: Do you mean to tell me that every time that you go to France, and I know you go to France, you get a visa?

WA: Yes, I can show it to you if you want. [Shows Ukrainian passport with visa and several entry stamps.]

KP: One last question. In the early days, when you were doing these beauty contests, sending Ukrainian girls abroad, some said there was something scandalous involved. What do you say to this?

WA: It’s very simple, really? I have done great beauty contests. The sponsors – big sponsors like Coca Cola or Procter and Gamble – were paying for them.

There were always good sponsors. So when you have enough money to make a good contest and to make money, you don’t need these other things.

Kyiv Post staff writer John Marone can be reached at marone@kyivpost.com

www.kyivpost.com

Conductor Herman Makarenko

Paparazzi 27

October 29, 2010

A symphonic embrace of the United Nations

Symphoic orchestra Kyiv-Classic

Æ

The symphonic orchestra Kyiv-Classic performed on Oct. 21 in the National Opera House to mark the 65th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. The program, called Music of All Continents, included a collection of best classical works from all over the world. African and Australian music left a lasting impression on the audience with its skilful use of ethnic rhythms in an otherwise classic performance. Along with Arabic, Chinese and Argentinean pieces, they were performed for the first time in Ukraine. Musicians also played folk songs of different nations adapted for the orchestra. Kyiv-Classic has performed on many world stages, including at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris and Royal Gallic Hall in Brussels. Politicians, ambassadors and celebrities attended the event.

UN resident coordinator in Ukraine Olivier Adam and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko delivered congratulatory speeches. The organization opened its representative office in Kyiv in 1992. (Courtesy)

The audience at Kyiv’s National Opera House enjoys the show.

If you want Kyiv Post Paparazzi to cover your event, please send details or invitations to news@kyivpost.com or contact photo editor Yaroslav Debelyi at 234-6500

Goodman’s head chef, Oleh Starun

Meat lovers meet at Goodman’s

Food show presenter Dasha Malakhova (C)

Mikhail Zelman, founder of Goodman’s restaurant.

The Restaurateurs’ Club met at Goodman steak house on Oct. 19 to discuss the meat-eating culture. Founder Mikhail Zelman, who also runs food establishments in Moscow and London, flew in to host the event. Restaurant owners and chefs from other Kyiv venues gathered to listen as Zelman talked about the international food business. Goodman’s is famous for its quality meats from as far as Australa and special grill ovens. During his presentation, guests asked questions on how to improve service in Ukraine and cultivate eating out habits. Zelman said that “his hair turned grey” before he trained his staff. But it may have been worth it as the restaurant‘s service is assured and friendly, without being overly slick or intrusive. Zelman said he never refers to his waiting staff as “waiters,” calling them colleagues instead.

As for luring people from home-cooked dinners to restaurants, Zelman advised his colleagues to focus on what they cook best and scrimp on the quality of food for the sake of posh interiors.

Goodman‘s steaks are pricey - all going for Hr 340, but Zelman insists that a once-per-month deluxe steak won’t empty your pockets and will be worth every penny spent. (Olexiy Boyko)

A delectable rib-eye steak

28 Community Bulletin Board

October 29, 2010

Publication of items in Kyiv Post Community Bulletin Board is free of charge. The newspaper will print as many submissions as space permits, but notices must be no more than 30 words, except for the people in need section.

Advertising of paid services or commercial ventures is prohibited in this space. Permanent items must be resubmitted every three months. Deadline for submissions is 3 p.m. Friday for the next issue. New listings are boldfaced.

Please e-mail news@kyivpost.com or contact lifestyle editor Yuliya Popova at 234-6500.

Business clubs – 4 listings

We meet Sundays at 3 p.m. at St Catherine’s German Lutheran Church, 22 Luteranska Street, a five-minute walk from Khreshchatyk. Bible study on Tuesdays at 7.30 p.m.

Please call Graham at 098-779-4457 for more information, www.acny.org.uk/8592.

International clubs – 9 listings

Î Free English discussions about Internet marketing.

Bold Endeavours, a British marketing and web development company, welcomes senior marketing managers/ directors to an English language discussion group about search engines and Internet marketing at noon on the first Saturday of each month. Call 221-9595, or register online at www.bold.com.ua.

Î Student Embassy Project invites students to join intercultural events in Kyiv, Lviv and Ternopil. The initiative is aimed at international students’ integration into Ukrainian society, youth leadership development, intercultural dialogue. To learn more please e-mail us at studentembassy@gmail.com or visit: http://studentembassy.org.ua.

Public speaking – 6 listings

Î Word of God Church offers Bible study every Sunday and Wednesday at 7 p.m. Sunday school, nursery for children. For more information call: 517-5193. Î International Baptist Church invites you to our English language worship services (Sundays at 10 a.m.). We are located near Vyrlytsya metro in the downstairs hall of Transfiguration Church, 30B Verbytskoho.http://livingvinechurch.googlepages.com. Î The Evangelic Presbyterian Church of the Holy Trinity invites you to our worship service, held in Ukrainian and Russian with simultaneous English translation. We meet each Sunday at 50-52 Shevchenka Blvd., #402 (4th floor).

Worship begins at 11 a.m. Sunday school for adults begins at 9:45 a.m. Pastor Ivan Bespalov: tel. (044) 287-0815; (097) 317-9598; e-mail: ivanbespalov@gmail.com. Î Kyiv International Bible Church, an English-language evangelical nondenominational church meeting at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays at 34A Popudrenka, between Darnytsya and Chernihivska metro stops. Contacts: 501-8082, orkievIBC@gmail.com.

Î Dnipro Hills Toastmasters Club would like to invite success-oriented people to learn and develop public speaking, presentation and leadership skills. Join us Sundays from 10 to 11 a.m. at Kyiv Business School, 34 Lesya Ukrainky Street, metro station Pecherska. For detailed information, please, check our website www. dniprohills.org.ua

Î International Christian Assembly meets at 57 Holosiyivska St. Services are held every Sunday: 9 a.m. till 11:30 a.m. For further information contact: Paul, +050382-2782, www.icakiev.com

Support groups – 5 listings.

Î Top Talkers Toastmasters Club is happy to invite ambitious and enthusiastic people to learn by doing. Together we will discover inner potential in public speaking and leadership in each of us. We meet every Tuesday at Kraft Foods, 23 Yaroslaviv Val St. at 7 p.m. Please check our website www.toptalkers.org Î American Chamber of Commerce Toastmasters Club invites English speaking business professionals to advance their presentation and communication skills in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. We meet each Wednesday at 7.30 p.m., at the Microsoft Ukraine office, 75 Zhylyanska St., Floor 4, Business Center Eurasia. To receive further details on the club and its membership, please contact our club vice president for membership, Anton Stetsenko at 093-609-5161. Î Kyiv Toastcrackers Club, a part of Toastmasters International, is a worldwide organization that helps men and women learn the arts of speaking, listening and thinking through effective oral communication. We invite new people to benefit from the meetings on Wednesdays, at 7 p.m. at the House of Scientists, 45a Volodymyrska St. For more information see www.toastcrackers.kiev.ua. Î Talkers Toastmasters Club invites those interested in improving their public speaking, communication skills, English and creative abilities to join its meetings on Saturday mornings at 11 a.m. Please, check club’s website at arttalkers.wordpress.com, call 096-565-6229 or e-mail: arttalkers@gmail.com

Religion – 8 listings. Î Christ Church, Kyiv. We are the Anglican/Episcopal Church, serving the English-speaking community in Kyiv.

Î The Kyiv Rotary Club meets on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. at Andreyevsky Prichal restaurant, 6 Bratskaya Str. For more information, please contact Nataliya Rodovanskaya at 067-296-5672 or n_radov@yahoo.com.

Î Divorce mediation, commercial mediation, consulting on diagnostics of conflict resolution in organization.

Ukrainian Mediation Center, www.ukrmedation.com. ua Please contact Oksana Kondratyuk: 066-758-66-44, delo2@i.ua.

Î Amnesty International English Speaking Group.

Meetings are being held every other Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. Become informed, get involved and brush up on your English. Meetings are held at the German Lutheran Church, 22 Lyuteranska St. For more details call 066-2474099 or email at amnestykiev@yahoo.com. Î Democrats Abroad Ukraine is the official organization of the Democratic Party in Ukraine; connecting Americans with U.S. politics and the Democratic Party; registering, informing, and motivating voters; supporting U.S. candidates, holding events, and fundraising. To join, email info@ democratsabroad.org.ua.

Î The Kyiv Lions Club is one of 45,000 Lions Clubs around the world. We raise funds and provide services to help those most in need in our community by supporting charities in our chosen sectors of giving: children, the disabled, and the elderly. We meet on the second Monday of every month in the downstairs bar of the Golden Gate Irish Pub at 7 p.m. For more information contact Paul Niland at 044-531-9193 or paul.niland@primerosfunds.com.

English clubs – 11 listings

Î Alcoholics Anonymous English-speaking group meets Saturday/Sunday at 12.30 p.m. and Tuesday/Thursday at 7 p.m. at various locations. Contacts: aakyiv@ukr.net, 096460-0137 (friend of Bill) for details of meeting location.

Î Individual psychological counseling for Russian and English speakers. Family issues, mood disorders, anxiety, depression. Psychological Rehabilitation & Resocialization Center. Call Elena Korneyeva, 050-573-5810, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., or e-mail: kornyeyeva@rambler.ru.

Social, sport and health clubs – 1 listing Î Kiev Hash House Harriers club meets every second Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Lucky Pub, 13 Chervonoarmiyska St. (near Lva Tolstoho metro station). For more details, visit the website at www.h3.kiev.ua.

Î Are you a native English speaker? We are glad to invite you to join our English-speaking club. Call 067-6203120 (Olga) or e-mail Olga.Bondar@atlantm.com.ua Î Free English/German conversation club on Sundays.

Druzhbi Narodiv 18/7, office No. 3. Everyone is welcome.

Tel: 529-75-77.

People in need – 2 listings

Î The Rotaract Club Kyiv meets on Thursdays at 7 p.m. at the Ukrainian Educational Center, Prospect Peremohy,#30, apt. 82. For more information, please email: president@ rotaract-kyiv.org.ua or visit our website www.rotaract-kyiv. org.ua.

Î Individual consultations, psychological support in divorce, family relations, stress management, health issues, relaxation, self-esteem, personal development.

Call Elena: 097-294-6781.

Î Counseling/advising in relationships, personal growth, body/ mind/spirit matters. Well-known Ukrainian psychologist counsels expats in English and French in the center of Kyiv (Lyuteranska). See www.hohel.kiev.ua or call 050595-3686 between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Î Free international conversation club on Fridays at 7 p.m. at English Language Center. Interesting topics for discussion, studying the Bible sometimes. Join us at 4B Kutuzova lane office No. 106 (m. Pecherska) and 76 Irpenska, office No. 31 (m. Akademgorodok. The ELC LTD. Tel. 5811989, 229-28-38. http://english.in.ua

Î The International Women’s Club of Kyiv (IWCK) welcomes women from around the world to join our support network and participate in our extensive social and charitable programs. For more information, see our website www.iwck.org, call or e-mail the IWCK Program Coordinator Yaroslava Neruh at 234-3180, office@iwck. org. Address: 39 Pushkinska, #51, entrance 5, door code 38.

Î The Kyiv Multinational Rotary Club welcomes all Rotarians who are in Kyiv and new potential Rotarians.

Our meetings are conducted in English and are held every Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel, Yaroslaviv Val St. 22. For a map and further information please consult our website at: http://kmrclub.org.

Î European Business Association Toastmasters Club invites enthusiastic, goal-oriented people to learn and improve their communication and leadership skills in friendly learning and supportive environment. We meet every Monday at 7.30 p.m. at American Councils at Melnykova, 63. For more information, contact Svetlana Nesterenko at lana_svk@ukr.net or call 067 220 77 55.

More information can also be found at: www.ebatmc. blogspot.com.

Î Free book & DVD exchange. Hundreds of English books and movies. Bring one, take one at the Phoenix Center. Address: metro Pecherska, 2 NemyrovychaDanchenko, University of Technology and Design, blue 14-storied building, 3rd floor. Hours: Mon-Fri 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Sat noon until 1:30 p.m.

Î Improve your English-speaking skills and have fun. Be prepared to speak English most of the time with native speakers. Conversational club, thematic discussions on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information please contact Vadym. email: vadik_s@ukr.net or call 066-767-4407. Î Welcome to the friendly atmosphere of a Frenchspeaking club. We meet once weekly on Saturdays or Sundays for conversation practice and movie sessions.

Please contact Svetlana: 067-907-1456 or email: consonance-s@ukr.net.

Î The British Business Club in Ukraine meets every Saturday for business discussion and once every month for networking. Membership is by invitation only and is open to individuals and companies. Please email: administrator@bbcu.com.ua.

Î Free English practice at conversation club, regular meetings on Fridays at 7 p.m. near Akademgorodok metro. English native speakers. Interesting topics for discussion. Everyone is invited. Join us at 76 Irpenskaya str., off.31. http://english.in.ua/ 229-2838.

Î Free speaking English club in Irpen on Saturdays at Lan School. Call 093-623-3071.

Î International Church, Kyiv. English and Spanish Bible study classes. We invite you to weekly services at 10.30 a.m. Saturdays at 13A Miropolskaya St. (metro Chernigovskaya, second stop by a tram Boichenka. Central entrance of two-story building). Telephone: 38-093-7576848, 542-3194.

Î A new gentlemen’s club is always open for well-educated, successful members (free admission) to combine establishing business relationships with unconstrained socializing. Please contact us: vadym_n@ukr.net, kobserg@yahoo.com, (067) 7406820 Sergio.

if you are interested: info@wavelanguageschool.com. We hope to see you soon – everybody is welcome.

Î Native English speakers. Meet the best and the brightest in Kyiv, well-educated, ambitious, and talented young people 20-30 years old. Share your English skills and make new friends. Everyone is welcome to visit for free. We also organize picnics, balls and excursions. Five days a week at different locations. Please contact Mark Taylor at jmt260@ hotmail.com for more information.

Î You are invited to the St. Paul’s Evangelical Church.

Roger McMurrin is its founding pastor. Music for worship is provided by the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

Worship services are held every Sunday at 2:30 pm at the House of Artistic Collectives (Veriovka Choir Hall, 4th floor) at 50/52 Shevchenko Blvd. Call 235-45-03 or 235-6980.

Î The Business-English Center meets on Sundays at 3 p.m. for a series of business English skills workshops. For more information, call Alex at 234-0871 or email: e-club@i. com.ua or visit www.etcentre.com.ua.

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Î English-Russian Conversation Club for adults. People of different ages are invited for international meetings.

Mini-groups, individual approach. Making new friends.

Conversational trainings. email: engrusglobe@i.ua Î Sprout Christian International School is looking for native English-speaking volunteers who are enthusiastic and love working with children to help in pre-school and English club starting coming September. For more details please call ASAP: Natalie Istomina: +067 501-0406, +093 798-9840. Î Wave Language School offers free English speaking clubs to the public. Join us on weekends from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 p.m.– 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Please contact us by email

Î Maksym Nalivkin Maksym Nalivkin, 12 years old, needs your help. The boy suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and further subarachnoid hemorrhage, which led to three brain surgeries and constant artificial pulmonary ventilation. Since March, the boy has been held at the resuscitation department. For two months, he’s been out of coma. There are slight positive changes that give hope.

He still needs long-term rehabilitation; however, his family already spent their savings on treatment. In case you have any possibility to support them, Maksym’s family would much appreciate it.

Contacts: Mother Elena Nalivkina – 099-625-2475 Father Arkadiy Nalivkin – 050-318-5499; also: 055-2222806; email: nag.box@gmail.com; skype: arkady_g. nalivkin; ICQ: 8423832 Webpage: http://nag.pp.net.ua/ Bank details for hryvnia transfer: Bank: Черноморское отделение Херсонского филиала «Приватбанк» МФО Code: 305299 ОКПО Code: 14360570 Account: 29244825509100 Purpose of payment: 4627085825848787, Nalivkina Elena Nikolaevna, ИНН: 2596602804 Maksym’s family also appeals for advice - any useful contacts of rehabilitation professionals, recovery programs, as well as charity organizations or grant programs for such cases. Î Vanya Chornozub Two-year-old Vanya Chornozub from Kherson Oblast has brain cancer. Since no clinic in Ukraine was able to cure him, he has been transferred to Germany for further treatment. Due to the efforts of many people, two years of therapy brought very good results. Vanya is getting better. But his parents are short of money to pay for further treatment. His parents appeal to anyone who can help support Vanya’s treatment.

Contact person: volunteer Olga Kopylova: 067-234-1225 Details for money transfers: PrivatBank Account: 29244825509100 Bank branch location code: 305299 Code: 14360570 Details of payment: card replenishment: 4405885012914724, Chornozub À.À., support for son’s treatment

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A.B.C.World Languages Center (23/35 Patrisa Lumumby St.) AC Legal Group (10 Grushevskogo St.) Aksonova & Associates (29E Vorovskoho St.) American Chamber of Commerce (12 Amosova St.) American Medical Center (1 Berdychivska St.) Beiten Burkhardt (38 Turhenivska St.) Belgravia Business Club (18/1G Prorizna St.) British Council Ukraine (4/12 Hrihoria Skovorody St.) Ciklum (12 Amosova St.) Clifford Chance (75 Zhylianska St.) DHL (9 Luhova St.) European Business Association (1A Andriyivskiy Uzviz) Grant Thornton Ukraine (4A Dehtiarivska St.) Grata (9A Mykhailivskiy Lane) Hudson Global Resources (19/21E Nyzhniy Val) KPMG (11 Mykhailivska St.) Manpower Ukraine (34B Predslavynska St.) MBA Strategy (32 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho St.) SC Johnson (19B Moskovskiy Prosp.)

Senator Apartments (6 Pirohova ST., 62/20 Dmitrievska St.) Staff Service Solution (1-3 Frunze St.) Student Travel International (18/1 Prorizna St.) Ukraine-Europe Linguistic Centre (20B Kominterna St.) UkrAVTO (15/2 Velyka Vasylkivska St.) Ukrsibbank (14 Pushkinska St.) Via Kiev Lufthansa City Center (172 Horkoho St.)

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Amber (30A Lesi Ukrainki Blvd.)

Arizona Barbeque (25 NaberezhnoKhreshchatytska St.) ATZUMARI (17/52 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho St.) AutPab (3/25 Kominterna St.) Babai beer Club (4 SoďŹ ivska St.) Bar BQ (10/1 Horodetskoho St.) Baraban (4A Prorizna St.) BeerBerry (17/52 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho St.) Belle Vue (7 Saksahanskoho St.) Belvedere (1 Dniprovsky Uzviz) Bierstube (20 Velyka Vasylkivska St.) Bochka Pyvna (3B Bohdana Khmelnytskoho St.; 19A Khreshchatyk St.; 128 Borshchahivska St.; 19 Mezhyhirska St.) Bulvar Cafe/Shaliapin (44 Velyka Vasylkivska St.) Cabaret 'Paradise' (5-7/29 Taras Shevchenko Blvd. ) Ciro`s Pomodoro (12 Shota Rustaveli St.) Coffee Life (22 Yaroslaviv Val St., 40 Uritskoho St., 2 Turhenevska St.) Concord (L.Tolstogo sq. BC ÂŤKievDonbassÂť 8 oor) Dim Kavy (15 Khreshchatyk St., Passage) Dom Bergonie (17 Pushkinska St.) DOUBLE COFFEE (42 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho; 34B Moskovskyi Avenue St., 6 Mykhailivska St.; 1/2 Konstantynivska St.) Dubki (1 Stetsenko St.) Dva Bobra (91 Komarova St., village Mila) ETNO (23A Prorizna St., 25 Pushkinska St., 8/14 Velyka Zhytomyrska St.) Fellini (5 Horodetskoho St.) Fish Market (24A Volodymyrska St.) Fluger (18D Artema St.) Fridays (5A Besarabska Square) Goodman Steak House (75 Zhylians'ka St.) Grandal (24B Polyova St.) Hameleon –5 (82 Turhenevska St.) Himalai (23 Khreshchatyk St.) IQ bar (25 L.Tolstogo St.) IL Patio (112 Saksahanskoho St., 5A Besarabska Square, 5/13 NaberezhnoKhreshchatytska St., 57/3 Velyka Vasylkivska St.) IZUMrud (15/3 O. Gonchara St.) Izumi (24A Mykhailivska St., 46/2 Moskovska St.) John Bull Pub (36 Saksahanskoho St.) Kaffa (3 Shevchenko prov., 22 Saksahanskoho St.,5 Skovorody St.)

Klovsky (16A Mechnykova St.) Korifey (6 Horodetskoho St.) Kraina Kavy (5 Spas'ka St.) La Bodeguita del Medio (21/20 Yaroslaviv Val St.) La Casa Del Habano (13 Klovskiy Spusk) Le Cosmopolite (47 Volodymyrska St.) Le Grand CafĂŠ (4 Muzeiniy Lane) Leo Club (20 Parkova Doroha) Leonardo (2 Besarabska Square) Luciano (33V Dehtiarivska St.) Lun Van (26 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho St.) MaLLina (27B Sahaidachnoho St.) Marokana (24 Lesi Ukrainki Blvd.)

Marmaris (40 Hlybochyts'ka St.) Monako (20A Velyka Zhytomyrska St.) NatĂźrlich (3 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho St.) Neopolis (19 Skovorody St.) New Bombey Palace (33A Druzhby Narodiv Blvd.)

News cafÊ (6 Hetmana St.) O’Brien’s (17A Mykhailivska St.) O’Connor`s (15/8 Khoriva St.) O’Panas (10 Tereshchenkivska St.) Oliva (34 Velyka Vasylkivska St., 25A Druzhby Narodiv Blvd., 5 Kominterna St.) Panda (76 Saksahanskoho St.) Panorama (3 Sholudenko St.) Pantagruel (1 Lysenko St.) Pizza Vezuvio (25 Reitarska St.) Planet-Sushi (41 Sahaidachnoho St., 12 Khreshchatyk St., 57/3 Velyka Vasylkivska St., 8/14 Velyka Zhytomyrska St.) Potato House (6/5 Zhytomyrska St.) Repriza (40/25 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho St.; 38 Velyka Zhytomyrska St.; 26 Chervonoarmiyska St.) Route 66 (87/30 Zhylianska St.) Schnitzel Haus (51 Saksahanskoho St.) Shastra (126A Chervonozorianiy Prosp.)

Shokoladnitsa (53/80 Saksahanskoho St., 48 Velyka Vasylkivska St., 1/2 Baseina St., 4 Lunacharskoho St., 33 Dniprovska Naberezhna, 12 Luhova St., 58/2A Artema St.) Shooters (22 Moskovska St.) Soho (82 Artema St.) Stina (2 Besarabska Square) Suare (11 Artema St.) Sunduk (22A Prorizna St.) Sutra Bar (3 TymoďŹ ivoi St.) Svitlytsia (13B Andriivskyi Uzviz) Tike (31A Sahaidachnoho St.)

Timeout (50 Horkoho St.) To Dublin (4 Raisa Okipna St.) Trans Force (34B Moskovsky Prosp.)

Tsarske Selo (42/1 Ivan Mazepa St.) Under Wonder (21 Velyka Vasylkivska St.) Varenichna Pobeda (14 SoďŹ ivska St.) Videnski Bulochky (25B Sahaidachnoho St., 14/1 Instytutska St., 14 Mechnykova St., 1-3/5 Pushkinska St., 107/47 Saksahanskoho St., 34 Lesi Ukrainki Blvd., 20 Esplanadna St.) Viola’s Bar (1A Taras Shevchenko Blvd.)

Warsteiner Pub (4B Horodetskoho St.) Wolkonsky Keyzer (15 Khreshchatyk St., 5/7-29 Taras Shevchenko Blvd.)

Yakitoria (27A Taras Shevchenko Blvd.; 27 Lesi Ukrainki Blvd.)

3PORT #LUBS 5 Element (29 Elektrykiv St.) Favorit (6 Muzeiniy Lane) Kiev Sport Club (5 Druzhby Narodiv Blvd.)

Planeta Fitnes (10 Kropyvnytskoho St.)

(OTELS Adria (2 Raisa Okipna St.) AttachĂŠ Hotel (59 Zhylianska St.) City Park Hotel (20 Vorovskoho St.) Diarso (5 Velyka Kiltseva Doroha) Domus Hotel (19 Yaroslavskaya St.) Express (38/40 Taras Shevchenko Blvd.)

Gorniy Ruchey (66 Michurina St., village Gora, Boryspil region) Hotel Dnipro (1/2 Khreshchatyk St.) Hyatt (5A Alla Tarasova St.) Impressa Hotel (21 Sahaidachnoho St.) Intercontinental (2A Velyka Zhytomyrska St.) Kozatsky (1/3 Mykhailivska St., 2/32 Antonova St.) Kozatsky Stan (Boryspilske Shose, 18 km) Khreschatyk hotel (14 Khreshchatyk St.) Lybid (1 Peremohy Prosp.)

Opera Hotel (53 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho St.) Oselya (11 Kameniariv St.) President Hotel (12 Hospitalna St.) Premier Palace (5-7/29 Taras Shevchenko Blvd.)

Radisson Blu (22 Yaroslaviv Val St.) Riviera (15 Sahaidachnoho St.)

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Rus (4 Hospytalna St.) Salyut (11B Sichnevogo Povstannia St.) Senator Apartments (6 Pirohova St., 62/20 Dmitrievska St.) Slavutych (1 Entuziastiv St.)

%DUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS Business School MIM-Kyiv (10/12B Shulyavska St.) British International School (45 Tolbukhina St.) British skylines (16 Khreshchatyk St., 10G Larysy Rudenko St.) DEC school (19 Obolonska Naberegnaya) International Institute of Business (8A Brest-Litovskyi Highway) Kyiv International School (3A Sviatoshynsky Lane) Master Klass (34 Ivan Mazepa St.) Pechersk International School (7A Viktora Zabily St.) Runov school (30 Velyka Vasylkivska St.) Speak Up (14 Kotsiubynskoho St. 25B Sahaidachnoho St., 4 Lunacharskoho St., 136 Peremohy Prosp., 14 Vasylkivska St., 26 Lesi Ukrainki Blvd., 3-a Gryshka St.) Sterling Business School (7 Nesterivskiy prov.)

The London School of English (39 Polytehnichna St.) Valerie’s school (14 Mykhailivska St.)

"USINESS #ENTERS Arena (2A Baseina St.) Artem (4 Hlybochytska St.) Cubic Cente (3 Sholudenko St.) Diplomat Hall (59 Zhylianska St.) Eurasia Ukraine (73-79 Zhylianska St.) Evropa (4 Muzeiniy Lane) Evropa Plaza (120 Saksahanskoho St.) GOOIOORD B.V. (34/33 Ivana Franka St., 36 Ivana Franka St.,11 Mykhailivska St., 52B Bohdana Khmelnytskoho St.) Horizon Park (12 Amosova St., 4 Grinchenko St.) Illinsky (8 Illinska St.) Khreshchatyk Plaza (19A Khreshchatyk St.) Kiev-Donbass (42/4 Pushkinska St.) Podol Plaza (19 Skovorody St.)

30 Employment

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October 29, 2010

Job Opening

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A U.S. GOVERNMENT PROJECT IMPLEMENTER, MPRI, AN L-3 DIVISION With a field office in Kyiv, is currently looking for a U.S. citizen to serve as

OFFICE MANAGER

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This position involves handling administrative and procurement responsibilities, supervising a staff of four Ukrainian employees, and coordinating the activities for TDY consultants. The position offers compensation within a range of FS-4 to FS-6, depending upon experience.

A wide range of candidates will be considered, but preference will be given to those with previous experience/responsibilities in office administration, logistics, and procurement. Please email a cover letter and resume to Marc Cagle at

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marc.cagle@l-3com.com by November 30, 2010.

For more information please visit www.mpri.com

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East Europe Foundation seeks candidates for the part-time positions of: • Public-Private Partnerships Consultant • Solar Energy Consultant • Biomass Energy Consultant • CO2 Reduction Consultant

Interested candidates are asked to submit their CV and cover letter with reference to a particular vacancy to contest@eef.org.ua. Deadline for applications: 8 November 2010.

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.

East Europe Foundation is a privately managed non-profit organization supported by Eurasia Foundation and other public and private donors.

EEF mobilizes public and private resources for community, social and economic development in Ukraine, and is a member of the Eurasia Foundation Network. For more information, please visit: www.eef.org.ua

make your

mark

Our Global Business is now offering exciting opportunities for Commercial Trainees to join our Oilseeds operation in a number of our key European locations.

Commercial Trainee The Role

At ADM, we actively foster employee development at every career stage. Our traineeship programme facilitates an understanding of all aspects of our business in preparation for a future management role in our Commercial team. During your development, you will spend time in at least two of our European locations (which could include Germany, Holland, Poland, Ukraine and the UK) following a structured learning plan, while gaining practical experience in the trading business.

Throughout your traineeship, you will be provided support by a dedicated mentor from our senior commercial team.

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Your challenge will be to prepare yourself for further career advancement within the organisation by learning all facets of our Oilseeds trading business, including the development of customer needs, the financial implications of trading decisions, contract law and risk management. The program also includes cross-departmental exposure, allowing you to gain insight into commercial links with other business units.

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The Requirements

• A degree in a Business / Commercial discipline ideally with an agricultural focus. • Internship or some work experience up to two years ideally in commodity trading or production company. • Good communication and presentation skills; fluent in English, with German a strong asset. • Eager to work for a professional and international organiіation with a focus towards Trading coupled with a drive for success and continuous improvement. • Well developed personal skills: self motivated, result oriented, flexible, convincing, customer oriented, enthusiastic and a team player. • Willingness to travel and relocate

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We offer great career opportunities with a competitive remuneration package in a very international environment.

Every day, the 29,000 people of Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) turn crops into renewable products that meet the demands of a growing world. At more than 240 processing plants, we convert corn, oilseeds, wheat and cocoa into products for food, animal feed, chemical and energy uses. We operate the world’s premier crop origination and transportation network, connecting crops and markets in more than 60 countries. Our global headquarters is in Decatur, Illinois, and our net sales for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2010, were $ 62 billion. For more information about our Company and our products, visit www.adm.com.

If you are interested in this position, please e-mail your application and your CV to Oleksandra.Gulakova@adm.com.

For more information please call +38 048 7965722

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www.adm.com

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www.kyivpost.com

Education/Classifieds 31

October 29, 2010

Do YOU want to study in the U.S.?

U.S. Government Sponsored Exchange Programs for all levels of education!

For more information visit the Kyiv EducationUSA Advising Center at: http://www.americancouncilskyiv.org.ua 3&"- &45"5&

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I am English-speaking.

Please call 050 392 03 26 - Elena

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November 6, 2010 The Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (33 Velyka Zhytomyrska Street)

Employment Fair 2010 Place to find the job of your dream!

DO NOT MISS WORKSHOP CANADIAN IMMIGRATION AND JOBS AT 1 PM BY WARREN GREEN! FOR ENTRANCE BRING YOUR CV’s PLEASE If you want to be included into the Employment Fair 2010, please contact advertising department at advertising@kyivpost.com or by phone 044 234-6503 For more information please visit: www.kyivpost.com/projects/employment

Technical partner:

Information partner:

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List of participants as of October 29 Procter & Gamble KPMG BC Toms UkrSibbank Imperial Tobacco Ukraine FORTIS Bank of Cyprus InterContinental Kyiv PricewaterhouseCoopers Cargill Alumniportal Deutschland Richmond Recruitment Agency Phoenix Capital EDELWEISS Management Consulting Google DHL Edinburgh Business School Robota Plus Swedbank Study Bridge Lavrynovych & Partners Canadian Immigration and Jobs IBM Ukraine Steklopribor SCA Hygiene Ukraine CareerGuide Advanced International Translations

32 Photo Story

www.kyivpost.com

October 29, 2010

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1

Campaign heats up for Oct. 31 elections 1

“Europe, help!” reads a banner held by two young participants of a demonstration that took place in front of the Central Election Commission office on Oct. 25. The peaceful protesters were trying to attract attention to violations that could mar the honesty and fairness of the Oct. 31 local elections.

2

A poster depicts Prime Minister Mykola Azarov as Adolf Hitler’s twin brother. This “masterpiece” of election black PR was distributed in Odesa. The other side of the poster shows Eduard Matviychuk, the Odesa Oblast governor, in a typical Nazi pose.

3

Arseniy Yatseniuk, leader of the Front of Change party, complains that his posters placed along the KyivOdesa highway have been destroyed multiple times. He said that people who glued Party of Regions posters on the top of his were acting upon order of the Vasylkiv regional administration chief.

4

Yulia Tymoshenko, head of Fatherland Party, shows fake ballot papers being produced in one of Kharkiv publishing houses, raising fears of ballot stuffing on Oct. 31. (4)

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