It’s hard to surrender your perfect team’s record during a major sporting event, especially when it’s one that will determine whether or not you will have to play the play-off games or simply be automatically in when the final tournaments come around. Luckily enough, Ukraine won’t be sweating too much about those play-off games as the women’s soccer team is still in the number position to reach the UEFA Women’s Euro 2009 after losing to Portugal, the bottom placed team in Group 5.
The Ukraine team was the favorites in Chernigov and they won all six of their qualifying games prior to the Portugal match. That included a game against top seeded Denmark. Portugal had managed to get a measly single point from a draw during their seven games, and that was given up by Scotland. Everything was looking good for our Ukraine team thanks to Nataliya Soukhorokova scoring the first point six minutes into the match. Unfortunately, they weren’t expecting Edite Fernandes from the Portugal team to level in at the end of the first half before overcoming the Ukraine team once and for all.
Ukraine’s women soccer team goes up against Denmark on Wednesday October 1, 2008, and they know that a draw or better against the other team will ensure the spot for next summer’s finals in Finland without having to deal with the play-offs in October.
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Travelers who enjoy hopping from one place to another used to have problems getting from the Middle East to Ukraine via the airlines. Not anymore. It was announced by officials of Air Arabia that they will offering travelers flights into Ukraine and the capital city of Kiev from Sharjah, their primary hub. The flights will be available three times a week and are scheduled to start on October 15, 2008. This addition to Air Arabia’s is just another sign of the airlines growing expansion into the Eastern European markets.
Air Arabia head AK Nizar recognizes the speed in which the economy in Eastern Europe is growing and that passenger traffic between the Middle East and Eastern European areas is growing just as fast. Between tourism and business affairs, the decision to introduce the non-stop service between the two cities made perfect business sense and the airline is ‘offering value-for-money service for friendly and efficient travel’ between the Middle East and Ukraine.
Ukraine is quickly becoming a growing area of high-tech industries, higher education institutions, and historical landmarks. The country has opened their doors to tourists and other businesses and the new flight schedule will help boost the economy and allow travelers from the Middle East to easily access the country.
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Who says nature isn’t grand? There has been a report out of Ukraine about a pretty amazing site in one of the museums and when you stop to think about it, it almost sounds like something out of a fairytale or even the Bible. According to the Noviy Channel TV, there a female pig in Ukraine that is currently nursing three tiger cubs that were abandoned by their mother. The cubs were born the week of September 16, 2008 at the zoo in Dnipropetrovsk but according to zoo officials, mama tiger wasn’t taking care of the kids.
The surrogate mother is on a pig farm in eastern Ukraine near the zoo and the zookeepers suggested that maybe she would nurse the tigers. The three tiger cubs were introduced to the sow and have started nursing from the pig alongside the twelve adopted curly tailed siblings with no objection from the mother pig.
The director of the zoo, Yuriy Aksenych commented on television that he feels the mother tiger has lost her feral instincts after being in captivity for so long and did not feel the need to help her progeny along in an effort to continue the species line.
The last time some friends visited Ukraine, the brought back some great photos of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev. This cathedral dates back to 1037 when Prince Yaroslav the Wise laid the foundation and it is definitely a testament to the skill of Ukrainian builders. It has 13 domes – or cupolas as they call them overseas – that dominate the Kiev skyline and the bell tower it the most notable one as it is topped with gold. There are some of the most beautiful 11th century mosaics and frescoes inside the cathedral and considering all of the turmoil, conflicts and strife the country has seen since 1037, it’s amazing that they are intact.
Unlike most cathedrals found in Europe that are still holding masses as well as being open to public viewing, Saint Sophia’s holds a museum instead that details the cathedrals spiritual and intellectual influence on the region. It tells how the cathedral was an integral part of the spread of the Orthodox faith through Russia from the 17th to 19th century. This beautiful building was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1990 and it should be included on any trip to Ukraine in order to enjoy some of the best architecture and art work in the country.
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Even though Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is having some major issues with his government, his daughter seems to be doing well in her new career as a runway fashion model. It seems that Vitalina 
Yushchenko was spotted working the runway at a Milan show by someone from Russia’s Izvestia newspaper in a showing of some of the newest summer fashions to hit the streets. The collection of clothing was by Ukrainian designer Aina Gase.
This isn’t the first time the president’s daughter has showed up in popular fashion media either. Her modeling portfolio also includes photographs for Russian Vogue and she used to be a pop singer before turning hip fashionista.
Vitalina, 27, is the mother of two and she’s the eldest child of the president from a previous marriage. It seems that both she and her brother Andriy, 23, are, as the media puts it, ‘trying to cash in on their father’s position as president’. They both lead high profile lives and the society pages chronicle their lives including where they live and who they are friends with to the point that another paparazzi nightmare like Diana’s could possibly happen. Yushchenko, like any good father in the public eye has reacted to the media’s scrutiny of his kids and feels they are trying to simply sell newspapers.
Ukraine’s state-run atomic energy company Energoatom has announced that they will be starting construction on two brand new nuclear reactors starting in 2010. The reactors will be at the Khmelnitsky power station in the 
western portion of the country and has been confirmed by the fuel and energy ministry. The ministry said that authorities will be ensuring ‘smooth financing’ for the project and when the two new reactors go online, they will bring the number of reactors operating in Ukraine up to 17. The ministry is quoting remarks that were made by Energy Minister Yuri Prodan that he made while visiting the Khmelnitsky plant.
So far there is no information on how construction of the reactors will be funded or how much the total cost of building them will be but they are expected to be brought on line by the end of 2016. Currently four of Ukraine’s stations account for 46.4% of all of the energy produced in the country, each with the capacity to put out 13,835 megawatts. The first Khmelnitsky reactor went on line in 1987. The second station at the site was left unfinished due to post-Soviet financing problems and was finally completed in 2004 with help from the European Union. The two stations are 1,000 megawatt pressurized water reactors.
Concern has been raised about the country’s nuclear reactors since the explosion of the RBMK reactor at Chernobyl on April 26, 1986. The reactor was found to contain numerous design faults that were believed to be responsible for the reactor’s explosion. This type of reactor is no longer produced or manufactured in Ukraine.
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Going to Ukraine means visiting a number of different historical places that are located all over the country. It is a country with a deep heritage that has seen numerous other nations claiming bits and pieces of it through the centuries. It was once part of the Soviet Union and it is to this day the home of the worst nuclear disaster the world has ever faced – and it is still suffering from the repercussions. However, Ukraine holds such a rich and unique history that since its doors opened to the rest of the world, it is has seen prosperity thanks to the deep pockets of its visitors.
One of the many unique sites the country offers its visitors the Kiev Pechersk Lavra – or the Caves Monastery. Located on the western bank of Dnieper River in Kiev, the Kiev Pechersk Lavra is a piece of Ukrainian history that dates all the way back to 1051. Within their walls a devout monk, the Venerable Anthony, settled to live out his life. He was joined by his followers and they made their home within the caves to the point that they eventually outgrew them. Many members of the city’s aristocracy, including Prince Izyaslav, donated money to Anthony and his monks during their visits and an aboveground church and monastery were built. The monastery is still active today and growing and it serves as an important center of Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine. The entrance to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra is free.
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Ukraine has many historical places to visit and there is always something to do no matter what city you are in. Odessa is no exception and while you are staying here you are going to want to visit the Potemkin Steps. Make 
sure you are wearing a good, comfortable pair of shoes and bring your camera with you. You are going to want to take a climb to the top and snap a picture to prove that you did.
The Potemkin Steps is the legendary staircase that saw mutinying sailors fight soldiers loyal to the Czar in 1905. This battle was immortalized for all time in the 1925 silent film ‘Battleship Potemkin’ by Einstein. When you are standing at the top of the steps, you cannot see all of the steps below you. However when you are standing at the bottom of the steps looking up, you can see all of the steps. This optical illusion took four years to build and it was completed in 1841. While you are traversing up and down the steps, make sure you enjoy a boat cruise off the long pier near the steps of simply get one of the best workouts of your life by going up and down the Potemkin Steps.
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Ukraine is home to some of the most historical locations to be found in that area of Europe. From the historical districts of Kiev and Kharkov to the ruins of the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, Ukraine is a tourist’s paradise, especially if history is one of their main vices. One of the most interesting sites in Kiev is the Great Patriotic War Museum. Closed on Monday, this museum is a testament to the courage and stoutness of the Ukrainian men and women of the country during times of war.
Ukraine’s Great Patriotic War Museum is a collection of World War II artifacts that are being housed in a Soviet-built building. It is overlooked by a towering statue that represents the Motherland. The statue is wielding a sword and many people have compared it to the Statue of Liberty in the United States with a sword instead of a book and torch. Outside of the building are decommissioned tanks standing sentinel. They have been painted with flowers in a sign of peace. Another statue sits near the tanks that are entitled ‘To the Fallen’. It is a memorial to all of the fallen men and women who died during World War II. While most of the displays are tagged and noted in Russian or Ukrainian, they are fascinating and are laid out well, allowing visitors to understand what they represent without needing the notes.
You can check out more great Ukraine pictures are http://www.brama.com/travel/kypics.html
The director of Microsoft Ukraine, Eric Franke, believes that Ukraine will be the next country to make an impact in software development. The country currently has 30,000 to 40,000 individual software developers and its 
location – central to Russia and Europe – makes the country have huge potential with its strategic location. Already many of the Ukraine developers are working on products for Microsoft, writing code, integrating, supporting, localizing, and adapting software for the company. The universities in Ukraine, according to Franke, are producing high quality programmers and Microsoft has formed partnerships with 10 core universities in the country.
The software development arena in Ukraine is 85% IT with software a growing slice of the computer programming pie. In five years Microsoft Ukraine has grown from four employees to 150 and it’s not expected to slow down for at least another three years. Growth in the programming segment is growing in solution sales and partners and currently Ukraine Microsoft has over 1,000 partners. Eric Franke believes that while Ukraine is not as big as India, the company can play a large role in outsourcing and development market. With the current growth of 40% per year, Ukraine could be a second India with their huge intellectual capital and their location to Europe.
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