Ukraine has announced that its first low cost airline, Wizz Air Ukraine, is opening routes to London and Germany. Starting January 3, 2009, Ukrainians will be able to take their first flight directly from Lviv into Luton, London, England, with flights out of Kiev to London commencing on January 15. Flights from Kiev to Dortmund and Cologne, Germany will start around the same general time frame.
The airline added an additional Airbus A320 plane to its fleet in order to accommodate the new international flights and it is to be delivered to Ukraine by the end of December. Says Natalya Kazmer, one of Wizz Air Ukraine’s committee of directors members, “We are glad that we can offer international flights to our passengers just before the Orthodox Christmas and make the holiday even more bright for thousands of Ukrainians,” said Natalya Kazmer, member of Wizz Air Ukraine’s committee of directors.
The flights to Germany and the UK in and out of Kiev will be through Boryspil air port. This is the only airline in the country who is offering flights to these particular cities for their citizens and visitors coming into Ukraine on holiday. Wizz Air Ukraine is considered a low-cost airline who is attempting to keep the costs of flights in and out of the country at a minimum.
You can get more information about traveling to Ukraine at ukraine-travel-advisor.com
Ukrainian boxer Vitali Klitschko won his WBC Heavyweight boxing title back on Saturday after defeating Nigerian boxer Samual Peter. Klitschko thought he’d never box again after an injury in 2005 that forced him into a semi-permanent retirement. Peter was defeated by Klitschko’s longer reach, suffering from the Ukrainian’s 
pummeling blows over and over again until he decided to end the bout at the end of round eight after the judges showed that the Klitschko was head in the match.
The win for Klitschko means that he and his younger brother Wladimir are the first Ukraine siblings to hold world heavyweight boxing titles at the same time. Wladimir holds the IBF and WBO Champion titles. Klitschko told reporters that this victory realized one of the dreams the two brothers have held for a long time. “It would be great to take all the world titles in the Klitschko family,” Vitali stated.
Klitschko, age 37, is well on his way to making his comeback noticeable. He continuously jabbed at Peter whose one team members were calling for him to ‘stay low’ during the bout. Peter was flailing to keep up with Klitschko as the Ukrainian boxer raised his fight intensity and landed numerous right punches that kept Peter on his toes and nursing a cut lip. Klitschko stated that he recognized his chances to win during the bout and took them, landing ‘Dr. Iron First’ his first win in three years.
You can read more about Ukrainian boxer Vitali Klitschko at dw-world.de
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As a visitor to Ukraine, you may get the opportunity to enjoy some local music while you are there. You may have noticed that there are some strange looking instruments in this part of the world, one of them being the 
triangular balalaika. Measuring around 27” in length, the balalaika has three to six strings and is plucked like a guitar over the front soundboard’s rosette hole. The peg box at the end of the neck is at an acute angle to the neck and the body and the strings are run from the top of the neck, over the movable soundboard, and around the end of the instrument to be secured at the back.
What is interesting about the balalaika is the way it can be tuned. One instructional booklet has 87 different tuning methods. 47 of them were to tune the balalaika like a guitar. The other 40 are for common and hard to find stringed instruments such as: mandolin; banjo; dulcimer; bass; harp guitar; oud; charrango; bouzouki; tres; ukulele; bajo sexto; dobro/lap steel; vihuela; requinto; and as a balalaika itself.
The next time you have the opportunity to visit Ukraine and listen to music, look for one of these interesting instruments to be in the band and see it you can hear it more distinctly than the other strings.
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The Ukraine is a land of very many interesting traditions and customs. Some customs are better known than others and we’ve covered some here already. Here are a few more that we found to help you out while you visiting Ukraine.
- Never put an empty bottle on a table unless it is an alcoholic drink bottle for safety reasons. If the bottle is from a non-alcoholic drink, it is customary to put the empty bottle on the floor.
- Whoever pours the first drink of the evening becomes the ‘bartender’ for the rest of the night. It’s unlikely to ‘change hands’ midstream.
- It is bad luck to shake hands across the threshold of a door.
- Kindly relinquish you coat, briefcase, baggage, or hat at the entrance of an upscale dining establishments. It is expected.
- Never whistle inside a house or else there will be no money in the house.
- Make note of an Ukrainians right hand and their ring finger as they wear their wedding bands on the right hand and not the left.
- Never throw a birthday party for Ukrainian before their birthday as it is considered bad luck.
- If you are a single girl, never sit at the corner of a table or you will not be married within the next seven years.
- It is bad luck to return to your house after you’ve left for a trip to retrieve something you forgot. If you have to return to the house, glance in a mirror first to reduce the bad luck’s effect.
- Do not be offended if a Ukrainian does not take money from your hand if you’ve only met them for the first time. They make ask you to put it elsewhere and they will pick it up. After that initial meeting, they will accept money from you.
- Never take the garbage out in the evenings.
- Never repay loans in the evening.
- Never sweep the floor of your home after a member of the household leaves for a trip until you know they have safely arrived.
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Polish officials are worried that the attendance for the Euro 2012 football championship is going to be considerably lower than at previous competitions thanks to the financial global crisis currently sweeping the world. Co-hosting the event with Ukraine, the officials are suggesting that less five-star hotels and accommodations will be needed and that camping sites, self-catering options, and other less expensive places to stay will be utilized instead. In addition to the current financial crisis which may last through 2012, the 30th Olympics will be taking in London the same year. The Euro 2012 runs from June 9 through July 1 and the Olympics run from July 27 to August 12, forcing many fans of both to pick and choose which they want to attend more.
Both governments are going to exercise extreme caution during the building of the Euro 2010 infrastructure in order not to get ‘burned’ when it’s over. They are looking at special lodgings for the youth who will be attending and considering the use of tent villages. Ukraine will have it worse off simply because they’re hotel industry will not be able to accommodate even a fraction of the fans that will attend. Even though the two countries are under scrutiny by the UEFA officials because of the accommodation question, they have been assured that the event will not be taken away from them but the number of games played in each country may be adjusted accordingly.
You can find more news about Ukraine and Kiev at blog.kievukraine.info
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Record label Seasons of Mist, who tend to sign up and coming bands in Europe, has just announced that they have picked up Slavonic heathen metal band Drudkh. The band is best known for incorporating content about nature mysticism, philosophy, season, Ukrainian mythology, legends, and history into their lyrics. They are a folk-influenced and cinematic sounding band and some of their song lyrics are actually derived from the work of 19th and 20th century poets from Ukraine.
The band usually does not allow interviews or use the Internet as a promotional platform. The label has graciously accepted the bands policy of ‘no photos, no interviews, no website, no gigs’ policy and the only reason the information about Season of Mist picking up the band on its label was to silence false rumors going around that the band members have extreme political views. Anyone who has heard the band’s music is aware that these rumors are completely off base and do not represent the band, or their unique music. The band praises people’s individualism, self-improvement and estrangement from modern values but their political views are far from extreme.
Drudkh’s new album is due to be release early 2009. The title has not yet been decided. You can catch more about Drudkh’s at blackmetalowesyou.blogspot.com
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Ukraine is a wonderful country that is filled with some really interesting places to visit. If you want a really good look at their culture and customs, then you should plan on visiting the country during one of their many ‘days of 
note’. Ukrainians enjoy their holidays and every single one of them is celebrated in high, grandiose fashion. They will set off fireworks and party with large of food and spirits being imbibed along the way. Pagan, Christian and other religions have contributed to their holiday calendar. Between state holidays and more common holidays like Christmas and New Years, being in Ukraine during one of them is sure to be blast.
If you decide to travel to Ukraine during a major holiday festival, book your trip far in advance so that you can be assured of getting a hotel room. Timeshare rentals are becoming more and more popular around the world and Ukraine is growing fast with the amount of commercial business that is flowing into the country. You can always rent a timeshare or even approach a timeshare owner who is trying to sell their timeshare and see if they will rent it to you for your stay. There are resorts around Kiev and Crimea you can stay at as well or if you are trying to see what you can in Europe, stay in one of the countries bordering Ukraine and then make a visit to the country for a specific holiday celebration the focus of a day trip.
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Ukraine is getting a new food retail chain called ‘Fresh’ thanks to two $15 million investments that have been made into Evrotek Group PLC, the holding company for the new store. This money will aid with Evrotek’s plans to further develop and expand the store and offer Ukrainian citizen’s a wider variety of food choices throughout the country. The first ‘Fresh’ markets opened in a small test area in 2006 and the company is hoping that there will be 58 stores in place and operating by 2010.
The success of the store means a lot to the Ukrainian economy, from the demonstration of successful retail practices to the development of the country’s agribusiness sector to offering consumers better prices and goods in addition to jobs for around 6,000 Ukrainian citizens. One of the investors, IFC out of London, is very interested in supporting the growth of the many sectors of Ukraine’s private sector. They are looking for ways of partnering and developing local companies in an effort to help the country’s economy improve and allow it to be more competitive in the European markets. By doing this, Ukrainian citizens will be able to improve the quality of their lives even more and be able to live under a sustainable economy.
The football from Ukraine has had its share of ups and downs. They were defeated at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany by Italy after making it into the ranks of the Last 16. Members of FIFA since 1992, the team has 
missed France 1998 and Korea/Japan 2002 by a couple of games and came in fourth at UEFA Euro 2008 behind France, Italy and coming in fourth place. Andriv Shevchenko, the team’s captain is hoping to keep history from repeating itself and wants to leas his team to South Africa 2010.
Ukraine’s strike is a born leader and is physically prowess on the pitch. He trains harder than most football players in the world and he’s hoping the combination of new coach Alexi Mikhailichenko, and players Andriy Voronin, Anatoliy Timoschuk, and Oleksandr Shovkovskyi will work well enough to lead them there with blazing glory. Shevchenko, the ‘undisputed leader’ of the team and its heart and soul, has gone into hard training to do so.
“I need to work hard to get back to where I was before,” says Shevchenko, knowing that he faces a fight to win a place in the starting eleven teams. “I’m putting my heart and soul into it but there are still a lot of instinctive aspects of my game that I need to get back. I don’t know if I can reach the same standard I was at in 2005 but I’m convinced I can still perform at the very highest level. I’m still hungry and I always want to play and run.”
With a Group 6 encounter coming on Saturday, October 11, 2008, everyone is hoping a win for the team will give them their FIFA World Cup finals run and piece of the football pie.
Ukraine is a really interesting country and if you want to see things that are far from the normal tourist traps of Kiev and Odessa, you have to travel. Kryvyi Rih, the eighth largest city in the country, is one of those less touristy places to see, but exciting all the same. It only has a population of about 710 people and it is the world’s third largest extractor of iron ore, providing 90% of it raw material to the country alone. A true steel city, it is steeped in history.
Kryvyi Rih was founded in the 17th century by Zaporozhian Cossacks that the name translates to ‘Crooked Horn’. It is considered the longest city in Europe, extending 130 kilometers, following the line of the ore deposits in the region. The city’s metallurgical works is the one largest in the world and has been in business since the 1880s. The area around the city is rolling steppe land that is filled with sunflowers, grain, and some of the wildest vegetation still growing in Ukraine. Linden and horse chestnut trees line the wind street of Kryvyi Rih and visitors can ride the tram through the major streets from one end to the other. There is also an underground tram that citizens and visitors can use.
There are a few hotels available in the city and most people visit to see the FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih Premier League football team practice or to enjoy the 21 parks, 12 quays, 22 gardens, 134 squares or the wild steppes that surround this 16 thousand acre city.
