Ukrainian Guide » year

Taxi prices are tripled in Kiev

Valeria — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:49:12 +0000

During New Year holidays Kiev taxi drivers triple their prices. For only one New Year’s night some drivers had to make several thousand UAH, while web-pages of carrier companies, competing in speed, advertise low fares.

In the capital on New Year’s Eve there was two-part tariff (something about 58 UAH) – even in the most cheap companies. Until now prices are not lowered. Particularly Kiev taxi drivers want to get 40 UAH for the distance of 3 kilometres. 5 kilometers, respectively, are 50. At the railway station some taxi drivers offer a price of 20 UAH per kilometer. Among 30 registered firms in the capital, the rates ranging from 2 ½ to 5 USD per km. Minimal order – from 29-to 40 UAH. The city has divided into sectors. In traffic tariffing is hourly – from fifty. However, not every taxi driver is ready to work for such money.

Antimonopoly committee promises to deal with the situation.

Sourse – focus.ua

5 Greatest Ukrainian Achievements during the Independence

admin — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 08:16:36 +0000

We are an 18 year old country. Undoubtedly we all became more mature in the national issues. Today every Ukrainian has his own point of view on whether we need Russian as the second national language. The path was long and not serene. What did we get on our way?

1. The Independence

The Independence itself is the greatest thing Ukrainian people ever obtained. 90.92 % of citizens voted for it back in 1991. Everyone should be thanked in person, god bless Leonid Kravchuk!

2. Eurovision victory

Yes, a girl named Ruslana singing in Hutsul ethno style back in 2004 was a real achievement of Ukraine. And the next year we were lucky to host the show in the post-Orange Ukraine.

3. Orange Revolution

Mass protests, rallies, pickets, demonstrations of mass protests in Ukraine, organized by adherents of Viktor Yushchenko in 2004. The main result of the Revolution was that they finally looked at the map abroad to see where that Ukraine-country is at all!

Experiencing A Ukraine Wedding

Victoria — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 07:56:10 +0000

Everyone is becoming more and more interested in ethnic customs and weddings are one of the biggest times in people’s lives when they want their ethnicity to show. October 11, 2008, marked the second annual Rozhanytsia Festival in the village of Bobrytsia in the Kiev region that is the perfect example of what a truly traditional Ukrainian wedding is like. Even though the many villages in Ukraine has their set of customs, rituals, and traditions when it comes to their young people – and old people – getting married, the basic wedding, which visitors to the festival got to experience, is the same all over the country. The wedding included traditional songs, dances, and wedding cake called ‘korovai’ in Ukrainian.

Because of Ukraine’s diverse geography, there are plenty of differences within each wedding ceremony. The director of the Choven Theater and founder of the festival, Roman Korniienko stated that the festival does not try to show the differences. Instead, the festival attempts to show the variety of the traditional throughout the country. He is hoping to organize at least one live wedding for next year’s festival in an effort to revive the old traditions.

A traditional Ukrainian wedding is in three parts or ‘porohy’ and each division encompasses various Ukrainian traditions. The stage before the wedding is usually the biggest one with the wedding itself being the finale of the celebration in which family members and friends – but not the bride and groom – get to drink and ‘make merry’ on their behalf. Additional traditions are being revived as the festival planning for next year continues in the hopes on enlightening Ukrainian youth – and the rest of the world – of some of the traditions that have almost been lost.

Nikita Seaside Park in Ukraine

Victoria — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 03:26:22 +0000

If you are looking for an outdoor excursion while in Ukraine and enjoy learning about the flora of the country, you can visit the Seaside Park in Nikita. The park is the most well protected of all thanks to the mountain crests that surround it. The climate in this little corner of Ukraine is mild and the evergreen trees in the garden love the warmth. Additionally, visitors to the park can see cedar, osmantuses, mastic pistachio-tree, various palm-trees, and a wide variety of bright flowered blooming subtropical shrubs. Myrtle, pheyhoa, haerops – also known as palmetto – and orchidaceous trees can also be found at the Seaside Park.

If you start your trip to the gardens in the Upper Park, you will get the opportunity to wander through carefully manicured paths into the plantations, the area of the gardens that contains plant species from the world. Bamboo from China, Silver Fir, Plantain, Evergreen Stone Oak, and gigantic sequoiadrendron can be found here. There are also 500 year old yew trees in this part of the garden, a throwback to the local forests that are long gone.

To the east of the park visitors will find Cape Martyan, and area where rare shrubs, tree, and grasses in over 500 species grow in 120 hectares of dry land reserve of virgin conditions. This area is used by Ukrainian scientists on a regular basis and it is only open during certain times of year.

You can see more great photos and get more information at virtualtourist.com

Will The Gas Prices in Ukraine Increase in 2009?

Victoria — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 12:13:00 +0000

The head of Gazprom warned that the prices of gas in the Ukraine that is imported from Russia might more than double in the upcoming year.

The prices on Ukraine could be raised to over $400 per each 1,000 cubic meters in the year of 2009. That would be an increase of over $220 from this year. If this happens, which is what is expected then that means that Russia will be paying more for the same gas that it is buying from Central Asia. This increase in the price of gas could cause an issue.

Gazprom is one of the prime companies that delivers to over a quarter of the gas suppliers in Europe and mostly throughout the Ukraine. There have been disruptions previously when there have been disputes over the pricing of the supplies sent to Europe.

Gazprom has said that the deals with the Central Asian suppliers are still not settled and they will be reviewed. Both parties have yet to come to any agreements on a new contract.

So what does this mean for the Ukraine and its gas prices? As of right now it means that is likely to be an increase in the upcoming year but what the amount of the increase will be is still not known. We will have to wait and see what those in charge decide once they have all reached an agreement.

European Neighborliness Days Under Way

Victoria — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 04:04:32 +0000

An annual tradition, the European Neighborliness Days is underway on Ukrainian-Polish border in the Lviv region. The Belz and Pavlovychi sectors of the state border service are part of the program and part of this year’s focus of the event is the preparations for the 2012 European Football Championship. Even though it is still four years away, that is not a long time when you getting ready to host numerous other countries at soccer.

This year’s festivities will include both meetings of businesses and state authorities, but also a large folk art fair, folk bands and rock bands. Members of the State Border Service of Ukraine and Poland have scheduled meetings to discuss investment projects along the borders of the two countries and how they can be implemented.

The event has been going on at the same site for the last four years, ever since it launched in 2004. It is a way for the two countries to come together and enjoy a good time while also conducting business in a safe and comfortable environment. The borders of both countries are becoming more and more open with over 10 million foreign visitors entering Ukraine last year alone with most of them coming from Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

Molodist Film Festival Dates Announced

Victoria — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 13:51:43 +0000

The Molodist – or Youth – Film Festival is the biggest movie event of the year in Ukraine and this year it is set to kick off on October 18 and run to October 26, 2008. The festival presents the work of many of the young moviemakers in the country and from around the world and it includes feature films, student movies, and short film debuts. There will be a non-competitive program that includes special shows, retrospectives of actors, actresses, and directors as well as a competition section that is open to a variety of different genres and movie styles.

This year’s international jury includes American actor Armand Assante, Russian actress Alla Demidova, Hungarian director Andras Fesos, Ukrainian artist and illustration Serhiy Yakutovych, Gaga Chkheyidze who is the head of the International Tbilisi Film Festival and Ukrainian television host, writer and journalist Yuriy Makarov. The festival will be presides over by this year’s honorable president is Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko. The co-heads of the board of trustees are actor Gerard Depardieu and Hares Youssef. There will be plenty of international celebrities also attending, but there has been no release of who they may be.

Tickets are available in advance and currently there are 400 films scheduled to be screened at the festival.

You can get more information on this festival by visiting molodist.com

Ukraine Tourism Is Up

Victoria — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 06:29:41 +0000

According to the UN World Tourism Organization, Ukraine is quickly following in the footsteps of Russia in the tourism department. The country has a population of 48 million people and is quickly becoming a desirable tourist market. The Ukrainian government has started heavily promoting the country as a tourist destination and 23 million people visited the country in 2007. This number is expected to grow and UEFA’s decision to host the Euro 2012 football tournament has resulted in a bunch of new investments, such as hotels with international names such as Intercontinental, Radisson, and Hilton.

The UITT was chosen as the 2008 venue for the launch of the country’s ‘Year of Tourism’. According to the President of Ukraine, Victor Yuschenko, tourism in the country has grown 25% annually. The government is very confident that the market is growing and this year’s exhibition will feature 688 exhibitors from 58 different countries and regions. This is an increase of 40% since the year before. Additionally the Ukraine International Travel Market will be celebrating if 15^th edition and it has moved to the International Exhibition Center in Kiev. The move is thanks to the travel markets growth and it brings hotels, SPA, recreation centers, museums and travel agencies from over 40 countries together to promote tourism.

Why Kyiv (Kiev) is a Male Heaven…

admin — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 20:20:41 +0000

Canadian Inna Gertsberg has been living in Kyiv for one year and working in advertising. For her one of the most memorable aspects of life in Ukraine has been the familiar sight of middle-aged expat men playing playboy lovers with girls half their age. If you could have seen these men in their own countries, she says, you’d be surprised too!

‘It’s Sunday night, and I’ve been invited to a friend’s party. It’s a see-and-be-seen scene, so I concede to wearing a mini-skirt, high-heel go-go boots and a sexy top. I do so knowing full well that even in my sexiest outfit it would be nearly impossible to stand out among the abundance of local beauties. As I walk up the steps of the nightclub two middle-aged western men stumble out of the door, their evening coming to an end, but their night just beginning. As they pass, one of them utters a drunken, ‘Yeah baby! How about some fun tonight, dyevushka?’. It was a classic comment from someone who wouldn’t dare dream of making such an approach back home. Later that night I found myself pondering Kyiv’s most intriguing residents: mature Western men. Those middle-aged expats, some married, some married again, some recently single – all with one thing in common: they are utterly mad about Ukrainian women.

One can’t blame them: where else in the world do you get to date a 23 year-old cardiologist with a law degree and the looks of Linda Evangelista, who treats you like the sexiest star on earth, despite the extra 15 pounds around your waist and the alarmingly fast migration of your hairline! There are few cities like Kyiv, where a man can be well into his fifties and still go to a nightclub and have a chance with a beautiful twenty year old. One vivid memory from my early days in Kyiv is of hitting a nightclub with a girlfriend from Toronto, just to watch a swarm of withered middle-aged western men lined up along the walls, waiting for their sexy prey. Funnily enough the men didn’t look out of place. In the sea of post-teen bombshells in mesh tops and skin-tight animal-print panties, they looked just right. It was clear that they loved picking up the girls and the girls loved waiting to be picked up and following their aging knights in shining armour home for a nominal fee.

Part of the issue here is demand and supply, of course. Ukraine is, after all, a land of mass-produced beauty queens. Even John Lennon knew it. For many westerners living here that’s an incredibly valuable incentive, although it’s never mentioned in contracts. For the expat male the attractions are obvious: while western societies are increasingly muzzled by political correctness and feminism, Ukrainian women are not shy about looking sexy and acting feminine. Western men, many of whom have been emasculated by their all too-independent female counterparts, are born again in the arms of their Kyiv beauties, and often without even having to really try. They also experience greater freedom. While having an ‘open’ relationship is largely looked down upon in the West, many Ukrainian ladies don’t mind letting their western boyfriends wander off every once in a while, so long as they eventually come home.

Perhaps another reason for the success of western men is the perpetual shortage of eligible young males in this country, which even for local men means that a 20-year age difference has never been a hindrance in picking up a young lady. Add a western passport, it would seem, and you can add another 15 years. And what about the other side of romance? When I ask my Ukrainian girlfriends how they feel about this invasion by victims of midlife-crises, they shrug. On one hand, they realize that they may not be getting a true Romeo in their western partners – most of the men in question have had (or may still have) families of their own, and they can go home at any time with no strings attached. But local ladies, if even for a short time, get a glimpse of what it’s like to be treated like a queen. At worst, they get taken out to the best restaurants, showered with gifts and flowers and endlessly complimented on their looks. At best, and with a little more patience and strategic thinking, they end up with a nice little apartment in the centre of Kyiv.

However, as one of my expat friends puts it, to see this cultural phenomenon from a strictly cynical point of view would be unfair. In his eyes, the man has reached the point where he seeks simple enjoyment from life, when he wants to feel rejuvenated and appreciated and have a real chance to defy the aging process. For a fleeting moment it becomes incredibly real, for both him and his woman. In a way, says my friend, they both help each other escape to a place that is purely romantic and doesn’t exist for anyone else in the world. But then again, my dear friend is French, so his romantic approach is no surprise.

One thing is perfectly clear: Ukrainian women love to love and western men in Ukraine love to be loved. Such abundance of ‘unconditional’ love and attention from females often makes this place seem like heaven on earth. And as long as this continues to be the case, my friends will continue to extend their contracts and find reasons to return to Kyiv. Not even the dreary post-Soviet winters will keep them from coming here on vacation.

Maybe I should’ve had more sympathy for my drunken compatriot on Sunday night. Perhaps I shouldn’t have snapped back in disgust, sending him home to his wife and calling him ugly, clearly surprising him with my English. Or maybe I was embittered by the realization that as a western woman I instinctively saw that kind of attention as an insult, not a compliment. But that’s a subject for an entirely new article.’

This article reprinted by courtesy of What’s On

Asian restaurants in which to fete the new year

admin — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 06:33:43 +0000

With the Lunar New Year set to begin on Jan. 29, itâ€™s time to start thinking about where to get some red-colored dishes (symbolizing good luck), or something with lots of noodles in it (symbolizing long life), or traditional, sticky sweet rice flour balls to remind you that life can and should be so. Thankfully, Kyiv is not as completely homogeneous as it might seem.

Little China

Until recently few restaurants serving any kind of Chinese food existed here save for Du Long, Great China and Vostok, all of which got their start before 2000. Since then others have arrived â€“ Khram Drakona, Lun Van, Mandarin, Orient Traditions and more â€“ proving that Ukrainian tastes do stretch farther east than the Caucasus.

Of the Chinese restaurants that exist, expect top service and stylish cuisine from Khram Drakona (2 Esplanadna, 234-9188), Lun Van (26 B. Khmelnytskoho, 279-8191) and Vostok (11 Naberezhno-Khreshchatytska, 597-0240) â€“ but also expect to pay top dollar. Get more of a bargain and still great food at places such as Du Long (46B T. Shevchenka Blvd., 235-7350) and Orient Traditions (34 Lesi Ukrainky Blvd., 285-0804).

Kimchee and Korean

In Ukraine, where food is bland and ketchup and black pepper can bulge eyeballs, take comfort that the three Korean restaurants in town serve up good, authentic food at reasonable prices. Expect the best homemade kimchee and excellent all-around food from Seoul (160 Gorkoho, 528-5529), where the spice factor is not for the timid, but enjoy more elbow room at Hankook-wan (104/24 Zhylyanska/Tolstoho, 284-3622).

Good morning, Vietnam!

If Korean is a fuller, bolder take on Chinese food, then Vietnamese is a lighter, fresher variant that goes easy on the meat in favor of more noodles and veggies â€“ good things to eat during any Lunar New Year celebration.

For the best in local Vietnamese cooking, look no further than Hanoi (6 Sichnevoho Povstannya, Arsenalna metro, 280-3228) and Queen Bee (5 Malynovskoho, Obolon metro, 451-6145), which are run by a long-established Vietnamese family from Ho Chi Mihn City (Saigon). Their Vietnamese food is on par with the best of its kind anywhere. For also good food, but a slightly simpler locale, enjoy Vietnamese â€“ and even some Chinese and Filipino dishes â€“ at Mekong (73 Artema, 211-3445).

Events

After dining to start off the New Year, consider a trip out on Jan. 28 to boast of having welcomed in three New Yearâ€™s in one month.

Chameleon bowling club offers their Chinese New Yearâ€™s party on Jan. 28, with local DJs Ice and Shelestoff headlining the party.

Additionally, check out the Chinese New Yearâ€™s party at Chayny (Tea) Club, where a special program will start at 4 p.m.

Chameleon bowling club

Ukraina mall, 4th flr., 3 Peremohy Ave., 496-1717.

Please call for ticket information.

Tea Club

7 Druzhby Narodiv, entrance #4 through the courtyard, 451-4283.

Tickets Hr 120.

by Paul Miazga, Kyiv Post Staff Writer

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