News from Kiev

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced its first Crowne Plaza hotel in Kiev. The Crowne Plaza Kiev will be situated in Korolenkivska Street, Holosiivskyi and will feature 225 rooms and suites.

The hotel is being developed by owner ITT-Plaza, part of the ITT Investment Group, and will be managed by IHG under a 15-year management contract. Opening is scheduled for 2012, the year Ukraine hosts the UEFA European Football Championship.

The Crowne Plaza Kiev will be the third IHG hotel in Kiev. The InterContinental Kiev and the Holiday Inn Kiev are due to open at the end of 2008 and 2009 respectively.

Grammy award-winning Canadian singer and songwriter Nelly Furtado will be appearing in concert at International Expo Centre in Kiev on July 15.

The concert starts at 7 pm, with tickets priced Hr 150 to Hr 250.

Wizz Air has opened an office at Kiev’s Boryspil Airport and is set to bring cheap flights to the Ukraine. The Hungarian budget airline will launch its Ukrainian domestic schedule on July 11 and offer low cost flights between Kiev and Lviv, Odessa, Simferopol, Kharkov, and Zaporozhye. Flights to Simferopol from Lviv and Kharkov will also be available. One way fares will start as low as UAH 79.

On September 15 the company will launch its international flights from Kiev. The destinations initially served will be London Luton, Dortmund, and Milan Bergamo. Prices for one-way flights to Milan/Dortmund will start at UAH 199.

Former Beatles’ member Paul McCartney will perform on Independence Square on June 14. The Independence Concert will be free to attend and has been funded and organised by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

McCartney said ‘I’m very excited because on the 14th of June I’ve been invited to play a concert in Independence Square, Kiev. Me and the band are going to be there and we’re going to have to a great evening and we hope to see you there. So come along, it’s going to be great evening hopefully for the Ukraine. Pull together, groove, rock and roll – all together.’

There will also be an exhibition of 40 of McCartney’s paintings at the Pinchuk Art Centre at Arena.

George Bush will make his first official state visit to Ukraine at the end of this month. He will arrive in Kiev on March 31 and spend two days in the capital before departing for the NATO summit in Bucharest. During the visit he will meet with Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko. Ukraine’s proposed membership of NATO will be discussed by the two leaders.

Russian state-run gas company Gazprom cut gas supplies to the Ukraine by 25 percent yesterday after Ukraine failed settle its debts by the deadline announced last week.

Russian gas supplier Gazprom has threatened (yet again) to cut gas supplies to Ukraine. The move comes just 2 weeks after the Russian and Ukrainian governments had appeared to reach an agreement over unpaid debts. The state-run supplier says that supplies will be reduced from March 3 unless Ukraine signs agreements to settle debts estimated at over $1 billion.

UEFA President Michel Platini has given Euro 2012 hosts Ukraine and Poland 6 months to get their preparations for the competition on track. He was speaking yesterday after a meeting of UEFA’s executive committee in Zagreb, Croatia, where a report on the lack of progress being made by both countries was discussed. Officials have stopped short of saying an alternative host is being considered, but say the situation will be reviewed in the summer.

Projects to construct stadiums and infrastructure have suffered due to political instability in both countries. The countries were chosen as joint hosts in April last year. Neither country has hosted a major football competition before.

Ukraine will become a full member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on February 7 2008. Membership of the WTO, an international organisation promoting free trade and the lowering of trade barriers, has long been a key foreign policy objective of the Ukrainian government.

Steve Edwards will be appearing in concert at Arena on February 1 2008. The house music singer/songwriter is best known for providing the vocals for Bob Sinclair’s massive single ‘World, Hold On’ (which incidentally can be heard on this video taken at Shooters nightclub in Kiev). The show starts at 10 pm, with ticket prices starting at 50 hrv.