Essential - Kiev, Ukraine

A new book about Ukraine and its people has been published by author Peter Shirt. We’ve not had chance to read it (our copy is currently on order) but it looks as though it could be a useful guide to anybody wishing to know more about the country.

Here’s the official press release and ordering information:

Largely unknown to outsiders, Ukraine is the largest country entirely within Europe and the richest in natural resources. For centuries considered to be part of Russia, and until recently part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has always been deprived of her own voice.

Among the Ukrainians provides that voice. It is a journey to Ukraine’s cities and regions — by rail, road, and river — to meet ordinary people who offer extraordinary insights into their lives. Here, you’ll experience the purgatory of the bathhouse and the pleasures of the prostitute’s bedroom. You’ll encounter life at the coalface and in the decrepit hospitals, tour rat-infested submarine facilities and taste wines from the cellars of the Tsars.

Along the way you’ll unearth the country’s rich history. Among the many men and women you’ll encounter are those who discovered X-rays and antibiotics, put the first man in space, won the most Olympic medals, designed continental Europe’s first computer and the world’s first helicopter, and wrote some of the best prose. You will even meet the man who provided the inspiration for the fictional character, “James Bond.”

Bursting with anecdotes and information not found elsewhere Among the Ukrainians offers a unique insight into a nation under construction. It is your guide to Russia’s neighbour: a barely known land with a big history and a big heart.

About the Author

The author is English and was educated at Oxford University. He travelled through the Soviet Union nearly 30-years ago, and after visiting more than 130 countries – working in the majority of them – he settled in Ukraine in 2005. With his family, Irina and two boys, Anton and Alexei, he bought a run-down house that was sorrowed by decades of negligence, and set about breathing new life into it.

Additional Information

Among the Ukrainians is published by The Laundry Press (+380 57 700 2428). The ISBN is 978-0-9565129-0-1.

The book has a dedicated website – http://amongtheukrainians.co.uk – where you’ll find excerpts of all the chapters, background about the author, and a blog. The book is available via all Amazon international sites and other online retailers for £9.99 (US$ 15.95) or from any good bookstore.

Kiev city authorities have banned the sale of kvas from barrels on the capital’s streets.

Kvas is a sweet low-alcohol beverage made from rye bread. It was commonly sold from giant blue and yellow tanks.

Authorities say the tanks do not meet acceptable standards of hygiene.

Kvas Barrel, Photo: Elke Wetzig

Forget dangerous driving, HIV, icy pavements, Mafiosi, and other dangers common in Kiev. There’s a new threat to the city’s residents and visitors, and it’s much scarier.

In the past week two unsuspecting victims have fallen down uncovered manholes into near boiling water.

On January 25 an 8 year old boy fell down a hole just a few metres from his school. He lived but suffered severe burns. Five days earlier, an elderly woman suffered a similar fate while walking her dog. She was badly burned and the dog cooked alive.

Like many cities in the former Soviet Union, Kiev has a district heating system. Heating and hot water is distributed from centralised heating stations to apartments and other buildings.

The official logo of the 2012 UEFA European Championship (EURO 2012) was unveiled today in Kiev, venue for the final of the competition.

Attendees at the ceremony included UEFA President Michel Platini, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, President Viktor Yushchenko, and Grigoriy Surkis, President of the Football Federation of Ukraine.

Ukrainian women’s movement FEMEN held a demonstration in Kiev today to highlight concerns of potential sex tourism during the 2012 UEFA European Championship (EURO 2012).

The rally was held on St Michael’s Square, prior to the official unveiling of the competition’s logo.

FEMEN is best known for its street protests against the increasing number of sex tourists visiting Ukraine. Most feature its members dressed as sex workers.

The group fears that the government may legalise prostitution in the run up to the competition, following similar moves in other countries that have held major sporting events.

Kiev was today confirmed as the host city for the final of the 2012 UEFA European Championship (EURO 2012).

Donetsk, Lviv, and Kharkiv were also confirmed as Ukrainian host cities.

The announcement was made at a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Funchal, Madeira.

UEFA have previously issued warnings on Ukraine’s ability to host matches and made threats to relocate some or all of the matches to co-hosts Poland.

Concerns were raised about the suitability and number of hotels, and the state of roads and railways.

UEFA President Michel Platini said ‘In September, we had to reserve our opinion on three of the four candidate cities in Ukraine – considerable progress needed to be made. I can say to you that today, thanks to the enormous efforts and great sacrifices undertaken by the Ukrainian government, we can finally give the green light to a symmetrical tournament with four cities in Poland – Warsaw, Wroclaw, Poznan and Gdansk – and four cities in Ukraine – Kiev, Lviv, Kharkiv and Donetsk. The final will take place in Kiev.’

City authorities have forecast that the population of Kiev could increase by around 1 million people by 2026.

At the beginning of 2009 the resident population of the capital was estimated at 2.724 million. The actual population, including persons such as migrant workers, was around 3.144 million.

According to projections the resident population in 2026 will be between 3.1 and 3.3 million, while the actual population will be between 3.7 and 3.9 million.

Factors contributing to the increase include a 25 percent increase in forecasted female fertility rates, and increases in life expectancy.

Supermarket company Billa-Ukraine will open a new store at Kiev’s historic Besarabsky Market next month.

The new store will open to the public on November 5 and will operate from 6 am until 1 am daily.

Besarabsky Market is an indoor market located at the southern end of Khreschatyk. It is named after the Bessarabian (Moldovan) merchants that used to live in this area.

Billa, owned by the Germany’s REWE Group, opened its first supermarket in Ukraine in 2000.

On October 14 2009, some major changes are being made to calling codes for telephone calls made within the Ukraine.

For landline calls within Ukraine there will be no need to dial 8 before the number. Under the new system, users should just dial the area code followed by the number. For example to call Kharkiv from Kiev just dial 057-xxxxxxx. Under the old system the telephone number was 8-057-xxxxxxx.

The codes for making international telephone calls from Ukraine have also changed. Users should now dial 00-country code-area code-xxxxxx). Previously calls overseas were made by dialling 8-10-country code-area code-xxxxxx).

The changes bring Ukraine’s dialling rules in line with those found in the European Union.

No changes have been made to the rules for dialling Ukraine from abroad.

A temporary ban on gambling in Ukraine came into effect last week.

The ban was vetoed earlier in the month by President Victor Yushhenko but overridden by in parliament by supporters of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former President Victor Yanukovich.

Yulia Tymoshenko and her supporters believe the ban is necessary to protect families struggling to survive in a country hard hit by the economic turmoil.

The ban is likely to last until new legislation creating gambling zones is introduced. Until then, any businesses offering gambling will have their equipment confiscated and be subject to large fines.