UKRAINE BUSINESS NEWS: SIX ARTICLES
1. PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO GIVES AWARD TO U.S. AMB TO UKRAINE
Press Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, May 18, 2009
2. CRISIS DETERMINES CURRENT ECONOMIC TRENDS IN UKRAINE
IMF bites a second time, currency front stable, GDP keeps sliding
International Centre for Policy Studies (ICPS) Newsletter #16 (450)
Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, May 18, 2009
3. UKRAINE SAYS IMF FUNDS NOT ENOUGH, HITS AT EU
Deputy Prime Minister Hryhory Nemyria speaks out at EBRD meeting, criticizes EU
By Natsuko Waki, Reuters, London, Friday May 15 2009
4. UKRAINE INTERESTED IN ATTRACTING U.S. COMPANIES
TO MODERNIZE GAS TRANSPORT SYSTEM
Pres Yushchenko meets U.S. State Department's Energy Envoy Amb Richard Morningstar
Olena Honcharenko, Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, May 7, 2009
5. UEFA FIRES BROADSIDE AT UKRAINE REGARDING EURO 2012
BYuT Inform Newsletter, for the international community providing
views and analysis from the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT)
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, 19 May 2009
6. UKRAINE WILL WIDELY REPRESENT ITS HISTORICAL AND
CULTURAL HERITAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE USA
Museum of National Cultural History, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, Mar 26, 2009
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1. PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO GIVES AWARD TO U.S. AMB TO UKRAINE
Press Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, May 18, 2009
KYIV - President Victor Yushchenko met with the Ambassador of the USA to Ukraine William B. Taylor on the occasion of the ending of Mr. Taylor’s diplomatic mission.
At the meeting President Yushchenko awarded Ambassador Taylor with an order For Merit of the third grade for Mr. Taylor’s contribution into development of Ukrainian-American relations and thanked him for the work.
LINK: with photo http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/13821.html
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2. CRISIS DETERMINES CURRENT ECONOMIC TRENDS IN UKRAINE
IMF bites a second time, currency front stable, GDP keeps sliding
International Centre for Policy Studies (ICPS) Newsletter #16 (450)
Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, May 18, 2009
KYIV - On May 12, the International Centre for Policy Studies’ senior economist Ildar Gazizullin participated in a press conference called “Ukraine’s Economy: Current trends,” organized by Ohliadach, a Ukrainian news site. The economist explained the importance of the International Monetary Funds release of the second tranche of a US $16.4bn Stand-by facility it agreed with Ukraine, the situation on currency markets, and the direction that Ukraine’s GDP is going in
THE IMF BITES A SECOND TIME
The fact that the International Monetary Fund released the second tranche to Ukraine is very positive, says the ICPS senior economist. The country
desperately needs an injection of hard currency in order to return upcoming debts. The Fund gradually eased its requirements of Ukraine.
Whereas at the beginning it insisted on immediate radical reforms, especially to the pension system, by the end it was prepared to compromise. The IMF allowed Ukraine to use part of the credit to finance the Budget deficit and to put off unpopular measures until next year.
ALL STABLE ON THE CURRENCY FRONT FOR NOW
In the last month, the dollar exchange rate has stabilized in Ukraine. There were no longer sharp fluctuations such as last year and the beginning of
2009. The reason for this temporary stabilization should be looked for in the improving balance of trade and a reduction in free cash among ordinary
Ukrainians.
According to ICPS forecasts, the hryvnia will weaken again and at the end of 2009 it will likely be down to UAH 10/USD. This will be partly due to a need
for hard currency as external debts come due and demand exceeds supply.
BUT GDP KEEPS SLIDING
Current data for Q1’09 suggest that GDP has fallen sharply in Ukraine. ICPS believes the fall to be 20%. By the end of the year, the situation will
improve somewhat, but not radically. According to the ICPS economist, it will still fall 14% for the year.
Those branches that are most critical in shaping GDP—trade, manufacturing and construction— are all experiencing a steep decline. In those sectors, output will remain at very low levels for some time to come. The steel industry is probably the only sector that will be able to swiftly increase output as prices rise on world commodity markets.
A full version of the briefing: http://conf.oboz.ua/conference/903. LINK: ICPS Newsletter on the web: http://icps.kiev.ua/eng/publications/nl.html.
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3. UKRAINE SAYS IMF FUNDS NOT ENOUGH, HITS AT EU
Deputy Prime Minister Hryhory Nemyria speaks out at EBRD meeting, criticizes EU
By Natsuko Waki, Reuters, London, Friday May 15 2009
LONDON - Ukraine needs European funds besides a $16.4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to help fight the economic crisis, a deputy prime minister said on Friday, slashing the country's growth forecast.
Hryhory Nemyria, deputy prime minister in charge with external relations, also criticised the European Union for helping out some non-EU eastern neighbours such as Serbia and not Ukraine, calling it a major contradiction.
Ukraine, one of the Eastern European countries hardest hit by the crisis, agreed on the International Monetary Fund loan programme last November. At the time the amount was far larger than most expected.
But rapidly falling demand for commodities, especially steel, has plunged the country deep into recession while a sinking currency, an over-dollarised economy and the credit crunch has destabilised the banking sector.
"We have the IMF, we have EBRD and World Bank but the EU is not on the horizon. That's a major contradiction and we are seeking answers for that," Nemyria told Reuters television on the sidelines of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's annual conference.
"There's no question Ukraine is a European country... Why is the EU so reluctant to use instruments that are available now for Latvia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, for Ukraine? ... The IMF funds are not enough."
He said the EU could provide access to emergency funds which Hungary and Latvia used or European countries could provide bilateral funds. Nemyria said the EU was being self-centred in ignoring Ukraine's pleas for help.
"It's not so much in terms of desperation, it's the logic of the naked self-interest from the European Union," Nemyria said. He noted that banks from France, Italy, Sweden and Austria hold half of the Ukrainian banking sector. "There's an inclination to think about helping Ukraine just because Ukraine needs this. But the EU needs this as well."
He also said he expected gross domestic product to fall by between 4 percent and 6 percent, against an official government forecast of +0.4 percent. The growth forecast had been criticised by analysts as unrealistic and has skewed the 2009 budget plan.
"As crisis management teaches us, we have to plan for the worst case scenario in order to be prepared for the worse," Nemyria said. "We are not sticking to the 0.4 (percent forecast)... The situation is very fluid. It's going to be around minus four to six percent." (Editing by Stephen Nisbet)
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4. UKRAINE INTERESTED IN ATTRACTING U.S. COMPANIES
TO MODERNIZE GAS TRANSPORT SYSTEM
Pres Yushchenko meets U.S. State Department's Energy Envoy Amb Richard Morningstar
Olena Honcharenko, Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday May 7, 2009
KYIV - Ukraine is interested in attraction of American companies to modernize the Ukrainian gas transport system, President Viktor Yuschenko said at the meeting with Ambassador Richard Morningstar, the U.S. State Department's Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy, in Prague, the Czech Republic.
At the meeting, the sides intend to discuss the development of further cooperation between Ukraine and the United States in the sector of energy, holding of the first session of the bilateral workgroup for energy security, and also the support of the US government to the modernization of the Ukrainian gas transport system. Yuschenko invited Morningstar to visit Ukraine.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, US ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor has admitted the participation of the American investors in the modernization of the gas transport system.
At the international conference in Brussels on March 23, the Cabinet of Ministers and the European Commission signed the memo obliging the Ukrainian government to provide transparency and openness of the borrower appointed for the modernization of the Ukrainian gas transport system.
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5. UEFA FIRES BROADSIDE AT UKRAINE REGARDING EURO 2012
BYuT Inform Newsletter, for the international community providing
views and analysis from the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT)
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, 19 May 2009
KYIV - UEFA, Europe’s governing football body, has fired a broadside at Ukraine’s plans to co-host the UEFA EURO 2012 soccer tournament. At Last Wednesday’s executive committee meeting in Bucharest, UEFA officials confirmed four host cities in Poland but only Kyiv from Ukraine’s candidate cities received a tentative thumbs up, with a warning that it could miss out on the tournament final. Donetsk, Lviv and Kharkiv were put on probation and given the deadline of 30 November to satisfy UEFA’s criteria.
Significantly, UEFA President Michel Platini warned that Kyiv could be stripped of hosting the tournament final if issues with refurbishing the stadium, airport and transport infrastructure were not resolved.
“Kyiv is okay according to UEFA's criteria for all matches leading up to the semi-final. But certain other criteria must be met to stage the final as well. If it's not Kyiv it could be Warsaw," said Mr Platini.
Speaking to reporters the former French soccer star said, "We would like for the executive committee to have an equal division of cities between Poland and Ukraine. If Ukrainian cities cannot fulfill the conditions by 30 November, we will organise EURO 2012 with four Polish cities and the two best prepared Ukrainian cities."
After Kyiv, Donetsk is arguably the best prepared city with its new 50,000-seat Donbass Arena stadium: home to UEFA Cup finalists Shakhtar Donetsk. The other two proposed cities are Kharkiv and Lviv, with Dnipropetrovsk and Odessa as reserve cities.
One the same day as the UEFA meeting, Ukraine’s Ministry for Family, Youth and Sports announced that it was allocating an additional UAH 67.7 million ($8.5 million) to hasten the reconstruction of National Olympic Stadium. This landmark 83,000-seat stadium was venue for the 1980 Moscow Olympics soccer final.
Reconstruction of the stadium began on 1 December 2008 and is scheduled for completion by the end of December 2010. Kyivmiskbud is undertaking the wholesale refurbishment of the stadium at a reported cost of UAH 2 billion ($250 million).
llya Shevlyak, chief executive of the EURO 2012 Coordinating Bureau, put a positive gloss on the UEFA statement. "It is important that Michel Platini recognised Ukraine's considerable progress in terms of its preparations for the European Championship in recent months. I think the UEFA decision is a positive signal that has to motivate Ukrainian cities to intensify their preparations," he said.
At last week’s executive committee meeting, UEFA confirmed that all four candidate Polish cities, plus two reserve, “are currently in a position to fulfill the conditions for hosting matches.” Poland’s venues are Gdansk, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw, with Chorzow and Krakow retained as reserve cities.
A confident Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko commented, “Four cities from Ukraine and four from Poland will host UEFA EURO 2012. We will get there.”
"We have seen progress over the last few months but we must remind both countries that there is still a huge amount of work to be undertaken. There are numerous infrastructure issues that urgently need to be resolved in Ukraine to convince the UEFA Executive Committee that the host city candidates can be appointed as UEFA EURO 2012 host cities,” said Mr Platini.
Football experts believe that UEFA is simply exerting pressure on the co-hosts but its commitment to hosting Europe’s largest sporting event in the region is not in question. “A broadside has definitely been fired at Ukraine,” said an insider, “but we have to wait until December to see if it was below the waterline and the vessel is irreparably damaged. Let’s hope it isn’t.”
NOTE: Questions or comments? Email BYuT at nlysova@beauty.net.ua
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6. UKRAINE WILL WIDELY REPRESENT ITS HISTORICAL AND
CULTURAL HERITAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE USA
Museum of National Cultural History, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 26, 2009
KYIV - The National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Preserve, the Museum of National Cultural Heritage "PlaTar" in cooperation with the Foundation for International Arts and Education (FIAE), the Corporation "Industrial Union of Donbass", the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA and the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC) will hold a series of cultural and art exhibitions in the United States during 2010-2012.
The organizers of the museum project are the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Vasyl Vovkun, Minister) together with the Museum of the National Cultural Heritage "PlaTar" (Mykola Platonov, Serhiy Taruta) and the Foundation for International Arts and Education (USA, Gregory Guroff, President) with the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA (Ambassador Oleg Shamshur) and the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine (Ambassador William Taylor). Cooperation with other museums in Ukraine is also possible.
The exhibitions will be held within the framework of the "Ukraine - To The World" action, held under the patronage of the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko. The aim is to promote the dialogue of cultures from different countries, acquaintance with the national culture heritage of the American citizens and the promotion of Ukraine in the world.
Ukraine is being visited by U.S. experts from several museums: the Museum of Biblical Art (New York), the Museum of Russian Icons (Clinton, Mass), Houston Natural Science Museum to select the exhibits. The important project starts with the press-conference today (the list of participants is below).
UKRAINE HAS GREAT CULTURAL HERITAGE
Ukraine is one of the largest European states with a great cultural heritage. Sources of culture are deeply rooted into the times of the Tripolian archaeological culture, Scythians, proto Slavs. The Museum of Cultural Heritage "PlaTar" will present the exhibition of Ukrainian antiquities "Ukraine: from Tripillya to the Kievan Rus" -artifacts of the Tripolian civilization, mysterious civilization that had developed in Ukraine long before the civilizations of Sumer and Babylon and which was became the source of all Indo-European community.
At a recent exhibition of the Tripolian antiquities in the Vatican, Giovanni Morcllo, Chairman of the Scientific Committee at the Vatican Museums said: "This exhibition is a huge surprise for us because it seemed that in Europe everything was clear and no new archaeological discoveries could be made, but Tripolian civilization allows all Europeans to understand that the roots do not reach Mesopotamia, but the heart of Europe, and it enriches our culture".
The exhibition will also include antiquities from Ukraine which dates them back to the period of Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Byzantium and Kievan Rus. The goal is to show the U.S. public, which is unfamiliar with Ukraine, its long history, culture and development of ancient civilization, which had a significant influence to the world civilization development.
Christian tradition of the Ukrainian culture goes back to those times when at the lands of the Scythians Saint Apostle Andrew preached, and to the art of Kyivan Rus. The blend of Christian and folk traditions, their preservation and development, led to the viability of Ukrainian culture. Hence the nation saves the language, customs, spiritual and artistic integrity for centuries.
KYIV-PECHERSK HISTORICAL-CULTURAL PRESERVE
The National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical-Cultural Preserve will present a series of exhibitions to the people of the USA. The articles of the 16th-19th centuries from the Preserve's collection -is a part of the rich artistic heritage of the Ukrainian people, which is one of the highest cultural achievements of the national culture.
They illustrate the evolution of the sacred art of the Ukrainian icon-painting from the late Byzantine period until the golden age of Ukrainian iconography. The exhibition will include icons created not only by professional artists but also by folk icon painters. This will show the diversity of the Ukrainian iconography.
The majority of articles - are the church icons from icon stands of various churches as well as the Holy doors. Besides these, small home icons will be displayed. The images of Christ, of the Virgin, the feasts icons, images of selected popular Saints and replicas of the miracle-working Ukrainian icons will be shown. Particular attention will be given to the artifacts originated in Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra - one of the great Christian shrines of the world.
The exposition will also present other sacred ritual items - (crosses, chalices, pyxes, icon-lamps etc.), liturgical textiles and books in precious frames, which will enrich the understanding of the Orthodox Christian rituals and customs. Thus we'll be able to present the saved national cultural heritage better. The total number of articles is up to 100. Among them: icons -80 (3 icons of the 16th c., 15 icons of the 1ih c., 30 -40 icons of the 18th c., 20-25 icons of the 19th c.). Depending on the size of premises and exhibition equipment the quantity may be changed.
These historical articles have already been presented in Italy, Hungary, Germany, Finland, Spain, Belarus and Russia. Some will be shown for the first time. The beginning of the press conference will be March 26, 2009 at 4 p. m., address, The National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Preserve, 1. Mazepa str., 21, build. 1. Contacts: +38(044)2545427
The participants of the press-conference:
Vasyl' Vovkun, Minister of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine.
James Pettit, Deputy Ambassador of the USA in Ukraine
Deborah Taylor, Ph.D, the curator.
Gregory Guroff, Ph.D, President, Foundation for International Arts and Education.
Katharine Guroff, Director of Programs, Foundation for International Alts and Education.
Ena Heller, Ph.D, Executive Director, Museum of Biblical Art, New York, NY.
Gordon Lankton, Founder, Museum of Russian Icons, Clinton town, Massachusetts.
Lisa Rebori, Vice President of Collections (Houston Natural Science Museum), Houston, Texas.
E. Morgan Williams, President, U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC)
Serhiy Taruta, Foundator, Museum of the National Cultural Heritage "PlaTar"
Olexander Pylypenko, First Vice-President, Corporation "Industrial Union of Donbass".
Mykola Platonov, Founder, Museum of Cultural Heritage "PlaTar".
Archimandrite Cyril (Govorun), Head, International Affairs Department of the
Ukrainian Orthodox Christian Church.
Mother-Superior Serafima (Shevchik), Head, "Mission the Church and Culture" Synod
Department of ,the Ukrainian Orthodox Christian Church.
Serhiy Krolevets, Director General, Kievo-Pechersk Historico-Cultural Preserve, the
Honoured Culture Worker, Head of the All-Ukrainian Association of Museums and Preserves.