www.kyivpost.com: General http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/ General A crazy show http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/122635/ General Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:57:34 +0200
Their stories are based on real life: in one of them, an office girl is stressed by the economic crisis.

But all ends well, with the girl stripping off her fears as well as her formal clothes to turn into a goddess of seduction.

The show is a complex mix of music, bodies, moves and lights.

Andree Deissenberg, the managing director, says the light is in fact the most important technical effect of the show, as it represents costumes of the girls.

“The Crazy Horse is about well-shaped beautiful girls, with red lips, often with a mole and bangs that tell stories of different girls, and all these girls are dressed in the light,” she says.

A Crazy Horse dancer finds relief from the stress of financial crisis by stripping off her office clothes. (Antoine Poupel)

Yasna, one of around 10 dancers in the troupe that visited Kyiv, is Ukrainian.

She is easy to spot in the crowd, given away by her expressive puffy lips and big eyes.

Like all the other women, she fits the body standard established for the dancers by Alain Bernardin, the founder of the cabaret, in 1951.

The standard prescribes that the distance between the ladies’ nipples has to be exactly 27 centimeters, while the distance between the belly button and pubis is 13 centimeters.




Yasna, of course, is not her real name.


 Ukrainian dancer Yasna was happy to join the Crazy Horse troupe after her dance education at cultural college in Kyiv. (Antoine Poupel).
The ‘upside down’ show. (Ukrinform)

All 50 dancers of the Parisian cabaret go by stage names by a tradition that preserves the women’s anonymity as well as their enigmatic aura.

The 25-year-old Ukrainian received her professional dance training at cultural college in Kyiv.

She did not even dream of becoming part of Crazy Horse when she was offered her first job as a dancer in Split club in Kyiv.

From there, she was recruited to another cabaret, this time in France.

And four years on, in 2009, – voila! -- she was picked during casting for Crazy Horse.

Frank Paquet, the cabaret’s tour director, says that charisma (besides physical parameters) is the winning feature.

“The difficult part the casting directors are looking for is the little extra,” Paquet says.

”You need to have something special that fits well with the culture of the Crazy Horse.”

Even when a woman has made it into Crazy Horse, staying a part of the group is tough, too.

The contract is demanding and states that even things like weight and hairstyles for each woman are decided and enforced by the troupe director.


A dancer performs ’Leçon d’érotisme’ on a famous lips-shaped sofa, an inspiration of the late Salvador Dali. (UNIAN)

Crazy Horse has a busy schedule. In Kyiv, for example, they did 10 shows over five days.

The shows effectively sold out, even with tickets ranging from Hr 300 to Hr 1,200.

The performers cannot fraternize with visitors and are taken home in special taxis.

“Due to the nature of the show, a lot of girls are approached by other people and they need to keep a certain distance,” Paquet explains.


The ‘legmania’ show. (UNIAN)

Yasna is happy to give up part of her freedom for the honor of performing in one of Paris’ most famous shows.

She says that her mother, a choreographer in Kyiv, is also delighted with her career.

When Yasna talks about the show, she shines.

While other artists stand out for their flexibility and acting, she relies on her natural femininity and enthusiasm to entertain the audience.

Like the rest, Yasna trains many hours daily to stay in shape. And fans appreciate that.

A musical number featuring an army of bare-skin women has traditionally opened the show since 1989. (UNIAN)

Ninel Kopotun, who went to the Feb. 11 show, came away impressed.

“Beautiful bodies, decorations and an unbelievable aroma that was coming from the stage,” Kopotun said. “I still recall that wonderful smell.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Maryna Irkliyenko can be reached at irkliyenko@kyivpost.com.

×èòàéòå îá ýòîì íà www.kyivpost.ua]]> Musicians who brighten dreary subway commute http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/122633/ General Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:49:11 +0200
He strikes up a tune rougly two days every week, earning around Hr 80 per hour to pay off debts from his old business and develop his new one.

“The first time I played violin to collect money was around two or three years ago, and it started as a joke,” Vagradyan says. “My friend and I joked around performing in a university park and in a half-hour we collected enough for us and our girlfriends to go ice skating. That’s how I learned that I can earn something this way.”

Street musicians blowing or strumming in underpasses, parks or on Khreshchatyk Street on weekends are not rare in Kyiv, even though the quality is often variable.

But finding a musician in the subway is rare, as it is banned, unlike, for example, in New York and London, where musicians can audition for permission to perform.

Vagradyan – who graduated from music school around six years ago – dismisses the romantic notion of a musician so in love with the sound of his instrument that he isn’t interested in money. Busking is a business, and one that can bring in a fair amount of cash.

When Vagradyan’s kiosk business went bust he found himself with no money and big debts. Within the first few minutes of starting to play in a subway station, a passerby had thrown a Hr 100 bill into his violin case. That inspired him to keep playing.

He is one of a couple of dozen performers who can be spotted at one of Kyiv’s subway stations, usually near the center of town.

Viktoria, 15, is part of a well-known Kyiv subway violin-and-flute duet. Still a music school student, she and her sister play three or four times a week to help their parents with money.

“It’s a good and stable income, and we earn even more than people who have regular jobs. Also it is a great opportunity to practice our skills,” said Viktoria, who wouldn’t give her last name.
People like what we do underground and then invite us to play at corporate parties.

- Viktoria, 15, is part of a well-known Kyiv subway violin-and-flute duet


Some passersby don’t just leave money, but also invite the musicians to play at events. “People like what we do underground and then invite us to play at corporate parties,” Viktoria said. They charge Hr 1,500 per event, and played a handful over the January holiday season.

Like any business in Ukraine, street performance has its risks. Within a few minutes of striking up a tune, Vagradyan says, a local gang member will approach and demand Hr 10-20.

This doesn’t even guarantee you security, he says, as officials and police try to move them on and vendors, also working illegally, shoo them along fearing they may attract unwanted attention from law enforcers.

“Once I was even beaten by them,” Vagradyan recalls, after he refused a vendor’s demand to leave.

But among subway musicians, there is more understanding than rivalry. If a spot is taken, the musicians usually do not argue but check the schedule with current performer, to make sure there is not a queue for this spot and come back when it is free.

Vagradyan says that in the subway he became acquainted with a group of artists who are members of different city theaters. They dress for occasions and holidays and walk the city cafes to perform and collect money.

“On May 9 (when Ukrainians mark World War II Victory Day), we dressed in old uniforms and sang and played in parks. Now we dress in national costume and go winter caroling in city center cafes. People were greeting us with pleasure and we earned good money,” Vagradyan says.

He is looking forward to the Euro 2012 soccer tournament, which Ukraine co-hosts with Poland in June and should bring a flood of tourists to Kyiv.

“We only fear that police and officials won’t let us perform there and we’ll lose even what we have now,” Vagradyan says.

As the interview comes to a close, a police officer approaches to move the young musician on.

Kyiv Post staff writer Yuliya Raskevich can be reached at raskevich@kyivpost.com]]> New Ukrainian textbook gives a modern learning tool to beginners http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/122631/ General Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:35:35 +0200
It was a publisher from Hippocrene Books who suggested the idea to him, and so the “Beginner’s Ukrainian,” a textbook containing 15 lessons, came out last August.

“It is a commercial publishing house, specializing in languages, which means that there is a need and interest for Ukrainian language and demand for Ukrainian textbooks,” says Shevchuk.

Every lesson in “Beginner’s Ukrainian” is based on a real-life situation. The book is based on the communicative method of language learning, a dominant modern technique centered on interaction. It also has an interactive workbook available online. It’s very different from older textbooks, in both the teaching method, and presentation.

“Most of old textbooks are unpleasant to work with. They are not handy and barely have any pictures,” says Shevchuk.
The book comes on time for Euro-2012 championship. Unfortunately, no one from Euro organization committee expressed interest for it. Nor did anyone from the education ministry.

- Yuri Shevchuk, Ukrainian language teacher and the author of the book “Beginner’s Ukrainian"

A total of 2,000 copies were printed originally, and now the publisher is printing more. The book sells at $35 through the publisher’s website, $23 on Amazon and Shevchuk thinks the price is affordable since some language books can cost up to $200 in Columbia.

Most of the students using the book have a connection to Ukraine. “It is often that a student attends my course because of his Ukrainian grandmother who wants him to know his ancestors’ language,” Shevchuk says. “Also there are some Jewish students, whose ancestors come from Ukraine, and they are interested in the country.”

But what Shevchuk really wants is to publish his book in Ukraine. He says negotiations are under way with a local publisher, who is in search of a sponsor for the project. A new layout was produced. Copyright from Hippocrene Books will cost $5,000 – the same as printing the first run of new textbooks.

The author thinks that “Beginner’s Ukrainian” could come in handy for thousands of foreign students coming to Ukraine for higher education. Most of them come from South Korea, China or Arabic countries, and have a choice of the language of tuition.

Professor Anatoly Hulyak from Bohomolets National Medical University says that those who choose to study in Ukrainian face a challenge. “Those who chose Ukrainian study it mostly with the help of the books that we compile ourselves,” he says. “We could use a new Ukrainian textbook, but only if it was authorized as an official textbook.”

An authorization is granted by the Education Ministry, and takes around four months, the ministry officials said.

But Kateryna Fedorenko, director of Knyharnya Ye bookstore chain, says even without the official stamp for approval, a book like that would sell well. She was excited to learn from the Kyiv Post that such a book exists, and asked anxiously if it’s available in Ukraine yet.

“There is definitely a demand for such a textbook,” she explained. “Tourists and expats often ask for something like this. Of course, it wouldn’t be sold as well as a fiction book by a popular author, but still it is something we would really like to have in our stores.”

The customers who had bought the book through Amazon, have left five reviews, most of them positive. They noted good illustrations and other features, giving it an average score of four of five stars.

“Even the most casual page-flipper could spend hours enjoying the images, learning about the lives of modern and past Ukrainians and being nudged into reading and speaking the words in nearby text”, commented Daniel Bavolack from New York.

Shevchuk hopes to present his book in Kyiv in early May. “The book comes on time for Euro-2012 championship. Unfortunately, no one from Euro organization committee expressed interest for it. Nor did anyone from the education ministry.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Olga Rudenko can be reached at rudenko@kyivpost.com.]]> Free coffee, anyone? http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/122630/ General Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:29:12 +0200
It received a new life after 2008, when writer Luciano De Crescenzo published a number of stories and articles describing the tradition of paying for two coffees and drinking one, leaving the other one for the needy – or simply a cheapskate.

Now, this trend has made its way into some 20 cafes and restaurants in Kyiv. The coffee someone decides to buy is marked on a special board and remains up for grabs for anyone who has no money or simply feels like being treated today. Accompanied by the motto, “Give if you wish. Get if you want,” the idea has many forms and names.

In Ukraine, the trend has also evolved: people started buying beverages other than coffee, foods and even jewelry.

“It’s natural. Some people prefer taking, others love giving away,” says Sasha Smetanenko, the project coordinator of Babuin book cafe, where the coffee in suspense theme has taken roots.

Smetanenko said that students are the ones who take most advantage of the scheme, usually during live music concerts that take place in Babuin.
It’s natural. Some people prefer taking, others love giving away.

- Sasha Smetanenko, the project coordinator of Babuin book cafe

Homeless people often don’t know about its existence because information spreads mostly through online media.

But Varenye cafe, located close to the railway station, did get a homeless visitor using the service once.

“He came in, asked for something free, and we gave him cocoa from the suspense list,” says Andrey Pinchuk, the cafe’s owner.

Olga Kudinenko, who has suspended coffees in Varenye because “Hr 15 won’t blow my budget and might actually help someone,” doubts the trend will live long.

One reason is that most people who enter cafes can afford to do so and those who cannot are not usually welcome.

In Kharkiv, some bread-sellers started giving away free loaves, while a woman in Kyiv donated a ring – which someone claimed – and replaced it with a gift of ice cream.

In Ukraine, almost 100 cafes and restaurants have joined the trend from Ivano-Frankivsk to Chernihiv to Feodosiya.

The full list of places can be found at http://www.mediaport.ua/news/79650, and both Facebook and vkontakte social networks have support groups for it.

Varenye cafe owner Pinchuk says some customers are reluctant to give because they are suspicious of business owners. “People are afraid that I won’t give away the coffee they paid for, that I will put it on the list, and then simply wipe it off, getting both the money and the coffee,” he says.


Full list of restaurants
that support the “suspended” coffee trend:
http://www.mediaport.ua/news/79650

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/PidvishenaKava
Vkontakte page: http://vk.com/club32579999

Some cafes:
Babuin, 10 Symona Petlyury St., (050) 356- 3326
Varenye, 22 Symona Petlyury St., (044) 288- 2877
Dveri, 13 Reytarska St.,(044) 279-5168]]> Surviving Ukraine’s winter http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/122512/ General Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:54:51 +0200
Nobody would dream of keeping their hands in the freezer for 30 minutes, but strangely foreigners often think that their hands and ears and faces are immune from the cold.

Every severe winter we see cases of “frostbite” – the simple freezing of the extremities -- which is extremely painful and often needs hospitalization for its treatment with drugs that increase blood flow to these areas and let tissues recover. The condition can cause nerve damage and damage to facial skin, which should always be protected by a barrier cream.

Longer-term effects of cold, not so commonly seen in Ukraine, but the cause of death in many street dwellers are hypothermia and depression of the immune system.

Hypothermia is caused by the lowering of body temperature over many hours. It is usually caused by wearing inadequate clothing or failing to exercise in the cold.

Its effects are mental and physical and it is made worse by alcohol, which causes blood vessels to expand and for us to lose heat more rapidly. Many layers are the answer to human insulation trapping warm air between each. Natural fibers are much better than synthetic – those in the arctic often wearing silk underclothes! For children this is much more important as they have a larger surface area through which to lose heat. If travelling by car, always make sure you have extra clothing in the event of breakdowns or getting stranded.

Cold appears to depress the immune system and therefore prolonged periods of cold can lead us to catch infections such as influenza, common colds and pneumonia. I think the old saying “wrap up or you will catch a chill” is based on this. If your apartment is not so warm, it is important to have enough clothes at night as our body temperatures can drop in deep sleep.

The human body strangely responds to cold by sweating, so in winter I often see patients complaining of waking wet with perspiration in the night.

The human body uses a lot of energy in cold weather and those on very strict diets or fasts may find it difficult to keep warm and become susceptible to the effects of chilling. Severe cold drives us to eat, and those on diets and conscious of their own beauty should relax at these times! Our demands for sleep also end to be higher during very cold weather.

Dry apartments and rapid changes of temperature are a challenge to sinus sufferers and they need to try and change temperature slowly as a sudden 30 degree change causes contraction of the sinus drainage system. A small time on the balcony or the stairwell often helps before going onto the street.

Needless to say snow and ice causes many broken bones. Clip on Norra spikes are useful in winter weather. But also make sure your boots have the softer sort of rubber that aids traction! Running on snow in high-heeled boots requires years of practice. Don’t even try it if you weren’t born here! Sportsmen should always spend time warming up and should never ski or snow board immediately after leaving a warm hotel as their muscles will be contracted and much more easily damaged.

But enough advice. Some good clothing and care will leave you absolutely able to enjoy that shashlik in the forest or even a roll in the snow after a winter sauna in the country! But most of all enjoy the beauty of rural Ukraine in the winter and escape the clogged streets of Kyiv to experience a winter’s sunrise in a Ukrainian village.


Dr. Richard Styles is a British family physician at American Medical Centers, http://amcenters.com/, a full-service clinic, in Kyiv.]]> United in love, but apart on Valentine’s Day http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/122193/ General Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:11:48 +0200
But there are plenty of people who would like to celebrate, but cannot spend the day with their beloved. Their love might be serving a romantic dinner to someone else, crossing the ocean in a plane or a ship or even staying behind bars to pay for their crime.

The “I love you” message in those couples is more difficult to send and receive, but they manage nevertheless.

Inmates and their other halves probably have it tougher than most: they cannot call each other freely and there are no extra visiting dates allowed on Valentine’s Day even for married couples. And, of course, there is no shop in prison selling heart-shaped trinkets to send back to your love.

Hennadiy, a 40-something former inmate who was too shy to disclose his name for print, said that when he was behind bars he asked his relatives and friends to secretly bring him a card months ahead of the holiday, so he had enough time to forward it to his beloved.

Sometimes the craftier inmates make pictures themselves. Their less lucky cellmates who did not have relatives willing to help in the love business would buy those custom-made works.

“Now that I am free, I give my wife toys, candies and cards,” Hennadiy says. But he noted that in Ukraine it’s mostly the younger people who care about this Western holiday, named after the Catholic bishop Valentine, who – ironically – also sent love letters out of prison in ancient Rome. Hennadiy said the holiday that older inmates care about is International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8.

Olena Musienko, the 50-year-old wife of a sailor,who also spends many Valentine’s Days alone, agreed that it’s a foreign holiday for the former Soviet republics.

“This holiday is more about our children,” she says. “The most important date to remember for our husbands is March 8. Most of the time we have to wait until they come back months later and make it up to us, but if my husband does remember about St. Valentine’s, he tries to organize some flowers or candy delivery.”
“Most of the time he bribes our daughters ahead of time to organize it for him,” Musienko laughs.

Sailors’ wives like to tell the story of a seaman who had been clever and foresighted enough to hide presents for all holidays before going away. True or not, but the legend says he hid jewelry in a back yard and a watch in a ventilation shaft because his wife loved cleaning and would find them in the house, spoiling the fun.

Those who work on the special day try to squeeze in a romantic surprise for their beloved nevertheless. Mykhailo, a 22 year-old barman working in Kyiv, says he has planned a surprise for his girlfriend, despite the fact that he has a day-long shift. He did not want his last name printed in case his girlfriend reads the story before Feb. 14.

He says the plan is to call her and ask her to come to his work, pretending he needs her help with something. “When she comes over, I’ll take her to a specially set table and serve her a beautiful dinner. Our cook is my friend so he’ll draw her name and heart on dessert. That is how I can be with my girlfriend on that day.”

His plan may not be easy to executive. The cafe is packed on that day, with clients wanting two things that clash: intimacy as well as fast, attentive service.

The young barman says his colleagues are not planning anything on the day because they expect it to be one of the busiest days of the year, and the best present they want is “a good tip and a rest afterwards.”

Hennadiy, the former inmate, says that one can find a way to celebrate if it really matters for you. “I believe it depends on the person,” he says. “If you want to show your love you’ll a way to do it, no matter where you are.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Yuliya Raskevich can be reached at raskevich@kyivpost.com.



×èòàéòå îá ýòîì íà www.kyivpost.ua]]> Ukraine picks its best music http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/122191/ General Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:58:54 +0200

Ukrainian Olympic champion Yana Klochkova and showman Yuri Gorbunov give Oleh Skrypka an award for the best song.

Kostiantyn Meladze won in the best composer nomination and “Boombox” singer Andriy Khlyvniuk, who got his YUNA as the author of the best lyrics, handed his award over to Yurii Rybchynskyi, who he said deserved it more.

The prize for “special advancement over the last 20 years” went to 64-year-old singer Sofia Rotaru, who didn’t appear at the event. In a recorded acceptance speech, standing on a beach with a flower in her hair, she thanked YUNA’s guests and organizers.


Ruslana performs her Eurovision-winning hit “Dyki Tantsi” (Wild Dances).

A special jury picked the winners. It consisted of experts who don’t create music, but who have been involved with it professionally for at least five years.

The audience seemed to be delighted with jury’s choice. Palats Ukraina, where the ceremony took place, burst with applause from the thousands of fans each time the host announced a winner.


Ukrainian singer Gaitana sings “You’re My Everything” with Karl Frierson from the German jazz band De-Phazz.

The YUNA ceremony was opened with a joint performance of Germany’s Thomas Anders of Modern Talking and Ukraine’s Kamaliya. She was the only artist ineligible to compete for a prize because her husband, Mohammad Zahoor, is the founder of the awards program. Zahoor owns the ISTIL Group and is the publisher of the Kyiv Post.


YUNA founder Mohammad Zahoor, his wife, singer Kamaliya, and German pop singer Thomas Anders bask in the limelight.

Some nominees performed for the show in front of around 3,000 fans at the Palace of Ukraine. “Vahteram” by Boombox got a huge ovation. “Endless Summer,” the official song of the Euro 2012 football championships to be held in Ukraine and Poland this summer, was performed by Oceana.

Despite a one-hour delay and a few technical glitches, organizers and fans seemed satisfied with the first YUNA.


Singers Masha Sobko, Alyosha and Anya Dobrydnyeva perform some of Sofia Rotaru’s songs.

“We achieved our goal,” said YUNA producer Pavlo Shylko, better known as DJ Pasha. “We created a show that is unique.” According to Shylko, organizers were ready to start the show in time, but waited for some of the celebrities to arrive. “It was not a concert, but a TV show, so we couldn’t start without them,” he explained.


YUNA producer DJ Pasha congratulates Iryna Bilyk with winning the best female artist award.

The ceremony will be televised on Inter TV-channel on Feb. 12 at 11 p.m.

Kyiv Post staff writer Alyona Zhuk can be reached at zhuk@kyivpost.com. Photos by Kostyantyn Chernichkin]]> Kyiv’s women rated as world’s most beautiful http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/122192/ General Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:51:08 +0200
“Kyiv is, without a doubt, home to the world’s most beautiful women. A visit to Kyiv is truly awe-inducing. It’s almost hard to believe that women this beautiful even exist. They’re also less intimidating and more friendly than their Russian counterparts.Check out Kyiv in the summertime, when Hydropark Island on the Dnipro River becomes a hot spot for sunbathing Ukrainian beauties,” Traveler's Digest wrote.

This is Ukraine’s first appearance on the top list since the publication started ranking cities in 2006, said Hong Kong-based editor Dakota Smith. “We had not sent travel writers to Ukraine before last year, ” he said.

Ukrainian women are beautiful and quite interesting and intelligent

- Dakota Smith, editor.

The award is based on the opinions of the site’s 10 travel writers – not all of whom have been to Kyiv, but who collectively have visited 100 cities.

Smith has been to Kyiv only once, in September for a week, but liked what he saw.


“They are stunning. They are elegant. Tall. Brunettes. Blondes. Light eyes and friendly as well,” Smith raved. “I’ve studied Russian. It’s not very good, but people are willing to talk with me and have conversations.They seem much more approachable than in Moscow and a few other places in Eastern Europe.”

Even though Smith is 24 and single, he came and left without any romantic attachments. “I went to school with a girl who lives in Kyiv,” he said. “We went to dinner. That’s about it.”

Smith was smitten not only by physical beauty, but rather by characteristics that he hopes will help Ukrainian women shake an unfair reputation of them abroad as mail-order brides and as providing a destination for sex tourists, a sort of Bangkok of the north.

“People there are so educated. You can have conversations about literature, art and philosophy,” said Smith, a Canadian-American.

"Ukrainian women are beautiful and quite interesting and intelligent.”

Smith also thinks that Ukraine will hold the top spot for some years to come.

“I think Kyiv will be there [at the No. 1 position] for awhile,” Smith said. “Stockholm was No. 1 for a long time and it’s now No. 2. So there’s not a big dropoff.”

Only time will tell if this reputation leads to a tourist boom. But, considering the unfortunate ways that Ukraine makes international news - Chornobyl, corruption, fistfights in parliament, oligarchs buying up expensive real estate abroad, homeless people freezing in the streets - this is an honor worth savoring.

Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner can be reached at bonner@kyivpost.com ]]> Kyiv artists losing their workplaces http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/122188/ General Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:40:51 +0200
Studios are also under threat, either rented or owned by the National Artists Union, which can hardly afford utility rent increases adopted for businesses and non-profit organizations like theirs.

“I feel homeless all the time, living in a country where the work of artists is not appreciated by the state,” complains Vira Barenova-Kuleba, 73, an artist who spent her entire career painting. She may be losing her studio on Gorky Street because she can no longer afford her heating bills.

Others who have been working on Andriyivsky Uzviv, however, are losing work places to the construction of a hotel and restaurant complex.

Many of those affected complain that they are treated unfairly, with little or no chances to appeal the decisions that render them homeless or severely impact their ability to make a living through producing art.

Those 18 artists who got a sticker on their door on Dec. 30, warning them to leave the premises by Jan. 4, say they had no chance to appeal their eviction.

The people who brought the stickers said they were firefighters, that the building was in danger of catching a fire, and that they represented the new owner of the building, a company called Aviantbud.

For the artists on Andriyivsky, the company’s name came to be synonymous with threat since 2007, when they received a letter that the building had been sold. Before that, since 1982, it was rented by the National Artists Union from the Podil district administration.

“When we first came here all the buildings on the street were half-ruined, all the windows broken and the only people living here were homeless from the neighboring hills,” says Vadym Korzhenko, an artist who has worked in the building since 1982.


Artist Vadym Korzhenko in his studio. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

He said young artists were enthusiastic about their new homes and started organizing exhibitions and art fairs in the street.

Over time, the Artists’ Union improved the building the best it could, connected it to heating and running water, and paid rent to the district government in the meantime.

“We couldn’t afford a euro-remont [high-class renovation] as in modern business centers,” says Petro Zykunov, deputy head of the union. “However, we have taken care of it.”

Despite the fact that by law, existing tenants receive the first right of privatization, “we weren’t asked to participate in the tender or even warned,” says another artist Oleksandr Dobrodiy, who has been working in the building for 12 years.


The artists filed lawsuits to both the Podilsky administrative court and Kyiv Podilskiy commercial court five years ago, challenging the sale by the district administration, but no ruling has been produced yet.

Representatives of the Podil administration claim that the artists’ lease ran out in 2004. “According to the Podil city state administration’s ruling the buildings at 18 Andriyivsky Uzviz were rented out to the private company Aviantbud, as the reconstruction of the building had been launched and the company was the one to sponsor it, in 2004,” the Podil administration explained to the Kyiv Post in writing. It also explained that later, in 2007, the company used its legitimate right to buy out the building.

“But you can just come and see it with your own eyes. There is no reconstruction started here,” says Dobrogiy. Moreover, artists claim they have never seen any representatives of the company, which has no website. Its phones listed in various directories do not respond.

Andriy Sodol, the lawyer who represents the Artists Union in their fight for studios on Andriyivsky Uzviv, is skeptical about the chances of winning, despite believing that the law is on the artists’ side. So, he thinks the artists may be evicted any day.

The artists themselves, meanwhile, roam their studios, wondering what they would do with all the stuff that accumulated over the years, including their own paintings on the walls, standing in the corners and waiting to be finished on easels. “The union doesn’t have money to get us another place to work,” Korzhenko says.

Another lot of artists who have studios on top floors of buildings in the city center might actually choose to leave themselves, driven away by the fact that they can no longer afford to pay for the heating.

Some of those studios have been in use by artists since 1970s, but this is the first winter that heating prices have been hiked so much that artists have to pay up to Hr 3,000 per studio – an equivalent of rent for a one-room apartment in Kyiv. Last year, the figure was around Hr 700.


The artists themselves, meanwhile, roam their studios, wondering what they would do with all the stuff that accumulated over the years. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

The Cabinet of Ministers issued a resolution in December that the Artists Union, which is a non-profit organization, has to pay corporate rates for gas, which is more than four times the price regular citizens pay. Previously, the Artists Union was allowed to pay the low rates for gas, courtesy of a city council resolution from December 2010.

Many artists believe that the hike is “a way to drive us [the artists] out of our workshops,” says Natalia Lytovchenko, the Artists Union’s board member.
The union owns 573 workrooms in Kyiv.

Most of them are small, about 50 square meters in area, but are centrally located. Artists use them as co-owners and don’t pay any rent, but are responsible for utility bills.

“My pension together with all possible bonuses makes Hr 1,600. I have to pay Hr 1,500 for utility bills and what’s next – to live on bread and water?” says Mykola Churilov, 76, author of some of the most famous Ukrainian cartoons on TV, “Kryvenka Kachechka,” “Ivasyk Telesyk” and many others.

To keep their studios, some of the artists have rented out their homes and live in the workshops, choosing to breath paint and varnish vapors over losing their place of work.

Oleksandr Bryginets, head of the cultural and tourism commission of Kyiv State City administration, says the artists should fight new heating rates in courts and in the streets, like the Chornobyl cleanup workers did in autumn, faced with a threat of losing their benefits.

Non-payment is a bad option that will make Kyivenergo claim the debts in court, which might force the union to sell its property. And then, the artists will lose their studios for sure.

Kyiv Post staff writer Daryna Shevchenko can be reached at Shevchenko@kyivpost.com and Anastasia Forina at forina@kyivpost.com.]]> Lover’s day can bring out the quirkiness in all of us http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/122190/ General Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:40:04 +0200
Many of these are discovered by people in the catering industry – those who sell flowers, who drive taxis and restaurant workers.

Volodymyr Shyptenko, a waiter from Oscar restaurant in Kyiv, remembers working on last year’s Valentine’s Day.

It was a night when luck struck suddenly - and then changed its mind.

Feb. 14 is known as a time when people tend to tip generously, so money for waiters is good. “People are mostly joyful and not greedy, so we get good tips,” Shyptenko says.

The restaurant was overcrowded; all the tables were reserved. A couple came in closer to the end of the night to take a reserved table. “Both looked good, but the young man was a bit nervous. It was obvious that they are having a first date,” Shyptenko recalls.

So far, so good. The couple had a long evening, talking a lot, eating fruit and drinking expensive wine.

The bill was more than Hr 500. “Later, when I brought the bill, the man smiled at me, thanked for a good evening and gave me a Hr 200 tip. I was surprised, but considered this to be a generous gesture from a grateful customer,” Shyptenko says.

But the next morning it turned out that the client had second thoughts about his generosity. The man came back, looking ashamed and asking for his tip back.

“He felt a bit uncomfortable when he came to me, explaining who he is and what he wants,” says Shyptenko. “He said: ‘I hope you can understand me as only a man can understand another man.’

“The lady must have blown him off and he decided at least to get the cash back,” Shyptenko concludes. He felt sorry for the unlucky bloke, and gave him his money back for consolation.

Mykola, a taxi driver, drove away with plenty of cash on the last Valentine’s Day. He did not want to give his last name for print because of the way he made it, though. “I don’t want my wife to find out,” he says.

He had no celebrations planned, just work. At some point in the evening, he took what looked like a typical order. Three ladies got into his cab, looking pretty and festive. The driver took them around the city for a bit, chatting all the way.

At the end of the trip the chirpy driver received an unexpected offer: to spend the night with all three of them, and get paid what he usually made in a night of taxi driving.

“They were nice and I agreed,” he says simply and somewhat timidly. He is now afraid to watch TV shows that help people find their relatives. “I am afraid someone may be looking for a daddy,” he says, with a nervous laugh.


Drama seems to be the second name of Valentine’s Day. Ilona Beh, a waitress working in Kyiv for six years, has seen plenty of them. But her favorite one is about the runaway bride, which happened a few years back.

A young man called her restaurant to book a table. He warned that it will be a special evening for him as he was planning to propose. He got an intimate table in the corner, and prepared well. He brought photos of himself and his girlfriend to set on the table and extra candles. He proposed over champagne.

“The ‘happy’ fiancee said nothing, then took her phone, her purse and ran away,” the waitress says. She ran so fast that her coat was left behind, and she didn’t seem to care.

“It was cold outside and I thought [at first] that she is off to meet someone, so I didn’t pay much attention. But she never came back,” Beh says.

Another one of Beh’s favorite love stories has a totally different flavor. “I have never seen so many white roses,” she recalls. One of her clients booked a whole restaurant to propose. The couple had been living together for a number of years, had children, but were not married.

“He made it a fairytale, decorated everything with thousands of white roses, invited guests – all in white - and proposed when she came in,” she says. She whispered ‘yes’ as he hugged her, and they married right there and then, in the hall of the restaurant, after he answered ‘Let’s not put it off any longer.’”

Oleksandr Ivanov, a tourist agency director in Kyiv, has his own favorite Valentine’s Day story to tell. “I always remember one couple, both over 50,” he says. “She booked a trip to Maldives, a romantic dinner on an uninhabited island and a photo session in wedding attire.”

This is why he remembers it: “It’s not an unusual story, but it proves that you can do something special for your loved one, no matter how old you are.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Daryna Shevchenko can be reached at shevchenko@kyivpost.com. ]]> Sculptures of Ukraine’s genius to shine in France’s Louvre http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/122189/ General Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:30:49 +0200
The museum’s scouts have picked out 28 works of the 18th-century artist that will go on display between Nov. 12 of this year and Feb. 25, 2013.]]>
The Louvre specialists picked out seven sculptures from her museum.

They also picked out three from the Prykarpattya Museum in Ivano-Frankivsk, and the Pinzel Museum in Lviv will lend the most masterpieces - 18.

Stetsko says it’s a lot, considering that most of Pinzel’s works were destroyed by the Soviet regime. There is little information left about the artist, too – yet enough for the Louvre specialists to know him and show initiative to organize a solo exhibit.

Art critics from the famous museum came to western Ukraine in 2009 to visit the places where Pinzel lived and worked, and offered to take some of his masterpieces to display in Louvre.

“All expenses will be covered by the Louvre, including packing, transportation and insurance,” says Mykhailo Deynega, head of the Prykarpattya Museum.

Deynega says he feels extremely proud that a Ukrainian artist has been noticed by the world, and will get even more famous thanks to the upcoming exposition.

Though the Louvre website contains no information about the exhibition so far, its press service confirmed that the exhibit is scheduled for this fall, promising more public information closer to the date of the exhibit.



One of the works of sculptor Ioann Heorh Pinzel, exhibited in Lviv on Aug. 14, 2007. (UNIAN)

Stetsko said that Pinzel came to Ukraine around the 1740s, surfacing in the court of Mykola Pototskyi, a famous patron of arts of his time. “No one knows where he came from, nor what his real name was,” she said.

Pinzel is believed to have studied somewhere in Europe, most likely in Italy. Stetsko says that “his works were heavily influenced by the Renaissance art.”

But bringing European traditions into Ukrainian sculpture is not what made Pinzel famous. He developed his own style that doesn’t have an official term, but can be described as flexible expressionism.

“Before him, sculptures were made in a canonical way, but his works look alive, capturing the dynamics of movement,”explains Stetsko.

Borys Voznytskyi, head of Lviv’s Pinzel Museum, says that Pinzel is by far the brightest representative of Ukraine’s 18th century baroque style. He has been compared to Michelangelo and Lorenzo Bernini, the famous sons of Italy.

Art historians say that public interest to Pinzel’s work has been rising lately. Three museums joined forces to promote him and the year 2007 as The Year of Pinzel, organizing multiple exhibitions and publishing photo albums of his masterpieces to tell the world about him.


His fame reached France, and even Japan.

“A crew from Japan’s channel NHK came to Ukraine last year to film a documentary about Pinzel,” says Stetsko. “It was released in October, though, unfortunately, Ukraine didn’t buy the screening rights.”

Pinzel’s sculptures will travel to Paris in October, and will be in display in their home museums until then.

Several of the masterpieces picked out by the Louvre have not been on permanent exposition before.

“There was not enough places, but we are thinking about reorganizing the exposition when they return from France, as more and more people show interest to Pinzel’s works,” says Stetsko.


Pinzel’s works can be viewed in the following museums:

Ternopil Museum of Regional Studies,
Ternopil,3, Maydan Mystectv, (0352)52 44 77

Prykarpattya Art Museum,
Ivano-Frankivsk, 8, Sheptyckogo, (03422) 440 38

Pinzel Museum,
Lviv, 2, Mytna ploshcha,
(032) 275 69 66

Louvre’s website:
www.louvre.fr/en

Kyiv Post staff writer Alyona Zhuk can be reached at zhuk@kyivpost.com.



×èòàéòå îá ýòîì íà www.kyivpost.ua]]> A horse lover who dreams of green tourism pastures http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/122183/ General Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:14:08 +0200
The four-legged doctor works four days a week for six hours at a local stadium, assisted by three human specialists. An hour lesson costs Hr 60.

“The children get onto a horse and forget that they are unwell, they unconsciously switch on some muscles that had not worked before, and relax others that were cramped,” he says.

But the most visible effect is psychological. Horse therapy is a very uplifting and powerful tool. “I have felt the effect myself,” he says.

Lun started his hippotherapy project two years ago, after starting to ride a horse helped him improve his mood and physique. A month after starting to ride, he was on a horse every day, feeling much happier, had lost 14 kilos of weight, and bought his first horse – a gorgeous young stallion called Tristan.

Then he had an idea for therapy, and bought Grudka to train.

To support his equestrian friends, Lun runs a day job as a consumer goods sales representative, and a small business in Lviv. It takes Hr 1,500 to buy a month’s worth of food for a horse.

Then, there is the veterinarian services and upkeep. In October, for example, his expenses ran up to Hr 12,000, while the riding lessons and therapy brought in Hr 8,000.

But Lun says there is no regret about the money math.

“I am lucky. At age 35 I know what I want,” he says, and moves on to talk about his dream.

When he rode a horse a couple of years ago for the first time since his teens, he realized he had to own one. Two years and two horses down the road, he knows he has to build a green tourism center – and is working on it.

He found a suitable spare communal land plot of seven hectares just 20 kilometers outside Lviv and – along with several friends and relatives – has applied to the local council to get the allotment under the law which sets 2 hectares of land for each Ukrainian.

He prepared a set of documents, drafts and three-dimensional models of what his eco-center is going to look like, and has waited for a year to have the land allocated. He says it will probably take at least another year to get it.

In the meantime, he is living the green lifestyle already. An owner of two flats in the city center, he found a collapsing house in the village and moved there in place of a family who left Ukraine to look for a better life abroad.

There is no running water there – in fact, there is barely any water in the well if rains don’t come for a while. He says he showers “whenever and wherever” he can – “and that’s the only real problem.”

The house is heated by an old wood-burning stove, but much of the food is now cooked on a small travel gas stove – a real luxury that they have had for several months now, his girlfriend says.

Nina Skorobogatko has just driven back home in her hatchback. Wearing a shimmering silvery mini-dress, high heeled boots and make-up, she looks oddly out of place in her rural dilapidated home.

In the city, she runs a small business training beauty specialists. Here, she is cooking a water rat, or nutria, that Lun had caught the other day.

Nina’s nutria is cooked in a creamy sauce, and it tastes quite like a rabbit. While we’re eating, Lun says natural food is what the visitors of his dream center will get to eat.

“The food and drinks there will be all natural, coming from the village, starting with milk and finishing with rabbits,” he said.
He pulls out a fat folder full of drawings and models to proudly show what it will be like.

“Don’t spill wine on it – particularly the topography – that cost me Hr 5,000,” he warns, then laughs. “Don’t worry – I am a man of civilization – I have computer backups.”

That sounds funny in a house that seems like it comes from two centuries ago.

On his plan are 10 houses for visitors, and an eatery, built by traditional methods that involve plenty of wood and clay. They will have all modern conveniences, just like a hotel room – and that’s the only concession to the modern times Lun is prepared to make.

It has neat horse walk routes mapped out, and two maneges to continue with horse therapy and other activities. Long horse trips will be available over several days, as well as horse riding for anyone willing.

Lun has seen a similar business model working in Poland, Italy and France, and says what is sold as green tourism here “is a terrible fake”.
One day, he hopes to change that.

Kyiv Post editor Katya Gorchinskaya can be reached at gorchinskaya@kyivpost.com.

×èòàéòå îá ýòîì íà www.kyivpost.ua
]]> A landmark since 1939 closes http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/121749/ General Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:15:52 +0200

On the Jan. 31 eve of its closure, Kyivans came to their favorite department store to say goodbye to TsUM, which has dominated the central street throughout the lives of Kyivans. The acronym stands for Öåíòðàëüíèé Óí³âåðñàëüíèé Ìàãàçèí – literally translated as Central Universal Store, but more accurately Central Department Store.

Halyna Ivanova came on the last day of business to say goodbye. “I almost grew up here, if one can say so. I spent my free time here with my friends,” the 60-year-old woman said. “Almost all my clothes were bought here. I am so upset that it is being closed.”


On its last working day on Jan. 31, Kyiv’s TsUM greeted visitors with empty shelves and final sales. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

Lidiya Kapula, also 60, came to TsUM to buy a warm waistcoat. She went her usual way – straight to the fourth floor, where women's clothes have been sold for many years, only to find out that this is probably going to be her last purchase in the store.

“I remember when I was 14 my parents and I came here and they bought me my first expensive outfit. I remember everything. It was a beige spring coat,” she recalls nostalgically on her way to the cash desk.

It should not be a major problem for clients to find a new place to shop as new labels and department stores are sprouting around Kyiv. But the store’s dozens of salespeople, many of whom have worked here for years and even decades, might not be so lucky.

“I have worked in TsUM for 35 years,” said Iryna, 51, too publicity-shy to give her surname. She is worried that she will find it tough to find another job, as employers shy away from people close to retirement age.

“Who will need me now? Employers do not pay attention to your experience now, they look at your age and whether you have long legs,” she said with tears in her eyes. She said hundreds of sales people in TsUM have not been offered alternative employment.

Maksym Gromadtsov, ESTA’s investment director, said that for years TsUM has had no sales staff, just administrative and technical workers.

“TsUM salespeople as such have not existed for a long time. ... Those who call themselves ‘TsUM salespeople’ had worked for many years in the Soviet TsUM, and were then employed in the same capacity by independent tenants,” Gromadtsov said.

Kyiv’s TsUM has been closed several times over its history, said Mykhaylo Kalnytsky, a local historian and blogger. After its opening in 1939, the building suffered from fire during World War II but its walls survived.


Between 1958 and 1960, the department store was upgraded and the part running along Khreshchatyk Street became twice as long. The next renovation in 1985 made room for departments with Western-style self service, as opposed to Soviet-style service over the counter.

“It used to be the central store in the city, that’s it,” summarizes Kalnytsky. “Even in the 1980s, a time of huge deficit in the Soviet Union, there were more goods on TsUM’s shelves than in other stores. Here you could even buy scarce goods imported from Eastern Europe. Its windows looked just marvelous.”


In this 1941 photo, the TsUM – or Central Department Store – dominates the landscape on the main Kreshchatyk Street. Soon, many of the buildings near it would be destroyed during World War II. After 73 years, the store closed on Jan. 31 for remodeling, ending yet another feature of Soviet life.
(mik-kiev.livejournal.com)

Lately, Kyiv’s TsUM had reasonably friendly staff and many Ukrainian producers. It also had a layout that had not changed for years, which means that regular customers knew exactly where to find the right type of product and the right size.

Lights, pottery and jewelry lived on the first floor, shoes were on the second floor (including rare small sizes), men's clothes and suits on the third, women's clothes on the fourth, and the top floor housed home goods.

At the same time, it has been painfully clear lately that TsUM was having trouble keeping up with modern shopping habits and competing against glitzy shopping malls like Globus and Dream Town.

Last March the department store was acquired by Akhmetov’s ESTA Holding, which also owns part of Leonardo business center and the Opera Hotel in Kyiv, as well as Donbass Palace in Donetsk, among other real estate holdings.

The new TsUM owner plans to build more shopping spaces in the yard, but promises that the facade and name will remain intact.

“ESTA Holdings aims to return TsUM its title of the main department store of the country,” Gromadtsov said.

Apart from a variety of boutiques, the new TsUM will house a supermarket, several restaurants and cafes. A renowned English architectural bureau, Benoy, was invited to create the interior. The new corporate style of TsUM is being designed by an international branding agency, Landor.

The new department store is scheduled to open its doors in autumn 2014, and will become a powerful sign that the era of Soviet-style shopping centers is gone.

Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Faryna can be reached at faryna@kyivpost.com.
Staff writer Olga Rudenko contributed to this story.]]> Eastern European cuisine: No longer just for peasants http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/121747/ General Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:00:09 +0200
“I like to take peasant food from the home country and elevate it,” said Anne Yarymowich, executive chef at the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Frank Restaurant, who frequently features Eastern European foods on her menu. “It’s peasant cuisine. There’s no shame in that.”

Heavy, simple and filling, Eastern European food is reflective of the cultures of the people who inhabit this vast territory – Ukrainians, Hungarians, Jews, Poles and others.

Historically, Eastern European dishes have been comprised of foodstuffs that are staples in the region – cabbage, beets, grains, potatoes – and born out of the necessity to keep stomachs full during a hard day’s work rather than creating culinary delights.

Yet chefs like Yarymowich are changing the way the ultimate peasant food is viewed.

Experimenting with traditional Eastern European recipes, she is borrowing from high cuisine to create dishes that may be traditional in form, but heightened in taste and style.

“As human beings, we are a conglomerate of all that has formed us,” Yarymowich, a Ukrainian-Canadian who is considered by many of her colleagues to be one of the best chefs in Toronto, said of the dishes she creates.

“Being a part of the Ukrainian community was a significant part of my upbringing that I’m proud of.”

As a youth, Yarymowich intently listened to and learned from the culinary debates that took place between women who cooked for functions in the basement of her local church in Montreal, where she was raised.
Anne Yarymowich

An important influence on her later culinary creations was spending time in her mother’s kitchen, which was “a very integral part of our growing up.”

“It formed how I think about cooking,” she said. “We had a large family of six kids. My mother encouraged us to help in the kitchen.”

Living for a period in Germany also gave her an appreciation of other culinary cultures.

Yarymowich said one cookbook she references frequently is Savella Stechishin’s “Traditional Ukrainian Cookery.”

Originally published in 1957, it is a compilation of recipes that builds on those brought to Canada by refugees from Ukraine. In it, Stechishin tackles everything from how to make stuffed mushrooms to the ultimate topic that divides friends – how to properly prepare dough for dumplings known as pyrohy.

Smiling, Yarymowich admitted to extensively experimenting with dough as well as the best way to seal the dumpling’s edge. She said she owns three copies of Stechishin’s book: One is her mother’s, the other her own and a third she keeps at the Frank.

“I reference it all the time,” she said.

Yarymowich’s culinary stamp is evident at the Frank. Because the restaurant is associated with the art gallery, she has occasionally created special menus inspired by major exhibitions showing at the AGO.

Recently Yarymowich created a carte du jour for the exhibit “Chagall and the Russian Avant-Garde,” which ended on Jan. 15. The four-months-long exhibition explored the art and times of Russian-French artist Marc Chagall and his contemporaries.

Yarymovich’s menu, which changed frequently during the exhibit, is pure Eastern Europe but with a contemporary twist.

On a recent day, for the appetizer Yarymowich featured a choice between the borscht of the day or pan-fried stuffed egg with horseradish and caviar on a salad of baby arugula, baby beet greens, pumpernickel croutons and Dijon vinaigrette.
The ingredients in Eastern European dishes are very similar to what we can grow, including vegetables like beets. Traditional dishes are being elevated by gourmet ingredients

- Malcolm Jolley, a leading Canadian food critic

The entrée was a choice of pan-seared steelhead trout fillet on buckwheat blini, roasted baby carrots and lemon-chive sour cream sauce or braised beef brisket with caraway rye bread, choucroute and caramelized onion or mushroom barley stuffed cabbage rolls with truffle cream sauce and roasted wild mushrooms.

The dessert was a choice of charlotte Russe with brandy Alexsander sauce and brandied Damson plums or chocolate rum baba, a yeasted chocolate cakelet soaked in rum syrup, topped with dark chocolate glaze served with poached pear.

Malcolm Jolley, a leading Canadian food critic, said one of the reasons Eastern European food has finally caught on in Canada is because many of the recipes call on foodstuffs widely available in that country.

“The ingredients in Eastern European dishes are very similar to what we can grow, including vegetables like beets,” he said. “Traditional dishes are being elevated by gourmet ingredients.”

Eastern European has proven so popular in North America that Tom Birchard, the owner of New York’s famed Veselka restaurant said he recently opened a new eatery in the city.

Veselka, which opened its doors in 1954 offering basic Ukrainian fare, has been a staple in New York’s East Village and is a place where celebrities and regular folk can wander in at 3 a.m. and satisfy cravings for pyrohy and other foods.

“We try to stay true to the basic roots of the cuisine,” Birchard said in commenting on the success of his eatery.

Veselka and its dishes have been so popular that Birchard published in 2009 a cookbook of some of the restaurant’s most popular recipes, including its highly-acclaimed borscht.

“Borscht is having a resurgence,” Birchard said about new trends in international cuisine. “[People] are really interested in trying to come up with creative variants.”

Staff writer Natalia A. Feduschak can be reached at feduschak@kyivpost.com]]> A New York taste from the ‘The Veselka Cookbook’ http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/121744/ General Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:48:55 +0200

In 1975, Wolodymyr died and his son-in-law, Tom Birchard, took over management of the restaurant. Veselka’s popularity became so widespread that in November, Birchard opened a second restaurant, called Veselka Bowery, not far from the original eatery.

In 2009, Birchard published a cookbook featuring some of Veselka’s most popular recipes.

“The Veselka Cookbook” contains more than 150 recipes, covering Ukrainian classics to sandwiches (one is named after Ukraine’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, and another after actress Milla Jovovich), to breakfast fare, as well as a section that highlights Christmas foods.

In addition, the book provides a glimpse of how the Ukrainian neighborhood has changed over the decades.


The popularity of Veselka restaurant in New York translated into a network of eateries and a cookbook. (Courtesy)

There are the stories of Julian Baczynsky, the butcher who supplies Veselka with 200 pounds of smoked pork-and-beef kielbasa weekly, the four women who spend their days making the restaurant’s trademark pyrohy, or dumplings, and a walking tour of the area.

In pondering the changes that have occurred at Veselka and the neighborhood, Birchard wrote: “What would amaze Wolodymyr most is that the restaurant is open 24 hours a day now, and is almost always crowded.

When the original Veselka had even a half-dozen customers, he’d grow jittery and nervous and start moving around very briskly.

Now a ‘busy day’ means we’ve served over 1,000 people. I think he’d be proud to see what a success Veselka is, and I know he’d be very pleased that we still have plenty of Ukrainian specialties on the menu. He took his Ukrainian heritage very seriously, and I’m pleased, too, that we’re able to carry on that tradition.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Natalia A. Feduschak can be reached at feduschak@kyivpost.com ]]> A stand-up idea in the workplace http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/121269/ General Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:36:29 +0200
Both literary classics liked working while standing up at a special desk, and modern office workers are starting to realize that their habit made a lot of sense for health reasons.]]>
And in Ukraine even more so than in the West, where health-conscious workers are frequently exposed to new studies pointing out short life expectancy and an array of illnesses that haunt those who spends more than six hours per day sitting down.

Sergey Petrenko, CEO of Yandex in Ukraine, is one of those few who has converted to standing in his office two years ago. “I can’t really say what made me think of trying the standing way. But once I tried I realized how convenient it was,” Petrenko says.

He spends about 60 percent of his time at his standing desk, while the rest of the time he lounges on a bean bag, cuddling his laptop.

The bean bag is also one of the chosen alternatives of some of the workers of Global Logic, a software development company in Kyiv. Their office is famous for its unusual design. Their kitchenettes are stylized as bars, while their reception area looks like a cozy patio.

To move from one part of office to another, they use child scooters, and their floor is marked with realistic road markings.

There is a game zone in their office, too, complete with a climbing wall.

The whole office is designed to make an unusual and comfortable working environment, but they have not quite got to standing up desks.


An employee of Global Logic uses a scooter to move inside the Kyiv office.
(Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

Petrenko, however, advocates this type of work space in the office for many reasons. One of them is to get more exercise, while others are practical.

He claims that standing allows him to use more space to get to the distant parts of his desk, or “working station”, as he calls it.

“I take a small step and get to a totally different working zone,” he says.

He also says that although standing can be tiring, the tiredness dissipates quite soon. “It didn’t take long to get used to standing. It feels better working like this, feels lively,” Petrenko says.

But stand-uppers like him are still pretty unique.

Olesya Putina, a manager of Kyiv Recruit Alliance agency, is surprised to hear questions about standing up trends in offices. “We’ve never had a request to recruit staff for stand-up offices,” she says.

In Petrenko’s office in Odesa, several people are thinking of following in his footsteps. But those who do end up with a problem of buying a table that would service their choice.

In the U.S. and Europe, there is an enormous choice of stand-up desks, from simple ones by IKEA starting at $149 to exclusive models imitating old bureaus for more than $1,000 per piece. In Ukraine, however, it would be tricky to find such a desk.


Petrenko says he had to order his work station with adjustable height on special terms, and waited for a while before it was delivered from abroad.

Roman Nuhymzon, a Simferopol native who works as a purchasing manager for an engineering company, offers another choice.

Three years ago he took up a hobby of making stand up desks with adjustable height. “I made the first desk for myself. But it was expensive to buy materials for a single desk, so I made a couple more, and almost immediately there were people willing to buy those,” says Nuhymzon.

He tested his creation, and adjusted blueprints to make a perfect desk, which he then patented under the brand name “Mensa.” But he is struggling to sell his desks, mostly online. So far, only four people have come to him, seeking for a suitable piece of furniture to accommodate their new chosen working style.

But Nuhymzon has big expectations for the future of stand-up desks, not in the least because sitting offices are so deadly – quite literally.

The New York Times magazine ran an article last year, describing a study of 123,000 Americans.

It turned out that the death rate for those who spent six or more hours a day sitting was significantly higher than for those who sit for three hours or less. For men, the difference is 20 percent, while for women – it’s whopping 40 percent.

This study is far from unique, but there are plenty of skeptics about the alternative.


American author Ernest Hemingway (1899 – 1961) liked to write while standing up. (AFP)

Kostyantyn Zelensky, a family doctor from Kyiv, is one of them: “Physiologically it is not healthy at all.

Even worse than sitting, actually. If one has genetically determined diseases like varicose veins and arthritis than standing can worsen them.” Zelensky says the best thing is to take a break every 20 minutes for some physical exercises if your work is sedentary.

Kyiv Post staff writer Olga Rudenko can be reached at rudenko@kyivpost.com



×èòàéòå îá ýòîì íà www.kyivpost.ua]]> World Traveler: A magical destination in Turkey http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/121268/ General Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:25:44 +0200
The distinctive landscape of Cappadocia emerged as a result of numerous volcanic eruptions, which after thousands of years of erosion and sculpting by wind and rain, resulted in the area’s signature feature, its fairy chimneys.

During your visit, be sure to stay in the unofficial capital of the area, Goreme – a hilly village with winding cobble stone roads and charming cave hotels, a highlight of any trip to Cappadocia. One local, Ibrahim Budak, who took over a tour agency after his father, says: “Somehow in Cappadocia vibrant tourism harmoniously blends with the authentic lifestyle of the locals.”

But it was thanks to the area’s first settlers, the Hittites, that the curiously shaped rocks started turning into carved homes in the Bronze Age.


The surreal landscape of Cappadocia in Turkey is like another planet. (kusadasi.tv)

After later hosting Persian and Roman inhabitants, the area became a refuge for early Christians fleeing the Roman Empire from the 4th century BC. There were eventually thousands of homes, schools, and monasteries carved into the soft rock.

But apart from their historical interest, these ancient cave settlements make a perfect playground for children and adults alike, with numerous caves and secret passages connected by tunnels.

Selime, for instance, is a town on the rocks known for the biggest rock-cut monastery, dating from the 13th century. In many of the churches and monasteries you can still see some of the beautiful frescoes left behind, although many have faded and cracked with time.

But the settlers didn’t just carve into the rock. They also went down.

Forced to hide from their enemies in the times of war, industrious inhabitants created a vast network of underground cities.

In Cappadocia there are dozens of them, some reaching down as deep as 15 floors. In one of the best preserved complexes, Kaymakli, endless labyrinths take unexpected turns leading to dark tunnels and hidden rooms.

With a rudimentary yet effective ventilation system and with the use of candle light, thousands of dwellers could spend nearly two months underground in times of danger.

However, tall people, beware, the low ceilings require lots of uncomfortable hunching. The city has its churches, school, and cellar, dining and meeting halls, animal shelter, and even a morgue.

But the early inhabitants were not only concerned with homes for themselves.

Pigeons were an important source of food and fertilizer, which is why all throughout Cappadocia the cliffs are dotted with thousands of shallow holes - pigeon houses.

The Pigeon valley near the town of Uchisar is especially plentiful with them and is an outstanding place for hiking.

To be true to Cappadocia’s name, (it means “the land of powerful horses” in Persian), you can take a horse ride along the mountain trails, or for more modern tastes,an ATV or scooter.

One of the most memorable experiences in Cappadocia is a hot-air balloon ride. Smoothly floating in the morning sky, watching the breaking sunrise over the landscape is breathtaking.

There is never a specific route - the balloon flies at the whim of the wind. Often it can take you so close to those honeycomb cliffs, you can touch them. Although somewhat pricey, ranging from $70-$200 per trip, it’s definitely something to splurge on.

Apart from its picturesque landscapes, Goreme also has several must-try dishes.

Testi kebab is a delicious blend of meat and vegetables fire-baked in a traditional clay oven shaped as a jar. Another dish is manti - Turkish mini-ravioli stuffed with meat and topped with yogurt and red pepper powder.

Overall, Cappadocia is a magical destination that will leave you with far more memories than your typical packaged tour.

How to get there: There are two main airports to reach Cappadocia, both about an hour away from Goreme: Kayseri Erkilet Airport (ASR) and Nevehir Kapadokya Airport (NAV). Turkish Airlines operates three nonstop daily flights from Istanbul Ataturk to both airports for about $60-140. If you chose to fly to Kayseri directly from Kyiv, expect to spend about $480. An overnight bus (Metro, Goreme Tourism, Suha) from Istanbul to/from Goreme bus station (otogar), will cost you about $30.

Where to stay: Goreme is 70 kilometers west of Kayseri and is the base for exploring Cappadocia. Pick among the variety of cave hotels and suites for about $60-$200. For a budget option, you can find a pension for about $15 per single room and $40 for a double.

Best way to see the area: Take an all-day tour with a tour agency. A few reliable ones are New Goreme Tour, Yama Tour, and Turkish Heritage which take you on “Red” and “Green” tours for about $40-50. Take a scooter for $20 a day.

Where to eat: Culinary highlights Cappadocia Café and Restaurant, Topdeck Cave restaurant, Cappadocia Kebap Center, Firin express - mains for $4 and $10-20 a meal.

Kyiv Post staff writer Mariya Manzhos can be reached at manzhos@kyivpost.com.

×èòàéòå îá ýòîì íà www.kyivpost.ua

]]> The ultimate guide to movies for 2012 http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/121263/ General Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:21:15 +0200
And finally, why even try to resist finding out how on Earth that Ring of Power ended up in Bilbo Baggins’ hobbit-sized pocket?

The Kyiv Post brings you the list of the most exciting movies to expect this year. Look out for schedules later in the year.]]> Winter movies: Snow and devil coming soon
If you’re reading this in Kyiv, the place that had no snow for half the winter, this movie will strike a chord.

“The Grey,” an action movie with elements of a thriller, is about an oil drilling team that gets lost in the wild snowy spaces of Alaska as a result of a plane crash.

As if being stranded in the middle of nowhere isn’t bad enough, the local wolves turn out to be happy to see the human intruders.

At one point, the film’s main protagonist (Liam Nisson) has to face a wolf with just shards of glass to defend himself. The film starts on Jan. 27.

As soon as you shake the Alaska snow off your shoulders, you may want to check out some place hot.

Enter “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” (on Feb. 17) and it certainly is hot, featuring the Devil himself. After the American adventures of the first “Ghost Rider” (2007), Johny Blaze -- a.k.a Ghost Rider (Nicolas Cage) -- is coming to Europe.

His vacation is interrupted when he gets a call to fight the devil. Watch the movie to find out if he succeeds. Hint: this is a Hollywood movie.

The making of “Ghost RIder: Spirit of Vengeance”.The film is out on Feb. 17.
(Courtesy)


Spring of adaptations, hunger and -huge sequel
Spring will bring respite from action movies. The early bird will be “Bel Ami,” a screen adaptation of a classic novel by Guy de Maupassant, is coming out on March 2.

Young Parisian Georges Duroy (Robert Pattinson) has chosen an interesting path to prosperity. He has learned to manipulate rich and powerful women to make his way in life.

Starting as a young and disoriented demobee, he soon becomes a sly and cruel hustler. On his way to moral decay, Pattinson is accompanied by Uma Thurman and Christina Ricci as his lovers.

March 16 brings “Mirror, Mirror,” a new look at the Snow White and her age-old tale. In this new adaptation, seven dwarfs are rebels whom Snow White (Lily Collins) approaches to overthrow the evil queen (Julia Roberts).

The latter spices up her role with unexpected humor.

In “The Hunger Games,” teenagers from a post-apocalyptic country Panem, which arises somewhere in North America after the collapse of the countries there, will fight each other in a cruel annual televised competition.

The film opens on March 23 and is one of the most expensive movies to premier this year.




Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) from “Hunger Games,”
will be released on March 23. (Courtesy)

On May 25, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones will get back to the old job of fighting aliens after a 10-year break.

In “Men in Black 3” agent J (Will Smith) is traveling back in time to save his friend from being killed by an alien. Great stuff for teenagers (of all ages).


Hot summer for superheroes
On June, 8 four of world’s best known adventurous animals – Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman – will make another attempt to get back into the New York Zoo, the very place they escaped from in the first “Madagascar” movie.

The crew of buoyant militarized penguins followed suit in “Madagascar. Europe’s Most Wanted.”

Some big shots in Hollywood have decided that the successful Spider-Man trilogy was outdated and needs a remake.

So, all fans are waiting to see the comeback of Marvel’s most popular super hero.

“The Amazing Spider-Man” premieres on July 3, 10 years after the first “Spider-Man” hit the big screen.

Andrew Garfield, known for his part in “Social Network,” took over the Spider-Man costume from Tobey Maguire, who played the sticky-fingered superhero in the previous three movies.

The new Spider-Man adaptation is holding closer to the original comic book storyline and tells more about Peter Parker’s past.

But Spider-Man won’t be alone for long. On July 20, he will be joined by another superhero.


Villains, beware: Spider-Man is coming back in a new incarnation this summer. (Courtesy)

“The Dark Knight Rises” is said to be “the epic conclusion to the Dark Knight legend.”

Eight years after the first movie’s events, Batman (Christian Bale) is challenged to fight cruel terrorist leader Bane, who is willing to take over Gotham city.

Batman’s date Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) was killed in “Dark Knight,” but Batman is difficult to imagine without beautiful women around, so Anne Hathaway and Marion Cotillard joined the cast.


Fall to December: fantasy, 007 strike
The lady-killer, the one who is actually licensed to kill, is coming back. This time the trust between Mr. Double Oh Seven a.k.a James Bond (Daniel Craig) and his boss M (Judy Dench) is going to be tested. The 23rd round of adventures of the cute British spy will kick off on Nov. 9 in “Skyfall.”

On Nov. 16, newlywed vampires Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) are getting their first big child care problem in “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2”. Enemy vampire clan is willing to kill their newborn daughter Renesmee.

To protect her, the young family will have to gather all their vampire friends for a huge final battle.

And finally, on Dec. 14, Peter Jackson is going to reveal to the humanity (at least the part of it who failed to read the book) what happened in Middle-Earth before “The Lord of the Rings.”

In “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” young Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), uncle of “The Lord of the Rings” protagonist Frodo Baggins, finds himself on an unexpected journey with Gandalf the sorcerer.

They travel to the Lonely Mountain, where he is supposed to help some dwarves to fight an evil dragon for the treasure.


“Hobbit”, the prequel of “Lord of the RIngs,”
will show us in December how the hobbit adventures began. (Courtesy)

Kyiv Post staff writer Olga Rudenko can be reached at rudenko@kyivpost.com
]]> Food Critic: Help me, I’m your customer http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/120973/ General Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:57:52 +0200
Basic principles that are ingrained in the business culture of my American homeland and many other nations still haven’t taken root here, for whatever reason. It’s true that I may have raised my voice at a waiter/waitress a time or two (hundred times) for bad service, but really I’m an easy client – a guaranteed 10 percent or more tipper, if treated right. But I am not always. Here’s what I’m seeing that’s too often wrong:

Greet me when I come in: Too busy? Smile and wave. Give me some acknowledgement that you know I’m here. What, you say, you’re not a waiter or waitress, but have some other job in the place? Tell a waitress that a customer has arrived. No matter how crowded, I give a place two minutes maximum to at least acknowledge my presence before I walk out; it should take only two seconds. If you’re not noticed right away, this is a place that doesn’t want your business.

Ask me if I want to order something right away: I’m here because I’m hungry or thirsty or both and, chances are, it’s not my first time here so I might already know what I want. Ask please.

Menu for everyone and leave it, please: I have never understood where this menu-deficit mentality came from. Is it a Soviet holdover? One menu is not enough for two diners – one for each person at the table, please. And don’t be so quick to snatch it away from me; ask me first. Let me get to know it, caress it, memorize it. Maybe I’ll want something else or dessert later on, or maybe I just want to know the offerings better for a future visit. You’ll make more money! If I wanted to take it home with me, what does it matter to you? Granted, owners may be behind this stinginess and, if so, it’s a very short-sighted strategy.

Give me some advice: Be ready to recommend something. C’mon, you work here, eat here and probably know the kitchen chefs. I appreciate it when a waitress says: “This dish is really good today.” Or: “This is what I order when I eat here.”

Don’t serve this slop: The one thing I miss about American restaurants is the customary practice of the waitress coming back to a table she served a few minutes earlier and asking: “Is everything all right with your food?” This has never happened to me here – after hundreds and possibly thousands of restaurant meals. And when something is wrong, rarely are there apologies. If I’ve ordered something and not eaten it, ask what’s wrong, don’t just take it away and give me the check. Yes, in America I would send it back or complain right away. Here, I’ve done it as a foreigner, but I’m a lot less likely to go through the hassle.


Loitering and laughing: Some things stick with you for life. When my co-workers and I would stand around talking and having fun at my first job in a restaurant at age 16, the boss would say: “Break it up, if lightning strikes, you’ll all be hit.” A very lame joke, but it’s annoying when a gaggle of wait staff have nothing better to do than stand around talking and laughing. O.K., you enjoy each other’s company, but do it after work. I need another drink or the check please. Pay attention!

Disappearing act I: O.K., you’ve taken the order and 20 or 30 minutes have passed and … no food, no explanation. You should warn customers ahead of time if the wait will be long. This is inexcusable.

Disappearing act II: O.K., done with the meal. Where are you? Why must I hunt you down to get the check? Why does it take so long to bring it here?

Disappearing act III:O.K., here’s my money, bring back the change. Where did you go? What is taking you so long? I once waited 15 minutes for a waiter to bring the change before I decided to track him down.Turns out, he had decided to go to the kitchen, chat with his colleagues … and bring out other orders first before settling my bill. I told him I was on my lunch break and in a hurry to get back to work. His indignant and snotty reply: “Hey, I’m working too.” No apology, no contrition, nothing – and no tip either.

Don’t argue with me: My Russian is a tragicomedy, especially when I’m angry, so I often don’t take my complaints to the manager or boss or owner, which is common practice in America if subordinates give you trouble. But the waiter in the “Don’t Disappear III” story above cost his boss my business and doesn’t even know it. I’ve never been back there, nor will I go back for a long time, even though it’s a trendy place close to home. He’s probably adopted this attitude with other customers. “The customer is always right” doesn’t translate well here yet, sadly.

Bathrooms and cleanliness: There is a connection. If I’m in your restrooms and they’re dirty and there’s no soap and no hand towels, I’m already wondering about the sanitary practices of your cooks and wait staff.

Making change: This applies to many types of businesses. But it seems to me if you are in business that involves cash transactions, you should start the day well-supplied with small bills and change. I once made a small purchase – a couple of Hr 4 pirozhkis for breakfast – with Hr 200 note. The place had no change. It took 15 minutes for enough customers to give them the money they needed to make change for my purchase. Never, never again.

Don’t ask for kopecks: The simplest money transactions take the longest time here for some strange reason. Please don’t ask me for kopecks – I never keep them and I never take them for change. I know it doesn’t seem frugal as a penny saved is a penny earned. But let’s face it. You can’t buy much with kopecks anyway – even with a pocketful.

Moral of the story: O.K., I know I should be less Type A American – many of us are too easily irritated and complain about the littlest things in life. Nobody died here. I should be more Type B Ukrainian when I go out. It’s still a treat, after all, to be waited on and have someone else cook for you and wash the dishes.

A few close Ukrainian friends who I dine with frequently and who know my antics have taken to warning me ahead of meals: “Now, don’t yell at this waitress, no matter what she does.” And much of the blame for bad service belongs to the owner for tolerating it. Frequently, the best restaurants in America are the ones where the owner is always there, making sure everything is working properly.

I also know waitresses and they work hard for little money – making as little as $300 a month, with tips, for four 12-hour shifts a week. It would make me tired and grouchy as well, but they shouldn’t take it out on their customers.

Most of this advice amounts to simply good business practices and common sense. I really don’t think I’m asking for too much here.

Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner can be reached at bonner@kyivpost.com]]> Wildlife experience in Polissya woods http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/120872/ General Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:38:59 +0200 Selezivka, Zhytomyr Oblast – Several moose calmly grazed beside the road. To our surprise, they weren’t startled by us getting out of the car to take a closer look.]]>
The dirt road looked like it has been used by no more than a few people a month since that time.

It was the first time that we saw the animals, numbers of which are dwindling in Ukraine, at such close range. For what seemed like a couple of minutes, the humans and the beasts looked at each other, and only when we reached for the camera did the moose unhurriedly turn away and disappear in the woods. It was somehow a pleasure for a human not to been seen as scary from the animals’ perspective.

This nature preservation area is tricky to reach. Yet courageous travelers will be rewarded with an opportunity to explore Ukraine as far off the beaten tourist track as it gets, and experience a real adventure in the land of pristine forests and bogs, wild animals and ancient pagan beliefs.

The permeating feeling of being in the middle of nowhere starts to envelope you on the way to the Polissya reserve. Polissya, loosely meaning “woodland,” is the name of the marshland area shared by Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and Russia, and considered to be one of the largest in Europe.

Soon after leaving Ovruch, the last town on the way to the final destination, the relatively smooth asphalt highway abruptly ends in the middle of the forest, as the car hits a bumpy brick road said to be built in the 1940s and definitely more fitting for a horse-drawn cart.

Unless you want to destroy your car’s chassis, it’s impossible to travel faster than 20 kilometers per hour, so the 50-kilometer long journey to the reserve took way more than one hour through the thickness of woods broken up by a few small villages.

It was funny how Volodya, the driver hired in Ovruch to get us to the reserve, seemed to think that the further away people lived from a good road, the nicer they actually were. The slow pace of life, in his view, made people less prone to do bad things.

Finally, we reached the village of Selezivka, which serves as a base for the administration, and got the keys from an old wooden hut used for the visitors. The insides of an “ethnic hut,” as it was referred to, felt like we were back a few centuries.

The peasant clothes decorating the walls were once white, but now turned gray. Thick layers of hay on the bed were to serve as mattresses, and all the food was to be stored on a metal rack fastened to the ceiling, so that mice don’t get it at night. Ovruch, the town we had left several hours ago, now seemed almost like another planet.



The snow has finally fallen in Polissya, making the tracks, such as these left by a lynx, more visible. (Serhiy Zhyla)


Since it was already late, the canteen where the reserve employees dined, was closed. Instead, a cook, a staunch middle-aged woman, speaking Ukrainian with a heavy Belarussian accent, gave us a pot of raw sliced potatoes, carrots, mushrooms and bacon to cook by ourselves using a stove inside our hut.

As we lit it up, it dangerously let out a cloud of smoke into the room, instantly making the idea of sleeping there a bit disquieting.

In the morning, it was time to see the reserve. Given that it spans more than 20,000 hectares of land, the idea here is to know exactly what you’d like to see and how much walking you feel like doing.

You can start by going to the small river completely taken over by beavers; to see and walk on the dams they built to shut down the river flow, as they prefer shale water.

From there, it’s just a short walk to the thicket where a bearded owl lives, the reserve being its most southern area of habitat. The owl is known for its aggressive behavior in defending its territory, so if you happen to wander close enough to its nest, don’t expect it to stay timid. In fact, this kind of an owl is known for attacking people, aiming specifically at the eyes.

If such encounters are not on your agenda, there are plenty of more peaceful options for pastime. Once you enter the forest, there is a stone with carvings of the animal tracks you are likely to see.

It is worth to take time and study them, as then a simple walk through the forest will become a whole new experience. Numerous scattered spots of freshly dug-out earth turned out to be traces left by wild boars searching for food. Large deep hoof prints on the trail were left by a moose heading for a nearby grove to eat birch tree leaves and buds, their favorite delicacy.

Further on, a bunch of young roes seemed to have gotten in trouble earlier on, as their traces were followed by distinct oval-shaped prints left by a wolf.

Wolves, which are plentiful in the reserve, seem to be an object of special reverence by the locals. After all, where else would you encounter a small monument to werewolves and witches, the existence of which few of the people living in the area dispute, even though no one is really willing to discuss their beliefs with the outsiders.

Perhaps, this is not by coincidence, that out of handful of books published by the reserve, one specifically deals with getting along with the wolves, so that you co-exist peacefully. The trick, the book says, is to acknowledge and apologize for the sins that the humankind committed towards these animals.


Wolves are revered by the locals and hunted by poachers. (Serhiy Zhyla)


A visit to the Polissya reserve by no means guarantees close face-to-face encounters with wild animals. But in the upcoming spring, the reserve plans to launch animal and bird-watching programs, as well as wildlife photography sessions and expeditions to trace wolves and lynx.

Whether or not you are into animal spotting and photography, it’s worth visiting the reserve just to wake up in the morning and walk through the marshes, where some of the most delicious cranberries grow. A handful of freshly gathered berries that still have the morning dew on them are guaranteed to make your day. The trick is not to wander off into nearby Belarus, only hundreds of meters away.

How to get there: Train 373 (Kyiv-Grodno) leaves Kyiv at 12:47 p.m.on odd days and arrives to Ovruch at 4:20 p.m. A second-class ticket for a four-bed sleeping car costs Hr 75. Alternately, you can take one of the numerous buses that leave daily from Kyiv’s Dachna and Polissya bus stations and Akademmistechko metro station, costing Hr 50.

From Ovruch, the easiest way to get to Selezivka, where the reserve is located, is by taxi. An hour and a half-long drive costs approximately Hr 200. You can also take a bus that leaves to Selezivka daily at 6:50 p.m. which costs Hr 20.

Where to stay: The reserve can accept only a limited number of visitors coming with 'educational and research' purposes who notified the administration well in advance. Contact director Serhiy Zhyla at (04148)3-4288, or (067)410-4939 for details.

Cost of trip: Hr 800 per person for a two day trip.
polesye-reserve.org.ua

Kyiv Post staff writer Vlad Lavrov can be reached at: lavrov@kyivpost.com.



×èòàéòå îá ýòîì íà www.kyivpost.ua]]> Holy dip http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/120866/ General Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:33:34 +0200
Diving into the cold water is a tradition to mark Orthodox Epiphany on Jan. 19. The ceremonial swim commemorates the baptism of Jesus Christ.]]>
(Kostyantyn Chernichkin)]]> This Robert Burns fell in love with Ukraine through a camera lens http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/120865/ General Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:21:38 +0200
He comes to Ukraine on a charity mission, as well as to shoot around.

“Every time I come here I learn more about Ukraine and I can say this is a great country,” Burns says. His fourth visit was in November.

“I am in a lovely part of my life when I do what I want to do,” he says quietly, wrapping up his tobacco into a cigarette. He says he has earned a good pension and it is a special joy for him to do things for free – which he feels is an oddity in this part of the world.

“The only thing you can’t understand here in Ukraine is that one can do something just for the love of doing it,” he says.

On his last trip, Burns traveled to the village of Malyn in Zhytomyr Oblast to photograph a children’s hospital with British fundraiser Jim Gillies. The man has been taking care of Ukraine’s hospitals for 15 years, raising nearly $30,000 for themin total. “I decided to go with him and document what he was doing. He is a man with a big heart,” Burns explains.

A United Kingdom citizen, Burns was shocked by what he saw in Ukraine’s hospitals, particularly by poverty and corruption. “You have to be dying in Ukraine before they give you medicine from the state,” he says.

He has a total of 300 rolls of film from Ukraine from the past four years, all waiting to be edited. Burns only went digital this year, and alongside a new digital camera, he still carries his trusted Leica – a small single lens reflex camera that uses a semi-automatic moving mirror that permits the photographer to see what will be captured on film.

Pavlo Pashchenko, a Ukrainian photo journalist of more than 30 years, says that Burns is not just a high-class professional, but a “philosophical” photographer. He shoots everywhere and all the time. He would “have to become blind” to take a break.
The only thing you can’t understand here in Ukraine is that one can do something just for the love of doing it.

- Robert Burns, photographer and a fine art printer

“He has a very childish and fresh outlook on Ukraine and that distinguishes him from everybody else,” says Pashchenko. Click on www.robertburnsphotography.co.uk to see for yourself.

Although Burns is yet to decide what he is going to do with his Ukrainian archive, he says one thing he has to do is to demonstrate the difference in lifestyle in Ukraine and in Britain. “I should show people from the UK the other life,” he says.

Burns has learned a lot about Ukraine, and likes to comment on its politics and economy. With every visit, he tries to increase his network of useful contacts, stays in touch with some charity organizations like the Lions Club and fellow artists.


But work was not the initial reason that brought him here. “If you ask how one gets here – there is always a beautiful woman,” he laughs. He’s not an exception. Once, having a holiday on Crete, he met a lovely Ukrainian family – and, “of course, the daughter was beautiful.”

He followed his new friends to Ukraine in 2007, and the woman became his friend. “Friends – that is the best way to be with women. It is at least safe. I’ve been married twice and that was trouble,” he says. But what captured his heart was the country. “I love Ukraine,” he says in broken Russian.

But he did not give up the love of his life, either: “My love is about observation, about looking at things. I love seeing. I just love looking at people. People are important.”

The more famous Robert Burns is Scotland’s national poet, who lived between 1759 and 1796. His contribution to literature is so important that his birthday on Jan. 25 is a cause for celebration universally, not just in his native land. The celebration often culminates in the ritual cutting of the ubiquitous haggis, a national Scottish food, to the sound of the Ode to a Haggis, one of Burns' most famous poems. His other poem, Auld Lang Syne, accompanies New Year festivities. This year's Kyiv Lions Club Burns Night celebration will be March 31.

Kyiv Post staff writer Daryna Shevchenko can be reached at shevchenko@kyivpost.com]]> Yanukovych hijacks space meant for social advertising http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/120864/ General Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:16:35 +0200
However, many experts claim the opposite. Artem Bidenko, head of the Ukrainian Outdoor Advertising Association, is one of them.

“If I post a New Year congratulatory banner with my photo on it tomorrow, it will be considered not as a social advertisement, but as a commercial one,” Bidenko says. “Why it works with the president is a real question.”

The question must have been on the minds of dozens of people all over the country who defaced billboards featuring Yanukovych with graffiti.

Five criminal cases have been started as a result.

The law on advertising gives a vague definition of social advertising. It claims that any information “aimed at achieving social goals and popularizing global human values which is not aimed at making a profit.”

Bidenko says that it’s the city administration that decides whether ads belong to the “social” category and should get free space. It then issues an order to the owners of billboards to run them.

“Each billboard owner signs an agreement with the city, which obliges [them] to set aside 5 to 10 percent of their advertising space to social advertisement chosen by municipal authorities,” says Bidenko.

The billboard operator is freed from taxes for that particular space in exchange.

“There wasn’t any pressure on the billboard owners,” assures Bidenko. “I think they were gathered and asked to post the banners, because if they didn’t, Kyiv administration would have problems.

Some of them even volunteered boards in the center, because no one wants changes in the administrations.”

Non-government organizations, such as the International HIV/AIDSAlliancein Ukraine, do not get that treatment, though.

When the Alliance tried to get some ad space for their advertising campaign on hepatitis in August, the city authorities “didn’t turn us down, just told us they have a tight plan for a year, and there is no space for us,” says Kostiantyn Pertsovskyi, senior communications manager at the Alliance.

Along with the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV, the InternationalHIV/AIDSAlliance ended up seeking help from the Ukrainian Outdoor Advertising Association, and approached individual operators.

“It takes too long to get any [free] billboards from the Kyiv city administration,” says Andriy Andrushkiv, senior manager of the communication and advocating department in the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV.

He said there is no clear procedure for allocating boards designated for social advertising, and people responsible for the issue often change, which means you have to start the lengthy process all over again.

City authorities did not comment on the issue by the time Kyiv Post went to press.

But the president does not seem to have the same problems.

“Apparently, the owners of billboards did choose to post the president’s posters instead of anything else,” Ivanesko said. “I don’t know how it works, but I am pretty sure they are to choose. It happens three times a year: on Independence Day, on New Year’s Eve and on Easter.”

Ivanesko did not know who paid for the posters or how many were posted around Kyiv.

But it seems that the Kyivans will get a chance to count them pretty soon, around Easter.

Kyiv Post staff writer Alyona Zhuk can be reached at zhuk@kyivpost.com.



×èòàéòå îá ýòîì íà www.kyivpost.ua]]> Night Owl: Find your comfy sofa at Divan http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/120857/ General Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:23:25 +0200
Located in the famous Bessarabka market building in the very heart of Kyiv, this place has a line inside: the shortsighted visitors who had not booked their table in advance crowd the bar counter, waiting for a free table with comfy sofas (“divan” in Ukrainian – hence the name of the club).

The handy red faux-leather sofas, along with the policy of moderate prices adhered to by the mangers, as well as mostly free live concerts and carefree atmosphere, have turned this place into a popular hangout in the capital.

Sprawled on a sofa, one of my friends recently confessed: “I ran away from Arena [Dance Club]. I wasn’t feeling very female there as I lacked silicone for that. But then in Divan I found my sort of place for hanging out.”

“The concept of Divan can be described by the phrase ‘culture to the masses,’” says Anna Golovko, deputy head of marketing of the Fozzy Group restaurant chain, quoting a famous Soviet phrase. The group also owns several supermarket chains and plenty of other restaurants.


Divan looks like a comfortable restaurant. But don’t be fooled: it’s a popular club with live music playing virtually every night.
(Anya Korbut)


The principal owner of Fozzy Group is Vladimir Kostelman, a successful Kyiv businessman and leader of the rock band Remont Vody. Owning a nightclub that features live music seems like a logical business for him.

Nevertheless, a year after its opening, the business is such a hit that the company decided to duplicate it in another city, says Golovko, but refuses to elaborate.

Coming into the basement of Bessarabka, where the club is located, you’re surrounded by mirror walls, which makes you feel like Alice passing through the looking glass.

The venue itself it no wonderland: it’s more like a wide corridor with two rows of tables and sofas, with a bar counter on one end and a stage on the other. But an elaborate design that fills the place with eye-pleasing details gives it an original air.

The walls are adorned with pictures of ancient cities that were never built, plants that never grew and words that were never spoken. Whether it’s a prank, a parody or a scene from an artist’s imagination – the idea works: it turns Divan into a place of fusion and illusion.

It’s hard to decide whether the place is a cafe, a restaurant, a bar or a night club. But does it really matter?

The built-in, antique-looking bookcases along the walls nest used books with authorship varying from Vladimir Lenin to Joanne Rowling. You can take books home and then bring them back. You can exchange them as a part of an informal book-crossing process here. Or you can just bring your own book you no longer want in exchange for a lollipop.


But this is not why people come here. On many evenings, Divan hosts live music concerts, and they are often free of charge. Tunes range from rock to folk and jazz, to a mixture of the styles – anything but hard rock and covers. Both well-known bands and newcomers play here. Sometimes, music gives way to poetry readings and theater plays.

The schedule is displayed on their website, and it’s highly recommended to see it in advance and reserve a table on your preferred date. There is often a shortage of them. Keep in mind that there is a catch: you would have to order Hr 234 worth of food and drinks if you book a table.

The money will go quite a long way, though, as prices here are moderate. The menu, which looks like a four-page tiny old newspaper, might pleasantly surprise you with its variety and good prices, but the down side will be the taste of some of the items.

Salad with duck and grapes (Hr 63) ordered on one occasion was too greasy, while the beef tongue ragout (Hr 73) looked more like a soup.

Simple dishes clearly were the winners. A Russian salad (Hr 27) was in fact a nice set of pickled vegetables and rasstegai (open-topped pastry) for Hr 33 was pretty decent. A big company will appreciate a kilo of pelmeni (meat dumplings) going for Hr 150. Service is quite fast.

The place is one of the few in Kyiv that offers a cork fee: if you bring your own bottle of wine, you can pay Hr 95 and drink it in Divan. That will work nicely if you’re not happy with a few dozen of wines on the menu, ranging from Hr 150-300.

The audience ranges from bohemian artists to brightly dressed glamorous ladies. But for most part, it’s somewhere in the middle – this is clearly the place ruled by young professionals.

People of different backgrounds, incomes, jobs and lifestyles frequent Divan. So, if you feel you would appreciate a smelter pot of ideas, spiced with a bit of self-irony, you will enjoy this place.

Divan
2 Besarabska Square
Tel: 235 73 66, 067 232 64 00
festrestdivan.com.ua
Entry: Hr 0-90

Upcoming concerts:
Jan. 20 Oleg Kadanov and Misha Kabanov (Orkestr Che) Hr 60
Jan. 21 IVA NOVA band (St.Petersbugh) Hr 60
Jan. 22 Poetry night, free entry, 5 p.m.
Jan. 22 Kimnata Grethen (Dnipropetrovsk), free entry, 8 p.m.

Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at grytsenko@kyivpost.com.



×èòàéòå îá ýòîì íà www.kyivpost.ua]]> Not all rosy jobs are glamorous http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/120440/ General Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:17:25 +0200
“Often people are tempted by the superficial image of a certain career they think would suit them better,” says Olesya Putina, managing recruiter from Recruit Alliance agency. She explains that there isn’t an ideal profession: emotional or physical “side effects” are present in all jobs.

Most of Orekhova’s clients are 35-40 year old women, who have the means, yet, lack either the time or stylistic ability to refresh their wardrobe. Typically, Orekhova takes them to Kyiv’s finest shops, but occasionally flies exceptionally affluent clients to Milan, Paris and London for the latest collections.

But affluent clients can be emotionally demanding. Once Orekhova had to spend a significant time trying to tactfully explain why her overconfident client shouldn’t pair a bright pink Yves-Saint Laurent bag with a camel suit.

“We sometimes get into some personal stuff. Some women get vulnerable and open up about how they want to be perceived by men, be it more romantic, edgy, formal, or just younger, ” says Orekhova, who sometimes is asked to help clients imitate the style of characters from “Sex and the City” and other celebrities to create the perfect image for the client. Others, she says, are so reserved that it’s challenging to please them.

Male clients are easier in certain ways because they are decisive, but surprisingly, they are often more needy. “Men often just need a nanny, someone to take care of them,” says Orekhova. And especially with bachelors, this role often falls on their personal shopper.

But to Orekhova, like many other people in love with their jobs, the shortcomings of her profession seem like minor inconveniences. Putina of Recruit Alliance says this is how people often feel when they suit the job.

Alina Alferova, for instance, does not mind wearing no makeup or perfume – something that would affect her job as a beer taster at Miller Brands Ukraine in Donetsk, a subsidiary of SABMiller plc. She can’t smoke prior to the tasting, either, but that side effect may even be welcome.


Beer tasters discern the smell before tasting the sample.
(Courtesy)

Alferova has the palate that allows her to distinguish among 57 kinds of beer – a quality that only about 15 percent of people possess. Loving beer does not mean you qualify for the job. But nine months of training does.

She drinks beer to a strict schedule to ensure a consistent and quality taste. The tasting sessions take place twice a week, sometimes more often, and on those days she has to be particularly tame with her habits.
Lunch often has to wait, for example - no eating or drinking anything besides pure water is allowed at least one hour prior to the tasting.

But Alferova’s job gives her a certain degree of autonomy – despite the fact that she works for a large corporation. And that freedom is something that many people crave in their jobs, concludes Putina, the recruiter. Another quality in demand is creativity.

Few jobs seem to be as creative as flower arranging. And most people would struggle to think of side effects in a job like that.

Maryna Zubko, a florist at Melodiya Kvitiv, says that a surprising number of accidents happen if you have to make an arrangement fast.

On her working desk is what the five ladies in the shop jokingly refer to as “a manicure set.” It consists of wire cutters, flower clippers, a hot glue gun and multi-purpose scissors. Zubko shows off burn scars on her hands from the glue guns. Another florist said she had stapled her hand recently.

If a florist sneezes a lot, it does not mean they have a cold. They might just be a reaction to aerosol flower sprays or allergy-provoking flowers such as lilly of the valley or freesia. Some orchids are poisonous and require extra careful handling.

During the holidays, the florists also get to decorate dozens of Christmas trees, but that is an expected side benefit. What is unexpected is running to their clients to deliver an arrangement in time when they get stuck in a traffic jam. They also have to remember the Latin names of flowers, such as leucadendron, leucospermum or barbatus.

“You have to love the flowers and the job, otherwise, it’s a tricky one,” says Zubko.

Kyiv Post staff writer Mariya Manzhos can be reached at manzhos@kyivpost.com ]]> Drawing her inspiration from India, Kyiv ‘meditation’ artist sells well http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/120438/ General Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:12:18 +0200
After being a graphic artist for most of her professional life, three years ago the 48-year-old Moskvitina changed her preferences “for no special reason.”

Igor Kondratiev, a partner of Arcane Art Foundation that promotes Moskvitina, says she has sold more than 40 paintings in the new stage of her career. Most of them, however, were custom made, or “individual, ” as Kondratiev calls them.

The artist says as soon as she started painting on commission, she has had a queue of customers. In three years, she has done more than 30.

Moskvitina has a special name for her colorful paintings. She calls them “lightangs”, a word made up of “light” and “anchor.” Some of them capture something remotely reminiscent of human shapes and, others bring to mind images of Asian religious cults. Some paintings are accompanied with brief lines about “highest level of awakened consciousness,” Cosmos and Buddha.

Moskvitina is a mysterious person. She does not show up at her exhibition openings and refuses to speak in public. She finds her inspiration in India, where she spends nearly half of her time. Meanwhile, her managers are trying to promote her internationally. And they are succeeding.

In June, one of Moskvitina’s paintings was sold by Bonhams auction house for about $15,000. Then, on Dec. 1, the painting called “Ray of Creation” was sold by McDougall’s auction house for about $10,000, up from the starting price of about $7,500.

Kondtratiev said that because the awareness of Moskvitina is still low, he has to pitch her pictures by himself.

“The auction house knows best what has a chance to sell, especially when it’s a new artist’s work, and it requested several paintings of a certain size. We sent those, and the auction house representatives chose one. Then they promoted it through catalogues, and finally it was sold,” says Kondratiev.

He says that international auctions are not the most profitable way for his client to sell her pieces. Apparently, Ukrainians are willing to pay a lot for her “meditative” paintings -- as much as $50,000.

But Moskvitina does not appear motivated by commercial success. She can easily pay her bills just being an artist. “My personal needs are so small,” she says.

Moskvitina’s works can be seen at artist’s website at www.galynamoskvitina.com

Kyiv Post staff writer Olga Rudenko can be reached at rudenko@kyivpost.com ]]> Trying to capture Ukrainian character through creation of an all-purpose font http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/120436/ General Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:00:56 +0200
This is how the Ukrainsky Shryft project was started this year. Its aim was to yield a modern Ukrainian typeface that would be a working font for official documents and would be accessible and free of charge for all. The font was to be modern, official and Ukrainian.

“Like a corporate logo communicates the ideals and values of its business, the new Ukrainian font would reflect Ukraine’s national character in official documents,” says Ilko. The project was privately funded, largely by the main host Stairsfor design studio and gave out Hr 130,000 in awards.

The official release of the new font “Arsenal” that won the competition this year is intended for the summer. Apart from yielding a new product, the competition raised awareness of the art of typeface making, organizers say.

While globally typeface design has boomed in recent years, Ukraine has been lagging behind, says Mykola Kovalchuk, a typography senior teaching fellow at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Even though nearly 2,500 of digital fonts have a minimal set of characters for Ukrainian cyrillic, only a few dozen are made in Ukraine and even fewer are professional grade.

One problem with Ukrainian fonts, Kovalchuk says, derives from the complex structure of the Cyrillic alphabet, while Latin is much more efficient and simple in its construction and had a rich heritage of fonts before computers were even conceived.

Among Ukrainian users, the culture of appreciation is not high either, which is why people are not concerned with the choice of the font. “Especially in highly efficient business environments, where content trumps design, people resort to default fonts,” says Kovalchuk.

The lack of educational resources in Ukraine results in low professionalism of typeface designers, who often have to learn on their own, explains Kovalchuk. The pool of top-notch professionals is about 5 people, he says.

Andriy Shevchenko, a 38-year-old designer from Berdyansk, is one of them. The father of “Arsenal,” he beat about 20 others in the national competition.

He had several other prize-winning fonts in his portfolio, which bear traditional names like Oksana, Osnova and Bandera. The new typeface brought him a trophy prize of Hr 100,000.

“The new font is ‘quick’ or readable, which is essential given the amount of information our society is exposed to,” says competition organizer Ilko. “‘Arsenal’ is also neutral, which means that the author’s imprint doesn’t overpower the content or distract the reader; and transparent, it’s compatible with other kinds of fonts.”
Like a corporate logo communicates the ideals and values of its business, the new Ukrainian font would reflect Ukraine’s national character in official documents.

- Mykhaylo Ilko, head of Stairsfor design studio

Shevchenko manually designed each letter with a pencil and polished the design with the help of a computer, a meticulous process that took several months. However, that was not the biggest problem for Shevchenko.

“The demands for the font – that it be modern, official and Ukrainian, were not formalized, so I intuitively had to figure out how these traits would reflect in symbols,” says Shevchenko.

Even though Shevchenko can’t pin down exactly what makes his font “Ukrainian,” Ilko believes that “Arsenal” can be described as “elegant and lyrical,” traits inherent to Ukrainian culture and tradition of calligraphy.

However, designing the font was only the first phase of a laborious process. The next step is converting the design into a functional digital base, including creating options for bold font, italics, numbers, and the Latin alphabet versions.

But more difficult still is popularizing “Arsenal.” Ilko will make the font available for free downloading at ukrainskyshryft.com.ua, and will work with email providers and social networks to make the font available within their sites.

But Kyiv Mohyla’s Kovalchuk doesn’t think the project will create much hype right away. Most new computers come with a set of traditional default fonts installed, which people tend to use in their daily work.

He says even if “Arsenal” could somehow be installed in Windows or enforced as a mandatory font for government organizations, there is no guarantee that it would be used.
Ilko, on the other hand, is optimistic about “Arsenal.”

“Whether the Ukrainian official font gains popularity among the professionals is a question only time can answer, but it is a great product Ukraine offices here and abroad can benefit from.”

Staff writer Mariya Manzhos can be reached at manzhos@kyivpost.com.

×èòàéòå îá ýòîì íà www.kyivpost.ua
]]> Then & Now: Shevchenko Boulevard before Vladimir Lenin came to power http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/120435/ General Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:49:56 +0200

The black-and-white photo of Bibikov Boulevard in Kyiv was taken by Dmitriy Markov in the early 1900s. It is courtesy of Central State CinePhotoPhono Archive of Hordiy Pshenychniy.


A present-day photo of the boulevard, now named after national hero Taras Shevchenko, by Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Faryna.

Despite this strange mix, the avenue remains one of Kyiv’s major thoroughfares. With its two trademark lines of poplar trees, the road was laid in 1842. At that time, Ukraine was still a part of the Russian Empire. Soon the street was named after Dmitriy Bibikov, the Kyiv governor appointed by the Russian czar.

An old photo taken by Dmitriy Markov, a famous Kyiv photographer and publisher, gives us a snapshot of a bustling city life at the base of the boulevard in the early 1900s. On this picture, Kyivans are passing by wooden stalls and kiosks selling tobacco, fruits and drinks on a sunny day.

A sign on the left kiosk advertises Joseph Egiz’s tobacco firm. A cabin with lacy-carved wooden elements next to it is a guard’s shack. The stalls are overlooking Bessarabka market, which is located behind the photographer’s back.

The two-story building peeking from behind the guard’s cabin used to belong to brick producer Jacob Berner. It was built by architect Vladimir Nikolayev in 1886.The four-story building up the road from it was built 12 years later, at the commission of Kyiv merchant Shlema Fayer. The sign on it says Hotel Marseille.

Several years after Marseille was built, two other buildings - identified as 5 and 7 - appeared up the road. They replaced older developments on that location. But this photo was taken before construction even started.

Building number 7 on Bibikov Boulevard, along with a few other smaller buildings, was the site of the biggest hotel in Kyiv at the time. Owned by a rich family of merchants, the Gertsovich-Mirkins, it was opened in 1912 and called Palast Hotel.

Now buildings 5 and 7 are occupied by the Premier Palace hotel, clearly visible on the modern photo.

After the 1917 October Revolution, the boulevard was renamed in honor of Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine’s national poet, writer and artist. But Soviet leadership decided that the bard’s statue was not to crown the street. In 1946, to mark the 10th anniversary of Joseph Stalin’s constitution, the authorities opened a monument to Vladimir Lenin there.

At 3.45 meters high, statue was then considered a little too modest for the capital of Soviet Ukraine. Other statues, bigger ones, were later erected in the capital, only to be torn down when Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union. Perhaps it was because of its modest size that the Lenin statue on Shevchenko Boulevard survives to this day, believes Mykhaylo Kalnytskiy, a Kyiv historian who devoted a post in his blog to this famous street.

Safe and almost sacred in Soviet times, Lenin’s statue survived an attack of vandals in recent history. On June 30, 2009, several nationalist and anti-Communist activists used a sledgehammer to break off Lenin’s nose and a part of his left hand. The damaged monument was removed from its pedestal in central Kyiv to undergo reconstruction.

The restored statue is now guarded by a few modern followers of the once-great leader, who, by the way, never actually visited Kyiv. A red stall with a tent and a red flag flapping in the wind has replaced tobacco kiosks from the vintage photo – a relic of the Soviet part of history witnessed by this great Kyiv street.

Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Faryna can be reached at faryna@kyivpost.com

×èòàéòå ýòó ñòàòüþ íà kyivpost.ua]]> Inspired by money, not muses http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/118822/ General Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:49:00 +0200
“Being a writer is a normal profession that does not fundamentally differ from the profession of, let’s say, a journalist,” said Serhiy Zhadan, a popular Ukrainian writer.

Zhadan had the idea to compile a short-story anthology called “Ukrainian Writers about Football” and ordered works from 11 well-known authors based on soccer.

“We specified only length and deadline for the stories, everything else was up to the writer,” said Svitlana Sklyar, chief editor of Family Leisure Club, which published the book.

“But what is actually wrong with this?” she asked.

Critics say it produces low-quality works.

“The book appeared to be opportunistic and just bad,” said fiction writers the Kapranovy brothers. “The writers represented there are mostly good, but one should know how to write to order.”

Writer Andriy Kokotyuha, who took part in the football project despite his dislike of the game, said the law of supply and demand applied to the literature market as much as any other profession.

“For example, in 2006-2007, the reader wanted books about politics, so I written biographies of Tymoshenko and Lutsenko. Now, fortunately, people stopped reading this. Now the readers and hence the publishers mostly buy historical novels,” he said.

“I do not understand this,” said Dmytro Cherednychenko, a poet, writer, translator, and member of the Writers Union of Ukraine, shaking his gray head. “This business stuff is not for literature, and all these ‘experts’ are not writers.”

Even though taking orders from the Soviet regime was seen as the main way for writers to survive, Cherednychenko said he had never written to order. “Only your soul can be your adviser on writing,” he said.

Some publishing houses like “Calvariya” and “Nora-print” said they refuse to order such literature. Others say they don’t see what the fuss is about. For example, “Grani-T” publishing house does produce ordered literature, calling it “artistic provocation.”

Most writers do not condemn orders and even encouraged them, even if they don’t write to order themselves.

“Writers should be proud of writing to order,” said Lyubko Deresh, a popular Ukrainian writer. “This means their skills and talents are appreciated.”

The president of the Ukrainian Association of Publishers and Booksellers, Olexandr Afonin, said this is a popular global trend and that most authors need the money.

However, writer Cherednychenko says they are degrading their profession.

“All these orders ... This is like pop music,” he said. “All these [stories] sound alike. It can’t touch the soul, more than that - it ruins the soul.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Daryna Shevchenko can be reached at shevchenko@kyivpost.com]]> Winter wonderland in western Ukraine http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/general/detail/120432/ General Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:18:09 +0200



Not so in the nation’s Carpathian Mountains, where rural villagers continue to practice and preserve centuries-old traditions such as Christmas caroling.



In the mountain village of Kosmach, for example, residents take religion seriously. They regularly visit church. Women cover their heads in veils and kiss icons and receive blessings.



Pious worship during the holidays is balanced with pleasures such as heavy eating and drinking. Locals add color by wearing traditional folk clothing.





The Christmas spirit was particularly strong for young



and old skiers in some parts of the Carpathians that received heavy snow, starting with Dragobrat, Ukraine’s highest ski resort .



The holidays were an extra special moment for Swiss national Christoph Spangenberg.

Along with Ukrainian in-laws, he opened for business a new Swiss-styled restaurant located on Dragobrat’s ski runs at a height of about 1,500 meters.
Possibly Ukraine’s highest restaurant, La Rochelle has a cozy indoor fireplace, tasty food, refreshing mulled wine and a picturesque terrace.

(Photos by Kostyantin Chernichkin and Roman Olearchyk)]]>