Goodbye Maidan - Hello Red Square

During last few months I was deciding about my next assignment. After long discussions all is arranged. The contract is signed. As of September 1st I will move to Moscow. I have been to Moscow from 2001 to 2005 and had amazing time. Since I left Moscow in 2005 Russia's GDP expanded exponentially. The office business followed this growth. And even in current grim global environment Russia's economy continues to expand.     

I spent few days in Moscow this week. This was first visit after seven and half years. I received a fantastic warm welcome. The office is in the new building. Much larger than years ago. In the I met many new faces. But it was heartwarming to meet colleagues I worked with years ago. It was great to meet after so many years.  

While I am excited about moving to Moscow it will be difficult to leave cozy, friendly and green Kiev. I will also miss the Kiev team. But Moscow is only a short flight from Kiev. I am sure I will return  frequently. 

Next few weeks I will be busy with the moving arrangements. Move requires a lot of paperwork. Many things needs to be sorted out.

This is not the last post but four weeks will pass quickly. And I need long closures.

Farewell to Kati and Necko

Last week my close friends left Kiev. Kati and Necko with their kids - Iyla and Amar left for Canada.
I met Kati and Necko in Sarajevo in April 2009. We immediately clicked but none of us expected that in only few months we will meet again in Kiev.
They were great friends. Necko was always ready to explore Kiev scene. But all explorations ended up with Louis and Yulia in their Vernisage.
It was sad to part but I am sure we will stay in touch.
Louis arranged an amazing farewell for Necko and few photos are:
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Good Wine Sommelier School

Kiev has "Good Wine" - one fantastic wine shop. I'm a loyal client from the moment I arrived to Kiev. Over years I became friendly with the sommeliers in the shop. In the spring one of sommeliers - Anton - told me few sommeliers will start a sommelier school and suggested I join. I was hesitant as all classes would be in Russian. But with Anton's encouragement I signed up. Since April to mid July I attended three to four classes a week. During the week evening classes started at 6.30 pm and frequently lasted until 11 pm. On Saturdays classes started at 10 am and usually finished at 3 pm. The group was small, full of humor and warmth. All dedicated to learn. But who would not be dedicated and enthusiastic when our amazing lecturers shared their knowledge in a truly enjoyable way. Spirits were also part of the course. This was the whole new world for me. One Saturday morning we sampled over 24 different grapas. Cognac, Armagnac and brandy tasting was equally comprehensive. A practical part of vodka lecture was to taste18 different vodkas - to learn a difference between western and eastern vodka style.
Spirits were mostly lectured by Ivan Bachurin whose passion is whisky. His passion about this noble drink meant that we (students) were not allowed to spit it. To my count we tasted over 35 different single malts while "touring" Scotland. Fortunatly Islay and Spey were two seperate lectuers. After the course I became thirsty to learn more. Or possibly I just look forward to more tasting. But now when I taste a wine or a spirit I appriciate more all the hard work and amazing skills needed to produce an enjoyable sip. Many thanks to all lecturers for opening my horizons and expanding my flavour and palate senses during last three months. I wish the school and the lecturers - Victor, Vitaly, Ivan, Anton, Evgeniy, Nadya and Julia - many happy students in their future wine courses. For those interested in the school the link is:
 http://goodwine.ua/ru/sommelier-school-school_info/
On above photo is the first class of Good Wine Sommelier School. 
Photos taken during classes:

Blind referee

In a second half of the Ukraine -England match - when England was leading 1:0 - Ukraine scored a goal but the Hungarian referee decided it is not a goal. And Ukraine was kicked out of the championship.
After the match the tapes clearly showed the referee made a mistake.

Close to my apartment there is a statue to a famous blind poet. Some guys put a referee shirt on the blind statue. Clear message. Unfortunately an unfair decision could not be undone.
More photos:

Euro 2012

During Euro I had many visitors. Everyone was impressed with Kiev, Euro'12 organization and Ukrainian hospitality. The event organization was superb. The fan zone and overall city atmosphere fantastic. Seems that after Euro Ukrainians love Sweds the most. Sweds also discovered a country with cheap beer so possibly more trade  might follow. That Ukrainians won in the match against Swedes possibly helped too. The two goals scored by Shevchenko are outstanding.
During Euro some Swedes lived in my building. The doorman loved them. He would refer to them as"our Swedes". He was very sad when they left. 
While I followed the matches on TV and fan zone I was also lucky to go for Italy-England quarterfinal match. Pics are at: 
I was flying in to Kiev on Sunday when the final took place. I was driving back to the city from the airport and watched spectacular fireworks driving over the South bridge.

Expense Claim in Ukraine

Sometimes I go for a business lunch or a dinner with a client, a visitor from the head office or some professional party. I usually claim such expense. To claim it I need to obtain a "fiscalny check" - basically a form of a tax receipt. Than I should write a call report or a note, the assistant needs to fill two forms, obtain four signatures and eventually claim the expense. Recently the tax law changed and made the whole procedure even more complex. I thought over time I learned to deal with complexity. But recent "fiscalny check" showed me I still have a very simple view and approach.

I had a visitor from the head office. With another colleague from a department three of us had a simple lunch. If you zoom in on a bill you can see we had. The lunch cost  for three of us was UAH 498 (about EUR 50). Once I asked for a "fiscalny check" I received above photocopies and other dox to prove the "fiscalny check". The pack was six pages.  It did not end at six pages. Once the assistant submitted the expense claim with papers below she was contacted by the Tax Department who asked for some papers. It took almost a week to complete a documentation to claim the expense. During that week I often thought of Kafka.   

New park inventory

Usually one does not see a table next to a park bench. Well one table decided to wonder off a enjoy a park. The weather is nice. Sunny. Warm. And picnic is more enjoyable when one has a proper table.

Smoking ban

Ukraine is s smokers heaven. It is still perfectly fine to smoke in a restaurant. Most restaurant have "smoking" and "non-smoking" sections. Usually "smoking" section is main part of the restaurant.  But not for very long. On May 24th 2012 Ukraine parliament approved law about smoking ban in public places including bars, cafes and restaurants. The law will start to be applied within six months. It would be interesting to see how the law will be implemented. About two years ago - in Feb 2010 - the very last law President Yuschenko signed was to ban drinking in public places - including parks. That 2010 summer many people who would come into the park would take a sip from a bottle wrapped into a brown bag. This summer a lot of people enjoy a cold beer without a brown bag. Seems no one is bothered that by enjoying a cool refreshment one possibly engages in an illegal activity. Draft beer is especially popular this year in the park. Wonder how would the smoking ban be implemented.