Visa Appointment

It's hectic days. Today was a first packing day. I have a paid ticket for a flight to Moscow on Friday early afternoon. I still do not have a Russian visa.
In order to obtain a Russian visa one first has to obtain an invitation. I got the invitation for a working visa last Thursday afternoon.
To get an appointmnet at the Consulate - after one gets the invitation - one needs to send EVA - Electronic Visa Application via the Consulate site. I have immediately done this and asked for the appointment on Monday as Friday was a non-working day. I want to stress that when filling EVA one has to be clear what type of visa one needs and my clearly states working visa. Usually after I filled EVA I receive from the Consulate a quick email confirming the appointment. This time I have not received any confirmation. I explained this by the Russian Consulate celebrating Ukrainian Independence too. As I still have not received any response by email on Monday morning - proactive as I am - I started calling the Consulate. I got a signal but was disconnected after 2-3 min. No automatic answering machine. After few unsuccessfully dialing attempts - being persistent and not easily discouraged - I decided to go to the Consulate in person. Kiev is not Moscow so within few minutes I was in front of the Consulate building. However the Consulate Commander (guy in uniform with some stripes on shoulders at the Ru Embassy entrance) did not allow me in without a confirmed appointment. So once again I wrote EVA on Monday afternoon. I also wrote that this is my second application and that I would appreciate some prompt response as my employer awaits me to start working on Sep 3rd.
Within 15 min I got a following email:
"As you applied for Russian visa earlier this summer (in July) we feel a bit strange that you expect some response after just having filled EVA.
Referring to the info from our-web page you need to call or email us to get appointment."
While I was relieved I got some response from the Consulate - after all the efforts I made to get an appointmnet the response did not sit well. But what truly got me was that the Consulate felt strange I plan to go to Russia again as I was alreday there in July!!! Makes you truly feel welcomed. Or do they know more than I do?

Anyway after my response to the Consulate (yes indeed I was in July in Russia but guess what I want to go again and actually I plan to work there as of next week) I got the appointment for tomorrow morning.
Let's see if and when I can get a visa.
I am already mentally cancelling my flight on Friday.

21 years of Independance

It's eight weeks until elections and the Independence Day is an excellent occasion to advertise the ruling party. In the morning police was everywhere. Some main city streets were closed for few hours. Everything is arranged in a way to promote the ruling party.
So it was refreshing to see google doodle celebrating  Ukraine Independence.

Perfect Spot

There are many ways one can show to have a lot of money. To show one has a lot of money and a refined taste - is tricky. Showing off and refined taste rarely go along.
Buying a Bentley is a way to demonstrate highly liquid account. I would expect that with cash flushed owner would provide a nice garage as a suitable shelter for such an expensive car.
Not in Kiev.
This white Bentley is parked in front of a rusty garage door and next to garbage bins!!!
What a great spot for a tacky status symbol!

The First Kiev Biennale

This year from May to July Kiev was treated with its first contemporary art Biennale. It took place in Arsenale building. It presented works of prominent contemporary artists such as Yayoi Kusama, Ai Weiwei, Makoto Aida, Choi Jeong Hwa, Louise Bourgeois. Also works of Ukrainian artists were presented. I came one hot morning - planning just to quickly pass through. Stayed three hours.
I was moved by Lara Baladi "Diaries of Future" where artist made a delicate lace-like tablecloth of coffee cups drank by friends and relatives of her dying father.
Rashid Rana Language Series a big mosaic landscapes made up of tiny photographs dedicated to one specific theme. I found it amazing.
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Yulia's 365 days

Few days ago - quite late in the evening - while I walked Iggy - I saw a man putting some stickers on light poles.
Here light poles are "boards" for offering all kinds of services. You can find phone numbers offering apartments for rent or sale, cheap hotels, dancing classes, yoga classes, english classes, selling or buying cars, "cheap" loans. The man who was busy putting stickers looked somewhat apprehensive.
I have not paid much attention to it. 
Next morning I was curious what kind of service was offered on the pole in front of my house.  It was clear why the man was uncomfortable.
He put on a pole small stickers commemorating Yulia's 365 days of incarceration.
Putting up big posters would attract to much attention and would not be allowed. With small stickers - Yulia was on all poles.

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.

Another Embarrassing News

Regretfully bad press about Ukraine does not stop.
Now Ukrainian Olympic official sells "50 to 100 leftover tickets" for cash - on BBC. Interesting investigative reporting of just over 4 minutes at below link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18232275

Such a shame that yet another greedy official provides such national embarrassment.

Heated Language Debate

Last Thursday, on May 25th members of the Ukraine Parliament saw some serious action. BBC dubbed it "Rumble in Rada".
NYtimes has a short article on the event: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/world/europe/ukraine-parliament-debate-over-language-escalates-into-a-brawl.html
BBC coverage is on youtube:



In Ukraine MPs are richest and most powerful people in the country and not everyday one can see millionaires fighting about the language.

Victory Day

On May 9th most ex-Soviet states celebrate the Victory Day - the capitulation of the Nazi Germany.  In Europe - including Croatia Victory Day was on May 8th.  But as surrender document was signed late evening on May 8th - due to time difference this was May 9th in Russia.
This year in Kiev the Victory day was a low key affair. No parade. No big concerts. But people still brought flowers to WWII monuments. I like how the tank in front of the military academy was covered by flowers. More pics how the holiday was celebrated at:  

Celebration of Cola Light

Back in Kiev cafes and shops are well stock with Cola Light. Peter and Faye celebrate and proudly show  their favourite drink in front of Soviet monument of friendship.

Ivano Frankivsk

Peter's parents are from a small place close to Ivano Frankivsk (IF) so we decided to go there.

IF is about 130 km from Lviv. The landscape we passed from Liviv to IF is as nice as the road is terrible. I tried my best to perform kind of potholes slalom with the car. Still we experienced an extreme kidney massage.
On the way to IF we passed Rogatyn - the birth place of Roxolana. She is a daughter of an orthodox priest and as young girl was captured by Tatars and taken as a slave to Constantinople where she was chosen to join the Sultan's harem. She was a swift operator in many areas. She quickly became Sultan's - Suleyman the Magnificent - favourite in the harem. Than she was freed from slavery (in harem) and became the legal Sultan's wife. In this new position she also doubled as the Sultan's foreign affairs adviser and for some time secured Ottoman-Polish peace. Her son Selim inherited the Ottoman Empire. For more about her see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxelana

In Rogatyn we found Cola Light.

IF is small, charming city. As experienced tourists our first stop was a tourist center. There we met Elena who offered to be our guide. It's always nice to have a local guide so we warmly accepted her offer. Soon we realized Elena is very popular with the locals. She new many people we passed. She told us she knows all the night clubs in IF. We understood she knows almost all foreigners in the town. She also briefed us on local practices (cheating in marriage seems to be a local sport; one can easily buy exams at the IF schools and university). Elena's mother works in Italy. Once Elena graduates at the university (tourism) she wants to go to US.
Elena wanted to shows us the lake close to IF but I prefered to slalom road potholes in the daylight so we left shortly after lunch.
Pity about the lake but it's always good to leave something for the next visit.

Faye and Peter in Lviv

Peter's parents are from the western Ukraine and we decided to visit Lviv. Personally I consider Lviv the most beautiful city in Ukraine. It's 540 km from Kiev and I drove there.  Last Xmas I drove to Zhitomir (130 km from Kiev) which is on the way to Lviv.  This 130km of the road was under construction in Dec and driving was a challenge. I expected that in four months the road will be finished. I was wrong. Four months later I have not seen much progress on the road since last December. Fortunately we drove when the traffic was (kind of ) light. From Zhitomir the road to Lviv is best one in Ukraine. It would be a pleasure to drive if the road would not be so crowded by horse carts, bicycle riders, people walking and crossing the road. It is unclear what is the speed limit on the road and I did not want to waste my time by negotiating a fee for over speeding with the road police. Thus I drove with moderation (some can call it slow). With few stops along the road we made to Lviv in 7 hours. I am sure some would drive faster. But I put a safety first.
The road was flanked by charming storks nests and these gracious birds were adoring almost each nest. Guess they brought a lot of babies along the road.

Lviv is wonderful. Cozy. With typical European cafe culture. We took a small "Thomas-like" train for a tour around the city. Walked around. Checked all the tourist spots. Had great meals - but still rated Yulia's food much higher. Tops.
We visited the tourist center to inquire about possible trips outside Lviv. A friendly young lady gave us names of all interesting towns in the region. She was really nice and excited to be both helpful and speak to us in English. She asked Peter and Faye what is the difference between a travel and a journey. She got an excellent explanation that a journey has an element of adventure, something unknown and unexpected. She told us she want to hitch-hike through the Europe. Three of us looked at each other and silently agreed not to be patronizing and destroy her dream. But three of us truly hope she will never hitch-hike to Europe. She is way too nice.

The major problem for us in Lviv was absence of Coca-Cola light. This is Faye's and Peter's most favourite beverage. In all Lviv's cafes, restaurants, kiosk and shops we found only three bottles of Coca-cola light (0.5l) in a very small local shop. Faye cherished them during our Lviv visit.
Not being able to order Cola light Faye was drinking a local sparkling water with lemon. When lemon was served without a strainer Faye wondered were it is. I tried to explain that a strainer served with lemon does not fit the profile of the country at the frontier of emerging markets.
We stayed in an excellent hotel. With the buffet breakfast included. The omelet station was handled by a big women with sour, angry face expression. Her expression was so intimidating Faye and I skipped an omelet the first morning. We later relaxed a bit after we reached a conclusion "the angry face" is possibly her strategy to avoid being too busy making omelets. Our wish to show her this (possible) strategy does not work with us gave us courage. We called a women "the Angry Face". On our last morning in Lviv when we arrived for a breakfast - the omelet station was empty. A waiter approached and asked "tea or coffee?". We answered and than Peter asked him "The angry face does not work today?" The waiter smiled and replied "Oh no. She will be in a minute". True to his words the "angry face" took our omelets orders few minuets later. It was good to see we are so easily understood.

Faye and Peter in Kiev

Over May holidays I had a visit from Faye and Peter - my friends from Dubai. Three of us were excited about the visit and for weeks looked forward to catch up. Last time we were together was in 2009.  For Faye this was the first visit to the frontier of emerging markets. I was delighted to have a chance to show them my home country for last four years. There was a special moment at the airport when Faye and I experienced slight disbelief that our wishes to meet and plans for this visit are finally  for real.
Peter's parents are Ukrainian and he speaks the language. He spent few days in Kiev in early 90ties. But the city changed since than.
The first day we had some rain. Coming from Dubai Faye and Peter enjoyed sounds of rain and the show provided by lightning and thunder. But Faye always brings sunshine and for the rest of their visit we enjoyed sunny, hot, summer weather.
Yulia - knowing my friends will arrive prepared a mountain of local delicious food - blini, vareniki, julien,  golubtsi, poppy cake.
But on the lodging front things were challenging. Iggy was delighted to get a nice new toy and delicious presents. Initially he showed his mellow side. But after few hours his territorial alpha male character took over. We had to put band aid on Peter's ankle. Yulia came to rescue and took Iggy for few days. The first evening the building block had no hot water. Some "avaria" in the neighbourhood. There is a small boiler for such cases in my flat. But each time the boiler is in use (hot water is used in the bathroom or the kitchen) it starts to produce some high pitch music. Kind of repetitive Philip Glass stuff. One can probably appreciate the boiler doubles as a music box, but its compositions are truly an acquired taste. Nothing close to Glass.
The second day the guest toilet refused to flush. This was a surprise as few weeks ago a plumber came and  fixed it. Possibly I have not made sufficiently clear to the plumber that I do not need to see him every few weeks. Fortunately Peter is very handy with such technical house problems and easily fixed the toilet.
One day we also found out we are without internet. The landlord went on his May holidays and forgot about the bills.
From the internet provider I learned I can pay the bill at the special type of ATMs which are located at supermarkets and metro stations. The call center of the internet company could not specify which supermarkets and metro stations so three of us went for a search. First evening Faye and I checked two metro stations around my house. We found ATMs for mobile phones and all other internet providers - except for mine. Next morning with Peter we were more lucky - and found the right ATM, paid the bill and had the internet connection restored within two hours. I was impressed with such efficiency.

Thanks to Peter I also have DVD working and can download movies. Now I can catch up with my education in visual arts (area I sadly neglected last few years).

It's possible Faye and Peter were slumming it in my flat. But we spent a lot of time outside and Kiev in the spring is the most charming. We enjoyed walking its streets and parks, visiting churches and relaxing in cafes. As evidence of a good time here are the photos: