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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Ukraine

21st March 2011

Brilliant British Business in Ukraine

:For a few days last week the centre of Kyiv turned British.  The “British Business Days in Ukraine”  running from 17-19 March  included:

  •  a business-to-business debate chaired by TV presenter Andriy Kulykov with business leaders Petro Poroshenko (businessman, politician and head of National Bank Council) Mohammed Zahoor (Head of Istil Group), Roger Munnings (Catalyst UK) and David Hill (JCB), attended by Ukrainian and British leaders and followed by a press conference.
  • a gala launch of a major exhibition of British business and brands in the Globus shopping centre in central Kyiv, attended by the head of the City Administration, Mr Popov, and many political and business figures.
  • a meeting between British business leaders and Prime Minister Azarov to discuss measures to improve the business climate.
  • the opening of the exhibition in Globus to members of the public on 18 and 19 March.

I am delighted that the feedback from the British and Ukrainian business community to all of these events has been strongly positive.  A number of exhibitors tell me they have received concrete and significant orders as the result of the exhibition.  All were delighted to meet and talk with Prime Minister Azarov.  My thanks go to all our partner organisations for their hard work and support; and to our commercial team here in the embassy (pictured below) for making it happen.

Commercial team

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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