4th April 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Guest blog by Major Kirsty Baxter, Assistant Military Attaché Kyiv There is an explosion; then we hear the screams for help. Quickly we turn and jog back down the path. Our group of military attachés and Ukrainian officers find a badly injured sergeant, his foot blown off by a mine booby-trap. As he begs for […]
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23rd March 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I blogged last week about how an early invitation to OSCE/ODIHR1 to send observers to the October 2012 parliamentary elections would be a “quick win” to help Ukraine show its commitment to democracy. I subsequently saw a tweet from Foreign Minister Hryshchenko on 19 March saying that he had just signed off such an invitation. […]
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22nd March 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I am frequently alerted by commercial contacts to difficulties with the Ukrainian business environment; and have often blogged on this subject. So it was interesting to hear from a leading independent economist recently the view that there had been some progress on macroeconomic reform recently. The economist said this had included: – The 2011 Pension reform […]
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29th February 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I blogged recently about what needed to happen before the Association Agreement and linked Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) could begin to work for Ukraine. At the end of that blog, I noted some suggestions that, if it wasn’t possible to sign and ratify the Association Agreement, it might be possible for some […]
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27th February 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I gave an interview to Korrespondent magazine recently which appeared in Russian in the paper edition on 24 February. It’s now available on-line. The interview, also in English on our web-site, covers issues such as multi-culturism, Ukraine’s relationship with the EU; how to improve living standards in Ukraine; politically-motivated trials; visas; “the Ukrainian brand”; why […]
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24th February 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
I blogged recently about the complexities around Ukraine’s efforts to secure cheap gas from other countries. I noted that increasing the price of gas supplies to domestic consumers could help strengthen Ukraine’s hand in those negotiations. At present, some consumers of gas in Ukraine (mostly industrial users) pay market prices. Other users pay a lower, […]
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15th February 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Gas matters. The embassy follows closely talks between Kyiv and Moscow on gas supplies; and between the Ukrainian authorities and the IMF about prices for domestic gas. We care because these talks can affect security of gas supplies to Europe; the Ukrainian economy; Ukraine’s domestic politics; and international relationships. According to the International Energy Agency, […]
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14th February 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Last week the embassy hosted a reception to celebrate the fact that the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games this summer in London will be the greenest and most sustainable ever. I was pleased to welcome not only the President of the Ukrainian Paralympics Committee Valeriy Sushkevych, the General Secretary of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee Volodymyr […]
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26th January 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Back in July 2010 I wrote a blog called How to stop censorship in Ukraine. Based on a discussion with journalists, I noted both areas for concern and some areas for optimism; and observed that freedom of the media would be critical for Ukraine’s relationship with the EU because the Copenhagen criteria, which set out […]
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20th January 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
In a recent blog “Is Ukraine democratic?” I noted an “Economist”, report, The Democracy Index 2011 (pdf file), which showed Ukraine’s democratic ranking falling from 67th in 2010 to 79th in 2011 out of 167 countries. I noted that we should not read too much into a single report; and said it would be interesting […]
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