7th March 2011
“Transparency” is a big buzzword whenever people talk about improving the business climate in Ukraine. Everyone agrees that if we can increase transparency in the way economy is run, with a level playing field for all and transparent arrangements for eg tax payments, the business climate will improve. That in turn will boost Foreign Direct […]
7th March 2011
I’m giving a press conference at a seminar for young eastern European mayors at the Ukrainian provincial town of Vinnitsa when a journalist leans forward. Why, he asks, are there are so few women amongst the mayors invited to the event? After the organisers have explained that they had to invite young mayors from those […]
3rd March 2011
What single thing could the Ukrainian authorities do to show foreign and domestic businesses that they are serious about improving the business climate? Ukraine faces a daunting list of reforms needed to create a business environment to stimulate foreign direct investment (FDI). The authorities have announced welcome steps to tackle corruption, remove over-regulation and reform […]
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1st March 2011
The chocolate flows down in an endless stream, pouring like a waterfall over the freshly-baked crispy wafers. Further down the production line, individual sticks are wrapped and packed in boxes. Lucky visitors are invited to taste the delicious end-product, fresh from the ovens. I’m at the “Roshen” chocolate factory in Vinnitsa, a city of 370,000 […]
25th February 2011
What do an artist from Afghanistan and a Ukrainian dancer have in common? The answer is that both are big fans of Ukraine who are enriching the country’s cultural life. I’m delivering a short speech at an event at the M17 Cultural Centre in Kyiv organised by the International Organisation for Migration on a cold […]
9th February 2011
At a recent press conference at the residence about the British Business Days in Ukraine a journalist asked me when the UK would actually start making investments in Ukraine in factories that produced things. I said there were a number of examples of such production, whether in manufacturing, agriculture or energy production; but that one […]
7th February 2011
A guest blog from Margaret Jack, Director, British Council Ukraine Sixty Education Ministers developing policies for half a billion young people to help ensure that progress beyond the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals will improve the competitiveness of nations. This was the World Education Forum in London last month. Education Ministers on the steps of […]
4th February 2011
Check out these terrific photographs. They are the winners and honourable mentions of a photo competition called “Save Energy! Stop Climate Change! run by the British Embassy in Kyiv between October and December 2010. The aim of the campaign, about which I blogged in November, is to show the benefits of energy-saving measures both for […]
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2nd February 2011
Kyiv is no stranger to celebrities. But in the course of my posting in Kyiv, two of those I have most enjoyed meeting have been the lead actors in the most recent James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig from the UK and Olga Kyrilenko, from Ukraine. So I am delighted to attend the […]
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26th January 2011
252 years after the birth of Robert Burns – voted in a 2009 poll the greatest Scot of all time – I attend two very different events on a snowy Kyiv evening to mark Burns night. At the Gergel School in Pechersk, dozens of children of all ages in tartan-themed best clothes are celebrating in […]