10th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
How radioactive is the environment at the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone? The question seems particularly pertinent when you’re planting a tree and the wind is blowing sand in your eyes. This was the scene recently when I visited Chornobyl with Volodymyr Kholosha, Head of the State Agency of Ukraine for the management of the Chornobyl Exclusion […]
Read more on Chornobyl: Safer Storage of Radioactive Waste | Reply
5th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
A long time ago in a previous job I used to lecture students and bureaucrats on the EU budgetary process. I used to hand out a mind-bogglingly complicated diagram, filled with jargon, arrows and boxes, which seemed to have been designed to be as confusing as possible. “For a start,” I would say, “ignore that […]
Read more on EU jargon and Ukraine: what it means | Reply
4th October 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
When I was posted in Vienna from 1984-7 I enjoyed watching the signs that the seasons were changing. As an autumn chill crept into the air, the Viennese hailed the arrival of the “Russian crows” – big, capable-looking birds which would strut their stuff around the parks and squares of the city for a couple […]
Read more on Changing seasons in Kyiv… and Vienna | Reply
30th September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The UK Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, made an important speech during the Eastern Partnership in Warsaw on 29 September. Key sections include: “It is in the EU’s clear interests to offer meaningful integration to [our Eastern] neighbours, including through full EU membership, where the criteria are rigorously met… So the UK is clear: ‘no’ […]
Read more on The UK, EU enlargement and Ukraine | Reply
29th September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
What is the healthiest place in Kyiv? At a recent reception at the residence, I began to suspect it might be my lounge. The reason was that the room was crammed with over 80 guests representing the cream of the Ukrainian medical profession and, in particular, many of the country’s top interventional cardiologists. Other medical […]
Read more on Two hearts are better than one | Reply
27th September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Negotiations at a summit later this week will revolve around the question of “how European is Ukraine”? It sounds a bit academic, since anyone looking at a map can see that Ukraine is a European country. But negotiations at the Eastern Partnership Summit on 29-30 September will revolve around the question not of geography but […]
Read more on How to make Ukraine more European | Reply
23rd September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
A guest blog by Martin Dowle, Director, British Council The west Ukrainian city of Lviv is an intriguing location for a literature festival. Breath-taking views of spires and domes, offset with hidden courtyards, make this city on the cusp between East and West a crossroads for cultural exchange. Some 300 events are packed into four […]
Read more on Lviv literature | Reply
20th September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The tiger is gigantic, looming against a glowing golden background. Behind it, cubs frolic. Near the work, Tiger Club by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, Ukrainian and foreign politicians including President Victor Yanukovych, Israeli President Shimon Peres and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair engage at the 8th annual Yalta European Strategy Forum (YES) “Ukraine and […]
Read more on Tymoshenko in Yalta | Reply
16th September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
The sun is setting magnificently over the skyline of Kyiv. All around, commercial deals are being planned, connections established and views on business conditions exchanged. We’re at a major gathering of the British business community in Ukraine at my residence on 14 September. Supporting British business in Ukraine and attracting investors to the UK is […]
Read more on Brilliant British Business in Ukraine #9 | Reply
16th September 2011
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
One of the most striking buildings in Kyiv is the Mystetskyi Arsenal, or “Art Arsenal”, whose opening I attended back in August 2009. Built between 1783 and 1801, it has been restored to provide over twenty thousand square metres of dramatic exhibition space arranged in massive, high-arched rooms and is always worth a visit whatever […]
Read more on Kyiv: art, football and Charles Dickens | Reply
