11th March 2011
Anyone visiting Independence Square in the heart of Kyiv in the past few weeks will have seen the massive “British Business Days in Ukraine” banner stretched across the face of the Globus Shopping Centre. The British Business Days in Ukraine (BBDU) are nearly here – they run from 17-19 March. Some great British and Ukrainian […]
10th March 2011
The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was set up in the United Kingdom in 2006 as a national law enforcement agency. It has a terrific logo and website and acts as a repository for expertise on combating serious crime in the UK. So it’s a privilege to have two top counter-corruption experts from SOCA in […]
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 […]
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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3rd February 2011
Where is the world’s leading centre in dispute settlement? In other words, where do you go if you want to resolve a commercial dispute and need top-quality advice from the world’s leading experts? The answer, of course, is London. So I’m delighted to attend a seminar at the Big Conference Hall of the Academy of […]