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World community demands new system of cooperation

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:54:00 +0200

A global financial crisis became that final impulse which forced world community to look differently on the situation in many spheres of its activity. However, real steps are needed to get out of the crisis and to introduce the new system of cooperation. International experts, known politicians and leading economists confirmed this on Thursday, December 17th, 2009, during the International conference “World in Crisis: Security Implications and Challenges for Wider Europe”, organised by the Open Ukraine Foundation.

“The world crisis pointed just one thing. There is no single hegemon in the world anymore. But new centres of influence appear. And either European countries, including members and not-members of the EU, do unite for European continent to form powerful centre of influence, either we will stay behind again. It was America before, in some ten years it will be China. Events in the world are developing very dynamically now. It is a chance for us to get leadership. For us as a united Europe”, - Arseniy Yatseniuk, the leader of the “Front zmin” political party, the peoples’ deputy of Ukraine, the founder of the Open Ukraine Foundation, said while opening the Conference.

The world crisis has changed accents not only in geopolitical or financial environment. It has touched the grounds of existence of many international organizations. Particularly, Michel Dure, Head of the Outreach Countries Section, Public Diplomacy Division, NATO Headquarter has stressed on the changes which are happening in NATO: “The nature of cooperation principles of the NATO with other structures is changing. Now we have a lot of understanding of security, democracy, culture societies. On the other way there are many general problems and security threats. Finding consensus between this understanding, solving general problems and threats’ preventing is indeed the new interface of cooperation. A lot of international organizations exist today, and NATO is not to govern them, but to look for wider approaches to cooperation. Each international organization must find its own niche, then it will be possible to work together to manage the crisis”.

Something new and progressive always appears owing to difficulties’ overcoming. “This crisis gave us the vision of the real objectivity. Owing to the crisis the countries of the world have chance for changes, making reforms and the possibility to become stronger”, - Pirkka Tapiola, Senior Adviser, Policy Unit, Council of the European Union, General Secretariat, underlined.

Representatives of the European Union, the NATO, the OSCE, the GUAM, the BSEC, the EBRD, embassies, government and non-government organizations, research institutes from over twenty countries of the world attended the event.

The International conference took place in the network of the KYIV SECURITY FORUM, held annually by the Open Ukraine Foundation, under assistance of the Royal Institute of International Affairs Chatham House (London), European Policy Centre (Brussels), and the Regional Representation of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation for Belarus and Ukraine. The financial aid was granted by the Black Sea Trust of German Marshall Fund and the Polish Aid Program.

International experts, known politicians and leading economists will discuss consequences of the global financial crisis and its influence to security sphere

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:55:00 +0200

Initiated by the Open Ukraine Foundation on December, 17 at 9.00 in the Conference hall of the President Hotel (Hospitalna str., 12, 1 floor) the International conference “World in Crisis: Security Implications and Challenges for Wider Europe” will start.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko will address with welcoming speech to the conference participants. The reports will be made by: Valery Chechelashvili Secretary General, Organisation for Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM; Trayan Chebeleu Deputy Secretary General, Permanent International Secretariat, BSEC; Michael Dure, Head of the Outreach Countries Section, Public Diplomacy Division, NATO HQ; Oleksandr Pavliuk, Head of External Co-operation, OSCE Secretariat; Pirkka Tapiola, Senior Adviser, Policy Unit, Council of the European Union, General Secretariat; and other power authorities, experts and analysts from over twenty countries of the world.

The main purpose of the event is to strengthen co-operation between the countries of the Black Sea-Caspian region and the European Union to overcome consequences of the world crisis. The International conference will be held in the network of the annual KYIV SECURITY FORUM under assistance of the Royal institute for foreign affairs Chatham House (London), European Policy Centre (Brussels), and the Regional representative office of Friedrich Ebert Foundation for Belarus and Ukraine. The financial aid is granted by the Black Sea Trust of German Marshall Fund, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, and the Polish Aid Program.

IMPORTANT! The press-conference for mass-media representatives will take place during the event. Accreditation of journalists for participation in the Conference will last till 18.00 of December, 16.

For additional information, please, address:
tel.: 235-52-98,
e-mail: tm@openukraine.org

Famous Ukrainian returns to Warsaw

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:21:00 +0200

The official presentation of a bust of the famous world opera singer, Solomiya Krushelnytska took place in the Grand theatre of the Polish National Opera in Warsaw on November 19. Grzegorz Chelmeсki, deputy director of the Polish National Opera opened the gala evening. The event was also attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Poland Olexander Motsyk.

The bust of the famous Ukrainian, made under assistance of the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation, became a showpiece of the prominent artists’ gallery of the Warsaw Opera House. "Recognition of our compatriot among the best artists of the Warsaw Opera House is the historical demonstration of the fact that Ukraine is a part of the Europe. This also confirms the significant contributions of many prominent Ukrainians to the development of the European civilization.

Through such very steps the Open Ukraine Foundation aspires to remind both to Europeans and Ukrainians the moments of our shared history, to mark what we can be proud of. These are not the first actions of the Foundation in this regard. Last year, for example, we opened in Vienna the memorial to the first Minister of Health of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, our compatriot Ivan Horbachevsky"- the director of the Foundation Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze said during the official presentation of the bust.

The sculptural composition was made by the people’s artist of Ukraine Vasyl Yarych. The bust itself is made of bronze; a stand and a column are of granite. The total height of the composition is over two meters. This will be the first bust of Solomiya Krushelnytska in Poland according to the composition’s architect, the honored artist Orest Skop. Artistic image, that inspired the creators, was the image of Krushelnytska in the role of Countess in the same-named opera of Stanisław Moniuszko.

Four years of Solomiya Krushelnytska’s activity are connected to the Warsaw period. Her performances on stage of the Warsaw Opera raised unprecedentedly the success of Moniuszko's operas. It is considered that Krushelnytska was the best performer of the “Galka” role in the same-named opera, for what the Poles often call her "Polish" opera singer.

"For more than a century Solomiya Krushelnytska has been considered to be one of the leading figures in the history of Polish opera. Now she returns to Warsaw. The bust will stand near the so-called "Redut halls" of the Grand theatre - the part that remained unhurt during the destruction of Warsaw in the years of the World War II, so these buildings still remember the proud walk of our prima donna"- said Rostislav Kramar, the initiator of events, teacher of Warsaw University, the Ukrainian public figure in Poland.

The adornment of the gala evening became the presentation of the sisters Natalya and Galyna Datsko, invited to the solemn event by the Open Ukraine Foundation. Lviv opera singers performed arias from the repertoire of Solomiya Krushelnytska.

Third Kyiv Security Forum is CANCELED

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:38:00 +0200

Open Ukraine Foundation regrets to inform you that the THIRD KYIV SECURITY FORUM “World in Crisis: Security Implications and Challenges for Wider Europe”, which had to take place in Kyiv on November 12-13, 2009, is CANCELED due to the force-major epidemic situation of A(H1N1) flu in Ukraine and respective decisions by Ukrainian state authorities:

- Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine on “The situation created by the flu epidemic and by the A (H1N1) flu pandemic, and on primary prevention measures” No 5302, 5 November 2009.
The resolution, above all, recommends that the Cabinet of Ministers “urgently implement the order of the President of Ukraine No 887/2009 dated 31 October 2009.”[…]The resolution tasks the Government with establishing, within 10 days, Rules for the sanitary control of the territory of Ukraine, in accordance with International Medical and Sanitary standards.

- Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on “Preventive measures to stop the spread of flu type A/H1N1/Californian/04/09 and other acute respiratory diseases among the population” No 1152, 30 October 2009.
Para.1.: Starting from 30 November 2009, raise the threat level related to the spread of type A/H1N1/Californian/04/09 flu (hereafter pandemic flu) and prohibit all mass public gatherings.

- Decree of the President of Ukraine pursuant to the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine dated 30 October 2009 on “Urgent measures to guarantee national security in the context of the spread of pandemic flu in Ukraine” No 887/2009, 31 October 2009.
Para.10: Immediately establish restrictions on any public cultural and entertainment events and other events involving mass gatherings.

Once again Open Ukraine Foundation expresses our sincere appreciation of your willingness to participate and speak at this event and reiterate that we are extremely sorry that because of the circumstances not depending on us the Third Kyiv Security Forum has to be canceled.

We very much hope that such development will not impede our future cooperation and we will have the opportunity to work with you on other occasions. Moreover, we are planning to hold the expected debate online via the renewed web-site of the Forum http://ksf.openukraine.org.

Respectfully Yours,
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze Executive Director, Open Ukraine Foundation

"A lot of politicians are talking up the strength of the economy to create ‘feel-good’ feeling among the people and to keep their posts", - Nicholas Kochan stressed

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:34:00 +0200

A chat conference with Nicholas Kochan, reputed British financial journalist and economic columnist of «The Banker» magazine, took place today on Kyiv Security Forum web-site. During the conference, except the global economic crisis, the Ukrainian Internet users expressed their interest in such important for Ukraine and the international community questions as:

what methods Ukraine needs to overcome the economic crisis;
shaping a new world order;
which countries should be Ukraine’s "friends" in the future;
whether one should start own business during the crisis;
how does the British journalist see the post-crisis world;

and many others arising from the financial crisis 2008-2009.

You can find the answers provided by the British journalist at the chat conference page: http://ksf.openukraine.org/ua/2009/press/news/chat_with_nick_kochan

Open Ukraine Foundation expresses sincere gratitude to everyone who participated in our chat conference and hopes that you will find interesting further events organized by Open Ukraine Foundation.

Web-conference on “Does the Global Crisis Create A New World?” Friday, 6 November 2009

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:56:00 +0200

The Open Ukraine Foundation is pleased to invite you to participate in a web-conference entitled “Does the Global Crisis Create A New World?” with Nick Kochan, a prominent British journalist and economic observer. This web-conference will be held as part of the Third Kyiv Security Forum and is to take place Friday, 6 November, at 12:00. The main topic of discussion will be the global financial crisis and its implications.

The web-conference will tackle the following questions:

• What is the global crisis? What has the world faced in 2008-2009?

• What kind of economic policies will emerge in the post-crisis world?

• Will new superpowers appear? What will be the world security order in the years to come?

You are welcome to post a question, in Ukrainian or English, at page http://www.ksf.openukraine.org/en/2009/press/news/chat_with_nick_kochan . The moderator will screen the questions and immediately put them on the web page. Responses will appear in the original language.

Note: Nick Kochan is a prominent British journalist who writes on economic and political issues. He contributes articles to famous journals and magazines such as “The Financial Times”, “The Daily Telegraph”, “The Banker”, “Euromoney Magazine” and many other international editions. He writes regularly on political issues in Eastern and Central Europe, as well as on economic, financial and banking systems and capital markets. He has co- authored a biography of Gordon Brown, and several other books on money laundering and financial crimes. He recently published a book on the implications of current recession. He holds a degree from the University of Cambridge.

Private international philanthropic foundation “Open Ukraine” is seeking candidate to fill in the position of Program Manager in its Kyiv office.

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:16:00 +0300

Responsibilities

The Program Manager must demonstrate an extensive knowledge related to the issues of foreign policy and security and spirit of creativity.

Specific responsibilities include

Planning, developing and implementing “International Dialog program”;
Program monitoring, evaluating, and reporting to the donors;
Participation in strategic planning and fundraising efforts;
Liaison to international and Ukrainian partners;

Qualifications

3 years progressive experience in activities related to international relations and / or non-profit sector;
Demonstrated experience in project implementation and management;
Solid writing and analytical skills;
Advanced level of English language;
Subgrant management experience preferred;
Advanced international degree in a relevant field.

Personal qualities

High level of responsibility;
Ability to work under pressure in a team;
Excellent communication skills.

Please, send CV, cover letter and salary expectation in English to mv@openukraine.org with the Subject line: “Deputy Director” by September 18^th.

Less populism and less government spending according to Leszek Balcerowicz are the key factors of overcoming the crisis

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:30:00 +0300

Less populism and less government spending according to Leszek Balcerowicz are the key factors of overcoming the crisis

Leszek Balcerowicz (polish economist, former Vice-prime-minister and Minister of Finance and ex-Chairman of the National Bank of Poland) shared his views about the global economic crisis during the Diplomatic club in Kyiv, July 9th, 2009, which was organized by Arseniy Yatseniuk Foundation “Open Ukraine” and Viktor Pinchuk Foundation. Arseniy Yatseniuk moderated the meeting.

Mr. Balcerowicz explained, that this crisis is not the first one, and it became global because it has come from the USA -- the country with the biggest share in the world economy. He reminded, that there were other depressions in different countries, but those didn’t influence the global economy due to the small share of those countries in the world economical processes.

To his mind, other reasons that led to the crisis were unsustainable and risky financial policies along with exaggerated spending. “The housing boom in Spain, Britain and Ireland amplified the rate of spending and loaning. Spending too much in good times multiplies the losses during the bad times”, added Mr. Balcerowicz.

To Mr. Balcerowicz’s opinion the increased production and decreased budget deficit should replace social and fiscal populism in order overcome the crisis. “Majority of the electorate should avoid the so-called Santa Clauses in politics who promise to spend a lot of money for social needs”,- emphasized Leszek Balcerowicz.

Talking about the influence of politics on economics, Leshek Balcerowicz said, that “if policies are correct the noise is disregarded by the matters; and public opinion supports good policies”. To his mind democracy is an insurance for the good policies, but still there should be some work done with public opinion.

Arseniy Yatseniuk, member of the Ukrainian Parliament, founder of the Open Ukraine Foundation, added at the meeting of the Diplomatic club that another reason of the global crisis is the fact that the real sector of economics was serving the banks, and not vice versa: “It’s a paradox when bank with one thousand employees earns hundred times more than a company with millions of employees which produces billions of dollars worth amount of goods”. Mr. Yatseniuk mentioned, that Ukraine should rely on itself, at the same time “Ukrainian and world politics should get rid of the populistic Santa Clauses”.

The Diplomatic club meeting was attended by Eyvhen Marchuk, Advisor to the President of Ukraine on Euro-Atlantic integration, members of the Parliament Iryna Akimova, Iryna Heraschenko and Yuri Miroshnichenko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kostiantyn Eliseev, Advisor to Prime-Minister on the international investments Vladyslav Kaskiv, Deputy Minister of Economy Valeriy Piatnytsky and other governmental representatives, businessmen, former ministers of foreign affairs, diplomats, independent experts.

Volodimir Ivasiuk scholarship

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:58:00 +0300

This scholarship was founded by Arseniy Yatseniuk Foundation «Open Ukraine» in honor of sixtieth birth anniversary of famous Ukrainian poet and composer Volodimir Ivasiuk and to commemorate and recognize the outstanding this artist. A scholarship is awarded to the students of Composition Department of the Theory&Composition faculty of the M.V.Lysenko’s Lviv National Musical Academy in order to support personal artistic development of the talented young people and to develop modern music arts in Ukraine. The criterion of the award is an outstanding artistic achievements proven by Scientific Council of the Academy.

Volodimir Ivasiuk scholarship was awarded to young composer Ivan Pahota.

Translation workshop for Ukranian-German interpreters in Lviv

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:01:00 +0300

Translation workshop for interpreters from Germany took place on third of June, 2009 in Lviv under the support of Arseniy Yatseniuk Foundation «Open Ukraine». The workshop was organized within the project “Training on deepening young interpreters’ competence in Ukranian-German translations”.

The goal of the workshop was to develop the skills of the interpreters while in the German speaking world (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) there are only four Ukrainian-German interpreters.

Interpreters were working in the Ukrainian-German tandem under the direction of the individual mentor.

The object of the translation during the project is the collection of stories «Kvitoslava» by Otar Dovzhenko, which will be published «Zuika» and presented at the book fair in Leipzig in 2010.

The Arseniy Yatseniuk Foundation «Open Ukraine» supports this project within the it’s program «Book fund».

EU and Ukraine have obtained expert recommendations on energy security strengthening

Tue, 05 May 2009 16:18:00 +0300

Within the framework of the Second Kyiv Security Forum (6-7 November, 2008), Open Ukraine Foundation has commissioned an expert policy paper for Ukrainian authorities and EU institutions on strengthening the energy security of Ukraine and Europe.

The policy paper analyzes current situation in the energy industry of both Black Sea region and the European Union: extraction, transit and consumption of the hydrocarbons; price policy for the energy resources; impact of the key events within the energy industry. The document also defines the energy-related threats, their nature and suggests ways of countering them.

The policy paper provides relevant recommendations to the EU countries and to Ukraine, as well as describes major aspects of the energy security and it’s further strengthening.

Policy paper prepared by:
Mykhailo Honchar, Director of Energy Programs, NOMOS Center
Oleksandr Todiychuk, President of Kyiv International Energy Club (Q-club)

With participation of:
Iulian Chifu, Executive Director, Center for Conflict Prevention and Early Warning, Romania

The Policy Paper became possible:

Upon the initiative and management of Open Ukraine Foundation
With the support of Victor Pinchuk Foundation and Black Sea Trust of German Marshall Fund

Civil society should contribute to Ukraine’s foreign policy, announced Arseniy Yatseniuk, founder of Open Ukraine Foundation.

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:21:00 +0300

BERLIN (Germany),--Non-governmental organizations are an essential supplement to Ukraine-EU bilateral relations, said Arseniy Yatseniuk, founder of Open Ukraine Foundation, on April 28, 2009 at the meeting with representatives of German political, scientific and business elite.

“We shall support our foreign policy through NGOs” said Mr. Yatseniuk, while talking about the reputation of Ukraine and Ukrainian foreign relations’ perspectives. With regards to Open Ukraine Foundation, Mr. Yatseniuk mentioned Diplomatic Club and Kyiv Security Forum that were launched “in order to attract foreign politicians and business leaders who can deliver new messages to the Ukrainian society and who can listen to Ukrainian citizens”.

As to the foreign policy, Mr. Yatseniuk emphasized that Ukraine should start reshaping the Ukrainian-Russian relations, and take new approach to the European Union — both relationships should be based on pragmatic approach and be economically predictable.

Arseniy Yatseniuk mentioned that building strong civil society, as a major aspect of the development of Ukraine and its reputation, is a key challenge for Ukrainian citizens: “We have reached a lot, but we need to do more – people have to be interested in having civil society”.

Contemporary Ukrainian Literature review

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:40:00 +0300

Download PDF (1Mb)

Aleksander Kwasniewski: “I am an advocate of Ukraine”

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:08:00 +0300

Kyiv, Ukraine — Aleksander Kwasniewski announced his willingness to support Ukraine on its way to the EU.

“Europe without Ukraine is not the same Europe as with Ukraine. Take a look: 50 million people, strategic location, European and Christian background, immense potential. I consider EU’s ignorance of such a partner, and a future member, as a big mistake”—said former Polish President at the Diplomatic Club meeting in Kyiv on April 15th, 2009. The event was organized by Aresenij Yatseniuk’s foundation Open Ukraine and YES (Yalta European Strategy).

Aleksander Kwasniewski also emphasized the fact that Ukraine should concentrate on the mutual dialogue with Europe since the European Community expects mutual cooperation and responsible partnership from Ukraine”.

In order to strengthen Ukraine’s role in the international affairs, Kwasniewski recommends Ukraine to develop relations both with the Russian Federation and the West and aim for political balance. Ukrainian policy should be clear and understandable for its European partners.

Kwasniewski believes that young democracies should develop democratic culture, maintain stability, and be cautious with the amendments to their constitutions. “A constitution does not change people’s characters. Even a bad constitution in the hands of good people can work properly”,--said former Polish President.

Aleksander Kwasniewski claimed himself as “a strong advocate of Ukraine” and stressed the fact that Ukraine plays an important role in his political career.

The Diplomatic Club was attended by the 1st President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk, the 2^nd President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, former Ministers of foreign affairs Ananoliy Zlenko and Borys Tarasiuk, representatives of diplomatic, business and expert communities.

Mr. Kwasniewski is a member of the Board of the Yalta European Strategy for more than 5 years. YES is a independent international organization, which unites famous politicians, business and public opinion leaders, journalists; supports necessary European integration and positive image reforms in Ukraine.

Aleksander Kwaśniewski is the former President of the Republic of Poland (1995 – 2005). He was born on the 15th November 1954, in Białogard, Poland.. Long – standing supporter of Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty, Aleksander Kwaśniewski inspired the international mediation efforts during the 2004 Orange Revolution. He couragesly confronted the past, significantly contributing to the reconciliation between Poles and the German, Jewish and Ukrainian people. During his Presidency Poland became a member of the EU on May 1, 2004.

The Diplomatic Club – co-initiative of Open Ukriane Foundation and Victor Pinchuk Foundation

Partner of the Diplomatic Club: Yaltal European Strategy (YES, yes-ukraine.org) – international net-work, founded by Victor Pinchuk in 2004 to support reforms in Ukraine and integration into the European Union

Open Ukraine web-site - http://www.openukraine.org/
YES website- http://www.yes-ukraine.org/
Victor Pinchuk Foundation web-site - http://www.pinchukfund.org/

Volodimir Ivasiuk scholarship was awarded to young composer Ivan Pahota.

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:30:00 +0300

Arseniy Yatseniuk Foundation «Open Ukraine» has awarded Ivan Pahota with the Volodimir Ivasiuk scholarship. The ceremony of awarding the first scholarship holder took place on April, 4, 2009 in Lviv Regional Philharmonic.

Ivan Pahota is a young composer and a 4th year student of M.V.Lysenko’s Lviv National Musical Academy, who studies in the class of Myroslav Skoryk.

Chrystia Freeland, US Managing Editor of Financial Times believes that Ukrainian politics is confusing for the West

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:10:00 +0200

“There is general understanding in the United States that Ukraine is a democracy and Washington pays serious attention to that fact since there are very few democracies on the post-Soviet space,” – says Chrystia Freeland, US Managing Editor of Financial Times, who came to Ukraine upon the invitation of Arseniy Yatseniuk’s “Open Ukraine” Foundation. Mrs. Freeland spoke at the Diplomatic Club which is a common initiative of Open Ukraine Foundation and Victor Pinchuk Foundation. At the meeting she also stressed that Ukrainians themselves should understand the importance of their democracy which is a big victory of the country and its citizens.

However, from Mrs. Freeland’s perspective, constant political tensions in Ukraine complicate the international dialogue since Ukraine remains incomprehensible for outside world. Moreover, “during the financial crisis the US is mostly focused on relieving its consequences for the American economy, finding the way to assist those people who lost their jobs and homes, - this captures most of the political energy of the new President Obama’s Administration. At the moment foreign policy as such is not the top priority for the new Administration and under the circumstances no one is ready to spend additional time in an attempt to grasp Ukraine’s internal conflicts”.

Chrystia Freeland is sure that Ukrainians, having experienced revolutionary changes and difficult economic circumstances of the 80s and 90s are psychologically better prepared for facing the crisis phenomena compared to successful and prosperous Americans who did not experience similar turmoil for more than 70 years now.

Mrs. Freeland pointed out to one of the major points of the discussion within the US that is whether the current crisis will foster the transition of economic powers from America to Asia, namely, to China. This belief was also shared by many Ukrainians, participating in the Diplomatic Club meeting. At the same time Mr. Arseniy Yatseniuk voiced the idea that no new geopolitical players will emerge as the result of the crisis. This crisis will be resolved first of all in the USA, where it started. “At present each country looks for solutions on its own, and this is the most unsettling tendency, and common global response is hard to envision”, summarized Mr. Yatseniuk.

The following members of the Diplomatic Club also participated in the debate: Leonid Kuchma, President of Ukraine (1994-2005), Volodymyr Khandohiy, acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Anatolij Zlenko and Hennadij Udovenko – former Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, members of the parliament – Yurij Miroshnychenko and Iryna Herashchenko; also - Yevhen Marchuk and Volodymyr Horbulin, analysts Oleksiy Haran and Valeriy Chalyj, Ambassadors Volodymyr Vasylenko and Roman Shpek.

Crisis and charity: support, cannot deny

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:35:00 +0200

At the presentation of the annual report of Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s Foundation “Open Ukraine”, sponsors and partners of the Foundation have clearly stated their willingness to continue the support of the Foundation’s programs in the future, despite the crisis and other temporary difficulties.

Download Annual Report 2008 (PDF, 4.7Mb)

7 million 605 thousand 308 hryvnas - this amount Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s Private Charitable Foundation «Open Ukraine» invested in 2008 in programs aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s image in the world, promotion of public diplomacy and self-actualization of Ukrainians. This was announced at the public presentation of the Foundation’s annual report on February 12th, 2009.

This is the first event of a kind in the history of Ukrainian philanthropy. It has gathered leading businessmen, sponsors, partners of the Foundation and journalists in the «Vozdvyzhensky» hotel for an informal discussion of the philanthropy.

The main feature of the event, as well as of the report itself, was transparent documentation and honesty of the speakers. «Interrogation» of the representatives of the Foundation’s governing bodies was lead by the Ukrainian TV talk-show host Anna Bezulyk. The revealing discussion, provoked by the host, has given the answer to the main question of the evening – Ukrainian philanthropists are engaged in charity not for the publicity, but by the call of their hearts. This was also testified by serious commitments of support of the Foundation’s activities in 2009, taken upon themselves by “Open Ukraine”’s main sponsors – Viktor Pinchuk and Serhiy Taruta.

«Partners and donors of the Foundation are pleased with the results of the Foundation’s activities, and will further support our programs, notwithstanding the crisis and other problems. After all, it comes from their heart. And concerning the crisis – we will get through it», said Arseniy Yatsenyuk, founder of «Open Ukraine» Foundation.

Victor Pinchuk, one of the Foundation’s main donors, noted: «When we started our work with Arseniy (Yatsenyuk), the main condition was provision of absolute transparency of the Foundation’s activities and reports». According to Victor Pinchuk, such public presentations, the possibility for everybody to access complete information about Foundation’s activities and their results via the internet-site, is a bright example of transparency.

Pavlo Gudimov, leader of the «Gud:mov Art Project» and participant of the Foundation’s programs said: «Ukrainian culture has a great potential, and support the modern, dynamic art, capable of competing with the world’s best pieces, is very timely. Foundation is focusing on that today, and I hope will adhere to its principles in the future».

«Even in the hostility of the crisis we will continue to translate Ukrainian books into foreign languages and will bring Ukrainian artists abroad», said Arseniy Yatsenyuk, founder of the «Open Ukraine» Foundation.

Discussing the right of the private initiatives to present the image of Ukraine abroad, Igor Burakovsky, Director of the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting, noted: «Civil society greatly surpasses political elites in their level of understanding of the processes within Ukraine; and the Foundation’s achievements are the proof. The new should be further searched for and concerned and interested people should be supported».

It was impossible to avoid the questions forthcoming presidential elections. Answering those, ex-speaker jokingly responded: «I’m 34, I’m too young to be a president. In May I’ll turn 35. Let’s discuss it then».

2009 activities will include:

Continuation of the program of support of young Ukrainian’s business-projects, that are already changing the country today - «Space of Change»,
Cultural programs – translation of Ukrainian books into foreign languages, support of Ukrainian artists’ exhibits and performances abroad,
Development of new accents of the «Migration today» program, aimed at supporting Ukrainians abroad, and
Program of «Raising Ukraine’s reputation in the world», within the framework of which the Third Kyiv Security Forum (November 2009), and Diplomatic Club meetings with leading European politicians will be held.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk also introduced new head of the Board of Directors of “Open Ukraine” Foundation – Roman Shpek, experienced diplomat, ex-ambassador of Ukraine to the European Communities.

The brightest events of the Foundation in 2008:

For the first time in Ukraine a full-scale survey of the number of Ukrainian citizens working abroad, of the reasons and results of labor migration was carried out; integrated recommendations for the new migration policy of Ukraine were worked out. 156 000 citizens of Ukraine travelling abroad received informational support in the Call-Center.
More than 300 members from 25 countries were gathered by the Second Kyiv Security Forum. For the first time since gaining independence, Ukraine made a statement as an equal partner in the European discussion of the energy security issues.
Regular discussions within the «Diplomatic Club» framework provided opportunity to the European and American politicians to shape their very own impression about Ukraine; and assisted Ukrainian politicians and experts to formulate their understanding of Ukraine’s place in the international setting. Among the guests of the Club – NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
More than 30 thousand people had a chance to touch the beauty by visiting the tactile photo exhibit for the sightless. The «Touch and see» exhibit presented blind people with unique opportunity to share the emotions and impressions from the photos of picturesque Ukraine with seeing citizens. The exhibit, which has no analogues in Europe, continues its tour countrywide.
25 artists have represented Ukrainian modern art at 15 international festivals and exhibits.
Essays of leading modern Ukrainian writers are already read in Czech Republic. Unique program «Book Fund» has supported publication of the «The Anthology of a small Ukrainian prose».
The Fund has united the best: 43 young leaders of Ukraine – winners of the «Space of Changes» program – have opportunity now to implement projects, that will change the look of Ukraine http://ua.prostirzmin.org/

Express Ukraine – opens modern Ukrainian writing for Czech readers

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:08:00 +0200

Express Ukraine is the first publication from the series of translation projects launched by Open Ukraine as part of its Book Fund program. It was released by the Czech Publishing House “Kniha Zlin”. This is the first anthology of contemporary Ukrainian short prose in Czech language. The publication includes pieces of renowned modern Ukrainian writers such as Yurij Andrukhovych, Oksana Zabuzhko, Maria Matios, Kapranovy Brothers, Les Poderevansky, Taras Prokhasko, Serhiy Zhadan, Oksana Lutsyshyn, Tanya Malyarchuk, Maryna Sokolyan and others. The edition was prepared by Rita Kidlerova a famous translator.

The program will continue in 2009. Among the Ukrainian authors that Open Ukraine will be presented internationally are Evheniya Kononenko “Novels and Stories” in Russia and Yuriy Vynnychuk “Spring games in the autumn garden” in Bulgaria.

Book Fund is the only program in Ukraine that supports the translation of Ukrainian writing aboard. As of today we have received 6 application forms from publishing houses worldwide. Among them:

Stock (France) for Lyubko Deresh “Cult”
Meettok (Spain) for Natalko Snadyanka “Collection of passions and adventures of young Ukrainian”
Ad Marginem Press (Russia) for Taras Prokhasko “You can make some stories out of this” and “Complicated”
Zalihica (Bosnia) for Andriy Kurkov “Geography of a single shot”
Kastaniotis Editions S.A (Greece) for Andriy Kurkov “Last love of the President” and “Dear friend, decedent’s comrade”
Czarne (Poland) for Sophia Andrukhovych “Salmon”

If you would like to support the Book Fund of Open Ukraine, please contact: Iryna Deshchytsia, Program Manager at id@openukraine.org

Round table for representatives of State Employment Center of Kharkiv Oblast to discuss the impact of illegal labor migration and risks associated with this issue.

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:01:00 +0200

Date: 16 january 2009

Place: State Employment Center of Kharkiv Oblast

Round table for representatives of State Employment Center of Kharkiv Oblast to discuss the impact of illegal labor migration and risks associated with this issue. The event is organized by the Regional Migrant Advice Center based at the Kharkiv Oblast charity “Social Support Service”. The project “Working aboard – Opportunities and Risks” is funded by Open Ukraine Foundation in partnership with Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

Contact: Victor Hrytsaj +38 (057) 759 3412. Email: migration@max.net.ua

Open Ukraine Foundation Presents Short Film by Ukrainian Director Maryna Vroda at the 18th International Film Festival Cottbus in Germany

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:08:00 +0200

Date: November 11-16, 2008
Place: Cottbus, Germany

Festival Cottbus is a renowned and prestigious festival in Europe of East-European cinematography.

Filmed in 2007, the film "Kliatva" ("Oath") already is a nominee in 2008 at the international contest of short films Cottbus. During the festival, Ms. Vroda plans to obtain the necessary experience in communicating with colleagues from different countries and cultures, and also will attract foreign producers who create full-length films into cooperation with Ukraine.

Apart from the main contest of the festival among full-length and short films, the Ukrainian director will participate in a press conference and round tables with festival participants and will meet foreign colleagues and producers.

Results of the second day end of Kyiv Security Forum

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 18:03:00 +0200

The 2^nd Kyiv Security Forum continued its work on Friday, 7 November, in the afternoon. When discussing the subject of the session, "Business decisions and corporate interests vs. energy security and regional synergies", most experts concluded that the future of the energy sector belongs to independent producers. Besides, debating on possible reduction of mutual dependence between transporting countries and producing countries, the experts voiced doubts as to reasonability of building new pipelines, for example, of building routes to bypass Ukraine. In the analysts' opinion, it will be hard to the countries to get rid of mutual dependence in energy soon, so it would be more reasonable to formalize existing relations with appropriate arrangements.

"If talking about gas supply, Europe and other countries naturally need diversification", believes Boris NEMTSOV, member of the Federal Political Council of the SPS political party, Russian Federation. His forecast concerning a gas price for Ukraine was deplorable. "The price will most likely be higher - that's your pay for independence".

Noting many European countries' dependence on Gazprom, Mr. Nemtsov highlighted the only possible, in his opinion, option for democratization of the company: "The system of pipelines should be separated from Gazprom - that is, done the way it was done to Transneft company. Let the pipeline be owned by the State but it must be an independent company, and all gas sellers should be provided equal conditions". At the same time, Nemtsov remarked that, given existing prospects, Gazprom would most likely remain under the state control. The idea of building new gas pipeline routes from Russia is considered as not good by him because the pipelines will remain unfilled because of gas shortage in Russia.

"The more flourishing the economy, the greater the need to deliver energy from all sources - both conventional and unconventional. The world will be trying to meet the growing demand. It will entail greater tension in the producer-consumer environment", says Patrick van DAELE, General Manager, Shell Ukraine Exploration and Production. In his opinion, under such conditions energy should be produced at the most affordable level of its price. "No company is able to solve these issues by itself so we back up the idea of discussing elaboration of ideas jointly", Patrick van Daele said in his address.

Besides, he shared two scenarios of events in the world energy sector designed by Shell. "The first one says that countries will concentrate on their own energy issues. The second scenario assumes conclusion of international agreements. We discussed the scenarios in all the countries we are working in, and we should say the governments not always realize all the problems and therefore they often work along the first scenario", he summed up.

Unlike the Russian colleague, Georgy VASHAKMADZE, GUEU Foundation Director, still sees a future for new pipelines. "Nabucco, White Stream, Southern Stream - all this is possible if there is a correct attitude to the idea. Our goal is to connect the Caspian region with Europe and let European companies be present in the Caspian region but this matter should be approached in an integral fashion", he pointed out.

Simon PIRANI, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, UK, described reduction of single-supplier dependence as the most important issue for Ukraine. He also noted that Ukraine has its own gas, which should also promote the country's stronger energy independence. At the same time, he was negative about the Ukrainian government's actions in energy matters: "I see no strategy from the government that would concern energy efficiency and energy saving. It must become a priority in the State's energy policy".

***

A lively discussion was caused by statements of participants of the second thematic session -ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY - INCREASED ENERGY SECURITY? - which was reduced to the conclusion that these technologies will be actively used in Ukraine when a young team has come to power.

Kevin ROSNER, Senior Fellow, Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, USA, voiced his concern about the mankind's reliance on oil, pointing out that 97% transport in America works on gasoline. Mr. Rosner gave examples of other countries using alternatives to oil, which is becoming increasingly popular, namely Brazil with ethanol and China with methanol, as well as biofuel.

Valeriy BOROVYK, Chairman of the Board, New Energy of Ukraine Alliance, presented projects of alternative energy sources under implementation by the Alliance, which include taking power off the Earth rotation and outputting energy, a power plant producing electricity out of wave energy, creation of wind farms in Crimea, and a geothermal power plant.

***

Discussing the final subject - WAYS TO IMPROVE RELATIONS BETWEEN PRODUCERS, TRANSIT AND CONSUMER COUNTRIES OF ENERGY FOR STRONGER EUROPEAN ENERGY SECURITY - the experts concluded that the financial crisis could even stimulate better relations among the countries in the energy sector.

In the context of Russia's influence upon European energy security, Mikhail KRUTIKHIN, Editor of Russian Energy Bulletin, Russia, accentuated on the substantial contradictions that had arisen between Russia as a gas monopolist and Europe as a gas consumer. As far as Russia's use of its monopolistic status in the energy market is concerned, Mikhail Krutikhin voiced the hope that the need to cooperate with the European community would eventually make Russia work in a more civilized manner. Besides, in the expert's opinion, Russia's position may be affected by the world financial crisis, which will force the RF government to make certain decisions concerning Gazprom. "To overcome the gas supply crisis, Gazprom will have to increase its investments in production, which would promote development of the sector but would hardly be liked by the government because of not paying fast dividends. Or, under the crisis, the government could divide Gazprom into individual gas production companies", he said.

James SHERR, Head, Russia and Eurasia Program, the Royal Institute of International Affairs Chatham House, UK: "Russia does not welcome any competing projects in its region. This way Russia proves that all the projects implemented without it are dangerous. What choice does Ukraine have in this context? Only cooperation with Russia". Considering ways out of the situation, Sherr noted that "Russia was interested to be a monopolist, but at the same time, competition needs to be created and new energy sources be searched for. It does not exclude Russia from the energy system because that would be impossible but, perhaps, it will make its stand more moderate".

Mykhailo HONCHAR, Director of Energy Programs, NOMOS Center, suggested his own formula to improve the "producer - transit country - consumer" energy chain: strategic reserves plus integrated infrastructure plus diversification of sources plus transparency. Energy market improvement, in his opinion, also requires a more active role to be played by the International Energy Agency and the Energy Charter. At the same time, talking about cooperation between these organizations and Russia, he emphasized that there was no other way to improve the relations under the current reality but a dialog.

"The financial crisis has to some extent played into the hands in the issue with Russia because there had actually been no chance to stabilize the situation before", said independent expert Oleksandr NARBUT. "Today when investments are quite important to all countries, Europe has got a unique chance to reach understanding with Russia in the field of energy", Narbut says confidently. Therefore, he believes that Europe's first step in that direction should consist of adapting the Energy Charter for Russia. Besides, Europe's subsequent initiatives should be aimed at modernization inside transiting countries.

Tim GOULD, Programme Manager - Caspian, Caucasus, Southeast Europe, International Energy Agency, is sure that one should focus on transparency and openness issues today. Major directions on the road towards energy security, in the expert's view, consist of investing in energy infrastructure and diversifying sources of supply, but at the same time, Mr. Gould reminded that under such an approach one must clearly understand what countries should be offered new sources.

Results of Kyiv Security Forum’s second-day session “National energy strategies vs. regional synergies”

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:14:00 +0200

At the second thematic session entitled "National energy strategies vs. regional synergies", experts agreed that energy security problems should be addressed on every level - both international and regional. Besides, an overwhelming majority of the speakers pointed out that solving security problems in the "supplier - transit country - consumer" chain was not possible if the opinion of any one of the parties is not considered.

Friedemann MULLER, senior researcher, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said highlighting Europe's major security issues: "Europe should talk one voice in terms of energy but national interests of the countries must not be forgotten". Referring to threats in the energy sector, he mentioned Russia as an example of using energy as a weapon for a few years already.

The role of NATO in assuring security was outlined by Michael GAUL, Deputy Director of the Defense and Security Economics Directorate, the Political Affairs and Security Policy Division at the NATO Headquarters. "NATO is in a position to foster a dialog between producing, consuming and transiting countries. Establishing this dialog may take place both at formal and informal meetings, in particular such as this forum. We approach such activities very seriously. It lets us see the existing problems and allows us to conduct the dialog in a more constructive way", he said.

Ukraine's view on ensuring security was voiced by Bohdan SOKOLOVSKYI, Special Representative of the President of Ukraine on energy issues. He believes that Ukraine should find some new forms of guaranteeing security, a shift from individual to collective forms being one of the possible ways. In addition, he pointed out that Ukraine must develop metrological centers, establish and secure real-time control over energy carriers, i.e. make the gas transportation control regime as open as possible. "It is necessary to create joint structures that would guarantee rapid response to accidents in the joint energy space", he said.

The role of Ukraine in the energy security system was also referred to by Margarita BALMACEDA, Associate Professor, John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Harvard University. "Ukraine's greatest problem", according to the expert, consists of signing of gas agreements prior to the winter season. However, in her opinion, problematic of this issue for Ukraine lies in a political plane. "Russia does not know who to deal with in Ukraine", she says.

Concluding the discussion, the thematic panel moderator John ROBERTS, PLATTS information service, expressed the opinion that the EU was not fast enough in moving on concerning Turkey and Ukraine. Besides, the expert did not back up the opinion on bilateral consequences of Europe's conflict with Russia: "If Russia cuts off gas deliveries it is a real threat but its impacts for Russia will be much less than for Europe".

Results of Kyiv Security Forum’s second-day session “Are there common priorities for the European Union and the Black-Caspian Sea region to ensure energy security?”

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:00:00 +0200

During the Forum's first plenary session entitled "Are there common priorities for the European Union and the Black-Caspian Sea region to ensure energy security?" most experts agreed that principal priorities for Europe and the Black-Caspian Sea region in the current stage should include diversification of energy production and supply sources as well as solidarity of all countries, consumers, transiting ones and producers in the matters of guaranteeing common security.

In particular, Volodymyr MAKUKHA, Deputy Minister of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine, pointed out: "Increasing Ukraine's role in ensuring energy security requires application of some other formats of cooperation in the energy sphere. The goal of strengthening Ukraine's energy security is served by its participation in the Energy Charter. Ukraine is ready to take further steps for integration into Europe's energy sector".

Faouzi BENSARSA, Adviser for energy issues, the European Commission's Directorate-General for External Relations, said in the beginning of his address that he trusted Ukraine even in spite of the political processes going on in the country. "Our goal for next years is to integrate Ukraine's energy market into the EU energy market", he pointed out. In his opinion, a condition for such integration consists of creating a calm situation in the country and letting the private sector take the lead. Talking about general European efforts in ensuring energy security, he remarked: "The energy security issue is going to become a powerful political tool soon, therefore solidarity of all the countries' efforts should become a key point in the near future".

Speaking of dangers in the energy sector, Ursula GACEK, Member of the European Parliament from Poland, observed that Ukraine and Georgia had already run into energy security problems in cooperation with Russia. "Russia uses energy as a weapon against Georgia and Ukraine", she said. That's why, in Ursula Gacek's opinion, energy diversification and increasing the in-country share of energy output should now become priorities for Europe.

Altai EFENDIYEV, BSEC Deputy Secretary General, underlined the need to diversify ways and sources of energy supply in the Black Sea Cooperation countries and, continuing his predecessors' thought, said: "Europe and the Black-Caspian Sea region are united by common priorities in assuring security".

Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s Open Ukraine Foundation opened the 2nd Kyiv Security Forum “Black-Caspian Sea Region and European Energy Security”

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:05:00 +0200

The subject of the Ukrainian elite's consolidation around a joint vision of national security matters became a tenor of this year's forum. Involving statespersons and leading energy experts, a dialog was initiated on major security issues faced by Europe including Ukraine.

Taking part in the forum are about 300 high-level statespersons, well-known analysts, representatives of business and mass media from the Black-Caspian Sea Region, the European Union, the United States, and international and regional organizations representing 25 countries of the world.

The forum was opened by Arseniy Yatseniuk, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, founder of Open Ukraine Foundation. He pointed out that so-called energy independence is one of the most important challenges the world is now facing. "Energy independence is a myth, it is impossible to achieve. All energy market players are extremely dependent on each other. And that's an endless circle. However, it is this circle that we should shape an energy policy in", he said.

The main topics Arseniy Yatseniuk drew the experts' attention to included establishment of a charter of transit countries, development of alternative energy sources, and oil production decline.

Arseniy Yatseniuk emphasized that uniform rules of the game should be provided for all the energy market players today: "There are no uniform rules of the game in the energy market, so elaboration of energy rules must become #1 priority to the WTO. The existing Energy Charter is a very good document but, unfortunately, purely declarative in most its provisions. Besides, a whole range of countries have not ratified the Energy Charter, hence it would hardly be correct to say that it could be efficient to Ukraine. It doesn't mean, however, that we must forget about the Charter; it should be perfected by involving in it all the countries operating in the energy market. That's why #1 item for global security is to elaborate, within the WTO framework, the rules of the game in the energy market".

This opinion was shared by William TAILOR, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USA to Ukraine: "We support Arseniy Yatseniuk's proposal to create a single energy market". Besides, talking about energy security problems in Ukraine, William Taylor observed that the country needs a serious pricing reform in the energy sector.

Vytautas NAUDUZAS, Vice-Minister of Economy, Republic of Lithuania, also mentioned the need for cooperation in the field of energy: "Energy security is just a nice illusion. No country is independent in terms of energy. Suppliers and consumers are closely interconnected. The best scenario for ensuring energy security consists of the EU's common energy policy. We will be able to strengthen energy security through transatlantic cooperation".

Second Kyiv Security Forum

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:54:00 +0200

Date: November 6-7, 2008

Place: Kyiv, Ukraine

Second Kyiv Security Forum "BLACK-CASPIAN SEA REGION AND EUROPEAN ENERGY SECURITY» will focus on strengthening cooperation within the Black-Caspian Sea region and the European Union states in the energy security field. The participants will attempt to identify common ground for the convergence of interests within multiple national energy strategies within the Black-Caspian sea region and the European Union.

The Forum will gather around 200 prominent high-level officials, reputable analysts, business representatives and media from the Black-Caspian Sea region, the European Union, the USA and respective international and regional organizations.

The event is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and is supported by the European Union Institute for Security Studies. We strongly believe that the Second Kyiv Security Forum, with the specific focus on energy, is a timely initiative and we sincerely hope that you would accept this invitation.

Please go to http://openukraine.org/en/programs/dialogue/security-forum/08/ for more information.

Open Ukraine Foundation made public results of the expert survey on “Forecast of the major threats to energy security of European countries”

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:43:00 +0200

On the eve of the Second Kyiv Security Forum, Open Ukraine Foundation conducted an expert survey on “Forecast of the major threats to energy security of European countries”. Independent Ukrainian experts in the energy sector defined major threats to the energy security of Europe and Ukraine as an integral part of the European community, and forecast medium-term prospects for solving these problems. A total number of 26 Ukrainian experts took part in the survey, defining five of the most pressing threats. The Foundation will compare the results of the survey with the opinion of foreign experts during the Second Kyiv Security Forum.

The experts believe that European energy security is primarily threatened by the lack of transparency and corruption in energy resource commerce. They also added the following to the urgent threats: domination of a limited number of suppliers on the market of fuel-energy resources; political instability in transit countries; the absence of an EU common energy policy despite the fact that it has been declared; and limitations of investment resources for development of mining, transportation networks and capacities for processing of energy resources (in other words, financial crisis).

Among non-urgent threats are the issues of bilateral relations between supplying monopolists and consumers along with transit countries, the absence of Euro-Atlantic consolidation (USA-EU relations) concerning new infrastructural projects and manipulation of mass consciousness by mining companies.

Ivanna Klympush-Tsyntsadze, deputy director of Open Ukraine Foundation: “Summing up the experts’ responses, we may state that the energy security problems have to be solved in the format of joint all-European cooperation – the role of the EU, NATO, OSCE, ОЕСР/МЕА has to increase”.

Open Ukraine Foundation Supports Research on the Needs of Ukrainian Labor Migrants

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:19:00 +0300

At the request of the Open Ukraine Foundation, the “Social Indicators” Center conducted a focus group study to determine the needs of Ukrainian labor migrants. The study focuses on both the factors that make potential labor migrants go abroad as well as the ways to utilize in Ukraine the professional experience they acquired abroad.

Time: October-November 2008
Amount of financing: 30 348 UAH

Open Ukraine Foundation Presents Concert of British-Ukrainian Jazz Project “Julian Thomas and Friends” in Lviv

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 17:35:00 +0300

Date and time: October 19^th 2008, 22:00

Place: "Hmilnyi Dim Roberta Domsa"

With the support of Arseniy Yatseniuk's Open Ukraine Foundation, a concert of British-Ukrainian Jazz band "Julian Tomas & Friends" will take place in Lviv. Within the tour of Ukraine in support of their new album "Making Waves", the band arrives in Lviv. The concert tour of jazzmen started in Hmelnytskyi, after which the British-Ukrainian jazz resounded in Rivne, Lutsk, Ostrig, and Ternopil. In November, "Julian Tomas & Friends" will be awaited in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Bilgorod-Dnistrovskiy.

The Tour organizer is the charity foundation "Commonwealth-Volyn".

Information

“Julian Tomas & Friends” band, which includes two experienced jazzmen, British blues singer, author of all music and text Julian Tomas and double bassist Steve Nutter and a keyboard player Glenn Hughes, exists for 8 years now. In 2006, the Ukrainian trumpeter Oleg Bakovskyi joined it. More about the band on www.juliantomas.com

Foundation Continues Advertising Campaign for Labor Migrants

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:58:00 +0300

In partnership with the International Organization on Migration, Open Ukraine sponsors a number of advertising campaigns to enhance awareness among potential labor migrants about their rights and also possible risks of illegal employment abroad.

For example, the advertising campaign "Beware of the Trap" was launched in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipropertovsk metros, aimed at warning citizens about the dangers of illegal employment abroad.

Also, targeted commercials were broadcast on the TV channel "Rada" devoted to disclosure of the most wide-spread fraudulent schemes used against Ukrainian labor migrants.

Open Ukraine Foundation Supports the Publishing Project “Children of Emigrants about Themselves”

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:44:00 +0300

The Open Ukraine Foundation supported the publishing project "Children of Emigrants about Themselves", produced by the International Institute of Education and Culture and Ties with Diaspora of the National University "Lvivska Politekhnika". The project involves publishing a collection of works created by children who participated in the international contest of the same name, illustrated by pictures of the contest participants and winners of the youth art poster contest "A Sincere Ukrainian Heart - to Ukraine and the World". The edition will be disseminated free of charge with educational purposes and will be the focus of presentation discussions in a number of Ukrainian regions.

Amount of Financing: 149 735 UAH

Open Ukraine Foundation Supports Participation of Ukrainian Publishers in the 60th Jubilee Frankfurt Book Fair

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:26:00 +0300

Open Ukraine Foundation supported the trip of the President of Lviv Publishers Forum Olexandra Koval and the Director of Kalvaria publishing house Annette Antonenko for their participation in the 60^th Jubilee Frankfurt Book Fair. The Ukrainian publishers presented their printed productions at their own stand. Ms. Koval will also take part in the conference of directors of international book fairs, where one of the issues will be the inclusion of Lviv Publishers Forum in the Association of International Book Fairs of the World.

Frankfurt Book Fair is the largest and the most prominent book fair in the world. This year, over 7,000 publishing houses from 100 countries presented their productions; altogether nearly 400,000 new books were presented there.

Apart from Ukrainian literature, Ms. Antonenko presented the Open Ukraine Foundation program "Book Fund", a grant program for translation of modern Ukrainian literature into foreign languages.

Ms. Koval took part in the conference of directors of international book fairs where one of the issues was Lviv Publishers Forum inclusion into the Association of International Book Fairs of the World. Membership in this association will create new opportunities for international contacts and wide representation of modern Ukrainian literature in various countries of the world.

Open Ukraine Foundation Launches Contest Aimed at Publishing of English-Speaking Almanac on Modern Ukrainian Literature

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:12:00 +0300

Open Ukraine Foundation invites participation in a contest aimed at publishing an English-speaking almanac on modern Ukrainian literature within the framework of the "Book Fund" program.

The "Book Fund" program is a new grant program for translation of modern Ukrainian literature into foreign languages which is aims to raise the prestige of Ukraine in the world and promote intercultural understanding and interchange of cultural values through literature. The program finances foreign translations of Ukrainian literary works that have been published during last 50 years in such genres as essay, documentary prose, and journalism. Translation of poetry is not financed.

The contest will result in the concept development and publication of a literary almanac with the purpose of popularizing modern Ukrainian literature at international book fairs and literature festivals.

The deadline for submitting bids for the contest is October 27, 2008.

Open Ukraine Foundation Opens Photo Exhibition for the Blind “Touch and See” in Chernivtsi

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:41:00 +0300

On the occasion of the 600^th anniversary of Chernivtsi, Open Ukraine Foundation presented there a unique photo exhibition for the blind “TOUCH AND SEE”, created by Yuriy Bilak, within the framework of the national tour of the exhibition. Chernivtsi is the sixth city after Kyiv, Lviv, Donetsk, Simferopol, and Odesa where the exhibition has been displayed. All in all, over 20 000 people have visited the exhibition in Ukraine. The exhibition is open for visitors in the “Chernivtsi” cinema from October 4^th through 25th. Admission is free.

ARSENIY YATSENYUK, Founder of Open Ukraine and Head of the Ukrainian Parliament, opened the exhibition on October 4^th. Addressing the citizens of Chernivtsi, he expressed his delight to present the tactile photo exhibition in his native city. Mr. Yatsenyuk emphasized that this project was created not only for the blind, but also for people with sight, attracting society’s attention to its most vulnerable members and their needs. Mr. Yatsenyuk thanked everyone who participated in creating this project; he expressed gratitude to Yuriy Bilak for the idea of the project, to the corporation “Industrial Union of Donbas” for their support, and to the Open Ukraine Foundation for organizing and implementing the all-Ukrainian tour.

Yuriy Bilak, the author of the idea and photographs, a French citizen of Bukovinian descent, told the audience that this unique exhibition had been in the making for almost a year. Mr. Bilak was impressed by the wide response the exhibition had in other cities of Ukraine and expressed his hope that it will be equally popular in his historical motherland.

Ivan FESTRYGA, Chairman of Chernivtsi Association of the Blind, expressed sincere gratitude to Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s Open Ukraine Foundation and to Yuriy Bilak, emphasizing that this exhibition is the best present for Chernivtsi citizens for the anniversary, particularly for those with vision impairments. Oleksandr FESENKO, Chief Rehabilitation Physician of the Chernivtsi Association of the Blind and the Head of the Scientific Rehabilitation Center, told guests about the problems and needs of the blind and stressed the importance of solving them both by authorities and the community.

General partner of the exhibition: “Industrial Union of Donbas”. Partners: Chernivtsi City Council, Association of Chernivtsi Oblast public organizations “Bukovyna”, Charitable Foundation “Ukraine 3000”, electronics stores chain "Unitrade". Information partner: publishing house “Molodyi Bukovynets”.

Open Ukraine Foundation Selects Participants for Space of Changes Program

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:01:00 +0300

On September 30^th, Open Ukraine Foundation finished the selection of applications for participation in Space of Changes, a support and assistance program of successful young people.

Throughout August and September, the Foundation received more than 200 applications from young people who carry out projects in the fields of education, culture, public activities, youth politics, business, local government, ecology, media and social assistance.

At the end of October, the Supervisory Board of the project chose winners, whose names and projects will be published on the Foundation website www.openukraine.org and on the project portal www.prostirzmin.org

The program winners will receive an invitation to the Forum which will take place at the end of the year, and will be able to commence writing grants to support their own projects or to finance personal professional advancement.

Open Ukraine Foundation hosted Diplomatic Club Meeting with Nino Burdzhanadze, Ex-speaker of the Georgian Parliament

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:44:00 +0300

On October 3, 2008 the Diplomatic Club held a meeting with Nino BURDZHANADZE, ex-speaker of the Georgian parliament and President of the Foundation for Democracy and Development. The meeting was opened by Arseniy YATSENYUK, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and Founder of Open Ukraine Foundation.

In his welcoming words, Mr. Yatsenyuk noted that Ukraine faces a task to help Georgia escape from economic collapse and focus on the development of Georgia in a democratic way after its crisis. Mr. Yatsenyuk also supported the 43 questions posed to the Georgian authorities, which Nino Burdzhanadze made public on October 2^nd 2008.

The Ex-speaker of the Georgian Parliament addressed to the authorities of his country such a profound list of questions to emphasize that only through painful but serious analysis of the August events and its mistakes can Georgia correctly take the next steps.

At the informal meeting of Ukrainian politicians with Nino Burdzhanadze the guests stressed the importance of the lessons learned from the Georgian-Russian conflict for both conflicting states, Europe and the world in general. Mr. Yatsenyuk opined that lately international law has been more frequently broken - the situation has been changing from world order to world disorder. It should be a warning bell and cause worry for all the international society and Ukrainian elite in particular. Mrs. Burdzhanadze agreed with Mr Yatsenyuk by adding that after the August events in Georgia, Russia should not be left with a syndrome of impunity, since the matter of determination of the new world order must still be based on the supremacy of law, not on the supremacy of force.

Mrs. Burdzhanadze noted that the last conflict changed the geopolitical situation in the world for the worse. She believes that the external political priority of Georgia has to remain orientated towards the USA and Europe.

At present, Mrs. Burdzhanadze does not herself belong to those who are in power, nor to those who are in opposition. Nevertheless she plans to create her own political party, which will criticize the present Georgian power in a constructive manner and in the frame of diplomatic etiquette.

Another point of the discussion was bilateral relations between Ukraine and Russia. Mr. Yatsenyuk said that he welcomes the prolongation of the Agreement for Friendship and Cooperation between Russia and Ukraine. In the meantime, he supposes that such agreements do not prevent a number of bilateral conflicts. This agreement should be supplemented with sub-agreements which would include the mechanisms of implementation of each of the points.

The Diplomatic Club meeting was attended by Victor Pinchuk, philanthropist and businessman; Merab Antadze, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Georgia to Ukraine; Anatoly Zlenko and Hennadiy Udovenko, ex-Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; Igor Dolgov, Chief of Main Directorate of the Foreign Policy of the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine; Andriy Kurkov, writer; Oleksiy Haran and Vadym Kiselyov, Ukrainian political analytics; and other foreign policy experts.

The Diplomatic Club is a joint initiative of the Open Ukraine Foundation and Victor Pinchuk Foundation. The Club aims to help Ukrainian leaders to better understand global developments and to reinforce political support of Ukraine in the world.

Open Ukraine Foundation Held Seminar in Budapest "Ukraine in Focus" with Ukrainian and Hungarian Experts and Government Authorities

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:45:00 +0300

On September 22, 2008, Open Ukraine Foundation conducted a joint Ukrainian-Hungarian seminar in Budapest "Ukraine in Focus", where officials and experts from both countries could discuss common approaches to European integration issues, security problems in Ukraine and the European community and also relations between Ukraine and the EU.

The seminar is an extension of a series of meetings between Ukrainian and European colleagues that take place in different European capitals with a view to arouse the interest of national governments of EU member countries and to convey to them Ukraine’s persepctive on mutual benefits of the potential membership of the country in the European community.

The Ukrainian delegation was headed by Andriy Veselovskyi, representative of Ukraine in the European Union. On the Hungarian part, the discussion on common approaches to Euro integration was held by Zholt Neimet, President of the Committee of External Affairs of the Hungarian National Assembly.

The Ambassadors of Sweden and Poland in Hungary opened the seminar, insisting on the necessity to develop the original and more elaborate program for Ukraine on its admittance to the EU, and to assist Ukraine in this process.

The Ukrainian delegation included: the Head of Parliament Committee on European Integration Borys Tarasiuk; Deputy Director of Razumkov Centre Valeriy Chalyi; Director of the Institute for Economic Research and Political Consultations Igor Burakovskyi; Director of the EU Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin. On the Hungarian side, participants included professor of Central European University and Ex-Secretary of State of Hungary on European Integration Peter Balash; Ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary Janosh Martony; President of the International Centre of Democratic Transformations Ishtwan Diarmati; the Ambassador of Hungary in Ukraine Ondrash Barshon and others.

During discussions the experts and officials touched upon sensitive topics for both Ukraine and the European community concerning collective security, political stability, economic relations, the geopolitical range of problems, the influence of Russia on these processes, etc.

For example, Mr. Neiman emphasized that policies towards Russia cannot possibly exist without serious consideration of Ukraine and vice versa. “After the crisis in Georgia it becomes clear that the summit in Bucharest made a grave mistake when accession to the NATO Membership Action Plan was not granted to the countries-aspirants. It could have been a considerable advance, although it is clear that this would not automatically guarantee NATO membership” – says the politician.

Generally, performance at the seminar proved that today the EU itself is in search of a new European security strategy, and while developing a new concept of the alliance growth, NATO also considers new threats. Mr. Chalyi believes that in this context the skeptical attitude towards the pace and deadlines of integration of Ukraine into the EU and NATO has not yet been overcome, but experts and politicians are beginning to now consider new challenges and new ways of reacting in the immediate strategic future.

He emphasized that there is not much time left for the final determination of the geopolitical fate of Ukraine. He also advanced an opinion that, by their actions in Georgia, Russia in fact induced skeptics in the West to think about more profound cooperation and the start of actual integration of Ukraine into the European and Euro-Atlantic space.

At the same time, the Hungarian delegates emphasized the importance of the future of Ukraine for their country. However, along with the issues concerning international affairs, almost everyone spoke about internal political instability in Ukraine – one of the negative factors that hinder its advancement towards EU membership. Mr. Diarmati believes this factor is one that has to prompt the other EU member countries to think how to help Ukraine.

At the same time, Mr. Veselovskyi accentuated that Hungary as the neighbor to Ukraine is closer to understanding the situation in our country and in this respect it may prompt realistic topics in the actual dialogue with the EU. “The dialogue is being held with all the neighbors, each country is peculiar in some way, but Hungary was one of the most advanced countries, while joining EU, and it is an interesting question how they, after the Soviet past, managed to prepare themselves for the high European standards. That is why Hungarians are especially important in this respect”, believes Mr. Veselovskyi. He also underlined that Ukrainian membership in EU would be a warranty of European security and that Eastern Europe would make it possible to determine relationships between the EU and Russia.

The seminar was carried out in a friendly and business-like atmosphere. Significant was the fact that Hungarian representatives at the seminar, who are constantly in contact with the EU institutions and know the appropriate “feeling from inside”, could be accordingly good advisers to Ukrainians.

At the same time Ukrainian experts, ascertaining that lobbying activity of Ukraine concerning European and Euro-Atlantic integration, which in fact forms a positive public image of the state abroad, is not really intense, and underlined that this kind of event is a real “window to Ukraine”, opening it for the international community. It also accounts for the fact that representatives of scientific and expert circles are being invited, who are properly the leaders of public opinion.

Open Ukraine Foundation Launches an Interactive Travel Tour of Ukraine for Young People from Germany

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:06:00 +0300

At the invitation of Arseniy Yatseniuk's Open Ukraine Foundation, 12 young people from Germany aged 18 to 28, equipped with cameras, video recorders and smart phones, came to visit Ukraine. Divided into four groups, they made a tour of big and small cities in the east, west, north, centre and south of Ukraine from September 16 through 28. Every day during the interactive tour the participants of the projects shared their impressions at http://www.stadtlandplus.eu/ - a portal that unites more than one hundred thousand German-speaking users who were able to follow the route of participants in Ukraine and determine it via online voting. The portal includes the narrations of project participants and in the future will become a source of information about Ukraine for a wider audience. The project participants were selected out of 150 contest applications in which they set grounding and motivation of their trip around Ukraine, and also showed their skills and knowledge of modern internet technologies.

“Week of Live Art” in Lviv supported by Open Ukraine Foundation

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:31:00 +0300

During the Week of Live Art "7", held from September 15-21, Lviv was visited by about 100 artists from 10 countries who participated in more than 70 projects of the Week. Visiting artists included Vasyl Bazhai, Oleg Tistol, Sven Kioning (Switzerland); Jan Swidzhinski (Poland); Redas Dirzhys (Lithuania); and Sergey Tieterin (Russia). Citizens of Lviv and guests of the city discovered modern Ukrainian art through projects such as "Days of Art Performance in Ukraine"(with participation of world-known Polish, Byelorussian and Lithuanian classical performances), "MediaDepo", and author projects "Potency of Emptiness". Visitors also participated in a number of discussions, clinics, lectures on actual art, and saw several motion pictures. Within the project, the celebration of the 15^th anniversary of the art union Dzyga was held as well as the festival of electronic music "The First Lviv Rave" [BUKEM IN SESSION], with participation of the legendary founder of intelligent drum-n-bass LTJ Bukem from Britain. See details on http://dzyga.com.ua/2008/Dzyga_15/17_09.html

Seminar "Ukraine in Focus" in Budapest

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:44:00 +0300

Time: 22 September 2008, 01:00pm

Venue: Central European University

Seminar entitled "Ukraine in Focus" is aimed to gather prominent Ukrainian and Hungarian politicians, experts and diplomats to analyze the most eminent political and security challenges Ukraine is currently facing, with a special regard to Ukraine-EU, Ukraine-NATO and Ukraine-Hungary relations. The conference will be honored with the presence of, among others, Mr. Hrihoriy Nemyrya, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine; Ihor Dolhov, Head of Main Directorate of Foreign Policy, Secretariat of the President of Ukraine; and Mr. Borys Tarasiuk, Head of the Committee on the European Integration of the Ukrainian Parliament and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; as well as Mr. Péter Balázs, former Hungarian EU Commissioner; and Mr. János Martonyi, former Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The seminar is an initiative of the Open Ukraine Foundation and organized in the partnership of the International Centre for Democratic Transition, and in cooperation with and the Central European University.

Open Ukraine Brings Unique Photo Exhibition for the Blind to Odesa

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:53:00 +0300

On September 4^th, 2008, Open Ukraine Foundation presented in Odesa a photo exhibition for the blind by Yuriy Bilak "TOUCH AND SEE", which is unique in Europe. Within the framework of the all-Ukraine, Odesa became the fifth city after Kyiv, Lviv, Donetsk, and Simferopol. All in all, about 17,000 people visited the exhibition. The exhibition will be open in Odesa from September 5^th until September 25^th inclusive. Admission is free.

The exhibition was opened by Yuriy Bilak, the author of the idea and photographs, Larysa Syvak, public relations manager of the Open Ukraine Foundation and Lyudmyla Chumakova, Chairman of Odesa Association of the Blind.

Ms. Chumakova expressed sincere gratitude to Arseniy Yatsenyuk's Open Ukraine Foundation and to Yuriy Bilak, emphasizing that this exhibition is a great festive occasion for the people who are deprived of the possibility to see and attend such events which are usual for others.

Open Ukraine Foundation Eliminates Borders with Concert Kordon 803

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:49:00 +0300

On August 30^th, an extraordinary event took place in the village Ugryniv/Dolgobychiv - the festival "Kordon 803" within European Days of Neighbourliness. With the assistance of Open Ukraine Foundation and corporation Industrial Union of Donbass, Ukrainian bands Okean Elzy, Tartak, Boom Box, Kayah, T.Love and Karimski Club gave a unique performance. Despite cold and rainy weather on the last summer day, more than 10,000 Ukrainians and Poles assembled at the point of intersection of the Ukrainian-Polish border. During the concert, welcoming speeches from the presidents of Ukraine and Poland were read, and Arseniy Yatseniuk, founder of Open Ukraine Foundation, addressed participants of the festive event with a video greeting. Before the concert, festival guests visited a trans-border fair, took part in integration events and handicraft fairs and from the border tower everyone could see trans-frontier land-art by Jroslav Koziar, which has the shape of two fish "swimming" simultaneously near the border.

One of the zestful things of the holiday was the solemn award presentation ceremony of Kapitula figure (as a symbol of Polish-Ukrainian union) to this year's laureates: Jezhy Gofman and Bohdan Stupka. An unofficial football match between a Polish team comprised of members of Seim and a Ukrainian team composed of people's deputies of Ukraine and the combined team of Lviv City Council, added some sport and political mood to the holiday. The front men of Tartak band Sashko Polozhynskyi and presenter of the concert Igor Pelykh also played football for a couple of minutes.

Photos by Andriy Mochurad

Open Ukraine Foundation Presents Ukraine at Book Festival in Edinburg

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:29:00 +0300

With support from Open Ukraine Foundation, Mariana Savka, Ukrainian poet and editor from Lviv, visited the 25^th Book Festival in Edinburg. The festival is one of the most prominent literature events in the world and a unique possibility for readers to meet with their favorite authors. This year about 800 writers from all over the world participated in the festival. In addition, famous actors and prominent cultural workers were invited to the event.

Ms. Savka had an opportunity to communicate with colleagues and foreign editors, and in particular to tell them about the new program of Open Ukraine Foundation, the Book Fund, which provides grants for the translation of modern Ukrainian literature into foreign languages:

"The initiative of Open Ukraine Foundation to support foreign publishing houses in publishing works of Ukrainian writers translated into other languages is perceived positively and with approval by the festival lobby, since it is proved with considerable experience of other countries. Out of Ukrainian writers, only Andriy Kurkov is known here, obviously due to his English publications."

The representative of British Council in Ukraine Anna Bubnova and literary critic Yuriy Volodarskyi also visited the festival.

According to Ms. Savka, the organizers of the Edinburg festival have nothing against participation of Ukrainian writers, they are open for cooperation. The Director of the festival Kathrin Lockerby welcomes participation of Ukrainian writers in the Festival and believes that this is quite possible in the future.

Presentation of the Tactile Exhibition for the Crimeans

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:29:00 +0300

On August 15, 2008, Arseniy YATSENYUK, Founder of Open Ukraine and Head of the Ukrainian Parliament, opened the unique exhibition of tactile photos in Simferopol, conducted within the framework of the all-Ukraine tour of "TOUCH AND SEE", created by Yuriy Bilak. From August 16 until September 1, citizens of Simferopol, both blind and sighted, as well as tourists from Ukraine and abroad will be discovering Ukraine by touch through Yuriy Bilak's eyes.

The following authorities and guests participated in the ceremony: Anatoliy Hrytsenko, Chairman of Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; Viktor Plakyda, Prime Minister of the ARC; Yuriy Bilak, photographer and author of the idea and photographs.

Open Ukraine Foundation and “4х4”: Modern Ukrainian Photography in Vilnius

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:36:00 +0300

For two weeks the photo exhibition of four Ukrainian photographers, Anna Voitenko, Olexandr Liapin, Genadiy Minchenko, Olexandr Chemeniov was held in Vilnius, with the support of Open Ukraine Foundation within the Ukrainian-Lithuanian project "4x4". The next step of the project is to display in the Lithuanian capital graphical works by Ukrainian artists Vlada Ralko, Mykola Matsenko, Pavlo Makov, and Stanislav Voliazlovsyi, as well as publication and presentation of the catalogue "4x4: Modern Ukrainian and Lithuanian Photography"

Four by four [Ukrainian and Lithuanian modern photography and graphics] is the mutual idea of Lithuanian cultural centre in Ukraine and the art-centre of Pavlo Gudimov "Ya galereya", which envisages exchange of photos and of graphical art between Lithuanian and Ukrainian artists.

Pavlo Gudimov: There is no need to expatiate about the necessity of such projects. We have an illusion of open routes and do not even imagine the scope of the cultural vacuum in which Ukraine is today.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s Open Ukraine Foundation Presented Mandry at the Festival of Ukrainian Culture in Poland

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:50:00 +0300

For the first time the band Mandry took part in the 19th Festival of Ukrainian Culture, which was held from July 10-13^th, 2008, in Sopot, Poland. On July 12^th, Mandry folk-rock could be heard along with authentic singing by Kyiv band Bozhychi, Pokuttia from Kolomyia and also Honoured National academic a cappella Dumka (Kyiv), and vocal by Pikardijska Tertsia, on stage at the Lisova Opera-House.

Petro Tyma, the Head of the Ukrainian Association in Poland and co-organizer of the festival, expressed his delight in the fact that probably for the first time the festival was being supported by Ukrainian authorities along with private charitable contributions of Open Ukraine Foundation and the Donbass Industrial Union.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Head of the Parliament of Ukraine and founder of the Open Ukraine Foundation: "It is important for us that Ukrainians abroad keep their connection with Ukraine. That is why during its first working year, the Foundation has already supported cultural events for Ukrainians in Hungary, Serbia, Australia and Romania and today - in Poland."

About 600 musicians performed during the 19th Annual Festival, among whom were about 400 guests from Poland, 160 from Ukraine, and 10 from Canada. Over 7,000 guests from different parts of the world visited the Festival. In addition, the event was broadcast over Polish television which broadened the audience. Ukrainian book, press, audio and video production fairs were held during intervals between the concerts.

Open Ukraine held informational campaign for labor migrants

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:22:00 +0300

Jointly with the International Organization on Migration, Open Ukraine actively sponsors ad campaigns that inform potential labor migrants as to their rights and of possible risks of illegal employment abroad. This May and June, in particular, an advertising campaign was launched in the Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk subways, after which the number of people applying to the Center for Advising Migrants increased by 33-

Open Ukraine Foundation Awarded Children of Migrant Workers

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:54:00 +0300

In June 2008 the Open Ukraine Foundation announced the 10 winners of the contest "Children of Emigrants about Themselves" organized by the International Institute of Education, Culture and Public Relations (Lviv) and the Ukrainian community in Spain. The aim of the contest was to reveal the inner world of children who live outside their homeland and also of children whose parents have gone to work abroad. Children from two age groups (7-14 and 15-20) from Ukraine, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Russia, and Bulgaria submitted 156 works of art for this contest. They sincerely and ably expressed their feelings in poems, short stories, letters, plays, fairytales, interviews, and pictures. The awards ceremony was held within the frames of the Congress "Diaspora as a Factor of Establishing a Ukrainian State within the International Community" which took place in Lviv on June 18-20^th, 2008.

Extracts of some children's works:

Kateryna Lazaruk (17 years old, Rakhnivska Secondary School, Dunayivtsi District, Khmelnytska Oblast)

"...I learned to read thoughts at a distance and to talk to stars. They are at a great distance from us, like my mother. At night, when awakened by my mother's touch, I instantly grab her hand: snatch! But she tears apart from me. She beckons me to follow her into another room. I am following her right onto the moon path. The moon is full, the whole room is shining, and my mummy and I are standing on the opposite sides of the path. I am rushing after my mother - she is running away..."

Yulia Pryimak (17 years old, Netishynskyi School/Lyceum Complex, Netishyn, Khmelnytska Oblast)

"...My native land! I am grateful to be your daughter. I am grateful to you for your green mountains, sky-blue rivers, and blooming fields. I am thankful to you for Ivan Franko and Lesia Ukrainka. They opened the world to me. I am grateful to you for M. Hrushevskyi, О. Subtel'nyi with whom I leaf through the pages of history. Thank you for Roksolana who gives me lessons of courage and wisdom. I am grateful to you and I also have a dream: I want every Ukrainian, wherever he lives, to carry in his heart a particle of our native land..."

Diplomatic Club: meeting with Jaap de Hoop Scheffer

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:55:00 +0300

At the invitation of the Open Ukraine Foundation and Victor Pinchuk Foundation, on June 17, 2008 Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO Secretary General, was the invited guest of the Diplomatic Club meeting. At the informal meeting participants discussed the tasks and priorities of the Alliance development, and also Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic outlook. It was emphasized that Ukraine has actively participated in many NATO operations and that the intense dialogue between Ukraine and the Alliance had already been going on for a decade.

Participants noted that the issue of Ukraine's accession to the NATO Membership Action Plan (which does not automatically imply Alliance membership status), became especially important politically due to the discussion within Ukraine, and also because of Ukraine's special geopolitical status. The process of Ukraine joining the NATO Membership Action Plan depends mainly on how the country is implementing reforms and how it copes with assigned tasks.

NATO is an alliance of equal, sovereign, and independent states, and all decisions in this organization are made based on consensus; this is an organization based on the principles of solidarity of member states, on mutual values, including democratic standards, supremacy of law, and human rights. At present, NATO is focusing on new safety challenges - such as the cyber-terrorism threat and energy safety issues-- and is trying to make its contribution into solving these problems in cooperation with other international institutions.

Major problems to be addressed today by NATO leaders include ways and forms of financing the Alliance (in accordance with the increased number and scope of operations with the Alliance participation aimed at preserving peace and stability); updating the structure of the Alliance Armed Forces to meet modern requirements; and also substantial improvement of coordination and system cooperation with the European Union.

Open Ukraine Presents Ukrainian Documentary in Tel Aviv

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:34:00 +0300

Open Ukraine Foundation enabled creators of the documentary Radunytsia to participate in the 12^th Annual Student Festival in Tel Aviv. International Student Festival TAU takes place in Tel Aviv biennially and was held between May 31^st and June 7^th, 2008.

The 15-minute film was selected for the competitive program of the festival. Pictures by 140 filmmakers from all over the world were presented at the festival, which is one of the most prestigious youth festivals.

In the film, the scriptwriter Daria Averchenko and film director Roman Bondarchuk aspired to tell a story about Ukraine, a country scarcely known outside its borders. The film introduces common, friendly, hard-working people who know how to enjoy their lives, preserve the spiritual heritage of their ancestors, and also how to be on friendly terms with their Belorussian neighbors abroad despite political realities.

Daria Averchenko: "It is nice that the film was warmly accepted and aroused interest in the lives of common Ukrainians who live on the border between Russia and Belorussia. The film was instantly invited by the selection committees of the greatest documentary festivals in Amsterdam and Leipzig."

Roman Bondarchuk confided that many artists in private talks expressed their desire to visit Ukraine, not as tourists but rather as directors. Bondarchuk is happy that Ukraine is regarded as one of the most attractive countries for documentary film shooting. Film directors from the Netherlands and Germany acknowledge that "Western Europe should borrow from the life which is in full swing in Ukraine!"

At the request of a representative of a cinema school in Los Angeles, "Radunytsia" was recommended for inclusion in their curriculum, which highlights the success of the picture and interest of the festival public and cinema artists in the new Ukraine.

Open Ukraine Foundation Held a Press Conference on the Results of the Energy Security Summit

Mon, 26 May 2008 12:10:00 +0300

On May 23, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, founder of the Open Ukraine Foundation, invited Ukrainian and foreign experts to discuss the results of the Kyiv Energy Summit at a Round Table entitled, "Black - Caspian Sea Region and European Energy Security."

The experts commented that the Summit results were positive and they emphasized that the initiative of creating the Common Transit Space could be positively used by the European Union while further planning its Common energy policies. For the successful execution of such projects as creating the Common Transit Space, it would be critically important to involve "old" European countries, such as France and Germany.

However, some experts stressed that summits, though they undoubtedly display the systematic character of political contacts and are the basis for continuous opinion sharing, would be more beneficial if they passed decisions yielding tangible results within at least half a year.

Experts also gave a favorable appraisal of the renewed efforts to organize operation of the "Odessa - Brody" Oil Pipeline in the designed direction. Nesdet Pamir, the World Energy Council Member (Turkish National Committee), stated that the European Committee and the EU countries are interested in the averse mode of the "Odessa - Brody" Oil Pipeline and laid emphasis on diversification of export routes.

Mykhailo Honchar, NOMOS Center Expert, is convinced that Slovakia's attitude was and remains the reason for the situation in which the "Odessa - Brody" Oil Pipeline cannot operate in the designed direction. Even despite the assurance expressed by Foreign Minister of Slovakia Mr. Jan Kubish that Slovakia is ready for experimental averse oil pumping, Honchar does not believe this issue to be settled yet. In Honchar's opinion, Slovakia's behavior indicates that underlying principles of the Energy Charter are not functioning even within the European Union.

Vladimir Sokor, Jamestown Foundation Senior Researcher, noted that Ukraine has a unique opportunity to jointly influence, with its counterparts, main gas-transport projects so that it would address both European interests and national interests of Ukraine. In his opinion, implementation of "Southern Stream" does not meet Ukrainian interests as this pipeline will not impact energy market development in the best possible way for the greater part of Europe. The reason being that the Russian Federation will exclusively control supplying this gas pipeline with gas.