Christmas Traditions in Ukraine.

Christmas in Ukraine is celebrated January 7 according to the Gregorian calendar as in most of other Orthodox Christian countries.

During the Soviet time it was not officially celebrated in Ukraine. Instead communist government tried to substitute Christmas with the holiday of New Year. But people did not forget their traditions. After gaining it’s independence in 1991 Ukraine started to celebrate Christmas officially as well.

There are numerous Christmas traditions here. They vary significantly at the different parts of Ukraine.

In most parts of Ukraine on the Christmas Eve people create so-called ‘Vertep’ (means cave in ancient Greek). These are scenes from Bible of Jesus birth. They show little Jesus in manger, Mary, strangers offering their gifts and Bethlehem star in the sky. Those verteps are exhibited at public places, usually near or inside churches. At night candles are installed inside verteps for people who come to church for the night service can observe them.

The Christmas Eve is called in Ukraine ‘Sviaty Vechir’ (Holy Evening) sometimes also called ‘Sviata Vecheria’ (Holy Supper). People usually cook some tasty foods for this evening. There should be at least 12 different foods on the table. Those should mandatory include ‘Kutia’ -- the ritual food which is prepared from cooked wheat and special syrup containing diluted honey, grated poppy seeds, raisins and sometimes walnuts.

Flat in Kiev

Tymoshenko Wants Kiev Mayor Out

KIEV, Ukraine -- This week, the Ukrainian parliament called an early election for the post of mayor of Kiev. This is a victory for Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s bloc (BYuT), which spearheaded a campaign to oust Kiev Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky, accusing him of corruption.

Yulia Tymoshenko (R) wants to oust Kiev Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky (L).
However, there is no unity in the Orange camp, so Chernovetsky may win if he runs for re-election. He can also appeal against parliament’s decision, which apparently was not legally sound.

Chernovetsky came to politics from the business world. He founded Pravex Bank in the early 1990s and he was elected to parliament. Chernovetsky sided with future President Viktor Yushchenko during the 2004 Orange Revolution.

In March 2006, he surprisingly won the mayoral election in Kiev. His opponents alleged that Chernovetsky won the hearts and minds of the poorest residents by distributing foodstuffs free of charge ahead of the election.

Having no big party behind him, Chernovetsky has had to walk a fine line between the main players in the city council, trying to be on good terms with both Yushchenko’s team and the Party of Regions (PRU) of former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych.

Chernovetsky’s opponents on several occasions have accused him of bribing city council deputies by illegally allotting them choice plots in Kiev for construction projects. Chernovetsky always denied those accusations.

Early this year, Chernovetsky had a quarrel with Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko. The two accused each other of corruption, and Lutsenko punched him in the face.

Relations between the mayor and Lutsenko’s People’s Self-Defense group – the junior partner in Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense bloc (NUNS) – were seriously damaged.

Chernovetsky also failed to find a common language with Tymoshenko, who at some point was rumored to harbor mayoral ambitions herself.

Tymoshenko was prompted into action by a mass defection of city council deputies from BYuT to Chernovetsky’s team. When Tymoshenko tried to replace the defectors with other BYuT members, appealing to the law on binding mandates that forbids deputies to change caucuses, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) refused to back her.

A furious Tymoshenko demanded the dismissal of both Chernovetsky and CEC chairman Volodymyr Shapoval, a Yushchenko appointee.

On March 7, the BYuT pushed through parliament a resolution to set up an ad-hoc commission to investigate “violations of the constitution and laws” by Chernovetsky.

On March 12, the Cabinet voted to approach Yushchenko with a request to dismiss Chernovetsky over alleged illegal land deals. All BYuT representatives in the Cabinet backed the motion, but five NUNS ministers abstained, arguing that Yushchenko has no legal power to dismiss the mayor.

The head of Yushchenko’s secretariat, Viktor Baloha, said that the Cabinet had failed to come up with any documents to substantiate their charges.

Chernovetsky helped Yushchenko save face. On March 13, he sent a letter to Yushchenko suggesting a temporary absence. Yushchenko then suspended Chernovetsky for 15 days and set up a government commission to probe Chernovetsky.

Tymoshenko, however, was not satisfied. On March 16, she threatened a BYuT walk-out of parliament if lawmakers failed to call an early mayoral election.

This is necessary, she said, because the “Kiev mayor and his entourage created colossal corruption schemes in selling and distributing land and other property.”

Baloha and the PRU dismissed Tymoshenko’s demand as too radical, arguing that the commission set up by Yushchenko should first report on its findings and accusing Tymoshenko of undermining political stability.

However, on March 18 parliament voted in favor of conducting early elections for mayor and city council in Kiev. The motion was backed by 246 votes in the 450-seat body, including the votes of BYuT, NUNS, and the Communists.

Commenting on the motion, politicians from different camps agreed that Chernovetsky will likely appeal in court. Anatoly Matvienko, one of the leaders of NUNS, said that parliament had acted illegally, as the law allows the calling of an early mayoral election only if the illegal activities of a mayor were proved in court, which is not the case.

It is possible that Chernovetsky will win re-election, which will most probably be held in June, in line with legislation that gives 70 days to conduct a campaign in case of an early mayoral election.

The PRU and the Communists have weak positions in Kiev and will hardly field strong candidates, while the situation in the Orange camp is the opposite: too many hopefuls and no unity. BYuT reportedly rejected NUNS’s proposals on coming up with a single candidate.

There are at least five popular politicians among the Orange camp who do not conceal mayoral ambitions.

These are Lutsenko (NUNS); Kiev Council deputy Vitaly Klichko, who is a former world boxing champion (unaffiliated); former deputy prime minister and former deputy speaker of parliament Mykola Tomenko (BYuT); former mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko (NUNS); and former vice-mayor Mykhaylo Pozhyvanov (BYuT), who chairs the state committee for material reserves.

Source: Eurasia Daily Monitor

Apartement for Rent Kiev

Apartment for Rent in Ukraine

Find out about available options.

Looking for accommodation in Ukraine you have to take into consideration a few important things.

• Before 1991 tourism in Ukraine was not even considered as a branch of the State economy. It was just a neglected part of "the sphere of services". Foreign tourists were allowed to visit officially designated "open" cities only. Practically no Soviet citizens were allowed to travel abroad.
• In the present day tourist industry became one of the fastest growing branches of the Ukraine's economy.
• Ukraine tourism has huge potential: over 500 cities of Ukraine are more than 900 years old, 4500 villages were founded more than 300 years ago. More than 150 thousands monuments of culture, history, archeology reflect the remarkable history of the Ukrainian people. But Ukraine tourist industry still has a long way to go to reach the best world standards.

How does it relate to finding accommodation in Ukraine? Rental services in Ukraine are still not competitive enough to strive to offer their customers the best price/quality ratio.

Economics is a stubborn thing. If demand is higher than supply, people are willing to pay higher prices in order to get decent place to stay. But from the other side rental industry in Ukraine attracts a lot of investors and situation is changing for the better.

What should you expect looking for place to stay in Ukraine? There are a few accommodation options available.

• State-run or privately owned hotels. Depending on the city and level of service their price range is enormous - from $10 to $600 for a room. There is a shortage of 3, 4, and 5-star hotels in Ukraine. Very often private hotels have better quality and a little more expensive. Perhaps the best developed net of small and non expensive family-run inns with excellent living conditions exists in theCarpathian area. There is a good chance to find good private hotels in Crimea.
• Short-term or long-term apartment rentalsis a real alternative to hotels. They are especially popular in Kiev due to a lack of quality hotels. The companies running apartments provide pretty the same set of services as hotels do. The prices for apartments are usually 50-60% less for the same area and quality than hotels.
• Youth hostels are a low-cost alternative for those who are on a tight budget. Price range is from $6 to $35 per person. There are no too many of them in Ukraine yet. The most exhaustive list of hostels and booking service can be found at Ukraine Youth Hostels page. Hostels accommodate anyone - not only young people. Highly recommended for students or the adventurous backpackers.
• Ukraine Timeshares are your opportunity to make your favorite region of Ukraine a home away from home when you buy a vacation property in the area. These vacation properties tend to be more cost-effective, over time, than paying for nightly accommodations every time you travel because they allow owners to divide the cost of property ownership among several parties.

Apartment for Rent in Kiev

What You Should Know About Money Issue - Kiev

Ukrainian currency is called Hryvna and is divided into 100 Kopecks. For an average exchange rate, count that a dollar is worth 8.00 -10.00  Hryvnas, Euro about 11.00-12.00 Hryvnas and British Pound 10 Hryvnas. It is best to bring USD or EUR in cash to Ukraine for easy exchange, but you can also safely withdraw money from ATMs featuring the international banking/credit symbols. Always carry small bills to pay for items such as cigarettes or taxi fares. You can withdraw hryvnas (UAH) and, in some ATMs, USD. Many prices (such as airline tickets) are stated using an abbreviation y.e. in Cyrillic, pronounced oo yeah:-) One y.e. is one American dollar. Spend all hryvnas before leaving the country as you can't take them out.

ATM's: The NBU has decreed that commercial banks must ensure uninterrupted operation of their ATM's  and put cash in them in order to ensure prompt payment of wages, pensions, stipends and other social benefits as well as to dispense cash on payment cards issued by other banks. 

Exchanging money
Exchanging money is easy, especially in the city center where exchange points are plentiful. The most common currencies exchanged are USD, EUR, Russian rubles and British pounds. Banks will exchange most other major European and international currencies. A non stop exchange point is located in the Furshet supermarket in the Arena Shopping Mall on Krasnoarmyiska Street.

Credit Cards and traveler checks
Visa and MasterCard are widely accepted, American Express rarely so. Travelers checks can be cashed in branches or affiliates of most major banks. See list below.

Sending money
To send or receive money in Ukraine, you can use Western Union, the services of which are available in many exchange points, banks, post offices and other places. See: Western Union

Opening a bank account
To open a bank account in Ukraine, you need your passport and a document to confirm your registration (such as an apartment rental contract or confirmation from the hotel of your stay). Accounts may be in UAH, USD or EUR. Internet banking is available with some banks, including with personal deposit accounts. The highest percentage is given on deposits in UAH, then USD and least in EUR.

Accomodation Kiev

American Chamber Of Commerce: Investors Want To See Ukraine's Successful Eurointegration

KIEV, Ukraine -- Foreign and domestic investors want to see Ukraine gaining membership of the European Union, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine Jorge Zukoski has said.

AmCham's President Jorge Zukoski
"Both foreign and domestic investors are interested in seeing the successful integration of Ukraine with the European Union. This will significantly increase the competitiveness of Ukraine and help it find its proper place in the global community," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday.

Zukoski said that one of the determining factors in the country's Eurointegration would be "successful talks on its associated membership and joining an agreement on a free trade area."

"The whole business community should have a sufficiently clear intention to provide all of its support to Ukraine to ensure the successful outcome of these talks," he said.

Source: Kyiv Post

Accommodation Kiev - For those Who is going to visit Ukraine