Inside News on Odessa and Ukraine
Every now and again I get a message from some readers who have a desire to relocate to Ukraine and I am frequently asked, amongst numerous questions, if I think the price of property will further fall or if it has plateaued. It would seem that it is neither likely to drop any further nor […]
Well, well, well! No - not three holes in the ground filled with water, but rather a sarcastic acknowledgement that Odessa City Hall has finally got around to creating a new website - Invest in Odessa. I deliberately use the word “finally”, as way back in autumn 2007 when I first met Mikhail Freidlin, he was […]
You know how I continually highlight the Ukrainian government spouting numerous good ideas as solutions for numerous obvious problems but failing because would would be effective policy falls short on the means of implementation? Well here is yet another good idea that will undoubtedly fail through ineffective implementation and result in being a government statement […]
Well, it has been quite a while since I wrote about the phenomenon of “corporate raiders” in Ukraine. Not that it has ever gone away, it is a consistent cancerous, criminal, disgraceful, sometimes violent, occasionally murderous activity, engaged in by a small number of very wealthy and very connected people in this part of the […]
Over the years this blog has been running, it has touched upon the size of the “black economy” several times and puzzled over just how large it is. There have been previous guesstimates from various political figures over the year ranging between 60% and 80%. A truly outrageous percentage and one suspected somewhat embellished for […]
There’s gold in them there hills! Well actually there isn’t. Or maybe there is, but this is not the Klondike. I am actually writing about a gold mine. Not a metaphorical gold mine but an actual gold mine. I am talking about the Bobrikova deposit in Lugansk which has attracted the attention of the Australians. […]
Is bureaucratic streamlining ahead in Ukraine? As anybody who takes note of the myriad of international reports relating to the ability to do business will know, Ukraine consistently fails to improve. The biggest gripes are with customs, both speed of clearance and levies, and VAT claims. All other problems can be overcome with a steely […]
It is not necessarily wise and certainly not humble to quote oneself and hold one’s opinions up as being the shining light in the darkness, however, you will all remember yesterday’s post when I wrote this rather damning indictment of the Ukrainian “civil service”, policy effectiveness and implementation and communication. ” There is a desperate […]
Not wishing to labour the point about corruption in Ukraine having only written about it a few days ago following Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index release, it is probably only fair to provide an overview of corruption during the period 2007 - 2009 for the previous government of Yushenko/Tymoshenko, lest the impression is given that […]
Ukraine and China seem to be growing increasingly close over the past 2 years. There are numerous posts withing this blog relating to China and various agreements, such as Ukraine holding the Yaun (and being 1 of only 12 nations that do), space R&D, infrastructure, military, oil and gas exploration on the Black Sea and […]
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