A long and difficult path of political self-determination will witness immortal
Ukrainian have their own statehood, be a sovereign among other free nations
of Europe and the world. Consistently and courageously went through the centuries to the Ukrainian people. Comprehensive development of Сulture, Education, effective and affordable health services, legal and social protection, political and religious freedom - все це має по праву належати громадянам України.So let’s assume, that Ukraine begins with each of us. And we are able to build a society, which will create conditions for comprehensive human development.

World experience shows, that most successfully developing the social system in which most fully reveals the creative potential of man. Independence of Ukraine stimulated productive development for all sectors and areas social life. It is free and responsible person is the main driving force of modern civilization, creator of all components of public relations – political, economic, social, legal, ethical, scientific, cultural.

I wish you success and fruitful work for the benefit of the Ukrainian people. Let this holiday you will be enthusiastic and creative achievements of the benefit of our independent homeland.

Happy Independence Day!

Sincerely,

Chairman DOO Green Party of Ukraine Pavlo Khazan

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Green Party of Ukraine goes to the local elections on 31 October and will uphold the Ukrainian authorities the right to a clean environment, health and quality of  life.
The decision was approved at the extraordinary congress in 19 the Green Party of Ukraine, held on 7 August in Odessa.
“Research confirms that environmental concern as 60% Ukrainian. Our main task to solve environmental problems at all levels. Assert a right of every Ukrainian citizen to a clean environment, quality food, drinking water. All this determines the quality of life of every person. Any, even the most efficient economic model, if it does not take into account ecological requirements, would ensure that Ukrainian will spend their profits primarily on drugs “- said the leader of the Green Party of Ukraine Tetyana Kondratyuk.
She noted that the party is actively working to solve environmental problems in the country. A constant monitoring of the environment in the regions. Party achieved a withdrawal from consideration of the bill to build nuclear burial ground in the Kiev region, canceling construction of a coal terminal in Sevastopol and many other regional environmental problems.
Speaking of the main tasks of the party, its leader Tetyana Kondratyuk said that “green” will endeavor to create a system of environmental legislation and the introduction of the normal indicators of the environment at national and regional levels. The introduction of clean energy technologies in industrial enterprises: “We understand that Ukraine, like all countries, live by objective economic laws. And we can not be adversaries vector of industrial development. But today there is a need urgently to create the conditions under which business will be interested to become liable for the environmental situation, as happens in many European countries. Green Party of Ukraine is the catalyst for this process “, – said T. Kondratyuk.

She said that to achieve this goal, the party becomes the center to unite all “green” political and public organizations into a single force.

http://www.greenparty.ua/news/news_22996.html

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Such a danger of fires is for the first time within 50 years in Ukraine! In connection with this all officials, including President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, are recalled from leave urgently. On Thursday an extraordinary meeting of the RNBOU (National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine) was held, chaired by the Head of State, with the goal to develop measures to prevent an emergency involving fires and adverse weather conditions in the country.

Meanwhile, the most dangerous places are hot spots near Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv, the newspaper Segodnya reports. In this regard at the RNBOU meeting President demanded from the Defense Minister and head of the Kharkivska region to take ammunition depots and other dangerous objects under protection, in particular, an ammunition depot with phosphorous warheads in Lozova city.

The fire in the Dnipropetrovska constitutes the biggest threat in the territory of Novomoskovskyi military forestry. 450 hectares of forest were burning. On Wednesday the fire was brought under control. However, on August 5 hot spots increased, said senior specialist in the press service of the Ministry for Emergencies Vasyl Slavetskyi. “The fire is being extinguished by more than a thousand people from the Ministry for Emergencies, Defense Ministry, State committee of forest management, 61 units of equipment and Mi-8 helicopter”. “In the afternoon the fire was three kilometers from the settlement Hvardiiske, where fuel and lubricant warehouses are located, but now there is no threat”, – reported the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry for Emergencies in the Dnipropetrivska region.

According to the State committee of forest management, over 600 hectares of forest burned out. “Another fire started on August 5 near Pavlohrad, more than 20 hectares burned out,” – said a spokesman for the State committee Andrii Solymov. There was a danger that the fire would get to chemical plants that are nearby, the military are sent there. “The fire is brought under control, there is no threat”, – reported a spokesman for the Dnipropetrivskyi regional Main Directorate of Ministry for Emergencies.

12:45 am The situation is tense in Ukraine. According to the State Committee of forest management, nearly the entire country is expecting for new fires. The forests are in danger from Luhansk to Kyiv, from the Crimea and Odesa to Chernihiv and Sumy (here the 5th, the highest class of fire risk).

The peat-bogs are going to burn also in the Kyivska region. “The hot spots are in the village Kotiuzhanka, Rakivka in the Vyshhorodskyi district, village Ozera Borodianskyi district, Obukhovychy in the Ivankovskyi and Stoianka villages in the Kyivo-Sviatoshynskyi district” – the head of the press-service of Ministry for Emergencies in Kyivska region Viktoria Ruban reported. – There are no forest fires there. Each district of the region is under control. In the morning and in the evening inspectors are traveling all over the territories”.

“All conifer forests are in danger all over Ukraine – said the head of an authoritative ecological association Green World Yurii Samoilenko. – Weather is the same as in Russia: at any time all our pine fund may catch fire. As for peat-bogs, they are located mostly on the beds of the Dnieper and Desna rivers. It is Kyivska, Chernihivska, Cherkaska, Dnipropetrovska, Zaporizka regions. Due to such heat it can fire at any time. It is very difficult to extinguish it. The main thing is to monitor the situation, and if some a fire appears somewhere, to eliminate it immediately.

According to the head of Hydrometeorological center Mykola Kulbida, the temperature may reach 42 degrees above zero in the central, eastern and north-eastern parts of Ukraine. But the Ministry for Emergencies says that the situation is under control. “We can involve more than 5,000 personnel, 1,000 units of equipment to combat the fire. Also, there are 4 special planes (two of which are in Russia) and 4 helicopters. Nearly 7,000 raids are already made in the most hazardous forests, 1,500 holidaymakers are fined”- said the head of the press service of the Ministry for Emergencies Liudmyla Scherban.

Fortunately, emergency measures have already been taken up. First Vice Prime Minister Andrii Kliuev asked the central and regional authorities to ensure round the clock monitoring over the situation, to check the readiness of health facilities to provide assistance to the victims of the fires. He prohibited the entry of transport in the forest and stop near forest plantations. Also military exercises, shooting, disposal of ammunition and explosive substances are stopped.

http://mignews.com.ua/en/print-articles/36535.html

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Vlasta Toth, Co-Spokesperson of the EGP’s observer party in Croatia, Zelena Lista, and Josip Kregar, vice-president of the City Council of Zagreb, were arrested and held in custody on Thursday 15th July because of their participation in a peaceful protest against a  very controversial construction project in the historic centre of Zagreb. Another 150 activists were arrested, including Tomislav Tomasovic, leader of Green Action Zagreb( Friends of the Earth International) and Vedran Horvat, Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation office in Zagreb.

The arrests took place on the orders of the Mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandic (recently expelled from the Social Democratic Party) and the Minister of Interior,Tomislav Karamarko (member of the governing National Conservative Party HDZ).

Minutes after her release on Thursday evening, Vlasta Toth expressed her anger at being deprived of her legitimate right to protest freely: “We are protesting against the illegal start of construction works in our beautiful city. To be deprived of this right feels as if we are being going back 20 years. Court cases against the construction are still pending.  Zagreb citizens are furious that Zagreb authorities under responsibility of the Mayor Milan Bandic seem to have given permission by organising their paperwork in a fraudulent way. The whole affair needs a thorough and independent investigation to see who is responsible for what and to bring those who may have acted fraudulently to court“.

Vedran Horvat, Director of the Zagreb office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, said: “It’s part of my job to observe topical situations in Croatia. It felt rather unusual to be temporarily held in custody without being given any real explanation or reason. These developments call for the urgent attention of Croatian and European institutions.”

Josip Kregar, vice-president of the City Council of Zagreb, said that: “This intervention is a police coup against democracy!”

“To keep a hundred and fifty peaceful protesters in custody for participation in a peaceful demonstration seems somewhat outrageous for a country that is already undergoing the process of EU-accession.” says Philippe Lamberts, Co-Spokesperson of the European Green Party.  “Protesters were released with the condition that they are banned from entering the area of the construction works for a period of eight days. This is not the way to treat peaceful protesters and falls far short of the standards to be expected from a country that aspires to EU membership”

The European Green Party stresses the need for a thorough investigation. Philippe Lamberts concluded: “As European Greens we are of the opinion that Croatia should become a member of the European Union. Therefore it is also in our interest that the rights of citizens are respected, that one can speak of good governance and that judicial processes are respected and treated with the utmost seriousness.”

http://europeangreens.eu/menu/news/news-single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=2066&tx_ttnews[backPid]=1&cHash=59343acdac

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Happy Birthday President of the Green Party of Ukraine Tetyana Kondratyuk!

In this bright and warm day, colleagues and party members sincerely welcome their leader on his birthday!

We wish you, dear Tatiana, happiness and health, good and love, harmony and inspiration.

Let your positive energy and thoughts will help you light for new achievements, work and personal life!

We are confident that under your leadership of Green Party of Ukraine will become a driving force in the Ukrainian society, able to change lives for the better state.

May your heart always fulfilled joy and warmth, and around you panuyuye harmony and understanding.

Happy Birthday!

http://greenparty.ua/news/Kondratiuk.html

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Parliamentary Representation

There are some 120 political parties active in Ukraine. They fall roughly into four different categories: radical nationalist, democratic nationalist, liberal-centrist, and Communist-socialist.

Ukraine’s political party situation is subject to constant change. In order to achieve any political objective, it is necessary to build a coalition among parties. The proliferation of similarly named parties is due to frequent disagreements among party leaders that have resulted in the creation of additional factions. President Leonid Kuchma submitted the Law on Political Parties, with provision that if any MP elected via a specific party list changed factions, he or she would automatically lose his or her mandate. This provision was expected to introduce much-needed stability and party discipline to the Verkhovna Rada, if ever adopted.

For the purpose of parliamentary elections, most parties formed voting blocs, providing greater representation than they would otherwise receive. Ukrainian law requires that a party must receive at least four percent of the vote in order to be represented in parliament. In the Ukrainian Parliament, 225 seats are elected proportionally, and 225 seats are elected individually.

Anders Åslund, Director of the Russian and Eurasian Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace noted in testimony on May 12, 2004 before the Subcommittee on Europe Committee on International Relations US House of Representatives:

“The three most important oligarchic groups are regional: the Donetsk group, the Dnepropetrovsk group and the Surkis-Medvedchuk group in Kiev. These groups are both economic and political. At present, the strongest group by far is the Donetsk group. Its leader is Rinat Akhmetov, a businessman who owns System Capital Management, Ukraine’s biggest corporation, focusing on metallurgy. Its parliamentary faction, the Regions, has some 65 members out of a total of 450. The second most important group is the Dnepropetrovsk group, whose business leader is Viktor Pinchuk, who owns the metallurgical company Interpipe. Its party, Labor Ukraine, has about 40 parliamentarians and is led by the Chairman of the National Bank, Serhiy Tyhypko. Pinchuk owns three TV channels. The Kiev businessman Hryhoriy Surkis and President Kuchma’s chief of staff Viktor Medvedchuk form the third group, which is much more state-oriented. Unlike the other groups, it has not developed normal private enterprises as yet. Medvedchuk controls the three biggest TV channels, and he plays a great role in law enforcement. Their United Social Democratic Party comprises some 40 parliamentarians. President Leonid Kuchma rules by playing off these and other less important oligarchic groups against one another.”

In March 2002, Ukraine held its third round parliamentary elections, since it separated from the Soviet Union. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) characterized the elections as flawed, but improved over the 1998 vote. The reformist Our Ukraine bloc of former Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko won 70 seats through proportional voting and 42 seats by individual election. For a United Ukraine won almost twice as many individual seats as it did proportional seats, and ended up with a total of 102 representatives. The Communist Party of Ukraine received 66 seats, primarily through proportional balloting. Non-partisan candidates won 95 seats in the Rada, while the remaining 77 seats were divided between five additional groups elected through individual votes. In 2004, the top two voting blocs became the primary challengers in the presidential election.

In the 2007 elections, five parties gained seats in the Rada, Ukraine’s unicameral parliament. The frontrunner with 34.37% is the Party of Regions, headed by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich. The second is Yulia Timoshenko’s Bloc with 30.7%. The pro-Presidential Our Ukraine – People’s Self Defense Bloc (OU-PSD, NUNS in the Ukrainian acronym) gained 14.15%. The Communist party received 5.39 percent and the force led by former parliament speaker Vladimir Litvin trailed behind with only 3.96.

Ukraine Political Parties
For a United Ukraine

Agrarian Party of Ukraine was established in December 1996 and its first leader was Mykhailo Zubets. The party was created to support the interests of collective farmers, and it favors the privatization of state-owned farms.

Labor Ukraine / Working Ukraine [Trudova Ukrayina] is led by Serhiy Tihipko and is the largest and most disciplined of the non-Communist factions. Labor has 49 members, two of whom are most important. Viktor Pinchuk is rich, represents a powerful Dnipropetrovsk clan and has clout with the president, whose daughter he married; Ihor Sharov has superior organizational abilities that make the strongly pro-Kuchma faction probably the best managed in the Rada. Before joining in the creation of For a United Ukraine, the Labor Ukraine party was one of four members of the TUNDRA bloc supporting president Kuchma.

Party of Regions The Party of Regions was created in March 2001 from the unification of five parties, including Regional Revival. Three quarters of the party’s members are in Donbas. The favorite candidate to replace Kuchma was Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, head of the Donetsk clan’s Party of Regions, because he could ensure votes from the densely populated Donbas. Influence over the Lugansk oblast state administration is another of the party’s valuable assets. Mykola Azarov, a long-standing ally of President Leonid Kuchma, was elected leader of the Party of Regions in March 2001 only to resign in December. Regions of Ukraine is the parliamentary wing of the Party of Regions of Ukraine. The party itself finalized almost a year of political bargaining between the five-strong political association, the Party of Regional Renaissance “Working Solidarity of Ukraine” (PRR WSU). The visibly amorphous association transformed into the Party of Regions of Ukraine on March 3, 2001.

People’s Democratic Party was the former ‘party of power’ from the 1998-2000 period. Led by then Prime Minister Valeriy Pustovoitenko, it criticised the removal of NDP members from the government, and began to cooperate with Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine in 2003.

Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Ukraine, led by Anatoly Kyrylovych Kinakh, was on of the few pro-government parties not to support Viktor Yanukovych in the 2004 elections. In July 2004, the party nominated its leader to run for president. Kinakh previously served as Ukrainian Prime Minister in 2001.
Our Ukraine

Christian People’s Union was one of the four parties that formed the Christian Democratic Union in 2003. Led by Volodymyr Stretovych, The party supports the separation of church and state, believing that no church should be receive special treatment, or experience pressure from governmental authorities. At the sixth assembley of the party on April 12, 2003, the Christian People’s Union joined with The Ukrainian Christian Democratic Party, the Christian Democratic Party of Ukraine, and the All-Ukrainian Union of Christians to form the Christian Democratic Union. See Ukrainian Weekly.

Forward Ukraine was formed by the Ukrainian Christian Democratic Party and the Party of Christian-Popular Union in the late 1990s and had 19 incumbent members of the Verkhovna Rada going into the 1998 parliamentary election. The party is led by Viktor Musiyaka and although some had hoped for a merger with the Reforms and Order Party, negotiations did not lead to an agreement to unify. See Brama.

Liberal Party of Ukraine, led by Volodymyr Shcherban, was established in September 1991 and was officially registered a month later. Volodymyr Shcherban and Yevhen Shcherban were leaders of the Donetsk elite. The first “party of power” in Donetsk went into decline after Yevhen Shcherban — the local governor, a parliamentary deputy, and a high-ranking Liberal Party member — was assassinated in November 1996. Volodymyr Shcherban, the party’s leader has served as governor of Sumy oblast and Viktor Yushchenko hoped that Shcherban’s influence in the area would lend support to the Our Ukraine alliance. In July 2004, however, the first deputy of the Liberal Party of Ukraine, Mykola Zhulinskiy, left the party because it had decided to endorse the pro-government candidate Victor Yanukovych. See Our Ukraine Press Release.

Rukh A group of Ukrainian writers living in Kiev formed the party in September 1989 and initially rallied to support perestroika in the USSR. The Rukh Party, which began in 1989 as a political force opposing the Soviet regime in 1989 and became the vanguard for the pro-democracy, pro-independence movement that led to Ukrainian independence. After the party gained political influence by winning a number of elections in 1990, its members continued pushing for the goal of Ukrainian independence. At the organization’s third congress in March 1992, it elected Vyacheslav Chronovil as its co-chairman who would continue to hold sway in the party. In the course of challenging Leonid Kuchma for the presidency of Ukraine in 1999, he was killed in a suspicious car accident on 25 March 1999. It has faltered badly since it split into two camps – the National Rukh of Ukraine under Hennadi Udovenko and and Ukrainian National Rukh under Yuri Kostenko.

[Rukh-Kostenko] People’s Movement of Ukraine is one of the oldest members of the Our Ukraine alliance. The Movement was previously headed by Hennadiy Udovenko who was replaced by Borys Tarasyuk in the fall of 2004. In February 1999, less than a month before Chronovil was killed in an accident, the party had split and a new Rukh, the Ukrainian People’s Movement began under the leadership of Yuriy Kostenko. The group was pro-Kuchma before the Gongadze scandal involving the murder of a journalist. It strongly opposed Prosecutor General Mykhailo Potebenko and other law enforcement heads. See Zerkalo Nedeli.

Reforms and Order Party, led by Viktor Pynzenyk, was created in October 1997 and although it began as a small organization, it gained several important seats in the Ukrainian parliament. The party has been an ally of the People’s Movement of Ukraine and continued to support the original leader of the Rukh after that party separated in 1999. Members of the Reforms and Order Party encouraged Viktor Yushchenko to run for president in 1999, but he refused. The party opposed Kuchma and was one of the principal founders of the Our Ukraine bloc. See Zerkalo Nedeli.

Republican Christian Party, led by Mykola Podrovsky, was formed in 1997 after opposition arose to the direction of the Ukrainian Republic Party. Three high ranking members of the URP, Mykhailo Horyn, Mykola Porovskyi and Mykola Horbal, were removed from the URP after they walked out of a meeting in protest of the party’s new leadership, which they claimed was moving the party in a pro-authoritarian direction. See Ukrainian Weekly.

Solidarity Party, led by Petro Poroshenko, is a relatively new addition to the realm of Ukrainian politics with its establishment in February 2001. Party leader Poroshenko played a key role in managing the Our Ukraine headquarters.

Ukrainian Nationalists’ Congress, led by Yaroslav Stetsko.

Ukrainian National Party was formerly called the Ukrainian People’s Movement Rukh until its leader, Yuriy Kostenko, agreed to change the name. The party was formed in February 1999 as a breakaway group from the original Rukh, the People’s Movement of Ukraine. The two Rukh factions signed an agreement in July 2001 in preparation for the upcoming parliamentary elections, but continued differences prohibited complete unification and after the election, the party changed its name to the Ukrainian National Party. See Ukrainian Weekly.

Youth Party of Ukraine, led by Yuriy Pavlenko, played a leading role in demonstrations supporting Our Ukraine candidate Viktor Yushchenko following the hotly contested elections in November 2004. Members of the Youth Party went on a hunger strike for several days to protest election fraud that appeared to give the sitting Prime Minister Yanukovych an electoral victory. See Our Ukraine Press Release.
Communist Party of Ukraine

Although it was the largest faction in the Rada with 112 members as of 2001, the Communist Party of Ukraine won only 66 seats in the 2002 parliamentary elections. The existence of the party was banned between 1991 and 1993, but experienced a resurgence in the following years. When the CPU was reregistered in 1993, Petro Symonenko was elected the party’s leader, and has remained at its helm ever since. The Communists have abandoned their traditional motto of “Solidarity Forever” and instead adopted a new one that translates as either “Let’s make a deal” or “What’s in it for us?”. Some say that President Kuchma was pleased to have such a domesticated opposition as the Communist Party of Ukraine. Others believe that Symonenko sold himself to Kuchma during the presidential campaign in 1999.

The CPU had on occasion served Kuchma’s interests, which opened it to charges of opportunism, but after 1999 is took a firm opposite standing. In 2000, the Communist Party split into two factions, one of which was pro-presidential. The other faction remained under the leadership of opposition party faction leader Petro Symonenko, said to be anti-market, anti-American and pro-Russian. Petro Symonenko is one of a few Ukrainian politicians against whom no serious discrediting materials were published. During the 2004 campaign, Symonenko charged that Moroz, Tymoshenko and Yushchenko (orchestrated by the USA) are plotting a coup in Ukraine.

Communist Part of Ukraine (renewed) In mid-July 2000 a new Communist party, the CPU(o) was formed. The CPU should not be mixed up with the pro-presidential Communist Part of Ukraine (renewed), which was created in 2000 to split the communist vote. Unlike in the title of the United Socialist Democrats SDPU(o) – the new Communists’ (o) stands for onovlena, i.e., “renovated”. The party’s official creator was Mykhailo Savenko, who was elected to lead the party by the CPU(o) foundation congress. A former Progressive Socialist, Savenko was a member of the Ukrainian parliament and member of the Trudova Ukraina (“Working Ukraine”) faction.
Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc

The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc is named after its leader who also founded the Fatherland Party in 1999. Tymoshenko served as deputy prime minister for fuel and energy under Viktor Yushchenko during his term as Prime Minister. In 2001, Tymoshenko helped form the National Salvation Forum to oppose President Kuchma. In November 2001, the Forum was renamed the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and consisted of the following party members:

Christian Democratic Party of Ukraine was one 18 political parties represented in an agreement to support Viktor Yanukovych in the 2004 elections.

Conservative Republican Party is a small organization led by Stepan Khmara. The party faired poorly in the polls and in 1996, its membership dropped to 500 people.

The Fatherland / Motherland [Batkivshchyna] Party was founded by Yulia Tymoshenko in 1999 with an emphasis on bringing discussions of spirituality to the Ukrainian political landscape. The party served as the basis for the formation of the voting bloc named the party’s founder.

Patriotic Party of Ukraine, led by Nikolai Gaber.

Sobor Party is too small (7 members) to be officially recognized as a faction, Sobor is a group within the non-factional list. Led by Anatoly Matviyenko, a former Kuchma ally now fiercely opposed to the president.

Ukrainian Social Democratic Party was formed by Vasyl Onopenko after the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine became divided over the issue of support of President Kuchma. The pro-Kuchma faction is now known as the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine-United.
Other Parties

Democratic Union Party is headed by former presidential adviser Oleksandr Volkov, openly called for Kuchma to extend his term in office because the authorities have been unable to provide an independent candidate to act as an umpire post-Kuchma.

Green Party of Ukraine [PZU] / Greens: Another faction with little to offer possible new members. Some members are political environmentalists but most are businessmen. Pro-presidential.

National Democratic Party: Led by non-Rada member and former Prime Minister Valery Pustovoitenko, this party has 20 members but little prospects for growth. Strongly pro-Kuchma.

Progressive Socialists: Shrunken to only seven members, Natalia Vitrenko’s group of Stalinists attempts to make up for its small size with loud demagoguery. However, avoids direct criticism of Kuchma and in an emergency will dance to Bankova’s tune.

Regional Rebirth / Regional Revival: The second biggest of the so-called “oligarch clans” after Labor, but far less effective legislatively, in part because of the mercurial nature of its leader, Oleksandr Volkov. The party suffered from internal clan grouping among members from its strong Donetsk base. The appearance of the party’s faction Regions of Ukraine in the Rada upset Oleksandr Volkov, who had to change the name of his own Regional Revival faction to Democratic Union, in line with the name of his party. By 2000 the Party of Regional Renaissance was led by mayor of Donetsk Volodymyr Rybak.

[Rukh-Udovenko] National Rukh of Ukraine / Rukh 1 On 02 March 1999, the 16 pro-Chornovil deputies registered a separate parliamentary caucus headed by Chornovil, called Popular Rukh. After Chornovil’s death, Udovenko was appointed the acting head of Popular Rukh. Hennadiy Udovenko, who was elected President of the fifty-second session of the UN General Assembly, has been the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine since September 1994. Prior to being appointed to that post, Udovenko was Ukraine’s Ambassador to Poland, from 1992 to 1994. From 1980 to 1985, he was Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister. From 1985 to 1992, as the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, Mr. Udovenko served in various capacities. When Heorhiy Filipchuk, a head of one of the parliamentary committees, left the Rukh-Udovenko faction, its remaining members refused to participate in the Rada session and all legislative work came to a halt for the day. Critics charged that Udovenko was nothing but Kuchma’s puppet. Udovenko had been reluctant to condemn Kuchma publicly. But in early December 2004 Udovenko called on President Kuchma to dismiss Yanukovych as prime minister, dismiss his Cabinet, and dismiss the Central Elections Commission.

Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (United) SDPU(U): The SDPU(U) was a small party until it was taken over by the Kyiv oligarchic clan in the mid-1990s and its leader, former Justice Minister Vasyl Onopenko, was pushed out. Onopenko went on to create the Ukrainian Social-Democratic Party. Another so-called “oligarch” clan, the SDPU(U) has 34 members. The party’s effectiveness is limited by having several powerful and rich leaders who often disagree because of their competing business interests. Any good news for Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko is considered bad news for the SDPU(U)’s of presidential administration head Viktor Medvedchuk, a deputy Rada speaker with presidential ambitions. The SDPU(U) is pro-Kuchma but highly flexible.

Socialist Party of Ukraine is led by former Rada Speaker Oleksandr Moroz, who is still considered the “Mr. Clean” of the Rada. Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz publicized the audiotapes allegedly confirming President Kuchma’s involvement in the disappearance of journalist Georgi Gongadze. But the party is not effective legislatively and not comfortable with its old Communist allies because of the Communists’ tendency to sell out to Kuchma loyalists. See Romyr and Associates Following the 31 October 2004 election, in which Moroz placed third, Victor Yushchenko and Oleksandr Moroz have signed a political Treaty, unifying democratic forces. The Treaty outlines the framework of cooperation between the “Power of People” coalition and the SPU. The Treaty states that Victor Yushchenko, on becoming the president of Ukraine, pledges to act on a number of social issues. Yushchenko pledged to withdraw troops from Iraq as soon as possible and to build good relations with the neighboring states, first of all with Russia and the EU. The two sides have also agreed on adopting the bill of changes to the Constitution of Ukraine (No. 4180) before 1 January 2005; the bill is to take effect no later than 1 January 2006.

Yabloko [Apple]. : Headed and largely funded by Mykhailo Brodskiy, Yabluko’s 14 members tend to play a somewhat quixotic and independent game. Anti-Kuchma, pro-Russia drift.

Unity Party is led by Oleksander Omelchenko, who was nominated by his party to run in the 2004 presidential election. Omelchenko finished eigth in the 2004 presidential election with just under 0.5% of the vote. Omelchenko began serving as the mayor of Kiev in 1999, and his party was a co-organizer of the Forum for the Democratic Development of Ukraine in September 2002, which was a two day conference where opposition party leaders discussed the need to remove President Kuchma from power because of his corrupt administration.

Lytvyn’s Peoples Bloc is led by Volodymyr Lytvyn [Vladimir Litvin] was the chairman of the Ukrainian Popular Party, formerly the Ukrainian Agrarian Party. His centrist electoral bloc, named Lytvyn’s Peoples Bloc, was expected to be one of the winners in Ukraine’s March 26 parliamentary elections. People’s Block of Lytvyn won 2.44 % of the popular vote, but no seats in the Parliament of 5th convocation. Lytvyn had been the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament since 2002, when he was elected to parliament as leader of the pro-government For a United Ukraine bloc of parties. For this career historian and President Leonid Kuchma’s speechwriter and chief of staff, this was his first experience in real politics. In the early parliamentary election held on September 30, 2007, the Lytvyn Bloc (renamed from Lytvyn’s People’s Bloc) consisted of the People’s Party and the Labour Party was placed in fifth place. It won 20 out of 450 seats in the Parliament of Ukraine of 6th convocation.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/ukraine/parties.htm

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Political System

On August 24, 1991, Ukraine proclaimed its independence and during the referendum held on December 1 of the same year, the Ukrainian people confirmed their choice of independent development by saying “yes” to it. Leonid Kravchuk was elected the first president of a newly independent Ukraine.

Ukraine faced a multitude of very difficult tasks which had to be solved within a short period of time: a new political system had to be built; new statehood principles based on law had to be introduced; a new system of national security and defense had to be created.
In 1996 the new Constitution was adopted.

General foundations of the political system

General foundations of the political system of Ukraine are defined by its Constitution. In accordance with its organic law, Ukraine is a sovereign and independent, democratic, social and jural state.

Democratic essence of the Ukrainian state is enshrined by the constitutional provisions concerning its form of government – a republic, governed by sovereignty of the people. State power is divided into legislative, executive and judicial branches, acting within their competence. The Constitution envisages the principle of political, economic and ideological diversity of social life.

The social character of Ukrainian state results in constitutional regulation of issues related to the use of property and protection of all subjects of property right, social orientation of the economy, equality of all subjects of property right before the law, and the maintenance of ecologic safety and balance within Ukraine’s territory and other socially important measures.

Jural essence of the state is supported by provisions related to supremacy of law and direct action of constitutional norms. The state is responsible to the people for its activities. According to the Constitution, the main task of the state is to establish and promote human rights and freedoms.

Ukraine is a unitary state, in which its territory is integral and inviolable. The state has a single citizenship. The state language of Ukraine is Ukrainian.

State power institutions in Ukraine

The President of Ukraine

The Constitution of Ukraine designates the President as the Head of State, acting on its behalf. The President is a guarantor of national sovereignty, territorial integrity, adherence to the Constitution, human and civil rights and freedoms. The President is elected by the citizens of the state on the basis of equal and direct universal suffrage through a secret vote. The term of presidential office is five years. Only a citizen of Ukraine, who was residing in Ukraine for ten years before the elections, has voting rights and speaks state language, may be elected President. President may hold his/her post no longer than two consecutive terms. More detailed…

The Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine

The only legislative body of Ukraine is the Parliament – the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. People’s deputies of Ukraine are elected by the citizens of Ukraine on the basis of equal and direct universal suffrage through secret vote. The election system is mixed – majority and proportional.

Altogether 450 deputies are elected. 225 of them are elected at single-mandate constituencies on the basis of relative majority, and another 225 are elected proportionally at multi-mandate national constituency from the lists of candidates coming from political parties and their election blocks.

The powers of people’s deputies of Ukraine are established by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine. People’s deputies of Ukraine may voluntarily unite themselves into deputies’ groups called factions with no less than 25 members. Deputies’ groups are formed both on a party and a non-party basis. Deputies’ groups formed on party basis are called ‘factions’. Non-party deputies may join a faction if they support the program of relevant party. Deputies’ groups formed on a non-party basis unite deputies who share the same or similar views of national, social and economic development. More detailed…

The Government of Ukraine

The Cabinet of Ministers (Government) of Ukraine is the supreme executive authority. Its actions are based on the Constitution, laws of Ukraine and presidential orders. The Government is responsible to the President and is controlled by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, to which it also must report. In practice, this dependency results in presidential appointment of a Prime Minister (with parliamentary consent). The President may also suspend Prime Minister’s authorities and discharge him/her. Upon Prime Minister’s submission, the President appoints and discharges the members of Cabinet of Ministers and other heads of central executive authorities.

Parliamentary control of the Government and its reporting to the Verkhovna Rada results is parliamentary approval of government-submitted annual budget, parliamentary resolutions on fulfillment of budgetary provisions, approval or rejection of governmental program and control of government’s work. More detailed…

The System of Judicial Authority

Legal proceedings are carried out by the Constitutional Court and courts of general jurisdiction. The supreme authority of the system of courts of general jurisdiction is the Supreme Court of Ukraine. Legal proceedings may be carried out only by courts. Courts’ jurisdiction covers all legal relationships in the state. The system of courts of general jurisdiction is based on the principles of territorial and special jurisdiction.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is a separate entity and is independent from the courts of general jurisdiction. It cannot be used as a cassation, appeal or supervisory authority for the courts of general jurisdiction. The activities of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine promote constitutional control in all spheres, stabilization and strengthening of constitutional order, the establishment of principle of primacy of law and the supreme legal force of the Constitution, and the promotion of constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens. More detailed…

Consitutional Reform

Ukraine is a republic under a semi-presidential system separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Ukraine has recently undergone an extensive constitutional reform that has changed the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches and their relationship to the President. A reform to local self-government has been suggested, but is yet to be formally approved.

Going back even further, to March 2003, it was then President Leonid Kuchma who got the reform wagon rolling with the introduction of a bill that he said would make the country into a “parliamentary-presidential model most widely used in the democratic countries of Europe.” Critics accused Kuchma of trying to weaken the presidency that he would be sure to lose after the elections in October 2004. The head of Kuchma’s administration, Viktor Medvedchuk, was credited with coming up with the idea as sort of an insurance policy against an opposition victory.

Kuchma’s original reform package differed quite a bit from the amendments passed this January. His proposals to create a bilateral legislature and to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections on the same day were hotly contested by the opposition and eventually disappeared. The bill was withdrawn altogether by the president himself. In the mean time there appeared two new draft laws, very similar to one another, and both put forward by pro-presidential lawmakers in 2003. In late December of that same year, one of these draft laws got past its first reading in parliament. It was also controversial, proposing that the president be elected by parliament. Foreign and domestic criticism mounted until, during a vote in April 2004, a coalition of pro-presidential and leftist factions fell just six votes short of passing it even though the part on parliamentary election of the president was removed.

Yushchenko and his supporters were triumphant, gaining much needed momentum in the run up to what would be a long, hard fight for the presidency. It was during the cold war on Khreshchatyk several months later, when ordinary people continued to brave severe weather conditions to force the incumbent authorities to recognize Yushchenko’s November electoral victory that the prospect of reform resurfaced. The support of the Socialists, who supported constitutional change, would be crucial in the revote for the presidency, which had been approved by the Supreme Court for late December.

Faced with the threat of division and defeat, Yushchenko silently accepted amendments to the country’s main law, which were based on the last of the three draft laws from 2003. Over 400 of the parliament’s 450 people’s deputies voted in favor. Nineteen abstained. Yulia Tymoshenko, Yushchenko’s long-time and fiery political ally, was the most outspoken of all against the last-minute compromise.

So now Yushchenko has inherited enormous powers from his predecessor. The constitutional reforms are supposed to turn over some of these powers to the parliament as well as the Cabinet, which the parliament will largely select. Those who support the reforms argue that under Kuchma the Cabinet often competed with the presidential administration in matters of executive authority; while under Yushchenko a third player has entered the fray: the National Security and Defence Council, headed by Petro Poroshenko, another long-time Yushchenko ally. Critics of the reforms say that overlapping powers will spark unresolvable standoffs between the parliament, the Cabinet and the president.

For the time being, the president appoints the prime minister, whom the parliament must approve, and then a Cabinet is put together. Starting in January 2007, the premier is chosen by a majority formed within the parliament. The premier then nominates most Cabinet members, who are approved by parliament. The president will get to nominate only the defence minister and foreign minister, whom, again, parliament approves and dismisses.

Parliament continues to appoint, on nomination by the premier, the chairperson of the Antimonopoly Committee, the chairperson of the State Committee on Television and Radio Broadcasting, the chairperson of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, the head of Audit Chamber and the Ombudsman.

Yushchenko still retains significant authority. He is still able to nominate and initiate the dismissal of the prosecutor general, head of the SBU (spy chief), National Bank and Central Electoral Commission; although the parliament has to confirm these nominations. More importantly, the president keeps the sole right to appoint all regional governors.

Like Kuchma, Yushchenko will continue to issue authoritative decrees. He is able to dissolve the parliament if lawmakers fail to form a majority within a month after the elections, they fail elect a new Cabinet within sixty days following its resignation, or they hold a plenary meeting within thirty days of a single regular session. Other prerogatives like the right to initiate legislation and the dismissal of the Cabinet also call into question charges that there is a weakened presidency.

Out of the following situation we may expect two possible scenarios to unfold in the next two years leading up to the presidential elections.

First, the Anti-Crisis coalition will successfully change the constitution to complete the transformation of Ukraine into a parliamentary republic. The president would be elected by parliament, as in neighbouring Moldova, and no longer by popular vote. Within the Anti-Crisis coalition, which has 240 deputies, the two left-wing parties have always supported the abolition of the presidential institution. The Party of Regions also shares this view.

Our Ukraine could arrive at the altogether logical conclusion that Yushchenko cannot win a second term. A constitutional change would require an additional 60 votes to that possessed by the Anti Crisis coalition that could be provided by Our Ukraine. Their rationale for providing the votes would be that they rather nobody have the presidency than to give it to Yanukovych or Tymoshenko in 2009.

The holding of early parliamentary elections might remove the need for Our Ukraine to provide the additional votes to effect constitutional change. The Party of Regions would be likely to increase its faction’s representation by early elections.

Second, if the constitution is not changed and the presidential institution continues to exist, the second round contest would be between Yanukovych and Tymoshenko. This would become a repeat of the 2004 elections when Yanukovych was also prime minister with the orange candidates merely changed from Yushchenko to Tymoshenko.

Tymoshenko would have an uphill struggle to win the elections as her revolutionary profile may be popular with the average person in the street but is distrusted by Ukraine’s business elites.

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On 9th of September 2000 a healthy, clever and beautiful child named Tayisiya Gordienko was born in our family. In 2009 two tumours in the carotid artery of my daughter were found. She needs to be operated on dental section of the carotid artery. Such operations cannot be carried out in our country. Operation can be done in Israel. The cost of such an operation is 100,000$.

We are ordinary people and we cannot afford such a sum even in 10 years` time. So we have to appeal to people who care about the troubles of other people. We have already received some help from Dnipropetrovsk Jewish Community, particularly from Alexander Feldman. The girl will be provided with rehabilitation after surgery in an Israel hospital and the pension form Israel state after she comes back to Ukraine. Citizens of Kyiv, having come across the information with an appeal to help the girl in a social network, found and bought very rare and expensive drugs, which are needed to maintain Taisiya’s health and sent it to Dnipropetrovsk. Also, after sending e-mails, we received some money from Ukrainian citizens. Even ordinary Netherland citizens responded and transferred 300$ to our bank account. In our situation every piece of help takes us closer to the possibility of doing this operation for little Tayisiya.

Dnipropetrovsk Media responded to our trouble and different TV-channels showed stories about our girl, and newspapers printed the articles. Israeli doctor, with whom we have already agreed about the operation, will come to Dnipropetrovsk on 15th of August. He is ready to take the girl to Israel for the operation. We have already collected 30,000$. We need 70,000$ more. We do not lose our hope to collect this sum of money by 15^th of August and send Tayisiya for operation. At present, the girl is at home, because the tumour keeps on growing and Dnipropetrovsk doctors don’t know what to do with it. But Tayisiya has the chance to survive!

We thank all people in advance, who will help our child and give her the chance to live a full life. You know, for each parent there is nothing more precious than their child’s life. In our situation, any amount of money will be precious.

Account in UAH:

Raiffeisen bank Aval.

MFI-305653О

ОKPO-2964213953

Receiver – Gordienko Denis Nikolaevich

Details of payment: СКС№0618210000 Gordienko Denis Nikolaevich

current account- 26256241754610We

Webmoney

Wallets

RUB: R168504206401

UAH: U387470669783

EURO: E399683661215

DOLLARS: Z336880905535

Our tel.numbers:

096 780 08 54 – mother Lena

096 184 54 12 – father Denis

Dnipropetrovsk city, Ukraine.

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Nicola Tesla’s inventions revolutionized the electricity industry and facilitated the fast paced growth of global industry. Since that time countless inventors have created amazing technologies that have completely changed the way we live. Today there are thousands of individuals and companies across the globe who are working hard to develop alternative energy solutions for future generations. This page contains articles about alternative energy inventions.

Bladeless Wind Turbine – Inspired by Nikola Tesla

A research company in New Hampshire recently patented its bladeless wind turbine, which is based on a patent issued to Nikola Tesla in 1913. This wind turbine is christened as the Fuller Wind Turbine. This turbine is developed by Solar Aero. The specialty of Fuller Wind Turbine is it has only one rotating part, known as the turbine-driveshaft. The entire machinery is assembled inside a housing. Wind turbines are often disliked by environmentalists because they kill birds and bats and often generate noise for the residents living nearby.

The wind industry is trying to find a solution to the problem by working with environmental groups, federal regulators, and other interested parties. They are trying to develop methods of measuring and mitigating wind energy’s effect on birds. The Fuller Wind Turbine offers hope to bird lovers and environmentalists.

Fuller Wind Turbine has several advantages over the traditional ones having blades. Fuller Wind Turbine has a screened inlet and outlet. If you try to get a closer look at this wind turbine you can see the only movement visible is as it adjusts to track the wind. This wind turbine can be utilized by the military surveillance and radar installations because there are no moving blades to cause difficulties.

Another plus attached to this wind turbine is that it won’t cost a heaven when you get its power. According to manufacturers this turbine is expected to deliver power at a cost at par with the coal-fired power plants. If you want to probe deeper, its good news that total operating costs over the lifetime of the unit are expected to be about $0.12/kWh.

If we take the maintenance angle it won’t cause much headache because it’s a bladeless turbine. The turbine maintenance requirements are not colossal and it would result in lower lifetime operating costs. The turbine is mainly supported on magnetic bearings. Another advantage is all of the generating equipments are kept at ground level. This will lead towards easy maintenance of equipments. The company comes out with encouraging figures and proclaims “final costs will be about $1.50/watt rated output, or roughly 2/3 the cost of comparable bladed units.”

If we take a look at the Tesla turbine patented in 1913, it operates using the viscous flow of a fluid to move the turbine and as a result generates energy. The Tesla turbine has a set of smooth disks fitted with nozzles that send out a moving gas to the edge of the disk. The gases drag on the disk by following the principle of viscosity and the adhesion of the surface layer of the gas. As the gas slows and adds force to the disks, it twirls in to the center exhaust. Because the rotor has no projections, it is very strong and sturdy. One has to be careful about the disk space because disks in the turbine need to be closely spaced so that they can trap the viscous flow. The Tesla turbine has extremely thin disks to reduce turbulence at the edges and that makes them effective. In 1913, Tesla was unable to find metals of adequate quality to make this work effectively. But now almost a century later, those limitations have been surmounted.

Solar Aero’s current prototype is a modest trailer-mounted unit. But inventor says that their other models “should be capable of 10kW output with no problem.” If this technology takes off smoothly it would remove many hurdles attached with conventional wind turbines and more environment friendly.

http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/bladeless-wind-turbine-inspired-by-nikola-tesla/

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Ukraine Stimulates Usage of Alternative Energy Sources With Revised Green Tariff Rules
April 2009

Last September Ukraine’s parliament adopted the first law in the country designed to stimulate use of alternative sources of energy through introduction of the so-called “green” tariff – a special tariff by which electricity generated from alternative sources must be purchased at the Wholesale Electricity Market (the Green Tariff). However, the law did not accomplish its goals, possibly because of its generality and ambiguity.

In response, on April 1, 2009 Ukraine’s parliament fundamentally changed the rules on implementation of the Green Tariff by adopting the Law of Ukraine “On Amendment of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Electrical Energy’ Regarding Stimulation of Usage of Alternative Sources of Energy” No. 1220-VI (the Green Tariff Law), which went into effect on April 22, 2009.

The Green Tariff Law significantly changes the rules on implementation of the Green Tariff in Ukraine. The main change is that instead of the unified Green Tariff approach introduced in September 2008, the Green Tariff Law differentiates the Green Tariff depending on the source of alternative energy and the type and capacity of the generation facilities. To address the risk of devaluation of Ukraine’s currency, the Green Tariff Law also introduces a fixed minimal Green Tariff nominated in euros pursuant to the official euro/UAH exchange rate as of January 1, 2009. In addition, the Green Tariff Law stimulates manufacturing and consumption of materials from Ukraine, as well as works and services required for construction of the generation facilities that use alternative sources of energy.

Green Tariff Amounts and Approval Procedure

The Green Tariff may by used by companies no later than January 1, 2030. According to the law implementing it, the Green Tariff is approved by the National Electricity Regulatory Commission of Ukraine (NERC) for: (a) each company, that uses alternative sources of energy for generation of electricity; (b) each type of alternative energy; and (c) each generation facility.

The basis for calculation of the Green Tariff is a retail tariff approved by NERC for consumers with the second class of voltage for January 2009 in the amount of 58.46 kopeks per kilowatt-hour (kWh) without VAT (the Basic Tariff). Applying various coefficients to the Basic Tariff, the Green Tariff Law differentiates the Green Tariff depending on the type of alternative source of energy and the type and capacity of generation facilities as specified in the table below.

Surprisingly, the Green Tariff Law does not specify rules for calculation of the Green Tariff for electricity generated from other renewable sources treated by the law in Ukraine as alternative, such as geothermal sources, waves and ebbs, gas of sewage stations, biogases, coal methane and exhaust gases. We expect that Ukraine’s parliament will adopt rules for calculation of the Green Tariff for electricity generated from “missed” sources of energy.

We also anticipate that in the near future NERC will cancel the current detailed procedure on approval of the Green Tariff adopted pursuant to the law of September 2008 and introduce a new one, complying with the Green Tariff Law.

The Green Tariff Law promotes the quick introduction of green technologies into Ukraine’s energy sector. In particular, the Green Tariff Law specifies that the Green Coefficient for electricity generated by generation facilities that use alternative sources of energy and are constructed or substantially upgraded after 2014, 2019 and 2024 decreases 10, 20 and 30 percent respectively from its default rates indicated in the table above. Regarding “substantial upgrade,” the Green Tariff Law specifies it as an increase in the initial value of the facilities’ generation equipment of more than 50 percent.

Fixed Minimal Green Tariff

The Green Tariff Law sets a mechanism for protection of investors from devaluation of Ukraine’s currency during construction and exploitation of generation facilities based on alternative sources of energy. In particular, the law specifies that in any event the Green Tariff approved by NERC for a particular company may not be less than a fixed minimal Green Tariff.

The minimal Green Tariff is nominated in euros and equal to the Green Tariff calculated using the Basic Tariff and coefficients valid as of January 1, 2009 and the official euro/UAH exchange rate set by the National Bank of Ukraine as of January 1, 2009 (1 euro = 1085.546 UAH).

Each time the NERC approves the Green Tariff for a company, it must make sure that the Green Tariff is not less than the Minimal Green Tariff converted into UAH pursuant to the official euro/UAH exchange rate set by the National Bank of Ukraine at the date of last approval of the Basic Tariff.

Stimulation of Manufacturing and Consumption of Materials, Works and Services From Ukraine-based Companies

Through the mechanisms of the Green Tariff, Ukraine’s parliament stimulates consumption of materials, works and services from Ukraine during construction of generation facilities based on alternative sources of energy. The Green Tariff Law provides that a generation company has the right to charge its customers the Green Tariff only if, starting from January 1, 2012, the share of materials, works and services from Ukraine used for construction of a generation facility based on alternative sources of energy is not less than 30 percent of its total value, and starting from January 1, 2014 – not less than 50 percent.

The Green Tariff Law does not specify the procedure for calculating of the share of materials, works and services used from Ukraine in the construction of generation facilities based on alternative sources of energy. Instead, the Green Tariff Law requires NERC to develop such a procedure within three months after the law goes into effect.

The Green Tariff Law also stimulates domestic development and manufacturing of equipment and components used for generation of energy from alternative sources by fixing a retail tariff for electricity for registered manufacturers at the level of January 1, 2009.

State Guarantees in Case of a Change in the Law

By means of a separate provision of the Green Tariff Law, the state of Ukraine guarantees companies that generate electricity from alternative sources at the constructed generation facilities will have the right to follow the Green Tariff rules valid at the date the generation facilities were put into use, even in case of further change to the Green Tariff rules. In such a case, however, the companies may decide to follow new Green Tariff rules.

The Green Tariff Law also introduces other changes into the Law of Ukraine “On Energy Industry” that are technical in nature and thus not described in this Alert. If you have questions about the Green Tariff Law or any of the provisions, please contact your principal Squire Sanders lawyer or one of the lawyers listed in this Alert.

http://www.ssd.com/ukraine_law_alert_april_2009/

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Russian-Ukrainian relations enter new stage

It is “unjust” to call the Stalin-era famine that killed millions across the Soviet Union a genocide of the Ukrainian people, President Viktor Yanukovych said on Tuesday.

Yanukovych’s statement to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) marks a complete reversal of the policy of his predecessor, Viktor Yushchenko, who sought international recognition of the 1932-1933 Great Famine, known to Ukrainians as the Holodomor, as genocide.

PACE will discuss on Wednesday a report commemorating the victims of the Soviet famine that includes an amendment recognizing the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people.

“We consider it incorrect and unjust to consider the Holodomor a fact of genocide of a certain people,” Yanukovych said, calling it “a common tragedy” of the Soviet people.

The Ukrainian president said not only Ukrainian, but also Russian, Belarusian and Kazakh people starved during the famine.

“Those were consequences of Stalin’s totalitarian regime, his attitude to people,” he said.

More than 3 million people perished in Ukraine due to the famine, and Ukrainian nationalists say Russia, as the legal successor of the Soviet Union, should bear responsibility. Yushchenko, who was known for his anti-Russian policies as president, led Ukraine’s efforts to secure international recognition of the famine as an act of genocide.

Yanukovych was elected in February to succeed Yushchenko and swiftly aligned Kiev closer to Moscow, including by agreeing to extend Russia’s lease on a naval base in Crimea.

Russia says the famine cannot be considered an act that targeted Ukrainians, as millions of people from different ethnic groups also lost their lives in vast territories across the Soviet Union.

A draft PACE resolution on the famine says it was caused by “cruel and deliberate actions and policies of the Soviet regime” responsible for the deaths of “millions of innocent people,” not only in Ukraine, but also in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Russia. Relative to its population, Kazakhstan is believed to be the worst affected Soviet republic, the document says.

STRASBOURG, April 27 (RIA Novosti)

PACE urges former Soviet states to open Holodomor archives

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is drafting a resolution urging Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Moldova to open their archives on the Great Famine (Holodomor) of the Ukrainian SSR in the 1930s.

The report commemorating the victims of the Holodomor in the former USSR will be discussed during the PACE session on Wednesday.

“The Assembly welcomes the important work already done in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and in particular in Ukraine in order to ease access to archives, and calls on the competent authorities of these countries to open up all their archives and facilitate access thereto to all researchers, including from other states,” the document says.

PACE also called for other Council of Europe member states to make their national archives open and accessible.

The draft resolution says the famine, caused by the “cruel and deliberate actions and policies of the Soviet regime” was responsible for the deaths of “millions of innocent people,” not only in Ukraine, but also in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Russia.

The report also mentioned the millions who died in Kazakhstan. It said the ratio of the dead to the whole population in the country is believed to be the highest among all peoples of the former USSR.

Russia has said that it cannot accept a number of amendments to the PACE resolution, including a proposal to recognize the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people.

Russia says the famine cannot be considered an act that targeted Ukrainians, as millions of people from different ethnic groups also lost their lives in vast territories across the Soviet Union.

Ukrainian nationalists say Russia, as the legal successor of the Soviet Union, should bear responsibility for the famine in which more than 3 million people perished in Ukraine.

Under former president Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine was seeking international recognition of the famine as an act of genocide.

STRASBOURG, April 26 (RIA Novosti)

Legal precedent in Ukraine: journalist allowed to doubt Holodomor as genocide

A court in east Ukraine has created a legal precedent, ruling that a local journalist has the right to doubt that the 1932-1933 Holodomor famine was an act of genocide of the Ukrainian nation, the Party of Regions reported Thursday.

Ukrainian nationalists say that Russia, as the legal successor of the Soviet Union, should bear responsibility for the famine in which more than 3 million people perished in Ukraine. Russia says the famine cannot be considered an act that targeted Ukrainians, as millions of people from different ethnic groups also lost their lives in vast territories across the Soviet Union.

The court in the Donetsk Region refused to grant a lawsuit by Vasily Kovalenko, a Ukrainian businessman, against Rodnoye Priazovye newspaper editor Sergei Shvedko over an article on Holodomor in which Shvedko said it was not genocide.

Kovalenko asked the court to rule the article was against the law and that it humiliated national dignity and insulted the memory of Holodomor victims. However the court ruled on Tuesday that the article contained assessments and the personal viewpoint of the author and does not violate the law in any way.

Shvedko said: “The fact that the court sided with the journalist who voiced his civil position confirms once again that in a democratic state, viewpoints and thoughts of a person cannot be an illegal act regardless of how much certain forces would want that.”

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said during his presidential campaign that Kiev’s attempts to blame Russia for Holodomor were unjust. Under former president Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine, which says over 3.9 million people died during the famine, was seeking international recognition of the famine as an act of genocide.

Yanukovych, who headed the Party of Regions until he was forced to suspend his membership following his election as president, is supported in Ukraine’s southern and eastern regions.

In January, a court in Kiev found Bolshevik leaders, including dictator Joseph Stalin, guilty of genocide against Ukrainians during Holodomor, but dropped criminal proceedings “due to the suspects’ deaths.”

DONETSK, March 11 (RIA Novosti)

Ukraine court finds Bolsheviks guilty of Holodomor genocide

A court in Kiev found Bolshevik leaders guilty of genocide against Ukrainians during the 1932-1933 Holodomor famine, the country’s National Security Service said on Wednesday.

The court found dictator Joseph Stalin and several other senior Soviet officials guilty, but dropped criminal proceedings “over the suspects’ deaths.”

The court examined the case filed by the security service and upheld “investigators’ conclusions that the leaders of the totalitarian Bolshevik regime organized … the genocide against the Ukrainian ethnic group intentionally creating conditions aimed at its partial physical elimination,” the service said in a statement.

Ukraine, which says that more than 3.9 million people died during the famine, has been seeking international recognition of the famine as an act of genocide.

A number of Ukrainian nationalist parties say that Russia, as the legal successor of the Soviet Union, should bear responsibility for the famine.

Russia says the famine cannot be considered an act that targeted Ukrainians, as millions of people from different ethnic groups also lost their lives in vast territories across the Soviet Union.

Last year, the United Nations General Assembly refused to include a discussion of the famine on its official session agenda.

KIEV, January 13 (RIA Novosti)

Ukraine says Holodomor genocide case almost solved

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has almost completed investigation into an alleged genocide of Ukrainians during the 1932-1933 Holodomor famine, the presidential press service said Tuesday.

President Viktor Yushchenko held a conference on Tuesday on the investigation into the case.

“[Deputy SBU chief] Nikolai Gerasimenko has reported that the case has almost been investigated and its materials will be handed to the Prosecutor General’s Office within a week,” the press service said.

In late 2006, Ukraine’s parliament recognized the Stalin-era famine known as Holodomor as an act of genocide by the Soviet authorities.

Russia says the famine cannot be considered an act that targeted Ukrainians, as millions of people from different ethnic groups also lost their lives in vast territories across the Soviet Union.

Kiev has been seeking international recognition of the famine as an act of genocide. Last year, the United Nations General Assembly refused to include a discussion of the famine on its official session agenda.

A number of Ukrainian nationalist parties say that Russia, as the legal successor of the Soviet Union, should bear responsibility for the famine.

KIEV, December 22 (RIA Novosti)

Russia says Polish WWII ‘genocide’ resolution harms ties

MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) – A Polish resolution that calls Soviet actions in Poland in 1939 “genocide” will do nothing to benefit bilateral ties, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

The document, stating that the deployment of Soviet troops in eastern Poland in 1939 “had traits of genocide,” will be adopted by the Polish parliament without a vote or debate on September 23.

“Such an attitude would probably not benefit our bilateral relations” Andrei Nesterenko said.

On September 17, 1939, Soviet troops entered western parts of Ukraine and Belarus that had been under Polish control since the end of the 1919-1921 Polish-Soviet War.

The Soviet Union said the move was to protect Ukrainians and Belarusians as the Polish government had fled the country in the face of the German attack and could no longer guarantee the security of its own citizens.

Among other episodes that could be classified as genocide, the document mentions the Katyn massacre, in which several thousand Polish POWs were executed in western Russia’s Katyn forest in 1940.

Russia’s NATO envoy, Dmitry Rogozin, accused the Polish leadership of Russophobic sentiments.

“The Polish version [of the 1939 events] is a lie and the attitude of the Polish leadership is provocative,” Rogozin said, adding that Poland “continues to surprise Russia and other European capitals.”

“However, this is now a headache for NATO and the European Union, where the Poles act in an extremely destructive and destabilizing manner,” he said.

The Russian diplomat added that by accusing Russia of genocide, Poland risks being accused of genocide against the Russian people during the Time of Troubles in the early 17th century, when Polish forces ransacked Moscow.

Ukraine does not blame Russia for Holodomor – Yushchenko

KIEV, November 28 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine does not think Russia is to blame for the 1932-1933 Holodomor famine, President Viktor Yushchenko said.

“We do not accuse Russia, we do not accuse the Russian nation,” he told the Inter TV channel prior to Saturday’s commemoration of a Holodomor anniversary by the ex-Soviet state, adding that the country that is to blame does not exist now.

In late 2006, Ukraine’s parliament recognized the Stalin-era famine known as Holodomor as an act of genocide by the Soviet authorities.

Russia says the famine cannot be considered an act that targeted Ukrainians, as millions of people from different ethnic groups also lost their lives in vast territories across the Soviet Union.

Kiev has been seeking international recognition of the famine as an act of genocide. Last year, the United Nations General Assembly refused to include a discussion of the famine on its official session agenda.

A number of Ukrainian nationalist parties say that Russia, as the legal successor of the Soviet Union, should bear responsibility for the famine.

http://en.rian.ru/society/20091128/157016050.html

Holodomor

The Holodomor (Ukrainian: Голодомор; translation: murder by hunger) was a famine in the Ukrainian SSR from 1932–1933, during which millions of inhabitants died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of Ukraine.
Estimates on the total number of casualties within Soviet Ukraine range mostly from 2.6 million to 10 million. Primarily as a result of the economic and trade policies instituted by Joseph Stalin, millions of Ukrainians starved to death over the course of a single year. The causes of the famine are a controversial issue and scholars disagree on the relative importance of natural factors,bad economic policies or engineered measures towards Ukrainian peasants. The famine was part of a wider Soviet famine of 1932–1933.

The root cause of the Holodomor is a subject of scholarly debate. Some scholars have argued that the Soviet policies that caused the famine may have been designed as an attack on the rise of Ukrainian nationalism, and therefore fall under the legal definition of genocide. The Holodomor is also known as the “terror-famine in Ukraine” and “famine-genocide in Ukraine”. Others, however, conclude that the Holodomor was a consequence of the economic problems associated with radical economic changes implemented during the period of Soviet industrialization.

As of March 2008, several governments have recognized the actions of the Soviet government as an act of genocide. The joint statement at the United Nations in 2003 has defined the famine as the result of cruel actions and policies of the totalitarian regime that caused the deaths of millions of Ukrainians, Russians, Kazakhs and other nationalities in the USSR. On 23 October 2008 the European Parliament adopted a resolution that recognized the Holodomor as a crime against humanity.

On January 12, 2010, the court of appeals in Kiev opened hearings into the “fact of genocide-famine Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932-33″. In May 2009 the Security Service of Ukraine had started a criminal case “in relation to the genocide in Ukraine in 1932-33″.In a ruling on January 13, 2010 the court found Joseph Stalin and other Bolshevik leaders guilty of genocide against the Ukrainians; however, the court dropped criminal proceedings against the leaders, Joseph Stalin, Vyacheslav Molotov, Lazar Kaganovich, Stanislav Kosior, Pavel Postyshev and others, due to their deaths.This decision became effective on January 21, 2010, after not having been contested in the Supreme Court of Ukraine for seven days.

On April 26, 2010, newly elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, told Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe members that Holodomor was a common tragedy that struck Ukrainians and other Soviet peoples, and that it would be wrong to recognize the Holodomor as an act of genocide against one nation. He stated that “The Holodomor was in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. It was the result of Stalin’s totalitarian regime. But it would be wrong and unfair to recognize the Holodomor as an act of genocide against one nation.”

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Ukraine’s Culture
from a Western standpoint

(*NOTE: with minor exceptions these observations are true of Russian culture and, to a lesser degree, of other post-Soviet states)

below: not to be crude or anything… but this bizarre teachers’ restroom in a school in Zhytomyr was just begging to be photographed as an illustration of cultural differences. Take heart — two toilets per stall is not typical of Ukraine, however, the absence of toilet seats is.

Cultural differences go very deep. It’s not just habits that differ, but also the assumptions and worldview that underlie them. Habits come and go, but worldviews are forever. At the same time, the habits and attitudes of individuals within one culture differ even more widely than the culture as a whole differs from other cultures. Which means that you will find a wide range of behavior and attitudes in Ukraine, some of which will be compatible with your own. Not everyone will do the things I’ve described below. Some Ukrainians’ culture will strike you as incomprehensible and intolerable, while others’ behavior and attitudes will seem rational and compatible with your own.

Ukrainian hospitality
In Ukraine guests are given lots of attention. If you are someone’s house guest, your hosts will likely take you around town and show you the sights for several days. Traditional Ukrainian attitudes dictate that guests be well-fed and entertained for as long as they stay at your home. Offering a guest a glass of ice water (common behavior in the U.S.) seems an absurdity to Ukrainians, the more so because ice water is thought to cause colds. In the business world, however, drinking bottled water has started to catch on, and being offered a glass of water is no longer an extreme rarity.

Body language
On average Ukrainians’ personal space is smaller than in Germanic and Anglo-saxon cultures. Some people touch each other quite a bit during conversations if they are standing. Greeting women with a kiss on the cheek is common. On the gesticulation scale Ukrainians are more subdued than southern Europeans but more animate than Scandinavians. Gestures tend to be smaller—no American arm-flapping here! Also, smiling is usually reserved for friends. Stiffness and formality is the rule during public speaking. Hollywood has always exaggerated this trait when portraying Soviet leaders.

Illnesses
Physical sensations and ideas about what makes one sick differ from culture to culture. In Ukraine it is worse to be cold than to be hot. In the U.S. the opposite seems to be true. In the cold necks and heads need to be covered, but gloves are not mandatory. Cold drinks and drafts and sitting on cold surfaces can give you a cold. A draft (draught) is a stream of colder air that seeps into a warm room through a window or open door and cools the area of skin that is exposed to it. So, if you are riding in a stuffy bus on a cold winter day, be careful about opening the window. You may get some nasty remarks.

Superstitions and mysticism
Ukrainians have preserved superstitions and omens about things like shaking hands through a doorway, whistling indoors, and other things. Everyone knows these omens and jokes about them, but they avoid breaking them all the same. Western society is more rational not only in this regard, but in every other. Ukrainians’ religious views (especially in areas where Orthodoxy dominates) have elements of mysticism and uncertainty, while Western Christians tend to think in terms such as, “to get to heaven you need to do A, B, and C.”

Attitudes toward money and wealth in Ukraine
Wealth in the West is almost universally assumed to be a good thing, but Ukrainians have more ambigious attitudes. Ukraine does not have the concept of “working your way from rags to riches” or the Protestant notion of creating wealth through “good-old honest hard work.” This seems to be a hold-over from the Soviet Union, where one did not “buy” an apartment, one “got” an apartment (after years of being on a waiting list). In the USSR one’s wealth depended on how close one’s connections were to centralized power structures. In Ukraine people are still suspicious (and envious) of the rich. “They must have some special privileges or connections,” people assume.

One of the main reasons for this distrust of the rich is that just 15 or 20 years ago everyone in the Soviet Union had essentially the same amount of wealth. The popular view is that the only way of getting rich in the decade or so after the fall of the Soviet Union was by abusing one’s advantageous position in the government kormushka (“feeding trough”). Since the government controlled most assets, bureaucrats who managed these assets could use their connections to sell off national assets and pocket the money. As a joke goes, don’t ask me where I got my first million. Hence, the popular view is that anyone who is rich today must have robbed the nation at some point to get his starting capital.

Another cause of this mistrust of wealth and investment is the fact that for 70 years the Soviet ethical system taught that wealth and greed are the same thing. People were taught modesty and self-sacrifice for the sake of their children’s “bright future.” Soviet citizens learned to feel guilty for wanting to earn more than they were entitled to and be apologetic about any personal business projects they had. At the same time there was intense competition and jealousy surrounding professional and government positions where one would have more opportunities and a higher salary. These ingrained attitudes are prevalent to this day.
In Ukraine the wealthy — a few of whom may have in fact earned their wealth through “honest hard work” — tend to distance themselves from the poor and envious masses. There is even a special name for the upper class: the “elite.” In the Soviet Union one did not become part of the “elite” through hard work, but rather had the fortune to be in the right place and know the right people, and the word today has preserved this hue. The tinted car windows of the rich keep out curious stares. Extravagantly dressed trophy wives in sunglasses who rarely leave their fancy cars are an attribute of many of Ukraine’s “new rich.” A more modest middle class has only recently begun to appear.

Financial literacy is generally quite low even among intellectuals. When ordinary Ukrainians start making decent money, they tend to “waste” it on friends and relatives rather than hold on to it to build personal wealth. These Ukrainians generally do not have savings other than the proverbial stash of dollars in a jar, since people are suspicious of banks after inflation devoured their life savings in the early 90s. Their financial security is instead a network of relatives and friends whom they borrow from or lend money to freely. In most western countries such financial interdependency is avoided, and if a man has financial troubles he goes bankrupt alone.

An example of what you will not see in Ukraine: girls dozing on a marble staircase in Berlin’s Pergamon museum. One, sitting or lying on the floor is inappropriate for public places, especially for women. Two, sitting or lying on cold surfaces is considered unhealthy, especially for women.

Ukrainians in public tend to demonstrate restraint and avoid attracting attention to themselves. In small towns where everyone knows each other this is less noticeable. Ukrainians usually speak quietly in the presence of strangers. Loud foreigners who are oblivious to their surroundings always draw smiles.

Despite the concern with standing out, in Ukraine it is more customary to show negative emotions in public than in western countries that are obsessed with always being positive. Strangers bond by sharing indignation (about packed public transportation, for example) or by making sarcastic remarks. Drivers yell at each other freely. Don’t let this rudeness and indifference fool you, however. Ukrainians tend to be warmer in their personal relationships than is typical of most western countries.

Home and family in Ukraine
Ukrainian culture has agrarian roots. Just two generations ago the urban population was a fraction of what it is today after the Soviets’ experiment in forced industrialization and urbanization. Almost everyone has grandparents or relatives that live in the countryside. People do not move around as much as in the West, especially the middle-aged and elderly. Often one or both grandparents will live with their children and help take care of small children. This was a necessity
Another example of what Ukraine is not: single-storey suburban middle-class mobile America.

Raising children
Grandparents play a greater role in raising children in Ukraine than in the West and especially the U.S. Parents tend to restrain their kids more in public and demand better behavior. There seem to be more overprotective parents than in the West, and children are brought up to do well in school and to keep out of trouble and avoid mistakes.

Unfortunately, the vast majority (probably 95%) of school teachers are women, giving children disproportionately few male role models in an already female-dominated culture. Competitiveness and personal initiative are little encouraged in school and elsewhere. Since there are fewer extracurricular activities, children stay home more and generally lead a sheltered lifestyle. They get less experience organizing activities on their own without adult supervision. In addition to perpetuating Ukraine’s pseudo-market economy where the concept of “fair competition” is virtually nonexistent, this protective environment helps make Ukrainians the wonderfully domestic and sharing people that so many of them are.

Schooling and higher education in Ukraine
School and university instruction in Ukraine and Russia is quite a bit different from the United States. Teachers are seen as authority figures and rarely “pal around” with their students, but generally remain somewhat distant and stern. Students are given more material to learn and with significantly less hands-on practice than in the States. In addition, a universal characteristic of instruction in the former Soviet Union is that every subject is introduced with a “broad theoretical background.” In other words, students are taught the historical background and theoretical underpinnings of each subject. On the whole this is commendable and leads to greater understanding and better developed abstract thinking skills than their U.S. counterparts. However, this approach becomes habitual and is applied even when students simply need to be taught a practical skill, which is where Soviet and post-Soviet schooling falters.

Ukrainian schools foster the ability to fit in to the system and not stick out. Good behavior in schools is strictly enforced—no rowdiness and disobedience here! Nonetheless, cheating and other forms of “cooperation” are largely ignored and actually fostered by the system. Students learn at a young age to band together and cooperate in the face of injustice and ruthlessness. This mentality carries through to adult life and Ukrainians’ attitudes towards power structures (i.e. work employers and government bodies).

Friendship and making acquaintances
The word “friend” in Ukrainian or Russian implies a closer relationship than in most other European languages. One has one or two “friends” and many “acquaintances”—quite the opposite of the U.S., where many people have dozens of “friends” but often have no really close friends. In Ukraine, it seems, such aloofness is unheard of. The tendency to form informal relationships easily is part of the national character.

Many foreigners note that it is easier to form friendships and relationships in Ukraine. In the U.S., for example, it is easy to get an invitation to do things like play volleyball, go see a movie, go waterskiing, etc., but hard to become someone’s friend. In Ukraine people will get together to talk about things that are important to them personally. Westerners often find their emotional needs are met better in Ukraine.

At the same time, clubs and hobby groups and other “collectives” in Ukraine tend to become closed to the outside world because of their emotional attachments and informal relationships. I have seen biking clubs who seem to enjoy hanging out together more than biking and mountaineering clubs with complex rituals and traditions that have nothing to do with mountain climbing. In Ukraine it may be harder to keep focused on one’s individual goals because of this emotional collectivism.

Gender roles in Ukraine
Westerners note that gender roles in Ukraine tend to be more traditional. Not only do men open doors for women and gallantly hold their hand as they step out of the bus, but women tend to dress more femininely and accentuate their attractiveness more than in most western countries. During courtship men tend to be more romantic, bringing flowers and gifts (and footing the bills during dates), and women try to look especially elegant. Sometimes the contrast between stunningly attractive women and their shodilly dressed, poor-postured boyfriends is remarkable. There are definitely double standards of grooming in Ukraine.

Gender roles are often quite traditional in the home as well. The stereotype is that the wife does the cooking and cleaning, while the husband takes care of repairs. When guests come over the wife heads to the kitchen to prepare food, even if it is her own birthday party. Husbands tend to be either workaholics or “lazy bums” that often suffer from apathy and alcoholism. These stereotypes are more true of older generations and smaller towns and villages.

Today you will find many people who do not fit these stereotypes. In Ukraine there is no such thing as militant feminism, but there are many couples — especially among younger generations — where work around the home is divided more equally. Some husbands even admit they do most of the cooking. Just as in other countries of the world, true friendship and shared interests are becoming greater factors in choosing a spouse as opposed to ability to act out gender roles. However, Ukraine is still years or decades behind the rest of Europe in this regard, as traditional gender roles still prevail.

Dress and appearance
Fashion in Ukraine is underdeveloped and at times monotonous and copy-cattish. In more prosperous towns and cities occasional individuals have begun to develop a sense of personal style, but the majority of fashion is dictated by what petty vendors decide to import and sell at street bazaars. A holdover from Soviet days, Ukrainians’ consumer culture is low but gradually improving as the choice of goods increases. There is a tendency to copy others rather than develop one’s individual style and stick out.

Dress tends to be more formal in Ukraine than in the rest of Europe. Young men walk around in black dress shoes and dark pants, and women wear high heels and skirts (not all, of course). Clothing is intended to create a necessary appearance, and not be comfortable and practical. Colorful casual dress that has been the norm in western Europe and the U.S. for years is just beginning to gain popularity. Just a few years ago all the men in Ukraine wore black, but now the color scheme has differentiated a bit (at least in the big cities).

Men older than about 60 and sometimes younger tend to wear well-worn gray and brown suits, a holdover from the days when the Soviet Union stamped out individuality. This same tendency can be seen in some European countries that have a fascist past, for example, Spain. People who have come from small towns and cities to work in big cities like Kyiv typically look and dress differently and are noticeably “provincial.” Men who engage in physical labor often have “buzz” haircuts and a sort of crude and brutish appearance, along with a completely different communication style than local well-educated folks.

Among students in the big cities there is a growing tendency towards European-style democratic clothing and appearance. At the same time, other students demonstrate the traditional status and gender-oriented style (sexy dress for women and dark formal clothes for men).

These new tendencies in dress and gender roles show that Ukraine is very slowly but surely becoming europeanized. Just across the border in Poland the vast majority of young people dress in western-style unisex clothing. You cannot tell who is rich and who is poor. In Ukraine this process is taking place as well, but very slowly.*

*NOTE: A year after writing this article (now August 2006) it has become apparent that fashion has changed dramatically in Kyiv. People are wearing more colorful, individualistic clothing. Black is out of fashion. The choice of clothing to wear has skyrocketed, and the emphasis is shifting dramatically from status stereotypes to individuality. I expect this process to follow in other large Ukrainian cities in the next several years and eventually reach the smaller cities around Ukraine.

Grooming and personal hygiene
Standards of grooming and hygiene can differ widely from culture to culture. Arab men in Ukraine, for example, almost always have a slick, preened appearance. Americans are known worldwide for their straight white teeth and “Hollywood smile,” as well as for obesity among young people. Other cultures are known for their lower standards of hygiene. In Ukraine there is a sort of double standard. Women (especially young women) tend to dress and groom carefully, while men often are careless about their appearance. While hygiene seems to be generally improving, decaying teeth and bad odors are not at all uncommon. Smoking is extremely prevalent in public places. Dental floss is not yet widely used, and dental care standards lag behind the West. Many older folks bathe just once a week. However, hygiene among working professionals is comparable to developed countries.

Despite somewhat lower levels of hygiene, Ukrainians are more discreet about bodily functions than, say, in the United States. While belching and farting loudly in public are not necessarily typical of the U.S., movies such as Dumb and Dumber and the Naked Gun series demonstrate that bodily functions are a topic of joking and discussion. Not so in Ukraine. Passing gas and burping are considered shameful, and people do not discuss their bodily functions with others. However, ironically, spitting and blowing your nose onto the sidewalk or grass is normal in most cities of Ukraine.

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Every country has things that visitors often complain about. Ukraine is no exception. While there are many wonderful things about the country and people, here we will list some of the more unpleasant aspects of Ukraine that visitors often report.
Ukrainian restrooms

Oddly enough, this is probably foreigners’ biggest gripe about Ukraine. Bathrooms in public places — including public restrooms, trains, beaches, resorts, and even many hotels — are rarely close to Western standards. Foreigners go to stunningly beautiful opera houses and theaters only to find squat toilets in the public restrooms, or regular sitting-style toilets — but with the doors falling off their hinges. Toilet paper is often absent, as are toilet seats. Ukrainians often use regular sitting toilets as squat toilets, putting their feet up on the toilet bowl. Hard to believe? Yes, it’s true. They find it unsanitary to put one’s bottom on a surface where others have been, unless the toilet seat is cleaned regularly, as in McDonald’s (where the cleanest bathrooms typically are to be found).

Yes, Ukraine’s bathroom culture is pretty low. Especially outside of the big cities, restrooms typically lack 1) toilet seats, 2) toilet paper, 3) soap, 4) hot water, and 5) towels or blow driers. In other words, a typical public restroom has urinals, holes in the ground, and a sink with cold water. Foreigners (as well as many Ukrainians) find it irritating that you have to pay to use public restrooms, and the lady at the entrance gives you only a few squares of toilet paper if you ask for it (!). Evidently, toilet paper is such an important commodity that they must go to great pains to make sure it is not wasted. If a foot of toilet paper happens to not be enough, that’s your problem.

Showers in many older-style hotels and apartments do not have shower curtains, which means you get a lot of water on the floor. In addition, there are no soap and shampoo holders, so you have to stoop over to pick them up off the floor. Hot and cold water availability is also an issue in many cities, and water pressure is often low. In a word, what is considered normal for western bathrooms is a luxury in Ukraine.
Displays of rudeness and irritability in public

Many foreigners who don’t understand Russian or Ukrainian note that people seem to shout at each other a lot, when in reality they are just having a normal conversation. I didn’t notice this myself until it was pointed out to me by several different people. This habit is most prevalent among the less educated. In public places Ukrainians tend to put on withdrawn and even gloomy facial expressions — quite a contrast to happy-go-lucky Americans (many of whom are secretly taking Prozac!). This sometimes leads westerners to deduce that “everyone seems depressed.”

In addition, Ukrainians seem quick to anger in public, and a few rides on public transportation is usually enough to get a taste of Ukrainians’ gift for chewing each other out in public. Bus drivers tend to yell a lot at offending car drivers, and many drivers seem to be on the verge of bursting into fits of road rage. This can create a depressing impression on foreigners until they get used to things and realize that no one intends to hurt each other and that people are simply letting off steam. In the West it is usually not customary to let off steam in public — hence the misunderstandings.

Crowded public transportation

While Ukraine’s public transportation system is undeniably convenient and low-priced, it often does not meet westerners’ comfort expectations. It is common for city buses and subways to be packed with passengers, who have to press up against each other in the aisles. Some minibuses have lower ceilings, requiring passengers standing between seats to bend over partially. These buses are terribly uncomfortable, even exhausting — especially in hot weather. During rush hours the Kyiv subway is cram-packed with squirming passengers. Ukraine’s trains, which are otherwise quite comfortable, often heat up to 30°C (86°F) in the summer. Passengers sweat even when sitting motionless, and sleep is often difficult until the temperature starts to go down after midnight. This problem could be solved if the windows would open, but, alas, they almost never do. This is yet another example of the indifference to people’s comfort that is so common in the former Soviet Union.

Secondhand smoking

Smoking is rampant in Ukraine, the cigarettes are cheap and not very good, and smokers generally have the “right of way” in public places. People smoke freely in line for the bus, in underground pedestrian crossings, in stairwell shafts, and in many if not most cafes, restaurants, and bars. Bus and taxi drivers generally smoke, but they open their window so most (but not all) of the smoke wafts out of the car. Some places — such as subways, trains, and fast-food restaurants — are always smoke free (except for what sticks to people’s clothes). Interestingly, a new law has been passed that bans smoking at bus stops and underground crossings and requires all restaurants to designate at least half of their space for non-smokers, but this law is not yet being enforced, and people’s behavior has not changed at all. Perhaps in the coming years the situation will improve.

Ukrainian drivers

Pedestrians are the lowest caste in Ukrainian society. They must make sure all the drivers who want to have driven past before they cross the street, regardless of the color of the stoplight or the presence of a pedestrian crossing. If you are run ofter by a wealthy individual, he will likely buy off the police and the incident will be considered an accident or your own fault.

Many taxi drivers are reckless and shamelessly break traffic rules (after all, the “price” of most infringements is a $2-4 USD to traffic police). If you put on your seatbelt, many Ukrainian drivers will look at you incredulously. It is not customary to wear them in Ukraine.

Reluctance to give change

There is a catastrophic shortage of change in Ukraine. Chances are you will encounter this the first time you ever try to buy anything in Ukraine. The cashier will ask you if you have, for example, an additional 3 hryvnia 14 kopecks to give her so that she can give you a single 10 hryvnia bill as change. If you don’t understand Russian or Ukrainian, you will constantly be wondering why cashiers stall and look exasperated nearly every time you buy something. To avoid this, try to foresee what kind of change they are likely to ask from you before giving you yours.

Lack of punctuality

Informal (and often formal) meetings in Ukraine often are based on a different understanding of time. 5 “Ukrainian” minutes often turns out to be 20 calendar minutes. Ukrainians tend to think little of having other people wait 10 or 20 minutes for them. Life in Ukraine is chaotic and unpredictable, and people are not able to control or foresee all the circumstances that may keep them from arriving at the agreed time. It is assumed that you will be able to entertain yourself or will have some extra phone calls to make while you are waiting.

“Deadly” drafts

A draft, for those of you who don’t know, is “a current of air in any enclosed space.” In Ukraine drafts are considered dangerous for your health. For this reason, in many situations where westerners would open the window to let in fresh air, Ukrainians will keep the windows shut and just tolerate the heat and/or stuffiness. Ukrainians avoid letting air blow on them through windows unless it is about 28° C or higher (82° F). Travelers to Ukraine are often surprised by how often they are asked to close windows “for their own good.”

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Folks who live dangerously and take tourists along for the ride

Tour guide, Chernobyl, Ukraine
For the past decade, Sergei Ivanchuk has walked visitors through the cooling towers and eerily empty corridors of Chernobyl, the Soviet nuclear power plant in Ukraine that witnessed the world’s most famous—and most deadly—meltdown. It still looks as if it’s frozen in 1986, and Ivanchuk often sees newspapers from that year scattered about. He doesn’t wear a hazmat-like protective helmet, gloves, or gear because radiation levels are lower than they were in the late ’80s. But Ivanchuk still advises tourists not to wear shorts or sandals—or drink the tap water. “You never get used to this kind of work,” he says with a laugh. “It never gets boring. For me, it’s about reminding people of what happened to prevent history from repeating itself.”

Solo East Travel,011-380/44-406-3500, tourkiev.com/chernobyltour, day tours from $110.

Mountain bike guide, Bolivia’s ‘Road of Death’

Imagine hurtling 12,000 feet down a twisting unpaved road past sheer drop-offs, nervously gripping your mountain bike’s handlebars, with dirt kicking up in your face. Not without reason has this switchback (official name: Yungas Road) outside La Paz, Bolivia, the world’s highest capital, been dubbed the “Road of Death.” An estimated 200 people die each year, mostly when their vehicles plunge off an Andean cliff. Biking guides—four Americans and one Frenchman—give a short safety primer on how to change gears and use brakes, but then you’re on your own. “As long as you can keep both of your feet on the pedals, it’s safe,” advises Osmar Huidobro, who works for Gravity Bolivia. “The guides will not push you to go faster than you can go.” Also, a newly built alternate route means less vehicular traffic on the vertiginous 40-mile ride—and presumably fewer fatalities.

Gravity Bolivia, gravitybolivia.com, all-day tours $85, tours are arranged on an individual basis throughout the year, although rainy season (mid-December through March) is the most dangerous.

Killer whale trainer, Orlando, Fla.

In February of this year at Orlando’s SeaWorld, a six-ton orca thrashed and drowned its trainer during a live show—horrifying spectators. It’s not clear if Tilikum, the killer whale, was attacking on purpose or was merely agitated. But it was not the first death that has been connected to Tilikum. In 1999, a trespasser who had apparently climbed into the orca’s pool was found dead. In 1991, the born predator joined two other killer whales in drowning their trainer.

SeaWorld is reviewing its safety procedures for orca training but says it wants to return Tilikum to shows. The company keeps 25 killer whales at its marine parks and says that its animals almost never act aggressively. That may be true, but don’t expect to see us climbing into a tank with an orca anytime soon.

Bull shepherd, Pamplona, Spain

You’ve surely heard of San Fermín, the annual adrenaline-fueled ritual in which revelers try to outrun bulls stampeding through the narrow streets of Pamplona. But who keeps the bulls from goring onlookers and corrals them each morning during the second week of July? Meet the dozen or so pastores (shepherds) clad in green polo shirts who try to tame the animals, protecting the runners with nothing but a long cane. “This is the most dangerous job in Spain,” says Francisco Glaría, a local tour guide, who remembers one of the shepherds being gored after trying to save a runner a few years back. Between 200 and 300 people are injured each year, according to the city government council, but fatalities are rare, with only 14 occurring in the past 100 years.

Beer sherpa, Slovakia’s High Tatras

As if risking life and limb were not enough, the Slovak sherpas who scale the treacherous sides of rocky cliffs and hike the steep footpaths of the High Tatras at breakneck speeds are lugging beer, too. Not just a few bottles, either, but 150-pound kegs, which they strap to their backs. Rain or shine, ice or snow, the sherpas make the two-hour hike to the top several times per day to stock the bare-bones chalets scattered along 7,380-foot-high peaks. The chalets have no power, just wooden tables lined with pints of pilsner—from freshly tapped kegs, of course. Travelslovakia.sk.

Luge/bobsled instructor, Whistler, Canada

It’s been called the world’s fastest track, earning notoriety after an Olympic luger from the country of Georgia died after being flung from the track. By the beginning of next winter, the Whistler Sliding Center expects to offer bobsled, luge, and skeleton trial runs on the lower portion of its 1,374-meter-long track. “It’s an unbelievable experience,” says Breton Murphy, the center’s senior communications manager, who tried the skeleton—head-first luge—and clocked in at over 65 mph. (To put that speed in perspective, ski resort luges top out at 40 to 50 mph, while professional competitors in luge and bobsled can reach 85 mph and beyond.)

“It has the same kind of adrenaline rush as bungee jumping or skydiving,” Murphy adds. Riders do not need any prior experience or training. Because you start at the 11th turn, rather than at the top (there are 16 turns total), you don’t have to use your feet to steer, just the forces of gravity. Bobsled tours are led by licensed instructors or ex-Olympians, but for luge, you go solo.

Whistler Sliding Center, 604/402-1401, whistlerslidingcentre.com, currently closed to public but will reopen for tours in June.

Herper, Madras Crocodile Bank

Soham Mukherjee is a herpetologist, a.k.a. a herper, or reptile specialist. At a wildlife rehabilitation center and reptile zoo in southern India, he trains crocs—one of whom he named Psycho—using just a stick. That is, when he’s not breaking up fights or trying to “charm” king cobras and other venomous pythons. The Madras Crocodile Bank draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year to see crocs, snakes, and other dangerous animals up close. Perhaps only fellow herpers appreciate the perils of this line of work. “Crocodiles eat more people each year than any other predator on earth does,” notes Neville Burns, a crocodile keeper at Sydney Wildlife World. “Their jaws can crush the skull of a pig with a single bite. And they can swim twice as fast as any human.”

Madras Crocodile Bank, 011-91/44-2747-2447, madrascrocodilebank.org, admission about 65¢.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36099925/ns/travel-tips/

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Steven Allen, UNICEF for Central and Eastern Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States

Kyiv, 21 June 2010 – UNICEF Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) Steven Allen is visiting Ukraine on 22-24 June 2010. He will discuss results for children in the areas of health and protection in country, as well as opportunities for broadening partnerships that benefit children within new Country Programme of Cooperation for 2012 – 2016 between the Government of Ukraine and UNICEF.

http://www.unicef.org/ukraine/media_4117.html

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9 June 2010, Kyiv, Ukraine, Ministry of Health together with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched an information campaign to support vaccination in Ukraine. During the year, information activities will be taking place to inform Ukrainian parents and general audience about the danger of infectious diseases, and most importantly – vaccination – the most effective way of protection.

Infectious diseases remain one of the five leading causes of infant mortality under one year in Ukraine. In addition, every ninth child, and in total more than a million children under 14 y.o. suffered from an infectious disease (from 2004 to 2008). There was also death and serious complications reported.

However, only 32% of parents believe that vaccination is necessary and safe. But other parents due to the fear of complications refuse to ivaccinate their children, putting them at risk of such infectious diseases as diphtheria, measles, mumps, tetanus, hepatitis B, etc.

“The level of vaccination coverage against some infections has dropped below 70%”, – underlined the Minister of Health of Ukraine Zinoviy Mytnyck. “In the future, it will inevitably lead to epidemic outbreaks of infectious diseases. Raising awareness is essential and important to restore trust in vaccination and return to high levels of vaccination coverage in Ukraine ” – said Minister, commenting on the information campaign beginning.

Due to successful vaccination smallpox was eradicated worldwide. In North and South American continents measles and rubella were eliminated. In 2000, in 135 countries neonatal tetanus was eliminated through immunization of women of childbearing age. And the annual death rate from this disease worldwide has decreased by 75%.

“Refusal of vaccination can lead to dangerous consequences for particular child and for the general population. Polio outbreak in Tajikistan – a lesson to be learned by all of us: infections do not recognize borders “- said UNICEF Representative in Ukraine Yukie Mokuo.”In case of poliomyelitis emerging in Ukraine many children that had not been vaccinated may become disabled or die,” – said Yukie Mokuo.

As part of awareness campaign on protection against infectious diseases dissemination of the information about vaccination is planned through radio and television, as well as the distribution of educational materials in health facilities. To create information materials, including posters and outdoor social advertising, a number of advertising agencies, such as Michurin, Tviga, ML Group, Dialla, Kafein supported the campaign. These agencies worked on the campaign pro bono. The Association of Operators of Outdoor Advertising and Social Advertising Market also supported the campaign.

For more information, please contact:

UNICEF, Anna Sukhodolska, Programme Communication Officer Ministry of Health of Ukraine, Press Service

http://www.unicef.org/ukraine/media_14619.html

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Having more than 1 million student institutions of higher education in Ukraine form a system which considers to be one of the biggest in the world.

In Ukraine you can get higher education in universities (academies, institutes) accredited on 3-4th level.
Schema of the system education of Ukraine(http://www.education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/schema_eng.html)
After 4 years of studying you can get a Bachelor degree, 5 years is for specialists, five and a half or 6 years for a Masters degree. Among all the above mentioned degrees Specialist is the most popular.

You become a student of a university according to the results of entrance exams in July and August.

The academic year beginning on the 1st of September lasts up to the end of July and consists of two terms. All the students go on holidays between two terms: the first term (September – January) the second one (February – June). Summer holidays last for three months on average.

At the end of each term the student takes 3 or 5 examinations and 3 or 5 tests. Successful passing of examinations and tests guarantees the possibility of getting to the second term.

Students have classes everyday except for weekends. They attend lectures, tutorials, work with materials in libraries and resource centres. Higher education course includes work placement, which gives students the possibility to gain experience.

Recognition of qualification gained is the priority of the state. In case of successful graduation of a university student get the Diploma no matter what form of property it refers to. The transcript of the subjects list with marks is attached to the Diploma. Although the state guarantees the conformity to standards of qualification, the employer takes into consideration how authoritative the university is.

Today, you can get the education in 313 universities, academies and institutes of Ukraine of 3-4th level of accreditation. Among them there are 220 state institutions and 93- non state. 54,9 % of state universities students get free education.

Brief historical survey

The first higher education institutions (HEIs) emerged in Ukraine during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The first Ukrainian higher education institution was the Ostrozka School, or Ostrozkiy Greek-Slavic-Latin Collegium, similar to Western European higher education institutions of the time. Established in 1576 in the town of Ostrog, the Collegium was the first higher education institution in the Eastern Slavic territories. The oldest university was the Kyiv Mohyla Academy, first established in 1632 and in 1694 officially recognized by the government of Imperial Russia as a higher education institution. Among the oldest is also the Lviv University, founded in 1661. More higher education institutions were set up in the 19th century, beginning with universities in Kharkiv (1805), Kyiv (1834), Odessa (1865), and Chernivtsi (1875) and a number of professional higher education institutions, e.g.: Nizhyn Historical and Philological Institute (originally established as the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences in 1805), a Veterinary Institute (1873) and a Technological Institute (1885) in Kharkiv, a Polytechnic Institute in Kyiv (1898) and a Higher Mining School (1899) in Katerynoslav. Rapid growth followed in the Soviet period. By 1988 a number of higher education institutions increased to 146 with over 850,000 students[1]. Most HEIs established after 1990 are those owned by private organizations.

Higher education qualifications

Higher education qualifications combine both academic and professional qualifications. This is a very important feature of Ukrainian higher education inherited from its Soviet past. The State Diploma serves as both an educational certificate and a professional licence. Employment is determined by a match between the state determination of the knowledge and skills required for different occupation levels and the state determination of levels of educational qualification. Hence is the correspondence between classification of educational qualification and that of the occupational structure, leading to the introduction of the term ‘educational-proficiency’ level.

The Law on Higher Education (2002) establishes the three-level structure of higher education: incomplete, basic, and complete educational levels with corresponding educational-proficiency levels of Junior Specialist, Bachelor, Specialist and Master.

Junior Specialist

Junior Specialist is an educational-proficiency level of higher education of a person who on the basis of complete secondary education has attained incomplete higher education, special skills and knowledge sufficient for discharging productive functions at a certain level of professional activity, stipulated for initial positions in a certain type of economic activity. The normative period of training makes 2,5-3 years.

Persons with basic secondary education may study in the educational and professional programs of junior specialist’s training, obtaining at the same time complete secondary education.

Bachelor

Bachelor is an educational-proficiency level of higher education of a person who on the basis of complete secondary education has attained basic higher education, fundamental and special skills and knowledge, sufficient to cope with tasks and duties (work) at a certain level of professional activity (in economy, science, engineering, culture, arts, etc.). The normative period of training makes 4 years (240 ECTS credits).

Training specialists of the educational-proficiency level of Bachelor may be carried out according to the shortened programme of studies on the basis of the educational- proficiency level of Junior Specialist.

Specialist

Specialist is an educational-proficiency level of higher education of a person who on the basis of the educational-proficiency level of Bachelor has attained complete higher education, special skills and knowledge, sufficient to cope with tasks and duties (work) at a certain level of professional activity (in economy, science, engineering, culture, arts, etc.). The normative period of training makes 1 year (60 ECTS credits).

Master

Master is an educational-proficiency level of higher education of a person who has attained complete higher education, special skills and knowledge, sufficient to cope with professional tasks and duties (work) of innovative character at a certain level of professional activity (in engineering, busyness administration, pedagogics, arts, etc.).

Training specialists of the educational-proficiency level of Master may also be carried out on the basis of the educational-proficiency level of Specialist. The period of training makes typically 1-1,5 year (60-90 ECTS credits).

During his/her studies at the Master’s level, a student is required to write his/her final work on a selected subject and make its presentation, to be able to collect, analyse and summarize, synthesize and to communicate study and practical material; often knowledge of a foreign language is required.

Training specialists of the educational-proficiency level of Specialist and Master in such fields as medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, teaching is carried out on the basis of complete secondary education within the period of 5-6 years (300-360 ECTS credits) (as is common in Western Europe for state registered professions).

Diplomas and Certificates

Higher education graduates are awarded qualifications of the appropriate educational-proficiency levels and they are granted diplomas of the state format. The Diploma is the State-recognized document which serves as both an educational certificate and a professional licence, confirming the attainment of the appropriate higher educational level and qualification of a certain educational-proficiency level (an academic degree in a field of study and speciality). The Law on Higher Education (2002) establishes the following types of documents that confirm higher education qualifications:

* Dyplom Molodshogo Spetsialista (Diploma/ qualification of Junior Specialist)
* Dyplom Bakalavra (Diploma/ qualification of Bachelor)
* Dyplom Spetsialista (Diploma/ qualification of Specialist)
* Dyplom Magistra (Diploma/ qualification of Master)

International Students

International students get their higher education in universities, academies and institutes, that are not only accredited, but also have a special license to teach foreign students. All the universities from this Guide possess the license. The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine controls the quality of educational services given to foreign students.

International students start their studying with the foundation year. It includes a course of Ukrainian (Russian) language and some of the comprehensive subjects according to the future profession.

Further education is continuing together with Ukrainian students.

Entry Visa

As soon as you get the invitation you have to address the Embassy of Ukraine in your country. There you can find out the information about the list of documents needed to get a student visa.

To get through the passport control you have to show the passport with the visa, the copy of the official invitation and the medical insurance policy.

On reaching the place of study, international students have to be registered in the local authorities within three working days. As a rule, we carry out this procedure as a free service to our applicants.

Holidays

New Year 1st of January
Orthodox Christmas 7th of January
International Women Day 8th of March
Orthodox Easter
Labour Day 1st of May
Victory Day 9th of May
Trinity Sunday
Constitution Day 28th of June
Day of Independence 24th of August

http://www.cvitana.com/holidays-in-ukrainian-universities

System of Higher Education of Ukraine

The structure of the higher education of Ukraine was built up according to the structure of education in the developed countries of the world as determined by UNESCO, UN and other international organizations.

The higher education constitutes integral part of the system of education of Ukraine as provided for by the Law of Ukraine “On Education”. It ensures the fun-damental scientific, professional and practical training by the following educational and qualification degrees: “Junior specialist”, “Bachelor”, “Specialist, Master”.

http://www.google.ru/imgres?imgurl=http://www.education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/cnt_eng.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/higher_educ_eng.html&h=337&w=603&sz=8&tbnid=7v9fbXXbH9banM:&tbnh=75&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Deducation%2Bin%2Bukraine%2Bphoto&hl=ru&usg=__WrZ3u00vvDEuVghPlnx9lx5EEEU=&sa=X&ei=2XUnTP3VN82cOJeQtKQC&ved=0CCUQ9QEwAQ

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The GoodGuide iPhone app offers ratings of environmental impact for thousands of consumer products. This free app covers 50,000 products and even allows you to scan barcodes while shopping.

When you search for or scan a product contained in its database, the GoodGuide gives you a number between 1 and 10 for that product, 10 being the most environmentally friendly. It then breaks that number down into ratings for health, environmental and social impacts. It also provides you with “Behind the Rating” details about why that product earned its rating.

Of course these things are hard to quantify, and no doubt arguments could be made against specific ratings, but it’s good to see someone at least trying to provide shoppers with a tool they can use to evaluate the environmental impact of the products they’re putting in their carts and taking home to their families.

http://gelvin.squarespace.com/green-technology-forum/2010/6/15/goodguide-iphone-app-helps-you-find-eco-friendly-products.html

New ‘Green’ Technologies Make Die Castings Stronger

Test castings made using a conventional runner on left and the narrow, metal-saving ATM runner on the right. (Credit: Mark Fergus)

ScienceDaily (Apr. 20, 2010) — Conventional die castings can be made stronger using new, more environmentally friendly technologies developed by CSIRO.

The two new technologies — a dynamic gating system and the ‘ATM runner system’ — produce high-integrity castings with fine-grained microstructure and low porosity by improving the feed of molten metal into the casting. Both systems are suitable for use with aluminium and magnesium alloys.

“This is accomplished by influencing the flow behaviour of the molten metal, the fill pattern of the die, and subsequent solidification,” says the leader of CSIRO’s research team of metallurgists and casting engineers, Dr Rob O’Donnell.

“Our researchers realised that by changing the way in which molten metal is delivered to the die we could take advantage of the high pressure inherent in the process to make castings with finer microstructure and lower porosity,” Dr O’Donnell says.

The researchers achieved higher quality castings by changing the architecture of the runners (the passages along which molten metal flows into the die) and the gate (the narrow opening to the die cavity).

“Our improved melt delivery systems are cost-effective, can be used with existing casting machines, and can significantly reduce the mass of the metal runner, wasting less metal.

“They represent new ‘green’ die casting technologies, which are low-energy and highly effective.”

Gases captured during the passage of the molten metal into the die cavity cause porosity, which together with voids created during solidification, reduces the quality of the casting.

Die castings with low porosity are stronger and can be successfully heat treated post-casting to improve their mechanical properties.

The dynamic gating system (DGS) incorporates a gate capable of changing its size in response to the pressure of the melt during filling.

X-ray analysis of test castings showed a significant improvement in density in both thicker and thinner areas of the casting, when the dynamic gate was used.

A paper describing the dynamic gating system received the best paper award at the North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) CastExpo10 congress, held in March in Orlando, Florida.

A reviewer of the paper commended the CSIRO researchers for producing a technology with “real-world” relevance to high pressure die casting, saying “This is a technology that has significant promise in the future of our industry.”

ATM technology uses a revolutionary melt delivery system for the high pressure die casting (HPDC) process, which is cheaper to operate than conventional HPDC.

The ATM casting technology has been proven by a number of companies in commercial production, and its effectiveness in reducing both shot weight and reject rates has been demonstrated.

“ATM conditions the melt prior to filling the cavity so that the melt enters the die in a less viscous, ‘runnier’ state,” Dr O’Donnell said.

“As a result, melt flow is improved and separate melt fronts fuse together better when they meet within the casting.”

The outcome is a casting with a more uniform distribution of nucleation sites, a refined, homogenous microstructure, and exceptionally low porosity.

CSIRO seeks commercial partners interested in licensing either the dynamic gating system or the ATM melt delivery system.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100417094404.htm

Environmental technology

Environmental technology (abbreviated as envirotech) or green technology (abbreviated as greentech) or clean technology (abbreviated as cleantech) is the application of the environmental science to conserve the natural environment and resources, and to curb the negative impacts of human involvement. Sustainable development is the core of environmental technologies.

Alternative and clean powerPrinciples:
Green syndicalism
Sustainability
Sustainable design
Sustainable engineeringScientists continue to search for clean energy alternatives to our current power production methods. Some technologies such as anaerobic digestion produce renewable energy from waste materials. The global reduction of greenhouse gases is dependent on the adoption of energy conservation technologies at industrial level as well as this clean energy generation. That includes using unleaded gasoline, solar energy and alternative fuel vehicles, including plug-in hybrid and hybrid electric vehicles.Since electric motors consume 60% of all electricity generated,[citation needed] advanced energy efficient electric motor (and electric generator) technology that are cost effective to encourage their application, such as the brushless wound-rotor doubly-fed electric machine and energy saving module, can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) that would otherwise be introduced to the atmosphere, if electricity is generated using fossil fuels. Greasestock is an event held yearly in Yorktown Heights, New York which is one of the largest showcases of environmental technology in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_technology

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The map at the right – link to full size below – shows ” LINK … the current state of renewable energy in America … a large portion of the country is still dragging their feet in adopting more environmentally friendly means of generating electricity. …”

Pennsylvania ranks 15th
New Jersey ranks 43 rd.

Check out the stats for your state.

Portable solar photovoltaics research into extreme conditions

Industry-academia collaboration results in investment in research through Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which will pursue solar performance under extreme conditions. Remember, DARPA research investments usually translate intosignificant commercial improvements in technology. Ascent Solar has the lead position on this research project, the Flexible High-performance Tandem-junction PV Array. …

… “The significance of the Low-Cost Lightweight Portable Photovoltaics (PoP) is that it will take thin-film, flexible copper-indium-deselenide based solar cells to the next level of performance in order to meet DARPA’s requirements and will accelerate the implementation of thin-film flexible solar cells to commercial and residential markets, said Robert Birkmire, IEC director. “ …

Via University of Delaware: Extreme Solar.

Ascent Solar leads the Flexible High-performance Solar Array project, which will be managed through three gated phases, the first of which is 18 months and has an approximate contract value of $3.8M. The research program is expected to be implemented over the next 54 months. The research goal is to demonstrate low-cost, lightweight photovoltaic power generation that can stand up to extreme conditions and realize power conversion efficiency of 20% or greater by the completion of the program. Ascent release.

Green chemistry targets propylene oxide

Dow Chemical and BASF collaborate to develop efficient process for propylene oxide production and receive Presidential Green Chemistry Award for their efforts. The two companies are strong competitors, yet have joined forces to reduce waste and energy in the synthesis of this key chemical building block. …

… “The Dow-BASF innovation offers distinct economic and environmental benefits when compared to conventional propylene oxide (PO) process technologies.

A joint study conducted by the two companies in 2007 using BASF’s Eco-Efficiency Analysis tool revealed the new HPPO process reduces wastewater by 70 to 80 percent and energy use by approximately 35 percent, compared with existing PO technology.

HPPO technology is also more environmentally friendly because no by-products are produced besides water.

In addition, PO plants using the HPPO technology require up to 25 percent less capital to build than conventional technologies, as they have reduced infrastructure, a smaller physical footprint and simpler raw materials integration.

The two companies successfully started up the first commercial-scale HPPO production plant in 2008 at BASF’s Antwerp, Belgium, facility.

SCG-Dow Group is building a second plant based on this technology, which is scheduled to begin production in Map Ta Phut, Thailand, in 2011. ”

How Solar (photovoltaics) Works

In this illustration of solar energy systems, you can see exactly how the sun’s energy is converted into electricity that is usable by your home or business. Follow the path of energy from the sun, through the pv panels, its conversion to AC electricity by the inverter and finally into the utility grid. Take a look for a detailed explanation of solar energy.

http://www.greentechnolog.com/

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The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP presents Pavlo with a Fellowship Certificate to signify his completion of the 2008 Programme

2008 Fellow, Ukraine

Pavlo works for the Green Party of Ukraine. He was elected as the Vice-Chair in March 2009. The Party has over 55,000 members across the country and is active in all 27 regions. It seeks to promote good governance and a high quality of life in Ukraine, in harmony with the environment. The Party is not currently represented in Parliament, but has over 500 representatives in regional and local councils. Pavlo advises Party representatives on recent environmental developments helping to build their capacity to develop legislation in conjunction with international law.In addition, Pavlo works as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Nature Management and Ecology where he analyses data on the environmental impact of contaminated industrial sites. He is a Board Member of the Northern Alliance for Sustainability where he lobbies on behalf of NGOs at the Commission for Sustainable Development, and in his spare time Pavlo works on a voluntary basis as an adviser to the Youth Environmental League of Prydniprovya.

http://www.johnsmithmemorialtrust.org/web/site/Fellows/FellowsProfiles/Ukraine/PavloKhazan.asp

The Northern Alliance for Sustainability (ANPED) links NGOs working to empower civil society in creating and protecting sustainable communities worldwide.ANPED’s main focus is on sustainable consumption and production, the use of goods and services responding to basic human needs and bringing a better quality of life, while minimizing the use of natural resources, toxic materials and emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle, so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations.

We believe that continued economic growth on a finite planet with an already overtaxed ecosystem accelerates environmental breakdown, intensifies the competition for resources between rich and poor, and deprives future generations of the necessary means to meet their basic needs. Sustainable patterns of consumption and production should therefore be at the heart of sustainable development.We build capacity among Northern civil society organizations through information, knowledge and skill-sharing, and enable their participation in local, national, regional and international decision-making processes on sustainable development. Whereas our network has a worldwide reach, our member organizations are mainly located in the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) regions.Membership of ANPED is open to any NGO working on issues related to sustainable development. ANPED members work on several thematic issues through the ANPED Working Groups, with each Working Group striving to change unsustainable consumption and production patterns from its own angle.

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There are a great many reasons to love America. For one thing, Freedom of Speech remains largely intact in the USA (although the FDA has struck a serious blow to the principle with its ongoing censorship of free speech about nutritional supplements).

We also have a diverse culture of people who are by and large friendly people. This was brought home to me recently when I was traveling through the Gulf Coast region, talking to people on the street about the BP oil spill. Virtually everyone was friendly, and I found I could walk right up to all sorts of people — from the country fisherman in Biloxi Mississippi to the street-drumming entertainers in New Orleans — and they were all happy to chat.

America offers a lot to be thankful for, but there are also some serious problems that are eroding the very things that make America great. Those problems are the subject of my most recent CounterThink Cartoon called “America Today” which portrays six of the most serious problems threatening America’s future.

Below, I explain each of these six big problems and why they threaten the future of America as we know it.

#1: Medicated Drivers
This is one of the most widely ignored problems in America today: While drunk drivers are widely condemned and incarcerated for taking the wheel while inebriated, the epidemic of medicated drivers is largely swept under the rug.

As much as one-third of all automobile accidents involve medicated drivers, I learned from a police captain in Tucson, Arizona. The aggregate harm caused by medicated drivers is now far worse than the harm caused by drunk drivers. Police rarely test drivers for being under the influence of medication even though many medications cause impaired judgment, lengthened reaction times and a loss of hand-eye coordination.

There is currently no national group focused on opposition to medicated drivers, either. This is the big problem on America’s roads that no one is talking about (except NaturalNews and a handful of other forward-thinking bloggers).

Remember: Popping pills and driving don’t mix.

#2: Counterfeit Money Supply
By now, we all know that the Federal Reserve is counterfeiting the U.S. money supply by printing trillions of dollars (creating money out of thin air) to bail out rich Wall Street banksters.

If you or I did this, we’d be arrested for counterfeiting. But when the Fed does it, somehow it’s all okay… even though the Fed isn’t even part of the federal government! Ron Paul was right: Audit the Fed! After all, why should the U.S. money supply be monopolized by a private corporation that doesn’t even answer to the People?

#3: Zombie Population
The U.S. population has abandoned critical thinking skills to such an extent that even those people who manage to think just a little now appear downright brilliant.

Rather than a nation of critical thinkers, we have largely become a nation of zombie consumers who eat what they’re told, buy what they’re told, vote how they’re told and even believe what they’re told rather than thinking for themselves. The result is a fundamental shift towards a “nanny state” where people want their government leaders to take control of their lives rather than deciding things on their own.

This, of course, will only lead us to socialism… the great refuge of lazy minds.

#4: Washington Whores
No, I’m not talking about the prostitutes in Washington D.C. who are probably running a more honest business than the metaphorical whores who sit in our nation’s capitol. They are the politicians who take money from corporations to betray the People by favoring the legislative interests of Big Business.

It’s happening across the board, too, from Big Pharma and Big Tobacco to agriculture, chemicals, food companies, oil firms and defense contractors. All the biggest industries have managed to tilt our elected representatives in their direction, abandoning the needs of the people they claim to represent.

#5: Gunpoint Medicine
If you are a parent in America, it is illegal to refuse to participate in the sick-care system of toxic western medicine. When parents try to protect their children from toxic chemotherapy drugs or vaccines, they are threatened with arrest and imprisonment. Child Protective Services steps in and threatens to steal their children away, and court Judges order parents to subject their children to these toxic therapies or flee and become fugitives from the law. (I’ve documented much of this here on NaturalNews. Just search the website for stories on these topics if you want to learn more.)

It all makes you wonder: How bad does western medicine have to become if it has to force compliance at gunpoint? What kind of system of healing subjects people to the tyranny we’re seeing right now in America’s “sick care” system? The answer is obvious: Western medicine doesn’t work, and as more people walk away from it, the State is increasingly forcing people to subject themselves to its rule as a way to mandate compliance for increased corporate profits.

#6: Toxic Food Supply
I’ve been writing about the toxic food supply since 2003, when my first book Grocery Warning was introduced. (And many people before me were writing about it for decades.) Now, all of a sudden, the mainstream media has become aware of the issue (which is a good thing) and even CNN is running reports about the toxicity of BPA, the “plastics” chemical.

It won’t take too many more years before even mainstream scientists attack chemicals in the food supply in much the same way they once went after Big Tobacco. It doesn’t take much thought to realize that if you want to support a healthy population, there’s no room in the food supply for toxic synthetic chemicals that disrupt hormones, promote cancer and interfere with normal physiological function.

The real surprise will come when scientists one day realize that virtually the entire food supply is filled with toxic chemicals like MSG, aspartame, artificial colors, whiteners and flow agents. Mark my words: They will look back on 2010 in utter shock at how clueless our modern civilization was for feeding ourselves such poisons. (Echoes of the Roman Empire’s lead poisoning come to mind…)

Beyond the six: Pharmaceutical pollution of the waterways and more…
While these six problems certainly present major threats to the future of life in America, there are many other threats that didn’t make it into this particular CounterThink Cartoon.

In particular, there’s the pharmaceutical pollution of our waterways caused by drug factories dumping billions of doses of drugs down the drain. This situation is now so bad that the fish near all major U.S. cities are intoxicated with pharmaceutical chemicals.

We’ve also got other major problems with the political leadership of this country such as the erosion of personal virtue and the prioritizing of selfish gain over the common good. Virtually every elected representative in Washington now focuses most of their effort on staying in power rather than achieving practical advancements for the people who elected them to office.

Without question, America has lost much of what first made it great. But with conscious effort, it can regain its greatness.

I believe the American people have the spirit and the resources to halt the downfall of their country. The question remains, however: Will they choose to turn things around? Or will they instead settle for the path of comfortable degradation?

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/028951_America_money_supply.html

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Are you feeling that’s your sweet friendship just crashed down?…Calm dawn…cool off…If you have a long-lost friend with whom things ended badly, you may be able to make a meaningful reconnection.

Sometimes we need to get sound judgement to manage our personal situation as we just can’t realize it clearly and completely ourselves…it’s useful and really may help to find way out…you know..

Please allow us to offer for your considering the following five-step plan which will help you determine whether or not a particular failed friendship should be saved and, if so, how you can do it. While these specific steps should not be treated as the answer for finding every lost friend back…they may just give a lead for guiding you in your unique journey…

Step One: Count the Cost
First of all you must determine whether your failed friendship should be repaired. An unhealthy relationship is not worth repairing if it forces you to compromise your principles or overthrow your self-respect. You have the right to ask a friend to change if he/ she is making you feel less cared about, less respected, or even worried. Realizing that a friendship no longer works can be a positive step.Please don’t fall into the trap of believing that if you lose a friend you’ll never find another. The opposite may be true: you may not make another friend until you sever your association with an unhealthy person. The point is that just as good friendships can boost your sense of belonging, bad friendships can undermine your security and self-worth.

So carefully consider the price you pay for keeping a faltering friendship alive. And if the cost is too high, make a clean break. If you seek closure in a more direct and responsible way by exploring your feelings together, it is likely to pay off (for both of you) in greater openness in your new friendships.

Step Two: Make Meaningful Contact
If you have decided it’s wise to reestablish contact, you need to write a note or call the person to convey one primary message: “Our friendship is valuable to me, and I miss seeing you. Is there any way we can resolve what stands between us?” That’s all. In making contact the point is simple, to convey your desire and explore their openness to considering a discussion. At this stage, there is no need to go into airing your grievances or even making elaborate apologies. For now, you are simply calling a peace talk to open up honest discussions about bringing resolution to your relationship.

Step Three: Forgive as Best You Can
When someone slights you, offends you, or deeply hurts you, the urge to respond in kind is natural. The problem with this urge is that we don’t know when to stop, we don’t want to balance the scales, we want them tipped in our favor. And once we feel the compensation is satisfactory, our enemy takes his turn at punishing us again. The cycle repeats itself over and over…But…Stop!…here is talk about friendship!…Please, stop and free yourself from a desire to hurt back, put an end to your vindictive spirit and save yourself from further harm. Set your pride aside and try your best to see the situation from the other person’s perspective. If you keep this in mind you will be well on your way to practicing forgiveness instead of trying to balance the scales.

Step Four: Diagnose the Problem
Finding out what went wrong is critically important if we are to learn what caused the problem in the first place—and avoid repeating it…”Everybody’s human”…you know…BUT…we want people to be neater than they are, less complicated. We don’t want to face the fact that people are partially good and partially bad. But most of life, including our friendships, plays variety of colours. And if you don’t accept that, you miss out on a lot of relationships that might have been. Diagnose what’s the problem together and move to the next step. After all, if a friendship can’t survive an honest discussion of differences, that may be a sign that the relationship ought to end.

Step Five: Rebuild Respect
If your friendship is to survive it will ultimately depend on the reviving of respect. “Remove respect from friendship,” said Cicero, “and you have taken away the most splendid ornament it possesses.” Well…let’s beleive the Roman philosopher…and consider two things how to revive respect for a fallen friend.
You begin by noting your friend’s most admirable qualities. Make a list of these qualities of character. The point is not to whitewash your friend’s personality. Some friends, for example, are great when you need a ride to pick up your car from the shop, but no help at all when you’re in despair over a lost love. Once you know a friendship’s limits, it’s easier to enjoy it for what it is without feeling let down about what it’s not.

Next, you need to own up to your end of the relationship by offering a sincere apology for not being the kind of friend you could have been. Identify specific things you did that contributed to the friendship’s failure and confess them to your friend in an apology. Ask for forgiveness…with all your heart sincerely… If you do that, mutual respect is almost certain.

And finally…Some relationships, no matter how hard you try, never recover the joy they once had. But if you feel pain of regret or remorse when you think about a lost friend and do nothing about it, you’ll never know what might have been…Good luck and good friends…You’re really worth it…

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The geographic position, the climate and physiographical setting enhance the richness of flora and fauna of Ukraine, which comprises more than 70,000 species. According to preliminary estimates, ca. 1/3 of species (especially among insects and fungi) still remains undescribed. However, the intensive human influence on biodiversity of Ukraine is apparent. Formation of the present species composition and biodiversity patterns in Ukraine started from the mid-Paleogene and in main features reached its modern state by the mid-Holocene, i.e., 5,000 years ago .

The most floristically rich regions of Ukraine are the Crimean and Carpathian Mountains (2,220 and 2,012 species of vascular plants respectively). The Crimean Mountains are especially rich in endemic taxa (240 to 300 endemics, according to different estimations).

Natural or semi-natural vegetation covers about 29% of Ukraine’s territory and is represented mostly by forests (14.3%), meadows (9.7%), mires (2%), steppes and saline habitats (3%). Almost 1/4 of the species of Ukrainian flora are concentrated in forests (in particular, 15.5% in the broadleaved forests), and ca. 20% – in steppes. Useful plants are also well represented and include medicinal (more than 1000 species), vitamin-producing (200), oil-producing (300), melliferous (more than 1000), tannin- and natural dye-producing (up to 100 species) plants. These taxa are of special interest for economic botany. There are more than 100 species of trees in Ukraine.

Forty-five thousand species of animals inhabit the territory of Ukraine, including the water areas of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The vertebrates include fish (together with subspecies they number about 170 species), amphibians (17 species), reptiles (21 species), birds (about 400 species), and mammals (about 108 species).

The rest of the species are invertebrates (including 35,000 species of insects). A certain number of species of the animals of Ukraine are endemic and subendemic. The hydrofauna of the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and estuary cenoses includes 32 animalspecies of pontocaspian complex. For Ukraine 12 species of invertebrates are endemic. The peculiar centres of endemism in Ukraine are Carpathian and the Crimea.

Conservation and protected territories

As of 1 January 1999 the Nature Reserve Lands of Ukraine include 6,728 territories and objects of 2,354,200 hectares, which amounts to 3.9% of the area of Ukraine.

For the last 6 years (as compared to 1992) the area of nature reserves has increased by 1,037,400 hectares (78.8%).

The number of objects of the Nature Reserve Lands increased significantly in 1998. Six Decrees adopted by the President of Ukraine announced the establishment of new and expansion of existing territories and objects of national significance. Two nature reserves, the Kazantipskyi (450.1 hectares) and Opukskyi (1,592.3 hectares) in the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea, the Danube biosphere reserve (464,022.9 hectares, based on the Nature Reserve “Dunaiski plavni”) in Odesa Region, and Yavoriv national natural park (7,078.6 hectares) in Lviv Region were established; the territory of the Black Sea biosphere reserve was expanded; and a number of sanctuaries and nature relics were announced as protected. A network of nature reserves was announced. In total the Nature Reserve Lands have increased by 108 territories and objects with a total area of 145,220 hectares during 1998.

A list of valuable nature territories with a total area of 6,388,700 hectares which are reserved for the creation of new and expansion of existing nature reserves and sanctuaries of general national importance during 1998-2005 was approved by a Decree of the President of Ukraine of 24 April 1998.

Transboundary protected areas have been established. The creation of interstate protected areas has become a part of Ukraine’s international activities. The regional landscape parks “Stuzhitsia” (Zakarpatti Region) and “Nadsyanskyi” (Lviv Region), which became a part of the trilateral Polish-Slovakian-Ukrainian biosphere reserve “Skhidni Karpaty” have been included into the international network of biosphere reserves.

Preservation of wetlands, mires and water bodies.

Water bodies and remnants of bogs and mires require special conservational attention. Moreover, Ukraine has already joined the Ramsar Convention (1996) and recognizes the country’s responsibility for conservation of 22 water and wetland areas of international importance (total area 688,000 ha) in accordance with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers “On measures for strengthening protection of wetland and mire areas of international importance” (1995). Ukraine intends to increase the areas of protected wetlands, mire and aquatic ecosystems.

Information containing descriptions of 22 wetland areas of international significance have been prepared and transferred to the Bureau of the Ramsar Convention. Recognition of the international importance of these areas have been confirmed by issuing special certificates. Thus the procedure of Ukraine joining the legal field of the Ramsar convention has been completed.

Conservation of species.

The measures for protection of species listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine are actively implemented. Ukraine also participates in the implementation of the European action plans aimed at protection of 12 of 23 endangered species of birds, according to the provisions of the Bern Convention.

Sectors involved in the use of nature
Use and restoration of forest resources.

Use of forest resources in Ukraine is classified into the so-called general and special use. The general use includes free access of citizens to forests, free of charge use of recreational resources, non-commercial collecting flowers, berries, fruits, mushrooms, etc.

The special use is performed by specialized forest-using bodies and includes all aspects of commercial use of forests, including timber and non-timber resources.

Restoration of forests in Ukraine is performed mostly by creating forest plantations. One half of Ukrainian forests are artificial; the percentage of artificial forests and forest plantations is especially high in the steppe zone (more than 60% of all forests in the region).

At the present stage of development of the Ukrainian society, the forestry practice is shifting from “resource-oriented” towards “biosphere-oriented” approaches.Forest ecosystems are regarded primarily as important components of the biosphere, which are crucial for stabilization and restoration of the natural equilibrium. A permanent solution lies in the sustainable use of forest resources, intensification of forest renovation, and efficient protection of forests. This will require the following measures: expanding forested areas by means of gradual estrangement (reservation) of agricultural lands of low productivity with their subsequent afforestation (in areas where forests grew initially) or formation of meadows (in regions where forests were absent in the past); rational, or even restricted, use of timber and wood in the consumption sphere (to be achieved partly via optimization of the structure of forestry sector).

Medicinal herbs .

Ukraine is very rich in natural resources of valuable plant species, including medicinal herbs. However, the resource potential of numerous valuable species is limited, so identification of potential resources of valuable species and development of principles for their sustainable use are of national significance.

Exhaustion of natural phytoresources of many valuable species growing in Ukraine may be explained by a lack of adequate coordination between the main ministries and other central government bodies responsible for the resources in question, procurement organizations and the pharmacological industry.

The proposals for establishing reservates and preserves with special regimes of use of medicinal plants are being developed. Regimes of such reservates will require limited use of plant resources, as well as research and practical measures aimed at renovation of populations of medicinal plants and establishment of semi-wild plantations. It is especially important for taxa listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine, such as Adonis vernalis L., Astragalus dasyanthus Pall., Galanthus nivalis L., species of the genus Pulsatilla Mill., etc., which are very important to the pharmaceutical industry.

Game hunting and measures for protection and restoration of game animals.

Analysis of data on populational dynamics of main game animals during 1991–1998 gives evidence on some stabilization of number of deer and of the largest in the world free-living population of European bison; populations of foxes and hares are growing. As compared to previous years, populations and numbers of game kills of elks and wild hogs declined).

Ukraine traditionally performs a complex of biotechnical measures for stabilization and recovery of populations of game animals (breeding in captivity with subsequent release in new and scarcely populated regions; re-introduction and acclimatization). For example, 75 ungulates and 858 fur-bearing animals, as well as 12,000 game birds (including 7,000 pheasants) were released in 1995. Unfortunately, illegal hunting and fishing (poaching) continues to increase due to such evident reasons as the worsening financial and economical situation of game land users, unsatisfactory material and technical support for nature conservation bodies, and the declining quality of living of an overwhelming majority of the country’s population.

Agriculture.

Agricultural land occupies 72% of the country’s territory, out of which 69% is arable land, including 54.4% of tillage, 0.4% of virgin land, 1.6% of perennial plantations, 3.8% of hayfields and 9.1% of pasturelands.

In comparison with 1997, the area of the arable land decreased by 27,800 hectares, with the area of tillage being reduced by 223,400 hectares, the area of perennial plants by 37,500 hectares, and that of hayfields by 11,500 hectares.

A sizable area – 159,000 hectares is occupied by radioactively contaminated arable lands, which are not used for agricultural production, plus 161,400 hectares of deteriorated land.

In 1998 the process of the land privatization was continued. As of 1 January 1999 the state possessed 48.8% of the total land, collective agricultural enterprises owned 46.0%, and private owners possessed 5.2% of all land.

Fisheries, conservation and restoration of fish resources.

According to the fisheries statistics, a trend towards decline of catches of fish and other marine and freshwater living organisms was observed in 1991–1998. It is caused mainly by degradation of habitats due to pollution of coastal aquatories, decline of water quality and critical levels of freshwater flow to the Black and Azov Seas. Alien marine animals also cause serious problems and threaten native species and ecosystems.

Today the state of the fish industry is first of all determined by the difficult economic situation, which becomes even more complex because of considerable ecological (anthropological) consequences.

One of the main causes of detriment to stocks of natural water resources is a considerable worsening of the water quality.
The quality of water in the main waterway Dnieper with its cascade of reservoirs has deteriorated sharply (coloration, iron and manganese content increased, oxygen content decreased), and specialists forecast that the ecological complications will persist or become worse in the years ahead.

http://enrin.grida.no/biodiv/biodiv/national/ukraine/trends/tr2.htm

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Dates: 17th – 23rd of July, 2010
Place: Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine
Organiser: MELP (Youth and Environment League of Prydniprovya) in cooperation with Youth and Environment Europe
Contact person: Ivliev Kyrylo kyryll.ivlev@gmail.com

We invite young motivated and active people to take part in the training course “Ambassadors for Sustainability. Renewable Energy and Climate Change Dimensions” organized by MELP (Youth and Environment League of Prydniprovya) in cooperation with Youth and Environment Europe.

7-days programme of the training course will include many kinds of activities, such as seminars, lectures, workshops, outdoor activities etc.

The purposes of this programm are to improve understanding of the ideas of discussed issue from various points of view by participants, to share accumulated experience of invited experts and to facilitate following cooperation among the project participants in the sphere of environmental protection.

The training course will take place in the Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine in the period from the 17-th to the 23-rd of July, 2010.

Application form

Training Course “Youth Ambassadors for Sustainable Living. Renewable Energy and Climate Change Dimensions”
17-th – 23-rd of July 2010
APPLICATION FORM
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION 10th June 2010
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Note! Food and accommodation is covered. Part of the travel costs (max. 70%) will be covered, based on the conditions of most ecological and economical means of transport.
PLEASE RETURN TO melp.training@gmail.com
FOR THE ATTENTION OF Kyrylo Ivliev
no later than 10 June 2010
FAX: +38 056 3709573
E-mail: envi@melp.dp.ua

Organizers of the training course both MELP and YEE have a long history and since the beginning of their establishment have been constantly dealing with the issues of sustainable development and environmental protection that makes sure the project will be carried out on the highest level and, of course, will be interesting and useful for its participants.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact the International Coordinator of Youth Environmental League of Prydniprovya Ivliev Kyrylo kyryll.ivlev@gmail.com

In the name of MELP and YEE offices

Kyrylo Ivliev
International Coordinator of MELP
External Relations Officer and Vice-Chair Person of YEE

http://www.yeenet.eu/index.php/call-for-partners/yee-call-for-parners/293-training-course-ukraine

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“

Ukraine lies in the central portion of Europe, occupying the southwestern and southern parts of the East European Plain (more than 94% of the area). The country stretches 1,316 kilometers (km) from west to east (from 22 to 40 degrees E) and almost 900 km from north to south (from 44 to 52 degrees N). The total area of Ukraine is 603,550 square kilometers.

Three main physiographical zones can be recognized within the flatland portion of Ukraine: mixed forests (Ukrainian Polissya), forest-steppe, and steppe. The highland and montane regions of Ukraine include the Ukrainian Carpathians in the west and the Crimean Mountains in the southern part of the country. The highest altitudes within the plain part of Ukraine reach 300–475 m above sea level (a.s.l.); the highest peaks are Hoverla (2061 m) in the Carpathians and Roman-Kosh (1542 m) in the Crimean Main Range. Almost all of the territory of Ukraine lies within the temperate climatic zone, with the exception of the Crimean South Coast, which belongs to the submediterranean zone and shows some subtropical climatic features. The average temperatures of January vary from -8 degrees Centigrade in the northeastern part to +2 or +4 degrees Centigrade in the southern part (the South Coast of Crimea). The average July temperature varies in these regions from +18–19 to +23–24 degrees Centigrade respectively. The annual precipitation in the northwestern plains is ca. 600–700 mm; the southeastern steppe regions receive as little as 300 mm of rainfall a year. Yet, in the mountains there are regions in which up to 1000–1200 mm (the Crimea) or 1600 mm (the Carpathians) of rain falls annually.

The water resources of Ukraine include rivers, lakes, ponds, reservoirs, swamps and mires, and underground waters. There are more than 22,000 rivers in Ukraine; their total length is more than 170,000 km. The main rivers are: the Dnipro (= Dnieper) with its largest tributaries the Prypyat and the Desna; the Dunai (= Danube), the Dnister, the Pivdenny Bug (= Southern Bug), the Zahidny Bug (= Western Bug), and the Siversky Dinets (= Siversky Donets). Almost all these rivers belong to the Black and Azov Seas basins; only 4% of Ukrainian rivers flow to the Baltic Sea. The water regime of many rivers is deeply transformed by artificial water reservoirs. The largest of them (a cascade of six reservoirs) are on the Dnipro. Ukraine has more than 3,000 lakes and estuaries (coastal salt lakes, limans) covering a total area of 200,000 hectares (ha). Forty lakes are comparatively large, covering an area of more than 10 square km each. The largest lakes are the Svityaz and the Turske in the northwestern part of the Ukrainian Polissya. The largest estuary lake is the Dnister Liman. The coastal lines of the Black and Azov Seas in Ukraine stretch for 2800 km.

Soils of Ukraine are diverse; approximately 650 types and varieties of soil are currently recognized by soli scientists. The most fertile soils, chernozems (black soil), occupy ca. 60% of all agricultural lands of the country, especially in the forest-steppe and steppe zones. Arable lands cover 57.5% of the country’s territory.

Starting from the prehistoric times of the Tripillya (= Tripolye) culture, the basic mode of use of natural resources in Ukraine was agriculture, the cultivation of crops. This is clearly reflected in the nation’s mentality, its attitude and profound respect for nature.

However, there have been examples of some extremities and abuses in the use of nature and natural resources in Ukraine. These were especially dramatic at the end of the XIX century and in the first half of the XX century, when land resources were used in an unwise and exhaustive way. The steppes were extensively transformed into arable lands; new mines and quarries for developing deposits and extracting minerals were created; new industrial objects were created, etc. According to expert evaluations by O. Subtelny, Ukraine provided ca. 70% of raw materials in the former Russian Empire, but only 15% of goods production.

A very important factor in changing the society-environment relationships in the former Russian Empire was created by changes in the land use structure as a result of implementation of Stolypin’s land reform in 1909 (Note: P. A. Stolypin, 1862–1911, Russian statesman and political reformer; Russian Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs from 1906 to 1911). In this period, every peasant had an opportunity to become a landowner; only forests, meadows, wetlands and water bodies were usually retained as community ownership. This land reform was especially successful and popular in Ukraine. It promoted independent farming and traditional Ukrainian modes of a rural economy, including traditional land use, such as rotation and alternation of crops, better agricultural production, use of natural fertilizers. At the same time, the reform stimulated a strong agricultural expansion resulting in destruction of forests, ploughing of virgin lands, and devastation of some other natural ecosystems.

Negative changes in the environment during a rapid economic development of Russian Empire caused a certain concern among scientists and the general public that led to development of nature conservation activities, especially in Ukraine. The first nature reserve in the country (Russian Empire) has been created in Ukraine. It was the well-known steppe reserve Askania-Nova. This was soon followed by the Pilyavin Reserve in Volhynia; Stuzhytsya, Tysa, Knyazh-Dvir, Pip Ivan Marmaroshsky (the Carpathians) and some other protected territories, e.g. in the Vorskla River valley.

Unfortunately, after the well-known events of 1917, “new” methods and modes were introduced into the national economy, which were often in conflict with both traditional and scientifically justified approaches to the use of natural resources. The process of “industrialization” in the USSR was in fact aimed primarily at extensive, wasteful use of both natural and human resources. The total obligatory collectivization forcefully introduced into agricultural sectors in 1929 resulted in a dramatic decline and degradation of agricultural production. One of the tragic results of this policy was the terrible famine in Ukraine in 1932–1933. Despite all political proclamations, slogans and calls “to improve and conquer nature”, traditional land use methods were lost, and the natural stability and equilibrium of the environment were severely violated. Nature conservation actions were very limited in scope. The main features of the Ukrainian mentality, love of the native land and respect for nature, were also destroyed.

The Decree of the Soviet Government “On the plan for planting field-protecting forests and forest shelter belts, introduction of grassland crop rotation, creation of ponds and water bodies in order to ensure high and stable harvests in the steppe and forest-steppe regions of the European part of the USSR” (1948) and some other similar decrees were intended to signify the overwhelming triumph of the “new ideology” in using nature and natural resources. Indeed, it was a step forward, if we consider afforestation efforts (more than 1,000,000 ha of field-protecting forests and 430,000 shelter belts). However, all these measures were implemented with the usual Soviet gigantomania, and they greatly ignored basic laws of nature and traditional land use practices. In addition, some protected natural territories in Ukraine were liquidated. The same years were marked by a campaign to combat so-called “harmful animals and pests”. The administrative and bureaucratic approach favoured gigantic projects of nature transformation. Construction of huge dams and water reservoirs on the Dnipro is a good example; it resulted in considerable losses of lands that were extremely valuable from agricultural, ecological and cultural viewpoints. Ambitious plans were implemented for irrigation, amelioration and “better use” of land resources (use of chemical fertilizers, pest control chemicals, etc; the so-called “chemisation of agriculture”). The unrestricted desire to expand the areas of arable lands resulted in the virtual disappearance of ca. 300 small rivers in Ukraine, as well as in land erosion and black dust storms.

The nuclear catastrophe at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant on 26 April 1986 was the ultimate point of the ecological disaster in Ukraine. The Chornobyl aftermaths extend far beyond strictly environmental issues to a whole complex of socioeconomic, medical, biological, psychological, ethical, ideological and cultural problems. The Chornobyl catastrophe emphasizes the close ties between the ethnos and environment, and the tragic results caused by violation and destruction of these ties. In the mid-1980s Ukraine was at the brink of ecological crisis.

The right of Ukrainian citizens to a favorable environment was first proclaimed in the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine. Starting from 1991, independent Ukraine is forming its environmental policy as a part of the national policy.

An outline of the present state of the environment Land.

State Committee for Statistics of Ukraine, the land resources of Ukraine mounted to 60.4 million hectares at the beginning of 1999.

The changes in the structure and area of land resources are taking place during a process of allocation of land for forming protective forest plantations and field-protecting forest strips, construction of anti-erosion hydrotechnical structures, silt-catching basins and river-bank reinforcements to protect agricultural lands, and the recultivation of deteriorated lands. The decrease of the tillage area also took place during a process of turning heavily eroded, swamped and flooded areas into hayfields and pasturelands.

Forests.

According to the latest forest inventory as of 1 January 1998, the forest resource area in Ukraine is 10.8 million hectares, 9.4 million hectares of which are covered with forest vegetation. Percentage of forest area is 15.6%.

Total timber stands in forests are estimated at 1,736 mill mі. Average timber stock per hectare of forest area is 185 mі. The stock of matured and overmatured forest stands is 237 mі. Average increment per hectare of forest area is 3.8 mі.

Forests of the first group account for 55.8% of the total forest area. The rest is forest of the second group. Coniferous trees account for 42% of the forest area, hard-leafed for 13.3%, other tree species for 0.5%, and bushes for 0.4%.

In terms of forest areas and timber stands Ukraine is experiencing a shortage of forests.

Almost all of the forests of Ukraine are situated in zones of negative impact from industrial pollution. Much harm was done to forests by the Chernobyl catastrophe. More than 3,500,000 ha of forests have been affected by radioactive contamination. During recent years, the forests of Ukrainian Polissya (forest zone) provide considerably less timber and non-timber (mushrooms, wild berries and nuts, medicinal plants, etc.) production than before the catastrophe.

Karst and erosion.

About 30% of Ukraine’s territory is affected by karst processes, including 27% of lands with open karst. These processes are especially active in the Volhynian, Ternopil, Vinnytsya and Mykolayiv Regions, and in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. More than 50% of the area of disturbed slopes is affected by landslips.

Water resources and wetlands.

In 1998 the volumes of water used by main sectors of economy decreased and were:

The most essential water consumers are:

industry – 5,899 million m3, agriculture – 3,571 million m 3 and municipal services – 3,441million m 3.

Now natural mires and bogs cover not less than 2% of Ukraine’s territory. Only in the northern part of the country (Polissya) this figure reaches 6%.

Seas.

Technogenous impact on the natural processes of the Black and Azov Seas shoreline development, especially near large seaports, river deltas and large cities, is accompanied by active abrasion, land degradation, and doing great damage to ecologically and recreationally valuable territories.

http://enrin.grida.no/biodiv/biodiv/national/ukraine/state/st2.htm

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Start-up Joule Unlimited plans to open a test facility later this year that will use micro-organisms, fed only sunlight and carbon dioxide, to make diesel fuel.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based company, which changed its name from Joule Biotechnologies, said on Tuesday that it has secured $30 million to build the plant in Texas where it is already testing ethanol production. The money for this round came from existing funder Flagship Ventures as well as institutional and private investors.

A diagram of how a Joule facility would work with bioreactors growing micro organisms with sunlight and CO2 in water. A separator removes the end product–liquid fuel or chemicals.
(Credit: Joule Unlimited)

Joule is a biotechnology company that has genetically engineered a photosynthetic micro-organism, which it has yet to disclose, to excrete hydrocarbons. Unlike biofuels processes, the company’s bioreactors don’t grow biomass that’s later converted–either by extracting oil from algae or using enzymes to make ethanol, for example–into a desired chemical. Instead, the micro-organisms grow in water, which is circulated through a closed vessel. The fuels are then separated from the solution.

Joule president and CEO Bill Sims calls its technology and “above-ground oil well” because it can make diesel, ethanol, or other chemicals. The process is designed to work with different types of water, including seawater, brackish water, or waste water.

The company’s activities this year are focused on testing its process to make diesel and ethanol. Next summer, it plans to build a larger demonstration facility for diesel at its current location and then start building a commercial facility in 2012, with a goal of producing diesel in 2013.

“This is quite doable. The reason we were able to attract money was not just because the story is there. The people came in and looked at what we had and the potential outcome,” said Sims. “At a minimum, it’s transformational. It could be world-changing.”

In the long term, the plan is to use flue gases from a coal or cement factory as a source of carbon dioxide. Water would come from underground saline aquifers, Sims said.

Sims said that Joule’s technology is many times more productive than biomass processes, with the company’s ethanol targeted at 25,000 gallons per acre per year and diesel at 15,000 gallons per acre per year. Its financial target is to make fuels at $30 per barrel.

Although the idea has promise and the company was able to gain further funding, Joule engineers still need to improve the performance of its micro-organism. Specifically, they are tweaking micro-organisms to produce more of the desired product, Sims said.

There is also business risk. Although the fuel Joule plans to make is compatible with diesel engines, there will likely be resistance from incumbent providers because the process is such a break from existing practices, Flagship Ventures CEO Noubar Afeyan told Technology Review magazine.

“The acceptance in the industry for such a dramatic non fossil fuel replacement will take some years,” Afeyan said. He projected that over the next five years, there will be dedicated diesel facilities done at “the enterprise level.” Over the next five or 10 years, he expects there to be broader use because the process is not limited by land.

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State of Mind

Happiness is ephemeral, subject to the vagaries of everything from the weather to the size of your bank account.

We’re not suggesting that you can reach a permanent state called “happiness” and remain there. But there are many ways to swerve off the path of anxiety, anger, frustration, and sadness into a state of happiness once or even several times throughout the day. Here are 20 ideas to get you started. Choose the ones that work for you. If tuning out the news or making lists will serve only to stress you further, try another approach.

1. Practice mindfulness. Be in the moment. Instead of worrying about your checkup tomorrow while you have dinner with your family, focus on the here and now — the food, the company, the conversation.

2. Laugh out loud. Just anticipating a happy, funny event can raise levels of endorphins and other pleasure-inducing hormones and lower production of stress hormones. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, tested 16 men who all agreed they thought a certain videotape was funny. Half were told three days in advance they would watch it. They started experiencing biological changes right away. When they actually watched the video, their levels of stress hormones dropped significantly, while their endorphin levels rose 27 percent and their growth hormone levels (indicating benefit to the immune system) rose 87 percent.

3. Go to sleep. We have become a nation of sleep-deprived citizens. Taking a daily nap or getting into bed at 8 p.m. one night with a good book — and turning the light out an hour later — can do more for your mood and outlook on life than any number of bubble baths or massages.

4. Hum along. Music soothes more than the savage beast. Studies find music activates parts of the brain that produce happiness — the same parts activated by food or sex. It’s also relaxing. In one study older adults who listened to their choice of music during outpatient eye surgery had significantly lower heart rates, blood pressure, and cardiac workload (that is, their heart didn’t have to work as hard) as those who had silent surgery.

5. Declutter. It’s nearly impossible to meditate, breathe deeply, or simply relax when every surface is covered with papers and bills and magazines, your cabinets bulge, and you haven’t balanced your checkbook in six months. Plus, the repetitive nature of certain cleaning tasks — such as sweeping, wiping, and scrubbing — can be meditative in and of itself if you focus on what you’re doing.

6. Just say no. Eliminate activities that aren’t necessary and that you don’t enjoy. If there are enough people already to handle the church bazaar and you’re feeling stressed by the thought of running the committee for yet another year, step down and let someone else handle things.

7. Make a list. There’s nothing like writing down your tasks to help you organize your thoughts and calm your anxiety. Checking off each item provides a great sense of fulfillment.

8. Do one thing at a time. Edward Suarez, Ph.D., associate professor of medical psychology at Duke, found that people who multitask are more likely to have high blood pressure. Take that finding to heart. Instead of talking on the phone while you fold laundry or clean the kitchen, sit down in a comfortable chair and turn your entire attention over to the conversation. Instead of checking e-mail as you work on other projects, turn off your e-mail function until you finish the report you’re writing. This is similar to the concept of mindfulness.

9. Garden. Not only will the fresh air and exercise provide their own stress reduction and feeling of well-being, but the sense of accomplishment that comes from clearing a weedy patch, watching seeds turn into flowers, or pruning out dead wood will last for hours, if not days.

10. Tune out the news. For one week go without reading the newspaper, watching the news, or scanning the headlines online. Instead, take a vacation from the misery we’re exposed to every day via the media and use that time for a walk, a meditation session, or to write in your journal.

Block and Focus

11. Take a dog for a walk. There are numerous studies that attest to the stress-relieving benefits of pets. In one analysis researchers evaluated the heart health of 240 couples, half of whom owned a pet. Those couples with pets had significantly lower heart rates and blood pressure levels when exposed to stressors than the couples who did not have pets. In fact, the pets worked even better at buffering stress than the spouses did.

12. Scent the air. Research finds that the benefits of aromatherapy in relieving stress are real. In one study people exposed to rosemary had lower anxiety levels, increased alertness, and performed math computations faster. Adults exposed to lavender showed an increase in the type of brain waves that suggest increased relaxation. Today you have a variety of room-scenting methods, from plug-in air fresheners to essential oil diffusers, potpourri, and scented candles.

13. Ignore the stock market. Simply getting your quarterly 401(k) statement can be enough to send your blood pressure skyrocketing. In fact, Chinese researchers found a direct link between the daily performance of the stock market and the mental health of those who closely followed it. Astute investors know that time heals most financial wounds, so give your investments time — and give yourself a break.

14. Visit a quiet place. Libraries, museums, gardens, and places of worship provide islands of peace and calm in today’s frantic world. Find a quiet place near your house and make it your secret getaway.

15. Volunteer. Helping others enables you to put your own problems into perspective and also provides social interaction. While happy people are more likely to help others, helping others increases your happiness. One study found that volunteer work enhanced all six aspects of well-being: happiness, life satisfaction, self-esteem, sense of control over life, physical health, and depression.

16. Spend time alone. Although relationships are one of the best antidotes to stress, sometimes you need time alone to recharge and reflect. Take yourself out to lunch or to a movie, or simply spend an afternoon reading, browsing in a bookstore, or antiquing.

17. Walk mindfully. You probably already know that exercise is better than tranquilizers for relieving anxiety and stress. But what you do with your mind while you’re walking can make your walk even more beneficial. In a study called the Ruth Stricker Mind/Body Study, researchers divided 135 people into five groups of walkers for 16 weeks. Group one walked briskly, group two at a slow pace, and group three at a slow pace while practicing “mindfulness,” a mental technique to bring about the relaxation response, a physiological response in which the heart rate slows and blood pressure drops. This group was asked to pay attention to their footsteps, counting one, two, one, two, and to visualize the numbers in their mind. Group four practiced a form of tai chi, and group five served as the control, changing nothing about their lives. The group practicing mindfulness showed significant declines in anxiety and had fewer negative and more positive feelings about themselves. Overall they experienced the same stress-reducing effects of the brisk walkers. Better yet, the effects were evident immediately.

18. Give priority to close relationships. One study of more than 1,300 men and women of various ages found that those who had a lot of supportive friends were much more likely to have healthier blood pressure, cholesterol levels, blood sugar metabolism, and stress hormone levels than those with two or fewer close friends. Women, and to a lesser extent men, also seemed to benefit from good relationships with their parents and spouses. Studies also find that people who feel lonely, depressed, and isolated are three to five times more likely to get sick and die prematurely than those who have feelings of love, connection, and community.

19. Take care of the soul. In study after study, actively religious people are happier and cope better with crises, according to David Myers, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. For many people faith provides a support community, a sense of life’s meaning, feelings of ultimate acceptance, a reason to focus beyond yourself, and a timeless perspective on life’s woes. Even if you’re not religious, a strong spirituality may offer similar benefits.

20. Count your blessings. People who pause each day to reflect on some positive aspect of their lives (their health, friends, family, freedom, education, etc.) experience a heightened sense of well-being.

http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/20-simple-ways-to-get-happy/article16181-3.html

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Green technologies’ implementation for integration of the environmental and social concerns to the state policy is one of the priorities for contemporary Ukraine in terms of European integration process. A challenge towards sustainable Europe is the Waste Policy in Ukraine. It is well known, that more then 30 billion of tons of waste is already accumulated in the country or 50 thousands tons per 1 square kilometre. The target area of the work is Dnipropetrovsk region, which is one of the most unsustainable territories in Europe, where accumulated more than 9 billion of tons of industrial waste. The region produces 42% of black metallurgy, contains 14% of chemical industries and produces 8% of machine building in Ukraine. Municipal landfill is a common practice for different cities and rural territories in Ukraine. [1]

According to modern definition green technologies is the application of the environmental science to conserve the natural environment and resources, and to curb the negative impacts of human involvement. Sustainable development is the core of green technologies. When applying sustainable development as a solution for environmental issues, the solutions need to be socially equitable, economically viable, and environmentally sound. [2, 3]

Disposing of waste in a landfill involves burying waste to dispose of it, and this remains a common practice in different regions of Ukraine. Poorly-managed landfills create a number of environmental impacts such as wind-blown litter, attraction of vermin, and generation of toxic liquids. Other products of organic waste are methane and carbon dioxide which cause the serious risk of dangerous climate change. At the same time advanced green technologies are not popular in Ukraine.

The methods to calculate pay-back time and do cost benefit analysis are not commonly used. Another product of landfills is gas (mostly composed of methane and carbon dioxide), which is produced as organic waste breaks down anaerobically. This gas creates problems, kills surface vegetation, and moreover it is a greenhouse gas.

In that conditions it is necessary to develop multi-sectoral activity for promotion of the green waste management system in Dnipropetrovsk region. Promotion of sustainable way of living in terms of implementation of the environmental national legislation and development of regional strategies and policies is required. Citizens should to be more concern with environmental protection, sustainable production and consumption, recycling, waste management and energy saving.

The purpose of the work is to create the favourable environment for development of the green waste management system according to the modern concept. The concept in terms of waste minimisation includes reducing, reusing and recycling. It is directed to extract the maximum practical benefits from products towards minimum amount of waste.

One of the essential strategic part of the concept is Extended Producer Responsibility, whichpromotes the integration of all costs associated with products throughout their life cycle, including disposal into the market price of the product. This means that the enterprises are required to be responsible for the products after their useful life as well as during manufacture. Polluter pays for the damage caused to the environment – this is Polluter Pays Principle – waste generator has to pay for its appropriate disposal. [4]

Talking about the strategy of recycling we have to define what kind of recycling should be developed? The process of extracting resources or value from waste is generally referred to recycling as recover or reuse the material. There are different methods by which waste is recycled: the raw materials may be extracted, and the calorific content of the waste may be converted to electricity.

The process of extracting resources or value from waste is generally referred to as recycling, meaning to recover or reuse the material. There are different methods by which waste material is recycled: the raw materials may be extracted and reprocessed, or the calorific content of the waste may be converted to electricity.

We would like to describe the energy recovering ways. The energy content of waste products can be utilised by using them directly as a combustion fuel, or indirectly by processing them into another type of fuel. Recycling through thermal treatment ranges from using waste as a fuel source for cooking or heating, to fuel for boilers to generate steam and electricity in a turbine. Pyrolysis and gasification are two related forms of thermal treatment where waste materials are heated to high temperatures with limited oxygen availability. [4, 5]

Physical reprocessing refers to the widespread collection and reuse of everyday waste materials. These are collected and sorted into common types so that the raw materials from which the items are made can be reprocessed into new products. Material for recycling may be collected separately from general waste using dedicated bins or sorted directly from mixed waste streams.

Biological reprocessing is important component of the system. Organic waste materials (plant material, food scraps, paper products) can be recycled using biological composting and digestion processes to decompose the organic matter. The resulting organic material is then recycled as mulch or compost for agricultural or landscaping purposes. In addition, waste gas from the process (such as methane) can be used for generating electricity.

The activity of the work should combine scientific, industrial and public work.Investigation on waste management market in the region will be targeted to implementation of the recycling technologies on the regional level. Drafting proposals for regional waste management program will be a result of the research.

The research is the essential part of the work. It includes investigation on how to decouple waste increasing (in all sectors) from economic growth and put more emphasis on waste prevention and re-use and how to secure the investment in infrastructure needed to divert waste from landfill, cost benefit analysis and the development methods to calculate pay-back time for investments. Environmental benefit from investment, to recycling of resources and recovery of energy will beinvestigated as well. [5]

Another part of the work is promoting waste recycling for consumers by increasing level of knowledge of local community. We prove that both business and individual households will have the opportunity to reduce their own waste, purchase products and services that generate less waste and reduce environmental impacts.

Capacity building, training, discussions, advocacy and expertise are common methods for raising awareness of all sectors, including government. Local and regional authorities should be engaged into the process to tackle unsustainable patterns with policy instruments using UK good experience, information and skills in preparation and implementation strategies and policies. Local and regional government will enable the compliance with international agreements (Landfill Directive) and Ukrainian national legislation on waste management. As a long term target for our local authorities could be providing convenient recycling services for their residents and commercial customers and advice on how to reduce waste. [4, 5]

Involving management of industrial enterprises has to broad their vision on possible environmental-friendly development of their enterprises, enable to participate in different programmes and projects on waste management and recycling. Important component of the work is developing partnership between Ukrainian and UK enterprises. Industrial enterprises have to make products using more recycled materials and less newly extracted raw materials. They have to produce products that are less wasteful and take responsibility for the environmental impact of their products throughout their life. This includes reducing of packaging. [6, 7, 8]

Authorities, public concerned, experts and business form Ukraine and from UK should be involved through participation in the events, investigation process and negotiations, where stakeholders’ interests will be determined for further effective collaboration to develop large-scale industrial and building projects.

What outputs and outcomes of the work will we achieve? Increased waste prevention and re-use, enhanced investment in waste management infrastructure, established recycling of resources and recovery of energy, Improved recycling services for public and commercial customers, involved UK & Ukraine different parties (authorities, public concerned, experts and business), achieved effective collaboration for developing large-scale industrial and construction projects.

We also taking into account key risks: unstable political situation in the City Council, City Administration, absence of clear vision of the local authorities concerning development of the waste management, rapid increasing of the lands cost, conflicts between regional and local authorities, different approaches of regional and local government regarding the waste taxes, absence of clear tenders procedures on waste market, different interests and opinions of citizens concerning waste management issue.

Nevertheless we are confident that only green technologies are the key principles for governmental policy of the waste management in Dnipropetrovsk region as well as in Ukraine. Its promotion and implementation will support Ukraine in the European integration processes.

Concerning waste management policy in Europe, Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: “Uncontrolled disposal of waste and untreated urban waste water present serious hazards, which is one of the reasons rules have been adopted by the EU to ensure the highest levels of protection for citizens and the environment.” [8].

References

1.Методические подходы к выбору стратегии устойчивого развития территории. Под научн. Ред. А.Г.Шапаря. Днепропетровск, 1996.

2.http://wikipedia.org. Wikipedia. The free encyclopedia, 2009

3.http://zeleni.biz. Ukrainian innovative company Green Technologies, 2009

4.Waste Strategy for England 2007. Executive Summary. Published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. London, 2008

5.Consultation on the Incentives for Recycling by Households. Published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. London, 2007

6.Sustainable development of Prydniprovya region. Strategy, indicators and action plans. A.Lytvynenko, P.Khazan, O.Osborne, J.Savage, O.Angurets. MELP/West Den. Dnipropetrovsk, 2003

7. Програма дій „Порядок денний на ХХІ століття” / К.: Інтелсфера, 2000

8.http://europa.eu. Official portal of European Union, 2009

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