UKRAINE AND RUSSIA

[TravelSucks.com]

The following was forwarded directly to us by a long-time site visitor. Please be warned, the text is lengthy.

On Wednesday May 12th I headed out on another Eastern European trip to the Ukraine and Russia. This time I was already in Atlanta on business so I left from that airport. I was accompanied by two of my colleagues. In my opinion Eastern Europe is the place to be; both for business and investment purposes. For those of you that are so inclined- I would advise that you look into some of the Eastern European investment funds and then make your own decision.



They have just a little bit of corruption and things aren’t quite as transparent as you’d like to be. Every time I’m there I see solid evidence of economic growth and increased foreign direct investment. This part of the world unlike China has abundant natural resources. Their labor rates generally speaking are not too far above China and in most cases this can be overcome by lower transportation costs. I’ll admit doing business in Eastern Europe is not like doing business in the U.S., but it’s a lot easier than trying to do business in China. The Chinese have totally different business ethics and morals than we do. Late last year we signed a distribution arrangement with a large well-known Chinese company who would be at the high end of the moral and business ethics spectrum. About 30 days after I signed the distribution contract they came forth with a 15-37% price increase on their products. I got back to them on my normal, unflappable manner and asked them what they were thinking. They said they knew if they raised their prices before signing the contract, I would have never signed it so they waited. They told me that’s their normal way of doing business. They use low prices to lure people in and either raise the prices or reduce the quality of the product and sometimes both. On the other hand Eastern Europe has an honest desire to gain market share in the North American market by providing a good product, good service and maintaining a competitive price in the marketplace.



We left from Atlanta heading to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris where we were to hop on an Air France plane to Kiev and then jump on a charter jet and begin our journey hopping around the Ukraine. My colleagues made the classic mistake of checking their luggage. My experience tells me that if you’re changing planes at Charles de Gaulle and you check your luggage you have about a 50% chance of not getting it at your destination. Needless to say when we got to Kiev my friends went to the luggage carrousel and came away unrequited. This was an especially difficult problem as we were going to be in a different hotel every night in various small towns in the Ukraine. They finally decided that rather than have the luggage trace them all over the country, to just have Air France deliver it to the hotel where we would be staying on Saturday night. Thus my colleagues traveled pretty light on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.



In Kiev we were met by the young woman Maryna, who I mentioned in my last epistle. She is going to be an agent for us in the Ukraine. She had arranged the charter flights that could get us around to four different cities to visit mills and be back in Kiev by Saturday night so we could head off to Russia first thing Sunday morning. There is no way we could do that on a commercial aircraft. To get to the airfield where the charter aircraft was based you had to drive into the city, through the city and out of the city, which took approximately an hour. The charter aircraft base was not exactly what I would call a modern, up-to-date airport. The runways were on a grass field and the only navigational aid I saw was a dilapidated wind sock. There were no jets at this place, only propeller driven planes. In fact there was a couple of double wing by-planes with open cockpits that I guess were used for crop dusting. As you can see by the photograph below our Antinov-410 was a sturdy little craft.





They had three pilots in the cockpit, a stewardess and could accommodate 8 passengers. They even had a stand-up john. We found out the planes were built in Kiev. Its cruising speed was about 180 mph. but it could land and take off virtually anywhere. I must say a few members of our party were a bit apprehensive when we rolled out onto the grass field and they revved up the engines in preparation for takeoff. It sounded like the pilot got the R.P.M.’s up in the engine as high as possible and then released the brakes to begin our ascent. We lurched and bumped over the grass field for about 10 seconds then the plane rotated and we were in the air. The stewardess or flight manager as she called herself offered us some sandwiches and vodka but we decided we’d hold off until the next leg of the flight as we had to do business at our first stop. We flew about an hour down to the town of Cherrasky, which is about 180 miles Southeast of Kiev.



The landing facility at Cherrasky was even more primitive than the one we took off from in Kiev. As we approached for landing it appeared we were landing in another field but at the last second a cracked, broken and uneven strip of concrete appeared. The pilot touched the wheels to the concrete at the very back edge and slammed on the brake and thew up flaps to ensure that we stopped before the end. I must say that was a thrill but we were all in one piece. We pulled up to a little hut and hopped out to make our appointment with the plywood mill. The airfield of course had no lights so we had to be back by 8:30 pm so there would be enough daylight to for a takeoff.



Due to our luggage lost we were running about 1½ hours behind schedule thus we had to make arrangements with the airport in Rivne, our final destination that night to stay open 2-hours late. You could imagine what kind of airport it was when it only costs you $90.00 an hour to keep the airport open.



We got back from our appointment just at 8:30, hopped in the plane and once again rumbled down the runway and rotated within 10 seconds and were on our way to Rivne. This time when the vodka was offered everyone except Maryna partook. I’m sure we were all wondering if the airport would really stay open and keep the lights on for us so we could land. I’m happy to report they did.



There was a car waiting to take us to the hotel Tourist in downtown Rivne where we had rooms booked for $16.00 a night, which included breakfast and a private bath in each room. Some of you may snicker but I assure you it wasn’t all that bad. It was a single bed but the sheets were clean and indeed there was a private bathroom with a standup shower and hot water. The hotel is an old time communist hotel. On each floor there was a woman who was the hall monitor. As you got off the elevator you gave her your slip of paper to show you checked in and she would pluck a key from her cabinet, walk you to your room, unlock the door for you and left you the key. When you left the floor to go out or even go to the lobby of the hotel you had to give her the key. She provided services like an ironing board with an iron, a blow-dryer, hot tea in the morning and a knock on the door to wake you up at the agreed upon time. The restaurant in the hotel and those adjacent to it were closed by the time we got there but they did have a 24-hour café where we got some beer, cheese and crackers.



Once you get off the beaten path, international travel can be very basic. We were really bone tired when we finished up on Thursday evening. Considering all of us were up early Wednesday morning, worked a full day then caught a 5:45 p.m. flight from Atlanta to Paris. We arrived in Paris at 8:45 in the morning then we had a 10 o’clock flight to Kiev, which put us there around 2:30 in the afternoon. We fiddled around with the luggage, jumped on the charter plane and zipped down to Cherrasky and had a 2-½ hour business meeting then hopped back on the plane, had a vodka or two to calm the nerves and flew to Rivne. I had gotten 3-4 hours of sleep on the plane going over the Atlantic and my colleagues surely didn’t get much more. It was a long 2 days especially when you don’t get a chance to shower and change clothes from Wednesday morning to Thursday night.



The next morning we left the hotel at 7:30 a.m. They didn’t start serving breakfast until 8 o’clock so I can give you a report. The only thing I can say is that the 24-hour café was out of coffee that morning. Thank goodness I had my stash of granola bars. We spent the day visiting mills and got back to the airport about 5 o’clock for our next flight to Lviv.



Lviv in the Northwestern part of the Ukraine is a city of about a million people and was founded 750 years ago. It’s spent part of its life as part of Poland. Its central downtown has many beautiful old buildings as well as churches, squares and monuments. They get a lot of Polish tourists in the area. It has been a cultural and commercial center for its entire life. The airport building is absolutely beautiful; it looks more like a classic old railroad station complete with a domed ceiling painted in blue background and decorated with white flowers. You can still see some of the original walls of the city.



We stayed at the hotel Byurgera, which is located at #1, Franka str: 73. Telephone: (0322) 76-1251. This is a smaller hotel with 25 double rooms plus meeting rooms and a very active bar and restaurant. Here a double room with private bath was 40 bucks so we were really living high on the hog compared to Rivne. The bar is done in a hunting lodge motif and they also have an outdoor dining and drinking area. The bar/restaurant is open 24-hours per day. Incidentally the bar/restaurant staff works a 24-hour shift then they’re off for 2 days and back on for a 24-hour shift. That night we went to a restaurant called “The Seven Pigs” for dinner. The walls were white washed and painted with various Ukranian floral designs The furniture was heavy and rustic. All-in-all the interior atmosphere was very pleasing. They had a Ukranian folk band that played on a stage in front of the bar and they also strolled around to the individual tables giving diners a mini concert. We dined on pork sashlik, pickled vegetables, sturdy rye bread and local Ukrainian beer. The food was simple, well prepared and delicious. It was served graciously and with dispatch. The whole meal including a little vodka before dinner and some blinis filled with chopped apricots, nuts and covered with whipped cream came to a little over $25 bucks a head.



Our Friendly Flight Manager



We got back to the hotel Byurgera about 10 o’clock and the bar was hopping with a mixture of what appeared to be regular local clientele and a group of Polish tourists. While we were having our after dinner Armenian cognac the bar manager told us if there is anything at all we wanted just ask him and he could provide it. We decided not to explore that topic any deeper.



Breakfast the next morning was superb. Instead of the normal buffet they provided choices like omelets and sausage, fresh fruits and cereal or salads and cold cuts.



We headed off to see another mill that morning and got back to the airport at 11 a.m. to fly down to Uzhgorod so we could visit another mill there and still be able to get back to Kiev that evening. The airport was crowded with long lines of tourists waiting to go through the security line. Because we had a charter we were escorted right to the head of the line. I must say there was a lot of dirty looks and quite few voices were raised in complaint. However the airport officials just glared back at the complaining passengers and told them it was a charter flight and there was nothing they could do. The flight to Uzhgorod and the drive to the mill were uneventful. We got back and took off to Kiev around 5:30 that evening. At this time of year in Ukraine it doesn’t get dark until close to 9 p.m. so it was a gorgeous flight back to Kiev. Uzhgorod is about 700 miles south/west of Kiev and sits right on the Slovakian border.



When you bounce around a country like we did you get to see a lot of it and form some opinions. Even though government graft is quite rampant in the Ukraine it appears that economic activity is brisk. All of the mills we visited were either in the midst of expansion or are about to start. There a lots of areas with large new houses that seem to be just built or under construction. And when I say large I mean 4-7,000 Square feet and they were usually all brick. Western Ukraine I’m told is a lot less populated than Eastern Ukraine and it certainly is an agricultural area. Fields look good and well cared for however I did see a lot of horse drawn vehicles or human hand implements used rather than agricultural mechanization. There were some tractors but they seemed to be quite old. Even these new big homes had an area for a garden. Like the Russians I believe the Ukrainians are close to the soil and no matter how successful must work a bit of the land with their bare hands to feel fulfilled. In the smaller villages every house had at least a large garden, a cow or two, a few pigs and lots of goats. I think most of the people ran a small farm and had another job in a factory or worked for the government. Basically everything we saw was well taken care of and maintained. The houses were painted, flowers were growing, there was no graffiti on walls and the streets and sidewalks were devoid of litter. The rural areas seem more prosperous than those I’ve seen in Russia and a whole lot more prosperous than those I’ve seen in China.



Blue must be a very special color in the Ukraine. It’s used in their flag but we saw used heavily on houses, small monuments and in cemeteries. The graves in all the cemeteries we saw were decorated with fresh flowers. People usually go to the graveyard at least once on the weekend to maintain the grave sites and decorate them with flowers. The other thing we noticed is that the Ukrainians make very creative scarecrows in their fields and gardens utilizing plastic bags, old clothes and rags. While flying around the country we noticed that the smaller towns and villages are linear rather than spread out. All of the buildings, houses and shops are on either side of the main highway and there are no interior streets behind them. We figured there were two causes for this; one: it was much easier to run electric power along one main street and two: every house especially in the rural areas has a large garden behind it and in many cases true farm fields so there is no room for interior side streets.



We finished up our airborne sojourn by landing again on the grass field in the outskirts of Kiev. Just as we landed a bunch of sky divers jumped out of some planes that were flying around overhead. The colorful parachutes drifting silently through the late spring evening were a softly lit by the rapidly declining sun.



We got to our hotel The Salyut about 7:30 p.m. and my colleagues collected their errant luggage. Maryna and I gave them time to change their clothes then we headed out for dinner after a drink at the hotel bar. The hotel was virtually devoid of people in all areas including the bar. We went to one restaurant by mistake and there was nobody there and then we finally found our way to the Georgian restaurant that we wanted to try and that was virtually empty. In fact when we got there about 9:30 p.m. we were the only patrons, when we left around midnight there was two other tables occupied. We feasted on typical Georgian fare of excellent breads, grilled meats, cheeses; plates piled high with fresh herbs including purple basil, scallions, parsley and cilantro plus plates of fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. All washed down by good dry Georgian wine. Most of the food in Eastern Europe is grown on small farms. Agribusiness has not hit there yet thus the meats, fruits and vegetables are not loaded with pesticides, hormones and all of the other things that take the taste out of foods. The animals wander around the small farms rather than live life packed into a gigantic feed lot. You might say that things that are grown are done so naturally and the animals are close to free range. It makes a big difference in the food. This meal too was somewhere around $25 a head.



When we got back to the hotel we stopped at the upstairs bar for a nightcap. Next to the bar was the nightclub. We looked in and it was totally empty and we were the only people at the bar. This hotel was about $90 a night and a little bit nicer than the ones we stayed in while in the countryside however this too was an old communist style hotel complete with a middle aged or more, female hall monitor. It was drab and dingy especially in the common areas. The staff didn’t break their back to help you but the rooms were big and clean.



Kiev is a beautiful city and especially in spring. It has many tree lined broad boulevards and handsome buildings and squares. While we were there the chestnut trees were in blossom so they were covered with white fluffy cones of blossoms of blossoms. In many areas interspersed among the white chestnut trees were magnolia with their purple blooms. The weather was warm and sunny so there were people strolling everywhere along the broad boulevards and in the many parks throughout the city. There was a fair amount of new construction on the outskirts of the city and all of the big name retailers had found space in the older buildings downtown.



Breakfast Sunday morning was the typical buffet; in fact it was probably on the low end in terms of variety and quality. Luckily they had a bit of fresh fruit and I coupled that with a granola bar.



Moscow is a short hour and thirty minute flight from Kiev. We traveled on Aerosvit, which is a new Ukrainian airline. The crew did a full cocktail and meal service for the whole plane in that short of flight. In the U.S. you’d be lucky to get a glass of water or juice and a bag of peanuts or pretzels.



Moscow continues to amaze me. Everywhere you look there is new construction and refurbishment. Fancy new shops and retail space line the streets. Most of the kiosks are gone. Old buildings and palaces are being converted into high-end office space and swank restaurants abound everywhere. The traffic is becoming intolerable and new gas stations are popping up everywhere to support the automobiles. The prices of everything have gone sky-rocket. The Marriott where I normally stay has gone up to $290.00 a night. Classic hotels like the Metropol are up around $500.00 a night as well as the sexy new ones like the Hyatt and Radisson SAS. We decided to stay in the Aerostar, which I last stayed in about 7 years ago. Then it was an old time communist hotel; dark, dingy and complete with hall monitors. It has been completely revamped and it is now a very stylish modern hotel with excellent friendly service, good facilities and the rooms were only $190.00 a night including breakfast. The Aerostar is located on Terveskaya Street, which is one of the main drags in Moscow and goes right to the center of town to the Kremlin.



We had dinner Sunday evening at Restaurant Fidelio, which is located just off Pushkin Square; a couple of doors down from the McDonalds. This little restaurant was a find. I started with a well executed Caesar salad, moved onto spaghetti puttenesca (olives, capers, tomatoes and spices) and followed up with beef that was sliced thin like a cutlet and was seasoned and grilled to perfection. This was accompanied by a little bit of good Georgian wine. The meal at Fidelio ended up being about $45 a head, which for central Moscow is a super bargain.



We had meetings all day on Monday and wound up having dinner at Café Adriatico. I last ate there sometime last fall while I was in Moscow and surprisingly enough they haven’t put an addition on or made many changes since then. Our host insisted we sit in the back and pay the high prices and look at all of the Beautiful Russian Folk, not to mention rubbing shoulders with the movers and shakers of Moscow. The service and ambiance were great, but for the first time- I had a bad meal there. I had a salad with rocket porcini mushrooms and shaved parmesan, which was excellent, but their rendition of veal bolognese was horrible. He rescued himself with perfect pasta with a garlic and oil sauce.



I hit the sack early that night as I had to get up at 4 a.m. to get to the airport for a 7:15 flight to Paris and connect on Atlanta and a final flight to Greensboro.



My flight from Paris got into Atlanta about 1/2 hour early so I was able to get myself on a 2:30 flight back to Greensboro as opposed to the 4 o’clock flight I was scheduled on. However just before we took off the pilot said that they had problems with the tail assembly and the flight was being cancelled so I had to do some additional scrambling to get back on the flight that I got myself off of and get home at the same time. Sometimes you can outsmart yourself.

[popcorncandie]

Very true and long.