He's advised a major Canadian prime minister and did the logistics for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. What's next in his agenda?
Looking through the menu at Casa Bella, a new high-end Mediterranean restaurant,Canadian Lubomyr Kwasnycia admits that he rarely eats out, and when he does it’s mostly with his business partners. He says he prefers to practice culinary magic in his own kitchen. Veal wiener schnitzel, he claims, is his top dish.
Aside from cooking, Kwasnycia runs his own public relations company, Romyr Consultants, which he founded in 1982. The name combines his wife’s name, Roma, with his own.
PR Guru
“I’ve been in this business for 35 years,” Kwasnycia says, explaining that over the years he’s worked on a bunch of exciting projects: he was an advisor to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and, when he was just 27, he headed the logistics committee for the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games.
“I was responsible for the Olympic village: telecommunications, transportation, food, services, health and, for the first time in history, I was as a civilian responsible for security. I had 3,000 people working under me.
“And then I became the first Ukrainian to be the chief of staff to the then-premier of the province of Quebec, Robert Bourassa,” he says.
Kwasnycia later took a top position with Deak International, one of the largest foreign currency and metals trading firms in North America. The job eventually brought him to Ukraine.
In 1990, as the Soviet Union was about to disintegrate, Kwasnycia’s bosses sent him here as a part of delegation meant to establish relations between the Bank of Montreal and the National Bank of Ukraine.
“There are a million-plus Ukrainians living in Canada who have families in different parts of Ukraine,” he says. He himself grew up in one such family, which left Ukraine after World War II and began a new life overseas.
“I didn’t come here because I was of Ukrainian origin. I did so because my client wanted me to,” Kwasnycia says, sipping his Stella Artois beer (Hr 12 for a half liter). While a political science student at Concordia, however, he was actively engaged in Ukrainian politics. As the head of the Montreal chapter of the Ukrainian Students Union of Canada, he took part in protests against the Soviet regime.
“I’ve always loved politics. Because I was of Ukrainian origin and I was against the Soviet Union, I wanted to know my enemy,” he says.
Kwasnycia still counts politics among his interests. Whether working with multinational companies already established in Ukraine, or others that are interested in coming here, Kwasnycia helps them “civilize” their lobbying relations with local government, which he says can be difficult given Ukraine’s underdeveloped political system.
“There’s a misconception about public relations in Ukraine. PR means not only relations with media, but also research, corporate communications, crisis management and also government relations,” he says, taking the first bite from his mixed green salad with shredded parmesan cheese (Hr 65).
“And one PR task is to tell the truth,” he adds, referring to how, in Ukraine, public relations is often perceived as being synonymous with lying.
Helping the Motherland
Along with his PR activities, Kwasnycia remains active in the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, as a member of its directive and executive board. He says that after the Orange Revolution, business began to pick up, and more Canadian businesses are willing to work in Ukraine.
“We don’t want any special preferences over local businesses from the government, but we do want transparency, new laws and a tax administration that operates normally,” he says. “In other words, we want concepts that work both with local and foreign investors.”
Speaking of native Ukrainians, Kwasnycia takes a moment to point out some things as he takes a bite of monkfish from his blanquette plate (Hr 130).
“Ukrainians have two problems,” he says in Ukrainian. “These are pride and an unwillingness to admit that there’s something they don’t know.” Even though Ukraine has centuries’ worth of a cultural tradition, for too long all image creation went through Moscow, and no one knew much about Ukraine.
“At the same time,” he says, “Moscow is working further towards creating a negative image of Ukraine because we’re competing with Russia in terms of attracting foreign investments.
“Ukraine should take Canada as an example,” he continues, claiming that his native land managed to establish fair rules for dealing with its powerful southern neighbor, the United States.
True Ukrainian
By now speaking Ukrainian, and using the pronoun “We” when referring to Ukraine, Kwasnycia admits that after having spent more than 14 years here, he has pretty much assimilated into Ukrainian society.
“I hate when they divide Ukrainians into ‘You’ and ‘Us,’” he says, referring to locals’ attitude toward the Ukrainian Diaspora. “We all are Ukrainians.”
His wife Roma and his three kids, who are “proud to be of Ukrainian origin,” all live in Canada.
Active and energetic at 58, Kwasnycia has no plans to retire. He’d like to keep working in Ukraine, because he sees the potential in its people, especially after the revolution.
“People in general have changed over these 14 years. They’ve become more self-assured and open,” he says. “It is very painful for me to hear that we want to become a part of the European Union. We are already Europe.”
Casa Bella
27 Sahaydachnoho, 425-2309.
Open daily from 11 a.m. till the last client.
English menu: Yes.
English-speaking staff: Yes.Average price of main dish: Hr 100.
