I wrote in my blog entry “Tracking Brits” last October that big football matches spotlight the question of how we can best provide help to British nationals living in and travelling to Ukraine.
It’s a curious paradox that, as it has become easier to register with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, fewer and fewer people are doing it here in Ukraine. At the moment only 84 British nationals in Ukraine are registered at the office’s online registration system LOCATE, while our best guess is that about 500 live in Ukraine permanently or long-term.
This may reflect the fact that British nationals living in or travelling to Ukraine feel pretty safe and don’t therefore feel it’s worth giving us their details. But modern technology means it’s never been easier to register. And as the flyer for the registration system, called “LOCATE,” points out: “if we can’t find you, we can’t help you.”
So my key message is: if you’re a British national living in or traveling to Ukraine, please sign up on LOCATE. All you have to do is go to www.fco.gov.uk/travel and click on LOCATE (there’s a little a picture of an aeroplane flying over a globe). You then get a new page with several links to the “online registration form.” British nationals will only need to register once and the registration system will allow to get help from the British Embassy, if needed by you or your family.
United Kingdom-Ukraine business links
There are about 100 British companies active in a broad range of sectors in Ukraine. Most notably these include services (legal, accountancy and engineering), healthcare (medicines and medical equipment), oil refining, natural gas and oil exploration and extraction, education and retail.I talk regularly to British business people based both in the UK and in Ukraine. They’re an impressive bunch, many of whom have been seeking out profitable opportunities here for years. But many of them complain about Ukrainian over-regulation, the unpredictable tax regime and the level of corruption. So I would call on the new president and on new government to do everything they can to create the conditions in which business can thrive, including welcoming foreign investment here in Ukraine.
Investors, both domestic and international, like a stable legislative framework and transparent investment policies. From a bilateral view, we are confident that progress on all of these issues will naturally facilitate the development and growth of UK – Ukraine economic relations. Britain remains an important foreign investor in Ukraine, coming in around 6th place for the total stock of foreign investment in this country. The sums of money we are talking about are large, it’s around $2.4 billion already, and it could grow if the environment improves.
British companies are active in a range of different investment areas in Ukraine. In response to the announcement by the Ukrainian government of its top ten priority investment projects, we have seen some interest from UK companies in areas such as ports infrastructure reconstruction, reconstruction of energy generating facilities and the design and building of industrial parks. And, of course, UK companies are keen to help and support Ukraine prepare for Euro 2012. We also expect that further opportunities for UK businesses will come up in infrastructure development, advanced engineering (especially in energy and industry), financial services, agriculture, retail and education.
But future developments will depend on two things.
The first factor is the growth of the Ukrainian and world economies. If the Ukrainian economy grows in a healthy way as a result of economic reforms, that will lead to greater trade between Great Britain and Ukraine.
Secondly, signing of the deep and comprehensive free trade agreement with the European Union will deliver huge benefits to Ukraine by opening for Ukraine a huge market of more than 500 million comparatively wealthy European consumers.
Numerous bilateral projects under way
We work with Ukraine in a large number of sectors. In the area of defense, for example, we have had a number of training programs with the Ukrainian armed forces to assist reform in the Ukrainian defense and security sector. These programs have been very successful in promoting reform and building practical working contacts at all levels between the UK and Ukrainian armed forces.
We also support strongly all areas of Ukraine’s efforts to draw closer to the European Union. For example, we have run a number of projects such as the important project to support the European Integration Bureau, set up at the Cabinet of Ministers, in getting closer to the European Union in as effective a way as possible. I feel confident in saying that our Ukrainian partners see the United Kingdom as a strong supporter of their path towards Europe.
Looking ahead, the UK will continue to argue hard for Ukraine to receive a “membership perspective”, meaning that the European Union agrees that at some point in the future, Ukraine will become a full member of the Euroepan Union. But for that to happen, Ukraine has to continue to introduce important and far-reaching economic and other reforms in order steadily to align the country more closely with existing EU member states.
The UK is also a big contributor to a range of all-European projects. Like other EU countries, we are a major contributor to project funds delivered through the European Union, as well as our own bilateral programs. The UK provides 10 percent of the funding for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Chornobyl Shelter project. We also provide bilateral assistance on project design for storage of spent radioactive material, worth Ј2.3 million pounds. I was delighted to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between UK and Ukraine on the framework for this project last year.
Other areas of co-operation include energy efficiency, education, culture and many others. The British Embassy in Kyiv is also actively involved in charity work in Ukraine.
Cultural understanding with Ukraine deepens
One of the privileges of this job is that I have a huge amount of contact with Ukrainian people of every kind. Sometimes it’s through official contacts and calls, e.g. calls on the president, on government and parliament members. Other times it’s meeting business people, or voluntary sector workers, or teachers or other professionals. And through our project work and cultural work through the British Council I get a chance to meet a wide range of students, school children, artists and other fascinating characters.
In all of these contacts I’m constantly struck by the good level of knowledge Ukrainians have of Britain. When I worked in Russia back in 1992-1995, many people still had an idea of Britain stuck in the 19th century: fog, Sherlock Holmes and strange costume dramas long forgotten back in the UK.
Now, over 15 years later, the cumulative effects of the opening of borders, better education and the Internet have led to an explosion of knowledge, both about Britain and about the English language. It’s a thrill to visit schools or universities in almost any part of Ukraine and hear students ask intelligent, perceptive questions, in English, about life in the UK. Actually, they often seem better informed about the latest music and football news than I am myself!
I hope that as communications and people-to-people contacts continue to develop between the UK and Ukraine in the years ahead, we’ll see that degree of mutual understanding continue to expand.
And as Ukraine pursues its path of closer integration to the European Union, leading I hope ultimately to a membership perspective for Ukraine, it should become steadily easier and more common for people to travel in both directions and get to know each other’s countries face-to-face.
Leigh Turner is the British Ambassador to Ukraine.
United Kingdom in Ukraine
Number of UK nationals in Ukraine: 500
Number of UK companies in Ukraine: 100.
Best-known companies: Royal Dutch Shell, BP, MottMacDonald, Baker Tilly, HSBC, ARUP (Ove Arup & Partners International Ltd.), Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever, British American Tobacco, Marks and Spencer, Next and Mothercare.
Major items imported from UK to Ukraine: manufactured goods, vehicles, professional instruments, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, chemicals and specialized industrial machinery.
Major items exported from Ukraine to UK: iron and steel, vegetable fats and oils, animal feed, cereal, clothing, transport equipment and petroleum products.
Bilateral trade 2009: $1 billion
Imports to Ukraine 2009: $825.5 million, down 5 percent.
Exports from Ukraine 2009: $227 million
United Kingdom at a glance:
The United Kingdom is made up of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Government: Officially a constitutional monarchy, where the monarch plays a symbolic role. But the country is governed by a democratically-elected parliament and its governing coalition.
Population: 62 million
Official languages: English and Welsh
Religion: majority Christian
Human development index 2009: 21 out of 182
Per capita gross domestic product: $35,165
Gross domestic product (purchasing power parity): $2.2 trillion
Annual inflation: 2.1 percent
Ireland at a glance:
History: Republic of Ireland was established on Dec. 6, 1922.
Population: 4.5 million.
Official languages: Irish and English.
Religion: majority Christian.
Human development index 2009: 5 out of 182
Per capita gross domestic product: $42,200
Gross domestic product (purchasing power parity): $177 billion
Inflation: -1.7%
United Kingdom links:
UK embassy in Ukraine:
9Desyatynna Street
Kyiv 01025
Tel: + 380 44 490 3660
Ambassador: H.E. Leigh Turner
British Business Club in Ukraine: http://www.bbcu.com.ua
British-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce: http://www.bucc.com.ua
British Council in Ukraine: http://www.britishcouncil.org/ukraine.htm
British International School: http://www.bisk.kiev.ua/
Links for Ireland:
Irish Consulate in Ukraine:
http://www.irishconsulate.kiev.ua
44 Shchorsa Street, Kyiv 01133
Tel: +38044 285 5902
Honorary Consul of Ireland: Mr. Volodymyr Sai.
Irish Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic
Note: Ukraine is the country of secondary accreditation
http://www.embassyofireland.cz
Ambassador: H.E. Richard Ryan
Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Bugayova can be reached at bugayova@kyivpost.com.
Read also ‘World in Ukraine: World celebrates St. Patrick’s Day’ by Nataliya Bugayova.
