Ask a question and discuss Odessa at the 2odessa message board
Articles on Odessa
From 2odessa.com The most comprehensive guide to Odessa, Ukraine
Contents
See also Translated articles, Odessa links, Books on Odessa. Below is a compilation of news articles about Odessa, Ukraine spanning over 20 years.
[edit] Recent Odessa.ua articles
Note: These 20 articles from Odessa.ua can only be viewed on this site with Internet Explorer 7 and above, Firefox, or Safari. [edit] Kyiv Post Articles[edit] Tour agents, restaurateursTour agents, restaurateurs look for cruise control by Alla Vetrovcova, Kyiv Post Staff Writer Aug 06, 22:42 Konstantin Lichikaki, commercial director of London Sky Travel in Odessa. Luxury liner visits would invigorate tourism business, they say. There’s nothing wrong with Odessa’s tourism industry that an occasional visit by a mammoth Western cruise ship wouldn’t fix, Odessa travel agents and restaurant owners say. They’re pinning their hopes for an expanded visitor base on becoming a Black Sea port of call for Western liners and their free‑spending passengers. One tour operator, Janna Belousova, said that the only obstacle to the further development of the local travel industry is the lack of a large cruise ship. While the port city is visited by numerous river cruisers and ferries, large Western ships tend to call at Yalta only. Six Ukrainian ships ply the Dnipro River between Kyiv and Odessa. Five are Soviet‑era riverboats, and a modern ship, the Dnipro Princess, joined the fleet this year. Belousova has built her agency, Eugenia Travel, on incoming cruise tourism. She provides accommodations, guided excursions and catering for tourists from abroad who arrive by sea. The agency organizes cruises throughout the Black Sea region as well, taking tourists to Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia and Ukraine. “We have many possibilities, but no technical capacity,” said Konstantin Lichikaki, commercial director for London Sky Travel. His travel agency works with Ukrrichflot and KCK Kyiv, serving about 64 cruises per season. According to Lichikaki, new routes should be opened to attract more cruise ships with tourists to Odessa. “It is possible to restore the passenger fleet on the Black Sea routes, as well as to enlarge routes with Bulgaria resorts, like Varna,” Lichikaki said. “We serve more than 1,000 cruise ships every season,” said Belousova, who has 25 years of experience, and worked for the Soviet Intourist travel service. She said that most tourists are French, Spanish and German. The U.S.‑led war on Iraq has led to a marked decrease in the number of American tourists traveling to Turkey. Eugenia Travel maintains a motor‑transport depot, tour operators in Yalta, Odessa and Sevastopol, and subcontracted tour agents in Yalta and Varna, Bulgaria. The city estimates that it receives about 500,000 tourists a year, of which 200,000 are foreigners. Until the big liners arrive, agencies like Belousova’s fill in the gaps offering traditional travel agency services like airline and rail tickets. “Right now, there are only a few Ukrainians who can afford to pay $1,500 to $2,000 for a cruise, so we mainly serve foreign tourists,” she said. Lichikaki said that his agency serves some 12,000 tourists in a season, 98 percent of which are foreigners. He said that tourism “is quite profitable for the city. A foreign tourist spends $60 to $80 a day, so the government receives significant tax revenue without cost.” In November 2002, Odessa Oblast had 527 registered tour operators and agents. Travel agencies aren’t the only beneficiaries of tourist cash. Restaurants also see tourists as lucrative customers. In addition to business gleaned from passers‑by, restaurants do a booming business catering meals for travel groups. Dmitry Sikorsky, public relations director for the high‑end Steakhouse and Greenwich Cafe restaurants, said he sees profits increase by 25 percent in summer due to extra business from tourists from the West and the CIS. Restaurateurs say that while the government doesn’t necessarily impede the development of the city’s tourism industry, it isn’t doing much to help the situation, either. Government officials seem keener on building revenue through industrial development projects like the Odessa‑Brody oil pipeline and free economic zones than on developing tourism, they say. The historic port city lacks Crimea’s mountains and Tsarist‑era palaces, but it has a charm all its own, civic boosters say. For Igor Goncharko, who co‑owns six upscale Odessa restaurants including Fat Moses and Buffalo 99, the city is similar to Spanish and Italian seaside cities. He wants to encourage the same al fresco dining culture seen elsewhere in Southern Europe. Goncharko said he hasn’t seen government authorities provide any help developing the tourism industry. Instead, he said that the government is more likely to ask for assistance itself, in the form of bribes to expedite paperwork. “We never tried to get our licenses for free by waiting in those long lines in the government offices. It’s all quite quick if you pay,” Goncharko said. He said that a restaurant needs about six licenses to open. Odessa’s high‑end restaurant market may be saturated, but U.S. ex‑pat businessman Michael McDermott, co‑owner of Estrellita Mexican restaurant, says there is room for smaller restaurants with low overhead serving middle‑income patrons. “Small, specialized restaurants serving French and Italian food could do well,” McDermott said. [edit] Odessa in Summerby Kristin Cavoukian, Special to the Post Jul 15 2004, 01:36 Odessa the best party spot in Ukraine and the Black Sea jewel that it is. Odessa is a great walking city, so consider exploring the historic Potemkin Steps or wandering about one of its many fine sandy beaches. Find out a little about what makes Odessa the best party spot in Ukraine and the Black Sea jewel that it is Summer in Ukraine wouldn’t be complete without at least one trip south to the Black Sea. Had your fill of Crimea’s seaside villages and want a more urban coastal adventure? Take the night train to the port city of Odessa. The Perfect Charm Odessa’s charm comes from its perfect mix of old and new, excitement and relaxation, city and beach. The historic city is connected with writers such as Pushkin and Gogol, and its sycamore tree-lined streets house a variety of crumbling 19th-century architectural gems (the famous Vienna-style Opera House is still being renovated). But fun in the sun has no better venue than a beach, and Odessa has a long strip of excellent beaches stretching all the way to the southern reaches of the city and boasting a vital feature missing from much of the Crimean coastline: sand. Odessa’s golden sand varies in texture along the stretch, from fine powder to larger granules, but it’s all conducive to taking a relaxing nap in the sun after a dip in the sea. Before getting to any Odessa beach, you’ll have to traverse a steep hill. Instead of the stairs, take the cable ride at Kanatnaya Doroga. Reminiscent of a ski lift, this device takes two people at a time from Frantzusky to the beach below for a mere Hr 5. More importantly, after a long day at the beach, it makes the return trip a joy.
When in Rome The jewel of Odessa is Arkadia Beach, a nonstop party locale with restaurants, bars and clubs and, of course, a lovely stretch of sand and sea. Colorful wooden beach chairs line the waterfront, and crowds of bathers can be found enjoying the sunshine after a swim, while fishermen line the pier in hopes of catching something to take home. Join in a pick-up game of volleyball, or marvel at an impromptu gymnastics competition. Above the beach, the patios of a dozen theme restaurants and bars provide shady spots from which to people-watch and take in the scenery. Sample delicious local seafood or various ethnic cuisines while also enjoying ice-cold beer or cocktails. The best tables are often reserved, but good service and smiles are not uncommon here. After the sun has set the music takes over and the Arkadia strip comes alive with dancing and nightlife, becoming what some call the biggest party in Ukraine. The Historic Center Leaving the beach for the city, be sure to visit the Potemkin Steps, the legendary staircase which saw a 1905 battle between mutinying sailors and forces loyal to the Czar. The clash was immortalized in Eisenstein’s 1925 silent film, “Battleship Potemkin.” Take a stroll down the steps, and venture across the street to the long pier to catch a boat cruise, or hike back up for the best workout around. Odessa’s shady parks and tree-lined streets are perfect for an afternoon stroll. Wander through the park on pedestrian-friendly Deribasovskaya, opposite the Passazh Hotel, which features a bandstand with live music, a host of vendors, and plenty of outdoor bars, restaurants and cafes. Mind your wallet and the pickpockets. When dining out, try excellent Mexican at Estrellitas, near the Potemkin Steps, which serves up spicy staples such as burritos, quesadillas, soft tacos and, for starters, homemade corn tortilla chips and pico de gallo salsa. Fat Moses, on Ekaterinskaya, has the funkiest upholstery in town on its patio, and serves flavorful light dishes like calamari and Greek salad. While people-watching, sip a refreshing “Moses” lemonade featuring a pineapple ring on top. Also recommended is the Cuban restaurant Fidel’s, and there are great Chinese and European restaurants nearby. Other Notes When the sun’s not out, sift through one of Odessa’s nine museums. The Archeology Museum (admission Hr 7) boasts the country’s largest collection of prehistoric, Greco-Roman, and early Slavic relics from the northern coast of the Black Sea. Spend the extra Hr 2 to see the golden artifacts in the basement. Another diversion is to hire a car and venture outside Odessa to the Catacombs, an underground labyrinth that once sheltered World War II partisans. Bargain hunters should not miss the Seven Kilometer Market, the largest bazaar in the country, accessible from the center by marshrutka or bus. Hotels abound in the city, and the best way to find one is through www.e-hotels.com.ua, a Web site listing Odessa hotels by city, price and class. To get to Odessa, there are two overnight trains operating daily from Kyiv. A round-trip ticket in sleeper class costs Hr 116, while first class is just less than twice that at Hr 313. [edit] Two best restaurantsDiscover two Odessa’s best restaurants by Jesse Schwartz, Kyiv Post Staff Writer May 24 2006, 21:07 Despite the incredible view, try to stay focused on the food at perfectly located Odessa restaurant Bulvar. In keeping with our feature on Odessa, I’ve crisscrossed the city and interviewed dozens of locals (okay, three, actually – but they really knew what they were talking about) to find you the best meals in the cultural capital of Southern Ukraine. And it wasn’t easy: Odessa is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to cuisine. Taking their culinary cues from the Mediterranean much more than any Slavic sense of dining, Odessan restaurants offer visitors long and languid feasts with food that should be consumed slow enough for savoring. It’s not uncommon for a meal here to last hours, each succulent course broken only by much pouring of ubiquitous wine. So, though you can have a fine dinner in dozens of eateries here, I know my readers are ruled by the most discerning of palates, and depend on me to find them only the best. After much effort, I humbly submit the following selections. Bulvar can easily claim the best location for dinner anywhere in town. Located just a few steps back from the Potemkin Stairs and the statue of Duc de Richilieu, the place commands sweeping views of the Black Sea. If the weather is right and you get a seat outside, this could easily be the most romantic evening you’ve had in a decade. But make sure to step inside: The building itself is a tastefully ornate pre-war affair, with wide arches welcoming you into a lobby decorated to recreate the feel of early 19th-century Odessa. Advertisements for visiting chanteuses popular at the time vie for attention with curious period articles such as parasols and bicycle parts. Divided into two halls, my guest and I sat in the one nearest the sea, where a tuxedo-clad young man deftly played relaxing and mournful showtoons on a polished and well-strung baby grand. The room itself was lavish in the tasteful manner of styles past, with wrought iron railings and high ceilings that might have seemed cold had the place not been decorated with such obvious good cheer in mind. And, an odd bit of kitsch, the tables are all laid with small bowls bearing live goldfish, though they thankfully removed ours before our entree of pike perch (Hr 57) arrived (my guest, a recently lapsed vegetarian, couldn’t bear to face the accusing – and bulbous – eyes of our uninvited dining partner). But the heft and quality of the fillet soon mollified all guilt. The flaky and tender flesh fell onto her fork with the lightest of scrapes and the accompanying vegetables were greedily devoured, clad as they were with a beautifully simple coating of butter and salt. An order of calamari (Hr 51) also proved impressive: the batter was light and crisp, more in the style of tempura than the husky dough usually found in pubs and Italian restaurants. And the rings of squid – a sizable number – separated easily as you bit into them (in lesser eateries, the seafood can sometimes have all the yield and flavor of rubber bands). What’s more, the small bowl of garlic mayonnaise served on the side easily trumped our desire for a more traditional tartar or tomato sauce. Involving the city’s Jewish past, an order of Tsimes (Hr 26) proved surprisingly complex. Translated loosely from Yiddish as “stew,” the dish may boast even more variations than borscht, and ours was a curious mix of kidney beans, mushrooms and fried onions all gathered in a tomato ragout. But the trio blended beautifully and, what’s more, hidden at the bottom was half a bulb of roasted garlic, cooked just enough to leave the cloves nearly as pliable as butter. As my guest and I both were fighting off illness, we greedily devoured the lobes. But the standout for me was a salad curiously called “Odessa shared apartment.” It was indeed a curious mix of roommates: perfectly soft purple-pink ribbons of beet coiled around plump and seedless prunes, all lightly coated in a mayonnaise-based dressing that was miraculously applied with such a light touch that it merely highlighted the sweetness of the ingredients rather than obscure them all with a robust smack of oil. The only off note of the entire meal was curiously advertised as the “respected dish of all Odessa residents.” And while “bitochek” (Hr 53) may certainly be beloved, I found Bulvar’s rendition of this pounded pork brisket fried in egg batter to be tough and relatively bland. Perhaps I should’ve chosen from the extensive steak menu. Ah well, just another excuse to return. Bulvar 1 Katerinskaya Ploshad, 8-048-777-0339 English menu: yes English-speaking staff: yes
A relaxing hideaway in the center of town So, put simply, right now Klara Bara is my favorite restaurant in all of Ukraine. And I’m not just saying that because of the food. No, in fact, Klara Bara is one of those incredibly rare restaurants here that just seems to have everything perfectly put together: cuisine, ambiance, location, service – nothing signals even a hint of a sour note. While the view is perhaps not as dramatic or sweeping as Bulvar’s, it’s twice as comfortable, nestled as it is within Odessa’s beautiful City Garden, just a minute’s walk from the main drag of Deribasovskaya. But that’s part of it’s genius: While only a few yards away the city swells with pedestrian revelers, the lush enveloping trees seem to block the noise as effectively as they shade the sun. You might as well be dining in a Carpathian kolyba were it not from the thriving open-air art market mere steps in front of you. The interior as well was designed with “cozy” thoroughly in mind. You get the sense that you’ve been eating there for years the moment you sit down. And, indeed, Klara Bara functions as much as a private club as it does a restaurant. I happened to be eating there the first time with a relatively well-known local intellectual, and it seemed that every patron who entered either nodded, waved, shook hands or said hello. Another regular diner simply referred to the place as “his office,” explaining that, in his mind, business was best conducted over a great meal (I couldn’t agree more). But you can conduct pleasure just as easily as business at Klara Bara. After making the painfully difficult decision of whether to sit within the softly lit and richly wooded dining room or hold court amidst the foliage and the sunset outside, take a minute to peruse a menu that blissfully doesn’t overreach itself in selection. After spending hours these last few months poring over the dense tomes that so many restaurants in Ukraine employ, it’s a relief to finally be handed one that concentrates solely on a few dishes executed with professional certainty. And after checking the first page of seasonal specials, choose the “country plate” (Hr 34) for a light starter: tender and thin slices of tongue arranged like the petals of a flower, topped with delicate mushrooms and diced peppers so fresh that they’ve escaped the kitchen with all of their crunch intact. The meat is boiled to a chewy perfection and the light dressing of citrus perfectly draws out the natural earthy richness of the mushrooms. Place a slice or two atop the wonderful complimentary bread (if you’re lucky, you’ll catch it fresh from the oven, marveling at the escaping steam while you tear into a roll). Follow the tongue with a salad of beetroot, apple, cheese and walnuts (Hr 24), a dish that masterfully blends the sweet, tart, firm and fleshy characteristics of its constituents. And every ingredient is on its best behavior: the apple is perfectly ripe, the white cheese neither too young or too strong, the walnuts lightly roasted to get rid of their acidity and the beetroots perfectly cooked for texture. The flavors themselves, rather than scream one by one for attention, clasp hands in a cacophonous melange that is as pretty to look at as it is to eat. Also as accomplished is the Greek salad (Hr 30), a bowl of perfectly ripened tomatoes, cucumbers and red peppers, lightly anointed with oil and furnished with a small brick of ACTUAL feta cheese, itself dusted with a fine covering of aromatic herbs. I’ve eaten three of these since I arrived. For heavier fare, I was told that the fillet of turbot with sauteed almonds (Hr 71) is as "Odessa" as a diner can get. But, while the fish was perfectly cooked and the portion generous, I still found the dish to be a bit bland (though, at Klara Bara, any time flavor’s a problem, just drizzle on a little of the exceptional red pepper oil that alights at each table. It’s fiery unction will provide a unmistakable heat to any plate that dares to approach prosaic. However, the pork ribs (Hr 54) could not have been better. I’ve often been disappointed by plates of ribs in Kyiv, usually a tough cut of overcooked animal covered in a thick coating of quickly congealing fat. At Klara Bara, however, the rack is trim, moist, falling off the bone and coated in a piquant sauce that successfully approximates the national take on barbecue. If you’re sitting outside and the evening grows a bit chilly, order a bowl of the Siam soup (Hr 62 for two). While a Thai dish might seem incongruous on this hearty and homey menu, the result is nonetheless successful: a bright orange broth of mushrooms and seafood, with a rare appearance of spicy chilies that – be warned – can easily overwhelm the boldest of palates. If the shrimp seemed a bit tough and less than perfectly fresh, the squid gets all the attention it deserved, as the pulpy rings retain a perfect level of firmness and part easily with even a mild bite. The meal is perfectly finished with a rather large slice of carrot cake (Hr 24), easily big enough for two. Klara Bara’s recipe for this traditional sweet brilliantly features orange zest, so each bite has a refreshing first note of strong citrus that’s cut down quickly by the mellow sweetness of the carrot before it can cause any lips to purse. Pair it with some of the best cups of coffee in town, or another bottle of the well-priced red or white table wine (Hr 350 for 500 grams). Believe me, I’d love to be more critical (and I usually am), but after you spend an evening at Klara Bara -sipping well-made drinks, talking endlessly with friends, listening to the nightly live music and watching the sunset over the treetops – I challenge you to express anything but the warmest of sentiments. Klara Bara City Garden, 8-048-220-0331 Open daily from 9 a.m. till midnight English menu: yes English-speaking staff: yes [edit] What murders could the SBUWhat murders could the SBU be talking about Kyiv Post July 8, 1999 STEFAN KORSHAK Ukraine has no shortage of unsolved murders linked to business dealings. A check of the Post's list of unsolved killings turned up five cases with possible ties-ins to Nordex, the business to which Israeli citizen Vadim Rabinovich - barred from entry to the United States and now Ukraine - used to work with. In similar action against Israeli Leonid Wolf, also announced on June 24, the Ukrainian government called him a suspect in several contract killings. But the government did not specify which ones. While the Post has no information linking either Rabinovich or Wolf to any murders, the following victims, according to Post sources, did business with Nordex, the Swiss-Austrian company that Rabinovich once worked for. The U.S. government blamed the company for selling arms to Iran and North Korea, among other illegal activities. December 2, 1997 - Arkady Tabachnyk, Odessa, director general of the joint venture BIPA-Moda. He and his bodyguard were murdered while jogging along Odessa's seaside Primorsky Boulevard. BIPA-Moda had traded with Nordex, according to testimony before a U.S. congressional committee in 1997. According to an Odessa industry source, BIPA-Moda managed a large portion of Ukrainian steel exports through Nordex. From an Odessa storefront, BIPA-Moda also imported German consumer goods. August 11, 1997 - Boris Derevyanko, Odessa, chief editor of Vechernyaya Odessa. The newspaper editor was shot twice in the back while walking to work. Dere vyanko's killer, a Moldovan, was sentenced in 1999, but refused to disclose who hired him. Most analysts of the Odessa scene believe Derevyanko had come into possession of information that incriminated important politicians - information possibly concerning illegal trading in Ukraine's south. April 3, 1997 - Ivan Kulivar, a/k/a "Karabas", leader of one of Odessa's most powerful organized-crime groups. He was shot dead while exiting a banya. Kulivar had been involved in organized crime for at least the last 30 years, dating back to the Brezhnev era in the Soviet Union. By Ukrainian independence he had become a key middleman in shipping crude oil, chemicals, agricultural commodities, narcotics and smuggled goods through the Odessa port. Until his death, Karabas acted as an Odessan Godfather in the underword. His shooting broke a long-standing mobster peace in the city. March 30, 1996 - Oleksandr Shvedchenko, Kyiv, director of the American-Russian gas distributor ITERA. He died in a burst of automatic gunfire in the center of Kyiv. May 30, 1994 - Volodymyr Bortnyk, Kyiv, president of Ukragrotekhservis, the state's agricultural-equipment importing dinosaur. He was shot five times outside his Kyiv apartment. Ukragrotekhservis was identified as a Nordex trading partner during U.S. Congressional testimony. After extensive surgery abroad, Bortnyk survived. [edit] Kempinski Bows OutKempinski Bows Out of Upscale Odessa Hotel Luxury Hotelier Drops Affiliation After Ownership Stake Changes Hands Kyiv Post June 20, 2002 Roman Olearchyk, Kyiv Post Staff Writer The arrival of a new shareholder in one of Ukraine's most luxurious hotels may have caused a rift that has resulted in the departure of Kempinski Hotels and Resorts from the project. The loss of its affiliation with the Kempinski chain compelled the owners of the Odessa Kempinski Hotel to rename it the Odessa Hotel. The hotel, launched last April, is a prominent fixture on Odessa's waterfront, situated near the foot of the famous Potemkin stairs. The 19 story, $ 20 million hotel became affiliated with the Kempinski chain just before it opened. The relationship with Kempinski, which did not have an ownership stake in the property, ended at about the same time as a minority stake in the project previously owned by Brooklyn Kiev was transferred to Odessa based Caesar LLC. Caesar director Hryhory Vashchenko told the Post that his company obtained the stake in January and struck what he described as "an agreement" with the majority shareholder, Odessa Sea Trading Port, in April. Vashchenko said that Brooklyn Kiev and Odessa's port, which owns a majority stake in the hotel, were the founding partners in the hotel project. He said that Brooklyn Kiev made the agreement with Kempinski, and that agreement didn't transfer to Caesar. "We don't have a deal with Kempinski. Brooklyn Kiev did," Vashchenko said. He provided few other details about the transaction, but said that the hotel was operating normally. Vashchenko would not disclose the details of or describe the transfer of Brooklyn Kiev's shares to Caesar. Vashchenko also described the transaction as "a corporate secret." Representatives of Brooklyn Kiev could not be reached for comment. Kempinski, does not own many of the hotels that operate under its name. Hotels that affiliate with the chain must meet its guidelines. Hotels benefit from Kempinski's reputation and its sales and marketing. In return, Kempinski collects a percentage of the hotels' revenue. Though it has been renamed the Odessa Hotel, that name may not stick for long. Vashchenko said the new shareholders are looking for another chain with which to affiliate. He said that the hotel is in talks with many operators, including Kempinski. "We absolutely need a major brand and will find one. Talks are underway but it is too early to provide details," he said. Kempinski representatives declined to comment. "Due to the negotiations that are currently taking place with the owning company, Kempinski is not in a position to make any comments to the media," a company statement read. The Kempinski firm was founded in Germany more than a century ago. The company's affiliated hotels include the Hotel Baltschug Kempinski in Moscow and the Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg. [edit] Odessa Philharmonic, Earle Go "National"Kyiv Post July 19, 2002
As conductor of the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra, the first Ukrainian orchestra to cross the Atlantic, Hobart Earle has won his share of accolades. Earle himself holds the title of Distinguished Artist of Ukraine. And his orchestra recently became the first performing arts organization outside Kyiv to be granted the status of "National orchestra" by the president. That honor has more than just symbolic status: The salaries of the orchestra's musicians' immediately doubled, to an average of Hr 600 per month, as a result. "It was a good decision because our challenge is to keep the musicians motivated and keep on track with what is going on in Kyiv," Hobart said. "We've had the same pay since 1993." Hobart, a Venezuela born American, has been around even longer than that. He first came to Ukraine as a guest conductor in 1991 when the country was still part of the Soviet Union. Two years later he became the first U.S. citizen to be named musical director in the FSU when he took over the reigns of the Odessa orchestra. Nine years later he has become one of the best known personalities in the Black Sea port city, and every season his orchestra continues to pack them in at the 1,100 seat Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater. "We even fill up the theater during repeat performances," he said. Quality must be responsible for that. A Princeton graduate and student of conductors Ferdinand Leitner and Leonard Bernstein, Earle went on to conduct at the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Tonkuenstler Orchestra and the Noord Nederlands Orkest. His U.S. experience includes stints at the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra. That all adds up to a lot of concerts. Asked to name his favorite with the Odessa Philharmonic, Hobart was at first stumped. But after some thought he singled out one highly memorable performance from the orchestra's groundbreaking 1993 trip to the United States: a concert at New York's Carnegie Hall. There the orchestra played Dmitry Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 before an audience that included the General Assembly of the United Nations. "It was riveting; everything seemed to come together," he said. "It was one of those things that can never be repeated." Earle's future sounds as intriguing as the past. While the orchestra members are off on vacation this summer, Earle said he is hoping he can organize a couple of performances in Kyiv at the beginning of September. He said a couple of interesting upcoming projects include performances of "Poem of Ecstasy" by Russian composer Alexander Scriabin and "En Saga" by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. As for future goals for the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra, Earl says they involve quality and intensity. "I am pleased with what we've achieved over the years, but I would have hoped to have done much more with the orchestra by now," he said. "We are trying to keep ourselves from sliding, increase our audience listeners and hope to play more in the West." [edit] Ukraine Observer[edit] The Iron Lady of Pan PizzaBy Alla Vetrovcova From Ukraine Observer at: www.ukraine-observer.com/articles/204/588
A Flower Can't Grow at a Sewage Plant After spending five years in the lively port town, the prospect of going back to the provinces to solve plumbing and sewage problems, Lily's major at the Odessa Construction Academy, didn't capture her imagination. Some people think that a person's destiny is determined by the name he is given at birth. The case of Lily would seem to confirm this. The pretty wild flower that she is named after is also known for its tenacious roots and ability to survive the harshest of dry spells. Without such personal characteristics, Lily would have likely resigned herself to a dull and impecunious existence upon finishing her studies. She learned of the waitress job with the Odessa-based restaurant chain through an advertisement in a local newspaper. The plan was to earn some extra money during summer break. And it paid off. Vacationers were particularly generous in the center of town, where the outlet she worked at was located. It didn't, however, give her much experience in water resource management or waste treatment. But by this time, any illusions Lily had entertained about what kind of career she was studying to enter had been dispelled. "When a specialist came to my small town and recruited kids to enter this college, my mother advised me to enroll. She told me that I would sit around in a white lab coat checking test tubes, just the kind of work a woman should do," Lily said. So Lily went to Odessa with a few girlfriends and passed the entrance exam with flying colors. Reality set in only during her first on-the-job training, after the first year of college. Arriving at a treatment plant, she was greeted by women in black smocks and knee-high rubber boots. The work wasn't just dirty, it was smelly too. Her classmate used to tease her: "Hey Lily, where is your laboratory?"
Meanwhile, at Pan Pizza, she had been promoted to cashier, working in the restaurant's pastry section for several months. Within a year, she was managing the restaurant on the city's prestigious Deribassovskaya street full time. As Lily moved up the corporate ladder, acquiring more and more management skills along the way, her relations with other employees became strained. "During the probation period, I was all tears and nerves," says Lily, "For starters, this was the first management experience that I had ever had. Second, I had to redefine myself with the staff, for whom I had been, until just recently, one of the girls. They didn't accept me as a supervisor. Only yesterday, we had been sweeping the floor together, and now I was telling them what to do." Some eventually left the company, a few were dismissed. Most got used to it. Between 1999 and 2001, Lily showed even more initiative and resourcefulness as a manager, overseeing the restaurant's remodeling. Moreover, at this point, her college training finally began to pay off. The project foreman was surprised by her knowledge of building design and indignant when such a dainty young woman uncovered shortcomings in his work. By the time it was all over, Lily had been promoted to director, a position she has held for two years now. When she had first arrived at Pan Pizza in 1998, the company had had only three restaurants - all of them in Odessa. Two years later, three more outlets were opened, under the direct supervision of Lily. Of course, the former waitress was given management training courses sponsored by the company along the way. Curiously, while attending one such course, Lily was told that, due to her reticence and reluctance to engage others, she wasn't considered real management material. "I was a very good listener, absorbing everything, but almost never taking part in discussions. So, after having my communication skills thus evaluated, I thought: No way, I have to work on this," Lily recalled. Now Lily has around 300 subordinates. Her responsibilities include the development of franchises in Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk. Pan Pizza has seven restaurants in Ukraine, including four in Odessa. Trouble in the Kitchen at Home Lily's family life also suffered some strains. While she was climbing the ladder of success, her husband couldn't keep up. At one point, he was reduced to working as little more than a groundskeeper, which soon became the source of numerous conflicts and spats. "At first it was difficult," recalls Lily, "right up to where he gave me an ultimatum: choose between your job and your family. I would be gone all day and into the night. Finally, after yet another quarrel, my husband agreed to support me in my career growth." Oleg has even gotten used to her business trips. "We have been married for eight years and are still together," Lily emphasized. It was a lot of stress but she has also gotten a great deal of professional satisfaction. In addition, the couple has been able to purchase a car and an apartment. The difference between her and her husband's salaries was also a sore point. But when they stopped talking about it, they stopped fighting about. "I wouldn't say that I have to finance him. We have common money. There was a time when I was a student, and Oleg earned a decent salary at his job. I didn't have any qualms about living on his money. We bought clothes and furniture. Now we do the same thing on a larger scale. He also earns money," explains Lily. Lily's success has in fact made them closer. Her busy schedule prevents her from doing much socializing outside of the workplace anyway. "When I moved up, many of my friends left my life. This isn't good or bad. It always happens that way. I think this happens to all managers," she said. At first, when Lily was less confident about giving instructions to her staff, she often had to perform many tasks herself or the tasks wouldn't get done. "Practically all the friends and loyal girlfriends whom I started off with have gone. We had become close as families as well as co-workers, going to parties and spending time together," Lily said. Looking back on it all, Lily feels like she has come a long way, and that the company has been behind her every step. "I came across one company in Odessa where they simply don't hire women as managers. At Pan Pizza, there is no distinction between men and women," says Lily. Of the country's seven restaurants there is only one director who is a man. So has Lily achieved her goal? "I have big plans for the future," she confides, "and they are connected to the company. It's been like a family to me for the past seven years." [edit] Odessa Restaurant MixTwo Mikes. Add to Odessa Restaurant Mix From The Ukrainian Observer: www.ukraine-observer.com/articles/196/385 By Gerald HARTY Down in Odessa, Ukraine's self-proclaimed Capital of Comedy, the latest double-act to take on the town are hoping to cook up more than just laughs. An unlikely duo, known to locals as the 'Two Mikes' (Tarantino and McDermott) sound like a stand-up act, but have an altogether different goal -to bring authentic Italian cuisine to Odessan diners. And it's something they're well on the way to doing with the recent opening of Tarantino's, at 19 Ekaterininskaya in the heart of the famous port city. Tarantino, who gave his name to the spacious subterranean restaurant, is the owner and McDermott, the general manager. Between them, they boast close to 50 years experience running and working in restaurants. Both hail from the United States and share a love of Ukraine. Despite the similarities, though, they're a surprising pair because they are in many ways polar opposites. Tarantino, in his late 50s, is an Italian-American with a gruff, rasping voice straight out of Central Casting. He's a diminutive, silver-haired bundle of wisecracking energy firing out one-liners in staccato bursts. Meanwhile, McDermott, 36, is everybody's idea of the quintessential laid-back American. He's a soft-spoken man with a calm, studied veneer. Is it a case of opposites attracting? "We're a good team," says McDermott. "I have a lot of local knowledge - I've been operating restaurants in Ukraine for over six years - and he (Tarantino) comes from a long tradition of running restaurants in the States. I know how to work with the people to get things accomplished and he's very good in the kitchen. He's very personable." Tarantino has no doubts about their business partnership. "God wanted us to get hooked up. Mike's a great guy. We're working as hard as we possibly can but we're having a lot of laughs along the way." Tarantino has been in the restaurant business since 1971. Originally from Gravina di Puglie, a small town in the "heel of the boot of Italy," he and his folks emigrated to the USA when he was 16. They settled in Stamford, Connecticut where he learned English "on the streets." After a stint as a sheet-metal mechanic, he landed his first restaurant job in New Jersey, found he loved the trade and resolved to have his own place. He now has five restaurants across Connecticut. What brought him to Ukraine? "Luck. I rented an apartment to a young lady who was setting up a factory in Kyiv with her boss, who was from Odessa. They got me interested in this country. It's because of them that I'm here. I went to Kyiv and I liked it." Was it love at first sight when he first hit Odessa? "I came here four years ago and didn't care for it at all. It was winter and, of course, freezing. There were potholes everywhere and I was put off. Then, by chance, I happened to be in Odessa again. But this time, what a difference! It was summer, the weather was gorgeous and the people were so friendly. So I came back last year intending to stay two months at most. A year later, I'm still here and I hope to stay for another 100!" It was while tasting what the city had to offer that the idea for Tarantino's began to take shape. "I looked and I saw these restaurants that, as far as I'm concerned, have no understanding of Italian food whatsoever. Real Italian food is something that I've always been passionate about and it's a culture that I wanted to teach here in Odessa." He got to know his future general manager through Estrellita's, a Mexican restaurant in Odessa that McDermott owned, but sold to join forces with Tarantino. McDermott's background is in catering. A Viginia native, he's worked in the restaurant business since his university days. "I picked up part-time work in a pizzeria while I was at Virginia Tech and really enjoyed it. That led to other jobs but my first serious position was at Little Joe's, an Italian restaurant on Broadway in New York." On a whim, he decided to go to Moscow a decade ago. "It was simple curiosity," he said. The Eastern European bug bit and he stayed working as a sous chef and then a full-fledged chef, and things progressed from there. "I went on to launch the first Starlight Diner in the city, worked in another couple of places and then I received an invitation from the Arizona restaurant group to open up a branch in Donetsk, which is how I found myself in Ukraine." A period in Kyiv followed before he zeroed-in on Odessa as the venue for Estrellita's. Odessa is a city chock-a-block with dining options. Is there room for one more? "Of course," he said. "We don't have any fancy gimmicks, just good food. If you look at the decorations you'll see they resemble that of an apartment or a house, not that of a restaurant. We don't have any pictures of Naples or the Coliseum on the wall. We decorated it like you would your own place. We tried to create an Italian home here, and the food reflects that." A quick perusal of the menu seams to bear this out. There are the expected classic dishes like Spaghetti Carbonara (Hr 27), but there are surprises as well, like scallops wrapped in bacon with Grand Marnier sauce (Capesante Al Grand Marnier), at Hr 45 and McDermott's personal favorite - rabbit cacciatora, with tomato, mushrooms and bell peppers (Coniglio Alla Cacciatora), at Hr 49. From where did they draw their culinary inspiration? "I wanted this restaurant to be a home away from home," says Tarantino. "A lot of these recipes have been handed down from my mother, father and grandfather." McDermott agrees: "We didn't look at any menus. We simply chose what we like to eat." Apart from educating Odessa's palate, they intend to deal head-on with one of the most common complaints visitors to Ukraine have - the service. "There isn't a service culture here," says McDermott. "When you walk into a store, people don't make eye contact. When people don't say hello and when people are rude to you at the train station, that's bad service. All businesses survive on one thing - service. For restaurants, it's crucial. So our number-one priority was to select staff with nice personalities, people who are not 'conflict-orientated.' We treat them with respect and show them hands-on how to wait on tables, how to interact with customers and we encourage them to do the same. That's all." The two Mikes' profession has notoriously punishing hours. "It's no problem," says McDermott. "I've always been a nocturnal person. I don't like mornings. I like waking up in the afternoon and working late into the night and I love the work. Let's face it, there are easier ways to make money, but I like building teams that work efficiently and have a good time together." Tarantino nods his head in agreement. Is there a lighter side to the business? "I love the excuses that cooks come up with," said McDermott. "Like the other day, one cook told me that the salt was too salty!" Tarantino said that he opened a restaurant in Stamford, Connecticut and after a couple of months, " we went from zero business to a full house every night. One day the place was packed as usual and I'm working flat-out in the kitchen when I get a call that some customers would like to see me. I ask the waiter what the problem is and he says that they've been waiting a long time." "So I go to the table and it's a married couple. I say 'How can I help you?" and the woman says to me, 'Honey, if you turned down the music a little bit you'd probably get a lot more people in here.' With that, her husband screamed at her, 'What are you talking about? Isn't an hour and a half wait long enough for you?'" What does the future hold for two such unlikely partners? McDermott, who met his wife Natasha when he was working in Moscow, is happy just relishing the role of fatherhood. "I have a one-and-half year-old daughter, Liza. I'm not thinking as an individual any more, but as a family." As for Tarantino, he has one wish. "I want this to be the most famous restaurant in Odessa." Tarantino is no relation to controversial film director Quentin Tarantino, whose films include 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Pulp Fiction.' Or is he? "People ask me, and I tell them he's my nephew!" Gerald Harty is a freelance writer and Odessa resident. [edit] "Plague Was Walking With a Spade..."From Ukraine Observer: ukraine-observer.com/articles/221/885 By Volodymyr Senchenko The title of my article is the first line of Taras Shevchenko's poem. Here is its full stanza: Plague was walking with a spade And digging graves, And filling them with dead bodies Never singing with saints. The last line means no Christian rituals were observed at burials because often there were not enough priests to perform these rites. When I was a little boy, my friends and I could not even read but already knew about horrors of plague. Surrounded by a deep moat, a small cemetery lay on the highest field next to our village. Only one stone cross rose above the graves of those who died during the last plague epidemic in Ukraine. We knew the plague victims had been buried separately on dry fields with no underground waters capable of bringing the virus to nearby rivers. The moat around the cemetery was dug to prevent cattle or people from accidentally coming there. We, little shepherds, were not allowed to herd our cows near the cemetery. But we all failed to resist the temptation of visiting the place. Each of us saw that cross with an inscription from the Bible. We were all terribly afraid of seeing the buried disease resurrected, despite having no idea what plague was and how it could crawl out. Our fears disappeared after the Second World War when we saw medicine could overcome any obstacle. Although the war was monstrous, making people subsisted in non-human conditions and there were no outbreaks of typhus, cholera or plague. Nowadays, Ukrainians seem not to panic much about such widespread problems as tuberculosis (TB), AIDS, bird flu and sexually transmitted diseases. We are overly confident that we can combat all these infection threats. There are at least two explanations of our fearlessness. First, we have much more experience and expertise in fighting the most dangerous infections. Many viruses were defeated in the Soviet period, and we are no longer preventively vaccinated. Other diseases, such as tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections, were on the edge of disappearance. By the way, the reemergence of some dangerous infections makes civilized people wonder why there are still such viruses and also explains why there are quite a few supporters of the authoritarian Soviet system that was capable of rapidly and radically combating such diseases. The second explanation of confidence is our deep faith in inexhaustible abilities of national science. The Ukrainian academician Danylo Zabolotny is among those who we thank for defeating plague and cholera in Eurasia. Zabolotny came from the village of Chobotarka in Podillya. He was born into a family of grain-growers. After his father died, they moved to live with a relative in Rostov-on-Don. Danylo finished gymnasium and then entered Odessa University to study microbiology, which was always his passion. His professor was Illya Mechnikov, a Nobel Prize winner. Mechnikov recommended his talented and well-bred student for the job of tutor for Nicholas II, heir to the Russian throne. (Incidentally, the Russian monarch loved spending his free time with a microscope.) Zablotny's proximity to the prince, who was only two years younger than his private instructor, did not help Danylo avoid arrest and imprisonment for taking part in a secret student meeting. Released due to poor health, he received a Master's degree and entered Kyiv State University to study medicine. He soon got married and went to Chobotarka to spend his honeymoon. The famous professor Pidvysotsky helped him develop an anti-cholera vaccine. Danylo tested its efficiency on himself when cholera and diphtheria broke out in his native Podillya. He then had to develop an anti-diphtheria vaccine to stop the epidemic. Later, Zabolotny traveled to India and Arabia to collect data for his research, which he carried out at the Louis Pasteur Institute in Paris. Then he went on to Mongolia, Manchuria and Ireland. In Paris, Zabolotny was decorated with the Legion of Honor for his contribution to the cause of eradicating disease. He is also recognized worldwide as a defeater of plague, the most terrible disease of his time. Zabolotny nearly died of it when he accidentally scratched his hand with an infected syringe. He was the first to open departments of epidemiology, houses for sanitary education and laboratories in Odessa, Saint Petersburg, Kyiv and Kamyanets-Podilsky. He wrote hundreds of books and articles on microbiology. He was also the first rector of the Odessa Medical Academy. In 1928, Danylo Zabolotny was appointed the head of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Although he soon left the post, he established an academic research institute of microbiology and epidemiology, one of the leading institutions of the National Academy of Sciences. Zabolotny also created a great school for microbiologists and epidemiologists and made a huge contribution to the development of these sciences. Chobotarka natives said he loved his land, village and people. When I was a boy, my parents told me Zabolotny and his wife had been buried in the village, although they often lived and worked in big cities. I was also told he had adopted three orphans and supported thirteen children when his wife and son had passed away. All these facts made Ukrainians admire Zabolotny as a prominent and charismatic personality. The Soviet regime disliked his popularity. When some of the KGB archives were published, Andriy Mistkivsky, Zabolotny's biographer, disclosed a plot to murder the "nationalist Zabolotny." Mistkivsky, who was looking for the scientist's diary, said: "If Zabolotny had lived till the tragic year of 1937, he would have been killed in some concentration camp." His supposition is probably right. The government did not need such spiritual leaders of the nation. However, his lifestyle and behavior make Zabolotny a model for many Ukrainian scientists. [edit] Ukraine Weekly[edit] U.S. aids "Odessa, Russia"From:www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/2000/140011.shtml PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Unbeknownst to the world - perhaps even under cover of darkness - U.S. officials have turned the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa (sic) over to Russia. Could this be an April Fool's joke? Well, not exactly ... Odesa - the official spelling used by Ukraine - has been turned over to Russia only in press releases distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. In reality, Odesa remains part of Ukraine. Let's backtrack. A March 17 press release was headlined "U.S. Awards Grant to Odessa, Russia, to Study Heating Renovations." A summary of the release noted: "The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) awarded a $400,000 grant to the municipal council of Odessa, Russia, March 17 to develop plans for producing and delivering heat to buildings throughout the city." Thankfully, the press release itself made no mention of Russia. "The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has awarded a $400,000 grant to the Odessa Municipal Council to develop plans for improving the city's district heating system. The grant was signed today in Odessa by the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Steven K. Pifer, and the city's Mayor, Ruslan Bodelan," it reported. For the record, there are at least six other Odessas: four in the United States, in Texas, Washington, Minnesota and New York; as well as two in Canada, in Ontario and Saskatchewan. There is no Odessa or Odesa in Russia. Perhaps the U.S. State Department could use some good maps? [edit] Yet another Odessa in the United StatesFrom: www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/2000/160018.shtml Dear Editor: In your April 2 issue you cite at least four Odessas in the United States, but have omitted the Odessa nearest to you, namely, the one in Delaware. It is alleged that the name "Odessa" was chosen for this Delaware town because the city fathers thought at the time that it would be a major grain export center on the East Coast, and wanted to name it after a well-known grain-export city. Thus, the real Odessa came to mind. Although their grain-export dreams did not come true, the name remained. S. Trofimenko Newark, Del. Editor's note: Thank you! The gazeteer in the "National Geographic Atlas of the World," which we regularly consult, did not list Delaware's Odessa.
[edit] More OdessasFrom: www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/2000/210018.shtml Dear Editor: As to of localities in the United States with the name "Odessa," my article "U.S. Post Office Names with Ukrainian Connections" that appeared in Ukrainian Philatelist No. 44, 1981, (pages 23-25); No. 45, 1982, (pages 17-21); No 46, 1983, (pages 31-32) and No. 48, 1985, (ages 14-16) lists eight "Odessa" post offices in this country. DE 19730, New Castle County incorporated in 1755; FL 53556, Pasco County founded in 1876; MN 56276, Big Stone County founded in 1879; MO 64076, Lafayette County changed to "Odessa" in 1800; NE 68861, Buffalo County changed to "Odessa" in 1974; NY 14869, Schuyler County founded in 1880; TX 79760, Ector County founded in 1881; WA 99159, Lincoln County founded in 1886. Besides these eight there are "Lake Odessa," MI 48849, Ionia County and "West Odessa" TX 79763, Ector County post offices. In addition A. Wlasenko-Bojcun in "Ukrainian Place Names in the U.S.A." (Bismarck: 1977) lists three localities named "Odessa" in North Dakota located in Pierce, Ramsey and Grant counties. It might be added that there are only two "Odessa" post offices in Canada - one in Ontario named "Odessa" in 1854, and the other in Saskatchewan (Andrij D. Solczanyk, "Canadian Post Offices with Ukrainian Names," Ukrainian Philatelist, No. 43, 1980, pages 20-21). Anyone interested in having a cover with an "Odessa" post office cancellation should mail a letter to the postmaster of the post office with an enclosed self-addressed, stamped envelope and ask for a post office cancellation. Sometimes you might be surprised, as I was when in the returned letter there was a note from one postmaster stating that he, too, is a Ukrainian. Andrij D. Solczanyk Media, Pa. [edit] Odessa wages war on Leninwww.ukrweekly.com/Archive/1996/229606.shtml June 2, 1996 ODESSA - Ukraine's largest port city has become embroiled in controversy after its mayor, Eduard Gurvitz, ordered all remaining statues of Vladimir Lenin pulled down, save for one monument already designated as a historical landmark, a report on May 25 said. Streets honoring revolutionary heroes have been abruptly renamed and freshly painted signs and plaques put into place. "It is a sacred task to get rid of Lenin. It is simply incomprehensible that he was allowed to remain standing," Mr. Gurvits told media during festivities marking the 51st anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany. "Anyway, just who was this Vladimir Ulyanov, otherwise known as Lenin? He produced only suffering and victims. For Ukraine he did absolutely nothing at all," continued the mayor. The demontage campaign is part of a power struggle between Mr. Gurvits, a member of Odessa's 45,000-strong Jewish community, and Ruslan Bodelan, Communist leader chairman of the Odessa Oblast Council. The two men take turns, on television and in newspapers, throwing verbal punches over who runs local affairs better. The fight is also over property, with Mr. Gurvits trying, for several years now, to build a huge port terminal to process Middle Eastern oil, and Mr. Bodelan claiming such a move would destroy the city's environment. "Gurvits has concentrated all power in his own hands," Mr. Bodelan told local newspapers recently. "Everywhere there is a hunt for ideological enemies. Nothing is getting done. Basic problems remain unsolved. Houses go unrepaired, cultural monuments are being pulled down." (Reuters) [edit] Lloyd's List[edit] Viewpoint: Ukraine needs friendsViewpoint: Ukraine needs friends in a cold, hard world December 21, 1994 Pg. 5 By MICHAEL GREY 'HAVE you any Russian gold?' asked the customs man at Odessa International Airport in a curiously uninterested fashion, having peered into my briefcase in the hope of discovering an ingot or two. It seemed a curious question, as the only plane that afternoon had come from Vienna and had bumped slowly over the cratered taxiway, past the cannibalised Tupolevs, and ranks of wrecked helicopters and old biplanes that would clearly never fly again, nearly two hours before. We had waited, clutching our cardboard entry tickets to Ukraine in a grim hall that reeked of sweat and disinfectant, while three stolid men in camouflage jackets pored over entry documents in their battered booths.
'Some things never change,' said Dieter, who had been through most passport controls in the now dismembered Soviet Union, while Moscow's writ still ran. Odessa, even in a bleak December, is a city of tarnished treasure, waiting for some tender loving care to fully restore its beauty. It is a city planted, apparently, amidst a forest, which in spring would cloak the sad neglect of its baroque loveliness from critical gaze. In winter, it seemed exposed, colourless crowds trudging on grey pavements under a tracery of trees between the brown peeling trunks. Where the money has extended to much-needed repairs, you can see the potential for a city designed by French architects 200 years ago. There are some examples of concrete communist brutalism, standing out like bad teeth in this lovingly integrated town plan, and grim proletarian barracks of tower blocks on the outskirts but, incredibly, most has survived, hopefully to be restored as Ukraine finds its independent feet. The fabric of the city is one thing, the spirit of its people something else. Ukraine was but a limb of this vast Soviet empire with the heart and brain concentrated nearly 1000 miles away in Moscow. Now the limb has become detached and four years into its new existence, is attempting to grow all these functions of its own, within the unknowns of a democratic framework, and among the ruins of the former rulers, which still intrude themselves, like memories of past pain. Ukraine as a republic within the USSR was a mighty state, replete with industry and agriculture, the breadbasket and manufacturing heartland of the empire. Now it does not seem to make anything of its own, after several years of drought and confusion have devastated its fertile fields. As for industry - 'we made more', said one of our hosts - 'after half the industry had been flattened during the German advance 53 years ago'. We are here as guests of the Black Sea Shipping Company to offer them a Baltic and International Council Training Course. 'Towards better decisions' is the aim of the event and the audience is attentive as it listens to Ryszard Kotlinski and Dieter Griebel provide a diet of simple home truths about shipping and commercial practice. What should be your course of action as you receive 'an attractive offer' from an unknown partner? asks Richard Kotlinski, who has seen plenty of such offers during a 47-year career in shipping and does not mind a bit passing on all this experience. One senses that these Blasco managers are receiving plenty of 'attractive' offers from every crook in Christendom, as they surge through these freshly opened lands. Dieter Griebel, who is proud to be a chartered shipbroker, and has run agencies and forwarding and shipowning operations since 1951, teaches business practice; marketing, liabilities and documentary procedure to people whose very systems have made such concepts really quite alien. He preaches punctuality, alertness and the sort of virtues young salesmen in the West learn practically in their prams. These are clever, well educated people, but they have neglected these principles because they were not percieved as important. There was no need to 'sell' anything, when it was all bought and sold centrally. There was no need to do something that was not your immediate job, because there was no point in doing any more than you were contracted for by the state bureaucracies you worked for. When the telephone rang, it was not your job to pick it up. Where were the incentives for decision making in cradle to grave communism? After the sessions, the surgeries, as the managers brought up their very real difficulties. Bill of lading disputes; four-year-old demurrage problems and charters that had gone wrong were retailed. No abstract questions, but actual cases, backed up with yellowing telex forms and correspondence. One sensed that Bimco was doing a real service to one of its particularly hard-pressed members, providing a commercial background to people who had never been required to think commercially. At the coffee breaks, some of the awful uncertainties faced by Ukrainians every day surfaced. Blasco itself was a mighty, mature shipping company with nearly 300 ships and 26,000 employees, all staring into an abyss. At least 50 of these ships were technically redundant and were fit only for scrap. But the actual hardware had been passed on from Moscow to the new government in Kiev, which had little concept of shipowning. If the ships were sold, and the money swallowed up in the central exchequer, how would that help the company retool? We spoke to the deputy president, who looked as if he had not slept for a fortnight and was spending every other night in a 12-hour train journey to Kiev as he struggled to resolve these urgent problems. The company had lost one of its ships three days previously, along with 29 seamen as the SALVADOR ALLENDE had sunk in the Atlantic, and this tragedy showed through. Even the fleet that was operational, was not exactly optimum from a modern perspective. What on earth do you do with a series of 28-knot gas turbine propelled container ro-ros, burning 280 tons of diesel every day, built presumably for the strategic delights of the Soviet Navy? How do you run successful rail ferries when the railways they depend on are a complete shambles? Where does the ordinary working capital for a huge enterprise come from that pays for the paint and canal dues and fuel, pensions and the miserable wages paid to the employees? You may only pay your masters and senior managers Dollars 50 per month, but when the currency crashes and ships are arrested for financial defaults and detained by port state inspectors, where do you go for help? Sure, you can reregister some of the fleet with funny foreign flags and borrow on its value, but it is no long-term solution. You can bring in some useful foreign ship managers who are commercially astute, but there are limits to what even they can do. 'It will take two generations to sort our problems out,' said a tired senior Blasco manager, who contrives to smile at his dilemma. You have to pray that he is wrong. Down at the passenger terminal, at the foot of the wonderful Potemkin Stairs, I reflected that perhaps there was some progress being made. Two Blasco cruiseships lay alongside and the Italian workmen were finishing off the smart new terminal building. But across the end of the pier an appalling wreck of a factory freezer trawler, in some twisted exercise of free enterprise, was discharging - of all things - a cargo of oranges from Israel. In the exquisite gilt and baroque Opera House, Giselle was playing to a full house of children and their parents, army officers, and appreciative citizenry who were able to transform the uncertainties of their grim lives with light, colour and beauty for a couple of hours. In the gigantic market, there was a different Odessa, where, among the stalls and cheap goods, free market capitalism was being practiced. Here was that smell again, of poverty and disinfectant, lined faces, with despair written all over them. There were people starving here - not a few souls who had fallen through the welfare net, but hundreds, because there was no welfare any more. Old women swathed against the keen north wind selling a couple of items of junk, a few carrier bags, mushrooms on strings. A fish which looked as if it had been washed up dead. There was a boy, whose hollow cheekbones and white face told of his inadequate diet, as he offered three little cakes on a clean cardboard plate. He was about the same age as my youngest son, and he haunts me yet. 'They are lovely people going through hell,' said a class surveyor we met as we fought our way through the chaos and inefficiencies of Odessa International Airport. They deserve better than they are getting, despite all your preconcieved ideas about the triumph of the West and capitalism. They deserve more than a Mafia made from recycled KGB and a plethora of fancy lawyers and accountants from the West, if they are not to go to their graves believing that freedom is synonimous with want, or call back old tyrants from retirement. [edit] The Observer[edit] Escape: UkraineEscape: Ukraine: Step to the edge of Europe: Oliver Bennett found shades of the Cold War, pretty streets and those steps in Odessa The Observer Observer Escape Pages, Pg. 6 Oliver Bennett 'Ah, Odessa,' an acquaintance from Russia rhapsodised when I told her that I was off to the Ukrainian city - or the 'pearl of the Black Sea', as the brochures have it. 'It's so romantic. You should just walk around: the courtyards, the streets, the sea.' Once the third city of old Russia after Moscow and St Petersburg, it's like Rio to the Russians, who flock here for its warm climate, beaches, cafes and nightlife - and quite possibly for its historic buildings, culture and chess. Could it be a weekend break for the British? Well, why not? Odessa's in Europe, although you can't fly directly. And it's a great enigma: the very name 'Odessa' is full of Cold War romance. I went via Budapest to find out more. Odessa's airport didn't disappoint. Like something from a le Carre novel, it was white, rectilinear and staffed by knuckleheads in green uniforms. The time they spent rubberstamping my passport smelled of the KGB. But I emerged, met my driver and sped - truly sped - through the sunny boulevards and Stalinist blocks of suburban Odessa to the Chorne More Hotel, a smoked glass ex-Intourist pile tweaked into the market era but retaining a bracing touch of anti-service. The receptionist kept my passport for 20 minutes. Why? She gave me a look that said: 'None of your business, buster.' The cobbled streets, lime trees and noble but desiccated buildings made for a pretty sight. I had a beer in the bar and went to the hotel's sanitorium. In a UK spa, you get backlit twigs and whale song. Here a middle-aged guy with hands like hams pummelled me and finally spoke. 'Where from?' 'London.' 'I have been,' he growled. 'Tilbury!' Of course: Odessa was always a key Russian port. I explored Odessa's central grid of streets, faintly redolent of New York. The cobbles, plane trees and wide (if cracked) pavements gave on to a new economy of internet cafes, fashion shops and bars towards the centre. Sailors swaggered around whistling at girls. Great fun. Yet through the gloaming I could also see an older Odessa, where little old ladies hauled faggots of firewood home and old fellows dipped wheelie bins. These ghost-like individuals, mostly elderly, represented a generation that had lost to the market. I dived into a couple of Odessa's handsome onion-domed Orthodox churches, near the impossibly grand railway station, and saw a devotion scarcely even seen in southern Italy. Ann turned up in the morning to show me round Odessa. I had explained that I wanted a young guide to help with bar research and when she turned up, I shouldn't have been surprised at her pink nail varnish, short skirt and general pulchritude. In 'Back in the USSR', the Lennon-McCartney lyric goes, 'The Ukraine girls really knock me out', and I soon learnt that Odessa's women are a tourist attraction in their own right, encouraged by a demi-monde of matchmaking websites catering for chaps of a certain age. At breakfast, discussing the day's museum plans with a nice German family, a hefty lone English gent at the next table piped up: 'You're missing out the best sight of all: the bloody women!' Ann and I walked down leafy avenues to Odessa's centre to see the baroque Opera House. Odessa was impressive architecturally, like St Petersburg in a Mediterranean-style climate. It celebrated its 200th anniversary in 1994, harking back to the date when Catherine the Great decided it was a useful harbour and up it went, a neo-classical new town. It's fallen on harder times, but has still got the feeling of a set-piece city, such as Bath. We looked at this Albert Hall of the Near East and the Mozart Hotel opposite, catering for Odessa's new money, then walked further into grand streets full of ornate Art Nouveau apartment blocks that had been bought back to life. Ann was encouraged. 'There,' she said proudly, 'is our first Armani shop.' The streets gave onto the Primorsky Boulevard, which had a great view of the new port, where Russian cruise liners docked on the glittering Black Sea. We passed the statue of Alexander Pushkin, who hung out here in the 1820s, and the Museum of Archaeology, which was closed. Very Soviet. But at least I managed to see the great Ship Museum. Primorsky offered a thriving economy of traders holding iguanas, pythons and small crocodiles with a Polaroid camera, the idea being that you posed holding them. Fending them off, at last we were at Odessa's key sight - indeed, the only sight most of us know - the Potemkin Stairs. Most will know the 192 steps from Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 film classic The Battleship Potemkin , and I felt that the traders should drop the crocs and instead bring a pram to recreate the film's most famous scene. (You'd have to be careful at the bottom though, where there's a main road that's like a racetrack for ancient Ladas.) We walked back up the stairs past the statue of Duke of Richelieu - the French hero of Odessa, who served in the Russian army against the Turks - and stopped for a coffee at the Deja Vu. One of the stranger facets of Ukraine's market transition has been to encourage a glut of theme bars and Deja Vu's shtick was to have a 'Communist' bar: the past truly satirised. Meanwhile, the real past was tragically neglected. At the eastern end of Primorsky was the Vorontsov Palace, an ochre Palladian-style mansion. Once it would have been Odessa's Buckingham Palace, but near-derelict and covered in graffiti, it was a casualty of recent history. Back at the main drag, Derybasivska, I saw the Pasazh shopping mall, where trainers were sold beneath baroque statuary, and walked in a park with a tourist market selling folksy tat. Then it was time to sit down at the unbelievably folkloric Kymahel restaurant, where I had a fabulous borscht, before taking a cab back to the hotel, which involves sticking your hand out to any driver. The charming guy who stopped wanted to talk. 'Where from?' he asked, turning around in the seat to offer his card. 'London.' 'I have been,' he said. 'Tilbury!' Back at the hotel, I met Andrew Evans, author of the Bradt Guide to Ukraine , who loved Odessa. 'It's a port, and it's got that Marseille, Naples thing to it. It's very cosmopolitan.' Indeed, there were Russians, Greeks, Romanians, several Turkish bars, a mosque and a synagogue near to my hotel. Odessa had always been a crossroads. But there had been tragedy, too. The famine of the 1920s and the war killed a lot of Odessites, mainly Jews. It became Soviet in 1944. I had the feeling Odessa hadn't recovered yet from the 20th century. Andrew was leading a British tour group, and I drove with them past the enormous regimented beaches that run from Odessa up the coast for 10 miles. Of my companions, one had been to see the site of her grandmother's shtetl (just like the hero of Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything is Illuminated , in which a New Yorker searches for his grandfather's village) and the next day they were off to Yalta and then Crimea, to see where the Charge of the Light Brigade faltered 150 years ago. Ukraine tends to attract the special-interest tourist. Later Andrew and I ended in Friends and Beer, a basement bar with a bizarre menu including roast beef and Yorkshire pudding - almost an English theme bar. It was during Euro 2004 and we couldn't get a seat. I pointed to an empty table and asked for a glass of wine. The waitress shook her head. Is this typical? 'You'll get that for a while, then they'll suddenly come up with something,' said Andrew. The customer is always wrong, but soon we were applauding Russia against Spain with a local, Igor. In 10 years' time? Well, Ukraine (never the Ukraine) is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. The sanitoria of the Black Sea are diversifying into plastic surgery. Sooner or later, a direct flight will come. God forbid, perhaps the stag nighters will arrive. In the meantime, if you're into pioneering Eastern European cities, Odessa scoops Tallinn or Riga. And unlike other Eastern cities, it made me feel foreign. Homeward bound, I was dropped at Odessa airport and noticed a crowd outside the terminal. The cause of the diversion? A dancing bear in a cage. It wouldn't happen at Gatwick. [edit] Chicago Tribune[edit] Surprising Odessa--and those 192 stepsChicago Tribune November 21, 2004 Sunday ZONE C; Pg. 1 By Dan Kening, Special to the Tribune. "Everyone loves Odessa because of the people and their unique sense of humor," said our friend Katya, a young Kiev native who often visits Odessa on business. This must be a joke then, I thought, as I got my first look at Ukraine's third-largest city--"The Pearl of the Black Sea"--after a harrowing six-hour drive from Kiev dodging kamikaze drivers the entire way. On its outskirts we passed mile after mile of drab Soviet-era high-rise apartment buildings, abandoned factories covered with graffiti, and a seemingly endless string of junkyards and auto parts stores. Buses belched noxious fumes while rickety cream- and green-colored electric trams that looked like they hadn't been cleaned since the Brezhnev era clattered by. Suddenly the grand, classical-style central railway station loomed ahead and my initial impression did an immediate 180. We passed by graceful early 19th Century buildings that wouldn't be out of place in Paris, grand opera and symphony halls, and the majestic St. Panteleymon Church and monastery with its silver onion domes. And then there was the busy harbor and port area--the very reason the city of more than a million was founded just over 200 years ago, where we saw sailboats and huge cruise ships moored and glimpsed distant freighters slowly lumbering into port, all set against a cloudless sky. Oh, Odessa, city of surprises. Located 290 miles south of Kiev, Odessa is famed for its balmy climate. That makes it a prime vacation spot for Ukrainians as well as a popular port of call for cruise ships plying the Black Sea. Locals and visitors alike crowd the beaches north of the city center, where thongs and Speedos are the norm--even for those who should know better. Beach-side cafes and discos are chock-a-block with stands selling beer, ice cream and dried fish. But Odessa has plenty to offer year-round, especially in the easily walkable city center. To understand Odessa, a brief history lesson was in order, and Katya was happy to provide it. The city was chartered by Catherine the Great in 1794. In 1805 Czar Alexander I appointed Duke Armand Emmanual Richelieu, a Frenchman in the service of Czar Alexander I, as the city's first mayor. Legend has it the duke, who would later go on to become a French prime minister, promised to build a city as beautiful as his native Paris. To that end he hired Italian architects to build many of the city's grand buildings, and their Old World charm remains. Thanks to the busy port, from its earliest days the city developed a distinct international flavor. Many of the early merchants and businessmen were Greeks and Italians, and Jews made up a full third of the city's population at the turn of the 20th Century. In fact, the city was once a major center of Jewish culture and literature and the home of Isaak Babel, whose stories were often set in Odessa. Another major literary figure, Russian poet/novelist Alexander Pushkin, wrote some of his major works while living in exile in the city. Large parts of the strategically located city were destroyed during the Nazi siege of 1941, when Odessans heroically, if unsuccessfully, defended their city against larger forces. The city was eventually liberated in 1944 by the Soviet army, whose heroes are memorialized throughout the city. If you want to immerse yourself in that history, take a walk down Primorsky Boulevard, a cliff-top esplanade overlooking the port, where we--Katya, my wife and I--were swept up into a carnival of sights and sounds. Delighted children rode the backs of ponies with braided manes, while a man dressed as a Cossack ducked my attempts to take his picture for free. Speaking of photos, for a price you could have your picture taken with a python or a cute bunny rabbit. No telling what became of the rabbit after lunchtime. We took a photo of Katya sharing a bench with a statue of Odessa jazz musician Leonid Utesov, his arm seemingly draped around her shoulders. Suddenly we were at the top of Odessa's most famous landmark, the Potemkin Stairs, guarded by a statue of a toga-clad Richelieu. Built in 1843, the stairs were immortalized in Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 silent film classic, "The Battleship Potemkin," in the scene where a bloody baby carriage tumbles down its 192 steps. The stairs consist of 10 flights of steps and 10 landings and has a peculiar feature. When you look down the stairs you can see only the landings, an effect created by the gradually widening of the steps as you walk downwards. And from the base of the stairs you can see only the steps. The entrance to the port's passenger terminal complex is directly across from the stairs. Its lively plaza is a popular area for young families with strollers, scantily clad young women who looked like extras from a Janet Jackson video and elderly women in scarves wistfully looking out to sea. Cruise ships are harbored to the left, pleasure boats in the marina straight ahead and excursion boats to the right. At water's edge we found the Russian Orthodox St. Nicholas Church, where a young priest with a long beard was conducting a service. Seamen at the port are known to visit the church to ask its patron saint for safe passage home. Katya then led us to a nearby statue depicting a mother and child looking out to sea. "It's dedicated to all the sailors who never returned home," she said. For dining, shopping and people-watching, go to Deribasovskaya Street, a pedestrian area filled with ethnic restaurants, outdoor cafes and upscale shops. We wandered the nearby bazaar in Deribasovskaya Park, where dealers sold traditional Ukrainian folk arts at bargain prices. We saw hundreds of colorfully painted wooden Matrushka dolls, which open up to expose a series of increasingly smaller figures within. I bought a nine-piece doll with a mother, father, various children and, ultimately, the family cat. Beautifully carved wooden boxes were popular items as were the famous, intricately designed Ukrainian Easter eggs or "Pysanky." There was also a bewildering array of beaded wooden items. My wife bought a beaded cell phone holder. I resisted the temptation to buy a beautifully painted miniature of Lenin from a military collectibles dealer who confided he did most of his business on eBay. Deribasovskaya Street is also a prime spot for dining. We had traditional Ukrainian food at Ukrayinska Lasunka (dumplings for me, cold dill soup for my wife), served by waitresses in traditional Ukrainian garb. You can also find just about any kind of ethnic food in the area, ranging from sushi to Thai, Italian and Greek. Getting back to Odessans and their reputation for humor, each April 1 about a half million descend on the city for Humorina--an annual humor festival that also marks the beginning of spring. The celebration is marked by comedy performances, comic parades and various large-scale shenanigans. As we ultimately found out, Odessa always has the last laugh on those who doubt its charms. - - - IF YOU GO GETTING THERE From O'Hare, Northwest Airlines/KLM was recently offering daily connecting service to Kiev via Amsterdam for $841 round trip. From Kiev, KLM partner Ukraine-International Airlines flies twice daily to Odessa. You can also fly LOT Polish Airlines to Odessa via Warsaw, with recent fares of $980. If you want to take the scenic route, travel from Kiev by rail on an overnight train, which takes about 12 hours. There are also daily trains from Moscow, Budapest and St. Petersburg. To call Odessa from the United States, dial 011-380 and the local number. WHEN TO GO Spring, summer--when temperatures can reach the mid-90s--or fall. Even Odessa's southern Black Sea location doesn't keep the ravages of a Ukrainian winter at bay. WHERE TO STAY The city's top luxury hotel is the new Hotel Odessa, 6 Primorska St. (487-29-46-14; rooms $125-$150), located at the harbor. Other best bets are the venerable Londonskya Hotel, 11 Primorsky Blvd. (482-21-05-10; rooms $100-$130); Bristol Krasnaya Hotel, 15 Pushkinskaya St. (482-22-72-20; $80-$100); and Chernoye More Hotel, 59 Risheljevskaya St. (487-24-00-28; $40-$80) All are in the city center. MUSEUMS AND ATTRACTIONS Pushkin Museum, 13 Pushkin St. (482-22-10-81). Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (closed Wednesdays). This museum honoring the Russian poet who spent a year in political exile in Odessa is located in his former home and includes original manuscripts and memorabilia. A life-size statue of Pushkin in a tuxedo complete with top hat and cane marks the entrance. Fine Arts Museum, 5-a Sofievska St. (482-23-72-87). Open 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. (closed Tuesdays). Housed in a former 1810 palace, the museum has 26 galleries that showcase Ukrainian and Russian art from 14th Century icons to early 20th Century paintings and sculptures. Literary Museum, 2 Lanzheronivska St. (482-22-00-02). Open 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (closed Mondays). The museum traces Odessa's literary legacy, and pays tribute to both native Odessan writers and others who lived and worked there, including Pushkin, Gogol, Chekhov, Tolstoy and Gorky. Museum of Archeology, 4 Lanzheronivska St. (482-22-63-02). Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (closed Mondays). The collections include artifacts from early Black Sea civilizations as well as ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. The museum is noted for its collection of gold jewelry and coins dating back to the early Greek Black Sea colonies. Maritime Museum, 4 Lanzheronivska St. (482-25-02-50). Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (closed Thursdays). This museum is housed in a graceful 1842 Classical- and Renaissance-style building that later served as the city's Communist party headquarters. Opened in 1965, it includes more than 10,000 exhibits tracing Ukrainian and Russian shipbuilding and maritime and military naval history. History and Local Lore Museum, 4 Gavanna St. (482-22-84-90). Open 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (closed Fridays). The museum covers the history of the city and the surrounding region with exhibits spotlighting Odessa's founding, culture, ethnic groups and role in World War II. Odessa Theater of Opera and Ballet, 1 Tchaikovsky Lane (482-29-13-29). This grand concert hall built in the Viennese neo-Renaissance style opened in 1887 and is famed throughout Europe for both its aesthetics and its acoustics. Its rococo interior includes a ceiling decorated with scenes from Shakespeare's plays. When we visited the theater was under reconstruction and closed to the public. Philharmonic Hall, 15 Bunina St. (482-25-69-03). The home of the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra has a Florentine Restoration facade with ceramic plate, marble and stained glass windows. American Hobart Earle has been the orchestra's music director and conductor since 1991. St. Uspensky (Assumption) Cathedral, 70 Preobrazhenska St. This five-domed cathedral built in 1869 is the city's main Russian Orthodox church and features a Russian and Byzantine-style facade. Syvato-Illinsky Cathedral, 79 Pushkin St. The 1895 church is recognizable by its bright blue exterior. The Central Synagogue, 25 Yevresyska St. Built in 1853, this is the oldest of several synagogues in the city center. INFORMATION Consulate General of Ukraine in Chicago: 312-642-4388; www.ukrchicago.com Embassy of Ukraine (Washington, D.C.): 202-333-0606; www.ukraineinfo.us/ -- D.K. GRAPHIC: PHOTO (color): CLASSIC LANDMARK: Going up or down the Potemkin Stairs fool the eye. Photo by Dan Kening. PHOTO (color): A visitor (no, not the author's guide) poses next to the statue of jazz musician Leonid Utesov on the fun-filled Primorsky Boulevard in Odessa. Photos by Dan Kening. PHOTO (color): A vendor displays Matrushka dolls at the Deribasovskaya Park bazaar in Odessa. PHOTOS 3 [edit] The Toronto Star[edit] The unsinkable Battleship PotemkinThe Toronto Star June 4, 2005 Saturday ARTS; Pg. J04 Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star When Sergei Eisenstein set eyes on the great staircase at Odessa 80 years ago, he changed his plans. Eisenstein was 27 years old. He was the intense, frizzy-haired son of a Latvian engineer and architect, and one of the rising cultural stars of the new Soviet republic. Although trained in civil engineering, Eisenstein had been drawn to artistic pursuits by Vsevolod Meyerhold's revolutionary new theatre techniques. In the spirit of much artistic activity in those optimistic, world-shaking days following the 1917 October Revolution, Meyerhold was preaching a new theatre to serve a new society. Eisenstein, already a Red Army veteran and a gifted caricaturist, was enthralled. For what good was art if it did not serve the great cause? It was the cause that had brought Eisenstein to the foggy port of Odessa, with its great marble staircase that de |
