Ukraine's Parliament Urges Top Banker's Dismissal

KIEV, Ukraine -- The Ukrainian parliament on Friday demanded the central bank chief be dismissed over the collapse of the national currency, accusing him of corruption and incompetence.
National Bank chief Volodymyr Stelmakh has denied having any hand in the exchange market speculations that caused the hryvna to lose half its value against the dollar last week.President Viktor Yushchenko is expected to ignore the nonbinding motion for Stelmakh to be fired. The motion was spearheaded by Yushchenko's rival, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who has accused the central banker of conspiring with banks over the currency speculations and pocketing profits.Yushchenko has said the country needs the expertise of Stelmakh, his longtime associate, to weather the current financial crisis. The currency devaluation coincided with a drastic fall in steel exports, leading to a foreign currency squeeze.In the meantime, the Ukrainian currency has recovered some of last week's losses, which took it to 9.6 to the U.S. dollar from its September rate of 4.9 to the dollar.At the close of trading Friday, the hryvna was listed at 7.6 to the dollar, thanks to the National Bank's efforts to prop up the rate by selling hard currency.Tymoshenko has claimed Yushchenko was involved in the alleged corruption schemes.The president has dismissed the allegation, and his top aide this week accused Tymoshenko of seeking to take control of the National Bank for personal gains.Ukraine is sinking into a deep recession, with the economy expected to shrink up to 10 percent early next year, according to Yushchenko's estimates.Industrial output has fallen nearly 30 percent, as global demand for steel, the heart of the economy, halved.

Top Events Of 2008

KIEV, Ukraine -- In 2008, yellow currency boards agitated Ukrainians the way waving flags bother bulls. Fluctuating rates flattened many champagne drinks this holiday season.
To bring the fizz back, the Kyiv Post presents the Top 10 “feel-good” stories of the year. Maybe 2009 will bring calm and patience. After all, most humans are luckier than bulls, who only see the world in two colors: black and white.1. Vitaliy and Volodymyr (Wladimir) Klitschko“They feel good, we knew that they would” is the Post’s slight remake of James Brown’s signature song “I feel good.” The Klitschko brothers’ boxing victories inspired Ukrainians to be proud of their country, if not to keep fit themselves.Vitaliy Klitschko, also known as Dr. Iron Fist, returned to the ring after a three-year break and quickly reclaimed his World Boxing Council heavyweight champion title.He beat the much younger Samuel Peter, nicknamed the “Nigerian Nightmare,” in the eighth round in October.Volodymyr, his brother, currently holds the International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Organization and International Boxing Organization world heavyweight titles. Beating Russian Sultan Ibragimov in February, he made Ukrainians roar in his honor. Held in New York, the bout had a special meaning for immigrants from the Soviet Union.The victory overwhelmed Ukrainians in the Big Apple who still remember traditional rivalries among ex-Soviet republics.2. Dasha AstafievaStaying with James Brown’s immortal “I feel good,” Dasha Astafieva feels nice, like sugar and spice. Ask Hugh Hefner for details. The man about town in his 82 years of age undressed her for the American version of his world-famous Playboy Magazine.He also announced the 23-year-old Ukrainian model and pop singer as January 2009’s Playmate of the Month. If that was not enough, she is also Playboy’s 55th Anniversary Playmate.To cause more scandal, Astafieva pulled off her underwear in front of the cameras on the red carpet before the ceremony. Despite some ranking it as bad publicity for Ukraine, she put a smile on many faces around the world.3. Ani LorakUkrainian pop singer Ani Lorak did not wear much either at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. Hardly anyone, however, can dispute her strong vocals and stage presence. She took second place with the song “Shady Lady,” defeated by Dima Bilan from Russia.Repeatedly named the most beautiful woman in Ukraine and the best singer by various magazines and music awards, she got engaged to a Turkish man this year.4. OlympicsAgainst all odds, Ukraine’s Olympic team finished 10th in the total medal count of 81 countries at the Summer Olympics in Beijing.Neither aging Soviet facilities, nor lack of financing could stop Ukraine from winning 27 medals. The team bested their Athens performance by four medals. Ukraine’s strongest side was in archery, boxing, athletics, canoe/kayak, shooting and fencing.Ukraine’s Paralympics athletes stood an impressive fourth place this September with an impressive 74 medals among 78 competitors.5. ChessIf chess was a part of the Olympic Games, Ukraine may have scored even better. This brainy game, however, has a separate competition. At the Chess Olympiad in Germany this November, the Ukrainian team edged other nations in combined men’s and women’s results.On the way home with a precious cup, they had a nerve-wracking adventure with damaged luggage. Their prize reached Kyiv broken and missing a few golden parts. Luckily, the trophy was insured. The team received more publicity for their part.6. Anatoliy TymoshchukMany foreigners admit that one of the toughest things about Ukraine is its surnames - Yushchenko, Tymoshenko, or indigestible Chernovetsky. But apparently difficult names do not always mean difficult times.Bavaria football club is interested in Ukrainian national team’s player Anatoliy Tymoshchuk. Korrespondent, the Kyiv Post sister publication, named him the Personality of the Year in the eponymous category to honor his victories.Currently playing for Russian Zenit, he claimed victory in Union of European Football Association’s Cup, UEFA Super Cup and Russian Super Cup.Tymoshchuk is considered one of the most sought-after players in Eastern Europe.7. Olga KurylenkoThis girl had to learn how to fly to land on this list. Olga Kurylenko, the Ukrainian-born top model-turned-actress, shook hands with the British royal family this year and kissed Daniel Craig (aka James Bond) after a world premier of the 22nd Bond film in London.Playing the secret agent’s friend, rather than girlfriend, Kurylenko performed most of her tricks herself. Fearlessly crossing continents and fighting villains in the movie, she confessed that her own life reminded that of her character, Camille.8. National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine The Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine secured the Grammy Awards nomination in Best Classical Performance category. It is considered the highest music honor, the United States’ record industry equivalent to the Oscars. The ceremony will take place in February. The Ukrainians will present a violin concert they recorded with American soloist Elmar Oliveira. It is their second Grammy nomination.9. Bohdan StupkaHe has the courage of Mongolia’s historic leader Genghis Khan, the wit of Goethe’s Faust and the leadership of hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, a historic Kozak leader. Possibly the most famous living actor in Ukraine, Bohdan Stupka conquered Rome this year. At the III Rome International Film Festival, he won Best Actor award for the film “With a Warm Heart.”Stupka played a mentally and physically ill Polish aristocrat in a joint Polish-Ukrainian production. At the same ceremony, Al Pacino collected a lifetime achievement award.10. ViewdleUkraine has a room with the Viewdle – a start-up company with facial recognition technology for online video. At the largest web event in the world, LeWeb, they collected gold for the most successful start-up.Viewdle beat 30 other companies from Europe and a few from the U.S. What started in the ex-military university laboratory in Kyiv has turned into a lifeline technology for major media companies, like Reuters. Thanks to Viewdle, video recognition is no longer an exclusive spy tool.So there, despite a recession, good news still happens.

Putin: Russia May Cut Gas Supplies To Ukraine

MOSCOW, Russia -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine on Thursday that Russia will reduce gas supplies to Ukraine if it tries to siphon Russian gas intended for European consumers.
The tough warning, which comes amid difficult talks on a price for Russian gas supplies to Ukraine, will likely stoke fears in European nations that saw a drop in Russian gas shipments when Moscow cut gas to Ukraine in January 2006, amid a similar pricing dispute."We are proceeding from the assumption that we won't have any problems with transit of gas to Western Europe," Putin said during a question-and-answer session televised nationwide. "But if our partners don't fulfill the agreements or try to siphon gas from the transit pipelines as they did in past years, we will be forced to reduce supplies. What else can we do?"Russia accused Ukraine of diverting transit gas during a 2006 supply cutoff. In another supply dispute in March, Ukrainian officials held out the possibility of siphoning off Europe-bound gas if necessary.Putin's words contrasted with previous statements from both Russian and Ukrainian officials who said that they hope the gas dispute won't lead to a disruption of supplies to Ukraine or European consumers, as was the case in 2006. Most of the gas Russia supplies to Europe goes through Ukraine.Putin said that state gas monopoly Gazprom has to raise the price Ukraine pays of $179.50 per 1,000 cubic meters, which is half of the price Gazprom charges its customers in Europe.Putin didn't say how much Russia wants to charge, but Gazprom officials have suggested that the price for Ukraine could top $400 next year.Gazprom also has demanded that Ukraine quickly pay off its debt for previous supplies, and talks on the issue are ongoing.

U.S., Canada Place Radiation Scanners In Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine -- The United States and Canada today marked the deployment of radiation detection equipment at Ukraine`s Kiev Boryspil International Airport, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration said, according to Global Security News.Canada`s Foreign Affairs and International Trade Department contributed $4.5 million to nuclear nonproliferation projects in Ukraine conducted under the NNSA Second Line of Defense program.The U.S. agency`s work in the country includes deploying radiation scanners at entry points into Ukraine, training personnel and organizing technical conferences.“We appreciate both Ukraine’s commitment and Canada’s contribution to advancing our common international security goals,” NNSA Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator Kenneth Baker said at a ceremony.“The commissioning of the radiation detection system at Kiev Boryspil International Airport represents an important step forward in increasing transcontinental security. We will continue to strengthen our cooperation as we work together to complete installation of the radiation detection systems at other sites in Ukraine,” Baker said.

Somali Pirates Threaten To Pull Out Of Ukraine Ship Deal

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Somali pirates holding an arms-laden Ukrainian cargo ship Sunday accused the owners of stalling on a ransom payment and threatened to pull out of a deal for its release struck a week ago.
A pirate spokesman told AFP that the armed gang holding the Faina was "unhappy about the delay in the ransom payment.""The ship's owners are taking too long to hand over the money," the spokesman, identifying himself only as Ahmed, said by telephone."There have been consultations between the force on the ground and on the ship and everyone agreed that if the money is not delivered on time to abandon the agreement," he added.Elders in the area who didn't wish to be named said a ransom of $3.5 million had been agreed for the ship, carrying 33 Soviet-type battle tanks, rocket launchers and ammunition when it was seized off Somalia two months ago.Sugule Ali, the spokesman for the group of pirates aboard the Faina, told AFP Nov. 30 that agreement on a ransom had been reached and it was "just a matter of time and a few technicalities" before the ship and its crew were released, which he said would occur "within four days".The U.S. military has overflown the hijacked vessel several times to take pictures of the crew lined up on the bridge and verify that all were in good health.The MV Faina was anchored a few miles off the coast of Harardhere, north of Mogadishu, and had been moved several times.The initial ransom demand in the immediate aftermath of the freighter's capture Sept. 25 had been for $35 million.The Ukrainian ship was headed for Kenya when it was seized, with 17 Ukrainians, three Russians and one Latvian on board.The capture of the ship triggered a controversy over its cargo's final destination.Kenya has insisted it was the intended recipient of the arms, but maritime officials and diplomatic sources in the region have said the government of semiautonomous southern Sudan was the destination.

Ukrainian Currency Slumps, Cbank Hopes Not Much More

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's hryvnia currency slumped to a new historic low on Thursday, but a senior central bank official said it was close to a balanced level based on economic fundamentals.
The weak currency, coupled with lower fuel and moderate gas prices, should help bring the current account into balance or a "minor" deficit and there was little chance of a sovereign or corporate default, Deputy Chairman Oleksander Savchenko said.The hryvnia weakened to 7.25-7.5 to the dollar on the interbank market after the central bank failed to meet demand for the dollar at Wednesday's auctions and in low volumes of trade because of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, dealers said. "The rate we saw today, yesterday and the day before, is somewhat shocking but it is a proper assessment by business not only of the balance of payments but of our political crisis," Savchenko told a conference organised by Fitch ratings agency."I hope the rate will be no more than 7 hryvnias per dollar, or somewhere in the region of 7 hryvnias. We feel that we are near a balanced rate."The hryvnia has been falling as the chief suppliers of the dollar to the market, foreign investors and Ukrainian exporters, have felt the impact of the global financial crisis. A fast accelerating current account gap has accentuated that weakness.Ukraine has already received the first tranche of a $16.4 billion IMF loan, whose conditions were greater currency flexibility, fiscal prudence and bank recapitalisation.The central bank has intervened almost every day since October, and carried out two dollar auctions in the past week, to stop the hryvnia's descent from spiralling out of control.POLITICAL RISKOnly half of the demand for the dollar, or about $150 million, was met by the central bank on Wednesday, dealers said, indicating that it is putting a brake on spending its reserves."If the central bank continues to spend its reserves, it will simply postpone the process of correction," Savchenko said.He also said companies and banks had $5 billion of foreign debt to pay off by the end of this year and $30 billion in 2009. With reserves at about $32.5 billion, "Ukraine has no risk of default", he said.Dealers said they expected further weakening on Friday."Because (banks) couldn't buy dollars yesterday, today demand is higher and most likely tomorrow the dollar will go even higher," one dealer said.The top economic aide to President Viktor Yushchenko, himself a former central bank head, said the bank should scrap its auctions as they only pushed the hryvnia lower by accepting the highest bids.The criticism reflects the latest political chaos that has pitted Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko against the president.The president called an early parliamentary election when a coalition in parliament collapsed, but has since postponed it. The lack of a majority leaves parliament unable to push through reforms needed for the IMF loan and to save the economy.The IMF set fiscal and monetary targets that Ukraine must meet to receive quarterly tranches. Its Ukraine representative, Balazs Horvath, told the conference that political risk to achieving these goals was "considerable but not insurmountable". Fitch said a failure to implement the IMF programme could trigger a further downgrade after it cut Ukraine's rating to B+ in October."World Bank and IMF support for Ukraine are of course a positive factor," Fitch Director of Sovereigns, Andrew Colquhoun said. "But in our view there are execution risks to the policy package which lies behind the support and therefore the risks to Ukraine's outlook remain elevated."

Ukraine In For Tough Times Amid Global Crisis

KIEV, Ukraine -- Construction cranes have stopped swinging and thousands of steel workers face layoffs as Ukraine braces for a severe economic downturn.
Lacking the large foreign currency reserves of China and Russia, more integrated into the world economy than some smaller countries, Ukraine is being hit harder than other former Soviet states bythe global financial crisis."Ukraine has been exposed as the most vulnerable," said Jan Randolph, an emerging markets analyst at Global Insight.On Thursday, the Ukrainian currency plunged against the dollar to a historic low amid a run on banks and a frantic rush to convert savings into U.S. currency.Ukraine's hryvna plummeted to 6.01 hryvna per U.S dollar in trading at Ukraine's currency exchange.Jittery customers lined up to buy dollars at exchange offices across the capital, some of which ran out of cash. The country was already short on foreign currency, as demand for steel, its main export commodity plunged. The Ukrainian currency has lost over 20 percent since September.Four years of robust economic growth left Kiev clogged with shiny imported automobiles and dotted with upscale fashion outlets. Real estate prices exceeded those of Rome for a time, and the stock market gained an astonishing 130 percent in 2007.But today, experts agree, Ukraine is in for tough times.Falling demand for steel has widening the external trade deficit to a hefty US$12.5 billion so far this year, compared to US$ 5.9 billion last year.After excessive reliance on foreign credit to feed its vast consumer boom, which sent Ukrainians rushing to buy mobile phones, cars and apartments on credit, the economy was hit hard when panicked foreign investors abandoned emerging markets and European banks slashed lending, crippled by their own liquidity crunch. Inflation soared to 31 percent in May, year over year, and cooled to 16 percent in September.The government spent US$2.9 billion buying hryvnas to support the currency this month alone, bringing its reserves down to US$34.2 billion, according to the central bank. One global rating agency after another has downgraded Ukraine's creditworthiness.Today Ukraine is pinning its hopes on a loan of up to $14 billion from the International Monetary Fund. But unlike Hungary which has also turned to the IMF for money, Ukraine does not benefit from EU aid.Plans to receive the much needed loan were threatened by a marathon political struggle between President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, as the IMF negotiating team could not be certain if the next government would stick to the commitments of the current one.A standoff over early elections, which Tymoshenko wants to avoid to retain her job, has further soured the investment climate as Ukrainian stocks lost over 70 percent of their value this year."This will hurt," said Olena Bilan, a microeconomic analyst with Dragon Capital investment bank. «It will be painful in any case.The question (is) how painful it will be.The effects of the financial crisis have been quick to trickle down into the real economy. Banks have hiked interest rates and slashed lending, for example, bringing the car boom to an abrupt end.Output in the construction industry, which is highly depended on loans, was down 7.2 compared to last year's figures, according to Dragon Capital. The real estate market has seized up and many realtors have been forced to look for new jobs. Investment banks in Kiev have also slashed jobs.Anna Kiptenko, whose firm services cash registers for retail traders, was promised a 500,000 hryvna ($100,000) loan for her business, but the bank froze the money. Now she can't afford to pay for her son's law studies in Kiev."The government is assuring us that there is no crisis, but I can see that it is already here," said Kiptenko, 42, as she emerged from an office of Pravex bank in downtown Kiev.Experts say the expected IMF loan will save the country from all-out collapse. "They want to cool the economy in general to avoid a crash landing," said Randolph.But a deep economic slowdown appears inevitable.Ukraine exports steel and cast iron to the Middle East, Europe and former Soviet Union countries, where they are used in housing construction, machine and ship building. But production by the country's metal industry, which represents 6 percent of the GDP and accounts for 40 percent of the country's exports, was down by 30 percent.Steel magnate Serhyi Taruta, chairman of the Industrial Union of Donbas, told the newspaper Kommerstant Ukraine that his company plans to lay off as many as 20,000 people.Dragan Capital's Bilan predicted the economy, which grew at an average 7.4 percent over the past four years, will slow to 4.8 percent this year.Tymoshenko urged Ukrainians to "tighten their belts" and proposed to raise taxes for the rich.Yushchenko, meanwhile, called for the laying off of every fifth state bureaucrat, promising to start with some in his own office.Ukraine faces further stress from a likely hike in the cost of its natural gas, almost all supplied by Russia. That could mean a drastic increase in utilities bills."There will be a lot of angry people," said independent financial analyst Geoffrey Smith.

Moscow Seeks More Excuses For Prolonging Naval Presence In Sevastopol

Moscow Seeks More Excuses For Prolonging Naval Presence In Sevastopol
WASHINGTON, DC -- For the first time since the Soviet era, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet undertook an offensive operation in August of this year when it attacked Georgia, landing Russian ground forces in Abkhazia.
The Russian Fleet, mainly based in Sevastopol, misused Ukraine’s territory and abused Ukraine’s neutrality in launching that operation. It did so with impunity, underscoring the deficit of usable power, political leadership, and international rule of law in the Black Sea region.The Russian Fleet now plans to use the prized Ochamchire base on the Abkhaz coast, which is legally sovereign Georgian territory. The Turkish-Russian naval condominium, which exists de facto in the Black Sea, did not inhibit the Russian fleet from attacking Georgia.In late September and the first half of October, ships of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet joined flag-showing exercises by the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea and visits to Soviet-era base locations there.While the fleet’s overall combat value is very low at present, Russia’s leaders think 10 years ahead in terms of ship-building plans, premised on oil and gas revenues, for uncontested naval supremacy over neighboring countries and a possible renewed presence in the Mediterranean.The Black Sea Fleet, moreover, seems potentially usable in the Crimea much as the Russian ground troops proved usable in Abkhazia and Transnistria, where their presence helped carve out a zone of Russian control.The Crimea has not become a “hot spot” (conflict zone), as Ukrainian officials such as State Security Service acting chairman Valentyn Nalyvaichenko correctly point out. But Moscow holds enough cards to hint at a potential conflict, for political leverage over Kyiv’s decisions on the Russian fleet and Kyiv-NATO relations.In their cumulative effect, these recent developments have clearly enhanced the Black Sea Fleet’s value in the eyes of Russia’s leadership, lending an added impetus to plans for retention of the Sevastopol base in the future.On October 22 Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov announced that Russia would request Ukraine to prolong the stationing of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol beyond 2017, when the basing agreement is due to expire.Lavrov said that Russia would not make its proposal to Ukraine any time soon but “at some later stage, closer to 2017”.Such timing, however, would leave almost no room for Russian compliance with the deadline, in the event that Ukraine turns down Moscow’s proposal. The Fleet’s physical relocation from Sevastopol to Russian territory would be a multi-year process and could be dragged out longer than necessary by Russia.Starting the discussions with Ukraine “closer to 2017” would, therefore, ensure the prolongation of the Russian fleet’s presence in Ukraine beyond the deadline, de facto if not de jure.The basing agreement, signed in 1997 and valid for a 20-year period, can be prolonged automatically unless either side terminates it with one-year advance notice. This procedure puts the onus on the Ukrainian authorities. Moscow probably hopes that a divided Ukrainian government and body politic may not be able to reach, sustain, and enforce a decision to terminate the basing agreement.Moscow is already laying out the strategy for retaining its naval presence on Ukraine’s territory in the future. The strategy includes potentially coercive aspects as well as inducements.On the coercive side, Russian officials including some at the top, are openly questioning Ukraine’s territorial integrity (also inspiring the Duma to do this), with particular reference to the Crimea and Sevastopol.The possibility of Moscow using local groups to “raise the Russian flag” over Sevastopol and the Crimea, if Kyiv no longer accepts hosting the Russian fleet, lurks distinctly in the background to the continuing debates on the basing agreement.On the inducement side, the Russian government proposes to: a) increase the rent it pays to Ukraine for leasing the Sevastopol base (a paltry $98 million per year under the 1997 agreements); b) invest Russian funds for the development of the civilian infrastructure in Sevastopol and the Crimea, in the local population’s interest (evidently an accompaniment to naval base upgrading, if Ukraine prolongs the basing agreement); c) place Russian state orders with Ukrainian military-industrial plants in the Crimea and elsewhere in Ukraine (including the now-idle Ukrainian shipyards along the seacoast, as well as certain favored plants on the Ukrainian mainland). Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has held out this package of incentives twice recently.Serdyukov also supervises (alongside Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov) the naval base construction program. That program’s Black Sea dimension focuses on the expansion and modernization of the Novorossiysk base until 2020. It now seems likely to include re-commissioning and modernizing the ex-Soviet submarine base at Ochamchire.The Black Sea Fleet also expects to be reinforced with new ships, some new and others transferred from other Russian fleets. If those reinforcements do materialize at Novorossiysk and Ochamchire, the Kremlin will undoubtedly argue that it has nowhere to move the Feet from Sevastopol ,the crimeajewel ahead of 2017 and will use that additional excuse for prolonging its naval presence on Ukrainian territory.
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Ukraine's Prominvest Hopes To Find Buyer Soon
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's Prominvestbank, which some Ukrainian officials have said could be nationalised, said on Thursday it hoped to find a buyer in the next few days.
Prominvestbank, Ukraine's sixth-largest bank, was placed in receivership earlier this month after a run on deposits.Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, whose government has drawn up a package of measures to limit the effects of the crisis, last week supported the idea of nationalising Prominvestbank. The presidential office also backed the idea.But Prominvestbank's press secretary, referring to comments by the bank's receiver, deputy central bank chief Volodymyr Krotyuk, said efforts were being pursued to find a buyer.'As of today, there is no specific buyer. But this issue could be settled in the days to come,' press secretary Svitlana Kushnir told Reuters.The Kiev daily Kommersant Ukraina, quoting an unnamed source, said the co-owner of Ukrainian bank Delta, Mykola Lagun, planned to sign an agreement on buying the bank on Thursday on behalf of a consortium of investors.Delta bank offered no comment on the report, which said other members of the consortium included Russia's Sberbank and Alfa-Group and the investment group Intelinks.Investment company Dragon Capital last week said four or five groups had expressed interest in Prominvestbank.
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Golf Coming To Kiev, Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine -- The course architects at Golfplan-Fream, Dale & Ramsey will break ground in 2009 on the first golf course project, on Doboletsky Island, in Kiev Ukraine
The 18-hole resort track is planned for the shores of Doboletsky Island, one of a series of islands in the Dnieper River some 150 feet below - but in plain sight of - the golden onion domes rising above Kiev's Old Town."It's quite a coup to find a viable golf course site this close to downtown in any city of 4.5 million people - that the city is Kiev makes it that much more remarkable," said Kevin Ramsey, the Golfplan partner directing the project."Few courses will have this degree of urban access; there is a mass transit station located right across from the foot bridge to Doboletsky Island."When you do cross over to the island, you find the sort of sandy terrain that recalls Pinehurst, in the American Piedmont region. The proximity of the property to center city Kiev and physical attributes of the property itself make the resort potential here quite extraordinary."Dnipro Plaza is the local holding company developing the Doboletsky Island project, with Russian backing. Course construction begins in the spring of 2009, but that is but one portion of this ambitious development, which also includes a five-star hotel and spa, 30-40 villas, public recreational space, and sizeable retail components.At Golfplan's behest, San Francisco-based land planners Horberger+Worstell have been retained, giving the project an integrative design capability equal to the task at hand."The land is zoned recreational; in fact, the southern half of the island - where the bridge provides access - is already home to beach volleyball courts and an outdoor weightlifting, sort of what you'd find on Venice Beach [near Los Angeles]," Ramsey explained."Accordingly, whatever was to be developed on Doboletsky had to include and enhance that recreational aspect while still serving as a gateway to the larger resort components. It's a complicated land planning exercise with mixed use and access. All of the existing amenities will be upgraded and expanded. Half of the golf course will be located on the southern portion. The northern half of the island will be more exclusive and home to the hotel, spa, villas and marina."It's ambitious, especially as a country's debut golf project. There's never been anything quite like it."Ramsey should know. It's nothing he and his colleagues haven't seen before. Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Golfplan-Fream, Dale and Ramsey are golf's most cosmopolitan course designers, with projects now in some stage of development in 11 different countries.Since its founding in 1973, the firm has built courses in some of golf's most exotic and remote locations: Pezula, on South African cliffs overlooking the Indian Ocean; Korea's feted Club at Nine Bridges, on Jeju Island, now on the world top-100 lists at both Golf Digest and Golf Magazine; Bali Handara and Jagorawi, in the tropical jungles of Indonesia; Shore Gate, in the sand hills just a few miles from the boardwalks of Atlantic City, N.J., in the United States; the 27 holes at Disneyland Paris; the mountainous resort course at Bonari Kogen GC in Japan; and the Serapong Course on the Island of Sentosa, host site of the Barclay's Singapore Open and recently named the top tournament course in Asia by Asian Golf Monthly magazine.Golfplan has designed more than 150 original golf projects in 65 different countries. Indeed, the firm has introduced golf to a dozen different nations, including Tunisia, Nepal, Brunei and Poland, which share as border and a post-Soviet economy with the Ukraine."There are similarities between Doboletsky Island and the development of Krakow Valley [Golf & Country Club]," said Ramsey, referring to a Golfplan-designed course that opened in 2001 near Poland's second city. "These are both emerging markets and Eastern European cultures new to the game of golf. But the comparison and the moment in time, frankly, favor Kiev: Krakow Valley is quite a distance from downtown and was built to serve that metro area. The Doboletsky property is right in the city and Kiev commands a great deal of tourist travel."There is also a lot more money being spent in this region today, mainly Russian money due to oil and gas prices. There are four or five different projects being developed in Moscow and golf is a much more prominent social status symbol now. Our project could never have been envisioned during the 1990s. I must have seen a dozen luxury cruisers and speedboats on the Dnieper during my last site visit this summer."The golf course Ramsey has designed takes full advantage of the Dnieper, with 11 of the 18 holes at water's edge. The architect opted for a low-profile design that maximizes the riverside setting while skirting the site's ancient, red-barked pines. "The pines are sort of sacred on the island, so we'll definitely be working around them," he said. "Besides, it wouldn't have that Pinehurst feel without the pines."