Sweden-Ukraine Business Forum 2018 – sustainable growth for both countries

June 15, 2018 (KyivPost) The Sweden-Ukraine Business Forum is an annual meeting point for Swedish and Ukrainian entrepreneurs and decision makers. This year, it took place on 14 June, in Kyiv. The Forum’s main goal is to enhance trade in both directions between the two countries and to showcase Swedish solutions. The Forum discussions revolvde around the perspectives of bilateral trade in context of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area and ongoing reforms and challenges. Particular focus was given to how improved public procurement and the decentralisation process create opportunities for business, how Ukrainian exports to Sweden can be further increased and why more gender equality is economically smart.

The trend in trade between Sweden and Ukraine is positive. Last year, Ukraine’s exports to Sweden increased by 8,9% to a new historic high. Swedish exports to Ukraine are now almost twice the level of 2014. The most commonly exported goods to Sweden include manufactured products of wood, furniture, machinery, equipment and steel, whereas Sweden mainly exports machines, chemicals, paper, motor vehicles. However, both export and import figures remain relatively low in absolute numbers, implying that there is an untapped potential for increased bilateral trade and direct investments.

Export procedures and the realization of a sustainable mutual economic growth were at the core of the Forum. One important step is a new agreement on cooperation between the Swedish National Board of Trade and the Export Promotion Office of Ukraine, which was presented at the Forum. Additionally, a special seminar was organized for companies interested in exporting to Sweden and other EU countries. This training went into the details of export requirements and regulations for specific categories of products.

Moreover, there was a special seminar on the latest developments in arbitration, specifically regarding contractual and investment treaty cases. The event is organized by the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, which is the world’s second largest institution for settlement of investment disputes. This seminar concluded with a Kyiv premiere of the film “The Quiet Triumph. How Arbitration Changed the World”.

"Meridian Poltava" international festival has been opened in Poltava

June 8, 2018 The International Poetry Festival, "Meridian Poltava", has kicked off in Poltava. Its goal is to create a modern intellectual cultural face for Poltava. Yurii Andrukhovych, Serhiy Zhadan, Oksana Zabuzhko and other contemporary Ukrainian poets and writers will develop a dialogue with their colleagues from Sweden (Malter Persson, Agneta Pleijel, Donald Boström and others), Germany and Great Britain. There will be presentations of books, concerts, poetry readings and theatrical productions.

Meridian Poltava is hosting 23 events in 16 locations. It officially opened on June 8th at the Poltava Battle museum. Ukrainian poets and their Swedish counterparts recited poetry to the audience in the main hall of the museum depicting the Battle of Poltava. After that they continued their performance in the reconstructed redoubt on the battlefield by the light of torches.

Top U.S., Russian Generals To Meet In Helsinki

June 7, 2018 (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Joseph Dunford, the U.S. military’s top officer, will meet with his Russian counterpart, Valery Gerasimov, in Helsinki on June 8 as part of talks designed to prevent regional conflicts from escalating, the Finnish military said. The U.S. and Russian militaries did not immediately comment on the reported meeting of Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gerasimov, the chief of Russia’s military general staff. Researcher Matti Pesu of the Finnish Foreign Policy Institute told Finnish news agency STT that the talks are aimed at preventing an escalation of situations and misunderstandings in conflicts in countries including Syria and Ukraine.

"In such tense situations, these [meetings] are important because both parties want to avoid worsening the situation. You want to increase transparency and keep the tensions from rising. It helps when you sit down and talk face-to-face," Pesu said. In April, Gerasimov met with NATO Supreme Allied Commander Curtis Scaparrotti in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku.

General Joseph Dunford (right) and General Valery Gerasimov in Baku in February 2017

Relations between Moscow and Washington and their militaries were severely damaged in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula and its aid for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The brewery traditions of Poltava region

Beer is the oldest drink that was always very popular in Europe. Ukraine is not an exception to the rule. This brief post is dedicated to the brewing traditions of Dyikanka village located 16km. north from Poltava. Dykanka was first mentioned in 1658 as a small Cossack village, though the area was populated for centuries. Swedish army headed by the King Charles XII passed this village on the way to Poltava in 1709. Since 17^th century the village has been a possession of Kochubey dynasty. Kochubey was a Crimean Tatar family of the Cossack Hetmanate and later the Russian Empire. Over the years many representatives of this noble family placed high government positions. One of them, count Viktor  Kochubey was the Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1801–1802 and also Minister of the Interior until 1812, then in 1819–1825. Since 1827 he was the President of the State Council and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers. In 1834, he was granted the rank of Chancellor of the Russian Empire. His palace in Dykanka was built in the beginning of 19th century by famous architect of Italian origin Giacomo Quarenghi who was the foremost and most prolific practitioner of neoclassical architecture in Imperial Russia.

The Palace of Kochubey in Dykanka.

The Dykanka Beer Plant was founded early 19^th century and for decades it was the region’s most popular beer producer. Many hold that two of the secrets that make Dykanka beer so special is the water from an artesian well on the plant’s territory and a unique hop garden. Dykanka beer was sold to the far reaches of the Russian Empire and abroad.

The brewery in Dykanka, hop picking, Dykanka beer label, and old beer bottles.

After the Revolution of 1917 everything in the village of Dykanka felt into neglect. The palace was burnt to ashes in 1919 when Russia was involved in the Civil war (1917 – 1922). As about famous beer plant, only old photos, beer labels, and bottles left. Only Kochubey family church and crypt beneath it survived and now attracts many tourists.

President Poroshenko: Demonstrations in support of Oleg Sentsov held in 12 countries, ‘even in Russia’

June 2, 2018 (KyivPost) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has thanked everyone who joined demonstrations in various countries around the world in support of Ukrainian citizen Oleh Sentsov, who is serving time at a Russian prison. “I thank everyone who joined the campaign in support of Oleg Sentsov around the world, including Germany, France, Italy, Estonia, Lithuania, Sweden, Georgia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Portugal, Ukraine, and even Russia. The whole world is angered by the lawlessness and totalitarian methods of the Kremlin regime,” Poroshenko said on Facebook on Saturday. Ukraine will continue to fight for the liberation of all Ukrainian political prisoners and hostages held in Russia, temporarily occupied Crimea and Donbas, he said.

A campaign in support for Sentsov and other Ukrainian prisoners (#SaveOlegSentsov) is also to start at Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv on Saturday. Russian law enforcement agencies detained Sentsov in Crimea in 2014. He was charged with setting up a “terrorist group” on the peninsula. The North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don found him guilty and sentenced him to 20 years in a strict security penitentiary in August 2015. Oleksandr Kolchenko was also sentenced to 10 years in prison in the same case.

On May 14, 2018, Sentsov declared a hunger strike, demanding that all Ukrainian citizens held in Russia be freed. Sentsov is serving time at a strict security penitentiary (known also as Polar Bear) in the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district, and Kolchenko at IK-6 correctional facility in Kopeisk, the Chelyabinsk region.