EU sponsored education on the Danube Delta

A short entry today owing to technical issues and my woeful IT skills which manage to lose a fair amount of pending material, including what had been written yesterday for publishing today.

Anyway, I have written here and here  about the quite beautiful and unique natural environment of the Danube Delta before, relating to the EU Action Plan for th Danube and Danube region.

Nothing I can write will do justice to just how special that environment is – so I won’t try.

As the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt – so it is encouraging to note that the EU has spent a few Euros to gather together schools, teachers and students from Ukraine, Moldova and Romania, all of whom have regions that share the Danube Delta, in an effort to expand and appreciate the surroundings they live within, under the umbrella of the EU ENRTP programme.

A project I refuse to decry, despite the fact others will undoubtedly consider it a waste or EU funds.

 

 

A day with the “Beeb”

A very short entry today as I have spent the day filming with the BBC talking drug and human trafficking, smuggling and counterfeit goods in Odessa – naturally I will eagerly await my BAFTA nomination!

So having spent the day talking trafficking routes in and out of Odessa and more broadly Ukraine – and basically stating the obvious, in that serious and organised crime will always choose the route of least resistance – and Ukraine is probably not as robust as the EU States when it comes to preventing entry or egress of illicit “goods” on the European continent, it is perhaps good timing that today, an announcement of the opening of Odessa Port’s new terminal will be in Autumn 2013 – an absolutely necessary economic infrastructure addition in respect of legitimate trade – but also another point of weakness in a somewhat porous and very large international land and sea Odessa border.

With such a large international land and sea border, how can Odessa be anything other than porous and a route of least resistance for serious and organised crime?

$40 Billion annual road maintenance budget – Ukraine

The current budget for road maintenance in Ukraine sits at $16.9 billion – which sounds, and indeed is, a lot of money – and yet the state of Ukrainian roads resembles something like those of Berlin circa 1945 after the 363 air raids to which it was subjected by bomber command.

As such, Vice Prime Minister Oleksandr Vilkul has made very forceful representations to increase the annual road maintenance budget to $40 billion – almost a 300% increase.

He also proposes to reorganise the accountability of those responsible for road maintenance.  In short, the 117.7 thousand kilometers of regional roads will become the personal responsibility of the heads of the regional state authorities – thus removing the involvement of Ukrautodor, the State agency responsible for road maintenance, leaving it responsible for a paltry 52 kilometers of State adopted roads.

Naturally there is an increased opportunity for either direct theft of funds, or cronyism and associated kick-backs, but there is also a very clear area of responsibility and indeed personal responsibility for road maintenance within the regions – which is a good thing.

Odessa, March 2013

The above is a rather extreme example of holes in the road in Odessa I will grant – most are only ankle deep, but there are so many ankle deep holes that the 1.5 million residents of Odessa could all put a foot in each hole and there would still be more holes than feet to put in them!

The question relating to the solid lobbying for such a massive increase in funding is really whether it has been worked out on a cost basis for maintenance alone – or whether there is a percentage included for the undoubted graft that will occur at regional level to be plundered for personal gain, and yet still provide a significant and noticeable difference to the quality of the regional road infrastructure.

With no noticeable improvements over the decade I have lived in Odessa at $16.9 billion annually – what improvements will $40 billion annually get me?

A positive outcome will only be forthcoming if some regional authority heads are suddenly lopped off should road quality remain exceptionally poor I suspect – but  I won’t hold my breath for that to happen!

Property prices – Ukraine

Every now and again I get a message from some readers who have a desire to relocate to Ukraine and I am frequently asked, amongst numerous questions, if I think the price of property will further fall or if it has plateaued.

It would seem that it is neither likely to drop any further nor remain stable.  Due to the increases in the cost of construction materials, it seems that property prices will rise between 6 – 10% in 2013.

Now you can stop asking me!

Вера, Надежда, Любовь

As yesterday was yet another celebration in Ukraine – Old New Year – today there is nothing of note written by me – naturally!

I will draw your attention to an Odessa based NGO that has got my attention though – for the right reasons.  ”Вера, Надежда, Любовь” – Let’s see what I can do for them this year – if anything – I am meeting with them soon!

Счастливого Рождества

Happy New Year – С Ноывим Годом

A very predictable, but nonetheless necessary, New Years wish to all my readers this year – whether it be at this or the other blogs, or the snippets I write that appear in far more notable and esteemed places.

Of course, whilst my wish to you all is that your dreams and desires for 2013 come true – just be careful what you wish for!

(Oh – expect nothing from me tomorrow…..and possibly the next day if it gets particularly messy!)

By the way, the 2012 statistic for the blog state 68784 readers from 167 countries as of the time of writing – thank one and all who spend their time reading my ruminations every now and then!

For those with nothing to do New Years Eve in Odessa

For those with nothing to do in Odessa on New Years Eve – or for those on a budget – the usual New Years Eve entertainment of concerts and fireworks is taking place.

Be forewarned that I may or may not post tomorrow – I’m off out to the “Very Sexy Night” at Gnezdo on Shevchenko tonight and my not be compos mentis enough to write anything whatsoever thereafter!

Yes I know!  Quite how “Very Sexy Night” and myself fit together as anything other than an oxymoron is yet to be determined.