EU energy-saving standards to be implemented in Ukraine
GTZ, a German state-run enterprise for technical cooperation, and the private German company TUV Rheinland Ukraine have announced that they are prepared to collaborate in introducing power efficient construction certification techniques in Ukraine, so that a given project can be officially recognized as meeting set quality standards. A GTZ press release reads that the European power efficient construction standards will be first effected at two pilot construction projects (in Kyiv and Poltava) and will eventually serve as a R&D and exploitation basis in other cities, thus helping to bring Ukraine closer to the practicing of EU standards. On April 21, a cooperation protocol was signed by Oleksandr Volodin, head of the cooperation and investment development department at the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction of Ukraine, Dr. Uwe Kolodziey, TUV Rheinland Ukraine’s strategic marketing director, and GTZ Office Ukraine Country Director Holger Neuweger (Kyiv). The press release quotes Neuweger as saying, “In Ukraine, as in other countries where we represent the German government, power efficiency is the central theme of cooperation.” Dr. Kolodziey says: “Our cooperation is aimed at proving, at the example of these two construction project, that power efficient construction projects are possible in and important for Ukraine, are in accord with the national legislation, and have a big future.” These projects involve domestically manufactured energy-saving materials and equipment. This cooperation will be carried out in accordance with Project Power Efficient Construction in Ukraine of the Bundesministerium fuer Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit, German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety, and Project TUV Certified Construction Project using TUV certification procedures. Apart from introducing European power efficiency standards, these pilot construction projects will involve architects, design experts, and representatives of municipal institutions and construction companies.
George Bush’s memoirs to expose mistakes
Former US President George W. Bush’s book of memoirs entitled Decision Points will come off the presses this November. According to Crown Publishers, Decision Points will focus on his 14 key executive orders, offering “gripping, never-before-heard detail” on such historic events as the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, SAR operations in the aftermath of Katrina: “Since leaving the Oval Office, President Bush has given virtually no interviews or public speeches about his presidency,” Crown said in a statement. “Instead, he has spent almost every day writing ‘Decision Points,’ a strikingly personal and candid account revealing how and why he made the defining decisions in his consequential presidency and personal life.” George W. Bush’s presidency ended in 2009, with his ratings being the lowest in US history. Experts believe this was largely caused by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as by the world financial crisis.
