Ukraine’s Independence Day is solemnly celebrated not only in Ukraine, but in other countries too. Embassies and diplomatic missions of our country abroad hold official holiday receptions, though not necessarily exactly on August 24. Having returned from summer vacations and resuming their work, diplomats and government officials readily associate the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine with the beginning of the new working year. This is partly the reason why many foreign diplomatic missions of Ukraine hold holiday receptions in early September. Guests typcially include ambassadors and diplomats, representatives of the political elite of the host country, businesspeople, and representatives of local and foreign economic and financial structures. It is an excellent opportunity to learn about a country and establish useful contacts.
Let’s face it: the average Westerner knows little about Ukraine. Chornobyl, the Orange Revolution and the president’s poisoning, the Klitschko brothers — that is more or less where the knowledge of most West Europeans about one of the continent’s largest countries ends. Given the regular proclamations on improving Ukraine’s image abroad, one may be surprised to hear that our country didn’t have an ambassador for three years in Switzerland, the heart of Europe — a country with a high investment potential and one of the largest financial centers in the world. By the way, Micheline Calmy-Rey, the Swiss foreign minister mentioned this in her interview to The Day last year.
After 2008, the situation was adjusted in accordance with international diplomatic protocol. A representative of the younger generation of Ukrainian diplomats, Ihor Dir, has been holding an Independence Day celebration at the Embassy of Ukraine, together with presentations of one of Ukraine’s regions each year, since his appointment as ambassador of Ukraine in Switzerland. We hope that eventually this initiative will become a tradition. This year the embassy’s guests could learn about the Ivano-Frankivsk region.
A delegation from the Ivano-Frankivsk region, headed by the chief of the regional state administration Mykhailo Vyshyvaniuk, brought colorful information stands, examples of folk craft, a beautiful song group, as well as Ukrainian lard, ham, homemade holubtsi (stuffed cabbage rolls) and sauerkraut (which perfectly complements pepper horilka that foreigners have long enjoyed). The delegation put in a lot of work: a visit to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lichtenstein; a meeting with the old friend and patron of Ukraine Baron Eduard von Falz-Fein, whose uncle founded the Askania-Nova reserve, and meetings and negotiations with leaders of the Swiss program for import support SIPPO. They also met with the state chancellor of Aargau Peter Gruenenfelder, ministers of the canton, and with members of the financial and business circles of Switzerland. The two-day visit culminated in toasts and merriment.
According to the governor of the Ivano-Frankivsk region, the Aargau Canton is in many ways similar to his the Ukrainian province. The first resemblance concerns the natural landscapes. It also has the same kind of open, pleasant people, who are easy to do business with. Many interesting topics were covered during the meetings: education, culture, industry, and tourism. An Aargau Canton delegation will soon pay a return visit to Ivano-Frankivsk to sign partnership agreements.
A closer look at the developed Swiss cantons reveals the country’s impressive potential in almost all sectors of the economy. As any good manager who advocates progress and prosperity, Vyshyvaniuk quickly assessed the situation: “Our region possesses immense natural potential, and innovative capacity. Together with our economic possibilities this can yield an extraordinary result, in terms of new job creation.” After meetings with Swiss entrepreneurs and large businesses, the governor of the Ivano-Frankivsk region returned home with many interesting proposals, numerous opportunities for the region and Ukraine in general. The leaders of several large Swiss companies expressed their desire to visit the Ivano-Frankivsk region. They will deal with the creation and organization of enterprises in Ukraine.
For the first quarter of 2010, the total amount of foreign direct investments in the region’s economy decreased by 17 percent, compared to the previous year. How can one change this situation? Obviously, the drop in investments is the result of political instability, particularly that which occurred during the electoral campaign at the end of 2009. The Ivano-Frankivsk governor believes that political stability would solve the problem entirely. Here is a good example. The leader of an investment group from China, who has been working in Ukraine for five years, said that he had not invested any money in Ukraine this year. When asked about what he had been doing, he replied: “We worked with Belarus and invested 5.5 billion dollars there.” No comment.
This spring, President Viktor Yanukovych voiced an initiative about Ukraine’s application to host the Winter Olympic Games in 2022 in the Carpathians. This ambitious plan, according to Vyshyvaniuk, is completely feasible: “We have 12 years to create the appropriate infrastructure. Frankly, the regional administration already receives calls and there are investors interested in participating in such large projects. The Ivano-Frankivsk region is ready to become a basis for the Winter Olympic Games in 2022. It’s a wonderful opportunity to become a ‘Ukrainian Switzerland.’” Already today some 15 thousand people ski at the Bukovel camp everyday. Active leisure, the governor of the Ivano-Frankivsk region emphasizes, means a healthy lifestyle, good parenting, and strengthening families and the nation. “We have such wonderful natural resources that we can’t help using them for the peoples’ benefit and health; so that residents of the eastern industrial regions of Ukraine like Donbas, Luhansk, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk could come to us to rest and enjoy the fresh air,” he said. Therefore, the local authorities have already allocated 9,800 hectares of mountainous territory of the Ivano-Frankivsk region for the construction of a new resort and recreation base.
The first presentation of the Ivano-Frankivsk region in Switzerland was successful and attracted great interest from both Swiss and foreign businessmen. In addition, the gala reception at the Embassy of Ukraine was very impressive. As it is known, the level of a reception (and maybe the country), is determined by its guests. Ambassadors of most of the countries with diplomatic missions in Bern visited our embassy, as did the deputy ministers of the economy and foreign affairs of Switzerland, the head of the antimonopoly committee, representatives of the ministry of defense, and the heads of companies and financial institutions. By the way, one of the Latin American countries with an embassy in Bern also had an official reception at the same time. One could hear knowledgeable voices whispering, “There are no people there, everyone went to see the Ukrainians.”
