Returned from Kiev, a few observations

[philb]

For various reasons, I had not been to Kiev since my wife and I got married there in February of 2006.  My wife had returned annually but I got to stay home with the dog.  Anyway I have returned from a 3 week trip and thought I would comment on a few of the things I noticed.

The economy we refer to it here as a recession they call it a "crisis".  It has impacted the vast majority of people.  We talk about credit tightening, in Kiev there is almost no available credit.  A lot of business has come to a standstill.

We bought a car while there.  Paid cash of course.  100 griv notes.  Like paying for a car in the USA with $10.00 bills.  You should have seen the pile.

A lot more trash lying around.  While watching the news, I heard a report that the city of Kiev had not paid there cleanup crews in a couple of months.

More packs of feral dogs roaming the streets and hanging around the markets.  Seems there is no money to take care of this either.

More petty theft.  I make this statement based on conversations I had with friends/family and personal observations.  Several people I spoke to had been victimized on the metro in the past few months.  While riding the metro I witnessed organized groups of 2 to 3 individuals trying to create a diversion so as to pick pockets and the like. 

It would typically go down like this:  Rush hour on the metro.  One or two of the individuals would stand blocking the isle while the other would push people into them with the hopes of emptying pockets/purses during the resulting commotion. It was easy to see what was going on if you were not caught in the middle of it.  In addition,  my wife witnessed a purse snatching in Podil.  She is a Kiev native and stated that she had never seen anything like this in the past.

We tried to buy property loss insurance to cover the car.  We are still shopping.  Seems that insurance companies will gladly take your premium, but then tell you they have no money when you make a claim. This info was gathered from news reports, friends and family of my wife, and various internet forums.   Bodily injury coverage seems to be OK.  It is purchased through the government and is referred to as civil insurance. 

While there one of the head prosecuting attorneys for Kiev was assassinated.  Seems he was working in his office and was shot in the head through the window. 

As always, people there are resourceful and find ways to earn additional money and get by.  I don't want to go into details, but some of their efforts are pretty ingenious.

A lot more street vendors were apparent.  I had noticed a steady decrease from about 2003 to 2006.  But now their numbers appear to me to be back up to 2003 levels.

At one time pirated computer software could be bought anywhere in the city.  But by about 2004? this had been contained to Petrovka Market.  While not present currently in the city center, I did see vendors outside of most of the outlying metro stations.

All of the above reminded me of how things were in 2001 when I first traveled to the FSU.  Or the descriptions I have heard from others on how things were in the late 90's.

Cultural diversity:  A lot people of mideastern descent.  Mostly males, but I also saw a fair number of families.  I also saw more Africans and Chinese than I had in the past. 

I hope the winter in Ukraine will be short and warm.

[ECOCKS]

While I don't really wish ill upon anyone, I hope the winter is cold enough to break the complacency of the people.

With elections coming up, the population needs something to remind them that they truly need a drastic change to bring a different direction to their development.

Things are worsening there and the assasination and increasing work situation (unemployment, cut pay, fewer hours, etc.), along with the simmering civil unrest, leaves me concerned about family and friends.

[GregfromGa]

I just returned yesterday. Had I not spent the trip there with a few friends then it wouldve been absolutely miserable. Forget Kiev and head West. Go to Lviv and hang out for your trip or Ivano Franskivsk. It's probably less than half over there, more like a 3rd of the price. The girls in Kiev are always in a hurry. Trying to catch the next metro because there will not be another for the next 5 minutes. I'll just be honest since we are all friends here. I dont give a damn if I never ever go back to Kiev. We actually had to guys try the ole dropped money trick on us. They didnt know that me or my military buddy would have fought a circle saw a couple of years ago. We just laughed at them and called them stupid Martha Fockers to their face. This endeavor isnt for everyone. I would hate to know I was just starting out in this process. You really cant do too much homework on this stuff.