Still waiting…….

clock tick tock

No, no, no. Whilst we are still waiting for an eventual final election count for all constituency seats and then a decision by the opposition whether to accept the elections results or not some 8 days after polling day, that is not what I am referring to - though it would make a cynical tweet […]

Combined Heating and Power plant privitisation - Ukraine

chp

This year, the combined heating and power plants (CHP’s) for Odessa, Kharkiv, Dnepropetrovsk and Kherson are all due to be privatised. None of which seems likely between now and the end of the year due to the tender process and the clauses within the tenders. Amongst the clauses are the conversion of the plants from […]

A federal rather than feral Ukraine?

federal ukraine

Over the weekend I have been sent a few questions to contemplate, as is often the case these days. Not unusual, other than these two following questions stand out amongst the much of a muchness from the others. The first which caught my eye was not whether Ukraine would or would not be any more […]

Mass privatisation ahead for Ukraine?

yuzny_port

For those of you who follow me on twitter and in particular followed a conversation between Alex Nice (@AlexNicest) and myself (@OdessaBlogger) a few days ago, then the start of this blog entry is more of a summary of what was said - but don’t simply pass - it goes on to new ground that […]

Off to the UK in November

cheap flights

Well, your author has to visit the UK in November.  As much as I would like to avoid it, there is no avoiding it. The upside is that after 10 days in England I will be reminded of just why I emigrated in the first place.  The downside is now looking for flights to and […]

Turning around demographics - “Challenging”

demo

“Challenging” - That I suspect would be the diplomatic word used by those nations who are facing a demographic slump, and there are many across the continent of Europe over the rest of this century and beyond. Here is a handy little graph from the Wall Street Journal as lifted from the UN.  Tick box […]

Temporary changes - Odessa Airport - Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah

For regular fliers to and from Odessa airport, be aware of a few temporary changes between 12 - 21 September at the terminal building. Odessa will be handling 40 flights relating to Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and as always there will be a lot of Jews arriving and departing from Odessa airport as […]

Alternative Energy - Community Solar (A conversation between two old men in Odessa)

Armand_Emmanuel_Duke_of_Richelieu

Way back when Adam was just a lad and hadn’t even thought of Eve, I moved to Odessa from Moscow.  At least it seems that long ago.  As a civil engineer with, then, broken Russian language ability and knowing nobody, I had to find something to do with my time. I bought a number of […]

Naftogaz reorganisation and the role of the State in development

naftogaz

The Ukrainian loss making State owned behemoth that is Naftogaz Ukraine is about to get broken down, reorganised but not, as the EBRD have stated is necessary over the years, privatised. Actually that may not be quite accurate, there are certain parts of Naftogaz that are now legally banned from privatisation and others that quite […]

Odessa Oil refinery for sale

I am reliably informed by friends in Luk Oil that their Odessa refinery, which processes 3.6 million tonnes of crude a year,  is up for sale. Will it sell?  I would imagine it will be snapped up rather quickly to be honest. Why?  Because last week, without any pomp or ceremony in the public eye, […]