5 Top Myths Foreigners Have About Ukraine
Thanks to Mr. Darren Rowse there is a buzz nowadays about ‘Top 5′ group writing project. I suggest 1 theme that I am pretty well aware about. It concerns most common beliefs that foreigners have about Ukraine. I work with tourists on a daily basis and can tell exactly what they think about us, Ukrainians, and why it is not always true.
1. Ukrainians Are Poor.
Well, mostly that is true as common people earn 200-700 USD per month in average. Still, there are a lot of people with salaries of 200-300 USD per month and driving cars 70-100K USD worth. You will see a lot of expensive, even extraordinary cars in Kiev. The truth is Ukrainians often have ‘black’ salary “in envelope” from employers, it is just common to show only small part of what one actually earns. Then there are hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs with unregistered income, from a few hundreds a month to a few hundred thousands a month. A country with black economy - that is Ukraine. One of my close friends has 20K a month and rides a very very expensive car, and another not showing off his huge income but travelling around the world and living in the best hotels. These people are sometimes called “New Russians” or “New Ukraininas”.
2. Girls Are Easily Available.
Sex-tourism is one of the most popular private travel sector in Ukraine. Mostly Europeans and Americans come here to meet girls. It is a common belief that Ukrainian girls are sexy and cheap. Marriage agencies are plentiful. Still, there is a high possibility of meeting a scammer or a girl with very high demands. There is a special class of women who earn a living by meeting foreign men, making romantic statements, a few kisses and huge checks that come to them again and again for months. One of my friends from Germany bought a new car for his fiancee for 20K Euro, just to be disappointed about learning that she is a scammer.
3. Criminality Level Is High.
There is a well-known trick of thieves here. You go along the street and see a wallet right on the pavement. You take it in your hands, and then suddenly a person appears and says: “I have seen you had found the wallet. Let us divide the money”. When you open the wallet, another man comes and shouts: “You bastards! You stole my money, give it back.” He takes the wallet and says that there used to be more money inside. Thus he asks for money from your pockets. This trick works, and many of my foreign friends were victims of it. But as soon as you know that you should never take anything from the ground, you really do not have any danger.
Well, Kiev is generally quite safe. Unless you show a lot of money in the evening on the street, it is a very little chance that anybody will attack you. I read that Kiev is much safer a city than Paris or London.
4. Everything Is Cheap in Ukraine.
I would say food is somewhat cheaper. Restaurants - depends on type of food. In general a little cheaper.
But real estate is incredibly expensive. 1 sq meter in Kiev in the center - starting from 5K USD to 7-10 K. In the outskirts it costs 2,200-2,500 USD.
Hotels are expensive, too. Premier Palace single room - 400 USD per night (you can have discounts with our company). The three-star Rus hotel offers single and doubles from 130 USD per night.
Gasoline is somewhat cheap, about 0.8 USD per litre.
5. No Way To Make Business in Ukraine. Not Enough Stability.
5 Ukrainian Hryvnas make 1 USD. It has not changed considerably for last 6-7 years. In the same term cost of land near Kiev increased about 20-40 times. Real estate - apartments - increased about 10 times.
Deposit rates in Ukrainian currency in Ukrainian banks are 14-16 per cent annually.
There are a lot of business opportunities around, a very nice ground for investments. Get rich quick has always been possible for foreign enterpreneurs coming to Ukraine with persistence and boldness.
Conclusion
That is a brief description of what others think about us, Ukrainians. I believe that our country has a bright future, and European Football Cup 2012 will have a strong influence on our economy and life. So these myths are likely to disappear.
You can view my little photo blog about Kiev. If you plan to come to our beautiful city, now you know who is the person to approach!
May 9th, 2007 at 10:03 am
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May 9th, 2007 at 11:18 am
I’m surprised there’s nothing about Chernobyl here. (Sorry, had to mention it.)
May 9th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Misconceptions such as these are very common especially to those high-and-mighty countries. They tend to look at other countries as such like the ones you listed above.
The Philippines is also suffering from this kinds of myths (although some of them are true) It is not nice to be looked down upon especially if they do not know your country’s true capability.
Nice post!
If you have time, why don’t you drop by my post:
http://mobileko.blogspot.com/2007/05/snatch-top-5-tips-on-how-to-be.html
It’s also an entry for the problogger top 5- group writing project. ^^ Goodluck to us all!
May 9th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
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May 9th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
[…] 5 Top Myths Foreigners Have About Ukraine by Alexander Radich […]
May 9th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
[…] 5 Top Myths Foreigners Have About Ukraine by Alexander Radich […]
May 9th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
[…] 5 Top Myths Foreigners Have About Ukraine by Alexander Radich […]
May 9th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
To Markk: Your notice about Chernobyl is appreciated. I was a 12 yo when this disaster occured. Soon we had to move to Astrakhan for half a year, and I can tell a lot of bad stories about Chernobyl. Still, at the moment it is not the most popular place to go and to attract tourists.
To Karlo: Thank you for the feedback. I will visit your blog right now.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
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May 9th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
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May 9th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
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May 9th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
thanks. good lection
May 9th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
[…] 5 Top Myths Foreigners Have About Ukraine by Alexander Radich […]
May 9th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
[…] 5 Top Myths Foreigners Have About Ukraine by Alexander Radich […]
May 9th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
What?? Ukrainian girls are not easily available??? Why should I come then?
Jokes aside, your list is good to dismantle these myths. I have to admit that many people here in Switzerland believe in those myths…
May 10th, 2007 at 5:42 am
[…] 5 Top Myths Foreigners Have About Ukraine by Alexander Radich […]
May 10th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Hey, I miss Sergei Bububka in that list.
I mean something like “ukraines like to jump poles”, hehe.
Good list, though.
May 10th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
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May 10th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
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May 10th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Ah, the black economy… I think that explains many of the expensive cars here in Budapest as well! Good list, and I’m also enjoying your photo blog.
May 11th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
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May 11th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
[…] 5 Top Myths Foreigners Have About Ukraine by Alexander Radich […]
May 11th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
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May 11th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
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May 12th, 2007 at 7:11 am
Excellent post. It certainly changed my mind on some aspects of the Ukraine.
Perhaps I should do a similar one for South Korea.
Sad thing is a lot of the things foreigners first think of about Korea are NOT myths
Oh yes, and there are problems with reporting the truth about specific Koreans thanks to their “interesting” libel laws. ( see my story on ZenKimchi , who is in trouble for writing about his true experience with a problem language school )
May 12th, 2007 at 9:22 am
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May 12th, 2007 at 9:45 am
To Bender: If I mention Sergey Bubka, it would be unproper to omit Andriy Shevchenko and Klichko brothers. I could put Dynamo Kiev football team (although they do not perform so good in last years).
To Jon Allen:
I will read your blog about that, thanks for an extensive comment.
To Buda Baby:
Thanks. I am fond of making good pictures. Hope to produce much better ones in the future.
May 12th, 2007 at 10:14 am
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May 12th, 2007 at 10:27 am
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May 23rd, 2007 at 5:43 pm
[…] month, on June 22, 2007. They say that some guests already arrive. So following my article about 5 Myths Foreigners Have About Ukraine I would occasionally post my visits to different sights in Kiev, especially hospitality places, […]
June 10th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
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June 10th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
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