 Progress Through a Rear-View Mirror By Scott LEWIS |
Most observers would agree that life in Ukraine today is certainly different than it was a decade ago, but there was no single defining moment that changed everything. Change elbowed its way into our lives gradually. While we may not like everything that has occurred or agree with the way those things have been done, it is indisputable that the Ukraine we live it today is a world away from the Ukraine that declared its independence in 1991.
And it is a better Ukraine, at that.
In Lonely Planet's 2000 tourist guidebook, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, the authors noted that there were "good reasons why traveling in Ukraine makes you almost believe you're back in the Soviet Union." Ukrainians and long-time ex-pats can quibble that many of the 11 "good reasons" cited were insignificant or downright whiny, but the list is an indicator of how at least some foreign tourists saw Ukraine in 1999, and a reminder of how things have changed in less than five years.
The guidebook's list:
This is illegal today, although foreigners continue to report higher prices at some hotels and museums.
These are gone. They've been replaced by DAI traffic police, whose speed traps may have less to do with your speed than they do with the likelihood that you'll pay a quick bribe to be sent on your way.
This practice has been replaced by a more lenient system (See the related article in this issue).
This practice is no longer prevalent. Station personnel are much more helpful today, and free rail information is also available by phone and on the Internet. Signs at the stations may say "Information," however don't expect the agent to speak English.
She's gone, replaced by a combination maid and watchman who is more interested in earning a few extra hryvna by bringing guests tea or ironing their trousers than in being a gatekeeper or scold.
Ticket windows at train stations are now clearly marked for type of service available and the hours of operation. In addition, travelers can avoid the lines at the station and buy tickets from offsite travel and ticket agencies.
Service standards in Ukraine have improved across the board. From doormen to security personnel to maids and bartenders, better training and the profit motive have brought huge improvements in the level of service offered.
While he still has a presence, there are thousands fewer Lenin statues across the nation. Those that remain are more historical relics than the objects of near worship that they were during the Soviet era.
In L’viv and many other places across the country, those would be fighting words. Nostalgia for Soviet days is largely limited to the elderly and the relative handful of diehard Communists.
Wage arrears do still exist, but there are far fewer of them today. The privatization of large, nearly bankrupt state-owned firms has gone a long way toward solving this problem.
This is a problem? Where else but Ukraine can you pay 15 cents to have tea served to you in an antique glass aboard a train?
Lonely Planet's updated guide on Ukraine has been separated from its Russia guide and merged into an Eastern Europe book covering 18 countries. The section on Ukraine has been winnowed down significantly from the 200 pages in its 2000 guide because, as Paul Greenaway, an author of the most recent book said, "Ukraine is off the tourist trail."
The progress that Ukraine has made in the past five years has done more than made Lonely Planet's advice in 2000 outdated. It has moved the country forward - for its citizens, for business and even for those tourists brave enough or curious enough to venture "off the tourist trail" and spend a few days in this culturally and historically gifted nation.
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More in the section:
The Captain and the Bat'kivshchyna: Why?
Read also previous issue' articles:
Danone Nations Cup
Ukraine and Property Rights
UKRAINE. Which Way to Go?
Capital’s Minibuses Need Shake-up
Ukrainian Woman in Power
Foggy Forms and Silly Signs: Why Ukraine Needs An 'English Brigade'
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