Ref | About Ukraine

Visas

You may need a visa to enter the territory of UkrainArrange in advance. To assist in obtaining a visa, please contact with the Organizing Committee of the Forum.

Citizens of the EU, Switzerland, Lienchtenstein, Andorra, Vatican, Iceland, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Georgia, Mongolia, the U.S., Canada, Japan and the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) - except Turkmenistan - cfn enter Ukraine visa-free and stay up to 90 days. Everyone else needs a visa, wich must be obtained from a Ukrainian embassy or consulate abroad before travelling. Visas can be processed inas a little as one day, with prices varying depending on the type and lenght of visa requested. Many Ukrainian embassies only handle visa cases on certain days of the week, so call ahead.

General information about Ukraine

Modern Ukraine is one of the largest countries in Europe. In terms of population, which amounts to 46 million people, Ukraine is the sixth largest in Europe, behind only the Russian Federation, Germany, Britain and Italy. Urban population is 67%, the average density - 79 people per 1 square km.

Ukraine occupies a total area of 603,700 square km. of territory in Europe; second only to Russia. Ukraine has an official border with Russia, Belarus, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova, the self-proclaimed Transdnistria, Moldovan Republic and Romania. In the south Ukraine is washed by the Black and Azov Seas. Surface is mostly flat and hilly with some hills and lowlands. In the south-west the Ukrainian Carpathians are rising, in the extreme south - the Crimean mountains. The climate is temperate, mainly continental, on the southern coast of Crimea - subtropical. The main rivers: the Dnieper, Southern Bug, the Seversky Donets River, the Prut, the Dniester, the mouth of the Danube. The northern part of Ukraine is covered with mixed forests, the southern and middle - forest-steppe and steppe.

The size of GDP in 2009 amounted to $ 6400 per capita; by GDP Ukraine is the 40th economy in the world. The most developed industries are transport and energy. In economic terms, the most developed regions are: Donbass (Donetsk and Lugansk regions), Dnieper (Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye region), as well as the cities of Kyiv, Kharkov, Odessa and Lviv. Ukraine may well be attributed to emerging markets and developing economies.
The Ukrainian nation has evolved over millennia. Its roots are found in the historical trypilska culture that developed in the Middle Dnieper in the III millennium BC. Kievan Rus, a powerful medieval European monarchy, was founded on the expanses of Ukraine more than 1100 years ago, In XII-XIII century. This state broke up, and part of this land came into the possession of Muscovy state.

The subsequent sovereign state was Galicia-Volhynia (State Daniel Galitsky XIII-XIV centuries). After a long struggle for independence from Lithuania and Poland, as a result of the victory of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky in the national liberation war of 1648-1654, Ukraine re-emerged on the European political map as the Zaporizhzhya Sich.
After a brief period of sovereignty are centuries of colonial existence. Ukraine, has been divided between the Russian Empire and Poland, and after Poland’s decline - with Austria-Hungary (since 1772).

The revolutionary process in 1917 destroyed the Russian Empire and led to the proclamation of Ukrainian independence and the establishment of the Ukrainian National Republic.

The First World War hastened the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and on November 1, 1918,the establishment of Western Ukrainian People's Republic was proclaimed, which lasted eight months. During 1917-1921 Naddniprianska Ukraine was the scene of a desperate struggle. Governments of the Central Rada, Skoropadski, as well as the Directory were unable to defend the Ukrainian statehood. Absorbed within the USSR, Ukrainian SSR still formally retained some signs of a sovereign state: territory, public authority, budget, emblem, flag, anthem and constitution.

According to the decision of the Supreme Soviet Court of the USSR in 1944, the Union republics, including the Ukrainian SSR, were returned the right of independent foreign operations. On July 16, 1990, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Act on State Sovereignty, and on August 24, 1991 it declared the Act of Independence of Ukraine.

In the wake of the global economic boom Ukraine has developed into one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. During 2007-2008 Ukrainian GDP increased by more than one third. Bank lending market has grown rapidly,by more than 50% per year. There has been 100% growth in the stock market during that period. The growth of the material well-being was being felt everywhere, especially in the Ukrainian capital: shopping centers, world famous brands, and entire neighborhoods of affordable and luxury housing were being built. Ukraine was called one of the "tigers" of the European economy.

Today the economy is returning to pre-crisis levels of growth. Worries about the Euro notwithstanding, the fact that Ukraine's economy is booming, not only interests Ukrainian, but also foreign investors, which gives a strong inflow of finances in Ukraine. Countries continue to expect that Ukrainian presence on the map of world investment will be felt stronger than ever.