A
USTRIANOF
UKRAINIAN
ORIGIN IGOR
HUKKEEPSON
TRAVELING
BETWEEN
VIENNAANDKYIV,KYIVAND
DUBAI.HEHASFORMED
FRIENDLYRELATIONSHIPSWITH
MANYUKRAINIANS,SINCEHE
HASMANAGEDTODOALOTFOR
HISETHNICHOMELANDOVER
THEPAST15YEARS.OVERTHIS
PERIODOFTIME, IGORHUK,M.D.,
HAS IMPLEMENTEDSEVERAL
AUSTRIAN–UKRAINIAN
MEDICALANDEDUCATIONAL
PROGRAMSANDBECAMEA
FOREIGN-COUNTRYMEMBER
OFTHENATIONALACADEMY
OFSCIENCESOFUKRAINE.
DUETOHISACTIVEWORK
FOCUSEDONDEVELOPMENT
OFRELATIONSHIPSBETWEEN
AUSTRIAANDUKRAINE, IGOR
HUKWAS INVITEDTOWORK
ASADVISORTOEUROPEAN
COMMISSIONON INTEGRATION
OFUKRAINE INTHEEU.
SINCEQUITERECENTLY, IGOR
HUKPAYSSERIOUSATTENTION
TOHISCOOPERATIONWITH
UKRAINE–EMIRATESBUSINESS
COUNCIL,THEOPERATION
OFWHICHPROMISESGOOD
PROSPECTSFORUKRAINE
INTHEGULFCOUNTRIES.
NEGOTIATIONSWITHUKRAINIAN
GOVERNMENTTOPOFFICIALS
ANDATRIPTODUBAIANDABU-
DHABI JUSTSTRENGTHENEDTHE
OPINIONOFTHISPRACTICALLY-
MINDEDAUSTRIANON
CORRECTNESSOFUKRAINE’S
CHOICEOFSTRATEGYFOCUSED
INFORMATIONOF ITS INTEREST
ZONE INTHEGULF.
SUCCESS
of
theEmirates’People
is in theirUnity
–Duringmy stay in the Emirates, I was
pleased to findout about theoperationof
UkrainianTradeCenter inDubai. ItsGeneral
Director Sergey Pachkovskiy toldme about UTC’s
assistanceprovided toUkrainian companies
with accessing themarket of this incredibly rich
region. As I foundout, virtually anything could
be soldhere, because the Emiratesmarket
is extremely capacious. Also, using thewell-
balancedmechanismof freeeconomic zones,
Ukrainian companies get theopportunity to
access themarkets of neighboring countries,
which are as rich as theUAE. Sergey Pachkovskiy
gavepractical examples illustratinghis
presentationof theUTC’swork.
Whenwe found a partner in the emirates,
we beganpreparing joint projects that could
tieUkraine, UAE and the EuropeanUnion. These
projects are of different types, though, as a
medical worker and a scientist I would like to
talkmore about scientific andmedical-social
programs. Actually, Ukraine andAustria, the
country ofmy citizenship, have accumulated
huge experience of cooperation indifferent
fields since 1991, when they established
diplomatic relationships. Today, inUkraine, I
come across peoplewhobecame Institute
Directors though seemingly quite recently
theywere participants of scholar exchange
programs betweenAustria andUkraine. At this
time, similar program for Ukraine andUAE is
underway; we nowoften include Emirates in
our academic projects implemented together
with theNational Academy of Sciences of
Ukraine and inparticular, with theMember of
Presidiumof NAS of UkraineYaroslavYatskiv. It is
essential to exchange professionals, specialists
fromdifferent spheres of activities. UAE is a
young countrywith a great potential and
achievements, including those in academic
fields should come soon. Unless a country is
engaged inbusiness projects development it
couldbe laggingbehind forever. Science is the
most important thing in the 21st century.
–Mr. Huk,whatwas the thing that i
mpressedyou themost in theEmirates?
– First of all, the scale of construction is
definitely impressive. Also, I was pleased to find
out a small copy of theAlps inDubai (when it’s
plus forty outside), where it is evenpossible to
ski! It seems skiingwill soonbecome national
sports in theUAE, just as inAustria.
However, themost amazing thing forme
was theeagernesswithwhich Emirates’people
arebuilding their country. Just 40 years ago
Emirates hadnopost offices andno autobahns.
Now, after such a shortwhile, the countryhas
everything. Theunity and commitment of the
peopleeagerlymoving towards their common
goal is amazing. In the streets of Dubai, there are
many successful peoplewho live in the country
theybuilt.What is also interesting is the fact that
alongwith the integration into the international
community, Emirates’peoplemiraculously
manage topreserve their traditions. Theydon’t
abandon their languageor national clothes. I
think, this is the key to their success.
Peoplemake terriblemistakewhen they
believe that success of the Emirates rests solely
upon theoilmoney. After the collapseof the
USSR, DeutscheBank analyzed theeconomies
of all newly formed states. According to the
estimateof German analysts, Ukrainewas the
richest republicof the former Soviet Union. And
today there ismoney inUkraine! Unfortunately,
thegovernment officials don’t always knowhow
touse themefficiently. In the Emirates, they
managed touse themoney collected from the
oil sales. Now, the rapideconomicgrowthof
Dubai iswatched closelynot only inUkraine, but
also inAustria andother developed countries.
–What is thepresenceof Austrianbusiness
and culture in theEmirates?
– I am aware of a fewmajor Austrian
companies engaged inmassive construction
projects inDubai. They brought theirmodern
technologies for constructionof high-rise
buildings to the Emirates. Ukraine, in turn,
also couldoffer theUAE technologies that are
not available toAustria, for instance space or
aviation technologies.
Asanexampleof Europeanand, inparticular,
Austrianculture in theemirates I canname the
annualViennaBall that isverypopular inDubai.
Cultural exchange ismostlyperformedon the
individual level.Thisway, stepby step, thecountries
becomecloser and richeron the spiritual plane.
/ Interviewer –YuriyPotashniy /
BUSINESS EMIRATES
120
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