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Mellow Outat VinSpring 2012

National Session of EYP Ukraine

2 – 5 of March

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Mellow Out = to cool off, chill out. Is often associated with hippies.

The Journalist team of VinSpring 2012

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Table of Contents

P4 EditorialP5 VinnytsyaP7 The Truth Behind Climate ChangeP8 ITREP9 LIBEP10 ENVI IIP11 CULTP12 Do’s and Dont’sP13 Fairy Tale PartyP16 Travel StoriesP17 International TalkP18 HO InterviewP20 ECONP21 AGRIP22 ENVI P23 AFETP24 Google TranslateP25 Who’s who?P26 Ukraine Spring

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Editorial

So how on earth do you spell “Vinnitsa”?

Versions we have come across:

• Vinnitsa• Vinnitsia• Vinnitsya• Vinnytsia• Winytsya• Wynytsya• Vinnidtsa• Vinnytsya

Supercalifragilisticexpia-lidocious, now that we have piqued your interest let us talk about connections of the natural sort. Some believe that we are all connected by something greater, beyond the great beyond. Although we might not be the most superstitious duo, we know that there is some truth in it. We live in different connected communities; at home we are sharing our lives with a differ-ent number of people, from just a few to few hundreds. We are connected through changing factors, from our regular circles to forced con-tacts. At this very moment we are all connected as one individual, we are breathing the same air, living the same moments and increasing our connections.

At first we might seem to be a part. Us, the editors, who may or may not exist to you, dear delegates. Through our journalist we are connected, but still we have to admit that loneliness affects us as well. So we call upon you to act and enter our domain and re-ceive free hugs.

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Article on the City

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Interview with the Headmaster:I: Mr. Selyov, what are your impres-sions of EYP being here in the school?S: It is a big pleasure to host international guests in our school, and we are always glad to have such guests. We admit that the work of EYP is based on the discussion of very important environmental and social questions, so it is a big pleasure that you are here in our school and our city of Vin-nitsa.

I: Mr. Selyov Vinnitsa is known in Ukraine as a progressive city. Vinnit-sa can be seen as a role model – for example the number of dangerous marshrutkas was reduced and there are people in uniform, who help oth-ers cross the road safely.S: Oh yes, changes often happen in Vinnit-sa. There is a special form of communica-tion called “transparent” between the local government and our citizens. This system efficiently eliminates a long bureaucratic chain, so the problems are solved within a couple of days and not months. That makes the work of our City Council effec-tive and known in other regions.

I: There is a saying: ‘You haven’t been to Paris if you haven’t seen the Eiffel Tower.’ Can you recommend places that visitors of Vinnitsa should defi-nitely see before leaving?S: First of all there is our fountain, which is among the top five fountains in the world and stands up to the the fountains of Abu Dhabi and Las Vegas. In fact it is a pity that the season of our fountain has not started yet.Also Vinnitsa is famous for its’ museum of the outstanding scientist and doctor Nikolay Pirogov. He was the inventor of the embalmment technology, and the first per-son who was embalmed. The body of Dr. Pirogov is in the museum and is a real relic of our city.Another point of interest is our water tow-er, used in pre-war times by firemen so they could immediately spot the place of the fire. It is the highest point of Vinnitsa from where you can see beautiful scenery.Additionally, one of the biggest Ukrainian confectionary factories ‘Roshen’ is located in Vinnitsa. If our guests have some time during their stay here, I highly recommend them to go for a free excursion to the fac-tory where you will have the opportunity to see the production of candies and even try them.

by Max Nikolaichuk & Fabian Sommer

As Vinnytsya is the host city for this national selection, we thought you should be able to get to know the it a little better. After all, everyone knows that it is not that easy to form a sus-tainable opinion about the city during an EYP session. Most of you may think that you know the city pretty well already, but did you know that the larg-est fountain in Europe is actually locat-ed in Vinnytsya? Or that some middle-aged men’s job is helping people to cross the street? Vinnytsya has been an important trade and political center since the fourteenth century. The town was a factor in the ongoing disputes between Lithuania, Tatars, Poland, Turkey, Cossacks and eventually Rus-sia in the seventeenth century.

Vinnytsya is a friendly city in the western part of Ukraine with a popu-lation of nearly 400 000 people. Here prepared are some facts that will help you amaze local people

-There are three districts in Vinnyt-sya. One of them is named “Vishenka” which is translated as “cherry”.

-The largest fountain in Europe is situated in Vinnytsya. It is also the 4th largest in the world. Incredibly beauti-ful, but sadly it only functions during the summertime.

-Tram is the most popular trans-port in Vinnytsya. Unlike other trams in Ukraine that were manufactured in former Czechoslovakia, trams in Vin-nytsya originate from Switzerland. The trans are pleasant and in good condi-tion

-There is a famous chocolate factory just outside the city center. If you are spending an extra day in Vinnytsya af-ter the session, rumor has it that this factory is well worth the visit.

Vinnytsya is an innovative city. This is the place where local government regularly works to improve the city’s infrastructure and supports numerous youth projects. The city is developing rapidly and becoming more and more European. Even so, it has its own spe-cial qualities that you can rarely findsomeplace else. For example, some middle aged men actually have the job of helping people to cross the roads for a couple of hours in the middle of the day.

Sightseeing in Vinnytsya can defi-nitelybeefficientandproductive.Thereare several monasteries that are possi-ble to visit if wanted. All of them are ancient and well reserved. In addition, for the especially interested people, there exist a museum with mammoth skeletons. The most famous local at-traction is, ironically, Hitler’s headquar-ter “Werewolf”, only 8km outside of the city center, available for a visit for any-one interested of war times in Ukraine.

Rich historical heritage together with current progressive city tenden-cies makes Vinnytsya attractive point of destination. With Europe’s largest fountain, Ukraine’s biggest chocolate factory and famous museums, the city offers you an entertainment of a high quality.

In any case, it is a pity that tight schedules are an ordinary thing for an EYPer.Onecanhardlyfindanyextratime for sightseeing during the ses-sion. So, if you by any chance have an extra day in Vinnytsya, we recommend that you check out some of the attrac-tions the city has to offer. However, we can all try to keep our eyes opened all the time when we walk around this amazing city.

Vinnytsya city of history and chocolateWelcome to Vinnytsya, by Max Nikolaichuk and Marianne Munz

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Competition

VinGuinnesRecords

Us, the journo team, are looking for the most special among the most special among you to become part of a the one and only: VinGuin Record Book.

Are you the tallest among all? The one with the largest suitcase? Do you have a fancy trick you

would like to show us?

THEN GO TO YOUR JOURNALIST AND LET THEM KNOW!

We are looking for:

• The tallest delegate.• The delegate with the biggest suitcase.• The delegate who dresses the fanciest.• The best hippie delegate.• The best trick of the session.

The Winners of the VinGuinnes Records Competition will become part of the fabu-

lous: VINGUIN RECORD BOOK!

A special price will also go to:

The committee who comes up with the most creative pose for a picture.

Whomever can tell us for sure how to spell “Vinnits... Vinnitsy...” the place we are at now.

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Opinion Article

The truth behind climate change

The climate is changing. The Earth is warming up, and there is now an overwhelming scientific consen-sus that it is all really happening. Human-induction is clear, because most of our activities we engaged on a daily basis has constantly led to the depletion of the ozone layers that naturally protect earth from the harmfully rays of the sun. With global warming on the increase and species and their habitats on the decrease, chances for ecosystems to adapt naturally are diminishing. Yet, who could have thought that global warm-ing might make our earth colder?

Research has shown that air pol-lutants caused by the use of fossil fuels affects clouds so that they re-

flectmoreofthesun’sraysbackintospace. This leads to an effect known as global dimming; meaning that less and less heat and energy reaches the Earth.Atfirst,itsoundslikeanironicsaviour to climate change problems. However, it is believed that global dimming caused the droughts in Ethiopia in the 1970’s and 80’s where millions died, because the oceans of the northern hemisphere were not warm enough to allow rain formation. Global dimming is also hiding the true power of global warming. When re-moving pollutants that cause global dimming without tackling the green-house gas emissions, rapid warming has been observed to happen. This in return has resulted in various hu-

man health and ecological disas-ters, as witnessed during the Euro-pean heat wave in 2003, which saw the death of thousands of people.

Due to global warming we have seen drastic changes in the climate. This goes from the heat wave that affected Moscow and some parts of Eastern Ukraine in summer 2010, to the abrupt change in the seasons in Europe. Here the majority of countries did not get snowfall during Christmas but after New Year’s Eve a harsh cold spell followed that swept across the continent killing over 150 Europeans. It is time to clean up the mess we created; it is time to go green. – OU

Ovie Utomakili takes a stand for our planet and incites us to clean up the mess we created and go green.

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ITRE – Committee Topic

The unknown energy source of Osmosis

The committee on ITRE is soon to begin the discussion on what kind of energy sources the European com-munity can rely on in the future. There are many possibilities, such as water, sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat, and each country has different qualifications. However, I do believethat everyone will agree on the fact that Europe needs to rely less on nu-clear power, in favour of saving the environment. Personally, I think Europe needs to aim for a European commu-nity totally based on renewable energy sources, because this is the best so-lution for the environment. On this occasion, I have researched deeper into an energy source that is under development, called osmotic power.

Osmotic power is centred on salt-water and freshwater. When fresh-water meets saltwater, for example in a river mouth, a natural phenom-enon occurs, which is called osmosis. What actually happens is that a thin

membrane is created between the freshwater and the saltwater, and the molecules in the salt draws the fresh-water through the membrane. This process releases a lot of pressure, and that can be turned into a renew-able energy source in a power station.

In2009,thefirstosmoticpowersta-tion opened in Norway, built by a Nor-wegian company, Statkraft. The station madeanartificialmembranethatworksin the same way as a natural membrane does. Then the salt molecules draw the freshwater through the membrane, and the pressure created operates a turbine, which makes electricity. “Our power station in Norway is a prototype on how the station will look in a large scale,“ says Stein Erik Skilhagen, head of the osmotic power station in Norway.

Osmotic power is an energy source thatEuropecandefinitelyrelyoninthefuture. It is estimated that the global potential of osmotic power is 1600-

1700 TWh per year, which is half of EUs total power production. “Osmotic power is one of several possible con-tributors to the future energy sources in Europe. The most important now is that new technologies like osmotic power are given opportunities to be developed and be commercialised. I think we need all the technologies we have, if it is going to be possible to reach the EUs 2050-aim for renew-able energy, and that we will have a European community with sustain-able energy production,” claims Skil-hagen. Personally, I believe in osmotic power, and I am sure it, together with other renewable energy sources, will be exceptionally good alterna-tives to nuclear power plants. – MM

As the world today is looking for alternative energy sources to nuclear power, it is essential to explore all options, Marianne Munz explains.

Diagram of an Osmotic plant

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LIBE – Committee Topic

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The greatest Crime of all

1.9 million $. That is the price on

downloading 24 songs “illegally” on

Internet. Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a

single mother with four children, was

obliged to pay this unbelievable amount

of money just a couple of weeks ago.

In a world where a CEO who cons his

own company, does not care about

his employees or other businesses

he works with can get away with pay-

ing almost nothing, how is it possi-

ble that one becomes a world-wide

criminal for downloading a couple of

songs? Is it just to do such a thing?

There are two sides to everything

and this case is no different. What ef-

fect will ACTA have on movie watch-

ers and music listeners, the “custom-

ers” who do not pay for what they use?

Well, this can cause a great obstacle

for the intellectual development of peo-

ple. As there seems to be an unlimited

and free access to everything on In-

ternet,peoplehave thebenefitofdo-

ing whatever they like and can reach

anything at nearly all times without

paying. However, if this treaty concern-

ing the copyrights of downloadable

products passes, then people’s access

will be limited. Of course every piece

of art has a value of its own, but indi-

viduals cannot pay for every time they

see, watch or listen to art. We live in

a world where a huge percentage of

the population can barely pay for their

basic needs and if things such as art

are not free, then people will start cut-

ting down their expenses by becom-

ing less associated with such things.

As for the creators, they also risk to

be damaged by ACTA. Internet is one of

the key factors in determining the fash-

ionable, the newest things in today’s

world. Moreover, thanks to the easy

and free access to almost everything,

word spreads really fast. What will hap-

pen when this will not be free anymore?

When you have to pay for each song

or movie? A song will become popular

in a slower way and it will never reach

the great masses it does now. It will

become harder for artists to become

famous, as they will receive less inter-

est. In the end, this treaty will damage

not only Internet users, but also artists.

So why do countries sign ACTA?

Why are our “leaders” accepting it if it

does nothing but damage everyone?

What is the point of limiting freedom

of speech, freedom of access to in-

formation or art? These questions are

not answered and it is in my belief

they can never be. It is up to every-

one to show them what ACTA will lead

to and that unless actions are made

against it freedom will just become an

ancient word for Internet users. – MO

Mert Ozbilek joins Anonymous in the fight against ACTA, and explains why it is a bad solu-tion for everyone.

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ENVI II – Committee Article

According to the EU rating, the dirti-est city in Europe is… Kiev. Despite the increasing number of different ecological projects, the amount of gar-bage produced remains unchanged. Furthermore, the typical citizen of the Ukrainian capital throws 100kg more litter than an average European does.

For many of us this is quite de-pressing news, but it that really so? Is that the right way to react to the statement of these facts?

Whatever we do in our lives, it is always important to make the right conclusions and to see the opportuni-ties. The fact that Kiev is the dirtiest city in Europe tells us many things.

First of all, it shows that the work of the whole waste disposal system and its stakeholders remains inef-

ficient. Generally, garbage is carriedto the suburbs, instead of being re-cycled. The amount of garbage is in-credible but the number of recycling plants is too low and they can only cope with a certain type of waste.

It is also worth mentioning that the Ukrainian waste disposal market turns out to be very attractive to both in-ternal and external investments. As there are no key players on the market thatcouldformparticularinfluenceonit, the level of competition within the market is low, and this gives a signal to all potential businesses and investors that they can enter the market easily.

As we can see, the current situation is nothing but a promising opportunity for progressive minds and entrepre-neurheartstobecomeinfluentialplay-ers at the waste disposal pitch. Still,

there are no universal waste disposal plants, waste technologies and logis-tics require modernisation. We can expect that due to the forthcoming EURO 2012 Championship, much at-tention will be paid to this important issue by the government, which can stimulate investors to operate in the Ukrainian waste disposal system by offering them special economic ben-efits like tax discounts or subsidies.

Yes, our capital has taken the lead in the chart, something that would hardly make anyone proud. But, let us just imagine what a bright exam-ple Ukraine may become if we man-age to demonstrate a substantial and professional approach in dealing with this environmental issue. – MN

Sometimes even bad news can become a starting point to a new journey of success, Max Nikolaichuk tells us.

Environmental decadence – an opportunity?

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CULT – Committee Article

A warming education

Recent research hzzas shown that Ukraine is in the list of the top 20 coun-tries that emit a high level of carbon dioxide. This is due to the numerous industrious activities mainly concen-trated to the eastern part of Ukraine, and has dangerous effects on both the earth and people that live there.

Deforestation is also a negative key element on global warming because plants play an important role in the carbon cycle. Plants process the CO2 in the air, and turn it into oxygen. Yet, there are not enough green plants left to balance the CO2 level in the envi-ronment; meaning the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere is greater than the amount processed by plants.

Ukraine could educate its people about global warming through semi-nars in various regions of the country, where global experts would enlight-en people on the threats that global warming poses to the Earth. For ex-

ample: rise in sea level, ice melting, tornadoes in places where they are normallyveryrare,excessiveflooding,etc. Furthermore, a subject could be included in the curriculum of the stu-dents, educating them on what global warming is and what they could do to make a change. Or better, this infor-mation could be incorporated into an already existing subject. For example geography, because, as Goodstein says, “Young people are responsible for developing solutions to save our planet.” He also adds that students should engage with lawmakers, as it gives them a real voice, allowing them to learn about actual bills circulating in Congress, brainstorm new ideas and to share their innovative energy and busi-ness plans about preserving the earth.

Another solution could consist in en-couraging the initiatives of active individ-uals interested in solving global warm-ing, and who are engaged in activities

reducing its effects. Publicly rewarding their efforts would also indirectly en-lighten others about global warming.

Furthermore, educational compe-tition can also be seen as a way for-ward. People will have had to read thoroughly about the issue before the competition, and at the end of the day people will actually benefitfrom the knowledge as well as from prizes if they win the competition.

Finally people can be educated throughshortfilmsanddocumentaries.As the saying goes, “seeing is believ-ing “, and the brain can retain images better than words written in articles or books and it is a more interesting way to educate people on the issue. Let us educate the people around us and go green. Because it is the only way we can save and preserve our earth for other generations to come. – OU.

With the earth trying to respond to the activities of humans with drastic climate change, Ovie Utomakili asks himself how can we help voice out the earth’s opinions to its inhabitants.

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DON’T:DO:• Pay attention at all times, anything can happen anytime.• Attend all activities, games and discussions with everything you got, this is EYP and that is

how it is supposed to be.• Always be in EYP spirit and do your best in making VinSpring 2012 a memorable session.• Socialise with other people. EYP is not all work, it is a great chance to meet new people.• Be punctual, so that you do not force others to wait for you.• Prepare for every activity and be organised so that you do not have an awkward moment

where you do not understand what is going on.• HAVE FUN. That is the most important thing.

• Miss the chance to sleep at night because you will need it during the session.• Sleep during comittee work. EVER• Be afraid of stating your own opinion on a topic.• Offend people during discussions. You have to respect your fellow delegates and their

ideas even though you may not like what you are hearing.• Be shy and put a distance between yourself and other participants.• Ever waste a second. There is always something to do during a session

by Mert Ozbilek

There are over a 100 EYP conferences every year, and each session is unique in its genre. However there are some things you have to do and some things you have to stay away from in every session. Here is a short list:

Do’s

& Don’ts

Just for Fun

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The widely awaited event of the ses-sion: the Fairytale Party, took place yesterday night in the Hotel’s restau-rant. After a tiring day during which the delegates arrived, had the chance to meet each other and do team building, this event was just what was needed. The party was a three-hour session of just dancing and having fun. From Snow White to Joker costumes, there was a lot to see there. It was like a page out of a children’s fairytale book.

After everyone arrived at the “party room”, the committees had rehersals that culminated in a fun series of pres-entations. The party followed right af-ter, and was definitely something tosee. Royal princesses doing the “Par-ty Rock Anthem” dance, superheroes twisting like Jagger and so much more.

Among the costumes, worth not-ing were Andriy Naahvust (Head-Organiser) as the sheik from Abu Dhabi and the aladin costume of Louis Aerts (AGRI). Little red riding hood Olha Havrylyuk (AGRI) and the honey bee lady Tetiana Kornii-chuk (LIBE) also deserve a special mention. It was a fairy tale coming to life, and despite there being no prince charming, it still was a very magical experience that will for sure remain in the minds of all delegates.

On one side of the room people formed a circle and danced along the songs that were played. One after another they would go into the circle and lead the dance with their creative moves. On the other side, something completely different would happen.

Some may call it jumping like crazy or might say it was just just fooling around or it could have simply been dancing. One thing was for certain, though: people were having fun. No matter what role they had, whether they were delegates, journalists, chairs or organisers, it did not mat-ter during the party. Everyone had fun and had some time to relax during the intense schedule of the session.

If it is true that magic only exists in fairty tales, then this must have been a fairly tale come true, as at the end of the party, the orgas annouced that there would be breakfast in bed the following morning. What better way to end a magic evening? –OU

Ovie Utomakili and Mert Ozbilek distilled the magical essence of the first VinSpring celebration in an equally magic article.

Fairytales come true

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Coverage

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Travel Stories

After getting selected for VinSpring 2012, there was only one thing left to do: Find a way to Ukraine. For some, it was just a plain simple trip. However a couple of partici-pants experienced interesting things on the way. Here are some of their stories;

The Path To Vinspring 2012

Fabian Sommer (AT):

Fabian’s trip started in Vienna, Aus-tria. Normally the trip to Kyiv via plane is rather simple and should take no more than two and a half hours. How-ever, it took him 8 hours to get from Vienna to Kyiv. Instead of flying theredirectly, he chose to fly through Am-sterdam first, and change the planethere. If you picture a map of Europe, you can understand how wrong that is. Moreover, it looks like he has not given up traveling this way. Rumour has it that on his way back to Vienna, he will not join the mainstream. He will go to Paris and from there to his be-loved Austria. Also, Fabian belongs to those “lucky” people who loose their passports in foreign countries. During his only night in Kyiv, he “misplaced” his passport and despite some in-tense searching, had to leave for Vin-nitsa without it. Luckily it was found in a restaurant by Julia Pustovoitova (ENVI II), an Ukrainian delegate, and was given back to him two days later.

Klara Sundlöf (SE):

Klara is one of the few delegates who came from a foreign country and her trip, in this case, started in Copen-hagen, Denmark. She was supposed to go to the airport by train and then leave for Kyiv with a direct flight. Inthis way the journey of Klara began. Her friend’s father was supposed to drive her and two of her friends to the train station. However, there was a misunderstanding causing their part of the Swedish delegation to end up in the wrong train station. They were fortunate enough to get to the cor-rect station and catch their plane on time so the mistake did not delay their arrival toUkraine. In theend, they fi-nally landed in Kyiv and had no further problems during the rest of their trip.

Tea Vulic (HR) and Hrvoje Vam-povac (HR):

Both the Croatian chairs in this ses-sion, Tea and Hrvoje decided to come to Ukraine going through Moscow. Nothing went wrong until their arrival. They landed on time, around 5 pm and their transfer to Kyiv was to leave at 6 pm. The plane left as planned, but Tea and Hrvoje were not on board. Af-ter landing in Moscow, they found out that the check-in for the transfer was closed and they could not board the plane. Luckily, their airline company un-derstood the situation and gave them freeseatsforthenextflighttoKyiv.Butthe biggest surprise was yet to come. One may call it pure luck, as Hrvoje was upgraded to business class, and had the chance to sit on a large com-fortable leathery seat, and enjoy nice food and classy drinks. Tea, however, had to sit in a normal seat, not lucky enough to receive a similar treatment

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Delegate Interviews

It is always interesting to find out what foreigners think of Ukraine. Marianne Munz and Olga Popovych decided to find out and share with us how the delgates see the country.

International Talking

At the Vinspring session most of the delegates are Ukrainian and they know their home country very well. Obviously, there is nothing strange for them in the Ukrainian way of liv-ing. On the other hand, foreigners, especiallyduring theirfirstvisit,noticethings that most of the Ukrainians do not and their observations are often surprising. In any case, it is always in-terestingtofindoutwhatotherpeoplethink of Ukraine. At VinSpring there is a Swedish delegation, four Georgians and one Belgian delegate. They made a long way to Ukraine and definitelyalready have some stories to share.

One of the delegates had a hard time getting in to Ukraine. Erekle Antadze (ENVI I) from Georgia was being ques-tioned at the airport, because his visit was apparently a matter of national security. “They wanted to know what my mission here was and when I would return home. I asked if they could ex-plain why I was being questioned, but they told me I was not allowed to ask questions.” Nevertheless, Erekle got hisvisaintheendandhisfirstimpres-sion wasn’t ruined. He still consid-ers Ukraine a really friendly country.

Traveling outside of Sweden for the third time in her life, Lina Södergren (ENVI I) found Ukraine as an interest-inganddifferent country.Her first im-pression was that it was a land filledwith apartments. During her bus trip from the airport all of a sudden hun-dreds of huge buildings appeared out of nowhere, even though almost all the way there were only trees and fields.She also found the presence of the se-curity enforcers and the police in public weird. However, there have been sev-eral shooting in the streets during the last couple of months in a Swedish city called Malmö, so Sweden could prob-ably learn something from Ukraine.

Louis Aerts (AGRI) from Belgium likes Ukraine so much that he keeps coming back. It is only his second time here, but he will surely return in the fu-ture. Why? Well, the answer is easy: Ukrainians are very sociable and their mentality makes everybody feel like at home. One thing that Louis finds ex-tremely interesting is the way people pay in “marshrutka”: “People pass on money to the front and their change gets given back to them by 10-20 peo-ple”. There is nothing special in it for

Ukrainians, but Louis thinks that you would never try to do that in Belgium, as your money would just disappear. Ex-cept of all that, there are many amusing things in Ukraine, including marshrut-kas and “soviet style” trains, and all for-eigners agree how cheap everything is.

Bardia Jamali (LIBE) from Sweden shared the opinions of the other inter-national delegates, especially concern-ing Ukrainian people. However, he was more interested in the developing of the country, because Ukraine is a relatively new country. He was amazed how you can literally see history, while observ-ing the surroundings. Rosanne Rabin Bozorg (ECON), also from Sweden, mentioned that people in public were holding their masks quite well and they did not smile or show any emo-tions to strangers. Still, she and Bar-din agreed it is a totally different situ-ation when you get to know a person.

Every country is unique. Tradi-tions, culture and the way of living are different. Nevertheless, the most important thing is that Ukraine wel-comes – eventually – every visitors and traveller to this country would be a new and interesting experience.

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Head Organisers

If an EYP Session is like a small child, the head organisers are the loving parents who first give birthand then nurture their baby for months. The difference is that the tools of a good EYP session par-ent are not strollers, pacifiers, orbibs, but a cell phone, a watch, and nerves of steel. Thus the VinSpring parents, Violetta Kolis-nichenko and Andriy Naavhust, are seldom seen without a cell phone pressed to their ear. As a matter of fact, you can hardly see them at all.

Andriy and Violetta gave birth to the session about four months ago.

It started out as a plan for a mini session. However, they were soon asked to organise a National Selec-tion Conference instead. Naturally, after the initial surprise, Violetta could not refuse, and their journey to make VinSpring a reality started.

Violetta is from Vinnitsa but has now moved to Kiev to study Chi-nese in a university there. When she is not listening to ABBA, her fa-vourite band, she either is studying, doing EYP, or working part time at a children’s centre. She claims that stress is her biggest fear at the ses-sion. However, she remains calm

even when dozens of people run to her for aid. She loves her fellow organisers like a mother loves her children, and insists that her team is her most important accessory while organising – even outranking coffee.

Her co-head organiser, Andriy, whom she describes as “hard working” and “a good leader,” is also from Vinnitsa. Though unlike Violetta he is not a fan of ABBA – he prefers country music. Despite the fact that he participated to only one EYP session as a delegate, he was not afraid of the challenge and made the decision to head–organ-

Olga Popovych and Fabian Sommer take a deeper insight on the head organisers and their way of taking care of their “baby” – VinSpring National Selection Conference.

PAPAS and MAMAS

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Interview

ise the session. The results of this decision we can see now. There are many reasons why he decided to organise an EYP session in Vin-nitsa, but the most important one was that he wanted to introduce EYP to his hometown. Except for being so enthusiastic, he is also a real gentleman and refers to Vio-letta as a “generous” and “smart” person. Their relationship is com-pletely professional, though, as he has a girlfriend and, not surprisingly, she is at this session. It is however up to you to find outwho she is.

So now the session, their baby, is

allgrownup.Youareholdingthefirstsession newspaper, checked in at the hotel, and are safe and healthy. This would all not have been possi-ble without the tireless work of these two incredible individuals. Next time you see them, feel free to give them a hug and thank them for the session.

ECON – Committee Article

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A comment on the economy of Ukraine, or how an adventurous trip brought Fabian Som-mer and Martin Dite to ponder about the Ukrainian economy.

The Avtomagistral

“Bim, bang, boom, ahhhh,” that is the sound a marshrutka full of chairs, organ-isers, and journalists makes when it bar-rels down the road from Kiev to Vinnitsa. While many Ukrainians have gotten used to the potholes, random police controls, and lack of seatbelts, these are often a surprise to Western European visitors. Here, the difference in the development of Ukraine compared to many other coun-tries is especially obvious. Yet, while our bus journey was an adventure and only slightly uncomfortable, Ukrainians suffer in their everyday lives because of the dif-ficulteconomicsituation.Thefactthat63Ukrainians died in the recent cold spell should be a wake-up call for the country.

First and foremost, Ukraine needs to fight the shadow economy, especiallycorruption. With recent estimates stating that 40% of GDP is lost due to this sec-tor, the problem becomes even clearer. Shadow economy is not only responsible for only deterring foreign investors, but the government also loses a large part of revenues, because it cannot tax the shadow economy. This issue is vital to Ukraine’s success at a point that, if neces-sary, independent outside organisations, such as the OECD or the UN, should be invited to monitor the success of the battle against the shadow economy.

Additionally, Ukraine’s economy is cur-rently very dependent on the agricultural sector. In order to diversify the economy, the government needs to invest more in the manufacturing and services sec-tor. Here, an important step would be to modernise Soviet factories. Next to mak-ingthemmoreefficient,itwouldalsobeastep towards a more eco-friendly Ukraine.

Furthermore, investment in both the manufacturing and services sector could be raised by a more friendly tax code and improvements in infrastructure. As out-sourcing is very popular with large Euro-pean and American companies, Ukraine could make itself more attractive to such jobs. By making taxes lower than in the

EU, for example, Europeans would have an incentive to invest in Ukraine. Simulta-neously, a system to collect taxes effec-tively, modelled after the new measures adopted in Italy and Greece, should be implemented.I.Asimplificationofinstitu-tional procedures and bureaucracy also needs to occur, as the complexity of these discourages foreign investors. For example, upgrading the customs system could be expensive now, but save money in the long term by requiring fewer staff.

Another issue that one will eventu-ally be confronted to when talking about the Ukrainian economy is the omni-presence of Russia and its dominat-ing regional influence. That is why theUkrainian government’s efforts to dis-tance themselves from their northern neighbour should be supported and why the E.U. should also work to im-prove their relationship with Ukraine. Providing Ukraine with a viable alterna-tive trading partner, will give them more leverage when making policy decisions.

While many people doubt Ukraine’s ability to come out of the economic rut that it is currently in, there are two main reasons why I believe that the country can succeed. First, the case of the Bal-tic countries shows that former Soviet countries have managed the transition from a planned economy to the free market. Second, the Orange Revolu-tion and the recent protests concern-ing the arrests of Julia Timoshenko show that the Ukrainian people want change. Sooner or later, politicians will have to recognise their importance.

With a successful implementation of these strategies, in the future, the lives of average Ukrainians would be drastically improved. In thirty years, the Ukrainian avtomagistral could even compete with the German Autobahn. This all depends on the government and their willingness to battle corrup-tion and truly reform the economy.

AGRI – Committee article

Even if biomass energy and biomass fuels do have many environmental advantages, it should not come before the basic need for food among the people in the world, Marianne Munz argues.

Production of biomass energy fuels – a waste

Biomass energy and biomass fu-els are renewable energy sources many people believe will be a revolu-tion within sustainable development. I am certainly not one of those people. The committee on AGRI will spend the next few days in VinSpring discussing the best way of implementing plant-ing and harvesting of crops to turn into biomass energy and fuels. Ac-cording to the environmental advan-tages, biomass energy and biomass fuels are just wonderful. However, it is important to remember that every fairy tale has a dark side. Ethically seen, is this process right to be done?

Today, 925 million people in this world are undernourished. The production of biomass energy and fuels demands thousands of acres of land to grow biomass crops instead of food crops.

One acre of rapeseed will give 140kg seeds, of which 40% is oil. The oil is then processed to turn it into biomass fuel,makingthefinalresultisevenless.In practice, this means that if 10% of fossil fuels are to be switched with bio-mass fuels, thiswill require sacrificingbetween 8 and 30% of all farmland in the world, according to an UN-study. That is approximately 6 million km2. People will not sacrifice that muchfarmland for a lousy 10% replacement of fossil fuels. It is simply not worth it.

As I already mentioned, millions of people are living with hunger. Most of them are from developing countries, and the production of biomass energy and fuels makes food become more expensive. Planting rapeseed in Brazil has been discussed for a long time. Although this is not a developing coun-

try, it has been argued on whether it is righttosacrificelandtoproducerape-seed for biomass fuels instead of food crops. I believe it is wrong. The gov-ernment is only trying to please other, more powerful states, such as the US, and the inhabitants have to suffer. They are forced to plant biomass plants, and are not able to sell their crops on the market, nor grow food. For the people, no good comes out of this.

A lot of money is being spent on developing the production of biomass energy and biomass fuels. What if that money was spent on develop-ing new technologies for renewable energy? Then, hopefully, it might be possible to achieve new levels with-in sustainable development. – MM

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ENVI I – Committee Article

Fabian Sommer argues why the Ukrainian government’s Energy Strategy until 2030 is a joke and an insult to the intelligence of the Ukrainian people.

Ukraine’s nuclear addiction

Carbon dioxide emissions are admit-tedly a large problem in Ukraine. How-ever, because nuclear power puts Ukrain-ians in danger, it cannot be a long-term solution to the energy crisis. Yet in 2010 the Ukrainian government, in coopera-tion with the EU, decided to increase the production of nuclear power. Ukraine ac-tually has many other ways of effectively reducing CO2 emissions to an acceptable level, while at the same time reducing its dependency on nuclear power.

TofindwaystoreduceUkraine’sCO2emissions and its dependency on nu-clearpower,wefirstneedtolookbackto Ukraine’s remarkable drop in CO2 emissions after the fall of Communism in 1991. According to the Carbon Diox-ide Analysis Center, CO2 Emissions in 1992 were 3.39 metric tons per capita. By 2008 that figure dropped to 1.92metric tons. That drop, while quite con-siderable, is also bittersweet – currently 50% of Ukraine’s energy production comes from nuclear power plants.

Of course, the drop was not only achieved through the promotion of nu-clear energy – another large factor was the modernisation of outdated Soviet factories. Steel production, one of the most carbon-intense processes, has been important to Ukraine’s economy since the 19th century, and many So-viet-era steel mills are still large pollut-ers. The modernisation of factories, with strict controls, would lead to more ef-ficientfactoriesandthustheloweringofcarbon dioxide emissions.

As previously mentioned, currently 50% of Ukraine’s electricity is produced through nuclear power plants. In order to meet its energy goals and lucratively ex-port electricity to the EU, the government is now planning to increase that percent-age. Through their plan, the lifetime of eleven existing nuclear reactors will be extended and twenty-two new ones will be constructed.

This decision made by the Ukrain-ian government is crass and irrational.

In 2010, only one month after the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant’s lifetime had been extended, small radioactive leaks were found and the reactor – which had been built in 1981 – had to be closed for repairs. Also, going back to 1986 and the horrors of the Chernobyl disaster, I personally be-lieve that the Ukrainian people have suf-fered enough from the consequences of nuclear power. It is absolutely shocking to learn that due to Ukraine’s dependence on nuclear power, even the power plant of Chernobyl was not completely turned off until 2000. I shudder when I think of the workers that had to work at the con-taminated site for fourteen years.

Even today, looking at the recent dis-aster in Fukushima, we must keep in mind that nuclear disasters occur even in the “safest” nuclear power plants. There is only one-way to make it 100% sure that there will never be another nu-clear disaster in Ukraine: shut all nuclear power plants down!

While this may seem utopian and un-realistic to some, Ukraine is currently a net exporter of electricity, meaning it pro-duces more electricity than it needs. Addi-tionally, there are currently large amounts of untapped shale gas in Ukraine. Even though these gases are not CO2-neutral, they are a huge improvement over exist-ing, dirty coal power plants. That is why shale gas could be temporarily used to produce enough energy to ease the tran-sition from nuclear and coal power to truly sustainable forms of energy, such as solar, wind or hydrothermal energy.

That way, with the smart use of shale gas as a temporary alternative, Ukraine will be able to shut down its nuclear power plants, while reducing – or at least main-taining - its current CO2 emissions. To-gether with the continued modernisation of polluting factories and the development of “green energy,” this can lead to a long-term reduction of CO2 emissions. At the same time, getting rid of nuclear power plants would be a courageous decision in order to secure the safety of the Ukrainian people for years to come. – FS

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AFET – Committee Article

More than 5,000 people have died and not only protesters, but also members of Syria’s se-curity forces, while fighting for freedom. For Olga Popovych, it’s time to take action.

Syrian Crisis

Syria is a country of 21 million in-habitants with a large Sunni major-ity and significant minorities of Chris-tians and Alawites. It’s a big country full of people, who seek justice and freedom. Inspired by the protests in Egypt and Tunisia, Syria started its own anti-governmental campaign.

It all started in March 2011, when a group of teenagers were arrested for making a revolutionary slogan on the wall. After this event the protests spread all around the country and soon different opposition groups were formed. One of them is the Syrian National Council, whose main aim is to give “the necessary support for the revolution to progress and realise the aspirations of people for the overthrow of the regime, its symbols and its head”. Another example of such groups is the Free Syrian Army, whose main goal is to topple Bashar al-As-sad – the president of Syria – by force.

What do all these people want and what have they achieved so far? The main demands include the fall of the regime, with the resignation of its president, release of political prison-ers and protesters, end of killings and torture, end to the emergency law and – most important – transition to the free, pluralistic and democratic soci-ety. Unfortunately, so far there aren’t many positive changes. Bashar al-Assad stated publicly that he refuses to step down and though he promised to make a few reforms, the only thing done were amnesties offered to some political prisoners. This is obviously not enough to satisfy the demands of protesters. There are two possible re-sults: either the Assad regime will fall, or civil war will start. In both cases, the existing regime cannot survive.

The situation in Syria is tough nowa-days.Peopleare fighting theirway to

freedom, while trying not to get killed. The UN says that more than 5,000 people have died and not only pro-testers, but also members of Syria’s security forces. Something has to be done in order to stop the civil war that might start if no compromise is found. The biggest question now for other countries is to decide what actions to undertake. Should they remain si-lent and not interfere into Syria’s situ-ation, or should they protect demo-cratic rights of people and save them from being killed? In my opinion, while the situation in Syria doesn’t change, the world should not just stand and watch. Governments have to finda way to stop an arising war and try to find a solution peacefully. – OP

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Just For Fun

“Run, Forest, run”!!!«Беги, Форест, запустить»!

I’ll take you for a rideЯ обману Вас

It’s raining cats and dogsЛьется кошками и собакамwи

John meets Tom-Hey John-Hey Tom-I saw your wife yesterday-Indeed?-In bed.

Джон встречает Тома:-Эй Джон-Эй Том-Вчера Я видел Вашу жену-Действительно?-В постели. Крути педали пока не далиTwist pedals yet haven’t given

Be aware of deer running across the roadИмейте в виду, оленей перебегая дорогу

Keep out! Road under constructionХранить! Дорога под строительство

Police line, Do not crossПолиция линия, не пересекаются

A very promising artist, he does city scapes.А очень многообещающий художник, он делает город стволы колонны.

“We will, we will rock you”«Мы будем, мы будем качать вы»

Do you have a lighter?У Вас есть более легкое?

Watch out! Dog may bite youНапряженно ожидайте! Собака может укусить Вас

And now, specially for you, Coldplay live on stage!И теперь, особенно для Вас, Coldplay живут на стадию!

Sometimes we trust too much to electronic translators. Often they do a very big favor for us, but do not forget to recheck the results of your “electronic friend’s” work. They can simply mislead you by displaying the wrong translation and moreover, they are completely useless if you want to translate the wordplay.

Here are some common and uncommon examples that serve as the proof to this statement, brought to you by Max Nikolaichuk.

Google It

As you can see, it is worth being attentive when you decide to use electronic translators. Any-way, do not forget, they can be a good source of fun.

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Games

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The Staring GameThese are some of the heroes in the EYP world who work hard all day and all night in order to present a resolution filled with simple solutions to complicated problems. Each and every one of them has a unique superpower that she or he uses to help the committee get the best possible results. As it is said that the eyes are the window to the soul, your task is to recog-nise the chairs and delegates along with their superpowers.

Name:

Roksolana Pidlasa Dominic DegenKatya BaskenovaIevgen AfanasievJulia PustovoitovaBardia JamaliDenis KhmelevskyTéa Vulic

by Martin Díté

Quality:

HumourStands for GlobalisationSpreads good moodToleranceIs just awesomeKnowledge of internationa politicsCommunicativeBlue contact lenses

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About Ukraine

9Research has shown that Ukraine is one of the coldest countries not only in Europe, but also in the world. In most European countries, spring begins on the 1st of March. Unfortunately in Ukraine, spring begins in April. Spring is actually the shortest season in Ukraine because it lasts for only a cou-ple of weeks before the blazing heat of summer kicks in. Spring in general is naturally characterised by lots of rain and springing of new plants. However in Ukraine, it is characterised by snow, extremely cold temperatures, frozen lakesandrivers,andflowerlesstrees.

Some of the international offi-cials and delegates were hoping to find spring at the VinSpring session,mainly because of the cold spell that swept across Europe some weeks ago. To their disappointment they were confronted with the Ukrainian

spring, which some could not en-joy due to the fact that they packed for sun and warmth. But hope was restored when the committee work and other interesting activities be-gan and warmed up the atmosphere.

Still, if you have the opportunity to finally meet spring in Ukraine it isactually very amazing and it has dif-ferent effects in different regions of Ukraine. Kyiv is regarded as the city of chestnuts because of the beauti-ful perfumed chestnut trees’ blooms. Nevertheless the temperature is rather unpredictable as it might be 8 degrees in the morning, but by after-noon it can suddenly be as hot as 26 degrees and by evening it can drop again. Also, it rains often and that is why it is really advisable to have your jacket with you all the time because you never know what will come next.

Moreover, in Ukraine spring also welcomes a lot of interesting holi-days to spend with your loved ones: international women’s day, Easter, etc. The atmosphere of love will not be forgotten either. As soon as the parks start blossoming again, you start seeing couples hanging around, and a sense of reawakening occurs as cafés set out pavement seat-ing and hikers take the height of the Carpathian and Crimean mountains.

In conclusion, despite the short springofUkraine,itisdefinitelyatimeto meet up with friends and also enjoy an unforgettable EYP national selection conference, discuss interesting topics and remember past events and also dream about the following ones. – OU

As harsh and unpredictable the Ukrainian spring can be, Ovie Utomakili is still able to find beauty and poetry in it.

Ukrainian Spring

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Sponsors

 

 

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Article Type

Brought to you by:

Marianne Munz (NO)Fabian Sommer (AT)Martin Dite (CZ)Olga Popovych (UE)Ovie Utomakili (UE)Max Nikolaichuk (UE)Mert Ozbilek (TK(