Vasyl Yatsura (Home)

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Vasyl and Lesia bought this huge apartment some time around 2003. They actually combined 2 units to create a single apartment. The picture here shows the view from one of the balconies. The shiny building across the street is a huge shopping mall and entertainment complex with movie theaters arcades etc. In the foreground is a little rectangular building that might actually date from Soviet days. It could have been some sort of a commercial shop that sold something unrelated to the area and odd, like plumbing supplies. When I worked in Kyiv in 1992, it was probably full only of empty shelves. In the background is a shiny new brick and gold-domed church. This one was built by the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriache). These sorts of churches are sprouting up all all over the place. As far back as 2003, the Moscow-led church was investing 60% of its money into developing its presence in Ukraine. (GET CITE). That makes for quite a handsome marketing budget. Finally, the 3-sided billboard in the foreground is blank. Between 2004 these біґбордз sprouted like mushrooms after a rain. The supply went through the roof. After the global economic crisis, demand went through the floor. As a result, many of the billboards are blank. Some have the equivalent of personals ads on them with a gigantic photo of someone's girlfriend on them with curvy, cursive letters spelling out birthday wishes to my 'true love.'To be kind you can consider it high end graffiti.

Their living room is enormous. It flows into both the generous entry foyer and the eat in kitchen that seats 12. The balcony alcove has windows that open to make the effect of a screened in porch. The fish tank is built-in between the kitchen and the living room.

Lesia had broken off from the media venture and managed several furnished apartments for rent. She had gotten up to as many as 5. She rented them to visiting Europeans and Ukrainians. Since she drives her own car, she was able to move around town, setting up the apartments and getting them ready. After a while, she hired someone else to do the housekeeping for the units, so she could handle the marketing and sales. There is yet another example of the aid audit that would show how a grant in 1992 spawned small business and created jobs in Ukraine.


The Italian shelves and drawers in the daughter's room are terrific. I want a set in New York! It's a great reminder of the fact that Ukraine really is part of Europe and goods from Italy are not far away. Now that people can see television programs and can travel outside their country, they are able to select how they want their homes to look. All this was certainly not the case in 1991.