Yale Hosts Conference on Contemporary Ukraine
Critical issues in contemporary Ukraine will be examined in a two-day conference this week hosted by the Yale Center for International and Area Studies (YCIAS). The conference will be held 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, April 24 and 25, in the Luce Hall auditorium, 34 Hillhouse Ave. Individual sessions are free and open to the public, and will be simultaneously translated in Ukrainian and English.
The conference will focus on the institutions that define the business environment in Ukraine. Participants will explore the changing political context of reform; the revival of public administration; reforms of the legal, regulatory, fiscal, financial and investment systems; and the relationship of these issues to the emerging market, with special attention to the agribusiness sector.
In addition to academic and policy experts, the conference will feature representatives of Ukrainian and international institutions. These include Serhiy Holovaty, president of the Ukrainian Legal Foundation and Ukraine’s former minister of justice; Viktor Yushchenko, governor of the National Bank of Ukraine; Serhii Teriokhin, a member of Parliament and cochair of the Ukrainian Institute of Civil Society; Jaroslav Kinach of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; and Petter Langseth and Andrew Stone of the World Bank.
On Friday evening, a conference dinner will be held at the New Haven Lawn Club with guest speaker William G. Miller, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The dinner will be $60 per person; tickets are available through the Yale Ukraine Initiative office at 432- 3107.
Two concerts have been scheduled in conjunction with the conference. Recording artists Alexis Kochan and Julian Kytasty will perform a benefit concert of Ukrainian folk music for the Children of Chernobyl Relief Fund at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 23, in Dwight Chapel, 67 High St. Tickets are $10 ($5 for students) and are available at the door or through the Children of Chernobyl Relief Fund, 1-203-407-0261.
On Saturday, April 25, at 8 p.m., the Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company takes the stage of New Haven’s Palace Performing Arts Center, 470 College St. Tickets are available at the Palace box office, 789-2120; at any Strawberries Records & Tapes stores in Connecticut or Western Massachusetts; and through PROTIX, 1-860-422-0000.
The conference is sponsored by the YCIAS Council on Russian and East European Studies and Yale Ukraine Initiative with support from the Chopivsky Family Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Citizen’s Network for Foreign Affairs, CIME/L’viv Consulting Group and Trident Consulting and Investing.
For further information or a complete program of events, contact the Yale Ukraine Initiative at YCIAS by telephone at (203) 432-3107, by fax at 432-5963 or by e-mail at rees@yale.edu.
Media Contact
Gila Reinstein: gila.reinstein@yale.edu, 203-432-1325