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Then go there for yourself and see it. Easier than ever to get to with new flight routes opening up monthly. Despite banning flights to Russia, Ukraine has seen airline passenger #'s far in excess of anytime in its history, up 20% this year so far and last year was close to 20% more than the year before. I just suggest staying out of the conflict zone.
In more train news, Nikolaev will be building trains to replace the Luhansk factory being shutdown. People even moved there from Luhansk to work there. Will be using Belgian engines...
Russia still makes up the third most number of visitors to Ukraine, and tourism to Ukraine is still about half of what it was before 2014.
Please do tell us about the splendid state of UKRAINIAN economy.
Since Russia's war against Ukraine reached a stalemate in 2015, Ukraine's economy has grown at a faster pace than Russia, even accounting for the loss of output from some cities in the east. The economy is bad and has a long ways to go, but the direction is positive. External debts are down, wages, apartment prices and GDP is up both in nominal and PPP terms, (for PPP the highest since 1990 according to the World Bank surpassing $9,000 this year). Turns out the EU is a better economy to integrate into than Russia.
Quote:
Originally Posted by boxus
Russia still makes up the third most number of visitors to Ukraine, and tourism to Ukraine is still about half of what it was before 2014.
Visitors and tourists are not the same thing. I wasn't saying Ukraine has replaced the #'s trainloads of Russians who used to visit, but the air traffic is way up and this is a fact. And poor Russians don't spend as much as rich Europeans... Like I said, go visit yourself and see how its doing away from the Russian occupied zones. Its like Georgia, getting much better every year since the Russian invasion.
Since Russia's war against Ukraine reached a stalemate in 2015, Ukraine's economy has grown at a faster pace than Russia, even accounting for the loss of output from some cities in the east. The economy is bad and has a long ways to go, but the direction is positive. External debts are down, wages, apartment prices and GDP is up both in nominal and PPP terms, (for PPP the highest since 1990 according to the World Bank surpassing $9,000 this year). Turns out the EU is a better economy to integrate into than Russia.
Visitors and tourists are not the same thing. I wasn't saying Ukraine has replaced the #'s trainloads of Russians who used to visit, but the air traffic is way up and this is a fact. And poor Russians don't spend as much as rich Europeans... Like I said, go visit yourself and see how its doing away from the Russian occupied zones. Its like Georgia, getting much better every year since the Russian invasion.
Lol, I was just there a bit ago, a lot of my family lives there. I am a frequent visitor to Ukraine.
Ok, getting technical, Russia ranks third as most tourists who visited Ukraine.
And growth means jack squat, Ukraine's economy grew faster than the US but the economies are not comparable. It is like saying the guy who benches 50lbs doubled and can now bench 100lbs, and that is much better than the guy who benches 450lbs, and now benches 460lbs.
And seriously, Ukraine's economy is still in the toilet. Inflation is high, business climate is bad, and even now, Russia is still its largest import and export partner. There is no special nor unique deals with the EU, they have not become an EU member, and they are not even a candidate.
Russia's economy towers over Ukraine's, not even comparable. Luckily for Ukrainians, many go to Russia to work as that is the only place they can get jobs. Russia ranks 6th GDP (ppp) and Ukraine ranks 50th. You are talking a Russian economy GDP (ppp) of 4 trillion versus Ukraine's 391 billion.
You posit arguments I'm not making, so I don't have to keep answering them or telling you I wasn't making them. Yeah we get it Ukraine is still a mess, thanks to Putin's invasion and the country having to transition from a Russia based economy but it IS getting better, and the further west you go, the better its getting. You're trying to imply that Russia somehow still more important to Ukraine as a trading partner as the EU, but you are very wrong, at least west of Luhansk...
I'm sorry if you're family is stuck in the south/east (like mine) and aren't seeing the benefits yet. That's Russian "influence" for you. It probably won't get better for a while because like you said, Russia is cutting itself off from Ukraine and probably don't want let its people know they are being robbed by those in power. Kiev and Moscow salaries aren't that far apart now and accounting for prices, probably better in Kiev at the moment. Good for Russia having a higher GDP, their elite are reaping the wealth of stealing Russia's resources I couldn't be happier for them.
They can speak whatever they want, but when the assault, insult, and other things at those who speak Russian, that is an issue.
Do you support such adverse actions against those who speak Russian?
I have never once seen anyone insult me or my family for speaking Russian in any part of Ukraine, including the city in the video. To answer your hypothetical question, I would not support assaulting people over their language. Has it ever happened to anyone? Of course. I was insulted in Yalta for wearing a Ukraine T-shirt about 10 years ago. I thought it was funny (I bought it there). They were surprised when I said in English "whatever you say guys"...
Its unfortunate that Russian is seen by many Ukrainians as a language of the enemy and looked down upon even in the east. Its not surprising however...
A bit dated, but did not know Ukrainian dear "hero" Savchenko fell out of favor with the regime and was arrested for conspiring against the government and terror activities.
I remember she was touted as the greatest hero of Ukraine, I guess that ended quickly, lol.
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