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You can view it at the link below:View PDFIf you can not access the report, please contact ariana.lynn@thefastmode.com Get updates and alertsdelivered to your inbox This piece originally appeared in Issue 6/2016 of New Eastern Europe. Subscribe now “What are you transporting?” a Moldovan customs officer asked me at the border in Giurgiulești.“Nothing,” I replied honestly “What’s the purpose of your trip then?” the officer said rolling his eyes slyly as he uttered these unpleasant words the public servant began to examine my documents The border was empty and completely desolate There was only an indolent dog basking in the sun on the cracked asphalt the customs official began looking at my papers more meticulously he took out something that looked like a pocket microscope and assiduously examined the hologram on the registration certificate of my car He could not understand why someone from so far away would want to cross the border here and without any particular purpose I did not mention that the nature of my trip was tourism-based It would have sounded totally absurd – why would anyone drive 430 meters into Moldovan territory had Ukraine not handed over several hundred meters of its territory to Moldova in 1999 Moldova’s access to the Danube was to help it strengthen its maritime power received some hundred meters of motorway near the Palanka village connecting the northern and southern parts of the Odesa region There was even talk that this exchange was not to Ukraine’s advantage but was undertaken as a gesture of support for Moldova that is to give it a significant tool for development and enrichment You may want to ask what was Kyiv’s real motivation here Is it possible that Ukraine is such a noble state that while being unable to successfully develop itself The answer is simple: fortifying Moldova was seen as a way to reduce its chances of joining Romania in the future Ukraine (or its former Kremlin fathers) chose a “divide and rule” strategy elbowing everyone around like an old woman at the market who suddenly shoves her way between two stalls and starts to lay out patties for sale wedged itself in the border between Ukraine and Romania reduced to two villages: Giurgiulești and Palanka But how could I explain this to the officer working for the Moldovan State Customs Services The inspection of my car lasted almost one hour I was quickly let through the Romanian border and noticing that my car was no longer shaking madly where 2,000 years ago Publius Ovidius Naso Would Ovid have crossed the frontier in Giurgiulești if we try to imagine what he could have been doing in this place arguably he would have been a customs officer Ovid’s legal practice can still be seen in the structure of his poetry due to the wrathful will of the Roman Emperor Augustus and was exiled to the very end of the world He was born in 43 BC in Sulmona (central Italy) to a well-to-do family He received a typical rhetorical education practiced law for some time but then gave up and fully devoted himself to poetry He quickly earned fame and one could only be jealous of his social position: he resided in the centre of Rome right near the Capitoline; he had a beloved wife and several friends until one day an incident changed his life for good Octavian August became angry with the poet and banished him to Tomis (the historical name of Constanța a place that was considered to be situated in the middle of nowhere Ovid lived there for nine long years before passing away in 17 AD because the ruler was a man with a severe disposition he enjoyed imposing penalties (remember that Cicero was violently killed during the reign of Octavian Augustus) but most scholars agree that Ovid could have witnessed adultery or an orgy with Julia Yet the thunder crashed and the spoilt child of fortune was sent into exile to Moesia – the extreme province of the Roman Empire He spent almost nine years there and wrote the books Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto Describing Tomis and its surroundings – the Danube and the Black Sea the barbarians and the Romans – Ovid mainly resorts to crude stereotypes In his descriptions the barbarians have overgrown hair are bloodthirsty and are mostly notable for wearing trousers This detail is very often repeated in his works the trousers made more of an impression on him than the threat of being violently killed during one of the hostile raids on the port The Danube and the Black Sea freeze during winter time the fish freeze up inside the solid ice and the barbarians rush across the ice to rob Tomis It is so cold there that even wine freezes the wine still keeps its shape and therefore has to be cleaved into pieces of ice and consumed in a solid form a Moldovan village between Ukraine and Romania the very boundaries of the Roman civilisation I wanted to understand Ovid better since he is my favourite poet I was naïve to think that if I step on the same ground that Ovid once stepped on I would finally feel the whole of Eastern Europe Such thoughts seem to be so well-timed in Giurgiulești In Ovid’s time it was the end of the empire but another frontier lay in this very place – the border of the EU and NATO with Ukraine We can assume that Ukraine did not become an EU-member because our Ukrainian riverbank still looks barbaric through the windows of Brussels it is enough to experience the quality of roads which are almost absent on the Ukrainian side (the local people say that there are no roads but visible directions on the ground) and the flat asphalt on the Romanian side in order to start believing that the border When crossing the border from the Ukrainian side one would not normally pass through the small town of Ovidiopol the location of Tomis was largely unknown and explorers had sought everywhere around the Black Sea coast to find it In 1795 Catherine the Great requested that the small Turkish settlement of Acidere be renamed as Ovidiopol Ovidiopol is a small town located beside a lake connected with the sea but not too close to attract crowds of tourists A grisly monument is located on the outskirts of the town next to the coast Being a lover of fishing myself I decided to start a conversation with them I asked one about the monument and who it was honouring “An unknown soldier,” the fisherman blurted out with no shadow of a doubt Ovid adorned military attire several times when the barbarians attacked Tomis All the inhabitants of the city had to climb up the walls to beat off the enemy But to call the statue of a man sitting feebly in Roman attire “a monument honouring an unknown Soviet soldier” Then I tried to take advantage of the pause between his grumbling and asked him one more question: “Why is the town called Ovidiopol?” My companion He explained that one Roman poet was exiled here and the town is now named after him “Bessarabia was the same for Rome as Siberia is for Russia”; this is exactly how he put it as if he had learnt about severe frost from Ovid’s poems “You see,” he said puffing his cheap cigarette “there are plenty of nationalities that used to live and still continue living here There’s a great multitude of cultures here in Budjak (the region which lies on the Black Sea between the Danube and Dniester Rivers) the sum of these cultures creates a lack of culture I headed for Constanta (the real Tomis) in Romania which used to be surrounded by barbarians from all sides The next point on my trip took me in the western direction a little town on the Bulgarian coastline of the Black Sea especially since I saw dozens of pictures of its suburbs in the Romanian National Museum in Bucharest The Queen of Romania built a palace there and planted a gorgeous garden in order to host her visitors – many of whom were the best Romanian artists of that time Another good reason to go to Balchik is the opportunity to see the city of Ruse where the Nobel Prize winner Elias Сanetti was born and raised The very fact of his birth in this place means that the lowland of the Danube was a diverse multitude of nationalities and cultures – it was also the case during Ovid’s time that region still looks mostly the same now But what a pleasure it was to read Canetti’s memoir where he described his colourful childhood in the city near the Danube and to imagine how only 100 years ago here on the border between Romania and Bulgaria that a child whose first mother tongue was Spanish (because the poet was the Sephardic Jew) was growing up he also picked up different words from Bulgarian and Romanian languages as well as Romani dialects this is the main reason why he depicts his childhood with such warmth and tenderness I wonder how Ovid would describe the Danube lowlands if he were born there How would he perceive the Romans in such a case Or maybe noble colonisers or culture bearers who are expanding the boundaries of western civilisation I asked a local resident what the demographics were here At first he tried to explain that all people here are Bulgarians and Orthodox Christians The mosques were allegedly a simple historical misunderstanding my companion confessed that one of the mosques was still currently used for prayer even though there are only a few Turks still living in the town The cornerstone of the local Muslim community is the Romani people who erroneously consider themselves to be Turks or their descendants I noted to myself that I was lucky to meet such people like Ovid: first there was a fisherman in Ovidiopol and now this expert on Turkish ethnogenesis All of them were just like the great Roman poet of his time: blaming the Other and slandering the surrounding people Wasting no more time I headed on to Constanta trying not to miss any detail of the view outside my car window I spent so much time reading Ovid and about him that I felt like a barbarian attacking the city           Now I understand that it was some kind of mania – Ovidomania It was cold that day in Constanta and I began recalling quotes from Ovid’s Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto attempting to make the trip through the contemporary city via ancient guides Thanks to the local authorities of Constanta who apparently forgot about the historical city centre it was not too difficult to imagine that I was in some deserted ancient harbour probably immediately after a barbarian attack All I could see apart from the old casino which it was traces of his stay and – to be completely frank – his grave Since childhood I have known that Heinrich Schliemann discovered the ancient city of Troy having patiently read Homer’s Iliad I also dared to assume that I could discover Ovid’s grave by reading his works written in exile There was only one spot left in my journey – a small town called Ovidiu One can hardly find something interesting in the town but as you drive outside it you can find Siutghiol Lake separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land there is something in the middle of this lake and within this “something” another mystery is found There is even a legend that the poet was buried in this special place (which sounds quite realistic) It turns out that the barbarians had taken care of Ovid honoured him with a laurel wreath and buried him in a special place with all the pageantries.Why did Ovid write so many unpleasant things aboutthose who were so hospitable to him he wanted to paint a simple black and white picture to make his readers feel sorry for him and to make an impression on the cultural public in Rome with the terrible conditions of the place he was sent I encountered a big yard overgrown with old trees I parked my car and took the boat which takes visitors to the restaurant – in the direction of the last destination of my trip the barbarians would have delivered Ovid on the boat to the last point of his journey Having wandered around the island and found nothing of note I took a seat on the restaurant terrace and ordered a drink but a little bit sad; as is always the case when you achieve something you have been dreaming about for a long time A waitress pulled me away from my reflections as she suddenly came to me from behind and started speaking an unknown and barbaric language that might have been Romanian I might have looked embarrassed as she switched to English in a minute As she was gabbling about what was on the menu I thought to myself that there are two definitions of the word “barbarian”: first those who speak a different language; second which has been so skilfully developed by Ovid still fits appropriately in Eastern Europe barbarians carry out a number of important roles the existence of the barbarians on the opposite side of the border helps communities understand that they are “better” John Drinkwater points out that the existence of barbarians is also useful for the elite The government needs to use myths to justify high taxes and maintain a well-paid army to defend against a barbarian threat the emperor himself can receive dividends from the actual or fictitious existence of “barbarians”: he can position himself as a great defender of the people a leader that protects civilisation from primitive There are a multitude of abusive jokes about Moldovans: we for we look more developed in comparison to them The Slovaks think the same about the Hungarians Building a wall to stop the Syrian refugees is also building his image as a defender of his own motherland from the barbarians It appeared that the voters can forget about the economic recession and corruption if they are frightened with an image of barbarians lying in ambush on the opposite side of the border “Do you have anything connected with Ovid on the menu?” I asked the smooth-tongued waitress we have barbarian-style baked meat,” she replied with a smile Andriy Lyubka is a contemporary Ukrainian poet He is currently a research fellow at the New Europe College in Bucharest The consequences of Russia’s invasion are visible not only in Ukraine The Kremlin has set off or exploited a series of crises that face most European countries New thinking is needed in policies towards Russia in whatever form it will take after the war Ukraine’s suffering goes well beyond the front line With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine we now see our western values under siege whether we consciously recognise it or not The invasion by Russian forces of Ukraine from the north south and east – with the initial aim to take the capital Kyiv – has changed our region The situation with Russian threats towards Ukraine once again illustrates the high level of instability in our region Only a year ago we witnessed the second Nagorno-Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan It took at least 5,000 lives and significantly shifted the geopolitics in the South Caucuses This special issue aims to honour the plight of Belarusians whose democratic choice made in August 2020 was shamelessly snubbed by Alyaksandr Lukashenka a lot of work still remains for this country And this is why Ukraine’s story is incomplete 30 years after the fall of the Soviet Union Our societies are more polarised than ever before which makes them more susceptible to disinformation The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed limitations and weaknesses in nearly all countries around the world volatility and the relationship between Russia and the West The Black Sea region is quickly becoming a geopolitical battleground which is gaining the interest of major powers regional players and smaller countries – and the stakes are only getting higher This issue is dedicated to the 10 year anniversary of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership as well as the 30 years since the 1989 revolutions in Central Europe The consequences of the emerging multipolar world This issue takes a special look at the role and responsibility of the public intellectual in Central and Eastern Europe today In the eastern parts of the European continent 1918 is remembered not only as the end of the First World War but also saw the emergence of newly-independent states and the rise of geopolitical struggles which are felt until this day that Belarus remains isolated from the West and very static in its transformation The Summer 2018 issue of New Eastern Europe tackles the complexity of para-states in the post-Soviet space The head of the Odessa Regional State Administration Maksym Kutsyi signed a memorandum of cooperation with representatives of the German company Notus Energy entrepreneurs are required to build three wind farms in the region The total investment exceeds € 450 million the issue of reducing the environmental impact of the energy industry is pressing Renewable energy sources can play a key role in this task Ukraine has already introduced a strong incentive for green energy development in the form of a green tariff And now more than € 1 billion has been invested in renewable energy in our country ”said the head of the Odessa Regional State Administration Maksym Kutsyi the investors envisage the implementation of three investment projects Ovidiopol Energy LLC is the construction of a wind power plant with a total installed capacity of 120 MW worth EUR 180 million Novodolyns'kyi village councils The start of construction is 2020 Ovid Wind II LLC is the construction of a wind power plant with a total installed capacity of 88 MW worth EUR 132 million Territory - Roksolany village council (outside settlements) Ovid Wind III LLC - construction of a wind power plant with a total installed capacity of 93.5 MW “These are quite important social projects We see a huge increase in revenue in areas and communities where similar wind farms are being created local businesses are involved in the construction which has a positive impact on employment in these areas ” said Notus Energy spokesman Otto Hannes Gainer it is planned to create about 200 jobs during the construction of the stations and 50 for the maintenance phase Social impact measures will also be taken as part of the project implementation: 30,000 euros will be invested in local infrastructure for each wind farm For almost 20 years, Notus Energy has been initiating implementing and implementing wind power projects The company was founded in 2001 in Potsdam The focus is on the initiation and development of our own projects. In addition, Notus Energy works as a service provider in the following areas: construction management and oversight general contracting and commercial management Notus Energy is represented in Germany with headquarters in Potsdam and branches in Anklam The company has representative offices / companies in Varna (Bulgaria) and in Kyiv (Ukraine) Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker The Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Saturday that it destroyed a Ukrainian space intelligence complex and S-300 air defense system the Ovidiopol-2 space and radio intelligence complex was destroyed near (the city of) Odesa NATO specialists got access to the facility," the ministry said in a statement the S-300 air defense system was struck in the Donetsk region with the use of multiple military means missile and artillery units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation destroyed the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system in the area of the settlement of Pokrovsk," it said "a French neo-Nazi," was killed in fighting near the city of Avdiivka Russia started its "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022 Цей веб-сайт зберігає файли cookie на вашому комп'ютері 1,860 MW of wind power capacity has been installed in Ukraine 71% of which are in the occupied territories chairman of the board of the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association (UWEA) three wind farms with a total capacity of 228.5 MW were commissioned in Ukraine The equipment for the Tiligul and Dniester wind farms was delivered before the full-scale invasion, he said in an interview with Ukrainian Energy Konechenkov noted that for the wind farm in Lviv region the German company Nordex supplied equipment during the war through Poland provided that the Ukrainian company assumes all insurance risks He emphasized that 1860 MW of wind power capacity has been installed in Ukraine as of today is located in the temporarily occupied territories in Kherson The main controlled stations are located in Mykolaiv Konechenkov said that several small stations were also installed in Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk regions Of those parks operating in large-scale wind energy to supply electricity to the grid The head of UVEA added that the first and second phases of the Stary Sambir wind farm are currently operating in the Lviv region. In December 2023, the wind generators of the Skolivska wind farm with a capacity of 54.5 MW should start operating. It is expected that in 2024-2025 the capacity of Tiligul wind farm will increase from 114 MW to 500 MW the occupiers damaged 10 wind turbines in Kherson region and Mykolaiv region "There were attempts to start turbines manufactured by GE and Nordex at the occupied stations but nothing came of it – it is impossible to restart them because the Russians do not have access to these technologies there is no complete information," Konechenkov said He added that the Danish company Vestas built a plant for the production of three-megawatt turbines in Ulyanovsk so Russians are well acquainted with this model of wind generators But Vestas did everything possible to prevent the launch of its turbines in the temporarily occupied territory the occupiers dug up and dismantled the copper cables at the Sivaska wind farm the height of the wind generator mast is more than 100 meters such dismantling requires appropriate specialists It is likely that the surviving turbines after de-occupation can be quickly restarted the situation is more complicated: there are many shot down SPPs But the worst situation among renewable energy facilities is at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station It is almost impossible to restore it quickly ecologists have questions about the expediency of restoration," Konechenkov said Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that after the de-occupation of the village of Visokopylla in the Kherson Region, the Ukrainian military filmed the consequences of the Russian occupation, in particular a partially destroyed solar power plant and about 7 dead cows As EcoPolitic previously reported, the company "DTEK VDE" has started preparations for the construction of a powerful wind park in the Poltava region on the territory of the Globyn community European goals to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030 are also relevant for Ukraine Ukraine's acquisition of candidate status for EU membership requires the implementation of the entire current European legal framework Ukraine can become a member of the climate club of the European Union Ukraine is already taking steps to attract the necessary investments The use of materials posted on the EcoPolicy media platform is permitted only if the link to the EcoPolicy is provided and for online publications - the placement of a direct hyperlink to the page where the original material is posted The editors may not share the point of view stated in the author's material The advertiser is responsible for the accuracy of information published in promotional materials Alexander Korban is a famous muralist painter Some of them were created by order of the UN and cover acute social topics like domestic violence The artist is often invited to work abroad; he has already decorated with his murals many cities of Italy Alexander began his career 11 years ago in the city of Kirov and graffiti was a hobby that took up all his free time "There was only 1,000 hryvnia in his pocket" He did not know what he would eat and where he would live but he knew for sure that he wanted to devote himself to creativity Here his first major work appeared: "Boy with Airplanes" Alexander Korban finished work on his new mural is located not far from the 7 km industrial market It can be clearly seen from the Ovidiopol road the artist wanted to remind modern parents that some children spend too much time with gadgets and too little time in the real world Thus began the series of murals "Happy Childhood" which now has seven works in different cities of Ukraine Alexander Korban created a new work by order of the ARTVILLE residential town Mural is already admired by residents of the city and nearby villages It took the artist two weeks to create the mural It depicts a girl with an aquarium and a girl The theme that the artist conveys through his work is the importance of transferring experience from older generations to younger ones absorb all the knowledge they receive from adults therefore it is very important to instill in them life values ​​by their example The appearance of the new mural sparked discussion among the audience They argue about the meaning of the job and share their impressions This proves that street art interacts with a person Understanding this is shaping a new trend in construction - moving away from simple construction of buildings to creating a comfortable environment in which beauty is as important as functionality Source and pictures: Dumskaya.net According to a study by the analytical center REN21 and the UN Economic Commission for Europe our country has lost 90% of its wind energy capacity After the outbreak of a full-scale war and the occupation of parts of Kherson the top 5 largest wind farms in our country have changed radically as almost all wind generation facilities in Ukraine were located here This is stated in an article by RBC-Ukraine which focused on the state of wind energy in Ukraine the list of the most powerful wind power plants in our country looks like this: Location: on the shore of the Tyligul estuary in the Mykolaiv region Photo: Tyligulska wind farm in the Mykolaiv region the Tyligul wind farm produced 333 million kWh of electricity for the energy system of Ukraine preparatory work for the construction of the second stage is underway DTEK plans to fully implement the project in 2025 The station itself was built by a subsidiary of Elementum Energy Planned project capacity: 360 million kWh per year The planned volumes of production will be enough for 180,000 households Owner: Hong Kong company "Hero Asia Investment" Photo: Yuzhne Energy wind power plant in Odesa Location: near Truskavets in the Lviv region This is the largest wind station in Western Ukraine and the Carpathians which are installed on a mountain ridge near the village Each turbine produces 5.5 MW of "green" electricity Built: by the Turkish company Güriş holding in partnership with the American General Electric Photo: "Ovid Wind" wind farm (Ovidiopol wind farm) in Odesa region The third largest wind power plant in the Odesa region It consists of 9 turbines produced by General Electric with a capacity of 3.6 MW each which makes them one of the tallest structures in Ukraine the capital's "Motherland" monument is twice as tall At the end of July in Transcarpathia started working the first wind farm Also, EcoPolitic introduced its readers to the material of the Center for Journalistic Investigations on how many Ukrainian wind power plants and SPPs there are stolen or destroyed by Russia Despite the challenges of a full-scale invasion Ukrainian companies and investors are finding opportunities to create and develop green projects Wind trees are already "growing" and generating electricity in France unusual windmills are created by the British company Alpha 311 and the German startup SkySails The launch of the energy origin guarantee mechanism will provide an opportunity to export green electricity and increase domestic demand for it The advertiser is responsible for the accuracy of information published in promotional materials.