EVENT

The capital of Ukraine was awarded the right to host the 2012 team fencing championship at the congress of the International Fencing Federation in Moscow. Ninety-six out of 100 federations that participated in the voting voted for Kyiv, three federations voted against and one abstained, reports Ukrinform, citing the press service of the National Olympic Committee. The decision to nominate Kyiv as a candidate city to host the 2012 World Cup was announced by the Ukrainian side at the general assembly of the International Fencing Federation, held in April 2010 in Baku. Minister of Ukraine for Family, Youth and Sports Ravil Safiullin and Head of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine Serhii Bubka expressed their support for the National Fencing Federation of Ukraine’s bid to host the 2012 World Cup. For Ukraine, this championship has a special significance: in 2012, only those weapon classes that will not participate in the 30th Olympic Games in London will compete in team competitions, that is, female saber fencers and male sword fencers. Thus, Olympic Champions of the Beijing Games, saber fencers Olha Harlan, Olena Khomrova, Halyna Pundyk and Olha Zhovnir, being unable to compete for their respective team titles in this Olympic cycle, will compete for the world championship medals on home soil.

The publication is called Little Angel in Braille and will be published each month, together with the magazines Little Angel and Little Angel’s Teaching. According to the deputy editor-in-chief of all three national children’s magazines Vitalii Vardzal, Little Angel in Braille is intended to perform the function of creating a bond between blind and healthy children, “because from now on children with visual impairments will be able to develop along with their peers who can read the magazine.” Poems, stories, fairy tales and pictures are printed in raised dot letters on tabs included with two other magazines. Publishers believe that blind people can learn to read using tabs. An educator working with the No. 100 boarding school for blind children, Alevtyna Kozytska believes that this specialized publication is a great help for blind children. Assistance in creating the magazine was provided by the Ukrainian Society of Blind People, the Western Regional Branch of Ukrainian Bible Society, the “Man and His Worldview” Charitable Foundation, the “Lion’s Cub” Education and Rehabilitation Center for Children with Visual Impairments, the “Clever Child” Educational Complex, and the Labor and Social Security Department of Lviv Regional Administration.

The restructuring of the national joint-stock company (NAK) Naftohaz Ukrainy, along with its production, distribution and transmission departments being separated, should begin by 2011, said First Deputy Head of Presidential Administration Iryna Akimova. “The restructuring of the Naftogaz, which separates the company’s different businesses – production, distribution and transmission, is to be held in 2011, following months if not years of discussions,” she said at a conference devoted to Ukraine and organized by The Economist in partnership with the Foundation for Effective Governance in London on December 7. Akimova said that the issue is now being prepared by the Ministry of Fuel and Energy. It was discussed in detail with representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “Given our international obligations towards the IMF, the plan must be implemented in 2011,” Akimova said. “Restructuring Naftogaz is necessary for it to become profitable. Hopefully in the next two years we can solve this latter problem, too. We’ll start doing it in 2011,” she added.