Ski industry--Ukraine--Investments

What does a young man fresh out of college in the poverty-stricken Carpathian Mountains of western Ukraine do with his life?

Selling mushrooms by the roadside, a common career path here, was not quite what Yuri Dobrovolsky had in mind. It would be better, he thought, to start a ski area.

So, too, did a number of well-heeled investors. With master plans from Canada, high-speed lifts from Austria and $125 million in start-up capital, Mr. Dobrovolsky's Bukovel resort is the most significant investment in the region.

No great claim for this distant land of weathered wood houses and horse-drawn carriages in this Ivano-Frankovsk oblast, or administrative region. But if investment plans for the next few years are met, Bukovel will be one of the largest ski resorts in the world, with more guest accommodations than megaresorts like Whistler, in British Columbia, or even Vail.

Plans call for a total of $1 billion to be invested by 2010, when the resort will have 26 lifts and 75 miles of trails, said Mr. Dobrovolsky, now 31. The airport in nearby Ivano-Frankovsk is slated for expansion to handle international visitors.

Bukovel, while hundreds of miles from a major international city, lies at the heart of a vast area of rapidly developing economies and a growing middle class that thirsts for amenities. In fact, skiing is a good indicator of a developing middle class, said Don Murray, vice president of Ecosign, one of the world's largest mountain resort designers and creator of Bukovel's master plan.

My wife and I wanted to purchase some property in this very spot in West Ukraine. We had visited the town and had seen the beauty of the area and wanted something there for us to use and as an investment. The pity of it is that we didn't do it. Now the prices are no doubt sky high.

In any event, there is a lot of room for more investment in the area for lodging, places to eat, and other businesses that feed off the ski industry. The whole area is largely undeveloped so there is opportunity all around.

Beautiful area.

Natural Gas--Exploration--Ukraine-- Fifteen Companies to Bid on Prikerchensky Block in the Black Sea

RIGZONE - Fifteen Companies to Bid on Prikerchensky Block in the Black Sea

As many as 15 companies will bid for the right to sign a production-sharing agreement (PSA) covering the Prikerchensky oil and gas section on the Black Sea shelf, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yury Yekhanurov told a March 1 Cabinet meeting.

The companies include Tupras, Hunt Overseas Oil Company, ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron and Petrobras, Yekhanurov said. Ukraine could increase gas production to 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) annually if the project comes off, he said.

Might present some opportunities for suppliers.