Doing Business In Ukraine

05/9/11 -- Stumbled across this interesting, if somewhat lengthy, article on Bloomberg this morning on the vagaries of attempting to farm in Ukraine.

The line: "A lot of people here don’t want a job for the salary. They want it to be able to steal something, or for some preference or way to get ahead" echoed exactly what I was told when I was over there a few months back.

Morgan Stanley Bet Farm in Ukraine Before Bailout

Also of interest is the reference to Transparency International’s 2010 corruption perceptions index, which I'd never heard of. Ukraine ties with Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe amongst others as one of the most corrupt places in the world. You can view the entire table here:

Bent as an Arab's dagger

Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore come top of the list of countries to do business with if you're interested, with the UK attaining a respectable 20th slot. Although how we can be one behind Qatar who recently bribed their way to the right to host the World Cup in 2022 is beyond me.