Ukraine

Stalin clears up unpaid bills CARPETBLOGGER
A heating company in Ukraine has cleared thousands of unpaid bills by using the image of Stalin to demand settlement.
Posters of the Soviet dictator have gone up all around the city of Donetsk with the words: "Comrades! This not the cinema, this is real life. Anyone who does not pay their heating bill will be punished."
Bosses from the state-owned Donetsk Heating Company said: "It was the nearest we could get to intimidating people without sending round the heavy mob, and it has worked."
Deputy-director Alexandra Semchenko added: "Most people associate Stalin with order and discipline. This campaign will force them to think about the consequences of being behind with their payments."
Stalin was blamed for the forced famine of 1932-33 in the Ukraine which killed almost one-third of the country's population following the mass collectivisation of farming in the Soviet Union.

To the Gulag With You, Scofflaw!
In an innovative compliance campaign, the state-owned Donetsk Heating Company in Eastern Ukraine has put up posters of Stalin around town with the tagline:

"Comrades! This not the cinema, this is real life. Anyone who does not pay their heating bill will be punished."

This, in a country where nearly one-third of the population starved to death in the 30's holodomor (famine), that resulted when Stalin forcibly collectivized the farms.
In its defense, the company's Deputy-director Alexandra Semchenko retorted:

"Most people associate Stalin with order and discipline. This campaign will force them to think about the consequences of being behind with their payments."

I'm no Ukrainian, but I think Stalin might be associated with a few other concepts, such as terror, murder and ethnic cleansing.

Now, I generally hold a "people get the government they deserve" attitude, especially when it comes to Eastern Ukraine, Russia and America (and if you think the Donetsk government is not a wholly owned subsidiary of the Donetsk Heating Company, you haven't spent much time in this part of the world). But, in response to 100%- 200% increases in heating bills imposed by unaccountable city governments around the country, civil society in Ukraine has been feebly starting to organize around the issue. Argue the merits of some peoples' tactics (refusal to pay their bills -- something Ukrainians would hardly have to be persuaded to do in any case) but waving the Stalin card is particularly diabolical, since social distrust, apathy and the sheep-like mindset that has crippled the development of civil society in the FSU are among the most memorable consequences of his legacy. Way to nip anything good happening in that realm in the bud.

I'm totally for using the image of dictators in an ironic way, but somehow this doesn't seem to be quite the irony I would choose, if I were in charge of the Donetsk Heating Company.CARPETBLOGGER

Some say that after the collapse of USSR new countries that emerged from the Soviet State differ from Russia from cultural and economical sides.

Here is an example of the roads of Ukraine.

Supposedly, this is what they are planning to build in place of Hotel Ukraina (formerly, Hotel Moskva). I hope it's some kind of a joke...

And that’s the same view but from outside. You can also see a student sitting.

Now there is another photo report from the university campus in one city of Ukraine.

The most interesting thing there is the strange paintings on the wall.

They liven up the interriors greatly.