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I just bought a cool walking stick from Ukraine, made from Carpathian wood.
Well, Ukraine has a bunch of surplus Russian hardware and after the war Russia is going to need to rebuild their military…
Tourism +1
In late 2019 I went on a weekend break to Kiev. It’s a fabulous city with lots to see and do (the museum of toilet history being well worth a visit), and an easy and cheap flight from the UK. The best bit was a day trip to Chernobyl and Pripyat.
Once a day, like clockwork, about a half-hour after breakfast.
Seriously! It may not be an entire GDP but I just ordered a dressing gown off Etsy. It came, very promptly, straight from Kiev. I added a note saying how I wished for their safety, freedom and peace.
The dressing gown is lovely and I still can’t believe it came so quickly from a warzone.
Also, in the world of small/niche industries in Ukraine, there’s Dnipro Modular synthesizers. They’re still producing and shipping despite the war. I bought a DOT module recently, nice little Euclidean pattern generator.
Yes, we troll Amazon and Etsy for Made in Ukraine gift items.
I just bought Ukranian-made chocolate bars at the grocery store. They were set up by the register. Too pricey for Halloween treats, but I am tempted. It’s a good cause.
actually, if the war ends and Frito lay can get back to the sunflower fields they can grow the (allegedly proprietary) sunflowers needed for the oil they use in their chip
I’d buy a captured Russian Military Motorcycle. I’m stupid like that.
This was my thought too.
I see a cottage industry started up by the government to sell off Russian war material. Tank tread links, missile fins, spent shells… Stamp the item with the location and sell it. Slice up a rifle barrel in thin rings and make jewelry out of it. There’s no limit to creative repurposing of war material.
Oil and fossil gas.
This is a very long clip (almost 40 minutes) since it goes back to the 70’s to explain Soviet, and later Russia’s dependence on oil and how Ukraine fits into all of it. It is also well worth the watch.
I’ve tried cuing it up to 24:00 which is where it starts with what happened 2010-14 and Russia’s invasion of Crimea.
TL;DW
There’s plenty of oil and gas that will help Ukraine in the future.
ETA:
The video concludes with fossil fuel going obsolete. This is of course true for Ukraine as well, but for the last few decades of its use, Europe will buy its fuel from Ukraine, not Russia.
I’ve bought several things from Ukraine with that in mind. An insulated winter horseback riding skirt (covers you down to your toes, and goes over your horse’s butt), and some utterly gorgeous hand-painted Christmas ornaments. Both from etsy.
Kewl!
Ukraine had substantial shipbuilding, airplane manufacturing and rocket manufacturing before the war and was responsible for building some of the USSR’s legendary large transport craft. Anatov, builder of the world’s largest cargo aircraft AN-225 is Ukranian and the Zenit Rocket and Russia’s Black Sea flagship Moscva were all built in Ukraine. Unfortunately, the Azovstal Iron and Steelworks has been largely destroyed but I hope Ukraine can get it’s manufacturing mojo back after it wins this war.
I’ve bought a number of craft items from Ukraine on Etsy - awesome workmanship for reasonable prices. Just made my fifth or so purchase of veggie and flower seeds from a company in Irpin - the climate is very similar to what we have here in the Midwest, and they have tons of veggie varieties that I haven’t seen anywhere else. I should poke around and see if I can find a seller of delicious dried mushrooms…
Western Ukraine is somewhat of a hub for computer programming talent. One of my clients has a bunch of contractors in the general neighborhood.