bout de papier, Vol. 15, No. 1 (1998) — Spring 1998 // Printemps 1998, pp. 31–32
All of us were shocked to hear of the tragic accident which took a colleague and friend from us. For my spouse Lena and I, the news was particularly sad. We had worked with Roman in Kyiv and became very good friends. In particular, Roman was the “best man” at our wedding in April 1996. While other colleagues in the Foreign Service knew Roman longer and many knew him better, those of us who worked with him in Kyiv will always remember him as one of those unique personalities whose knowledge, support and humour made the posting a singular one. He was a special person who made a strong impression on all who met him.
I first met Roman in Moscow in the late winter of 1985 when he was sent on temporary duty from Vienna to help organize the Kyiv portion of a visit to the then-Soviet Union by the Right Honourable Joe Clark, Secretary of State for External Affairs. Despite the usual business of a ministerial visit, there was always time to share a joke or a story, mostly about the bizzare aspects of the late Soviet Union.
Our paths crossed again in the summer of 1992 when we found we were being posted to Kyiv. For both of us, this was to be a special posting. We were of Ukrainian background, had a strong interest in the country’s history and culture and a familiarity — in the case of Roman, fluency — with the language. Also, there was the challenge of helping set up a new mission in a new country. We both arrived in Kyiv on the same flight on September 21, 1992 and began three good years together as colleagues.
Kyiv in those early days was not for everyone. Unlike Moscow, which had always been host to a substantial foreign community with an infrastructure to service it, nothing of the kind existed in Kyiv. Accommodations were primitive or indifferent — no UPDK (Diplomatic Corps Service Bureau) or post “admin”.. The mission operated from two separate and inadequate locations in the National Hotel and the semi-derelict former East German Consulate-General. Shopping could be best described as “foraging” — no diplomatic “gastronome”. Basic items such as gasoline were only sporadically available. The economy and local currency were in free fall. On the other hand, these difficulties were more than overcome by the atmosphere of Kyiv and the chance to travel freely and meet local people who were now more than willing to give a frank opinion about anything. All was a marked contrast from the old Moscow experience.
Our three years working together were good ones. At work, Roman was a helpful and supportive colleague. Outside the office, we spent a lot of time exploring the ancient Ukrainian capital. Particularly memorable were weekend expeditions into the countryside with Roman and other friends from the embassy — Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Chernivtsi, the Carpathians, boat trips on the Dnipro River, Kaniv, etc. Often, these were real adventures and I am certain that we were the first “foreigners” in fifty years to have visited some of the places in which we ended up. Always and wherever, Roman had an interesting story, an acute observation, or a joke.
All of us from the original Kyiv “team” have our memories of Roman. All of us will agree that Roman was one of those unique individuals whose presence made the posting what it was.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 15, No. 1 (1998) — Spring 1998 // Printemps 1998, pp. 31–32. Read the rest of this issue →
