33rd International Geological Congress

Geological Excursions
Excursion No. 52
 Geology, Radiological Age, Metallogeny of
Greenstone Complexes in the Ukrainian Shield
July 31 - August 6, 2008

Overall Arrangement and Pricing

The LOC welcomes the participants of the
33rd International Geological Congress in Ukraine!

The principal  arrival and departure  of the participants is planned to be handled through the Kyiv [or Kiev] major airport "Boryspil" located in 30 km away from the Ukrainian capital city center. No self efforts upon arrival are required since the participants will be met and picked up by the LOC staff. Prior to the departure, on the back-trip, participants will be accommodated in the hotel "Boryspil" located in 150 m from the airport.

To enter Ukraine,  a visa  may be needed for some non-Ukrainian citizens except the USA, EU, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, the Principality of Andorra, Vatican, the Republic of Iceland, the Principality of Monaco, the Kingdom of Norway, Republic of San Marino, Japan, Canada and CIS citizens and persons with diplomatic or special passports of the countries that have appropriate agreements with Ukraine. In all cases, a visa will be required if the stay in Ukraine is for more than 90 days. The participants are requested to check up the visa needs and inform the LOC responsible to prepare the invitation letters in time.

To get in and out, the participants are requested for  the booking  those flights arriving at Kyiv by 7:00 p.m. latest on July 31 (otherwise any time on July 30 providing individual accommodation for July 30/31 overnight through the LOC responsible) and departing from Kyiv by 8 a.m. latest on August 6. In the latter case, to date the best choice seems to be booking the flight Kyiv(Kiev)-Vienna/Munich-Oslo arriving at Oslo about 1 p.m. (see Schedule Index T3).

The  price of the excursion  is estimated to EURO 495 per participant. This covers the internal transport, accommodation and meals as well as some accessory outfits and the welcome materials to be provided by the LOC (see Annexes). Expected  number of participants  is foreseen to be 10-20 regardless the Congress members, students or accompanying persons.

Starting from Kryvyj Rig, the full-time  excursion transport  will include the comfortable bus (air-conditioning) and some service cars. The bus will go from Kyiv to Kryvyj Rig (~500 km) approximately at noon on July 31 and those participants who arrive by that time may go with this bus anticipating arrival to Kryvyj Rig and hotel accommodation at about 9-10 p.m. Remaining participants will go to Kryvyj Rig by train at 9:30 p.m. arriving next morning at 7:30 a.m. (see Schedule Index T1). The back trip to Kyiv by the same bus (~700 km) will respectively take more time (see Schedule Index T2)

Over the 7 days of excursion  accommodation  of the participants will be handled at the four hotels in different cities (Kryvyj Rig, Dnipropetrovsk, Berdyansk, and finally Kyiv). These will be mainly µµ-µµµ hotels and single rooms with the medium standard set of facilities. However, the tight schedule may preclude the hotel laundering facilities except the sites of two overnights (see Daily Timetables and Overview Map).

All  the meals  are included except those the participants will order separately themselves. The standard breakfast will be giving the starting energy to the participants while the welcome dinners will complete their emotions everyday. In the meantime, the cold mineral water, coca, beer, coffee, tea and other high-energy drink as well as interim light snacks will be permanently on board in the excursion bus. The lunches are planned both in the standard road-side restaurants and in the amazing field sites. Participants are strongly encouraged to inform the LOC responsible on the preferences in term of some restricted, forbidden or required foods to make us able provide you with the best service out of delay.

The trip will run over the southern regions of Ukraine with the very hot (up to 40oC day temperature) and dry, few-rain summer time. Therefore some sun-protection facilities are recommended (caps, glasses etc.) while the common moderate field  clothing and boots  would be enough. A single greenstone belt will be examined each day which corresponds to one object divided into three targets (harder one before the lunch and two moderate upon) including 1 to 6 stops. Most stops are easily accessible providing  minimum hiking and daily walking distances up to 3 km, mainly 0.5-1.0 km . Single visit to the biggest open-pit with the safety regulations is planned. The swimming stuffs may be useful over entire excursion and especially in its final portion at the Azov Sea (shallow, warm, sandy beaches).

The  Excursion Guidebook  will be issued in the standard Congress format. It will be available on a CD and printed in the necessary number to be distributed just prior to the excursion together with the Annexes provided by the LOC (see Annexes).

Taking abroad  the samples  collected in excursion by the participants requires the sample bill to be filed and certified by the LOC and then shown in the airport custom office on departure. To facilitate the issue participants are requested to compile the list of their samples collected and bring it to the LOC responsible ahead the last day of the excursion.

Other optional tips

Ukraine is a state in Eastern Europe, bounded on the north by Belarus (952 km), on the northeast by the Russian Federation (2,484 km), on the west by Poland (542 km) and Slovakia (98 km), and on the south-west by Hungary (135 km), Romania (608 km), and Moldova (1,194 km). The state border extends for a total of 7,698 km, and the length of Ukraine's sea coast is 1,758 km. Total area: 603,700 sq.km. Ukraine is the biggest country in Europe (after Russia), It is divided into 24 regions (oblasts) and an Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The country has an access to the Black Sea and the Azov Sea and two mountainsides: Carpathians in the West and the Crimean Mountains in the South.

The time in Ukraine is set two hours ahead of the Universal time in Greenwich.

The Ukrainian national currency is Hryvnia (UAH). There are bills for 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50,100 and 200 Hryvnias. 1 Hryvnia = 100 kopiykas. There are coins for 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, and 50 kopiykas. Over the last three years the rate of USD/UAH fluctuates in the range 5.00-5.07 and EURO/UAH - 6.5-6.8. It is preferable to bring either US dollars or European Euros with you. These can be changed at numerous exchange points around the country with the lowest rate in the points at airports, railway stations and markets. Make sure your foreign currency bills are crisp and new looking. Rumpled, torn and written-on bills may be rejected. Avoid changing money with private individuals. The credit cards are widely accepted through the ATM in the big cities and towns. Some of these machines allow you access to your bank accounts in the USA, in Europe or elsewhere. And in some cases the ATMs allow you withdraw either UAH, USD or EURO.

The standard electric voltage in Ukraine is 220 volts. If you bring electric appliances, be sure to take a plug adapter and a surge protector.

It is recommended that you boil tap water before drinking it because it is not clean enough even after purification. Bottled water is easy to find in hotels. Be forewarned that water supply, especially hot, can be irregular.

The internal cell phones operate in Ukraine under the national network system and the local SIM cards which can be bougth at about EURO 20 cost. Cell phone roaming is fully operable but the calls for Ukrainian numbers will required the country code (+380) dialing up even staying in Ukraine. For calls around Kyiv, you can use public telephones located all over the city. You need a phone card which you can buy at any post office. Long distance phone services in Ukraine are operated by Utel (Ukrainian Telecommunications). The rates for calls to Europe are about $0.60-1.50 per minute. Calls to the United States are about $2.00 per minute.

Every town in Ukraine has a developed network of post offices. The main post office is usually located in the central part of the city and offers nearly all existing types of communication services. The fast delivery services like DHL or TNT are available in the major cities and towns.
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