Editor's Note: The following is a Press Release of the United States Embassy
The United States Embassy is moving from its current locations around Kyiv to the new U.S. Embassy compound at 4 Aircraft Designer Igor Sikorsky Street (formerly Tankova) on Jan. 18-20. Most public services will be unavailable Jan. 18-19, other than emergency services to American citizens.
Services will remain limited on Jan. 20, but the Embassy will be open for business Monday, Jan. 23 in its new location.
The embassy is vacating its offices at 10 Yuriy Kotsubinskyi (chancery), 4 Hlybochytska (Artem Business Center), and 6 Pymonenko (consulate). We are moving in to this building almost twenty years to the date after opening our first embassy in Kyiv on Jan. 22, 1992.
The last full day of visa and other consular services in the current Consular building at 6 Pymonenko St. was Tuesday, Jan. 17. Because of the move, the Consular Section will be closed for all routine services for American citizens on Jan.18 and 19 and offer only limited services on Jan. 20. Visa services will also be affected.
Applicants with appointments should pay close attention to the instructions they receive regarding appointment times and locations to be sure that they appear at the correct time and place. All future appointments will be at the new location on Sikorsky Street.
A second phase to the move will take place later in the year when USAID moves to its new building on the U.S. Embassy compound on Sikorsky Street. Details of this move will be announced at a future time. For the present, USAID will continue to operate out of its current offices at 19 Nizhniy Val.
The U.S. Embassy phone and fax numbers are also changing. The new Main Phone Number is 044 521 5000 and the main Operator Fax Number is 044 521 5155.
Effective Jan. 19, the ACS number changes to (+38) 044 521-5566 and the after-hours emergency line for U.S. citizens changes to (+38) 044 521-5000. For other inquiries the general number for the consular section is 044 521-5460.
The artwork on display in the new U.S. Embassy includes a great number of works by both U.S. and Ukrainian artists, including Oksana Mas and Tamara Babak.
The art is curated by the U.S. “Art in Embassies” program and includes pieces that were commissioned, purchased, borrowed, and donated. The mix of Ukrainian and U.S. art here is symbolic of the close ties between the Ukrainian and American people.
The Embassy also features a small photo gallery highlighting Ukrainian-American multicultural connections; it features famous and successful American citizens born on the territory of present day Ukraine, or with recent ancestry here.
In addition to the man for whom Sikorsky street is named – Igor Sikorsky, the great aircraft designer who studied and worked in Kyiv before emigrating to the United States – the portraits also include only a few of the many musicians, scientists, artists, engineers, diplomats, actors, and other professionals with roots in Ukraine who have helped make the United States the diverse and vibrant country it is today.
Interesting Facts about the new U.S. Embassy
1 The New Embassy Construction contract was awarded by the Department to B.L. Harbert International. The amount of the award was $209,000,000 made on September 30, 2008.
2 The State Department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) managed the D/B contract. OBO has a design team in Washington that ensures all of the U.S. Government criteria are included. OBO also placed a team of technical construction experts on the ground to implement the design and manage all aspects of the construction.
The Kyiv NEC project included the International Building Codes, supplemental Department design standards and Ukrainian codes. The Department’s contractor, Harbert, also places a technical team on the ground to execute the contract. The working relationship between the OBO staff, Harbert and Ukrainian workers was excellent and sustained for the duration of the construction period.
3 The workforce used to build the New US Embassy was Ukrainian. There were over 2,000,000 man and woman hours on the Kyiv NEC project. The Department includes worker safety and training and implements fair labor practices and treatment of workers.
There were no lost time accidents during construction, attesting to the both the implementation of safety standards and the willingness of workers to learn the latest industry safety practices.
4 The Kyiv NEC project is a green project and will also be a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building. Environmental considerations were given during the design and construction phases, and will also be a factor in operating the new facility.
5 The groundbreaking ceremony was led by Ambassador William Taylor in May 2009. Actual construction of the new Chancery building commenced October 2009. The construction effort lasted 23 months. The scope of work included 15,000 square meters of building space and is designed for over 700 personnel.
6 Many of the materials used to build the new Embassy were purchased in Ukraine – stone, landscaping, all of the tens of thousands of cubic yards of concrete, metals, paint, stucco. There were also many Ukrainian specialty contractors who assisted with the effort.
7 The Ukrainian workers took pride in their work, and it shows. The quality of the work in the new Kyiv NEC project is outstanding and will serve as a platform for democracy that will last indefinitely.
