You're reading: International student organization launches Indian food delivery in Kyiv

Tucked away on the outskirts of Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district, Igor Vodyany and his siblings Mark and Maya operate a small communal space catering to the city’s growing community of international students. 

The Foreign Students Hub welcomes students from India, Central Asia and all over Africa, providing them with a place to relax and receive guidance. The hub is part of a larger project which Igor Vodyany calls an “international students movement.”

Ukraine has become a regional hub for international students. In the 2019-2020 academic year, there were reportedly more than 63,000 international students in the country, the majority coming from India. Ukrainian universities offer affordable education in STEM subjects to international students.

Vodyany has solidified his status as one of the leading figures in helping international students to make Kyiv their home during their stay here. The ‘movement’ caters mostly to international students studying at major medical and scientific universities across Kyiv. 

Now, this community of students has come together to provide Kyiv with authentic Indian food, delivered all across the city. It is the latest step in the hub’s efforts to integrate foreigners into Ukraine’s capital. 

International project

International students come to the hub to receive free advice and consultation services. (Oleg Petrasiuk)

At his numerous offices around Kyiv, Vodyany provides a staggering array of services to international students: accommodation, legal services, business advice, language lessons, swap meets, social events and even protection for foreigners in the event that they find themselves physically threatened.

“I had many English-speaking friends in Kyiv… So I had to know what to do to help and make them happy,” Vodyany told the Kyiv Post at the lively student hub. 

He manages many different projects in Kyiv. Some include for-profit services such as a hostel and help applying to universities. But the hub and its services for foreigners remain entirely free.  

“This project is a network of good people,” Vodyany said. “I was born in a village, 10 years ago I came to Kyiv to study, and for those 10 years I felt like I was a foreigner in Kyiv. 

“It’s totally different from all other cities in Ukraine. I felt how foreigners live in Kyiv, I knew the challenges that they were going to face.”

He aims to facilitate foreigners’ stay in Kyiv, providing them with services that may otherwise be difficult to arrange without local knowledge. To many people coming from India and Africa, Ukraine represents a truly alien, Western experience, Vodyany said.

“They all come to Ukraine for this paradise life, Ukraine has the infrastructure, it is western… The medical studies in their countries are at least four or five times as expensive. To them it feels like the U.S here.”  

The group does not simply cater to foreigners. It also allows the international community to interact with local Ukrainians. 

The group organizes yoga classes, which have also proven popular with Ukrainians. It also regularly holds social events to expose international students to Ukrainian people and to create lasting friendships.

Food project

Vodyany Igor runs the ‘International Student Hub’ along with his family after previously running a logstics company. (Oleg Petrasiuk)

Now, Vodyany has devised a means to further expose his international community to Ukrainian society.

Through social media and other platforms, he connects Indian students cooking authentic Indian cuisine with hungry customers across Kyiv. The service is run through the student hub. Besides delivery, it also allows guests to come in person to the center and eat freshly-cooked Indian meals.

The food cooked by the students is sometimes also donated for free to those in need. All profits raised from the sales of the food help Vodyany to continue offering his services to the international community in Kyiv.

The food caters to both Halal and vegetarian diets, with some of the restaurant’s notable dishes being authentic masalas, butter chicken, parathas and paneer dishes. Clients can also drink imported masala teas. 

The food is inexpensive, costing as little as Hr 80 ($2.80) for a large portion. Despite the low prices, customers have been known to order up to Hr 1,650 ($58) of food at a time.

Vodyany says that the meals are very popular among the international community living in Ukraine, attracting people from India and the U.K. But the Indian food has also become a hit with locals. He plans to keep expanding and is already looking to hire a chef to cook traditional African food for Kyiv’s large African community. 

Vodyany has high hopes for the future. He is now looking for investors to turn his small nonprofit into an ambitious project.

“We want to build something like a country inside a country… one day we’d like to find an investor and build a large campus to host foreign students,” he said. “We know their needs and truly understand their lifestyles. We think it would be an exciting project for everyone involved.”

Check the Indian food menu from the Foreign Students Hub here.  Place an order via WhatsApp using the organization’s number +38098 103 03 11.

Editor’s Note: After the Kyiv Post published this story, a reader reached out and alleged that Igor Vodyany sold illegal services to foreign students — specifically, illegally importing cars and registering them to foreigners, offering fake medical certificates to allow students to skip lectures and helping registering a marriage to gain residency in Ukraine.

Vodyany denied that he was providing illegal services. However, he said he has accepted payment to advertise services by other companies, which he believed were legal, on his Facebook page. The Kyiv Post could not independently confirm his statements.