As fighting moves on, some Ukrainian businesses are reopening

As fighting moves on, some Ukrainian businesses are reopening

Transcript¹

In places where fighting has lessened² in Ukraine, businesses and people are trying to get back to work with the goal of maintaining the country's economy.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Our colleague Scott Detrow traveled into Kyiv, Ukraine, this week on a train that was full of people. People are starting to return home after Russians withdrew from the area. And they're trying to get back to work. NPR's Nathan Rott is in Kyiv.

NATHAN ROTT, BYLINE³: Walking into the Milk Bar, a cafe in central Kyiv, you get a glimpse of this surreal moment in the Ukrainian capital. Delicate pastries⁴ are on display. Hipsters in trendy clothes are working on laptops. And a group of soldiers in camouflage⁵ and body armor are finishing lunch in the dining area with their rifles resting beside them. Outside, away from the hip-hop ambience, Yula Moshkohfska (ph), the cafe's manager, says they reopened a couple of weeks ago.

YULA MOSHKOHFSKA: (Non-English language spoken).

ROTT: "Since then," she says, "we've been sharing our kitchen with volunteers who are helping⁶ feed the military." But they're also serving paying customers again, the way they did before Russia invaded, causing businesses up and down the street to shutter⁷ and some 10 million Ukrainians to flee their homes, including many of the Milk Bar's, 300 employees.

But now you're finally able to make some money again?

MOSHKOHFSKA: (Non-English language spoken).

ROTT: "Yes. We need and want to support the country's economy," she says. "And we need to support our employees so they can buy food and pay bills." The need to keep working and make money might seem like a distant priority given the atrocities⁸ that are coming to light from the war. But it is a huge issue. Mayors and governors in safer parts of Ukraine are now urging people to go back to work. A strong economy, they say, is important to sustaining the war. But there are challenges. Ukraine's economy ministry⁹ recently said that the country's economy could contract by 40% this year due to Russia's invasion.

TYMOFIY MYLOVANOV: I basically think these numbers are meaningless.

ROTT: Tymofiy Mylovanov is the president of the Kyiv School of Economics and a former minister of Economic, Trade Development and Agriculture for Ukraine. We're talking by WhatsApp because he's traveling. Mylovanov says, yes, of course, Ukraine's economy is going to suffer. Russia, he says, has purposely targeted critical infrastructure¹⁰, fuel depots¹¹ and agriculture.

MYLOVANOV: Around Kyiv, around Kharkiv, the target is the pharmaceutical¹² storage and grocery. Then they went after roads, I think.

ROTT: All, he says, in an effort to disrupt the country's economy long term. But he says the gloomy economic figures from the country's ministry don't take into account how much people are now working in other ways, volunteering to feed each other, helping with the war effort. But that doesn't relieve the immediate¹³ economic pinch many people are feeling in Ukraine. In the western part of the country, in Lviv, Luva Havriluk (ph) and her son are sitting at the train station. It's not safe for them to go home yet, she says. So they're trying to get documents that will help them get jobs.

LUVA HAVRILUK: (Non-English language spoken).

ROTT: There are only two available jobs in the town we've moved to south of Lviv, she says, one at a bakery, another at a gas station. Ukraine's government is trying to help with a one-time payment of a couple hundred dollars. But people need more money. At an outdoor market in Lviv, Ana (ph), who doesn't want to give her last name, is sitting at her stall, which sells clothes. I ask her if she's making any sales.

ANA: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: No. These last days, we do not have anybody.

ROTT: Is it important that people keep coming out and buying stuff, do you think?

ANA: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: Of course, because we need to survive.

ROTT: They also need peace, she adds. We also need peace.

Nathan Rott, NPR News, Kyiv.

(SOUNDBITE OF SIGNAL HILL'S "A SECRET SOCIETY")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 lessened   

减少的，减弱的

参考例句：

• Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。
• The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 pastries   

n.面粉制的糕点

参考例句：

• He gave a dry laugh, then sat down and started on the pastries. 杜新箨说着干笑一声，坐下去就吃点心。 来自子夜部分
• Mike: So many! I like Xijiang raisins, beef jerky, and local pastries. 麦克：太多了。我最喜欢吃新疆葡萄干、牛肉干和风味点心。

5 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 shutter   

n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置

参考例句：

• The camera has a shutter speed of one-sixtieth of a second.这架照像机的快门速度达六十分之一秒。
• The shutter rattled in the wind.百叶窗在风中发出嘎嘎声。

8 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

11 depots   

仓库( depot的名词复数 )； 火车站； 车库； 军需库

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。
• In the coastal cities are equipped with after-sales service and depots. 在各沿海城市均设有服务部及售后维修站。

12 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

13 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。