Sea Launch Co. hosts Ukraine's ambassador to United States
by Bohdan Malaniak
LONG BEACH, Calif. - The Sea Launch Co. of Long Beach, under the leadership of Bohdan (Bo) Bejmuk, vice-president of business development and strategic planning, held a dinner reception for Ambassador Kostyantyn Gryshchenko and his wife, Nataliya.
The dinner took place on April 5, in the Sir Winston Churchill Restaurant on the Queen Mary, in Long Beach. It is noteworthy that this was the ambassador's second encounter with the majestic ship - the first was when he was a small boy traveling with his father as a passenger, and now he was sitting in a banquet room of the now permanently docked Queen Mary.
The purpose of the ambassador's trip was to visit the Sea Launch facilities and personnel, many of whom are from Ukraine. Sea Launch is an international company of American, Norwegian, Russian and Ukrainian partners that provides an innovative, cost-effective, heavy lift launch service for commercial satellite customers.
The Ukrainian partner provides the first two stages of Zenit-3SL rockets, launch vehicle integration support and mission operations.
Some 25 people were in attendance at the dinner, many from the Greater Los Angeles Area representing various Ukrainian American organizations, and such celebrities as Jack Palance, Academy Award-winning actor. Dr. Ihor Hunko, representing the Ukrainian Culture Center of Los Angeles, presented Mrs. Gryshchenko with a lovely bouquet of blue and yellow flowers.
In his brief remarks the ambassador said that Ukraine, for the first time, had shown improvement in its economy, and, with continuing hard work and sacrifice, it will become a self-sufficient country. He also expressed his gratitude to the Ukrainian diaspora - in particular, to those residing in the United States and Canada. He urged everyone to always remember the Famine-Genocide of 1933 and the more recent Chornobyl nuclear disaster of 1986.
After the dinner, those in attendance had an opportunity to mingle and visit with the ambassador and his wife.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 17, 2001, No. 24, Vol. LXIX
| Home Page |