Ukrainian Canadian named honorary consul of Georgia (01/22/06)

Ukrainian Canadian named honorary consul of Georgia

TORONTO - How does a member of the Ukrainian community in Toronto become a representative of the government of Georgia in Canada? It's mostly a factor of being in the right place at the right time, says Walter Kudryk, honorary consul of Georgia for Canada.

In its search for an appropriate consul, the Georgian government contacted Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs for some advice, which resulted in a recommendation to contact Mr. Kudryk.

Seven years ago there "weren't too many Georgians in Canada when I was asked to become Consul," Mr. Kudryk said. "And, as I had quite a bit of experience working as a consultant on World Bank-funded projects for the Georgian government, my name must have come up in some conversations."

This led to a luncheon in Toronto with Georgian Ambassador Levan Miheladze, who is based in Washington and is responsible for the U.S., Canada and Mexico. At the luncheon, Mr. Kudryk accepted the proposition to become the honorary consul.

"It all happened pretty fast," Mr. Kudryk said. "They asked to meet my wife, so I called her and we met the same day at our home. We all chatted for a bit to feel each other out and that's how it all happened."

As the honorary consul, Mr. Kudryk travels to Ottawa whenever the ambassador comes up from Washington, handles contacts between Ottawa and Tbilisi with the exception of highly sensitive issues, and helps Canadians who plan to travel to Georgia and Georgians in Canada who need to renew their Georgian passports.

Mr. Kudryk was recently instrumental in establishing Canada-Georgian Trading House, which brings together Canadian businesses, some of the 2,000 to 3,000 Georgians who live in Canada and their counterparts in Georgia.

| Home Page |