Central State Archive of Public Organisations of Ukraine - Former Party Archive

Address: 01011, Kyiv, vul. Kutuzova, 8

The archive is quite close to the central area of Kyiv, and the archive is only a short walk from the station. To get to the archive, take a right as you exit the platform, go up the steps and walk up the main road (i.e. McDonalds will be at your back). You will then need to cross the road at the next junction and continue walking along the street on the other side. The archive is reasonably obvious as it flies the Ukrainian flag and has a plaque with its name on outside.

Metro: Pechers'ka
Web: http://cdago.gov.ua/
Email: archiv@cdago.org.ua
Phone: (044) 285-55-16
Fax: (044) 285-73-51
Archive Director: Oksana Gennadiivna Kozina (Acting Director: Olga Bazhan)

Opening Hours: Monday-Thursday 9.00-17.00, Friday till 16.00.
Sanitarnyi day is usually the last working day of each month, but signs are displayed by the sign-in book in advance. The archive is open throughout the summer months.

Speak to the guard as you come in the front door, who will probably then usher you through to speak with the archivists. They will want to see your letter of introduction and your passport, and will speak to you about your research topic. You will then have to take your letter upstairs to the director's office - most likely her secretary will take your letter from you and then you're set to work. You should receive your propusk the next day, but generally the guards are very relaxed and you can just tell them you're going to work in the reading room and be allowed in straight away.

Fill in an order form, available from the archivists' desk. You will end up re-using this form for future orders. Files arrive the next day if you order before 12pm. The maximum order is 10 files.

The reading room is quite spacious, with the desks in a rough semicircle facing the windows, oddly echoing some kind of Soviet plenum session. There are sockets available for laptops on each desk, though you'll be pushed to get any USB-modems working in here. You must sign the book on your way in, and leave your bag on a table by the door. During summer the reading room is not air conditioned, which creates conditions of complete, unbridled horror. The archivists are quite friendly, but do have a habit of slipping between Russian and Ukrainian without really noticing they're doing it. They also don't quite understand the notion of a person being unable to understand both languages, so it's best to politely remind them when necessary (if this applies to you) that you can't speak Ukrainian! As elsewhere in Ukraine, some or all of the finding aids are being translated into Ukrainian from Russian. This is, obviously, entirely counterproductive as all Ukrainians can read Russian, but not many people know Ukrainian. Take a dictionary and/or beg the archivists to give you the Russian language originals - maybe they'll take pity on you. The files themselves remain in Russian if that was their original language. 

The stolovaia is located across the internal courtyard, directly opposite the windows of the reading room which you will be gazing out of longingly during the day. However, the stolovaia often opens late (technically it opens at 1200), and is then mobbed by other people working in the archive and the Russian embassy next door. You may have to wait a long time to be served (by a woman who pretends not to understand Russian) because the other workers will constantly jump the queue by loudly greeting their friends in the line and joining them. It might be worth taking a packed lunch as it could take an hour to queue otherwise. Another option is a market a couple of minutes further up the road from the archive. Walk out of the archive and turn left, and you will soon see a road leading up to your left with shops and stalls. There is a stall that sells the most amazing khachipuri you are likely to find outside of Georgia; it's highly recommended. There's also a big supermarket there. Its khachipuri, however, are vile. A third option is street vendor fare in and around the Pechers'ka metro stop. There should be at least three or four different options, ranging from blinchiki to doner.