This paper is not just a 30 ECTS credits thesis project for the successful completion of the MESPOM course, neither is it an outcome of 3,5 months of individual research. It is a puzzle with an uncountable amount of parts and facets, which were building up my life piece by piece within the last 2 years - life in MESPOM, life with MESPOM, life as MESPOM.
Herewith I would like to thank the Academic Board and Aleh Cherp, the coordinator of the Program, for giving me the chance to live it.
My special appreciation and warmest wishes go to CEU staff. Thank you, Ruben, for your support and respect. Thank you, Zoltán, for unforgettable field trips and Hungarian “security drink”. Thank you, Irina and Kriszta for your enormous help on any matter and for being faster than Infosys.
I would like to express my tremendous gratitude to the IIIEE for all your inputs in the formation of my personality. Thank you, Håkan, for becoming a “second father”. Thank you, Thomas, for being the best teacher I have ever had. Thank you, Lars, for emitting positive energy and living students’ lives. Thank you, Andrius, for your readiness to help and pleasant chats. Thank you, Don, for teaching me trust and sending flowers on Skype. Thank you, Gunilla, for your indispensability.
Of course, my cordial gratitude goes to my supervisors. Thank you, Kes, for inspiring me and making complicated and challenging things become simple and accomplishable. Thank you, Philip, Ruben and Péter, for motivating me, supporting with advice and filling my head with new ideas. I would like to express a special appreciation to my informants: Georgiy Geletukha, Valeriy Dubrovin, and Grygoriy Tkachenko. Thank you for sharing eagerly your knowledge and experience with me, and providing me with excellent materials.
Many thanks fly to my friends all over the world, and, first of all, to NaUKMA community and MESPOMers. SED group was the best one could ever dream of. A special “thank you” goes to Nastusya for being more than just a flat-mate and to Anyuta for being more than just a devoted “welcomer” at the railway station. I send my kindest words of gratitude to all those who “dance to live”: my dance teachers and friends in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Budapest, Malmö and Durham. Thank you for inspiring me - this thesis would never exist without you!
And, of course, thank you, my beloved parents and grandparents - I would not exist without you!