Yaremche – Dmitry Boiko is surrounded by bicycles of all conceivable shapes and sizes. There are mountain bikes, a white tandem bicycle, a battery-driven bike, as well as children’s seats, gloves and helmets. Dmitry works at a bicycle rental agency called Velotur, which opened in May 2010 in the small town of Yaremche, in the Carpathian Mountains. Here jobs are available mostly in winter, when tourists come to ski. In the summer, the chance of fi nding an occupation is slim. But bicycle tours came to help. “Thanks to the BikeLand project,” says Dmitry, “many tourists find out about cycling sports for the fi rst time. And new employment opportunities are created.”

This is part of a series of features on projects funded by the EU’s Regional Programme, prepared by journalists and photographers on the ground or the ENPI Info Centre, available in English, Russian, and Ukrainian.