MOLDPRES COMMENTARY: Alexandr Palariev, Moldovan „with 51% Romanian blood'' from Ukraine re-brings to life traditions, culture from Bugeac steppe

The settlement Frumusica Nova from the Odessa region is among the dozens of villages from Ukraine, where both Moldovans and Ukrainians with Romanian origin live. The picturesque look of the region impresses, we well as the faith with which a man born here, Alexandr Palariev, is preserving the century-old traditions from the region, as well as the deep relation with everything regarding this region – people, history, culture and customs.   

Economist by profession, with an imposing activity in Ukraine’s military system, Alexandr Palariev returned to his native place, in order to revitalize these places, turning them into a reference destination in the region and even in the world.   

Alexandr Palariev: Our original family name is Palarie. Yet, when the mass deportations of the Romanian residents began, the grandmother saved us and bribing somebody from the local administration, made us Palariev and so, having a Russian name, I escaped, after which the family went to the central region of the country. My father, Andriy Diomidovych Palariev, was born in the Frumusica Noua village in 1933 and recalls how people were embarked in trucks, which were kept in place much time. This was for the people to see how bulldozers destroyed everything was in this village. And to understand that they had no place to return. A shooting range was built on that place. After many years, I said to myself that I must return here and do something, at least for the memory of those people. As well as to bequeath something to my children and grandchildren.   .

Presently, Frumusica-Nova s also a big agro-industrial complex, an important eco-tourist cluster, with a winery and a farm, from which, in fact, everything started.    

The construction of the Frumusica-Nova farm began in the summer of 2006, on the place of the Frumusica-Nova and Rosia Moldovan villages, which were evacuated in the spring of 1946. A famous monument of the Shepherd, which guards the settlement, was set here.      

The monument was registered in the Guinness Records Book, as well as the National Register of Records of Ukraine. The height of the monument is of 16 metres 43 cm (17.93 metres with the base) and its weight is of 1,080 tons. .   

Along with the border settlements from the south-eastern Moldova and the Odessa region, Ukraine, which are ever more determined to contribute to the consolidation of the cross-border relations and which have at their basis more common factors – the same origins, culture, language and more topical, aspirations for a European way, chosen by both states, placed in the direct neighbourhood, with similar challenges, Alexandr Palariev is also an active promoter of the European values.  

These values have become more and more pronounced starting from 18 September 2024, following a law passed by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine, which approved the renaming of the hromada Borodino (which includes also  Frumusica-Nova) into Bugeac.  

Another achievement of the founder and director of the agro-tourism leisure cluster Frumusica-Nova is the revitalization of a nearby village, turning it into a museum in open air.  

Placed in the heart of the Bugeac steppe, the Semisotka village represents a tribute without relation to time brought to the rich cultural heritage and to the history of the region. This museum in open air, founded by Alexandr Palariev, brings to life the traditional style of rural life of the communities which flourished in this region in former times.   

A remarkable thing for Moldova is that in Semisotka, Ukraine, a village museum in open air with only two women residents of Moldovan origin, the first museum gallery was opened, dedicated to painter, Merited Artist of Ukraine Mihai Grecu, born in Faraoani, the Petripavlivka community, Bolhrad district.    

The opening of the museum of painter Mihai Grecu represents another record registered by the national council of records from Ukraine on the area of the Frumusica-Nova Eco-tourist Cluster.   

Alexandr Palariev: Sixteen artists from Ukraine painted copies of works by Mihai Grecu, whose original works from the Soviet times are at the Tretyakov Gallery from Moscow, which, unfortunately, are inaccessible.     

The close relation of patron Palariev with Moldova does not stop here. The flag of Moldova was the subject of a record registered at the national council of records of Ukraine. The banner of Moldova recorded characteristic features for the first time for Ukraine and was hoisted on the territory of the Frumusica-Nova eco-tourist boarding house.  

The national record of Ukraine, the flag of Moldova, registered as the biggest one in the neighbour country, was described by Alexandr Palariev ‘’as a small gratitude for our Moldovan neighbours, who prove a huge support for Ukraine, on a quite difficult period for the country, after it was invaded by Russia.’’    

The flag of Moldova, registered in Ukraine’s Records Book, has a height of three metres and a width of six metres.   

Alexandr Palariev: I always say to me that 51 per cent of my blood is Moldovan, of Romanian roots. In fact, this is a majority which defines my life and activity.  

Author: Lilia Grubii