It's been more than two decades since the former Soviet Union broke apart, and to the dismay of Russia, many of the 15 former Soviet republics have spun away from Moscow's orbit.
Now Ukraine — with 46 million people — has a chance to say goodbye to its Soviet past and align itself both economically and culturally with the European Union.
Outside the former Karl Marx Chocolate Works, semi-trucks are ready to deliver loads of candy sold throughout Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The factory, in a shabby industrial neighborhood of Kiev, now belongs to Roshen, a giant Ukrainian company with about 3,000 workers and more than $1 billion in business a year.
Inside the factory it is bright, modern and scrupulously clean. Workers in lab coats and hospital-style hair bonnets monitor machines that wrap individual chocolates in foil, with a neat twist at each end.
The glittering treats that tumble off the assembly line were popular in Russia, accounting for 5 percent of the market. That is until Russia's consumer protection agency banned them. The Russians claim they found a hazardous chemical in the chocolate, but no other country has reported any problem.
The timing of the ban has raised suspicions. Ukraine must decide whether to sign a free trade agreement with the European Union this month. Roshen's owner, Petro Poroshenko, is a strong supporter.
"Our opportunity to sign an association agreement with the European Union is just the gate of possibilities, and [it happens] once in several decades," Poroshenko says.
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