Vernadsky, Ukraine’s Antarctic Station: Was It Really “Handed Over for One Pound”?

On Galindez Island in the Argentine Islands, off the Antarctic Peninsula, stands Ukraine’s Antarctic research station “Akademik Vernadsky.” Until February 6, 1996, it was a British station, called Faraday.

This station is often introduced as having been “handed over for one pound.” Ukraine’s National Antarctic Scientific Center, which operates the station, itself explains that under the memorandum that decided the transfer, the station was handed over free of charge, and that the one pound was an exchange that arose from a joke on the day of the handover. This article follows the record kept by institutions in both countries, from 1947, when it began as a British station, to 2026, when the 31st wintering expedition arrived.

Where the Station Is

According to the records of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the station is located at 65°15′S, 64°16′W, at Marina Point on Galindez Island in the Argentine Islands. The entry “Akademik Vernadsky” in the Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine (ЕСУ) (P. Hozhyk, 2001) states that Galindez Island is separated from the Antarctic Peninsula by the deep Penola Strait, and that the nearest point on the mainland is 7 km away.

Timeline: From a British Station to a Ukrainian One

Old Names, Current Name

The station’s name has changed twice. According to BAS’s records, it was called “Argentine Islands” until August 15, 1977. The state’s official online encyclopedia, the Great Ukrainian Encyclopedia (ВУЕ), states that the 1977 name “Faraday Station” honors the British physicist and chemist Michael Faraday. When it became a Ukrainian station in 1996, it was named after Volodymyr Vernadsky, the first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (National Antarctic Scientific Center). The Academy of Sciences and Vernadsky are covered in our article on the Academy of Sciences in 1918.

Did It Begin in 1947 or 1956?

BAS’s history of the station gives January 7, 1947, as when the station began operating on Winter Island, and describes the “49 years and 31 days” through February 6, 1996, as the longest continuous occupation of any British station. BAS’s geomagnetic data page, on the other hand, states that “Faraday base was established in 1956 as part of the UK’s contribution to the International Geophysical Year.” It is not clear from that page whether this refers to the observation post after the move to Galindez Island in 1954, or what is meant by “established.” The National Antarctic Scientific Center and ЕСУ state that permanent observation began on Winter Island in 1947.

Free of Charge Under the Memorandum; the One Pound Was a Joke

According to the National Antarctic Scientific Center, the story of the transfer began in spring 1993, when Serhii Komisarenko, then Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, received word that Britain was putting Faraday Station up for sale. Negotiations continued for about two years, and Britain decided to hand the station to Ukraine free of charge. The condition was that the observations and measurements Britain had been conducting would continue for at least ten years.

In an article the Center posted for the station’s 30th anniversary (February 2026), under a heading reading “The station became Ukraine’s for a symbolic one pound,” it writes as follows. Under the memorandum, Ukraine received the station free of charge, and continuing the observations of the ozone layer, the geomagnetic field, and the climate counted as the “payment.” But at the handover on February 6, 1996, Duncan Haig, the head of the British expedition, jokingly asked for a symbolic payment. Hennadii Milinevskyi, leader of the first Ukrainian Antarctic expedition, found a one-pound coin in his pocket and gave it to him, and Haig had the coin set into the countertop of the station’s bar. The coin remains there to this day.

In other words, according to the operator’s account, it was not “bought for one pound”; rather, the exchange of one pound took place after a free-of-charge transfer.

Who Signed the Memorandum?

Accounts of the July 20, 1995 signing differ slightly between two Ukrainian institutions. The National Antarctic Scientific Center’s history states that Ambassador Komisarenko and Britain’s David Davis exchanged diplomatic notes, and that on the same day Petro Hozhyk, director of the Antarctic Research Center, and Barry Heywood, head of BAS, signed the memorandum. A July 2025 article by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine states that the memorandum was signed by Davis, the UK’s Minister of State for Europe, and Ambassador Komisarenko, at the Foreign Office building. ЕСУ states that the station was handed over “on the basis of a memorandum between the governments of Britain and Ukraine.”

Ozone Observations and the 1985 Paper

This station is often mentioned in connection with observations of ozone above Antarctica. On its English-language page, the National Antarctic Scientific Center writes that the ozone hole was “first discovered by the British at Faraday Station in the 1980s,” and that Ukrainian researchers continue that research.

The paper BAS’s ozone page lists as “the paper on the discovery of ozone depletion in Antarctica” is “Large losses of total ozone in Antarctica reveal seasonal ClOx/NOx interaction,” published in Nature in May 1985 by BAS’s J. C. Farman, B. G. Gardiner, and J. D. Shanklin. The paper’s abstract shows an observation that springtime total ozone in Antarctica has fallen considerably, but does not state in the abstract whose station’s data this is. The paper’s references include a 1975 BAS report by Farman and Hamilton, “Measurements of atmospheric ozone at the Argentine Islands and Halley Bay, 1957–72.” BAS still publishes ozone data from three sites—Halley, Rothera, and Vernadsky/Faraday—and states that Vernadsky station is run by the National Antarctic Scientific Centre of Ukraine.

Ukraine and the Antarctic Treaty

According to the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty’s list of parties, the treaty entered into force for Ukraine on October 28, 1992, and Ukraine became a Consultative Party (a country that takes part in decisions at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting) on June 4, 2004. The Secretariat explains that becoming a Consultative Party requires demonstrating interest by “conducting substantial research activity there.” As of September 2026, there are 29 Consultative Parties.

Current Operations and the Wintering Teams

The station is operated by the National Antarctic Scientific Center, a state research institution under the Ministry of Education and Science (per the Center’s own description). According to the Center, the wintering team is usually 12 people, and up to 24 people can work at the station during the handover period between teams.

In March 2026, the 31st Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition took over from the previous team and began work. According to the Center’s announcement of February 12, 2026, the team has 14 members: 9 researchers (4 meteorologists, 3 biologists, and 2 geophysicists) and 5 others supporting daily life. The team leader is the meteorologist Anzhelika Hanchuk, and the Center states that this is the first time a woman has led the team. The 30th team returned to Kyiv on April 4, 2026.