Ukraine news, facts, polls and more

29/07/2010
Ukraine is making progress with a project that anticipates building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the Black Sea to diversify its energy imports, Energy and Fuel Minister Yuriy Boyko said. The LNG terminal, which is expected to be built near Odessa, will have capacity of 5 billion cubic meters per year at the first stage, and will be later expanded to 10 Bcm/year, he said.

13/07/2010
Ukraine plans to hold a stake of over 50% in the statutory fund of a nuclear fuel production joint venture being created in the country. The said obligatory condition is stipulated in procedures for the assessment of proposals of bidders at a tender to select technology and a partner to set up a nuclear fuel production JV in Ukraine. The procedures have been posted on the Ukrainska Pravda online publication's Web site.

5/07/2010
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mikola Ashrov has pledged to provide knowledge of space technology to Sri Lanka. He added that Ukraine has already commenced such an exchange programme with Brazil. The Ukrainian Prime Minister made these remarks when he called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa. President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that IT knowledge in Sri Lankan society is at high standard.

13/06/2010
The U.K.-flagged Asian Glory vehicle carrier with 25 crew members, including 10 Ukrainians, that was captured by Somali pirates in January, has been released, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said. "Our sailors were freed and their lives saved thanks to efforts of the Foreign Ministry, Ukrainian diplomatic agencies abroad, other departments and Zodiac Maritime Agencies Ltd., the company that owns the vessel," the ministry said in a statement on Friday night.

25/05/2010
Richard Morningstar, the U.S. envoy for Eurasian energy, met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Gryshchenko to discuss the strategic partnership between the two countries. The Foreign Ministry said Morningstar expressed Washington's interest in providing technical assistance in the Ukrainian energy sector. Kiev is struggling to improve its image as a natural gas transit nation for European consumers.

1/05/2010
Russian and Ukrainian government officials will meet after the May holidays to discuss merging their state energy companies, OAO Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller told reporters in Sochi. Gazprom is ready to consider asset swaps with NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy, Miller said.

21/04/2010
Lawmakers of Ukraine's pro-presidential Party of Regions have submitted to the parliament a bill, allowing the use of Russian language in during legal proceedings. Under the current legislation, legal proceedings can be carried out solely in Ukrainian language.

13/04/2010
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich agreed to give up all its stockpile of highly enriched uranium by 2012. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs made the announcement minutes after US President Barack Obama met with Yanukovich on the margins of the Nuclear Security Summit. "This is something the United States has tried to make happen for several years," according to Gibbs. Ukraine is expected to eliminate all the materials by the next nuclear security summit in 2012.

1/04/2010
The issues of the global security and frozen conflicts regulation can be on the agenda of the OSCE Summit. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Konstantin Grishchenko has announced. "I think that the OSCE role in the security sphere is underestimated. Hence an active dialog, including at the highest level is necessary", K.Grishchenko said.

1/03/2010
Mr Yanukovych is seen as closer to Russia than his predecessor Viktor Yushchenko was - yet his first foreign visit as head of state is to Brussels. "European integration is a key priority," he said after talks with EU leaders on Monday. Mr Yanukovych said the talks focused on a planned association deal with the EU that would allow free trade.

1/02/2010
Georgia should not interfere in the domestic affairs of Ukraine, said Irakly Alasania, the leader of the opposition political association “Alliance for Georgia.” “Georgia should not interfere in the process of the election of a Ukrainian president. Our task is to cooperate with the Ukrainian president, who comes to power as a result of the elections, and to develop friendly relations between the two countries,” Alasania said in an interview with the Tbilisi-based Asaval-Dasavali newspaper, published on Monday. Ten days ago Shalva Natelashvili, the leader of the Labour Party, offered apologies to the Ukrainian nation “for the action, taken by the Georgian authorities during the first round of the presidential elections.” He believes that “the sending of a great number of so-called ’ observers’ from Georgia to Ukraine was the wrong step, which did not promote the development of friendly relations between the two countries.”

25/01/2010
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has summoned a Security Council meeting after a group of unidentified people raided Ukraina publishing house that was due to print ballots for the February 7 presidential runoff, the interior minister said. A group of masked individuals raided early on Monday morning the publishing house, smashing down the doors and injuring several guards, who resisted the takeover, according to a deputy from the Party of Regions political party. Opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych won the first round of the presidential vote on January 17 and was followed by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko with the gap between the two contenders just over 10%.

1/01/2010
The Ukraine, in the opinion of president of the Ukraine Viktor Yschenko, has lived though and not idle time, but pervaded achievements year. This thought he has voiced in congratulation since New year and Cristmas Hristovym. We have lived not idle time, but rich on achievements and events year, is spoken in congratulation Yschenko. We must be certain that any difficulties are temporary. We strong, talented and industrious folk, which, united around united national and public valuables, will build powerful and prosperring Ukraine.

5/12/2009
Ukraine will be striving to finish the talks with the European Union on the formation of a free trade zone by September of 2010. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Petro Poroshenko said this live on Inter TV channel. According to the minister the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union is 90% ready, and the only document left is the free trade zone. "This accord hasn't been agreed yet, but we have undertaken an obligation to agree all the positions within eight months," Poroshenko said.

29/10/2009
Regions Party leader Viktor Yanukovych has said that the demographic situation in Ukraine is unacceptable. Yanukovych said that conditions should be created for economic growth in order to improve the situation. "The birth rate should be increased. The current demographic situation in the country cannot exist any longer," he said. He said that the Regions Party is planning to create all conditions for the return of Ukrainian migrant workers to their homeland.

17/10/2009
President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko arrived in the Kingdom of Belgium on working visit. It is the first official visit in the history of bilateral relations. The range of the meetings of the President of Ukraine is scheduled during the visit. Particularly, there will be the meetings with King of Belgium Albert II, Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy and Speaker of the Senate Armand de Decker. The meetings with leadership of the Belgian Businessmen Federation and representatives of the local self-government are also scheduled.

9/10/2009
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Ukraine will buy much less gas from Russia next year and will disregard any "aggressive" statements on the issue that has led before to rows and supply cuts to Europe. Moscow and Kiev argued over gas prices and supplies last January leading to a three-week standoff and gas cuts affecting hundreds of thousands of Europeans. This has made the European Union, which receives about 20 percent of its gas from Russia via Ukraine, extremely wary of a repeat "gas war" between the former Soviet states. Under a deal ending the dispute, Kiev agreed to import 42 billion cubic metres (bcm) this year and, according to President Viktor Yushchenko's office, 52 bcm next year.

1/10/2009
The United States will assign about $10 million for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry in 2009, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Alexander Vershbow said at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy. He said $7 million would be assigned for buying equipment and military hardware, and $1.77 million for training Ukrainian servicemen in the United States. In all, 900 Ukrainian servicemen, including generals, have been trained in the U.S., Vershbow said.

25/09/2009
Ukraine will seek non-permanent UN Security Council membership for 2016-2017, President Viktor Yushchenko said at the 64th session of the UN General Assembly. "Today I am honored to confirm Ukraine's determination to become a Security Council member in 2016-2017," he said.
The Ukrainian president called on the permanent Security Council members to "enhance security guarantees for countries with non-nuclear status, especially those who abandoned nuclear weapons or their development."

17/09/2009
Ukraine could set a record in terms of potato production as well as of its imports this year. According to the official spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture of Ukraine currently the country has a large stock of potatoes, but half of it rots due to the inability and unwillingness of quality storage. The growth of frozen potato imports to Ukraine is mostly attributed to the rapid development of fast food restaurants in the country. Pizzerias are the main consumers of this product. According to local analysts nearly 95% of the Ukrainian potato is grown on private farms, and only few companies are producing it on an industrial scale.

21/08/2009
Kiev would like to open a permanent trading house to sell Belarusian goods, Deputy Chairman of Kiev municipal state administration Igor Shovkun said at the opening ceremony of the first exhibition fair of Belarusian goods in Kiev on 20 August. The administration of the Ukrainian capital is ready to suggest holding a series of other similar events in 2009. Such exhibition fairs may become regular in the future. Igor Shovkun expressed hope that the ongoing fair will be just the first page of the extensive bilateral cooperation between Minsk and Kiev.

13/08/2009
Ukraine will launch its own communications satellite in 2011 despite the current political crisis in the country, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said. The satellite, dubbed Lybid, is being developed by the Yuzhnoye design bureau to be launched on the Zenit-3 LV carrier rocket. The development has been slow due to the shortage of funding. "I think everything will turn out fine with politics in Ukraine, and we will be able to bring this project to a logical conclusion by September 2011," Tymoshenko told a Cabinet meeting.

29/06/2009
Gazprom will use its planned South Stream pipeline to carry a third of its gas exports to Europe by 2015, chief executive Alexei Miller said Friday in an apparent warning to Ukraine, which now handles the bulk of the transit.
Gazprom and Italy's Eni recently agreed to expand the capacity of South Stream, which will run under the Black Sea, to 63 billion cubic meters of gas - or 35 percent of Gazprom's exports to that region, Miller said.

13/06/2009
Ukraine is interested in stepping up cooperation with Belarus, Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko said at a meeting with Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sigorsky in Kyiv on Friday. The president stressed that he would call on the government and the parliament to step up cooperation with Belarus. During the Belarusian premier's visit to Ukraine, the two will focus on long-unresolved strategic issues in the two countries' relations, Yuschenko said. Sidorsky in turn noted that Belarus is treating the issue of developing relations with Ukraine very seriously.

25/04/2009
President Viktor Yushchenko has signed amendments to the law on electricity regarding electricity exports, which were adopted by Parliament on March 19. According to the document, electricity for export from Ukraine should be bought at the wholesale market price, and access to power transmission lines for exports is to be awarded at auctions, under new amendments to the law on electricity.

5/04/2009
Ukraine intends to dump the visa-free regime with Europe. “We shall cancel soon the visa-free regime with Europe and shall gain much by this. This will happen possibly even before the Prague summit on May 7,” said deputy head of the presidential secretariat and the president’s representative in the country’s parliament Igor Popov.
In turn, speaker of the Ukrainian parliament Vladimir Litvin deems it expedient to impose payment for the entry in Ukraine at border passage points on citizens of countries, including the European Union, issuing payment visas for Ukrainians. According to the speaker, the imposing of payment for the entry would resolve financial problems of maintenance of Ukrainian embassies abroad.

28/03/2009
The prime ministers of Japan and Ukraine on Wednesday hailed a deal under which the eastern European country sells to Japan rights to pollute and uses the proceeds to buy Tokyo's latest green technologies. Ukraine's visiting Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said she would like to step up the carbon credit sales in future, while her counterpart Taro Aso said Japanese environmental technology companies would soon visit Ukraine.

20/03/2009
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will visit Moscow within the next three weeks for talks with her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on a range of issues, including natural gas supplies, a government spokeswoman said Thursday. The meeting between the two is tentatively scheduled on April 8. This will be the first meeting between Tymoshenko and Putin since the two had negotiated in Moscow a natural gas agreement on Jan. 19 that had ended a severe natural gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia.

28/02/2009
Two Ukrainian early-warning radar systems ceased data sharing with Russia overnight after a post-Soviet agreement between the two countries was cancelled.
Quoting Moscow defence ministry officials, Russian media said Moscow had put into service its own facility in Armavir in the southern Krasnodar region to protect its southern flank, after the loss of data from the Ukrainian-based radars.

9/02/2009
Kyiv-based Prosecutor's Office has suspended the Kyiv City Council's decision on taking payment from transit vehicles entering Kyiv, the press service of the Prosecutor's Office said. The Prosecutor's office considers that the decision on paid entry to Kyiv for transit vehicles registered outside the city the Kyiv City Council approved on January 22 conflicts with the existing legislation since the law does not envisage such dues. The decision also violates citizens' constitutional rights to free movement, the prosecutor's office noted.

6/01/2009
Gazprom has reduced deliveries of natural gas for transit through Ukraine to a third of their normal rate, which would affect Western European customers, Ukraine's state-run Naftogaz said on Tuesday.
Both Gazprom and Naftogaz have said that they will file lawsuits with the Stockholm Arbitration Court, which deals with international commercial legal disputes. The court on Monday said it could not comment on whether it was considering lawsuits from either party in the gas dispute.

2/01/2009
Ukraine's state-run gas company, Naftogaz on Friday denied a claim by Russia's Gazprom that it had been stealing gas destined for Europe. "Naftogaz considers that any statement from official representatives of Gazprom about the unsanctioned siphoning off by Ukraine of Russian gas destined for Europe is untrue," Naftogaz said in a statement. The company also said such statements "damage the reputation of Naftogaz as a reliable transporter of energy to European Union countries."

21/12/2008
On behalf of Kazakh Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Ukraine and Moldova Amangeldy Zhumabayev an official reception dedicated to the Independence Day of Kazakhstan was held in “President-Hotel” in Kiev. Within the reception a briefing for the Ukrainian mass media was organized. OSCE Project Coordinator Lyubomir Kopai attended it. Within the briefing journalists were informed of state and prospects of bilateral Kazakh-Ukrainian cooperation. Former President L.Kuchma, Advisors to the President and Prime Minister, Russian Ambassador to Ukraine V.Chernomyrdin, the Ukrainian political, public, scientific and business circles, diplomatic corps, heads of the Kazakh representative offices, the Kazakh Diaspora took part in it.

17/12/2008
A senior official in Ukrainian President Vitkor Yushchenko's office called on Tuesday for the quick nationalisation of the country's sixth largest bank - in receivership since October.
'At the moment, there is one way to deal with this situation -- the rapid nationalisation of Prominvestbank ... using the mechanism set down in the anti-crisis legislation,' Roman Zhukovsky said in a statement on the presidential Website. Prominvestbank's receiver on Tuesday said the central bank had decided that the bank should be recapitalised with the participation of the government. Shareholders at the same time signed an agreement with Russia's VEB for financial help.

5/12/2008
Ukraine is ready to support and to use all the elements of the Eastern Partnership program if it is not presented as an alternative to European Union membership, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said.
"We hail the joint initiative of Poland and Sweden aimed at the formation of an effective eastern vector of EU foreign policy. The formation of a single area of stability, security and prosperity in the east of the continent, which rests on European political, economic and social norms and standards, is a common objective both for Ukraine and the European Union as well as for other partner-states," the Foreign Ministry said.

1/11/2008
Ukraine pledged to liberalize domestic natural gas prices before the end of 2011 in exchange for $16.5 billion loan from International Monetary Fund to help the country avoid economic recession.
Ukraine, due to various political reasons, has been delaying liberalization of the gas market for the past 10 years, but the issue has become urgent due to steely growing gas prices over the past three years.

18/06/2008
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says he will try to persuade all NATO members to back the idea of extending a Membership Action Plan (MAP) to Ukraine. Scheffer was speaking at news conference in Kiev after winding up a two-day visit to the ex-Soviet state. A NATO summit in Bucharest in April declined to grant MAP to Ukraine and ex-Soviet Georgia, but agreed to review the issue at a meeting of foreign ministers in December. Pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko has made NATO and EU membership the cornerstone of his foreign policy. He has pledged that the final decision on membership would be put to a referendum.

10/06/2008
Ukraine will start the industrial reprocessing of solid rocket fuel from RS-22 ballistic missiles (SS-24 under the NATO classification) at the Pavlohrad chemical plant in Dnipropetrovsk region in the middle of 2009. Director General of Pavlohrad chemical plant Leonid Shyman said.
According to Shyman, full financing would be decisive for the launch of the project. He said UAH 250 million had to be allocated from the national budget for the project in 2008, compared to UAH 150 million in 2007.
The solid fuel of RS-22 missiles is being disposed under Ukrainian commitments in the reduction and liquidation of strategic armaments and related state programs. A washout disposal of 5,000 tonnes of RS-22 solid fuel is planned before 2011.

6/06/2008
A meeting of the representatives of the Kazakh and Ukrainian National Space Agencies is over.
During the visit to Ukraine the Kazakh delegation headed by “KazKosmos” JSC chief Talgat Mussabayev discussed further measures on joint realization of space projects of mutual interest. Besides, the Kazakh specialists participated in the first Ukrainian nationwide conference “Space observations aimed at sustainable development and security” held in Kiev.
According to the Kazakh National Space Agency’s executive secretary Yergazy Nurgaliyev, this is the third meeting of the Kazakh and Ukrainian space departments within the framework of the Year of Kazakhstan in Ukraine proclaimed in the previous year and the current Year of Ukraine in Kazakhstan.
In July 2008 representatives of the Ukraine’s Space Agency will hold an exhibition of their country’s achievements in the space sphere in Astana. Besides, Almaty is planning to conduct a joint Kazakh-Ukrainian conference “Modern space technologies”.

17/05/2008
A new standoff hit Ukrainian parliament, as the faction of Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko threatened to block the work of Supreme rada until the opposition agrees to adopt a package of anti-inflation measures.
The opposition said the measures are aimed to back pro-Timoshenko mayor at the upcoming election in the capital city and thus get an important foothold for future presidential election.
Leader of Timoshenko's YTB faction Ivan Kirilenko admitted that even the pro-presidential faction does not support its plans.
"YTB actions do not find support of the coalition partners," he said, but stressed YTB would continue to block the work of parliament on Friday.

13/04/2008
Head of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kairat Kelimbetov has met with head of the Ukrainian President’s Secretariat Viktor Baloha in Akorda residence. Kairat Kelimbetov underlined that the Year of Ukraine in Kazakhstan symbolizes a positive dynamics of bilateral relations development and will cement friendly relations between the two nations.
Kairat Kelimbetov and Viktor Baloha discussed implementation of the agreements reached by President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko during an officail visit of the Ukrainian President to Kazakshtan.
The sides exchanged opinions on execution of an Action Plan Kazakhstan – Ukraine for 2007-2008 where the priority is placed on bilateral cooperation in the different spheres.
Different perspective projects like construction of the oil processing plant and combined cycle electric generating plant of varying thickness in Ukraine were discussed at the meeting.

9/04/2008
Ukraine's Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said on Tuesday that her government will pay more attention to raise public awareness of NATO.
"Ukrainian government will make every effort necessary for better coordination and full implementation of the measures under the NATO-Ukraine target plan for 2008," Tymoshenko said.
A survey published earlier this month said only 11 percent of Ukrainians supported the idea of NATO membership, most Ukrainians were against it.
On April 3, Ukraine's bid for MAP was thwarted at a NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, amid fears among European allies that the move would enrage Russia.

1/04/2008
President Bush has visited Ukraine on his way to Romania for this week's NATO summit.
He says Russia has nothing to fear from Ukraine and Georgia joining the organisation.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has thanked the US for supporting its candidacy.
"I'm sure that we'll receive a positive signal in Bucharest," he said.
"That's the spirit we're going there with, and we're sure we have the necessary arguments for those countries who aren't still ready with their position on the issue."

21/03/2008
3.5 million Ukrainians are working abroad, at least 98% illegally.
About 3.5 million Ukrainians currently work abroad, Deputy Labor and Social Policy Minister Viktor Ivankevych said at a panel discussion in Kiev on Monday. He said that no more than 2% of them are working legally. He also said the current real level of unemployment in Ukraine is about 6.2%.

1/03/2008
President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko plans to make an official visit to Kazakhstan on March 5-6.
Y. Ashikbayev noted the visit was dated to opening of the Year of Ukraine in Kazakhstan. In addition, Nursultan Nazarbayev and his Ukrainian counterpart intend to discuss further development of the bilateral relations, especially fuel and energy cooperation and realization of the Action Plan between Kazakhstan and Ukraine for years of 2007-2008.
“Heads of Kazakhstan and Ukraine are expected to exchange views on perspectives of interaction within CIS and coordinate further integration in the framework of this organization,” Kazakh MFA’s spokesperson said. Following results of the negotiations, the sides will sign a package of documents aimed at deepening cooperation between the countries in various fields.

23/02/2008
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko pledged on Friday to curb the growing inflation.
"I believe that the anti-inflation measures adopted by the government will allow to curb inflation calmly month after month," she told a cabinet meeting.
In January, Ukrainian inflation soared to 2.9 percent, compared with 2.1 percent and 2.2 percent in November and December 2007.
Ukraine's inflation rate reached 16.6 percent in 2007, while real GDP grew 7.3 percent.

11/02/2008
Gazprom said only gas sent from Russia, which makes up around 25% of Ukraine's total supply, would be affected. Kiev played down the threats, claiming assurances from Moscow that Russian gas exports would not be affected. Gazprom has assured the rest of Europe that the dispute will not affect their supplies, which come through Ukraine.

7/02/2008
On February 7 at 18.00 President Victor Yushchenko shall hold an annual reception for foreign diplomatic and international organizations mission heads working in Ukraine.
The reception will take place at the premises of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

29/01/2008
Ukraine will join the World Trade Organization February 7.
Tymoshenko said it was a great victory and thanked everyone who backed Ukraine on its admission to the global trade body.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said January 25 that an agreement on Ukraine's joining the WTO will be signed at a WTO General Council session February 5-6.
He also said that upon admission to the body, Ukraine would immediately start talks with the European Union on a free trade zone agreement.
Ukrainian authorities have called WTO membership one of the key foreign policy priorities.

8/11/2007
Ukraine called on the Georgian government and opposition on Thursday to not escalate tensions in the country.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its web site that "only constructive dialog among all parties can be the key to rectifying the situation, and guaranteeing stability and peace in the country."
The Foreign Ministry pointed out that the events in Georgia are purely its internal affairs.
According to reports, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has sent special representative, Deputy Foreign MinisterKostiantyn Yelyseyev, to Georgia. 10/11/2007

19/10/2007
Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko will visit Israel next month. Yuschenko during the visit will call on Israel to recognize the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine as an act of genocide against Ukrainian nation. Yuschenko, who is expected to arrive Nov. 14, also will hold talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Ukraine-Israel economic ties. His three scheduled state visits to Israel in 2005-06 were postponed due to what administration spokespeople said were scheduling conflicts.

5/09/2007
Dragon-Ukrainian Properties & Development PLC said it will invest up to 9 mln usd in Pine Forest Riverside Estates housing project in the Kyiv Sea area of Ukraine. The real estate investment company managed by Dragon Capital Partners Ltd said the project involves the development of a gated community of up to 100 cottages and town houses. The company will acquire 6.33 hectares of land representing 50.26 pct of the combined land ownership in the project. The first line of houses is expected to be completed by mid-2008.

20/08/2007
The inaugural AutoUkraine 2008 conference is taking place in Kiev on the 29th of January. The conference is designed to attract an international audience of automotive professionals from OEMs, T1s and T2 suppliers in Ukraine, Russia and globally. With more and more OEMs and T1 suppliers developing strategies and establishing production facilities in Ukraine, and given the central position of the country in Europe, Ukraine is quickly becoming the key investment location for global OEMs, T1 and T2 suppliers.

5/06/2007
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed fear that tyranny make take the reign in Ukraine. "There is nothing to say about the post-Soviet space. There was a single hope for Ukrainian guys, but those have fully discredited themselves, opening the way to all-round tyranny. A full violation of the Constitution and all laws," Putin said.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said, commenting on the political crisis in Ukraine, that Russia was very much concerned over the situation in this country.7/06/2007

26/05/2007
Several thousand Ukrainian Interior Ministry troops are moving toward the capital Kiev under orders from President Viktor Yushchenko, intensifying a political standoff between the president and prime minister.
"The troops were called to the capital to guard state institutions, especially the prosecutor general's office and the constitutional court, and preserve law and order and stability in Kiev,'' Ivan Plyushch, Ukraine's security council chief, said today from Kiev. The move counters an order by Interior Minister Vasyl Tsushko, who prohibited the movement of troops without his personal written approval. 28/05/2007

6/04/2007
Ukraine's leadership crisis deepened yesterday as President Viktor Yushchenko threatened government officials with prosecution if they did not hold early elections. But the prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, repeated his call for the president to reverse Monday's decision to dissolve parliament, and called for international mediation in the conflict. The decision to disband the parliament has plunged Ukraine into its deepest political crisis since the Orange Revolution of 2004 and brought thousands of Mr Yanukovich's supporters on to the streets of Kiev. The prime minister, who heads a ruling coalition of MPs, announced that he had invited the Austrian chancellor, Alfred Gusenbauer, to mediate, and he might also approach Russia and Poland.

22/03/2007
Ukraine’s Constitutional Court is halfway through in deliberations on whether to cancel privatization of Illich Steel, the country’s No. 2 steelmaker, in a decision that would have a major impact on the sector. The court on Tuesday completed an open part of the hearing and switched to a closed one suggesting that media from now on will not be allowed at the hearing.

6/03/2007
The European Union and Ukraine yesterday launched talks aimed at drawing Kiev closer to the EU and setting up a free-trade area, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said. However Ferrero-Waldner stressed that these weren’t talks preliminary to EU accession for Ukraine.

7/02/2007
A local appeals court has restored a special status for the Russian language in an eastern city in Ukraine. Six regional governments and nine city councils in the east and south last year granted Russian special status - decisions that were heavily criticized by President Viktor Yushchenko. The Party of the Regions, whose leader, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, enjoys strong support in the east and south, campaigned in elections last year on a promise to make Russian a second state language.

30/01/2007
Ukraine sees no threat in NATO’s plans to deploy antiballistic missile facilities in neighbouring countries, said Vladimir Tereshchenko, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister. Earlier, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said Kiev sees the U.S. plans to deploy antiballistic missile units in the Czech Republic and Poland as an additional element in the fight against manifestations of terrorism. Pentagon said it studies an opportunity for cooperation with Ukraine in creating an antiballistic missile system.

24/01/2007
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry will spend about 6 million hryvni on multinational military exercises in 2007, said Col. Oleksandr Sherstyuk, the head of the Ukrainian General Staff's Military Cooperation Department. Final and large-scale Artery-2007 maneuvers, involving all arms, are to be held in the spring of 2007.

17/01/2007
on Monday Russian border police arrested a group of five Ukrainians attempting to smuggle three tons of raw salted pork fat across the international border. The arrests took place in the early morning hours after Russian troops detected three automobiles attempting to exit Russian territory via a field near the village of Gorlovka, in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk province.

7/01/2007
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych congratulated the Ukrainian People on Christmas. "We've waited one more Christmas. We were waiting for it in trust, hope and love. We worthy meet this holiday, as we have done much to mark Xmas with stability and integrity," the greeting message by the Ukrainian Prime Minister said. We have spent an uneasy year and we can say that we have worthy faced all challenges, we have faced them as a mature and promising society.

2/01/2007
The Kyiv authorities expect as many as 100,000 people to see the New Year in on Independence Square. According to Chief of the Main Department of Internal Policy of the Kyiv City Rada Viktor Honcharuk, the Kyiv City Administration has for the first time triggered the New Year's celebration by means of donators. Those, who feel like staying at home will seize an opportunity to follow celebrations on TV. As many as 24,000 and 26,000 policemen are supposed to secure order on the New Year's Eve and Christmas, respectively, Internal Ministry Public Security Department Chief Volodymyr Mayevskyi stressed.

31/12/2006
We congratulate the visitors of our site with approaching Happy New Year.
We want happiness, good luck and wealth at new year 2007.

29/12/2006
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, by means of beginning judgements Govt in Ambience, predicted 7% growing of GDP in 2007.
Though Prime Minister stood out, his forecast is grounded in performance of the growing of GDP during the last five months.
The Dialect about financial result of activity Govt, Viktor Yanukovych has said one of its positive return was a well-timed taking the budget. "Regions have begun to consider their local facility this week and country enters 2007 with stable financing," he has said.

26/12/2006
The joint Russian-Ukrainian UkrGasEnergo suspended the oil, enriching program, company CEO Igor Voronin said, explaining that company did not get the base of the resource against all waiting. The Company consequently will not enrich the oil in 2007 and considers aquisition of the gas producers in lieu thereof.
Voronin added, which this was far less expedient for UkrGasEnergo to use the oil gained from the other producers as oil prices long are provided in correspondence to with global market.

22/12/2006
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has ordered an investigation into the killing of a Crimean Tatar political activist and journalist, Norik Shirin.
Shirin was found stabbed to death in his garage in Simferopol on December 20.
The head of the Crimean regional police press office, Oleksandr Dombrovsky, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that "a stranger would not have been able to commit a crime in that area. A stranger would have been noticed immediately, as it is a compact ethnic community, and also, any unknown car would have been spotted right away because everybody knows each other."

18/12/2006
Stem cell baby deaths probe 'too close to the truth', claims investigator
Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold, a Swiss MP who is a member of the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly, and who previously investigated reports of missing babies, said: "I have obtained reliable information, from mothers and other sources about five cases of newborns that went missing … I believe the mothers were telling the truth. I am more inclined to believe the babies were stolen for the purpose of adoption in the West." Some 300 mothers who claim to have suffered the same fate are represented by the All-Ukrainian Federation of Families with Many Children. In 2003 its head, Tetyana Isayeva Zaharova, gave Council of Europe investigators a video which was said to show babies' bodies partly dismembered so that stem cells and organs could be removed.

15/12/2006
December 14, 2006 -- Kazakhstan and Ukraine today said they were interested in developing joint nuclear projects.
Those could include Ukraine's participation in the construction of nuclear power plants in Kazakhstan.
The plans are outlined in a joint statement signed in Astana today by Kazakh Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov and his Ukrainian counterpart, Viktor Yanukovych.

12/12/2006
Romania intends to allocate Vinnitsa region approximately EUR 10 million in 2007 within the framework of the program on frontier cooperation "Ukraine-Romania-Moldova." Oleksandr Dombrovsky, the chairman of the State administration of Vinnitsa region, informed.
According to him, financing of the project on frontier cooperation will be carried out at the expenses of the European Union, the member of which Romania becomes since January 1, 2007.

7/08/2006
Share your Ukraine experience with other people from all over the world! Just send us notes about your Ukraine trip (including some photos if you want certainly) and we will publish it without any delay.

22/02/2006
New pages about Ukraine for you! Look at overviews of the following Ukraine cities: Chernigov, Cherkassy, Chernovtsy, Ivano-Frankovsk, Kirovograd, Kremenchug, Zaporozhye.

28/01/2006
We have added new information about Ukraine. Such categories as Ukraine Overview, Economy, Language, Land Recources, Climate, Culture, History, People, Political System are available now.

19/01/2006
We offer you the following unique document: Ukraine 2000 and Beyond: Geopolitical Priorities and Scenarios of Development. It includes a lot of interesting articles like Main Conclusions and Recommendations Strategic Priorities of Ukrainian National Security and Foreign Policy for the Future. Dont miss it if you want to expand your knowledge about Ukraine!

01/01/2006
Welcome to UkraineTrek.com! Next months we will be building comprehensive collection of information about Ukraine.

01/01/2006
We are always looking for more links, content contributions, and lively discussions.

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