The Party of Regions has acted as an insurance agency and protection racket for former state officials accused of abuse of office by giving them parliamentary seats and immunity from prosecution. The Party of Regions has brought “together much of the political opposition to President... MORE

The Ukrainian authorities’ decision to close a popular file-sharing service has almost provoked a revolution on the local Internet. Following a crackdown on ex.ua, which is Ukraine’s most popular source of pirated videos and music, hackers flattened government websites – while the local media and... MORE

On the second anniversary of Viktor Yanukovych’s election as Ukraine’s fourth president, threats of visa black lists, sanctions and international sanctions by the European Union and the US are growing (see EDM, January 6). Without a halt to its undemocratic policies, Ukraine will rank alongside... MORE

After Moscow’s refusal to cut gas prices for this year, Kyiv has threatened to cut its imports from Russia between 27 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas and 33 bcm from the 40 bcm imported by the national oil and gas company Naftohaz Ukrainy last... MORE

Front for Change party leader, Arseniy Yatseniuk, said in an interview in Fokus magazine “In effect in the country there is a two party system. The post-Soviet system confronts the pro-European, the past versus the future” (https://focus.ua/politics/213418/). This view was repeatedly stated by opposition leaders... MORE

On January 18, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych appointed Valery Khoroshkovsky as the Finance Minister and relieved him of his duties as chief of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). Khoroshkovsky replaced Fedir Yaroshenko who resigned earlier that day. Unlike his predecessor, who is a post-Soviet media-shy... MORE

Since Viktor Yanukovych’s election victory, four strategies have been adopted against the opposition that in particular targets Yulia Tymoshenko and her eponymous bloc (BYuT). BYuT became the dominant national democratic party in the last decade increasing its share of the vote from 7 percent (2002),... MORE

The energy company DTEK has increased its shares in Ukraine’s four key regional power companies to controlling stakes during the past three months. Along with being the main buyer in the energy privatization campaign launched by the government late last year, DTEK has also almost... MORE

Surveys and polls show there is widespread popular anger, frustration and contempt for the Viktor Yanukovych administration that has managed to anger many different groups in every Ukrainian region. Imprisoned opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko (16.3 percent) is more popular than Yanukovych (13.3 percent) whose popularity... MORE

President Viktor Yanukovych and his government are setting the stage, politically and legislatively, for transferring Ukrainian pipelines to Russian control, in a package deal with Gazprom. The president and government wavered and agonized at times, but are now actively preparing Ukrainian public opinion for an... MORE