Ukraine has indicated that a cut in Russian natural gas purchases will be deeper next year than expected thus far, to 24.5 billion cubic meters (bcm). This means that Ukrainian gas imports from Russia will be below contractual volumes for the third year in a... MORE

Zerkalo Nedeli, an influential Ukrainian weekly, has accused the country’s Defense Minister Dmytro Salamatin of misinforming President Viktor Yanukovych over a contract to deliver armored personnel carriers to Iraq. Salamatin reportedly lied when he wrote to Yanukovych last month, citing Iraq’s ambassador to Kyiv that... MORE

A parliamentary election campaign has been officially under way in Ukraine since July 30. The ruling Party of Regions (PRU) will compete for victory with the united opposition formed by several nationalist parties, the largest of which are Fatherland, which is headed by the imprisoned... MORE

China has preliminarily agreed to lend more than $7 billion to Ukraine. In addition, an agreement has been signed between the two countries’ central banks on a currency swap worth $2.4 billion. Although it is likely to take months of talks to agree on the... MORE

After failing to persuade Russia to change the current gas contract, Ukraine is threatening to break it. The state-owned oil and gas company Naftohaz Ukrainy will cut Russian gas imports from the 40 billion cubic meters (bcm) bought last year to 27 bcm this year,... MORE

On July 2 in Kyiv, Naftohaz Ukrainy and Ferrostaal Industrieanlagen signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a pilot project to upgrade Ukraine’s gas transit system. That system carries more than 70 percent of Russia’s gas exports to Europe at present. Germany’s powerful lobby for... MORE

In the European Union’s second Eastern Partnership Integration Index (EPII) report, trends evident already last year are continuing (https://eap-index.eu/). Ukraine is moving “away from its one-time status as the ENP [European Neighborhood Policy] poster child.” This report confirms the EU’s assessment of the first year... MORE

Ukraine’s Energy Ministry has come up with amendments to the National Energy Strategy, according to which gas imports will decline from 40 billion cubic meters (bcm) last year to as little as 5 bcm in 2030. Domestic gas consumption is expected to decline less steeply... MORE

Ukraine, which with Poland co-hosts the Euro 2012 football championship from June 8-July 1, has been lambasted for corruption and racism. Widespread reports have focused on Ukraine spending more than Poland on Euro 2012 even though its GDP per capita is four times smaller and... MORE

Several Ukrainian people’s deputies had their faces bruised and their shirts torn in a fistfight in parliament on April 24. The opposition caucuses of Our Ukraine and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s bloc (BYT) provoked the brawl in order to disrupt voting on a controversial... MORE