Ukraine's presidential administration and government are multiplying emergency measures in response to severe fuel shortages and prices hikes by an informal cartel of Russian suppliers (see EDM, May 18). Yesterday [May 18], President Viktor Yushchenko signed the legislation adopted on the preceding day by parliament,... MORE

On May 17, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada passed a government-submitted bill eliminating import duties on high-octane gasoline and diesel fuel. The legislation aims to stimulate such imports in response to artificially induced shortages and steep price hikes by the informal cartel of Russian oil-product suppliers in... MORE

The May 13 arrest of the former governor of Trans-Carpathia, Ivan Rizak, follows the capture of the head of the Donetsk oblast council, Borys Kolesnykov, one month earlier. The widespread arrests of lower-ranking officials for election fraud and corruption have now moved up to medium-level... MORE

On May 13, a session of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) approved a modified version of NSDC Secretary's Petro Poroshenko's plan to resolve the Transnistria problem. President Viktor Yushchenko chaired the session, which approved Poroshenko's plan "unanimously" (Interfax-Ukraine, May 13) -- a further... MORE

Ukraine's new government has realistic plans for integration with the West; there will be no re-privatization; the government will continue to get rid of officials who served the old regime; and there is no serious opposition in the country. This is President Viktor Yushchenko's vision... MORE

Since the Orange Revolution in November-December 2004, there have been a growing number of attacks by extreme right groups against Westerners in Ukraine. These attacks are commonly blamed on "skinheads," but real skinheads have denied involvement, saying that their only targets are individuals with darker-colored... MORE

Ukraine took another key step toward closer relations with NATO with the disclosure of their intention to upgrade military communications to NATO standards. Major-General Volodymyr Rudyk, deputy chief of the Ukrainian General Staff, stated that the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense intends to replace the current,... MORE

Foreign investors are showing more interest in Ukraine since the Orange Revolution. Nevertheless, they remain cautious because of uncertainties surrounding the threat of re-privatization. Until this issue is resolved, something President Viktor Yushchenko supports but Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko opposes, Ukraine's positive international image will... MORE

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has failed to reconcile Red Army veterans with former fighters of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) on the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. The Yushchenko government initially wanted all the veterans to march along Kyiv's... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin's plans to purchase Leonid Brezhnev's residence in the Crimea have collapsed. USSR Dacha No.1, "Hlitsyniya," is among the Ukrainian properties excluded from privatization. Nevertheless, Putin attempted to acquire it from Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma as a token of gratitude for supporting... MORE