Russia plans to triple gas prices ahead of Ukraine's parliamentary election and only months before winter begins (International Herald and Tribune, August 1). A recent commentary in Ukrayinska pravda (August 8) accused the regimes of former president Leonid Kuchma and Russia's President Vladimir Putin of... MORE

When the Ukrainian parliament reconvenes in early September, the March 2006 parliamentary election campaign will officially begin. Over the summer Ukrainian political parties have been energetically seeking media resources (especially television) and foreign support. Since Viktor Yushchenko became president, several television channels have changed hands.... MORE

The integrity of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been called into question by a barrage of media reports suggesting that they or their families live beyond their means. Their awkward reactions to the reports have only added fuel to the... MORE

Parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn has made another trip to Moscow on August 1 to seek political support for the March 2006 parliamentary election (Ukrayinska pravda, August 1). But the choice is limited and it is not clear with whom Lytvyn's People's Party of Ukraine (NPU)... MORE

Democratic Initiatives, a well-established, Kyiv-based sociological think tank, has just published a new study, Politchnyi portret (no. 32, 2005). Democratic Initiatives was one of four Ukrainian sociological organizations involved in organizing exit polls during the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election. Politychnyi portret reveals that 18.4% of... MORE

On August 2 the Kyiv Court of Appeals released from custody Donetsk regional council head Borys Kolesnykov. He is one of the two top representatives of the old corrupt elite that Ukrainian prosecutors have managed to catch since the Orange Revolution. Trans-Carpathia's former governor, Ivan... MORE

After Ukraine's parliament recessed for summer on July 8, the government issued a damning indictment of parliament and parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn for not facilitating the passage of legislation required for Ukraine to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the fall (kmu.gov.ua, July 8).... MORE

While President Viktor Yushchenko remains outwardly confident that his Our Ukraine party, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc, and parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn's People's Party (NPU) will enter the 2006 parliamentary elections as a coalition, this scenario is now unlikely (Ukrayinska pravda, July 25). As a... MORE

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has lost a battle in her crusade against the “oligarchs.” The Supreme Economic Court has ruled in favor of former president Leonid Kuchma’s son-in-law, Viktor Pinchuk, in a dispute over the ownership of the Nikopol Ferroalloys Plant (NFZ). Tymoshenko accused... MORE