Latest Articles about Ukraine
SURGE OF INTEREST IN ODESSA-BRODY OIL PIPELINE
Political transformation in Ukraine has reactivated international interest in using the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline in the originally intended northerly direction, which involves extending the pipeline into Poland to Plock and on to Gdansk. Initially designed for transporting Caspian oil to Europe, the Odessa-Brody pipeline has... MORE
UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CHARMS WASHINGTON
Ukraine's new Foreign Minister, Borys Tarasyuk, visited Washington, DC, on March 10-11 to prepare for a four-day state visit by President Viktor Yushchenko in the first week of April. Tarasyuk's career includes an earlier stint as Ukraine's foreign minister (1998-2000), ambassador to the Benelux countries... MORE
SHOULD UKRAINIAN NATIONALISTS MERGE WITH NEW PARTY OF POWER?
Ukraine's two strongest nationalist parties have refused to merge with President Viktor Yushchenko's new People's Union Our Ukraine party (NSNY). Addressing the party's founding congress on March 4, Yushchenko made it clear that he was unhappy about this development (see EDM, March 9). But staying... MORE
WILL MELNYCHENKO TAPES BE USED AS EVIDENCE IN GONGADZE PROSECUTION?
As an Interior Ministry colonel confesses to the murder of opposition journalist and Ukrayinska pravda founder Heorhiy Gongadze, one major issue remains; namely what evidence will the courts accept? (Segodnya, March 9) Former presidential guard Mykola Melnychenko secretly recorded 700 hours of tapes in President... MORE
YUSHCHENKO CREATES NEW PARTY OF POWER
On March 4-5, President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc transformed itself into a political party, the People's Union "Our Ukraine." The original boc was formed after parliament's April 2001 no-confidence vote removed Yushchenko's government. The bloc, consisting of 10 liberal and center-right parties, came first... MORE
FORMER MINISTER’S DEATH HAMPERS INVESTIGATION INTO GONGADZE MURDER
Former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko, who many observers believe had masterminded journalist Heorhiy Gongadze's disappearance in 2000, was found dead in his country house near Kyiv on March 4. His demise was preceded by President Viktor Yushchenko's March 1 statement about a final resolution... MORE
BANDAZHEVSKY CASE HIGHLIGHTS CHERNOBYL CONTROVERSIES
The protracted case of detained scientist Yuri Bandazhevsky continues to solicit international attention and serves as a reminder of how sensitive the Chernobyl issue remains for the Lukashenka regime. Recently the opposition newspaper Narodnaya Volya focused on the life of Bandazhesvky, the nuclear scientist and... MORE
KYIV LAUNCHES FAR-REACHING REFORM OF INTERIOR MINISTRY
It was inevitable that radical, democratizing reforms would be launched within the Ukrainian Interior Ministry (MVS) after the appointment of Yuriy Lutsenko as interior minister. Already, the new atmosphere inside the MVS has contributed to progress in the Gongadze murder investigation (see EDM, March 2).... MORE
CLOSING THE BOOKS ON THE GONGADZE CASE
On March 1, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko made the sensational announcement that the murderer of opposition journalist Heorhiy Gongadze had been apprehended (Ukrayinska pravda, March 1). Three senior Interior Ministry (MVS) officers are in custody, but it is not clear if one of these is... MORE
WILL SPEAKER LYTVYN GO INTO OPPOSITION?
Parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn's People's Party of Ukraine (PPU), formerly the Agrarian Party, may fill the niche of the non-Communist opposition to the new authorities ahead of the spring 2006 parliamentary elections. While the parties of the defeated elite that had generally been expected to... MORE