29 March 2010

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych symbolically selected Brussels as his first foreign visit upon taking the oath of office in what can only be seen as an exercise in public relations. The new government of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov headed straight for Moscow shortly thereafter with the sole intention of cutting a deal.

09 March 2010

Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s new president, may very well prove to all his critics and naysayers that he’s no Russian wannabe, but the burly Donbass boss is still a bear – no less power hungry and ferocious than the ones in Moscow.

26 February 2010

Viktor Yanukovych, the bad guy in Ukraine’s pro-democracy movement of 2004, has been inaugurated president, but no one is quite sure what kind of changes he will make in the strategically important but chronically unstable country. Yankovych himself may not have a firm idea of his policy objectives – judging by the vague phrasing he chooses in public appearances.

19 February 2010

Another colorful Ukrainian election has been held, to the indifference of many voters and the relief of many foreign investors and governments. And while Victor Yanukovych is still trying to uphold his victory against the legal objections being raised by challenger Yulia Tymoshenko, the law itself could be defrauded.

29 January 2010

It is an established fact that Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has lost his chance to be re-elected. His public support going into the first round on January 17 was dismally low, in what many saw as an indictment of the country’s 2004 Orange Revolution – a pro-Western popular uprising that lifted Yushchenko to power. However, the end of the Yushchenko era may not be as definitive as it seems.

15 January 2010

Ukraine first surfaced on the modern world map in the autumn of 2004, during the country’s euphoric Orange Revolution. The streets of Kyiv became a stage of democratic heroism for international television crews. Fear of a real revolution gradually subsided, as the old guard of journalist-killing, all-powerful fat cats seemed to sink into the soiled woodwork of the nation’s dark recent past.

18 December 2009

Ukraine is about to elect a new president, but the main contenders are anything but new. In first place in the polls is former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, the villain of the 2004 race, which was decided only after the country’s Orange Revolution.

07 December 2009

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has always had a special relationship with the European Union, which over the years of his administration has developed into something like his country’s parental advisor. During the Thirteenth EU-Ukraine summit recently held in Kyiv, this parent-child relationship shone through like never before, with EU officials rebuking the embattled Ukrainian leader for failing to implement promises of reform.

12 November 2009

Ukraine is paying more money for less gas from Russia than it ever has, but you wouldn’t have thought so judging by the hostile rhetoric that continues to come from Moscow. "If they don't pay for gas supplies for internal consumption in Ukraine, they won't receive it," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin recently told reporters in Moscow on November 11.

09 November 2009

Ukraine appears to be in the grips of an epidemic, but that hasn’t put a damper on the country’s political buffoonery. Five years ago, during the last presidential election campaign, Ukrainians turned a political revolution into a carnival, and now they are doing the same with a flu outbreak.

30 October 2009

The Ukrainian presidential election campaign began on October 19 – just in time for Halloween. And in keeping with the haunting holiday spirit, all the contenders for the nation’s top job are looking spookier than ever. The candidates are not out to frighten voters, though. Instead, they want to scare each other with dirty tricks and outrageous PR, which will surely keep apace until the New Year, when voting is scheduled.

22 October 2009

U.S. President Barack Obama has been in office for less than a year, but he already looks destined to preside over the decline of his country’s extensive global influence. In this sense, he is not unlike Mikhail Gorbachev, who closed the curtains on the Soviet Union to the applause of nearly everyone, save his own people.

30 September 2009

Almost as soon as Ukraine gained its independence nearly a generation ago, investors and analysts began speaking of the country’s great potential – as the breadbasket of Europe, as a consumer population of 50 million, as a beacon of democracy on the border with Russia, etc. These hopes have still not died, but they are slowly being smothered by a seemingly never ending cycle of disappointments.

22 September 2009

Arseny Yatsenyuk has been on Ukraine’s political stage for some time, as the nation’s top banker, top parliamentarian and more than one kind of Cabinet minister. Now, he is running for president, as an alternative to the dynamic trio of President Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and three-time loser Viktor Yanukovych.

01 September 2009

Ukrainian politics have been a three-horse race ever since the country’s ethereal Orange Revolution. Some have described this race as democracy – wild and exciting, if not fair or progressive. But with internal divisions, relations with Russia and economic despair worse than ever, most Ukrainians would just like to harness one of these snorting beasts to some vehicle of palpable development, to make him do something useful.

25 August 2009

As what promises to be another tumultuous and no doubt vicious Ukrainian presidential election approaches, we are once again reminded of what’s at stake. To some, it’s about the choice between East and West. To others, the elections are part of the growing pains of a fledgling state. As for me, I am reminded of Nestor Makhno, Ukraine’s famous anarchist.

28 July 2009

A lot has been written about U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Kyiv. But the man didn’t say anything earth shattering, because there really wasn’t anything earth shattering to say. More importantly, it really wasn’t clear whom he should have been trying to deliver Washington’s message to in Ukraine, as no one has been in charge of the newly independent country for a long time.

14 July 2009

Under Ukraine’s last president, Leonid Kuchma, crime and punishment were pretty straight forward affairs. If you were a poor slob caught near the scene of a crime, you would be quickly whisked off to a remand center and possibly tortured along the way. Whether you were guilty or not, you stayed in that remand center with the faint hope of being pardoned or just let out.

29 June 2009

When I think about who’s going to be the next Ukrainian president, I don’t wonder about the know-how of the campaign strategists or the ability of the eventual winner. The last presidential election wasn’t about campaign know-how, but rather about vicious tactics and dirty tricks, eventually ending in a back-room compromise that has ever since called into question the know-how and ability of the winner: President Viktor Yushchenko.

16 June 2009

Ever since Russia first turned off the tap at the turn of 2006, during the so-called ‘first gas war’, Ukraine has felt its position as the gas line to Europe under pressure. Before that, the fledgling democracy had bought its gas at a fraction of the market value, with corrupt intermediaries making a windfall on the difference in the prices from exports.

27 May 2009

In 2004, as the country readied itself to elect a new president, one who would replace the thoroughly disgraced Leonid Kuchma, there was a feeling that most ordinary and well-placed Ukrainians were gradually falling into line behind the then young and reform-minded hopeful, Viktor Yushchenko.

19 May 2009

There is an eerie feeling in Eastern Europe. The color revolutions have faded like a well worn tie-dyed t-shirt that once looked bright but always lacked a clear design. The revolutionary dream of former Soviet satellite states to join Western Europe was always vague if for no other reason than Western Europe’s own lack of identity and purpose. Now, the dreamers are awakening to a new, uncertain and ominously familiar day.

28 April 2009

Ukrainians are a hospitable nation, and that cannot be denied. To be sure, the people here don’t smile as a matter of civility, and service-industry workers are sometimes blunt to the point of rudeness. But anyone who has been invited to a Ukrainian home can attest to the warmth and attention with which their hosts invariably received them.

16 April 2009

It sometimes seems difficult to believe, but it’s been almost five years since Ukraine underwent its Orange Revolution – an event that for many put the country on the world map. For others, however, the heady days of late 2004 were a big show that has ended in even bigger disappointments.

30 March 2009

He first rose to national political prominence in 2002, when he was appointed Ukrainian prime minister under President Leonid Kuchma. Analysts immediately foresaw a shift in power toward the country’s so-called Donetsk clan, which Yanukovych represented.

10 March 2009

We all know about the rise and fall of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. He was respected as the head of the National Bank, then trusted during his short stint as prime minister, and finally swept into the presidency during the country's Orange Revolution. It seemed like a fairy-tale political career - and indeed it was.

24 February 2009

Ukraine is dangerously close to a sovereign default, the analysts are telling us. The currency has already dived to nearly half of its value of last summer, along with traded stocks. Worse yet, many of the nation's banks are expected to fail, taking down with them the hopes and savings of a fledgling consumer society.

09 February 2009

One of the causes most often given for the start of World War One is the maze of bilateral treaties that had been signed between the European powers of the day. One country was obliged to declare war against another because it had signed a mutual defense pact to come to its ally’s aid in case of an attack.

20 January 2009

It is often the case that wars result in a redrawing of international maps or a reshuffling of a country's political deck. Ukraine's recent gas war with Russia appears to be no exception in as much as it is likely to change the face of Europe's energy map while reshuffling the political elite in Kyiv. Wars, however, not only offer up spoils to the victor; they also spoil a lot of other things for those who are involved or not.

18 December 2008

The lady in braids has shown the political skill and ruthlessness worthy of Russian czars and Bolshevik commissars. The presidential race is still over a year away, and in a country like Ukraine anything can happen in the interim, but for now Ms. Tymoshenko is firmly in control of the chessboard of power in Kyiv.

10 December 2008

For centuries, Ukraine's Cossacks were able to play off the superpowers of their time. Some would argue that the survival of the Ukrainian nation depended on a 'flexible' foreign policy. Unfortunately, the result of this policy was a culture of persistent internal division that eventually led to Russian domination.

01 December 2008

Americans celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 27, but they have a lot less to be thankful for during these difficult economic times. Congress has approved a $700 billion bailout for the country to ease its financial constraint, but no one seems to know where the money is going.

24 November 2008

A report recently released by U.S. intelligence agencies predicts that American influence on the global stage will diminish over the next 15 years, as the rise of powers such as China, India and other third-world giants creates a more multi-polar planet. So where does Ukraine fit into this scenario?

17 November 2008

Now, more than any time since the country gained independence 17 years ago, Ukraine looks destined to come back under Russian hegemony. Ironically, the more the pro-Western administration of President Viktor Yushchenko resists this outcome, the greater the chances of it coming about.

10 November 2008

The buzz over the election of America's first black president, Barack Obama, continues unabated. Fresh faced, eloquent and from a modest background, his 'story' sells well just about everywhere. But being liked so much for doing so little is a little like being king for a day, secretly hoping that the reality of tomorrow never has to come.

31 October 2008

The 2008 U.S. presidential-election campaign has been watched with much anticipation, both at home and abroad. There’s a woman vice president on the Republican ticket, and an African-American being fielded by the Democrats for the nation’s top job. Whichever party wins, history will be made.

27 October 2008

Along with Eastern Europe's other so-called emerging economies, Ukraine has been posting impressive rates of growth over the past several years. Now all that has been undone, and everyone is hoping that the International Monetary Fund will come to Ukraine's rescue.

17 October 2008

With stability no where in sight and two more elections just around the corner, Ukraine's political playground is proving to be increasingly fractious. More importantly, the lunch mothers in the West are more concerned about a looming world recession, leaving Ukraine more and more to the over-protective oversight of Mother Russia.

09 October 2008

Ukraine is going to hold its fifth general elections in as many years, but don't expect the upcoming parliamentary vote to stabilize the country's chaotic political arena any time soon. Ever since President Viktor Yushchenko was elected on a pro-Western platform back in 2005, the seats of power in the former Soviet republic have been contested in a no-holds-barred dogfight that is desperate to the point of absurdity. 

01 September 2008

Since 1991, Ukraine has sat on the fence like a country coquette with her back to her jealous ex-husband Russia, from which the country’s ‘elite’ have nevertheless continued to get rich on cheap gas, while batting her eyes at the glamorous West, which offers lots of nice gifts but never a firm proposal of marriage.

18 August 2008

By sending troops into Georgia earlier this month, the Kremlin has shown its willingness to use force to check the advance of the West into what it considers Russia's zone of influence. The pretext for the invasion, Georgia's military clampdown on its separatist region of South Ossetia, is irrelevant.

06 August 2008

Ukraine has again been challenged by disaster – not another coalmine disaster, which continue to claim lives on a small scale, or a deadly military mishap (thank goodness), or even a gas explosion at one of the country’s innumerable apartment blocs. No, this time it’s flooding in the country’s rural western regions.

28 July 2008

On Friday, July 25, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement in which it noted that "events dedicated to the 1,020th anniversary of the acceptance of Christianity by Rus are being held in Kyiv in an atmosphere of disrespect toward the Russian Orthodox Church and the feelings of millions of Orthodox believers in Russia and Ukraine."

22 July 2008

Remember the shell game, in which the unsuspecting player is challenged to follow a little ball with his eyes as it rolls from under one shell to the next with lightning speed? When the game operator finally stops, the player is asked to guess which shell the ball lies under in order to win a prize. However, in most cases, the operator has already managed to slip the ball into his own hands, thereby making any guess by the player a losing one.

15 July 2008

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has lost a lot since the heady days of his country’s Orange Revolution – executive power (due to constitutional changes), voter support (due to endless infighting) and international prestige (for lack of reform). More recently, his reputation as a martyr for democracy has also come under threat.

08 July 2008

If there is one thing that has been hard to change in independent Ukraine, it's the country's image. Maybe that's why Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who has seen his own near demigod image from the 2004 Orange Revolution reduced to that of a mere man desperate to be re-elected, is so keen on successfully hosting the European football championship in 2012.

01 July 2008

Last weekend saw the visit of Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to Moscow, where she met with Vladimir Putin for the first time since he went from being Russia’s president to heading his country’s government. During the joint press conference both premiers chose their words carefully, demonstrating the sensitivity of current Russian-Ukrainian relations.

25 June 2008

Ever since Ukraine’s Orange Revolution swept pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko into power, summer has been a time of particular discontent in the country’s political life. The summer of 2005 saw infighting in the Orange camp escalate into Yushchenko’s firing of co-revolutionary Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

18 June 2008

If NATO can bring Ukrainians rule of law and a decent living standard, it would already have justified its expansion. But judging by the way other Western reforms have been perverted in Ukraine, one couldn’t be blamed for having serious doubts. Probably with more candidness, Mr. Yushchenko pointed out that Ukraine can join any international organization that it likes.

11 June 2008

There is an old joke in Ukraine: two Ukrainians find a bottle containing a genie who grants them each a wish. The first Ukrainian requests and gets what he wants; the second Ukrainian uses his wish to cancel the wish of his countryman. The joke is that envy to the detriment of one's own interests is part of the Ukrainian national character. Certainly this seems to be the case with the country’s politicians.

05 June 2008

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and his one-time ally Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko have increasingly traded blows over the country’s budget, privatization, energy policy and, most recently, the Kyiv mayoral elections; however, when it comes to foreign policy, the two politicians who rose to power during Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution show unusual and possibly even unintended solidarity.

30 May 2008

The crusade to raise the Ukrainian language heads and shoulders above Russian continues apace in Kyiv and other parts of the country, but as with most crusades, it’s not clear what the end goal is. Ukraine’s State Cinema Service recently announced that all films made in Ukraine must be in Ukrainian starting in July. All foreign films shown in Ukraine are already required to be dubbed or subtitled in Ukrainian.

22 May 2008

Ukraine is a country that continues to integrate into the world community, receiving assistance from other countries along the way. The donors gain, for example, by making Ukraine a better trade partner or preventing an outbreak of an infectious disease among its population. But sometimes the international assistance is not met with open arms - or even outstretched ones with rolled up sleeves.

13 May 2008

Over the holiday-filled weekend, Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov arrived in the history-filled city of Sevastopol to challenge the history and geopolitical relations of Ukraine and Russia. The official purpose of Mr. Luzhkov's visit was to take part in the celebration of the 225th anniversary of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which fell on Europe Day (May 11) and just after Victory Day (May 9).

06 May 2008

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov led a government delegation to Kyiv on April 25. It was only a one-day visit, and Zubkov is expected to be replaced sometime this month anyway, following the inauguration of the new Russian president.

25 April 2008

Not only are Ukraine's colleges and universities as corrupt as most other institutions, they serve as a breeding ground for successive generations of bribe takers, cheats and nepotists; so, why not teach Ukrainian youth right from the start the value of earning rather than buying one's success?

18 April 2008

It’s no secret that Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko have not enjoyed good relations for a long time. But ever since the two politicians found themselves neck and neck in the stretch for the presidency, their simmering mutual antipathy has flared up into open hostility.

14 April 2008

On May 25, around two million voters in Kyiv will elect a new mayor. It will be an early election, as was the case with the last parliamentary poll in September. But more importantly for the business clans and political blocs taking part, the two month race to control the Ukrainian capital, which started on March 26, will be a dress rehearsal for the presidential elections scheduled for late next year.

07 April 2008

NATO leaders arrived for their summit in Bucharest last week in an atmosphere of uncertainty bordering on mistrust. Outgoing US president George Bush continued to push for the inclusion of Ukraine and Georgia into the alliance, while European heavyweights Germany and France voiced the opposition of older member states to further eastern expansion.

31 March 2008

The presidential campaign in America is still a three-way race between Obama, Clinton and McCain. But in Ukraine, where the elections are still two years off, it’s everyone against Yulia Tymoshenko. Appearing before a government meeting on Wednesday, March 26, the fiery female politician said her opponents had already begun attempts to undermine the fragile pro-Western majority in parliament.

24 March 2008

On March 26, the campaign for early mayoral elections kicks off in Kyiv. Current mayor Leonid Chernovetsky was elected to office exactly two years to the day in 2006, but his political opponents believe that he's already overstayed his welcome. So on March 18 they put together a parliamentary majority to approve early elections for May 25.

17 March 2008

Modern Ukrainian politics were born of the country's 2004 Orange Revolution, in which Western-reformer Viktor Yushchenko defeated the fraud-filled presidential bid of Moscow's favorite, Viktor Yanukovych. But the revolution was conceived in 2000 with the grisly murder of thirty-one-year-old journalist Georgiy Gongadze.

07 March 2008

On March 8, Ukraine celebrates International Women’s Day. Days before the official holiday are marked in the capital Kyiv, one can see men rushing to and from with bouquets of flowers bought from the ubiquitous street vendor. Although March 8 is a day off for all Ukrainians, men are under obligation to spoil their wives, mothers, sisters, coworkers and lovers by all means.

29 February 2008

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has made international recognition of the Holodomor his personal crusade. Good for him. The famine of 1932-1933 claimed some six to eight million Ukrainian lives - as much as a quarter of the population - and it wasn’t a natural catastrophe. Yushchenko wants the Holodomor recognized as genocide, thus putting Ukraine’s tragedy on the same level as the Jewish Holocaust.

22 February 2008

Just into his fourth year as president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko is beginning to act a lot like the man he replaced during the country's Orange Revolution. Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma is often remembered for waffling on Western integration, crushing freedom of speech and overseeing a state apparatus steeped in corruption.

15 February 2008

Ukraine has been an independent and sovereign nation for over 16 years, its last two elections were called the fairest ever, and earlier this month it was invited to join the World Trade Organization. So when the country’s interior minister decides to strike the mayor of the capital city, some eyebrows are going to be raised.

08 February 2008

Once again, Russia has resorted to threats and bullying in an ongoing effort to keep Ukraine subservient. And once again, its weapon of choice is gas. Most colonial divorces have been characterized by the colony cutting off the colonizer from its supply of natural resources. But with Russia, the situation is exactly the opposite - at least that's the way it seems on the surface.

31 January 2008

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s long running efforts to break the stranglehold on her country’s gas supplies are beginning to pay off – due to assistance from an unlikely ally. Russia, which has been widely accused of using gas sales to put geopolitical pressure on Ukraine and other Western neighbors, now appears to be cleaning up its act.

25 January 2008

The Orange Revolution gave Ukraine a new, pro-Western president - if not always an Orange prime minister. But the Prosecutor-General's Office, which decides who gets put in jail, has remained steadily in the hands of Yanukovych's Blue, Donetsk clan since the days of President Leonid Kuchma. Why this is so remains a matter of speculation.

21 January 2008

The issue of whether Ukraine should join NATO has returned to the public agenda, sparking off heated debates between supporters and opponents of the country’s bid. In the past, such polemics have usually meant proponents of Euro-Atlantic unity coming under attack by pro-Russian factions in the run up to an important election or a NATO-sponsored military exercise on home soil.

11 January 2008

It’s a new year, and Ukraine has a new government headed by a fiery reformer with a penchant for making high-stake gambles. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is known as the gas queen – more for how she earned her money back in the 1990’s than for how she has tried to clean up her country’s gas sector in more recent years. But clean it up she has tried, against highly formidable of opponents at home and abroad.

28 December 2007

The only thing that causes Ukrainians to passionately take sides, cry foul and then throw up their hands in disappointment more than their football is their politics. More than just a game, politics the Ukrainian way is about unquestioning loyalty to one’s team to the point of bending every rule in the book for the sake of a victory chock-full of financial incentives.

19 December 2007

Yulia Tymoshenko was approved as Ukrainian prime minister on December 18. This marks the beginning of Ms. Yulia's second stint as head of government. She was nominated both times by pro-Western president Viktor Yushchenko, whom she helped rise to power during the country's 2004 Orange Revolution, and then hold on to authority during this year's power struggle.

29 November 2007

There is more than one way for a state leader to abuse his power, and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is practicing the 'softest' way of all. You can't call him a dictator who imposes his will on his people, as it's not clear what Mr. Yushchenko's will is - beyond the fact that he wants to stay in power, as do all state leaders.

23 November 2007

Ukraine has broken another record for disasters - a record it set itself for itself. On November 18, at three o'clock in the morning, a methane blast rocked a coal mine in eastern, Donetsk Region, claiming the lives of at least 89 miners. Prior to the tragedy, a mine in neighboring Luhansk Region had been the site of the country's worst coal industry disaster.

15 November 2007

Reports of racism and anti-Semitism in Ukraine climbed to prominence in the nation’s media last month. Whether this had anything to do with the October 14 commemoration of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) is a matter of speculation. On that day, a few people exhibiting Nazi symbols took part in a parade otherwise composed of Ukrainian nationalists.

07 November 2007

There's nothing like a national tragedy to build a nation, especially if the details of the tragedy are buried in history, and the blame for it can be put on a regional bully. Ukraine's Holodomor is such a tragedy. Yes, at least three million hapless Ukrainians died of hunger, disease and privation in 1932-1933, and No, they shouldn't be forgotten - by anyone.

30 October 2007

The motivation of Ukrainian businessmen with influence if not seats in parliament to keep out foreign competition should not be underestimated. One need only do a quick cost comparison of what consumers are forced to pay in the Ukrainian capital for food, clothing, mobile communications, etc. in order to guess what kind of profits are at risk from a freer market.

22 October 2007

Ukraine held general elections on September 30, but power sharing in the country remains to be decided in subsequent voting devoid of public participation and full of backroom intrigue. For a second time in a row, Ukraine has pulled off an internationally accepted demonstration of the people's will, with rank and file citizens putting an end to a crippling stand off between their two highest executive leaders.

15 October 2007

On Saturday morning, a gas explosion rocked a block of flats in eastern Dnipropetrovsk Region, claiming at least 13 lives as of Sunday evening. Many more were injured or left homeless, while rescuers continue to search the rubble for survivors. Ukrainian political leaders responded immediately with the usual public promises to punish the guilty and help the victims.

08 October 2007

With parties heir to Ukraine's Orange Revolution perched to retake full control of the country’s executive, Orange president Viktor Yushchenko is again demonstrating the kind of dubious indecision that cost them the government in the first place. His one-time revolutionary sidekick, opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, was the real winner in the September 30 snap elections, earning enough votes to come back as premier.

01 October 2007

The queen of Ukrainian politics, opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, was the unofficial victor in Ukraine’s snap elections on Sunday, with exit polls indicating she will head the next government. But Tymoshenko’s ascension to power will be anything but a sexy saunter, as her enemies are unlikely to allow themselves to be sidelined by a pretty populist.

24 September 2007

There was a time when educated Ukrainians didn't read the latest bestseller translated from English, or Dostoyevsky (pardon - Taras Shevchenko). During the middle ages, the literate were versed in what are called the Lives of Saints. The typical plot of these religious works is the struggle of a God-fearing Christian against heathens, nature or sinners. Times and tastes have changed, of course.

17 September 2007

When EU leaders visited Kyiv on September 14 for the annual Ukraine-EU Summit, they didn't say a lot that was new. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, their host, also stuck to his usual, pro-Western rhetoric. Nevertheless, taking place just two weeks before Ukraine's fateful, early parliamentary elections, the summit served as a nice sounding board.

10 September 2007

If Ukraine wants to maintain its dynamic economic growth, it's going to have to cut red tape and bring down barriers to competition, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD). The report marks the first-ever assessment of Ukraine by the OECD, a largely Western organization dedicated to free markets and representative democracy.

03 September 2007

The hottest topic in Ukrainian politics these days is whether lawmakers should lose their perks. With early elections scheduled for September 30, parliamentary hopefuls need the issue to motivate an otherwise fed up electorate. The tricky part, though, is that all the major blocs are promising the country the same thing - to strip themselves and their colleagues of long-held immunity from prosecution.

27 August 2007

Ukraine recently marked 16 years of independence, on August 24^th. In less than a month, on September 30^th, Ukrainians will vote for a new parliament in early elections. One might be tempted to think that a sense of national purpose is foremost in the minds of many Ukrainians and their leaders, but that would mean taking the country too seriously.

22 August 2007

According to a recent poll, only just over 50 percent of Ukrainians consider August 24th a real holiday, while around 42 percent think it's just a day off. With that kind of attitude, one wonders whether Soviet apologists who accuse the West of engineering the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian independence, were right.

13 August 2007

The city of Kyiv is planning to expand its Metropolitan, or system of underground and surface trains, before the year 2012, when Ukraine will host the European football championship together with Poland. What a relief for pedestrians and motorists alike! The estimated cost has been set at 3 billion dollars.

06 August 2007

More recently a somewhat different climate has taken hold in the Verkhovna Rada, a defrosting of traditional blocs and possibly another chance at the formation of a grand coalition on the horizon. The politician most immediately to be affected by the thaw is parliamentary speaker Oleksandr Moroz, whose surname translates as ‘frost’.

30 July 2007

Ukraine is expected to continue enjoying solid growth in GDP and a healthy inflow of foreign direct investment, as its economy continues to mature. That’s the forecast for the near term. But the country’s long-term economic prospects will depend a lot on how it develops its education system.

23 July 2007

The modern Ukrainian state was born from the ashes of Chernobyl, the world’s worst nuclear accident. So, one might think that the young country’s leaders would be a particularly careful lot. Keep thinking. A chemical spill in western Lviv Region was the latest disaster to strike, causing around a thousand people to evacuate their homes, and over 180 to be hospitalized.

16 July 2007

To be or not to be a member of NATO – that is the question for Ukrainians, who still aren’t in a position to decide the issue. Public opinion polls conducted in the country continue to show that most Ukrainians are against joining the Western military alliance. But advocates of NATO membership  insist that Ukrainians have not been given an accurate picture of what the alliance is about.

09 July 2007

European banking giants continue to buy up an ever larger share of Ukraine’s banking market with the aim of getting in on the country’s lending boom. Is this a good thing? The share of foreign capital in Ukraine’s banking system could go from today’s 32 percent to as much as 45 percent by the end of this year, according to Ukraine’s National Bank (NBU).

28 June 2007

On June 28, Ukraine celebrated its Constitution, with every politician and his brother demanding that the much abused document be altered yet again. It was only eleven years ago that lawmakers had worked through the night to reach a compromise on the creation of a supreme law for the newly independent state. Ukraine’s Constitution was hailed as a guarantee of individual rights for all Ukrainian citizens.

25 June 2007

The Soviet authorities loved to portray their country to the world as a dictatorship of workers and peasants. In fact, the peasants were at the bottom of the Soviet Union’s socio-economic hierarchy, forced to feed the workers, the army and the party functionaries who controlled their lives.

18 June 2007

Perhaps nothing better illustrates Ukrainian authorities’ inability to deal with their country’s most serious problems than their inordinate occupation with monuments. Instead of healing deep national wounds or preventing them from being inflicted again, the authorities often prefer to cover things up with an inexpensive slab of stone, a Band Aid for all occasions.

13 June 2007

If you want to punish someone for doing something that isn’t considered wrong by everyone else, it’s very convenient to come up with another justification, even if you have to dig it up from the past. Speaking in Moscow on the eve of the G-8 summit in Germany, Putin said that Russia was through with subsidizing Ukraine and other post-Soviet states with energy resources.

04 June 2007

Ukraine has got a new prosecutor-general, who really isn’t new at all, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone who has followed the country’s politics. Top officials are changed like underwear, socks and sheets. The only problem is that the laundry doesn’t get any cleaner as a result.

28 May 2007

A truce has been announced in the seemingly never-ending conflict between Ukraine’s pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko and his Moscow-leaning nemesis, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych – but can anyone take it serious?
Only Saturday, the country was again attracting the attention of international leaders and media... 

21 May 2007

If the EU is having trouble finding a common language with the Kremlin, what does this mean for Ukraine, which continues to awkwardly straddle the east-west divide in search of stability? Friday’s Russia-EU summit in Samara was supposed to address touchy issues like human rights and energy supplies. But judging by the press conference held thereafter, both sides agreed not to agree.

14 May 2007

Since President Leonid Kuchma left the scene two years ago, along with his questionable multi-vector policy, Ukraine has been undergoing a revolution – between the two Viktors, Donetsk and Kyiv, East and West – and it’s still not clear where the country will stop or when.    

07 May 2007

A well-known Ukrainian politician said not too long ago that reaching political compromise in his country was a lot like the making of sausages – the average Ukrainian really wouldn’t want to observe the process. Nevertheless, as the standoff between President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yanukovych heads toward a settlement, the country’s sausage factory has been laid open to public view like never before.

27 April 2007

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is finally starting to employ the tactics of his opponents in the government and the majority it controls in parliament. Long accused of indecision and by observers and even his supporters, Yushchenko has now turned to brinkmanship and blitzkrieg appointments in a last-ditch effort to regain control of executive power.

23 April 2007

Ever since Yanukovych returned as Ukraine’s prime minister last summer, the country’s privatization drive has started moving in reverse, back to the days of shady state auctions, as under former President Leonid Kuchma. In fact, concerns have recently been raised that Yanukovych’s government may now find it expedient to turn over valuable state assets without even going through the trouble of holding tenders.

16 April 2007

The threat of Ukraine veering off the path of democratic development is greater now than ever before, with increasingly authoritarian Russia welcoming the opportunity to recoup lost influence in the region. Yet, unlike during Ukraine’s democratic Orange Revolution over two years ago, Europe and North America appear more reluctant to publicly support the country’s pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko.

09 April 2007

The sequel to Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution, when hundreds of thousands of peaceful street protesters forced the authorities in Kyiv to hold honest presidential elections, seems to be attracting almost as much of an international audience as the original. And although, like most sequels, Orange Revolution II lacks the excitement and drama of the original.