KIEV, Nov. 2 - Pro-Russian rebels elected a separatist leadership in eastern Ukraine on Sunday in a vote President Petro Poroshenko called "a farce,” Reuters reported.

Mining electrician-turned-rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko won over 81 percent of the vote, according to exit polls.

KIEV, Oct. 30 – The National Bank of Ukraine has lifted the two restrictions on foreign currency purchases which were criticized by businesses most – limitations on payments for imports without bringing commodities into Ukraine and on payments under import agreements under when commodities have arrived in Ukraine, undergone customs clearance on the basis of bills of entry whose date of registration exceeds 180 days.

KIEV, Oct. 30 – The decision by the International Monetary Fund to provide the next tranche to Ukraine as part of a Stand-By Arrangement could be taken next year, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said.

KIEV, Nov. 2 - Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, sentenced to seven years in prison for negotiating a controversial natural gas contract with Russia, called on European Union leaders Wednesday to continue cooperation with Ukraine despite her arrest.

KIEV, Nov. 2 – President Viktor Yanukovych, citing reports by law enforcement agencies, said Wednesday the authorities may come under attack from armed protesters exploiting public outrage with the government’s plans to cut social benefits.

KIEV, Nov. 2 - Kharkiv’s controversial mayoral election vote count - slow from the start - ground to a halt on Tuesday, following the crash of a main computer holding crucial election data.

BRUSSELS, Oct. 30 - The European Commission on Friday proposed the Council of the European Union provide up to EUR 500 million of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine, according to a statement by the European Commission.

KIEV, Nov. 2 – The signing of a law on the increase of social standards by the Ukrainian president brings to a minimum the likelihood of the allocation of a fourth tranche of the IMF's Stand-By credit this year, according to Andriy Nesteruk, senior analyst Phoenix Capital Investment Company.

He said that IMF's requirements are not groundless in this case.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 – The program of the International Monetary Fund has stabilized the Ukrainian economy, but the law increasing social standards in the country poses a threat to this stability, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.

KIEV, Nov. 2 - President Viktor Yushchenko on Monday called on the government to take “urgent measures” to renegotiate a natural gas agreement with Russia to prevent political aggravation by the end of the year.