BRUSSELS, Nov. 29 – EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht has confirmed that Kiev and Brussels agreed at the EU-Ukraine summit on November 22 that they will come to an agreement on the issue of a free-trade area in the first half of 2011.

KIEV, Dec. 1 – President Viktor Yanukovych has asked prosecutors at various levels to step up the fight against corruption and boost supervision of the activities of controlling bodies as a part of the fight against illegal drug sales.

ASTANA, Dec. 1 – Ukraine's state budget for 2011 will be formed based on the new Tax Code, President Viktor Yanukovych said.

This would ensure the implementation of reforms in the public sector, the Ukrainian president told EBRD President Thomas Mirow during their meeting in Astana on Wednesday.

KIEV, Dec. 1 - A standoff between the authorities and protesters may deepen after reports emerged that an apparently unauthorized group of entrepreneurs has resumed separate talks with the government over tax legislation.

KIEV, Dec. 1 – President Viktor Yushchenko has received credentials from the ambassadors of Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Ireland, Congo, Malawi, New Zealand, Peru and Sudan.

KIEV, Dec. 1 – Russia, which heavily supported Viktor Yanukovych in the 2004 presidential election, will now back Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko ahead of the next vote in January 2010, a Tymoshenko ally said Tuesday.

KIEV, Nov. 30 – President Viktor Yushchenko has urged Russia to refrain from making groundless statements concerning the demarcation of the joint border and take steps to create a joint commission responsible for demarcation in order to start the demarcation in the near future.

KIEV, Dec. 1 – The Ukrainian authorities should not apply a strategy of economic populism and mercantilism during the global crisis, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Shigeo Katsu said in an article for the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia newspaper.

KIEV, Dec. 1 – President Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine group on Monday nominated Ivan Pliushch, Yushchenko’s long-time ally, as the speaker of Parliament in a move that may pave the way for creating a grand coalition.

The nomination comes days after Yushchenko regained formal leadership of Our Ukraine and the issue is expected to be debated in Parliament on Tuesday.

KIEV, Dec. 1 – President Viktor Yushchenko said Monday the hryvnia was “deeply undervalued” and warned that any further devaluation against the U.S. dollar would force him to shake up the National Bank of Ukraine’s management.