KIEV, Sept. 25 – The hryvnia lost value against the U.S. dollar on Thursday sliding below the level that the National Bank of Ukraine had earlier pledged to defend. The bank made no interventions.

BRUSSELS, Sept. 24 – The European Commission said it "has always strictly demonstrated" the need for Ukraine to introduce a non-visa regime for all member states of the European Union, in particular, for Romania and Bulgaria, which is the prerequisite of ratifying a visa facilitation agreement.

KIEV, Sept. 25 - President Viktor Yushchenko has suspended cabinet resolution No. 1,105 of Sept. 5 on the privatization of minority stakes in six regional electricity supply companies in which the state owns controlling stakes.

KIEV, Sept. 25 – Following a tip, Ukraine’s police and security agents took precautionary measures Tuesday to ensure safety for Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych at a campaign rally in Kharkiv.

“Specialists on explosives have been working on the site, jointly with the SBU security service and police,” Larysa Volkova, a spokeswoman for local police department, told MediaPort, a local newswire. “We can’t disclose the nature of the measures.”

KIEV, Sept. 25 – Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych’s Regions Party is recruiting people among its supporters throughout Ukraine for use in staging street protests in Kiev after the Sept. 30 election.

KIEV, Sept. 25 – President Viktor Yushchenko said Tuesday he will not hesitate to nominate Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister, as the new prime minister if pro-Western parties jointly win the Sept. 30 snap election.

KIEV, Sept. 25 ??“ Parliament has overridden a presidential veto of a law freezing energy prices for households, tariffs on municipal services, and public transport services, with the exception of taxi services, through year end.

KIEV, Sept. 25 ??“ Iryna Herashchenko, President Viktor Yushchenko??™s press secretary, resigned on Monday amid ongoing reshuffling at the presidential office and rising tensions between the office and the Cabinet of Ministers.

KIEV, Sept. 25 ??“ President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych appeared headed for a constitutional deadlock on Monday after the presidential office insisted that Yushchenko decrees must be implemented by the government.

NEW YORK, Sept. 25 - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told her Ukrainian counterpart on Monday that Washington was eager to work with the new government of pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.