KIEV, Dec. 21 – The European Commission initially planned to include several conditions in its report on the implementation of the Action Plan on Visa Liberalization (VLAP) by Ukraine but these were avoided through negotiations, President Petro Poroshenko said.

KIEV, Dec. 22 - President Petro Poroshenko is confident that the launch of a new Rivne nuclear power plant–Kiev substation power grid will allow the government to avoid rolling blackouts in Kiev and Kiev region.

KIEV, Dec. 22 – Parliament has passed a draft decision on abdication of People's Front faction member Mykola Martynenko of his deputy powers.

KIEV, Dec. 22 - The delay in the adoption of the national budget for 2016 agreed with the International Monetary Fund poses a threat to the economic and financial stability of Ukraine, the National Bank of Ukraine said on its website.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 - The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on 34 individuals and entities as part of its efforts to pressure Russia for its intervention in Ukraine, the U.S. Treasury Department said, Reuters reported.

KIEV, Dec. 22 – The government on Tuesday submitted a compromise bill amending the Tax Code (No. 3688) on provision of the balance of budget revenues in 2016, which envisages setting a 22% single social security tax and revoking the 3.6% single social security tax imposed on salaries of employees, starting from 2016.

KIEV, Dec. 29 – Parliament, in the early hours of Monday morning, passed a bill on measures to facilitate the capitalization and restructuring of banks in Ukraine.

KIEV, Dec. 29 - Only 8.3% of Ukrainians consider the signature of an association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union to be an important event for the country, as is seen from a poll of 3,035 respondents that the Kiev International Sociology Institute conducted under a contract with the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia Ukraine (Mirror of the Week Ukraine, zn.ua) publication in 179 populated areas of Ukraine on December 6-17.

KIEV, Dec. 29 - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for the speedy convening of a new round of talks of the contact group on the settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, reads a statement posted on the website of the German Federal Foreign Office.

KIEV, Dec. 29 – Additional taxes on imports into Ukraine will be levied only after productive talks with the European Union, said Yuriy Lutsenko leader of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction.