KYIV, Oct 22 – Parliamentary Speaker Andriy Parubiy supported the "inevitable" decision by the Cabinet of Ministers led by Volodymyr Groysman to raise natural gas rates because this is a prerequisite for the support by the International Monetary Fund, which Ukraine desperately needs in order to avoid an economic crisis.

KIEV, Oct. 21 – The Ukrainian Finance Ministry has welcomed the decision of the Standard & Poor's rating agency to increase Ukraine's sovereign long-term and short-term rating to 'B-' and 'B,' respectively.

KIEV, Oct. 21 – Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk will take part in the Ukrainian-German business forum in Berlin on October 23, Economic Development and Trade Minister Aivaras Abromavicius said.

KIEV, Oct. 22 - Advanced radar systems being shipped to Ukraine to counter artillery strikes by pro-Russia separatists have been modified to prevent them from peering into Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing U.S. officials.

KIEV, Oct. 21 - President Petro Poroshenko has signed the law on amendments to the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code providing for the possibility of pre-trial investigation and court proceedings in the absence of the suspect (accused).

KIEV, Oct. 21 - President Petro Poroshenko has ordered that products manufactured by the Makarov Pivdenny Machine Building Plant (Pivdenmash) be included in the state defense order for 2015.

KIEV, Oct. 22 – If Kiev cannot reach an agreement with Moscow on buying another 5 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas, it could replace it by reverse-flow gas deliveries from European countries and fuel oil, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said.

BRUSSELS, Oct. 22 - EU leaders will urge Russia at a summit this week to do more to stabilize Ukraine, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters, but diplomats expect no change in sanctions on Moscow in the near future.

KIEV, Oct. 22 - President Petro Poroshenko's bloc holds a big lead ahead of Ukraine's election on Sunday while a rising populist party looks set to take second place, an opinion poll showed on Wednesday.

LUXEMBURG, Oct. 21 – Ukraine has achieved great success in the fulfillment of the conditions necessary for the signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union, but some of EU member states – the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Sweden – will not take a positive decision until Ukraine frees former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said.