KIEV, Feb. 19 – Five lawmakers known for their personal loyalty to President Viktor Yushchenko quit the Our Ukraine party on Tuesday, testing the strength of the government coalition, which controls only a slim majority in Parliament.

KIEV, Feb. 19 – The rating of the Regions Party, the largest opposition group, plummeted following the party’s efforts to block Parliament’s work in protest of plans for rapid accession to NATO, an opinion poll shows.

KIEV, Feb. 19 - Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will hold natural gas supply talks with Russia on Wednesday “from scratch,” disregarding last week’s agreement between the presidents of Ukraine and Russia, a senior government official said Tuesday.

KIEV, Feb. 17 - The U.S. has granted market-economy status to Ukraine, U.S. Deputy Commerce Secretary David Sampson announced Friday after talks with Ukrainian officials over trade and investment relations. ???This determination reflects

KIEV, Feb. 17 - Ukraine on Friday came under sharp criticism from human rights groups for deporting 10 Uzbeks reportedly wanted by their government for their involvement in unrest in the city of Andijon in May 2005.

KIEV, Feb. 19 Turkmenistan criticized Ukraine on Sunday for delays in clearing almost $159 mln natural gas debt and warned further delays may undermine a long-term gas supply agreement between the two.

KIEV, Feb. 17 ??“ Western Union, the world??™s largest money transfer company, has lowered tariffs for money transfers to Ukraine from the Czech Republic, Poland, Kazakhstan and Greece, the company said.

WARSAW, Feb. 17 - Ukraine plans to invest more than $2 bln in proceeds from natural gas shipments into modernization of its gas transportation systems, Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov said Thursday.

PIVDENNOUKRAINSK, Jan 17 – Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi continues negotiations on the creation of a security protection zone at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (NPP), but they are going hard because of the different perceptions of the parties on this issue.

KYIV, Jan 17 – The Memorandum of Understanding, signed on Monday by Ukraine and the EU, contains 20 points in four blocks, the progress in the implementation of which will depend on the allocation of the second and subsequent tranche of the $18 billion expanded EU macro-financial assistance, reports said.