LVIV, Dec. 15 – The Dnistrovska pump storage plant will finally open this month, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said at the Lviv regional television and radio broadcasting company.

KIEV, Dec. 16 – A team of senior officials from the Finance Ministry left for Washington on Wednesday in what may be the final attempt to persuade the International Monetary Fund to resume lending to Ukraine.

KIEV, Dec. 16 - The Ukrainian government, which is facing a financial crunch, is planning to arrange financing from Russian energy giant Gazprom to pay for Russian natural gas imports in December, a senior official said Wednesday.

KIEV, Dec. 16 – Ukraine will not have its 2010 budget approved until after the next presidential election, which means at least a three-month delay, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Wednesday.

KIEV, Dec. 16 - Ukraine saw real GDP plummet 14.4% in November following a decline of 2.1% in October, the State Statistics Committee said on Monday.

The drop in GDP in November resulted in overall GDP growth in the first 11 months of 2008 slowing to 3.6% from 5.8% in the first ten months.

KIEV, Dec. 16 – President Viktor Yushchenko on Tuesday lost control over his Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense group in Parliament after a majority of its lawmakers signed an agreement creating a coalition with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

KIEV, Dec. 13 - President Viktor Yushchenko has said he is confident that Parliament will appoint its leadership and form a new government by the end of this year.

CHERKASSY, Dec. 14 - Incitement by local politicians belonging to “Orange Revolution” parties was a likely contributor to an act of anti-Semitic vandalism in Cherkassy, according to the Lviv office of the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union (UCSJ, a watchdog group.

KIEV, Dec. 15 – President Viktor Yushchenko on Saturday defended his nominations to the government, responding to growing concerns within his party, Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense, which has been seeking to have greater influence on the appointments.

KIEV, Dec. 14 – Five parties in Parliament signed a compromise agreement on Friday allowing the vote to approve Yulia Tymoshenko as Ukraine’s new prime minister to proceed on Tuesday using a show of hands.