KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. President Viktor Yushchenko offered condolences to relatives and folks of Russian politician and economist Yegor Gaidar on his death, UKRINFORM reports with reference to the presidential press service. "An extraordinary person died, a politician and state

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has said she is totally against the Regions Party's initiative to increase the retirement age, which was announced by MP Mykhailo Papiyev on Wednesday. She said that statements by a Regions

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. Trading on the interbank currency market completed at 7.9665-7.9770 UAH/USD. According to the InterBusinessConsulting Company, trading in the euro completed at 11.6030-11.6200 UAH/EUR, trading in the ruble - 0.2631-0.2633 UAH/RUR. Today, trading in the dollar on

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. Acting Ukrainian Finance Minister Ihor Umansky and Deputy Finance Minister Anatoliy Miarkovsky have left for Washington in order to hold the next round of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on December 17, the Finance

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. Ukraine and Poland are considering the issue of cancelling payments for multiple-entry long-term visas for Ukrainians and Poles. This issue was discussed at a meeting between the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Poland in Kyiv on

KYIV, December 18 /UKRINFORM/. The National Bank toughened requirements to banks on currency purchase on the interbank. A relevant resolution was registered at the Justice Ministry. In particular, it is established that "the market entity has a right to purchase

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has prolonged a moratorium on satisfying the claims of the creditors of Kyiv-based Rodovid Bank until March 15, 2010, the bank's temporary administrator, Serhiy Shcherbyna, has said. "The moratorium has

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. Actions of the National Bank under the crisis period allowed avoiding the worst scenario of the situation development in the banking system, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Secretariat Oleksandr Shlapak believes. "Thanks to effective actions

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. The Odesa Commercial Seaport and the Illichivsk Commercial Seaport (Odesa region) stopped to receive ships due to complicated weather conditions. At the same time, the South port continues working. Enterprise's press secretary Iryna Chibirova informed that

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) conducted a special currency auction on Wednesday in order to satisfy the needs of banks' clients stipulated by the need for them to repay their debts on loans issued in

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. The Central Election Commission has registered 13 election observers for the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine. They represent the CIS Election Monitoring Organization (CIS-EMO). The election of the Ukrainian president is slated for January 17, 2010.

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. Dutch politician Hanne Severinsen has said that Ukraine is a European country with great potential and therefore it has every chance of gaining membership of the European Union in the future. She said this at a

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Petro Poroshenko forecasts that a no-visa regime with the European Union will be introduced by UEFA EURO 2012, he was speaking at joint press conference with his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski in Kyiv.

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. Work on the certification of hotels is continuing in Kharkiv, one of the four Ukrainian cities that will host the UEFA EURO 2012 European Football Championship. The five-star category of the Sun Light Hotel and the

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. A percent of the television rating of the opposition Party of Regions leader and presidential runner, Viktor Yanukovych, was 37% January 1 through December 13, 2009, reads a Media Business report on the activity of the

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. Azovmash, based in Mariupol, Donetsk region, has signed a contract with Serbia's steel mill US Steel Serbia on the supply of equipment for a blast furnace by April 2010, according to the Ukrainian company's press service.

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, has listened to a report by its temporary investigatory commission investigating the circumstances of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's poisoning, clarifying the causes and identifying individuals guilty of a delay in the

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. Fishing enterprises caught 213,989 tons of fish and other water animals in January-November 2009, which is 4.7% up compared to the same period in 2008, the State Statistics Committee has reported. The fish catch grew by

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. WBC superheavyweight world champion Vitali Klitschko of Ukraine said he has reached a preliminary deal to battle David Haye of Great Britain, has reported quoting LigaBusinessInform. "I have one more ambitious goal ahead: I'm going to

KYIV, December 16 /UKRINFORM/. Ukraine's national football team is currently in 22nd place according to the FIFA world ranking released in December 2009. Compared to December 2008, the country lost seven positions in the ranking. Ukraine failed to win the