Ukraine delayed selecting a national unity government as its interim leader struggles to fend off default after former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster last week.
Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov pushed back a parliamentary vote to tomorrow from yesterday as he attempts to win agreement with protest leaders who orchestrated the revolt.
He indicated on Monday that a new administration should be formed quickly to secure as much as US$35 billion in financial aid.
Photo: Reuters
“Ukraine’s economy needs rescue and that adds pressure on the revolutionary political forces to create a truly national unity government,” IHS Global Insight senior economist Lilit Gevorgyan said by e-mail.
With Yanukovych on the run after weeks of anti-government protests turned deadly, Ukraine’s new leaders are grasping for a financial lifeline as Russia weighs the fate of a US$15 billion bailout it granted in December last year.
The US and the EU have pledged aid to the new administration.
Russia says it will not meddle in Ukraine’s affairs and urged the West to do likewise.
While Ukrainian assets have benefited from the momentum for financial aid, government bonds snapped three days of gains.
The new government should be largely technocratic and should avoid “political quotas,” said Oleksiy Haran, a member of the Maidan Council, which represents the protesters whose three-month campaign toppled Yanukovych.
Lawmakers yesterday moved quickly to appoint Stepan Kubiv, the ex-chairman of Lviv-based VAT Kredobank, to head the central bank after voting out Ihor Sorkin. Kubiv plans to invite an IMF mission, the Unian news service reported, without giving details.
The central bank imposed capital controls this month to stem the hryvnia’s slide.
While a new government needs to be in place before Ukraine can receive aid, an EU proposal should come by the start of next week, European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee boss Elmar Brok said yesterday in Strasbourg, France.
Acting Ukrainian Finance Minister Yuriy Kolobov proposed calling an international conference of donors with the EU, the US and other countries.
The EU wants Russia to join a consortium of lenders to Ukraine, Luxembourg Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean Asselborn said yesterday in televised remarks.
Russia will honor all its agreements with Ukraine, including an accord for cut-price gas shipments, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said, according to comments yesterday on the government Web site.
Even so, he said he had questions about the legitimacy of many Ukrainian state institutions and warned that his country’s interests are under threat.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Yanukovych’s opponents broke a peace deal on Friday last week and threatened the stability of the nation.
In the city of Simferopol in the largely Russian-speaking Crimea region, crowds gathered outside the regional parliament demanding its speaker denounce the new authorities in Kiev and consider a referendum on possible adhesion to Russia.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a