Ukraine

April 29, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) and Ranking Member Richard G. Lugar (R-IN) applauded the Senate's unanimous passage of their resolution expressing strong support for NATO's statement at the recent Bucharest Summit that the Alliance welcomes the eventual membership of Ukraine and Georgia.

The resolution (S. Res 523), which passed last night, is co-sponsored by Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY), John McCain (R-AZ), Barack Obama (D-IL), Jim DeMint (R-SC), Gordon Smith (R-OR), George V. Voinovich (R-OH) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA).    » read more »

April 1, 2008 -- Kyiv, Ukraine -- PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO: Dear Mr. President, dear Mrs. Bush, dear guests and ladies and gentlemen. It is with great pleasure that I express my feelings of utmost respect for His Excellency, President George Bush. The active cooperation between our countries extends from the idea of a partnership focused on the future.

President George W. Bush and President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine, raise their glasses in a toast April 1, 2008: Photo by Eric Draper    » read more »

April 1, 2008 -- PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO: (As translated.) Dear Mr. President, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, this is a great honor for Ukraine and Ukrainian government to welcome the delegation chaired by the U.S. President. We just had one-on-one negotiations and expanded negotiations, and we can make general assessment of our talks. We are very pleased with the frankness and the atmosphere that the talks were carried out in.

President George W. Bush participates in press availabilty with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, April 1, 2008: Photo by Chris Greenberg    » read more »

January 28, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement on Ukraine's readiness to advance a Membership Action Plan (MAP) with NATO:

"I welcome the decision by President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and Parliament Chairman Arseny Yatsenyuk to declare Ukraine's readiness to advance a Membership Action Plan (MAP) with NATO.    » read more »

1/28/2008 -- "I enthusiastically welcome the January 11 letter from Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, and Verkhovna Rada Chairman Arsenii Yatsenyuk to NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, which outlines Ukraine's desire for a closer relationship with NATO, including a Membership Action Plan.    » read more »

20 November 2007 -- Ukraine is observing a national day of mourning for 89 people killed in the worst mining catastrophe in the country's post-Soviet history.

Flags decorated with black ribbons flew at half-staff Tuesday, as families of the coal miners gathered to bury the dead in and near the eastern industrial city of Donetsk.

Rescue workers have pulled more than 350 people to safety following the coal mine explosion Sunday. Authorities say at least 11 miners are still missing from the Zasyadko mine.    » read more »

18 November 2007 -- Emergency Situations Ministry says 63 miners are dead and the fate of 37 others is not known after a methane gas explosion ripped through a coal mine on Sunday. The deadly blast is the latest incident to spark concerns about the safety of mines in Ukraine. Authorities in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine have declared three days of mourning.

Investigators say the explosion ripped through the Zasyadko mine in the eastern Donetsk region, about 1,000 meters underground.    » read more »

13 November 2007 -- Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov and his Ukrainian counterpart, Viktor Yanukovych, have agreed to set up a joint working group to deal with a major oil spill along the coasts of the two countries.

The two men reached the agreement Tuesday as they met in Russia's seaport of Anapa, near Krasnodar. Mr. Zubkov is visiting the Kerch Strait area where crews are feverishly working to deal with a disaster local officials have called an ecological catastrophe.    » read more »

MINNEAPOLIS , MN and PURCHASE, NY, August 17, 2007 – PepsiAmericas, Inc. (NYSE: PAS) and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) today announced that they have completed the joint purchase of 80 percent of Sandora, LLC (“Sandora”), the leading juice company in Ukraine . The joint venture expects to acquire the remaining 20 percent interest in Sandora in November 2007.    » read more »

June 5, 2007 -- Mr. John Lipsky, First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), made the following statement today in Kiev:

"This is my first visit to Ukraine and I would like to thank the Ukrainian authorities for their hospitality. I have had productive discussions with President Yushchenko, First Deputy Prime Minister Azarov, Chairman of Verkhovna Rada Moroz, Governor Stelmakh and other high officials about Ukraine's recent economic performance and prospects.    » read more »

08 May 2007 -- Ukraine's top prosecutor says negligence caused Monday's rupture of the natural gas pipeline that supplies Russian gas to Europe.

Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun said Tuesday that sinking ground led to a break in the pipeline. He said officials should have been able to spot the natural changes and shore up the pipeline. He said a similar blast occurred in the same location in 2003.

The explosion south of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, near the village of Luka, tore up about 30 meters of the pipeline and hurled debris.    » read more »