The International Monetary Fund will set strict terms for the Ukrainian government in order to continue the stand-by program," Hryhoriy Nemyria has said.

"Their key position has not changed: they want a realistic, fiscally-responsible budget, that does not include an increase in expenditures. Today there were examples such as a 15% cut in salaries for civil servants. A realistic budget is the first indicator.

The united Ukrainian opposition is demanding that the Cabinet of Ministers present a report in the Verkhovna Rada on the results of gas talks with Russia.

"The opposition is demanding that a report on the gas talks be presented in parliament so that we know the price the ruling government is ready to pay to protect the interests of their own oligarchy," said Oleksandr Turchynov, the chief of BYuT headquarters, reports the party’s press service.

Hennadiy Moskal takes the mystery out of how the nation’s law enforcers operate. “The system of justice is rotten to the core,” said Moskal, a former police general, deputy interior minister and chief of police in Crimea, as well as a current parliamentarian from the Our Ukraine group.

Instead of wiping out many top Ukrainian law firms, last year’s recession actually saw many new legal practices sprout up. Nearly a dozen new, hungry law firms tailored to compete with the big international players and domestic legal giants were established within the last two years. These new practices were mainly set up by former top lawyers and partners of the largest legal market players, including Ukrainian firms Magisters, Asters and big international firms on the market, including Baker & McKenzie and Chadbourne & Parke.

Natalia Stelmakh

Volodymyr Dehtyarov