According to international research organizations, the amount of Ukrainian money invested or kept off shore ranges from $117 billion to $167 billion. Doctor of Economic Sciences Sergey Korablin reports in the Ukrainian edition Zerkalo Nedeli that the total is equal to approximately double the country’s gross domestic product.

Annual losses of Ukraine from offshore operations amounted to $11 billion to $12 billion. That is equal to the loans that were provided to the country through the two …

On the 15th of May, the Minister of Finance of Ukraine, Oleksandr Danylyuk, stated live on Inter TV that the Ministry expects a positive decision from the International Monetary Fund Board of Directors concerning the provision of the next loan to Ukraine. Danylyuk noted that the primary task now is negotiating the text of the Memorandum.

“Now, the main task is to agree on a new version of the Memorandum. When this happens, the meeting of the IMF Board of Directors will be held and I’m sure …

The Defense Ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey have agreed to hold joint military exercises in order to increase the combat readiness of their armed forces. This was said by the Head of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov.

“We are in favor of conducting trilateral military exercises with the aim of raising the level of combat readiness of our armed forces. We also hope to establish cooperation in the field of military education, to develop cooperation in …

NATO should not adhere to the agreement between Russia and NATO, believes the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Witold Waszczykowski.

"This document is a political commitment; it is not legally binding,” said the head of the Polish Foreign Ministry in Tallinn at the Lennart Meri Conference. “I do not think that we should implement this treaty."

He reminded that the treaty was signed in 1997, but the situation with Russia has changed since then. The promises were made by the NATO of that …

Only Russian performers who “understand that the annexation of Crimea and the occupation of the Donbas is a crime” should be allowed to participate in the Eurovision contest in 2017, according to a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the Narodny Front, Anton Herashchenko. He said this on the 15th of May while at the Govorit Moskva radio station.

According to him, Kiev “does not see any obstacles” for contestants who “do not speak out in support of Russia’s aggressive policies” and who “do not …

The European Union, in partnership with the Danish Refugee Council and the Danish Demining Group, gave the Ukrainian State Emergency Service (GSCHS) 200,000 euros worth of demining equipment for use in the Donbas, RBC-Ukraine reported.

"This is class 4 body armor, Kevlar helmets. This equipment is very necessary to us,” a representative of the GSCHS, Oleh Bondar, stated.

The equipment can locate mines at a depth of 3 meters.

“We must ask the aggressor country [Russia] when they will stop …

According to an estimate of the Ministry of Finance, Lithuania intends to increase defense spending by 150 million euros next year, up to 725 million euros, Kauno Diena reported.

The current Lithuanian military budget is 575 million euros, approximately 1.48% of the country’s GDP. It is expected that next year's defense spending will rise to 725 million euros, or 1.77% of GDP.

According to Lithuanian Minister of Defense Juozas Olekas, the country plans to spend 2% of GDP on defense in 2018. …

The Estonian daily newspaper Postimees reported that the Estonian Minister of Defense, Hannes Hanso, favored the deployment of NATO heavy military equipment near the country’s borders.

“We want NATO heavy military equipment to be deployed closer to Estonia rather than a thousand miles away from it. For our part, in alliance with Latvia and Lithuania, we will do our best to ensure simplified transportation of the units across the state border and provision of weapons to our allies,” Hanso noted. …