• Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament: Russia could use Zapad-2017 exercises for direct aggression

    The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Andriy Parubiy, said that the joint Russian-Belarusian exercises "Zapad-2017" (West-2017), which will be held in the fall of 2017, could be used for direct aggression or sabotage against Ukraine, Ukrinform news agency reports.

    "The current ‘West-2017’ military exercises cause concern in Ukraine ... We should not exclude the worst case scenario: the use of exercises to at minimum to discredit Belarus, and at maximum - to carry out direct aggression …

  • Sberbank of Russia sells its Ukrainian subsidiary

    A press release by Sberbank of Russia announced on March 27th that a consortium of investors involving the Latvian Norvik Bank and a private company in Belarus will acquire 100 percent of Sberbank’s Ukrainian subsidiary,  as reported by RIA Novosti.

    “The consortium of investors is acquiring 100 percent of Sberbank in Ukraine, which is a subsidiary of Sberbank of Russia. Norvik Bank (Latvia) and a private company in Belarus make up the consortium,” the press release of Sberbank said.

    The …

  • Ukrainian General sentenced to 7 years in prison

    The Pavlohrad district court in the Dnipropetrovsk region sentenced General-Major Viktor Nazarov to 7 years imprisonment.

    The court also ordered compensation amounting to 500 000 hryvnia ($18,474 USD) for the victims’ relatives, to be paid by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

    The sentence, which was read during the court session on March 27, can be appealed for 30 days.

    Nazarov was tried for the Il-76 military airplane icident, which took place on June 14, 2014 at the Luhansk airport, …

  • Italian investors want to invest $2 billion in new gas transport company in Ukraine

    The national company Naftogaz Ukraine is planning to hold negotiations with potential investors to create a public company “Ukraine Main Gas Pipelines” in the next three months, ZN.UA reports.

    The article notes that the Italian company Snam, which is interested in importing Russian gas, is among the most realistic potential investors.

    “According to ZN.UA’s information, the Slovaks are also interested in this. But the Italian company Snam is prepared to invest $2 billion in the Ukrainian gas …

  • Canadian Parliament received petition asking to give weapons to Ukraine

    The Canadian parliament has registered an electronic petition urging the government to begin deliveries of lethal weapons to Ukraine.

    The petition lacks just 400 more signatures in order for to be submitted to the parliament for discussion, the report says.

    On his Facebook page, Conservative Party deputy James Bezan called for signing the petition and sending a signal to the government.

    "The fighting in Eastern Ukraine has increased in the battle against Russian-backed rebels. Ukraine needs …