If the presidential election in Ukraine was held in the nearest weeks, Viktor Yanukovych would have the best chances of victory with 25.6% of the votes. Yulia Tymoshenko would get 14.4% and Arseniy Yatsenyuk – 13.6%. Such were the results of a public opinion poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).

Co-rapporteur of the PACE Monitoring Committee Rinate Wohlwend stated at a press conference that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is warning Ukraine about holding presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously. She feels that Ukraine does not have the corresponding electoral legislation that would assure holding of transparent and fair elections on the same day.

The Verkhovna Rada set October 25, 2009 as the date for the next presidential election. 409 deputies voted in favor of holding the election the last week of October. Earlier, a parliamentary committee voted in favor of this date. As is common knowledge, the current head of state proposed holding the presidential election on January 17, 2010. The president’s spokesperson in the Constitutional Court Maryna Stadniychuk assured that President Yushchenko will appeal the resolution of the CCU to hold the election on October 25. She is convinced the decision of the parliament countermands the Constitution.

Bohdan Sokolovskiy, who is officially authorized by the president on energy security issues, announced that Europe is prepared to allocate nearly US $6 billion to Ukraine for the modernization of its gas transport system, which will allow it to increase throughput capacity by 60 billion cubic meters. He stated that this is the figure fixed in the declaration signed in Brussels. At the same time, Sokolovskiy informed that the signed document does not rule out the participation of Russia in this project, but on condition of the absence of claims to Ukraine’s pipeline grid.

A roundtable “Ukraine in Search of Consensus: NATO Membership or Neutral Status?” organized by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation was held in Kyiv on March 24. During the roundtable experts and politicians discussed whether there is an understanding in society about Ukraine’s integration development in a European and Euro-Atlantic vector. The polemics during the roundtable were about the anti-NATO book “Declaration of Suicide: Why Does Ukraine Need NATO?”.

Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko travelled to Brussels on a working visit. EU High Representative on Foreign Policy and Security Issues Javier Solana urged Ukraine’s highest officials to act decisively and quickly in order to meet the conditions of the IMF Stabilization Loan Agreement agreed to in 2008 and also work together to pull Ukraine out of the financial crisis.

The International Monetary Fund agreed to a 3% deficit in the national budget of Ukraine. The Ministry of Finance reported that the problem was not with the budget deficit per se, rather for the government to show the real sources of eliminating it in the future. The government is counting on proceeds from the privatization of the country’s largest strategic companies.

Unidentified individuals wearing camouflage outfits and masks broke into the head office of Naftogaz Ukrainy. Later it was learned that these were SBU officers that raided the office to confiscate gas contracts with Russia and other documents in the course of a criminal investigation into misappropriation of gas by employees of the company.

President Viktor Yushchenko, Premier Yulia Tymoshenko, NBU Governor Volodymyr Stelmakh, VR Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn and representative of the political opposition Mykola Azarov gathered at a roundtable discussion. The purpose of the meeting was to coordinate the activities of all bodies of state power and political forces in the throes of the current financial crisis. To be more specific, the leaders of the country agreed to prepare a joint document to submit to the IMF that would extend its line-of-credit with this global financial institution.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially forewarned Russian Ambassador Viktor Chernomyrdin that he may be designated a persona non-grata in Ukraine. According to Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko, “un-diplomatic assessments and harsh criticism of Ukraine and its government” are grounds for such a move".

Ukraine’s Minister of Finance Viktory Pynzenyk tendered his resignation. He justified his decision saying the Cabinet of Ministers is ignoring his proposals to save the country from default. Pynzenyk was the main opponent to the pro-government coalition adopting the deficit budget, which the IMF was opposed to.

The Verkhovna Rada did not support the resolution of no-confidence in the government of Yulia Tymoshenko within the framework of reviewing the socio-economic situation in the country and the anti-crisis actions of the government. Only 203 of the required 226 deputies voted in favor of this initiative put forth by the leader of the Party of Regions Viktor Yanukovych.

227 deputies of the Verkhovna Rada voted in favor of the dismissal of Volodymyr Stelmakh as the governor of the NBU. In addition to that, the VR adopted a resolution on the responsibility of President Viktor Yushchenko for the current situation with bank loans in Ukraine. The YTB says it will initiate the impeachment of President Viktor Yushchenko if he does not dismiss Volodymyr Stelmakh.

Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukrainy signed a 10-year contract on the supply of gas to Ukraine and its transit to Europe. The CEOs of the two companies Aleksei Miller and Oleh Dubyna signed the agreement in the presence of the premiers of Russia and Ukraine – Vladimir Putin and Yulia Tymoshenko. In 2009 Ukraine will pay the average European price of gas with a 20% discount, while Russia will pay last year’s transit fee of US $1.70 for 100 km.

Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko and Russian Premier Vladmir Putin agreed on late Saturday evening that Russia will fully renew the supply of gas to European consumers and Ukraine will transport it without interruption.