Over at TYR, I argued that the explanation of the Ukraine-Russia gas dispute was an effort by the Russian side to break up the European gas customers as a negotiating block by exploiting the conflict between the transit states (like the Ukraine) and the customers (like Germany). This gave rise to further discussion down-blog right [...]

In late October, Ukraine re-privatized its Kryvorizhstal steel works in a live auction watched, apparently, by millions on television. The action was a reversal of the privatization that had taken place under the previous government. The old sale would have brought in $800 million. The new sale, to Mittal Steel Germany GmbH, will net $4.8 [...]

When we last looked in, Viktor Yushchenko had been inaugurated, Viktor Yanukovych had grudgingly conceded, and orange was the color for all would-be world-changers.
Unfortunately, while we weren’t looking, Ukraine’s cabinet was collapsing into in-fighting and neglecting to do the things that people put them in office for. On the positive side, an investigation into the [...]

The Guardian today carries yet another article by Jonathan Steele on how badly the Ukrainians have hurt Vladimir Putin’s feelings, here. Putin, at a “two-and-a-half hour meeting with academics and journalists in the Kremlin” apparently had this to say:
” One of the parties cannot be cornered by means of unconstitutional activities. Otherwise other people in [...]

Monaco is voting!
We were going to write something inevitably snarky about the Eurovision song contest (Hello from Minsk!) but Manolo’s Shoe Blog has pictures that are worth many, (Three points for Malta!) many, many thousands of words. (Good evening Amsterdam! Hello Kiev! This is the Netherlands calling!)
They’re here (Our twelve points go to … Turkey!)
here [...]

There’s a long article on Ukraine by two Tims, Garton Ash and Synder, in the New York Review of Books.
Regular readers of this site and Garton Ash’s Guardian column may not find anything revelatory, though I found this rather startling:
…the very large sums poured into Yanukovych’s campaign by Russian sources, which have been estimated [...]

Two of the topics that produced some of the most posts on Fistful last year - the Eurovision Song Contest and Ukraine’s Orange Revolution - have come together. Of course, we already knew that this year’s contest would be in Kiev but now Ukraine has chosen ‘Razom nas bagato!’ (Together we are many!) by Greenjolly, [...]

A happy ending for once. Has he died his hair brown?
Neeka liveblogged it. See my Ukraine Kinja digest for more blogospheric reactions.
(Added on Monday: I never got a round to publish my draft yesterday. Bollocks.)

How some of the siloviki went over to Yushchenko and, in their account, helped prevent a crackdown in Kiev on or around November. One of the reasons the orange revolution didn’t end in blood red.
Difficult to check, of course, and naturally the services want to ingratiate themselves with the new regime, but consistent in its [...]

Ukraine’s Central Electoral Commission has now officially declared Viktor Yushchenko to be the winner of the Presidential election, though Yanukovich reportedly still plans to appeal the decision. The BBC reports that Yushchenko may be sworn in as President as early as this weekend. More information at Le Sabot.