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                Ukraine's Tymoshenko Announces Run for President

   by VOA News

   Ukrainian former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, released from jail
   last month after her arch-foe Viktor Yanukovych fled from power,
   announced on Thursday she would run again for president in an election
   scheduled for May 25.
   Tymoshenko, 53, a powerful speaker known for a trademark hair-braid,
   served twice as prime minister and ran for president in 2010, only to
   be narrowly defeated in a run-off vote by Yanukovych.
   Yanukovych subsequently launched a campaign against Tymoshenko and her
   allies and she was jailed in 2011 for abuse of office linked to a gas
   deal she brokered with Russia in 2009.
   She served two years of a seven-year term, mainly under prison guard in
   a hospital in Kharkiv, before being released when Yanukovych fled on
   February 20 and was subsequently ousted by parliament.
   IMF pledges loans to Ukraine
   The International Monetary Fund has pledged to provide Ukraine with up
   to $18 billion in loans.
   But the country must enact tough economic reforms in exchange.
   The IMF says the $14 to $18 billion it will provide will combine with
   contributions from the international community to total up to $27
   billion in total assistance in the next two years.
   Without the IMF-mandated austerity measures, Ukrainian Prime Minister
   Arseniy Yatsenyuk told parliament Thursday Ukraine's economy could
   contract by 10 percent this year. He said the country is on the brink
   of "economic and financial bankruptcy."
   The IMF statement Thursday says Ukraine's recent economic policies have
   dramatically slowed growth and brought foreign currency reserves to a
   "critically low level."
   The IMF's required reforms for Ukraine include a flexible exchange
   rate, higher energy prices for consumers and a restructuring of
   Ukrainian energy giant Naftogaz.
   The reforms will hit the population hard, which could affect support
   for the interim government.
   The new Ukrainian authorities took over after weeks of anti-government
   protests in Kyiv that forced then-president Viktor Yanukovych to flee
   the country last month. The protests began after Yanukovych backed off
   from signing a trade agreement with the European Union in favor of
   closer ties with Russia.
   The toppling of Yanukovych was followed by Russia's incursion into and
   annexation of Ukraine's Crimea - a move condemned by the U.S. and the
   European Union as a violation of international law.
   A World Bank bank report Wednesday said if Moscow's standoff with the
   West over Crimea intensifies, the Russian economy could shrink nearly
   two percent in 2014. The report predicts investors could pull $150
   billion out of the country.
   
   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/imf-to-loan-ukraine-up-to-18-billion/
   1880288.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/imf-to-loan-ukraine-up-to-18-billion/1880288.html