GEM Uncovers Recent Events in Ukraine

In case my readers have not noticed Ukraine held general elections for the parliament this Sunday. The election is held quite early relative to constitutional habit (if such a thing exists in Ukraine) and if you follow the links below you will learn that the primary reason that elections are held at this point in time is the political standstill which has been produced between the president Mr Yushchenko, and prime minister Mr Yanukovich where the latter of course was the one who staged the famous Orange revolution. Now, in order to get your juices flowing I want to initially direct you to BBC's as well as the Economist's coverage of the elections which both provide a good round up of recent events. Here is an appetizer from the Economist ...

ONE consistent feature of Ukraine’s fluid politics is its ability to defy predictions. The biggest surprise of the parliamentary elections on Sunday September 30th was the strong support for Yulia Tymoshenko, a firebrand opposition leader and former prime minister, and charismatic heroine of the orange revolution in 2004. With more than half of the ballot papers counted, Ms Tymoshenko’s block appeared to have a lead over the party of her arch-rival and current prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich.

Ms Tymoshenko could get 33% of the votes polled. Add another 15% for her on-and-off ally, President Victor Yushchenko, and the orange coalition could be back in power in Ukraine with Ms Tymoshenko as prime minister. However uncounted ballots from eastern regions of the country, where Mr Yanukovich is strong, could yet sway the result.

However, and even though I am of course somewhat biased I have no issues with pointing towards the recent slew of analyses over at Global Economy Matters where Edward Hugh and Manuel Alvarez-Rivera form a formidable tag team which dishes up excellent political and economic coverage of Ukraine in the light of what may very well be a turning point.  As usual, Manuel is in charge of the political situation whereas Edward takes care of the economic perspective.

If you are interested in Ukraine you would be hard pressed to find anything more comprehensive than the analysis GEM serves up.