Kiev  - Relatives of a mostly-Ukrainian crew held hostage aboard a ship off the Somali coast are preparing to pay a ransom demanded by pirates, a crew spokeswoman told the Ukrainian Fakty newspaper

Kiev - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Monday announced a one-week delay in early elections, citing a need to give the present government to deal with a financial crisis.

The nationwide vote for a new parliament will take place on December 14, rather than on December 7 as ordered earlier this month, Yushchenko said in a meeting with reporters.

Kiev - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Monday called for unprecedented cuts in government spending amidst a desperate quest for more credit as the government battles with a looming national budgetary crisis.

Government staffing cuts of 20 per cent, formation of a national emergency financing fund, and an all-out effort to secure loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) topped a list of proposals offered by Yushchenko and his staff at an emergency meeting of the country's National Security Council.

Kiev - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) could soon give Ukraine an emergency loan worth as much as 14 billion dollars, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Thursday.

The stabilization credit for the former Soviet republic was already under active consideration by IMF leadership, and would be aimed at calming Ukraine's currently woeful stock and commodities markets.

"We have information from the IMF ... that they are prepared to provide the money," Tymoshenko said at a press conference in Kiev.