Let's be selfish for a brief moment. President Yushchenko dissolved parliament and called for elections.

Remember bill #2562? This is the draft law that would make single parent adoption illegal... and set a minimum and maximum age for adoptive parents.

Well it is dead now.

But Ukraine really has bigger issues right now. One bright spot is that... more

I enjoy reading Nicholas' Kiev blog. He is an American who has lived in Ukraine for 15 years now.

His blog contains gems like Ukrainians Arrested For Smuggling Pork Fat.

He also posts news stories about Ukrainian politics like Ukraine's Premier Asks Prosecutor To Block Borys Tarasyuk As Foreign Minister.

Most... more

In the 15 years since independence, Ukraine has been inching toward democracy. But much of the institutionalized behaviors from the Soviet era remained.

I traveled to Ukraine in November 2000. Many people strongly believed Ukrainian President Kuchma was connected to the murder of a journalist, Georgy Gongadze. Georgy had been reporting on governmental corruption. Georgy's headless body was found November 3, 2000 in a field.

Then there was the 2004 election of Yushchenko. It was reported that... more

Part 1 introduced my theory that Ukrainian "institutional uncertainty" is why everyone's adoption experience is different. Part 2 was a specific example of the institutions themselves causing the uncertainty. Eventually people stop believing their government and institutions when they are lied to over and over.

So back to the Verkhovna... more

The U.S. Congress removed the cold war Jackson-Vanik Amendment for Ukraine back in March, 2006.

This removal allowed Ukraine to work on membership in the WTO, NATO and the European Union.

It looks like the process for joining the WTO is moving forward. Ukraine aiming to join WTO in the fall of 2006.

Here is an interesting tidbit.

The conclusion of Ukraine's talks with the... more

We are still waiting for the Ukrainian final election results. Election was on Sunday. This election is for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Some folks shorten it to Rada. By the way Rada is an Ukrainian word meaning council.

The election was reported as fair by the election monitoring groups (European Parliament members, Organization for Security and Cooperation, European Election... more

Good news.... The US is well on the path to normalizing trade relations with Ukraine. We just need the US President's signature and there it is.

This repeal of the cold war Jackson-Vanik Amendment is needed to support the Orange Revolution. There are many Ukrainians asking what changed with the Orange Revolution. They aren't seeing a difference in their day-to-day life.

And this action (removing Jackson-Vanik Amendment) really needed to happen before Ukraine's March 26 elections. It is boiling down to contest between a pro-Russian vs a pro-western party.... more