Population Reference Bureau tracks population changes for countries around the world. Ukraine has one of the worst negative population growths in the world.

Right now Ukraine has 46.8 million people. 9 babies are born for every 1,000 people. And 17 people die for every 1,000 people. By 2050 it is projected that Ukraine will only have 33.4 million citizens.

The Ukrainian government is rightly worried. Losing 28% of your... more

I emailed the US Embassy in Kyiv on Friday. I asked if they knew if Bill 2562 was law. Had the Ukrainian President signed the bill yet?

Turns out they still don't know either. But at least they were prompt in replying.

And don't you love the "elderly foreign citizens" phrase? The older that I become, the less that I appreciate the "elderly" label.

From: "Kyiv, Adoptions" KyivAdoptions@state.gov... more

I am still waiting on clarification from someone at the US Embassy in Kyiv about Bill 2562. Has it been signed by the Ukrainian President? Is it really the law of the land?

I know two adoption facilitators who say it is. But I cannot find anyone else who is saying this.

I went through current ... more

This evening I started poking around Verkhovna Rada's web site. Bill 2562's information has been updated.

I would love for someone to tell me that I am wrong. Someone please tell me that I am wrong. But I believe this bill has become law. The key phrase is the following.

Останній етап: Закон... more

I find it humorous that Ukraine's Parliament has a poll on their front page. The poll started on April 22, 2004 and has never closed. The poll question is, "Are Verkhovna Rada's activities open (transparent)?"

87% of the votes are "no" or "not at all". I translated the Ukrainian to English with the help of the Babylon application.

Can you image the US... more

Will Ukraine pass bill 2562 and make it law? This will make single "foreigner" adoption illegal. And it requires the age difference between the oldest adoptive parent and adopted child be 45 years or less.

Sitting here in America, it is hard to tell. So I keep looking for Ukrainian sources and their opinions. Mr. Karasyov has a pithy synopsis that explains why the "political crisis" has been mostly a "war of... more

UPDATE: I am doing a happy dance. My first thought and information was this second reading will have no impact. The bill cannot become law without the President's signature. But several Ukrainian sources were saying the President was going to sign the bill.

Turns out this was wishful thinking on their part. My first thought was correct. The President has NO plans to sign anything that comes out of this Parliament. If he does then it means his decree to dissolve Parliament become... more

President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych have opposed each other for years. The current political crisis started in March 2007. But it is a continuation of the Orange Revolution.

April 2, President Yushchenko tried to fire Parliament (AKA Verkhovna Rada). This would force a new... more

While writing Corruption defined I thought about bananas. The creation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is directly tied to the United Fruit Company's behavior in Central and South America during an eighty year period. (United Fruit Company is now known as Chiquita.)

The company created a... more

I received several questions about How To Tell Difference; Bribe vs Expedite Fee. I decided to start at the beginning by looking at what corruption is and is not.

(The above picture shows voting pattern for Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovich during the 2004 Presidential election; second run off. This run off vote was deemed to be mostly free of corruption.... more