KIEV, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko abandoned plans on Wednesday to hold an early parliamentary election this year and said officials should focus on coping with the effects of the global financial crisis.

Data showing industrial output plunged 19.8 percent year on year in October raised the prospect of a recession just one week after the International Monetary Fund finalised a $16.5 billion loan to bolster the country's financial and banking systems.

Just like his Russian counterparts, Rinat Akhmetov, a Ukrainian steel billionaire, is feeling the pinch of the global financial crisis.

His Metinvest holding company has been caught by the global decline in steel prices and demand.

[...] A Donetsk native, Mr Akhmetov became very rich during what is seen as the crony capitalist days that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. Reputedly Ukraine's richest man, he snapped up steel mills, mines, utilities and other assets at fire-sale prices.

[...] If you ask any serious Ukrainian politician whether a Democrat or a Republican U.S. president is better for Ukraine, he or she will reply that ultimately there is really no great difference. And this is the truth.

[...]

It happened that bilateral relations developed most dynamically during the administration of Democratic President Bill Clinton. This is only natural: our young country was embarking on a new path of independent development. We were laying the foundations for reform in all spheres, and the support of the most powerful country on Earth was very important.

President slams government for poor financing of army

KYIV, September 26 /UKRINFORM/. The current financing of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is less than 1% of GDP, and with such a level of financing, a professional army will appear in Ukraine no earlier than in 27 years, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said at a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council on Friday.