DALLAS — A Texas Army post (click here) has razed the building where a former psychiatrist carried out one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history, with plans to put up trees and a memorial in its place.

Fort Hood officials said Tuesday they have torn down Building 42003, the site of a 2009 massacre that left 13 people dead and more than 30 wounded....

...The building was sealed off for nearly four years until post officials announced in November that they would demolish it.

Fort Hood officials, who declined to be interviewed, plan to place trees, a gazebo and a memorial plaque at the site....

The violence in Venezuela has been building over the past week.

19/02 18:16 CET

A 22-year-old student (click here) from the central city of Valencia in Venezuela died on Wednesday after being shot in the head during an anti-government demonstration, her family said.
Genesis Carmona, who was studying tourism and was also a local beauty queen, was shot during a demonstration on Tuesday.
She is one of six victims of the political unrest that has gripped the South American country since imprisoned protest leader Leopoldo Lopez urged supporters to keep fighting for the departure of the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro.
Security forces and protesters fought throughout Venezuela on Thursday in streets blocked by burning barricades....

I guess jail was a safe place for him.

REUTERS
Published: Tuesday, February 18, 2014, 3:05 PM
Updated: Wednesday, February 19, 2014, 1:52 PM

Venezuelan security forces arrested (click here) opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez on Tuesday on charges of fomenting unrest that has killed at least four people, bringing tens of thousands of angry supporters onto the streets of Caracas.
Crowds of white-clad protesters stood in the way of the vehicle carrying the 42-year-old Harvard-educated economist after he made a defiant speech, said an emotional farewell to his family, and gave himself up to soldiers.
The vehicle eventually reached a military base.
Opposition leaders hope Lopez's arrest will galvanize street demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro, though there is no immediate sign the protests will topple the socialist leader.
"I am handing myself over to an unfair justice system," the protest leader told supporters, standing on a platform next to a statue of Cuban poet and independence hero Jose Marti....

Here too, demonstrations turned violent by confrontation and the Venezuelan President stated the violence was necessary. Some of the decent was predictable simply because President Chavez had died. It opened up the possibility other interests had a chance to move into power. That just happens because of a release of tensions in a population. Chavez was not really hated by the people.

By William J. Dobson
February 20, 2014
...As startling as the violence itself (click here) was the fact that the government gave no warning or explanation in advance. In a rambling national address earlier that day, President Maduro spoke of the need for peace—then praised the work of paramilitary thugs and promised to target members of Popular Will, a leading opposition party. Its leader, Leopoldo Lopez, was spending his second night in a military prison, after surrendering himself to authorities on Tuesday to face trumped-up charges implicating him for the death of three Venezuelans at protests. Even if Lopez, one of the opposition’s best-known leaders, is imprisoned, Maduro isn’t acting like the man with the upper hand. In his remarks Wednesday, he seemed erratic and unsure of himself, which only fuels rumors that he may have diminishing control over the state and its security forces....

It is the brute force of the current president that is the problem. He is using it against unarmed citizens. President Maduro was next in line after Chavez. I am quite sure while President Chavez was ill, Maduro ruled in the nation. I think he didn't expect this considering he was well known. The protests and uprising is somewhat new to him. He needs to temper his response.

Defection is the wrong word.

By James Novogrod

KIEV, Ukraine - About 40 police officers defected (click here) to Ukraine's opposition and marched into the heart of the protest encampment in the Kiev on Friday, the day after violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces killed dozens....

The police have not turned against the country, they have joined their countrymen. They love their country and they hate the conflict. I am quite sure having police stand with any protesters calms the issue. I think the police are very wise to stand up for their oath to the Ukrainian people.

To say police defected makes the protesters sound criminal and illegitimate. They have clear ideas about their lives and their country and those ideas were violated and people sacrificed their lives to commit to that understanding. To say the police defected is to say they are wrong and they aren't. 

It was the police that stated there are other officers sniping innocent people. It is honest and honorable to bring the truth to unjustified deaths. 

The USA has a Russian prisoner without taking care of his health? Excuse me?

Perhaps he needs a transfer to a federal facility outside of Fort Dix. Fort Dix? The military instillation? He probably needs to be transferred and his family provided access to at least speak to him. He needs to be in a federal civilian prison where they actually respect human rights.

19.02.2014 
...Nothing has been said (click here) about the results of the examination. Meanwhile, said the lawyer, the attitude towards the Russian citizen has worsened. " As Konstantin Yaroshenko told me on the phone, they look at him like tigers," said Tarasov.

The pilot's health deteriorated over two weeks ago. The man gasps and suffers from strong pains in the heart. He has high temperature and high blood pressure....

He has something to do with Victor Bout?

...It all started in the late-1990s, (click here) when the U.S. government launched an investigation into the activities of the Russian businessman Victor Bout. George W. Bush in 2006 froze Bout's assets, arguing that the activities of the Russian businessman threatened the implementation of the American foreign policy in the Congo. In 2008 representatives of the U.S. Drug Enforcement under the guise of Colombian rebels offered Bout to meet in Bangkok. The meeting had to do with a possibility of making a transaction for the supply of modern weapons. During the call, records incriminating Bout were made that later become evidence in court. On March 6, 2008, Thai police arrested Bout at Sofitel Silom Road Hotel. He was accused of providing assistance to Colombian terrorists that the American agents were disguised as....

This was supposed to be a case of cocaine for payment of military arms. I don't appreciate the neglect and cruelty. That isn't suppose to happen in the United States. Why is he in a military prison? That makes no sense to me.

...“It’s good that we could meet with him (click here) after three written requests to the authorities. We talked for two hours and we had no time limitations,” the Russian Consul General Igor Golubovsky said, as quoted by Interfax news agency.
“Judging simply from Konstantin Yaroshenko’s appearance, it was visible that he has suffered from a serious infection, which has exacerbated the chronic illness he already had. Thanks to concerted efforts, the administration of Fort Dix prison finally turned its attention to the numerous written and verbal requests from Russian diplomats to provide him with medical assistance,” reported Russia’s Vice Consul in New York, Egor Ivanov, who was part of the delegation that visited Yaroshenko in prison.... 

Afghan weapons? That might explain Fort Dix. Odd, Russia was out of Afghanistan by 1988. So, like, ah, what is this all about?
 
Viktor Bout made his first major foray into the weapons business in 1995...

...The Afghan weapons contracts (click here) were dauntingly large. “They were faced with war, they needed us badly,” Mirchev said. I asked him about the scale of the shipments. “How many tons?” he said. “I never calculated tons. I calculated money. It was huge.” And, for Bout, it was just the beginning: within five years, he would be known as the world’s preëminent arms trafficker....

Afghan civil war, Battle of Kabul, right? 1992-1996. That might be an issue for some. Well, there it is. How stupid little wars are fueled with illegal arms and drugs. Yep.

War in Afghanistan spawned a global narco-terrorist force (click here)

by Jeffrey Steinberg

...The new terrorist international—built around the mujahideen veterans of the 1979-89 Afghan War—is responsible for such terrorist incidents as the February 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City. And British intelligence-controlled operatives, such as Lord William Rees-Mogg's underling Dr. Jack Wheeler, who were actively involved in the recruitment and training of the Afghani mujahideen, were implicated before the fact in the April 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, which claimed 168 lives. The Afghani mujahideen are the primary force carrying out the irregular warfare destabilization of France, since the election of Jacques Chirac as President, and France's ensuing break with the British "Entente Cordiale."...

They just don't know how to leave it alone. Now, someone want to tell me why there is such profound hatred between Russia, Europe and the USA? Tell me it actually makes sense. Any war is a good war, so long as it a war.

...A broad spectrum of nations—from Britain and Israel, to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, China, and even Iran—would collectively contribute an equal amount of money.
According to one well-placed U.S. intelligence source, the combined Medellín and Cali Cartel contribution to the Afghan mujahideen was $10-20 billion!...

Very odd bedfellows. "Just say no," while the USA looks the other way for their war buddies.

...The men from Medellin (click here) joined together with a young marijuana smuggler named Carlos Lehder, who convinced the leaders that they could fly cocaine in small airplanes directly into the United States, avoiding the need for countless suitcase trips. The large quantities and the growing appetite for cocaine in the United States led to huge profits, which the cartel began re-investing into more sophisticated labs, better airplanes and even an island in the Caribbean where the planes could refuel....

The American people forget how corrupt their government has been. Then, of course, there is no reason to fear NSA surveillance or drones. This isn't Anti-American anything, it is fact. The USA has not had a noble profile when it comes to confrontational policy. The problem with Konstantin Yaroshenko is that a nation uninvolved in the corruption caught the Russian red handed and the USA decided it was in it's best interest to handle it. 

...And their business thrived. When cocaine use in the United States began to drop, they began shipping more and more into Europe and Asia. The leaders are thought to own huge swaths of land in Colombia, along with dozens of very successful legitimate businesses. The Cali leaders were astute businessmen and they invested heavily in political protection. In the past ten years, both the former president of Colombia, Ernesto Samper and hundreds of Congressmen and Senators have been accused of accepting campaign financing from the Rodriguez Orejuala brothers....

Confrontational policy is met with confrontational policy. Just that simple. If the confrontational nonsense would end, the tensions would end as well and incidents as happened in the Ukraine would never occur. Non-proliferation is a good scapegoat for 'we really do want peace in the USA' while it parks missile ships and star wars technology at Russia borders. Will it ever end?

The USA creates it's own problems and then decent men like Obama inherit the mess handed to him by zealots.

Look, if these folks were caught up in drug wars and illegal gun trade they deserve to be in prison, but, they don't deserve to be mistreated. 

Ukraine wins Gold in the Women's 4 X 6 Relay

Silver went to Russia and Bronze to Norway.

Germany Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (L) signs an EU-mediated peace deal between Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich and opposition leaders, aiming to end a violent standoff that has left dozens dead and opening the way for a early presidential election this year, at the presidential headquarters in Kiev February 21, 2014. (Reuters)

16:37 GMT: (click here)
The Ukrainian parliament (the Verkhovna Rada) has voted in favor of a bill that will allow the release from jail of the former Ukrainian prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko.
310 MPs have voted to decriminalize the article of the Ukrainian law defining the charges under which Timoshenko is serving her term. The former Ukrainian PM was sentenced to 7 years in prison for abuse of office during the signing of the January 2009 natural gas imports contract with Russia. 

17:14 GMT:

Ukraine’s parliament has adopted a resolution aimed at granting aide to protesters and families of the victims who died or were injured during the unrest, according to the parliament’s website. According to the Health Ministry’s figures, at least 77 people have died in Kiev since February 18, while 581 have sought medical aid and 371 have been hospitalized. 

There is an assassin loose in Kiev. People need to take shelter.

Latest
18.45...Like dozens of other Ukrainians on Thursday, (click here) she had fallen prey to one of the snipers prowling Independence Square in Kiev. With infinite care and precision, this unknown marksman had taken aim beneath Miss Zhukovska’s protective helmet and fired one round clean through her neck.

February 21, 2014 (click here)

Total delays today:  7,610

Total delays within, into, or out of the United States today:  3,786

Total cancellations today:  1,007

Total cancellations within, into, or out of the United States today:  811

As delays progress through the day the misery escalates. 

 Wind Map (click here)

Below Actual Temp. Map
 

Weather Channel
24 hour temperature change map 
February 21, 2014
1107 gmt

Get in touch with the impoverishment of the American worker.

In 2012, 75.3 million workers (click here) in the United States age 16 and over were paid at hourly rates, representing 59.0 percent of all wage and salary workers. Among those paid by the hour, 1.6 million earned exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. About 2.0 million had wages below the federal minimum.

Together, these 3.6 million workers with wages at or below the federal minimum made up 4.7 percent of all hourly paid workers. Tables 1 through 10 present data on a wide array of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics for hourly paid workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage. The following are some highlights from the 2012 data.

Minimum wage workers tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they made up about half of those paid the Federal minimum wage or less. Among employed teenagers paid by the hour, about 21 percent earned the minimum wage or less, compared with about 3 percent of workers age 25 and over.... 

Limits on Teenage Workers

Ages 14 and 15: During the school year, hours are limited to 3 hours a day and 18 hours a week. On days when there's no school and in the summer, working hours increase to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. There are limits on no later than 7 p.m. during the school year and no later than 9 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day.

Ages 16 and 17: There's no limit on hours, but, if under 18 you can't work in a job that the Labor Department considers hazardous. 

Common jobs teenagers work (click here): 

Camp Counselor, Golf Caddy, Retail Sales, Food Service, Internships, Life Guard, Nanny, Housekeeping, Landscaping, Tutoring

There is nearly no overlap between the Americans working for minimum wage and the jobs teenagers seek. The minimum wage increased to $10.10 will finally provide a living wage to a majority of those that work in that stalemated income. It has nothing to do with youth labor. McDonald's or any of those fast food joints and the big box stores don't hire teenagers during school hours and dearly few less than age 16 years old. The big box stores pride themselves on maintaining longevity of their employees, that means they seek people with families to hire. In realizing that the big box stores advocate poverty for Americans. This is a ridiculous argument to oppress American workers further.

A History of Advancement, An Opportunity to Succeed (click here) 

For tens of thousands of people every year, a job at Walmart opens the door to a better life. We offer competitive wages, good benefits and the chance to grow and build a career. 

We're proud to offer jobs at all levels, including some entry-level jobs ... because entry level jobs often lead to bigger jobs. At Walmart, you can climb the ladder from a stocker or a cashier to a department manager, a store manager, and beyond. Depending on the time of year, there are 15,000 - 50,000 job openings at Walmart. In the U.S., the average, full-time hourly wage is $12.81.

It is time to raise the majority of Americans out of poverty. 

Riding the coattails of weed.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Inside the Green Cross (click here) medical marijuana dispensary, ‘Girl Scout cookies’ are one of the most popular types of pot for sale. Now, the real ones are also being sold outside.
“It has gone viral at this point, I think,” said Green Cross spokesperson Holli Bert.
Bert says a 13-year-old scout named Danielle put up a table outside the pot club Monday. The cookies sold very quickly.
“After 45 minutes she had to call for reinforcement cookies…back-ups,” recalled Bert. “Her mother was quoted as saying that she sold about 117 boxes in 2...

The UN Secretary General seeks additional peacekeepers for the Central African Republic.

1:45 AM Saturday Feb 22, 2014

 

ATHENS, Greece (AP) European Union (click here) defense ministers say EU peacekeepers are expected to arrive in the Central African Republic in early March to help stop the sectarian violence that has claimed more than 1,000 lives and forced nearly 1 million people to flee.
Greek Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos says the EU peacekeeping force's command center will be in Larissa, Greece. The 28-nation bloc plans to send at least 500 troops.
Avramopoulos spoke Friday after a two-day meeting of EU defense ministers in Athens.
About 1,600 French troops and 6,000 African peacekeepers already are deployed to deter bloodshed between the Muslim minority and Christian majority in the Central African Republic, a country of 4.6 million people that's roughly the size of Texas. France says it plans to deploy 400 more soldiers soon.

The BBC's Kassim Kayira joins 2,000 escapees on the dangerous journey to safety

20 February 2014 Last updated at 13:13 ET
 

Families wanting to escape Christian militias (click here) bent on wiping out the Central African Republic's Muslim community have been braving lynch mobs at road blocks to journey 650km (400 miles) to Cameroon.

They join a monthly convoy that snakes to and from Cameroon's border from the capital, Bangui - guarded by African Union peacekeepers.

“Start Quote Should I stay to see my children and husband or myself get killed?”  

Mariama Muslim woman fleeing Bangui

It is a form of ethnic cleansing in motion.

"I feel so sad leaving. I have never left this country before, says Mariama, a Muslim woman, before she boarded one of the vehicles as it prepared to leave Bangui.
"But four of my relatives were killed last week."
The old and the young were all rushing about her towards the vehicles - a mix of private cars and big trucks - to find a space to take them to safety....

News Corp CEO obsessed with display of wealth.

February 21, 2014 - 2:07PM

News Corporation (click here) chairman Rupert Murdoch has agreed to buy the top four floors of a condominium tower near Manhattan's Madison Square Park for $US57.3 million ($63.7 million).
Murdoch, 82, went into contract to purchase two units at One Madison, a triplex penthouse spanning the 58th to 60th storeys and another full-floor apartment beneath it, his spokesman, Steven Rubenstein, said....

Adelina Sotnikova out performed the other competition in Women's Figure Skating. No comparison.

The defending champion put in a beautiful performance, but, took no risks.

Who gets the killing Wall Street or the US Pentagon?

Privatizing Bandwidth has to be for peaceful purposes ONLY!

By David Alexander and Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON Thu Feb 20, 2014 7:46pm GMT
 

(Reuters) - The Pentagon (click here) said on Thursday it was working to find ways to share more of its reserved airwaves with commercial wireless companies that need greater bandwidth for smartphone and tablet users, but it declined to elaborate on how much it might vacate.

The Pentagon's communications chief, Teri Takai, said the department was working "very closely" with key federal agencies to reach President Barack Obama's goal of making 500 megahertz of airwaves reserved for federal agencies available to telecommunications companies over the next decade.


Air Force Major General Robert Wheeler said the Pentagon believed the "best plan for the future" would be a combination of the military vacating parts of the spectrum, sharing other parts with industry and compressing communications in some cases to make more space available.

"That's how we're going forward with it," he told a Pentagon news conference. "It also depends on what industry needs. ... So there's basically a combination."

The remarks by Takai and Wheeler came as they unveiled a strategy to help the data-hungry U.S. military adapt to increasing commercial and national security demands for airwaves as the government seeks to reach Obama's goal....

Norway is holding on to first place in earning Gold Medals. However, there was a far greater shake up yesterday as Germany has been passed by Canada and the USA.

The Woman's Ice Hockey was an incredible come back by Canada. The last minute goal by Canada toward the end of the Gold Medal event returned moment to the team and they dominated overtime. 

The ice skating events have proven to the youth of most of the competitors. There are many skaters on the ice at the level of the Olympics for the first time. This years ice skaters will prove to be well matured by the time 2018 rolls around.

The Women's Bobsled event was a wonderful surprise for the USA taking both silver and bronze. 

France swept the medals in Men's Ski Cross. World champion Jean-Frederic Chapuis took gold, Arnaud Bovolenta won silver and Jonathan Midol captured bronze in one of the most exciting events on the Olympic calendar. A single country sweep of medals hasn't occurred since the Summer games of 1924 in men's gymnastics.

A photo finish was necessary with incredible competition in Nordic combined. Norway put in a heroic effort that closed a 25 second gap at the finish line.

Jack de Menezes
February 21, 2014

Ukrainian skier Bogdana Matsotska (click here) has announced that she has withdrawn from the Winter Olympics in Sochi in order to protest against the violence in her home country after the International Olympic Committee banned athletes from wearing a black armband ion tribute.

The 24-year-old, who has already finished 27th in the women’s super-G and 43rd in the giant slalom, was expected to compete in Friday’s slalom competition, but Matsotska has confirmed that she will not compete due to the IOC’s ruling following the violent and tragic clashes in Kiev.

 “We wanted to wear black armbands to mourn the people who have died in Kiev, but the IOC told us it was not allowed,” Bogdana Matsotska said. “In these conditions it is simply not possible to compete. We don't feel comfortable here and we can't compete.”...

The best of curling occurred yesterday with Sweden and Canada. The tough competitors battled to the end, but, Canada walked away with a 6-3 victory for the Olympic Gold.

The Half-Pipe still belongs to an American in the women's competition where Maddie Bowman won gold, France's Marie Martinod took silver and Ayana Onozuka of Japan won bronze. This new competition has been embraced internationally.

A joint government has to follow, it is up to Europe to it's success.

Europe is going to have a long term involvement in the Ukraine. It won't prohibit investment by other nations, but, the Ukraine needs stability and it is Europe that can most provide it. All parties need recognition and a short term peace won't last without a sustained European involvement. There has been too much political turbulence over the past decade. 

 Ukraine protest LIVE 11:59:59 (click here)

05:19
Friday
February 21, 2014

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (click here) urges to call to account those who are responsible for violence in Ukraine
Ukrainian News learned this from his statement.
"The violence must stop. We unequivocally condemn the use of force against civilians by security forces... The people of Ukraine and the international community will hold to account those who are responsible for what has occurred," Kerry says.
He reminds that the United States has already begun implementing sanctions through travel bans on Ukrainians responsible for the violence.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Presidential Administration's head Andrii Kliuev consider that imposition of sanctions against Ukrainian officials will escalate the conflict. 

If there is an agreement that doesn't return the former Prime Minister for early elections I have my doubts about the outcome of any such agreement. Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been leading the resistance from her Russian prison cell. She has been calling for the return of the 2004 Ukraine Constitution. If she is not a part of the agreement, the peril of the people will most likely continue.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Last updated: February 21, 2014 9:08 am
By Neil Buckley and Roman Olearchyk in Kiev and Peter Spiegel in Brussels

High quality global journalism (click here) requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail.

Ukraine’s embattled president Viktor Yanukovich claimed on Friday to have reached a compromise deal to end the country’s violent political crisis – but EU ministers immediately raised questions and it was unclear that anti-government protesters would accept it.

The announcement followed a massacre in Kiev on Thursday in which as many as 70 Ukrainians were killed as unidentified snipers fired on protesters in the capital’s central square....

The problem is not Russia's, it is Europe's, simply because Europe cannot possibly enter into a war. A civil war within the Ukraine is an outrageous idea. It would destabilize Eastern Europe and heavily impact the economy of Western Europe. The location of the Ukraine invites instability in relation to the region.

Europe needs to compliment the settlement with realistic outcomes at this point. Europe cannot take a hard line simply because it is ideologically best. The Ukraine needs compromise, transparency and joint government. Right now those lead by the former Prime Minister see the concentrated attention as an opportunity to achieve their goals. They are correct to the extent the global community has their attention, but, it cannot lead to armed conflict. 

Tymoshenko and Chancellor Angela Merkel at a March 2011 European People's Party summit in Brussels.

David Francis

The Fiscal Times 
February 20, 2014

David Francis

The Fiscal Times

February 20, 2014

Yulia Tymoshenko (click here) - If there is one person who could calm the opposition, it’s Tymoshenko. European human rights groups have been pushing hard for her release since she was jailed in 2011. It’s not impossible to imagine that if she were freed, it would calm protestors.
As prime minister, Tymoshenko was a vocal advocate of increasing ties with the West and was a constant thorn in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s side. This led to gas pricing disputes in which Gazprom shut off the flow of natural gas through Ukraine, causing a series of energy crises in Europe.
Tymoshenko is loved by Europe, but she’s a divisive figure inside Ukraine. Beginning in 2005, she served as prime minister for five years and was a key part of the Orange Revolution, which brought democratic reforms to Ukraine. But she was always dogged by allegations of corruption in her energy business dealings; Yanukovych used these suspicions to defeat her in the 2010 president election, and then trumped up charges based on those decisions after it. She’s currently serving the second year of a seven-year sentence for embezzlement and tax fraud charges.

There needs to be a European Envoy to regularly visit the former Prime Minister. Europe cannot step away from the brink of success in ending the conflict. But, Europe needs to stay actively involved in promoting a government that will work for the people.

By Martin Santa and Marc Jones
BRUSSELS/LONDON Feb 19 (Reuters) - The European InvestmentBank (EIB) (click here) said on Wednesday it had frozen its activities in Ukraine after at least 26 people died in the worst violence since the former Soviet republic gained independence.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the largest financial investor in Ukraine, said it had already scaled back its dealings with Kiev but had not suspended operations.
Ukraine has been gripped by renewed political turmoil since November, when President Viktor Yanukovich spurned a trade pact with the European Union and opted instead for closer economic ties with former Soviet master Russia.
The EIB's recent activities in Ukraine include the extension of a metro line, modernisation of air traffic control facilities and a 220 million euro ($302.52 million)credit line designed to finance small- and medium-scale projects....

The current Ukrainian leadership has discouraged interest in the country. There will be more emigration from the Ukraine.

Raiddeisen Bank Aval CEO Volodymyr Lavrenchuk said his personal contract is signed with the Ukrainian unit, meaning hw will keep managing the bank if changes ownership. 

22/01/2014 10:56

The FINANCIAL -- CEOof Raiffeisen Bank (click here) Aval VoVolodymyr Lavrenchuk, Chairman of Raiffeisen Bank Aval, won the first position in the rating of Ukrainian bankers as the most open top manager for communications with journalists and customers, according to Raiffeisen Bank Aval.... 

Since 1982, (click here) various positions in banking, including with Savings Bank of Ukraine, Ukrinbank and Raiffeisenbank Ukraine.... 

Volodymyr Lavrenchuk is the person to promote the ability of Ukraine to move forward as a growing economy. The country needs focus and stability, he would have the insight to provide that.

Feb. 21, 2014, 2:53 a.m.
Busines
by Ivan Verstyuk

Although Raiffeisen Bank (click here) has had success in Ukraine, the Austrian company still wants to unload its subsidiary in the nation and exit the market. Its 2013 net profit of $88.5 million and developed retail banking system are evidently not enough to convince the parent company to stay put.
The impending exit has dampened the mood of customers and investors alike whose pessimism only increased with the news of yet another Western bank leaving. Not surprisingly, foreign direct investments to Ukraine last year shrank to a paltry $2.9 billion, down 31 percent from the previous year.
Official confirmation of the move came on Feb. 10, when Raiffeisen Bank International chief executive officer Karl Sevelda told Austrian newspaper Die Press that the bank had selected a number of interested parties to conduct due diligence of its Ukrainian unit, which does business as Raiffeisen Bank Aval.
A key reason to sell relates to the European Central Bank’s financial health measures of raising capital requirements, meaning that Raiffeisen and others have had to keep more money at home. On top of that, the bank has to reimburse $2.4 billion to Austria’s central bank for the bailout package it received during the financial crisis of 2008-2009....

Yulia Tymoshenko - If there is one person who could calm the opposition, it’s Tymoshenko. European human rights groups have been pushing hard for her release since she was jailed in 2011. It’s not impossible to imagine that if she were freed, it would calm protestors.
As prime minister, Tymoshenko was a vocal advocate of increasing ties with the West and was a constant thorn in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s side. This led to gas pricing disputes in which Gazprom shut off the flow of natural gas through Ukraine, causing a series of energy crises in Europe.
Tymoshenko is loved by Europe, but she’s a divisive figure inside Ukraine. Beginning in 2005, she served as prime minister for five years and was a key part of the Orange Revolution, which brought democratic reforms to Ukraine. But she was always dogged by allegations of corruption in her energy business dealings; Yanukovych used these suspicions to defeat her in the 2010 president election, and then trumped up charges based on those decisions after it. She’s currently serving the second year of a seven-year sentence for embezzlement and tax fraud charges.
- See more at: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2014/02/20/One-Woman-Could-End-Violence-Ukraine#sthash.lja74Ik4.dpuf