An excerpt:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has disappeared. Well, not literally, but he hasn't been seen in public for a full week and reports about his schedule on the presidential website seem suspect. The Kremlin denies that he is ill, and the Russian blogosphere is abuzz with speculation.
It's still impossible for an outsider to tell where Putin is, or what he's up to. But it isn't too early to draw conclusions from this episode. It offers evidence enough that Russia has become an outright dictatorship. No other kind of state would be so opaque, nor its citizens so preoccupied with their ruler.
Kyiv Expects IMF Bailout Tranche On March 13, Will Start Debt Talks
Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko says Kyiv expects the first $5 billion tranche of a new four-year International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout program to be disbursed on March 13.
Jaresko also announced talks would start on March 13 with Kyiv’s creditors on restructuring Ukraine's debt, saying a solution should be found within two months.
She did not specify which debt might be restructured.
She also said Kyiv would launch a privatization program for many of the country's 3,300 state-owned firms by the end of 2015.
The IMF on March 11 approved the $17.5-billion loan for Ukraine to stave off a debt default.
Jaresko said the first $5 billion tranche would enable Kyiv to “increase reserves."
She said the central bank would receive $2.2 billion to stabilize the national currency, the hryvnia, which has lost more than two-thirds of its value against the dollar during the past year amid the conflict with Russian-backed separatists in the east.
She said the remaining $2.8 billion from the tranche would go to the government.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
We're finished for the day, but you can keep up with events in Ukraine, Russia, and the rest of our broadcast region HERE.
We'll conclude today's live blogging with this wrap-up of where we stand in the IMF bailout of Ukraine, with some $5 billion already expected on Friday.
Ukraine Expects First IMF Tranche By March 13
We showed you the subtitled video earlier. Now The Interpreter has more.