Some Riga-related info from our news desk:
RIGA -- The European Union and Ukraine have signed a 1.8 billion-euro ($2 billion) loan deal to help revive Ukraine's ailing economy.
EU and Ukrainian officials signed the agreement on May 22 at a summit of leaders of EU nations and six countries identified as the EU's eastern partners: Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
The Associated Press news agency reports that the agreement, part of the EU's Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) program, would require Ukraine to adopt a series of reforms, including anticorruption measures, to remedy structural problems in its economy. The agreement brings the total amount of EU assistance to Ukraine in the past two years to about 6 billion euro.
At the Riga summit, the EU also promised grants of 200 million euros ($223 million) to support small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova. (AP)