Kiev - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday warned of a potential default and financial crash, if the country's government continues "irresponsible populist policies."

Yushchenko in an exclusive interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa blamed Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her cabinet for failing to respond to the impact of the international financial crisis, placing Ukraine's economy on a road to disaster.

Moscow/Kiev - Customs formalities at the Russo-Ukrainian border have delayed a camel shipment for days and killed one animal, news agencies reported Tuesday.

The lorry-load of 19 surviving Bactrian (two-hump) camels had been en route from Russia's Caspian Sea autonomous republic Kalmykia to a Bulgarian zoo, only to be halted by Ukrainian border guards near the Russian city Rostov.

One camel died waiting as Russian and Ukrainian border officials wrangled for close to two weeks over the animals' further transit.

Kiev, Moscow - Ukraine's cash-strapped government reached out to Russia and the International Monetary Fund in a hunt to keep its national budget afloat, officials said Monday.

A statement by Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko confirmed widely-reported rumours Kiev had requested a 5 billion dollar emergency loan from Russia, to keep the government solvent.

Tymoshenko's government in recent weeks has faced increasing difficulty in making ends meet due to a drastic drop in state revenues, and rising energy and social payment costs.

Kiev  - Ukraine's embattled government on Thursday survived a parliament motion of no confidence, with the legislative opposition failing to assemble to votes needed to throw out the country's pro- Europe leadership.

A total 203 MPs out of the 450-seat house voted in favour of considering a no confidence motion, almost all from the pro-Russia Regions Ukraine party, or the anti-capitalist Communist Party of Ukraine.

Moscow - Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov meeting in Moscow with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, on Thursday called for more urgency in building alternative pipeline routes to carry Russian gas to Europe bypassing Ukraine.

The former Soviet state, which is almost wholly dependent on Russian gas for heat, was severely hit by a dispute between Russia and Ukraine last month that severed its supplies of gas for nearly two weeks amid freezing temperatures.

Kiev  - It used to be that Kiev City Hall stopped trying to make money off taxpayers once they were finally dead.

That was before the world financial crisis struck the Ukrainian capital - and Kiev Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky's scheme to make visiting a municipal cemetery, and one's deceased relatives, subject to an admission fee.

The six-dollar equivalent entrance charge would, as first described by Chernovetsky subordinates last week, is taken from every man, woman, or child entering a cemetery within Kiev city limits.