Ukraine Due to Ink Austerity Pact with EU

A Ukrainian flag. (Photo: Ivan Bandura/ cc/ Flickr)

Ukraine Due to Ink Austerity Pact with EU

Newly elected President Petro Poroshenko will reportedly sign on Friday a contentious deal that led to months-long upheaval

The government of Ukraine is expected to sign on Friday a contentious economic and trade agreement with the European Union, the threat of which had previously polarized the nation and sparked months of violence and upheaval.

Newly elected President Petro Poroshenko is due to sign the document at a ceremony in Brussels, the Associated Pressreported on Wednesday. The austerity-driven agreement is said to bring sweeping changes to the economy of the country.

In a decision that led to his ouster, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych had previously balked at signing what many described as the "harsh" reforms, which were dictated largely by the International Monetary Fund.

The AP describes the agreement as a "1,200-page telephone book of a document crammed with rules on everything from turkeys to tulips, cheese to machinery."

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