Ukraine Ratifies €610m European Union Loan

Ukraine's parliament confirmed that it has agreed to a €610m loan from the European Union which had allegedly been signed last year but never ratified under the ousted President Viktor Yanukovich.

The loan will comes as relief for the embattled country that has seen its currency reserves dry up and its financial markets plunge amid the political chaos.

To make matters worse, the newly installed Ukrainian prime minister, Arseny Yatseniuk, claimed that $70bn (£42bn, €51bn) has gone missing from the public's balance sheets after the Yanukovich's administration hid the cash away in offshore bank accounts.

"The sum of $70bn was paid out of Ukraine's financial system into offshore accounts," he said in parliament this week.

"I want to report to you - the state treasury has been robbed and is empty. $37bn of credit received has disappeared in an unknown direction. The situation was so grave that there was no other alternative but to take extraordinarily unpopular measures."

Subsequently, Swiss, Austrian and Lichtenstein froze the assets of 20 senior members of Yanukovich's government, including the ousted President and his son.