KIEV, Ukraine: Ukrainian authorities pumped more money into the shaken
banking sector as they prepared for talks with the International Monetary
Fund about getting help with the country's financial troubles.

Worried Ukrainians continued to pull money from banks, but government
rescue measures appeared to have slowed the withdrawals and experts were
optimistic that the country would weather the difficulties.

The government, which is also in the midst of an escalating political
crisis, is struggling to support the hryvna currency in the face of the
world financial meltdown, as investor money flees emerging markets and
orders fall for the country's chief export commodity, steel.

The country's central bank and chief financial regulator, the National
Bank, pledged 1 billion hryvna (US$200 million) to insure retail deposits
and prevent a run on banks, the Interfax news agency reported. Nervous
have citizens stripped the banking system US$1.3 billion dollars since the
beginning of the month.

Some Ukrainians were not waiting to see how it turns out and rushed to
empty their accounts. Many people lost their life savings in the 1991
collapse of the Soviet Union, of which now-independent Ukraine was once
part.

"There were these rumors and I decided not to wait," said Lyudmila
Kudinova, 49, who withdrew 10,000 hryvna from her account at a downtown
office of the Khreshchatyk bank Wednesday and immediately converted it
into US$2,000 in U.S. currency. "There is one crisis after another."

A survey of about a dozen ATMs and bank offices in downtown Kiev found no
scenes of panic or long lines. Prominvest, which is being administered by
the government, and Nadra, another troubled bank, have imposed
restrictions on withdrawals. They have limited ATM withdrawals to US$200,
according to customers and bank officials. Several Nadra ATMs had no cash
in them Wednesday.

"Of course I am worried," said Svetlana, who declined to give her last
name. She tried to withdraw 5,000 hryvna (US$1,000) from an ATM at
Raiffeisen Bank Aval in the center of the capital, but was limited to just
1,000 hryvna (US$200).

Serhiy Kruglik, head of the foreign relations department on the central
bank, said the IMF delegation would arrive Wednesday and meet with
government representatives Thursday, review the measures Ukraine has taken
so far and consider extending a loan.

"The financial crisis has shaken the whole world and we are no exception,"
Kruglik told The Associated Press. "But we have an additional problem: a
political crisis." He said the size of any loan would be decided only
after consultations with the IMF delegation.

The IMF's mission follows the central bank's freeze of selected retail
accounts across the country, limits on loans and measures to stabilize the
hryvna. The government has also taken steps to support the country's core
steel and chemical industry.

Government efforts to battle the crisis have been complicated by a
deepening political crisis, as Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko defied
President Viktor Yushchenko's order to call early parliamentary elections.

Tymoshenko is fighting to stay in power and avoid a third parliamentary
vote in as many years. Their court battle continued Wednesday and a
council of the country's top judges were to consider their dispute
Thursday.

Both leaders remained defiant. Yushchenko vowed the election will take
place despite what he called Tymoshenko's "tricks." Tymoshenko again urged
him to revive their shattered pro-Western coalition.

The central bank continued its struggle to stabilize the hryvna Wednesday,
after the currency fell some 20 percent last week. The government
intervened and the hryvna recovered some of its losses, but was still down
some 12 percent from September.

Raiffeisen Bank Aval said in a statement Wednesday that it had received a
US$180 million loan from its Vienna-based parent, Raiffeisen Centralbank
Osterreich, causing its shares to rise on the local stock exchange.

Financial analysts said the banking restrictions were temporary and
predicted the country would pull thorough the crisis as the central bank's
emergency measures took effect. "I think the banking system will survive
and will emerge not in a bad condition compared to some other countries,"
said Oleg Pronin of Dragon Capital Investment Bank.

Ukraine's main stock exchange, the PFTS, which has plunged some 75 percent
over the past year, closed with a 5 percent drop Wednesday, following a
global trend.