On February 8, elections to the regional council will be held in the Turiisk district due to the death of deputy Sviatoslav Hryshchenko.

Leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine Petro Symonenko denies the possibility of financing of his party by Saddam Hussein's regime, in particular at the expense of the sale of Iraqi oil.

The National Joint-Stock Company "Naftogaz of Ukraine" refutes information about its alleged participation in schemes involving Iraqi oil and states that NAK purchases oil in Iraq within the framework of the UN "Oil for Food" program.

The statement by the Baghdad newspaper "Al-Mada" about the involvement of certain Russian companies in illegal oil trading is an attempt to push Russia away from participation in Iraqi projects.

After the scandal with the supply of "Kolchuha" radar systems to Iraq, Ukraine may again find itself at the center of an international scandal, again connected to Saddam's regime.

99.3 percent of the region's citizens who worked not at their main place of work in 2003 voluntarily declared their incomes in an amount greater than 1095 UAH. This was reported by the Department of Public Relations and Mass Explanatory Work of the State Tax Administration in the Volyn region.

In Lutsk today, the results of the training seminar "Preventing Human Trafficking" were summarized; the event took place in the regional center from January 28-30.

On the solemn gathering that took place in the session hall of the city council, were invited the heads of enterprises, institutions and organizations that most actively approached the implementation of the planned measures for the improvement of the city of Lutsk.

From January 1, 2004, the enterprise ULutskteploF introduces a two-tier tariff for heat supply services. The old tariff for central heating services was 0.77 UAH per 1 sq. m. According to the new calculations, in summer it will be 0.56 UAH per 1 sq. m., and in winter — 1.16 UAH per 1 sq. m.

As regrettable as it is, over the past year in the agro-industrial complex of Volyn Oblast even the positive things that had been achieved in previous years have been lost, and not even half of what was promised has been fulfilled. To the ruined agricultural enterprises, more than a hundred more were added during 2003.