Ukrainians Protest Against President, Demand Cash

The central bank has placed eight banks so far in receivership, imposing a 6-month moratorium on deposit withdrawals.

Hundreds of Ukrainians protested at separate demonstrations today, with some urging President Viktor Yushchenko to quit while others demanded their money back from banks hit by the financial crisis.

About 2,000 Communists marked the former Soviet Army Day in Kiev on Monday, surrounding a Soviet-era plane painted with the words: "Yushchenko. Suitcase. America". A photo of the pro- Western president was plastered on the plane's cockpit window.

A few blocks away, several hundred depositors demonstrated outside the central bank against its monetary policies carrying posters reading "No credit slavery".

The central bank has placed eight banks so far in receivership, imposing a 6-month moratorium on deposit withdrawals. The banks include Ukraine's ninth largest Nadra Bank and 11th largest Prominvestbank.

Unemployment is on the rise just as Ukrainians are facing higher household bills and much larger debt repayments for loans taken out in dollars because of the hryvnia currency's drop.

The communists waved red hammer and sickle flags at their protest in the capital's main square -- nerve centre of the 2004 "Orange Revolution" that swept Yushchenko to power.

Yushchenko has long been embroiled in a power struggle with his former ally from the Orange Revolution, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Their constant squabbling has delayed policy-making just as the ex-Soviet state plummets deeper into recession.

Their quarrel is threatening a $16.4 billion IMF loan aimed at stabilising the banking sector and helping to support the much weakened currency.

The pro-Russian Communists, whose party is still large enough to hold seats in parliament, object to Yushchenko's NATO ambitions and close ties with the United States -- his wife is an American.

Yushchenko's support has ebbed away since his 2004 victory in a re-run of a fraudulent presidential election. Popular support for him is in single digits, just as he is expected to prepare for a new presidential election in a year's time.