FACTBOX-Key facts on Ukraine's finances and politics

Oct 20 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko expressed confidence on Monday that talks with the International Monetary Fund would prove successful and that Ukraine would secure "substantial" financial assistance. [UA-M]

Officials have suggested the IMF could lend Ukraine a sum ranging from $10-14 billion.

Following are key facts about why Ukraine is vulnerable to heightened risk aversion among international investors.

POLITICS

* Ukraine has been plagued by political turbulence since "Orange Revolution" protests in 2004 brought to power President Viktor Yushchenko and a team committed to moving closer to the West and joining NATO and the European Union.

Rows pitting Yushchenko against his former ally Yulia Tymoshenko, who twice served as his prime minister, undermined the "Orange" camp and brought down governments. The president dissolved parliament this month and called a December parliamentary election, the third in as many years.

* Upheaval -- and trouble forming a stable ruling coalition -- reflect Ukraine's longstanding division into the nationalist west and centre, which looks to the EU and United States, and the Russian-speaking east and south, friendlier towards Moscow.

* Relations with Russia, bumpy throughout the post-Soviet period, have sunk to unprecedented lows over Yushchenko's denunciation of Moscow's military intervention in Georgia. Ukraine depends heavily on Moscow for energy supplies.

CURRENCY POLICY

* The hryvnia currency hit an all-time low of 5.9/$ on Oct. 8, weakened by growing global risk aversion and regional tensions after Russia's conflict with Georgia.

* In mid-2008 the hryvnia had strengthened as far 4.5/$, after the central bank abandoned a policy of keeping it in a corridor of 5.00-5.06 per dollar within a 4.95-5.25 band.

* The central bank's council and executive board have sent mixed messages about future actions and clashed in May over revaluing the hryvnia's official rate. The board appears to take less notice of the currency band, set by the council.

FINANCES