On the map:
blue – the CIS countries (Russia, Belorus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan)
yellow – Ukraine (not a CIS member)
red – Georgia (not a CIS member)
green – Turkmenistan (not a CIS member)

All believe that Ukraine is a member-state of the CIS. But it is not like this. After singing the agreements on the CIS creation in 1991, Ukraine parliament has never ratified the Charter of this organization. So, in accordance with the international law, Ukraine is not a CIS member. I want to provide you with a data from the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine:
ABOUT THE STATUS OF UKRAINE IN CIS
December 8, 1991, the President of Ukraine signed an Agreement on Establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States, according to this Agreement Ukraine became one of the founding-states of the CIS. This agreement was ratified by the Parliament of Ukraine on December 10, 1991, with the restrictions.
December 20, 1991, the Parliament of Ukraine made statement on “Adoption of an agreement on Commonwealth of Independent States by Ukraine”. According to the last paragraph, this statement is an official interpretation of the aforementioned Agreement.
December 21, 1991, Ukraine signed a Protocol to the Agreement on Establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States, which is its integral part.
In these documents, which are crucial for Ukraine on its participation in the CIS, there is nothing mentioned about the associated membership in the CIS.
Moreover, there is no possibility of associated membership in the Agreement mentioned above and it’s Protocol.
January 22, 1993, by decision of the Council of the CIS the Charter of the CIS was adopted. Ukraine didn’t sign this decision.
According to the part one of Article 8 of this Charter “according to the decision of the head of states only those countries can join the CIS as it’s associated member which have intension to participate in particular ways of the organization’s activities which are defined by the Associated Membership agreement”.
The Associated membership Agreement in accordance with the Charter of the CIS Ukraine didn’t sign.
By the article 7 of the Charter is stipulated that “the founder-states of the Commonwealth are the states, which signed and ratified the Agreement on establishing the CIS and the Protocol thereto”.
The member-states of the Commonwealth are the founder-states which accepted the obligations of the CIS Charter, within one year after its adoption by the Heads of States.
Thus, Ukraine is the one of the founder-states of the Commonwealth of the Independent States, but not a member-state of the CIS, and it is concluded to be the one not signing the decision of the adoption of the CIS Charter.

Today, 14/11/2009 was the last day of candidate’s registration for ongoing presidency of Ukraine. As of today their total amount is 18.
Following this link http://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vp2010/WP0011 you can see all the candidatures at the Central Election Commission of Ukraine in detail.
The most interesting candidates, in my opinion, are – Anatoliy Hrytsenko, Volodymyr Lytvyn, Olexander Moroz, Yulia Tymoshenko, Viktor Yanukovych, Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
It should be noted that the main shout of this elections is “I’m going to save Ukraine”. However it is curious, why save? It looks like as if all candidatures went crazy.
Let’s start from Viktor Yanukovych. Stable, pro-Russian candidate. He is in favor of granting Russian language the status of second official, and because in favor of improving relations with Russia. Grants his fully support to Russia on the international arena. But it should be noted that his government signed directive in 2003 where it was clearly stated Ukraine’s prospective membership in NATO.
Anatoliy Hrytsenko. “A dark horse”. He is famous as an ex-Minister of Defense. According to his speeches, he supports Ukraine’s integration into the Euro-Atlantic structures.
Volodymyr Lytvyn. We can say “permanent speaker of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine”. Most of his political career, he held a seat as the speaker. In my opinion he spent a lot of time in the power structures. It’s the high time to go on a pension.
Olexander Moroz. The leader of the Social Party of Ukraine. He is famous for his   betrayal of the democratic coalition in 2007 by leaving to the pro-Russian coalition. And that’s why, in my opinion, he is not exactly suits for the presidency. A retirement is required.
Yulia Tymoshenko. Everybody is familiar with the Prime Minister of Ukraine. Her behavior is an expressed complex of “Joan of Arc.” And she does not clearly express foreign-policy views.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Parliament speaker. All the time he’ve been sticking to a pro-Western policy. But now all his comments are less opened if it goes about the foreign policy of Ukraine. Although his relationship with the Council on Foreign Relations is a confirmation of his pro-Western position.
In general, analysts believe that the struggle for the presidency will be between Yulia Tymoshenko and Viktor Yanukovych.
Anyway we’ll see this later. It is up to us to make the right choice!