21/11/2014 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - Ukraine celebrated the anniversary of the Euromaidan’s beginning

21/11/2014 Daily Highlights from "Digest & Analytics" news agency

Topics of the day

The coalition agreement has been signed. The new composition of the Verkhovna Rada will meet next week. Ukraine celebrated the anniversary of the Euromaidan’s beginning. The situation in the occupied territories of Donbass is moving to a humanitarian catastrophe.

Ukraine

• Ukraine celebrated the Day of Independence and Liberty by holding mass actions in memory of the "Nebesna Sotnya" (Heavenly Hundred) heroes and hundreds of soldiers who died in the war with Russia. Numerous protesters demanded the acceleration of European integration of Ukraine. President Poroshenko signed a decree conferring the title of Hero of Ukraine to weaponless activists killed by government forces during Maidan, the famous “Heavenly Hundred”.
• The renouncing of non-aligned status and the country's choice for an integration into NATO are present in the coalition agreement,  signed by five democratic Parties, which won the parliamentary elections. The agreement also has a clause on abandoning the practice of elections by majority districts. The coalition can get a constitutional majority in the new composition of the Verkhovna Rada.
  President Poroshenko proposed current Prime Minister Yatsenyuk to head the new government.
• The Ministry of Finance predicts a fall in GDP in Ukraine in 2015 by 4.3%, with inflation of 13.4%.
• The official rate of hryvnia continued to strengthen: 15.10 UAH / $ (-5 kopeks.), 18.92 UAH / € (-7 cop.), 3.23 UAH / 10 € (1 cop.).

Kyiv

• A Viche devoted to the anniversary of the start of massive demonstrations in support of European integration was held on the Independence Square. The rally will continue on Sunday.
• Mayor Klitschko refused to accept the mandate of the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada and will continue serving as the mayor of Kiev.

War in Ukraine

• Several Ukrainian military were blown up on a and mine during the armed clashes in the Donetsk airport. One of them was killed.
• Observers report the resumption of shelling of Ukrainian towns and military positions from the territory of Russia.
• Militants shelled residential neighborhoods of Dzerzhinsk from Gorlovka. There are wounded among civilians. Seven people were wounded during shelling of the town Schastya in the Luhansk region. Infrastructure facilities in Donetsk were also damaged.
• Police believe the explosions, which occurred in Kharkov on the railway, near the airport and on the power plant of the military hospital, are terrorist attacks. National Security Council warns of sharp escalation of Russian terrorist groups activity on the territory of Ukraine.
• The United States provided the first three newest anti-mortar radar system to Ukraine. Seventeen more will be delivered.
• State bank Oschadbank implemented decision of the Cabinet to move its offices from the occupied territories of Donbas to towns under  Ukrainian control.
• NATO continues to record the advance of the Russian military forces to the line of fighting.
• Mass protests of the local population are expected in the occupied territories as social payments and salaries are not paid.

International

• The United States welcomes the signing of the coalition agreement and hope for fruitful cooperation with the new government.
• The Russian State Duma has frozen pension savings and extended a moratorium on the transfer of the funded part of pension payments from the budget to private pension funds.
• PACE President Anne Brasseur called on the Ukrainian authorities to decisively execute reforms and pledged their full support.
• US Vice President Biden announced the granting of additional support for reforms in Ukraine in the amount of $320 million. He said that the US does not recognize the annexation of the Crimea and the "elections" in the Donbas and warned Russia that the cost of the continuation of aggression will increase dramatically.
• Ukraine booked transit capacity of Slovak natural gas pipelines until 2020.
• CEO of Rosatom announced extension of the contract for the supply of nuclear fuel for Ukrainian nuclear power plants for 2015.

Trends

• Tensions in the occupied territories of Donbas are increasing. Russian leadership of the regions does not take into account the humanitarian situation. Russian troops continue to advance to the areas of possible offensive. Active combat operations may break out at any moment.
• Maidan activists demand from Ukrainian authorities to punish masterminds and perpetrators of the executions and to decisively continue reforms.