25/12/2014 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - The Parliament approved the law expanding the powers of the National Security Council

25/12/2014 Daily Highlights by "Digests and Analytics – Ukraine" News Agency

Topics of the day

The Parliament approved the law expanding the powers of the National Security Council and a adopted in first reading most of the legislative package necessary for the implementation of the state budget. The Government grants access to the Registrу of Property Rights. Ukrainian society raises the question about the legal status of the Minsk Agreement.

Key Events In Ukraine

• The law expanding the powers of the National Security Council successfully adopted by the  Parliament. Speaker Groisman immediately signed it and sent to the President for final approvement.
  Verkhovna Rada appointed its three members of the committee for electing the Head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau by the majority .
  A law on the tax compromise have been adopted. It provides option for voluntary self-clarification of underpaid income tax and value added tax at the rate of 5% within 90 days.
  A law on transfer pricing has been approved in first reading. Exports of goods and services through the related companies should be taxed at the normal rate using the average sales price determined by the well-known sources.
  The Parliament adopted at the third attempt the law of increasing customs duties on import of more than 100 product groups by 5-10% and the gradual reduction of the united social tax contribution. A law prohibiting the repossession of mortgaged property by banks in cases where loans were taken in foreign currency passed the first reading.
  The government debt ceiling  is increased by 161 billion to 968 billion UAH due to the devaluation of the hryvnia (UAH) above the predicted figure.
• The government approved the procedure for accessing the registry of property rights. According to the Minister of Justice it will improve the investment climate and enhance the anti-corruption efforts.
• As a result of military and economic exercises  “Concentration-2014” President Poroshenko instructed to strengthen security on crucial infrastructure and vital objects.
• The President established the National Advisory Investment Council under his supervision. Its goal should be to attract foreign investments into the Ukrainian economy.
• The official FX rate of hryvnia has not changed: 15.77 UAH/USD, 19.27 UAH/EUR (+0,01 UAH), 2.89 UAH/10 RUR.

War in Ukraine

• The OSCE reported that coal export from the occupied territories of Donbass into Russia continued.
• Intelligence activities of Russian troops and insurgents using UAVs on Eastern and Southern Ukraine has increased.
• The authorities of the occupied Crimea announced that power outages during peak hours will be regular.

Ukraine and the World

• Russia has adopted a law which prescribes to store all personal data of Russian citizens on servers located on the territory of the Russian Federation.
• The head of the Moscow branch of the International Red Cross Trunov called the  "humanitarian convoys" which the RF is sending to the Donbass as invasion of Ukraine. He stressed that the humanitarian aid that go through the Red Cross held all necessary procedures and the distribution of assistance is transparent.

Trends

• President Poroshenko promised US Vice President Biden and the leaders of the IMF that the Ukrainian budget will be adopted before the end of 2014. Without the next tranche of the IMF stabilising credit Ukraine will fall into a financial collapse and social unrest. The government is trying to make the budget on the basis of legislative package submitted to parliament which does not have full support by MPs. Prime Minister Yatsenyuk  threatened to resign once again. That would cause the collapse of the coalition. Therefore, the budget, if adopted, will be only fictitious document for international lenders to borrow money from the IMF and other financial institutions.
• European Business Association believes that the law on the introduction of additional import duties is contrary to the Association Agreement with the EU and doesn’t correspond to the WTO General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. It would create additional risks to foreign companies, worsen the business climate in the country and ultimately may cause the cancellation of the duty-free regime introduced by the EU unilaterally.
• Representatives of terrorist “republics” taking part in the Minsk negotiations of the conflict regulation in Eastern Ukraine are not authorized to make any decisions and put forward the demands on the revision of the original agreements. This shows that Russia which has full control over the leaders of the "republics" is deliberately wasting time and does not intend to participate in the international crisis resolving.
• Security Services of Ukraine is ready to move away from the proclaimed principle of POW exchange negotiations  "all for all" and ready to exchange 225 militants for 150 Ukrainian servicemen. Earlier, the SSU stated that the number of hostages held by terrorists is more than 650 including Ukrainian servicemens and civilians.
• Non-governmental organization "Maydan of Foreign Affairs" demands explanation from the head of the presidential administration Lozhkin what credentials were granted to Ukrainian participants at the negotiations in Minsk, whether or not directives to negotiate were issued, who and how approved the personalities in the Ukrainian delegation, announce the results, documents signed and the legal status of the negotiations.