01/01/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - TV channel "Inter" broadcoasted the show with participation of Russian artists who supported the annexation of Crimea

01.01.2015 Daily Highlights by "Digests and Analytics - Ukraine" News Agency

Topics of the day

On New Year Eve the TV channel "Inter" broadcoasted the show with participation of Russian artists who supported the annexation of Crimea. New Year  holidays did not stop militants from attacking Ukrainian positions and cities in Donbass.

Key Events In Ukraine

• Almost half of the New Year Eve programming on Ukrainian TV channels was filled with Russian shows. The TV channel "Inter" aired a show with artists who are denied legal entry into Ukraine because of their support of separatism and calls for the annexation of Crimea and Donbass.
• New provisions of the Tax Code on taxation of residential property,  tax increases on passive income and on cars with large displacement, and the excise tax increase came into effect on January 1.

Kyiv

• About 40 thousand party-goers gathered at Sophia Square to celebrate the New Year, according to Kiev authorities, in contrast to Maidan, with there were no more than 50 people.
• Supporters of the "Freedom" and the Right Sector had a torchlight procession without any accidents in honor of 106th anniversary of Stepan Bandera’s birth, and held a rally on Maidan square. The participants demanded to return the title of the Hero of Ukraine to Bandera.

War in Ukraine

• On January 1, millitants in Donets'k and Luhans'k "republics"' have stepped up attacks on Ukrainian positions along the whole line separating their positions from governement forces. Three Ukrainian soldiers were injured. One civillian was killed and two wounded as a result of mortar attack by insurgents at the village of Chernukhino in Luhans'k region.
  Despite continuous negotiations with militants on impposing a "silent mode" at the front line, no real progress has been achieved so far.
• Czech Republic provided Ukraine with surplus of older winter uniforms.

Ukraine and the World

• The agreement on Eurasian Economic Union, which currently includes Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and Armenia preparing to join, went into force on January 1.
  Starting January 1, CIS citizens are allowed to enter Russia only with a valid international passport; this rule does not extend to citizens of Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and the Eurasian Economic Union.
• Russia began to levy customs duties on all goods imported into Crimea from Ukraine.
• Head of French Ministry of Defence said the ceasefire and last-lasting peace are the pre-codintions of transfer to Russia of the two class "Mistral" class helicopter carriers.
• Latvian Prime Minister will be acting as a head of the EU Council. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Latvia will encourage the EU to develop further relations with Eastern Partnership countries, including Ukraine.

Trends

• Despite the loud statements by the Presidential Administration and the National Security Council Secretary Turchinov to ban TV broadcasting channel "Inter" , for showing during New Year programming the llive artists from Russia, who callied for the annexation of Crimea and Donbass by Russia, Ukraine apperas to lack a legal framework to revoke television broadcasting licenses in such cases.