20/01/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - Runway in Donetsk airport was blown up.

01/20/2015 Daily Highlights by "Digests and Analytics - Ukraine" News Agency

Topics of the day

The situation in the Donbass escalated to the limit, the militants are attacking along the entire line of contact. Security Services of Ukraine introduces enhanced security measures to combat the terrorist threat. President Poroshenko cut short his visit to Davos.

Key Events In Ukraine

• President Poroshenko shortened the duration of his visit to Davos because of the worsening situation in the Donbass.
• Pechersk court of Kyiv  arrests former President Yanukovych and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov in absentia. This will allow the Prosecutor General to demand their extradition.
• Minister of Economic Development and Trade anounced cuts of the staff at the Ministry by 50%.
• 47 MP’s who are former members of the Party of Regions submitted inquiry on the constitutionality of the law "On the cleansing of governmemt authorities" to the Constitutional Court.
• The official FX rate of hryvnia has not changed: 15.77 UAH / USD (-0.04 UAH), 18.30 UAH/EUR (-0,02 UAH), 2.43 UAH /10 RUR.

Kyiv Life

• Administration of the capital released a draft budget for 2015. Adoption of the budget planned for the session of Kyiv City Council on January, 28.

War in Ukraine

• The situation in the Donbass escalated to the limit. Ukrainian troops left one of the key roadblocks on the highway "Bahmutka" in Lugansk region, runway in Donetsk airport was blown up. Fighting with tanks, heavy artillery and MLRS take place along the front line.  Mass participation of the regular Russian military units in the battles has been observed.
  As a result of the shelling of residential areas of Donetsk, Avdeevka, Gorlovka, Shchastya, Stanitsa Luganska, other populated areas in Luhansk region there are numerous casualties among the civilians.
• An important railway bridge connecting the center of the country with MariupiI was blown up near the station Rozivka in the Zaporozhye region. Pro-Russian organizations associated with terrorism was liquidated by security forces in Kharkov.
• Security Services of Ukraine has introduced enhanced measures to combat terrorism and asks citizens to provide maximum assistance to the security forces to prevent the destabilization of the situation.
• Ministry of Social Policy reports that the number of officially registered temporary migrants exceeded 900 thousand people.

Ukraine and the World

• German Foreign Minister Steinmeier confirmed that the meeting of the Foreign Ministers' Norman Quartet to resolve the crisis in Ukraine will take place on January 21 in Berlin.
• OSCE urges parties of the conflict in the Donbass to ceasefire and start negotiations.
• Poland is ready to participate in the modernization of the Ukrainian aircraft and armored vehicles, ships and joint military developments.
• International human rights group Amnesty International urged Ukraine to ratify the Rome Statute immediately to participate fully in the work of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
• US President Obama, in his annual message to Congress, stated that the US has become the world leader in energy production and use of alternative energy sources.
• The government of Iran believes that the oil price at $25 a barrel is not fatal to the economy.
• According to presidents of the US and France sanctions against Russia should be maintained in the absence of progress in the implementation of the Minsk Agreement and that Ukrainian government needs additional financial support.
• Russia has finally decided on the construction of a gas pipeline to Turkey and proposes the EU to build their own infrastructure for gas intake on the border between Turkey and Greece.
• IMF published a report "World Economic Outlook", according to which Russia's GDP is expected to decline by 3%, instead of the previously predicted growth of 0.5% due to the fall in oil prices and geopolitical tensions.
• RF refused US aid in the protection of the closed nuclear centers that store stocks of highly enriched uranium and weapons-grade plutonium. The program was running from 1993.

Trends

• Application of the law "On the tax compromise" will not allow to bring most businesses out of the shadow because it implies additional checks which may result in the penalties not covered by the amnesty. Law is beneficial for the businesses that are suing the fiscal service for VAT and income tax as it will reduce their costs.