25/03/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - The Head of the State Department of Emergency Management has been arrested on suspicion of corruption

03/25/2015 Daily Highlights by the "Digests & Analytics - Ukraine" News Agency

Topics of the Day

The Head of the State Department of Emergency Management has been arrested on suspicion of corruption. A passenger bus tripped a land mine near town Gorlivka. US Senate urged President Obama to give Ukraine defensive lethal weapons.

Key Events of Ukraine

• President Poroshenko signed a law on the simplifying the procedure for licensing of economic activity and reducing the number of business activities subject to licensing.
• The Cabinet introduced its candidate for the post of Head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional state administration. This was the current Governor of Zaporizhzhya region, who had previously held senior positions in the business of the Head of presidential administration Lozhkin.
• The State antitrust committee has initiated an investigation into the activities of the largest retail networks that groundlessly increased the prices for basic foods and essential goods of local production during the jump of the exchange rate in February this year, and ordered to cut prices to the previous level.
• At a meeting of the Cabinet the Head of the State Department of Emergency Management and his deputy were arrested on suspicion of corruption and money laundering. All heads of the regional departments of this Department were removed from office for a time of the investigation. The advisor to the Minister of the Interior Shkiryak was appointed as Acting Head of the Department.
• Minister of the Interior announced an investigation of corruption in relation to the two ministers of the previous government belonged to the Svoboda party - Mohnik and Shvaika.
• Prosecutor General Shokin suspended from work for the time of the investigation a number of the senior staff of department, including his deputy Baganets, whose son is accused of the creating and "protection racket" of the network of illegal gambling parlors “BOSS”.
• Since the beginning of the month Ukraine has imported from the EU 1 billion m3 of natural gas.
• National Bank moves to e-procurement system for the standardized goods and services worth up to 100 thousand UAH.
• The official rate of hryvnia slightly decreased: 23.56 UAH/USD (+0.27 UAH), 25.79 UAH/EUR (+0,38 UAH) 4.01 UAH/10 RUR (+0.09 UAH).

Ukraine at War

• Militants constantly violate the ceasefire. All along the line of the military contact the dozens of fire attacks were recorded, heavy fighting takes place under village Shirokino near Mariupol.
• Leaders of the Pravyi Sector refused to withdraw its troops from Shirokino and Mariupol that had to be done in obedience to the sector M military command’s order. Pravyi Sector considers such orders to be the betrayal of the interests of Ukraine and will continue to support the Ukrainian army in close cooperation with the grassroots level commanders.
• As a result of the tripping a land mine by a passenger bus at a checkpoint in Mayorsk near Gorlovka four people were killed. Ukrainian militaries claim that after the explosion the bus was shelled by militants’ mortars.
• The OSCE continues to record the taking away of coal from the occupied Donbas to the territory of Russia.
• The first batch of the US Humvee off-road vehicles for the Army of Ukraine was delivered to the Boryspil airport.

Ukraine and the World

• The US Senate unanimously adopted a resolution calling on President Obama to begin deliveries of lethal weapons to Ukraine.
• US State Department spokesperson Psaki believes that the appointment and dismissal of governors are the internal affair of the Ukrainian authorities.
• The European Parliament supported the granting of macro-financial assistance in the amount of € 1,8 bln to Ukraine. The first tranche of this aid Ukraine can get even in early summer after the approval by the EU Council.
• The European Commission called on the Ukrainian government to continue the investigation of crimes committed on Maidan in the winter of 2013-2014 and in Odessa on May 2, 2014.
• In Paris the next round of talks in the "Norman format" at the level of the deputies of foreign ministers ended without result.
• The Former national security adviser Brzezinski reiterated his view that Ukraine's accession simultaneously to both NATO and the EU would be the too strong blow for Russia and could strengthen its conflict with the West.

The Trends

• After the court session on the choice of preventive measures for the suspects in the murder of the State Security Service of Ukraine officer in Volnovakha human right activists and the public commented on the statements made by President Poroshenko and the Head of the State Security Service of Ukraine Nalyvaychenko. They consider illegal to blame people before the decision of the court, and their understanding is that the methods of investigation and judicial processes are similar to those that existed under former President Yanukovych.