04/11/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - Holy Fire from Jerusalem arrived in Ukraine

Holy Fire of Jerusalem

04/11/2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine News Agency

Topics from the Media and Social Networks

• Holy Fire from Jerusalem arrived in Ukraine.
• No volunteer units left in conflict zone.
• "Hooligans" demolished communist monuments in Kharkov.
• Demonstration exercises of NATO and Russia.
• Interior Minister Avakov accused Donetsk governor of collaboration.

Key Events in Ukraine

• Police regard the dismantling of monuments to communist leaders  in Kharkiv as hooliganism.
• President Poroshenko signed the law on facilitating the financing of fortifications construction during the special period.

Ukraine at War

• Shooting and militant attacks continue on the contact line, with more than 20 fire contacts registered during the day. OSCE observers recorded a massive transfer of Russian troops across the Russian-Ukrainian border. Militants carry out intensive reconnaissance of the forward edge using drones.
• Defense Minister stated that all volunteer units present in the antiterrorist operation zone had joined the regular units of either the Armed Forces or the National Guard.

Ukraine and the World

• Russia conducts demonstration exercises of the Air Force and air defense systems in the Krasnodar region to test the interaction of offensive air operations at extremely low altitudes.
• The President of the United States and a representative of the Cuban regime met for negotiations in Panama for the first time in 55 years. The public sees this event as a breakthrough for the future of good-neighborly relations and peaceful coexistence in the region.
• Saudi Arabia barred Russian planes heading to Yemen from entering its airspace because of suspicion of weapons supplies to the rebels.

The Trends

• Interior Minister Avakov accused the Head of Donetsk regional military and civil administration Kikhtenko of establishing economic contacts with businesses in the territory controlled by the DNR and LNR militants, promising to initiate his dismissal. Kikhtenko argued that the businesses in question have been re-registered on the Ukrainian territory and emphasized that the State is responsible for their employees. At the same time, the system of issuing "passes" indicates a violation of the constitutional rights of the citizens living in the occupied territory.
• According to Balcerowicz, the author of Polish reforms and shock therapy, to stabilize the economy Ukraine needs to conduct a total de-monopolization, with mandatory demerger of monopolists, deregulation, financial stabilization at the expense of financial institutions owners, and a complete reorganization of Naftogaz by its demerger into companies dealing with production, storage and transportation of natural gas.