06/23/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - Poroshenko appointed new Deputy Heads of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Head of the Anti-terrorist Center

Poroshenko appointed new Head of the Anti-terrorist Center

06.23.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine News Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• Poroshenko appointed new Deputy Heads of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Head of the  Anti-terrorist Center.
• The negotiations of the “Normandy Four” foreign ministers in Paris ended without any valuable results.
• The next meeting of the contact group in Minsk to settle the Donbass crisis.
• Large scale anti-government rally in Armenia.

Key Events in Ukraine

• President Poroshenko appointed a new Head of the Anti-terrorist Center and two Deputy Heads of the Security Serivice of Ukraine (SSU).
• Defense Minister Poltorak ordered to use for all the purchases of the military units electronic form.
• The Ministry of Infrastructure informed that the passenger traffic losses of the "Ukrzaliznytsia" amounted to more than UAH 3 billion, but compared to the previous year, the losses reduced.
• The Ministry of Finance sold internal loan bonds for the amount of USD 3 billion USD due in June next year.
• The official hryvnia exchange rate slightly increased: 21.53 UAH/USD (-0.24 UAH), 24.12 UAH/EUR (-0,58 UAH), 3.97 UAH/RUR 10 (-0.09 UAH).

Ukraine at War

• The next closed doors negotiations of the contact group and sub-working groups to resolve the situation in the Donbass were held in Minsk. After the meeting, the OSCE representative Tagliavini stated that they were difficult and didn't yield any tangible results. Militants, controlled by Russia, introduced an ultimatum, after fulfillment of which they will cease the fire, their demands are  - amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, the recognition of the special status of the Donbass territories and their maintenance at Ukraine’s expense.
  The negotiations did not bring the cease-fire to the Donbass. The situation is still very tense in the surroundings of Donetsk and Artemivsk, Shyrokine, Schastya, Popasna and Stanitsa Luhanska were shelled. Within last 24 hours one soldier was killed and 12  were injured.
• The head of the Donetsk military-civil administration decided to leave the leadership of the security forces of the region in Kramatorsk.
• 61 thousand security forces soldiers  involved in counter-terrorist operation got the status of combatants.

Ukraine and the World

• The talks of the “Normandy Four” foreign ministers were held In Paris. All the parties, including Russia, declared their readiness to implement the provisions of the Minsk agreements . Among other issues, they discussed the creation of the permanent OSCE mission office in Shyrokino and future introduction of such experience to other flash points of the demarcation line. No documents were prepared as the result of the talks.
• A spokesman for the Russian President Peskov claimed that cancellation of the federalization of Ukraine in the framework of the constitutional reform allegedly contradicts the Minsk agreements.
• From June 23, new rules for obtaining the Schengen visas came into effect: fingerprints will be collected from all the visa applicants.
• In Yerevan and Gyumri mass protests against the sharp increase of the  electricity tariffs, which were introduced the Armenian energy system, owned by RAO UES, continued .
• European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Mogherini presented to the Council a new communication strategy, introducing the all-European countermeasures to misinformation and propaganda of the Kremlin.
• UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, addressing the PACE, bypassed the issue of the Russia's aggression in Ukraine, saying that it is necessary to maintain the territorial integrity of the latter. Ukrainian delegation was not given the opportunity to ask him questions after the speech.
• "Gazprom" will not participate in the construction of the pipeline in the Crimea because of the sanctions, so another organization will be building and operating the pipeline. Its completion is scheduled for 2018.
• To provide the financial assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $ 1.5 billion, the World Bank requires the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada by June 30 of the laws prohibiting the introduction of the  below cost tariffs and eliminating the insolvent banks from the financial market.
• According to the Stratfor American intelligence agency, Russia could seriously aggravate the situation in the east of Ukraine, but is unlikely to begin the full-scale offensive.

The Trends

• The appointment as the Head of the ATC of the former  member of the Party of Regions, a son-in-law of the ex-interior minister,  who had escaped to Moscow, and as  the Deputy Head of the SBU of one of the prosecutors, on the one hand, is regarded by the public as a  service weakening in the conditions of the Russian aggression, and on the other hand, increases private submission of the SSU to President Poroshenko, who introduced the management of own trustees.
• The mechanism of the local elections, adopted by Verkhovna Rada in the first reading, excludes from the possible contenders the small parties and groups that do not have financial resources. The parties lists are still closed. It is planned to form the electoral commissions of the representatives of the parliamentary parties. Experts believe that the innovations in the electoral law will limit the right of citizens to elect the non-partisan local leaders.