07/20/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - The NSDC adopted a decision on coordination of the intelligence agencies activities

The NSDC meeting 20.07.2015

07.20.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine News Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine adopted a decision on coordination of the intelligence agencies activities and on the nuclear facilities threat countermasures.
• Prime Minister Yatsenyuk demands to bring to order the benefits and subsidies system.
• In Dzerzhinsk  the monuments to Lenin and Dzerzhinsky were demolished.
• In Yavorivsky training area a military exercises involving the US military began.

Key Events In Ukraine

• During the meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine the urgent measures to strengthen coordination of defense and security sectors, including prevention of terrorist and subversive activities of the aggressor state and its agents were considered. To speed up the introduction of the visa free regime with the EU, an integrated database system for identification of persons, border management and migration will be implemented. Before September 1, the Antimonopoly Committee should investigate the violations in the sphere of air transportation and fixing of prices within the framework of the implementation of the "Open Skies" and also look into the elimination of the monopolies in this sector. The issue of the implementation of the defensive lines engineering equipment was also considered. The Cabinet Ministers reported on the implementation of the measures to protect the property rights and interests of Ukraine due to the occupation of the Crimea and the Donbass. The threat to the nuclear facilities, radioactive waste and materials in connection with the Russian aggression is recognized as one of the main threats in the security system. To remedy the situation with the immunological protection of the population, it was decided to take the urgent measures to provide the population with the vaccines.
  President Poroshenko delivered a message about restoring the order in Transcarpathia and fighting the smuggling.
• Poroshenko at the meeting with representatives of the Contact Group during the  Minsk talks said that the Ukrainian side is ready to hold the local elections in the Donbass only after the militants cancel the elections on October 18 and November 1. Humanitarian aid must be delivered only through the border points controlled by Ukraine and get the full customs clearance. He stressed that the situation in the Donbass escalated in recent days and stated that Ukraine will insist on granting for the OSCE representatives of the unimpeded access  to not only the buffer zone, but also to the uncontrolled areas of the Russian-Ukrainian border.
• Prime Minister Yatsenyuk demanded from the Ministry of the Social Policy to restore the order in the benefits and subsidies system and to create a new National Employment Agency, and also asked the Parliament to adopt a new Labour Code as soon as possible .
• The official hryvnia exchange rate did not change: 22.03 UAH/USD (+0.02 UAH), 23.91 UAH/EUR (-0,06 UAH), 3.88 UAH/RUR 10 (+0.02 UAH).

Ukraine at War

• Due to the militants shellings, five Ukrainian soldiers were injured, during the shelling of Avdeevka two civilians were killed and six were wounded. Serious tension persists in the area of Donetsk. After a long period of inactivity, the militants again started to shell the positions of Ukrainian troops, using the "Grad" MLRS , located in residential area.
• The Head of the OSCE monitoring mission Huh stated that the intensive movement of the militants machinery does not indicate that it is being removed from the conflict line. To control the situation and organize the observation posts in any place of the country, the mission does not need an invitation from any parties to the conflict in Ukraine.
• In Yavorivsky training area, a joint Ukrainian-American exercise, involving more than 1,800 military from 18 countries, began.

Ukraine and the world

• Russia presented to the UN Security Council an alternative draft resolution on the investigation of the Malasian Airlines MH-17 flight disaster .
• The Foreign Ministry expressed resentment regarding the statement of Minister Lazar about the activities of the Hungarian intelligence agents in Ukraine.
• The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the agreement on the control of Iran's nuclear program.

The Trends

• The opinion poll results, published by the KIIS Institute, were met with a mixed reaction in the Ukrainian society, that believes that this poll was paid-for, and its results regarding the support by the population of the Russian language status and attitude towards the occupation of the Crimea, the Donbass and the ratings of the leading political forces are manipulative.