09/02/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - National Security and Defense Council adopted a new military doctrine

NSDC adopted a new military doctrine for Ukraine

09.02.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine News Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• National Security and Defense Council adopted a new military doctrine. Russia was called the main enemy.
• 18 people, involved in the clashes near the Verkhovna Rada on August 31, were arrested.

Key Events in Ukraine

• The National Security and Defense  Council adopted a draft of new military doctrine. Russia was called an aggressor and a principal military adversary of Ukraine. Renouncing of the non-aligned status and renewal of the Euro-Atlantic integration course were confirmed .
• Additional sanctions against individuals and legal entities of the Russian Federation and other countries were also agreed .
• The Verkhovna Rada agreed the obtaining of a loan from the Japanese government for the modernization of Bortnycheskaya treatment plant in the amount of approximately $ 900 million. The loan is granted for 40 years, with 10 of the grace period.
• Combatants, who were wounded, will be able to get the positions in the civil service without competition.
• Prime Minister Yatsenyuk announced about the creation of a new executive body - the National Police.
• "Ukrnafta" explained that the dividend for 2014 for the main shareholder,  "Naftogaz", were  paid by means of netting.
• In August Ukraine increased the natural gas imports by 72%. According to the Prime Minister, 14.5 billion m3  are already uploaded to the underground storage facilities . 19 billion m3 supplies are required for the heating season, so the government is looking for funds to increase the natural gas purchases.
• The court arrested 18 people suspected of involvement in the riots near the Verkhovna Rada on August 31,  among them - Donetsk journalist, an active Euromaydan participant. Leader of the party "Svoboda" Tyagnybok was called for interrogation by the police.
• The National Bank lowered the national currency exchange rate by 1%: 21,99 ₴ / $ (+0,19 UAH), 24,74 ₴ / € (+0,26 UAH), 3,30 ₴ /RUR 10 (-0.03 UAH).

Kiev

• Kiev was covered by a smog wave from forest fires.
• Mayor Klitschko announced about the opening of free entry-level English courses for inhabitants of the capital.
• The Fitch agency lowered the credit rating of Kiev and Kharkov to a pre-default level, after decreasing the overall Ukraine rating, which indicates the possibility of denial of debt servicing.

Ukraine at War

• During the day, it was almost quiet in the Donbass, only some skirmishes with the use small arms and rocket-propelled grenades were recorded.
• The Army conducts exercises near Mariupol.
• In Lugansk region, a patrol dealing with smuggling of goods in the occupied territory was ambushed. There are killed and wounded among the volunteers and security forces members.
• The OSCE mission claimed that the militants do not allow its observers to the weapons storage areas.

Ukraine and the World

• The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the country's leadership is outraged with the expansion of sanctions by the United States and is preparing an asymmetric response.
• The EU is ready to extend the sanctions against Russia for another six months.
• Russia declares that the exchange of Ukrainian deputy Savchenko for the Russian military is only possible as a result of diplomatic agreements.

The Trends

• The Head of the State Aviation Service Antoniuk, who was associated with the opposition oligarch Kolomoisky, returned to his duties after the check. The "open skies" agreement with the EU remains only a good intention, since, according to the experts, Europe is not interested in the Ukrainian market and does not want to open the skies for Kiev. China and Canada are also pursuing a policy of protectionism and simply show no reaction to the proposals of Ukraine. To reach an agreement, the experts offer Ukrainian aviation authorities to focus on persuading the partners in safety of air conveyance over Ukraine. First of all it is necessary to focus on the pan-European structures, which determine the overall position of the countries - members of the EU regarding the open skies. Besides, they believe that the open skies is one of the aspects of the problem of interaction with the EU, including a free trade zone and a visa-free regime.