09/06/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - IMF Managing Director Lagarde visited Ukraine

IMF Managing Director Lagarde visited Ukraine

09.06.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine News Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• IMF Managing Director Lagarde visited Ukraine.
• Relative inactivity continues in Donbas.

Key Events in Ukraine

• President Poroshenko met with the IMF Managing Director Lagarde. At the joint press conference, he announced the successful implementation by Ukraine of the IMF requirements and expressed hopes for the positive decision of the Fund's Board of Directors on allocating the next Extended Fund Facility tranche for Ukraine. Russia will not receive preferential treatment when discussing foreign debt repayment. The default did not occur, despite Russia's expectations. Ukraine's foreign reserves increased by $7 bln. IMF Managing Director Lagarde cited the good results achieved by Ukraine, including macroeconomic stability, debt restructuring and establishment of structures to fight corruption. At the same time, she stressed the need to achieve consensus between the government and the citizens.
• Poroshenko in an interview to national TV channels expressed confidence that his draft amendments to the Constitution will be adopted by the Parliament after the local elections to avoid political pressure on the process. He said that not only the actual perpetrators, but also the leaders of political parties and the oligarchs who financed the process should be held responsible for the events of August 31 in front of the Parliament.
• Prime Minister Yatsenyuk said in a weekly statement that the government proposes to introduce uniform base rates of four major taxes: VAT, unified social tax, personal income tax and profit tax to replace more than 90 different tax rates that exist today. Income tax should have a different philosophy and encourage reinvestment of profit in production development. The Cabinet plans to keep the simplified taxation system, to substantially reduce the tax burden, and to eliminate the abuses of large business based on the use of the simplified taxation system. Prime Minister announced plans to eliminate tax police.
• According to President Poroshenko, the decision on the future of the Prime Minister should be made by the coalition, but Yatsenyuk is unlikely to face resignation in the near future. However, the President hopes for a quick government reformatting.

Ukraine at War

• А relative ceasefire continues in Donbas, with a few fire contacts. In the previous day, five Ukrainian soldiers were injured. Tension continues in the settlements near Donetsk: Maryinka, Avdiyivka, Opytne, and in the suburbs of Artemovsk. Ukrainian troop's positions near Shchastya came under fire from a grenade launcher.
• Observers reported that Russian equipment has been withdrawn from their permanent bases and deployed in the residential quarters in the occupied territory. The number of the Russian military keeps growing. Military unit commanders have been replaced with Russian officers.
• President Poroshenko announced three possible scenarios of the war in Donbas: an offensive of the Ukrainian troops; the separation of the occupied territories; or the implementation of the Minsk agreement.
• Foreign Minister Klimkin admitted the possibility of exchanging the Russian military personnel taken captive during a combat near Shchastya for Ukrainian political prisoners following a Ukrainian court judgment.
• Three Ukrainian paratroopers went missing at the administrative border with Crimea.

Ukraine and the World

• Several hundred thousand people are involved in anti-government rallies in Moldova in the most massive protest since the mid-90s. The protestants demand the resignation of the Government, the Attorney General, the management of the National Bank, Central Election Commission and Public Broadcasting Company, and the punishment of those responsible for the disappearance of $1 billion from the banks.

The Trends

• Experts and observers believe that ISIS militants have penetrated Europe under the guise of refugees, and that the process coordinated and directed by ISIS and Putin is a well-planned long-term military diversionary tactic. The main flow of refugees arrived to Europe from pro-Russian Serbia. The EU countries cannot reach an agreement on quotas for the refugee admission. According to opinion polls, UK citizens are firmly against the admission of refugees to its territory, up to the withdrawal from the EU. The European Commission plans to allocate this year alone more than €10 billion to support refugees.
  Observers from different countries have reported the aggressive behavior of the refugees who demand special treatment, destroy property and attack administrative boundaries of the EU countries and the tunnel under the English Channel.