The Central Election Commission has not yet made public the results of the local elections. According to preliminary expert estimates, President Poroshenko’s party has not gained majority. Experts quote amoung election surprises the high ranking of UKROP party, which gained over 7% of votes nationwide. The head of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction in the Verkhovna Rada Lutsenko said that the new members of the Central Election Commission will be appointed immediately after the local elections. The credentials of the CEC members ran out in June 2014.
On Ukrainian language day, civic activists held a rally outside of the presidential administration, demanding state support for the Ukrainian language, which they believe to be a matter of national security.
The democratic society demands that elections in Mariupol be held on November 29. According to some experts, since the elections were canceled, it is necessary to hold a new campaign, so the elections cannot take place earlier than in January 2016.
Energy Minister Demchyshyn is considering China as a potential partner for the completion of Khmelnitsky NPP construction. He announced that Ukraine will stop electricity imports from Russia immediately after the power transmission line from Rivne NPP to central Ukraine is launched.
The official rate of hryvnia on Monday remained almost stable: 23.75 ₴/$ (+0.10 UAH), 24.52 ₴/€ (-0.09 UAH), 3.52 ₴/10 ₽ (-0.04 UAH) .
The situation in the conflict area in Donbas continues to deteriorate with every coming day. The militants open fire along the entire line of contact. Observers on the ground reported militants using mortars and heavy equipment. The OSCE Mission and the intelligence report about the militants’ tanks and heavy artillery located in close proximity to the line of fighting. Information is being circulated among the militants on the possible offensive of the Ukrainian army.
One more Russian convoy is preparing to enter Ukraine. Intelligence believes that convoys supply ruble cash to the occupied territory. According to experts, pensions and salaries to the officials of the "Republics" are paid exclusively with the means provided by Putin’s convoys. The question of what is being exported from Ukraine on hundreds of trucks still remains, since there is no border controls either on the part of Ukrainian border guards or OSCE observers.
Ukraine’s representative in the contact group on humanitarian issues Herashchenko said that Minsk agreements must be complied with before the end of 2015. At the same time, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said in Berlin that the parties had agreed to extend the agreements for the next year because of the inability of Ukraine to fulfill the requirements pertaining to the elections in the occupied territories.
The UN Refugee Agency has delivered to Luhansk the first tranche of humanitarian aid in three months. Observers have reported attempts by the authorities of the "republics" to gain control over the distribution of humanitarian assistance provided by international organizations.
President Poroshenko said that since February 2015, the EU has allocated €100 million of humanitarian assistance for the displaced persons.
President Poroshenko, following the meeting of the National Reform Council, announced his intention to introduce a bill in Parliament on changes to the Constitution necessary to implement the judicial reform. These will include the abolition of judicial immunity and the purging and replacement of judges through the assessment procedure. According to him, the Venice Commission has twice approved the proposed project. At the same time, Prime Minister Yatsenyuk has repeatedly stated that the only possibility of purging is through a complete replacement of the judiciary through the recruitment of new judges. Since the beginning of the events on Maidan, none of the odious judges has been punished for their actions, and the majority continues to deliver judgements in coordination with the new government. Some experts point out that as a result of the changes initiated by Poroshenko, judges will be completely subordinated to the President, and the Verkhovna Rada will be completely excluded from the process of appointing judges and controlling their activities.
Converting militia in the national police cannot result in changes to its methods of work without a radical reform of the law enforcement system. This is evidenced by the facts made public by civic activists of the process of recertification of odious militia leaders currenlty underway. The public protested in Kyiv against the reappointment of the former Deputy Minister Paskal, who took part in the persecution of Maidan activists.
Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, according to some experts, would not be able to function efficiently, since its investigations carried out in cooperation with the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the investigation will be hampered by courts and the General Prosecutor's Office. President Poroshenko said that all issues with the appointment of the commission that will elect anticorruption prosecutors have been settled. However, one of the foreign candidates mentioned by Poroshenko, Director-General of the European Anti-Fraud Office Kessler, refused to accept Ukraine's offer because he was meant to replace another foreign member instead of taking his post according to the quota of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
MPs openly sabotage the adoption of "visa-free" package of laws. They do not attend the committee meetings or discussions of the amendments. Experts doubt that the second vote will help to adopt the legislation. According to European observers, the amendments made by MPS to the bills before the first vote completely changed the essence of the laws. The bills, if adopted in the current reading, will not be considered by the EU as a reason to abolish visa restrictions.
According to experts, Ukraine's economy is declining faster than predicted. This is evidenced by the fact that Ukraine rating has been downgraded by EBRD, as well as the World Bank, the IMF, and the rating agencies. The reasons for the decline quoted by the analysts include delayed reforms, high political risks and adverse global market conditions leading to capital flight and implosion of the economy.
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