12/04/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - Russia blocked activity of OSCE mission in Ukraine

Russia blocked activity of OSCE mission in Ukraine

12.04.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• Russia blocked activity of OSCE mission in Ukraine.
• Ukrainians do not believe the media belonging to oligarchs.
• Volunteers bought a new radar system for the flagship frigate "Getman Sahaidachny."
• The oligarch Kolomoisky reveal secret agreement with Poroshenko.

Key Events in Ukraine

• Supporters of a candidate for mayor of Kryvyi Rih Milobog secured the city council offices for the preservation of documents testifying election fraud.
• Second candidate selected by the competition commission Grischuk appointed first Deputy anticorruption prosecutor.
• According to a poll conducted by JFK the majority of Ukrainians do not trust the media which are not giving an objective picture of what is happening because their oligarch owners directly control journalists and produced content.
• NBU has kept the main restrictions for foreign exchange for another three months: companies are obliged to sell 75% of earnings in foreign currency; estimates of exports and imports of goods must be made within 90 days; extend the ban on early repayment of loans  in foreign currency by residents under the contracts with non-residents. These restrictions will not apply to the deposit made by participation in tenders that will ensure foreign companies will be able to participate in government procurement procedures.
• National Bank of Ukraine is liquidating two banks - "Unicombank" and "National Investments" on the proposal of the Deposit Guarantee Fund for individuals.
• After a one-day decline, the official hryvnia exchange rate again rose sharply: 23,65 UAH/$ (+0.56 UAH), 25.78 UAH/€ (+1.14 UAH), 3.49 UAH/10 RUB (+0.09 UAH).

Ukraine at War

• The situation in the conflict zone in the Donbass remains tense. Militants are firing from small arms and mortars all along the line of contact. Clashes do not stop in the area of ​​Artemovsk, Donetsk Airport and Mariupol direction. One soldier was killed and five more were injured as a result of armored vehicle explosion on the mine.
• Prime Minister Yatsenyuk said that the electricity supply to the two factories in Crimea will prevent environmental disaster. According to him energy minister Demchishin is responsible for the supply of electricity to the Crimea. Yatseniuk expects the Prosecutor General's Office to prosecute the officials who signed the contract.
• President Poroshenko promised to increase government funding for payments to military personnel more than twice - up to 30 billion UAH.
• According to Poroshenko, the extension of sanctions against Russia would not allow it to begin a full-scale offensive in the Donets Basin.

Ukraine and the World

• Russia blocked the OSCE declaration on the activities of the special monitoring mission in Ukraine and the decision on combating torture.
• Ukraine and Japan signed a loan agreement for 20 years for $ 300 million for the projects of economic development of the country. The Japanese side stressed the importance of fighting corruption and reforming the judicial system. The program aims to support institutional reforms in three main areas: promotion of good governance, transparency and accountability in the public sector; improvement of the legal framework related to deregulation and lower costs of doing business; reform of unnecessary and inefficient public subsidies.
• Georgian President Margvelashvili said that the former president Saakashvili, working as a chairman of the Odessa Regional State Administration, stripped of his citizenship due to the acquisition of citizenship of Ukraine.
• Russian revenue from oil sales decreased 1.75 times compared with the previous year in the first nine months with an increase in the volume of exports.
• Turkish Prime Minister Davutoglu stated that his country will not apologize for protecting its borders. Media reports about ban by the Turkish authorities of the movement of Russian military ships through the Bosphorus under various reasons.
• The German parliament has approved the country's Air Force participation in the military operation against the Islamic state in Syria. Aviation of the antiterrorist coalition bombed places of oil mining and refining.
• IMF urges to resolve the issue of restructuring of “Yanukovych debt" through direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.

The Trends

• The public is outraged by the statement by President Poroshenko that victory in the war could be achieved without the participation of volunteers. Activists believe that in a situation where about 20% of the country was lost, thousands of Ukrainian military personnel and civilians were killed and wounded nobody can speak of a victory. The subsequent apology for the statement by the president looked clumsy attempt to justify himself.
• High Council of Justice refuses to investigate cases of pressure on judges to make knowingly unjust decisions against the activists of the Maidan. Thus, there is a precedent for the repetition of such situations in the future. The international community demands from the Ukrainian authorities to strengthen the fight against corruption and the reorganization of the judicial system. Prime Minister Yatsenyuk believes that all judges must be dismissed and new recruit should replace them. But the president and his team are strongly objecting it based on the assessment of the Venice Commission,. At the same time, they are trying to maintain manual control over judicial decisions in every possible way. The draft amendments to the Constitution proposed by the president  Poroshenko completely eliminate Parliament from the process of appointment and dismissal of judges, as well as the Prosecutor General and the president's influence on the appointments  increases.