 |
| Biden said that next year will be decisive for Ukraine |
12.07.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine Agency
Topics from Media and Social Networks
- US Vice President Biden said that next year will be decisive for Ukraine
- Naftogaz portfolio was placed under the management of the Ministry of Economic Development.
- Power transmission line to Crimea has been repaired and is ready to be connected.
Key Events in Ukraine
- President Poroshenko signed a law extending the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land.
- The Cabinet placed the entire portfolio of Naftogaz shares under the management of the Ministry of Economic Development and approved the provision on the company’s Supervisory Board.
- State Statistics Committee reported that consumer prices grew in November by 2%.
- Finance Minister Yaresko said that the IMF agreed with the principles used by the Ministry to draft the tax reform and 2016 budget. She also said that the budget deficit of Naftogaz will be eliminated next year, while a year ago it was UAH 90 billion.
- The official hryvnia rate strengthened slightly after a sharp drop before the weekend: 23.45 ₴/$ (-0.20 UAH), 25l.34 ₴/€ (-0.43 UAH), 3.42 ₴/10 ₽ (-0.07 UAH).
Ukraine at War
- In the combat area in Donbas, militants shelled and attacked the Ukrainian army positions along the entire line of contact. According to official figures, eight soldiers were wounded during the day.
- According to media reports, maintenance crews completed repair work on one of the power lines leading to Crimea and are ready to connect the power supply to the peninsula. One of the leaders of Crimean Tatars Islyamov said the activists were forced to cease the energy blockade under the pressure from Ukraine’s partners, despite the fact that none of their demands were met. According to him, power will be supplied to Crimea until the end of the year, when the contract signed by the Ministry of Energy expires. Head of Crimean occupation authorities Aksenov said that Crimea did not need electricity supplies from Ukraine and would be able to meet its needs using the "energy bridge" with Kuban.
- Chief of General Staff Muzhenko said that forming the army exclusively on the contractual basis was unrealistic.
Ukraine and the World
- US Vice President Biden believes that during the next year, the Ukrainian government should take the steps that would determine the country’s future. He stressed the importance of civil society participation in building Ukrainian state and the support for independent media. Biden insisted on Ukraine's implementation of its part of the Minsk Agreements, despite Russia’s reluctance to fulfill its obligations. Prime Minister Yatsenyuk told US Vice President that he was ready to implement five major reforms in the areas of deregulation, tax system and financial services, fight against corruption at the customs, privatization and the introduction of new management standards for state-owned companies.
- European Commissioner for Enlargement Hahn called the fight against corruption a top priority on the agenda for Ukraine.
- The cost of Brent crude oil on world markets dropped to nearly $40 per barrel.
The Trends
- According to some experts, the draft Tax Code promoted by the head of the parliamentary committee Yuzhanina incorporates schemes beneficial to the entourage of President Poroshenko. In this case, the support of the IMF and other international financial institutions for the alternative project developed by the Ministry of Finance may be a sign of their unwillingness to consolidate the influence of the presidential entourage on the redistribution of financial flows and the formation of the tax assessment base. On the other hand, civil society activists and some economists argue that the draft Tax Code prepared by the Ministry of Finance would destroy the small and medium business and leaves no prospects for the economic development.
- Despite President Poroshenko’s statement that no elections will be held in Ukraine in the next four years, the political and economic situation in the country and the balance of power in Parliament indicate that the collapse of the coalition is possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment