December 09, 2015

12/08/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - US Vice President Biden spoken to the Ukrainian Parliament

US Vice President Biden spoken to the Ukrainian Parliament
US Vice President Biden spoken to the Ukrainian Parliament

12.08.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

  • US Vice President Biden spoken to the Ukrainian Parliament.
  • President Poroshenko chaired a meeting of the National Council of Reforms.
  • Peace talks on setllement of the Donbass conflict  are continuing in Minsk.
  • Former President Yanukovych intends to return to the big politics.

Key Events in Ukraine

  • US Vice President Biden, in his speech before the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada and leaders of Ukraine, said that there is no country in the world  with such corruption level like Ukraine. According to him, the legislative and executive authorities are granted a last chance to change the destiny of the country. He expressed support of the US authorities for reforms in Ukraine. Biden confirmed that the United States will never recognize the annexation of the Crimea. He called on Russia to withdraw its troops from the Ukrainian territory and warned that Moscow would pay even greater price for its aggression against Ukraine. Biden said that Russian President Putin is afraid of Ukraine’s success.
  • President Poroshenko at the meeting of the National Council of Reform called to adopt new tax code and budget before the end of the year, which is necessary to finance the government spending, including the defense expenses. The approved budget is the basis for the continuation of the IMF's lending program. Poroshenko expressed his hope that a compromise between the versions of the tax reform proposed by the Cabinet and the relevant committee of the Parliament, will be found. Prime Minister Yatsenyuk announced about the readiness of the Cabinet to compromise with the Parliament on the draft tax reform and budget.
  • US Vice President Biden expressed the support for Ukraine and intends to continue the fruitful work with Prime Minister Yatsenyuk,
  • Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Groisman hopes for adoption by the Parliament of the changes to the Constitution regarding decentralization and reform of the justice system.
  • The Verkhovna Rada once again failed to adopt a law on privatization of the state enterprises. A  law on deregulation in the agro-industrial complex, changing and canceling part of the licensing procedures and limiting the powers of regulatory bodies, was adopted .
  • Ukraine rose in the Global Open Data Index world rankings of public data openness by ten points and got the 58th place among 134 countries after the opening of the Internet access to information on the expenditures of budgetary funds and public procurements.
  • The National Bank strengthened the official hryvnia rate : 22,91 ₴ / $ (-0,54 UAH), 24,92 ₴ / € (-0,43 UAH), 3,31 ₴ / 10 ₽ (-0,11 USD). The drop of the ruble exchange rate correlates with its fall on the Moscow Stock Exchange against the falling world oil prices.

Kyiv

  • Owners of Kyiv Eurobonds agreed to restructure debts of $ 300 million value with exchange to sovereign Eurobonds of Ukraine (maturing in 2019-2020 with the increased annual rate of 7.5%) and state derivatives. Negotiations on the remaining part of the debt are to be held on December 16. The total amount of debt to be restructured is $ 550 million.

Ukraine at War

  • The negotiators of the contact group in Minsk made a list of 12 sites on the demarcation line to be demined before the end of the year. Negotiations on elections in the occupied territory were unsuccessful. The representative of Ukraine in the subgroup on prisoners exchange Gerashchenko said that the militants keep holding 140 hostages, more than 700 people are conidered missing, all attempts to include them into the search of international humanitarian organizations are blocked by the militants, who are blackmailing the Ukrainian side, demanding the amnesty for criminals. OSCE Special Representative Saydik stated that it was impossible to reach a substantial progress in the negotiations.
  • The next round of negotiations is scheduled for December 15. Extension of the contact group work in 2016 depends on the decision of the  "Normandy Four" leaders.
  • The intensity of the fighting in the surroundings of Donetsk and Artemovsk did not reduce. According to official reports, four soldiers were wounded due to  shellings and trip wire explosions. Militants are attacking along all the contact line using armored vehicles and heavy mortars, the number of armed clashes exceeds tens.
  • The bill to ban the trade with the occupied territories, their natural gas, electricity and water supply, establishing a regime of the state border on the demarcation line and imposing a ban on referendums and elections on the occupied territories was registered in the Parliament.

Ukraine and the World

  • The IMF approved a provision that allows to lend to countries in arrears to official creditors. This opens up the possibility of continued financing of Ukraine in case the negotiations on restructuring of the "Yanukovych debt" will end with no results.
  • Turkey deported from the country a crew of "Russia-1" TV channel, breaking the rules for the foreign media in the country. Prime Minister of Turkey, Davutoglu, said that retaliatory sanctions might be introdued against Russia if it continues to negotiate from a position of strength.
  • Foreign Minister Klimkin hopes that on December 15 the European Commission will approve the introduction of a visa-free regime and Ukrainians will be able to exercise this right already in the following year.
  • EP President Schulz said the EU faces the threat of disintegration due to the migration crisis.

The Trends


  • US Vice President Biden held tough negotiations with the representatives of all branches of the Ukrainian authorities, simulating reforms and fight against corruption, as well as addressed the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada, whom he warned about the responsibility for the destiny of the country. Biden confirmed that the US expects stable and predictable steps from Ukraine - the adoption of the Tax Code and the budget in the form agreed with the IMF. They contradict the will of the civil society to radically change the economic model for the liberation of the business and conserve the existing situation of general impoverishment, which may lead to the aggravation of social tensions in the country. Experts say that there is no point to expect a sharp change of policy towards the Ukrainian authorities before the US presidential election, which are to be held at the end of next year.

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