12/15/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - The President, the Prime Minister and the Head of the Parliament agreed on joint actions

Prime Minister Yatsenyuk, President Poroshenko and Head of the Parliament Groisman

12.15.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• The President, the Prime Minister and the Head of the Parliament agreed on joint actions.
• The next round of talks in Minsk ended with no results.
• Radical Party will not vote for the 2016 budget .
• Ukrainian branch of the Savings Bank of Russia changes its name to "Sberbank".

Key Events in Ukraine

• The President, the Head of the Verkhovna Rada and the Prime Minister said that the issue of the resignation of the Government Head is not on the agenda, since it is necessary to adopt the Tax Code and the budget, which will ensure the continuation of cooperation with the IMF. On December 17 will be held an extraordinary session of the Parliament for the adoption of these laws and amendments to the Constitution.
• The State Statistics Service states that the external trade surplus during 10 months of 2015 totaled $ 381 million, a third more than during the same period of the last year.
• The "Ukrtransgaz" company  said that the share of Naftogaz in natural gas imports decreased to 48%. The rest of the natural gas is imported by the private companies.
• Industry reduced natural gas consumption by 20 % and electricity - by 12 %, compared to 10 months of the previous year.
• The Standard & Poor's agency adapted a long-term rating of Ukraine in foreign currency at the level B / B - with a stable forecast, which indicates a high sensitivity to external influences and difficult economic situation, complicated by corruption. At the same time, the country is in a position to fulfill its financial obligations. The rating was changed as a result of the successful restructuring of the external debt.
• The National Bank significantly strengthened the hryvnia’s exchange rate: 23.45 ₴/$ (-0.36 UAH), 25.77 ₴/€ (-0.38 UAH), 3.31 ₴/10 ₽ (-0.08 UAH).

Ukraine at War

• In Minsk took place the next round of negotiations of the contact group. The parties failed to reach an agreement on most issues, including the holding of local elections in the Donbass. According to press secretary of Ukraine's representative at the talks Olifer, the main issue is the release of prisoners. The next meeting  with the participation of a joint center for control and coordination representatives is scheduled for December 22.
  Coordinator of the OSCE mission Saydik introduced the concept of amnesty for militants and said that the document will be discussed in January 2016.
• The OSCE Mission stated about the reduction of tension in the Donbass, but still records the periodic use of heavy weapons by militants and death during the fighting.
• According to the official report, during the day, Ukrainian army did not suffer losses in the combat zone . Militants continue attacks and shellings in the area of Donetsk and Artemivsk.
• At the meeting of the leadership of the Crimean Tatar Meclis with the representatives of the diplomatic missions, the leaders of the Crimean Tatars said that the authorities have two weeks to fulfill their demands, otherwise the campaign will be resumed, including a naval blockade. The Russian authorities promised to stop any attempt to blockade by force.

Ukraine and the World

• The National Banks of Ukraine and Poland signed an agreement to open a credit line for Ukraine for € 1 billion.
• The Head of the National Police Dekanoidze agreed in New York the help of the United States to continue the reform of law enforcement agencies in Ukraine.
• Presidents of Poland and Ukraine after the meeting said that there are no contradictions between the two countries. President Duda promised to assist in the invitation of Ukraine to the NATO summit in Warsaw next year.
• Russian President Putin signed a law allowing to refuse to comply with decisions of the international courts, which allows national authorities not to pay the debts recognized by the ECHR.
• Russia announced about the launch of the second phase of the "energy bridge" to the occupied Crimea.
• In Moscow, US Secretary of State Kerry with Russian President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov discussed the settlement of the Syrian crisis. Regarding Ukraine, the situation in which was also a subject of negotiations, it was stated that the parties to the conflict must comply with Minsk Agreements.
• In Moscow, took talks with the Presidents of Russia and Belarus. They discussed the situation in Ukraine, the Middle East and other crisis spots. Lukashenko said that Belarus is as a neighbor interested in peace in Ukraine. Putin believes that the two countries have similar positions on the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. According to the joint statement, the presidents intend to take measures to prevent unilateral coercive economic measures that are not sanctioned by the UN Security Council and incompatible with the principles of international law.
• President of the European Council Tusk believes that to preserve the Schengen Agreement it is needed to stop the migration flows and to regain control over the external borders by means of increasing the mandate of the Frontex Border Service .
• Ambassador of the Netherlands said that the joint investigation team has not yet decided on the format of an international tribunal to investigate the MH-17aircraft accident .

The Trends

• Finance Minister Yaresko proposed to legislate the Governments right to make changes to the budget, since it is agreed with the IMF. However, it is directly contrary to the Constitution, which gives the right to adopt the budget and make changes to it only to the Verkhovna Rada.
• The indexes of the greenhouse gas emissions in Ukraine are much lower than those which the countries should achieve, as it was stated at the UN Climate Conference in Paris. Thus, Ukraine may count on the financial support of the developed countries and use the obtained funds to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels.
• Publication of the report of the European Commission on the possibility of a visa-free regime with Ukraine was postponed due to non-compliance with the EU requirements of the  Law on the National Agency for the management and return of illegally derived assets, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada. Despite this, President Poroshenko said that he is confident in the positive outcome from the European Commission.