12/23/2015 Ukraine: Daily Highlights - In Kyiv the "Anti-Corruption Forum" was held

In Kyiv the "Anti-Corruption Forum" was held

12.23.2015 Daily Highlights by the Digests & Analytics Ukraine Agency

Topics from Media and Social Networks

• In Kyiv the "Anti-Corruption Forum" was held.
• In the conflict zone in the Donbass militants violated the declared truce.

Key Events in Ukraine

• President Poroshenko signed a law requiring an open roll-call voting during the local council sessions and publishing of their results.The law on the reform of state and municipal publications was vetoed , as it does not provide commitments to preserve the language of publication.
• The Parliament did not support the Law on the National Guard, vetoed by the President and introduced again with the amendments. The Verkhovna Rada registered a new bill regulating the problematic issues.
  The Government bills related to the budget process did not receive enough votes.
  A law, renewing the guarantees of social protection to former police officers and members of their families, which were not regulated by the law on the National Police, was adopted.
  The bill on recalling of the deputies of local councils was adopted in the first reading.
• The Ministry of Finance allocated the next USD 5 billion  to the Individual Deposit Guarantee Fund. The Fund started the process of liquidation of the "All-Ukrainian Development Bank", belonging to the son of former President Yanukovych. The private property of the "Brokbusinessbank", which was closed earlier,  will be put on sale .
• The losses of the operating Ukrainian banks exceeded UAH 57 billion (more than $ 2 billion).
• The National Bank again insignificantly strengthened the official hryvnia exchange rate: 23.00 ₴/$ (-0.15 UAH), 25.10 ₴/€ (-0.25 UAH), 3.24 ₴/10 ₽ (-0.01 UAH) .

Kyiv

• Moody's left the Kiev's foreign and local currency credit ratings at "Ca" level (close to default), but changed its forecast from "negative" to "stable." The Standard & Poor's upgraded the rating of capital from D (default) level  to CCC (higher credit risk) level.

Ukraine at War

• Despite the announced in Minsk of a ceasefire from December 23, the intensity of shelling and attacks by the militants increased. In Lugansk region, Popasna and Troitske were shelled from the MLRS "Grad" . An attack of the subversive group of Russian special forces was terminated near Schastya. At night, under the fire were the settlements in the area of the Donetsk airport and in the surroundings of Gorlovka. Ukraine appealed to the OSCE representatives in the tripartite contact group with the requirement to record a violation of the ceasefire. According to official reports, two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded.
• In connection with the occupation by the  militants of the settlements in the "gray zone" in the vicinity of Mariupol, Interior Minister Avakov requested to convene a meeting of the NSDC.
• Another Putin's "convoy", consisting of more than 100 trucks, invaded Ukraine.

Ukraine and the World

• Ukraine's Ambassador to the UN Eltchenko believes that to resolve the situation in the Donbass it is needed a peacekeeping force consisting of not less than 25 thousand soldiers. When the resolution on deployment of the "blue helmets" in eastern Ukraine is put on the vote, Russia will certainly veto it, and there are no chances to overcome it.
• The Russian branch of CNN comes under the control of the new owners associated with the surrounding of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• US Treasury Secretary Lew warned that the failure of a voting for the budget by the Ukrainian parliamentarians will deprive Ukraine of the international assistance. He also stressed the need for implementation of Ukraine's commitments to the IMF.

The Trends

• Observers openly called the "Anticorruption forum" held in Kiev a presidential project aimed at redirecting the protest moods in the society. According to some experts, the "forum" should become a basis of a new party, loyal to the President, to participate in the Parliamentary elections that could be held in the event of the collapse of the coalition in the Verkhovna Rada.
• Most of the staff of the Kyiv "Berkut" Special Forces , who participated in the dispersal of the Euromaidan on November 30, 2013, were re-certified and will serve in the new Police. The decision was made on the fact of their participation in the Anti-Terrorist Operation.